Regan Wolfrom - After The Fires Went Out - Coyote

“Where did he find it?”

“He said it was from a house on the way to Gardiner or something.”

“Are you sure?”

Ant and Matt had checked every house on Kennedy Road back in the spring. They wouldn’t have missed something that important to Fiona.

“I’m sure,” she said. “Anyway…that’s not the point. I found a recipe card in the instruction manual.”

“He even had the manual?”

“‘Grandma Lamarche’s Pain Québecois ’.”

“Shit.”

Marc had lied.

And because some bald idiot had managed to kill him, the truth had died with him.

Unless Justin knew.

Not that he’d tell me. Not that I needed to hear it.

He and Marc had gone back at it.

“Marc took that breadmaker from the Lamarches,” Fiona said.

“Looks like.”

“The Lamarches are gone.”

“I think so.”

“Did Marc and Justin have something to do with them leaving?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I need time to think this through.”

“Let me know what I can do to help.”

“I will.” I gave her a smile. “We should head back downstairs…see what they’ll break next.” I climbed off the bed a little too quickly.

She nodded. “I’ll bet it’s another chunk off of Graham.”

They weren’t sober, but they were less drunk by the time dinner came around.

So as we ate, I decided to give them the speech, the same one I gave at the start of last winter.

“Winter is the most dangerous time of the year,” I said. “And this year may end up being worse.”

“People are trying to kill us,” Sara said.

“We don’t know that,” Lisa said.

“We don’t,” I said. “But we do know that there are two guys with assault weapons who need to be handled.”

“So fucking handle them,” Kayla said.

“I will.”

“Good. You go kick their asses, you…asshole.”

“Come on,” Sara said, “can you at least pretend that you’re not a drunken whore for two minutes?”

“Sara,” I said, “come on…”

“Yeah, Sara,” Kayla said.

“She’s right,” Lisa said. “We should take them out. Right now.”

“Right now?” I said. “Or did you want a shot of Drambuie before we leave?”

“The snow’s still falling. If it’s still falling in a few hours ―”

“Once you’ve sobered up…”

She nodded. “We head up to Silver Queen Lake and we find them.”

“They could be anywhere,” Sara said. “There’s no way to know if you’ll even find them.”

“That’s true,” I said.

“But if we get there and find nothing,” Lisa said, “it won’t be a wasted trip. We’ll still get to balance things out with the Walkers a little, take a few choice items for ourselves.”

“That might work,” I said.

“It’ll work.”

“So you guys want to try and hook the plow up to the new truck and drive to Silver Queen Lake?” Graham asked.

“You’ll drive us,” I said.

“What about Justin?”

“What about him?”

“You’re going to want Justin,” Lisa said. “I hate the fucker, and I still think we should bring him with us.”

I shook my head. “No…this is an internal operation. No Porters and no Tremblays. Just us.” There was no way I could trust Justin.

“So you want me to stay behind with one of the shotguns?” Matt asked, despite his mouth being stuffed full with a bit of cheese and potato perogy.

“You and Kayla,” I said. “Six-hour shifts with the shotgun and the handheld, round the clock, until we get back. If this goes bad, you call Justin for backup.”

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Sara said. “Kayla’s never even held a gun.”

“I’ve held a gun,” Kayla said. “You don’t even know me.”

“This may be our best chance,” I said.

“You really think we’re in danger?” Fiona asked. “You really think they’d come here?”

“They wouldn’t come here,” Graham said. “We’re too strong.”

“You’re overconfident,” I said. “But you’re probably right. There are way easier pickings out there. For now, at least.”

“What do you mean?” Fiona asked. “You think they’ll go after Natalie and Tabitha again?”

“I doubt it. The Girards have too many people and guns.”

“Now who’s overconfident?” Lisa asked.

“Well either way,” Graham said, “we’re not at risk.”

“But someone is,” Fiona said. “Right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Someone is. So we go up to Silver Queen Lake and we take these guys out. And we do it when they least expect it.”

“Tonight,” Lisa said. “Midnight.”

I nodded.

Sara shook her head.

“We’ll be careful,” I said. “We’ll stay safe.”

“You’d better,” she said quietly.

I didn’t really need an excuse to get Sara alone after dinner, since I’d be leaving with Lisa and Graham just after midnight. We went for a walk down to the barn, and I reached out for her hand at great personal risk.

She took it, but she didn’t seem too happy about it.

“I want to talk to you about something,” I said as I caught the first whiff old the horses. “But I don’t want to make it a big deal.”

“What a spineless way to start an intervention,” she said. “Just tell me.”

“What’s the deal with you and Kayla?”

“There’s no deal. I don’t like her.”

“That’s not like you, Sara. You’re known for liking people.”

She shrugged. “I’ve known Kayla longer than you have. I’ve known her long enough to know what she’s about. And I’ve known girls like her for much longer than that.”

“What does that even mean?”

She let go of my hand. “You really don’t get it, Baptiste. No man ever does. Women like Kayla go through life expecting to be treated special because they’re pretty.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Sara, but you’re not ugly.”

“How romantic.”

“You know what I mean. It’s not like you aren’t treated better because you’re attractive.”

“We’re all treated better because we’re attractive. Do you think a newcomer like you could have been voted onto the Protection Committee if you’d looked like crap?”

“I do have some actual experience…”

“But being pretty is not enough. We built this family with hard work and by taking care of each other. Kayla comes along for the ride because she has long, blond hair and big, perky boobs.”

I sighed. I knew what I should say, that Sara was blinded by some kind of prejudice, that the only reason she couldn’t see all the good in Kayla was because she was putting all her energy into ignoring it.

But what could I actually say that would change her mind? What could I come up with that would actually make a difference for Kayla?

“I’ve been pushing Matt away,” I said. “He’s been getting on my nerves and I haven’t been working hard enough to let it go.”

“I’m aware that you’re an asshole,” she said. There was a hint of a smile.

“I need to accept that I’m putting my crap onto him. That whatever faults he has are nothing compared to how I build them up in my mind.”

She shook her head. “This isn’t the same thing, Baptiste. Matt’s a bit of an idiot, but he’s a good kid. Kayla’s not. And now this prepper garbage…”

“I’m going to work on it. I’m going to do my best to go easier on him.” I took her hand and brought it up to kiss. “I’d be really grateful if you’d try to do the same for Kayla.”