A lion with a long mane.
The white mare stood in front of
“Why did you choose to reject my guidance?” The mare asked.
“You got the
wrong creature,”
“Hug you and let you hug them,” she replied.
“Yes Eohippus,
that’s right!”
“Yes, you weren’t meant to remember that,” eohippus said, “but you fought me, and I couldn’t dull your mind.”
“Yes, because I
knew what I was doing was not me!”
“I’m sorry,” Eohippus whinnied, “I should have looked into your past a bit more before I asked you.”
“Yes eohippus
you should,”
“I’m so glad to
see you
“I’m glad to see
you too duke my friend,” she replied.
Duke took
“Are you
completely recovered now?” He
asked.
“Yes,” she mewed, after some thought, “I am, I’ve talked to those in the know about everything.”
“They won’t make you do things you don’t’ want to will they?” Duke asked, sounding like a cub.
“No duke, they
won’t,”
“So what now?” Duke asked, “Your whole life was governed by Eohippus. You have to learn to live your life all over again.”
“It’s not quite
like that,”
“You have
started already,” duke mewed, “I never believed in eohippus. I believed in you
“I am more
grateful to you than I can put into words duke,”
“You have ice
blue eyes, just like a white creature should have!” He mewed.
“It was you,
not eohippus who wanted to bring those two tigers back from the zoo wasn’t it
“Eohippus helped
us get back by making sure no human stopped us,” she replied, “but yes, it was
at my instigation the journey took place.
Now, now Halfear is dead, and Whitepaw is, well I don’t know where he
is.” Duke stroked
“I know where Whitepaw is, he’s hiding in the one safe place which even Leo wouldn’t violate.”
“The cubbing
den?”
“Yes, he’s there,
grieving for his dead male partner, and longing to talk to you
“Thanks for
giving me time,”
“I found him
in the wood,” duke mewed, “he was hiding beneath a bush, and we spent ages
there, me talking to him, reassuring him, holding his paw while he wept for his
dead partner. Now, well, we’re friends,
firm friends too. I don’t mind what his
sexual preference is. His lifestyle is
not the one I’d choose, but I don’t hold his choice against him in any way.
“No duke, it wouldn’t be crazy to say you felt the love Whitepaw had for his partner. That’s how enlightened creatures perceive things, by listening to their instincts. Theo does that, Leo didn’t. He hated what he was told was to be hated, without exploring first.”
“So Leo hated what Whitepaw and Halfear were because he’d been told their lifestyle was wrong, not because it actually was wrong?” Duke asked.
“Yes,”
“Poor Leo let his trained hatred overwhelm his natural goodness and he paid the ultimate price for his actions,” Duke mewed.
“He did,”
“We all are,”
Theo mewed, padding into the bathroom, “Leo wasn’t a bad lion…”
“Our mother was very old fashioned,” Theo sniffed, “she drummed into us, what she called the ways of life, and one of those was that no creature could love as a partner another of the same sex. Leo believed everything she said, but I didn’t. I knew differently, for I’d seen, on loan walks into the wood, how love could blossom between animals of the same sex. Once I saw a male lion courting another large male lion in the prime of his power. They got on well together, each knowing what the other felt, and enjoying each other’s company. They were unashamedly in love with each other, and I found their relationship among the most beautiful in the wood. When one of them died suddenly from fish he’d eaten, the lion left behind mourned his passing with heart felt grief, and like you duke, when you spoke to Whitepaw, when I spoke to this lion, whose name I can’t remember at the moment, I could feel the love he had for his male partner when he spoke of him. I wonder where that lion is now.”
“A lion?” Duke asked, “A huge lion, with big paws and a shaggy mane? His mane was rather long actually.”
What are you saying?” Theo asked, “have you seen a lion round here?”
“Yes, well, he was in the wood near where Whitepaw and I were talking. He seemed to be listening to our talk. He seemed to be deep in thought, remembering someone in his past maybe.”
“This lion was reaching his full prime,” Theo mewed, “it can’t be the same lion I knew.”
“Why can’t it be the same lion?” Someone asked. Theo turned and stared straight into the eyes of a lion from his past, the lion with the long mane which didn’t stand erect from his head like Theo’s, but lay flat, in a profusion of long, luxurious locks. Theo stared at the lion, the lion looking back at him in shocked silence.
“You look familiar to me,” Theo mewed, “but you can’t be the lion I knew all those years ago. The lion I knew was in the prime of his life, at the top of his power!”
