by Maddy Barone
Lisa’s attempt at humor fell apart, and Carla could see she was fighting tears. “But, Lisa, when I first came in you and Eddie looked pretty happy.”
“Oh, sure.” Lisa carefully wiped her eyes. “The sex is great. And it’s not like he yells or hits me or anything like that. He just doesn’t trust me. I … I guess I’m used to flirting. I don’t even think about it. I just do it. It makes him crazy, though.”
“He needs to quit being so insecure and grow up,” Carla said bluntly.
Lisa squeezed her hand and began to talk about her mother-in-law’s cooking lessons. The women sat facing each other on the couch and talked for over a half hour. Neither had known the other a few weeks ago, and in their old lives they probably wouldn’t have been friends. But they had lived through catastrophe together, and there was no one else who could understand where they had come from or what the world they had lived in was like.
“Oh!” said Carla. “I forgot to tell you! The others from the plane have been found. The Clan—that’s like an Indian tribe—are taking care of them.”
“That’s good. I tried to talk Ray into going out, but he wouldn’t. I think maybe a couple of Eddie’s friends were going to try to find them, but I haven’t seen them for a few days so I don’t know if they did go or not.” Lisa glanced down at her watch, a precious relic of her old life. “Oh, hey! Time for your concert, I think. I can’t wait to hear you!”
As soon as they opened the office door the wolves closed in on Carla, and Lisa waited until Eddie put his arm around her waist and stole a quick kiss. “A little preview for later,” he whispered. Carla saw Jay’s mouth smirk and frowned at him.
There was a stool for Carla at the front of the rows of chairs. Jay stayed right beside her while they walked through the three or four dozen people sitting there. Quill and the other wolf dropped back to take seats in the last row. Quill’s eyes were once more fixed on Ellie. Carla waved at Ellie, who was sitting with a skinny young blond man in a sea of wolves beside them, in front of them, and behind them. Taye must have gone into total protective older brother mode. There was one moment of tension when Lisa and Eddie passed another blond man, a little older, but similar in looks to Ellie’s companion. Lisa acted like she didn’t notice him, but he stared at her with open longing on his face until Eddie said something short and low. Taye watched them carefully until Eddie and Lisa sat down in the front, then he walked to stand behind Carla.
Mr. Gray was sitting in the front row too, with his daughter-in-law and three other women in their thirties and forties. Behind them were Doug, and three girls between the ages of ten and fifteen sandwiched tightly between a whole bunch of men and boys who looked a lot like Mr. Gray. These must be his family.
Carla opened her guitar case and began checking the strings. As she did that she spoke in loud clear tones. “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Carla Wolfe, and I’m going to be singing and playing this beautiful guitar today for Mr. Gray. This guitar was his wife’s, and when my husband Taye decided to give me a guitar, Mr. Gray brought two instruments to us for me to choose from. I chose this one, because it had such a rich sound. This kind of sound—” She strummed a chord, letting the sound die gradually away. “—comes only from an instrument that has known love. Nothing can make that kind of sound except love, and there’s not enough money or anything else in the world to buy it. That’s why I’m here today. Not to pay for this guitar, but to let Mr. Gray hear it again, and know that love is still strong within it.”
She started her show with “Sweet Kylie’s Guitar,” telling in simple, gentle words about the young girl who was wooed and won by a young Mr. Gray, who took her away from her devastated home on a long journey across Nebraska to a new life in this town. She told about the dark summer evenings along the road when Kylie would play this very guitar and tell her husband how much she loved him in the words of old songs. Carla sang about the guitar carried by Kylie and by Mr. Gray in turns, over the long weary weeks of walking, how they had shared the weight of it between them, and how its rich sound renewed their strength when the road got rough and long.
The wolves, being in public among what might be enemies, were stoic, but Mr. Gray and several of his family were wiping their eyes. Carla moved into one of her lighter songs. No one else except Lisa and Mr. Gray would understand about the lovers playing phone tag and texting each other during meetings, but the melody was bouncy and fun. The folk songs that had been once recorded by Emmy Lou Harris and Gillian Welch were a hit. She sang for almost two hours, pausing only for water and to talk a little to explain some of the songs. All the while she could feel Taye behind her, radiating pride and love. For her last song she got off her stool and addressed the audience.
“Like the first song I sang this afternoon, this one is one I’ve written since I’ve come here. It comes from my heart, and it is for my husband Taye.”
She broke all the rules by turning her back on her audience to face him. “Taye,” she said in a voice so quiet that only the wolves would hear it, “this song says what I feel.”
“One bright morning got on a plane,
That’s the day the world ended.
Feels like I’ve gone insane,
My world can’t be mended.
*
The plane went down in a field,
Of grass and death and dying.
My walk for help my fate sealed,
I was fooled by farmers’ lying.
*
I was tricked by farmers’ lies,
And sold in town like a slave.
Offered as the victor’s prize,
In the Bride Fight that Ray gave.
*
A dozen fought to make me wife,
But I was won by the wolf Taye.
His wolf had chosen me for life
But I said I’d fight him all the way.
*
The wolf chose me,
But I’m not sleeping with the wolf.
The wolf won me,
But I’m not sleeping with the wolf.
*
But he let me be, let me rest,
Then a challenge was made for me,
And once again Taye was best
And his goodness I began to see.
*
Taye saved me from a cruel fate,
And he treated me so kind
Then I knew he was my mate,
And I found I didn’t mind.
*
The wolf chose me,
But I’m not sleeping with the wolf.
The wolf won me,
But I’m not sleeping with the wolf.
The wolf saved me,
Should I be sleeping with the wolf?
If he loves me,
Then I’ll love him,
And I’ll be sleeping with the wolf.
*
Choosing once, wolves mate for life,
And never ever will he stray.
So I’ll love him and be his wife.
In this new world I will stay.
*
The wolf chose me,
The wolf won me,
The wolf saved me
Since he loves me,
And I love him,
We belong to each other forever,
So I’m sleeping with the wolf
Yes, I’m sleeping with my wolf.”
She ended the song with a happy smile, and glanced at the applauding audience over her shoulder. Lisa smiled through tears and pumped her fist encouragingly. Taye reached and caught her chin and pulled her face around to his lips. His kiss was very tender.
“Yes,” he whispered against her lips. “Your wolf loves you. Forever.”
The End
About the Author:
Hello, I’m Maddy Barone. I have a B.A. in History, which is probably why I work in the financial department at Medicare. I am a baroness in the Society For Creative Anachronism, an international educational organization which studies the Middle Ages and Renaissance, where I get
to dress up in clothes from the Italian Renaissance that I sew myself. My evenings are devoted to writing and spending time with friends. In my free time I also spin and knit and play with my three rescue cats.