"Romeo's mother is old."Conal met his gaze.
"Not old.She's still of working age."She was.He didn't know if she had been working since they'd moved there, but she had to or she wouldn't have been able to pay for her house.Unless Romeo was paying for it.
"It doesn't matter."Raven spoke for the first time."Romeo's unkindness will be taken care of."
Fala frowned at her."They're not unkind."
"Murder.Romeo's murder will be taken care of."
"Oh."She nodded."Yes."
"I'm in favor of Thano's suggestion.I believed being on the board would teach me things about humans, but all they do is argue.I can listen to people argue back here."
"What about the money we get?"Tuur spoke again, and Thano almost groaned.Since when did breed care about money?
"The money you have so far is yours.Do you need more?"
Tuur looked confused."I don't know.Isn't it what humans do, gather more digits?"
Armelle made a woofing sound."You're a bear.You shouldn't care about what humans do."
"I care about what humans do."Humbert's round eyes shone with excitement."They have so many fun things, especially in Romeo's stories.Like the cupcakes he read about last night.I want cupcakes."
"We do too."Fala focused on Humbert."We asked Eli about them in town today, but he doesn't have them.He said he'd had a picture of one once."
Humber's mouth dropped open, but before he could ask anything else, Armelle cut him off."You can talk about cakes later.Let's finish the meeting.I think you're right to leave the humans to do human stuff, Thano.You stepped in and helped out after the last board was misplaced, now they can handle their own problems.No group here would appreciate someone from another species making decisions for them for a long period.When in a crisis, everyone appreciates help, but once things are stabilized, we care for our own."She finished her statement with a nod and took a step back to indicate she'd said her piece.
Raven nodded."I agree with Armelle.We killed the board and took over while things settled, now we withdraw."
Fala tilted his head in a bird-like way."Crows like to watch humans.We don't want tobethem."When she said nothing more, Thano nodded.He took it to mean she didn't want to be on the board since it was like being human.Maybe.
Conal met his gaze but didn't speak, so Thano focused on Tuur.
"Fine.I like getting digits in my account, it's fun to see them get bigger and bigger, but the meetings bore me."
Thano dipped his head in acknowledgment."Maybe you can find another way to make money.The wolves used to work for a construction company.Maybe they'd be willing to hire a bear."
Tuur shrugged his massive shoulders.
"Right."Thano looked at Conal again."I suggest Conal stays on the board.He has a good sense of what's going on and understands the consequences of the humans' decisions."Conal's eyes widened, then he nodded in agreement.
"We'll have to have regular meetings again, so you can report about what's going on."There were several nods around the clearing.
"What about Eli?"Ciar frowned.
"What about him?"Thano believed Eli would be fine.The people in Last Hope needed him.
"We should warn him beforehand, so he knows what's going on.He's the only one who does business with breed.If all breed apart from Conal withdraws, he should know about it."
A sliver of unease worked its way through Thano.Were they putting Eli at risk by withdrawing from the board?No one had caused any problems for him as far as Thano was aware, but was it because they hadn't dared to since the board was made up by breed?
"I'll talk to Eli."
Ciar nodded and turned to walk toward Romeo's house, effectively ending the meeting.
* * * *
Eli closed the chicken coop and the rabbit pen.It wasn't often predators came into Last Hope, at least not the kind who couldn't take any other form, but they had foxes on occasion, and he couldn't afford to lose any of his animals.
