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where the Tiger-cat still waited, asleep in a sunny patch on the top stair. It opened one eye and then jumped delicately down and began purring and rubbing itself against their legs. It sent no video clips for Lucy but left her in no doubt they were doing the right thing. The only trouble was – the tunnel was blocked. When Lucy peered into the pit, all she saw was a smooth mud wall. She looked at the Tiger-cat. It was sniffing T-Tongue’s nose and the puppy had dropped low to the ground, quivering with excitement, or was it fear? Then the Tiger-cat twisted, crouched and leapt, its body soaring in a graceful marmalade curve, then landed efficiently on the pit floor and sprang towards the wall where the tunnel used to be. As Lucy watched, astounded, the pile of wooden dinosaur bones materialised, with the gaping entrance to the tunnel behind it. No magic commands, no secret machinery – just there again, like a special effect in the movies!
    Lucy swung herself down and threw the rope back for Ricardo. He followed and then they realised they’d forgotten T-Tongue. He was whimpering, running up and down the pit’s edge. The Tiger-cat growled fiercely from inside the tunnel and that was too much for T-Tongue! With one last desperate, high-pitched bark, he leapt, landed hard, scrambled up and promptly tried to lick everyone, including the Tiger-cat. Lucy snapped his lead on and picked her way carefully over the rubble. The Tiger-cat had already entered the blackness, tail lashing. Lucy switched the torch on, took a deep breath, and for the second time that day entered the unknown, with T-Tongue trotting at her side.

10
Rahel and Toro

    It felt safer this time because they were following the Tiger-cat. Reaching the fork, it looked back to face Lucy and Ricardo, its eyes glowing red in the strong torchlight. Then it leapt into the up-sloping tunnel and disappeared. Lucy and Ricardo stumbled on until they reached the door, where the Tiger-cat clawed impatiently at the wood, making a strange yewling growl.
    ‘It’s us,’ said Ricardo, opening the door and bouncing inside. ‘We got you Cocoa Puffs!’
    The torchlight revealed the two kids huddled on the lounge, the boy’s head on the girl’s lap. Their eyes were wide open and scared.
    The Tiger-cat padded over and sniffed the boy’s face. He shrank away. Maybe he had never seen a cat, let alone one like this, thought Lucy. In the candlelight the Tiger-cat looked even more like a miniature tiger.
    ‘He won’t hurt you,’ ‘She won’t hurt you,’ said Ricardo and Lucy at the same time.
    Neither of the kids on the lounge looked convinced.
    The Tiger-cat jumped up on the table where the stubby candle spluttered and began to wash coal-dust from its face and ears. The girl helped the boy sit up. He leaned groggily against her but looked interested when Lucy produced the lunchbox. She gave them the bottle of juice first and they slurped thirstily. The room was oppressively dark with just one candle burning. Lucy didn’t like the dark corners. It was bad enough knowing they were this far underground. She took some plates from the bench against the wall and melted wax onto them and lit all six candles from her backpack. That was better.
    Lucy served up the food: dry bacon, cold eggs and soggy toast. The kids ate as if it were their first meal in days. Maybe it was. Ricardo poured out bowls of Cocoa Puffs. The strange kids didn’t even wait for spoons but drank it like crunchy soup.
    Lucy remembered the Tiger-cat and put some milk in a plate on the table. The cat just looked at her and kept on washing itself.
    ‘It doesn’t eat, goofball,’ said Ricardo, ‘it’s magic!’
    Lucy ignored him and tried to work out what they needed. The kids couldn’t stay here without blankets – it was freezing. She remembered all the stuff they’d found in the house that first day. They had put it all in a spare room. There were blankets, mattresses, kitchen things, clothes and pillows