Stinky the Lighthouse Cat Gets a Surprise
At lonely Sable Island
Lighthouse in the 1930s, miles off the Nova Scotia shore, two lighthouse
keepers – Mike and Joe – lived a quiet life on the west end of the island.
Their lighthouse was a steel skeleton tower that guided ships past
dangerous Sable Island as they headed out to fish the cold waters of the North
Atlantic. Their house sat beside the
tower, warm and cozy, and they enjoyed each other’s company. Occasionally, a visitor stopped by. It was usually one of the weathermen from the
weather station near the other end of the island.
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| The West Lighthouse, as it looked when first constructed in 1873 and then when it was rebuilt in about the time of World War I. Images from the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. There was also a lighthouse on the east end of the island. |
When they weren’t tending the
lighthouse, the Mike and Joe wrote letters to pen pals, made ships in bottles,
whittled little figures from fish bones for a chess set, and made pretty
picture frames with rope, shells, and fancy knots. Mike was also a very good storyteller, and
his favorite story to tell visitors was “Stinky’s Surprise.”
Stinky was the station cat, a
friendly gray tabby with big green eyes an extra toe on each of his front paws. He was given the name Stinky because he had
been found floating on a piece of timber from a shipwreck after a storm. He was wet and covered in seaweed, which made
him smell bad. Stinky seemed the perfect
name for the little castaway cat rescued from the sea. Mike and Joe thought Stinky’s extra toes
probably helped him cling to the wooden timber until he floated ashore to
safety.
Stinky spent most of his days
napping. Sometimes he caught mice in the
pantry in winter, or feasted on tasty bugs in the lighthouse lantern in summer. Moths were his favorites, though they left a
powdery film on his face and whiskers after he ate them. He also liked to chase the rope the keepers
used to tie knots for their picture frames.
And, every so often, Stinky asked to go outside where he could play and
breathe fresh island air. Sometimes he
would disappear for several days, as he explored the island. But he always came back, tired and hungry and
happy to be home.
One place Stinky loved to
explore was the weather station on the opposite end of the island. It was a long walk to get there, through tall
sea grass and over big sand dunes, but he always enjoyed visiting the two
weathermen. One of the men had his wife on
the station too, and she fed Stinky something yummy from her kitchen when he
came to visit. Her name was MaryAnn, and
Stinky loved her clam chowder!
Another reason Stinky went to
the weather station was to visit Rosie.
She was the weather station cat, and a very special girl indeed. Rosie was an Angora. Her fur was long and silky, her eyes as blue
as the sea, and her whiskers thick and twitchy.
And, unlike Stinky, Rosie had only five toes on her front paws – dainty
little cat feet. Stinky thought Rosie
was the most beautiful girl in the cat world.
The two enjoyed roaming the dunes together and playing hide and seek in
the sea grass. Stinky told Rosie funny
stories about his adventures at the lighthouse, and Rosie listened with wide
eyes.
And so it went on for
months. Stinky would visit Rosie at the
weather station for a few days, then return to Sable Island Lighthouse, tired
and hungry and happy to be home. Each
time he returned, Mike and Joe would exchange puzzled glances and say, “Wonder
where that old cat has been?”
Autumn came, then winter, and
trips to the weather station became harder for Stinky. Sable Island was very cold in winter, and
sometimes ice covered the sand and sea grass, making the path to the weather
station slippery. Stinky visited less
often. He missed seeing Rosie, so one
day, when the sun came out and melted most of the ice, Stinky cried to be let
out and headed for the weather station.
When he arrived, he was very
surprised to see Rosie. She was
fat! Very fat! And she didn’t seem too anxious to play.
“Rosie has been eating a lot
lately,” MaryAnn said, as she put down a bowl of clam chowder for Stinky and
Rosie to share. “And she sleeps more
too.” Then MaryAnn winked at Stinky and
patted him on the head. He wasn’t sure
what that meant, but he agreed Rosie was getting fat. He looked again at Rosie’s belly. It was huge and hung down almost to the
floor! But even fat and ponderous Rosie
was a beautiful cat, and Stinky loved her silly!
