Wolf Ways (The Madison Wolves Book 9) (42 page)

“Sometimes,” Iris said.

“What game?” Lindsey asked.

I glanced over at Portia, searching for permission. She nodded. “But eyes on the road,” she added quietly.

“Iris, my computer is next to my seat. There is paper and pens. You and Lindsey may take turns keeping score.”

I waited until she was done rooting around and said she was ready.

“All right,” I said. “Here’s what I propose, but I want to see what you think. We have a six-hour drive, and there are five of us. I propose we each come up with a game, and we play each game for an hour, with a little break between games. Can someone time us?”

“There’s a timer on my phone,” Lindsey said.

“We’ll play my game first,” I said. “That gives the rest of you time to make up a game.” I explained my game, and they were all keen.

“I have been thinking about this game,” Portia said. “I believe if you know someone’s else’s fact, then you should get a point.”

“That’s a good change,” I said.

From in back, Monique asked, “Are there prizes?”

“Oh. I hadn’t thought about prizes. I’m sorry, I didn’t bring anything.”

“Cash is always good,” she said. I glanced in the mirror and she was grinning.

“Well, I am poor, so I am not funding cash prizes.”

“How about we make up a prize,” Lindsey suggested. “Do we want prizes for each game, or just one at the end?”

“You guys decide,” I said.

“Let’s have one at the end,” Portia said. “Toss out ideas.”

“Foot massage,” Iris said.

“I’d play for a foot massage,” Portia announced. “Does anyone have another idea?”

They didn’t, but I added, “Clean feet.” That generated laughter. “But there’s something else I want, too.”

“What’s that, Zoe?” Monique asked.

“I want to see all of you in your fur, with permission to hug you. Would that bother any of you?”

Iris laughed. “You don’t know wolves very well yet. You can hug me.” That was followed by a round of “me too” from everyone.

“All right,” Portia said. “As thanks to Zoe for helping out this weekend, we’ll find a chance to shift to fur and give her a good, long look and a hug for each of us. That’s on top of whoever wins the foot massage. I should warn you: I intend to win.”

She got the expected laughter.

“I think there should be points or even a prize for the best game,” Monique said.

“Prize!” the two other girls said immediately. “I love being brushed when I’m in fur,” Iris added.

“With a hair brush?” I asked.

“I have a brush for it. It feels really, really good.” She paused. “If you don’t know how, I’d have to show you.”

“You know, I haven’t been brushed that way in years,” Portia said. “As I recall, it does feel good. But what if we decide Zoe’s game is best. Even if we brush her hair, it won’t take anywhere near as much time.”

“I know what I want,” I said. “I really liked the way you guys ran me around on Sunday. Could we do that on pack lands, but at your best speed?”

From in back, Monique laughed. “Sure. Portia, is that allowed?”

“I think it is,” she said. “And a few minutes of pampering, because brushing an entire wolf can take a long time.”

“All right then. If we’re ready, start the timer, Lindsey, then say ‘go’.”

“Ready… go.”

“Um. Who is first?” Monique asked.

“Whatever order Iris wrote our names down.”

“Oh. I’m first,” she said. “Um. Gosh. Okay. I used to have a stamp collection.”

“I knew that,” Lindsey said. “Point for me.”

We went around for a while. The things the girls shared were sometimes very superficial but frequently very, very personal. I was having a great time.

They laughed at a few of mine. “When I was young,” I said, “My parents were going on a vacation to Miami. And I thought it was like My Ami.” I said it as two words. “I kept asking my mom what an Ami was, and if she got one, when did I get one.”

We’d been playing for a half hour when Monique said, “I want to suggest an enhancement to the rules.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. If the thing you tell is pretty embarrassing, I think you should get double points.”

Everyone laughed and immediately agreed.

The game turned really raucous. We learned the most unexpected things about each other, and all of us were laughing long before Lindsey’s timer went off.

“Time’s up,” she announced.

“Finish this round then,” I said. “So we all get equal chances.” Portia and I each gave our last facts. Then Iris read off the score.

I was in the lead.

“Oh ho,” said Portia. “A game the human is good at.”

“I think it was Monique’s added rule and my willingness to share embarrassing stories.”

“That’s probably it, bed wetter.”

“Hey! What’s said in Car Zoe, stays in Car Zoe!”

“You can hope so, anyway,” Portia said.

The girls all laughed. “Okay, we get a short break, then we’ll play the next game.”

The girls broke out in conversation with each other. I glanced over at Portia, and she was smiling at me.

“What?”

“You. You’re relaxed. It’s good to see.”

“I’ve been relaxed with you.”

“Yeah, but you stress out around additional wolves.”

“These are good kids,” I said.

“Those are the only kinds we have, on the compound, anyway.”

“So, got a game figured out?”

“Yep. But you have to wait to hear about it. How are you doing on driving?”

“I’m fine. But are there sodas or water or anything?”

“I’m sorry, but we’ll be stopping in another twenty minutes. You can get something there.”

So far, it had been an easy drive. Karen kept a steady five miles over the limit, and Portia had directed me to maintain a proper following distance from Angel and Scarlett immediately in front of us. The car drove well, if a lot bigger than I was accustomed, and it was a nice afternoon.

Iris asked to pick the next game, but we had to interrupt for our rest stop. Our train of cars pulled into a truck stop, and Karen parked well away from all the other vehicles. I parked where Portia directed.

“Monique, you’re on duty,” Portia said. “You have Zoe. Girls, you will stay with Zoe as well. I want all of you in a tight group.”

