The Long Roll Home

by Anderson, Diana E.

  “No, Mom, don’t leave us, please.” All three kids were crying hard begging their mother not to leave them.

  “Give me a kiss and promise me you will grow up to be good, kind, loving, caring people” she whispered.

  Each of the kids took turned hugging their mother, kissing her and promising to do as she asked. Finally, Clarice looked up at Cassie. “Please take good care of them” she whispered.

  “I will love them as my own, and I won’t let them forget you,” Cassie answered.

  “Bless you. I love you kids….” sighed Clarice. She opened her eyes one more time to look at Andy and Cassie. “Don’t waste time burying me. Get my kids out of here before the men come back…” After one more shaky breath, Clarice was gone. The three children began crying harder, holding onto Clarice’s shirt.

  Andy and Cassie gave the kids a few minutes, and then tried to get the kids moving.

  “We can’t go, we can’t leave Mom here” Benjy cried.

  “We have to go. You heard your Mom – it is not safe for you here, especially if those men come back. Let’s get onto the trail, and once we get to a safe place, we will have a chance to sit down and talk about what happened to your Mom. How about that?” Andy felt quite helpless in the face of the children’s grief. All he could do was put his arms around the kids and let them grieve. However, he was also quite anxious about their safety if Clarice’s attackers showed up. Finally, he pulled Benjy aside.

  “I need your help. We’ve got to get your brother and sister out of here and to a safe place. They aren’t listening to me – will you help?” Benjy nodded through his tears and went back to his siblings.

  “Tell Mom goodbye, and let’s go. She wants us to be safe, so we need to go.” The other two kids each kissed their mother and whispered their goodbyes. Benjy took a minute to do the same, then helped Timmy back into his wheelchair. Cassie picked up Lizzie and sat her on the cart, then started pushing. The group turned away from Clarice and headed towards the trail. Each of the kids turned back to tearfully look at their mother’s body fading in the distance.

  “I don’t want to leave mom back there,” Lilly cried. “What if we forget what she looks like? I’m scared we will forget her.”

  “Honey, we won’t let you forget her. Your mom was a very special and very brave lady. We have her purse. Once things settle down, we’ll look inside it to see if she had a drivers license or something else with her picture on it. If my printer and computer still work, we can blow the picture up and you’ll have a way to remember her face.”

  Lizzie sniffled and nodded. “Thank you. I miss her so much already.” Cassie thought her heart would break watching the tears pouring down the little girl’s face. She stopped pushing the cart, and hugged Lizzie. Lizzie hugged her back.

  “I guess you are my new mom now,” she said.

  Cassie kissed her on the top of her head. “I guess you are my new daughter now,” she said with a sad smile.

  Chapter 13

  They walked for several hours along the trail. Finally, Cassie pointed out a small clearing where they could set up camp. The kids were silent, traumatized, all of them appearing as though they were shell-shocked. Andy and Cassie set up the tarp and ground cloths and pulled out the blankets and her sleeping bag. While Cassie cleared an area for a fire, Andy began collecting wood. Benjy was the first of the kids to snap out of his trance, and he began helping Andy gather wood. Petra began nuzzling Timmy and Lizzie, and soon both kids were hugging Petra

  Dinner that night was a solemn affair. Cassie had to remind the kids to eat to keep up their strength. After dinner, it was time to check everyone’s feet as they were getting ready for bed.

  “Why do you need to check our feet?” asked Lizzie.

  “Well, you’ve been walking a lot more than you’re used to, and I don’t want anyone to get blisters. And before you ask, yes, I am going to check Timmy’s feet, too, so I can be sure the cast is not rubbing.”

  Finally, all of the feet were checked, and the kids were wrapped in blankets ready for bed. Timmy, who was definitely the quiet one of the trio, asked Andy, “Do you think Mom is in heaven yet?”

