Sienna nudged her mother, and they entered via the passenger side.A door slammed shut, and Jules started the engine.
“Everyone ready?”she asked.
There was a chorus of assent from the rear, and Jules pulled away from their sheltered spot and onto the gravel road.Jules wasn’t a tall girl, but she drove with confidence and skill.
“Won’t your father notice you’re gone?”her mother asked.
“He and Mama and my younger sister have already left for France, but Papa wants the campervan there too.I’ll take it as I promised, but I intend to help you get out of Stoneford first.I detest what he has done to your family.Even before the hunters came, he pressured the other villagers into causing trouble.And it was all because of my friendship with Kitto.We’ve done nothing wrong.I trust Kitto and know he won’t try to kiss me or attack me, or worse, because he’s honorable.My father sees only his differences.I want to help, and I won’t tell my father or the hunters a thing.”
“Thank you,” Mama said.“I believe you.”
Silence fell while Jules navigated the country roads.They passed several vehicles full of men heading into the village.
“That doesn’t bode well,” Jules said with a frown.
“Those poor people.Many have left the village, but what will happen to those who have to remain?”Ma asked.
“They’ll be all right as long as they stay in their human form and don’t panic,” Jules said.“But if I were them and couldn’t leave, I’d make a complaint to the cops in the neighboring town.The hunters are breaking the law and bullying everyone.”
“None of them will consider the police,” Ma said.“The Stoneford shifters are independent and won’t think to complain to human authorities.”
“So do it for them,” Jules said.“I have a prepaid phone.Use the internet to find the number, then call and make a complaint.”
“Sienna,” her mother said.“What do you think?”
“I’ll do it,” Sienna said.
“The prepaid is in there,” Jules said, pointing to a small compartment.“Use mine to look up the number.”
Sienna found the number and plugged it into the prepaid phone.Within seconds, she was speaking to an officer at the police station.
“Have you heard about the hunters searching for the Beast of Bodmin?”she asked.
“In Stoneford,” the man said.
“Yes,” Sienna said and then recounted the threats and bullying and the way the hunters were barging into people’s homes and terrorizing the locals.“Please, can you do something?My husband is afraid.I have small children, and I’m worried the hunters will shoot someone.They have weapons.Please, you must help.”Sienna hung up.
“Good job,” Jules said.“That will get them moving or at least investigating.Sienna, can you get out the map and help me navigate?I don’t want to use the GPS because Pa might check, and he’ll freak if he sees where I’ve been.”
When they reached an isolated campsite late afternoon, Sienna was pleased to see Liam awake.
“How do you feel?”she asked.
“Like someone shot me,” Liam muttered.
“Happens a lot, does it?”Jago asked.
“Smart arse.”
“No, really,” Sienna said.“Can I check your wound?Sit over here.”She gestured at one of the deck chairs Calan had set out.Jago and Kitto were helping Papa set up a tent while her mother and Jules were sorting out dinner.
Liam shrugged out of his shirt with a pained grunt.“I feel like an invalid.”
She refrained from telling him he was one.The truth—he’d had a rough spell with two knocks on the head and a gunshot wound.He was lucky he was still functioning.
Sienna peeled off the tape and pad covering the wound.What she saw didn’t reassure her much.The edges of the wound were red and swollen, with a thin line of pus seeping from one corner.This wasn’t normal healing.“Let me clean it for you before you take more antibiotics.How many do you have left?”
“Don’t know.Kitto has them.”
