Did Lieutenant Montgomery realize yet that Stavros was the reason the humans who had posed a threat to his daughter were no longer a threat?
“They are not our concern.” Stavros made a dismissive gesture with one hand. “There have been no reports on the radio or television about bison being shot. This isn’t surprising; such a thing is not of interest to humans, especially in a city on the East Coast. Some stores and shops in Toland, particularly ones who do business with our Courtyard, were targeted by vandals, just as some places were targeted here. Broken windows, writing on the walls and remaining glass. Stores that showed an HFL sign the next day had no difficulty finding replacement glass or getting repairs done. Store owners that refused to bend aren’t doing as well.”
“The impression I had from speaking with some of Lakeside’s government officials is that this difficulty is the same everywhere,” Elliot said.
Stavros nodded. “Tolya and I have been monitoring the television and radio news as well as reading the human newspaper. Nicholas Scratch has been oddly silent about the vandalism. He has not made any speeches about it or spoken to reporters. This is curious because he has voiced opinions about everything else that connects a group of humans with any of the terra indigene.”
“Not so curious if he knows the Humans First and Last movement was behind the vandalism,” Elliot said. “Maybe he left Toland?”
“No, he’s still there, and he’s still meeting with members of the HFL.” Stavros took a sip of lemonade, then set the glass down again. “I’ve already discussed this with Grandfather, and it has been decided that we’re going to abandon the Toland Courtyard.”
Simon stiffened, while Elliot, Henry, and Tess made wordless protests.
“The humans are driving you out?” he asked, shocked.
“Not the humans,” Erebus replied. “But Toland is a city filled with humans. Too many humans. They covet the land we hold in that city.”
“They covet all of Thaisia,” Henry rumbled.
The hair framing Tess’s face turned red. “If they aren’t held to the land they already infest, they’ll swarm the continent and consume everything.”
“No, they won’t.” Simon looked at Vlad. “Show them the letter.”
“I’ll read it.” Vlad took the paper out of his back pocket, unfolded it, and read Jean’s prophecy about the human cities in Thaisia.
“Fools,” Henry said. He looked at Erebus and Stavros. “If the humans aren’t driving the terra indigene out of Toland, who is?”
“While the terra indigene were distracted by the bison being killed, and while humans were distracted by the vandalism of stores not affiliated with the HFL, a dozen ships left three human-controlled cities on the East Coast. Five of those ships left from Toland; the other ships sailed from the other two cities. I don’t know what cargo they carried, but we think it must have been some kind of contraband because each ship carried barrels of poison that they dumped into the water, killing all the fish that came in contact with the stuff.”
“Sharkgard?” Simon asked.
Stavros nodded. “Oh, yes. The poison killed sharks and Sharks. It killed dolphins. It killed the schools of fish sought by fishing boats. Some of the Sharkgard survived long enough to send a warning. The ships were avoided to prevent further deaths, but they were followed until they reached the Mediterran Sea and Cel-Romano.”
“What happens now?” Tess asked.
Stavros laughed, a bitter sound. “Ocean is going to vomit the dead fish onto the shores of those three human cities. She will vomit the poisoned water into the streets of the cities responsible for killing the terra indigene who live in her domain. And then she will give the humans a taste of her wrath.”
“That is why the Sanguinati are leaving Toland—why all the terra indigene are leaving Toland,” Erebus said.
“We’re going quietly,” Stavros said. “Most of the Wolves have already left. They’re heading up the northern coast or toward the Addirondak Mountains. The Hawks, Owls, and Crows leave the Courtyard as usual, flying over Toland. But not as many return to the Courtyard as leave each morning or evening. Since the Sanguinati were the dominant form there and the least vulnerable to the Elementals’ wrath, we’re packing up what possessions we can and using earth native trucks late at night to move items to other locations, or we’re sending a trunk of smaller items with someone who is traveling.”
“It sounds like we should order as many books as we can from the Toland publishers,” Vlad said.
Stavros nodded. “I’ve made that suggestion to several Courtyards.”
“How much time do we have?”
“Not much. Dead fish are starting to wash ashore.”
“One last order, then,” Simon said. “After that, there are Intuit and terra indigene companies that publish books and print books. We’ll buy from them.”
“We already buy from them,” Vlad said. “They don’t publish that many books.”
