Luke rose to his feet onshore and began to follow the boat as it made its way to the docks. He was tall for a boy of 12. His blond hair blew in the breeze as he jumped from one rock to the next, pacing the boat as it sailed into Sugarloaf Harbor. The animals ran with him and began jumping from rock to rock to keep up.

Part of the land near the harbor entrance was taken up by a baseball field, in which many boys and girls were involved practicing and were preparing to try out for the summer’s Little League teams. In an effort to keep up with the boat, Luke moved along the edge of the baseball field. One of the boys pointed Luke out to some of the others. They turned to look, and then one of them shouted, “Look! It’s the animal boy!”

It was a name Luke had heard before. The local boys didn’t like the fact that he was followed about by cats and a dog. “Nature boy” and “freak” were also common reactions people had to him and his animals.

A few moments later, the boys started to pick up stones and throw them at Luke. One of the girls with them—a very pretty girl named Susie Wine, with light dusty brown hair—began to demand they stop such behavior.

“That is so immature!” she shouted.

As she repeated her demands, one of the cats with Luke stood upright on its hind legs and faced the boys.

“What a strange reaction by a cat,” Luke thought.

Several of the rocks began bouncing off of the baseball backboard and right into the heads of the boys throwing them. It was silly to watch. The boys found themselves dodging their own rocks.

The girls laughed at them, and Luke found himself laughing. The cat went back to normal. “How odd for a cat to behave that way,” Luke thought. It was as if someone had dangled a string in front of it. The boys, on the other hand, weren’t throwing any more stones. They were off to treat their now bleeding heads.

“Well, that’s the end of that,” Luke thought. As if nothing at all had happened, he returned to pacing the boat into the harbor. As he began to walk, he heard a girl’s voice.

“Hi, Luke.”