By ten ante meridiem on Friday morning, Beth had played cowboy and wrangled her herd, hustling all four of the Fresnans into one of the pack's S.U.V.s. Tom had done the driving, and had successfully led them down the mountain and into the city below. Beth had fed everyone during the trip, and all six were now walking into the Lower Sequoia Mall as it was opening for business.
"Okay ladies, we are going to lose the children now. I'm sure that they are going to find the sports bar and go play with their penises or something, but we are going to be doing some more productive, we're going shopping!"
"Tom, you make sure that they buy some decent evening clothes before you babies sneak off to the jersey store, do you hear me?"
Tom rolled his eyes as he drove his charges away from the crazy women;
why was it that shopping appealed to women?
He made sure that neither George or Nick were actually listening to Beth by murmuring words of 'signed Derek Carr jerseys' into their ears as he led his men out of Beth's firing line.
Continuing to fire away, Beth said, "When those idiots get back, you two are in charge of checking their purchases. If they don't buy anything nice enough to get into the restaurant, you will get stuck eating in your room. Make sure they bought several pairs of everything, you don't want them wearing the same thing into the Restaurant every night."
"You know my brother?" Maria asked suspiciously.
"I know men. Once those babies get a new jersey and have a beer in their hands, it'll be all over, they will forget about anything else.
Nick's sisters laughed at this, and then Margarita asked, "Is Tom any better?"
"Not a bit, and besides that, he owes me a pair of boots today."
"Boots?"
"Umm, he lost a bet. He's gotta buy me a new pair of Ropers."
"Is he your man," Margarita probed.
"Nope, you are welcome to him," Beth shot back.
"And his brother, anyone got her claws in him? No one's got a ring on him?"
Beth instantly stopped walking and stared at the sisters, "Are you two interested in the idiot brothers?"
Maria said, "They seem like they'd be fun. They've got that bad boy vibe."
"Fun yes, sensible no."
"So...are they available?"
"Those two have been available so long that I think their sell-by label has disintegrated into dust. Do you two know how to dance?"
The sisters laughed scornfully at this, "You know we were strippers? Right?"
"Okay...So let me put that a different way. Do you two know how to dance in a honky-tonk?'
"We lived in Bakersfield, of course we honky-tonk. There's a bar there; it's called Trout's," Maria replied.
"...and then there's Buck's Crystal Palace, but that place is for the geezers, mostly." Margarita added.
Beth grinned in response and instantly changed direction in the mall, "Well then, let's go buy the boots first; I'll get you set up with the idiot brothers later."
~~~
Florence was asleep, curled around her mate, lying in the lush grass. As her eyes began to flicker open, she felt the warming presence of her mate at her side and began to snuggle back into his heat when she suddenly remembered the end of Ja-mul's ceremony. Her eyes snapped open at this memory and she sat up quickly. She was reassured to find that William was asleep at her side, and Ja-mul slept nearby.
She glanced around quickly and felt a sense of déjà-vu, even though she was reasonably sure that she had never been here before, it seemed awfully familiar. "This was the home you should have had," a musical voice said softly. Florence turned her head and saw that it was coming from a striking looking woman who was addressing her.
No normal women, she was well over two meters in height, her coloration an ethereal shade of such bright white that she almost glowed. Her features were those of the People even if her coloring was not. Flo idly considered that Beth's cosmetics could probably allow this woman to appear Cherokee, if only they were caked on thick enough.
"This world is exactly like the 'new world' would have been, except there are no human beings in it. No white men, no members of the People; you might call it an alternate world, but I prefer to think of it as a better one."
"Lady..." stammered Florence questioningly.
"Or Xwun, as Ja-mul thinks of me... or several dozen other names over the years, many call me Luna. I'm delighted to finally meet you Florence. I have waited a long time for one of your birth. I think that we can finally put things right."
"Of my birth? What do you mean by that?"
"Would you like to see your parents as they were? They won't see us or even know we are watching them, but you can learn where you came from in the process."
"My birth parents?"
"Yes Florence, are you ready?"
Florence glanced nervously at where her mate continued to sleep peacefully.
The Lady saw the look and reassured Florence that both he and Ja-mul would be perfectly safe here alone. "Indeed," she said, "I am speaking with them now, and he did the exact same thing that you did; his first thought was for your safety. The two of you have a
very
strong bond for such a new pairing. It bodes well for all of us."
"He'll be safe here? And the old coyote too?"
The Lady laughed at this, "He'd like that. The old coyote... He loves being a pain! And yes Florence, they will be perfectly safe here all alone. Shall we go?"
Reaching down with a glowing hand, the Lady grasped hands with Florence, and they were instantly elsewhere.
They were now in a small cave where a wolf bitch was in the process of birthing her pups. Florence continued to watch as four wolf pups were born, one right after another, and as a huge, scarred wolf stood guard in the cave opening, defending his family.
"That one is you," the Lady said, pointing at the last and largest pup to be born. Now, we'll slide forward in time a little ways and see how things developed."
Florence's vision blurred for a moment and she realized that they were now outside the cave, where the large male was dragging a small doe back to his family for dinner. She watched as three pups came forward and began to feed. She looked for the fourth pup, but he was nowhere to be found.
Sensing Florence's unspoken question, the Lady said, "He died young, it's just you and your two brothers now."
