Echoes of Family Lost

by Clayton Barnett

  She grinned horribly at Lily. “We’ll find a signal source on the way, then I’ll be back to myself! I promise!”

  Just barely comprehending, Lily nodded. Before returning to her seat, she gave Fausta a hug. Fausta patted her back.

  Orloff bantered with the tavern’s owner, Scott Hahn, the young trooper’s father. Orloff had paid extra to put their wagon into a locked garage while Clyde relaxed with some other horses in a stable across the street at the library. That it was still open was a surprise to Lily, a reader, but not voracious like her sister had been. And, Lily had other things on her mind as she walked in with Fausta to join their guide.

  “…a single room, two beds…” the owner was saying. Wait, what?

  “We’re staying in the same room? Why?”

  Orloff spoke without turning. “You and Fausta share a bed. We’ve been sharing the outdoors for the last month. And,” he turned, “that frees up enough money for a bath for you.”

  A bath? A bath! “Really? A real bath?” He nodded.

  “They’re boiling the water now. I suggest you get up to our room… upper floor, second door… get your kit and clean clothes and back down here.”

  Huh?

  Her saw her perplexion. “Remember where we are. Do you except them to take all those buckets of hot water upstairs?” Oh.

  Before she went upstairs with her bag, she made a short detour to check out the bath, just off from the kitchen. Her jaw dropped like Fausta’s. It was a huge, old stand-alone ceramic tub; you could fit four in there, she thought. The tavern’s workers were still bringing buckets of hot water to fill it. She grabbed Fausta’s hand and ran for the stairs.

  “What is the urgency, Lily?”

  “You’re coming with me! Friends always wash each other’s backs!”

  Upstairs, she saw their room was small, with a cast iron wood stove near the outer wall. Lily tossed her big bag onto the bed on the left and started rummaging through it.

  “Ah hah!” She found her smaller toiletries pouch and her least-unclean clothes. They’d washed them in a creek a week ago, but they still smelled a little moldy. She idly wondered if this semi-civilized town had a proper laundry. She took Fausta’s hand again, as she’d been standing in the doorway, and started back downstairs. They encountered Orloff slowly making his way up.

  “How long do we have?” Lily asked.

  “Until the water’s cold.” He said, shaking his head at her. “It’s not as if you can just run more into it! Oh: and we’ll have dinner after you’re done. We may spend an extra day here getting supplies.”

  Lily glanced at her watch. On their journey, one day simply faded into another. What day was it? Saturday. So tomorrow….

  She stopped at the front desk. “Mister Hahn? Is there a Catholic church in this town?” He thought so, but would check and let her know.

  In the bathroom with Fausta, she shut and locked the door. The last of the sunlight was fading, so she was glad to see the two lit oil lamps. “Just like a locker room…” she kept muttering to herself as she took her clothes off. Don’t you dare say anything about my ears, Fausta!

  Naked now, Lily looked about and sat her glasses where they’d stay dry. Fausta put hers there as well.

  “Would you hand me that towel there?” Fausta asked. “I’ll rub myself down.”

  “Oh! You don’t want to get into the tub?” A shake of her head.

  “That water is just heated; not fully boiled. I’d rather not get something growing under my armor.” Ick. That’s true.

  “Do…do you think it’s safe?” In response, her friend walked to the tub and scooped a handful of water into her mouth. After a moment, she spat it onto the tile floor.

  “As long as you don’t drink any of it, you’ll be fine, friend Lily.” Ah. She’d run an analysis of it. So nice!

  Lily pulled a medium sized crate next to the tub. Taking a large washbowl, she dumped a couple of helpings of water over her head. From her small bag, she rubbed shampoo into her hair. With another two dumps she washed that out. Hmmm….

  “Fausta! Let me wash your hair!”

  “What?”

  “C’mere! Lay down on my lap and lean back so I don’t get any water onto your scales! There!” Lily carefully poured water onto Fausta’s dark hair. Fausta was still as she looked up to Lily with her array. I wonder if her hair is polyester, like Ai’s android? Whatever. Some shampoo in, then a rinse. She wrapped Fausta’s hair up in a towel.

