Darkness upon the Land

His lunge knocked Alexia down to one knee, but she could still see her mother’s slender frame lying on top of the crumpled, blue cloth covering the surface of the table. She heard all the chairs rattle again as Reuben pressed against her back, and wrapped his right arm across her chest to grasp her left shoulder. He pulled and pushed at the same time, forcing her to bend toward the floor.

He hissed in her ear, “Alex – don’t!” And then he made the same grunt she’d heard when Baldy punched him in the ribs back at Baton Rouge.

The chairs clattered again.

“You can’t do this! Not now!” There was no mistaking the desperation in his voice.

Fury rushed to the surface to meet her horror. Reuben pinned his other arm around her waist, and she heard him grunt again as he jerked her to her feet. But he kept her forcefully bent toward the floor as he dragged her back out the doorway. A nearby chair toppled over.

“Stop it!” Alexia shrieked. “Let go of me! Let me go!”

The couch to her left abruptly banged against the wall.

“Not until you get it together!” He gasped.

An end table toppled over, shattering the glass of the lamp or picture frame that had been on it.

“This is your fault, you moron! We could’ve gotten here yesterday! Let me go to her!”

“Not in this condition!” He kept her doubled over as he continued wrestling her toward the door.

Alexia struggled with every ounce of her strength, even though physically she didn’t even begin to be a match for him. But the biochemical force her body produced wreaked havoc on the rest of the room. Something else fell with a clatter. She heard the unmistakable pop of a light bulb. She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he was literally on top of her. In spite of her efforts they lurched through the doorway.

“You’re making it worse!” She screeched. “Let me go!”

“Not yet!”

They staggered across the galerie and tumbled down the steps to finally come to a stop in the middle of the yard. He released her and leaped backwards, still between her and the house.

“Blast you!” She snapped as she started to hurtle back toward the building.

But the outburst had taken its toll. Her legs gave out from under her and she fell to the grass instead. She tried to stagger back to her feet, but fell again and wound up sprawled on the ground. She looked up and saw that Reuben was backing away from her with one hand thrust behind him, his expression almost wary.

She tried to scream another oath at him, but her voice failed as the exhaustion completely overtook her. Alexia attempted to push herself up to at least a sitting position, but her arms gave out from under her and she collapsed back to the grass. She rolled to her back and stared at the branches of the live oak tree outlined against the blue sky. Her head swooned as tingling crept through her body before succumbing to numbness, and the limbs and sky above her faded into a void of white.

Reuben had one woman bleeding on the table and another unconscious in the yard. But he couldn’t help either of them just yet. His insides felt as though somebody had rammed a jack hammer into his gut and switched it on. He had never before been in such close proximity to Alexia during a major outburst, and she’d just given him a new experience in pain. But there wasn’t time to analyze that, either. For the moment the three of them were alone, but he had no idea how long that was going to last.

When his hand touched the step railing, he whirled around and sprinted up to and across the porch to the stairs that led to the upper floor. The same adrenaline rush that had surged through him on the bridge at Baton Rouge descended on him now. He streaked up the stairs and burst through the door at the top. It was a good thing it had been left unlocked, or he probably would have bounced off it and back down the stairs.

The guest bedroom where he always stayed was still in order, offering more evidence that whoever did this to Liana was coming back for more. He dashed to the closet door, flung it open, and hurling forward dropped to his knees at its back corner. By squeezing his fingers between the two wood panels, he wiggled the side slat loose. He pulled it back and was relieved to see his bolt-action .223 rifle was still propped between two vertical cypress beams.

He didn’t keep his rifle with the other firearms in the gun cabinet because Reuben didn’t trust Ben. He really had no idea what he thought the man might do. He just knew he didn’t trust Alexia’s stepfather with anything else, so he kept his rifle hidden away.

Next he darted over to the chest of drawers and yanked open one of the small drawers on top. He reached past the couple of pairs of socks and underwear and pulled out a box of ammunition. Luckily he had his cargo pants on, so he dumped what cartridges were left into one of the larger pockets. He tossed the empty box onto the bed, pulled four cartridges out of his pocket, and loaded them into the rifle.

After dashing back out the door and down the stairs, he hesitated for a few seconds on the porch. Every sense was alert as he watched and listened for anybody’s approach. Then he slung the leather strap attached to the firearm over his shoulder, and quickly strode back out to Alexia.

Reuben was grateful he’d seen her knock herself out once before, otherwise he’d really start feeling overwhelmed. He deftly kneeled beside her, scooped the girl up in his arms, and carried her into the house. He had to walk past Liana in the dining room in order to reach the short hallway that led to the two downstairs bedrooms. He placed Alexia on her bed and pulled off her boots before swinging her feet onto the bed. Next he strode across the hallway to Liana’s bedroom. He stood at the window that overlooked the front yard, verified nobody had shown up yet, and sprinted back to the dining room.

