Chapter Two: My First and My Last

Sarah

The members of my pack weren’t as unkind as I anticipated. Right after I left my father’s house, I was able to get a job cleaning in the pack’s small, two-story hospital. It was disgusting at times, but it was honest work, and I was grateful for the job. But, it didn’t last long. After about a month Jasper found out I had been employed there, and he harassed the director until she was forced to fire me.

It was the same story at the factory, the diner and the bakery. Getting jobs was easy, but keeping them was near impossible, thanks to Jasper’s vindictive crusade.

I’d given up trying to rent a room, because Jasper chased me out of every housing opportunity as well. Instead, I built myself a primitive lean-to in a neglected corner of the forest. Even the Alpha's security patrols didn't bother passing through there.

After completing whatever work I could scrounge up for the day, I would return to my little camp, strip out of my clothes, and shift into my wolf for the night. If I had to sleep outdoors, I might as well do it in the comfort of my own fur coat.

Seven months after the rejection fiasco, I found myself in a dingy little tavern near the border. The proprietor of the place was a bold, outspoken old woman named Poppy Pitts. She was short and busty, with a mop of curly white hair on her head, and a round, earnest face. I liked her so much that I had to tell her up front that hiring me could bring trouble from the Alpha’s son.

“I don’t give a goat’s testicle about that little s.hit!” She declared hotly. “You can come work for me. I’m getting too old to do it all by myself! Now, I can’t pay you much, and I’ll have to pay you under the table, but here’s an apron.”

I happily tied the grease stained apron around my waist. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Pitts!”

“You just call me Poppy, like everybody else. And don’t thank me yet, you ain't seen the pile of dishes in the kitchen!”

But I was thankful. The stacks of dirty bowls, beer steins and glasses looked like a gift straight from the Goddess. I rolled up my sleeves and went straight to washing, until my fingers were pruned and my hands were itchy from the harsh soap.

Poppy came back a little after noon with a leg of deer propped up on her shoulder. She slapped it down on the work table unceremoniously. “Do you think you can do something with this?”

“Do what, exactly?” I asked.

“Make something edible! I’m not much of a cook myself. My mate always handled the kitchen, while I handled the bar. I usually just boil it. If a man is hungry enough, or drunk enough, he’ll eat just about anything and not complain!”

I was already salivating, just looking at all that meat, and imagining what I could make from it. I’d been surviving on whatever small game I could hunt, and if I was lucky I got a squirrel or a lean rabbit. Many nights I slept with an empty, growling stomach.

“I can manage something,” I said, trying not to sound too eager.

The old woman nodded in approval. “There’s some spuds and carrots in the pantry. You use whatever you need. But don’t get too extravagant. These folks won’t pay extra for something fancy.”

“Got it,” I said, pulling a knife out of the butcher block. “Simple, and hearty.”

Poppy smiled. “Good girl!”

Two hours later I had an enormous pot of venison stew with dumplings bubbling on the stove, and the kitchen had been thoroughly cleaned. I was just finishing mopping under the work table when Poppy came in with a tray full of dirty glasses from the bar.

“Oye!” She set the tray down and propped her fists on her hips as she surveyed the sparkling kitchen. “This place ain’t been this clean since Frank built it!” She cackled and started setting clean wooden bowls on the counter. “We got a rowdy bunch crossing over from Mount Tenmor. I’ll see to them. You serve the big man and his boy in the corner, right?”

I froze with the mop handle still clutched in my hands. “You… want me to serve?”

“Didn’t I just say so?”

“Ms. Poppy, if someone sees me out front, and reports it to Jasper…”

“Pssh, I dare that punk to darken my door! Go now! The father and son are my regulars, they won’t give you any trouble!”

She ladled out two bowls of stew and pushed them into my hands. She stopped to sniff the fragrant steam rolling off the meat, vegetables, and herbs that were floating in a rich broth, along with the fluffy dumplings. “I guess they’ll like that better than my boiled meat!”

She shoved me in the direction of the swinging door that led into the common room. Several tables had been pushed together to accommodate the wolves from Mount Tenmor. Poppy was right, they were a loud and rowdy bunch. They laughed and shouted over top of each other, banging on the wooden table to punctuate their speech. I skirted around them, feeling glad that Poppy hadn’t asked me to serve them. I looked for the man and the boy.

Sure enough, I found them seated in a shadowy corner, as far away from the noisy bunch as they could get. The man was tall and broad shouldered with inky black hair. I couldn’t make out his features clearly in the dimly lit corner, but I could feel his sharp eyes on me as I set the bowls on the table.

“Who are you?” He demanded harshly. “Where’s Poppy?”

My heart flopped in my chest. Here we go again, I thought morosely. “I’m Poppy’s assistant,” I said quietly. I wasn’t sure if he even heard me over the racket the other customers were making. “She’s serving the other guests.”

As if on cue, Poppy came from the kitchen, balancing bowls of stew on a big round tray.

“Since when does Poppy have an assistant?” the man demanded.

I sighed. “Since today.” I turned away from the man, wondering if today would be my first and last day at Poppy’s Tavern.