Bramble Burn Read online

  “I get the top bunk!” Grigori’s brother Sergei announced. He was fifteen, and dark haired like the rest. Immediately his brother Konstantin, the seventeen-year-old, started to argue.

  “Can we stay, Mama?” the oldest daughter, Roza, Sergei’s twin, asked softly. “It looks safe.” Immediately the whole family stopped and looked at their mother.

  Tatyana took a deep breath. “Yes, tonight we stay. Tomorrow we will see.” She held up her hand to stop the cheers. “Let’s thank Miss Baily for her hospitality.”

  Juniper nodded graciously at their thanks. “Okay, we need to organize. The lights and stove are primitive, and I’ve been doing my laundry in the sink…” They needed soap first, because everyone smelled like charred wood. She sent Grigori and his brothers to her tree to fetch the hobo stove, cooking gear and raid the greenhouse. She had him grab spare wicks and told the chestnut tree to make amber bottles filled with chestnut soap. Chestnuts contained saponins, a natural surfactant, and had been used for washing for thousands of years, so it was perfect product for her newest tree.

  It occurred to her that tooth and hair brushes would be nice, so she had it make those, too. The brushes were made of natural wood, of course, with soft creamy bristles. If anyone needed lotion they could use the acorn oil.

  She blocked out the organized chaos and stood in the middle of the first level, adding a laundry room with double amber sinks next to the bathroom, complete with drying racks for wet clothes and a floor drain. They needed sheets, so she made a slot in the ceiling that worked like her endless toilet paper dispenser and had it dispense flat, cream-colored sheets, at the rate of one every twenty minutes. They could tie knots in the corners to form bottom sheets, and she had another make woven blankets.

  It occurred to her that she’d never made anything this nice for herself, but she hadn’t needed linen for a crowd, either. Hospitality wouldn’t allow her to let her dirty, hungry guests huddle on bare mattresses.

  The towel slot dispensed coarsely woven, brown and cream striped towels. The soft towels looked like something out of a high end spa and were much nicer than the compostable paper towels she’d been using, and there were matching washcloths.

  Her bracelet buzzed, and she blinked, swaying. There was so much left to do.

  “You’re tired,” Tatyana said, taking her arm and guiding her to the table. “Please rest. I will get you something to eat.” She’d been busy, organizing showers and making a meal, and she presented Juniper with a plate of sliced veggies with vinaigrette and a fruit salad.

  “You don’t have any spare clothes,” Juniper mumbled, obediently eating. Or pillows. She’d forgotten pillows, she thought dazedly. Because she was tired, the thought repeated in a loop, until it seemed more important that it probably was.

  “Roza washed some, and they are drying now. Klara and Sergei are wearing sheet togas and pretending they are Romans. This is a big adventure for them.”

  At least someone was having fun.

  “I got the radio to work,” Grigori reported, placing a battery operated radio on the table. “The news said they’re getting the fire under control, but it’s already burned three blocks. The dragon is dead.”

  His mother made a sad, worried sound. “There’s nothing to be done tonight, but we’ll go see if we can help anyone tomorrow.”

  “You can take extra blankets and stuff to the Red Cross,” Juniper offered. “I’ll tell the tree to keep them coming.” Now that the tree was formed, it wouldn’t cost her any energy.

  She returned her plate, frowning as she realized it was one of two from her own tree, hardly enough for a family this size. She drew a post from the floor and broke it into slightly curved disks, forming extra plates. The effort made her vision blur, and her bracelet buzzed reprovingly.

  “Stop it,” Grigori said sharply, giving her shoulder a little shake. “I’m taking you back to your tree before you kill yourself.”

  “Bossy pants,” she muttered, but leaned on him anyway. She was shaky, so once inside her tree she kicked off her shoes and sat on her bed. She accepted the water he handed her with a grateful nod and set it on a little shelf beside her bed. “I might sleep in tomorrow. Don’t get killed walking to your tree.”

  He laughed soberly. “We owe you, Jun. We’d be stuffed in a shelter tonight, or packed in our car. I won’t forget what you’ve done.”

  “Yeah. It’s an evil plot to indenture you for life,” she mumbled.

