“Halfway? Can we slow down a little?”
He nodded. Reg handed the canteen back to him. He put the strap over his shoulder and started walking again. Reg sighed and followed.
At first, Reg didn’t see the shack. Like Etienne’s cabin, it blended in with the trees and vegetation. It was not painted, or the paint had long since peeled off, so it was a soft gray that didn’t stand out. Reg stretched her arms and shoulders, which she had been holding tense as she walked, worried she would never get there. Maybe Etienne simply planned to abandon her in the middle of the Everglades, knowing she would never be able to make it out on her own. She was relieved to see some sign of another resident.
She looked over at Etienne, asking him the question without words.
“This is Bruce’s house,” he confirmed.
“Thank goodness. I am not in shape for a walk like that.”
“Then you should not come to the Everglades.”
Maybe there was something to that.
There was a split rail fence around the back of the house and, as Etienne approached, a small gray donkey trotted over to the side, nickering at him. Reg headed for the front of the house. She would have to explain to Bruce what she was doing there and what she needed from him. Maybe she should wait for Etienne to join her, but they were, at least, dealing with a human being, so Reg didn’t think there was any danger in talking to him while Etienne occupied himself with greeting the burro.
She glanced around the front of the house, but didn’t see anyone in the garden. She also didn’t see a car or mail truck. Bruce was probably still at work. She was going to have to wait there until he got back home. Etienne wasn’t going to like that. Either she would have to stay there without him to explain to Bruce what had happened, or he would have to wait with her until it was past dark and too late to walk home.
Reg knocked on the front door anyway, in case she were wrong. Maybe Mrs. Bruce had taken the car out and Bruce himself was still at home. There was no answer. She knocked again.
“Uh… Bruce? Are you home?” she called out, hoping that if she knew his name, he would answer. He would know that she wasn’t just some random stranger or missionary. “Bruce? Hello?”
The doorknob was warm and inviting under her hand. Reg remembered receiving a lecture from Harrison on opening doors and locks and keys and their magical significance, and she knew she probably should not open the door to a place she had not been invited to. But she was sure the door was unlocked and that she could just open it just a little way to make sure that there was nobody home. People did that in the country all the time, didn’t they? They just walked into the kitchen and yoo-hooed, and if the owner wasn’t home, got what they needed and left them a note. There wasn’t anything wrong with her just checking.
She turned the doorknob and found that she was right. It had been left open. So either the owner was not far away, or he was okay with people walking in. She pushed the door open a few inches. “Hello? Anyone home? Bruce?”
No answer. No sign of anyone. There were dishes in a drying rack next to the sink and the scent of fried sausages hung in the air. He’d been there recently. He’d eaten breakfast, cleaned up, and gone out. He might be in one of the outbuildings or gardens doing chores, but she didn’t think so. Not with the car gone.
Reg shut the door again and walked back around the house to Etienne. She was quite proud of herself. She hadn’t even been tempted to pry into Bruce’s private business or check out his valuables. She felt quite virtuous.
Etienne turned his head to look at her as she got around the house again.
“No one home,” Reg explained. “What do you want me to do?”
There was another man there, on the other side of the split rail fence, talking with Etienne. An older gentleman with graying hair and a long face.
“Oh! I didn’t see you there. I guess you must be Bruce.”
His head bobbed up and down in response. Neither of them said anything. Reg looked around, feeling there was something wrong. Something was missing. It took a minute to put her finger on it, but then she was puzzled.
Where was the donkey?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Reg frowned at Etienne and then at Bruce. “Where…?”
Bruce must have taken the donkey into a barn or another paddock. Reg hadn’t realized how much time had passed in going to the front of the house, knocking on the door, and returning. It must have been longer than she had thought. He had returned from his chores, taken the donkey into the barn, and returned to talk to Etienne.
She didn’t think he’d had enough time to do that, unless he had superpowers.
Reg looked Bruce up and down. She didn’t think there was anything unusual about him. He looked just like any other old man.
“Umm…” Reg shook her head. She looked at Etienne. He didn’t offer anything. “So, Mr. Bruce, I was hoping you would be able to take me into… uh, I don’t know. The nearest settlement. Or if you have a phone, I could borrow it to try to reach my friends and they could find a way to pick me up here.”
Bruce nodded again. He shifted his feet. He leaned a little toward Etienne, the person he was familiar with. Living all the way out there, it would be easy for someone to become unaccustomed to visitors. To be anxious about unexpected visitors. He and Etienne had structured things so that they would know exactly when to meet each other, at the same time every month.
After a reassuring look from Etienne, Bruce coughed and cleared his throat. His voice was low and hoarse. “I can take you to the store,” he agreed. “Etienne said that you have…” he coughed again, “been a good guest.”
Etienne looked at Reg expectantly. Reg smiled and let out a breath of relief. “I’m so glad. I didn’t see a car, and I thought you weren’t even home. It must be in the barn or another building?”
“I don’t have a car.”
