by E A Chance
She had a point, but admitting that would derail her point, so she changed tactics.
“Have you forgotten Coop? Aside from wanting to see how our family is, we need to find out if he made it to the ranch. I scratched that note on the cabin door. What if he saw it and went to the ranch expecting to find us? He’d be worried sick and thinking we’re dead.”
Julia looked down at her hands. “I haven’t forgotten him,” she said softly. “Do you really think he could have made it to the ranch?”
Even though she had her doubts, she didn’t hesitate before saying, “I do.”
A tear rolled down Julia’s cheek as she raised her eyes to Riley. “I don’t want that. I miss Coop, Mom, but what if we get to Uncle Mitch’s and he’s not there?”
“I hope that doesn’t happen, but at least we’d know. It would still be worth it to find out about our family.”
“But what about Bryce?”
The question caught her off guard. “Bryce? What about him?”
“Isn’t there something going on between you?”
“I don’t know why you think that, but no, there isn’t. He’s more like a brother, and he’s got his heart set on Laura.”
Julia’s eyes widened, then she smiled. “Laura? That’s cool.”
Riley moved next to Julia and put her arm around her. “I should have talked to you about this before now, but I’m in love with Coop. I never thought I’d love another man after your dad, but I do. I don’t know if he’s alive, but even if he’s not, grown-ups don’t change their feelings from person to another that quickly. I know it’s different at your age. I’ll never stop loving your dad, and I’ll never stop loving Coop. I miss him more than you’ll ever know.”
“I’m sorry for being selfish and not thinking of your feelings. I’ve tried to pretend we never met Coop because it hurt too much to remember him. It’s like I lost two dads.”
Riley kissed the top of her head. “I know, sweetheart, and I get that it’s hard for you to leave your new friends. Maybe when the roads become safer, you can come for a visit. This doesn’t have to be goodbye forever.”
Julia’s eyes brightened. “That would be awesome. Can I go tell Mallory?”
Riley nodded and watched Julia zoom off on her crutches. Their conversation had gone better than she’d hoped. All she had left to do was prepare herself to face the worst, just in case.
Riley made her final rounds of the four patients in the hospital. She’d successfully delivered the baby two days earlier. They were both thriving, and she felt confident releasing them to their quarters. Another patient was an elderly man with pneumonia. He hadn’t responded to antibiotics, but Riley still hoped he’d turn the corner. She left him in the hands of the skilled respiratory therapist they were fortunate to have.
The next patient was a young mother recovering from an appendectomy. Riley had performed her surgery the old-fashioned way, with a big incision since they didn’t have access to laparoscopy. Her patient was improving rapidly and would be well enough to be discharged in a day or two.
The last patient was an eleven-year-old-boy who’d sustained a compound fracture when he tried to skateboard down the front steps of the center. Performing surgery on him brought back poignant memories of Julia’s surgery and her practice at home.
After leaving detailed instructions with the nurse practitioner who was taking over for her, she said her goodbyes and loaded the last of their belongings in the Humvee. Julia and Mallory stood on the steps, clinging to each other and sobbing like they’d known each other for years. Riley finally had to drag Julia to the truck. As Bryce shifted into drive, Dane stepped on the landing and blew Julia a kiss. She pressed her face to the window and sobbed harder.
Bryce winked at Riley through the mirror, and said, “Don’t despair, Julia. If the roads are safe, I’ll ask Dane and Mallory’s parents if I can bring them for a visit.”
Julia turned her red, swollen eyes to him and said, “You’d do that?”
“Gladly. It’ll give us a chance to visit with your mom, too.”
Julia wiped her face on her hoodie and sat back with a smile before asking how long it would take to get to the ranch.
“I’d estimate three hours, but that will depend on how clogged the roads are,” Laura said. “At least we won’t have to contend with snow.”
“Thank God,” Riley mumbled.
