in DESPERATE need of help with a book title

[xgurl213]

Ok, I have been trying to find out the name of this book for years and years now....I remember alot about the book, but I don't remember specific character/place names. I'll desribe some scenes here:

-A boy is in his room on a rainy february day when his window opens and a man floats in on an umbrella

- He brings him to a seemingly empty, foggy field but when the boy looks closer at the fog, it shimmers in the pattern of a brick wall

- He walks through the field and beyond the fog there is a huge house

-He ends up staying at the house, not knowing that every day there is more time in the 'real world' (I think its a month, but I'm not sure)

-The seasons change everyday in this place

-There are three cats owned by the maid/cook...one of them is blue, and one has a question mark tail.


There's alot more I remember, so if anyone needs more info to help me out, my email adress is Edit: removed to ensure you don't end up with junk mail - fluffy bunny I am literally desperate to find this book, lol. I used to read it so often as a younger adult and then it got ruined (little sister threw it in the bath tub).

 

[Halo]

The cat with the question mark tail sounds familiar...
Isn't it The Thief of Always by Clive Barker(I think that was the author). Read it once a few years ago. Anybody else think that's right?

 

[xgurl213]

OMG! OMG! THANK YOU! THANK YOU FROM THE VERY DEPTH OF MY SOUL! I have been searching for this book for literally YEARS....I cannot believe I've finally found the answer. You should get some kind of reward.

 

[Halo]

A reward? Oooh, suits me! *rubs hands* £5,000 should be ample reward for my kindness. (What's that? It's nearly Christmas, the season of goodwill?) Oh, OK then, consider the fee dropped. Glad I could help!

 

[Stewart]

Incidentally, the second book of Clive Barker's Abarat quartet (his series for children) was published in October.