Page 66 of Beasts of Mine

“You three are weird,” I told all of them, laughing as I pulled out the filter and started filling the container.

You keep saying that, Cat reminded me, sitting near the bank while his attention remained on the surrounding forest.

“Because you keep proving me right,” I told Cat, smiling as I filtered the water into the clean bottle. The walk back took longer because the darker leopard stopped twice. The first time, he simply stood in the middle of the trail and stared into the trees, and I nearly walked into Cat while trying to figure out what had caught his attention.

Then something moved overhead.

A troop of squirrel monkeys crossed the canopy.

I lifted my camera and, for the next ten minutes, forgot the leopards existed. The monkeys moved quickly enough to make focusing difficult, leaping between branches while leaves interrupted almost every clean shot. I shifted around one trunk, crouched lower, changed angles, and finally caught a juvenile hanging upside down while another reached toward its tail.

The shutter clicked.

Perfect.

When I lowered the camera, all three leopards were watching me.

“What?” I asked the three leopards, straightening as I checked the image and found every pair of eyes still fixed in my direction.

She makes the face, the amber-eyed leopard told the darker one, turning toward him with obvious amusement.

Yes, the darker leopard agreed, glancing at me while his whiskers shifted slightly.

“What face?” I asked both leopards, lowering the camera as suspicion replaced my satisfaction.

The one where you forget everything else, Cat told me, rising and starting toward camp while his tail brushed through the ferns.

“I do not have a face,” I told Cat, hurrying after him while the camera bounced lightly against my chest.

You do, Cat replied, glancing back just long enough for me to see the amusement in his golden-brown eyes. The amber-eyed leopard made a sound that was unmistakably laughter, and I spent most of the walk back arguing with all three of them about a facial expression I still maintained didn't exist.

By late afternoon, I'd decided the field camp might be the best assignment decision I'd made all month. The blind produced a pair of agoutis, three separate toucans, and a family of peccaries moving along the far end of the clearing. I filled nearly half a memory card before the light began to flatten, while the leopards disappeared and reappeared throughout the afternoon.

Cat stayed closest. Sometimes I caught sight of him beyond the blind, moving through vegetation with a deliberate quiet that made me wonder how often he'd watched me without being noticed. Other times he simply rested near the platform facing outward, listening to the forest instead of paying any obvious attention to me.

The amber-eyed leopard seemed physically incapable of remaining anywhere for long. He brought me another fruit, then a feather, then a smooth stone and, for reasons known only to him, a stick.

I accepted the first three.

The stick was where I drew the line.

“No,” I told the amber-eyed leopard, staring at the branch he'd dropped beside my cot while late-afternoon light faded around the platform.

Why not? the amber-eyed leopard asked me, lowering his head toward the offering with genuine confusion before looking back up.

“Because it's a stick,” I told the amber-eyed leopard, pointing toward it as though the problem should have been self-evident.

Good stick, the amber-eyed leopard insisted, nudging the branch with one paw.

“I have access to many sticks,” I replied to the amber-eyed leopard, sweeping one hand toward the entire rainforest surrounding us.

He slowly surveyed the trees. Then he looked back at his offering.

This one is straight, the amber-eyed leopard told me, sounding as though he'd finally identified the important quality I had somehow overlooked. I pressed my lips together and turned toward Cat, who was lying near the bottom of the steps with his eyes closed.

His shoulders were moving.

“You're laughing,” I accused Cat, pointing at him while the amber-eyed leopard continued guarding his rejected gift.