Fifty Years of Peace (Abrupt Dissent Series) (11 page)

“People need to know,” Aiden echoed. “That’s why we came.”

Doc Stinson nodded and fiddled with a stick he’d plucked from the ground. It was a small branch with a pinecone attached and he worked the springy wood as if it was a stiff limb. Then he tossed it to the ground and stood.

“Well then, I think it’s time we talked about how.”

***

George and Aiden knelt beside Lenora. She wrapped her arms around them both, pulled them tight, and whispered into their ears. George rose with tears in his eyes, but a firm look on his face.

His father lingered for a last kiss.

“I’ll take good care of her,” Doc Stinson called from his log, “maybe even get a nice nap in too.”

Jenny laughed at his
improved humor, shouldered her pack, and started down the mountain behind George and his father.

As they picked their way between the pine trunks, she felt optimism pouring from each of them. George seemed eager, almost happy. She even saw him taking time to enjoy the sun and the sound of the birds. They had a plan, and his parents had been saved. She owed Doc Stinson so much, and she was so glad New Louisville had people like him and her grandfather. With enough people doing the right thing, they could beat the New States and the three of them felt it.

She found herself walking next to Aiden, picking her way over rocks spattered with lichen and

m
oss.

“And how’s our rebel leader feeling?” he asked.

She blushed.

“Leader? I’m no leader. I just wanted to help.”

“That’s what leaders do Jenny. They act when someone needs help.”

She thought over what Aiden had said. During their planning session in camp, she’d discussed how the citizens of New Louisville would react to what their national government had been trying to do and how the U.S. could make itself heard. It had been her idea to show the townspeople the evidence, get them to ask questions the assemblyman couldn’t answer without showing how he’d lied. The townsfolk wouldn’t let liars and cheats stay in the town for very long, whether they came from Texas and carried pistols on their hips or not. Arnold would have to let her grandfather go.

For the first time she felt confident. Aiden believed in her, and maybe it was time she did as well.

Feeling lighter, she
skipped ahead to where George had stopped to consult the compass on his wrist.

“Do you remember the way?” she asked.

He smiled, sheepish, as he adjusted the straps on his pack.

“I thought I did, but we’re a few degrees off.”

“It’s ok, it’s only your second time here,” she said. As she passed him, she turned slightly southwest, along the path of a small brook.

“You don’t need to stop and rest?” George said as he caught up to her.

“I’m a ranch girl,” she smiled, “I bet I can hike just as far as you can.”

“I bet you could,” he answered. “How do you know the mountains so well?”

“I’ve always wanted to know everything that was going on in the world. But when you live on a farm, you have to do it yourself. So I rode Zeus everywhere I could. I guess the trails just stayed with me.

“You’re a great guide.”

The compliment made her smile.

“I used to dream about what was beyond the town. The ranch was hard work, and we didn’t get much chance to travel. But I always knew I wanted to see something more, something different. I always wanted to see the next trail, the next hill.”

“Maybe one day I can take you east.”

“What are the United States like?” she asked.

“Well, they’re a lot like this,” he said, “more cities, but with fewer people. The farming mostly happens right on the other side of the Appalachians, in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas. We have electricity some nights. It’s not a lot, but it allows us to be productive more hours of the day. We’re learning how to rebuild things from old blueprints on the computers. There’s so much opportunity, sometimes I wish there were three of me just to have enough time to do everything.”

“What would all three of you do?” she laughed.

“Well, one of me would be a scientist…did you know we used to be able to send people up into space? I’d take us back to the moon, or even up to Mars. Another one of me would work in the library, so I could learn everything in the books and teach everyone what to do and how to do it.”

“And the third one of you, would he still be a soldier?”

A glimmer of his seriousness returned.

“Of course,” he said, “we’re always going to have to fight for what’s right.”

“Even with three of you, it doesn’t sound like you’d ever have time for a wife or a family…”

George let out a small smile and then slipped his hand into Jenny’s.

“Everyone has time for a wife and family Jenny.”

Just hearing this gave Jenny chills. She squeezed tighter on George’s hand, trying to conceal her smile.

The ground was leveling out as they entered the valley. More and more underbrush slowed their progress, and George went ahead of her and stomped a trail through the thicket.

“Why did your family all come together?” she asked him.

“We fight how we train. There aren’t enough people in the U.S. to raise a full time army like the New States, so each family is expected to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice. When I have children, it will be my responsibility to teach them what’s right and wrong, how to fight, and what the United States stands for.”

“And what is that?”

“Freedom and opportunity,” he said.

The words startled her. They were exactly what the New States preached, what the assemblyman had roared from the stage, what she heard in school, but now she knew that those ideals had been twisted. She understood the damage lies could do.

