by Chris Pike
Tatiana glanced at Chandler. He shook his head, indicating that whatever motherly questions she had, she was to save the prodding for another time.
“Sure, we’ve got Advil.” Tatiana opened a cabinet door, pushing around various items until she found the bottle. She handed two pills and a glass of water to Amanda. “Wash these down with as much water as you can. You could be dehydrated from the long trip.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Chandler said. “I’ll take her to Kate’s room.”
“If you need a change of clothes, don’t hesitate to wear anything of Kate’s. You’re about the same size as she is.”
“Thank you,” Amanda said.
* * *
Five minutes later, Amanda was in Kate’s bed. She had changed into an oversized T-shirt and a pair of sweats. The bedroom had a double sized bed made out of dark mahogany with an intricately carved headboard. It looked like something from the 1940s. A matching dresser with a mirror sat against one of the walls. The bench was covered in a floral pattern. The windows in the room had curtains which were pulled back to let light in.
Amanda pulled the sheet and comforter to her chin. Chandler unfolded a quilt and put it down by her feet.
It was quiet in the room, located on the side of the house facing the Colorado River. John’s and Uncle Billy’s muffled voices carried up to the second story of the house.
“How are you feeling?” Chandler asked.
“Better,” Amanda said.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Can you open the window a crack? I need some fresh air.”
“Sure, but won’t you be too cold?”
Amanda shook her head. “I want to listen to the wind. It reminds me of being at my grandpa’s house.”
After Chandler cracked the window open, he came back to the bed. He reached behind Amanda’s head and fluffed the pillow.
“Thank you. I’ll be okay,” she said.
Chandler sat on the bed and leaned into Amanda. “We’ve been around each other for a long while now, and I know when you’re not okay. You tend to get quiet, and for a chatterbox like you are, it’s out of character.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Amanda propped herself up on her elbows and adjusted the pillow behind her back, sat up, and leaned against the pillow. “I don’t have any family left. There’s nothing left at my grandpa’s except for an empty house. I can’t go back there, and I certainly don’t want to stay at my great aunt’s ranch house by myself. Suppose the person who murdered my great aunt comes back for me?”
“You’re right. It wouldn’t be safe there for you,” Chandler said.
“What am I going to do? There’s nobody here for me.” Amanda fell back on the bed and buried her face in her hands.
“I’m here for you.” Rising from the bed, Chandler went to the dresser and pushed around a hairbrush and some of his sister’s makeup. He spoke slowly and deliberately. “Amanda, from the moment I saw you I knew you were something special, and I know you felt the same. But…” He trailed off, uncertain exactly what he wanted to say or how much.
Amanda sat up straight and faced him. “But what? Tell me.”
“When I caught my best friend in bed with the woman I thought I loved, well, I didn’t care if I lived or died. That was one of the reasons I had paired up with those jerks who were patrolling the bridge when I met Holly and Dillon. I was self-destructing. I was mad, embarrassed, and angrier than I had ever been. I swore I’d never be betrayed like that again. It made me want to kill, and I didn’t care who.”
“But you didn’t.”
“That’s not exactly true. I knew that if I didn’t help Holly and Dillon, they’d end up dead or worse. I can size people up pretty quickly and I knew Dillon was a stand-up guy. I shot dead the guys patrolling the bridge.”
“I don’t understand. You used to be a sniper. You killed people, so why is it bothering you now?”
“I was only doing my job so I never felt bad about it. The targets were trying to kill us.”
“Just like those guys at the bridge. They were bad and they would have killed you without a second thought. Chandler, I don’t care about them. I care about you, and I want you to know that. If I’ve been sassy, it’s just a brave face I put on so people won’t bother me. When you’re my size—”
“You’re pint-sized.”
“Right. When you’re small like me, you have to compensate somehow. That’s one of the reasons I can shoot. A gun in my hand has the same amount of power that it does in your hand. I’m not afraid to use it.”
“You’ve already shown that,” Chandler said. “I admire you.”
“Me? Why?”
“You showed strength and perseverance on the ride here. You didn’t complain and you always carried your weight. Heck, you even saved my life at the Packsaddle Inn.”
“I think we saved each other,” Amanda said.
“That we did.” Chandler sat down on the bed. He met Amanda’s eyes. “There’s something I want you to know. I’ve wanted to say this for a long time.” He swallowed. “I—”
The door to the bedroom swung open and Luke appeared. Amanda and Chandler turned to look at him. Luke recognized the unmistakable not now look his brother shot at him. “Oh…I…uh…” he stuttered. “I didn’t know I was interrupting. I can come back later.”
“Do you need something?” Amanda asked.
“I think it can wait. I’ll just go.”
Chandler said, “You might as well tell us. The moment’s over.”
“Mom sent me up here to get you. She needs help in the kitchen.” Luke reached for the doorknob. “You two go back to whatever you were doing.”
“We weren’t doing anything,” Amanda said. Her voice wavered from annoyance to petulance. “Just go, Chandler. I’m going to change clothes and clean up.”
