In the previous chapter: Inge read the diary she found in the basement, and as she wanted to know what had really happened, she knew she had to explore the cemetery.

*****

While preparing breakfast, the cleaning service agency had arrived to clean up the basement so she stayed around and waited until they were finished.

They told her that the bad humid smell was from a very dirty litter box…, if though that basement had been used by cats!

‘Wow…! In the diary, Melissa wrote about a cat as well! Now I certainly have to find those graves to be sure!’

She thanked the service team and asked them if they could tell her which way to take to the cemetery.

It was exactly as the diary had said, very nearby. Inge decided to explore every nook and cranny of this graveyard thoroughly.

Then, finally she found them; There they were…; in the far right corner. Two tombstones…; The Tumbeldors’ tombstones!

While thinking about the diary, she took some weeds out around the graves and then walked home again.

– “Hi baby! Do you miss me?”
– “Yes darling, do you already know when you are coming home?”
– “No, not exactly…, I think within three or four days.”
. “Is it alright with you if I buy a washer and dryer?”
– “Sure…, of course, honey.  You don’t have to ask that! Oh…, I have to end now…, I hear the General coming! Love you bunches. *XXX*”

It seemed that she had more time to herself than she had expected.

First she went into town to buy that washer and dryer; she also bought a few books and got some groceries.

She wanted to make use of the basement, but thought it would be wiser to wait with that until Peter was home.

So she spent some quiet days working on her cooking and gardening skills.

From the day she had visited the cemetery, she got a regular visitor. A cat was scratching the door as if he was asking permission to come inside. Inge was not very attracted to the idea of having a cat.

She liked dogs better, but that didn’t mean she disliked cats. So, when she heard the cat, she went outside and petted him on the head.

But the cat reacted in a very nasty way. Since that day she heard him outside, she had to shoo him away more than once. The cat had that nasty habit of scratching the benches in the garden, and she found out that he destroyed the newspaper as well… No, come to think of it, she didn’t like that cat.
‘I must try to find out who the owner of this cat is’, she thought. ‘One of these days, I’ll follow him to where he belongs’.
She pushed the thought of the cat to the background and spent the rest of the evening watching a movie on TV.

That night she didn’t sleep very well. The cat had come back and was meowing all the time near the bedroom window. She was not going to accept that from a cat that wasn’t hers!

Next morning, she did the normal house cleaning and she still had some hours before Peter would return. She had to wait anyway. Today they were supposed to deliver the washer and drier she bought the other day. ‘For heavens’ sake! Where shall I put them? The house is not big enough!’
But wait…! She found some old counters which could use a bit of paint, but for the moment they would do…! Yes, this was good.
‘I will tell them to put the machines behind the house’, Inge smiled.

While looking at her new acquisition, she was surprised by her husband who had approached her from behind and put his arms around her.
– “Oh… Peter! You scared me to death! Hey…What have they done to your hair?!”

– “Don’t worry honey; it’s part of the uniform. The moment I take off my cap you will see my own hair…”
– “I think we’ve been apart for too long. Let’s go back to normal, shall we?”

They spent the rest of the day enjoying each other.

Later, when she told him about the cat, he immediately agreed that she could try and find out who the rightful owner of this cat was.

Peter had gone to work again. When Inge found another newspaper destroyed by that cat, she had had enough. She waited until she saw him. She shooed him away and went running after him to see where he would go.
Then she saw him creeping through some bushes that led into an open space in the forest. Inge followed him there and then saw some caravans that looked like a gypsy camp.

Very soon a colorful elder woman appeared who looked at her inquisitively.
All of a sudden, Inge felt a bit overawed. – “Excuse me madam, is that cat yours?”
– “Yes, it is! Why?”
– “I have to tell you that he has been very naughty. He comes by our house every day and destroys the newspaper, he scratches my garden furniture and he often keeps me awake during the night, sitting underneath the window and meowing. It gives me the creeps!”
–“Young lady…, this cat, Tehther… is like a brother to me, and I don’t want to restrict his wandering and whereabouts. Just send him away when you see him again….

Inge felt her anger growing and said sharply: – “Alright then…, next time I’ll call the Animal shelter and they will come to take him away. I do love animals, but there is something very malicious about this one…, if though he was half human and seems to take pleasure in destroying… as if he just KNOWS how I dislike that! He seems so cruel. If he doesn’t come home one of these days, you will know where to find him. I don’t have to suffer from his lack of not being trained and behaving this bad! Goodbye madam!”

Inge turned around, gave the grinning cat one more look, and while she walked away, she could almost feel the eyes of that woman and her cat burning a hole in her back.

To be continued….