Hannah's Kitten

 

            No doubt you’ll remember the very young tabby kitten who woke Ralph from his contemplations on his log one fateful day. Ralph took the little beast to Ramona to consult with her. It was decided that they couldn’t keep him in the Home Clearing, and that Twigg had a family of rather wild cats already, and that Thaga had Harold already, who probably didn’t want to raise a baby version of himself.
            So, Ralph had decided to run the baby over to Rick to see if Rick needed a station Tomcat. Rick was just trying to figure out how to say no, without being a rat, because he had two cats at home and didn’t feel qualified to raise a baby cat at the station when Dexter blew in.
            Dexter, that sweet young guy, took one look at the kitten, and there were stars in his eyes. He wanted that kitty so badly. It was love at first mew.
            On the instant, he thought of his new wife, Hannah, the campground host, up there holding court in the small mobile home, when she wasn’t strolling about getting to know the campers and answering the same kinds of questions every day. Kitten and Hannah went together in his mind. What could be more natural or lovely, he thought?
            Having ascertained that Rick didn’t claim the kitten, Dexter took him from Rick and left to find Hannah at a gallop.
            Once outside the office, he noticed that the breeze was a bit chilly, so he put the little thing in his jacket pocket, where it settled down quietly after a few        small questioning meows. Then Dexter started moving again. He didn’t want to jiggle this child too much, so he walked.
            First, he went to the mobile. He stuck his head in the door and called for Hannah. But she wasn’t there. Not that it was really possible to hide in there, small as it was.
            He scanned the campground. Ah, there she was, talking with an elderly lady by a large fancy RV.
            He approached the two ladies with a grin on his face.
            “Dexter!” said Hannah, “Is everything alright?”
            The older lady looked from Hannah to Dexter with a question in her eyes.
            “Ma’am, this young ranger is my husband,” said Hannah, by way of introduction.
            “Oh, he looks like he has something important to tell you,” said the lady, a Mrs. Brooks.
            “Why, yes, he doesn’t often come looking for me with a big grin on his face,” said Hannah, laughing.
            “I have a surprise for you, Hannah! Close your eyes,” said Dexter.
            So, with Mrs. Brooks looking on and smiling, Hannah closed her eyes and waited.
            Dexter took the little cat out of his pocket and said, “Put out your hands, cupped!” He put the tiny guy into Hannah’s two hands.
            She inhaled sharply and opened her eyes, and then held the kitten against her bosom.
            “Oh!” said Hannah.
            “Aw!” said Mrs. Brooks.
            “Dexter, where did he come from? Is he ours?” cried Hannah, with approximately the same silly look on her face that Dexter had in the station office.
            “Ralph found him in the forest and brought him to Rick. Rick said he was free for the taking, so I did!” said Dexter. “And now he is our cat, unless you don’t want him.”
            The kitten did what kittens do, when a decision is being made in their regard. He purred and snuggled Hannah.
            “Of course, I want him, Dexter!” said Hannah. “He’ll need some things, you know. A litter box, kitten food, a bed of some kind.”
            “I’ll ask Rick if I can take off for an hour and run into town, maybe you should come too. You can pick what he needs,” said Dexter.
            “We travel with a cat. Not a baby, but I have something he might like, for before you go shopping,” said Mrs. Brooks, otherwise known as Alice.
            “Thank you, Alice,” said Hannah.
            Mrs. Brooks went back up into her nice RV, and came back with a couple of those tubes of soft food they give cats for a treat. “I bet he would like to have some of this before you get proper kitten food,” she said. “Most cats love them, and it’s soft stuff.”
            Dexter and Hannah took their baby cat home, and squeezed one of the tubes into a small saucer, and the kitten did like the soft food.
            “What shall we call him?” said Dexter.
            “Honey Bear,” said Hannah. “Maybe we’ll call him Bear for short, but Honey Bear should be his whole name.”
            “Perfect!” said Dexter. “A perfect name for the Maple Heart Camp cat!”

          Rick did allow Dexter and Hannah, with Bear, to go to Arlington to the supermarket to buy supplies for their new family member. When they came back, they had a small basket with a soft lining, a litter box and litter, and some tinned kitten food.

            And as long as Dexter and Hannah worked at the Maple Heart Camp, Bear, who grew up there, was the campground cat. He became a rather large cat, and no one ever knew how he came to be in the Great Forest that day. But he was a very fortunate kitten, all considered.

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