“Then… how are we going to get to the store?” Reg’s legs ached already from walking all the way there. She sincerely hoped that Bruce had a boat or some means of conveying her to the store, because she didn’t think she could walk any farther.
“I will… carry you.”
Reg laughed in disbelief. The old man thought—what?—that he could carry her piggyback all the way to the nearest settlement?
Etienne looked at Reg reproachfully. She felt instantly guilty at having laughed at her new host, but still didn’t see how he could get her to the store without a vehicle.
“I’m sorry…”
“Bruce is a skin-walker.”
Reg looked from Etienne to Bruce, trying to fathom his meaning. She hoped that didn’t mean he was a nudist. That would make traveling to the store with him all that much more awkward.
“A skin-walker,” Bruce repeated. “I can change my skin.” He met her blank look, a little fan of wrinkles appearing next to his eyes as if he were laughing at her. “My form. I am not confined to this body.”
“You’re…” Suddenly, Reg knew where the donkey had gone. He was still standing right in front of her. Ready to carry her into the settlement. “You’re a shapeshifter?”
“Yes.” A little cough. “If you prefer.”
Recalling Tybalt’s anger at his kind not being called by their preferred name, Reg immediately shook her head. “A skin-walker. I just hadn’t heard that term before. I didn’t know… I’ve never known someone like that before.”
“We do not generally make ourselves known.” Bruce looked at his friend. “Etienne believes you are safe.”
“I won’t tell anyone. If you don’t want people to know where you live or what you are. I won’t give you away.”
“That is most kind.” His head bobbed up and down, and Reg found herself nodding with him.
“You’re the one doing me a favor. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Um… I can pay you, send you something of value, if there’s something you want or need.”
“I want for nothing.”
“I’m sending Etienne back Hershe
y’s bars. If there’s some treat you can’t normally get…?”
Bruce considered this gravely.
Reg didn’t know if he were the mailman or just a friend that helped carry Etienne’s mail back and forth for him, but either way, he could probably get whatever he wanted through Amazon or one of the other online fulfillment companies.
“Maybe… oats?”
“Oats?”
“I quite liked some that I had when I was in the city a couple of years back. Apple and cinnamon. In little packets.”
“Oatmeal. Sure, I can send you some oatmeal packages. Apple cinnamon.”
Bruce smiled widely. He bent forward as if he were going to pick something up off of the ground, then transformed before her eyes. Reg hung on to the fence for support, hardly believing what she was seeing. She had seen some weird stuff since moving to Black Sands, but she had never expected to see a man turn into a donkey right in front of her eyes.
The animal made a bunch of donkey noises at Etienne, who still seemed to understand him perfectly well. Etienne nodded and opened the gate to let donkey Bruce out. Whatever magic allowed him to change form had also transformed clothing into saddle and bridle. Etienne showed a stunned Reg how to put her foot in the stirrup and then swing herself into the saddle. The donkey was not big, so she wasn’t too far off the ground if she fell. But Bruce stood still and didn’t seem to want to throw her off. Etienne handed her the reins and gave her a few simple directions.
“Bruce knows the way; you don’t need to guide him. But if you see something that worries you, you can get him to slow, turn, or hurry up. Although,” he looked at the donkey with a thoughtful expression. “In this form, he can be rather stubborn. Best if you just let him make the decisions.”
“Okay.” Reg was happy to let Bruce be her guide. She had no idea where to go, and he seemed like a far safer guide than Tybalt had been. “And we can get there all the way by donkey? We don’t need to get on a boat or climb a cliff?”
“No. Certainly not.”
“Good. Well, thank you very much for your help. And thank you, Bruce,” she petted the donkey on the side of his neck. “You have been very kind to me. I keep hearing about how many people get lost around here, how the Everglades swallow people up… and I don’t want to be one of those statistics.”
Etienne looked around him. “It is a good place to live. It would not be so bad for you to stay.”
“Unless I got eaten. Or drowned. Or something else.”
He nodded slowly. “Homo sapiens are particularly vulnerable,” he admitted. “It is surprising that they are not the hominini going extinct.”
Reg shrugged uncomfortably. She supposed it was because humans had weapons and Bigfoots did not. Or they didn’t choose to use them, since it was apparent that they could hunt and were sometimes in contact with the outside world and able to conduct trade.
Etienne slapped Bruce on the rump. “Goodbye then. I will not see you again.”
Bruce set off at a trot. Reg looked back over her shoulder to wave to Etienne, but by the time she was turned around, he was already melting into the trees, a tall, indistinct shape against a green backdrop. Just like in a Bigfoot video.
The trip to the store was entirely uneventful. Bruce did not buck her off and bolt. She didn’t develop blisters on her backside, though she did experience some chafing. The trip went by more quickly than her hike with Etienne and a few times she actually dozed off in the saddle.
She felt cheered when she saw the blocky shapes of buildings up ahead through the trees and heard the sounds of voices and cars. Civilization! Humanity! Bruce stopped some distance from the small cluster of buildings, and Reg had a distinct impression that she was to get off there. He didn’t want to be seen delivering her. It would, she guessed, be something out of the ordinary and maybe the people who ran the store and the other businesses didn’t know about his ability to change skins.
