Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,28

right.

“I’ll fetch the keys—and some water. I’ll just be a minute.” Barb ran into her own house, leaving Abigail alone to study the house next door.

Bennett was haunted by the echoes of the dead. That might never change. But on this residential street, she wouldn’t be exposed to anyone coming into town.

And even if Kelley didn’t come with her, or moved in with her but didn’t stay long, that might work out for the best.

Messis 6

To: Tolya Sanguinati, Urgent

We have selected twenty-four Simple Life males to work on the farms and ranches around Bennett. We also selected five Simple Life females to work on the farms and ranches. Four of those females will do cooking and whatever is needed to take care of the human dens. The fifth female wants to herd things. She knows how to ride a horse and says she can lasso animals. None of the males mentioned this ability. Vlad and I agreed that, if we had to deal with her, we would give her cows to herd to keep her from herding other things—like us. But it’s your decision.

The ranch humans will take a train to Bennett on Windsday, which is the same day we will interview the humans who are doctors and attorneys and other professions that work out of offices.

—Simon

Messis 6

To: Simon Wolfgard

Instead of biting her, I put Barbara Ellen in jail for a while on Firesday. When she yapped about it, I told her she needed “me time,” something I heard a cop in the TV box say to a human male before putting him in a cell.

This is a useful thing to say to females since it makes them too annoyed to continue yapping, but what, exactly, is “me time”?

—Virgil

Messis 7

To: Tolya Sanguinati

We have found some humans to work in the stores. With this new group of humans coming in, you will need to figure out how to pay them so that everyone can buy the goods that will need to be replenished and that you will need to purchase from suppliers, like gasoline, milk, and toilet paper. You may not have experienced this yet, but human females turn predatory when there is a noticeable lack of toilet paper.

Some of the humans who are qualified to work in the stores will start their migration tomorrow, traveling with the Simple Life humans. The humans who said they needed extra time will go with the group leaving on Firesday.

Also, Steve Ferryman told us that news of job openings has traveled past Lakeside, and even though all the humans are supposed to see Simon and me first, several Intuits on Great Island feel that humans we haven’t seen and approved will be arriving and looking for work. You should be wary of any humans who don’t have a letter from us.

—Vlad

CHAPTER 10

Thaisday, Messis 9

Apparently, Captain Douglas Burke wasn’t big on small talk. Or maybe this was part of the test. Some people were comfortable with silence; others had to fill a space with the sound of their own voice. Or maybe he was waiting to see if she’d ask questions that would reveal her ignorance.

Or maybe the big man with the fierce-friendly smile didn’t have any agenda to make her look bad and spoil her chances of getting this job.

“Were there many applicants for the deputy position?” she finally asked. It would be good to know how many other people were being tested. It would be good to know if she had any chance at all.

“Just you,” Burke replied. “Don’t get cocky about not having any competition. If you’re not qualified, I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re not on that train tomorrow.”

Jana bristled. “If you bothered to look at my transcript, you would know I’m qualified.”

“Haven’t reviewed the transcript yet; I assume you brought a copy of it with you?”

“Yes, I did.”

Burke nodded. “I did look at the résumé you provided to Simon Wolfgard. Read it twice, in fact. You look good on paper, Ms. Paniccia, but a lot of cadets who graduate from the academy look good on paper.” He turned into the parking lot of the Lakeside Shooting Range. He pulled into a space, shut off the car, and looked at her. “Looking good on paper doesn’t mean a damn thing in the wild country. You being a woman isn’t the issue. You being a baby cop about to head out for a job that most experienced men wouldn’t touch? That’s an issue. Today is about finding out what