“No,” the newcomer said, “Theodore, you were a very young cub then and any animal more than a year older than yourself seemed to have immense power and courage. I wasn’t much older than you, though I suppose I must have seemed it. When my first and only male partner to date and I found each other, I was only two years old, you about six months old at the time. My partner died six months after we met, though to you it seemed longer I don’t doubt. Cubhood days seemed longer didn’t they.” Theo padded over to the large lion and placed his paw on his.
“They used to call you Samson on account of your long mane,” he mewed, “is this still your name?”
“As much of a name
as it will ever be,” the lion replied,
“my mother never named me formally, for she realised what I was, and hated me
for it. It was you Theo, who named me
Samson, after a human in a story your mother told you in a book she’d found in
a rubbish pile left by some villagers who lived nearby. Because of my unusual mane, and the strength
you insisted I had, you named me Samson, the only real name I had. We were wild in those days, and lost touch
when some villagers heard they could get money for capturing lion cubs and
sending them to a zoo. You and your
brother were caught and sent to the zoo far from where we were. I left when the humans burned the forest for
farmland, barely escaping with my life.
My mane got burnt off but I managed to live for years, scavenging from
bins, that kind of thing. My mane grew
back after about a year. I heard from
some English birds that I’d tasked to look for you years before, that you were living
in a house in
“Giving you the name I did wasn’t because of any physical strength, and you know it Samson,” Theo mewed, still disbelieving his own eyes, as well as the feel of the paw beneath his.
“No,” Samson replied, “I know I wasn’t named by you because of physical strength, you were cleverer than that.”
“So you found your way here,” Theo said, “and heard duke and Whitepaw talking in the wood?” Samson nodded.
“Yes Theo I did,” he mewed, “I am lost, desperate for a home, and terrified I wouldn’t find one. I nearly got captured twice and barely escaped with my life when a truck nearly ran me down. I needed somewhere safe to rest. Finding the gate to the garden open, I wandered in here and was approached by a large snow Leopard who asked me what I wanted. I told him, and he led me in here. Now here I am, pleading for a home, for sanctuary. I have no religious belief, for what was taught to you and Leo did not allow me to be myself, so I’ve had no faith to fall back on other than my own determination to survive. I’ve heard tell that they believe in a white mare here, eohippus is her name I think. I’ve never heard of a lion believing in an equine higher power, but I’ll try anything.”
“A belief in
Eohippus is not mandatory,”
“It’s the white lioness they spoke of!” Samson exclaimed, “Eohippus’s representative on earth!”
“Not any more,”
“You do look like you’ve been through it lately,” he mewed.
“I have,”
“How is Leo?” Samson asked. Theo looked at him, and Samson wished he’d not spoken.
“Didn’t you listen to Whitepaw?” Theo asked, “Was there any mention of Leo?” Samson shook his head.
“Whitepaw referred to the lion who attacked him as just “the lion,” he didn’t give him a name,” Samson replied.
“The lion who attacked Whitepaw was my brother Leo,” Theo mewed. Samson lowered his head in grief for his friend’s brother.
“I am so sorry,” Samson whispered, “I didn’t know.”
“Maybe you should have found out a bit more before you opened your mouth,” Duke snapped.
“That’s not fair
duke,”
“We can’t refuse to give him a home,” he said, “Samson’s in desperate need of a home, and we cannot refuse him.”
“Thank you, thank you!” Samson mewed, almost prostrating himself at Theo’s feet.
“Come, let’s
wash you from nose to tail,”
“Wash me?” He asked, looking into Theo’s face for confirmation, “Why do you want to do that?”
“It’s a ritual we have here,” Theo mewed, “its
non threatening. Samson looked into the
water, where
“That water looks deep,” he mewed.
“It’s warm and
comforting,”
“Who will be bathing me?” Samson asked.
“I’ll do it if you like,” Theo mewed. Samson smiled at him:
“I remember when you and I played in the river when you lived near me in the wood,” Samson mewed, “will it be like that?”
“Ten times better,” Theo mewed.
“Have you ever had your paws massaged?” Duke asked Samson:
“My paws massaged?” Samson asked, “no, never, never in my whole life. I’ve heard of it, but never had it done for me.”
“Would you like to try it now?” Theo asked. Samson looked down at his paws.
“I don’t know,” Samson mewed, “what pleasure can I get from my paws? They are only good for walking on, and are painful if I get thorns in my pads or sticks wedged between my toes. My paws aren’t of much interest to me really.”
