Nest
- Matt finally gets some sleep—as the ship gets lighter so does the angst he's been suffering from being land-bound.
- However, he wakes up to a shock: Baz comes running in and breathlessly reports that Kate has gone missing. She apparently drugged Miss Simpkins and escaped her locked room, but Baz is just happy that Matt isn't with her (or complicit in the plot).
- Matt reports to the Topkapi stateroom where the captain is relieved to see him, even if Miss Simpkins isn't.
- The captain asks if Matt knows where Kate is, and he replies that he probably does. Against Miss Simpkins's wishes, Matt and Bruce Lunardi are to go out to find her—and they need to hurry, because once the ship is airworthy the captain plans on leaving.
- Kate's disappearance is not only annoying; it's a danger to the ship. Staying on the island any longer only increases the odds of something else happening to the Aurora.
- Matt does know where she probably went: down into the valley where they saw the cloud cat disappear.
- Matt is worried about Kate, though. Her sense of direction is notoriously crappy, and the only way she'd find that valley would be with a compass. Too bad she doesn't have one like Matt does… oh wait. She never gave it back to him after the cave. Sneaky girl.
- Matt meets with Bruce and begrudgingly heads off into the woods. He's a little bitter that of all the people the captain could have chosen for his partner, he'd chosen this guy, but he understands. A little. It also makes it difficult to keep their secret.
- To Matt's surprise, they end up bonding during their walk. Bruce is jealous of his passion for what he does (flying), and Matt is envious of Bruce's privilege.
- As it turns out, being rich isn't all it's cut out to be—Bruce is only on the ship because his father is forcing him to be there. They've made a deal: if Bruce can make it two years on an airship without quitting, his father will let him try something else afterward. But he doesn't even know what that something else would be. And if he quits before the two years are up he'll be cut off without a dime. Rough deal.
- Bruce even apologizes for the whole situation. He acknowledges that Matt must hate him for stealing his position, and he understands. Aw man, it'd be easier to hate him if he was a nasty jerk—but he's actually pretty likeable.
- Even though he has a better understanding for how helpless Bruce is about the situation, he still has a hard time accepting the fact that he'll be a cabin boy for at least two more years. Poor Matt.
- They continue to re-trace Kate's steps (or what they think are her steps), and as they descend into the valley they see that she's left blazes on trees to mark her way. That'll make it easier.
- When they reach the valley floor they start to call out for Kate and she almost immediately answers from a perch up in an enormous tree. She's wearing an outfit of green harem-pants and a brown tunic—Matt's pretty impressed with her camouflage and ingenuity.
- Matt and Bruce race each other up the tree so they can "help" Kate come down. Hey guys—we don't think she needs a hand…
- Despite the sugary sweet politeness they are all using to address one another, things are kind of tense—Kate doesn't want to leave her tree yet, but the boys have been ordered to bring her back to the ship immediately.
- Bruce is surprised no one has settled on the island. He figures people could live there quite comfortably. Matt, however, is just focused on getting them to get back to the ship.
- Kate is stubbornly refusing to leave until she gets a picture of the cloud cat. She's found her nest, and isn't moving until she has photographic evidence of her existence.
- The nest itself is pretty impressive, and the adaptation she was forced to undergo as an air mammal living on land is quite the feat.
- When the creature makes its appearance, Bruce is stunned into silence while Kate's just mad that the boys had distracted her enough to make her miss her shot.
- Oh, how convenient—Bruce's father happens to be a wildlife enthusiast, and he has a whole wing of their home dedicated to taxidermy and other evidence of "freakish oddities."
- Bruce very generously offers to get his dad to fund a proper scientific expedition. You know, with a bunch of equipment and experts. He's quite enthusiastic about it… and Matt is just sitting there seething with jealousy.
- They all start to fight. Matt is really miffed that no one is listening to him when he begs them to get back to the ship, Kate is pissed that no one understands why she needs the pictures so badly (hint: it has to do with her ambition to go to university and head up expeditions), and Bruce is just happily agreeing with Kate—making Matt even angrier.
- Kate pleads with them a bit more calmly. She has a plan to get the cloud cat out in the open for a picture, and once she does they can go.
- Matt reluctantly agrees—but he really doesn't have a choice. The plan is to lure the cat onto the ground in a clearing using a particularly pungent fish, get their photos using the tripod, and they'll be good to go.
- Matt has his doubts about the plan. It is a wild creature after all, though Kate seems to think it's a cute widdle kitty.