Rating:  For adults only because of sexual situations and violence.

Sex/Violence Disclaimer: This tale takes place after a catastrophic war. There are scenes of violence, including one in which sexual violence is alluded. There are also graphic descriptions of two women loving one another. If any of this offends or distresses you, find something else to read.

Explanation of Tribulation

Tribulation is the period of immense suffering and sacrifice, greater than anything before in history that is generally thought to occur before the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of the world.

"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."

Mathew 24: 21-22

In the Midst of Tribulation

Chapter One – The Unclouded Day

O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies,
O they tell me of a home far away;
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
            Words & Music: Josiah K. Alwood, circa 1880

Martha was developing a blister. The boots she had taken off the freshly dead body would have been perfect, if not for the uneven wearing on the bottom of her right heel.  She had pulled them off the stiffening legs because they were in remarkably good condition, especially considering that most means of mass production and distribution had been destroyed when the bombs fell five years ago.

At 5’11” Martha had enough trouble finding shoes that fit her size 10 feet before the violent dissolution of the United States. Since the Christmas Cleansing of ‘04, she had been reduced to robbing the dead and even then, the shoes weren’t comfortable.

She and the six others of her group had passed through Weaverville a week ago and they hadn’t crossed paths with anyone until yesterday. They had begun to believe that the violence that plagued the ruins of the cities was far behind them. Coming across the body had been a surprise, both for them, the man and the gang of teenagers that had killed him.

In a twisted sort of good fortune for her band of refugees, the youths were timid enough to take off without a fight at their approach. They debated among themselves about going after the killers. In the end, however, they knew it wouldn’t bring life back to the man and might just put them at risk for an ambush.

The dead man didn’t have much on him that his killers hadn’t already stripped away. Martha removed his footwear and Susan took his pants for Cody to wear when he grew into them. The youngster had not wanted anything to do with the clothing but Susan told her son that, if he did not take them, he would end up naked when his current growth spurt continued. The teenager was not happy but he stuffed the pants into his pack.

As a benefit for any travelers behind them, she had Piper help her push him off the crumbling black top roadway and into the gully. Continuing their journey north, the small group left the grizzly scene as quickly as they could. They had stayed hyper vigilant for the rest of the day. Fearful that the bunch of kids were girding themselves for an attack, they pushed on until dusk, trying to put in as many miles as possible.

As they journeyed farther from the gruesome scene, they couldn’t help but to begin to relax their guard. The elevation continued to rise and their entire attention was focused on placing one foot before the other. Exhausted, they made a cold camp that night.

Dawn the next day was beautiful. Whether it seemed so as a result of their escape from death or due to the airborne toxins that lingered over the bombsites and cast a peculiar glow across the morning sky, the reason wasn’t pertinent. Today was to be treasured because tomorrow they might be dead.

The group made an early start. Running low on supplies, the teenagers were given the last of the dried meat and the adults made do with ice-cold water from the nearby stream. Hardly any time passed between waking and the start of the day’s march.

Lost in her thoughts, Martha started when her partner appeared at her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you okay? You’re limping,” Susan stated bluntly. During the past month of their travel, her skin had darkened to rich caramel while her hair had lightened enough for the auburn highlights to shine. A small, slightly built woman, the events of the past five years had stripped off the veneer of gentility with which she had been raised.

“It’s these boots.”
           
Susan nodded. “You want to stop?”

“Not really. I’ll look at them tonight.”

“Good. I think we’re getting close. Maybe by tomorrow afternoon.”

“I hope you’re right.” Martha peered back over her shoulder at the two other women and three teenagers that trailed. “The natives are getting restless.”

“Part of it is our most recent brush with death.”

“We didn’t kill him.”

“But we took advantage of his death anyway.”

“I know it’s hard reconciling who we once were to who we are now.”

“You’ve got that right. In my wildest dreams, I never considered that I would be able to steal from the dead.”

“He didn’t need the clothes anymore.”

“I know that, it’s just what it represents.” Susan kicked a rock in frustration. “I don’t know how to explain how bad I feel at how easy it is to justify what we’ve had to do to survive.”

“I think I understand.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Not to your extent. I guess it’s easier for me since I was trained as a cop.”

“Yes, you were taught to have a limited set of responses to threats.” Tapping her partner’s shoulder holster, Susan mouthed. “Bang, bang.”

