Chapter 7
Nan offered tea and cake to everyone when they arrived at the pub.
Noah envied the drak who’d ridden in the cart the entire way, while everyone else had taken turns pulling the cart.
The werewolves had moved the planks and set them down every time there was a crevice too big to be crossed without a temporary bridge.
The drak happily accepted human-sized cups of tea and cakes, and they seemed very happy that the pub was next to the palace. He didn’t understand any of the cat-like noises they made, but Pan assured him they were good noises. Every so often, Pan replied to them or asked a question on their behalf.
“Inari would like to know about the shoes,” Pan said with a tight smile.
Noah glanced at their tiny feet again. It was so weird seeing what appeared to be human baby feet and hands on cats’ bodies.
Or at least something that appeared to be a cat’s body.
Except the face was somehow wrong, and not just the eyes.
Their fur was also the wrong color. Cats didn’t come in fire engine red.
He had started to be careful about what he discussed with Pan on the walk back, as he was very aware that the mythological people would be starting to pick up on words or phrases.
So while the drak had meowed, Noah had talked about the town and the various shops they passed. All of which were currently closed.
“Shoes?” Nan lifted her eyebrows.
“Their feet are sore. Baby shoes might fit them, right? The last time I was in the charity store, they had some little shoes.” Maeve’s daughter ran the charity shop, and Noah had been in there a few times looking for jackets and things, and sometimes Sandra, via Maeve, let him know when a box of weird trinkets arrived in case he was interested.
He’d picked up a few interesting things, including a bird skull ring.
Nan nodded. “It’s a bit hit and miss, though. None of the department stores are open?”
“No. Nothing is open, not even the supermarket.” Liam worked there because his dad was the manager, so Noah had gotten a rundown on the cleanup.
“They announced today it would open tomorrow afternoon, but there are strict limits on things. And until the road gets fixed, trucks can’t deliver, so they’re going to run out fast.”
“Then what are we supposed to do for groceries?” Were they supposed to buy a cow from a farmer?
Should they be keeping one of the carcasses for themselves even though it hadn’t been killed in an appropriate manner?
He wasn’t even sure what that meant. After all, hunters ate the things they killed, and when he first heard about how people hung pheasants until they were gamey, he’d gagged and refused to ever eat one.
“The council is trying to figure out how to get their roadworks crew out there, but they can’t go anywhere without fixing as they go.
” She took a sip of tea. “But it’s not just us.
All the food we import can’t get through.
And the food that is already at the docks is having problems being transported. There was a big story about it today.”
While he’d been propping up a roof, Nan had been listening to the news and dealing with the vampires. He wanted to ask if his coat was still safe, but it was probably best not to mention it.
“So we’re fucked.” There was no point in having the money for groceries if there was nothing to buy.
Pan fiddled with his hat. “Do you have shoes or not?”
“Yes,” Nan said. “I’ll measure their feet and put a post up in the local group. Someone will have shoes that their child has grown out of.”
“And what will they want in return?” Pan asked with an edge that suggested he was done.
“Sometimes nothing.” Nan shrugged and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Noah, can you get the tape measure from the office?”
Noah gathered up the empty teacups and plates and put them in the kitchen sink before going to the office and grabbing the tape measure.
The castle door was closed. But despite that, there was a throbbing in his blood to fling open the door, walk down the corridor and pick up his coat, as if his body craved the comfort of the fur after being away from it for so long.
When he turned around, the drak had followed him. Five weird cats stood on their hind legs, bouncing on their human feet in expectation.
“Milk?” Inari asked in perfect English. She was the drak in charge and seemed to do most of the talking.
“Now? You just had tea and cake.”
“Milk.” She said again.
And Noah realized it was probably the only word she knew in English. “Fine.”
He went back into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of milk out of the fridge. “Would you like a cup or a saucer?”
The drak stared up at the bottle.
“How about I pour a cup, and you can pass it around.” He turned around to grab a clean cup, and when he turned to set it on the table, the drak were standing in the middle of the table.
They were his height now, which made them a little more terrifying with their too-human faces and expressions. Perhaps they were more like furry little people with cat ears and tails.
“No feet on the table.” They didn’t understand him.
He motioned down, and they all sat, which was no less disconcerting as they swung their furry legs and bare feet off the edge.
He was about to say no butts on the table, but there was no point as they wouldn’t understand.
He was going to have to get Pan to tell them. “Here.”
He handed Inari the cup, and she took a sip and passed it on. They mewed amongst themselves, nodding and pointing at the bottle and the fridge. It seemed like a bad idea that they knew the milk was kept in there.
Noah held out the measuring tape and pointed at Inari’s feet. “May I?”
She nodded and watched as he measured her foot, which was a perfectly formed human foot, except for the claws where nails should be. No, she had claws, like she was supposed to.
“Thank you.” He smiled, without showing his teeth in case the drak also considered that to be rude, the same way the werewolves did.
The others all offered their feet, but there wasn’t too much of a range. With the measuring done and the milk drunk, they jumped down, scampering out of the kitchen on four feet…er on feet and hands which made them seem more like monkeys.
Pan appeared in the doorway. “I was checking you were still alive.”
“Yes…confused, but that seems to be normal now. Has the cart been loaded?”
“Yes. They are taking it back to the rec center.”
“Do we need to go with them?”
“I do not think so. You think we do?”
“I think it would be wise.”
Pan sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine, I shall ask Linda to liaise with Feryn for rooms for Lanna, Samiah, and Hermin.”
“And she can also talk to Maeve and the other regulars about coming around for…I don’t know what she’s going to call it.”
“I do not care what she calls it, only that it gets done. Perhaps while we are out, we can find a more suitable home for the dragons?”