Shaking with fright, Leroy scrambled backwards. We heard the tearing of the ivy plant as he fell in an explosion of leaves. Then he ran, rubbing the blood from his arms, seized his bike and flung himself onto it. Leaving the red helmet lying in the leaf mould, he pedalled wildly into the traffic and headed home.
At that point the Spirit Lion gently disengaged from me. We both knew I had to be a support cat for when Leroy made it home.
When he finally came riding up the street, Angie was pacing up and down like the lion.
‘Where have you BEEN?’ she asked.
Leroy shrugged.
‘Nowhere,’ he said.
I ran to him with my tail up, and, while Angie ranted, I purred and loved and showed her how to welcome a tired, distraught child.
I got used to the place, but the homesickness never left me. I was OK when Angie and Leroy were there, but when Angie was at work, and Leroy at school, I was left alone for long hours. I missed Vati terribly, and I missed Graham. I missed Poppy, and the chickens, and the freedom of a big garden. Here the back garden was boxed in by other gardens where there were cats who didn’t want to be friends. I tried to establish a territory, but it was limited. The spring was cold and rainy, so I spent hours indoors by the Aga, or sitting in the window. Angie and Leroy played with me and brushed me, and then I was a happy cat. But I yearned for those exciting playtimes with Vati.
In my heart I didn’t feel at home.
Angie sat with me on her lap when Leroy was in bed. She shared her sadness with me. She missed Graham. She hated Lisa. She felt betrayed.‘But we must make the best of it, Timba,’ she often said. ‘Think positive.’ Then she would talk about Leroy. ‘I love that boy. I so want to help him. He’s got such a talent … and such dreams. We have to help him make those dreams come true, Timba. Don’t we?’ I always agreed with a yes-meow and lots of purring.
One wet Sunday the sparks were flying from both their auras as Angie and Leroy sat in front of Leroy’s laptop. Curious, I jumped onto the table and sat with them, looking at the screen. They were looking at the White Lions!
‘Don’t walk on the keyboard, Timba.’ Leroy moved me gently aside, but I wanted to touch noses with one of those lions. I stared and stared, feeling my neck getting longer. Slowly I stretched forward, my whiskers tingling with excitement, and touched noses, nicely. The lion didn’t respond,and Angie and Leroy laughed at me, but I felt I’d reached across the world and given wordless love to this brave, important lion.
‘It says their coats can be whiter than the whitest snow,’ said Angie. ‘A White Lion is the most sacred animal in Africa.’
‘Yeah, but they’re not albinos,’ Leroy said. ‘No one knows where the White Lions came from. It’s a mystery! Come on, Angie, let’s read the legends again.’ He clicked something and a load of writing appeared instead of the interesting pictures of lions. ‘I can nearly read this now … but you help me with the long words, Angie.’
‘WOW! Listen to this,’ said Angie. ‘“The name Timbavati is from an ancient Shangaan language –” AND – “it meansthe place where star lions come down from the heavens”. WOW.’
Leroy’s face shone. He searched the block of text on the screen and pounced on another word. ‘“Golden”,’ he said. ‘“Timbavati is on a golden …” I can’t read that, Angie.’
My spine began to tingle. A golden road, I thought.
Angie took over the reading.‘“Timbavati is on the Golden Nile Meridian,”’ she read.
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s an energy line … a sacred pathway across the world,’ Angie whispered, and her words excited me so much that I did an amplified extended-meow. More laughter. I didn’t think it was funny. Miffed, I stared into Angie’s eyes. ‘Timba understands that, don’t you, lovely cat?’ she said warmly, and got a yes-meow in return.
Leroy was racing ahead, his eyes searching the writing.‘“Sphinx,”’ he said. ‘It’s on the same line. What’s a sphinx?’
‘Google it,’ said Angie, and Leroy tapped the keyboard and clicked. The screen flickered, and a picture appeared of the ancient stone sphinx in the desert. It spooked me, and my memory flipped into life. I remembered a time, centuries ago, when Vati and I had been proud Egyptian cats. We had played in the hot sun, and slept between the glistening stone paws of that mighty sphinx.
‘Timba understands this too.’ Leroy looked into my eyes, and in that moment I understood something else. Leroy was developing telepathy. He could read my thoughts. ‘Do you miss Vati, Timba?’
I walked over the forbidden keyboard and kissed Leroy on the nose.
Chapter Thirteen
JOURNEY SOUTH
It happened very quickly.
One minute I was a contented cat, and the next I was faced with a life-changing challenge.
‘You’re the best cat in the world, Timba.’ Angie pressed her cheek against my fur, and I looked up at her, blinking my eyes slowly and purring. ‘I hope we never lose you.’