But to my great surprise, before I can slobber over the back of Caroline’s hand, Daniel’s hand lands on my nose. Hey, what do you think you’re doing? There’s no joking around when it comes to my nose; I’m really sensitive there. I let out a quick growl, and Daniel pulls his hand back as fast as he can. I’ve obviously frightened him – but he’s frightened me as well! What does he want with my nose? I look up at him, but he acts as though nothing’s happened. Strange. For a couple of minutes it’s really quiet; neither Caroline nor Daniel says a word. It’s actually quite nice. Then Daniel clears his throat.

‘Say, how about we do something together this week?’

What kind of nonsense is that? They already do something together every day. Caroline apparently sees the situation the same way as I do. She giggles.

‘What did you have in mind? Does it involve a cello or a violin?’

‘Ha-ha, very funny.’

‘Just my way of getting back at you for what you said about the cognac the other day.’

‘All right, so now we’re even-stevens.’

Now there’s silence again.

‘Cook,’ Caroline says after a while, ‘we could cook something together, the way we used to when we shared an apartment in Mittenwald. We haven’t done that in ages, and it was always so much fun.’

She smiles at Daniel, with the exact same smile that caught my eye back in the animal shelter. Distinctive, and so beautiful. In an instant, it’s much warmer on our bench. Fabulous! I cuddle up to Caroline and savour the moment.

This time I see Daniel’s hand in the nick of time, before it can land on my nose, and I duck away. Has he gone crazy? Though I have to say it’s obvious that I’m not on his radar at all – only Caroline is; in fact, he’s now reaching across my back for her hand and pulling her towards him. Caroline looks astonished, but she’s not pulling her hand back. What does that mean? When does a man hold a woman’s hand? Too bad Beck isn’t here; I’ll bet he knows the answer. I decide that this can only be a good sign, since humans are usually so sparing with physical contact. I wonder what’ll happen next.

‘Hey, you!’ a loud, surly voice booms out just then.

Caroline and Daniel flinch, and he lets go of her hand.

‘Yeah, you!’ the voice roars.

Now the man with the unfriendly voice comes into view, and he stands right in front of our bench. I give a quick bark – doesn’t this guy notice that he is very much in the way? But he stays rooted to the spot and stares at Caroline and Daniel. Or is he staring at me? I sense that this can’t be good.