Paradox Valley

by Gerri Hill

  She looked at the dish on the stove, and her stomach growled. “As soon as I eat something,” she said, pausing to take a nibble off one corner. “What is it? It looks good.”

  “Jean called it a breakfast casserole. It’s pretty good.”

  Dana took a plate out and put a generous helping on it, then scooped a ladle full of gravy and put that on top. She filled a coffee cup and joined Butch at the table. She studied him for a moment.

  “Your face doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would. A few bruises,” she said.

  “Not too sore,” he said. “Corey got me pretty good on my chin, though.”

  Dana took a bite of the casserole and moaned loudly. “Oh, God…this is delicious. I’m glad she made a big pan. I’ll probably eat half of it. This is the best gravy.” Then she stopped chewing and sniffed the air. “But what’s that I smell?”

  Butch laughed. “She’s got a big roast in the oven. Now that looked good.”

  “There goes my seven pounds,” she said around another bite. She looked out the window at the bright sunshine. “What time do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know. Nine…ten, maybe.”

  “Corey stayed up a long time then. Did Jean stay up with her?”

  “Jean was already in bed when Corey woke me.” He pushed his coffee cup aside and stood up. “I should go check on the horses,” he said. “Make sure they have water.”

  She nodded. “How long do you think we’ll stay here?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know. But she needs more than a few hours’ sleep. The horses need some rest too.”

  She stopped to sip her coffee. “You think we’ll stay another night?”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. If it’s late afternoon, I don’t see the point of heading out, only to have to stop a few hours later. Unless she plans to ride all night again.”

  “I’m not really crazy about that,” she said. “That was a little spooky last night.”

  “If we left early, we could make it to Paradox easy in one day,” he said.

  “Corey didn’t really sound like she wanted to go to Paradox, though,” she reminded him. “And I tend to agree with her.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded. “Paradox might not be safe. How many days have we been gone? Plenty of time for one of those…those things to have gotten there.” She put her fork down. Talking about it made her appetite disappear. She sighed. “I’m so ready for this to be over with.”

  “Yeah. I’m ready to get back to the farm, check on things.”

  “I know. I’m worried about Mom and Dad.”

  He paused at the back door. “I guess when we first started out, we should have followed the creek south instead of going into Paradox to begin with.”

  She shook her head. “We had no way of knowing all this would happen. Going to Paradox was the logical choice.”

  “I guess.”

  When he opened the back door, she called after him. “Take Lucky with you.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Corey felt someone watching her, but even in her deep sleep, she knew it wasn’t hostile. She forced herself awake, opening her eyes only a fraction, finding Dana standing at the edge of the bed.

  She tried to smile. “You’ve showered,” she murmured sleepily.

  Dana nodded. “Yeah. It was great, actually.” She paused. “I’ve come to take your clothes.”

  Corey managed a laugh. “Wow. That’s the best offer I’ve had in a while.” She shoved the covers off her. “Am I still dreaming?” A blush lit Dana’s face and Corey was almost sorry she’d teased her. Almost.

  “Butch hooked up the generator to Jean’s washer,” Dana said. “We thought we’d throw all our clothes in there at once. Butch and I didn’t exactly bring a whole wardrobe with us.”

  “I see. So if you weren’t able to wake me, were you going to strip me naked?”

  “Well, that could have been fun.”

  Corey grinned. “Okay. Then let’s pretend I’m still asleep.”

  “No, no, no. Too late now, honey. Hand them over.”

  Corey didn’t know how to reply to that, and she was nearly embarrassed by the rapid beating of her heart. Instead of saying anything, she stood up, stretching her arms over her head, loosening up her shoulders. “I didn’t plan to sleep this long. I guess the day is wasted.”

  “Depends what you mean by wasted,” Dana said. “Jean’s been cooking. I’ve already gained my seven pounds back and then some, just from what I ate today.”

  Corey turned her gaze to Dana, letting her eyes travel down the length of her, thinking she’d be far too thin if she actually lost the seven pounds she claimed she’d gained. She raised her eyes back up, meeting Dana’s.

