by Annie Berdel
“Looks like you have a friend there.” the woman said looking down at Emma’s feet. Sitting there beside Emma’s leg was a cherub of a pup, all white and fluffy like cotton balls stuck on a whelp.
Emma glanced down and met the most clear brown eyes she had ever seen. “Oh my!” she exclaimed as her heart melted
Raising her head quickly, she looked at her host, her eyes large with determination “I just came after a couple goats!”
Laughing, the man of the farm turned to walk back down to the barn. “Come on then, let’s just see if you can take two goats home.”
As Emma walked, the little glob of fluffiness stayed with her, stride for stride. Arriving at the barn, Emma paused inside the door to let her eyes adjust and the pup sat down and waiting right beside her. The man of the farm watched the two move in unison. “Just two goats, aye?” he said
Emma let out a sigh. “Yes, two goats” she replied as she stepped forward, the pup following. Stooping down, Emma couldn’t ignore him any longer. Scooping him up, she raised him to her chest and was overwhelmed with laughter as his little whippet of a tongue began to ravage her face.
“These goats will need a protector.” the man of the farm started to explain, watching the bonding between woman and canine. “So will you”
“Yes, yes!” Emma shrilled not paying attention to the words of the man. All she knew was that there was no way she could leave without this little guy.
Finally getting her attention, the man of the farm explained to Emma that the price of the goats had gone up a bit. Emma, tilted her head in confusion. “I just talked to you this morning before I headed out here. How could you raise the price on the way?” now sounding annoyed.
“Don’t worry, we will throw in a free puppy, of your choice, of course” the man chuckled
Emma laughed. “Oh, I see what you did right there. Okay, you’ve got a deal.”
His tongue now dangling from the side of his mouth, Dixon had almost made it to her when Emma turned to continue her journey across the field. Today would just be about decompressing all the excitement over the last few months and with Dixon by her side, she knew she was in good hands.
The two companions disappeared into the darkness of the woodland as the man let the curtain fall back into place. He had watched the hideous display of affection between woman and beast as his lip snarled around the emotions that made his stomach uneasy. He had work to do before they returned and he needed to shake off any further doubt on his objective.
49
Emma took the path around her property backwards on this trip. She would end up at the cabins last but for now she wanted to check out the bottom and wind her way up to check on Big Bertha, her eighty foot high antennae that Emma had built in a grove of trees on the highest hill she owned. The tower was well secluded and not currently in use so she sat barren. Down over the hill and along the creek that ran the length of the property was a cave that Emma had painfully dug out with her family to stash a lot of the electrical components.
Secure underground, Emma thought it best in case of any type of E.M.P. episode whether manmade or from a natural phenomenon. At this point, it was hard to know which would come first. While she knew they were approaching a solar minimum thanks to her friend Annette, she had also been aware of how the North Koreans were making the rest of the world nervous with their childish behavior. Throw in an election that was supposed to happen this year here in the United States and it all seemed like a recipe for disaster.
Walking up the narrow path to the top of the hill, Emma paused to watch a covey of grouse as they scurried along looking for something to eat. It was so peaceful up here away from the rest of the world. The short ticklegrasses swayed against the breeze and made feasting easier for the ruffled chorus. Watching the medium sized birds made their way across the path, Emma held Dixon on command as not to disturb the group. They were native here and would be a valuable asset in rebuilding what man was about to destroy. If her hunches were right, what the world below her was fast becoming was not a pretty sight. Right now though, she wanted to protect as much as she could of her own piece of it.
Walking further up the path, Emma bent and picked up one of the white tail feathers from her meandering friends. Tucking it into a quick braid in her hair, Emma felt the pull of her Apache heritage becoming stronger. This was her true home, out here among the trees and where she felt the most at peace.
Mattie Bear, or more commonly known as Harriet after she came east was Emma’s great-great grandmother. An Apache squaw, she was removed from her home in Arizona and brought across the Mississippi, settling in the Ohio valley. As the family lore was told, she was bought in part of a trade, for what exactly was never known but she gave root to some very strong women who walked the same lands she had as a young woman. Today, her great-great granddaughter stood on top of the same hills, her long hair being caught in the wisp’s of wind as the white feather danced along to the drum beats of nature.
The sun was sinking below a far hill as the gray pallor of dusk began to settle on her land. Emma found a half exposed rock and sat, patiently awaiting the finale of the day. Her two favorite times of the day were when the sun made her grand appearance and when she curtsied for the final curtain call of the day. She stroked the white wiry hair of her chaperon as they shared the quiet of dusk.
Once the yellow orb was engulfed behind the far ridge, Emma stood and stretched her legs.
“Dix, let’s get to the cabin and get a fire lit. It’s getting a bit chilly for these bones.” Emma said as she slowly surveyed the hills before her. Turning slightly to the right, she caught a glimpse of light. Something that she had not seen for a while. With the grid in the area down, it was an anomaly that made Emma’s stomach twist. She even made sure her family did not power the generators after dark and made sure the curtains were pulled as she did not want any unwelcome visitors to the farm. But this light was different. Dropping her pack, she removed her monocle from the front flap and peered through the device.
