The woman's sharp brown eyes watched even as she shook firmly. "Me? No. Him?"
She indicated the man leaning down a hand to help Brady, not reacting at all when the wolf riding uneasily on Marc's shoulders nipped at him. "Probably already has. T'was me that seen and sent him after ya. Told him I wudn't cookin' till he got ya here."
Angela covered the woman's large hands with her own. "Then it's you I owe the debt to. Good." She moved closer, running on instinct. "Maybe we can barter, but for now, let me start paying on the debt I owe. I'm a Doctor." Her voice lowered, "Diabetes can be controlled by doing certain things, and then the side effects go away."
The woman grinned, clapped her on the back, and Angela held onto her big arm to keep from falling as the reek of corn filled her nose. "Might could be. Let's get them men fed and we'll talk."
Angela nodded, taking her sweater off in the warmth. There was barely room to walk in the dusty, ten by twelve space and the cluttered shelves full of bags, canisters, and unpacked boxes told her the couple had come here only recently.
"Can I help? Set a table? Do cleanup?"
"Polite, eager to help. You remind me of the past," Lenore mused matter-of-factly.
Frowning, Angela didn't look away, though the stench of corn was making her eyes water. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Wudn't all evil."
Angela didn't agree with her, but the look of understanding they shared said this new world wasn't all bad either.
"Damn it, woman! Feed me! Them," the man ordered, dropping down at the long, wooden table in the narrow, lantern-lit room.
His wife waved at a chair over in the corner, seemingly indifferent to the large, wild wolf standing tensely in her kitchen. "Put your man to the right. We'll stand. Only got two chairs left now. Keepin' warm's more important than pass-me-downs."
Angela shook her head at Marc when he started to offer to take the floor, and her eyes told him to be careful, that the man wasn't in charge here.
She brought the heavy chair over with no visible effort and knew the big woman was pleased when Marc obeyed her and sat. The feeling increased when Angela looked at Dog, pointed at the trap door, and the wolf immediately went to that spot and laid down, only his eyes and ears moving. Angela stayed close to the woman as she served big bowls of what appeared to be stew from a large metal pot on a double burner gas stove.