Outage (Powerless Nation #1) (8 page)

This morning she'd give just about anything for a tall glass of water no matter what it tasted like. She looked down at her clothes and realized she was still wearing the same thing from Monday. Ew. She was too thirsty to change though, so brushed absent-mindedly at the wrinkles and dust and thought through her priorities. First water, then the animals. She would figure out the rest later.

After she checked on Grandpa and changed the towels she'd put under him to try to keep the bed clean, she headed out to the barn. As she walked through the kitchen she noticed even Jasper's water dish was bone dry. Outside, the sun was shining and bright, and Dee glared up at it. “I thought the Northwest was supposed to be rainy,” she told the sky peevishly.

The animals were out of water now as well, she noticed with concern. She hurried through the morning chores, milking the mother cow, and attempting to milk the two pregnant cows. They weren't producing any milk though, and even the mother only produced a scant amount. Dee eyed the fresh milk dubiously, but she was so thirsty she wasn't going to be picky this morning. After taking a small sip she licked her lips in surprise. The thick liquid coated the inside of her mouth with a creamy richness, entirely different from the thin, watery skim milk she was used to. It was kind of like a warmed up milkshake. If she didn’t think of it as milk it was pretty good. She drank most of the morning's milk and poured the rest into a small bowl for Jasper and the barn cats to fight over.

Her thirst partially quenched, she opened the doors of the barn and one by one let the animals out of their stalls, careful to stay well out of their path as they ambled out to graze. The thirsty animals went directly to a shallow, flat creek that crossed the lowest part of the property. Even the dog knew where to get a drink. Dee pumped her fist in the air when she saw water sparkling in the sunlight and hurried back to the barn for buckets.
 

Hauling water was backbreaking work and she had to make a lot of trips out to the stream and back. First she filled the watering troughs in the barn, and then she carried a full bucket into the kitchen. Even though she got the water from a relatively calm place, and she was careful to dip the bucket upstream from where the animals were drinking, silt had settled to the bottom of the bucket and there were leaves and dust floating in it.

Dee poured the water through a coffee filter into a big pot and then contemplated the stove. This time there was no going back. She and Grandpa both needed clean water today and that meant boiling it.

On a normal gas stove she would just turn the knob to 'Light,' hear some clicks, and the stove would light – just like magic. Unfortunately there was no fire or clicking when she pointed the knob of this stove to 'Light.' Worried by the strong smell of gas, she quickly turned the knob back off. She needed a way to make a fire. She looked around for matches and was rewarded when she found them in the first cupboard she tried.

Dee crossed her fingers and turned the stove knob to 'Light.' Then she quickly lit a match and held it to the element, praying it wouldn't explode. Success! Blue flames circled the element, and she blew out the match and sighed in relief. Before long the water was boiling. Dee realized not only did she have no idea how long it needed to boil, she had no way to time it anyway. She decided to just let it go for a while and hope for the best.

As she sat down at the table she was struck by just how little she knew. Her life up until now had not prepared her for a survival situation. She wondered how her friends in Maryland were dealing with the outages, and tried to imagine what she would have done if she'd been home when the power went out. At noon on a Monday during the summer she probably would have been at the mall hanging out with her friends. They would have been annoyed when the power went out, and unbearable when they discovered Sadie's car was dead and they had to walk home. Dee cringed as she thought about the number of accidents and congestion that would have been caused by all of the cars and stoplights quitting at once in the relatively large city.

Once she finally got home, none of the appliances would have worked or the air conditioning – they were all electric. The house would have been terribly hot and humid. They did keep a decent supply of bottled water in the house, but it only would have lasted a week or two with careful rationing. After that she didn't know what they'd do for water. Maybe try to find a creek and boil the water on the barbecue. But everyone knew the water was filthy and polluted, and the barbecue wouldn't have enough gas for more than a few pots worth of water anyway, especially if they used it for cooking too. Not that there was much to cook. They ate out or ordered in most nights so they didn't keep food staples in the house. Mainly just snacks and freezer meals.

