Back To Our Beginning (47 page)

Danny just sat with his mouth agape.

“My little brother’s deaf. A man beat him until he couldn’t hear anymore,” Rose supplied at Danny’s confused expression.

Danny looked at the pretty young girl who was obviously pregnant. He remembered her crying out trying to get Cord to leave him alone and remembered thinking she must understand what it’s like to be hurt. She had cried out what Danny had been feeling at the time Cord towered menacingly over him. Danny had never encountered such a large brutal man.

“Which one?” he asked her quietly.

“None of these men,” Rose said and smiled. “They found Max and me alone, afraid, starving to death and brought us here to Tansy who took care of us, like she took care of you. The man who beat up Max got me pregnant. They saved us. They protect all of us. They would take care of your mother, too. None of them ever hurt women or children. If Cord hit you, it must have been because he felt he was protecting us.”

Danny cast a quick glance over at Cord who was smiling smugly at everyone in general.

“You swear you wouldn’t hurt them?” Danny asked tightly. He couldn’t force another morsel down his throat knowing his mother and the others were starving.

“You must see we wouldn’t, Danny. We only defended ourselves. We couldn’t leave our women and children defenseless against men we knew nothing about. Men that attacked us without any provocation. You must see at least part of that from our viewpoint? Danny, let us help you...and them,” Ethan said.

“But they’d be helpless against you. Defenseless. I couldn’t stand it if they were hurt because of what we did. This wasn’t their fault, please believe me.”

“What if I go with them, Danny?” Tansy suggested. “I won’t let anyone hurt them; I promise they wouldn’t be hurt in any way.”

Danny nodded. Tansy had been nice to him. She helped him and fed him and protected him. She must be right about the men not wanting to harm them. Tansy had argued without any fear of retribution from Cord. Danny realized suddenly stunned, she held absolutely no fear of the man, a man who could easily break her in half. Still, she’d sought to protect Danny. The children also held no fear of these four men. They actively engaged in seeking their attention. They must be different from the men he had known.

“My mom must be so worried,” Danny fretted.

“Just your mom?” Ethan prodded.

“No, my little sister, too,” he replied.

“How old is she?” Tansy asked.

“Nine,” Danny answered. “My little brother, Jake, died. He was almost thirteen. He drowned earlier in the year in a flash flood that caught us by surprise. He died saving Trisha, my sister. It was so terrible; my mother cried and cried for so long, we all cried. I miss him, he was a brave little guy, always a smile on his face, some wisecrack to make us laugh. He shouldn’t have died, he was a good kid.”

“Any others?” Cord demanded.

“Two others. Please don’t leave the baby behind, he’s a good boy, he doesn’t cry much.” His worried gaze met Tansy’s.

“Why would we leave a baby behind?” Ethan asked.

“The other men said a baby is too much trouble, too draining on its mother. They said if someone else found us they would take Stacie and leave her son Bart behind to die, or maybe even kill him. They said another man wouldn’t want the responsibility in this new world of a child that wasn’t theirs.”

“That’s terrible,” Emmy exclaimed; her hands went to her belly as did Rose’s.

“We wouldn’t leave the baby behind,” Tansy voiced angrily, mortified someone had suggested such a thing to this young man. Obviously he was very impressionable. She wondered at the cruelty of the men he had been with.

“How old is Bart?” Emmy asked.

“A few weeks. My mom delivered him. My mom’s a nurse,” Danny said proudly, feeling very reassured by Tansy’s outrage.

“Well she’ll definitely be welcome,” Tansy said. The others readily agreed.

“Which one of those guys was Bart’s daddy?” Cord asked suspiciously.

“None of them. We found her when she was pregnant,” Danny said quickly, too quickly. Which had Aidan wondering if he was lying, especially after stating the men would think another man’s baby was too much responsibility.

“She’s lucky you found her,” Ethan said. His gaze traveled to Aidan’s knowingly. Ethan wondered if the boy felt he would be protecting the woman. Perhaps they wouldn’t want her if her husband or lover had tried to kill them.

“Where ’bouts are they?” Clint asked.

“Far. We’ll have to spend the night back at my place before we can make it back,” Danny replied.

Tansy voiced she was worried about leaving her girls and the other children for so long.

