Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,20

which were still closed because they couldn’t spare anyone to work in those places. “What else did humans do in such a saloon?”

“They played games involving cards. Usually for money. Sometimes a human cheated and there was fighting. That I will not allow.”

Which meant Scythe’s saloon could be a place where the Simple Life folk who would be working on the ranches could come and socialize and not become prey for other kinds of humans.

“I think I know a place that would suit you,” Tolya said. “There is even a suite on the second floor for the owner and a small office on the ground floor.”

She watched him.

“I would suggest that you use a stage name for your business dealings with humans.” He smiled, showing a hint of fang. “With humans, there is such a thing as too much honesty.”

She thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “I will be called Madam Scythe.”

He’d been thinking of something more benign, but maybe having a saloon run by someone named Scythe would encourage good behavior.

“Madam Scythe it is.” Tolya wrote the name on the pad of paper. “While you journeyed here, did you consider a name for your saloon?”

There was warmth and a little bafflement in her smile. “No, I didn’t. Tell me about the yellow bird the Barbara Ellen female will bring me.”

Not sure what one thing had to do with the other, he said, “It is a kind of bird that humans call a pet. It lives in a cage. I don’t think it could survive here if it were released outside.” He didn’t know if that would be true under other circumstances, but with the number of predators in the area, he doubted a small bird that wasn’t native to this part of Thaisia would survive long.

“Rather like the humans themselves, living in a place that is surrounded by Elders.” Scythe smiled again. “I will call my place the Bird Cage Saloon.”

Tolya pushed back from the desk. “Let’s take a look at the building and see what needs to be done to get your business up and running.”

CHAPTER 9

Watersday, Messis 4

Tolya walked around the town square, appreciating the park that made up the center of the business district—a park made possible because of the spring that bubbled up out of the earth, defying its man-made containment to spill over into a narrow channel that ended at a small pond. The spring had originally been a natural watering hole for everything that lived around here, but when humans reached the northern edge of the Elder Hills and negotiated with the terra indigene to settle in the area, they made the spring the center of their territory, corralling the water and siphoning it off to supply water to all the businesses. Trees and grass grew in the square. Birds and small mammals lived in the square, but none of the larger “normal” animals that lived in the area made it in far enough to reach this source of water.

There were other sources of water in the wild country. Or so he’d been told. During frontier days, he imagined the square would have been used as a place for horses to drink and graze while humans bought supplies in the stores. Now?

Tolya stopped and watched two ponies—one black and one brown—grazing near the pond.

Now the square provided a shady place for a different kind of steed.

He continued his walk, past the Universal Temple and the community center, then up the other long side of the square, heading toward his office.

Hundreds of humans had lived in and around Bennett. Maybe a few thousand. Tolya didn’t know, didn’t care. The task of clearing out all the homes was daunting. He wasn’t sure they ever would—and with everyone feeling pressured to provide living spaces for the humans migrating to Bennett next week, he wasn’t sure they should. Teams of human males were still going through the houses and collecting the food that could be salvaged. Other teams were going through an office building that had small offices that could be used by a variety of professions. Jesse Walker recommended letting the newcomers sort through the business files or box them up and put them in the basement storage area, but she emphasized the need to clean the offices and hire people for janitorial services for the whole building.

If the people who were going to run the businesses were expected to sort through the files in their new offices, why couldn’t they sort through the