Allison's Secret (Book 2): The Accord

by Stalter, D

  Allison felt the tears sting her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I feel like I’ve let everyone down. I saw her touching and coming on to other husbands. I didn’t do anything except talk to her about it. I did talk to her and watched her. It seemed like she had stopped.”

  James handed her a hanky from his pocket. She wiped the tears from her eyes and blew her nose. “Sorry. Today was the last straw,” she continued. “We were mending and sharing mending tips when she came blowing in the door. She ran to her room and tossed some clothes over the rail telling us to mend them.”

  Women who’d been with Allison nodded. Allison heard a low “Bitch” muttered.

  “That’s when I went up to talk to her. I told her that we wouldn’t put her out in the cold, but she was going to have to leave in the spring. She didn’t handle it well. So, this is why we are here. I’ve talked to James and learned that she was in my house this afternoon. She was doing to James what she’s been doing to the rest of the men here. But, she was doing it in my house.”

  She looked at James who looked back and reached out his hand to take hers. She turned back to the group. “I’m sorry that I didn’t move faster on this. But today is the day it ends. I’ve talked to James. She has to go today. She’s getting more aggressive and confrontational. We’ve got too many people in too close of quarters to continue like this. My suggestion is to take her to FEMA today.” She looked around the group. A few men and several women nodded. A couple sat with their mouths open.

  Will spoke up, “I understand and agree with you. But, I have a suggestion if you want to consider it.”

  Allison motioned him to continue.

  “Phil,” Will said. “He’s lonely. Last we knew, he had a family staying with him. But, he still could use a woman of his own. He tells us how lonely it is every time we see him. He’s met her. He likes her. It gives him companionship and it gives her security.” He shrugged and looked around the group.

  “Still too damn close for my taste,” Lisa Grant muttered.

  “I agree,” Karen Funderburg added.

  Allison nodded. “I hate that we have to do anything. She used to be my friend. She wasn’t like this before.”

  She paused, and then said, “The aggressiveness surprised me. It scared me. I’m no longer comfortable with her here.”

  James laughed. “Honey, I know how you feel. You should have seen her stalking me around our living room. It was like one of those old comedy shows on TV where the boss chases the secretary around the desk. Only she was chasing me around the couch.”

  Riley slammed his hand on the table. He laughed so hard that tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’d have paid to see that.” he said with a cough.

  Allison’s fists clenched. She cleared her throat. “Can we do it tonight?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Will said. “If you want to take her to Phil’s, we can do it right now and be back before dark. Riley and I can do it. But, if you want to take her to FEMA, that will have to wait until tomorrow. I still don’t want to be out on the highway after dark. We are getting low on stabilized fuel. We have plenty to do it, but do we really want to waste the fuel on a trip that we aren’t able to do other things? Like trade supplies, or take care of other business? We are going to run out of stabilized fuel soon. I’d rather keep it as long as possible.”

  Allison looked around the room. All eyes were on her. They waited for her decision. This is it, she thought. After tonight, I can’t be the one in charge of decisions. Either we name someone else or we create a group of people who can be responsible for group decisions. I just can’t do this anymore.

  Her gaze landed on Will. She nodded. “Do it now,” was all she said.

  The door to Kim’s room burst open. Kim stepped to the rail directly above the Funderburgs. She was staring at Allison.

  “You, bitch!” she screamed. “You got me here and tried to turn me into your slave. Peeling potatoes – are you fucking kidding me?”

  Bella rose from her place on the floor and slunk to the foot of the stairs. It was at that moment Allison saw the pistol in Kim’s hands.

  “Kim, no!” she said.

  The gun was up and the common room exploded as Kim fired. She turned and leaped back to her room and slammed the door. Bella reached the door snarling and growling as it slammed.

  Allison was surprised that she didn’t feel any pain. She saw Will bound up the stairs. She heard screams of surprise from the group. She looked towards James just in time to see Riley wrap his arms around James and lower him to the floor.

  “Oh, my God!” Allison cried. She saw the blood spurting from James’s chest.

  Allison dropped to her knees beside him.

  “Put your hands, both of them, right here,” Riley yelled. “Hold them tight, put pressure on it.”

  Allison did as she was told.

  Mary pushed her way up front to kneel beside Allison. “Let me slide my hands on top of yours and then you can pull yours out slowly. Do you understand?”

  Allison nodded. She felt Mary’s strong hands pressing on hers and pulled hers away. She crawled to James’s head. His eyes were closed. She placed her hands, covered with blood, on each side of his face. “Baby! Honey, stay with me. I need you.”

  Her body racked. She wailed. “James, you son of a bitch! I can’t do this without you. Don’t you dare leave me.”

  His eyelids fluttered.

  Another gunshot exploded. Allison didn’t bother to look up. Whatever happened was nothing compared to what had just transpired. She stroked James’s face. The slick blood felt like lotion under her hands. How many times over the years had she rubbed lotion on him? This wouldn’t be the last. It couldn’t be.

  She heard a ringing in her ears. Her arms tingled. Through her tears, she saw darkness creep in. She did not feel herself hit the floor.

