“She means a swimming hole,” Simon said. “I’ll show you the one we have here.” He felt reluctant to take more humans to a part of the Courtyard that was usually off-limits. In fact, they had recently put up a larger Trespassers Will Be Eaten sign to remind the human pack that they were allowed to go only up to the Green Complex but no farther, and unchaperoned humans driving down the road that led to the Pony Barn were just asking to be hit by Tornado or struck by Lightning.

“Library?” Meg asked.

“With only the five girls, we figured some bookshelves in the common room would be enough,” Steve said.

They studied the plans for a few more minutes. Not a compound, Simon thought. Not a prison with cells. A steady place where cassandra sangue could count on the routine of daily chores to balance the things that would keep changing.

He wondered if Jean had said anything to Steve about the prophecy she had seen where so few human cities remained.

When familiar trails disappeared, you had to find new ones—or make new ones—to take care of your pack.

“You need the building supplies for the young girls’ den, the Pam’s den, the stable, and the barn and other buildings for the animals and other food,” he said.

“Yes, but we can start with—,” Steve began.

“You need to buy all the building supplies you can.”

“Sure, but we have a budget and—”

“Now.”

Silence. Finally, Meg said, “Simon?”

He kept his eyes on Steve. “You need to buy supplies for your village. You need to buy the human supplies used by the Simple Life folk and the terra indigene. You need to prepare now for a hard winter.”

Meg looked at the three men. “But... it’s Juin. Summer is just starting.”

Steve stared at Simon. “How long and how hard a winter?”

“Long. And very hard,” Simon replied. “If you buy a product from another city, make sure you buy enough of it to see you through to spring.” That would give them all a few months to figure out new ways to get what they needed.

“My wife starts buying extra toilet paper in September to make sure we’re not trying to grab the last roll in the grocery store when the ferry can’t make a supply run,” Jerry said. Not looking at any of them, he added, “And the female supplies.”

But that was as far as Jerry ventured into that dangerous territory. Simon hoped it was enough for Meg to take the hint.

“Do we know when winter will arrive this year?” Steve asked.