Free Lesser of Two Evils by K. S. Martin

I
need to check in with Connor.” He handed her the laptop from its place on the
dresser. Kerry opened it and he left the room. She looked at the video site
that she liked, then downloaded a few free books. She began one of the classics
but got bored and closed the computer. Ethan had said that Thelma had a garden,
and she decided to go find her.
    She passed by the office, but the
door was closed. He was on the phone, she thought, and she didn’t want to
bother him. Through the empty living room and out the front door, she headed
for the pink house.

Chapter 7
    Kerry knocked on the front door,
and it opened almost immediately.
    “Kerry, it’s so good to see you
again.” Thelma chirped.
    “Ethan said that you have a garden
and that if I help you tend it, you will plant anything I want.” Thelma laughed
softly. “I don’t have anything in mind but I want to help you take care of it.
Is it close by?”
    Thelma closed her front door and
hooked her bony arm through Kerry’s.
    “It’s this way.” She led Kerry away
from the house and down the road. “So there’s nothing that you want out of my
garden?” Thelma asked. Kerry shrugged.
    “Just something to do.” Thelma
quirked her mouth. “I’m not allowed to hunt or draw and I got tired of
reading.”
    Thelma sighed. “I can see why you
aren’t allowed to hunt after yesterday, but why can’t you draw?”
    Kerry scrunched her face up. “I
can’t keep control of my wolf. She wants to hunt. I was sketching earlier, a
buck in the back of the house, and before I knew it, I was naked at the window
and trying to get out.” Thelma laughed. “We were really poor, and I had to hunt
to eat. It’s going to be a hard habit to break.”
    Thelma led her past several houses,
some with fences and evidence of pups. They turned a corner at a colonial, and
it looked like the beginning of a road, but it dead-ended. Beyond that was a
large rectangle of freshly tilled dirt. Thelma stopped at one end of the garden.
Corn was up, and there were seedlings already sprouting.
    “What’s here?”
    “Let’s see.” Thelma slipped her
sandals off and started toward the garden. “Here I have snap peas. Try one.”
    Kerry went to stand beside her and
took the pea pod that Thelma offered. She stuck it in her mouth and chewed. Her
eyes widened.
    “Good, huh?” Kerry nodded. “Well
make yourself useful and pull the weeds you see.” Thelma worked down the row,
pulling out things that didn’t belong. Kerry helped by doing the same.
    “How do you like Ethan so far?”
Thelma asked without looking up. Kerry sighed. “That good, huh? Well, you’ll
grow to love him. Ethan seems like a good guy. He’s much better than Alexander.
I’ve been in this pack since birth, and that Alpha was a real piece of work.”
She grunted. “I’m glad he’s dead.”
    “How did he die?” Kerry pulled a
long slender stem and tossed it out of the garden.
    “I probably shouldn’t say.” Thelma
thought about it a second. “Doesn’t matter now. The pack tore him apart. They’d
had enough of him hooking wolves on the poison that he sold. Ethan assumed it
was some addicts, and we didn’t correct him. It didn’t matter who did it
because the reason was the same. We’re better off without him and without his
drugs. They buried his poison out in the woods. Good riddance, I say.”
    Kerry stopped to examine some baby
lettuce. “Can I try this?”
    Thelma nodded, and Kerry plucked a
leaf and stuck it in her mouth. She chewed, then grimaced. Thelma cackled
loudly. I’ll put you down for no arugula. It’s peppery.” Kerry nodded and
swallowed, making another face. She and Thelma moved over two rows. Kerry
studied a plant. It was frilly and pretty.
    “Kale. It’s good. Break off a
leaf.”
    Kerry did and liked it. She moved
down the row, keeping up with Thelma. “Are you sure that there’s nothing you
want me to plant?”
    “Is there melon here?”
    Thelma glanced up at her.