Megan
Rose dreamed she was locked in a wooden cage on top of some sort of cart, rolling slowly through the woods. Water washed away the priest who was her captor, and she freed herself with fire. Running away with her sister, her heartbeat became so fast and hard, it made her feel sick. They were being chased by angry dogs. Soon, the dogs had the girls surrounded, and one lunged at her, teeth bared in an angry, snapping snarl.
Waking up with a start, Rose sat bolt upright in bed. Her pajamas were damp with sweat. She had tried to scream out, but no noise came. This wasn’t the first time Rose had had this dream. It always left her feeling exposed and raw.
Celia was still sound asleep beside her.
Gently climbing down from the bed, Rose tucked pillows around her to keep her safe, then tiptoed into the kitchen to see if anyone else was up yet. Shaking the numbness from her hands, and trying to tame her unruly curls, she licked her chapped lips. Her mouth felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton.
Oh, how she missed regular bathrooms! She would never again take for granted the luxury of brushing her teeth first thing in the morning, or a hot shower, for that matter. Realizing it had been days since she had even seen herself in a mirror, she felt silly for all the arguments she’d had with her mom over makeup.
Rose's mom and a few others were in the kitchen, and they had started on breakfast. Rose offered to help, trying not to breathe her morning dragon breath on anyone. Working effortlessly together, they talked quietly about what was going to happen next.
“We’re going to leave in small groups, so we don’t attract too much attention,” her mom explained to her. “Some of the larger families will have to travel separately. Those with older children may have to split up.”
“What about us? It’s just the two of us. They won’t split us up will they?”
“Nothing is set in stone yet, honey. I don’t honestly know. If they do split up the families, the older children will have to go together until the rest of their families can join them.” Seeing how worried Rose was, she added, “None of this will be happening for at least another week. We need to give the rest of Mirabelle a chance to organize. Don’t worry, sweetheart, it'll be all right. I trust Hazel.”
Slowly, the rest of the cabin started coming to life. One by one, people came to the kitchen, either hoping to find some breakfast, or looking to help fix it. Before long, everyone was awake, and mealtime was in full swing. They were eating hash browns that had been dehydrated, then reconstituted and fried, along with canned peaches, pancakes from a powdered mix, and syrup. It was one of the tastier meals they’d had in at least a week, and everyone lingered, picking at the last crumbly morsels until there was nothing left.
As they were cleaning up, Rose decided to find Megan and see what she thought of all this. Then she remembered Megan had run out the night before. Rose wondered if she had even heard the news yet.
Checking their tent, Rose found no sign of Megan. She went back inside and checked in all the rooms, but Megan was nowhere to be found. Rose went to the game meadow, but she wasn't there either.
Stomach tightening into a hard knot, Rose tried to think of where else Megan could have gone. Had she run off into the woods? What if she was lost? Or injured?
Or found by an enemy?
Rose ran back to the cabin to find her mom.
“Mom, I can't find Megan. I'm worried. I've searched everywhere,” she said, panting, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“Whoa, honey, I'm sure everything's okay. When was the last time you saw her?” she asked.
“Last night when Hazel came. Remember? Megan ran off.”
“Okay, let's check to see if anyone else has seen her.”
The two of them started asking around, but it soon became clear; Megan was missing.
Popping her knuckles nervously, Rose explained to Megan's dad what had happened.
“She didn’t go to your tent last night?” He asked, his face turning white.
Rose shook her head, miserably. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Dan!”
“Rose, it’s okay. Don’t blame yourself. I should keep better tabs on her, even with this many people around.” He took off his glasses and rubbed both eyes, then put them back on. “Melinda, do you think you could help me gather everyone to help quickly?”
It only took a few minutes for the adults to assemble the whole group into search parties. Rose was with her cousins Adam, Jared, and Alex. They were to go back to the meadow, and search in a spiral path, wider with each circuit until their circle got wide enough to bring them to the river. At that point, they were to check in at the cabin.
They studied the ground closely at the meadow for any sign of Megan. There was nothing, so they started making circles around it, as instructed. Their assignment took them about fourty-five minutes, and they didn't find anything of interest.
They returned to the cabin empty handed. Most of the search parties were back, and no one had seen any sign of Megan.
“Well, let's look again!” Rose said to Grandma, panic rising in her throat, as she started toward the door.
Sounding too calm, Grandma said, “Wait until everyone's back, Rose. Maybe someone already has her. If not, we'll reorganize and try again.”
“You should sit for a minute, honey,” her mom said, worry etched into her face. “Grab some lunch. Who knows when you’ll have the chance to eat again? Yesterday, Uncle Dan and Adam picked a whole bucket of blackberries in the woods. There's also apples, fresh wheat bread, and peach freezer jam or cheese to go with it.”
