“I’m looking forward to you meeting Mike’s group. And John. You’ll live with us, of course. I mean, if you want to.”
“I would love that. I don’t suppose your group has any kind of medical supplies, do they?”
Sarah frowned. “I don’t really know. Do you need medicine?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was on blood pressure medication a few months back.”
“You ran out, I guess.”
“Other people have it much worse, I’m sure. How much longer, do you think?”
Sarah looked out over the valley and shrugged helplessly. “I think we have to get to the edge of that.”
“Oh, my.”
“Yeah, at this rate…I don’t know.”
“I’m slowing you down terribly, aren’t I, dear?”
“Not really.”
“I know I am.”
“It can’t be helped, Evvie. It is what it is, you know?”
“It will take as long as it takes.”
Sarah smiled at her. “Yeah, something like that.” She packed up the backpack and handed Evvie a thermos she’d stolen from Adwen’s bed after she found out he was killing all the old people in the village. A part of her was hoping very much he came after to her to try to reclaim it. “I’ll give you a toot of this if you think you’ll still be able to walk a few more miles today. Once it’s gone, I’ll fill it with water.”
Evvie took the thermos and the smallest of ladylike sips from it. She handed it back. “Good to go, Miz Scarlett,” she said.
* * *
They managed another two miles that day before stopping for the night. Sarah had to consciously fight down her frustration. It is what it is, she told herself.
She found an old campground near a creek still swollen from the recent rains. There was a wooden lean-to damaged by the elements and lack of maintenance in the last year, but very serviceable. Sarah pulled out the two wool blankets that Lexi had allowed her mother to take and spread them on the ground.
“There’s plenty of leaves around here,” she said to Evvie, who instantly began gathering them in the long apron she still wore around her waist.
“It’s the most useful I’ve felt in a year,” Evvie said stooping to pick up the leaves.
“They’ll help cushion our beds tonight and maybe we can get some to burn.”
“You have a flint?”
“I do, but I’ve never used one.”
“Oh dear.”
Sarah looked at Evvie and smiled encouragingly. It had been a cold day that was only made bearable by their constant motion. With the fading light, the dropping temperature crept into their bones. A fire would be necessary tonight if they were to get any rest at all.
“Well, peckers up, dearie,” Evvie said. “I’m sure we’ll manage. Is there any food left?”
Sarah spread out their provisions. Several sticks of goat jerky, some cooked rabbit, and a few apples. Although hardly a feast, Sarah knew they wouldn’t go to bed hungry. Tomorrow she would need to hunt something.
Before the sun left the sky completely, Sarah set to work to build a fire. She created a small pile of dried leaves on top of kindling that Evvie had collected. She took out her knife and began slashing it against the flint to get a spark. After a few moments, Evvie settled herself down next to her and spread out her skirts around her.
“May I make a suggestion, dear?”
Sarah turned to her and saw in her face the expression of someone who was used to having her advice ignored, her suggestions mocked.
“Please,” Sarah said. She had never really watched David make a fire the few times they had needed to. She had no idea of what she was doing.
“I think you need to create a little house for the spark to jump into, you see?”
“Not really.” Sarah tried to hand the flint to Evvie, but the older woman gathered up the dry leaves in her hands and began kneading them to form a small mass the size and shape of a sparrow’s nest.
“You jab two sticks in the ground so that they arc into each other like a pergola.”
Sarah watched with amazement and growing optimism as Evvie began to build her little structure of twigs and sticks. When she was done, it resembled an Indian teepee.
“Does the bird nest thing go inside?”
“All in due time.”
Sarah felt an evil, icy wind slice through the little campsite and she braced her back against it. She still only had a t-shirt, but today she also wore the blanket that Declan had given her wrapped around like a poncho. She blew warm breath on her fingers and realized that this fire wasn’t just a means of comfort for her. As cold as it would get tonight, they might need it to ward off any aggressive wildlife in the area.
“Now, take your knife…my goodness that is a wicked looking thing. Wherever did you get it?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Anyway, in the middle of our bird’s nest, put the flint flat side up and start scraping off bits of magnesium into the nest.”
“I would never have known to do this,” Sarah said as she began rubbing her knife edge against the flint.
“That’s probably enough. Now turn the flint around to the round side and strike a spark into the nest.”
Sarah slashed the knife against the flint and sparks flew everywhere. “It works!”
“Yes, but it’s even better if the sparks go in the nest where the magnesium is.”
“Yeah, good point.” Sarah bent over the little bundle of tinder and zeroed in on the black flakes of magnesium at the bottom. This time when she struck the flint, one of the sparks caught and lit up the nest with a small flame.
“We did it! Oh my God, Evvie, you’re a genius!”
“Now pick up the nest and tuck it into our teepee, Sarah.”
Sarah could hear the excitement in Evvie’s voice and wondered for a moment if Evvie was as surprised as she was they had made fire. She slid the burning nest into the bottom of the teepee and watched as the flames eagerly crept up the structure. She added more kindling and then a few larger sticks until there was clearly no danger the fire would go out.
“You totally just paid for your passage, Evvie,” Sarah said, holding her hands out to the campfire. “I swear I think I can do anything if I’m not starving or freezing my ass off.”
