Black Star Finds Her Heart’s Desire

~complete with chapters and a job interview~

by Sage Lucinda BugBug Milliken

Chapter 1 – Down on the Farm

It was a lovely but cool Spring morning at the farm and Black Star was snuggled down in the straw watching her younger brothers and sisters gamboling around the barn as she read an old copy of the Crown Herald. Her Furmom was getting them ready to meet the Cat Fairy. When she was first born the Cat Fairy had come to bless her and her siblings also. To each the Cat Fairy had given a token. The ability to work with horses. The ability to be the best mouser. But when the Cat Fairy had come to her, she had given her only a verse.

Black Star, you will go far,
before you find your Heart’s Desire.

Black Star had no idea what her Heart’s Desire was. She just knew that it was not being a barn cat, and raising babies to be barn cats. Not that that was not a noble profession. And she was not unhappy. She had been born and raised in this barn, and she loved it here with her Furmom and Furdad, her young human, all the animals, and all the comings and goings of a large farm. But she often felt as if something was missing from her life. Her own littermates had grown up and long since left home, but Black Star stayed on. She wanted more. Much more. She wanted adventure and fun and fame and glory. Well, at least, she did want adventure, and she wanted most of all to find her Heart’s Desire. Besides, she really kind of liked the young human girl who played with them and rode the horses. She knew that she was a favorite of the girl, because she had a real name. The other cats were all just called Kitty, or Puss, or Hey You! The young human had named her Black Star because she was solid black except for a tiny what star on the paw pad of her right front paw. And the young human had always told her she was a special cat. Black Star thought a special cat should do something … well, special.

Black Star came to the Want Ads section, and looked it ofur carefully. Hmmmm.

Wanted – Mouser For King’s Stables.
Apply at Castle Stables. Must have
good references. Room and board
included.

Black Star thought working for the King would be great fun, even if it was just in the stables. What could be more special than working for a King? It sure would beat living out life as a farm cat. And what an adventure it would be to go and see the Castle. So Black Star talked it ofur with her Furmom and her young human. They really didn’t want her to leave, but Black Star assured them she would come back to visit on her vacations. So she gathered together her few belongings, and packed up a neat little lunch in a blue-checked handkerchief, and tied it on the end of a stick. That night she snuggled extra close to her Furmom and little brothers and sisters.

The next morning, bright and early, she said her goodbyes and started off. Just at the end of the lane she stopped and looked back. She saw her sweet Furmom and young human standing in the barn door waving and she waved back gayly, although there was a lump in her throat. She almost lost all courage and ran back to them. But no, she could not do that. How would she ever find her Heart’s Desire if she did not look. Anyway, she would see them again, she consoled herself, as she sat one paw in front of the next.

As the sun came up higher and warmed the earth Black Star soon became absorbed in her new surroundings. There was lovely fresh green grass on the floor of the forest and primroses and other wildflowers peaked out from behind blooming wild rose bushes along the wayside. Black Star walked and though, and walked and though, "I am going to find my Heart’s Desire."

When the sun was at it’s highest Black Star stopped beside a river and sat in the shade to eat her lunch. Them she took a little catnap. Before long she was on her way again, and in the distance she could see the spires and turrets of the castle. I will be there before long, though Black Star. But it was much further than she thought.

Chapter 2 – The King’s Stables

Black Star walked and walked until the sun was almost down, and her paws were sore. Just as night was falling she came to the Castle Gates. They closed with a clang as Black Star reached the Bridge over the Moat, but Black Star was too tired to care. She found a small thicket of bushes and flopped down under them where she instantly fell asleep, too tired to even think of eating.

The next morning she woke to the flurry of trumpets just as the sun peaked over the hill and the Castle Gates were flung open. Black Star arose and stretched. Then she sat down and carefully bathed herself all over. She heard a tiny rustling in the bank by the bushes, and going to investigate, she roused a family of field mice. Before they knew what was happening, she grabbed one and ate it. It was not much of a breakfast to fill a hungry cat, but it would have to do. Now she was ready to face the new day. She walked over to the Bridge over the Moat and boldly walked across it.

