Chapter 62: Chapter 62

Dust coated his teeth, his eyeballs already gritty with the constantly blowing sand and small rocks as Adam made his way west as quickly as he could possibly go. Under any other circumstances, he might’ve taken this opportunity to look around him, to take in the constantly changing landscape, transitioning from mountains to farmland, to dry strips of dirt and rocks like the one he was on now, back to what he could plainly see was more hilly country in the distance and possibly mountains beyond, but now was not the time, particularly since there were no trees or tall plants of any kind in this area to protect him. If the Mothers were to catch up with him now, honing in on the silent signal emanating from his pocket, he would be screwed in a way he’d never been screwed before--which was saying something.

It took all of his concentration to keep the bike upright and moving in the correct direction. How many times had he almost wiped out? Hit a rock a little wrong, tipped too far to one side. He’d only left the lengthy tunnel leading out of the mountains a couple of hours ago, maybe three, and he’d already almost bit it at least five times.

The sky above him was clear blue with hardly a cloud. A light wind stirred the tops of the trees in the distance. It was chillier here than it had been down south, and he knew it would get colder the further north they went, the closer to winter it grew. He had no idea how long it might take to get to Quebec, especially since Seth’s vehicles would cut weeks off of the journey. But whether or not their new friend would be taking them any further remained to be seen. He had hinted that he would like to, if it was entirely up to him. Clearly, it wasn’t. His mother had a lot of influence over him. Adam couldn’t be angry about that considering he’d never had a mother himself and had no idea whether or not that was typical. Esther was kindhearted and clearly wanted to help them as well, but she didn’t want to risk the safety of her family to do so. He was certain he couldn’t blame her for that.

Even with every bit of concentration trained in on the path of the motorbike, Adam had plenty of time and energy to think. His mind went back to Rain and what she’d been trying to tell him right before she’d passed out. What had she meant when she said she could be the woman? Had that been a kiss she’d been attempting to press against his lips?

Rain was an enigma. He wasn’t certain he’d ever figure her out. She kept his life interesting, that was for sure. Whether or not she was attracted to him, he knew how he felt about her now more than he ever had before. Facing Seth, right before he left Judea, Adam had been overwhelmed with his feelings and had had to accept the truth then; he was in love with Rain.

A noise in the distance caught his attention. For a moment, he was frightened that the Mothers were about to appear, coming over the rise in the ground to his south. He realized it was nearly impossible for him to look to his left and not steer that direction, but a quick glance in that direction didn’t reveal anything. Deciding the noise could’ve been a lot of things--including farming equipment, some of which he’d passed earlier--he refocused his attention on the path before him, pushing the accelerator to seventy-five miles per hour, whatever that meant.

Rain. Exactly when he’d fallen in love with her was impossible to pinpoint. It might’ve been when she seemed to reject him at Dafo. Maybe it was when she’d been shot, and the fear of losing her forever had brought tears to his eyes as he pleaded with Esther to take them to safety. He didn’t know when he’d fallen in love with her because he hadn’t faced his feelings until he’d wanted to tell Seth to pass on a message but had no idea what the words were.

Grass and weeds began to pop up along either side of him, the ground ahead less rocky, more green. He was transitioning again. He guessed he had another eight hours of daylight. He could cover a lot of ground in that amount of time, assuming the Mothers were delayed. Assuming their friends in Oklasaw didn’t back down and give them free rein in their terrain. Assuming he didn’t flip the bike and have to make the rest of the trip on foot. He had four and a half days to drop the IUD and get to Louis City. It shouldn’t take that long, not nearly that long. Something told him he couldn’t waste a single moment.

With Rain’s face pictured in his mind, Adam kept his head down, his eyes forward, his boots mashed to the metal pieces, and his hand on the accelerator.

* * *

Rain took a seat at the dining room table across from Esther, next to Seth, with Peter sitting next to his mother. It was strange but comforting to be sitting there, in the small room, which was more of an extension of the kitchen than it was a designated space. It was homey. A picture of a large rooster hung on the wall behind Esther’s head. Beside it, an oversized fork and spoon apparently awaited a giant or else it was a quaint country way of decorating Rain didn’t quite understand. Since she’d seen no other evidence of mythical creatures since she left Michaelanburg’s borders, she had to believe some of what she’d been taught was true. Giants didn’t exist, but Oklasaw was an unimposing place where people appreciated nature, especially farmland.

