SIXTEEN
Sol sat quietly on the upstairs landing, trying to get the courage to carry out her plan. Below her, in the living room, Kat snored on the couch with Sol’s cat curled at her feet. Sol had named the cat Mish-Mish in memory of her favorite cat on Bailey’s Key, even though the two cats had radically different personalities. This cat was male, short-haired, and aggressive—a real hellion. Yet as much as Mish-Mish didn’t get along with most people, Kat didn’t get along with most animals—her real issue, Sol thought, was that she didn’t understand them—and somehow, that meant the two of them paired off nicely. They seemed to have developed a strange bond.
Sol hated the thought of leaving her cat behind, but she knew Kat would see to it that he was cared for well. And Uncle Daniel and Aun
