I watch Rosy stretch out in the shade; her tail flicks lazily as she makes herself comfortable on her side.
"Rosy," Edwin calls enticingly.
Edwin is standing over his kill, his front feet poised on the shoulders of the beast. The sun strikes him from the side leaving much of the evidence of his messy feeding in shadow.
"Leave my sister alone," Sam growls back as he gets to his feet. He moves forward to stand at the edge of the shade, glaring at Edwin.
"Rosy, come, eat," Edwin calls. "I'm not angry with you."
"Piss off," Steven calls back. A long coughing sound that betrays his annoyance.
"Rosy, I've kept a lot of the best pieces for you," Edwin calls in low tones.
"You after trouble Edwin?" I demand as I kick the dirt up with my hind feet in warning.
"Huh," Edwin's snort comes out disdainfully.
"Leave my sister alone," Sam repeats as he lays his ears back in annoyance.
"Yeah, piss off," Steven grunts.
"Rosy eats from my kill," I state angrily. I don't want Rosy being influenced by Edwin. She is head strong enough without any encouragement to disobey me from him.
I glance at Rosy where she had been resting in the shade to find her watching the exchange with interest. She is on her feet stretching; the sun highlights the inky rosettes beneath her dark coat drawing attention to her.
"Rosy, come here with me," Edwin calls softly. "Come with me."
I watch in disbelief as Rosy walks towards him; Edwin rushes towards her purring and extending his nose to sniff at the corner of her mouth. He is grunting with excitement and purring softly as he faces her. He raises his tail high over his back as he humps the air slightly. Fury burns through me as I realise he is trying to seduce her in front of me.
"No you don't," I growl angrily as I rush forward.
Rosy is highly aware she has been in serious trouble and may just yield to him in an effort to please someone.
I feel my chest strike the side of Edwin's shoulder heavily and he is sent tumbling to the ground. I see Rosy slinking away uneasily, and then I am focusing on Edwin as he leaps to his feet and faces me belligerently. I rush him, giving him no chance to gather himself properly, and deliver a nasty swipe to his side as I go by. We circle each other cautiously and I leap forward grabbing him as I wrestle for a good bite hold. Edwin leaps away, then darts back in an attempt to surprise me. I take him down expertly, dealing several hard punishing bites before he yowls in pain and flees from me.
I watch him retreat to the shade of some trees a comfortable distance away before pulling myself up to my full height and roaring my victory. There is a frightened screech and I look around to see Rosy racing away from us. Her body seems to melt down into the top of the grass, only the top half showing, as her speed seems to increase. If she had the tawny colouring of an African lion, or it was a moonless night, she would be nearly invisible as she runs.
I take off after her instinctively and it only takes me an instant to realise this is no attempt to tease or tantalise. I can smell her fear on the faint breeze that wafts back to me as I chase after her. I am left wondering if it was the fight or my roar of victory afterwards that has her speeding across rough ground at a dangerous pace. I strain to keep her in sight, barely aware of the cats behind me. Slowly she begins to pull away from us and when the fence comes into view, I am sure it will force her to stop.
Rosy changes course slightly so she will end up running nearly parallel to the fence. I don't see what she has planned until she changes course sharply. She runs at the fence line and I am shocked when I see her leap high, grabbing frantically at a tree trunk as she scrambles wildly. She manages to climb up to a branch and starts to rush along it; it breaks under her weight leaving her sailing through the air towards the fence.
A shriek of fear comes from Mitchell who is running shoulder-to-shoulder with me as we watch Rosy hit the top of the fence netting. She seems to hang there a fraction of a second before plunging sharply to the ground; she skids along on her face or neck before spinning in a summersault end over end. She is up quickly and flees into the surrounding bush; just before she is out of sight I see her falter slightly as she seems to miss a stride.
I head for the exit from the paddock; I strain to keep going at my fastest speed. Even Mitchell, who is extremely fast, can't leave me behind. Outside the fence line I head along the faint vehicle track, slowing to a swift trot to catch my breath slightly.
"Rosy," I roar without breaking stride.
The cats behind me begin to fan out into the thick under growth. I hear Sam, then Mitchell call to their sister. More add their voices as we fan out from the fence and the tree she leapt from. The under growth is starting to thin and give way to long thickly growing grass. Ahead I can see no sign of movement as I stop and call once again.
"Rosy." Concern for her well-being pushes me forward. I can hear the others calling to her as they move through the undergrowth searching, we are well spread out now to cover as much ground as possible. Some of the calls are faint and I swivel my ears as I listen.
"Rosy! Rosy answered," someone calls excitedly in the distance.
I halt with my head raised as I listen for any further call. Someone is moving fast with no concern for noise and I follow at a steady lope.
"Here, here," Mitchell calls and I change course slightly to head towards him.
I find them in a small bare patch among the long grass; Rosy is stretched out on her side while Sam and Mitchell stand near her anxiously. She is still in her cat form and neither of her brothers has changed to human form. I smell the rich metallic tang of blood as I lower my head and sniff near her ears.
"We are here, we are here. You are safe now," I croon softly even though I know she has yet to learn to understand cat talk.
I glance towards Sam and he leaves hurriedly without me having to tell him to go for a vehicle. Rosy remains motionless as the others begin to arrive and make a protective circle around her. Concerned that she makes no sound or attempt to move, I sniff searching her scent for traces of injury. Gentle nudges make her flick her ears and swish her tail. I put my front paw on her head making sure she remains lying on the ground when she moves.
When Donny crawls close to her, giving several little whines, she lifts her head to look at him. She appears unafraid of us all even though she is injured, but the sound of an approaching vehicle brings her to her feet swiftly. She gives a soft mewl of pain as she collapses and I stand over her, licking around her ears in an attempt to soothe her.
Sam is with us before she can recover and I move away as he tosses a pair of my jeans towards me. I begin my change knowing he will organise sending the warriors home and getting Rosy back for medical treatment. By the time I am in human form and pulling my jeans on, Rosy is human once again.
I expect more of an argument than the slight reluctance I encounter as I help Sam get his sister ready to travel back. Her compliance worries me deeply. How badly is she hurt? An injured werecat prefers solitude. Is she hurt badly enough not to fight us or struggle? Or is Rosy finally beginning to trust us?
* * * * *
Nearly two and a half hours, a lot of stress, eighteen stitches and much drama later, Rosy is curled up in Mitchell's bed nearly asleep. Sam is sitting by the bed watching her, and Mitchell is off somewhere in cat form with Justin and Donny.
