At da restaurant in Zibello

It is now evening, and our kitties arrive in the town of Zibello, and wend
their way to Trattoria LaBuca for dinner. Inside, those kitties who have
already arrived are waiting in the ante-room, comfortably furnished with
cushions, and simply but tastefully decorated. On the wall are signed
photographs of famous visitors to the trattoria.

In the dining room are low tables, surrounded by kitty cushions, the
wait-kitties are lighting candles as the cream-and-white bus pulls in and
our kitties file in. From the back emerges a huge, female Norwegian Forest
cat - a brown tabbie. She is wearing a large apron and one of those
European chef-hats that look like a flattened mushroom. She smiles as she
sees our kitties: "Welcome to the Trattoria LaBuca, kitties! I have been
expecting you since Maestro Darius told me about your trip, and I have made
some of my specialties for yourownselves, like pumpkin ravioli, malfatte,
langostino in pink sauce, roast pork stuffed wif spinach, sun-dried tomato
an' pignole - and well, the wait -kitties will tell you what else when we
are ready. But now, please come in and sit down. We will be serving
apertifs until everykitty is heer."

With that our kitties begin to choose cushions. Anaïs turns to TV: "Pssst.
Wanta see sumfin?" she asks TV." Look ober dere on dat wall. Derez a
piksure of my aunt wif Luciano Catarotti, an' den luk in da middle uv da
nekst row." He does, and to his surprise, sees a photo of Cleopatra, taken
some years ago.
--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/12/2005 8:03:46 PM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

her juz keepz gettin more anna more bootiful as time goez by, TV, staring
lovingly atta pikture
Mlle. Anaïs ^..^ wrote in message
...
It is now evening, and our kitties arrive in the town of Zibello, and
wend
their way to Trattoria LaBuca for dinner. Inside, those kitties who have
already arrived are waiting in the ante-room, comfortably furnished with
cushions, and simply but tastefully decorated. On the wall are signed
photographs of famous visitors to the trattoria.

In the dining room are low tables, surrounded by kitty cushions, the
wait-kitties are lighting candles as the cream-and-white bus pulls in and
our kitties file in. From the back emerges a huge, female Norwegian Forest
cat - a brown tabbie. She is wearing a large apron and one of those
European chef-hats that look like a flattened mushroom. She smiles as she
sees our kitties: "Welcome to the Trattoria LaBuca, kitties! I have been
expecting you since Maestro Darius told me about your trip, and I have
made
some of my specialties for yourownselves, like pumpkin ravioli, malfatte,
langostino in pink sauce, roast pork stuffed wif spinach, sun-dried tomato
an' pignole - and well, the wait -kitties will tell you what else when we
are ready. But now, please come in and sit down. We will be serving
apertifs until everykitty is heer."

With that our kitties begin to choose cushions. Anaïs turns to TV: "Pssst.
Wanta see sumfin?" she asks TV." Look ober dere on dat wall. Derez a
piksure of my aunt wif Luciano Catarotti, an' den luk in da middle uv da
nekst row." He does, and to his surprise, sees a photo of Cleopatra, taken
some years ago.
--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/12/2005 8:03:46 PM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

"Dis is such uh nicenice plase! Trattoria LaBuca --I'll haff tu rememfur
dat! " Samantha an cuzzinz Finney, Lucy an Jeannie settle themselves on
comfortable cushions in the ante-room.
They overhear the conversation about Luciano Catarotti an look at all the
pictures, including the one with Cleopatra in it. "My gudness, wat uh
famuss plase dis mus bee. I wunder if dare will be enny speshul
entertaynmen wif dinner."

Samantha, Finney, Lucey & Jeannie, very hungry, very impurressed
"Mlle. Anaïs ^..^" wrote in message
...
It is now evening, and our kitties arrive in the town of Zibello, and
wend
their way to Trattoria LaBuca for dinner. Inside, those kitties who have
already arrived are waiting in the ante-room, comfortably furnished with
cushions, and simply but tastefully decorated. On the wall are signed
photographs of famous visitors to the trattoria.

In the dining room are low tables, surrounded by kitty cushions, the
wait-kitties are lighting candles as the cream-and-white bus pulls in and
our kitties file in. From the back emerges a huge, female Norwegian Forest
cat - a brown tabbie. She is wearing a large apron and one of those
European chef-hats that look like a flattened mushroom. She smiles as she
sees our kitties: "Welcome to the Trattoria LaBuca, kitties! I have been
expecting you since Maestro Darius told me about your trip, and I have
made
some of my specialties for yourownselves, like pumpkin ravioli, malfatte,
langostino in pink sauce, roast pork stuffed wif spinach, sun-dried tomato
an' pignole - and well, the wait -kitties will tell you what else when we
are ready. But now, please come in and sit down. We will be serving
apertifs until everykitty is heer."

