A Tearful Reunion

by Darrell Maloney

“You’re not so bad, gringo,” Luis told him. “But don’t you ever darken my doorstep with your wedo ass again.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  Still, they shook hands and parted ways with no animosity between them.

  They stayed the night on the highway’s access road, just off the interstate, technically in MS-13 territory and therefore protected by the gang.

  Now it was mid-morning, and they were ready to head out.

  The horses limped and favored their intentionally stricken legs. One on its left hind leg. The other on its right front leg.

  Eddie thought it might be suspicious to have both horses afflicted on the same leg.

  Beth couldn’t bear to see the horses hobble, knowing that each step caused them pain.

  She crawled to the truck bed and sprawled across the mattress to take a nap.

  Dave stepped off the wagoneer’s bench and walked alongside.

  “The lighter the load, the less they’ll have to pull,” he told Sal. “Maybe that’ll make it a little easier on them.”

  Sal agreed.

  “I’ll switch off with you after a mile or two.”

  Sure enough, right around noon several men appeared before them and blocked the highway.

  Dave eyed them closely.

  They were Native Americans, but not warriors.

  They were dressed in traditional Native American loin cloths, probably as a nod to their heritage more than anything else.

  Several of them were wearing war paint as well.

  But if their intent was to look fearsome they missed the mark.

  Instead of Indian leather boots or moccasins they wore socks and sneakers.

  Shirtless, their tan lines were clearly visible. One man obviously wore “wife beater” shirts whenever he was in the sun. The outline was clearly visible across his bare chest.

  They wore strips of red cloth around their heads to hold their hair back and absorb sweat.

  But their hair wasn’t long enough to need such headbands. An Indian brave of two hundred years ago had flowing shoulder length hair.

  These guys’ hair was barely past their ears.

  They looked more Chachi than Cochise.

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  Thank you for reading

  ALONE, Part 8:

  A Tearful Reunion

  Please enjoy this preview of the next chapter in the series,

  ALONE, Part 9:

  A Stunning Betrayal

  Dave was a big believer in hunches. He used to teach his Marines to always listen to their gut.

  “I don’t know how it works or why. But I’m telling you that following my hunches has helped me out of a bind many times. I’m no smarter than any of you and only three or four times smarter than the lieutenant.

  “But I’ve managed to get though more patrols than I can remember. And more firefights than I can count.

  “It may be pure luck I’ve come through fight after fight without a scratch.

  “But I think it’s more than that. I think it’s because I never went around a blind corner if I had a hunch there were insurgents waiting on the other side.

  “Instead I went the long way around. And almost every time my hunch was right. And by outflanking them we kept the advantage.

  “Learn to listen to your gut. Play your hunches. You’ll be surprised to learn how often those hunches save your ass.”

  As they made their way up the country road which skirted the Dykes brothers’ bunker, the voice in the back of Dave’s mind was driving him nuts.

  “You’re heading into a trap,” his sixth sense said. “Turn around while you can.”

  As anxious as he was to see his wife and oldest daughter… as much as Beth was bugging him that she couldn’t wait another minute for a “Mama hug,” he couldn’t ignore a nagging hunch.

  Just a mile before the bunker he pulled the rig off the road and into the woods.

  “Daddy, what’s the matter?”

  Sal looked at him, puzzled, but didn’t repeat the youngster’s question.

  “Don’t worry,” he told them both.

  “I’m sure everything is fine. I just want to scout ahead and make sure before we go barging in there.”

  Beth was a bit disappointed, but knew her dad was just using an abundance of caution. She wanted to object, but knew whining about his decision wouldn’t change his mind.

  So she didn’t even try.

  Sal leaned over to his friend and whispered, “Should I be worried?”

  “Not necessarily,” Dave answered. “I just have a nagging feeling something might be wrong. I want to do the prudent thing and check it out. That’s all.”

  He found a clearing that couldn’t be seen from the roadway. It was flat and had an abundance of grass the horses could graze on.

  And as an added bonus a stream ran along one side of it.

  “Why don’t you two do some fishing while I’m gone? See how many you can catch. I’m sure the folks in the bunker don’t get out to fish for themselves very often. They’d probably love a good old fashioned fish fry to celebrate our return.”

  “Oh, boy!”

  Beth loved to fish.

  So did Sal, for that matter.

  Sal told her, “I’ll bet I can catch more than you, little one.”

  “Betcha can’t!”

  Dave took Sal aside and said, “I should be back in a couple or three hours. If I’m not back by sundown camp here for the night but don’t light any fires. If I’m not back by morning I want you to backtrack. Do you remember that little town we went through? Ely?”

  “Yes. I remember it.”

  “If I’m not back by morning go back to Ely. Stay there until I come for you.”

  Sal didn’t like sending Dave off alone but understood he had to. His job, to take care of Beth, was as least as important.

  “I’ll pray for you, my friend.”

