There was a cat, and a man talking to the cat, and Sina paused from her trimming to look at them in wonder. Noting their apparent distress, she wiped the dirt from her hands off on her gardening tunic and wandered to stand behind the man, peering up over his shoulder at the cat. She was fond of animals, but wasn't used to domestic ones, least of all cats. For all she knew, the way he was talking to it would work.

"Can I help?" came a voice directly behind and a little below Anders' line of vision.