“Should I put in some cans of soup?” Shelley asked.

“Nothing we need to cook or heat in order to eat,” Jesse snapped in reply. She set her full crates by the door, then went into the back room and returned with a daypack, her rifle, and two boxes of ammunition.

Shelley’s eyes widened. “Jesse?”

“You got that crate filled? Then go grab your purse and be back here in five minutes. I mean it, Shelley. Five minutes. Then we head out.”

“Head out where?”

“Clock’s ticking.” Hide the puppies. Hide the children. The words were a whip that wouldn’t relent until she obeyed.

The alarm bell stopped ringing. Jesse walked to the middle of the street and looked at the people who were waiting for an explanation. “We have to evacuate. A cassandra sangue called me to give warning.” And I don’t know what it cost Meg Corbyn to give that warning.

“What’s the warning, Jesse?” Phil Mailer asked.

“Death. Traps. Fire. It’s coming for us.” Maybe already found some of us.

Couldn’t think about that.

Billy Rider had taken a wagon and team of horses from the livery stable and drove up to the general store. “Tried to get hold of Tobias,” he told Jesse. “Tom Garcia said some kind of miniature twister tore up a bit of fence and spooked the horses, so the men are out rounding them up. I told him about the alarm. He said he’s staying at the ranch, but he’ll be on the lookout for trouble and will ring the bell there if he sees anything. Ellen Garcia is driving in to meet up with you. She’ll bring her kids and any terra indigene youngsters she spots on the way.”

Wasn’t likely that Ellen would find many terra indigene youngsters that far from their settlement without any adults nearby, but every warning was better than none.

Prairie Gold’s small bus and the minivan that served as a taxi pulled up.

“Stop dawdling and get on the damn bus,” Jesse snapped at Shelley and Abigail Burch. “We have got to move.” She pointed at the taxi. “Swing around that end of town and pick up whoever you can. The bus will head toward the hills and pick up the folks at that end.”

Phil Mailer stepped in front of her. “Who else can I contact? I’ll send out messages until the wires go down. You’ve had the most experience with the terra indigene, so you need to go. But some of us are going to stay. This is our town, our home. These buildings are packed to the rafters with supplies that we need to see us through the next year. I’m not letting some yahoos burn us out.”

Murmurs of agreement from other men.

“Go on now, Jesse. Go and do what you can for all of us.”

Nothing to say to that, so she climbed onto the wagon seat beside Billy Rider and led the women and children into the hills—and wondered if there would be anything left when they returned.

• • •

Joe howled, then waited for a response. He howled again. <Answer me! I am leader of this pack!>

He heard the Song of Battle and ran in that direction.

<Joe! Stop!>

Joe slowed to a trot. <Tolya?>

<It’s a trap! Meg Corbyn saw and called Jesse Walker. It’s a trap for the pack.>

His ribs tightened and he struggled to breathe. <Why would Meg see prophecy about us?>

<Does it matter why? She sent the warning. Joe, come back. Jesse Walker is going to take all the young to the hiding place you arranged in the hills. The town is in danger too. You need to come back.>

<I have to stop the pack before the bad happens. You take care of the town. Send on the warning to whoever you can.>

Having made his choice, Joe ran hard and fast to find the pack before the humans sprang the trap.

CHAPTER 33

Firesday, Juin 22

Vlad rushed into the sorting room, then stopped when he caught the stink of vomit that almost overwhelmed the scent of Meg’s blood.

“What . . . ?” Simon stopped beside him. “Nathan heard a phone ringing just after he stopped the Robert from running into the street. Jake heard it too.”

Vlad stared at the razor on the table. “Go after Meg. I’ll try to find out who called.”

“She didn’t speak.” Simon wrinkled his nose and took a step away from the vomit. “She saw the visions.”

“She’s scared sick. You have to find her before she gets hurt.”

Simon pulled off his clothes and tossed them aside. Then he shifted to Wolf and ran out of the Liaison’s Office.

Vlad pulled a section of newspaper out of the recycling crate and dropped it over the vomit. He would clean up the mess later. Right now, they needed answers.

As he reached for the telephone, Pete Denby stormed into the room.

“Gods above and below! I know they were playing where they weren’t supposed to, but they’re just kids, and I was coming down to deal with it. Did Nathan have to throw Robert to the ground like that? The kids are terrified.”

“The next time we won’t stop your pup from running into the street,” Vlad snapped. “Don’t leave your young by themselves until they’ve learned to avoid the things that will kill them.”

Pete drew in a breath, then made a face. In that moment, Vlad saw the man replace the father.

“What happened?”

“Don’t know yet, but Meg is running scared. Is there a way to find out who called her, or is that something only the police can do?”

“There’s a way unless she placed a call afterward. Then you would need the police to get records from the telephone company.” Pete joined Vlad at the counter and pointed to a small button beneath the others on the phone. “I would try ‘redial’ first and see what you get.”