The Journal: Raging Tide: (The Journal Book 4) (13 page)

The Sergeant was nervous with me at the
wheel. “Are you sure about this, Lieutenant Smeth?”

I gave him my best mom-look, which sent him
scurrying. I put the vehicle in gear and gave it some gas. Using
that foot was excruciating! I didn’t let it show though. I turned
west on the access road to get back to Hwy 123 that would lead us
to M-28 and to Yardley. Since we had already cleared any downed
trees, the going was easy. As soon as I turned onto 123, I
stopped.

“What’s the matter Allex?” Jim sounded
grumpy.

“You didn’t really expect me to drive with
my foot in bandages, did you?” I stated flatly. Jim got out his
side and I slid over across the radio console so I wouldn’t have to
walk. He got behind the wheel. I certainly didn’t mind
relinquishing control to him, even with a concussion. I trusted him
with my life; I did, I do, and I would again.

With directions from Patsy, Jim arrived at
the village limits of Yardley less than an hour later.

“Can we sit here a minute?” she asked,
drinking in the sight of the colorful painted houses and buildings
along the main street. Then she said, “One more block and turn
left. It’s the last house on the right, with the white fence in
front.”

Jim pulled into the long driveway and
stopped near the house. A young man of maybe twenty-five stepped
out, rifle in hand, a little boy of perhaps two clutching at his
leg. Jim stepped out first, came around to the passenger side where
Patsy sat and opened her door. As she stepped out, the little boy
let go of his father’s leg.

“Mommy!” and he went running to her. Her
husband dropped the rifle and followed his son. She scooped the
little boy up and her husband wrapped his arms around both of them.
It was a tear-filled and wonderful reunion and it choked me up. I
hoped for the same when I returned home.

As briefly as he could, and leaving out most
of the painful details, Jim explained what Patsy had endured for
the past two months, adding a stern word of warning to her husband
to be patient with her.

The young husband shook Jim’s hand
repeatedly. “I can’t thank you enough, Sir, for bringing her back
to us!”

I slid across the seats again and climbed
out of the high profile vehicle to open the door for a reluctant
Andrea. We both stood quietly beside the Hummer until Patsy was
ready to introduce her.

“Honey, this is Andrea. She was kidnapped
right after the quake by the convicts that killed her parents and
burned their house down. She’s been my friend, my only friend, for
the past two months and I promised to take care of her. She has no
home and I said she could live with us as long as she wanted.”
Patsy’s husband walked over to Andrea and gave her a hug. They now
had a family of four.

“Patsy, Andrea, we can’t stay. We have to
get back to our unit,” I said. They each gave me a hug, and then
thanked Jim again for rescuing us. “Oh, before we leave, I have
that bucket full of fun things. Please, look through it and take
whatever you want or need.”

It was good to see their happy faces as they
selected the sewing needles with colorful threads and fishing line
with hooks, small bottles of shampoo and conditioner that Sister
Agnes had stuck in there, aspirin, and yeast.

“Can we take some for the other women in
town?” Patsy asked tentatively.

“Of course,” I replied gently, and they
scooped out more of my practical goodies.

“I think
those two will be okay now,” Jim said as we sped south on 123,
looking for that side road to take us back to the troops.

“In time, yes. They suffered a great deal of
trauma though. Being home is a good start,” I said, gazing out the
window at the passing trees.

“Thinking about home yourself?” Jim asked
tentatively.

“Of course, aren’t you?”

“I don’t have a home, Allex,” he replied,
his mouth in a firm, straight line.

I reached over and put my hand on his arm.
“Yes you do, Jim, with us. Moose Creek is your home now, and will
be for as long as you want.” He glanced in my direction with a very
strange look in his eyes. It was as if he was experiencing some
kind of pain. I wanted to ask what was bothering him, however, I
know him well enough now to understand he will say something when
he’s ready. If not, then he doesn’t want to share.

