“Your brother doesn’t seem to have embraced your family’s motto.”
“No. But he learned how to avoid being caught too often for misbehavior, and when he was caught, he always tried to shift the blame to someone else—or persuade the other person to deny there was any wrongdoing.” Monty put the bottle on a coaster Pete provided. “He certainly trained Sissy to be collusive in what he took from her when we were children—and nothing I said to either of them seemed to make a difference.”
Monty hesitated, then wondered why, since he had asked for this meeting. Pete had already formed opinions about members of his family. He doubted anything he said now would alter those opinions—or shock an attorney. “The man Sissy was involved with, the girls’ father. He was a nice guy, steady. And he really loved her. I only met him a few times, but I liked him. He was happy when she became pregnant with Carrie, and he and Sissy talked about getting married. Then something happened, and he wasn’t talking about marriage anymore. But they stayed together, and despite him backing away a bit, things seemed to settle down.”
“You didn’t marry Lizzy’s mother,” Pete said gently.
“I wanted to get married. Elayne didn’t. Or, more to the point, her mother didn’t want her to marry a social and financial inferior.”
“What happened with Sierra?”
“We never knew. He walked out on her and the girls about a year after Bonnie was born. The one time I confronted him after he left, he said he didn’t mind working long hours to support his own children, but he’d be damned if he’d break his back for a moocher. I didn’t understand at the time. Now, having seen Jimmy and Sissy together here, I think about how her partner paid some of the bills directly, or bought clothes and toys for the girls, or brought over a bag of groceries when he came to visit his children. But he wouldn’t give Sissy any money.”
“Jimmy was taking a share of the house money, and Sierra’s partner figured out why they were having trouble paying bills.” Pete sighed. “She probably promised to stop giving her brother money, and things would settle down for a while.”
Monty nodded. “Then Jimmy would show up again and wear her down. And when she broke one promise too many, her partner left.”
“Do you know where to find him?”
He shook his head. “Mama might know. Doesn’t matter now. Sissy is out of Jimmy’s reach. But Frances . . .”
“You can’t take a child away from her parents because you were told about something that happened in another city,” Pete said. “There is no proof that Clarence coerced Frances to do anything, and it would be his word against hers.”
“Human courts couldn’t, and wouldn’t, take Frances away from her parents on hearsay, but human law doesn’t apply in the Courtyard,” Monty said. “I wouldn’t need to convince a judge that Frances was endangered.”
Pete leaned forward. “There was enough of an age gap between you and Sierra to provide some distance, but brothers and sisters close to the same age don’t always get along. If you have any doubts about that, I’ll let you spend an afternoon with Sarah and Robert when they’re being the bane of each other’s existence. Monty, if this is a tempest in a teapot, if Frances has embellished a sibling quarrel and added a dramatic flourish for sympathy, and you convince Simon Wolfgard to act on it, there is no going back. You have more experience with the Others than I do, but having observed how the adults let the kids scrap to settle things among themselves and only step in when it looks like one of them will get hurt, they’ll take your word that the threat is serious enough to remove the child. But what happens if Simon or Vlad or Henry decides Frances should be relocated? You won’t be able to withdraw your request, won’t be able to soft-pedal what you told them in order to keep her in Lakeside.”
“I know.” It could be nothing more than Frances being unhappy and lonely. She’d been uprooted from her home in Toland and had limited contact here with the children she could play with. Even now, the apartment was a temporary home, one her family could lose at any time. This could be nothing more than a somewhat introverted child wanting to feel settled. Or she could be in real danger of being pimped by her own brother.
Monty picked up the beer and drained the bottle.
“What are you going to do?” Pete asked. “What would you do if we were talking about Lizzy?”
“Talk to Eve and Ruth so they’re aware of a potential danger. Talk to Karl and Michael in an unofficial capacity.” Monty released his breath slowly. “And talk to Simon and Vlad about when human behavior requires intervention regardless of the age of the humans.”
“Before or after the potluck dinner?”
“After. No point getting everyone stirred up just before they’re supposed to sit down together for a meal.” But he’d ask Leetha Sanguinati to let him know if Jimmy, or Clarence, had any visitors.
? ? ?
Skippy arrived at the Market Square before Simon, Meg, and Sam. So had Nathan and Blair, but they were outside Meat-n-Greens, blocking the door to keep the juvenile Wolf from dashing inside and making a grab for some of the food.
“Pup, did you tell him about this meal?” Simon asked Sam.
“No. Maybe. A little. But that was before Meg told me everyone had to look human.”
Spotting them, Skippy headed straight for Meg, who was carrying the large bowl of spinach salad.
Blair growled a warning and Simon stepped in front of Meg, giving Skippy two reasons to veer away instead of leaping on, and possibly scratching, Meg to find out what was in the bowl. Nathan joined them, surrounding her until she reached Meat-n-Greens and went inside.
“We’ll stay out here until everyone else is inside,” Blair said.
“The female pack and the rest of the food are here,” Nathan said. “The males are just arriving. Is that normal? I thought males helped with food.”
“I did,” Simon replied.
Blair gave him a look. “You brought leaves and fungus.”
Simon bared his teeth. Then he sighed because it was true. “Come on, Sam.”
But Sam was staring at Skippy, whose amber eyes held a puzzled earnestness.
“You can’t come in,” Sam said with quiet authority. “You have to be able to shift to human form to eat here today.”
The adult Wolves didn’t move, didn’t intrude. The moment stretched. Then Skippy slunk away, crying in a way that made Simon’s heart ache.
“We’ll make sure he gets some of the food,” Simon whispered to Sam as he opened the door. He and the leader of the puppy pack went inside.
The tables had been moved together to form one long table down the center of the room. Other tables had been grouped to hold bowls and platters of a variety of foods.
“There is so much,” Meg said, taking slow steps toward the food tables.