With that our kitties begin to choose cushions. Anaïs turns to TV: "Pssst.
Wanta see sumfin?" she asks TV." Look ober dere on dat wall. Derez a
piksure of my aunt wif Luciano Catarotti, an' den luk in da middle uv da
nekst row." He does, and to his surprise, sees a photo of Cleopatra, taken
some years ago.
--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/12/2005 8:03:46 PM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:47:33 -0500, Beverly Orel wrote:

"Dis is such uh nicenice plase! Trattoria LaBuca --I'll haff tu rememfur
dat! " Samantha an cuzzinz Finney, Lucy an Jeannie settle themselves on
comfortable cushions in the ante-room.

Hihi gurlz!

Howz yourownselves enjoyink da trip? Wood yoo mind if Tiger an I sitz wif
yourownselves?

They overhear the conversation about Luciano Catarotti an look at all the
pictures, including the one with Cleopatra in it. "My gudness, wat uh
famuss plase dis mus bee. I wunder if dare will be enny speshul
entertaynmen wif dinner."

Darius and Maria, who are walking around and mingling with the Community
kitties overhear this and stop at this table. "Hihi, kitties! Well, I
don't think there will be any entertainment tonight, unless Anaïs wants to
provide it! You know, her father - who was first violin wif da symfonie -
had her trained as a concert pianist since she was a kitten, an hoped that
she would go on to the conservatory. But she went to the Sorbonne to study
poetry, an in da effininks was a cabaret singer in nightclubs on the west
bank of Paris; then she went to the USA. I've heard reports that she was
quite good, and I imagine that her father enjoyed listenink to her from the
Bridge." With that, Anaïs blushes to the roots of her fur. "Oh Uncle
Darius, please! You're embarassing me!"

Samantha, Finney, Lucey & Jeannie, very hungry, very impurressed

The head-wait-kitty emerges "Hihi and welkum to our little trattoria;
while the wait-kitties are serving Prosecco as an apertif, I will tell you
about our menu tonight. The antepasto is mixed seafood: each table will
haff a platter of baby clams, mussels, shrimp, langostino, calamari an
scallops, each prepared wif a different sause, such as aglio e olio, hot
nip-marinara an da lyke. For da firs course yoo haff a choice of pumpkin
raffioli wif nip-butter, papardelle wif langostino an a pink sauce,
malfatte or canelini. Fur da fishee course yoo haff a cooice of red snapper
wif sauce muniere, lobster wif nip-butter, crabee wif hot nip-marinara or
oysterz rockyfeller. Fur da meet, we haff a pork roast stuffed wif nip,
spinich an pignole, roast beast wif horseradish sauce, lamb in rosemary
mustard, or chickeen maderia. Den we haff an assortment of local cheezes an
olifs, followed by a dessert platter of tiramisu and indifidual pastries,
serfed wif espresso an after dinner liquors an nip az well az a selektion
uv cigars. A different nip wine will be serffed wif eech dish, an uv
course, we haff all kinds uv dry an wet fuds fur dose kittiez hu like dem."

With that, he leaves, stopping by Harri an Tabitha - "an fur you kittens,
we will be glad to make yourownselves anything if da big-cat fud duzzent
appeal to you."


--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/14/2005 10:09:55 AM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

"Mlle. Anaïs ^..^" wrote in message
news


Darius and Maria, who are walking around an mingling with the Community
kitties overhear this and stop at this table. "Hihi, kitties! Well, I
don't think there will be any entertainment tonight, unless Anaïs wants to
provide it! You know, her father - who was first violin wif da symfonie -
had her trained as a concert pianist since she was a kitten, an hoped that
she would go on to the conservatory. But she went to the Sorbonne to study
poetry, an in da effininks was a cabaret singer in nightclubs on the west
bank of Paris; then she went to the USA. I've heard reports that she was
quite good, and I imagine that her father enjoyed listenink to her from
the
Bridge." With that, Anaïs blushes to the roots of her fur. "Oh Uncle
Darius, please! You're embarassing me!"


