The Walled Garden was one of Emily's favourite places in Meadowvale. Surrounded by old stone walls, it was a peaceful spot where visitors could sit and enjoy the flowers or simply spend a little time away from the busy village.

One morning, Emily decided to take Ariella for a walk there.

"Come along, Ariella. It's a lovely morning. I thought we might visit the Walled Garden."

Ariella was sitting on the windowsill watching the birds. At the sound of Emily's voice, she jumped down and followed her to the door.

It was only a short walk from Emily's cottage. They passed a row of old houses before turning into the narrow lane that led to the garden.

Inside, the flower beds were full of colour. Roses climbed against the walls, and lavender grew along the edges of the gravel paths. Several wooden benches had been placed around the garden for visitors to sit and enjoy the surroundings.

Emily found a bench in the sunshine and sat down to enjoy the view. Ariella, meanwhile, had wandered over to the old stone fountain at the far end of the garden.

The fountain had a round basin, with water flowing gently from a spout carved in the shape of a cat's head.

Emily noticed Ariella sitting beside it and went over to join her.

"That's rather unusual, isn't it, Ariella? A cat's head on a fountain. I wonder why they chose that?"

She bent down to look more closely at the carving.

"It's a lovely piece of work. Whoever made it must have been very skilled."

Beside the fountain, a small bronze plaque was fixed to the wall. Emily stepped closer to read the inscription.

Restored by Thomas Barrow, Gardener, 1887.

"Well, that was a long time ago," she said. "I wonder what this place looked like before Mr Barrow restored it."

She looked around at the neatly kept flower beds and the old stone walls.

"He must have been very proud of his work."

Ariella had remained beside the fountain, looking up at the carved cat's head. She seemed particularly interested in the water trickling from its mouth into the basin below.

Emily smiled.

"Perhaps Mr Barrow was fond of cats. That might explain it."

After spending a little longer in the garden, Emily decided it was time to head home.

"Come on, Ariella. We'd better be getting back. I've got some drawing to finish this afternoon."

Ariella followed her along the gravel path and out through the garden gate.

As they walked home, Emily was still thinking about the fountain.

"I might come back and sketch that fountain one day," she said. "It's certainly different from the usual ones."

They reached the cottage a short while later. Emily opened the door, and Ariella went inside ahead of her.

Emily made herself a cup of tea and settled at her desk to continue working on an illustration.

Ariella curled up on her favourite chair by the window, but before long she was looking out towards the meadow.

Somewhere beyond the tall grass lay the familiar circle of dandelions.

The following morning, Ariella was waiting by the cottage door when Emily came downstairs.

"Good morning, Ariella. You're up early. Want to go out, do you?"

Emily opened the door, and Ariella stepped into the garden. After a quick look around, she made her way down the path and out towards the meadow.

It was another warm, sunny morning. Ariella crossed the meadow towards the familiar circle of dandelions, their yellow flowers standing among the long grass.

She stepped into the circle, and moments later found herself in Meadowvale's past.

The meadow looked much as it had on her previous visits, although the paths were narrower and there were fewer houses along the lane.

Ariella made her way towards the Walled Garden.

When she reached the entrance, she stopped. The garden looked nothing like the beautiful place she had visited with Emily the day before.

The wooden gate hung crookedly from its hinges, and weeds had begun to grow across the path. Inside, the flower beds were dry and neglected, with very little growing in them.

There was no fountain.

Ariella wandered through the gate and heard someone working at the far end of the garden.

An elderly man was digging among the neglected flower beds. He stopped occasionally to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief before returning to his work.

He noticed Ariella approaching.

"Well, hello there, puss. Where did you come from?"

He rested his hands on the top of his spade.

"You've picked a sorry place to visit, I'm afraid. This used to be a lovely garden, but you wouldn't think so to look at it now."

Ariella sat down beside him.

"The trouble is, we've lost our water supply. The old well has been getting weaker for years, and now there's barely enough water for the garden."

He looked around at the dry flower beds.

"I've been trying to keep things going, but I can't carry water all the way from the village every day. Not enough to look after a place this size."

He gave Ariella a gentle stroke.

