Marked In Flesh

CHAPTER 54

Moonsday, Sumor 9

Tolya Sanguinati waited at the Bennett train station for the town’s new arrivals.

He had argued for days that phone lines connecting Bennett and Prairie Gold to Sweetwater were necessary, that the sweet blood living with Jackson Wolfgard should not be cut off completely from the beings who would help her stay alive.

At first, the Elders had ignored his arguments as well as Jackson’s pleas because Prairie Gold and Bennett were Midwest towns and Sweetwater was located in the Northwest, and all the wires humans used for their talking had been torn down along every regional border—and no one who tried to repair the lines survived the wrath of Namid’s teeth and claws.

Then came a question: this sweet blood was a howling not-Wolf?

After careful consideration of what that might mean, Tolya told the Elders that the Hope pup was a friend of Meg Corbyn, who was friend to Simon Wolfgard, leader of the Lakeside Courtyard.

The next day, work crews were permitted to repair the phone lines that crossed the regional borders and connected Bennett and Prairie Gold with Sweetwater. And although they were watched every moment, the men on those crews survived.

Tolya wasn’t sure who was on the train. Some Intuits, upon arriving, had taken one look at the town and said they would stay a week to help clean up and clear out the houses, but they had a feeling this wasn’t the place for them to settle and asked for an assignment in another town. Some didn’t even leave the train station before asking for a return ticket home.

It wasn’t an easy place for any kind of human. One of the Intuits said the town felt like it was filled with ghosts. Tolya didn’t tell the young man that it wasn’t human spirits that were spooking him; it was the more primal earth natives who continued to prowl around and through the town—and the most terrifying among them were the ones who shifted to a clawed, furred form that walked on two legs.

The train pulled in. A few passengers got out.

Tolya was a mature, adult Sanguinati in his prime. He certainly wasn’t old. But he looked at the fresh-faced humans getting off the train and felt like a pack’s nanny. It made sense that adults who hadn’t found a mate yet would be the most likely to travel to a new place like Bennett, but did they all have to be so young?

The four males—he guessed they were Intuits by the way they looked around—saw him and kept their distance. They knew he was Sanguinati and he was in charge of this town; they couldn’t have come here without receiving that information. But they weren’t used to having contact with his kind, if any of them had had actual contact with any of the terra indigene.

The female, on the other hand, gave him a bright smile and walked up to him, her hand extended. “I’m Barb Debany. My family calls me Bee because my name is Barbara Ellen, which makes my initials B.E., so . . . Bee. But, new place and all, I would rather be called Barb.”

Wondering why she told him about a name she didn’t want to use, Tolya shook her hand, shifting his palm to smoke for just long enough to get a taste of her blood and know if the chatter was natural or induced by some chemical.

He sensed nothing but the adrenaline made by nerves and excitement.

“Do you have papers, Barb Debany?”

“Oh. Yes.” She opened one of those sacks human females carried, dug around a bit, and finally, looking flushed, produced the letter.

Tolya scanned the document signed by Vlad and Simon Wolfgard. “You’re the one who is going to look after the animals and figure out what to do with them.” He’d flowed through keyholes to unlock doors and release the dogs and cats—animals he’d been told could live outdoors, at least for the summer. Billy Rider, who divided his worktime between Prairie Gold’s ranch and the town’s livery stable, and Tobias Walker had set up areas in the town where they put out food for the dogs and a couple of different spots for the cats’ vittles. The chirpy caged birds were all moved to one house to make it easier to feed them until the “pet person” arrived.

He’d thought the fish in the aquariums were live food for the cats and hadn’t mentioned the creatures to Billy or Tobias, so most of them, by the time someone checked those houses, were floating belly up.

All in all, except for the fish, Tolya thought he’d dealt with the pet problem rather well over the past couple of weeks.

“They told you I’m not a fully qualified vet, didn’t they?” Barb asked, sounding a bit anxious. “I’m just an assistant.”

“You’re more qualified than anyone else here, so now you’re the vet.”

She gulped and turned a little pale, making the freckles across her nose and cheeks stand out.

