The Hat

One morning, Ning asked whether I would like to accompany him to see Shabina and her kittens.  I said OK as I had not seen the kittens since they were born, so we set off and arrived at Ms. Oh's house soon after.  Ning rang the bell and it was sometime before the door slowly creaked open.  We saw that it was Pearl, the old lady.  She seemed very nervous and asked us to come in quickly, then shut the door behind us.

"Is everything alright, Aunty?" asked Ning.  "Oh, and where's Ms. Oh?"

We were rather taken aback when Pearl suddenly burst into tears.  "Oh Ning," she wailed.  "I'm so glad you came!"

Ning asked her to calm down and tell us what had happened.  Well, it seems that Ms. Oh had gone away for a holiday for two weeks and left the house to the care of a friend, a guy by the name of Chen and he had turned out to be someone who hated cats.  In front of Ms. Oh, he showed great concern and love for the cats but once Ms. Oh's back was turned, he locked them in the storeroom and hardly fed them.  Pearl could not do anything as he threatened to strangle the kittens one by one if she interfered.  He had gone out earlier in the morning and she was afraid he would return any minute.

We all rushed to the storeroom and we could hear the kittens crying their heads off, they were so hungry.

"Shab," shouted Ning, banging on the door.  "Are you alright?"

"Oh, Ning, thank goodness!" she replied.  "Lucy and I are ok but the kittens are starving.  Can you get us out of here?"

"Do you know where the key to the storeroom is?" Ning asked Pearl.  Pearl shook her head and said she didn't know where Chen had hidden it.

While we were debating what to do, we heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway.  "He's back," gasped Pearl and fled into her room.  The door opened to admit a thin, sinewy guy of around 40 or so.  At the sight of Ning and myself, he barked, "You two!  Who the devil are you and how did you get in here?  I suppose that old scarecrow let you in," he said answering his own question.

I could see the fur on Ning's back beginning to rise.  He was getting very angry.

"Look," he said.  "We're friends of Ms. Oh and we came to see her and the cats."

"Well, she's not here, so why don't you both go home, eh?"

Ning's face was turning purple.  "We want to see the cats," he said, trying not to lose his temper.

"Whatever for?  They're a bunch of dirty, greedy tramps.  Do you know, they leave their shit all over the place, jump on top of you while you're sleeping, steal your food and bite you when they're hungry.  I'm sick of feeding them, I have a good mind to strangle them and throw them into the river!"

Just then, we heard a gasp from the doorway.  We turned round and saw to our surprise that it was Ms. Oh!  Chen's face paled and he stammered, "Ms. Oh!  You're not supposed to be back until next week ..."

Ms. Oh put her luggage down and said, "They cut short the trip because of an unexpected flood and just as well, if I hadn't come back and heard what you just said, you would have got rid of all the cats.  I'm really disappointed in you, I thought I could trust you.  Well, I've heard enough, now get out!"

Chen started to protest but Ms. Oh pushed him out and banged the door behind him.  

"Good riddance!  Now where are the cats?" she asked.  We told her they were locked in the storeroom and luckily she knew where the spare key was.  As soon as we unlocked the door, the kittens came rushing out, crying for food.  Ms. Oh immediately prepared some warm milk and soon Lucy, Shabina and the kittens were licking it up, having starved for a few days.

Meantime, Pearl came out of hiding and wept on Ms. Oh's shoulder, saying, "I'm so glad you're back.  I was so afraid...."

 "It's alright, Aunty," said Ms. Oh, hugging her.  "You must have been terrified of that horrible man.  I'm so sorry I asked him to take care of the house and gave you all so much trouble."

Ms. Oh explained that Chen was an ex-colleague whom she ran into one day.  She had known him as an amiable, obliging guy when they were working together and when he said he was looking for work, she offered him the job of taking care of her house and tenants while she went on holiday.  She had no idea he had changed into a cruel, heartless man.

So with Ms. Oh back, everything returned to normal.  But not for long, unfortunately.  One day, Ms. Oh took Pearl to the hospital for her doctor's appointment and when they returned home, they found to their horror that the house had been broken into and ransacked.  The whole place had been turned upside down and the cats and kittens were nowhere to be seen.  Ms. Oh immediately reported to the police and asked Ning to help her find the cats.

"This must be the work of that mad man, Chen," said Ms. Oh. "He's taking his revenge on me for kicking him out."

So Ning and I started our search in the village and then along the river.  But there was no sign of the cats.

A day later, the culprit was caught by the police and it was indeed Chen, who confessed to the crime saying that he lost his head when he was sacked by Ms. Oh.  When they questioned him about the missing cats, he admitted that his intention was to throw them into the river but he couldn't find them anywhere in the house.  He swore that he had not kidnapped them and didn't know where they were.  So what had happened to them?

The four of us (Ms.Oh, Pearl, Ning and myself) were standing in Ms. Oh's garden discussing what to do next when suddenly, we heard some meowing and mewing - and they seemed to be coming from Pearl's old house next door.  Luckily Pearl remembered where she had put the key to the front door and so we all rushed inside - and there they were, Lucy, Shabina and the kittens, safe and unharmed!

"Who on earth let you all in?" gasped Pearl.

Lucy said excitedly that on the day of the robbery, they were all playing in the backyard when they saw someone approach them.  That person was dressed in flowing white robes and wore a large hat which covered part of her face and they couldn't see her clearly.  She told them that they were in great danger and to quickly hide in the house next door (Pearl's house). 

"She opened a window for us  to climb through and told us to stay in the house until it was safe, then she disappeared," said Lucy. "We didn't know what it was all about, but somehow we knew we could trust her, so we did as we were told.  Then just now we peeped through the window and saw you all in the garden, so we cried for help."

"So you didn't see who the lady was?" asked Ning.

Lucy and Shabina shook their heads.  Ms Oh then told them that Chen had broken into her house, stolen and destroyed some things and had the evil intention of drowning both cats and kittens. They were horrified, of course and thanked their lucky stars that they had been saved by a mysterious stranger.

Pearl, who had been silent so far, went into one of the bedrooms and came out holding a large hat.  With a quiver in her voice, she asked Lucy whether this was the hat the lady wore.

"Why yes, I remember the blue ribbon ...where did you find it?"

Pearl sat down and the hat dropped from her trembling fingers.

"It belonged to Daisy," she said, her voice barely audible. (Daisy was the other old lady who had died earlier).

There was a stunned silence, then Ms. Oh said in awe, "Are you ... are you saying Daisy came back to save the cats?"

With tears glistening in her eyes, Pearl said that the night before, she had a vivid dream of Daisy.  She was standing outside their house in a white dress and large hat with the blue ribbon on her head.   She was smiling and looking very happy.  

"I think she saved the cats," whispered Pearl.

Later, when we were walking back to the temple, Ning said that Daisy had loved the cats like they were her own children and it was not surprising that she would do anything to save them.

Well, it's an old story, where there is great love, there will always be miracles and coupled with God's love and mercy, anything is possible.