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Chapter 13 :

Honey and Vinegar

"Hold up, Eli."

Eli had been walking up the dirt road that passed through the property, following along behind a groggy brigade of little girls all heading toward the big truck that was waiting to deliver them to school. Keeping an eye on them was part of his responsibilities. Make sure eleven girls get on the truck, make sure all eleven get off again.

He turned to find Henry there waiting for him, arms folded across his chest and looking serious.

"What do you need, Mr. Hoyt?" Eli said to him, pausing to try and get a read on the older man, "They're waitin' on me."

Henry just waited until the last of the children piled in, and waved a hand to signal the driver to leave before speaking again, "You need to stay home today. Something has come up and you're a part of it."

"If you say so." Eli replied, more than a little curious now. No one was more insistent that Eli stay in school more than Henry, so for him to keep him from going meant it was something serious, "What's going on?"

"Come on inside, son." Henry said, turning to walk back towards this house, "Better she tell you herself, I think."

Eli followed him inside, dropping his book bag on the porch steps as he went. He had to duck low to get through the door frame, and even then threatened to scrape the ceiling with his horns once he was inside and able to stand upright. The guest house where Megan and Cassidy were staying was a single floor with a high rafters. This one was a cozy two story little home that just wasn't suited for someone of his size and stature.

He looked around, noticing Jasmine and Muffin first as they stood off to his side examining the photographs on the wall of people from Henry's life that they never knew. He talked about his parents sometimes with high regard. There were a couple pictures of Catherine, which they quickly pieced together the identity of between themselves. There was one in particular that they were currently fascinated by however. An old photo with the colors washed out by time and poor camera quality of a very young Henry and his parents, along with another girl just a bit younger than him. It was a family portrait, clearly, but there was no clue as two who that fourth member was and they were too afraid to ask.

Megan and Cassidy appeared next out of the kitchen. The older woman had her arm around her daughter, and the latter looked just about pale as could be as she fought off the urge to be sick again. They stopped once they saw him. After moment Cassidy just tucked her head against her mother's shoulder and started to cry softly.

Eli was pretty sure he knew what was going on.

"Mr. Hoyt, I never meant to fall into a relationship with Cassidy." He said, trying to muster what courage he could to stand up to the man he viewed as his only father figure, "But now that I'm in it... I... I don't reckon I'm keen to just give it up."

"It's not that." Henry said, waving a hand dismissively, "No one faults you for your feelings, son."

Jasmine was getting a little nervous, "Are you sure you need us here for this? It seems awfully private to me."

"I invited you here because I need your expertise, Jasmine." Henry said, moving over to stand next to the pair and folding his arms once more, "And I invited Muffin because I just don't have the strength to try and pry you two apart right now."

The room went silent. Eli was watching his girlfriend cry, more unsure now what was going on than before.

"Go on, Cassidy. Tell him." Megan said, giving her daughter a little squeeze, "He should hear it from you."

Cassidy nodded a bit, sniffling to fight back the tears. She pulled away from her mother and took a couple of steps forward to stand in front of the giant of a man she had fallen in love with, withdrawn in on herself and looking even smaller still in comparison.

"Eli..." She said in a timid voice. She was looking away, unable to meet his gaze, "I'm pregnant."

Eli's eyes shot open wide in shock as he looked down at her. Jasmine's reaction wasn't all too much different. The only one that seemed to take the news well was Muffin, who clapped her hands together and practically started bouncing with excitement.

"Oh that's fantastic!" She cried. Jasmine had grabbed her by the arm and was trying to keep her still now, which caused Muffin to look back at her curiously and tilt her head, "Isn't it?"

"Pregnant..." Eli was looking down at her with a look of disbelief on his face, "But we can't... How is that possible? Are you sure?"

Cassidy shuffled her feet, still not wanting to look at him, "I took a test last night, and I've been getting morning sickness for days now. I don't know how this happened, but it happened."

"There... Is a theory." Jasmine said, still feeling like an intruder here.

Henry nodded and looked back at her, "No one knows more about the Change here than you do, Jasmine. If you can shed any light on this, I think we'd all like to hear it."

