Sharon’s note: More adventures of Molly and Panther. This is them a little bit older. I’m planning to jump around to different points in their childhood. It’s really fun so far, and hopefully you enjoy it too. Warning: Author is loving the protagonist, even if she doesn’t think this through completely.
When I turned around, Panther’s head was in my backpack and his tail was lashing happily.
I narrowed my eyes. “You better not be eating my sandwich.”
He pulled his head out, turned it to the side and sneezed.
“I don’t know what that means.” I crossed my arms. “If you want to say something, turn human and say it properly.”
Panther yawned widely and turned so that his butt was facing me.
“Fine. Be a jerk.” I snatched up my bag and continued walking towards the woods. He always did this. He stayed in cougar form so he couldn’t talk. He did it because he knew it made me angry.
“Where are you going, anyway?” he asked.
I turned around with a smirk. “We’re going to the Cairn.”
Panther looked really stupid standing there, human, naked and wide eyed. “Why do you want to go to the Cairn?”
“Everyone knows that if you bring a gift to the Cairn, ask for justice, and really deserve it, that it will be done.” I reached into my bag and tossed him the pair of shorts I brought for him. “I brought peanut butter and grandma’s false teeth. That should be enough to get justice for your parents.”
Panther hopped on one foot to put on the shorts. “It may work like that for humans, but my parents were of the Woods, like me. I know the guy who accepts offerings at the Cairn. His name is Alon. He’s a jerk and he’s friends with my brother.”
“He has to do it.” I rolled my eyes and put a hand on my hip. “That’s the deal. I bring gifts, you get justice.”
“Only if he agrees to take them, there’s no way he’d do it for peanut butter and your grandma’s nasty old teeth.”
“It’s a whole unopened jar of peanut butter, and the teeth aren’t nasty. Mom kept them in a clean dry place, and she would be super pissed if she found out I took them. It’s a risk and a sacrifice or something, so that’s totally a thing. Besides, fairies like teeth.”
“Hey! One, I never said we were called fairies, and two, I don’t like teeth.” Panther put his hands on his hips and bared his own teeth, which made me giggle.
“Liar. You were the one who found grandma’s dentures and started playing with them.”
“That doesn’t mean I like them. It’s just really funny when I put them in the bear puppet’s mouth.”
“Yeah.” I snickered, then I grabbed his arm and tugged. “Come on. It’s supposed to be totally safe as long as we brought gifts and stuff. Jenny Simmons told me so. Is that wrong?”
Panther bit his bottom lip for a second then shrugged. “No, but this isn’t a good idea.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “Well why not?”
“I don’t know. It just seems like a bad idea.”
I started walking again and looked over my shoulder. “I’m going. Are you coming?”
“I’m your friend. I can’t let you go alone. You’d do something stupid. Something stupider than going in the first place, I mean.”
“Cool.” I grabbed his arm and started dragging him. “Come on then, stupid. You’ll feel a lot better when we sick this Alon guy on your brother.”
Gray Matters: The Works of Sharon and James Gray 