30

‘Why didn’t Saturn come back to us?’ said Tilly for the hundredth time as we sat in my room one afternoon, looking at a cute photograph of him curled up on my bed. ‘I still don’t understand it. I thought that no matter how long he spent in the past, he’d be back here in no time at all.’

‘That’s what I thought too. But maybe I was wrong.’

‘Or maybe he left Pompeii and couldn’t get right back here. Maybe he’s a few miles away and can’t find his way home,’ said Tilly.

‘But I put my mobile number on his collar. Someone would ring me if they found him.’

‘But what if he got back to a place where phones aren’t invented yet? He could be lost in any time or place in the world and we’d never know it.’ Then she looked up and saw the tears in my eyes, so she hugged me and I felt better – for a few short seconds.

Days and days went by.

In my mind, I gave up hope of ever seeing Saturn again. Still, though, every time I went outside, I couldn’t help looking for him. I couldn’t help waking up in the night, thinking that I’d heard his miaow outside my bedroom window.

But he was never there.

‘Let’s go to the pet shop, Lauren,’ said Mum one day. ‘We can pick you out a kitten – any one you want. I know it won’t be the same, but …’

I shook my head sadly. Mum had no idea how special Saturn had been to me. She had no idea how special he was.

Then one afternoon, Tilly and I were sitting in my garden when my phone rang.

‘OMIGOD. OMIGOD. OMIGOD,’ was all I could say.

By the time I hung up, Tilly was jumping around with excitement. ‘It’s about Saturn, isn’t it?’ she said.

I nodded happily.

‘A woman all the way up in Donegal found him in a barn on her farm. She said she had no idea how he got there, or how long he’s been there. She’s going to call back later and we’ll have to figure out a way of picking him up.’

Tilly hugged me so tightly I thought that my ribs were going to be crushed, but I didn’t care. Saturn was coming home and that was all that mattered!

Dad’s cousin’s husband’s friend is a long-distance truck driver, and the next day, his huge truck pulled up outside our front door.

Tilly and I ran outside just as the driver jumped down from his cab, carrying a large cardboard box with holes cut in the sides.

‘Special delivery,’ he said, smiling.

I put the box on the ground and opened it carefully.

He was filthy and skinny, and his beautiful fur was all matted, but there was no mistaking those amazing blue and green eyes. My cat was back.

I picked him up and hugged him tightly, not caring that I was ruining my clothes.

‘Oh, my baby,’ I said. ‘Where have you been? When have you been? And why has it taken you so long to come back to me?’

Tilly reached out and I handed Saturn to her so she could hug him too.

We ran inside.

Mum, Dad and Stephen hugged Saturn like he was their long-lost child home again. Even Amy looked up and patted Saturn’s head, which was a big deal for her.

‘We have to feed this poor creature,’ said Mum, pulling out the bag of cat food that we kept in the cupboard under the sink.

Saturn devoured his food and I wondered what he’d been eating since I’d last seen him. Had he survived on a diet of flamingos’ tongues? Or had he been chasing mice in Donegal?

As soon as Saturn finished eating, Tilly and I took him outside to try to clean him up.

‘Better take off his collar,’ said Tilly. ‘We don’t want any strange accidents, do we.’

As I carefully unbuckled the collar, I noticed that there was a tiny leather pouch attached to it.

‘OMIGOD!’ whispered Tilly. ‘What could that be?’

‘I have no idea,’ I answered. ‘And why are you whispering?’

‘Because this is so totally amazing,’ she whispered. ‘Saturn has brought us something from the past. Now open it before I die of suspense!’

I untied the pouch and held it in my hand.

‘Does it feel like diamonds or gold?’ asked Tilly.

I shook my head. ‘No. It’s too light.’

‘Maybe it’s a deep-fried dormouse,’ she said.

I shuddered.

‘Maybe it’s …’ she began.

Suddenly I couldn’t wait any more. With shaking fingers, I loosened the string that was holding the pouch closed.

‘What is it?’ asked Tilly as I pulled out a piece of folded-up papyrus.

I unfolded the papyrus and saw that there was a message written on it – in bright green colouring pencil.

‘It’s a letter,’ I whispered. ‘Prima sent us a letter.’

‘What does it say?’ asked Tilly.

‘It says lots of stuff – but it’s all in Latin.’

‘This is so totally exciting,’ said Tilly. ‘This means that Prima figured out that Saturn was the key to all the mad stuff that happened to us. It means that she figured out how to send him back to us. I wonder what she wants to tell us?’

‘I hope it isn’t the recipe for deep-fried dormouse.’

Tilly giggled. ‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘there’s only one way to find out.’

We brought Saturn back inside for Mum to pamper and then Tilly and I set off for Patrick’s house.

Kathleen seemed pleased to see us.

‘You know, after your last visit, Patrick seemed much brighter and happier in himself,’ she said.

‘We enjoyed that visit too,’ said Tilly. ‘Do you think we could see him for a minute? There’s something we’d like to ask him.’

‘Of course,’ said Kathleen. ‘But don’t be too disappointed if he’s forgotten who you are. You know how confused he gets.’

Then she showed us into Patrick’s study and left us to it.

Patrick remembered us at once and seemed disappointed that Prima wasn’t with us.

‘Where’s your Latin-speaking friend?’ he asked.

‘Oh,’ said Tilly. ‘She’s off speaking Latin somewhere. But we have a note she wrote before she left. Do you think you could translate it for us?’

Patrick spent ages looking for his reading glasses and by the time he found them in the middle of a pot plant, Tilly and I were practically jumping up and down with anticipation.

Patrick read the note silently, then smiled to himself. ‘What a wonderful imagination your young friend has,’ he said. ‘She reminds me a lot of my younger sister, Eleanor. Of course Eleanor’s not so young now – she’s eighty-seven, or is it eighty-eight? She –’

‘Er, Patrick, do you think you could tell us what the note says?’ I asked.

He smiled. ‘I do go on a bit, don’t I?’

We couldn’t argue with that, so we said nothing while Patrick resettled his glasses on his nose and began to translate.

Greetings, Lauren and Tilly,

Felix and I are married now. We have twin girls, Prima and Secunda. We live in a humble house with only seven bedrooms and a very small swimming pool, but even so, we are all very happy.

Your friend,

Prima

‘OMG,’ said Tilly. ‘Saturn stayed there for ages and ages. And our plan worked. Everything turned out exactly as we hoped.’

I sighed. ‘It’s like a fairytale. Prima and Felix got the whole happy-ever-after thing. That is so, so amazing.’

Just then Patrick turned the piece of papyrus over.

‘There’s more,’ he said.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear more. Prima and Felix were happy and that was all I cared about. But Patrick was already reading aloud.

Postscriptum: Because you helped my family so much, I now grant you your freedom. You are slaves no more.

Patrick handed the letter back to us. ‘You girls,’ he said, shaking his head.

We thanked him, took the letter and skipped out of the house.

‘Free at last,’ said Tilly, and we both laughed all the way home.