When Thomas kills her cat during one of his rages Maggie vows revenge.
Maggie loves Arthur for his kindness and the companionship he gives her. She loves Thomas for his dreams. But when Thomas killed her cat during one of his rages, she vows revenge.
While Maggie is searching for the perfect revenge she finds comfort in her secret writings that she hides in the one place Thomas would never think to look, a plain cardboard box, on a shelf in the kitchen pantry and for added secrecy pasted in a book about vegetarian cooking that she bought in Arthur's secondhand shop. Thomas thinks he can give her another cat or some other gift and all will be well. But there is no gift Thomas could give her that would make her forget. When he comes to visit her to give her a black pearl necklace that he bought in the pub, she offers him a cup of tea. But what is in it, sugar, cat mint from off her cat's grave, or something entirely different?.