The cats looked up at him and meowed. Stepping over, he looked at the cats’ food bowl. Spinning around and glaring at the dogs, “Who ate the cat food?” he yelled.
All four dogs laid down on the floor, looking pitiful. “I know one of you ate it because these two haven’t emptied their food bowl in the last year,” Arthur snapped, walking over to the pantry and getting a scoop of cat food.
The cats charged him and then one went to each leg, walking in a circle and rubbing against him while meowing loudly. “So, you act like you love me only when you have no food?” Arthur accused, dumping the food in their bowl. Getting what they’d wanted, the two cats left Arthur and paid him no further attention.
Putting the scoop away and grabbing his coffee, Arthur turned around and saw each cat take two bites before walking off into the living room. “I hate cats,” he mumbled, heading for the back door.
The dogs leapt up, running for the door as Arthur held it open. When the dogs ran out, Arthur closed the door and headed to the gym. All the gym equipment was reclaimed or bought from a gym going out of business. He wasn’t a bodybuilder; Arthur just wanted to stay in shape.
It was Wendy who had started them on getting and staying in shape soon after Joseph had been born. They were both lean and well-built, looking much younger than their ages.
Working out and then swimming a few laps, Arthur climbed out of the pool to see the four dogs sitting at the back door, looking away from him. Grabbing his towel and drying off, Arthur headed for the door and saw one of the outside cats. The only one he kinda liked, but he wouldn’t get close to the damn thing.
It was a short-haired yellow cat reminding him of Morris from the TV commercial. The only difference was the size. This was the only outside cat that had a name: Kong. He, nor Wendy had ever picked the cat up but he knew it weighed close to if not over, forty pounds. When Kong was sitting, his head was well over Arthur’s knees.
The security camera at the barn several months ago had caught Kong fighting a raccoon and killing it. Searching the internet, Arthur couldn’t find anyone that had proof that a cat could or had killed a full-grown raccoon.
Kong would follow him around and Arthur was expecting any day for the cat to look up at him and bark. There wasn’t an animal on the farm that didn’t give way to Kong. Even the bull moved away when Kong walked out of the barn.
Stopping at the dogs as he dried his hair, Arthur watched Kong lazily look around, paying the four dogs no attention at all. “Hey, I would let you in the house, but I know you would kill the cats and I’m worried you might kill me in my sleep,” Arthur explained with no shame, letting the towel drape over his shoulders.
Turning his head slowly, Kong looked at him, blinking his eyes lazily. “Okay, I’ll bring out some food when I’m dressed,” Arthur offered, thinking he needed to start bringing his pistol outside when he worked out.
Walking in, he saw Mickey and Minnie at the dog’s bowls. “Hey, get your ass out of there!” he shouted as the dogs charged their bowls. “I should let Kong in, to whoop your asses,” Arthur mumbled as the cats just strolled off and he fixed a quick breakfast, then dressed.
Grabbing his 1911 and shoving it into his clip-on holster, Arthur stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a large sausage patty. Opening the back door, he saw Kong sitting on the patio, waiting on him. “Here,” Arthur said, tossing the patty to the far side of the patio as the dogs came out. “Just keep away from me.”
As Kong got up and slowly walked over to the patty, daring the dogs to run for it, Arthur closed the door. “Hey, the dogs aren’t stupid,” Arthur told Kong as he pulled his phone out to make sure it was charged.
Putting his phone away, Arthur looked over to see Kong lying down with the patty right in front of him. “Pussy, eat the sausage,” he said, walking off the patio. Climbing on the electric cart he’d just built, Arthur unplugged it and hung the cord off the outdoor grill.
Turning the switch on, Arthur backed up and saw Kong watching the four dogs make a wide path around him. “Something’s not right when Don and Daisy will attack a person but avoid that cat,” Arthur noted, driving over to the shop.
Grabbing his tool belt and the camera for the gate, Arthur headed down the rise on a small path he had cut into the side of the rise with Jack’s excavator. The cows were waiting for him at the door. He let them in as they walked into the stalls.
They had four cows and a bull, but were only milking two cows. At one time, they were selling raw whole milk, but the government had passed a law that said you had to have an expensive food license, pay for inspections, and had to follow a list of expensive regulations. To combat that, he and Wendy just stopped selling milk.
Pulling his gloves off, Arthur moved over and turned on the water hose. Washing the udders off and hooking up the automatic milking machine, Arthur turned them on and then poured a scoop of feed into each trough. That’s why the cows wanted in. The two cows he wasn’t milking had calves now and he would rotate them out, letting the other two rest and get pregnant.
Checking the milk tank, Arthur headed out after grabbing the egg basket and then headed to the chicken coop. They had
