Mr Hrew is a teacher (we became good friends when he talked me into taking on a special teaching role at his school) and his wife is a Crazy Cat Lady (according to her husband and children – and the whole village). All the Hrews love to learn, and they want to gain first-hand knowledge about the wider world – a world they didn’t know existed until I arrived (although there have been some scholars who have proposed the possible existence of others based on some of the strange things that have washed up on the beach over time). In particular, young Ink is very keen to study astronomy and mathematics, something I taught in her school but her desire to learn and capability far exceeds my limited STEM abilities. In fact, Ink is my apprentice navigator, as we follow the stars to lead us to my home. Trc was very sad to leave behind her extensive collection of cats. Fert put his foot down and insisted she could only bring two. Contrary as cats always are, Hooloo and Cotty have made friends with the ship rats (every sea vessel must have rats, it’s just a fact of sea-life). The cats thought it best to befriend the rats because, if they ate them at the start of the journey, then they wouldn’t be able to spend pleasant hours stalking, hunting and chasing them throughout the length of the voyage. I think the rats need to re-think the terms of the peace treaty when we get closer to journey’s end. Trc is looking forward to acquiring and breeding new cats hitherto unseen by her.