Misadventures With an Orange Cat

While growing up, there were no pets in my house other than two gerbils confined to a cage upstairs in my bedroom. Pleas for a “real” pet, a cat or dog, were denied. Consequently, when my older sister and I first noticed a stray cat in the neighborhood, we lured her into following us home.

Mom told us we could pet and play with her outside but stressed not to pick her up or force her to come to us. Our wise mother recognized that the cat was feral and warned us it could scratch if threatened. We saw only a sweet kitty who purred continuously if we stroked her coat and rubbed behind her ears.

After our first meeting, the cat periodically began coming around to visit us. She would cunningly find her way into our backyard and allow us to pamper her affectionately. We named her Marigold because her coat was the brilliant orange color of Mom’s hardy annuals planted in the small garden next to the tomatoes.

One afternoon, we were home alone with strict instructions to stay inside our locked doors. For the most part, we were mature fifth and sixth graders, but that day, we spotted Marigold in our backyard and succumbed to temptation. Without considering the consequences and lacking better judgment, we devised a plan that only slightly bent the rules.

Before the cat could scurry away, we unlocked the back door and sat on the back steps coaxing Marigold to come to us. She came, but eventually, we sensed that she wanted to move on and not wanting her to leave, I ran inside, poured milk in a bowl, propped open the screen door, and set the bowl down just inside the threshold. Marigold approached the treat, eagerly lapped it up, and then surprising us, strolled into the kitchen to explore.

Delighted and intrigued, we shut the screen door and trailed her as she meandered into the dining room and continued into the living room. Suddenly, it crossed my mind that my gerbils, though currently safe in my bedroom on the floor above us, had no clue that an enemy was on the loose in the house. I had to prevent Marigold from climbing the stairs and discovering my cute little rodent buddies.

When I mentioned this to my sister, reality jolted us, and we both understood that we had to get the wild cat out of the house. Marigold was on the prowl, and we grew uneasy and concerned, especially since we had never actually held her and could not just scoop her up. Fortunately, we quickly contrived a strategy.

I blocked the staircase while my sister somehow managed to steer her back through the dining room and into the kitchen again. We relaxed a little bit but by this time, Marigold had become agitated and began hissing and circling as we attempted to capture her. She wanted out!

Again, I propped open the screen door and then hurried to block the entryway that led to the other rooms on the first floor. Meanwhile, my sister chased Marigold around the kitchen hoping to help her escape. Being trapped within the confines of our house, confused and angered the cat, yet there was no way she would let anyone apprehend her.

In a panic, the stray leaped up onto the kitchen counter. She squeezed by the jug of milk I had left out and hopped over dishes left in the sink. Unfortunately, her savage tail knocked over a plant sunning on the windowsill just before she pounced two paws through the freshly baked apple pie cooling on the stovetop.

We gasped and gaped at each other knowing it was too late, and we were in trouble. It took us almost ten minutes but finally, Marigold found her way outside again. Mom was livid, especially since she rarely baked pies from scratch, and she insisted that we two sisters still eat that pie, regardless of the imprints adorning it.

Despite her disappointment in our behavior, Mom entertained listeners with frisky amusement, telling the tale of our misadventures with more color than we or that orange cat deserved. From that day forward, when Marigold came for a visit, we delinquents respected her untamed independence. Eventually, our family adopted a kitten and raised a much tamer feline whose coat earned him the name Sandor.