Des set the two carriers down in a spot sheltered from the external walls by the furniture, purring reassuringly to them. She wanted them to have a few minutes to calm down in their familiar carriers before she released them, but that gave her a moment to unpack essentials.

She took their litter boxes to the bathroom and looked around for the best locations, somewhere that would be quiet and reasonably private, and where neither the boxes nor the litter kicked onto the floor would be right in a major line of traffic. That meant avoiding the large contoured bathtub and the generous number of strong built-in hooks and towel-bars near it, the extensive white-and-gold marble counter with twin sinks and a virtual wall of mirror behind it, the toilet, the large cabinet of shelves and drawers partly full of fluffy white towels...

She investigated what looked like another counter, and discovered that part of it lifted up to reveal a half-sized laundry drum with an agitator in the centre. The rest of the counter would be a good place to sort or fold laundry, but there was no dryer. On a hunch, she looked up, and discovered that there was a bracket above, facing towards a compact box high on the next wall. Sure enough, the box held coiled clothesline, with a bobble on the end that could hook into the bracket.

That washer couldn’t handle anything big or bulky, but it was more than adequate for tossing in a day’s clothes so they could dry overnight, in the perpetual gentle breeze that slipped in through the mesh at the top of the walls and even the doors. The floor, gently-textured tile in multiple shades of yellow, changed to a subtle grating with small openings along a narrow strip under the path of the clothesline.

These cottages were luxurious to a degree that most hotels could only dream of.

Nothing could be more unlike the conditions the captive faelings had been living in. But then, she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Cats, dogs, and humans would be safe and comfortable.

She fetched the mats that helped to reduce litter tracking, and set up the boxes on either side of the linen cabinet. She or Kayla could move them them if necessary.

The blankets, light fleece ones already liberally furred with tabby and white and black, she put on either end of a couch, and added a couple of soft catnip toys that were current favourites. She paused to hold one of the toys to her nose, and inhaled deeply. That scent was absolutely wonderful, and it was all she could do to force herself to put the toy down and go on with setting things up. She didn’t have forever. The cats needed to come out, and her family needed extra hands. She wondered, though, whether there might be catnip on the island somewhere. Didn’t it have uses for humans as tea or something? Erica would know the answer to both questions. For all she knew, someone in Alcaios’ extended household might have appreciated cats properly, and there were enough patches to keep them supplied year-round.

All the vivid varied colours of the blankets and toys looked a bit jarring against the lemon-yellow glass and creamy-pale pine floor and soft furnishings that ran from ivory through every shade up to goldenrod, but then, the monochrome effect was probably going to get old eventually.

The kitchen area was relatively small, but still more spacious than the one in her apartment. It was also equipped already with basic dishes and cutlery and the like, though nothing consumable like food or soap. She filled one bowl with kibble, then split a can of chicken paté between two bowls. It smelled unexpectedly tasty, and without thinking she licked a bit off her finger. That made her pause when she belatedly realized she’d done it, but after a couple of heartbeats, she shrugged and went on with her task. She was a strict carnivore these days, so presumably had a digestive tract similar to that of her cats, and they ate this stuff every day. It couldn’t hurt her. She should leave it for them, though, even if it did have an appetizing scent. She tossed the empty can into the carefully-protected black hole under the sink, where it would be broken into its fundamental elements and recycled accordingly.

She filled their large water bowl at the sink, and set water, kibble, and both bowls of paté on the floor at one end of the kitchen area, where she hoped they wouldn’t be in the way.

As a final step, she checked that the cottage’s door was securely closed. Each of the two leaves was nearly the width of a normal door, which was going to make it essential to stay alert when going in and out to keep the cats from escaping. On the other hand, Ramses was usually willing to stay wherever his amenities were, and Ryu was unlikely to go far from Ramses unless something spooked him. They could get plenty of fresh air and watch bees and pigeons and people through the glass mesh, and they actually had more space here than they did at home, so she wasn’t worried they’d get bored.

Besides, there were lots of people around who would probably love an excuse to take a break and cuddle the cats for a few minutes.

She went back to the carriers, feeling a reassuring purr rising in her chest all over again. She stretched out flat on the floor, belly-down, and unzipped Ramses’ carrier.

