by Tara Ellis
Seizing the weapon, she clenched her teeth together, nostrils flaring. Miller Ranch had become her home and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to protect it. It wasn’t until that moment that Chloe realized how much she cared about Sandy, Bishop, and Crissy. They were her family.
“That’s far enough!” Bishop growled, raising his rifle.
The man was about fifty feet away, and while he’d slowed his horse to a walk, he wasn’t stopping. There was an air about him that even Chloe recognized as the same type of power Bishop possessed. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized it wasn’t going to end well.
“Where’s Sandy Miller?” the man demanded, his voice deep and booming. His eyes were wild, and he looked like a panther crouched and about to spring. There were fading bruises under both of his eyes, and a nasty-looking wound over his right eyebrow. In spite of his rough appearance and the distance between them, there was something about him that seemed familiar to Chloe. As he spoke, his hand lowered to the pistol at his thigh.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Bishop cautioned, making a point of pulling back the bolt action and slapping it into place. “Who are you?”
Two more horses came pounding into the field before any answers could be given, and Chloe’s confusion grew as she saw it was a formidable woman and a teen boy. As he approached, she recognized the boy’s features and everything fell into place. Lowering the rifle, she raised her free hand toward Bishop and motioned for him to do the same.
“Stop!” All six of them turned as one to look toward Sandy as she came galloping down the hill on her mount, hair loose and flying behind her. “It’s my son!” she screamed, sounding almost hysterical. “Thomas!”
Her smile spreading as Bishop lowered his weapon, Chloe turned back to look again at the ragtag group coming closer. The large man was already off his horse and running toward Sandy, and the boy she now knew was Ethan pulled to a stop right in front of her. He leapt down from the horse to follow his dad, but paused when he saw Chloe. His face scrunched up in a pained expression as he turned back to her. “What’d ya do to my shirt?”
Chapter 3
TOM
Miller Ranch, Mercy, Montana
Tom’s feet barely hit the ground before his mom leapt from her horse and slammed into him. “Is it really you?” she cried into his chest, her voice muffled by his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight, afraid to let go. After eighteen days of struggling to reach her, now that they were home it didn’t seem real.
Leaning back, Sandy reached up and cradled his face in her hands, searching his eyes. “Oh, my poor Tom,” she gasped, tracing a finger over his eye and along the wound on his forehead. “What happened to you?”
“Grandma?” Sandy dropped one hand and pivoted to pull Ethan into the embrace, saving Tom from having to answer her question. It was a good thing, too, because he didn’t trust his voice.
“I knew you’d come home to me,” Sandy sobbed, holding them both.
Tom rested his chin on the top of her head, the way he’d always done since he was tall enough, her black hair blowing in his face. As he did so, he glanced over at the older man standing awkwardly with the rifle still in his hand. “Are you okay, Mom?” he asked, his voice shaky.
Grasping each of their arms, Sandy took a step back and nodded at the man and young girl next to him. “This is Bishop and Chloe. They’re the reason I’ve been okay, Tom. They’ve helped keep the farm going.”
“Crissy!” the girl named Chloe shouted while rushing to meet a young blonde girl running through the field. She was holding a chicken.
“I heard the yelling!” Crissy said, looking at them all fearfully. “Are you okay?”
“It’s all right,” Sandy reassured her. Tom must have looked as perplexed as he felt, because his mom laughed at him. “They were part of a hiking group led by Bishop when the event happened,” she explained.
“How did you all end up here?” Danny asked, speaking for the first time. Tom turned to her and Sam, feeling overwhelmed.
“It’s a long story,” Bishop answered, shouldering the rifle and standing stiffly.
“We should all go inside and get acquainted,” Sandy suggested, reaching out to take Tom’s hand again, like she couldn’t stand to let him get too far from her. “I can only imagine what you’ve all been through!” Kneeling down, she held her other hand out to Grace, who immediately began to lick her. “Oh, we’re going to be great friends, aren’t we?” she cooed.
