by Sweet, W. G.
“A doctor,” Sandy said. She seemed flustered.
Jessie laughed. “From what I have heard, you are the doctor here. Believe me. I've heard only good things about you, Sandy,” Jessie said. She turned to Susan. “And you. I heard you are learning... Have learned a great deal.” She smiled at the tall, beautiful black woman and Susan smiled back.
“What do you want to see first,” Sandy asked? She was still flustered.
“Well, the golf course first, I guess. I hope it's a good one,” She said dead pan.
Susan laughed aloud and took the smaller woman’s hand in her own. Sandy's face froze between a laugh and surprise.
Jess patted Sandy's arm. “Kidding... I thought you'd expect the golf course joke,” Jessie said. All three of them laughed and Jessie turned back to Candace and Patty, “It was good to meet the two of you,” She said. “Michael.” She nodded at him and then turned and walked slowly away with Sandy and Susan, up the ledge toward the main cave area and the clinic Sandy and Susan had set up.
Patty's eyes slid to Candace. She knew that Candace knew. She missed nothing. Patty widened her eyes slightly and blinked. Candace shrugged her shoulders, just enough to send Patty a 'It will be okay' message. Mike and Ronnie had turned and were looking down into the valley where Bob and Josh were making their way toward the first of the barns, oblivious to the small drama playing out right next to them.
A few feet away, Rain and Alicia stood staring at one another. Alicia was a year older, but smaller than Rain.
“I'm a girl,” Rain told her.
“Well, so am I,” Alicia said.
“I have a little brother,” Rain told her. “Well, he's not my really brother. He's a orphoon.”
Alicia nodded “What's a orphoon?”
“It's a boy nobody wants, I guess,” Rain told her. “But, I'm not for sure.”
“I got a brother too,” Alicia said. “He's my for real brother, but he's really old and he don't like girls at all.” She told her.
“How old,” Rain asked?
“I don't know,” Alicia said. “A lot.” She looked at her fingers and then held up all ten, fanned out. “Maybe this many... Maybe even more.”
“Wow,” Rain said. “That's crazy! ... We got a school. They teach us to count there and then you can know how many for sure.”
Alicia nodded and then scrunched up her eyes. “You play with dolly’s?”
“Yep,” Rain assured her. “And I got a lot of them too... Wanna see them?”
Alicia smiled. “We could play,” she said.
Rain smiled back, stuck her hand out, and Alicia took it. “Come on,” she said. “I'll show you, only you got to be careful and stay away from the ledge.” She had been pulling Alicia away, but she stopped and looked back at her seriously, still holding her hand. “We could fall down a long way... Auntie Janet said so,” she whispered.
“Okay,” Alicia whispered back. She followed Rain up the ledge, holding her hand as they went, looking respectfully over the rock wall at the long valley below.
ABOUT THE SERIES CREATOR AND AUTHOR
Wendell (Dell) Sweet wrote his first fiction at age seventeen. He drove taxi and worked as a carpenter for most of his life. He began working on the internet in 1989 primarily in HTML, graphics and website optimizations. He spent time on the streets as a drug addicted teen as well as time in prison. He was Honorably discharged from the service in 1974.
He is a Musician who writes his own music as well as lyrics. He is an Artist accomplished in Graphite, Pen, and Digital media. He has written more than twenty books for the Earth's Survivors series, many of which are unpublished, and several dozen short stories.
All music, lyrics, artwork or additional written materials attributed to characters in the novels, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright © 2009 - 2015 Wendell Sweet.
Table of Contents
Prologue
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
