Chasing Shadows(4)

“Is this the Caldwell Farm?” said a husky make voice.

“It is,” I replied.

The caller cleared his throat. “My name’s Mark Singleton, ma’am. May I speak with Saphrona Caldwell please?”

“You are speaking with her, Mr. Singleton. How may I help you?”

“Well, I just read an ad in the Dispatch that you’re looking to hire a hand for your place, Mrs. Caldwell. Ad says to call to schedule an interview,” Mark Singleton said.

I face-palmed into my right hand. Truthfully, I’d forgotten about placing that ad because no one had responded to it. Despite the fact that I’d said salary was negotiable, apparently no one was looking to work on a farm that required him or her to actually live there. Plus, I’d only put it in the newspaper because my publisher was hot for me to write another book, and I thought having some help around the farm, at least for a little while, might free my mind enough to actually come up with another story idea.

“It’s Ms. Caldwell, actually,” I corrected automatically. “When would be a good time for you, Mr. Singleton?”

“Is it alright if I come by today?” he asked.

I turned and looked at the antique clock on the wall, which had just turned to 2:30. Why the hell not? I mused, then said, “Sure,” and gave him the directions. “If I’m not out in the barn when you get here, knock on the back door of the house.”

“Yes ma’am,” Mark replied.

After each of us had said goodbye, I hung up the phone, then reached back into the fridge for the bottle of blood, taking another couple of chugs before heading back outside to reign in the three horses that still needed their hooves trimmed.

First Vangie shows up with that ridiculous request, now I have to interview a potential employee, I thought. This day just keeps getting better and better.





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Two





When I finally walked out of the house, I made sure to go over to Moe and Cissy’s kennel and pet them through the chain link, allowing them to sniff me and reassure themselves that I was alright. Dogs were among the few animals that—while recognizing something dangerous—did not actually fear vampires, and what they say about Chihuahuas and their apparent inability to recognize a fight they can’t possibly win is true. I had not the slightest doubt that had they had an opportunity to attack Evangeline, Moe and Cissy would have done so with a rabid Rottweiler’s determination, and would have tried their utmost to tear my sister limb from limb in defense of their beloved mistress.

After the dogs appeared satisfied no harm had come to me, they trotted off to their water bucket, and I took that as a sign that I could move on. Walking through the barn, I turned left and looked in on the chickens. They were clucking and moving around their pen same as always, so I about-faced to check on the pigs in their sty. They were all flopped over on their sides in the shade, so I left them be as well.

I walked over to the split-rail fence that opened into a paddock, walked across the paddock and over to the gate that led to the main pasture. My six cows and four horses were all out grazing, so I had to whistle to get their attention. The cows, of course, barely looked up, but the horses raised their heads. I whistled again and they started trotting over. As I waited for them I couldn’t help but shake my head, my mind drifting back to Vangie’s visit. Vampires had been on Earth pretty much since the beginning of Man, though the term wasn’t actually used until the 18 century. Certainly my people had learned fairly early on in their existence that by drinking blood every day, they could stay awake longer during the daytime. For that matter, they didn’t have to sleep at all during the day if they didn’t really want to.

I shooed Hasufeld away and allowed his brother and parents to pass into the paddock as my thoughts kept turning. Most vampires had taken to living the lifestyle myth and legend had painted for them because of the simple fact that they could walk around at night without the fear of falling asleep at an inopportune moment. Why should they put in the extra time and effort it would take to maintain a human sleep cycle? Why fight the nature of what they had become?

Still, I had once wondered, why not at least try it—especially if you kept vessels or knew someone who did who was willing to share? Sure, you might have to drink a lot of blood, or at least consume regular quantities throughout the day same as humans had mealtimes, but wasn’t it worth it to see the beauty of sunlight? To smell flowers, or hear birds chirping in the trees? My people had no idea how much they were missing by giving in to their biology.

After getting the three horses back into their stalls, I made quick work of trimming and filing the edges of their hooves before putting them back outside once more. I then had to tackle one of the most despised tasks of farming—mucking out stalls. I had ten that I had to clear, not including the pigs’ indoor habitat and the chicken coop, which also needed cleared out.

As I resigned myself to that task and got started, I found myself wondering about Mark Singleton and why he had all of a sudden called about interviewing for the job I had advertised. I also had to consider that while I would be hiring him (if I did) to help out around the farm while I started on another book, I wasn’t going to be able to simply ignore my animals. I’d have to work with him every day for a week or more just so they would get used to having a stranger around. And I wouldn’t be able to go about doing things the way I sometimes did when I was alone. Although most of the time I did the farm work just like humans did—slowly, without using any extra speed or strength—there were days when I just wanted to get it all done and I buzzed around like Clark Kent on Smallville, popping nails in boards with my fingers and pounding posts into the ground with my bare hands. I could lift whole hay bales with one hand and race around the entire perimeter of my land within minutes. I wasn’t going to be able to do any of that with a hired hand on the farm—

—especially one who would be living above the barn.

But it was a price I would willingly pay, because the presence of another would be a welcome reminder of my own humanity.

I was just coming back from hauling the waste of the fifth stall out to the compost pile when I heard a car, and out of habit I stopped moving to feel with my “supe-sense” whether or not this new arrival was of a supernatural origin. I got nothing but the scent of a human, and relaxing, I started forward again.

Given the oddity of my sister visiting me out of the blue (even if Diarmid had been the one to send her), I shouldn‘t have been surprised by the feeling I got as I drew closer. My gift for sensing the presence of another supernatural being worked at a fair distance, but because I had smelled human, I had assumed human. As I was pushing the wheelbarrow back into the barn my visitor was getting out of a late-model Dodge truck, and I found myself suddenly engulfed with the feeling of an immortality that wasn’t my own. Because it was so unexpected, I started looking around to see if there was someone else I had missed. But then I realized it was coming from the guy who was slowly striding toward me.

And then I was struck with two more sudden realizations: I was about to meet my first immortal human…and he was, quite literally, the man of my dreams.

I stood frozen in place as he walked into the barn, stopping just inside where he didn’t have to squint. “Ms. Caldwell?”

I gave myself a hard mental shake and forced my feet to move forward, recalling the ominous words of the psychic when I had asked her when I would finally meet the man I had been dreaming about: “Fate will bring you together when you need each other the most.” I was suddenly frightened, and damn it, I didn’t scare easy. If Mark Singleton was the man who would complete me, then his coming here on the very day my sister said our father wanted me to find the betrayer of vampire kind could only mean one thing:

Trouble was coming.

“Are you Mark Singleton?” I heard my voice say, proud that at least one part of my brain was functioning correctly. Not only was I suddenly afraid that Mark and I were in for a very bumpy ride, I could feel my body buzzing as I drew nearer to him. Every nerve ending was on fire, every inch of my skin ached for the touch that to me was already as familiar as breathing. With an effort, I kept my fangs retracted and forced the sudden image of our bodies twined together in my bed from my mind, plastering a smile on my face because Mark was beginning to look a little perplexed. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was acting strangely, or if it was possible he was feeling some sort of effect of being near me. After all, we were bondmates—was he supposed to be feeling something, too?

My visitor nodded slowly, and I suddenly noticed he had what I could only think of as a military bearing. He was standing ramrod straight and his eyes were on me, but he seemed to be drinking in every single detail of his surroundings. He had also maneuvered himself so that he could clearly see out both open ends of the barn. “Yes ma’am, I’m Mark Singleton,” he answered.

Breathe, I reminded myself, extending my right hand. “I’m Saphrona Caldwell, Mr. Singleton. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Finally, I added silently. God knows I’ve waited long enough.