Scorched

by Theresa Shaver

  “There’s one here for you too. Just let me get this down and I’ll take over so you can eat.”

  He gives me a small smile of gratitude before focusing ahead out the front windows. I’m about to take a bite of my breakfast when I feel a tug on my sleeve. I turn to Glo and see the sadness and uncertainty in her eyes.

  “What happened? Where’s Abuela?”

  I take that bite of food to stall for time and look out at the slowly passing desert. The sun is just starting to rise on a new day. A day that will change Gloria’s life forever. I try and think of the words to explain to her that her home and the only mother she’s ever known is gone for good but the food sticks in my throat with the grief that washes over me. When she tugs at my sleeve again, I grab the jug of water and wash down the sticky mess.

  “A gang came to the house to steal everything. They had a gun. Abuela...she...she saved me, us. She gave her life so we could get away.”

  Gloria looks down at the wrap in her hand with a frown then back to me. “Will she be following us? Is she going to meet up with us later?”

  I swallow hard and briefly close my eyes, hating to say the words but knowing I have to tell her so she’ll understand. “I’m sorry, Glo. She...she died.”

  Gloria sucks in a breath at the words and I see tears spring into her eyes. “But, where are we going then?”

  I shoot a look over at Beck but his eyes stay fixed ahead. Even so, I can see the shame that he’s feeling. I want to be angry at him. Rage at him for what his brother has done but all I feel is sadness so I turn back to her.

  “We’re going to a better place. A place Abuela wanted us to go to. It’s very far away and it will be a hard journey but it will be worth it.”

  Her little chin trembles as she nods her head but I can’t think of anything else to say to her to make this better. I let her go as she takes her wrap and moves to the far end of the bench to watch out the front windows. I look down at my own wrap but my appetite is gone and once again the taste of smoke and ash fills the back of my throat. I shake my head to try and get the image of Abuela surrounded by flames out of my mind but it doesn’t work. Instead, I wrap my food back up into the paper and cloth it was packed in and stand up, motioning Beck to trade spots with me. I need some mindless physical action to clear my head. I pump in silence as I try and do the math of how far we need to go. Abuela just said hundreds of miles. I don’t know if that means two hundred or eight hundred. I’ll have to look over the maps in the messenger bag when I trade back with Beck. I remember her talking about three junctions and to take the third so I call out to Glo.

  “I need you to watch the tracks for anything on them so we have time to stop. Also, watch closely for the tracks to split off in a different direction! We must take the third junction. It’s very important we don’t miss it!”

  She doesn’t turn back to me but I see her head nod so I leave her be. Grief is a beast that sometimes needs to be faced alone. With Glo watching the tracks for me, I put my head down and lose myself in the rhythmic pumping, every now and then raising my eyes to the gauge that shows our speed. I find the easiest speed for me to maintain is between ten and twelve miles an hour. I try and calculate how far we can go in how many days before our water runs out at this speed. I need to look at the rail map for the exact distance to do the calculations. If we run out of water before we get to the place called Coyote Rock, we won’t have any for the part of the journey we have to go on foot. All the pumping in the world won’t matter then. We’ll be in the middle of the desert and dead.

  Chapter Twelve

  Boyd Baker grits his teeth against the nausea sloshing around in his stomach. He refuses to let his men know how sick and fearful he is of riding in this death machine. He had waved Marco into the driver’s seat once they were ready to go because he didn’t have the first idea of how to work the vehicle and he didn’t want the two men laughing at him. It was clear from the start that Marco was just as clueless causing the machine to lurch ahead and slam to a stop. Once he got the hang of it though, they had picked up speed and the motion was causing Boyd to feel sick and scared. He had never ridden in anything that moved before and even the twenty-five miles an hour speed was terrifying to him.

  Marco swerved sharply to avoid a clump of sage brush, sending Boyd flying hard into the passenger door and the contents of his stomach into his throat. They were driving beside the old railroad tracks on the hard-packed sands that the oversized tires handled well. The hot sun was high in the sky so Boyd assumed it was around noon. They had started hitting houses first thing in the morning and had cleaned out quite a few when one of his men remembered that Silvia was a friend to Claudia’s family. The information he had gotten out of her was going to change his life. The way he figured it, the girl had only one reason to head east deeper into the desert and that was to get the gold her grandfather had mined. It was the only thing that would give her and her sister a shot at a new life somewhere else. There was nowhere else to the east for her to go. All the major cities were death traps filled with gangs and bandits that had crossed over from Mexico when the government had abandoned the lower states. She wouldn’t risk taking a small child into any of them so it had to be the gold she was after.

  As the hot sun burned down on him, he dreamed about what it would be like to have enough gold for passage over the wall. He had heard whispers and soft-spoken rumors of cool weather and endless lakes of water. Not one day of his life had he felt anything but hot, sticky, and sweaty. He planned to change all that. He deserved more than this dry, dusty heat-scape and he was going to get it no matter who stood in his way.

