Lara The Runaway Cat

Cleo hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that Jennifer was a terrible flyer. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to fly all the way to Australia with her.

Not having been on a plane before, I didn’t have too many expectations of what flying would be like. And, to be honest, I’d been too busy focussing on how Cleo and I would effect our switch to concentrate on what would happen next. Even the flight to China with Mum and Dad and Gobi had been too far away to think about, when there were ferries and other adventures to experience first.

But now it was time to fly. And suddenly I realized that maybe I should have given a little more thought to this part of the plan earlier in the proceedings.

After sitting for ages in a row of chairs around many other rows of chairs somewhere that was called a ‘gate’ (but didn’t have any metal doors, unlike the gate to our garden back home), there was some sort of tinny announcement that rang out around the area. I couldn’t see who was talking, and it was hard to even make out the words that they were saying, but Jennifer leapt to her feet, the handle of my carrier in her hand. I lurched upwards too as she moved.

She joined a queue of other people, and I tried to look around me and take in my surroundings. There were plenty of windows here at the gate, too. Glass seemed to make up an entire wall of the building, at least on this level, and I could see out over a field of concrete – with large, white crafts with wings dotted around it.

Planes. Airplanes. That I’d be flying on. Very soon.

Birds flew, I knew that much. I’d seen them in the sky back home, and even chased one or two when I was exploring the garden – although I always had to give up when they escaped over the garden wall.

But now it was my turn. I wondered if there’d be any birds up there to catch …

Flying was an adventure, I was sure of that. But it was one Gobi had done lots of times before, so somehow it didn’t really seem to count, yet. I kept remembering all the things she had told me about planes and flying, none of it particularly useful right now.

I couldn’t wait to have an adventure Gobi had never experienced at all. To be the one who knew something about the wide world outside the window that Gobi didn’t.

‘Us next, Cleo.’ Jennifer hoisted me up again, as the queue moved forwards. ‘I hope Jeremy appreciates all I’m doing for him,’ she muttered.

I wondered who Jeremy was, and why he wanted Jennifer to travel the world when she hated flying. Then I remembered what Cleo had said about Jennifer’s dead husband, and finding a place for him to spend eternity. His name was Jeremy.

I hoped for Cleo’s sake that Jennifer found the perfect place for his ashes on this trip. Otherwise Cleo would have more flights in her future, I was sure.

‘Animals are required to remain in their carriers during the flight, Madam,’ the flight attendant standing by the tall desk told us, as Jennifer showed her boarding card.

‘Of course,’ Jennifer replied, pleasantly. But the moment we were out of earshot she murmured, ‘Don’t listen to her, Cleo. You’ll be on my lap, like always. You know I can’t fly without you! Goodness, I think my hands might be shaking already.’

There was no ‘might’ about it. My carrier was jiggling around like blossom blowing past our window in Edinburgh as we walked down a long corridor towards another door.

I almost didn’t notice when we boarded the plane. It was just like going through another door – like the one between the hallway and the bedroom at home, even. Except suddenly the windows were much, much smaller, and the chairs were all fixed in place, in narrow rows. I wondered if I got my own seat – there wasn’t going to be much room for me otherwise, in my carrier.

One thing I could tell for certain, as we made our way down the path in the middle of the plane, behind the seats – there were plenty of small places for a fluffy cat like me to hide, if I wanted to. I probably couldn’t get off the plane once it was in the air, I supposed, but if Jennifer proved too annoyingly clingy, at least I could escape and hide somewhere else for a while, supposing she let me go long enough for me to run.

Our seat was almost halfway down the plane, next to a window. I liked that. I understood windows, and I liked to look out. Hopefully, once I was out of my carrier, like Jennifer had promised, I’d be able to take a good look around.

Really, it wasn’t all that much different to home yet.

Jennifer settled into her seat comfortably, pulling out a magazine, a small pillow that tucked around her neck and a small bag of treats that I hoped were for me. Clearly, she knew just what a journey like this required – as Cleo had told me, she’d been doing this for a while.

I supposed Jennifer herself was another clue as to why people went on adventures. She was searching for something, the perfect place to scatter Jeremy’s ashes. A bit like how Dad had adventured to China to find Gobi again, when she went missing.

I wondered what I was looking for, besides an actual adventure. Whatever it was, I hoped I would figure it out before I found it.

