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He walked next to Clementine, talking loudly about the drinks and food laid out at the picnic area. “It’s just around this bend. Here we are!”
We emerged from the trees into a clearing almost the size of a football field. Around twenty-five dryads waited for us, everyone positioned in small groups of two to four people standing near picnic tables scattered throughout the clearing.I appreciated how they were taking care not to overwhelm Pia, but she stiffened at the murmuring that started as we stepped into the space.
Some people waved and called out, but no one approached, either by design or because Ms. Jackson was suddenly a much larger tiger than they’d been a minute ago.
Even Clementine took a step back when she noticed. “Uh, Pia, I’d like to introduce you to my family, if that’s all right.”
Rory smiled, and it only looked a little fake. “Of course. Why don’t you and Ms. Jackson go with Clementine, Pia, and the rest of us will make our way around at our own pace?”
After sweeping a glare over the four of us, Pia turned her back. She kept one hand firmly in the fur between Ms. Jackson’s shoulders as Clementine took her over to the first group of dryads. They offered her some apple juice, and she wrinkled her nose and asked for a soda.
“She’ll be okay. Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.” Manny headed for the nearest table, which had platters of fruit and cheese laid out.
I waved Rory forward. “You go with Manny. I need to say hi to everyone here.” I made an apologetic face at Shane. “Sorry.” I was connected to them after all. It’d be rude for their District Monitor to ignore them.
Shane just nodded and walked with me toward a group of dryads. I started on the opposite side of the clearing from where Clementine had moved Pia and Ms. Jackson to the second group of her relatives. I shook hands and offered hugs all the way around. Luckily, other than some questions about Pia and, more urgently, Ms. Jackson, no one wanted to chat much. They were keyed up waiting for their turn to be introduced to their potential new family member.
Eventually I paused at the far end of the clearing and grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the ice chest on the table. None of the dryads were hanging out here, and I needed a break before tackling the second half of the crowd. Shane, who was more introverted than me, no doubt needed a respite too. He took the bottle I handed him and sat down on the bench.
Clementine, Levi, and Pia hadn’t made it this far yet, but we’d all cross paths in a few minutes. The sun was still a couple of hours from setting, so we had plenty of time to say hi to everyone. I waved at Rory and Manny, who were walking the same path Shane and I had taken, checking out the snacks on the picnic tables as they passed them.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I was impressed they had cell service out here. Ugh, it was my boss.
My job was okay. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t mind it, which was more than a lot of people could say. Selling cell phone plans to corporations wasn’t going to solve world hunger, but it certainly kept food on my table. Too bad being a District Monitor didn’t come with a salary.
“Hey, Frank, what’s up? You remember I’m on vacation this week, right?” I’d taken the whole week off in case Ms. Jackson wanted to hang out in Dallas with me after visiting Houston. But Frank wasn’t an asshole, so if he was calling it was probably important.
“Yeah, Ellis, sorry to interrupt.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to let you know that, while your sales in particular have been consistently above goal, overall the corporate division hasn’t been doing so well.”
I sank down onto the bench next to Shane. “Okay?”
He cleared his throat again. “So the CEO has decided to foldcorporate sales into the call center, and the entire sales team, including you and myself, are being laid off effective today.”
“What? Laid off?” I jumped up and started pacing, barely remembering to turn around before I got to the limit of my bond with Shane. Rory and Manny had reached us and were looking at me with concern.
“I’m afraid so. You’ll get six weeks’ severance, so take some time to decide what you want to do next.”
My phone buzzed. Greg was calling on the other line. I sent it to voicemail.
“I’m happy to be a reference for you, and I know you’ll do great things.”
“Um, wow. This is kind of a shock.”
“Yeah, I understand completely.”
Frank started to tell me how long I had until I needed to turn in my company laptop and cell phone, but Greg called back. Fuck.
“Look, Frank, can I call you later? I need to wrap my head around all this.”
“Sure, sure.”
He was still talking when I accepted Greg’s call. “Hey.” Shane was now talking to Rory, Clementine, and Pia. Ms. Jackson was staring at me with their head tilted.
“Ellis.” Greg’s tone was urgent. “Are you in an open space with picnic tables surrounded by forest?”
I stopped pacing. A chill wriggled down my spine. “Yes.”
“Don’t go into the woods. The dryads will be safe if they merge with individual trees in their spirit forms, but don’t let anyone walk into the woods in physical form.”