Not in the mood for small talk, she turned to the window and watched the landscape speeding past. A glance at her watch and some quick math told her ten weeks had passed since the CME strike. She’d fought through those seemingly unending weeks toward one goal, getting Julia to safety at the ranch. Now that she was mere hours away, she was terrified of what they might find. What if the property had been overrun and her family was gone? Would it be the end of her hopes of going on to Colorado? As much as she trusted Bryce and his people, they weren’t family. Could she trust them enough to leave her precious daughter in their care, possibly for years?
When she felt a twinge of panic in her gut, she shook off her dark negative thoughts and tapped Julia’s elbow. “I was too anxious to sleep much last night. I’m going to try to nap. Wake me when we’re close.”
“I will. Everything’s going to be fine, Mom. You’ll see.”
Riley rallied the best smile she could, hoping for both their sakes that Julia was right.
Riley woke fifteen miles outside Wytheville. She was rested, but no less anxious. Julia was asleep with her mouth hanging open and drool dripping from her chin. Riley shook her awake and handed her a handkerchief.
Julia blushed and wiped her face before looking out the window. “Where are we?”
“Almost to your aunt and uncle’s house,” Bryce said. “It’s been a smooth, uneventful trip.”
“First time for everything,” she said.
Riley recognized some landmarks and directed him to the ranch as best she could. “I haven’t been here in years, and I had GPS last time, but this looks right.”
It was comforting to be in familiar surroundings for the first time since leaving home. Beth and Mitch had friendly neighbors and were respected in the community. She hoped that had been enough to protect them.
Bryce turned onto the gravel, tree-lined lane leading to the gate, and Riley’s gut twisted into a knot. When the arched sign reading Dogwood Run Ranch came into view, she started to hyperventilate.
Julia handed her an empty baggie from her lunch and whispered, “Breathe into this, Mom. It’ll be fine.”
She did as her wise daughter instructed and struggled to regain control. As Bryce pulled the Humvee up to the gate, three men with raised rifles stepped in front of them. Riley breathed harder into the bag.
Bryce lowered the window. “We’re here to see Mitchell and Elizabeth Dunne. We have their niece, Dr. Riley Poole, and her daughter, Julia, with us. May we pass?”
One of the men lowered his rifle. “Let me clear that,” he said and jumped on a horse tethered to the fence.
Riley lowered the baggie and took a slow breath. If her aunt and uncle were gone, the man wouldn’t have bothered to check if they could allow them through the gate. They probably would have sent them away or killed them, but she told Julia to duck just to be safe.
Bryce closed the window. “How far to the house?”
“No more than a quarter of a mile. This shouldn’t take long.”
“It’s reassuring that they’re taking safety measures,” Laura said.
That comforted Riley, too, but also made her wonder what had happened to make Uncle Mitch institute them.
A red pickup truck came bouncing over the gravel five minutes later. Riley threw her door open when Mitch climbed out and told his men to unlock the gate. When she ran to him, he lifted her in his arms and spun her around like he used to when she was a girl.
He wiped his eyes and said, “My little Riley Kate. Never thought I’d see your freckled face or fiery locks again. We’ve heard horrifying stories about condition
s in D.C.”
“It’s as bad as you’ve heard, but we left there months ago. It’s been an adventure getting here.”
Julia got out of the truck and raced up to Mitch on her crutches. He hugged her before stepping back to give her a good look. “Bet there’s a story behind that, Miss Julia Mae.”
“You won’t believe it. Where are Holly and Aunt Beth?”
“At the house waiting for you. Aunt Beth nearly fainted when she heard you were here. Who are your friends?”
Bryce and Laura stepped out of the truck and joined them.
“This is Bryce Casper, a longtime friend of Zach’s.” When Mitch raised his eyebrows, she said, "Long story. This is Laura Kittleson, our new friend.”
Mitch shook each of their hands. “Follow us up to the house,” he said, before helping Julia into his truck. He shook his head while Riley climbed into the front seat. “I can’t believe it’s really you. We were sure you two were dead.”