“Yes, Portia,” they said together.

“You sit tight until Monique and I are ready for you,” Portia said. And so I sat in the car for another minute until Monique opened my door. It was all quite unnecessary, but I did what I was told.

We managed to get bathroom breaks for those who needed them, and snacks, water, and soda for everyone. Portia bought mine for me before I could protest, which was kind of her.

Ten minutes later, we were on our way again.

Monique’s game was third, then Lindsey was fourth. “This might be a bad game, she admitted. I have another one, but it’s lame.”

“Explain it and we’ll decide,” Iris told her.

“Well, Zoe. Ms. Young. What do we call you?”

I glanced at Portia and she said quietly, “Whatever you prefer.”

“Stick to Zoe,” I said.

“All right. You’re an environmentalist. You know science and nature stuff. Right?”

“I know different things than Michaela, but yes. I know science and nature stuff.” I thought it was cute the way she put it.

“All right. A game Michaela plays with us is Science Fact or Fiction. She tells us about something, maybe taking a few minutes. Some of it is true, some is false. Then the first person in line gets to identify as many true or false items as she can. She gets one point for each one right. Once she is done, the next can go, then the one after her. Then for the next story, the first one becomes last. You see? It’s fun, and we learn things.”

“Can you do that and still drive?” Portia asked. I nodded.

“How does Zoe get points?” Portia asked.

“Oh,” said Lindsey. “I didn’t think of that.”

“If we get something wrong, she gets a point,” Monique said. “But that means she has four times as many chances to get points as us, so at the end, we divide her points in four.”

“If we do that,” said Iris, “then it’s only sporting if she talks about stuff we have a chance to know.”

“Monique isn’t in the science program,” I said. “Is this game fair to her?”

“Portia isn’t in the science program, either,” Portia said with a laugh. “Let’s see how this goes, but if the score is lopsided, then we’ll adjust it. Maybe Zoe and I will alternate. Or she can throw in current events or any other topic she feels she knows well.”

“If we play this game, it will have an environmentalist and conservationist twist. I don’t know very much about chemistry or physics.”

“That’s good,” said Iris. “We’ll learn more.”

“All right,” I said. “You guys asked for this.” I smiled. “Tell me when to go, Lindsey.”

“We’re switching,” she said. “I’m keeping score and Iris has time. I have a fresh page and a fresh order for us.”

“Zoe… go!”

“There have been eight major extinction periods,” I said. In truth, there were six. “The most famous one was called the K-T event, and that’s when the last of the dinosaurs died off, 66 million years ago.” That was all true. “Each extinction period from the past was very distinct, with the deaths occurring over a very short period, weeks to a few years.” That was false, or deemed to be false.

“We are currently in the middle of the most recent extinction period,” I went on, “called the Holocene extinction. It has been going on longer than the ones in the past.” That was false. “And has been going on for about ten thousand years.” True. “It is deemed to be entirely, or nearly entirely caused by man. The most notable extinctions are the dodo bird and passenger pigeon. Currently, it is estimated man is killing on average approximately a thousand species a year.” The actual estimated figure was as high as 140 thousand annually, including insects and plants.

I talked for another minute or so. Finally I asked, “How is that?”

“That’s great,” Lindsey said. “And I get to go first. I knew about the K-T event, and I knew it was when the dinosaurs died. I knew it was 66 million years ago.”

“Good. Is that three points?”

“Yes,” said Iris.

“Um. That’s all I can do,” Lindsey said. “Iris?”

“I knew that dodo birds and passenger pigeons were killed by man,” Iris said. “Two points. But I don’t believe we’re killing a thousand species a year.”

“You think it’s less?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, we need a check on the rules. That fact is wrong, but Iris is wrong.” I told them about the actual number. No one believed me.

“That number is an estimate. No one knows for certain. But every scientist agrees it’s far, far more than a thousand species a year, if you include insects and plants.”

“I don’t think she gets a point,” Monique said.

“I don’t either,” Lindsey said.

“Neither do I,” Iris agreed. “A point for Zoe. Your turn, Monique.”

“I don’t know any of this,” Monique said. “Except… I think she lied when she said the extinction events were short lived. I thought it took millions of years for the dinosaurs to die off.”

“Point to Monique. No one is absolutely sure. There is some evidence of only a few years to maybe a few thousand years, but there is also evidence it might have been a few million years.”

Portia didn’t have anything to add, then I asked, “Do I get points for the falsehoods you guys didn’t catch?”

“Oh,” said Lindsey. “I don’t know.”

“Tell us what we missed,” Iris said, “And we decide how many points you get.”

They had missed three, and after I explained them, they agreed they were worth three points. But then Iris reminded me my score would get divided by four.

Still, it was a good game.

We played for a half hour. Iris and Lindsey were doing the best. Neither Portia nor Monique were doing as well, although Portia was more aware of some of the modern conflicts such as fracking and nuclear power.

“We need to change it a little,” Lindsey said. “Either Zoe should include more stuff that Portia and Monique might know, or Portia should do some, too.”

“It’s okay,” Monique said. “I’m having fun anyway.”

“I still think we should do something,” Lindsey said.

“How about if I try one,” Portia said. “And we’ll see. Mine will be about history.”

“Go for it,” I said. “But I get regular points then, so you’ll have to score two columns for me.”

“I’m on it,” Lindsey said.

Portia talked about the Unabomber. She spoke for several minutes. Lindsey declared I should go first. I got three points, just facts I knew. Lindsey got one and handed one to Portia, and Iris handed her two more.

Monique racked up eight points.