KASSIE GULPED. NO ONE SEEMED to look at them in a bad way, most just looked concerned. A strange sound caught her attention.

'Lucky,' she gasped.

Loi swore and snatched the pack off the floor, setting it on the bench between them. Kassie wrenched the top of it wide. They peered in. The tortoiseshell cat huddled at the bottom, ears flattened and fur spiked, her eyes wide in fear. She whimpered.

'Ooooh Lucky,' whispered Kassie, her heart going out to her tiny, ...