By the time he’d readied the materials, it was time to meet Joey Hu and Mikhail Long up in the garden. He peered at the sky, and spotted Mikhail flying along the coast as he ran up the path to the top of the palisade. When he reached the garden, he heard the approach of a car up the driveway, and glimpsed a sporty model pulling into the space next to his truck. A slight, dapper man and a woman with short salt-and-pepper hair exited the car. They joined hands as they approached, both smiling.
Alejo vaulted the low fence so that the visitors wouldn’t have to go through the house. “Professor Hu? And…Mrs.?”
“Call me Joey.”
“I’m Doris. Is Wendy about?”
“She’s at work.”
Doris looked disappointed. “That’s right—she’s in the back room at the bakery.” She turned to Joey. “I promised Godiva I’d look in on her. How about if I take the car?”
Joey and Doris kissed like a pair of newlyweds, then he said, “I need a good run. Take it!”
“Bye, Alejo! Nice to meet you!” Doris flipped up a hand, and drove off, as Joey said, “Ah! And here’s Mikhail.”
The great silver dragon shifted with quiet grace that Alejo admired (remembering the crashings and tumbles of his first shift experiences as a teen) and joined them.
The two men hopped the fence with Alejo, crossed the terrace, and followed him along the winding pathways. They soon passed the fragrant blooms that surrounded the house, and entered the deeper tangle around the trees that clearly had been there for a very long time. The trees and shrubs were so thick that no sounds from outside penetrated, either the ocean from the west, or street sounds from the east.
Midway along the trail, Alejo sensed Wendy’s approach out on the street. She was coming back from her shift at the bakery. He smiled to himself as he took another turn in the path. “Right past here," he said, pointing.
They slowed, the dappled light dimming to a luminous green, shrouded by the thick canopy of foliage overhead. There was nothing in sight.
I sense a great many above and around us, Mikhail observed via the mental plane, which many mythic shifters shared.
Joey Hu nodded.I do as well. Hiding.Let me shift. See if that helps the situation. My senses will be much stronger, at least.
Light flickered, and Joey shifted to his nine-tail fox, the plumed tails waving slowly.
Alejo said,I haven’t seen any but Sam’s small friends, but I wonder if I saw them only because I was seen rescuing Sam from that encounter with the real-estate woman.
Pop!
Squeak appeared on a branch at Alejo’s height, eyes bright and alert.
Alejo stood completely still. “These are Sam’s friends,” he said slowly, wondering if the words or the tone conveyed his peaceful intentions.
Pop! Squeak appeared on Alejo’s shoulder. The squirrel’s weight was slight. His body seemed to be half fluff. Squeak tapped Alejo’s arm. Alejo obligingly lifted his arm toward Mikhail, and Squeak ran along it, pausing alertly at his wrist, as he steadily regarded Mikhail.
Pop! Then he vanished, and reappeared beside Joey Hu’s mythic fox, who lowered his head slowly. Alejo remained where he was as Squeak and Joey touched noses. Then Squeak squeaked a high trill, and he vanished.
The rise of voices barely reached Alejo. Angry voices. Coming from the direction of the driveway.
“Wendy,” he said—his danger sense twanging.
He ran.
TWELVE
WENDY
Wendy’s shift at the bakery flew by.
Right before it was time to leave, she heard a familiar voice out in the shop, followed by Linette’s, “Of course you can say hello—though catch her quick. She’ll be off in twenty minutes.”
That was Linette, who rushed through, waving goodbye at Wendy. Following her was Doris, Joey Hu’s wife. Wendy had seen Doris at Godiva’s several times, and had three of her cookbooks packed away in a box, awaiting her move back to her house. The only reason she didn’t use those delicious recipes is that they were designed to be used by single people, and at Godiva’s she cooked for a group.
Doris came in, sniffing deeply. “I am proud of my culinary skills, but there is something about Linette’s baking that I just can’t beat. It smells like heaven, it tastes even better. How are you doing, Wendy?”
