A phantom cat haunts the Moonville Rail Trail near the old ghost town by King Hollow where the residents are long deceased. Would you dare to call out to this wee little kitty and gently pat its lifeless head? For quite some time, I tried to rescue this elusive little beast, until I realized the small creature following me was a furry little remnant of ghost towns past. And long-dead.
For quite some time, I have experienced a cat call out and follow me from the cut at King Hollow Station along the Moonville Rail Trail. It has all the typical characteristics of a stray kitty yowling for help with its far-off cry from some hidden forest pocket. It also has the stand-offish demeanor when I flounder through the thick tangle of brush and flesh-eating briars, desperate to chase it down to save its pitiful life from the ravages of the wild. I never quite get it in my grasp. It vanishes. Although occasionally, as I hike, it weaves through my ankles in the classic style of attempting to catch my attention or perhaps trip me. Then it disappears.
I have tried to capture the cat. It had not occurred to me that my hiking companion and sidekick, Harley, rescue dog, took little notice of the stray’s presence. Harley loathes cats, although she does little more than lift a soft lip to show a bit of pearly teeth and growls low enough that the cat is the only one who can hear. The sight of one makes her hackles rise. Her movements become rigid. She tucks her tail as if ready to bolt. Now, some say that dogs innately hating cats is a myth. I must assume then that in her past, a roguish kitty failed to communicate with Harley properly over some little insult or slur and had to resort to an upraised slap of a razor-edge clawed paw to the softness of a tender muzzle. I must admit, it doesn’t help when our family cat shamelessly steals Harley’s food while she’s eating. Then, when Harley shows a bit of a toothy grin and lifts one side of her lips at the brazen thief, the poor dog is the one who gets the verbal (albeit gentle) reprimand for it. So when a cat is around Harley, I know.
Even though I had heard it throughout the summer and autumn, I had not fully grasped Harley’s inability to catch the cat’s scent, nor my own clumsiness in always being just an arm’s length away from the little furry creature without being able to catch it. I do believe in ghosts; otherwise, I wouldn’t write about them. However, I always approach the subject skeptically, theorizing and narrowing down the possibilities from the natural world before considering the supernatural.
Then, I had an epiphany one night as I hiked the rail trail and, upon my return, set up my video at the Moonville Tunnel for about 15 minutes. This cat was no regular feline. It had all the characteristics of a ghostly remnant of a long-dead person’s long-dead pet. When I brought the video back and listened, although I heard no kitty calls there, I caught a distinct meow in the videotape!
You can explore my Moonville book, Moonville Ghost Stories and Haunts Along the Railway, and hike the trail, accompanied by the ghost stories passed down by locals.: https://www.amazon.com/Moonville-Ghost…/dp/B0CK3K9DM9
You can hear the kitty meowing on my video: https://tinyurl.com/Ghosty-Cat
