Granny B smacked his hand with a big spoon. “That’s no way to talk around, ladies.”
Tom rubbed his hand. “You almost broke my pinkie finger. I’m sorry and will try to watch my mouth.”
Granny B turned around, and Tom stuck his tongue out behind Granny B’s back. Sam giggled, and Granny B said, “I can see you in the toaster. Should I wash your mouth out with soap?”
“Bye, I’ve got work to do. You need to develop a sense of humor.”
“Son, I think it would be funny to have you spitting bubbles in front of your friends.”
Tom walked out of the kitchen but returned when he heard a knocking on Kate’s door. “Sam, please get your shotgun. We need to let the bitch out of her cage.”
A muffled voice came from behind the door. “I can hear you!”
Tom growled. “I know. Now, sit on your bed with your hands extended. If you try to kick or bite, I’ll spank you in front of everyone.”
“You’d enjoy that too much. Pervert!”
Tom opened the door, and Kate sat on the edge of the bed, still dressed in the clothes she’d been wearing the day they captured her. Tom walked over and held out the zip ties as he avoided looking into the golden flecks. “You know the drill.”
“I’m going to have to pee as soon as we can get to the restroom. You might want to save the zip ties.”
“Let me worry about the zip ties. Extend your arms.”
Tom secured her hands and then unlocked her chain around the post. “Okay, move to the restroom.”
She strolled to the restroom and held her hands out. Tom removed the zip ties with a tiny flat blade screwdriver. “Sam, keep the shotgun trained on her but beyond her reach. Watch her the whole time. I’ll stand over here where she has privacy. Let her pee and wash her face. We’ll figure out a bath later.”
Sam cringed when Kate dropped her pants. Tom saw Sam’s head turn. “Sam, watch her! I don’t want anyone hurt, and I certainly don’t want you to have to shoot her.”
Kate stuck her tongue out at Sam. “This is creepy.”
Tom snickered. “Glad I don’t have to do it.”
Kate finished and washed her hands and face. “I’m done, Potty Maid.”
Sam’s head cocked. “Look, we can be friendly, or I can coldcock you with this effing shotgun and chain your hands and feet to the post.”
Kate rubbed her ankle. “I’ll try the friendly offer if you point that shotgun somewhere else.”
Sam gave a fake smile and then pointed the shotgun at Kate’s gut. “Okay, friend, go to your favorite chair.”
Granny B had been watching. “Bring her to this end of the kitchen and chain her to this post with a short-chain. I’m putting her to work peeling spuds.”
“Granny B, do you think it’s wise to give her a knife?” Tom asked as he rubbed the shoulder that she’d almost stabbed, and then he took her to Granny B.
“We’ll keep her on a short leash and count the knives when she’d done. If she tries anything, I’ll feed her to the hogs. We’re short on hog feed.”
Kate stopped in her tracks. “Darn, I thought the men were tough. This old broad makes you look like a wimp.”
Tom chuckled. “Granny B taught me how to dress a dear, knife fight, and when to kill and when not to kill. The jury is out on you. Oh, I wouldn’t call her an old broad. She’ll wash your mouth out with lye soap.”
Greta walked into the room and glared at Kate. “What’s she doing loose? She tried to kill me.”
Tom looked up at Greta, who sneered back at him. “She gave her word that she won’t kill you.”
“And you trust her?”
“Trust, but verify.”
Tom locked Kate down close to the pole and six feet from the kitchen sink. He moved a chair in front of her, and Granny B gave her a bowl filled with potatoes and an empty bowl. “Peel, and don’t tell me you don’t know how.”
Kate used her foot to shove the chair away. “I’m a prisoner. I won’t work.”
Granny B walked over to her. “Darlin’, that’s okay. If it hurts your feelings, you don’t have to work.”
Granny B fired up the woodstove and started cooking pancakes in one cast-iron skillet and frying bacon in another. Kate looked at the food and sniffed the air. Tom could see her watching the others as they filed into the kitchen for breakfast. Granny B placed a massive platter of pancakes on the table and then fetched the maple syrup. Tom saw Kate’s eyes follow his grandmother back to the stove and take the last bacon from the skillet. Granny B placed the bacon on the table as Sam poured everyone coffee.
Tom sat beside Sam and Lucy, where he could keep an eye on their captive. He finally understood his grandma’s plan when she poured a glass of water and took it and a piece of bread to Kate. Granny B set the water and bread on the chair, pushed it to Kate, and then left to join the others at the table.
“Hey, I’m hungry, too! That bacon sure smells good.”
Granny B looked over her shoulder. “Prisoners who don’t work, get bread and water. All of the people at the table worked.”
Kate ate the bread and then hooked her foot around the other chair leg and drew it to her. She began peeling potatoes. Tom waved at his grandmother, and Granny B cocked an eye over her shoulder and then went back to eating. Tom was surprised and coughed aloud. Granny B waited
