Wild Country

CHAPTER 3

Thaisday, Sumor 26

“Did I do something wrong?” Rachel Wolfgard asked, an anxious whine beneath the words.

“No, honey, you did a great job,” Jesse replied. “I just need time in my own place for a few days.”

“Familiar smells are good.” Rachel’s hands gathered up the skirt of her summer dress and tightened into fists that would, most likely, crease the lightweight material. “I didn’t mark territory in your store, even though it is my store too.”

“Appreciate that. Urine smell in a store selling fresh food tends to put people off their feed.”

“Why? One of the men came in yesterday and made a fart that smelled so bad Shelley Bookman left her shopping and went outside, and when she came back, she asked me to smell the food to make sure it still smelled fresh.”

It took effort not to smile. “Smelled that bad, did it?”

Rachel nodded. “My eyes watered.”

“Which man?” It hadn’t escaped her notice that the juvenile Wolf had not named the bad-mannered lout. “It wasn’t Tobias, was it?” If it was her son, she’d be having a few words with him.

“No,” Rachel replied quickly. “Tobias wouldn’t do anything that smelled that bad.”

No longer able to hide her smile, Jesse turned toward the canned goods that filled the shelves along one wall. It sounded like Rachel had a little crush on Tobias. She was too young for him, of course, just as he was too old for her—not to mention her being a terra indigene Wolf and him being a human.

Then her boy walked into the store.

“Howdy, Rachel,” Tobias said. “That dress looks nice on you.”

“Thank you, Tobias. I am wearing the underpants and undershirt too because that is what females should wear beneath the clothing that is seen.” Rachel looked at Jesse. “And I have learned how to wash them. Ellen Garcia taught me while you were away.”

“That’s good,” Jesse replied, studying the way Tobias blushed but gave no other sign that underclothes weren’t something usually discussed with the other gender.

Not a crush on her son, Jesse decided as she watched the two of them. This was a very innocent younger sister revealing things to her older brother.

It made sense. With the exception of the nanny, all the adults in the Prairie Gold pack had been slaughtered by members of the Humans First and Last movement. Heeding Tolya Sanguinati’s warning, she and the rest of the women in Prairie Gold had gathered up the children, human and Other, and headed into the Elder Hills to a spot where they would be safe from human killers.

Now the terra indigene settlement had a new leader, Morgan Wolfgard, and a new enforcer, Chase Wolfgard. Along with the Grizzly Wyatt Beargard they were the main contacts between the Intuits and the terra indigene—including the Elders who lived in, and protected, the hills.

Rachel continued to travel from the terra indigene settlement and work in Walker’s General Store, under Jesse’s supervision and on her own during the days when Jesse was in Bennett helping to sort things out there. Morgan and Chase weren’t happy about their lone juvenile female being surrounded by humans, but their allowing Rachel to be in town was the strongest indication that they were trying to get along with the humans who lived in their territory.

And Morgan and Chase didn’t scare her half as much as Virgil Wolfgard, Bennett’s new sheriff.

They needed workers in Bennett. They needed people to resettle the town. More than that, they needed someone Virgil would trust enough that he wouldn’t look at every human as the enemy.

“Did you come in for supplies?” Rachel asked. “I could make up a box of supplies like cans of beans and coffee and—”

Jesse watched the back of Rachel’s dress swish as the young Wolf lost control of the human form enough to regain her tail, which was wagging to indicate her eagerness to help. Fortunately, the girl was facing Tobias so he didn’t notice.

“Ellen is coming in for supplies tomorrow. I’m here to talk to my mother,” Tobias replied.

“Okay.”

When he didn’t say anything, Jesse looked at Rachel. “Honey, why don’t you finish stocking the shelves. Tobias, you come on to the back room with me.”

A little whine, followed by a human-sounding sigh. Understandable that Rachel felt anxious anytime she was excluded, but the girl needed to learn that sometimes other people needed privacy and not everything was shared by the whole pack, however “pack” was defined.

“You look tired, son.” Jesse pressed her hand against one side of Tobias’s face.

“We’re all putting in longer hours.” Tobias leaned against the wall. “Too few men for the amount of land we’re trying to cover and the cattle we’re trying to keep track of.”

“There might be relief coming.”

“If they can sit a horse, I’ll hire them. Gods, even if they can’t sit a horse, I’ll hire them.”

“Don’t set your sights too low. I think I’ve convinced Tolya Sanguinati that we need more people if he doesn’t want Bennett to turn into a ghost town.”

“You think he’ll agree?”

“I think he will. But we’ll need to be careful, watchful.” Her right hand closed over her left wrist. “We need the people. We need to keep the town alive. But what is good for us won’t be the only thing getting off the train.”