The queen of Pearl Street

Sometimes, the bonds we establish with animals are easily explained. If you feed a stray cat or adopt a shelter dog, it will reward you with affection. But how to explain the bond I’ve developed with a cat I encounter on my early-morning walk through the neighborhood?

I don’t know the name or gender of this critter, which has tiger markings on its back and tail, but an all-white tummy and legs. I’m assuming “it” is female, because of “her” demeanor. I’ve taken to calling her the Queen of Pearl Street, because that’s where she hangs out, acting as if she owns the place.

The Queen looks healthy and well cared for. She is bright-eyed, has a beautiful coat of fur and shows now sign of being ill or malnourished. She’s always on the same block, so I assume she lives nearby.

She first materialized about two weeks ago, when she walked right up to me with a confident look in her eye, as if we were the best of pals. Being a cat lover (we have four), I scooted down, patted her on the head and back, told her she was a pretty girl and resumed my walk.

I didn’t really give the encounter another thought until the following morning, when the Queen showed up yet again. She’s been doing so ever since. I get the sense that she’s keeping an eye out for me.

Yesterday morning, for example, she began crossing the street to greet me when I was still a block away. If I make a clicking sound as she approaches, she lifts her tail high into the air, as if to return the greeting.

I’ve never fed the Queen, never brought her any treats. Yet she comes up to me whenever I walk along “her” street, sometimes emerging from under a parked car, or seemingly out of nowhere. It’s clear that, on most days, she spots me before I even see her.

How to explain her friendliness? Perhaps she behaves this way with every passerby. Maybe she’s just naturally trusting and outgoing. Still, I’d like to think the Queen of Pearl Street has singled me out for reasons of her own.

So it seemed yesterday morning, anyway. After our brief exchange, she followed me down the street for a few feet before stopping at what seems to be the edge of her territory. When I turned back to look at her, she was sitting on the sidewalk, watching me as I headed on my way.