Page 94 of Suncatcher

“And what’s she want with you?”

A heavy weight settled in Driz’s gut, weighing down the pie. “I do not know. But she asked me not to leave. So here I am.”

Molly puffed on her cigarette. Driz gazed at the one she held, slowly being eaten away by the fire within, a glowing red mark in the night.

Behind them, the sound of Oak descending the stairs had Driz’s wings rustling again.

“Evening, Sheriff,” Molly said, leaning back in her chair to look around at her. “Smoke?”

“No. Thanks. Feeding the wildlife, I see.”

Driz clutched the empty pie tin and the sides crumpled, curling under her oversized hands. Shame joined the pie in her stomach as she tucked her wings tighter and hurriedly tried to re-bend the rim.

“Nah, just sharing a smoke and a meal with Driz.” Molly seemed unfazed by the sheriff’s cold tone and glare, and continued to puff on her cigarette.

Oak let out a low grunt.

“How is she?” Driz asked, unable to keep the ever-burning question inside her.

Oak turned the glare on Driz, making her shrink even more. “Sleeping. As humans do at night.”

“I should do that too,” Molly said casually, holding out her hand toward Driz for the pan.

Driz handed it back, the spoon rattling and scraping against the inside. “Thank you for the pie. I am sorry about the rim.”

Molly gave her a crooked smile. “It was already bent. Sheriff.” Molly nodded and pushed back the way she had come, the wheels of her chair rumbling over the wooden planks.

Leaving a very loud silence behind her.

The only lights of town burned under eaves across the way and one down the street. And the cigarette that had reached Driz’s fingers. She crumbled it, snuffing it out and letting the bits catch in the breeze.

Oak leaned against a porch post near where Molly had been, one hand in her pocket, the other casually against her hip. Near her holster. She didn’t need to remind Driz of its presence. Driz was very aware.

“Why’d you approach Pearl?” Oak finally asked. “Why her?”

Driz shook her head, staring down at the smattering of ash on her bare, clawed feet. “Why do you humans always require reasons for every action? I did not want her to die. If that is strange, then the answer is that I am strange.”

“Did you know who she was?”

The question confused Driz. “How would I know her before I met her?”

Oak just stared at her through the dim darkness.

Despite everything and the danger Driz knew this woman was, when Driz looked at her, she saw familiarity. Oak resembled her daughter so much, it was almost comforting. Driz knew that didn’t make any sense, but she couldn’t help the feeling.

When Oak spoke again, her voice rang with a hollow tone that made the fine hairs on Driz’s wings stand on end. “Shall I tell you where she’s buried?”

“Who?”

“Where the river forks in three, two valleys to the south. She had your coloring.”

“Who is buried?” Driz was utterly lost.

But Oak didn’t answer, just pushed off the post and walked back inside, closing the door behind her.

Driz stared at the wood. Then she shoved to her feet. She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand anything. An agitation surfaced that had been building in her the past two nights with nothing to do and being unable to see Pearl.

Who was buried there?