Marked In Flesh (The Others #4)

by Anne Bishop

  “For our friends.” The people knew the wolfman, the foxman, the Crow, and the Hawk were messengers. They knew there were things in the wild country—and in the sea—that were too ferocious and should not be seen. They lived at the border of the wild country; they lived in fishing villages at the edge of the sea. They had always known what the Important Men from the Big Cities refused to know—that being friends was the only way to survive.

  Since the New Year, the Important Men had come to the villages and taken more than food and animals; they had taken the strong, healthy sons because “we need workers in our factories; we need soldiers for the great battle.”

  There would be no battle. The people in the villages had passed down the old stories and they knew this, but the Important Men wouldn’t listen. They claimed that they needed more food, more animals, more fish for the cause. They needed more wood, more glass, more metal, more cloth, more leather.

  More men.

  “Do not forget,” fathers whispered to sons. “You will come home to us if you do not forget.”

  Day after day, the people tended their flocks and their fields. They baked bread and wove cloth. And they traveled the paths to the special places, bringing not only gifts but also precious photographs of their sons.

  “He is a good boy. Let him come home.”

  There was no answer. But as the villagers returned to homes all along the border of Cel-Romano, the land was filled with a terrible silence.

  CHAPTER 24

  Fingerbone Islands

  Rising out of the surf that caressed the Fingerbone Islands, she waited a moment, allowing most of the crabs and small fish to spill out of her gown before she made her way to the treasure rooms. There were chests filled with gold coins and tables heaped with necklaces so encrusted with gems she thought of them as rocks covered with colored barnacles.

  Coins and necklaces had no particular interest for her, but maps were her delight. To see what she knew in a different way, to see where her kin lived. When she rose to walk on land, maps of any kind provided knowledge and entertainment.

  But today she wandered from room to room, looking at what had been salvaged over centuries, and felt no curiosity, no pleasure. The creatures who made these things had been an enemy in the past and were an enemy again. They had killed her Sharkgard. They had killed fish of all kinds with their poison. And for what? To fill their little ships with gold or some other kind of treasure and scurry from one shore to another?

  Let them fight among themselves. That was no more significant to her than male crabs maintaining a territory in order to entice a mate. But they had touched her domain, had spilled poison into her waters.

  Because the Sanguinati were land predators the Sharkgard respected, she had sent her warning to give them time to withdraw inland. Soon she would strike. But not quite yet. Air said strange noisy things had been flying lately. Ancient Tethys was stirring, roused out of her benign watchfulness of the Mediterran Sea. Even Indeus slapped at the shores that bordered his domain, disturbed by a change of temper in Earth and Air.

  Two shores—Thaisia and Cel-Romano. Where was she needed?

  Leaving her treasure rooms, she returned to the water and flowed toward the west. The poison had come from Thaisia. She would deal with the enemy there first.

  As she followed currents, she listened to the news the Sharkgard and Orcasgard passed along to her. And she waited for the right moment.

  Other forms of terra indigene referred to her Elemental form as Ocean. Among her kin, she was known as Alantea.

  And humans, those two-legged upstarts, called her domain the Atlantik.

  CHAPTER 25

  Windsday, Juin 20

  The Lakeside Wolfgard knew how to hunt deer together, and they knew how to fight together to defend the Courtyard, but they didn’t know much about hunting bison until they tried to round them up. After chasing one of the yearlings, the pack made it clear that this wasn’t an animal they wanted to hunt unless they were very hungry and had no other choice. In fact, the only Wolf who really wanted to chase bison was Skippy. The juvenile’s suicidal enthusiasm was one reason that Simon decided to send four of the bison to Talulah Falls as a gesture of friendship to the terra indigene currently living there.

  Unlike the Wolves, who didn’t know how to hunt bison, the bison already knew how to defend themselves against Wolves. But they weren’t prepared for a Grizzly dressed in a T-shirt and jeans to jump toward them and roar, and when faced with a small tornado that trotted after them, they stopped fighting the Wolves’ efforts to herd them into the truck.

  Tired and thirsty, Simon watched Jerry Sledgeman drive away with the bison. he said when Blair joined him.

  Blair shook out his fur.

  Simon sighed.

 

  Simon headed for the Pony Barn, where Meg had watched the “roundup” from a safe place.

  Blair said nothing for a moment.

  He could accept for himself being hungry some days. But not Sam. Not Meg. Not the other terra indigene young who lived in the Courtyard.

  Of course, hunger could drive out sense. But that was a maybe problem. Food of all kinds was growing in the Courtyard, and there was plenty of meat, even if things like pork and beef were in short supply until they received the next delivery from a terra indigene settlement that raised a few of those animals. And how the human pups drank milk! He’d run out of milk for Sam, and Meg didn’t have any either until the earth native truck made the next delivery. They couldn’t ask for more from their current sources, so they would all have to make do with a little less.

