Trever laughed softly. "We've always had a few birds at the Hall for hunting. Maeve just decided to go into breeding them. She goes to shows and competitions," he said. "We also call her a professional falconer because calling her professional Medieval cos-player tends to get a hawk sic'd at us."

Aunt Maeve has a fondness for dressing up in Medieval style clothing. She makes them herself and falconing seemed to be a natural extension of that.

Veena has curled her paws around Amy's arms, little gentle pin pricks indicating that her arm's health now lives or dies at the cat's pleasure.

"It was on a dark and stormy night - no lie - and I was walking back from class when I heard this tiny wee thing crying, half drowned in the gutter. I couldn't leave her there, now could I? She couldn't have been more than three weeks old at the time."