She nodded grudgingly.
“I guess I can’t ask any more than that. For now.”
Chapter 6
Appalachian Mountains, North Carolina: time unknown
Over the next few days Steve and Katherine took the opportunity to rest up, enjoying life without people shooting at them. To begin with, they spent their time in solitary thought; their earlier discussion had left them both a little cautious of one another, neither one wanting to be the one who sparked another disagreement. The cabin was big enough that there was room for two people to be alone, and they each picked a place that they made their own. For Katherine, it was the swing seat on the cabin’s porch, where she would simply sit and look out over the valley, finding a sense of peace in the incredible views. Steve spent most of his time in the den, browsing the extensive library. The room’s shelves were groaning under the weight of an eclectic collection of books, and Steve occupied himself with a series of mysteries featuring a hard-bitten idealist who lived on a boat in Florida. The only time that they talked was when they sat down for meals, which each of them took a turn to cook.
By necessity, having often acted as the company cook in the field, Steve had learned how to prepare a number of simple dishes. Katherine wasn’t a big fan of cooking, but made far better coffee than the paint-stripper strength brew Steve was used to. It didn’t take them long to settle into a comfortable routine, and before the end of the week some of the tension had slowly eased away. They avoided certain subjects, but still found their mealtime conversations lasting longer as they got to know each other. It turned out that they had more in common than Steve would have thought, but it was disconcerting for him to realize that a lot of what had been the latest and greatest to him was fashionably retro to Katherine. Still, it was nice to mention a musician and have someone actually recognize the name, and he tried not to think too much about how many years had passed since the day he had heard that musician for the first time. Katherine did try and introduce him to some newer music, but it turned out that their tastes weren’t that in sync.
They were sitting down to dinner on the fourth night—the evening’s menu featuring the haute cuisine of baked beans on toast with a side of franks—when the conversation turned to their mutual acquaintance. Steve had been waiting for Katherine to ask, and was surprised it had taken so long.
“So, how did you meet Aunt Maria?” Katherine asked him.
“We’ve known each other for years. She was Nick’s right hand . . . um, woman . . . for a long time, so I was aware of her before we really talked,” Steve said. “She used to stand next to him at briefings looking like she’d put a bullet in you if you didn’t pay attention.”
“That sounds like Aunt Maria,” Katherine said, laughing. “I didn’t see that much of her growing up, but I was still more scared of her finding out about bad grades than I was of my mom finding out.”
“We went on a few operations together, and it didn’t take me long to realize she was a good soldier to have at your side . . . or at your back.”
“What sort of operations?” Katherine asked curiously.
“You know I can’t say. Maybe Maria will tell you sometime if you ask really nicely.” Katherine’s face communicated quite eloquently what she thought about that, and he went on. “Let’s just say that they weren’t exactly holidays. Lots of people trying to kill us, and some came pretty close.”
“Interesting,” Katherine said, and went back to eating. He caught her looking at him during the rest of meal, but she didn’t pursue the topic any further. Throughout the next day, he noticed that she seemed to have something on her mind, and that night, as they sat down for dinner again, she raised it again.
“You saved Aunt Maria’s life?”
“A couple of times. But no more often than she saved mine.” Steve was quiet for a minute, remembering the sound of bullets whistling through the air and the smell of dirt in his nostrils as he pressed his face into the ground. “It wasn’t war in the official sense of the word, you know, but when you’ve fought together, been under fire together—it doesn’t matter where it is—it’s a bond you can’t explain.”
“So, that’s why she trusted you?” Katherine asked. “You can trust people you’ve been through that sort of thing with?”
“No, facing death with someone doesn’t magically make them trustworthy. Some of the guys I served with I wouldn’t have trusted as far as I could kick them—until the bullets started flying. It just meant that we already had some common ground, and I guess we saw enough of each other in action to build up a healthy professional respect for each other.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Katherine said. “She doesn’t speak much about her work, but the few times you came up, she spoke highly of you.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Steve said. “I’d hoped she felt that way, but she was never the easiest person to read.”
“Unlike me, you mean.”
It was a statement, not a question, but she was smiling, so Steve was reasonably certain she was poking fun, and was not actually offended.
“Let’s just say I’m never uncertain of what you think about something.”
He winked at her, and they laughed, together.
The next day, Steve woke to the sound of a truck pulling into the driveway. He was out of bed in a heartbeat, and carefully made his way to the front of the house, making sure that at no time was he silhouetted in the windows. Carefully, he peered around the corner of the window and looked out at the yard. He let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s okay, Katherine, it’s a friend,” he yelled. “You can come out.”
She stumbled into the room, hair tousled and rubbing her eyes sleepily. She looked at him blankly.
“What? Why couldn’t I come out?”
“Never mind. Get dressed, we have company.”
“You get dressed! Jeez.”
“What? Oh.” Steve looked down and blushed, realizing he was still in his boxers. “Sorry!”
“I’m scandalized. That’s not way to act in front of an innocent young lady.”
