Larkspur in Eden
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
Chapter Thirty-Five
The man who grabbed me quickly let go and had to grab himself as my stone knife had jumped into my hand as soon as I realized it wasn’t Gid. The next second I had stabbed him in the leg as close to the big blood-letting artery as I could get. I stumbled away and when I saw the tattoo on his face I didn’t even hesitate but sliced his throat. The cut was deep enough that it only took him a moment to fall and expire. I’d traveled with Aunt long enough to know a raider tattoo when I saw one and I recognized this particular tattoo from stories at the Buy n’ Sells as belonging to a group that skirted the corrupted lands looking for old weapons to use against militias and villages. They were vicious and took more joy than a sane man ever would in torture and mayhem of all types.
I ran to the back door and threw the bar to keep anyone else from coming up behind us and then carefully picked my way through the house. I wanted to run, to scream for Gid, but I didn’t dare. If there were raiders about I needed to keep my head. The front bar was harder for me to work but I got it in place. The bar on the door to the old barn stayed secured since the brothers had built the detached barn so I knew I didn’t need to take the time to check it. It always made so much racket that we would have heard it had anyone messed with it.
There was still no sign of Gid and it terrified me. Realizing someone would have had to take the back stairs because we had been on the front I carefully made me way over to that set of stairs. I was hoping they’d be looking towards the front and I could come up behind them if there was anyone up there that shouldn’t be. I dredged up every lesson Papa ever gave me and stealthily crept towards the second floor.
And surely, that is exactly what they were doing … when they weren’t poking holes in Gid they were staring down the front stairs or out the windows on that side of the house. I could see from the way his neck tendons stood out from around the gag they had on him Gid still lived. There were only two … two more lay on the floor dead. One of the two still standing was badly injured. How’d he gotten as far as he did and me not hear them I still don’t know. What I found when I got there was that Gid was trussed up and I wasn’t going to have much of a chance but one.
I briefly slipped into the room used by the younger boys as their sleeping chamber and, as I remembered, the bows that I had made for them to practice with still hung on pegs by the door. The arrows were dull and wouldn’t take a big animal but they’d do some damage if I could score a hit from up close in soft tissue. I got in place; the angle was awkward but still sufficed. The one that had been poking at Gid went down with an arrow buried in his eye. The other one continued to look down the stairs but hissed, “Quiet Dug. Jed should be getting the woman if he ain’t sampling her and makin’ us wait.” He finally turned when Gid kicked out at him and the raider’s last expression was one of surprise when he noticed an arrow sprout from his throat.
I ran to Gid to remove the dirty rag shoved in his mouth but he shook his head and then his eyes widened. He pushed me out of the way with his upper body and knocked into the raider that had been coming behind me with his knife drawn causing them both to tumble down the front staircase. I grabbed the mace dropped by one of the raiders and looked all around before running down the stair case. I didn’t stop but brought the mace down on the head of the raider that Gid had saved me from so hard that it stuck.
I rolled Gid over only his eyes were closed and he was as pale as I had ever seen him, even paler than he’d been the night I’d lost our catch. There was blood everywhere and his clothes were torn where the raider had been torturing him with shallow punctures. Remembering some of the tortures a raider could do to a captive I slowly opened Gid’s mouth and checked to make sure there weren’t hooks or barbs in the rag or down his throat before removing it. I noticed black and white granules on Gid’s clothes and realized that the raider had been rubbing salt and black powder into the cuts. Had the beast in the shape of a man not already gotten drug off by the demons I would have gladly made his passing as hard as I could.
When a trickle of blood ran out of Gid’s ear I was ready to scream. “God please oh please don’t do this. I swear I’ll learn whatever lesson you need me to learn but don’t teach me by taking the one that you sent to save me. If someone has to fly away to the angels let it be me …”
I tried to pull Gid but for all his whipcord leanness he was as heavy and stiff as a boulder at the bottom of a lake. I had to run and get a quilt, roll him onto it, and then drag him just to get him a few feet at a time. I had barely managed to get him half way to our sleeping quarters when I heard an explosion in the distance. It was loud enough that it rattled the doors and windows in their frames. Suddenly I thought of the family’s caravan and what it might mean.
The man who grabbed me quickly let go and had to grab himself as my stone knife had jumped into my hand as soon as I realized it wasn’t Gid. The next second I had stabbed him in the leg as close to the big blood-letting artery as I could get. I stumbled away and when I saw the tattoo on his face I didn’t even hesitate but sliced his throat. The cut was deep enough that it only took him a moment to fall and expire. I’d traveled with Aunt long enough to know a raider tattoo when I saw one and I recognized this particular tattoo from stories at the Buy n’ Sells as belonging to a group that skirted the corrupted lands looking for old weapons to use against militias and villages. They were vicious and took more joy than a sane man ever would in torture and mayhem of all types.
I ran to the back door and threw the bar to keep anyone else from coming up behind us and then carefully picked my way through the house. I wanted to run, to scream for Gid, but I didn’t dare. If there were raiders about I needed to keep my head. The front bar was harder for me to work but I got it in place. The bar on the door to the old barn stayed secured since the brothers had built the detached barn so I knew I didn’t need to take the time to check it. It always made so much racket that we would have heard it had anyone messed with it.
