Page 21 of Partridge in a Bear Tree

"I'll find you that ring!" Penny shouted after her. Ashley waved, and Penny went to put a tenner in the pot and joined Gwen and Bill as they poked around the venue. Somebody shouted in triumph as they found the first ring. Applause and cheers rose, then twice more in the next few minutes as the next two were found, but the last two were apparently better-hidden, and most people lost interest. It was at least half an hour later that somebody else shouted with surprise and another cheer went up, but the last ring still hadn't been found when Maggie Ross got up on stage and made a speech thanking people for turning up to the charity event.

"A lot of you probably know something about the history of conservation for swans, since you're here supporting this event, but did you know that in the 1930s, there were fewer than a hundred known specimens of trumpeter swans left in the United States? The species was saved when they found a huge native population in Alaska and reintroduced them across the rest of the nation. We can't rely on luck like that for our conservation efforts." She went on for a few minutes, speaking passionately, then ended with a smiling, "I know we're not specifically here to raise funds for trumpeters, but they're the heaviest bird native to North America, and we do have one to introduce to you this evening. Conri and I are going to go get her, and while sheisfairly tame and patient, please remember that she's also a wild animal and you probably shouldn't behave like idiots around her."

Laughter and promises rose with the applause, and Ashley snuck back into the charity event a few minutes before Conri Lyell walked in with what had to be the world's largest swan on a very fancy leash.

A genuine gasp ran around the gathering, and people actually stepped back, clearing a path for the huge bird. Penny, looking between her own heeled shoes and the top of the swan's head, whispered, "That thing isliterallybigger than I am, holy shit! Like she's got to be at least two inches taller than me!"

"Only if you count the neck," Ashley said in a high thin voice that sounded like she was trying to fight off laughter.

"Obviously I count the neck! Its eyes are higher than mine! I didn't know swans got that big!"

A lot of people were whispering similar things, and as Conri led the swan up onto the stage where she could be admired, he said, "They generally don't," in a wry tone. "Even the largest swans are usually only about four feet high at the top of their heads. This one is a showoff."

The swan turned her head to, by all appearances, give Conri a dirty look. Laughter splashed across the venue again and people took pictures, expressing their awe and, when Conri led the swan down again, approaching nervously to see if they could stroke her soft feathers. Penny whispered, "She's very patient," and Ashley said, "Oh you havenoidea," in that same voice that struggled against laughter. "I'd bite somebody if they tried doing that to me."

"Good thing you're not a giant swan, then," Penny said ruefully, and for some reason Ashley dissolved into laughter, to the point of actually having to sit and put her face in her hands while she giggled.

"I'll explain later," she promised. "I will, but right now, just trust me, that's funny."

Penny eyed her. "If you say so. I'm going to go pet the swan." She all but tip-toed up to the bird, who turned its elegant head toward her and tilted it as if studying Penny carefully. Then she looked at Penny from the other eye, as if really trying to get her measure, and finally extended her beak to press it against Penny's chest.

Actually, to poke her. With enough force that Penny lurched a step back, regained her feet, and glared at the huge bird. "Hey! Be polite! I was being nice!"

The swan fluffed its feathers, which made everyone except Penny take several judicious steps backward. She had the absolutely irrational confidence she could take this beast, or at least, that she shouldn't take it being rude to her, and stuck her fists on her hips defiantly.

She swore to god the swan actually laughed at her. It opened its mouth and made a deepaah-oh!sound right at her chest, then shook its feathers and did it again, more quietly and with what Penny honestly felt was amusement. She was still glaring at the big bird in confused irritation when it brushed past her,heading back out to whatever carrier it had been brought in. Conri Lyell widened his eyes at Penny as he went by. "I guess she liked you!"

"That's a weird way to show it!" Penny scurried back to Ashley, who had stood up and was leaning, almost scowling, after the swan, as if she'd been afraid she would have to teach the huge bird a lesson. "I'm fine," Penny promised in a mutter. "That was just weird."

"I've never seen anything like it." Ashley put her hands on Penny's shoulders, looking her over like the swan had actually assaulted her. "You're okay?"

"I'm sort of rattled, but yeah, otherwise fine. It's okay. I'll take it out on the drums." Penny arched her eyebrows toward the stage. "Aftereverybody is done throwing money at the charity because they got to see a humongous swan up close."

"You've got to give them credit for the fundraiser," Ashley agreed, still in a somewhat strained voice. "I think I really need to talk to you, Penny, although not until after work tonight."

Penny made a face. "Second date and we're already into the 'we have to talk' stuff, huh? Okay, well, assuming you haven't decided this is all a terrible idea?—"

"I haven't."

"—then I'll just go up there and get all hot and sweaty and remind you why you like drummer girls. You do like drummer girls, right?"

Ashley smiled. "I never knew how much."

"Great. And then we can talk when you get off work." Penny made her way up to the stage, meeting Gwen at the edge and saying hi to Ripley, a local guitarist who had worked with Gwen before. Ripley had to be at least twenty-one, because otherwise they wouldn't be allowed into the pub to play. Penny thought they looked about seventeen and adorable, all shaggy hair and shapeless clothing and huge, awe-stricken eyes because the SixtyPix were their favorite band. Getting up on stage with Gwen and the band was bucket list stuff for Ripley, and this wasn't even the first time Ripley had had the opportunity. Penny half expected they would eventually join the band, although somebody might have to retire for that to happen, and it certainly wasn't going to be her.

There was a gratifying shout of enthusiastic greeting as the three of them went up on stage. Gwen—who, despite her reluctance to step into the limelight, wasgreatat it—shouted the band's hellos back at the crowd, laughing as Penny provided a drum sting to back it up. Something flew off the cymbal and Penny caught it without even seeing what it was, shoved it into her pocket for later as she fixed the screw on the cymbal, and lost herself in the beat for the next forty minutes or so.

It was a shock to come out of it. The end of a gig always felt so abrupt, even if they hung on for the encores and the cheering and everything else that might happen. Penny never wanted to leave the stage, and that larger-than-life feeling of exuberance and connection that the music, the drumming, carried with it.

Tonight, though, for the first time in ages, she had somebody waiting offstage for her.Thatfeeling was something special, too. Penny took her bows, applauded both Gwen and Ripley, and went back down into the dispersing crowd to find the woman she hoped to call 'girlfriend' pretty soon.

CHAPTER 13

Ashley knew perfectly well that the swan had been Maggie Ross. Shedidn'tknow why Maggie had poked and prodded atherfated mate, and now that Penny had gone up on stage, Ashley was having a difficult time not stalking up to the professional wrestler and demanding to understand what was going on.

We can take her,Ashley's bear said placidly.Swans are large, but we're larger. Much. Much. Larger.

Much,Ashley agreed ferociously. Except in human form, Maggie was a solid four inches taller than Ashley, and considerably broader and more muscular. And also did stage fighting that required real skill for a living. Ashley was fairly confident that the professional wrestler could suplex her, and then probably tie her in knots and hang her from a tree.

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