  He rolled his eyes and let himself out.

  The pigs were back.

  Juniper looked out her window and swore. She felt like a wrinkled old sock, she hadn’t had any breakfast and now there were two monster boars pawing at the roots of her oak. Were there grubs under there or what?

  She watched as a boar stuck its nose into the ground and gobbled something up. She squinted, unable to make out what it was enjoying, and then it occurred to her; she’d inoculated the oak with truffle fungus and instructed it to go “hog wild”.

  She groaned and rubbed her face. Great. She’d created a pig buffet, with an optional serving of human child.

  She checked the tree’s connections and discovered that her guests and their car were gone. Since it was ten in the morning, she assumed they’d packed up before the pigs showed up and left to see what became of their old neighborhood. Hopefully, there were now lots of displaced people bearing blankets and sundries with her logo. Good deeds, good PR and a day for recovery were in her future…as soon as she got rid of the pigs.

  She made a sandwich and sipped her coffee as she instructed the tree roots to form a thick cage around the oblivious pigs. She could easily kill them now, but it was a shame to waste all that meat when there were hungry people out there. Too bad she couldn’t cook them, but there was no way she could process the carcasses, and it would take the world’s biggest pig cooker to barbeque them…

  The thought of BBQ made her think of the party at F&R tomorrow, which gave her an idea. She called the office and asked for Kjetil or Mia, but they were off duty. Fortunately, Karl was in.

  “Hey, Karl. I’ve got two giant wild boars caged in my front yard. I’d like to donate them to charity to feed the people displaced by the fire, but I can’t cut them up or transport the meat. Do you know who I can call or who might be interested in taking them off my hands?” She could try to contact a dragon, but that would be more trouble than it was worth.

  There was a pause. “How big are these boars?”

  “The size of a dump truck? I’m going to have to kill them soon, and I have a family with kids visiting. I don’t know when they’ll be back.”

  “You have kids in Bramble Burn?”

  “They had nowhere to go after the fire,” she said defensively.

  “I see. Let me make a few calls. Can you hold them for a few minutes?”

  “Sure. I’ll be waiting by the phone.” She hung up and thickened the roots holding the boars, directing the tree to send more truffles to distract the porkers. She went up to the greenhouse and opened a balcony door, the better to keep an eye on them. Gadzooks, those things were huge! Even if Karl found someone who wanted them, it would take a crane to move them. Maybe she should have just killed them.

  Karl called back within five minutes. “Hey, the wolves are coming over. Their pack wants to help donate the meat, and they’re always up for a hunt. They’ll be there in twenty minutes or so.”

  “Okay…thanks.” She hung up and frowned at the pigs, thankful they couldn’t see through the one-way glass. She hadn’t thought to involve the werewolves, but it should be all right.

  They showed up within fifteen minutes. There were five cars followed by a semi with a flatbed trailer. How had they managed that so fast? Who had a semi-truck on standby? Impressed, she widened the gate in the hedge, but they didn’t bring the cars in right away.

  There were men, probably all wolves, armed with rifles and a couple of long spears. To her surprise, Kjetil was with them. As he got closer, she could see hea
ling burns on his left arm and a bruise along his jaw.

  “Hi!” she called, leaning over her balcony. “What happened to you?”

  He waved. “Work; nothing serious. Stay up there, okay? These things might thrash around when we kill them. I don’t want you crushed in the death throes.”

  “Sure. Appreciate you coming out. I almost took care of them myself, but thought it would be a shame to waste the meat.”

  “I’m glad you called. After yesterday, we needed some fun.”

  The boars saw the hunters and lunged at the bars. They didn’t have much room to move, but Juniper frowned as wood splintered. “You might want to hurry. I can’t hold them forever.”

  “It’s a shame they’re caged,” a wolf sighed, hefting his spear. “Takes the fun out of it.” The spear flew true, sliding through the boar’s eye, and the ground shook as it fell, twitching. The remaining pig squealed in rage, ramming the cage. It wasn’t going to hold still for a convenient spear thrust, and Juniper expected they’d shoot it. Instead, the wolf with the remaining spear jumped ten feet in the air and twisted, throwing the spear at the pig’s eye. It shied at the last second and the spear glanced off the eye socket.