Rose tried to eat some bread and jam, but she just couldn't stomach it. Settling for a long drink of cool water, she lay down for a bit on a long gold couch, which she was sure must be older than her mom. Getting any rest was out of the question, though, because she was too anxious. She just wanted to do something.
It only took another twenty minutes for all the search parties to return, but no one had found Megan. Rose's cousin, Anna, who was mildly empathic, thought she had picked up some hint of Megan along a path near the mountainside, but then it was lost. After a while, they’d been forced to admit they weren't finding anything, and they had come back to check in.
“Grandma should go back there,” Rose insisted. “If anyone can find her it'll be Grandma.”
The adults agreed with her, and assembled a new group to go back to the same spot. As the strongest healer in the whole family, they wanted Rose there too, just in case. Rose thought even if they had tried to get her to stay behind, she wouldn’t have.
Hand in hand, Grandma and Rose headed down the trail. Rose couldn't stop fidgeting. She knew she should have gone after Megan last night! Yes, Megan was hurting, but these woods were not safe for any of them to be in alone.
No place in the world is safe for any of us to be alone right now, Rose thought angrily.
She felt like her chest was getting tighter and tighter. Soon, she wouldn't be able to breathe. Breathing faster to try and compensate, soon she started to feel light headed. For a moment, she thought she was going to pass out.
“It isn't your fault, you know,” Grandma said. “And it isn't Megan's fault for leaving, either. We're in an impossible situation, and she needed to escape for a while to deal with some of her feelings. You were right to let her go. Don't worry honey, we'll find her.”
Rose should have expected Grandma to know she was freaking out.
“Grandma, I saw her leave, I should have known something was wrong when I didn't see her again last night, or this morning at breakfast. I should have at least told Uncle Dan she had gone,” she said, working herself up even more.
“You weren't the only one to see her leave,” Grandma said calmly. “And there is enough on your mind. The care of other children is not your responsibility; you are a child yourself, and going through almost exactly the same thing Megan is.”
Rose had cried last night until her eyes were dry and puffy, then fallen asleep in exhaustion. She was upset, not only because they had to leave their old lives completely behind them, but because of the stress the constant danger brought with it, because they were so alone, and most of all, because she couldn’t stop thinking about her dad.
She felt like a piece of her was gone, and she would never get it back. And what if she was asked to travel without her mom? There was no way she could handle losing both parents. But she wanted to travel with Megan, too. She had come to depend on her. How could she go on without that friendship? The only friendship she had left in the whole world, however tenuous it was. And what about Celia? She was like the baby sister Rose never had! She started to feel lightheaded again.
“Honey, take a deep breath,” Grandma said. “You're going to be fine. Megan is going to be fine. We will get through this. I promise.”
Just then, Rose saw a piece of gray fabric hanging from a bush off to the side of the trail. It was the same color as Megan's coat, Rose was sure of it. She picked it up and everyone rushed to surround her. Grandma, too, had picked up on something off the trail in the same direction. The trees were parted slightly, leaving just enough room for one person to walk through at a time. Megan's handiwork, no doubt.
“She was terrified when she came through here,” Grandma said, worry burning in her eyes.
Squeezing through the bushes single file, they followed the path through the trees until they came to a clearing with a big boulder off to one side.
The clearing was bordered on one side by the river, and on another side by the slope of the mountainside. By the boulder, there were some trees with their branches formed into a hammock. Upon closer inspection, it seemed someone was nestled deep inside.
Rose's knees went weak, and she fell to the ground, but then forced herself right back up. She ran on wobbly legs to the hammock. Relief flooded through every inch of her body as she confirmed Megan lay inside, looking as if she was fast asleep.
Something wasn't right, though. She was pale, and didn’t respond to all the commotion. Her eyes opened, but she didn’t look at anyone; she stared out into the woods, at nothing in particular. Tear tracks and smeared dirt stained her cheeks. Almost completely void of color, her lips were parted, and hung slack. Leaves and twigs stuck out of her tangled, dark brown hair.
Rose frantically tried to pull the top layer of the hammock apart, but the progress was slow. Megan was good with her gift, and she was covered tightly, up to her neck in leaves and vines.
Tentatively, Rose reached out and placed her hand on Megan’s shoulder, as she said, “Megan, what's wrong? Please look at me!”
But there was no response. Megan’s head lolled a little to one side.
Catching up to Rose, Grandma took one of Megan's hands and peered deep into her vacant eyes. It seemed to Rose as if she was staring into nothingness.
“She’s barely conscious, and is injured on her right thigh. By the time she got here, she had fallen and there was a lot of blood. It was all she could do to make this safe place to lie down, and stay warm. Last night was cold.”
