Sami's story will only make sense if you have read The Collector.
Natalie snuffled quietly, and Cass looked up. She glanced nervously at Sami and tilted her head up to the stars, amber eyes fixing on a floating cloud. Sami sighed quietly.
“I lost my family three years ago,” she murmured, her voice only just louder than the crackle of the flames.
“They… they got stuck inside a cloud, and the cloud got dragged away by the wind. I was in a tree at that point… hearing them crying out…” Her voice trailed away miserably, and Cass gave her a comforting one-armed hug.
“I ran away from home when I was fourteen, two years before I met Sami,” she began, her other hand fiddling with the hole ripped into the knee of her jeans.
“I heard her crying, and climbed the tree to investigate… after then, we looked after each other. Not like sisters, but maybe cousins,” Sami elbowed Cass playfully in the ribs.
“Sometimes I think I was more like your mother, you kept being reckless, ” she teased.
“You were more reckless than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Cass snorted and ruffled Sami’s hair. The each speared a second marshmallow and started toasting it. I rolled my eyes at their playful antics, knowing they only wanted to cheer Natalie up. Then I jumped – my marshmallow was almost burnt. I pulled it out and tugged off the outer layer with my teeth, before lowering the rest into the fire again. Four faces turned slowly in Ali and Prim’s direction. Ali hugged Prim harder, and Prim squeaked and wriggled a little.
“Your turn, Ali,” pointed out Cass. Ali shook her head.
“No way. No. I don’t want to talk about it,” she growled, resting her chin on the top of Prim’s head and narrowing her blue eyes.