*
Simon gave them credit for one thing: these humans did know how to work. And humans and terra indigene had experienced each other in a new way as they combined skills to expand the garden.
Kowalski, Debany, MacDonald, and Henry cut the sod for the expanded area. Montgomery and Pete Denby used a tool with curved prongs and a long handle to break up the soil.
The Wolves, of course, used paws and claws to achieve the same results. But Simon noticed Blair sniffing around the garden tools the humans had brought with them and figured Meg would be given a list of tools to order for the Utilities Complex.
“Good thing we had a light rain last night,” Montgomery said as he broke up the soil while Pete stacked the squares of sod that had been cut.
All the other humans stopped and looked at him.
“It didn’t rain last night,” Kowalski finally said.
“Guess it was a localized shower,” Montgomery said.
A laughing grunt from Henry had the humans turning to the Grizzly.
Henry sank the spade into the soil, his movements easy and powerful. “We talked to the girls at the lake yesterday evening and told them we were expanding this garden—and that our Meg wanted to help with the digging and planting the seeds.”
“So it just rained in the Courtyard last night?” MacDonald said.
<That disturbs him.> Puzzled, Simon paused in his digging to study Lawrence MacDonald.
<Yes. I find that interesting.> Henry went back to cutting sod.
Simon glanced at the three children. The Lizzy was still petting the Wolf pups, but the Robert and the Sarah were playing with some of the juvenile Hawks by hitting badminton shuttlecocks into the air for the Hawks to catch and then drop for the next player with a racket to hit back into the air.
Eventually the pups would grow bored with being petted and run over to see what Sam was doing, since he had stayed close to Meg. Eventually the Hawks would tire of the game and fly off to see what else was happening in the Courtyard. Eventually the Crows would find the humans less entertaining and fly off to work on their own garden—the cornfield especially.
And Meg, who had never dug into soil or smelled freshly turned earth, who had never had to be reminded to drink water when she worked outdoors or to put a cream on her skin to avoid sunburn . . . Meg was entranced by everything.
Simon kept a watchful eye on her and listened to the female pack as they talked about the garden and some of the vegetables and herbs they would like to plant. He wasn’t sure any of the terra indigene would care about the herbs. After all, deer was supposed to taste like deer, and you didn’t sprinkle anything on a rabbit before you ate it. But Tess wandered by and expressed an interest in the herbs, so herbs would be planted, along with corn, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, beans, peas, and something called zucchini, which Merri Lee said tasted good with tomato sauce and pasta.
“Enough for today,” Henry said as he began to collect the tools that belonged to the Others. “Tess, Vlad, and Jester are saying it’s time to eat.”
A moment’s tension as the humans looked at the Others.
“Is this the picnic?” Meg asked.
“Not quite a picnic, if I understand what humans mean by that word,” Henry replied. “But something we hope you will enjoy.”
Nathan arrived in the pickup used by the Utilities Complex, loaded up the Wolf pups and juveniles, including Sam, and took them back to the Wolfgard Complex for their own kind of meal. Hawks, Crows, and a couple of sleepy Owls also headed for their own places, which left the humans and the residents of the Green Complex, who were walking back to the meal Tess had set out.
Simon trotted ahead of them, leaving Henry to watch over Meg. If he was going to eat with them, better to look human. And better to shift in private. Being terra indigene, he didn’t respond to female bodies the way human males did unless the female smelled like she wanted to mate. But naked wasn’t something done around human pups—although he wanted to ask the men why naked from the waist up was all right for them but females remained covered. That didn’t seem fair.
Shifting a paw just enough to form stubby fingers, he opened his front door, then rushed up to his bedroom to shift all the way and put on denim shorts and a T-shirt. Sandals. Reviewing his mental checklist for human grooming, he decided everyone else was going to be sweaty and leaving a strong scent, so he didn’t have to mask his own scent and could keep his grooming to a minimum. He splashed water on his face, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and was back outside before the humans straggled into the open area that formed the center of the Green Complex.
A potted tree provided some shade for a water trough that someone had filled with fresh water. A couple of benches provided places for birds to perch or Others in human form to sit if they didn’t want the privacy of their own porches.
Henry picked up the sponge resting in the raised area of the trough and washed his arms, chest, and face before squeezing out water to run down his back.
Kowalski and Debany arrived next.
“Soap?” Kowalski asked when Henry offered the sponge.
“Not in this water,” Henry replied.
Before they could ask why, Jake Crowgard flew over to the trough. He took a drink, then had a quick splash in the raised area before flying off.
“Right,” Debany said, wiping down with the sponge after Kowalski finished with it.
Simon stepped in front of Meg. She looked tired, her eyes a little glazed.
“Too much?” he asked quietly, noticing how the other girls gave him a look before moving toward the trough. Was the look supposed to be a warning, a message, or just the curiosity human females and Crows seemed to have in common?
“Yes, but in a good way.” She smiled. “No pins and needles.”
“Tess, Vlad, and Jester opened up the summer room. Nathan brought over sawhorses and planks to use as a serving table. There’s not much furniture to sit on, but there are a couple of benches.”
She closed her eyes. She frowned a little, but the smile still curved her lips.
“I have training images of sawhorses and benches, but I can’t put them together to make an image of the summer room.”
“I can bring you food. You could eat on your porch, or inside.”
She looked at him, and her smile warmed. “No, I’m all right. I’d like to see the summer room. I’d like to see how the food is put out for a picnic that’s not quite a picnic.”
“Okay.”
Meg looked at the water trough. “But I’m going to wash up in my own bathroom.”
Simon stepped aside.
As soon as Meg went inside her apartment, Montgomery approached him.
“Is Meg all right?” Montgomery asked.
“She’s fine.”
“No problems with yesterday’s cut?”
“No. She was careful today.” And he’d stayed close enough that he would have caught the slightest whiff of blood if the cut had reopened.
Montgomery looked around. “This is something new, isn’t it? You and us.”
Simon shrugged. “Don’t know if it’s new, but I don’t think it’s been tried for a long time. Not with your kind of human.”
Montgomery hesitated, as if he wanted to say something else. Instead he smiled. “Guess I’d better get washed up.”
Simon watched the humans. Cautious but not afraid. Even the newest humans, the Denbys, weren’t afraid. Not like they would have been a year ago.
He hoped they stayed cautious, especially if the Courtyard started having guests.
<The food’s in here,> Vlad said.
<I’m waiting for Meg.> He heard the toilet flush. Hard not to hear water whooshing through the pipes with the summer room open. Since humans pretended they didn’t know about each other’s pee and poop, he’d let her figure that out on her own. He had something else on his mind. <Why is having a share in this garden so important to the human pack?>
<They like to eat same as us?>
<It’s more than that. They’re too relieved about having another source of food besides what they can buy in human stores.>
<Then it will be interesting to find out.>
Simon said nothing more because Meg returned. He followed her into the summer room to see what kind of food he was eating instead of a deer.