Grandma was good with her gift, too.
Even though it was still summer time, they were in the mountains, and pretty high up, so the nights were chilly. Rose couldn't imagine being outside all night without a fire or any blankets.
The men in their group worked to pull away the greenery so they could take a good look at her.
As soon as she was able, Grandma put her arms around Megan, and held her close, rocking her gently from side to side. “It's going to be okay now, sweetheart. We're here now. Rose will make you all better, and we'll take you back to the cabin. It's okay. You rest now. Shh. Close your eyes. You're going to be okay.” Grandma kept murmuring soft encouragement to Megan, nodding to Rose to go ahead and begin.
Megan's clothes were all torn up, and filthy. Her hands had cuts and scrapes all over them. As they cleared the branches away from her legs, they could see that the right leg of her jeans was shredded. Underneath, her leg looked like it had been cut almost to the bone. There was dried, caked blood and dirt covering the entire area, and her body was heavily bruised and battered.
Rose put her hands on Megan's leg, and instantly felt her gift begin working. She held her hands there until there was no sign of the injury, then moved to each bruise and cut, healing everything right down to the tiniest scratch. When the healing was finished she slumped to the ground, exhausted.
Before long, Megan's voice came, as if from far away. “There were three men chasing me through the woods. I tangled them up in some bushes and ran for my life.”
Then Rose felt strong hands lift her, and the whole group moved back through the forest in the direction they had come. In minutes, she was sleeping soundly.
****
Rose woke to the smell of cooking meat. She thought it may be the most wonderful thing she had smelled in her entire life. The only meat she had eaten in about a month had come from cans. She glanced at her watch – five o’ clock in the evening. Amazed, because she must have been asleep for hours, she stretched her arms, then remembered what had happened. Megan began stirring next to her. They had been brought to the same bed she had slept in with Celia the night before, and had been bundled up in blankets. Both girls had slept away the entire afternoon. Megan was still filthy, but there were no other signs of her night in the woods.
“Are you okay?” Rose asked.
“Yeah, I'm alright,” Megan said, with a scratchy voice. “Thanks,” she added a little awkwardly.
Rose's eyes stung and a single tear escaped. “I'm so sorry I didn't go after you when you ran out of the house! I knew I should have, but my mom said you’d want to be alone. Then I fell asleep with Celia. I'm so sorry!”
Megan took Rose's hand and looked right in her eyes. “I needed to be alone. That's why I left. Thank you for finding me and healing me. And thank you for letting me go alone in the first place. There's too much chaos here. Too much busy work and noise, and everyone is being so brave, but I don't feel brave at all; I miss my mom!” Her voice broke and she looked away, steadying her breathing.
“I don't know if I can do this,” she continued, tears streaming steadily down her face. “How can I be strong for my brothers and Celia? And give my dad as much help as he needs now? I'm so sad all of the time, and I'm sick of trying to push it away. I should be sad. My mom just died! I don't know how I'm supposed to do this. This whole thing is crazy. We're living like cavemen in the forest, all stuffed into tents, and there is no plan for the future. I want to go back to school and see my friends, and plan for college, and read new books.”
She laughed through her tears. “What I wouldn't give right now for a good new book to escape into!”
Rose hugged her tightly. “It's hard; I miss my dad, too. But we can do this together. I need you, Megan. It was so scary when we couldn’t find you.”
“I know. I'm sorry. This sounds so selfish. Practically everyone here lost someone.”
“Oh, I wasn't trying to call you selfish --”
Shaking her head and holding out her hands, Megan interrupted. “I know. You're such a good friend, Rose. Thank you.”
Rose answered with a hug. “Friend. I’m glad you call me a friend, now. I feel that way too.”
Finally, the smell of the food roused them enough to go investigate.
Rose’s legs still felt a little wobbly. She was pretty weak from healing Megan, and couldn’t wait to eat some real food!
Dinner was the result of a deer hunt from earlier in the afternoon. The dads had gone out together looking for food, and trying to find some sign of the men who had chased Megan. They found a huge buck almost immediately, just standing there in the gaming meadow. It was like he was offering himself up for them in their time of need. After they had cleaned it and decided they would use up as much of the fresh meat as they could right away, they made jerky with the extra.
There was, however, no sign of the mysterious men anywhere.
When dinner was done, as the men took turns standing guard, the rest of them tried to let their cares go for a while. The girls found a few old decks of cards and played by the light of the camp fire until everyone was ready to go to bed. As the night wore on, more and more cousins joined them until they had quite a game going. They all talked and laughed, and Rose's spirits were lifted again. She thought Megan seemed better too, which made her happy.
She would wait until morning to tell her what Hazel Pennington had said.