Tipping Point (30 page)

“I’ve been preparing for a while, but time ran out on me. Neil might have a better grasp on some of that stuff, since he’s been doing it longer, but he’s more inclined toward developing a community aspect where we share our skills, so I doubt he knows how to perform goat surgery either.” Neil chuckled.

“Hardly. I have a friend I figured I’d approach about it, if it came down to it, but I didn’t do anywhere near the self-educating that you did.” Annette looked back and forth between them, and then spoke up finally.

“Well, why don’t I just bring everything? If there’s no law and order, it hardly matters does it?”

“We’re a little off the main highways, so hopefully Rosseau won’t have been hit yet. It was fine yesterday. When we get back we’ll try to refuel. We may not be into the realm of lawlessness up there just yet, but you can see it spreading.

“Once we settle in there, we’re going to spend as little time as possible off the property. I hope you can handle that. We’ve got a lot of land, but certainly no nightlife, unless you count stars and wild animals. Of course, there won’t be any club hopping in the cities either, so it hardly matters.” Annette smiled a little.

“We’re not exactly into the bar-crawl scene, don’t worry. We both love animals, obviously, and having so many around will be wonderful I think. I love goats, though I’ve never treated any. Not much opportunity here for that. Some backyard chickens mostly, though some cities around here have by-laws against having them.”

“Tell me. Hamilton is one of them. I was living there when this started. Anyway, give us a minute to straighten up a bit by the drug cabinet, and then you can come in to pack whatever supplies you can fit in the cars. Kelly left some space in her car for stuff, and I still have a little room in the trunk behind the ferrets.”

“You have them in your trunk?” Annette was shocked.

“No. My back seats fold down so there’s trunk access from within the car. The very back of the carriers is just under where the trunk starts. I don’t have anything in the trunk that would hurt them anyway. My extra fuel is on the roof rack. You’ll see what I mean when you come out.”

With that, Mac and Neil went to ‘straighten up’ by way of dragging the whining drug thief out into the front hall area. Annette didn’t need to come face to face with the guy. Getting knocked around when you were all alone was a pretty scary thing.

She was trying her damndest to be cool and collected about the whole situation, of course, but her hands started shaking.

“I think I need another ferret,” she said, looking at the offending appendages. Neil shook his head before he spoke.

“Let’s get Annette in there to gather her stuff, so we can leave this place and go home. The drugs will be good to have, but the longer we stay here, the more danger we’re in.” He grabbed her shaking hands, and warmed them between his own. The gesture soothed her much like her
ferrapy
did.

“Hey, you’re almost as good as a ferret! Cool!” Neil rolled his eyes at her.

Once Beanie was back in the car, it took Annette less than fifteen minutes to organize all the things she wanted to take with her, including drugs, books, and surgical supplies. Mac had books, but the drugs and surgical supplies would be wonderful. She hadn’t even thought of the surgical gear for the animals. Mostly she’d just hoped that kind of thing wouldn’t be needed. She only had what was necessary for minor human stuff.

They all helped Annette load her supplies into the two cars, barely managing to squeeze everything in. Mac took the opportunity to add more fuel to their tanks, bringing both cars back up to full, and nearly emptying the jerrycans. She really hoped they would be able to top everything up when they got back to Rosseau. Everyone still had power, but she was more concerned about whether or not they would still have any fuel.

“What happened to all the animals you’d normally have in there, Annette?” Annette gave a shrug.

“I couldn’t perform surgery with the intermittent power, so I had to turn away anyone whose animals needed that kind of care. Eventually we called off all the appointments because we couldn’t get anything done. Just in time, as it turns out. I saw my final patient right before the main lights died Thursday afternoon. I sent everyone home after that. I was just getting things closed up when that guy broke in.”

Annette didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and Mac wasn’t going to push it. The timing would have been really bad right now anyway. They had to get back.

Suddenly it occurred to Annette that she would have to do something about her car. When she said she had a full tank of gas, Mac was fine with it being brought along, but she suggested Neil be the one to drive it. Annette was in no condition to be driving three hours straight.

