He looked at her. She was just a kid, seventeen years old, a devout Moravian who had dropped out of school to marry without her parents approval. Her husband saw no reason for marriage to interfere with his previous lifestyle, which had included the determined chasing of skirts as far up the Nushagak as Butch Mountain. He spent more time in the bag than out of it and never refused a fight, and Liam knew it was only a matter of time before he had to pick up Darren on his own DWI. Hed won election to the city council by standing rounds for the regulars at Bills and the Breeze for a week straight before the voters went to the polls, and had thus far spent most of his time in office trying to change the local ordinance governing bar closing hours, at present set at two a.m., to five a.m.

Amelia stumbled in place, and her hair fell back from one cheek. Moses lips tightened into a thin line, and Liam stretched out a hand to raise Amelias chin, revealing a bruise high up on her left cheek. “Did Darren hit you, Amelia? he said.

She pulled away. “Im the councilmans wife, she said, enunciating her words with care.

“Yeah, yeah, youre the councilmans wife, Moses said, and stood up to grab her and muscle her into a chair. “Youre not gonna arrest her, he told Liam shortly, “and youre not gonna charge her, he said to Bill, “so dont stand around with your thumbs up your asses like you are.

“You have an alternative suggestion? Bill said, irritated.

“Shes going to hurt herself eventually, Moses, Liam said.

“She did that when she married the jerk, Moses replied.

Liam remembered the evening in Bills in May, the first day he met the shaman, when Amelia and Darren had come to Moses for his blessing. Moses, drunk and verbally abusive, had withheld any such thing, and at the time Liam had thought him harsh. “The problem is, she might hurt somebody else at the same time, he said now.

“Ill handle it, Moses said.

“How? Bill said.

“I said Ill handle it!

Bill refused to be outshouted. “HOW?

Moses glared at her. “Ill take her up to fish camp, dry her out, talk some sense into her.

If it were possible for Bill to pout, she would have pouted. “But you just got back.

Moses expression changed. “Turn the bar over to Dottie and Paul, and come with.

Bill stood very still for a moment, and then leaned across the bar and swept Moses into a lavish kiss, to which he responded wholeheartedly.

Liam examined the king net hanging from the ceiling for holes and found it in himself to be grateful there was a bar between Moses and Bill. For two people who were older than God and who woke up nearly every morning in the same bed, their enthusiasm for each other never seemed to wane.

He thought of Wy, of waking up in the same bed every morning with her, and found himself looking forward to being older than God himself.