Hunter tilted his head to the side. He heard something coming. He hoped it would be the raccoon, returning again to meet him in the alley today. Then he heard voices. It was humans. He slipped behind a garbage bin. They were getting closer, louder. There were two, maybe three, humans. Then he recognized one of the voices. It was the boy. And with him was a female human who was bigger than the boy. Hunter suspected it was the boy’s mother. His friend, the raccoon, had explained that humans raise their young for years and years.
The boy led her forward. The mother’s voice was soft and quiet, but there was something about the way she moved that made him think that she was uneasy. Hunter smelled food and wondered if they were heading to the colony. They continued down the alley. They would have to take the long way around to a hole in the junkyard fence that was large enough for them to pass through. As soon as they were out of sight, Hunter ran across the width of the alley and underneath a fence. He wanted to be waiting for them when they reached the clearing.
Hunter had seen the boy almost every day. Either early in the morning or later in the day, before sunset. Always he had food with him. Always he gave it to the cats. And always he was kind and gentle. Hunter was still wary of him, but he was starting to trust him, just a little. And while the trust was only growing slightly, his fascination was growing by bounds. Hunter often stayed off to the side, watching and listening to the boy.
Hunter slipped between the parked cars. He wanted to get to the colony before them, so he could sit and watch them but not be seen.
He heard a scream, a human scream. Hunter froze. Before he could react, the raccoon came scampering toward him.
“I didn’t know you could run that fast,” Hunter said.
“Neither did I,” the raccoon admitted. “I guess I just needed the right encouragement. I almost ran into two humans.”
“The boy and his mother.”
“Did you see me run by them?” the raccoon asked.
“I saw them in the alley and thought they were headed for the yard. That’s where I’m going.” He paused. “Would you like to come with me?”
“To where the humans are going? I think I’ve been close enough to those humans already. Shouldn’t we both be moving in the other direction?” the raccoon asked.
“No, I need to get close enough to see what they’re doing.”
“Because you don’t trust them?”
“Because I need to learn from them…and you could help me.”
“I’ll go with you as long as we don’t get too close.”
“We’ll be off to the side so they won’t see us,” Hunter said.
“Good. I don’t want to startle them again. People are often afraid of raccoons.”
“I wish they were more afraid of cats,” Hunter said.
“No, you don’t. If they’re afraid of you, they would hunt you and kill you,” the raccoon said.
“They kill cats all the time with their cars.”
“I told you, they don’t do it on purpose. Those deaths are because they don’t see us. They kill animals they are afraid of. That’s why there are no bigger animals where they live, where we live.”
“There are animals bigger than humans?” Hunter asked in amazement.
“Much bigger.”
“And you’ve seen them?” Hunter questioned.
“I know of them. Someday I’ll show you what I have seen.”
That thought sent a tingle through his cat senses. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see an animal that humans were afraid of and was bigger than him.
“Now let’s go and look at the humans,” the raccoon said. “They’re scary enough.”
Hunter led and the raccoon followed. The raccoon could not move as quickly or quietly as Hunter. He grunted and had to force his way through some of the narrower passages. Finally they circled around, skirting through the wrecks to Hunter’s hiding spot. They climbed underneath a car and were hidden. Nothing could attack them and they had lots of ways to escape.
They could hear the humans. Strange, even with his pace slowed by the raccoon, Hunter should have been able to get here before them. He cautiously poked his head out to look. There were humans, but it wasn’t the humans he had expected! There were three grown humans, and they were surrounded by dozens of cats. Hunter looked for Mittens or the kittens and—
The boy ran toward the humans, screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs as he charged at them!