Gus and the Invisible Friend

By Caryl Z. Sweet

On a stormy night in the Low Country of South Carolina, a cat gives birth to five kittens under a small blue cottage. When the kittens are unexpectedly orphaned, the family living in the house above them brings them in and helps them to find good homes.

Before the kittens are separated, they vow to reunite one day using the inner voices their loving mother told them to follow.

Will they succeed? What roles will the animals of the Low Country play in their adventures? What dangers lie ahead for the kittens? Enter the world of Gus, Callie, Grace, Jim Bob, and Sugar to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524689735

Caryl Z. Sweet

Caryl Sweet lives with her husband, Jim, in Beaufort, South Carolina during the winter months and in the mountains of North Carolina in summertime. Her passions are family, nature, art, and travel.

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2017 Caryl Z. Sweet. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/24/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8972-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9311-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8973-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017906398

© Text and Illustrations Caryl Z. Sweet

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Contents

1 Faylene

2 Family

3 The Surprise

4 Names

5 Making a Plan

6 Hide and Seek

7Adoption

8 Sunday

9 Two to Go

10 All Alone

11A Home At Last

12 Wrapped

13 Afloat

14 The Truce

15 A Palmetto Bug

16 Lee Roy

17 Lee Roy Pushes the Button

18 Gus Asks For Help

19 Ask Mama

20 Callie

21The Swing Bridge

22 Finding Gus

23 Callie’s Escape

24 Toby

25 Dwayne

26 Jim Bob

27 Sugar

28 Free

29 Jim Bob’s Quest

30 Grace

31Missing

32 The Search

33 Signs of a Struggle

34 Grace’s Story

35 The Search Continues

36 The Problem

37 More Signs

38 Search Party

39 Jim Bob’s Story

40 What to do

41 A Better Plan

42 Reunited

Appendix

List of Illustrations

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

To Jim

Who for sixty years has good-naturedly encouraged and supported me in all of my whimsical endeavors.

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Gus

1

Faylene

Faylene was a calico cat; mostly white with patches of black, brown, and orange. She was also a feral cat, which means no one had ever cared for her, and she had to take care of herself. She lived In the Low Country of South Carolina, close to the Atlantic Ocean, where the tides change twice each day. There are lots of islands separated by small creeks whose waters rise and fall with the tides. Life is abundant in the Low Country, but the weather is fickle, and safety is always a concern.

When the tide is high, some islands disappear and dolphins swim up the creeks to trap fish and feed on them. Small boats can navigate at high tide into places where normally they would be stranded. At low tide the sandy beaches are wide and fiddler crabs emerge from their burrows. In the creeks the dark ‘pluff’ mud is stinky and slippery. It oozes between your toes when you step on it, and it can suck you right up and trap you.

There are also hurricanes along the Atlantic coast, and this year Faylene witnessed one. She watched as the wild animals scurried to find higher ground. Rain fell in great sheets, and water overflowed the banks of

the nearby creek. The wind howled. Debris swirled through the air. Tree branches broke and leaves took flight. But Faylene was wise, so when she needed to, she found shelter under a small blue cottage in the countryside.

In time the storm subsided leaving in its wake a huge path of destruction. The wind and rain abated as quickly as they had come, and now there was only the drip, drip, drip of water from the roof. The little house remained unscathed, but the nearby fields were strewn with detritus deposited by the storm. Faylene relaxed, knowing her hiding place was secure.

Caleb and Ida Mae Brown lived in the little house above Faylene. They had painted it a special color called ‘haint’ blue because, according to traditional beliefs, that color would scare away any evil spirits that might be lurking around. Neither they nor their boys Otis and Clay had any idea there was a cat living under the house. Faylene had chosen this place because the soil was sandy and soft, and it was close to fields where she could hunt for food, but she was afraid of humans, so she kept quiet and out of sight.

The Browns occasionally saw a calico cat hunting in the fields nearby, and when they saw her, they always put out a little something for her to eat. Of course Faylene welcomed the treats, but remained elusive.

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She Found Shelter Under a Small Blue Cottage

2

Family

When the time was right, Faylene retreated far back under the house, and there she gave birth to five beautiful kittens. Each one was unique. There was a calico like her mother, another was white and fluffy, and a third was grey. There was a bold and sassy orange kitten and a rather shy black and white one. Because they were all quite small and helpless at first, Faylene snuggled them close, nursed them, and reminded them that she would always be there to protect them.

As the kittens grew and become more active, their mother taught them about life in the world around them and about growing up. She cautioned them to be very quiet under the house, but she also talked to them about making their own way in the world.

Each of you was born with a quiet little voice inside of you. That voice can guide you and help you to do the right thing. Now is the time to learn to listen to your inner voice, so that when you are on your own, you will make good choices and be safe. Your inner voice is like an invisible friend, if you listen to that friend, you will do well.

The kittens did not quite understand what their mother was saying. They tried to listen, but all they heard were tree frogs and crickets in the fields, and the people going clomp, clomp, clomp, on the floor of the house above them.

In time the Browns began to suspect that the calico cat might be sleeping under their house, but they were happy she had shelter, and they continued