by C. A. Henry
Stevie followed her instincts and headed that way, thinking of a huge cedar thicket they’d passed. There! She ran directly into the aromatic trees, ignoring the branches slapping and scratching at her. Then she stopped and peeked through the limbs for a minute or two, and watched as her pursuer ran past, headed west. Not daring to feel relieved, she moved deeper into the green branches, and found a spot where she was completely hidden from sight. She hunkered down and crawled close to the trunk of one of the largest cedars, listening.
She knew she could have just shot the guy, but she had no idea whether he was alone or with a group. He could be a perfectly nice fellow who’d just wanted to ask for help or directions, or a serial rapist, for all she knew. He might have been intent on taking her pack, her gun, or her life. There was no way to know, so she hid, and stayed still for what seemed like hours.
Finally, she heard the pounding of someone’s feet on the forest floor. The unknown person stopped, and it was quiet for a few moments, then whoever it was headed off to the south.
For a supposedly uninhabited area along the river, this sure is a busy place, Stevie fumed. I need to pee, but I’m afraid I’ll get interrupted mid-stream!
She waited, and when she saw the sun beginning to sink behind the trees, she found a spot and emptied her bladder. The relief was tremendous, and she smiled.
Chapter Sixteen
January 8 – the little studio
“Jeff, stop pacing! You’re supposed to be resting, but instead, you’re driving me nuts!” Helen turned back to stare out the window in the direction Stevie had gone early that morning.
“You have no room to talk. You’re worried about her, too, and don’t try to deny it. Except for the time you spent trapping our dinner, you’ve spent the whole day looking out windows, watching for her. We both know she should have been back by now.”
Helen signed. “I know. I’m sorry for snapping at you. Isn’t it odd? You’ve only known her a few days, and I’ve only known her a little longer, but somehow, she’s important to both of us. I feel the same way about you, and I’ve never been one to let strangers get close.”
“I think it’s the situation. Maybe when people are in danger or are scared, they need other people more. Lots of people fall in love and get married during wars. I’m sure psychologists have a name for it, but it seems like we form strong feelings more quickly in hard times.”
“Well, whatever the reason, I’d be devastated if anything happened to either of you. You’re family now, and I mean that. I just wish she was back.”
“I’m feeling stronger today. I could go look for her,” Jeff suggested.
“No. Where would you even look? We know what direction she went when she left, but she could be anywhere now. I don’t think I could handle it if both of you were out there and I had to stay here. Besides, it’s going to be full dark soon.”
“Okay, but maybe one of us should go outside and check the perimeter. I need to take a potty break anyway, so I’ll go have a look around while I’m out there.”
“I need to go, too, so how about you go to the east side of the cabin, and I’ll go west. Be quiet and alert, but I think we should check things out a little.”
They put on their jackets and handguns, then Helen stepped out first. All was silent, so she moved off to the right, and Jeff came out, going left. Peering around the corner of the little cabin, Helen strained to see in the dusky light. Nothing moved, so she headed into the trees,
She used the heel of her boot to gouge a shallow hole and the thought crossed her mind that using the great outdoors as a toilet was something she gotten used to. She accomplished her task, and as she stood up, heard a tiny rustle behind a tree about three yards away.
“Pssssst! Helen! Don’t move.” It was Stevie’s voice, hissing the urgent warning. Helen froze, with only her eyes in motion, checking her surroundings for a threat.
Moments passed. Helen hoped that Jeff didn’t draw attention to himself. He might be unaware of the danger, whatever it was. They waited, barely breathing, then Helen heard a masculine voice muttering curses just north of her.
In the minutes that had passed between Stevie’s warning and the cursing, the sun had dropped just enough to make the woods almost completely dark. The cursing stopped abruptly with, “Ah, there you are!”
Helen sensed movement, but before she could react, a skinny young man appeared in front of her. She couldn’t see his face, but he grabbed her arm and began speaking so rapidly she had trouble understanding him.
“You shouldn’t have run from me, Noelle. I just wanted to be nice to you, and you ran away. Now I’ve spent half a day chasing after you. This isn’t a game, you know. Now come back to camp, you stupid girl. You’re going to be sorry you messed with me.”
He grabbed her other arm, just as the cloud that had been covering the moon drifted away. Helen looked up in time for the light to hit her face, and the man shook her.
“You’re not Noelle! Who are you? What did you do with her? You hid her, didn’t you?” He raised an arm to strike Helen, who struggled to break free, but before he could hit her, something crashed into the back of his skull. He dropped to the ground.
Stevie stood there, staring at the man. She held an oblong stone, pointed at one end, then let it fall from her fingers. It hit the man in the side of the neck, but he never moved.
Helen bent and felt for a pulse, then glanced up at Stevie and shook her head. The man was dead.
“Let’s go, kid. Let’s get inside, and you can tell me what that was about.”
Hustling the girl into the cabin, Helen saw that Jeff was already back, looking worried and like he was about to start asking questions. She gave her head a tiny shake, and he got the message. He perched on the edge of the bed and gave Stevie a little smile.
“We were getting worried. Glad to see you back.”
