Outlast the Night (15 page)

“Y
OU
sure you want a tour of the sheds?” Jeremy asked as they walked down the station road later in the week. Sam had spent most of the day in the office, going over the insurance policy with Caine and helping him search for Macklin’s mother. When Caine had called it a day a little early, Sam had jumped at the chance to spend an hour outdoors before dinner.

“Yes, I’m sure. I need to understand how things work, remember?”

“Don’t complain about the stench, then,” Jeremy said.

Sam just smiled.

The sheds did stink, but Sam found he didn’t care. Jeremy explained the purpose of the different pens inside the sheds, showing him where the lambs would be kept when they were born, explaining what all the equipment was for. They’d almost reached the far end when Sam heard a pitiful mewling.

“I thought all the sheep were outside,” Sam said, looking around to see where the noise was coming from.

“They are,” Jeremy said, “or they’re supposed to be.”

“Something’s in here and it’s crying,” Sam said. “Didn’t you hear that?”

They searched in the direction of the sound until they found a tiny calico kitten trapped between the gate and the fencepost of one of the lambing pens. “Easy there, baby,” Sam said, stroking the kitten’s head as Jeremy released the latch on the gate. The kitten fell forward into Sam’s hands, the mewling cries turning into a rumbling purr far too loud for the tiny body.

“He likes you,” Jeremy said.

“He’s just glad to be free of the trap he found himself in,” Sam said, setting the kitten down on the ground. It immediately started crying again.

“No, he likes you,” Jeremy insisted.

Sam took a step back to see what happened and the kitten followed him with a pronounced limp. “He’s hurt,” Sam said, scooping the kitten back up.

“Let me see him,” Jeremy said.

Sam handed the kitten over gently. He watched nervously while Jeremy prodded at the tiny body. When Jeremy’s fingers ran over the kitten’s side, it hissed in protest. “Looks like she might have hurt her ribs while she was stuck in there.”

“She?”

“Definitely a she,” Jeremy said, tipping her body so Sam could see her stomach. Sam had no idea what he was supposed to be looking at. He didn’t know anything about cat anatomy, but he accepted Jeremy’s assertion.

“So what do we do?”

“She’s a barn cat,” Jeremy said. “She’ll be fine in a day or two.”

He started to set the kitten down, but Sam grabbed her. “You can’t just leave her to fend for herself. She needs someone to take care of her. She’s just a baby.”

“Her mum’s around here somewhere,” Jeremy said. “She really will be fine. But if you want to spoil her for a few days, that’s your business. Just don’t come running to me when she makes a mess on your clothes or decides to use your boots as a scratching post.”

“People keep cats all the time,” Sam said. “How hard can it be?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jeremy said. “I’ve always had dogs.”

“A kitten can’t be that different from a puppy in terms of what she needs,” Sam insisted. “Food, water, somewhere to do her business, something to scratch on, maybe something to chew on….”

“If you spoil her, she’s never going to learn to hunt for herself,” Jeremy said. “You’ll be stuck with her.”

“It’s just until she’s not hurt anymore.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes, but Sam wasn’t deterred. He cradled her against his chest as they left the sheds and headed back toward the bunkhouse. “What are you going to eat?” he asked her.

“Meat,” Jeremy said. “She’s a hunter, or she will be if you let her learn how.”

“Maybe Kami would give me the scraps from whatever he’s making for dinner,” Sam said. “I’d probably have to cut them up into pieces for her.”

“She has claws and teeth. She can tear into the scraps just like she would a mouse or anything else she caught,” Jeremy reminded him.

“Yes, but she’s hurt. She’s not going to feel like doing that right now,” Sam insisted.

Jeremy rolled his eyes again. “Just give in right now and admit that you’ve got yourself a cat. You’re never going to send her back to the sheds. I can tell already.”

“Is that really such a terrible thing?” Sam asked.

“No,” Jeremy replied, his voice softening. “It’s not a terrible thing. Just watch her around Arrow until we see how they’re going to get along. He’s a lot bigger than she is, and he’s not hurt.”

“I guess she needs a name, then,” Sam said.

“Eventually,” Jeremy agreed, “but you can wait a day or two to see if something strikes you.”

“Where did Arrow’s name come from?” Sam asked.

