She interrupted him with a raised hand. “I’ve done what you asked and told you who I am. I suggest we get going. Brady could decide at any minute that he wants to ride back down that hill and cross the river. And he may conjure a spell or two of his own if he finds it necessary.”
At that reminder of their enemy, most everyone jumped to action. Only Charles stayed put.
“No,” he said, “I don’t think so. With this new information about you, we need to decide what to do with you.”
Everyone froze in place. Thomas stopped so that he stood between Charles and Miss Sadie, each about ten feet from his opposite hands.
Charles stepped away from the horse and Papa. The glint in his eyes grew hard and cold. Thomas had seen that look many a time; no doubt it had filled Charles’s eyes the day before, as he’d leaped off of his horse onto Thomas’s back.
“In fact,” Charles said, “I think that since we know who you are, we should turn you in to the authorities. You’re the spawn of our greatest enemy. You’re practically a devil.”
“That’s right,” Eli said. “Her people would have invaded and slaughtered us like lambs decades ago if not for the barrier of our salvation.”
“But not me,” Miss Sadie said. “I’m not like them.”
“How do we know that?” Papa said. He moved away from the horse. For a moment, it almost seemed like Mama would slide down off the saddle and slump onto the ground, but she didn’t. “You could be a spy.”
“A spy?” Thomas said. “And she’s spying on us? The Bakers?”
Franky shrugged. “That’s a pretty good point.”
Charles stepped forward, again, almost until Thomas could reach out and touch his chest. Water from their trip down the river still soaked them, and Thomas’s body still ached. He didn’t think he could stop his family if they tried to do something to Miss Sadie. And in that dress, she couldn’t run very fast.
“No,” Charles said. “She’s spying on all of us. The entire country of Sanctuary. It’s all a ploy. And now, look, she’s even found an excuse to destroy the bridge from St. George, cutting off the fastest way for them to send help.”
“Now hold on,” Thomas said. He raised his hands, palms down, and turned away from Miss Sadie. He faced Charles, and looked around at the others. “We can’t be like this.”
“You fancy her,” Eli said. “That’s why you speak for her.”
“I say we throw her into the river,” Charles said. “Take care of her right now. Just to make sure she don’t cause more trouble.”
Miss Sadie gasped. In a dress like that, she would sink to the bottom of the river exactly like a wooden bridge didn’t.
“All of you, just stop,” Thomas said. “We can’t go killing an innocent person.”
“She’s not innocent,” Charles said. “She’s the daughter of a zombie raiser. She destroyed our bridge.”
“To save your life!” she said. “Obviously a mistake!”
Charles convulsed in a fit of rage. Thomas had seen that a million times. One more provocation, and he would lose control. Thomas turned his head back to Miss Sadie, widened his eyes, and glared at her.
“Let me handle this,” he said.
She frowned and nearly spoke again, but he widened his eyes even more, and she clamped her mouth shut.
“You fancy her,” Charles said. “So you want to protect her.”
“No,” Thomas said.
But he did fancy her. And he owed her something for those minutes after Charles had beaten him the day before. She’d held him. Comforted him. To a degree, she’d earned more of his loyalty than Charles ever had. She didn’t deserve to end up another victim to Charles’s temper.
“She’s a person,” Thomas said. “She’s in trouble. Yes, she’s the daughter of the most feared and hated zombie raiser, but she isn’t him. She deserves a chance to stand on her own merits.”
Charles’s jaw tightened and loosened over and over. Thomas held his breath, and readied for a fight.
“Charles,” Papa said, “Thomas is right. As much as we’d all like to, we can’t administer our own justice.”
Such reasonable words had never left Papa’s mouth. They took some of Charles’s steam. His face softened a bit. Of course, it figured such logic from Papa couldn’t last.
“There’s likely more good we can do by turning her in to the authorities. To the sheriff. Plus, there may be some kind of reward.”
