Back To Our Beginning (31 page)

Hearing Ricky’s screams Clint bolted up the path followed by an equally quick Cord. They raced heart in mouth as Emmy added her own screams to the boy’s. Arriving in a panic, Clint, seeing the danger, grabbed Emmy and tossed her away from the snake. She howled in protest, recovering herself, and made ready to once again rush to the child’s aid, but Clint ordered her back.

“Oh shit, Cord, what the hell is it?” Clint gasped, pulling on Ricky’s underarms.

Cord grabbed at the knife strapped to his pant leg, preparing to stab it. “It’s an anaconda,” Cord ground out before stabbing repeatedly into its neck.

Cord was too afraid to aim for its head, fearful he would stab into the boy’s foot. His long hunting knife plunged again and again until the snake released Ricky and lunged at Cord. Clint fell backwards once the pressure was released taking an unconscious Ricky with him. Cord scrambled backwards and thrust his knife at the same time. The anaconda closed its huge mouth over Cord’s hand, the force drove the knife up through its nostrils, it continued to bite down.

Cord yelled in pain as the teeth closed in around his wrist. The agony of feeling as though his wrist were being crushed was almost unbearable. Reflex demanded he push at the snake’s mouth with his free hand, he resisted and instead moved in closer to counteract the attack, putting him into a closer proximity with the monstrosity, the snake almost pulled onto his lap.

“No. Emmy, stay back,” Cord screamed, but his concerned cries fell on deaf ears as he saw her approach from the corner of his eye.

Emmy leaped then viciously plunged her small knife into the snakes eye. She withdrew it and plunged it into the other. After Emmy sunk her knife into the huge reptile Cord felt its grip releasing. Fearing it would turn its attack on her he turned his knife sideways, embedding the weapon angularly, not allowing it to open its mouth.

Lying prone on the anaconda, Emmy stabbed into it while screaming. The snake flailed, half of it trapped inside the cave tossing its head and body as Cord tried to offer assistance by gripping it with his other arm. Hanging on for all she was worth, her legs and arm wrapped around the hideous beast, Emmy continued her attack, stabbing and slicing as viciously as she could, her rage adding to her strength. Finally defeated, the giant snake slowed, shuddered and slumped to the ground. One last jagged slice to its throat, the snake lay dead in a pool of blood, human and its own.

“Whoa. Emmy two, big bad animals zero,” Shanie whispered.

Clint grabbed Emmy’s knife from her, peeling it from her grasp, and cut Cord’s hand out of the snake’s mouth. Cord sat shakily, cupping his slimy hand to his chest, he looked at Emmy.

“Guess we’re even now,” he told her.

Emmy returned his steady gaze with her own, her face blotchy, as though undecided whether she should be red from exertion or pale from fear. “Not even Cord...equal.” He nodded and with her help rose to his feet.

Clint picked up Ricky who lay unconscious then looked down at the dead snake. Only half of its body had emerged during the struggle and he guessed it to be close to twenty feet long and estimated it at close to four hundred pounds.

“You think there’s more?” he asked anxiously.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to stick around and find out,” Cord remarked, a firm grip on his injured wrist. Neither did the others, they moved off back to the safety of the mine.

* * * *

“Oh my God,” Ethan cried, while hovering over Ricky’s prone body.

The child hadn’t regained consciousness. Tansy felt his pulse, it was weak, rapid, he was deathly white. There was no fever, he was cold and perspiring. His ankle was bloodied from tooth marks. The group related their story. Cord told Tansy not to fuss with his wrist until she had tended Ricky.

Tansy crushed up burdock root and made a decoction of it then applied it directly to both of their wounds after washing them thoroughly, wishing she had more salt that would aid with the cleansing. She made an infusion of yarrow leaves and flowers she would try later. The burdock root would help with the pain as well as cleansing the wounds. She sent Clint in search of chamomile that would help break a fever if she infused the leaves and flowers. Tansy knew where there was a patch of garlic and sent Aidan off to retrieve some, the expressed juice would aid as an antiseptic and they would need it.

They had willow bark tea for pain. Ricky’s ankle was definitely broken. Tansy was grateful Cord’s wrist was not. The handle of the knife blade lodged inside the snake’s mouth had spared him the same fate.

