Chapter 19 #4
Later, having bathed and eaten, Britta and Angelique were sitting on benches in the back garden, sipping from horns of Margaret’s mead.
“I have an idea,” Britta said.
“Should I be afraid?”
Britta punched her playfully on the upper arm. “Nay. You know that Everstead and all the surrounding estates now belong to me?”
Angelique nodded. “So I am in the exalted company of a wealthy woman? Shall I bow?”
Britta said a foul word, rarely used by women.
Angelique just laughed.
“I want naught to do with Everstead, and yet I know not where my place in life is now. Let us go to Everstead and rule it together.”
“Huh?”
“I have not been to Everstead in more than fifteen years. It is in the far northern reaches of the Norselands, but beautiful, as I recall. We could put it forth that we are both of my mother’s line and the Odal rights belong to both of us.
It is my understanding that all the old retainers are gone; none will know different.
Let us go there till we decide what our future holds for us. ”
Angelique eyed her warily. “Are you thinking to leave me at Everstead as you go off to find that lost love of yours?”
She shook her head. “That is impossible. Leastways, I think it is.”
“In truth, now that my mother is avenged, I have no desire to continue fighting...or be a nun.”
“The frightening thing is, I no longer see myself as a warrior, either. There are other roles I must needs play now.”
Angelique put her hands on her hips and glowered at her. “What is it you are not telling me?”
“I am with child.”
Home, home on the range...the very cold range...
“Holy crap! It’s colder’n a pig’s butt in a poop parade.”
“Sammy! What have I told you about your language? No video games tonight.”
“Daaaaad!”
“No video games.”
“Maybe I shouldna said it like that, but, geez, Dad, you gotta admit, movin’ to Alaska wasn’t a great idea. Even my snot is frozen.”
“You do have a colorful vocabulary.”
“If I had a dog, I prob’bly wouldn’t be so cold.”
Zach pulled the ear flaps on his son’s cap down lower, then handed him two more pieces of firewood.
Once he loaded up as well, they walked back to the cabin that had been their home for the last three months.
And, yeah, it was really cold...twenty below today.
..but chances were, Arsallah and his men wouldn’t be dogsledding out here any time soon.
The cabin was actually a two-bedroom log house, with all the modern conveniences...electric heat, plumbing, updated kitchen...but it was still nice to have a wood fire in the fireplace at night. Cozy.
And there was a school two miles away that Sammy went to every day via the county school bus.
He balked and claimed to hate it, but his mind was like a sponge, and he was learning so much.
Zach suspected he liked school. And he’d made some friends there.
They were almost a normal, single-parent family.
Of course, they’d changed their names to Smith, and Zach was using his middle name of Frank.
Frank Smith and Sammy Smith, whose mother had died last year.
Sammy never slipped with his real name. He knew how important their hidden identities were to their safety, which was sad, really, that a child would have to worry about such things.
That evening, Sammy lay on the floor doing him homework before the fire.
Zach was working on his computer at the desk by the window. He hadn’t yet found a job, so he decided to try his luck at writing a suspense novel while in hiding. About Navy SEALs, of course. It might never sell, but he was enjoying the writing...for now.
“Will we ever go back?” Sammy asked suddenly.
Zach sighed. “Yes, I think so. Eventually.” And actually, he didn’t want to get Sammy’s hopes up, but Arsallah hadn’t been heard from in weeks, and rumor had it that he’d been murdered by one of his followers.
I can only hope! Zach’s only link to his old life was a secure phone line in Commander MacLean’s office that only the two of them knew about.
“I miss Uncle Danny,” Sammy said.
I miss Britta. He didn’t say that aloud, because he didn’t want to add to Sammy’s misery. Though, truthfully, Sammy had adjusted better than he had.
“But I prob’ly wouldn’t be so lonely if I had a dog.”
Zach shook his head. “Give us a chance to settle in ourselves first.”
“Then can we get a dog?”
“I didn’t say that. A dog is a big responsibility.” Especially when they might have to pack up and go on a moment’s notice.
“I’m responsible.”
“You don’t even know what that word means.”
“Are we gonna go to the Thanksgiving dance at the Grange barn on Saturday?”
Great! A diversionary tactic.
“A party in a barn?” Hoo-yah! “Do you wanna go?”
“There’s nothin’ else to do,” Sammy grumbled, then glanced up at him with a crafty gleam in his eye. “’Specially without video games.”
“Forget about the video games. What does a person wear to a dance in a barn?”
“How do I know? I’m just a kid.”
“When it’s a convenient excuse.”
“What does convenient mean?”
“Maybe I should buy us some new clothes.”
“No. You always buy me dorky stuff.”
“I resent that.” He laughed. “What have I bought that’s dorky?”
“Kermit the Frog pajamas with web feet, for a start.”
“It was all they had in your size.”
“A bow tie. When am I ever gonna wear a bow tie?”
“That was your great-grandmother who bought that, not me. Besides, maybe you’ll go to a wedding, or something where you have to dress up.”
His little eyebrows arched. “Are you gettin’ married?”
Hardly. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “You could marry an Eskimo, and we could live in an igloo.”
“And you’re complaining about the cold now. Besides, how many igloos have we seen since we arrived?”
“None. Okay, another dorky thing. The hat with the ear flaps.”
“You’ve got a point there, but they do keep you warm.”
“At least I don’t have to wear those dorky superhero underpants anymore, now that we’re wearin’ long johns.”
They were both quiet then as they returned to their respective work.
Zach’s mind had drifted, though, and he logged off the computer.
Overall, he should be thankful. They were safe.
Sammy accepted him as his father. And they were alive.
And someday, he was sure, they’d be able to return to family and friends.
“Sammy...”
“Oh, no! You’re gonna say somethin’ mushy. I can tell by your voice. It’s all soft and gooey.”
“I love you.”
“Yeah, I love you, too,” he finally said. But then, he added, “I’d still like to have a dog.”