Children of a New Earth (7 page)

Her father coughed weakly in the next room. That drained the anger from her. Her father was dying. Still, he remained faithful to his old philosophy. He did what was needed because he was the only one who could do it. Now it was Amy’s turn, for him. “I’ll be ready,” she answered.

After Jacob left, she went into her father’s room. “I’m sorry it had to come to this,” he said as she entered.

“I can take care of myself,” she replied, harsher than she had intended.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“I heard you in the hall. Jacob may not have realized it, but I know how hard it is for you to help them.”

I’m not doing it for them, I’m doing it for you,
she wanted to say. “You’re welcome,” she said. Then she brightened. “Don’t worry, look what I’ve done.” She presented him an old mason jar of clear liquid.

He sniffed it. “That’s your solution,” he joked, “taking up drinking?”

She laughed. “Well, I figured there was almost half a year’s worth of corn thawing and rotting up in the freezer and we had that old still . . .”

He roared with laughter, his old self for one minute as he caught on. That started another coughing fit, but he was still smiling when it was done. “And we have that old Jeep out back, just waiting for some fuel,” he finished.

“See, we’ll be gone less than a week,” she said.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Luke greeted Amy, a wary look in his eye.

It might not have been apparent to anyone else, but Amy could see the hurt in his eyes. What had she done now? She shrugged. “So how’s the planning going?”

“It’s going,” he evaded. He pulled her a little way away from the other boys, who were all waiting outside the communal hall for Jacob. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you alone. I don’t want to be away from you. I have to go; the ranch needs me. I am sorry there isn’t some way for us to be together this summer.”

Is that what he is upset about?
Well, then again, that should have been obvious. The last thing she had said to him was just that. She’d gotten over it, of course, but then she found out about her father and that had pushed everything else out of her mind. The mission was only two days away, and they hadn’t seen each other in all that time.

“Oh well,” she said punching him lightly on the arm, “I guess I’ll just have to come with then.”

He stared at her like she was nuts. He was trying to decide whether she was joking or not. In spite of everything, she laughed aloud.

Luke’s expression changed to sheer disbelief as Jacob approached and said, “Good morning, Amy, I am glad you could make it. We will be getting started right away if that’s okay.”

“Yes sir,” she replied with a sarcastic salute.

“Her!?” Shawn exploded. “But she’s, she’s . . . a girl!”

“Thanks for noticing,” Amy replied with a sneer.

“That’s enough, soldier,” Jacob warned before Shawn could reply. Jacob was acting like a man trapped between rabid raccoons. Since last night, he had come to the conclusion that he was going to have to get along with Amy, somehow. Before the meeting and during his introduction, he had gone out of his way to treat her respectfully. Now the reaction of his men was about to undo all his work.

“Sir, have you considered the ramifications of a girl—” Patrick spoke, calmer than Shawn, but still very hostile.

“Yes,” Jacob cut him off. “Just as I have considered the ramifications of not taking Amy.”

Amy glanced across at the older men. Larry’s face showed sadness; he and Marlin had been friends for years. Horace and John looked like they had swallowed a bug. Willie’s face was its usual unreadable blank stare. Mark O’Malley showed open revulsion. He was the next to speak. “But her, of all people.”

“That’s enough!” Jacob roared. “This is a military operation. I am in charge. Anyone want to question that?” No one did. “Right. It is my decision, and we are taking Amy, understand?”

“Yes sir!” Luke threw out a little too fast and loud. Amy was glad of the support. Daniel followed suit, and Larry even gave her a slight nod as he added his voice.

The rest of the men mumbled “Yes sir” sullenly. 

“Good,” Jacob said. “Then we can get down to business. We leave tomorrow, so this is our last chance to discuss the mission. We’ve got some good news as well.” Jacob swallowed nervously as he realized that could be taken wrong. When Amy showed no sign of reacting he went on. “Amy, do you want to brief us about this Jeep of yours?”

“I’m sorry about your dad,” Luke said as they left the community hall. The meeting had lasted all morning and when it picked up after lunch it would probably last all afternoon as well. Amy only understood part of what they were discussing. She didn’t understand the point. They discussed various strategies for dealing with any number of situations they were unlikely to even face.

