“Rocksy! Rocksy! Do you want to go for a walk with us?” The first time I asked Rocksy to go with us was shortly before Pebbles was born. At first, Rocksy kept her distance, trailing behind us cautiously. She was still leery about the man of the house. Each time we started out for a walk, I called, “Rocksy!” and she materialized out of nowhere one moment, and the next she would weave between my legs like she had been there all along.
By the time Pebbles was born, our walks were routine. Rocksy was always ready to go, with ears perked and tail flicking. She wasn’t comfortable having Pebbles out of sight, so she stayed close to home for a while. When the kitten got a bit bigger, I said, “Pebbles! Do you want to go for a walk with us and your mom?” She didn’t say a thing but played with a blade of grass. One day she followed us to the edge of the yard, her tiny paws stepping over rocks and tufts of grass. She would go no further so Rocksy took her back to the rock pile.
Some days Pebbles started out with us but for some reason when about twenty feet from the house, she would stop. “Pebbles, are you coming?” But no! She had to stop and do her business – or so it seemed. I saw right through that ruse! Each time we ended our walk in front of the basement door. Guess who waited for us? Pebbles! She played in the dirt and took a nap on the cool concrete. “Where did you go Pebbles? You didn’t walk with us.” She yawned, arched her back then stretched as far as she could, and said, “Mew, mew.” That meant, “Oh, you were going for a walk? Why didn’t you wait for me?”
Over time, Pebbles grew braver. We would start out together and then she would wander into the grass to explore and chase bugs or dig around. Rocksy always waited patiently, then went into the weeds and retrieve her kitten. Pebbles hopped out of the tall grass like one of the mule deer fawns and raced to catch up with Rocksy, and then dart off into the weeds again tracking some invisible thing. Finally, when Rocksy had enough, she would say, “Meow,” look at us, sigh, shrug her cat shoulders and stay with The Pebs until she ushered her kitten home.
The cats still go for walks with us. Well, Rocksy does at least. When we start down the trail, or to the mailbox, Rocksy walks behind us. As soon as we turn toward the house, she runs in front of us and takes the lead. I think Rocksy is part dog. She definitely displays some dog-like characteristics. She could have been the poster child for the cartoon character Catdog.
The last few months Pebbles has gotten better about walking with us. Sometimes she actually goes all the way to the mailbox and back, but more often, she stops close to the house and waits, or is perfectly content to take a nap then pretend she didn’t know we were going anywhere. She even has the nerve to suggest that we didn’t let her know!
The next time we went to the mailbox we called, “Rocksy! Pebbles! Are you ready for a walk?” Rocksy was already at my heels. But Pebbles? Well…. She had more important business to tend to.
