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by Stannie Anderson
His name really was Beni lancer, but everyone called him Beni. He came from a long line of sacred cats. He was an Abyssinian. Thousands of years ago, in Ethiopia, people had worshipped cats like Beni.
His owner, Miss Alice, loved him very much. She fed him special treats. He had a box filled with catnip
toys. He even had a special pet door so he could go outside into his own pen. It had a high ledge so he could sleep in the sunshine or watch the birds.
Beni’s coat was orange,
but each hair was ticked with brown or black, so he looked just like a little mountain lion.
But he never bit or scratched or frightened anyone like a mountain lion. His
“meow” was soft as a little bell.
“Beni, you are a wonderful
cat,” Miss Alice often said. Beni Purred. He knew he was wonderful.
Beni’s favorite game
was using his paws to catch a tiny stuffed ball that Miss Alice would throw up into the air.
He also had a life-sized stuffed kitten that he threw into the air himself, then pounced upon it and hit its throat.
Despite all his toys, Beni
was lonely. Miss Alice went to work almost every day. There was no one to play with Beni.
Once a little garden snake crawled into Beni’s
outdoor pen. Beni noticed how nice a playmate
it seemed to be. So, he took it through his pet door into the house.
Miss Alice was reading a book.
He patted her leg gently, to let her know he would like her to throw the snake up into the air for him to catch.
Miss Alice didn’t notice the snake. She thought Beni had his ball. “Not now, Beni,”
she said.
He patted her leg softly again.
“No, no, Beni,-not now,” she said.
The Beni picked up the little
snake and laid it across her ankle. She screamed when she saw it was a snake.
Then, fearing she had hurt Beni’s feelings, she explained, “Snakes are outdoor
toys.”
Carefully, she picked up the snake in a piece of paper towel
and took it outside.
“Beni, you’re
a wonderful cat,” she told him. Beni purred. He knew he was wonderful.
One day Miss Alice came home with something tucked inside
her coat.
Then, she placed in front of Beni
a tiny Siamese kitten with vivid blue eyes.
Instantly, Beni grabbed the
kitten by the back of the neck and started to run away with it.
“No, Beni,” Miss
Alice said in alarm. She took the kitten away from Beni.
The kitten was just the size of Beni’s
stuffed kitten. She was afraid that he might throw it up in the air and hurt
it.
Again, she put the little kitten down in front of Beni. He grabbed it by the back the neck and ran.
This time he jumped up on a stuffed chair and flipped the
kitten on its back.
The kitten watched Beni with
trusting blue eyes. He wasn’t worried about being carried by the back of
his neck. That was the way his mother always had carried him. And Beni was furry and warm, just like his mother.
Beni licked the little kitten
from the tips of its tiny ears to the tip of its tiny tail. Then, gently, he
put his teeth around the kitten’s throat, in a play bite. The kitten loved
that game.
Miss Alice gave the kitten his own little dish. He had been used to lots of brothers and sisters trying to eat all the food, so he immediately began a
little wail as he gobbled his food.
Beni was afraid his kitten
was hurt, so he picked him up by the back of the neck and moved him away from the food. Of course, the kitten cried even louder.
“No, Beni,” Miss
Alice said firmly. “You must let your kitten eat.”
Later, the kitten wanted to go to the bathroom. He climbed
into the litter tray and once again gave a little cry. Beni
instantly picked him up by the scruff of the neck and removed him from the litter tray.
“No, Beni,” Miss
Alice said firmly. “You must let your kitten go to the bathroom.” And she put him back into the litter box.
Beni watched carefully and
learned how to take care of his kitten.
Every day after that was happier for Beni. He wasn’t lonely any more when Miss Alice went to work.
She knew Beni would take
care of the kitten. And Beni had a kitten of
his very own to carry around, wash and play with.
Soon, winter came. Beni sometimes still liked to go outdoors in his pen, even though it was very cold and there was deep
snow on the ground. He sat on the wooded ledge of his pen, high above the snow,
enjoying winter sunshine.
Miss Alice didn’t think the little kitten could open
the pet door, so she didn’t worry that he might get on the ledge and fall.
But one evening, the little kitten somehow pushed the plastic
door and went outside alone on the ledge. He plunged right into the deep snow.
Miss Alice knew he was too little to jump back on the ledge. She could hear him crying below in the snow.
She could not reach him from inside the house. So she ran to the kitchen
door, fearing she would be too late to save him.
Just then, she saw and orange, furry shape flash toward the
pet door. It was Beni! He jumped from the ledge down into the snow. He grabbed his
kitten by the back of the neck and make a tremendous leap back up to the ledge.
Within seconds the little rescued kitten once more was safe
inside the warm house.
“Beni, you’re
a hero!” Miss Alice said. “You’re a wonderful cat!”
Beni purred. He knew he was wonderful. | 
