The flight

The rules. The British airline to London would not fly animals, so Maxwell booked a flight to Paris on another airline, then on to London. Mij had to travel in a box not more than eighteen inches square, on the floor at his feet.

The box. An hour before the flight, Maxwell put Mij in the box to get used to it and went for a quick meal. When he came back there was silence, and blood had trickled out of the airholes. Mij had torn the lining to shreds and was 'exhausted and blood-spattered'. With ten minutes to go and the airport five miles away, Maxwell had to put the miserable otter back in and hold the lid down.

A kind air hostess. They rushed through Basra and onto the waiting plane. Maxwell gave the air hostess a parcel of fish to keep cool and told her what had happened. She suggested he might like to hold his pet on his knee. He calls her 'the very queen of her kind'.

Chaos in the cabin. Out of the box, Mij raced down the plane. People screamed 'A rat! A rat!'. Maxwell dived after him under 'a portly, white-turbaned' passenger and came up with his face covered in curry. The air hostess, smiling, told him to sit down and said she would find the animal.

Back again. Back in his seat, Maxwell heard 'a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome' at his feet. Mij bounded on to his knee and began to nuzzle his face and neck. Kindness and calm got them through.