Merry's Marauders (Book #2 ~ Scenic Route to Paradise, refreshed 2016 edition)

by Andrea Aarons

  “Yes, of course! Do you think she would travel with me across continents and seas if we were not married? Come now, some Christians still believe in virtue,” Mac said as he moved Sarah before him into the hallway.

  “That is rather old fashioned and I suppose my dear uncle, Judge Biggs is going to marry you two... Well, well, well!” Sarah was saying. “Anyway, how about a kiss for old times sake?”

  Merry wanted to get up and creep to the hallway entrance to see what was happening but she didn’t. She heard Mac’s reply, “You, little goat, need to go to bed. Goodnight!”

  There was a bit of shuffling and then silence from the kitchen. Merry sat stunned. Mac is taking me...? Marrying me? He insinuated confidently that the plans had been made. How had she missed that? Did he propose when she was drugged? She speculated but her mind was in a fog and although she tried, she couldn’t remember anything from the previous night.

  And Tom Biggs... Judge Tom Biggs was Sarah’s uncle. Mac hadn’t seemed surprised.

  Also, there seemed to be some history between Sarah and Mac. This was the most unbelievable as in the close quarters of the Hacienda everyone knew everything about everybody. But she hadn’t known. Not about Tom or Sarah, nor about Mac’s premeditated plans to marry and Merry hadn’t known about apparent clandestine encounters between the nurse and Mac.

  Strangely, her appetite was unaffected. Merry retrieved the plastic bowl still cold and halfway empty from under her chair.

  She stood up from the chair and moved it into the moonlight. The night sky looked untainted by the horrendous happenings taking place on planet earth. Certainly, it looked clear of the drama unfolding at the Hacienda.

  Mac had said he wasn’t drinking whiskey anymore because he had vowed to his Big God! Merry decided she was really out of the loop! When had Mac made God his “Big God?” she wondered. Patsy would know.

  Merry wasn’t tired. All the sleep from the previous day, messed with her biological timer. She supposed she would be awake until... Until when?

  Was she going to marry Mac? Had she said yes? He sounded very sure.

  Thinking it over for some minutes, Merry decided Mac must have proposed sometime the night before when she was doped up. She had heard somewhere that when a person was inebriated or drugged that whatever was really in one’s heart and mind surfaced.

  Was that what happened? And I said, yes! Was that fair? Was it legal? Was it moral? What else had happened she mused? Did he seal the proposal with a kiss? Merry wracked her brain but she couldn’t remember any of it. She sighed, thinking it too bad she couldn’t at least remember the kiss.

  Unruffled, Merry finished her posole`. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do but her options were more than they had been just 15 minutes before. Getting up, she went into the kitchen. The lantern continued to burn. Someone should have blown it out. Merry was glad no one had put the light out as she circled the counter to put her unwashed dishes into the sink.

  Merry considered taking the watch until dawn as she was restless and she needed to reflect on how to proceed. The thought came to her that Mac and Sarah left the sliding doors unlocked. Circumventing the counter again she made for the hallway to the patio.

  From behind her, Mac said sharply, “Merry, where are you going?”

  She jumped at his voice. Merry turned back from the hallway and peered around the corner. Mac was standing in the periphery of the lantern glow. He must have come out of his room to blow out the lantern, Merry surmised. His black knit cap, jacket and shoes were off.

  “I heard you come in and for some reason, I wondered if the glass doors had been locked. It’s our last night here and I suppose I’m a bit jittery,” she told him.

  “Oh! That is all... Okay then. I don’t think it is locked but check,” he said, motioning casually with his hand. She went down the hall and locked the door. When Merry returned Mac was sitting on the countertop next to the kerosene lantern, with his stocking feet dangling.

  Merry was glad to see him there. Somehow she needed to maneuver the conversation to last night and what had been said or promised between them. Would it make a difference? She questioned. Not knowing if it would or not Merry said nonchalantly, “I’m a bit foggy about last night. I seemed to have a huge gap in my hard drive.”

