Gary and Morris Find an Old Treehouse – Part 1

Another beautiful day was in the works over at The Hervey Foundation for Cats. The weather was nice, and Gary and Morris were already lying in the sun, letting their bodies heat up so much they were almost too hot to touch!

“You boys are scalding!” said Marjorie, as she passed by them on the back deck and petted Morris’ back.

She stopped at the edge of the stairs and looked out at their property.

“Looks like the grass needs a trim,” she said.

Gary and Morris knew that was their cue to leave. They hated the sound of the lawnmower. It was too loud, and their big satellite dish ears picked up the noise almost too well.

“Let’s go see what our woodland friends are up to,” said Gary.

The cats got up slowly and stretched like big sloths. Marjorie had already started walking over to the garage to grab the lawnmower, so the boys knew there was limited time before all the commotion started.

“Run!” shouted Morris.

Both he and Gary ran to the edge of the property, laughing and jumping over each other the whole way. Once there, they slowed down to a reasonable pace.

“Should we go wake up Terrance?” Morris asked.

“Sure!” Gary replied. “I bet he’s up already, though; I wonder if that beaver even sleeps.”

The trail down to the river was muddy, as it had been raining for a few days and nights. The ground was saturated, and all the plants held little gifts of water for any animal that brushed past them.

Down at the riverbed, Terrance was indeed already awake, and like any good beaver, he was hard at work.

Gary and Morris shouted out to him.

“Terrance! Over here!”

The gentle beaver was swimming with a big old branch in his mouth when he heard the cats call. He was headed for his place, but he promptly changed direction after Gary and Morris’ greeting.

At the shoreline, he dropped his branch and said, “Hello, boys! Sorry, I didn’t call back. I found a great branch and didn’t want to lose it.”

Gary and Morris laughed, and then they all started chatting.

“How’s it been with all the rain?” asked Morris.

“Not too bad!” said Terrance. I’ve built my dam to be sturdy and mostly weatherproof. It’s the wind that causes real trouble. A lot of my good wood was blown into the river and swept away! That’s why I was out early this morning.”

Gary and Morris sympathized with the beaver’s plight, and instead of offering help – they are cats, after all, not beavers – they suggested a little break and a walk through the forest.

“We always go down the same paths, so we want to explore a bit,” Gary told Terrance.

“Yeah, time for something a little different,” Morris said in agreement.

“What’s the plan then?” Terrance asked. “Did you want some suggestions? I’ve been all over this forest in my search for good trees to cut down.”

“Take us somewhere interesting!” said Gary with some excitement in his voice.

Terrance hobbled his way through the thick mud at the waterline, then dragged his belly and feet through some wet tall grass.

“Good as new!” he said, after only some of the mud was washed away.

Gary and Morris were too polite to point out how little mud actually came off of him in his attempt to clean himself.

“Off we go,” said Terrance. “I think I know just the place.

The animals walked for a relatively short period before they came to a clearing. It was beautiful and lined with birchbark trees around the edges, and the sun hit just perfectly as they entered.

“Here you go, boys,” said Terrance.

Gary and Morris looked around. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, aside from a bunch of tree stumps that looked like a beaver had gnawed on them.

“It’s nice, Terrance, but it’s just a field with some trees,” Morris said.

“These aren’t just any trees,” said Terrance. “These are structurally sound, lightweight and ideal for dam-building.”

The cats looked at each other and cracked up a bit.

“Terrance, we appreciate you love all that stuff, but we are cats. This is just a field for us. We are looking for something interesting and cool!”

Terrance sat there looking puzzled for a bit, then thought of another spot.

“I think I know what you want now. Follow me, boys,” he said.

Terrance took the fellas down the trail for a few more minutes and went over to what looked like a big bear cave.

“Terrance, this would be a cool place to explore, but it’s flooded and full of water!” said Gary.

“I’m sorry! I don’t control the weather, fellas.”

The three animals started walking along the path again, this time towards Bullwinkle’s cabin, when something caught Gary’s eye.

It was a chain-link fence, up on a hill, with a big sign on it saying, “No Trespassing!”

“What is that?” asked Gary.

“That’s Farmer Wilson’s old property,” said Terrance. “It has been abandoned for a very long time. We don’t go in there because of the fence.”

Gary and Morris looked at each other, and they both knew their feline curiosity was not going to let this one go.

“Let’s go up there!” said Morris, as he leapt up the embankment and over to the fence.

Terrance shook his head and said, “This is what I get for hanging out with cats.”

Once up there and standing in front of the fence, they looked out at the great property. It had been a thriving farm, perhaps 40 to 50 years ago, but was now overgrown. The barn had collapsed, and the house looked like it was next.

