by Diane Butler
Several nights later Caleb was on night duty when his father came to relieve him. Neither Morgan, Lucky nor Brandon had elected to claim a house on the two residential streets that they were building a community around and had continued to stay on Jenny. “All quiet?” Morgan asked.
“Yeah, but something’s not right. The sounds are different, the night is different,” he shook his head. “Maybe a storm is coming in.”
“No, tell me what you heard and feel,” Morgan said. “I need to be aware and I trust your instincts.”
“Well, I thought I could hear the dip of a paddle in the water, but there was no one there. Then I thought I saw a ripple of water, but there wasn’t anything on the surface. Then this one cloud seemed to form in the swamp and traveled up to the treetops. Just one small cloud and it drifted out of the swamp, past Jenny and up river,” he looked confused.
“The ripple could have been an alligator below the surface and you never would have seen it. The cloud was probably swamp gas and drifted away with the breeze. The swamp can be eerie at night,” Morgan said, “and all the sounds that we are familiar with during the day sound different at night.”
They were silent, standing together looking out over the canal when Caleb finally spoke of what was on his mind. “I think its Roxanne. I think that she’s back.”
“It will not take us as long to get back,” Roxanne said as they poled the pirogue. “We have an empty load and I’ll use a faster speed on the motorboat this time.” Mary was quiet, had been since they first arrived at Shoes cabin and had continued to remain so throughout the visit. “I know you were bored, but you learned more about survival. Shoes is a good teacher.”
“It’s a harsh life. I wouldn’t want to live that way, not even to be safe from zombies.”
Roxanne turned and looked at her. “If the town is overrun and Jenny is not available, the bayou is where we would run to. If we are separated when the town is hit and you flee with someone else, you know where I am,” she continued to paddle again. “If we are together we would not need to make the bayou our permanent home. There is a trading post further down river which stands on solid ground and has paths that have been traveled by traders to other towns. If we stay on the canal we will eventually come out on the gulf. So you see, we will have several options.”
“You said if Jenny was not available. Does that mean that you are ready to join Morgan, Lucky and Brandon to travel with them on Jenny? This is news to me!” Mary said. “You’ve always seemed so removed from them, so skeptical of their plans and you can’t stand Lucky! Where did this come from?”
“Let’s just say that I’m keeping my options open. Survival doesn’t always give you a choice.”
After a couple of hours they began looking for signs of the red paint on the motorboat and where they had hidden it. When Roxanne pointed and said, “There! I see it,” a dark gray head popped up from beside the boat. “Cowboy! Sweetie, I’m so glad to see you!”
But as they landed the pirogue they knew that something was wrong. Roxanne was clearing away some of the debris in the path when Cowboy bared her fangs and started to growl. Mary gasped, “It’s not Cowboy! It’s a different coyote! Or she’s been bitten and is infected. Be careful Roxanne.”
“No,” Roxanne said as she knelt down in the path six feet from Cowboy. “She’s telling me that she’s been hurt and that I should be careful with her. See the tip of her ear? Another animal did that,” she slowly reached her hands out although she was too far away to touch the coyote. “Show me where Cowboy so I can help. Can you stand?”
Mutt had come up beside Roxanne with her head and tail down. He started sniffing the surround ground and slowly advanced toward Cowboy keeping his head down. Cowboy watched Mutt and let him come forward until the two were able to sniff each other’s face. Apparently Cowboy gave Mutt permission to examine her for Mutt began to circle Cowboy sniffing her body. When the coyote stiffened and turned her head to look at Mutt Roxanne knew that an injury was there. Mutt did this twice and then returned to Roxanne to sit down.
“Okay Cowboy I understand,” Roxanne said. “There are two places plus the ear. Can you stand? Are your legs bitten?” The coyote got up without difficulty and slowly came over to Roxanne to settle down in front of her. Roxanne reached out and cupped Cowboy’s snout, talking softly to her and put her head against the coyote’s. Mary watched from the pirogue and was mesmerized by the scene, afraid to move and break the spell that Roxanne had on the animal.
“Do they think that you are too old now to run with them?” Roxanne asked Cowboy. “Did they smell my human scent on you and turn you away? It’s all right, my precious. You are mine and I am yours,” she had tears in her eyes. Finally Roxanne raised her head and asked Mary to bring her satchel. “I will heal you and I will be as careful as I can. Do you understand?” Cowboy sniffed Roxanne’s face and then put her head down.
Over the next two days Roxanne would often stop the motorboat to check on Cowboy’s injuries more afraid of infection in the swamps than anything else, but the coyote was healing nicely. Cowboy still would not let Mary touch her, but Mary had always been friendlier with Mutt since Roxanne had warned her when they first met that Cowboy was not a pet.
On the second day they came to the landing at the plantation and it was there that Roxanne said they would change to the pirogue and tow the motorboat behind them. “But why?” Mary asked. “By using the pirogue it will be two more hours and dark by then. If we use the motorboat we can be there in an hour.”
