Sanctuary

by Courtney McPhail

  Hannah came running over to her a big grin on her face, Jackson and Audrey trailing behind her. “Guess what? Jackson said I could pick our cabin.”

  Well, there it was. Jackson had obviously made his decision to keep the girls with him. At least she could steer Quinton and Claudia to pick a cabin near whatever one Hannah picked.

  “Elaine said some of them have bunk beds. I want one with bunk beds.”

  “I get the top,” Audrey called out and Hannah pursed her lips in annoyance.

  “I want the top!” she huffed out.

  “Really?” Audrey asked, feigning surprise, “But what if you roll off of it in the middle of the night? That would be a long fall.”

  “I could roll out?” Hannah asked, her annoyance disappearing as her voice filled with worry.

  “Sure and then you’d fall and BAM!” Audrey smacked her hand in the palm of the other one. “You crack your head open, blood and brains everywhere.”

  Hannah’s eyes widened and she swallowed hard. “Never mind, I don’t want the top no more.”

  “Don’t scare your sister,” Veronica admonished but that only earned her an exaggerated eye roll from Audrey.

  Though her warning wasn’t needed as Hannah was quick to get her smile back and she grabbed Veronica’s hand.

  “Do you want a bunk bed in your room?” Hannah asked, “Because I don’t know if there is cabin with two bunk beds and I really want one.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Squirt. You can have your bunk bed. I think I’m going to stay with Claudia and Quinton.”

  “What?” Audrey cried out, rounding on her, upset plain on her face. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong, Aud,” Veronica reassured the girl with a smile.

  “Then why are you ditching us?” Audrey demanded. “Jackson said that we were all going to live together and now you’re bailing.”

  “Hey, that ain’t fair,” Jackson said, coming to her defence with the girl. “If she wants to be with her family, ya can’t blame her.”

  “I thought we were a family,” Audrey said, pressing her lips into a frown.

  “Yeah,” Hannah added, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

  Veronica could see how much the idea of her being anywhere else was upsetting them. It upset her too. Jackson had told the girls that they would all live together, so he clearly didn’t want to ditch her. Looked like her choice was already made.

  “You’re right,” Veronica said. “Just let me get my things.”

  “Got ‘em here,” Jackson said, holding up her pack along with his own.

  “Looks like you’ve got it sorted,” Quinton said. “Hey, Jax, word of warning, she always hogs the hot water. Try to shower before her if you don’t want your nuts to freeze off.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Jackson replied, the corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, “And if she starts bein’ a pain in my ass, I’ll send her over to yer place.”

  “No way, she’s your problem now,” Quinton replied.

  She knew that the two of them had buried the hatchet out on the road but it seemed like somehow they had actually become friends. She had thought if they got along it would be easier on her but she had been wrong. Apparently it just made them want to pick on her together.

  “You know I am standing right here,” she said, glaring at both of them but they just kept smiling at her. “Whatever.”

  She spun on her heel and left them to laugh after her as she walked over to where Elaine was handing out directions and keys. The girls were pouring over one of the pamphlets with Claudia and as she approached, Hannah waved her over eagerly.

  “Veronica, we picked The Gull,” she told her, pointing at the cabin’s location on the map. “It’s got three bedrooms and Elaine said one of them has bunk beds.”

  “It hasn’t been cleaned out yet,” Elaine told her, “But all the furniture is covered so it’s only a bit of dusting and sweeping to get them habitable. Oh and you’ll have to turn on the hot water heater in the bathroom. It doesn’t take too long to heat up though.”

  “There’s also a two bedroom cabin next to it,” Claudia told her, holding up a set of keys. “I figure Quinton and I can stay there.”

  Despite being annoyed at her brother at the moment, she still liked the idea of both of her siblings being near. Plus, it would make it easier to sneak over and use up all of Quinton’s hot water before he showered.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  She accepted the keys from Elaine and the girls tore off down the path in the direction of the cabin.