Another woman sat down beside Jennifer. A tall, thin woman with kind eyes, she smiled down at me, where I sat in my carrier, on the floor at Jennifer’s feet.

Jennifer obviously noticed, because she said, ‘Hello! This is Cleo, she’s my Emotional Support Animal.’

I didn’t correct her, obviously.

‘She’s beautiful,’ the woman said, peering through the slits in my carrier. I preened, just a little bit. Ragdoll cats really are the most beautiful animals. ‘Hello Cleo, I’m Caitlin.’

‘And I’m Jennifer.’ Jennifer leant in closer to Caitlin, and whispered, ‘As soon as those stewardesses are sat down, I’ll get her out to sit on my lap. Then you can get a proper look at her. She’s a purebred Ragdoll, you know. A very special cat.’

‘I’m sure she is.’ The other woman didn’t sound completely convinced that I was anything more special than a pretty cat, but then she hadn’t met me properly yet. She’d understand in time.

Over the next few minutes, more and more people sat down in their seats, as the plane filled up. There were women and men in suits, with small, hard cases on wheels that they crammed into the boxes above the seats. There were families, with rucksacks and bags full of toys. There was at least one screaming baby that I hoped would go to sleep soon. And there were couples, holding hands and smiling as they found their seats.

And with every person who boarded the plane, Jennifer grew more and more agitated. I wasn’t sure why, nothing had even happened yet. What was there to be afraid of?

Gobi had told me, before we left Edinburgh, that take-off and landing were the scariest parts of flying. But we hadn’t taken off anywhere yet.

Jennifer was obviously panicking in anticipation, though. First, she pulled my carrier up fully onto her lap, instead of letting it sit at her feet. Then she started hugging it – her arms wrapped around and squashing the soft material. I could smell her sweat through her clothes.

Not a new favourite scent.

‘Are you okay?’ Caitlin asked, leaning forward with concern. ‘Do you need me to call someone?’

‘I’ll be fine,’ said Jennifer, unconvincingly. ‘I’ve got Cleo, she makes it all bearable.’

‘You don’t like flying,’ the woman realized. ‘That’s why you have your cat with you.’

‘Of course! Why else?’

I caught a glimpse of the woman’s face through the slits of my carrier. She looked vaguely uncomfortable, and I guessed she wasn’t going to answer that question. I wondered what she’d assumed was wrong with Jennifer that she needed Cleo to go everywhere with her.

‘Are you sure I can’t get anything for you?’ she persisted. ‘Some water? A mint to suck on take-off?’

Clearly feeling guilty for whatever assumptions she’d jumped to.

‘No, thank you,’ Jennifer replied. ‘I’ll be fine once we get going. It’s just this waiting, I do hate the waiting.’

But just then, the pilot’s voice came over the intercom – just like Gobi had told me it would, when she’d been lecturing me about everything that would happen on our trip, since she’d done it all before. She’d just been lording it over me, of course. Making it clear that anything I did, she’d already experienced.

But not this: this was my adventure with Jennifer.

‘We are cleared for take-off,’ the pilot said, and the plane started to move.

Jennifer gave a sharp squeak, like one of Gobi’s toys when she’s played with it too roughly, and before I knew what was happening, I was out of my carrier and wrapped up directly in Jennifer’s arms. Just like the flight attendant had told her I shouldn’t be.

Jennifer had a seat belt on. Outside of my carrier there was nothing at all to stop me hurtling through the plane on take-off. Well, nothing except Jennifer’s very strong embrace.

Gobi hadn’t mentioned Dad doing anything like this when they were flying.

Beside us, Caitlin made a soothing noise and patted Jennifer’s arm. I don’t know why she was bothering to try and soothe her when I was clearly the one in distress. I was the one with no security straps or cases, and who might actually be squeezed to death before we reached Australia anyway.

Jennifer started talking, murmuring nonsense in my ears, all about Jeremy and being without him and how he’d want her to go visit her daughter and stuff. I tuned her out – nothing to do with me, after all – and instead focussed on the view out of the window, as a distraction from the squeezing of my middle.

This window wasn’t like any of the others I’d stared out of before. It was smaller, for a start, and rounded. But the newest part was the view.

As the plane tilted and rose, the ground sped away from us, the concrete river of the runway disappearing as we flew. Soon, I saw the green of trees and the roofs of houses below us, the blue of rushing water, and what I assumed had to be cars moving along roads – although they looked smaller than mice.

