“Maybe the best thing we can do to keep our mouths shut and watch Meatbreath make an idiot of himself.”
His suggestion brought a frown to her broad forehead. Unnatural for her to frown. Her face wasn’t constructed to register doubt. A ray of sunshine made her tail glow.
“I don’t know,” she said eventually. “He enjoys going out on a limb. He might go across the lake and check out this rival, then double back in time to make his Declaration. Then I don’t know what …?”
“Then what? We hightail it out of here, that’s what.”
“Bandy, it’s not about the Protector. It’s about the City. I’ve been here three nights, and I’ve seen the highs and lows of it: I’ve seen a City Elder who is a Judge and I’ve seen Miscreants and Ne’er-do-wells. The City is freedom. I breathe deeply here. It would be a cage trap if it were to be run like a dysfunctional family headed by a missing dad who visits whenever he wants to eat pizza. The city’s a place where I can be myself. What if every raccoon could be herself? Or himself? Or theirself? Imagine!”
“But Meatbreath …?”
“There’s a would-be Protector under every bush,” Sensibel replied. “I’ve met four already. An escort service manager, a judge, a politician, and (forgive me for putting you in their category) you. Where do all these protectors come from? They come from people’s imaginations. They exist in make-believe because raccoons think they need an alpha personality to ensure their security. They’re ready to give up their freedom in exchange for a Protector.”
“I have to stop believing that Meatbreath exists?”
“No, you must start believing that you exist.”
He didn’t quite understand this. What he understood was that Sensibel was flirting with imbalance. Like going out to the end of a limb just to prove you could do it.
“Mother’s making dramatic speeches and blaming herself for what she calls your undoing. Father’s sent out family squads to hunt you down.”
“I shall be quite safe in this tower.” Sensibel moved out of the sunlight; it was too bright for her nocturnal eyes.
“When are you saying goodbye to it?”
Sensibel looked at Bandit affectionately. “When I’ve found out all I need to know.”
“Such as …?”
“The Protector’s caught off-balance. He needs to take over the city by tomorrow night or he will look like a fake, but the main part of his army is far off on the Southern Frontier holding back Migrants. Is he going to go and get it personally? He might, because there’s some sort of trouble at Creek Town. He’ll take the risk of leaving just for a night so long as there’s no threat to his Declaration.”
Bandit thought furiously to himself. He knew some things about balance too. It was a principle of wrestling. Exert a force against your opponent that he isn’t braced against and the balance is lost. Your adversary topples over and you can pin him to the bulrushes. He saw The Protector’s point of weakness. Now, what was the unanticipated force?
“We need to go,” he told Frisk suddenly.
“Why? What’s happening?”
“My father’s going to hear that one of his dumb sons is in the tower with his consort. He’ll storm up here and throw me out the window.”
“Yes, it’s probably a good idea that you leave. You too, Frisk.”
Quick goodbyes. He left, carrying Bella’s scent in his nose.
***
Bandit didn’t talk until he was in the Crosstown Creek thoroughfare.
“What are you thinking?” Frisk asked.
“I’m thinking that Sensibella is going to become the wife of her uncle if she isn’t careful. That will be a tangle.”
Frisk thought for an instant. “You’re a subtle thinker, Bandy.”
“I need to know something. Tell me, who is the Maker your sister was infatuated with?”
“I don’t know. Just someone she saw at a distance on the Heights. An artiste. He’s long and tall. Why? Are you jealous?”
Bandit tried not to show a reaction. “I am going to do an errand for the Security Director. Will I see you at the Declaration?”
“Of course, you will! After I do an errand too.”
39
Sly and Twitch, two ex-moms loose on the city, are wearing red citizen’s hats tied under their chins at a rakish angle by a patriot nymph who said she was a Daughter of the Commonwealth. It is one of those languorous autumn-like nights with a magical golden haze in the air. Raccoons are filling the streets, stopping each other to find out about the political situation and where the fun is happening.
“I have no idea what these silly hats mean, but they’ll help us blend in with the carnival,” Twitch said gaily.
“Nothing will help us blend in,” Slypaws replied. She hadn’t had a good day’s sleep in the tenement tree with its party going on until all hours in the upper branches. Besides, she had picked up fleas.
“Ears up and nose to the wind, Sly. This is our chance to have fun.”
“Define fun.”
“It’s being hot alpha babes on the prowl, released from motherhood, cubs, menfolk, and every other mind-numbing obligation. We’re starting from scratch and doing it right this time, freely on our own terms.”
“Free love for all. Away dull care!” Slypaws said. She couldn’t imagine a single night when she wouldn’t be thinking about her cubs. Moreover, tomorrow night was their Birthday.
“You ladies lookin’ to party?”
