When Bryan looked at her, she noticed his eyes had moistened. She wasn’t sure whether it was because Sami, who was coping with her own tragedy, had volunteered to go with them. Or whether it was something else.
Bryan said, “No. If Sarah’s out there in the woods, she’s anything but comfortable. I don’t deserve to be either.”
Chapter 31
Bryan was on another wild goose chase. For Sarah wasn’t in the woods. She was at the end of a dusty farm road, at a farm where five people were brutally murdered, preparing dinner for their killer.
And she was happy doing it.
In the absence of any memories or knowledge to the contrary, she believed that the brutal animal sitting comfortably in the Huckabee’s recliner was her husband of several years.
He’d worked his magic and it continued to hold. As each day passed she’d become more and more accepting of his lies.
And he’d become more and more confident that she was his forever.
Or until he tired of her and disposed of her, as he’d done with several others over the years.
Of course this woman, the woman he called Becky, was different. The others were held by force. They had to be watched constantly when unchained, because they would have bolted in a heartbeat. They had to be tied down or chained to the floor at night so they wouldn’t run off as he slept. And they were unwilling participants in Martel’s little fantasy game. Many of them fought his every demand, and suffered unspeakable beatings for it.
This one was different.
She was compliant. Not because she really loved him, or wanted to be with him.
But because she believed that she did. Because he told her so, and because she knew no better.
“How is it that I can’t remember our names, but I can remember how to cook?” she asked aloud as she sliced carrots she’d collected from the garden.
But her words went unanswered.
Martel had fallen asleep in the recliner, finally comfortable enough in his ability to control her that he allowed himself to rest in her presence.
Chances were she wouldn’t go far, even if she’d wanted to get away. She had no clothes to wear. Sure, she could have covered herself with a sheet or a blanket and gone for help.
Except she had no shoes either.
The long driveway which led to the dirt road was paved with caliche, a chalky white rock ground from massive quarries with razor sharp edges.
Sure, she could have wrapped her feet in towels to get away.
But she’d still be afoot, moving at a snail’s pace. While Martel would have the advantage of a fast moving pickup truck to pursue her with.
And he always hid the keys whenever he wasn’t using them.
None of that mattered, really.
For Sarah wasn’t trying to get away.
She honestly believed what her captor had told her.
That they were happily married and were all alone in the world.
That all of their neighbors were hostile and jealous because Nathan, in his great wisdom, had prepared for Armageddon better than anyone else around.
That those same neighbors were so jealous of Nathan and Becky, were so hostile, that they’d shoot them on sight.
And that was why they stayed to themselves. Seldom strayed from the farm, unless Nathan was going out to gather supplies.
Sarah… Becky… was content. After all, staying at the farmhouse wasn’t a bad thing. It was big and comfortable and had most everything they needed.
So she was okay with that.
And she was okay with never venturing out. After all, if the rest of the survivors were petty and decided to dislike them out of jealousy, then those weren’t the type of people she’d want to associate with anyway.
She thought it was silly, that she was naked all the time and Nathan was mostly clothed. But even that she bought into. Being naked was a certain kind of freedom that was hard to explain, but she enjoyed it.
She liked the way the breeze felt as it blew across her body while working in the garden.
And how the sun warmed parts of her that most people never let see the sun.
She believed Nathan when he told her she’d enjoyed those sensations for years. And that he enjoyed seeing her naked because she turned him on. Not because she wanted to or intended to. But simply by parading around in front of him as she went about her daily chores.
He seemed to be a man with a ravenous sexual appetite. Three or four times a day he would order her to go down on her knees for him or go to the bed and wait for him.
He wasn’t a gentle lover by any means. And he never gave any thought at all to giving her any pleasure. He was in that regard a very selfish lover. He took constantly without giving.
But she accepted that as her lot in life. Part of the package she took when she chose him to be her husband. And since she couldn’t remember having any lovers before him, for all she knew he was the first.
For all she knew, all men were that way.
She simply knew no better.
She’d cleaned the catfish he’d brought home herself, while he rested in the hammock in the yard. Somehow she knew exactly how to gut and scale them, then filet them just perfectly.
She assumed it was because she’d done it for her husband on a regular basis. It wasn’t true, but she had no way of knowing that.
The truth was her real husband Bryan had taught her how to do it the summer before, and she’d gotten quite good at it. But while she remembered the process, the whole concept of Bryan was something her brain just couldn’t grasp.
She finished cleaning the fish about the same time Nathan started complaining it was too hot outside and growled that he was moving into the house.
“I’m gonna lay down in the den for awhile,” he told her. “Come and tell me when it’s ready.”
And she intended to do just that. The catfish was ready, as were the stewed carrots and the mashed potatoes. The potatoes were instant and obtained from the back of a truck. But they’d have to do since real potatoes weren’t available.
When she went to the den to retrieve her husband, he was sound asleep and snoring loudly.
