Working With Cedar: The Early Years, page 8
“Why don’t I walk back to the cabin? That way you can dig the hole in line with the rope. A little more dragging won’t abrade her much more than she already is.”
Betty grimaced. “I say ugg, but what the heck; we’ve already robbed her dignity. Tell Alice she can leave her room, but keep her inside until I’m finished.”
Walking past the body, Nash saw that they’d dragged grandmother over something that tore her nose. A large piece of it hung against her cheek, supported by a single thread of nostril. Averting his eyes, he went back to the cottage.
After placing the table and recliner back in place, he opened the door leading from the living room and called down the short hallway for Alice. Seeing her come through the door of her bedroom, he went to the recliner and waited for her.
She sat on the couch and spoke in a tone that wasn’t the least bit wary. “I’m still hungry.”
“I bet you are. Betty said the food in the refrigerator is spoiled. Let me grab something from the trailer.”
Nash brought in a self-heating meal “Do you like chili mac?”
“What is chili mac?”
“Do you like chili?”
“I love chili?”
“Then you’ll love this.” Nash set the package warming
Alice said, “You name is Nash. That’s an easy name. Daddy’s name is Hargrove Wilkins. I said it wrong for a long time, but Grandma taught me to say it right.”
Nash responded, “Then your name is Alice Wilkins. What’s your mother’s name?”
“No, my full name is Alice Patricia Wilkins. Mamma’s name is Glenda Annette Wilkins. Daddy’s middle name is Samuel. We don’t call him Hargrove or Samuel. His name is Sam.”
Nash, hoping to keep Alice’s thoughts off her grandmother’s fate tried to make small talk. “Betty told me you’re almost seven years old. You sure are smart for your age.”
“I’m in some second grade books. Where is my grandma?”
“Honey, we had to take her away to bury her. That’s what has to be done when someone dies.”
“Ooo, Mama and Daddy are going to be mad she’s dead. She’s supposed to take care of me while they go get animals.”
“Betty and I will stay with you until they return.”
“Daddy don’t like strangers in the house when he’s not here.”
“Well, honey, I think he will be glad if we stay and don’t leave you by yourself. What sort of animals did they go to get?”
“Don’t know. Sometimes cows, sometimes horses; chickens sometimes too, but they get those in town, and it doesn’t take long. Oh yeah, one time they got rabbits but none of us but Grandmother liked the way they tasted.”
“How long did they say they would be gone?”
“Four days.”
“How long have they been gone already?”
“Maybe three days. They weren’t here yesterday. Today might be four days.”
Her assessment of time, possibly incorrect, prompted Nash to instruct Alice to remain in the house. He left the house, almost broke into a run, then remembered the blazing headache from his last jog and walked a normal pace to where Betty wielded a pick, hacking at the red clay that lay beneath the few inches of topsoil and rotting forest debris.
She saw him coming, stepped from the shallow hole and went under the shade of a tree to await him.
Wiping her face with arm, she said, it’s already too damn hot for this. You may want to check inside the barn for some sort of digging machine. The top was easy enough, but I’ve barely dig an inch into the red dirt. It’ll take me three days to dig a hole big enough for her.”
Nash shook his head. “I can check, but I doubt a small farm like this has need for a backhoe. Look, Alice told me her parents were to be gone for four days. She said they weren’t here yesterday, but she seemed unsure of the number of days they’ve been gone. That means they could be here today… tomorrow at the latest.”
“Good. They can help dig.”
“That’s what I came to tell you. One thing though. We’d better tell them the grandmother tore her nose on the coffee table when she fell, otherwise they’re going to be pissed.”
Betty left the shade tree and went to examine the woman. “Lot of good that will do, the entire front of her is scraped and gouged. Look at her clothing. They’ll know we dragged her here.”
“Maybe we should leave,” Nash said
“”Leave Alice alone… no way we’re doing that. We can’t take her either; that would be kidnapping.”