He hung his rifle on a nearby chair and yanked his little bone-handled stockman pocket knife out from his pants pocket. As he grasped Liana by one arm to cut the cord that bound her wrists, he was relieved to notice there was still warmth to her skin. Reuben pulled up the bottom of her bloodied, forest green tee shirt and groaned her name.

Her bleeding had mostly stopped, but he couldn’t really see the wound on the lower left ribcage of her back because of all the blood clotted around it. He pulled her shirt a little higher to see if there were any other wounds, and not finding any, stepped closer to her head and swept back some of the long tresses of brunette hair that had fallen over her face.

“Liana?” He leaned closer to the woman as he reached for one of her wrists. As he placed his ear next to her mouth and nose, he didn’t like what he was observing. Her breathing was shallow, and her pulse was weak and rapid.

“Liana, can you hear me?” He managed to push one of her eyelids open. He hoped it was his imagination that her pupil seemed dilated.

He had to move fast. Company could show up any second.

Alexia still felt light headed as her eyelids fluttered open, but quickly realized she was lying in her own bed, in her own room. She tried to sit up, but abruptly swooned again and her head dropped back to the pillows. It took a few seconds to comprehend how she got here.

She took a deep breath before raspingly calling out, “Rube?”

In just a few seconds he seemed to practically materialize beside her bed.

“I have good news.” But there was a strained timbre she’d never heard before to his voice. “Your mom’s alive.”

She caught her breath, but was still too groggy to fully respond.

“You need to eat.” His voice seemed lower than usual, a little gravelly, and subdued. “But you need to have something to drink first.”

She felt his arm slip under her shoulders and lift her to a sitting position. Something smooth touched her lips and she reflexively grasped the small tumbler, her fingers wrapping over his. It was actually dill pickle juice that had been offered because of its electrolytes, but Alexia drained the whole glass as though she’d just been rescued from the desert and been offered cool water. When she released the glass, Reuben seemed to evaporate for a few seconds. When he reappeared he thrust a plate heaped with plenty of pemmican into her hands.

“You can manage this on your own, right?” He asked.

She managed to shift forward, and grasped the light blue cloth napkin that had been on the side of the plate. “I’ve got it.” She lifted a hearty pinch of the concoction to her mouth and carefully chewed and swallowed that first bite. He seemed to be gone again, but as Alexia started to look around she realized he was standing in her doorway. Reuben was leaning against the jamb and his attention was focused into Mѐre’s room. The rifle, barrel down, was grasped in his right hand.

A chill coursed through her. “Where is she?”

“In her room.” He never looked toward Alexia. “She should be comfortable. I’ve got her wound dressed.”

She swallowed her second bite and reality began to reestablish itself. But despite her concern, she had to remain calm. At least the initial shock of their discovery had waned enough to help keep her emotions fairly neutral.

“Did Mѐre say anything?”

She didn’t like how he hesitated before replying. “No.”

While chewing her third bite, she turned her head to gaze at him. This time she noticed the smudges of blood dispersed across his shirt.

“How bad is the wound?” Her voice barely worked.

He hesitated again. “The bad news is she’s lost a lot of blood. She’s in shock.”

She had trouble swallowing that bite, but forced herself to take another. “What about ... the bullet?”

He drew a deep breath. “In a way she was fortunate. The bullet missed her backbone and internal organs. She was hit at an angle, so it sorta skipped across her lower ribs.” He audibly exhaled. “She’s got some broken ribs, though. And I can’t tell how much ... damage those might have caused.”

Alexia’s hands began to tremble. “She needs a doctor.”

“I know.”

“We need to go get her one.”

Reuben’s attention remained locked toward her mother’s room. “We can’t.”

“We have to.”

“There is no doctor within walking distance, except perhaps Liana herself.”

She set the plate down on the thin blanket, between her knees. “Esperanza has a clinic.”

“All the clinic does is give shots and take swabs and pass out contraceptives. They aren’t equipped to treat a gunshot wound.”

“They’ll have more than we do.” She locked her gaze on him. Some of her energy was beginning to return, but she couldn’t waste it on allowing the turmoil writhing deep inside her to break to the surface. “We’ve got to head out there and bring somebody back.”

“Not yet.”

Alexia almost glared. “What’s wrong with you?”

He stiffened, and his appearance finally made full impact upon her. The darker than normal pallor under his eyes and his five o’clock shadow contrasted sharply with the ashen tinge that had crept into his skin. Reuben’s face seemed to have grown more haggard since they arrived here.

His voice got a little gruffer. “Neither of us can leave yet. The worst news is, whoever did this to her is coming back.”

A chill settled over her as she allowed his statement to sink in. No, this time he had to be wrong. Surely for once he was going to be wrong.

Her own voice almost became a whisper. “Why do you think that?”