“Is me,” she said reassuringly. “Soun’ new, look new, bu’ is me. Hope I smell like me, a’ leas’. Love you jus’ as much, an have miss’ you sooo much. We nee’ live here for a month or so. You were rescue’, ha’ no home. No’ wan’ you remember tha’, bu’ people here have no home an’ nee’ rescue. Will make sure you’re safe here an’ maybe have fun. Come on ou’, is okay.” Still talking, she offered Ramses her hand, praying fervently to any power that could hear her. Suzi’s dogs had known her, so her cats would recognize her, right? They had never cared whether she was being a boy or a girl or somewhere between, but this was bigger. But it was all her own scent, not artificial ones like makeup or perfumed products of any kind, so maybe that would help.

Ramses sniffed at her fingers for a long moment.

Then the little black-and-white cat rubbed his cheek against her fingers, and shoved past her hand to escape the carrier.

Des refrained from scooping him up to hug him, even though she badly wanted to. He wouldn’t care for that, when he was intent on exploring his surroundings and making his own assessment. Instead, she moved her hand aside to let him emerge fully, and turned her attention to Ryu.

Younger, with an early life that involved abuse and neglect, her tabby boy didn’t do as well with change, but he was pawing at the mesh in an attempt to reach her. She unzipped the carrier and let him sniff her fingers, then ran her hand over his head, careful of her yellow nails. She didn’t even bother with words, just purred, and after a moment of leaning into her hand, he charged out to nuzzle himself under her chin, pressed tight against her chest.

She hated it when they were scared or unhappy, but what else could she do? She had no one left in the real world she could trust to care for them, her usual catsitters were all here, and they’d be miserable alone even if they had everything else they needed.

Anyone who believed that cats were inherently aloof and uncaring loners had obviously never bothered to build a proper relationship with one that would allow them to understand: each one was a unique individual, with their own personality and experiences and moods, and they were capable of deep and devoted love.

Carefully, she shifted her weight so she could reach Ryu with one hand, rubbing his ears and along the sides of his jaw and under his throat, still purring. Within seconds, Ryu’s purr joined hers, and he slithered down so he was lying on his side, his back against her and his paws free to wrap around her arm gently.

“Knock knock,” Theo said softly.

Des didn’t even bother to look. “Careful Ramses no’ sneak ou’.”

“Of course,” Max said, keeping his voice low and calm. “How are they doing?”

“Unsure. Is new place. New smells. Will be okay. If safe.”

“We’ll make sure they stay safe,” Theo said. “Maybe Niko can add a door lock or something, so no one accidentally lets them out. But until then, we can make sure there’s always someone here. I think Paz might be some kind of farm or barnyard fae, I bet she would love to catsit. And we have other friends who haven’t seen a pet cat or dog in months or years. They might end up all being therapy animals. And look how much the house fae love having their cute cat fae around curled up by the fire.” Des flicked an ear back to track motion, as the pair settled themselves on a couch near the one she’d left the kitty blankets and toys on. “Heya, Ramses. Good to know your priorities are in order. Wet food first, then get back to exploring.”

Des nuzzled Ryu affectionately, but reluctantly and carefully freed her arm and sat up. She knew from experience that if he fell asleep there he’d stay there for an hour or more—she’d often been trapped, either grateful for her phone being in reach or mourning the fact that it wasn’t. It was a huge gift of trust, though, after what he’d been through before coming to her, and she always hated disturbing him.

“Be’er go help,” she sighed. “Back soon, ki’en.” She stroked her hand down his back.

“I should probably come,” Theo said.

“No wa’er. Help my boys.” She got to her feet, loving how effortless it was now, and untied her sarong. JC had presented her with it, clean and dry, just around the time she’d begun to wonder where she’d left it, but she’d been wearing it since so it should have her scent on it. She hung it across the back of the kitty-couch and let it drape down the front, so it formed a sort of triangular tent on the seat. It was too lightweight for Ramses to easily manipulate it himself into a cave-nest, but he did like to be under blankets and this one might be comforting.

“You’re going to wander around with no clothes at all?” Max asked. “I mean, the view is gorgeous, but...”

