Page 51 of Runaway Hucow

“But I reckon Spike’s got himself a different idea. He didn’t bring you here out of kindness, hucow. He aims to breed you.” Roscoe set up another piece of wood to be split. “You think Spike cares about you? All he cares about is your womb.” He hefted the ax. “I had the same idea once, a long time ago. I’m not going to let my little brother make the same mistakes I did.”

Tess didn’t stick around to watch the ax come down—she’d already turned and started running back to the barn with hot tears rolling down her cheeks—but she heard the sound of it behind her as another log was split.

Swsssh THUNK!

CHAPTER 26

It was after midnight, and the moon was full and high, washing the valley in silvered light. There was a slight breeze blowing, and the windmill rattled faintly as it spun. Off in the distance, a bison lowed, and somewhere closer, a horse whickered in response. Down by the edge of the pond where he was sleeping, Spike snored.

Tess stood on the porch, her heart thumping like a parade drum. She waited for a cloud to go scudding in front of the moon, then she darted across the yard to the barn. Her bare feet made almost no sound as they raced over the soft earth and short grass.

As soon as she was in the barn, she pressed her back against the wall and paused to catch her breath. The night air was cool, but she was already sweating. After a moment, she leaned her head past the edge of the barn door and peeked at the house.

No lights. No movement.

She was in the clear.

If, by chance, one of the bisonmen did catch her sneaking around, she already had an excuse prepared. Her original plan had been to claim that she was prone to sleepwalking, but that sounded a little too far-fetched for her taste. Instead, she would say she had come outside to use the outhouse. Why not the chamber pot? A ladylike shyness about anyone hearing her do her business. How, then, had she ended up in the barn? Well, after using the outhouse, she’d taken a brief stroll to enjoy some fresh air before returning to bed. Then she’d thought about the airship, and decided to come look at it for a bit.

Not that she could see the damn thing in all this dark.

It was a pretty thin excuse. Maybe she ought to go with the sleepwalking routine after all. Or better yet, she could just not get caught.

She moved deeper inside.

The interior of the barn was black as ink, but Tess knew where she was going. Moving slowly with her hands outstretched before her, she found the stairway by the wall and climbed it to the walkway overhead. Then she made her way down the walkway.

She kept one hand on the railing as she walked. The balloon of the great airship was beside her. She couldn’t see it, but she knew it was there, its presence palpable and somewhat disconcerting, like the presence of a whale or some other giant animal.

Soon I’ll be riding in an airship, Tess thought. But not that one..

The thought made her simultaneously happy and sad. Happy, because she now understood that this valley was not where she belonged. Sad, because she wished it was. The main problem was Roscoe. If not for him, Tess might have considered staying, but she could never picture herself coexisting with the mean alpha minotaur. Her whole life would be spent walking on eggshells around him.

Roscoe wasn’t the only problem, though.

Ever since their conversation earlier that day, Tess couldn’t stop thinking about what the alpha bisonman had told her regarding Spike’s intentions. At first, she’d tried to deny it, but the more she thought about it, the truer it seemed.

Spike had brought her here to breed her. Of course he had. There were no other hucows here in the secluded valley, and certainly no bison hucows. Spike had brought her here to make babies. That was probably the reason he was so keen on sharing her with Peyton too. The more seed that got pumped into her, the sooner she’d become pregnant. He’d told her she only had to stay for a fortnight, but he’d planned to get her knocked up well before the two weeks were over. And Tess, fool that she was, had nearly fallen for the trick. Only two days into her stay, she’d almost let the bisonman spill his seed inside her. If Roscoe hadn’t come busting in when he had…

It was rather ironic. The bisonman she liked the least had been the one who had saved her from making a permanent mistake.

Not that the idea of getting knocked up by Spike was repulsive. On the contrary, most hucows would probably jump at the chance. He was handsome. He was strong. He knew all the right ways to touch a hucow. And all those same things were true for Peyton as well.

But Tess wasn’t interested in being anyone’s broodmare.

It just wasn’t what she wanted.

About halfway down the walkway, Tess paused. It was a sound that stopped her. A faint sound of creaking metal. Was that a door hinge, perhaps? She strained her ears, listening for any subsequent sounds—a door shutting, for example, or the clomping of hooves—but all she could hear now was the gentle sighing of the breeze outside.

Tess told herself she’d only imagined the sound, but it did little to calm her pounding heart or smooth out the goosebumps that were now lining her arms and legs.

She continued down the walkway.

Soon, she sensed herself nearing the end of the barn. She moved away from the railing and carefully patted her hand along the wall until she found the dial to control the electric light. Twisting it all the way would fill the bulb with current, causing the filament to incandesce brightly. Tess twisted the dial only a little, and the bulb glowed softly, no brighter than an ember. It would not be readily visible from outside the barn, but it provided just enough light for her to see what she was doing.

The telegraph machine lay on the desk before her. A few messages had come through since supper time, and she took a moment to review the ticker tape. Delayed travel plans. The cancellation of a business deal. The death of a loved one, stated briefly to save money. Tess felt a little guilty reading those messages. It was a bit like peeking into someone’s back window or snooping through their mail, but she understood why the bisonmen considered it necessary to do so. Protecting the secrecy of the valley took precedence over everything else.

There was nothing among the recent messages that she needed to warn the bisonmen about. No indication of anyone traveling close to the secluded valley. And, Tess was happy to note, no messages regarding a runaway hucow recently escaped from Crooked Valley.