The day the neighbours buried our cat

Whiskey was one of a ginger pair - the other called Ginger. We had these two from the time they were kittens. Sadly Whiskey went missing and we knew not where. He was usually fairly reliable and a creature of habit choosing to leave the family home by a first floor window and would howl if it wasn't open sufficiently for him to get out. But this time he was missing and days went by until one day a neighbour and his wife who we didn't know and whose house was high up on Borrowcop Hill called in. He asked if we had a ginger cat and then sighed with obvious relief when he saw Whiskey. We explained he was one of a pair and the other had gone missing. Then he told us the full story of how they'd seen a ginger cat knocked down by a driver who didn't stop. They went to the cat who was dead and badly disfigured. They thought it was theirs and took it home. They became more sure as there was no sign of their ginger cat and so buried it in the garden with due solemnity and so their little girls could mourn. As they stood in silence they looked up and saw their ginger cat meandering across the garden looking surprised at their tears. While overjoyed they knew they had witnessed the death of someone else's cat and asked around discovering it might be ours. We went to the graveside which was very sweet and at least we knew Ginger had a tasteful resting place.