Tansy sent Ethan out for great mullein. At first unwilling to leave his son and go search through grass, Tansy told him she could make a tea from the flowers to use as a sedative and pain reliever; he was the only one who, besides Tansy, could identify the plant. They couldn’t waste precious time sending someone else who was unsure of what they were looking for. Tansy told Ethan Ricky would need it. Looking at Cord’s tight face, she decided he would benefit from it.

Once Tansy was able to administer oral medications to Cord, he slept with a hot poultice on his swollen wrist. Tansy hoped neither Cord’s nor Ricky’s wounds would fester. Ricky had become like the son she and Shane never had, sweet, fun loving, a precocious boy, she was more than just fond of him. It wasn’t going to do anyone any good if she panicked.

Throughout the night, Ricky woke and thrashed in pain. Tansy gave him sips of tea until the sedative took effect and he slept fitfully. Ethan refused to eat or sleep and Tansy worried about his health. Finally, she was able to encourage him to drink and slipped him some of Ricky’s sedative tea. When Ethan slept, Tansy breathed easier; she already had two patients, she didn’t need another.

Morning came and Ricky’s fever raged. Tansy was fearful they would lose him. Looking at Ethan, she knew he would follow if his son died; he didn’t have Clint’s inner strength and was losing his will to continue. Tansy grabbed Ethan by his arms and forced him into a confrontation.

“Damn you, he’s not dead. If you lose hope, he will. He’s not Sarah; he’s strong and young and has you to come back to.”

Tansy’s agonized expression belied her harshly spoken words. Ethan could see her agony was for him as well as his son. Looking around at the other solemn expressions, Ethan realized he wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by others who cared.

Ethan took his son’s limp hand and began telling him of the day he’d been born. How desperately he was wanted. The pride and joy Ethan experienced the first time he’d held him, the numerous happy promises he made. He begged him not to leave him alone, he retrieved the doll Ricky had taken from Sarah and placed it near his head. With his eyes dripping tears, Ethan kissed his son’s hands and recalled story after story about Ricky’s life and the adventures they’d shared and the ones they would share if he would come back to him.

Ethan forced the agony of losing his wife into the bowels of his belly and talked until he grew hoarse. All who watched were moved to tears, especially Aidan. Aidan couldn’t stand the thought of losing Ricky, and the idea of losing his first real best friend was incomprehensible. He found himself wandering just as dazed as Ethan. Aidan was grateful for Emmy’s thoughtful kind words and her gentle touch. She seemed to soothe his fears with her understanding looks and a soft embrace. He took note she was not only brave and beautiful but compassionate and caring.

They all took turns washing Ricky’s face and torso with cool water. Tansy gave him sips of fever reducing tea, cleaned his wounds and wrapped them within a poultice again. Another night passed. Morning came, Tansy checked Cord’s wrist. It had bruised badly but thankfully there was no sign of infection. Exhausted, Tansy began changing Ricky’s poultice. She worked steadily, cleaning the wound. It was swollen and bruised but Tansy dared not attempt to place a birch bark cast on it until the swelling calmed and the wound began to heal. Instead his foot was held immobile, supported by furs and skins. Tansy cleaned a particularly infected area and jumped at Ricky’s cry of protest.

“That hurts!”

Tansy went still. Her face lifted to stare at the boy. She shrieked and hugged him tightly. Ethan bolted awake and seeing Tansy stretched over his son, he thought the worst happened, his son was dead. But through his terror, he registered movements and howls of protest. His son was not dead; in fact, he was kicking up a storm as Tansy hugged him and spread small kisses on his face.

“Tansy?”

She turned and looked at Ethan, tears streaming down her tired, drawn face. “He’s alive, his fever’s broke.”

Ethan grabbed up his son in a crushing embrace.

“Daddy,” Ricky wailed, trying to fend off the dozen quick kisses his father spread over his pale face and neck.

“You hear that?” Ethan cried proudly, tearfully. “That’s my brave strong boy.”

Soon everyone was awake and joyful, but Tansy cautioned them. Ricky would need plenty of rest and good food if he was to return to health.

“He can have my maple syrup in his tea,” Michaela offered. She had been devastated her best friend couldn’t get up and play with her. She had offered him her treasured doll if he would just wake up and tell more knock-knock jokes. Tansy hugged her and told her how proud she was of her.

“Don’t you worry none, Mike; we’ll make sure he gets everythin’ he needs,” Clint promised, he hugged her affectionately.

“Thank you for helping me,” Ricky whispered up to Cord. “I hope you get another medal, General, for bravery.”