There was still no sign of Gid and it terrified me. Realizing someone would have had to take the back stairs because we had been on the front I carefully made me way over to that set of stairs. I was hoping they’d be looking towards the front and I could come up behind them if there was anyone up there that shouldn’t be. I dredged up every lesson Papa ever gave me and stealthily crept towards the second floor.
And surely, that is exactly what they were doing … when they weren’t poking holes in Gid they were staring down the front stairs or out the windows on that side of the house. I could see from the way his neck tendons stood out from around the gag they had on him Gid still lived. There were only two … two more lay on the floor dead. One of the two still standing was badly injured. How’d he gotten as far as he did and me not hear them I still don’t know. What I found when I got there was that Gid was trussed up and I wasn’t going to have much of a chance but one.
I briefly slipped into the room used by the younger boys as their sleeping chamber and, as I remembered, the bows that I had made for them to practice with still hung on pegs by the door. The arrows were dull and wouldn’t take a big animal but they’d do some damage if I could score a hit from up close in soft tissue. I got in place; the angle was awkward but still sufficed. The one that had been poking at Gid went down with an arrow buried in his eye. The other one continued to look down the stairs but hissed, “Quiet Dug. Jed should be getting the woman if he ain’t sampling her and makin’ us wait.” He finally turned when Gid kicked out at him and the raider’s last expression was one of surprise when he noticed an arrow sprout from his throat.
I ran to Gid to remove the dirty rag shoved in his mouth but he shook his head and then his eyes widened. He pushed me out of the way with his upper body and knocked into the raider that had been coming behind me with his knife drawn causing them both to tumble down the front staircase. I grabbed the mace dropped by one of the raiders and looked all around before running down the stair case. I didn’t stop but brought the mace down on the head of the raider that Gid had saved me from so hard that it stuck.
I rolled Gid over only his eyes were closed and he was as pale as I had ever seen him, even paler than he’d been the night I’d lost our catch. There was blood everywhere and his clothes were torn where the raider had been torturing him with shallow punctures. Remembering some of the tortures a raider could do to a captive I slowly opened Gid’s mouth and checked to make sure there weren’t hooks or barbs in the rag or down his throat before removing it. I noticed black and white granules on Gid’s clothes and realized that the raider had been rubbing salt and black powder into the cuts. Had the beast in the shape of a man not already gotten drug off by the demons I would have gladly made his passing as hard as I could.
When a trickle of blood ran out of Gid’s ear I was ready to scream. “God please oh please don’t do this. I swear I’ll learn whatever lesson you need me to learn but don’t teach me by taking the one that you sent to save me. If someone has to fly away to the angels let it be me …”
I tried to pull Gid but for all his whipcord leanness he was as heavy and stiff as a boulder at the bottom of a lake. I had to run and get a quilt, roll him onto it, and then drag him just to get him a few feet at a time. I had barely managed to get him half way to our sleeping quarters when I heard an explosion in the distance. It was loud enough that it rattled the doors and windows in their frames. Suddenly I thought of the family’s caravan and what it might mean.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“Please God, don’t send the angels after him and keep the demons at bay. If you just have to have a price then let it be me. I’ll go, perhaps not so gladly as I once would have as I have started to look forward to life again, but none of this will be worth living if he’s gone out of it. Please God …”
I looked around at the injured spread everywhere on the floor. I knew there was a pile of dead being burned in a pyre … none of the dead were ours except for a few chickens whose cages were crushed when I wagon tipped … and could smell the rancid and oily smoke despite the cabin being closed up.
“Mistress Yulee? My man Coe is finally wakening. Can you check to make sure his brain ‘s not more scrambled than normal?”
I knew there wasn’t a thing more I could do for Gid but it still tore me to leave his side. But I did it; I had a responsibility to see to those who could use my help. I also began to understand why the Sisters took vows that kept them from marriage and an outside family. It was terribly hard to share your attention with strangers when those you love are suffering; or in the case of the raiders that yet lived and were tied up outside under guard not to make their passing more painful.
I stood and looked around. The injured included the oldest to the youngest. Lerna sat nearly insensible as all her chicks lay about with varying levels of injury. Hank refused to leave Hiram’s side and did in fact hold his brother’s hand; there’d never be any more tricks in that quarter as one now bore a wound that was sure to leave a fierce scar and the other had lost the small finger on his left hand. Ned mopped the brow of Ern who was in pain from a badly wrenched leg. I’d managed to put it back in the socket but all of the muscle and connective tissues were badly bruised and stretched.
Tad and Jace were taking their turns keeping a lookout and refused to even consider letting me go get some more willow for the pain relieving tea that I was running out of. “People will just have to bare the pain Yulee,” Jace said tiredly. “Gid will have my hide should I let you go, especially in the dark.” Tad was no better and I knew it was a waste of time to argue.
I’d ordered Vaniece to a pallet. She was pale as ash but so far no pains or spotting to say her catch was going to be taken. Her side was the only place that Jace went to when he left his post. If nothing good comes of this, at least there is that.
