Taj was tired of being cooped up in a cage all day with his brother. They weren't getting along in such close quarters, and he was quite out of sorts. At the other end of the row of cages, Bitsy had hers to herself except for the big ribbons hung all over it, but she was lonesome for the other cats at home, where she wanted to go. The cat show was over, and the humans were opening the plushy, decorated cages to transfer their cats to carriers. Taj made a leap while Bitsy's human left her cage door open, taking down ribbons.

"Cat out! Cat out!" a cry went up, and humans scurried to shut all doors leading out of the showhall. But not before a startled Bitsy had streaked through the one nearest her. Both cats were suddenly in a huge hotel lobby area and running for the wide, red carpeted stairs at the end, out of sheer terror at not knowing where they were.

Reaching the first level, each cat suddenly realized they were not alone, paused, and stared at each other. Then, hearing pounding feet coming up the stairs, Taj dove behind a floor length cloth and Bitsy followed him. They found themselves very cramped in the bottom of a serving cart.

Again the two cats stared, for it was like looking into a mirror. They were both sealpoint Birmans with deep blue eyes.

"Who are you?" whispered Bitsy.

"My name is Taj Mahal de KaaBaa," he replied. "Just call me Taj. Who are you, and why were you following me?"

"I wasn't!" gasped Bitsy. "I just got scared. I am Bashista Saroya de Madalpour. They just call me Bitsy at home. I'm a..."

"I know", said Taj. "So am I. I saw you in some rings today."

Suddenly the cart was moving, then stopping, then moving again, propelled by a long pair of human legs. Wide eyed and silent, the two cats hung on for the ride. They were taken through a noisy door, and then had the strangest sensation of floating. Bitsy crouched and mewed in alarm.

"Shhhh," whispered Taj. "Elevator."

Bitsy didn't know what Elevator was, but Taj didn't seem afraid, so she relaxed. After starting and stopping for more openings of doors, the cart came to rest in a quieter room. Human voices spoke above them, and then left. All was still. Both of them stepped gingerly out of the cart. Yes, they were alone, in a nice hotel room. Whoops. No, they were not alone.

Another animal jumped down from a bed and hissed uncertainly. He was tall and reddish, with a sweeping plume of a tail.

"Are you a fox?" asked Bitsy.

"No, Silly," said the reddish fellow. "I'm a cat, like you, but I'm a Somali. My name is Foxy, though. Good guess. And why are you here?"

"How do you do, Foxy," said Taj politely. "My name is Taj and this is Bitsy. We didn't mean to break into your room. We escaped from the showhall downstairs, and this cart thing took us for quite a ride."

"That's okay," Foxy replied. "I didn't like the showhall, either. But if you're hiding out, my humans will be back any minute. Why did you escape?"

"Well,...." Bitsy began, "I didn't mean to escape at all! I just got startled and ran. Then I stayed with Tajji and, um..."

"It's Taj", Taj told her. "I was just in a bad mood myself when I ran for the door. Cooped up all day, you know. Then I had Bits with me all of a sudden and....."

"It's Bitsy" she said with a little huff.

Foxy sat with what could only be called a grin (they do say Somalis can grin), and looked from one to the other. "Well, I had a boring day until now," he said. "What are you going to do next, Tajji and Bits?"

Two pairs of blue Birman eyes met. "We don't know", they were saying.

Then the door opened, humans stepped in, and the two Birmans dove under the bed. The next hour was no fun. They could smell the wonderful shrimp and crab the humans were eating from the cart, and even Foxy's cat food in the corner. They were awfully hungry. Foxy tried to lure them out, and assured them his humans were very nice, but the Birmans huddled together and didn't move.

Suddenly the telephone rang, and there was a lot of talking and moving around. Suitcases were carried to the door, and so was Foxy's litter box. Foxy crept under the bed. "There's a problem at home," he told them. "Not a bad one, but we're leaving tonight instead of in the morning. Nice meeting both of you. Good luck!"

"Tajji, what are we going to do?" Bitsy mewed. "I want to go home, too." She was about to cry.

Taj gave her head a lick. "You will, little Bits," he said. "I guess I got you into this. I'll get us out." He crawled from under the bed, went directly to the human man, and gave a mighty "Mroww-oww!"

Bitsy followed and crouched behind him, while the man got on the phone again to ask about lost show cats being reported. Yes, there were two reports, which he said worked out quite well because he had two cats there. And in a very short time, two tearful humans were in the room to claim them. Taj's human brought his carrier, but Bitsy's didn't.

That's how, before she was scooped up and carried away, she went to his carrier to put a white paw through the bars and whisper, "Goodbye, Tajji. I'll never forget you." And how he licked her paw and replied gruffly - for a cat - "G'bye little Bits. Take care of yourself."

In the days after their adventure, two Birman show cats spent a lot of time correcting all the other cats in their homes. "Just call me Tajji", he was saying. And she was saying, "Just call me Bits."

NEXT: Who's Been Stealing the Chicks of Summer?

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