Exchange Rate (8 page)

John cleared his throat again. “That’s good. I think. I’m not sure how it works, but it makes sense that if you haven’t had your period then maybe the odds are you can’t get pregnant. Reproduction isn’t exactly my specialty.” He offered an uncomfortable chuckle. “So, we can head out tomorrow after breakfast. I’ll start packing first thing. Take your... well, take your time.”

He rose from the table. “I’m going to scout out the items outside and see if any more of their supplies are portable. Maybe you guys could find yourselves different clothes. Your dress won’t be comfortable to travel in, Kelly.” He nodded curtly, obviously finished with our biology discussion.

John left. His exit relieved us and we both released our air on a whoosh. Bodey met my gaze and we giggled. Grabbing hands, we leaned into each other, our lips meeting. We were married. There was nothing wrong with how we wanted to touch and be with each other.

I reveled in the warmth of his skin. “Can we go to our room now?” For far too long, I’d been begging Bodey to be with me. And he hadn’t, for whatever reason, and now that we were married, he had to. It was his job or something.

He stood, pulling me with him. “Yes, I don’t want to wait any longer.” And a rush of warmth filled me. He really did want me as badly as I craved him. His control impressed me. Especially when I considered all the times I threw myself at him.

I dropped my jaw in mock shock. Following him up the stairs, I teased. “You mean, you’re willing to do this? I don’t want you to feel forced or coerced.” Secretly, I just wanted him to tell me he wanted to. Just some confirmation I wasn’t the only one craving touch.

Bodey turned when we reached the door to the master bedroom. He pushed open the panel and held my gaze. “Willing? You’re all I think about. Everything about you. Every single detail.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, cupping my neck to draw me close. His lips grazed mine. “I love you.”

He didn’t let me answer as he dipped his head and our lips melded together, dancing and playing but with a ferocity of need I hadn’t enjoyed before. Bodey always held himself back, like he was scared of hurting me or something. Or maybe he was afraid of wanting too much.

I gave as good as I got and we tumbled to the bed, our arms working at our waists to get closer. A shower would’ve been nice, but since it wasn’t an option, we ignored that need and met others.

Somehow, I hoped the door was closed. As uncomfortable as everyone was just talking about sex, I doubted John would survive walking in on us. If John did walk in on us, Bodey might be the one that didn’t survive because of embarrassment.

~~~

B
odey pulled his shirt over his head, shrugging the hem down over his chest and back. “Yeah, I can’t believe I waited that long.” He grinned, watching me pull on a borrowed shirt and my tights. I hadn’t found a pair of jeans or cargo pants yet, but I would. The Scoggins had stored clothes almost as much as they’d hoarded first aid supplies. I felt closer to him than I had before, like the bliss had been the cement to bind us together.

For our first time together, I hadn’t expected it to be so much fun. Where had the theory gone where life was supposed to go from bad to worse to worst? Walking in the woods and dealing with Charlie and the fire and Shane’s group chasing us had been worse, but Mom had died the year before so I knew what worst truly was.

Being married to Bodey didn’t qualify as negative and being together had slammed us clear over the line to better and best. The shift in the quality of life startled me. I’d been drifting, just existing on the borders of being happy. So fast, we’d gone from liking each other, kissing, hanging out, best-friend status to love you and marriage and physically joining together.

My head spun and my muscles quivered.

I sat on the mattress and leaned against the headboard to our borrowed bed. “Do you think we should go to the community?” Bodey’s opinion meant a lot to me. John’s did, too, but I couldn’t make up my mind which way to go.

For some reason, I expected myself to shy away from any and all collections of organized people. My experience at the camp had burned me, but I hadn’t had a shower or seen a light bulb in forever. What if they did have music and a community that had electricity? I would trade so much of our hiking lifestyle for a steady place to call home. Even if it wasn’t the perfect society.

Did I question John’s decision because he hadn’t asked our opinion, or did I really care about going?

Bodey pulled up a leg and sat on the mattress with me. Picking at the quilt tie in the inches between us, he wiggled his pursed lips as he mulled over my question. He shrugged softly. “You know, I’m not sure. Dad doesn’t want to and I trust his reasons, but at the same time, Mike brought up some things I would consider trading other things for.” He sighed. “You wouldn’t believe how much I miss showers.”

“Oh yes, I would.” I didn’t want to mention that even though we’d been under the blankets, I hadn’t wanted him to look under the covers in case I wasn’t clean enough. Trying to stay hygienic with little access to cleaning water or soap wasn’t easy, if even possible.

“Do you miss your stuff?” He watched me, twisting the yarn between his strong fingers.

This time, I shrugged. “Nah, it’s just stuff. I don’t even remember what I had.”

He reached for my hand, his warmth caressing. “I don’t feel like I lost anything.” He leaned close and kissed me soft as air.

I understood what he meant. We’d left a pile of ashes and burning supplies with more than we’d ever had. Our losses faded under the umbrella of happiness.

He made me happy. For once in a long time, lightness filled my chest and I didn’t have an aching need to find the next place or return to a steady site. Bodey was sturdy and the house we were in – even temporary – gave me a consoled sensation I wanted to hold close for a long time.

