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Chapter 27; Homecoming
It was times like these that Bernard wished desperately that he had wings and knew how to use them.
It had been hours… He knew it had been hours, because his stomach was starting to grow petulantly and he only got hungry once a day… That and pain was slicing up and down his leg with every beat of his heart.
Two things that pointed to one big thing…
He'd missed his medication… He only got hungry when he'd missed his medication, and he only felt this much pain when he'd missed it by more than three hours.
And the part that took the cake was… His medication was in the car, some unknown distance away, along with all his supplies and belongings.
So, here they were, trudging through a swamp in what he prayed was still Mississippi, but what could have been Louisiana for all he knew… He had no idea how far they'd tumbled through that watery passageway beneath the earth, only to be spit out of some overgrown crack in the sewer like a wad of tough spinach.
And there came the food analogies.
He stumbled, sinking almost to his knees in viscous mud and sludge.
Bernard supposed he was lucky. At least they had yet to come across a snake or a gator… From what he remembered of science from school, gators didn't much like being stepped on, or near for that matter. They bit and ate anything that came close enough to their mouths to snap at… And snakes were partial to biting people and leaving them to die of some noxious poison or another…
He glanced over his shoulder again seeing Aaron trudging along, looking for all it was worth like some zombie in a horror movie.
He was covered in mud, scrapes and cuts marred his bruised face, his clothes were torn and stained… The poor kid looked a wreck. Almost as bad as the small child clinging monkey style to his back.
"Come on, guys, almost there!"
Aaron didn't answer, or even so much as nod, he just kept trudging, eyes dull and unfocused, following in his father's footsteps like a kicked dog.
Bernard shifted the girl's weight in his arms and continued onward, limping pathetically.
He didn't know how much longer they walked through the swamp before they found it… Didn't really want to know to tell you the truth, because it couldn't have been too much later, the pain and hopelessness simply making it seem like a longer amount of time.
But, find it he did…
It was like one of those strange 'Where's Waldo' picture books you buy for children, you can search and search for hours through the image and never find the stupid striped jerk, get fed up and throw the book across the room, then go to pick it up and spot him lounging under a shade tree near the fat woman in pink!
Finding It was just as sudden and unexpected, despite the fact it had been there a lot longer than Bernard and hadn't moved at all.
It, was a house…
One of those lovely large white things like out of Gone With The Wind… A sprawling mansion looking place with large oaks in the front yard with stringy masses of Spanish moss hanging from the branches, and perpetual puddles in the driveway…
For a long while Bernard just stared at it blinking owlishly, but then there was movement on the second story balcony, and a thin screen door slammed sharply with a groaning of rusty hinges.
Out stalked a girl.
She was practically stomping and Bernard pictured small bare feet leaving dents in the floorboards for some reason.
She was dressed in a white tank top and denim bibbed overalls that had been rolled up to the knees.
She sat a silver boom-box with large round black speakers on the thick balcony railing then seemed to simply HOP up onto it herself, holding onto one of the large round pillars and swinging back and forth absently, before, with one bare toe, she flipped a switch on the boom box and started playing music.
Bernard didn't know what kind of music it was, he wasn't 'IN' to the newer stuff. He preferred early nineties U2 to anything else… Mostly because Kitty had had an affinity for the lead singer, threatening to name one of their older sons 'Bono' because it was a 'good, solid name'…
Bernard remembered staring at her like she was a madwoman where she'd been lounging on a tree limb, her wings out, gently stroking the bulging bowl of her stomach…
The girl on the balcony balanced along for a while, her arms out, leaning purposefully out over the edge, staring down at a rather pitiful garden of what looked like potatoes and stunted roses with small overly red flowers.
She turned around, repeating her pacing motion on the railing, and the sunlight caught her hair, making the odd orange streaks in her brown locks shine almost golden.
Bernard shook his head at her. He didn't really know why, but a strange fatherly instinct was bubbling in his chest, and he wanted to shout at her; 'Get down from there before you fall and break your neck!'
But before he could, the girl noticed they were there, standing in her yard, staring at her.
She back flipped off the railing, tumbling through the air and ran back into the house, leaving her boom box on the balcony playing her loud new music.
A few seconds later the front door opened and a face poked out into the light.
"What are you doing in my yard!"
Bernard opened his mouth to ask if the girl's parents were around, but before he could, Aaron decided to speak up.
"We have to get back to the fucking Panama Canal!"
