Last Of The Revenants » Places

         

T E M P E R A N C E WHEELER

in the end, everyone is aware of this:

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxnobody keeps any of what he has,

Temperance smiled at the woman (revenant?) who’d crashed through the window, and for a moment considered insisting she keep the money. In the end, Tempe took the money with a smile. Maybe her mother wouldn’t blow a gasket about a broken window if they had a bit of money to help pay for it’s replacement. “Thank you,” She said, her voice laced with sincerity, “For this and, you know, the monsters.” Temperance knew that she was probably lucky to be alive. Had there not been people in town able to fight off the threat, casualties very likely would have been much worse than what she could already see. Almost absently, she wondered if any creatures had been out past this part of town. A bit of worry grew in her stomach as she thought of her parents; their home was just outside the main part of town.

Then the man who’d been in the store right before the attack (he looked familiar enough) thanked her for offering up supplies. She shrugged, “Well, y’all saved the town. Feels like the least I can do.”

When Malachi Reynes was mentioned, Temperance took that as her cue to leave. She didn’t know Reynes personally, but everyone in town knew who he was, and most parents spent at least a little time warning their children to give the man a wide breadth. “I’ve, uh, got some cleanin’ to do. Thank you, again.” With a nod, and one last smile, she excused herself.

The walk back to the store wasn’t a long one, and once she got there, she realized that she just wanted to be home more than anything. Quickly, she gathered up her things, collected the cash from the drawer, and headed back out the door. She’d offered the hunters anything they needed from the store, so she decided not to lock up (honestly, with a broken window it would be easy enough for anyone to get in the shop anyway). She briefly wondered if she should stop in to check on her sisters on her way back home, and decided that it was for the best. That way she could tell her parents how they were when she arrived home.

Hannah and the children were fine- she said she’d thought she’d be happy to have them home sick with pox. Temperance didn’t go inside to see them, she had to get home. Grace didn’t come to the door, which was worrying, but Temperance hoped that they were safe, too. Hopefully they’d been able to shelter somewhere, if they were out.

When she got home, Temperance was so relieved to see that everything looked exactly the same as it always had. The creatures hadn’t gotten that far. She could only hope that she never had to see another one of them again. She ran inside, hugged her mother, and finally let all the fear she’d felt flow freely from her body in the form of tears. She told her parents everything as she cried, and then she went to clean herself up a bit, before she and her mother went to start doing what they could about the store.

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M A N U E L CASTILLO

i felt a tremendous distance

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxbetween me and everything real.

Clearly, Addie was a tough woman. Normally, Manny would have offered to help her up, but she didn’t seem to have any trouble getting to her feet on her own. He shook her hand when she offered it, and returned her own introduction with a brief, but not impolite introduction of his own. “Manny.” He’d found that most people he’d encountered since leaving Texas had preferred to use his nickname, so over time that had just become his default.

He glanced around the town during Addie’s short exchange with the other woman; a lot of damage had been done. He’d only just arrived, but he felt a strong urge to get out of the situation ahead of him. People had the nasty habit of blaming the wrong people when bad things happened. He didn’t think he wanted to stick around and face that blame. When Addie mentioned that she could use some help cleaning up her tavern, there was a very real part of Manuel that wanted to agree. She was beautiful, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t notice. “I’d love to help,” This was where an apologetic smile crossed his face, “But I think it may be best if I get moving along. Outsiders are easy to blame when things go wrong.” He knew that from experience. “Best of luck to you. Hope the damages don’t put you under.” That wasn’t, perhaps, the most helpful thing to say, but it was true.

Before he knew it, he was back with Miel. They could stop at the next town; heaven knows they could survive a little while longer on the road. They’d both been through hell, and they’d likely go through hell again. But not today. Manny was going to avoid any more trouble if he could.