Page 62 of Faun Over Me

At those words, at the sound of her name, the image Avery had crafted of her mother, of Nathan Payne’s wife, was swept away in a deluge of tears. She dropped her crutch, wrapping her arms around her mother. They were jostled by a weight colliding into them. And another and another. Arm after arm, body after body, crashing into Avery and her mom and hugging them as best they could.

“They came after midnight,” her mom explained. Avery only caught snippets of her siblings’ voices, but they were the pieces that mattered. “Warrants for his arrest … multiple counties … corroborated witness accounts … forged signatures … trial … jail … no bail.”

Sanoya’s narrow frame drifted down the main trail, the Hidebehind hopping from shadow to shadow behind her. One by one, lights in the cabins winked out, and the warm, flickering glow of campfires illuminated the grounds. Counselors’ voices echoed in the dark, and lithe figures darted from the shadows, running hand-in-paw and hand-in-hand.

The screen door swung closed, clacking against the frame, and Cricket’s uneven hoofbeats tocked against the wood. She dropped a picnic basket on the topmost step and propped her crutch on the porch rail to settle beside Avery.

Avery glanced at the basket and raised her eyebrows.

“Mac’s idea,” Cricket replied. Her ears twitched, and the bare skin on her throat flushed. “Something she and Ramble used to do, I guess.”

“Sit on the stairs?”

“Picnics, smartass.” Cricket opened the basket and pulled out two camping mugs and a bag of peach rings. She blinked at the candy, nostrils flaring. The tawny down on her cheeks deepened in hue where it softened to fuzz. “Okay, so these were definitely Ramble’s idea.”

“How is that going?” Avery tipped her head toward the door, not wanting to pry but needing to check in with the faun. After everything, when her mother and siblings had left for Elkins and the drugs had worn off, Cricket filled her in on the Assessor’s Office and Green Bank, this time with far less freak-out rushing her words. There was anger there, and hurt, and it was impossible to miss that the direction had changed. She’d been resigned when admitting her family had not believed her, but when it came to Ramble …

“They’re embarrassed.” She stretched out her injured leg, rubbing her thigh and staring across the front yard. “Won’t stop apologizing whenever we’re in the same room, which I guess is fair.” Her long fingers toyed with the top of the bandage wrapped around her calf, plucking the pink bow Avery had tied under the influence of Nurse Almaden’s painkillers. “This wouldn’t have happened if they’d just driven me.”

“They did what they thought was right for Mac and the camp,” said Avery. “Just like you were doing what you thought was right for your family. You can’t fault Ramble that.”

“Yeah, that’s my point,” Cricket grumbled. “Everyone should have listened to me from the start.”

Avery chuckled, warmed by the return of Cricket’s crankiness. She took it as a sign that the faun was feeling better. Or, at least, well enough to wean off the tranquilizers. Her stomach rumbled, reminding Avery that she, too, had weaned off the strongest painkillers, and thus her appetite had returned.

She rummaged in the picnic basket, fingers grazing a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese, grapes, and finally peering inside. “Oh snap, there’s a whole feast in here.”

“Told you,” Cricket said. “They feel bad.”

Avery shook her head, smiling, and pulled out a thermos. She gestured for the camping mugs and filled both with a steaming brown liquid. Cricket took her mug happily, clasping it in both hands, while Avery eyed hers before sniffing.

“Hooooo,” she wheezed, eyes watering. “What is this?”

“Apple Jack.” Cricket grinned. “Another Mac and Ramble special.”

“I’m just going to pretend this is medicine.”

“Aw, come on.” Cricket sipped her Apple Jack, choking off a cough. “Goes down smooth like a sweet gum spiny ball.”

“You are a disaster.” Avery set her mug down and grabbed the bag of peach rings, pinching one between her fingers and offering it to Cricket. “And cranky. Here, have a peach ring.”

Light sparkled deep in Cricket’s eyes. She leaned over the picnic basket to take the offered gummy in her teeth, lips closing around Avery’s fingers. A curl of heat shot straight to her belly, unfurling as Cricket’s eyes fluttered closed, and she let out a decadent moan.

“Okay, yeah,” Avery panted. “Starting to understand why they packed what they did in this basket.” She offered another peach ring to Cricket, who took this one with her fingers and popped it into her mouth, chewing loudly.

Music drifted to them on a breeze, a guitar chorus from one of the campfires. A horn joined in, a saxophone, and soon the night was full of song as the stars twinkled overhead.

They sat, shoulder to shoulder, sipping Apple Jack and munching on grapes, bread, and cheese. After a time, Cricket shifted, speaking into the dark, “You gonna go home?”

“No,” said Avery. “Not yet.”

“End of the summer then?” Cricket’s ears twitched and she sat up straighter.

Avery shook her head. “End of next summer.”

Cricket stared at her, face blank. “What do you—”

“My mom is going to lease an apartment in Elkins. It'll be easier that way, I think. Somewhere to set up as a home base. And she’s coming back tomorrow with my siblings. They all play instruments, so I’m going to show them the camp and borrow the Gator to show my mom the undeveloped land around the perimeter.”

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