She decided to give him a few minutes, and hoped he’d wake up on his own. She’d been snapped at and belittled the day before when she woke him from a nap, even though he’d told her to.
Worse, she was afraid for a brief moment that he was going to hit her. But he pulled back.
Yes. Letting him sleep a few more minutes was the best option. Perhaps he’d wake up on his own and that would be better for both of them.
While she waited she went to the bathroom to relieve herself. Then, in no great hurry to get back, she examined herself in a full length mirror.
Her breasts were sunburned, as was her backside and the area below her waist.
She pondered that for a moment.
And she wondered why.
Someone who’d been a nudist for many years would have been tanned more or less evenly all over, wouldn’t she?
Even in the most intimate of places.
But she wasn’t.
That was odd. Very odd indeed.
Then she fingered a small tattoo on her right shoulder. A pretty tattoo of a bluebird in flight, a twig in her mouth.
She’d asked Nathan where it came from.
He’d very gruffly said he didn’t remember, and to leave him alone.
But the tattoo bothered her. She didn’t know why, exactly. It obviously had no special significance to her husband.
But she had a gut feeling it meant something special to her.
She wished she could remember what it was.
Chapter 32
Sarah had lingered for far too long in the bathroom, and was startled to hear a very angry “God-damnit!” coming from the kitchen.
She hurried out and joined Nathan as he was standing over two plates of cold catfish.
“Honey, please don’t use the Lord’s name in vain.”
He turned arou
nd and punched her so hard she went reeling across the room and landed against the back wall.
“Why in hell didn’t you come and wake me up? I can’t eat cold catfish. It tastes like crap!”
She cowered, then rolled her body into a fetal position, wrapping her arms around her knees and clasping her wrists together.
She didn’t know why, but she seemed to sense a beating was coming.
Perhaps it was her subconscious telling her that this man wasn’t what he pretended to be. That he was brutal and unforgiving and enjoyed beating women.
“I’m sorry. I was getting ready to come and get you, I swear. I just had to go to the bathroom first and freshen up.”
Martel wanted none of it.
He repeated his complaint.
“How in hell am I supposed to eat this crap? I don’t eat cold fish!”
“I… I’m sorry, honey. Give me a minute and I’ll heat it back up again. It can’t be that cold. Just a minute in the microwave and it’ll be steaming hot. It’ll be great, I promise.”
But he was incensed.
He grabbed one of the breaded filets off his plate and brought it to her.
Kneeling on one knee beside her, he placed one of his huge hands behind her head and used the other to shove the fish into her mouth.
“Here, bitch! You eat it. Tell me how you like it, huh? Tell me how you can expect me to eat this shit. Huh? Tell me!”
Before she could answer, he drew back with an open fist and hit her hard, just below the left eye.
The last thing she saw before the merciful blackness overtook her was the enraged face of a madman.
Chapter 33
Joel Hance had no idea he would be auditioning for a new family.
Hannah and Mark had chosen to keep that from him, in case their friends in the compound were tired of taking in new people.
It was Mark’s idea, but Hannah agreed completely.
The closeness of the original forty members who’d gone into the mine three weeks before Saris 7 hit the earth was weakened just a bit when two orphaned teenaged girls were invited in.
It was weakened again when Glenna and her children came into the group, and a third time when Frank Woodard and his wife Eva joined them.
Although no one would say so outright, there were whispered grumblings that perhaps their group was growing too large. It was losing its sense of family. The bonds were starting to stretch too thinly.
Hannah and Mark saw it differently. They saw each new addition as bringing something new to the group that it didn’t have before. They saw it not as a group of individuals that was getting out of control. They saw it more as a family that grows with each succeeding generation, and which becomes stronger as time goes by.
In any event, they knew that broaching the prospect of bringing in another outsider might be a bit touchy.
They’d brainstormed, and decided that perhaps the best course of action was for the group to meet Joel first. And to get to know him.
“They can’t help but love him,” Hannah said. “I mean, he’s witty and charming and funny and handsome. The women will swoon for him and the men will think he’s way cool. They’ll all fall for him in various ways.
“And then after they do, we can spring it on them that he has no living family, and no place to go.”
Mark was enthused, but to a lesser degree.
“Are you sure that you haven’t fallen in love with him yourself?”
“Oh, don’t misinterpret what I’m saying, honey. I love him as you love Sami and Sarah. They are good friends of yours and you value their friendship. That’s how I feel about Joel. I know that he and I have known each other for just a short time, but what we went through together was incredibly intense. It bonded us in the same way any crisis does to the people who go through it together. Plus, he saved my life. He tries to play it off by saying he didn’t, but in my heart of hearts I know I wouldn’t be here today if he hadn’t been there. So I not only love him as a close friend, I feel I owe him.
