We took our leave of the foreman, who invited us back should we wish to talk to the first shift foreman, or the men doing the actual logging. I communicated my findings to the others.
    "We need to head back to the hotel; we're going to need shotguns for this," Kane remarked.
     "Whatever they're planning on doing, it ends tonight," I said as we walked, "So yes, I think that would be a good idea. I'm not really a very good shot with one," I added meekly.
    Adam unpacked his Tommy gun, and I hefted the unfamiliar weight of a shotgun, a pistol tucked in my coat pocket as well. Kane was similarly equipped. We waited for the hotel staff to go to bed, and returned to the mill before the third shift started at ten. Picked up a thermos of coffee on our way, and found a good hiding place on the strength of our vampiric companion's years of experience, out of the wind.
    The second shift greeted the third on their way out. I saw the man I knew would die this night and wondered if I could get him to go home.... I can project thoughts, but not emotions, and it's not terribly subtle. Maybe if I kept it up long enough he would be bothered enough to do as I said and leave.
    Go home. If you don't go home, you're going to die.
    He shook his head. "Man."
    "What's the matter?" one of the others asked.
    "Just felt like someone walked over my grave."
    "I feel like that every damn day."
    The bay door rattled up. "What, they didn't bring any more trees in?" someone said.
    "We just received word from Jenkins, last night was the last night of the cutting."
    "What're we even here for?"
    "Tonight's delivery night."
    "Delivery night? Man...." someone groaned.
    "Look, do you want the job? We can find other people to do the job."
    You don't want the job, I told him.
    "All right, what does delivery mean?"
    "The Jenkins' boat is just down there, we're gonna be taking everything out of the bay, loading it up, taking it up to Ambajejus, unloading it all there."
    "And then we're done with this?"
    "Then we load the new load down here, cutting stuff up," the foreman explained patiently.
    "We start loading the new load down here?"
    "Do you want the job or not?" he snapped.
    NO.
    "We have to carry this stuff out, onto the boat, and then punt the boat up the lake?" my target said dubiously.
    "Time and a half. Don't tell me you guys couldn't use the money."
    Expensive coffin.
    "I have a bad feeling about this, man."
    "Yeah, me too. Every damn day," his companion sighed.
    If you're dead, you can't kill him, I pointed out.
    Decision made. "Come on guys, let's start getting this stuff loaded. It's not getting any earlier."
    "Could we do something to the boat?" I asked the others quietly. We snuck out to the dock. It was a large, flat boat, with nowhere on it to hide. That option gone, we watched the men work for a while.
    "I still have the strangest feeling that something bad is going to happen," the man sighed. He wasn't listening to me, although he moved as if his mind wasn't entirely on his work... and in a moment of inattention a swinging timber knocked him into the water. The other people on the boat started yelling and looking for something to fish him out with.
    "Can you swim?" Kane asked Adam. The ape shook his head. The vampire sighed audibly and darted after the fallen man, into the freezing November water. Fortunately the lake wasn't very deep, and he spotted the man quickly, already entering the first stages of hypothermia. This sucks almost as much as daylight, he grumbled silently, grabbing hold of the thrashing man and pushing him toward the surface, up to where the others could grab him, pull him out, and start performing first aid. Adam was just about ready to charge out to apply his classical training when the man vomited up quite a bit of water and started breathing again.
    "Aw jeez...."
    "He said he felt like he was gonna die tonight...."
    "Come on, don't die! Your wife'll never talk to me again! I'll be all alone!"
    "Just like you are every day of your damn life?"
    Kane briefly contemplated killing him, but forebore, lurking down low in the water and getting a good distance away before climbing out.
    They had dragged the man into the warm, the foreman beside himself. "Get him over by the fire!"
    "He was right, this job wasn't worth it...."
    "I'm going to pretend for a moment that I didn't hear that," a new voice said in tones of low menace.
    It was Jenkins. No doubt about that, for any of us. The hair stood up on Adam's neck, and he bared his teeth silently at the nearness of the predator.
    "He's going to freeze!"
    "He won't freeze. I'll see to that. You men, continue with what you're doing," he directed. "He has been rescued," Jenkins overrode the foreman's half-hearted attempts to object. "I will see to it that he receives all the attention that he requires. But it is imperative that this wood make it back up to my house this evening. I will even increase the pay to double time, to ensure that this is done."
    "All right guys, let's finish loading this up," he gave in.
    "Aw, c'mon..."
    "Should we just open fire?" I whispered nervously, watching from our hidden spot as Kane, dripping, rejoined us. He shook his head.
    We're going to have to step in eventually, Adam said.
    "There's nothing actionable here," the vampire reminded us patiently. "Slightly unlicensed interdimensional logging and being an unlicensed werewolf are not legal crimes."
    

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