The Cat That Went to Homecoming (4 page)

That painful lump returned to my chest as I
tried to swallow my fear. I felt my limbs go weak and I nearly
dropped Hershey. Cindy noticed my discomfort. She put her hand on
my shoulder and whispered, “Don’t let Darcel bother you, Ellen.
She’s nothing but a self-centered, spoiled witch. The day will come
when she will get what she deserves.”

I nodded at Cindy, saying nothing, but
letting my eyes thank her for her kindness. I turned to walk away
as briskly as possible with Hershey still in my arms. He must have
read the tension in my body because he started squirming, his hind
claws digging into my stomach.

“Well, if it isn’t Ellen Ellen Watermelon!”
The witch shrieked. “You must be exhausted from walking so far! And
thank you for NOT putting on shorts and sparing us all the
unpleasant sight! Does JMS even make shorts Ellen?” She asked.

I kept walking, holding Hershey close to my
face. I whispered reassuringly into his ear the entire way to
distract myself as well as him.

“You’re such a good boy, Hershey. I love you
Hershey.” I whispered all kinds of sweet nothings to him, and his
squirming stopped. His body was still stiff and on guard, but he
remained focused on me and my words of encouragement.

Darcel followed me all the way to my
driveway, spouting all kinds of ugly, hateful comments. It was a
very long walk, but whispering to Hershey helped me shut her
out.

Once we reached my driveway, Hershey squirmed
and clawed at me until I let him down and he led me up the driveway
on his leash, as if he was leading me to safety. Halfway up the
drive, he turned in Darcel’s direction, arched his back and
hissed.

I had no idea whether Darcel noticed
Hershey’s display of aggression because I was so shocked at it
myself. He was protecting me!

He marched us right up to the front door, and
he sat waiting for me to open it. When we were safely inside, we
both relaxed. I leaned against the shut door and closed my eyes
while my heart rate slowed down. Hershey laid across the rug in the
entryway, silently waiting for me to unwind.

Chapter
Six

We arrived at the address for Paws That Heal,
and I was a little surprised. It was a house, not a commercial
building. The property that the home was on was wooded and secluded
with colorful flower gardens surrounding an old wooden barn. The
woman, whom I recognized as being the one from the news interview,
greeted Mom and me and introduced herself as Jane.

“Bring Hershey with you into the barn and
make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be with you in just a
moment.”

I pulled the carrier out of the car and
turned to face my mom. I was nervous and a little part of me wanted
to turn around and leave, which mom sensed.

“Don’t worry, Ellen, Hershey will be just
fine.”

I knew she was right, but it wasn’t HIM that
I worried would fail. Would Jane reject us because I wasn’t thin
and beautiful?

Jane had instructed me to bring a towel, a
brush, and some treats to the screening, so I grabbed the bag they
were in and carried them in one hand, Hershey in his carrier in the
other.

We entered the barn, and I was taken aback by
the rustic beauty of it. It was probably a hundred years old! Sun
peaked through large cracks in the walls, and birds were nesting in
the rafters high above our heads. It was huge, yet cozy. Jane had
poster-sized pictures of different animal-human teams adorning one
wall, and I imagined our picture hanging there one day.

Hershey was getting restless in his carrier,
so I let him out. He was already harnessed and leashed, so there
was no chance he’d run away in fear. I crouched down to meet his
eyes and said, “Here we are Hershey. This is your big day.”

He rubbed his cheek against my face and
meowed at me. I rubbed his chin, and he lay on the floor of the
barn so I could pet his tummy.

“This handsome little man must be Hershey,”
Jane said, startling me because I did not hear her enter the
barn.

Hershey rolled back onto his feet and stood,
keeping himself on guard. He watched Jane as she slowly approached
us, but he did not back away. She crouched in front of him to
stroke his head and he allowed her to do so, but looked up at me as
if to make sure it was okay.

“It’s okay Hershey,” I said to him. When Jane
stood up, Hershey crawled atop my feet and lay down across
them.