“Do you have anything else that you want to bring along with you from the clinic, that maybe you didn’t think would fit? With another car there’s quite a bit of space that’s suddenly available. We’re not going to be able to come back here and everything helps.”

It turned out that Annette had some portable diagnostic and exam equipment, which would be extremely useful, in addition to a countertop vaccine and medication refrigerator. She had a DC adapter to plug it into that she’d originally bought for her laptop. They had to adjust the front passenger seat so it was as level as possible, but it would be worth the trouble.

Some cages and incubators were coming along for the ride, too. It took them another hour, but Mac felt the benefits would outweigh the risk. Mac could build her a couple of exam tables later on, but so much of the stuff that Annette was grabbing were things she’d never have thought to buy.

When they were finished loading Annette’s car, Mac and Neil went back to cut the ankle bindings on the scumbag. Movement would be awkward for him, but at least they weren’t sentencing him to death that way. He could walk to find help.

“Okay, I’ll head out first, followed by the two of you in Kelly’s car. Neil can follow to make sure you don’t get lost or left behind. It’s almost seven, and as you can see it’s getting dark, so I won’t really be able to tell if you’re behind me. Be honest with me here, though. Are you two going to be alright for the next couple of hours?” Kelly nodded.

“I can be a hard-ass about it. We need to be somewhere safe right now, and I’ll make sure we get there.”

“Alright. If for any reason you need to pull over, Neil will be behind you and will pull over with you. He can text me to let me know what’s going on. Anyone have any questions, or other issues? Bathroom breaks?” They all shook their heads before Kelly and Annette got into Kelly’s car.

Finally, it was time to go. They’d pushed their luck as far as they could without breaking it. Mac pulled out of the parking lot, already feeling better just being on the move.

Some of the ferrets made dooking sounds in the carriers. Poor things would need a bath when they got there. There was no way they’d been confined that long without a few of them sitting in poop. Oh well, it would give the kids plenty to do tonight. She’d done enough for one day, and she was in desperate need of some downtime.

22

H
OME ON THE
S
TRANGE

They were nearly home when she got a text from Mitch. She had the phone read it out to her.

“I’m okay. Just couldn’t get there. Sorry.” Mac realized he was a lost cause. She had no more fucks to give, as the expression went. She sent him back a terse message.

“Don’t apologize to me. You’re the one who’s fucked now. I’m already back home. There’s nothing else I can do to help you. Hope you make it.” She wasn’t risking anything more for him. Too many people and animals depended on her, and she could not focus her energies on saving one person who was determined to fuck himself over.

She wasn’t surprised when she didn’t hear from him again. She couldn’t help him, so he had nothing to say.

Mac felt a little lighter, albeit sad, knowing Mitch was a non-issue now. She wanted to talk to Neil, but she didn’t know if he could talk hands-free in Annette’s car. She wasn’t risking an accident for something that could wait thirty minutes.

It seemed to take forever for everyone to get through the gate tonight. It was just shy of ten, which was early for her, and she’d only been awake eleven hours, but she felt so bloody miserable she just wanted to go to bed. Of course, that only brought up another concern. Between the two houses and the tent, they didn’t really have enough places for people to sleep.

There was the other mattress in the upper storage area, but no privacy even if they brought it down. She’d have to think of something, unless Neil beat her to it. Annette would want to feel safe, but she might also want solitude after such a stressful day.

Mac pulled up behind the other two cars, and saw her daughter framed in the spill of light from the doorway. She had to pull her misgivings back in. Cameron was still young enough to need her mother’s strength. This was not the time to show weakness.

She got out and headed over to give her daughter a one-armed hug, which was all Cam tolerated these days, if that.

“Hey. Did you guys get the feeding, milking and egg-picking stuff done, in addition to that stuff I wrote down?”

