by Eric Vall
“Yes,” I said with a gentle smile. “Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah,” she said, then she flashed me a wicked grin. “As long as you love me most.”
“You are my favorite platinum blonde,” I said sincerely.
“Cheater,” Tara teased and kissed me on the cheek.
“What can I say,” I sighed. “You all are so different. I love you all for different reasons.”
“Don’t tell the others,” Tara said. “But I love them too. Not like you do, but still. They are my sisters.”
“I know you do,” I said. “Even Winchester.”
“You don’t know that.” The platinum blonde glared at me.
“I saw you sneak him bites of your dinner earlier,” I chuckled.
“They looked like they got burnt,” Tara snickered.
“You never burn food,” I chuckled.
“Whatev,” Tara said with an eye roll and a smile.
Chapter 15
The next morning, I woke in a cheerful mood with Tara still wrapped around me. I gently peeled the platinum blonde off me and stood up to get dressed.
The morning light was barely there as I made my way to the top floor to check on the road below.
“Hey,” I greeted Rolly as I came into the room.
“Morning,” Rolly said.
“Were you on guard all night?” I asked with concern.
“Oh, no,” Rolly said with a wave of his hand. “Donna and Jeff took last night, but I woke up early so I figured I would take over for a while.”
“You know you don’t need to be on guard duty so much,” I told him with a frown.
“I know,” he said. “But it’s a good way to feel useful.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “Just don’t overdo it.”
“No worries,” Rolly said. “I make time for other things.”
“I’m sure you do,” I chuckled. “But I have a project for you today.”
“Oh?” Rolly asked with interest. “What’s that?”
“The solar panels,” I said.
“We’re setting them up today?” he asked.
“I’m hoping so,” I said.
“That would be nice,” he said. “What can I do to help?”
“I’ll need you and Paige on it,” I told him. “We need to figure out the best place to set them up and how to hook it up to the building.”
“Alright,” Rolly agreed. “I think we can do that no problem. Will they work alright with it being winter?”
“I don’t know,” I told him. “We may get less energy since the days are shorter.”
“It’s overcast quite a bit in winter too,” Rolly said with a frown.
“Solar panels don’t need direct sunlight to work,” Paige said, and I turned to see her standing in the doorway with the other girls.
“Well, good morning,” Rolly chuckled.
“Good morning, Rolly,” Bailey said as she took a seat, and Winchester laid down at her feet.
“So solar panels don’t need direct sunlight?” Anna asked Paige.
“No,” the brunette answered. “They use the photons from the light, not the light itself.”
“So we could have power by the end of the day?” Tara asked with wide eyes before she took a seat on my lap.
“I believe we could,” Paige agreed.
“Oh, my God,” Tara groaned. “That would be incredible.”
“Let’s not get our hopes up too much,” I said.
“Alright,” Tara pouted. “But if we get it running, I call first shower.”
“Why do you get first shower?” Bailey scoffed.
“‘Cause I’m the dirtiest,” Tara said with a wink. “And I called dibs.”
“I don’t think you can call dibs on that,” Anna said.
“Yeah,” Paige said. “Rolly and I will be doing all the work.”
“I’ll help,” Tara said.
“We’ll figure out who gets first shower later,” I chuckled. “For now let’s worry about getting them set up.”
“Fine,” Tara said.
“We should get the daily chores done first,” Bailey said.
“Yes,” I agreed.
“How will we get hot water anyway?” Anna asked.
“I set up the line when we dug the trench,” Rolly said. “I figured maybe we could get it running, eventually.”
“Good job,” I told the old man.
“Hey,” Anna said, and I followed her eye line to the window. “Who is that?”
Two figures walked down toward the bridge, and I narrowed my eyes on them to see who it was.
“I think it’s Dan and Jenny,” Bailey said.
“They must be going to feed the cows,” Paige said.
“That was nice of them,” Anna said. “They could have waited though, and we could have gone together.”
“They’re used to getting up early to feed the animals,” Betty said from the doorway.
“Well, it’s definitely appreciated,” I said.
“And I’m sure they’d appreciate some coffee when they get back,” Betty said with a pointed look at Rolly.
“Are you saying that because they want coffee, or because you do?” Rolly asked with a grin.
“Does it matter?” Betty asked with a wry smile.
“Not in the slightest,” Rolly said, and the girls awed at them when they kissed.
Rolly excused himself to go make the coffee, and Betty took his seat.
“So, did I hear something about solar panels?” the old woman asked.
“You did,” I said.
“We’re setting them up today?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Paige said. “I mapped out a diagram already.”
“You did?” I chuckled.
“Of course she did,” Anna laughed.
“Sometimes being a nerd comes in handy,” Paige said with a wide smile.
“We should go check the traps,” Bailey said.
“I’ll go with you,” Anna offered.
“Alright,” the blonde said, and she, Anna, and Winchester headed downstairs.