As I once again did the rounds of checking the wounded over, starting with the daffy-acting man named Coe who apparently wasn’t all that sound of mind to begin with, I once again remembered the sequence of events that had gotten us here. I’d finally gotten Gid to his bed and on it – no small feat that – and bathed his wounds and done what I could to make him comfortable. He would try and regain consciousness but he only seemed to be able to for short moments. That’s when I began to suspect it hadn’t just been salt and gunpowder he’d had rubbed into his wounds but some type of drug as well. I still don’t know what it is but he’s sweated profusely and it has been a challenge to keep him from drying out.
I knew I couldn’t leave the bodies of the raiders to fester in the house and had managed to dump one out the backdoor and roll the four that had surprised Gid down the stairs like old, broken scarecrows. I stripped their bodies and laid all aside for Gid’s inspection and then started to drag them out the front. I had two and was dragging a third out when there was a whistle from the road.
I jumped up and looked, tried to whistle in return but my mouth was cut and swollen and then said loudly, “I … I can’t whistle. My mouth is …”
I grabbed my knife when I saw Tad creep from the bushes. “Where’s Gid?” he asked cautiously looking around.
I nearly burst into tears but only shook my head. “Wounded.”
From that point it was a worse mad house than when Jace had brought the family so many months before. Tad’s Uncle Gerry had picked up a couple of new workers in the place where he had over-wintered only it turns out they were raiders in disguise. One thing led to another. They’d told their raider compatriots a wealthy trader convoy was on their way and then as they were followed, they found us from the outrider who’d been picked off and tortured for information. It was the man Coe, a mostly harmless soul, and if I understand it he refused to reveal much until they started cutting on his manlies. He’ll live if no infection sets in but he’ll need watching to make sure his despair doesn’t lead him to suicide or deathly foolishness. Men are sensitive about their manlies and the Sisters and Brothers always had a special watch on those that came in after that kind of torturing.
Tad’s uncle’s convoy was a harder nut to crack than expected as it had been in lock down due to Coe’s failure to return even with the ones on the inside trying to make mischief and hinder the defense. What the raiders also hadn’t been prepared for was Jace outfitting the whole family with guns. Most convoys only have the one or two well-armed men as guards, not so this time. Gid and I were hit because the cabin was thought to be the hidey home of some rich merchant and because it would make a good base of operations.
I stepped into the kitchen to find Vaniece and Lolly brewing. “Vaniece, you need to be abed and off your feet.”
Lolly nodded tiredly and said, “I’ve already tried to tell her. She refuses to until Jace comes back in from his watch.”
“Jace. Food.”
I nodded understanding that her fatigue was interfering with her speech more than usual. “Then at least sit down. You can chop greens just as well that way as standing.”
Acquiescing with more grace than I expected she said, “Gid?”
“The same.”
“Always hope,” Vaniece said with too much understanding.
“Yes Yulee,” Lolly agreed. “There’s always hope and Gid is as tough as old shoe leather. What of the dog and cat?”
I shrugged. “They’ll live but don’t let the children near them. You know how animals act when they’ve been injured. And the cat is near impossible when even I go near Horse. She’s worse that a mother bear about that dog.”
“Why you let Gid play such a trick and call the dog Horse I don’t know. It makes for awful confusion.”
Suddenly I had to sit down or fall down. I come to myself to find Lurna patting my back. “Go lay down a bit beside Gid. If nothing else because Gid would want it and will want to know why we didn’t do our duty by you when he wakes.”
I slowly sat up and shook my head. “You’ve done your duty. I’ll simply tell him that I’m too stubborn to let it get in the way of what I must do.”
Lurna just looked at me then said, “Oh aye … and it is going to take a woman as stubborn as you to deal with him when he awakens and finds out he is not to leave that bed until given leave to do so. He’ll make more noise than the children do when they are up to tricks. See if he doesn’t. There’s been a time or two when we’ve all but had to tie him to bed to keep him there. And you can remind him of that too.”
I made my way back to Gid’s side and here I still sit. I’m not sure if they truly have hope or if they only act like they do for my sake. But hope is all I have right now. His breathing is so shallow and his skin feels damp but cool. I would give much to take his place but for whatever reason God has left me on this side of the Gates thus far. Hope. I have to maintain it. The hole in my heart this time would swallow me up and leave nothing.
“Please God, don’t send the angels after him and keep the demons at bay. If you just have to have a price then let it be me. I’ll go, perhaps not so gladly as I once would have as I have started to look forward to life again, but none of this will be worth living if he’s gone out of it. Please God …”
I looked around at the injured spread everywhere on the floor. I knew there was a pile of dead being burned in a pyre … none of the dead were ours except for a few chickens whose cages were crushed when I wagon tipped … and could smell the rancid and oily smoke despite the cabin being closed up.
“Mistress Yulee? My man Coe is finally wakening. Can you check to make sure his brain ‘s not more scrambled than normal?”
I knew there wasn’t a thing more I could do for Gid but it still tore me to leave his side. But I did it; I had a responsibility to see to those who could use my help. I also began to understand why the Sisters took vows that kept them from marriage and an outside family. It was terribly hard to share your attention with strangers when those you love are suffering; or in the case of the raiders that yet lived and were tied up outside under guard not to make their passing more painful.
