The cat licks the back of its paw idly. It sees the Other Mother glaring through the window, out of Coraline's view, and it pads around the girl, its tail lightly winding around her as it does. It hops back on the log and sticks its head through a knothole. Its face appears from the other side of the fallen tree.
iI can take this girl away from you./i The cat's eyes gleam in the artificial moonlight, silently challenging the Other Mother to a igame/i.
iYou like games? Don't you?/i He tips his head to the side.
There is a moment of contempt from her buttoned eyes, then a small, slight grin.
"Cat, what are you looking at?" Coraline says, her hands on her hips, leaning into his line of sight. When she moves out of the way and follows his gaze there is no one watching from the kitchen window.
Let the game begin.