Wolves of the Thousandth Winter novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: Oskar's Envelope
Oskar waited until December to make his offer, and he did not make it himself.
It was Friday, the eleventh, a quarter past eight, and the bakery under my flat was full.
I was in line for a coffee and a cinnamon roll, in my coat, with my hair loose.
Ten days to the solstice.
Eleven of the people in that line were wolves, and every one of them kept very still.
The bell rang over the door.
A young man in a camel coat came in, cut like Oskar's and half a size too big for him.
He had a cream envelope in both hands.
He walked straight down the line to me.
"Ms. Asplund," he said. "A message from Mr. Ferris."
"I don't take messages from Mr. Ferris."
"He asked me to say it's a kindness."
"Then he can deliver a kindness in person."
"He asked me to say you would say that."
The young man held out the envelope.
"And that it's best opened here, where it's warm."
The line had gone quiet.
The baker behind the counter stopped with a tray of rolls in the air.
I took the envelope, because everyone was watching, and because I wanted to know.
It held two sheets.
The first was a cashier's check, made out to me, for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
It was drawn on the Hallsson trust and signed by Oskar's neat, round hand.
I looked at the zeroes twice.
The second sheet was a letter on thick cream paper, with a crest.
It was from the manuscripts library in Edinburgh.
It offered Thora Asplund a two-year fellowship to catalogue the Norse collection, beginning in January, with housing.
I stood in the bakery with the check in one hand and the letter in the other, and the world went very quiet.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Wolves of the Thousandth Winter are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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