“You never seemed to mind when it was your life in danger.”

“I don’t think I’m really complaining about it now. I’m just whining for my lost humanity.”

“It’s difficult for you to face that we are not only at the top of the food chain but that we’re predators that weak people should fear.”

“I don’t like that violence is our only option.”

Martha laughed. “It must be especially hard with you being a bleeding heart liberal.”

“I haven’t been a liberal since they killed Cheryl.”

“I know, honey. I’m sorry I joked about it.”

“No, I just spent my entire life trying to believe the best of people. To know that these last five years were not just a bad dream.” Susan wiped her eyes. “I can understand self defense and I can understand protecting others. But I will never understand the rape and murder of. . .of…”

“Shh, sweetie. You’ll make yourself sick.” Martha tried to reach a supportive hand out for her lover but Susan pulled away.

Susan snatched up a fallen branch and used it to beat against the trees that lined the roadway. When the piece of wood disintegrated from the fury of her blows, she threw it down the embankment. “When will it stop hurting?”

“I don’t think it will ever stop.”

“Thanks, just what I needed to hear. I was expecting a platitude like time heals all wounds.”

“Darling, time only dulls our memories. The best that you can hope for is that joy of her life outweighs the pain from her death.”

“I hope you’re right.” She looked over her shoulder at the worried looks from her two surviving children. She gave them a thumbs up and tight smile. After walking for a while in silence she whispered, “All I’ve got left is hope.”

Martha looked at her strangely. “Why do I get the feeling that we’re not talking about the dead man anymore?”

“You always did know me too well.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m a little worried about our reception. I don’t want to have come all this way for nothing.”

“What exactly concerns you?”

Susan pushed her light brown hair away from her face. “I don’t even know if she is still there.”

“She’ll be there.”

“You probably right. Once she went back to the land and made her sanctuary, she never had a need to come back down the mountain.” Susan hiked quietly for almost a mile, gazing curiously around her. “We don’t know how bad it got up here.”

“We haven’t seen much bomb damage since we passed Sacramento. I don’t think they had too hard a time of it.”

“What about the roaming bands we’ve seen?”

“We haven’t seen that many. And what there is hasn’t been a danger to us.” When Susan rolled her eyes, Martha said, “Seriously, that group of punks yesterday wouldn’t have lasted ten minutes in the city.”

“They were so young. What do you supposed happened?”

“I’m not sure. I do know that juvenile delinquents have been around since before this mess. It’s just that without any official structure anymore, there are few opportunities for anyone to get anything without bloodshed. It’s a vicious cycle.”

“They’re alone up on that mountain.”

“You think Jay would have made an easy target?”

“Not intentionally but you know as well as I do that superior numbers can overwhelm a better fortified foe.”

“True but Jay wouldn’t have easily given up any advantage. She always struck me as someone who planned for every contingency.”

“You’ve got that right. She can be down right obsessive in considering every possible outcome.”

“Do you miss her?”

“Miss her? What kind of question is that?” Susan smiled at her lover. “Do I miss being with her? Sometimes. She was one of the most driven people I had ever met. The firm was in the process of merging and she really helped me stay on top and come out all right.” She shook her head. “But afterwards, when everything calmed down, I wanted someone to make time for me and that wasn’t her. Her life was far too compartmentalized for me and the kids to fit.”

“I always liked her.”

“Sometimes I thought you two had more in common with each other than either of you did with me.”

“Nonsense.”

“Oh, no? You both are athletic, like the outdoors, listen to jazz and read mysteries.”

“Unfortunately, she pushed too many of my buttons.”

“I thought that was what made a successful relationship?” Susan interlaced her fingers with the taller woman. “Seriously, though, she always did like to challenge people.”

“And I never cared to be challenged.” Lifting up the clasped hands for a kiss, Martha laughed, “I can’t believe you two stayed friends.”

“I knew that if I really needed her that she would always have my back. Even you have to admit that she never once gave my kids anything but her best.” Sighing Susan added softly, “I just wasn’t important enough on my own.”

“You are to me.”

“That’s why you have me and she doesn’t.”

“I have you? You said I have you?” Her grin could light up a room. “You never let me say that before.”

“Brat.”

The two of them strolled along companionably, listening to the birdsongs from the surrounding forest. Finally, Martha asked the question that had been bothering her. “Is she going to have a problem with me?”

“No way.”

“You’re sure?”

