by Redding, Mae
I tried the back door, only to find it locked so I went to the basement window. It slid open easily. I climbed in and stepped on the washer with Gage not far behind.
The house was quiet as I felt my way up the basement stairs and into the kitchen. The moonlight shone through the sheer front room curtains, which gave a little light. The almost dead flame in the wood-burning stove glowed dimly as the coals struggled to stay lit. Gage put wood on the fire and after a minute, the timber popped and took light as the flame grew.
Candles were in their usual spot in the center of the kitchen table and I struck a match to light them as he walked to the front window and closed the heavy drapes. The flicker of the candle provided just enough light to see. I carried one with me and held it up, the clock on the wall read nine fifteen.
I climbed the stairs to the bedrooms and stood shocked as I passed my image in the hallway mirror. I stared closer at my dirty reflection. My hand went up slowly and touched my cheek along the fresh pink skin. I ran my fingers under my eye and touched the faded bruise, then into my tousled hair, pulled back into a droopy ponytail. That wouldn’t have bothered me before but it did now for some reason.
Gage walked up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders then grazed my cheek softly with his fingers. “This will heal, Jade... It’s looking much better.” My eyes shifted to his reflection as he watched me. He turned me around to face him. “Don’t look in the mirror right now. We both look a mess.”
“I need a bath.”
“Want me to start some water on the stove?”
“Let’s see if we have hot water first,” I said, as we left the mirror behind and walked down the hall to the bathroom.
I turned on the faucet and cool water trickled out over my fingers then gradually grew warm. My smile grew with Gage’s grin. I couldn’t say how relieved I was. It wasn’t often we had hot water and we usually went without it, but when Kane turned it on it was usually for a reason.
“Kane must have turned it on before he left.”
“I guess.”
“Well, wherever they are, I’m taking their hot water,” I smiled at Gage, “but I’ll save some for you.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed something clean and went back to the bathroom. The candle flickered and caused everything in the dark room to take on a warm golden hue. Long moving shadows danced against the walls as I set the dim lighting at the side of the tub. Steam filled the room and clouded the mirror as water filled the bath. My worn clothes piled on the floor as I slid my weary body into the hot water grateful to be home. I breathed in the steam and closed my eyes, as I was suddenly thankful that Kane had manipulated the water heater so we could have hot water at times and I was especially thankful he picked tonight to heat it.
I felt myself dose off, and then jumped slightly to a knock on the door. “Don’t fall asleep in the tub,” Gage said, his voice muffled by the door.
I gave a half-hearted laugh and smiled weakly as I closed my eyes again. “Mmm… Uh huh.”
“Don’t make me come in after you.”
“Okay…” I giggled at the thought.
After washing, my tired muscles barely possessed the strength to pull me from the bath. With effort, I ran the towel over me. My bones ached as I slowly dressed into a fresh tee shirt and sweats.
“If I never sleep in Levis again, it’ll be too soon,” I said, as I walked into my room running a brush through my wet hair. He sat on my window seat, turned to look at me and smiled.
“I thought you were going to fall asleep in there.”
“I almost did… Here’s pair of sweats and a tee shirt of my dad’s.” I gave him the candle so he could see.
Completely worn, I looked out the window wondering where Kane and Trey were. With nothing outside that I could see, I turned and looked into the darkness of my room as I waited for Gage to return. He wasn’t gone long and sat back down at the window as I stood.
His warm body smelled clean and fresh and I absorbed his scent as I rested my hands on his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I leaned into him and gave him a long lingering kiss then took his hand and pulled him over to the bed. We settled into the soft cool sheets and I pulled up my covers as he curled himself around me.
“Go to sleep.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for bringing me home.”
his eyes were heavy and he looked as exhausted as I felt.
“You’re welcome.”
“Good night,” I said, barely above a whisper. My eyes drifted closed and fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.
