Marked In Flesh (The Others #4)

by Anne Bishop

  “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.

  To: Vladimir Sanguinati

  Barb Debany arrived in Bennett and is settling in. Her brother supplied labels and stamps. We supplied postcards and stationary as a welcome gift. She was more excited about being given the use of a horse than she was about the postcards.

  —Tolya

  Dear Michael,

  I’ve been working all the daylight hours since I arrived because so many small animals need care until I find new homes for them. I’m living at a boardinghouse, see address below. Will write more later. Love to Mom and Dad. Barb.

  P.S. They gave me a horse!

  CHAPTER 55

  Sunsday, Sumor 17

  Meg smiled at Simon and Vlad.

  “There is something behind that smile,” Vlad said.

  “Like the first time you see a striped pretty and don’t learn what it is until you poke it with a paw and it sprays you,” Simon said.

  She wasn’t smiling now. “Did you just compare me to a skunk?”

  Now they smiled.

  “To be fair, you don’t smell like one anymore,” Simon said.

  “What?”

  “Why did you want to see us, Meg?” Vlad asked.

  Having witnessed a scene with Twyla Montgomery and some of the children earlier this morning, it was clear to Meg that throwing what Merri Lee called a hissy fit didn’t get you what you wanted. And if doing that didn’t work with Twyla, it certainly wouldn’t work with Simon and Vlad—especially if they didn’t understand what she was doing and she had to explain it. Which would be embarrassing. And not mature.

  Amused at herself, which made her feel steadier, Meg laid some cards on the table.

  “
Meg?” Sharpness in Simon’s voice. Sharpness in Vlad’s eyes.

  “I’m not drawing cards for a vision,” she explained. “I’d like a favor. Two favors, actually.”

  “That must be why you asked for two of us to come here,” Vlad said.

  She pointed to the cards she had taken out of a deck on the sorting room table. One card was a smiley face. Another was a sad face. The third was the question mark she’d drawn once before when she asked about Lakeside’s future. “These cards are from a game. Some of them got mixed up with the prophecy cards.”

  “How did that happen?” Simon asked.

  She shook her head. She wasn’t going to be a tattletale. She knew that Merri Lee and Ruth had already talked to Eve Denby and Twyla and Sierra Montgomery about the importance of the children not going into the Liaison’s Office unsupervised and, especially, not playing with the cards.

  “That’s not important. The important thing is that I think these actually are useful for revealing prophecies without me making a cut.”

  She had their complete attention now.

  “But these particular cards . . .” She went to the drawer and randomly pulled five cards that had different backs, which meant they were from different decks. She turned them over and lined them up above the first three cards. “Do you see? These are from different decks of cards—some reveal the natural world and some are illustrations of human or urban things. Even though they’re different, they complement each other. Do you see?”

  Vlad came around to her side of the table. He picked up the deck of game cards and fanned them to see more of the images. “So you want a deck of cards with these images but done in a style that would fit in with the rest of the decks you’re currently using?”

  “Yes.” Eventually she would have to pare down the number of cards that would become the Trailblazer deck of prophecy cards, but for now she didn’t want to limit possibilities while she was still exploring what the cassandra sangue might be able to do with this way of seeing visions.

  “Could the Hope pup draw those?” Simon asked, cocking his head.

  Meg felt something run over her skin. Not strong enough to be pins and needles or prickles, but definitely a response to the question. “I don’t know. Could we ask her?”

  “We can get a message to Jackson.”

  “Could you purchase another deck of these?” Vlad asked, waggling the fanned cards. “Hope would need the images for reference.”

  Meg said she would see about getting another deck. She didn’t mention that she was going to ask Eve Denby where to buy one.

  “That was an easy favor,” Simon said.

  Of course, there was no guarantee that the cards would be available. With people now considering what they needed instead of what they would like to have, a children’s card game wouldn’t be a high priority when companies had to choose what to ship by truck or train.

  “What’s the second favor?” Simon asked.

  “Could you find a job for Harry, the deliveryman? He quit his job at Everywhere Delivery because the company became Everywhere Human Delivery. But he still needs to work.” Sensing resistance, Meg hurried on. “You wouldn’t have to find a place for Harry and his wife to live. If he could use one of our vans, he could be the Courtyard’s deliveryman and pick up orders we place with companies in Lakeside. Or maybe you could talk to Jerry Sledgeman about hiring Harry to work for him and make deliveries between Lakeside and the River Road Community.”

  “Meg . . .” Simon sighed. “We can’t keep taking in strays. On top of the human pack, we’re already letting Officer Debany’s parents shop in the Market Square. Same with Officer MacDonald’s parents. And Captain Burke. And Commander Gresh and his mate and young. When a pack gets too big, it needs to split so that part of it finds new territory and new prey. We’re looking after a lot of humans now. And Merri Lee and Ruthie will have pups, and they’ll need food too, after they’re weaned.”

  “They’re not having pups yet,” Meg muttered. But Simon had a point. After promising to give her a daily summary of what was happening in Lakeside and the rest of Thaisia, her friends urged her to avoid the news and the newspaper until things calmed down. Since just looking out the front windows and watching the cars drive by on Main Street made her skin buzz viciously, she didn’t think she would be able to resist the razor if she had more contact with the world outside of the Courtyard.