She found herself in a large courtyard surrounding a fountain. In it were all kinds of wagons, which had come across the Bridge over the Moat also, and were unloading all kinds of things which the inhabitants of the castle would need each day. She saw an important looking older cat who seemed to be supervising, and she went up to him. "Umm, Ummm, could you tell me the way to the stables please?" she asked. The old cat looked at her and pointed. "That way!" he pointed vaguely toward the back of the Castle. "Just keep going. You can’t miss them," and her turned back to his job. Black Star trotted off in the direction he had pointed and before long she came to open paddocks where there were many horses grazing in the new morning. Beyond these she saw a long low building which could only be the stables, so she went toward it. She entered and found herself in a wide cool space, and along the walls were many stalls. Black Star was amazed! She had never been in such a large, clean building. The floors were swept and spotless. The stalls were all cleaned and filled with fresh straw. There was not a scent of mouse anywhere. Black Star wondered if any mouse had ever dared show his face in this building. She thought of her own snug little mouse-filled barn would have easily fit in just one corner of this huge building, and a twinge of homesickness filled her.

As Black Star stood gaping about her she heard a gruff voice behind her. "Who are you, and what do you want in the King’s Stables?"

Black Star jumped and looked around to find a very important and pompous looking cat staring at her. "I, I, I wanted to apply as a mouser," Black Star blurted out.

"Well, you’ve come to the right place then. I am the Head Mouser, and I hire them and fire them. Name."

"Huh?" said Black Star. "Name! What is your name?"

"Oh, Black Star," she replied.

"Ever caught any mice?" the head mouser asked.

Black Star smiled at the memory of breakfast. "Yes, Sir. I am an excellent mouser. I was born in a barn, and taught by my own sweet Mother."

"Address. Address. Where are you from?" the Head Mouser asked next.

"I came from Morning Glory Farms, owned by Farmer Caw, Sir," Black Star said.

"Ah, yes. I am well acquainted with Morning Glory Farms. My own Grand Sire was born there many a year ago. Alright then, plan to have any kittens?"

Black Star was taken aback by the question. Kittens? Well, she had hoped to someday to marry and have kittens, but she really hadn’t given it much thought.

"Because if you do, then this isn’t the job for you. This is a working stables. If you want to raise a load of kittens you had best go back to the farm."

"Well," Black Star said, "I, no, I am not planning on having any kittens right now."

"Fine, then you are hired," the Head Mouser said. "Jinx", he called to a cat just walking by. "Take Mouser here and show her the ropes."

So Black Star followed Jinx, who first showed her the Stable Cats’ Galley and gave her a good breakfast, and helped himself to a second breakfast too.

"Now don’t you worry yourself about ol’ General, Mouser. He sounds gruff but that is just his way. He takes good care of all of us as long as us obeys all the rules." Next Jinx showed her all around and introduced her to any number of cats. Then he assigned her to the morning team. This was a team of six cats who spent each morning patrolling the stable and yards looking for mice. Then they spent the afternoon helping to polish harness and saddle, carriage and coach, while the afternoon team patrolled looking for mice.

Black Star soon fell into the routine. Up at the crack of dawn, breakfast, patrol, lunch, shine, put the horses to bed, dinner, fall exhaustedly into bed. They had half an afternoon off each week, but mostly they all just sat around, too tired to do much else. Some of the more ambitious kitties explored the Castle or the Castle Grounds, and occasionally a cat would leave to go off and get married. Except for the old General, and Jinx, no cat was ever called by his or her name. They were all just called Mouser. But Black Star didn’t mind. She was happy and she enjoyed the work. She had even met a handsome cat, Sam, and felt as if she was madly in love. But still something was missing. She knew this was not her Heart’s Desire.

Chapter 3 – The Kitchen Cat

"Mouser," the old General called one day. "You, Mouser. I need a cat to take a message to the kitchens."

Black Star looked around. She seemed to be the only cat there, so she volunteered to take the message. "I’ll take it," she said.

"Well hurry up, and don’t dawdle," the old General said, as he handed her the message.

Black Star raced off to the kitchens as fast as her paws would carry her. She soon found them, and gave the cook the message. And as it was close to dinnertime, the cook gave her a nice bit of venison and some milk to drink. Black Star finished the food with relish. This food was much better than that in the stables. Perhaps the cook needed a kitchen cat, she thought to herself. So she hung about and purred and soon the cook was talking to her as if she belonged there.