And then there was nothing but sky and clouds, for miles and miles.

Somehow, this wasn’t as terrifying as the never-ending ocean we’d crossed on the ferry. This wasn’t water, but air.

I was up where the birds flew – where they escaped from me to, when I chased them in our garden. I was conquering their world as well as mine. I was up, so far over the garden wall, I could go anywhere.

Now, this, this was adventure! This had to be why people went on them, to feel this way. Like they’d escaped their normal life, their normal world, even. To have no idea what happened next, but to be desperate to find out.

This window wasn’t like any of the others, after all. Because this window was taking me somewhere new. Somewhere my days wouldn’t just be measured in meals and naps and the same view from the same window. Somewhere I could discover who I was, outside of the house. Where I could be Lara the outdoor cat, the adventurous cat.

I was having the biggest adventure ever, and I was unstoppable.

It was enough to even make me forget Jennifer, and her vice-like grip on my stomach. For a moment, anyway.

Eventually the plane levelled out, and Jennifer’s grip started to loosen. Freed, I shifted closer to the window, placing my paws against it as I looked out at the sky. The world looked incredibly big from here, like it might never end at all.

‘Well, that doesn’t get any better with practice,’ Jennifer joked. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, her hands felt clammy.

‘Are you okay?’ Caitlin asked again, somewhat redundantly I felt, since Jennifer was clearly anything but okay. In truth, she was totally batty. Who wouldn’t love flying?

Why on earth would Cleo give up the chance to experience all this? She said that she’d had enough adventures, but how could anyone ever get enough of feeling this way? I understood now why Gobi and Dad were always flying off somewhere new. There were so many places to go, too! I remembered the list Dad had given of places he’d been with Gobi, and all those pins in the map on the wall. Maybe, after Australia, I could fly to all of those places too!

Now I’d started, I never wanted to stop adventuring.

Jennifer was still breathing heavily, but she waved away Caitlin’s question with a flap of her hand. ‘Oh, I’ll be fine,’ she insisted, between pants. ‘I usually am once we get going. At least, until the landing. But I have Cleo here to help me with that – don’t I, Cleo?’

She nuzzled down into my fur, holding me tight against her again. I sighed, resigned to this sort of treatment for the rest of the journey.

But then Jennifer stopped, and held me out at arm’s length – well, as much as the cramped airplane seating would allow.

‘Cleo?’

I risked a look at her: she was frowning.

Oh. Drat!

I had a horrible feeling that the jig might be up. Cleo and I looked almost identical, but apparently, it was that almost that was about to get us caught.

Jennifer knew her own cat better, it seemed, than my humans knew me.

‘What’s the matter?’ Caitlin asked. ‘Is she ill? Or has she, you know, had an accident?’ She pulled a face, and I gave her an indignant look.

Jennifer shook her head. ‘Nothing like that. It’s just …’ she ruffled the fur at my neck to look for my collar: my bright pink with neon flowers on collar, to match my harness. The one normally completely hidden under my fluffy fur. But if a person knew to look for it …

I froze in her grasp. There was nowhere to run inside a plane. I could hide in any one of the small places I’d identified when I got on, but it didn’t make any difference – they had a long, long flight to find me, after all. And then what? All the doors had been locked once we were all on board, and none of the windows even opened. I was trapped with Jennifer until we landed, at least.

Maybe she wouldn’t find the collar. Or maybe it had fallen off somewhere, or something.

Or …

Hot, pudgy fingers gripped my collar, and pulled it a little way out from my neck, through my fur. I braced myself.

‘This isn’t my cat!’ Jennifer declared, sounding outraged.

Oops. Busted!

‘What on earth do you mean?’ Caitlin asked. ‘I thought you said she was your ESA?’

‘She is!’ Jennifer replied, indignant. ‘At least, she should be. But this isn’t my Cleo!’

I tried very hard to disappear back into my carrier, but Jennifer held on tight – tighter than she had even on take-off.

There was definitely no escaping now.

‘How is that even possible?’ Caitlin asked. ‘Surely the security people checked her microchip and her pet passport? They don’t just let any animals fly, you know.’

‘I know! Believe me, she was Cleo when I put her in her carrier to get on the plane. But now, she isn’t!’

‘You know that’s impossible, right?’ Caitlin was looking at Jennifer like she was a crazy person. I actually felt a little sorry for Jennifer. I mean, she was pretty batty, but in this case, she was also totally correct.