Cord sat wide-eyed. He thought the child had been out cold when they saved him. Ricky went on to tell how Emmy then Clint helped hold him, but it was Cord who had gotten the monster off of him, that Cord had been attacked saving him. The boy looked up with wide adoring eyes toward the large man and smiled. Then to Cord’s amazement Ricky held out his mother’s doll to him. He said his mother must have sent him in time to save him. Feeling uncharacteristically choked up, Cord told the boy to hang onto the doll for him. He might need it later; he then got up and left the mine.

Clint sat grinning. He knew Cord was overwhelmed and embarrassed. Clint knew this was a first for Cord. Saving Emmy had been spur-of-the-moment confusion; he had been unaware he might actually be injured, but Cord knew the snake might attack him, there had been no doubt, and he helped the boy anyway.

Clint wasn’t the only one to be surprised; Shanie admitted to herself she had been relieved when both Clint and Cord had shown up to offer aid when the snake attacked. Shanie had felt helpless, and frustrated, unable to leave Michaela alone and vulnerable against God knew what else, and unable to help her big sister. The fact that Cord could actually save a life had Shanie thinking. That Cord had saved Emmy meant nothing to Shanie; she loved her sister of course, but felt there might have been an ulterior motive involved behind his thinking at the time. She knew, somewhat surprised, there was no motive involved this time. Cord saved Ricky just because, and had been injured as a result. He never expressed regret for helping the child; he had even taken his turn at watching over Ricky and washing him with a cool cloth. For all sakes and purposes he seemed as worried about Ricky as the rest of them.

“Well damn,” Clint said laughing. “There may jist be hope for him yet.”

“Potty mouth,” Michaela told him sternly and wagged a finger at him, looking cross. It was a perfect imitation of her mother and Clint laughed again. He leaned over to pick up Michaela and tickled her until she giggled.

* * * *

“That’s an anaconda all right,” Ethan said. He stuck a foot out and nudged at the giant snake.

“But how?” Aidan asked. “It couldn’t have swum here.”

“Tansy says it’s the animals from zoos,” Clint offered.

“She must be right. Anacondas aren’t indigenous to this region or even this country,” Ethan agreed.

“Well now, that makes sense of the elephants and the tiger, but hell, an anaconda. What’s next?” Aidan asked.

“I killed a polar bear farther south of here,” Cord said.

“You can understand the ramifications of this, I expect?” Ethan asked the small group of men as they turned and began walking back to the mine.

“Well damn, rams too? Well hell why not?” Clint said wide-eyed nodding seriously.

Ethan looked at Cord questioningly, who shook his head in a negative way. “What I mean is,” Ethan started slowly, searching for universal words, “we could face the potential of possibly encountering other foreign inhabitants alien to our country.”

“Aliens?” Clint gasped, stopping dead in his tracks and really looking terrified.

“No, stupid. He means hyenas, rhinos or pandas, monkeys and gorillas, maybe even a camel,” Cord said, smacking Clint on the back of the head.

“Well that’s good news,” Clint said. “I don’t think we got any weapons left to fight off any aliens.”

Rolling his eyes, Ethan hurried on; he’d wanted to see the snake they claimed was an anaconda. It had been too difficult to believe. But there it lay. Shaken, Ethan wondered if there were more, as if they didn’t have enough going against them already. What other beast would come looking for food in their area or a mine? They would need to be even more cautious.

When the men returned, Tansy was baking a type of flatbread. In the spring when Clint had found a nest of duck eggs, Michaela had cried for bread to dip into her egg. She had a point after all, how could it be a dippy egg if you had nothing to dip into it? Tansy had found some old grains and seeds still left in a field and set to work. She fashioned herself a mortar and pestle grinding the mixture down to flour. After mixing the flour with water, she kneaded it into dough and cooked it over the fire wrapped around a cleaned branch. It wasn’t the same as fresh white bread, but it was their first taste of something new and it was well received. Many more ducks and geese lost their eggs after that and so did other fowl along with their own lives. There were also turtle eggs they found dug into the sandy parts near the stream and lakes.

Tansy made a point of checking the fields often for the return of more grain. They would need to store some for the long winter. The flour was welcome as a thickener in the stews Tansy made. It was unfortunate, but Tansy realized wheat and grains were harvested in the fall and they weren’t likely to find more until then. She was looking for a substitute.