The bald man merely looked for a moment, as though staring into the distance. There was a long pause, and then he began to slide the door shut again. On the back of the door, in the shadows, was a wreath of wire covered in tiny purple flowers, obscuring the thin drawing of an eyeball etched on the door's surface.

"All right," the bald man said, "Sorry to hold you up, ma'am. You're good to go."

As the door closed and the light in the tiny bathroom space went out, the four crammed in there all seemed to sag against one another slightly in relief--except Hawk, who if anything bristled even more.

"Pull forward when you're ready," the bald man told Minnie, who had sat herself on the arm of the low couch to allow the man to pass and step back out into the dawn.

"S-Sure," she said, and then, before she stepped back out, hissed, "Psst--don't move 'til we get going again. There's a rest stop ten miles up. We'll stop there."

The inside of the bathroom was now lit only by Teige's large, bright white eyes.

"So," the tanuki asked, her front feet squarely on the part of Teige's shoulder that seemed to hurt him the most, her rump against Hawk's cheek, and her tail in Parker's face, "Comfy?"

"Parker," Hawk said quietly, his dark face flushed deeply, "Parker--"

"Mm?" she answered.

"Yer hand's in my crotch."

"Oh shit!" Parker half-laughed. "Sorry."

She wriggled a bit and shoved into Teige instead, turning his weak laugh into a gasp of pain. The tanuki rolled her eyes.

They did wait until the RV had started to move again--free of the checkpoint, onto a now-clear road--before trying to extract themselves from the tight space.

"Say what you want about Minnie," the tanuki said from her new perch on Hawk's shoulders, as he eased himself and his massive wings out of the too-small bathroom, "But girl can throw an invisibility charm."

"Don't scrape it off the door," Teige said teasingly, offering Hawk his good hand for support. Hawk took it, glowering.

"I'm tryin'."