Merry's Marauders (Book #2 ~ Scenic Route to Paradise, refreshed 2016 edition)

by Andrea Aarons

  Luz was the first to get out of the jail and actually start to run her race of faith. Out of Luz’s conversion and water baptism, Toni - Merry’s mother had pursued a dream to start a halfway house which provided counseling, mentoring and spiritual nourishment besides a place to land when exiting the county jail. When her mother left for the summer and then ultimately traveled on to D’Almata, Merry had taken the spiritual baton - opening the halfway house under the guidance and oversight of their local pastor. Luz was first to move in. In the short time, Luz became a reference point to both the other women coming into the house but also to those who were a part of the jail ministry. Their labors, their prayers... their tears for the inmates were not in vain.

  Merry had fallen asleep under the shade of the embankment. The sun was setting and as soon as she thought it safe she was going to climb out and head for the jail facility drive.

  The Hacienda had been bustling all day. Lenny and Junior returned after a short while with a pickup bed loaded with wooden pallets. Out front, Junior and Tina were disassembling them and inside, Lenny was hammering away, closing up all unnecessary windows. Tom Biggs made a cook fire within a cache of bricks in the enclosed patio and so, Mrs. Ortiz made another stew using the beloved Santa Fean, posole`. It was simmering for dinner. Nikki and Consuela had crossed the street to the two story house. They were under orders by Tom Biggs to camouflage the kitchen door which led into the two car garage. He told them what to do and they were doing it. Mac came and went all afternoon with various items, even taking the VW bug one time and returning with a carload of stuffs.

  It was late, maybe nine o’clock before everyone stopped to have Mrs. Ortiz’s red chili posole` and tortillas. Mac had just sat down when Junior said, “Hey, where’s Merry? I haven’t seen her all day.”

  Patsy looked quickly at Mac before inadvertently dropping her fork onto the tiled floor with a clatter. Before she bent to pick the fork up, she saw him look around. Mac’s face revealed he had not realized it but he had not seen Merry either. The humming of dinner voices ceased.

  All the women, excepting Nurse Ratchet who had not come out of her room since the night before, knew that Merry had gone to get Luz. What they did not know was Merry had gone to the corrections facility to do it.

  Sylvia who had been a poker-faced liar for most of her short life said, “She worked all day and went to have a rest.” The other women nodded vigorously to add credence to her words. Everyone was tired so the men found this plausible.

  Mac said, “Good. She can take watch duty tonight. From now on we will always have two of us on the roof. Lenny, leave one of the skylights open for us.” The girls looked around nervously.

  Nikki said, “Oh, that is smart. I’ll take the watch with Merry tonight... if you want. What time do we need to be up there?”

  Mac looked at her and should have wondered at her willingness to volunteer but his thoughts were elsewhere. Although he preferred to have Lenny or better, himself watch with Merry, he relented realizing that the watch tonight would be the easiest he guessed for the next few weeks.

  “Yes. You two go up right after dinner and stay until someone relieves you,” he told her.

  While her housemates ate dinner, Merry was fast walking in a darkened arroyo, along with four inmates by the sparse light of a gibbous moon. Merry hadn’t resisted when Kelsey Krahmer, a revolving door inmate threatened to blow the whistle on Merry’s plan to walk out of the jail with Luz in tow. Kelsey wanted to come too. Merry realized hours earlier as she stood looking into the kitchen drawer at the clothespins that Luz would not be the only gal returning home with her that night. It was almost as if God waited to inform Merry of this incidental until the last possible moment so her faith wouldn’t completely flee her at the incredulity of the task at hand.

  Merry’s mind jumped from one theme to the next as she walked. First, she wondered how long it would be before the guards figured out that four inmates were missing from the women’s portion of the jail. And then what? With the whole area turned on its ear over the Albuquerque disaster, there would be a slowed or delayed response or as Merry sincerely hoped - no response at all... this time.