"Oh mye gudness--Mlle, AnaIs --dat wud be uh reel treet if yew wud sing
sumfing fur us! How bowt dat song "La Vie en Rose" dat dat famuss Edith
Piafffffff sang long ago? or ennyfing yew lyke. "

Samantha, Finney, Lucey & Jeannie, very hungry, very impurressed

The head-wait-kitty emerges "Hihi and welkum to our little trattoria;
while the wait-kitties are serving Prosecco as an apertif, I will tell you
about our menu tonight. The antepasto is mixed seafood: each table will
haff a platter of baby clams, mussels, shrimp, langostino, calamari an
scallops, each prepared wif a different sause, such as aglio e olio, hot
nip-marinara an da lyke. For da firs course yoo haff a choice of pumpkin
raffioli wif nip-butter, papardelle wif langostino an a pink sauce,
malfatte or canelini. Fur da fishee course yoo haff a cooice of red
snapper
wif sauce muniere, lobster wif nip-butter, crabee wif hot nip-marinara or
oysterz rockyfeller. Fur da meet, we haff a pork roast stuffed wif nip,
spinich an pignole, roast beast wif horseradish sauce, lamb in rosemary
mustard, or chickeen maderia. Den we haff an assortment of local cheezes
an
olifs, followed by a dessert platter of tiramisu and indifidual pastries,
serfed wif espresso an after dinner liquors an nip az well az a selektion
uv cigars. A different nip wine will be serffed wif eech dish, an uv
course, we haff all kinds uv dry an wet fuds fur dose kittiez hu like
dem."

With that, he leaves, stopping by Harri an Tabitha - "an fur you kittens,
we will be glad to make yourownselves anything if da big-cat fud duzzent
appeal to you."
Effurryfing sownds deelishus! an tiramisu fur dessert...yumyum

Samantha an cuzzincatz Finney, Luceyn & Jeannie

Miss Violette wrote:
her juz keepz gettin more anna more bootiful as time goez by, TV, staring
lovingly atta pikture

Oh - my - goodness! How old must that picture be? Look how silver my fur
was - not all graying like it is now.

Sigh

That's ok - one of the things I've learned is that getting old isn't so
bad if you are able to spend your time in the company of those you love.

Purrpurrsmurglesmurglepurrpurr

Oh look, just coming in the door, there's Captain Midnight and a guest.

[Cleo stands and waves a paw to attract their attention. Capt. Midnight
and the Inspector come over.]

Captain Midnight, would you and your guest care to join us at our table?

Capt. Midnight: Thank you, Your Highness. May I present Inspektur
Jacques Chat-Clouseau of the Gendarmerie Feline du France? Inspecktor,
this is Her Royal Highness Cleopatra Silvercat and her wink, Sir TV.

Cleopatra: How do you do, Inspector? Would you and the Captain be so
kind as to join TV and I at our table?

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: I would be honored, Your Highness!

Cleopatra: If you gentlecats would excuse me, I must make a brief
announcement.

[With that Cleopatra walks to the head of the room. The room lights dim,
but for a single spot light over Cleopatra. She taps a claw against a
champagne flute to get everycat's attention.]

Excuse me, ladycats and gentlecats and kittens. I would like to share
with you some happy information. You will recall that as we approached
Dijon Trudy and Baby Kitty came up with the idea of sharing Kissamouse
presents with the less-fortunate kitties they might be able to find
living near the station in Dijon. With just a little assistance they
were able to round up a momcat and her kits, a brother and sister cat,
and a motherless family of kits. And besides distributing goodies to all
of these kitties, Trudi and Baby Kitty and their helpers managed to get
the motherless kits to move in with the brother and sister cat.

Brother and sister cat did some investigation and found out what had
happened to the momcat of the kits. She had been trapped by some humans
and taken to the human's house. Further investigation showed that the
humans were taking excellent care of the momcat, other than unknowingly
catnapping her before she had a chance to raise her kits. With the
cooperation of the postman's dog, brother and sister cat acquired a big
gift basket, transported the basket, the kits, and all of their
Kissamouse presents to the house of the humans who adopted momcat,
placed the kits in the basket on the front door of the house, rang the
door bell and hid. The humans opened the door, saw the basket of kittens
sitting in the snow, and brought them inside. As soon as the kits were
inside they saw momcat, leapt out of the basket, and mobbed her. Momcat,
overcome with relief at seeing her precious babies again, started
purring at and grooming all of them.

The humans, seeing the reaction of the cat and the kits and seeing how
much the kits resembled momcat, figured what had happened. They were
grief-stricken, realizing that they could have killed the kits if they
had grabbed momcat before the kits were weaned. They immediately decided
to give a forever home to all of the kits as well. The humans are a
prosperous family, owning a bakery and a restaurant, so momcat and kits
will be well cared for.

As soon as everyone was settled down and relaxed again, the kits asked
momcat for their first major wish - to learn the names that momcat had
decided to give them. All of the kits now know their names!

