Cats In Clover

  ***

  On Boxing Day, Ben came in from feeding the deer, his face white and a sopping wet Nicky in his arms. "That swimming pool has to go. Now."

  "What happened?"

  "Nicky was trying to herd the deer. A doe escaped him, leapt onto the cover and ripped a hole in it with one of her sharp hooves."

  "Is she all right? Did she get out?"

  "Nicky went after her and she managed to jump to the apron. We're lucky that pool cover is so strong. We're lucky she didn't rip more holes and fall right in. We're lucky Nicky didn't drown when he fell in."

  I found an old bath towel and began rubbing Nicky dry. "He's a good swimmer."

  "I know, but that water is really cold," said St. Francis, pacing back and forth. "And what if the cats had been out there? You know how clumsy Henry is; he could fall in the pool without half trying."

  "Maybe you could build a fence around it." As much as I wanted to see the pool gone, I hated to see Ben deprived of his fun.

  "That thing has already cost too much money; there's no point wasting more on it." Ben shook his head. "I hate to see the pool go, Holly, but having it there is too dangerous for the animals."

  I said, "We could go down to the beach on sunny days; it's barely a quarter mile away." Or could if we were still living here come summer, which I doubted.

  "Four-tenths of a kilometre. And Nicky likes the sea. Once the pool is filled in, we could put concrete tile over the whole area. Then put a wrought iron table and benches and big pots of flowers on it, like a detached patio. We could still sit out there after I have my swim in the sea."

  "Can we put a border of rhododendrons or roses around the perimeter? And build a little fountain?"

  "Sure!" Ben began to look enthusiastic. "You know, the sale of all the pool equipment might even pay for filling the hole and building the patio." He went off to play with his budget.

  Soon the pool had been drained and several truckloads of rock dumped in the bottom, along with gravel and soil. Ben put an ad in the local paper for motors and pumps and various other equipment we'd inherited with the property. The pool was gone.

  "We'll have to put more gravel and soil in when that settles," Ben said. "It'll be a while before we can do the concrete tile, but at least none of the animals will get hurt now." He eyed the beginnings of our new patio. "If we had lots of money, I'd build a Roman bath there, with a caldarium, a tepidarium and a frigidarium."

  "What are those for?"

  "Can't you guess? The caldarium is the hot tub, the tepidarium is to cool off in, and the frigidarium is the cold plunge before you go to the massage room."

  "We'd have to hire a masseuse, too."

  "We've already got two of those. The cats walk all over us every chance they get."