~~~

“T
oo bad we can’t just stay in this room forever. No one could find us and food would just magically appear.” I unhooked the pack I’d claimed earlier and stuffed sweatshirts and socks inside the large pocket. The handmade quilt on the bed was made for a twin-sized bed but had been draped over a queen. I folded it tightly and tucked the material into the bottom pocket of my hiking pack.

I bent at the waist and tugged on the loose sole of my boot. At the toe, the rubber piece pulled off in my hand, leaving a hole displaying the white of my sock. Lovely. I groaned. “Bodey, I need a new pair of boots. The sole’s bad on these.” Boots weren’t easy to come by. Especially my size.

“Check Mary’s closet. She kept different sizes of everything on hand. I bet she has an entire new wardrobe in there you could pack.” Bodey pointed at the double sliding doors beside the entryway to the bedroom. He moved without rushing. Like he hadn’t yet put together the horrors in the house.

Crossing the room, I didn’t expect much. She’d packed up her things, there was most likely nothing left. The panels slid open soundlessly, revealing neatly organized stacks of clothing on a rack above hanging clothes and shoes lined up neatly on the ground. “Wow.” I breathed, my nerves humming but stalled for a moment.

Jeans in blues and blacks were my first stop. I’d lost so much weight over the last year, I didn’t have a clue what size pants I wore. To my surprise, I found a pair of cargo jeans in my old size. I’d been wearing tights to keep myself warm because the jeans I wore were too loose to keep me warm.

I held up the pants. Holy cow, they’d never fit. Digging around the pile, I found a pair two sizes smaller than my norm and slipped them on. Snug, like a glove and not too tight. Excitement sped up my movements. I dug for long-sleeve shirts and short sleeves, a hoodie, socks, gloves, and tried to hold back my giddiness. Seriously! Clothes. I hadn’t had new clothes in forever. The only thing that would make that day the best of my life would be a shower.

Boots. I needed boots. That was why I’d gone into the long closet in the first place. Inspecting every shoe, I located every size but my own. I grabbed the closest one by rounding up and slid on an extra pair of socks. My feet might sweat or even be uncomfortable in too big of shoes, but they wouldn’t be cold or wet which was more important than anything else. The brand-new leather laces crinkled as I tied them.

Twirling into the room, I tucked my shoulder and batted my eyelashes. “What do you think?”

Bodey grinned and rushed to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I think I love you. What do you think of that?”

My heart fluttered and I leaned into his chest. “I think I like that.”

My emotions were pretty solid considering death chased us around every corner. For a few hours we didn’t have to look behind every tree and watch our step or be quiet because someone might hear us. As the sun slipped behind the mountains, I didn’t have to rub my lower back because of weight I’d carried all day on my shoulders.

So I relaxed, I let my guard down. In the mudroom, I searched for some bleach or cleaning chemical I could wash our knives with. I reached into the cupboard below the sink, accidentally knocking over a box. The contents spilled to the ground.

Small greenish-white crystals bounced on the linoleum. The discovery saddened me and I slowly picked up the mess, careful to move the poison out of reach. Even without little kids there, it seemed disrespectful to their memories to just leave the poison there.

Opening the door to the back deck, I checked for any bleach on her storage shelves. Beside the wooden shelves that reached higher than me, a child-sized table with four primary-colored chairs had been tucked against the siding in the corner.