"A regular virus typically destroys the cell it infects in order to replicate itself. That's what most people think of when they hear about what caused the change." She replied, looking back at him now, "But the Change was caused by a retrovirus, which instead more or less tricks the cells into treating it as part of its own genome. The cells replicate the virus as part of replicating themselves."

Muffin just shook her head, "You lost me somewhere around the time you started talking."

"It means the thing that caused the Change is still in us. It just doesn't have any effect on us anymore." Jasmine said, trying to simplify it a bit, "But we also pass it on to our children."

Henry wrinkled his brow, "You think maybe the children are affected differently than you were?"

"Possibly. It's just a theory, and it was pretty much disregarded by the scientific community..." She said, shaking her head, "But Eli is second generation Changed, more or less. One of the oldest in the world. There is the chance that he is, well..."

"More human than us." Muffin finished for her, looking over at the big bull in the center of the room. For all her playing dumb, she was a lot smarter than she let on. It was a big part of why her partner had fallen in love with her.

"I'm sorry, Eli." Cassidy finally said, one arm across her body to clutch the other nervously, "You didn't want to do all this, and I made you change your mind. You were right."

The room went silent as Eli watched her for a bit. She still hadn't looked at him. Her lower lip always stuck out quite a bit, but now it was quivering with the tears she was fighting back.

"As far as everyone is concerned, Miss Cassidy, I'm supposed to have thousands of children before I'm to old to go on. I can't take care of them all, and that's what keeps me up at night." He slipped one of his fingers under her chin, turning her head to look up at him now. He met her gaze, and he smiled.

"But I can be a father to one."

"Eli..."

She practically fell forward at him, and he dropped to his knees to catch her in a tight hug. She was sobbing against him now, and it was all he could do to stoke her back and comfort her as best he was able.

"I love you, Miss Cassidy." He said quietly into her ear, "You're my girl."

Megan just stared at them. She had always had her doubts about this relationship, despite all her attempts to be open to the possibility. But she finally understood. Seeing them together and seeing just how genuine his adoration of her was finally made it all make sense. Eli wasn't just a giant of a bull playing at being a man. He was just a scared kid like she was, trying to do the right thing and follow his heart.

She finally got it, and she finally approved... Completely.

Henry turned away from the scene, back to the other girls, "Well there is still the problem of Daisy. I don't know how she's going to take the news."

Jasmine was lost in thought and looking a bit troubled. Muffin tilted her head at her upon noticing and put on a dramatic frown, "You can't tell them that, Jazzie. That's awful."

Jasmine didn't even flinch at it anymore when Muffin did that. She used to find it annoying how the other woman could more or less read her mind just by watching her think, but now it was just part of what made them whole.

"I have to." Jasmine said, shaking her head, "I can't just pretend like it's not true. They have to be prepared for the worst."

Henry looked back and forth between them, "Tell us what?"

"If the theory is true, then it might take multiple generations for the Change to make compatibility between us truly viable. This whole scenario might just be the next step toward that, not the end." Jasmine swallowed heavily, not wanting to say what came next, "It's possible... Maybe even likely that she won't be able to carry to term."

"Jasmine!" Megan exclaimed in surprise, moving to place herself between the young couple and the others as if to protect them from the idea.

"I'm sorry! But it's..." Jasmine stammered, feeling ashamed of herself and turning away, "You have to know what to expect. She's going to need regular examinations to make sure nothing has gone wrong. Her health has to come ahead of everything else."

"Which means we're going to need a very discrete doctor." Henry said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers, "Right, I'll contact some people we can trust. See if they know anyone that can help, without letting on what we need it... For..."

Henry trailed off, as the unmistakable sound of his dad's old fifty four Ford came racing up the dirt road by the house. He moved quickly to the window just in time to see it sliding to the right, squealing like a banshee once the tires hit the pavement of the main road and peeling out as fast as Annabelle could make the old truck move.

"What the hell is going on?"

