by Marla Monroe
“What about the women. Are there any I can talk to sometime?”
“They are bringing their women and children with them. That’s why we have to get ready for them. Where is Jeremy?
“He’s upstairs taking a shower. What do we have to do to get ready for them?”
“Let’s wait until Jeremy gets back down. Then I’ll tell you everything. How are you feeling?” He winced when she glared at him.
“I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me.” He started to tell her he knew she was pregnant when Jeremy walked into the room and interrupted him.
“You’re back. What did you find out?”
“Rachael, will dinner wait while we talk?”
“Let me turn off the stove.” She hurried over and cut it off, and then she put a top over one of the pans.
They gathered around the kitchen table and sat down. He told them what had happened and what he’d found out. Jeremy looked a good deal relived. Then he told them that the entire group would be coming on Wednesday.
“That’s why we’ve got to get ready. There will be at least five families which include children. We need to gather chairs and blankets to put down in the cellar along with food and water. I figure I’ll go over to that house that’s got the roof damage and see if there are any chairs that are salvageable so we’ll have plenty.”
“I’ll make individual pies and sandwiches. What time are they coming?”
“Around three.”
Micah could see that Rachael was thrilled to have something to do and at the chance to meet other women. She seemed like an entirely different woman from thirty minutes before. He hoped she would still feel that way after the women left. He would arrange for them to visit each other as frequently as was possible. Come spring, though, they would be too busy to do much visiting. Surely Rachael would understand. Besides, she would be pretty busy herself.
He looked at her as she stirred something on the stove. She would be showing by then. The thought of her round with their child tightened his cock. They needed to talk about the baby soon. Jeremy had said to leave her be for a while. He wouldn’t bring it up until after the hunt. Then they would discuss it whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter Fourteen
Wednesday afternoon proved to be a bit windy but free of snow. The families started arriving around three. Brice, Garret, and Ronnie along with their child were first. Then Luke, Grant, and their wife, Valerie, arrived. She was pregnant. Bruce, Marcus, and Kate were next. Two more families arrived. Wyatt, Kent and their wife, Jessie, weren’t going to come this time. Jessie wasn’t doing well. She was having her second baby, and the men were worried about her climbing up and down the stairs.
Rachael met everyone as they came in. She was so excited that she couldn’t be still. Jeremy had teased her about it. Micah just shook his head when she stepped on his foot by accident.
“Calm down, Rachael. Everything is ready,” Micah said.
“I can’t help but worry that we’ve forgotten something.”
“Everyone is here that is able to come right now. Go on into the kitchen with the others and visit while we make plans.”
Rachael walked into the kitchen. She was so excited to meet everyone. She introduced herself and tried to keep everyone else straight in her head. Valerie and Kate talked about their garden last spring, and Kate told her about their problems with black-market dealers.
“Valerie was abducted by some not long ago. You really have to be careful,” she said.
Ronnie was fussing with her child, but she joined in the conversations without missing a beat. Rachael told them about her iffy butter and asked if anyone knew a better way to make it. She immediately had two of the women ask for paper and a pencil to give her their processes.
The conversation turned around to how they all met their husbands. Kate’s brother had given her to her husbands, but she was obviously very much in love with them. To find out that Leigh had been bought for a fifth of whiskey shocked her.
“So, how did you meet your men?” April asked.
Rachael briefly told them how she’d hitched a ride on a truck and then jumped out and ended up in a ditch where her two men had found her and taken her home with them.
About that time, the men returned and started helping them down the stairs to the cellar. They all took chairs with blankets and wrapped them around themselves. She was pleased to see that Jeremy was one of the men staying behind to keep them safe. The other man was one of Leigh’s men. Joel, she thought.
Once everyone was settled, they closed the cellar doors and the men slid the wooden bolt closed. No one would be able to get in without them opening the door. They heard the sound of boots around in the kitchen, and then there was nothing once the men filed outside.
Rachael talked with the other women. They used quiet voices and all worked to keep the children happy. Strangely enough, they weren’t all that bad. They were just loud at times.
After what seemed like forever, the sound of scraping chairs and boots above them alerted them that they were back. The women all gathered around the staircase waiting for the signal that they could come out. The longer they had to wait, the more they fretted. It meant someone had gotten hurt and everyone was afraid it would be one of their men.
Finally, there was a knock at the cellar door.
“Come on up.”
The men moved the wooden bolt, and someone pulled the door up for them. The women hurried to climb up out of the cellar and see about their men. They had Gary up on the table sewing up a cut on his shoulder. It wasn’t bad. Marcus had a cut on his thigh that they were looking at. Rachael and Jeremy looked for Micah and didn’t see him anywhere. She started to panic.
“Easy, Rachael. He’s okay. They would have said something before now.”
One of the men stopped and took mercy on her. “Micah is upstairs getting some sheets to make bandages with.”
“I better go help him so he doesn’t get the wrong ones.” She hurried through the kitchen and up the stairs. Micah met her at the top of the stairs.
