“In that case, you should know that the woman who lives in the double between the other two buildings asked if my client would be interested in buying her house too,” Pete said. “Eve took a quick look while I kept the apartment owner occupied.”
“It’s a two-family wood house, with one flat above the other,” Eve said. “The upper flat had been occupied by the woman’s son and his family, but the son recently took a job in a place called Hubbney. Is that really a town name? Anyway, the flats have three bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and bath. There is off-street parking behind each of the buildings, as well as on-street parking on Crowfield Avenue. Not much land for gardens and such.”
“That wouldn’t be a problem,” Simon said.
“Tenants might appreciate being able to grow a few vegetables. Anyone trying to feed a family will want to grow a bit of food in order to pay for things like bread, which doubled in price in the past week and is becoming a luxury item.”
Bread was a luxury item? That didn’t sound right. Then again, he ate bread only when it was part of a meal served at Meat-n-Greens or when he picked up a sandwich at A Little Bite.
Simon looked at Tess, but she was studying Eve.
<Is bread a luxury item?> he asked Tess.
<I thought it was a basic food, the sort of thing every human ate,> she replied. <If something has happened on human farms to change that . . .>
<If you hear anything, let me know.> He’d rather eat fresh deer than fresh bread, but Meg should have bread whenever she wanted it.
Eve pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to Simon. “Anyway, that’s what Mrs. Tremaine would like for her house, but she wants to relocate soon to be with her son, so she’ll take any reasonable offer.”
Simon walked to the windows and studied the buildings across the street. <If we buy all three, we would own all the buildings on that block, except the commercial building that faces Main Street,> he said to the other terra indigene.
<That’s a lot of humans,> Henry said.
<Maybe.> He turned. “You. Handyman Eve. Could you live in that house?”
“The two-family? Sure,” Eve said. “Needs a little work, but nothing I couldn’t do. Of course . . .” She looked at Pete. “I doubt we could afford to rent a place that size. Not right now.”
“You wouldn’t pay rent. You would be the manager who took care of the buildings for us.”
Pete and Eve looked like a pony had kicked them in the head. He wished they didn’t look that way. He’d feel better about the plan that was taking shape if he was confident that their brains would keep working.
“You’re offering me a job as your property manager?” Eve finally said.
“Yes. And Pete could be our attorney when we have to deal with human matters.”
<Simon!> That came from Tess, Elliot, and Vlad. But not, he noted, from Henry.
“We will buy the buildings, and you will take care of them,” he said.
“What about tenants?” Pete asked. “Are you going to advertise that you have apartments for rent?”
He knew by the look in their eyes that he no longer passed for human.
“No,” he said. “We will choose who lives on our land.”
Pete blew out a breath. “In that case, let’s talk about what kind of offer you want to make for each building.”