Lara The Runaway Cat: One cat’s journey to discover home is where the heart is

‘Come on!’ I realized suddenly that Jennifer was trying to shoo me inside Cleo’s carrier, her hands pressing against the fur on my rump. With one last look at my family, I went docilely, and hoped my agreeable nature didn’t give me away too soon.

My little heart beat double time as the door closed. It was really happening, my adventure was here at last!

Outside, I could hear Gobi barking furiously. She was trying to warn them about the mistake they were making, I realized. Dad tried to calm her down, but nothing was working. She’d noticed our swap, even if none of the humans had. Our switch had gone flawlessly. And Gobi was probably just jealous that I was going on a bigger adventure than her.

Luckily, Gobi had never learned to communicate with humans properly either. They’d never figure out what she was saying in time to stop us.

And Gobi would get over it. She’d probably never even miss me when I was gone.

‘Well, thank you so much for the lift to the airport,’ Jennifer said, as she lifted me up. ‘I’m sorry for this little ruckus! I’d better get Cleo safely to our gate before she causes any more trouble. Have a lovely time in China.’

‘And enjoy Australia with your daughter,’ said Mum. Through the carrier door, I could see her leaning in to hug Jennifer. And then we were moving away, away from my family, and everything I’d ever known before.

I craned my neck back to watch them as best I could through the slits in the carrier, drinking in my last sight of Mum, Dad and Gobi.

Then I turned around to face my future.

The adventure was on!

My sister Lara is the best sister anyone could want. She lets me cuddle up to her at night if it’s cold, or I’m lonely. She even wraps her tail over me to keep me warm. She shares her prawns with me, every single day. (I let her have some of my biscuits in return, but they always make her sick.) Lara is lovely to nibble on, with all that fluffy fur, and I miss her when I go away. She’s always there waiting for me at the window when I get home again, though.

I never had anybody before I met Dion. He brought me home to meet Lucja and Lara and now I have more than three people.

I have a family. And that makes me the luckiest dog in the world.

Or it did.

I knew there was something wrong with Lara, something bothering her maybe, but I couldn’t understand what it could be. She seemed restless, unhappy even. But how could any animal be unhappy with a family as great as ours?

I was apprehensive when Dion said we were going back to China. Usually, I like going on book tours with him. I like the interviews and the meeting people and the seeing new places. But China wasn’t new, and the memories I had from my birthplace weren’t nice.

Apart from meeting Dion. That was one of the best memories I had.

But the others … My life in China hadn’t been kind. Even running the marathon with Dion, while I’d loved the company and the excitement, had been hard. And everything that came after … I tried very hard not to think about the time when Dion and I were separated, but sometimes I still got nightmares.

So, no. China would not have been my choice for our next adventure together.

But when I realized that Lucja and Lara would be coming along, too, that made things different. Going to China with my whole family, that was something else entirely.

A chance to let go of the past, perhaps. To chase away those nightmares and replace them with new dreams. Happier ones.

Besides, as long as we were all together, I knew nothing bad could happen to me.

Not this time. Not with my sister there to protect me.

Except now I was very afraid she wouldn’t be.

It was all the fault of that other cat, I knew it. Cleo, that was her name. She’d been whispering things in Lara’s ear all the previous evening, and while I didn’t know what they were talking about, I knew I didn’t like it. It had made Lara all secretive and aloof, the way she got sometimes when she was cross with me for something.

It made her act not like my sister.

Still, I didn’t understand how dangerous Cleo was until we were at the airport, and the two of them made such a scene, winding around each other until …

No. Oh no!

That was when I realized.

When Lucja picked up Cleo instead of my Lara and put her in the carrier.

Why couldn’t they see what was happening? That awful cat had stolen Lara’s place!

I didn’t want another cat, I wanted Lara. And I knew Dion and Lucja would too, when they realized what had happened.

If only they’d listen to me …

I watched Cleo carefully through the bars of Lara’s carrier. She looked very pleased with herself; she knew exactly what she’d done. Poor Lara, tricked by a fellow feline!

I kept trying to tell Dion what was going on, all the way to the gate. I’ve been through a lot of airports over the last year or two, and I know the drill. Normally, I sit quietly beside Dion, unless someone wants to make a fuss of me, when I stand up and let them pet me for a while.

Not today.

Today, I barked at Cleo, I ran circles around Dion’s legs, trying to get his attention by tangling him up in my lead. I even jumped up onto Lucja’s lap to try and get her to just look at the cat in the carrier, but she just thought I was after the snack she was eating, and ordered me back down.

Skulking around the carrier, I tried to figure out my next move.

‘I don’t know what’s the matter with her today!’ Dion said, reaching down to pat my head as I quivered with anger and fear at his feet.

Where was Lara? Would she ever come home again? What if she needed me?

‘Maybe she just wants to be with Lara,’ Lucja suggested, more spot on than she knew. ‘Come on, we can probably let her out on the harness again now Cleo isn’t here.’

She bent down and unfastened the door to Lara’s carrier, the cat harness already in her hands. But before she had a chance to even slip it over the cat’s head, Cleo shot past her, across the airport gate, weaving through the metal chair legs fixed to the ground.

I didn’t think, I just chased.

If Lara was gone, I couldn’t risk losing Cleo too. Not when she might be the only clue we had to help get Lara home, where she belonged.

I had to catch her.

I chased Cleo through the gate, back out into the main airport halls, weaving through people’s legs and dodging suitcases as I went. As long as I kept her in my sight, I still had hope – hope that she would lead me back to the real Lara again.

I closed in on her as she approached a large group of travellers with huge suitcases on wheels. Finally, I thought I had her trapped. I added a last burst of extra speed to catch her – only for her to dodge away to the right at the last moment, leaving me barrelling into the middle of the suitcases, people cursing at me as I flailed, trying to find my paws.

The ground felt like it was moving beneath me – and it took me a moment to realize that it really was! Cleo had tricked me onto the travelator – the one Dion never let me walk on normally when we went through airports. Some of these things went on for miles, I remembered. I’d have lost that cat for sure by the time I got to the other end!

Determined, I fought my way out of the suitcases, and back towards the way I’d come from, racing against the moving floor with every step, and finally collapsing onto the smooth tiles at the far end.

‘Did Gobi find her?’ I heard Lucja’s voice calling, and when I looked up, Dion was standing over me. At least they’d realized, then, what I was trying to do.