Bernard winced, and had he not been carrying his daughter, he would have covered his face in embarrassment.
The girl blinked and stepped out onto the porch scratching her head. She was rather tall for what Bernard suspected was her age, thin and tomboyish in appearance… Had he been in his right mind he might have suspected something simply by her height, but as it was, he was half mad with pain, and he was sick of smelling the stink coming off himself and his kids.
The girl bowed low and waved her hand in a flourish; "Well, I don't know where THAT is, but Town isn't but about three miles up the road there… I'd be happy to show you."
Bernard interjected before Aaron could speak again.
The boy's confidence was a good thing, yes, but there was such a thing as too trusting, and his son was older than this girl by a good two years if not more, not to mention, he had yet to see her parents.
"Is your mom or dad around?" Bernard shouted; "If they are, could I speak to them please?"
The girl visibly bristled, her hair seeming to puff up in agitation, and her dark eyes flashed. "Do you not think I know where Town is?"
Bernard shook his head; "I'd rather just talk to your parents, if that's OK."
Her upper lip rolled back in a sneer, exposing what Bernard suddenly realized, were canine teeth that protruded just a little too long to be natural…
Staring at her teeth made him realize one other thing… Her pupils weren't rounded like his, but were thin and slitted.
Well, he thought to himself… That explains where her parents are.
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The girl, who had laughingly told him her name was Emily, once he'd explained where they'd come from. Said she'd been flushed from a smaller compound off to the north some four years before.
She didn't like anyone to get close to her, he discovered, and he pictured her somewhat like a feral cat. Shy of human interaction.
It was obvious she was taking good care of herself, she proved this by guiding them to the back of her house where there was a small pond. She padded out onto the dilapidated dock, dropped into a crouch… And hooked a seven-pound catfish right out of the water with her bare hands.
She laughed watching it flop about on the deck, pounced on it twice, and flung it back into the water.
Bernard watched it wistfully, his fingers itching as he followed the wet, glistening arch his assumed dinner made as it splashed back into the water and swam away…
True to her word, after she'd proven she could take care of herself without 'parents', and loaned some clothes to the two new additions to Bernard's family, she pulled on a pair of old, worn looking flipflops and started sauntering cat like down the road.
She bounced around them, giggling and every so often poking Aaron in the back, causing him to turn his head, his wings shifting under his soiled shirt.
She told jokes, laughed when Bernard told every single knock-knock joke he knew. Laughed when Aaron tripped and fell on his face…
Laughed when Bernard said he wanted a nice hot shower and his sweatpants. And he found himself laughing with her.
Even heard Aaron and the little boy laughing when she would run ahead, or fall behind only to leap and cling to Aaron's back, making purring sounds.
Bernard became accustomed to her presence, started thinking about how he was going to fit everyone into his car. Smiling to himself imagining car rides with her in the back seat singing some annoying song or another. Laughing and smiling fox like at Aaron.
It wasn't a conscious decision. She was alone without parents, and he certainly didn't mind being a father…
As soon as they were in sight of town, Bernard turned to ask her if she'd like to come with them, some part of him feeling responsible for her now that he knew she was indeed all alone…
But, when he turned his head to find her… She was gone.
He called out for her repeatedly, even backtracked looking for her footprints in the mud alongside the road…
But there was nothing.
He had just decided to turn around and head back toward her house when a shout reached his ears.
"HEY THERE!"
He turned his head, frustrated and tempted to tell the person to go away he'd lost someone and needed to find her quickly… But when he spotted the gleaming sheriff's badge on the man's chest his heart froze in his chest.
"Are you folks alright?"
Bernard scratched his head; "Did you see a girl," he held out his hand at about chest height; "This tall, orange streaks in her hair, overalls, sandals?"
The sheriff stared at him as if he were insane. "I only saw the fo' of you…" His hand slipped down to his hip holster and hovered near it; "Are you alright? You look a mite peaked…"
He nodded and glanced over his shoulder again miserably, questioning his own sanity… His eyes connected with those of the little boy he and Aaron had rescued, and there seemed to be a sadness in them, but at the same time resignation.
Bernard gave one last, longing look back the way they'd come and with a sigh turned to the sheriff; "Sorry, we're kind of lost…"
It's probably for the best, he told himself, She seemed happy… Who am I to say her idea of tranquility is wrong because it isn't like mine…
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This chapter is dedicated to maxride333 who gave the 100th review for Big Sky. Her prize was Emily.
You never know, the cat may come back… ;)
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