I hope you’re reading this, Jan

I was putting the wrap on last night when the sound of Toby attacking the coat tree to have Tom’s hat for his own came from the living room.  Turning on lights as I went, instead I found Ryon’s great behind sticking out of the waving stand of walking sticks crashing and clattering over his head.

“Get out of there!”  He backed out immediately, pursuing a very small mouse that moved along the wall’s edge like a wind-up toy, no visible legs.  I cursed quietly, not to wake up sleeping girls, and headed for the kitchen for a towel to drop over the little fellow.  Taking mental cat inventory, Purrl was out all evening, so I didn’t have him to blame.  There would be only two cats and me after this mouse.

The nimble left this grandma long ago; I could not move furniture or myself fast enough, or elbow two cats out of the way soon enough to capture a very young mouse that already knew rule one of houses:  hug the wall.  Twenty minutes in I wished for Purrl, who knows exactly how to dispatch a varmint. These two house softies were all wound up with a magnificent toy.

In the end I left the mouse to his own devices and went to bed.  It was midnight.  At six I woke up and saw Emily in the hall.  Behaving the good grandmother I asked if she wanted me to drive her to the corner and wait for the school bus.  “I’m OK, Grandma.  It’s not raining.” God love that little girl; I went back sleep.

I got up at seven and found Laura eating breakfast.  She put down her spoon and told me her adventure.  Toby had a mouse on her bed at midnight!  She grabbed the mouse tail to get it away and Toby bit her and grabbed the mouse again.  She hit Toby on the head with her book, but he ran away with the mouse.  She shut her door and went back to bed.  But Ryon scratched the door until she let him in.  He didn’t want petted so she let him out and shut the door and went back to bed.

There was no sign of a wound on Laura’s finger, but Grandma sent her to wash her hands really well, again, and went to the door to let Purrl in.  When I turned around, I read Emily’s note on the blackboard.

Then Laura and I drove to the corner in the pouring rain to wait for the school bus.