Chapter 17

Jesse opened the map on the table and smoothed the many creases from it being in his pack most of the time. He needed a route back that would allow for stops if Thera—or Minn decided they needed to go for a run.

He had no idea what to expect from Leah on this trip but was figuring if he could find low traffic, off the beaten path route, she would be more at ease.

Leah came in carrying a crate. “This is the last of it.” She set it on the floor with the rest.

They’d decided it would be too wasteful to leave the vegetables here, so somehow Jesse was going to pack them, the eight boxes and three bags into the van with Thera for the long drive back.

They would be adding to it along the way. After he’d seen what little clothing she had, he’d decided one of the first stops would be a small town along the way to buy her some new things. Hopefully, taking her into a store didn’t turn out to be a mistake.

As soon as they got back to Blair’s he was going to get Kobie and the other women to help her, maybe order some things online. Of course, to do that he’d have to set up an account for her and he was pretty sure she was lacking any identification to do that. Among the boxes was one marked clan paperwork, so he was holding out that it may be in there.

Leah was standing beside him now looking down at the map. “This is nothing like the map Papa Low had.”

Jesse blew out a breath, “A lot has changed.”

“Where are we right now?” She leaned closer.

Jesse put his finger on the map to show her.

“And where are we going?”

Flipping out the rest of it, he pointed to Blair’s, or as near it as he could, half that area wasn’t marked on the map.

“That’s far.” She said breathlessly.

Nodding, he dragged his finger along the map, “I’m going to take a long way back, avoid any big cities and heavily populated areas.”

“You can do that?”

“For the most part.” He turned and looked at her, “if at any time you’re having problems dealing with it let me know, and we’ll stop.”

“Okay. Thank you.” She smiled at him, but he could still see how nervous she was.

“I’m actually more concerned about Thera,” he grinned, “I think you’re going to handle it just fine.” He motioned around him, “you looked after everything here this long, so I think you’ll be able to handle a drive.”

She didn’t answer, just leaned over the map and ran her fingers along it, pausing a few times to look closer at the names of places. “Is it going to matter if I cross this?” She was pointing to the border.

Jesse shook his head, “not really. The Alliance will get some papers for you so no one will question it.” He shrugged, “Kobie’s whole clan are now Canadian.” He winked at her.

“If we weren’t shifters…”

“Things would be more complicated.” He sat down, leaving the map open for her to look at, “hiding our existence is the only way we’ve survived this long.”

“No,” she scrunched up her face, “one-forms? I think that’s what Papa Low called them, none of them know about our kind?”

“Some do. Some can be trusted.” He cleared his throat, “but for the most part we try to stick to our own and stay off other people’s radar.”

“Bad things happen when they know about us.” She said quietly and then continued to look at the map.

Jesse didn’t need to clarify she was right. They both knew that what Tomas was doing, had been doing to their kind was because of what they were. When he was younger, he always pictured a world where everyone knew and it was okay. Now, he knew that wasn’t true and would likely never happen.

Leah straightened up and clasped her hands in front of her. “Do we stop to rest or keep going?”

Picking up the map, he began folding it back up, “normally I’d stop and stay in a motel, but I don’t think Thera will like that.” He gave his head a slight shake, “there will be too many smells in them, it would bother her.”

“She’s not fond of being inside.” She covered a yawn.

Jesse paused and really looked at her. “You could take a nap if you like, I was going to take some of this down today, then we’ll finish the rest in the morning.”

“I could help you.”

He searched her face, she looked exhausted. That worried him, he needed to bring that up next time he spoke to Shaelan. “It’s fine. It’s going to take a few times of rearranging the van to make the most room for Thera.”

“Okay.” She yawned again. “Oh,” she spun around and went over to the boxes they’d stacked in Aunt Tillie’s entranceway. Opening it, she pulled out what looked like an old metal fishing tackle. “I wasn’t sure what to do with this, so I put it all in here.” She held it up.

Curious, he went over and took it out of her hand. Balancing it on one arm, he popped the rusty latch and opened it. Inside were stacks of money. Giving her a quick look, he lifted a few of the bundles and looked under them. “This is a lot of money.”

Leah nodded, “Papa Low sold things, like the cars no one used anymore.” She shrugged, “we didn’t have much to spend the money on, so it’s been sitting here.” She touched the stack in his hand, “I bundled it together with five hundred in each,” she looked back at him, “there’s lose stuff in the bottom.” Clasping her hands again, she exhaled slowly, “I want to help pay for the trip.” She nodded.