Clairibelle stepped out of the bunkhouse, rubbing her eyes as they tried to adjust to the morning light. She was wearing the green silk chemise with its matching robe that she always slept in, the hem of which was dangerously short for someone braving the outdoors. Annabelle and Sophie were just on the other side of the fence in the fields, getting ready to get to work now that the children were off to school.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Sophie called to her, eyeballing her choice of attire, "Or maybe dressed?"

"At least one of those things is probably true." Clairibelle replied, moving over to lean on the fence nearby, "Any idea what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Sophie stopped what she was going to look back at her. If Clairibelle said something was going on, it pretty much meant something was going on. Not much got past her.

"Henry just came and fetched Jasmine for something." She said with a shrug, "And I may be wrong, but it looked from the window like he just kept Eli home from school."

"Well now that is curious. Probably none of our business though." Sophie said, watching Annabelle load up the wheel barrow with the cauliflower transplants that they had been germinating for the last few weeks. Most things they could use the tractor to plant, but doing things by hand let them grow more troublesome crops without too much risk.

"Probably not." Clairibelle said, resting her chin on one hand as she looked out to the road now, pointing at something with the other, "Though... I bet that is."

He was moving fast and low up the road at a speed that was downright impressive, running on all fours like the animals he had evolved from. It was something only about half of the changed species were still capable of. Cattle like themselves had mostly human legs ending in feet that put weight on the heels. Many of the lighter and more athletic mammals had kept legs resembling what they had before the change, with what looked like a second knee at the heel and the weight placed only on the toes. It was a milder form of digitigrade, but it allowed for haste if an individual could master it... And supposing they could keep their hands from getting torn up in the process.

"What is that? Some kinda giant weasel?" Clairibelle asked, watching the thing as it dashed down the pavement toward the farm.

"No..." Annabelle usually ignored Clairibelle. Despite their similar names they were still very different people with little in common, but she was paying attention now, "No... That's a Whippet!"

She took off running across the field, leaving Sophie and Clairibelle looking at each other in confusion.

"What the fuck is a Whippet?" CB asked, still leaning on the fence casually.

"Hell if I know." Sophie said, starting to jog off after her friend.

"Charlie?" Annabelle called to the man as he turned up onto the dirt road toward her, slowing and trying to stand up as she hopped the fence. His arms gave out on him though, and all he could do was fall to his knees panting until she came over to help him up, "What's going on Charlie? What's wrong?"

"Ranger..." He said though pained breaths. It was a full ten miles to the Pretty Kitty from here, and not many could have made a run like that. It's what his kind had been bred for, and even he felt like his chest was about to explode, "He tried to leave... He tried..."

"What happened?" She said, slightly panicked as she propped him up against the fence, "Tell me what happened? What did they do?"

"Annabelle... He got himself clean... He said he was going to come live here with you... He was so excited..." The man said, shaking his head and still gasping between words, "The old hag shot him in the leg... She's got him full of heroin... She's gonna kill him!"

"Fuck!" Annabelle turned and ran again, this time back toward the covered shed where the trucks were parked. That wasn't all they kept there though, and she paused to unlock the cabinet at the back and grab one of the shotguns they kept for defense... Just in case. She tossed it on the passenger seat as she jumped in, fired up the truck and nearly ran down Sophie as she took off out of the farm.

"Annabelle! Wait!" Sophie called after her, but she was already all but gone, "What the hell, girl!"

It wasn't long before Henry came out of his house, moving quickly toward Sophie and the man she was now tending to.

"What's going on? What's got her all riled up?" Henry called to them.

"Ask him." Sophie said, offering the man a hand to stand up straight.

He wasn't as tall as Henry, but he was thin as a rail with a dramatically deep and narrow chest and a long neck. He'd been bred to be a running dog, and everything about him was built for speed. He wasn't exactly dressed like an athlete though. He had several hoops of varying sizes in his ears and was wearing a light blouse that was decidedly more feminine.

"Oh hell..." Henry said, looking him over, "You're from that place, aren't you? Is that where she's going?"

"Yes." The man replied with a bit of a sneer, "I take it you don't have a lot of respect for my profession?"

