Zera quickly came to love town days, especially as people started getting used to seeing her. We usually went only for a few hours to get a few things, but I made sure we took some time to explore a bit.

  The few people I’d become friendly with informed me that there would be a big market day, complete with local harvest festivities. That seemed strange to me, until someone explained it to me.

  “The sap harvest starts during the main harvest festival time and ends closer to winter. We didn’t want them to be left out, so we gave them their own festival,” a young woman named Clara had explained while she fed Zera some snacks.

  “That makes sense,” I had replied. “From what I hear, that sap brings in a lot of money to the town. Plus, who doesn’t love an excuse for more festivals?”

  “Exactly! It’s a smaller to-do than the main festival, of course, but it's still a good time. You should stop by. There’s going to be a pretty big market day along with some really good food.”

  It didn’t take much convincing beyond that. The other festival took place before I arrived and I couldn’t think of a good reason to miss this one. I decided to leave Zera at home, though. That many people would be overwhelming for her.

  I fixed up a nest for her in the shed and she could close herself in if she needed to. She would be fine on her own for the day. I had business to focus on.

  I planned on bringing back a more substantial haul this time. We needed some tarps, wood for scaffolding, and I had some odds and ends I wanted to stock up on to keep myself occupied when the weather started to change.

  I already had spots marked out in the yard to build some agility courses for Zera. I had been bribing little family of maurrels living in the loft with little shiny baubles and soft materials so they’d start to trust me.

  I didn’t currently have plans to relocate them, but I wanted to keep the option open and stress free as possible. I had plenty of experience doing so, thanks to my work at the academy. I also knew how to reduce the hassle by setting up shelters for the different nesting critters to give them a place to live out of harms way.

  That was a large part of what I planned to work on, now that I had the second floor of the cottage mostly cleaned up. It didnt get as much attention as the first floor, but I got it good enough that I wouldn’t be having to open any windows when I worked on it more in the winter.

  I wandered around the outskirts of town for a few minutes before venturing into the market square. The street was filled with booths and tables selling all manner of goodies from jewelry to furniture to food and clothing. People bustled about, carrying bags of goods and chattering happily as children played.

  “Where’s your friend?” Milo asked. He sold teas and lemonades near the entrance of the market, and his son, Owen, loved seeing Zera.

  “She’s back at home,” I admitted. “I’m not sure if she’s ready for this big of a crowd yet. Its something we are working up to.”

  “Are you planning to bring her to the Solstice festival?”

  “That is the hope, weather permitting. I know winter storms tend to hit hard here, so gotta play it safe.”

  “Of course. Well, it's always good to see you, Mara. Make sure to stop by on your way out and I’ll have something for you to take back to her.”

  “Thank you, Milo.” I gave him a smile and a nod before heading on my way.

  I quickly became lost in the sounds, smells, and friendly conversation in a way that I hadn’t had the chance to in a very long time. I got to be just another face in the crowd. No expectations. No requirements. Just a shopping list and some friendly faces to visit.

  “Hey, Mara!” Lauren called, waving at me from behind a stack of pants and dresses. “No Zera today?”

  There were a few tailors and clothes makers in the town, but Lauren had to be my favorite. She had some clever designs addressing some common problems, and she kept her work affordable.

  “Nope, just me today. Next time.” I leaned on the edge of her table, getting side-eyed by the cat who had woken up and actually deigned to look at me when I approached.

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  “You might need to give Marco some treats to make up for the disappointment.” She scratched the cat behind his ears and he leaned into the touch before curling back into his tight little ball. He ignored pretty much everyone, but Zera was different. He loved riding around on her back whenever he saw her.

  ”I’m fine taking the blame for this,” I chuckled. “How are things going with the shop? Any updates on the apprentice front?”

  “Things are continuing to grow at a slow but steady pace. I still can’t afford a full time apprentice, but I am getting close, and I have a few possible candidates in mind. They both volunteer at the shop sometimes and I really appreciate their help.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. You have a lot of work already on your plate. Imagine how much you could do with an extra set of hands or two?”