Miss Sadie grunted in disgust, but when Thomas turned to give her another bug-eyed look, she kept quiet.
“We could use the reward,” Clara May said. “My eggs for today broke, and we’ll lose that money.”
“And we’ll need a new wagon,” Franky said. He stared down the river with distinct regret. “And mules. And a fishing rod.”
Charles’s face calmed more each time someone spoke. The tension eased out of his neck and forehead.
“That’s the least we can do,” Thomas said. “Turn her over to the sheriff. And maybe we should wait to do that until we talk with Mr. Milne. She’s his acquaintance, after all. We trust and know him. And she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Except,” Franky said, “she destroyed the bridge.”
“A small thing,” Eli said.
“She’s going to bring all of Moab down on us,” Charles said. “The Lich Mayor won’t stop until he gets her back.”
But he turned away, headed back to Lightning, and the matter closed.
A light touch on Thomas’s shirtsleeve made him turn to Miss Sadie.
“Thomas Baker,” she said, “I don't understand you."
"What does that mean?"
"You always act the opposite from what you feel."
“What do you mean by that?”
She smiled, and for a moment he thought she might stand up on her tip-toes and kiss him on the cheek. The very idea that a fine lady like her would do that embarrassed him, and he looked down in the hopes that she wouldn’t see him blush.
“I know you already got one blessing,” he said. How did her father think she could already get another? It took a lot of work to get a blessing. Some only received one in their whole life.
“And what blessing is that?” she asked.
“Grace. The blessing of grace.” He met her eyes again, this time with confidence.
“You’re right. But right now, I would sure like the blessing of foresight, so I knew what would happen when we got to Hurricane.”
“It’ll be fine,” Thomas said.
“Will it?”
Her voice quivered just a little. She probably wouldn’t do anything more to let fear show. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her like she’d held him. To make her feel better. Instead, he could only talk.
“Yes. Just trust me on it.”
She took a deep breath, raised her eyebrows, and walked past him with a sigh. “I guess I’ll have to.”
If you do obtain the blessing of a second life, you have purgatory to look forward to. People who don’t know any better call purgatory the “Life Vision.”
Chapter 18: Guilty intentions
As they started down the road, Miss Sadie didn’t ride her horse. Instead, she offered it to Clara May, who accepted and nearly fell climbing into the saddle. Eli led the horse by the reins, following Charles, who led Lightning. It didn’t take long for the sun to dry Mama enough that she stopped dripping water onto the hard ground, but for a little while Thomas could have just looked at the ground and followed the trail of water spots in the dirt.
Miss Sadie walked by Thomas’s side in silence, as if she didn’t want to go far from him. He rather liked to pretend that he’d become her protector from the likes of Charles, who looked back at her often, probably to make sure she hadn’t run off or started casting another tornado. Generally, Stanley stayed near Thomas, but sometimes ran off the side of the road for the blessings knew what reason.
Franky moped as they walked, kicking the ground with his bare feet and shoving his hands
deep into his overall’s pockets.
“What’s eating you?” Thomas said.
“My new fishing pole was in the wagon,” Franky said.
Thomas shook his head. “That’s a shame.”
And it was. All that work, washed down the river. Along with Mama. It would’ve been better if they’d found the fishing pole instead of her.
“The hatchery will have poles,” Thomas said.
“I reckon so,” Franky said. “But I liked that pole.”
“You know,” Thomas said without really thinking, “the hatchery might could use a fellow like you working there.”
He still wanted to free himself of all responsibility, so he could leave the farm. The idea had been to marry Clara May off, and give Franky a good home, where he would enjoy life and do what he wanted. Then Papa and Charles could care for themselves.
Well, it sure looked like Clara May would get married, but not to any man that had any usefulness in him. Eli seemed more apt to get people in trouble than support a family. Of course, like his mother had said, if he wanted to do the things a man did, he could do all of them. That entailed providing for his wife and child. Maybe Thomas should expect the same of him. If so, Clara May was set, and only Franky needed taking care of.