"I don't have a lot of respect for an establishment that exploits those that don't have enough legal rights to fight back." Henry said, deepening his voice in the way he had that made people take notice. It took the man aback. He wasn't used to humans being on the side of the animals when it came to such matters. Not where he was from.

"Henry, she took one of the shotguns." Sophie said in order to hasten things along, "If you know where she went, we need to get after her."

"Right. You're with me, Sophie." He said, turning to start toward his truck. It was a newer model, and he was pretty sure they could make up the distance on her without too much trouble. The fifty four was a reliable old girl, but she wasn't exactly a racing car. He hollered to CB as she was sauntering up the road toward all the ruckus, "Take care of our guest, Clairibelle!"

Sophie hopped into the bed of the truck, laying down in anticipation of the rough ride she was about to endure. She couldn't fit in the cab at her size, so this was the only option. Soon enough Henry was in the driver's seat, and the pair sped off down the lane and out onto the road, leaving just Clairibelle standing next to the still exhausted Whippet.

"You know..." She said with a little sass in her tone, "You're kinda pretty for a giant weasel."

"Barking up the wrong tree, sister." Charlie said back, examining his poor raw hands with a wince, "I don't work with the ladies."

"Just because you can't touch the art in the museum doesn't mean you aren't supposed to have a good long look, honey. So..." She leaned in close to give him a wink, "Woof."

He blinked at her in surprise. All he knew about the farm was Annabelle, and he kind of figured everyone here would be some kind of straight laced redneck farmers. He wasn't expecting her, standing there in a racy silk nightdress that wouldn't been out of place on one of the girls working where he was from. Clairibelle tended to have that effect on people, and she enjoyed every minute of it.

"Come on." She finally said with a chuckle, putting an arm around him to lead him over toward the bunkhouse, "Lets get you something to drink before you pass out."

It was almost twenty minutes before Annabelle skidded to a halt outside the Pretty Kitty. She'd been tweaking and tuning the Ford for years, and the old girl had made good time. Better than Henry would have expected, as he hadn't managed to catch up to her before she arrived.

It was a Monday, and the place was still littered with rows of cars in the lot. Mostly rich clientele that could afford to spend entire nights here who hadn't bothered to leave yet. The whorehouse was the worst kept secret in the county after all. No one talked about it, but just about everyone knew someone who paid for their services.

A couple of the working girls scattered off to one corner of the porch when they saw her coming up the steps, twelve gauge in hand and swinging at her side. The door was heavy, but barely an obstacle as she put her foot hard just under the knob and tore the lock out of the frame in a shower of splinters.

"Where is he!" She screamed, striding through the door framed by the morning light at her back. The interior was always kept dark, and it seemed to hiss back at the sunlight. The furniture and curtains looked fancy enough in the dim glow and atmosphere of a whorehouse, but couldn't hide how gaudy they really were under natural light.

"Where is he!"

She screamed it again, making haste to the front counter where the old woman was wide eyed and panicking at the sight of the gun. She fumbled under the counter, whipping out a rifle of her own clumsily but barely getting it above the level of the counter before Annabelle had slammed the butt of her shotgun against the hag's face, stripping the rifle away and tossing it aside. The old woman fell backwards against the wall, holding the side of her head as Annabelle leveled the shotgun at her now and met her gaze.

"This is the last time I'm going to ask..." Annabelle said, quietly and cold this time with a look in her eyes that was hungry for violence, "Take me to Ranger, before I send you to hell."

"You're going to die for this, you fucking cow." Came the reply, still defiant even as she was spitting blood, "You have no idea what you've done."

"What I know is that you've got about five seconds to live." She replied, tightening her grip around the trigger, "It ain't my mortality you should be worried about right now."

"Annabelle! Enough!"

The voice shook the room. She didn't need need to turn to know who it was, but she wasn't about to lower her weapon either, "Stay out of it, Henry! This has been a long time coming! Someone has to put a stop to her!"

He moved up behind her with Sophie in tow to put a hand on her shoulder. This time he spoke quietly, "Do you trust me?"

"What?" She said in a mix of frustration and confusion, "Of course I do... Henry, what difference does that..."

