Part 7
Bekka
It’s been a hectic few weeks. Has it only been that long? It seems like a life time since we have had everyone home. Back where they belong. Our little hovel is becoming quite the community. Is it good? It’s something only the future can tell.
Paige, Sabine and Andrea were anxious to get into their new home and start their new life. Now that Garen and Kara were back, they packed up and enlisted all the help they could get to move. With two pregnant women they needed all the help they could get.
There was lot of lifting and moving of stuff at Zed’s to clean up Marta’s sewing room for Paige. Once we had it clear, we moved some beds around and moved some beds in that Doug and a crew retrieved from one of the Ranger cabins down in the main camp. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. It made all of them happy and it got them out of our area into one of their own. I’m not going to lie. We needed some normalcy too.
Out in the park helping Paige and the rest move, Angelique finally got to spend some more time with her father without life-or-death frantic missions or back-to-back training sessions interfering. I’m not sure how she is handling everything though. It has been a whole lot of stuff happening in her life these last six or eight months.
Speaking of Angelique, she’s a lot quieter than she was when Garen first picked her up in the forest. Sometimes the happy smiling kid pokes through and is a sight to behold. I wish it would happen more though. Maybe as time goes by and we have a little bit of break, maybe she can find some peace with what she has seen and become.
Kara has been spending a lot of time with Sabine. I know it’s because of Christian. Andrea understands I think, but it doesn’t keep her from feeling left out and feeling like a third wheel. She’s probably a little jealous that she can’t share in that part of Sabine’s life.
She’s also jealous of the time Kara spends with Sabine because it’s time away from her. I just know Andera looks at Paige and knows how Paige would give anything for just one mor minute with Henrick. She doesn’t want to lose precious time with Sabine. I know that look. I’ve seen it on Kara many times.
I hope Kara and Sabine can explain it to Andrea in a way she can understand. It will be hard since from what I know of Andrea, she can be possessive, stubborn, protective and even a bit childish.
Sabine is a strange one. I haven’t figured her out yet. There is so much behind her eyes. She has a hell of a story to tell I’m sure and one day I might get to hear some of it, or maybe not. What I do know is Kara has part of it and now maybe they can help each other.
The good thing about her is her medical knowledge. Now Garen has someone to share the medical burden with and I get a break from him talking over my head. It’s fun to watch him making cheat sheets to keep up with her and hitting the books at night. I laugh at him sometimes “Now you know what you do to me and Kara and Angelique and Allyson.”
Speaking of Sabine and Angelique, it was funny. One day, when we were moving stuff, they were standing together. When I looked at them standing there together, they looked so much alike. Same tall lanky features, same jet-black hair and the same fierce look on their faces sometimes. They could almost be mother and daughter or siblings.
Daughter. Siblings. Angelique and Emilia seem to be getting along. There was a bit of tension there for a while. I’m not sure what caused the problem with them for a week or two, but it all seemed ironed out now.
Doug and Heidi seem happier now that they have let themselves move forward in a relationship. Come to think of it, that might have been the root of Emilia and Angelique’s issue. If so, neither told me.
With Emilia back in the forest, I have been going down to see Larrissa, Karl, Isadora and the kids more often now. Whenever I am there, Olivia is stuck to my hip like glue. I guess I never told her she didn’t have stay close to me anymore. Its ok though. I love the little squirt. I hope she isn’t making a hero out of me. I’ve been teaching her little things, Hera too, like how to shoot their little pistols. I’m glad their family agreed to let me teach them. I sure would have hated to take the gun away.
David has been working some with Brody and Ruby, swapping knowledge on cows and goats. Isadora has been teaching Hera and Ashley canning and baking. Karl, Penny and David have worked hard at getting soil prepared and crops in the ground.
In the end, I think Larrissa, Karl and Isadora will end up merging their two endeavors into one large, successful operation. Maybe we will be able to get some food from them if the crops are good.
Our own land is going to produce a bounty as well. We have quite a few trees planted when they first made the subdivision years ago augmenting the native ones here on our land and in the forest nearby. We may not have a lot from them this year or even next year, but each year the harvest will get bigger. We never worried about them before. They were just great to have and something to pick every now and then. Now, they will become something to work and depend upon.There are several native and other variety lost types out in the nearby forest. Emilia and Angelique are spearheading locating and identifying them. I am getting with Isadora and Larrissa about how to make the most of whatever we find.
Doug and Angelique are identifying native resources we can tap, like cattail for starch. Doug is digging around the old maps with Zed and Jesse, looking for the old villages and homestead sites. At these we hope to find maybe persistent leftovers growing where they used to be cultivated. Angelique said something in one of the gatherings that galvanized us all.
Angelique pointed out we were behind the curve on food production and gathering. There are no grocery stores open around here, and sooner or later, the larder will run dry. We needed to get on this earlier, and we missed the boat. Most of us don’t know anything about this. We have a whole new thing to learn. It will be nice to get away from all the medical, trauma, tactical and stuff we have been doing. It will get us back in touch with the earth. It might help us rejuvenate our spirits some.
While everybody else is planning food. I am leading the plans to search the areas around us better. Garen wanted to scavenge things left behind at other places. For this I have Kara and Allyson to help me and keep Garen on task. We want to go slow and steady.
Soon, in about a month or two, we will have another group of people here from the south; the other half of Paige’s group. What trouble will come our way with them. I guess we had better get some rescue teams ready.
Doug, Jesse and Zed are planning for them to use the lower Ranger camp. There are plenty of solid houses and other infrastructure ready for the taking. They just have to be prepped. Doug will tell us what we need to do to help.
A light rain is falling on the curved glass of the solarium as we sit in the hot tub. It’s just the five of us. Allyson and Angelique are no longer outwardly self-conscious as they slipped into the hot tub with Garen, Kara and I. These are our house mates, our family. We have a lot of work ahead, starting with getting the lower camp ready for our next arrivals.