Willy eyed me patiently as I photographed him in sitting on a dresser in the living room of what once was the house of a man named Tom Miller. I thought it appropriate that Willy, who, except for his white ruff and belly, is essentially a black cat, lived in a town of ghosts. I made sure to capture his reflection looking back into the ruined past of Bodie. When Willy realized I had nothing to offer him but a few more clicks of the shutter, he left me alone in Miller’s dusty living room. (Pbase artist Tim May, who was shooting along with me in Bodie, later showed me a picture he made of Willy carrying a large dead rabbit clamped in his jaws. The killer instinct still flourishes in Bodie!)