CHAPTER 15
“Thought you said Rennies don't use guns,” Jake growled as she slid into a ditch. It was about the only cover they had at this end of the runway.
For somebody as stout as Lucy, she was pretty nimble and had almost beat the others into their rather pathetic protection. She had not even broken a sweat from running and, Jake noted, the girl wasn't even out of breath. She sure had no problem talking but, then again, now that she was warming up to Jake, he had discovered she never seemed to have a problem doing that. This time, what she said was more relevant, “that ain't no damn Rennie.”
How could she know that? She seemed pretty confident and stood up, “Arlin! You stupid son of a bitch! It's me! Get your ass over here!” She stood up to watch a kid on a horse come riding across the small airfield. The others now felt silly hiding so they joined her. That's when she told Jake, “I recognized the crack of that rifle.”
Amy was shocked by this and asked the girl how it was possible. Amy was not even sure she believed Lucy but, the girl was not only confident, she was smiling when she said, “that's my little sweetie. Don't you know your sweetie's gun, honey?” Suddenly Lucy became embarrassed and she gulped, “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said... Oh look who's here, it's Arlin.”
As the plump little girl ran out to hug the cowboy looking kid, on horseback, Jake was almost cross eyed as he looked back as his two Rangers. Amy was now standing and brushing herself off while Danni elected to get no higher than sitting up on the edge of the ditch. Both of them were doing their level best to ignore him and, consequently, each other. All Jake could say was, “I don't want to know what that was about.”
“Nothing,” Amy said with a perky little smile.
“Ok,” Jake replied, “now I really don't want to know. Look you two, we are quite literally in Indian country here so...”
Amy went from her smile right back to how she was really feeling and pointed out, “all I've seen are cowboys.”
Danni was distracted by this and not so moody when she asked, “Indians? You mean like those guys from, what's that place called? China?”
That got no response at all. Instead, Jake decided to do something a little more peaceful like, fight a war. Jake went off to talk with the guy that Killian had left to guard the planes and this left Amy taking a deep breath, holding it in, and then saying the only thing on her mind, “awkward.” Danni actually agreed as she went to join Jake.
After Jake got the story from Arlin, he was a bit disturbed about the only option that was sitting in font of him. This was the kind of problem that he had not considered when they flew up here. He looked off in the direction that Arlin was pointing and said, “how far is 'over the hill' exactly?”
It was Lucy that answered and she did not seem so concerned, “oh it's not far honey. This is his airstrip. I'm gonna have to go with you though. He don't know you and, sides that, you guys don't need to be stumbling round out here in the dark woods, you don't know.”
Jake was still unconvinced. He thought about how fast Lucy could really move and wondered what she meant by, 'not far.' What he did know was that, it might have been dark out here but, it was not that dark and he had not seen any house when they landed. When he put that to Lucy she just got to walking and waived it off, “oh you wouldn't, even if it was daylight. Mister Curtis has cammo nets up on account of he don't want the Germans knowing his business.”
Jake blinked. Amy followed without a word and Danni stopped next to Jake and asked, “you ok? You look like...”
“Just when I think this place can't get any weirder,” was all he could say on the matter and, as Jake was to find out, it just kept right on doing so. The problem with that was, the weird was not exactly in the way he thought. This Curtis guy was not what he expected. The man was neither paranoid nor stupid. He acted reasonable enough and, unlike Arlin, he did not shoot at anybody that approached his house. Of course, this was not for lack of firepower. The guy not only had it, which really didn't surprise Jake when you considered how remote his family home was but, he also had all of it out on his kitchen table. He had a couple of grown sons, and one even not so grown, who were helping him load up and double check their weapons. Jake got the idea that his wife would have been in on the act too, only she was busy being a good hostess and making something hot for them to drink.
The Curtis clan looked to be a pretty tight knit group and, given their circumstances, that was of no great surprise. They also seemed a pleasant enough family, even with all the guns on their kitchen table. As Jake and Danni warmed themselves by the fire place, Jake noted the family portrait on the mantle above it. Danni was impressed, “wow, I don't think you could get my Mom to pose in a picture like that with me.”
“Not what I mean,” Jake told the girl but, he did follow up by saying, “I don't know Daniealla, have you ever asked her?” When Danni got uncomfortable, Jake tried to brush it over with a joke, “could you imagine Tony's family trying to do a picture like this? I bet you couldn't fit the whole clan in one building.”
