Stewart smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “I am sure he is well, or the radio announcements would not be asking for information on his whereabouts. But come, you must be exhausted from your long trip, and I’m sure your human friends especially could use a great deal of rest,” Stewart commented.
“I just want something to sit on that won’t pound my butt,” Rick spoke up.
Stewart chuckled. “I can provide that at my home only a mile away. Follow me.”
Stewart led the way through the woods using his sense of smell because there weren’t any obvious trails for a human to follow. The setting sun was blotted out by the trees, and halfway to our destination Rick and Steve were already stumbling over every murderous root and homicidal rock. We were all glad when friendly lights were seen in the distance, and Stewart led us to the edge of a gentle slope. At the bottom of the slope was a large meadow of green grass, fruit trees, a picturesque farmhouse, and a large barn with a shed about twenty yards from the house. A road led into the meadow opposite where we stood. Lights shone through the farmhouse windows and lit the ground with their soft-white brilliance.
I smiled and looked to Stewart. “I can see why you never want to go to Sanctuary.”
“Yes, we have our own paradise here, but let me get you inside nice and warm,” he offered.
11
Stewart led us down the gentle slope to the farmhouse. He opened the door and we followed him into a warm, comfortable home with an open floor plan. To our left was the living room, and to our right was the kitchen with its wealth of delicious smells. Mrs. Stewart stood over the stove stirring a large pot of something I couldn’t place, but would be glad to lick the spoon. On the living room floor sat Abby playing with a corn husk doll. I plopped our portable armory on the ground and changed back into my human form, and with very little clothes to work with. Both the girls lifted their heads at our coming and turned to us.
Abby’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Becky!” She jumped up and raced over to capture my legs in a tight bear hug.
I smiled and wrapped my arms around her small shoulders. “Long time no see,” I replied.
She pulled away and looked around our little group. “Are you here to fight the bad guys, too?”
“Yep, and we’ll beat them up really well,” I told her.
Mrs. Stewart pulled a blanket off the couch, hurried over to us, and wrapped the warm cloth over my shoulders. “We were so worried when we heard the radio announcements. We thought for sure they would catch you.”
“We had some help from Wilson,” I explained.
“Well, your journey along our little Underground Railroad has finally come to an end,” Stewart spoke up. “You can rest here for as long as you need to.”
My face fell and I shook my head. “No, we can’t rest until we get a hold of Burnbaum. Wilson said he was in this direction, and I was hoping you could help us find him,” I added, addressing Stewart.
“No need, I know just where he is, but why don’t you rest? A single night won’t end our little rebellion,” he insisted.
“Not much of a rebellion with a truck driver and yourself doing all the work,” Rick spoke up.
“There have been skirmishes between the Greens and Reds in most of the regions, and Sanctuary is in the throes of a battle between those Protectors loyal to Protector Brier and those loyal to Simpling and Brier’s brother, the sheriff. He was instated as the head Protector when Adam Brier fled the area,” Stewart revealed.
“Where is Brier? I haven’t heard anything about him since he sent us a message about escaping from Sanctuary with Burnbaum,” I asked him.
“Who is Brier?” Rick added.
“Adam Brier’s the leader of the security forces in Sanctuary. He and Burnbaum succeeded in taking the last free train out of Wolverton a few weeks back, and they made their way here knowing I could hide them,” Stewart told us.
“Arthur, why don’t we let these poor people sit down at the table and have some soup? You can talk about the resistance over a nice bowl of food,” Mrs. Stewart scolded her husband.
Arthur Stewart chuckled. “You’re right, Martha.” He turned to us and swept his hand toward a small dining table behind the living room. “If you’re hungry, we can get you some of my wife’s famous Wood Stew,” he offered.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Steve spoke up. He cringed when Rick ribbed him in the ribs with his elbow. “What? I’m hungry,” he croaked out.
“Mind your manners in front of a lady,” Rick hissed.
I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. “And what am I?”
