Virgil crouched, held out Cowboy Bob, and waited for Rusty to creep out of the crate and approach him.

“Pack,” Virgil said firmly.

Rusty sniffed Cowboy Bob. Her tail began to wag.

Virgil set the doll on the floor, belly side up. “Pack.”

The tail wagging became more vigorous. Then Rusty snatched Cowboy Bob and darted into her crate. With her new pack mate nestled between her paws, she settled down for a nap, leaving the adults to sort things out by themselves.

Virgil straightened and turned to stare at Jana.

She huffed and she puffed and finally forced out the words: “Thank you. That was kind of you to find her another toy.”

He continued to stare. “We’re going out to patrol. Tobias Walker says he’s going to teach you to rope things because it is a skill you will need. We will be back before it’s time for you to leave.”

“Okay.”

As he walked out the door, Virgil grumbled something about wolverines. Jana didn’t catch most of it, and she figured it was better for both of them if she didn’t ask him to repeat it.

* * *

* * *

When she didn’t get an answer the first time, Barb knocked a little harder on Abigail Burch’s screen door. Abby could be in the bathroom; it always seemed like someone who wasn’t expected knocked on the door just when you needed to bring a book or crossword puzzle into the bathroom.

She’d turned away from the door and picked up her boxes when she heard footsteps. She offered Abby a big smile that dimmed as she looked at the other woman.

“I guess this is a bad time. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“It’s all right,” Abby said. “Personal stuff.”

“Want to do something for a neighbor?” Barb felt bad about asking someone who already looked worn-out, but she was asking everyone who already lived on the street. Even John Wolfgard was coming over to help, and the Wolves hadn’t done anything about moving into their own place except pee on the house.

Abby stepped outside. “You need help?”

“The new neighbors do. Because of the kids, their house needs to be cleared out of everything but the furniture.”

Abby nodded. “I’ve got a job now as a cleaner. I told them I prefer doing office buildings to houses, but we’re all coming over to give that house a good scrubbing because of the girl.”

Because of the girl. Normally, Barb would have responded to the curiosity and the question under that statement by telling her friend about the girl. But Jana was sincerely spooked about people finding out about Maddie, and it did seem odd to single out one of the kids when they’d barely been seen, so Barb said, “I heard someone was going to do the cleaning, but the house needed to be cleared first. That’s why I’m asking the people on the street to go over and help. The faster it’s cleared out, the faster Kenneth and Evan and the kids can move in.”

When Abby didn’t respond, Barb wondered if the other woman had some objection to the new neighbors.

Abby said, “All right. I’ll go over with you and help for a while.”

“That’s great.” But it didn’t feel great.

Abby hesitated, then shrugged. “I guess I don’t have to lock it.”

“Do you want to leave a note for Kelley?”

“What for?”

Abby sounded so sad, Barb didn’t know what to say. She just headed for the house across the street and a few doors up from her own home.

“Don’t they want any of this stuff?” Abby asked when they entered the house and looked around.

“They might, especially some of the books and food and linens. For now, Zeke and Fagen are bringing two of the vans they’ve been given for their businesses and will drive all the goods over to the community center. Evan and Kenneth will look over everything and bring back the things that will be useful for their family.” Barb took a scrunchie out of her jeans pocket and pulled her hair back in a short ponytail. “The guys can pack up the living room and family room when they get here. Hannah and Sarah Gott said they would take care of the kitchen. John can pack up the books since he’s in charge of the bookstore. You and I should pack up the bedrooms and bathroom. That’s where the really personal stuff will be.”

“I’ll start in the bathroom.” Abby took one of the smaller boxes.

“Let’s see if there’s a shoebox in one of the bedrooms that you can use for any prescriptions we find. Those need to be boxed separately from everything else.”

They went into the master bedroom. Easy enough to find a shoebox. The woman who had lived there must have bought a couple of pairs of shoes just before … things went bad. Barb removed one pair of shoes and turned to hand the box to Abby—and wondered why Abby looked like the top of the dresser was filled with venomous snakes instead of a scatter of pendants and bracelets.

“You okay?” Barb asked.

“Yeah.” Abby grabbed the shoebox. “Fine.” She bolted out of the room.

Barb found suitcases tucked under the bed. As she filled them with the nicer clothes in the closet, she wondered why a woman who felt such revulsion for jewelry would marry a jeweler.

* * *

* * *

Abigail stared at the items in the medicine cabinet. What were they supposed to do with an open bottle of aspirin or cough syrup? If people threw the things out, would they regret the waste a year from now if the companies that made those things didn’t exist anymore? But who wanted to use aspirin or cough syrup from a stranger’s house?