  Veronica was about to call out to them to come back but she realized that she didn’t have to worry about the girls being out of her sight here. They could run and play without fear of freaks.

  She turned back towards Quinton and Jackson. “Come on, you jokers, let’s go.”

  The four of them set off down the path, following after the girls. Trees lined the path on both sides until it curved towards the edge of the island and the trees gave way on one side to reveal the sandy shore.

  The water was calm, stretching towards the horizon like smooth glass and Veronica found her steps slowing so she could appreciate the view. The way the water met the sky made it seem that there was nothing beyond the blue and for a moment she could pretend that the world outside the island was gone. All the awful things they had seen had happened in another world, one far away from the one they were in now.

  But she knew it was a pipedream. Danger was still out there and though they had a lake between them and the freaks, they still had to be vigilant.

  She picked up her pace as the path curved back towards the interior of the island where a shaded clearing where two cabins stood.

  They were made of the same rough-hewn logs as the lodge, looking at home next to the backdrop of oak trees. Windows with faded curtains flanked the front doors and the thin metal chimneys poking out of their roofs gave them a quaint appearance. She could imagine the families that had come here to enjoy their summer vacations. They had probably sat on the porch in the evenings enjoying the breeze off the lake while their children chased fireflies in the clearing.

  The girls were standing on the porch of the larger cabin, holding open the screen door as they tried to open the locked door behind it. Hannah had her hands around the doorknob and looked back at them with exasperation.

  “Hurry up!” she called out. “You gotta unlock it.”

  “Relax, Squirt, we’re comin’,” Jackson said and bounded up the steps to the porch and slid the key home. He pushed open the door and the girls dashed inside.

  “Hold up, could be anythin’ in there!”

  He followed them inside and the screen door snapped closed behind him.

  Veronica looked over at Quinton and found him staring back at her and she knew he remembered that sound too. The cabin they had grown up in had the same screen door and the sound of it snapping closed was a familiar noise from their childhood.

  “Like we’ve come back home, huh?” Quinton said and she reached out to rub his arm, her throat suddenly constricting and making it difficult for her to speak.

  A loud sneeze echoed from inside the cabin and a moment later one of the windows opened and she saw Jackson through the screen.

  “Place’s dusty as shit,” he told them. “Ain’t nobody been in these things in at least a year.”

  “Guess we’re gonna have to get more dirty before we can take those showers,” Claudia quipped.

  “Worth it if there’s hot water,” Quinton replied. “Come on, let’s check out our new place.”

  Quinton and Claudia headed over to the smaller cabin and Veronica climbed the steps up to explore her new home.

  Dust motes danced in the air and her nose started to itch as she stepped into the main room of the cabin. The walls and ceiling were natural pine that kept up the rustic theme of the exterior. A wood stove stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by furniture that was covered in large dust cove
rs. The floors were also covered in large drop cloths that had footprints from the others in the layer of settled dust.

  The bedrooms and bathroom were at the rear of the cabin, all their doors opening into the main room. She could hear the girls in one of the rooms, giggling and sneezing in equal measure and she walked over to peek in on them.

  A dust cloth was piled up on the floor around the bunk bed that took up most of the room. It was constructed of the same wood as the cabin, making it appear as if it was coming out of the wall. Twin mattresses covered in plastic were on each bunk and the girls were laying on them, testing out their new beds.

  “Veronica, look at our bed!” Hannah said. “It’s awesome!”

  “It is.” She was happy to see the girls enjoying themselves.

  “Can we take the plastic off?” Hannah said, rubbing a hand over the protective cover that had kept the dust off the mattress. Hannah’s hand came up black and she made a gross face and tried to wipe it clean on her jeans.

  “Think we should wait until we’ve cleaned everything first,” she replied. “Come on, I’ve got some rags in my pack we can use to wipe everything down.”