And you might also recall that the youngest of the kits walked with a
distinct limp. A couple of days after bringing the kits indoors the
humans took all of the kittens to TED for a checkup and their
vaccination. TED x-rayed the tiniest kittens leg and found that his paw
had been broken and had not healed properly. He performed surgery, and
the tiny one is now hobbling around with a cast on his leg but will
regain full mobility in just a few weeks.

Once the kittens were reunited with momcat, brother and sister cat were
again alone in their large, warm den. They worked out an arrangement
with the momcat next door, and the momcat and her kits are now living
with brother and sister cat. Brother and sister are helping momcat teach
the little ones the skills they will need as they grow up.

And the bistro that Mlle. Anais had contracted to deliver meals to the
kits every day, upon learning that the kits had been reunited with
momcat, are now delivering meals instead to brother and sister cat,
momcat, and kits, and have also begun a program of searching the streets
of Dijon, looking for signs of homeless cats, and providing food for them.

Finally, I have a video I'd like to share with you.

[She waves apaw at the back of the room, and the hostess wheels a
large-screen TV and a DVD player into the room. Cleo inserts a disk into
the DVD player, and the screen comes to life. On screen is a sable
colored female cat with a beautifully brushed coat, with five
sable-colored kits sitting beside her.]

Momcat: Bon jour, everyone. This is Kitty Browncat, and these are my
darling children. I wanted to thank all of you who were involved in
looking after my little ones, and those involved in reuniting them with
me. The human TED decided that if my dear little chatons had been left
by themselves, they would probably not have lasted til Spring. By
intervening on their behalf, you have saved the lives of my little
children. [Momcat nudges the littlest of her babies]

Tiny kitten: Bon jour, efurryone. Mine sisfurs and brofurs and I want to
fank you furom da bottoms of our hearts for efurryfing you did fur us.
We now have our OneTrueHome, and we now get to spend time with our
momcat. And the mean human dey calls TED looked me over really good and
told mine new hoomins dat I was realreal sick furom hafing a broked leg,
so if I hadn't been rescued when I was, I would probably haf gone to da
Rainbow Bridge wifin two or free days. And I'z not ready to go dere just
yet. I want to 'sperience being a growed-up kitty afore I haf to go
dere. So I personally wanna fank you to da silly-looking kitty with da
red ribbon and funny looking antlers who jumped around saying "Meow,
meow, meow, Merry Kissamouse", cuz udderwise we wouldn't have knowed dat
Sandy Claws was on da platform. And to da Sandy Claws cats fur all ub
da wunnerful stuffs and foods and beds, cuz we all furry, furry hungry
and furry, furry cold. And to da kitties dat comed up wif da idearment
of getting da Sandy Claws kitties to stop at our train station in da
firstest place, beclaws udderwise I would be at da Rainbow Bridge
already. Fangu. [Tiny kitten hobbles back beside momcat.]

Momcat and all her kits together: Thank you, all of you, for waving our
lives!

[The video fades to black. Cleo turns her back to the room as she wipes
tears from her eyes.]

[A new spotlight appears, highlighting Trudi and Baby Kitty.]

Cleo: Everykitty, please stand and join me in a round of apaws for Trudi
and Baby Kitty!

[Cleo walks back to her table as the whole room erupts with applause for
Trudi and BK.]

Mlle. Anaïs ^..^ wrote in message
...

It is now evening, and our kitties arrive in the town of Zibello, and

wend

their way to Trattoria LaBuca for dinner. Inside, those kitties who have
already arrived are waiting in the ante-room, comfortably furnished with
cushions, and simply but tastefully decorated. On the wall are signed
photographs of famous visitors to the trattoria.

In the dining room are low tables, surrounded by kitty cushions, the
wait-kitties are lighting candles as the cream-and-white bus pulls in and
our kitties file in. From the back emerges a huge, female Norwegian Forest
cat - a brown tabbie. She is wearing a large apron and one of those
European chef-hats that look like a flattened mushroom. She smiles as she
sees our kitties: "Welcome to the Trattoria LaBuca, kitties! I have been
expecting you since Maestro Darius told me about your trip, and I have

made

some of my specialties for yourownselves, like pumpkin ravioli, malfatte,
langostino in pink sauce, roast pork stuffed wif spinach, sun-dried tomato
an' pignole - and well, the wait -kitties will tell you what else when we
are ready. But now, please come in and sit down. We will be serving
apertifs until everykitty is heer."