I stood and looked around. The injured included the oldest to the youngest. Lerna sat nearly insensible as all her chicks lay about with varying levels of injury. Hank refused to leave Hiram’s side and did in fact hold his brother’s hand; there’d never be any more tricks in that quarter as one now bore a wound that was sure to leave a fierce scar and the other had lost the small finger on his left hand. Ned mopped the brow of Ern who was in pain from a badly wrenched leg. I’d managed to put it back in the socket but all of the muscle and connective tissues were badly bruised and stretched.
Tad and Jace were taking their turns keeping a lookout and refused to even consider letting me go get some more willow for the pain relieving tea that I was running out of. “People will just have to bare the pain Yulee,” Jace said tiredly. “Gid will have my hide should I let you go, especially in the dark.” Tad was no better and I knew it was a waste of time to argue.
I’d ordered Vaniece to a pallet. She was pale as ash but so far no pains or spotting to say her catch was going to be taken. Her side was the only place that Jace went to when he left his post. If nothing good comes of this, at least there is that.
As I once again did the rounds of checking the wounded over, starting with the daffy-acting man named Coe who apparently wasn’t all that sound of mind to begin with, I once again remembered the sequence of events that had gotten us here. I’d finally gotten Gid to his bed and on it – no small feat that – and bathed his wounds and done what I could to make him comfortable. He would try and regain consciousness but he only seemed to be able to for short moments. That’s when I began to suspect it hadn’t just been salt and gunpowder he’d had rubbed into his wounds but some type of drug as well. I still don’t know what it is but he’s sweated profusely and it has been a challenge to keep him from drying out.
I knew I couldn’t leave the bodies of the raiders to fester in the house and had managed to dump one out the backdoor and roll the four that had surprised Gid down the stairs like old, broken scarecrows. I stripped their bodies and laid all aside for Gid’s inspection and then started to drag them out the front. I had two and was dragging a third out when there was a whistle from the road.
I jumped up and looked, tried to whistle in return but my mouth was cut and swollen and then said loudly, “I … I can’t whistle. My mouth is …”
I grabbed my knife when I saw Tad creep from the bushes. “Where’s Gid?” he asked cautiously looking around.
I nearly burst into tears but only shook my head. “Wounded.”
From that point it was a worse mad house than when Jace had brought the family so many months before. Tad’s Uncle Gerry had picked up a couple of new workers in the place where he had over-wintered only it turns out they were raiders in disguise. One thing led to another. They’d told their raider compatriots a wealthy trader convoy was on their way and then as they were followed, they found us from the outrider who’d been picked off and tortured for information. It was the man Coe, a mostly harmless soul, and if I understand it he refused to reveal much until they started cutting on his manlies. He’ll live if no infection sets in but he’ll need watching to make sure his despair doesn’t lead him to suicide or deathly foolishness. Men are sensitive about their manlies and the Sisters and Brothers always had a special watch on those that came in after that kind of torturing.
Tad’s uncle’s convoy was a harder nut to crack than expected as it had been in lock down due to Coe’s failure to return even with the ones on the inside trying to make mischief and hinder the defense. What the raiders also hadn’t been prepared for was Jace outfitting the whole family with guns. Most convoys only have the one or two well-armed men as guards, not so this time. Gid and I were hit because the cabin was thought to be the hidey home of some rich merchant and because it would make a good base of operations.
I stepped into the kitchen to find Vaniece and Lolly brewing. “Vaniece, you need to be abed and off your feet.”
Lolly nodded tiredly and said, “I’ve already tried to tell her. She refuses to until Jace comes back in from his watch.”
“Jace. Food.”
I nodded understanding that her fatigue was interfering with her speech more than usual. “Then at least sit down. You can chop greens just as well that way as standing.”
Acquiescing with more grace than I expected she said, “Gid?”
“The same.”
“Always hope,” Vaniece said with too much understanding.
“Yes Yulee,” Lolly agreed. “There’s always hope and Gid is as tough as old shoe leather. What of the dog and cat?”
I shrugged. “They’ll live but don’t let the children near them. You know how animals act when they’ve been injured. And the cat is near impossible when even I go near Horse. She’s worse that a mother bear about that dog.”
“Why you let Gid play such a trick and call the dog Horse I don’t know. It makes for awful confusion.”
Suddenly I had to sit down or fall down. I come to myself to find Lurna patting my back. “Go lay down a bit beside Gid. If nothing else because Gid would want it and will want to know why we didn’t do our duty by you when he wakes.”
I slowly sat up and shook my head. “You’ve done your duty. I’ll simply tell him that I’m too stubborn to let it get in the way of what I must do.”
Lurna just looked at me then said, “Oh aye … and it is going to take a woman as stubborn as you to deal with him when he awakens and finds out he is not to leave that bed until given leave to do so. He’ll make more noise than the children do when they are up to tricks. See if he doesn’t. There’s been a time or two when we’ve all but had to tie him to bed to keep him there. And you can remind him of that too.”
