Bandit

    I'll do the best I can to remember the details of this story accurately, but it took place over thirty years ago. I was just a kid back then, and had gotten this kitten which I named Bandit. He was long haired with grey and white patches, and his tail was all bushy-like with a white puffy tip on the end. He was so cute.
     Now Bandit started getting a mite strange as he began to grow up. We took him to live down at the riding stables once he was about two months old. I did this for my protection. You see, Bandit had decided that he liked to stalk me at night. I would wake up feeling uneasy, then see the glow of his eyes from the night light. He'd be crouched down, waiting to attack me the moment he knew I was awake. He'd always pounce on my head, dig in with all four feet and then bite me right on top the head. After he attacked he'd jump to the end of the bed and lick his paws. I'm sure you can understand why he was deported.
     We all thought he would act normal once he got to the stables and was able to roam freely. Well, that was the theory, but it didnt work.. Bandit just started acting more odd.
     One day we found a mouse trapped in the bottom of our grain barrel.   Since Bandit was close by, I picked him up an put him in there to catch the mouse. Who knew he was scared of mice? I mean really, he was a cat! I also didn't expect him to tear up the side of me and scramble to the top of the hay stack. He left a trail of punctures and scratches up the side of my arm. It was a couple of days before we saw him again.
     Bandit pulled another good one that summer. This particular day he was sitting calmly on one of the posts around the riding arena. I had noticed every time this one girl rode by on her horse, Bandit's tail would get to twitching. I really didn't think much of it though. He was a cat after all, and it wasn't like he would attack a great big horse. Right? However, each time they went by, that cat's tail would twitch a bit harder.
     I watched in disbelief as Bandit waited until just the right moment to attack. In a split second he lunged, scratched, bit, and jumped off that horse's neck, only to scamper off to a nearby tree where he commenced cleaning himself. Meanwhile the girl riding the horse was doing her level best to keep from being thrown off.
     Bandit gained a nasty reputation that summer. He truly was scared of mice, yet he pounced on more than one horse that year. As expected, folks started to stay clear whenever they saw him.   The one incident that stood out the most that year involved this man at the stables named Jed. He was into anything Native American. He wore the knee high moccasins, the buckskin shirts, and even had one of those fringed Daniel Boone type jackets. This was fine and dandy, except he had a really fair complexion with blonde hair. Being the ornery kids we were, we poked fun at him. We shouldn't have done it, but we did, and that's the God's honest truth.
     Bandit kind of settled down as he matured.   He actually started behaving himself somewhat as summer gave way to fall, and then winter settled in. We all thought he had finally out grown his impish ways. Well, that is, until the day that Jed wore his brand new Buffalo robe to the stables.
     My sister and I had just finished riding with our friends. We had put our horses up, and were sitting around drinking hot chocolate. As we visited, we spotted Jed leading his horse out to the pasture. We knew he couldn?t see us, so we quietly watched as he passed by. He was wearing his moccasin boots, blue jeans, a buckskin shirt, and had topped it all off with a full length buffalo robe. By the looks of it, Jed was pretty impressed with himself and that robe.
     It seems ole Bandit was pretty impressed by Jed too. I caught a glimpse of him crouching low and sneaking along the fence. You could see that tail twitching like crazy as Bandit got closer to his targeted prey. When he got to a big corner post, he crouched low and waited in ambush. By then we all knew Bandit had set his sights on Jed and the buffalo robe.
     Jed turned his horse out and was heading back toward his barn. As he strutted along Bandit waited, hidden behind the post. We all watched with morbid curiosity to see how the scene would unfold.
     Every stride Jed took caused the end of the robe to dance. With each stride, Bandit?s tail increased its twitching. We all gasped when that doggone cat shot out from his hiding place. He flew after Jed then scaled up the back of the buffalo robe to land squarely on top his head. Once there, he balled himself up and started biting and scratching. Then, just as quickly as he attacked, Bandit scaled down the back of the robe and ran behind a nearby barn.
     I can still see it in my mind. Jed's arms and legs were flailing around and beating the air whilst he tried to fend off his unseen tormenter. Why, he squalled out in pain like some kind of banshee. Poor guy didn?t have a clue what had happened. All he knew was something had a hold of him, leaving scratches and bite marks all over his head. He kept looking to see what had attacked him, then high tailed it to his barn. You could tell it scared the fire out of him.
     I don?t believe Jed ever wore that robe to the stables again. We never did tell him it was Bandit that had gotten a hold of him either. Now I wonder if he ever found out.

Bandit, The Psycho Cat
by LaNaye Perkins
(some names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved)