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“So that’s where you learned about exploration?”
“Yep. I started researching and realized there were better opportunities over the ranges, if you knew what you were looking for. Because Dad was very interested in geology, I learned some things from him and the rest I read.” He paused. “I didn’t tell my family I was leaving. I regret that.”
“I imagine that was hard for them.”
“Yeah.” He sliced off a piece of cheese, putting it on a cracker and handing it to her. “I hadn’t planned to leave so abruptly. But then my closest friend, Loman, died in a mining accident.” His lips thinned and he said quietly, “We were working as a team like we always did and then… whoosh, he was gone and I was still there. I tried to dig him out but…” He paused.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, resisting the urge to reach out and touch his arm.
“It was a long time ago. But after… there was no help for him, for his family. Nothing. Zip. Zero. The human authorities just pretended it never happened. They never even found the body, just left him buried down that shaft. That was it for me. I saw my life going the same way. And I would rather risk dying out in the wilderness, being murdered in cold blood by ogres, than that. I realize now I was grieving deeply for Loman, and couldn’t bring myself to talk about it to anyone. It was only when I got to Selig over the ranges that I let my family know where I was. And that was a couple of months later. My sister Katrina was pissed as hell. They thought I’d died.”
“I’m not surprised they were upset.”
He grunted.
“So how did you make the big time, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Tor’s face softened into a grin. “I met this amazing guy. Old Jack Garner knew a lot about prospecting, and he taught me everything. He had no kids, so I became like a surrogate son to him, I guess. I’d like to say I found Plutark just by my own efforts, but really it was Jack’s find, not mine. When he realized he had terminal cancer, he told me a secret he’d been keeping. Before I met him, he’d stumbled on a vein of Plutark when prospecting for iron ore. He’d marked the spot and was waiting for the right time to return. Cancer stopped him in his tracks. But he gave me the coordinates. After his death I started to search the area with money from the iron ore we were already selling. Sure enough, I found Jack’s Plutark. The biggest seam on record.” He shrugged, picked up a pebble and lobbed it in the water. “Enough about me. What about you? How did you make the big time, Shona Dove?”
“Same, I guess. A lucky break. After I made the shift out of the fashion industry…”
“Ah yes,” he said grimly, “because of the vampire…”
“Yep.”
“Hmmm,” he grunted, and when she glanced at him, he looked pissed.
Was he jealous? Of course not.
“I landed a job in realty. Found out I really liked it, and then my boss, Edgar, a griffin, retired and left me the business. And I guess it took off from there.”
“You employ others?”
“Not yet. I outsource a few jobs, photos of properties and the like. I hope to expand soon, though.”
“And family? Mom, dad, brothers, sisters?”
“I have an older brother. Happily married. He’s working with my parents to turn their deli into a chain—hopefully. Who knows, Dove Delis may even get to Motham City some day.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Your parents would be happy to serve monsters?”
“Yes. Absolutely. They believe in total equality. They are such good people. They helped me with my education, even though they had to scrimp and save. They weren’t wealthy and Dad kept getting fined for letting monsters come into the store, which didn’t help. His shop was nearly shut down by the Counsel of Towns a couple of times.”
Tor’s face suddenly lit up. “Wait. Do they own the deli on the edge of Twill, near the east gate?”
“Yes.”
“Has it been there a while?”
“Twenty-five years.”
“I remember it.”
“How come?”
He snorted. “Well, when you’ve left home on a whim with not much food in your pack and you reach the outskirts of a human town, and you’re freakin’ starving and there’s a deli there in front of you, you’re gonna try your luck.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Did my dad serve you?”
