“He came prepared with a piece of fabric to match my pillow?” Que's expression went shocked, and a little impressed.
“Aha!” I pulled a small piece of paper out of the pocket the false back made. “Here's our clue.”
Que took the pillow from me and yanked the back away. “There's fur on this side. Beaver fur, if I'm not mistaken.”
“Beaver.” I paused in unfolding the paper and looked at Blue.
“So, that mistake was on purpose,” Blue said.
“I never thought it was a mistake,” I said. “The trickster is trying to tell us something.”
“Something that involves beavers?” Que asked with aconfused scowl.
“Yes, and coyotes.” I unfolded the message and read, “Beavers have thick fur, but thin skin. Find the vengeful beaver, and you will find me.” I grimaced. “I'm so glad that Pan and Re aren't here.”
“Why?” Que asked.
“They can be a little immature about things that can be taken sexually,” I said.
“What about that is sexual?”
Blue cleared his throat.
“What?” Que asked.
I pressed my lips together, then shrugged. We were all grown-ups. “The word beaver has been used as a slang for, uh, lady bits.”
Okay, so maybe I wasn't that grown up.
Que frowned. “Lady bits? A beaver? Really? Why?”
“I believe it had something to do with the fur,” Blue said, then shook his head. “Let's not have this conversation.”
“Do you think the trickster meant it to sound sexual?” Que asked.
“No,” Blue and I said together.
“Then I agree that we should move on. It holds no bearing here.”
“Yes, you're right.” I got out of Que's bed, because that was just making me feel even more awkward, and handed the note to Blue. “Any thoughts?”
“Not immediately,” Blue admitted. “Not on the clue, at least. I do think we should return to the others and get theirinput on this.”
“Oh, great,” I huffed. “Prepare yourself for beaver jokes.”
“I will remind them of the gravity of the situation,” Blue tucked the paper into his suit jacket. “Let's go. I don't think we'll find anything more here.”
“Hold on,” Quetzalcoatl said. “This god got into my territory, then my home, and—while I was sleeping—he found a hidden drawer that no one knows about, stole the Wind Jewel, and stuck a false back on one of my pillows to conceal a clue? Who is this person?!”
“That is the question we all want answered,” I said.
Chapter Eleven
Que got dressed—well, more dressed—and I flew the men back to the ledge that served as Que's tracing chamber. Then we traced to Hermes's territory, Blue holding Que's hand to take him through the ward. We stepped out of the tracing chamber to find Pan sitting on the trunk of the car, playing his pipes. Yup, panpipes.
The jaunty tune ended with a squeak when he saw me. Pan jumped off the car. “Why are you in that form?”
“I had to do some flying,” I said. “And I didn't have the time to undress.”