  Except Sam and Meg.

  Blair said.

  He’d like to do that too, but he headed for Meg when she stepped out of the Pony Barn, and Blair went on without him.

  “You must be hot,” Meg said, tunneling her fingers through his fur.

  Yes, he was.

  “Where is Blair going?”

  This was one of Meg’s tricks: asking questions when he couldn’t answer because he was in Wolf form.

  Jester Coyotegard stepped out of the barn, grinning. “He’s going for a swim.”

  Meg looked at Simon. “Don’t you want to go for a swim?”

  Of course he did. He was hot and his fur was dusty. He gave her a hopeful look.

  “No. I’m not hot, and I don’t want to do the Squeaky Dance.”

  Simon sighed. This day was full of disappointments.

  “I’ll wait for you here,” Meg said.

  “Which is convenient,” Jester added, “since your clothes are in the back of Meg’s BOW.”

  Grumbling to himself, Simon trotted to the swimming hole. The cool water tasted good and felt even better. And since there weren’t any human females nearby to get all squeaky about it, when he’d paddled around enough as a Wolf, he shifted to his human form and enjoyed floating on his back while cool water played over sun-warmed skin.

  • • •

  Meg returned to the folding chair that Jester had set out for her. She picked up another deck of prophecy cards that she’d brought t
o show the Coyote. Then she sighed. “Simon really wanted to have bison.”

  “Your seeing and his wanting made it happen.” Jester repositioned the other chair and sat beside her. “That brought the bison here, where they’ve done a lot of good. The terra indigene in Talulah Falls are talking to Ming Beargard and the Steve Ferryman because the bison meat is the first thing that has made them happy since they came to the Falls to control the humans. Henry, Elliot, Vlad, and Nyx have gone to Talulah Falls with Jerry Sledgeman to deliver the Courtyard’s bison, and the Steve Ferryman and Ming are going to join them there for a meeting with the terra indigene leaders and some humans.”

  “How do you know who is going to be at that meeting?”

  “I have my sources.” Jester winked at her. “I think Talulah Falls will be under new management soon. Isn’t that the phrase humans use? So you showed me the city deck, which isn’t so interesting, and the nature deck, which I liked. What’s that one?”

  Stuck on the image of a sign saying UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT hanging over the road leading to Talulah Falls, it took Meg a moment to catch up to Jester’s change of subject. “This is a deck of fantastic drawings—imaginary creatures.”

  Jester’s smile faltered. “Can I see the cards?”

  She handed him the deck. “They’re just make-believe. I don’t know how the Intuits would read them, but I don’t think they’ll be useful to the cassandra sangue. Why would we speak prophecy about something that doesn’t exist?”

  She thought about the cards of city skylines that she had put aside because she didn’t think they would be needed. And she watched Jester’s ears shift to Coyote, watched fur spring up on his neck and hands as he looked at the drawings. He let most of the cards fall into his lap, but a few he handed to her.

  “Jester?”

  “Who else knows about these cards?”

  “I don’t know. I think Jesse Walker has the same decks that she sent to me.” Jester slanted a look at the cards in her hand. “Don’t tell anyone about those cards. You should keep them. Learn them. But don’t talk about them with anyone else.”

  Meg studied the cards that upset Jester. The creatures walked upright, but that was all they had in common with humans. The cards weren’t intended to convey a blended form of terra indigene. Or if they were, she didn’t recognize the animals these creatures had absorbed.

  Separated from the rest of the cards, the drawings frightened her—and made the backs of her legs prickle.

  “Promise you won’t tell anyone about these,” Jester whispered. “Put them in with the nature cards and hope you never see any of them again.”

  “But these are just something someone imagined.”

  The prickle became a burn when Jester said, “Or remembered.”

  She realized the Coyote was shaking. Her fingers tightened on the cards in her hands. “They’re make-believe.”

  “No. They’re not.”

  To: Erebus and Vladimir Sanguinati

  The remaining terra indigene have left the Toland Courtyard. Some of the Crowgard and Sanguinati will remain near the train station to keep watch and report any suspicious activity or any sign that an unusual number of humans are leaving the city.

  I and a few of our kin will watch the ships leaving Toland for a while longer. The Elementals promised to help keep watch—and to warn us when the taste of the storm touches the beaches and fills the air so that we, and other terra indigene along the East Coast of Thaisia, have time to move inland.

  —Stavros Sanguinati

  Recognizing the superior might of the human race, the Others have abandoned the Toland Courtyard, giving us much-needed acres to grow crops and provide pastures for some domestic animals. Some people think a few acres is not a significant victory. I say it’s the first step in acquiring all the land and resources we deserve.

  —Nicholas Scratch, speaking at Toland’s city hall

  To: Greg O’Sullivan

  Humans were indirectly responsible for our decision to close the Toland Courtyard, but it is not accurate to say humans forced us to leave the city, as Nicholas Scratch would like you to believe. We left because human behavior has made it prudent for us to get out of harm’s way.

