The Harvest
Page 20
“It’s the only reason I do anything,” Basheba countered. Clutching Buck close, she tried to settle herself against the snow, as if this would all be easier if she could just get comfortable. When she shifted her gaze to Mina, she could feel the metal edge rubbing against the back of her eyeball. “You want to be a doctor, right? If he won’t do it, try and stop the bleeding.”
For once, Mina kept her silence and only nodded.
“Ozzie, don’t watch.”
“I want to be here for you, Basheba.”
“And I don’t want you to throw up on me,” she replied with a weak smile she hoped was encouraging.
He tried and failed to return the gesture. Swearing constantly under his breath, Cadwyn rummaged through his med-kit for sterile wipes and cleaned his hands as best he could with them.
“You’ll have to stop holding the dog,” he grumbled.
“If I let go of him, he’s going to go for your throat,” Basheba said.
Instinctively, she closed her eyes to try and prepare herself for what was to come. Her gut churned when Cadwyn instructed her to open her eyes again.
“I’ll do my best.”
“I trust you,” she whispered.
His hands were shaking as he placed them by her eye. She tried one last time to reassure him with a smile. It didn’t work, but he began, anyway. Pain swept through her, consuming her, boiling her within her own skin. Buck struggled against her, trying to break free and save her. She felt the pop just before darkness washed over her and dragged her into oblivion.
Chapter 20
Locking the final box had changed everything. The oppressive cold that had been there since they first stepped into the Witch’s Woods was gone. There was still a chill, strong enough to have them huddling together during the night. But the mist had lifted and, without it, the harshest bite of the air had been soothed.
They had lost most of their camping gear at the Bell homestead. When Basheba was conscious, she had instructed them as best she could, but they had all agreed to let her sleep as much as possible, so they were often left to work things out for themselves.
The two-day hike passed in a blur, fatigue, pain, and shock each playing their part to keep their minds dulled. Every time Mina tried to think, all her brain could linger on was the incredible sacrifice Basheba had made for her. A part of her was quick to believe the woman’s explanation. Hatred and spite were strong motivators. But in the somber aftermath, with each of them nursing their physical and psychological wounds, Mina didn’t think that was the case. Nor was it the noble desire to keep the demon from being unleashed upon them. By the time they had left the Witch’s Woods to rejoin the cleared recreational path, Mina was sure Basheba had been motivated by grief. Mina had seen the orchard and felt their lineage. She knew how many Bells hung there.
Reaching the parking lot felt like stepping back in time. Everyone looked exactly as they had left them. Comfortable. Healthy. Safe. Once more, the four families had crammed themselves into the limited area. This time, however, the scent of hamburgers drifted on the air and a few tents had replaced the cars. It looked like a tailgate party.
They were ready for a long wait.
It was impossible to tell who in the mob spotted them first. One cry set up the next and soon enough the clearing was full of life. The excitement only grew as it became clear all four had survived. A few poppers were set off; sharp cracks that rained colorful streamers down upon them. Others threw flower petals; pink and white roses that flipped and twisted before settling on the fine layer of speckled snow.
It’s like they’re welcoming home heroes.
Mina looked to Basheba, trying to see if this was the standard practice. A yellowed gauze patch covered one eye. The other held more sorrow than fire.
They hadn’t reached the parking lot before people flooded up to meet them. Ozzie had to brace his good arm over his wounded one to keep from getting jarred by the flood of relatives he didn’t really know. Cadwyn welcomed his mother, holding onto her even when his stitches started to bleed again. Mina looked up in time to have her father and mother almost knock her off her feet.
“Are you hurt?” Jeremiah asked as he joined the group.
Mina shook her head.
“That’s my girl,” her father boasted, raising his voice louder for the others to hear. “To hell and back with barely a scraped knee!”
Cheers rang out, sounding like an army after the two days of near silence. Mina slowly pulled away from her parents to wrap her brother in a tight hug.
“What happened out there?” he whispered.
“I’ll tell you later.” She leaned back enough to catch his eyes, wanting him to know the full weight of her words. “You and the others. No more secrets.”
He shushed her. “Don’t let mom and dad hear you say things like that. We have our traditions.”
A booming voice rang out over all the other mirth, drawing Mina’s attention. Across the parking lot, Basheba stood with her uncle before the couple Percival Sewall had brought along.
Ozzie’s parents, her mind corrected.
The uncle was boasting. Understanding his actual words weren’t necessary. It was clear by position and gesture alone that the Bell was raining praise down upon his niece. But he never looked at her. His attention was fixed on the rich couple.
Every muscle in Basheba’s body locked tight as her uncle began to play with her long blonde hair. Twisting the strands around his hand until each rhythmic clench of his fist made her arch her neck back. It almost looked like an absentminded sign of affection. An innate desire to maintain some kind of physical contact with the relative he had almost lost. But there was something in it that left Mina unsettled.
She felt it like a coming storm; the moment when Basheba snapped. Mina anticipated that she’d push the older man away. Slashing at his face with her hunting knife wasn’t something anyone had seen coming. Shock and horror washed through the crowd. Only four people stood undisturbed.
Four people and a dog.
While the knife had made contact, the man had jerked away in time that the cut on his face wasn’t deep. He belatedly hurried to move out of his niece’s reach as someone handed him a shirt to press to his face.
“I need to get Basheba to a hospital,” Cadwyn cut in smoothly, before the small woman could do more.
“I have a helicopter,” Ozzie cut in. “If you guys want a ride.”
“Thanks,” Basheba smiled, her attention diverted from her uncle.
“I’m coming, too.” Mina got three paces before her father tried to pull her back. “Someone’s got to hold Buck. I’ll meet you at home.”
The whole time in the woods, she had wanted nothing more than to be back with her family. Now, she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
They knew. They knew about all of this, and they said nothing. Nothing but lies my whole life.
She pushed down the thought just as she had a thousand times before and hurried to catch up. A voice drifted from the woods before they could leave. A sweet, whispered voice that left everyone in tense silence. The voice of the Bell Witch.
“Goodbye. I’ll see you next year.”
* * *
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