“Where are you going in such a rush? You might have fallen down those stairs.”
“I wanted to see if you needed help.” She didn’t want to admit to him that she had needed to see for herself that he was okay.
“I found some old sheets in the back room.”
He looked okay other than his hair was tangled and he had blood on his shirt. She didn’t think it was his since there were no tears on it anywhere.
“Come on and let me help you back down the stairs.”
Micah held on to her as they walked down. She figured it was for show. He wasn’t usually so attentive. She pulled away from him and returned to the kitchen to see if she could help.
Several hours later, they waved off the last family. The women had helped clean up so there really wasn’t a whole lot for her to do. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself and hoped they could get together again soon. She learned some interesting things and had some notes to go by. Jeremy and Micah sat in the living room going over the night in detail. She finished what little there was left of cleaning and carried a cup of coffee to each of the men.
Micah pulled her down onto his lap. She was so startled that he sat there. When she realized what she was doing, she started to get up. He held her there.
“Be still, Rachael. I want to hold you. I’ve been gone all evening, and I’ve missed you.”
She stared at him then relaxed against him. She would enjoy it while it lasted. He was all excited about the wolf hunt. He’d go back to his usual cold self by the next day.
“How are you feeling, Rachael, tired?”
“A little, but not much. I had a lot of fun though. Visiting with all those women was really nice. I got some good information I can use.”
“Good, baby. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”
“When are we going to do it again?”
“It will probably be next week or the week after next, but in another location. The wolves move
around, so you have to chase after them.”
“I’m tired. I’m going on to bed.” She kissed Micah on the lips, but it was a quick kiss. He helped her down, and then she gave Jeremy a slightly better kiss. Then she started up the stairs, making sure she didn’t run since Micah was watching.
Less than an hour later, she was washed, dried, and climbing into bed when Micah and Jeremy walked into the bedroom talking about something. They stopped when they noticed her brushing her hair by the light of the lantern on the dresser.
“Want me to brush your hair out, Rachael?” Jeremy asked.
“No thanks. I’m almost finished.” She ran the brush through her hair another nine or ten times before she climbed in to bed.
“I’m going to take a shower in the other bathroom,” Jeremy said. “I’ll be back soon.”
Micah nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Rachael sighed and curled up, trying to get warm while she waited on the men to help warm the bed. She was so thankful that Micah was safe. She just wished he loved her like she loved him.
* * * *
The next morning, Rachael had breakfast ready when the men finally made it downstairs. They were slower than usual, and she wondered why. She didn’t have long to wonder. They had obviously been conferring with how to talk to her.
“Morning, Rachael.” Jeremy hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
“Good morning, Jeremy, Micah.”
“How do you feel this morning, Rachael?” Micah asked.
“Fine.”
“We need to talk, baby.” Jeremy pulled her down on his lap at the table.
“The food will get cold. We can talk later.” She tried to get up, but he wouldn’t let her.
“Rachael, we know you’re pregnant. You don’t have to try and hide it.”
She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Denial clogged her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“It’s okay, baby girl. Everything’s going to be okay.” Micah pulled her out of Jeremy’s lap and hugged her. “Jeremy and I are both happy about it.”
“You weren’t at first.”
“I was shocked at first. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry about how I acted, Rachael.”
She didn’t know what to think. Why was he okay with it now? She just nodded her head and pulled out of his lap to see about the coffee. It wasn’t until she started pouring up the black liquid that she realized she was shaking. She put the pot down.
“Jeremy, can you pour the coffee up? I need to run upstairs for a minute.”
“Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine. I just need to run upstairs.” She left everything like it was and hurried away. Once upstairs, she sat on the edge of the bed and attempted to get control of herself. They had forced her to acknowledge that she was pregnant. She’d wanted a little more time to think before she had to admit it. Admitting it meant that she had to figure out how to take care of it. How would she ever keep it safe and happy?
A sound on the stairs jerked her head up. Micah stood in the doorway. His expression was unreadable. He walked into the room and sat on the bed next to her.
“I’m scared, too, Rachael, but we’re going to work it out. Jeremy has come up with a great idea to keep you and the baby safe. We’re going to put up a fence around the yard and the garden.”
Rachael looked up. Hope filled her. Was there a way? Would a fence keep the wolves out?
“How do you know it will work?”
“We don’t know, baby girl. We just have to try it and see. But no matter what, we’re going to all work together to keep each other safe.”
“I don’t know anything about babies, Micah. What kind of mother will I be if I don’t know anything?”
“Talk to the other women. They’ll help. I guarantee you that someone in that bunch felt the same way you do. Mothering is instinct. You’ll know what to do when the time comes. I have faith in you. I love you, Rachael.”
She stared at him. Had he really said it? She must have heard him wrong.
“What did you say?”
He smiled. “I said I love you, and I do. I want us to be a real family, Rachael. Will you let me in?”
Tears threatened once again. She nodded her head and smiled. Then she wrapped her arms around him and let the tears flow. Micah rubbed her back and rocked her in his arms.
