Purrfect Napping Place

All morning, Zacq, the Tollefson''s big grey cat chased mice in the barn, leaves on the lawn, and chipmunks while they explored the woods with Jacqi and the twins, Daine and Stacia. Now the children saddled their ponies for a trail ride. Sometimes Zacq trotted along with them. Not today! He just wanted to find a comfy spot to snooze in. At a stable like DreamWind Equestrian Center, comfy spots are everywhere. Which place should he choose? How about the hay barn? Over he trotted. He fit his paw in the space at the bottom of the door and pulled. Nothing happened. Stretching way up, he batted at the latch. Locked. No cozy hay bales today! Well, then . . . what about the tack room? Zacq headed over to the main barn, checking out other options on the way. Like the big maple tree that shaded part of the parking area. But—Oliver, Zacq''s orange tiger brother, didn''t want to share those high shady branches with anyone. So Zacq went into the main barn. He wandered into the tack room. Several saddles, all on their racks, lined one wall. The English saddles weren’t quite cozy enough for a large cat like Zacq. Pony saddles were too small. ButCDad''s Western saddle with its padded suede seat would be just right! Just as he closed his eyes, big strong hands lifted him off the saddle. “Sorry, Zacq! I''ve got work to do! Want to come watch me train Rogue?” Zacq flicked his tail in annoyance. No he did not want to watch Dad train Rogue! He wanted a long nap! Well . . . there was more than one saddle in this place . . . "Nope! Not my saddle, either, Zacq!" Geoffrey snaked his saddle off the rack just as Zacq was ready to leap upon it. Zacq eyed Geoffrey with reproachful yellow eyes. Geoffrey only laughed. He had a trail ride to head soon, so he didn''t care that Zacq''s feelings were hurt. To make matters worse, his older brother, Sir Harvey Huggins, a bigger brown and cream striped tiger cat wanted to take over the tack room. Harvey liked to think he owned everything! Well—who needed competition? Zacq wanted a nap not a fight. So he trotted out after Geoffrey. Maybe he could sleep on the desk in Dad''s office which was just inside the entrance of the main barn. Right across from the Tack Shop. In the Tack Shop, there were brand new blankets to curl up on . . . Right away, Zacq changed his mind and meandered into the Tack Shop. Yep, there was a nice pile of new wool saddle blankets stacked by the big window that overlooked the stable yard. He could lie there and watch everything that went on outside. He could watch Kourtnay Deverill working in the Tack Shop. Kourtnay always shared her snacks with him. She shared them with all the DreamWind animals actually. But if no other cat or dog wandered in, he could get them all! It was cool in the Tack Shop besides. That was a plus on a hot summer day! The buzz of everyday activities faded away as Zacq''s eyes closed and he started to dream about chasing mice in the boarder''s barn. Then, visions of tuna sandwiches got him purring in his sleep . . . "All right, kitty!" No sooner were the words spoken, than Zacq was dumped on the floor as a tall skinny man yanked one of the saddle blankets out from among the rest. The man didn''t apologize or even give Zacq another look. Just went up to the counter and plopped the blanket up there for Kourtnay to ring up. Zacq sent the man a scowly cat look and then forgot about him. He jumped back upon the colorful blankets, eager to get back to his nap. Whoooosh!! Down came all the blankets . . . right on top of Zacq!! "Oh, nice going, Zacq!" Kourtnay didn''t sound angry, though. In fact, she laughed at him! Kourtnay came over and lifted the blankets off him. Flopping them back up in place, she bent to pat his furry head. "Wasn''t your fault, though. That guy wasn''t very careful in pulling out that blanket!" That man had disturbed his comfy cozy nap! Zacq decided he''d had enough of the Tack Shop. The door to both Dad''s office and to Mom''s were closed. So Zacq left the barn to scout out other possible places to snooze. Like the lawn swing . . . And look! There was Mom, taking the clean wash off