Find Us in the Shivering - Chapter 14

Josh twisted away from the woman's hands as she helped him to his feet, accidently grazing his ribs.  "Son of shit dick bitch!"

"That's a new one," she said.  "Sorry."  Genuine remorse filled her eyes.  

Josh allowed himself to be helped into the building where he was introduced to a smattering of smells that made him want to gag.  "What is that?" he asked as they walked through a short passageway and into a larger room that had the makings of an industrial kitchen.  His attention instantly went to the steel slabs where fresh cuts of meat had been butchered.  He stopped.

She noticed and said, "I'm the vet here in town."  She lowered him onto a steel-backed chair.  She noticed his look of concern as his eyes found a slab of meat.  "I'm also the butcher.  The vet and the butcher.  Just those two things."

"What the hell?" he said under his breath.

Her smile twisted to something on the edge of embarrassment.  "What I can’t heal, I make a meal."

"That's a new one," Josh echoed to her previous statement.  "Why would they bring me here?  Oh, damn."  He began to rise despite his pain but the woman kept him seated with her strong hands on his shoulders.

"Because," she said, "Anson knows I have what you need for your ribs and any other injury."  She moved about the room, putting away the freshly cut meat (Josh wondered what poor patient that had been).  "I'm Sylvy by the way," she said as she sprayed the blood covered steel slab with some kind of cleaner and wiped it down.  

"Josh," he said, taking stock of the large room and its exits.

"I know.  The town's been buzzing with your name.  The latest wanderer to be sucked in.  Nothing gets past Anson's ears just so you know.  He makes sure those he deems important enough to know whoever has drifted into our valley.  I'm sorry you've done so.  Truly.  Just thought I'd add that sentiment."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She wrung out the reddened rag into a wide sink and met his eyes.  "This is not the place to stray into--not if you had any plans elsewhere in the world or for your life."

No, he refused to believe that.  There had to be a way out of the town.  Nothing--not even the mighty Anson--could keep someone from leaving.  "If there's a mechanic here, I can get my car towed and fixed."

"That won't happen, Josh," she said, approaching him with a new rag that was wet with just water from the tap.  "Listen to me."  He met her blue eyes, stiffening as he was not ready for her kindness.  "You are stuck here.  You cannot escape this place despite what you think."

He shook his head as she began to dab at his face where Anson's boot had split his lip.  "That's impossible."

"This place is impossible.  I was born here and have watched dozens upon dozens cross the boundary and fail to flee.  All of them have become part of our society.  All of them have accepted this place as their home.  Some did all they could to prevent it and even died along the way."

"Not possible," he breathed in defiance.  

Sylvy grabbed a nearby rolling stool and sat before him; he guessed she was eight to ten years older than him with small features and a slender frame, making her seem less strong than she really was.  "There's a lot that you will not be told of the valley and powers that dwell deep in its soil.  I can only tell you what I know.  It won't be satisfying to your questions and fears but it will at least tell you what to expect."

He defied her for as long as he could but those blue eyes subdued him and he eventually nodded.

"Good."  She smiled at him--genuine once again.  "Now off with your shirt."  Before he could protest, she had his arms up and the shirt yanked over his head, pain in his ribs screaming.  Her slender fingers examined him and the purpling bruises.  "It's Anson's way of welcoming you."

"I'd hate to see how he says goodbye."

"Much in the same way except I usually need more thread."  She paused.  "And then they bury you in an unmarked grave."  While her fingers were calloused, she had a gentle touch.  "The best I can do is wrap your ribs.  They'll heal on their own...but it will take time and be unpleasant to move at all."

Josh exhaled as she stood and left the room for a minute before returning with some kind of compression fabric.  "Thank you," he said.  "Is there no hospital here?"

She laughed.  "No.  We have a few specialists like myself but you won't find anything like that here.  Anson would not allow it."

Sylvy finished with him and invited him to follow her out of the kitchen area and into what Josh could best describe a dining/waiting room.  There was a table where meals could be eaten but only one chair was visible.  Along the walls were shelves with pamphlets and anatomical models of animals, which included dogs, cats, and various rodents.  Higher up on the walls displayed taxidermized animals posed in non-threatening manners.  Josh's attention was drawn to a map of the town with street names listed.  He scanned it until he found what he looked for, making mental notes of landmarks close to the Holy Hills Funeral Home on Sun Lake Blvd.

"I can prepare something to eat if you have the stomach for it.  Actually, you should eat something to go with the pain killers I have for you," Sylvy said.

Josh nodded while taking in the large room and it's décor.  "Wait.  What food?"

Sylvy pushed strands of her hair behind her right ear.  "Chicken.  Nothing on the wall is on the menu."

"Before you go," he said, "Anson said I would never find the missing kids I'm looking for.  Why?"  He had to test her and where her loyalties lay.  If she did in fact mean to tell him what she could of the town and valley, he had to know how forthcoming she would be with him.

Her eyes dropped away for a moment.  "Because," she said stepping forward, eyes stern, "once they've been given to the Shivering, we never see them again."

It was the second time he heard the name or place--first coming from Walter in a very veiled way of speaking.  Josh chalked it up to the coyote not knowing the language well enough.  "And what is this shivering thing?"

Sylvy's voice dropped low.  "Nothing you want to encounter yourself."  Her hand flashed up to his mouth to keep him from speaking further, shocking him.  "Let any thought of the children go, Josh.  You cannot have them.  They are not yours to save.  Now, wait here and I'll bring the food."

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