  Almost as nerve wracking as having a posse of jail guards combing the desert for her and the escapees, was the thought of walking into the Hacienda with not only Luz who belonged to the halfway house but also, three crusty cons. Fleetingly, Merry thought of running Kelsey and the other two off but she realized she didn’t have the heart for it. Even if they had no idea what awaited them in the near future - Merry did know that she would be sending them to possible death. Patsy sensed that something good and eternal would evolve from the horrible situation that they and many others were experiencing. People come to God when there is nowhere else to turn. So these women... maybe they would come to Christ at this time.

  What was going on back at the house? Malak said that tonight their neighborhood might see some looters or criminal types looking to take advantage of vulnerable people. Certainly, she needed to get back as soon as possible but Merry was not looking forward to the confrontation with Malak. Confrontation was a certainty.

  Merry began praying again.

  It was about midnight when Merry and company following the dry creek bed, neared the mall. The shopping center sat up high, above the floodplain. The arroyo ran next to the rear parking lot before veering away again towards their small neighborhood. Merry had seen smoke rising in the pale moonlight for an hour or more. Now as they drew near, she realized it was the mall. There was noise; a lot of commotion like a block party gone bad. Earlier, guns were fired off and in response, the women slowed their pace but now they needed to decide whether to continue in the arroyo or take to the high ground - up but away from the chaos. Merry did not want to run into anyone. She stopped and called the women together. They were tired from the mental and physical strain of the last four hours. They sat on sand in the shadow of the embankment from the glow of the fire and also, the moon.

  “Listen, we’re going to double back to where that rusted car was sitting. On the other side of that old heap is a smaller arroyo that joins into this one. I don’t know where it goes but we’ll follow it for awhile and then come out of it and make a beeline for our house,” Merry told them. Luz said nothing. Merry decided she was traumatized from their bold escape. Merry had known it was a far-fetched plan and if she hadn’t been confident of God’s direction, she would not have given it a second thought.

  The others were arguing amongst themselves about going with Merry or striking out on their own.

  After another minute, Merry got up and brushed the sand from her slacks. Her feet hurt from the new shoes. “Luz and I are going now, if you want to come. I suggest that you do,” said Merry. She reached out to Luz and grabbed her forearm helping her up. Merry didn’t want to return the way they had come as it seemed like a waste of time and energy but she didn’t trust the arroyo’s concealment near the mall. She started back with Luz following.

  It was only a few minutes later when screaming and yelling came from behind them. Merry called for Luz to run.

  Merry wasn’t much of a runner and Luz was even slower in the shifting sand underfoot. Kelsey overtook them after several yards. Merry was winded. Her lungs and side stung with shooting pains when the rusted vehicle loomed up before them. Her feet hurt. This is where she had seen the other narrow ravine join the wider one that they were hiking. Hoping Luz was still behind her, Merry jogged painfully around the old car and dead brush that blocked most of the arroyo at this juncture.

  Needing to rest, Merry cast about for a place that would both hide her and allow her to see the broader arroyo. A large, wide Chamisa shrub jetted awkwardly from the far bank. She crawled up behind it and wedged herself between it and the firm clay soil of the steep embankment. To her surprise, Luz climbed up behind her. Merry made room and they both sat in the shadows and behind the bush. Merry’s heart was pounding. She was breathing hard but Luz was wheezing. Anyone passing by wo
uld hear them, Merry was certain.

  A long time later, both women had quieted. Merry whispered, “What happened back there?”

  Luz said, “When we walked away, Kelsey followed us but the others didn’t. It sounded like they got jumped. I don’t know but it scared the crap out of me and did you see Kelsey run by us?” Luz giggled nervously in spite of the predicament they found themselves in.

  Malak had been right about the looting. The mall was only about a mile farther down the road from the Hacienda neighborhood. If they had been able to stay in the arroyo passing the mall, they were only 30 minutes from safety but now they would have to make the best of crossing open ground.

  The mall was a target for restless angry people. Malak predicted that rioting and looting would begin soon and it had. The disturbance at the mall continued unabated but they heard nothing close at hand.

