Beyond the New Horizon (Book 3): Living on the Edge

by Conaway, Christine

  Journey studied her Gina’s face, “And did you like what you saw?”

  “I admit I look pretty horrific with this bandage on my head, but I did brush my hair a little and washed my face.”

  “I’m not talking about your appearance. I’m talking about the person who looked out at you. Your overall persona. The things that make you, unique. We’ll talk about your appearance in a bit, but right now I’m worried about your emotional health. What’s going on?”

  Gina sighed because she wasn’t sure what Journey was talking about and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. She wasn’t getting much sleep, and when she did, she saw the women in red and the guy in the plaid shirt. They never said anything, just stared at her accusingly. They had never told the others about their first trip to the ranch when they’d gone to salvage the cellar or what had happened other than making jokes about Sam’s driving abilities and Ben’s cooking. No one else knew about how close they had come to not returning. They had agreed to keep the bodies to themselves.

  “I’m not sure what you’re getting at because there’s nothing wrong with my mental health. I’m just trying to get by and survive just like the rest of you.”

  “The rest of us? The rest of us aren’t afraid to show our emotions and express our feelings. You, on the other hand, have closed yourself off from all of us. You don’t ever complain or bitch about the situation or get angry anymore. You are no longer the person we knew and loved.”

  Gina felt her throat tighten up and cleared it, “So, you’re saying that you don’t love me anymore, is that it? Does that include everyone else or just you?”

  “Listen to what you just said. You immediately took offense, and even your posture tells me you're pissed by what I said and you’re just sitting there. “Where’s the outrage, the anger? Tell me what’s going on with you. Something has made you close yourself off from us. Please tell me so I can help.”

  Gina just shook her head and studied the empty cup she held in her hands. She needed to compose herself before she could speak. Journey put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her almost broke. Gina gritted her teeth and pulled away. “Do you want to hear about the bodies? Do you want to hear about the people we buried? Do you want to hear about the people that I have had to kill? What is it, Journey? Do you want to hear it all or should I just be selective?”

  Journey could see a spark of the old Gina and pressed her, “All of it. Start at the beginning if you have to but keeping it all inside is making you change, and we want you back. So talk! Lucy is making more coffee, and she’ll bring it when it’s ready. Until then, just talk.”

  “Someone is haunting me. I’m afraid to sleep anymore because all I see is a parade of the dead people.” She fell silent as if that was everything bothering her.

  Journey let her sit for a minute until she saw Lucy, with her funny gait, coming up the incline. Watching Lucy, reminded her that they hadn’t come up with a way to fix Lucy’s prosthetic. ‘One problem at a time,’ Journey thought. She thought the solution to Gina’s problems were going to be much easier to solve than Lucy’s.

  Lucy stumbled the last few feet and sank to the ground at their feet. Her eyes popped open, and she reached for her pocket, “Aw…good. I thought I’d broken it.” Lucy pulled a bottle out of her pocket and held it up. “The loosener of tounges and the instigator of lies,” she proclaimed and shoved it at Gina. “You can do the honors.”

  Gina took the bottle from her and stared at the label, her fingers caressed the diamond cut glass around the edges. Her eyes watered and she thought she was going to lose it. Gina cleared her throat before she could speak. It wasn’t ladylike or dainty, but it was Gina, and to her relief, both Journey and Lucy laughed. The moment almost felt like old times.

  “Where did you get this? Oh, my God, it’s worth a fortune.” Gina looked at Lucy for an answer. She held the bottle as if it was the most delicate piece of crystal and she could break it by simply holding on to it tightly. “Gran Centenario Leyenda Extra Añejo Tequila,” as Gina read it out loud, Gina almost sounded like she was praying. A slow smile crossed her face as she stared at it.

  “Oh for cripes sake, if you’re not going to open it, give it to me and I will.” Lucy reached for the bottle, and Gina clasped it to her chest.

  “We can’t open this. Where did you get it?”