Stevie just stared at him for a few seconds, then shook her head. “Jeff, I bet you’re wondering how my trip went. As soon as I get warm and have a chance to eat, I’ll tell you a story. It has a happy ending for me and Helen, but not for the guy I just killed out there.”
Chapter Seventeen
January 8, the studio
Stevie sat quietly, chewing her last bite of squirrel. Helen and Jeff had already finished and were waiting patiently for her to tell them about her day.
She looked up at the ceiling, took a big breath, and let it out slowly. Then, making eye contact with Helen, she began at the beginning.
She told them about the barn and the house, the wagon tracks and the horses. She described the rooms of the house and how she discovered that her guesses about the family were correct.
She told them she’d discovered inner tubes, but some mischievous imp inside her made her neglect to mention the unicorn floatie. Then she explained why it had taken her so long to get back.
“I heard him yelling at me, but it took a while to figure out what he was yelling. It finally hit me that he was calling me “Noelle” and chasing after me like he knew me. I ran. I hid, then ran some more. I’d see him head off in another direction, but every time I thought I’d lost him, he’d show up again. It was weird, but he just kept turning up. Maybe he knew where I was the whole time and was toying with me. I hid in some thick cedars for a long time, but I heard him coming. He headed right for me, so I slipped out in another direction, and I still couldn’t shake him.
“I didn’t head toward this place until I was desperate. I knew I couldn’t keep going much longer and I needed help. I thought I’d finally lost him, but when you two came out the door, I heard him moving toward you.
“I figured you were going to use the “facilities” and would be armed, but I wasn’t positive, so I stayed quiet. When he grabbed you, Helen, I almost froze, but by that time, he was pretty mad, so I grabbed that rock….”
Helen put her arm around the girl as the reality of the man’s death hit. Stevie didn’t cry; she began to shake, as the shock of the day’s events
hit her.
In just a few moments, though, she straightened. “There wasn’t any food in that house. I checked all the cabinets. The pantry was empty, too. I’m sorry that part of the assignment wasn’t fulfilled. If that guy hadn’t come after me, I would have had the chance to check out a few of the neighboring farms. Instead, I spent the day running.”
Jeff cleared his throat. “I’m proud of you, Stevie. You kept your head and didn’t panic or do anything stupid. It was smart not to shoot him. A shot might have brought more trouble than we could handle.”
“That’s what I was thinking. If I’d gotten desperate enough, I would have shot him, but mostly I was just trying to stay ahead and not lead him back here. All day, though, I didn’t see or hear anyone else in the woods.”
Helen nodded. “I wonder where the camp he mentioned might be. If we had some idea, we could go see if he left anything behind that we can use.”
“Yeah, but where would we even start? There’s no telling how far or which direction it is, and, well, I think he was a little delusional. He thought I was Noelle, then he thought you were Noelle. I kinda wonder if there really is a girl named Noelle at all. Maybe he just imagined her.”
“Well, it’s over, I hope,” Jeff interjected. “He can’t hurt us now. I just hope he didn’t have any delusional friends out there who might find his body and come looking for the person who’s responsible. If they find him, they’ll see the studio, too, and we’ll be sitting ducks.”
Helen and Stevie exchanged a look, then Helen spoke up. “Do you feel up to moving again? We might need to move to the house Stevie found. We have to go there, anyway, to get the inner tubes. Help me think this through. What are the pros and cons of moving?”
Nobody said anything for a minute, then Stevie commented, “It’s a nice house, with plenty of beds, but it’s also a little more visible than this studio. We’d have more comfort, but we might need to stand guard. I haven’t said anything about it, but I think we probably should have been standing guard here. We’ve gotten too relaxed about our safety.”
“You’re right. How secure is the house?” Jeff asked.
“As secure as this, except the back door was kicked in. It can’t be locked anymore. Plus, all the other buildings make good places for someone to hide and jump us, if we get careless.”
“So, if that guy didn’t have any friends, we’re good here, but if he did, we might not be. If we move, we can’t be sure we’re safe, either. I think it’s a toss-up,” Jeff concluded.
“Yeah,” Helen agreed. “What if tomorrow, we drag his body further into the woods, and either bury it or cover it up with leaves or something? Cover up any drag marks, and hope nobody comes looking for him?”
“I think I could use some sleep before I offer any more opinions. I’m dead tired after being hunted all day. We can’t do anything until morning, anyway.”
“Okay, I’ll take first watch. That’ll consist of listening and peeking out windows every so often. Helen, I’ll wake you when I can’t stay awake anymore.”
“Just remember you need rest to heal. Don’t try to be ‘noble’ and stand watch all night so we can sleep.”
Jeff grinned. “I won’t. You are two of the strongest women I’ve ever met. I wouldn’t dare treat you like lesser beings.”
Chapter Eighteen
January 11, the studio and the farmhouse
A few days later, Stevie sat staring out through a slit they’d left open in the shutters on the big rear window of the studio. Jeff had awakened Helen during the night, and later, Helen had nudged Stevie to take the final couple of hours of guard duty before daylight.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon as Stevie let her eyes go out of focus. It was a trick her uncle had taught her, to just stare off into the distance. It allowed her to catch movement she might have missed otherwise.
