The Tales of Two Cats

Please allow me to introduce you to Brutus originally known as Muffin. Yes, I know. Does the name Muffin match the character of this battle scarred cat? Not at all.
Let me start at the beginning. Brutus or should I say Muffin didn’t belong to me, but a young woman who had two young daughters. My husband and I led busy lives both working full-time and often we would go away on holiday and weekends. Being responsible people we decided not to have pets.
Then Willow entered our lives. Willow a skinny black and white cat was found curled up on our patio chair most mornings nine years ago. Russell and I weren’t sure whether she was a stray. At the time we had as many as ten different cats that wandered through our garden. They had a path that ran around the back of the garage, across the end of the garden and over the fence via an apple tree. When I had a little dog, Annie she had put a stop to cats coming in the garden. Annie has been gone many years ago, and I never wanted to replace the un-replaceable.
Anyway, back to the two cat. One day I found a skinny black and white cat eating bread. Cats eating bread didn’t seem right to me. My husband kept seeing the cat we named Felix watching for us. Whenever we went out it would watch for our return, and appear like magic. It wasn’t very trusting at first. Russell bought some cat treats and fed it. I was nervous about this and decided to investigate. I noticed the cat came from a certain house and discovered that the cat called ‘ Flump’ and wasn’t a stray but according to its owner ‘It’s always hungry and belongings to my daughter (a five year old)’
So my husband and I stopped feeding the cat, but Willow as I called her wasn’t having any of it. If the kitchen door was open she would come in. I would sit on the floor and talk to her. Over time she came into our lives and stayed. At first you could only stroke her head. It took four years before she trusted me enough to pick her up. ( She still doesn’t like strangers and will hide from anyone she doesn’t know)
Back to Brutus/Muffin. Now Willow hates Brutus she always lets him know he isn’t welcome. Brutus would appear in our garden battled scarred. Often with blood on his ears, a cut across his nose and licking his wounds. It why we called him Brutus. One winter I found a very ill Brutus sheltering in my compost bin, I went to tell the owner.
Yep, you guessed it the owner was the young woman with the two little girls. ‘I’ll come and see him in the afternoon.’ She called from her bedroom window. She never came. I gave Brutus a bowl of food and made sure he was dry and warm by improving the shelter around him. Even Willow looked worried about him as she sat by me whenever I took food out to him.
Brutus made a full recovery and I was able to cut all the mattered hair off him, and de-flea him. He would return home to his old home, but most of the time I would find him somewhere in my garden.
Then one day when my son was returning from the village shop he saw the young woman trying to get Brutus into a box. Her boyfriend said to my son. ‘Does your mum want another cat!’
My son said, ‘You better ask her yourself.’
The young woman said ‘She had one of my cats she’s not having another one.’
They moved out of the village taking Brutus with them. I texted my husband at work to tell him what had happened. He texted back ‘Well I *@£( hope they take good care of him’.
When Russell arrived home from work he opened the back door and called to me ‘Look who I found on the door step!’
It was months later we found out the woman and the boyfriend had brought Brutus back the same day and dumped him in our garden.
So that’s how two cats from the same house came to live in our home, five doors down from house where they lived in as kittens. After a visit to a vet to end Brutus’ fun, he is now chipped with the name of Brutus Readman. He’s such a softie. It took him ages to understand he can come and go freely. At first he was happy to sleep outside in all-weather but just lately he knows if he appears at the door at the time Russell locks up at night he can come in. The house is divided into two as Willow doesn’t like Brutus to be in the same room as her. They both defend the garden from other cats and will fight them off.
Today Brutus is sleeping in the bathroom after being out all night, while Willow is sleeping in the art room.