|AN|: Hello lovely people! I'm back! I hope y'all didn't think I abandoned the sory or sth. I've had a very busy period for a couple of weeks now, because of exams and all that stuff... ugh. But it's over now and I hope I'll be able to upload more often.
A few of you have told me that I should beta the story. Well, my dear friend (God bless you) StepanieO is doing the bets, but she doesn't have much time herself so now only the 1st and the 2nd chapter are in beta version. I hope you don't really mind me posting the unbeted chapers, do you?
Let me know what you think about the chapter! :)
WHO LAUGHS LAST
Chapter VII:
The Husband
She was soaking wet as she barged into the staff cabin, where all of the cowboys employed on Snow Rock's lived. She squeezed the water out of her braid right on the doormat and knocked loudly a couple of times against the doorframe to gain their attention. Young Rory was the first one who noticed her presence and he jumped up like a startled doe at the sight of her, causing Haymitch to almost spill his tea as the table shook violently at Rory's ministrations.
"Nobody taught you to knock, girl?" Grumbled Chaff, taking his feet off of the table and wiping his dirty mouth with his sleeve.
"I just did." Replied Katniss without missing a bit and casted a glance around the room. A few of the men seemed to be playing cards and Katniss knew that it was probably for money. Haymitch drank his usual dark tea and smoked a cigar while cleaning his favorite riffle. Chaff looked like she disturbed his meal, made of noodles with meatballs that he was eating straight from the pot while cheering on Cato and Marvel, who played a game of darts, drinking bear out of extra large bottles. Besides them, Rory was the only one standing straight like a string looking slightly startled and a bit red on the cheeks. She wiped the water from her face as she took a couple of steps closer to the comfortably warm roaring fireplace. She looked at Rory and cracked a smile.
"At ease, soldier." She joked, making the young cowboy blush even more and take back his previously occupied seat.
"What brings you here at this hour, sweetheart? And in this weather too." Asked Haymitch reaching for a thick plaid and throwing it at her shivering form.
"Someone just butchered one of our one-year-old calves and left it in the shed near the spare pasture by the woods," she said outright wrapping the plaid around her shoulders.
"Butchered?" Scoffed Chaff. "That's just ridiculous, girl. I bet the cow got lost and some coyote took care of it. Don't you bother us with your stories during our free time, lassie." He barked, getting back to his meal without a second glance towards Katniss.
"Pretty skilled the coyote if it could precisely operate a knife. I would very much want to find it and ask it about its unusual capabilities. Maybe it can talk too." Replied Katniss cheekily, earning a smirk from Haymitch and a loud laugh from Rory, who casted his head down as soon as Chaff send a murderous glance his way.
"So you're saying it was killed by a men?" Asked Cato, pulling a long sip from his bottle. Katniss nodded shortly in confirmation.
"More like massacred. It was gutted and dismembered." She added, making Rory's beet red face go suddenly very pale.
"Are you sure?" Asked Haymitch.
"Positive," she confirmed and shook her head in exasperation at the sight of their still unbelieving faces. "If for some reason, you think my judgment on that case is somehow untrustworthy then go ahead and ask Peeta Mellark. We found the cow together." She added, now truly pissed off that she had to use that argument.
"We believe you, sweetheart…."
"Well, I don't," Chaff cut in, only to be silenced by an enraged Cato.
"Shut the fuck up, Chaff. No one asked for your opinion."
"Careful boy, or…"
"Knock it off all of you, now!" Yelled Katniss, startling all of the men at the same time. She never did anything like that before, but she was their boss now and if they didn't know she could get them to behave and listen to her, they would get on her head pretty quickly. "I didn't came here to listen to your pathetic squabbles, but to inform you to have your eyes open. Whoever did that, didn't do it by accident and if it was meant to be a joke it was a damn stupid one. Just be careful, whoever that guy is, he's pretty skilled with a knife."
"You think it's a cowboy?" Asked Haymitch scratching his stubble in deep thought.
"Bet, girl thinks it was one of us," grumbled Chaff, but Katniss choose to ignore the comment all together.
"What does Peeta think about it?" Asked Marvel causing Katniss to sigh loudly at the question.
