‘I…um… I was at the cottage, upstairs in the attic. The room doesn’t have anything special in it—a bed, a cupboard, a few windows, Aunty M’s painting stuff… I was sitting on the floor, and I said the word “open” three times, and it opened.’

‘And that’s all?’ asked the general.

‘Yes.’

The doctor and the general glanced at each other.

‘Doctor?’ prompted the general.

‘I mean, I suppose we could try to move this experiment to a higher floor—to a room with a window, for example. But I struggle to believe that it could be significant. You remember what happened that night on the train,’ said the doctor, mopping his brow again.

The general nodded and shook his head.

‘Wait!’ said Arthur, ‘I… um… I know this might sound strange, but my cat was also there with me at the time.’

‘Your cat?’ repeated the general, aghast.

‘Yes, he was there when it opened.’

‘Doctor?’ Please don’t tell me that a cat could be the reason why this isn’t working?’

The doctor stared at him thoughtfully. ‘Well, I suppose that it could be possible,’ he said at length. ‘Given everything we know, there’s no reason why it might not be the case.’

‘But Doctor, a cat!?’

‘I am well aware of how it sounds, General. But please don’t forget that the boy is the only person to have successfully opened the box without destroying everything around him.’

‘So, and what now? We’re going to have to send a jet to pick up a cat?’ he barked. The general’s usually amiable face had become contorted with frustration.

‘I believe so. Unless you have a better idea.’

Cursing, the general turned to go.

‘Wait… I… Actually, I brought him with me,’ said Arthur.

‘What, really?’ asked his father, looking astonished. ‘How is it that I didn’t know anything about this?’

‘Well, I um, had him in my backpack.’

‘You never!’ He laughed. ‘So, that whole not wanting to put it in the car boot and then your appearing again in the kitchen this morning two minutes after you’d just left was because of the cat?’

‘Yes.’

The general stared at them both in stony silence. ‘Go and get the animal!’ he instructed the doctor.

‘I can go,’ offered Arthur.

‘No, you’ll stay here. I am sure at the very least, the doctor can manage to get this right!’

‘Stay here, please,’ said the doctor, looking extremely put out by what the general had just said.

‘You know, I’m curious. What made you want to bring the cat?’ asked his father, when the general had become distracted by a colleague.

‘I’m not really sure. It was kind of a feeling that he needed to be here too…’

‘A feeling. Wow. You realise how strange that sounds, don’t you?’

‘I guess.’ And for a moment, Arthur wondered if it might not also be a good time to reveal that he and the cat were able to talk to each other.

‘Something on your mind?’ asked his father, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

‘Um, no, no, everything’s fine,’ he replied, changing his mind.

The doctor returned about forty-five minutes later holding the cursing, wriggling cat tightly under one arm.

‘Let go of me, you big elephant! You’re holding me too tight! Where are we going? Where’s Arthur? What’s this place? I don’t like it. You smell funny!’

Handing him over as quickly as he could, the doctor took out a tissue and began to wipe the bloody scratches on his hands.

‘I was manhandled, I tell you! No pleasantries—they just came in and grabbed me as if I were a common mouse or something!’

‘Cat, calm down,’ whispered Arthur, putting him down and then picking him up.

‘Oh, no, don’t you start!’

The cat wasn’t used to being picked up by anyone.

‘Shh, listen. It’s going to be hard for me to talk to you here. I can hear you fine, so I’ll nod or shake my head if you ask me a yes or no question, but if you want to talk more, then I’ll have to pick you up like this. Do you understand?’