Back To Our Beginning

by C. L. Scholey

  Tansy took the girl’s chin in her hand so she could look into her eyes. “No one will ever hurt you here; you are safe, I promise.”

  Truth and honest sincerity radiated with conviction from Tansy’s deep brown eyes. The young girl crept into Tansy’s embrace where she rocked her. Tansy wrapped her slim arms around the frightened tiny child compassionately. Soon her brother joined them and they stayed that way for a long while.

  Chapter 16

  I can’t believe that boy is almost six-years-old, he’s almost as small as Mike and she’s close to four from what Tansy says,” Aidan said with dismay. Rose, they’d been informed, was twelve.

  The women had shooed all the men outside in order to give the children a bath and a better inspection of their wounds. Both Max and Rose were fearful of the men, cowering when any came close and the men, though willing to leave, felt certain saddened despair at the obvious refusal of acceptance toward any of them.

  Clint and Cord had returned to the mine a short time after leaving the first time, their curiosity about the children too compelling to stay away. Seeing the children’s distress, and at Tansy’s urging, Clint grabbed up Mike intent on taking her to the stream but was dismayed by the look Rose had given him. She looked appalled, paled horrifically and, if he didn’t know better he would have sworn she was about to vomit.

  Tansy came to his aid and whispered in the young girl’s ear. Clint sensed she must have said something comforting to the girl, because Rose nodded and hung her head with obvious relief.

  Ethan picked up Ricky and they all headed to the little stream that thankfully hadn’t dried up, leaving Tansy, Emmy and Shanie behind with the new children. The water was cold and clear. Though not deep, it was still above Michaela’s head and Clint kept a watchful eye on the child. He held both her hands in his and splashed her up and down in the water until she screamed with peals of laughter.

  “I wish I could go in.” Ricky’s look was of such intense longing Ethan felt a tug at his heartstrings; he placed an arm around his son’s slumped shoulders and squeezed.

  “Soon, sweetheart.” He bumped his forehead against the boy’s in an easy familiar gesture.

  Ethan and Ricky laughed when Clint tossed Michaela to Cord and she screeched as he caught her. Cord then tossed the child back to Clint who also grabbed at her, allowing her to splash at him.

  Lucky yipped and playfully bounded between the two of them, splashing everyone in his exuberance. It had taken the pup only a short time to recover from his malnutrition and dehydration. He thrived, romping, playing and eating, growing increasingly larger without any indication he was finished.

  “Why don’t you give Mike swimming lessons instead of flying lessons?” Aidan advised.

  “Well damn, that’s a fine idea,” Clint said.

  Before long the three men were submerged in the water up to their chests while on their knees. Michaela picked up on the dog paddle with helpful and encouraging words from Ethan who stayed on the bank with Ricky. Even more help came from Lucky who Clint declared was a pro. Soon Michaela was paddling behind Lucky while grasping his tail under Clint’s watchful amused eye.

  Ethan looked up as Emmy, followed by an equally miserable looking Shanie, appeared. Shanie headed straight for the water, but Emmy sat beside Ethan on the bank. Both he and Ricky were sitting under a jutting rock that sloped a small way underground, protected from the sun’s glare. It was considered one of their ‘safe’ areas, a known refuge from a storm if one struck while they were out and unable to return to the mine. All were grateful for the deep overhang, knowing these precious moments of play wouldn’t be occurring without the safety it offered against sudden, unpredictable storms.

  Emmy’s look told Ethan she was distressed about something. “Is your mother staying behind?” he asked her.

  “Yes.”

  “Did she get the children washed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want to talk?”

  “No.”

  Emmy leaned over to place her head on his shoulder. Ethan put an easy arm around the young woman, pulling her close and just sat holding her.

  Aidan watched them from the water. He knew Emmy was upset about something. Aidan knew Emmy sought out Ethan when she was troubled if Tansy was busy. Ethan was much better than he was with comforting words, parenting came naturally to him. Besides, Aidan didn’t want Emmy to look at him like a parental figure. Although he would have liked her to come to him when she was distressed, he realized communication with women just wasn’t one of his areas of expertise. Although, his rapport with Shanie was simpler. He thought of her as the little sister he wasn’t sure he wanted, but was stuck with.