Tom finally allowed himself to relax enough to introduce Sam and Danny. He was slowly getting over his initial reaction to shoot Bishop, except that he was a quiet man and that made Tom wary. He’d met too many people like that recently.
“Bishop, would you please take these horses and give them the royal treatment?” Sandy asked, gesturing for Danny and Sam to join them as they headed for the house. Tom noted Ethan was suddenly much more civilized and talkative as the two girls gravitated to him.
While it was an odd experience for Tom to feel like an intruder in his own home, he knew he needed to tread lightly. Fewer than three weeks had passed since the event, but it may as well have been a lifetime. They’d all changed, and he didn’t know what his mother had been through during his absence.
As Sandy led the way into the house, Tom absorbed all of the familiar surroundings. He could literally feel the wariness and pain of the past few weeks seeping from his body, replaced with the love and comfort that Miller Ranch offered him.
“I’ll admit to getting irritated with Patty more than once,” Sandy was saying while gathering everyone into the family room. His mom had naturally started to tell her story first, including what had been happening in Mercy. She hadn’t gotten very far, but it was already an interesting tale that involved a fair amount of politics. “The truth of it is that she’s been in an impossible situation and has done her best. Not without some mistakes, but it’s hard to blame her. I know you’re likely to be unhappy with the plans to continue slaughtering cattle to feed the town—”
“No,” Tom interrupted his mom. She seemed surprised. “I figured that would happen,” he explained. “I’ll sit down with Mayor Patty and this group of town leaders she’s put together and have an honest discussion. I’m fine with giving whatever is needed to the town, but only if it’s approached as a partnership. We need to have complete authority over when and how much we give, and so will the other ranchers in Mercy. So long as Miller Ranch is involved, nothing will ever be taken by force. We’ve seen up close what that looks like,” Tom added, looking over at Sam and Danny, who sat in the other two armchairs in the room.
“It’s a fine line between doing what’s best for everyone, and having it come at the cost of another’s freedom or goodwill,” Sam said solemnly. “In our situation, it’s easy to justify theft or violence, but if we want Mercy to succeed long-term, it needs to be done right from the beginning. That means everyone working together willingly.”
Sandy was nodding and she looked relieved as she smiled up at Tom. “I knew you’d help put this all into perspective,” she said to him, close to tears. “People will listen to you, Tom. They always have.”
Danny cleared her throat and Tom realized how thoughtless he was being. He jumped up before she could say anything. “We need to get you home,” he said, reaching out a hand to pull her to her feet. “We can catch up on the rest when I get back,” he said, turning to his mom.
“You don’t have to go,” Danny insisted after accepting his hand and standing wearily. She looked tired and emotionally drained. Now that they’d made it to Mercy, they were all exhausted. After being in fight-or-flight mode for so long, they had some serious sleep to catch up on.
“You already said you aren’t sure how to get to your dad’s from here,” Tom said, though he could easily draw her a map. There was another reason he wanted to take her, and it had nothing to do with being a gentleman. Somewhere along the way, Tom had begun to feel protective of Danny and he wasn�
��t ready to say goodbye.
“I can take them,” the girl named Chloe offered. She and Crissy sat behind them, in the kitchen. “I’ve been to Tane’s a couple of times.” Danny raised her eyebrows at the girl, clearly surprised that she’d know her dad.
“Your father has been a huge help,” Sandy explained. “He and Bishop are good friends, actually. And he isn’t home right now. He’ll be out at the spring, working on restoring the water supply after our last…mishap.”
“Working?” Danny said incredulously. Her brows drew together in concern and Grace, who’d been lying contentedly in front of the cold fireplace, looked up at her and whined. “My dad has a heart condition. He shouldn’t be out running around or doing anything strenuous. You need to take me to him,” she ordered Chloe as she moved toward the backdoor.
