“Is the horse alright?”
“I don’t know. Stay here.”
As I moved closer to the cart, I not only smelled the rotting odor, I heard the buzzing, then I saw the flies. That told me, something had died. Then I saw him, or rather it. The body of a man slumped in a laying position over the driver’s bench seat of the cart. If it wasn’t for the gray hair, I wouldn’t have been able to tell if he were old or young. His body was bloated and purple.
It was a simple cart. One bench and an open area in back. No top on in and the dead man had been exposed to the elements. The horse peered at me as if asking for help.
“What going on, Calvin?” Hannah asked. “Oh no.”
I looked, she was right behind me. “I told you to stay back.”
“I know you did. I thought I recognized the cart.”
“Jason?” I asked.
Hannah nodded.
“This would explain why he was taking so long. He was on his way back. I’m guessing.”
“Mavis is gonna be so sad. She really liked Jason. What happened to him?”
Covering my nose and mouth, I stepped closer. “I don’t see any injuries. No gunshot wounds. No bites. How old was he? Do you remember?”
“About my grandpa’s age.”
“He probably had a heart attack. Veered off the road and died.”
“That’s so sad. He died alone.”
“Yeah, it is kind of sad. At least he died peacefully. No Vee have been around. The horse is still here.”
“What about the other ones? He had more than one horse.”
I took a closer look. I knew horses from the races, but I could only speculate on what had happened. No blood, no carcasses. “The reigns are broke.” I showed her the straps. “The others got away. I’m guessing. This one…” I moved closer. The horse jolted. “Easy boy. Easy. His leg is caught up. He couldn’t get free. Mavis said it was raining, that’s probably the only reason he’s still alive.”
“How long have they been out here?”
“This happened several days ago. I’m guessing. Looking at…” I pointed at Leah, then at him.
“What are we gonna do? We can’t just leave them here.”
“No, we won’t. First we’re gonna help this horse. Untangle him, get him some water. Feed him a couple of those apples you have,” I said. “He needs to get his strength back.”
“Then what?”
“Then once he’s better and strong, we get this cart back on the road.”
“With Jason?” she asked.
“No, not with Jason. We move him from the cart.”
“You’re gonna bury him, right Calvin? You have to bury him. No one gets buried anymore.”
“We don’t have time to bury him.”
“Why not?”
“Why… why not? I don’t know. It will take some time to bury him. We’re already near stopping time.”
“Not like we have an appointment,” she said. “You don’t like dead people, do you?’
“What?” I nearly laughed in my reaction.
“First you let your wife run about naked and now you wanna toss Jason off to the side of the road, then you have…”
“He’s already on the side of the road,” I said.
“It just seems disrespectful. He was helping people.”
“I hardly call rendering a profit from transporting people helping.”
“Calvin. Please.”
“Look. We help this horse first. Okay. Life first. Then we will discuss Jason. Fair?” I asked.
“Fair enough,” Hannah said.
“Fine. Give me the apples, then just hang back with Edward. Okay. Don’t get too close to Leah.”
Hannah opened her Barbie pack and handed me an apple before she backed up.
The horse was beautiful, but I could tell he needed help. He wasn’t going to just stand right up and trot off anywhere. Not yet.
The situation about Jason the transport man was unfortunate… for him. We had lucked out. That horse and cart would get us to Sanctuary Sixteen and get us there faster. I honestly didn’t know how much more Edward could take. He needed to get to sanctuary. He needed medical attention. Finding the horse and cart was a blessing. I was fearful because nothing easy ever is free and something told me, somewhere, somehow, I would have a price to pay.
20
RISE AND SHINE
Once again, my life had become a living example of Oregon Trail. My wagon was the cart and the oxen was the one single horse that Hannah named Mary.
Even though Mary wasn’t the best gender name for him.
He was a good horse, strong and he devoured the apples. I could tell he had been drinking water that had puddled on the side of the road. It took a good two hours before he was strong enough to stand. That alone was evidence enough why he needed to take it easy. I would walk him, putting only Hannah and the baby in the cart for the first day. I’d pull the wagon because I didn’t want to put strain on him. I contemplated going back to Mavis’ house and let the horse heal. I felt Edward couldn’t afford the delay without medical attention so we kept going.
First thing, as promised, after I got Mary on his feet, I had to tend to Jason. He was still in the cart. His body bloated. Moving him wasn’t fun, his skin separated easily and a sticky fluid leaked out. Thankfully, he had a sleeping bag in the cart. I used that to touch him. Every time I bumped him or moved him gasses escaped with a noise adding to the already foul smell, along with bringing out the true child in Hannah. With every noise, she giggled, groaned, or made comments.
Somewhere in the process we lost Leah. She wandered off while we tended to Mary and never returned.
“She’ll be back,” Hannah said. “I bet she went to look for food.”
“Well, she had us, usually that’s her point of attack first. Remember we’re her McDonald’s menu?”
“Nah, I think she likes us. She’s trained now.”
“Hannah, honey, it doesn’t work that way,” I explained.
“You believe that. When she comes back, you’ll see. She’ll be all fresh and fed. Maybe she learned to chase mice like George.”
“Maybe.”
Hannah was right. In my gut, I didn’t feel Leah was gone for good either.
So much time had passed in getting the horse and taking care of Jason, we only made it another two miles before making camp for the night.
We found a little league field. Hannah and Edward slept in the dugout. She sprawled across a bench and Edward slept in the basket Mavis had given us.
I was well rested and I stayed up pretty much the whole night, keeping an eye out on things.
I did doze off for a short while, back against the dugout wall. I was confident that I would wake up at the simplest noise. Of course, I was wrong.
“Are you going to Sixteen?” a female voice asked.
I jolted awake.
The sun was behind the tall thin figure of a woman, making her a shadow.
“Is that your horse over there?” she asked.
She stepped closer and I saw her. A woman, maybe a little younger than me. Long dark hair, wearing a dirty tee shirt and jeans. Her face was smeared with dirt.
“If you’re going to Sixteen, can I travel with you?”
Before I could answer, Hannah did.
“No.”
I looked over my shoulder, Hannah stood there with a scowl on her face.
“Hannah?” I questioned.
“No!” She vigorously shook her head. “We don’t know her. I don’t want her to come. I don’t trust strangers.”
The woman held up both her hands. “I understand. My name is Diana. I just don’t want to travel the rest of the way alone. I’ve had problems by myself. I’m sure you guys know the Vee aren’t the only bad things.”
“We do,” I said.
“Judging by your face, I believe you do,” Diana said, obviously referencing my healing bruises. “Is that… is that a baby?”