made the identical move kind of creepy.
“Humans do that?” Virgil sounded like she had finally said something interesting.
“No.”
“Oh.” They sighed in unison.
“You will need human weapons,” Virgil said. “They are back there with other human things. When you have chosen the ones you will use, I will show you the vehicle you will drive.”
Jana blinked. “I thought I was going to be a mounted deputy and have a horse.”
“The horse is for inside the town boundaries. The vehicle is for outside.” Virgil walked over to a map on the wall, then turned and stared at her until she joined him. “This is Bennett. The red line shows the new boundaries. This is where humans can live. This is where they will work.”
The new boundaries shrunk the town to half its previous size. “Do the terra indigene live on the other side of the boundaries?” That kind of division was bound to keep the residents divided in other kinds of ways.
“Some of us live away from the humans, and some forms of terra indigene have chosen houses on the streets where humans are living.”
Jana wasn’t surprised to hear that Virgil was one of the Others who didn’t want to live around humans.
“So I do horse patrol within the new boundaries?” she asked, wanting to be certain.
“Yes. We protect the territory within the red line, but if we need to sniff out something beyond that line, you will drive us.”
Ah, so she was driver as well as secretary. This was getting better and better. “Who protects the property beyond the boundaries?”
“Namid’s teeth and claws.”
Jana swallowed hard. Maybe being the designated driver wouldn’t be a bad thing after all.
“You should select your weapons now,” Virgil said. “As deputy, you are allowed to have weapons so that you can do your job and protect the citizens of Bennett. The Elders agreed to this.”
The Elders. Namid’s teeth and claws. The forms of terra indigene who had wiped out the original population of Bennett.
“When I’m considering weapons, is there any particular danger I should keep in mind?”
“There is a pack of bad dogs that were raised to fight and kill. They attacked a human and attacked the horses in the corral. They are dangerous.”
Jana tucked her daypack in the bottom drawer of her desk before going into the back rooms to explore and find her weapons. When she walked into the storeroom, her mouth dropped open as she eyed all the handguns carelessly piled on one set of metal shelves. The metal shelves on the opposite side of the room mostly held office supplies, but one shelf had been cleared and was now packed with an assortment of knives—everything from combination knives with all kinds of gizmos to switchblades to hunting knives that could do some serious damage to almost anything smaller than a grizzly. Rifles and shotguns were stacked on the floor or leaned against the shelves.
Whoever was in charge of clearing out the houses must have had the workers collect the weapons and bring them here, and whoever was doing the work had little or no knowledge of gun safety.
She broke open a shotgun and muttered her worst swearword as she checked two more.
Gods above and below, not only were the weapons carelessly stacked; the darn things were still loaded! The Wolves were lucky they hadn’t knocked something over and gotten a foot blown off—or worse.
After removing the shells, she set the three shotguns aside and considered her immediate needs.
She slipped a combination knife into one front pocket of her jeans and a switchblade into the other pocket. After a little hesitation, she selected a big hunting knife that was still in its sheath.
Stepping to the other side of the room, she found a six-shot, police-issue service revolver and its holster, as well as two boxes of cartridges and a couple of speed loaders that fit the revolver. She had to try on a few of the duty belts stuffed on another shelf before she found one small enough to fit her. After attaching the holster and the speed-loader pouch to the belt, she figured she’d have to look for the rest of her gear later—including a kit to clean the revolver. But for now, this was enough, and she didn’t want the sheriff to think she was hiding out in the back to avoid doing her job.
After tucking the sheathed hunting knife into her waistband, Jana picked up the two boxes of cartridges and left the storage room. She’d have to talk to