"The same thing I do. It had to be human, a man who knew his way around a knife. For a moment we considered the possibility that they were just some dumb town kids having a fucked-up idea, but we dismissed it pretty quickly. Whoever did this knew what he was doing and BOTH of us, Peeta and I, agree on that." She replied stiffly. "That's exactly why he's now at Three Meadows, talking to his own men and saying them the exact same damn thing I do, but I bet he didn't have to repeat it a thousand times in order for them to believe he didn't fucking hallucinate." She added with a bit of venom, causing Marvel to blush slightly. "Let's hope it was just some fuckard giving a guest show, who left as soon as he was done with the surprise ho got for us. One way or another I want all of you to have your ears and eyes wide open. You notice anything out of order you repot back to me immediately. Is that clear?" She finished, her voice slightly raised. She was greeted with a nod of agreement from every cowboy present, except Haymitch.
"Crystal clear, boss." He said instead with a little smile. She knew what that smile meant, he was simply proud of her. She took the plaid off her shoulders and folded neatly into its previous form.
"Thanks for the blanket, Haymitch." She thanked throwing it back in his direction. She started towards the door, but stopped suddenly when a thought occurred to her. "Any of you boys fancy a bear skin? I have one on my horse and I don't give a damn about hunting trophies and shit." She proposed making every men in the room stunned again.
"Where on earth would you get a bear skin form, girl?" Asked Chaff gruffly.
"I bought it in a store," she replied sarcastically. "What do you think, Chaff? I took it off a bear."
"You killed a bear, Katniss?" Asked Rory, his eyes filled with amazement.
"Well, I didn't quite want to, but she wanted to make a meal out of me, so it's not like I had any other options." Replied Katniss sending a warm smile towards they boy she still considered a kid.
"If you don't want it, I will gladly take it." Said Marvel enthusiastically making Katniss nod in agreement.
"Help yourself, Shadow is outside," she replied and he almost ran towards the door in his eagerness. "I think you should teach the rookie how to use a Winchester." Added Katniss nodding her head towards Rory.
"Yeah, I'll get to it first thing in the morning." Replied Haymitch nodding in agreement to Katniss' idea.
"Shoot? Why?" Asked Rory, slightly surprised.
"Because, Rory," she started the moment Marvel entered the cabin, dragging the heavy bear skin behind him, "shit happens."
"You look like hell, brainless." Stated Johanna as soon as Katniss entered the living room in Snow's mansion half an hour later. She was still soaked through and she sneezed loudly as she took off her jacket.
"We were worried about you being outside in the weather." Stated Annie as she placed a mug of warm tea in front of Finnick.
"I wasn't," interrupted Johanna with a little smirk.
"I was about to ask Finn to go and look for you," added Annie, ignoring Johanna's comment.
"I've told you she's going to be fine," stated Sae from an armchair standing in front of the roaring fireplace. "Take your shoes and hat off, Katniss. This isn't a saloon." She added sternly. Katniss sighed loudly and without saying a word fulfilled Sae's order.
"What the hell happened to you?" Asked Johanna taking in her sister's disheveled appearances. She eyed the gash on her tight suspiciously.
"You are hurt!" Exclaimed Annie with worry and almost dropped the mug of tea she was now carrying into the room for Katniss.
"I ran into a bear." Katniss replied with a shrug, as if it was the most natural thing on the planet. "Brought some mea,." she added holding up her hunting bag as an indication. Johanna grimaced with disgust.
"That's fucking fantastic." She commented looking as if she were about to puke all over the place. "It had to be a very small bear." She added eyeing the amount of meat suspiciously.
"Did it attack you?" Asked Annie, panic rising in her voice.
"It was quite a large one actually. I shared with Peeta though, since he helped me skin it," replied Katniss toward her eldest sister,"and it didn't really get the chance to attack me, only grazed my tight before I shut it with my Winchester." She added, trying to calm Annie down "I gotta go change. I don't think there's an inch on me that is dry."
"A bear?" Asked Annie rising her brows with amazement. Finnck shrugged at it as if it really wasn't that much of a deal, but he reached into his pocket for his phone and made a call to a local doctor. He knew Katniss too well to not be concerned she's not going to make that call herself. Katniss appeared back downstairs in a matter of minutes, sat at the table across form Annie and started to work eagerly on a bowl of Stew that Sae heated for her.
"I've called Effie, she's going to be here in half an hour." Stated Finnick, making Katniss look up and roll her eyes at him.
"Thanks Finn, but I'm not a child. I could have done that myself." She mumbled in answer, too hungry to talk with an empty mouth.