*

We had been gone for over three hours and
during that time the compound had been transformed into a small
military base. All the tents had been erected, most for sleeping,
one with a red cross on the front that I presumed was the medic
tent, and of course the mess hall, with its adjoining space for
tables. This was to be a short excursion and only enough seating
was brought for the men to eat in two shifts. A large fire pit now
graced the center of the large yard and it looked like the men were
settling in for days instead of hours.

I had retreated to my tent for a short nap
and to elevate my foot when I heard Jim call my name.

“Are you in there, Allex?”

“Yes, come on in.” He loomed large in the
doorway. These military tents were designed for two people and were
smaller than the four man tent we had brought with us that was
still in the back of the Hummer. Jim stooped to enter, and then sat
on the floor across from me.

“One of the men took down a deer while we
were gone, so there’s going to be a feast tonight,” he said. “Do
you feel up to finding that morel patch again? The cook is excited
about having morel gravy with steaks tonight.”

“I think that would be great fun, Jim, and
would certainly give me something productive to do. I feel pretty
useless right now.”

“No one is expecting you to do anything,
Allex. You’ve suffered a good deal of physical and emotional trauma
and you need to recover from that.”

“Thanks. I’d rather be doing something
though. Help me get my shoe back on please.” When I emerged from
the tent I saw three young soldiers waiting beside the Hummer, each
carrying a basket or a bag. Jim placed his big hands around my hips
and lifted me into the front seat so I wouldn’t put pressure on my
foot or ribs. I must admit I ached everywhere from the beatings I
endured and it felt good to be taken care of for a change.

“Pull over here,” I said to Jim not long
after we turned onto the dirt road. No wonder we caught the
attention of those creeps—we were less than a half mile from the
entrance to the camp!

We emerged from the Hummer, the young
soldiers anxious to find the first morel. “Do you know what you’re
looking for?” I asked.

“Not really, ma’am,” one of them
admitted.

“Then just be careful where you step while
we find a few to show you.” The warm weather of the last three days
had done wonders for the growth. Soon the mushrooms were obvious
everywhere and the boys were busy cutting and filling their bags. I
found a log to sit on while the others were busy and Jim joined me
on my perch.

“Done picking already?” I teased him. He
held out his bag to me. It was nearly half full.

“I want to save some for us for after we
leave here,” he said, lowering his voice and putting his bag in the
front seat.

*

Dinner was exceptional. The cooks grilled
steaks for those that wanted one and had a batch of venison stewed
with morels and served over pasta for those who didn’t. I opted for
the pasta.

Later, after everyone had eaten, Jim brought
out our cribbage board and we settled into a quiet game in the mess
tent with some evening coffee.

“Care for that fortified?” he asked,
producing a flask. I pushed my cup toward him. Our game was
interrupted by the medic.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “Are you
having much pain?”

“My ribs are uncomfortable to say the least,
and my foot throbs. All as expected,” I replied with a shrug.

“Let me give you a Darvocet for the night;
it’ll help you sleep.” He placed a single pill by my coffee
cup.

“I didn’t realize you had medications,” I
said.

“I used quite a bit of our stock right after
we got to the Soo. The fighting was brutal and we lost many of our
men. The Canadians suffered heavy losses too. The injuries on both
sides were… disturbing. After the quake hit, the Canuks high-tailed
it back to their side leaving their wounded behind.” He shook his
head over such an unmilitary action. “I’m glad I had the medicines
I did, thanks to Dr. Robbins.”

My head snapped up at the mention of my
husband.

“You two spent time in Moose Creek, do you
know him?” the medic asked.

“Dr. Robbins died from the flu in December,”
Jim said quickly so I wouldn’t have to.

“What a loss, he was a good man,” the young
man said, then left the tent.

“Are you okay, Allex?” Jim asked me
softly.

“I’m fine, Jim, thanks. Mark’s been gone
longer than we were married. I will always miss him, but I know I
have to start living my life again. Can I have a bit more of that
bourbon?” I washed down the Darvocet, hoping for a dreamless
sleep.

April 23

“How soon do you want to get going?” Leave
it to Jim to get right to the point.