“Do you see how confident he is that you are
protecting him? He is lying across your feet in order to be
touching you in some way. He’s not afraid and he’s not trying to
hide or escape. This tells me that you two have an amazing bond,”
Jane said.

“Come sit and let’s talk for a little bit,”
she said as she led my mom and me to a table set up near a
computer. “Let me tell you about animal-assisted activities, and
what you will need to do to become a part of our team.”

Jane shared her credentials with us. She was
a veterinarian technologist by trade with a degree in
animal-assisted therapy as well as dog training. She began
animal-assisted activities ten years ago and started her own
business, Paws That Heal, after three years of animal therapy
work.

Jane told me about the different facilities
and schools Hershey and I could volunteer at if we joined her team.
Then she said it was time to evaluate Hershey to see if he had the
right temperament.

I followed her to the center of the barn
carrying Hershey in my arms. The birds in the rafters above us were
making noises that caught Hershey’s attention. He looked up at them
in curiosity and watched them, but did not try to escape my
hold.

“Hershey is doing great so far,” she said.
“Most cats can’t resist the lure of the barn swallows. He
definitely notices them, but he isn’t trying to escape to chase
them.”

We were then put through a series of tests to
see how Hershey reacted to different sounds, people, and actions. I
held Hershey in my arms while Jane came at us briskly using a
walker, dropped items behind us, wheeled towards us in a wheel
chair, and pretended to be a child and gave aggressive child-like
pets and hugs to Hershey. He was visibly uncomfortable with it all,
but he stayed close to me while I whispered reassuringly in his
ear, “It’s all right Hershey, and I’m right here. I won’t let
anything happen to you.”

Jane sat in a chair and asked me to lay the
towel across her lap and give her Hershey’s brush.

“For this test, you will have to put Hershey
on my lap and he has to allow me to brush him and pet him for at
least thirty seconds.”

I wasn’t so sure Hershey would like me
handing him off to a stranger. “You are allowed to crouch next to
him and reassure him with your voice, but no touching.”

I let out a deep breath, squatted down in
front of Jane and put Hershey on her lap. He stood on her, looking
up at me frightfully.

“It’s okay Hershey, this is Jane. Jane won’t
hurt you.”

He circled her lap, and then lay down
apprehensively. Jane smiled and slowly stroked his back.

“May I brush him?” She asked me. I told her
she could, and she started to brush his coat. He looked a little
startled; no one had ever brushed him but me. He looked at me to
see if it was okay. I gave him reassurance with my eyes and he
looked back at me with half-closed lids. He was enjoying it.

“Wow,” Jane said in surprise, “He’s actually
purring, Ellen!”

I smiled and said, “That’s my good boy.” It
was hard not to touch him, but I used my eyes to show him I was
there for him.

He sat on her lap for well over a minute, in
fact he made no attempt to jump off of her. I had to remove him
myself!

“This is the last test, Ellen,” Jane said.
“Did you bring any treats?”

“Yes,” I said. I walked back to the table and
reached into the bag for his treats.

“I’d like to see if he’ll take a treat from
me,” she said. She pulled one out and offered it to Hershey
open-handed. Hershey just looked at her hand, but he would not take
the treat.

“I never give him treats from my hand,” I
explained to her. “He has never taken food from my hand.”

Jane rubbed his head and smiled at me. “Well,
that’s one thing you will need to work on. It is important that a
cat be trained to take a treat out of the hand. People love to give
the animals a treat, and they will expect them to take it out of
their hand.”

She went on to explain to me that cats cannot
see beneath their noses, their “blind spot.” When a treat is
offered to a cat open handed, the cat uses his nose to root around,
searching for the treat by scent. The sensation of the nose bumping
into a person’s hand brings pleasure to the person offering the
treat. Often people that are being visited by animal-human teams
are lonely, and experience very little touching. Just that little
bumping of the nose into their hand brings a smile to their faces.
It feels as if they are being petted by the animal.

