Page 49 of Medium
“Crap, that sucks.” Rory looked at me and Shane. “Ready to go to Mineral Wells?”
I pointed at Pia, who’d thrown her arms around Ms. Jackson and was shaking her head at Manny. “Will she get in the car?”
Shane finally stirred. “I’m with Pia. We can figure something else out. She’s had too much upheaval in her life recently. Let’s just keep her with us.”
I smiled, happiness fluttering through my chest. “I love that idea.”
Rory put a hand up. “Wait. Pia’s mom really wants her to be with dryads. Something about otherwise she won’t learn to properly heal plants?”
I crossed my arms. “There must be a dryad willing to tutor her. She doesn’t have to live with them.”
Rory made a face and kind of cringed away from something to his left. “Uh, what if we go and at least introduce Pia tothem? We won’t tell her about our backup plan, and we’ll give her a chance to decide for herself.”
“I can agree to that.” Shane turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Pia, Ms. Jackson, and Manny, get your butts in the car, please!”
Ms. Jackson nudged Pia, and she started walking very slowly toward the SUV. It would be a long afternoon.
It was a three-hour drive north to Mineral Wells. We crossed into my District—well, now it was Shane and my District—about an hour out from our destination. It was nice to feel the area resonating with me again.
When we were getting close, I texted Clementine, the leader of the dryad grove we’d be visiting.
She texted back several heart emojis and exclamation points. This grove hadn’t had any children born in a couple of decades, and I felt guilty for hoping Pia wouldn’t choose them.
Clementine’s family owned a campground with cabins and hiking trails a little ways off 281. It was pretty, with lots of trees and rustic architecture. We parked in front of the main house, a huge three-story hotel-type building with a sign advertising an event hall and a restaurant.
Pia had been silent the entire drive, just staring out the window with one hand in Ms. Jackson’s fur. But when we stopped, she burst out with, “I don’t want to live here! I want to stay with you and Ms. Jackson!”
I didn’t know how to respond, but fortunately Manny stepped in. “Chica, remember what we talked about. You’re going tomeet these people, and you’re going to be polite to them. Ms. Jackson will know whether you belong here or not. If they don’t like this place for you, we’ll figure something else out.”
Ms. Jackson, who’d stayed in their pig form for the car ride, transformed into their tiger form. They opened their mouth and gave a kind of rusty mini-roar.
I grinned. “Good job, Ms. Jackson! You’ve been working on your vocal cords!” I opened my door and got out of the car. I pushed my seat forward, and Ms. Jackson oozed out with feline grace. The “Service Animal” vest had disappeared, but they were still wearing the tiara. Where did the tiara go when they weren’t wearing it? It’d belonged to Shane’s granny, so it wasn’t magical like the vest had been.
I shook myself. I could worry about it later. Now I had to see if these people were a good fit for Pia.
Pia dragged herself out of the car, pouting the whole way. By the time everyone else got out, Clementine appeared on the porch of the main house.
“Ellis! Hi! It’s good to see you!” She hesitated on catching sight of Ms. Jackson, but then she rushed down the steps.
She appeared to be around fifty years old, but I knew she was more like ninety. She was dressed in jeans and a brightly colored blouse.
I gave her a little hug, then I turned to introduce her to everyone. Ms. Jackson got a wide-eyed, “Hi,” but Clementine didn’t ask any questions. I was sure she could tell they weren’t a shifter.
When I got to Pia, Clementine didn’t reach for her. She knelt down on the ground and said, “Hi, Pia. I’m so sorry to hear about your mom. She sounds like she was a brave lady.”
Pia stared at her with an angry look on her face. “She was.”
“I’d like to introduce you to my family, but there are a lot of us, so we thought it’d be less stressful if we were outdoors. There’s a lovely picnic area down that path, and we’ve set up some food and drinks for all of you. It’s a little early for dinner right now, but we can hang out as long as you want to. We have rooms ready for all of you to spend the night.”
Pia didn’t say a word, but the rest of us feigned enthusiasm. I put a hand on Pia’s shoulder, and she and Ms. Jackson walked on my right as we followed Clementine down a manicured gravel path across the parking lot from the main building. The trees had been cut back to provide space on either side, and it gave the path a lovely airy feel.
“We have fifty acres here with forty-four campsites and twenty cabins. Our busiest time is the summer, of course, because everyone loves the lake for fishing, boating, and swimming. Do you like to swim, Pia?”
She didn’t answer, and Ms. Jackson bumped her with their shoulder. “Yes,” she admitted grudgingly.
Up ahead, another path—this one slightly less manicured—crossed the one we were on. An older man, who I recognized as Clementine’s father, waited for us.
“Hello! Welcome to our home!” He didn’t bat an eye at Ms. Jackson, and he completely ignored the rest of us, focusing only on Pia. “Hey, there, little miss. I’m Levi. You must be Pia! We’re very happy to have you here.”
