Monday:
I felt good as I slowly emerged from the depths of sleep. The pleasant scent of Sarah's headfur filled my nose and her body next to mine filled me with warmth. My arm was draped across her waist and her tail covered my hips and legs. I lay still for an immeasurable time before a change in her breathing pattern told me that she had awakened. "Good morning, Sarah." I whispered.
"Good morning."
We lay still for some time, then I began to gently kiss her neck. I cupped one of her breasts and caressed it gently.
Sarah lay still for a while, then she drew a sudden breath "Please, stop."
A bit surprised I did so.
"Thank you. I'm not in the mood today. Just hold me, ok?"
"Of course, my love." We lay like this for a while before we got up.
After breakfast Sarah decided that we had enough food and that she did not want to go shopping. "Is there anything we really need from the mall? No? Good. I don't feel like driving. I want to walk. And climb." We packed some food and went on another hike.
"What do you think?" Sarah asked. She had stopped at the foot of a particularly large tree and looked up at the branches and leaves high above us.
"It's quite big."
"Well, do you think you can climb it?"
I walked around it and considered the tree "Hmmm, I might make it up to there." I said, pointing at a branch about six meters above ground. "I don't think I can make it to the next one, I think it is too far away."
"We'll see." Sarah took off her backpack and hung it on a low branch. "Follow me if you can." With that she scrambled up. It took her only a few moments to climb almost all the way to the top. She looked down at me and called "Come on. The view is magnificent from up here."
I felt a little dizzy, just watching her, perched precariously on a branch high above, but I removed my backpack as well. Slowly and carefully, I made my way to the branch that I had indicated earlier and sat there, holding onto the trunk tightly. As soon as I looked down, the contents of my stomach began lobbying for a recall vote. I closed my eyes for a moment until the furor died down a little. Looking straight ahead or up was all right, but down was not. "I... I don't think I want to go any further, Sarah."
"Come on... please?"
"Sarah, I'm not that good at this. Do you want to scrape me off the ground?"
We looked at each other for a minute, then she climbed down, sat on the branch next to me and put her arms around me "Come on, it's not that difficult. Please." She batted her eyelashes at me.
"She really knows how tempt me." After a moment I shook myself "I'm sorry, Sarah. But I really should not. I'm not nearly as good as climbing as you are. Please, think about that: What happens if I slip up there and fall? How long will it take you to get help? Should we really risk this?"
She looked very disappointed, but she finally agreed with me "Yeah, I guess you are right. It would be kind of stupid."
"Tell you what." I said "Once we have settled in and I have received a work visa, citizenship or whatever, we find a climbing school and I'll enroll for a course there. What do you say to that."
She did not say anything, but she kissed me. An answer of sorts, I guess. We stayed on the branch for a few minutes, then we climbed down again.
"Sarah, do you have any idea what your parents will think of me?"
"Worried about them?"
"Well, a little."
"A little?"
"Ummm, maybe a little scared." I grinned "Scared out of my mind."
"It's not as if they could forbid me to see you." She grinned back at me "And they ain't carnivores, they won't eat you."
"Thank you, that eases my mind a whole lot. I know, I don't think they would want to hurt you, but still... if they don't approve of me... Until my legal status is clarified, I don't need anyone to make matters any more complicated than necessary."
"Well, they might be a little intimidating or unfriendly initially, especially my father, but they do love me. And once I make it clear that I love you, they won't make any problems. And I have full confidence in you, you'll show them that you are a good fur and they will accept you."
"Fur?"
"Awww, a good human. Or whatever. Don't worry about that, you'll do fine." She stopped me, put her arms around my neck and kissed me. End of discussion.
The rest of our hike was pleasant if uneventful. We returned to the house late in the afternoon and went for a quick dip in the pond. We lounged around on the lawn near the house until sunset, then we went inside to get ready for the night.
I snuggled close to Sarah, put my arms around her and buried my nose in her chest fur.
"Chris?"
"Yes?"
"Do you mind if we don't... get any more intimate?"
"Of course not. If you don't feel like it, then that's it. I'm not going to push you to have sex with me or anything."
"Thank you."
"Would you prefer to be alone?"
"No, I like to feel you near, I just don't want any more than that."
"Whatever makes you comfortable. Good night."
"Good night, Chris."
