That was why I went to see my old friend Lazlo in Emberwood.He and his wife were the main ones behind the rebuilding of the burned town, and they also had quite a bit of livestock, including horses.I figured that he ought to have one that he could spare for a few months, and with a big animal like that, I could carry so much gear.I could even ride the horse at times, saving energy for myself and travelling much faster.
By the time Ripley and I reached the center of New Emberwood, the afternoon sun was dipping low behind the hills, painting the roofs in gold.I hadn’t been to Lazlo’s new house yet, but it was recognizable by the pair of wolfdogs that guarded it from their fenced run beside it.
Ripley gave them an annoyed grunting sound and flicked her ears, but that was the end of their interaction.I held tight to her leash with one hand, and I knocked on the front door with the other.
Moments later, we stepped inside, the chill of the road quickly replaced by the gentle heat from the stove and an awkward embrace from Lazlo.
He invited me into his kitchen, pouring a bowl of water for the big cat, and he explained that his wife Nova and their daughter Sage were gone, helping a neighbor with birthing a calf.That was fine by me.I liked them both well enough, but conversations like this were better with fewer people.
The two of us sat at the kitchen table with tea steeping in mugs between us.It was still strange for me, seeing him this way.Part of me would always picture him as he was when we first met – young and clean shaven, fierce and unworn by the world yet, confident bordering on cocky.
And that was still him, but his beard had silver in it, and his eyes were lined with wrinkles.He walked with a pronounced limp, especially when the weather was cold like it was today.Even his hands had changed, becoming calloused and larger somehow, with faded tattoos bleeding down from his wrists and arms.
His eyes were the same, though.Twinkling as if he was privy to a secret joke as he watched me across the table.
“Are you going to tell me what you came all this way for, or you going to make me guess?”he asked.
“I need a horse.And I was hoping you could help me.”
He shrugged.“Sure.No problem.What do you need the horse for?”
“Does it matter?”I asked.
“It certainly does.Different horses are better at different tasks.You don’t want a racehorse as a plough horse or vice versa,” he clarified.
“I’m going to Glacier Valley,” I said.“Alone.Well, with Ripley, but she doesn’t ride a horse, so it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters a bit, because not all my horses would ride with a lion,” Lazlo countered with a dry laugh.“But that’s not really my main concern right now.Why are you going to Glacier Valley?”
“Because it’s far away from here, and that’s where I need to be for a while,” I deflected.
“I heard about the girl that your group lost the other day,” he said, his voice gentler now but his eyes still studying me.“Edie sent a message by pigeon.If there’s anything we can do – ”
I cut him off with, “I read what Nova wrote in her reply message.There’s nothing you can do.She’s dead and buried.”
“I’m sorry you had to witness – ”
“We’ve all witnessed enough that neither of us needs to apologize, alright?”I said sharply.
“Oh, shit.”Lazlo seemed to realize something and he leaned back in his chair.“You want to meet up with the Cold Shore Global Contingency?”
“How do you even know about that?”I asked in surprise.
I’d only learned of Cold Shore after I’d read the book that Stella had found in Emberwood,The Book of Mercy.Mostly, it focused on Mercy Loth’s grandiose and seriously deviant delusions, but there were references and letters from a place called the Cold Shore.
“I first heard about it from Nova’s sister, Sage.”He got up as he spoke and went over to an apothecary chest on the far wall of the kitchen.He opened one of the many little drawers, rummaged inside it for a moment, and finally returned to the table with a piece of folded paper.“She was a doctor in Vancouver when the virus first broke out.She survived, so Cold Shore tried recruiting her.To find a cure.
“She declined them then, because she thought she could do better work out here,” he went on.
Tentatively, I took the letter from him.“What are you saying, Lazlo?”
“You don’t have to sacrifice yourself, not for anyone,” he said.“But I won’t stop you from trying to save the world, if you think that’s what you can do.Mostly because I know that I’d never be able to stop you.”
“Does that mean you’ll give me a horse?”I asked hopefully.
“That means I’m gonna give you all the help and information I can.”Lazlo slowly rose to his feet.“Which means I’ve got something better than a horse.”
He led me outside, through his tilled gardens, to the stables behind his house.As soon as we stepped in, I realized exactly who Lazlo had in mind, because Vince stuck his head over the stable door to bray a greeting at me.