“Just leave Cord behind, Mom. We’ll be fine,” Shanie stated, still somewhat in awe at the strength he could display when confronted by an adversary.

Cord winked at her. “I’ll stay if your mother makes us enough food to last us a while before she leaves. You sure can hunt little girl; you’ve got guts, loyalty, a steady hand and you have great aim, but your cooking sucks,” Cord said laughing. Shanie pelted him with a piece of fat.

“Well, we can’t leave until the storm subsides, it would be too dangerous,” Tansy reasoned.

“They didn’t have much food when we left. Hardly anything at all. My mom has been dividing most of her share with my sister and Stacie. What little they had must be gone by now,” Danny said.

“The men didn’t provide enough?” Aidan asked.

“They said they needed the food more because they were the ones that caught it. Once they were done, anything left was divided, which wasn’t much. We haven’t been able to put anything away.”

“Dirty bastards.” Clint growled. He clutched a sleeping Michaela to his chest protectively. She snuggled deeper into his embrace.

Max and Ricky had wandered off to play with small pieces of wood that had been shaped and sanded into various block sizes. It had been a community effort to create toys for the children. It was also a community effort to keep Lucky from chewing the blocks they created.

“Do you have any other supplies? Tools? Clothing?” Ethan asked.

“Why?” Danny answered guardedly.

“Because if you have any useful items we need to go prepared. That’ll require making a sleigh.”

“No, not much.”

Danny was beginning to worry, now that he’d seen their resources and tasted the skill they had with food, maybe they wouldn’t be interested in his little family. They didn’t need them and would scoff at their meager supplies. Maybe they would toss him out into the storm alone to freeze now they knew there was no threat to them. Perhaps this entire dinner had been some type of ploy, their attempt at friendship a farce. Or maybe they were just feeling sorry for him and would take him home and leave all of them once they knew they had nothing of value to offer in return except more mouths to feed.

“I can learn to hunt better if you’ll teach me. I’ll learn so well I’ll be able to provide for the rest of my family and you.”

Aidan understood Danny’s desperation. He remembered a time wanting Ethan to accept him into his family. So terrified he would’ve been turned out alone, he felt he’d beg for acceptance. Aidan was a grown man; this young man wasn’t and he was injured. The thought of having to provide for his mother and the others all alone must be plaguing him.

“I’m sure you’ll be a great asset to us. But right now, we need to get your family back here where it’s safer,” Aidan said.

Almost whimpering from relief, Danny looked at him and smiled. They understood. They wouldn’t let his family suffer alone. “Thank you.”

* * * *

The storm raged for two days. The temperature outside dropped dramatically. The wind howled ferociously and visibility was nonexistent when anyone ventured a look past the partitions. This was their first taste of real winter within their new home and many were feeling anxious. They kept three fires inside going at all times, as well as the three wood stoves up at the top of the mine. Tansy and Emmy had made everyone warm winter clothing with high fur-lined moccasins that allowed them to stay comfortable inside the mine without the aid of their fur-lined coats and tie-on leggings.

Warm furs and salvaged rugs were scattered across the cold ground over sanded wood they used to cover the dirt floor or laminate ripped from homes’ floors and small interlocking stones or salvaged bricks laid with joint effort. It raised their living and sleeping area up off the dirt floor while keeping a separate area for cooking and working on various projects.

Water that dripped steadily from certain areas in the mine was collected and used in their plastic tub for washing dishes. Every area of resources was utilized. As well, continuous cooking in their various stoves or ground oven aided in the warmth; both the extra heat and delicious aromas were beneficial and helped to boost most everyone’s morale.

Each day, Danny paced restlessly throughout the mine. He had to be forcibly restrained twice while he attempted to leave in desperation to go to his family. Each time, he cried his heart out while Tansy held and consoled him. She too was fearful the weather wouldn’t let up and they were trapped inside until spring.

* * * *

Cord and Clint made a sleigh from the woodpile in the long tunnel. Danny was fascinated with their skill. The men he’d been around had been lazy and created nothing of interest. Danny overcame his fear of Cord, almost, and aided them as best he could in their endeavors. As Danny’s enthusiasm grew toward helping, Cord’s suspicions of him lessened.

