Following the sudden death of her father in the street, a blind toddler crawls through a shop front trapdoor and is lost in the labyrinth of tunnels and passages beneath London.Twelve years later, after reports of a wild 'cat girl' prowling the night-time alleyways, a feral teenager is captured in the churchyard of St Giles-in-the-Fields. Seemingly grown up in isolation without family or social contact, she is placed into care but the mysterious girl's past remains a puzzle, and her rehabilitation presents an overwhelming challenge.In another part of London, the Zoological Society's new Artist in Residence, Flora Lee, is seeing things. She is haunted by the image of a magnificent black panther. The beast stalks her at night; when she's upset or weary, and only when she's alone. She questions her sanity, but Flora tries to dismiss the creature as a mere visual glitch. Her doctor agrees – the big cat is an hallucination, caused by mild damage to her retina, that will pass. But for Flora Lee, as a celebrated painter, any trouble with her eyes is bad news.At an emotional low ebb, and not inspired by her new position at the zoo, Flora is close to desperation when she encounters Lou – a street kid with an audcaious dream to be an artist. A crazy idea, because Lou is stone blind.Flora is intrigued and captivated because, with help and encouragement, Lou produces fabulous, visceral paintings by touch alone.Yet, as Flora's climactic exhibition approaches and thier relationship deepens, Lou's motives appear more menacing and her connection to Flora's imaginary feline stalker becomes a sinister, perhaps deadly, threat.
