Above the door was a sign with “The Foxglove” written in orange bubble letters with the finalecurving into a puffy fox tail.In planters on either side of the door were bright pink, white, and yellow foxglove bells in full bloom.
Inside, a stout woman stood behind the desk decorated with more faux-stone.Behind her, the walls were golden oak wooden paneling, and several framed watercolor paintings of foxes were on display.
“You all look like you could certainly use a rest, so I assume you are here for a room,” the woman said, greeting us with a warm smile.
“Yes,” Boden said as he approached the front desk.“I don’t know exactly how payment works here, but I was hoping to find enough beds for four adults.”
“Well, we can certainly help you here,” she assured us.“My name is Jannifer Campbell, and here in Xwechtáal, we work on a barter system.Right now at Foxglove, the things we need the most are silver, ammunition of any kind, fresh meat, especially deer, elk, or moose, chanterelle mushrooms, wild plums, kerosene, batteries of any kind, and books, although the value really depends on the book.We are completely stocked up on copies of the Bible, the Qur’an, and Dan Brown.”
Boden frowned.“Unfortunately, we don’t have any of that right now.Is there anything else we can do?”
“Of course!”Jannifer smiled.“There are always options.You wouldn’t happen to have any…” She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice.“Alcohol, marijuana, opiates, or grinleaf?”
“I’m not sure what grinleaf is, but I know I don’t have any of the others,” Boden said with an apologetic smile.
“We can always use any kind of medicinals,” Jannifer went on, speaking at a normal tone again.“Bandages, antibiotics, ointments, anything like that.”
Boden looked back over his shoulder at Edie, who was in charge of our medical supplies.They exchanged a look that I couldn’t quite read.
“Anything else?”Edie asked, as opposed to directly denying that we had any of those things.
“Well, I’m personally looking for the third book in the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K.Jemsin, if you have that on hand,” Jannifer said.Then she brightened slightly and touched her wrist.“Oh!I broke my watch last week.If any of you have a working watch, I’d be happy to barter that.”
Leandro stepped forward, unhooking the timepiece on his wrist.“What would we get for this?”
Jannifer let out a low whistle.“For that?I’ll give you four beds for… three nights.”
“We only need one or two nights,” Boden said.
“Well, I can’t really make change for a watch,” Jannifer said.
Leandro brushed her off.“It’s fine.Can we get a room to rest in?”
“Yes, of course.”Jannifer turned around and grabbed a key off the corkboard on the backwall.When she looked back, she seemed to notice Fae, who still wrapped on my back.
“Oh, you’ve got a little one?”she asked, her voice brightening and her eyes widening with astonishment.“It’s been too long since I’ve seen a baby.”
Jannifer leaned in, her face softening.“She’s so precious.”She gave Fae a gentle wave, then straightened herself, her professional demeanor returning as she gestured for everyone to follow her.“Come on, I’ll show you to your room.You all deserve a bit of comfort.”
“There is one thing I did want to ask you,” Boden said as Jannifer led us down the hall to our room.
“And what’s that?”she asked, smiling brightly over her shoulder at us.
“We’re looking for a family member of ours.We think she might’ve come through here,” Boden explained.“Her name was Remy?”
“Remy King?”She looked back at us, surprised and gave a strange laugh.“Of course I know of her.It’s hard to forget someone with a lion in tow.
“So she was here?”Boden asked.
“She was, but she left about the end of May,” Jannifer said.“She went to Glacier Valley with our chemist Jordy Duvall.”
33
Stella
After Jannifer told us what little she knew of about Remy and her whereabouts, she showed us to our room.It was sparse with more of the wood paneling.The only furniture were two queen-sized beds underneath orange crushed velvet comforters.Attached was a small restroom with a modified composting toilet, which gave the room a distinct odor.
But it was a room, safer than we’d been in weeks, and the beds were still the most comfortable thing I’d lain on since we left the Barbarabelle.