  “Oh yes, we can. Why do you think I brought it up here? We’re not going to sit here while you admire the bottle either. Now give me the damn stuff before I have to kill you!” Lucy was holding her hands out in front of herself as if they were her weapons. “These hands are licensed you know. So, open it or face the consequences.”

  Lucy’s words were exactly what Gina would have said if their positions had been reversed, and they all knew it. Gina stared at Lucy, the bottle held up out of reach, “You need to sound meaner and growl a little and maybe actually look like you meant it as a threat.”

  “Oh for pity sakes, give it here, and I’ll open it.” Journey grabbed the bottle and after a brief struggle held the open bottle out to Gina.

  She looked from Journey to Lucy before she reached for it, “If you’re going to treat it with as little respect as Jose Cuervo, that’s the way we’ll drink it then.” Gina up the bottle gave it a shake, and a stream of tequila flowed into her mouth. She held it there, savoring the smooth taste and swallowed, “Oh my god, is that good.” Gina wiped her mouth and then licked her hand, “It’s too expensive to waste even a drop.”

  Journey shook her head and poured them each a healthy shot into their empty coffee cups. Lucy produced her cup from her inside jacket pocket. They sat and sipped their tequila, and it almost felt like the old days.

  “You have a captive audience, and no one is going to bother us up here, so start talking,” Journey told Gina while Lucy nodded in agreement.

  Gina held her cup out for one more shot and cradling it in her hands; she began to talk. When either of the women tried to interrupt her, she shook her head and kept talking. She started from the first trip to the ranch and finished with the confrontation at the feed store. When Gina finished, they sat in silence. Gina picked up the bottle only to realize that it was empty. Frowning, Gina looked at her friends, “We just drank a couple of hundred dollars of premium tequila, and I didn’t even get a buzz?”

  Lucy looked up at the sky, “True, but it was a small bottle and seeing as how the sun is coming up, it doesn’t surprise me.”

  Gina looked up to confirm it was almost morning and groaned, “Oh man, and I was looking forward to sleep too.”

  “I’m going to say this once, and it will be the last, Gina, you did nothing wrong. The way that I see it, you saved lives. You guys never went looking for trouble, but you defended yourselves. When I think that the three of you might not have come home that first time, it makes me sick. Then you add in what happened at Matt’s ranch.” Journey shuddered, “You did nothing wrong!”

  “I still get nightmares about my kidnapping, but I talk to Ben and Journey about it and believe me, it does help. You can’t keep awful things locked inside of you. You know we’re here for you anytime you feel overwhelmed.”

  “Maybe you should stay in camp more?”

  Gina looked at Journey and scoffed, “Oh, hell no. I’d go crazy sitting around here. I’m not like the two of you. I always feel the need to find out what’s out there. You both know I can’t sit still for very long.”

  Gina picked up her cup and reached to pick up Lucy’s when Lucy grabbed her own, sloshing tequila out of it. She looked up with guilt all over her face and refused to look at Gina or Journey.

  “You didn’t drink any of it, did you?”

  Lucy hung her head and shook it no. She sighed and looked up, “No I didn’t. I didn’t feel like drinking. You guys know how bad I always feel afterward.”

  “You haven’t let it stop you in the past, so why?” Journey asked and she peered at Lucy as if she would see the answer if she looked closely. “For the same re
ason, you’ve been walking around here in the heat of the day with either a big sweatshirt or jacket on?”

  Gina leaned toward Lucy because the conversation was getting interesting, “We both remember you praying in the bathroom the next morning, and it never seemed to stop you then, so there must be another reason.”

  Journey stood up unexpectedly and pulled Lucy onto her back and pulled her shirt up exposing her stomach. She and Gina could both see the top button of her jeans undone and she had a pot belly. The rest of her body was stick thin, but the small mound of her stomach was unmistakable.

  Journey whooped, “Are you kidding me?” she reached out and patted Lucy’s tummy. ‘Holy crap! When did this happen? Lucy, that’s not a four-day bump, and that’s how long you’ve been married.”