“Tara,” I said.
“What?” the platinum blonde asked warily.
“Should we find something to do to make ourselves useful?” I asked rhetorically.
“I thought we were on guard duty,” Tara said with feigned innocence.
“I’m going to go over the diagram for the solar panels,” Paige laughed.
“Why don’t you help Paige with that?” I asked, and Tara wrinkled her nose.
“How about you help Paige?” Betty said to me. “And Tara and I will whip up some breakfast.”
“That,” Tara said, and she pointed at Betty. “I like that plan. Betty is a genius.”
“Alright,” I chuckled.
We all parted ways, and I followed Paige to the gym where she had the diagram sitting next to the solar panels.
“So what’s our game plan here?” I asked as I inspected the blueprints.
“We can attach the panels to the roof,” Paige told me. “And hook them up to the battery.”
“Do you know how to hook the battery up to our circuit breaker?” I asked.
“In theory I do,” Paige said. “But Rolly would be a big help with that.”
“I already talked to him about it,” I said.
“I think we can get this done in a day,” Paige said.
“That would be great,” I said.
“We’ll need to clean off the roof though,” Paige said with a scrunched-up face.
“Yes we will,” I chuckled. “Let’s grab some shovels and head that way.”
“Alright,” Paige reluctantly agreed.
We got some shovels from Rolly’s shed and made our way up to the roof. It wasn’t long before we had most of it cleared, and I figured Tara probably had breakfast ready, so I threw off one last shovel full of snow.
“Hey!” Anna called from below and I looked over the edge to see her covered in snow.
“Sorry!”
I said, but I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Uh huh, sure,” Anna chuckled. “Is breakfast ready?”
“I’m sure it is,” I said. “Paige and I will be right in.”
I headed inside with Paige behind me, and we made our way down to the common area. Everyone else was already there and Tara and Betty had dished up biscuits and gravy and Rolly had made coffee.
“How’s the work going up there?” Betty asked as she handed Paige and I plates.
“We’re almost done clearing the roof,” Paige said.
“Good,” Betty said.
“We’ll start moving panels here shortly,” I said.
“We can help,” Jeff said. “I didn’t realize you were up there or I would have offered sooner.”
“That’s alright,” I said. “I appreciate everyone pitching in to do chores.”
“We saw the girls heading out and figured it was time to get going,” Jeff said with a smile.
“That’s a good indicator,” I said as I shoved my mouth full of biscuits.
We all finished eating, and then made our way to the gym to gather the solar panels. Jeff finished shoveling the roof for us, and we got the panels up without issue. It was a quick job since everybody pitched in, and soon it was time for Rolly to figure out how to connect them to our power.
“Hey, Boss,” Rolly said as he inspected the wires.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Didn’t Kimmy say she worked on electrical stuff?” he asked.
“She did,” I agreed. “You feeling a bit out of your element here?”
“A bit,” he admitted. “I can do the work, but some advisement would be appreciated.”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll go get her.”
I headed out to the common room and found Kimmy on the couch with baby Anthony.
“Kimmy,” I said. “Would you mind helping Rolly and I?”
“Of course,” she said, and then hurried to stand up.
The day had gone by quickly, and I could tell it was already past noon at that point.
“If you don’t know about it, that’s fine,” I told her as we walked. “But if you can offer any insight, we would appreciate it.”
“This is for the solar panels?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“I think I can help,” she said with a smile.
“Have you set up solar panels before?” I asked.
“Yes,” she chuckled. “I had them on my old house. I’m sure these aren’t too different.”
“You continue to surprise me,” I laughed.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Kimmy teased.
“Definitely good,” I said with a grin.
I liked Kimmy. She was brilliant and sweet and obviously tried to be useful even with a child strapped to her chest. I found myself feeling sad that she had lost the father of her baby, but I was happy to have her with us.
“Oh, this will be easy,” Kimmy said as she inspected the battery.
“Really?” Rolly asked. “I can hook things up, but I wasn’t really sure where to start.”
“Here,” Kimmy said, and she handed me Anthony before she bent down and started plugging things in.
“Oh,” I said with surprise as I took the child. “Hey there, buddy.”
“You don’t mind, do you?” Kimmy asked.
“Not at all.” I shook my head.
Anthony was a beautiful, calm baby. I didn’t think I had ever heard him whimper, let alone cry. I figured that Kimmy was good at meeting his needs, and he didn’t feel the need to cry, but I didn’t know much in the way of children to say if that was true or not.
By now, he was a hefty baby, with little rolls on his arms and legs, and a pudgy face. Looking at him I finally understood why old women always pinched children's cheeks. They looked very pinchable.
“He likes you,” Kimmy said as she worked.
“You think so?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “He likes most people, but he seems to be the most comfortable with you.”
“Well, good,” I said, and I smiled at the baby.
“There we go,” Kimmy said, and she stood up and flipped some switches on the battery.
