Without Law 12

by Eric Vall

  All the girls had baked treats to bring with us, and Bailey and I had gone hunting and caught a deer we were bringing with us to roast. It looked like it was geared up to be a downright feast, and the people at the fort deserved no less after the way Brody had forced them to eat gruel while he ate like a king.

  I could smell the food that everyone had cooked as they packed it all in the vehicles, and just the smell of it made my mouth water. I couldn’t wait to dig into all the delicious looking dishes they had put together. I’d told Renee that my people would provide the food for the event, and she’d promised to provide the booze, though I made sure that we brought some of that as well.

  Henry and the kids were still with us, and the old man’s bruises were looking better by the day. They had turned to a sort of faded yellow in some spots and a light purple in others. My own bruises weren’t quite healed yet, but I wore them as a badge of honor. My leg was still a little messed up, too, and Paige insisted that I wear a knee brace for at least a week, so I had one of those on so that she wouldn’t yell at me about it.

  Tara had told everyone her stabbing Brody in the dick story about a million times, and I’d heard it so much that I could practically recite it myself, but I didn’t mind at all. She deserved to be proud of what she’d done. She’d helped take down a terrible man, and I thought a few bragging rights were the least that she’d earned, besides, it was a pretty funny story.

  “I think we’re all ready to go,” Betty said as she came over to me.

  “Okay, great,” I agreed. “Let’s load up.”

  We all piled into a couple of jeeps and military vehicles, and I led the pack. I had all the girls in my jeep, of course, including Kimmy and baby Anthony. Winchester was along for the ride, too, but we’d put him in the back so there would be more room for the girls.

  Anna sat in the passenger’s seat as usual, her long red hair down in loose waves. She wore a cute summer dress that Tara had picked out for her. It had spaghetti straps and was green with little white flowers on it, and it showed off her toned arms and legs perfectly.

  Bailey sat in the back seat behind Anna, her blonde hair down around her smiling face. Tara had picked out her dress as well, actually she’d insisted on picking out dresses for all the girls, but the one she’d chosen for Bailey was a long maxi dress that was purple and pink tie dye. Bailey loved it, of course, and it was adorable to see her in something so feminine.

  Paige’s hair was down, too, her long chestnut locks hung down her back. Her outfit wasn’t exactly a dress, the top looked like a dress, but the bottom was shorts. Tara had called it a romper, but I’d never heard of it before. Still, Paige looked stunning in it. It showed off her long legs, and the shorts rode up just enough that it gave a small peek of her cheeks that I found quite tantalizing.

  Kimmy hadn’t been spared from Tara’s dress up game, either, and she was in a small, red dress that hugged every one of her curves. The color complemented her skin tone extremely well, and while she normally had her hair down, today it was up in a curly bun on top of her head that was absolutely beautiful.

  Last, but certainly not least, Tara sat behind me so I could see her in my rearview. She wore a light blue spring dress that showed off plenty of cleavage. As always, she looked like a supermodel, but it looked like she’d spent even more time on her hair and makeup today. She was absolutely gorgeous.

  I couldn’t exactly say that the girls got out much, so I didn’t blame them for wanting to get a little dressed up. Tara had even picked out an outfit for me. A short sleeve white button down shirt and a pair of khaki knee length shorts. It wasn’t exactly what I would have chosen, but it was cool, and it made her happy, so how could I say no?

  “I’m so excited we’re doing this,” Bailey said with a wide smile. “It’ll be nice for everyone to meet.”

  “It will,” I agreed. “Especially with Renee running things now.” She had been elected as the new leader after we’d taken care of Brody, and I wasn’t surprised by the choice. Renee was a fair and sweet woman, and I knew that she’d make sure everyone was treated well.

  “It’s such a nice day, too,” Paige said, and she rolled down the window a bit to bask in the sunshine.