  The wolf’s buddies catcalled and waved him off. The hunter jeered good-naturedly and stood aside to let another wolf shoot the boar.

  The hunter grinned at Juniper’s stunned face. “Maybe next time you can call us before you cage them? Looks like I need the practice.”

  Juniper shook her head and formed a stairway to the ground. She’d heard that werewolves were strong, but she’d had no idea they could jump like that. When people said they were fast, she’d assumed…but these guys hadn’t even shed their human form. She sent the tree roots forming the cage back in the ground and stood next to Kjetil. He looked even more battered up close, but she didn’t comment. “They look even bigger than yesterday’s hog.”

  Kjetil glanced at the newest tree with the boar’s head above the bay door. “It looks like you have an infestation. That can’t be safe.”

  She followed his gaze and saw that Grigori’s family was back. His mother was parked outside her tree, the motor still running. She looked at the two dead boars with alarm.

  “We can help with that. In fact, it would be our genuine pleasure,” he offered. “You can see how sad the guys are that they didn’t get to hunt. Without the sport, butchering a kill is just work.” His men were bleeding the pigs, opening stomachs to eviscerate them with long knife strokes that made it look easy, but she knew that was a lot of meat to cut through. For a human, it would have been tough going.

  “If you get enough blood in the air, you might find more to hunt,” she said softly, causing the ground to absorb the liquid. Grigori’s mom had secured the car in the tree and she and Grigori were advancing on her. Tatyana’s face was grim, but determined. Had she decided to leave?

  “Tatyana, Grigori, this is Kjetil and his wolf friends. They are going to donate these pigs to the people who got burned out,” Juniper said quickly, demonstrating that the situation was under control.

  Tatyana blinked. “Kjetil Bjorn? You are the man who killed the dragon?”

  “I had help,” he said modestly.

  One of the wolves snorted. “Yeah, one other wolf.” He removed the pig’s intestines, and the onlookers backed away as the smell hit.

  Juniper frowned. “You killed a dragon?” She couldn’t help her skepticism. She nodded to the semi and flatbed trailer. “Dragons are the length of two of those, not counting the tail. Their armor is bullet proof, their teeth are like swords and they breathe fire.” She looked at his burns, baffled. “I mean no insult, but I can’t picture it.” She had dragons in the family, and even her little sister was more than a match for a man in her dragon form.

  Kjetil simply looked at her.

  Grigori said quickly, “She doesn’t own a TV. She didn’t even know the city was on fire until I called and told her we were coming last night. She doesn’t have a radio, either.”

  “I’ve had priorities,” Juniper protested, waving at the boars. He made her sound like a uniformed hick. “I’m not exactly on the grid here.”

  A wolf handed her a smartphone with a smug grin. “Check it out. There are several YouTube videos, but this is my favorite.”

  The video wobbled slightly, clearly taken from a rooftop. The narrator talked fast, jacked on adrenaline, zooming in on two werewolves jumping onto a dragon’s back from a neighboring roof. They ripped into the dragon with big black knives, aiming for maximum damage at the base of the skull and shredding wings. The dragon shrieked, twisting and spraying fire. It caught one of the wolves and he fell off, fur blazing. The remaining werewolf rammed his knife deep, carving viciously. The dragon fell, crashing to the street as the wolf leapt free.

  “Crazy how bystanders will stop and take a video when they should run for their lives,” Tatyana said, looking over Juniper’s shoulder. This was clearly not her first look at the video.

  “Awesome!” Grigori cheered loudly in Juniper’s ear, making her flinch. “That was wicked, man.”

  “Is he okay? The wolf who fell?” Juniper asked quietly, returning the phone. She was deeply disturbed, shaken by the power and ferocity of the wolves. She forgot sometimes, how much she didn’t know. Wolves were clearly more dangerous than she’d realized.

  The wolf who’d handed her the phone grinned. “Yeah, thanks for asking. He’s my brother.”

  “Brave man.” She looked at Kjetil, subdued. “I apologize for doubting you.”

  “You are Juniper’s friend?” Tatyana asked Kjetil, looking at Juniper to confirm it. “You will take care of the pigs?”

