When I used to travel
to work in my car, I used to pass through what was to become the largest new
housing development in Europe, at the time I passed through the development the
project was nearing its completion.
It took more than ten
years to complete and it was the properties on the farthest fringe of the
development which I witnessed from groundbreaking to occupation.
During the building
they looked like little rows of shoe boxes stood on end and I often chuckled to
myself and wondered who would want to live in them, well five years later it turned
out to be my wife and I.
That was some years
ago now, in that small almost newly built two up two down in a quiet Surrey
cul-de-sac and I have to say we have never been happier than we were then.
We had great neighbours,
who we are still in contact with to this day even though we have all scattered
to the four winds, and one of the things that brought us together was our cats.
We had a black cat
called Berry, short for Blackberry, who was given to us when she was a kitten
by my brother in law as a wedding present and we still have her today, although
she’s getting on a bit.
When we lived in the
shoebox she had a very embarrassing habit of invading other cat owners homes
when we were out and we would return home from work to find her peering at us
from the comfort of someone else’s house sitting on the window sill or on the
back of their sofa, but that was nothing compared to our next door neighbours Carole
and Johns cat Tabitha.
When we first knew
them they had two cats Madeline and Emily who were both great buddies with our
Berry but after Emily was killed on the road and Madeline ran away they decided
they would get a rescued cat from an animal rescue center.
Well what they got was
a tabby called Tabitha who was very sweet but suffered with psychological
problems.
It was a very nervous
and timid creature who was very suspicious of everyone but what none of us
suspected was its darker side.
Well while the humans
were all at work and Berry was sleeping in someone else’s house Tabitha roamed
the local area indulging in her particular passion, namely stealing from the
neighbours.
And what she stole were
knickers, pants, socks, and the occasional bra and when our first son was born,
she even took bibs and booties.
The troubled animal
preyed on the unsuspecting locals stealing from washing lines, wash baskets and
clothes airers, though thankfully even with her psychological problems she only
stole clean items nothing soiled or un-fresh.
We were all oblivious
to this dastardly crime putting the loss of missing items down to mischievous
house elves.
The dastardly crime
only came to light when John was clearing a room prior to decorating when he
discovered nests of other people’s underwear.
This could have been
awkward, and John might well have had some explaining to do it Carol had found
the pantie collection before he did.
I’m sure it was the
cat.