  Andy sat down next to him. Recognizing all three kids were listening and that his answer would be very important to them, he carefully answered, “Yes, I am sure she is. You know how I know? Because she raised such wonderful children. I could tell how much she loved you and how much you love her. Parents who love their kids like that get to go right to heaven so they can keep watching over their kids. You won’t see her watching, but I’ll bet she will give you a sign.” He paused. “You know, my Mom died when I was in the Army. I was so sad, but I knew she was in heaven, because even though the weather had been really bad, the morning after she died, I woke up to a spectacular sunrise. I knew that was Mom telling me that everything was okay with her. I don’t know what kind of sign your Mom will send, but if you watch carefully, I’ll bet you’ll know when you see it.”

  Andy’s answer must have satisfied the kids, because all three laid down and were quickly asleep. Andy moved away from the fire and Cassie followed him.

  “That was beautiful what you told the children,” she whispered. “Thank you for being so kind and gentle with them.”

  Andy turned to her with a sad smile. “I was an adult when my Mom died, and it was hard. I can’t imagine how hard it has to be for those kids.”

  “They seem to be handling it rather well, all things considered,” Cassie replied. “I think we need to keep them busy over the next few days. We need to start teaching them how to survive. Benjy has a head start, but Timmy is so shy and quiet, we’ll need to draw him out. Lizzie is feisty, but she is also young and impulsive. I think we are going to have our work cut out for us.”

  Cassie moved over to the cart and pulled her map out of her pack.

  “While the kids are sleeping, let’s go over our route. I think we need to avoid any of the highways we were thinking of using and stick to trails and back roads. It might take us a while longer, but I think it will keep the kids safer.” She pointed to several trails on the map. “I think if we follow this trail, it is a lot flatter and we can make better time than by taking this one – it’s shorter but has a lot of up and down hills to climb.:

  Andy chuckle. “Let’s try to stay away from mountain climbing with the kids – and even a small hill looks like a mountain to me!”

  Rolling her eyes at him, Cassie smiled. “City Boy, we are going to make a mountain man out of you yet! We also need to think about availability of shelter. While you and I can manage under a tarp in a snowstorm, I’m not so sure about the young’uns.”

  “Hey, I’m not so sure I could manage with just a tarp in a snowstorm!” Andy exclaimed. “I would rather a nice cabin with a fireplace and a hot tub.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure we’ll pass a lot of those on these trails,” Cassie said dryly. “Look, there are a few hiking shelters along here. Let’s be sure we plot our route near them if we think the weather is getting bad. We have a good 80 miles or so to go before we get to the back roads that will take us to the ranch. That is at least a week, longer if we get snow.”

  Andy’s brows furrowed with worry. “We need to inventory our food tomorrow. I’m not sure we’re going to have enough to make it to the ranch. At least we have your filter for water, but if it keeps getting colder and the water freezes, what will we do then?”

  “Relax. Even if the creeks freeze, we can still melt ice to get water. Also, some of the shelters around here have hand-pumped wells for hikers to use. Good idea, though, about inventorying what we have. I may have to try to get a deer or something to give us more food.”

  Andy gave a low whistle. “Boy, if I had to get stranded with someone at the end of the world, I’m glad it is you. You’ll have to teach me what to do with the deer because if it’s not wrapped in plastic on a foam tray, I have no idea what to do with it.”

  “Dressing out the deer is not all that hard, and I’m happy to
show you how. Meanwhile, you ought to get some sleep. I’ll take the first watch and wake you up in about six hours, okay?”

  “Works for me. I’m beat.” Andy laid down near the children and was soon sleeping.

  Cassie took advantage of everyone sleeping to check her legs. She slid off the prosthesis and checked her stump for blisters. Not seeing any, she quickly cleaned it and put a new stump sock on. Just as she was about to replace the prosthesis, she looked up and saw Benjy watching her. When she didn’t act upset, Benjy crawled over to her.

  “I wondered why you walked a little funny,” he said. “Does it hurt?”

  “No, not really,” Cassie answered, as she reapplied her prosthesis and adjusted her clothing. “I keep it clean and dry, and I try to rest it when it starts getting sore.”

  “Does it bother you if people know you have it?”

