Celeste watched for Lafayette above the treetops, returning from a fishing trip; and after a few days she spotted his flapping and gliding silhouette. She waved and raced back and forth across the sill, signaling to him.

Lafayette was surprised to meet Trixie. He didn’t understand why Celeste seemed different, too. She was very quiet and wouldn’t look him in the eye. But he agreed to take Trixie for a ride in the gondola, and Trixie clambered in.

“You made this thing too small!” she complained.

Celeste and Lafayette exchanged looks. Trixie was a tight fit after days of eating Celeste’s food and endlessly snoozing on the settee. The blades of dried grass strained against her girth as Trixie squeezed in as much of herself as she could.

“Well, what next?” she shrieked nervously. “I haven’t got all day.” Her eyes widened as she glanced down at the ground perilously far below. She dug her claws tightly into the rim of the basket.

With powerful flaps Lafayette lifted into the air, then grasped hold of the gondola handles. It dragged for a moment on the windowsill and then lurched into the sky.

“Hey! Mind yourself! Precious cargo down here, you know!” Trixie cried out.

With a swoop and a series of flaps, Lafayette and his passenger disappeared behind the treetops.

Celeste watched them go and then set about having a blissfully peaceful morning, relishing the time she had in her home without Trixie’s braying voice invading her thoughts. She tiptoed through the house, savoring every single second of solitude, touching the furniture, sliding her paw along the flowers of the wallpaper, listening to nothing but the birds and insects in the garden outside. That’s it, Celeste thought. I’ve lost my home yet again. Trixie has stolen it from me.

She sat in her chair on the windowsill and watched the sky beyond the trees for Trixie’s return. “Lafayette sure is taking her on a long ride,” she said to herself, scanning the horizon.