Jack the Cat-Ripper

APK had just finished watching the evening news over TV and came rushing to me, very upset.  

"Vege Cat, there's some mad man going round poisoning cats in our area.  Some 20 cats have been killed so far.  We've got to do something!"

I was of course aghast at the news.  "This is probably the work of animal haters, but what can we do to stop them?"

Just then, Ning came in and said that he had also heard news of the poisonings.

"We've got to do something to protect our feline friends," he said grimly.  He went on to say that he and two of his friends from the Club, Li and Xi would be going round the streets and alleys to warn the stray cats there to be alert.  APK and I got very excited when we heard that and asked whether we could join them.  Of course Head Nun would hear nothing of it and strictly forbade us to follow Ning.

"The killings have been reported to the Police and local authorities," she said.  "We should leave it to them to take action.  As for you, Ning, I give you credit for being so brave but I really think you and your friends should not take matters into your own hands.  What you propose to do is very dangerous and you may very well run into the killer himself!"  

"Don't worry, Head Nun," said Ning.  "We shall be careful".  He then ran off to find his friends.

We were on tenterhooks for the next two or three days and waited impatiently to hear news from Ning. After two days, Ning came back to the temple and told us that he and his friends had gone round many lanes and alleys and warned the stray cats there; some of them were unaware of what was happening, some were scared stiff, others didn't believe what they were told. So far they had not met any human who looked like he was "Jack the Cat-ripper" as they nick-named him.  He said they were going on their rounds again in the evening and we reminded him to be careful.

The next morning, APK came rushing into the kitchen with the morning newspaper. "Vege Cat, he did it!" she screamed excitedly.

"What .... who ... ?" I gasped, not knowing what she was talking about.

She held up the paper and we saw a picture of Ning and his two friends under the headline "CAT KILLER CAUGHT BY THREE BRAVE CATS".  "Ning caught the killer!" shrieked APK.  All the nuns stopped what they were doing and crowded round APK to look at the newspaper.

Then who should walk in but the hero himself.  We of course rushed to congratulate him and when the excitement had died down, we asked him to tell us the whole story.

"Well, last night we were going down this back lane looking for strays but there were none.  We stopped for a while to rest when suddenly we heard footsteps.  We quickly hid behind some dustbins; it was a man approaching but it was too dark to see his face.  We saw that he was carrying some paper bags in his hand and he was making some funny noises and saying things like "Meow, meow, where are you?  I've got some nice food for you....". He then bent down and put some food on the ground.

My friend, Xi, a hot tempered tabby, couldn't contain himself any more.  He pounced on the man and bit his ear.  Li bit his ankle and I punched him in the back.  The man fell to the ground crying "Stop, stop..."  

Xi leapt on top of his chest and growled, "We'll stop if you confess you have been poisoning our friends!" Quite unexpectedly, the man started sobbing.  "Look, I don't mean to kill all those cats but I was so frustrated...."

To cut a long story short, the man said he had a quarrel with his girlfriend over a cat.  The girl, a cat lover, has some ten cats in her house and when he spanked one of  the cats for making a mess on the kitchen floor, the girl was furious, threw him out and told him never to come back.  Enraged, he decided to take his revenge on all the cats he could lay his hands on for breaking him up with his girl.

Just then a Police patrol car came by and I signalled it to stop.  "You had better give yourself up," I said to the  man.  "Maybe they'll be lenient with you."  He nodded meekly and followed the policemen back to the police station."

"Will he be put in prison?" asked APK.

"I don't know. His girlfriend may forgive him and bail him out." said Ning.

Head Nun was of course very relieved that Ning was not hurt in the scuffle.  "Well done, Ning," she said, patting his head. "Now the street cats will be safe, thanks to you and your friends."

Unfortunately, Head Nun is not always right.  There are many animal haters out there who think that stray cats are a public nuisance and will only be too glad to see them dead.  Sad to say, no one can guarantee their safety.

Well done, Ning!