Mystery

Today I had the good fortune to be introduced to Mystery. Good fortune both because she turned out to be a love, and because my being formally introduced to her by Linda helped her to trust me a lot quicker than she might have otherwise.

When Mystery first came to the sanctuary as a kitten, she and Kia were in a cage together. Mystery managed to escape the cage much earlier than staff intended, and so while Kia tamed up nicely, Mystery remained largely feral.

Linda tells me how, during her regular visits to the singlewide trailer, she would often kneel on the floor of the back porch, knowing her many cat friends there would start drifting towards her, slowly forming into a greeting line, each receiving pets in turn as they made their way past her. Mystery must have been quite curious about the proceedings, as one day she snuck into the back of the line and accepted her pets along with the rest as they walked past Linda.

Later, when Linda would sit in an armchair in the same area, Mystery starting coming to visit her there too, joining in with the other cats who'd climb up and vie for a little lap time.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I approached Mystery myself. She was sitting on a cushion high up on a shelf, so I needed to climb a ladder to get a good look at her, let alone try to make any sort of meaningful contact. I strongly suspect Linda's presence had something to do with it, but Mystery let me touch her right away. Soon, she was quite happily rubbing her head against my hand and purring away.