by Connor Mccoy
A short time later, Sheryl, along with Mrs. Kennan and the entire gang from the Avery home were walking up State Road 22. Every single one of them carried a lantern. Six lights to show off six people, to make sure not a single soul got lost in this darkness. Each of them carried a share of supplies.
Sheryl would have felt more apprehensive if she had left Courtney or Brandon back at the farm. The news that Skylar had been raided put her on guard. Suddenly, the world had turned sour again. Sheryl had to worry about an active, tangible threat to her and her family.
“Those two could do with a fresh set of hands,” Mrs. Kennan said. She had left her bike at the farm. She felt too weary to pedal any longer, and bike riding wouldn’t do much good, as she would outdistance the walking party. “I just hope we can help that unconscious woman in time. Maybe she woke up since I left her.”
After a few more minutes, two glowing lights became visible in the distance. “Looks like we found them.” Mrs. Kennan raised her lamp. “Hey! I got your whole brood with me!”
Sheryl sighed loudly. “Thank God.”
With each step, Jacob and Domino became more visible, though it took crossing the entire gap between them to fully unveil the Avery couple. The two kids, Jamie and Ford, were beside them, as was the mother, Krysta. Jacob was clutching the handles of a wheelbarrow. The unconscious woman, the “protector” as referred to by the kids, remained asleep in the wheelbarrow.
Sheryl lowered her lamp and hugged Jacob. He did not reciprocate. “Sheryl…” His voice sounded dry. “I’d hug you back but I’m afraid I’d collapse if I let go of this thing. Doms and I have been taking turns, but I feel like I’m at the end of my rope.”
Krysta turned her head slowly in the direction of Brandon, Jubilee and Courtney. “Your kids?” she asked softly.
“Two of them are, but the third, the girl in the overalls, she’s staying with us,” Domino answered.
Jamie suddenly cried out and ran behind Ford. “A mutant! A mutant! He’s going to kill us!” He pointed at Arnie, who just looked around as if he was not the target of Jamie’s fear.
“Ha! I will protect you!” Ford put up his hands as if ready to fight.
“He’s not a mutant.” Brandon charged up between the two boys and Arnie. “He’s our friend! He’s not going to hurt you.”
“In fact, we might need his help.” Jacob released the barrow, letting his arms fall limp. “Arnie, do you think you can pick this woman up? Gently, gently.”
“No!” Ford jumped in front of her and spread his arms. “Don’t let him hurt her!”
“Ford.” The voice came from Krysta. “Please,” she said slowly, “let these nice people help us.”
“I promise, Arnie is good. He’ll help us,” Jacob said.
Ford, still casting a stink eye at Arnie, backed away, permitting the tall man to approach Joey. “Arnie,” Jacob said, “just pick her up. We need you to carry her home, if you can make it that far.”
Arnie raised an eyebrow. “Is she sick?”
“Yeah, in a manner of speaking. She needs your help,” Jacob replied. Arnie reached down and scooped up Joey. “Gently,” Jacob repeated. Arnie slowed down until he raised Joey into his arms.
Jacob let out a deep sigh. “I feel like I’m going to need that barrow.”
Domino leaned against him. “Take a number, Jay.”
It took a couple of hours, but the party successfully escorted their new guests back to the farm. Sheryl, with the help of Domino, Courtney and Jubilee, set up the unconscious Joey on the living room sofa. With no more energy, Domino and Jacob collapsed into separate loveseats. Mrs. Kennan leaned against the wall.
“You two need to get some sleep,” Sheryl said. “You are totally exhausted. Leave Joey with me.”
Jacob chuckled once. “I won’t argue with you.”
“Me neither, Child.” Mrs. Kennan braced her head in her right palm.
Jacob glanced at Mrs. Kennan. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”
“Oh, I was going to do that anyway.” Mrs. Kennan laughed. “I’m just kidding. But thanks. I really do need to rest my toes.”
Sheryl cast an eye at Krysta. “And I’m going to handle you, too.” The woman was huddled by the door to the hallway as if she was trying to avoid everyone. “You and your kids, all of you. I’m a surgeon. I used to work at a hospital. I can help. You three all need baths and something to eat and drink.”
