"Couldn't you have gotten a normal job?" asked Liselle, as they walked down the long dark highway toward the county.
"I needed a job," answered Ulric. "I needed money to pay off the debt that Isaac put me in."
"I'm sure you could have found something else," said Liselle. She didn't want to say that she was glad he was mowing lawns, even though it was better than being a journalist.
"Liselle," said Ulric, as they turned off down a newly paved driveway. "I don't like knowing that I owe money. I want to get rid of it."
"Well don't worry," said Liselle. "We'll make enough off of this to put a dent in the debt. And then if you mow enough lawns we'll get it all paid off in no time."
"That's not the point," said Ulric. "I want to pay him off as soon as possible."
"Well," said Liselle. "I for one don't like knowing he has that much control over me."
She looked over at her husband and smiled. "And don't worry. He'll still have that much control once you pay him off."
Ulric looked at Liselle and smiled. "Will he?"
Liselle didn't answer.
Ulric stood in front of the double doors of the county building. He was beginning to think that this wasn't going to work. At least not right away. He pushed the doors open and a large stack of papers fell to the dark hallway behind him.
"That's not going to cut it," he said. He pulled the papers close to his face and scanned the first one.
"I think you should get a real job after we pay off the bank," said Liselle. "This is one that looks really promising."
Liselle followed behind Ulric as he walked past the line of desks and wait room. He walked up to the information desk and pushed some papers across it.
"We have files to gather on every hunter in Shawnee county," he said. "We'll need them to compile the information for our story."
The woman at the information desk sat down and looked through the papers.
"This shouldn't take you very long," said Briar.
"Thank you," said Ulric. He turned to leave. "I hope that you can get me a list of everyone who has ever been licensed by the county over the last few decades."
"That shouldn't be a problem," said Briar. She watched Ulric walk away and smiled. "I hope this pays off."
"Me too," said Liselle.
The next morning, Ulric found himself standing in the bright sun, waiting for the bus.
He glanced at his watch, seeing just how much time he was wasting on a story that was never going to pay off. He thought about what Liselle had said to him the night before, about him owing money. He thought about how his debt was tied to monsters, and how he really hoped he got paid for writing about them.
He realized that Liselle was right. There were times that being a journalist just wasn't worth it.