"Would you?" He asked with a teasing smile. She didn't have the chance to answer when Gale entered the house looking only slightly less wet then Katniss was a couple of minutes ago.
"Hey everybody!" He greeted loudly and made a couple of steps into the room only to come eye to eye with Sae's stern look. She didn't have to even tell him what is it about when he peeled off his shoes with a bashful expression. Johanna marveled at the fact that a middle-aged short woman could with one look make all of those grown up men and woman act like naughty children that got scolded. Katniss greeted her brother with a warm smile. "I've got a call from Peeta asking me to meet everybody here, is everything okay?" Asked Gale with concern. Katniss huffed at the news. She knew she had to tell the rest of the boys about what happened today with the cow, but she didn't appreciate the fact that Peeta felt like he was responsible for calling a meeting. The cow was at her ranch after all. She took a calming breath. She was too tired to think about it. She ran her hand across her face.
"Yeah… something happened, but let's wait for Mellark then. We'll talk when he gets here." She added, getting back to her food.
"Is it about the bear?" Asked Johanna making Gale take notice of her for the first time since he got into the room. He did notice her late, but when he did, he couldn't stop throwing glances her way. The fact that she was dressed in a skimpy night-gown didn't help the matter.
"What bear?" He asked tearing his eyes away from Johanna and looking at Katniss questioningly.
"I ran into a female grizzly earlier today." She answered rolling her eyes at her brother's obvious staring.
"You what?"
"Chill, big brother. As you can see she ended up much worse than me. As a matter of fact I believe we'll be eating her for dinner tomorrow." Replied Katniss with a little laugh as she pointed to her hunting bag that Sae was now taking care of in the kitchen area.
"Eat it?" Exclaimed Johanna with outrage. "Over my dead body!" She added making Katniss smirk at her a little as she remember Johanna's response to her using that saying.
"Don't tempt me, Barbie girl." She replied making Johanna huff in annoyance.
"But you okay?" Asked Gale again, not minding the exchange, desperate to make sure she didn't get hurt.
"I'm perfectly fine, just a little gash on my tight." She answered downplaying, as they heard the door open again.
"Well, you should at least call the doctor to come here with the shots." Stated Gale patronizingly.
"That's what I told her earlier today." Came Peeta's voice from the door. He had a manner of putting on his pennyworth anytime he interrupted other people conversation. Johanna and Annie snickered a bit as Katniss groaned loudly and hid her face in her hands.
"Seems you did a lousy job telling her about it since it had to be me who thought about it and called Effie." Commented Finnick making Katniss look at him reproachfully.
"You didn't even gave me a damn five minutes to come home, change, take a fucking shit and then call the doctor." She growled making Peeta and Gale chuckle. "Oh, shut the fuck up you two." She turned towards them. "Neither of you gets to treat me like I'm a half-witted ten year-old." She added and sighed loudly. "Let's go to the office, we have more important stuff to discuss than your displays of over protectiveness or whatever that was." She added right before sneezing loudly and cursing even louder.
"You okay?" Asked Peeta, a strange mix of worry and amusement gracing his deep voice. She chose to ignore the question instead of hitting him across the head.
"Oh my God." Commented Gale as Katniss and Peeta took turns to cover the story of finding the butchered calf. "Who could have done such a thing?" He asked rhetorically as he stood up and started to circle the room nervously.
"I don't know guys. Maybe it were just some dumb kids from the city, joking around like the dumbasses they are." Mused Finnick hopefully, not really believing in his own argumentation.
"Let's hope it's just a random stranger, because otherwise it would mean that someone at the Snow Rocks has an enemy." Stated Peeta, looking at Katniss questioningly. Katniss furrowed her brows.
"You think I have an enemy?" She asked making him shrug his shoulders.
"Do you? Can you think of anyone who would want to torment you?" He asked and she smirked.
"Besides you?" She asked causing him to chuckle.
"Well Johanna kind of hates you, but…"
"Oh, come on Finn are you serious? Do you really see that woman gutting and dismembering an animal?" Cut in Gale with outrage, making Katniss snort at his defensiveness.
"Well that was meant as kind of a joke, what you would know if you'd let me finish." Replied Finn with a slight amusement. "I think it's obvious it's nobody from either of your families and I don't see grandma Mags sneaking out of the house at night to butcher some animals." He added making Peeta chuckle a little.