Krysta still didn’t respond. Brandon said to her, “I wouldn’t argue with Aunt Sheryl. She knows her stuff.”
Courtney yawned. Jubilee caught the yawning bug and mimicked Courtney. “Okay, kids, can you help your parents into bed?” Sheryl asked them. “And it’d be a good idea if you got some sleep too. It’s probably going to be morning in what, two hours?” She shrugged. “We need you guys to be as refreshed as you can. That goes for Courtney and Arnie, too. I’ll work through the night with these four. If I need anything, I’ll holler.”
Jacob was so exhausted as he wandered through the hall that he momentarily forgot where he was and even his sense of time. He had slept like the dead. He knew because when he opened his eyes the late morning sun hit him. His typical rising was before the sun even rose.
A look at the living room revealed a big mess. Joey remained asleep. Blankets lay on the loveseats, indicators that Krysta’s boys had slept there. Krysta herself had slumbered in a sleeping bag near the sofa. To Jacob’s disappointment, Joey remained asleep on the sofa. He hoped that she would awaken by morning. It would be a good sign that she was on the road to recovery.
“Where’s Sheryl?” he whispered. He wanted his sister’s opinion of Joey’s condition. He heard some soft noises from the kitchen. Perhaps she was in there.
After crossing the door threshold, Jacob found his suspicions were confirmed. Sheryl was sitting in a dining room chair, sound asleep. Jamie and Ford were kneeling on chairs by her. The two boys, crayons in hand, were coloring on top of Sheryl’s eyelids. The table next to them was a mess. A cardboard box off to the edge hastily had been filled with the light bulbs from Sheryl and the kids’ hourglass project to make room for several plates. Jacob guessed they were for the boys and Krysta. The plates were littered with crumbs, jam remnants, and a few bread crusts.
Jacob turned his attention to the boys. The two of them froze in place as if they were caught with their hands in a cookie jar. The two of them, although dressed in fresh clothes, were a mess. Both of their faces were smeared with jam. Jacob only could guess how well they exercised their manners, but after all they had been through, he could not blame them for tearing into their meal.
Jacob folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow.
The boys looked at their crayons, then at Jacob. “We were giving her makeup,” Jamie said.
Arnie poked his head out of the kitchen doorway. Upon seeing Jacob, his face lit up. “Mister Jacob!” He held up a plate of jam-laden bread. “Look at me! I’m a cook!” He had smeared so much jam onto the bread that it oozed out onto the plate.
Mrs. Kennan chose that moment to wander into the room behind Jacob. With a yawn, she said, “Good morning. I—” She got a look around. “Well, bless my soul.” After casting a pitiful glance at Jacob, she said, “Now, don’t get any ideas. I’m many things, but a housekeeper ain’t one of them.”
Sheryl finally stirred. Jamie and Ford jumped down from their seats and started retreating toward Mrs. Kennan. With a tired shake of his head, Jacob said, “Could you find their mother? Maybe she can clean these two off.”
Mrs. Kennan ushered them out into the living room. “If you hear me using a whip, remember, they pushed me to do it.”
Jacob would have chuckled if his body didn’t feel like lead. He sat down next to Sheryl as she yawned and looked around.
Arnie put the dish down in front of her. “Breakfast!” he shouted heartily.
Sheryl covered her ears briefly. “Thanks, Sweetie.” Humming to himself, Arnie retreated into the kitchen. Sheryl ru
bbed her face. “Why does my face feel so warm?”
“Just be glad there’s no mirror around,” Jacob said, trying not to smile. “At least the boys are in good spirits. How did it go with Krysta and Joey?”
“Krysta’s okay. I helped wash her off in the tub. She’s not very talkative. She wouldn’t tell me about her bruises or say anything about where she came from.” She picked up the bread by the one side that wasn’t covered with jam. “Joey is stable, at least so far. I checked her out. She didn’t show any discomfort as I checked her, so she may not have any internal injuries. I’m hoping she’s not in a deep coma. I can hear her breathing from a pretty good distance away, which is a good sign.”