“It was a joke, actually,” Jeremy said. “He was one of a litter of seven. The other six were typical puppies, tumbling over each other, zigzagging around, but Arrow was always different. He’d pick a target and go straight to it, no zigzagging, no tumbling and playing around, just straight as an arrow to his goal.”

“That’s a great story,” Sam said.

“Yeah, the name just stuck after that. I’m sure his brothers and sisters grew out of that puppy phase and are now fantastic sheep dogs too, but Arrow was definitely a step ahead of them back then.”

“Do you think he’ll mind having a cat around?” Sam asked.

“Most of the time when I’ve seen cats and dogs have trouble living together, it’s because the cat was already afraid of dogs when the dog arrived,” Jeremy said. “Dogs usually adapt better since the cat isn’t really a threat. He’ll probably just see her as something else to herd around and take care of. And she’s young enough to get past being scared of him.”

“Sam, Jeremy, what you got there?” Jason asked, running over to them.

“Sam found a kitten stuck in the sheds,” Jeremy said. “He thinks she can’t take care of herself and needs to come home with him.”

“Can I see her?” Jason asked.

Sam handed the kitten over to Jason carefully, but the teen clearly knew how to hold her. He stroked her head gently as he examined her. “It doesn’t look like anything’s broken,” he said. “She’s probably just bruised. And hungry, from the looks of it. I wonder where her mum is.”

“I don’t know,” Jeremy replied. “We didn’t see any other cats in the sheds.”

“They have free run of the station,” Jason said. “They usually only go in the sheds when the weather’s bad or to have their kittens. She doesn’t look very old. I should see if I can find the rest of her litter. If she’s in this kind of shape, the others might not be any better off.”

“We found her caught in the next to the last gate on the right side of the sheds,” Jeremy said. “That gives you a place to start at least.”

“Thanks,” Jason said. “I’ll go find Seth, and we’ll go hunting for them. Polly might be able to help too. She’s always good at sniffing things out.”

Jason ran off, whistling for his dog as he headed toward the machine shed where Sam had already learned Seth spent all of his spare time unless Patrick kicked him out or Jason dragged him off on one adventure or another.

“Should we go help?” Sam asked.

“No, let them have their fun,” Jeremy said. “We’ll introduce Little Bit to Arrow and get her settled, and then see what Kami has that we can give her. If you’re going to keep her, you might want to think about getting some supplies from town. Cat food, a litter box, that sort of things. Even if she spends a lot of her time outside once she heals up, you want to have what you need instead of just improvising until she’s well.”

“Who has the next supply run?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know, but we can find out,” Jeremy said. “Do you have enough to cover it? If not, I can spot you a bit until payday.”

“I think I can afford a bag of cat food and a litter box,” Sam replied stiffly.

Jeremy sighed. “I wasn’t trying to insult you or whatever. I just know you had to spend a lot of your last check on stuff for yourself. It’s a friendly loan, nothing else.”

“I know,” Sam said. “I’m sorry. Money’s a sensitive topic. When Alison and I agreed on a trial separation, I didn’t have a job, so she said she’d pay for an apartment, but the amount she agreed to pay was barely enough to cover the rent in the cheapest place I could find, and I hardly had anything left over for food. I had some savings, but that only lasted a few months. I always felt like she was trying to use money as leverage to force me to come crawling back to her.”

“It sounds like you’re better off without her,” Jeremy declared. “I don’t blame you for getting rid of her.”

Sam laughed, but the sound was bitter to his ears. “I’m pretty sure it was the other way around. There wasn’t a lot I could do right as far as she was concerned.”

“Then she was an idiot,” Jeremy said, “because I have yet to see you do something wrong.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to live with me,” Sam replied.

“I don’t have to live with you,” Jeremy agreed, “but I am living with you. Not in the same room, but we’re under the same roof. We’re spending most of our nonworking time together. Did you really spend that much more time with her when you were married?”

“Just sleeping in the same bed,” Sam said. “With her schedule, we didn’t even get to have dinner together half the time.”

“Her loss,” Jeremy said. “But I’m not going to complain since that means you’re here now.”

As they neared the bunkhouse, Arrow came bounding up to them and bumped Jeremy’s leg with his head. Jeremy scratched the dog’s ears affectionately. “Let’s introduce them out here,” Jeremy suggested. “That way if they don’t get along, we can separate them more easily.”

“Okay,” Sam agreed.