"Well I don't know Finn. Your Gran was a butcher's wife after all." Teased Peeta making everyone laugh a bit and again, as he seemed to always do, defusing the tension immediately. "But back to the question-" he started again looking towards Katniss "- I know you don't exactly have a sunny disposition or pro social skills, but I don't know of a person who would hate you enough to do such a thing." He stated making Katniss raise one eyebrow at him.
"Gee, thanks Mellark. Not everybody has your ability to sweep every women and half of the men off their feet with two words." She replied mockingly and he laughed a bit.
"Well, not every woman." He replied with a smile.
"Seriously? Name one." She challenged and he raised his eyebrows with evident amusement.
"You." He answered simply and she stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond to that.
"Well…" She started rubbing her nose nervously, "you guys treat me like I'm a dude anyway so I suppose I'm as good as one." She replied making him open his mouth as to say something. "Plus," she added not giving him the chance to do so, "you've never really tried." She added right before biting her tongue forcefully. What the fuck was she doing? She didn't want Peeta Mellark to sweep her off her feet. He looked very dumbfounded for about fifteen seconds, but recovered quickly and made the teasing smile reappear on his lips.
"Challenge accepted!" He stated making Katniss roll her eyes. They both forgot that Finnick and Gale were still very present in the room and listening to their conversation with interest and slight amusement.
"Should we leave and get you some room?" Asked Finnick teasingly making Katniss blush prettily.
"I wouldn't say no, but I'm not sure Katniss is ready to be left alone with my charming self." Replied Peeta making Katniss snort and Gale laugh loudly.
"Anyway guys, I have something to tell you too. I asked Annie if I could share with you as soon as she told me and assured her it was only for her own good and protection." Started Finnick, changing the mood in the room immediately.
"Is it about her bruises and the fact that she's scared of everything that moves and breaths?" Asked Katniss, for some reason lowering her voice.
"Yeah, she finally told me what she's so scared of," he replied. Peeta and Gale took their sits back at the table, preparing for a long story. "It's her husband." Stated Finnick simply, making Katniss rise her eyebrows. "Well, ex-husband to be exact," he clarified. "A really fucked up bastard. Incredibly violent. She said he used to beat her with everything he had in reach." He added. Katniss took what she was hoping was a discreet look towards Peeta. She still remembered when they were just kids and his own mother beat him almost to death with a rolling pin. It was a case loud on the whole Montana when his father kicked her out of the house for that and threatened he was going to kill her if she nears his children again. Prim was only a babe that time and Peeta was in recovery for almost three months. Katniss remembered being glad that her father didn't get a damn about her to the point of not bothering with even giving her a spanking. Now, at age of twenty five, Peeta Mellark was sitting at the table listening to Annie's story, his jaw tense and fists clenched tightly on top of the table. She had a strange urge to take his hand into hers and massage it gently until it relaxed. She shook her head, clearing her mind of that thought. She wasn't the only one who noticed Peeta's tensed expression. Gale looked at his friend with concern.
"You okay, Peet?" He asked making Finnick look at the two of them. Peeta came out of his stupor suddenly and looked at Gale with a slight smile. She'd never seen him fake his smile so hard.
"Yeah, sure." He replied lightly and rubbed his chin right along the thin scar that was present there ever since the day his mother gave it to him. "Go on, Finn." He added, his voice slightly choked. He cleared his throat. Finnick nodded.
"So, one day when he left after giving her some serious beating she just left. She said the only thing she took with her was her purse. She survived only thanks to some of her old friends and kept running. He got a restraining order, but it didn't help much. She said he somehow always managed to find her, so she was actually happy that she could stay here for some time. She's hoping he won't find her here." He finished. Gale whistled loudly and Katniss burrowed her head in her hands. She remembered how much Peeta and Rye suffered when their mother used violence against them and she was sure that being the victim of your own husband was as much terrible as that. She immediately felt sorry that she didn't treat Annie better from the start.
"He's going to come and look for her." Stated Katniss looking up from her hands. Finnick and Gale nodded, but Peeta still looked slightly green. Katniss wasn't going to lie. Whatever disagreements were between them, she cared for the man enough to be concerned when he looked like he was going to be sick.
"Then we have to be prepared for the bastard and give him a nice Montana welcome." Replied Peeta looking straight into Katniss' eyes.
"What if he's already here?" Asked Gale in a slight concern. "What if… what if he was the one who butchered the cow?" He added making them all look at him.
"I don't think so, Gale," replied Finnick. "I think being violent towards your wife is a slightly different story than massacring animals." He stated.
