Homeless

Chapter Six

That evening, all of the kids head over to Brenna’s house for dinner. They pull up to a roomy log cabin. It has flowers of every size and color blooming, bird feeders hanging from branches, and a smell of pine in the air. It’s surrounded on three sides by a nature preserve. It’s hard to believe they’re still in the middle of the suburbs. Sunita says it reminds her of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods. David points out it reminds him of the “Angry Beavers.” They live in the forest, too. Brenna’s mom speaks up from the driver’s seat, saying she calls it the Hundred-Acre Wood. Apparently, Brenna used to think that Pooh Bear and Tigger lived next-door.

Sunita likes Mrs. Lake. Her chestnut brown hair has silver strands in it. She works at the retirement community where Sunita’s grandfather lives. Brenna jumps out of the car and says she’ll show all the other kids around. There are two other small cabins set a short distance from the house. One of them is Brenna’s dad’s workshop. He’s a carpenter. The walls of the workshop are lined with tools, neatly hung and organized by size. There’s a couple of woodworking machines in the middle of the floor, and some beautiful chairs under the window. The air smells like sawdust.

Then, Brenna shows them the barn. The barn is where the Lakes keep injured wild animals and nurse them back to health. The Lakes are licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Sick or injured animals are brought to them to be nursed back to health. Brenna is really proud that her family does this. Brenna says they can’t stay in the barn long. Mom and Dad don’t want the animals to get too used to humans. And they have to be quiet. Only a woodchuck and a baby fox are in there right now. The fox still hasn’t settled in yet. He was hit by a cart on a golf course.

The kids file silently into the barn, passing a few empty pens until they get to a hollow log in one pen. Brenna whispers it’s the woodchuck. Sunita can’t even see it. The woodchuck must be hiding inside the lock. The next pen holds the baby fox. When he sees them, he skidders into a corner and hides his head. His back left leg is bandaged. Sunita wishes that she could pick him up and stroke his red fur and tell him not to worry. But Brenna whispers that it’s already time to leave.

The Lakes’ kitchen table is small, but they’ve set up a card table at the end so they can all sit it together. Brenna introduces the kids to her father, who has a cheerful bushy beard and one pierced ear. Her older brother, Sage, and younger brother, Jayvee, look like their dad, minus the beard.

Brenda calls for Poe, and a large black crow hops into the kitchen. She introduces him as Edgar Allan Poe Crow. He’s her buddy. She tosses him the corner of a hamburger roll, and he snaps it with his beak and gulps it down. Poe’s wing was badly damaged by a gunshot last year that he can’t fly any kind of distance. He’s the only critter that the Lakes have let stay with them permanently.

They all feast on hamburgers and homemade potato salad. Brenna tells her parents about Socrates’ disappearance and what they found by the railroad tracks. Mrs. Lake reassures them the Dr. MacKenzie’s cat will come home in a day or two. He seems like an independent and smart animal. Maggie points out that if his wounds get infected, he won’t have the energy to come home. Mr. Lake says they shouldn’t be worried yet. It’s only been a few hours. Besides, Mrs. Lake says that the size of the colony of strays proves that it’s a good area to live in. Mrs. Lake says she heard there were only a few cats there; she didn’t know the colony was so big. Sunita says she wishes that they could rescue them all. She’d love to take one home. Sage says that they probably don’t need rescuing. The strays have survived without much help up until now.

They all continue talking about the colony of cats. Sunita feels it’s not fair for them to have to live like that. Mr. Lake says that it’s hard to tell when it’s right for people to interfere in the life of a wild animal. It’s possible that some of the cats aren’t really wild, they’re dependent on humans for food. Sage says that maybe they’re just taking the easiest meal they can find. If the food disappeared, the cats would go back to normal eating habits and hunting for themselves. Zoe thinks Sunita’s right. The cats deserve something better. Brenna’s father says that he has heard of people that brought feral cats into their homes and domesticated them. But they’re still nervous around people, and they still won’t sit in anybody’s lap or let anyone pet them. Zoe says that maybe Socrates is actually feral. The only people he lets near him are Gran and Sunita.

When Maggie asks about the tuxedo cat’s kittens, Brenna’s mother says if the black cats kittens are raised outside, they will be feral. That’s the big issue. Cats reproduce, and they’re not socialized as pets. There’s not much that can be done about them. Brenna’s father says it’s the way the world works. When there’s too many of one species in a place, nature takes care of it. They run out of food, and the weak die. Putting animals to sleep is actually more humane.

Then, Sunita speaks up. She explains the TVSR program that Dr. Mac explained to her. Mrs. Lake says TVSR makes sense. The animals are released back to where they were found. Sunita says she hates the idea of forcing them to live on their own again. She wants to find people to adopt them, but Sage says it wouldn’t work. A wild animal is a wild animal.

They all keep talking, but Sunita’s thoughts start to drift. She can start with Tiger tomorrow. She just has to be patient. Cats that are raised in the wild need extra love and understanding. Maybe Socrates was once a feral kitten. Dr. Mac told Sunita that she found him wandering around the yard when he was tiny. She can do the same with Tiger and the others. She is sure of it.