She hadn’t received any instruction in how to get off of the donkey, so her dismount was rather clumsy but, by some miracle, she didn’t end up sitting on her butt in the middle of the damp grass.
Reg stroked Bruce’s neck. “Thank you again. You’re a lifesaver. Etienne was going to keep me until the last Tuesday of the month and send me in with the mail.”
The donkey’s lips opened in a laugh and he made a coughing sound. Reg left him there and walked into the busy little collection of buildings. She didn’t think it could be called a town or even a village, but there were people there, and that was what she needed. She went into the store, a sort of general store like she might have seen a hundred years earlier, carrying bits of this and that, everything a person would need.
Except that the dry goods and necessities of a hundred years before had been replaced with pay-as-you-go cell phones, bulk bins of candy, coolers of soft drinks, energy drinks, and enhanced waters, and the various other things that tourist might need in the middle of a tour of the park. Reg wandered in and looked around.
She spoke to the man at the counter, a youth who might have been eighteen at the outside, earbuds draped around his neck and a permanent eye-roll over everything that his bosses or anyone else over twenty might try to tell him.
“Excuse me… I’m wondering if there is a phone I could use.”
“Cell phones are aisle one, right by the window.”
“No, not a cell phone. I don’t have any money. I wondered about a payphone or landline?”
“A what?”
“A phone… you put quarters in. Is there anything I could borrow?”
“Thought you said you didn’t have money.”
“Well, I might have a couple of quarters.” She started digging around in her pockets. “Or I could call collect.”
“Who?”
“I could reverse charges.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “We take credit cards, Bitcoin, Apple Pay…”
“I don’t have any of those.”
“Don’t you have your phone? You can tap.”
“No, I don’t have my phone. That’s why I asked if I could borrow one.”
“Riiiight.” He looked at her, then past her to the next person. “Can I help you, ma’am?”
“No, no, I’m not done,” Reg protested, keeping her body between the young man and the woman behind her.
“Could I borrow your phone? I only need it for a minute. I need to tell someone where to pick me up.”
“Use the Uber app. The water taxi services are on it. You can get anywhere you need to go.”
“Okay. Can I borrow your Uber app?”
He looked at her speculatively. “I can’t give you my phone,” he said in an aggrieved tone.
Reg turned and looked at the people waiting impatiently behind her. “I’m sorry, is there anyone who could lend me their phone for two minutes? I just need to make an emergency call.”
“Did you know you can call emergency from any cell phone, even one that isn’t on a plan anymore?” one of the men in the line asked. “Any old phone. You just have to charge it up.”
“But I don’t have my phone. Not even an old one. And I’m not calling 9-1-1; I’m just calling for someone to pick me up.”
“You should use Lyft. Way better than Uber,” a woman contributed.
She and the man started arguing over the selling points of each ride-share program.
Someone tugged at Reg’s sleeve. She looked down into the face of a young boy. Maybe eight or nine years old. He held his phone out to her.
“Thank you!” Reg moved away from the counter to allow the next person in line to conduct her business. “You’re a life saver!”
The child stood watching her as she tapped out the digits of Corvin’s cell phone. She knew Damon’s too if she put some thought into it, but Corvin’s came to her more easily, so she tried him first. She just hoped that he would have service wherever he was and hear or feel it ringing. She really didn’t want to wait at the store all day, borrowing people’s phones as she tried
to get ahold of the two warlocks.
There were a couple of rings, and then Corvin’s voice. “Yes?”
“Corvin. It’s Reg!”
“Regina!” Corvin sounded shaken, a very unusual state of affairs for him. “Reg, where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I’m at a store. It’s… I’m not exactly sure where it is.” Reg looked around for the name of the town or the settlement. The sign on the outside of the store had simply declared, in white letters on a black signboard, “The Store.” She looked at the boy who had loaned her his phone. “Do you know where this is?”
He took the phone back from her and performed some magic on it. He handed it back, showing her a map with a blue dot on it.
“Tell him those numbers,” the boy instructed. “He can put them in his GPS.”
“Okay.” Reg explained this to Corvin and then read the digits out to him.
“Stay there,” Corvin instructed. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“I don’t have any other choice at this point. Do you have my phone? My bag? Or did he toss everything into the swamp?”
“Who?”
“Tybalt. Did he leave my stuff there or get rid of it?”
“You left your things here. What’s this about Tybalt? He had already gone off to make his own camp when we went to bed. You sleepwalked… we thought you had drowned.”
Reg didn’t point out that it was highly unlikely that, being part siren, she would drown. But maybe he was only saying that to keep their cover. She hadn’t told very many people about her mother’s apparent heritage.
“No. Tybalt kidnapped me. He drugged or magicked the two of you and took me away. Back to his lair. And he was going to…”
“His lair?”
Reg couldn’t understand why Corvin was being so dense. Did he not even see what was right in front of his nose?
“Tybalt’s lair. Tybalt the swamp goblin’s lair.”
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