“My God, Marshal, you have everything here.” I walked over to the pile and started picking out little things to look at. He even had a box of old Pez dispensers that I knew was worth a fortune on eBay.
“Do you like it?” He looked at me, waiting for my answer.
“Yeah! You could open a museum of pop culture,” I said. “Holy shit, Marshal, look at all this stuff! You must have brought something down here every year!”
“Yeah, yeah, every year.” He turned and I could tell that something had made him sad. “Let’s go into the food room.”
“The food room?” I didn’t want to ask about his ghosts, not yet. Marshal was a person of few sane words and I wasn’t going to force him to tell me something he wasn’t ready to.
“Yeah, yeah, follow me.” I followed him back through the tunnel, across the living room and through another tunnel. Again, I felt my body cringe as I made my way through the tiny passageway. This time, we came into a room that was almost as big as the living room and full of canned food. From floor to ceiling, cans of everything. Soup, tomatoes, corn, peas, peaches, there was lots and lots of peaches, everything that had ever been put in a can, Marshal had it. There were big plastic bins too, labeled flour, sugar, salt. He had everything down here.
“Marshal, you do impress.” I smiled at my good fortune. I had become friends with the right person. No wonder he had lived down here for so long, he was resourceful and a lot smarter than he looked. “We’ll add the things we got to this pile and we should be fine for a long time.”
“Yes, Nicky we should be safe,” he said. “There’s a room for bathroom stuff and cleanin’ up stuff and then there’s a room I been workin’ on for a couple of years. You can have that for your room.”
“I’m sure Barker and I will love it,” I said.
“Barker? Oh yeah I forgot he was here,” he scratched his head and looked around for the tired dog. “Where’d he go anyway?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think he came down with us. Maybe he doesn’t like being underground. Barker! Barker! Come on boy.” We both made our way upstairs and found him still lying in the back of the trailer, too tired to move.
“Oh, Barker, you tired boy?” I went over to him and started rubbing his ears. “That’s okay, we’re gonna be safe. Marshal’s got a good place and he’s gonna take good care of both of us.”
“Yeah, yeah, Nicky,” he sounded impatient. I felt a gentle breeze flow through my hair. It felt good on my sweat soaked neck. “Let’s unpack quick, quick, quick Nicky; wind’s comin’ now.”
“It’s just a breeze, Marshal, it feels good. Let’s sit for a minute.” I was in no hurry to start crating our stuff down all those stairs. I was tired. In fact, I was thinking about checking out the stream, maybe clean up a bit. We did stock up on soap and shampoo. Besides, who knew when I’d be able to wash again once these ‘winds’ started.
“No Nicky, we have to start now,” he said, grabbing my arm. “The winds are starting and once they start, it takes no time before they get real strong and pretty soon, nothing up here will survive. Come on, Nicky, let’s start.”
“Okay, geez, I just wanted to sit down for five minutes.” I jumped off the trailer and coaxed Barker down so I could get to the boxes and start hauling them down the stairs.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER we were almost finished unpacking the trailer. Marshal had been right, too, the winds had picked up since that first breeze I had felt. I still hoped I would have time to go rinse off in the stream. We needed to fill up our water jugs; maybe I’d wash up then. Barker had finally come around. He slowly made his way down the stairs on my fourth trip and seemed to like the chair in the living room. He curled up on it and hadn’t moved since. I was beginning to worry that he was sick. Maybe he got too much heat today.
“Two more loads, Marshal and then I’m done,” I said as I passed him on the stairs. “How ‘bout you?”
“Same.” He raced up the stairs and grabbed another box. We made our last two trips in silence. I squatted down by Barker and patted his ears. He looked up at me and licked my face.
“You okay boy? I’m gettin’ worried about you. You want some food?” He wagged his tail and jumped down from the chair. “Oh, I see, all the work is done and now you want to eat.” He barked twice. “Okay, I’ll fill your bowl.”