With that our kitties begin to choose cushions. Anaïs turns to TV: "Pssst.
Wanta see sumfin?" she asks TV." Look ober dere on dat wall. Derez a
piksure of my aunt wif Luciano Catarotti, an' den luk in da middle uv da
nekst row." He does, and to his surprise, sees a photo of Cleopatra, taken
some years ago.
--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/12/2005 8:03:46 PM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

[Cleo walks back to her table as the whole room erupts with applause for
Trudi and BK.]

[As Cleo arrives back at the table, all of the kitties are still
standing applauding BK and Trudi. After the applause tapers off, they
all resume their seats.]

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: Bon, bon, a most moving presentation. That
brought tears to my eyes as well. A welcome relief from ze difficult
task of trying to learn anything about ze mystery chat.

TV: Oh, you mean da dark grey whut readz a lot?

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: Ce qui? You know of zis cat?

Capt. Midnight: I hadn't quite gotten around to telling you yet...

TV: "Well, on da first nite I couldn't sleep too well, so I went huntin
fur mousies while Cleo slept. An' I wuz 'splorin 'roun da compartment
an' noticed dat way down by da floor, were da too state-rooms share a
wall dere was a liddle crack dat gottid bigger effury time da trayne
went offur a bump. SO I luked in dere to see ifn dere was any mousies,
buttid I saw jus a liddle into da nekst state-room...
He's grey, an' always sits in dat big, sof chayre wif most uf hiz bak
to me. Buttid I can see pilez uv leffur-bownd bookz on da floor,
anudder two in hiz lap, an he'z alwayz cleanink hiz specs..."

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: Non, il pente soit! Here, take a look at this
picture - is that the cat? [He holds out his wallet, turned to his
library card.]

TV: Huh?

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: [Quickly flips to the proper photo.] Here, is
zees ze cat?

TV: Da cat in da pikchoor is a liddle younger, but dat looks like da
same cat.


Inspector Chat-Clouseau: C'est incroyable! Mercurius is alive...
Pardonnez-moi, I should not babble so. Your "mystery cat" is named
Mercurius. He was born in Germany and has travelled ze Continent
extensively. It is believed zat he possesses magical powers - even more
magical powers than all of us felines do! One of his supposed abilities
is the power to make objects disappear, and reappear somewhere else.
This very power is responsible for his disappearance.

He has always been somewhat of a recluse. But last year he was giving a
demonstration of his abilities to a powerful organized crime clowder. He
"disappeared" a very valueable item, and was unable to make it reappear.
This head of the crime clowder promised to exact vengeance upon
Mercurius if the item was not delivered safely, and Mercurius then made
another item disappear - himself! He has not been seen since. And what
makes his appearance here and now even more notable is the identity of
the identity of the organized crime cat who swore vengeance upon him -
the very Gaetano Tartuffo who rides upon your train!

And the valued item has never reappeared. Gaetano Tartuffo had paid a
princely sum to some research kitties to develop a new strain of catnip.
This new strain was much more powerful than any strain known before, but
more importantly it also proved intoxicating to dogs. Yes, Tartuffo's
scientists had developed the elusive dognip! Tartuffo intended to
introduce it worldwide as part of his campaign to show the world the
superiority of felines over canines.

And now we find both Mercurius and Tartuffo on the same train!
Simplement merveilleux! As my hero Dick Tracy would say, "The game's
afoot, Watson"!

[Capt Midnight whispers to the Inspector] Don't you mean Sherlock Holmes?

Inspector, impatiently: Yes, Sherlock Tracy, that's what I said. I MUST
learn what these two are doing on the same train. Sir TV, when we return
to the train I would be most grateful if you would show me the seam
where you were able to observe Mercurius.

Tiger drools, anna says, I wuuld purfur ifin you odered mines fud, cept fur
i wantz da losbsterz, Tiger, squeezing his ladycatz paw as her blushes
Mlle. Anaïs ^..^ wrote in message
news
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:47:33 -0500, Beverly Orel wrote:

"Dis is such uh nicenice plase! Trattoria LaBuca --I'll haff tu
rememfur
dat! " Samantha an cuzzinz Finney, Lucy an Jeannie settle themselves on
comfortable cushions in the ante-room.

Hihi gurlz!

Howz yourownselves enjoyink da trip? Wood yoo mind if Tiger an I sitz wif
yourownselves?

They overhear the conversation about Luciano Catarotti an look at all
the
pictures, including the one with Cleopatra in it. "My gudness, wat uh
famuss plase dis mus bee. I wunder if dare will be enny speshul
entertaynmen wif dinner."

