Alone in the Wild (Rockton #5)(88)

“Yep.” I take a mug from Petra as she brings them. “This is coffee. Spiked with brandy. Alcohol. Which you are, by Yukon law, one year too young to drink.”

“We don’t drink it anyway,” she says. “It is forbidden.”

“Well, you can try it or we can brew you a regular cup.”

She considers and then accepts a quarter cup. We sit and make plans for tracking Abby’s parents. It’s too late to head out today, so we’ll start before dawn. Felicity will come with us. She insists before I can offer. She’s making sure her tip is the one that leads us to Abby’s parents and there’s no wiggle room to claim otherwise. Or that’s what she says. The truth, I suspect, is that she wants the excuse to reunite with her friend.

Stubborn pride. The kind that only hurts yourself, that stops you from having something you really want because God forbid anyone should think you want anything.

I understand that. I understand it all too well.

“You can stay in my old place,” I say.

Felicity shakes her head. “I have a tent and blankets. I will camp outside your town.”

“Yeah, no,” Dalton says. “First, you don’t trust us to play fair with your lead, and we don’t trust you not to send us on a wild-goose chase like your granddaddy did.”

“I would not—”

“Second, I cannot allow anyone to camp outside our town. You are a guest here, but you’re also an intruder. You’ll sleep where I tell you to sleep.”

“She can stay here,” Petra says.

Dalton and Petra exchange a look. Petra isn’t being hospitable; she wants Felicity under watch. When Dalton’s gaze slips my way, I hesitate. Petra is the council’s tool. She has killed for them. She has also vowed that her loyalties lie with Rockton itself over the council and even her grandmother.

At what point is a lack of trust simply caution? And at what point does it tip into pride?

You hurt me. I feel betrayed. I understand that it wasn’t about me, but I want to stand my ground. Keep that door shut so you can’t hurt me again.

That’s what I feel, and it is exactly what I suspect Felicity does, with Sidra.

“I’ll go with you tomorrow, too,” Petra says when I finally agree.

“We shouldn’t take the baby,” Felicity says. “So we won’t need you to look after her.”

Petra looks at Felicity and bursts out laughing. “Yeah, kid, I’m offering to go along as the babysitter. You just keep thinking that.” She turns to me. “I’m guessing you’ll take Abby tonight and—”

“Her name is Abby?” Felicity says. “How do you know that?” Her expression says she’s guessed the answer, and she’d better be wrong.

“We don’t know what Sidra and Baptiste named her,” I say. “But we needed something to call her. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Felicity’s gaze moves to the painted cradle and the toys. Then she looks back at me.

“Yes,” I say, “we have too much free time here. People wanted to do something for Ab—the baby. Sidra will be welcome to take anything they’ve made. Now, I think we should—”

“I’d like to go along tomorrow,” Petra repeats, as if I’ve forgotten the request. Technically, she should ask Dalton, but her gaze is on me.

When I don’t answer, she says, “Will has to stay in town. Tyrone is still here, but you’d need to pry him away from Jen. Also, with you both being gone for a few days, it’s been easier on Will having Tyrone around playing backup deputy.”

“We’ve already found Ellen’s killer,” I say. “This is a simple tracking mission. I’m not even sure both Eric and I need to go.”

Dalton’s grunt tells me I am mistaken in this.

“I have tomorrow off,” Petra says. “And I’m requesting permission to accompany you. Who knows, maybe you’ll find another baby along the way and need someone to look after it.” She shoots an amused glance at Felicity.

She’s really saying that she doesn’t trust this girl. Doesn’t trust we aren’t being led into a trap. If I refuse the request, I’m being stubborn … and maybe a little petty.

“All right,” I say.

“Good,” Dalton says. “Now, Felicity, I’m guessing no one has given you a tour of the town?”

“No, but I don’t need—”

“We insist. It’s only polite. Get your stuff on, and we’ll show you around.”



* * *



Dalton doesn’t insist on the tour to be hospitable. It’s a message, one Felicity can take home to the First Settlement, like when I told her how we store our guns and how tightly they’re controlled. He also shows her that, as part of the “tour.”

We have guns. More than you do. And they’re locked up so tight even our residents can’t get at them, so don’t even think about stealing any.

We introduce her to the militia and explain the twenty-four-hour armed-guard patrols. We show her the storehouses, windowless and well secured. Of course Felicity realizes what’s happening. But we don’t need to point out the security features—she’s already looking and calculating.

At first, I’m surprised she initially declined the tour. She’s Edwin’s granddaughter, and this is a rare opportunity to assess our wealth and defenses. She must be curious, too. That, I realize, is where I’m mistaken. Yes, she’s curious, but she’s also wary, and this is why she didn’t want to come inside—because she didn’t want to see more.