“Yeah. Each goat only had a little bit of milk, and ewww, that was disgusting by the way.” Mackenzie laughed at her daughter’s expression.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Because
that’s
what I dreamed of being when I grew up. A goat farmer.”

“Well, you might yet have a chance to grow up if you have stuff to keep you alive, so stop complaining. I need you to get those ferrets into the area I asked you to fence off inside the house. Wipe them all down first, and then they’ll all need a full bath probably. They were stuck in those carriers for about six hours. Between the four of you, the work should go quickly.

“I need to eat and sleep, in that order. Find out from Kelly which ferrets have trouble getting along with the others so they can be separated. You guys will have to camp out in the living area, while Kelly and Annette take your room.”

She was in the middle of explaining about Beanie when Neil walked up to them, irritation showing on his face in the light from the house.

“You done being boss-lady yet?” Mac gave him a confused look.

“What’s wrong?”

“You. That’s what’s wrong. This has already been handled. You, on the other hand, have not. You’ve got a sandwich waiting. It’s not a hot dinner, but it’s quick. And then you can go relax.”

“What the hell? What do you mean this has already been handled? Who handled it, and how? And what do you mean about
me
being handled?” Neil turned her toward the house and got her walking while he explained.

“I called Billy from the car. All you were doing was keeping your daughter from getting on with things.”

“Were you driving while talking on the phone? Do you know how dangerous that is?” Mac could almost feel her eyes light up in righteous fury.

“I had my Bluetooth, Mac. Jesus.” Mac shrunk down to her normal size again, and the fire and brimstone disappeared.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,
oh
. You’re not the only grown-up on the planet.” Cameron disappeared as soon as Mac and Neil got to the kitchen area. Obviously she was staying away from this one. Mac was wishing she could do the same at this point. She decided to try a sheepish smile. Neil snorted in response.

“That’s not gonna work on me tonight. Eat your sandwich, drink your juice, and then haul ass to the bedroom. Spend some time with your boys and I’ll be there a few minutes after you.” Mac couldn’t help herself. She had a stubborn streak that chose the worst times to put itself on glorious display.

“I’m not going to bed until you do. I’m as capable of doing shit around here as you are.” Neil’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Mac was seriously regretting her display of temper now.

“I told you I’d be in a couple minutes after you, Mac, and I will be, because you and I have something to talk about that is in need of immediate attention. That’s why I made the arrangements to have things taken care of before we got home. However, after we have that discussion I can see that you’re in desperate need of a good night’s sleep. Either that or a fistfight, and I’m not hitting my wife.” Mac could tell that it had just slipped out, but it still made her close her eyes as the warmth of the words stole over her. She smiled. A genuine one this time.

“You mean to tell me I can’t even have a
little
fistfight with my husband after we’re married? That really blows. Could be fun,” she teased. The corner of his mouth quirked up as she went on.

“We’ve still got time before the wedding, you know. We could have one now.”

“Not a chance, honey. As far as I’m concerned you might as well be my wife
now
. You do look more stressed out than you were in Brampton, though. Did something happen on the way home?”

“Sad more than stressed. Had to say goodbye to a friend today, that’s all. Mitch sent a text. I texted him back, wished him good luck and told him I couldn’t do anything else to help him. That’s all. It was right before we got home. I wanted to call you, just to hear your voice, but I didn’t think you’d have hands-free. As you might have guessed I have rather strong feelings about driving while talking on a cell.” Neil raised his eyebrow at her.

“Yes, despite the subtlety of your towering anger, I did catch the mild flavour of your opinion beneath all the layers obscuring it.” Mac started laughing.

“You’ve got a hell of a way with words, cowboy. You’re mother teach you to talk like that?” He smiled.

“She did, as a matter of fact. Damn good thing, because I’d never be able to keep up with your sharp tongue otherwise.”

“I thought you liked my tongue, but I guess not. My mistake. I’ll keep it to myself then.” He growled in her ear.

“I don’t think so, honey. I like your tongue just fine. I just have to keep my own flexible enough to deal with it.”