“I know you were instructed to protect us, Daniel, and you are. But I said to bring him inside. It’s cold. He’ll freeze if we leave him outside.”
Daniel gave his brother a look. “Come and give me a hand, Joshua.”
Daniel handed his gun to his mother, then the two boys picked Kyle up and carried him into the house, setting him roughly on the floor in front of a well-worn couch. A cast iron, wood-burning stove in the corner of the room near where Kyle had been dropped gave off plenty of heat, and, after being outside in the chilly fall air for so long, a shudder surged through Kyle’s body.
The woman sat down in a recliner facing Kyle. She sat silently, studying him intently. After five uncomfortable minutes she spoke. “My name’s Emma. You’ve met my sons, Daniel and Joshua.” She motioned in the direction of the two boys, who were now sitting on stools in the kitchen, still anxiously gripping the guns they had greeted Kyle with. “My daughters are Rachel and Rebekah. They’re in their rooms. You’ve put quite a scare into them. I guess we’ve all been scared lately,” she added, “but they just show it more.”
“I’m truly sorry to have frightened you,” said Kyle, looking at the boys and then back to Emma. “When I saw your lights, I guess I just wanted everything to be back to normal, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ve been alone and walking for such a long time…” he trailed off, his emotions again rising to the surface. “I have a daughter named Emma,” he said, changing the subject. “It’s a good name. My name is Kyle Tait.” He paused and looked around the brightly lit room. “I didn’t hear a generator. How do you have power?”
“My husband installed solar panels and wind turbines years ago,” Emma answered. “It’s all hooked up to batteries and grounded some special way to protect it, plus he’s kept extra equipment, in case something went wrong. When the batteries are full we’re able to use as much power as we want. We don’t like having to rely on anyone else, and my husband has never trusted the government, so we’ve done what we can to take care of ourselves.”
“It seems to be working,” Kyle said as he admired the brightly glowing lamps. “Emma, I’m sorry to have scared your family. I’m sure you don’t get many visitors this far out, but I really don’t mean you any harm.” He looked her in the eye. “If you would let me go, I’ll be on my way, and you’ll never see me again.”
“Mom,” Daniel said, rising from his stool. “Remember what Dad said when he left? He said he’d kill the next person who stepped foot on our property. Said everyone’s a liar and a thief, and that we can’t trust anyone.”
Emma looked at her son. “Daniel, we’re not going to shoot him, you know that, and neither will your father. He was just mad when he said those things.”
“What if this is the guy who took our chickens?” asked Joshua. “Dad would kill him for sure if he was.”
“Why would the person who took our chickens knock on our door?” asked Emma.
Daniel turned his head to the side, his bottom lip clenched between his teeth and a flash of anger showing in his eyes. “Why did this guy come here with a gun and a knife then? When Dad left I promised him that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt the family. He’ll be back in a couple of days. Why don’t we let him decide what to do?”
“And what do we do with Mr. Tait in the meantime? Hold him hostage? Daniel, he’s another human being.”
“Dad put me in charge,” Daniel retorted. “I’ve got to look out for you and the girls. You know the sheriff isn’t going to come here and help. He’s only been by once in the last five weeks. We’ve got to take care of this ourselves.”
Emma frowned and considered her son’s argument.
Kyle listened to the discussion, watching Emma and Daniel. “Could you at least untie my hands?” Kyle asked. “My fingers are numb.”
Emma shook her head, but didn’t look at him. “No, Mr. Tait. I’m sorry, but I have four children to protect. In the past five weeks we’ve had one of our dogs shot, half our chickens taken, and our home has been broken into twice. Things have settled down lately, but who knows how long we’ll have to deal with this mess. I’m not sure what we’re going to do about you, but I will not have you in my home without some way to protect my family.”
She looked at her sons. “Help Mr. Tait up onto the couch,” she directed them. “There’s no need to make him sit on the floor.”
Kyle sat uncomfortably on the couch listening to the fire in the woodstove burn itself down, his arms and shoulders throbbing from being bound behind him. He wiggled his hands, trying again to loosen the rope, but found no more success than he had in his previous attempts. Joshua sat in the kitchen keeping watch over Kyle, his eyes tracking Kyle’s every movement. Daniel and Emma had retired to a back room, and from the snippets of conversation he could hear, Kyle had no doubt that he was the subject of their discussion.
The clock on the wall showed 10:35. Kyle was anxious to find out what decision Emma and Daniel came to, but he was exhausted from the day’s events and losing the fight to keep his eyes open, so he lay down on the couch and rested his head on a musty, velvet pillow. The couch was soft and the room was warm, and despite the aching in his arms, he quickly drifted off to sleep.
Kyle was sleeping deeply when a hand shaking his shoulder roused him from his sleep. He forced his eyes open, trying to remember where he was. Emma knelt beside the couch. “Don’t make any noise,” she whispered, placing a hand softly on his mouth. Kyle blinked, then nodded to indicate he understood. He tried to wipe his eyes, but his hands were still restrained behind his back. In the dim light cast by a small bulb in the hallway, Kyle could see Daniel in the kitchen, his head on the table and his rifle leaning against him. His breathing was deep and marked by shoulders rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
Emma grabbed Kyle’s shoulders and helped him into a sitting position, then she leaned forward and gave him instructions in a barely audible whisper. “I’ll loosen the ropes, then you do the rest. Once you’re untied, you leave. I’ve got my shotgun, and if you do anything other than leave, I’ll shoot you. Do you understand?”
Kyle nodded his agreement, marveling at how straight forward this woman was in promising to kill him.
Emma reached behind him, and Kyle felt her tugging on the ropes. After a brief struggle, the knot loosened, and the blood rushed back into his hands and fingers, causing an intense tingling sensation. Emma stepped away from Kyle and picked up a gun that was propped against the wall, then watched as Kyle tugged on the ropes, finally managing to free a hand. With one arm free, Kyle brought his hands in front of himself and pulled the rope from his other wrist. Once both hands were freed, he rubbed them together and stretched his arms stiffly in front of himself, trying to restore the circulation.
“Hurry!” Emma whispered, glancing nervously at her son.
Kyle untied the rope from his legs as quickly as his stiff fingers would allow, then massaged his ankles. When the circulation returned to his feet, he stood up slowly, holding onto the couch for balance, then stepped carefully towards the door. Emma and her gun trailed a few steps behind.
At the door, Kyle turned to Emma. “Why are you letting me go?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“It’s the right thing to do,” she whispered. “Daniel’s a good boy, but everything is black and white to him. He’s a lot like his father.” She paused a moment, then continued. “I believe you’re a good man and have a family to get to, so I won’t stop you from getting there. I’ve put a loaf of bread on that shelf for you,” she pointed to a shelf over some coat hooks with a loaf of homemade bread on it. “Take it, to help you get to your family. If you were lying to me, then you will have to live with that, not me. I’ll watch to make sure you leave. If you do anything to threaten my family…” She gave her gun a firm shake.