The rest of the terra indigene referred to them as the Elders.
“Log cabins,” Simon said. “Wells. Farms. Spinning wheels and looms. Windmills and water wheels. Years ago, when humans were erased from a part of Thaisia, what was left behind became homes for other beings or quietly became part of the world again. The absence of humans made no difference. The terra indigene had learned how to build their own log cabins; how to spin and weave the cloth and blankets we wanted; how to farm in our own way and store the harvest for hungry days. We could do all that without absorbing too much from this form. But now . . .”
Henry blew out a breath. “Now, if humans weren’t around to tend what they’ve made, those things would not quietly become part of the world again. At least, not for a long time.” He turned his head so the air blew his hair out of his face. “Is that why you’re so interested in this River Road Community and nurturing a pack of humans at our Courtyard?”
Simon nodded. “It’s going to happen again. Humans are going to push until the terra indigene destroy them. The drugs that were being made from the blood of the cassandra sangue were just the beginning of the trouble. Even without the drugs, trouble is still spreading. It’s like catching the scent of smoke but not being able to locate the fire. None of the terra indigene who work around the farms we control can understand why humans are claiming there is a shortage of food or why they’re going to go hungry this year. There is no reason why they should go hungry, at least most days.”
“That is true of all of Namid’s creatures, including us.”
“We know not all days end with a full belly. Everything in the world except humans knows that. But fear of hunger has humans looking toward our lands, and the anger that they can’t take what isn’t theirs is building. At least some regions of Thaisia are heading for a fight for territory.”
“So you’re trying to figure out if terra indigene can be sufficiently human to replace humans without losing who we are?”
“Yes.”
Silence. Then Henry said, “This explains why you’re interested in helping the Intuits on Great Island and the Courtyard’s human pack. They’re an experiment.” He paused. “Is the time you spend with Meg also an experiment?”
“No,” Simon said, swallowing the desire to snap out an answer. Wouldn’t be smart to piss off Henry when they were in a moving vehicle and he couldn’t dodge a swat. “Maybe it is. She’s learning from us; we’re learning from her. And she and I . . . We’re learning together.”
Another silence. “Good,” Henry said.
CHAPTER 36
Moonsday, Maius 14
Jackson Wolfgard took a couple of steadying breaths before he opened the door to the scarred girl’s room. When he didn’t catch any scent of blood, he entered and set the plate of food on the desk before he studied the girl sprawled on the bed. She blinked at him, then yawned, showing a mouthful of dainty, healthy teeth.
“I brought you something to eat.” He took a step toward the bed, curious about the pictures she had made. The first one looked like a drawing of the patchwork quilt. He wasn’t sure what the second one was supposed to be. But the third picture . . .
“What is this?” he asked, pointing to the third picture.
“It’s what I heard last night.”
Jackson looked at land lit by moonlight. Two Wolves had their heads raised in song. Smoke drifted out of their mouths, rising to the night sky, where it took the shapes of bison and elk, moose and deer, mountain goats and rabbits.
“You drew our song.”
The girl tucked her hands into her armpits, as if needing to protect them. “Did I do wrong?”
“No.” He picked up the drawing and saw her eyes fill with regret. “I’d like to show this to the Wolfgard elders. I’ll bring it back.”
“Could I . . .” She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Could I put it on the wall?”
“Yes.”
Now she looked at him. Just a puppy frightened of being punished for following her instincts. Which meant the humans in the compound had punished her for drawing pictures. Why?
He needed to say something. “Grass is not the same color green as leaves, and water can be different shades of blue. I can go down to the trading post today and see if they have more pencils . . . if having more colors wouldn’t be upsetting to you.”
“I like colors.”
He turned to go.
“They were going to cut off my fingers. In that place. They were going to cut off my fingers because I needed to draw pictures and they wanted me to need the cuts instead.”
He walked out of the room and gently closed the door.
Grace looked at him, her smile fading as she studied his face. “What’s wrong?” She sniffed the air.
He turned the drawing around so she could see it.
“How did she know?” Grace asked, staring at the drawing.
“That’s something I’ll ask Meg, the Trailblazer. Right now, I want to show this to our elders. Then I need to make a trip to the Intuit trading post.”
“You should buy a frame for the sweet blood’s picture.”
“Come with me to pick it out?”
Grace was a white Wolf who had come down from the High Northwest as a juvenile and eventually found her way to Sweetwater. She could pass for human, but her hair remained white with strands of light gray. Combined with a youthful face, she looked distinctive and drew attention that made her uneasy.
“There were strangers at the trading post when I went there last week,” she said. “I didn’t like their scent. I don’t think the Intuits liked it either.”
He stepped closer. “You should have told me.”
“I told the elders. I think the Crows are keeping watch on the village, and the Hawks and Eagles are paying attention to the road and the vehicles coming our way.” She ruffled her hair. “I’ll go with you. I don’t think any of us should visit the trading post alone. Not for a while.”