“Hey, Rosie! What you need is a little exercise,” said
Stinky. “Come on, and we’ll take a long
walk.”
Rosie yawned and suggested a
nap might be more fun, but eventually she agreed. The two cats asked to be let out and began
walking. They enjoyed the sunshine. It made the sand warm under their feet and
was a pleasant break from the winter chill.
After they had walked for some time, Stinky suddenly stopped and faced
Rosie.
“I have a great idea,
Rosie! Why don’t you come to my
lighthouse for a few days? I’d like you
to meet Mike and Joe. They love
cats. And Joes makes delicious cod
cakes!! Of course, the long walk would
do you good.”
Rosie thought for a
moment. Cod cakes sounded really delicious
right now! She nodded her head, and the
two set off in the direction of the lighthouse.
They walked and walked, and all the while Stinky babbled on and on about
his lighthouse and how important it was for ships at sea and what great
lightkeepers it had in Mike and Joe.
Rosie listened quietly as she trod along in soft sand.
After several hours of
walking, Rosie suddenly stopped and lay down on the sand. She was breathing a little hard and her eyes
were closed. Stinky ran to her side and
licked her face lovingly.
“What’s wrong, Rose? It’s not much farther to the lighthouse –
really.”
“Oh, Stinky. I feel funny.
I’m out of breath. My belly
tingles, and I don’t think I can go any farther. I just want to lay here for awhile.”
Stinky was perplexed – he didn’t
know what to do. Soon, night would come
and the dunes would get very cold. He sat down next to Rosie and waited. She slept for a short time, then awoke with a
loud “MEOW!”
“What is it Rosie? Are you okay?”
Rosie got up with difficulty
and began searching through the grass.
She found a small hollow in a dune and crawled inside.
“I’m okay, Stinky. I haven’t told you why I’m so fat – I wanted
to surprise you – but now I suppose you need to know the truth. I’m going to
have kittens, your kittens – RIGHT NOW!!!”
Stinky leaped in the air, and
the fur stood up on his back. He
couldn’t believe his cat ears. He was
going to be a father!!
“K-k-k-k-kittens? Well….how many…and what should I do?”
“Just keep guard outside this
hollow. I’ll let you know when the
kittens are all here safe and sound.”
Like a typical
father-in-waiting, Stinky paced up and down, back and forth in front of the
hollow. Every now and then he heard a
soft sigh from inside, and then a long low meow. Then another.
And another. And
finally another. Four meows in all. After a time, Rosie called softly to him.
“Come see your children – all
four of them.”
Carefully, shyly, Stinky
poked his head inside the hollow. Four
tiny balls of fur lay curled against their mother’s warm body. Each one had a tiny pink nose and little ears
folded flat on their heads. Two were
tabby-striped, like Stinky, and two were beautiful cream beauties like their
mother.
“They’re so beautiful,
Rosie! Thank you!” Stinky said, a little emotional. “Are they boys or girls?”
Rosie purred loudly as she
washed her new babies. “Two boys and
two girls.”
Just then, something
fluttered by Stinky’s head. A
snowflake. Then another. Another.
Soon, snow was falling like clumps of cotton covering the sand. A storm had begun, and it was getting
dark. Stinky knew this was trouble. Rosie and her kittens would die in the cold
if he didn’t get them to safety.
“Rosie, I have to get
help! It’s snowing, and night is coming
on. I’ll run to the lighthouse and get
Mike and Joe. Stay inside the hollow –
I’ll be back as quick as I can!”
Stinky climbed to the top of
the sand dune and looked out through the blinding snow. Faintly, to the east, he could see the beam
of Sable Island Lighthouse shining through the thick snow. It would guide him home. He raced over the sand as fast as his
extra-toed paws would go. It seemed a
long time until he reached the lighthouse, but at last he was scratching at the
door of the keeper’s quarters asking to be let in.
