The EMP Lodge Series: Books One to Three

by Grace Hamilton

  Wyatt winced and he felt Megan and Jack tense beside him. He was hoping that had all been forgotten. Clearly not.

  Another of the men stepped forward. Wyatt remembered him from that fateful day on the hill. He was the one who demanded Evan walk away.

  He looked weary, but didn't appear to be set on revenge. At least, that’s what Wyatt hoped since he was the only one not pointing a gun at them.

  “I'm Bryan. I'm sure you remember me,” he said extending his hand to Wyatt.

  Wyatt shook his hand and he felt Jack relax his stance. “I do. I'm Wyatt. This is Megan, my brother, Jack, and my mom, Rosie. We wanted to see if we could exchange some goods. We brought what we could carry.”

  A small crowd of people gathered behind the gated entrance. People were clearly interested to see the newcomers. Megan smiled down at a little boy clutching his mother's leg. Wyatt watched her scan the area knowing that she was looking for Caitlin.

  They were invited inside the camp and Bryan led them to a picnic table that sat next to a large fire pit where both Megan and Rosie gratefully sat down. There were several tents set up not too far from the fire pit, as if they thought the heat from the fire would actually keep them warm through the cold winter.

  He did his best to study the camp without looking too obvious. They didn't want to offend their hosts.

  Evan emerged from the small cabin that was tucked between some trees. He held Wyatt's stare as he approached the table.

  “What are you doing here?” His tone was harsh as he stared at the group his hands balling into fists.

  Megan spoke up, “We wanted to see if we could exchange some things before winter sets in.”

  Evan looked at her, focusing on her outstretched leg.

  “What happened?”

  She looked to Wyatt and he debated how to answer, but decided she’d better tell the truth if they wanted to make friends and find her daughter. Giving her a reassuring nod, she turned back to Evan.

  “Hunting accident. I fell down a hill,” she said sheepishly.

  Bryan focused on her. “You hunt?” His voice revealed his surprise.

  Megan nodded, “Yes.”

  “We need food and guns,” Bryan quickly stated before Evan could say another word.

  Evan glared at Bryan.

  Wyatt and Megan looked at each other. The last time they had encountered these two, it was a similar situation. Bryan was the voice of reason. Evan was clearly the leader of the group, but he didn't seem in control.

  Thinking it would be better if he did the talking, Wyatt reached his hand out to grab Megan’s giving it a little squeeze. If they were going to find out anything, they needed to get on Bryan's good side. Evan may have thought he was in charge, but Bryan was the one who called the shots.

  “We can probably work out a deal,” Wyatt said, looking directly at Bryan, cutting Evan out of the conversation. “What do you have to trade?”

  Bryan turned to a boy who looked to be in his late teens.

  “Daniel, will you please go get Sharon and tell her to bring the stuff we have to barter.”

  “Do you barter with others?” Jack asked.

  The revelation took Wyatt and the group by surprise. If they could expand their trade market so-to-speak, it would really help. However, it could also put them at risk. If they went around flaunting everything they had, the other groups may try to take it. They could band together and overpower Wyatt's family.

  “We do, sometimes,” Bryan answered slowly seeming reluctant to answer.

  No one spoke after that and there was a tense silence as the men chose to stand around the picnic table rather than sit.

  “Maybe we should all sit?” Wyatt asked hoping to break the tension a little.

  “Oh, yes, sorry, pardon my lack of manners,” Bryan said gesturing for everyone else to sit. He looked at Megan, “You walked all the way here on that bum leg?”

  “Yes, I—”

  Wyatt cut her off. “She was going a little stir crazy so she demanded she come along.”

  Daniel came back with another woman each carrying a box.

  Sharon smiled and introduced herself, as she set the box she was carrying on the table and Daniel followed. Wyatt quickly looked them over. Much like his own group, it was evident from the clothes they wore that they’d all lost weight. A few of the men were sporting beards in various stages from long and scraggly to trimmed short. Evan was the only one who was clean-shaven and he had a few nicks on his chin for the trouble. Of the women standing there, one had opted to cut her hair short while the others were wearing what he’d come to refer to as the traditional hairstyle; a ponytail.

