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I ought to stay calm, but she looked at me . . . She didn’t seem to like me very much.’
    The man was packing his things. ‘Well, you mustn’t take that personal! She jus’ got a lot on her mind. They go crazy with the babes; all the animals do.’ He had a small
holdall on a chair and was stuffing bits and pieces into it. The panther was starting to purr with a deep, recharging sort of sound.
    Oli moved a trembling hand towards its ribs.
    ‘Yeah, you can touch her. No problem, now she knows you.’
    ‘You could have been killed, Oli,’ said Millie. ‘What the hell were you doing, wandering off by yourself?’
    Oli said, ‘I was looking for our models!’
    ‘Where’s your parents?’ said the man. ‘This is going to be big problem for me, you start telling everyone. Jeez, every little simple thing in this country go so wrong.’
    ‘Where are you from?’ said Millie.
    ‘São Paulo. You know São Paulo? Big city in Brazil.’
    ‘I know the airport,’ said Millie. ‘It’s where I bought these.’ She produced a crumpled cigarette packet. ‘What are you? A circus?’
    ‘No. Just a big mess is what I am – my name’s Flavio.’
    ‘Flav—?’
    ‘It’s Portuguese.’
    ‘Why are you keeping a panther in your room? Shouldn’t he be in a cage?’
    ‘It’s not a boy, OK? She’s a girl: Violetta. Look at her, man – how can you say she’s a boy? And she was in a cage, she’s always in a cage. I take her
to my room because any time now, she’s gonna sling the babes. The truck’s freezing. No one’s sleeping out there, not with the heating like it is – truck’s a whole pile
a . . . rubbish, that’s another story. So, yeah, I took a chance. Sometimes you gotta take chances. You gotta cigarette in there? Then we gotta go.’
    She passed one to him. ‘We’ve nearly been killed, haven’t we?’
    ‘No way. There’s a-no way she kills you. She would a-messed you up pretty bad, maybe you don’t do no more walking. They don’t know strength, thass the problem. I
mean, the little boy – one bite and he’s in a-two pieces, yeah? She’s so hungry as well.’
    He went into the bathroom and started gathering up his things. ‘We run outta food, is a big problem. We run outta everything . They catch me here . . . they see that . . .’ He
nodded at the splintered door. Then he lowered his voice. ‘I got no licences, no insure, nothing.’
    As he said it, there was a knock and the smashed door swung open. The panther growled and there stood an impatient-looking Ruskin.
    ‘Oliver!’ he cried, seeing his brother. ‘Where on earth have you been? You won’t believe the problems you’ve caused . . .’
    He saw the panther. The problems died on his lips.
    ‘Oh boy!’ said Flavio, in despair. ‘How many of you are there? Come in slow! Talk soft, alright?’
    Jacob Ruskin was laden with bags and boxes. He’d managed to gather up the models and was now standing transfixed. ‘That is the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen!’ he
said. ‘Oh my word, look at that! How old is she? Look at her coat!’
    ‘Seven years, but she’s in great condition, yeah? Considering.’
    ‘Jake!’ said Oli. ‘I nearly got eaten – so did Millie!’
    ‘Oh, she’s pregnant, isn’t she?’ He put his boxes down and walked forward carefully. The fire alarms had been turned off and in the distance you could hear the sirens of
emergency vehicles. ‘She must be due any time!’ said Ruskin. ‘What a beauty!’
    The panther purred, as a surprisingly fearless Ruskin moved in close and gently stroked her belly. Violetta’s snake-eyes opened, glowing.
    ‘We had a cat like this, didn’t we, Oli? She had six kittens.’
    ‘Where’s Sam?’ said Millie.
    ‘Mm? Oh . . . Yes! That’s why I’m here.’ The sirens were getting louder. ‘We’ve got a problem, Millie. Our room’s on fire and I’ve lost
Sam.’
    Millie looked up. ‘You’ve lost Sam?’
    ‘We split up to look for you and now . . .’
    Blue