Free Spike's Day Out by Zenina Masters Page B

involved, so I would rather speak to you privately.”
    She looked around at the kids and the watchful bunnies hopping around. “This way. Into the forest.”
    He rose out of the water like an ancient god and she beckoned him to follow her. She could feel Roger watching her, but he had to stay with the warren.
    She walked a few meters into the woods, just far enough that the dappled shade covered them from casual observation.
    “What is it?”
    He straightened, completely at ease in his nudity. “Introductions first. My name is Albert Argent.”
    “Alliteration. Nice. Sicily Markum, random hedgehog.”
    He cleared his throat. “As of now, you are the only hedgehog. All other members of your kind have been assessed and they are all deceased. You are the only one currently alive.”
    She reeled back and leaned against an oak. “I knew there weren’t many of us, but all dead?”
    “Please understand, most were natural causes, but a few have gone missing, and when those men you took down woke, they were looking for Jarok as the last hedgehog. They still won’t say why.”
    She continued to lean on the tree and gave him a dazed look. “Our hides can be used for benign attraction and distraction, as well as defence. We make good spies and our hides are valued if they can get them off us before we shift.”
    “We don’t know why they want you and they won’t say, but you are going to have me as a bodyguard until they find out.”
    “Did they clear it with the warren master?”
    “I believe they are working on it now.”
    “Well, he is that fluffy thing behind you, so you can check with him.” She smiled and jerked her head. “He can sort you out with some trousers as well. That falls within his purview. If you will excuse me, I have to tell the tale of the Easter bunny to the girls and boys too young to shift.” Sicily smiled and sashayed past him as Roger gained his feet.
    The boys and girls were all hyper with chocolate, but she got them calmed down and settled while she sat and told them of the first Easter bunny, the bravest shifter of them all. A small body and a big heart marked their bloodline, and one day, the Easter bunny might hop again. If it did, the children needed to know what would be expected of them.
    Sicily never got tired of telling the story, never stopped imagining another Easter bunny in the future with golden fur and a heart as big as all the open meadows in the warren.
    Even for a hedgehog, it was something to dream about.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    Once the children got their stories and had their baskets organized, their parents and older siblings shifted back into their human forms and got dressed. The picnic was about to begin in earnest.
    Sicily walked back to her car and grabbed the blanket from the back seat. Her parents placed their blanket next to hers and gave her a concerned look.
    Her mother asked, “Sicily, who was that swan?”
    “His name is Albert, Mom. Roger is checking his credentials, but he says that he is here at the request of the council. He gave me some bull about me being the last of my species.” She shrugged and smiled at the teen who handed her a plate loaded with fried chicken, potato salad and carrots.
    Her father leaned around his wife. “What?”
    “Keep your voice down, Dad. It is probably nothing.” She looked up the hill where Roger and Albert were approaching. Sadly, they were both fully clothed and each had a grim expression.
    Casual nudity was one of the perks of being a shifter. You could take the measure of those around you simply by looking. Their inner animal disclosed their attitudes, so once you had shifted with someone, you had a good idea of their psyche.
    The men stopped next to their blankets. Roger made the introductions. “Edgar and Verona Markum, this is Albert Argent from the Shifter Council. He is here to protect Sicily until something can be done to find another hedgehog. Officially, she is the last of her kind until we find someone