FIRE!
It wasn’t a man made light but a fire. Looking around, she realized the flames were coming from the chimney of her son’s house. Bending, she unclipped the handheld radio from her pack and scrolled her thumb up to turn it on. Selecting the channel her family was to use for emergencies, she was going to try against everything to get through.
He must have a chimney fire and probably doesn’t even realize it yet, Emma thought
DIXON! She yelled as she started to run towards her son’s part of the farm. “Come” she said as she dropped her pack again, taking a small notepad and marker out of the pocket. Writing on the note as fast as she could, she tucked it into Dixon’s carry bag. Standing, Emma pointed to Kevin’s house and firmly commanded the dog.
Dixon, go to Kevin.
Then she prayed against everything she had that he was at the house as she took off running.
Halfway down the hill, Emma’s foot twisted sideways causing her ankle to jackknife inside her boot. Pain shot up her leg causing her to stumble headfirst down the rocky decline. Rolling herself over while grasping her knee, Emma braced for the inevitable.
I can’t break my ankle now!
The searing agony burned up her leg and made her roll to her side and eject the contents of her dinner onto the dusty earth. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, Emma was losing time. Horrible visions danced through her mind of her son and his family caught in the burning house, unable to leave. She could hear her grandkid’s laughter from last Christmas as the twins, Jack and Jamie ripped open their gifts, their little cheeks as red as cherries from all the excitement of the day.
Rolling back over, Emma sat up, grasping her ankle in her hands. She had to get down the hill. The darkness, now not her friend, made the trip damn near impossible. She kept praying that Dixon found Kevin in time.
The pain starting to subside, Emma knew taking her boot off was out of the question but she needed to see if she had broken it. Wi
ggling her toes first, Emma felt the pain increase but was relieved to be able to feel movement. Slowly, she tested the ankle itself. It moved! A bad sprain she could work with right now. A bone protruding out of the skin of her ankle would cause an entire new set of issues. Grabbing the bandana she was wearing, she wrapped in as tight as she could around the outside of her boot. Skootching backwards, she backed up against a small tree. Using it for balance, she pulled herself to a standing position. Tears now streaming down her face, she gingerly set the foot on the ground and pushed a small bit. Spasms tore into her calf and shin but she waited. The pain subsided enough that she put more weight on it. Slowly, she hopped to the next tree, then the next.
It took Emma nearly two hours to get down the hill and to her son’s house which was normally a twenty minute brisk walk. She could smell the smoke half way down the hill and new it wasn’t a good sign. Clearing the edge of the forest, she stood in awe at the sight before her, the heat from the fire lapping at her face, Kevin’s house now all but ashes. Beams that he had hand milled on the farm were now crisscrossed within the debris having fallen from their original position holding the roof up. Flames whipped around like dancehall girls in various hot spots amid the now blackened rubble that once sheltered her son’s family.
Emma was afraid to look any longer, afraid of what she might see.
“Kevin!” she shouted
God please let him answer!
Nothing
“Jessica! Where are you?” she shouted again, the fervor of her pitch increasing. “Jack! Jamie! Where are you?” she wailed as she collapsed, tears quenching the hot skin as they sparkled against the swirling flames. There was no sound other than the crackle against the darkness.
Oh my god, Dixon! Where was he? He should have been here by now!
She sat there in silence, afraid to move. Afraid to disturb the quiet that had possibly consumed her loved ones.
Please God, no... She whimpered, her eyes shielded from the sight. If they were in there, there was no way anyone survived. Looking around, she needed to get back to her own home. There was nothing left to do here but mourn and she needed to get the others. Standing, she felt the rush of blood into her foot. Stepping down, her leg gave way since the adrenaline rush was over.
How was she to get back home?
She stood off in the distance, her white hair shining off the moon. She had been in the family for quite a few years, now a pet that the family had respectfully put out to pasture. Right now she was Emma’s only hope.
Bossy Girl! Emma yelled across the field as she hobbled towards the fence dividing the two. “Here Girly Girl! Here Bossy!” she cooed
Climbing up the wooden fence, Emma gingerly swung both legs across the top and waited for the friendly bovine. Once she was close enough, Emma started to scratch her face and made her way back over her ears, all the while the cow moving her body farther along to benefit. Once she was parallel to Emma, the woman swung her leg up over the cow and hung on around her neck, not sure if the cow would act like a wild stallion corralled in a pen and meeting it’s breaker for the first ride.
She did nothing. Maybe it was her age or the trust the cow had for Emma, but she let Emma guide her along the fence to the gate. Emma leaned over the cow’s neck and unlatched the fence, shoving it as hard as she could to let the duo through. Finding the point right behind the cows legs, Emma sunk her knees gently in and tapped her on the rump. Bossy moved through the gate and headed off down the drive.
Emma reached down and gave her a quick scratch on the neck as she kept nudging the heifer along.
Lauren rubbed her eyes at the sight coming towards the house. She thought she was hallucinating. Was that her mom? Riding a cow?