  Surprisingly after that thought, Aidan found himself knocked over into the water. He came up spluttering and surprised to see Shanie standing over him. After their last encounter, he hadn’t expected Shanie to ever try taking him unaware again. Although, she must have realized she was in little danger from him, his knife was on a rock by the riverbank.

  Looking up at her, he expected her to be laughing down at him. But her look wasn’t amused. She looked distressed and her bottom lip was quivering.

  “Shanie, are you all right?” he asked her.

  “Will you teach me to fight?” Shanie demanded. “Fight men.”

  Aidan rose from the water, the water droplets glistened as they rolled down his chest. Shanie’s shoulders were rising and falling rapidly as her chest heaved with unshed sobs.

  “Why?”

  “Because no one is allowed to hurt me.”

  “No, they’re not,” he agreed and continued to approach cautiously.

  Shanie moved back away from Aidan as he advanced; he knew she was about to take flight and he grabbed her by the arms. It wasn’t safe for anyone to be out in the woods alone. If she was distressed, she wouldn’t be watching for danger. She might flee into an area they deemed off limits as there were no safe havens to use as refuge in those certain areas, and it was too far from the mine. Though Aidan had been discussing with the others various manmade shelters for those specific areas, they had yet to come up with a viable plan and the idea remained for the most part unexplored.

  “Let go,” Shanie cried and tried to yank her arms free, but Aidan held fast. Instead, he pulled her closer against his chest, enveloping her into his embrace. While she struggled violently at first, her struggles gradually ceased and her sobs grew. Soon she clung to him, her pitiful sobbing muffled by his wet chest. Aidan was at a loss. He looked to Ethan who was consoling a now tearful Emmy. Both girls wept brokenly, seeking solace in a safe embrace.

  “I told you it was gonna be a long summer,” Clint said as he passed by Aidan.

  * * * *

  Tansy sat sipping brandy from a wooden cup Aidan crafted. It had been a long day. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Tansy had wanted to go to her daughters knowing they were distressed by Rose’s heart-wrenching story, the agony she had suffered through. Only then had the real impact of the terrible danger they could have faced with Cord and Randy sunk in.

  Shanie admitted she never thought she would be harmed in such a cruel manner. She was appalled a man had attacked someone younger than her.

  Rose and Max were bruised. Tansy treated their injuries as best as she could, but she couldn’t heal their inside pain. As she suspected, Rose had been raped and brutalized. Rourke kept her brother alive only because he knew he could use him to make Rose obey. When Max had come to his sister’s aid Rourke boxed the child’s ears so badly and often, he could no longer hear. Once while Rose was being attacked, Max bit Rourke and the man knocked his teeth out. Both children were malnourished and weak.

  Rose told Tansy one day after Rourke left to go hunting he didn’t return. She confided though relieved, she was also terrified. Rose hung her head in dismay and shame telling Tansy though she hated Rourke, he was all they had. Rourke fed them, if poorly; Rourke had been an adult in their terrifying child’s world. Rose told Tansy the
y’d gone looking for him only to discover his body half eaten by something. By what, Rose couldn’t fathom. She hadn’t stuck around long enough to find out.

  Terrified, they set out for a different area. Putting distance between themselves and Rourke’s body. When they had seen the red cloth flying in the breeze near the shelter, they approached with both fearful apprehension and hopefulness. They had been hiding in the shelter for over a week before the storm came, followed by the men.

  Tansy consoled the child, telling her that sometimes people came to depend on others, even mean others. Rose’s feelings of dependency were only natural. Rose had done nothing wrong. Rourke was completely to blame for everything. She was a child, he was an adult.

  “Would you mind if I joined you?” Ethan asked, breaking Tansy’s reverie.

  “No, pull up a cup.”

