Tom stared at her in surprise, then jerked his head away from the group in a silent invitation for her to join him out of earshot of the others. She reluctantly followed, and it pained him to see the reserved distance she kept between them. “There might be radiation at the caches . . . you don't want to take him with you to New Orem, just to be safe?” he asked in a low voice.
Kristy gave him an impatient look. “While we look for a doctor to terminate a pregnancy he doesn't even know about? No, Tom, actually I don't. I know you'll be careful and keep him away from danger.”
He floundered a bit. That made sense, he'd just assumed she was still mad enough at him to keep the boy with her on principle. “Well then, of course I'll take him. It's his dad's treasure, he probably wants to see it.”
Again, she looked impatient. Seemed like he couldn't say anything these days without setting her off. “It's your treasure, Tom. I've made that very clear to him.” She paused significantly. “In fact, he seems to understand it better than you do.”
Tom wisely kept his mouth shut. Things would've been a lot easier if they'd just gone ahead and gotten married the way things seemed to be going. Then he wouldn't have had to feel guilty about denying a wife her husband's legacy, or a child his birthright. Not that he planned to, of course.
Assuming Kristy gave him a choice in the matter.
A slightly awkward silence fell. Tom was just building up the courage to finally bring up the dreaded topic, tell her what she wanted to hear, when the young woman abruptly turned around and headed back to the wagon.
With a sigh, he called to Skyler, and they resumed their usual pattern of scouting ahead.
* * * * *
Kristy was almost relieved when Tom woke them all up from another night of poor sleep to get off to an early start.
He was going to be taking Skyler and driving away with the wagon, making for the spot where Miles had cached everything. It was still five or so hours away, and it would probably take even longer for them to get there because the mountain man wanted to make sure nobody was around to see where they were headed.
She'd assured him that Miles had picked the spot carefully, dangerously close to the fallout zone where nobody went, and also secluded from view between hills and in a copse of trees. Even so, the stubborn man insisted on being careful.
Although she supposed she could be grateful for that, when she was leaving her son in his care. Speaking of which, he'd insisted that the only thing they tell Bob and Vicky was that while they were in the area, they were going to go pick up some of the things Kristy and Skyler had left behind. Which was true enough, if also so vague she felt bad about deceiving her friends.
Not that she disagreed with the mountain man's caution; she trusted that caution. And to be fair, she also couldn't think of anywhere safer Skyler could be than with Tom Miller.
Golly, she loved that man. Even if he was driving her out of her mind at the moment by refusing to see reason.
While the two boys in her life went off and, fingers crossed, secured a fortune that would allow them to start their ranch and live comfortably, Kristy and the others would be taking the mule and heading straight for New Orem, a couple hours away in a more northward direction. If they failed to find a doctor who could help them there, they'd circle around the fallout zone eastwards to East Provo, and maybe hit a few smaller communities on the way.
They'd also ask around everywhere they stopped to see if anyone knew of doctors or experienced midwives. And, assuming they could find delicate ways to ask the question, specifically anyone who could perform the risky operation of terminating a pregnancy.
It might take a couple days to search the entire area, by which time hopefully Tom and Skyler would be finished with their business and ready to head home. And, Kristy hoped, she and her friends would be able to meet them with good news that would make this entire agonizing situation with the mountain man go away.
Although she felt a bit guilty calling the desired resolution to Vicky's problem “good news”. Considering the circumstances, though, she didn't see any better alternative.
The petite woman and her daughter were both riding on Cant at the moment, the big mule managing their weight as well as the supplies tied behind the saddle without any complaint. Bob was leading the animal from the front, while Kristy walked beside it close to the stirrup so she could talk to her girls.
“I forgot how beautiful this place is,” Lisa said after they'd been going for a few minutes. She sounded a bit wistful. “I mean, the mountains are beautiful too, and it's fun to explore them with Sky. But this place is so green compared to around Emery.”
“Aside from the irradiated wasteland north of here,” Bob observed dourly. “Always did try to avoid looking that way.”
“Yeah.” The little girl was silent for another minute or so before speaking up again. “Did they really used to call this place Happy Valley?”
The question caught Kristy by surprise, and she laughed. “I know my family did. My mom used to tell me it was because people around here tried too hard.” Vicky gave her a surprised look, then snickered, and they shared surprisingly cathartic grins.
“What do you mean?” Lisa asked, looking slightly suspicious as if wondering if she was being teased.
Her mother reached back to pat her knee. “These were people living in a much kinder world, who didn't have to worry as much about just surviving and were able to focus on quality of life. Sometimes in all the wrong ways.”
“I still don't get it,” the girl said. “You're probably going to tell me it's because I didn't live in that world so I can't really understand, aren't you?”
Bob chuckled. “Our girl's a smart cookie.”
Vicky gave Kristy a warm smile. “You're in a good mood. It's probably nice to be away from all the tension with Tom.”
She blinked. She hadn't really considered that until now, but it was true. Without their argument hanging over her head, she felt much more at ease.