“We did good work, Nicky. We can relax now.” He came and sat on the couch, putting his feet up on the table.
“No, we still have to go fill up the water jugs,” I said as I got Barker’s bowl and filled it with dog chow.
“Not now, we can do that after.” He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.
“After what? The winds?” I sat down in the chair and watched Barker eat. “What if they dry up the stream? What then? We’ll have no water.”
“Its okay, Nicky,” he smiled. “The river over the hill is real big. It feeds the stream. Ain’t never seen the winds dry up the river before.”
“I knew there was a river around here,” I laughed. “But I’d still like to go and rinse off real quick. I’ve been sweating all day and what about Cocoa? What are we going to do with her? Will she be able to get down these stairs?”
“Cocoa?” He looked at me with sadness in his eyes. “No, Nicky, we can’t bring that horse down here.”
“What do you mean? We have to. She’ll die in the winds. You said so yourself; ‘No one up there will survive.’” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I couldn’t leave Cocoa up there alone to die. How could either one of us do that after all the hard work she had given us today. She trusted us. I couldn’t just leave her.
“Nicky, horses can’t live down here. They’re too big, too messy, too stinky,” he said and wrinkled up his nose.
“I don’t care, Marshal. She’ll fit down here.” I was starting to panic. I wanted to bring her down here but, as I looked around, I could see that he was right. There was no way a horse could fit down here let alone make it down the steep staircase. “We can’t just leave her...” My throat started to tighten and I could feel the tears take over my body. “Marshal we can’t...”
“Nicky, don’t cry.” He came to me and cautiously patted my back. “We’ll take off all her straps, shoot the gun so she’ll run away. If she makes it to the forest she’ll be fine. Lots of horses make it through the winds. They’re smart, they know what to do. I think Butcher’s had her for more than two 360s. She knows, Nicky. She’ll be fine.”
“But she trusts me,” I sobbed. Everything was closing in on me and I felt helpless and I hated it. “Marshal I can’t leave her.” Barker came to me and nuzzled himself into my arms and licked my face. I clung to him and let my tears fall. Marshal was uncomfortable and left us. I saw him go up the stairs and knew he was going to pull the straps from Cocoa’s back. I let him go, knowing I couldn’t look her in the eyes right now. I forgot about the stream and washing up and filling the water jugs. I got up and grabbed a sleeping bag from our new stash that we had just unloaded. I made my way to the empty room that Marshal had designated as mine. When I got there, I spread out the sleeping bag, lay down and closed my eyes. Barker curled up behind my legs and I tried hard not to think about Cocoa’s big brown eyes as I heard the shot of the gun ring through the air outside.
Chapter 4
The sound of the howling winds filled my ears. I stayed in the back room for as long as I could and Barker stayed with me. Once or twice Marshal came to check on me but he never said anything. I guess he just wanted to make sure I was still breathing. I slept off and on but my dreams were filled with nightmares. I kept hearing my father’s voice calling for me and my mother crying but when I woke up, no one was there. Barker would come and lick my face when this happened and I would hold him tight and slowly fall asleep again. About a day and a half later I could no longer lie there. I was stiff and sore from the hard floor and I really had to pee. I stumbled into the living room to find Marshal sitting on the couch with his feet up and reading a book.
&
nbsp; “Marshal?” I asked sleepily.
“Nicky, you’re awake!” He put the book down and got up to meet me. “Are you hungry? I can cook somethin’.”
“In a minute,” I said and then delicately asked. “Where can I go to the bathroom?”
“Oh, yeah, thought you might need to do that,” he said. “Follow me.” He led me down a short tunnel with an old red door blocking the end. He pulled the door aside and we entered a small room. There was a wooden plank covering what looked like a bench carved out of the wall. I looked and saw two holes cut out of the plank. I guess they were supposed to be the toilet seats. I lifted the plank and peeked down a hole so deep I couldn’t see the bottom. It was a little smelly but not too bad.