  Ethan produced a tin cup and poured a good shot of brandy into it, then sat companionably beside Tansy. He sensed her distress and her need to talk; he waited for her to begin. They were outside, sitting under a dark sky full of starlight.

  “If the world has been under so much distress how come we can see stars?” Tansy asked.

  “Hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis and earthquakes are natural disasters, even volcanic eruptions. Although, I doubt anywhere that has had an eruption will see any stars with all the ash in the sky. We’re lucky there aren’t any volcanoes around here. I’m not sure if they affect the ozone layer, but right now that’s the least of our worries. If you remember when the storms first started, it was always dark. I worried for the longest time we would never see the sun again, we can only hope it doesn’t get like that once more, all plant life would cease to exist, then animals and humans alike.”

  “So many people are dead,” Tansy said.

  “Yes, a lot have died. But we must believe some have survived elsewhere. We humans are resilient creatures; it stands to reason if we’ve survived others must have, either in different areas or other countries. We’ve been known to adapt to any weather. Life will continue.”

  “Nothing will ever be the same,” Tansy said.

  “No, not for a very long time, certainly not in ours or our children’s lifetimes. Maybe never if the storms continue as they have been. It’s too dangerous to try and rebuild houses aboveground when they’ll undoubtedly be destroyed. Even if they’re built with structurally sound solid basements there will always be the threat of the ceiling being ripped off leaving those below too vulnerable. If it wasn’t for the hundred feet of rock above us, I doubt we’d ever be safe.

  “Perhaps a time will come when we can all regroup and build underground if necessary. Learn to harness the storms’ energy and make it work for us. While in our bomb shelter, I’d been wondering about that, thinking a lot...always lots of time to think, whether you wanted to or not. Maybe one day someone will figure out how to expand this mine, if there’re ever enough of us to need more space.”

  The night was hot though darkness had fallen. With the walls of the opening now built more securely at the entrance of the mine in anticipation of winter and protection from flying debris and animals, Tansy could feel their coolness beginning to entice her back in. But she was loathing going in, to return to the sadness of the day.

  “They’ll live now that they’re here,” Ethan said.

  His intuitiveness never ceased to amaze her and yet there was more to her anguish. Tansy looked at Ethan as if he held all the answers.

  “Yes, they’re safe with us, but will they heal?”

  “In time. First their physical pain will mend and then their emotional pain.”

  “But how? You don’t know everything he did to them, how terrified they are. Losing their parents, family and friends. The storms taking their home and belongings, everything they know is gone. Then that bastard comes along to compound their fear, as if they weren’t terrified enough. You can’t begin to imagine the horror these children have suffered and for months.”

  “Yes, I can imagine. I was on the receiving end of a great deal of abuse by both of my parents while growing up,” Ethan said.

  Tansy sat stunned. Ethan had always appeared to her so grounded, so sane, so...normal. She couldn’t imagine anyone like him suffering any kind of abuse. He was so strong and confidant, a proud man. He was as good with Ricky as Shane had been with their girls. He seemed a bottomless well of patience, never once losing his temper with anyone, never causing anyone to be fearful of his next course of action, never unpredictable. Her astounded look had Ethan chuckling.

  “How can you laugh about that?”

  “I’m not laughing at my abuse, but at your look of indignation.”

  “I am indignant, hell, I’m furious. How can people, parents, abuse their children?” Tansy asked.

  Mike’s innocent face flashed before her eyes. The thought of striking her for any reason, causing her pain willingly, was horrifying. Neither she nor Shane had ever raised a hand to their children. Threatened perhaps, but they knew the threats were idle ones and used in anger born of deep frustration.

  “My parents were young and inexperienced and had no one to help them. They both had abuse issues of their own to deal with.”

  “My God Ethan, how can you be so understanding?”

  “Because they were my mom and dad and I loved them. They taught me a great deal whether they knew it or not. Not once did I lose my temper with my wife or son. I learned respect doesn’t go hand in hand with fear. Respect is earned no matter your age. Respect isn’t wisdom or obedience, it’s an admirable trait associated with love and understanding, pride in another human being for actions or, in some cases inactions. Most of all, respect isn’t demanding; it’s one of mankind’s most outstanding emotions given freely, willingly, or it’s worthless.”