He wanted to be her mate, and she was thinking of accepting him. He’d hoped she would go with him to spend time with him, but he didn’t want her to go because she thought a lone Wolf would be in danger. If there was trouble at the Intuit village, she would be in danger too.
But the Intuits had said nothing about strangers in their village when he’d responded to their plea for help with the scarred girl. That was something else to think about.
Jackson carefully rolled up the drawing and left with Grace. He stopped long enough to assign another Wolf to stay in the cabin so that the sweet blood wouldn’t be alone. Then he and Grace went to see the elders before taking one of the settlement’s two vehicles and driving down to the trading post.
When he returned, he would send a message to Simon Wolfgard, asking if the sweet blood could reveal visions and prophecies in other ways besides cutting their skin.
CHAPTER 37
Moonsday, Maius 14
Monty moved quickly when he heard the raised voice coming from Captain Burke’s office.
“I just spent seven hours on a train, stuck in a car with a freaking vampire. I expect some cooperation, Burke.”
“Cooperation I can give you. As for the rest, I can’t give you what I don’t have,” Burke replied as he glanced toward the doorway. “Lieutenant, come in and meet Captain Felix Scaffoldon of Toland’s Crime Investigation Unit. Captain, this is Lieutenant Crispin James Montgomery.”
Monty stepped into Burke’s office. “Do you have some news about what happened to Elayne?”
Scaffoldon gave Monty a cold once-over. “Just strolling in now, Lieutenant? I guess getting cozy with the Wolves here has its perks if you don’t have to report to work on time. We’ll talk further.” He turned away from Monty—a sharp, dismissive gesture—and looked at Burke. “Right now, I want to see the girl.”
Monty stepped forward, forcing Scaffoldon to include him. “You ca
me all the way to Lakeside to interview Lizzy? Weren’t you sent a copy of the interview that was already conducted?”
“He was,” Burke replied before Scaffoldon could. “But the captain is really more interested in retrieving the physical evidence, which I have already offered to hand over to him for his investigation.”
“Yes, I need to bring that bear back to Toland,” Scaffoldon snapped. “Having it sit here doesn’t help us find a killer.” When he said “killer,” he didn’t look at Monty, and he did it in a way that made it clear he believed Monty was the killer, despite the physical impossibility of being able to travel to and from Toland in the time frame. “But the child’s family wants her returned to Toland, so I’ll take her back with me.”
“My daughter is staying with me,” Monty said with quiet heat.
“Alleged daughter. Ms. Borden’s mother is questioning if you are, in fact, the child’s father.”
Monty pulled a document from his inner suit coat pocket and handed it to Scaffoldon. “Here. You can pass this on to Celia Borden.”
“What is it?” Scaffoldon didn’t bother to look.
“When the legal documents for child support were written, Elayne expressed no doubt that I was Lizzy’s father. She had no doubts when Lizzy was born and the birth certificate was filled out. She had no doubts, and neither did Celia Borden, during the years when Elayne, Lizzy, and I lived together in Toland. I know I’m Lizzy’s father, regardless of what Celia Borden is saying now. I’m Lizzy’s closest relative, and I can support her. So my daughter is staying with me. What I gave you was a photocopy of the custody papers that were signed and witnessed this morning.”
The relief he’d felt when he’d signed those papers had staggered him. Celia Borden had never shown any real interest in Lizzy, and Monty didn’t think her wanting custody now was sparked by feelings of affection for the girl. Celia just wanted the girl within easy reach for some reason, and whatever the reason, he was sure it wasn’t for Lizzy’s benefit.
Scaffoldon’s face was suffused with anger. He looked like he wanted to rip up the papers and throw them on the floor.
“I want to see the girl,” Scaffoldon said.
Burke’s fierce-friendly smile turned icy. “She’s at a safe house. Since you insist on seeing her, I’ve arranged for you to interview her there. I’ll have the bear brought up from the evidence lockup. You can take it with you so you won’t have to stop back here after the interview.” He made a show of looking at his watch. “She’ll be available in an hour.”
“I’ll interview her here.”
“No, you won’t.”
Scaffoldon stared at Monty and Burke. “By all the gods, where did you stash her?”
The icy glint in Burke’s blue eyes matched his smile. “In the Lakeside Courtyard.”
CHAPTER 38
Moonsday, Maius 14
They met in the government building on Great Island, in the conference room Steve Ferryman had reserved for this meeting.
Simon studied the woman sitting across from him, but he didn’t know the proper way to describe Pam Ireland. Plump? Solid? Compact?
Those were human terms. Since he wasn’t considering whether she’d have enough meat to feed a pack, he thought of other words that were relevant.
Sincere. Yes, that was a good word for what he was sensing. And . . .
“You smell like dog,” he said.
“That’s Ben,” she replied with an easy smile. “He’s a golden retriever. He’s still young, so he’s a little goofy, but he’s great with kids.”
Simon cocked his head. “Small humans or young goats?”
