Leaving the thick smoke behind, Graham stopped seeing the white caps of his knuckles on the steering wheel when they’d finally crossed the Columbia Gorge. At least here, they could see an enemy coming from miles away. The land was mostly barren of trees. Only massive broken windmills scattered or sprouted from the earth like some prehistoric woolly mammoth burial ground.
From the west, behind every tree or old building there was potential danger and he might lose someone else he held dear. Truthfully, his heart couldn’t take another loss. Even now, he continuously scanned the rearview mirror, keeping an eye on his loved ones even though he trusted Bang’s neat tricks as he called them. That fact that he sensed danger, or so it seemed, was a testament to his uncanny instincts. Graham gave that credit to his birth mother, Hyun-Ok.
Tehya caught his eye in the mirror and said, “Can’t we stop? This is taking forever and there’re no trees here.”
“Can you stop wiggling around? Dad, make her stop. I can’t see,” Bang said.
Graham laughed a little, finally finding peace now.
“What’s so funny, Dad?” Tehya said.
“Some things never change. Stay in your seat, bug. I don’t want to get pulled over,” Graham said.
“Is that a joke? Uncle Sam would pull you over?” Tehya said.
Graham pulled a hand down his face. It was a new realization. The adults talked about it sometimes. Where the older kids remembered what it was like before…this new generation…they didn’t know anything. It was like spinning webs for them of long-lost legends or fables.
When he didn’t answer right away, Bang gave it a shot. “There were police that kept people in line, back in the day. If they saw you standing up in the seat like you’re doing now, they’d pull Dad over in a heartbeat and give him a ticket,” he explained.
“Are you serious? How did they do that? Did they crash into you?”
“No…” He shook his head a little. “They turned on lights and sirens. And that was a signal for you to pull over and stop your car.”
“Well, I’d just keep going.”
Graham chuckled. “Then you’d get an even bigger ticket and might even go to jail.”
Now Tehya shook her head. “That’s silly.”
“Yeah, so sit down. And besides that, you’re making yourself a target,” Bang said.
But she didn’t sit down.
Graham knew Bang had not yet relaxed his guard once they were at a safe distance across the state. That was a good thing. Graham lifted a hand to stifle what would come next. He knew Bang would begin yelling at his little sister and Graham decided to head him off. “Seatbelt, Tehya, now,” he said. “Let me know how Cheryl’s doing back there.”
She plopped down in the seat, which made Sheriff jerk up with a jingle of his collar.
“Watch it, Tehya,” Bang said with a hard edge, his voice having changed in what Clarisse called the man shift. It still freaked him out hearing a deep voice come from his boy, but he’d gotten used to it over the past few years.
She ignored him but said, “She’s still asleep. She’s snoring. And there’s drool all over. Sheriff’s too. Sticky back here,” she said, crinkling her nose.
Graham checked the mirror and saw Tehya’s face. Then he had to stifle another laugh. “Deal with it, kiddo.”
“Where are we going to stay when we get to Uncle Rick’s?”
“I’ll tell you when you buckle up,” Graham said. “Both of you settle down. We’ll be there soon.”
The irony of the situation was something he realized he couldn’t share even with Bang. They were too young to understand the generational annoyance of Are we there yet?
McCann might get it, he thought. He was old enough to remember…maybe the twins, but not Bang, Hunter, Kade, or any of the younger ones. Graham shook his head at how time had passed and where in life they were now. Some of them had multiplied. He now had Tehya, and Dalton and Clarisse now had Finley and Logan, now six years old. And of course, even the next generation were multiplying despite the dangers. Macy and McCann had Ennis and they were expecting another one soon. Despite all the dangers humanity finds a way to continue, ready or not.
The one thing he wasn’t looking forward to continuing on without was the place he loved most in life. Losing the cabin was a real possibility now and that was the only place he still felt close to Tala. There’d been enough of starting over. He didn’t want to do it again. And though he had nothing against visiting Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where Rick and the others lived, it just wasn’t home. But he glanced back again and knew he had to do what was right for those he loved. He couldn’t keep them in harm’s way. To do that might cost him everything.
“We’re staying in the big building with the diner on the first floor until we find where we want to live. You remember the tall condo building?”
