Chapter 5

Haru slept deeply and without interruption. Baron made sure of it.

He had shown her to a bedroom in the back of the house. It had never been used, but all dolls' houses had at least one bedroom, usually very finely furnished, and the Bureau was no exception. For himself, he had banked the fire and, sitting in his chair, returned to his porcelain state, his glass eyes sparkling in the slight glow of the fire.

He was startled out of his own stoic position by a tapping at the window above. It was the bird statue, come to life to pay him a visit.

"How is she?" he asked, perched upon the back of the chair Haru had been occupying earlier.

"Remarkably well, given the situation and circumstances," Baron answered, running his fingers through the fur between his ears, as humans are sometimes inclined to pass their hand through their hair when they are worried or thinking.

"Is the cricket match still on in the Cat Kingdom? I think it would do her good to go; it might take her mind off her recent trouble and loss," added the like-feline statuette.

Toto nodded. "Tomorrow with be day three of the test match between the Persians and the Russian Blues, or there's the one day match, which is gingers against greys."

Yes, cricket teams in the Cat Kingdom were selected based on breed, rather than nationality – all cats were subjects of the Cat Kingdom after all, so nationality couldn't be a factor. Baron had once been asked to play for the gingers, but had turned it down, based on the fact that he wasn't actually a real cat.

"I will need to find gloves for her, or she'll start screaming about paws, and I had better find my pocket watch, to make sure we get back on time," the gentleman said to himself when Toto had returned to his pedestal for the night.

The next morning, Haru put a stumbling block in the Baron's plans to distract her.

"I confess to finding cricket less interesting when the team that I support isn't playing," she said, slightly apologetically. "Furthermore, I know exactly what will happen to me if I set foot in the Cat Kingdom, and I don't find it all together appealing."

Baron bowed to the lady's preference. She wanted to paint, and had the tools to build her canvases if he was able to supply the materials. A quick trip into the city with Toto, and Baron returned with the rest of Haru's own painting supplies – and the sad news that her prediction had come true: all of her paintings were gone.

Haru had just smiled and begun the task of preparing her canvas, when she noticed something that hadn't happened.

"Baron, shouldn't I have returned to my own size when I walked out of your door again?" she asked.

"Oh, no Miss Haru. When you return to your own world you will, but the purpose of the spell on my door is to make your stature most convenient to your surroundings," the fired clay figurine explained, raising his voice to be heard outside while he was inside. He was slightly surprised by the question, but then, he knew the nature of the spell and hadn't really explained it very well the previous night.

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," she said quietly, staring down at her art supplies, which had also shrunk.

"Hey Baron!" a rough male voice called from the archway that led to the worlds beyond.

Haru looked up sharply. She was still not entirely certain of her safety, even if this place was a nearly forgotten refuge. Seeing a gargantuan cat of globular proportions and pale fur, the woman relaxed and turned back to her canvas. It wasn't the king; she didn't have to worry.

"Muta, good to see you," returned the figurine as he exited the Bureau. He was dressed differently. No longer wore he the refined suit and tie of the afternoon and evening before. Now, it was cricket whites. "You've come to see if you can best me this time I hope?"

"Of course," answered the large cat.

Haru could see now that this Muta was wearing the "baggy green" cricketer's cap and, almost indistinguishable from his pelt, the knitted vest. He was also carrying a pair of shin pads under one arm.

Baron set up the wickets, allowing Haru to see that there were some appropriate lines painted on the cobbled ground. He also produced a small red ball.

"Toto, if you would oblige please," Baron called up to the crow sitting on the pedestal central to the court.

The bird nodded, and surprised Haru by gripping the column in his claws and, beating his wings powerfully, moved it to the side of the court furthest from the Bureau before gliding down to take up the position of umpire.

"I can't hold a bat, and I certainly couldn't throw the ball," he explained to Haru when she looked questioningly at him. "But I do love the game."

She nodded her understanding. Cricket, in her opinion, was the only sport worth watching. Oh, certainly a few others were fun to play as well, but cricket was the only one worth taking time out of the day to sit down and just watch.

Muta had an excellent bowling arm, particularly around the wicket, but Baron was a superior batsman and had scored almost a century when he was finally bowled out. Haru "ooh"ed in sympathy, that he got out just one run away from the spectacular score.

Then they switched, and it was Muta up to bat, while Baron bowled fast, with occasional attempted "yorkers". Muta managed to get at least a single off every ball though, and without fielders or a wicket keeper to catch or run him out, he got away with it. Until, going for his ninety-ninth run, he hit the ball in Haru's direction.

She looked down, surprised to find the red ball beside her and, seeing Muta still a fair distance out of his crease threw the ball at the stumps he was running towards – where Baron stood beside Toto.

"Looks like he might finally beat you this time Baron," Haru could hear Toto saying.

"There's goes my perfect record," the figurine sighed over-dramatically. It was clear that he didn't really mind.

Everyone stopped and stared when the small red ball hit the stumps, Muta still a metre from his crease. Everyone except Haru, that is. She had returned to her painting: a man jumping to catch a little red ball, wearing cricket whites. His head was tilted back, watching the ball, so onlookers couldn't see the catcher's face, but she hadn't painted very much yet, just the skin tones of the arms and neck, and the red of the ball.

"I take that back Baron, you win by one run. Muta, you're out," Toto said, surprised at the words issuing from his beak.