She said it with a perfectly straight face, and he was starting to apologize again when she burst out laughing.
“Very funny,” he grumbled.
Leaving her to shower, Steve went and threw on his clothes, then hurried out of the house.
“Jeremiah!” he exclaimed. “It’s good to see you again.”
The older man unfolded himself out of the truck. It was a battered old pickup with a gun rack in the rear window and a truck bed full of tools and traps—as well as a number of rabbit carcasses. The only thing that distinguished the truck from a thousand others was the complete absence of bumper stickers. Jeremiah himself could have been anywhere from forty to sixty, his nut-brown skin weathered and cracked from long days spent outdoors. He was lean, stringy muscle wrapped around a bony frame that topped Steve by half a foot. He reached out and clasped Steve’s hand, his grip speaking of strength held back.
“Good to see you too, son.” His voice was raspy and subdued. “Hope the cabin was suitable.”
“It was everything we could have asked for,” Steve said. “Thank you for letting me use it on such short notice. I owe you.”
“Don’t insult me with talk of owing. I remember what you did for me.”
Steve shrugged. “It was nothing. Just doing what was right.”
“It wasn’t nothing to me,” Jeremiah said.
“Anyway, why don’t you come inside?” Steve said changing the subject, embarrassed by all the talk of owing. “There’s coffee. Well, you know that; it’s yours, anyway, but I mean there’s a pot ready if you want some.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
By the time they got to the kitchen, Katherine had already served herself a cup of coffee and was sitting at the table. The two men joined her and Steve made the introductions, Ka
therine and Jeremiah sizing each other up.
“Thank you for the use of your cabin, Mr.—?”
“Tyler, but Jeremiah’ll be fine, sweetheart.”
“And Katherine will be fine for me, Jeremiah,” Katherine said firmly.
Jeremiah laughed. “This one doesn’t take any guff from no one, does she, Steve?”
Steve nodded. “Bit like you.”
“Well, Katherine,” Jeremiah said, emphasizing her name, “It was my pleasure. No matter what he says, I figure I owe Steve big, and this is just a little payment off that debt. Did he tell you what he did for me?”
“No, he’s been very reticent about the whole thing,” Katherine replied.
“Yeah, he is a bit too modest for his own good.”
“I’d love to hear about it,” she said.
“Do we have to?” Steve asked plaintively. “Why don’t we just drink our coffee?”
Jeremiah ignored him.
“Depending on which side of the family you look at, my family have either been here on this mountain for hundreds of years—or for thousands. I don’t really care too much for the outside world; I’m pretty happy just sitting here in my cabin when I’m not out hunting. I grow my own food, and as you can see, water and power ain’t a problem as long as the sun shines and the rain falls. I grow plenty of my own food, and what I can’t grow for myself, I trade for.”
“What do you trade?” Katherine asked.
“All sorts of things. I make furniture, and I even turn my hand to sculpture. I do handyman jobs for people, and sometimes I even have enough meat and skins left over for those don’t like to hunt themselves. I keep myself pretty busy, but it’s worth it. You’ve seen the view.”
Both of his guests nodded.
“Steve and I got to know each a few years back when I helped him and a few others track down someone. I know this mountain and all its valleys like the back of my hand, and finding a trail wasn’t much of a problem for me. When it was all done with, I had myself a brand new rifle, and Steve and I got along well enough given he ain’t from around here.”
“And the favor?” Katherine prompted.
“I was getting to it. About a year later, I started getting letters from the government, telling me that I owed them this much for that, and that much for this. Seemed like they had decided I needed to pay for the privilege of living on the land what had been in my family ever since there was people around here.” He turned to spit on the ground, then remembered he had company. “I just threw the letters away. I’m a law-abiding citizen and I try not to bother the government, but I expect them not to bother me in return. I don’t ask for anything from them except to be left alone.”
“So what happened?”
“The letters kept coming, and I kept throwing them out, but one day the sheriff showed up with some city man in a suit. He told me unless I paid twenty thousand they were going to take my house, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“What did you do?”
“I know some folks, they would have made threats, shot at anyone who came on their land. But I don’t hold much with that sort of thing—as I said, I’m a law-abiding man. But I didn’t have two thousand in cash, let alone twenty. That’s when I remembered Steve here. I gave him a call, and he told me sit tight, so I did.” Jeremiah grinned, revealing a perfect set of teeth. “Next thing I knew, I got another visit and was told I didn’t have to worry about the money, and never would.”
Katherine turned to look at Steve, who shifted uncomfortably.
“How did you manage that?” she asked.
“It was no big deal,” Steve said. “I just made a few phone calls, called in a favor or two, and pointed out how much bad press there would be in forcing Jeremiah off his land. It was nothing, really. Jeremiah is making too big a deal about it.”
“Nothing?” Katherine exclaimed. “I know what government red tape is like. You must have been really convincing.”
Steve shrugged. “I like to think that people will do the right thing if you give them the chance. I just didn’t think it was right that someone like Jeremiah should suffer because of bureaucracy. The government is there to help people, not make life harder for them.”
