Cassandra Latham

After Mab

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Cassandra Latham, The Dolls House, Churchtown, St Buryan, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 6DS England Email : Cassandra Latham

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In Memory of Mab part 1 part 2 After Mab part 1 Mab's Story

Life was just not the same without Mab; I couldn’t even pass the pet food counter in a shop without filling up with tears. Well-meaning friends were encouraging me to get a replacement cat, but I was unable to countenance this. I needed to grieve, and I withdrew to do just that.

After a while a little creature came to share my home. A mouse… I called him Frugal and that was OK for a while. However, it became apparent that Frugal either had, or was fast producing, an extended family! This is not unusual when you live in the countryside but I had to make the choice between living the rest of my life surrounded by little bags of poison and traps, and getting a working cat. So I started the process of finding a couple of young cats.

In the meantime Lesley, a close friend of mine came to visit. I had stayed with her in Manchester shortly after Mab died, for some TLC, which she gave in abundance. Sadly her cat, Mogg had just died – so it was my chance to return the same. It was very upsetting for Lesley, as she had heard from her sister that her cat had disappeared and she was frantic with worry. This was just the sort of situation I would have worked magically with Mab – and so that got me thinking…

I asked Lesley the name of the cat and for her to visualise it. I placed my hand on Mab’s casket and began to focus down. Immediately, Lesley’s mobile rang which incidentally had not worked inside my cottage before. We looked at each other, and I said, “I wonder if that’s who I think it is?” Lesley disappeared outside to take the call and then came literally bouncing in yelling, “The cat’s just walked in the door!” Wow! I said out loud “That’s pretty impressive Mab!” and I got the distinct impression of Mab licking her forepaw and shrugging as if to say, “That’s nothing!” I was so thrilled to realise that I could still work magic with Mab and something shifted within my grief, and I began slowly to recover.

Before Mab, I always used to have two cats so that they would keep each other company when I wasn’t around. (When Mab appeared she made it very plain that she wanted my undivided attention and would brook no rivalry.) I spent many weeks visiting rescue centres and farms for feline predators and eventually ended up with the two hooligans who now live with me.

Let me introduce them to you:
Firstly there’s Jinks. She’s a black and white, what I call, a spat cat, mostly black with white paws and face/chest markings. Sadly she came from a broken home, which has left her very twitchy and easily spooked. Her previous name was Lucky so I decided to utilise a little reverse psychology and call her Jinx, but then changed the spelling to Jinks in the hope that she may experience some high jinks of her own! Now she’s a bit like the Princess and the Pea – very particular and dainty. Jinks has actually caught a token mouse, just to show that she can, when bothered – or it runs right in front of her nose!

And then there’s TeaLeaf! She’s a very attractive tabby with white paws and chest. I believe that she must have come from a very loving home, probably with children, as she is so good-natured. TeaLeaf loves having a cuddle and her tummy rubbed. However, TeaLeaf is also a ferocious hunter of small creatures and an accomplished thief – hence her name from Cockney Rhyming Slang. Within 24 hours of arrival TeaLeaf had presented me with five rodent corpses and a wrecked kitchen in search of more food!

To begin with the relationship between the two of them was strained, but I left them to it mostly. Initially TeaLeaf was puzzled by Jinks’ numerous hissy fits whenever she wanted to play, but now they’ve got used to each other’s foibles; however, that doesn’t stop them having an evening ‘Wall of Death’ routine all around the cottage – it’s like having a couple of adolescences but they do make me laugh, which is always a Good Thing.

I’m not expecting either of my cats to become familiars – they are working cats in this world – Mab is also a working cat, but now in the Otherworld which is jolly useful.
I still miss Mab, and I always will until we meet again.

Back to part 1

Cassandra Latham, The Dolls House, Churchtown, St Buryan, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 6DS England Email : Cassandra Latham

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