  When she woke up, she was on the bed in the infirmary. Mary sat in a chair next to her, gently washing her arms with a cloth dipped in warm water.

  “James?” Allison asked.

  Tears ran down Mary’s face. “I’m so sorry, Allison.” She shook her head.

  “I can’t do this without him,” Allison whispered. “I can’t live without him.”

  Mary pulled a hanky from under her apron and blew her nose. “You will,” she breathed. “You will go on. You are the strongest person I know. We are all with you. We’ll all get through this together.”

  “Where is he? Where is James?”

  “They’ve wrapped him and put him in the arena until they can dig a grave.”

  Allison shot up. “Where is Kim? I never thought I could kill a human, but I need to kill her now.”

  She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. “Where is my gun?”

  “No, Allison.” Mary shook her head.

  Allison ignored her and threw open the door to the common room.

  Thirty pair of eyes looked at her. Thirty people stood near the door.

  “Give me a gun,” she demanded.

  “Allison!” Mary had followed her out of the room. “Allison, Kim is dead.”

  “Who killed her? That was my job.” Allison’s breath came in gasps.

  “She killed herself before Will could get in the room,” Mary said.

  “That damn bitch! I want to see James.” No one moved.

  “Take me to James!” She turned to Will and stepped into his space. “I want to see my husband now!”

  She felt something press the back of her leg. She whirled around. It was Bella who stood looking up at Allison with the most pitiful look in her eyes. She whined softly and snuffled her nose into Allison’s hand. Allison closed her eyes and felt the tension flow out of her body like a wave receding into the ocean.

  She took four steps to the table and lowered herself to the seat. Bella sat next to her, leaning hard against Allison’s leg. She turned her head and lay her chin in Allison’s lap. Allison let the tears flow once again. She bent over and lay her cheek on the dog’s head.

&nbs
p; When she ran out of tears, she raised her head and looked at Will. “Will you please take me to see my husband?”

  “Of course.” He held out his hand, which she grasped, allowing him to pull her to her feet. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her out through the stable to the arena.

  They had moved a table into the greenhouse that was no longer being used for the season. James was wrapped in a blanket that Allison had made him several years earlier. She stepped to the table and laid her hand on the blanket. Bella laid her chin on the blanket and whined.

  Allison moved her hand to Bella’s head. She turned to look at Will. “I need to go home,” she said softly. “I want to be alone.”

  “Of course,” was all he said.

  They walked back through the stable to the common room. She stopped before they got to the door to the common room. “I’d like a funeral if that’s possible.”

  “Yes,” he said. “We’re already working on it. Where would you like him buried?”

  “By the river. When can we do it?”

  “Riley and I will start tomorrow. Since the ground is frozen, we’ll have to build a fire before we can dig. We could plan it for the day after tomorrow or the following day if you like.”

  “Whatever works for you. I just want him to have a proper funeral.”

  She stopped. Her hand still reaching for the doorknob to the common room.

  “Where is Kelly?”

  “The Wilcoxes took her to their room. Their daughter, Taylor, and Kelly have bonded. Kelly will be fine.”

  “Does she know what happened? She’s only seven.”

  “She doesn’t know the details. But she knows her mother is gone. We’ll have a talk with the other kids about rumors and stories before we let her socialize again.”

  “That poor girl,” Allison said. “I should stop to see her.”

  “Why don’t you save that for tomorrow. You are a little bit of a mess.”

  Allison looked down. The entire front of her shirt was red with blood. James’s blood. She touched a finger to it.

  “Yeah,” she whispered before turning the door knob and stepping into the common room.

  Low conversations ceased. Her friends looked up and watched her walk into the room. Mary rushed through the crowd and wrapped her arm around Allison’s shoulder.

  “Rolly has gone over to your house with Bill. They’re going to start your generator and get the well pump pumping and the water heater drained and then heating. They’ll get the furnace running too. You deserve a good long soak in the tub. I’ll be coming with you.”

  Allison looked down at Mary. “I can take a bath by myself,” she monotoned.

  “Well, of course you can, but I’m not going to let you.”

  The door by the kitchen opened. Don and Jean Schmidt entered. Don stood at the door while Jean bustled across the room and hugged Allison. “I’m so sorry. We won’t stay, but just wanted to tell you in person that we are here for you. Anything you want, just let us know.”

  “Thank you.” Allison tried to muster a smile, but could only manage a grimace. She felt a wave of dizziness rise over her shoulders and crash into the back of her head. Her body swayed.

  Jean, who had an arm wrapped around Allison’s shoulders, hugged her tight. “Are you okay, dear?”

  “Yes. No.” The wave of dizziness receded. “I’m okay. I just want to wake up from this nightmare.”

  Jean raised her head and looked at Mary. “Let’s get her to the house.”

  They walked on either side of her, the crowd parting to let them by. Will and Riley fell in behind them and followed them to the house.

  With the furnace running, the house was warm. The smell from the furnace, which hadn’t been run since the previous spring, was musty and stale. They settled her on the leather sofa where she stared blankly at the fireplace. Bella curled up on the carpet at her feet. Will and Riley slipped back out the door.