“George, what if the Texans react and hurt the people in town? What if they hurt my grandfather?”

What was happening down below in the only town she’d ever known was becoming more real with each step toward the river.

George stepped closer to her, his voice growing serious.

“We won’t let anything happen to him, I promise.”

“Thank you George. You make me feel…so much better.”

He smiled, and she quickened her pace before he could see her blush. Before long, she heard the river in front of them.

“We’re getting close,” she said.

Aiden gripped her shoulder, then stood beside George.

“Jenny, let us do some scouting. We’ll be right back for you.”

She nodded and watched Aiden and George disappear into the trees. They ran soundless, agile through the underbrush while she found a log and sat. She admired their skill and training, how they pushed themselves, how they’d come so far and risked their lives to help people like her grandfather who they hadn’t even known.

And as they moved like lethal shadows through the forest, she prayed nothing would happen to them.

***

The longer Jenny waited for George and Aiden, the more she worried. The thought that more people might be hurt because of what they were about to do weighed heavily on her. She tried to push these negative thoughts from her head and focus on the task at hand, which was getting back to the ranch so they could use her grandfather’s technology to call for help.

A twig snapped in front of her. Startled, she jumped up and fumbled with the pistol Lenora had given her and pointed it at the rustling bushes. George emerged, scratched and sweaty, but smiling.

“All clear,” he said, “follow me.”

She took off behind him, her excitement growing in measure with her nervousness. Crossing over the river on the pre-war footbridge and setting foot back on her grandfather’s land, her heart rose.

“Where’s Aiden?” she asked.

“He’s staying hidden, just in case we missed anything.”

The knowledge and expertise of George and Aiden gave Jenny comfort. If they did have to fight, George and Aiden would know what to do.

Breaking into the open expanse of the southern field she’d thundered across days ago on Zeus, Jenny was startled to see people working the herds and tending the buildings. One figure near the house turned and waved. As she neared, she could see it was Manuel and she ran and threw her arms around him.

“Jenny! Where have you been?” he asked. “Who is this?”

“It’s a long story Manuel. I can’t tell you everything right now.”

“The Texans searched our houses Jenny. They took your grandfather. They would not listen to us…”

“I know Manuel, I know…”

“Jenny,” George said, “we have to hurry.”

His eyes were scanning up the road, and then the fields behind the house. He was desperately nervous.

“Manuel, come with us and I’ll explain everything.”

A half dozen of the other hands followed as they ran for the tool shed. It made her proud that they were still doing their jobs, still carrying on her grandfather’s legacy. Her grandfather had always treated them well and they were returning his kindness. One day she hoped to do the same.

She stopped at the tool shed and lifted the door latch. Her heart was thudding with excitement, but just as she pulled open the door, she heard a loud noise in the distance. Startled, she spun to see Manuel clutching at his chest. His eyes had gone big, and blood seeped through his hand.

“Jenny…” he said.

“Down!” George screamed. “Get down!”

George ran to Jenny and pushed her into the grass, then drew his rifle and scanned the river. Jenny saw a field hand sprinting through the grass beside her until another large boom went off, and the field hand stumbled to the ground.
How could anyone do this
Jenny questioned to herself as tears poured from her eyes.

“I’ve got no target,” George cried. “Jenny, we need to get into the shed.”

She scrambled inside and lifted the floor. George was about to follow until a cry from a copse of trees at the northern end of the clearing froze him.

“Move George!” Aiden screamed. “Hurry!”

“Dad!” George called. He started to run toward the sound of a struggle but Jenny grabbed his leg. He looked down, startled.

“This is our only chance,” Jenny said.

George’s face seemed to break apart, anger warring with tenderness. Another shot sounded near where Aiden’s voice had been, followed by a scream of rage.

“Please,” she said. “I can’t do this without you.”

He stared at her, the rifle in his hands. Then he threw it aside and sprinted down into the darkness. Jenny extended her arms to feel her way through the darkness. She was sick with fear,  hoping Aiden could give them enough time.

***

A woman in loose-fitting overalls popped up from the grass and ran, swaying toward one of the outbuildings. Dillon squeezed the trigger and she fell, clutching at her thigh. A bad shot.

He kept the scope trained on the area around the shed for a moment longer, then started scanning. The boy with the rifle, the same one he’d seen five days ago on the bridge, was pinned down behind the shed. The girl, the only target he needed alive, was with him, but Dillon didn’t want to be surprised again, so he was taking his precautions and eliminating every potential point of resistance. A few field hands at extreme range ran downhill to their houses. The cattle were shifting farther down the fields, reacting more to the smell of fear on the people than the gunshots.