  “Come on. We need to get moving,” Merry announced after putting aside her own reluctance. Once down in the sand again, Merry shifted her pistol to the front of her bluejeans. For ten minutes or more they stayed in the narrow dark arroyo but Merry sensed it ran east and not north - they needed to go north. Climbing out of the dry ditch, Merry turned and pulled Luz up. They sat by a Piñon as Merry regained her bearings.

  The mall was lit up eerily by flames in the distance and there was the quiet roar of rioting coming from that direction. In front of them, there was a dog barking and Merry did not like that. Someone else was wondering about in the same vicinity. Merry hoped the somebody was a cat or another animal and not a two legged varmint.

  They abandoned the arroyo but the going was slowed by caution and cactus. The dog they heard was from the newer subdivision built in the area behind the halfway house. The barking continued until they were well beyond him and finally he yelped and then, silence. The entire area was densely dark because of the electrical blackout. Only a slice of moon and a few bright stars broke through the freakish cloud cover.

  Somewhere up the street, a glass broke, followed yelling and cursing and then the sound of splintering wood. The dog started again but he was far behind them now.

  Merry was on edge. It was so dark. There was a wide swath of grassy field between the new neighborhood and the smaller older one where the halfway house was located. After that it was only a short sprint to the Hacienda. There was a coyote fence between the two neighborhoods, Merry remembered and she wondered how they would get past that.

  She pulled Luz to her and directed her to a shed that stood on the corner of the last house before the field. Merry said, “We need a ladder.” Luz suggested trying the shed but Merry pointed down the street and they could see the bobbing of a flashlight coming their way. Luz cursed. There were several figures maybe a dozen moving toward them. The two women moved around to the far side of the shed, hopeful as they prayed that the group would pass them without notice. As they got closer, Merry realized they were not going to merely pass by. The small crowd turned into the driveway, a stone’s throw from the shed. On the front porch, anyone of them could have looked over and for a moment seen Merry or Luz but once the women realized that the group was going into the house, they slipped out of sight around the corner of the shed.

  There was little noise from the men as they approached. At the door, laughter and cursing and talking erupted. Merry was trembling. After the house door slammed shut, she took Luz’s hand and led her around to the street side of the shed. “That was close. We’ve got to get home. We need a ladder to get over the fence otherwise we’ll have to go all the way up to either main road to get to the other side,” she whispered. Luz yanked on the shed door and it opened an inch or more. The door wasn’t locked but the hinges were loose. It was hampered by the ground and Luz had to lift the door to open it. She looked inside and Merry drew out a pen light from her jacket.

  Before the light was even on Kelsey’s voice said, “Well, lookie who’s here.”

  Merry almost screamed but caught herself. Luz cursed. Merry stepped in with the pen light and pulled Luz inside.

  “We’re looking for a ladder,” she said matter-of-fact. It was no time to dawdle.

  Shining the narrow beam about, there was in fact a ladder. It didn’t look very sturdy but then again, Merry had no intentions of painting a house with it.

  “Kelsey, you heard those guys? We need to be very quiet,” Merry told her. “We’re going to cross this field and climb the fence. Our house is just up that street on the right. Listen, once you’re over the fence go through the yard onto the street - if possible. At the fourth house on the right, veer into the grove of Juniper,” Merry looked at both of them although they were dark figures in the midst of an even darker shed. The moonlight pushed in behind her casting a feeble glow. “I’m telling you this because you are not going to get into the house without me. So wait at that last Juniper. I am not sure if we can stay together and I think not. Wait there,” she said.

  Next, Merry instructed them to untangle the ladder from the shed debris without noise. She held the light. They left the door open and went around the far side of the shed. Merry and Kelsey took the ladder between them and started for the fence. They were exposed traversing the open field and yet, Merry realized that unless someone was actually watching the field, they wouldn’t be casually seen. At the fence, Kelsey went over and Merry looked back to see Luz approaching.