  “This pig,” Juniper said hastily. “It’s a special deal, and I don’t expect anyone to take care of my messes. No one’s obliged to do anything.” She took a deep breath. “In fact, I’m not certain that the chestnut is a good place for your family. As you can see, it’s dangerous. I can’t guarantee your protection, and I don’t want anyone hurt.”

  “We would love to have permission to hunt here,” Kjetil told Tatyana. “I know you must worry about your children. Terrible thing, the fire.”

  Juniper opened her mouth to protest. She wasn’t throwing them out, but she didn’t want a death on her conscience, either.

  “Yes. There are so many without homes, and I had thought…but I would not be afraid to stay here if the wolves were here.” Tatyana looked hopefully at Juniper.

  Juniper shifted as she found herself the center of attention. All the wolves had stopped what they were doing and waited with interest for her answer, and Grigori was holding his breath.

  “Your call,” Kjetil said.

  “If you say yes, I volunteer for the first watch,” the hunter who missed his mark said.

  “You had a chance,” another guy protested. “Give someone else a shot.”

  “Please?” Grigori asked. He glanced at his tree, and she could see his siblings in the greenhouse on top, faces pressed against the windows. Could she really leave them homeless?

  “Fine,” Juniper sighed. “Try not to get eaten.”

  Grigori punched the air. “Yes! You’re the best, Jun.”

  “Hey, you want some of this meat?” one of the wolves asked after the cheers died down.

  “Yes, please,” Tatyana said. She looked wistful. “If I had a root cellar and salt, I could cure it for later.”

  “I can make a cellar,” Juniper said with interest. “Can you really cure meat?”

  “My father was a butcher. He made his own sausage and ham, and we smoked bacon.” She looked at the hog. “That is a lot of bacon.”

  “I don’t know about a smoker, but we had a cellar on the farm. I can fix you right up.” She looked at Kjetil. “I can’t make you a tree any time soon. If you hunt here, you’ll be exposed.”

  “We’ll be fine,” he said, mildly amused. “We’ll finish up here if you want to get started on your project.”

  “This is so exciting!” Tatyana sa
id. “Grigori, I need you to go to the hardware store and buy six concrete blocks to make a rocket stove, and we need other things...I’ll make a list, and your sister will go with you. Check the thrift store before you buy anything new.”

  “Rocket stove?” Juniper said in alarm. “I’m not sure about that. I don’t know how to set one up safely.” She’d grown up with dragons, and she’d seen burn victims. Fire could be bad.

  “I can help with that,” Kjetil offered. “May I see the tree?”

  Despite her misgivings, Juniper let Tatyana show him the wonders of the chestnut while Juniper made a large amber trapdoor in the ground floor to let in light and had the tree form a large cellar. It had lots of shelves, a few wooden keg-sized barrels and resembled a high-end wine cellar. She made several “skylights” in the ceiling/floor so it wouldn’t be gloomy and called it a day. It was already much nicer than the dirt cellar she’d grown up with. She should probably make one for herself, but it seemed like a lot of work for one person. Maybe she’d store extra veggies in their cellar instead.

  By the time she was done, Grigori had returned and set up a simple stove made of stacked concrete blocks in the kitchen, and his brother Kon was magically molding metal he’d stripped from a junk car around the blocks. Sweat darkened his hair, and he panted with strain.

  “You could help,” he grumbled, taking a break to wipe his face.

  “I got the blocks,” Grigori said, carefully not looking at Kjetil. “Juniper will have to make the vent in the wall, though.”

  “In the back of the wall?” Juniper asked, frowning at the place Grigori indicated. “What about a chimney?”

  “It’s different from a regular woodstove, but more efficient and cleaner burning,” Kjetil assured her. “The fire burns sideways and warms the insulated heat riser on top; that metal box that’s covering the short chimney. It’s insulated and gets crazy hot, which makes it good for cooking. That causes a strong convective current. When the hot gas rises and fills the box, it gives off a lot of heat, which cools the gasses. The exhaust is mostly carbon dioxide and steam. The best part is it takes very little fuel, so they could probably use nothing but branches to cook and heat the house.”