  “We don't have a lot, but I'm guessing you don't need a lot,” Sharon told them as she looked from one to the other. Wyatt decided the woman wasn't quite as naive as she looked but he also had to admit that based on appearance, they were definitely the better off of the two groups.

  “So, we have some toothpaste,” Sharon said reaching into the box and pulling out a couple boxes of Crest. “We also have some tomato seeds and lots of herbs.”

  Rosie perked up, “Oh, yes. I would love some of those herb seeds.”

  Wyatt looked at his mom, but she was all business now.

  “We have some moonshine, home brewed, and it is sure either to peel paint or get a person fabulously drunk,” Rosie offered.

  Everyone laughed, and some of the tension of the exchange dissolved. Humor was always a great way to oil the wheels of any deal.

  Rosie opened her backpack and pulled out several pairs of wool socks.

  Bryan reached out to touch them before withdrawing his hand. “Oh yes, we really need some clothing, especially socks.”

  Wyatt looked at the wistful look on his face. There was no way these people would survive the winter if they were sleeping in tents.

  Megan stayed quiet as they all talked about what they needed, missed the most, and what they had to trade, chatting as if they’d bumped into old friends in line at the grocery store. She wasn’t here to chat or make friends. While none of them seemed suspicious, maybe they were simply hiding it well. As they talked, Megan took advantage of the attention being drawn away from her.

  Looking around the area, her eyes settled on a large outbuilding set farther back behind the cabin where Evan came out. That would be a very good place to hide a little girl.

  Megan casually stood. Duke watched her. When Evan looked at her in question, she thought fast.

  “Bathroom?”

  He motioned to an area where a couple of old shower curtains hung.

  She hid her cringe. Oh, boy had she become spoiled with the outhouse and compost toilet. “Thanks. Come on, Duke.”

  Evan turned his attention back to the conversation. The others were exchanging goods and listing out what they would like to trade next time. Evan's group had ammunition, but was lacking in guns. The guns the guards had were actually all they had. The semiautomatics were not the best for hunting when accuracy was at stake, which was their priority as well.

  They worked out a deal to exchange a gun for three boxes of .22 ammuniton. The .22s were running low at the lodge and were preferred when hunting small game. It would be a win-win for both groups.

  The conversation faded in the distance as Megan focused her attention on the barn. She was going to have to go behind the curtain and into the trees to stay out of sight.

  “Let's go get our girl, Duke.”

  17

  Megan slowly opened the main door that led into the barn squinting as she stepped into the darkened interior. The barn was old, dilapidated and the roof looked like it would cave in at any time. Loft windows shed some light inside but given how dirty they were it wasn’t much.

  “This isn't creepy at all, is it Duke?”

  She doubted the dog understood sarcasm but she felt better that he was with her.

  “Do you smell her, boy? Is she in here?”

  It was eerily quiet. Megan wished she had brought along h
er headlamp. Instead, she was forced to rely on the windows high above that did little to illuminate the dark corners of the barn. The smell of old straw almost made her gag. Clearly, they weren't using this building to sleep in. If she had the choice between a tent and a barn, she would definitely choose the barn. They had a valuable resource that they were ignoring.

  Or were they? Megan carefully walked down the center walkway, checking each stall. Spotting something in the back of a stall, she scurried in expecting to find Caitlin cowering inside. Carefully lifting the old horse blanket, she sneezed loudly as a cloud of dust flew up in the air. Throwing the blanket back, she was disappointed to find an old rotted cardboard box with what looked like rusted tools.

  The next stalls were completely empty.

  Caitlin wasn't in here. Megan wanted to cry in frustration even though she was relieved to know Caitlin hadn't been held prisoner in this dark, stinky, barn.

  “No luck, Duke. Maybe she is in one of those tents.”

  Looking up, a beam of sunlight hit the wall in front of her and Megan's breath hitched when she saw Caitlin's hunting rifle mounted to the wall, above the door she had come in.