  —Stavros Sanguinati

  To: Simon and Jackson Wolfgard

  Wolfgard throughout the northern Midwest and Northwest are howling about bison being killed and left to rot for a second time. We have lost more bison from the Prairie Gold herd, and Tobias Walker reported that some cattle have disappeared from the ranch. He says this is called rustling. Since we didn’t find horns or hooves to indicate the Elders ate the cattle, I think Tobias Walker is right but don’t know how to find the thieves. The Prairie Gold Wolves are keeping watch, looking for scents beyond the town that don’t belong to the humans we know. Tolya Sanguinati continues to watch Prairie Gold as well as Bennett. He says there is a bad feel in Bennett—poisonous smiles—and he thinks something will happen soon.

  Jesse Walker says nothing but continues to buy extra supplies for her general store. Tolya is lending her money to do this. She rubs her left wrist when she thinks no one is watching. Tobias says that is a sign of trouble.

  Has Meg or the Hope pup been itchy?

  —Joe Wolfgard

  CHAPTER 26

  Windsday, Juin 20

  Vlad sat back and let Steve Ferryman and Elliot Wolfgard do the talking. Or, more truthfully, let them be the focus of the humans and the terra indigene from Talulah Falls who were attending this meeting.

  Maybe he’d never been so close to a source to see how much influence small things could have on the fate of so many. Simon had hired Meg, who was a cassandra sangue. Her combination of childlike sweetness, the prophecies she’d seen, and her desire to learn and live shifted enough of the terra indigene’s perception of humans that the humans working in the Lakeside Courtyard reacted by becoming a little more friendly to the Others. Lieutenant Montgomery’s efforts to forge a connection between the Courtyard and the police also gave both sides more opportunities to interact without hostility.

  He saw the results of those actions. The Talulah Falls humans hadn’t brought government officials—if there were any who had survived. They brought a supervisor from the hydroelectric plant and a police captain. Vlad could hear Captain Burke’s influence in the way the Falls captain expressed his concerns about how to keep the peace for the humans who would remain in Talulah Falls, and how to release the humans who wanted to leave. The captain, at least, understood the danger that faced anyone who wanted to flee from the Falls: with the friction building between humans and the Others in so many regions, the towns and cities still under human control provided only the illusion of safety.

  But the surviving Talulah Falls residents had worked with the terra indigene, explaining the value of clearing at least one lane of the cars that had been abandoned during the first effort to flee the Falls a few months ago. There were parking lots full of cars that hadn’t been reclaimed—some because the owners had been tourists who had been allowed to leave or had run away in the first chaotic days and weren’t seen again. And some vehicles belonged to people who had been killed outright during the terra indigene’s initial furious response to the explosion that had killed several of the Crowgard.

  No one talked about how many humans had died. No one talked about the Harvester who had been brought to the Falls to act as the enforcer and consumed the life energy of anyone suspected of wrongdoing. Instead, the humans presented a list of what they considered vital businesses and industries. The power plant provided electricity for the whole area, including Talulah Falls, Great Island, and Lakeside. It would provide most of the power for the River Road Community. If they could have some reassurance for their safety and that of their families, the men and women who worked at the power plant would remain in the Falls, doing their work to the best of their ability, even making entry-level jobs available to the folks from Ferryman’s Landing to train more workers in all areas of the business.

/>   As far as Vlad could tell, this seemed to be the message the humans wanted to convey: this was their home; they wanted to stay; but they didn’t want to die if they stayed. And they understood that any sign of the HFL movement would mean the end of the citizens and town of Talulah Falls.

  From the terra indigene, he heard a different message: they were tired of dealing with humans; they didn’t like feeling enclosed by so many human things; they wanted to go home, go back to limited contact with the clever monkeys. But they also wanted an opportunity to observe humans without the responsibility for so many things they didn’t understand.

  In other words, they wanted to play tourist for a day or two in a place like Ferryman’s Landing or the Lakeside Courtyard and then retreat to the land they knew and loved.

  Vlad asked Henry and Ming.

  Henry said.

  Ming agreed.

  An Intuit who was the mayor of his village would have a feeling about any deceit that might threaten his own people.

  “The Sanguinati have adapted to living in and around human places,” Vlad said, finally ready to say what Erebus had commanded him to say. “We are willing to take over the rule of Talulah Falls, with the help of other forms of terra indigene.”

  He saw fear in the humans’ eyes, but not as much as there would have been a few months ago. After having a Harvester walking among them, the idea of vampires running the town was a relief.

  “The Sanguinati who would be the leader is known to many in the Lakeside Courtyard. He also has contact with Governor Hannigan’s Investigative Task Force, so he is in a position to consider the needs of the human citizens as well as the terra indigene.” Vlad looked at the terra indigene leaders.