Marked In Flesh

CHAPTER 27

Thaisday, Juin 21

Jesse stocked the store shelves with canned soups, tomato sauce and tomato paste, and a variety of canned fruits and vegetables. In the back room, she had big plastic bins that were airtight and mouse-proof. One held five-pound bags of flour; another held bags of sugar, both white and brown; and the third held boxes of pasta that she couldn’t fit on the shelves out front. The fourth she had filled with bags of rice and packages of egg noodles.

Hopefully the supplies would still be good when the people in Prairie Gold needed them.

Enough supplies to last until next spring, Tolya had told her after she’d mentioned her feeling that Prairie Gold might be denied access to other supplies, the same way the bookstore in Bennett had stopped her from buying new books for her store. Food. Medicines. What females need when they come into season and become snappish.

Somehow, having a vampire mention PMS and menses as part of the preparation checklist was more unnerving than having him push her to order food that could be cached for the coming months.

And not just food. Clothes too—everything from underwear and socks to jeans and T-shirts and sweaters and coats. Shoes. Boots. Anything that could be outgrown or worn out.

Something was coming. Everyone in Prairie Gold felt it. The terra indigene knew what they were preparing for, but they weren’t sharing specifics.

More bison had been shot—someone’s idea of malicious fun. The adult Wolves, especially those who were the hunters and guards, were away from their settlement, roaming to find the human culprits and put an end to this waste of food.

Food wasn’t the only thing being wasted. Someone had poured gasoline down prairie dog holes and set them alight. The fire spread over acres of grassland, coming within yards of the settlement’s food crops. Then the wind changed direction, blowing the fire back on itself, saving Prairie Gold’s fresh food for the coming year.

She and Phil Mailer, the postmaster and editor of the Prairie Gold Reporter, had driven to Bennett to report the incident, but no one had seen anything. What was the law enforcement in Bennett supposed to do? The fire didn’t happen in town or on any human land.

She had hoped she was wrong about preparing for isolation, but that isolation had already begun with frightening speed. The Intuits couldn’t make purchases in any of the Bennett shops. You had to show your residence card in order to buy anything. When Truman Skye and Billy Rider, two men from Prairie Gold’s ranch, had asked if that rule applied to people stopping overnight or visiting for a day or two, they were roughed up by a gang of men. After returning home, Truman had told Jesse and Phil—and Joe Wolfgard and Tolya Sanguinati—that the sheriff had been writing out a parking ticket within sight of the fight and didn’t notice two men being attacked by eight. As it was, Truman and Billy escaped with a few scrapes, some bruised ribs, and a couple of black eyes because a tree in the town square uprooted suddenly and crushed the cab of a pickup parked on the street.

The rumor was that something had hooked its claws into the tree and ripped it out of the ground.

Warnings issued from both sides. At least that’s how Jesse read that encounter—and Joe hadn’t disagreed with her assessment even if he wouldn’t confirm there was something besides Wolves and Wyatt Beargard watching the land between Bennett and Prairie Gold.

So, no merchandise available from the nearest town. Everything they needed had to come by train or truck now. Trouble was, they were buying far more than the town residents or businesses could afford, and they wouldn’t have been buying much of anything if Tolya, as spokesman for his kin, wasn’t loaning them the money.

No one had a feeling about borrowing money from the Sanguinati, but no one felt easy about it either. Still, it was either that or ignore the warnings that they needed to tuck in supplies.

Diapers and baby powder. Blankets and bed linens. Towels. Toothbrushes and toothpaste. Toilet paper. Gods! How was a shopkeeper supposed to make an estimate about something like that?

And where was she supposed to put all these supplies?

The bell on the door jingled. Jesse turned away from the shelves, glad to be distracted by a customer.

The girl looked to be about sixteen or seventeen. A stranger wearing one of the dresses Jesse knew had been in the window of the used-clothing store just last week. Sandals on her feet. Her hair was a light ash color and hung halfway down her back. Her eyes were amber, and the ears that suddenly poked out from beneath the hair were furry and not human-shaped.

A Wolf, Jesse thought, smiling as she moved slowly toward the girl. “Hello. I’m Jesse, the owner of this store. Can I help you find something?” She spotted Joe Wolfgard and a stranger—another Wolf?—standing outside talking to Tobias.

Chaperoned independence.

“What’s your name?” Jesse asked.

“Rachel. I’d like a book?”

A statement phrased as a question. The girl wasn’t really sure she was allowed to ask for such a thing.

“The books are over here.” Jesse led Rachel to the shelves. “These two shelves are new books. New books usually cost more. These two shelves have used books.” Jesse chose a paperback at random and handed it to Rachel.

Rachel studied the cover. Then she sniffed the book, made a face, and handed it back.

Interesting. She wanted to ask what the girl smelled on the book, but that would have to wait for the next visit.

“You can also borrow books from the library.”

“Borrow means we can’t keep it?”

“That’s right. You read it and give it back to the library.”

“We want a book to keep.”

Jesse nodded. “A book for you?”

Rachel hesitated. “A book of stories for puppies? To read to the puppies? I can read pretty well.”

This girl threw out lures to snag the curious.

Another time, Jesse promised herself as she studied the selection of children’s books that she had available. “Well, I have a book of animal stories.” When Rachel squatted beside her, she wanted to ask if the girl was wearing underpants beneath that summer dress, but that was a question that could cause embarrassment, especially if this was a first attempt at interacting with a human.

“We like animals,” Rachel said.

“I don’t know if the animals in these stories behave like the animals you know.”

Rachel nodded. “Make-believe.” She held the book. Sniffed the book. And didn’t hand it back.

“Would you like to pick out a book for yourself?”

“I—” Rachel looked at the price sticker on the book of stories. “I don’t have enough money to buy another book.”

“I’ll give you a book for yourself.”

Rachel shook her head. “Supposed to buy it.”

“Usually that is true. But today I would like to give you a book as a gift. As a way to say welcome.”

“Oh.” The girl looked at the shelves of books, her amber eyes filled with delight and confusion.

Bit by bit, Rachel told Jesse about the books she had read and which ones she liked the best. Finally, Jesse nudged Rachel toward an Intuit mystery writer who wrote a series of stories about a human who had a couple of terra indigene acquaintances who helped solve the mysteries. She wasn’t sure if the portrayal of the Others was sufficiently accurate. She hadn’t thought twice about that when she’d read some of the books.

Well, it will be interesting to read one again with what I know about the Others now—and see what Rachel thinks of the characters. Would any of the terra indigene be interested in attending our monthly book club? Something to ask Joe Wolfgard.

Jesse rang up the one book and watched through the window when Rachel left the store. The girl almost glowed with the triumph of a successful encounter. And turned shy when introduced to Tobias, who tipped his hat and did everything proper for an introduction.

As Tobias came into the store, Joe looked at Jesse through the window—and smiled.

We’re going to be all right, Jesse thought as the Wolves headed in the direction of the terra indigene settlement. If the Others accept us as friends, we’ll be all right.