  With a wry smile, he nodded and said, “Of course.” Mac thought to lecture her on stumbling into a dangerous situation after she promised him she would not do anything so ‘outlandish’ again; perhaps, it was not the time.

  “What I mean is, maybe you can fill me in a little bit... I cannot remember anything!” she told him.

  “Hmm,” Mac wondered where this exchange was headed. He had thought to put a plug in about Rebekah but now he wasn’t so sure. “Okay then. What part did you want me to ‘fill-in,’” he asked her.

  Merry came over and rested her arms on the countertop with the lamp between them. She looked up at him. “How about when you and I were talking... just the two of us and no one was around,” Merry suggested this, thinking that if he had proposed to her, surely they would have been alone.

  Mac’s left eyebrow shot up in wonder. He rubbed his chin and said, “I usually do not repeat what a man and a woman discuss when no one is around... It is very personal.”

  Merry giggled. “Well I am glad to know that! But please remember it was only you and me and so you will not be revealing any... uh, intimate disclosures. I just cannot remember a thing!”

  Mac couldn’t believe his ears! He rubbed his grizzled chin again. There was the thought that this discussion with Merry was perfect for what he had in mind for tomorrow but Mac also, sensed for the first time in his life a warning within that he must proceed carefully.

  “Ah, well you do know what two people who are thinking of a future together discuss?” he asked, uncertain.

  I knew it! concluded Merry. She said, “Well, they talk about being together and experiencing good times and maybe bad times too.”

  Mac thought, Is that what they talk about? He hadn’t thought about any of that... Well, possibly being together.

  “Maybe they talk about love and that sort of thing,” she said. “But please, refresh my memory.”

  “Yes, of course, they discuss all those things but I think you and I need to discuss our plans. Daylight comes and the evacuation follows,” Mac said but wondered if he had gone too far.

  Merry was silent waiting for Mac to speak. When he didn’t, she said, “I suppose so but women... Well, American women are romantic and somehow, I feel slighted because I will never be able to look back and remember your words and my response and... and... well, you know,” she said suddenly self conscious and shy.

  Mac did not know! He wished he did know as this was much more of an answered prayer than he could manipulate on his own.

  “Oh, yes of course. We write songs and stories about romantic exchanges between people in love. I can understand,” he told her. His accent was heavier and Merry knew he had struck onto some idea.

  Hopping down from the counter, he said, “It’s a shame. I understand so we will speak the words you do not remember... so you won’t feel slighted, as you say. I will start.”

  Merry looked around but it was 4am and no one was up. She turned towards him saying, “Well, okay but if I say something that isn’t right just tell me. Agreed? Because I really recall almost nothing. ”

  He nodded, grinning wildly at her. Mac said, “You know Merry...” he hesitated drawing a blank. “I don’t think it was like that. It was like this,” Mac picked up her hand. “Merry, I was so worried for you. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if I never saw you again.”

  Merry cast about in her mind for what she might have said and then she remembered his words to Sarah in the sunroom, “But Mac, if you know God, you will see me again even if death separates us,” she said looking at him for approval.

  Mac shook his head and said, “Oh, no. No, that was already a done deal. We must now go on to be very romantic abo
ut our future.”

  “Oh?” Merry made a quick mental note to ask him how his conversion came about at a later date. She tried again. She said, “Please forgive me Mac for losing my head over Junior.” He nodded at her words as if to affirm them.

  Mac said, “I do forgive you but I have lost my head over you.” He lifted her hand and kissed her fingertips.

  Whoa! This was better than I had imagined... “Mac, you’re leaving us in a few days.”

  “Yes, it is true but my little lamb, won’t you go with me as my wife?” Mac gazed into her eyes and meant every word.

  Merry’s smile was faint but her eyes glistened at the romance and at her newly discovered affection for Mac. After a pause, she asked, “What did I say, Mac... I cannot think of what I said.”

  “You said ‘yes, but I am feeling weak,’” Mac answered.

  Incredulous, Merry remarked, “I said, yes but I am feeling weak?” How could I have been so unromantic?

