Shadow and his unusual tribe try to survive after their old owner disappears, with conflicts and hunger threatening to drive them apart. Relying on friendship and hope to keep them together, they grow closer to each other through memories and struggles. But will their owner ever come back?

Cats Alone

Five days. Five long, difficult days have passed, but there is still no sign of Joseph. He lingers in my dreams, phasing through memories, his phantom hand stroking my back with incomprehensible words running through my ears, promising a return which never comes. 


Dropping down from the top of the armchair, I survey the room wearily. Sapphire and Ruby are stalking through the rubbish, hunting mice, or rats, or whatever else they can catch. Vermin skitter through the walls of this house, but they’ve become bolder since Joseph left, poking their heads up through the rubbish and daring us to chase them. 


For an unlucky few, that dare is their last, as they become a meagre dinner. 


Baxter is dragging something large and dark across the floor, but my eyes skip over him lazily. He doesn’t cause problems with his antics unless Ruby takes issue with them, so he’s allowed to roam free and entertain himself with whatever he finds. 


Chapter Five