Harry and Jenny had waved happily to John when he went out the door, but with John on his way out they put their own plan into motion. They also found that Janice seemed eager and excited to go for as they stood up, she turned off the television and stood up with a wide smile on her face.
"So you're ready to go, I see," Harry chuckled noticing Janice's smile.
"Yeah... see the town and the fun things that are here... as you said there were fun things," Janice answered.
"And there are, let me go get my keys and we'll soon head out," Harry replied and moved off toward his bedroom.
Janice, meanwhile, stayed in the living room and drifted over to Jenny's side and Jenny happily to her younger sister's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, as if trying to assure her that there would be no danger. Janice squeezed Jenny's hand back, which assured Jenny that Janice did understand that. Of course there was less that Jenny was worried about with Janice. It was true that Janice might have some fears of being sent back to Alabama, which had been something that had plagued Jenny's mind when she came up to Moon Lake College as she thought out her own plans to go through her freshman year and then get work for the summer that would go until the start of her sophomore year at the college and thus she wouldn't have to go home. In this that fear was understandable, but with Jenny now happily married to harry and having been awarded legal custody of her younger siblings, even with the City Council's recent decision, John and Janice would only leave the Jenkins house when they wanted to.
With that, though, there would come the need to show Janice the town, much the way that Ginger was showing the town to John. Of course, since Janice hadn't run into someone who was attending Moon Lake Middle School, that would put it on Jenny and Harry to provide the tour. Both of them were happy to do so, and even Jenny was happy to get some touring information from Harry as she'd needed him to see a good many things in Moon Lake as it was. As such when she heard the jingle of Harry's keys as he returned, Jenny's smile matched Janice's.
"Ready to go?" Jenny asked.
"Yes!" Janice answered as Harry and Jenny met with a hug and a kiss on the cheek before then turning to head out.
As they reached the doorway to the kitchen, Harry looked back over his shoulder to his parents, Henry and Lisa Jenkins, "I wouldn't think we'd be super long... though we might end up taking Janice to the Local Diner for lunch... will you want anything?"
"We'll be fine, dear, have a good time," Lisa said from her chair and resumed reading the paper.
They made their way out to the garage where Harry's car was presently parked. Jenny ushered Janice over to let her climb into the backseat while Harry walked around to unbolt the garage door latch and then lift it.
"So... what are we going to see first?" Janice asked, "the lake?"
"We might head out that way, but we'll start with the Middle School," Jenny spoke, "hopefully your big brother is able to smooth things over with yours and John's schools to allow for a quicker transfer... From there, we'll get a look at some of the other sights to see in Moon Lake."
"And the middle school is pretty close to the lake," Harry added as he came back to climb into the driver's seat and Jenny walked around to sit in the front passenger seat.
Janice accepted that as Harry backed out and went around his father's truck which was parked on the driveway. He then carefully backed onto the street so that he was pointed toward the center of town and began to drive that way, which would be the quickest route to the middle school building. Janice watched as Harry drove up through the road that went through Moon Lake's central park with its manicured lawns and well hedged areas. It was actually rather pretty, and better than some of the areas in the sort of trailer park that the Harper family lived in, though some of the hedges left a question in Janice's mind as they rode along.
"Can I ask about the hedges?" Janice asked as she looked out at them.
"They're mostly there to make sure that those driving through the park don't see anything that they shouldn't," Harry answered, "a lot of Moon Lake's design is to essentially give weres the freedom to be weres... within reason. Thus the wagon wheel layout allowing for forest land between the various "spokes" that make up the straight roads in town at the outer edges. The park fills a similar role, and sometimes weres come in to enjoy the park, and at night they could be transformed. Thus the hedges were planted to make sure no one outside Moon Lake coming up from the north or south or east or west would see a transformed were. The hedges would block their view. They'd also mark clear lines where a transformed were can't go. As the city wouldn't want a were to cross the road that has those hedges bordering it... They essentially mark a point where the were would have to retake their human form."
"Hm," Janice said simply as they rode along.