“Are we continuing on to the Soo?”

“Yes, I need to debrief those left in
charge. We can take our time, though, there’s no hurry now,” Jim
said.

“You never did tell me why you wanted to
find this unit. Are you planning on staying with them?” I asked.
The prospect was making my chest hurt and it had nothing to do with
the cracked ribs.

“No, Allex, I’m not.” He set a fresh cup of
coffee in front of me. “I’m still the senior officer and I need to
check a few things before we head back to Sawyer. We’ll have to
spend a few days there while I make a full report to send to
Washington and then we can finish our trip and head for home.” He
looked up as the tent flap opened. “Sergeant,” Jim said, “please
join us. I need to speak with you.”

Sergeant Michael Pitchner helped himself to
the coffee that was always available and sat next to me so he could
face the colonel.

“Your men looked settled in. Are you
planning on staying here for a while?”

“Yes, sir, if that’s alright. I thought it
would be good for the men to practice some maneuvers in a real
woods setting,” Pitchner said.

“I think that’s a wise decision. I don’t
know what your orders have been, Sergeant, but I’ve got new ones
for you. I want you and your men to scout the area from Lake
Michigan to M-28 and eradicate any more of these escaped prisoner
settlements. Protect the civilians, Michael. However, if you find
civilian compounds that are as sleazy as this one, take care of
them. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir! The men will be pleased to be
doing something worthwhile, Sir.”

“The lieutenant and I will be leaving this
afternoon for the Soo and I will make your orders official when we
get there. From there we’re headed back to Sawyer. Get back to the
Soo whenever you need to resupply. Stay out as long as you need
though. You’re ranking officer, son, do me proud.”

At that Sergeant Pitchner stood and saluted
Jim. “Yes, Sir!”

*

There wasn’t much to pack in our Hummer,
since we hadn’t unpacked anything besides some clothes and our
sleeping bags. I did notice Jim slipping his bag of morels into the
cooler. We were ready to hit the road at three o’clock. As we
started to roll, all of the soldiers stood and saluted us. It was a
very touching farewell.

*

“If it’s okay with you, Allex, I say we
spend one more night on the road before arriving at the Soo,” Jim
said.

“Sure. Any particular reason why?”

“I think one more quiet night would be good
for you. Once we hit the next camp, I’m going to be busy for a few
days and we won’t see much of each other,” he told me. “It makes me
nervous leaving you alone with a bunch of men. I’m serious, Allex!
You’re a beautiful, strong woman
and
an officer – the ranks
will be hitting on you, guaranteed.”

“I’ll have to practice being aloof and
disinterested then,” I reassured him. He still looked
concerned.

*

By seven o’clock we were setting up our tent
in a vacant National Forest campground. The tent was up, our
sleeping bags were on top of the air mattresses, and I had the camp
stove set up.

“Let’s build a campfire for tonight,” Jim
said. “It’s looking like a clear sky so the stargazing should be
good later.” We both hunted around for wood and piled it around a
ready-made pit.

“What would you like for dinner?” I asked.
“We still have plenty of what we started with. What with finding
that house behind Walstroms, the kids, then the Goshens, we’ve
hardly used anything.”

“You might want to check the cooler,” he
said. “Kora left us a surprise.” I pulled out the bag of morels,
and found two still chilled, very large ribeye steaks!

“No wonder you wanted one more night on the
road! Beef steaks, sautéed fresh morels, and wine. I think this
calls for that 1996 Cap d’Haute,” I said. “I wonder if that house
we stayed at is still secure.”

“Well, we will certainly stop there on our
way back. With the 695 bridge out and the hairpin blocked, we have
no other route. Besides, we left a great deal of food there that we
need to take back to Moose Creek,” Jim said. “Here, let me open
that.”

I took my fresh cup of dark red wine and
surveyed the fire pit. “If we can tip three of these rocks up on
end near the center, we can build a fire in the middle and I can
balance the fry pan across them to cook the mushrooms and then use
the grate from the stove on top to grill the steaks over the open
flame.”

*