she had to keep her.
Sukie cost her nothing. There was never any need to buy the expensive cat food that was so extravagantly praised in TV adverts as if it was a gastronomic marvel. Sukie always found her own food, coming back from forays into the fields and woods around the house with blood on her face and claws and jumping onto Lucy’s lap to purr and lick herself clean.
‘She’s perfect. So self-sufficient,’ said Beatrice. ‘I could never be as … self-contained as she is. I know you think it’s crazy but she and I understand one another.’
‘Maybe not crazy,’ said Bob, ‘but I think you need to get out more, see some people.’
Beatrice laughed.
‘Sukie wouldn’t like that,’ she said. ‘Sometimes we get sales people coming to the door. She sits just inside watching me as I speak to them, and I can feel her disapproval. Once, I went for a test drive with a man who was delivering my new car and, when I got back, she jumped onto my lap, stood with her front paws on my chest and looked straight into my eyes.’
‘Scary,’ said Bob.
‘Yes,’ said Beatrice. ‘But then she purred and lay against me with her head curled under my chin. But,’ she added with a smile,’ she did give me a little nip in the neck – just to show she disapproved.’
‘What do you suppose she thinks about you talking to me like this then?’ asked Bob, looking at Milton and Lucy sitting on the grass in a park.
‘She’s looking at you now,’ said Beatrice. ‘She always sits on my lap as I type. She watches the screen. I think she knows you.’
‘Not sure I like that,’ said Bob. ‘She might put me in the same category as the car guy.’
‘Oh no. I know what she’s feeling. I don’t think she minds you.’
‘How about the guys at the BDSM places?’
‘She watches. Looks at me now and then, then turns back to the screen. I think it … amuses her.’
‘Bloody hell. A laughing cat … no, a laughing, sadistic cat,’ said Bob.
Beatrice smiled.
Under a tree behind the two avatars Bob noticed two action hooks labelled ‘Temptation’.
‘I wonder what she’d think if we jumped on those hooks,’ he said.
‘She’d hate it,’ said Beatrice.
‘How come?’ said Bob.
‘I just know she would.’
‘So it’s funny if other guys carve lumps off Lucy and stick all sorts of bits of metal into her and up her, but not if poor old Milton there puts a friendly arm round you. That’s weird.’
‘Stop, Bob,’ said Beatrice. ‘She understands you.’
Bob laughed.
‘Now I know you’re taking the piss,’ he said. ‘You’re saying she can read too.’
‘Not read, no. But she knows. She and I are … very close. It’s hard to explain. Hard to understand even. We’re cats.’
‘No, Beatrice. You’re a woman. Your avatar is a cat. It seems to me that …’
He stopped. The circle of stars had appeared telling him she was offline and, moments later, Lucy had disappeared.
He thought little of it. She often got cut off – the weather up in the mountains did strange things with her connections and she was sometimes off for a day or more. But when a whole week went by without her reappearing, he was puzzled. They’d been meeting online for over a year and she’d always told him when she’d be going away for any length of time. Sometimes she had to go to London for meetings with the publisher and now and then she liked to go camping in the hills.
After three weeks he was genuinely concerned. If she’d decided to stop logging on, he knew she’d have told him. He searched online for newspapers published in her region, even finding her local evening paper. He read the obituaries and scanned the headlines for news of accidents or mishaps. But there was just silence. And yet he couldn’t just forget about her. It seemed strange to log on knowing that she’d be missing from all their usual places.
Two months later, he still couldn’t get her out of his head and he decided to try to find out
Sukie cost her nothing. There was never any need to buy the expensive cat food that was so extravagantly praised in TV adverts as if it was a gastronomic marvel. Sukie always found her own food, coming back from forays into the fields and woods around the house with blood on her face and claws and jumping onto Lucy’s lap to purr and lick herself clean.
‘She’s perfect. So self-sufficient,’ said Beatrice. ‘I could never be as … self-contained as she is. I know you think it’s crazy but she and I understand one another.’
‘Maybe not crazy,’ said Bob, ‘but I think you need to get out more, see some people.’
Beatrice laughed.
‘Sukie wouldn’t like that,’ she said. ‘Sometimes we get sales people coming to the door. She sits just inside watching me as I speak to them, and I can feel her disapproval. Once, I went for a test drive with a man who was delivering my new car and, when I got back, she jumped onto my lap, stood with her front paws on my chest and looked straight into my eyes.’
‘Scary,’ said Bob.
‘Yes,’ said Beatrice. ‘But then she purred and lay against me with her head curled under my chin. But,’ she added with a smile,’ she did give me a little nip in the neck – just to show she disapproved.’
‘What do you suppose she thinks about you talking to me like this then?’ asked Bob, looking at Milton and Lucy sitting on the grass in a park.
‘She’s looking at you now,’ said Beatrice. ‘She always sits on my lap as I type. She watches the screen. I think she knows you.’
‘Not sure I like that,’ said Bob. ‘She might put me in the same category as the car guy.’
‘Oh no. I know what she’s feeling. I don’t think she minds you.’
‘How about the guys at the BDSM places?’
‘She watches. Looks at me now and then, then turns back to the screen. I think it … amuses her.’
‘Bloody hell. A laughing cat … no, a laughing, sadistic cat,’ said Bob.
Beatrice smiled.
Under a tree behind the two avatars Bob noticed two action hooks labelled ‘Temptation’.
‘I wonder what she’d think if we jumped on those hooks,’ he said.
‘She’d hate it,’ said Beatrice.
‘How come?’ said Bob.
‘I just know she would.’
‘So it’s funny if other guys carve lumps off Lucy and stick all sorts of bits of metal into her and up her, but not if poor old Milton there puts a friendly arm round you. That’s weird.’
‘Stop, Bob,’ said Beatrice. ‘She understands you.’
Bob laughed.
‘Now I know you’re taking the piss,’ he said. ‘You’re saying she can read too.’
‘Not read, no. But she knows. She and I are … very close. It’s hard to explain. Hard to understand even. We’re cats.’
‘No, Beatrice. You’re a woman. Your avatar is a cat. It seems to me that …’
He stopped. The circle of stars had appeared telling him she was offline and, moments later, Lucy had disappeared.
He thought little of it. She often got cut off – the weather up in the mountains did strange things with her connections and she was sometimes off for a day or more. But when a whole week went by without her reappearing, he was puzzled. They’d been meeting online for over a year and she’d always told him when she’d be going away for any length of time. Sometimes she had to go to London for meetings with the publisher and now and then she liked to go camping in the hills.
After three weeks he was genuinely concerned. If she’d decided to stop logging on, he knew she’d have told him. He searched online for newspapers published in her region, even finding her local evening paper. He read the obituaries and scanned the headlines for news of accidents or mishaps. But there was just silence. And yet he couldn’t just forget about her. It seemed strange to log on knowing that she’d be missing from all their usual places.
Two months later, he still couldn’t get her out of his head and he decided to try to find out
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