Even Clodagh’s house no longer felt like the haven of comfort and reassurance it had been for Bunny ever since her parents had died and she realized she could no longer live among her cousins.
“Bunka,” Clodagh said, touching her shoulder.
“Why couldn’t they leave us alone, Clodagh? Why couldn’t they leave Petaybee alone? Did they have to ruin everything?”
“They’ve ruined nothing yet, Bunka. Oh, they set a few charges about here and there, and sent soldiers out to the mountains. But until they stop and pay attention, they’re not likely to learn anything about Petaybee worth the knowin’. And meantime, the planet has means to protect itself.”
“Clodagh, have you ever been to SpaceBase?” Bunny asked. It hadn’t occurred to her before that she had never seen Clodagh outside the village except for a time or two on journeys to Sean’s house. Clodagh couldn’t possibly understand the power the company had.
“Of course not, alanna, now why would I want to go there?”
“They have thousands of soldiers there right now. Yana says they mean to evacuate us. By force! Just without a by-your-leave make us all go into space someplace. Then they’ll keep blowing up things on Petaybee until they get all the minerals and stuff they want. Clodagh, I’ve seen the shuttles and the ships. I know lots of the soldiers. They can do it if they want to. They own Petaybee.”
“Nonsense, Bunka. Nobody owns Petaybee but Petaybee.”
Bunny was about to argue the point when something landed with a heavy thud on the roof.
Marduk, the cat who had been living with Yana, stood on his hind feet and pedaled his front paws at the ceiling, chittering and mewing as if looking for a rafter to jump onto.
From outside the house came a sound like a well caving in, a roar with a deep echo to it. Bunny recognized it at once as the voice of one of Sean’s big cats.
She, Clodagh, and Marduk were at the door all at once, but before they could go outside, a huge shape landed softly in front in the doorway. The black and white bewhiskered face of the big cat regarded them quizzically.
Marduk, far from being frightened by the larger feline, stepped forward to rub noses with it. Each brushed scent glands on the side of his face into the other cat’s fur.
Clodagh stood away from the door, and the big cat padded inside, leapt to the bed, and circled about on her handmade quilt to make a nest for himself. Marduk hopped on top of the larger creature’s back and chirruped autocratically. Clodagh produced a pair of thawed fish and a pan of water for the cats to lap. While they ate, Clodagh sat beside them on the edge of the bed and stroked their backs.
She crooned especially to the big cat, and it looked up from its meal with narrowed eyes and purred thunderously back at her. Marduk, annoyed at being left out, butted her hand with his head before he continued to eat.
“Do you suppose it knows where Sean and Yana are?” Bunny asked. “When I petted Dinah, I felt as if she was talking to me.”
“Come here, Bunka,” Clodagh said, and put Bunny’s hand on the cat’s head. “Have you an answer for Bunka, Nanook?”
Why else would I bother coming? the cat asked her in a velvety, rumbling voice.
The words weren’t spoken; but Bunny heard them nevertheless, inside her head, the way she had heard Dinah’s. Nanook’s diction was much better than the dog’s.
Clodagh regarded Bunny speculatively.
“It talked to me,” Bunny told her, blinking rapidly.
“This cat is a he, not an it,” Clodagh told her. “He talked to you because you can understand him. Marduk, also, is a he. In fact, on our whole planet, there are no its. Some things have no gender, but they are not without names. It’s only polite to learn those names.”
Bunny shrugged. “Well, I guess I knew that.” She had played with the big cat since he had been a kitten, actually, every time she had gone to visit Sean. She petted him again. “Sorry, Nanook, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”