“A wild bear?” Luca said.
Pinky grinned. “You know any other kind?”
“Did it wander up?” Nox shut the door on the van.
“Aw, hell no. It sleeps in the shell of an old beater Ridly gets parts off of sometimes. Ridly don’t bother it, and well, it doesn’t take well to people poking around in the cars.” Pinky pointed to the clipboard in Luca’s hand. “Don’t forget to fill that out.”
While the guy backed his truck, Luca filled out the sheet.
“He’s kidding right?” Nox stood beside Luca. “About the bear.”
“I have no idea,” Luca said.
“He’s got to be kidding.”
“Do you think a man who drives around in a truck that color would lie?”
“Jokes not the same as a lie.” Nox threw the duffle over his shoulder.
“Then what does your nose tell you?”
Nox made a face.
“That’s what I thought.” Luca filled out the form.
Pinky finished moving his truck to the front of the van and got out again. Luca gave him back the clipboard.
Pinky unlocked the chains. “You two got a place to stay yet?” Metal links clicked clattered over the flatbed of the truck.
“Not yet.”
“If you go right down the road here—” Pinky waved at a nearly nonexistent side street cutting between the gas station and a package store on the other side. “—there’s a really nice Bed and Breakfast. Lady’s name is Betty. Tell her I sent you, and she’ll give you a discount.”
“Are there any bears?” Luca managed to keep a straight face when he asked.
“Of course not. But she’s got a few cats.”
A few cats was an understatement. Luca counted ten on the flight of steps leading up to the front porch of a Victorian style home. Two more sat next to a planter by the door.
They congregated around Nox’s ankles, taking turns to rub up against his legs. “Wow, they really like you.”
The large tabby still on the railing leaped to Nox’s shoulder. It promptly headbutted him in the temple and twirled around, rubbing his face with the side of its body. Nox picked at the cat hair clinging to his lip.
Luca snorted. “You’re not allergic, are you?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Nox removed the cat from his shoulder and shuffled through the crowd surrounding him on the porch. After a moment or two, they took up their respective spots and busied themselves with naps and cleaning their paws.
“That’s….” Luca had no idea what it was.
“C’mon. Now I need a shower.”
A small wooden sign displaying the hours hung in the window. Luca checked the clock on his phone. “Let’s hurry up; we got fifteen minutes before they officially close for the night.”
They walked in. Bells jingled on the door, and two elderly ladies sitting at a modest desk on the other side of the lobby looked up.
“Well, hello.” The shorter of the two smiled wide.
Nox shut the door behind Luca, who said, “Pinky suggested you might have a room.”