Cat. R C Hilty
would be great. At least that will give us a little income till I find something better.”
Betty replied, “I might as well give this a try. I’ve gone this far. I saw a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window at the diner. I’ll stop in there the next time I am in town.”
“That would be great.”
“I have to go to town pretty soon anyway to register the kids for school.”
“That’s right, it is that time of the year.”
“Uh, yeah, I am sure school starts here around the same time as it did in New York.”
The family finished supper. Dave went out on the porch, sat down on the bench, and lit a cigar to enjoy the quiet evening. Ben and Liz cleared the table then went to their rooms. Cat went to the kitchen to help her mom with the dishes.
“Thanks,” Mom said.
“No problem,” replied Cat.
“Something on your mind?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, what’s on your mind?”
“Oh, Mom, it’s just that I am so excited that we moved down here, and I didn’t really think about how the rest of the family felt.”
“I can honestly say that I am not as thrilled as you are, but who knows? It might grow on me.”
Cat smiled. “I hope it does, because I don’t want to move back to the city.”
“We couldn’t afford it now anyway. Thanks for helping with the dishes.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You better get to bed. Your sheets and blankets are by the closet. Good night.”
Cat kissed her mom. “Good night, love you.”
Cat went to the door, opened it, and said, “Good night, Dad.”
“Good night, honey, sweet dreams.”
The next morning Cat ran into the kitchen and said, “Morning, Mom. That sure smells good.”
“I thought bacon would bring you running. Do I have to ask if you want eggs?”
“No, you don’t have to ask. Is the coffee done?”
“Yeah, the second pot, your dad finished off the first one.”
“Great! I’ll grab a cup and talk to Dad on the porch till breakfast is ready.”
“Okay, I want you to help me with the dishes when we’re done. Ben and Liz are going to town with Dad.”
“Oh, all right.”
After breakfast Dave and the two older children went into town to buy what they would need for the rest of the week. Dave also wanted to price freezers. For as much opportunity that Cat would have to hunt and fish, they would definitely need one.
As Betty and Cat finished up the dishes, Betty asked, “Help me arrange the stuff in the house.”
Cat smiled and laughed a little. “Would this be considered quality time?”
Betty smiled back. “Yeah, we’ll call it that.”
That afternoon, Dave, Liz, and Ben came home. Cat, who was outside, came in and yelled to Betty, “Mom, you won’t believe the size of the freezer Dad bought! Boy, it’ll take me a month to fill it!”
Cat ran back outside and said to her dad, “I’ll have to hunt and fish quite a bit to fill this.”
Dave replied, “Fill this, one and I’ll get another.”
Betty went outside and looked in the truck, then said to Dave, “Where are we going to put it? It won’t fit in the kitchen.”
“If it won’t fit, I can put it in the garage. I just couldn’t pass up this deal.”
“Then I’ll have to go to the garage to get the food.”
“Now, you know that you’ll have me or one of the kids get the stuff out of the freezer.”
“Well, yeah.”
“This one was on sale. I can always get a smaller one for the kitchen later. Who knows, they might have another sale.”
Betty shook her head and went back inside the house.
*****
Betty yelled from the kitchen, “Breakfast’s ready, come and get it.”
Dave came in from the porch; the three children from their rooms and sat down at the table. As the food was disappearing from the serving dishes and appearing on the plates, Betty commented, “I don’t know if my cooking’s that good or if you guys are just hungry.”
Dave replied, “Both.”
“Yeah, I guess. Ben, you and Cat need to go to town with me so that I can get you two registered for school. Liz, would you be a dear and clean up the kitchen this morning?”
“I suppose.”
Dave said, “Greg needs me to work later. Liz, you can ride into town with me, and we’ll have lunch at the diner. Your mom can stop by the station on the way home and pick you up.”
Liz smiled. “Quality time?”
“You bet.”
After breakfast Betty, Ben, and Cat got into the car and goes into town. Before Dave went out on to the porch to drink another cup of coffee, he asked, “Liz, why don’t you get a cup and join me?”
“I need to get the kitchen cleaned up.”
“A few minutes won’t matter.”
Liz filled her coffee cup then walked out to the porch. “Yeah, guess you’re right… Won’t be long, I’ll be off to school.”
“Hard to believe, seems like yesterday you were just learning to walk.”
Dave and Liz finished their coffee. Dave helped with the dishes. Liz really enjoyed spending time with her dad. He was gone quite a bit when she was younger. She knew he tried his best to spend some with her. Even so, she felt she had missed out.
*****
Betty pulled into the parking lot of the high school. This school was different from any school that Cat had seen before. It wasn’t a very large building. The main entrance was on the north side. To the east were the track and football field. The west side had a baseball diamond. What really impressed her was the sign that told about the wildlife habitat area that was behind the school. It was an area where students could study nature. It even had a small lake. Cat knew she would have to check this out before they went back home. The last line on the sign, she didn’t much care for.
NO HUNTING OR FISHING IN WILDLIFE HABITAT AREA.
Cat said, “Hey, Mom, I’m gonna check out that wildlife area behind the school.”
“All right, don’t take too long. I’ll register your brother first, should take about a half hour.”
Cat walked back to the wildlife habitat area. Trails wound through the trees. Bird feeders and houses were set up throughout the trees. Signs by the feeders explained the type of birds which frequented each type of feeder and what type of feed each species ate. There were even areas with tables and chairs set up. She learned later that some of the science and biology classes are held out here, weather permitting.
The students had done most of the construction work on the habitat. It started out as a project to get the students interested in coming to school. It worked better than expected. Each year something new is added, such as new bird or squirrel feeders. This year’s project would be setting up places for the water fowl to nest. Cat would definitely fit in at this school.
Cat thought she had better head