At the KM

## Chapter One

Alana Harrington typed into her ipad; *Two crates of Kraken Ink. From Wyoming, Cost covered by SNAPA.* She walked deeper into the truck, making sure everything was just as it should be. So far, so good. Everything was just as it had been ordered. Alana made a couple more notes of purchases and where the money was coming from and where they were supposed to go; storage, to an animal, or the house.

Finally, she called her dad on the walkie-talkie clipped to her side.

"Hey, Mark H.?" she asked. She waited for the crackle telling her her father had picked up.

"What is it, pumpkin?" the man asked.

"The stuff from the dock is reading to be taken to storage." she explained.

"Okay, I'll pick it up after getting Spark to chill," he answered. They hung up.

Alana started walking out to the Mermaids' lake. Their therapist was talking to them, explaining once again why they weren't allowed to use their tails in Lake Shawnee in front of swimmers and fishermen. She was looking for her best friend, Rena Watson, who could be doing any number of jobs, since she was just an intern.

"Rena?!" she called, tucking her ipad into her bag.

"Lana?!" Rena called back from across the lake.

Lana shaded her eyes and tried to find her best friend on the other side. She couldn't see the were-otter anywhere, but that wasn't unusual; Rena could be good at hiding, or even just accidentally not being noticed.

"Right here," Rena said behind her. Alana turned around.

"Hey," she said brightly. Then she frowned. "How did you get across the lake so fast?" Alana asked.

"I was across the lake?" Rena answered, looking confused.

"Oh. You weren't. Was it the visiting jackalopes?" Alana asked. The Kansas Menagerie had recently received several baby jackalopes since they had unused space, while the Missouri Menagerie prepared a place for them. Rena knew this because Alana had spent several hours ranting about SNAPA springing this on them.

Rena shrugged. "Well, it wasn't me, so I'm guessing, yeah, it was them," the interning were-otter answered.

"Okay, in that case, hi." Alana answered.

"Hi. Do you need anything?" Rena asks.

"Nah, I just wanted to say hang with you for a while," Alana answered, putting her arm around Rena's shoulders.

"Oh, I would LOVE that, you know I would..." she trailed off, wondering if she should keep going.

"But?" Alana asked.

"But I have to keep Eliza from freaking. I mean seriously, so her mane isn't perfectly combed out so she threatens to kill everyone here?!?" Rena ranted. "And if Liza doesn't get the FINEST hay, she goes berserk!!!"

"Yeah, I know, of all the unicorns in the world, we got stuck with the psychopath one," Alana sympathized. "Okay, well, when you're done, come find me?" Rena nodded.

"Of course I will," Then the two friends split ways.

## Chapter Two

Mark Osborne looked at Lizzie Hart.

"Are you sure we have to find the turtles?" he asked.

"Yes! They could be an endangered species!" Lizzie answered. "And if they are, we have to report them to a wildlife protection agency."

Mark snorted. He was sure she just wanted an excuse to see the turtles.

"Yeah, okay, I'm game for a swim," Mark agreed.

"That's hilarious, like you have a choice," Lizzie teased. Mark stuck his tongue out at her. "Whatever," she said. "Go get changed, and hurry." she ordered.

Soon, Mark returned in swim trunks while Lizzie set up the scuba gear.