PANEL 1

Night, though the slightly darker colors don’t really indicate it. CAT and the DULLAHAN stand outside the house. CAT grips her purse strap, staring wide-eyed at the spirit. The DULLAHAN holds his head in one hand, the flaming riding crop in another. The glowing spirit horse stands at the ready, not seeming to care what’s going on around him.

NARRATOR: And so Cat Modean returns home, none the worse for wear after riding with death itself.

DULLAHAN: My other horse is headless!

CAT: Charming…?

PANEL 2

CAT stands by a wall, touching a finger to her chin as she thinks out loud. She’s wearing a purple tunic dress and grey leggings, which is something she’d never wear in public. Two paintings of realistic kitchen appliances hang low on the wall. One is a washing machine, the other is a walk-in fridge.

NARRATOR: For the next three days, she becomes acquainted with her new home, starting with the kitchen with its portals and gadgets.

CAT: The walk-in fridge as a picture frame hiding a frozen pocket dimension I get… but why is the washing machine in the kitchen?

PANEL 3

In the bedroom. CAT stands by the desk. The top is open, revealing the magickally changed interior, which is now a beach with sandy dunes; envelopes are tucked away in the sand and flying through the air. CAT studies a mark on the lower part of the desk. Nearby, BITSY the brownie frets.

NARRATOR: She reads more letters from Barty, stored away in the magickal desk with an ever-changing interior.

CAT: What desk doesn’t have a chair? And is this a burn mark?

PANEL 4

In the back yard. CAT stands on a tall ladder in front of a row of sunflowers. She sprinkles a hot spice over them. CILLIAN, in stag form, peers out from behind the trees, smiling to himself.

NARRATOR: She appreciates the garden and its visitors.

CAT: Sorry, Chancer, but you’re not getting these flowers while I’m here.

CILLIAN: (thinking) Hmm, curried sunflowers! Why didn’t I think of that before?

PANEL 5

A view from the staircase on the “living” side of the house. A lone tub of yogurt sits on a lower step. The rest of the living room can be seen in the background. Kind of. The speech balloons are in the way.

NARRATOR: But all the while, she can’t help feeling that there’s something wrong. It isn’t that she can’t see the other occupant, or that she’s been cautioned against trying to see Bitsy before the brownie is ready to be seen.

CAT: (off-panel) Please accept this Scandinavian yogurt in lieu of a bowl of fresh milk. I’m not looking anywhere in your general direction, if you’re there at all. In fact, I’m stepping out right now, through the front door, so I can make the cumbersome climb through the other side of the building back to the bedroom. All for you!

PANEL 6

Inside the van. It’s dark inside; the curtains are pulled, allowing some of the garage lights to seep in, giving some details to the interior. Comfortably nestled on the backseat is the GREMLIN, twitching an ear at the sound of CAT’s voice.

NARRATOR: It isn’t that she’s in possession of a van that she can’t drive, though that does irk her quite a bit.

CAT: (off-panel) Why does this smell like smoke?

PANEL 7

A top-down view of CAT in bed. The covers are rumpled around her waist and she has her arms folded under a pillow. Her hair is a mess.

NARRATOR: After letting the question sit in her head for those three days, the answer comes to her.

PANEL 8

CAT’s eyes shoot open.

CAT: There’s only one window on this side of the house.

PANEL 9

CAT stands in the dimness, looking over a letter. Her hair is still a mess, as is her sleeping shirt.

NARRATOR: But the answer was more of a question. What had happened in Barty’s life that he felt the need to have a single window for the entire side of the building used for a living space? As far as she could tell, the answer wasn’t in any of the letters.

PANEL 10

A view of the desk. This time, the interior has stone shelves, loaded with envelopes, and a slight Gothic arch window. The box with the mysterious labels of “Open For Last” sits on a stone ledge.

PANEL 11

CAT seems to be looking at the box. Eyebrows tilted, mouth in a tight line, she seems to be considering bypassing the label’s request of opening the box after all the letters have been read.

PANEL 12

CAT walks back to the bed, leaving the desk in its corner, all alone in the dark.

CAT: Nah. It can wait. It’s just a window.

PANEL 13

CAT lies in bed, hands clasped over her middle. Her hair has gone back to being a mess all over her face and pillow.

NARRATOR: Feeling that she will have the true answer one day, Cat decides to let Barty’s story unfold naturally, alongside hers, and reveal what it may as she learns to grow in this new life.

CAT: (thinking) … and why is the bathroom magically hidden behind the fireplace?