Dee wondered how she would have handled it. Probably the same way she'd handled everything in the year since Jacob had died: acting petulant and blaming everything on her parents, especially her mom.

The more Dee thought about it, the luckier she realized she was. In fact, her parents had most likely saved her life when they forced her to stay with Grandpa while they went on the cruise. She had done everything possible to change their minds, from slamming doors and refusing to speak, to the other extreme of being helpful and friendly. Her mom had remained firm, and thanks to her, Dee now had fresh milk and eggs daily, and the possibility of meat. She had access to a garden, and if she didn't kill them (which was a possibility), she would have vegetables. The water situation wasn't ideal, but she had what she needed.

Their biggest problems, she reflected, were mainly her lack of skill and knowledge, and Grandpa's health situation. There was also the problem of the missing truck of food. Just the thought of all that food sitting down at the health clinic – if it was still there – made her want to tear her hair out, but she needed to take care of their immediate needs. Getting the truck and the food wasn't a priority, as much as she wanted to hike to town this minute and bring the truck home.

Dee scooped some of the water into a cup and let it cool before taking it in to her grandpa. He was in a slightly different position and she wondered if he'd awakened while she was out. She put a hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly. “Grandpa,” she said softly. “Grandpa, wake up. I have some water for you.”

He stirred slightly and opened his eyes. “Madeleine?” he whispered.

“It's me, Maddie,” she said. “I just need you to have a little drink of this water.” Despite all the challenges she faced, as Dee helped him sit up and take a few sips of water she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Days flew by as Dee cared for Grandpa and took care of the farm as best she could. She was busy from sun up to sundown, and grateful for the longer daylight hours. At night when it was finally dark and she could collapse into bed, she was already making to-do lists for tomorrow of the chores she'd been unable to finish today.
 

Hauling water took the largest portion of her time. Not only did the animals drink a lot during the hot summer nights, she and Grandpa needed boiled water for drinking and cooking, and the large garden needed to be watered every day too. They both watched the sky fervently for signs of rain. Grandpa had several fields of feed crops, mainly corn, wheat and peas. Without electricity or water, the irrigation system was useless, and if the crops didn't get enough water the animals wouldn't have enough to eat in the winter. As if mocking them, the Washington summer seemed determined to make up for the previous wet winter. There wasn't a drop of rain.

Dee taught herself to muck the stalls after the animals went out to pasture, and she stopped being afraid of the cows and started being annoyed by their bad tempers. Grandpa said the two pregnant cows would deliver soon, so Dee had to keep a close eye on them. Supposedly they'd be able to deliver their calves by themselves pretty much, but they couldn't afford to lose a cow or a baby, so Grandpa insisted she tell him when they went into labor so he could monitor them.

He was recovering slowly. He'd unearthed an old walking stick which he used to hobble around the house. The handle was a clear crystal globe, and Dee thought it looked more like a wizard staff than a farmer's cane. She pestered him with questions about where he'd gotten it but he claimed not to remember. Sometimes he teased her by chanting incantations and waving it over the stove while he cooked.

As soon as he could get around, Grandpa insisted on taking over meal prep. Dee sometimes wondered if her cooking had inspired his quick recovery. His first night out of bed had been the evening she'd attempted to make chicken noodle soup using boiled creek water, canned chicken, canned carrots and some pasta.
 

Now they ate a lot of egg dishes along with vegetables from the garden. Grandpa made a spinach quiche one day, which he said was easy enough but made Dee feel like she was back home eating at a French deli. They even had strawberries and fresh cream for dessert.

The thought triggered a sudden memory of middle school. She was having a rough time with friends and schoolwork. Her mom surprised her one day at lunch by picking her up from school and taking her to lunch at Le Madeleine. Afterwards they'd blown off classes and work and gone shopping at the mall for the rest of the afternoon.
 

She wondered if she’d ever see her mom again.

