“What do you mean?” Someone asked.
“We need to be honest with ourselves. You all been living under a King. Hodges has been doing what he wants and how he wants since this whole thing started, right?”
A strong murmur of assent was her response. “And, it’s kept getting worse. And, harder. Until, a few days ago, his son felt such disdain for us that he come and took one of our women. And, ain’t she dead now?” Lily surveyed the group, taking time to look everyone in the eye.
“Then, what happened? When confronted, Junior shoots down, in cold blood, that woman’s husband.” Cooper felt the crowd shift underneath his feet. She has them now.
“But, get to the point,” Rusty called impatiently.
She gave him a long, hard stare before continuing. “Yes, Hodges has agreed to our deal. But, just like the shining moon on a lake’s surface doesn’t tell you what’s in that lake, you gotta look deeper. His demand for Cooper is really about him reestablishing his power over us all. You’ve broken free. That is what this is really about. Are you ready to give him that power back? Are you ready to go back to where Hodges’ son or his men feel like they can take what they want? No, take who they want? When they want?”
The group was stunned. The silence, complete.
Then, Miles’ voice cut through, quiet, somber, and strong, “No. I’m not.” The effect was like an avalanche of rocks coming down a mountain as one “No” after another came roiling up from hearty throats.
“I guess it’s revolution,” Frank said with a grin plastered across his face.
“I want a vote,” Rusty challenged. When he saw the number of angry looks his words invoked, he hastily added, “If we’re going to war, we should vote it. That’s all I’m saying.”
Frank started to shout him down, but Miles stomped his foot on the hood to stop it. “Rusty’s right. Let’s vote.”
“All in favor of standing up to Hodges and keeping our freedom, say ‘Aye’,” Cooper never thought the word “Aye” would make him feel so good, as the word washed over him now, shouted out in a full-throated roar.
“All in favor of bowing down again to Hodges, say ‘No’.” Miles’ face beamed and his words were sure as he said them. Cooper was surprised when Rusty and a handful of others were brave enough to say “No.”
“Alright, it’s decided. I will convey our answer to Hodges.” Cooper almost didn’t recognize the man who was standing next to him. He was smiling from ear to ear and it seemed like he was a foot taller. My father once told him that circumstances could elevate an ordinary man to do extraordinary things. I guess they just did.
“And, he certainly comes from solid stock,” Cooper muttered without realizing it.
Miles leaned in, “What’d you say?”
“Nothing, Miles. Nothing at all,” he said as he clapped him on the back and jumped down.
Cooper was greeted by introductions and handshakes and was forced to wade through the crowd. Before he knew it, he was looming over Lily.
“You have a way with words, Ms. Stott,” he said.
“I’m just like you, Cooper. Just tell the damned truth and the rest takes care of itself.”
“Well said,” he responded, before pulling her into a warm embrace. It finally hit him. This group of strangers had stood by him. While he worried about what was to come with Hodges, he was overcome with relief that he wasn’t going to have to flee into the unknown, with Jake in tow. It struck him how different this felt than the night his neighbors in Portland had turned against him. Tears stung his eyes as he whispered, “Thank you,” over and over into Lily’s ear. She patted him on the back to soothe him.
A while later, he found Dranko waiting for him by the Jeep. He wasn’t one for crowds, so Cooper suspected he’d been waiting since the meeting ended.
“What happened to your big speech?” Cooper jested.
“Did you need it?” Dranko’s response was flat.
“No, I guess not,” he responded, his attack deflated.
“Unlike you, brother, I learned a valuable lesson a long time ago.”
Cooper bit, “Yeah, what’s that?”
“It’s as important to know when to shut the hell up as it is when to talk,” Dranko said, satisfied.
Cooper pantomimed turning a key and locking his lips shut in dramatic fashion. Dranko grinned and then they both got into the Jeep, with Jake climbing into the backseat.
Cooper dozed off as Dranko drove them back to the cabin. The day’s events had caught up to him. A day’s worth of stress and adrenaline made him crash immediately, until the screech of the emergency brake startled him awake. Like him, Jake had fallen asleep, but he slept the child’s deep slumber and did not wake when the Jeep stopped. He opened the back door and scooped his son into his arms. A contented feeling struck him to his core. This mere act reconnected him back to when Jake had been allowed to be a child. It was only a few weeks ago, but the absence of it felt like it had been years. He stopped himself, closed his eyes, and breathed it in.
Dranko opened the door to the cabin for him and whispered to him as he passed, “I’ll take care of our weapons.”
Cooper nodded and carried Jake to his bed, laying him into it gently. His son breathed peacefully, a slight grin on his face. Cooper watched him sleep for a few minutes, enjoying every second. He looked up. Elena, this is when I miss you the most. I need your help keeping our boy a boy. Cooper suspected his plea was futile, that it was far too late for that, but he knew he had to make it.
He found his own bed and was asleep very quickly.
Chapter Eleven
Over a dull breakfast of plain oatmeal and dehydrated apples, Cooper and Dranko informed everyone else on what had happened. It took a while to get through everything, as there were a lot of questions. When they had finished, the table fell silent.
Suddenly, Calvin struck his hand to his forehead with a loud smack, “Oh my!”
“What?” They collectively asked.
“The decision you all made last night is going to leak back to Hodges. Do you think he is going to wait for the forty-eight hours for Miles to come and formally tell him the answer?”
Cooper and Dranko looked at each other in stunned silence. Dranko’s mouth drifted agape.
“What?” Julianne broke the quiet.
Cooper shook his head to clear it, “I can’t believe we hadn’t thought of that. Calvin’s right, that’s the question.”
Dranko chuckled in disbelief, “I’m still in shock here. I’m the king of paranoid thinking. How’d I miss that?”
“The only question that matters now is, what will Hodges do?” Buck joined the conversation.
Cooper rubbed his chin and thought, “He could come for me now.”
“Or, it could be more about what Lily said and he’ll crush his insolent subjects as part of it,” Dranko added.
“Or, he might just wait ‘til tomorrow. He might need the time to regroup after his losses,” Angela said, thinking aloud.
“Could be any of the three,” Julianne summarized.
“I’m not sure we have much choice but to sit and wait,” Dranko intoned.
“What makes you say that?” Calvin asked.
“We need these two days to get seeds in the ground. Otherwise, it won’t matter because we’ll be starving come the winter.”
His words sobered the group instantly.
“We should at least get word to Miles and then keep our weapons handy here while we are working,” Cooper declared.
The others nodded.
“We need to save our fuel,” Dranko said.