Tansy spent time teaching Emmy and Shanie how to make the butter and how often to check on the stew. Tansy made sure she had a thick stew boiling daily with sliced roasted roots, wild onions, grains, wheat, nuts, the dried herbs they collected, and sometimes apples, added to moose or bison or both. She added dried chopped stems of edible plants and wild potatoes that made it filling. Occasionally, she added dried mushrooms and corn or one of the other dried or frozen meats they stored away.

The dried bear or venison offered a welcome change with cakes of pemmican added for flavor and the occasional dollop of red or white wine. Sometimes she included the fish, cooked whole or in pieces with white wine, flour, butter, cream, salt, onions and dried parsley or turtle they’d frozen along with the moose, bison and other meats stored in their cavern. They varied their diet with fowl, beaver, rabbits, badgers or raccoons they managed to catch and hang in their alcove freezer. The animals’ furs and hides had been stored to work later as the winter progressed and they would be unable to venture forth to hunt and didn’t want to remain idle.

Finally the storm abated, all breathed a sigh of relief; they’d weathered it well. They packed supplies in their backpacks and dressed warmly. Tansy said a hesitant goodbye to her girls.

“Please keep an eye on them,” Tansy begged Cord for a third time in as many minutes. Cord volunteered to stay behind. His intentions hadn’t been entirely self-sacrificing, he had a motive. Since the incident involving the lion, Cord had been plagued by intense feelings toward Tansy. He wasn’t sure what to make of them never having felt this way before. He felt positive if he could have sex with her once, these odd feelings would disperse. Cord planned going hunting that day with one purpose in mind.

“Don’t worry, and when you get back we’ll have lots to talk about,” Cord told her secretively.

Tansy gave Michaela a huge hug; it would be her first time away from her baby overnight in over a year. She told her to be good.

“Don’t worry, Mike will be good as gold for Uncle Cord,” Cord said.

“Uncle Cord?” Tansy questioned, her eyes narrowing.

“Well sure, we’re all family aren’t we?” he asked innocently and wrapped a quick arm around Tansy’s shoulder.

Tansy gave a hard stare to Shanie. “Keep a close eye on him.”

Cord laughed and took Michaela into his arms. He kissed her cheek and passed her off into Emmy’s hands. “Don’t you worry, Vinegar. You know I’ll protect them as if my own life depends on it.”

“It does,” Tansy threatened through clenched teeth.

* * * *

They set out trudging into the deep snow. Once their procession was out of sight, Cord grabbed up his bow and arrows, a few spears and his bola.

“Wait, where are you going?” Shanie asked with concern.

“I’m going to find myself a turkey.”

“But that bet is off. Aidan already found one. And you weren’t mentioned,” Emmy informed him indignantly.

“Aidan may have found one, but that doesn’t mean your mother called off the bet. She also never specified I wasn’t. Don’t you worry, I won’t go too far; you’ll be safe enough. I don’t plan on being gone long.” Cord said and stalked out of the mine securing the partitions on the outside.

“Emmy, that’s not fair,” Shanie cried.

“Don’t worry; mom can hold her own with him.”

Shanie hoped so. Emmy hadn’t seen Cord smash two skulls together like they were mangos, spin around and thirst for more.

The snow came to mid-calf. It was slow going but they trudged on. They hadn’t bothered with snowshoes, as tracking through densely forested areas littered with debris made them more of a hindrance than helpful. The shoes caught or snagged often on loose branches or roots. They made it difficult to climb over large fallen obstacles, some having been obscured by the recently fallen snow. Their knee-length moccasins and fur-lined leggings offered ample protection against the cold snow. They realized if they needed to use the sleigh it would be a longer trek back. Clint decided to leave the cumbersome item in an alcove; they could retrieve the sleigh on the way back, and use their packs for anything they needed to carry.

Tansy could hear Danny’s labored breathing through his broken nose. He needed guidance to where the bison had been felled, as his sight was limited. Even so, it didn’t take him long to track his way back through the forested area once turned in the right direction. They all pointedly ignored the now scattered remains of the five men, noticing lion and wolf tracks and various other carnivores including a few turkey vultures eyeing the human procession warily. Their weapons were held in handy readiness for protection. Because they weren’t hunting, their group made a point of being noisy, hoping to frighten off dangerous animals.