* * *
“Well, that was great timing,” Chandler said as he shut the door. He shot his brother an indignant expression.
“Sorry,” Luke said. “What were y’all talking about?”
“Stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“None of your business.”
“You might as well tell me, because if you tell Uncle Billy it’ll be front page news by morning.”
Chandler silently agreed with his brother. Uncle Billy had a big mouth, but part of that had to do with drinking. “Girl problems,” Chandler finally said.
“Singular or plural?”
“Plural.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about Crystal.”
“I found her in bed with Brian,” Chandler said with about as much emotion as stepping on a bug.
“No shit? Brian? Isn’t he the guy that got you the oilfield job and the one that introduced you to Crystal?”
“Yeah. When I asked him to look after Crystal while I was overseas, I guess he took that to heart.”
“Better find that out about Crystal now before you were married and had a bunch of kids,” Luke said.
“I suppose. It still didn’t make me feel any better. I was really messed up after that. I should have come home, but I hung around town trying to figure out what to do with my life. Then all shit broke out when the grid went down. Sorry about your truck.”
“No big deal. It wouldn’t work anyway, and it’s not like the bank can repossess it.”
“I guess so.”
“Luke paused. “So, how’d you meet up with Amanda?”
“Long story.”
“I’ve got time,” Luke said.
Chandler explained how he, Holly, and Dillon were on the way to her ranch when the weather turned bad. They saw a light in a house and decided to stop there to take cover for the storm. “Fortunately the old guy that lived there remembered Holly and her parents. We had only been there a little while when the shooting started. Amanda’s grandfather was the first to get hit.” Chandler mentioned how Amanda had killed a man who snuck in the back of the house. “I can’t figure her out.”
“What do you mean?”
“At times she acts all tough and independent, then other times she breaks down crying. I can’t figure her out.”
“That’s women for ya.”
“Yeah. Women. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.”
“If you want my opinion,” Luke said, “she’s a keeper.”
* * *
Amanda threw off the covers and swung her legs over the bed in frustration, anger, sadness, and just about all the other emotions she was trying to suppress at the moment. She was so mad she didn’t notice her headache had gone away.
What in God’s name was wrong with Chandler? So he caught his girlfriend with his best friend. Good riddance to her. She didn’t deserve a man of his caliber. He was a hard man to figure out, sending Amanda conflicting signals and leaving her hanging when he was close to telling her how he felt. If they were ever going to get together, Chandler would have to do his part. Lord knew she didn’t plan on making the first move.
Amanda opened a dresser drawer and searched for something clean to wear. She unfolded various shirts and held them up to her frame. Tatiana was right—his sister was the same size as she was. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, horrified at how she looked. Her hair was a tattered mess, her smooth complexion bumpy and red from being in the cold wind. She hadn’t even combed out her hair from the bath yesterday.
Scratching at the door interrupted her pity party.
She let Nipper in and he jumped on the bed. He put his snout to the covers, running his nose all along the length of the bed, sniffing it, letting his superior senses alert him to the fact his mistress was feeling sad. The man who had been here left his own scent, one which puzzled Nipper. In the dog world, the man was an alpha male, using both his brawn and intelligence. He had never raised a hand to Amanda, or spoken to her in a rough tone. At times there had been conflict between the two but the disagreements had been resolved amicably, sometimes ending in laughter.
Amanda sat on the bed next to Nipper. He leaned his head into her, trying to comfort her. His ears flopped down on the side of his face and his eyes drooped. Her hand felt warm on his back, and like a tether to her emotions, Nipper felt the full force of her anxiety.
He pawed at her leg, and Amanda responded by scratching him between the eyes. He relaxed and put his head in her lap.
“I don’t know what to do,” Amanda said, as if Nipper could offer a solution. “I thought Chandler and I were a team, but if three people are in a relationship, it just won’t work.” Amanda was referring to Crystal, and though she wasn’t physically around, she knew Chandler still felt the sting of her betrayal.
“But he said I had grit, and I don’t think he’d say that about just anyone. You know what, Nipper?”
Nipper perked up his ears and his eyes sparkled, sensing a change in Amanda’s demeanor.
“I’ll show him. Come on,” Amanda opened the door for her dog and motioned for him to leave the bedroom. “You go on downstairs. I’m going to get ready for the party.”
Chapter 24
The block party started and the normalcy lulled the usually alert survivors into complacency.
Uncle Billy and John moved the heavy and cumbersome all oak Victrola from the living room to the back patio so the guests could listen to music.
Several 33 rpm records were in the slots under the turntable. Uncle Billy picked up one of the albums and turned the cover over. “Hmm. Want to listen to Bing Crosby?”
“Maybe something more trendy?” John suggested.
“Not unless your kids have old 45s squirreled away in their rooms.”
John laughed. “If you mention a 45 to one of the boys, they’ll ask how it shoots. I doubt they know it’s a speed of a record. There should probably be some big band music in the slots.”
