“No water for you here. Move along.”
A woman appeared in the doorway behind him. She pulled a dishrag out of her apron strings and whapped the man upside the head with it. “Elroy! We’ve got plenty of water. Can’t you see this is just a poor waif of a boy?”
“Don’t know him. Don’t know who might be with him.”
“Anyone with you, child?” she asked in a kindly tone.
“No, ma’am.”
“Come on in then.” She bustled around Elroy, pushing the barrel of the shotgun aside with her body. I was relieved to see it pointing at the wall, instead of at me. Maybe I could have fought then. But the woman seemed friendly enough; perhaps she’d fill my empty water bottles. She herded Elroy backward through the mudroom and toward the kitchen beyond. She turned toward me. “Well, come on.”
I stepped slowly through the doorway, my hands still raised. Inside there was a small entryway that held a huge freezer, a boot scraper, and a neat row of shoes and boots.
“My, but you’re filthy with that ash.” She handed me a whisk broom. “Brush yourself off with this, son. Now how do you like your steak?”
“My steak?”
“Why, yes. You get cleaned up, and I’m going to throw another steak on the fire for you. We were fixing to eat.”
“No, I couldn’t impose. If you’d fill my water bottles, I’ll get out of your-”
“Nonsense. Why, if either of my sons were out in this, I’d sure want someone to take them in and give them a good meal. Not that they’d be out wandering alone, mind, they’re grown men and have families to look after. So how do you like your steak?”
“Medium rare please, ma’am.” My mouth tried to water at the mere thought of a steak, but it was too parched. Just then I remembered the last time I’d had steak, at Darren and Joe’s house, and felt vaguely sick.
“I’ll do my best. I haven’t had to cook over a wood fire since I was a girl, and then we had a proper stove. I do wish we still had one, instead of that useless electric range. This business of squatting by the fireplace is hard on my old knees. Oh, where are my manners? My name’s Edna. Edna Barslow.”
“Alex.” I started to reach my hand out, saw how filthy it was, and thought better of it. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Barslow.”
“Edna is fine, dear. Now leave your pack and boots in the mudroom and brush off as much of that ash as you can. I don’t hold with ash in my kitchen.”
“Yes, ma’am. I have some clean clothes in my pack, too.”
“I’ll close the kitchen door then, to give you some privacy to change. Come on through when you’re ready.”
I stripped off everything and left it in as neat a pile as I could manage on the mudroom floor. I kept an eye on the door while I changed. Mrs. Barslow seemed nice enough, but I was keenly aware that there was also a guy with a shotgun on the far side of that door.
The clothes in my pack weren’t exactly clean, since the dust had seemed to find its way everywhere, but they were a huge improvement over the stiff, ash-caked clothing I’d removed. I attacked my hair and face with the whisk broom, which hurt some but brought a satisfying cloud of ash cascading off my head.
When I stepped into the kitchen, Elroy was sitting at the head of the table with the shotgun across his knees. Behind him I could see into a large living room with a fireplace. Edna was crouched by the fire. The aroma was so lovely, it made me dizzy.
“Edna put a pail of water in the bathroom for you to wash up, boy. It’s behind you.”
“Thank you.” I glanced behind me and saw another door next to the one I’d come through. I sidled through it, keeping a wary eye on Elroy. In the bathroom, a sink held a sponge and galvanized metal pail. I picked up the pail and sniffed the water. It smelled fine, so I drank about half of it straight from the pail and used the rest to wash.
When I returned to the kitchen, Edna was setting a platter of steaks and a Dutch oven loaded with carrots and potatoes on the table. As we sat down, she asked, “Are you going to put that ridiculous gun away, Elroy?”
“Nope.”
She stared at him a moment. “Will you bless this food then?”
“Yep.” They folded their hands and bowed their heads. I noticed Elroy was still looking at me out of the corner of his eye. Suspicious bastard-although I was watching him, too. I imitated Elroy’s pose as he said, “Dear Lord, bless this food to the use of our bodies that we may persevere in this time of trial and emerge stronger and wiser. Amen.”
“Amen,” Edna said, so I threw in one, too.
Edna talked during dinner. Elroy mumbled “yep” and “nope” now and then but otherwise didn’t say much. Me, I just ate. I wasn’t going to ask for seconds, but I sure didn’t turn them down when Edna offered. I didn’t turn down thirds or fourths, either. She offered coffee, but I convinced her I’d prefer water. I ate and drank until I was stuffed and sleepy and on the edge of getting sick.
I shook my head when Edna offered fifths and pushed my plate away. I felt a little woozy, so I laid my head on the table to rest, just for a minute.
I woke to Edna shaking my shoulder. She helped me to my feet and led me to the couch in the living room. It was hot in there, the remnants of the cooking fire glowing in the hearth. I sank into the couch, and Edna draped an afghan over me. I fell back to sleep instantly.
It was still fully dark when I woke again. Someone was shaking me. Elroy-I could see his face in the light of the candle he carried. I sat up on the couch and stretched.
Elroy spoke in a hushed voice. “Kid, I’m sorry about this.”
I came more fully awake. “Sorry about what?”
“Edna’s convinced we’ve got to keep you here, take care of you-”
“No, I can’t stay-I’ve got to find my folks.”
“That’s a relief, then. Get up and let’s get you on out of here.”
I stood and followed Elroy to the fireplace. A line had been strung in front of it, and all the clothes I’d been wearing yesterday were hanging there. “What-”
“Edna, she stayed up last night and washed your things in the bathtub. They dry enough to pack?”
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks.” I took my clothing off the line and folded it roughly. Then I followed Elroy’s candle to the mudroom.
“I filled your water bottles last night. Here’s a few extras.” He handed me a plastic grocery sack with six twenty-ounce Diet Coke bottles filled with water. I’d eaten enough food over the last two days that the Diet Coke bottles would fit in my pack, though just barely.
“I should say goodbye to Edna.”
“Naw, you do that and there’ll be a weepy scene. You look kind of like one of our sons did when he was younger.”
“Well, thank her for me. Thank you for everything-the meal last night, a place to sleep, the water. I really-”
“Now don’t be getting maudlin. Just get on out of here before Edna wakes up and tries to convince you to stay.”
“How is it that you’ve got water?” I asked as I finished tying my pack shut.
“First thing I did when we lost electric and the ashfall started was rig up a hand pump for the well. That was before my shop collapsed. So long as the hand pump works, Edna and I’ll be fine for water. Food, I don’t know. This goes on a couple months, we’ll have trouble feeding two mouths, let alone three.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Elroy.” I shouldered my pack and tied a rag around my face. Then I stuck out my hand.
The last thing he said to me was, “You take care, now.”
It was still too dark to see outside. I sat down, leaning against a porch pillar, and waited for the sun to come up. It never did, of course. Instead, there was a little brightening on the eastern horizon of the black, monotone sky. I snapped my boots into my skis and left the farm, sliding toward the light.
Chapter 14
About midday I happened across another farmhouse. As I skied up to the yard, a window opened, and I saw the barrel of a rifle poke out. I decided not to push my luck.