In the small back garden, amongst the piles of discarded stuff, was a supermarket trolley upside down. Leaving me shut in the house, Leroy dragged it out of the brambles and wheeled it inside when Janine was upstairs. ‘Come on, Timba. I’m taking you for a ride,’ he said, looking at me with one bright eye. The other one was swollen shut from Janine’s frenzied attack on him. He picked me up and lowered me carefully into the wire trolley. I didn’t like it in there. My paws slipped between the wires and I couldn’t stand up. It was uncomfortable. ‘You want something to sit on, Timba?’ he asked – nicely – and took my answering meow as a yes. He grabbed a red-and-white tea towel from the kitchen, folded it, and put it in the trolley. He sat me on it, but it was still uncomfortable. I didn’t like it and tried to climb out. ‘No, Timba. It’s too high for you,’ Leroy said, and kept me there. He looked up at the stairs, and listened.