  Jackson had pulled the dust covers off the furniture to reveal a large couch and two armchairs that faced the woodstove and a table and chairs beneath one of the windows.

  “Tossed the dust cloths outside,” he said. “Figure we can shake ‘em out and then put ‘em over the front windows. At night, anybody out on the water’ll see the lights clear as day.”

  He was right. You could make out the lake through the windows and while it was a beautiful view, it would prove dangerous at night. Any light in the cabin would be a beacon marking the island.

  She spotted the twins tearing up the path, followed by Nas and Malcolm, who had Ruthie in his arms. The twins were wearing shorts and had towels around their shoulders and they shot towards the cabin calling out Hannah’s name.

  “Uncle Malcolm and Nas are gonna take us swimming,” Matthew cried out. “Get your towel and let’s go!”

  “Figured we’d pick up the girls and take them to the cove, if you don’t mind,” Malcolm said.

  “Not at all,” Veronica said as Hannah joined her at the open door. “You want to go swimming, Squirt?”

  “I don’t have a bathing suit,” she said with a frown.

  “Ya can wear yer shirt and shorts,” Jackson said.

  “Really?” Hannah said, her eyes lighting up. “Okay, hold on.”

  “Grab some soap too so you can wash up,” Veronica called out as the girl dashed back to her room where she had left her pack.

  “Audrey, if you want to go, you can. Jackson and I can do the cleaning.”

  “You sure?” Audrey said hopeful but cautious.

  “Go get changed,” Veronica said, waving her off with a smile. “Thanks for doing this, Malcolm.”

  “I don’t mind,” Malcolm said. “Gives me the opportunity to scope out watch points on the beach and gets me out of cleaning.”

  “Smart,” Veronica said, tapping the side of her head.

  “I figure after we get back from swimming, we’ll meet at the lodge. Make up a proper watch schedule.”

  Before she could agree to be there, Hannah came running back from her room, blowing by Veronica and down the steps to join the boys, her towel flying behind her. Audrey followed a moment later, soap and a bottle of shampoo on top of her folded towel.

  “Hey, make sure your sister washes up,” Veronica called out.

  Audrey waved back to her as the group headed to the beach on the north side.

  With the children gone, Veronica turned her attention back to the cabin and the cleaning that needed to be done.

  “Where do we even start?” she said, shaking her head as she looked over the main room.

  Jackson came up behind her. “Best we get the drop cloths out ‘fore we start cleanin’.”

  He was right. Even if they were careful, they were bound to send years’ worth of dust into the air the second they moved the cloths.

  They went to work folding up the drop cloths, doing their best to be careful but Jackson had been smart to suggest they wait to clean. By the time they had all the cloths outside, their faces were streaked black from the dust and so were the floors.

  “Think we’re gonna need a broom to chase out these dust bunnies,” Jackson said, dragging the toe of his boot through the layer of dust on the floor.

  “There’s probably one back at the lodge,” she said as she started to wipe off the table in the corner.

  “Want me to run over and get it?” he asked.

  “Yeah and see if you can find some more rags,” she said as she shook out the one she was using and dust motes kicked up in the air. “I think we’re gonna need them.”

  While he went to the lodge, she went to work dusting the surfaces in the living area. She hummed softly to herself as she worked and it was only when she went into the girl’s room to start cleaning that she realized this was the first time she had been alone since her night in the shed.

  It was strange. She’d become so accustomed to being with the group, almost always on top of each other at camp and crammed together in the car. Even on watch shifts, they were never alone. It had been good for her. The night she had spent alone in a shed, thinking she had lost everyone she cared about, had left her fearful of being alone, even if she knew they were only a few feet away. Anything could happen to them out on the road if they were out of her sight.

  But now that fear was gone. Being here on the island was like a safety net. She didn’t need to keep people in her visual field now because she knew there wasn’t anything here that could sneak up on them. Now she knew that people--her people--were nearby and they were safe.

