Page 49 of Sanctuary
"That your baby?" the man asked Ori in a pointed tone.
"Yes," Ori snapped and clutched her tighter. "Her Ma died, I'm moving home with my aunt to look after her."
"Walking?" The human still seemed suspicious.
Patton took a step closer and peered in the window. "Car broke down and it wasn't worth fixing. Sold it to someone for a hundred bucks, but it wasn't enough for two bus tickets."
The man snorted a derisive laugh. "Yeah, they charge you through the nose don't they? Well, get in. I'm not going all the way to Memphis, but I can get you a little closer. You need to borrow a phone to let your folks know you're held up?"
Patton shook his head. "They know. But thanks." He opened the passenger door of the truck and let Ori climb in, then got in after him. He hoped the baby would be fine for a couple of hours--Ori'd just fed her before they'd struck back out to the road.
Ori himself still looked wary, but he was exhausted too, and while his body stayed tense, he smiled at the man in thanks and cradled the baby close.
They drove a few minutes, the silence filled only by the rumble of the engine and the faint twang of country music coming from the speakers, and then the human spoke. "Baby got a name?"
Ori threw him a cautious look, then said, "Not yet. It's been kind of crazy. Can’t make up my mind what to call her."
The man nodded. "How old is she?"
"A week."
The man whistled. "I'm sorry to hear that." He gave them a sympathetic look. "That's gonna be tough. Good thing you got family to help out. Where's your aunt live?"
"North of the city, near the shifter enclave. She's got a little farm there and a spare room we can stay in." Patton listened in awe as Ori's storytelling skills wove a tale of young love and tragedy and he had to be careful not to let his mouth hang open in bemusement.
By the time Ori was done, the human was staring intently out the windshield as if it held the answer to the meaning of the universe. He casually wiped a hand beneath one eye and sniffed. "Well, I'm sorry to hear all that. Tell you what, my brother's a trucker and while I'm not going that far, he might be able to put you in touch with someone going in that direction. We'll stop off in the next gas station and I'll give him a call for you."
"Oh, no, we couldn't--" Ori began, but the man waved him down.
"Don't you worry. Not too often a chance to do some good in the world falls in your lap." He smiled down at the baby, still peacefully sleeping. "You just look after that little one and make sure she remembers her Ma when she grows up."
Patton stifled a hysterical laugh, but Ori nodded solemnly at the advice. "Thank you."
The human nodded toward the road. "I'll pull in there."
Ori’s arms tightened around the baby he stared out the windshield in a way that anyone but Patton would have thought was casual interest. Patton, having known Ori all his life, could tell that Ori was looking the place over to see if it was a threat. Not necessarily a bad idea, but Patton didn’t think that their driver or the gas station needed the strict attention that Ori was giving it. Patton put a hand on his arm and squeezed, but the tension in Ori's body only loosened a little.
They stopped next to the fuel pumps and the human got out. "Be back in a minute," he said, and disappeared. They heard noises from the back of the truck and then a liquid hissing noise that it took Patton a bit to recognize as fuel going into the tank of the truck. It sounded different from the hand pump at home.
Patton dug around in his pockets and came up with a five dollar bill. "You want a chocolate bar?" he said, trying to coax a smile out of Ori. "We're almost there. I think we can celebrate a little."
Ori turned toward him, lines of anxiety marring his usual happy expression. "No, I... Please don't leave me." He pressed his lips together and looked away. "I don't know why I'm so nervous. I suppose it's the baby." He looked down at their daughter. "It's okay. I can be brave."
"You are brave. But you're probably right. We should probably save it, just in case." Patton squeezed his arm in support, then twisted in his seat to find their driver. "He's on the phone now."
"You're sure he doesn't know?" Ori turned to follow the direction of Patton's gaze.
"I think we'd know by now," Patton said. "He doesn't smell like someone who's lying. What’s got you so jumpy?"
"Would we know?" Ori turned back around and leaned back with his eyes closed. "Forget I said that. I'm just tired. I wish we were there already. I just…" He opened his eyes again and looked down at the baby. “It’s stupid, but I keep imagining someone running off with her and when I’m not scared to death, I want to tear them to shreds with my fangs.”
"No one’s getting our little girl, ever. I’m seriously considering not letting her have a boyfriend until she’s at least forty.” That won him a snort of laughter from Ori, and a little less tension in his mate’s shoulders. “Look how close we are, it won’t be long now." Patton wished he dared kiss Ori, but he wasn't sure how the humans would react. And their position right now as shifters illegally outside walls was delicate enough, he didn't want to push their already stretched luck any farther, in case it snapped.
Their human driver jumped back into his seat. "Okay, there's a fellow with a bread truck who's going to stop here to fill the shelves, then he's heading back to Memphis. He'll take you that far. By then, my brother will have found someone who's going north and he'll set the connection up for you." The human grinned. "And if you're still looking for names, my mum was called Willie Mae and my granny was Rose. They were both beautiful and smart and funny and we loved them to death." He put the truck in gear and pulled away. "You want to get anything from the store before we go?"
Ori smiled at the human then glanced at Patton. "Maybe a chocolate bar?”
Patton opened his door and hopped out. “Sounds like a good idea.” He helped his mate down onto the pavement, extracted their bags, and then, in a sudden rush of gratitude reached out to shake the human’s hand. “Thanks for all your help.”