“She’d never begrudge me my happiness and you make me very happy. It also helps that she likes you.”

Martha squeaked out, “Likes me?”

“Darling, you always did have more in common with her than I did.”

“I still don’t see it.”

“You just don’t want to see how alike you two are. My tough girls.”

“Finally, you accept your attraction to butch women.”

“You goof, I’ve never denied what drew me to you.”

“Sometimes I get the feeling you resent it.”

“The whole strong, silent type can be a little wearing at times,” Susan said as she bumped hips with her lover. “But I wouldn’t trade your strengths for anything. You fill my empty places.”

“You just want me for my many skills.”

“No, sweetheart, I love you unreservedly.”

“Thank you. I love you too.”

“Besides, I think Harmony keeps her on a pretty short leash.”

“Would Jay play around on her?”

“Not on your life. She is very old fashioned and has always taken her commitments very seriously. Is anything else bothering you?”

“I don’t want her to be jealous or act spiteful.”

“Don’t worry, love. Even if Harmony hadn’t had her pretty well whipped, that ship has sailed.” Susan glanced behind her at the others and then made significant eye contact with her lover. “Sounds like someone needs some reassurance.”

Martha blushed. “I just want to make sure that we’re doing the right thing. I don’t want you getting a short shrift because of me.”

“The best thing we ever did was getting out of that city. Even if, for some insane reason, we can’t stay, we’re safer out here away from there.”

“You can say that even after yesterday?” The voice startled the two of them out of their private conversation.

Susan turned to face Martha’s sister, Doris. “Since we left the main highway five days ago, that was the first hint of trouble.”

The two sisters were both tall with dark hair and eyes and that is where the similarity ended. Martha constantly looked for solutions whereas Doris only saw more problems.

“That man was dead. They killed him.” Doris’ voice was high and thin.

“He was stupidly traveling alone. Even you know better than that. Besides, we must have seen more dead bodies a single week in Oakland than we’ve seen since leaving it.”

“I’m worried, okay? Can’t I be a little concerned about you dragging us up here when you aren’t even sure that your friend is even alive or that we’ll be welcomed.”

“Jay knew the country was heading to hell when she built out here. I’ve never met anyone so well prepared for disaster.”

“All the preparation in the world couldn’t make her ready for a horde to invade.”

Susan smiled tightly. “She made several offers for us to come up and join her before everything went down. I doubt that the offer has been rescinded.”

“Even considering that you’re bringing more than just you and the kids?”

“One of her greatest traits is her sense of generosity.”

“Things have gotten worse all over. You can’t expect that she’ll be any different.”

“Yes I can.”

“How? Everyone wants something.”

“You don’t know Jay.”

“What if she wants us to pay?”

“Then we’ll work it out.” Susan stopped, forcing the rest of the group to stop. Waving her son and daughter closer, she took their hands. “Look, we knew the risks when we left, but we all agreed that we couldn’t stay any longer. After what happened to Cheryl, I wasn’t willing to just let the mob take any more of my family.”

“It’s cool, Mom.” Cody shifted the pack on his back and adjusted the sling of his shotgun. Freeing his hand, he patted his mother’s back. With a voice that was just starting to crack, he said, “I like it out here.”

“I agree with him. With winter coming it may be tough out here but anything is better than where we were.”

Everyone looked in quiet amazement at the speaker. Piper rarely strung more than five words together in a day and she had more than tripled that in a single statement. The stocky woman shrugged off the attention and started walking again. “We’re burning daylight.”

Martha nodded. “Let’s try to put in another couple of hours before we stop for the night.”

The small band reordered itself with Martha on point and Cody bringing up the rear.  The last several weeks had seen him shoot up another couple of inches, bringing him almost to the height of his mother’s partner. With his longer legs, came an increased sense of responsibility as the only male of the group. The fact that most of the women of the group were better armed and experienced did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm. The older women tried not to laugh at his earnest attempt to define his nascent manhood.

The rest of the party took turns in pairs to pull the heavily laden cart. It wasn’t much to be all their worldly possessions but, at each day’s end, those that had taken their turn pulling wondered if everything on it was strictly necessary.

Piper positioned herself nearest the cart. Since the women pulling it had to sling their weapons on their backs, they were the least able to defend themselves in case of an attack. Her eyes were never still as she constantly checked surrounding woods for danger.