“Finally,” Lisa agreed, rolling her eyes. “If he's making you so miserable, why don't you just tell him to leave you alone?”
Kristy immediately and strongly reacted to that idea. “I don't want him to leave me alone, sweetie,” she said gently. “Exactly the opposite.”
“Well I guess that makes sense, since you guys are already avoiding each other,” the girl mused. “So why don't you go talk to him?”
“Yeah,” Vicky jumped in. “Why don't you?”
She felt a lot of her previous good mood evaporating. Did they really need to discuss this? “Things are just . . . complicated right now.”
Lisa sighed in exasperation. “This is going to be another one of those “I can't understand” things, isn't it? Only not because it happened before the Ultimatum, because I won't get it until I'm older.”
“Pretty much,” Vicky agreed solemnly, although she was biting back a smile.
“I don't get what the big deal about boys is, anyway,” the little girl complained. “Sky's okay, but I wouldn't get all mopey just because I had a fight with him.”
“No offense, Dad,” Bob said teasingly in a high-pitched voice.
Lisa rolled her eyes again. “You're not a boy, you're my dad. That means you get to be a big deal to me.”
“Well it's good to hear even so,” he replied, looking pleased. Kristy wondered if he heard that kind of thing often enough these days. Or was still able to see his own worth after everything that had happened.
The conversation shifted to other things, as they followed a sort of mutual agreement to avoid unpleasant topics. And now that they were back in more familiar territory, not far at all from where they'd used to call home, it was easier to focus on fond memories of the past, their time together in Happy Valley. It felt like no time at all before they reached their destination.
New Orem was probably the biggest settlement in the area, although that wasn't saying much; there were maybe a thousand people scattered over five miles around it, most on
their own farms with the town itself occupied by a few hundred people. Even so, it was probably twice the size of Emery.
Kristy had been there a few times a year for trade and some holidays ever since the Ultimatum, since hers and Miles's farm had been within a few hours' walk of it, just far enough away to not officially be members of the community. She had friends there, as did the Hendricksons.
They also knew the place well enough to know that, while it had a couple of very talented midwives and a doctor who was a general practitioner, it didn't have anyone who could do this sort of surgery. That wasn't likely to have changed in a few months, either. Still, they'd visit the doctor and midwives to ask, see if there was any hope that someone might be willing to try it.
Or, more importantly, were confident they could do so without unduly risking Vicky's life.
New Orem looked different even though it had only been a few short months since they'd left. It was a safe distance away from the fallout zone, well beyond the revised borders once the nearby communities discovered people were coming down sick with radiation poisoning, from fallout that had spread farther than they thought. Thanks to that safe distance not many people had evacuated from it with the new radiation scare, and it had drawn an influx of refugees fleeing farms within areas they now knew were dangerous, or were uncomfortably close to dangerous areas.
That had put a lot of strain on the residents, leading to hunger, disease, unrest, and even a resurgence of banditry. That had been a large motivation for why Kristy, Bob, and Vicky had decided to leave, joining Simon's convoy and making for a new home in Texas in the hope that the rumors of prosperity there were everything they seemed.
They couldn't have been more wrong, and the reminder of that soured Kristy's mood again. If they'd stayed in New Orem the convoy wouldn't have been attacked, and her friends wouldn't have been dragged to Newpost and suffered the unspeakable horrors they endured there.
Vicky wouldn't have to worry about finding a doctor, dealing with the dilemma of either terminating a pregnancy or raising a child that would serve as a constant reminder of everything she'd suffered for the rest of her life.
But Kristy also would never have met Tom; even with the current friction in their relationship, the thought sent a stab of sadness and longing through her. A choice between sparing her friend, and having a new chance at love and happiness she thought she'd lost forever when Miles died.
Of course, no use thinking about what could've been, or trying to decide which would be better. Things were what they were.
Or weren't, if Tom wouldn't see reason. Why, why couldn't he just see reason? Couldn't he see how much Vicky needed them? How much Kristy needed to help her? She hadn't been able to convince the Hendricksons to flee with her and Skyler when the bandits attacked. She hadn't been able to convince Tom to rescue them from Newpost when they realized what had happened to the rest of Simon's convoy. And while that had turned out okay in the end, for all this time Kristy had carried that guilt for not being able to help her friend.
She had a chance to help her now, and she was going to take it. But could she hold to that resolve, even if it lost her Tom?
They wound their way through a section of town with haphazardly constructed new dwellings, many built by former neighbors. Kristy wouldn't have minded seeking out a few of them, seeing how they'd fared since the convoy left. But Bob was grimly focused on the residence of the town's doctor, wanting to get this business over with as soon as possible, and Vicky seemed in agreement.
The doctor was in, thankfully. Kristy's friends decided to go in together to ask the difficult question, leaving Lisa outside with her. Although Vicky asked Kristy to be ready to come in and offer moral support if anything further was required.