“You’re something else, but there’s no sense talking about this on an empty stomach,” Rick countered.
“Arthur, would you serve them while I find Becky some clothes?” Martha requested.
“I would be glad to, Martha,” Stewart agreed. “If you would sit over here, gentlemen.”
I snorted as I was separated from the ‘gentlemen’ and directed to one of two doors on the wall of left of the dining area. Behind the door lay the Stewarts’ bedroom, and Mrs. Stewart plopped me on the wooden-framed bed and rummaged through her closet for clothes.
“I really appreciate you giving me some clothes, Mrs. Stewart,” I spoke up.
She pulled out a simple shirt with jeans and chuckled. “Please, call me Martha, and this really isn’t any trouble. We can’t have you travel so far and go through so much just to have you catch your death of cold. Now let’s see if these fit you while I find some socks and other articles for you to wear. Then you can take a shower and put them on for dinner.”
In a few minutes I was dressed and feeling like a human again instead of a fur-less wolf. There was even a bathroom off to the side where I could wash up for the meal. They had an impressive hot water tank because I created a sauna room taking my shower. It felt wonderful to be clean, but standing in the warm water my mind couldn’t help but wander back to Luke and our farewell. I pressed my forehead against the wall and tears slid down my cheeks to mingle with the non-salty water at my feet.
“Damn it, why’d you have to be so brave?” I whispered. I closed my eyes and sighed. “Well, you’d better still be alive, or I’ll kill you.”
The threat made me feel better. No mate would dare be dead and risk facing the wrath of their female companion. I got out of the shower, dressed, and hoped there was food left. I found Rick, Steve, and Becky at the table with Martha in the kitchen doling out more food into the bowls for the table. Rick sat with one of their backpacks at his feet and shoveled in the food in his own way of showing his appreciation to the chef. Steve had Becky’s attention, or rather, Becky had Steve’s attention as she barraged him with questions.
“So humans can only jump a few feet?” she asked him.
“Mostly,” he told her through a mouthful of food.
“How do you climb on rocks?”
“Uh, very carefully, or we go around them.”
“That would take too long.”
“We don’t really have a choice,” he pointed out.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-three.”
“That’s neat. I bet you get to do a lot of fun stuff at your age.” Steve was relieved when she turned to Rick. “You must be two hundred because you look really old.” Steve choked on the glass of water he’d been drinking and a snort escaped my lips as I came up to the table. Rick stopped mid-chew and scowled at Becky. The little innocent was unfazed by his glare.
The day was saved when Martha hurried back to the table with a bowl of food and put some food on my plate. “Let the poor men eat, Abby, and eat your vegetables,” she scolded her daughter.
“But Mom, I don’t get to talk to a human much,” Abby argued.
“That’s no excuse to be bothering him,” she countered as she seated herself.
I took a seat in one of two empty chairs and noticed Stewart was missing. “Where’s Mr. Stewart?” I asked the group.
“He will return in a few minutes, he merely wanted to tell the good news to the others that you were found and safe,” Martha told me.
“So they’re not very far away?” I guessed.
“The headquarters are in the far field hay barn,” she explained.
At that moment the front door opened and Stewart stepped inside, but he wasn’t alone. With him were Burnbaum, as smiling as ever, and Protector Brier in his most dour. A warning scowl from Martha told the men to take off their boots, and then they strode over to our table.
Burnbaum opened his arms wide. “It is good being good to see you!” he cried out as he wrapped me in a hug so tight it separated me from my chair and the air in my lungs.
“Glad to see you, too, Mr. Burnbaum,” I choked out.
He plopped me on my feet and looked me over. “You are a fine werewolf now, I can tell by your scent. It is a very good scent.”
“Burnbaum, we didn’t come here to talk about scents,” Protector Brier spoke up. He turned his attention to me. “We were wondering what information you could give us on the compound and what Connor’s plans are.”
“Mr. Brier, at dinner? Surely it can wait until tomorrow,” Martha scolded him.