A red and white checked tablecloth covered the modest wooden table. The spread looked and smelled delicious. It wasn’t anything fancy, just what looked like sliced turkey breast, some mixed vegetables in a pot with steam still rolling off the top, and warm rolls. A salad with a few choices of jarred dressing in the middle of the table was the first bowl to be passed around. In her glass, Rain recognized the drink Esther had referred to as sweet tea. It tasted delicious and refreshing. She could see why it seemed to be popular in this country.

“How was your nap, dear?” Esther asked as she handed over the salad dish.

“Good, thank you.” Rain had watched the woman of the house serve herself, so she understood the smaller plate was for the salad. She used the tongs to deposit a fair amount on her place, being sure to get a few of the small red tomatoes. Then, she handed the bowl over to Seth.

They continued to pass the dishes around, even though anyone could’ve reached the middle of the table. Esther took a roll and handed the platter to Rain. “I checked on Mist right before I heated up the turkey. She’s still sleeping. Color seems to be coming back in her face. Walt wouldn’t leave her long enough to come in here, so I figure I’ll bring him a plate later. Those two are tied at the hip.”

Rain smiled, glad to hear the news about Mist but also thinking the saying was right, even though it was unfamiliar to her. “Tied at the hip.” That seemed to be true. “Have you heard whether or not the Mothers have met with the delegate yet?” she asked, keeping her voice calm. She glanced at Peter, not sure if he was supposed to be a part of this discussion, but then, he had been on the boat with his mother and brother when she’d been shot, so he must be privy to most of what was going on.

Esther shook her head. “I haven’t received word yet.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small black rectangle. It reminded Rain of the device Crit had used to speak to Dal. This must be the phone Seth had mentioned earlier. Esther looked at the screen and shook her head again. “Nothing yet. And Adam hasn’t called me yet either. Has he checked in with you, Seth?”

“No,” he said quickly. His phone must still be in his pocket. Rain hoped she’d get a chance to look at it later. It seemed like an interesting piece of technology, similar to the tablets they used at home but smaller. She assumed they used different air waves to transmit, too, or else the Mothers might be able to track them.

“I’m sure he’ll wait until he has to refuel. Even then, he might be in such a hurry, he might not want to take the time. I doubt he’ll be able to manage calling and steering at the same time.”

“Not to mention it would be too loud to call while he’s on the bike,” Seth reminded her.

Rain had a vague idea what a motorbike looked like, having seen one before, assuming it was the same as those some military Mothers used, or similar. She still couldn’t imagine Adam driving one without any practice, but then, he seemed to be able to do most things he put his mind to.

She took a bite of her turkey. It was delicious, and she was starving. She tried to remember her manners and not shovel food into her mouth, but it was difficult. Her stomach was rumbling even as she was eating.

“You going to the dance?” Esther’s question wasn’t phrased as if she was seeking information from her eldest son. It was more a statement.

Seth shifted slightly in his seat, took a few more bites, then said, “I don’t know.”

“Seth….” Esther began, also concentrating on her food while she contemplated her word choice.

Rain wished she weren’t sitting at the table. This seemed like the sort of conversation the two should have alone. She glanced at Peter, whose eyes were locked on his plate. Not one word had parted his lips since she’d been there, at least, not that she’d heard. It was an assumption that Seth’s younger brother could, in fact, speak, but she had no evidence to support that.

“Mama, it seems really odd to be going to a dance in here while it’s likely Mothers will be crawling the mountainside above us. Either that, or our militia will be fighting to defend the people staying in our own home, some of them likely giving up their lives to do so.”

Esther cleared her throat, took a sip of tea, set her glass down. “You’re leaving soon. Your friends deserve to see you one last time, Seth.”

“I plan to be back in a week, two at most.”

His words were clearly chosen carefully. Rain didn’t miss the phrasing. She doubted Esther did either. He didn’t say he would be back, only that their current plan called for it. Things changed. Plans changed.