They went forward and once they got to the center of town, Harry to a slight turn to the right and headed up toward the northwestern part of Moon Lake. Janice continued to watch as they came onto the first block past the central park area on that side. On the left side there was a long stone building with the words "Moon Lake City Hall" on its main entrance which was on the narrow edge of the building. Across the street was a slightly wider building marked as the "Moon Lake Post Office." Like City Hall it was made with stone and brick and included a second floor, and actually looked like it was an older building, which a fair number of buildings in Moon Lake seemed to. Janice figured that might just be that Moon Lake's weres preserved things very well as the original residents might still live there, but she wasn't sure, and for the moment her main focus was more on the lake.
"To the left is City Hall... and technically also the city's court house," Jenny spoke from the front seat, "the courthouse is on more northwest side of the building and it's where the were who scratched me had her trial."
"And the court will hear various criminal and civil cases within Moon Lake, and especially those related to weres," Harry added, "if its something that doesn't deal with weres... there could be the potential for something to be sent to the county, but that would only be if there's a very heavy court schedule."
"To protect the secret?" Janice asked.
"Pretty much," Harry nodded and drove forward. As they got past the more central area, the only larger building that came into view was the Middle School, largely built around the same time as the present High School building was, and the lake in the distance behind it. "And coming up on the right will be the Middle School where you will come to school once all the paperwork goes through. It's not to bad a place... and I can show you where the bus stop is if you want to ride the bus."
"Or Harry or I or Henry and Lisa could drive you to school... though that may mean being up extra early on some days, as Harry and I will have morning classes of our own," Jenny added.
Janice looked at it and saw a rather clean and sturdy brick building with no walls but a lawn of grass around the outside. The grass had started to go brown in preparation for "winter hibernation" as it were, but it was still a nice looking lawn, much like the park in the center of town. In this it was something different from what Janice knew in Alabama. The Harpers didn't actually live in one of Alabama's bigger cities, Birmingham or Mobile. The town they lived in was actually fairly small and out of the way, at least as far as Alabama was concerned, but their had been some periodic rough patches with regard to the school they went to, which had lead the school district putting a security fence in at the high school and elementary school in particular. The middle school missed it because the district didn't have the funds to build one there too. In this the open ground was attractive, though as they went past the Middle School, Janice also noted a series of outlier buildings to the northwest of the Middle School building.
"What's that?" Janice asked pointing.
"That should be the buildings, grounds, and transportation office," Harry answered he glanced into the rearview mirror and noted the direction Janice was pointing, "all the busses, lawn mowers, plows, and any other equipment should be there. And coming up ahead of us will be the lake."
That got Janice look forward with some eagerness, as the lake was something she had interest in, partially in the hopes of seeing a weremer in the lake's waters. Instead of turning right along a road that ran along the outer edge of the town and actually ended at North Avenue with a series of modest cabins and houses built along the lake's southeastern edge, Harry pulled forward and then turned into a small gravel parking lot that had a small shed that was set up to serve snacks, canoe poles, and so on. Janice saw this and noted a placard in front of the large window that was boarded up on the front of the building that read: "Moon Lake Harbor Closed For Season, Will Open Next Memorial Day." She also noted a smaller cabin or two on the far side of the lake and that ran along an area that was heavily wooded with only the cabins themselves marking the areas where the trees weren't.
"So we can't go swimming?" Janice asked as she read the sign.
"Swimming is probably fine... but with this time of year... it'd mean going without getting snacks, getting a canoe, and would mean you'd need to know how to swim well as there will be no lifeguard on duty... though it may be soon getting to the point where unless you're a weremer or a wereotter… the water may be too cold. Werewolves, werebears, and weretigers may not mind... but they'll also spend more time out of the water than in it."
"Will it freeze in winter... do you get snow?" Janice wondered.
"We can get snow in the winter as we are up in the mountains," Harry answered, "though with some of the temperate temperatures coming off the sea... I don't think it's ever been thick enough for skating... and on the other side of the lake there is a road that will go up to a campground area... which is divided for weres and normals. The Normal side will have no transforming for any were that goes in and the Were side will have some of the hedges like in the park to let weres enjoy each others company as they truly are."