A small green light came on, but it flashed a few times and then turned off.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Well, it’s midday,” Kimmy said. “The device is working, but there just isn’t much energy stored up yet.”
“How long will it take to store some?” I asked.
“A few hours,” Kimmy told me. “I’ll come back and check on it in a while, but we should have power this evening.”
“Oh, my God,” Rolly laughed. “You are a miracle worker woman.”
“Hardly,” Kimmy laughed. “Science is pretty much the opposite of miracles.”
“Not in this case,” Rolly told her. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad to be of help,” Kimmy said, and she reached for baby Anthony.
“Thank you again,” I said as I handed over the child.
“Of course,” Kimmy said.
“If this is all handled, I think I’m going to go check out the situation by the bridge,” I said.
“I think we’ve got it all covered here,” Rolly said with a nod at Kimmy. “Thanks to this one.”
“Alright, then,” I chuckled, and then headed to the common area.
“Hey,” Bailey said. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah,” I said as I threw on my coat. “I’m going to go check out the bridge situation.”
“I’ll come with,” the blonde offered.
“You don’t have to,” I told her. “It’s cold out there.”
“I’d like to come,” Bailey said, and she stood up and retrieved her coat.
“Have fun,” Tara said with a grin.
“You’re terrible,” Anna chuckled.
“I’ll work as much as I’m needed,” Tara said. “But I’m not going out into Narnia unless I absolutely have to.”
“It was only winter in Narnia because of a spell,” Paige said. “It wasn’t always winter.”
“Well, once the spell is broken, let me know,” Tara said.
“I’ll be sure to do that,” I laughed and stepped out into the cold.
Winchester ran out before Bailey had a chance to stop him, and she called out to him as he happily ran through the snow in the courtyard.
“It’s alright,” I told her. “He can come today.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “He hasn’t been out as much lately. He needs to run around.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
The day had become overcast and dreary. The air flurried with small bits of snow that spun around Bailey and I in a whimsical way. Winchester didn’t seem to mind the snow. He zipped back and forth around Bailey and I as we walked, barking happily at us. The path to the bridge was still filled with snow, but some of it had been packed down from people walking on it.
I made my way to the woods that led to the sentry post.
“Why not just go down the driveway?” Bailey asked.
“If anybody is walking by I don’t want them to see us,” I explained.
“Oh,” Bailey said. “Good call.”
“Thank you for coming with me,” I told the blonde with a smile.
“Of course,” Bailey said. “I didn’t want you to go out here alone.”
“I’m a big boy,” I chuckled. “I could have handled it.”
“I know,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you should have to.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” I said. “You don’t seem to mind the snow as much as some of the girls.”
“I love to be warm,” Bailey said. “But in California you don’t really get snow in the southern region. In the mountains they do.”
“Had you never seen snow before you came here?” I asked.
“I had,” she said softly. “Every year my family would make a tr
ip up to Big Bear to see the snow.”
“So that’s why you don’t mind it,” I said.
“Yeah,” the blonde agreed. “It reminds me of time with my family.”
“I bet it was a good time,” I said with a smile.
“Oh, it was,” she laughed. “All us kids would play in it and build snowmen. There were pictures from every year with us standing next to our creations.”
“Let me guess,” I chuckled. “Yours were always the prettiest?”
“Why would you say that?” Bailey asked.
“I just think you have a knack for making things pretty,” I said with a shrug.
“Thanks.” Bailey blushed. “Yeah, I would always bring little things to add to mine to make it pretty.”
“We could build a snowman here,” I told her. “If you want to.”
“I think I’d like that,” she replied with a grin.
We reached the bottom of the hill where the sentries were posted and I crouched down to scan the area. Winchester came over before I had a chance to call him, and he laid down between Bailey and I, his eyes intent on the road.
“It seems quiet,” Bailey said after a moment.
“It does,” I agreed.
We waited a few more minutes. The snow continued to flurry around us, and the overcast sky threw a gray shade on everything.
“It’s a dreary day,” Bailey commented as we waited.
“I kind of like dreary days,” I said.
“Me too,” the blonde agreed with a smile.
“As long as it doesn’t get too cold,” I admitted.
“Same,” she laughed.
“Let’s head down to the water,” I said. “I want to see if there are any tracks down there.”
“Alright,” Bailey said, and we stood up and walked toward the river.
As we grew closer to the water I could feel the air grow colder. The water line was high, but the river itself was still down the hill a ways. The deep blue water frothed with white as it rushed past us.
“There,” I said and I pointed across the river. “Do you see them?”
“Yeah,” Bailey said. “It looks like the snow covered them a bit, but I see some indents.”
“It looks like three or four tracks,” I said.
“I’m guessing they didn’t make it,” Bailey said quietly.
“No,” I agreed. “But that’s a good thing for us.”
“Bad for them, though,” she said.
“You have to remember that they were coming up here to steal from us,” I said.
