Marked in Flesh
Page 91

Not all the Prairie Gold women had come with them. A few had sent messages that they’d had a feeling they needed to stay at the farms and help look after the animals. But they had sent their children. In truth, they had a point. Meg Corbyn hadn’t said to hide the women, just the children. Just the Wolves.
Feeling Rachel pressed against her leg, trembling, Jesse felt a pang of grief as she remembered Joe standing outside the general store, ready to step in if needed but allowing Rachel to make her first foray into a human store on her own. Jesse hadn’t had time to get to know him well, and she regretted that. Working together, they could have bridged the differences between terra indigene and Intuits, could have built a partnership the same way other places were trying to do.
Rachel whined.
“Hush up,” Jesse snapped at the women and children whose voices had been steadily rising. Stepping into the gap between rocks, she raised her rifle, prepared to fire.
The women fell silent or frantically tried to hush the children.
Nothing. Nothing. Except the pack’s nanny had led the puppies to a hiding place behind a fallen tree. Except Rachel stood at her side, panting and trembling.
Nothing but an odd silence.
Then something shimmered on the game trail. Something her eyes couldn’t quite see.
Something big.
“That’s far enough,” she warned.
A wet snarl—more a feel in the air than an actual sound.
“We have permission to be here, and we’re staying until I’m told it’s safe to bring the youngsters back to their homes.”
Rachel suddenly shifted, now a human teenage girl crouching beside her. “Jesse Walker is our friend. She . . . was Joe Wolfgard’s friend.”
Where do you aim when you can’t see? That dark glint. Was that an eye? Gods, how big was that thing?
It took a step closer. She couldn’t see it, but she knew it had moved closer.
“If you’re one of the terra indigene who lives in these hills, then you should know why we came up here, should know what happened to the Wolves.” Jesse took a slow breath. “We’ve lost enough friends today. In that, I think, you and I are the same. So I’m telling you now that the only way anyone is taking any of these youngsters away from here is if I’m dead and can’t fight for them anymore.”
Hesitation. Then it was gone.
Jesse didn’t know how anything that big could move that quickly or that silently, but she could feel it was gone.
“The Elders will watch the trail,” Rachel whispered. “We’ll be safe here tonight and can go . . . home . . . in the morning.”
Jesse lowered the rifle. “That was an Elder?”
“Yes. They are old forms of terra indigene. They are Namid’s teeth and claws.”
Namid’s teeth and claws. I believe that. I surely do. Gods above and below. “They live in the hills?”
“Yes. They allow us to take some wood and yellow stones to trade with humans. And our . . .” Rachel’s breath caught on a sob. “Our pack could hunt up here.” She looked at the other juvenile Wolves who had come with them. “We’ve been learning how to hunt, but we aren’t strong enough yet . . . We can’t . . . How are we going to feed the puppies?”
“We’ll figure something out,” Jesse said quietly. “You should shift back to Wolf now. You’ll be warmer wearing fur.”
The girl nodded. After shifting, she joined the other Wolves, who were huddled in one area. All the terra indigene young had chosen a particular spot, each gard keeping to itself. In the center were the Intuits, setting out blankets, pulling out cups for drinking and packages of food.
Ellen Garcia came up to Jesse, who leaned against a rock and divided her attention between the game trail and the camp.
“I’ve got about thirty pounds of raw meat packed on one of those burros,” Ellen said.
“Told you not to bring anything we needed to cook.” Thirty pounds? No wonder they’d had to leave a few things behind, even with women wearing packs of things babies and small children would need.
“Didn’t bring it for us.”
Jesse looked at the other woman. Tobias was the foreman of the Prairie Gold ranch, but Ellen and Tom looked after the buildings and vehicles, and Ellen cooked for the men. She also had some training as an accountant, so she kept the books for the ranch as well as the dairy and produce farms. While Jesse liked Shelley Bookman and considered her a friend, she recognized Ellen as a kindred spirit—a woman who got on with what needed to be done.
She huffed out a breath as she glanced at the terra indigene young. Meat eaters, every one of them. “Didn’t think of that.”
“No reason why you would. We have a couple of cattle dogs, so packing some raw meat in the provisions is second nature for me. I’ll take care of that part of the camp.”
“Thanks.”
They enjoyed a comfortable minute of silence, just listening to the other women settling the children. Then Ellen said, “You trying as hard as I am to not think about what’s happening on the ranch and in town?”
Jesse nodded. “I keep thinking we’d see the smoke if the worst happened, but I’m not sure that’s true.”
“Guess we’ll find out in the morning.”
“Guess we will.”
“Well. I’d best get to chopping up some of that meat before all the youngsters realize they’re hungry.”
Jesse worked up a smile. “Feeding that crew should be interesting.”