SURPRISE!

Pappy & Carboncina

A real retriever? Quaylebeau Pappy Yokum (called "Pappy") is nine years old, and has lived with his family since he was eight weeks. He is a labrador. Now, labs are dogs which are famous for being intelligent, loyal and easily trained. They are also supposed to have a natural instinct to retrieve. Pappy is a very friendly, playful dog, but he does not seem to have this 'retrieval' gene. He watches other dogs fetch balls and sticks, but does not get involved: he just bounces around, wagging his tail madly. Only once has he behaved like a REAL retriever, and that was when he was five years old. Early one Boxing Day morning, when the family was staying on a farm, everyone was woken up by growling and squeaking noises. It took a while to stir, because Christmas Day had been long and tiring. The noise kept up and eventually a few people wandered outside. There was Pappy, absolutely delighted with himself. The speed of his tail increased when he saw he had an audience: a stunned audience, for in his mouth was a limp chicken. Once he had everyone's attention, he presented his gift by dropping the dead chicken proudly on the doormat. He looked from one person to the next with a big grin on his face. Satisfied with his performance, he has never bothered to retrieve anything since that day.

Woman's Best Friend Carboncina is a great little cat. She is about fourteen years old now, though she doesn't look it. She had a frightening time as a kitten, I believe, locked in a Brunswick shed, given no love and only a few strands of spaghetti each day. One day she escaped. I first saw her eating from my old cat's bowl while he sat by, his head cocked to one side, watching her, something he'd never let any other cat do. Each time I tried to get close to her she ran away. It was two days before I could catch her. She is still very timid with strangers, and if I touch her when she has her back to me she gives a little cry and tenses up ready to spring away should danger follow. It has taken many years to gain her trust. The only one she has ever truly loved, apart from me, was my old cat, Marm. She used to curl up beside him wherever he was and when he was dying she lay beside him with her paw around his neck. Each day when I arrive home from work, her little black head pops up above the front fence. She leaps over it and greets me with cries and purrs. What a joy she is to come home to!

Pappy and Carboncina have not yet met. What will happen when they do?

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