The door cracked a little, and Stinky squeezed through, panting and wet with snow. Mike was standing beside the door with his hands on his hips.
“So, you decided to come home
where it’s warm, have you? Good idea,
old Stink-a-Roo! It’s going to be a
dilly of storm. The barometer is reading
very low.”
Stinky jumped up in a
windowsill facing west and meowed loudly, looking out in the direction of Rosie
and the kittens.
“I know, you want to be
fed. You’re tired and hungry, as usual,”
said Joe, who had just finished making a picture frame from rope. He tossed the leftover rope to Stinky, but
the tabby cat ignored it and pawed at the window.
Mike opened a can of sardines
and put some in Stinky’s dish, but the cat ignored the food and scratched at
the window. He jumped down and went to
the door, frantically pawing to be let out again.
“MEOW! MEOW!”
Mike and Joe exchanged
glances. “What’s wrong with him?” Joe
asked. “He doesn’t want the rope or the
food. It’s not like Stinky not to eat or
play, and he doesn’t want to nap either.”
Joe went to the door and
opened it a crack. Immediately, Stinky
sprang through the door and out into the storm.
He stopped a few steps from the lighthouse and turned to face the
keepers.
“MEOW! MEOW!”
“He’s crazy,” said Mike. “What does he want?”
“I don’t know,” Joe replied,
but I think we should follow him.
The men got their coats,
gloves, boots, and flashlights and headed out after Stinky. It was slow going in the slippery snow on the
sand. They trudged after Stinky, led by
his urgent “meows” and his small paw prints in the snow. They walked for more than an hour, then
Stinky abruptly stopped. He began
digging in the snow against a steep dune.
“That cat is bonkers!” Mike
said.
“No, I think he’s trying to find
something,” Joe said.
The men knelt down and helped
Stinky clear away snow. A moment later,
a small hollow opened into the dune.
Stinky poked his head inside, then popped out again and cried, “MEOW!”
Joe and Mike shone their
flashlights into the hollow.
“Whoa! It’s a beautiful mother cat and four
kittens! Holy mackerel!” they both said
in unison.
Carefully, they lifted the
kittens from the hollow and stowed them in pockets, then each man picked up one
of the adult cats and slid it inside his coat for warmth. Slowly, they made their way back to the
lighthouse, listening to the sound of grateful purring as they went.
Back at the lighthouse, the
kittens were placed in a blanket inside a laundry basket. Stinky and Rosie shared a meal of canned sardines
and milk. Then Rosie climbed in the
laundry basket and cuddled her kittens closely, nursing them and washing their
tiny bodies. Stinky took his place next
to the basket and sat watching Rosie care for the kittens. He was the proud father!
“Well, if that isn’t a
scene!” Mike chuckled.
“Yeah,” Joe agreed. “Now we know where Stinky has been going on
his jaunts outdoors. He not only has a
wife; he’s a father too!”
“And I think I know where
Mrs. Stinky lives,” said Mike. He picked
up the phone and called the weather station. MaryAnn answered, since the
weathermen were in the radio room monitoring the storm. The two chatted for a few minutes, then hung
up.
“Yep! MaryAnn has been very worried about her cat,
Rosie. I told her we rescued Rosie and her
four kittens from the storm and that all are safe here in the lighthouse.” He turned now to Stinky and tickled his
ears. “And we have this old boy to thank
for their safety!”
Stinky purred and uttered a
sweet “Me-ow.” Yes, he was strong,
clever, and brave. Yes, his wife was
beautiful. And, yes, his four children
were the cutest, most darling kittens in the whole wide world. But he knew what had really saved the
kittens and Rosie.
It was the bright beam of
Sable Island Lighthouse!
Lovely story! I'm the proud companion of 2 cats and a volunteer lighthouse keeper.
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