Merry's Marauders (Book #2 ~ Scenic Route to Paradise, refreshed 2016 edition)
Page 23
For weeks Mac had been gathering specific stores for his trip and on this sunny morning after organizing Lenny and Tom, he had Merry take inventory of the items they would be taking south. Also, Merry found she needed to repack her own things as she was no longer going north. She knew from experience that northern New Mexico and southern Colorado were considered the land of cool sunshine. Conversely, south in the summer; very warm.
By late afternoon, the vehicles - all but Mac’s brawny four by four were loaded. The generator would be added to the Ortiz truck last of all because of the need for water and also, for keeping the food refrigerated as long as possible.
Merry was finished with her own packing, again and also pilfering the household food for Mac and herself when she realized Junior had not been around for a few hours. Frowning, she left the kitchen and went out the front door. Afterward, she did a cursory look about the inside and then she arranged the ladder under the kitchen skylight and climb to the roof. Merry retrieved the BB rifle, a couple of baseball bats and the two milk crates that remained forgotten, bringing them below. Junior wasn’t on the roof. Finally, she asked Lenny.
“Where did Junior go?”
Lenny scratched his beard, “I don’t know but Tino hasn’t been around either. Mac might have sent them on an errand... Ask him.”
Mac was a mere dozen feet away but she didn’t want to distract him now. She decided to wait. They were almost finished loading and then, the marriage ceremonies and sunset. Surely, Junior and Tino too would be back by then. So instead of asking Mac about Junior, Merry showed him the BB gun and he took it from her to pack.
Pasty came into Merry’s side of the nurses’ rooms as Merry washed and changed into clean clothes for the ceremony. She said, “Merry I am thrilled of course but I am worried too. I had hoped you would be going with us. Tom’s ranch seems more secure than that little yellow box you two will be tearing around in... on your way to Mexico I suppose. Weeeh, coco!” Visions of mayhem and danger rose up vivid in Patsy’s mind.
Merry’s reply pulled her thoughts to the tasks at hand.“Patsy, help me put my hair up.”
Patsy deft with young ladies’ hair, wound and tucked Merry’s long tresses as she spoke. “So, I would love to hear the story about how my fair young Merry was won by the handsome but dark Prince Malak. Last I heard, he was on the top of your ca-ca list. Of course, he really had a conversion. He’s a different person! So what happened, Merry? Did he use the ol’ Rebekah line on you?”
Merry looked at Patsy in the mirror reflection. “Huh? I never heard of the Rebekah line so no, I don’t think so. He didn’t have to. Patsy, I realized somewhere between the other night chasing Junior down and this morning that I was in love!” Her smile seem to light the room.
Sarah came in the moment before. After closing the door behind her, she began undressing as she headed for the bathroom. She poked her head out from behind the bathroom door. “Congats, Merry. It looks like Mac bought the cow!” she said before closing the door with a laugh.
Patsy had stepped away from Merry to view her hair but Merry saw her dubious look and also, Patsy began to knead her hands together.
Merry turned around to face her mother’s old friend. She had donned another turtle-neck to hide the bruises on her neck. It was cream colored and she wore long earrings. But besides her hair being up, Merry didn’t look dressed for a wedding, much less her own nuptials.
She smiled and said, “Auntie Patsy, you are wringing your hands again.” Patsy immediately quit and smiled sheepishly in return. “You know what my mom always says about people who do immoral things?” Merry asked her with a look towards the bathroom door. Patsy lifted her right eyebrow at the door as well but shook her head to reply in the negative. “You and I thought Mac and Sarah would make a match and as non-believers perhaps they would have. After all, like my mom always says... ‘Why be shocked at what people do? Sinners sin!’
Mac is a work in progress. If God has forgiven him why should I hang on to something that was of no concern of mine from his past?”
“Weeeh, coco!” Suddenly sure that Merry was on course with God and man, Patsy added, “And, say, hello to your Mom!”
The jailies had prepared a cake for Tom and Emily but Mr. and Mrs. Malak D’Almata got to be partakers, as well. Sarah, dressed suavely in dark green which became her so well, showed up in the kitchen for cake but missed the patio ceremonies. First, Cap’n Mac officiated the Biggs’ union and then Judge Biggs conducted the vows for Mac and Merry. The ten minute event was not glamorous or extravagant. It was tender and picturesque and Junior wasn’t present.
Malak retrieved a small gold band from his front jean pocket when it was time to put the ring on Merry’s finger. It was too small and so, he shoved it into his back pocket and plucked another one out. The third band made of platinum was a precise fit.
The sun had truly set and the dishes stacked - not washed as everyone but baby, Manny knew the Hacienda would be looted sooner rather than later. The guys were loading the generator when Mac finally realized that neither Tino nor Junior were to be found. His first stormy look landed on Merry but immediately softened and he gave her a wink.
Tom and Lenny were shaking their heads but Jack Lucero asked, “What do we do? Tino knew we were leaving now. This is not like him...”
Lenny said decisively, “We’re going to leave without them.”
Tom Biggs added, “They have been gone for hours. They should have told somebody but they still have a few minutes since I have to use the little boys’ room.”
They were standing by the vehicles. Watching Tom go inside, Kelsey said to no one in particular, “I should have recognized that dude. Old Judge Biggs! What do you know?!”
Irate, Mac stomped around for a few minutes and then pulled Jack and Lenny aside. “You guys get going. I have a gut feeling about that military convoy and I want you out of the ring of fire before they execute their plan... I don’t know their plan but for us, I sense it isn’t good,” he tapped his chest. “I am not quite finished organizing our things so if Junior and Tino show up, we’ll take them with us.”
Jack was relieved by Mac’s disclosure. He wanted Tino and Junior with him and with the others but this was second best, he decided, and he accepted Mac’s plan with a shake of his head.