Nash said, “Like you said earlier, maybe they won’t return. Lord knows, the way things are anything could have happened to them.”
“Nash! Don’t say that. We need them to return. I’ve been thinking neither of us knows diddlysquat about farming, I mean, what the hell do you do with vegetables when they’re ripe. I know you’re supposed to preserve them, can em or something, but I’ve never done it; have you? You mentioned a backhoe. Do you know how to drive one? Make it work?”
Nash shook his head as Betty continued speaking, “I didn’t think so. We’re products of the city. The most gardening I’ve ever done, is purchase a flowering plant from Home Depot, and water it until it died. If we’re to survive this, we need to partner with people who know how to feed themselves, know how to defend themselves and learn from them.
“I like you Nash. You play the baby, but I can think of many people, men who call themselves men. Men like Gene and Merle, play-acting cowboys, tough guys, well I can tell you, they wouldn’t have gone through what you have, bombed, shot, lost a finger, head busted by an emotional female, and still be standing strong in front of me. You’re no baby. You’re a man I wouldn’t mind standing with a lifetime.”
Her words struck Nash deep, caught unexpected by her passion he thought to say something equivalent, but said, “Was that a proposal of marriage?”
A quizzical expression flitted across her face, and then she smiled, “I think it was, but please don’t respond to it. Right now, my emotions are whack. I’m liable to say anything.”
Surprised by Betty’s attraction to him, not knowing exactly how to respond, he used his good hand to over-act hitching his pants, and said, “I don’t know mam. This rough and tough cowboy just might have to take you up on that proposal. You’re a mighty tough hombre yourself.”
Betty let the pick handle fall to the ground. “You’re such a joker. Let’s see if your kiss is as fun as your humor.”
Again caught by surprise, he found himself returning her embrace. The kiss, tentative at first, turned to bonding, a sensation new to him. He pulled her tighter and kissed her deeper, a kiss, carrying no desire other than it never end.
It went no further than the kiss, but it was enough. Their lips parted, but the embrace endured, both searching faces looking for meaning... Nash found meaning in the blue depth of her eyes, and said with certainty, “I see forever.”
Betty, overwhelmed, step back and answered, “Whoo, and I see I’ve never been kissed before. We’d better save this sort of thing for safer times.” She bent to retrieve her pick. Glancing to the barely begun hole, she said, “Well, dig or wait? I’m voting for waiting for Alice’s parents to return. If they don’t show by tomorrow afternoon I’ll need to get this done.”
“Glenda and Hargrove.”
Confused, Betty asked, “What?”
“The parent’s names, Glenda and Hargrove.”
At the house, Nash told Betty, “Alice has a package of food warm on the coffee table. Will you get her started? I’ll grab a couple for us. I’m having beef stew, you good with the same?”
“Anything. I’m famished.”
They spent the rest of the day sorting through and organizing the contents of their trailer and jeep. Betty left that task to Nash. She opted to spend much of her time exploring the property, the barn and other outbuildings. She took Alice along on her mission of discovery.
Sunset came with no sign of Glenda and Hargrove Wilkins. The cottage had a tiny bedroom reserved for guests. The double bed almost filled the space. Nash and Betty shared the bed, but the necessity of pulling guard shifts precluded any hanky-panky, even if they were so inclined.
Sunrise came. Betty came into the living room where Nash was sitting in chair facing a window that yielded a view of the graveled road.
In a joking tone, she said, “Good mornings, lips… I mean Nash. All clear on the dystopian front?”
Nash turned to face her. Seeing her disheveled condition from just rising from bed, he replied, “God morning, Miss; my hair is pointing everywhere but down.”
Her hand flew to her head. “I look awful, don’t I?”
Nash shook his head. “Beautiful, radiant, gorgeous, would better describe you.”
Smiling at his exuberance, she finger-combed her hair, saying as she did, “I’ve waited twenty-eight years to hear that said to me in the morning.”
“For a smile like that, I can say it every morning for the rest of your life.”
