‘If you try to shake my paw, be warned, you’re getting a smack on the nose,’ Ashes said.

‘Are you the cat I saw in the library this afternoon?’ It was hard to be sure, but she thought he was the right colour.

‘If I answer your questions, will you answer mine?’

Alice sighed and stood up, putting one hand on the cold stone of the wall. ‘I’m trying to get into the library. The front door wouldn’t open, so I thought there might be a way in I could use round here.’

‘Not unexpected. It wouldn’t be much of a fortress if you just left the doors open.’ Ashes yawned, showing tiny white teeth. ‘And what are you planning to do, once you get inside?’

‘I’m going to find that fairy with the yellow-and-black wings.’ Alice decided not to volunteer what she planned to do to the thing. For all she knew, the cat could be on his side.

‘I see.’ His fur rippled. ‘Well, fair is fair. Yes, it was me you followed.’

‘You laughed at me!’

‘You were making such a spectacle of yourself, I couldn’t help it.’

‘Why did you lead me to the fairy?’ Alice said. ‘What do you know about him?’

‘Lead?’ Ashes chuckled. ‘Cats wander where they please. Whether or not anyone follows is not our business.’

‘You—’ Alice clenched her teeth and let a moment or two pass in silence. ‘Look. Can you help me get inside?’

He gave her a long, yellow-eyed stare. ‘Of course.’

Alice blinked. ‘Really?’

‘I am half cat.’ He cocked his head, an oddly human gesture. ‘The operative question, young lady, is will I help you?’

Alice felt like giving him a kick. The excitement of meeting a talking cat was starting to wear off, and she was reminded once again that she was a mass of cuts and scrapes, and also very cold.

‘Will you help me? I would appreciate it very much.’

‘I will,’ Ashes said. He sounded as though he’d made the decision on the spot. ‘But only because you have aroused my curiosity. Don’t expect me to stand up for you if you get in trouble.’

‘Thank you.’

The cat gave a little sigh. ‘You can go ahead and say it. I know you want to.’

‘Say what?’

‘The proverb. About cats, and curiosity, and its effect thereon.’

‘I wasn’t going to say anything like that,’ Alice said.

‘No?’ Ashes yawned again. ‘What a strange girl.’

Getting through the wall turned out to be a much simpler procedure than Alice had expected. Ashes strolled past her, rubbing idly against her leg as he went, and then stepped into the stonework as though it were no more substantial than smoke. For a moment all she could see was his lashing tail. Then his face popped out again, producing the somewhat gruesome effect of a cat head mounted on a stone wall, like a hunting trophy.