“Watch siren, no’ me,” Des said, but despite her lack of interest in males, she’d never found compliments anything but flattering. Max, like Kayla, was adapting with impressive speed—he’d even moved past “strange” to “gorgeous” which was rather amusing—but Theo probably had a lot to do with that. “Many faelings, no clothes. Is warm. I have fur. Are no laws. Boys nee’ moar.”

“Fair enough, and it wasn’t a complaint.”

She glanced sideways at Theo as she straightened. “Maybe no’ ge’ so...” She wanted to say distracted, which would be just hopeless, and fumbled for, “involve’ in other things you ignore them, mrr?”

Theo grinned, though there was a hint of a pink blush under that pearl-white skin, as she leaned against Max. Max’s arm around her looked rather possessive, to Des, but that was probably a good thing on many levels right now. “Max is too tired for much. I’ll restrain myself until he has a nap.”

Des tilted her head sceptically, but smiled and shrugged. Theo and Max both loved the cats, and it had been a long time since she’d worried about their welfare while they were at Theo’s house—or had JC staying with them. They had keys to her apartment for a reason, after all. “They may no’ wan’ loves un’il af’er exploring.”

“They can decide,” Max said patiently. “We’ll keep an eye on them and make sure they stay in here and don’t get hurt, and if they come looking for attention, they’ll have it. We’ll look after them, I promise.”

“I know. Sorry.” She scooped Ryu up and took him to the food area, setting him next to Ramses, and gave each a brief scritch. “Li’er in bathroom. Show them af’er noms? Back soon as I can.”

She let herself out, and headed for the Gate. *Ali? Not late, am I?*

*No, you’re fine,* Alison said. *Cats are all settled?*

*They need time, mostly. I wouldn’t leave them alone but they’ll be okay.*

*We’ll make sure they are.*

Kayla’s cottage wasn’t all that far from the Gate, and it didn’t take her all that long to reach the latter.

There were a lot more faelings scattered around the immediate area, loosely surrounding Kayla and Riley and Adam and Hollis, than she expected: Zach, Alison, JC, and Erica, of course, but also grey-lady Jo, angular Charity, and short, stocky, brown-clad Benji, the only male house fae, who had been asleep on Kayla’s visit. All three foxes were there, and Rusty the squirrel, and Callie but not Sly, and someone Des was sure she’d have remembered if they’d met before. All were sitting or reclining on the grassy ground, aside from Rusty, who was up a tree grooming her tail with single-minded intensity, and Hollis, who was sitting on the back of the large wagon with the rear panel folded down. Des hadn’t realized it could even do that.

The unfamiliar faeling was around Erica’s height, build somewhat lighter but nothing like frail, and distinctly androgynous—the lack of clothing betrayed the complete lack of visible sexual characteristics. On the other hand, this person must be a rock or crystal fae or something like that: it wasn’t so much that their skin looked angular and crystalline, as that there was a distinct impression that they were literally made of slightly-irregular tumble-polished crystal that grew cloudy and opaque a short distance under the surface. Nor was the crystal all simply white: Des couldn’t tell easily whether it had to do with the angle or the lighting or the base colouring, or some combination, but she saw citrine-yellow blending into rose and amethyst.

“Hi, Des,” Crimson sang out. “Do you know Rusty and Quartz?”

“No’ really,” Des said. She’d met the squirrel briefly when Kayla had been attacked, and had seen her linger just long enough at the house fae ruins to eat, but Des and Zach had both been too intent on Kayla to have any desire to talk to anyone. “No’ helping Emma?”

“Emma told us to come help,” Crimson said. “And sent Clover to tell Jo that more hands would be useful. Although I don’t think there can really be so much stuff coming that we need this many faelings. But that’s okay. It’s almost like a party, so who cares?”

“If I know Nora,” Riley said, “there is about to be a major truckload of stuff coming through that Gate as soon as she tells me it’s time. She spent a lot of time here wandering around poking into things.”

“And found her way to us,” Jo said serenely.

“Yeah. And had talked to Callie already, at length. So she has a very good idea what we need. And she has a lot of resources she can call on. Don’t ever ask her where everything came from or how it was all paid for. Just... take my word for it, okay? Her family doesn’t take kindly to questions.”