Darius and Maria, who are walking around and mingling with the Community
kitties overhear this and stop at this table. "Hihi, kitties! Well, I
don't think there will be any entertainment tonight, unless Anaïs wants to
provide it! You know, her father - who was first violin wif da symfonie -
had her trained as a concert pianist since she was a kitten, an hoped that
she would go on to the conservatory. But she went to the Sorbonne to study
poetry, an in da effininks was a cabaret singer in nightclubs on the west
bank of Paris; then she went to the USA. I've heard reports that she was
quite good, and I imagine that her father enjoyed listenink to her from
the
Bridge." With that, Anaïs blushes to the roots of her fur. "Oh Uncle
Darius, please! You're embarassing me!"

Samantha, Finney, Lucey & Jeannie, very hungry, very impurressed

The head-wait-kitty emerges "Hihi and welkum to our little trattoria;
while the wait-kitties are serving Prosecco as an apertif, I will tell you
about our menu tonight. The antepasto is mixed seafood: each table will
haff a platter of baby clams, mussels, shrimp, langostino, calamari an
scallops, each prepared wif a different sause, such as aglio e olio, hot
nip-marinara an da lyke. For da firs course yoo haff a choice of pumpkin
raffioli wif nip-butter, papardelle wif langostino an a pink sauce,
malfatte or canelini. Fur da fishee course yoo haff a cooice of red
snapper
wif sauce muniere, lobster wif nip-butter, crabee wif hot nip-marinara or
oysterz rockyfeller. Fur da meet, we haff a pork roast stuffed wif nip,
spinich an pignole, roast beast wif horseradish sauce, lamb in rosemary
mustard, or chickeen maderia. Den we haff an assortment of local cheezes
an
olifs, followed by a dessert platter of tiramisu and indifidual pastries,
serfed wif espresso an after dinner liquors an nip az well az a selektion
uv cigars. A different nip wine will be serffed wif eech dish, an uv
course, we haff all kinds uv dry an wet fuds fur dose kittiez hu like
dem."

With that, he leaves, stopping by Harri an Tabitha - "an fur you kittens,
we will be glad to make yourownselves anything if da big-cat fud duzzent
appeal to you."


--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/14/2005 10:09:55 AM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

Trudi blushes so red that even her black paws are tinted, Her white paws are
pink, she puts her head down and can't say a word...
Her Royal Highness Cleopatra Silvercat wrote in message
...
Miss Violette wrote:
her juz keepz gettin more anna more bootiful as time goez by, TV,
staring
lovingly atta pikture

Oh - my - goodness! How old must that picture be? Look how silver my fur
was - not all graying like it is now.

Sigh

That's ok - one of the things I've learned is that getting old isn't so
bad if you are able to spend your time in the company of those you love.

Purrpurrsmurglesmurglepurrpurr

Oh look, just coming in the door, there's Captain Midnight and a guest.

[Cleo stands and waves a paw to attract their attention. Capt. Midnight
and the Inspector come over.]

Captain Midnight, would you and your guest care to join us at our table?

Capt. Midnight: Thank you, Your Highness. May I present Inspektur
Jacques Chat-Clouseau of the Gendarmerie Feline du France? Inspecktor,
this is Her Royal Highness Cleopatra Silvercat and her wink, Sir TV.

Cleopatra: How do you do, Inspector? Would you and the Captain be so
kind as to join TV and I at our table?

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: I would be honored, Your Highness!

Cleopatra: If you gentlecats would excuse me, I must make a brief
announcement.

[With that Cleopatra walks to the head of the room. The room lights dim,
but for a single spot light over Cleopatra. She taps a claw against a
champagne flute to get everycat's attention.]

Excuse me, ladycats and gentlecats and kittens. I would like to share
with you some happy information. You will recall that as we approached
Dijon Trudy and Baby Kitty came up with the idea of sharing Kissamouse
presents with the less-fortunate kitties they might be able to find
living near the station in Dijon. With just a little assistance they
were able to round up a momcat and her kits, a brother and sister cat,
and a motherless family of kits. And besides distributing goodies to all
of these kitties, Trudi and Baby Kitty and their helpers managed to get
the motherless kits to move in with the brother and sister cat.

Brother and sister cat did some investigation and found out what had
happened to the momcat of the kits. She had been trapped by some humans
and taken to the human's house. Further investigation showed that the
humans were taking excellent care of the momcat, other than unknowingly
catnapping her before she had a chance to raise her kits. With the
cooperation of the postman's dog, brother and sister cat acquired a big
gift basket, transported the basket, the kits, and all of their
Kissamouse presents to the house of the humans who adopted momcat,
placed the kits in the basket on the front door of the house, rang the
door bell and hid. The humans opened the door, saw the basket of kittens
sitting in the snow, and brought them inside. As soon as the kits were
inside they saw momcat, leapt out of the basket, and mobbed her. Momcat,
overcome with relief at seeing her precious babies again, started
purring at and grooming all of them.