  “Your clothes,” Dana said, holding out her hand.

  Corey pulled her shirt over her head without thinking, holding it out to Dana. She’d never been self-conscious, and it didn’t faze her now, but Dana’s eyes weren’t locked on her breasts. Instead, they were wide in shock as they traveled over her body…landing on her now-healed wounds.

  “My God,” Dana whispered.

  Corey touched the scar on her side, the scar that Dana’s eyes were glued to. Shrapnel had barely missed her vest, and she rubbed the wound now, not really feeling the scar beneath her fingers.

  “I kinda forgot about them,” she said. She let her hand drop. “I kinda forgot about a lot of things these last few days.”

  Dana raised her head, meeting her eyes head on. “Is that a good thing?”

  Corey nodded. “Yeah. It’s a good thing. My team…everything that happened…it’s been consuming me for so long. Eating at me.” She shrugged. “Yeah…it’s a good thing.”

  Dana smiled slightly, her gaze now—finally—landing on her breasts. Under her perusal, Corey had to resist the urge to cover herself with the shirt she’d just pulled off.

  Dana moved her gaze from her breasts back to her eyes. Corey searched them, surprised to find a hint of desire there…a hint of arousal. Then Dana held out her hand, clearing her throat slightly before speaking.

  “Your shirt?”

  Corey nodded and handed it over.

  “And…and your underwear?”

  Corey licked her lips, finally chewing on her lower one nervously. She nodded, bending over to remove them as well.

  Dana took them and turned, heading to the door. But she stopped, swinging her head around again.

  “If…if the circumstances were different,” she said, her voice quiet in the room. “Well…if things were different…”

  Corey nodded slightly as their eyes held. “Yeah…if things were different. Because I feel this…this attraction between us too.”

  Dana held her gaze for a moment longer, looking like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. She simply left the room, leaving Corey standing there naked.

  “Okay…well, this is awkward,” she murmured. Her pack, which contained another pair of dirty jeans and a couple of shirts, was where she’d left it…in Jean’s living room. She walked to the edge of the door and stuck her head out into the hallway. “Hey…a little help here,” she called.

  * * *

  “That’s probably the best meal I’ve ever eaten,” Corey said as she leaned back from the table and rubbed her full belly.

  Jean nearly beamed at the compliment. “My momma taught me how to bake a tender roast when I was barely ten,” she recalled. “Although the secret to the gravy came from my granny. She always said a meal wasn’t a true meal unless there was gravy to go with it.”

  “And there’s enough left over for sandwiches,” Dana said. “That is, if we can keep Corey from going back for thirds.”

  “I could eat a third helping myself,” Butch said. “That was delicious, Miss Jean.”

  “Oh, I do love to cook,” she said. “And my Hal used to…” She looked away. “Well, it doesn’t matter.”

  Corey looked across the table at Dana, who then reached over and took one of
Jean’s hands gently in her own.

  “We’ll get through this, Miss Jean,” Dana said.

  Jean looked up again. “Yes. I’m counting on the captain to get us out of here. I suppose there’s not enough time left today to get started.”

  Corey shook her head. “I think we’ll be safer here tonight. I’d like to leave at first light, though. If we could be up and packed and get out of here early, then I’m hoping we can make the checkpoint in one day’s ride.”

  “Still against going into Paradox?” Butch asked. “If we take the road to the checkpoint you’ve mentioned, then there’s no water along that route.”

  “Can the horses make it?” Dana asked.

  “They’ll have to,” Corey said. “We don’t know if Paradox is still safe. Let’s get to the checkpoint. We know there’ll be help there.”

  “I’m worried about my parents, Butch’s parents,” Dana said. “And my other aunt and uncle, they’re at Butch’s house.”

  “I know. That’s why we need to get some help in here. I need to let Colonial Sutter, General Brinkley know what’s going on.”

  “How do you even explain this?”