I made my way back to Gid’s side and here I still sit. I’m not sure if they truly have hope or if they only act like they do for my sake. But hope is all I have right now. His breathing is so shallow and his skin feels damp but cool. I would give much to take his place but for whatever reason God has left me on this side of the Gates thus far. Hope. I have to maintain it. The hole in my heart this time would swallow me up and leave nothing.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thanks much for the new chapters.
Up at our BOL and looks like mischief with the lines again so wifi posting may be hit or miss. We'll see. Get something up as soon as possible. Connection simply bad right now.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Wow Kathy what a story, it's hard to believe that your story's can keep getting better but they do.
Wayne
Wayne
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I sure hope you can get a line, I just love your story. Have a good time at your BOL and hope there isn't to much work to be done there.
naturallysweet
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Somebody better get down and fix Kathy's internet lines, because I'm having withdrawals.
Nature_Lover
Wait! What?
Thank You Kathy, this is a great story.
OK ... one more try before I go out and work on the choke on the zero turn mower.
-----------------------------------
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Thir … thirs … thirst …”
I almost thought I was imagining it at first, but when I lifted my head Gid’s eyes were beseeching me. I could die of shame. Just die of it. I knew he was parched from sweating out the poison. I knew how urgent it was that I follow my hope with the action of keeping him watered. But despite all that I fell asleep. Did he not need me I think I could find a hole and crawl in and just wait for the angels to carry me off rather than bear it.
Even now when I’ve confessed to Gid and he threaten to tie me to him if I ever say such a thing again I can’t let go the idea that I’ve let him down. But never again. Never. God has been merciful and I’ll not take it for granted.
“Yulee, ease up. I’m a grown man, not a sprat that needs all my parts to be washed like I don’t know how to. Just scrub my back. I don’t seem to have the stretch in my arm like I should.”
I stopped and tried not to fuss so much. I know he doesn’t like it but I can’t seem to stop myself. “It’s the new skin over the worst of the knife wounds. It is still a pink and tender and tight the way such things are. Just let me do the doing for a while yet and you’ll be well and able to stretch to your heart’s content. I’ll see to it if it is the last thing I do.”
“And there you go again woman. How many times do I have to tell you not to be so hard on yourself? If anyone needs a flogging it is me. I vowed to protect you and you wound up having to do the deed for both of us … against corrupted raiders no less.”
“You’ve lost your memory. Have you forgotten you took out two raiders so fast I never even heard it happen and wounded a third? All I did was pop out of a mouse hole and finish what little bit you left me to do, and I couldn’t even do that right. I forgot Papa taught me to always make sure the demons have drug off the enemy, so what did you have to do? You had to go and save me again and crack your head on top of all the other injuries you’d already suffered. I swear Gid I could just …”
“Say it and I’ll pop you on your seat even if it means breaking a promise to never raise a hand to you,” he said menacingly. “I mean it Yulee, I’ll not stand for it. Now let it go and let it be that we saved each other. There’s no need for you to be so hard on yourself. I didn’t die. Neither did you. There’s a mess but we’re facing it together.”
I shut my mouth as I knew the arguing wore on him almost as bad as his injuries still did. But that doesn’t mean I can just get rid of the feelings. I nearly lost him. The most precious thing that God has sent me besides Himself. I feel so undeserving. I am undeserving. But I must work at it, let him and Him know how I appreciate it.
“You gonna worry at it forever and again or you going to help me finish this bath before I turn into a raisin?”
“Oh … oh I’m sorry I …”
He sighed and said, “Yulee?”
“Yes Gid?”
“When I get my strength back and enough patience not to rush it … I’ll chase you around the cabin so much you’ll never have to wonder if I’m still interested.”
“Huh?”
“I saw your face,” he said morosely. I didn’t know what he was talking about and I was going to check his forehead for a fever when he said, “When I didn’t come down after you … that day the raiders got in. I saw your face and … and I don’t ever want to disappoint you again.”
It took me a moment to even remember and when I did I was almost angry. “Gid! You never disappoint me! Never … never ever. I just thought … well … it isn’t worth repeating. Now let me put some lotion on that spot that keeps trying to dry out and crack and cause you to …”
He reached over and grabbed my arm. “I mean it Yulee. It’s not that I didn’t want to play and pay some attention to you … I was just … worried. You got so … so frail. You looked almost like you did when you came out of the cage … all sharp angles and a face set so that the rest of the world couldn’t know what was going on inside you. I didn’t know what was going on inside you and that worried me most. I didn’t know if you were keeping something from me. Every time I tried to ask Lurna all I got was woman speak and I didn’t understand any of it.”
Rinsing the soap from his back and starting on his hair I told him, “It indeed was all just woman speak Gid. Some of it was … was my womanlies … stuff the old time doctors called hormones … going back to where they belonged. Some of it was … I was just grieving. And scared that you’d be disappointed. It got better. It … it is better.”
“That voice you’re using don’t sound like it’s better.”
I sighed. “It is better. Truly Gid. It … it is something that has marked my heart but … but it is better. There is nothing I can do to change what happened so I have to accept it. I just was trying to … to get over it, not make it worse for either one of us. I know you hurt as well. I just wanted to find some way to bridge it so that we could be more comfortable, like we were.”