Betty laughed and said, “No, it’d get old very fast, but I’ll forever remember this time … You know, when I first saw you at the bottom of the stairs back at the mansion, I almost shot you… thought you were Gene. I’m so glad something stayed my finger.”
Nash used her statement as an opportunity to breach a subject heavy on his mind.
“We’ve killed a lot of people. I’m not brooding on that fact, the people ramming us, not doubt we had to do something, but I wonder about Merle, and his bunch … Wonder if we could have found a less violent way to retrieve the supplies.”
An angry expression crossed Betty’s face, but not anger focused on him. “Nash, they were murderers. They killed your friend Jill, hell they came close to killing you.
“I admit, after I threw the bomb, I was nauseated by what I’d done. As a nurse, I knew the injuries I’d caused, but know this, that bunch of so-called preppers would have killed again once they used up the supplies they stole from you.
“We did the world a favor. That’s how I see it. What’s more, if we run across more of their ilk, we’ll be remiss if we don’t give them the same treatment. That’s how I see it. How about you? Could you drive past a house knowing it was full of murderers and not care?”
“Gosh, I don’t know. I think I would have an inclination to simply leave their territory.”
“Leave them to indiscriminately kill. Nash, if we’re going to be partners we need to be on the same page. This is important. I’m not saying we ride around looking for people like them, but we won’t… no can’t leave them standing behind us. I only hope all the good people in the world come to the same conclusion; otherwise there will never be a safe road to travel or a secure place to lie down.”
The events since his sister broke the news concerning the mutated Ebola virus raced through his mind and he saw the righteous truth of her proclamation. “Betty, you fill me with strength. Come what may, I stand with you.”
Betty sought his eyes and held them. “You’re not a guileful man, nor narcissistic in anyway. There’s a depth to you. You aren’t complicated, but there’s nothing simple about you. Talk strength, there’s more strength in your words than I ever expected to find in my life. When you say something, a person can depend on it being true. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
Nash accepted her comments about his nature. “I’m who I am. I wish I could say you’re not complicated. You think situations further than I do, and, as I’ve come to realize, you get the job done.”
Betty took another step back, “Can you spell entranced? Whoa, speaking of getting it done, Alice will be hungry when she gets up and I’m getting that way myself. After we eat, I’ve decided to have another go at grave digging. I really don’t want the Wilkins’ to see the old woman torn up like she is.”
Nash followed her to the kitchen, said. “Yes, I know how to spell entranced, but I pick another word; LOVE spelled in all caps so it shouts.”
Betty’s reply was, “Love is a strong word, but I’m feeling it; so right back at ya, cowboy.”
Entering the kitchen, Betty pointed to a clear glass bowl holding eggs. “Alice’s grandmother cleared the refrigerator after the power quit. I don’t know if the eggs are still good.”
A man’s voice from the doorway they’d just passed through startled them, “Eggs are good for a couple of weeks. Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my house?”
Turning, Nash’s hand sought his pistol. The pistol the well-groomed middle-aged man pointed at them stayed his hand.
“Smart.” The man wiggled the barrel of his pistol. “Hands on your heads.”
Nash and Betty obeyed his order; Nash said as he raised his hands, “Your daughter came for our help.”
“Alice? Why? Where is she?”
“I’m right here, Daddy.”
The man half-turned to see her behind him, and then turned his attention back to Nash and Betty. “Answer my question. Why are you here?”
Betty spoke, saying in a soft voice, “You’re Hargrove. My name is Betty. The woman watching her, Alice told us her grandmother, suffered diabetic shock. Alice found us camping nearby and requested our aid. I’m a nurse and would have done what I could, but were too late to save her. Alice told us you and her mother would return in a few days. We stayed because we couldn’t leave her alone.”
An expression of pain and grief crossed Hargrove’s face. “My mother’s dead?”
“Yes Hargrove. I’m so sorry,” Betty, answered.
Hargrove recovered control of his emotion. “Call me Sam. You said you’re a nurse?”
