The animal’s purr changed to a low, gurgling whimper as she rocked the burr, trying to pull it out. She hoped that what she was hearing wasn’t a growl. The burr was stuck fast.
Its heavy brow drawing down, ears forward, the animal started pulling the paw back away from her grip on it.
She looked up into green eyes only inches away from hers. “I need to pull it out, all right? Let me help you.”
The animal tugged once but then stopped trying to take the paw back. Kahlan took that as consent. Despite the frowning look, she was pretty sure that it understood she was trying to help. She pulled harder trying to draw the burr out. She could see the skin being tugged outward, stuck on the hooked tips of the thorns.
The creature let out a soft wail of pain, but didn’t move, so she yanked. The thorn finally came out. Kahlan pressed a thumb over the bloody spot a moment to soften the sting.
She held the thorn up to show the creature and distract it from the hurt. “See? It’s out now. All better.”
As she let go of the paw, the animal leaned in and sniffed the offending thorn burr, then stretched out its front legs with its chest against the ground and its haunches high in the air. As it stretched, it flexed its paws against the rock and Kahlan saw that it had claws that were just as formidable as its teeth. Finally finished stretching, it turned and walked off toward the woods with that silent, relaxed, loping gait of a cat. As it left she saw that it had a very short, flat, bobbed tail. She also saw that it was a male.
The animal paused to look back over a shoulder at Kahlan for a moment, then silently hopped down off the rock and into the woods. Without making a sound, it vanished in a heartbeat.
Kahlan smiled as she lay down, happy that she had given the beautiful little mountain cat, or whatever it was, a nice meal and rid it of the thorn burr in its paw.
Despite how warm a night it had been at first, once the clouds had broken up it had started turning colder. Kahlan wrapped the small blanket over herself as best she could. She curled up on her side, holding the blanket over her shoulder trying to keep warm so she could sleep. She was exhausted.
She thought about Richard, thought about so many things about him. Despite her worry for him, she knew that Zedd had promised to bring him awake, so she felt somewhat confident. She felt herself drifting off with fits of images flashing through her mind’s eye. She was asleep in moments.
At some point in the night, Kahlan woke up.
CHAPTER
33
Kahlan squinted as she glanced up and saw that the moon had moved quite a distance across the sky. Dawn was still several hours off.
Even partially submerged in sleep, Kahlan was awake enough to realize that she felt warm and comfortable. That didn’t make a lot of sense.
Concerned for the reason, and at how odd it seemed, she forced herself awake in order to figure it out. It was then that she realized she felt something soft and warm against her middle.
Kahlan was astonished to find the furry creature curled up in a ball, sleeping spooned against her stomach.
Its back was to her, its head tucked under the big paw that was now thorn-free.
Kahlan smiled at the unexpected comfort of her little friend nested up with her as she slept. With it pressed tight against her, she realized that it wasn’t all that little. It was actually a pretty good size, with a landscape of firm muscles under the silken fur.
Kahlan gently put her hand over it. The fur was short and as soft as sable. The fur was so soft to the touch that she yearned to work her fingers deep into it, but resisted for fear of scaring the animal off, so instead she gently stroked a shoulder and back before letting her hand come to rest on the warm fur, feeling the rise and fall of its even breathing.
The paw moved a little as the eye opened to peer up at who was stroking its back. When it saw Kahlan, the eye slowly closed. It readjusted itself slightly and put the paw back over its face.
Since it purred a little louder and made no effort to get away from her hand, Kahlan was pretty sure that it was content with her touch. That purr was unusual-sounding. It was a more husky sound than a cat made, almost growly.
But then, she knew that this was no typical cat.
It was then that she noticed something else in the moonlight. Atop the rock, three dead rabbits had been laid out neatly side by side in a row. Although freshly killed, none had been eaten.
The creature had brought her a gift.
Kahlan looked down at the animal curled up against her middle.
“Now I know your name. Hunter,” she said softly but with emphasis. “Hunter fits you.” She stroked behind a tufted ear. “Hunter sound good to you?”
Hunter’s only response was to purr a little louder. She could feel the vibration of that contented purr against her stomach.