“I don’t particularly care to announce our arrival by using the motorboat. If we use the pirogue we can slip in during the night and go directly home. I want to get a feel for this new crowd and what they have done in our absence. I don’t want a bunch of people standing on the shore and gawking at me as they hear a motorboat approach.”
Mary did not argue as they transferred to the pirogue with Cowboy and Mutt and secured the motorboat behind them but she thought that Roxanne spent too much energy in trying to stay hidden from people, thus remaining a mystery. People became suspicious of the unknown and she hated to think of Roxanne as being cast out due to her own actions. She knew that Roxanne was sensitive about her scars, but plenty of people were scarred by not having proper treatment for the simplest of wounds. Perhaps when they arrived home she would talk to Roxanne about developing some phony story that they could use to explain the “S” on her cheek.
It was dark by the time they poled to the area where Jenny was docked. Roxanne had warned Mary not to talk for the last half hour since voices carried on the water. She guided the pirogue to the heavy brush and watched Jenny through the foliage for twenty minutes when she sensed that Mary was becoming impatient. They had used a black tarp to cover the motorboat once they had changed over to the pirogue. Roxanne hoped that it would camouflage the red paint at night.
Finally Roxanne leaned back and whispered to Mary, “I only see Caleb on look-out but he keeps looking this way. He’s suspicious of something or else he expects us back and is looking for us to arrive.”
“You never travel by night!” Mary whispered.
“I have a plan.” She tied a rag around both snouts of the animals and told them to stay down, putting a blanket over them. Then she told Mary to wrap a rag around her mouth and nose, doing the same herself. She told Mary to watch for her signal and began to pole in a crouched position along the shore, getting closer to the boat Jenny. Then Roxanne took a jar of white crystals out of her duffle bag and opened it. With a swinging motion Roxanne threw some crystals far out into the water. Mary watched as the crystals made a sizzling sound and a fog started to rise on the water. Roxanne threw a few more and the fog thickened. Mary looked over at her thinking that she really was traveling with a witch after all. A few more crystals and Roxanne gave the signal to pole. She followed Roxanne’s lead which took them right into the mist that had a horrible odor to it. She realized why they had covered their mouth and nose as she crouched down to pole
, not being able to see where they were going.
Somehow the mist followed them, or Roxanne was still throwing crystals but Mary was too occupied trying not to gag to notice. Finally they were through it and she recognized the canal that their cottage was on. The air was clear and she sat up to rip the rag off her face so she could breathe fresh air. Roxanne tossed back the blanket she had over the canines and removed the make-shift muzzle that she had put over their snouts. Both animals snorted and shook their manes. Roxanne signaled to Mary to remain quiet as they continued to pole again but Mary thought she heard voices in the distance and knew that someone had joined Caleb on deck. She couldn’t wait to see Caleb again, but knew that most of her journey and discoveries couldn’t be shared with him.
The next morning Mary was eating a late breakfast when Roxanne came in from examining the truck. “It’s been driven, and driven hard. I know damn well who has used it!” Mary could see that she was mad.
“I don’t think that things belong to one owner anymore, Roxanne. If they used it then it was necessary. People share now. If they don’t then it’s taken from them.”
Roxanne looked at Mary and knew she was right. It was just that Lucky got under her skin. She pulled out a chair and sat down, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me this morning. Nervous I guess. We don’t know these people or how many there are, but I think it’s more than either of us have been with in a long, long time.” She paused, “In fact I can’t remember being with a group of any size. I don’t know how I will react. I only know that I’m nervous around people. I don’t know how many they intend to introduce me to and I don’t want a major event. I only know Earl and Lance.” She paused again, “Lance…..I wonder how he will take to being back here in Mamou. He left because he said the town was evil, or hiding evil,” she shrugged her shoulders.
“It doesn’t look like Max has been here for a long time,” Mary said to change the subject.
“Maybe someone adopted him. Someone with a kid.” They looked at one another and laughed, knowing that Max was not a lap-cat.
Cowboy came into the room and Roxanne called for her to come over so she could check the coyote’s scars. “They are looking good girl, but I want you to lay off being my protector for a while longer. We must each look out for one another and now it’s my turn to look after you. Give it a week,” she laughed. “I’ll let you know when the week is up. But you can still be a look-out, just inform me of any danger approaching and we will take care of it. Don’t you try to be a hero.”
“Roxanne,” Mary hesitated. “There’s something I want to talk to you about regarding these people. Do you…..do you think that you’re nervous because of your scars?”
Roxanne fidgeted and looked away. “Yes, I’m sure that is part of it. Since it is summer I can’t hide the scars on my wrists with long sleeves. My limp is still noticeable although it is much better. But there is nothing I can do to hide the scar on my cheek and all eyes go to that. I don’t like questions and Lucky said that I was abducted. How do I explain that? I can’t, nor would I want to.”