“I would have thought that you’d be all for sticking by rules and regulations, whether you agreed with them or not,” Katherine said. “You’re meant to be the poster child for Uncle Sam, after all.”
“The spirit of the law is what’s important,” Steve said. “Those laws weren’t meant to penalize people like Jeremiah. It really wasn’t a big deal.”
“As I said, it sure was a big deal to me. I really had no idea what I was going to do, and having to leave this place, it would have killed me. I ain’t got no children, but my sister’s boy will take over when I’m gone—if he wants, I guess. But I didn’t want to be the one who broke the chain that stretched all the way back, and Steve here made sure that I wasn’t. I can’t think of anyone else who would have done that for me. So, when he asked to use the cabin for a few days, it was the least I could do. I figure it doesn’t come close to paying him back, but it’s a start.”
“I don’t need to be paid for doing the right thing,” Steve said. “But, thank you, Jeremiah. You really came through.”
“Do you need more time?” the older man asked. “I won’t lie—I like my privacy, but you can stay a little longer if there’s a need. I did a check of my traplines while I was giving you some privacy, and I got me more rabbits than I need. I could cook you up some real nice stew.”
Steve looked over at Katherine.
“As much as I’ve enjoyed the break, it’s time we got going. We have places to be.”
Katherine nodded.
“Yeah, it is tempting to just hole up here and pretend everything is okay, but I’d rather find out what exactly I’m facing. Plus, this guy has terrible taste in music.”
“Not wrong there,” Jeremiah said. “Well, as long as you’re sure, then, we should make our good-byes. Never was one to believe in drawing them out.”
Steve had his own thoughts on good-byes, and how having a chance to say any sort of farewell was better than none, but he didn’t want to bring the mood down. Instead, he smiled and said good-bye to Jeremiah. Thirty minutes later, Steve and Katherine were on the bike heading back to the city. The noise of the bike would have made it impossible anyway, but neither were in the mood for talking. Steve was filled with a sense of foreboding—taking Katherine back into danger went against every instinct he possessed. He could only trust that Maria had a plan.
By the time they descended from the hills, it was dark and the lights of the city were spread out before them, pointing into the city’s heart like a spear of asphalt. The ride back had been as unpleasant as the one out of the city had been, and Katherine had some choice words to say when she saw the apartment they were to hide out in.
The super had been happy to take cash in exchange for one of the empty rooms in the run-down building, and hadn’t asked their names. His knowing smirk at the sight of the older man with his obviously younger companion had set Steve’s teeth on edge, but he had consoled himself with the thought that it was a common scenario that wouldn’t stick in the man’s memory. Not wanting to spend a moment longer in the lobby than necessary, Steve hadn’t been willing to wait for the elderly elevator to descend, and had insisted that they take the stairs. Remembering the man’s smirk had kept Rogers grumpy all the way up the seemingly endless flights of stairs, and he barely responded to Katherine’s teasing. She had thought the super’s assumption hilarious, and had plenty to say, except toward the end of the climb when she was saving her breath for the next flight of stairs. Steve wasn’t breathing heavily in the slightest; he could have run up and down the staircase without breaking a sweat. But he took the high ground, and didn’t point that out to Katherine.
The apartment was on the tenth fl
oor, and the three small rooms were dim and shabby, with a smell of mildew and neglect that gave the air an unpleasant tang. When they had opened the door, something had scuttled back into the hole from whence it had come, and Katherine made a small, choked sound of disgust.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Katherine exclaimed. “I wouldn’t keep my pets in here.”
“It’s like a palace compared to the one I grew up in,” Steve said mildly. “Brooklyn was very different when I was kid. Now I can’t even afford a place there.”
“You sound like my dad.”
“Well, technically I’m old enough to be your grandfather,” Steve said, hoping for a smile. When he didn’t get one, he went on. “Look, we’ll only be here a few days.”
“I suppose I can survive,” Katherine said. “So, what are we going to do while we wait?”
“I’m going to do a bit of looking around. In every city there’s always a place, or more than one, where a certain type of people go to find work,” Rogers said. “They’re clearing houses for information, and there’s always someone there who knows who’s paying, and for what.”
“I thought Aunt Maria was doing the investigating,” Katherine said accusingly. “Shouldn’t we wait for word from her?”
“I’ve already spoken to her,” Steve said. “Just before we left. She’s been very busy, and she’s set up a meeting for me with someone who has some information for me.”
“And you didn’t tell me this before, why?” Katherine demanded. “And why didn’t you let me talk to her?”
“We can’t risk long phone calls—the less contact we have with her, the safer it is,” Steve said. “Besides, she didn’t give me a chance to say much, just asked for a quick status report, gave me the information I needed, and hung up. It wasn’t exactly a social call.”
“You still could have told me,” she muttered.
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d be mad about it. I didn’t relish the thought of you spending the whole trip sulking.”
Marvel's Captain America: Sub Rosa Page 6