And Meg, who had never dug into soil or smelled freshly turned earth, who had never had to be reminded to drink water when she worked outdoors or to put a cream on her skin to avoid sunburn . . . Meg was entranced by everything.
Simon kept a watchful eye on her and listened to the female pack as they talked about the garden and some of the vegetables and herbs they would like to plant. He wasn’t sure any of the terra indigene would care about the herbs. After all, deer was supposed to taste like deer, and you didn’t sprinkle anything on a rabbit before you ate it. But Tess wandered by and expressed an interest in the herbs, so herbs would be planted, along with corn, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, beans, peas, and something called zucchini, which Merri Lee said tasted good with tomato sauce and pasta.
“Enough for today,” Henry said as he began to collect the tools that belonged to the Others. “Tess, Vlad, and Jester are saying it’s time to eat.”
A moment’s tension as the humans looked at the Others.
“Is this the picnic?” Meg asked.
“Not quite a picnic, if I understand what humans mean by that word,” Henry replied. “But something we hope you will enjoy.”
Nathan arrived in the pickup used by the Utilities Complex, loaded up the Wolf pups and juveniles, including Sam, and took them back to the Wolfgard Complex for their own kind of meal. Hawks, Crows, and a couple of sleepy Owls also headed for their own places, which left the humans and the residents of the Green Complex, who were walking back to the meal Tess had set out.
Simon trotted ahead of them, leaving Henry to watch over Meg. If he was going to eat with them, better to look human. And better to shift in private. Being terra indigene, he didn’t respond to female bodies the way human males did unless the female smelled like she wanted to mate. But naked wasn’t something done around human pups—although he wanted to ask the men why naked from the waist up was all right for them but females remained covered. That didn’t seem fair.
Shifting a paw just enough to form stubby fingers, he opened his front door, then rushed up to his bedroom to shift all the way and put on denim shorts and a T-shirt. Sandals. Reviewing his mental checklist for human grooming, he decided everyone else was going to be sweaty and leaving a strong scent, so he didn’t have to mask his own scent and could keep his grooming to a minimum. He splashed water on his face, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and was back outside before the humans straggled into the open area that formed the center of the Green Complex.
A potted tree provided some shade for a water trough that someone had filled with fresh water. A couple of benches provided places for birds to perch or Others in human form to sit if they didn’t want the privacy of their own porches.
Henry picked up the sponge resting in the raised area of the trough and washed his arms, chest, and face before squeezing out water to run down his back.
Kowalski and Debany arrived next.
“Soap?” Kowalski asked when Henry offered the sponge.
“Not in this water,” Henry replied.
Before they could ask why, Jake Crowgard flew over to the trough. He took a drink, then had a quick splash in the raised area before flying off.
“Right,” Debany said, wiping down with the sponge after Kowalski finished with it.
Simon stepped in front of Meg. She looked tired, her eyes a little glazed.
“Too much?” he asked quietly, noticing how the other girls gave him a look before moving toward the trough. Was the look supposed to be a warning, a message, or just the curiosity human females and Crows seemed to have in common?
“Yes, but in a good way.” She smiled. “No pins and needles.”