Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,11

she ran into the street and almost got hit by a car. That was unkind.”

Stupid Wolf should have been run over. No, don’t think that way. Sweet, simple Abigail wouldn’t think that way.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I sense people. It’s how my Intuit abilities manifest themselves. But I’ve never been able to get a good feel for you. We’ve always thought you were a sweet girl and a bit simple, dressing up in those long dresses women wore in my grandmother’s day and making your soaps and candles. But you’re not simple, are you, Abigail? That’s how you’ve chosen to hide and is as much of a costume as the clothes.”

Bitch. She’d always known one mistake around Jesse would end the game, but she had to keep trying to work the con until she found a way out. “I’m not bright. Never was. Everyone said so.”

“When you and Kelley showed up last summer, looking for a place to live and a place to work, we made room for you. Intuits have always tried to make room for their own, since we often can’t survive in towns run by humans who see our gifts as threats. I couldn’t figure out why he wanted to live in such a small place. He’s a goldsmith with a lot of talent for creating beautiful pieces of jewelry. He wasn’t going to get much work from the rest of us. Nobody here is rich enough to buy what he creates. But he wasn’t the one who wanted to live in an isolated place like Prairie Gold, was he? You’re the one who wanted—or needed—to live in a place where no one would think to look for you.” Jesse smiled grimly. “I never got a sense of you, Abigail. Until now.”

It sounded like a threat.

Jesse pushed away from the doorframe. “You and Kelley have some things to talk about. Then you and I will talk.”

“About what?” Abigail asked, pretending she didn’t know.

Jesse walked out of the washroom, letting the question hang in the air.

Abigail sat in the washroom for a minute—or maybe an hour. She didn’t know. Her body remembered the feel of a strap across her back when she’d messed up somehow and given a mark a stone that would bring good fortune. And she remembered the fear that had filled her just before she made the decision to run. She couldn’t go back to that. She wouldn’t.

But today Kelley had seen a moment of who she really was—and so had Jesse.

* * *

* * *

Jesse reached the sidewalk in front of her own store when Phil Mailer, who was not only the editor of the Prairie Gold Reporter but also ran the combination post office, telegraph office, and business center, called to her and ran across the street.

“Is Rachel all right?” Phil looked pale. “Gods, Jesse. She ran right in front of me. I almost didn’t stop in time.”

“But you did stop in time,” Jesse said. “She didn’t come to any harm.” Not physically, anyway.

“Thought she knew enough not to run into the street like that.”

“I’ll talk to her.” She’d be talking to a lot of people today.

“Don’t want Morgan or Chase to think I was careless with one of their own. Especially … Well, you know.”

She did know. Rachel wasn’t old enough yet to be looking for a mate, but she was the only surviving female of the Wolfgard pack who would be old enough in the next year or two to mate and have young. The two dominant Wolves would never forgive the humans in this town if one of them injured—or may the gods help them, killed—the young Wolf. “I’ll explain it to them.”

She walked into the general store. Rachel turned away from the shelf where she’d been stocking dry cereal, her amber eyes still full of fear.

“Does Abigail have rabies?” Rachel asked. “We know about rabies. It’s a dangerous sickness.”

“She doesn’t have rabies.” Jesse kept her voice matter-of-fact. “Her body isn’t sick. But something upset her and she behaved badly.”

“She didn’t want me to touch the candles she made.”

“She didn’t want Shelley touching the candles either.” She knew they were alone, but she made a show of looking around the store. “Where is Shelley?”

“She said she was going home to change into clean underpants, but I didn’t smell any pee or poop.”

So hard to keep a straight face when the girl said things like that. “That was an excuse to go home for a bit until she calmed down. Abigail scared