  “Just two more?” she pleaded. “Just Harry and his wife?”

  Simon and Vlad looked at each other.

  “Everyone has to earn their part of the meat,” Simon finally said. “Everyone in a pack has a job, and that has to include any humans who want part of the food we have here or can bring in.”

  “Harry and his wife, but no more,” Vlad said. “We’re helping to support the River Road Community too. Don’t forget that.”

  They wouldn’t be trying to support any of those humans if they hadn’t taken her in and accepted her as one of them. “No more.” She hesitated, and wondered if it was cowardly not to give the message directly. “Could you tell Captain Burke something?”

  Vlad nodded.

  Meg tapped the question-mark card on the table. “This card came up once before, when I wondered about Lakeside’s future.”

  “I remember,” Simon said. “Future undecided.”

  “I overheard Agent O’Sullivan say he and Captain Burke had an appointment with the mayor, and I asked myself what Captain Burke should tell the mayor about Lakeside.”

  Vlad drew in a slow breath. “Future undecided?”

  She nodded.

  “You should make the call,” Simon told Vlad. “Burke owes you one or two favors.”

  “He owes you too, but I’ll call him.”

  After Vlad left, Simon rested his forearms on the table, his arm lightly brushing against hers.

  “Talk to the human pack about paper for writing letters,” he said. “Not just paper the females like, but paper that won’t cause the males to cough up hairballs if they have to use it.”

  “People don’t write that many letters. They use e-mail . . . Oh. Electronic mail stays within a region now.”

  “There are ways to send messages between the regions, like we’re going to do to send a message to Jackson, but those messages aren’t private anymore. The Intuits or terra indigene manning the communications cabins will see them. Humans aren’t going to be able to attack again like they did under the HFL.”

  “Simon? Did a lot of places disappear?”

  “Here in Thaisia? I don’t know. It’s hard to tell right now if the places—and the humans who lived there—are gone, or if a place isn’t under human control anymore and that’s why it’s not being counted among the human places.” He thought for a moment. “You gave Vlad a message for Captain Burke. Anything I should tell Lieutenant Montgomery?”

  Scooping up the cards that were on the table, Meg returned them to the drawer that held the prophecy cards.

  What should Simon tell Lieutenant Montgomery about Lakeside?

  At first there was nothing. Then the prickles began. Meg closed her eyes and let her fingers search for the answer. When she chose three cards that produced the strongest prickles, she brought them back to the table and turned them over.

  Wolf card. The telephone/telegraph key card. And a card that showed heavy surf striking the shore.

  “I don’t know what this means,” Meg said. Then Water walked in from the back room, leaving wet footsteps on the floor.

  The Elemental said, “I have a message for the Wolfgard.”

  “Give me a minute,” Simon replied.

  Water nodded and left.

  “I guess Water is supposed to give you the message,” Meg said.

  “Huh.” Simon studied the cards. “You’re getting pretty good with those things. Do the prickles go away after you choose the ones that answer a question?”

  She nodded. “Unless there is more that can’t be seen with the cards.”

  “So you
don’t have to cut anymore.”

  If he believed that, he would be more upset when she did cut. “Using the cards doesn’t produce the euphoria.”

  “They also don’t cause pain or leave a scar,” he countered.

  The new scar along her jaw bothered all of the terra indigene more than the other scars she’d added since living in the Courtyard. The cards released prophecies but did nothing for the craving that was entwined with the addiction to cut. Still, she had resisted using the razor for almost four weeks.

  “Don’t keep Water waiting,” she said.

  When he went outside to talk to the Elemental, Meg returned the cards to the drawer.

  No, the cards didn’t help with the craving for the euphoria. Nothing but cutting could satisfy that.

  Prickles filled her fingers. She ran her hands over the cards in the drawer until she found the one she needed to see.

  She studied the card. Studied it and studied it.

  A man and woman, standing close together in a garden under a full moon. Except the moon was shaped like the symbol for a heart.

  Uneasy, Meg put the card back in the drawer. Romance? No. Men . . . Bad things had happened in the compound, things that were veiled in her memory but remembered by her body. So that couldn’t produce anything like the euphoria.

  Could it?

  She closed the drawer and tried to ignore the light prickles that felt more like fingertips brushing the skin on the inside of her thighs.

  • • •

  Simon carefully slit open the box of books, pulled out the packing slip, and checked off the copies of each book before putting them on the shelves in the stock room. Everything he’d ordered before the storm suddenly showed up, making him wonder if railcars that were carrying merchandise for the terra indigene had been left on a siding somewhere. Now it was advantageous to ship merchandise to the Others because any properly sized train that had an earth native freight car had a better chance of safely passing through the wild country. “All freight or no freight” seemed to be the new motto.

  Fine by him. Blair and Henry were taking two of the Courtyard’s vehicles to make a second cargo run, which made him think Meg might be right about hiring the Harry to pick up deliveries.