Gabby and Kasi snuggled onto the couch, and Quill heard Gabby begin: “Once upon a time, there was a very small mouse. His name was Joosi, and he lived in the time of the ancient emperors of China, so long ago that neither you, nor your grandfather, nor your great-great-great-grandfather, could have shared a piece of cheese with him.”

Quill’s mouth quirked and he relaxed for the first time all day. But Mrs. Malabright could not allow her visitor to merely listen to a child’s story.

“Kasi adores, absolutely adores, stewed prunes,” she said importantly. “I’ve been making them every day. And he has very much enjoyed apples from my back garden as well.”

“Have you taken him around London?” Quill asked idly. If the truth be told, he was straining his ears to hear fragments of the tale of Joosi, who was wandering into dangerous territory as he climbed the leg of the emperor’s great throne.

“Goodness, no,” Mrs. Malabright said firmly. “Kasi does not enjoy being around strangers. Why, I have to push him into the backyard once a day, even though we have high walls. He’s that nervous.”

“Perhaps he would like to visit a pantomime?”

“No, he would not, and that’s a fact.” Mrs. Malabright looked like a great bear protecting her spindly cub. “Kasi is happy here in the house, and there’s no call to make him terrified by taking him outside. There is no life outside for Kasi.”

Joosi the mouse was performing incredible feats of daring, such as swinging from the feathers adorning the empress’s best hat.

“Is he learning to write?”

“His letters are improving,” Mrs. Malabright said. “Only the J‘s are backward now.” And she trotted off to fetch a sample of Kasi’s handwriting, returning just as Joosi’s story came to a triumphant conclusion.

“And from that day forward,” Gabby said, “Joosi the mouse was the emperor’s very best friend. The emperor had a special bed made for Joosi, wrought from gold and adorned with pearls. During the day Joosi always stayed on the emperor’s shoulder, ready to advise him should yet another foolish counselor suggest that China go to war. And since Joosi knew that war was a terrible thing, the reign of the emperor was long remembered in China as the happiest and most peaceful of all.”

Kasi sighed happily. “I wish Joosi was my best friend, Gabby.” He looked around the room. “Do you know where my friend went? She doesn’t live in this house.”

Gabby looked blank for a moment. “Do you mean Phoebe?”

Kasi nodded. “Phoebe.” There was a world of satisfaction in his voice.

“Phoebe asked about you as well,” Gabby said. “I am going to bring her for a visit in a few days, if it would be quite all right with Mrs. Malabright.”

“Could Phoebe bring Joosi the mouse with her?” Kasi asked.