I yowled and screamed. I gnawed at the plastic round the edge of the metal grille I was in such a frenzy that my fur was coming out, and then, to my shame, I peed into the cushion and the cage stank of it. My teeth and my nose started to bleed and sting, the pads of my paws burned, and my heart was going at white-hot speed.
‘Bill, you MUST STOP. We can’t let him get in such a state, he’ll hurt himself.’ The woman reached over and slid the cage round to look at me. ‘He’s killing himself. He’s covered in blood. Will you stop, PLEASE? Let me see if I can calm him down.’
‘I can’t stop on this busy road.’
‘Turn off into one of the side streets.’
‘OK, OK.’
I was getting hotter and hotter and my pulse was roaring in my ears. The van stopped, and they both got out and opened the back doors. The fresh salty air came blowing in. It calmed me just a little. The woman was talking to me but I didn’t listen. I went on yowling and scrabbling.
‘Look at the state of him. I’ve got to get him out. I’ll wrap him in my coat and have him on my lap.’
‘You can’t do that. He’ll run wild in the car and cause an accident.’
I searched the woman’s eyes, willing her to understand, and she did.
‘It’s obvious he doesn’t want to come with us. I don’t care what you think, I’m letting him out.’
‘Don’t let him go. We should take him back to the harbour. Have some sense. You can’t let him go in the street.’
The woman was determined. She had seen my desperation. She undid the catch and lifted the grille. She reached in to pick me up but I sprang out like a tiger and belted down the strange road, my tail kinked, my paws on fire. Instinctively I ran into the wind towards the shining sea. I dashed across roads, and cars squealed their brakes as they tried to avoid me. I ran down a cobbled street, past shops and in and out of people. I stopped on a beautiful square of grass where there was a stone obelisk with wreaths of red poppies stacked around it. No one was there so I sat on the stone steps and tried to stop trembling. I was free now. I could hear the seagulls and see the water sparkling in the distance. But I was totally lost. I licked the blood from my white-tipped paws, and lapped cool water from a puddle at the foot of the steps.
I hurt all over, but finding Jessica was my priority.
Getting into a frenzy had been traumatic for a cat like me, and I needed time to recover. The amber velvet cushion was what I longed for, and Ellen’s loving hands stroking me. The stillness and peace of that patch of grass was all I had to calm myself down while I figured out how to get back to the harbour.
I was in a town, high on a hill, and between the houses were views of the shining sea. My eyes were drawn to the sheet of sunlight on water, and a memory floated into my mind.‘My light is so bright that I become almost invisible on earth, but if you look at sparkles you will see me, especially in the sunlight glinting on water.’ The Angel of the Silver Stars had whispered those words into my soul before I was born. I sat still and focused on the shining water, and Ifelt a change. It drifted around me like snowflakes, each one full of clustered stars. My angel was covering me in healing sparks. She wasn’t telling me off for ignoring her. She was loving me.
‘Take time to rest in this special place, Solomon,’ she said. ‘Rest and sleep, and when the sun goes down, the bright star will guide you back to Jessica.’
I curled up on the soft grass at the edge of the steps. It was springy, like a cushion, and the warm smell of the earth helped me to relax. People and cars were passing by but no one took any notice of a black cat curled up asleep. My sleep was deep and healing, and when I woke up and stretched, the sun had gone down, the sky was orange and duck-egg green, and in the green part was Jessica’s bright star, just rising.
My paws were sore. But now I was free and full of hope. I headed downhill towards the sea, and the cobbled streets were cool under my pads. Down and down I trotted, following the bright star, until the view of the harbour opened up before me. The evening sea was pink and silver. Seagulls sat motionless along the railings. Where was Jessica?
I listened.
I heard the waves, and the wind, and the seagulls. I heard music and voices in the town behind me.
‘Keep listening,’ said my angel.
And then I heard Jessica. Her particular high-pitched meow, again and again. She was calling me. I meowed back and she came running. We kissed and purred and rubbed against each other. Feeling her silky warm coat was a coming home for me.
I’d expected Jessica to tell me off, or even give me a swipe for being so stupid, but she was kind and welcoming. I felt very lucky. She licked my face for me and sniffed at my sore paws. They were bruised and swollen from my panic and the long run through the streets, and now I could hardly walk on them.
Jessica led me to the nest she had made in a pile of netting and rope. We snuggled together, looking out at the darkening sea.