Jasmine knew what time it was; she had gone to sleep at one after her shift. “Yes, we wanted you to sleep.”
“Damn, I guess I did that,” Nathan chuckled. Then he realized he only had his boxers on. As he was contemplating that he noticed he wasn’t sticky from dried sweat. “I’m clean,” he observed.
“Yeah, I washed you down at sunset. The girls cleaned your clothes and the boys cleaned your weapons,” she said, hoping Nathan wasn’t mad about them not leaving at dark.
“Damn,” was all Nathan could say.
“We were worried about you,” Jasmine said and stepped over the sleeping bodies, wrapping her arms around him. Smiling, Nathan wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. He realized his arms felt skin, not clothes. Looking down, he saw Jasmine was in her bra and panties. This girl is going to have to start wearing clothes, Nathan thought, shaking his head.
“I’m good now,” Nathan said, let his arms go, but Jasmine held on.
“If you feel another headache coming on, tell me. We’re stopping then,” Jasmine said, not letting go. Nathan wrapped his arms back around her, and Jasmine smiled, burying her face in his chest.
“It’s good to know I’m loved,” Nathan admitted.
“Damn right you are,” Jasmine said as Nathan let go again, and this time she did as well. Carefully, Nathan stepped over the bodies and headed to the door to take care of business. Walking past the boys, they were both staring at Jasmine with open mouths.
“Boys, quit staring at your stepmother like that, others can see you,” Nathan smirked as he walked past. The boys closed their mouths as he went outside.
Tom looked at John, smiling. “He’s so cool.”
John nodded. “The coolest,” he replied, smiling bigger than usual because of how Nathan referred to Jasmine.
When Nathan returned he stopped by the two. “Seen anything?” he asked.
“One really big pack of dogs running through the field to the south,” Tom said.
“When?” Nathan asked looking out the door to the south.
“Sunset,” John said.
Nathan turned to look at them. “About how many?”
They glanced at each other, then at Nathan. “I’m guessing over a hundred,” John said and Nathan raised his eyebrows.
“Yep, that’s a big ass pack of dogs,” Nathan said. “Does Greg’s group have someone on watch?”
“Yes, one in the tree out front, one in the upstairs looking south, and another on the northwest corner of the house,” John said.
“They need to spread out a little,” Nathan said. “How many people do they have?”
“Fourteen,” Tom answered.
“That’s pretty good,” Nathan admitted. “Let me get dressed and I’ll take over.”
Both of the boys shook their heads. “No, go lie down,” John said.
“I’m not sleepy,” Nathan informed him.
“Then look at the ceiling,” Tom replied.
Nathan clasped each on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Besides, stepmom likes resting beside you,” John said, chuckling.
“Her and everyone else,” Nathan said. He returned to the sleeping pile to find Jasmine sitting on his woobie.
As he walked over Jasmine archer her eyebrow, “Stepmom?” she asked.
Smiling at her as he sat down, Nathan said, “Yeah, they were figuring roles out for everyone one day and you got hot stepmom and I got cool stepdad.”
Nodding her head in approval, Jasmine grinned, “I like that.”
“I was trying for crazy uncle and nominated you for hot erotic aunt but they said we were more stepmom and stepdad,” Nathan admitted, leaning back resting his head on his pack. Jasmine lay down beside him, putting her head on his chest and throwing her leg over his. Without realizing it, Nathan held his breath as she started caressing his leg with her foot.
“You know stepdad never asked stepmom out on a date, much less to get married,” Jasmine teased. Air exploded out of Nathan’s lungs as he chuckled at her. Nathan wrapped his arm around her and caressed her back, catching Jasmine off guard. Now she was the one holding her breath.
Nathan kissed the top of her head. “It was like an arranged marriage. Neither of us got any input,” he explained.
“Mmmm,” Jasmine purred, snuggling into his side. “I don’t mind.”
They enjoyed holding each other for almost an hour till Nathan broke the silence. “Sorry I was an asshole yesterday.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Jasmine replied. “The way you’ve been pushing yourself I’m surprised you didn’t get a headache sooner. What I don’t understand is how you could get angry with your head hurting like that. When I get a migraine it hurts just to move. Getting angry is out of the question.”