“What if something detains you?” Esther could be vague as well. “Don’t you think your gang, Joseph, John, Simon, the others, don’t you think they’ll wish they’d gotten a chance to tell you goodbye?”

Seth shrugged while Rain envisioned him standing around in a group of young men, laughing and carrying on as she supposed free young men would do. She’d never seen that before. The closest she’d come was eavesdropping on his conversation with Adam, the one Daniel Redd had spoiled. She’d seen Walt and Adam chat and cut up a little, but that wasn’t a group. It was hard to imagine.

“I’ll think about it, Mama.” That seemed to be the best Seth could do until his mom went the extra mile.

“What about Hannah?”

There it was. Rain had remembered the mention of the girl in the same conversation she’d overheard, the one she wasn’t supposed to be privy to. At the mention of her name, Seth’s shoulders tighten. Even his arm on the table next to Rain’s seemed to grow more rigid. “It’s not like that, Mama.”

“I know what it’s like,” Esther countered, a knowing lift in her left eyebrow. “I also know what it’s like to be a young woman sweet on a boy. You should go.” Then, in what seemed like an afterthought, she added, “Take Rain. She’s probably never been to a dance.”

The fork she’d been using to eat her salad clattered from between her fingers, colliding hard with the glass plate. “Me?” Rain asked, glancing around. Even Peter had lifted his head to look at her. “Oh, I couldn’t,” she stammered. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin….”

“Fiddle faddle,” Esther declared, an expression new to Rain's ears. “Mary has five girls. I’m certain one of them will have a gown that will fit you. You’ll need shoes. What size are you?”

“Size?” Rain repeated, the idea of attending a dance terrifying her more than the possibility of the Mothers storming down from atop the mountain at any moment. “Uh… medium.”

“Medium?” Esther cocked her head to the size, her fork frozen mid-lift, a piece of lettuce balanced on the tines precariously. “Your shoe size? It’s not a number?”

“No?” Rain had no idea why it sounded like a question. She knew her shoe size. It was medium, as she’d stated.

“Why aren’t your shoe sizes numbers?” Seth asked, a bit of turkey in his mouth as he asked. He did well to hide it in his cheek so she didn’t see the bits of gnawed up flesh.

“Well, we only have small, medium, and large,” Rain said with a shrug. “Our clothes are basically the same. Everything comes from the Mothers. We get what they give us. If we want or need something, we can ask for it. We usually can get it, but the sizes are general.” She thought of the fashion catalogues her other two roommates liked to look through. Gale and Breeze hadn’t even crossed her mind since she’d left Weather House. She hoped they were okay and no one had decided to interrogate them to see if she or Mist had divulged any information or plans. She wouldn’t have even known enough to tell them what direction they’d be running. The fashion magazines the girls used to look over weren’t usually for real people--they were mostly for avatars in the online games they played on their tablets. No one would ever wear anything like what was displayed in those magazines in real life. It wouldn’t be practical. They did look at magazines that had different colors of shirts and slacks from time to time, though. They could get those from the Mothers as needed. They were basically all the same, though. Rain swallowed, wondering what all she’d been missing out on, living in a world without dressing up, without number sizes, without dances.

“I’ll see what sizes Mary has available. I’m sure she’ll have something that fits you.”

“But Esther,” Rain began, protesting the idea that she needed to go to the dance. She was curious, it was true, but she couldn’t imagine herself fitting in with the kids of Judea. They’d have to know who she was. What if they called her names, the way Daniel Redd had?

“You should come,” Seth said, giving her a reassuring nod. “It’ll be fine. You’ll have fun.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, thinking he must’ve lost his mind. If she did go, would he dance with her? Would he care that she had no idea how to dance? Other than the happy little jigs the women did when they scored well on an exam or otherwise received good news, Rain had never danced a step in her life.

Protesting would have to wait. Esther’s phone made a loud chirping sound that made Rain’s bottom lose contact with her chair. She reached for a rifle that wasn’t there but calmed slightly when she realized it was the device. But then… when she thought it might be Adam, she felt her pulse pick up again.

“It’s Mayor Abraham,” she said before she pushed a button and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

Disappointment settled over Rain as she accepted that it wasn’t Adam. Then, she realized he could be calling about Adam and sucked in a deep breath, all thoughts of eating fleeing her mind.