Domino shuffled into the room as Sheryl took a bite out of her bread. Her eyes, half-open as she wandered in, widened as she looked around the room. Upon casting a gaze at Sheryl, she asked, “Sheryl, did you do your makeup with crayon?”
Sheryl dropped the bread onto her plate.
Chapter Six
Jacob and Domino walked with Mrs. Kennan down the front porch steps towards her bicycle, which was parked by the walkway to the driveway. Jubilee and Brandon already had said their goodbyes to Mrs. Kennan and were watching from the front doorway. Jacob had kept her as a guest for a full day, but that was all Mrs. Kennan wished to impose on them. She had made it clear she wanted to move on by the next morning.
“Thanks for the supplies.” Mrs. Kennan bolstered her pack a little higher on her shoulders. “This load will get me to wherever I got to go. Although if things get too hairy around here, I might just take a trip to Nome, Alaska.”
“You sure there isn’t any place you can stay a while?” Jacob asked as Mrs. Kennan reached for her bicycle’s handlebars. “I wonder how safe it is for anybody by themselves.”
“No kidding,” Domino said.
“Between bears, anarchists and Mother Nature herself?” Mrs. Kennan chuckled. “The world can throw what it can at me. I’m just not worried about it any longer.”
“You sure?” Jacob grimaced. Mrs. Kennan was a tough lady, but the sight of the devastated Skylar still shook him. His earlier confidence that things were settling into a new normal had been shaken. He wasn’t sure what the world would spring on them next, and an older woman trekking out alone was not a notion that sat well with him.
Mrs. Kennan looked at him with her usual mirth, but a sadness manifested in her eyes. “My dear Jacob, the world’s thrown everything it had my way. My hubby’s gone, my kids, Lord, I’ll never see them again. What kind of pain can I offer?” She gave her right handlebar a firm grip. “Besides, I have the best bike ever put together. There isn’t a person alive who can keep up with an old Irish lady with a grudge!”
“Well, if you ever decide to go to Alaska, please tell us first so we can send you off with a big meal,” Domino said.
“Do you think your man Arnie is going to cook it? If he is, make sure you teach him the ropes first.” Mrs. Kennan slapped Domino on the shoulder with a laugh. “Take care you two!”
In seconds she was off on her bike and pedaling down the driveway. Jacob, hugging Domino, watched her disappear down the road.
Jacob rubbed his face. I can’t be this exhausted right now; the sun hasn’t even set. The growing number of mouths to feed under his roof must be tiring him out more quickly. He felt thankful that he stopped his own family at two children. He used to correspond with other farm families over the Internet who had many more children. One couple had squeezed out ten little ones!
That is more early morning feedings than I can comprehend, Jacob thought. The very image of all those kids just added to his fatigue.
As he wandered into the living room, he tried counting all the boarders who lived here. Let’s see, Courtney and Arnie makes two, plus my family, that’s six. Sheryl is seven. Jamie, Ford and Krysta make ten, and as for our mystery woman…
She was gone.
Jacob was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the empty space on the towel on the sofa. The woman wasn’t there.
“What the hell?” Did Domino move her? Or had she finally woken up at last? He turned his head…
A loud shout and a sudden grip around his neck stopped him cold. Jacob was thrust forward thanks to a press of body weight on his back. Someone just had collared him.
“Alright! Where the hell am I!” asked an angry, feminine voice. “Where’s Krysta? Ford? Jamie? What did you do with them?”
Jacob didn’t recognize the voice. It must be their mystery patient. “Calm…down…” Her grip gagged him. Although, thankfully, it wasn’t very strong.
“Answer me!” The woman coughed. “Where…am I…” Her voice dropped off. At the same time, Jacob felt her release him. Her grip loosened so much that soon Jacob could push her arms completely off. She landed with a thud on the floor.
Jacob turned around. The woman had landed on her bottom, her legs propped up. She sweated and panted. Her skin color appeared pale. Clearly, she had overexerted herself.
“Not a bad ambush.” Jacob knelt down. “But I think you’re still too weak to be taking on farm guys like me.”
