Jamie ~ 5

 Jamie ~ 5  The Extended Vacation

By Len Morgan 

The House mice were unable

to return to 17 Cedarwood Terrace for six days.

The fence remained ready to fry any creature foolish enough to touch it; the smell was most unpleasant to sensitive young nostrils.

They continued eating wild seeds, roots, and berries, all in plentiful supply in the fields and nearby gardens.  The juveniles developed a taste for a certain water beetle larva that attached itself to the undersides of watercress, water lilies, and other broad leaved plants growing at the margins of the river.  Each day they visited the spot and ate their fill.  But, as the days went by the larvae became harder to find, so they ventured farther out onto the Lily pads.  They clung to long reeds and vaulted from pad to pad until they found themselves close to the fast-flowing river.  That was when most decided enough was enough and headed back to the safety of the bank.  All that is except for Kibbie a particularly brave, or foolhardy, female juvenile who decided she would not miss out on her daily feast. 

She swung out over the inviting lily pads on a marsh reed stalk at the extremity of the reed bed.  She lifted the closest leaf to eat the larvae.  They were even larger than those nearer the bank.  She struggled to bring a prize specimen onto her leaf but both she and it toppled into the fast running stream.  Her friends on the bank witnessed her predicament and cried out for help. 

Jamie had taken to walking down the path beside the stream following his midday meal.  He enjoyed the quiet seclusion, away from the others with their constant questions and bickering.  It seemed he was now firmly established as the group leader even though he was not the oldest.  His methods of ensuring their survival appealed to the juveniles.  He had led them away from certain death, where those who ridiculed him now lay stiff and desiccated.

He was deep in thought, considering how best to ensure that their numbers remained low enough not to lure the gas and wire fence back in six years; or beyond living memory…

“Help! Hel-glug-p, hell…p!”.

He looked upstream and saw a bedraggled young member of his band clinging to a rock just short of mid-stream.  His eyes scanned through 180 degrees. He saw the willow tree, its long whippy branches almost touching the water.  Seeing nothing even faintly suitable he called out to her, “Hold tight and don’t move, I’ll be back.”

“Hurry!  I’m getting v-very c-c-cold!”

Jamie scurried up the tree and selected the longest branch he could find and chewed through the bitter-tasting bark and sapwood.  He watched it fall to the ground with satisfaction.  He ran to the bank dragging the branch behind him.  He wedged the gnawed end between two forked branches.  He saw that it reached far beyond midstream.  “Let go now and grab the branch,” he yelled.  She took some persuading and coaxing from the others before she got up the nerve to act.  When she grabbed the branch it bent with the force of the wind and current.  She glided in an arc to the bank where her friends dragged her to safety.

He hung back as Kibbie’s friends gathered around her.  But, she evaded them and ran to him.

“Thank you for saving me Jamie,” she said throwing her fore limbs around his neck.

“We’ve lost enough over the past week, It would be a shame to lose one so beautiful,” he replied.  He smiled at her, and she looked directly into his eyes.  He felt his breath quicken and his heart flutter.  His pupils dilated and he felt so strange when their whiskers entwined as she nuzzled him close.  Her scent excited him and his ears turned red.  He’d not felt like this since Natasha…  He vaguely heard her friends make knowing squeaks.  That evening they shared his private area of the barn.  From then on, Kibbie would be his constant companion and supporter.

One morning soon after, they awoke to find the fence had been removed.  Frizzy Whiskers was back patrolling the garden, so they knew they could return home at last.

They waited patiently until he curled up in his favourite spot in the garden. Warmed by the midday sun, he was soon purring contentedly.

 Jamie led them silently to the back door and ushered them inside, through the cat flap.  He kept a nervous eye on Frizzy Whiskers, just in time he spied two juveniles stalking him.  It was a foolish game that he’d played in his youth, but F.W. was fast.

“In now!” He yelled in alarm.  The young ones heeded his call and scampered towards the flap.  Two yellow orbs followed them and the cat gave chase, his speed hadn’t diminished and he was swiftly gaining on them.  In an instant, Jamie knew the juveniles wouldn't make it.  So, he darted out across their path to distract F.W.   A flash of recognition showed in F.W.’s eyes, and with incredible speed, he chased his old nemesis.  Jamie entered the high grass as F.W. leaped to the very same spot. 

The young ones gulped...  

Jamie was gone, and it was all their fault…

 

(To be Continued)

 

Copyright Len Morgan