A Lucky Find

by Sage du Toit

Chapter 12

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  11 February 2021

  Harpersville, AL

  Sam woke up with a pounding headache. Tom gave her some Tylenol and made her a cup a coffee. Her head hurt so bad she was tempted to ask if they could stay another night, but then she remembered where they were. They packed up and Tom helped her, even with the stuff he normally didn’t have to. He gave her a worried look as she started putting her ski mask and helmet on.

  “Sam, do you want me to load the kittens in the trailer for you?” Tom asked with concern. Normally she did everything for the kittens and Lucky, but Sam was so out of it, she hadn’t even checked the kittens or given them food or water.

  “Sorry Tom, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Could you help me please? I’m not even sure where they are.” Tom found them in the kitchen chasing a toy ball around. He helped her get them loaded, including Lucy and then refreshed the food and water.

  He double checked her gear and made sure she had plenty of water in her hydration pack. He then felt her forehead and told her she felt a little warm. He advised her to make sure she was drinking plenty of water today.

  They had checked the map the night before and their route would take them south-west. There were a few towns they would have to skirt around and a few smaller towns they decided should be ok to pass through.

  Once they were out on the road and moving, Sam felt a little better. They stopped once at midmorning for a coffee break and so Tom could check her for fever. He said she was still a little warm but that could also be from the exercise of riding the bike. They had gone through a few areas that were uphill and they were both a bit winded.

  They were passing by one of the larger towns and just as they passed the outskirts of the far side and were back in the trees again, Tom indicated for Sam to pull over. It was almost lunch time but Sam didn’t think this would be a good place to stop, they were too close to the city still. Tom came back to her bike and had her take her ski mask and helmet off. He checked her temperature again and looked into her eyes with worry. He told her that the last business they passed was a drug store and he wanted to go back and get some medication for her, he said he thought she might be coming down with a cold. Sam remembered the man that was coughing yesterday and realized he was probably right.

  They moved the bikes and trailers deep in the woods and Tom cut a few branches with leaves to stick around the bikes and help disguise them. He took Sam’s poncho liner out and had her sit down next to the kitten trailer and wrap herself in it. She realized she must really be getting sick, because she didn’t argue about him going alone.

  After Tom left Lucky started pawing at the cover and wanting out. Sam opened the cover and let her out and took Mew out and tucked her inside of her shirt. It comforted her and the kitten both. Sam thought about letting the other two kittens out but they had already crawled into the cuddle sack and were sleeping. Sam watched as Lucky found a spot close by to do her business and then she covered it up with dirt and leaves. She came back and climbed into Sam’s lap. She seemed to sense that something wasn’t right. Lucky nosed Mew inside of Sam’s shirt and the kitten mewed and stuck her head out of the collar opening. She looked at Lucky and then tucked her head back in.

  Sam closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree. The next thing she knew, she heard someone walking through the leaves. She immediately reached for her gun in its holster and was about to pull it out when she saw Tom. She sighed with relief as he knelt in front of her. He checked her temperature again and said it was higher. He had her drink some fruity powder mixed with water and then had her swallow a couple of pills. He said she was going to have to tough it out a little while longer while they looked for a place they could hole up for a couple of days. Sam nodded and Tom helped her put Lucky and Mew back in the trailer and moved the bikes back out to the road.

  Tom looked at her worriedly and asked if she would be ok for a few miles. They were still too close to the city and he wanted to try to get further out. She told him she would be fine but she was hoping the medicine would kick in soon.

  They had gone a few miles and were passing through a heavily wooded area when Tom had her stop again. He pointed to a barn that was back in the trees. They moved the bikes off the road and he had her wait again while he went to check it out.

  He had been gone awhile and she was beginning to worry when he stepped through the trees from the road side and scared her. He saw her reaction and grabbed her in hug to apologize.

  “Woman, you are burning up! Let’s get you in where you can rest. I found a house back in the woods, but it will be easier if we go back to the driveway, it’s just a short distance back.”

  They backtracked a short way and she saw a dark driveway that was practically hidden with trees and overgrowth. They followed it until it split into two and she could see that one branch lead to a circle drive in front of a very large house but Tom had them take the fork that went even further back into the trees. The drive lead to a second house that wasn’t as big but was better hidden. Tom told her he already cleared the house so they could go right in the front door.

  Once inside she looked around but her head was so foggy, she couldn’t even think of what she was supposed to be doing. Tom lead her over to a couch that was sitting in front of a fireplace and he had her lay down on it and he covered her up with a blanket that was laying on the back of the couch. She thanked him and he kissed her on the forehead. She watched as he stuck his head in the fireplace and then reached in and did something. She saw him take a lighter that was sitting on the top of the mantle and then flames were lighting up the fireplace. When he moved away, she could see it was a gas fireplace, which would provide them with some warmth but didn’t produce any smoke so it should be safe to use.

  She thought about getting up to help as she watched Tom open the kitten trailer and let them all out, but she was too tired. She closed her eyes and then opened them again when she felt Lucky jump on top of her. She reached out from under the covers and petted her and then closed her eyes again.

