Natalie nodded sadly. “I’ll drive the three of you to the safehouse if need be. Just… please look after Millie, she has been through a lot compared to most of the people here.” Her expression changed as a warm smile returned with the change of topic. “However, before you go, you and Ashe are joining me in my cabin for dinner tomorrow night. Matthew, Sean, and Chloe will be there to meet you two properly as well, and I’ll invite Millie as well; I think she needs the company, and I’m pretty sure she is sweet on Matthew.”
I smiled warmly, assuming those were the names of her children. I had met Matt already, and he seemed to be just as keen on Millie, so perhaps that would make Millie more reluctant to leave the security of this place. “How old are they?” I asked curiously.
“Matthew is the oldest… besides you, of course, he is 22, Sean is 18, and Chloe is 14.”
I sighed nervously. “Okay!”
The two of us went back downstairs, finding Ashe and Millie on the front porch of the house. My eyes went directly to Ashe, who was wearing a clean lose fitting gown, which meant she could at least get around to some extent. She smiled at me as we walked out, summoning me over to her. “Good evening,” I said warmly, kissing her on the lips before sitting down next to her and putting my arm loosely around her shoulder. “How’s the leg?”
She handed me the cup she was drinking from. It was full of an unfamiliar looking hot drink. “Try it!” There was a slightly bitter, sweet taste to it, but it was refreshing at the same time. I handed it back and sat down next to her on the seat, putting my arm around her, “Green tea apparently,” she explained, before resting her head on my shoulder.
That night Ashe and I stayed with Natalie in her two-bedroom cabin while Millie ended joined us for most of the night. It amazed me how close the two girls had become in just a few days, but then they had a lot in common. In the end, I opened the final bottle of whiskey in my bag that had somehow survived the car crash. I poured a glass for Natalie and myself, as we sat and enjoyed each other’s stories, reminiscing on the past. Natalie seemed in many ways to have stopped moving forward since John’s death, it affected her far more than she was willing to admit to herself. It also explained why she had stepped away from the council over the last year, allowing Luke and the others to have a greater say. Up to that point, leadership had primarily been her role in the group with John, Michael and Zoe ensuring that was the case.
Natalie went outside and returned a few minutes later with a large black dog wagging its tail as it sat down next to her on the couch. “This is Smoke,” she said as if introducing an old friend.
I was still a little nervous about the idea of dogs, but he certainly seemed friendly as he wandered over to me, sniffing my hand cautiously. As if assessing me in a strangely familiar way, he then did the same to Ashe, who simply melted at the sight of the dog, “Oh, you are beautiful!” she said warmly as her hands gently rubbed his head.
The dog wagged his tail appreciatively, his body language surprisingly easy to read for me. He was very gently with Ashe, checking her leg carefully as if he understood her pain.
I had to admit I was impressed by the animal’s emotional and social intelligence, and it was easy to see why these things were such valued companions if Smoke was anything to go by.
The four of us got very drunk on the whiskey and a few bottles of homemade wine Natalie had set aside, and I don’t remember much after a certain point. But I did manage to find my way to bed at some point, it seems, while Millie had passed out on the couch sometime in the early hours of the morning. When Ashe joined me, my eyes opened just enough to allow her into bed and pull her close. We both slept very well through the alcohol-induced stupor we each found ourselves in.
Chapter 14 - (Loyalty)
I was woken up the next morning by Ashe, who was lying in bed, gritting her teeth. Whatever painkillers she had taken for the leg had worn off. Thankfully my wounds, while uncomfortable, were quite manageable. All I could do was offer a reassuring embrace. “Are you okay? Can I do anything?” I asked.
“I will be okay,” she said through gritted teeth. “I think I must have slept on it badly.”
There was little to be done for the pain, so I just stayed with her holding her until it eased. “I think it’s a good day for you to get some rest,” I suggested.
She glared at me and said, “I’m not sitting around doing nothing, Jack! Leave me the guns and equipment, and I’ll make sure it's all cleaned and ready to go if we need to go anywhere. Also, if you can get me your shirts ill repair them and clean them.”
There was no sense of making an argument out of it. Ashe was not one to sit and do nothing all day, and it was one of the few things she was incredibly stubborn about. She did not cope well with boredom. “Alright,” I agreed. “I’ll be giving Natalie a hand with her garden today, so the help would be appreciated.”
She shuffled closer in bed, resting her head in the crook of my shoulder. The sun was beginning to peak over the walls of the town, so it was definitely time to get moving.
There was a light knock on the door a few minutes later. “Come in,” Ashe said.
Natalie opened the door enough to ask, “Time to get up kids, the kettle is boiling, and I sent Millie to gather some eggs for breakfast!”
“Eggs?” Ashe asked curiously. “What kind?”
“We have chickens out back, so hopefully we get lucky since Matt’s here as well! You have five minutes, or I let the dogs inside.”