“Oh yeah,” Uncle Billy said. “Found one.” He opened the heavy lid of the Victrola and secured it so it wouldn’t slam down and placed the 33 record on the felt covered turntable. For an antique, the green felt was in reasonably good shape. A little moth eaten in places, but he could overlook that blemish and doubted the holes would affect the sound quality. Using the crank on the side, he wound it.
“There. I think that’s enough,” Uncle Billy said. He carefully set the tonearm holding the needle onto the now spinning record. The sound wasn’t exactly stereo quality, but considering there was no electricity or playlists, it was as if they were listening to a live band. “Not too bad,” he said tapping his foot to the beat. “Not bad at all.”
* * *
As the sun was setting, casting long shadows, neighbors carrying covered dishes arrived in a steady stream to the Chandler household. Some came with lanterns, while others carried flashlights not affected by the EMP.
Each time someone knocked on the door, Nipper skidded across the kitchen tile and bolted to the front door. He sensed the change in atmosphere and the unusual energy being generated. His excited barks could be heard all through the house. Although he didn’t understand the meaning of a party, he recognized the gathering as one of camaraderie and fun.
At each knock, Nipper barked a warning until Tatiana came rushing. With a firm hand, she held him by his collar until he stopped barking. Once she invited the visitors in she released her grip, and Nipper followed the neighbors into the kitchen, unable to resist the tantalizing aromas of the food.
As customary, the ladies congregated in the kitchen helping Tatiana with various tasks while the men were in the backyard catching up on the latest news.
John and Uncle Billy grilled over the open fire pit.
Chandler was surrounded by several of his father’s friends who were interested in how the rest of the state was faring. He told them what he knew, then relayed the unfortunate incident with the small child used as bait, and their scrape with death at the Packsaddle Inn.
Earlier, Luke had given Chandler a bar of soap, a towel, and told him to jump in the river, commenting, “You smell like a horse. If you want Amanda to snuggle up next to you, you’d better take a bath. Otherwise, she might mistake you for a real horse.”
Chandler gave Luke the side eye.
“I’d give you a razor, but I kinda like the beard. The river’s cold, so be quick about it.”
“What about my clothes?” Chandler asked. “Think I should I burn them? I’ve been wearing them for a week.”
“Nah, you may need them. You can wash them in the old washing machine Mom found in the shed. It’s the one that Granny Chandler used in the Great Depression.”
“It still works?” Chandler asked incredulously.
“Can you believe it?”
“Isn’t that the one we filled up with water when we were kids and put the baby ducks in?”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Luke said. “It’s funny looking back on it. Mom sure was mad at us.”
“She never found out about the turtle, did she?”
“No, and I don’t ever plan on telling her.”
“So who got it to work?” Chandler asked.
“Uncle Billy cleaned off years of grime, jerry rigged a few parts, and got the wringer to work. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Mom is making us take turns washing clothes. She said she wasn’t about to clean up after us and haul river water to the tub.”
Chandler laughed. “Nothing’s changed since I’ve been gone, has it?”
“Nope. Mom can still be a hard ass. I think it runs on her side of the family.”
“She used to call it ‘tough love’.”
“Don’t tell her, but I’m glad her and Dad rode us hard.”
“Yeah. She said we’d understand once we got older and had our own kids.”
After the record setting quick bath in a shallow part of the river, Chandler changed into a pair of loose fitting Wranglers, a woolen checkered shirt, and a pair of boots he found in his old bedroom then emerged from the house and joined the party outside.
Luke looked on approvingly. “Yo
u clean up well.”
A group of neighbors huddled around Chandler, hanging on every word as he told them about his travels, especially the incident at the University of Texas campus.
“So someone took a shot at you?” a neighbor asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We didn’t stick around to find out.”
Luke was half listening to the stories he had heard earlier. When the patio door opened and Amanda walked out, he elbowed Chandler and whispered, “Look at that.”
* * *
“So, Zack, what’s the plan?” Kurt asked.
After Kurt provided the intel to his brother that the object of his desires was staying at the Chandler house, Zack gathered a couple of his goons, fired up his red Chevy, and off they went.
By the time they got to the neighborhood it was dark. They had taken a different route so they didn’t have to cross the main bridge. Zack parked his car at a vacant house on the same street as the Chandlers.
“Stay put,” he said, “and shoot anyone who tries to steal the car. He cut the engine. “We’re gonna kidnap Amanda.”
“How?” Kurt asked.
Zack removed a rectangular box from the glove compartment and shoved it at Kurt. “Using this is how.”
“A duck caller?” Kurt sat in his seat, dumbfounded.
“Yeah. Gonna use it to lure the dog into the woods,” Zack said.
“Right,” Kurt said sarcastically. “Ducks don’t quack at night.”
“Yes they do. They make all sorts of sounds at night.”
Kurt turned and looked out the window. He huffed. “Forget to bring the dog biscuits?”
“No. I’ve got them right here in a baggie.” Zack reached under the seat, and shoved a bag full of dog biscuits in Kurt’s face. “Once Amanda notices the dog is missing, she’ll come looking for him.” Zack then reached into his pocket and removed a small vial of liquid.
“What’s that?”
“Chloroform.”
“For Amanda?”