  “Yeah. They’ll think I’ve lost my mind,” she agreed.

  “Okay,” Butch said. “I guess you’re right.” He pushed his chair back from the table. “I’ll go tend to the horses.”

  “Might see if those hens laid any eggs,” Jean said before he opened the screen door.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll do that.” He paused, then tapped his leg for Lucky to follow him.

  “How much fuel do you have left for the generator?” Corey asked, noting the silence now with it off.

  “Butch says only a little more than a gallon is left in the can,” Jean said. “That’ll get us through tonight and tomorrow morning. Unless you think we should run it all night for lights.”

  “Might not be a bad idea,” she said.

  “I’ve got some kerosene lamps,” Jean said. “They belonged to Hal’s parents. Back in the day, there was no generator. That’s what we used when the power was out.”

  “I guess we could start with that,” she said.

  “Well, I’ll help you clean up the kitchen,” Dana offered.

  “I can do it,” Jean said. “Why don’t you take the captain out to the clothesline and see if those clothes are dry? With this wind we’ve had today, I imagine they’re ready to come in.”

  Dana smiled teasingly as she looked at her. “So? Does the captain want to fold clothes?”

  “Sure. I’m quite handy at doing laundry,” she said.

  As Jean had predicted, the clothes were dry. It brought back a childhood memory, one of her mother hanging their clothes out in the tiny backyard they had when her father was stationed at Fort Hood. It was summer and blistering hot, and she remembered her mother commenting that it had taken less than an hour for the clothes to dry that day.

  “What?”

  She blinked, chasing the memory away. “Huh?”

  “You were staring at the jeans and smiling. Old memory?”

  She nodded. “We moved around a lot. It wasn’t often that we had any kind of a yard. One time when we did, I recall my mother taking advantage of the clothesline.”

  Dana nodded. “Growing up, the only time we used the dryer was during the winter, and even then, not always. I remember helping my mom hang out clothes twice a week. I hated it.” Then she smiled. “I loved the way they smelled, though.” She took a shirt and brought it to her nose now. “No dryer sheet can beat this.”

  “I believe that’s my shirt. Don’t get all slobbery with it.”

  Dana laughed. “I’ll try to control myself.”

  Lucky’s sharp barks interrupted their playfulness, and Corey dropped the clothes she held into the basket and took off running toward the barn. She touched her hip when she got closer, realizing she’d left her weapon back at the house. Lucky continued to bark, and she turned, finding Dana right behind her.

  “Get back to the house,” she said quickly. “I don’t have my gun.”

  Dana stared at her.

  “Don’t argue. Go get it.”

  Dana nodded, then turned and ran back toward the house. Corey walked cautiously around the side of the barn, then jumped into the enclosure where their horses were. They seemed agitated as they shied away from her but maybe it was only from Lucky’s barking.

  She slipped quietly into the barn, finding Butch against the wall, his hands held up defensively. A soldier was watching him, an M16 rifle held casually in his hand. Lucky was between them, his bark ferocious, but the soldier didn’t seem to notice, his gaze was fixed on Butch.

  “Hey,” she said as she walked up.

  He turned slowly, staring at her.

  “Get out of here, Corey,” Butch said. “He’s…he’s not real. And he’s got a gun.”

  “Private…I’m Captain Conaway,” she said, ignoring Butch. When the soldier failed to acknowledge her and did nothing more than stare, she murmured, “And you have no idea what that means, do you?”

  The man slowly turned his head back to Butch, then looked down at Lucky. “Stop.”

  “Lucky…come here, boy,” Corey said. Lucky’s barking turned to growls, and he took a few steps in her direction, then turned back and started barking again, his lips curled back, his teeth glistening.

  The soldier pointed his rifle at Lucky, but Butch stepped forward. “No!”