“I love you, too, Micah. I have for a long time.”
“I know, baby girl. I know.”
Chapter Fifteen
It wasn’t long before Rachael’s belly began to round out some. The men each enjoyed rubbing a hand over it every chance they got. She put up with it good-naturedly but fussed just the same.
“You’re going to rub the skin off of me if you keep doing that.”
“Nah, we’re not rubbing much, baby.” Jeremy hugged her tightly before letting her go and heading out toward the barn.
She continued hanging up the clothes outside. It was warm enough with the sun shining for a change. Spring was on its way. The men went back to plowing up the garden to get it ready to plant. It would be another week or so before they actually sowed the seed, but they liked to work the soil until it was as loose as possible. Once they were finished, Jeremy headed to the barn while Micah put the plow up and went out to check on the cattle.
Rachael finished the clothes and rubbed her aching back. She figured she had around six more months of it to live through. So far, she hadn’t felt all that bad, considering. Things would get harder, though, as she grew rounder and gained weight. The men were already overprotective. They would only get worse as time went on.
She had just walked back into the house when someone grabbed her at the backdoor. She attempted to scream, but a hand slapped across her mouth.
“Behave and we won’t hurt you.” The gruff voice sounded familiar.
When the other man stepped out from the other side of the door and spoke, she remembered them. They had come to the door several months back. They were the men who everyone was warning them about. Rachael struggled but couldn’t get free of the first man. The second man grinned at her and pulled her face from the other man’s hand.
“How about a kiss, bitch?” He pressed his mouth against hers.
She opened her mouth and bit him. She didn’t know what she had bit, but he yelped and then hit her.
“I should kill you for that, bitch. You’ll regret it. I promise you that.” The first man chuckled in her ear and dragged her over to the table and shoved her down on one of the chairs.
“What do you want?”
“Well, we want you, little lady. You’re worth a lot to us. The thing is, your men have to go, or they’ll hound us day and night.”
“No! You’re not going to kill them. I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt them. Please, don’t hurt them,” she begged.
“Sorry. We have to take care of them. I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”
Rachael began to sob as he checked his gun. She had to figure out how to warn them. The only thing she knew to do was to scream. She opened her mouth but never got the chance to scream. The second man shoved something in her mouth.
“That should keep you quiet. You make any noise and I’ll hurt you. Do you understand me?”
She nodded her head up and down. Tears streamed from her eyes. She felt the baby move around inside of her, and it took her breath. Dear, God. What would they do when they figured out that she was pregnant? Jeremy and Micah were her only hope. She had to figure out how to keep them alive.
“Now, where are the men?” He pulled a cloth from her mouth.
“I’m not telling you anything.”
“Then we’ll just wait until they come back. More than likely they’ll show up one at a time. That will make it easier to kill them.”
“I won’t let you kill them. I won’t let you.” She struggled to her feet, only to have the first man shove her back down to the chair.
“You don’t ha
ve a choice. You can’t stop us from doing anything we want to do. We have the guns and you don’t,” the second man said with an eerie smile.
She heard Micah calling out to Jeremy in the back. Fear blossomed wider in her heart. She had to warn them. Before even she knew what she was going to do, Rachael ran for the back door and threw it open. Before the two men could react, she was outside running toward the barn.
“Micah! They’re going to kill you. Run, Jeremy! Run!” She screamed it the entire time she headed toward them.
Jeremy ran toward her, and Micah lifted his rifle. It all happened in slow motion, but a bullet whizzed past her head, and Jeremy jerked and went down on one knee. Rachael screamed at the sight of Jeremy hitting the ground. She ran full-out. The sound of a gunshot startled her but didn’t register until something hit her in the back and knocked her facedown in the grass. She tried to get up and crawl to Jeremy, but Micah was there telling her to be still.
“Jeremy. Oh, God. Jeremy!” she screamed. Micah was firing the rifle over and over again. Then he was pressing hard against her back.
“Fuck, Rachael, oh, baby. You’re shot.” He kept pressing on her back.
“Jeremy! Please see about him. Oh, God. Don’t let him be dead.”
“Baby, you’re bleeding. I can’t let go of you.”
“Micah! You have to see about him!”
A noise drew their attention, and Micah grabbed up the rifle. Several men ran into the backyard. Rachael couldn’t make them out. She panicked and tried to get up to run again.
“Easy, baby. It’s Luke and Grant. They’re here to help.”
He yelled out to them. “I need help. Jeremy’s shot and so is Rachael.”
Then he rolled her over and picked her up to carry her. She strained to see about Jeremy but couldn’t see him from that angle.
“Micah, what about Jeremy? Please see about him,” she sobbed.
“Shh, baby. They will take care of Jeremy. I’ve got you.”
They rushed toward the back door. Micah kicked something out of his way and stepped inside the house. Then he carried her upstairs to the bedroom. When he lay her facedown on the bed, she cried out at the jarring pain it caused. She hadn’t felt any pain until just then. Now it throbbed as she breathed in and out.