“Yes, but we were too late—.”
“No, I’m not—.” He turned to speak over his shoulder, “Alice, go to the door and call for your mama.”
Turning back to them, “She needs a nurse.”
Nash said, “Can we put our hands down? I lost a finger and it’s throbbing.”
The man gave them a hard searching look and decided to trust them. “Go ahead, but keep your hands away from your weapons.”
Betty asked, “What’s wrong with your wife. If she’s presenting Ebola symptoms, I’d ask you to let us use the back door and leave.”
“No Ebola. She was gunshot. We avoided contact with anyone ever since the warning we heard on the radio. We couldn’t avoid bullets though. Some damn son-of-a-bitch sniped at us on the ‘85’ just this side of the South Carolina line.”
“Gunshot,” Betty repeated, “Where was she hit?”
“Thigh. Bullet went through her door. It didn’t hit any arteries that I could tell, but she bled like a cut pig.”
Nash heard footsteps approaching the kitchen door. A slender woman with russet colored hair came limping through with Alice right behind her. He noted her pale complexion and the large blood stain, dried to nearly black, coating the left leg of her jeans”
“Who are these people, Sam? Alice told me Gail’s dead. What happened?”
Nash heard Sam’s choked-back emotion when he said, “Mama had insulin shock and died before these two got here. They stayed to watch over Alice for us.”
The woman went to her husband. “Oh Sam, I am so sorry.”
She turned to Nash and Betty. “God bless you for watching over Alice for us. My name is Glenda.”
“I’m Betty,” then pointing at Nash, “That wounded warrior is Nash. Sam said you were shot.” Betty spoke to Nash, “Why don’t you and Sam give us some privacy while I examine her wound.”
Glenda said, “Honey, you might want to put your pistol away.”
Sam holstered his pistol and said to Nash, “Yeah, it won’t hurt for us to watch the drive. We wouldn’t want anybody getting the drop on us like I did ya’ll.”
Nash followed Sam through the living room and onto the front porch. There, Sam turned and asked, “Where is my mother?”
Thinking of how messed up Sam’s mother was from being dragged, Nash said, “Sam, I need to tell you something. It may anger you, but it has to be said before you see her body.”
“Say it.”
“Alice didn’t know when you would be returning. She told us you went to buy animals. Your mother died in the living room. Betty and I wanted to bury her, but she was too… er, too big for us to move, especially because,” holding up his thick bandaged wounded hand, “I have only one hand to work with. Sam, this is hard to tell you, but we used the jeep to drag her.”
Sam proved to be the sort whose face shows exactly how he feels. Nash knew his words angered Sam. He spoke hurriedly to forestall any violence. “We hated to do it, but we had no other way.”
Sam’s expression hardened. It was a long moment before Nash saw his face begin to soften and the tendons in his neck relax. “You and Betty wanted to bury her. That was decent of you. I know there’re many who would’ve cleaned the pantry and left our girl behind. I appreciate you wanting to do the right thing by mama.”
Nash had to finish telling him. Pointing across the field to the jeep, he continued, “We dragged her over to the trees. Sam, she’s torn-up from it. Betty started digging but couldn’t hack through the clay. We decided to wait for your help. If you didn’t show up, we planned to finish digging the grave today.”
This time Nash didn’t receive the expression of anger, Sam simply said, “Mama’s dead. What we’re to bury is only the shell that carried her spirit. Let’s get her in the ground. Do you have a pick and shovel over there?”
Passing by his mother’s body, the condition of it made Sam avert his eyes from her. Nash again heard an angry tone, but the words Sam spoke were conciliatory. “You weren’t lying about tearing her up. I guess there wasn’t any help for it, just you with your injured hand and your wife such a little thing. This ground does get mighty hard for those not used to digging it. You watch the drive.”
“Betty and I aren’t married.”
“Thought you were. You two seemed together.”
A resolution formed in Nash’s mind. “I’m going to ask her. I’m going to ask her to be my wife.”