“Do you want to
try it though?”
“I don’t know!” He mewed, suddenly distressed, “I, I was told, told that, well, that my paws weren’t to be touched by anyone. My mother told me that if I thought of playing with my paws, or asked others to touch or stroke them, I’d be punished, as it was illicit pleasure, and shouldn’t be allowed.”
“I know your mother used to deny her cub things she took for granted,” Theo mewed, “paw massage and play was one of those things I’ll bet.” Samson lifted his left forepaw and turned it sideways so he could look at his pads.
“Haven’t you ever tried stroking the pads of one forepaw with the toes of the other?” Duke asked Samson.
“No,” Samson replied, placing his paw back on the tiles, “I haven’t.”
“You’re missing
something,”
“I, I, I can’t not tell you this!” he mewed, “painful though it is, but, but, the truth is, I have tried stroking my paws, I did once know what pleasure my paws could give, but, but, one day, my mother found me with another cub, we were stroking each other’s paws, and she put an end to it by biting my paws and cuffing me until I was nearly unconscious. From that day on, I’ve vowed noone would touch my paws. Samson looked tortured.
“I can’t
remember what it was like,” he mewed, “because my last memory of it was tainted
by my mother biting my paws! I couldn’t
walk properly for a week!” Samson
suddenly rolled onto his back and held out his forepaws for inspection.
“Your paws are
dirty,”
“I’m sorry,” he
mewed, embarrassment adding to distress, “I will let you bathe me.” Samson stepped into the water, Theo and
“What the hell are you doing to my paws!” Samson growled, “That’s horrible! It feels strange!”
“Getting the tough dead stuff off your pads,” Theo mewed.
“That might have been useful stuff! you know, hardened pad, not dead skin!” Samson roared.
“I know the difference between dead skin and thickened paw pad,” Theo mewed. Samson let Theo get on with his work, and when it was all over, and he was clean from nose to toes, he was asked to leave the bathtub. Samson put his paws to the tiles and they felt strange, he could feel a lot more under his paws, the tiles on the floor were now rough to his pads, whereas they’d been smooth before. Confused, Samson raised a forepaw and touched the pads with his nose, feeling the toughened pad, but there was something different. Samson realised he had three pads on the sole of his forepaw and one on each of his five toes. He guessed the other forepaw had the same pads as this one, and his hind, instead of having five toes, only had four.
“Problems with your paws?” Theo asked, smiling broadly.
“Yes, I mean, well, no, well, sort of,” Samson mewed.
“I’ll bet you
can feel more than before,”
“I can, I can!” Samson mewed.
“Come on then,” Theo purred, “let’s get you dry.” Samson, feeling cleaner than he’d felt since he was newborn, padded through to the towel room, where, as if in a dream,, he was asked to lie down on a warm towel, and once he was lying comfortably, , and Petra took each of his paws and wrapped them in a towel, rubbing his pads and toes until they tingled. Samson mewed with surprise as his paws got a proper going over with the towels. Then it was time for the rest of him to get the same treatment. More cats appeared, one had funny markings, or so Samson thought, as his head and body were enveloped in towels. Samson didn’t’ have time to protest, for his towelling off was over so quickly! Gasping for breath, Samson looked round him at the washing party.
“Now what?” He asked.
“Maybe now I can
look at your paw?”
“You have scars on the sole of this paw,” she mewed.
“My other three also have scars,” Samson replied, “I used to like my paws, until, until that day.”
“His mother bit his paws so he’d be ashamed to let others see them,” Duke mewed, “how dreadful!” Samson’s eyes filled with tears as the truth was spoken by another.
“That’s why I’ve
never let anyone touch my paws, hardly ever washed them either, so I didn’t
have to be reminded!” He sobbed.
“Your paw isn’t
painful is it?”
“My paws aren’t painful now,” Samson choked.
“Neither will
they ever be after this,”
“Have you seen the soles of Fleur’s paws?” Orsa scoffed, “They’re so strange! Pinkie black pads with spotted muddy brown fur around them! They are possibly the most horrid paws I’ve ever seen!” Fleur, part of the drying off party, spat at Orsa.
“If it hadn’t
been for fleur,”
“It was Arki who helped our mother, not fleur!” Orsa yelled, jumping up and down.
“It was fleur
who indirectly taught her everything she knew though,”
“I have funny paws do I?” Fleur asked, “Well, at least they’re more interesting than yours Orsa!” The cub, expecting more of a frothy response, slunk away.