Evvie laughed and moved toward the fire, too. “Words to live by, petal,” she said. “Words to live by.”
That night they slept warm and with full stomachs. As usual when she wasn’t concerned with immediate threats to her survival, Sarah fell asleep with thoughts of John and David…and Mike. She couldn’t blame Mike for not coming. As far as he could tell she must have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Even if he made it as far as Correy’s place—and she prayed he hadn’t—there would be no way for him to pick up her trail from there. No, with twenty-one days between now and the day she was taken, there was no way her trail wasn’t too cold to follow.
As much as he might want to, she knew Mike would never find her now. It was up to Sarah to find her own way home.
* * *
22 Days after the attack.
The next morning she and Evvie woke to frost on the ground and a fire that had gone out sometime during the night. Shivering, Sarah went immediately to Evvie bundled up in the corner of the lean to where she must have crawled in the middle of the night when the fire went out. She touched the old woman’s shoulder and was relieved when Evvie turned to face her.
“Sorry I don’t have a latté to offer you,” Sarah said. “But if you want to wash your face before we head out, I’ll go with you to the creek.”
Evvie nodded and struggled to a sitting position. “Will you start the fire again?”
Sarah looked at the campfire and saw that the wood had all burned. If she stopped to relight the fire, she would have to gather wood first. “Do you mind if we don’t? I’m really hoping to make better time today.”
“Of course, dear,” Evvie said. “I’ll look forward to it all the mo
re this evening.”
“Did you sleep okay?” Sarah wasn’t sure why she asked since they’d both obviously been pretty miserable the last part of the night. It just felt like the civilized thing to say.
“Very nicely, dear, until the fire went out.”
“What can we do to make it last longer?”
Evvie stood up and shook out her blanket as she peered in the direction of the creek. “Let me think on that,” she said, her eyes sparkling with life and mirth for the first time since Sarah had known her.
They walked nearly the whole rest of the day without stopping. Sarah knew that Evvie was pushing herself in order not to hold them up. They were so close now!
By Sarah’s estimate, they were halfway through the Beacons. They had seen no other humans and, except for a few wild pigs that Sarah had half entertained the idea of going after with her sling shot, no animals either. The terrain was rough but not impassably so. A year earlier, day-trippers had walked these paths and picnicked along these streams and marveled at the many waterfalls.
But perhaps not in early November, Sarah reminded herself.
When it was time to stop, she could see that Evvie was totally done in. She took Evvie by the hand and led her to a clearing overlooking a small valley. They weren’t near a stream, but Sarah had finally dumped out Adwen’s hooch and filled the thermos with water so they didn’t need to be. She spread out a blanket and insisted Evvie sit.
“But we’ve got hours yet of daylight,” Evvie said, her voice broken with short breaths.
“We’ve done enough for one day,” Sarah said firmly. She placed the knife and the flint in Evvie’s lap. “When you feel up to it, put a fire together for us. I’ll be back with dinner in an hour.”
“You’re leaving?” The ragged fear in Evvie’s voice snagged Sarah and she turned to the woman.
“Evvie, we’re in this together, okay? I mean, would I leave my knife and flint after I just figured out how to make fire?”
Evvie looked at the tools in her lap and Sarah could see some of the anxiety ease from her face. “I…I guess not.”
Sarah came back and knelt by her. She put a hand on her shoulder. “You have every right not to trust people after what your dipshit daughter did to you, but that’s not me. I will not leave you. Okay?”
Evvie looked into Sarah’s face and her eyes were full to tears. “Okay,” she whispered through a tremulous smile.
“Make us a fire.” Sarah stood and pulled out her slingshot. “I’m going to go bring home the bacon.” As she turned away, she stopped and then returned to Evvie and pulled out the handgun.
“Have you ever used a gun?”
Evvie eyed the pistol with what looked like growing horror. “Of course not.”
“Well, it’s not complicated.” Sarah placed the gun next to her. “Not that I’m expecting you to need it, but if someone or something comes sniffing around before I get back…”
Evvie touched the gun with a tentative finger. “I will,” she said.
That night, they ate what Evvie said was a badger but neither of them much cared. It was fresh meat. Sarah ate hungrily, only mildly concerned of what the smell of roasting meat might lure to the campsite. After they ate, they faced the fire and let the warmth and light renew and restore them from the long day of walking.
“How much longer do you think?” Evvie asked as she wiped her fingers on the tail of the tattered blanket draped over her shoulders.
“I don’t know. I don’t have a good method for estimating miles. I was pretty much just going to walk until we reached the highway.”
“And then what?”
“Well, and then we walk to the coast and get on a boat to Ireland.”
“How old is your boy? John, right?”
Sarah nodded. It didn’t help to think of John. Up to now, she’d discovered that thinking of him weakened her and made her want to curl up into a ball and weep. “Twelve.”
“That’s young. Where’s his father?”
Sarah cleared her throat. “Killed when they took me.”
“Oh, dear Lord, Sarah, I’m so sorry. Just a few weeks ago?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“You lost your husband just three weeks ago.” Evvie shook her head as if unable to understand the horror of it.
