"You can't do it here?"
"Someone might see me in my underwear."
Cottontail learned from her mind that it was not good for a human person to be seen by others without clothing. “Could you change here if no one saw you?"
"Sure. But someone could come along at any time."
"You can hide in a crevice, and I will extend my awareness and warn you if any humans come near."
She considered a moment, then agreed. “This is nervy, but not worse that approaching Mr. Bennington was.” She carried the clothing and Cottontail to an alcove by a building. “Is the coast clear?” Her mind showed a picture of a sea shore, but also what she meant: that no one was near.
Cottontail expanded his awareness. “There is no one close."
"Okay.” Rowan struggled quickly out of her shoes and dress, and into her jeans and shirt.
"A human female is approaching,” Cottontail warned.
She ripped the ribbon from her hair and wadded the dress into a ball. Then she walked back to the bicycle. A woman walked by, not paying any attention to the girl. Rowan put the clothing into one basket, and Cottontail's bag into the other, and got on the bicycle.
"Gee, that was fun!” she exclaimed. “I was really scared someone would see."
"You enjoy being frightened?"
"Yes, if it's not too bad. You were alert, so I knew it was okay, but it still seemed dangerous. That's why it's fun."
Cottontail considered that. “I think I understand, but I will not understand when I am no longer in contact with your mind."
"I guess rabbits can't afford to play at danger; there's too much real danger for them."
"Yes. We are safe only in the burrow."
"We'll get you back there soon."
She was correct. First they returned to the library, where Rowan did spot research on George Dayson of Dayson Consultancies. She learned that he lived in Horseman's Estate, a big development north of the big city. She noted the address. After that she rode the bicycle to the sinkhole and then carried the bag down into it. The survey men were not there this day, so they had no concern about discovery.
They entered the cave and reached the burrow tunnel. No one was there, but that could be fixed. Cottontail sent a thought out to intercept Gopher.
Gopher answered. “Cottontail's back!” he thought to the others. “But he is injured. We must go there."
"They will come,” Cottontail thought.
"It's been great being with you,” she thought. “I'm sorry you got injured."
"I was careless. Had you not saved me, I would have been eaten."
"That would have been awful! At least now we know who we have to talk to, to move the mall."
Cottontail leaped to a conclusion. “Not talk, or think. We have to change his mind. That will require all of us, working together."
"All of you!"
Then the burrow mates started arriving.
Chapter 6
Mission
Peba Armadillo could move rapidly when he wanted to, and his alcove was the deepest in the burrow, so when Gopher's call came, he was the first to reach the deep cave. Cottontail was there, of course, and so was the human girl.
"How did you get hurt?” he asked.
"I was careless. A cat pounced on me. Rowan saved me, but I can run only with pain."
Cats were not much of a threat to Peba, but he felt Cottontail's pain. “Then you must rest. We will fetch you plants to eat."
"No. We must act immediately. Tonight, I think. There is a human who decides where the mall is put. We must change his mind."
The others were arriving, and they were already sharing minds. Soon they gathered around the human girl and considered. From that consideration came the conclusion: “Cottontail is correct,” Gopher thought. “We must all go to change this human man's mind. It will not be receptive the way Rowan's mind is, so it will require more power than any one of us possesses."
"I wish I could help,” Rowan thought. “But I can't do telepathy on my own. Just when one of you helps me."
"But you are learning,” Cottontail thought. “In time you will be able to do it by yourself."
"I'd love that! But first things first: how do we organize to change that man's mind? I mean, he's not close by; I'm not sure how we can even get there."
"Your bicycle,” Cottontail thought.
"That's no good for this. First, I don't know the way, and second the bike has no lights so I couldn't ride it at night, and it may be too far anyway. Third, I'd get picked up if the police saw me on the road at night. And how would I ever take all of you along? I might carry you, but not on the bike."
Peba delved to the root of the problem. “We all need to go, but you can't take us on your pedal machine. Is there another way?"
"Car, of course. I could put you all in a suitcase and tote you along; you'd be heavy, but I could do it. But I can't drive a car."
"And you can't go out at night,” Indigo reminded her. “Your burrow forbids it."
She shook her head. “I've got to. It's the only way to save the portal. If we don't save it, there's not much point of my existence anyway.” But the fear of that transgression came through; she was not comfortable with this.
"We need more information, for an overview,” Owl thought. “We must explore your mind."
"Welcome to my mind,” Rowan thought. “You like sharing it; I like sharing it with you. I never felt really brainy before, or beautiful the way you see me."
They joined her mind again, and again there was that sensation of enormous expansion as they all became far more intelligent than they had ever been. In a moment Indigo slithered to the key aspect: “You have a neighbor who uses a car at night."
"Oh, sure. That's Mr. Klondike, who works nights at the truck stop in Tangletree. He drives in after dark, and returns before dawn, so we hardly ever see him."
"Could we ride with him?” Cottontail asked. Peba knew that the rabbit did not want to run anywhere, with his painful foot.
"My folks wouldn't let me. Even if I weren't already in trouble for the last time I snuck out at night, to get Gopher."