It wasn't, unfortunately; the couple came out only a few minutes later, dispirited. “He doesn't do much more than stitch cuts and set bones,” Bob said grimly. “The few times he's done trauma surgery his patients have died, which wasn't unexpected given their wounds, but the single time he tried surgery outside an emergency the patient died on the table. He advised us to find someone else.”
“Did he offer any suggestions?” Kristy asked, feeling her own spirits sinking.
“Well, he confirmed that checking with the midwives around here would be a waste of time,” Vicky said, slumping against her forlornly. Kristy gave her a comforting hug as she continued. “He doesn't think the doctor in East Provo would do it, either, but we could go check.”
“Then let's get going,” Kristy said, gently ushering the petite woman towards Cant. “Do we want to stop at any other settlements on the way?”
Bob snorted, expression bitter. “Seems like a waste of time. Any surgeon worth his salt, assuming any still exist, is going to be in a city.” He pounded his fist against the mule's saddle, making him shy away with a complaining snort. “We should've checked in Grand Junction!”
“We didn't know then,” Vicky said wearily, motioning for her husband's help climbing onto the animal.
Kristy looked between them. “So do we go back to Colorado? We could get there in under a month.”
“And if there isn't one there?” her friend demanded. “The procedure gets more dangerous with every passing week.” She slumped in the saddle, face full of despair. “Do we just go from place to place, more destitute by the day, until the baby's born and we're stuck?”
“Tom and I will help.”
“Will he still be around by then, the way you two are going?” Vicky snapped. Kristy jerked back, stung, and her friend sighed. “No. Let's check around here, find any big settlements that might offer some hope. If not we'll go back to Emery . . . might as well get back to living our lives and resign ourselves to this.”
Kristy nodded wearily and helped Lisa up into the saddle behind her mom. Her hope of finding a good solution to this was dwindling, which just left finally having that talk with Tom about taking the baby. Settling the issue once and for all.
But was her friend right? Had she avoided him too long, killed their relationship right when it seemed like she needed him most? She'd said she would raise the baby on her own if she had to, but how could she realistically do that? And what sort of life would she have if she tried? What sort of life could she provide for Skyler and a baby?
Chapter Seven
Inheritance
“Dad came this way all the time,” Skyler abruptly said from the wagon seat beside him.
The comment drew Tom out of the less than enjoyable contemplations he'd been having for the last five or so hours, about this baffling situation with Kristy. Which was a relief; he wasted no time drawing out the map the young woman had given him in Grand Junction that led to Miles's caches. “Yeah, if your mom's map is accurate we should be almost there.”
The boy nodded in satisfaction and went back to watching the terrain around him with sharp eyes like Tom had told him to, searching for other familiar landmarks or signs of people around who might pay attention to what they were doing. Kristy's son had been letting him know for the last hour or so about places he recognized, and had even pointed out the location of the Graham family's cabin.
That had turned out to be a small and somewhat ramshackle place. Of course, it could've just been the fact that it had been left abandoned for months. But Tom had gathered from talking to Kristy that Miles Graham had been far more enthusiastic about “hunting”, his excuse when in reality he'd been scavenging in the fallout zone, than in maintaining his family's house.
Not the worst fault, but certainly nothing to applaud the man for.
Skyler had wanted to visit the place first, show him around and pick up the possessions they were going to be grabbing from there to display to Bob and Vicky, so that they wouldn't be lying about saying they were getting things from the Graham family home. Which was a reasonable thing to do anyway, since Kristy had left behind some furniture and other large, heavy items she wanted; it was a lot easier to haul them down to Emery than all the way to Texas.
He felt a bit bad about denying Skyler a chance to see his old home, and maybe put to rest some grief over his dad's death. But in his current mood, he didn't really want to see reminders of Kristy's life before meeting him. A life that, it seemed, she far preferred to being with him.
Besides, there was always radiation to worry about. The Graham cabin was technically outside the newly expanded border of the fallout zone, although Kristy had let people think her husband had gotten sick because it wasn't, so the border was a bit wonky in this area. But in reality, his concern was that Miles might have dragged radioactive dust with him from his scavenging without realizing it.
That, along with the desire to leave the painful memory of her husband's death behind, was what had led the flaxen-haired woman to leave her home to live with the Hendricksons, and eventually join the convoy to Newpost.
Tom could check the cabin for radiation with the Geiger counter when they did visit. In fact, he'd had the device out ever since they got closer to the new fallout zone border, periodically turning it on to check around them; the idea of walking around this green, cheerful area and unknowingly getting blasted by radiation gave him the heebie-jeebies.
So far it seemed okay, although he was especially vigilant now that they were within a stone's throw of Miles's caches.
True to Kristy's map and her descriptions of the spot, they were in a hilly area with scattered copses of trees. The clearing of the copse Miles had buried his treasure inside was actually within the expanded border of the fallout zone, since it had been brushing the old border, to begin with, and Tom watched the Geiger counter like a hawk as they found a spot to park the wagon, tended the horses and left them to graze, then eased through the trees towards the clearing the map pointed them to.
Mountain Man (Book 2): Homecoming Page 11
