Yesterday, I mentioned that our cat, Malachi, was stolen. This is that tale.
We were traveling back to Texas from our new home. Well, new for me at any rate. The wife and her previous husband bought the place over a decade ago as a ‘summer home’, and they’d spend half the year there and half the year in Texas. Until last year, I continued this practice with the wife.
After we got married, the wife developed heart problems. She had them before we got maried but they worsened after that. We went on our honeymoon a year later and the wife had her first heart attack on the trip. When we returned we prepared to trek back to Texas, with dire warnings from her doctors to consult a cardiologist as soon as we got back, to determine if she’d need immediate surgery.
We bundled up our shtuff, plus the animals, and headed off on a three day trip back home. We stopped at the Best Western in Murphy, NC on our first night. All went well on the road, and we had a comfortable night in our room. We got up the next moring, had breakfast, then I got the car loaded up and ready to hit the road. I got the dogs in the car, then went back to the room to get Malachi.
“Where’s the cat?” I asked the wife. She didn’t know.
I looked all over the room but couldn’t find Malachi anywhere. I looked in small crevices and spaces between the furniture and walls with no luck. I went outside and all around the hotel property. I thought possibly Malachi had gotten out of the room unnoticed as I was getting the dogs out to the car. I spent an hour looking for him. With dire warnings from the wife’s doctors running around my head that she needed immediate medical attention when we got back to Texas I made the decision to get on the road. We had two more days of travel so I didn’t want to delay us getting back on time. I didn’t want to leave Mal but the wife’s health had to take precedence. We got on the road.
The next day we were contacted by the hotel. The next people checking into the room we’d been in found Malachi sleeping in the bathtub when they checked in. I have no idea where he was hiding in the room, nor why he wouldn’t respond when we we called for him, but he was still in the room. The woman who we spoke with was rather nasty, acting like we were terrible pet owners for leaving the cat behind. We told her we’d be back to get him.
After getting back to Texas we called the hotel and spoke with the manager so we could arrange for me to get back up there to retrieve Malachi. It seems the lady that we first spoke with took Malachi home. The manager told her we were coming back for him, so the woman quit her job and left. She said she was going to give Malachi to her daughter in Knoxville, TN.
We called the police in Murphy. They went to the woman’s house to investigate. They questioned her about Malachi but unfortunately weren’t able to enter the house to see if he was there. I assume they needed a warrant, which they didn’t have for a lost cat. We don’t know if the woman kept Malachi or gave him to her daughter.
Ultimately, I trust that Malachi either tolerated his new owner or if he didn’t I’m sure he found someone more to his liking. I hope he is doing well and living the life of luxury he grew accustomed to while he was with us.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum