A Shepherd's Calling (What Comes After Book 2) (4 page)

Ben made a sour face. “Are you talking about when Mom kicked you in the balls?”

The Hunter's expression lost some of its humor. “Indeed. I could have done without remembering that part, thank you very much.” Janessa and Toby snickered at the exchange, and that caused the boy to grin even more sheepishly.

“
Why did she do that?” Janessa looked from Chris to Ben and back again.

The boy shrugged and looked up to the older man, as well. For his part, Chris shook his head and cleared his throat. “Couldn't rightly say. Mother's instinct, perhaps? Her child had been in danger and still might be, as far as she could tell.” He paused and offered another theory. “Maybe she felt threatened? I did appear suddenly and carried a rifle. I was also rather... insistent that I be permitted into the building.”

“
What do you mean?” This time, Janessa's question came more slowly.

Chris's smile was fully gone, replaced by a frown. He cleared his throat again before speaking. “I've been an avid outdoors-man all my life. Growing up, I spent more time outdoors than in. I was almost always out hunting, fishing, camping, or hiking. When I got into the service, the Army made me a survival instructor. Even called the woods and mountains my home for a time, before and after the End.” Here, a burst of air through his nose indicated a laugh. “But even after a lifetime spent in the elements, loving the untamed places of the world and avoiding the civilized ones... sometimes, you get tired. Tired and cold and hungry. I'm not too proud to admit it, either: I just wanted to come in.” Another pause and when he resumed, his voice was softer. “Maybe I felt they owed me the warmth and company.”

“
But they didn't.” The Shepherd's voice was also quiet, but bore no softness.

The older man looked at Tom with narrowed eyes, then lowered his gaze and nodded. “You're right, of course. They owed me nothing for doing the right thing. Angie knew that and perhaps saw fit to remind me.” A glint returned to the Hunter's eyes and he smiled down at Ben. “Or... it could have been that I was just plain ugly. Dirty and hairy-”

“
You did smell pretty awful,” Ben remembered. The laughter this observation brought defused the mounting tension.

“
So, what happened next?” Despite his earlier mockery, Toby sounded eager to hear more of the tale.

“
Always more story time. Right, little brother?” Janessa chided her sibling with a smile. Toby responded with a “psh” and a dismissive wave of his hands.

“
Might as well tell him a bit more,” she said to Chris. “Otherwise, he'll be after you for it all night.”

The older man did so. “Fair enough. They let me in. By way of thanking them for their hospitality, I made us brunch.”

Toby seemed confused. “Made brunch from what? Didn't you say earlier you were looking for food?”

The Hunter nodded. “Mmm. She had some snow peas and cabbage I cooked up with one of the dogs.” At the shared grimace of Toby and Janessa, Chris made a sour face of his own. “Still turns even my stomach to think about it. Having to put them down was bad enough... Waste not, want not.” He shrugged. “At any rate, it turns out Angie and Ben had been looking for this very building when they stumbled across a recently felled deer. Angie quickly recognized what it was and began to move away, but not before the pack returned. Even though they hadn't touched the kill, the dogs chased mother and son through the forest. They barely made it inside before the pack caught them.”

“
Lucky for them,” Janessa said. “She tell you why they were looking for this place?”

Chris shook his head. “Only that there were sightings of military personnel in the area. And that the council of Respite asked her to investigate.” The old teacher paused to let this information sink in.

“
What did you find?” Tom probed further.

“
Nothing, Shepherd,” the Hunter answered with a sigh. “We spent the best part of two nights here, looking. We didn't find a track, a single piece of refuse, no visible disturbances... Not a sign of passage or occupancy, other than our own. Aggravating, to say the least.”

Tom nodded and turned his eyes to the boy at his teacher's side. “Ben, do you have any idea what your mother was looking for when you two first came here?”

The child shook his head. “No. I'm sorry I don't know, Tom. It was a long time ago”

Chris gently corrected the boy. “Tom is a Shepherd, Ben. That's what you need to call him, unless he tells you otherwise.”

Ben's eyebrows knit together. “What?”

The older man smiled patiently. “Remember how you call some people by what they do, not their name?”

Ben blinked. “You mean like sheriffs and doctors?” The boy turned to Tom, eyes flashing. “Are you a sheriff or a doctor? Or a fireman?”

Tom paused. “Sort of like a sheriff, I suppose. If there were any left.”

“
But you don't have a badge. And your hat is all wrong.”

The Shepherd couldn't help but smile. “My hat is different, no doubt about that. There weren't any badges left for me to wear. But I don't need a badge to help people or want to make a difference.”

“
Or to punish the wicked,” Chris offered. “Judge, jury and executioner, if need be.”

The Shepherd's voice hardened. “Sometimes, you need to remove what's rotten so the good can grow.” He decided to try another angle with Ben. “How long ago was it? The last time you were here, that is.”

The boy made a face and began to fidget. “Not last spring, but the one before.”

“
Two years,” Tom's voice was flat. He returned his gaze to the older man.

The instructor regarded his former pupil with a neutral expression. “Two and a half, actually,” he said. “Are you passing sentence?”

Is there challenge in his voice?
While Tom said nothing and made no move, he could not prevent his jaw from clenching.

To Ben, whose agitation was increasing with every breath, Chris spoke in a soothing whisper. “Easy there, big guy. No one's mad at you. Just a lot going on right now.”

Janessa spoke before the silence could deepen. “You didn't find anything, so you left. Went back to where Angie and Ben were from, right? Respite, I think you called it?” When the Hunter and the boy nodded, she went on. “The people at that town were on to something. Even though you never found anything the first time, there are more soldiers back now. So...” The young woman trailed off, still working it out on her own.

“
So...” Toby looked at his older sister, waiting for her to finish. “What does it mean?”

“
Well, if they were looking for something, like stashed supplies, whatever... they woulda left some kinda mess.” Janessa mused aloud.

“
But they didn't find no mess,” Toby said. Turning back to Chris, the younger sibling sought confirmation. “Right?”

The Hunter nodded. “Right. So if they weren't looking for something...” The older man drew out the statement.

Tom could tell Chris had slipped back into 'teacher-mode' and was baiting the prospective students into figuring out the solution on their own. His familiarity of this side of the older man did nothing to lessen the frustration he felt at being baited himself only a minute earlier.

“
They mighta been leaving something,” her tone suggested she dismissed this theory as soon she gave it voice.

“
Nah.” Toby sounded confident. Pointing at Chris, he said, “This guy is supposed to be-” he then pointed to Tom, “-that guy's teacher. Soldiers or not, anyone dug stuff up or moved things around, lookin' for somethin' or hidin' it, he woulda noticed.”

The outdoors-man recognized the compliment from the younger man. He inclined his head toward Toby by way of acknowledgment. “Many thanks,” Chris murmured.

After a pause, Janessa hazarded another guess. “Maybe they were waiting for something?”

“
Ah,” Chris said with the ghost of a smile. “But what?”

Before anyone could speculate further, Tom interjected. “Great question, but one that can likely wait until morning. Certainly until after the rest of your story.” Tom gestured to Chris. “Please, continue.”

The Hunter nodded. “There's not much left to tell. Since our search here was a bust, we left. We gave the site of the pack's kill a wide berth, even with their diminished numbers. A day's walk brought us to Respite. Angie reported our findings, or distinct lack thereof. The town's scouts hadn't seen any further sign either, so they considered the matter closed.”

Chris paused and watched Tom with what seemed to be a critical eye. “The people of Respite took me in and eventually counted me as one of their own. Everything was normal until a few weeks ago, when we began seeing activity again. This time, the sightings included vehicles
and
personnel, in multiple areas. The council sent a group to investigate each area. We volunteered to check this place.”