  I looked through the windshield up to the sky, it was bright blue with large fluffy white clouds that coasted by at a leisurely pace. It was warm out, too, the perfect spring day, and I couldn’t help but feel that it was an omen for our future. Things felt bright without Brody around.

  Sure, there’d always be another group of assholes for us to take out, but Brody had been such a unique experience. He was a Ranger, just like myself, and it had been strange going up against him. It was still hard for me to think that one of my brothers had turned so evil. Of course, I knew anybody was capable of anything, but I held my unit in such high regard it was a letdown to see one of them go down such a dark path.

  I shook my head to rid it of thoughts of Brody, then I checked the rearview mirror and saw Tara and Paige playing with baby Anthony. It was hard to stay sour with a sight like that behind me.

  The trip to the fort seemed to go by quickly, even though it was well over an hour. I made sure that everyone kept pace behind us and that nobody got left behind, and soon enough we pulled up to the gates.

  One of the civilians waved down to me and opened the gates. I drove in slowly and noticed that the courtyard was already full of people, and they had set out tables with food as well.

  “Tav!” Renee said as she came over to give me and the girls hugs. “I’m so glad to see you all.”

  “I thought we were going to provide the food?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Well,” she said, and she looked up to the sky, “some of the girls got a little carried away.”

  “The more, the merrier,” Anna said with a smile.

  “You know that saying applies to people, right?” Paige asked.

  “Why can’t it apply to food, too?” the redhead retorted.

  “Fair enough,” Paige chuckled.

  As we started to unpack the food we brought, I saw Mary standing by one of the food tables with a drink in her hand. She stared off to my right, so I looked over to see Henry and the two kids helping to grab things from the back of one of the military trucks.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, and I started to walk away.

  “Fine, we’ll just do all the heavy lifting,” Tara teased.

  “Thanks,” I chuckled, then I made my way over to Mary. “Hey.”

  “Oh, hey,” she said, and she looked up like she hadn’t seen me walk over. “Do you guys need help?”

  “Sure,” I said with a smile. “Follow me.”

  I led her over to Henry and the kids.

  “Mary!” Rosy shouted when she saw us approach, and she ran over to the woman and wrapped her small arms around her waist.

  “Mary, this is our grandpa,” Donald said as he dragged Henry over toward the woman.

  “Henry,” I said, “this is Mary. Brody had her in charge of Rosy and Donald while they were here.”

  “Oh,” he said, and he started to blink back tears before he reached his hand out to her. “Thank you for taking such good care of my grandbabies.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Mary said as she grasped his hand and gave it a good shake.

  “Can we go play with Mary?” Rosy asked.

  “Weren’t you helping your grandfather offload things?” Mary asked. “Let’s finish that first, then we can play.”

  “Alright,” Rosy pouted.

  “Oh, go on,” Henry chuckled. “Go be kids.”

  “Yay!” the children sang in unison, and they started to tug on Mary’s skirt to pull her toward the courtyard where the other children were.

  “Okay, okay,” Mary laughed, and she looked back at Henry and gave him a smile before she ran toward the other kids in a little race with the children.

  “Thanks,” Henry said, and he clapped me on the shoulder.

  “I figured you’
d want to meet her yourself,” I said with a smile.

  “She’s a good woman to have taken care of my grandbabies like that,” he said.

  “She is,” I agreed. “When Tara and I came into the room she had them in the corner and was using her body to shield them.”

  “I’ll have to give her a special thank you for that,” Henry said, and he wiped a tear from his eye.

  “I think being able to see the kids is enough for her,” I chuckled as I looked out to the courtyard and watched them all play together. They were passing around a football, and Mary was chasing after little Donald. Winchester had joined in the fun, too, of course, he ran back and forth with the children and barked happily whenever the ball whizzed by him.

  “They better not let Winchester get a hold of that football,” Henry laughed.

  “Probably a good idea,” I agreed, then I headed back to my own jeep and started to grab things from the back.

