I drove to Wiggins the next day with a large parcel and a sheaf of papers in the passenger side seat. When I got to the turn off I parked and walked the familiar route to Bract’s camp.

“Detective,” he said, standing almost as if he had been waiting for me. “Another translation to do?”

“Not this time. Actually, I have a gift from everyone for you.”

I handed over the package. Bract took it uncertainly.

“Well, open it,” I said.

Bract shrugged and pulled the lid open. From within he pulled ten boxes of Oak’s favorite biscuits, a pack of homemade elk jerky, two boxes of soup and several tins of very good coffee. Bract laughed as he pulled it all out.

“That is nice. Thank you.”

“There’s this too.” I held out the folder of papers. “If you’re still looking for a job.”

Brack took it curiously and began to read. The furrow in his brow grew deeper and deeper.

“I’ll summarize it for you. It’s a contract to bring you on as an independent consultant for the county police. You’ll be paid by the hour per job. There’s going to be a lot of encounters with your people in the future I expect. You are part of this country now, and we need good men like you helping the force.”

Bract continued to frown.

“Only if you’re interested of course.”

Bract looked up at me very hard. His face was indecipherable. Then he looked out around the forest that was his home. “My people have a very long way to go,” he said at last. “We are very different from you townie folk. But I learn this last weeks that our values are the same. We care for our peoples and help them. We stop bad things to happen.”

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“Sogro,” I said. “That’s your new title by the way, if you take the job. Sogro Bract. What do you think?”

Bract deliberated for a time, but I could see a smile behind that scraggly beard. “I try for a while?” he asked.

“You don’t have to commit to anything formal. You’re independent, so you can take whatever jobs you like, and deny other ones. It’s up to you.”

He nodded. “Ok, I try.”

He found the contract pages and signed them. “I’ll make a copy at the office and bring them to you. There’s just this one other thing.”

“Oh now you say it, after I sign!” Bract exclaimed.

“It’s not too trickly. But you’ll need this.”

I handed him the last box I had held back. He opened it. Inside was a simple flip phone, a basic model, but accessible none the less.

“I really need to be able to call you man, when things are going down.”

Bract let out an exaggerated sigh. “Ok, I’ll try. But I have no electrical. How to make it charge?”

“There’s a solar charger in there. Just put it in the sun and it will charge. Then plug the phone in with the cord.”

“You think of everything,” Bract said stoically, but again, I could see the edge of a smile.

“Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be in touch.”

Bract hesitated and then reached out his hand and we shook. “I am glad I meet you,” he said after a moment. “Sorry for almost kill you that time.”

“No worries, it happens all the time,” I said cheerily. “Good day Bract.”

“Good day, Senel.”

As I headed back to the car, I felt a lightness I hadn't encountered for quite some time. It felt like I had a team again. Far from hating my position here in Melspol, I was actually finding myself enjoying it, if that could be the term. It was a far more interesting position than I had anticipated. But I had a great partner, a supportive boss, a good tech expert in Ashley, and a good consultant and comrade in arms with Bract on the team. The disappointment that Ulug had escaped was secondary to the victory of saving those kids. Still, whatever the drug lords hand planned for us in the future would no doubt be a rocky road. But for now, we were the victors, and I would hold this in my mind.