The cook talked as she worked. "Yes, my old Mum had a cat somethin’ like you. And she alwa’s said Black Cats make the best mousers there are. Why don’ you jus’ stay here in the kitchens. I need a good mouser up here too, and they can alwa’s find another cat fur the stables…." She rattled on and on. But as the cook talked, Black Star thought, yes, she would just stay here and be a kitchen cat.

Being a kitchen cat proved to be far different from being a Stable Cat. She liked the old cook immensely, and the cook obviously liked her. She was always giving Black Star a bit of this and a taste of that. Soon Black Star grew sleek and fat. There really wasn’t that much to do in the kitchen. She even made friends with the mice and called a truce. They would stay in their hole during the day, so as not to frighten the cook, and they could come out and eat all they wanted at night. Black Star was lonely being the only Kitchen Cat. Mostly she missed the companionship of the other cats. She also missed the attentions of her handsome winkwink. She thought about going back to the stables, but then she heard that Sam had run off with another cat, and was happily married and living on a distant farm. Black Star sighed. Oh, well, perhaps she would stay in the Castle then.

Chapter 4 – Black Star Befriends the Princess

Black Star was bored in the kitchens, so she took to wandering about the Castle at night, or when the cook was quite busy. She wandered all about the Castle, in rooms that were often filled with people, and down hallways which seemed to be always quite deserted. Then one day, as she wandered, she heard someone crying in the distance, and went to see who it could be. It was the Princess, and she was crying because she had caught her braid in a crack between two bricks on her fireplace mantel. The way it was caught, the harder she tried the more wedged it became. Black Star wondered how any intelligent human could get into such a predicament. She immediately saw what the problem was, and jumped up on the mantel where she slowly untangled the wayward braid.

The Princess was very grateful, and she thanked Black Star profusely. Then she said, "Oh, Blackers, wouldn’t you just love to be my cat?" Even though it seemed like a question, Black Star knew she dared not disobey a royal command, and so she became the Princess’ Cat.

It was a whole new world for Black Star. She was wonderfully spoiled as the Royal Cat. She was fed the most wonderful foods imaginable, and could indeed have any thing she wanted. She had a beautiful collar made of diamonds which she wore each day. She slept on a satin pillow in a fine handmade basket. She had more catnip mice than she could play with in nine times nine lifetimes. She attended all the parties and outings and balls and to-dos which a Princess was invited too. And she often met other cats, dogs, gerbils, turtles, and hamsters, who were the pampered Royal Pets of Princes and Princesses in the surrounding kingdoms. Ahhh, this was the laugh Black Star though. But still something was missing. The Princess was very kind to her, but she treated her more like an ornament to be brought out and shown around than like a cat. And when she was in a bad mood, she often neglected Black Star for days at a time.

And so the years went by, and the Princess grew into a lovely but rather spoiled young woman. One day, she came in to announce that she was getting married to a wonderful foreign prince, and would be going to live a faraway kingdom. Black Star was delighted for the Princess, and she had a wonderful time helping her plan the wedding, and send out invitations, and doing all the million things that needed to be done. Black Star thought it would be great fun to go off to a foreign Kingdom, and maybe at last she would find her Heart’s Desire.

Then the night before the wedding something terrible happened. The Princess sat down to talk to her. "Well, Blackers," she said, "you have been a wonderful companion, but I must leave you behind. The Prince is not at all fond of cats, and he doesn’t want you there." Black Star could hardly believe her ears. She knew the Princess did not love here, but she had served her well and faithfully, and she had hoped to at least stay with her. "Perhaps you can go back to the kitchens", the Princess was saying. "After tomorrow I won’t need you anymore."

Poor Black Star. She spent the night laying on her silk pillow crying. What would she do now? The next day, Black Star and the Princess ate their last breakfast together, then the Princess said goodbye, and was whisked off to her wedding and her new life. And Black Star was left sitting in the empty room.

Chapter 5 – Turned Out

At last Black Star left the room, and wandered back towards the Kitchen. She arrived there to find a new cook, who did not like cats and who shooed her away out the door. Black Star looked wistfully at the Kitchen door. Then she looked toward the stables. But no, she thought, that was not the way to go. She knew in her heart it was time to leave the Castle and to continue on her journey. But which way should she go? Back toward the old farm? No. It had been many, many years since she had left there. And somehow she had never made it back to visit. She knew her old Furmom had long since crossed the Rainbow Bridge. And her young human was surely grown and married. Would the old farmer still be there? Or had his son inherited the farm? Somehow Black Star knew that she couldn’t go back.