She reached for a pill bottle. What about prescriptions? The mayor and sheriff had approved this house for the new family, but had whoever vetted it known that the woman who had lived in this house had used pills in order to sleep? She hadn’t found anything besides over-the-counter drugs in her house, but that didn’t mean sleeping pills were uncommon. Prairie Gold had been just as close to the Elder Hills as Bennett, and everyone had a sleepless night on occasion, but the people in Prairie Gold hadn’t felt—and still didn’t feel—threatened by the Others. Maybe the people here had always felt threatened. Maybe that had made it easier for them to side with the HFL.

She opened the bottle of sleeping pills. A quick search in the cabinet that held personal kinds of supplies netted a bag of cotton balls. Stuffing a cotton ball into the pill bottle, she closed it and slipped it into the pocket of her dress, then shimmied a little to make sure nothing rattled.

Hurrying now, she cleaned out the medicine chest and cabinet. She filled one of the larger boxes with towels that looked almost new and just needed a wash.

By the time she returned to the master bedroom, Barb had the bed stripped down, had the suitcases standing near the door, and had filled two boxes with clothes from the dresser. As she stepped into the room, Barb opened one of the top drawers, removed a large jewelry box, and set it on top of the dresser.

“There are two jewelry boxes here,” Barb said. “Maybe one was for costume jewelry and one for good?” She opened the box on the dresser. “Oh, this is so pretty. Maybe I could buy it.” She held up a necklace made of turquoise beads on a gold chain.

Abigail could feel the dissonance between Barb and the stones from where she stood, and anything that brought even a little darkness into Barb’s life would also bring it too close to hers. “Put it back. Don’t touch it.”

Barb looked puzzled and a little hurt. “I don’t think it’s an expensive piece. And it would suit me.”

No, it wouldn’t.

“I’m not going to pocket it,” Barb said. “I’ll just put a note in the jewelry box to say I’m interested and ask Kelley what it’s worth.” She moved her other hand to cup the turquoise beads.

“No!” Abigail screamed. “Don’t touch it. The stones are soured!”

Startled, Barb dropped the necklace.

Abigail started to cry. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But you’re so … bright … and happy, and those stones have been soured by someone who was neither of those things.”

“But … this house is supposed to be okay for … the kids. Joshua told everyone it didn’t have a stain of darkness.”

“Maybe the place doesn’t. Maybe nothing happened here that he would recognize as a stain.”

“Why do you?”

Abigail pointed at the jewelry box and made her hand shake. “The stones. And these.” She took the pill bottle out of her pocket.

Barb looked at the bottle. “Were you going to take that bottle without telling anyone?”

“Yes.”

Barb wasn’t an Intuit, but she had an older brother who was a cop. “Is this connection you have with stones the reason why there’s friction between you and Kelley?”

“He doesn’t know. No one knows.”

“Don’t you think it’s time you told someone about what you can sense?”

Abigail shook her head. “If people know, something might be said and the wrong person will overhear it—and then I’ll end up dead. I’ve been running since I was seventeen, but there aren’t that many places to run anymore, even if I could get there.”

“You’ve been hiding since you were seventeen?”

“Yes.”

Barb sat on the bed. “Abby, you have to tell someone. The Others aren’t going to care if you can sense whatever you sense in jewelry, but they’ll care a lot if they think you’re keeping a secret that ends up causing trouble here.”

Abigail forced herself to move, to sit beside Barb. “I can’t. Barb, you don’t know them. You don’t know what it’s like to be controlled by them.” She closed her hands around Barb’s in a bruising grip. “I can’t support myself in Prairie Gold. If the Sanguinati decide I can’t stay in Bennett, where will I go?”

“Tolya will listen,” Barb said. “And if you can’t tell him directly, tell me, and I’ll tell him.”

Ally and advocate. Yes, that would work nicely. She would become another secret. Like the girl.

Abigail released Barb’s hands and said, “Have you ever heard of the Blackstone Clan?”

CHAPTER 20

Earthday, Messis 19

Sitting across from the three women, Tolya studied the way Abigail Burch clung to Barbara Ellen—and the way Deputy Jana rested one hand on Abigail’s shoulder.

Was that hand on Abigail’s shoulder a gesture of unspoken support or was it something else?

Barbara Ellen had called him last night, saying there was something important she had to tell him, something that might have an impact on the whole town. That was the reason he had called the town council to meet this morning and hear what Barbara Ellen had to say, despite Earthday being everyone’s rest day.

Now he wished he’d asked Jesse Walker to drive up from Prairie Gold to listen to whatever would be said. She understood human females, and what he was seeing in the three females sitting across from him made him decide that, Earthday or not, he would call Jesse to relay whatever was revealed here.