Grace leapt to her feet and plodded after Danny, not waiting to be called, and Sam slowly followed. “I may as well tag along,” he said with a wink to Ethan. “With any luck, we’ll all sit down to a steak dinner soon.”
Chloe rose from the stool at the kitchen counter and stopped Danny and Sam at the door. “I’m happy to take you, but I don’t think we should go to the spring.” The young girl looked meaningfully at Sandy. “We need to use the back roads and go straight to his house. They can wait for him there. If anyone sees them—”
Sandy cringed and put a hand to her forehead. “The quarantine!” Turning to Tom, she appeared apologetic. “After an outbreak of a horrible bacteria killed several people, we’ve had a strict quarantine protocol.”
Danny’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah, we’ve heard of it.”
Tom shook his head at his mom’s questioning look. “I’ll explain later. It’s a very long story.”
The back door slid open with a flourish then and Bishop plodded inside, not bothering to shake off his boots and leaving a trail of dirt in his haste. The sound of approaching horses could be heard through the open door. “I radioed the sheriff and told him we were okay, but they’ve come anyway,” he explained, gesturing with his hat to the front door. “You might want to preempt the introductions, Sandy. I’m not sure how clear they are on who’s here, and why.”
Tom followed his mom out onto the front porch and tried not to sigh when he saw the group of riders in the driveway. All he wanted was one day to decompress and regroup, but they seemed destined to always have some sort of conflict to resolve.
“Patty!” Sandy hollered, walking down the steps ahead of Tom. She waved at him to stay put as she approached the horses.
Tom watched as Mayor Patty slid off her horse but remained several feet away from his mom while eying him cautiously. He recognized her husband, Caleb, on the horse next to her. The sheriff, one of his deputies, and another man Tom wasn’t familiar with fanned out to either side, making a formidable wall. Bishop moved up next to Tom, and he noticed how rigidly he stood, as if ready to move into action at any given moment. It wasn’t the stance of an ordinary man.
“Praise the Lord, it’s true!” Patty said, clapping her hands together once. “Your mom never gave up hope,” she said to Tom, her expression still wary.
“Who else is with you?” Sheriff Waters asked bluntly. “You said there were several riders,” he said to Bishop.
“Sheriff,” Tom said, addressing the man formally. “My son, Ethan, is with me, as well as another man and woman we met along the way. Danny Latu and Sam Ruiz, a paramedic and teacher from Helena.”
“Latu,” Patty said thoughtfully. “Are you Tane’s daughter?”
Tom turned to see that Danny had joined them on the porch, and she was nodding at Patty. “Yes. And I’d really like to see him.”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to ask you to postpone your reunion for another day,” Sheriff Waters said gravely. “You’ve already avoided our normal protocol by coming in on the trail, and we can’t have you wandering around town. It’ll cause a panic.”
Danny’s face reddened and Tom was worried she’d lose her temper, but she made an obvious effort to be reasonable. “Right. I get it. How about you tell him I’m here, then, and he can come out to see me?”
Patty frowned disapprovingly. “I’m sorry, but that isn’t an option. Tane is a vital member of the team working at the spring and we can’t afford to lose him right now. Bishop and Chloe were supposed to go help this afternoon, so now we’re already going to be down two more people.”
Danny’s hands balled into fists and she stomped across the porch. “You have no right to keep me from my father!” she shouted.
Tom put a hand out to stop Danny when he saw the deputy and other man begin to reach for their sidearms. He didn’t think they’d actually shoot her, but he’d had enough showdowns lately to last a lifetime. “Danny,” he whispered gruffly. “This won’t help you. We’ll figure it out on our own.”
To his relief, Danny didn’t pull away from him. Although she was upset, she still had the ability to stop her emotional response and clearly evaluate the situation. He heard her take an audible breath before moving back a step and relaxing her hands.