“Well,” Nathan sighed, “I studied under an Apache warrior who told me you can’t make pain go away by ignoring it. He told me, ‘Get mad like someone is trying to kill your family.’ I haven’t had to do it much but it does work.”
Just laying curled up next to Nathan, Jasmine started rubbing Nathan’s chest. “That does make sense. When you get angry endorphins and adrenaline flood your system.” Nathan just lay there, enjoying the feel of Jasmine next to him.
“Nafan, pee-pee,” they heard beside them.
Nathan shook his head. “I’m not enjoying the stepdad thing right now.”
Emma crawled over Jasmine onto Nathan’s chest and sat up on it. “Pee-pee,” she commanded.
“I went already. Why didn’t you go then?” Nathan asked, shaking his head. Emma blew a raspberry at him, then jabbered incoherently, waving her hands around in the air. “Are you voodooing me?” Nathan asked.
Stopping her antics, Emma looked at him, “No.”
In wonder, Nathan watched her start blabbering again, waving her hands around. Not wanting to ever let another human being know, Nathan swore he could almost understand her. “Are you telling me about the horse ride?” Nathan asked.
Emma clapped her hands, laughing, as Nathan raised his eyebrows, not sure if he should be cheerful or discouraged that he understood blabbering. “Wow,” Jasmine said beside him.
When the blabbering started again, he slowly stood, picking up Emma as Jasmine sat up. “Doodle bug said, ‘Let me pee now or I do it here,’” Nathan interpreted, and carried Emma toward the door.
Jasmine just shook her head and closed her eyes. “Nathan is a great man but some things he just doesn’t get,” Jasmine muttered, opening her eyes and digging the toilet paper out of his pack. She hurried to the door to find Emma in the assumed position and Nathan looking bewildered.
Handing over the tissue, Jasmine smiled as Nathan gave her a sheepish grin. “You’d think I would remember by now,” he said taking the tissue. When she was done he picked Emma up and gave her love and looked at Jasmine. Shocking her, Nathan walked over and put his arm over Jasmine’s shoulders, pulling her close as he walked back inside the barn.
Wrapping her arm around Nathan’s waist as they walked, Jasmine looked said, “In your defense, boys only need tissue for number two. I notice when she says that you grab the paper.” Nathan perked up hearing that. Noticing that she’d made Nathan happy, Jasmine continued, “When I babysat a five-year-old boy when I was fifteen I made him use tissue after he peed. The first time he looked at me like I was stupid, so I showed him.”
Nathan snorted as he laughed, sending Emma into a hysterics. “I can see your point of view,” Nathan said pulling her tighter.
“Oh its gets worse. When I saw him peeing outside I almost fainted. I ran outside and carried him to the bathroom so he could wipe,” Jasmine said, making him laugh harder.
Looking down at her, “Thank you for not doing that to our boys,” Nathan said, sending Jasmine into a laughing fit. “John would’ve died if you tried to wipe him.” They collapsed on his crowded woobie, laughing.
Hearing laughter, the girls and Chip woke up to see Jasmine, Nathan, and Emma laughing. “What’
s so funny?” Amanda asked with a yawn. Nathan looked at Amanda and laughed more at Amanda’s crazy hair.
“Amanda, when you wash your hair you have to dry it and brush it before going to sleep,” Nathan said, wiping tears from his eyes.
Amanda crawled into his lap. “You were asleep, and Jasmine pulls hair hard when she brushes it,” she informed him.
Nathan hugged her tightly. “If I’m not mistaken, you have two hands.”
“I pull harder than Jasmine,” Amanda admitted.
Looking up Nathan noticed two more bedheads. “Casey, Natalie, what about you?”
Natalie shrugged. “Amanda said you would fix it when you woke up.”
Nathan waved them over wrapped all three in a hug. Seeing that Emma began hitting them, talking in very angry gibberish. “It seems your sister doesn’t like to share,” Nathan observed, pulling Emma into the group.