  The man’s finger wasn’t even on the trigger, and Corey doubted he was cognizant enough to know how to fire it, but she couldn’t be sure. As she contemplated what to do, the soldier—quick as a lightning bolt—lunged at Butch, slamming him against the barn wall with such force that the boards rattled around them. She flung herself at him, tearing him away from Butch. They tumbled to the ground and she rolled over, hopping to her feet. Just as the man took aim at her, a shot sounded behind her, sending him careening backward.

  She jerked around, finding Dana standing in the doorway, holding her Glock in her hands. She was shaking wildly, and Corey wondered how she’d even managed to get a shot off.

  “That was damn close to hitting me,” Corey said as she pulled the rifle away from the crumpled soldier.

  “But it missed you,” Dana said as she handed the Glock to Corey and hurried over to Butch. “God, he’s not moving. Please say he’s not dead.”

  Corey bent over him, holding a finger to his neck. She detected a faint pulse. She put her hand behind his head, trying to lift it, when she felt the wet stickiness of blood.

  “He’s alive,” she said. Then she pulled her hand out, showing it to Dana. “But injured.”

  “What should we do?”

  “Is there a doctor in Paradox?”

  Dana shook her head. “I don’t think so. At least, there never was. The closest is in Moab, I think. Maybe Jean might know.”

  “I’m afraid to move him,” Corey said.

  “We’ve got to do something.”

  Lucky came over to them, sniffing Butch, his tail wagging. Corey reached out and ruffled his fur, then caressed his head.

  “Good dog,” she said softly.

  But Lucky pulled away, a low growl in his throat. They turned, finding the soldier trying to sit up. Corey aimed her gun at him, shooting him twice in the chest. He fell back down again.

  “No blood,” Dana whispered.

  “No. I need to burn the body,” she said. “It’s the only way to be sure.”

  “What about Butch?”

  “Go get Jean. Let’s see if we can’t rig up something to carry him with. I’ll pull this guy out and take care of him.” She touched Dana’s thigh as they knelt beside Butch. “Then we need to get inside the house and lock up. It’ll be dark soon.”

  Dana looked at her. “I’m really scared.”

  Corey nodded. “Me too.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Dana swirled the amber liquid in her glass before taking a sip. It burned her throat but she didn’t care. As Jean had said
, they could all use a stiff drink. Jean had surprised them when she pulled a stepstool out of the closet and stood on it to reach the top cabinet beside the fridge. There were two bottles in there. One was a clear liquid, vodka or gin, she supposed. The other, a bottle of scotch whiskey that Jean had said Hal saved for special occasions. It was three-quarters full, if not more. She was surprised by the sadness that struck her at seeing the nearly full bottle. Apparently there had been very few “special occasions” in their life. Or else they didn’t deem them special enough at the time to warrant the drink. Now, of course, it was too late.

  Corey tossed back her shot, apparently savoring the taste as she licked her lips. Then she got up, going to look out the kitchen door, something she’d done several times already.

  After they got Butch inside, Jean had cleaned his wound and wrapped his head. The bleeding had stopped, and once they’d cleaned it, it wasn’t as bad as she’d first imagined, although she still thought he needed stitches. Butch came around, complaining of a headache. He didn’t seem to recall what had happened in the barn, though. He fell back into semi-consciousness, scaring her even more.

  They settled him on the sofa and Jean had patted her hand, telling her that he’d be okay in the morning. He just needed time to rest his scrambled brain, she said. Corey seemed to be in agreement so Dana tried to push her worries aside.

  She knew Corey had burned the soldier’s body. Corey didn’t have to tell her; she’d smelled it while she was outside getting their clothes in. Later, she and Jean had watched out of the kitchen window as Corey filled the generator with the last of the fuel before starting it up. When Corey had come back inside, she’d closed and locked the doors. Then she’d gone around the house and closed all the windows, shutting out the pleasant breeze that had been blowing all day.

  They’d taken turns with showers, then had settled around the kitchen table. Conversation was minimal, if at all. She was glad they’d taken the day to rest. She doubted any of them would get any sleep tonight. Corey had said the plan was still to head out at first light if Butch was well enough to travel. She didn’t have to add, that was, if they made it through the night.