Expression grim, Nick gave a reluctant nod. "How?"
Jill leaned past him to see that John stood on the sidewalk at the opposite end from the entrance. She pictured the storefronts on this street in her mind and then turned to ask the store clerk, "There's a bookstore next door, isn't there?"
The clerk seemed startled by the question, but nodded.
"It's on this side of the store?" She gestured to the right of them.
The clerk nodded again.
"Thank you," Jill turned to Nick. "We'll go out, pause long enough for him to see us, then I'll duck into the bookstore next door while you take off up the street. He'll follow me I'm sure. I'll slip into an aisle and quick change to give him the slip."
Nick nodded slowly. "I'll head to the parking lot. My vehicle's a big red SUV. Meet me there after you give him the slip."
Jill smiled. Rather than be relieved to be free of her, he was arranging to meet up with her again. She wanted to grab him and plant a big kiss on his lips. Unfortunately, they didn't have time. "I'll head for the parking lot as soon as I can."
How will I know it's you?" Nick asked with a frown.
Jill grinned and simply said, "I'll tell you."
"Right." He glanced to the front of the store before turning back to ask, "Ready?"
Jill took a deep breath and then nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Okay." Squeezing her hand, he drew her back the way they'd come, using the aisles to hide them until they'd reached the door. John was still there but his attention was turned in the other direction as they slipped out of the store. Rather than head off right away, Nick urged her toward the door to the bookstore. They'd nearly reached it when John turned and glanced in their direction.
There was one moment when all three of them froze, then Nick took off running. Jill immediately rushed into the bookstore. A glance back as the bell above the door jangled showed John hurrying after her, leaving Nick to escape as she'd expected.
Heart pounding, Jill rushed up the first aisle, then took a sharp left and headed for the back of the store, glancing up each aisle she passed. Jill didn't see John, but she saw a lot of other people. There seemed to be someone in every aisle she passed, which made those aisles useless to her. She could hardly shift in front of witnesses.
Jill was starting to panic when she reached the last aisle and—much to her relief—found it unoccupied. Her relief was short-lived. She hurried up the aisle, wildly scanning the books on display in search of a picture of a person she could turn into. It only took a second for her to realize she would have no luck here. The aisle was filled with Christmas items: cards, calendars, and children's books all featuring elves, doves, Santa, Rudolph… Almost every last one was drawn or a cartoon image that was useless to her. At least she didn't think she could turn into a three-dimensional, life-sized cartoon image. And even if she could, John would know at once it was her.
There were only two images that were of actual living creatures. One was a set of cards with a cute little puppy on it. While Jill knew she could probably take on the shape, she somehow didn't think she'd be able to shrink in size to be the creature. Besides, it was cute and cuddly and pretty much defenseless against someone like John.
Her gaze slid to the second image and she stared at the card featuring a real reindeer wearing a glowing red Rudolph nose. Despite the pressure of the moment, Jill couldn't help but wonder how on earth the photographer had got the reindeer to stand still long enough to put the nose on, let alone wear it long enough for pictures to be taken.
"Watch it, mister," the woman's voice made her glance anxiously up the aisle. She had no doubt the woman was speaking to John. He was probably barreling up the store's center aisle like a bull as he'd done on the street, pushing people out of the way as he went. And he wasn't far away. He'd be here any moment.
Panic a high-pitched whistle shrieking in her head, Jill turned in a circle. What to do? What to do? John would be here any moment and she was trapped. What to do?
Her gaze slid desperately back to the image of the reindeer. He'd know it was her, of course. He'd hardly imagine a reindeer got loose from the parade and wandered in to pick out Christmas cards. On the other hand, she'd have a lovely pair of antlers to hold him off with, which was more than she had at the moment.
Could she?
"Hey!"
Jill winced and glanced around again. That shout had been much closer than the last. Frighteningly close. Turning determinedly back to the cards, Jill stared at the image of the red-nosed reindeer and closed her eyes. In that moment she really wanted to be the reindeer. It was big, would be fast, and had large antlers to hold John off.
A gasp brought her eyes open and she peered to the end of the aisle where John stood, a stunned look on his face. The red bulb glowing at the end of her now very elongated nose was her first clue that the shift had worked. Glancing down she found herself staring at two hoofs sticking out of Nick's coat sleeves.
"Well you clever little minx," John breathed suddenly. "I never would have imagined you could do this."
He was moving toward her, easing his way as if she was a vicious animal… which she supposed she could be now. By rolling her eyes upward, Jill could just see the tips of the long, pointy antlers now crowning her head. They looked deadly and she briefly fantasized about charging at the man and goring him as payback for all the trouble he'd caused her… but it just wasn't something she could bring herself to do when she had other options. And she did. Taking advantage of one of those options now, Jill turned to hurry up the aisle away from him. Unfortunately, her brain was trying to run like a human with two legs and she was now on all fours. The new body shape was odd and awkward and left her floundering clumsily for the first few steps. The coat didn't help matters much either, her clumsy hooves kept catching on it as she tried to move.
A sudden jerk on the back of the coat told her John had grabbed it. Fortunately, in all their rushing about, Jill hadn't had time to do it up. Now she struggled to free herself, her feet—hooves—coming free and allowing the long coat to slide off her back.
"Get back here!" John yelled, but she was away. Reaching the end of the aisle, Jill turned sharply to the right, intending to head for the front of the store, but she hadn't taken her new body into account. Her front hooves turned abruptly on command but her back legs were slower to react and slid out from under her so that her hind end slid along the floor to the side. Jill cursed under her breath as she saw John rushing up the aisle toward her. He'd be on her in a minute. Forcing herself to concentrate on her new body's movement, she managed to regain her feet and immediately charged for the front of the store.
Jill didn't consider the problem the door could be until she was nearly to it. She was just starting to realize that she wouldn't be able to work the door knob when the bells jangled as it was pushed inward by someone entering. It was an older woman who was smiling on first pushing the door open, but who blanched in horror and threw herself to the side, slamming the door against the wall and pinning it there with her body when she saw what appeared to be a huge reindeer charging toward her.
Jill put on a burst of speed and exploded out onto the sidewalk.
Screams and shouts erupted around her and Jill soon rued that she'd changed at all. The antlers were deadly and she wasn't used to them; she could hurt someone very badly if she weren't careful. Fortunately, she wasn't the only one to realize the peril her new shape could cause and everyone was scrambling to get out of her way. Turning in the direction of the parking lot, she broke into a run as the bells on the door behind her chimed. She didn't have to glance around to know it must be John.