“We’ll use the tar,” Euan cut in on agrumble.
Veronica tried not to smile, but she wasamused. She felt sorry for Victor. Her poor brother didn’t haveanyone in this era to geek out with.
*****
Euan and James joined Veronica, Lachlan, andhimself to go hut to hut checking on the Campbell clansmen andclanswomen while Finn and Ramsay remained at the keep and enjoyedmead with two of Euan’s best men. Truthfully, this was a job Victorcould have done with just Veronica’s help, but he knew better thanto gainsay the lairds or The Campbell’s heir apparent. There wererules in this world and not contradicting a laird or his heir wasamongst them. Unfortunately, their party’s large number madechecking the huts a longer, more cumbersome task.
“We’ll never finish this in one day,” Victorannounced. “I have a feeling we’ll need to stay overnight.”
Veronica, he knew, had left her gown back atthe keep with Finn and Ramsay. Still draped in a heavy black cloak,he doubted any villagers could see her Kalari clothing beneath it.At least he hoped not. They certainly didn’t need to draw any moreattention to themselves.
The first huts they sought out belonged tothose who had previously gotten sick with hot fevers and recoveredfrom them. As he’d hoped, they were still well with no relapses orworsening symptoms. Even old Fraser was looking fit and healthy fora man of his advanced years. He took the time to show them thecoins he still had from Francia—France—and regaled them with a fewstories from his youth.
The inspection carried on from there, stillproducing the exact results Victor had hoped for. The previouslysick clearly weren’t coming down with the icy fever, which meant anatural immunity would be the result.Reliefwas the onlyword he could think of to describe his current state.
Wearing scarves around their mouths andnoses, they checked several more homes. So far so good. Victor wasgrowing increasingly more reassured.
He stilled. Eyeing a hut situated betweentwo others that had been burnt down, he suspiciously suggested theycheck that home next. “Just to be safe,” he murmured to the group.“It seems odd that the sickness caused the huts on either side ofit to get burned down while that one still stands.”
Veronica knocked on the hut’s small door,her satchel securely slung over her shoulder. She took out a gunwith a silencer as she and everyone else waited for the door toopen. It was eerily quiet inside. Nobody answered her knock. Sheglanced back at Victor, looked at Lachlan, and proceeded to kickthe door in. She went inside first, the rest of them followingbehind her.
At first, the hut appeared empty. It wasn’tlong before the group noticed a young woman lying on the ground,apparently haven fallen from her humble straw bed. Her body limpand white as a sheet, she looked quite dead. Seconds later, hereyes flew open. Her neck twisted and she eyed their party.
Oh shit!Victor thought, hisheartbeat accelerating. Her eyes were that weird blue, her snarlalmost instantaneous. She jumped to her feet on a hiss and croucheddown, preparing to lunge. Lachlan instinctively drew his sword andVeronica fired a gun directly at the infected woman’s forehead asshe sprang toward them. She fell mid-air, meeting her finaldeath.
“By the saints,” Euan breathed out.
“Aye,” Lachlan seconded. “’Tis nigh untodifficult to accept.” He looked at Veronica. “Good work, wife.”
Veronica put the safety back on the gun andpocketed it. “What do you want us to do, Victor?”
“Burn her and the hut down,” he said withoutthinking. “No wait! Is there any exposed brain matter on the backof her head?”
His sister shrugged. “There’s plenty of iton the ground.”
He fumbled through his bag for a small jarand a wooden tongue compressor. Victor walked over to where theinfected’s brain matter lay splattered. He squatted over it,scooped some up with the compressor, and emptied the gray, bloodystuff into the makeshift petri dish. He had been careful to keep asmuch dirt away from the sample as possible. “Now you can burneverything down,” he muttered from under the plaid as he stood backup. “I’ll run tests on this when we get back home.”
“You heard him afore,” Euan said on a sighto his son. “Dinna use the pig fat when you set this hutafire.”
Victor frowned. Of all the bags to leavebehind at Castle Cumhacht…
He wouldn’t have any answers until he couldget his hands on the AI scope he’d brought back through time withhim, which meant returning to Gunn land. He could only hope thatboiled pig fat was the unknown variable in the equation.
*****
‘Twas one matter to see an eater on Victor’sAI scanner. ‘Twas another worry altogether to watch the dead comeback to life with murder and hunger in their inhuman eyes. Whilsthe had been ready to swing his sword, Veronica’s shooting stick hadbeen faster than his arm.
“So what do we do now?” Veronica asked himafter their group returned to the Campbell great hall and sat downat its long table. “Leave tonight in the snow, leave in the morningwherein we chance more snowfall, or stay another day and check theremaining huts and risk even more snow?”
“We leave the soonest,” Lachlan announced.“James can check the huts with Euan’s warriors. Victor is anxiousto take that…that…thing’sinsides back to CastleCumhacht.”
“I am,” Victor concurred. “As quickly aspossible.”
“I hope it’s the pig fat,” his wifemuttered. “We have to get this under control while it’s stillmanageable.”
“I dinna ken,” James admitted. “How couldpig fat be causing such evil?”
Victor launched into one of his lectures,making Lachlan sigh in resignation. He carried on aboot variablesand things called AI theories. “So it’s not about the pig fatitself,” his brother-within-the-law finished. “It’s about how theboiled pig fat interacts with infected flesh when it comes intocontact with it. Hopefully, I pray, it will turn out to be thatinteraction between infected flesh and boiled pig fat that causedmy sister’s tub water, uh, basin water, to become contaminated andinfect some of your clan.”