"Is it needful to ask?” Peba asked, again getting to the bottom of it.
"Oh, my.” Rowan pushed her hands through the hair of her head. “I guess I'm sort of in denial. We do have to get this done, and it had better be soon. All right, I'll sneak out tonight and get aboard Mr. Klondike's pickup truck. If he catches me I'm a goner, but maybe he won't check."
"We can discourage him from checking,” Cottontail thought.
"But can you discourage my folks from checking my room at night, while I'm gone?"
There was general agreement: they could not influence any humans when they were not close by. Peba was not the only one who was not easy with this. They were asking a lot of the girl, and would also be risking themselves.
"I guess we'll just have to gamble,” Rowan decided. “This scares me worse than broaching Mr. Bennington did. But maybe we can do it, because we could catch a truck going south in Tangletree and reach Horseman's Estate pretty soon. But this whole thing is so fraught with risk—I mean, I'm just a local girl, they'd just think I was running away or something, but you folk—if you got caught away from the cave, or worse, if they caught on to your nature—that would be disaster."
Peba felt her genuine fear, and knew it was justified. This was a dangerous business. But they considered, using the superior power of her mind, and concluded that it was a calculated risk—(new concept)—if they failed, they could all be in great danger, but if they succeeded, the portal would remain open, and they would be able to commune with Rowan whenever they wanted.
At last Gopher thought the consensus: they would do it. Because they were sharing Rowan's human mind, she was part of it: she wanted to gamble—(new concept)—too. All or nothing.
They all shared her fright, but also her determination.
"Okay, then,” she thought weakly. “We'd better all go home and get som
e rest, and I'll sneak out and come here to fetch you after dark. If I can find my way without using a light."
"I can find my way in the darkness,” Peba thought. “My vision is not good, but it is almost as sharp at night as in light. I will go with you and guide you."
"And that will give me some telepathy, so I'll know how to avoid Uncle and Aunt,” she agreed gladly. “Good enough; I fell less worse already."
They withdrew from her mind. Peba led the way out of the cave, while the burrow mates went up the tunnel to the burrow. The others were helping Cottontail suppress the pain of his foot so that he could limp up with them. Gradually their mind traces faded.
They entered the big sinkhole. “This is delightful!” Peba thought. “There are all manner of bugs in this ground."
"Eat your fill, because I sure don't want to dig them out for you,” Rowan thought. “I never associated with an armadillo before. They don't live where I came from."
Peba followed his nose, sniffing out all manner of delicious incidentals. Then he crested the rim—and something pounced on him. It was the cat; he had been careless, just as Cottontail had.
But he was no soft bunny. He snapped into a ball, protecting his head and feet, and the cat was unable to hurt him. It should have known better than to go after an armored creature. His armor was not yet completely hard, because he was not yet full grown, but it was tough enough for this.
But the creature persisted, batting at his surface, trying to pry him open. This was annoying. “Lend me your mind,” he thought to Rowan.
The girl did. They shared. Peba drew from her mind, and hurled a blast of savagery at the cat. The cat screeched and fled, not knowing what had hit it.
"Wow! Like a rock on the noggin. Serves it right,” Rowan said, pleased. “I didn't know you folk could do that."
"By myself, I could not,” Peba thought. “With the support of the burrow, I could. The cat's mind was closed, but orienting on me, so there was an opening. Your mind is so big, it's as good as the burrow, so I struck back. That was a pleasure."
They moved on. Peba ran along the ground while Rowan lifted her bicycle and walked beside it. “Getting into the mind of this key man tonight—I don't think stunning him will help."
"It would be too hard to affect a human mind that way,” Peba thought. “We hope just to change it a little, using the method by which we normally direct humans in our realm."
"Oh, yes, I forgot—humans are beasts of burden where you are. But I guess their minds are more open."
"They are, because they have been trained to be responsive to sapient commands, and they are much weaker than yours. That is why we need to have all of us present for the effort. Cottontail showed that we could influence human minds of this realm, but only in a limited manner. We shall have to try very hard, and be very careful."
"I'll bet!"
Peba was keeping pace with her, but as they approached her house, Rowan had a concern for him. “If they see you, they may try to catch you or kill you,” she thought. “People don't like wild creatures around the house; they are afraid they are going to do some damage. I'd better hide you."
"Hide me,” Peba agreed.
"I'll put you in the basket and cover you with my dress."
She did that, then walked the bicycle on to the house. “Wow—you weigh more than Cottontail."
"Rabbits are at the low edge of size for full sapience, just as wildcats are at the high edge. Armadillos are in the middle."
"Some time I really want to understand more about that sapient range. But right now I'd better focus on this job.” Then she parked the bicycle in the shed, wrapped Peba in the dress, and carried him into the house. She unwrapped him in her room. “I'll bring you some—can you eat green leaves the way Cottontail does?"
"Can you find me some buggy ones?"
She laughed. “I'll ransack the garbage."
Peba snoozed while she went to supper with the family. She did bring him some buggy fruit that had been thrown out; it was delicious.