“You have no idea,” Natalie informed him. Seeing Nathan hug the girls, Jasmine fought off a wave of jealousy and for a second sided with Emma. To everyone’s surprise, Chip dove on the pile of bodies, hugging Nathan with outstretched arms. The others lifted their arms and allowed him in, except for Emma. She blabbered at Chip with an angry face.
Jasmine lay down beside them and wrapped an arm over the bodies. “I can’t believe stepdad brushes hair better than stepmom,” she said.
Casey looked at Jasmine. “He does. You pull too hard.”
“Sorry,” Jasmine said and Casey stretched her head over and kissed Jasmine on the tip of her nose.
“It’s okay,” Casey said.
Tom and John walked over to see the mass hug. “Kind of makes me feel left out,” John said.
Tom nodded. “I know. I’m a guy and shouldn’t feel that way, but I do.”
Nathan looked over the stack of bodies on his chest. “Boys, I love you but if you dive on me I’ll hold you down and spit in your ear. I can barely breathe as it is.”
Jasmine smacked Nathan’s arm. “Nathan,” she chided.
Nathan looked at Jasmine in mock shock then looked at the boys. “Dive on and hug your hot stepmom,” Nathan said. Both boys blushed and looked down.
Nathan struggled to sit up and the girls let him go. Emma had no intention of letting Nathan go. He sat up just fine, still holding her. To everyone’s surprise, Chip was also still holding on, with his arms wrapped around Nathan’s neck. Nathan wrapped his arm around Chip and hugged him tightly.
Needless to say, Emma wasn’t happy with this gesture and slapped Nathan’s arm that was hugging Chip. “Emma, you need to chill,” Nathan told her. Turning so she was right in his face, Emma blew a raspberry, covering his face in slobber. Then she informed Nathan in gibberish that only she had the right to be held at any time. That’s what Nathan got out of it, anyway.
Standing up, Nathan put Emma and Chip down. Emma dropped on her butt and crossed her arms, complaining in gibberish. Chip ran to Jasmine as Nathan stared at Emma, fighting the urge to pick her up. Nathan dug in his pack for some shorts and put them on. “What happened yesterday after I went into a coma?” he asked Jasmine.
After Chip climbed in her lap, Jasmine said, “Greg and one of his sons are farriers, and his daughter is a vet. They looked over the horses, donkeys, and dogs. Athena got her shots. They said the horses were okay but several were getting cracks in their hooves that couldn’t be trimmed out. So they shoed all the horses. I asked about the donkeys but Greg said their hooves were fine.”
Nathan shook his head. “Damn, I should’ve been watching that better.”
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and voice, Jasmine said, “Greg said it wasn’t that bad but it could become a problem. He said all the horses have had shoes at one time and it was better to be safe than sorry.” Nathan knew Jasmine was telling him he was doing the best he could.
“So I guess it’s a good thing we stopped here then,” Nathan said, smiling. “You guys want to get a few more hours’ sleep?” he asked the group. They all shook their heads.
“If I sleep all night I won’t be able to sleep today before we leave at night,” Amanda whined.
Nathan held up his hands to stop the whining. “We’re leaving around noon.”
“You mean in daylight?” Casey asked in shock.
Nathan nodded. “Yes, we have a long ways still to go.”
Spinning around with flare, Amanda dove in her pack and pulled out her map books. She sat down and opened them. John and Tom walked to the front door and closed it as Nathan lit a lantern. Jasmine stared in total awe, Amanda never once said anything.
As Nathan sat down he caught the flabbergasted look on Jasmine’s face. “What’s go you so awed?”
“She never said one thing,” Jasmine mumbled. Amanda looked to see the light and the door closed.
“Thank you,” she beamed at the boys and Nathan. With helpless shock on their faces Nathan, John and Tom understood what Jasmine meant and groaned. John and Tom just collapsed on their butts, feeling totally disadvantaged. Nathan unfolded his maps and was looking for his tablet when Amanda spoke up. “I have it.”
She passed it to Nathan. “It’s charged I hope.”
“Yeah,” Amanda replied, waving her hand at him. Unsure of what emotion he was feeling, Nathan kept his mouth shut. Amanda looked up at everyone with a serious face. “Okay, we’ve traveled eleven hundred miles,” she said, holding up the map of the US with the line starting at the Georgia border. “Now since we traveled three hundred of those on foot and eight hundred on horseback, that comes to just under twenty-three miles a day,” she informed them.