“Well, it’s not like I lost him, you know? I mean, I didn’t misplace him and neither did he die of natural causes. He was murdered.”
“I’m so sorry, Sarah.”
“No, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to go off on you. It’s just…I can’t believe it, you know? Oh, what am I saying? You of all people know what I’m saying. People are no damn good. That’s all. And it comes out in the worst of times.”
“Not true, Sarah,” Evvie said, tossing a piece of kindling into the roaring fire. “People haven’t changed because of the circumstances. The rotters are still finding a way to take advantage. But the good people are still good.”
Sarah had an image of Declan and his family feeding and outfitting her when they had so little themselves. She knew Evvie was right. She just wasn’t in the mood to agree at the moment.
“Whatever,” she said.
“And your parents?” Evvie asked gently. “Are they back in the States?”
Sarah nodded. “No word from them or about them.”
“You poor, poor girl,” Evvie said. When Sarah looked up she could see the sadness and the pain wreathed in Evvie’s face. She held her arms out and Sarah surprised herself by coming into them. Evvie was stout, whereas her own mother was slim from years of tennis playing and careful calorie counting. But everything else was the same. The love, the comfort.
And as Sarah began to cry, hopelessly, tirelessly, for her own mother, for her boy and her lost husband, she felt somehow renewed and stronger cradled in the old woman’s arms.
* * *
25 days after the attack.
The day they emerged from the Brecon Beacons National Park, the sun shone bright against a relentlessly blue sky. It had taken a full five days to cover the distance of thirty hard miles. Sarah’s jeans were loose and she’d taken to carrying the gun in her front jeans pocket. Evvie, too, had lost weight.
“Why are we not leaving the park?” Evvie asked when they stopped for lunch but didn’t move on.
“I’m just making sure it’s safe.”
“Are you expecting your friends to be waiting outside? How in the world would they know at which point you might exit?”
Sarah knew Evvie was right, but still she hesitated. The memory of Angie goading her thug to search the corpses in the ditch was fresh and vivid in her mind. She didn’t know if it was personal or if Angie was just psychotic—maybe a bit of both—but that was nearly a week ago. By now she would be more determined than ever to find Sarah.
Sarah realized that a part of her was shocked that she had passed through the Beacons without mishap. She had fed herself—and an elderly woman—and kept them warm and safe through terrain that was rough and inhospitable and emerged unharmed on the other side.
Now if they could just stay that way.
“Sarah? Dear?”
Sarah looked at Evvie.
“It’s not like you haven’t had time to think of what you’ll do when we got here.”
“I know.”
“And a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single foot forward.”
“Not really helping, Evvie.”
Evvie laughed and stood up. “I’m ready when you are, dear.”
“It’ll be harder to find food out there,” Sarah said.
“You’re stalling.” Evvie picked up her slim knapsack and turned toward the park exit. “Personally, I have high hopes of finding a proper bed for tonight.”
Sarah checked her gun and hoisted her pack onto her shoulder. Whatever was waiting for her, it was time to meet it head on.
“How far to the coast?” Evvie asked over her shoulder.
Sarah scanned the bushes beside them and ahead. The feel
ing of anxiety ratcheted up with every step she took now that she knew she was back on Angie’s playing field. “Sixty miles.”
“My, that’s far. How long do you think it will take us?”
Me, three days, Sarah thought. Us, more like six. If we’re lucky.
“I’m not sure. Maybe a week.”
The highway at the edge of the park looked empty.
But that’s what it would look like if they were lying in ambush.
She wanted to slink out around the perimeter, hiding in the bushes, gun in her hand. But Evvie was in a hurry to get back to civilization and trotted out of the park and up the long sloping drive that led to the highway.
Sarah pulled the gun out and held in in front of her with both hands. Her head swiveled from side to side trying to take in the full perimeter as they walked. By the time they reached the top of the slope—uneventfully—that led to the highway entrance ramp, Sarah was already tired and her neck hurt.
“Can we hitch a ride, do you think?” Evvie asked peering down the road, one hand on a bony hip as if about to thrust out a leg to entice the next would-be motorist.
“I thought we’d stay away from the highways,” Sarah said dubiously.
“Oh dear, do you mind if we at least give it a try? I’m really hoping to find a hotel room for the night. Just the thought of a hot bath and a toilet where I don’t have to use a handful of cold leaves to wipe me bum has given me the will to live for the last day or more.”
“I know it’s been tough,” Sarah said, watching Evvie. Could they afford to go into town? Would they be less likely to attract attention because she was no longer a woman traveling alone?
“Here comes something.”
As soon as she spoke, Sarah heard the comfortable clip-clopping sound of a horse drawn cart. The memory of the terrible four days she had spent in the back of a cart much like this one came roaring back to her and it was all she could do not to grab Evvie’s arm and dive for the ditch along the side of the road. Seeing Evvie’s excitement and hope as she watched the cart approached made her hesitate.
“What if they mean us harm?” Sarah asked, trying to calm her racing heart as she stood with Evvie and watched the cart come closer.
Going Gone, Book 2 of the Irish End Games Page 14