Near the barn on Mr. McSwiggles farm there lived a community of feline cats. Mr. McSwiggle kept all the cats who wandered his way in order to keep the mice population to a minimum. He always had corn and grain for the chickens, hay for the horses along with plenty of food for all of his animals. He was a short heavy set little man, his belly as round as a biscuit and he wanted all of his animals to eat as well as he did.
At the last count, his cats had multiplied and totaled about sixteen or so. This was quite an acceptable number for the rats out numbered them still. You see all the field mice would come inside for the winter and Mr. McSwiggles barn would be running wild with the four-legged varmints. So he made sure all the cats never got too thin. He wanted them to be in good physical shape and fast on their feet so they could rid the barn of the horde of scavengers. After all, they were of no use to him, just a nuisance to be sure.
The family of cats all got along very well. They would lie around in the warm sunshine grooming themselves with their tongues and rubbing themselves with various sweet smelling plants. One of their favorites was the lavender plant that grew wild around the barn. The mother cats cleaned all the babies from head to toe everyday. Their soft fur would shine maine coon kittens for sale near me like a new penny in the sunlight. Everyone was as happy and content as could be until one day late in the afternoon they had a wayfaring guest. Things then went a bit awry.
A big black tom cat swaggered up from the fields. He had been roaming in the fields nearby and just happened onto Mr. McSwiggles farm. He was a huge male cat much bigger than any of the other cats. All eyes watched him cautiously for a short time not being so sure he was a friendly newcomer. As he came closer, they noticed something very odd about him. He simply smelled atrocious. All the female cats ushered their kittens quickly into the barn peeking out to see what might happen.
“Well good afternoon fellow felines. I hope I am not intruding. I just happened upon this farm and thought perhaps I could help you round up all the field mice!” He smiled a big Cheshire grin. Not wanting to appear rude Herman the tom cat in charge spoke up quickly.
“All cats are welcome here but they must all get along and cause no problems with the other cats. As long as you behave then you are quite……” He paused for a moment not finishing his sentence. He rubbed his nose with both front paws and asked. “What is that terrible smell you have? Did you roll in some of the horse droppings?”
The black cat just smiled and took a quick inspection of his body. “No! No! It is nothing like that. I’ve just been working so hard I haven’t had the time to clean myself up properly.”
Clearing his voice Herman continued. “Oh well in that case, you will want to hurry on down to the creek and take a good bath. The water is as clear as a looking glass and you can take your time. No one will bother you. It is just beyond the Grainery Building” he continued, pointing in the direction of the creek they all knew well. It wasn’t very long until one of the barn cats came running up to Herman totally out of breath. ” I thought you told that black cat to clean himself up”, she questioned? “Well he is NOT and has NOT taken a bath yet. He is lying out in the sunshine just at the edge of the tall grass.”