The older man frowned as he went on. “A mile or so from here, it was pretty obvious we were being followed. I sent Ben and his mother up ahead while I doubled back around to find out who was trailing us. I told Angie I would meet her and Ben here that night, but if they didn't see me to keep on going. Worst case scenario, I'd meet them on the way back.” His pause was longer this time. “Been playing cat and mouse with those marines ever since.” His countenance softened. “When I saw you come along... I couldn't stand by and watch.”

Tom studied Chris.
He must know I'm suspicious
, Tom thought at length. After a full minute, the Shepherd smiled at his friend and mentor. “Well, thanks for joining us in the net.” The two men chuckled and shook their heads.

The four adults regarded each other somewhat pensively, seated or crouched as they had been at the beginning of their discussion. Anxiety and apprehension were still present among the group, but no longer seemed the prevailing mood.

Ben turned to Chris. “Can I ask a question?”

“
You just did.” The Hunter smiled at the boy before looking to Tom and, taking his cue from the younger man, nodded. “Go ahead.”

Ben looked from Janessa to Toby and back again. “Why do you eat people?”

The tension that had begun to dissipate returned, and then some. The siblings looked at each, eyes wide and mouths open. Tom could see Chris's back and shoulders stiffen. The older man turned to Tom, his expression seeming to ask,
did I just hear that
? For his part, Ben sat next to the Hunter, waiting.

Peripherally, Tom could see enough of Janessa's face to recognize the plea:
please, don't make me do this
. The young man let silence fill the air while he studied his mentor. The older man, while maintaining his composure, was unhappy. Tom had spent too many years under the man's tutelage not to recognize the small, subtle signs that indicated restraint in the face of disapproval; narrowed eyes, thinned lips, the slight rise of color in his cheeks.

Yes, Mr. Farr, you heard the boy correctly
, he thought.

The Shepherd spoke with careful emphasis. “Ben asked you a question, Janessa.”

Ben nodded, his eagerness for the answer readily apparent. The boy seemed wholly unaware of the unrest his query had caused.

The young woman watched Tom for a moment longer. Then she blinked and cast her gaze to the concrete on which they sat. “I don't know where to start,” she said with a sigh.

“
At the beginning,” Tom replied.

“
It was an accident. Honest to God. I mean, what else could you call it?”

Shane looked at the body on the table. Below the collarbone, it looked like the man was simply in desperate need of a tan. From the neck up was a different story. What was left of the man's skull and face were a lumpy mass of rumpled flesh, flattened bone and scraps of hair. Given the extent of the damage, there was surprisingly little blood.

“
I call it a goddamned mess, Calvin.” The Old Man looked up from the body and over to the young woman. “You found the body?”

She nodded and swallowed hard. Captivated by his eyes, she found herself unable to speak.
If the eyes are truly the windows to the soul... So hard, so cold. What kind of man is that, and what makes him that way?
She suppressed a shudder.

Holding her gaze, Shane asked her another question. “Your name's...,” he snapped his fingers once, twice. “Janessa, right? Janessa Batista. Came in with Ray's group?”

Again, she nodded. “Summers, yeah. Rujuan, Toby, Lloyd, Laura...” She trailed off when she noticed he was going to speak. While her mouth was dry, her tongue did not betray her nervousness in the presence of the Old Man. It was as though invoking the names of her companions lent her some unseen strength. She was still anxious, but no longer felt as though the cold hand of fear clamped hold of her gut.

Shane nodded. “Alright, Janessa. Why don't you tell me what you saw? And don't leave out a thing.”

Calvin scoffed at the Old Man. His British accent was thick when he said, “C'mon, Shane: what's the point, huh? I already told you everything she told me. What more is there to hear? This is a waste of time-”

“
Only time being wasted here is mine, and that on account of needing to repeat myself. I got your version of events, yes. Now, I want
hers
.
She's
the one that saw it, so I wanna hear it directly from the horse's mouth.” Shane fixed the other man with that stare and Janessa watched some of the color drain from Calvin's face. “You're a good man, Calvin, but your attention to detail leaves something to be desired. Since we're dealing with the head goddamned farmer,” he gestured emphatically at the supine body, “I'd like a little more information before telling the others what happened and where we go from here.”