“For now, we’re providing food and lodging at the town’s hotel and boardinghouse as part of your wages. I believe there is still a room available at the boardinghouse, so you have a choice—if you decide quickly,” he added, seeing the four young men approaching.

Barb glanced over her shoulder. “Any other girls at the boardinghouse?”

“Not another human girl like you. There aren’t many females of any species here yet.”

She gulped again. Then she smiled. “Part of the adventure, right? And something I can tell my family. My brother is a police officer in Lakeside. He handed me a package of labels, already addressed to him and our folks, as well as a variety of stamps, and said, ‘Write once a week or else.’ I don’t think the ‘or else’ is much of a threat, do you, not when I’m all the way out west?”

Tolya smiled. “I believe I met your brother when I visited Lakeside. I know I met a Lieutenant Montgomery. Doesn’t your brother know him?”

“Oh, forelock! The long arm of the law is really long, isn’t it?”

He laughed because she sounded so annoyed and because her version of a swearword amused him. He hoped this human female stayed around for a while.

He led his new residents to the pickup truck, where Tobias Walker waited to take them to their designated living quarters. He watched them drive away, Barb and one of the males in the cab with Tobias while the other three males rode in the bed with the baggage.

He looked at the station, considering his duties. Then he headed toward the center of the town. Other Sanguinati, as well as a couple of Wolves and Eagles, would deal with the train’s personnel and any deliveries. He wanted to see how Jesse Walker and her gaggle of volunteers were doing with the inventories of several of Bennett’s stores, as well as collecting all the perishables from all the houses. They needed to know what they already had in order to figure out what the town’s new residents would need. Until they hired shopkeepers for the stores that would reopen, Jesse was coming up from Prairie Gold two days a week, leaving her own general store in the paws of the inquisitive Rachel Wolfgard.

As he reached the building that would become Bennett’s general store and carry everything except groceries, he saw an unfamiliar truck driving in from the north. After it parked in a space near him, a Wolf and a human male got out.

“Howdy,” the man said, brushing the brim of his hat. He looked haggard, but his voice was firm—and familiar.

“I remember you,” Tolya said. “You and your men helped Joe Wolfgard load the bison into a livestock car.”

“We did, yes. I was sorry to hear . . .” He shook his head. “That was a bad day. I’m Stewart Dixon.”

“Tolya Sanguinati.”

“Tolya is the leader of this town now,” the Wolf said, sniffing the air and scanning the town square for what wouldn’t be seen.

Tolya studied the Wolf. Some Wolf packs had been wiped out completely, but in other places, a few of the Wolves survived.

The Wolf slanted a glance at Stewart Dixon.

So there were some alliances between Others and humans. Perhaps those alliances could be expanded. After all, the ranches between Bennett and Prairie Gold still had animals but no humans, and Tobias Walker and the hands at the Prairie Gold ranch couldn’t deal with so much on their own. But if the work—and the profits—could be split with ranchers who were already trusted by terra indigene, they might be able to tend all the herds and keep the cattle alive until they were needed for meat.

Tolya looked at Stewart Dixon. “You have come to town for supplies?”

“I was hoping to get some of what’s available.”

“Jesse Walker is handling the stores today.” Tolya offered a smile. “Some of us are wearing many hats right now. That is the phrase?” He knew quite well it was the proper phrase, but the question put the man at ease.

“That’s the phrase.” Stewart rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I’m looking for gas and grub. Those are the immediate needs.” A blush stained his checks. “And some female things for the wife and daughters.”

Tolya wondered if the man was usually uncomfortable speaking of such things or if it was something that wasn’t talked about with strangers. Interesting. He would ask Jesse Walker. “I think we can accommodate all of those needs. Follow me.”

As he led Stewart Dixon and the Wolf into the store, a howl rose from the train station—and was answered by Stewart’s companion.

We are here, keeping watch. We are here.

As the Wolves’ reassurance filled the air, the earthy tang and odd silence that had filled the town square faded away and headed for the untouched land beyond the town.