Intermission: Waiting at Home

 

 

 

Intermission: Waiting at Home

 

“TIGGEEER, where aaare you?”

The Northland family servants combed through the garden looking for the cat, one of them holding up his food dish.

The countess and her daughter were out at the royal riding grounds. The servants were trying to give Tigger his midday snack, as instructed, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Did you see him?” one asked.

“No… It’s weird, isn’t it? He’s almost always out here.”

There were a few places in the garden that were his usual daytime haunts, but he wasn’t in any of them.

“I looked under those shrubs, in that tree, and even on the balcony…”

“I wonder where he went…”

Initially startled by Tigger’s size, the servants had kept their distance from him. But as they lived together, they came to realize he had a gentle, not at all aggressive personality and that he had a sweet, adorable meow.

But what boosted his popularity the most was his relationship with Amy, so sweet and full of love. Unfortunately, however, he was so shy that none of the servants had gotten him to be affectionate with them, too.

They would look on fondly whenever Amy and Tigger—who were equally chubby and the same size—would cling to one another and romp around. In fact, being assigned to take care of Amy—and, by extension, Tigger—for the day was currently the most highly sought-after job among the servants.

“If you’re looking for Tigger, he’s in Lady Amy’s room.”

“Oh, Claude!” said the servant, taken aback by the man’s sudden appearance. “But he’s usually outside during the day…”

“Lady Amy’s absence has made him quite lonely, it seems.”

Smiling, the butler took the servant to Amy’s private chambers. When they arrived, the servant saw a bushy tail poking out from behind Amy’s favorite pillow on her small couch.

Much of his large body was visible as well, but it looked like he was trying to hide.

When the servant gently removed the pillow, Tigger—lying flat on his stomach and looking totally dejected—suddenly turned his face away from her.

They had a long, silent stand-off.

“He’s quite sulky today,” the butler finally said.

With a sidelong glance at the servant, who was struggling to contain herself over how cute Tigger was, Claude looked to the future and mused that whichever gentleman would one day become Amy’s husband had some stiff competition with this cat.

🐾🐱🐾

THAT evening, right after Amy and Isabelle had returned home from the riding grounds, Amy had rushed to her room. But when Claude had passed by the hallway, he saw Tigger sitting right outside the door to her bedroom, staring unwaveringly at the doorknob.

“Oh, Tigger!” he said in surprise. “I thought Lady Amy had come back… What is he doing out here?”

“Hello, Claude!” said the servant standing beside Tigger excitedly. “He’s waiting for Lady Amy. Apparently, she went on an unexpected trek through some thickets at the royal riding grounds today and tore her clothes, so she’s getting changed right now.”

“That’s right—Tigger’s a male cat, isn’t he? Waiting patiently for a lady to get ready is very important.”

“That’s true, but he’s also really excited for the dress she’s changing into!” she said, sounding close to laughter. Even as she petted Tigger, he stayed as meek as a lamb.

No one in the house could resist finding the cat cute, especially when Amy’s presence in the house made him more amiable to all the servants. The young servant in the hallway was taking this precious opportunity to enjoy petting Tigger’s fluffy fur.

Claude looked confused.

“A dress?”

“Yeah. Because she made him stay at home and he got lonely, Lady Amy said she was going to put on his favorite dress and—”

But her sentence was cut off by the bedroom door opening.

“Sorry for the wait, Tigger!” said Amy, waving the cat inside.

Just as Tigger, tired of waiting, was about to jump at her, he suddenly stopped in his tracks—his eyes were glued to the long ribbons dangling from the cuffs of her dress. They were designed to be wrapped around the wrists, but Amy kept them untied, so they hung to the floor.

Amy gestured and waved both hands exaggeratedly, as if she were conducting an invisible orchestra. With each motion, the long, thin ribbons swayed in the air.

Her dress was just like a cat toy.

Tigger kept his gaze fixed to the swaying ribbons and leaned forward, slowing his breath, swishing his tail, calculating his timing. Then suddenly, Amy stopped her arms right in front of her. Eyes glinting mischievously, she whispered, “Ready, set…GO!”

“…Oh, that explains it,” observed Claude.

“He’ll start playing with the ribbons when she’s in the middle of putting the dress on, so he’s banned from entering until after she’s changed.”

Tigger chased the ribbons attached to Amy, the human cat toy, and she skillfully dodged him. As she squealed and laughed, the room became filled with warmth and mirth. When Tigger did finally capture a ribbon, she would hold him close and pet him. Then they would break apart slightly, Amy would shake the ribbons, and they’d be at it again.

No matter how excited Tigger would get, he would never use his claws on Amy. She wouldn’t have been able to play this game with him if she thought he would.

Claude thought it looked incredibly fun but also incredibly intense, and there weren’t any breaks during the action. He would probably have desperately refused if asked to give it a try. Amy was already out of breath in just that short period of time.

“Ti-Tigger! Hold on, I need a little time-out! Oh… Come on, don’t make that face… Oh, all right, just one more time, okay?”

With Amy so touched by Tigger’s playful mood, there was no doubt they would be at the game for longer still.

“You’re gonna make me lose weight like this!” Amy whined. The butler and servant met each other’s eyes and nodded.

“…This seems like a good time for a drink,” said Claude.

“All right. I’ll bring some cold fruit water. And regular water for Tigger, too.”

Amy and Tigger’s play session was long and energetic. Unsurprisingly, Amy had more dishes than usual prepared for her for dinner that evening.