It was the wrong joke and Danni got even more uncomfortable, “can we not talk about that?”
Mister Curtis came back in from the kitchen with his wife, who had a tray full of soup in hand, and he took a moment to give a few instructions to his sons before apologizing for his absence. Then he continued, “yeah I was the one who called in Sheriff Rayne. I wanted to go with him but, he thought I needed to stay here and protect my family.”
Jake wandered away from the fire and, as he did, he noted Amy by the window. She had a blank look but was intently staring at something. When Jake asked her she replied in an almost remorseful tone, “it's snowing. I haven't seen it since it I left Earth.”
That got Danni to forget any problems she might have had with Amy and she rushed over to join her at the window, “I've never seen snow! Wow!”
That drew a short laugh from Mister Curtis, “forgot what it was like living down in the Arch.” He saw the look on Jake's face but, apparently, he did not even have to guess what it was about, “I wouldn't worry Agent Barton. It's still early in the year. It won't be much. I doubt we'll even get much more than a dusting.”
Jake picked up another line of questioning, “you from down there in the islands?”
“Um,” the guy considered his words but, he seemed earnest enough about most stuff, “not originally, no. I was born here but, you know, like a lot of kids I had to run off and see the big city.”
His wife added, “we just couldn't see, raising a family there. All those Canadians, and thank god we got out before the Germans showed up. We just didn't expect to have them kind of problems, not way out here.”
“Erma,” Mister Curtis told his wife in a mildly frustrated tone, “now please don't start.”
“Well it's not right Tank,” the woman snapped and, this had to be the first time that Jake had seen her drop her grace. She did not spare her scorn as she told Jake, “those damn Rennie people. What right have they got to come out here on our land and just set up shop. Nobody asked them to come out here, farm, throw banquets, and raise children and...”
Jake stopped it right there by asking, “I'm not understanding something here, Mister Curtis. What did you have to do with the vaccine thing?”
“Oh that,” Tank Curtis replied. He stumbled around with his words for a moment and then said, “I store some of it out by the airfield. I let the DHS people use my strip to bring it in. That's what started the scuffle out there.”
“So,” Jake played with putting the pieces together, “they what? They attacked the shipment? They destroyed your little warehouse?”
Curtis was definitely a man in deep thought. He looked like he was not even sure what to say. Erma Curtis was another matter as she scornfully replied for her husband, “them throw backs wouldn't know a vaccine from a horse biting them on the ass.”
That caused Tank to look at his wife with a nasty stare and, without a word between them, she stomped off back to the kitchen. Then the man, trying to remain calm, told Jake, “no it's all there as far as I know. Sheriff Rayne didn't say anything about it so...”
Jake only had a couple of more questions, “which way did he go? The Sheriff that is?”
Tank pointed like the place was right in front of him, “they headed off up to Rennie Town, they call it the Barony.”
“Thank you,” Jake replied and then followed on with his last question, “you wouldn't happen to have a truck or something, would you?”
“You're not going to be able to use it to get up there,” Tank replied. “The Sheriff keeps horses here though, just for times like this.”
Danni actually clapped and started bouncing. Amy did not share her enthusiasm and Lucy had to reassure her. It didn't work and Jake did not care. He walked back out on the front porch of the Curtis home, and took a good look at the semi illuminated surroundings. Danni actually ran out in the yard and began twirling around in the gently falling snow. Lucy joined the girl and they seemed happy enough. It was Amy who stayed on the porch, occasionally looking back in the window at the Curtis clan who were busy cleaning guns.
Amy did not seem so meek as she pointed out, “I don't know how to ride a horse Jake. Not sure I want to.” When Jake did not reply she told him, “I looked in that shed before we came up here. Looked to me like it was all there. Nobody's been seriously injured, yet, you know, unless I have to get on a horse. Why don't we...”
“I looked too Amy,” Jake told the girl. “I even checked the log. It was all there.”
Why did he even ask about it then? Amy was confused, “so what are we doing here?”
“Cause we're not here about some stupid vaccination program and,” Jake continued, “quite frankly, this situation doesn't have shit to do with it in the first place. We'll wait till first light. Then we go find the Sheriff's little posse and make sure they're not dead.”
Days as a Schizophrenic (Poem)
Decant
It's Hurting Again
