“This is where our water comes from.” Herb lifted the wooden door and the sound cascaded out and around the room. It filled their senses with the aroma of a mountain spring. Herb had to shout now, competing with the water’s booming voice. “This was also here long before I bought the place. The crank and bucket are probably a hundred years old, although I’ve added some new parts. But the hole above the water you hear has been here for at least a thousand years, probably a lot more. This aquifer runs this loud year round.”
Max wondered how many years their water would last before it dried up, unless of course Cicada found an answer. He kept this thought to himself. “How deep are we, would you guess?”
“I’m guessing about one hundred fifty feet. The stream is another twenty feet down.”
They continued on their tour marveling at what had been built so long ago, yet remained so functional today. Their show-and-tell also provided a perfect detour—it would be one of many—from the decision each of them faced, but none wanted to make.
58.
It’s a Boy… and a Girl
Days turned to weeks and then a little over a month, when all decided to wait for the new births before rendering their final decisions. Max decided not to press, figuring they’d waited this long to get here, a little longer wouldn’t hurt anyone. Darla and Olivia had their babies within two days of each other. Darla, as expected, “popped” first, and two nights later Olivia had her baby girl, albeit prematurely. Both babies were healthy and so were their mothers. It was a joyous time for everyone, to see new life in a land that for the past year had only shown them death.
Darla sat in her favorite soft chair—a house warming gift from Herb—in their “new” living area, with the baby crib beside her. Her chair was pointed toward the outer opening to their cave home, giving her the best light. She uncapped the fountain pen and began her next journal entry.
We settled into our cave home almost right away, and waited for the happy day. On that day, thirteen days ago, we named him—yes, it was a boy just as Mom and I had said—Thomas, after his grandfather Thomas John Parkington Jr. In Steve’s family, Thomas was pronounced “Tomas” and so that is how we pronounce it. However, as it was custom here, first by Herb and then everyone else, we started calling him Toma right away.
Two days later, Olivia and Wilber’s baby was born, and they named her Emma, after Olivia’s friend Emma who died at Wilber’s ranch in Illinois. Oh, they resisted calling their daughter Em at first, but within days, they gave in.
This strange cave home of ours felt a little isolated at first, as we were the only ones here saying goodnight to the evening’s crickets and the green auroras. Then, the men finished Herb’s cave three away from ours. He preferred his view of the entrance to the oval. As water flows through a now broken dam, once Herb relocated from his ranch home, so did everyone else. Miguel, Maria, and their daughter, Ana, took the first cave, next to ours, saying that they were worried about Ana falling. I knew from Dad that since their episode on the roofs of the burnt houses in Mexico, Miguel admitted he was deathly afraid of heights.
Now the place is a buzz of activity. Before long, when the rest of the caves are complete, everyone will be living here.
Everyone, that is, but Mom, Dad, Sally, and Max. They continue to stay in Herb’s wood and stucco house, because they’ve decided to go to Cicada. Although I am sad at the thought of their leaving, I understand. They feel they are on a quest with Max and can contribute to maybe one day fixing what has messed up our earth. That discussion will come soon, and I’m not looking forward to it.
For our own protection, we stay out of the sun and work mostly during the full shadow of late afternoon and evening. We sleep during the heat of the day. We all wear long-sleeved clothing and hats during our time in the sun, making sure all of our skin is covered. Max, Dad and Jos—yes, that’s Joselin—came up with a salve from a local tree bark that has a natural SPF in it. Jos’s mother, even though she was a city dweller, taught her all sorts of holistic healing. Lucky for us, it stuck. So we cover our day clothes and all our exposed skin in this.
Speaking of Jos, the new love story is Jos and Herb’s son, Jas. I know Jos and Jas… you can’t make this stuff up! A few days ago, while I was in labor, I guess Jas gave Jos “the eye,” as she tells it, and from that moment on, they’ve been a couple. Jas doesn’t seem to mind Jos missing a leg, often using it as the beginning of a joke, like in, “Yesterday we were searching for Jos’s leg, when we found instead…” We’re all excited because, although Jos is a little older than Jas, they’re perfect together.
This is a community, probably not a lot unlike the tribe that occupied this place a thousand years ago. We work, sleep, laugh, and cry together as one community. And even though we don’t have many of the things we so depended on, I feel our life, in a way, is so much more full for not having them.
We all look forward to the times when, in the evening after work, we all come together and share stories about our lives before the Event. Who knew, but Stepha… I mean Steve (see, Herb has me doing it too) turned out to be a great story teller, repeating what he had read and heard, frequently telling others’ tales better than they could tell them. Often he embellishes on the stories adding his own wonderful flourish.
“Are you ready?” Steve popped his head in the door and knelt down in front of her. He looked at his wife’s solemn face. He looked much more melancholy. “It’s time.” Her face sank.
It was the day she had dreaded but had known it would come soon. It was the day they had to say goodbye.
59.
How We Got There From Here
Max had the Blazer packed for the next part of their journey. With Wilber’s and Herb’s help, he was able to completely fix all the engine problems they were having. They didn’t have the electrical tools like they did in the past, but they had an unlimited supply of parts, from a seemingly endless number of cars at a dump only a few hours ride from here.
This was going to be a tough goodbye as the Kings and Max were not likely to see Darla, Steve, and little Toma for a long time, maybe never. After losing their son but reuniting with their daughter, Bill and Lisa were hesitant to separate again. Staying here was certainly tempting. Herb had done a marvelous job of creating this community from the ancient ruins of a lost Indian tribe. Max could see the draw of this place. It was sort of mystic, but more than that, it had the one natural resource that few others could count on: fresh water, at least for now.
Max almost hated pushing the Kings to make this decision, but it was time. They had stayed long enough to witness their grandson’s birth and spend time getting to know him and their son-in-law. Now they had to leave, or at least he did. He wanted to give them one more chance to say no, to be sure that they wanted to make this pilgrimage.
Steve walked into the ranch house, with Darla beside him clutching baby Toma in a cross-body sling over her right shoulder. It was similar to a design she had seen in a book in Herb’s library, about the Indian tribe who had occupied this place. Funny how some designs work just as well one thousand years later. The Kings were already seated in the great room that used to be Herb’s study and their living room.
“It’s that time, when I have to go,” Max said slowly. “Before I say anything more, Herb, you’ve done an amazing job with this place. If I didn’t believe I could make a difference, I would stay here with you and this beautiful community that has formed around you.”