From the introduction: No-one knows where the Cat Barge came from. Some say that it was started by a kindly, but lonely, old lady who began to take in stray cats. When she died, the cats seemed to continue her work, and to repay the favour by visiting the old, the infirm and the lonely. The Cat Temple works by symbiosis – grateful petitioners bring food for the cats, and the cats look after them in return. Although the cats are ordinary animals the barge acts as a mystical nexus that gives them insight and intelligence.