We were both quiet a moment with the only noise the sound the suds made as I scrub them into his scalp. Then he said, “Try and look at what is happening with the raiders the same way. Can’t change what has happened … the bad or the good of it. We accept it. Learn from it. Then move forward. Live better for it even if it was from grief. If we constantly look back and blame ourselves that isn’t living, much less living better. Or aren’t you the one that used to forever talk about God sending lessons your way and not always liking the form they took?”
I finished helping Gid then helped him out of the bath. He no longer needs my help dressing. He has healed up a lot faster than any of us expected. Tad’s uncle said that Gid has an iron constitution and that since none of the knife wounds were as deep as they could have been that it must have been the drug that affected him so strongly. As soon as that passed through his body his recovery was lightning fast. Only the few punctures near his shoulders from the initial fight still give him trouble. It hasn’t even been half a moon’s cycle and he’s nearly back to full strength and God be praised he is of sound mind rather than a lack wit because of the drug and torture.
His words have given me a lot to think about. I still feel so guilty yet perhaps he is right. Maybe it is trusting God once again to bring us what we need that I need to do more of. I’d come to depend only on Gid. It’s not that I didn’t still do my daily speaking with God but I almost put Gid ahead of Him … that it was Gid that provided what I needed rather than God providing what both Gid and I need. If that was the lesson I was to learn it has been a harsh and terrifying one. I don’t want to think of life without Gid and maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe it is that I need to trust God will take care of Gid as much as Gid takes care of me. I don’t know. This is something the Brothers and Sisters would have been so much better at contemplating. It makes my stomach turn inside out.
Certainly it only adds to the other troubles we have still to face. There are groups of raiders tromping the forest; not too thick now that the main force has been taken out but still enough to cause trouble. From those that Gerry and his men have caught and questioned before sending them off with the demons sacking Riverside only got enough to last them through the cold months. For some reason – most likely the drought – a lot of bad men have been congregating in the valley looking for food and such since it is so scarce other places. The mining and lumber outposts have not been cracked yet which is a blessing and put Lurna’s heart at ease as she has been worried about all of the older, married girls in the family. But Shale and Yellow Rock have been breached twice; however both attacks were quickly repelled and the towns are now under siege. As a result the raiders are laying waste to the countryside trying to wait them out. It is why they were putting spies in the trading caravans, looking for a way to get in or a new place to work their mischief.
For some unknown reason the raiders think Shale and Yellow Rock is full to the top of gold and other treasures. Makes no sense. The mines in the area are for coal, stones, and minerals; not for spending metals like gold or silver. There’s a small marble quarry and another for limestone. Tad sad that aside from the coal mines the most profitable one is owned by a family that keeps to themselves most of the time and they mine sodium bicarbonate. This finally explained the mystery of how Gid had such a supply of the rarity here at be cabin. It has meant I didn’t have to skimp on the things that need baking soda like the rising bread or the toothpowder.
Blessed are we that the leaders of the various raider groups are too full of themselves to pull together or there would be more serious problems. They feud and fight amongst each other even more than they work to keep the siege going. But if this continues we will truly be hurting. Gid already balks at the time lost to get crops in the fields. I’ve started seedlings for a kitchen garden but I don’t wish to build a temptation to call the raiders to fight us more directly. Gid and the other men hate to see any of us women beyond the cabin’s yard but there is no help for it if we expect our supplies to outlast the raiders’ attention span. As it is Gerry has lost a great deal in silverweight as he cannot charge us for what we use from his supplies as we are providing a place for he and his men to hole up.
We are all courting disaster and something must break soon.
-----------------------------------
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Thir … thirs … thirst …”
I almost thought I was imagining it at first, but when I lifted my head Gid’s eyes were beseeching me. I could die of shame. Just die of it. I knew he was parched from sweating out the poison. I knew how urgent it was that I follow my hope with the action of keeping him watered. But despite all that I fell asleep. Did he not need me I think I could find a hole and crawl in and just wait for the angels to carry me off rather than bear it.
Even now when I’ve confessed to Gid and he threaten to tie me to him if I ever say such a thing again I can’t let go the idea that I’ve let him down. But never again. Never. God has been merciful and I’ll not take it for granted.
“Yulee, ease up. I’m a grown man, not a sprat that needs all my parts to be washed like I don’t know how to. Just scrub my back. I don’t seem to have the stretch in my arm like I should.”
I stopped and tried not to fuss so much. I know he doesn’t like it but I can’t seem to stop myself. “It’s the new skin over the worst of the knife wounds. It is still a pink and tender and tight the way such things are. Just let me do the doing for a while yet and you’ll be well and able to stretch to your heart’s content. I’ll see to it if it is the last thing I do.”
“And there you go again woman. How many times do I have to tell you not to be so hard on yourself? If anyone needs a flogging it is me. I vowed to protect you and you wound up having to do the deed for both of us … against corrupted raiders no less.”
“You’ve lost your memory. Have you forgotten you took out two raiders so fast I never even heard it happen and wounded a third? All I did was pop out of a mouse hole and finish what little bit you left me to do, and I couldn’t even do that right. I forgot Papa taught me to always make sure the demons have drug off the enemy, so what did you have to do? You had to go and save me again and crack your head on top of all the other injuries you’d already suffered. I swear Gid I could just …”
“Say it and I’ll pop you on your seat even if it means breaking a promise to never raise a hand to you,” he said menacingly. “I mean it Yulee, I’ll not stand for it. Now let it go and let it be that we saved each other. There’s no need for you to be so hard on yourself. I didn’t die. Neither did you. There’s a mess but we’re facing it together.”