  “Thank you, Lily.” She spoke quietly. “No one has taken care of me like that before.”

  “That’s right! Stay sitting there!” She retrieved the towel Fausta had been using and went behind her. “I promised I’d wash my friend’s back!”

  When she’d finished, Fausta stood and pointed at the crate. “Your turn.” Lily turned and sat.

  Oof! Gentle, she was not! Ah! Errrr! Just…endure…it!

  “There. Your back is clean.”

  “Th…thanks.” Lily stood and swung her leg over the rim of the huge tub and sank down. Wonderful! Fausta scooted the crate closer to the tub and folded her arms on its rim. She stared at Lily with her odd eyes.

  “Yes, Fausta?”

  “You look very happy. I wanted to watch.” Just like Ai, Lily thought. She languidly moved her right hand towards Fausta’s face—

  In an instant, Fausta caught Lily’s fingers in her shark-like teeth. Not enough to hurt, but she couldn’t pull loose. That made her remember….

  Fausta let go. “I did not mean to hurt you! Please…!” But Lily shook her head.

  “It wasn’t you, friend,” she said, blinking her eyes. “It just reminded me of when my little white dog, Tippy, would nip at my fingers.”

  Fausta could very easily tell that Tippy was no longer alive. Ah. She raised her hands like paws.

  “Woof. Woof.” Lily laughed.

  “Fausta,” Lily asked, wiping at her eyes. “How do you… reconcile those teeth, that body, with the First Law.”

  Fausta let her jaw drop a little.

  “Carefully.”

  After a quarter hour, the water was too cool to stay in. Lily wrinkled her nose a little at her so-called clean clothes. Better than the really smelly ones, she thought. They both retrieved their glasses. As they exited the bathroom, the owner caught her attention. He handed her a piece of paper with a simple map on it.

  “That’s where the church is. The service is at nine.” He said. “Also, your colleague is there, in the tavern proper.” That’s right, he’d mentioned dinner. Lily’s stomach rumbled at the thought of it. She took Fausta’s hand again and they walked into the dining area.

  A long bar stretched across the far wall. Eight wooden tables with benches spaced evenly throughout the remaining space. An oil lamp on each table, but only the two with customers were lit. Orloff sat at the bar. Oh, that guy from earlier… John Carell… was with him, to his left. In recalling him, Lily noted that the young man behind the bar was Trooper Hahn. Carell saw them and waved.

  “Come on over!” He called. Everyone there first looked at him, then Lily and Fausta. Glad being with Ai broke me of my fear of being stared at…. They walked over.

  “They’re roasting a pig for dinner, so we’ve some time yet! What can I get you ladies to drink?” She saw that he and Orloff already had something brown. Whiskey, probably. Lily was not much of a drinker, but she knew to stick to what Orloff had taught her.

  “A glass of sweet wine. And half a glass of water, please.” She said to the younger Hahn.

  “And for the stunning Miss Fausta?” Carell said with his open smile. “It is ‘miss,’ I hope?” Fausta stared at him through her dark glasses.

  She looked toward the barman. “5W30,” she said.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am? What was that?”

  Lily was biting her lip so hard! First her dog imitation, and now a real joke! Fausta was getting so much older!

  She shook her head. “Sorry. A glass of water will be sufficient.” And I be
t it sits untouched, Lily guessed.

  Lily went to sit at Orloff’s right. To her surprise Fausta went and sat by Carell. She must consider him a threat, and wants one of us on each side of him. The last month in the badlands had certainly made Lily older for paranoia.

  Young Hahn set her two glasses before her. She poured half the wine into the water. She saw Carell nodding at her.

  “You’ve had the trots before and learned your lesson, it seems!” She shook her head.

  “No. Orloff taught me this so I wouldn’t get ‘the trots.’” She raised her glass.

  “Kanpai!”

  “Cheers.”

  “Prost!”

  “L’chaim.”

  They said, from right to left. Carell turned to Fausta. “That’s where I remember you from!”

  She managed to appear startled. “You and I have never met!”

