Sully had already eased himself down on a long bench that ran the length of the entrance wall. Jackets hung from pegs, boots neatly tucked under the bench.
A man walked up, dressed in a wool sweater and pants, felt boots. “Sully, sit tight. I’ll get River, and she’ll take a look at that leg.”
“It’s really more blood than hurt, Abe. I’m fine. Just need some duct tape.” He made a wry face. “But this is a gunshot. And I don’t think they mistook me for a deer.”
“We’ll keep watch,” Abe said.
Dawson eased her down next to Sully. “Let’s take a look at that ankle.”
Keely stopped him as he reached for her boot. “I can do it.”
He looked up, then nodded, and lowered himself onto the bench next to her.
“Where am I? Castle Black?”
Dawson frowned.
“The Night’s Watch?Game ofThrones?”
“Welcome to Woodcrest.” Griffin hung his coat on a nearby peg and stomped his boots on the massive woven mat. “But yes, we’re the keepers of the wall.” He winked.
She didn’t want to ask about any more terrors in the woods.
“Our community isn’t large—this is all of us. Seven families, some with kids, some without. The Barrows have a small army.” He pointed to a family playing a board game.
Donald came in, pulling the door closed behind him. One of the two kids petting Caspian ran to him, hugged him. She seemed about five or six, with long braided hair, wearing long johns under a knitted wool dress.
A woman came out of the kitchen and hugged Griffin. Petite and pretty, she had auburn hair and wore it down, along with a pair of leggings, wool slippers, and a knitted cable sweater. Clearly, the attire of choice in Woodcrest.
She came over to Sully. “What happened to your leg?”
“I was shot,” he said, meeting her gaze.
She didn’t flinch, just frowned. “Okay. Let’s take a look and get you patched up.” A glance at Griffin had him reaching for Sully, but he shook his head.
“I need to get back to my place before the storm. Kennedy is there alone.”
She deduced that Kennedy might be his girlfriend, or maybe wife, and something strained on his face with his words.
“What you need is for River to take a look, get you stitched up.” He hauled him up, and Sully limped toward a room near the kitchen.
The woman turned to Keely. “I’m River. Can I take a look at your ankle?”
Keely had worked off her boot, gritting her teeth, and now got a good look. Fat, for sure, but she flexed her toes and even moved her ankle a little.
River crouched in front of her and gently felt around the swollen flesh. “Can I move it?”
Keely nodded, and River eased it to one side, then the other.
“I don’t think it’s broken. But you probably need to stay off it. We’ll get you some snow to ice it.”
She left, and Keely leaned her head back, closed her eyes, listened to the chatter in the room.
It felt like family here, the smells, the laughter. Or as if she had traveled back in time and was now in an episode ofLittle House on the Prairie, Alaska style.
“Sully, really!”
She opened her eyes to see the man limping out of the room. River stood at the door. “Tape is not the answer here.”
