“Go soon,” he told the men. “Get back to your own village before nightfall.” He hesitated, his instinctive distrust of humans warring with his choice to work with the Intuits who lived in Sweetwater. “When you get back, you should inform your Intuit contacts that lines of communication may be severed between regions. I think we’ll be able to use telephones and send telegrams within each region, but we’re going to be isolated.”

“For how long?”

Forever? “I don’t know.”

“In that case, one of us will stay behind and start sending out the alert.”

Nodding to the men, Jackson walked into the communications cabin and greeted the Crow on duty. Maybe Simon already knew, or knew even more, and was already making plans for the Lakeside Courtyard. But the Wolfgard youngsters in Prairie Gold were vulnerable. And the Intuit village there was much like the one here—a small community that might not survive long if it was cut off from everyone else.

He removed the drawing from the mailing tube and studied the storm clouds in the half-finished drawing. Then he rolled it back up and reached for the phone. He would try calling Simon first, then Jesse Walker and Tolya Sanguinati. If he understood the Hope pup’s vision drawing, it wasn’t just the Elementals who were going to rip Thaisia apart.

To: All Intuit Villages and Settlements

Oncoming storms may sever lines of communication for an indeterminate time. Recommend that three or four villages with the best chance of surviving the storms become message hubs for their region. Also recommend that each village send a brief report to its designated hub daily to confirm status.

Protect your supplies and livestock as best you can. May the gods watch over all of us.

—Dispatcher at Sweetwater, Northwest Region

To: Pater

Hurricane coming up the East Coast. Support of HFL rapidly diminishing. Taking the last ocean greyhound leaving Toland this evening. Will be with you soon to celebrate Cel-Romano’s victory.

—NS

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 45

Watersday, Juin 30

Simon barely had time to finish the phone call with Jackson and relay the information to Vlad before Steve Ferryman rushed in from the stock room of Howling Good Reads, dodging Vlad when the Sanguinati tried to block him.

“Have you seen this?” Steve set a piece of paper on the checkout counter.

Simon read the warning, then pushed the paper toward Vlad. “Haven’t seen this, exactly, but I just talked to Jackson Wolfgard, and he basically said the same thing.”

Steve blew out a breath. “Penny Sledgeman has appointed herself dispatch coordinator for our area.”

“As the mayor of Ferryman’s Landing, aren’t you supposed to make such appointments?” Vlad asked.