Sheep's Clothing Read Free

all.”
    She frowned. “I do hope it wasn’t anything serious.”
    “No… nothing—nothing serious.” I wasn’t about to elaborate on the matter, to spare her ears the gory details of surgery.
    “Well,” she said, “I have some blankets to work on for the Harvest Festival. I hope to see ya there.”
    The Harvest Festival! I’d nearly forgotten! In mid-September Salvation would hold a festival for the upcoming harvest—and clearly Sarah planned to attend.
    “I hope to see you there as well,” I replied, my heart hammering. “This will be my first.”
    “I expect ya ’ll have fun there,” she said. “There’ll be music and dancing and feasting until the cows come home.”
    “I look forward to it,” I said.
    She kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll see ya later, then.”
    After she left, I leaned against the doorframe, waiting for my head to stop spinning. I had no idea what to expect with the Harvest Festival, even with Sarah’s description, but I resolved to be there no matter what, if only to see her. I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
    Well. I still had a patient to attend to, one who was doubtless awaiting breakfast. I gathered myself and headed for the kitchen. Cowrie looked at me appraisingly.
    “Ya look like ya’re on Cloud Nine,” he observed, his gaze flicking briefly towards the front hall.
                  “Yes. Well.” I cleared my throat. “My neighbors sometimes pop by for a visit in the morning.” I started rummaging in the pantry.
                  “She sounds like someone special,” he said offhandedly.
                  I felt my face grow hot as I surfaced with a slab of bacon. “She is, actually,” I said, and to my relief he dropped the subject. I commenced frying breakfast, and decided to try a different topic. “So, what brings you to Salvation?”
    “I’m looking for a man. Been looking for this man for a long time, and I think I have him about pinned down.”
    “Oh—are you a bounty hunter, then?” I’d heard stories of such men—some good, some bad.
    He shrugged. “I’ve hunted men for bounties before—but this one… this one is personal.”
    I looked at him. He had hate in his eyes—hate and loathing. “What did he do?” I asked.
    “There was a girl I was fixin’ to marry. Pretty as ya could ever want. He killed her whole family and took her away with him.”
    I was shocked by the casual description of such heartless depravity. “A kidnapper?”
    He growled. “He didn’t do this for money. He… bound her, like. Turned her to his will. Last time I saw her, my pretty bride was gone, with something else in her eyes instead.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said honestly. I’d heard of such things before in the city, cases of wives beaten by their husbands until they lost the will to live—though such things were nearly unheard of in the frontier. I poked at the bacon absently so it wouldn’t burn.
    “He’s a monster—a leech, feeding off what ain’t his. I won’t rest until I tear his heart out, the way he did mine.”
    I saw the bacon was done, so I pulled the pan off the fire, scraping the bacon onto a plate. I had little doubt that Wolf would do his level best to make good on his threat—injury or no. “So, what’s this man look like?”
    “Oh, ya’ll know him when ya see him. He looks like the Devil hisself is riding along in his carcass.” He considered further. “Other than that, he’s a handsome feller. Red hair. Pale. Nice clothes. But his eyes… no soul in them. None at all. It’s like lookin’ a rattlesnake in the eye, if ya look at him right.”
    “How dangerous is he?” I asked.
    “Oh, dangerous as ya please. He’s got no moral compass at all—but he’s a charmer. That’s the most dangerous part of all.” He took a portion of the bacon and tucked into it. “So,” he continued with his mouth full, “what can ya tell me of the land and the people?”
    “I don’t know the land as