  Merry was the last to climb over. Leaping down from the top of the fence, she squatted in the shadow before proceeding. The others were gone. She had hoped they would be. They were so close to the Hacienda. It would be beyond disappointment if they failed to gain safety now. Merry felt her pistol. She took it out and handled it while hesitating at the fence. Malak had shocked them with his handgun earlier and she wondered why she did not mentioned her own. Still in shadow, she stood and put the gun away.

  Merry was about to sprint to the corner of the halfway house when she heard the ladder rattle behind her. Someone else was coming over the fence! Instead of the 20 yards to the house, Merry dashed to a nearby huge Chamisa bush. It was dry like all the others because it was not time for the Chamisa to bloom quite yet but still it was full of dry leaves and wispy flowers from the previous season. She turned and dropped behind the bush. Merry saw someone crouching at the top of the fence about to jump down. He or she, landed in the shadow of the fence with a grunt. The figure sat there not moving and Merry squatting fewer than a dozen feet away, watched. Pushing up with another grunt and whimper, the person stepped from the shadow into the weak moonlight. Merry saw that she was one of the women escapees. Merry called to her. She jumped and gasped but came to Merry immediately. The woman grabbed Merry and hugged her in a vise-like grip before crying. When she began to get loud, Merry told her to stop. They crouched at the bush again.

  “Is anyone else with you?” Merry asked. The young woman shook her head and then blew her nose on the sweatshirt Merry had brought for the inmates’ chilly flight. Merry whispered, “Did anyone follow you?”

  “No. I was trying to find you and I saw two people climb the fence,” she said but Merry thought she was on the verge of crying again.

  “Okay. Well, we’re almost home. Follow me but be very quiet... no noise!” Merry commanded. Merry saw her nod before turning to scan the landscape they needed to cross. There was no movement and no lights. In the distance, over to their left a glow above the mall reflected from the sky. Here, it was dark. “Come!” whispered Merry.

  Merry ran to the corner of the house and then walked quickly along the shadowed side. At the street, she knew there was no perfect route to the Hacienda except running from bush to bush until they arrived.

  A few minutes later, they were coming along the backside of the junipers that ran up the property line of the house. Kelsey was there.

  “Where is Luz?” Merry asked in a whisper.

  In the gloom, Merry saw Kelsey’s shoulders move up and down as she shrugged. “What do I look like? Her parole officer?” she answered.

  Merry tu
rned to the other woman, ignoring Kelsey. “It’s quiet out here. I’m going to go in and then in a few minutes, I will signal you to come around over there,” Merry said pointing to the patio wall. “Use the ladder to climb over the wall. If Luz shows up, tell her too.” Merry stepped to the other side of the bush flashing a narrow light up toward the roof in short bursts of three. She waited a moment and did it again. She continued until she received a response. Merry went around to the patio wall and a ladder came over the top. Patsy was on the other side wringing her hands and briefly Merry smiled at the thought of Patsy wringing her hands the entire time Merry was away. Patsy had no time to welcome her because within a moment Kelsey followed by the others, came forward and then noisily scurried over the wall, not waiting for the signal. Patsy had worried and prayed and worried some more all day but she had not expected Luz to be with Merry much less anyone else.

  Relieved, the giddy women began to chatter and laugh but Patsy hushed them. She told Merry to climb to the roof as she was still on watch. And the others, she hustled through to her room.

  Merry pulled the wooden ladder over the wall as she had been previously instructed while wondering how she was suppose to get to the roof to perform watch duty. Once inside, she saw an A-frame ladder standing in the middle of the kitchen under the skylight. So, that is how we do it! Up the ladder she climbed and then onto the roof where Nikki was waiting. They moved away from the skylight and Nikki told her what had transpired. They were supposed to be keeping watch until replaced by another team. Merry was extremely tired. Her feet hurt. She sighed but it was only minutes later when Nikki told her to go below and put the ladder over the side. She said, “Mac and Lenny have been gone all night. They’re back. I thought when you flashed me that it was them but they’re here now.”

  Merry went below and maneuvered the ladder over the wall. Lenny came over first carrying an obviously heavy box - a case of some item they had confiscated. He went back over the wall and Merry returned to the roof.