We all sat respectfully still, for this was magic. Magic so rare and sensitive that it needed total peace in order to work. In those moments I heard the drip-drip of melting snow from the garden, the tick-tick of Graham’s mother’s clock, and my purring sending its ripples through the silence.
Rick closed his eyes, and seemed to be listening to something. The words came through, glimmering and slow, but strong, each one touching the pain that was knotted into the little cat’s heart. Vati was alert and listening, soaking up the healing as if it were sunshine on his fur.
‘We can’t give you back your claws, Vati,’ Rick said, ‘but you can learn to walk again, and play again. You mustn’t try to climb trees, but you can leap and run, and play with Timba.’
The light in Rick’s hands changed to a powerful resonant blue, and he moved them gently to touch the little cat’s head. ‘Let go, Vati,’ he said, ‘let go of all the anger. Send it into the light and let it vanish for ever.’ Vati gave a deep sigh and I saw the darkness leave his aura. ‘It can no longer harm you,’ Rick said. ‘You are free.’
Sometimes I understood that certain things happen for a reason. It was meant to be. Rick was meant to be there, to heal Vati. And when Graham had tried to lift me from the sofa, I’d been given lion strength to resist. So Rick had come to the house, on his day off, he said, and given us his time.
I noticed Lisa, one arm holding Heidi and the other carefully wheeling a suitcase through the hall. I heard the click of car doors, and the businesslike whirr of her car as she left the house. For ever, said a voice in my mind. It’s for ever.
‘Do you mind if I hang around for an hour or so?’ Rick asked. ‘I’d like to finish this work I’m doing with Vati … and see Angie when she arrives.’
‘Sure,’ Graham said. ‘I’ll make some coffee.’
‘No,’ Rick said quietly. ‘It’s important that you sit here with me, Graham. Don’t break this healing circle we’ve created for Vati. We need your energy.’
Graham rolled his eyes, as if he was going to say something scathing about‘mumbo-jumbo’, but Rick looked at him with steel in his eyes. ‘Will you hold Timba now?’ he asked. ‘I want to see if Vati will come to me.’ Rick airlifted me to Graham’s chest where I continued purring, and arranged myself so that I could see Vati.
Vati knew he was inside a bubble of magic. Moving gracefully, he slipped onto Rick’s chest like a piece of velvet. He lay gazing at Rick, his hurt paws stretched out. Graham’s mother’s clock went on ticking, the melting snow dripping, and I saw the stars come down. One soft bright star on each of Vati’s paws, and a pure blue star for his mind.
Like the star lion in the sky.
The timing was perfect.
When the healing was complete, Vati jumped down and stretched. He put his tail up and wove himself around Graham’s ankles. ‘That’s the first time he’s had his tail up!’ Graham said, and Vati meowed at him and headed for the kitchen.
‘Don’t give him that dried food,’ Rick said. ‘He needs something juicy.’
Graham opened two sachets of Whiskas and put them in a bowl for us to share. Vati ate ravenously, and we shared without growling, best friends and brothers.
Soon we were sitting side by side, gazing into the fire and appreciating its bright warmth, while Rick and Graham talked over coffee.
‘How did you learn to do that kind of healing?’ Graham asked. ‘Spiritual healing, is it? I bet you didn’t learn that at uni.’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Rick said. ‘A wonderful old lady taught me … Mrs Lanbrow.’
I did a purr-meow and stared at Rick.‘Yes, Timba … you remember her. She rescued you and brought you in when you were a kitten.’
‘It certainly seems to work,’ Graham said, frowning. ‘I’ve never believed in all that stuff … but look at Vati now!’
My priority was to stay with Vati. I had made that perfectly clear. So what would happen when Angie came to collect me?
The sound of her car was bittersweet for me. The love, the ache of longing had stayed in my heart through my long lonely journey. I wanted Angie. I wanted Leroy. Yet now, as I sat expectantly looking at the door, my thoughts were tinged with anxiety. Even as those quick, beloved footsteps sounded, the idea of making a run for freedom came into my mind. But how would Vati survive in the wild without claws? Could I do the work of two cats? Protecting and feeding both of us, living for ever with matted fur and aching hunger, and a lonely heart?
‘Don’t do it, Timba. Don’t even THINK about it.’ The voice of the Spirit Lion boomed in my head. He was there, in the room with us. I could see his light as he prowled around, for a reason I had yet to discover.
‘Come in, Angie,’ Graham called, and stood up eagerly. He’s still in love with her, I thought.
Leroy burst in, his eyes finding me immediately, his face lighting up with passion. I did the loudest meow EVER and found myself trotting across the room with my tail up.
‘TIMBA!’
Leroy couldn’t speak. He picked me up and in wordless joy buried his face in my fur.