# # # # #
Tuesday:
Sarah did not feel like being intimate and I did not press her. It was another hot day and we spent most of it lazing around at the pond. To keep ourselves cool, we went swimming several times. Sarah's behavior puzzled me. She gave every indication that she enjoyed being with me as much as ever, that she enjoyed being held and kissed, she just did not want things to go any further. She even let me brush her fur. "Maybe she is testing me. Maybe she wants to make sure I'm not in it only for the sex." I shrugged my shoulders "Whatever. If she does not feel like it, then I can wait. As long as necessary."
# # # # #
Wednesday:
Reluctantly, we got up pretty early. After quick breakfast, we packed Sarah's and my luggage. I stowed it in the car and shut down the generator and the water heater while Sarah dusted the rooms. After a last check we locked the house.
"Sarah, do you think I should put on any disguise or anything?"
"I don't think that is really necessary, at least not while we are in the car. Hmmm, you could put on sunglasses." She rummaged in her backpack and gave me a pair "That's my extra set, try them."
I did and they fit. Pretty badly, but they would stay on my nose as long as I did not make any sudden movements.
"You might want to keep a long sleeved shirt ready."
"Will do." I fetched one from my pack and stored it where I could get at it "And maybe a scarf or something like that. The other furs might think I'm an Arab or something, but if I have to get out of the car, that might be preferable."
"Hmmm, I did not think of it, but if you had shaved off the fur on your chin and kept your headfur hidden, people might think that you were a Shaver. Not that I am sure that would really be preferable."
"A Shaver? What's that?"
"Furs who shave off all their fur. Thank God, there are not a lot of them. They are like Punks, only more extreme. Most of them are pretty violent, so most furs you meet would be hostile to you. They would probably keep their distance, though."
"Well, I think I'll risk being me, I would not want to be thought to be someone like that."
"Ready? Ok, let's go."
It was nearly noon when Sarah stopped her car in the driveway of Alice and Martin's house. To be on the safe side, I put on the long sleeved shirt and Sarah's baseball cap. When Sarah had unlocked the house, I grabbed the big bundle of laundry we would leave for her friends to wash and carried it into the house. Sarah pawed me a glass of water and gave me a quick tour of the house. We looked at the pictures Martin had left for us, then I turned on the TV to look at the news while Sarah called her parents.
"Jane Carolinae speaking".
"Hi, mum, Sarah here."
"Hello, Sarah! How are you?"
"I'm fine. We are now at Alice's house and will set out in your direction in a few minutes."
"Great. When will you be here?"
"Hmmm, if there are no problems, we should be there between five and six."
"Ok, your father Harold should be home by then. Hmmm, so your beau is coming with you?"
"Yes."
"You'd better warn him, your father is not at all happy about you seeing a mixed breed. He promised not to take any hasty measures, but... he probably won't let your beau feel very welcome."
"If I could only tell her now... I wonder how he will react when he finds out the truth?" Aloud she said "I'll let him know. He is a really nice fur, and I am confident that he will be able to convince father of it."
"Well, I hope so. I'm still a little worried about you... but you sound so sure about him. I hope you are right and that you have found a male who can make you happy."
"I know that I am right, mother. *SNICKER* He knows very well how to make me happy. Well, bye. See you in a few hours."
"Have a safe journey, Sarah. I love you. Bye!"
"I love you too, mother. Bye!"
"Furry Clothing, Alice Castor speaking."
"Hello Alice!"
"Sarah! Is everything all right?"
"Yes. We are at your place and just about to leave again. I just wanted to thank you for everything."
"You are welcome, Sarah. I was glad to have you here."
"It was great, thank you."
"Could you call me when you get there? You know I always worry when someone drives such a long distance."
"Sure, will do."
"Good bye, Sarah."
"Good bye, Alice."
Shaking my head, I turned off the TV and turned to Sarah "You know, this feels really strange. That news show is nearly the same as the one we had on my world, the anchorwoman wore practically the same clothes. Well, the same style, at least. Even her face looked a little familiar, except of course, that the one back home was a human and the one here was a coyote."
"That similar?"
"Yes, that similar. This is really weird."
"Ah, well... Finish your drink and get ready to go, I want to get back on the road, we still have a long drive ahead of us."
"All, right, Sarah." I said and got up. A few minutest later we hit the road.