“Mom?” she yelled
“Oh thank god! Lauren, Kevin’s house. We need to get back over there immediately!” Emma screamed back at her daughter.
“Mom, Kevin left to go find you up on the hill.” Lauren’s tone growing quieter as her mom got closer.
The cow, seeing more humans and the possibility of food, decided she needed to pick up speed even with the frantic woman trying to stay upon her back.
“Mom!” Lauren screamed as the cow was now in as fast of a pace as she could muster.
Emma’s eyes were wide with fright as she approached her daughter at a rapid speed and just as the cow decided to pull a full stop, Emma decided it best to try and dismount. Lauren watched in horror as her mom fell from the cow, straight down onto her back on the pile of leaves that the kids were all playing in the day before, knocking all air from her lungs.
“Mom!” Lauren screamed as the others from within the house started coming outside to see what all the commotion was about.
“What the...” Tiffany began as Johnisse nudged her in the side. “The kids” Jay whispered pointing to the small quad of little ears standing next to the leaves
Emma pointed up at the twins, Jack and Jamie and started to bawl, no intelligent words leaving her lips. The twins looked at each other wondering what trouble they had gotten into now.
“Mom, try and calm yourself” Jessica said as she stepped before her Mother-in-law. The puzzled look on Emma’s face enough to explain what words could not escape her mouth.
“Dixon came to the house but it was too late. We all ran outside but the roof had already caught from the embers coming out of the stove pipe. We brought the kids over here to get out of the cold since there was nothing we could do but watch it burn. We didn’t particularly want to do that. We had no idea where you were so Kevin and Mike took a couple horses and headed back up over the hill to try and find you.” she explained
“Dix....” Emma tried to breathe out
“Oh, there was no way anyone was stopping that dog from coming to find you. All Kevin said was Emma and he tore off like a bullet.”
Emma laid her head back into the mess of leaves supporting her. She was afraid to move as the rush of excitement started to wane. Looking up from her position, Emma looked into the faces of the ones she had prayed were not lost in the fire.... and a cow. Uncontrollable laughter filled the night air as the group gently picked up the woman and helped her inside, well, all but the cow who found a forgotten patch in the garden and had already had a mouthful of beets tops.
Inside, the group deposited Emma in the living room as Lauren went and fetched a basin of warm water. Jessica was already trying to remove Emma’s boot so they could see what was going on beneath the worn leather. Tom walked into the room after hearing all the commotion, giving his wife the once over.
“What happened?” he asked
Jessica gave her Father-in-law a brief synopsis of the evening’s events as Emma searched his face for any kind of emotion after their son’s home had burned to the ground and his wife was hurt in the process.
“Oh.” he replied “Then who’s making dinner tonight?” he asked as he walked towards the kitchen.
Emma’s heart sank at the raw coldness of the man who just left the room. Jess looked at Emma’s ashen face with astonishment. Reaching out, Emma patted her hand. “It’s okay, really. He hasn’t been himself since the accident.” Emma tried to explain
“No, it’s not alright!” Jessica nearly shouted. “Accident or not, the man is not right! Tommy would have never treated you or anyone in the family the way this...this...” she trailed off searching for the most accurate word to describe the man without hurting Emma anyone than she had been hurt already. “Listen, this is hard on everyone. Heck, I just lost my own home but because of what you have taught us over the years about being in situations like this...” she pointed around at nothing in particular “It made it easier. The house can be replaced. My husband, your son and your grandkids, they cannot. You showed us all that and tonight it was cemented into all our brains. I can’t just sit here and let that man treat you like a slave anymore. He needs to start contributing or nothing.” she continued as she haphazardly reached over and pulled a leaf out of Emma’s hair.
“Je
ss, listen. I will handle Tom. Right now we need to get this boot off and get you and the kids settled. Deal?” Emma asked with her lips in a big pout trying to gain her daughter-in-law’s sympathy.” Jess rolled her eyes and pulled a foot stool over to sit at the front of Emma’s chair. Lifting Emma’s foot as easy as she could, Jess rested it on her own knee as she untied the bandana that Emma had wrapped around it earlier. “You might feel the blood start to pump back into your foot now that you are off of it and this thing is off” she said throwing the piece of rolled up cloth aside. “It’s going to probably really start to thump once I get your boot off so brace yourself.”
Tiffany walked in with a glass of water and some ibuprofen just as Jess was going to pull off Emma’s boot.
“Mercy sakes, what in tar nation has gotten into Mr. Tom?” she said slightly exasperated.
“He’s just hungry, Tiff” Emma began to make excuses
Tiff looked from Emma and then to Jess, their eyes locking as she handed the water and pills to Emma. “Here take this. I’m about to go make the man a sammich!” Tiff said as she turned to head back into the kitchen.
“Shit!” Emma haphazardly said before she caught herself
“Mom!”
“I know! I know... I’m sorry!!”
“You were doing so well with your cussing, too. Looks like that man is bringing out the best in you.” Jess said with a hint of sarcasm
Emma popped the pills into her mouth and swallowed a gulp of water, laying her head back on the recliner “Just pull the damn boot off.” she said a little more agitated then she intended.