“Hi,” Makai replied and instinctively tried to make himself look smaller and as nonthreatening as possible.
Suddenly a curious little meow sounded from the carrier, and Makai jerked along with Joy and Emil.
“You have a cat?” Joy exclaimed, and Makai and Emil winced at the voice level.
“Don’t scare the cat, Joy,” Emil scolded gently.
She slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes going wide. “Sorry,” she whispered loudly.
Smiling, Makai went to the carrier and lifted it to the sun, then sat on a patch of grass and gestured for the others to sit too.
When they did, Joy with the enthusiasm of a little kid and Emil folding himself into a secure little ball like a scared but obedient animal, Makai opened the zipper and let the cat out.
“Oh, it’s so pretty!” Joy whisper-yelled.
At least she had the control to not startle the cat that went to her and Emil to sniff them both curiously.
“Hey, that’s Mouse,” Emil said, and Makai looked at him in surprise.
“What?”
“My grandma lives near the campsite, and when I went to visit her, I saw the cat a few times. But Grandma called her Mouse. I think she fed her for a while. She vanished, though.”
Makai felt his heart drop. “Do you think she wants her back?” Until then, he hadn’t thought about her being anyone’s cat, not for real. He’d kept hoping she was a stray just so he could keep her.
“Oh, no. I mean, Grandma’s only there during the summer, she lives in Mercer in an old folks’ home. She’s probably going to be at her summer place for a month or so this year.” Emil ducked his head again, looking like he’d said too much or something.
“Oh, okay.”
“Is she going to have babies?” Joy asked, petting the cat—Mouse—who had flopped on the grass and exposed her large belly to them all.
“Yeah, the vet said really soon,” Makai answered, smiling at the picture Joy and the cat made.
“Ooh, can I come see them when they’re here? Kittens are soooo cuuuuute.” Joy made the last two words longer than Makai was tall, and both him and Emil chuckled.
“Yeah, if your mom says it’s okay, sure.”
“I’m glad she found a home,” Emil said in a tone that suggested he was surprised that he’d said anything in the first place.
“She dashed out from the shadows on my first night here and never left. It’s…,” Makai started, swallowed hard, and added, “it’s less lonely with her here. I like the company.”
He looked at the cat and felt Emil’s gaze on himself like a hesitant touch. When he turned to Emil, he quickly looked away again. Skittish. Makai had seen a lot of that in the newcomers in prison. Even in the mirror.
“She’s a good cat. You don’t have to call her Mouse, though.” Emil’s tone tried for levity, Makai thought, and almost hit it too.
He laughed a little. “I think it’s as good a name as any other. I hadn’t named her anyway.” Then he chuckled. “I can’t wait to hear Doc Donovan’s thoughts of the name, though.”
Emil snorted, and Joy giggled a bit.
“Do you fish?” Joy asked, peering at Makai.
“No, never have had the chance. Why?”
“Cats like fish. Maybe we could come with a fishing rod, like those ones with the bobber, and try to fish for her?” She looked at Emil now, and he smiled at her.
“Maybe. We’ll ask your mom, and you need to ask Makai too.”
“Can we?”
