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Sarah and Jamie drove towards Sarah’s house with the newest passenger wedged on the seat between them. Ensconced in his newly purchased cat carrier Leeton sat hunkered down unimpressed at being put in small cage.
“It’s all right Fuzzball, it’s not for long,” Jamie tried to assure the cat.
“Fuzzball?” Sarah asked imperiously looking over at Jamie. “Did you seriously just call my cat Fuzzball?”
“Well, you called him that at the animal shelter,” he replied nonchalantly.
“I did, didn’t I? But he’s got a new life now, so he needs a new name to go with it. Leeton doesn’t seem to be quite right for him.” New life, new name. Just like me.
“I vote for Fuzzball,” Jamie insisted.
Sarah laughed at his audacity. “I don’t think you get a vote here. He’s my cat, not yours.”
“What do you think you’ll call him then? And by the way did I mention Fuzzball sounds like a great name for a cat?” Jamie waggled his eyebrows at Sarah as he smirked over at her where she sat.
“I don’t know. What do you think, little man, what should I call you?” Sarah looked down at her cat who kept staring ahead, a scowl firmly pressed on his face. “Who knows? Something will come to me, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, something like Fuzzball,” Jamie persisted.
Sarah gave a half laugh at Jamie’s stubbornness.
“What?” he asked feigning innocence. “It’s a good name.”
Sarah smiled, the warm feeling of contentment that she’d already felt so many times today returning once more and settling in comfortably.
***
“Sarah, we’re here,” Jamie’s voice called to her softly. She had fallen asleep on the drive home from Penwick and the animal shelter, her arm resting protectively across the pet carrier.
“Hmm?” she murmured sleepily.
“Come on, it’s time to wake up,” Jamie coaxed gently. He resisted the urge to brush back the hair that had fallen across her face.
“Ugh. What time is it?” Sarah moaned as she clicked her tongue to get rid of the awful feeling it had from sleeping with her mouth open. Blinking groggily she looked over at Jamie. “Did I fall asleep?” she asked pushing herself upright in her car seat and anxiously checking the cat carrier to make sure that the soon to be renamed Leeton was alright.
“It’s a bit after five, and yeah, you fell asleep. You snore like a train by the way.”
“I do not!” she protested, her eyes wide and feeling suddenly fully awake.
“Hate to tell you, but you do snore,” he informed her. “Maybe not train quality. More like a semi-trailer going down highway.”
“Take that back!” Sarah insisted laughing at him.
“Can’t take back what’s true,” Jamie grinned at her. Quickly opening the door he got out of the truck before she could say anything else.
Climbing out of the truck Sarah stood and stretched. The sun was beginning to hang low in the sky and the warmth of the day was disappearing. Reaching into the centre of the vehicle she carefully lifted the cat carrier out and walked around to the back of the truck where Jamie stood beginning to lift the bags of groceries out.
“I’m just going to take the furry one inside and then I’ll come back out and help with these,” she offered as she took a few steps past him.
“It’s fine. You deal with him and I’ll bring these in.”
“I can’t let you do that. It’s my shopping after all.” Jamie nodded and leaned forwards to lift out more bags. As he did Sarah couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his arms bunch up rather impressively with the effort.
What a difference three months makes, she thought as she enjoyed the display before heading inside with the feline. I would never have been relaxed enough three months ago to fall asleep in a vehicle with Jamie, no matter how tired I was. Getting ready for Dawning has made me trust people in ways I never thought I would again. Granted there was a bit of a hiccup today when Jamie told me to run and I reached for my alarm but is that really so bad? And when I was ready to fight this morning when he scared me on the porch. But it’s not like I was expecting any one to be here at six in the morning!
Nothing has happened in a year. No whispers, no newspaper articles. No one has even looked at me twice in the last six months. I’m yesterday’s news that lines bird cages. Sarah smiled at the thought of a bird pooping on news stories that had once been written about her.
That bastard doesn’t know where I am and anyone he might’ve sent after me hasn’t managed to find me.
It really is all over.