[Quadhouse]

Chapter 3

“Are you alright,” Annalina asked the fallen woman. She was concerned for Lorie’s safety. She was not a small centaur.

“Charlette Alberton is Jonathan’s wife!” Lorie exclaimed from the ground. “The head cheerleader of our high school football team? The girl who said she’d rather die than date a nerd? That Charlette Alberton?”

“Well,” Annalina said. “I wouldn’t know about that. But, if she’s the one you’re talking about, then yes.”

Lorie stared at the centaur as Sarah helped her up. Then she burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her legs were not able to support her. Sarah and Annalina gave each other a look as the woman laughed hysterically. Neither had any idea what was so funny about Charlette marrying Jonathan.

After a couple of minutes, Lorie finally laughed herself out. “Oh man,” she said. “I hadn’t laughed that hard in years.” She stifled a giggle. “To think, those two got married.”

“What’s so hard to believe about that,” asked Annalina. “They love each other.”

“Maybe now,” Lorie replied. “But when they first met, she hated him. Jonathan didn’t give Charlette the time of day back in high school. And she couldn’t stand it.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Charlette I’ve heard of,” Sarah said. “Are you sure it’s the same person?”

“Not really,” shrugged Lorie. “But I’m willing to bet it is. I’ll know for sure once I meet her. If I meet her, that is. There’s no guarantee that she’ll want to meet me.”

“Why wouldn’t she want to meet you,” a curious Sarah asked. “She usually meets all the important visitors to the island.”

“I’m not important.”

“Lorie,” Annalina said. “You are the first reporter to be invited here. I’d say that makes you important.”

“Any competent reporter who remained respectful could do this,” Lorie demurred. “There has to be another reason why I, not someone else, was invited.”

“Could it be that they’ve followed your career,” Annalina said. “That they are impressed with it?”

“I’m the second reporter in a small town,” Lorie stated. “I don’t have much of a career to follow.”

“You may have more than you know,” Sarah said. “How else can you explain how you got invited”

Lorie opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. As much as she wanted to argue with them, she couldn’t. “Let’s talk about something else,” she said.

“Would you like a tour of the island,” Annalina asked with a chuckle.

“That’s allowed?”

“I don’t see why not,” Annalina said. “You are a guest here. I know all of our guests can have a tour if they want.”

“The farms are a must,” put in Sarah. “You won’t believe how much they can grow there.”

“And the animals are cute,” Crystal suddenly said. “But they won’t let me pet them.”

“The farmers or the animal,” Lorie asked.

“The animals,” huffed Crystal.

“That’s because you smell like a predator,” Sarah said. “You are part tiger, you know.”

“But I won’t eat them,” Crystal protested. “I like my meat cooked.”

“But the animals don’t know that,” Lorie said. “To them, you are a dangerous beast coming to eat them.”

“But I want to pet them,” Sarah whined with a pout.

“I know you do sweetheart,” Sarah told her daughter. “But the animals just don’t like us. But we’ll keep trying and one day, we’ll be able to pet them.”

“I think I know of a way you might be able to pet them,” Lorie said after a moment.

“You do?” Crystal excited asked.

“Yes,” Lorie said. “Now, it may not work, but it’s worth a shot. All you have to do is not eat meat for a few weeks.” She stopped and looked at Sarah. “It won’t hurt her to do that, will it?”

“No meat?” Crystal asked. She then turned to look at her mother.

“Not eating meat for a few weeks shouldn’t hurt her,” Sarah said. “We can eat anything an unmodified human can eat.” She hugged Crystal. “If it helps, I can join you. It would be nice to pet the animals instead of them running away from us.”

“Remember, you don’t have to do this,” Lorie reminded the child. “There could be other ways to get the animals to let you pet them.”

“I’ll think about it,” Crystal grumbled.

“She really likes her meats,” Sarah said as she hugged Crystal.

The group came to a crossroads. “This is where we part ways for now,” Sarah said. “Crystal, tell Lorie and Annalina goodbye.” She took Lorie’s bags off her cart and handed them to the centaur. “Please tell me when you want to interview me.”

