Zarah could practically feel the judgement rolling off of Headman Kilpatrick as Lyra lit up something. She thought it might be drugs of some sort. It was certainly a relaxant of some as given the way that she offered some to the Headman. She cast another look at Headman Kilpatrick as she thought about what this meant. Zarah had a hard time thinking that Lyra was defenseless just because she was high, but she was an easier target. It was almost like the Terran wanted the people here to trust her and was willing to do whatever it took. Would anyone else see it that way or would they see it as a trap? Was it a trap? She wasn’t sure.

Headman Kilpatrick came to his own conclusions and spoke in a hard voice, [b]“You may stay Lyra of Terra. However, you will keep that and whatever other drugs you may have away from our children and teenagers.”[/b] He pointed to Mrs. Traveil, [b]“You will stay with the baker and her family. Tomorrow we will see about arranging for a meeting of Tribe leaders.”[/b]

He waved a hand and people started to disperse. Zarah let her father pull her away but she still looked over her shoulder at the sitting woman as they walked back home. She couldn’t decide if she was glad or not that she wouldn’t be staying with them. They had the room. Ever since Jacob had gotten married there was an empty room. That didn’t mean Zarah really wanted the woman that close to her. Though she didn’t really want the Terran in the center of the town so far away from them. The Jameson Family was one of the few farming families in Mountain Lake Tribe. Most people worked in the quarries. That meant their house was at the edge of town. It would be half an hour walk one way to talk to the woman. And Zarah desperately wanted to talk to her.

As soon as they were far enough away Samuel told his daughter, [b]“I don’t want you going near her. I know you are going to, but I want you to know that I don’t want you too.”[/b]

Zigma spoke before she could, [color=63e42d]“She knows what I am. She called me an Aeva.”[/color]

Samuel stopped to look at the two of them, [b]“And I understand wanting to know. And I’m not going to stop you. Just promise me that you won’t be alone with her, and not just the two of you, someone else as well, someone that can raise an alarm if she manages to do something to the two of you.”[/b]

That was reasonable so Zarah nodded, [color=c2be89]“Of course! We promise.”[/color]

Samuel pulled her into a hug, [b]“Ah! My little Zarah. All grown up and causing drama.”[/b] He let her go, [b]“What did she promise you?”[/b]

Zarah blushed, [color=c2be89]“Tech. One of those crystal packs.”[/color]

He raised an eyebrow at her, [b]“You turned down Tech in order to stay safe? Maybe you are growing up.”[/b] He started to walk again, [b]“Come on. It’s getting late and we can tell your mom what happened.”[/b]