There was nothing. A tiny breeze moved a few leaves occasionally, but the morning was almost entirely still. It was so quiet it seemed almost spooky. Unlike the day before, there wasn’t any fog, and Stevie could see into the woods. She was fairly sure there was nobody around.
Jeff stirred, then sat up. Seeing Stevie, he grinned, nodded, then whispered, “How about I run to town and bring back three cappuccinos?”
Stevie stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s cruel, Jeff. Just cruel.”
Helen turned over and gave them a mock glare. “What does a person have to do to get some sleep around here?” she asked, then came to her feet. “Did I hear someone mention cappuccino?”
Jeff shook his head. “You musta been dreaming. So, what’s on the agenda for today? Should we go to the house and get the inner tubes, or should we move there until we’re ready to cross the river?”
“That river is going to be too swift to cross, if there was as much rain upstream the other day as we got here, Helen warned. “I don’t think crossing the river is something we should attempt if the water is up, but we can’t wait forever, either. The longer we wait, the colder it will get, and our food supplies will run out. We need to figure out how we’ll do it, too. Would it be safer to tie the tubes together? Should we try to cross one at a time? I’ve never done this before, and my mind finds things wrong with every scenario I can think up.”
Jeff glanced at Stevie, then said, “I think we need some type of paddles or oars. Even if the river is slow, it still moves faster than people realize. Do we even have enough rope to tie the tubes together? And do we want to put all our eggs, and lives, into one floating basket? If we’re tied together and something goes wrong, we’re all going down.”
“Helen, where’s that map of Mississippi?” Stevie asked. “I think I might have seen something on there that would help.”
Helen went to her pack and dug out the folded atlas pages. She found the two pages that showed Mississippi, and spread them on the table, lining the torn edges up to show the whole state.
Stevie examined it, then turned to Jeff. “Do you have any idea where you were along the river when we found you, or were you as lost as we were?”
“I know I was south of Refuge, probably about seven or eight miles. I saw a sign for a small community called Wayside, and I was north of that. Does that help?”
Stevie ran her finger along the river, locating both of the towns he’d mentioned. “Yes! That helps. At least, I hope it does. We overheard some men talking about going to Refuge, and they headed upstream, so that confirms that we were somewhere along here. Look,” she told them, pointing. “There’s an island in the river. I don’t know if it’s solid, or if it changes shape when the river floods, but wouldn’t it help by breaking the crossing into two smaller parts? We could cross to the island, regroup as needed, then cross into Arkansas.”
Helen nodded. “We have quite a lot of rope and paracord, but I doubt it would be enough to reach all the way across the river. What if we have enough to reach to the island?”
Jeff straightened up and got a distant expression, thinking hard. “Yeah,” he drawled. “We could tie the rope to a tree, then one of us could cross to the island and find something to tie it off there. Then the next person could cross by pulling themselves along the rope. The last person could untie it from the tree and tie it to the tube, and the other two could reel her in.”
“Her? Why do you assume one of us girls will be the last one across?” Stevie demanded.
Jeff started to answer, but Helen cut him off. “She’s right. You don’t need to be paddling with that injury, and you can’t pull yourself very easily, either so you are the logical one to go last, Jeff. Don’t argue. The last thing we need is for you to tear your cut open again. You need to swallow your male pride and accept that for now, you’re going to have to be careful.”
Jeff seemed to deflate. “I know. You’re right, but it goes against the grain to let the womenfolk do the heavy lifting. So, we get to the island, then repeat the process for the second leg of the crossing. Of course, it all depends on the island. If the river is up, it may
be submerged. I don’t really know the moods of the Mississippi, but I remember reading books as a kid that said the river has sandbars and islands, but changes constantly.”
“We’ll worry about that when we get there. This is something we’ll have to see about before we make a final decision,” Helen reminded them. “First, we need to see about getting the tubes to the river. I’m hoping we find out that the river isn’t up or flowing fast. Maybe they didn’t get rain north of here. Let’s eat a bite and talk about a more detailed plan for the day.”
~~~~
Helen looked around the studio, checking for anything they had forgotten. A decision had been made to go to the farmhouse. Since it would take all of them to carry the tubes, they had to take everything with them, because there’d be no one to guard it.
They left the little cabin one at a time, slipping out and running at a crouch into the woods, and maintained some distance from each other as Stevie led the way to the farm compound. She moved from tree to tree, scanning and listening, and her companions did the same.
Stevie stopped behind a cedar across the yard from the house. Motioning for her friends to join her, she watched and waited for several minutes.
“We can go in through the back door and clear the house like they did on TV cop shows. The inner tubes are in the garage, so once we’re inside, we don’t have to come out until we’re ready to head to the river.”
Jeff shook his head a little. “I think we should check for any hidden supplies, a root cellar, or a secret room.”
Helen snorted. “You must have watched a lot of zombie movies. I don’t think you’ll find any secrets here. Ordinary folks don’t have secret rooms in their houses.”