***
I woke, drenched with sweat and made a forlorn attempt with stiff muscles to remove the covers. The heaviness of them caused me to shake. The throb in my head pounded with the beat of my heart. I wiped sweat off my forehead. I coughed and a sudden pain pierced through my chest as I worked to breathe.
“Gage,” I said, my voice barely a raspy whisper as I nudged him. Surprisingly, he woke rather quickly and turned towards me. My eyes burned as I turned slowly to see him. He took one look at me and felt my forehead.
“You are burning up!”
He jumped out of bed and whipped the covers back as an uncontrolled shiver pained my hot skin with a brush of cool air that whisked past. He left the room, returned with a cool washcloth and put it on my forehead. He said something about “keep the covers off” as I closed my eyes and fell back to sleep.
***
Gage wasn’t around when I woke up. The monotonous tick from the tension-wound clock pulled my attention to my bedside table. The dismal glow of a dim candle faintly lit the far corner of my room where it sat next to the clock. I made a half-conscious effort to scan my shadow-laden room. I wished I hadn’t, as the room started to spin and I clutched the headboard as I sat at the side of the bed. Ugh, I had a headache and my chest hurt with each breath. “Gage,” I tried to say, but my voice wouldn't work. I tried to clear my throat but doing so triggered a painful coughing spell and I forced down a swallow as if laced with sandpaper.
The mirror sat directly in front of me on my dresser and even in the contrasting shadows, reflected my ghastly appearance. Besides the faded bruise under my eye, I had dark circles and my face was a ghostly white. I mustered up what little energy I had, then stood and walked over to the dresser to get a closer look. My knees shook as if I had just ran five miles and I leaned on my dresser for support.
My hand trembled as I reached out for my brush and slowly ran it through my hair. The pull of the brush hurt my head with each stroke. My body radiated with heat and my overly sensitive skin hurt to touch it.
I steadied myself as I made my way out into the hallway and to the top of the stairs. I used the railing as I slid down the wall and sat at the top of the stairs, resting my head against it. My heart worked faster as it thudded in my chest and it took more effort to breathe.
I heard someone in the kitchen but it wasn’t Gage. A woman’s voice and I didn't need to see her to know she was Marge. She hummed softly and I leaned against the wall as I slid down a few stairs to see her surrounded by the soft glow of candles as she cleaned. What was she doing here? I looked around and couldn’t see anyone else. She glanced over at me, surprised.
“Oh, Jade, what are you doing out of bed, my dear?” She asked, as she walked over to me and felt my forehead, her hand icy compared to my hot skin.
“Where’s Gage?”
“I barely sent him home. He needed a change of clothes. I told him that if he was going to stay here then he needed more than one pair. He sat at your bedside for hours, waiting for you to wake up. He’s going to feel bad he wasn’t here,” Marge said, with a forlorn smile, “he’ll be back. Kane ran him home. They said they would be back soon.”
“Home? With Kane? Is it safe out there? Where’s Trey?” I asked, as my mind whirled with a million questions.
“Slow down, you'll make yourself dizzy,” Marge said, with a smile. “Trey's out back
finishing up for the night. I should tell him you’re awake. Kane needed to get a few things ready to go,” she paused, as she watched me closely, “they were worried about you. We all were. You’ve been very sick with pneumonia.”
“Go back where? How long was I asleep?” I asked, as I started to cough. I winced from the pain and clutched my chest with little relief.
“I guess you and Gage got home last night and you slept all day… a lot has happened since you’ve been gone,” Marge said, as she adjusted the wick of the kerosene lantern to let out more light. She placed her hand flat against my forehead then slipped it down over my cheek.
“How did you get here, Marge?”
“Gage came and woke me up about one in the morning last night… He said you were burning up and wasn’t making any sense. He was so worried about you. He was looking for some medicine that might bring your fever down. I went for Dr. Walstrom and we met Gage here. The doctor said you had pneumonia and gave us some antibiotics, we were lucky he had some… Do you think you could eat something? I have some beef stew on the stove.”
