Cal shook her head, half in pity, half in wonder, at Danny’s revelations. He possessed a god for two weeks and just decided to go to some meetings and rearrange a few bookshelves? What in Paradise? A nasty thought occurred and made her stop dead in her tracks.

“Wait.” She frowned. “I’m not expected to carry out Lorraine’s duties, am I?”

Surely nobody could expect – or want – her to do that. Lorraine was a diplomat, right? To animals or something? Cal would be the worst diplomat ever. She always got in trouble for opening her mouth.

She was saved from having to think about how awful the next fortnight would be if she had to spend it in diplomacy meetings by the arrival of Sol. The tiger galloped over at full speed and skidded to a halt next to Danny, but almost immediately turned to make a run for it when he spotted Cal. She covered her mouth to keep from bursting into laughter and waited for Danny to explain the situation. When Sol turned to look at her, she waggled her fingers at him in greeting.

“Hiding in the forest?” She asked, amused. “I’ll tell him you said that. C’mon, boys.”

She spun around to the west, where the forest was, and started strolling in that direction.

“So, Sol,” she smirked, “what would you do if you were Lorraine for two weeks?”

CALDERA