Page 5 of Buck Wild Orc Cowboy
Max and I shared a look that was one part nervousness and two parts hope before we followed.
Let this be the place. Please. No more locks on bathroom doors or practiced stories for the school counselor. Just flour and sun and mornings that smelled like bread.
Let us vanish here the right way, into living instead of fear.
Chapter 2
Sel
They followed me up onto the boardwalk and along it, toward the saloon.
Holly Engle. Small, though I found all humans tiny. Sunset-hair. Brown eyes as sharp as stone. Stiff shoulders. Hands tight at her sides. No, not just tight. They were clenched like she was half a second from throwing them up in front of the boy. Not to stop something, but to take what was coming. Like she’d done it before.
What had happened to them in the past?
The youngling male walked with her, his wild eyes taking in everything around him. Aboy. I needed to remember the right term. Humans didn't call their children younglings like we did.
Boyhadn’t been in her message.
I’d reread her text twice after I got it. “I accept the offer. I’ll be there in a few days – Holly.” Not a word of “and my youngling too.”
Not naming him felt like a shield. Had she written her message with someone reading over her shoulder?
My stomach pinched at the thought.
Max held himself stiffly, though I didn’t sense fear. He was thin, all knees and elbows. He held a book in his hand even as he studied the street. The too-bright tourists. Even the sorhoxes shuffling their clawed hooves nearby. Glasses too big for his face. He looked like her. Same gaze. Same way of staying quiet that felt louder than talking, though I wasn't sure how I knew all this from such a short interaction.
I paused on the boardwalk to allow a group of tourists to pass, tipping my hat toward them the way my older brother, Dungar, told us to do. Said tourists loved seeing old-fashioned cowboy gestures, and we did want to make our visitors happy.
Holly and Max walked beside me, staying near the building wall, watching everything with wide eyes. Max tilted his chin up at me in a challenge or maybe a question. Either way, I looked away first. Tucked my thoughts into the space behind my chest and locked the door.That one’s not for you, Sel.
“It’ll clear out in a bit,” I said, glancing Holly’s way. “By the way, I'm your new boss.” Silly to mention that when she must know. I’d introduced myself.
“Yes, that’s good. We’re…happy to be here, right Max?” She put her arm around his back, and the pride in her eyes when she looked at him hit me in the guts like a well-placed sorhox hoof, stealing my wind. I forced some down my throat despite the wheeze.
Max continued to stare at me, saying nothing.
The big group passed, and I gave them a nod and started walking again. “Your room is inside the saloon. On the second floor. One room.” Which could be a problem.
I tightened my grip on their bags. They followed, their steps right behind mine. I heard fabric rustle, then a hitch in Max’s steps. She’d pulled him in close, like the press of tourists brushing against them wasn’t just annoying, it was a threat. I peered over my shoulder. Her elbow skimmed his arm, and shekept her hand ready, the kind of ready that didn’t come from nerves but habit.
I was gaining lots of clues from our limited interactions, but I wasn’t sure yet what they all meant.
We passed more tourists along the boardwalk, loud and laughing. A bunch of city people in newly purchased prairie dresses, cowboy vests, plus stiff boots with spurs that had never seen a real trail in their life. Their spurs clinked on the boards, and I'd bet anything they thought they were starring in a streaming image.Movie.That was the actual term.
I baked bread. Pastries. Cookies. Pies for the restaurant partway down the street. I didn't get out much. Talk much. Interact with humans much outside the bakery.
As I opened the right swinging door to the saloon and waited for Holly and Max to step inside, a little girl stopped on the boardwalk and pointed at me. “Mama, look. That’s a real orc.”
The woman laughed. “He sure is, honey. Take a picture!”
I smiled politely while she did, then followed Holly and Max inside.
The Red Fang Saloon was bright and full of noise. Tourists drank root beer and regular beer from authentic, branded mugs. The bar stretched along the right wall, run by my brother, Ostor, today. He waved when we walked in. Behind him, a small kitchen door stayed propped open. The place smelled like roasted ashenbird and deep fried cragroot, specials on today's menu.
When we built the place, we placed the stairs along the left back wall, and they curved up to the second and third floors. I kept close to the wall as I led the way, making sure to take it slow. They followed me up the broad staircases and into the long, carpeted hall that was empty of anyone else for now.
On the third floor, I led them all the way to the end and their room. “I didn’t know you had a youngling—boy—with you.”I kept my eyes trained on the doorknob instead of her. “Right now, we only have one room available.”