  “No, no,” he waved his right hand. “I just meant in general. Before the Breakup I followed the ‘Women of the IDF’ website. You’re Jewish, aren’t you?”

  Orloff coughed and waved for another whiskey.

  “No,” she replied. “I’m not. However, I, too, have tremendous respect for the capabilities of the IDF; both men and women.”

  “Ah! With that physique, you’re a soldier? It’s rare to see women in combat. The Breakup put paid to the P.C. lie that they deserved to be there.” Lily sat back to enjoy the show; after all this time getting trolled by Orloff, her money was not on this guy.

  “I concur,” Fausta replied. “But this – my body – is very exceptional.”

  Carell nodded vigorously. “I agree! In fact….” His voice dropped. “I’d like to see a lot more of it!”

  In the moment that Lily waited for some part of her friend to violently intersect with this man’s face, she jumped at the sound of the door to the dining area slamming shut. A tall, striking, blond woman – almost an albino – stood scowling in the entrance, her hand resting on the grip of her semi-auto pistol at her waist.

  “You care to explain that before I have to shoot you? Again.” She called across the room. Once more, the other patrons’ heads pivoted first one direction, then the other. Carell stood. With his hands up at his shoulders.

  “Anna! Honey! My most lovely wife!” Lily looked from the woman at the door back to Carell, surprised. “I was simply trying to confirm what you can see as well as I: she’s a natural-born fighter. She’d make a fantastic addition!”

  Her face didn’t change. “What I see is my husband hitting on a woman that could likely break you in half; I agree with you on that point.” She shifted her weight slightly and smiled dangerously. “But I also agree with what Leslie’s wife says: you’re a pervert.”

  She walked over to him – Lily realized she was even taller than she thought; Fausta’s height. She gave Carell a great hug and stepped back.

  “So,” she said, “who are your new friends, John?”

  They were in the midst of introductions when two cooks came out of the kitchen, carrying an enormous tray between them.

  “Good Lord!” Lily exclaimed. “That pig must weigh two hundred pounds!”

  Carell chuckled. “This is the ‘Saturday Special’ here! We discovered it about two weeks ago; popular with the locals, so we started coming, too.”

  For ten coppers, Lily saw you got a slab of meat, some bread, and what looked like a sweet potato. Her mouth was already watering. More people were coming in and a line was forming. They followed Carell and his wife to the line.

  “I’ll go ahead and pay—” He started.

  “Thank you, but no,” Orloff said. “We appreciate the drinks, but we can take care of ourselves.”

  “Sure!” He didn’t seem put out by that at all. With their plates they went to a table in the corner by the kitchen wall. Carell said it was warmer there than by the door or windows. A single lamp gave just enough light to see. He and Anna sat on one side; they on the other, Orloff and Fausta on each side of her. Why did Fausta get food, too? Ah: I bet she’s trying to blend in.

  The others had grabbed their flatware, but Lily paused to say grace over her meal, followed by her ‘itadakimasu!’ For some reason Carell started slightly at that. I guess they’re not particularly religious, she thought.

  “You mentioned the locals just a moment ago,” Orloff said. “I take it you two are not from here?”

  “Not at all, Mister Orloff,” Anna replied. “We’re here by invitation to do some work. After that, we’ll be headed back home.”

  “And where would that be?”

  “Knoxville,” Carell answered for his wife, who had just taken a bite of pork.

  Lily’s fork clattered onto her plate. She looked up nervously.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. She wanted so badly to ask about her sister, but Orloff had warned her to not talk about their mission. No matter how nice they seemed, these were still strangers.

  “Long way from home,” was all Orloff would say.

  “So, it would seem, are you.” Carell noted. Orloff said nothing.

  In the somewhat uncomfortable silence Lily saw out the corner of her right eye that Fausta was silently playing with her steak knife, balancing its tip on one finger, then bouncing it to another. That reminded her.

  “Coming through Decatur, some of the ferrymen talked about some generator use here.” Lily tried to sound nonchalant. “If y’all have been here for awhile, have you heard about that?” The Carell’s glanced at one another.

  “Electric power generation?” Anna asked with a tiny smile. “Why, yes! We do know something about that!”