“I don’t think that anyone will be asking questions, Roxanne. People stopped asking questions a long time ago because we all have a horror story. The question of ‘what happened to you’ has changed to questions of how to survive. How to construct things, avoid danger, mend things, medical questions. People are more interested in how to stay alive and what you know to help them stay alive. They don’t care about the scars of how you gained that knowledge, they just want the knowledge. So if anything Roxanne, they will listen to your suggestions or advice because they feel you have the scars as proof that you know what you’re talking about.”
Roxanne smiled, “I hope that you are right, Mary. But there is something else we need to talk about. I have always indicated that I was taken in by a group in the bayou who healed me. I have never mentioned Shoes to anyone or that the group is only one old woman. I don’t expect you to lie for me nor do I want to put you into a difficult spot. I guess it doesn’t matter but I always thought it best to tell people that I belong to another group, especially in the beginning when I didn’t know anyone. I wanted people to think that I was protected, that there was a gang out there who would come looking for me if I was harmed or disappeared. I couldn’t trust anyone, not knowing who or why I carried these scars.”
“According to Caleb, you already have that gang, they’re just not in the bayou.”
“You think?” Roxanne raised her eyebrows.
“According to the stories that Caleb has told me, the four of them are the people who would fight for you, have fought for and with you. If we are to join anyone, it would be them. I don’t know about the paper mill crowd, but I trust those four. Lance,” Mary paused. “I don’t know about Lance. He makes me nervous. He keeps looking around as if he expects to see ghosts or a zombie who was once a family member or a friend.”
It started to cloud up and a heavy rain came in before Mary and Roxanne could go to town to check out the progress, if any. But they had three zombies straggle in from the road and they knew that whatever they were doing in town that it was bringing in more zombies. The road leading to Roxanne’s cottage was a dead end going north to more cabins on the water and ending at a field of wild grass. It worried her that Z’s were showing up in her part of town and wondered what the area around the Bait Shop was getting.
“Do you think that Max is leading the zombies in?” Mary asked. “Do you think that we should go into town and check on the rest of them, see if they need any help?”
Roxanne stood on the front porch and watched the heavy downpour. She shook her head,” Max is not around. His presence hasn’t been here in a long time. I believe that Max has moved on but is not harmed. Perhaps he felt that this place was no longer safe.” She turned to Mary, “I don’t want to go out in this rain and take the chance that the truck gets stuck especially if the zombie traffic is heavier on the roads. There were supposed to be what....thirty new people? I don’t think they need our help. Just be patient.” She started to walk into the house and then a thought came to her. “Missing Caleb?” she asked.
Mary blushed. “Other than you he is my only friend”.
***
“There’s another zombie coming through the village toward Jenny,” Caleb came into the dining area of Jenny and reported to the three men. He was wearing a parka and was soaked from the downpour. “Everyone is in their home so I don’t think he’s a danger but we should keep an eye on him so he doesn’t surprise anyone when they come out.”
“Caleb, it’s not necessary that you keep watch outside. We can see both the road and the canal clearly from here,” Morgan said. “I’m sure that Roxanne is hunkered down under a tarp in her pirogue if she was on her way back from the bayou.”
Caleb took off his parka and hung it by the door. “She’s already here. I’m sure of it.”
Lucky and Brandon stopped cleaning their guns and looked at each other. Morgan had told them of Caleb’s experience the night before. “Caleb, swamp gas can cause what you saw,” Lucky said. “It can also cause lights that drift up and then disappear. Also it could have been a prelude to today’s weather.”
Caleb stood at the window and watched the zombie approaching until a squirrel ran across its path causing it to veer off toward the canal. “Yeah, I know. Smokey explained it to me.” The squirrel ran up into a tree at the water’s edge and the zombie pursued it. “But sometimes I think that I learned more from Roxanne than just how to use a staff and crossbow.” In its attempt to reach up for the squirrel the zombie lost its balance. He grabbed the tree in time but one leg slipped off the bank and into the canal. “Sometimes I think that she trained me to have a sixth sense, or trained me how to use my sixth sense because I know that she is home.” Suddenly Caleb jumped back, “Yikes! Did you see that?”
An alligator had suddenly lunged out of the water and grabbed the zombies’ leg, pulling it off. Both men jumped up to see what had startled
Caleb and saw the zombie holding onto a tree limb trying to regain its balance on one leg. There was another splash of water and the alligator lunged a second time to grab the zombies other leg, this time pulling the zombie into the water and both of them disappeared below the surface. There was some rapid motion below the surface then they watched as a ripple went back toward the bayou.
“I guess we better warn the neighbors that alligators may be coming out to sun themselves,” Morgan said.
Roxanne was standing on the back porch with the binoculars when Mary came out to join her. “You’ve been out here a long time,” Mary looked out at the downpour.
“There’s a sailboat out there. The sails are torn and half down but no one is at the helm and I haven’t seen any activity. It’s just drifting.” She put the binoculars down. “I would like to secure it before someone else sees it. Now that there are other people settling in town we can’t assume that everything is ours for the taking. We may need to fight for what we want and I consider the sailboat to be in our backyard but we must get to it before it’s spotted by others.”
