“Good morning, Edith, where do I… um… use the bathroom?”
Edith’s silver hair was piled in a large flat bun atop her head. She turned and smiled. “Good morning, honey. It’s the second door down the hall.”
She wasn’t sure if she was expecting Edith to point her outside or what. She had no idea how far outside of town they were and didn’t want to assume they were on their own well and septic tank. “Does the toilet work?”
Edith nodded. “Yes, of course. When you’re finished doing your business, just pour water into the tank. You’ll see a green line inside where the waterline has set for years. Just fill it up to there. After you flush, pour a bit into the bowl for the next person, if you don’t mind.”
Gabby stepped into the bathroom to find it ready for use. Five buckets stood lined up against the wall, some full and some only half full. The shower curtain was pulled back from the claw-footed tub and it was still wet. Her sisters had probably taken a spot-bath.
She too would love to clean all her lady parts, but she was up late. They needed to get on the road. She could relax in a bath at the homestead, maybe even today. She did her business and flushed and then did as Edith asked, making sure the toilet bowl had water in it too.
Another station with soap and a towel was set up in the bathroom on top of a low antique apothecary, this time with only two metal bowls, for washing and rinsing, and a Tupperware pitcher full of water. She washed her hands and went back to the kitchen, clearing her throat to alert Edith she was behind her. She didn’t want to startle her.
Edith turned and greeted her once more with a smile. “You look well-rested. Your sisters beat you out of bed. They’re outside with Elmer.”
Gabby smiled back at the adorable little woman, wondering if this is what their mother would have looked like if she’d lived to see her golden years.
She accepted a cup of coffee and took the first sip, sighing in pleasure. “Thank you so much… for everything.”
Elmer had been a god-send; sent by Edith, of course. The old couple took them in, fed them, and listened to them re-hash their story—leaving out the part about how they found Mei— before Edith tucked them all in for the night, assuring them they were safe and kissing them goodnight as though they were little girls. Even Mei had stoically accepted her affections.
They were good people, even if Elmer tried to come across as cantankerous and put-out.
Edith waved off her thanks with a red-checked gingham dishtowel and began cutting bacon into biscuit-sized strips. She sliced each butter-topped biscuit in half and loaded them down with the bacon, delicately arranging them on a napkin-covered plate.
Gabby stepped to the screen door and looked out, once again, nearly not believing her eyes.
Emma and Olivia were out in the pasture with Elmer, all three walking in a robotic fashion, dragging their feet—Olivia’s feet wearing a pair of the loudest Nike sneakers in fluorescent pink and orange that Gabby had ever seen—and walking back and forth, sliding past each other as though they were magnetically attached to the grass.
“What are they doing?” Gabby asked.
“Gathering dew for drinking. We’ve got plenty of water, but Elmer doesn’t want you girls out there on the road again not knowing how to get some if you need it.” She handed Gabby a buttered bacon biscuit. “Here, you can have one, but call your sisters in to breakfast for me.”
Gabby cupped the biscuit to her face, inhaling the smell of melted butter, fresh baked bread and bacon. “Thank you, again.” Edith nodded and gently pat Gabby’s back. “You’re welcome, dear.”
The screen door squeaked as Gabby stepped out.
She walked over to the pasture, waiting to call them for breakfast until she could get a closer look at what they were doing. She nearly laughed when she was close enough to see both of her sisters trailing blue shammy towels—like they used to dry their cars—tied around their ankles. They scooted through the tall grass like little energizer bunnies with their brows furrowed and elbows bent.
Even funnier was that Elmer was doing it too, dressed in the same overalls and John Deere cap that he’d worn the night before, dragging his boots with his head down and back bent.
She laughed and he looked up. “’Bout time you got up, your sisters here are doing all the work.” He waved Olivia and Emma to him and together they walked toward Gabby, passing her to get to the four metal water bottles lined up on the stoop.
Emma and Olivia squatted down to untie their shammy towels and proudly held them out to Elmer, who wrung each one, squeezing and twisting the morning dew out over the open water bottles. With the water from his own towels, he was able to top them off.
“Wow.” Gabby nodded in approval, wondering how many passes that had taken. “Can we drink it just like that? It’s safe?”
He handed each of them a bottle and held onto the fourth. “Of course it’s safe. It’s dew. Straight from God.” He looked around. “Where’s your friend?”
“She’s not up yet. I’ll go in and roust her again,” Gabby answered.
“Your sisters’ told me where you found her.”
So her story was out too. Gabby was embarrassed for her. She looked to her sisters, who refused to meet her eyes. Gossipers.
Elmer clicked his tongue in sympathy. “That’s a sad thing. Y’all did good getting her away from those men. But that girl’s in bad shape. I could see that last night.” Elmer put one foot on the stoop and his hands on his hips. He chewed the inside of his mouth while he thought for a moment. “I’m not sure she’ll make it the rest of the way. I figure you girls have about another day—and maybe more—of walking before you’re scraping the welcome mat.”
Olivia shrugged. “I think she’ll feel better when she gets up. We were all tired and dehydrated last night. I feel a ton better.” She tapped her god-awful sneakers together. “See what Edith gave me?” she asked Gabby.
Gabby nodded. “Nice,” she lied.
Elmer sniffed loudly. “It’s not about being tired. That girl is a junkie. She’s was hurting last night and it’s only going to get worse. It’ll could take a month to get drugs out of her system. It looks like she’s only been without a few days.”
Olivia looked at him in confusion.
Gabby cocked her head. “Yeah? What makes you think so?”
Elmer chewed the side of his mouth again. Then he turned and gave them his back. The pause was so long, Gabby was beginning to think he wasn’t going to answer. Finally, he turned around. “I’ve seen it up close and personal, just like that. I lost my boy to that mess. She’s scratching, and muttering. Probably confused. Paranoid. And she’s still in bed, so she’s already feeling it suck her energy away. You can’t trust her. I learned that the hard way. She’ll beg, borrow and sell her own mother to get that stuff back into her system. Best y’all part ways soon… not here. But somewhere before you get home.”
“We can’t just leave her,” Olivia said indignantly. “She’s all alone, and she only has one hand. And she’s hurt. I told you, Elmer. They branded her like… like… a cow. We have to help her.”
Gabby looked from Olivia to Elmer, praying he’d have wise words to convince her sister otherwise. Mei had been setting off her alarms since they’d rescued her—if that was indeed a rescue—and Gabby agreed with Elmer; it was time to cut her loose. People on drugs brought nothing but trouble. Not my circus; not my monkeys.
Elmer squinted his eyes and gave Olivia his full attention. “This ain’t about her physical disabilities. It’s about her mental state. You can’t help people like that. They won’t listen to you. The demons in their heads talk louder. And if the power doesn’t come back on, they’ll be in the first wave.”