"My name's Thomas Barrow, by the way. Not that it'll mean much to you."

Ariella purred and rubbed against his hand.

"Friendly little thing, aren't you?"

Thomas picked up his spade and returned to his digging.

Ariella wandered off to explore the garden. She knew where the fountain would one day stand, but there was nothing there now except a patch of bare ground near the wall.

She sniffed around the area, then stopped.

Something had caught her attention.

Although the surface of the soil was dry, there was a faint smell of damp earth coming from a narrow gap between two stones at the base of the wall.

Ariella pushed her nose closer, then began scratching at the loose soil.

Thomas glanced over.

"What are you up to over there?"

Ariella continued digging.

"You're wasting your time, puss. There's nothing there."

But she kept scratching, occasionally stopping to sniff at the ground.

Eventually Thomas put down his spade and came over to investigate.

"Now then, what's so interesting about this particular bit of ground?"

He knelt beside her and noticed that the soil beneath the surface was darker than elsewhere in the garden.

"That's odd."

He picked up a handful and rubbed it between his fingers.

"It's damp!"

Thomas fetched his spade and carefully began removing the soil around the stones. A short distance below the surface, he uncovered a narrow channel lined with old stonework.

"Well, would you look at that!"

He cleared away more earth and discovered that the channel continued beneath the garden wall.

As he removed the last of the loose soil, a small trickle of water appeared between the stones.

Thomas sat back on his heels.

"Good heavens! An old spring channel. I wonder how long that's been buried?"

He followed the stonework a little farther and found that part of it had collapsed, blocking the flow of water.

Working carefully, he lifted away the fallen stones and cleared the accumulated earth.

Almost immediately, water began to flow more freely along the channel.

Thomas stared at it in amazement.

"Well, I'll be! There's water here after all!"

He turned to Ariella, who was sitting nearby watching him.

"And to think, I might never have found it if you hadn't started digging!"

He laughed and gave her another stroke.

"You clever little cat!"

Thomas looked around the neglected garden, already considering what he might be able to do with a reliable supply of water.

"If I can get this channel properly cleared and repaired, we might be able to save the whole garden."

He looked down at Ariella again.

"And I think we ought to do something to remember the little cat who found it."

Ariella stayed a little longer while Thomas continued clearing the old channel. Then, leaving him to his work, she made her way back through the garden gate and towards the meadow.

She reached the familiar circle of dandelions, now with their white seed heads, and stepped inside. Moments later, she was back in her own time.

By the time she reached Emily's cottage, the afternoon was well advanced.

Emily opened the door when she heard Ariella outside.

"There you are! You've been gone a while today."

Ariella stepped inside and rubbed against Emily's legs.

"Have you had a nice adventure?"

Emily bent down to stroke her, and her fingers brushed the little white heart-shaped patch on Ariella's throat.

For a moment, Emily felt something she couldn't quite explain. There was a sense of relief, followed by happiness, and a fleeting impression of cool water flowing over stones.

She smiled down at Ariella.

"Well, whatever you've been doing, you seem very pleased with yourself."

Ariella purred and followed her into the sitting room.

Emily settled back at her desk, where her sketchbook lay open. On one of the pages was a rough drawing of the Walled Garden fountain, which she had sketched from memory after their visit.

She glanced at the drawing.

"I still wonder why Mr Barrow chose a cat for his fountain."

Ariella jumped onto her favourite chair beside the window and settled down for a sleep.

Back in 1887, over the following weeks, Thomas worked to restore the garden. With help from several villagers, the old water channel was repaired, the paths cleared and the flower beds prepared for planting.

He also arranged for a local stonemason to build a small fountain where the water emerged into the garden.

Thomas had a special request for the stonemason.

"I'd like the water to come from the mouth of a cat," he explained.

"A cat?" the stonemason repeated, looking rather puzzled.

"That's right. A little tabby cat helped me find the water. If it hadn't been for her, there probably wouldn't be a garden left to restore."

The stonemason smiled.

"Well, I've carved lions before, but never a cat. Still, I don't see why not."

Thomas described the little cat as best he could, and the stonemason agreed to make the carving.

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