“There’s no end of old stories,” Hollis said, “about the consequences to humans of getting overly inquisitive about the Fair Folk.”

“Some are much worse about that than others. Where Nora’s family is concerned, just thank her and let her know you appreciate it and leave it at that.”

“Noted,” Jo said. “Anyway... Des, I imagine you can figure out that the rock fae is Quartz and the squirrel is Rusty. They were willing to come help. Possibly we could have recruited more if necessary, but I think there are enough of us to handle quite a lot. Quartz, Rusty, the cat is Des. One of our saviours.”

“Stop calling us that,” JC said. “Please.”

Callie chuckled. “Whatever the motivations, the actions you took resulted in an end to the power of three people who should not be trusted with power over anything more sentient than a Tamagotchi. I’m afraid you’re going to have to deal with a lot of gratitude. Just smile, tell people they’re welcome, allow them to feel good about thanking you, and keep doing what you do.”

Riley’s phone trilled; she pulled it out to look at it. “Showtime.” She walked into the Gate enclosure; Zach and Erica and Benji followed.

JC ushered the rest into a ragged double line, so they’d be able to move anything coming through quickly out of the way. Rusty came cautiously down from her tree to position herself between Jo and Clover, her tail flicking nervously. She seemed to be constantly twitching her tail, her fingers playing incessantly with the string of nuts she wore as a necklace—several showed signs of having been gnawed on. Her attention never stayed in one place for long, forever moving to track every motion, every sound, and some distractions that Des didn’t even notice.

Then again, there were a lot of people gathered into a limited area, four humans and over a dozen faelings. Des liked the individuals she knew, but wasn’t sure she cared for so many at once. It would be easy to find it overwhelming, and everyone had their own threshold.

“Quartz came here with us,” Crimson told Des. “I wish we could remember how we know each other, but we can still like her without that.”

“Hope so,” Quartz said laconically. “Because for some reason I still like a pair of mad noisy hyperactive twin attention-queens.”

Both red foxes giggled. “Better than being boringly logical and antisocial and moving at the speed of a glacier.”

Jo didn’t look worried, so Des let it go. Good-natured teasing that both parties recognized as such wasn’t worth wasting time or energy on.

“Make it fast,” JC said. “Riley is already exhausted and the longer the Gate is open, the more it drains her.”

“Got it,” Crimson said. “Some of us are good at being fast.”

Kayla looked down, and began to rub absently at her forearms. “Gate’s open.”

Des swivelled an ear to track the oddly-accelerated voices coming from inside the enclosure.

“Heads up,” Alison said briskly, from near the opening. “And wow, is that a lot of boxes. There is no way that will fit on the wagon. Which I will probably need to get Riley into her bed anyway. So just pile it on the ground and we’ll sort it out after.”

Jo nodded. “We’re hours from rain, and as long as someone is here watching, it will stay safe to be distributed fairly.”

“Which will be the step right after figuring out what we have and how best to do that,” Kayla said.

And the boxes started to appear, handed swiftly out the enclosure opening and passed along to hands that could stack them far enough out to avoid causing a blockade. Cardboard boxes, many of them large but all of them at least big enough for Ryu to sleep in without being cramped—although he actually preferred them small. They bore a wide range of logos and mysterious stock numbers and abbreviations, and some of them were unexpectedly heavy. Conversation dropped to nothing beyond essentials regarding the task at hand. Faeling strength and coordination prevented what would probably have been several accidents, considering how rapidly they were moving. In fact, the three humans all backed out of the way for the moment.

The flood stopped all at once.

“Gate’s closed,” Kayla said, smoothing the hairs on her arms.

Zach and Nora came out of the enclosure, each carrying a final box; Erica followed, cradling Riley in her arms.

Callie stepped past the foxes and made directly for Erica, hastily checking Riley’s vitals.

“Is she okay?” Clover asked worriedly.

Nora nodded. “Just very tired. I hoped to spare her this one but since I was on the other side, that failed. All she needs is food and sleep.”

“She ate just before this,” Kayla said. “Very healthy soup, flatbread, and grapes. More?”