  Lucy sat up and pulled her shirt down, “I thought we were going to die and didn’t think…” she sighed, “the first night you guys left us alone,” Lucy confessed, softly she added, “It was only that one time.”

  Gina sat back in shock. Lucy who had never even accepted a date for as long as they’d know her, was pregnant. She looked at Journey and saw the same astonished expression on her face, and they both began to laugh.

  So in tune with each other’s way of thinking, they said in unison, “It only takes one time.”

  “Oh, shut up. Don’t you think I know that!” She stalked off down the slope, but if they could have seen her face, they would have seen a smile from ear to ear. Lucy hadn’t known how to bring it up and had decided to tell them that night, but Gina’s story had lasted into the morning hours, and she hadn’t had the chance to say anything. “Now they know,” she mumbled as she made her way down the slope taking extra care not to fall.

  “That little hussy! Who would have guessed?” Journey laughed when she said it and Gina knew it was just an expression they sometimes used when they were out and one of them, usually Journey, spent the night on the dance floor dancing with whoever asked. If no one asked, then Journey did the asking and was always insulted whenever someone had the audacity to refuse.

  “I can’t believe she kept it from us. You would have thought that we’d be the first to know.”

  They laughed together, and Gina realized how normal she felt. Maybe Journey was right, and cleansing was good not only for the body, but the soul as well. “Or maybe the tequila had a hand in it,” out loud; she told Journey, “I admit that you’re right again. I do feel better. If you could have seen what was going on at Matt’s, you wouldn’t get any sleep either. I just hope I’ve seen the last of that kind of behavior, because if not, I’d be tempted just to shoot them, to begin with, and no second chances.”

  “Guess time will only tell. If John is right, I expect it will be a long while before we see anyone else.”

  Gina nodded, “Yes, but that’s if John is right. Sam made an awful big enemy yesterday, and he laid a false trail, but I’d be surprised if Silas doesn’t show up when we least expect him. Especially after Willy took it upon himself to dispose of his nephew too.”

  “I think I can see why this Silas character would come looking. But we could get lucky, and he’ll never find us. It’s a long way between here and Whitefish.”

  “What did you do about Gus? Did you take the bullet out? I can’t believe that I forgot about him.”

  “You didn’t exactly forget. You had more on your mind than Lucy, and I put together, but yes I did, and I didn’t have to cut at all. Once I got it cleaned up, and Andy and Sam held him down, I was able to get hold of it with the tweezers and plucked it out. Sam said that it was a 22 slug, so unless they were trying to be quiet, they don’t have any firepower.”

  “One can only hope. I’m getting sick of people who only think of themselves.”

  “Let's talk about something else. How're your burns doing? I bet you haven’t been taking care of it, have you? I looked at Sam’s and changed his bandage and his looks great. He heals fast, but he wasn’t scalded as badly as you were. When we get back, let me have a look at it.”

  Gina pushed Journey in the shoulder, “God, you don’t quit, do you? You never gave me the chance to answer before you changed the subject. For your information, I did look after it, and I even found some Neosporin to put on it. I think another layer of skin is going to peel, but who knows, maybe not. I’ll get your professional opinion before we go to sleep.”

  Journey laughed, “Sorry. I’m just so used to you blowing everything off like it’s no big deal. Scalding or direct fire burns are the worst you can get. Does it hurt?”

  Gina tried to wrinkle her forehead, and grimaced, “It does, a little bit. More than anything it feels like my skin’s too tight.”

  “I guess that could be a good sign. Whatever happened to that box of books that you insisted we cart along with us? I haven’t seen them since we got to the cabin. Do you think they made it here or did we lose them?”

  “Nope, we didn’t lose them, and they’re here somewhere. You’ll have to ask someone else though, because I wasn’t here when you guys packed up the trailer and if I remember correctly, on the bookshelf, Carlos had a book on basic first aid when you live alone, or something like that.”

  “I guess I need to start brushing up then because it seems like you’ve lost interest in nursing.”