“Dogs?” I looked up, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, dogs! Your father loved Shepherds and we used bread and train them for additional security,” she explained. “Now hurry up or not only will you have smoke diving on the bed I will let the Shadow’s puppies in to terrorise the whole room.”
It was still a shock to the system, nowhere kept them these days, and while Smoke seemed like a lovely creature. I was still a little uncomfortable at the idea of having them around. I helped Ashe up out of bed, getting her into some clean clothes before heading out into the living area. Natalie was in the small kitchen, making tea and singing an unfamiliar tune to herself in a warm, slow melody. When she saw us, she pointed to a table next to the bedroom door where she had set out some clean clothes. “I’m guessing you guys don’t carry many clothes on the road to I took the liberty of gathering some of your dad’s old clothes to wear. Ashe honey, there are a few of Amy’s old clothes. Some of them are old world, but they are still in good condition.”
Ashe moved over to the pile and moved her hand over the different fabrics. Clean, pressed, and folded clothes were very rare these days and something I had only experienced a few times in one of the hotels in New Alice. “Thank you,” Ashe said as she hobbled over to the older woman, pulling her into a warm embrace.
“You are most welcome, sweetheart,” Natalie said, before looking at me. “And yes, that was a not so subtle hint, Jack. Please change, because your clothes stink.”
I took one of the shirts and a change of pants, and went back into the room, returning moments later feeling odd and uncomfortable.
“Also, if you want to wash up and trim that beard Jack, there are some communal bathrooms behind the farmhouse,” Natalie added.
Matt came into the house a moment later, taking off the wide brim hat and moving over to embrace his mother warmly. “Hey, guys,” he said to Ashe and me.
“Good morning, Matthew.” She handed him a cup of tea, then did the same for Ashe and me before moving over to the living area and sitting down. There were several empty bottles of wine and other alcohol bottles left on the table, which she moved out of her way.
When Millie came in from the rear of the cabin moments later, Natalie glared at her, pointing to the bottles. “Can you please put take bottles outside and clean them later for Anthony and Chloe to collect.” Millie nodded, placing a dozen eggs in the kitchen before cleaning the mess that the two girls had created the night before. Natalie turned to Ashe and explained, “Anthony is my daughter
s’ partner. They make wine and other drinks for the town. Anthony is amazing with whiskey and wants to set up an old-world bar for the town.”
“That’s an interesting idea,” I offered, remembering my time in New Alice and the bars that had been set up there. It seemed almost a lifetime ago now, but they were good for offering people a place to socialise.
“Yeah, he makes great beer as well,” Matt said. “We will have to have a few one of these days.”
It was a nice morning getting to know Matt, Millie, and Natalie properly. But it was soon time for work, Matt was kind enough to show me where the bathrooms were, and after cleaning myself up, I returned to the cabin to help Natalie in the garden. We worked to lay several more garden beds to help produce some additional food for Ashe and me, spending most of the morning ploughing through the soft topsoil and planting a host of different crops. Once finished, Natalie took me out to a small workshop, showing me where she made heavy-duty boots for the community.
“If you want you are welcome to use this space, I don’t make a ton of these anymore,” Natalie explained. “So, if you have anything you want to make, feel free to use the tools in here. They were mostly your fathers anyway.”
I nodded my thanks, contemplating what I could possibly contribute to the community that they did not already have. It was something to consider if we were to stay nearby. Afterwards, Natalie led me around to the cages behind the workshop, which housed a dozen full-grown German Shepherds in individual cages. They were stunningly beautiful and watching as Natalie walked casually into each cage and handle the animals with such ease was such a shock to me. On the road, particularly in the mountains, these things were a routine threat, moving in large packs through the forests. But these were different, a little smaller than the wild dogs, but much more at ease with human contact.
Natalie came out of the final cage and smiled warmly at me, summoning me over to her. Since it was daylight this time, I approached and spotted one of the dogs, a female on her side, allowing six recently birthed puppies to feed. “Come here,” Natalie whispered, leading me into the cage.
The female looked up at me with a slightly confused expression, which I took to be a lack of familiarity, but when Natalie reached forward to scratch the animal, she gently closed her eyes and wagged her tail. I stood back wearily, watching the puppies feed and the ease that the dog felt with Natalie so close to her young. It was a fascinating sight that made me smile, they were beautiful animals.
Then the strangest thing happened, one of the puppies stepped away from its mother and approached me confidently, sniffing my shoes before looking up at me and wagging its tail. It could not have been much taller than the top my boots, and when it sat, it simply watched me waiting for me to do something.
Natalie smiled warmly, “I think you have been chosen, Jack.”
It was a strange feeling, one that I was not sure about at all. I knelt to the puppy, reaching out to touch its head carefully. It wagged its tail expectantly, before jumping up to my hand and licking my fingers. At that moment, I could see why these things were so adored by the old-world, they were loyal, and they were implicitly trustworthy companions to those they cared for. I made a face at the puppy, which only seemed to excite it more as it spun around almost dancing before returning to its siblings as if trying to get them all to play.