“They took what they could this first round. All the canned and packaged goods are gone. And all the guns and ammo that were in the cabinet. They also raided the medicine chest.” He continued to gaze into Mѐre’s room. “The home canned food, in the jars, is all that’s left, besides the stuff Liana was currently processing. Lucky for you she keeps the pemmican in jars. They’ll be back to take the rest.”

Her hands started to tremble. She clasped them together while drawing a deep breath to help remain calm. “What are we going to do?”

“We have one advantage.” His voice remained calm but somber. “They don’t know we’re here. We’re gonna keep it that way. They could be back anytime. And when they do, I’ll ambush them.”

“You?”

“You’ve got to stay with Liana.”

“But ... how will you know it’s them? What if one of the neighbors happens to come by?”

“They’ll make themselves obvious.”

“Rube ... what are you going to do?”

His expression was so wooden that she felt a tremor at the pit of her stomach.

“Whatever I have to.” He drew another breath. “You need to finish eating that. I need to get back to the window.”

Reuben repositioned the rifle to the crook of his arm as he quietly strolled out her room.

She stared at the pemmican. Although physically famished, emotionally she had no appetite. She had to make herself finish the food. He had given her a generous amount, so it was filling, and contributed to her feeling capable of getting out of bed albeit a little shaky.

She was gingerly swinging her feet out when he returned with his rifle.

“You sure you’re ready to get up?”

“I want to see Mѐre.” Alexia was still unsteady, but her mom’s room was just across the hall. Surely she could make that short a trip.

He stepped to her side as her stocking feet touched the throw rug beside her bed on the cypress wood floor. She swayed a little as she started to stand, and he immediately stooped and guided her right arm around his shoulders before slipping his free arm around her. She didn’t protest as he helped her through the doorway of her room and across the short hall to enter her mother’s bedroom.

Reuben had moved the antique, padded chair Mѐre usually kept near the window to her bedside. He led Alexia to it and supported her by the arm as she sat. While looking upon her mother she had to keep several emotions in check.

Mѐre looked like she could be having a bad dream. Her face, with an abrasion below her left eye and a bruise that covered at least a third of that side, was drawn. Both her eyes were swollen, and another bruise covered the right side of her jaw. Reuben had removed her mom’s shirt, and probably the jeans too, but although the covers were pulled up to Mѐre’s bare shoulders she had one arm exposed. More bruises mottled both the upper and lower portions.

“What’s the deal with the bruises?” Alexia practically whispered.

He apparently had been watching out the window the whole time when standing in the doorway of her bedroom, because he stood guard there now and again didn’t look at her.

“Whoever did this worked her over pretty badly.”

She caught her breath and placed one hand on her mother’s. Reuben had obviously tried to address the shock issue. There was no pillow under Mѐre’s head but her feet were propped up. She braced herself as she lifted the blankets to see how bad the wound was. Relief flooded through her when she spied the green gauze bandage wrap. The attackers hadn’t taken the veterinary supplies that were kept out in the barn.

“I’ve tried to get some water down her.” He maintained his vigil. “She’s able to swallow, so she’s not too far gone.”

Alexia squeezed her mother’s hand.

“I’m so sorry,” she choked.

It seemed a solid minute of silence passed before he spoke, his voice gruffer again.

“I’m the one who’s sorry.” His gaze remained fixed to the yard. “I panicked. I shouldn’t have manhandled you the way I did.”

She kept her gaze on Mѐre. “What are you talking about?”

“When I hauled you out to the yard. I didn’t have to be so rough.”

“You weren’t rough. You were right, I was no good to anybody just then. Least of all Mѐre. You did what you had to do.”

“I didn’t have to overpower you like that. I went over the line.”

“Rube.” She locked her gaze on him. “I forgive you. You just need to forgive yourself.”

“Myself? Quite frankly, I’m not sure who this stranger is that’s been walking around inside my skin for the past few days. I’m a little afraid he might turn out to be the real me. And I don’t like him.”

Alexia sighed as she squeezed her mom’s hand before returning her attention to him. “Don’t forget I started it by freaking out. And then you had to take care of both of us. So we’re even, okay?”

He glanced at her before returning his attention to the yard. “Well, rest assured I’m not gonna do that again. I will go check around outside now.” He turned back to her and motioned with his free hand toward the pitcher, glass, slingshot and pellets sitting on her mother’s nightstand. “Try to keep her hydrated. And if anybody else comes into this house besides me, aim for the eyes.”

Another chill rippled through her. As she watched him head out the bedroom door with his rifle, she remembered his comment about doing whatever he had to when the villains who did this returned.

Alexia glanced at the slingshot and remembered her uneasiness when it was her turn to stand guard while they washed off the crud after the flight over the bridge. Merciful God, if somebody came storming into the house, please give her the fortitude to actually use that thing.

She couldn’t have another outburst, or they might all become doomed.