Of Love, Law and Shadows

By Carol R. Smith

Enter a world where cat ladies and cats travel between universes. Read stories taken from the lives of cats and of lives from people who may be your neighbor. All are told by a talking book, stories of legacies, of elements and winds who teach, a cat who dances with fire and is the winner, love that is found and lost and found again, a crying flower, a dedication to the law even after death. Carol R. Smith asks that you take a journey away from the norm and just escape!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781684981014

Book preview

Prologue

The cosmic cat lady? So I got your attention, didn’t I? Come on, you have seen them. She can be anyone, in all corners of the world. Look, see. She is the elderly woman you have seen feeding cats behind the restaurant downtown or the teenage girl standing outside her house, waiting on the school bus to pick her up, and waiting with her is a cute black cat, or the woman who is seen greeted by three cats or just one. All are special and all have that special something that others just don’t understand. They are one with the cosmos and have secrets they would like to share with the rest of the world; but when they try to, the world makes fun, afraid of what it does not understand; and it refuses to, makes them uncomfortable. So they shame and hide it, making it look mental. Oh, some are but not all.

I should know. I am such a being. My name is Titus Chatman, and I am sharing a story about a cat lady whom I love to visit, romance, and share stories with. Let’s talk about her, Ms. Ida Lewis, and how there are times you need to slip away from the rest of the world to a place that is yours that others can’t easily get to, just you and your furry pals. Ida has said the world always has you doing what they call a life’s duty, working for money, position, material gain. You must always be busy, helping everyone, but we forget we need a space of our own. Friends won’t tell, cats won’t share, dogs will send search parties to your location. But cats will yawn and watch them search frantically with a poker face.

Yep, cats don’t tell unless it’s really serious. It is on one of these nights. Ida leaves out into her backyard through the trees with sounds of night birds filling the air. A hidden portal, and trailing behind her are five cats who know where she is going. They walk calmly behind her, much to the curiosity of two in the shadows who normally keep their distance unless it is feeding time; but this time, even they want to join in. They follow through the trees as the portal appears. Ida and the cats go through, so do the two stranglers running in as well. The portal shuts, forcing them to join in the journey.

It is a long walk through the tunnel, but then light appears ahead, then out through the opening. Waiting there is a camel wearing six baskets hanging on its sides. Then Ida gives a spoken command, and the camel lowers into a crouching position. She calls to the cats, each to get into a basket; but the two stranglers look on, not sure what to do. The oldest male cat calls out to them. The kittens cautiously approach and jump into a basket together. Then Ida climbs aboard the camel, grabs the reins, and gives the command for the camel to rise. It rises. Ida tells it to, and they are off. They travel to an area of space that is a world between worlds. The ground disappears. It is only the path to be seen.

All around stars can be seen as well, passing planets and comets. Passing them are falling or shooting stars. Then suddenly overhead, a rainbow path appears. It is the rainbow bridge; and all the different animals of the earth can be seen walking, flying, crawling, or running on it to their destination of peace and bliss as their reward. Then Ida stops, and they pause to watch as those running the path upward. But then the two stranglers cry out because they recognize a kitten running the path. It’s their friend, a black and white kitten wearing white socks, who had recently passed away in the arms of Ida, and she named it before it left the earth. It had been hit by a car! She named it Socks, and now its friends call to it. Socks looks down and calls back, but then he looks at Ida. It calls to her. She shakes her head. She says, I will care and protect them. Socks meows, then turns and runs until he is no longer seen. Then Ida turns. The two new kittens seem sad and quiet. He will be okay, and so will you too. I will be your friend until it is time for the two of you to meet with him. You are our family now. The other cats meow in agreement. Ida tells the camel to go, and the rainbow bridge disappears in the distance.

About a mile and half, another portal appears, and they go through it. Now they are on a beach riding the shoreline. Waters are calm, and boats are in the waters. Ms. Ida steers the camel toward the docks. It goes walking for a mile until they get to the dock with the number nine on it. That is where she stops the camel. She gives the command for it to lower itself. She dismounts. Then Ida calls to her feline brood. All jump out the baskets, and the cat crew goes to the boat. The two kittens look, but then they follow the rest, down to the docks and to the boat.

The owner of the boat is an old man with beard and glasses, wearing a black sailor’s hat. He nods and smiles at Ida. Greeting, miss. Homeward bound? he says.

Yes, says Ida. The cats sit quietly and watch as the owner of the boat unties and raises the anchor. Sails appear. All get on the boat. Ida sits down at the back with the cats. The owner raises anchor and then grabs the rudder. And off the boat goes across what is known as the Diamond sea, for it shows different facets of colors like a diamond. Gentle breezes guide them across the ocean with ease.

For over two miles they travel. Then in the distance, a shoreline could be seen and a huge house surrounded by a gate. When they get to the docks, the sails disappear. The boat’s owner drops anchor. Ida thanks him. All passengers get off the boat. The cats are running toward the house. Ida walks slowly behind, laughing at the cats. Ida’s house is impressive, and guarding the house are four giant cats the size of horses: one cat is blue with darker blue markings that look like waves of water, another is red with darker red and orange markings that look like fire, another cat whose color is dark green, its markings like that of forest trees, and the last cat had yellow markings like a yellow sunset. These gigantic cats are the four guards of the property.

The gates open, and all walk in. The guard cats shrink in size, and all become the size of German shepherds but still retain the fierceness that is to be respected. I love her house. The huge cats greet and rub Ida, and all go inside. The walls of her house have paintings of spring and summer, which are downstairs. And when you put your hand on the walls, they shimmer with life, and you can walk through to enjoy whatever place the element over that season is enjoying at the moment. Autumn and winter paintings are upstairs. Fireplaces light up by themselves on chilly nights. The kitchen is always open and ready. This is Ida’s second home away from home. This is where we come to unwind and tell stories also of events we know. A common bond of story weavers at a corner of a quiet universe where only few travel and know of.

As I approach on my horse, I see the light is on. I know that there is a glass of my favorite wine and meal, which are warming by the fire. I get off my horse, and my horse is led away to the stable. Only footprints of the person can be seen. I enter the door. It opens, and I am greeted with a kiss. Ida is wearing a flowing robe of stars and the cosmic crown. I come into the room surrounded by cats who are watching. Ida gives me food and drink. She sits. Everyone is waiting patiently for me to begin the story from the pages of the book, a magical book that has stories of everyday people, or are they? I finish. A wash basin is offered, and I clean my hands. Are you ready? I say. But tonight we are interrupted by another, and it is that one who wants to tell their story first. The book opens, and it begins.

And We Are One

So what do you do when you hear the man of the house say that you are the evil kitty, the mean kitty? Or that the others won’t