  Rolly stepped into the kitchen from the basement. He sent a questioning look to Mary who rose to meet him in the kitchen.

  “The heat is on,” he began. “The water heater is drained. We ran a little water through it and drained it again. It just finished filling back up so should be hot enough to run a bath in a few minutes. We can come back tomorrow and shut everything down. At least for tonight she will have some comfort. I checked the propane tank, she’s got at least 900 gallons in there. What we use tonight won’t make a dent in the propane.”

  “Thanks, dear. When you go back to the bunkhouse will you ask Jaden to serve dinner and bring a few meals over here?”

  “Sure. Here’s another suggestion, since the laundry room is back here by the basement steps, if someone wanted to get laundry done while we have power, it would save a lot of work. It shouldn’t bother Allison.”

  “Perhaps Jaden might want to do it. I know she wants to see Allison and it would be something to keep her occupied. See if Jaden wants to do it, then ask a couple of the women to help her carry the laundry over here. I’ll be spending the night here.”

  Rolly leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  The hum of the refrigerator called her attention to appliances that should be turned off. She walked through the house turning off or unplugging unneeded machines. When she returned to the living room, Allison was exactly where she’d left her.

  She placed a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “Come on, dear, let’s run you a hot bath.”

  Allison turned. “Oh, okay.” She slowly rose from the couch. She used her right hand to steady herself.

  Mary stepped in and put her hand on Allison’s elbow. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, just incredibly tired.”

  “Sit back down,” Mary said. “I have something to tell you.”

  Mary sat next to Allison and turned herself so their knees touched. Mary took both Allison’s hands in hers. “Twenty years ago,” she began, “Rolly and I lost our only child. Now, I’m not saying that I know how you feel losing James, but I know the pain that’s caused by losing someone you love. I know how hard it is to admit to yourself that it’s true. I know that feeling of wanting to wake up and hoping it’s just a dream. Honey, you will get through this. You are strong. Stronger than you think. You have so many friends who want to carry some of the burden for you. There will be happiness. Not today. Not this week, but eventually you will work through the grief and you will be happy again. I promise.”

  Allison nodded. “I believe you. I just have to get through today. I’ll worry about tomorrow in the morning.”

  Mary leaned forward and hugged her. “Let’s get your bath run. A good long soak will do you worlds of good.”

  Allison let Mary wipe the tub and then rinse it using the handheld shower. When Mary had set the plug and started filling the tub, she found Allison in the kitchen. She stood at the corner cabinet looking through a tray of small dark colored bottles.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’m choosing which essential oils might help me feel better.”

  Mary smiled. “Jaden told me about essential oils. She says they’re like herbs on steroids.”

  Allison laughed, for the first time in hours. “They actually are herbs. The oils are extracted and very potent. What I have here could be accomplished by using the leaves or roots of the actual herb. But I don’t have all of these herbs. And, only a few drops will do the trick.”

  She chose lavender, rose and ylang ylang. She showed each bottle to Mary.

  “I’ll use about five drops of lavender oil. Lavender is great for relaxing the mind and body. I’ll use about three drops of rose. Rose will help settle my emotions and by doing that, will boost the effects of the lavender. I chose ylang ylang simply because I love it. It is used both for calming and for uplifting.”

  She carried the bottles into the bathroom and counted the drops she placed under the running water. Before leaving the bathroom, she opened the medicine cabinet and put
a drop of each oil on a cotton ball. “To take to bed with me,” she told Mary.

  “It smells heavenly!” Mary declared.

  “It does.”

  The bath did help lift Allison’s spirits, but she really didn’t want her spirits lifted. She wanted to wallow in the pain of losing her soul mate. She wanted to hurt. She owed that to James.

  “How long did it take you to get over the pain of losing your child?” she asked Mary. They were curled up on the couch. Allison wore her pink camouflage pajamas and was wrapped in a soft blanket.

  “Oh, I can’t say I’m over the pain. Every day I think of him and wonder what he would be like today. I still cry occasionally. But, it’s no where near as painful as the first few weeks. The tears are more of a cleansing. I don’t fight them. I embrace them. I let them wash away the grief.”

  A tap on the back door caused them both to look towards the kitchen. Jaden entered carrying a basket. Behind her, Lisa and Karen each carried large bags of laundry.

  “We’ll get these started while you get the food set out for Allison and Mary,” Karen called.

  “Thanks.” Jaden set the basket on the table and rushed in to the living room where she flung herself on Allison’s lap and wrapped her arms around her waist.

  Allison stroked her hair.

  “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. I know what people said to me when my mom died but none of their words helped.”

  “You’re right, sweetheart. Words don’t help. But having you here is helping.”

  After a light meal that Allison was surprised she could eat, Jaden took the clothes out of the washer and placed them in the dryer before dumping a new load in the washer. Returning to the kitchen, she helped clean the plates before turning to Allison.

  “Can I sleep here tonight?” she asked. “I can sleep on the couch. I just want to be close to you because I am worried about you.”

  “I am sleeping on the couch tonight,” Mary said. “I am also worried about Allison. Everyone is concerned.”