The Book of Night With Moon Read Free

snoring gently. Rhiow put her head down by Hhuha's ear and purred.
    No response.
    It would have been nice to do this the easy way, Rhiow thought reluctantly, but… She bumped Hhu's head with her own, purring harder.
    "Rrrrgh," said Hhuha, and rolled over, and squinted her eyes tighter shut, and after a moment looked at Rhiow out of them with some disbelief.
    She sat up groggily in the bed and looked at the door. "Now how the heck did you get in here? I know he shut that last night."
    "Yes, I know, I opened it, never mind," Rhiow said, "come on, will you? I have to get an early start. Business, unfortunately." She rubbed against Hhuha's side and purred some more.
    "Wow, you're noisy this morning, aren't you? What on earth do you want? Not breakfast already, you pig! You had two whole slices of pizza just a few hours ago."
    Don't remind me, Rhiow thought, for her stomach was growling so hard, she was amazed Hhuha couldn't hear it. "Look, it would really help if you would just get up and give me my morning feed so I can get on with things—"
    "Mike? Mike, get up. I think maybe your kitty wants her breakfast."
    "Nnnggghhhh," said Iaehh, and didn't move.
    "Oh, will you come on already?" Rhiow said, desperately hoping Hhuha didn't notice that her purr was becoming a little forced. "And as for pigs, who ate half a salami last night? And never gave me any? Even when I asked. Now please get up before it gets so late that I have to leave!"
    "Gosh, you really must be hungry. I guess cats digest faster than people or something," Hhuha said, her voice going soft, and she reached out to scratch Rhiow's eyebrows. The tone of voice was one Rhiow had heard before: she got a sense that her ehhif liked being "talked to," even when they couldn't hear half of what was being said, and, even if they could, would have no idea what the words meant anyway. This tendency made them either great idiots or very fond of her indeed, and either conjecture only made Rhiow twitchier under the present circumstances. She stomped her forefeet alternately on the coverlet, as much from impatience as from pleasure at having her head scratched.
    "Come on, then," said Hhuha. She got out of bed, threw a house-pelt around her, and headed toward the kitchen. Rhiow went after her, not in a hurry: this was no time to trip Hhuha halfway there and have to deal with an ehhif temper tantrum that might take half an hour to resolve. By the time Rhiow got to the kitchen, Hhuha was cranking a can open.
    "Mmm," Hhuha said, "nice tuna. You'll like this."
    "I hate the tuna," Rhiow said, sitting down and curling her tail around her forefeet. "It's not made from any part of the fish that you'd ever eat. You should read more of the label than just the part about the dolphins."
    "Yum, yum," Hhuha said, putting the plate down on the floor. "Here you go, puss. Lovely tuna."
    Rhiow looked at the gelid stuff with resignation. Oh, well, she thought, it's food, and I need something before I go out. And anyway— manners… She reared up and gave Hhuha a good rub around the shins before starting to eat.
    "You're a good kitty," Hhuha said, and turned, yawning, to take something out of the refrigerator.
    Rhiow purred with amusement and satisfaction as she ate. The compliment was true enough, but also true was that, while she had been rearing up to rub against Hhuha's leg, she had seen where the container of salmon paté had been pushed back behind some drinking containers on the counter beside the ffrihh.
    "God, I'm glad it's Sunday," Hhuha said, and shut the refrigerator again, heading for the bedroom. "I couldn't bear the thought of work after last night."
    Rhiow sighed as she finished one last bite and turned away from the dish, reluctant: eating too much now would make her want a nap, and she had no time for that. "Must be nice to have weekends off," Rhiow muttered, sitting down to wash. "I wish I did."
    The rest of her personal hygiene took only a few minutes more: her ehhif had put a hiouh