Winter's Legacy: Future Days (Winter's Saga Book 6) (33 page)

The camp was nearly deserted of the former enemy. 

A sniveling Percival Chaunders peeked from behind the plastic tarp-like flap of the base tent where he’d been hiding.  He blinked stupidly behind his thick glasses at the scene.

“We’re done with you,” Evan narrowed his eyes at his family’s tormentor before looking over at his big brother.  He nodded once and turned to walk away. Alik worked his jaw in sorrow as he looked around the space feeling the retro-cognition of his sister’s presence.  Absently, he rubbed his chest where his aching heart stammered painfully.  The brothers turned their backs on a still ranting Williams and picked up the pace.  Maze growled angrily at the brothers for walking away from the enemy.

“C’mon Maze.  Let’s go to Meg.”

At the mention of her name, Maze whined loudly and galloped away.

Harley Yu pulled up in a Jeep.  “Rhett thought you’d need a ride
,” he called as he left the keys in the ignition and hopped into the back seat.

75
  Salt of the Earth

Theo was in deep conversation with Nate Townsend.  Their heads leaned in toward one another and spoke in hushed tones.  Danny knew something serious was happening, but no one would tell him anything. 

Sloan and
Kylie were supposed to be watching him, but he’d slipped away while they were distracted exploring the lab.   Danny had gone in search of his Dad when he felt Meg’s presence.

Just as he was nearing the end of the hall, he froze, one ear tipped listening carefully to a whispered message.  With each second, his blue eyes widened. 

He had to hurry.

With
bare feet gripping the tile flooring, he dashed to the kitchen and skidded to a stop at the pantry door.  He opened it wide and ran back to the kitchen table where he gripped the slats of the wooden chair closest to the walk-in pantry.  He leaned his weight into moving the heavy piece of furniture into the closet-sized space and climbed to stand on the seat.

Meg had sent him an image of what he was looking for.  His worried eyes scanned the items searching for the blue and white bag until he found it.  On tiptoes he reached for the sack just out of reach.  With a frustrated huff, he jumped down off the chair and moved it closer to the shelf he needed.  This time he grasped the heavy bag with his pudgy fingers.  Grunting with effort, he scooted it to the edge of the shelf and yanked.  The sack teetered on the edge for a moment before tumbling through Danny’s outstretched arms and thumping to the floor. 

Danny followed the bag, shoving the chair out of his way and used both arms to carry its weight.  Running back across the house, he left a trail of white granules as they leaked from a tear.  He didn’t stop running until he reached his parents’ oversized, garden bathtub.  With a grunt he tossed in the sack of salt and scrambled in after it to set the stopper in place.   With two hands he turned the cold knob on full blast, then repeated the act with the hot water knob.  The sound of the water crashing into the tub was loud enough to drown out Theo’s voice calling to him from down the hall. 

Theo had finished his plans with Nate and came across the trail of salt.  Confusion was replaced by icy fear when he heard the water roar to life.  

Rounding the corner, he saw a completely clothed Danny sloshing back and forth the length of the tub, deep in concentration.  Theo yanked the faucets off and strained to keep the panic from his voice.  “Danny?  Danny!  What’s wrong?  Who’s hurt?”

Barely contained tears finally burst from the little boy’s tormented eyes as he looked up from his work of mixing the salt into the water.

“She said it was the only way.  She promised she would do everything she could to help stop the fighting but there would be a price to pay...”

“Who?  Meg?  Did Meg say this to you?”  Theo reached into the water to hold the boy’s shoulders.

Danny looked confused for a moment before shaking his head no.

“It was an angel.”

76
  Creed’s Lament

Creed refused to let go of Meg. 

He’d kept up a stream of conversation the entire, rough ride back to the ranch. 

“Meg!  Stay with me,” he smoothed her wild curls from tangling with her long lashes. “You listen to me, Meg Winter!” his tear-filled blue eyes searched her silent face.  “You are not allowed to lay your life down for everybody else.  You can’t do that to your family.  You can’t do that to me!”  His voice hitched painfully as he leaned down to kiss her closed eyes. 

“You crazy, stubborn girl!  You think it’s your life and you can do with it what you please, but it’s not true!  Your life is not yours to give!  You belong to the people who love you!”

Thick, salty teardrops falling from Creed’s bloodshot eyes left clean streaks down her bloody face.  “Don’t you understand?  You think your sacrifice only hurts you?  It doesn’t work that way!  You are connected to all of us—to me.”  He brushed his lips against hers and felt his heart pinch painfully in his chest. 

“I need you!  Are you listening to me, Meggie!  I need you here with me!  Nothing is worth your life!  Nothing, damn it!”
  The others in the vehicle winced at the raw pain in Creed’s words.

“How could you be so selfish and selfless at the same time?  You promised, Meg!  You promised you’d stay with me.”

“Please, God.  Please.  Don’t take her away from me.”

