Page 84 of Fighting Furry

I did stop then. I stood in front of her, but I kept pumping my arms, hitting air, needing to feel like I was doing something. “Why are you helping me if you don't like werewolves? And why are you friends with Max?”

“Oh, well, I like Max, dear, and you, of course. I just don't like werewolves in general. They're so primal and aggressive.” She shuddered. “And I really don't find their ability to become furry animals enchanting. I mean, fleas, darling, can you imagine?”

Fleas? I hadn't considered fleas. At the suggestion, an itch crawled up my back and I threw a hand back to scratch it. Could I get fleas?

“Julie Jacobs?”

I spun to see a woman, who couldn't be taller than four feet eleven inches and couldn't weigh more than a hundred pounds, with a camera almost as big as she was on her shoulder. Behind her was a tall, thin guy with a clipboard and another guy, this one short and broad, laden with bags of equipment. “Thank goodness you're here,” I said. I stuck my hand out and shook each of theirs in turn. “Are you with Sports World?”

The woman with the camera grinned, a malicious twinkle in her eyes. “Those assholes couldn't get their fucking shit together if a tornado was headed for their outhouse. I'm Sarah Spaulding with the Twee network.”

“Isn't that a kid’s channel?”

Sarah's eyes narrowed. “Kids and young adults, but this is a program that the whole fucking family will be watching. We want to expand our demographic.”

I just stared at her. If she wanted quality family programming, she was standing in the wrong place, but I wasn't about to tell her that. I needed her and her camera too damn bad. “Can you stream this live?”

She shook her head. “No fucking way the network is going to let me stream this shit live, princess. Soonest we can get it on air is prime-time tonight.”

“Can you tell the folks we're going to be filming that it's being streamed to national television live?”

Her mouth dropped open and her brown eyes widened. She looked like an Asian Disney princess. “You want me to lie?”

“I wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important, but—”

She bent over, laughing so hard I was afraid she was going to drop the camera. She stood and wiped her eyes. “Ah, you should have seen your fucking face, princess. Of course, I'll tell them we're fucking live.” She shook her head and looked back at the guys with her, who appeared both unamused and unaffected. Maybe they weren't morning people. “Nothing like a good fucking laugh to get the blood flowing in the morning, amiright?” She turned back to me. “Where the fuck are we doing this?”

“It's up the mountain,” I said. “We should probably take your van, if that's alright.”

Sarah slapped my shoulder. “Sweetheart, you need to toughen up. You want to take the fucking van, we'll take the fucking van. You're the money-maker here, we're just along for the ride.” She paused. “I could use some fucking coffee before we go, though. They got anything good here? Just straight fucking coffee, none of that hippy shit they drink in LA.”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling. The woman was abrasive as hell and had a mouth that would offend the…Well, just about everyone with a pulse, but I liked her. “We can stop on the way out of town.”

“Before we go,” she said, adjusting the camera on her shoulder. “I'll film you telling the story, giving us an idea of what to expect. Don't pussyfoot around it, go big, keep it simple, avoid the five-dollar words.” She narrowed her eyes. “Just talk to the camera like you'd talk to a girlfriend, one who's not that bright.”

So, I told my story and then I told it ten more times, until Sarah Spaulding and her associates, who as it turned out not only had the ability to speak but also had strong opinions about everything, deemed it good enough and I was ready to scream. By the time we got coffee, got in the van and started up the mountain, it was almost eleven and we only had just over an hour to stop an execution.

The plush, comfy seats in the van were nice, but they didn't do much to protect us from the bumps and bounces caused by the potholed road into Mule Creek. Sarah seemed unbothered. she spoke to me as we bounced along, asking questions about the pack, about werewolves, and about Axel and the council.

“Aren't you worried that coming out will put you in danger,” she asked. “People don't fucking like different, not to mention the scientists and doctors who are going to want to study you.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But the alternative is losing Axel, so I think I'll take my chances.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, you're a strong woman, made stronger by fucking werewolf powers, I guess you can afford to take chances.”

Her words reminded me about what I'd said to Axel, about him being a pacifist because he was a big guy who didn't need to fight for respect. “I'd imagine you're a strong woman, too,” I said. “You couldn't have had an easy time convincing your boss you could tote that camera around and do a good job.” I imagined that was also why she had such a tough attitude and swore like a sailor.

“Yeah,” she said. “I'm a woman, small, and Asian. They still try to stick me in fucking accounting every three weeks. But I've managed to hold onto the camera and your show is going to prove to them all just how good I am.”

We reached Main Street and I looked over to Desiree, who'd been texting with Max and Clarissa. “The barn,” she said. “Whatever that is.”

“Turn around,” I said to the driver, Kurt. “It's back the other way.”

The street was entirely empty, so we had no problem pulling a U-turn and heading to the other end of Main Street. I directed Kurt to the barn and he parked outside it. I leapt from the van and bounced from foot to foot in the dry, crackly grass while I waited for the guys and Sarah to get their equipment. Desiree hopped out and stood next to me. “Nothing will be the same for any of us after this,” she said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

“I'm hoping that will be a good thing,” I said.

“It certainly can't be any worse than it has been.”

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