“I would love some,” I managed a weak smile as she handed me a piece of buttered bread. Steam rose from the bowl as she set it in front of me. I stirred it slowly.
“Do you want milk… it’s fresh from the cow, I hope you like it that way. You could use the extra fat.” I gave her a funny look as she commented on my appearance while I soaked in her attention. “We need to get you well again... Back to yourself.” Marge gave me a sympathetic smile and a handful of pills as she said, “antibiotics and something for the fever.”
“Yeah, and thank you.” I took the glass and popped the pills in my mouth. It was thick, creamy and rich in flavor, a nice change from the tea.
“Where's Emery?”
“Still at Beverly's, she’s safer there,” Marge said. The back door swung open and hit into the wall. I glanced over as Trey walked in.
“Hey Trey.”
“Hey what.” His grin showed the surprise and relief on his face as he walked into the kitchen. He pulled a chair out from the table and sat next to me. “I’m glad to see you up looking better.”
“I look terrible, Trey.”
“You should have seen yourself this morning,” he said, as he smiled. I loved Trey’s honesty.
“If you are trying to make me feel better, you’re not,” I replied to his teasing nature. I couldn’t hold my scowl and a smile broke free. “It’s good to be home again.”
“It’s good to have you back.” His look grew more serious. “I was worried about you. You can’t go around getting sick like that,” he paused for a second then smiled, “who would I go fishing with?”
“I wasn’t that sick.”
With two more bowls of stew in hand, Marge came to the table and handed one to Trey. She brought them some milk and bread and we sat quietly while we ate.
“What happened to your hands?” I asked about the gashes on Trey’s hands. The faded yellow bruise just under his eye also caught my attention. “And you have a black eye!”
“No I don’t! It’s nothing… Almost gone,” Trey hesitated, as he shoved stew in his mouth. My tired eyes pleaded for an explanation and a more serious look grew on his face. “We’ve pushed them to the south end of town.”
“Really? And the Militia?”
“Morrison and anyone involved in the Militia… The boundaries are grey, but for the most part anything north of Main… Morrison and his Militia aren’t crossing anymore.”
“You fought with them! Trey you could have been killed!”
“Nah, Chale and Elias had my back. Ruthless I tell ya.”
“How are you keeping them back?”
“We’ve got patrols now that drive around town, men who aren’t holding the front line along Main Street. If they see anything, they alert Mike. It’s still not safe out there. We wanted to get them south of the tracks, then run them out completely.”
”Wow.”
I rested my head on the table and glanced at Marge for confirmation with a look of surprise.
“It’s true.”
“We work in shifts,” Trey added, “holding the front line. When Kane and Gage get back, I’ll be going.”
I gave Trey a scowl but my heart wasn’t in it and I couldn’t hold it for long as I felt weakness seep into my body.
“Don’t give me that look, Jade. It has to be done.”
I closed my eyes as my worry faded, too tired to argue and considered the possibility of my brothers forcing Damian out of town.
Trey nudged me and I jerked into wakefulness as I lazily opened my eyes. “You should go back upstairs to bed. You’ll be more comfortable up there,” he said, and went to help me up from the chair.
“I’ve got it,” I said, as I stood from the table.
“Yeah Marge… She’s just about to her old self again. Just give her another day. You’ll never know she was sick.”
Chapter 21
I woke to the sounds of birds that chirped outside my window as my room warmed by the morning sun. A smile grew across my cheeks as I felt calmed, more rested and finally at home. I glanced through sleepy eyes to see the clock that read eight thirty and Gage next to me, asleep in a chair. He leaned against my dresser and rested his head uncomfortably on it. I reached over to touch his arm and woke him with a start. He rubbed his eyes with a fleeting glance at the clock as he shook his head, looked at me with a blank expression then jumped off the chair and kneeled at my bedside. His fingers ran over my forehead and through my hair and gave me a wistful smile.
