"But the brakes aren't too good in the truck. You'll have to be careful."

"Don't worry about it," said the agent, revving the engine.

The truck grunted and growled slowly down the muddy road, churning the mud with its wheels. It began to gather speed, and the brakes complained. Bess the cow turning her head sadly, took a last look at the farm.

"No going back now," said Angus, as he stood beside his wife and watched the slowly retreating load of animals.

"I'll miss them," said Mrs. Magill.

The cat meowed from above their heads. They looked up. It was perched on the guttering, calling for rescue.

"Get down the same way you got yourself up there!" smiled Angus.

"She's probably hungry," said Mrs. Magill, "I'll get some meat from the freezer." The cat walked along the edge of the guttering and sprang to the ground. As she landed, there was an explosion, which blew Angus off his feet.

He lay on the ground for a moment, wondering if he was dead, then he looked around for his wife.

"Dear?" he called, "Are you there?"

"What was that bang?" his wife called from inside the house, "Angus! There's windows broken, and glass everywhere!"

"I don't know!" said Angus, getting to his feet. He and his wife went over to where the cat had been. Now there was a sizable hole in the driveway, with a little white smoke rising gently from it.

"The cat exploded!" said Angus dumbly.

"The cat? Why would it do a thing like that?"

"How should I know! Maybe it ate too many mice?"

"Mice don't do that to cats?" said Mrs. Magill.

"I know," said Angus.

They looked at the hole for a while, searching for scraps of their cat. There was almost nothing left of it. Angus went inside and sat at the table in the kitchen.