"If you trust me, then lower the weapon, Annabelle." He said, coming around to look at her, "Let me handle this."

She gritted her teeth, finger still twitching against the trigger with her desire to just end it right here and now. Eventually she relented, turning away with an angry yell to walk a few paces away. Henry watched her for a moment in relief, then turned to the old woman still tenderly holding her bleeding face and looking pissed.

"Agnes..." He said calmly, as if they'd just run into each other in a coffee shop, "Hoped I'd never have to see you again."

"Fuck you, Henry." Came the reply, "What she want's ain't here anymore. Ranger is gone. Ran off without her."

"Doubt it, but that's not my concern anymore." He said, folding his arms across his chest and looking at her through narrowed eyes, "That's a nice little white Cadillac out there in the lot. Looks an awful lot like one owned by a certain county judge. I find that... Particularly interesting."

"Coincidences like that happen all the time." She spat back, "Ain't no judges here."

"Is that right? That's too bad." Henry looked around the room for a moment, nodding at the architecture of the old manor, "What do you think of this place, Sophie? Seems pretty solid for an older building."

"I don't know Henry. Doesn't look up to code."

The main lobby here had high ceilings, but Sophie was just shy of seven feet tall and she easily reached up to grip one hand around the bottom bars of the large crystal chandelier. She promptly yanked it right out out it's mooring, falling to the ground before her in a shower of glass and sparks.

"Look at that." Sophie said with a shrug, "Nearly fell right on my head. That's just not safe."

Henry leaned forward to put his hands on the counter, giving the old woman a smile that was disturbingly polite, "I'm going to need you to fetch me that judge, Agnes. Before some other unfortunate accident befalls your little establishment."

The stared at each other for a long and tense moment, neither of them wanting to flinch first. Sophie broke the tie by walking over to the old player piano against one wall. It was old, and valuable. One of the first of its kind.

"This looks nice." She said, running a hand across the top of it.

"Stop! Just stop!" Agnes yelled, still spitting droplets of blood. She finally turned to one of the prostitutes that had gathered along the upstairs banister to watch this drama, waving a hand at her, "Go get him... Now!"

It was a couple of minutes before he finally arrived. The judge was in his late sixties, but wiry and thin and moved with a strength that belied his age. His grey hair was balding quite a bit, but he kept what was left shaved down to stubble as if to embrace it. The suit he was wearing was also quite expensive, but clearly had just been thrown on by the interruption that had pulled him out of the room he'd been in, and away from the pretty little canine girl that followed several steps behind.

"What is the meaning of this?" He said it with all the confidence of a man that had just been caught in a compromising position, but feared nothing due to the power he held, "I expect a certain level of privacy, Agnes. You better have a damn good..."

It was then that stopped about halfway down the stairs as he noticed the mess of glass and metal that had once been a chandelier scattered about the room, and the girl off to one side looking awfully upset and holding a shotgun.

"Forgive the interruption, Judge Gregory." Henry gave the man a smile, "We just have a bit of a misunderstanding here that could use a little arbitration. That's right up your alley, I would think."

The judge was a bit taken aback by the politeness of the tone, and looked the speaker over carefully, "I know you. You're that Hoyt fellow that runs the dairy farm out this way."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." He said with a nod, "Call me Henry, if you would."

"And what's this about, then?" The judge said, finally meandering down to the bottom of the stairs to face him, "You looking to make a powerful foe today, Henry?"

"Much to the contrary, your honor." Henry replied, his smile brightening, "I represent a group that watches for elected officials that might be sympathetic to our cause. We tend to be more in the catching flies with honey camp."

"Is that right?" The judge regarded him for a long moment, "And I suppose you're running an apiary as well? It's all land of milk and honey out there at Hoyt farms?"

"A little less biblical than all that." Henry chuckled, waving a hand dismissively, "We've had an eye on you, Judge. You've been on the fence a long time on the issue of changed rights. Neither for or against. We've been trying to figure out where it is you stand."

