The Pets of Calabresi
The Pets of Calabresi
Bella and Principessa edition
As we learned in Installment 10, Matteo helped give birth to his cow, Bella, in the middle of the night when her mom went into labor prematurely and delivered her before the vet had a chance to arrive.
Bella was very small and very sick, but Matteo never left her side and, over the weeks, nursed her back to health. He named her Bella because he “always wanted her to hear people tell her she’s beautiful.”
We also know how Bella came to be in a snowy field outside the walls of Calabresi the day Matteo and Anastasia met—she’s a bit of a wanderer!
Bella is bigger now and will not fit in the trunk of a Fiat.
A few days after Francesca and Anastasia finally bonded that afternoon in Beatrice’s yarn shop after the knitting group wrapped up, Francesca found a tiny, abandoned tabby in the alley behind the bookstore. She knew immediately where the kitten’s new home should be—just as she knew what her name should be.
Principessa has the requisite amounts of cattitude (as all princesses should), but she is sweet, affectionate, and is almost always sitting on Anastasia or where Anastasia wants to be sitting.
A cat and a cow, so far. But will there be chickens? We’ll see!
In the meantime, tell us about your pets: How did you find them—or how did they find you? Calabresi is a very pet-friendly town; maybe you can bring them with you to visit someday.
I currently live with Tam Lin, a 4YO malamute. His predecessor was Fellow Traveller "Travvy", also a malamute -- Travvy's mom was Tam's great-grandma on one side and great-great-grandma on the other. I love the connections. They both came from a kennel in upstate New York. Before them came Rhodry Malamutt, a half-malamute who got me fascinated with the breed and was my constant companion in my adult horsegirl phase. (F/sf readers may realize that he was named for Rhodry Maelwaedd, the protagonist of Kit Kerr's Deverry novels, to which I've long been addicted.) I'm no longer in horses but when I was it was Morgans all the way, though I've had friends among the Andalusians and Friesians. Baroque breeds rule!
Chloe, Real Dog Rescue. From the Louisiana Humane Society. She’s incredible and went from rural Mississippi to Manhattan. She managed to fit in nicely.