Page 52 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
The door to the cabin swung open and Izzy reappeared. ‘How are we getting on?’ she asked.
‘Well, it looks as though we came in for one kitten and, somehow, we’re now looking to adopt two,’ said Leo, nodding towards the pair of sleeping kittens nestled in his arms.
‘Ah, amazing!’ replied Izzy. ‘That often happens and if you’re planning on having more than one cat, adopting a sibling pair is the best option. They’ll grow up together and keep each other entertained.’
‘See, Tori was right,’ replied Lara, pointing over at Tori, who was still cradling Angel in her arms.
‘Now, let’s see who you’ve chosen,’ said Izzy, stepping into the pen, with her handheld microchip scanner at the ready. ‘Yep, thought so. This little guy is Dexter, he’s the biggest and fluffiest of the bunch, but the gentlest too. I reckon that means… yep, thought as much,’ said Izzy, scanning the microchip of the second kitten in Leo’s arms. ‘This is his little sister, Domino.’
‘Dexter and Domino,’ repeated Lara.
‘These two are always together, they’re such a funny pair… they adore each other,’ Izzy explained.
‘Aw, I’m so pleased they’re getting to stay together,’ said Tori.
‘And I see you’ve made a friend too,’ Izzy said to Tori, who was still cuddling Angel.
‘Erm… well, yes, I wanted to talk to you about that. I don’t suppose there’s any chance that—’
‘Angel would be suitable for the café? Izzy finished.
‘Well, yes,’ said Tori. ‘I know you said not all of the cats would be suited to café life,’ she added quickly, ‘but I was wondering, well, hoping…’
‘Definitely!’ said Izzy. ‘Angel was top of my list of suggestions for you.’
‘Really?’ said Tori, her shoulders relaxing.
‘I thought if you spent some time with her…’
‘Izzy! Was this a set-up?’ asked Leo, raising his eyebrows.
Izzy shrugged. ‘I knew once you met Angel, you’d fall in love with her.’
‘Well, I did. You were right, Izzy.’
‘She loves other cats too, so she’ll be happy in a group environment. I’m sure she won’t be with you for long before someone snaps her up,’ said Izzy, stroking Angel on the top of her head. ‘If only all my adoption visits were this easy,’ she laughed. ‘Five minutes in and we’ve already got three cats sorted.’
‘Lara, now we’ve found Dexter and Domino, can we go and look at some of the other cats for Tori?’ asked Leo, putting the kittens back down in her lap.
‘Oh, but I want to stay with my kittens,’ said Lara, hanging her head.
‘It’s their dinner time now, anyway,’ said Izzy, takingAngel from Tori’s arms and putting her back with her babies. The kittens headed straight for their mum and began feeding. ‘And then they’ll need another nap soon. It’s best if we leave them alone for a while.’
‘Oh, okay,’ said Lara. ‘Bye Dexter, bye Domino. I can’t wait for you to come live with me.’
‘Aw, she’s so sweet,’ Tori whispered to Leo as they left the nursery.
‘You wouldn’t say that if you saw her kicking off at bedtime,’ he replied.
Izzy began running Tori through the list of cats she thought would be suited to life at the café, most of whom were long-stayers and unlikely to be rehomed before the cat café opened its doors. As well as Mr Wiggles, there was Daisy, a petite tortoiseshell who was around a year old; Norris, a middle-aged ginger who had a chunk missing from his left ear; and Valentine, a young grey male of around eight months who was playful, energetic and into everything, despite having a metal plate in his leg after a road accident. As soon as Tori met the cats individually, she just knew that Izzy had got it right. Although they were all very different, they all seemed to be relaxed, friendly and gentle.
‘You know, I was thinking about what you said the last time I was here, Izzy, about needing to raise funds for the centre,’ said Tori.
‘If you’ve got any ideas, that would be great. Our vet bills have been crazy this month,’ said Izzy.
‘A coffee morning at the Cosy Cat is one idea and we can have a collection tin on the counter, but I’m sure there’s more we can do. Maybe a few of us can put our heads together? See what we can come up with?’ said Tori.
‘I’d be up for that,’ said Leo, ‘to say thanks to Izzy for making Lara so happy. Why don’t we rope Rose and Jake in too, have a brainstorm at the pub?’
