"My…papers? I'm visiting a friend? I don't need a visitor's visa from the United States?" Panic rose in Tara. She'd been allowed into the country. She was almost certain shedidn'tneed a visa to visit Ireland, but she couldn't imagine what other papers she might need, either.
"For the paycook," the groundskeeper growled.
Tara nearly collapsed in relief. "Oh. Oh, right, because they're not meant to be kept as pets. The papers are back at my friend's place? I mean, it's his pet, obviously. But…" She felt a blush rising. "But, well, I mean, we didn't think we'd be noticed, you know? We thought we'd sneak the peacock in last night and I'd do my photography this morning, and then we'd lure it out just at closing with its favorite food."
"Which is what?" The groundskeeper pounced, verbally. Tara felt extremely like she'd been caught in a lie, which of course she had, and frantically tried to think of what the hell peacocks might eat.
"…bananas?"
"And where's your bananas?"
"My friend has them!"
"And where's your friend?"
Tara obviously couldn't sayin the pen,and had no idea what else to say. "I don't know. Somewhere on the grounds, I guess?"
The groundskeeper showed his teeth in something resembling a smile. "Give him a ring, why don't you?"
"I—oh—I—we—I mean, I really like him, but I don't, I don't think our relationship has progressed that far?" Tara's ears wereburning hot and she was actually afraid to look toward Declan even if hewasa peacock.
To her utter surprise, the groundskeeper burst out laughing, although he looked as though he didn't want to. "A call, love. With your mobile. Not a bloody wedding ring."
"Oh.Oh!" Fresh panic seized her. She did have Declan's phone number, but Declan was, in fact,right there. And now, in what seemed like a great oversight, Tara realized she hadn't thought to ask what happened to his clothes or his phone or anything he had on him when he turned into a peacock. If she called him and the bird'sbuttstarted ringing or something, they would have a wholenewset of problems to deal with.
A bolt of inspiration struck and Tara gave the groundskeeper the most apologetic smile she could manage, which was pretty sincere, just then. "Oh, I can't. I would, but," she waved her hands toward the sky, trying to indicate the great nebulous network of cellular access. "My service provider turns out to not work, like,at allin Ireland. I thought it would, but it just really doesn't, and I'm only here for two weeks so I thought I'd basically pretend I lived in the Before Times and try to get along without one for a while."
The groundskeeper, his grumpiness apparently having been broken by the laugh, gave a deep sigh. "Well, you'll have to provide the papers before I can let you take him out of here, love. I can see he hasn't a tag," he agreed, "but that doesn't mean he's yours legally."
"It doesn't mean he's yours legally either," Tara said, annoyed, but arguing wasn't going to get her anywhere, especially as she was fairly certain there were no papers to provide and if the authorities got involved things would get complicated in terrible ways. "All right, we'll go back into Cork and get them. Please take care of him while we're gone."
"Av carse, love."
Tara walked away, aware of the groundskeeper's eyes on her, and thought:this is a disaster.Even if these fictional papers existed, she didn't know where Declan lived. She didn't know how to get ahold of any of his friends, who might be able to help her. It wasn't like the namesSeamusandBrianwere going to narrow things down very much in the country of Ireland, or even just the city of Cork. There was absolutely nowhere she could turn, and Declan couldn't very well shift into human and let himself out of the peacock enclosure. Not without risking everything. She needed someone who already knew the truth about shifters, and who was in a sufficiently high position of authority that they could get her and Declan both out of this mess.
"Oh." She barely whispered the word as an idea came together around the edges of her mind, so fragile she didn't dare think about it directly for fear of scaring it away. Instead she put on a burst of speed, moving well away from the suspicious groundskeeper and the peacock enclosure. The path she was on bent down toward the river, which was perfect. Its burbling might help hide her conversations from prying ears. Still without quite letting herself think about it, she looked up the name of the director for the Shamrock Safari Wildlife Park, and then, hands shaking, put in a call to the park's main line.
"Yes, hello? Hi, I'm looking for Director Maureen Kelly? My name is Tara Lynch, and—no," she said to the brisk-voiced Irish woman who'd answered. "I don't have any connection to the director. But this is very important. It's about…" Tara fumbled for a phrase that might get the urgency across without spilling any secrets. "It's about a peacock I saw at the wildlife park this week. Could you tell her…"
Oh, this was a risk. Tara's stomach swam with nerves. "Could you tell her that itshiftedmy view on a few things, and that it's very, very important I speak to her?"
"The director is a very busy woman," the woman on the phone said impatiently, but sighed. "Please hold. I'll see if she has a moment to speak with you."
"Thank you! Thank you so much, I—" Hold music came on and Tara squirmed with agitation, trying desperately to think what she would do if this didn't work, and what she should say to make sure it did, if it could. After a moment the brisk woman came back on, told her she was being transferred, and sent her through to a new line ringing.
It picked up on the second ring. "This is Director Moira Kelly. How can I help you, Ms. Lynch?"
"Director Kelly. Thank you." Tara thought she was going to pass out from worry. "Director, I, I, I—" It turned out trying to confess to a stranger that she'd met a man who could turn into a peacock was extremely difficult. If Kelly didn't know about shifters, Tara knew she would be exposing a huge secret, if the director even believed her at all.
"I assume," Director Kelly said into Tara's stutters, "that this newlyshiftedviewpoint of yours has something to do with the unusual bond between humans and animals at the Shamrock Safari park. If your concern is that I may not share your perception of that extraordinary connection, please let me assure you that my own perspective on that topic was shifted a long, long time ago."
"Oh thankGod." It was all in code words, but Tara was ninety-five percent certain Director Kelly was telling her she did know about shifters. "Okay, thank God, because I need your help. Or the friend who shifted my perception needs your help. I—Director Kelly, is it safe for me to be direct about this? Because I don't know how to tell you what's wrong otherwise."
Kelly gave an enormous sigh. "Do you have a secure vone app on your phone?"
"Vone…?"
"Video phone," Kelly said patiently. "Do you have an encrypted, non-billionaire-owned vone app?"