“We almost were, lots of times,” Julia said.
“She’s right. We almost didn’t make it.” Mitch pulled in front of the house and opened his door, but Riley put her hand on his arm to stop him. “We were traveling with a doctor named Neal Cooper. Is he here? We got separated, and I left him directions to the ranch.”
“We haven’t seen him. I’m sorry, Riley.”
Julia whimpered quietly in the back seat.
“It was a long shot,” Riley said, doing her best to hide her devastation.
Mitch studied her and smiled with understanding. “This man was important to you?” She nodded and turned away. “How long since you got separated?”
“A month.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t lose hope. Look how long it took you to get here.”
“True. And he has a way of popping up when we least expect him.”
“Let’s go in. It’s like Christmas in there.”
As he spoke, her aunt burst through the door and hugged Riley so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Holly followed her out and shrieked when she saw Julia. The girls hugged each other and cried until Beth shooed Holly away so she could have a turn hugging Julia.
Uncle Mitch moved the reunion inside where their daughter, Kathryn, and two sons, Russell and Jesse, waited with their families. Kathryn and her husband, Clint, were Holly’s parents. They had another daughter, Rosie, who was four years younger. They were staying in the main house while Russell and Jesse had their families in two guest houses on the property.
Riley introduced Bryce and Laura, and Beth insisted they stay the night.
“It’s too dangerous on the roads after dark. We have plenty of room.”
“I was hoping you’d ask,” Bryce said with his best smile. “I’ll bring our things out of the truck.”
He and Laura hung back while the family got reacquainted. Riley knew they would have preferred to get back on the road, but she was glad they agreed to stay until morning so she wouldn’t have to worry about them getting stranded in the dark.
After an extraordinary meal of roast chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and freshly baked bread, the family begged Riley to tell them about their trip to the ranch. She gave them all the details, holding nothing back, and Julia interjected from time to time. The family stared in shock or amazement and asked an endless stream of questions. Even Bryce, who hadn’t heard the whole story, listened in awe. Riley was exhausted by the time she finished two hours later.
Beth wiped her eyes and said, “Providence brought you to us. There’s no other explanation.”
She thought of Zach urging her on through the snow and nodded. “I’d have to agree.”
Mitch stood and gestured at the grandfather clock in the corner. “That’s enough for tonight. You need rest.” He lifted his water glass. “To Riley and Julia. Welcome home.”
Chapter Nineteen
Riley waited for three days before approaching Mitch with her plans to leave for Colorado. She found him in the stables feeding the horses after breakfast and felt a pang of sadness as she passed the empty stalls. Mitch told her they’d lost five horses out of twenty-five to people stealing them for meat. He understood what a powerful force hunger was, but the horses were like his children, and he was devastated to lose them.
He looked up and smiled when he heard her coming. “What brings you out here?”
She patted the horse’s neck and said, “I have something I need to discuss with you if you have a minute.”
He turned an empty horse feed bucket over for her to sit on and dropped onto a stack of hay bales. “I always have time for you, Riley Kate.”
She smiled at his use of her middle name. He’d called her that for as long as she could remember.
“I was wondering if you could spare a few ranch hands, horses, and provisions for me to travel to Colorado Springs. I’m desperate to know what’s happened to Mom and Dad and my children. I’d leave Julia with you and come back as soon as I could. It could take as long as a year.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Have you lost your mind? How can you even consider a journey like that after what you and Julia went through to get here?”
“We made it, didn’t we? The world is stabilizing. People are resilient. They’ll settle into a new normal with time. I’m not saying it will be easy, but people traveled across the country long before electricity and cars.”
Mitch stood and took off his baseball cap. Scratching his head, he said, “And half of them died.”
“Please, sit down and listen.” He reluctantly lowered himself onto the hay. “That was before they knew about germs or had the knowledge of medications and surgical procedures we do. I know I can do this. I’ve learned how to survive in the past few months.”