the line! Mom always like to sit in the swing with cats or puppies on her lap! Laps were the coziest places in the world! Zacq brushed up against Mom''s legs, meowed at her. When she picked up her full basket, he ran ahead and hopped upon the seat of the swing. Mom stopped to pet him—but just for a second. Once she was done with the washing chore, she was riding, too. Disappointed, Zacq ran after her and beat her to the porch. Flopping by the back door, he washed his paws and waited patiently for Mom to come up the steps and let him in. With the basket balanced under one arm, Mom pushed the door open. “You can come in, Zacq, but stay off my new sofa and chair!” Who would know? Almost no one was going to be in the house this afternoon! Zacq took a running leap into the new cream and blue chair. But as quick as he pounced upon it, he hopped off! "Grrrrrrr! Yip, yap!" warned Juno, the Boston Terrier pup. The chair was her spot now! "Hisssssst!" he answered back. This wasn''t fair! Oh, well . . . there was always the couch . . . But before he could make himself comfortable, Juno dashed right over to chase him off. Then she ran back to the chair when Zacq jumped back over there! "Grrrrrrr! Yip, yip, yap!" "Hissssssst!" Greedy pup! Zacq walked out of the room with his tail high. Who needed new chairs or couches when there were kitchens around! Counters and tall refrigerators . . . All forbidden, but-- so what? The kitchen table invited him to stretch out upon its green checked tablecloth. Oh, but the refrigerator, so much higher, was a better choice! That was it! Up and away from that jealous Juno! Oh, but who could resist the smell of fresh bread? Not Zacq! He hunched up and jumped upon the counter instead. Sniffing the breadbox all over, he purred happily. This place was the best place—high up and smelling good! But--- Elijah, the majestic Himalayan, had already claimed this prime spot!! There he was, all comfy upon the white breadbox, his silver blue eyes tightly closed. Probably dreaming his own dreams of sharing tasty tuna sandwiches with the smallest Tollefson twins, too! What nerve!! “ZACQ! ELIJAH! Get OFF of my counter! Right NOW!” Zacq and Elijah plopped to the floor. Elijah took the time to scratch behind his ear, pretending he didn’t care that he couldn’t sleep up there. Then he went over to his food bowl and ate as if that was what he''d intended to do all the time. Not Zacq. He went upstairs to Mom''s bedroom. There on Mom’s bed awaited the fluffy mountain of laundry she''d just brought in. Purrrrrr! Purrrrrr! Zacq kneaded his paws on a soft towel, his eyes half closed. He curled up on the top of the mountain and dozed off. "Grrrrrr!! Rrah! Rrah!" "Grrrr!! Arrrufff!" The mountain of clothes on the bed started to shake like an earthquake and the jeans nearest the end of the bed slid off to the floor in a rumpled heap. Before Zacq could even figure out that Nesleigh and Nikkah, the Rat Terrier sisters had invaded his space, Mom was in the doorway. “Nesleigh! Nikkah! Get off the bed! Go, bad girls!" Then Mom saw Zacq. "O-oh, Zacq! Not my clean clothes! Come on! Outta here—all of you!” Well! If only those pesky pups had stayed away, he could be still enjoying his nap. And the dreams were just starting to get good, too! This time he''d conned tuna fish sandwiches out of the Tollefson triplets. Triple the delights!!! Well . . . now where should he go? Down the hallway, he heard music playing softly. Lyndsay''s room! Lyndsay didn''t mind cats or pups sleeping on her bed! She didn''t mind cats sleeping on her dresser, either! Down to Lyndsay''s room trotted Zacq. Lyndsay, the eighth of the thirteen Tollefson kids, liked to write. Sometimes more than she liked to ride her horse. Good ideas couldn’t be put off. Besides, she''d promised her younger brothers and sisters she''d have a new story to read to them later. They''d never let her forget it if she broke that promise to them! Lyndsay was deep in Casey Spars Goes To Mars when Zacq wandered in. For a little while he slept upon her soft pillows. But then he decided he wanted company while he slept. Lyndsay usually didn''t mind a