“I drilled holes to the top to air it out so it won’t smell so much,” he said, “and I put plenty of stuff in it to break it all down. I know it’s not real pretty but it works.”
“It’s nice and I can hardly smell anything.” I smiled. He thanked me and backed out of the room, putting the door back in place.
When I returned he had set the table and was opening a can of peaches. I knew it was a real treat for him to share his peaches. I smiled at him and went to sit at the table. I could hear the howl of the winds above and looked up to the ceiling. When I was lying in my sleeping bag I had been able to ignore the winds, pretending they were my mother singing a soft lullaby in my ear. Out here, the noise from above was a little hard to ignore and I wondered how it didn’t drive Marshal crazy or, at least, crazier than he already was.
“The wind’s loud, loud, loud down here,” he said as he poured peaches into my bowl. “You get used to it after awhile.”
“I don’t think I could ever like that noise,” I said. “It sounds so haunting, like ghosts running around up there.”
“Oh, I didn’t say you liked it, I said you get used to it.” He sat down opposite me and started eating crackers. Barker came and sat by me. He wasn’t begging; he just wanted to be near me.
“Barker, good boy.” I reached down and pat him behind his ears. “He probably needs a pee and some food and water.”
“Oh, no, Nicky, Barker ate earlier and he’s done his business,” he smiled and started patting the dog’s back. “I made a place for him to go to the bathroom and he’s been real good, like a kitty cat in a litter box.”
“He’s been up?” I had been sure he didn’t leave my side the whole time I was in my sleeping bag.
“Oh, yes but he always waited ‘til I came in to check on ya,” he said. “If you were sleepin’ he would come out, have a quick bite, do his business and then he would go back to you. He’s a faithful one all right. I like him, Nicky, and I’m glad ya found him.”
“Thank you, Marshal.” I stared at my bowl of peaches and then looked back at the yellow and green clad boy across from me. “Marshal, I need to apologize for my behaviour. I knew that there was no possible way Cocoa could come down here. It was selfish of me to think otherwise. It took more courage than I have to go and send her away and I admire you for that.”
“Nicky, I’ve been down here a long time and I’m used to doing what must be done.” He sounded so serious and I stared at him as he spoke. “It always hurts when you can’t save everyone but you have to go on. I’ve done it over and over again. People die down here, Nicky. It isn’t fair and it never will be. I try very hard to block my mind from all my hard decisions and sometimes it makes me a bit crazy but it will never make me a bad person because I still feel it all. It’s not courage that makes me do it; its reality.”
“Thank you, Marshal,” I said and reached across and squeezed his hand. He smiled awkwardly and I pulled my hand back not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. I could tell he wasn’t used to getting any kind of praise and I wondered what the people were like in this world. Did anyone show any compassion towards each other? It must be a lonely place, I thought as I picked up my spoon and started eating my peaches. I was famished.
“I think Cocoa will be okay, though,” he added. “She ran straight for the woods when I shot the gun. I think she knew what to do.” I hoped that he was right.
IT WAS NOW DAY FOUR of the winds and I was beginning to get a little stir crazy, no a lot stir crazy. There was nothing to do down here. I was a person born and raised in the tech age. I wasn’t used to going anywhere without my cell phone. Our house had more computers than TVs. If we wanted to watch a movie, we could do it on our laptops. In fact, our school had just approved bringing laptops to class and next year our text books were going to be downloaded onto ipads. So, when I didn’t bring so much as a book with me when I filled the trailer with life saving supplies, I had no idea how much I was going to regret it. Marshal, thank goodness, was from a different era and had jigsaw puzzles and old books but I was getting fidgety and my thumbs were itching to do something.
I sat at the table trying to figure out the sky pieces of a thousand piece puzzle picturing a farm on some prairie somewhere. It was driving me nuts because all the pieces looked the same. Marshal was doing the dirt road and I was mad because that part looked way easier than the sky. Barker lay at my feet, not even bothered that he hadn’t had fresh air for almost a week. I was mad at that too. He was a dog! He should be chomping at the bit to go outside for a walk or run around the fields chasing gophers! Instead he just lie there quietly like some rag dog. We had brought some cases of pop, my idea of course, and I sipped on a root beer that seemed to be making my stomach uncomfortable.
