I threw off the heavy grey blanket that kept me warm when the chill bit on autumn nights and faced the day with grim resolve. Wayne was interfering with my routine. I had deer to hunt. Cash to earn. Food to put on my own table. I needed to keep up supply with those city restaurants or they’d source the venison elsewhere and Pat always needed more meat for her pies.
Thankfully she wasn’t that discerning. I always sold her the rough.
Pearl’s dog Sam enjoyed a bit of the offal which I traded for fish, and then there were the skins to transform into wares for Cassie’s stall. In all, I had a good business happening and I couldn’t afford interruptions.
Embers glowed in the firebox. I inserted some kindling, thin and dry, and the fire soon caught. I watched the flames travel down the sticks be