“Obviously I can’t save his life to repay him for saving mine. So I’ll do the next best thing. I want to save him from a lifetime of being alone. I want to surround him by the other people we love. And I know they’ll love him too.
“But when it comes to the man in my life, that’s you and only you. It’s always been you, and it always be. Just because I love Joel doesn’t mean I want him to replace you. I just love the two of you in totally different ways.
“Have I confused you enough, or do you understand?”
“Both, actually. You’ve confused the heck out of me, but I think I understand what you’re trying to say.”
“Good. Because here he comes.”
“Hey you two. Can I join you? Or is there enough sunshine to go around?”
“Welcome, stranger. Roll yourself over here so we can tell you about our evil plan.”
“I love this little courtyard. Did they tell you how it came to be?”
“No.”
“One of the nurses told me about it. After the world thawed out they got ahold of some seeds from FEMA. They planted tomatoes and beans and several other vegetables in the flower boxes all around the perimeter of the courtyard.
“But none of it grew very well. Many of the seeds never came up, and those that did looked sickly and scrawny and never blossomed. They said there just wasn’t enough sunlight that made its way into the courtyard. That the eight stories cast too many shadows for too many hours of the day.
“Then Father Foster, who was the hospital’s Catholic Chaplain for many years, died. In his last will and testament, he said he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread around in the courtyard. He said he’d come here for years to meditate and he was at peace here.
“So they did as he requested. That was a year ago. And they said that all the plants instantly sprang to life, as though they had new purpose. And that they blossomed and bore fruit and vegetables and now they put out so much food that even after the staff takes what they need, they still have leftovers to give to the food bank.
“Now they call the garden ‘Father Foster’s Miracle.’”
Hannah smiled.
“Wow. Cool story. Is it true?”
“Absolutely. Now then, what’s this about an evil plan of some sort?”
“They told me today that I can go home tomorrow.”
“I know. I heard. I told them I wasn’t sure whether I was going to let you go. That I might steal you away from Mark and hide you under my bed.”
“Mark would find me. Because he loves me.”
“No doubt. But if he finds you and tries to take you, I’ll clobber him over the head with one of my wooden legs.”
Mark said, “Uh… you don’t have wooden legs. They’re aluminum.”
“I know. But wooden legs sound cooler. They have kind of a piratey sound.”
“Piratey? Is that even a word?”
“It is if I say it is. And besides, have you ever gone to a baseball game where they use aluminum bats instead of wood? They make a very satisfying ping sound when they connect with a fast ball.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So, my aluminum leg will make the same satisfying ping sound when it connects with your head, if you try to steal my Hannah.”
“Um. She’s my Hannah. I have the marriage license to prove it.”
Hannah interjected.
“Okay, you two. I’m flattered and all that you’re fighting over me, but I have a solution to the problem.”
Joel didn’t miss a beat.
“Ooh, ooh. We’ll cut you in half, just like in King Solomon’s days. I want the top half. I know that Mark will get all the fun parts, but I’ll get your pretty face.”
“Nobody is cutting me in half, bonehead. No, when Mark and I leave tomorrow we’re going to take you back to the compound to visit for a few days. We’ll introduce you to the rest of our friends and feed you well and just let you get away from things for a few days.”
&nbs
p; “Will you rub my feet and feed me grapes?”
“You no longer have feet, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. But how will you sneak me away from Nurse Ratchet and the physical therapy demons from hell?”
“I’ve already talked to Nurse Ratchet. She says your stumps have blisters on them and you need to take a few days off to let them turn into callouses anyway. So she says the timing is excellent. They were gonna stop sending the van to our compound when I got released, but she said she’d make sure it came back to pick you up in two or three days.
“And she said not to worry. That your break will give the physical therapy demons from hell time to sharpen their claws and repair all of their torture equipment. And that it’ll all be waiting for you when you come back.”
Joel pondered the offer and then asked, “If I come with you, can I sleep with you every other night?”
“No. But you can sleep with little Markie. He’s a great snuggler, but he likes to steal the covers.”
“Okay. You drive a hard bargain. But I’m in.”
Chapter 34
The following afternoon Hannah, Mark and Joel arrived at the compound. Everyone had been told the Snyders were bringing a guest, so it wasn’t just Hannah’s homecoming.
It was also a celebration in honor of the man who saved Hannah’s life.
And they held nothing back.
The seven children who attended elementary school classes in Miss Karen’s one room schoolhouse took a break from reading, writing and math all morning. Instead, they pulled out crayons and made huge banners, which they then hung at the compound’s entrance.
“Welcome Home, Hannah,” said one. Another said, “Joel Hance, You Are Our Hero Too.”
When the honorees were ushered into the dining room, everyone cheered. Each of them was presented a bouquet of flowers and some homemade fudge.
The adults toasted the homecoming with bottles of wine, and the children did likewise with freshly squeezed orange juice from the citrus greenhouse. It was a rare treat for all.
The Search Page 11