  “Nope, not at all. It’s just like wearing glasses or having dentures. It took a long time to get used to, but now, well, it is what it is.”

  “How did that happen? Were you in a wreck or something?”

  “I guess you could say that. I was in the army, and the vehicle I was riding in ran over a bomb. My leg got smooshed and so I have this now instead.”

  Benjy’s eyes opened wide. “Wow, you are a real hero!”

  “No, Benjy, don’t say that. I was just unlucky enough to get hurt and lucky enough to survive. The ones who didn’t make it home are the real heroes. Losing my leg was nothing compared to the ones who lost their lives.”

  Benjy looked thoughtful. “You have a really positive attitude. My mom always told us that our attitude was the key to how well we would do with anything. We always try to be positive, but it is hard now with everything that has happened. Thank you for being so nice to us and for saving us. I don’t know what we would have done with Mom gone and nowhere to go.”

  “Benjy, we are happy to have you and Timmy and Lizzie with us. I’m so sorry that your Mom is gone, but we are very honored that your Mom trusted us to care for her precious children. I can promise you that Andy and I will do our best to keep you all safe and happy.” Cassie put her arm around the boy and gave him a hug.

  “You ought to go back to bed and rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

  “I will in a little bit. Can I stay up on watch with you for a little while? I need to learn what to do and what to watch for.”

  Cassie smiled at how eager Benjy was to learn and told him he could help her. She spent the next two hours teaching Benjy how to stand watch. Finally, after Benjy’s third yawn, she sent him off to get some rest. Petra, who had been sleeping near the fire, came over and sat at Cassie’s feet. Cassie reached down to hug Petra’s warm furry neck. The two sat together, watching over the group until the sky started to brighten.

  Andy stretched and looked around, seeing Cassie and Petra sitting on the cart.

  “Why didn’t you wake me up? You let me sleep all night,” he complained.

  “I let you sleep because we are going to have to move quickly today. I want to see if we can make it to one of the hiking shelters, because I think we are in for a major snowstorm today.”

  Andy just shook his head. “I thought we were going to inventory food this morning?”

  “No time. Let’s get the kids up and get moving. We can stop after a while and make some hot cocoa and eat granola bars for breakfast.”

  It took less than 30 minutes to get all of the kids up, dressed warmly, and supplies packed up. Two hours down the trail, the first snowflakes began to fall, inspiring the group to move even faster. They stopped for water and more granola bars late afternoon, and then continued down the trail. Just as the snow was starting to really come down, they were able to see the shadow of the hiking shelter up ahead. The shelter was a three-sided stone structure with a large fireplace on the back wall and several picnic tables. Fortunately, the last people to use the shelter left a large pile of logs, so Andy and Cassie were able to quickly start a fire. Andy and Benjy turned several of the picnic tables onto their sides to form a wind break, leaving them just enough room to sit comfortably on benches in front of the fire. They were lucky that this shelter had one of the hand-pumped wells. Cassie handed one of the small galvanized buckets to Andy and asked him to get some water so she could cook dinner. When he returned with the bucket, Cassie placed it near the fire to begin heating the water. She added a couple of bullion cubes, chopped up a package of jerky and added the meat and two large handfuls of rice to the bucket. Andy filled the second bucket and sat it near the fire, too. When Cassie looked at him, he smiled. “I figured we would like some warm water to wash with.”

  While Cassie worked on dinner, Andy took the kids out into the snow to look for more firewood. They found quite a bit of deadfall wood and dragged it all over to the shelter. While he was chopping some of the wood into smaller pieces, he spent time talking with the kids. Benjy had kept up a steady stream of conversation all day long, but Timmy and Lizzie had both been pretty quiet. Andy was worried that both kids were withdrawing, and so he began asking them questions about their life, their school, and even their favorite foods and TV shows. Before long, he had all three kids engaged in a lively conversation about the relative merits of walking versus riding in the wheelchair or on the cart.

  Soon, Cassie called them to come eat. As they sat in front of the fire eating, Timmy surprised them by asking a question.