“Which one? There’re a lot of big buildings there,” Tehya asked.
Graham nodded. “Yes, there are. I mean the one that Uncle Rick and Olivia stay in. There’re a lot of homes available in there. The diner is where we ate last time. You remember now?”
“Across from the park?” Tehya asked.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Bang said, “Do we have to stay there? It’s so…closed.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Lots of stairs, too. We’ll start there and see how we like it. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll look for something else.”
“How long do we have to stay? Until the fire’s over?” Tehya asked, smooshing her forehead against the window. He knew what she was thinking. He was thinking it, too. She already missed the Skagit River and the peace and solitude of Graham’s Camp. The cabin and lazy afternoons on the porch with Sheriff snoring on his side. It wasn’t just the fire they were fleeing from, however. He knew Bang was aware but perhaps not clear on all the dangers they might face in the months ahead and if Dalton and the others were right, there was no way he could keep the children there in so few numbers to fight them alone. That would be insanity.
Before he could answer, Bang said, “It’ll be good for you, Tehya. There’s a lot of other kids to meet there.”
“I don’t wanna meet any other kids,” Tehya said, hovering her hand dramatically over the new child, Cheryl, sleeping in their midst next to her in the back seat.
“You can’t be a woods-rat forever,” Bang chuckled.
“Don’t call me that!”
“Hey, no yelling,” Graham said. “Look ahead…taillights. We just passed the state border. We’re nearly there. Wave to the guards. Uncle Rick already knows we’re here.”
“Why don’t they clean up the road here and move all the extra cars and stuff, like you guys said we did after the fall?” Tehya asked.
“Because they decided a long ago to use the obstacles to their advantage,” Bang said. “This gives them a strategic advantage.”
Graham nodded. Bang learned well. That made him both proud and worried at the same time.
“Well, why didn’t we leave ours in the way then like they did?” Tehya asked.
Which Graham smiled at because she was also thinking and judging. Both great qualities as well in this world.
“Because there’s more cover back home. Forest-lined streets make their own mess that we constantly have to clean up after storms to get around. Harder to have obstacles in the way on those narrow winding roads. Here,” Bang tilted his head, “it’s wide open. There’s no cover. Nowhere to hide so you have to make your own cover.”
Then a loud bang made them all jump.
“What was that?” Tehya said.
“The gasoline, Dad. Sam said this batch would ride rough,” Bang said.
Graham tried to reassure them both with the tone of his voice. “This was the reserve formula. It’s getting harder and harder even to make the stuff. We have to be thankful we were able to get this far again. Sam said he’s got a new formula in the works.”
Bang chuckled, “Yeah, most likely distilled from the mash that Mark discards.”
“I didn’t think they could use that after brewing,” Graham said.
“They make bread out of some of it,” Tehya said, and Graham was surprised she was keeping up with the conversation, as well as slightly concerned she knew what mash was.
“What?” Tehya said when Graham gave her the look. “Bang told me about how Mark brewed beer.” She pointed at her brother as if he’d done something wrong and she’d got him caught.
“Hey, look, he’s doing it again,” Tehya said.
When Graham looked back, Sheriff had awakened from his slumber and began sniffing Cheryl’s neck with his muzzle the way he’d done before they’d left.
“That is weird. I’ve just never seen him so curious about someone before,” Graham said.
“She probably hasn’t had a bath in a long time. Maybe she ate a cat recently?” Tehya mused.
“She’s had a bath and didn’t eat a cat. She’s been with Clarisse,” Bang said. “Cut her some slack, Tehya. She’s not even awake yet.”
Tehya made her eyes big and reached over and patted Cheryl on the shoulder. “I’m taking care of her.”
“Regardless,” Graham said, wondering about the dark-haired girl in the backseat, “his reaction to her means something, I’m just not sure what that is yet. We’ll have to keep an eye on her.”
“Do we have to?” Tehya said with a roll of her eyes.
“Yes,” Graham said. “Sheriff’s already decided she’s one of ours.”
“That doesn’t mean she has to be one of ours too, does it? I mean, Sheriff likes all kinds of people,” Tehya said with a pout.
“We’ll see. Nothing’s set in stone,” Graham said.