To start off, let me say that as of this writing, all cats in my
household are safe and accounted for, especially Nina, who caused the
trouble.

I was over in Santa Cruz yesterday and early today, and my Mom and I
hit the Pacific Garden Mall. (The main shopping drag in Santa Cruz.)
And being book lovers, we of course had to hit up Book Shop Santa Cruz.
To make a long story short, the shopping bag containing my purchases
had a handle, and when empty, my girls had to check out the bag
thoroughly, of course. Well.... Cesca managed to get one of the handles
around her neck and it frightened her so she took off running. I was
running after her, intending to cut the handle to free her, as I was
afraid she'd snag it on something. (Once again, I assure everyone she
managed to get it off herself before I could catch her and she's fine.)
In spite of this worry, it was rather hilarious as the poor silly girl
was convinced she was being CHASED by this very rattly loud THING! No
bag had EVER chased her before! ANd the faster she ran, the louder it
rattled. Nina saw her mama come tearing toward her, being "chased" by a
this bag, and SHE took off running, too.  Both girls did about three
figure eights around the apartment in terror of The Bag That Chased
Cats. Sweet cats, but neither of them are exactly a brain trust.

One the bag was gone, Cesca settled down for a wash and pretended she
would NEVER lose her head that way.  But Nina had disappeared under the
bed, and it wasn't until I'd watched about two hours of TV that I
realized I hadn't seen her for a while. I went into the bedroom to
check, and she wasn't lying down on the bed, where she usually likes to
be in the evenings. I didn't see any Nina-sized lumps under the
comforter, but I flipped it back anyway.  (That's another favorite
hideout of hers when Big Suck (the vacuum cleaner) comes out of the
closet. No Nina.  I checked all the window screens, and they were still
secure, so she hadn't gotten out. I called her repeatedly, got down on
my stomach and looked under the bed with a flashlight, and while I
found  a missing shoe, I did not find Nina. I opened all the cupboard
and closet doors--STILL no Nina, and no response to any of my calls. I
was so freaked out, I even took the mattress off my bed and lifed up
the box springs to establish without doubt that there was no frightened
kitty under the bed. No Nina! I very calmly proceeded to freak out. I
thought she might have broken her neck or otherwise injured herself
during the chase and I'd have a very expensive trip to the midnight vet
to deal with.

Finally, after about 45 minutes of desperate searching in and under
everything and repeated calling, I did find her under my barcalounger
chair, and the little minx had the utter gall to give me this insolent
"well, what IS it?" kind of look before she ran out from under the
chair! But I was SO thankful to find her and that she was okay, that I
picked her up and hugged her and kissed her and just showered her with
love.  So now I am calm and much, much relieved. And I have three
visible cats, again. =o)

Melissa