Kool Kat Charlie of Cocoa Beach

By Ruby H. Happel-Holtz

Kool Kat Charlie of Cocoa Beach tells the story of Charlie, an orphan cat who is adopted by a toy Manchester dog named Benny (and his human family). The pair of friends lead easy, uneventful lives on Merritt Island in Floridauntil the day when their master, Steve, decides to move to the city of Cocoa Beach, Florida, and brings Benny and Charlie along!

On Charlies first day at the beach he meets Mack and Snowball, two cats who become his new friends. But as the days pass, he encounters trouble after troubleand nearly loses his life! He and his buddies set out to rescue a beautiful female cat from her abusive mateand find themselves captured and taken to the pound. His owner, Steve, must make a hard decision to save him from the animal pound, a jail for cats.

In his new life, Charlie finds new friends and talents he didnt know he possessed. He learns important lessons about giving and loyalty, and he finally finds love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jan 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466902954

Ruby H. Happel-Holtz

Ruby H. Happel-Holtz was born of Indian and Irish ancestry in southern Indiana. She is the mother of four, grandmother to nine, and a noted author and artist of several published books, including The Unconquered Hearts and On Wings of Change. Retired from careers in space technology, interior design, and marketing research, she spends her time painting, writing, and reading in her home in Amargosa Valley, Nevada.

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Copyright 2012 Ruby H. Happel-Holtz.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Created in the United States of America.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-0295-4

ISBN: 978-1-4669-0295-4 (ebook)

Trafford rev. 01/23/2012

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Contents

DEDICATION IS TO MY

CHAPTER 1 - MISS ROSE’S DELIMMA

CHAPTER 2 – GROWING UP CHARLIE

CHAPTER 3 – THE TEENAGE YEARS

CHAPTER 4 – LOCKED UP

CHAPTER 5 – A PERILESS FLIGHT

CHAPTER 6- CAT ON A LEASH

CHAPTER 7 - THE RUNAWAY

CHAPTER 8 – TROUBLES AGAIN

CHAPTER 9 – CHARLIE GROWS UP, COUNTRY

DEDICATION IS TO MY

CHILDREN, PEGGIETTA, ALGENE, STEVEN AND KRISANN, MY GRANDCHILDREN, AND MY GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, AND THOSE YET TO COME. YOU HAVE BROUGHT GREAT JOY INTO MY LIFE SO THIS STORY IS MY WAY OF GIVING BACK. THIS STORY IS ABOUT A REAL LIVE CAT WHOSE NAME WAS REALLY CHARLIE.

ENJOY!

CHAPTER 1 - MISS ROSE’S DELIMMA

KOOL KAT CHARLIE WAS NO ORDINARY CAT. HE HAD A VERY, VERY PRECARIOUS BEGINNNG WITHOUT A REAL MOTHER TO TEACH HIM. AS HE GREW HE BECAME A LITTLE ARROGANT, OR I SHOULD SAY VERY, VERY ARROGANT, ESPECIALLY ABOUT HIS LONG, LONG TAIL. Of course he also knew that he was the biggest, baddest cat in all creation. He was a pale pumpkin color with dark gold stripes, and an underbelly of soft white fur. He was also born with a perfect H between his eyes; and speaking of eyes they were something else too. They were very expressive and a distinctive green. What I mean by expressive, well he could use them to his benefit as he needed, to charm the lady cats, or to scare away any enemies, such as other male cats. Also, he could make them appear so, so, sad, so pitiful, or so fierce, or for whatever the need may be.

His fur was thick and shiny, and he was very strong and muscular, and so, so handsome. It truly was no wonder that all the lady cats in the neighborhood preened themselves continuously, to get his attention…. Charlie would just sigh at them for he loved them all, but none too seriously. He just couldn’t see being tied down to one lady cat. He just wasn’t ready for that kind of a commitment.

Well now I’m getting ahead of myself, for you must remember that Charlie’s beginning was very, very precarious, as I said before. He nearly died at birth because his uptown, floozy, of a mother, abandoned him. Rose was not interested in babies because she wanted to return to the bright lights of Las Vegas. She wanted to be famous like her mistress, Algene Evans. She wanted to leave Merritt Island, Florida.

By now I guess you are wondering what Charlie’s mother, Miss Rose, was doing in Merritt Island, Florida, in the first place. So listen up for IT’S A TALL TAIL, OR RATHER TALE, IN ITSELF, SO HERE WE GO.