Hershey squirmed in my arms to be released,
so I put him on the floor and allowed him to walk around. He
immediately went to a small hole in the floorboard and peeked into
it in fascination. Jane chuckled. Hershey looked up at Jane, and
then walked over to her and rubbed up against her legs.

She squatted to his level and rubbed his
chin, his face aiming skyward and lids closed. He loved getting his
chin rubbed.

“Hershey is definitely a friendly cat who
will socialize well with people. I have no doubt about that,” Jane
said. “But, Ellen, let’s talk about you.”

Gulp! Oh no! Here it comes; I’m not fit
for the position physically.
I wanted to leave before she could
say this to me.

She motioned for me to sit at the table with
her. I picked Hershey up and carried him with me. I sat him on my
lap and stroked his coat, heart pounding and eyes wide because I
was so nervous.

“Ellen, I can see that you and Hershey have
an inseparable bond. Hershey has complete trust in you, and this is
so important. Animals are naturally unpredictable, so anything can
happen during a visitation. If the animal and the human handler
work well together, the chances of problems arising lessen.

“But, Ellen, you seem to be very insecure.
You interact with Hershey and keep him calm and reassured, but you
never made eye contact with me during the role playing
exercises.”

I swallowed hard and looked right into her
eyes. I was terrified, but her eyes were so kind and gentle that I
almost melted.

“If I could make a suggestion, it would be
that you work on conversation starters. When you hand Hershey off
into someone’s lap, you want to squat down to his level and
converse with the client. He can hear your voice, which will keep
him at ease, and the client will enjoy the human interaction.”

She suggested I start out by making a list of
interesting cat facts to share with the client. “For instance, you
could ask the client if they know what a cat’s whiskers are used
for.”

She placed a hand over one of mine, her eyes
locked on mine, and said, “You are a beautiful person with a
God-given gift. Open yourself up and allow that gift to shine.”

I heard my mom sniffle. I had almost
forgotten she was there! I glanced at her and she was crying.

Jane looked over at my mom and smiled at her.
“I am so glad to have met your daughter and Hershey today; you have
raised a very special young lady here.”

I had to swipe away a tear myself. I was so
moved by Jane and suddenly very inspired.

“Ladies, I think we should wrap this up. Each
assignment in the field is two hours or less for the sake of the
animal. We never want to overwhelm the animal; he is your first
priority. When he seems to be uncomfortable, you, as his support,
must remove him from the situation. Never be afraid of hurting
someone’s feelings if you have to do this, it is for the safety of
Hershey.”

She shared some last minute information with
us. I was going to need to be registered with Pet Partners, a human
services organization that registers and insures human-animal
teams. To do this, I would need to take their on-line therapy
animal handlers course. Once I completed the test at the end of the
course, I would send in my application for registration. This
entire process would cost almost $200.00! I was suddenly
disappointed, and it must have shown on my face because Jane once
again covered my hand with hers.

“Is something wrong Ellen?” she asked.

“Well for starters, we don’t have a
computer.” I said with tears welling in my eyes. “Is it possible to
take this online class at the library?”

“My husband and I have an extra laptop we
aren’t using. It’s an older model, but it works.”

“But I can’t pay you for it,” I
stammered.

“I’m not worried about that. It was just
going to be donated to a church or school, but now I have someone
just as deserving to donate it to.”

I was again moved to tears. How could there
be someone this kind in the world?

“Thank you so much, Jane. I really appreciate
it, but I have another problem.”

I didn’t have any money to pay for the class
and the registration fee. I couldn’t ask my mom to come up with
that much money for me, and even if I did ask, she couldn’t afford
to give it to me. We could barely even buy groceries each week!

Jane must have sensed this. She did not let
me finish, instead she said, “I have a large property that needs a
lot of maintenance. It’s difficult for me to find the time to weed
all my gardens and the weeds are starting to take over. Do you
think I could hire you to do some work around here for the
summer?”

My mouth dropped open in surprise, and Mom
let out a gasp.

“I would like someone to come over for three
or four hours a day, twice a week to help me around the yard. I
would pay $50.00 a week. AND, you could bring Hershey with you.
”