  “Aw Journey, if you hadn’t been dragging me or pushing me, I may never have become one in the first place. I was only killing time when I met you. I was trying to find myself. I’d just lost my husband and daughter in an accident, and I was a lost soul looking for a place to land.”

  Journey stopped walking and grabbed Gina’s arm spinning her in a circle. Her cheeks were red, and her hazel eyes were spitting fire, “Why am I just finding out about this now?”

  “You’re the one who just told me that that divulging a secret was good for my soul and I guess I wasn’t ready to share it with anybody until now. It’s as if talking about them, finalizes it. They’re gone and never coming back. It wasn’t a big secret, just something I didn’t want to talk about with anybody.”

  “Who else knows? Did you at least tell Sam before you married him? He has the right to know.”

  “Oh come on, give me some credit, I told him when he asked me. He doesn’t know all of the details, but he does know.”

  “Well, I guess that would take some of the mystery away. Lucy and I both felt there was something in your past, but no way could I have guessed that it was that. Can I tell Lucy or not? Just so that I don’t say something by accident. If you say no I will try and forget I ever heard you.”

  Gina laughed, “You’d do that for me? It doesn’t matter. I’d rather not be dragged through the rumor mill if you don’t mind. It’s as a wise person told me a long time ago; something is only a secret as long as only one person knows.”

  “Jesus! I wasn’t talking about something life altering like that. I was talking about gossiping at work. Anyway, thanks for trusting me enough to tell me finally. I promise you that I will be discrete when I tell Lucy.”

  Chapter Thirteen; Looking for problems.

  They spent the rest of the day, repacking everything they’d brought from St. Regis. Once it was stacked and organized they had room left over and Journey thought they should take the mattress from Carlos’s bed as well as the recliner, but Sam put an end to that thought.

  Over dinner, which was the last of their camping food, Willy had pulled out his old guitar and sang to Gina’s delight. She knew every word to every one of his songs and had been humming along until Journey frowned at her and gently shook her head. The geyser had gone off right on schedule, surprising Willy with its loud whoosh, and noxious odor.

  “Dang, I could never get used to that. Bout scared the daylights out of me.”

  “It’s when it quits blowing that we have to worry,” Sam told him. They turned as a group and looked up at the mountain, dark smoke shaded the stars as well as the sky behind it. The mountain looked ominous against the skyline.

  With only the seven of them and
Olivia, they decided for each couple to pull a four-hour shift. No one could forget that someone had to know they were here. That same someone had mistaken Gus for a deer, or they had known he was a mule and didn’t care. Olivia demanded to sit with Gina and Sam when it was their turn, but when she was already yawning and nodding off before the first watch started, Gina sent her inside to sleep.

  Andy and Ben flipped a quarter to see who got to sleep on the mattress. The money no longer had any value, but Andy hung on to it just in case. It was one of the new state quarters and had value for the silver content if America ever began using anything, but the barter system, which John was sure would be the only currency for a long time to come.

  With Sam and Gina having the first watch, they sat in the lawn chairs in the shadow of the trailer looking out over their valley. The moon was as bright as the night before illuminating the band of horses grazing in the pasture. When Sam and Gina had seen them eating the new grasses, pushing up between the old dry grass, Sam had expressed his worry about them eating the contaminated fodder.

  “They were already grazing on it before we caught them, so we didn’t think it would harm them any worse than what they have already ingested,” Journey had told them.

  Watching over them now, Gina hoped that Journey was right.

  “What the heck are we going to do with these horses? I think we were only three short, to begin with, and now we have extras. We don’t even know the pasture situation where we’re going.”

  Sam followed her gaze to the field down below and while they now had extra horses, and it looked like at least three of them were in foal, with having only geldings and mares, they couldn’t breed more unless one of the mares dropped a stud colt. When they finally ran out of diesel, being mounted would be their only form of transportation.

  “I don’t think we could ever have too many. In fact, I wish we had more. I guess it’s time to start praying for a colt out of one of those mares or someday we’re going to be riding shank’s mare.”