Her father.
NINETEEN
When Little Will opened her eyes, Packy's tired face was looking back at her. It was just like after the crash. She reached out her hand and touched Packy's. The boss elephant man squinted at her. "Little Will?"
Her mouth was dry and she wet her lips with her tongue. "Packy." She squeezed his hand as another face came into view. "Pete."
Shiner Pete knelt on the floor next to the sleeping cushions. "How'do you feel?"
Little Will closed her eyes and thought. For some reason, the question wasn't an easy one to answer. Her eyes opened and she smiled. "Hungry. How's Reg?"
Packy nodded. "In the pink."
She frowned first at Packy then at Pete. "You two are up."
Packy snorted and looked at Pete. "I guess you're right, Pete. You got yourself a real fortune teller in this girl."
"The last I remember, I was up and you two were flat in the sack."
Packy raised his eyebrows and looked into her eyes. "You mean the time you struggled out of your sickbed for the sole purpose of kicking poor old Packy's ass?"
Little Will's face grew hot. She nodded. Shiner Pete took her other hand and held it. "That was five months ago."
"Five months."
"It's Payday, the fifth of Layup."
Little Will pulled upon the hands that held hers until she was in a sitting position. The effort made her stomach swim. "I want to go to the kraal and see Reg. Then to the lake. I just want to scrub myself until I bleed, then stretch out in the sun. And food. Mountains of food."
Pete reached back and his hand returned holding a cup of cold broth. Little Will's lips eagerly sought the cups's edge, and she quickly took a large swallow. About to take another, she frowned. "I... I think I'm full."
Packy laughed and shook his head. "Your stomach's shrunked down to the size of a pea. You'll be able to eat more later."
She took a tiny sip of the broth, choked it down, then returned the cup to Pete. As Pete replaced the cup, she looked at Packy. "If it's Layup, then there's only a few weeks until The Season."
"That's right. Still nobody's going to Tarzak 'cause of the bug. But we've been building stands here in Miira. By the Boolabong, Little Will, we got us a Great Ring right here in Miira."
Little Will frowned as she tried to remember something. "I had a dream. Ming. I was in Tarzak, and Ming... Ming's dead." She looked at Pete.
"We haven't heard anything like that. Goofy Joe was through just yesterday, and he didn't say anything about Ming being exed."
She placed her hands on Packy's and Pete's shoulders. "Help me up. I want to see Reg."
Pete took her hand and reached beneath her left shoulder, pulling her to her feet as he stood. She looked down at the boss elephant man. "Packy?"
He smiled and shrugged. "Pete'll help you up to the kraal. My legs; they don't work so good. Cookie Jo'll be by in a bit to help me out."
Horror crossed Little Will's face. "Did it... is it because I kicked—"
Packy laughed and shook his head. "Hell no, girl. You were so weak you couldn't've killed a fly with that kick." He pointed in the direction of the kraal. "Robber got spooked by a storm about two months ago and she walked around on me a bit. I always said Robber was a pain in the ass, but..." He shrugged and held out his hands.
"Packy, your still boss elephant man?"
He nodded. "You're damned right I am. And you better get your act together fast, snippit, 'cause we got another road to do. We're cutting through to the Miira-Kuumic Road from Porse. It'll take almost three days travel off the trip from White Top Mountain to Tarzak." He frowned. "I suppose Kraut's gonna try and pay us off again with those damned BB's of Mootch's. But I guess as long as they buy things in Tarzak—"
"BB's? The road gang was paid off for the mountain road with BB's?"
Packy sighed as his eyebrows went up. "Like the man once said to me, 'If I was smart, I'd be in the treasury wagon.' "
Little Will shook her head as Pete helped her out of the door. "All that for a handful of BB's."
Pete laughed. "Hey, we got bags of 'em—thousands—for the job. And we've already paid off the Sina fishers with 'em, and iron from Kuumic—"
"BB's!" Little Will glanced at Pete. "Mootch Movill must have billions of those things. I love you, my man, but with your brains you could be a bullhand too. BB's!"
Shiner Pete shook his head and helped his wife up the incline to the kraal.
By Put Up of The Season the fifth, Little Will and Pete put on a feed for Waxy and Mange to mark the occasion. Packy and Cookie Jo couldn't be there. Packy was down again with the bug and Cookie Jo was caring for him. There would be a Season in Miira. A lot of people didn't have the bug; but there would be a pall on the event. A lot of people did have the bug; for the third and fourth time. Dot the Pot was also in bed.
As Little Will and Pete brought the food to the table, Waxy and Mange sat upon their cushions. Waxy spoke without looking at Mange. "You looked at Dot yet?"
Mange grinned and nodded his head. "I looked at her." Waxy's eyebrows went up and he faced the vet. "Well?" Mange's grin disappeared and he shook his head. "I don't see any way around it, Waxy."
Waxy looked at the table and sighed. "Damn. That woman's strong as a damned bull!" He shook his head. "Never thought the bug'd get her." "It didn't."
Waxy frowned at Mange. "Headaches, cramps, dizzyness—if it's not the bug, what is it?"
Mange plucked a tungberry off of a plate and popped it into his mouth. "Dot's pregnant." He chewed on the fruit, swallowed it, then faced Waxy with an impassive expression. "We know what causes that, now."
Waxy stood and ran from the room into the street. Mange looked up at Little Will. "I'm sorry about that. It looks like only dinner for three."
Little Will grinned as she dropped onto her cushion and faced the vet. "Mange, are you sure?"
The vet nodded. "It's nice to hand out news like that once in awhile. I bet Waxy is crowing his way around the planet right now." He chuckled once, then his expression grew somber as Pete took his place at the table. "Everything you two told me has checked out. When Goofy Joe came through Miira last time, he told about them planning to rebuild the Great Ring in Tarzak out of cut stone. That, and Ming is dead. They don't know the cause. Goofy Joe came straight here after he found out, so there's no other way you could have known. This means that you two can use your thoughts the way you said you could. It's not brain damage."
Pete nodded. "Well, that's good news—as far as it goes."
Little Will frowned as she munched upon a tungberry. "When we were both sick, we tried to contact one of those monsters we saw before in the Great Muck Swamp. Pete couldn't get to its thoughts, but I think I did."
Mange's eyebrows went up. "And?"
Little Will shrugged. "I can't explain it. It felt me, and... and it was surprised. Just surprised. It was curious in a way, until I spoke to it. Then it just ran off into the swamp screaming like a little kid."
Mange chuckled. "I bet you scared the eggs out of the thing."
Pete and Little Will laughed. Pete pointed toward the door with his thumb. "Where's Butterfingers?"
Mange shook his head. "It looks like he's got the bug, too." Mange snorted. "At least I don't have tungberry pits all over the table."
Pete frowned. "He doesn't like the pits?"
Mange shook his head. "He likes the sweet part, but that sour shot from the pits he hates."