‘But it’s happened.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Oh my word, if this isn’t Cleo, how can I fly? How can I land?!’ Jennifer’s voice got louder with every word, and higher and shriller too.

I knew what that meant. It meant she was freaking out, like our neighbour in Edinburgh did when she found a spider in her house. (The first few times, they’d tried to get me to go round and eat it, except I have rather higher standards than that, thank you! After that, Mum or Dad went round with a glass and a piece of card that they somehow used to de-spider the house.)

I started to panic, too, as I realized how bad this could be.

If Jennifer freaked out and told the airplane people she’d brought the wrong cat on board, I had a feeling that things could go very wrong, very quickly. Why hadn’t I thought about what would happen when Jennifer realized about the swap? It was all right for Cleo, safely back in the airport, waiting for someone to check her microchip and send her to a pet hotel. But what about me? Gobi had told me plenty of times how strict humans were about where and when animals could travel. There were all sorts of rules and regulations. What would they do to me when they realized I was on the wrong plane, or, worse, in the wrong country?

No, me freaking out, too, wasn’t going to help anybody. I had to calm down.

I thought about blossom outside my window, floating on the breeze, and tried to slow my breathing down. Otherwise I was going to start panting like a dog, and that was just undignified.

The thought of engaging in dog-like behaviour was enough to distract me from my panic. And as my breathing slowed, so did my mind – enough to figure out what to do next, anyway.

I needed to calm Jennifer down too, I realized. Once she was calm, she’d figure out that she’d be in at least as much trouble as me if I was found out. Humans always blamed other humans for this sort of thing. They hadn’t figured out that we animals could make our own decisions, thank you very much! She wouldn’t want to get into trouble with the authorities either.

Once she realized that, she’d have no choice but to go along with the switch, right? Pretend that I was Cleo, too. It was the best option for both of us.

This could work. At least, it sounded better than throwing myself out of a window and hoping I could learn to fly really, really quickly, which was the only other plan I’d come up with.

So, step one: calm Jennifer down. Which, as an ESA for the day, was basically my job anyway. Hopefully, everyone would think she was just freaking out about the flight – that definitely wasn’t a stretch of anybody’s imagination.

I started with my best, most reassuring purr. The sort of deep vibration that settles human nerves on the basest of levels. It always worked for Mum when she was upset, anyway. It stopped Jennifer shouting, at least. Instead, she started panicking in a whisper, which was much better. Caitlin looked relieved about it, too.

Next, I nuzzled closer, right up under her chin, my soft fur swooshing over her skin like a really good stroke from someone who loves you. As I settled down against her stomach, still purring, I lapped at her hand with my tongue, just enough to show her I cared. Then I butted my head up against her fingers until she started to pet me. It’s hard for any human to be upset when they’re stroking a cat as magnificent as me. Right?

Finally, Jennifer’s breathing slowed back to its normal level, and I could no longer feel her heart thumping against her chest. Mission accomplished, I was the best ESA ever!

‘So?’ Caitlin asked, impatient. ‘What exactly do you mean when you say Cleo isn’t your cat? Is she acting funny or something?’

‘I mean,’ Jennifer said, in hushed tones, ‘this isn’t Cleo. This is a totally different cat. Look!’ She tugged at my collar again. ‘Cleo’s collar is gold! Not whatever this is.’

Caitlin’s eyes widened. ‘But we already established that’s not possible.’

Jennifer shook her head. ‘Well, it’s happened. I don’t know how. It was definitely Cleo when I put her in the carrier, and now it isn’t.’

To my feline mind, it was pretty obvious what had to have happened. But whether in her panicked state Jennifer had forgotten all about the other Ragdoll cat they’d met on the ferry, or – more likely, given what Cleo had told me about her – her instinct was simply to go for the more imaginative possibilities, she jumped to completely the wrong conclusion.

As I watched, her expression cleared, then brightened, and she made up her own explanation.

‘You know, I think that maybe this was meant to happen,’ she said.

Caitlin looked sceptical. ‘Really? You were meant to lose your cat and accidentally end up with another one?’

‘Oh, yes! I’m a firm believer in fate and destiny. Everything happens for a reason, you know,’ Jennifer said, more confident in her theory with every word. ‘So, this cat must have been sent to me for one, too.’

‘You think the cat was sent to you? Why?’ Caitlin’s voice was heavy with disbelief.

