Xan swallowed nervously as Stell’s eye locked onto him. Then, as Stell marched over, he held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

“Stell, it’s—” he tried to say.

“We were gone for two minutes. Two minutes!” she cried angrily.

“It was an accident. There was a dog, and it chased after Shadow—”

“And this is what happened?!” Stell said, sweeping an arm to indicate the street.

Xan looked up. Potatoes and carrots were strewn about, and one of the wine barrels had burst open, leaving a slowly-spreading merlot puddle in the middle of everything.

“I’m starting to think you lot are nothing but trouble,” Stell said, throwing her hands up in the air.

A loud, jovial laugh rang out over them. They all turned to see the old Simian man approaching them with his granddaughter in his arms.

“That’s rich, coming from you,” he laughed.

“Dee! You’re back!” his granddaughter cried out. She jumped down from her grandfather’s arms and raced over to give Dee a tight hug.

“Leimomi! You’re crushing me…” Dee gasped with a smile.

“Oops! Sorry, Dee. I just missed you so much!” the little Simian girl said, releasing her.

“I missed you, too,” Dee grunted as she caught her breath.

Stell looked up at the old Simian, glaring at him with her good eye. She folded her arms angrily.

“Oh really, Nakoa? I’m trouble?” she challenged. The old Simian rubbed his chin, a mischievous look in his eye.

“Well, there was that one time you caught my tail on fire,” he said.

“That was an accident, and you know it,” Stell said, waving a hand dismissively.

“Aye, it was. And my fur was singed for a week,” Nakoa said with a chuckle.

“At least it grew back!” Stell argued.

Now that he knew the old Simian man was Stell’s friend Nakoa, Xan took a moment to look up at him in awe. The old Simian was easily eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and big muscles that would have given him an intimidating appearance were it not for his amiable smile and the twinkle in his dark amber eyes. The exposed skin on his hands and face was a rich dark brown, and the fur that framed his face was a golden-yellow color – except for the fur around his temples, which was turning gray.

Just then they heard someone clearing their throat nearby. They all turned to see one of the men from the wine cart approaching them.

“Don’t mean to interrupt, just wanted to say thanks again. That could have gotten a whole lot worse,” the man said.

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“Anytime,” Nakoa said, touching a finger to his brow. “Although, you really ought to thank the li’l Verdan for her help, too.”

“We made sure to,” the man said, gesturing behind himself with his thumb. Xan craned his neck around Nakoa to see a couple of the other workers thanking Taika and shaking her hand while the rest hitched the ox back up to the cart.

“Well, I’m glad you’re all happy. But what about my wares? My potatoes are soaked! You! That insufferable little creature is yours, yes? You better pay for all this!” said an ill-tempered voice from the other direction. Xan turned to see an elderly lupine Canidan bearing down on them. She lifted her cane to poke Xan accusingly in the chest.

“Oof! I’d love to, but I—” Xan said as he winced in pain.

“Shut it, Xan. I’ll pay for it,” Stell interrupted, stepping between them. Nakoa looked down at her with a surprised expression.

“Stell?” he said in a confused tone. Stell made another dismissive gesture.

“It’s a long story, but I’m sort of responsible for him at the moment,” she said.

“I see. Well, let me pay for it, Stell. I could actually use them to make some potato gratin,” Nakoa said.

“I don’t care who’s paying for it, as long as this mess gets cleaned up!” the elderly Canidan said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“Don’t you worry, ma’am, we’ll get it taken care of. Lei-lei, Dee, come help me for a bit, will ya?” Nakoa said.

“Alright, Grandpa! Come on, Dee!” Leimomi said, grabbing Dee’s hand and pulling her along enthusiastically. Dee didn’t seem to mind, and followed the little Simian without protest.

Xan quickly noted that although Leimomi was a head taller than Dee, he guessed that she was only about five years old. The fur that framed her face was white, but the rest of her fur was jet black. Her skin was tan, and her eyes were dark blue. She and Dee quickly got to work picking up the scattered potatoes and carrots, with Leimomi using her tail as well when her arms got full.

“I suppose you’ll want some compensation too?” Stell said, turning back to the wine cart worker.

“I’m just the delivery man, ma’am. I can easily get another barrel from the warehouse. But our boss won’t be too happy when he hears about this. He’ll be the one you’ll want to talk to,” the man said.

“And who’s your boss?” Stell asked.

“Councilman Woods,” the man said.

“Of course he is,” Stell grumbled, squeezing the bridge of her nose. Then she rubbed her face with one hand, reached into one of her vest pockets, and produced a small notebook and a stick of charcoal. She quickly jotted something down before tearing the page out. “Here. Take this back to the Councilman and tell him that Estella Caird will be stopping by his office tomorrow morning to negotiate a settlement.”

The man took the paper and looked at it. “I’m not sure the Councilman will—”

“He knows who I am, I’m already in business with him. If he’s unhappy about it he can come find me down at my shipyard,” Stell said tersely. The man stared wide-eyed at her for a moment. Then he tucked the paper into his pocket.

“Alright, then. I’ll pass the message on. Thank you, kindly,” he said.

As the man walked back to his wine cart, Xan turned to Stell, intending to thank her. But before he could say anything, Stell held up her hand to cut him off.

“Don’t you say a word,” she warned him ominously. “I’m adding this expense to your employment contract. You’re going to pay back every cent. Do I make myself clear?”

“Now hang on—” Xan protested, “I’ll admit that the damage to the boat was my fault. But this was an accident!”

“An accident caused by your pet, by the sounds of it,” Stell argued back.

“It’s not her fault, she was chased by a dog.”

“Oh, so it’s the dog’s fault now?”

“Stop it, both of you. What matters is that no one got hurt,” Taika suddenly said. She was walking up to them while keeping a hand on the back of the stray dog. The dog wore a guilty expression, and its tail was tucked between its legs.

“That’s easy for you to say, greenie. It’s not your reputation on the line,” Stell harrumphed. Taika stiffened, her brow furrowing angrily.

“Excuse me?” she said, taking a step forward.

“I think—” Nakoa interrupted suddenly, putting a hand between them, “that we all need to simmer down for a moment. Why don’t we head back to the Blue Pearl and enjoy a nice hot meal? Then you all can discuss whatever you need to.”