Seth must’ve sensed her uneasiness. He reached over and put his hand on her shoulder, a soothing kindness she much appreciated as she tried to make sense out of Esther’s one sided conversation.

It was mostly grunts and one word answers. “Yes.” “No.” “Okay.” In-between, she’d ask an occasional question of clarification, “What time?” “What did he say?” “Are they going to do that?” The conversation dragged on, Esther not even looking Rain in the face as she stared at her free arm, draped between her ample bosom and the table.

After what seemed like a half hour, though it was likely more like ten minutes, Esther thanked Mayor Abraham, whoever that was, and disconnected the call. “The delegate has completed his meeting with the Mothers,” she said, letting out a sigh as she spoke. She shook her head. “They refuse to stand down.”

“What does that mean for us?” Seth asked, his grip on Rain tightening.

“It means, we’ll likely take to the hills and trees, as we always do, and attempt to defend our territory the best we can. The prime minister has already activated the anti-aircraft measures, which means their drones will be of little use. If they’re smart, the Mothers will swing out and go around our western border, the lands between us and Aricornia, but he didn’t seem to think they’d do that, not until they’ve had a thorough search of the location where Mist’s device first started to chirp.”

“So… we didn’t pull them away?” Seth asked, his face dropping with defeat.

“Mayor Abraham didn't say that. He did notice the Mothers had shifted some of their vehicles to the west. He thinks they’re getting the signal from the device still, and that Adam may well draw some attention, but they’ll have to fight their way to him, and that will slow them down.”

“You’re saying that the militia, Oklasaw’s military, is willing to fight to protect us?” Rain asked, unable to believe that could be true.

“While they do seek to help, it’s more about keeping a foreign military power off our land,” Seth explained to her. As he turned, he suddenly seemed to realize his hand was still on her and that it no longer needed to be, so he withdrew it, a bit of crimson creeping up his neck. He cleared his throat. “We tend to take more of a defensive stance in these parts.” The last statement was said with an air of animosity Rain hadn’t missed.

“None of our leaders are upset that you are here,” Esther assured her, though Rain thought that probably wasn’t true. “We just want the Mothers to turn right around and go back to Michaelanburg where they belong.”

“But they don’t belong there either,” Seth said with enough conviction, Rain had to assume he hadn’t just developed that sentiment since she’d arrived. “They need to be eradicated.”

“In good time, boy,” Esther said with a shake of her head. “We don’t need to go pickin’ a fight we can’t win neither.”

Seth opened his mouth to disagree but thought better of it. He closed it, looked at his plate, and then back at his mother. “May I be excused?”

She nodded, and he stood, collecting his dishes and taking them to the kitchen. Rain had never seen such a procedure before. Her mind was still on the exchange when she heard another voice, one she hadn’t heard yet. “May I be excused, Mama?”

Peter--so he could talk.

“Yes, son,” Esther answered. The younger boy took his dishes and headed into the kitchen as well. Rain was also done, but she would wait to ask her question because she thought Seth needed a chance to get out the back door, go get some fresh air, or whatever the inside of a mountain could supply. The idea that she might be going to a dance while Adam ran for his life across dangerous territory, and strangers she’d never get a chance to meet potentially died trying to save her, didn’t sit easy with her, but then, neither did the idea of arguing with Mama.

She heard the back door close and shifted her eyes to her plate. There was some food left, but she’d eaten most of it. “You may be excused, Rain,” Esther said, her voice softer now that she’d had a moment to recover.

“Thank you.” Rain stood, taking her plates and glass as the boys had, and moving to the kitchen, pushing her chair in with her hip as she went. For a moment, she imagined staying here. What if this was every day? Sitting at the table with these people, calling Esther Mama, eating lunch, asking to be excused…. It wasn’t a bad way to live. Maybe someday, she’d have a house and a family and children who asked to be excused before they carried their plates to the kitchen.

Or maybe she’d die in a day or two on her way toward finding that house. At least, she’d gotten the chance to experience it now, and someday, Esther and her family might look back at this day and remember the odd redheaded girl who wore shoe size medium, didn’t know what a phone was, and thought it intriguing to ask to be excused from the dinner table.