“Jay?” Domino came bounding into the room. “What happened? I heard shouting and—” She hovered over the lady. “Is she okay?”
“You should ask me how I’m doing. She grabbed me from behind.” Jacob laughed. “I think she went too far too fast.”
The woman raised her head. Despite her weariness, her eyes radiated with fire. “Jamie! Ford! Damn you! Tell me what you did with them!”
“We didn’t hurt them,” Jacob said. “We found them and you near Skylar. We brought you here to shelter you. We don’t mean you any harm.”
“Then you won’t mind if I see all three of them, right now,” the woman said.
Jacob led the mystery woman back, into the fields, with Domino on the other side of her. He hoped that seeing Krysta and her two boys would calm her down partially, so she wouldn’t seek to put him in another head lock. But also so they could chat with her and learn some more about her ordeal with the anarchists.
Jacob and Domino led her to the edge of the soybean row. Ford and Jamie were checking the leaves for signs of flea beetles. Brandon was nearby, inspecting their work. As soon as Ford and Jamie spotted their protector approaching, they cried out for her, jumping up and running toward her.
“Miss Joey!” Ford called out.
“She’s awake!” added Jamie.
The woman opened her arms. “Come here, you two.” Ford and Jamie embraced her. “Not too hard. I’m barely able to stand.” She started falling over, but Domino caught her. “There we go. I’m so happy you two are safe.”
“Did you have sweet dreams?” Jamie asked.
“I will now that I know you’re alive and well.” She pulled back enough to look at their faces. “Well, you two have been busy. What do they have you doing?”
“Looking for chewed up plants and leaves!” Ford snapped into a salute. “We’re protecting this farm against bugs and pests!”
The woman tilted her head up to get a better look at the crops. “Wow. This is a pretty good place,” she said. “Well, I bet you’ve impressed them. We taught you well back at—” She turned to Jacob and Domino and caught herself before she could finish the sentence. “Back home,” she quickly said, before chiming in with a further request. “Their mother, Krysta, I want to see her now.”
Jacob and Domino led the woman otherwise known as Miss Joey to the squash row where Krysta was working. The sound of their footsteps caused Krysta to turn her head.
“Krysta!” Domino called with a smile. “Someone wants to see you!”
When Krysta laid eyes on Miss Joey, she did not react quickly. She blinked a little more quickly, as if trying to take in that the woman actually was standing before her. From there, she rose to her feet. “You’re awake,” she said dreamily. She took short steps toward her. “You’re awake! Joey!”
Krysta reached out with her hands. The woman took them. “It
’ll take more than a bunch of blood-crazed savages to kill me. What happened? Are you alright? Did these people hurt you?”
“No.” Krysta shook her head. “They’ve been very kind to us. They fed us, took care of Jamie and Ford, everything. For the first time in days, we’ve been able to rest.” Krysta bowed her head. “I’m starting to feel like myself again.”
The woman leaned a little closer. “You sure there’s nothing wrong, nothing you need to tell me?”
“No! Joey, we’re fine, honest.”
The woman cast another look around her surroundings before drawing back. “Good, good.” She let out a pained breath. She didn’t look steady on her feet.
“How about we take you back inside?” Jacob asked. “We’ll let you sit down, eat, and we can talk.”
Some time later, when the mystery woman had been able to connect with the children and Krysta, she had calmed down enough to agree to sit down and chat with the Averys. They prepared a meal for her, as she had not eaten in days. She took the food politely, but without enthusiasm.
She’s like a caged animal, Jacob thought. This woman did not trust her surroundings. Jacob wondered what she was thinking. Perhaps suddenly losing consciousness and waking up in a stranger’s home disoriented her. It was understandable. However, he couldn’t shake the similarities in this woman’s demeanor and his own wife’s. Like Domino, she appeared to be someone accustomed to taking her own life into her own hands. So, to have that control torn away, to be at the mercy of someone else, must not wear well with her.
The mystery woman wiped her mouth. “Which one of you is the cook?”
Jacob nodded to Domino. “If I was, I wouldn’t be alive today.” Domino chuckled.