‘Well, that’s the challenge, isn’t it? To figure out the meaning behind the message. It’s just like the time my purse was stolen in Barcelona, but on the way to the police station to report it, I found this glorious little piazza that I would never have seen otherwise.’

‘Um, how is it like that?’ Caitlin asked.

‘Some things are just meant to be,’ Jennifer explained. ‘Even if we can’t see the reason behind them when they happen. If you wait long enough, all will become clear.’

‘Right. Just to make sure I’ve got this right,’ Caitlin said. ‘You honestly believe that the universe or whatever has sent you a replacement cat for some mystical reason that will become clear in time?’

Jennifer nodded excitedly. ‘Exactly! Ooh, maybe she’s here to guide me to the right place to scatter my Jeremy’s ashes! After all, it’s not like I’ve been having a lot of luck on my own.’ Jennifer bounced a little in excitement at the idea. Caitlin just looked bemused.

I was with Caitlin on this one.

‘Ashes?’ she asked, faintly.

‘Oh yes,’ Jennifer replied, with an enthusiastic nod. ‘That’s why I’m taking this trip, you see. Well, that and to see my daughter, I suppose, although I’m not sure how keen she is on seeing me.’

‘I see,’ Caitlin said, in a tone that made it clear that she didn’t see, not at all. Her hand was already inching towards the headphones the flight attendant had given her. I decided she had to be a fairly optimistic person if she thought Jennifer was going to stop talking and let her watch a film any time soon.

Jennifer, I already knew, was a talker. She talked to anyone who would listen – including cats, if there were no humans around. I didn’t mind a good conversation, but it did tend to be fairly one-sided between humans and animals. Still, I listened, because maybe she’d cast some light on the next stage of our adventure together.

‘Before Jeremy went into hospital for the last time, I promised him I’d find him the perfect place to spend eternity. He didn’t want to just sit on the mantelpiece – he was an adventurer, see. A traveller. I always put this down to his time in the Navy – you know, join the Navy and see the world and all that.’

‘He was a sailor,’ Caitlin said, obviously trying to find some thread in the conversation to hang onto.

‘For years, until we settled down. But even then, we still travelled when we could. Used to be, flying was no bother at all to me, as long as I had Jeremy’s hand to hold. But without him, I’m lost. That’s why I need Cleo.’ She squinted down at me. ‘Or whoever this is. Anyway, what was I saying?’

‘Ashes?’ Caitlin said, faintly, clutching the headphones tightly.

‘That’s right! I promised Jeremy I’d find the perfect place to scatter his ashes. And I’ve been trying, ever since the funeral. But I’m still looking! I’ve tried Venice, where we went on our honeymoon; Rome, where we spent our fifth anniversary; Paris, where our daughter was conceived; Budapest, where we met some of our dearest friends on a river cruise; even Krakow, because I know he liked the salt mines there! But nothing ever felt quite right. Not the right vibe, you know? I’m a big believer in vibes, and instincts, and going with what feels right, so I meditated on it, and decided it was time to go further afield and spend some time with our family at the same time.’

‘Just you and somebody else’s cat,’ Caitlin said faintly.

‘Yes. Well, not intentionally, but that does seem to be the case.’ Jennifer felt for my collar again. ‘No tag, that’s strange.’

I bristled. It wasn’t strange, it was a personal choice – I never liked those metal things, and Dad had said that since I didn’t leave the house, it didn’t matter much anyway. Mum had sighed and put the tag away in the drawer, muttering about it being a good job I was microchipped.

Anyway, my choice. I wasn’t judging her for her trust in crystals and vibes, was I?

(Actually, I was. But she didn’t know that.)

‘I really think that must be it. This beauty has been sent to help guide me to the right place to scatter Jeremy’s ashes! It all makes sense.’

‘Perfect sense,’ Caitlin said, with heavy sarcasm.

But Jennifer didn’t seem to notice. ‘I guess that means it’s up to me to name her,’ she declared, delightedly.

‘Are you sure it’s even a her?’ Caitlin asked, and I glared at her. Of course I’m female, couldn’t she tell from my poise and grace?

‘I’m definitely getting a female vibe,’ Jennifer agreed, which might have been the first sensible thing she’d said since I met her.

She lifted me up to look into my eyes, and I stared back, willing her to somehow intuit that my name was Lara. Even if it meant she suddenly realized where I must have come from, and took steps to send me back to Mum and Dad. I could always escape again to continue my adventure.