“Thanks,” she said. “Come up for lunch. Elisabeth always makes too much anyway, and I am sure Dad would like to see you before we leave.”

He nodded his agreement. As they rounded the corner, Amy heard several of the others talking.

“You don’t think it’s a good idea, do you?” Daniel was asking someone.

“It will be bad luck,” Kurt replied, his voice sullen. Amy felt betrayed by his lack of support. She had always liked Kurt. “Dad says the mission is cursed as it is. He’ll not like this.”
That explained a lot
.

“Oh your dad’s daft,” Daniel said. “He thinks everything is cursed.”

“Maybe it is. Maybe we are all doomed.”

“Oh, you’re just mad because we’re taking a woman along and you are still the weak one,” Mark laughed. “Look at it this way, boys, it will be kind of nice to have some around to cook and clean for us.” Shawn and Patrick both laughed.

“Maybe more than just cook,” Shawn leered.

“That grease monkey?” Patrick replied, “Yuck!”

Amy went red but refused to acknowledge that she’d heard any of it. Luke looked away uncomfortably. When they were out of earshot, she exploded. “Those assholes! Who the hell do they think they are? Do they think I wanted to go on their precious mission? The whole damn lot of them could rot, for all I care. If it weren’t for Dad, I’d tell them to their faces. And if they think for one second I am going along to cook and clean . . .”

“They’re just being immature,” Luke said. “Ignore them.”

“Most of them are older than you,” Amy shot back.

“I know. They just think that they have to talk like that to be considered men.”

“And being a woman means putting up with it?”

“No, of course not. They don’t understand the great American way of life, honor and decency and all that.”

Amy rolled her eyes. Luke looked hurt. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I am glad you don’t feel the need to act like a baboon. And if it’s any consolation, now I am glad that you were chosen.” He smiled and nodded. 

When they got back to Amy’s house and told Elisabeth what they had heard the other boys saying, her sister was direct. “If they expect you to cook for them,” she said, “they have never had your cooking.”

“When you get back . . .” Marlin trailed off, not wanting to give voice to the pleasant lie.

Amy stared back, tears in her eyes. Looking at her father, she knew he wouldn’t last a week. As much as it would hurt her to watch it, she hated to leave him now even more.

She fell into his arms, crying. In the end, she wiped away her tears and said an ambiguous goodbye, leaving the worst unsaid. She knew she would never see him alive again.

Luke gave her a sympathetic pat on the back, which she shrugged off. He had come up early to help load her tools into the Jeep, as well as the supplies the men had brought up yesterday. Luke and she had attached a small flatbed this morning for the men to ride on. It would be slow going. Hell, down here in the valley, they could walk as fast as she could safely drive. Farther up in the mountains, it would be a different story. They had chosen this valley carefully. The approach was at a high altitude and treacherous. Even without heavy packs, it would be torturous on foot.

They made their way slowly toward the center of the community. A cheer went up as they rounded the corner and followed the now almost invisible line of the gravel road.

The community hall had been decorated for the occasion with two faded American flags. Two barrels and a couple of rough-hewn planks had been commandeered for a makeshift bandstand. It was small, but then again the dignitaries of the ranch amounted to Amos and Minister Posch, both of whom fit on it fine. The rest of the expedition was already gathered for inspection. Luke leapt from the passenger’s seat and ran to join them while Amy parked the Jeep.

Amos called them to attention. The men all snapped into position with obvious pride. Amy stood at the end of the line, unsure what she should do. No one seemed to being paying her much attention anyway.

Amos reiterated the problem the ranch faced and Jacob’s mission. Jacob called out, “Orders received, sir! We will do our best, sir!” He saluted. The men all followed suit.

Then Minister Posch stood and intoned a short prayer, asking for God’s blessing on the mission and on the men who were about to “serve the cause.”

Amos pulled out an old boom box, wired directly into an old solar panel. It was her own handiwork, she noted, as he tilted the panel toward the sun. A scratchy rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” played while the men loaded onto the Jeep’s trailer.

