A CAT'S FERRY TALE

by F. L. Pettitt

When Bimba, our favourite cat, went missing earlier this year we became somewhat desperate, especially as we do not have our own family. It had started to snow and, to make matters worse, we heard that cat thieves were operating in our area. However, we did all the right things such as putting up posters in corner shops and on trees on the common.

On advice, we even consulted a clairvoyant who described the area and the time that Bimba would be found. One thing that worried us was that the clairvoyant mentioned that she would be surrounded by water and green men. We hoped this did not mean she would be drowned or abducted by a flying saucer!

For four weeks there was no sign of her. We had all but given up hope when, on the evening appointed by the clairvoyant, we received a call from the officer of a local ambulance station.

"I spotted your poster about Bimba in the vet when I brought my cat in for a check-up. She appeared at our station about three days ago. I'm sure she's yours; the eyes are identical to those in the poster's photo," he reassured us.

The ambulance station is on the approach road pier to a well-known London river ferry so Bimba was literally surrounded by water! And when we arrived to pick her up she was having a whale of a time with men dressed in the green uniforms of the ambulance service! (She was always a bit of a coquette. In fact, it took quite some persuasion on our part to persuade her to come home again and abandon her adventurous life of the past month.)

Anyway, now we know it's not just the fire-brigade that rescue cats. The ambulance service can certainly join the cat rescuers club too. Trust a cat's intelligence to adopt one of the capital's emergency services!

Needless to say, our faith in clairvoyants has also increased by leaps and bounds.