Margo watched her daughter, looking so frail and small in Creed’s thick arms and kept flashing back to images of Meg as a little girl.  Standing in a dirt stained, pink T-shirt and torn blue jeans as a six-year-old.  Her little arms crossed stubbornly across her chest.  A look of sheer determination in her precious, furrowed brow.  Then another image of her traipsing across the yard, the setting sunlight dancing between her wild curls.  A sling shot in one hand and a bouquet of dandelions in the other.  Her laughter bubbling from her belly as she and her brothers shared a secret between them—mischief dancing in her sparkling dark eyes as she grinned.

Margo had busied herself removing Meg’s tightly-laced boots as the truck barreled toward home.  Reverently, she slipped off her daughter’s socks revealing light pink polish on dainty toes.  The contrast between her sensitive, girlish charm buried beneath a warrior’s armor just made Margo sob harder. 

Please, God,
she cried in quiet anguish.

This world needs her.  I need her.  Please.

In all her studies of God’s word, though she’d spent years memorizing verses—in that moment when she held her daughter’s cold bare feet—no words felt worthy enough.  Every memorized prayer vanished from her mind, leaving only a mother’s desperate plea. 

Please.

The truck skidded to a stop.  Creed blinked hard at his distorted vision.  His door was flung open.  He moved in slow motion as he clambered out, Meg held tightly against his chest.  He saw the littlest Winter run before him, dripping wet and waving for him to follow.  Unquestioningly, Creed flew after him as the little boy jumped into the nearly overflowing tub.  Creed stepped in the water and hurried in slow motion to sit, fully clothed in the warm water.  He shifted Meg so she would be as immersed as possible, her head leaning against his chest as her body drifted into a prone position between his outstretched legs.

Water sloshed over the rim of the tub, wetting the bathroom floor. 

The room filled with the immediate Winter family.   Margo was on her knees beside the tub feeling helpless.  Her salty tears fell and mixed with the cloudy salt water enveloping her daughter’s body.

No one spoke, holding their breath instead.  Everybody looked on with anguished hope as Danny took a handful of water and started to wash the blood off his sister’s face.

While he worked, he hummed a simple melody. 

Minutes crept past.

Water droplets forming at the faucet’s edge plopped loudly in the silent space. 

Danny’s melody echoed hauntingly.

A scuffling of boots and murmuring could be heard from the adjacent bedroom as 17th Company soldiers moved aside to make way for the arrival of Alik and Evan.

The boys hurried into the small space directly to the edge of the tub and crumpled to their knees on the wet rug—one on either side of their mother.  Instinctively, the three felt the need to touch Meg’s gently floating body. 

Evan slipped beneath Danny’s arms to feel for a pulse in her throat.  His sensitive fingertips made slight adjustments.  Over his shoulder, Kylie silently passed him a stethoscope.  He glanced back at her as he took the instrument and nodded once in appreciation for the bag of emergency medical supplies she and Sloan held between them. 

Quickly he positioned the earpieces and leaned over the edge of the tub.

“Lift her,” he whispered to Creed, “just enough to get her chest above the water.”

Creed nodded silently and shifted one hand under Meg’s back.  Her body easily bobbed to the surface.  Danny stopped his work for a moment, allowing his brother access to her.  Evan positioned the drum right where he should be able to hear a heartbeat, held his breath and closed his eyes. 

He said nothing as he listened.

After a few seconds, he shifted the drum slightly desperate to hear life in his sister.

Danny put his warm, wet hand over Evan’s, stilling his movements.

When Evan looked up, Danny offered a comforting smile and shook his head.  “You hold her hand, let me work on her heart.”

Evan slowly sat back, his stethoscope still hanging from his ears. 

Creed let Meg’s body slip back under the water. 

Everybody stared at Danny in awe.

The four-year-
old’s voice vibrated with a quiet confidence, but that’s not what caused jaws to drop.  The child’s eyes had changed from the color of Texas skies to an iridescent, snowy blue.

“Danny?” Margo whispered, awestruck.

“It’s okay, mommy,” he reassured and looked back at his sister’s ashen face.  

“He says you have a lot of work left to do.”  Danny spoke directly to his big sister.  Leaning down, he put his hands on either side of his sister’s face and smiled widely at her closed lids.  “Wake up, Meggie.”

Everybody gasped at the sight of Meg’s face pinking up just before her eyes fluttered wide open.

Epilogue

Six Months L
ater

Danny’s peals of laughter were only interrupted by the occasional hiccup, which only made him laugh even harder.  He and Maze had been playing chase in the clear, shallow waters stretching along the slice of beach belonging to Paulie’s Hawaiian property—the property the beloved old friend had left to Margo in his will.

Margo grinned adoringly at her youngest
, wondering if she should run inside to get her camera.

Theo lounged beside his new bride watching her, watching Danny
, and sighed contentedly, remembering the night they married. 