  “Thank you,” Dave said.

  He hugged Beth and kissed her on top of the head.

  “Wow, you’ve grown a couple of inches since the last time I kissed you.”

  She beamed.

  “I know. Pretty soon I’ll be taller than you, Daddy. And I’ll look down at you and start calling you Peanut.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it.”

  He stole into the woods in the direction of the Dykes’ bunker.

  He was on the side of the roadway opposite the bunker.

  As he drew close to where he imagined the bunker to be he began to see signs that disturbed him.

  Trampled shrubbery.

  Cigarette butts.

  Footprints in the soft dirt.

  All indications were that everything was at least a couple of weeks old.

  And they were likely left behind by hunters.

  Then he came to a clearing where it was obvious several men had recently camped.

  And he began to worry.

  Whoever had camped there was long gone. Nothing was fresh. But there were too many campers. It couldn’t be the Dykes brothers.

  And they wouldn’t have camped there anyway. Not with their secure bunker just a couple hundred yards away.

  Still, he tried to stay calm.

  Tried not to jump to conclusions.

  He backtracked so he’d be out of view of the bunker when he crossed the roadway.

  Then he made his way to the tree line and made certain the coast was clear in both directions before he scampered across the road and back into the woods on the other side.

  He went very slowly.

  He was now on the Dykes farm.

  And he already knew they had land mines and hand grenades.

  They may have littered the forest around their compound with booby traps to take out any prowlers.

  After coming all this way, after all the trouble he’d gone through, he didn’t want to become a victim of friendly fire.

  Slowly, carefully, he made his way about three hundred yards due north. Then he pivoted and went w
est to about where he expected the bunker to be.

  Finally, he pivoted again and made his way toward the bunker.

  It took him another half hour to get to the clearing on the far north side of the bunker.

  From his position he had a commanding view of the clearing, as well as the pillbox.

  He got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  There was a bright yellow Caterpillar bulldozer smack dab in the center of the clearing.

  It wasn’t there when he was here before.

  Even worse, it hadn’t rained at all since Scarface’s Savages had attacked the pillbox.

  It was the end of summer.

  Between the heat of the dog days and the lack of precipitation, the grass hadn’t grown much since Scarface’s assault.

  The deep ruts the dozer had made in the soft earth when it was driven to the pillbox, as well as when it was put in reverse and backed over the same tracks, were still clearly visible even from a distance.

  Something was dreadfully wrong.

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  ALONE, Part 9:

  A Stunning Betrayal

  will be available worldwide on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble Booksellers in December 2017

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  Have you checked out Darrell Maloney’s new series,

  The Yellowstone Event?

  Here are some fun facts about the Yellowstone Caldera:

  - It’s a real thing. It really does exist

  - It’s a super volcano simmering just beneath the surface of Yellowstone National Park

  - It has erupted in the past, and will erupt again

  - Scientists believe that when it erupts again it will destroy 20 percent of the United States

  - You do NOT want to be in that 20 percent

  Tony and Hannah are just a couple of high school kids who happen across a woman who will change their lives forever. She’s a carnival fortune teller who warns them of a great calamity soon to befall the United States of America.

  The old woman tells them it will be up to them to tell the world of the impending danger.

  And to save the lives of millions.

  It would be easy to dismiss her warnings as fantasy, except for the fact that she vanishes before their very eyes.

  And so begins a long journey for Tony and Hannah. A journey which involves a great mystery, intrigue and danger. Not to mention threats by a government which should be trying to help them, but instead is trying desperately to keep its secrets hidden.

  *************************

  Please enjoy this preview of

  Darrell Maloney’s new series

  The Yellowstone Event, Book 1:

  FIRE IN THE SKY

  *************************

  “Come on! What do you have to lose?” she cried gleefully as she dragged Tony by his arm through the midway.

  “Um… how about ten bucks?”

  “I’ll give you a kiss.”

  “I’d rather keep the ten bucks.”

  “Excuse me, mister?”

  He stopped and held her, then laughed.

  “I’ll tell you what. You give me just one good reason why I should throw away good money on a fortune teller. If you can give me just one good reason, I’ll give in to your silly demands. But it’ll still cost you a kiss.”

  “And what if I don’t have a good reason? What if I’m just a silly girl who wants to find out once and for all whether you’ve been telling me the truth about marrying me someday?”

  “Oh, so that’s what this is all about. You’re gonna make me pay ten of my hard-earned dollars just to hear some old gypsy fortune teller say what I’ve been telling you all along? That hurts. It really does.”

  “What hurts?”

  “It hurts that you don’t trust me. That you’d believe some crazy old fortune teller but you won’t believe me.”

  “The fortune teller has nothing to gain by lying to me.”

  “And I do?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Maybe? Just what the heck does that mean, maybe?”