“When are these winds going to end, Marshal?” Even I could here the anger in my voice.
“They usually last a couple of weeks,” he didn’t look up from the puzzle, “sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.”
“Great!” It angered me that he had no idea how long anything was down here. He didn’t know how many hours it took to get here; he didn’t know how long the winds lasted. What else did he not know?
“Nicky, relax,” he said, fitting another piece. “This is quiet time. We can do whatever we like. There’s no work to do. We can sleep when we want, eat when we want and no one is trying to catch us or hurt us. This is good quiet time.”
“But, it’s so boring!” I got up from the table and stretched. I walked around the room, started to hum some Katy Perry song then stopped, frustrated by my own voice. “God, how do you stand it?”
“It’s not so bad, Nicky. Come and sit down; we can play cards.” He started to shuffle the deck of cards that always seemed to be on the table.
“No, I don’t want to play cards again!” I was whining now. “Isn’t there something else we...” There was a pounding on the trapdoor above our heads and I jumped because it scared the crap out of me. Barker jumped up and started barking and Marshal tried to shut him up.
“No, no, no Barker. Shhhh.” He reached down and tried to hold the dog back from the stairs. “We have to be quiet.”
“What is that?” I asked and for some reason I was ducking like the roof was going to cave in. “Is that the wind making that noise?”
“Marshal, are you down there?” It was a little kid’s voice and I looked at Marshal to see if he recognized it. He closed his eyes and pretended not to hear it.
“Do you know who that is?” I asked him.
“Just be quiet, Nicky,” he pleaded. “We can’t let him know we’re down here.”
“Marshal, please open the door!” The voice sounded desperate. “I don’t think I can hang on much longer.”
“Who is that, Marshal?” I went over to him and tried to keep Barker quiet. I wanted him to answer me. “Marshal, there’s someone out there, in this wind, and they’re calling for you. Who is it?”
“It’s Billy, Billy Walker,” he said. “H-he’s an old friend.”
“Then we should let him in,” I said and started towards the stairs.
“No, Nicky,” he ran to me, “we can’t open the door. The wind’ll grab it and tear it away. We can’t.”
“Please, Marshal!” The boy was crying now, loud gut-
wrenching sobs. “There’s a lady with me and I don’t think she’s gonna make it.”
“Come on, Marshal, we have to let them in,” I said. “This is different than Cocoa. These are people. We can’t leave them to die.”
“No, Nicky!”
“Marshal, if you won’t open that door, I will,” I said. “I’m not going to leave someone out there to die. I would never be able to live with myself knowing I could have saved someone.” He looked at me and knew there was no way he was going to change my mind. Finally, he nodded and I ran up the stairs and tried to open the trapdoor. I didn’t want to open it too far for fear the wind really would rip it off its hinges. I bent over and started to push with the back of my shoulders.
“My name is Nicky and I’m going to try to open the door,” I screamed through the howls. “I want you to be ready because I don’t want to open it too far. Is the woman able to come down on her own?”
“Who are you? Where’s Marshal?” The boy sounded unsure.
“Marshal’s here, Billy. You can trust me,” I screamed. “Now get ready.” I pushed with every muscle in my body and felt the door start to open. Cripes, were they right on top of it? Finally, I saw the outside. It was dark out and for a moment I was surprised that it was night. I figured it was still morning. Then I saw a hand reach through the crack. It was small and dirty and I grabbed it with my shaky fingers. “Marshal, I could use your help right now!”
“Okay, okay, but I don’t think this is a good idea Nicky.” He ran up the stairs behind me and helped push the door open a bit more. The wind seemed to thrash out at us like a whip and I had to hold my breath to keep it in my lungs. We both pulled the boy through the opening.
Wind Page 4