Tuesday, September 5th, 2000, Brian had to work in Malibu and didn't get home until after two in the morning. He didn't go to work on Wednesday, the sixth. As usual, I was back here on the computer. Late in the morning, he figured he would wash his work truck. It was really dirty, he'd wanted to wash it for a couple of weeks now, and he had the time. I heard him talking to someone, I figured maybe one of the cats through the screen. He wasn't. He told me there was another kitten out front. A little red one. It had been standing by the screen door, crying.

I went outside and both Brian and I looked for it. He found it in the bushes under the bedroom window. We tried to catch it, but we had no luck. It ran down the bank. I couldn't see where it had gone. Giving up, we went about our chores.

That night, as we were watching television, I heard the neighbor dog barking. Now, this dog isn't really a barker, not like Buddy. I said something to Brian that I wonder what she's barking at. We both went outside and looked down into their yard, not seeing anything. I went into the house and got a flashlight. Back outside, I shined it into their yard. And kitten eyes were reflected back. *sigh* And the dog was standing within a foot and a half of the kitten, barking. Now, this dog isn't a bad dog, not a mean dog, but like so many dogs, if a smaller, unfamiliar animal runs, the dog will give chase. And she would kill the kitten. I yelled out at Brian (I yell out a lot at Brian) and he came running out. We went over to the neighbor's. I rang the doorbell as Brian went into their yard. Brian grabbed the dog and the kitten ran.. I kept ringing the doorbell, but nobody was home. I followed Brian into the yard. The kitten had run into the back of the yard, next to their detached garage. The sides of the garage that run along the fence are blocked off to the dog because of cats and kittens getting behind there. This kitten wasn't with mama, though. And this kitten was most likely a sibling of Mystie. The UPS man didn't drop any kittens off, this was clear to me now. This baby's mama was feral. We had seen Blue outfront in the days since we got Mystie with kittens. And now it was positive. This kitten's mama was Blue, just like Mystie's mama is Blue.

It took a while, but Brian was able to get to the kitten. I held the dog, just in case the kitten got back through the fence that blocked off the side yard. Brian held onto the kitten with one hand, maglite in the other. The kitten bit him and he yelled. She bit him again. He was trying to hold her and the flashlight and not get bit. He handed her over to me. She was shaking. She was terrified. As I waited for Brian to get to the gate, she bit me. When we got into the house, I took her into the office, not thinking about bringing her into Mystie's room. She spent the night in here, eating none of the food I left for her. Thursday, I was able to get her from behind the file cabinet and I took her to the vet. I couldn't tell if we had a boy or a girl, but if it was a boy, the name would have been Opie. But it wasn't to be. We had another orange female. Katie Blue. She took a little longer to adjust to the home, still is, as a matter of fact. Where Mystie is out and all over (she's sleeping with Pepper as I type this), Katie is in the exercise room, door opened, but she's back behind some storage containers. She took over a week to not shiver when I held her and she doesn't hiss at me anymore. She will spit at me, but that's when she's playing. I haven't had a kitten do that since Hollywood. She is venturing out, though, a little farther each time. It won't be long before she's a full blown member of the family.