Several times furs in cars we passed looked at me strangely, but nothing further happened. At least no cops with screaming sirens chased us. After about two hours of driving, Sarah had to stop to refuel the car. She picked a self-serve station where she could pay at the pump. When I finally had to answer a call of nature, Sarah decided to turn into a side road and stopped in the middle of a small wood, so I could take care of things without being observed. Then she headed back to the highway.
# # # # #
Regina Woodwind was on her way home from a shopping trip, driving her beat-up Chevy at a comfortable pace. Comfortable for her, that is, most other furs cursed her for blocking the road. She was glad that traffic was light. When another car passed hers, she turned her head to look at it. Her eyes widened when they locked with the other car's passenger for a moment. "What the hell was that!?!"
She had seen the passenger only for a moment, but she was sure that it was not a fur. No one had bare skin and such a flat face. "And the nose!" She tried to think of any species that could look like that but she came up empty "That was an alien!" There just was no way it could be anything else. When her paws started trembling, she slowed down and eventually stopped at the roadside and got out of her car. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm her nerves, but she could not.
Her paws were still trembling a little when another car approached her a few minutes later. She breathed a sigh of relief "The deputy!"
Bruce Sampton stopped his car right behind the other one. Recognizing the car and its driver, he got out "Hello, Mrs. Woodwind? Is your car acting up again?"
"No, sheriff, my car is all right. But I'm so glad I saw you. The car... the car that passed me a few minutes ago... there was an alien in it! I swear to God!"
"An alien? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"What makes you so sure? What did it look like?"
"It had no fur. It's face looked horrible! All twisted up!"
"There are some species that look a little strange."
"It did not look like any fur I know. No fur has a nose like that!"
"Well, whatever. She's trembling. Maybe the best will be to let her rant a bit..." He got his writing pad from the car and said "Why don't we sit down and you tell me all about it." He listened to her for nearly half an hour and wrote down some notes. "Well, thank you, Mrs. Woodwind. I'll tell the sheriff about it. Are you better now? Can you drive home?"
"Thank you, deputy, I'm fine. Good bye."
They shook paws, got into their respective vehicles and drove off.
When Bruce Sampton came back to the station, he decided to file a report on Mrs. Woodwind's incident. Normally he might have not done so, since the whole thing had sounded rather screwy but it had been a slow day. "Even if she probably just imagined that... I guess writing a report shows that I have not just sat on my tail all day." He turned on his new computer and waited for it to start up. He spent the next 20 minutes typing the report and sent it off.
Half an hour later, just as he was getting ready to leave the office and head home, his phone rang.
"Elmfields police station, deputy Sampton speaking."
"FBI, Special Agent Moulder speaking."
"What can I do for you?"
"Are you the one who spoke to a... Mrs. Woodwind?"
"Yes, I did." After a moment things clicked in his head "Is this about her sighting of an alien?"
"Yes. This is a matter of national security. I am on my way to speak to you and her."
"Ummm. Wow!" And suddenly Bruce could make sense of the noises in the background "He's in a helicopter!"
"Yes, this is a very important matter. Just a moment..." Bruce could barely make out a few words of the conversation before the FBI agent went on "I will land at the airfield in about half an hour, if you could be so good and meet me there."
"Ummm, well, my shift is over in five minutes..."
"Deputy Sampton, this is a matter of National Security."
"All right, I'll be there."
"Thank you. And please bring any information on the incident and anything you have on... Mrs. Woodwind. Good day to you, deputy."
"Good bye." He slowly hung up the phone. "What have I gotten into here?" He wondered. After a minute he picked up the phone to call his wife and tell her that he would be home late.
"Regina Woodwind speaking."
"Deputy Sampton here."
"Good day to you, what can I do for you, deputy."
"Someone from the FBI called me a few minutes ago. He may want to talk to you about the alien you saw today."
"You mean... the FBI is interested in this?" After a moment, she added "Good. At least they do something useful with our tax money."
"Apparently they are. This seems to be very important to them, the fur from the FBI is flying here by helicopter. I was wondering if you could come to the station, to talk to him?"
"I'm sorry, no. The Wilkinsons are coming for dinner tonight, and I am busy all afternoon. But I guess I can spare a few minutes for him if you come over."
"All right. You will be at home?"
"Yes, I'll be at home the rest of the day."
