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Pink thinks everything becomes her. Some animals change colour to match their surroundings, but Pink’s surroundings change texture and hue according to her whim and fancy. In her youth she was abject and easy to upset. I found her once on the worktop in the utility room, crying because one of the local cats had been nasty to her. She slept on my pillow that night, and for many nights afterwards, and sometimes I think I may have given her too much confidence and paid her too much attention for her own good, because now it’s all so different and instead of being a shrinking violet she’s a little tyrant. In the old days even Bamber used to bully her a bit, because that’s what boys are like. Alleycat used to wonder if she could really be one of us (meaning one of the Ginge Club) and when she went out of doors we worried that she’d never come back – she was that weak and puny. But now the Ginge Club are all at her command and she’s their Queen and even Alleycat does her bidding and makes way for her.  Her glass might have started off empty but it didn’t stay empty for long, and these days it only takes one look from her for her cup to fill up with her favourite liqueur just simply because she wills it so.

Even our kitchen is PINK!
And our glassware is PINK TOO!

Do cats rate chips?  Bamber does.  I gave him a chip on my fork and he lapped it up. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I did. For the last month we’ve been in the throes of getting a new kitchen installed, and during the whole of that time we haven’t had water in the taps.  Hence we’ve relied on processed food and home cooking has eaten dust.  But Bamber loves rubbish food, he loves fatty chips, meat products laced with bad chemicals and oozy fatty liquors.  And that’s what this episode has taught us. It’s also reminded us how stubborn he is.  He refused to give up asking until he’d had his chips.  He sat on the edge of my plate and demanded them until he was given.

When Snatcher lived in the Six Foot the rest of the animals spent their days and nights waiting for him to do something bad.  Now that he’s gone, they can all relax and be a little bit naughty and eccentric themselves.  Snatcher’s nastiness equalized everything and it wasn’t possible for anyone else to be bad while he was around, because compared to him their nastiness would have looked like the acme of good behaviour. Now that he’s left the pressure’s off, and Bamber can be naughty if he wants to. He doesn’t have to spend his time watching Snatcher and waiting for him to step out of line, and he doesn’t have to patrol the Six Foot and stop the neighbourhood cats from coming to paying Snatcher court. Instead he can try stealing my dinner (no one minds this) and Alleycat can sit in front of the dogs’ water bowl and stop them from drinking (he does this a lot, it’s his prerogative).  Everyone here’s the best of friends and yet in a weird, unexpected kind of way we all miss Snatcher and wish him nothing but the best, just so long as he never comes back!