Could it Be PUSS?

Below are what investigators Fridayah and Saturda gathered from the recent search trip.

(The area map isn't drawn to scale)

* Locations of reported black cat sightings are scattered but with one area having most repeated sightings being recorded: Kanaka Road, which is right behind Gulf Island Secondary School.

* Black cat sightings in the area can be traced back to June: (1) area close to Salt Spring Middle School; (2) Park Drive.

* On Sep 18 evening, Investigator Fridayah saw a black cat on Kanaka Road! Under the dim light and at the great distance, the black object unmoved, Fridayah then mistook it as a black hole between the road divider, having forgotten that there was no road divider there.

* When Fridayah moved closer, about 30 feet from the "black hole", the black hole moved and swiftly ran across the road, disappeared into the ditch which is overgrown with long grass and adjoins the front yards of the Kanaka Road residents.

* Investigator Fridayah could then confirm his first sight: the black hole was indeed an adult size black cat.

* A resident living at Kanaka Road told the investigators he had seen a few strays in the nearby bushes, including an all black cat without a collar. The first time he saw this black cat, was about a month ago, i.e. mid August. The strays appear in both sides of the bushes, on Kanaka Road and Park Drive.

* As far as he knows, his neighbours at Kanaka Road don't keep a black cat. (The investigators are sure that at least a charcoal cat and a white cat live at the farthest dead end of the road).

* This gentleman further added that these strays usually come out at dusk, late night or early morning. He had seen them, including the black cat, holding their necks out and eating dumped food in the ditch left by the school kids (that's how he could see the black cat wasn't wearing a collar).

* His last sighting of the black cat was on Sep 19 night, his two daughters saw it too. In the same night, investigators Fridayah and Saturda had only met a black kitten and a Siamese cat.

* From Kanaka Road, there is a walking trail leading into the bushes. Further inside is a place which is said to be a hiding place for the school kids; further down the trail you can see a pond through the branches, and the trail is indeed a short cut leading to Park Drive.

* The bushes looks like a perfect haven for strays. It offers shelter (area unreachable from the walking trail), food (fishes in the pond, quail, mice? and dumped food) and entertainment (bird and quail catching).

* It seems logical to believe this black cat the gentleman has seen to be a stray. A domestic cat with a owner won't even eat stale food, but this black cat was seen eating "dumped leftovers".

* If nobody in the immediate or close neighbourhood keeps a black cat, and if this black cat is really a stray, could it be Puss then?

..... To be continued.