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After the burial, Phillip remained on the hill beside his lost wife and child. Nobody tried to convince him to come down, knowing it would have been pointless. Joe had gone down with Zeb to talk business with the two newcomers.
Tesh pulled his hands out of his pockets. ‘We haven’t been properly introduced,’ he said to Joe. ‘I’m Tesh.’ They shook hands. ‘I wish we’d arrived under better circumstances, but those are hard to come by these days.’
Ben looked at Joe. ‘Sorry for your loss,’ was all he said.
Joe guessed that Ben was only a couple years older than him and nodded his appreciation. ‘We were supposed to leave for Ararat today,’ he said, and almost added, She wanted to go too.
‘We’re still going. We have to be there by nightfall. The invitation still stands of course,’ Tesh said.
‘I shouldn’t, considering what just happened.’ Joe cast a quick glance towards the hilltop, where he could see Phillip hovering over the graves.
Zeb pulled the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling to the side, and said cautiously, ‘I think it might be best that you go, Joe. Phillip, y’know—he might need some time alone.’
Joe understood. Phillip blamed him for Amanda’s death and Zeb was afraid of what would happen if Phillip was forced to be in close quarters with him so soon afterwards.
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ Joe said, though he realized he wasn’t sure if he still believed that.
‘I know it wasn’t. We all know it wasn’t. But he’s a grieving father. The man’s lost his entire family. He’s lookin’ for someone to take responsibility.’
‘What if I talked to him?’
‘It wouldn’t help. I’ve known Phillip a long time. He needs time. You wouldn’t imagine how it was after Mary died. I took Amanda in for a week because we were afraid for her. You’re not family. You don’t have any safety net with Phillip.’
‘You really think it would be best?’
‘Yes. Go to Ararat. When you get back, we can continue work on the Cloudhorse. I’ll do what I can while you’re gone. Phillip will have realized by then that you aren’t to blame.’
‘He’s right,’ Tesh said, lighting a cigar. ‘Distance is your best bet.’
Joe left them outside and went upstairs to gather his things. He grabbed his backpack from the guestroom bed and slung it over his shoulder. Before going back down, he went to the bathroom and splashed water over his face, then bent over the sink staring at the drain. Water dripped from his nose into the bowl. ‘It wasn’t my fault,’ he said to himself. ‘I did not kill her. I tried to keep her safe.’ He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the cool mirror over the sink. Just as tears were beginning to form, he jerked back and dried off his face with a hand towel.
‘Ready?’ Tesh asked when Joe walked through the front door onto the porch. Joe nodded and came down the steps to the gravel walkway.
‘Let’s get to it then.’ Tesh gave two cigars to Zeb. ‘For when he comes down.’
Zeb thanked him. ‘See ya around, Joe.’
‘See ya, Zeb.’ Joe tossed his backpack into the cargo compartment and climbed into the cramped single seat behind the cockpit where Tesh and Ben sat. Ben reached out and slammed the door shut. Joe watched Zeb through the dirty, watermarked window.
‘Safe travels,’ Zeb called out, retreating backwards from the plane.
Tesh began working the controls up front. The propeller whirred to life and the plane eased forward, a creaking mass of metal and bolts. Joe gazed through the cockpit window at the indistinct landscape. Trees, fields of dirt and grass, all blended into a colorful still life. Zeb disappeared from view just as he was lighting up another cigarette.
Up front, Tesh doused his cigar in an ashtray. The plane began picking up speed. Ben stared out the window, two knuckles tapping inaudibly against the glass. ‘How long’s this goin’ to take?’ he asked. Joe got the impression that there was a great deal on Ben’s mind. Maybe they had something in common after all.
‘Eight hours as the crow flies.’
‘I’ve never flown before,’ Joe confessed.
Tesh pulled something from beneath his chair and tossed it over his shoulder. ‘Puke in that,’ he said.
Joe grabbed it on the fly. It was a simple white bag with wire ties at the top to seal it up when there was nothing left to puke. Joe set it on his knee, keeping it close at hand.
His stomach levitated into his throat when the plane rose into the air, clearing the trees, climbing higher and higher. All Joe could see were the clouds and blue sky. The sun glowed somewhere to the left, its light streaming through the cockpit. Tesh steered right and circled the house, getting his bearings from the landscape. Phillip appeared momentarily down below, a hazy statue on the hilltop standing next to Amanda’s grave.
Joe missed her. He wanted someone to share this moment with, someone to share his life with, although he hadn’t had the courage to admit it until now.
‘Is Ararat really in Mexico?’ he asked, trying to keep his mind on other things.
‘Correct,’ Tesh said. ‘But it won’t be for much longer.’
Joe didn’t know what Tesh meant by that and he didn’t feel like prodding him. I’ll figure it all out when we arrive.
They passed over Slushland and Ben tensed, staring down at the mangled city sliced by the muddied river. Joe searched for his apartment building, but everything just looked the same as they tore through the annihilating sky.
About the Author
Luke Prochnow is a native Texan living in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his stunning wife and two dogs. He is a Baylor graduate with a degree in English. His other work includes the novella A Far Cry from Living. Book Two of The Borrowed Land series is currently in the works.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Act I
Act II
Act III
About the Author
Our Home is Nowhere (The Borrowed Land, Book 1) Page 17
