Shawn frowns as he tucks into the pancakes, and he looks genuinely annoyed. “I’d really like to talk to the pack without him around.”
“Really?” I scoff a little before cutting into my food. “You look like you get along great.”
I take a bite of the pancakes and close my eyes in amazement as I taste the crispy, fluffy cake.
Okay. The boy can cook. Fucking wow.
“If it looks that way, then good,” he says mysteriously. “That’s exactly what I’m going for.”
The comment confuses me so much, I don’t answer and focus on my food instead. It’s so delicious that I clean my plate in only a few minutes and scrape around for the last of the syrup and cream.
“You liked it?” Shawn asks, grinning happily.
I nod. “Probably the best pancakes I’ve ever had.”
“I can make some more, if you like.”
“No, we should get going. Father and Melanie sleep in a lot, so if we go now, we might get a chance to talk to the others before they arrive.”
While Shawn cleans up and gets ready to leave, I go out to Jess’s garden and put together a few baskets of produce to hand out in town. Even without anyone to tend to it, the garden is flourishing. Automatic waterers keep spraying, the covered roof gives just the right amount of sun and shade, and even though the chickens have attacked some of the plants, they’ve also turned the soil and kept the bugs under control.
Just before I leave, I hear a hen clucking the egg song and track her down to a hidden area behind some low shrubs. There is a large collection of eggs stashed, and I take them all.
“Thought you were clever, didn’t you?” I say, pointing at the hen as she struts away. “Trying to hide your eggs from me. You tell your sisters to use the nest box from now on!”
The hen clucks and wanders off, looking for all the world like she’s giving me attitude.
I know damn well they’ll just choose a new hiding spot now—and it will probably be even harder to find!
When I get inside, Shawn helps me load the baskets into a big wheelbarrow. We follow the main street past the common buildings and out onto a little dusty path.
The houses in this area are all in terrible shape, with fallen planks, broken windows, and holes in their walls. Thin, dirt-smudged kids play in the street, stopping to watch us approach.
As Shawn gets closer to the kids, I see pain in his eyes. When he bends down to talk to them, his voice catches in his throat.
This can’t be an act.
Soon, the adults join us, and a lot of them seem nervous to talk to Shawn. He quickly puts them at ease, handing outproduce and talking to them about what they need the most and how he can help them. He makes a note that they need bedding and basic supplies, as well as clothes and lots of building materials.
“I can bring in all of this from Eccles,” he says to one of the men. “And I can bring in people to labor as well. We can get your houses fixed up in under a week. Do you guys have electricity?”
Some of them shake their heads. Shawn asks for a tour of the place, and I follow along as a small crowd of children gathers around me.
“Are you the new luna?” a little girl asks, tugging on my hand.
I smile down at her. “Yes, sweetheart, I am.”
“Will you bring us cakes? Jess always brought us cakes.”
“I sure can! What cake do you like?”
“Any cake,” the little girl laughs.
“I’ll do you one better,” I say. “You and your friends can come up to the house any time you like. We can sit in the garden, eat cake, and drink cold lemonade while we read books.”
Suddenly, all the kids around me look tense.
“We aren’t supposed to,” one of the kids whispers.