Miss Rose’s mistress, Algene, was a professional dancer at the old Sands Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. A friend, who was going on the road with a dance troupe, couldn’t take Miss Rose with him, so he gave Miss Rose to his friend, Algene. Now Algene’s parents and siblings lived on Merritt Island, where she visited as often as she could. You know like when she was between shows, or if she needed just to recuperate… Now Algene had a very heavy workload as Lead Dancer, and trainer for any new dancers who would sometimes join the show. She also had three shows a night, and became exhausted from all the work, and collapsed on stage one night. She was ultimately diagnosed with pneumonia. After her stay in the hospital, her doctor ordered her to rest for a fairly long time.

Well of course as you have already surmised, she packed her bags and flew back to Merritt Island with Miss Rose. What did that mean? Miss Rose would have to fly in a cage, or kitty box, because it was the 1970’s, and no animals were allowed on planes except in containers, and not in the passenger area but in the cargo bay. Miss Rose hated to be shut up in a container of any kind, so she arrived in Florida angry and cantankerous.

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Miss Rose stayed angry and cantankerous for days and days. She would not let anyone get close to her and finally hid under a bed, or a sofa. She would only come out to take a bite of food and then run back and hide somewhere. Now Rose was also a very curious cat, more so than most. So finally her curiosity got the best of her when she realized there was a strange thing running around the house, making a lot of strange noises that she had never heard before. This thing was smaller than she, and had big, big ears, and made a sound that she could hardly tolerate. She would just have to investigate!

Slinking out from underneath the bed Rose cautiously tried to get a good smell of the little creature, but it turned on her and began sniffing her, and sniffing her. Miss Rose was horrified, and had to climb on top of the sofa to get away from it. She snarled, and hissed at it, but the little brown and black thing, which by now she had heard her mistress call it, Benny, and also explained that Benny was a DOG,- whatever that was. Still very curious, she finally leaped off the sofa and began her own sniffing, but Benny didn’t seem to care, as long as he got to sniff her in return. Well this sniffing after each other went on for a couple of days until Benny’s owner, Krisann, insisted that they stop all this foolishness. Benny being the well behaved and obedient dog that he was, took Krisann’s wishes to heart and ran to his little bed in her room. Miss Rose hunched her back up, and hissed at Krisann just a little for she didn’t want anyone to know it, but she was enthralled with this thing called dog, or Benny.

Benny was a small toy Manchester Terrier, smart and very, very, obedient, but this new thing in the house was just as fascinating to him as he was to Miss Rose. Now neither Benny nor Miss Rose had any experience with other animals; well there was some experience with Benny and another little Manchester, but Miss Rose had no experience at all. Of course neither one of the animals could contain their curiosity for very long. So not heeding Krisann’s orders they began chasing each other around the house again. You see Krisann had to go to school, so there was no one left in the house to make them behave.

Now Krisann’s mother and father worked away from the home, so when Krisann’s mother came home from work a day later and saw that the animals were still chasing and sniffing, she threatened them. She told them that if they didn’t stop this foolishness she was going to put them out on the street without any food. Benny decided that he didn’t want any punishment, so he called a truce with Rose.

Benny said If you stop sniffing me, then I will stop sniffing you. Miss Rose agreed that this conduct had gone on long enough, and agreed to stop. Truth be known, Rose was just a tiny, weenie afraid of Krisann’s mother. So with the truce declared, the two became fast friends.

Benny took Miss Rose out to the patio and taught her to use his doggie door. Now he told her, we can go out and play in the cool green grass, and sniff the pretty flowers that line the walk and the house. Little did Benny know this would change his and Miss Rose’s life forever.

Miss Rose was a grey, calico cat with bright green eyes, and a fairly long tail. Her coat was gray, thick and soft to touch, but she also was very conceited, more than most cats. She spent most of her time rubbing her fur, and licking her paws just to make sure she always looked her best. Her Mistress Algene, had tried to find her a suitable beau, but Rose didn’t like any of them. Well, there was one; a big black cat she sort of liked, but she decided that she would never marry, for she did not want any children, oops, I mean kittens. She said to herself, I’m a city girl and I want to be on stage, or in the movies, just like Miss Algene. Providence however, would intercede