  She opened the closet and was hit with the warm scent of cedar. The inside of the closet was lined with cedar planks which explained why the wool blankets on the top shelf weren’t moth eaten. Beneath the blankets were two sets of sheets still wrapped in plastic, the perfect fit for the mattresses on the bunk bed.

  She stripped the plastic off the mattresses and made the beds. She spread out the girls’ sleeping bags and placed their pillows and packs on the beds so they would be ready and waiting for them when they got back.

  She moved on to the other bedrooms, letting out a laugh when she walked into the smaller of the two. The room maintained the decor theme from its original owners, or at least she assumed it was from the original owners because she couldn’t see the CIA mounting several different sized sets of antlers on the walls.

  A set from a twelve point buck was mounted above the headboard of the bed and four single antlers were nailed above the dresser, like a set of hooks. There was a smaller set on a plaque above the narrow closet and two more sets flanked the window on the wall opposite the door. Spider webs hung from all of them and she went to work cleaning them off.

  The cedar closet had sheets and blankets just like the other one. She put the sheets on the bed and took the blankets out to the porch to shake them out. She spotted Jackson coming up the path, two brooms and a mop in one hand, a bucket in the other.

  “Found us some stuff,” he said as he set down the bucket and she saw it was filled with a bunch of cleaning supplies. “Got some Pine-sol and a few more rags. Found this wire, figure we can string it up between the trees for a clothesline. If we stink, best wash our clothes.”

  She smiled at that. “Probably a good idea. I wouldn’t say no to clean clothes.”

  “I was thinkin’ while I got this stuff,” he said, “We’re gonna have to start putting up wood for the winter. There ain’t no central heat in there, just that woodstove. We’re gonna need a lot of wood to make it through the winter up here.”

  “Planning ahead, I like it,” she replied. “The other cabins are probably in the same boat and you’re right about how much we’re gonna need. You should talk to Malcolm about it.”

  He shrugged. “Ya can talk to him ‘bout it. Ya got the experience roughin’ it,
he’ll listen to ya.”

  “He’ll listen to you too,” she said, concerned about his sudden self-doubt. “If you’ve got any ideas about this place, tell him.”

  He shrugged again and grabbed up one of the brooms. “I’ll take this over to Quinton and Claudia, probably need it.”

  “Hey, wait a second,” she said, grabbing his elbow to keep him from fleeing. “Where is this doubt about Malcolm coming from? He listened to you out on the road. He looked to you for advice out there.”

  “Yeah, when we were out there,” Jackson said, his tone defeated. “Now he’s got his CIA buddies and this is their place. He’ll do what they want. We’re just guests here.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. We’re a family.”

  “Keep tellin’ yerself that,” Jackson said, his words clipped with bitterness.

  She was surprised. She had thought they were all happy to be here.

  “Whether you believe it or not doesn’t make it untrue,” she asserted, “And nobody has done anything to make you think otherwise. I don’t know what is bringing on these negative thoughts but you have to put a cap on them.”

  “Ya really don’t think things are gonna change here?”

  “Of course they are going to change. We will be able to get a real night’s sleep instead of keeping one eye open for freaks. We’ll have full bellies and clean clothes and hot showers and everything that people on the mainland have forgotten even exists anymore. That’s what is going to change, but us--this family--that’s never going to change. It was forged in fire, it doesn’t break easily.”

  Jackson was silent and stone faced as he appraised her and then his stoic demeanor cracked when the corners of his mouth pulled up in a smile.

  “That’s a good speech,” he said and she chuckled.

  “Yeah, well, when your job is to make teenagers interested in history, a flair for dramatic speeches comes in handy.”

  “Felt like I was in a movie for a second there,” he grinned and she gave him a soft punch on the shoulder. “Nah, really, expected inspirin’ music to start playin’ any second.”

  She rolled her eyes and grabbed up the other broom. “Go give that one to Quinton and Claudia and then get back here and help me.”