Wild Kat Read Free

you’ll have to eat left
over stew.  Also says here to stay out of my own hayloft if I want to keep
eating this well.  That is all right I guess.”  Thomas put his dishes in the
washtub and left them for his new house servant. He gathered his laundry and
linens leaving them by the door to be washed.  He penned a note back to the
little fellow, and went to sit on the porch.  He stared at the barn wondering
who lived there.  He wondered how it was that they chose his barn.  Thinking of
how desperate they must be to live in a hayloft.  They would probably leave
when he brought the clothes.  Two meals and some heavy cleaning, they did save
him plenty of time.  He needed a wife to help around the house. It was a lot to
manage with the crops, and the fixing and mending of everything that had fallen
apart from lack of use.  He had spent months on the storm beaten barn and roof
on the house.  The smoke house was nearly ready to collapse when he bought the
place and the orchard had several fallen trees that had to be cleared.  He was
just beginning to catch his breath.  The inside of the house had suffered
because of it but what could he do?  The animals needed a place to sleep, and
so did he.  They needed to eat and they came first.  His new loft tenant must
think him to be a horrible slob but then who asked for his opinion anyway?
     
    She
watched from the darkness, his stare was intense.  What dreamy eyes he had,
they seemed to soak her in.  She wondered if he could see her.  Raising her
hand to wave she watched. He did not wave back.  He must be thinking over what
she said.  Next time she would offer to buy the farm from him.
    He
left for town early the next morning.  She was right behind him.  Kathleen hung
a three point deer from the hook and pulley over the barn door to drain. With
her laundry soaking she gathered eggs and churned butter.  It had been so long
since she had eaten good eggs and gravy that she planned on it for supper.
     
     
    In
town Thomas read off his list to the clerk.  “Those will not fit you.  You are
a thirty-four easily.”  He said after the dungaree order.  “Not for me, a
little fellow is living in my barn, he left me a note and this is his list.” 
One gray haired old man at the checkerboard cackled.  The opponent shushed him
and shot him a glare.
    “A
man you say?”  Jacob the storekeeper adjusted his wire rimmed spectacles and
watched Thomas with curious milky sky blue eyes.    He sucked his cheeks in to
mask his grin.
    “Yes.”
Thomas watched the two old geezers playing checkers.  Their laughter sounded
either like he missed the joke or he was the joke, and whichever it was Thomas
was not amused.
    “Are
you sure?” He peered at Thomas over his spectacles. His bushy gray eyebrows
raised just a hint.
    “Yes.” 
Thomas answered uneasy now.  The smell of the pickle barrel grew more intense. 
Brine filled his nose and turned his stomach to just queasy.
    “Seen
him them?”  Jacob shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
    “Well,
no” Thomas wondered what he was hiding.  Hands in pockets usually meant that.
    “Isn’t
a man, take these moccasins, my compliments.”  Jacob hurried about the dusty
store.
    “If
it isn’t a man, what is it, an Indian?”  Thomas looked at the moccasins.  Jacob
thought about it a Moment, choosing his answers carefully.  His hands
readjusted in his pockets.
    “Some
might say that, I say it’s a cat.”  He tried very hard to hide his smirk.
    “A
cat?”  Thomas’ eyebrows rose, the smell of the pickle barrel souring his
stomach further.
    “A
wild cat, and if you aren’t careful she’ll slit you throat where you sleep.” 
He tried to evade the questions as well as he could.
    “I
am sorry Jacob but I am confused, you are talking nonsense.”  Thomas was
growing impatient with the older fellow’s games.
    “Nope,
you’ve got a wild cat.  You take my word for it.”  Jacob’s