Jesse put the money back in the box and closed it up. “The Alliance pays for the trip, but we will use some of this to get you some new clothes,” he looked at her feet and the sandals she had on, they’d been fixed many times, “and shoes.”

Leah looked down at the threadbare dress she wore. “I would love a new dress, and we could get Evanna some jeans. She likes jeans and all of hers are so patched up there are no more jeans left.” She gave a long sigh, “I think I will go lay down for a little while, then I’ll get started on dinner.” Giving him a sleepy smile, she bowed her head and walked out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

Jesse looked at the box in his hand. He wasn’t taking this down to leave unattended overnight. Putting it on the table, he looked at the other boxes. Hopefully, the flat wagon he found wouldn’t be too hard to handle going down. He grimaced, coming back up wasn’t going to be fun. The wagon had two harnesses attached to it. The elders must have shifted and pulled it up. “Good thing we’re in good shape.” He told his cat out loud. Grabbing a box, he went out the door. He needed to call Shaelan before he started down.

“Seeing her shift in front of our eyes was something,” Shaelan said with a clinical tone in her voice.

“I probably had my mouth hanging open,” Blair admitted.

Jesse grinned, “I didn’t notice.”

“You’re going to have to give us a cheat sheet.” Kobie told him, “So we can tell which one is,” she paused, “out? Is that the word?”

“Fronting.” Shaelan supplied.

Jesse checked the rope holding the boxes on the wagon. “Well, the tone of voice is a big indicator, Leah is very soft-spoken and Evanna isn’t rude, but you don’t have to listen carefully to hear her.”

“And if they’re not speaking?” Calum inquired.

“Leah wears her hair down and Evanna pulls it up tight as soon as she’s out.” He frowned, “it’s almost like it bothers her to have it down.”

“It could be related to an unpleasant event in the past,” Shaelan said softly.

“Should I,” Jesse leaned against the wagon and kicked off his boot, “should I be asking about things in the past?”

“I would wait and speak to the doctor about that, Jesse, bringing up some things could cause her to have a bad episode.”

Leaning down, he pulled the other boot off and tossed it on the trailer. “Okay, I’ll do that, I just,” he lifted his hand and then dropped it, “I want to help.”

“Letting her know, both of them that you’re there and that they’re safe is the best way to help them right now, Jesse. Especially if they’re still foggy after switching, just reassuring her.”

He blew out a breath, “okay.”

“How much are you hauling down?” Calum asked him in a tone that said he was getting impatient.

“It’s not as bad as I thought.” Jesse hissed out a breath, “she handed me a box of money today.”

“A box of money?” Blair sounded amused.

“How much money are we talking about?” Calum wondered.

“Five thousand? Roughly. I guess there wasn’t much to spend money on here.” Picking up his other boot he added it to the trailer.

“It will help her get a good new start,” Shaelan suggested.

“Yeah, the first stop is clothes, they’re both wearing more patches than dress or jeans.”

“They dress differently too?”

He pictured Shaelan making notes. “Yeah, Leah wears dresses and skirts. Evanna prefers jeans.” He remembered his earlier thought, “maybe when we get back one of you ladies can help her order some stuff online?” He rubbed the back of his neck, “I still have to call Dev to get some documentation set up for her.”

“Send him a picture and he’ll take care of the rest,” Calum informed him.

“I’ll do that in the morning.” Jesse looked at the wagon again, “too bad one of you aren’t here to help me pull the wagon back up.”

Someone snorted.

“Get the real cat to help.” Blair offered.

Jesse looked at Thera where she sat watching him, “I’m pretty sure that would be a no-go on that.” He grinned at the cat. “I’m going to go, I don’t want to leave her up here too long alone, she’s looking really tired today.”

“Stress will do that, changes in routine. Trauma is a heavy thing to carry, Jesse.” Shaelan was back in healer mode.

“Yeah, I guess it is. Hopefully, she’ll get lots of rest on the trip back.”

“Call us when you’re heading out in the morning.” Calum’s tone told Jesse the call was finished.

“Will do.”

“Bye,” a few of the others echoed.

Hanging up, he put the phone in his pack and then pulled his shirt off. “This is going to suck.” He mumbled as his jeans followed and he stared at the load on the small wagon. He was going to attempt it in cat form for the trip down too and hoped he wasn’t going to have to walk it on two legs and hold the wagon back from flying down the rough path.