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With the end of the semester coming, we began to clean up and get things ready for the holiday break. Toby was not happy about leaving me alone, but I insisted. He needed to go home and see his family, and I had a job, and most of the workers would be leaving, so I was planning to pick up quite a bit of overtime, which would keep me busy and not very lonely. Besides, since Michelle and Jack just went to Denver for Thanksgiving, they planned to stay in town for the winter holiday so I wouldn't be that alone.

I had gone down to check on the mail before breakfast on the Thursday after Thanksgiving, still bewildered that I hadn't received any notice from the Cedar City courts about their investigation. They had promised me I would see some sort of correspondence in November, regardless of where the investigation stood, and the end of the month was coming. Toby was in the office picking up his homework as I came in and tossed the envelopes down in frustration. "Still nothing," he asked.

"Zilch," I muttered.

He looked at me, froze, and slapped his forehead, his ears flat against his head. "Ohhhhrg!"

"What?"

"What address did you give them in Garden City?"

"Yours, of course."

"Yes, but not this one. I didn't have it, remember? I told you to write down my campus mailbox. That won't change until I graduate. We have to go to the school postal stop and look for the mail."

"Oh, of course! When's the last time you checked that box?"

"I usually check it at the end of the month, because it's mostly junk mail and non-important stuff. I'll go by today after class."

"Ok. I can wait until tonight.

Toby's tail was lashing in frustration. "Jeez, I hope they don't have anything time critical. I can't believe neither of us thought of that until just now. Tell you what. I'll bring you lunch with news of anything arriving. It's sure to be in there."

I found this agreeable, and after a hug and a long kiss with some tail grabbing and fur fluffing, we managed to part ways, Toby to class and me to work.

* * *

Sure enough, my tiger came by with my favorite Chinese takeout for lunch. He must have felt really bad for forgetting about the mailbox. But he came in with a grin, and presented the pagoda boxes with an envelope triumphantly stacked on top. Geoffrey craned his neck over the rail from where he was cleaning and oiling one of the weight machines and watched with interest as I opened the letter. Inside, was another card from detective Poko, which I set on top of the pagoda boxes as I scanned the letter briefly, then read it aloud.

"Dear Mr. Azeria,

"We are pleased to inform you that with the help of witnesses, our police have been able to complete their investigation of the attack against you at blah blah time, date, at the intersections of blahdy blah. We are preparing the arraignment and will be sending you formal notice of the proceedings as soon as they have been set. Please be patient as even a court in a small town can take time to process.

"Of course, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to call me. The number on my card is always available, or you can use the department 800 number, yadda yadda.

"Looking forward to seeing you and bringing this to a conclusion.

"Detective Poko." Craig and I stared at each other.

"Well, that doesn't say much of any use," said Geoffrey, getting back to working on the weight machine.

"What now," Toby asked.

Before I could answer, a jay walked in the door, without a gym bag and dressed in a severe looking pant suit. She walked directly to me and looked at the clip board she was holding. "Excuse me," she began, "I'm looking for a silver fox named Craig Azeria, whom I am informed works here. Are you him?"

"That would be me," I said, on my guard.

"Can I confirm your ID, please?" I pulled out my wallet, looking at Toby. His ears were turned back, exposing his eyespots and his tail was lashing, but he stepped back a pace to give the appearance of privacy. I could see Geoffrey was looking over through the bars of the rail, too. She confirmed my ID, made a check mark on her paper, and then handed it to me.

"Would you sign here, please?" The paper had a sticky note tab pointing to a signature line. "It guarantees that I have served you with this document from the Iron County Courthouse." I blinked, setting down the letter from Detective Poko. She looked at me with a little impatience, but I made up for it by scanning the paper. The top of the paper read, "Lincoln Legal Service Couriers, LLC." It was a short list of people and addresses. My name was there, with the words, WITNESS SUMMONS, IRON COUNTY COURTHOUSE. CASE NUMBER on it. I signed where the sticky indicated and she took the paper back, checking the signature. She nodded and handed me a manilla envelope, and left.