“When that little girl is old enough to leave her mother, she’s yours,” Natalie said warmly. She seemed to be relishing this moment, and the joyful smile on her face told me that she had nothing but love for these creatures. “What would you name her?” she asked as if naming an animal was the most normal thing in the world.
“I have never named anything,” I said with a shrug.
“Yes, but if this little one is going to come with you, she will need a name to respond to.”
“Respond to?” I asked sceptically.
“Yes, respond to.” Natalie stood up, walking out of the cage and approached the dog in the next cage over. She spoke firmly to the almost black male dog from the night before that was waiting expectantly for her to enter, it was almost as tall as Natalie's hips. “Smoke!” she said in a commanding voice, the dog's ears perked as if he was standing at attention, the animal that had been so ready to play and socialise the night before was suddenly awaiting her command. She took him through a list of simple commands that the dog complied with each time. What’s more, he seemed to relish the attention and enjoyed this ‘game’ with his companion. The same small puppy had once again made its way over to me, sitting next to my foot, watching the demonstration intently.
Ashe’s voice called out from the end of the cages, “Natalie, you have a visitor!”
The puppy followed me out of the cage, staying close to my feet. Its mother got a little nervous as we neared the end of the caged area so Natalie let her out so she could stay with her puppy. “C’mon Bee,” she said warmly to the dog.
“Bee?” I asked curiously.
“Beatrix!” She laughed, explaining, “When I was little, I used to read books from Beatrix Potter, and that is where ‘Bee’ gets her name from!”
I laughed, still unsure of the animals, though the puppy certain seemed attached to my heel. I looked down at the puppy suddenly inspired to name it, I knelt and said. “Mya!” to the puppy who seemed to get very excited by the mere sound of the word.
“After your mother?” Natalie asked.
I nodded once and walked towards the rear of the cabin, summoning the puppy to follow. “Come,” I said gently, which got the little one so excited that she spun around before running after me, quickly catching up and walking beside my left ankle.
When we returned to the cabin finding a young man seated in the living area. The puppy moved behind my leg and snarled at him. “Fuck off mutt,” he growled.
“Sean,” Natalie growled as she walked into the cabin, her mention of the man’s name enough of a warning to pull him into line. “Please be respectful of my house and my guests please,” she said firmly.
The young man groaned and pulled out a bottle that hissed when he opened it, “Beer?” he offered, seeming to ignore Ashe who hobbled over and embraced me in her arms.
“No, thanks,” I said gratefully as the little puppy put her paw up on my leg as if asking for an introduction. The moment Ashe saw the dog, her heart melted. “Mya, this is Ashe! Ashe, this is Mya!” I joked thinking it was ridiculous to make introductions for a dog. But the little puppy replied with a wag of its tail before approaching Ashe and gently sniffing her leg. Ashe sat on one of the double chairs and invited Mya up who dutifully obliged. She was so gentle and weary of stepping on Ashe’s wound that I could not help but delight in the creature’s intelligence and understanding.
“I’ve never liked dogs,” Sean said as he swallowed a mouthful from his beer.
I shrugged. “I’ve never met a domesticated dog until yesterday, and they seem like amazing creatures to me!”
“Never?” Natalie asked.
“No, the only dogs that I have found until now have been wild,” I explained. Smiling as Ashe as she gently scratched the puppy on its back while sitting calmly with her, gently licking her leg just above the bandage on her leg before letting out a small whine and resting its head on her thigh gently.
“Jack, she is so beautiful,” Ashe said warmly, as I walked over and sat with them. To sit with my new family.
“She is a lovely creature,” I admitted, gently scratching the puppy behind the ear as I put my arm around Ashe.
“So, Jack, is it?” Sean asked, “Apparently, we are brothers or some shit. Personally, I don’t know about that, but I guess time will tell won’t it.”
The evening was a relatively quiet family affair with Chloe and Andrew joining us for a meal with the rest of my siblings and Millie, who was just as smitten on Mya as Ashe was. Introductions were quite brief and the get together was a little overwhelming for me, so I went out back to sit under the porch and drink on my own. Mya joined me, sitting qui
etly as she leant against my foot while I drank a glass of whiskey, reflecting on everything that had happened. The last few weeks had changed my life forever, and it seemed that it was all catching up to me on an emotional level that evening. Ashe managed to hobble out to sit next to me, careful not to disturb Mya, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on my boot.
“Are you okay?” Ashe whispered.
“I’m good, it's just a lot to take in that’s all.”
Ashe put an arm around me, squeezing tightly as the sunlight faded. We had found somewhere to stop and rest at last. I picked up Mya and sat her between us, though she did not seem to have any energy left falling back to sleep almost as soon as her head contacted my thigh.
Hope and loyalty were things I had never experienced in any genuine way. But they were things I seem to have found in abundance with Ashe. Her head rested on my shoulder as we sat in silence, enjoying the night air on a warm summers evening in what was our new home at least for the time being.
Desolation (Book 1): Aftermath Page 18