  Sam didn’t know how long she slept but Tom was waking her up and holding something in front of her that smelled delicious. He helped her sit up and told her he made her some chicken noodle soup. He helped her drink it straight from a mug. Once all the soup was gone, he had her drink some water and take some more medicine.

  She didn’t remember going back to sleep and had no idea how long she had been out but now it was completely dark, except for the light coming from the fireplace. She looked around and realized she was no longer on the couch. She was laying on the floor in front of the fireplace and she saw Tom was sleeping next to her.

  She really had to pee so she eased out of the sleeping bag and stood up. She was a little lightheaded and realized she didn’t know where the bathroom was. Tom opened his eyes and saw she was standing up looking confused and quickly got up himself. Sam looked at him thankfully and told him she needed to go to the bathroom. He grabbed a small flashlight and lead her down a hallway and to the bathroom. She gratefully took the flashlight and told him he could go back.

  When she returned to the living room, she saw he had brought a large mattress and put it on the floor and placed their sleeping bags on top of it. She hadn’t noticed it when she got up, but when she laid back down, she was thankful for the comfort. She drank some water and Tom told her she should take some more medicine since she was awake. She asked him how long she had slept and he said he had woke her up a few times to take meds but she probably didn’t remember it…he said this was their second night here.

  She thought about it and realized that meant she had slept through a whole day plus. But she also realized she didn’t feel as bad. She sniffled and realized she needed to blow her nose. She looked over and saw a box of tissues on the table by the couch and asked Tom to pass them to her. After blowing her nose she felt her stomach growl and looked at Tom as he grinned at her.

&nbs
p; “Ready for something to eat, Sleeping Beauty?” Tom’s tone was teasing but she could also see the relief in his face that she was awake.

  Sam nodded and blew her nose again. Tom got up and disappeared toward what she assumed was the kitchen. He came back a short time later with another cup of chicken noodle soup and this time he also had crackers. He told her the pantry in this house was full of canned foods and other items and the house was set up with gas for the fireplace, stove and the water heater. So, once she was feeling better, they could take a hot shower.

  Sam looked at him in surprise…a hot shower? She sat stunned for a moment and blew her nose again. She smiled hopefully and said she was feeling better now. Tom chuckled and said a hot shower would also help to clear her sinuses. He told her to get her bathing stuff together and clean clothes for them both and he would get the shower ready. While she gathered their stuff, she wondered what he needed to do to get it ready.

  Tom came back just as she finished getting their clean clothes together. She needed to wash again and they only had one set of clean clothes left. He led her down a different hallway than the one where the other bathroom was, this one took her to the far end of the house and through a bedroom where he must have taken the mattress from and into a large tiled bathroom. He had taped a black garbage bag over the window to block out their light and placed lit candles all around the room. There was a very large walk in shower with multiple shower heads and next to it was an extra-large bathtub, big enough for two people. He had already turned the shower on and there was steam coming from inside the shower.

  Tom shut the door behind him and helped her to undress and pushed her lightly toward the shower while he undressed himself. Sam walked under the multiple sprays of hot water and sighed in pleasure. The hot water felt so wonderful. Tom asked her how she was feeling and she told him much better as she pressed herself against him while they stood under the hot streams of water. He helped her wash her hair and then gave her soap to wash her body. Sam took in deep breaths of the hot steam and felt how soothing it was on her lungs.

  Sam realized if she wasn’t still recovering from being sick that her and Tom could make good use of the shower and tub in more ways than just getting clean. She looked at Tom and admired his physic as he washed and rinsed his body. She thought maybe she wasn’t too sick after all.

  Tom saw her looking at him and grinned teasingly at her, “Ohh, are you feeling that much better? I know that look in your eye.”

  Sam moved closer to him and he wrapped her into a tight hug and kissed her neck and was kissing up and toward her lips when she suddenly pulled back and turned away for a forceful sneeze.

  They both laughed and he hugged her close and pulled her head against his chest. He said, “Maybe later, probably not a good idea to kiss you right now anyway, you have cooties!”

  Sam chuckled and snuggled against him under the hot streams of water. Soon they shut the water off, dried off and dressed. Sam asked Tom how long the gas would last and he said it could be either natural gas or a tank, if it was a tank, he would have to go outside and locate the tank to check the gauge. He said it was probably behind the house, but he hadn’t had a chance to do more than a cursory check of the surroundings.

  They went back to bed and Tom had her use a vapor rub on her chest to help with the congestion. He told her he had searched through the inside of the house and found a few items they needed, including more ibuprofen. He said they should be ok to stay here for a few more days while she got over her cold. Even though they had only been traveling for a few days, Sam was glad for the break. Her body was hurting from the exercise of riding the bike and having the aches of the cold wasn’t going to help any!

  As they lay in bed talking, she felt something pull on the blanket and saw Mew climbing up the end of the mattress. The other two kittens followed close behind her and then Lucky came over. They seemed to be inspecting Sam and Mew seemed especially happy that she was awake. She was purring so loud that Sam wondered how such a tiny thing could make such a loud purr. She petted each of them and Tom told her that they all laid around her while she was sleeping. They didn’t seem to want to play and only got up to eat and use the litter box.