“What?”

“Well, you are a reporter,” Sarah stated. “So, eventually you’ll want an interview with somebody who’s been modded. When that happens, it would be best if you interviewed somebody who was already comfortable with you. So, again, when do you want to interview me? Oh, and you can ask Crystal some questions too. I’m sure your readers would like to know how it is growing up modded. Or, at least their children would.”

“I was only invited her to interview Jonathan,” Lorie reminded the tiger woman. “Not anybody else. And who, besides you, would want to be interviewed. I remember the past ones and they were not nice to those people.”

“I’m sure we can find others,” put in Annalina. “You were invited here, remember. That, and Charlette’s word, should go a long way to comforting people.”

Lorie looked at Sarah who nodded. “I still think you guys are overestimating things,” she said.

“I think we’ll surprise you,” Sarah said. “Either way, we’ll have to wait until you’re ready to take interviews. Until then, you have a good time here.” She and her daughter started walking down another path.

“I’ll take you to your rooms at the Visitor’s Center,” Annalina said. “You can unpack your bags and refresh yourself. Later, I or somebody else will escort you to dinner. Unless you want to eat in your room, that is.”

“I’d rather not eat in my room,” Lorie said. “That would give the wrong impression.” She thought for a moment. “Do you have good places to eat?”

“We do have a few places,” Annalina said. “A restaurant or two, and some diners. This island is more than a business. It’s a community.”

One hour later, Lorie was standing in her assigned suite. It was a lot more than she was expecting. A bathroom bigger than her bedroom back home, a huge bedroom, a small kitchen, and a front room. The front room had a large HD television, the latest game systems and a surround sound stereo system. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear they were trying to bribe her. She didn’t think that, there was nothing she could give them.

There was a knock on her door. “Come in,” she said.

The door opened to show a wolf modded woman. She stood a little taller than Lorie, not counting her ears. She was wearing tan shorts and a beige shirt. Her fur was charcoal gray. For some reason, Lorie looked at the woman’s feet. She wasn’t wearing shoes as her feet were shaped like paws. “Hi,” the woman said. “My name is Linda. I’ll be your guide.”

“I need a guide,” Lorie asked.

“Yes,” answered Linda. “You’re getting a tour of the island. For that you need a guide. Unless you don’t want me?”

“No, no. You’re fine,” Lorie hastened to assure the woman. “I just wasn’t expecting a tour. With how reporters in the past have been.”

Linda’s ears drooped. “Yeah. They haven’t been good to us here. But they came here looking for scandal. You were invited here. I doubt you’ll be looking for anything bad.”

“No. I’m just here to interview Jonathan. Once I’m done, I expect I’ll be rushed off the island.”

“Why would we do that? You seem like a nice person.”

“The history of reporters on this island. If I was you, I would allow only a select few reporters here. And then, their stay would be limited. Too many reporters are looing for that big story. They often forget that people make the story. Without them, there is no story.”

Linda nodded. “That is so true,” she said. “So, are you ready for your tour? If you’re still unpacking, I can come back later.”

“I can go now,” Lorie said. “I didn’t pack all that much so there wasn’t that much to unpack.”

“Perhaps you can buy some clothes at the stores here,” Linda asked.

“That depends on what they have,” Lorie replied. “I believe most of the clothes here will be for, um, modded people.”

“You’d only have to be careful of pants, shorts, skirts, and panties,” Linda said. “Some of us have tails, so those items reflect that.”

Lorie caught herself as she started to lean to the side. She blushed as Linda caught her eye. “Sorry,” she said. “That was rude.”

“No problem,” laughed Linda. “You were only curious. I don’t have a tail. Not all of us want them. They tend to limit your sitting choices.”

“I can see that,” Linda nodded. “Alright, we’ve talked her long enough. Let’s go tour the island. The sooner the people her see me, the sooner the rumors can be put down. And don’t you say there won’t be any. You know there will be.” The two women left the suite.