CHAPTER NINE

T
HE
DAYS
PASSED
QUICKLY
, and Dee finally felt she was getting the hang of things. She knew she'd never been very good at hard work but so far none of the animals had starved, and Grandpa was slowly regaining his strength so maybe she was doing okay. She looked at herself in the mirror one afternoon after dinner and admired the arm muscles she was developing from hauling so much water.
Too bad about the farmer's tan though
, she thought, rolling up her sleeves slightly and pursing her lips.

When she came downstairs Grandpa held out a basket and a fishing pole to her. “Take these and go on down to the creek. You’ve earned an afternoon off.”

Dee opened her mouth to protest, but Grandpa raised a finger to shush her. “Don’t think I can’t see how hard this is for you, Maddie-girl. It just about kills me to have to sit and watch while you do all the heavy lifting around here. Even farmers take an afternoon off now and then, and you deserve it.

“Besides, did you know we missed the Fourth of July? It was last week.”

Dee realized she didn't even know what day of the week it was. The animals didn't eat less
(or poop less,
she thought to herself) just because it was the weekend. Grandpa gave her directions to his favorite fishing hole, and Dee found herself walking down the lane with a basket of leftover fried chicken and what might possibly be the last can of Coke in the world.

While she walked she thought about Mason and wondered what he was doing. Probably eating power bars and living like a hermit in the woods. She wasn't mad at him any more or holding a grudge. He probably left because he hadn't wanted her cramping his style and didn't know a nice way to tell her. It was too bad though; they could have used another set of hands on the farm.

The trail meandered through the woods, dappled sunlight cheerfully dancing between the trees. A cluster of purple wildflowers reminded Dee of her mom.
 

Dee could hear the rushing of the creek before she could see it and she wondered if there were really fish in it. She hadn't had the heart to tell Grandpa she'd never been fishing and didn't have the first idea how to do it. Her plan was to find a nice spot to spread her blanket and then read for a while or take a nap. It was supposed to be a holiday after all, right? She could learn to fish another day.

Dee stepped into a clearing and stopped short. It seemed someone else knew about Grandpa's favorite fishing hole. The fisherman had his back to her and for a fleeting moment she hoped it was Mason. Then the sun flashed on sandy blonde hair and she decided her best bet was to sneak away before he noticed her.

Too late, the blonde head swung around and Dee met a pair of familiar blue eyes. It was the checkout boy from the grocery store in town. He was wearing jeans and a somewhat ragged but clean t-shirt that said, “I’m your density.” He flashed a friendly smile at her and said, “Doc Kerns' grand-daughter, right? My mom's been wondering how you folks are getting on.”

Dee wished she'd taken the time to brush her hair before she left the house. She was aware that her clothes were grubby and never mind a manicure, she hadn't even been able to
clean
her fingernails properly in weeks.

“We're okay, I guess,” Dee said, tucking her free hand into her pocket. “How's the fishing?”

“Lousy. It's the wrong time of day for it,” said Hyrum. “I really just wanted an excuse to get out of the house. I've got two younger brothers and a little sister and some days I need a break. Don't get me wrong. I love 'em and all, but sometimes it's nice to be alone.”

Dee took a step back, “I'll let you be alone then. I don't really know how to fish anyway.”

“No, no, that's okay. That's not what I meant. You should stay.” He spied the book under her arm. “Whatcha reading? Anything good?”

Dee blushed and showed him. It was another Louis L'Amour book. Although she'd wished several times that her grandpa had broader taste in books she still found herself enjoying his collection of westerns. She was working her way through a series about a family who migrated from England and settled in the Appalachian Mountains. She loved the way they stuck together through good times and bad.

Hyrum nodded, “Who's your favorite Sackett? Mine's Jubal.”

Before she knew it, Dee and Hyrum were sitting together on her blanket discussing books and music. When Dee offered to share her picnic Hyrum pulled a square wrapped bundle out of his bag and handed it to her. “It's just some bread, but Mom made it this morning and it's really good.” Dee couldn't take her eyes off the bread, so she didn't notice when Hyrum saw the fried chicken until he gave a shout that practically scared her out of her skin.