  “You’re a very complex man Ethan. A man I’m very proud to know.”

  “Thank you.”

  Tansy returned indoors, the coolness of the mine was welcome. Tansy checked on the sleeping children. It had been difficult to get Rose to sleep; it appeared you could actually learn to sleep with one eye open. Rose had been terrified that at any moment she would be forced into submission again. Tansy promised her no one would harm her or her brother. Having an idea at dinner, Tansy instigated an altercation between Cord and Michaela; Rose seemed to fear Cord the most. After Michaela berated Cord, and loudly, when she found out he reprimanded her puppy, Rose seemed to relax after all Cord did was growl at the child. Cord growled, Michaela growled back. Her little hands balled into fists at her sides; soon Lucky was growling standing his ground next to Michaela.

  When Cord gave a mighty growl and raised his arms in an antagonistic way, Michaela and Lucky retreated. Michaela ran laughing, joined by the pup; both sought the safety of Clint’s embrace. He offered his own chuckle and snuggled them both. Rose shied back at first terrified, too terrified to run, clutching her brother. Both children sat frozen to their spots with wide scared eyes. But seeing the delighted amusement on Mike and the others around that were unconcerned, including the child’s own mother, Rose realized it must be a game the little girl often played with the men. It was more than apparent the child held no fear of any of the men present and wasn’t abused or concerned for her safety. There seemed to be a great deal of affection between the child and the man, Clint, who Rose came to understand wasn’t the child’s biological father. Although loved as such.

  Soon after, the four children had succumbed to their exhaustion and slept. Tansy sought her own sleep. The bruising on Rose only reminded her of their own precarious position when they’d first encountered Cord and Clint. It could be her girls and her she was looking at if the situation had been worse. As it was, Chris and Marge had died. Yet here were two of their aggressors playing with her youngest. It was strange the way life played itself out.

  It had been easier than Tansy thought possible to get used to so many people living under one roof...mine. Privacy was an issue they were trying to deal with. She had seen more naked bodies
than she cared to until it was almost commonplace. Tansy also stopped being mortified when someone accidently came upon her in the woods while she was seeking a private moment. She realized it wasn’t out of morbid curiosity; it was because they needed each other to survive.

  Their little clan was growing and thriving. Maybe things would never be the same. Almost asleep, Tansy’s last thought was that she sure could go for some vanilla ice-cream and she would sell her soul for an ice cold beer.

  * * * *

  Tansy stood looking in one of the larger tunnels in the mine. It was full of wood, sticks, branches, twigs, tinder, bark, dried fungus, collected dried dung. Anything that would burn, everything they could use to burn against the impending cold winter, not excluding any and all pieces of paper or cardboard they’d come across blowing in the wind or trapped by vegetation and debris.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” Ethan promised her.

  “But is it enough?” Tansy asked with concern.

  She was trying to judge how much wood they would need for the winter months, wondering how many months there would be and wondering how terribly cold it might get, remembering last winter with misgiving. Though the pile looked exceptional, Tansy still felt a tingle of unease. It would take a great deal of fuel to keep three wood stoves and several fires up top going continuously for months, as well as the fires and stoves they needed to cook with.

  At her insistence, wood was also being gathered and stored at the bottom of the mine in preparation for when the two wood stoves below would be in use, the space below would also require a great deal of fuel if they were to make use of it. That way they wouldn’t be carting it down the slope.

  “If it isn’t, we’ll find more. After all, we’re surrounded by woods.” Ethan kept his voice light and calm seeing her distress, wondering at it. The twenty-five foot tunnel was jam-packed; it was one of the widest tunnels in the mine. As well, a massive stack of wood below was running the length of the bottom of the mine and higher than his head. The tornadoes that passed through uprooted trees, demolishing some down to twigs that were easily gathered without the aid of axes or saws.