Page 2 of The Healer and the Wolf, Part One

2

VANESSA

“ M udpie, Goober, Fork, I’m home!” I called as I stepped into my small place. While it wasn’t spacious, with only one bedroom and a bathroom on the top floor, I loved it because it was mine.

Ever since I’d moved out of my aunt’s house when I was sixteen, I’d lived in rooms for rent, and even a dorm for a short time. When I’d found a rental listing for a whole house within my budget, I’d called so fast I was surprised my cheap phone hadn’t spontaneously combust. Sure, it meant I had about a forty-minute commute on my bike to the grocery store just on the lip between the ’burbs and the country, but it was worth it. I had my own kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, half-bath below the stairs, and a bedroom. Would an attic or basement be nice? Sure. But beggars couldn’t be choosers, and I was so happy about my little shack.

“Where are my babies?” I called as I walked to the kitchen and set my bag down. I could hear my three cats racing down the stairs to meet me as soon as I came, but sometimes I liked to play up being a bit dramatic with my pseudo-children. “I slave away all day, but you don’t care, do you, you furry booties?”

Finally, the first of my cats rounded the corner, Tokyo-drifting in an impressive arc as he slid onto the tile. That was Fork, my orange-flavored cat and resident chaos goblin with a single orange eye to match the rest of him. He was definitely on kitty meth, and I had yet to find whatever mouse was supplying him, because he was a force of unpredictability and destruction on his own.

Next came Goober. Not my favorite name for a cat, and it didn’t match the giant, gray Maine Coon at all, but I’d adopted him from a rescue when he was two and thought it would be rude to change it that late in the game. He was about as chill as chill could be and came up to rub against my leg in greeting.

“Aww, I love you, too, baby. Just for that, extra soup for you.” That was a joke—I wasn’t feeding my kitties Campbells—but he purred, nonetheless.

Lastly came Mudpie, my tortoiseshell calico with all the tortie-tude one could imagine. She was a princess—no, a queen —and she knew it. She liked to make sure everyone else knew it as well.

“Your Majesty,” I said with a bow before finally crossing to the cabinet. I got out a can of cat food and went about divvying it up. I’d give them some dry food in a couple of hours, too, but my kitties were picky enough that if I served them together, they wouldn’t eat at all.

Some would say I spoiled my cats—I did—but I didn’t care. My cats were pretty much all the family I had left, and if people thought it was strange I valued them like that, well, that was their issue, not mine.

With the cats taken care of, I went about clearing out my pack and reloading the flare gun. Then I changed out of my clothes, grabbed a cheese stick, and went out to the garden.

We weren’t in the thick of it, when the greenery went wild and I had to harvest multiple baskets every day, but it was beginning to ramp up. With any luck, I’d have enough for a full dinner along with my chicken of the woods, then my meal would be entirely free apart from the rice.

Being in the garden was probably my favorite part of the day, outside of hanging out with my cats, and I lingered as I walked through my beans and greens. It was still early enough in the season that I didn’t have to worry about anything bolting besides my spinach, which was often attitudinal depending on which variety I was using.

But I could only dawdle so long, even though I loved the life and inherent magic within the garden, and then it was back inside to do some chores and get everything I needed for the next day, since I had an eight-hour shift. I really needed to buy a new pair of work pants so I didn’t have to wash them so often, but it wasn’t in my budget at the moment. Spring and summer were usually my chance to save up since I didn’t have to run my heat, but there had been a surprise cold snap the month before that had stopped me from seeing much of that savings. Maybe next month, as long as I didn’t run my AC too much, though I only used that when sleeping.

I also had to hope the secondhand washer and dryer I’d gotten off Facebook Marketplace wouldn’t suddenly stop working. It was a skinny unit, with them stacked on top of each other, but it was so much better than biking into the city to use the laundromat. That was the risk of thrifting pretty much everything I owned, but I’d rather have secondhand than nothing at all. Besides, I liked to think I was giving everything a second life. Another chance to be loved and valued.

Did I wish I had a car or land I could truly call my own? Did I wish I didn’t have to bust my ass in a dead-end grocery job just to stay afloat? Or that I didn’t have to budget so strictly that even buying a new pair of work pants was something I had to carefully consider? Yeah, of course. But that didn’t stop me from being incredibly grateful for what I did have. I’d worked hard for it, and I’d come so far from that fateful night when I’d watched everything I knew and loved burn to the ground.

By the time I’d settled into bed, I was outright exhausted, though that was how I ended most my days. As I put my long, wavy hair into my bonnet and pulled up the covers, I couldn’t help but think about that wolf.