“Hey… How long have you been sitting there?” I asked.
“A while… Marge said you woke up while I was gone. I guess I just missed you, you were asleep when I came up,” he replied. I turned my head to look at him better. I could see the sleepless nights on his face. “I wanted to be here when you woke up.”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t been very good company… I’m usually not this lazy,” I said, and smiled at him.
He forced a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. They looked droopy, glossed over and with the underlying concern on his face he looked flushed. His smile slowly faded to worry as he turned away and looked out the window.
“You scared me,” he said, his voice raspy.
“I’m sorry… I’m okay now,” I said, as I tried to convince him. He moved onto my bed and leaned against the headboard. I cuddled up next to him.
He looked down at me and kissed my forehead. “You better be.”
“You sound sick, Gage.”
“I am, but I’ll be fine… just a cold. Do you feel up to eating something?”
The scent of bacon wafted in the air and drew my attention, tempting my taste buds. “I'm starved. I could eat just about anything you set in front of me.” I said, as I sat slowly out of bed allowing my head to adjust.
I saw Marge in the kitchen as we came downstairs and I decided that besides the time she spent at the store counter, she must have spent most of her time in the kitchen.
“How are you feeling, dear?”
“Much better.”
“Good, do you want some breakfast?” Marge asked, as she pulled the plates out of the cupboard. “I’m making some for the guys.”
“What would we do without you, Marge?” I said. I met her at the table and gave her a hug as I relished in her pampering. “It’s like having my mom home again…Thank you.”
“I’m just glad to be useful and that you’re getting well. I will probably go home tonight, but I’ll stop by and check on you,” she said, and smiled.
“You’ll never outgrow your usefulness. We couldn’t get by without you.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think it’s the other way around.”
At that moment, Kane walked in the door. I hadn’t seen him since the cabin and in three steps, he moved across the front room and swooped me into a big hug. I laughed at his zeal.
“Don’t tell me you were worried about me too.”
“
No, not at all,” Kane paused for a moment. I rolled my eyes, but deep down I was thankful for his concern. “You need to stop scaring me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said as I picked my seat next to Gage.
“Now I know where dad got all his grey hair from.”
I laughed. “Dad didn’t have that much grey hair... And any grey hair he had, was from you… Not me.”
“Breakfast is ready,” Marge said, as she smiled at the two of us.
Trey came into the kitchen through the front door and sat at the table as Marge finished setting the table for six. “Is Joel back?”
“Yeah,” Kane said.
Joel came in as Marge set the stacks of hotcakes, bacon and eggs in the center of the table and I could hardly wait to eat. Silence crept around us as I watched the four of them eat breakfast without a word spoken to each other and I wondered what went through their minds. It wasn't until they were finished and pushed their plates aside before Joel broke the silence. With a fleeting glance, he looked at me, then to Gage.
“Damian thinks you and Jade are in the mountains… They are still searching up there, but he has men around that have kept an eye out…. It’s not safe to go anywhere right now… even with the patrol and the Militia pushed south,” Joel paused, “you need to lay low for a while... The longer Damian thinks she’s still gone the better.”
“What does Morrison plan on doing if he finds us?”
“Morrison hasn’t said one way or another regarding you, but he’s personally ordered for Jade to be brought to him when caught, for the murder of Quinn Jackson… He has a reward out for anyone who brings him any information as to where she is.”
“This is getting ridiculous!”
“He's pretty damned determined and confident someone will give her up. That is why the two of you need to be out of sight,” Joel paused for a moment. “I know for the most part they aren’t around this area, but-”
“What kind of a reward?”
“Who knows what kind of deal Morrison would work out?” Joel said. “I know… It’s stupid.”
“We can’t trust anyone right now with knowing where you two are,” Kane paused. “Marge and Dr. Walstrom are the only ones who know you're back. We need to keep it that way. I’ve already talked to both of them about keeping quiet.”