By early the next morning both girls were beside themselves with worry. Suleiman had not returned, and only a few hours remained. Ara had found a translation right outside their room. But it was whole, not broken.
“Look what I found at the fishpond.” Su’ah walked in the room with a large gray tabby curled across her thin arms. Jada trailed along behind her. “I’m sure he must belong to someone. He came right up to me and purred.”
Ara thought she would faint from relief.
Su’ah sat down and continued petting the cat. “I saw mouse droppings on the floor a few days ago. This will take care of that problem. He looks like a good mouser.”
Suleiman gave them a don’t-get-me-started look. Ara snorted, trying to cover her laughter, while Layla rushed to Su’ah’s side exclaiming, “He’s wonderful,” to both Suleiman’s and Su’ah’s delight.
“I thought you might like a cat, Layla. Your mother said you wanted a pet.” Su’ah scratched Suleiman under the chin, and his eyes glazed over with pleasure. “I knew you wouldn’t want one of those noisy parakeets that the Infidels brought Rabab. They flit all over the place, never sitting still for a moment.”
The purring stopped, and Suleiman was immobile. A glint of light came from a slit in his eyes, and abruptly it disappeared.
“I’ll call him Hannibal—he looks like a good, quiet cat. Here Layla, you want to hold him? Sit down here, and I’ll set him in your lap. Jada, you sit next to her, and no pulling his tail again!”
Ara doubled over in laughter at the two former adversaries snuggle. After all their past disagreements when both were slaves and human, Suleiman now, in his cat form, seemed quite pleased by the affection.
Su’ah placed him in Layla’s lap, where he continued to purr. “Ara, what are you carrying on about over there? I see nothing funny. Well, maybe he is a little heavy,” Su’ah conceded, looking at the cat with a calculating eye. “Someone must have been overfeeding him. He’ll slim down quick enough when he has to forage on his own.”
Suleiman glared at Su’ah, his tail twitching.
“Have you ever seen a cat so smart looking. Why, I’d almost believe he can understand me.” Suleiman’s eyes narrowed, his tail twitching faster. “Layla, you must be petting him too hard, he doesn’t seem to like that.”
Suleiman dropped into a quick catnap and, pleased that her mouser was settling in so nicely, Su’ah left to take Jada back to her mother.
Ara shook the cat awake as soon as she was gone. “Where were you? We were worried.”
Miffed at the rude awakening, Suleiman snarled and made a perfunctory swipe in her direction. “I was out thinking. The lions have a point.” He yawned and stretched. “There are important lessons to learn.”
Ara waved his comment away. “But our time is almost over. The sundial out on the portico says we have only two more hours. We needed you here.”
“Well, yes,” he agreed acidly on his way to the door, “in a perfect world I would sit beside you and wait on your pleasure. But I have one more important task to do. I’ll be back in plenty of time.” Before she could grab him, he streaked out of the room.