“Even if I could spare men, horses or supplies, which I can’t, I’d never agree to this. I owe it to your parents to keep you and Julia alive.”
“What good does it do for me to be alive if they’ll never know?”
“Undertaking a trip like this would be suicide. My answer is no, Riley.”
She was about to protest, but he put his cap on and stalked out of the stable. She stood and kicked the feed bucket. The horse whinnied and stamped her foot. Riley stroked her neck as she frantically tried to figure out her next play. She hadn’t expected Mitch to warm to her plan immediately, but his reaction had seemed definite. Staying was out of the question. She was determined to find a way back to her younger children.
Beth and her cousins gave her the same reaction when she asked them to convince Mitch to change his mind. She considered driving to Blue Ridge Meadows to talk Bryce into going with her, but he’d thought her idea was as crazy as her family did, and Mitch would never agree to let her take one of his trucks. Short of stealing one, she was stuck.
Deciding her best option was to back off and give the family time to get used to the idea, she threw herself into helping around the ranch. She treated the occasional cut or cough, but other than that, there wasn’t much call for a full-time doctor. Jesse was a vet, so he took care of the livestock. She assisted him occasionally, but he managed just fine without her.
Russell was an electrician by trade and was also trained as a plumber. Kathryn had a master’s degree in education and took charge of instructing the children. Mitch had his ranch hands who cared for the horses and helped patrol the ranch boundaries for intruders. Everyone had responsibilities to fill their days but her, and she didn’t handle idleness gracefully.
One welcome distraction was having Uncle Mitch teach her how to operate his HAM radio. They’d been able to contact some distant relatives but hadn’t reached Thomas. When Riley showed concern, Mitch told her not to read too much into it, that maybe Thomas’ radio was plugged in when the CME struck and got fried. She took his word for it and threw herself into learning all she could as it might prove to be a way to communicate with Julia when she was traveling to Colorado.
One night at the end of their third week at the ranch, she asked Mitch and Beth to assi
gn her tasks that needed doing.
“I’m strong and like hard work. I can’t take this thumb-twiddling.”
Beth chuckled and said, “We have an endless list of chores. We wanted to give you time to recuperate and didn’t want to burden you. I’ll have plenty of assignments ready for you by morning.”
Mitch held up his hand. “Hold up, Beth. I get first crack. I need someone to take care of the groundhogs in the east meadow. It’s the horses’ favorite place to graze, but the groundhogs dig holes that can break their legs. That means having to put the horses down and we can’t afford to lose any more.”
Riley crinkled her nose. “What do you mean, take care of the groundhogs?”
Russell grinned at her. “He means to trap them and shoot them with a pellet gun.”
“That’s right,” Mitch said. “It solves the hole problem and makes good meat for the dogs.”
Julia giggled, but Riley felt like she was going to be sick. She’d expected him to ask her to lug hay bales or mend fences.
She shivered and said, “That’s disgusting. I don’t even know how to use a pellet gun.”
“You were going to kill that deer when we were starving in the cabin, Mom,” Julia said. “Taking care of a little groundhog should be easy.”
Mitch leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “All part of life on a horse ranch. Meet me on the front steps at seven. I’ll drive you out to the meadow and show you what to do.”
“Terrific,” Riley said and frowned.
“Welcome to my life,” Katheryn said. “Still glad you asked for chores?”
Three days of trapping groundhogs hadn’t lessened Riley’s disgust for the task. She understood the need but would have preferred any other chore. Mitch taught her how to poke the ground with a stick to check for holes, then set the traps and wait. She’d convinced him to have someone else dispatch the little buggers after she shot one in the eye and it didn’t die. Mitch had teased her, calling her surprisingly skittish for a surgeon. Riley failed to see how slaughtering groundhogs compared in any way with performing complex surgery on humans.
