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“What are you doing?” Tristan asks as I walk around grabbing firewood.
“Getting ready for a fire. Unless you have developed the ability to breath fire, and can keep us warm tonight, get up and help. It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here and I want s’mores.” Even though it is late May, the nights are cold enough to make me glad that my wolf keeps my body temperature a little warmer than the average human. In wolf form I would be cool, but ok. We need to talk, and I want Bunnymoth to hear us, even if she can’t talk back. She can at least shake her head or nod to answer questions, so human form it is.
Grumbling, Tristan gets up off his sleeping bag and starts helping me find downed branches that we can use for firewood. Once we have a decent stack, I start the fire while he grabs a couple beers. Our bags are laid out which will be more comfortable than laying on the hard ground. Apparently, Bunnymoth thinks my sleeping bag is for her enjoyment only, as she has curled up in the center of it and is sound asleep.
“So why can’t we be like normal shifters when they are in the Reserve, and be in our wolf form?” Tristan asks as he plops back down on his sleeping bag, beer in hand.
“Well, we can’t drink beer and roast marshmallows as wolves,” I grin at him. “Come on, it’s like when we were boys, before we could shift. Just two guys and nature.”
“And a freaky bunny-cat-moth.”
Bunnymoth looks over at Tristan and hisses, which I find hilarious. “I don’t think she likes you that much, Tristan.” I take a swig of beer before continuing. “But seriously, I was hoping we could talk out a plan and maybe Bunny here can help us figure out where to start looking.”
“She can’t communicate in her animal form, so how is that going to work?” Tristan asks. He has a stick in one hand and the other is partially shifted so he can use his claws to sharpen it.
“She can nod or shake her head. Can’t you Bunny?” I look down at her and she obliges me.
“Toss me the marshmallows. If we are going to play 20 questions, then I am going to have fun while doing it. Too bad we didn’t pack cups. I bet this beer would taste awesome topped with a roasted marshmallow.”
“Dude, your food combinations leave something to be desired.” I shake my head but throw him the marshmallows. “I don’t want to see those hitting the beer.”
“Hey at least I am not trying cola and red wine with a wedge of lemon.” He makes a gagging noise at me.
“It was a dare, one I believe you came up with. Not sure I could do that one again.” I grimace at the memory.
“I still can’t believe you drank it.” Tristan shakes his head. “So where do we start?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. With how the Reserve is set up, I think she must have come down the road. There is no way her wings are strong enough to carry her across the river, and unless there is a hole in the fence, that is out as well.” I look down at Bunny, “Did you come down the road?”
She looks up at me for a minute then nods her head yes.
Gazing at the fire, I try to remember the map of the area. I know that the road that runs alongside the Reserve ends at the river. My grandfather somehow had the zoning laws written so that no bridge can ever span the river at that point. The State Park is out, which leaves the forest on the south side of the road, a forest that backs onto a wildlife preserve and later the mountains.
“So, the forest?” Tristan asks. Bunny looks at him and nods.
“We need to figure out how far she traveled. It could take us a month or more to search the forest and mountains. There are logging roads, hunting cabins, and God only knows what else back in there.” No way we can do it on our own.
“Bunny?” Tristan asks. “Can you tell us how many days you traveled?”
She nods her head and then waddles off the sleeping bag to claw at the dirt. She makes three lines.
“Three days?” I ask, and she nods again. “But did you run in a straight line? Or zigzag?”
She doesn’t respond, but Tristan does. “Three days at her pace is one day at ours. It is a little more doable.”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts tapping at it.
“Dude, you bring your phone to the Reserve?” I look at him incredulously. “Is there even a signal out here?”
“Enough for me to pull maps up. We run, on average 40mph, so if we were to travel a full day, that has us.... Crap! We could be to the mountains.”
“Bunny? Were you in a small building?” She shakes her head.
“A large one?” She nods.
“Tristan, can you find any large buildings on the satellite map?” It’s a long shot and will depend on how recently the satellite image was updated.
“Yeah, I can. You know this would be much easier if it hadn’t rained last night. I bet we would be able to track her scent, then.”
“But life would be boring if it was easy.” I grin.