A Shepherd's Calling (What Comes After Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the Army made me a survival instructor. Even called the woods and mountains my home for a time, before and after the End.” Here, a burst of air through his nose indicated a laugh. “But even after a lifetime spent in the elements, loving the untamed places of the world and avoiding the civilized ones... sometimes, you get tired. Tired and cold and hungry. I'm not too proud to admit it, either: I just wanted to come in.” Another pause and when he resumed, his voice was softer. “Maybe I felt they owed me the warmth and company.”
    “ But they didn't.” The Shepherd's voice was also quiet, but bore no softness.
    The older man looked at Tom with narrowed eyes, then lowered his gaze and nodded. “You're right, of course. They owed me nothing for doing the right thing. Angie knew that and perhaps saw fit to remind me.” A glint returned to the Hunter's eyes and he smiled down at Ben. “Or... it could have been that I was just plain ugly. Dirty and hairy-”
    “ You did smell pretty awful,” Ben remembered. The laughter this observation brought defused the mounting tension.
    “ So, what happened next?” Despite his earlier mockery, Toby sounded eager to hear more of the tale.
    “ Always more story time. Right, little brother?” Janessa chided her sibling with a smile. Toby responded with a “psh” and a dismissive wave of his hands.
    “ Might as well tell him a bit more,” she said to Chris. “Otherwise, he'll be after you for it all night.”
    The older man did so. “Fair enough. They let me in. By way of thanking them for their hospitality, I made us brunch.”
    Toby seemed confused. “Made brunch from what? Didn't you say earlier you were looking for food?”
    The Hunter nodded. “Mmm. She had some snow peas and cabbage I cooked up with one of the dogs.” At the shared grimace of Toby and Janessa, Chris made a sour face of his own. “Still turns even my stomach to think about it. Having to put them down was bad enough... Waste not, want not.” He shrugged. “At any rate, it turns out Angie and Ben had been looking for this very building when they stumbled across a recently felled deer. Angie quickly recognized what it was and began to move away, but not before the pack returned. Even though they hadn't touched the kill, the dogs chased mother and son through the forest. They barely made it inside before the pack caught them.”
    “ Lucky for them,” Janessa said. “She tell you why they were looking for this place?”
    Chris shook his head. “Only that there were sightings of military personnel in the area. And that the council of Respite asked her to investigate.” The old teacher paused to let this information sink in.
    “ What did you find?” Tom probed further.
    “ Nothing, Shepherd,” the Hunter answered with a sigh. “We spent the best part of two nights here, looking. We didn't find a track, a single piece of refuse, no visible disturbances... Not a sign of passage or occupancy, other than our own. Aggravating, to say the least.”
    Tom nodded and turned his eyes to the boy at his teacher's side. “Ben, do you have any idea what your mother was looking for when you two first came here?”
    The child shook his head. “No. I'm sorry I don't know, Tom. It was a long time ago”
    Chris gently corrected the boy. “Tom is a Shepherd, Ben. That's what you need to call him, unless he tells you otherwise.”
    Ben's eyebrows knit together. “What?”
    The older man smiled patiently. “Remember how you call some people by what they do, not their name?”
    Ben blinked. “You mean like sheriffs and doctors?” The boy turned to Tom, eyes flashing. “Are you a sheriff or a doctor? Or a fireman?”
    Tom paused. “Sort of like a sheriff, I suppose. If there were any left.”
    “ But you don't have a badge. And your hat is all wrong.”
    The Shepherd couldn't help but smile. “My hat is different, no doubt about that. There weren't any badges left for me to wear. But I don't need a badge to