Several wanted to bring up points but couldn’t because the serious look on Amanda’s face contrasted with her bedhead hair, making them want to laugh. Nathan cleared his throat. “I trust you are making a point.”
“Yes, if you let me finish,” she said, rolling her eyes. “When we walked we were averaging twelve to fifteen miles a day. On horseback we are averaging thirty-nine point two miles. If we stay on our current route and travel time we will be home in less than thirty days. Natalie, Casey, and I took an inventory of our supplies. We have thirty-four days’ worth left. We have almost six thousand rounds of 5.56 and two thousand rounds of pistol ammo. For the twenty-twos we have over three thousand rounds. We were getting low on horse grain but Mr. Greg gave us some more, so if we find areas to graze the horses we should be fine. Now, I’ve studied the area we are going through in Nebraska and Wyoming and it looks dry. So when we get there we are going to have to carry some water for the animals,” she said, looking up proud of her report.
Shaking his head, Nathan turned around and searched in his pack. “All right, come over here. I can’t take the bedhead anymore,” he said. Letting out a huff, Amanda stood up and plopped down in front of Nathan. Grabbing a bottle of water and his brush, Nathan went to work.
Amanda smiled as Nathan brushed her hair. “What do you think?” she asked.
“You need to quit going to sleep with your hair wet,” Nathan said, fighting a tangle. Jasmine watched in awe as Nathan fought the tangle and didn’t pull Amanda’s hair.
“Nathan,” Amanda whined, “about my report.”
“It was very good and I’m proud of all of you for thinking about supplies and our route,” he said. “But don’t think if you make a plan it will always work. Always think about problems that can come up and how to work through them.”
“Isn’t that overthinking?” Amanda asked.
“No, overthinking is making a complicated plan. Planning ahead to avoid problems is constructive thinking,” he clarified. “What will we do if a horse gets hurt?”
“Use the pack horse,” Amanda replied.
“What about the stuff it’s carrying? If a horse is hurt you can’t put the pack on it,” Nathan said.
Amanda thought about that. “Okay so what do we do?”
“The two lightest will ride double, you and Casey. If another goes down, the second two will double up, Natalie and Tom,” Nathan said, fi
nally getting all the knots out of her hair.
Amanda tilted her head back till she could see Nathan. “What else have you thought about?”
Pushing her head till Amanda was looking straight ahead again, Nathan continued brushing. “It would take days for me to explain,” he said.
“How in the hell am I supposed to know this crap and be totally badass if you don’t tell me?” she complained, crossing her arms.
“First, watch what I do. It’s second nature to me now,” Nathan said. “Each day when I lay out rally points, look along the route for safe areas, stands of trees, water, and buildings we can hide in. Think about problems. I know none of you have been out in the wilderness for extended periods till now so you don’t have experience. Think about the flood we went through. No one was thinking about the water continuing to rise.” Nathan started braiding Amanda’s hair.
They all thought about what Nathan had said. Amanda rolled her eyes. “This is going to take a long time,” she admitted.
“Humpf,” Nathan snorted. “I’ve been doing this my whole life and I’m still learning.”
Dejected, Amanda lowered her head, only to have Nathan raise it back up as he braided her hair. “Am I at least becoming tough?” she asked. Before Nathan could answer, John fell over laughing and Amanda gave him a cold stare.
Looking over at Amanda, John sat up. “Amanda, I’m sorry to say you were a princess before this. Now you’re like a little terminator. With Nathan and Ares around, you would fight anything. Without them around, you would at least think about attacking something. Hell, just last night you threatened to pop a cap in Jasmine,” John said smiling.
The color drained from Jasmine’s and Amanda’s faces. “What the hell did you threaten Jasmine for?” Nathan demanded with steel in his voice as he finished Amanda’s hair.
Amanda jumped up and spun around, putting one hand on her hip and pointing at Nathan with the other. “It’s none of your damn business,” Amanda said as the smile fell off John’s face.
Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home Page 14