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Part Two: A Night Like This
Samara awoke first. She looked at Airmek and thought for a moment. She was his sister. He was her brother. And yet... It's not at all unusual to love your brother. But Samara suddenly realized she loved him in a different way. A way brothers and sisters couldn't love each other.
Airmek stirred and opened his eyes. Samara looked back it him. They each knew what had happened over the course of a single month. Airmek sat up, his eyes sad. "We can't," he sad regretfully. "It's too close. I don't understand it..."
Samara shook her head. "I don't either. Nature protects you against it."
"Maybe... I'd better leave." Without waiting for an answer, he scurried away.
Samara sighed. She knew what Airmek meant by leaving. He was leaving the tribe, not like Grizabella had done, but on some pretense, like tracking Pekes or finding new tribes. She saw Airmek talking to Munkustrap. She saw him go, jumping over the wall to parts unknown. He wouldn't even return to the junkyard. Samara sighed again, and started for home.
Later that week, Samara sat in her tree, still thinking about what had happened. Brother and sisters in... Wait a minute. Brothers and sisters? Samara thought for a moment. She pictured Munkustrap in her head. She pictured Demeter and Airmek. She looked nothing like them. Her coat wasn't even the same shade of gray as Munkustrap's. And then there was the simple fact that she and Airmek had fallen in love... Like she had said, brothers and sisters didn't do that.
She thought about these things for a while. She formulated a theory, but she needed to test it out. For those who wanted answers, they could only go to Mistoffolees, the smartest cat in the junkyard. He'd tell Samara the truth. She spun around and nearly jumped out of her skin, for suddenly she was face-face-to-face with...
"Uncle Mistoffolees!" Samara cried. "Don't do that, will you?"
"But you wanted to talk to me," Mistoffolees said, grinning impishly.
"I won't even ask you," Samara said, "how you knew."
Mistoffolees grinned harder. "Well?"
"Well..." Samara said, and then stopped. What if she was wrong? What would he think? But Samara was not the type to dwell on such things, but instead risked it all in one blow. "Uncle Misto, am I not Munkustrap's kitten?"
The grin left Mistoffolees' face as quickly as one of his lightning bolts. He leapt higher up the tree, and Samara followed. They had a perfect view of the nearby lake now. Night was falling, and the first stars were beginning to appear in the sky.
They looked at those stars for a moment. They blinked and twinkled in the growing blackness of the sky. Mistoffolees turned to Samara. He took a deep breath. "Can you hear the stars singing?" he said. His white face glowed in the starry light. "No, you are not Munkustrap's blood kitten. It was a night like this that we found you. Munkustrap told me what happened. A pair of eyes appeared, and beckoned for him to follow. They disappeared, and he found you in their place."
Samara sucked in her breath. It was all coming together.
Mistoffolees continued. "Munkustrap called me, and I convinced him to keep you. We pretended you were part of Airmek's litter." Samara's heart beat louder at the sound of his name. "And so you were raised as brother and sister." He paused. "But that relationship has changed."
"Yes," Samara said, "yes, it has, and now I understand why. Uncle Misto, will you..."
"Samara!" Munkustrap called from the junkyard.
"Don't tell him." Mistoffolees' words were urgent. "Don't let on you know."
"But who are my real parents? Do you know?"
"Well..." Mistoffolees said reluctantly. "I don't know for sure, but you look an awful lot like Sam..."
Samara nodded and trotted off towards the total stranger she had once called her father.
Meanwhile, Airmek was thinking his own thoughts. Munkustrap had only let him go when Airmek had said he wanted to track the Poms a little while. All he had to do was stay out long enough for Samara to find... er, new interests.
He sighed. Samara... He thought of her. Her bright green eyes and unique gray fur, so different from his own... different from his own... different from his own...
He sat up. What had Mistoffolees said when he asked him to help keep Samara from fighting? "... from that story about her fa-..." He had been about to say 'father.' But that story wasn't about Munkustrap. It was about Sam. Sam was Samara's father? Of course! It all made sense now. Mistoffolees and Sam had been best friends, so naturally he'd be great friends with Sam's daughter. Best of all, Samara wasn't related to him... He couldn't wait to get back!
"Slow down a moment, Airmek," he told himself. "Better stay out here a couple more days, until Dad'll be satisfied I watched the darned Poms long enough." He settled down happily, calm for the first time in days.
Unfortunately, Samara was starting to have some slight problems.
She had gone as quickly as she could when Munkustrap had called her, her face carefully masked. "Oh, there you are, Samara!" he said, smiling. "I'd like to introduce you to someone." He turned to a handsome tan cat with white stripes and a bored sort of smile. "This is Romerall. His father is an ambassador from another tribe. Rom, this is my daughter, Samara."
Samara, eager to get away, bobbed a quick curtsy, said, "Hello, sir," and turned around to look for Skimble.
"Samara," Munkustrap said in an ever-so-slightly warning tone. "Why don't you show Romerall around? I need to talk to Rammerhed." He walked off with another cat.
Samara sighed inwardly but tried not to show it. Rom seemed relatively polite, although he had a rather snobbish air. He said thing such as 'by your leave' and other royal sorts of phrases, and struck Samara as the sort who got his way all the time, no questions asked. She led him around the junkyard, speaking only when she had to. When she was finished, Romerall leaned forward and licked her on the nose. Samara jumped, and her eyes narrowed. She backed away. She saw it all now... oh, she saw it quite plainly! This was a set up... But she belonged to Airmek.
"Well," Rom said lazily, completely oblivious to Samara's expression, "I suppose we'd better get back, eh?" He turned and walked away, and Samara didn't follow. She was going insane, with all this confusion.
Maybe reading would clear her mind. She saw a giant book laying nearby. With some effort, she lift the cover and skipped through the first couple pages. Then she saw it. The answer to all her problems. It was a large book, but she managed to get it home to her room. She studied the passage again. Yes, that would do it... Mistoffolees might have it, but he'd never give it to her. He'd probably think it was too dangerous. But who else could she get it from? The next name that came to mind nearly scared her into abandoning her plan. But no, she'd go through with it. She'd get it from... Macavity.
Augh! I can't read this! It's too heart-wrenching! Home, home!