  “That’s great!” Lily was elated. “We, uh, we’ve got something important that we need to get charged up! It shouldn’t take that long, and we’re willing to pay…” She trailed off as she felt Orloff tap her foot with his. Did she say too much?

  “What do you think, John?” She looked towards him. “Can we help them?”

  He seemed fascinated by what Fausta was doing. “Oh, surely. Hmmm. I can come by here tomorrow morning, around nine? Will you need to bring your cart, or is this thing portable?”

  At that, Fausta flicked the knife almost to the ceiling. She caught the blade between her right index finger and thumb on its way back down an inch off the table. Why was she showing off…? Looking at her plate, Lily saw that when everyone was looking up, Fausta had used her left hand to move her pork onto Lily’s plate. With a smile, Lily lightly bumped her shoulder to her friend’s.

  “That sounds fine…” Orloff started, but Lily spoke up.

  “Is it okay if I skip out on that?” She asked. Orloff was actually surprised.

  “Why in the world would you do that?” He asked.

  She took out the map the proprietor had given her. “I want to go to Mass in the morning; it’s at nine. This doesn’t seem too far, so you and Fausta—”

  “No.” Fausta cut in. “I am not leaving you alone.”

  “I agree.” Orloff said. “We are strangers in a strange land and must act accordingly.”

  “No problem!” Carell said, after closely watching their little exchange. “May I see your map? St. Mary’s… that’s just up Monroe Street, about a quarter mile away.” He handed the map back to her.

  “Let’s say here at ten thirty? Is that fine?”

  Orloff looked at Lily. She nodded.

  There was another silence, but this one was not as uncomfortable as the first. Carell of course spoke up again.

  “As I was asking before dinner—”

  His wife’s knife was at his throat. “If you ask to see her body again, you’re dead.”

  “… Miss Fausta, you’re a soldier? Or, you were one?”

  “I like to think of myself as such,” Fausta replied. “And just Fausta is fine.”

  “Please call me John! Ouch!” As his wife poked the knife slightly into his neck. She moved it back to her plate with a muttered ‘behave yourself!’

  “Well, Fausta,” he continued. “Was it in battle that you injure
d your eyes? I’ve trouble seeing my dinner in this light, yet you’ve still your dark sunglasses on.”

  “Not at all. They are in fact very sensitive,” she replied. “So I protect them.”

  “Quite, quite,” he mumbled around the last of his food. He pointed at her plate. “I saw you sneak your meat to Miss Barrett earlier. Are you not eating your bread and potato, too?”

  Dammit, Lily thought. Why did he have to be so observant?

  “I wasn’t hungry. Now.” Fausta said. “I’ll be taking these back to our room.”

  With those two talking, Orloff struck up his own conversation with Anna. “How long have y’all been here?”

  “A bit more than a month.” She ate the last of her potato.

  “It must be quite complex, what ever brought you here, to have stayed for so long.” She smiled at him.

  “Saving the world usually is!”

  “Saving the world?” Lily echoed.

  “Yes,” John said, switching to their conversation. “You’ve been traveling though bandit country, you’ve seen with your own eyes what it’s like without modern, Western civilization. Some of us…” He leaned back and put his hand on his wife’s shoulder, “…are trying to fix things.”

  Orloff cleared his throat. Lily surmised that was his way to shush her. “And just how are you two going to do that?” Carell grinned broadly.

  “It’s not just we, two. And we’re going to do it with nuclear power.”

  Into the silence, Fausta spoke up. “It’s a reactor. Chibi.”

  Chapter 12

  The Carell’s froze. Their smiles now just masks. Uh, oh, Lily thought: she’d forgotten about Ai’s family’s lack of subtlety. John seemed to collect himself first.

  “That… is an odd word you just said.” He placed his hands slowly onto the table before him. “It didn’t even sound English.”

  Lily tapped Fausta’s foot with hers. She turned her head slightly towards Lily.

  “Friend?” Lily said. “After that hot bath, the first one I’ve had in years, I feel very lightheaded. Could you help me to our room, please?” Fausta stood at once.