AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Holy shit,” Saber said.
Lozen stepped closer, and Saber grabbed the back of her jacket.
“Lozen, are you crazy?”
“They’re not going to hurt us,” she said. “They don’t hurt people.”
“Still.”
The coyotes, in unison, trotted toward them a few yards, then sat down.
Saber felt a creeping, unsettled feeling.
“Let’s go back to the cabin.”
Lozen didn’t seem to hear her at first. Then the coyotes stood, one at a time, and loped away.
“Ok,” she said, watching them go.
“What was that?” Saber asked. “Do you think they have rabies or something?”
“No,” Lozen said, laughing. “But yeah, let’s get back, I’m hungry.”
“What just happened?”
“I don’t know. Do you ever feel like animals are trying to tell you something?”
“Uh,” Saber sighed. “Not literally, no.”
“Me neither,” Lozen said. “Not literally. Come on.”
Lozen hiked ahead of her, across the meadow, through the path where the coyotes had sat watching them. Saber had an unsettled feeling that she couldn’t shake for a very long time.
The next week passed quickly, with Saber scrambling to turn in papers and study for tests. She almost forgot about the party she’d vaguely committed to attending.
“I want to be able to stay after midnight if I want. Can I say I’m sleeping at your house?” Saber asked, driving Lozen home that Friday afternoon.
She shrugged.
“You don’t think your dad will check?”
“No, I think he trusts me.”
“Where will we spend the night? We can’t go to my house. We’ll wake up Mrs. Freeman.”
“We can stay in my studio. It’s easy to get in without waking him up, and in the morning, we’ll just say we decided to come back there.”
“Your dad won’t question that?”
“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
“Ok,” Lozen said, but she looked uneasy.
“What?”
“Honestly? I’m not a liar, and I don’t like sneaking around. Not that I give a shit, really, I just… I’d rather just tell my mom I’m doing something she doesn’t like and at least have her know where I am. And honesty is my policy, generally speaking. I feel like it’s kept me out of trouble.”
“I’llknow where you are,” Saber said.