The humans, seeing the reaction of the cat and the kits and seeing how
much the kits resembled momcat, figured what had happened. They were
grief-stricken, realizing that they could have killed the kits if they
had grabbed momcat before the kits were weaned. They immediately decided
to give a forever home to all of the kits as well. The humans are a
prosperous family, owning a bakery and a restaurant, so momcat and kits
will be well cared for.

As soon as everyone was settled down and relaxed again, the kits asked
momcat for their first major wish - to learn the names that momcat had
decided to give them. All of the kits now know their names!

And you might also recall that the youngest of the kits walked with a
distinct limp. A couple of days after bringing the kits indoors the
humans took all of the kittens to TED for a checkup and their
vaccination. TED x-rayed the tiniest kittens leg and found that his paw
had been broken and had not healed properly. He performed surgery, and
the tiny one is now hobbling around with a cast on his leg but will
regain full mobility in just a few weeks.

Once the kittens were reunited with momcat, brother and sister cat were
again alone in their large, warm den. They worked out an arrangement
with the momcat next door, and the momcat and her kits are now living
with brother and sister cat. Brother and sister are helping momcat teach
the little ones the skills they will need as they grow up.

And the bistro that Mlle. Anais had contracted to deliver meals to the
kits every day, upon learning that the kits had been reunited with
momcat, are now delivering meals instead to brother and sister cat,
momcat, and kits, and have also begun a program of searching the streets
of Dijon, looking for signs of homeless cats, and providing food for them.

Finally, I have a video I'd like to share with you.

[She waves apaw at the back of the room, and the hostess wheels a
large-screen TV and a DVD player into the room. Cleo inserts a disk into
the DVD player, and the screen comes to life. On screen is a sable
colored female cat with a beautifully brushed coat, with five
sable-colored kits sitting beside her.]

Momcat: Bon jour, everyone. This is Kitty Browncat, and these are my
darling children. I wanted to thank all of you who were involved in
looking after my little ones, and those involved in reuniting them with
me. The human TED decided that if my dear little chatons had been left
by themselves, they would probably not have lasted til Spring. By
intervening on their behalf, you have saved the lives of my little
children. [Momcat nudges the littlest of her babies]

Tiny kitten: Bon jour, efurryone. Mine sisfurs and brofurs and I want to
fank you furom da bottoms of our hearts for efurryfing you did fur us.
We now have our OneTrueHome, and we now get to spend time with our
momcat. And the mean human dey calls TED looked me over really good and
told mine new hoomins dat I was realreal sick furom hafing a broked leg,
so if I hadn't been rescued when I was, I would probably haf gone to da
Rainbow Bridge wifin two or free days. And I'z not ready to go dere just
yet. I want to 'sperience being a growed-up kitty afore I haf to go
dere. So I personally wanna fank you to da silly-looking kitty with da
red ribbon and funny looking antlers who jumped around saying "Meow,
meow, meow, Merry Kissamouse", cuz udderwise we wouldn't have knowed dat
Sandy Claws was on da platform. And to da Sandy Claws cats fur all ub
da wunnerful stuffs and foods and beds, cuz we all furry, furry hungry
and furry, furry cold. And to da kitties dat comed up wif da idearment
of getting da Sandy Claws kitties to stop at our train station in da
firstest place, beclaws udderwise I would be at da Rainbow Bridge
already. Fangu. [Tiny kitten hobbles back beside momcat.]

Momcat and all her kits together: Thank you, all of you, for waving our
lives!

[The video fades to black. Cleo turns her back to the room as she wipes
tears from her eyes.]

[A new spotlight appears, highlighting Trudi and Baby Kitty.]

Cleo: Everykitty, please stand and join me in a round of apaws for Trudi
and Baby Kitty!

[Cleo walks back to her table as the whole room erupts with applause for
Trudi and BK.]

Mlle. Anaïs ^..^ wrote in message
...

It is now evening, and our kitties arrive in the town of Zibello, and

wend

their way to Trattoria LaBuca for dinner. Inside, those kitties who have
already arrived are waiting in the ante-room, comfortably furnished with
cushions, and simply but tastefully decorated. On the wall are signed
photographs of famous visitors to the trattoria.