“What was all that about an easy time for them?” Samson asked.
“Pain relief for their mother during their births,” Fleur mewed.
“Paw massage is pain relief?” Samson asked.
“It’s pain relief, a way to make love, a way to soothe a cub, a way to give comfort and it’s play too,” Theo mewed.
“We cat’s can’t stroke our own paws, well not our hind ones,” Samson mewed, “though I know bears can stroke all four of their own paws, I saw a mother bear showing her cubs once, it looked so much fun. The cubs loved it!”
“They do,” fleur mewed, “and no, you’re right, we cats can’t stroke our own paws, that’s why if one of us is in pain, another has to stroke our paws to give relief.”
“How much relief can massage give?” Samson asked, now interested.
“Enough to allow stress and virtually pain free cubbings,” Elsa mewed, padding in and taking Theo’s paw in hers.
“That much?” Samson exclaimed, “Well, I might have to try it someday.”
“Well now you have clean paws, you can,” duke mewed, “they were disgusting!”
“I think you’d
do the same if you had his experiences, so shut up!”
“Oh all right,”
duke mewed, “keep…”
“Calm down I meant,” he mewed, staring at his paws.
“Now let’s see if anyone else wants a bath shall we?” Fleur asked airily. Samson got to his paws, smiling as he felt the carpet beneath them.
“I’m tired,” he
mewed; I could sleep for a week.”
“Where’s
Whitepaw?”
“Back in the
cubbing den,” Duke mewed, “He’d like to see you
“What the hell
are you doing here!”
“I, I was curious,” he mewed.]
“How can you be
curious about a secret place!”
“You, you didn’t
make it secret,” Samson gabbled, “you, you paused and looked at the wall, it
was blatantly obvious you were looking at something. I’m wild I am, and I notice these
things!
“My fault,” she admitted.
“That tiger, the one you were talking to,” Samson said, “he looks familiar to me. I think he was the one duke was talking to in the wood.”
“What if he
was?”
“Nothing,” Samson replied. Whitepaw padded up to Samson and looked closely at him.
“You have the
look of one who has gone through much,” he mewed.
“What on earth are you on about?” She asked.
“
“I suppose so,” she snarled, stamping off down the ramp.”
“What’s eating her?” Whitepaw asked.
“I think maybe with her renouncement of her place with eohippus, a little of her understanding of situations went too,” Samson mewed.
“I heard
that!”
“What the hell do you mean by that!” She demanded.
“Think it
through
“’er, um, no you’ve lost me,” the white lioness mewed.
“Whitepaw and
Samson understand each other,” duke whispered, “they are both, um, subscribe to
a similar lifestyle, and they’ve both lost their long term partners, does that
ring a bell?”
“Anyone would think you had special abilities, not me!” She snapped, angry at herself.
“You are a white
lioness,” Duke mewed, “not Eohippus’s mouth piece.”
“Of course,” she mewed, now ashamed, “like a lioness that’s had cubs of her own can sense if another’s had cubs, so it is that Samson can sense things about Whitepaw!”
“I’d leave them
alone for a bit,” Duke mewed, “it might be the best thing to do.”
Samson kicked the door closed behind him and Whitepaw watched him approaching. If Whitepaw was surprised by Samson’s appearance, he wasn’t showing it. Samson had a mane that was so long, it lay flat on his head. The huge lion’s mane hung down to within an inch of his forepaws, and dangled in front of his eyes in a long fringe which looked in imminent danger of obscuring his vision. Whitepaw let Samson settle down beside him and take his right forepaw in both of his.
“I guess you know,” Samson mewed. Whitepaw looked into the lion’s face.
“We both have a lifestyle others find abhorrent,” Whitepaw mewed, “and what’s more, we’ve both lost our partners.” Samson nodded.
“I understand you lost your partner through foul play,” the lion mewed. Whitepaw looked down at his paw held in those of the huge lion.
“I did Samson, I did. Um, your name is Samson isn’t it?”
“Yes,” the lion replied, smiling at Whitepaw, “it couldn’t be anything else with my mane the way it is.” Samson’s instant and genuine smile caught at Whitepaw. The lion seemed gentle, kind and unobtrusive. Whitepaw shook his paw free of Samson’s and took the lion’s left forepaw in his. Stroking it gently, Whitepaw fought to sort his mind out.
“I can feel you’re confused,” Samson mewed. Whitepaw nodded.
“I am,” he replied, “but you’re not. You know what you want.”
