Mick, and Seamus
By Elizabeth Peter
When Mick was four years old Niall came home one day with a beautiful little kitten. My immediate reaction was no way. We cannot have two cats in this flat. It did not endear itself to me either when it climbed into my handbag and threw up inside it.
Mick also took exception to this mewling creature and kept looking at it and then at us as if to say what the hell is it. We couldn’t return the kitten for several days, by which time of course I had become attached to it. We decided to keep to the Irish theme and called him Seamus. Mick of course had his nose severely put out of joint and looked upon Seamus with great disdain. This was unfortunate as Seamus clearly adored Mick, and wanted to be near to him as possible at all times. After a few clouts from Mick he learnt to keep his distance. This was especially so when Mick was eating the titbits I gave him when preparing a meal. He growled so fiercely at Seamus that poor Seamus, for the rest of his life, would stay well clear of me and the kitchen whenever I was cooking.
Shortly after Seamus came to live with us we decided, on the spur of the moment, to have a ten day holiday in Crete. Friends agreed to care for the two cats whilst we were away. They collected Mick first and then came back for Seamus just as we were leaving. We blithely set off on our holiday unaware of the trauma that was about to descend on our friends. When they got back to their flat with Seamus they found Mick comfortably ensconced on the sofa. When they let Seamus out of the cat basket Mick took one look and (according to them) gave an enormous screech, leaped off the sofa and disappeared into another part of the flat. They did not find him until two days before our return. In the eight days he was missing, they were frantic, knowing how much Mick meant to us both. They knocked on every door in their street, they posted notices on lampposts and they turned their flat upside down, but no Mick. They walked the streets day and night calling him but no Mick. As for Seamus they could not understand why he refused to budge from their bathroom, lying down alongside the enclosed bathtub. Then on the eighth day one of them was having a bath and heard a very faint mewling. They had to pull apart the bath surround and then lever up floor boards under the bath but finally they had found Mick. They said it was impossible for him to have got where he was, it still remains a mystery. They also asked that we not apply to them ever again to look after the two cats.
They did however ask one day if they could borrow Mick for a couple of days as they had mice in their kitchen. We were more than happy to agree but a day later they brought him back in disgust. Apparently Mick was sitting in the middle of the kitchen when a mouse appeared and ran straight towards him. Initially his attention was one of interest and then alarm as the tiny creature ran directly towards him. When it was upon him he leaped in the air with all four feet and the mouse ran safely under him. Back on the ground Mick watched it disappear and then turned to our friends and let out a loud miaow, as if to say, what on earth was that?