Geoffrey stood up, grabbing his tools and coming around to the desk. "Is this what we think it is," he asked.

I pulled the papers from the envelope and scanned them. "It looks like it. I have to appear for the trial beginning on December 6."

"That's two Tuesdays from now," said Toby, scanning the laminated calendar stuck to the countertop.

"But what about work!"

"Well," exclaimed Geoffrey. "I guess I'll be short one more for the Yule holidays.

"I can't leave you in a lurch," I said.

"Craig, look around," said Geoffrey. "It's dead month. Everyone feels too guilty about their holiday eating, or are saving up for their new year resolutions. I can run the gym on a skeleton crew. And besides, you can't ignore a summons. Even if you aren't the defendant, the court can hold you in contempt, or they can give a mistrial and those jerks who beat you will get off. Go."

"How?" I demanded. "I can't drive myself, and the nearest airport is Salt Lake."

"Take the bus," grinned Geoffrey. "The Tiger bus," he clarified, before any objections could be made.

"Next week is finals," Toby agreed. "You know I'm going home next Thursday. Even with the stop in Winter Park, you'll be back in Utah by the evening of the Fourth."

"Can you be back before the new year, boys? I definitely will need you from the First on."

"As long as the trial doesn't go long, I'll have him here," Toby promised. "And it sounds pretty open-and-shut."

"Alright. Consider your time off request approved," said Geoffrey, getting out the schedule.

"How did I manage to find such good people in my life," I said, blinking away tears that I really didn't want to fall right now.

"It's karma, for all the other crap that happened to you over the last year," said Nadine, coming back from her check of the locker room. "The boss has the schedule back out. What did I miss?"

"You're losing a co-worker next month," said Geoffrey, "and also for the next half hour, because he needs to go eat." The giraffe made shooing motions at me and my tiger. Toby made a point of leaving one box of kung pao, and we headed back to the break room.

"I'll call home and let them know you're coming. You can't stay in Teagan's room the whole time, 'cause he'll come home for Yule, but only a few days. And if you have to go back and back to the courthouse, we'll probably want a place you can stay in Cedar. Somewhere you won't be alone. Is there anyone you think you can trust?"

"They're the ones who left me behind last spring," I said bitterly.

Toby growled and laid his ears flat. "Right. Well, we can do a hotel, then. I'm not leaving you by yourself. But we don't want to be driving back and forth on winter roads, if we don't have to, either. Besides, that's a lot of extra gas."

My appetite was pretty spoiled, but I managed to force down a couple potstickers and some lo mein, and Toby insisted I eat some of the cashew chicken, too. I nibbled a few sticks full. He continued to encourage me through lunch, then gathered up the leftovers and said he would keep them for dinner, as I would probably be hungry again by then, then left me to finish my shift. Nadine showed me the changes she and Geoffrey had worked out for the schedule. They let me off Wednesday at lunch time, so I could go home and get ready to leave the following day. As much as I looked forward to spending the holiday with my tiger, I really couldn't get excited about the reason I was going home. It was hard to concentrate for the rest of my shift, and I almost didn't notice Jack standing in front of me when it was time for both of us to go home.

He had heard what was happening, so he tried to encourage me in the car on the way back. "Listen, this has to be more than a little uncomfortable, facing your accusers. But the cops are clearly on your side, and they're pushing this through fast. And we're all pulling for you. You've got Toby there with you, too. And we'll be sending you a Favorable Wind." I knew he was being serious, now. Jack rarely talked about religion outside of Sundays. "Things will blow your way, don't you worry."

"I hope so," I said. "I mean, meeting you all has been amazing, but overall, this year has been really hard on me, too."

"Right, but all those trials have made you strong as an ox, and I should know. So you can stand in the hurricane."

I couldn't help but laugh at his metaphor. Jack was a good friend. I was going to miss him and Michelle this holiday. And I was feeling better... and hungry! I was eager to get back home now, knowing what Craig had for dinner. And especially knowing that there was going to be Tiger for dessert!