The seven refugees continued down the cracked blacktop. The sounds of their feet didn’t disturb the natural sounds from the trees of bickering squirrels and singing birds. Except for the weapons they carried, they could have been mistaken for a vacationing family out enjoying the late summer in beautiful California.

Since the Civil War of ’04, no one in the country had much time to be outdoors enjoying much of anything. Riots followed that December when the Electoral College voted and sent to Washington a president that the majority of the country had voted against. Through bribery and a system where the people of Wyoming, the Dakotas and Vermont had their votes worth almost twice that of California and New York, the popular vote was ignored for the second election in a row.

In a move so bold that it had to have been planned well in advance of the election, the militia movement of the South and Midwest joined forces with the National Guards of seventeen states. Together, they seized control of the central military bases. Calling themselves the Confederacy of Christ, they demanded martial law in the cities and a revocation of all civil rights on the charge of treason for those who protested.

The federal government did not use the police powers of the FBI, ATF, or US Marshals to restore order in the heartland. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security arrested the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to keep them from overturning the Electoral College.

That Christmas saw the end of the United States. The first offensive act of the Confederacy was to use the missiles and ordinance that had been scheduled to go oversees to Iraq and turn them toward, what they termed, the godless cities of America. Every city with more than 4 million citizens was targeted by at least one bomb. The largest cities saw carpet-bombing that rivaled Dresden or Tokyo during the last world war. At the end of the cold war, the military had removed the nuclear warheads from most of the missile stockpile. Few of the survivors felt lucky that the weapons were only ballistic. The damage was still irremediable.

On the East Coast, the once beautiful cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and the District of Columbia were in smoldering ruins. Only craters remained of the Capital Building and White House. The Pentagon, which had survived 9/11, fell under an onslaught of ten cruise missiles.

Florida lost the bottom third of the state to missile strikes and the resulting fires. Furious over being targeted by those that they thought were allies, the surviving counties allied themselves with the government of Cuba to blockade any shipments to the Confederacy through the Gulf of Mexico.

In California, Los Angeles was the main target. Over 153 short-range ballistic missiles were fired into the city limits. The City of Angels was left a virtual wasteland and the surrounding farmland burned. Blown by the wind, the resulting forest fire became an inferno that consumed most of Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada before the January rains finally doused the flames on the outskirts of Salt Lake City.

Sacramento, and the new Sodom, San Francisco, also saw more than their share of explosions. The bombs that fell on Eugene, Portland, Olympia and Tacoma destroyed the cities but left the countryside intact.

The Confederacy instituted the death penalty for all deviant behavior. They required that their new citizens must be reborn in Jesus Christ and swear, in English, an oath of allegiance. To reduce the populations of unbelievers they deliberately targeted communities of immigrants and homosexuals with SCUD missiles.

More than forty-five million lives were lost in the first week from the immediate impact. Many of those that pulled themselves from the rubble faced a painful death from their injuries because few hospitals, medical staff, or emergency supplies survived. Collateral damage to major highways and railroads left little routes of escape operational. Poisonous gases leaks and toxic spills from the attacks on the airfields and ports meant an immediate cessation of all imports and exports to the coasts that continues to this day.

The bombs triggered natural disasters as well. Massive earthquakes and seismic activity was recorded from Guatemala to Alaska. Registering 7 and higher on the Richter scale, the shifting of the tectonic plates toppled many cities that escaped the missile attacks. Central California’s cropland was leveled and the resulting tsunami drowned most of the residents of the Hawaiian Islands and Kyoto.

Following the law of unintended consequences, the ones who pulled the trigger found themselves facing disaster. They faced the worst winter in decades without heat or electricity as the most of the country’s power plants were in the impact zone. Shipments of oil, natural gas and food were disrupted when Mexico and Canada, with the support of the international community demanded reparations for the fallout to their countries. The Confederacy refused and so the Northern and Southern borders were sealed.

A country that had never faced invasion by an external enemy had fallen prey to the internal politics of hate. Crawling out of the ashes, there were few survivors who retained their humanity.

Chapter Two – The Pilgrim’s Journey

I would go the pilgrim’s journey,
Onward to the promised land;
I would reach the golden city,
There to join the angel band.
Words: Fanny Crosby 1868 Music: W. Howard Doane

Grateful now more than ever that the mile markers remained intact, Martha leaned against one of the weathered green signs. Breathing deeply, she took in the rich scent of redwood.  She waited for the stragglers to catch up. As the day wound on, the group stretched out over a couple hundred yards. They had been able to cover six miles since the brief break and they were all tired.

