Not a comforting answer. If it wasn’t for the train station, he would steer clear of the town of Bennett—except collecting the payments for the land lease and water rights for the town were the responsibility of the Others living in the Prairie Gold settlement.
He thought about the rancher, that Daniel Black, who also owed the terra indigene for the land and water he used. Somehow he didn’t think that Daniel Black was going to turn over the payment when it came due next month.
“I rented a room at the motel for Jackson,” Tolya said. “Actually, Jesse Walker reserved the room. She had a feeling you would need it.”
Jackson frowned. “I’m here to pick up eleven bison.”
“We’re going to have to herd them,” Tobias said. “Well, first we have to find the ones you want.”
“Yearling calves,” Joe said. “We can ask the Hawkgard and Ravengard to help us look.”
“Nyx and I can help you keep the animals complacent to some extent,” Tolya said, smiling.
Joe thought about the weak-smelling humans who had disembarked at Bennett when Tolya and Nyx arrived. Sanguinati looked like smoke but didn’t smell like smoke in their other form. Would bison see them in the dark? Would they sense any danger when that smoke curled around them and drew blood through the skin?
“You boys going to stand out there all day, or are you going to let our guest come in and have something to drink?” Jesse Walker stepped out of her store. “Tobias, you should fill up that truck while you have a chance.”
“Fuel truck’s not going anywhere for a while,” Tobias said.
<Dominant female?> Jackson asked.
<Yes,> Joe replied. <Tobias is her pup.>
<Ah.>
“Did that package arrive for me?” Jesse asked.
“I’ve got it,” Tobias answered.
“Then bring it in here, since half the items are going on to the Lakeside Courtyard with Mr. Wolfgard and Nyx.”
“They are?” Jackson looked at Joe.
“I’m just helping you with the bison. The rest?” Joe shrugged.
Tobias unloaded the box and brought it into the store. The four terra indigene followed. Joe barely got out of the way before the door opened again and two females entered. He recognized Shelley Bookman but didn’t know the other female.
“Did they come?” Shelley Bookman asked. “We saw Tobias’s truck and wanted to see.”
“The box is exciting?” Nyx asked, eyeing the two women.
“Introductions first,” Jesse said. “This is Shelley Bookman, our town’s librarian. And Abigail Burch is the person experimenting with bison tallow for making soaps and candles.”
That explained why she smelled a bit like bison. Should he mention that?
“Do I need to know what’s in the box?” Tobias asked.
“Doubt it would interest you,” Jesse replied, using a box cutter to slice the packing tape.
“Then I’ll get in line for gas.” Tobias looked at Joe. “I’ll stop by on my way to the ranch, in case you want a ride back to the settlement.”
“Okay.” Somehow he’d been pushed to the back of the crowd watching Jesse open the box. Didn’t need to look now. If Jackson was taking things to Lakeside, he could look when they hauled the box to the motel room.
“Cards?” Tolya sounded puzzled. “I think stores in Lakeside sell cards for games.”
“These are fortune-telling cards,” Jesse said, holding up two sealed boxes that had different drawings. “There are several different decks of cards. I’m keeping a set of the decks here.” She looked at Jackson. “The other set goes to Lakeside with you for Meg Corbyn’s use. I have a feeling these may help her find a way for at least some of the blood prophets to see visions of the future without cutting their skin.”
“Why didn’t you arrange for the cards to go directly to Lakeside?” Joe asked.
Something about the look Jesse gave the Others made Jackson growl and caused Joe’s fangs to lengthen to Wolf size.
Jesse said, “I had them shipped here because, even though I trust the woman I spoke to when I placed the order, I had a strong feeling that it was better for everyone if the cards weren’t sent directly to anyplace where a blood prophet lives.”
CHAPTER 20
Firesday, Juin 15
The Wolves, along with ranch hands on horseback, cut eleven yearling bison from the Prairie Gold herd. Then smoke wrapped around the animals’ necks, and Tolya and Nyx fed on each animal just enough to make it easy for Wolves and men to pen the bison in a makeshift corral that held tubs of water and feed.
After giving the bison time to drink and eat, they headed for Bennett, a pickup filled with supplies leading the way while the men and Wolves kept the bison moving.
Tolya had called the train station to let them know a livestock car would be required for the train going east to Lakeside. Joe hadn’t heard what the human at the station said, but he’d heard Tolya’s reply: if the terra indigene couldn’t reserve a car for livestock, no livestock would be permitted to travel by rail from this part of Thaisia. That meant the ranchers who sent cattle to the slaughterhouses located in cities beyond the Midwest Region would be stuck with animals they couldn’t sell and couldn’t move overland without losing half their herds to the predators who would gather for the feast.
Could he have stopped Tolya from making such a threat? Did it matter? The Sanguinati was far more skilled at dealing with the humans in Bennett than he could be. Besides, Tolya deferred to him whenever decisions involved the Intuits, who were the humans the terra indigene settlement needed to interact with on a regular basis.
They kept the herd moving at a steady pace.
Joe wanted to push on while they still had light, but Tobias argued that there would be nowhere to set up camp for the night once they passed the crossroads. There was nothing but human-controlled ranchland between the crossroads and Bennett, and once they arrived in town, they would have to hold the bison in the stockyard until the train was scheduled to depart. The less time they spent in town, the less time for people to stir up trouble.
Since Tolya agreed with that assessment and Tobias was confident they could reach Bennett in plenty of time to catch the train if they headed out at first light, Joe went along with them. They set up camp within sight of the crossroads—and not that far from the spot where bison had been shot the previous week. No one mentioned the incident, or said anything about the number of carcasses that had been stripped down to bone already, but the Wolves sniffed the area for any sign of intruders, and Tobias and the ranch hands put on their gun belts and checked their revolvers before setting up the watch for the night.
The next day, they started out right after breakfast.
As Joe snapped at a yearling to encourage it to keep up with the other bison, he noticed the trucks parked on the side of the road and the men who stopped working and watched their little herd trotting toward Bennett.
<What are the humans doing?> he called to one of the Ravens.
<Fixing the fence that Air and Earth pulled up the other day.>
That was sensible. Cattle that strayed off the land used by humans were considered edible, and the Elders who had come down from the hills last week to feed on the dead bison were still prowling the edges of human land. It was their lingering scent, as much as the herding skill of humans and Wolves, that kept the bison from trying to break free. There was also the sound and smell of water as it sloshed in the two barrels loaded in the back of the pickup—and Nyx hand-feeding the bison when the humans stopped to rest, teaching the animals that she was not something they needed to fear.
Joe wondered if the Sanguinati did something similar with humans, lulling them into a trust that allowed vampires to feed without their prey being aware.
And that made him wonder how long Tolya planned to stay around Prairie Gold.
When they finally reached the train station, there were two livestock cars being loaded with cattle. After being told they could load the bison into the third stock car once the cattle were settled, Joe and Jackson took advantage of the wait to shift to human form and pull on clothes.