  “What’s our plan for tomorrow? I mean, what if there is too much snow for the wheelchair to roll?

  I don’t think I can walk really far with this cast on my leg. You won’t leave me behind, will you?”

  Cassie reached over to hug Timmy. “Of course we won’t leave you behind. We’re a team now and we all will stick together. If there’s too much snow for the chair, they’ll be too much snow for the cart, too, so we will either stay here for a day or two or else maybe we’ll just build a sleigh!”

  Cassie felt the boy’s shoulders relax as he smiled and went back to eating.

  After dinner, everyone stood to look at the snow, which was now several inches deep.

  “I guess we will stay here tomorrow and see what happens,” Andy said. “We can inventory the food and repack our stuff. We need to see if there is anything we don’t need that we can leave behind to make our load lighter.”

  “I agree,” Cassie answered. “We also ought to fill up all of our water bottles tonight in case the well is frozen or covered with snow in the morning. Andy, why don’t you and the boys do that while Lizzie and I clean up from dinner?” Cassie took Lizzie’s hand and the two went back into the shelter. Andy and the boys scurried around to find all of their empty bottles, canteens and water bladders to fill.

  Chapter 14

  Bright sunshine woke the group the next morning. Peeking out of the shelter, they were excited to see everything covered with snow. The world looked clean and crisp, and it put everyone into a good mood. Suddenly, Lizzie pointed and whispered, “Look over there! Look at that mama deer and her babies. She is looking right at us!”

  As everyone watched, the deer and two fawns moved steadily towards the shelter. When they came within about 15 feet, they stopped and the doe looked straight at the kids.

  Timmy whispered, “Mama made it to heaven, that’s what they are telling us.”

  Suddenly, the doe and fawns turned and ran back into the trees, disappearing quickly. As the kids began talking among themselves excitedly, Cassie turned to Andy and asked, “Did I just really see that? That was just amazing.”

  “I can’t believe it either. But it sure made the kids happy. I’m glad they know Clarice is watching over them.” Andy smiled and winked at Cassie. “Come on, let’s go inventory what we have – after I fix us some hot chocolate!”

  By mid-morning, the inventory was completed, the cart re-packed and the trash was buried. The snow, which was only a few inches to start with, had just about melted. Andy gathered everyone together and asked, “How do you all feel about trying to make a
few miles down the road today? The sun is out, the trail looks passable, and the more miles we do today, the closer to the ranch we’ll be tomorrow.”

  The kids were excited, shouting their approval of Andy’s plan, so they loaded up the cart and wheelchair and took off.

  Cassie was amazed at the difference in the children’s demeanor. While yesterday they had been devastated over their mother’s death, today they were bright and cheerful. Lizzie walked alongside Petra, keeping up a constant stream of chatter with the dog. Benjy and Timmy were not as talkative as their sister but did ask questions about the ranch and what they could expect from the route they were taking. The day remained clear and the group made good progress. At lunchtime, Cassie pulled out the map and decided they made such great time, they would continue on and find a new place to spend the night later that afternoon.

  Later that evening, with the kids safely bedded down inside a tarp lean-to, Cassie and Petra sat down against a tree near the fire. After a few minutes, Cassie looked up to see Andy watching her, a small smile on his face. She smiled back and called softly to him.

  “Come on over and sit with us. The fire feels wonderful.”

  Andy picked up a blanket and sat down next to Cassie. Wrapping the blanket around both of them, he put his arm around her shoulder. “You are just amazing, Cassie. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky but remind me to send a thank you note to the airline that lost my luggage!”

  Cassie grinned and put her head down on Andy’s shoulder. “I think we are both very lucky. I didn’t realize when I left home that I would be coming back with an entourage!”

  “Not an entourage,” Andy interjected. “A family. That is what we are becoming. I have trouble understanding how I came to be so blessed, but I sure am not complaining.”

  Cassie smiled and looked up at Andy. “I’m not complaining either. I am so glad you decided to come with me.”