“It’s not the studying during summer that I find troubling. It’s the Business Association wanting me to order all the coursework for all the grades,” Ruth said. “Is that their way of saying that human children connected to the Courtyard will never be able to go to school with the rest of the children in Lakeside?”

“Maybe. Or maybe there will be less paper available to print books and that will make it harder to buy schoolbooks.” Merri Lee met Meg’s eyes. “Or maybe the Others are saying something else. Meg?”

She hadn’t intended to tell them. When she hesitated, Merri Lee added, “Girls only, need to know?” Meaning no sharing, not even with partners and husbands.

“Future undecided,” Meg said quietly. “When I asked what would happen to Lakeside, I picked a card that had a big question mark and nothing else.”

“Have you told Simon or Henry?” Ruth asked.

Meg shook her head. She’d have to tell Simon now that she’d told the girls. Then she told her friends about the other three cards—and watched them pale.

“Gods,” Merri Lee said. “Captain Burke called a big meeting, all his officers, all shifts. Michael called to say he was going in and didn’t know when he’d have a chance to swing by.”

“Let’s call Steve Ferryman.” Meg turned toward the counter and the phone. “He can give us the name of someone who works at one of the schools in Ferryman’s Landing. They’ll already have the lists of books they use for each grade. And a teacher from that village will talk to us.”

“Maybe we should ask about books that would be relevant for the kinds of things learned at the technical college too,” Ruth said. “We should find out how people learn trades among the Intuits. Plumbers, electricians, that kind of work.”

Meg made the call. Steve was helpful, but she could feel him thinking hard about what she was asking and why she would be asking. After all, the Courtyard wasn’t the only place that would need schoolbooks. So would the five young cassandra sangue who were living on Great Island. So would any children in the new River Road Community, even if they were meant to attend schools in Ferryman’s Landing.

He gave her phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the principals of each school in Ferryman’s Landing and promised to call them immediately so they would be expecting her request.

“Meg, I can stay here and watch for deliveries while you and Ruth run up to the Business Association’s room and send the e-mails,” Merri Lee said.

“Anything you want me to do?” Eve asked. “Until the Others take possession of the apartment buildings—or until they clear out the furniture and that efficiency apartment is ready for a good scrub—there’s not a lot for me to do. I was going to go up to the Green Complex and check the garden, see if it needed any weeding or watering while Pete watched the kids, but that can wait.”

“I think we’re covered,” Merri Lee said.

Brittle cheerfulness, but Meg thought they all felt better about being able to do something.

• • •

Monty had expected all the patrol officers under Burke’s command to show up whether it was their shift or not, and he wasn’t surprised to see Commander Louis Gresh and his bomb squad in attendance, but he was surprised to see the other captains who worked at the Chestnut Street station file in to hear . . . whatever this was.

“Make a little room?”

Startled by the voice, Monty took a step to the side to make room. Apparently, even the station’s chief was attending—and looking apprehensive.

Burke stood behind the podium. “I appreciate you all responding so quickly. I’ll be brief so you can get back to your duties.”

Burke hesitated, and Monty felt a cold knot in his belly. Douglas Burke didn’t hesitate.

“As most of you know, I have a pretty good grapevine when it comes to getting information.” Nervous laughter followed Burke’s statement. “This is a best guess based on the photos news reporters took when they went back to some of the towns in the Midwest and Northwest for a follow-up story, as well as reports from police officers who drove to towns where they couldn’t raise anyone from the police station or government building.” He scanned the room. “Based on those sources, I would say the terra indigene retaliated against every town or ranch that had some residents who killed the Wolfgard. They gutted those towns—in some cases, literally. The terra indigene slaughtered the humans in the same way the Wolves were slaughtered. In some cases that meant they killed everything that was human, whether it was a man, woman, or child. In other places, a phone call was made to the nearest surviving human place. The people who answered that call found all the young children in the community together in a building at the edge of the town. Those children were unharmed, so I’m speculating that the Wolfgard young had also escaped the slaughter of the adults.”

Burke waited a moment, letting all the men consider that. “Gentlemen, I’ve seen a few of the photos taken of the people who died as retaliation. These killings weren’t done by the shifters humans usually have contact with. They weren’t done by any kind of shifter most of us have seen—or will ever see while we have any chance of staying alive. The denizens of the true wild country—those parts of Thaisia that have never been touched by anything human—are no longer willing to let shifters like the Wolfgard act as a buffer between them and us, because we’ve just shown them that we can, and will, kill the terra indigene who were dealing with us. So now other kinds of earth natives are on our doorstep. They had already declared a breach of trust and had limited the use of the right-of-ways that run through their land and connect human populations. I think from now on, we should assume there is no right-of-way. Not for vehicles traveling on the roads; not for the trains. Certainly not for any vessel traveling on the lakes or rivers.”