cat curling up in her lap while she worked. Yep, this was a good place to find napping spots! He could curl up in her lap, or stretch out on the scanner, or the keyboard of her computer. Or . . .CTHUK*OL)P{\456. . . Hopping upon the desk, he walked across her keyboard, making odd characters flicker onto the monitor. Then he flopped across her open notebook. Purrrrrrr! Such a wonderfully thick notebook! “Zacq! Look what you did!” Lyndsay deleted his contribution to her novel. “Well, at least you didn''t delete a whole page like the last time!” She pulled her notebook out from under him. “Here! I''m sorry— Today, I need this!” He didn''t care. In a second, he was back, and he sprawled across it again. “Oh!” cried Lyndsay impatiently. “Zacq!” Zacq butted her hand with his head. There were still other places to choose. Of course . . . two other members of the Tollefson’s cat family already had one of the best places. Oliver had left his tree earlier and now sprawled in the red and white box that one of Lyndsay''s manuscripts would go into soon. Zacq cautiously approached Oliver and sniffed the paw that lay across the edge of the box. Right close beside Oliver, curled upon Jacqi''s brightly colored backpack, snoozed Hepzibah, Lyndsay''s big black half Himalayan cat. From the tall birdcage in one corner of the room, Cedric, Lyndsay’s blue-green parakeet, burst into noisy chatter. “Good kitty, kitty!” he said in Lyndsay''s voice. Then, “Here, kitty!’ in Jacqi''s voice. “Come Zacq! Come to Jacqi!” Cedric could sound like all of the children, and like Mom and Dad, too. “Get out of my chair, brat cat!” Zacq knew he wasn’t supposed to eat Cedric, but it was fun to think about it sometimes. Just now, though, he thought about something else . . . Like a tall spot to nap . . . Out of the blue, a striped streak raced by him. It leaped up right upon the flat TOP of the birdcage! As Cedric chattered his disapproval at this intrusion, Sir Harvey Huggins purred happily. Washing his paws and the fluffy fur of his chest, he got ready for a good long rest. “Crazy cat!” chuckled Lyndsay. She looked at the assortment of cats and puppies in her bedroom. "You''re all crazy, aren''t you?" "Crazy cat!" echoed Cedric. "Crazy puppy! Crazy kids!" He chattered sharply for a minute longer, then settled down, softly chirping a lullaby. Harvey purred and looked down at Zacq with a smug look in his golden eyes. HA! Beat you again! Slowly Harvey''s eyes closed. In a second, he was dreaming of fat sausages that Geoffrey dangled before his hungry eyes . . . Purrr-fect! Yeah . . . for him! Why did it seem as though he''d never find a place of his own to take a comfy cozy nap? All this hunting for that perfect spot had made Zacq hungry. Back down to the kitchen he went. Luckily, there was still some tasty morsels left to snack on. But—the water in the water bowl had bits of food all bloated and mushy floating in it. Oliver and Harvey didn''t care about that. Elijah and Hepzibah drank out of the fish tank, so they didn''t care about stuff like that. The dogs certainly didn''t care about stuff like that! But Zacq didn''t like mush food tidbits in his water. Out to the mudroom he went to see if the bowl out there had cleaner water to offer. Oh no! Dry! Not a drop in it, clean or not! Well! He stood in the doorway and peeked into the kitchen at Mom. Meowing loudly, he let her know he was not happy with this situation! Mom, in a hurry to load the dishwasher before she went down to the barn, looked over at him. "Okay, just a sec! I''ll get you some clean water, Zacq!" Zacq flicked his tail in reply. This was outrageous! No good places to sleep! No clean water in any of the bowls! Outrageous! Hmmmm . . . Just a sec . . . Zacq sniffed over the bowl. He sniffed it all around its edges. He sniffed all around its outsides. Then he sniffed all around its insides. Then— He climbed right into the bowl, and turned round and round. Hmmm . . . He wrapped his whole body around the inside of the bowl and squeezed down into it. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Kind of a tight fit. But a cozy one! PURRRRRRRRRRFECT!!!!!!