  Mac nodded and said, “I was worried for you and you were in pain.” He put his hand gently to her collar and looked at the bruises in the lantern light. “I knew you had been roughed up so I asked you, ‘Merry, where doesn’t it hurt?’

  And know what you said?” He asked her. She was mesmerized by his eyes, her emotion and the discussion. She simply shook her head, no to his query.

  Mac smiled and knew he was taking the scenario too far but perhaps, she would laugh about it later. He knew he would. He pointed to her lip, touching it ever so slightly. “You said, here. It doesn’t hurt here,” Mac said.

  She smiled and then asked, “What did you do?” Mac leaned over and kissed her tenderly with his eyes closed.

  When he opened them, Merry was smiling - eyes open. “It was better the second time,” she announced.

  Mac wanted to laugh but instead he said, “In a few hours you will become my wife and after that we will start on the road for D’Almata.” She nodded and he lifted her fingers again and kissed them.

  Mac had been on again, off again attracted to Merry but he had not loved her. Simply, he had not thought the emotion was so very important but now Mac found that his heart and mind united concerning Merry.

  They parted after more words of endearment. Mac knowing he must get sleep before the departure. Merry decided she wouldn’t sleep and she thought of going to awaken Patsy. Instead, she plucked up Junior’s discarded jacket and climbed the ladder to the roof.

  Chapter 20 Love Changes Everything

  The eastern sky was pink and to the northwest, the Jemez mountain range reflected the rising sun. Lyric and Luz gladly gave up their last Hacienda watch to Merry. She wanted to be alone to think and wonder and pray.

  After doing a couple of circuits around the roof, Merry pulled up a crate often used as a chair for the guard. She sat at the back of the roof, watching the sun’s early morning preparations to the east. The snow on the ski basin mound had all but melted although Baldy to the left had a huge swath of white about the peak.

  Thinking of Mac, Merry was amazed at how charming he was with her. Something had happened that had morphed his ideal about marriage, she realized. He had made it clear from the first day that his intent was to propagate his family - his nation, and she had understood the concept although she wanted no personal part to play in it. And his obvious shenanigans with Sarah Todd made her realize Mac would have been content having Sarah as wife and future mother to his offspring but something had clearly changed.

  Merry laughed when her mind locked on to what had actually happened. There was the God factor, of course. God is always in the equation even when people refuse to acknowledge Him for who He is. God carried them both along until Mac and Merry got it...

  Mac had been cerebral about what he wanted in a wife. His was an ideal dictated by his social and cultural upbringing. Love, happiness, compatibility were secondary to the main objective. A genuine change came over Mac when his thoughts united with his emotions. A tremendous inner catalyst where mind and heart meshed, creating what every human being desires to do - fall in love.

  For Merry, she understood her journey was similar but not. Yes, she was attracted to Mac. The eye of many a man had been turned by Merry and some were very handsome but she had decided when still a young teenager that she would not under any circumstance engage her heart before her mind, concerning men. She saw too many Christian friends do otherwise resulting unfavorably. Her parents had taught her well, especially her father.

  It did not take long for Merry to acknowledge the danger of being thrown together with Mac and Lenny too, in close confines. A scenario she never premeditated and therefore, she had never planned a spiritual defense. And thus, her frustration and plea to Patsy over a month ago.

  The moon set in the west as she watched the sun pop over the opposite hillside. It was bright and warm already. Removing Junior’s jacket, she turned her back on the glowing warmth and concentrated. She wondered about the timing of the change which came over her. Mac was interested in Sarah, Merry had noticed but for some reason she remembered it hadn’t bothered her... not really. At the time, Merry decided it was God’s answer to Patsy’s prayer. Oddly, it was soon after her conclusion about Mac’s interest in Sarah that Mac began going to Patsy’s Bible studies. Something which had begun platonic turned romantic and yet, Merry had not let her guard down; she knew that.