"But now that we're into November... it's likely those will be closed for the winter too," Jenny said slowly.
Janice looked out at the lake again and imagined herself as a beautiful mermaid, singing and "dancing" in the water with fish and other weremers, all looking like recolored versions of Disney's designs. But there was no sign of that that she could see. She gave a sigh as Harry then turned the car around and then went back into town. Once they got to the first turn at the outermost part of the inner hubs to Moon Lake's design, Harry then turned to the left and went along the curved road, that Janice figured was just as circular as the rest of the road that ringed the outside of the central park. The drive around too them past a decent sized natural history museum and ultimately the High School as well. They eventually passed the Jenkins house again and Harry pointed out the library and then the hospital, the latter of which Janice had already been to.
"This is boring," Janice said slowly as they rode along.
"It isn't too bad," Jenny commented, "this will help as you make friends and get into school. You'll be better acquainted with Moon Lake and might find where you new friends live more easily."
"And we'll be passing Huck's house soon, it'll be on the left," Harry added, "and there it is."
Janice looked to the south and saw a fairly typical home. It was newer looking that some of the other buildings in Moon Lake and was remarkably similar to home that Janice and John were presently living in with the Jenkins. The one difference was seeing Huck and Betty walking toward the front door, arm in arm. That wasn't too bad, but it didn't really stand out as exciting. Janice simply watched as Harry drove on to the next spoke and turned southward onto it. They passed more suburban houses but then came up on a series of taller buildings at the end of the street. Some looked like they were older and looked like they were designed in the 1800s and made with 1900s methods and few seemed to have multiple floors.
"And this is the college here... if anything ever happens that you and John have to leave home and Huck isn't at his place, you come here and go to that building that we're passing now and ask to speak with the dean," Harry explained as they passed a building with a fairly decent sized sign posed on the lawn that read: "Moon Lake College Administration Building." Janice sighed and nodded as they went on. She actually found that there were some intersecting roads that allowed them to go across the college grounds.
"This is still boring," Janice voiced her displeasure with it.
"There are some fun things," Harry promised as they made their way across and turned onto Wood Street and from there they moved up and turned onto the circular road closer to the center of town.
Once they got to Main Street, Harry turned right onto it. As they drove up the street, Harry did slow a little as a couple of icons came up. Jenny noticed them as well.
"On the right will be a shop that if you become a were later in life will be one to pay attention to," Jenny commented, "it's called Awareness. It's where I got a lot of the clothes that fit me now."
"A lot?" Harry teased, "try all... You were always beautiful... but your bust and hips are MUCH bigger than they were before you became a werefox."
"And this is the place where you get clothes you can transform while wearing?" Janice asked.
"If one is a smaller were, yes," Harry nodded, "and on the other side will be our town's movie theater."
Janice turned to look out to the north side of the street and saw two buildings. One was relatively narrow and had a sign that read "SinglePlex Theater." To its left was a slightly larger theater with the name "Kit Kat's Burlesque Club."
"There are two," Janice spoke.
Harry glanced as he drove past and then cringed slightly, "Uhh... Kit Kat's isn't a movie theater. Let's just say what they show there isn't for minors."
Janice blinked, but let that go, "and the other?"
"The other is a movie theater," Jenny answered, "they have only one screen and many times the movies they show maybe a bit older than some of the others that are out..."
"If they only have one screen... how can they show multiple movies?" Janice asked.
"Mostly a rotation through the day," Harry answered, "but the atmosphere is good, the acoustics are great, and the snacks are even better. It may not be the biggest thing... but it's generally still fun."
"And remember much of this is to help you get an idea on the town's layout," Jenny commented, "once all the paperwork gets done... you'll make friends and will likely have all sorts of fun."
"Hanging out... doing stuff young hipsters want to do," Harry commented, "just so long as its responsible."
"Okay..." Janice gave a slow but accepting sigh as she felt the car slow as Harry pulled into a small parking lot that was just past a small pizza place called DiMaggio's.
"And since you've been a good sport... we'll get a bite to eat at the Local Diner," Harry spoke, "the best diner in town."