She looked up at me solemnly.
“If you like, you could help me?”
She nodded at me, and I took it as a positive sign that she wanted to interact with him.
“Wilbur, time to get your fur brushed!” I called.
And upon hearing my voice, he scampered over quickly. Since arriving here, he'd been spending his time investigating the mansion and learning his way around his new home.
He loved having his fur brushed and obediently sat in front of me, waiting for the soothing strokes of the hairbrush upon his thick, white coat.
Clara sat quietly by my side, watching as I glided the brush over Wilbur.
“Would you like to have a go, Clara?”
But Clara shook her head. She seemed happy enough to watch, so I carried on brushing while she looked on. Clemente was sitting and playing with one of Wilbur’s toys.
“Wilbur’s fur coat is what he wears every day because cats don’t have clothes.” I stole a glance at Clara as I spoke to her. “He likes to have his fur coat brushed each day as it keeps it clean and tidy, just like humans put on clean clothes every day.”
I could tell that Clara was thinking carefully about what I was saying.
“Do you think you might like to put on another dress so that you feel clean and tidy too?”
Despite my casual suggestion, Clara quickly shook her head as if she could see straight through what I was trying to do.
With all of Wilbur’s things unpacked, the den was starting to look a little chaotic. I made a mental note that I'd have to tidy up all these things before Lorenzo came home later. I was sure he would be displeased if I didn't keep his house in order.
After a couple of minutes, Clara wandered over to look at what else was in the boxes. A few moments later, Clara returned holding a blue ribbon she had picked from Wilbur’s box of ribbons. She came and stood next to me, handing the ribbon over to me.
My brow furrowed. “Do you want me to put this in your hair?”
“No,” she whispered.
I wasn’t sure what she wanted. I looked at the ribbon and then saw her watching Wilbur. “Do you want me to put it on Wilbur?”
She nodded.
I gave it some thought. “Wilbur has a blue collar on today, so you think the blue ribbon would look nice tied to it?”
Clara nodded again. I took off the red ribbon he’d been wearing yesterday and attached the ribbon she’d picked and tied it into a small bow. I thought to myself that Clara seemed to like the color blue.
“Pretty cat,” she commented when I had finished.
“Is blue your favorite color?”
“Yes,” she replied.
Perhaps she thought that brushing the cat’s fur was similar to a human brushing their hair, and that was why she had brought the ribbon to me.
“You know, Clara, you could let me brush your hair, and you could choose another blue ribbon and I could put that in your hair.” I adopted a casual tone again, just like when I had when I suggested a couple of minutes ago that she put on a clean dress.
I could see Clara thinking about my suggestion, although she didn’t look entirely convinced.
“See how handsome Wilbur looks after he's had his fur brushed and especially after you chose such a beautiful ribbon?”
Clara wandered back off to the box and then returned with another blue ribbon which she gave to me.
I smiled to myself as she sat in front of me. “Let me just get a comb, okay?”