  He figured the girl and his coward of a brother had an eighteen-hour lead on him but they would only be traveling at half the speed of the dune buggy so they should catch up to them in under a day. Just then, the wheels on his side hit a half-buried rock sending him flying into the air only to slam his head against the roll bar. He dropped back down half into his seat and then forward causing his arm and face to slam into the hard-plastic dash when Marco slammed on the brakes. The wounds on his arm and face screamed out in pain from the contact making him let out a roar of rage. He was ready to call this journey a wash and return to town when the burning fire of vengeance reared its ugly head, reminding him of how he was wounded in the first place.

  He sat fuming while Pete reached around him from the back seat and pulled a belt across his lap and buckled him in. He would find them and when he did he would make them pay, in so many ways!

  Chapter Thirteen

  I pump for what feels like hours but judging from the height of the sun it’s only around noon. The small cart’s insufferable with heat and my shoulders and arms burn in pain like they never have before. The sweat dripping down my face stings my eyes and when I turn my head to rub it against the already sweat damp shoulder of my shirt, I see a flash of green. At first I don’t know what it means. My eyes are blurry from the sweat that’s dripped into them so I can’t make out the words on the label under the green light so I step away from the handle and lean closer. The words come clear for my tired eyes and I let out a groan of relief. “Engine charged” might be the sweetest words on earth right now. My arm’s wobbly with exhaustion when I reach out and stab the button but I’m smiling as I feel the cart pick up speed that didn’t come from my pumping.

  “Whoa! What’s happening?” Beck asks in concern.

  I turn to him and breathe the words out. “The engine is charged. No more pumping for a few hours.”

  “There’s an engine?” he asks.

  I just nod and turn to the closest window. Now that I’m not pumping my mind can focus on the next problem. It’s so hot in the car that we’ve all been guzzling water like crazy. If we keep going at the rate of the last few hours then we won’t make it more than a few days before we’re out. There has to be a way to get air moving to cool the inside and us down. I run my hands around the frame of the window looking for a latch of some kind but all I find is two
raised metal stubs on either side of the top of the frame that move towards the middle of the window but every time I push one it just bounces back without doing anything.

  I feel Beck move behind me and his arms come around me on both sides causing me to tense and get ready to slam my elbow back into his stomach as hard as I can. What does he think he’s doing getting in my personal space? I brace myself to swing back when I see the window drop down an inch and my mouth drops open.

  “You have to squeeze them together at the same time for it to lower.” He says against the side of my ear. His breath feels cool against my sweat dampened hair and a pleasant shiver runs down my spine, causing me to elbow him away anyway, just not as hard as I had originally planned. I tuck my lips in together to stop the smile that wants to form when I hear him let out an “oomph” from the blow and feel him back off.

  I reach up and squeeze the springs together like he said and glide the window down as far as it will go. When I turn around and see the hurt frown on his face, I shrug.

  “Thanks for the help. I just don’t like anyone in my space. Can you do that side of the cart?”

  He gives me a disgruntled nod and rolls his eyes but I can see the small spark of humor in them so I just turn away and work on opening all the windows on my side of the cart. When I get to the front, I stand for a moment behind Glo and search for words to comfort her. Other than drinking from the jug, she hasn’t moved from her spot at the front window since this morning. At a loss for words, I finally just reach around her and pull her gently back against me. She stays stiff for a moment but then lets herself melt back into me.

  We stay like that for a few minutes before I turn her around to face me.

  “I have some things from Abuela that I’d like to share with you but first we need to make some decisions about...” I nod my head back towards our stowaway.

  A tiny grin forms on her lips and she leans to the side to peek past me at him before ducking back.

  “I like him! He’s really nice and it’s fun to have a boy around.”

  I snort out a laugh at that. Living in a house of females has shielded her from all the annoying traits of “boys”. But she is right, he does seem to be nice so far and I have to admit, this whole crazy journey seems more manageable with another semi adult to share the load. I let out a sigh and muss up her hair.

  “Well, let’s go see what the boy has to say for himself!”

  She smiles but shakes her head. “You go. I have to watch the tracks so we don’t hit anything and I’m still watching for them to split like you said.”

  I lean down and plant a smacking kiss on the top of her head. “I knew I could count on you! I’ll take over in a little while so you can rest your eyes.” She bobs her head and spins around to go back to her watch.

  I turn to talk to Beck about his plans but the words catch in my throat when I see him with his head stuck out one of the windows. His eyes are closed against the wind our increased speed has created and I try not to laugh at the way his shaggy hair is whipping all around. It’s then that I realize that the temperature in the cart has dropped. It’s not cool by any means but it’s definitely more bearable than the hot box it was. I take a few steps towards him and give a yank on his shirt to bring him back inside. When his head pops back in, the grin on his face is one I recognized from our childhood. It’s the first time I see my old friend in him.

  “This is amazing! We’re going so fast! I’ve never been in anything that moves with this kind of speed before. Can you imagine what it must have been like back when there were cars and trucks that went even faster? Or the sky trains? I read about them in a book once. That would be so incredible to fly through the air like that!”