Henry looked past him to the girl that had followed him out. She was a cute little brown Cocker Spaniel in a long cotton bathrobe. She had big fluffy ears and large innocent eyes, like she'd been torn right of a Disney cartoon. She was a whore, but nothing about her looked the part either in appearance or behavior. Something about the way she followed the judge around... Something about the way she looked at him... Henry could tell this was more than a simple liaison.

"I'm not here to criticize you for your predilections, Judge Gregory." Henry said after a moment, "But Agnes here has someone that needs medical attention that she doesn't seem to want to entrust to our care. As one man to another, sir... I'd be mighty grateful if you're help us resolve the issue."

The Judge nodded slowly. He wasn't about to discuss dollar value out in the open, but he knew exactly what Henry meant. Instead he turned to the old woman that had been watching all this quietly, "Is this true, Agnes? You holding someone here against their will?"

"I don't see how what I've got is any of your..." She sneered back at him.

"He's in the basement." The little dog girl spoke this time, still only about halfway down the stairs. Her eyes were wide and she was clearly scared, but she couldn't stay silent. Ranger was her friend.

"Where?" Annabelle called, the gun dangling loose from her hand by now as much of the rage had faded into concern, "Please, tell me where!"

The only reply came in the form of one finger, pointed toward a door to the right of the main counter, which Annabelle ran toward quickly. Sophie didn't even need to be asked, as she took off after her. The pair found the door locked, but all it took was one shoulder forced against the frame to knock it loose and they dashed down the stairs into the basement below.

What they found was disturbing. The floors were cobblestone, with various light instruments of mock torture scattered around. Saddles and stocks and the like, with ropes and chains hanging off the walls. The man in the center of the room didn't need to be bound though. He was chained here well enough by the poison running through his veins, sprawled out on the cold stones and breathing so slowly that he almost seemed dead already.

"Ranger..." Annabelle gasped as she shoved the gun into Sophie's hand and ran to his side, kneeling down to cradle his head in her arms and lift it up, "Oh no... Ranger... No..."

His eyes opened slowly, but were unable to focus on her, "Annabelle... Is that..."

"Shhh... It's alright." She started rocking with him, noting the poor job someone had done of bandaging his leg and the blood that had soaked through and dried there. "I'm gonna take care of you, Ranger. I'm going to get you out of here."

"I tried to leave... I tried..." He started to smile, but it faded just as quickly, "It was stupid... Just leave me here... You don't need no junkie whore..."

"You shut your damn mouth, Ranger." She said, squeezing him tightly, "All I ever wanted was for you to try. Ain't no way I'm ever going to let you get away from me now."

"Annabelle..." He said, tears forming in his eyes as he reached up to grip her arm with as much strength as he could muster, "I love you so much... I'm so sorry."

Sophie couldn't help but stifle a tear as she moved to their side, stooping down to loop her arm under his free one as the pair helped him rise weakly to his one good leg. Annabelle was strong, but she never could have supported him alone. Ranger had to turn to look at the woman to his other side, surprised at how easily the woman had hoisted him up.

"Who..." He half muttered.

"This is Sophie." Annabelle said, as they gingerly started leading him to the stairs, "She's the best friend you and I are ever gonna have, sugar. I know it."

They watched in the lobby as the pair practically carried him through and back out the front door with most of the establishment's workers following after them. Sophie tossed Henry the shotgun as they went, which he promptly popped open to check the ammunition. It was the rocksalt load, which caused him to sigh in relief. Even in her anger Annabelle had gone with non-fatal gun, and that made him feel a lot better.

"I suppose we all better call it a day." The judge said, adjusting his tie confidently and starting toward the door, "Have your people contact mine, Mr. Hoyt. We'll finish this later."

Henry watched him for a second, before speaking, "I think you forgot something, Judge."

The other man paused, turning to look at him curiously. Henry made a little motion with his head towards the canine girl still on the stairs.

"She isn't safe here now." Henry continued, "Look at her. She wants to go with you."

"Come on now..." The judge said, shaking his head, "I can't just be..."

"I hate it here!" She practically screamed it, running down the stairs toward the older man and stopping just short, her hands clasped together in front of her, "I'll be punished like he was! She'll never forgive me!"

