A cat for all seasons

  This morning I had a pleasant surprise on coming downstairs. There was a frantic mewing at the kitchen door--- Lillou is back!! She has been missing for at least two months and as usual she strolled in, sleek and sassy and not at all thin or hungry. Obviously she has another foyer--but where?  No one in the village is harbouring her and when she`s `on vacation` I never see her while walking the dogs--
   Let me introduce you to this feline Houdini. She originally belonged, insofar as a cat can belong, to our neighbours some 50 metres away on the other street (there`s really only two in Mort Limouzin). At the time their daughter,  although fond of cats, was a bit rough with them, and Lillou took exception to this. She decided to move in with us and what Lillou wants.... Entering by our cat-flap she took her place in the food line and occupied an armchair. Several times we carried her back `home` but she tended to beat us back and eventually all concerned had to accept the new status.
    At about this time she turned out pregnant and was glimpsed rearing a sooty-black kitten all alone in a disused outhouse at the bottom of the village.  Then one morning I came downstairs and there was Lillou with THREE black kittens sitting in a row on the telephone table! She was a good and protective mum and reared the kits without much help from us. In fact, when we thought there was only one, she had stashed them under the planter opposite our front door. Two local dogs were unwise enough to have a sniff. They swiftly regretted it- Lillou attacked them with such ferocity that they fled in terror in two different directions followed by feline curses.
  We found new homes for two of the kits and kept one who we called Réglisse ( `cos she`s black of course).  Lillou usually fits in well with our household and is a faithful knee-cat. She is an odd character utterly fearless with dogs and with a mind of her own;  I have been nipped more than once for displeasing her!  In spite of her numerous faults I have to admit she`s my favourite.
 This makes her main fault all the more infuriating-- She likes to go on holiday. One day she`s a fixture , the next she`s gone and is not seen for weeks. Then, just as we have accepted she is a gonner, she strolls in, large as life and twice as noisy.  What can you do with a cat like Lillou?

                       Bye for now