3
Those who needed lodgings were granted the use of spare beds or couches for the night. Adam, Maggie, and Anna slept in their usual places in their RV. Dagmar set up her sleeping bag next to theirs. Kukalukl went out hunting and had not returned by the time the last of them—Adam, who couldn’t stop worrying about the havoc Centivert might be wreaking—fell asleep. When the others awoke the next morning they found the jaguar curled up in a big black ball on the hard floor next to Dagmar.
An hour after dawn, when they were all still picking sleep‑crust from their eyes, Rin and Mayor Firth came knocking at the RV.
“Can we help you?” said Maggie.
“You already have,” said Mayor Firth. “And in honor of all you’ve done for us and for Erizan as a whole, and also as a welcome-home party for those you’ve returned to us, we’re holding a celebration tonight at the Community Hall on Pelican Street. The festivities’ll start at sundown.”
“And you’d all better come,” said Rin. “I’m making my famous sweet potato pie. It’s got real marshmallows in it.”
“That sounds delicious,” said Maggie. “We will, of course, be there.”
After Rin and Mayor Firth left, Adam shook his head.
“This is insane,” he said. “Two weeks ago most of the townspeople thought me no better than the Marauders. Now they are throwing a celebration partly in my honor.”
“Is it really something to wonder at?” said Maggie. “You rescued the abductees, you ended the Marauders’ reign of terror, and you managed to do it all without being excessively rude and growly.”
Adam frowned. “I am never ‘rude and growly.’ At least not without just cause.”
Anna and Maggie looked at each other and then exploded with laughter.
“Of course not,” Maggie gasped out between guffaws.
“He’s always such a patient, cordial fellow,” Anna added as she dabbed tears of hilarity from her eyes.
Adam rolled his eyes as if annoyed, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.