Later that night, when Peba's expanded awareness indicated that the relatives were not paying attention, Rowan packed two traveling bags with crumpled paper and put Peba in one. “If they catch me with these, they'll think I'm running away,” she thought. “So I'd better not get caught.” She also set up her bed so that it looked as if a person was sleeping in it. “I sure hope they don't do a competent bed check!"
Then they sneaked out. This was another new concept for Peba, for in the burrow all members came and went as they chose, their minds in contact with the others. Once again he regretted the mischief Rowan was risking. He felt her nervousness about that, and was not able to make it much easier for her to bear, because the risk was real.
Outside, she put Peba on the ground. “Lead and I'll follow,” she thought. “Remember, I'll get tangled if we go through brambles, and I'll fall if there are holes. I can hardly see anything out here."
Peba scurried along, sniffing out a suitable path for the girl to follow. Then he sent her his awareness of the ground, its sight, smell, and feel, and that enabled her to place her feet with much greater certainty. They moved well.
"I feel like an armadillo,” she thought. “This is fun!"
In due course the reached the sinkhole. They moved down into it, and entered the cave. “They are here,” Peba thought. “They know the way."
"We are here,” Gopher agreed.
"Good, because we'll have to hurry. Mr. Klondike won't wait for us."
She put Cottontail in one bag, and Gopher in the other. “Who else needs a ride?"
No one else did. Peba and Indigo walked and slithered, and Owl flew, all knowing the direction from the girl's mind. They hurried toward the neighbor's house.
They were in time. Rowan lifted Peba and Indigo into the back of the truck, and set the open bags there too. Owl came down to join them. Rowan covered them all over with what she called a tarpaulin, and they waited.
Soon the neighbor come out. He did not check the back of the truck; he just got into the front. “The motor will start,” Rowan thought. “Don't spook."
There was a roar, and the whole truck shook. They all would have spooked, but for Rowan's reassuring thoughts. As it was, they were nervous enough. “This is like my captivity,” Gopher thought. “I do not like it."
"This is a different truck,” Rowan assured him. “Mr. Klondike doesn't hunt tortoises."
Then the truck moved. It lurched forward. They all hated it, but again the girl reassured them.
The truck continued to shake. “It's rolling along the road,” Rowan explained. “That's how folk travel here. It's uncomfortable, but very fast."
They bore with it. In fact Peba was able to reach out and sense the mind of the neighbor, Mr. Klondike, and feel his rapport with the vehicle as he guided it. He shared that awareness with the others, and that helped.
After some time, the truck gave a final lurch, stopped, and the vibrating motor stopped. The man left the truck; they felt his mind depart.
"This is Tangletree. Now comes the tricky part,” Rowan thought. “We have to catch a truck going south. I'll have to carry all of you, and you will have to check the nearby minds to see which is best."
Peba shared a bag with Owl and Cottontail, while Gopher and Indigo were in the other. Rowan carried them in her two hands, walking between parked cars and trucks. Their combined weight tired her arms, so they lent her strength and she managed. She walked close outside what she termed a restaurant, a place where humans gathered to eat. Cottontail reassured them about its nature, having had experience with one. There were several humans there.
They reached out to feel the nearest minds. “Find one who is going south to Horseman's Estate,” Rowan thought. “There is bound to be one."
They searched, touching one mind after another. Then they found one. “That's our man,” Rowan thought. “Find out which truck is his."
In the man's mind was an image of a dull green truck with a load o
f horsefeed. “That has to be it,” Rowan thought. “Now we must find it and get aboard."
They walked through the parking lot. There were a number of cars, but not many trucks, so it was easy to find. “Say, this is one of those trucks with a sleeping chamber,” Rowan thought. “So the driver can pull over and sleep when he's tired, without having to look for a motel to stay in. He's close to where he's going; he probably won't check it. He'll just get in and drive."
"Suppose he does check?” Peba asked. He had not enjoyed the ride in the other truck, and did not trust this new one. None of this was like tunneling through the ground.
"I'll have to go into my lost little girl act, and you'll have to touch his mind to make him believe me. But I hope we can avoid that."
But Indigo slithered to another aspect. “We have not had much experience touching human minds other than Rowan's. Only Cottontail has done it. We need practice, so as to be ready for this Dayson Human Man. We should try this Truck Human Man."
There was general agreement. “Oh, my, you're right,” Rowan thought. “It freaks me out, but we should tackle him up front. Then if it goes wrong, we'll know better when we get to Dayson."
"Prepare your Innocent Girl act,” Cottontail thought. “We will enhance it as we orient on the man's mind."
"You'd better, because what I'm doing out here at night is enough to get me canned if the folks catch on.” Rowan had tied back her hair; now she loosened it and shook it out so that it fell across her shoulders. Peba knew from her mind that this made her look more like a Girl.
"He is coming,” Owl thought. He had been keeping a lookout, doing a mental overview.
Rowan stood beside the truck. Peba felt her heart beating rapidly; she was quite nervous about this. “We must calm her,” he thought. “We must give her assurance."
They worked on it, and the girl did gain confidence. “That's some trick,” she thought. “You boys are better than a pill."
The man paused as he spied Rowan. “What are you doing out here at night, kid?” he demanded.