Martha stopped them as they reached a turnout. It had been a number of years since anyone had the gasoline necessary to drive these roads, much less use the passing pull-offs but the wider expanse of road offered them a quick and easy campsite. Martha wearily asked, “What do you think? Should we set up camp here?”

Piper nodded in satisfaction. The two of them had taken on the leadership role, falling back into their habits of when they were beat cops together. The section of road they were on was fairly straight and they could see several hundred yards in both directions. With the mountain to their back and a fairly steep descent to the river at their front, it was the best they could hope for. “It looks safe enough for one night,” she agreed.

The tired band eagerly shrugged off their packs and sat down on the ground where they stopped. They were silent as they waited to see if this was their resting point for the night. The furious pace from the day before had exhausted their meager resources.

Martha and Piper stood together to talk. “Is there enough daylight left for you to get anything?”

“Won’t know until I go,” Piper answered.

“Well, a little meat would go a long way.”

“Start a pot of water boiling.”

“You’re that confident?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring back something.”

“No squirrel,” the two girls begged in unison before falling into a fit of giggles. Eva and Carol had gravitated toward one another on the journey. Susan was glad that her brooding daughter had found a friend in Doris’ only child. Since the murder of her older sister, Carol had withdrawn from her family and rarely smiled. The sound of girlish laughter was a balm on all their souls.

“We’ll see,” answered Piper, hiding her smile. Truth be told, she disliked the gamey taste of the bushy tailed rodent as much as everyone else.  With her training as an Army Ranger, she was skilled in living off the land. She was also resigned to eating what she could find. Confident she could find something in the surrounding woods she took off her backpack and traded her rifle for a bow and a quiver of arrows.

She figured it would be best to make as little noise as possible. “I’ll check our trail,” she stated as she headed back the way they came.  She would hunt for game but would also make sure that no one was following them.

During the first couple of weeks on the road, the group had been attacked four times. They lost precious time and ammunition in those early days as they were forced to set up camp well off the road. After traveling past the ruins of Sacramento, they came across fewer people and no longer felt so vulnerable at night.

Everyone in the group had an assigned task when setting up camp. They had the experience of over a month on the road to practice, and now they could prepare a meal and fall asleep with hardly a word spoken. Everyone was tired after walking all day and the sooner the chores were done, the sooner they could rest.

Cody and Carol collected everyone’s canteens and a couple of pots and went off to find water. The road they were on followed alongside the Trinity River and they only had to go about a hundred yards downhill to go to find a shallow creek. Their biggest challenge was finding a safe trail that they could use to travel both down and up again.

Once at the slowly moving stream, the two teenagers took off their shoes and waded in the shallows. Showing their age and closeness, the two siblings splashed one another with the refreshingly cool water. Once they dried off again, they filled all the canteens and the cook pots before making their way back up the temporary camp. They only had to go back once to fill a dropped pot.

Doris and her daughter, Eva, went off to gather wood for their supper fire. They were looking for limbs and branches that had fallen earlier in the year. Dry wood wouldn’t smoke as much as green and they didn’t want to telegraph their position to anyone in the area who might be watching. It still was not safe to have a fire after dark.

Needing to collect enough to cook their meal, they resigned themselves to making several trips. The mother and daughter worked silently together, with Eva collecting almost twice as much wood as Doris.

Susan and Martha pulled out the three tents and began to set them up. Before the War, Martha had been an ardent backpacker and she had converted Susan’s family to its pleasures. The family used to get away regularly to the parks around the Bay Area. Now, those spaces were armed encampments for competing gangs.

The tents they had were old but still waterproof. When the earthquakes that followed after the War damaged their home, they provided great protection from the elements.

“It’s getting colder,” Susan said. “Should we bring out the sleeping bags?”

Martha looked up from hammering a stake into the soft ground on the shoulder.  “Yeah. Better to have them and not need them than to not get any rest because we’re shivering all night.”

“At least I have you to keep me warm.”

Rocking back on her heels, Martha leered at her lover. “I could do better than warm you if you could keep quiet.”

