“Sure,” Jerry replied. “We have a big trailer for livestock. Mostly use it for horses, but it will work for other kinds of animals. You need something relocated?”

“Yes. They will be coming soon.” Simon got out of the car, then waited until Steve moved to the front passenger seat before adding, “And you need to find someone who can ride a horse and look after some young bison.”

They stared at him. “Bison?” Steve said.

“Eleven of them. We can split the herd between the River Road Community and the Courtyard.”

Their expressions reminded him of Skippy when the juvenile’s brain wasn’t working quite right. Hoping Jerry had enough sense not to drive before he could think, Simon went into Howling Good Reads to get ready for their guests.

•••

Meg called the female pack, including Eve Denby, assuring everyone it would be a quick meeting but it needed to be now.

“Girl stuff,” she said and started to close the Private door. As she expected, Nathan scrambled off the Wolf bed and let out a protesting arroo at being shut out. But when he saw the rest of the girls, he turned around and went back to the bed. Guarding against feral deliverymen was one thing; dealing with the human females, whom he couldn’t bite, was something else.

Meg glossed over the meeting with Steve Ferryman. While the campus on Great Island was interesting, it didn’t have anything to do with them. But the part about supplies...

“I don’t usually slip into squirrel mentality until autumn, but with more and more companies being owned by HFL members, Simon has a point about buying what you can while you can,” Merri Lee said.

Meg frowned. “Squirrel...?”

“Buying cans of soup, jars of spaghetti sauce, and boxes of spaghetti. Stocking up on toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues. And the things we girls need because no one wants to run out of those supplies in the middle of a blizzard.”

She looked at them, surprised that no one felt the alarm that she had. “So this is normal?”

“In Lakeside? Sure.”

She blinked.

“Meg, you weren’t thinking about these kinds of supplies last winter, but when the radio announcers warn of a big winter storm, we pay attention,” Merri Lee said. “And believe me, we don’t take TP for granted.”

Ruth nodded. “You expect every last roll in the store to be bought when that happens.” Then she frowned. “Why do you think Mr. Wolfgard is so concerned about stocking up?”

Because more human cities are going to disappear. “Because of the sanctions that were imposed recently, there are delays on any merchandise being shipped from one region to another,” Meg said, offering a less frightening explanation. “Maybe the delays will get longer and there is more chance of running out of some supplies?”