"You do? Well, I'm not that sure." Commented Peeta. Katniss nodded her head a couple of times.
"I agree with Peeta." She stated making him look at her with a slight smirk. This time she could see the smile was real.
"Mark this day, gentlemen! Katniss Everdeen just agreed with me." He teased making Katniss smile. Now she was at least sure he was back to his normal self.
"Don't get used to it, Mellark." She replied making him chuckle. "But back to the topic, I think that if someone is evil enough to beat another person without a second thought, they won't have a problem with hurting an animal, even if just to make a point." She added on a different note.
"Do you know his name, Finn?" Asked Gale, Finnick reached into his jacket pocked and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"That's all the info, I've managed to find on him with a little help from Darius." He answered unfolding the paper for all of them to see. "His name is Bruce Tussinger and the last time he was seen, was actually by Annie's mother and stepfather in Alabama. He came looking for her two months ago. They didn't tell him anything but he'd found her anyway two weeks later." Stated Finnick, showing the rest of them a picture of him. He was a tall, broad man, his hair cut very shortly and his eyes with an unpleasant glint. Katniss almost shivered at the sight of him and wondered what had made Annie marry someone like that. "We have to consider he could change his looks. Annie said he'd never done that before, but there's always a first time for everything. It depends on how desperate to find her he is." He added running his hand along his bronze hair. She could see he was worried about her sister, it was as obvious as the fact that Gale couldn't stop staring at Johanna's butt. She sighed internally. There were thousands of woman in Montana, but they had to take interest in her sisters off all the people. She was happy she didn't have another one because she was sure she would have to deal with a horny Mellark as well. She cleared her throat.
"Peeta," she started making him look at her, "did you hire anyone new lately?" She asked, he took a second to think about it.
"No, I didn't." He replied shaking his head. "You?" He asked right back making her shake her head in denial. The both looked at Finnick at the same time.
"Me neither."
"Well, this sets us right back to the starting point," stated Gale tiredly. "Listen guys, I think the only thing we can do right now is be careful and hope this doesn't happen again. We should have our eyes open on new people in town and at the ranches in neighborhood, too." He added making everyone agree. "I'm sorry, Catnip but I still need to feed the horses." He stated. "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" He asked.
"No, I think that's all. I'll see you tomorrow." She replied and squeezed his hand right before he left the room. They heard a slight commotion downstairs.
"Finnick, darling!" An overexcited woman's voice called up the stairs. Finnick groaned loudly. "Come here my darling boy! I can't wait to see you!"
Katniss laughed loudly at Finnick's miserable expression.
"Go on, you lovely boy. Don't make Effie wait for you any longer." Said Peeta teasingly. Effie Trinket was a good doctor but she was also outrageously flirty with men, especially the young and hot ones, what made Finnick be on top of her list.
"Go to hell, Peeta." He replied making the blond cowboy laugh loudly. "Just wait till she finds out you're here as well." He added making Peeta freeze for a moment.
"You wouldn't."
"Oh, I would and with a great pleasure too." Replied Finn lightly.
"Finnick my dear boy!" Called Effie again making Finnick groan again. "Remember she's here for you, Katniss." He added right before taking a deep breath and heading out to feed the beast. Katniss and Peeta chuckled at the ridiculous scene.
"Can I sleep here?" Asked Peeta hopefully making Katniss press her lips together to hold in the laughter and shake her head in denial. "Oh, come on! Don't be so evil." He replied lightly, but his expression changed as soon as he realized what he said. He hated himself for using the word evil, because it was the only one Katniss ever used to describe his mother. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she was quicker than him.
"Now there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you stay here. You are so going out there." She replied with a smile, trying to take his mind off of his faux pas. He didn't respond with a witty remark as he would in normal circumstances. "You okay, Peeta?" She asked, concern evident in her voice. He snapped out of it and send her way a wicked smile.
"So much better now, knowing that you worry about me." He replied teasingly and she scowled at him.
"Fuck you, Mellark." She replied and he laughed wholeheartedly.
"Be careful, sweetheart because someday I might actually take you up on that offer." He replied and left the room with a wink in her direction. It took her a great moment to understand what he said, but when she did she blushed beet red, because somewhere deep down she really wished he would.
TBC...
Aweeee... Everlark is slowly starting to happen... I can't wait for those two dumbasses to get together already.
What do you think? How did you like it?