My name was my name, I didn’t want to be anyone except Lara.

‘I think I’ll name her “Fortune”,’ Jennifer said, and I sighed.

‘Fortune is a terrible name,’ I meowed to her, but she only beamed and said, ‘I think she likes it!’

Another human with no understanding. Great!

And now I was stuck with her, searching for somewhere to scatter some ashes.

Jennifer snuggled me closer against her face. ‘Oh, Fortune, I don’t know how I’m going to cope without you on the next flight!’

Wait. What now?

I froze, listening intently, and hoping Jennifer would explain what she meant.

I thought the whole point of me being there was to fly with her. That was what an Emotional Support Animal did. And if I wasn’t being squeezed almost in half on take-off, where would I be while she was flying? Cleo definitely hadn’t mentioned this part.

‘She can’t fly with you all the way to Australia?’ Caitlin asked.

Jennifer shook her head, oblivious to my confusion and distress. ‘Australia will only allow in pets that travel in the hold, not in the cabin. I’ve got a two-night layover in America, because I wanted to catch up with a friend there, and the flights seemed to work best. Then, when we catch our next plane, poor Fortune will have to go back in her crate and get checked in again as freight, rather than a passenger. I’ve got it all arranged with the staff at the airport.’

Travel in the hold?! That wasn’t the plan at all. Gobi had told me all about that when she flew across China in the hold of a plane, and it sounded terrible. She still had nightmares about it sometimes, even. Those nights, I had to wrap my tail even tighter over her.

Who would wrap their tail over me, afterwards?

Suddenly, Cleo’s enthusiasm for swapping places for this trip made a lot more sense.

‘That’s a shame,’ Caitlin said, which might have been the understatement of the century. But strangely, Jennifer wasn’t looking too disappointed. Considering her distress at take-off, I hoped that meant she had a solution to all this: like not going to Australia after all, maybe.

‘Actually, under the circumstances, this might all work out very well,’ she said, looking down at me again, her gaze more assessing than adoring. ‘The friend I’m staying with just happens to be a vet. One who might just be able to help me with “Cleo’s” malfunctioning microchip in time for our flight to Australia.’

‘Is her microchip malfunctioning?’ Caitlin asked, frowning, which was what I wanted to ask too. As far as I knew, it had been working fine at the airport.

‘It is now,’ Jennifer said, decisively. ‘America has some of the more relaxed pet import guidelines in the world, so getting Fortune in there as Cleo won’t be a problem – I’ll just tell them that the microchip has shifted and we can’t find it under all that fur. Happens all the time with Ragdoll cats, I’ve heard. But Australia is a whole different matter.’

‘They’re pretty strict down under, huh?’

Hmm, I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of ‘strict’. Or vet friends, come to that. What exactly did Jennifer have planned for me? My previous visits to vets had rarely been any fun at all. I didn’t want to start my adventure stuck in a vet’s office, getting needles or something jabbed into me.

‘Very strict,’ Jennifer agreed. ‘Multiple vet visits beforehand, paperwork to be signed and approved, and stringent checks on arrival. I’ll need to have everything exactly in order to get her through – and I did, for Cleo.’

‘But Fortune might need a little help from your vet friend,’ Caitlin guessed, nodding. ‘I get it now.’

‘Australia’s pet rules are one of the reasons I’ve put off going there for so long. Well, that and the quarantine,’ Jennifer added, absently. A shiver ran through me, from my nose to the tip of my tail.

Quarantine?!

I knew about quarantine. Mum and Dad had talked about it a lot when they were trying to get Gobi home, after she’d been found. It meant being alone, locked up behind more windows, and not having any adventures at all.

I didn’t want to travel in the hold of the plane, I didn’t want to go into quarantine, and I definitely didn’t want to be called Fortune. This was the worst adventure ever!

Meowing softly to myself, I settled down on Jennifer’s lap, my tail wrapped around me and my paws under my chin, sulking. Suddenly, going back home to Mum and Dad didn’t sound like a bad idea at all …

China was almost like I remembered. Dion took me for a walk every day, and every day, people stopped to say hello and to make a fuss of me. We visited the canal we used to walk along when we lived in Beijing for a few months, before I was allowed into the UK. We stopped by the building where our old apartment had been, and he and Lucja drank coffee in the one Starbucks in the area that had allowed me in. In those ways, China was exactly like I remembered.