“Big talker,” responded Susan, her arms full of bedrolls. Dropping them close to the entrance, she pulled out a tight roll of plastic. With a deft snap of her wrists, Susan unrolled the ground cover inside the largest tent. She crawled inside to smooth the plastic sheeting down. About to back out of the tent, soft projectiles suddenly pummeled her.

“Hey,” she yelled, as she ducked and covered her head. When the barrage stopped, she saw that she was surrounded by all the sleeping bags. She looked over her shoulder at the all too innocent look from Martha.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there.”

Susan rolled over on her back and settled her head on one of the sleeping bags. Making sure she had Martha’s attention, she raised one leg. Watching her lover from under lowered brows, she languidly stroked her hand down the length of her body, being sure to draw her fingernails down her inner thighs. “You didn’t see me?” she asked. Using both hands now, she hefted her small breasts and tugged at her shirt.

Clearing her voice, Martha tried to talk. “Uh…I’m sorry?”

“Sorry just doesn’t cut it. Maybe you should come in and show me an act of contrition.”

She didn’t have to be asked twice. Martha glanced over her shoulder to make sure that they were alone at the campsite and she crawled into the tent, zipping it closed behind her. She started to undo the buttons of her shirt but stopped when Susan shook her index finger at her.

“If you really wanted to make it better, you would see to my needs first.”

Tugging on her bangs, Martha answered, “As you wish, my Lady.” She stalked over as best she could on hands and knees to straddled the prone body. She bent down and gently kissed the brunette. Walking her lips over her lover’s lips and jawbone, she whispered into the delicate ear, “Tell me what you need.”

“Oh, baby. I just love the feel of your lips on mine.” Susan wiggled underneath her partner. She entwined her fingers through Martha’s long, dark hair and directed their lips together again.

“Good ‘cause I sure like kissing you.”

Their lips met slowly, deliberately. Moving across each other’s face, they touched and tasted one another. Martha’s tongue teased the corner of Susan’s mouth and lightly nipped the full, red lips.

“Mmm,” Susan moaned as she opened her mouth inviting Martha’s in to play.

Leaving her lips, Martha trailed bites and licks down the length of Susan’s neck. She swirled her tongue around the pulse point and had just shifted her weight to free one arm to explore her lover’s body when the sound of a crash outside the tent startled them.

Martha barreled out of the tent. “What’s wrong?” she demanded, as she only saw her sister standing there.

“You,” Doris spat.

“Come again?” she asked in disbelief.

“I can’t believe that two of you would be satisfying your disgusting carnal desires, especially when the rest of us are working.”

Out of the tent now, Susan stood beside her lover. “Now, hang on just a minute, Doris.” Susan was tired of soft peddling her sexuality in front of the repressed woman. She could hardly believe that Doris was the younger sister since her attitude seemed so archaic. “Both Martha and I will complete our chores as we have every evening. There is no reason why we can’t also reconnect intimately on occasion.”

“There are children here.”

“Where? I didn’t see anyone but my lover, my lesbian lover, your sister in the tent with me.”

“I don’t care what you two do but I won’t have my child exposed to it and you should be ashamed about exposing your own kids.”

“I’m not ashamed of who I am, but it sure sounds like you are.” Her voice derisive, Susan continued, “My children are exposed to love and I think that is a hell of a lot healthier than your homophobia.”

“Enough! Both of you calm down.” Martha was furious. She resented her sister for her untimely interruption and sanctimonious attitude but she didn’t like Susan drawing her into the battle either. “Doris, we have been sensitive of your feelings and have not been anywhere near as affectionate as we would normally be. You need to deal, sister, because this is who we are.” She turned her head to her lover. “Susan, let’s finish our discussion later tonight.”

Knowing that her lover was at her wits end trying to keep the peace, Susan agreed. “I’ll finish with the other tents.”

“Great,” replied Martha. “We’ll need a lot more wood than that,” she said, pointing at the armload that Doris had thrown down upon her return to the camp.

Sullenly, her sister went back into the woods. Martha smiled crookedly at her niece who had been watching from the edge of the road. The youngster started to raise her hand but aborted the movement at her mother’s glare. Shrugging, she followed her mother back into the woods.

Once the tents were finally set up, Martha dug out a pit for the fire. The fold-up entrenching tool was very handy, as the hatchet helped break up the tough ground. “We’re going to need some rocks, babe,” she called out.

“No problem. Part of the hillside has fallen down over here.” Susan raised a couple of stones over her head.