I shut my mouth as I knew the arguing wore on him almost as bad as his injuries still did. But that doesn’t mean I can just get rid of the feelings. I nearly lost him. The most precious thing that God has sent me besides Himself. I feel so undeserving. I am undeserving. But I must work at it, let him and Him know how I appreciate it.
“You gonna worry at it forever and again or you going to help me finish this bath before I turn into a raisin?”
“Oh … oh I’m sorry I …”
He sighed and said, “Yulee?”
“Yes Gid?”
“When I get my strength back and enough patience not to rush it … I’ll chase you around the cabin so much you’ll never have to wonder if I’m still interested.”
“Huh?”
“I saw your face,” he said morosely. I didn’t know what he was talking about and I was going to check his forehead for a fever when he said, “When I didn’t come down after you … that day the raiders got in. I saw your face and … and I don’t ever want to disappoint you again.”
It took me a moment to even remember and when I did I was almost angry. “Gid! You never disappoint me! Never … never ever. I just thought … well … it isn’t worth repeating. Now let me put some lotion on that spot that keeps trying to dry out and crack and cause you to …”
He reached over and grabbed my arm. “I mean it Yulee. It’s not that I didn’t want to play and pay some attention to you … I was just … worried. You got so … so frail. You looked almost like you did when you came out of the cage … all sharp angles and a face set so that the rest of the world couldn’t know what was going on inside you. I didn’t know what was going on inside you and that worried me most. I didn’t know if you were keeping something from me. Every time I tried to ask Lurna all I got was woman speak and I didn’t understand any of it.”
Rinsing the soap from his back and starting on his hair I told him, “It indeed was all just woman speak Gid. Some of it was … was my womanlies … stuff the old time doctors called hormones … going back to where they belonged. Some of it was … I was just grieving. And scared that you’d be disappointed. It got better. It … it is better.”
“That voice you’re using don’t sound like it’s better.”
I sighed. “It is better. Truly Gid. It … it is something that has marked my heart but … but it is better. There is nothing I can do to change what happened so I have to accept it. I just was trying to … to get over it, not make it worse for either one of us. I know you hurt as well. I just wanted to find some way to bridge it so that we could be more comfortable, like we were.”
We were both quiet a moment with the only noise the sound the suds made as I scrub them into his scalp. Then he said, “Try and look at what is happening with the raiders the same way. Can’t change what has happened … the bad or the good of it. We accept it. Learn from it. Then move forward. Live better for it even if it was from grief. If we constantly look back and blame ourselves that isn’t living, much less living better. Or aren’t you the one that used to forever talk about God sending lessons your way and not always liking the form they took?”
I finished helping Gid then helped him out of the bath. He no longer needs my help dressing. He has healed up a lot faster than any of us expected. Tad’s uncle said that Gid has an iron constitution and that since none of the knife wounds were as deep as they could have been that it must have been the drug that affected him so strongly. As soon as that passed through his body his recovery was lightning fast. Only the few punctures near his shoulders from the initial fight still give him trouble. It hasn’t even been half a moon’s cycle and he’s nearly back to full strength and God be praised he is of sound mind rather than a lack wit because of the drug and torture.
His words have given me a lot to think about. I still feel so guilty yet perhaps he is right. Maybe it is trusting God once again to bring us what we need that I need to do more of. I’d come to depend only on Gid. It’s not that I didn’t still do my daily speaking with God but I almost put Gid ahead of Him … that it was Gid that provided what I needed rather than God providing what both Gid and I need. If that was the lesson I was to learn it has been a harsh and terrifying one. I don’t want to think of life without Gid and maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe it is that I need to trust God will take care of Gid as much as Gid takes care of me. I don’t know. This is something the Brothers and Sisters would have been so much better at contemplating. It makes my stomach turn inside out.
Certainly it only adds to the other troubles we have still to face. There are groups of raiders tromping the forest; not too thick now that the main force has been taken out but still enough to cause trouble. From those that Gerry and his men have caught and questioned before sending them off with the demons sacking Riverside only got enough to last them through the cold months. For some reason – most likely the drought – a lot of bad men have been congregating in the valley looking for food and such since it is so scarce other places. The mining and lumber outposts have not been cracked yet which is a blessing and put Lurna’s heart at ease as she has been worried about all of the older, married girls in the family. But Shale and Yellow Rock have been breached twice; however both attacks were quickly repelled and the towns are now under siege. As a result the raiders are laying waste to the countryside trying to wait them out. It is why they were putting spies in the trading caravans, looking for a way to get in or a new place to work their mischief.
