"I can't believe you got us into this!" whined a fat, longhaired brown tabby from one of the cat carriers.

"Me? You're the one who never used the litter box!" countered the big, shorthaired orange tabby from the other cat carrier.

"But you started it when you started spraying all over the house! You upset me and, besides, if you could get away with that, why couldn't I use the potted plants?"

"You - wait, the car is stopping. Time to see the vet."

The adult male human got out of the car and opened the back door.

"This doesn't look like the vet, Buddy," whispered the fat cat.

"It doesn't smell or sound like it, either. Where are we?"

A strange adult human male walked up to them. He talked to the cats' owner for a few minutes, and then they each took a cat and headed for a barn. The fat cat started to panic and mewed pitifully.

"Ooh, shut up," said Buddy. Ooh ignored him and kept mewing until their carriers were set down and the doors were opened. Both cats stayed put until the carriers were picked up and shaken violently. As soon as the cats hit the ground they turned around to reenter the carriers, but their owner was already walking away with them.

"Wait, wait! What about us?" Ooh ran for the car, but the strange man closed the barn door in her face.

"Welcome to the farm," came a slow, drawling meow. Buddy and Ooh turned around and found themselves surrounded by cats. Ooh hid behind Buddy, who planted himself firmly and hissed a warning.

"Oh, we won't hurt you," said a nondescript shorthaired brown tabby. "We just sleep and eat around here. It makes our owner mad because we don't hunt, but he can't get rid of us. I'm guessing he brought you two here to kill the mice. Am I right?"

"I-I don't know," said Buddy. He didn't relax his posture. "Why don't you hunt?"

"We're lazy," chimed in a small black cat.

"And Mother never taught us how to hunt," said a gray tabby.

"Well, if I teach you how to hunt, will you show me how to get out of here?" asked Buddy.

"We don't want to hunt," said the first cat. "And it would be suicide to try to leave. Coyotes just love cats - especially fat ones like you," he said, approaching Ooh. Buddy hissed and puffed himself up to look bigger.

"Stay back!" he warned. The other cat stopped.

"Geez, a little grumpy today, huh? Well, I'm not telling you how to get out of here."

"Fine," Buddy growled. "We don't need your help anyway. Come on, Ooh. We need to start searching for an exit." He stalked away, leaving Ooh crouched down and unprotected. She looked at the other cats and bolted after Buddy.

The two cats searched for a couple of days, but the barn was in good repair and the only exits were the windows and the door. Their new owner came a few times a day to feed the cats and do other farm chores, and he had a tendency to leave the door open until he left. Buddy took Ooh on a few forays to explore the farm. They had to be careful of the dog, who was so happy to see new cats that he would have licked them to death had not Buddy planted his claws in the dog's muzzle. The horses completely ignored them. As for the dreaded coyotes, the dog kept them off the land, but they approached the boundaries and yipped all night long.

"All right, Ooh, I think I've got it," said Buddy on the third day. "We're going to leave first thing in the morning and circle around the area where the coyotes live. We'll stick to the long grass to hide us. I feel like I know where home is, so I'll lead us. Are you ready?"

"Yep. Lead on."

The human came to the barn in the morning, and Buddy and Ooh were ready. They sauntered outside as if the day were like any other and headed for the farm's boundaries. Buddy headed straight for the long grass and proceeded confidently until he smelled something unusual. He looked back at Ooh and froze. Ooh was carrying her long, fluffy tail upright like a flag and the smell was getting stronger.

"Ooh, put your tail down and follow me. Hurry!" He started to trot, but the smell kept getting stronger. Now he could hear a panting sound behind them. "Run!"

The next thing Buddy knew, he was next to a creek and all alone. He swiveled his ears around and winced at the sound of happy yips in the distance behind him. Ooh hadn't made it.

Buddy followed the creek for quite a while until he reached a road and a bridge. He checked carefully and, when he was sure it was safe, ran across the bridge and entered a cornfield on the other side. He wandered for what seemed like an eternity before he finally reached the highway. There his hope and resolve were bolstered and he continued through a pasture until he finally reached the edge of town. From there he ran, knowing exactly where to go.

Buddy arrived home two weeks after he left the farm. The journey was about five miles long. He never sprayed inside the house again.