I say nothing, but Katherine looks like she’s about to cry. The sheriff has taken every opportunity to insult us and remind us of the circumstance of our dark skin, and I’d like nothing more than to tell him what I think. I can take down a pack of shamblers like nobody’s business. I am clever and can work my way out of any bad situation. I know I am more than my skin color. But there’s nothing to be gained by an outburst right now. I need to get the lay of the land and figure out how to get myself a few hundred miles east in one piece.
“Oh, and one last thing,” the sheriff says as the door opens behind us. “You step out of line and you’ll find yourself swiftly reminded of your place.”
A tall white boy wearing a bowler, a blue waistcoat, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms pushes past me and Katherine. The sheriff looks at him and puffs on his cigarette. “’Bout time. This one says she ain’t colored. I need you to measure her up. And you can use the other one as a test subject for your new experiment.”
“Sheriff, how many times do I have to ask that you send them down to the lab? I can’t do anything here, and it takes a while to distill the vaccine.” The boy turns around and I realize he’s older than I first thought, maybe early twenties, with stubble darkening his cheeks. He ain’t handsome, but there’s something indescribably appealing about his face. He’s pale—not sickly, but like he doesn’t get out in the sun much. His dark brows are pulled together in a scowl, and his muddy hazel eyes dart around the room like he’s calculating . . . something. There’s an intelligence there that draws me in. I don’t much mind looking at him, even though he’s probably a rat bastard, since he’s working with the sheriff.
The sheriff, for his part, just continues to puff on his cigarette. “Fine, take them to that hole of yours. I don’t need your back talk.”
“Of course.” The boy’s words are clipped. He might still be a bastard, but I’d wager he doesn’t like the lawman too much, which maybe counts for something.
The sheriff doesn’t seem to detect the tone, though. He kicks his feet up onto the desk, leaning back in his chair with a smile. “Welcome to Summerland, girls. Try not to die before I can replace ya.”
Jane, I hope that while you are away you are keeping in mind all the things that I have taught you. We live in very troubling times, but that is still no excuse not to be a lady. Always mind your manners!
Chapter 18In Which My Reputation Is Slandered
As the nameless boy turns to me and Katherine, his expression softens. “Would you ladies please follow me? I’ll need to take you to my lab.”
Before I can exit, the fellow behind me gives me a none-too-gentle shove with the barrel of his gun, and I turn and give him my best side-eye. “Sir, please refrain from the liberal use of your rifle. Otherwise, I will show you some creative places to put it.”
The man just gives me a gap-toothed grin full of malice, and we make our way out of the sheriff’s office and back onto the boardwalk, the pale, dark-haired boy leading the way. As he walks, his left foot drags a little. I wonder how he got such a limp, if he was born with it or if something bad happened to him when he was young. I reckon we all have our childhood scars, whether we wear them on the outside or not.
The man behind me shoves me with the rifle barrel again, this time causing me to stumble. I catch myself against the front of the general store as he chuckles.
“What are you gonna do? Nothing, that’s what, you uppity darkie. You ain’t in no position to be giving me any lip.”
I smile sweetly at him as a black temper sweeps over me, all of the indignities of the past few days coalescing into a dark cloud that erases all thought. Then I center myself and, quick as you please, drop into a crouch and whip around to sweep his legs out from under him. Once he’s on the ground I kick him in the side before placing my knee on his throat. All of this happens in less than a rabbit’s heartbeat.
As he gurgles and flails I lean in close. “Right now, sir, with my knee on your throat, I am in the perfect position to counsel you on your bad manners. A lesson to be learned: Lady Fortune is as fickle as they come. And in a land full of shamblers you’d best not test my good nature, you hear me? You never know when you’ll end up with the bite.”
The sound of a revolver cocking is deafening next to my ear. “Miss, would you please get off of Bill? I’m afraid he’s the sheriff’s cousin, and the sheriff would be quite upset if anything happened to him.”
I glance back to see the pale boy above us, the lovely Colt in his hand pointed straight at my head. I give him my sweetest smile and climb to my feet. “Of course.” I even bob a little curtsy.
The boy puts his revolver away, tucking it back into the holster that hangs low on his hips. “And, Bill, please show some restraint. These ladies are trained in the art of killing the dead. I know you haven’t heard of Miss Preston’s, but the girls from that school are well respected. They are a far cry from the Negroes we get from the Southern enclaves. It would be a small matter for them
