chary
adjective
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cautious or careful; wary.
He was chary of investing in oil wells.
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shy; timid.
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fastidious; choosy.
She is excessively chary about her friends.
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sparing (often followed by of ).
chary of his praise.
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The walk had been going so well. The sun was shining. A few clouds drifted slowly through the sky. There was even a light breeze blowing to cut through the summer heat. Yes, it had been a perfect day for a walk. And then they heard it.
It was a tiny sound, coming from the bushes. Greg heard it first. He knew what the sound meant. He knew if Julie heard it, there would be no respite. Luckily, she was listening to music. That would change as soon as the current song ended though. He needed to get her away from the bush before she could hear the outside world.
“Hey, what’s going on?” She asked. “Why’re you picking up the pace so much?”
“Oh, you know. This is all for exercise, right? So, I’m exercising.” Greg said, hopefully loud enough to mask the sound.
“Uh-huh. Sure. What’s actually…wait…do you hear that?”
He froze. She heard it. There was no going back from this now. Maybe he could distract her. Get her to focus on something else. No, no, she was taking out her earbuds.
“Uh, babe, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just keep going.”
Julie did not acknowledge him at all. She zeroed in on the bush and knelt down. She looked around for a moment. The sound stopped, but it was too late. Julie gasped.
“Julie, don’t.”
“But…but…but it’s…it’s so cute!” Julie said quietly. “Hey there little guy, it’s okay…”
She slowly placed her hand on the ground and moving it towards the bush. And the kitten hiding inside it. She wiggled her fingers around, trying to coax it out. The kitten huddled into the bush as much as it could, doing its best to hide.
“Julie, you’re scaring it. Come on, let’s go. The mother is probably out hunting.”
“But what if its mother abandoned it? Or got run over? We can’t just leave it here.” She said, looking up at Greg with her best pout.
“You know we can’t take it. We can’t afford to care for a feral kitten. Besides, look at it. It’s clearly terrified.”
“Oh, the little baby is just shy. It’s not used to humans yet. Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take care of you. Oh, I know what to do.”
Julie withdrew her hand from the bush. The kitten did not move. She reached into the small pouch she wore instead of her normal purse and took out a stick of jerky.
“Seriously? Beef jerky? Why do you even have that? And you know it’s not good for kittens. Too much salt.”
“I’m not going to give it the whole stick. Just a tiny piece. Enough to get it to come out.”
“Don’t, Julie. You know this is a bad idea.”
Julie was doing it anyway. She bit off a tiny piece of meat and placed it on the ground. The kitten sniffed the air. Then slowly, cautiously, it made its way towards the snack. As soon as it was within range, Julie grabbed the animal. It meowed furiously and swiped at the air, claws extended. Julie squealed in delight.
“Oh my god, so spicy!”
“More like terrified. Come on, put it back. We can’t have a pet. Especially not one that’s feral.”
“Well I say we can.” Julie said firmly. “We’re taking this kitten, and we’re going to treat it right. We’ll bring it home and put it in the bathroom to get used to the place, and one of us can get supplies while the other stays with it. Oh, and we’ll have to schedule a vet appointment. See if there’s any problems, and the gender and everything.”
Greg groaned as his listened to his girlfriend gush about all the things they would need to do for the kitten. The animal, meanwhile, was slowing its attempts at escape. It seemed resigned to its fate, even if it had no idea what that fate was. That was something Greg could very much identify with.