“They could?” Franky said. “What do you mean?”
Thomas wondered if it was a good idea to say what he was about to say, but it was probably too late to stop, now.
“Well, a few people work at the hatchery. Several people. I think, anyway. They must give room and board to the people who work there. We could see if they had a place for you, if you’d like.”
You need to take care of that brother of yours, Thomas. Don’t you dare do anything to hurt him. He’s your responsibility, now that I’m dead.
Thomas tried to ignore the voice and his guilt. Pawning his brother off so he could run free and enjoy life didn’t seem like a brotherly thing to do. And besides, he liked Franky as much as any other person in the world. But didn’t he deserve to live life like he wanted, instead of the one Papa and Mama had placed on his shoulders?
Franky smiled and shook his head, and stared hard at the road, as if with his gaze he could turn it into a river filled with fish.
“That’d be nice. I like fish.”
“Who knows. Maybe you can get the blessing of angling insight.”
Franky’s grin grew even larger. “That’d be real nice.”
Thomas pushed the flow of guilt aside. Franky would enjoy living at the hatchery. He would have everything he needed, and the thing he liked most in life. If, of course, the hatchery had room for him.
“Well, then, when we get there, we’ll check and see if they have a place for you.”
“I’d like that,” Franky said. “I really would.”
Thomas felt Miss Sadie’s eyes on him, and looked at her. She frowned in the same way she’d already done a dozen times, as if trying to figure him out.
He looked away, not wanting her to see guilt in his eyes, and focused on figuring out how to keep his family from turning her over to the sheriff.
* * *
He decided that persuasion was the best route. Throughout the afternoon, he spoke with his family members one-on-one—except for Clara May and Eli, who he had to talk with together. To each person he made the case to keep quiet about Miss Sadie until they had a chance to talk with Mr. Milne. Once they’d consulted with him—a trusted friend—they could talk with the sheriff, if they found it necessary. Without Charles egging them on, they acquiesced relatively quickly. Charles, of course, proved the hardest case. But in the end, Thomas succeeded.
Miss Sadie rewarded Thomas with a coy smile and a squeeze of his arm that made his heart pound.
As they approached Hurricane after dark, a posse of armed men accosted them, demanding their identities. It took some fast-talking on Thomas’s part to keep them from inquiring much about Miss Sadie, and fortunately everyone kept their words about not turning her in.
In fact, as they entered town, Charles walked next to Thomas.
“She’s not free and clear, yet,” he said. “When Mr. Milne comes, we’re going to have a nice long talk with him. Then we’ll decide what to do with her.”
They stopped at Uncle Franklin’s house. Papa’s brother. But their visit, the first in a dozen years, in the dead of night with the barrier down, only annoyed Uncle Franklin. He claimed that Mama smelled too much to let them stay in his barn, but Thomas knew she didn’t reek. He took several deep breaths just to make sure.
So they spent the night out in the wilderness just north of Hurricane, keeping watch to make sure no coyotes or zombies carried Mama off. Thomas spent his watch with Stanley by his side, enjoying the dog’s company.
An hour before morning, Mr. Milne found them and woke Miss Sadie. It surprised her enough that she jabbed him in the face before realizing who he was. They went far enough off that although they spoke in not-so-hushed tones, Thomas couldn’t make out their words. How had Miss Sadie and Mr. Milne fallen in together?
Eventually, Miss Sadie stomped off toward the river, and Mr. Milne came back to Thomas. They talked for a bit, Thomas skirting around the issue of Miss Sadie, not wanting to seem too interested in her. Mr. Milne indicated that his correspondence with the Grand Canyon hadn't gone well. They weren't willing to send anyone up to cast the barrier spell.