"Good day to you, Mrs. Woodwind."
"And a good day to you too, deputy."
When Deputy Sampton arrived at the airfield, he only had to wait for a few minutes, before he spotted the helicopter. It landed a minute later and two furs got out, a fox and a badger. The fox showed him his badge and held out his paw "Special Agent Moulder, pleased to meet you."
"Deputy Sampton."
The fox pointed at the badger "This is Agent Smith." They shook paws, then the fox asked "So, do you have any additional information that you did not put in the report."
"Not much, sir. Here is my notebook, if you want to see that. I just condensed the report a little, but I don't think I left anything out."
The fox took the notebook and paged through it, then he passed it on to his partner and said "Thank you. I'd like to speak to Mrs. Woodwind, if possible."
"Sure, why don't we drive there, her house is not far from here." The deputy pointed at his car.
"By all means." They got into the car and drove off.
"Agent Moulder, do you really think there is an alien? I find it very difficult to believe."
"Yes, we have reason to believe that one is somewhere in this area."
"Can I ask you why you think so?"
The fox grinned "You can ask, but I can't tell you much. Top secret, you understand."
"You know, it was pure luck that I filed a report on this. I did not really believe that there was anything to it, if it had not been such a slow day, I would probably not have bothered with something like this."
"I'm very glad you did report this. It could be very important."
"Do you think that the alien is dangerous?"
"I don't know, deputy. From your report, it seems that it was in the car with a femme. We don't know why she was driving him, did it threaten her? Or had it befriended her? Until we know, we will assume that it is dangerous."
"What should we do if we see it again?"
"We want to catch it alive, if at all possible. The best would be to call us and keep tabs on it without getting too close. We don't know how dangerous it is, so be very careful."
The door opened a crack. When she saw the deputy, Regina Woodwind closed it once more to open the door chain as well. Then she finally opened the door fully "Hello deputy Sampton."
"Good day to you, Mrs. Woodwind." He motioned at the two furs behind him, first the fox "This is Special Agent Moulder.", then the badger "And Agent Smith."
"Why don't you all come in and sit down?" Regina led them into the living room. After shaking paws, she bade them to sit down. "Would you like coffee or anything?" The other furs accepted and she brought cups and the requested drinks. Then she sat down as well "All right, what can I do for you?"
The fox spoke up "Please tell us about the alien you saw today. Anything you remember."
Regina told them more or less the same she had told the deputy about two hours before.
"Did you see the license plate?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"Ah, well. Do you remember what make of car it was?"
"Hmmm, it was white, or maybe cream. And it was an SUV, a smaller one. One of these Japanese ones, I think. I don't know the make."
They talked for a few minutes more, then Agent Moulder's cell phone rang.
"Yes?" He got up and walked out into the corridor to have a little privacy.
"There has been another sighting? Where?"
"What make of car?"
"Very interesting. I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye!"
"Smith! The alien has been sighted again. In a white Kia Sportage, further north near Newcastle" He turned to the femme "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Woodwind, but we have to go. Deputy, would you please take us back to the airfield as quickly as possible." After a hasty farewell, they got into the deputy's car and drove back to the airfield with the flashlights on.
# # # # #
The wolf pressed a button and in a room not far away, a buzzer sounded.
A few moments later the Doctor's face appeared on the screen. Or, more correctly, not actually his face, that was hidden as always, but the hood with the slightly glowing eyes "What's up, Juan?"
"I just listened in on the FBI, they have had two possible sightings of the alien."
"Very good. Keep your eyes open, I'll be there in a minute." The screen went dark.
A minute later the doctor examined the information Juan had leeched from the FBI system "All right, get our team ready." He tapped his claw on the screen "Send them here. They should be able to move quickly, once we locate the alien. Maybe we can pick it up without bothering 'Special Agent Moulder' any more than absolutely necessary. Keep your eyes open, Juan. Once we have enough information to locate the alien, do what you can to spike the FBI's efforts to catch it." He considered the screen for a few more seconds, then he pressed another button. When the face of a wolf femme appeared, he said "Come up here Evita and give Juan a paw." Then he turned to leave "Buzz me if anything interesting comes up."
# # # # #
Sarah turned into a side road and passed several suburban family homes, then she pulled up to the curb and stopped "We are here. That's my parent's house."
End of Chapter 9