  Reaching her hand up, she traced her fingers along the barrel making sure it was real.

  Spinning around, she quickly searched each of the stalls a second time. This time, she used her foot to kick the straw around, just in case she was hidden underneath. When she didn't find her the second time through, her mind started to race.

  There was no loft. Maybe there was a trap door. Usually barns had some kind of storage space. Megan dropped to her hands and knees, crawling along the floor, looking for a secret door.

  “Caitlin! Caitlin, answer me baby!”

  Duke started barking in response to Megan's shouting.

  Wyatt froze when he heard Megan shouting. Looking around, he suddenly realized that she’d never returned from using the toilet. What the hell had she done now? He looked at Jack who was about ready to spring up as well.

  “What’s going on?” Evan demanded.

  “Let me explain,” Wyatt began but Megan shouted again.

  Evan glared at him before jumping up from the table and running towards the barn with Wyatt in hot pursuit. Everyone that had been at the table quickly followed. Something was wrong.

  They arrived in the barn to find Megan standing in the center of the walkway, shouting Caitlin's name. Evan grabbed her arm and started to drag her out of the barn and Wyatt saw red.

  He lunged at him. Evan fell backwards without releasing his grip on Megan's arm and all three went down like a pile of bricks.

  Megan cried out in pain, bringing Wyatt to a dead stop.

  “What is it? What happened? Are you okay?” Wyatt asked when he realized she was hurt.

  Megan was lying on her side, curled into a ball rubbing her ankle. She was groaning, but not speaking.

  Rosie ran in moments later, “What happened, dear? Point to where it hurts.”

  Megan hissed and pointed to the injured ankle.

  “I knocked her down, mom,” Wyatt admitted.

  “You did what? Why would you do that?”

  Wyatt rolled his eyes, “I didn't do it on purpose, mom.”

  Megan rolled into a sitting position, “I'm okay. The fall twisted my foot. It will be okay. It just kind of hurts.”

  Rosie made a tisking sound, “Well, I imagine it does. We need to get you off that leg for a bit.”

  Wyatt helped Megan stand up keeping his arm around her waist to support her.

  She drew her shoulders back, pointed a finger at Evan and gave him a look that would send anyone running.

  “Where is she?”

  Her voice was low, but there was no hiding the anger bubbling beneath the surface.

  Wyatt tried to calm her down. She pushed him away, advancing towards Evan.

  “Where is my daughter, you creep!”

  Evan held up his hands. Bryan stepped in front of Evan, “Megan, I don't know what you are talking about. We don't know where your daughter is.”

  “Liar!” she screamed the word.

  Rosie touched Megan on the arm, “Hon, I don't think she's here.”

  Megan looked at her, tears in her eyes. “Really? Then why is that here?” She pointed to the rifle on the wall.

  Looking up, Wyatt stiffened when he saw the Crickett rifle with Caitlin’s initials. Stepping around Megan, Wyatt grabbed Evan by the shirt and pushed him into a wall.

  “You better start talking real fast, man.”

  Bryan grabbed Wyatt's shoulder, which resulted in Jack grabbing Bryan.

  Sharon stepped into the barn waving a rifle, “Everyone put your hands down and keep them to yourselves.” When Wyatt refused to let go of Evan, she turned to point the gun at him. “Now.”

  Her voice was firm and left no room for argument.

  Wyatt let go of Evan and went back to Megan's side. The two groups ended up lining up facing each other. It was a standoff similar to what they had done that day on the hill.

  Bryan spoke first. “We don't have your daughter. Why would we kidnap a little girl? We can barely feed the kids we have. The last thing we need is another mouth to feed.”

  Evan jumped in to explain the gun. “I found it when we were out hunting. It was at the bottom of a steep hill in the meadow between our two camps.” Taking it down off the wall, he handed it to Megan who clutched it to her chest.

  Megan and Wyatt looked at each other. The story was very plausible.

  “It was covered in mud. I figured it had been out there for a while and would probably need to be taken apart and cleaned,” he explained. “I swear. I know what my brother did and I’m not him. I would never hurt a little girl,” Evan pleaded with Megan.

