Emma L. Newcombe
Not in all of London was there a cat is fine as Chastity. She was a lovely orange color, with light yellow stripes going down her back. She was owned by the Mertyls, a family consisting of a boy and a girl, a mother, and a father. Everyone loved her.
Well, everyone except Mr. Mertyl. He hated cats, especially Chastity. She was very picky about what she ate, and she would only take the expensive cat food. Mr. Mertyl hated paying extra just for a stupid, no good cat.
He had tried many ways to get rid of her, but none seemed to work. First, he had tried to sell her to a relative, but somehow, Chastity had found her way home. All his other plans backfired as well.
Well, the most interesting part of this story began on June 11, 1997. The daughter of Mr. Mertyl, Claire Mertyl, went into the living room to feed Chastity. When she put the dish in front of the cat, she just nudged it, curled up in a ball, and stared into space.
Well, Claire was afraid that something was wrong with Chastity, so she called one of the Mertyl's servants, Lilly. When Lilly saw the cat, she stared with wide eyes, and said, "I think we should call the doctor."
Of course, they did. Now, this doctor didn't usually make house calls for cats, but Chastity was an exception. She was too good of a cat to leave alone when sick.
The doctor came a few minutes after Lilly called. He had with him a little black bag, and was dressed in a white coat.
"Now, what seems to be the trouble?" He asked.
"Oh, we think Chastity is ill!" Claire cried. "She won't eat or anything!"
So, the doctor went over to Chastity. He opened his bag, and took out some strange looking instruments. He put some on her belly, listening to her heart, and he took others, and looked at her ears, eyes, and nose.
About ten minutes later, he got up, and smiled. "This little Chastity isn't sick at all," he said. "Why, she's just having kittens!"
Claire and Lilly were overwhelmed with joy. They went to find James, the son, and Claire's mother and father. Everyone was so excited---except for Mr. Mertyl.
Well, now I'm going to go into the future. Months later. This is when Chastity is having her kittens! Claire is sitting on the rug, smiling, but looking nervous, James and Mrs. Mertyl were trying their best to sooth Chastity, the doctor was helping deliver the kittens (along with some servants) and Mr. Mertyl? Well, he was in his study, taking some aspirin.
"Oh my, they're beautiful!" This was Mrs. Mertyl, exclaiming over the kittens. "They're five of them. I could love them to bits."
As everyone ooooed and ahhhed over the kittens, poor Chastity lay on the floor, tired as could be. Five kittens is a lot of work for a cat.
Suddenly, Mr. Mertyl stormed into the room. His face was slightly red, like always when he'd get mad.
"I've tried to hold my peace," he began, "but I can't keep quiet any longer. I want to make sure that you all know that we are NOT going to keep all of these kittens! That is final."
"Father, you can't possibly mean that!" Claire and James cried. Even the mother had a look of shock on her face. But all he did was raise his hands and walk out of the room, into the kitchen.
As he sat at the kitchen table, wondering if what he had said was the right thing, he felt something soft and warm against his leg. It was a sad and upset Chastity.
At that moment, for some reason he couldn't explain, Mr. Mertyl admired Chastity. Whether it was because she had just had five kittens in two hours, we will never know. All we can tell is that it made him decide to keep the kittens.
He slowly got up from his chair, when back to the living room, and told his family they could keep the kittens. Everyone jumped up and hugged him (except the doctor), said 'thank you, thank you!' and went back to cuddling the kittens.
In the years to come, you might think that Mr. Mertyl and Chastity grew a deep bond together. Well, they never did, really. But Mr. Mertyl did learn to respect Chastity a little more. And that was enough to get him through the next 15 years of Chastity's wonderful life.
My name is Emma L. Newcombe. I live in Massachusetts. I love to write, and I also love to play music. I play clarinet, piano, and I have a harmonica and a guitar. I have a brother, and a mom and dad. I also have a dog named Patches. If I had a cat, I'd name it Marmalade or Chastity.
(Messages are forwarded by The Preservation Foundation.
So, when you write to an author, please type his/her name
in the subject line of the message.)