They had chosen a sunset beach ceremony surrounded by their children and extended Winter clan.  The entire wedding party was barefoot and joyful. 

Pictures from that night captured images of a blushing Margo dancing in the sand.  She was glowing with love in her sheer, flowing knee-length dress all in blue—to match Theo’s eyes.  Around her neck, she wore a dainty gold locket—a wedding gift from Theo.   Inside the locket were hard-to-find pictures of her parents and sister, Becca.

Theo looked dashing in his traditional black and white tux, cuffs rolled up and unbuttoned collar.   He couldn’t stop smiling.  By the look of joy on his face and the way he held his bride as they danced, it was obvious to everyone he felt like the luckiest man alive. 

Creed’s gift was to sing a beautifully raw, baritone version of “Ave Maria,” for the couple during the ceremony.  His voice brought tears to even the most stone-faced metahumans attending.

The love the two shared was clear to everyone watching as they celebrated late into the night. 
Tiki-style torches specially designed by Evan held his blue orbs—illuminating the beach for the one hundred wedding guests.  Once night had blanketed the sky, he put on a pyrotechnic show the likes of which no one had ever seen.  Revelers danced all night to an eclectic collection of music—compliments of Cole. 

Using his eidetic memory, Alik had spent hours recreating dozens of the lost family photographs
—presenting them to his parents in a framed collage. 

Theo smiled at the memory of watching Meg nervously tucking her renegade curls behind her ear that night on the beach as she gave her toast to the couple.  She explained how worried she’d been
about finding just the right gift for her parents, but wasn’t at all surprised when the idea came to her in a dream. 

She went on to thank Alik and Evan for their help before she held up a small, red flash drive.  “We all know we have none of the photographs or memory
-filled journals you’d kept.” Meg had spoken directly to her mother.  “So my gift to you both is this.”  She looked at the seemingly insignificant object in her hand.  “I’ve spent most of the past six weeks writing our family memoirs.  With Alik and Evan’s help, I tried to breathe life back into our early years on the first Texas ranch—our lives before we even knew what a metahuman was.  Theo, um...I mean, Dad, I hope you read our story and feel even closer to us.  Mom, I know you’ll read and enjoy our shared memories.” Meg had shrugged humbly.  “I love you both and am honored beyond words to be your daughter.  God bless your marriage and the new family we’ve created.”

Of course, Margo was in tears by the end of her daughter’s thoughtful toast.   Never one to feel the need for protocol, Margo leaped from her seat of honor and rushed to the handmade stage to tackle-hug her little girl.  Wordlessly, the boys rushed to join in the family hug.

“We’ve come so far,” Margo whispered to her children. 

“Thank God for you, Mom,” Evan gently squeezed her shoulder.

“We did it—despite everything—we survived!” Alik’s long arms could nearly encircle them all.

“By the grace of God,” Meg added. “
But, I’m afraid it’s not really over.”

Margo locked eyes with her precious daughter.  “Whatever happens, we face it together—as a faith
-filled family.  But tonight,” she touched each of their faces gently, “tonight, we celebrate!”

“Amen
!” All four stepped back from each other, noticing for the first time the roaring applause from their guests.

Lost in his reverie, Theo didn’t hear Margo calling for him until she walked up, her beautiful silhouette framed
by the sunlight at her back.

“Theo?  Are you all right?”

“Hm?  Oh, yeah.” He stood and stepped closer to his bride.  She smelled like sunlight and saltwater.  His heart squeezed with joy in his chest. 

“I was just saying I think it’s time for Danny’s nap.” Margo tipped her head to the side as she studied his unshaven face before standing on tiptoe to kiss the smile on his lips.

Theo reached out and lifted the little boy who had been holding his mother’s hand.  “Well, let’s get you cleaned up then, buddy.  As for naptime, I think I’ll join you.” He winked over his shoulder at Margo. 

T
hey made their way back to the new beach house at peace with their children and extended family enjoying their last day in the sand.  They would all be flying back to Texas in the morning.  Everyone was excited to start their new lives and, though there were countless unknowns, they were sure of two things: family and faith.  Together the Winter family would walk with confidence into their future days.

THE END

If you enjoyed the Winter’s Saga
series, please recommend them to your friends!  Oh, and the biggest compliment you can pay an author is to write a review!  Your words in an Amazon review will absolutely help other readers take notice of the series—maximizing its exposure!  Please and thank you! 

NEWS FLASH:

Though Legacy was supposed to mark the end of the series, I love the characters too much to leave them forever, so I have an announcement:  This won’t be the last you hear from the Winter family!  Give me some time to clear my palate for a while as I step away from my Winters to write a stand-alone or two, but then... *wink*

As ever, I t
hank you for traveling on this roller coaster ride with me!  It has been, and continues to be, an honor.

Hugs,

Karen

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