“Can we get in there somehow?” Gary asked aloud as he paced back and forth, looking for an opening.

The animals scanned the property line briefly before realizing the only way in was under.

“I think we have to dig, fellas!” said Terrance.

The three mammals got to work, and because the ground was so wet, they managed to dig under the fence quite quickly. The only downside? They were all covered in mud now.

Terrance was used to being covered in mud, but the cats had to go back to The Foundation later, where Marjorie would surely notice. All of that was just an afterthought for the trio as they were so excited having just entered this new place.

Gary and Morris quickly got to work sniffing everything they could. There were so many new smells and textures. The whole place fascinated them. They climbed on top of the collapsed barn and prowled around, scratching at the wood. They chased after leaves and other things blowing in the wind and eventually found themselves in the old, abandoned house.

It looked like it was frozen in time, sort of. There were still furniture items there, and in some rooms, clothing and other belongings. It looked like whoever lived there had left quickly.

“The floors sure are creaky in here, aren’t they?” said Terrance, who, being a fairly well-fed, plump beaver, was making every single floorboard moan under his weight.

“It’s so strange, there are still so many things here,” said Gary.

The animals poked around for a bit more, but they could tell the structure was just barely holding together.

“I don’t think we want to be in here too much longer,” Terrance said to Gary.

In that instant, a giant crashing sound happened, accompanied by the roof crumbling and collapsing above them. As debris fell down around them, so too did Morris.

“Morris! You just fell through the ceiling! Are you okay?!”

He looked dazed for a second, but then said, “Well, to me it was the floor.”

The animals laughed, and Morris coughed up some dust, then got up and tried to shake it off, but the mud from digging under the fence held the dirt like glue.

“Let’s get out of here before we fall through another floor/ceiling combo,” Terrance said while chuckling.

Once back outside, the three of them stopped on the front step of the house and looked back at the property. It sure was big, and it backed right onto the woodland area.

“I wonder why nobody bought this place,” said Gary.

“Maybe it was never for sale,” said Morris.

A moment passed, and they all sat quietly.

“Hey! Look over there,” said Morris, who pointed with a paw.

There was an old treehouse in the corner of the property. It looked a little weathered but nowhere near as bad as the other structures.

“Let’s go check it out!” he said.

The three animals walked over through the tall grass to the corner of the fence. At first, they couldn’t believe they’d missed it when they first walked in, but as they got closer, they noticed it was behind a tree line that was hiding it from their earlier view.

The treehouse was unique in that it had stairs instead of a ladder going up to it. The cats were able to get up and inside quite easily! Terrance struggled a little, but he made it work.

Once they were inside, they assessed the situation and liked what they saw.

“Not bad!” said Terrance. “This place has kept remarkably well.”

“It sure was built well,” said Morris.

The treehouse looked like it was probably the last new structure on the property. Whereas the house and barn had likely stood for over 100 years, the treehouse was probably only 30+ years old and still holding up.

“The roof is in excellent shape,” said Morris, who had climbed out the window and onto the roof of the thing. “They covered it with something!”

“I don’t detect any moisture inside here,” said Terrance. “And with all the rain we’ve had, it would be here, you know.”

Morris jumped back inside and looked at his friends.

“This place is great. I think we ought to do something with it.”

Terrance and Gary now looked at each other.

“What do you mean?” asked the beaver.

“We’ve been using Bullwinkle’s cabin for gatherings lately, and while I’m sure he doesn’t mind, he probably wants his own space sometimes.”

Bullwinkle was their moose friend who lived in an abandoned cabin in the forest. It had been spruced up by all the woodland creatures and was the cool hangout spot for everything from squirrels to raccoons to crows.

“I like this idea,” said Terrance. “My dam is basically finished once the weather repairs are complete, and I could use a new project!”

“It’s also super convenient because the tree branches reach over the fence and into the trees on the other side,” Morris added. “That means our friends can come and go without having to dig under the fence.”

“Some of them,” laughed Gary. “I don’t see Bullwinkle sliding under the fence or over it.”

“We can make an entrance!” said Terrance.

The animals were all so excited about their new project.

“We’re going to need some help,” said Gary. “We definitely need the raccoons for their opposable thumbs, and we will need Bullwinkle to help lift heavy things.”

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Terrance. “Let’s get started!”

The animals clambered out of the treehouse and back under the fence to go find their friends and get started on the treehouse renovations.

The excitement was palpable, and everyone was so excited, but just as they were sliding under the fence, a pair of headlights pulled into the driveway and illuminated the old house.

Someone was there! But who…?

…we’ll find out next time in part 2!