Ruth Arbuthnot hoisted her suitcase from the airline carousel. Fighting her way through the crowd, she walked through the terminal toward the taxi line. As she came through the heavy glass doors, she muttered to herself. “I can’t believe I’ve been subpoenaed to testify at a closed senate hearing. All I did was call for an audit and my life is totally upside down. On top of that my Lear Jet is down for a broken something or other.” She shook her head. It doesn’t seem fair, somehow.

As she crossed the sidewalk toward the taxi’s lined up like yellow, white and green diamonds, she noticed that two boys were playing catch with something that looked furry. Shaking her head, she dodged between two men, one rocking to the music from his ear buds and another, texting on a smart phone.

There was a yell, a howl and the furry thing the boys had been throwing landed on her shoulder. Landed and hung on. She could feel its claws through the cloth of her raincoat and her suit. She could feel its breath against her cheek as it rubbed its face against hers.

“Hey,” one of the boys yelled. “That’s our cat.”

The other boy jumped in front of her. “Give me the cat.” His tone was threatening.

She looked from one boy to another, then to the policeman who was pushing through the crowd. “Do you have a death wish?” Her voice was low, harsh and had a hissing sound. “Because if you do, go ahead and try to take this kitten.”

The policeman finally broke through the crowd. “What’s going on?” He demanded.

“She took our cat,” The younger boy whined. “We weren’t doing nothing.”

“Yes, you were,” a woman said as she put her smart phone in her pocket. “I called you officer. These boys were playing catch with the cat. This woman got in the way. The cat landed on her. These boys are guilty of animal cruelty. I want them arrested. This is the kind of behavior that escalates to injuring other children.”

The officer lifted his collar to call on his radio. Then he listened for a minute. “I’ve got a police car on the way,” he said as he took each boy’s arm. “You’re coming with me. I’ll call your parents from the station.

Then he looked at Ruth. “Do you want me to call the Animal Control Officer?”

“No. I’ll take the kitten with me. I doubt if I could get his claws out of my shoulder.” She looked toward a taxi driver who had been standing next to his cab. “Is your cab available?”

He nodded and stepped toward the door. “If I could just get your name, ma’am. I’ll need it for my report. Quietly, Ruth gave her name, home address and the address where she would be staying. I can testify to what I saw and felt if you need me. I’ll be here for a few weeks.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He said respectfully. The police car pulled up and double parked, blocking traffic. One of the men got out and put handcuffs on the boys.

There were verbal protests from some of the bystanders. The officer smiled as he led the boys to the back seat of the police car. They were no longer bullying and arrogant.

The taxi driver took Ruth’s suitcase, put it in the trunk, then opened the door for her. “Ma’am, are you sure you want to keep the cat? I have a sister who works at a no-kill animal shelter. I can take the cat to her. She’ll take good care of it.”

Ruth smiled. “No, thank you. I think I’ll keep him or her. She may have done me a favor landing like that.” Gently she reached up and gently stroked the kitten. When it began to purr, she carefully detached it’s claws from her coat and set it on her lap. As she stroked the bedraggled cat, she could feel the tension leave her neck and back. Her stomach seemed to unknot, too.”

Where do you want to go?” He asked after he watched her pet the cat for a moment. 

“Can you take me to McLean?” She opened her smart phone and read off the address.

Shaking his head, he put the taxi in gear and after a moment’s wait, he pulled into the heavy afternoon traffic. Thirty minutes later, he pulled into Judith Lathrop’s gorgeous colonial mansion.

After paying him and adding a generous tip, she cradled the kitten in her arm, just as Judith ran down the steps. “Ruth. It’s so good to see you.”

She stopped so suddenly that she nearly skidded when she saw the kitten. “What have you got there?”

“I rescued a baseball cat. I hope you don’t mind my bringing him here. I’d like to keep him.” Quickly, Ruth told her about the game of catch with the kitten as the ball.

“Boris might mind, but he won’t be in the guest house.” She grabbed the handle of Ruth’s suitcase and pulled it around to the back of the house. “The guesthouse is back here over the garage.”

As Ruth carried the purring kitten up the stairs, Judith said, “We’d better take your little friend to the vet. He might have been injured when he was a baseball.”

“Thank you,” Ruth said gratefully. “If I finally got a kitten and he was injured, I’d really believe that Karma was out to get me.”