“When your ready Whitepaw,” Samson mewed, “then we talk maybe?” Whitepaw was desperate for a companion, though at the same time didn’t want to rush things and possibly frighten Samson off.
“Halfear or Tigger as I knew him died over two weeks ago,” Whitepaw mewed, “we tigers don’t grieve for long, not like lions.”
“I know that only too well,” Samson thought, “when Margi lost her mate, she was courting again within a month. When I lost my partner, I couldn’t even think straight for a year after.
“It’s not the same for lions,” Samson replied, “I couldn’t move on for at least a year after my partner died. I suppose it’s the need for a pride family in a lion, tiger’s don’t have that compulsion.”
“I know lions are family orientated,” Whitepaw mewed, “we tigers though, males especially, do not hang about in groups. We can’t stand each other you see.”
“Lions were always better at the family thing,” Samson mewed.
“How about if you teach me the way a pride works,” Whitepaw mewed. Samson looked at Whitepaw, and something didn’t feel right. He looked at his paw in that of the male tiger, white paws this tiger had, white paws, just like the lioness that’d brought genuine tears to his eyes, and for whom he’d nearly fallen. Was he really Homosexual? Or was it that he’d been thrown out of his home, needed partnership with someone and had leapt at anyone who’d give him love? Samson shook his head, his mane flying in the face of the tiger, Whitepaw batting it away, as if batting at a fly! Samson suddenly panicked, wrenching his paw from Whitepaw’s; he leapt to his feet and fled! Samson almost fell down the stairs, nearly crashing head long into Aslan going the other way.
“Where’s
“No you
don’t!” Aslan snarled, sensing a
challenge for
“You don’t own her!” Samson growled.
“She and I have been lovers for ages,” Aslan snarled, “you can’t change that!”
“Where I come from, in the wild, it’s the largest, strongest pride male who has the mating privilege,” Samson roared. Aslan, being brought up a soft, community raised lion, wasn’t used to this.
“You can’t have
my mate!” Aslan yelled. Samson’s world contracted, so all he saw was
Aslan, his challenge, his enemy. All
thoughts of just talking to
“You little
runt!” Samson roared, the sound filling
the passage!
“Fight me then,
you great big wimp!” Aslan yelled. Samson lifted Aslan off his paws and shook
him like a rat!
“Be careful
Aslan, Samson’s wild”
“You’re a cub,
a bloody cub!” Samson snarled, “You know
nothing! You’re just a soft house
cat! A puss in lion’s clothes! You have no idea do you Mister big bad lion! All I wanted to do was talk to
“No Sammy,
no!”
“This lion is a disgrace!” Samson snarled, shaking Aslan like he weighed no more than paper, “I will show him!”
“No Samson,
no!”
“What happened?” He asked.
“You were about
to kill my mate!”
“Was I?” Samson asked, staring at Aslan, who was getting to his paws.
“Yes you were,” Aslan mewed, trying not to meet Samson’s eye.
“I remember
wanting to talk to
“You want
“I wanted to
talk with
“
“Let me talk
with him,”
“No tricks,” he
replied.
“I think you need to take more notice of what happened in the passage,” Petra mewed, “that was genuine, you might not remember it, you might remember it and want to deny it, but you went ballistic at Aslan, just like a male lion should towards another. You’re straight Samson! Things in your past might have conspired to make you think you weren’t, but you are as straight as they come, and Whitepaw hinted at it, and Aslan confirmed it.
“Anyone want a
bath?” Someone asked.
“Fleur, this is
private! I came here for a private chat
with Samson! Get out!” Samson looked at fleur, and he remembered
something from a long time ago, a long long time ago, or so it seemed. This strange cat, with her funny markings,
had soft warm paws; for it was she who’d massaged his forepaws during the mass
drying session. Samson was sure of this. In fact he remembered, when the polar bear
cub had said about Fleur’s paws being stranger than her own, that he’d thought
of the funny cat’s paws, muddy brown, with black spots between pinkie black
pads, they were beautiful paws, warm soft paws too.
“Samson, can I take your paw in mine for a minute?” Fleur asked. Samson dumbly watched as fleur padded across to him, her huge paws carrying her closer and closer to him. Then, suddenly his paw was in hers, and he felt a rush of emotion welling in him from the end of his tail to the tips of his ears, which left him panting from exhaustion with tingling paws. It was as if fleur had reprogrammed his brain.