  “That’s the dream, but unless you know any critters you can train to use needle and thread, I am going to be on my own for a while longer,” she sighed.

  “I know plenty that can fetch and haul, but any sort of finesse work is going to take a special personality and special training. That's a little outside of my area of expertise.”

  “Fair enough. Well, anyway, it's good to see you. I am discounting some of my older work at the end of the day to clear space for more material, so be sure to stop by.”

  “I will make sure to do so.”

  I continued on about my shopping, taking my time to peruse the tables and stalls, exchanging small talk with the people running them. I tried not to slip too far into my professional persona, but some habits were hard to break and I found that part of myself peaking through in some of my interactions.

  Thankfully, people seemed to be pretty understanding about it. That or they didn’t actually care about my awkwardness. Apparently they got more tourism than I thought, but it wasn’t enough to feel too crowded for me.

  With the amount of shopping I did, I ended up borrowing a small cart from a farmer. He let me pay a small deposit for a temporary rental. I could pay the rest of the cost later, if I decided to keep it, so long as he knew before winter.

  By the time I was halfway back to the cottage, I’d decided that not only would I be keeping the cart, but I’d probably end up offering him some sort of assistance for his planting season.

  “I am only ever at a loss for what to do with myself when I have nothing to do,” I laughed, remembering how my colleagues used to tease me. “Not that I regret finding something good to do with my retirement. Though I'm not sure I can really say that I know what I'm doing with my retirement…”

  I shook my head. There was always plenty of work to do at the stables, and if I had the time, I was happy to lend a hand. I had to carry their expectations, though, focusing on filling the role I was paid to play instead of building the life I wanted for myself.

  Now, I had no idea what it was I really wanted beyond what I already had with Zera. Maybe that could be my project for the winter.

  “We’ve got a few weeks yet before the weather turns. That’ll be plenty of time to finish preparing for winter. Then, I can start figuring out what I want to do with my life. Its about as much of a plan as I’m going to get before dinner.”

  I started hauling the cart towards the shed, figuring it would be easiest to leave it there and move everything into the house through the backdoor. I half expected Zera to come running to me, and when she didn’t, I slowed to a stop.

  Something was wrong. Something was off.

  Something spent a lot of time in the space around the cottage.

  The silence said whatever had been there was long gone, but that didn’t exactly make me feel better about the situation. My eyes scanned the treeline, looking for any signs of movement while I fished the calling whistle out of my pocket.

  I started with the low tone first, not wanting to alert every living creature in a several mile radius, and I heard the distant, tell-tale sound of Zera running through some bushes. I ran around the cottage and finally let out a sigh of relief when I saw her.

  Her legs were splattered with dirt and she had some grass and weeds stuck in her scales, but otherwise she looked alright. She must have sensed my worry, because she pressed her head into my chest.

  “There’s my girl,” I said, rubbing her jawline. “Did you miss me?”

  She purred, staggering me slightly with her enthusiasm. I leaned down, pressing a kiss on top of her spiky little head. It felt about like kissing a rock, but she liked it when I did it.

  “Come on, let's get our new things put up. I think you’ll be excited to see what I got for you.”

  Zera bounded back a few steps and started prancing in place, following close behind me as I went back to the cart. It took about an hour to get everything put up because I kept pausing to brush the grass out of her scales.

  I’d probably need to give her a good washing before the end of the week, but she was far from the messiest I’d ever seen her. That required mud puddles and only took a few minutes of being unsupervised.

  It still bugged me that she hadn’t been at the cottage when I got back. Something had her distracted, but she wasn’t on edge and she wasn’t hurt. It’s more like something had her distracted, something had led her away.

  It almost felt…intentional, and I didn’t like it. Had Zera not been so attached to me, it might have worked.

  “I’m going to have to keep an eye out for strange faces, aren’t I?” I patted my leg and Zera shuffled forward, resting her head in my lap. “Seems like somebody might be interested in taking you away from me. That’ll never happen, though. Will it?”

  Her eyes met mine and held all the answer I needed. She ended up falling asleep in my lap, leaving me to fall asleep in my chair.

  Wherever I went, Zera went.