Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,110

anything they viewed as a threat. They’d done it with the people who were part of the Humans First and Last movement—and they had done it today with the dogs.

“Are you angry with me?”

Trying to stand up and twist around at the same time, Barb fell on her butt and yelped. Which set off the puppies.

Joshua stepped closer and crouched in front of her. He held his hand out—not to her, but to the puppies in the crate—and let them sniff him.

“Why would I be angry with you?” Barb wrapped her arms around her knees, ashamed that she didn’t feel comfortable being around him right now. She looked at his hand and only saw the blood on that clawed glove he sometimes wore—and saw the gutted dog. No, she couldn’t be angry with him any more than she could be angry with Jana for killing the dogs, but today she realized that, despite his human biology, Joshua Painter was more Other than human—and maybe he always would be.

“I killed one of the dogs.”

Misery swelled inside her. “I felt so optimistic when I got off the train a few weeks ago. I was going to work with animals and have a horse and it would be a big adventure.”

“You’re doing all those things.”

Yes, she was. But today had scraped off some of the shine, revealing a harsher reality than she’d imagined. She looked at the puppies. “Help me take them outside. They all need piddle time.”

They took the puppies out front to a strip of dried, yellow grass instead of taking them into the backyard with the mature dogs.

“A lot of small towns in the Northeast had a larger population than Bennett, but there’s maybe a few hundred citizens here now—and that’s figuring in humans and the terra indigene. No one’s thinking of adding a pet to their household when most people are still trying to figure out where they’re going to live, and even when they do select a house, they have to clear out the personal effects and get themselves settled while working at whatever business is their livelihood.”

She watched Joshua with the puppies as they returned the pups to their crate. The older dogs reacted to Joshua the same way they reacted to Saul Panthergard, regardless of his form; they smelled a predator. But the puppies seemed to think Joshua smelled interesting.

“The terra indigene will not want pets,” Joshua said thoughtfully as he petted the puppies. “And the humans are too busy to think about pets.”

“That’s true right now. I’m just afraid that by the time they start thinking it would be nice to have a dog or cat or bird …” She was supposed to meet with the vet today to review her training and skills. If she was going to continue her education on an apprenticeship basis, she had to reduce the number of animals in her care by finding homes for them before the Others made a different choice.

She studied Joshua. She was about to ask him if he’d like a puppy, but she remembered that bloody glove and couldn’t do it. Not today.

Joshua stood. “I’ll help you for an hour. Then I have to go to work.”

“Shouldn’t you already be at work?” she asked.

“Yes, but John will understand.”

She almost told him a human boss would be less understanding, but she wanted the help, especially today. “Thanks.” When she next saw Tobias Walker she’d ask for any suggestions about finding homes beyond Bennett for the orphaned pets.

* * *

* * *

Virgil lifted Kane off the tailgate and lowered him to the ground, letting his brother limp into the sheriff’s office on his own.

“He’s hurting,” Tobias Walker said quietly. “How about you?”

“Nothing that won’t heal.” Virgil watched the wolverine follow Kane into the office. “What about her?”

“She helped Kane get through the vet stitching him up.”

“She killed. That was not natural for her.”

“She did, and you’re right; it wasn’t natural. Her emotions might be … big … for a few days while she comes to terms with what happened this morning.”

Virgil studied the human male. What did that mean, her emotions might be big? Weren’t they always big?

“I’m going to stay in town today,” Tobias said. “I’ll see about getting a room at the hotel and taking care of some of the chores for Prairie Gold, but I’ll be around if you need help of any kind.”

Virgil nodded and walked into the office. John had done some scrounging in the warehouse that held possessions from the