Chapter 14

Engelbart was finally a self-satisfied and smugly contented cat. He lay stretched out in front of the log fire, protected from flying sparks by the fireguard. He thanked his lucky stars for the intervention of dear old Mother Nature, who had been kind enough to visit the land with the first mercilessly hard frost of the year. It was mid-November now and the world outside was a frozen hell, into which the pleasure-loving, lazy Engelbart ventured as little and as seldom as possible. Those two stupid girls were always outside, even now. How glad I am to be a sensible cat, he thought - that pair of madwomen don’t even have any nice long fur like me!

Caroline was staggering across the farmyard, two full and very heavy milk pails tied together on a pole, resting on her strong and calloused shoulders. She was having to be most careful not to lose her footing on the treacherous surface. From time to time she had long wondered why they needed such prodigious amounts of milk between the three of them. Even accounting for all the cheese and butter they made, there must be an enormous surplus of dairy products on this farm and a world out there wanting to be fed!