  “It just means that you’ve been trying very hard to get to third base with me lately. And you wouldn’t be the first guy who promised marriage to get the honeymoon first. That’s all.”

  Tony smiled.

  “Third base? Heck, baby. I don’t want third base. I want a home run.”

  The smile left her face, replaced by something akin to a little girl’s pout.

  “You’re not helping your case any.”

  He brushed the long brown hair from her face and kissed her on the tip of the nose. Then square on the lips.

  “What if she’s a fraud? Most of them are, you know. They just say whatever pops into their minds. They can no more tell the future than you or I can.”

  “I’ll be able to tell if she’s a fraud. If she is, I’ll let you off the hook. But if she’s genuine, I’ll know that too.”

  “Oh, so now you’re an expert on gypsy frauds?”

  Her smile returned and she coyly replied, “Maybe.”

  “Oh, geez,” he said as he stomped toward the purple tent. “The things I do to make you happy…”

  “I know, honey. That’s why I love you so very much.”

  She wasn’t quite what he expected, when she sat them at the table. For one thing, she looked… normal. She wasn’t the hideous witch he’d expected to find. She didn’t have hair growing from weird warts on her nose and huge silver hoop earrings. There weren’t bats flying around her head and the smell of cheap incense permeating everything in the tent.

  She looked as normal as Tony and Hannah.

  That sealed it in Tony’s mind. That proved she was a fraud. She didn’t even know enough to dress the part of a cartoonish gypsy. She didn’t even put out that much effort. How much effort would she put into reading Hannah’s emotions and verifying that yes, this guy sitting next to her was truly her one and only?

  Now Tony could tell his own future. In about five minutes or so Hannah was going to go storming out of the tent and straight to the car. She’d insist that he take her home immediately. And once there she’d let herself out, slam the car door, and stomp her way up the steps to her house.

  He’d be left in the car, his head still spinning, with absolutely no chance of getting lucky on this particular night.

  “Good evening, Hannah. Good evening, Anthony. I’ve been wondering when you two were coming to call.”

  Hannah didn’t catch it. She was too mesmerized by the woman’s eyes. They were pools of blackness, devoid of emotion.

  But Tony caught it. He’d always been good at that. At noticing subtle things others missed.

  “How… how did you know our names?”

  It was more of a demand than a question.

  “Oh, I know more about you than that, young man. Stella knows everything about you. Your past, your present, your future. I know what’s in your heart and what evil lurks hidden in your soul. I know the good in you. The bad. The secrets you keep. Now then, young man, the only question is, which things should I tell to Hannah and which ones do I keep to myself?”

  His head told him she was bluffing, that she knew nothing about him. That maybe someone who knew them saw them coming and tipped her off to their names. Or that there was some other reasonable explanation.

  His heart, it wasn’t so sure.

  “Relax, Anthony. You need not worry, for I know what’s in your heart. This girl loves you. She wants to know if you love her as well. She wants to know if you’ll marry her someday. It is a reasonable request. And I will share with her your true intentions.”

  Hannah’s jaw dropped. Literally.

  “But how…”

  The gypsy placed a finger to her lips. Now was not the time for Hannah to speak. For she was about to receive the answer she’d been looking for.

  Tony was on the hot seat. He overlooked the fact she’d called him Anthony. Nobody, but nobody, called him Anthony.
He hated the name. He thought it made him sound like an accountant, slaving away in a cubicle with his calculator and his Buddy Holley glasses.

  Forget all that. How in heck did she know why they went in there?

  Tony looked at Hannah. Hannah looked back at him. Both of them suspected the other of sneaking in to talk to the woman beforehand.

  And each of them could tell by the surprise on the other’s face that they hadn’t.

  The gypsy turned her attention to Hannah.

  “You are a beautiful girl, Hannah. You are desired by many boys. During your life you will be desired by many men. But at this place, at this time, your heart and your soul belong to only one man.

  “You’re here to find out if he feels the same way. You want to know if he will select you to be his bride. You want to know if he will father your children.

  “The answer is yes. Yes to both questions. He will ask you to marry him, and he will be a good father to your children. He will be faithful and devoted to you. He will never stray.

  “But…”

  They had been gazing in each other’s eyes. Hannah smiled as soon as she heard the gypsy’s words. As hokey and improbable as it was, she had the confirmation she’d been looking for.

  The “but…” stopped them short.

  They immediately turned their attention back to the woman as she continued.

  “But first, you must survive the great calamity. It will not be easy. You will be at great risk. Your loved ones and all of your friends will be in danger. Many of them will not make it.

  “To earn your life together, to earn your children, you must survive the great calamity. You must help others to survive as well. Only then, as you walk away from the greatest death and destruction this country has ever seen, will you finally deserve the chance to become one.”

  Hannah could find no words.

  Tony’s head was swimming, trying to make sense of it all. But his tongue was still working.

  “Great calamity? What great calamity? What in hell are you talking about?”