She laughed. “He’s never seen a young goat.”
“He will if you stay here,” Steve said, taking the seat beside her. “Along with Foxes, Bears, and Coyotes, to name a few. There are some dogs and cats on the island. Mostly working animals.” Looking at Simon and Henry, he waved a hand to indicate Ming Beargard. “Until Ben arrived and made it clear that, to him, a Bear smells like a Bear whether he’s wearing fur or human skin, it didn’t occur to us that the animals here don’t respond to the terra indigene in the same way as an animal who didn’t grow up around their scents. Poor Ben has spent half his time hiding.”
“Despite that, he’s been a kind of furry security blanket for the girls,” Pam said. “Mr. Ferryman indicated that there are a few people who need to decide about my employment here . . .”
“But I wanted to see how Ms. Ireland interpreted the information Ms. Corbyn had already provided,” Steve interrupted. “So I gave her permission to work with the girls for a few hours.”
“And?” Simon said.
“I wish I’d known even this much in a couple of places where I worked,” Pam said. “More to the point, I wish I’d had outside confirmation for my own impressions as I worked with some of the girls in those halfway houses. I had a feeling some things would work, would relieve the distress some of the girls experienced, but I didn’t have any proof, and feelings weren’t enough for the administrators.”
Simon thought the sudden bitterness in her voice was interesting. “The girls died?”
“A few of the suicide attempts were successful. But after being told a little about the cassandra sangue, I’m wondering if those girls really were trying to kill themselves or had cut themselves for a different reason and were unlucky enough to bleed out before someone found them.”
Opinionated. That was another word for this female. He’d bet she’d expressed a lot more opinions to her employers than the female pack did to him. Of course, her former employers most likely didn’t have a good set of fangs between them.
“The young prophets cannot continue to live in the bed-and-breakfast,” Ming said. “Even after simplifying their rooms as your Meg suggested, the place is too busy for them.”
“And Lara and Margaret need to make a living,” Steve said. “The village has been paying for the girls’ board, but we can’t do that forever either.”
“You can’t cut them for profit,” Simon growled.
“Of course not!” Steve scraped his fingers through his hair. “But our village doesn’t have a lot of resources to spare.”
Simon sat up straighter. The Lakeside Courtyard had plenty of money. Pam Ireland could be hired by the Courtyard’s Business Association but work for Steve Ferryman as the blood prophets’ caretaker. And she could meet with Dr. Lorenzo at the Market Square medical office to talk about the girls and decide what would be put into his task force reports.
Yes, that could work for all of them.
“You have some ideas?” Henry’s question to Ming pulled Simon back into the immediate discussion.
The Black Bear nodded. “The terra indigene have talked among ourselves, and we’ve talked with the Intuit leaders. We will give thirty acres to build a home for the cassandra sangue.”
“Thirty acres?” Simon said, surprised. “What are five young girls going to do with thirty acres? They don’t know how to hunt or fish or even dig to plant food.”
“We’ll build housing, starting with just what we need but planning for a total of a hundred girls living on the campus,” Steve said.
“Campus.” Simon bared his teeth—and realized his canines weren’t close to human size when Pam’s eyes widened. “Is that another way of saying compound?”
“No. Well, yes, in a way.” Steve blew out a breath. “Not a place with walls and locked doors. We’re not talking about anything like that. But a place where the cassandra sangue can live and receive schooling. A place that will be more like a private school, but will have walking trails and water. Gardens where they can grow some of their own food and have an active connection with the world. A small farm with a couple of dairy cows and a handful of chickens that the girls can help take care of. Maybe a goat or two. And Jerry Sledgeman said he’d talk to the Liveryman family about donating a couple of
ponies.”
“Hopefully many of the girls will be able to move beyond the campus and work in a small community like Ferryman’s Landing when they reach adulthood,” Pam said. “But I think you have to prepare for the fact that some of those girls will never be stable enough to live outside of a supervised facility.”
“And some will die, regardless of what anyone tries to do to help them,” Henry finished, nodding.
“You have the workers who can build this campus?” Simon asked. What would Meg say about blood prophets being moved from one kind of confined place to another? Would it feel confined? Thirty acres wasn’t much to a Wolf. On the other hand, the three hundred acres that made up the Lakeside Courtyard was surrounded by a fence that defined the boundaries. Did Meg feel confined?
Something to ask her this evening.
“We have the workers,” Steve replied. “We have an architect working to design the buildings—clean lines with an eye to blending privacy with protection. Not as basic a design as the houses the Simple Life folk prefer, but more in keeping with the rest of Ferryman’s Landing.”
When Steve hesitated, Ming said, “What the Intuits and the Great Island terra indigene don’t have is money to buy lumber and pipes and the other things that go into making human dens.”
Simon said, glancing at Pam.
Ming said.
Simon turned toward Pam. “You’re hired to work with the girls living in Ferryman’s Landing. Now go away.”