I hoped it was okay.

“Excuse me, miss?”

I looked up from the flavored waters I was front facing. An older gentleman stood next to me with one of the smaller carts meant for people who only wanted to pick up a few things. Considering how expensive groceries were, that was becoming more and more people.

“Yes?” I asked, grinning broadly. Tiffany wasn’t scheduled, so I was having a great day. It sucked how much she could influence an entire shift, but it was it was.

“I’m looking for Frozen Coffee Rich .”

Frozen Coffee Rich? I’d never heard of it, but the name gave me a pretty important context clue.

“Ah! Everything frozen is kept in our frozen section in the corner of the store.”

“It’s not there.” The man said it with such fierceness, you’d think I’d suggested he slap his grandchild.

I blinked, taken aback, and blurted exactly what I was thinking. “Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure. I checked twice.”

I had no idea what to say. My area of expertise was the fruit and vegetable section of the store while Carlton was the expert in frozen, and Tiffany, the closest thing I had to a nemesis, had dairy. Although we didn’t get along, we made a great team.

“If you’d like, I can walk over there with you and find it.”

The man puffed up again like I had suggested some sort of act of violence against his family. Jeez, was he having a bad day or what? I hated when people took it out on me, and as much as I tried to empathize, sometimes it was just so out of pocket.

“Why don’t you just do your job and find out where Frozen Coffee Rich is?”

I breathed in. I breathed out. I liked to think I wasn’t a violent person, but the temptation to deck the little old man was palpable. I didn’t, however, because I needed my job, so instead I nodded tersely.

“I’ll go get a manager.”

It wasn’t a long walk to the manager’s office, where I knew I would find Chuck, but I took my sweet time. Once I popped my head in, I relayed the conundrum.

“I’m pretty sure that Frozen Coffee Rich is kept in the frozen section,” the middle-aged man said, a heavy sigh quickly following his words. It might have been just me, but Frozen Coffee Rich was beginning to sound like a random jumble of sounds rather than actual words with meaning.

“That’s what I told him, but he won’t believe me.”

“All right, I’ll take him there without telling him we’re going to frozen. But while you’re here, I need to update you on something.”

“Oh?” Were we getting a new shipment in? Did he need me to pick up overtime? I’d taken the next week off, so I could use the extra funds to make up for it.

I wasn’t going anywhere, but I had some big projects to do on the corner of land I was renting, and it would be nice to have a physical and mental break from biking to and from work.

“I’m afraid I have to cancel your request for time off.”

“What?” I blurted, my mouth moving faster than my brain again. “But it was already approved!” I’d made sure to get the request in two months ahead of time.

“Look, we have a massive restock coming in for the holidays, and we need all hands on deck.”

“I’m sorry, but I already made plans,” I said, trying to put all the steel into my voice I could. Sure, my manager didn’t know that I was having a little staycation, but he didn’t need to.

“That may be, but I need to ask you to move them around. Remember our conversation yesterday? That point still stands. I need you to be a team player, especially if you’re ever looking to move into management.”

I bit my tongue, wanting to tell him where to shove it while also knowing I very much couldn’t. Technically, it wouldn’t hurt to bump my time off to a week later, and I could use the extra money from working overtime.

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“That’s my girl,” Chuck said with a grin and headed out. “You’re a lifesaver.”

I grumbled under my breath, but it didn’t really matter. What was done was done, and I would just have to live with it.

Still, I was rather glum for the rest of my shift and just went through the motions. Thankfully, I wasn’t approached by the Frozen Coffee Rich guy again, and hopefully I wouldn’t be, because yikes. By the time my shift ended, I was happy to bike home and be in my own little world, away from the demands of everything else.

As I passed by the same place I’d stopped the other day, my thoughts went to the wolf. Was it okay? Was it even alive? I wished the rangers could have gotten to it before it disappeared. It really was a shame to lose such a majestic wild animal, even if that was part of the circle of life and all that.

For the rest of my ride, I daydreamed about what the life of a wolf must be like. After locking my bike to the stair rail outside my door and throwing the battered blue tarp over it, I headed inside.

“Mudpie, Goober, Fork, I’m home!” I called in my normal greeting, and just like every other day, I heard them jump down from their favorite cat-watching spots and rush down the stairs.

The routine was comforting, and I fell into it as I fed my cats, then changed and went about my business. It was relaxing and helped me forget about the troubles of work.

Being home cheered me up enough that I was whistling when I went out to the garden. My cheerful whistling, however, came to a screeching halt when I saw the giant wolf outside my greenhouse door.