Theral MacDonald took care of the medical office in the Market Square and was part of Meg’s female pack. She had run away from her abusive mate, but a couple of disturbing packages had been sent to her here at the Courtyard—proof that the bad male knew where to find her. Unfortunately, the terra indigene hadn’t found him.
It would be so easy for a potential enemy to mingle with the rest of the humans who had a legitimate reason to be in the Courtyard today.
<Jenni?> he called, scanning the trees until he spotted the Crow. <Are you and Starr going to be working at Sparkles and Junk today?>
<Maybe.>
<I’d like you to keep watch around the Market Square even if you don’t open the shop.>
She stared at him, then flew off.
Now Simon looked at Blair and Erebus. “I’d like a few Sanguinati in smoke form in the Market Square and a couple in human form in A Little Bite and Howling Good Reads. Unless Jane is needed in the Wolfgard Complex, have her spend the day with Theral in the medical office.”
“You think that Jack Fillmore might try for Theral?” Blair asked, flickers of red appearing in his amber eyes.
“It’s possible he was the human Nathan ran off yesterday,” Simon replied. “With so many unknown humans milling around, it would be a good time for it.”
“You think that is what the sweet blood is feeling?” Erebus asked.
Simon shrugged. “Trouble might try to hide among the humans at the job fair today. That could be the future that is buzzing under Meg’s skin.”
They parted. Erebus and Nyx shifted back to smoke. She headed for the Market Square while Erebus returned to the Chambers to select the Sanguinati he wanted guarding the stores—and the Courtyard’s residents. Blair headed back to the Utilities Complex to pick up the sawhorses. And Simon hurried back to the BOW to get to Howling Good Reads and select the professionals who were suited to life in a Midwest town ruled by the terra indigene and surrounded by Namid’s teeth and claws.
? ? ?
Meg watched Jester as he made a pad of blankets to cover a hay bale. Once he was satisfied, he invited her to sit.
Feeling embarrassed about causing a scene, and wondering how much trouble she’d made for the humans who were coming to the Courtyard today, she gave Jester a wobbly smile when he squatted in front of her.
“This is what I’m wondering,” he said.
Did he know his ears were still Coyote-shaped and furry?
“You’ve lived in the Courtyard for several months now, and you’ve been learning all kinds of things during that time. So why are you dumber now than you used to be?”
Meg stiffened. “Jester! That’s not a nice thing to say, even as a joke.”
“I’m not joking.”
She studied his face, his eyes, and realized he really wasn’t joking, wasn’t saying something to create a bit of mischief. Jester being completely serious made her uneasy.
“Humans talk about having a role model, someone they can learn from,” Jester continued. “You know who I think you’ve been using as a role model lately?”
“Ruth or Merri Lee?”
He shook his head. “Skippy.”
Meg stared at the Coyote. “But Skippy . . .”
“Has a skippy brain and has trouble holding on to parts of what he’s learned, which is why youngsters like him don’t usually survive in the wild country. If Skippy chases a deer and gets knocked down and bruised, he should learn that deer could hurt him if he isn’t careful. But what his brain understands is that particular deer could hurt him, so he goes out the next morning and chases a different deer—and gets knocked down again. And maybe this time the injury is serious because he’s still healing from the previous day’s bumps and bruises.
“When the Elementals and Elders struck Lakeside a few weeks ago, you knew you couldn’t stay near the humans who were offered shelter around the Market Square. You came to the Pony Barn—a place where you wouldn’t have to deal with humans and also wouldn’t be alone. You showed sense, Meg. Then Simon and Vlad do this job fair to help Tolya find the workers he needs in Bennett, and what do you do? You spend the whole first day working in the Liaison’s Office—a place you already knew wasn’t safe for you when there are so many strangers around—and get knocked over by the pressure of being close to so many potential futures. And those were Simple Life folk, who should have been the easiest humans to deal with. So what do you do on the second day of the fair? You go into the office and get knocked over harder and faster. But you were still going to open the office today. Why?”
Put that way, it did sound pretty dumb.
“All my friends could do their jobs, even with the job fair going on,” Meg mumbled, not meeting his eyes. “I didn’t want to be different.”
Jester looked bewildered. “But you are different.”
“I don’t want to be the one who can’t cope with something that is easy for everyone else to do.”
“How do you know it’s easy?”
She leaned toward him until they were almost nose to nose. “They’re in the Market Square, doing their jobs.”
“They’re not going to cut themselves to release some of the hornet’s nest of prophecies that are buzzing under the skin. They may wonder what the future holds for those humans, but they’re not going to hurt themselves to find out.” Jester leaned back a little. “You don’t want to be different? I understand that. I’m the only Coyote here in a Courtyard controlled by Wolves. It’s not dangerous for me to be here like it would be for a regular coyote to tangle with a pack of wolves, but I am alone here.”
“Do you wish it was different, that there was someone else like you? Or that you could be like another group of terra indigene, fit in with them better?”
“Being the only one can have advantages. Looking after the ponies and dealing with the girls at the lake isn’t without risk, and I might not have taken that risk if there had been other Coyotegard here to work with as part of a pack. I probably wouldn’t have lived in the Green Complex with Wolves and Sanguinati and a Grizzly, not to mention Tess. But I am the only Coyote in this Courtyard, and I get to poke my nose in all kinds of things my kind usually wouldn’t see.”
“You’re even more curious than the Crowgard,” Meg said.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
She laughed.
Jester thought for a moment. “What would have happened in Lakeside these past few months if you hadn’t been different from the other humans who work here?”