As she stood there looking indecisively about her, a wagon came into the yard, and began to unload sacks of flour. Black Star made a decision. She hopped on the back of the wagon and hid between too large sacks. And when the wagon left the Castle, Black Star left with it. Perhaps this would not be too bad, she thought. After all, she was an old Farm Cat, and she could still hunt. It was late summer, and the nights were still warm. She could sleep out under the stars. And so she thought, and planned as the wagon was slowly drawn along.

As it turned out, the wagon headed east, and soon it stopped in a small village where it unloaded more sacks of flour at a large inn. Black Star jumped down and looked around her. She stood in the courtyard and sniffed the air, and could smell delicious things cooking. She was reminded that breakfast had been many hours ago, so she wandered around to the back looking for the kitchens. Just as she came to the door, a large dog snarled and barked at her. Then he gave chase, and Black Star ran as fast as her paws would carry her. She ran and ran and ran until she ran into a thicket at the edge of the forest. Fortunately the dog had stopped once he came to the end of the courtyard, but Black Star was too frightened to go back. After extracting herself from the thicket and removing most of the thorns from her fur, she set off into the forest. In late afternoon she managed to catch one small field mouse, and a cricket.

Slowly the sun went down and Black Star began to be frightened. The forest was large and dark, and there were many unknown sounds about her. Black Star looked for a place where she could sleep, and at last she found an abandoned hole of some forest animal and lay wearily down. She slept soundly, and awoke the next day stiff and cold and hungry. She stretched and yawned and went down to the stream for a long drink. Then she wandered on towards the east. Again she was lucky enough to catch a field mouse, and some beetles. But she was very hungry.

And so the days went by. Each day Black Star walked east in the forest, catching what little she could, and each night she found some small sheltered place in which to sleep. But this was not much fun. She began to realize how old she was, and to see how slow she moved these days. The nights became colder and colder, and her old bones ached with the cold. One day, she managed to surprise a vole, and by shear good luck to kill it. She was just about to eat it when a wolf came out of the forest. He was hungry too, and here was a good ready to eat meal. He chased Black Star right into a large puddle of mud. Then he went back and ate her delicious breakfast. Black Star became very sad and discouraged.

Chapter 6 – The Little Cottage

And so it was that a very thin, bedraggled old cat with thorns in her fur, and mud on her paws at last wandered into the yard of a small Cottage. An old woman sat on the porch in a rocking chair, soaking up the last rays of the early winter sun. When she saw the old cat she called softly, "Here, Kitty. Come here, Kitty." Black Star did not wait for a second invitation. She hobbled over to the porch, and allowed the old woman to pick her up.

"My, you look rather worse for wear little one," she said. "Come in. I was just about to fix my dinner." And so she carried Black Star into her tiny kitchen and fixed a wonderful meal for the two of them. It was not the fine food that she had eaten in the Castle, but after the last hungry weeks, it was the best meal she had ever eaten. After dinner, the old woman sat down by the fireplace and gently combed and cleaned Black Star. And as she did, she talked softly. "You remind me of my old cat, Black Star," she said. "The Kitty I had as a child on my Father’s Farm." Black Star couldn’t believe her ears! Could this truly be her wonderful old human? She held out her right front paw, and the old woman gently cleaned off the mud. Then she saw the star on her paw pad.

"Oh, you are my Black Star! My very own sweet kitty!" And the old lady picked her up and hugged her very close. And Black Star purred and purred, "You are my human! My own sweet human!" How happy the two were to find each other.

Each day the two woke with smiles on their faces. Sometimes they sat on the porch and talked. Sometimes they stayed in the kitchen, where the old woman baked bread to sell in the village. Occasionally they went off to the village together to buy supplies. And so the happy, golden days flew by.

Then one fine Spring morning, as Black Star sat on the porch and the old woman rocked in her chair, she thought of another Spring Day, many years ago. She suddenly realized that at last she had found her Heart’s Desire. She had found the one human in the whole world who loved her, and whom she loved unconditionally.

Black Star smiled from ear to ear, and purred contentedly. And the old woman smiled and scratched her behind the ears. And so the two lived happily to the very end of their days.