Blue-Eyes The Cat and the Little Old Lady
By
H.V.B.
Blue-Eyes was a beautiful white cat who had big blue eyes and she lived with the Little Old Lady and her husband. She had lived there with them since she was just a tiny kitten. Blue-Eyes loved the farmer and his wife. She always went to the barn to get milk with the farmer and trailed after the Little Old Lady as she did her housework. Blue-Eyes loved to see her make her fluffy bed every day and the minute she finished, Blue-Eyes jumped up on the fluffy pillow and went back to sleep.
She usually awoke early to go to the barn with the farmer and watch him milk the big black cow for she knew that he would give her a big bowl of good warm milk just as soon as he finished. The farmer and his wife didn’t have any children and lived far out in the country so they had very few visitors. Blue-Eyes was lucky to have two people who loved her so much. On cold winter nights she had a cozy bed by the big fireplace and in the summer they fixed her a bed in the pantry where it was cool.
The farmer and his wife were getting old, and the farmer passed away. Of course Blue-Eyes missed him as much as his wife did.
A few weeks later the Little Old Lady and Blue-Eyes were milking the cow in the barn when they heard a “meow meow.” The Little Old Lady looked under the steps that lead to the loft in the barn and saw the cutest black cat. It wasn’t very friendly, but it sure did look hungry so the Little Old Lady milked some milk and put into Blue-Eye’s bowl and set it over near the steps. The black cat came down and ate every bite of the milk.
It took a few weeks for the black cat to become friendly, but eventually it did, and so the farmer’s wife gave it the name “Blackie.” She never seemed to want to go inside the house, but loved to sleep in the cow’s stall on the hay.
Blue-Eyes and the Little Old Lady took a walk down the road one day and a big calico cat of many colors was sitting in an oak tree. On seeing them he jumped down and went over to smell Blue-Eyes and to rub along the Little Old Lady’s leg as she walked. When she got to the bend in the road she started to turn and head home. So did the calico cat! She said to the calico cat, “You must not follow us home!” but it kept coming and stayed day after day. Each day it followed Blue-Eyes and the Little Old Lady to the barn for some warm milk. And now there were three bowls to fill each day! The Little Old Lady gave him the name of “Rag” for it had so many colors that it reminded her of her husband’s old rag shirt that he worked in.
Rag loved to be on the front porch under the old rocking chair. Late one evening, after supper, Blue-Eyes and the Little Old Lady came out on to the porch to sit and rock. Under the rocking chair was a small female gray cat with green eyes. She was quite unique. She had a short tail and was very shy. The Little Old Lady said to her, “Where did you come from missy?” She just got over closer to old rag to protect her. The Little Old Lady just left them alone and sat on the swing with Blue-Eyes on her lap thinking, “tomorrow the female cat will be gone home.”
But she didn’t. She liked Rag a lot. She followed to the barn for milk. The Little Old Lady fixed her a bowl, but she didn’t want it. Instead she ate with Rag! The Little Old Lady was soon calling her “Missy” and fixed a box big enough for her and Rag to sleep together on the porch.
Near the end of summer she heard so much noise on the porch before she was to milk the cow that she went to see what it was and found six little babies in the box with Missy and Rag. She held them up and said, “Oh! My! What am I to do with you babies!?” She decided she had better find a name for each one.
She held one up and it looked like Rag so she called him “Rag Baby”. The next one had eyes like its mother so she named her “Emerald.” The next one’s tail was so short that she named it “Stubby.” The next one was gray and she said, “I think I can call you “Melissa” after your mother, Missy.” That left two more to name. She said, “I guess “Barney” would be a good name.” The last one kept nosing around the box so she decided “Nosey” was a name that sounded good to her.
Blue-Eyes was usually a quiet cat and nothing exciting could disturb her, but this had sure become a busy place! It took the Little Old Lady half the day just to feed them all! Even the old cow seemed to worry how she could have enough milk for all these mouths. The Little Old Lady didn’t seem to worry at all for she had always wanted to have a large family and now she had one. They kept her busy enough that she was not so lonely for her husband.
Now Blackie was getting very friendly and was quite happy to be boss of the barn. He even caught all the mice in the barn and shared them with Missy and her babies. All of Missy’s babies started roaming out to the barn to explore. Nosey loved to climb to the top of the stairs, but could never get down by himself. It being Blackie’s home, he was always having to carry Nosey back down the stairs each time. Barney would come out and curl up in Blackie’s bed and fall sound asleep. Emerald was very standoffish and Blackie soon learned that she could scratch his eyes out if he tried to make her do anything. But Stubby and Rag Baby just wanted to be loved and get long baths with his tongue. Blackie found that his quiet big barn had turned into a busy cat-sitting job and he didn’t appreciate Rag and Missy letting them come there for him to babysit. Not once did they ask Blackie if he minded.
All six babies grew and grew and all came to the barn for milk each day. The Little Old Lady now had ten bowls!
Wintertime was coming up and Blue-Eyes kept watching the Little Old Lady work in the house fixing ten beds by the fireplace so that her family would stay warm all winter. Finally snow started to fall outside and the Little Old Lady brought all of her cats inside. All of the cats wandered around being nosey. Blue-Eyes laid on the bed on her fluffy big pillow and watched. First thing, Rag Baby and Melissa hopped up on the pillow near Blue-Eyes. She quickly picked them up one by one with her teeth and put them in their own beds that the Little Old Lady had made for them! The Little Old Lady laughed and said, “Oh Blue-Eyes, don’t be jealous!” but Blue-Eyes was very upset to think that this cats could ever think that they could sleep on her pillow.
Blackie missed his big barn but he sure did enjoy that big fire while the snow and the cold wind blew outside. Rag and Missy were content just to wash and watch their babies play.
The Little Old Lady was trying to make a rug out of yarn, but she couldn’t work much for laughing at the six babies winding themselves into yarn.
Every day the Little Old Lady picked Blue-Eyes up in her arms, and got her milk pail, and went to the barn to get milk for all of her family.
Winter passed more quickly than she or Blue-Eyes had ever remembered. The Little Old Lady laughed more also than she could remember, for all the cats had their own dispositions and were very funny and entertaining. Of course, Blue-Eyes was anxious for Spring, not so that she could go outside, but so that all the other cats would leave her pillow alone! Blackie loved just resting and letting Blue-Eyes have to keep the babies out of trouble as he had to while in the barn. Spring came and he knew his rest was almost over and he again would be busy himself.