He looked back at her in surprise, "But I thought you were happy?"

"I'm happy when you're here!" She said, starting to cry now, "Please take me with you. I'll be loyal... I'll be a good girl... You'll see!"

"You'd really come with me?" he said, moving forward to put his arms on her shoulders.

"I love you, Conrad." She said, falling against him, "Please... Don't leave me here."

"Laika..."

It was the first time Henry had heard her name, and he had to smile. Laika was the first dog in space, and she was left there alone to die. It only seemed right that this Laika didn't share the same fate. She'd been alone here, changed into a world where she was exploited for empty sex, same as so many others. But this Laika wouldn't be left drifting out here in the nothingness. Not this time.

Only a few of the workers here were whores by choice. One simply couldn't expect them not to fall in love.

Soon the pair had left the building as well, and it was just Henry as he turned to face the old woman again, "Agnes. Lets never do this again."

She was seething with rage at this point, her face red from more than the bruise where she had been hit earlier, "Mark my words, Henry... This isn't over."

"You know..." Henry said, looking back at her with a smile, "One day your frail old body is going to fail. You're going to be laying on the floor crying and begging for help in a puddle of your own piss as the life drains out of you, and no one is going to come. They're just going to watch you die, for all you've done to them. I suppose that's kind of sad."

He turned to walk away, calling back to her, "Odd that picturing it in my head makes me so happy, then... Don't you think?"

"Go to hell, Henry!" She yelled at him, watching as he slipped out the door and looking around the room at the mess...

And the silence.

Everyone else had left out to the parking lot to see their fallen brother off. Everyone had left her without a second thought.

She was alone.

The drive took a lot longer this time. Sophie rode with Henry again, as neither of the trucks could have carried both her and Ranger without considerable strain. Ranger lay curled up in the bed of the old fifty four, as Annabelle slowly and carefully drove him home.

Their home, she had always thought. He hadn't been there yet, but it had always been his home.

When they pulled in to the farm there was a whole procession waiting for them. Henry had called ahead to tell them what was going on. Clairibelle was there with Charlie, his hands now bandaged up from the damage that running here had caused. Megan was there as well, along with Penelope who was their best at dealing with general first aid. She was looking a bit nervous though, as a gunshot and near overdose were a little beyond what sort of injuries she normally dealt with.

Henry dropped out of his truck and watched as Sophie and Annebelle quickly went to attend to the farm's new resident.

"Let's get him inside." Penelope said, moving over to join them, "We set up a place for him in Henry's house for now, and I need to have a look at that leg."

Those left watched as they practically dragged him into the house, before Henry sighed and turned to talk to Charlie, "Are you going to be okay to go back there? She was awful upset by the time we were done."

The Whippet shrugged, clearly not concerned, "I have three brothers, and she still can't tell us apart. It's not the first time we've played this little shell game to make her think we were all there."

"There's more of you?" Clairibelle said, giving him a little nudge with her elbow, "This little fantasy just keeps getting better."

"You are a weird chick, CB." Charlie said, though he was getting used to it now and smirking back at her.

"You don't know the half of it." Henry replied, motioning to his truck, "Come on. I'll give you a ride back."

"Actually..." Came the reply, "Would it be alright if I stayed a few days? I'd rather not leave until I know Ranger is going to be alright."

Clairibelle folded her arms, leaning to put her weight on one foot, "I'm sure Annabelle won't mind if he uses her bed. She's not going to be leaving his side, and he's practically one of the girls already."

"Sounds fine." Henry said, starting to walk toward the house and then stopping. He turned back to look at the Whippet once more, "Thank you, Charlie. I should have said that before."

"I'm pretty sure I should be thanking you, sweetie." It was a flamboyant tone, but not at all flirty. It's just who he was, "My brother's and I chose this life. He didn't. It's not right."

"No, it isn't." He said, turning to walk away again before calling back, "Speaking of which... Last I saw Laika she was riding off into the sunset with the judge. Just so you know."

"Really?" He replied, watching Henry disappear into the house before adding under his breath...

"Good girl."