Jeremy got a good grip on Arrow’s collar and ordered him to sit. Arrow plopped his butt down and looked up at Jeremy adoringly. Sam couldn’t help but smile at the expression. He knelt down so Arrow could see the kitten in his arms. She flattened her ears back and hissed, but Arrow ignored the warning, nosing her gently, but not, Sam noticed, near her sore ribs. She hissed a second time, although with less enthusiasm. Arrow responded by licking her face. She shook her head a couple of times, trying to dislodge the slobber that soaked her fur, but when she settled in his arms again, she was purring.

“I think he likes her,” Jeremy said.

“I think it’s mutual,” Sam said when Arrow nudged her again and she tilted her head into the contact.

“Let’s go see what Kami has for her,” Jeremy suggested.

The kitten squirmed when Sam stood up, and Arrow yipped unhappily, so Sam set her down, poised to catch her if she stumbled or seemed in pain, but she wrapped around his ankles and then padded over to Arrow. He stood up as she walked between his front legs. She twined around his legs for a moment, with Arrow standing patiently.

“Or we could leave them together and go talk to Kami without them,” Jeremy said with a smile.

“Maybe if Arrow comes with us, she’ll follow,” Sam said. “I’m not sure we should leave her alone yet.”

“We can try,” Jeremy said. “Heel, Arrow.”

Arrow moved obediently to Jeremy’s side, careful not to step on the kitten. She took a second to catch up, but before long, she was right between Arrow’s legs again.

“At her pace, we’ll never make it to the canteen,” Jeremy said, scooping her up and setting her on Arrow’s back. “Let’s try this instead.”

The kitten didn’t seem to know what to make of that, turning around a couple of times to get her balance. Arrow stood perfectly still, patiently waiting for her to settle. She finally sat down on his back. As soon as she did, Arrow looked up at Jeremy as if to tell him they could go now.

“She’s not going to be my cat. She’s going to be his cat,” Sam said.

“I’m sure he’ll share,” Jeremy replied with a grin.

They made it to the canteen with no problems. The kitten seemed perfectly content to sit on Arrow’s back, and it didn’t seem to bother Arrow to have her there. Sam figured Jeremy knew his dog well enough to know if it was a problem and to say something about it.

They left Arrow to cat-sit on the porch of the canteen and went in to find Kami.

“What did I tell you boys about disturbing me while I’m fixing dinner?” Kami snapped.

“We were hoping you’d have some scraps we could have,” Sam said. “I found a kitten in the shed, and she’s hurt and hungry. I’ll get some cat food for her the next time someone goes to town, but I’ve got to take care of her until then. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just whatever you have left over.”

Kami pursed his lips sourly, but Sam had already learned that was the cook’s default expression, so he waited silently while Kami bustled around the kitchen. He came back with a thermos and a big bowl. “Keep that cold until you’re ready to give it to her. You don’t want the milk or the meat to spoil.”

“Thank you,” Sam said. “We’ll get out of your way so you can finish dinner.”

“If it’s late, I’m telling everyone it’s your fault for disturbing me.”

“If it’s late, we’ll take the blame,” Jeremy said.

They walked back outside with their goodies. Arrow had lain down on the porch, and the kitten was walking all over him. “She doesn’t seem as sore as she was earlier,” Jeremy said.

Sam picked her up, ignoring her yowl of protest. “Arrow can’t stand up to carry you if you’re on top of him,” he told her. “Be patient a minute, and I’ll let you go.”

Arrow stood up immediately and woofed in Sam’s direction. Sam returned the kitten to her perch on Arrow’s back, and the strange little procession made its way back to the bunkhouse. Sam found a bowl and poured some of the milk into it. The kitten jumped off Arrow’s back to investigate, eventually settling down to lap at the milk with a little pink tongue.

Sam cut the chicken innards into tiny pieces and put them on a plate next to the bowl. The kitten sniffed at them hesitantly. “It’s okay, Little Bit,” Sam said. “They’re for you to eat. I know you’re hungry.”

She mewled at him and took a tentative taste. Sam couldn’t imagine it tasting good, but she seemed to think it did, falling on the meal like she was starving. Then again, given her size, she probably was.

Jeremy came back with a cardboard box lined with newspaper. “Until we can set up a proper litter box for her, we should probably keep her in this while we’re gone. We don’t want to come back to messes all over the bunkhouse.”