Elisabeth broke from the crowd and ran forward to hug Amy. Amy felt a momentary pang of guilt. As bad as it was to be going, how much worse was it for Elisabeth? To be left at home with a dying father? 

Scott Callahan Junior was waiting for them at Barricade Pass. A look of poorly disguised scorn passed between him and his brother Patrick. The ranch did not have two more different brothers. Everyone knew why Scott wasn’t going, despite being young, strong, and unmarried. He had refused. Nobody ordered him about, he maintained.

He lived in a tiny shack on the edge of the village that he took over two years ago to get away from his father. The only person that had anything to do with him was Daniel’s older sister, Ruth. The two talked about building a house in one of the neighboring valleys and having nothing to do with the ranch.

Daniel’s father, Robert, had finally made peace between Scott and the ranch. Scott was taking over sentry duty at Barricade Pass for the summer. In return, Robert gave him two axes, a maul, and a crosscut saw. Robert would join him at the pass several times a week, and they would harvest logs from the adjoining valley. By fall, they should have enough for a house.

Scott had lain four rough-cut logs against the barricade on either side, to serve as ramps for the Jeep. Amy drew a deep breath, aligned the wheels, and drove slowly over.

She stared down the trail. The road had been well-packed gravel years ago. Now, it was almost all overgrown with grass and weeds. It served one essential function though: it still cut a path through what otherwise would be impenetrable forest. The rich, old forest had been all but destroyed in the ecological disaster. Now, thirty years later, a thick scrub forest of new growth had erupted.

This first valley was shallow and short. They were soon rising again. The next pass was much higher, well above the tree line. The altitude of the second pass was enough to make it difficult for the average person to breathe well. It was here that the Jeep would be its most useful.

As they reached the peak, Amy’s head swam. The Jeep sputtered, and she remembered with a jolt that combustion engines took oxygen too. Then they crested into the pass, and the road level out. They came out the other side, and she stopped, looking down on a world she had never visited before.

Hundreds of feet below them, she could see the tree line. It seemed the forest stretched out forever. A line of lower mountains blocked her view of the plains that she knew lay below. For that, she was glad. Already it was too much. A lifetime of having the steep walls of their little valley on either side made this view dizzying.

“God, I hope the brakes work,” she muttered as she drove slowly over the edge and downward.

The rest of the day passed in a tortuous haze. The Jeep lurched over huge potholes and rain-cut divots with bone-jolting force. She lay heavily on the ancient brakes, trusting neither them nor the pockmarked road. Once they made it down into the tree line, she had to stop frequently for the men to clear dead falls from the road. She wasn’t sure what worried her more—the way the temperature gauge rose or the way the fuel gauge dropped.

It was mid-afternoon when Jacob called the first halt. Amy gratefully let the Jeep roll to a stop. She popped the hood and started to rummage through her tools.

“Whatcha going to cook us, missy?” Shawn called out as he climbed wearily off the trailer.

“I am not your cook!” Amy yelled, brandishing a wrench. Shawn took a step back.

“Enough!” Jacob barked. “Put down that wrench,” he told Amy before turning on Shawn. “Another comment like that, and you will be doing to cooking for the rest of the mission, understand?”

“Yes sir,” Shawn growled.

“Besides,” Jacob continued as he pulled a bag from the back of the Jeep, “This one’s on me. MREs,” he declared. “We need to make time so I talked Amos out of most of our remaining emergency rations.”

“MREs,” Horace said, “Meals Ready to Eat. Thirty years old and as good as the day they were packed.”

“More than thirty years.” Larry grimaced. “They were almost ten years old when we got them. And they were awful the day they were packed.” Larry had served in the Marines and spoke from experience.

“MREs kept many a soldier alive in the field,” Jacob told him. “Soldier’s best friend.”

Larry’s dim view of MREs was not shared by many. For most of the younger men, MREs were the stuff of legend. They had grown up listening to the old men talk of their days fighting, complaining of the many hardships they had endured. Now was their chance. Come what may, they would have earned their right to tell their own grandiose stories of their days serving the cause.