Where's Tom?

Well, Tom has had more adventures this weekend. 

This was Saturday breakfast time...

Tom spent Saturday exploring.  He came out of his "den" and explored the kitchen.  He was very relaxed and wandered about, then came to the table to see if there was any fuss going.  

He then gradually worked his way into the main room and had a good look round.  However, we had builders and visitors in the house during the day, so the hole-behind-the-washing-machine was a favourite choice for the majority of the day.

 

In the evening, he came in and had a really good sniff around, and persuaded us to share our tea (chicken snacks for cats...). He even discovered the ornaments on the Christmas tree and played with them.  We think he likes to play - he has a toy basket, though he hasn't discovered the toys yet.  Still, there's plenty of time...

 

* * *

Today, Tom shared our breakfast (or at least, he would have, if we hadn't made him get off the table!).  Then he had more fuss and disappeared behind the washing machine for a while for a rest. 
At lunch time he was out again, hanging around for fuss (he is such a fuss-cat!), then he vanished into his "cat cave". 

We were out for the afternoon, so we left some food for his lunch and shut the laundry room door, so he would be safe in his cave and not get tangled in the fairy-lights, or climb on top of the dresser... 

We got home at around 4:45 and went to check on Tom.  No sign of him, so we thought he was behind the washing machine.  Dave called for him to come out - nothing.  He also hadn't eaten his lunch, which was strange, as he has eaten his food quickly every other time. 

We couldn't find Tom.  He wasn't behind the washing machine. Nor in the downstairs loo (the only room he could have got into while the laundry room door was closed).  We checked all the boxes and tops of stuff - fridge, freezer, shelves etc. No Tom. 
We thought that perhaps he'd been shut Out of the laundry room instead of shut In.  So we searched the living room. Several times. And the kitchen. No Tom. 

We couldn't find Tom anywhere.  We tried the "snug" sitting room and also upstairs, in case he'd sneaked out of the main living room while the door was open (not for long).  We looked behind, under and on top of everywhere. We tried inside and under the wardrobes, under beds, behind desks, in cupboards & boxes & baskets... No Tom.

 

We wondered whether, in the very brief time the main living room door was open, he had slipped out and hidden in the hallway, then run outside when the front door was open for a while.  We couldn't imagine how this could have happened, as we'd been so careful.  But it seemed that Tom was not in the house.  Dave went out into the garden and searched in the dark.  No Tom. 

He then went round the back of our house, searching the other side of the garden wall and looking under bushes etc. No Tom.

We both searched the garden, the top of the shed & garage, behind the bins, under nearby cars and hedges.  No Tom.

 

We had tried everywhere.  He wasn't indoors, so he must be outside. But "outside" is very big, isn't it? So he could be Anywhere in the World (well, within a couple of miles of home anyway...). 

So Dave went back out and tried again.  No Tom.

 

While Dave was outside searching, I was sure I could hear jingling.  Tom has a bell on his collar and we'd both thought we could hear it tinkling in the garden, when we were standing near the back door. 

We decided it was probably wishful thinking.  But this time, I was sure I heard it.  I went to the laundry room, but heard it again - in the kitchen... As I walked into the kitchen, I was sure it was coming from the corner of the room near the sink, kitchen bin and back door.  I moved the bins and looked behind the trolley under the worktop, where we keep a wine rack and stuff.  No cat, but definitely jingling noises. 

Dave came in again and I signed for him to come quietly over.  He also heard the jingling... So I pulled the baseboard out from under the kitchen cupboard....

Tom, sitting comfortably under the cupboard!

The baseboard pulled out - and a bribe to get him out!

 

So, eventually he came out and ate his (very late) lunch.  Then he went into his cat-cave for a rest.  Where he is now lying comfortably on his mat under the radiator. 

Relief!

 

I think we may nominate Tom for the 2013 "Pesky Cat of the Year Award"...

 

But you have to admit, he's very cute!