Chapter 16: CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chandrha called Lhorhanha and Ad‘herha in for dinner but it took the cubs several minutes to walk into the house. When they did show up, Chandrha admonished them for taking so long.

“We were watching Sen Creighton,” Lhorhanha said. “He said bad words.”

“And he yelled a lot,” Ad‘herha added.

“Stay away from the humans,” Chandrha warned. “I don’t trust them.”

The cubs regarded the table, the bowls filled with bone marrow, a Tereskàdian favorite. “They’re not all bad, are they?” Lhorhanha asked.

Rheôvhan and Dharhonha joined them a few moments later. He had been hunting, had come home empty-pawed. A surly expression crossed his face. Ears back, he barely glanced at his mate and daughters. As soon as he sat down he grasped a large chunk of meat and tore into it as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Papa?”

He glared at his oldest daughter, and Lhorhanha stared at her food. Chandrha could almost feel the silent tears.

“That was totally uncalled for,” she said.

He dropped the remaining chunk back in the bowl. “I don’t know what they’re doing out there, but I want them out of this village.”

“Who is going to throw them out? Arak is dead.”

“This village is supposed to be off limits to the humans,” he said, searching for another piece of meat. “If the Canadian government gave them permission to shoot a movie here, quite a bit of money must have been involved. And now we have that... that human from the RCMP snooping around here, investigating Arak’s murder.”

“This doesn’t sound like you.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” he said. “I’ve been talking with others, and they all tell me this Harold Creighton acts like he owns the village.” He tore off a small piece of meat, chewed it thoroughly before continuing. “You know what he did? Creighton, I mean. He walked into a house, just walked in, and told the family to get out for a while because he needed the interior.”

“He can’t do that.”

“Papa?” Lhorhanha said.

“Yes?”

The meat waited in front of her, but she didn’t bother with it. Her eyes wandered to Chenharhel beside her. “One of the humans... he... wanted to see...”

“Speak up, Lhorhanha,” Rheôvhan said. “Don’t mumble into your food.”

“Don’t harass the cub,” Chandrha said.

“I’m not harassing her. If she has something to tell us, she should tell us.”

“One of the humans said he wanted to see my vulva,” Lhorhanha said. “He said he wanted to make sure I was a female.”

Chandrha’s eyes widened. “What the...?” She glanced at Ad‘herha. “What about you?”

Ad‘herha twitched her whiskers.

Rheôvhan pushed back his chair. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sure going to find out.”

“I told him I didn’t have any hairs around my ears, like you, Papa, but he didn’t want to hear that.”

“You’re not going to do anything foolish, are you?” Chandrha asked. She turned to her cub. “Did he touch you there?”

“No, but...”

“But what?”

“He said he’d like to see me later.”

“What do you think he meant by that?” Rheôvhan asked. “These humans are treacherous, devious...” He headed to the door, opened it.

“I’m coming with you,” Chandrha said.

“What about the cubs? What if the humans walk into our house? I don’t want them here by themselves.”

They’d take the cubs and their whistling dragons with them. This way, Lhorhanha could point out the human who displayed an interest in her vulva.

Lhorhanha regarded the humans clustered near one of the houses. Creighton was preparing to shoot another scene, but something wasn’t working out the way he wanted it to. He was yelling at several humans, using words Chandrha knew were what humans called ‘dirty words.

“Where the fuck did you learn to act?” he growled. “I could get better results from one of those fucking dragons.”

“I’ve been in the movie business a long time,” one of the humans yelled back. “I was nominated for seven... seven acting awards. Let me tell you something, Mr. Director, you couldn’t direct your way out of a whorehouse.”

“You’re fired,” Creighton said. “Get the fuck out of here.”

“Fine with me. I hope your film tanks.”

The human who had been fired strode toward them. He glanced at them, muttered something under his breath about Creighton being an asshole, passed them, stopped. He turned around. “I hope this movie stinks.” He looked at the cubs. “I’m sorry, I guess I was a little more desperate than I thought. Andrew Delmore’s the name.”

