"Well," Sarah said, dropping her sleeping bag, "like you said, it will do for one night."
Dieter squatted down and lit the Coleman lamp. Light didn't make the place look more welcoming; less so, if anything. John came in with his sleeping bag and a satchel of oddments they always took camping with them. Then he went out to the vehicle to get the rest of their gear.
Dieter watched her lay out some plastic sheeting. "It's a good thing you store this stuff in your barn."
Sarah gave him a quick grin, gone so fast he thought it might have been a trick of the light.
"Never put all your eggs in one basket." She dropped her rolled-up sleeping bag onto the sheet and sat on it. "We have other stashes all over the place. I've probably forgotten where some of them are."
"Like a squirrel burying nuts," von Rossbach said.
Sarah grunted and took a sip from her canteen. "You should get Linda settled down," she said as she screwed the cap back on. "She hates being in that thing.
I'm surprised she hasn't freaked out yet."
As if the horse had heard and understood, there was a squeal from inside the horse trailer and the sound of a hoof hitting the back door.
Sarah raised her brows and gestured. "There she goes."
John came in looking worried. "Dieter, I don't know if Mom's told you or not, but
—"
"She did," von Rossbach said, rising. "I'm on it." He turned to Sarah. "I'll be back in one hour."
She nodded and watched him go. John spread his own plastic and sat down. He looked around uncertainly.
"Aren't there supposed to be these parasites?" he asked.
Sarah sighed and lay down on her back, her legs hooked over the sleeping bag.
"Yes, there are," she said. "But why talk about the idle rich now?"
Epifanio put down his little tot of cana and went to help the Senor unload the horse without being asked. First because it was his job. Second, but probably more important, he wanted to find out what was going on. Where had this horse and trailer come from? Marieta had told him that she thought von Rossbach was going to visit Senora Krieger. He thought she had a horse, but she certainly
didn't sell them.
It was a mare, he saw, and she was clearly unhappy. Epifanio caught the glitter of a rolling eye as she turned her head slightly. The mare's ears were back almost flat against her shapely head. She let go with a distressed little scream and his own horse, Sita, answered from the barn. That seemed to surprise and yet calm the little mare.
Von Rossbach stood with his hands on his hips and looked at her as though not certain what he should do.
"Let me start her out, senor," Epifanio offered. "I will fit better."
Which was true: he was about a third his boss's size. Also, he knew horses better, having lived and worked with them all his life. He knew right away from the way she was muscled that this little lady was a pet and not a working animal.
Epifanio could almost feel sorry for her, being taken from her home at night like this. He wondered why, and whether she was now to become a cow pony.
"Her name is Linda," von Rossbach said.
Epifanio got up to her head without incident, which disposed him to like her. He rubbed her nose gently and offered her a peppermint candy he had in his pocket.
She took it gratefully and rubbed her head against his chest.
"You are a fine lady, Linda," he said gently, scratching under her chin. "Let's get you into a nice stall and settled in for the night, eh?" He began easing her backward out of the trailer, petting her as he complimented her and soothed her with his voice.
Von Rossbach stood still and off to the side of the ramp so as not to startle the nervous animal. Though he was grateful for the help he was sorry that his foreman was here. His plan had been to just put Linda in the barn and leave without a word to anybody. Now there would have to be some sort of explanation.
"She is a pretty thing," Epifanio said, stroking the horse's nose. "What are we to do with her?" He looked at his boss. Surely he knew that she was too small for him to ride.
"She's just visiting," Dieter said. "If someone wants to ride her to ex-ercise her that would be good. But all she knows is being a riding horse, she doesn't know how to work."
"Oh," said the foreman. "I'll put her to bed then." He led her off without another word. So Senora Krieger was going away; that was interesting. He wondered why, but in a relaxed way; Epifanio knew he'd find out the rest in time. Once Marieta got started, he'd probably end up knowing more than the Senor.
Von Rossbach watched him go, grateful that his foreman had decided not to chat. He quickly unhooked the trailer, and leaving it where it was, drove toward the house.
Dieter returned to them with his own camping equipment, some food for the next day, a bunch of maps, and a lot of plans.
She watched him setting up with a closed expression on her face and he began to feel impatient. Though he understood her concerns, he also knew that she should
let him lead for now. How to convince her of the Tightness of this was going to be… difficult, he could see.
"Where had you planned to go?" he asked, rolling out his sleeping bag.
Though they'd agreed to accept his help, Dieter's presence troubled Sarah. First of all, he'd always worked for the authorities—the enemy— and if push came to shove she wasn't sure which way he'd jump.
Hell, I'll bet even he's not sure what he'd do if we have to get… unorthodox.
Second, he was used to being in charge, but then, so was she. I do not want a discussion about who's giving and who's taking orders every time we have to make a decision. Especially if that decision had to be made fast. Especially if that decision might involve damaging cops or soldiers. Not that she'd ever intentionally killed anybody herself. But there are times, she thought grimly, when you have to be mentally prepared to go to the next level. So that left her with two questions, would he surrender control, and could he be trusted?
"Look," she said out loud, "if we let you come with us you have to understand that your whole life has changed…"
"Sarah," he interrupted, "after what I've seen tonight my whole life has already changed. They have to be stopped. That's the mission. The mission comes first."
Sarah studied him for a long moment. Then she pursed her lips and looked at John. He gave her no help, just looked back at her blankly.
"Actually," she said, "we have two missions. One"—she held up a finger—"and
least important, try to keep Skynet from being built. Unfortunately, judging by the way it keeps coming back at us, that may be an impossible task. One thing I'm learning is that changing how things are supposed to be is like pushing on a rubber wall. It might take time, but it will return to its original shape, or close to it. Two," she held up a second finger, "keep John alive. This is vital. Not just because he's my son, but because he may be the only thing that saves humanity from the machines should we fail to stop Cyberdyne."
"I understand," he said.
"That means," Sarah continued, "that ultimately /make the final decisions on everything that we do. Can you accept that?"
"I suppose if John can, I can," he said cheerfully.
Sarah frowned at the implications of that remark and moved closer to him on hands and knees until they were almost nose to nose.
"Understand, Dieter. Everything that I have done for the last sixteen-and-then-some years has been to give John the skills to be the leader he needs to be. John is our only hope. Not me, not you—John. If necessary, we scrap the mission, go into hiding and let Judgment Day happen. I lost sight of that once," she said. "I won't do it again."