In the dining room are low tables, surrounded by kitty cushions, the
wait-kitties are lighting candles as the cream-and-white bus pulls in
and
our kitties file in. From the back emerges a huge, female Norwegian
Forest
cat - a brown tabbie. She is wearing a large apron and one of those
European chef-hats that look like a flattened mushroom. She smiles as
she
sees our kitties: "Welcome to the Trattoria LaBuca, kitties! I have
been
expecting you since Maestro Darius told me about your trip, and I have

made

some of my specialties for yourownselves, like pumpkin ravioli,
malfatte,
langostino in pink sauce, roast pork stuffed wif spinach, sun-dried
tomato
an' pignole - and well, the wait -kitties will tell you what else when
we
are ready. But now, please come in and sit down. We will be serving
apertifs until everykitty is heer."

With that our kitties begin to choose cushions. Anaïs turns to TV:
"Pssst.
Wanta see sumfin?" she asks TV." Look ober dere on dat wall. Derez a
piksure of my aunt wif Luciano Catarotti, an' den luk in da middle uv da
nekst row." He does, and to his surprise, sees a photo of Cleopatra,
taken
some years ago.
--
Purrs,

Mlle. Anaïs
1/12/2005 8:03:46 PM
anais+at+electric-ink+dot+com

I wuuld be glad to, TV
Her Royal Highness Cleopatra Silvercat wrote in message
...
[Cleo walks back to her table as the whole room erupts with applause for
Trudi and BK.]

[As Cleo arrives back at the table, all of the kitties are still
standing applauding BK and Trudi. After the applause tapers off, they
all resume their seats.]

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: Bon, bon, a most moving presentation. That
brought tears to my eyes as well. A welcome relief from ze difficult
task of trying to learn anything about ze mystery chat.

TV: Oh, you mean da dark grey whut readz a lot?

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: Ce qui? You know of zis cat?

Capt. Midnight: I hadn't quite gotten around to telling you yet...

TV: "Well, on da first nite I couldn't sleep too well, so I went huntin
fur mousies while Cleo slept. An' I wuz 'splorin 'roun da compartment
an' noticed dat way down by da floor, were da too state-rooms share a
wall dere was a liddle crack dat gottid bigger effury time da trayne
went offur a bump. SO I luked in dere to see ifn dere was any mousies,
buttid I saw jus a liddle into da nekst state-room...
He's grey, an' always sits in dat big, sof chayre wif most uf hiz bak
to me. Buttid I can see pilez uv leffur-bownd bookz on da floor,
anudder two in hiz lap, an he'z alwayz cleanink hiz specs..."

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: Non, il pente soit! Here, take a look at this
picture - is that the cat? [He holds out his wallet, turned to his
library card.]

TV: Huh?

Inspector Chat-Clouseau: [Quickly flips to the proper photo.] Here, is
zees ze cat?

TV: Da cat in da pikchoor is a liddle younger, but dat looks like da
same cat.


Inspector Chat-Clouseau: C'est incroyable! Mercurius is alive...
Pardonnez-moi, I should not babble so. Your "mystery cat" is named
Mercurius. He was born in Germany and has travelled ze Continent
extensively. It is believed zat he possesses magical powers - even more
magical powers than all of us felines do! One of his supposed abilities
is the power to make objects disappear, and reappear somewhere else.
This very power is responsible for his disappearance.

He has always been somewhat of a recluse. But last year he was giving a
demonstration of his abilities to a powerful organized crime clowder. He
"disappeared" a very valueable item, and was unable to make it reappear.
This head of the crime clowder promised to exact vengeance upon
Mercurius if the item was not delivered safely, and Mercurius then made
another item disappear - himself! He has not been seen since. And what
makes his appearance here and now even more notable is the identity of
the identity of the organized crime cat who swore vengeance upon him -
the very Gaetano Tartuffo who rides upon your train!

And the valued item has never reappeared. Gaetano Tartuffo had paid a
princely sum to some research kitties to develop a new strain of catnip.
This new strain was much more powerful than any strain known before, but
more importantly it also proved intoxicating to dogs. Yes, Tartuffo's
scientists had developed the elusive dognip! Tartuffo intended to
introduce it worldwide as part of his campaign to show the world the
superiority of felines over canines.

And now we find both Mercurius and Tartuffo on the same train!
Simplement merveilleux! As my hero Dick Tracy would say, "The game's
afoot, Watson"!

[Capt Midnight whispers to the Inspector] Don't you mean Sherlock Holmes?

Inspector, impatiently: Yes, Sherlock Tracy, that's what I said. I MUST
learn what these two are doing on the same train. Sir TV, when we return
to the train I would be most grateful if you would show me the seam
where you were able to observe Mercurius.