Page 26 of Moon Tamed

“Are the kittens okay?” If anything went wrong with our feline refugees, I doubted I’d be able to handle it with professionalism or grace.

Calden’s father chuckled. “They’re fine. We took a break long enough to feed them. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

I eyed Peter, the responsible party for both types of news. “Which do I want first?”

Wrinkling his nose, my brother shook out his hands. “Go with the bad first. I’m going to need a month to recover from this. I don’t have any idea how I’m going to work.”

“Carefully and with much whining,” our father replied.

“I’m going to go with the bad news first,” I informed Mr. Stephans.

“You need to move.”

My eyes widened. I needed to what? “As in from where I’m standing or where I live?”

“Where you live.”

“I don’t understand how this is bad news. I like moving and seeing new things and trying out new neighborhoods. I enjoy moving, but it’s hard to find places I can afford. Is the good news affordable rent?”

“Your rent is free,” Calden’s father replied with a rather crooked grin.

Some nights, I dreamed of free rent and what I’d do if only I had some extra money. All the books I wanted could be mine. I could go camping and hunting as often as I wanted.

If only I had free rent.

I got onto my knees and hugged my brother’s legs. “Thank you for sucking at knuckle slap.”

Peter sighed. “Aren’t you going to ask where you’ll be living?”

“No.” Where I lived didn’t matter, as long as I had a place to put my stuff, a bed, and the freedom to come and go as I pleased.

“You should ask,” Peter replied, glaring at me. “Let go.”

Rather than let go, I hugged him tighter. “But free rent.”

“You should care where you’re going to be living!”

Idiot brother. How could he not understand the repercussions of free rent? “Does Mom approve?”

Our mother snickered. “I instigated it.”

“Dad?”

“I’ll allow it.”

What was my brother even whining about? I released him, hopped to my feet, and brushed myself off. “Will I have easy access to food?”

“Yes,” Peter confirmed.

“Work, water, and a bed?”

My brother heaved yet another sigh. “Much to my dismay, yes.”

“The internet?”

Silence.

Well, that could be a problem. “I might survive without the internet if I have weekly library trips, but in future, you should confirm if any place I live has the internet.” I smiled at the thought of all the things I could do with the money I saved dodging rent. “I can load a lot of books on my new digireader once a week. Is there any other news I should know about? When do I move? What’s my timeline?”

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