Heckel Casey

handing me a jar.

'How'd you find the root cellar?' I asked, taking out a big peach from the jar.

'Remember…farm girl?' she asked, pointing to her chest. 'I just knew where to look. I'm sure scavengers had no idea where farmers like to put their root cellars. We just struck a gold mine.'

We all sat eating contentedly. I flashed Sela a large grin with my cheeks full of sweet peaches.

Before we left the farmhouse, we filled our packs with as much food from the root cellar as we could. 'What do you think happened here?' I asked timidly.

'Hard to say, but it looks like maybe Dad killed his family, strung them up in a sadistic tableau and then did himself in. Very sad.'

'How could anyone do that?' I asked in disgust.

'There were a lot of those scenes across the planet-people killing each other. A virus of insanity spread viciously and there was no cure for it. Come on, let's get out of here. I don't want to talk about it anymore.' Sela mounted Tempest and raced out of the barnyard.

Hope bent down, Jerky jumped up into my lap and we followed.

The rest of the afternoon rolled by uneventfully and it was a welcome relief. We passed field after field of what once probably, at this time of year, would have been busy with farmers' combines harvesting…well, whatever Kansas used to be known for. Occasionally, we would spot the skeletons of cattle lying in the fields. Most likely they had been gutted and sliced up by marauders or perhaps attacked by wild dogs and maybe wolves. I started wondering about those demonic dogs that had been summoned by Madeline to attack Leonard. Were they still following us? As for wolves, I couldn't remember if there were wolves this far south. I knew that Minnesota had a large wolf population, but as for wolves in Kansas, I had no idea. However, given the fact that they were hungry, and looking for food, I wouldn't be surprised if they made their way this far south.

We made excellent time, traveling probably a good forty miles or more. As the afternoon sun lengthened the shadows, Sela directed Tempest to a small grove of trees off to the side of the road. It was a perfect campsite for the night that included fresh running water from the stream and lots of firewood. I was still nervous about making fires; Sela assured me we would be all right and reminded me we had our very own security system-Jerky.

After the hard ride, I figured rolling around and bathing in that cold stream would be just the thing. We took all the gear and saddles off the two horses, and walked them over to the stream. They drank for a long time. I couldn't wait to get my clothes off and dive in.

'We can let the horses roam in this grassy area. They won't go anywhere,' she said, patting Tempest. 'Right boy?'

'You found a good spot,' I said, petting Hope.

'Sorry it doesn't have room service.'

'If it did, I'd send for a bottle of champagne and a nice smoked cheese plate.'

'Um…that sounds absolutely fantastic,' Sela said dreamily.

'As for dinner, I guess its peaches and jerky.'

After making a small fire, Sela laid out the one sleeping bag we had and an additional wool blanket. I made a mental note that those covers wouldn't help much longer as the nights got colder. We were still very lucky that it was an unseasonably warm fall.

'Did you see where Jerky took off to?' I asked, looking around the campsite.

'As soon as we got here, she took off into that field,' Sela said pointing down the tree line.

As I turned back to the fire, my eyes widened. Jerky waltzed into the campsite. There in her mouth was a huge rabbit. The cat walked right up to me and placed the future dinner item at my feet.

'Oh my,' Sela said, putting her hand to her mouth. I could see a grin form at the corners. 'Look who's been out hunting for us. She looks so proud.' Her laugh was infectious.

Now mind you, I've had a few cats in my lifetime. Some were quite big and resembled small lions. Jerky, on the other hand, would be more like a cat who had won the kitty lottery. You know, the cats that get gourmet food like Fancy Feast every night in a crystal bowl, have rhinestone-studded collars and sleep at the foot of someone's bed. Jerky was petite, well groomed and looked like she was ready for the front cover of Cat Fancy magazine. Yet there she stood with what seemed like a smile. When I reached down to pet her, she immediately sat and started grooming her behind. Sela came over and picked up the rabbit.

'Thanks, Jerky. We'll be sure to save you some.'

After gutting the animal, Sela found a small combination salt-and-pepper shaker in one of her packs. I made a small spit for the animal. 'At least she didn't bring us a scrawny mouse. Those are hard to grill and the burnt hair will send your taste buds packing,' I said.

So dinner consisted of charbroiled rabbit and some canned potatoes. For dessert we opened a jar of applesauce Sela found in that farmhouse root cellar. Conversation, for a change, did not include bad memories. Instead, we talked about favorite books we each had read.

'Did you read much Stephen King?' I asked as I tossed the remains of the rabbit into the fire.

'Just about everything he ever wrote. The man could sure tell a story. My favorite was probably The Shining.'

'Mine too.'

Just as we were sharing favorite scenes from the book, a large gray wolf lunged from the darkness and snatched Jerky by the neck. I hollered and jumped up. Instantly, two other wolves simultaneously attacked Sela. She drew her Glock, shot one of the animals and started wrestling with the other. I found my Glock and shot the wolf that had Jerky in its jaws. The animal flew backward into a bush, still clutching Jerky. I could see that she was lying still. As I went to help Sela, three other wolves viciously lunged at Hope while Tempest was fending off another with his hoofs.

'Quick, shoot them,' Sela screamed.

'I don't want to hit Hope.'

Before I could get a bead on the wolves, Sela ran to the horse. Hope had one wolf on her back, savagely biting into her neck. Blood spewed from the wound. After a few seconds, Hope fell to her knees. One other wolf was chewing on the horse's calf muscle. A third wolf was poised to rip into Hope's belly. Sela shot that one first and immediately took care of the one on the horse's leg. I lunged at the one on the neck, grabbed the wolf by the neck and ripped her off Hope. I pulled out a hunting knife strapped to my belt and rammed it into the animal's chest.

Tempest had trampled his one attacker. As I lay breathing hard with the dead wolf on top of me, the black stallion came over to sniff Hope. Sela was shaking as she pushed the dead wolf off me.

'Shit, shit, shit,' Sela said over and over. Tears streamed down her face. 'Are you all right?'

'Yes, how about you?'

'Just a few scratches. I'm fine. Where's Jerky?'

Without answering her, I stumbled over to the dead wolf in the bushes. The motionless bloody body of Jerky was still in the wolf's mouth. I knelt, pried open the jaws and slowly picked up Jerky.

'Is she still breathing?' Sela asked, kneeling next to Hope. She used her shirt to press on the bloody wounds around Hope's neck. Tempest was licking Hope's calf wound.

'Yes, but barely,' I replied as I brought the cat over to the fire. I pushed my pack closer to the fire and laid the cat on top. I pulled several shirts out of my pack, ran to the stream and got them wet. When I returned, Sela was examining the horse's wounds.

'I think this is pointless. Her wounds are much too severe. We are going to have to put her down, probably Jerky as well.'

With the dripping shirts, I stared at her and said firmly, 'No. We can save them.'

'Heckel, look at them. There's no way they can recover. Hope's calf muscles are shredded, not to mention the amount of blood loss,' Sela said wiping her tear-streamed cheeks. 'And poor Jerky's neck looks broken.'

I bent down and cleaned the blood from Jerky's neck. The cat's breathing was labored.

'We have to try,' I said softly. 'We have to…'

Sela picked up the rifle, getting ready to put Hope out of her misery. I ran and stood in front of the horse.

'Get out of the way, Heckel,' Sela said with a tremble in her voice.