  In her mind, Merry fast forwarded to early this morning. Picturing herself sitting in the shadows of the sunroom like a fly on the wall, she watched Sarah’s familiarity with Mac. Surprise was overtaken by another and unfamiliar emotion. She smiled grimly at the thought of disappointment permeated by jealousy. She had been jealous! Moments later, Mac made his announcement that he was marrying Merry before they evacuated. “Yes, of course!” he had answered Sarah. Merry’s shock was now buoyed by the thought of ‘Well, naturally... “Yes, of course!”’

  Sometime between leaving over the wall after Junior and this morning, Merry made up her mind that Mac was her man. She allowed what she had resisted all of her short matrimonially eligible life. She allowed her mind and heart to become one in her decision about a man... about Mac.

  Suddenly tired, Merry got up and walked the roof line several times. Everything seemed so quiet - so normal. Trees were green and a bird was passing overhead.

  Do we really have to leave? Mac had been right about so much. She decided he understood that their choices would be severely limited if they did not go now. Sitting down with the parapet wall to her back, she fell asleep.

  Merry got her shower, washing the stale filth from the drug house out of her hair and off her body just after noon. The generator would be running long today.

  Everyone was up, including Mac when she came to the table to eat Mrs. Ortiz’s tortillas one more time. She was the last to join them and only, Mac and Junior remained at the table. Mac got up when Merry came in; her hair brushed out but still wet, a green short sleeved turtle-neck that she borrowed from Nikki and skinny bluejeans, no socks.

  “Merry! Good morning!” Mac said pulling a chair out for her to sit in. “Junior! Get her some coffee and you, Tina bring her something from that platter... those flat cakes! Merry likes those.”

  Merry surrendered awkwardly to Mac’s shameless attention. She thanked him and then Junior and when Tina came with two tortillas and the makings of a burrito, she pulled her down in the empty seat next to her. Mac having retreated down the hall leaving his meal half finished.

  “Tina... I’m getting married today!” she said. Tina threw up her hands.

  “Ew, eeeh! To Mac! I knew it!” Tina exclaimed. “Whoa! Mac is going south and we’re going north... Did he change his mind? He’s going with us now!”

  “That is the sad part... I am going with him - south,” Merry said although separating from her pals hadn’t come to mind until just now. They looked at each other and both broke into tears.

  Merry wiped her eyes only to see Junior staring at her from his spot across the table, his mouth sligh
tly agape. He said, “I’m sorry about what happened the other night, Merry. You know I am. But what about Angel? We’re leaving today? What about her?” Merry’s eyes went wide and then wet again.

  She sniffled and said, “Junior, we’ve invited her to go with us and we’ve prayed for her. We must trust God for her. He knows what He is doing but no matter what we see happening, we must continue to pray for her, okay?”

  Mac and Tom Biggs came into the kitchen from the hallway just then. Tom was singing, “Going to the chapel and she’s gonna to get married...” Smiling and winking at Merry, Mac sat down next to her and began again on his unfinished breakfast.

  Tom sat at the other end. He said, “Mac says you two are taking the plunge. You know, marriage can be the best of times and I should know! I’m a professional having tied the knot three times... Well, today will be the third. Three's a charm.”

  Tina stood when the men came in but now she turned toward the hallway. Merry was sure the rest of the household would know in a few minutes.

  By the time the others gathered in the kitchen, it was decided that the weddings would be at sunset after all was packed and they were ready to pull out.

  Patsy who had tossed and turned all night about how to talk to Merry was both relieved and alarmed. She hugged Merry and whispered, “We’ll talk later.”

  Tino and Jack showed up before all the congratulations and hugs could be given to Merry. Junior ran out to the patio but Lenny and Mac went to the front door with crow bars. It was time to unblock and unlock the front door.

  The finalized packing and loading was thorough and methodical. Two trucks and two cars including Merry’s pale blue VW were filled and passengers assigned. Mac had picked a mustard-yellow with a white top, 1985 four-wheel drive as his vehicle of choice. In the past, he used this type of vehicle many times during his world travels and he knew the reliability of the car and the accessibility for spare parts, making it road worthy.