Still set, it was easy to see that Mary and Mike hadn’t been able to return to the children’s play area. I stepped around the bright red square covered with a tea set including plates and porcelain utensils.

But greenish-white crystals caught my eye on the remaining crust of a sandwich. The hard, dry bread had been there a while – my guess, a week or so – and the crystals sprinkled from the food when I nudged it with a fork. Children wouldn’t put candy inside a sandwich. That just didn’t make sense.

I chewed my inner bottom lip, placing the fork back on the tabletop slowly. The rat poison hadn’t been moved out of reach but those kids had known better than to get into things they’d been told to stay away from.

Those little kids...

I left the table how I’d found it, rushing up the stairs. Panic set in. I had to get out of there. We couldn’t stay.

John turned out of a room at the end of the hallway, buttoning up a new-to-him flannel. He took in my distress and grabbed my arm as I tried to dart past. “What’s going on?”

Yet still the tears didn’t come. I wanted to choke on my sadness and the chaos in my chest, but the tears refused to make themselves known. As stressed as I was, my voice didn’t tremble as I spoke. “Can we get out of here tonight? There’s something wrong here. Mike and Mary are crazy. Their kids...” I met his gaze, my eyes wide and dry.

“Yeah, I hoped you wouldn’t sense anything.” He searched my face then glanced down the hall. Running his hands through his hair, he blew a gust of air from circled lips. He paused a moment, always so cautious and well thought out. “Okay, grab Bodey and make sure he’s packed. We’ll see if we can reach Bayview before sunset.”

We had half a day left before dark crept in.

I jerked my head in what I hoped was a nod. My hands shook. Thank goodness I hadn’t cried. Certainly I would start and not stop.

In the room we’d claimed, Bodey clicked a top pocket shut on a new hiking pack. He smiled, his half-smile that weakened my knees and caused parts of me to remember we were married and he was mine and I was his.

John’s voice carried up the stairs. “You two ready to go? We have a lot of ground to cover.” He thumped his hand on the railing twice.

Bodey quirked his eyebrow at me. “I thought we weren’t going until tomorrow.”

I looked at his collar, smoothing the material of his shirt over his chest. “I can’t stay here. Things are... not right.” I didn’t want to talk about my suspicions of the Scoggins. What if I was wrong? John had kind of agreed with me, but hadn’t gone into detail. I wasn’t a detective, but come on, the evidence was pretty grotesque.

Bodey nodded, swooping his pack from the bed and pulling the straps on. “Let’s go then. If you’re not comfortable, we’re not staying.”

How lucky was I? A man loved me enough to leave a safe house for the wild. I’m not sure what I had done to deserve him, but I’d keep him for as long as the world would let me.

We tromped down the stairs to where John waited by the front door. He tapped his forefinger on the door frame. “We’re going to take Highway Fifty-four across to Bayview, but we’re not going to be on the road. We’ll run parallel to it in the woods. No reason to be in plain sight, right?”

He looked out the window, left and right. His finger continued tapping.

“What happened?” I’d seen him that agitated before when we’d worked on escaping Charlie’s group by Rathdrum in autumn.

John didn’t take his eyes off the scenery. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Something shifted. It...” He shook his head, a line formed over the bridge of his nose. “It feels like someone is out there, but I can’t be certain.”

I stepped back. John’s instincts hadn’t let us down yet. How did I make myself go outside knowing they waited for us? Was it Shane? Had Charlie survived?

“Let’s go out the back and use Mike and Mary’s logging trail to get out of here.” Bodey’s suggestion didn’t make me feel like we were going to die any second.

Crossing my fingers, I hoped John went with the plan.

John pushed his lips out and nodded. “Yeah, that could work. Okay, let’s go.” He followed us to the backdoor which led into the garage. A choice of three doors faced us. We would go out the most rear and into the logging run Mike had made for Mary so she could get logs in the winter without getting bombarded by snow and wind.

We moved as silently as possible. My new boots squeaked slightly when I shifted my left foot to move forward. Out the backdoor – I avoided looking in the direction of the table – we stepped over fallen branches and abandoned bark. The log run led us out into the woods.