“Better from the cliff than river rocks again.”

“Yeah,” Susan whole-heartedly agreed. She didn’t want a repeat of several nights ago when the stones collected from the stream had exploded as they heated. They were lucky that no one had been injured. Shaking her head at the memory, Susan carried her burden over and set them in the bottom of the pit. It took her several trips to fill the bottom and make a ring around the outside.

As Doris and Eva brought in their next armloads, Martha skillfully laid the sticks and branches among the rocks. Susan used the magnesium fire starter to spark the tender to flame. Patiently, she fed the flames with kindling until several of the larger pieces of wood caught.  Satisfied that the fire was burning, she carefully slid the small block of magnesium back into an inner pocket before standing up.

She walked over to Martha, who was looking down the gully at the returning teenagers. She glanced up at Susan’s approach. Opening her arms, she welcomed the smaller woman into her embrace. “How about you and me go take a bath together while we’re waiting to see what Piper brings back for dinner?”

“You’re reading my mind, darling.” Susan replied, running her hand down Martha’s back and cupping her firm buttocks. “I’d like to get my hands on your skin.” Giving the butt of her lover a final pat, she turned to go fetch the bathing supplies.

Martha called Cody and Carol over. “Hey, guys. Why don’t you watch the fire while your Mom and I go down to the stream?”

Carol blushed as she thought of her parents bathing. “The water is awful cold,” she warned.

“Hmm, that may put a damper on things.” Martha ruffled Cody’s hair as she walked past him to join her partner for a trek down the hillside.

The youngsters sat down around the campfire and just stared into the flames. It took too much energy to do anything but blink tiredly.

“Yo, the camp,” Piper called out a short while later as she approached. She raised her fist. Dangling from it were two brown rabbits. “We’re lucky tonight.”

“Man, I’m getting sick of rabbit,” Cody complained.

Doris glared at him. “You should be grateful. We’ve had more meat on this journey than in the past year.”

“I know. I just wish we could have a bigger variety.”

Eva retorted. “It’s better than squirrel.”

“You’ve got that right,” Martha agreed as she and Susan returned to the camp, their hair wet and ardor temporarily cooled.

“I saw a doe,” Piper offered. She placed the bow and arrows near her backpack and pulled out a sharpening stone. “She was about a half mile back. I could probably pick up her trail again.”

“No. Right now we would waste too much of it.” Taking the rabbits, Martha handed them to her adopted son. “Since you opened your mouth, you get to clean them.”

“Try and keep the fur in one piece this time,” Carol joked. “Nobody is going to trade for holey pelts.”

“Carol, I’m sure I can find something for you to do if you have nothing better to do than torment your brother,” Susan warned. She balanced the pot of water on the grill and began to sift through their dwindling supplies. Finding a few soft potatoes, she quartered them and added them to the pot with several wild onions they had picked yesterday.

When Doris stepped up for a closer look, Susan shook her head. “We don’t have much left.”

“I hope your friend is feeling generous.”

Piper looked up from cleaning her knife. “We could always have stone soup.”

“Stone soup?” asked Eva.

“Don’t you know the story?” All three of the teenagers shook their heads. Their eyes were big as the usually taciturn woman began to tell them the fable.

“See, this beggar came to a town during a famine. Everyone was hoarding food and they said they didn’t have anything to give to him to eat. He said no problem, that all he wanted was stone soup and, in fact, he was going to make enough for everyone to share.” Piper put down the knife and sharpening stone. Using her hands, she mimicked stirring the pot. “He pulled out a big cauldron and filled it with water. He made a pretty big production of pulling out his special magic stone and adding it to the water. For a while he just stirred, occasionally tasting the soup and smacking his lips. Intrigued, the villagers came closer. He casually mentioned that once he had stone soup with salt, pepper and paprika and it was the best he had ever had. An old woman stepped up and offered him some spices. He thanked her and stirred some more. He warned them that the soup might be a little thin, as he has been using the same stone for a week. Perhaps if someone had a little barley, that would make it all right. And, lo and behold, one of the villagers found that he had a double handful. After more tasting, the beggar began to reminisce about other pots of soup he had made better with just a little potato, diced into the soup to give it a robust flavor. One of the farmers remembered about a couple of potatoes in his basement and those were added.  Slowly and surely, as the pot simmered, more and more folks found things they could spare. Someone had a scrap of meat, another had some carrots, and someone else brought forth an onion. Soon, all the villagers had added their portion to the pot. When he finally served the soup, everyone declared it to be the best thing they had ever tasted. The beggar just sat and absorbed the praise because it was the truth.”

