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“She told me that notices went out and we didn’t check our mail.” Jimmy said that was possible. “Yes, so I guess we got nothing out of this. Damn it all to hell and back, Jimmy. This is our home.”
“It was, love, it was. But now we have to move on.” He was being terribly calm about all this. She asked him what was going on. “Look at the newspaper that came a few days ago. I never had time to put it on the stack after you knocked that other one over.”
Lisha looked at it but didn’t see anything about it. It said their last name and that was about all she could tell. He told her to look at the license plate on the car.
“It’s all blurry, Jimmy. What are you trying to tell me?” He picked it up and showed her what an Ohio license plate looked like with the one on the map on the wall. “They’re the same. I mean, all but the numbers that you can’t see, it’s Ohio.”
“Yes. Wherever Rogen is, she’s been in Ohio. I don’t know if she lives there or is just going through. But she’s been to Ohio, and we’re going to go there and find her.” Lisha asked him
why they’d do a fool thing like that. “Because, my dear wife, she might have a few bucks for us to take from her. And if she don’t, then we’ll sell her off to someone. It’s the least she can do for her old parents, don’t you think?”
“Yes, she can do that. But how do we get to her? That has to be a long way away, don’t you think?” He said it would take several days to get there, no matter what they drove. “Okay, so how do you propose we get to her, and also eat and sleep?”
Jimmy said he was working on it, and he’d have it in a bit. For her to start gathering up some things they could sell off, but to make it little. When he left her, she looked out the window to see that everyone on the street had waited until the last minute, it appeared. There were all kinds of cars and trucks loading up at every house. Lisha didn’t have any idea how they were going to keep their things after leaving, but she was going to pack up as much as they could.
Chapter 5
The last of the computers was set up, and Thatcher looked at the row after row of monitors. He had no idea how she was going to keep track of all of them, but then, he could barely keep track of one, much less twelve of them. Going to where she was standing, stretching her back, he rubbed her shoulders and asked her if she was finished.
“As much as I can be until they get me the cables that I need.” He nodded and kissed her on the neck. “What do you have in mind?”
Thatcher’s mind went into overdrive with all the things that had been on his mind all night. It was nearly midnight now, and while exhausted, he wanted her still. But he let out a breath and knew that he could wait for her.
“I was thinking that you could go and change into a cat. There is a full moon out, and you should be able to play without being seen.” She tensed up. “Or not. It’s up to you. But as your doctor, I’d say you are more than ready to do this, Rogen. And you need to get used to her so that if you do have to shift or need to, then you know what to do to walk and to move.”
“I’ve been looking it up on your computer. It’ll be harder, I think, than just walking like I am now.” He said she’d be walking on four feet instead of just the two. “I’m also to understand that I’d be able to be sneaky too. I think I’d like that.”
“Sneaky, is it? Who do you have to be sneaky to?” She told him about his brother Houston hiding behind corners and jumping out at her. “Yes, he loves to do that to me as well. Or anyone else that he can catch off guard. But never our parents. Mom would brain him, and Dad would knock him out. If he lived that long.”
They were laughing as they made their way out into the yard. It was getting chilly out, and as soon as she set the lock, a computerized one, he told her what to do when she was ready.
“Just close your eyes and think of her. You might want to be naked, however. When you shift with clothes on, you shred them. The cat will be much larger than you are.” She looked at him. “I swear, Rogen. Watch me.”
He let his cat take him and felt the tear of his clothing. Thatcher didn’t care. They were at home and getting into the house was easier now that they had a basement entrance. As he stretched out in the grassy yard, he let his claws extend, his fur stand up. It was a wonderful feeling being able to be his other self and not be scaring someone.
“You’re beautiful. I know that I’ve said this before. But you’re much too pretty to be such a beast.” He told her that he loved her. “Why?”
What do you mean, why? She said that she didn’t know him that well, and he didn’t her. You’re my heart, Rogen. All that I could have ever hoped for in a mate. Someone that I want to show everyday how much I love you. Every day I want to tell you that you’re beautiful, because you are. And most importantly, I love you because you will someday, soon I hope, love me back.
Instead of saying anything to him, Rogen let her cat take her. He couldn’t move. Her beauty was incredible. She was beautiful as a human, but as a cat—his cat—she was the most beautiful being that he’d ever seen.
When she took off running, falling more than getting very far, he sat down and watched her. Once she got the hang of walking, she was bouncing like a cat, jumping up and down like she was playing with a ball of yarn.
Aren’t you coming out to play? He said that he was enjoying the view. But I want to run with you. Do you have any idea how much fun this is? How everything feels now? The things that I can see? Oh my God, Thatcher, I think I do love you.
She was running through the trees when what she’d said hit him. She loved him. Rogen had said that she loved him. He chose to ignore the think part, and enjoyed the part where she had said it.
Taking off after her, he was nearly to her when he saw that she had stopped running. Rogen was poised, her right front paw stopped in mid motion, her ears up and her tail still as death. He didn’t move either except to look in the direction that she was. That was when he saw the big bear. And he wasn’t a shifter.
Don’t move. Rogen said that she wasn’t. He’s not a shifter. I don’t know where he came from, but he could be dangerous.
The big bear roared but didn’t move. He had to be able to see them both. If nothing else, he could smell them. Thatcher called for his family, all of them. This was more than he thought he could handle by himself.
There is a brown bear, not a shifter, in our woods behind the house. Rogen and I are here, and he’s just staring at us. They all, almost in unison, said they were on their way. Then the bear dropped and charged at Rogen. Shit, too late.
The bear ran right at her and she still hadn’t moved. Thatcher wasn’t sure if she was frozen in fear or if she knew something that he didn’t. Before he could get to her, the bear simply dropped. Even from where he stood, Thatcher knew that he was dead.
Thatcher didn’t know where to look to see what had happened to the bear. But when a man dressed all in black with a mask on appeared, Thatcher noticed that he had a rifle over his shoulder. He nearly shit himself when Rogen ran at the man, knocking him to the ground.