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Rheôvhan introduced himself, his mate, his daughters. Delmore asked if they had eaten already, he was starving, so he’d head for the diner and get a bite to eat. When Chandrha told him they had just eaten, Delmore shrugged. “I’d still like someone to talk to. I’m too old for these rookie actors.”

On the way to the diner they passed Daniel de Montelier. He was busy snooping around, checking the area for clues to Arak’s murder. What was he doing in the village, when he should have been out on the path where Arak had been knifed to death.

You should ask the humans, Jhevharel sent.

Why should we get involved?

It would save Sen Montelier a lot of work

He’s being paid to do this.

Alice Baumgartner welcomed them into the diner, showed them to a table, laid one menu in front of Delmore. She asked the Tereskàdians if they wanted some meat, but Chandrha told her they had already eaten, they were here to keep Sen Delmore company.

“He’s a slave driver,” Delmore said, after ordering a well-done steak, baked potato, and a vegetable medley. “He has Benita Corovelli in tears because of her accent, and Cal Torrence is complaining because he doesn’t come in until a third of the way into the film. And that kid from Alberta... Bill Tallard... he’s flubbing just about every line he’s got. As for Chester Harrison...”

“How long have you been in this business?” Chandrha asked.

“I used to be a child star. Had my first role when I was six, back in the ‘60’s. Nothing major, but I earned a tidy sum. When I grew up my roles dwindled to few and far between. But I made a come back in the late ‘80’s, got some decent roles, got nominated a few times, never won, but at least I was recognized again. After the early 2000’s I was forgotten again, until Creighton contacted me. I guess I took this role—”

“There he is,” Lhorhanha shouted. She pointed at someone, but when Rheôvhan and Chandrha and Delmore looked, they saw no one. “He was there.”

“Who was there?” Delmore asked.

“The human who wanted to see my vulva,” she said.

“What?” Delmore’s bushy eyebrows arched up.

“One of you humans wanted to see my daughter’s vulva,” Rheôvhan said.

“What did he look like?” Delmore asked. “You know, if someone is doing something like that, it’s against the law in our country, in any country. This person is a... Something has to be done.”

“He is tall, thin, like he needs to eat more, and he has a gap in his teeth,” Lhorhanha said.

“Brown hair?” Delmore asked. “Kind of long, unruly?”

“Unruly?”

“Not combed,” Chandrha said.

“Yes.”

“I know who it is,” Delmore said.

The meal arrived, hot and steaming, and Delmore dug into it with the enthusiasm of someone who had just been rescued from a desert island.

“I’ll contact Daniel de Montelier,” he said. “You leave everything to me. Don’t do anything foolish.”

“Why would we do something foolish?” Chandrha asked.

“She's your cub.”

“But she wasn’t attacked. If someone asks to see her vulva, and she shows them, we can’t do anything. If someone tries something... sexual, then—”

“I wasn’t going to show, Mama.”

“I know.”

“Who is it?” Rheôvhan asked. “We have a right to know.”

“Bill Tallard.”

“The human from Alberta?”

“Yes.”

“He’ll deny it, of course,” Rheôvhan said.

“Of course,” Delmore agreed. “He knows he’ll have to tell the truth sooner or later. Everyone knows you aliens can tell when someone is lying.”

Bill Tallard. Chandrha had seen him, walking through the village, tall, skinny, wearing a red jacket, hands in the pockets. Was he learning his lines, or was he searching for Tereskàdian cubs, so he could gawk at their genitals?

When Delmore had finished his meal, he stood up, left a generous amount of money on the table. “As soon as I’ve spoken with Montelier, I guess I’ll be on my way.”

“How will you leave?” Chandrha asked.

“I’ll ask Montelier if I can go back with him. I can take a plane back to wherever he’s going, and then I’ll find a way back to L.A.”

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