For some unknown reason the raiders think Shale and Yellow Rock is full to the top of gold and other treasures. Makes no sense. The mines in the area are for coal, stones, and minerals; not for spending metals like gold or silver. There’s a small marble quarry and another for limestone. Tad sad that aside from the coal mines the most profitable one is owned by a family that keeps to themselves most of the time and they mine sodium bicarbonate. This finally explained the mystery of how Gid had such a supply of the rarity here at be cabin. It has meant I didn’t have to skimp on the things that need baking soda like the rising bread or the toothpowder.
Blessed are we that the leaders of the various raider groups are too full of themselves to pull together or there would be more serious problems. They feud and fight amongst each other even more than they work to keep the siege going. But if this continues we will truly be hurting. Gid already balks at the time lost to get crops in the fields. I’ve started seedlings for a kitchen garden but I don’t wish to build a temptation to call the raiders to fight us more directly. Gid and the other men hate to see any of us women beyond the cabin’s yard but there is no help for it if we expect our supplies to outlast the raiders’ attention span. As it is Gerry has lost a great deal in silverweight as he cannot charge us for what we use from his supplies as we are providing a place for he and his men to hole up.
We are all courting disaster and something must break soon.
naturallysweet
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thanks!
Moar please.
Moar please.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you and good luck with the work.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Thanks for the new chapter and have a great day Kathy.
Wayne
Wayne
Dosadi
Brown Coat
Thank you kathy, I always enjoy your solutions to bad guys, so Ill keep my more direct go hunt scalps and scare them so bad they leave suggestions to myself.
Sometimes ya just have to put down mad animals before they do harm.
D.
Did is mention thanks, well thanks for the nice evening treat.
D 2
Sometimes ya just have to put down mad animals before they do harm.
D.
Did is mention thanks, well thanks for the nice evening treat.
D 2
I've only made it through chapter 12 so far, but had to take a break from reading to tell you I LOVE this story, Kathy! Thank you so much for posting it!
Nature_Lover
Wait! What?
Kathy, thank you for more story.
I hope you got the mower purring.
I hope you got the mower purring.
May we please have some more? 
Just got back after an extended stay at the BOL. Now hubby and I are sick. Not sure if it is viral or something else as we did a lot of pressure washing while we were up there it is hitting us both at the same time. Give me a day or two and I'll post but for now I'm trying to crawl around and take care of business at only 25% of energy. Couldn't happen at a worse time but that's life isn't it. Sigh.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Kathy praying for you and yours for a speedy and complete recovery.
Wayne
Wayne
Two words ... bronchitis sucks.
Doc says if I don't turn around in a couple of days she is going to consider admitting me to le hospital de torture. I told her absolutely no freaking way. I am going to fly out with hubby to Alaska on the 18th if I have to do it in a pine box. Finally feeling better but I still need a couple of days to regroup and un-blenderize my brain.
Sorry for the delay and falling off the map but I am desperate to get well. Tomorrow kids are springing some kind of surprise for our 25th anniversary. Tuesday is our 25th anniversary and hubby is springing another surprise. Then the 18th hubby is hauling me out to Alaska for more suprises ... of which I have not been allowed to really plan because he wanted it to be yet another surprise.
Uh ... after all this time you'd figure the family would realize I'm not really the surprise type of girl but hey, it's the thought that counts. (grin) Actually I am really excited. Extremely nervous to the point of palpitations but excited. The kids are keeping it to 3 hours on Saturday. Hubby says to relax about Tuesday. And all I know about Alaska is that it includes a cruise, a DIY land tour, and no camping ... and that Spring has definitely not sprung as planned where we are going so bring cold weather gear. OMG!
The pine box is on standby and the third round of antibiotics is finally kicking in and I'm coughing up great big globs of disgusting stuff so I should be back to whatever passes for my normal in a few days. See you then!
Doc says if I don't turn around in a couple of days she is going to consider admitting me to le hospital de torture. I told her absolutely no freaking way. I am going to fly out with hubby to Alaska on the 18th if I have to do it in a pine box. Finally feeling better but I still need a couple of days to regroup and un-blenderize my brain.
Sorry for the delay and falling off the map but I am desperate to get well. Tomorrow kids are springing some kind of surprise for our 25th anniversary. Tuesday is our 25th anniversary and hubby is springing another surprise. Then the 18th hubby is hauling me out to Alaska for more suprises ... of which I have not been allowed to really plan because he wanted it to be yet another surprise.
Uh ... after all this time you'd figure the family would realize I'm not really the surprise type of girl but hey, it's the thought that counts. (grin) Actually I am really excited. Extremely nervous to the point of palpitations but excited. The kids are keeping it to 3 hours on Saturday. Hubby says to relax about Tuesday. And all I know about Alaska is that it includes a cruise, a DIY land tour, and no camping ... and that Spring has definitely not sprung as planned where we are going so bring cold weather gear. OMG!
The pine box is on standby and the third round of antibiotics is finally kicking in and I'm coughing up great big globs of disgusting stuff so I should be back to whatever passes for my normal in a few days. See you then!
naturallysweet
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thanks for checking in, get well soon.
If you can get any mullein tea, it really helps with the bronchitis. If not, just rest, relax, and think about all the stories you will be writing when you are healthy again.
If you can get any mullein tea, it really helps with the bronchitis. If not, just rest, relax, and think about all the stories you will be writing when you are healthy again.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Wishes for you to continue to get better.