“They can expand a little to publish more. Besides, if Ocean is going to strike out for killing some of the Sharkgard—and dumping poison in a part of her water—there may not be any books in Toland left to buy.” He looked at Stavros. “What about you? Do you . . .” He stopped. Despite being the Courtyard’s leader, he wasn’t the one who should offer Stavros a place here at Lakeside. Not when Erebus was sitting right there.
Erebus smiled. “There will be many in the days ahead who would like a place in Lakeside, but too many predators in the same land causes strife. However, I would like Stavros to have a place here when he is not in Hubb NE, keeping watch over the human government. I think they will need careful watching in the days ahead.”
Simon drank the rest of the lemonade in his glass. Was it his imagination, or had it gotten a little more sour while it sat? “You’re not going to tell any of the humans, are you?”
“Why should we?” Stavros replied. “They brought this on themselves.”
“Not all of them.”
“There are no sweet blood in Toland now,” Erebus said. “Stavros and the government agent, O’Sullivan, removed them.”
“I wondered if Lieutenant Montgomery has family there.”
Silence.
“Ah,” Erebus finally said. “The helpful policeman. What could you tell him?”
Simon thought about that. No way to know when Ocean would strike. If too many humans tried to leave Toland, where would they go? Except for the human farms that supplied food for the city, there wasn’t any human-controlled place between Toland and Hubb NE, which was an hour’s train ride away. There was only wild country and the terra indigene, who, like Ocean, had less and less tolerance for the clever monkeys.
“I don’t know what I could tell him,” Simon said.
“Captain Burke’s cousin is visiting all the way from Brittania,” Henry said. “It would not be strange to ask if any of Lieutenant Montgomery’s kin were planning to visit him and the Lizzy.”
“Meg should ask. Otherwise Montgomery will wonder why we’re suddenly so interested in his kin.”
Everyone agreed that was a good idea. Meg asked questions. She talked to humans about all kinds of things. She might already know if Montgomery still had kin in Toland.
Nothing more to say. Not tonight. Simon wanted to shift to Wolf and run for a while in the moonlight. He wanted to curl up next to Meg while she watched TV or read a book. He wanted humans to go back to being annoying instead of a real threat.
Nothing more to say. Except . . .
“There’s trouble here too, but we’re not leaving Lakeside.”
“No, we’re not,” Erebus agreed.
“Nothing else is at risk by leaving Toland,” Henry said. “But if we’re gone from Lakeside, Great Island will be vulnerable, especially since it hasn’t been decided yet if all the remaining humans in Talulah Falls will be sent away and replaced by Intuits and Others who can work the machines. As it is, Steve Ferryman doesn’t want his people going there because it’s too dangerous. That means almost everything that comes from other parts of Thaisia—or the rest of the world—comes to them through Lakeside.”
Erebus stood—and the meeting was over. Vlad led Simon, Elliot, Henry, and Tess back to where they’d parked the minivan. Four Sanguinati, still in smoke form, kept watch at the gate.
They drove back to the Green Complex in silence. Henry parked the minivan in one of the visitors’ parking spaces across from the complex, and they all went to their apartments.
Simon stripped and tossed his clothes on the sofa before shifting to Wolf and going out again. He sniffed around the complex, watered a couple of trees, then returned to the summer room below Meg’s apartment, shifting one paw just enough to open the door.
“Hi,” she said.
He stopped just inside the door. He’d thought she’d be asleep since there was no light on.
“It’s going to be a busy weekend, isn’t it? The Addirondak Wolves will arrive in a few days for a week of people watching.” Meg laughed softly. “I don’t think it sunk in until Merri Lee, Ruth, and I were talking this evening that that’s what this is about—people watching.”
Interacting, actually. The Others watched humans all the time. Not that watching had stopped things from going wrong.
Nothing he could do about Toland. Nothing he could do about dead bison in Joe’s territory. But he could help Joe by sending books for the Others and the Intuits. He could help Jackson deal with the Hope pup. And he and Meg and the human pack and the terra indigene here in Lakeside could show the Elders who were watching closely that terra indigene and humans could work together to keep Thaisia a good place for all of them.
He gave Meg’s hand a couple of licks, then settled down next to her lounge chair and fell asleep.