January 3

The very thing that made the Carrier work so well—the large number of cats—was the cats’ worst problem. There was an alarming number of strays and ferals; homeless cats were everywhere. They had become so unmanageable, some humans had begun to legislate feline extermination. All cats were concerned about overpopulation but none took the situation as seriously as Orange Beamer.

Beamer lived at Shenango High School with maintenance superintendent, Jake Cullin.  Jake’s job was managing the two men and one woman who were custodians at the elementary, middle and high schools. Beamer’s job was to find homes for all the itinerant cats wanting one. Some cats believed living wild protected them from human interference, but most cats felt there was nothing better than regular food, a safe place to stay and plenty of affection. So Beamer established the Home Office. Shenango High School was also the Cat Carrier nerve center.

All this kept Beamer, who looked like an aging historian in a frumpy orange sweater, efficiently busy.  His golden eyes were always amused as if enjoying life’s ironies; his right eye was ringed by a brown oval through which he delivered an academic gaze. Beamer had “Allsence”:  the intuitive ability to take in and understand more than most creatures—and definitely more than most humans.  Allsence was an effective resource for the Home Office.

Today Beam was sitting under Jake’s desk, next to the empty wooden crate that served as his own desk and Jake’s footrest. Beam had two morning appointments: Pansy from Mooner Farm and Crazy Cor. 

Jake looked up from his ringing phone to see a small gray tabby scampering through Beamer’s cat door.  She had a black tail and a fancy white stripe down the side of her sepia nose. Jake took his feet off Beamer’s crate as the tabby dashed under the desk.

“Any trouble getting here, Pansy?” Beam greeted her.  Himself a former dairy cat, Beam knew all about rural cat complaints. Dairymen put money into cows, not cats. Farmers wanted barn cats because felines were important in keeping rodents and birds from the grain silos and feeding troughs.  But too many farmers depended on harsh farm conditions to manage their cat colonies and rarely vaccinated, neutered or took their cats to vets.  Beamer did what he could to better this situation, and today he was meeting with Mooner Farm’s Pansy, who was hoping for a new home of her own.