“I have over a dozen fresh graves that work as a strong reminder why we can’t place any more lives at risk,” Patty tried to explain to them. “And while I understand that you just got here and can’t fully appreciate the precarious situation we’re in with our water supply, you have to trust me when I say that moving your reunion with your father up a day isn’t worth the water we’d lose.”
“She’s right,” Caleb said, his deep voice adding weight to the assertion. “You have no idea how relieved we are to have you home, Tom, and I can’t wait to sit down and have a beer with you, but right now we’ve got to put the safety of Mercy first.”
“We understand,” Tom said, looking at Danny, and he was relieved when she nodded in agreement. “Maybe we can help.” When Patty and the sheriff regarded him silently, he continued. “How about, if we don’t show any signs of infection after twelve hours, you notify Tane that we’re here at the ranch? You can do it after they’re done working for the day. Then he can join us for the night, if he wants to. Tomorrow, after we’re cleared in the morning, we’ll all go and work on the water. With the four of us helping, maybe we can make a difference.”
Patty smiled sincerely for the first time and the other men with her all noticeably relaxed. “I think that’s a great idea,” she said. “I’ll tell Tane myself, Danny. I promise.”
Danny gave a small grin to the mayor and then sat resolutely in one of the chairs on the porch. Grace was instantly at her feet, tongue lolling, and she absently stroked the retriever’s head as Sam came out and sat in the other chair.
Tom noticed that Ethan was standing in the doorway with Chloe and Crissy, taking the scene in. It wasn’t exactly the homecoming they’d envisioned, but at least his mom was healthy and, compared to every other town they’d been to, Mercy was doing rather well, whether they realized it or not.
“How about you and Caleb come back tomorrow night?” Sandy suggested. “You too, Sheriff. We’ll all have dinner together and get caught up on what’s happening. I think Tom and his companions have a lot of useful information for us.”
“I’d be very interested in hearing what you’ve encountered since the flashpoint,” Sheriff Waters said.
Sam stood from his chair and moved to the front railing, looking down questioningly at the sheriff. “I’m curious, how do you know that the military is calling the event ‘flashpoint’?”
“I was able to get my shortwave working the day it happened,” Caleb answered. “It took some time, but I eventually managed to communicate with several operators around the world.”
“You’ve been in contact with the military?” Tom asked, alarmed. He exchanged a knowing look with both Danny and Sam, his anxiety ratcheting up.
“Not…recently,” Patty said, hesitating. “We, um…” She looked at the sheriff, who gave a silent bob of his head before she continued. “Caleb was speaking with some military posts in a couple of states, until we
led them to believe that we never managed to contain the cholera-like illness.”
“Why would you do that?” Sandy asked. It was clear to Tom that it was the first his mom had heard of the deception.
“We started getting reports of forced FEMA camps and violent take-overs by the military,” Sheriff Waters answered.
“So, you decided on behalf of the town to cut us off from any possible outside aid?” Sandy yelled, shocked. “What if they could have been helping us this whole time?”
“It was the right thing to do,” Tom said, surprising both the sheriff and his mom. “At least, for now I think it is. Until the military and what’s left of our government get a better grip on things, we’re better off on our own.”
“So it’s true?” Patty asked, her face a picture of distress even though Tom had agreed with her. “Our Pony Express riders have been bringing back unbelievable stories of farmers being forced off their own land, and killed if they resist.”
“It’s true,” Sam confirmed. “We’ve experienced it ourselves.”
“Did you say Pony Express?” Danny stood and moved up next to Tom, her eyes wide.
“That’s what we’ve been calling our system of riders,” Caleb said, not understanding Danny’s reaction. “It began as a mail service. We had them wearing the Mercy post office shirts until we realized it wasn’t smart to advertise where our home base was. It’s already expanded into a large network connecting several communities. We’ve started a supply chain and are trying to accommodate as many people as possible.”
“Are you missing any riders?” Tom asked, afraid he already knew the answer.