Jon let the cat go out the back door into the family garden, then went back up to his room to get his wishing stone.
The black cat explored the garden for a while until it saw a bird resting on the fence that separated Jon's backyard with the backyard that belonged to Mrs. Wilson, an elderly woman who lived alone. The cat jumped up onto the fence, catching Mrs. Wilson's attention.
"What are you doing up there?" she asked, taking a break from her gardening. She saw that the cat had no collar, no identification tag. It must have been a stray. She picked it up. Normally, a person wouldn't do that, since the animal may have something virally wrong with it. But Mrs. Gibson was so old, she really didn't worry all that much.
She took the cat inside the house with her and set it on the floor, while she poured a bowl of milk for it.
Meanwhile, Jon was nearly going out of his mind trying to find the stone. "Where is it?!"
