'You learn and mime their ways. Doesn't interest me. I still feel fully feline.
'Mamakitty's right.' Though not so agile as his naturally acrobatic companions, Oskar trotted easily through the woods, enjoying its sights and smells from an entirely new perspective. His ability to remain upright at all times without falling over was a source of continuous amazement to him. Still, he had to fight the urge to drop to all fours and break into a run. 'The last thing we want to do is attract attention to ourselves. Word might get back to this Mundurucu creature.'
'Let it come!' Leaping high into the air, a grinning Cezer promptly whacked his head against a low-hanging branch and tumbled unceremoniously to the forest floor.
'You see, piss-for-brains?' Cocoa was chuckling softly at him, the sound rising from within her half laugh and half meow. 'We have yet to master our new selves.'
Rising, Cezer felt gingerly of the top of his head, relieved for the moment that his ears were now located on its sides. 'I'll master yours, if you'll let me.'
One lissome hand caressed the pommel of her sword. 'I don't think so, Cezer-man. I may only have one claw left to me, but it's a mighty big one.'
'Speaking of mighty big ones—' he began.
Ignoring him, she looked over at Mamakitty, striding powerfully along beside her as though she had always walked on two legs. 'His snideness makes me wonder, though. When am I likely to come into heat?'
'I don't think humans come 'into' heat,' the older woman replied after a moment's careful consideration. 'I think they're sort of ready all the time. It's a different state of being.'
Cezer grinned enthusiastically. 'Sounds like a state I could reside in.'
'How does instant evisceration sound to you?' Cocoa glared at him meaningfully.
He skipped easily out of her reach, wagging a finger in her direction. 'Decidedly unromantic. Your feelings will change, you'll see. They do every month.' Turning away from her, he found himself attracted to a bush that rustled with unseen small inhabitants.
Oskar observed the byplay in silence. Although they were now technically of the same kind, the thought of congress with Cocoa did not appeal to him, despite her obvious human charms. Having known her only recently as feline, the thought of—he forced himself to focus on the route ahead. Though the forest was amiable and the weather benign, it was still a long walk to the Eusebian Gorge.
By the end of the sixth day it was apparent they had made the first major miscalculation of their quest. Mamakitty had been correct in her remembrance: it did indeed require a week of travel to reach the city of Zelevin —by fast coach. When it occurred to her that they were progressing far more slowly, she was forced to revise her estimate of the time that would be required to reach the Falls.
'At least another week, maybe two,' she ventured in response to a tired Taj's query.
'My feet hurt,' the songster complained. 'This walking is
'You'd be shot down by some curious hunter and like as not popped as a sweetmeat into a roasting pie,' Oskar reproached him. 'Be content with what you are—alive.' He looked at Mamakitty. 'Our supplies will not last another week.'
'I know.' She heaved a matronly sigh. 'There's no avoiding it: we're going to have to go into Karpluvy to reprovision.' In response to several curious stares she added, 'It is a town that lies between here and the Gorge. I remember stopping there for the night with Master Evyndd.'
Oskar nodded. 'I remember it, too. It will be interesting to visit it as a human.'
'We have human money.' She jingled the purse that was slung at her belt. It was heavy with coins taken from the Master's study. 'We can buy food, and for a change will be able to sleep under cover instead of out in the woods. But we must be careful. Like the Master when he would travel incognito, we must practice Takiyyah, the art of concealing the truth about ourselves. No one must learn who we are, what we were, or where we are going.'
Cezer drew himself up indignantly. 'Hey—why are you all looking at me?'
They camped that night on the edge of the forest. In the distance, the lights of Karpluvy twinkled like stars that had fallen to earth. Oskar surveyed the scene with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Would they be able to pull this off? Each of them was clad in human costume that ran much deeper than the clothing he or she wore. He could not speak for the others, but he still felt like a dog, saw the world through the mind if not the eyes of a dog, dreamed dog dreams.
He did not want to wander the world of humans on two legs. What he wanted more than anything else was to be lying in front of a crackling fire in the house, with the Master sitting in his big easy chair nearby, reading from one of the innumerable weighty tomes taken from his study. If an occasional crumb of bread or pat on the head came his way, he would be content.
Instead, he found himself burdened with complex thoughts, colliding ideas, new notions, and this damnable Obligation. Watching Cezer gambol among the trees, terrifying small creatures with inherent sadistic delight but without malice, he almost wished he was a cat. Confidence was part of a cat's natural makeup, he knew. Cats acted as if they owned the world, and everything within it existed on their sufferance. Cezer would confirm that opinion, he knew. In contrast, dogs lived with uncertainty, with questions. A sudden thought made him feel a little better.
That meant, based on everything he knew, that dogs were more like people than cats. It was a reassuring realization.
'How are you doing, Taj?' he inquired of the smallest member of the group.
The songster stopped humming and bent momentarily to peck at an itch on his upper right arm before replying. 'It's difficult, Oskar.' He gestured overhead. 'I feel I should be sleeping up in a tree instead of down here on the ground. Everything in my being tells me I'm in terrible danger down here.' He nodded at the other side of the campfire, where Mamakitty and Cocoa sat conversing. 'Bad enough I have to try and go to sleep surrounded by three cats.'
Oskar considered the tree above them. 'Why not try sleeping on a branch, if it'll make you feel better?'
'And if I roll in my sleep and fall out?' Taj was downcast. 'I'll hit the ground. Actually hit the ground! That's never happened to me, Oskar. You don't know what it's like, this fear of falling. Cats may land easily on four feet, but birds land as lightly and easily as—well, as a feather. The thought of not being able to slow a descent, or stop a fall…' His eyes were tortured.
'At least you're used to standing on two feet,' Oskar encouraged him. 'So you can't fly. I understand that. But if you've never fallen off a perch in your sleep before, what makes you think you'll do so now? Why not give it a try, on a low branch. If it works, you can sleep in a higher place tomorrow.'
Taj considered, then nodded slowly. 'You take a long time to get to a point, Oskar, but when you do, it's usually worth the journey. Thanks, I will.' So saying, he got to his feet and shinnied up the trunk behind them. Choosing a large, low-hanging branch, he promptly dropped his chin onto his chest, let his arms hang at his sides, and closed his eyes. He rocked slightly but didn't tumble. Soon he was fast asleep, a small smile fixed on his face. Oskar was much pleased.
He had begun to pace off tighter and tighter circles preparatory to retiring himself when a shape materialized at his side. It was Cocoa. He hadn't heard her approach, which was hardly surprising. Cats didn't walk up to you. They simply appeared. Even in the absence of natural light, her eyes were luminous. He blinked repeatedly: she did not.
'Oskar, I have to ask you: do you find this form attractive?'
He hesitated. He didn't want to be scratched, even by nails greatly reduced in efficiency. 'Cezer does,' he replied quickly.
Her expression was one of distaste. 'Cezer thinks everything with a tail is attractive. I'm asking you. You know how important looks have always been to me. You've seen how much time I spend grooming and cleaning myself.' Her expression twisted delightfully. 'I can't even clean everyplace in this body.'
Ignoring the implications of that observation, he plunged ahead as best he was able. 'I've always thought you, um, pretty, Cocoa. Just not my type, that's all. I mean, you're feline.'
'Not anymore, I'm not. I'm human—and so are you.' Curiosity flickered behind her eyes as she moved closer