“No, that will do it. Just sleep, then.”

Callie let her hands fall. “That’s all I’m seeing, but she desperately needs that, as quickly as possible.”

“Put her in the wagon,” Alison said. “Hm, maybe someone can hop in with her to hold her head and keep her more comfortable? Because that would mean I can go a lot faster.”

“I will,” Des said. “Goo’ balance.” She jumped up into the wagon, sitting with her back to the front where Alison would be. Alison and Erica carefully settled Riley with her head on Des’ crossed legs, then Erica helped Alison with the harness snaps. Uninvited, Callie climbed over the closed rear panel and arranged herself beside Riley at around knee-level.

“Back soon,” Alison said. “All secure, kids?”

“Yes,” Des said, and Callie seconded it.

It was probably just as well that Riley’s cottage wasn’t all that far away: Alison could cover a lot of ground fast, but even on the relatively flat terrain here in the centre and then the wide stone paths, it still meant the wagon did some bouncing, and the suspension really wasn’t up to much of that. Des did her best to keep the medium from sliding around, pinning her narrow shoulders to the wood, and Callie minimized the motion of her lower body; Riley was simply too exhausted to help much, or even react beyond occasional gasps or grunts.

“We’re here,” Alison announced, drawing to a halt in front of a cottage that was deep soft brown wood with even darker grain markings.

Callie freed herself and hopped over the side, then fumbled a bit with the bolts on the wagon; Alison unfastened the snaps and came around to help. Between them, they got Riley transferred as gently as possible into Alison’s arms.

Callie’s pale eyebrows rose as she took in the luxury around them, but she stayed focused. “Bedroom?”

Des pointed, and hastened ahead to open the door. The bedding on the huge bed consisted only of pale sheets that looked like they might be extremely fine, and a single, fairly heavy blanket crocheted in several concentric rectangles shading from deep brown at the outer edge down to pale beige in the centre; the pillows were abundant and fluffy. Des quickly flipped the afghan and top sheet out of the way.

“Riley?” Callie said softly. “Are you okay with some help to get undressed? You’ll likely sleep better.”

Riley took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and started to struggle. “I can...” She sagged. “Ugh. Hate this. Help, please. Not shy.”

“Absolutely.”

Between them, they got her efficiently out of her laced black boots, her socks, her khaki cargo pants and chocolate-brown tanktop, down to a lightweight sports bra and practical cotton panties. Riley hugged a pillow against her, head resting on another, eyes closed, while Callie tucked the sheet and afghan over her. It never really got cold, so there was no need for heavier bedding, but the soft weighty drape of the afghan looked like the kind of thing that just felt good, and shouldn’t be too warm.

“Sleep as long as you need,” Alison said. “We’ll see about making sure you have a snack here to eat when you wake up, and we’ll check on you. Thank you for everything.”

Riley mumbled something that might have been, “My job,” just before any muscle that had still been fighting for control surrendered and went slack.

The three faelings left, as quietly as they could. They could have skipped the effort: the unavoidable thudding of Alison’s hooves on the wooden floor elicited not the faintest twitch.

Outside, Callie closed the double doors securely.

“That’s a good thought, having food at hand,” she said. “But we have plenty of time. I suspect she’ll sleep for well over eight hours. Which means we can deal with that astonishing collection of boxes and ask the house fae to find her something good.”

“Hop back in,” Alison said cheerfully, gathering up the straps with the snaps on them and clipping them in place. It was amazing how half a dozen admittedly-sturdy snaps could take all that weight. Then again, it was amazing that Alison could. “I’ll get us back even faster than we got here. And before you say it, no, I’m not tired at all. I can keep going a long time, and you two don’t weigh that much.”

“Shoul’ lis’en,” Des said, pausing to help with the harder-to-reach snaps before vaulting into the wagon; she offered Callie a hand, and the nurse stepped on the wheel and up into the bed. “Hol’ onna wisp rope.” They weren’t all still there, but the one across the front was.

Callie wrapped both hands around it, mirroring Des.

Des grinned at her. “Ali? Mush.”

“That’s dogs, furball,” Alison laughed, starting to walk.

“Gi’yup har’.”

“Okay, fair enough. Hold on.”