Jack removed Tino’s packs from the back seat of the newly acquired pick-up. Tino had two. One was personal items but the other heavier one, held some of the tools of his trade. Tino was a mechanic. Junior’s satchel was still in the lounge as it had been overlooked in the packing scramble and wedding ceremonies.
The women hugged and cried their farewells.
The men shook hands.
Two trucks and two cars, one small and pale blue, drove away into the twilight.
Mac grabbed Merry’s hand. Standing in the gloom he prayed that God’s big hand would keep the group and get the caravan safely to their destination. He concluded with “Amen” as he had heard in the Bible study several times. Turning to Merry, he gave her a soft kiss.
“Let us finish packing and see if those two don’t return from being AWOL,” he told her.
“Mac, if they go with us we need to add provisions for them,” she commented. Merry was already thinking of bedrolls, food and space needed in the back seat that was presently occupied with other supplies.
“Yes, I know. That is why we are not finished packing,” Mac said.
Merry went inside to gather the extras that would be necessary if the young men showed up. She wondered how long Mac would wait. He had hurried all day but now he didn’t seem so rushed. Using a large flashlight, she made up two bedrolls just in case. She put these by the front door and then began to add to their own supplies to include Junior and Tino.
The Hacienda was especially gloomy tonight. The moon was full but it hadn’t come over the eastern mountain range yet. The silence after the bustle of packing and the emotionalism of the weddings was intensified. She worked for more than an hour bu
t when she went to the front, Merry saw that Mac’s work was almost completed too. He had reloaded much of their supplies to the exterior roof rack. Examining the backseat, Merry saw it was completely free of debris, even the floor. The bedrolls and extra supplies would take up plenty of room, even still. She asked Mac about this.
“Those little no-shows should be riding on the roof instead of our precious supplies... They can be like sardines in that backseat as far as I’m concerned,” Mac responded but he spoke without anger. Merry thought he sounded quite sure about the two showing up before they pulled away from the Hacienda. Mac and Merry were certain that Junior had done nothing other than talk Tino into going with him to the drug house to convince Angel to leave. Merry hoped the guys were unharmed but she highly doubted Angel would return, even if Junior and his cousin, Tino did.
Mac threw their stuff in the back seat and locked the vehicle. “Come on. Let’s take a break. If you want, I can go over the details of our engagement one more time so you won’t feel slighted by your amnesia,” Mac said as he took her hand. Merry smiled in the lingering light and gave his hand a confirming squeeze.
Packing was dusty, dirty business. After washing up, Mac and Merry laid the map out on the kitchen counter. She was sitting cross-legged on the counter as he leaned over the map. Mac showed her his plans for going south and then buying or commandeering, depending on the situation, an ocean worthy boat.
Merry had a mind full of questions but she voiced very few before they heard noise from the front of the house. Mac sighed and folded the map. He lifted Merry from the counter but he hesitated as her lips came level with his, giving her a gentle kiss. “It doesn’t hurt there does it?” he asked her, accompanying his words with his inscrutable smile. She grinned and told him no as her shoes touched the tile.
“The truants have returned,” Mac said but he aimed the powerful flashlight down the hallway just to make sure.
Mac had them clean up using some of the jugs of water left behind. Ten minutes later, the four of them were heading south on the outer road as a bright full moon came creeping over the hillside.
Epilogue-
Kate Merriweather came in after a weary day’s work at the Safari camp. Dinner wasn’t quite ready and so she secured a bowl of microwave popcorn and sat before the television in the Van der Klerk’s big room.
America continued topsy-turvy after the devastating March earthquake that ripped through the Mississippi Valley followed by air attacks instigated by yet unnamed perpetrators. BBC had the best coverage although much of the satellite footage was repeated, looping on the screen until novel scenes or new events were caught on camera.
Kate was hoping to see one short camera shot of a line of vehicles crossing illegally into Mexico that she had viewed early in the morning before the Van der Klerk boys were up. The camera had swept down from the air; probably a helicopter news crew. The cars, trucks and people on foot were miles long and looked to be about a quarter mile abreast.
Sighing but dry eyed, Kate once again wished she had gone straight to D’Almata, not taking the scenic route through South Africa. She was certain, her family, including her older brother, Dale and her impish younger sister, Merry were safe and sound while she was stuck without money or means to join them.
Coming to the last few kernels of popped corn, Kate looked up to see a mustard yellow Toyota Land Cruiser on the screen. This was it! The same scene she had seen before sunrise... Moving closer to the oversized screen, she watched intently as the camera panned several vehicles but came back to the unique shot of the 4 x 4. Dimmed by the vehicle’s tinted windshield, the indistinct face was like looking at a mirror to Kate. The long feminine leg, donning a well worn cowboy boot hung casually from the passenger’s window was familiar too and then the camera moved on.
Something inside of Kate had leaped when she viewed the footage earlier and now, again she felt a skip in her spirit. There was something about that mustard yellow four by four that made Kate’s situation seem less dismal...
Merry!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Blinded by the Light
Chapter 2 War Changes Everything
Chapter 3 My Friends Call Me, Mac
Chapter 4 The Captain and his Crew
Chapter 5 Commandeer
Chapter 6 Window of Opportunity
Chapter 7 Arroyo Road
Chapter 8 High Drama
Chapter 9 Party
Chapter 10 White as Snow
Chapter 11 Take a Vote
Chapter 12 Red Alert
Chapter 13 Mac Gets a Clue
Chapter 14 Plans to Evacuate
Chapter 15 Bad Habits
Chapter 16 Three Days
Chapter 17 Two Days
Chapter 18 One Day
Chapter 19 A Memory Lost and Found
Chapter 20 Love Changes Everything