"That's Rudolph!" a child's voice corrected him scornfully, then added, "Run, run Rudolph! The bad man's coming."
Jill was already running, but put on a burst of speed at the cry. The more accustomed she became to this new shape, the more swiftly she was able to move and everyone was very accommodating in making way for her. They were spreading before her and then closing quickly behind her to stare after her with amazement which had the added benefit of slowing John down. She quickly left him behind.
Unfortunately, all this attention had its disadvantages and when she heard someone shouting out to call the police or animal control, she knew she had to get herself somewhere out of sight and change again quickly. The problem would be what to change into. If she changed back to herself, she'd be left naked and that was hardly helpful.
A rush of relief ran through her as she broke out of the last of the crowds and found herself on the edge of the parking lot. It was full of people milling about still in their costumes. The parade was over and its members were now laughing and chatting in groups with the relief and excitement that follows a successful venture. Fortunately, they were mostly congregated around the tents and no one seemed to notice her appearance at the edge of the lot.
"Don't let it get away."
"Does anyone have a rope? We can lasso it and hold it until the police get here."
Jill glanced around at that comment, startled to see that some of the people from the crowds had decided to give chase. She should have realized that would be the case, that some civic minded men would decide to catch the wild reindeer running loose in the streets before it harmed someone, but the possibility hadn't occurred to her.
Cursing, she turned sharply and charged for the end of the parking lot where the parade members had parked. When they reached the cars, she began to weave through them, aware that the men had begun to spread out, trying to surround her.
Pausing between two vans, Jill tried to decide which way to go, but glanced to the side when a muffled bark caught her ear. She blinked in surprise as she found herself face to face with a beautiful husky. The dog had climbed right up onto a box on the seat of the van he was in. He stood framed in the window, peering at her with what seemed more to be curiosity than anything else.
"Do you see it?"
Jill glanced behind her, but while the voice sounded close, there was no one there.
"I think it went around that van," someone answered as Jill turned back to peer at the dog again. Knowing she didn't have much time, she concentrated on the animal, wanting desperately to look like it. No one would bother her as a husky. They'd hardly notice her with their attention on finding the reindeer.
"Hey, boy." A hand landed on her rump, rubbing there and bringing her eyes open as two men moved up on either side of her between the vans.
"The reindeer couldn't have come this way, the dog would have stopped it," the second man said as the first man ran his hands over the white fur now cresting Jill's body. She'd shifted successfully and was now a husky.
"Yeah. He must be back further," the first man agreed, straightening and turning back the way they'd come. "Let's backtrack."
Jill released a breath as the two men disappeared around the van, as relieved that the one man wasn't touching her anymore as she was that they'd been fooled by her shape-shifting. The fellow may have thought it was a dog's furry back he'd been running his hand over, but it had felt to Jill like his hand was coursing over her naked skin.
A scratching sound drew her attention back up to the van window and she smiled at the husky as he rubbed his paws over the glass of the window as if to say she should let him out to play with her.
Another time, she thought and hurried toward the opposite end of the parked vehicles, searching for the red SUV where Nick was supposed to be waiting for her. She was relieved when she spotted it and even more so when she saw that Nick was there waiting for her as promised. Some of that relief faded however, when she saw that he wasn't alone. Bev was there, and judging by her stance and the high angry pitch to her voice, she was in the midst of giving him hell for something.
"I'm sorry, Bev," Nick said apologetically as Jill reached the back end of the SUV. "But it was an emergency and we were on the last leg of the parade. There were only a couple of stores left to pass before the parking lot when we had to leave."
"That's another thing," Bev said "First Jill's here, then she has to go and that Noelle woman took her place, then suddenly Jill was there on the float, and someone said she was stark naked under the red cape. What the heck is going on?" "I can't really explain just now, Bev. I wish I could, but…" Nick let the word trail away as he glanced worriedly across the parking lot, obviously searching for her, or anyone rushing his way, Jill supposed, since he had no idea what she was going to look like. His action and her own thoughts reminded her that while she may have escaped the concerned citizens hunting the runaway Rudolph, John was probably heading their way and might know it was her when he saw her with Nick.