“I heard that it was a lost soldier,” Doris said.

Susan sighed. “It doesn’t matter whether the main character is a peddler, a vagrant or a soldier. The point is that individually, we might have very little to spare. Once we combine our efforts or our supplies, we can work miracles.”

“He deceived them into giving up their food. How can that be a good thing?”

“Sometimes you have to fool people into doing what’s right.” Martha winked at Piper. “Of course, we wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“So, is Jay the villagers or the beggar?” Cody asked as he handed the quartered rabbit to his mother.

“Jay? She is one of the most open handed people I’ve ever met. You do remember her, don’t you?”

“I sort of remember playing around during the summer.” Cody flicked his long bangs out of his eyes. “I haven’t really let myself think of the time before.”

Martha reached over and squeezed his knee. “I know, buddy. It’s better not to dwell.”

“Anyway, she and Harmony had all of you up several times before the war. I was working all the time and needed a place for you three to go when you were out of school for the summer.”

“I remember swimming in their pond.”

“Good.”

“It will probably be dry,” said Doris with a sniff.

“I doubt it. The mountain has a spring fed stream.”

“Tell me more about them.”

“They’ve both got hearts of gold.” Susan set the meat on the grill for a quick sear.  Turning the pieces with her knife, she added, “I don’t think we are going to need to trick them into taking us in.”

“How did you meet, mom?” Carol asked.

“We played soccer together in the women’s league.” She smiled at the memory. To have time dedicated to leisure or play was now as far away from their current lives as the moon. “When we moved out of that apartment in the Mission, I found another team and then we stayed best friends. We made much better friends than lovers.”

Doris coughed. “She’s your ex-lover? Did you know about that?” she asked Martha.

“I knew Jay because we worked together when she first moved to the Bay Area. I met Susan much later when I taught that self defense class.”

“You were seeing them both?” Doris asked, aghast.

“Absolutely not. Jay and I were hardly ever serious and, besides, it was over long before I ever asked my instructor out for a cup of coffee.” Susan tossed the browned meat into the simmering water. She stirred the pot and sat down near her partner.

“To think I almost declined.”

“You knew a good thing when you saw it.” Susan picked up Martha’s right foot. “Let me look at your heel while we still have some light. Why don’t you check your boot?”

“Good idea.” Reaching down to the other side of the stump, Martha picked up the shoe and loosened the laces. Running her fingers along the insole, she could feel a raised place on the heel. She couldn’t get a grip with her short nails and pulled out her knife. When she pulled the insole up, there was a hollow in the shoe.

“What have you got?” Cody asked.

“I don’t know.” She worked a folded piece of paper out of the recess and gently opened it. Reading it carefully, Martha shook her head. “It’s a deed to a plot of land.”

“Where?” Doris demanded. “Maybe we should go there instead.”

“It doesn’t belong to us.”

“More so to us than to a dead man. How far is it from here?”

Susan stood up. “Enough. We’re going to Jay’s place. If we find that there is a problem, we can consider other options later.”

“She’s right. This doesn’t change anything.” Martha placed the refolded document in the pocket of her windbreaker. Standing up, she walked to the edge of camp and pulled up some grass to stuff into the hole in her boot. “All it’s done is give me a blister.”

Piper stretched and asked, “Is dinner ready? I’m starved.”

“Yep. Everyone have the bowls out?” Susan asked as she started to ladle out the stew. “After chores tonight, we should turn in. I know it’s early but we’re all tired.”

“We seem to be walking the same amount,” Eva stated. “Why am I so wiped out?”

“We’ve been hiking up hill. We are quite a ways above sea level now and it’s just going to get higher.”

“Piper, you take first watch and I’ll take second.” Martha chewed a piece of rabbit. “Thanks for doing the hunting.”

“No problem.” The dark haired woman slurped the rest of the liquid from her bowl and went down the hill from the creek to wash her dishes and get ready for the night. She decided to patrol the area around the south side of the camp until dark. After that, she would walk up and down the road until her relief.

The group fell quickly to their evening tasks and crashed in their tents in exhausted slumber. They dreamed of journeys end and hoped that the next day’s march would bring them closer to a safe haven.