  Megan believed him. Caitlin wasn't here. Looking at the gun she held, how could it be that her daughter felt so close, yet seemed so very far away?

  Wyatt looked to her, silently asking her what she wanted to do next.

  “She's not here. I'm sorry. I'm just so worried about her. She's been gone close to two weeks,” Megan explained to the people who seemed now very wary of her. “Since no one was paying attention, I decided to take a look around and when I saw her gun, I thought I’d finally found her.”

  Sharon stepped forward and hugged her tight. “You poor thing. I can't imagine what you’re going through. Let's get you back to the cabin and we will let you rest that ankle.” She turned to Rosie, “Would you like to go with me and help get her settled?”

  Rosie smiled stepping forward. “She makes the worst patient.”

  “Uh, she's right here and I am not a patient. I'm fine. Really,” Megan responded looking at the two women in frustration.”

  “Okay, dear. Wyatt, help us get her back down there without her falling on her face,” Rosie ordered.

  “Hey,” Megan protested. “It wasn't me who fell on my face. It was him,” she poked Wyatt in the side.

  Wyatt grunted. “Stop it. You have done enough for one day. Can we please get you somewhere you don't move for at least five minutes? I need a break.”

  Megan stared at him seeing the anger roll off him. Anger directed at her. Deciding it was best to say nothing, she nodded her head curtly.

  Between Wyatt and Rosie, they managed to get Megan back to the cabin where Evan was staying. It was clearly an old hunter's cabin and not meant for actual permanent residency. It was maybe the size of a shed. Megan estimated that it was maybe two hundred square feet. The single room had nothing more than an old chair, a bed and a small countertop inside.

  Her opinion of Evan and the rest of the people at the camp changed. They didn't have Caitlin. They weren't intent on revenge, which explained why they hadn't seen them all summer. She was convinced they were good people doing what they could to get by. On the way down, Wyatt chatted with Evan about the larger cabin that was being built.

  “We lucked out on finding lumber, so we’ve been using that to build but we’ve yet to put the roof on. None of u
s here has any construction experience and we’re stuck on how to build it so it won’t collapse under the weight of the snow.”

  She caught Jack and Wyatt exchanging a look. She could already see their wheels turning. “Maybe we can help you there,” Wyatt offered. “My brother is a whiz at design and we can probably draw up a plan to show you how.”

  Evan stopped to look at them. “You would do that?” he asked, his surprise evident in his tone. “Yes, yes, we accept.” He laughed clapping Wyatt on the back. “I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful that would be.”

  Megan couldn't imagine leaving them alone to suffer all winter. She worried about the children. They needed a sturdy roof over their heads and a warm place to sleep.

  Rosie and Sharon sat with Megan while she elevated her foot. She didn't want to admit how bad it hurt when she had twisted it in the barn. She had overdone it walking all the way over here and with the added injury, her foot was throbbing in complaint.

  Wyatt knocked on the door of the cabin. When Sharon invited him in, he sat on the bed next to Megan.

  “You aren't doing so hot, huh?”

  Megan shrugged, “I'll be okay. I can make it back.”

  Wyatt grabbed her hand “It's raining. Evan and Bryan have invited us to stay overnight. You can rest your ankle and we won't risk catching pneumonia or injuring ourselves trying to get back in this rain.”

  Megan raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

  He smiled. “Is this okay with you, Sharon?”

  Sharon stood up from the single chair in the room, “It isn't as if we get company too often. At least the kind that isn’t trying to steal from us or kill us.” Moving toward the door, “I'll head to the pantry and see what I can find for dinner.”

  Rosie perked up when she heard that. “Would it be okay if I joined you? With the extra mouths to feed, I’m sure you could use a bit of help with the work.”

  Sharon smiled, holding the cabin door open. “We are always in need of help around here. I appreciate the offer.”

  “And thank you so much for hosting us.”

  The two women left chatting as if they were old friends. Megan shook her head as they walked out the door. Apparently, group matriarchs were the same all over.