  I just stand there with a dumb grin on my face as memories of this boy come flashing back to me. I always loved how excited he would get about the things he would read about in his books. He would jabber at me constantly about technical marvels or faraway places with strange names, foods, and customs. He always said we would travel to those places when we grew up. And here we are, my old friend and I running away from home together.

  “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, as the excitement dims from his face.

  I just shake my head. “Hi Beck, it’s good to see you again.”

  His face fills with sadness and his eyes cast down to the floor. “Día, I’m sorry. Boyd would have found a way to hurt you. It was his mission in life to take everything good away from me. I didn’t want to see you hurt so when he shoved you that day, I had to stop being your friend for your own protection.” His eyes lift to meet mine. “It sucked not having you as my friend all these years. I missed you.”

  I feel a sting of tears at the back of my eyes. The truth is, I missed him too. I never really had anyone to talk to after that day. As much as I loved Glo and Abuela, sometimes you just need a friend. I clear my throat and shove the feelings of loneliness away. I need to think about the here and now. The bottom line is, he’s not my friend now and I don’t know if I can trust him yet.

  “We need to talk about where you’re going.”

  He gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, when and where you’re going to get off this cart.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I ignore the hurt that floods into his eyes and take a seat on the bench so I can put the messenger bag on my lap. I open it up and thumb through the envelopes and other papers in it until I come to the rail map. I pull it out and unfold it until I can find our town and then fold it back up into a manageable size. My eyes lift to his and I nod my head to the bench beside me. He sits slowly but doesn’t say anything to answer my question so I put half the map on both our laps and point to our town.

  “This is where we started. There are three junctions ahead of us you can choose from that lead to what used to be major cities. There will be people in them and a chance for you to start over somewhere new.”

  He leans over the map and studies it before asking in a small voice, “Which one are you guys going to?”

  I shake my head and try to ignore the guilt his tone makes me feel. “None of them.”

  He leans away from the map and looks at me but I keep my gaze down like I’m still studying the map.

  “You have somewhere to go? You have a destination in mind?” he asks.

  I nod again and then bite my lip when he asks in that same small voice, “Can’t I come with you guys?”

  I finally lift my eyes to meet his and wish I hadn’t.

  “Why?” I choke out when I see the desperate loneliness in them. “Why do you want to come with us? You could go anywhere. Be anyone. Start fresh.”

  He turns his head away and I see his jaw tighten. My questions hang in the air between us for a good five minutes before all the air leaves his lungs in a rush. When he turns to me there are tears welled up in his eyes but his expression is angry.

  “I’m tired. I’m tired of being alone. I have no family that cares for me, no friends, and now I have no home! The only friend I ever had was you so is it so hard for you to understand that I don’t want to go anywhere or be anyone all by myself? I just don’t want to be alone anymore! If you really hate me that much then close your eyes and pick a spot on the map and that’s where I’ll get off!”

  I can feel my jaw hanging open at his tirade. I’m at a loss for words at the sheer amount of pain this boy is living with. I have no idea how to respond but the decision is taken out of my hands when a small hand reaches past me and rests against his cheek.

  “We don’t have a home anymore either and our family died yesterday. We don’t have to be alone. We can be a family together. Día and I would love if you came with us Beck.”

  When I see a lone tear break free and run down his face, I know I’m lost. This broken boy will be coming with us. I swallow down the shame I feel for adding to his pain and clear my throat.

  “Well, I guess I should tell you both where we’re going then.”
>
  Glo hops up and down and yells, “Yay!” while Beck works at getting his composure back with a tentative, grateful nod.

  I pull out the faded pictures and lay them on top of the map. “This is my Grandfather’s secret garden. He was a prospector in the Mohave’s Black Mountains in Arizona. He found it hidden away on one of his trips and built a house there for Abuela and him to live in. She didn’t want to live in a place so far away and isolated with a small baby so no one but him has ever been there. There is a natural spring that feeds a tall waterfall that created a small pool and stream that flows through the valley. She said that you can grow crops there and that there are lots of wildlife to hunt for meat.” I look at them both and sigh. “I don’t know if it’s there. All I have to go on is what she said, these three pictures and an old map. We could be going to our deaths if it’s not there but I don’t have any other ideas on where to go.”

  Glo picks up the picture of the waterfall and studies it closely. “I’ve never seen this much water in one place before!”

  I smile a sad smile. “None of us have, sweetie. We haven’t seen a lake, a stream or any type of natural body of water. The only water I’ve ever seen in my whole life has been what came out of the pump on our well.”

  She looks up with a beaming smile. “I want to see this, please!”

  I take the picture back from her and look at it again. “So do I but we can’t know for sure if it’s really there. This picture was taken over thirty years ago. That water might be long dried up like the rest. The question is, do we take a chance on our lives that it’s still there or try and go somewhere else?”

  I glance over at Beck, who hasn’t said anything yet, and see him studying the other two pictures. He must feel my eyes on him because he looks up and asks, “Why can’t we check it out and if it’s gone dry then try for somewhere else?”