  Once all of the food was offloaded, Paige and I got the deer on a spit over the fire and took a seat nearby so we could rotate it when needed.

  “Here,” Tara said as she walked over and handed each of us a drink.

  “You’re being nice now?” Paige asked. “What’s the occasion?”

  “Don’t ruin it,” Tara said with a mock glare, then she winked and walked away.

  “Thank you!” Paige called after her.

  “Everyone is in a good mood today,” I said with a smile, and I took a drink from my cup.

  I scanned the crowd and saw Betty and Marla talking with Renee. Rolly and Henry were over in the corner with a couple other older men from the fort, and Tara, Anna, and Kimmy were gathered around a group of women that were fawning over baby Anthony while Bailey had joined in on the kids’ football game.

  “Have you talked to Henry yet?” Paige asked as we sat and sipped our drinks in the sunlight.

  “Not yet,” I sighed. “I didn’t want him to feel pressured.”

  “I bet Rolly’s talked to him,” Paige said, and she caught Rolly’s attention and gestured for him to come over.

  The old man started toward us, and Henry followed. It looked like it was time for the conversation. I didn’t want to ruin the day, but I did want to at least plant the thought in his head.

  “What can we do for ya?” Rolly asked as he stopped in front of us.

  “Tav wanted to talk to you,” Paige said, and she looked down.

  I glared at the brunette. Sure, she could call him over, but she’d leave the dirty work to me.

  “I just wanted to talk to Henry, really,” I said. “I want to make sure that you know that we all want you to stay with us.”

  “I told him as much,” Rolly agreed.

  “And?” Paige pushed.

  “I think it’s best if we stay,” the old man said, and he looked out to the kids in the courtyard. I knew it was hard for him to accept help, but he knew that the kids would be happy with us, there were other kids to play with, and we’d help take care of them, of course.

  “That’s good to hear,” I told him with a grin.

  “I’m still gonna need to go fishin’ every now and then, though,” he said sternly.

  “I figured you’d say that,” Rolly chuckled. “I volunteer to go with him.”

  “What are you, my bodyguard now?” Henry laughed and smacked his friend on the arm.

  “Damn right,” Rolly said. “If it keeps you from lookin’ like that.”

  “Alright, alright,” Henry said. “It’d be nice to have some company anyhow.”

  “Agreed,” I chuckled. “As long as it’s more than just you, I don’t have any problem with that. I figured we couldn’t keep an old fisherman like yourself away from the water forever.”

  “As long as you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Henry said.

  “You’re the least of my worries,” I laughed. “Now go, enjoy yourselves.”

  “Call us when that deer is done,” Rolly said as he pulled his friend away and headed toward Betty. I watched as the old man came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before he kissed her cheek. Betty leaned into him, and I couldn’t help but smile at the couple, they were absolutely adorable.

  “That went well,” Paige said.

  “Yeah,” I said, but I glared at her.

  “What?” she asked, and she took another drink of booze.

  “You know what,” I chuckled.

  “Yeah,” she laughed. “But you’re the leader, what was I supposed to do?”

  “You could’ve talked to him,” I pointed out.

  “But you do it so much better,” she pouted.

  “Just for that you can stay here and watch the deer by yourself,” I said as I stood up and started to walk away.

  “Aw, come on!” Paige laughed, but I continued to walk away. “At least bring me another drink!”

  “That I can do,” I told her, and I flashed a thumbs up behind me.

  I made my way over to the girls then, and saw that baby Anthony was on Tara’s lap then.

  “Can I borrow you?” I whispered to Kimmy.

  “Of course,” she agreed, and she stood up.

  “Off to have a good snog?” Tara teased.

  “What the hell’s a snog?” Anna asked.

  “It’s like make out but in British or something,” the platinum blonde said with a shrug. “I don’t know, I heard Paige say it.”

  “That can’t be right,” Anna argued. “Snog? Really?”