  Sam was teaching them to sit, laydown, come, stay and to give kisses. Tom was amazed at the progress she was making, especially since the kittens were so young. Lucky was also picking up fairly well on the commands, but she was much more independent and would sometimes walk away when Sam was trying to teach her something. Sam had each of them sit now all in a row and then to give her a kiss, which was simply for them to bump her with their nose. She praised each of them and gave them scratches in their favorite spots.

  Sam realized she was getting tired again and when she laid down, the kittens and Lucky made themselves comfortable around her. Tom was laying on his side watching her and he reached out and lightly stroked her face.

  He said, “I’m glad you are feeling better, but you better go back to sleep so you can heal more.”

  Sam nodded and grabbed his hand and kissed the palm. They both drifted off to sleep holding hands with the cats snuggled in all around them.

  Chapter 13

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  14 February 2021

  Columbiana, AL

  On the third day Sam woke up feeling almost like herself. She still had a little sniffle but her energy was coming back and the fever was gone. Tom had found the gas tank covered in weeds and vines behind the house and confirmed that it was over half full. They had taken hot showers every day and kept the gas fireplace burning. It was nice to wake up to a warm room.

  Sam had washed all their clothes the night before and hung them to dry around the fireplace. She woke up before Tom did and checked the clothes and discovered they had completely dried over-night. She took them all down and then went to the kitchen to see what she could make for breakfast.

  Tom had covered the windows in the house so that no one would see their lights, so she turned the lantern up on high when she went into the kitchen. Since she had been sick, she hadn’t had a chance to come into the kitchen until this morning and she was impressed at how tidy Tom had kept it. She opened the door to the pantry and saw it was a big walk-in with lots of shelves. Tom was right, there were a lot of canned goods as well as boxed foods.

  She looked through the shelves and found a box of pancake mix, bottle of syrup and a can of corned beef hash. She found that the kitchen was well stocked with pans and even found a flat pan perfect for making pancakes. There was even nonstick spray sitting next to the sink. Sam happily cooked breakfast and just as she was flipping the last pancake, Tom came into the kitchen. She gave him a big smile and poured him a cup of coffee from the pot on the stove.

  Tom took the cup of coffee and sat it on the counter and pulled her into a tight hug and gave her a big long kiss. When he let her go, she felt breathless. He innocently took his coffee and started mixing creamer and sugar in it. She blinked and pulled herself together as she took the last pancakes off.

  Sam said, “Wow...what a kiss! What was that about?”

  Tom chuckled and replied, “Several things actually, one I’m happy you are feeling better, two because you are cooking me this wonderful breakfast, three because I love you very much and finally four, Happy Valentine’s day!”

  Sam hadn’t even realized it was Valentine’s day, it was hard to keep track of the days, especially being sick. She knew Tom kept careful track, he even marked the days in a pocket calendar and she had started doing the same, it helped her keep track of the kittens age. She beamed at him and on realizing today was Valentine’s day she thought maybe they could take one more day before they left.

  They sat down on bar stools that were at the island in the kitchen and ate everything she had cooked for breakfast. They were both still a little underweight but Sam had quit worrying about it. They ate well when they had lots of food and conserved when they had to. Right now, was one of the times w
hen they had lots of food because they weren’t having to eat from their own stock and they couldn’t take it with them.

  Once they were done eating, they cleaned up the kitchen together and then Sam spent some time working with Lucky and the kittens before she feed them their breakfast. She had each of them sit in a designated spot and made them stay there while she divided their food. If one of them moved she put them back in the spot and made them stay. It took a lot of patience and they were hungry so it took some convincing to get them to stay. Once they were all in place and waiting, she put their food down and made them wait until she made her call for all of them to come.

  Considering the kittens weren’t quite 9 weeks old yet, they were doing amazingly well. Sam hoped that by the time they were grown, they would be perfectly trained. She praised each one of them and made sure that none of them were getting aggressive over their food. She didn’t want them to just be trained, she also wanted them to be gentle.

  She sat back and watched them eat while she thought about what she could do for Tom for Valentine’s Day, it wasn’t like she could go to the store and buy him a card, besides now days that would be a frivolous thing to give. She was trying to think of something useful, or something he would like that she could quickly make.

  Sam got up and wandered around the house. She realized she didn’t know where Tom was. The house was a split ranch with the master bedroom on one end and three bedrooms on the other. She had been to the master bedroom side, because that is where the big shower was and to the bathroom on the other side, because it was closer to the living room. But she hadn’t explored the rest of the house because she had spent most of her time sleeping over the last few days.

  Taking the lantern with her, she walked down the hallway and opened the door across from the bathroom. It was obviously a girl’s room. She knew from the pictures on the walls and on the mantel that the family had three kids. What looked like twin boys and a girl that was just a little older. Tom told her there weren’t any bodies in the house so at least she knew she wouldn’t see something she didn’t want to see.