Boxer awoke to the pecking of a beak on his broad shoulder. He opened his eyes groggily, and let out an enormous yawn. "It's time to get up sir," cawed the cockerel as quietly as he could muster. Boxer shoved himself off the ground, stretched, then stepped outside of the barn. He took a deep breath of cold morning air and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw the tip of the cat's tail disappear around the corner of the barn. She had been secretly watching Boxer as he slept, waiting for the time where she would slink away. Boxer wondered why she was out so early and followed her down in between the barn and the hayshed. He set his massive hooves down gently in the dewy grass, but as the cat clawed her way up the side of the shed, Boxer called out stupidly:
"Hello there!" The cat froze, and then turned its head slowly towards the massive form of Boxer. "Good morning," she purred coolly. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" Boxer blinked at her.
"Yes, I suppose,' he answered as the cat started climbing again. "Where're you going?" The cat stopped again and shifted to face Boxer.
"That depends where I want to go," she hissed silkily.
"But you're supposed to be working too," Boxer protested.
"Hmmm" the cat mewed. "Cats don't work."
"They should!" Boxer whinnied. "Because we need everyone's help!"
"Oh, I'm helping." The cat licked her chops. "I'm getting an early breakfast, and then I'm going on my mission." The cat blinked slowly. "I need lots of food to keep me standing all day."
"Oh," said Boxer, swishing his tail, his face screwed up with the effort of understanding all of what the cat was saying. "Oh. Mission. I guess that makes sense." He stood there for a moment thinking about what he had said.
"Yes," purred the cat. "A very secret mission." No mission a horse should be sticking his face into." Boxer blinked, and snorted in frustration, shaking his head.
"I don't understand," he sighed.
"Secret Mission. Very secret," the cat mewed sweetly.
"Mission," Boxer whuffled through his lips. "What's the mission?"
The cat hissed, "It's secret! I can't tell you!" Boxer blinked.
"Oh," said Boxer. "Um, who sent you on the mission?"
The cat narrowed her green eyes. She had two options. She could tell him nothing and go on her "mission", or she could tell him the truth. She decided the latter. Boxer would probably be too stupid to resist her. "Don't tell anyone." She closed her eyes, as if in defeat.
"Alright," she purred, "I give in." She opened one eye and whispered so quietly, Boxer could barely hear her. "The pigs." Boxer's eyes widened in surprise.
"The Pigs?", he whinnied.
"Shh!" the cat hissed angrily. "And don't tell anyone." Boxer's eyes widened, and he nodded his head,
"Okay!" he whispered.
"Now let me go." The cat almost growled. "I need my breakfast, so I can do my mission all day." Boxer nodded urgently. The cat climbed to the roof and slid through a broken window. Boxer trotted off.
Inside the shed, the cat found an old saucer, poured in some soft grains, then dislodged a loose floorboard. Stashed underneath, was a metal canister filled with rich milk from the cows, given to her by the pigs in payment for the work she was doing. She tenderly lifted it from the hiding place and dribbled a bit over her meal. Then she stored it back under the floorboard and pushed it back over top. Slowly, and with great relish she began to eat the delicious meal.
Once she had finished, she rinsed out her bowl and slid out the door. Outside, she trotted towards the boundary fence. Squeezed underneath it, and set off towards the barn next doors to Animal Farm. She held her head high and loped with purpose. She arrived at the barn and stalked around outside the barn doors until they were opened by a sinister looking man draped in a dark hood.
"In." he demanded. The cat complied. She slid in between the heavy doors and they slammed behind her. It was very dark, but the cat, being a cat of course, could see perfectly. A cougar lion sat, snarling at the base of a milking podium.
"Who are you?" it growled menacingly.
"The cat from Animal Farm." The cat answered simply
"This place is true I have heard about?" it sniffed doubtfully. "Oh yes, I smell it. I smell the freedom that comes off of you in great waves."
"yes." The cat shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I am here to do business."
"Business!" the cougar let out a rasping laugh. "What has a cat to know about business?"
"Everything." The cat mewed haughtily.
"Oh, really?" the cougar stood up, towering above the cat. "Little business maybe. But not real, big business, of which you are messing in right now."
"Enough!" cried the cat, lashing her tail. "I am here to do business, not sit around and debate my reliability!"
The cougar let out another rasping guffaw.
"I like you cat," it growled. "Forget of the first payment. Here, your prize." He hoisted a heavy sack onto the cat's shoulders. "Do not forget to tell your masters."
"I have no masters." The cat mewed. "I am a free cat."
The cougar shook his massive head, "I would not be too sure of this."
By: Katey Spence