“You are not who you thought you were,” fleur mewed, “for you have been thinking about me, I can feel it.” Samson, feeling hot and uncomfortable, mewed a reply, the sensation from the paw fleur held scrambling his mind.
“This is the real thing,” Samson mewed, “the real thing, at last!”
“I thought you
said you wanted a lioness?”
“No, not now, not now I know,” Samson gasped. Fleur smiled at the lion with the long mane.
“I’ve been watching you these last few days,” she mewed, “in the wood before you set paw in here. I knew you were unhappy. Now though, now you are happy, and so am I.”
“You like lions with absurdly long manes?” Samson asked.
“I love them,” fleur mewed, “how does muddy brown fur, a spotted face, belly and paws and dirty brown stripes sound to you?”
“Sounds fine,” Samson replied, “coupled with what’s inside, it sounds even better than just fine.”
“So I have a challenger for my mate’s affections do me?” Gosheven yowled.
“Oh, oh no!” Fleur yelled.
“I want that lion dead!” Gosheven screamed, “You pledged yourself to me fleur, and now, now you’re going back on that? Why! I love you with all my heart and you promised yourself to me!”
“Does the name Portia mean anything to you?” fleur asked acidly. Gosheven looked horrified!
“That wasn’t anything serious! How the hell did you find out!” Gosheven snarled.
“Serious enough to put her in cub though,” fleur spat, “your cub Gosheven! I know, for I am the one who will have to help Portia give birth to her cub! She came to me in a hell of a state a month back, and told me! I was faithful to you until that day, and then, then I saw I need not be, for you had broken your promise to me! You’d not only been with another female, you’d impregnated her! I hate you! Now get out of my sight you disgraceful animal!”
“Portia’s in cub?” Gosheven asked, totally stunned, “and there’s no termination here, she’ll have to have the cub!” Fleur spat at the puma.
“Yes she
will!” The cross bred cat yelled. Gosheven slunk out of the room, to be
replaced by Aslan storming in. He looked
at fleur, then Samson, then
“Come to my
place when you’ve finished,” he snapped at
“If you ask like that, I’ll go with Samson.” Aslan snarled with fury.
“That bloody lion!” Aslan spat.
“He’s all
right,”
Meanwhile, Samson and fleur ventured into the wood. Samson was hungry, and wanted food, so he’d asked Fleur if she wanted to come hunting with him. Thinking he’d only be going after berries, Fleur agreed. Now outside, she wasn’t so sure.
“What exactly are we hunting for?” She asked.
“Squirrel, hedgehog, Even a badger if I can get one,” Samson mewed. Fleur was horrified!
“You can’t eat those!” She mewed.
“How do you think I’ve been living so far?” Samson asked. Fleur hadn’t given it a thought.
“I hadn’t considered that,” she mewed, “oh Sammy, can’t you eat something else?”
“No,” Samson replied, “here, if you like, I’ll catch you some fresh meat too.” Fleur felt physically sick.
“No, no you can’t do that!” She mewed, “I couldn’t eat it!”
“If you were hungry enough you would,” Samson replied. Fleur looked at her new-found friend.
“I suppose if you accept our ways, we should try to accept yours,” she mewed, “take me to where you hunt.” Samson decided he’d try and teach heavy pawed fleur how to be silent on her paws.
“Right,” Samson said, “you are too heavy on your paws to have a hope of catching a potato, let alone the prey I go after. Tins of tuna and vegetables do not run away. Oh, and another thing, do you wash your paws before you eat?” Fleur looked guilty.
“No, sometimes not,” she mewed, “I forget sometimes. Another thing while we’re confessing bad habits,” she extended her claws, which were badly bitten and let Samson see them, “I bite my claws something terrible.”
“I was worried you might be too clean,” Samson mewed, “for the prey we eat isn’t going to be clean, not like out of cans, and so you need to have a good immunity to things. You will not have got all you need from the cans, or from the very occasional times you didn’t wash your paws before you ate, or from biting your claws. You will be unwell for a while on a diet of wild bush meat, but I will help you cope. What we will do first is this. If you are still with me on this, I will catch you bush meat, and you can try some. A squirrel or maybe a hedgehog will do. I will show you how to eat each of the prey we catch.”
“We?” Fleur asked, “not me surely?”
“Not at first,” Samson replied, “but soon, you will be silent on your gorgeous fat paws my dear Fleur. Then you will be catching your own dinner. I intend to make you self sufficient.” Fleur knew this would be the adventure of a lifetime.
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