  “That’s definitely what she said,” Tara protested, but their voices faded out as I pulled Kimmy over to our trucks.

  The day was warm, and the sunshine felt good on my back, but not as good as Kimmy’s hand felt in mine.

  “What are we doing over here?” she asked as I spun around and pulled her toward me.

  “What do you think we’re doing?” I asked as I leaned down and brought my lips just inches away from her own.

  “Are we snogging?” she whispered.

  “Definitely,” I chuckled, and I leaned down and captured her mouth with mine. The beautiful, dark skinned woman still wasn’t totally used to the dynamic with the other girls, she preferred her kisses in private, something I was more than willing to accommodate for her.

  I pressed my hand against the small of her back to pull her in closer to me, and she sighed into my mouth. I had to admire a woman that made me work for it, and Kimmy was definitely doing that. All we’d done was kiss, which of course made me crave her even more, but I’d let her tell me when she wanted me. I could hold out as long as she needed.

  The sound of a baby crying broke up our kiss, and Kimmy turned to look back toward the courtyard.

  “That must be Anthony,” she said. “I should go help.”

  “Alright,” I said with a smile. “I’ll walk you back over.”

  We headed toward Tara and Anna, but ran into them on the way over to where they had been.

  “I don’t know what I did,” Tara said, her voice one of panic.

  “He’s alright,” Kimmy chuckled. “He’s probably just a little hot, I’ll go grab him some water.”

  Kimmy took the child, and he immediately settled down and cuddled against her.

  “Oh, I see how it is,” Tara said, and she glared at the baby.

  “Tara!” Anna scoffed. “You can’t get mad at babies.”

  “I just want him to love me as much as I love him, is that too much to ask?” the platinum blonde asked, and she put her hand on her hip.

  “Well, he’s a baby, so yeah, that’s probably a bit much,” Kimmy laughed.

  “Whatever,” Tara said, and she glared again, but then she smiled and grabbed Anthony’s foot. “I still love you, though.”

  It was adorable the way the girls had taken to baby Anthony, especially Tara. It seemed that she would be the least likely to love the infant so much, but I could tell she really enjoyed his company. She would make a great mother one day if that’s what she wanted.

  “Hey!” I heard Pai
ge call, and I turned around to see her waving her cup at me.

  I chuckled and grabbed a bottle of booze from one of the tables before I headed over to her and poured her a hefty drink.

  “I told you you’d have to wait,” I said.

  “Yeah, forever apparently,” the brunette said with an eye roll.

  “You turn the deer?” I asked.

  “Yup,” she said, and she took a drink from her now full cup.

  Renee came over to us then and took a seat next to us.

  “Enjoying yourself?” I asked the older woman.

  “Definitely,” she said, and she smiled so big her eyes crinkled. “I’m glad we set this up.”

  “I’m glad you’re in charge now,” Paige said, and she elbowed Renee playfully.

  “Only in title,” Renee said. “I never really wanted to be in charge, I just want everyone to be treated fairly.”

  “Somehow I think that makes you an even better candidate for being in charge,” I chuckled.

  “Well, if that’s the case,” she said, “then while I’m in charge you and your people are welcome here any time.”

  “I appreciate that,” I told her, and I tipped my cup to her. “And the same goes for you and yours.”

  “We’re lucky to have ended up with this place,” Renee said. “But you basically did that for us. I don’t think I can ever truly repay you for that, but if you ever want to share this place with us, the gate is always open for that, too. There’s plenty of room.”

  “That’s an incredibly kind offer,” I said with a smile. “And we’ll definitely want to trade with your group, but I think for right now we’ll stay at home. I kind of like our little mountainside.”

  “Are you sure?” Renee asked. “We could really use your military knowledge around here. Plus, we have land that we can till for crops and things. It’d be a lot better around here if I didn’t have to run this place by myself.”

  “I’m here to assist as best as I can,” I assured her. “But I don’t want to move our community, not yet at least.”