Before he could respond, Jenni Crowgard came rushing in from the stock room and said, “The Crows know why humans are running out of food!” She paused for a moment, then added, “Well, so do the rest of the terra indigene.”
“What do—” Simon snarled when the phone started ringing.
Vlad set the books on the cart and led Jenni toward the back of the store, saying, “Tell me what you’ve heard.”
Simon grabbed the ringing phone. “Howling Good Reads.”
“Simon? It’s Jackson.”
He froze for a moment. His friend sounded . . . odd. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Maybe.” Jackson hesitated. “The scarred girl drew a picture of me in the Rockies and you in Lakeside, with Talulah Falls in between us. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Maybe.” He thought about the land between Lakeside and Talulah Falls. He thought about the new community the Others and the Intuits would make together. He hadn’t thought Jackson would be interested in leaving the Northwest, but a lot of things were changing throughout Thaisia. The other Wolf might be feeling it was time to move on. Would Jackson want to live in the River Road Community?
“She drew another picture.”
“Okay.” Did the scarred girl rub her skin the way Meg did when a prophecy started prickling and buzzing? Was that why Jackson sounded disturbed?
“A wheat field underwater. Sharks swimming over the field. A sunken ship. Mean anything?”
Simon looked toward the shelves of books and noticed that Vlad had returned alone and was watching him. Waiting for him. He repeated what Jackson said about the wheat field.
Vlad nodded.
“Yes,” he said, answering Jackson’s question. “It means the humans tried to send food across the water while claiming there wasn’t going to be enough food for the humans living in Thaisia. They lied to their own kind in order to cause trouble for us.”
“What can we do?”
“Wait. Keep watch. Let me know if the scarred girl makes other drawings that are visions.” After receiving an assurance from Jackson that he would be kept informed about the scarred girl’s visions, and promising to talk to Meg about the girl, Simon hung up.
“Are you going to tell Lieutenant Montgomery?” Vlad asked.
Simon shook his head. “The wheat is gone, and some foods will be scarce because of it. He already knows that.”
“He doesn’t know why.”
“Does it matter?”
“Wouldn’t you want to know why your pup will be hungry?”
“Yes, I would. But Montgomery isn’t going to have a say in any of this. Neither are we. There’s no point telling him the why until we can also tell him—and Captain Burke—what will happen next.”
Vlad took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “In that case, let’s make some decisions about these books. That much we can do.” He reached for the books he’d dumped on the cart, then stopped. “Oh, and Ruthie is going to talk to the merchants at the stall market tomorrow. If they’re agreeable about having some of us there, Ruthie and some other females will take the Crows shopping next Watersday.”
“Won’t that be fun,” Simon muttered.
Vlad smiled. “I’m glad you think so, since you’ll need to talk to Blair about who will be going with them.”