When everyone awoke before the sun rose, they headed back into town. On the way in, Charles argued with Mr. Milne over what to do about Miss Sadie. Eventually, Mr. Milne’s assertion that she posed no threat won out. She wanted nothing to do with zombies. Everyone believed him, and Charles acquiesced with a scowl before they reached the first building. As soon as possible, they would meet with the council and make their case to let them resurrect Mama.
At least, most of them would. Thomas would plead to keep her dead.
Hurricane consisted of a main street and a handful of dirt side streets. The main street stretched nearly half a mile long, with a variety of one- and two-story buildings rammed close together, made of brick or wood. It seemed like every time Thomas came into town, one building or another had received a new coat of paint, or a new sign above the door. Many of them had boardwalks in the front, a practice left over from before the paving of the road with a red flagstone out of nearby canyons.
Thomas came often enough that the variety of buildings no longer amazed him, although he’d never set foot into most places. The two competing general stores, yes. The bank, no. The saloons, only once. The dress shop—not a chance. The farmer’s supply store—about every time he could. The bakery, no. His family couldn’t afford to buy bread they hadn’t made themselves.
But Mr. Milne could, and so they waited in front of the bakery for it to open. So early in the day, hardly anyone walked the streets—just a few people that eyed them and Mama, slumped over the saddle, with suspicion. Thomas started to wish they had a blanket to cover Mama with. It all seemed very disrespectful to lug her around like saddlebags.
Before long, an obese man emerged from the bakery to shoo them off, saying in an extremely thick—and rare—French accent, that the body stunk. But it didn’t and everyone knew it, and they insisted on waiting until they could get some bread and butter for breakfast. The man rubbed his hands on his white apron and scowled. He re-entered the bakery. The writing in the window said, “Bread that’s better than homemade.” In a minute, he emerged with the previous day’s bread and a bowl of butter.
He charged them too much by Thomas’s reckoning, but Mr. Milne paid. They ate the bread as they sat on the edge of the boardwalk in front of the bakery. Not having eaten anything since lunch the day before, Thomas found the food marvelous, despite being a day old and cold.
“This sure ain’t no homemade bread,” Charles said. “Nothing like Mama’s bread fresh out of the oven.” He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if imagining what he’d just described.
“Ain’t nothing that good,” Franky said.
&
nbsp; Thomas had to agree. Still, he wouldn’t complain about the food in his stomach.
When they finished eating, Mr. Milne excused himself, indicating that he would start to gather the council so they could petition for permission to resurrect Mama. Miss Sadie acted confused about why they had to ask permission, but a sharp look from Mr. Milne silenced her. As he went off one direction, they headed down the stone street toward the wainwright’s shop, to price out a new wagon. After that, they would find a ranch where they could commit to purchase mules. Thomas had no idea how they would pay for any of it.
However, before they’d even finished looking over the wagons, Mr. Milne found them.
“The council is assembled,” he said. “They can hear your petition now. Just don’t act like idiots, and everything should be okay.”
During the Life Vision, you possess a vague awareness that you still have a body and that your soul is still connected to it. But you cannot control it. It’s like an itching in the back of your skull, one you can’t attend to because you’re too busy seeing everything you ever did wrong.
Chapter 19: A secret not meant for family
Thomas had never met any of the councilmen before that morning, and even though Mr. Milne had introduced them only five minutes before, Thomas couldn’t remember that many new names all at once to save his life.
But he liked them. All of them. A lot.
“We see no reason to allow her resurrection,” the mayor said.
He’d said it once, already.
Thomas had seen the mayor before, but only from a distance. As far as he understood, the man was already a few years into his second life. He looked normal. They always did.
He sat in the center of a wide table, wearing a gray woolen suit. His enormous size and six chins made the others in the room look small in comparison. Aside from an obvious bounty of food, he’d gained the blessing of patience. Or so people said. He had red hair and a handlebar mustache, and spoke with an Irish accent. Like many people in Hurricane, he'd immigrated to the United States.
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