Fire in the Ashes

She walked swiftly back to her car, got in, and drove away into the damp night. Not even the president of the United States knew the Spanish-Irish lady had come to Colonel Hector Ramos's command from Captain Dan Gray's Scouts. She was as thoroughly trained in the art of counterinsurgency as a person could be. And she was as lethal as a ticking time bomb.

* * * *

Ben sat alone in his office. He had dismissed Susie, sending her home. The White House was quiet, and he was alone with his thoughts. The twins were with their nanny, in their rooms down the hall, but Ben had no desire to go and play with them. They reminded him too much of Jerre. He wished he had someone to talk with.

He tried Cecil. No, the secretary told him, the VP was out for the evening. A meeting with several department heads.

He knew Dawn had gone out of town; Ike was off in search of Jerre. Lamar was back in Idaho. So many of the old bunch dead and gone.

What the hell was he doing here in the White House? He didn't want this damned job! Loneliest goddamned job in the world.

And what about those SSTs? The message? Ben Raines beware?

What the hell was that all about?

Damn! but he was tired of double crosses and triple crosses and backbiting and the whole scene.

He wondered if his house in Louisiana was still standing. And suddenly he thought of Salina.

* * * *

Ben pulled into his driveway at five o'clock in the afternoon. He had been wandering for almost a year since the bombings. Nothing had changed except the lawn had flowers where none had been before. A station wagon parked in the drive.

Since the outskirts of Shreveport, Ben had seen hundreds of blacks. No one had bothered him; they had all been friendly, waving to him and chatting with him when he stopped.

But the vague and somewhat amusing—to him—thought was: he knew how Dr. Livingstone must have felt.

Ben got out of the truck thinking: there is a lot of land to be had. I'm not going to spill any blood for an acre of land in Louisiana.

He felt kind of silly knocking on his own front door. But as he raised his hand to tap on the door, it swung open.

“Come on in, Ben Raines,” Salina said. “I've been waiting for you."

“Hello, Salina.” Ben revised his original appraisal of her: she was not just good-looking. She was beautiful.

“I was about to invite you in, Ben, but that would be rather silly of me, wouldn't it? This is your house.” She looked at Juno. “What a beautiful animal. What's his name?"

“Juno."

She held out her hands and Juno and Ben stepped into the house. Not much had been changed except the house was a great deal cleaner and neater than when he'd left it. He said as much.

She smiled. Lovely. “Most bachelors aren't much on housekeeping. ‘Sides,” she said, a mischievous light creeping into her eyes, “us coons have been trained for centuries to take care of the master's house while he's away seein’ to matters of great import."

“Knock it off, Salina,” he said, then realized she'd been ribbing him. He gave back as much as he got. “You're only half-coon. So the house should be only half-clean."

She laughed. “Call this round a draw. Dinner's at seven. Guests coming over. We knew you were coming."

“How?"

“Tom-toms!"

Ben grimaced. “I'll be hungry by seven, I assure you."

Her eyes became a flashing firestorm of humor. “Got corn bread, fatback, and greens."

“Salina, you're impossible!"

She laughed. “You think I'm kidding?"

She wasn't.

* * * *

Cecil and Lila and Pal and Valerie came over. After dinner the six of them sat in the candlelit den and talked.

“Are you planning to stay, Ben?” Cecil asked.

“No. I'm heading over to north Mississippi in the morning, then striking out for the northwest.” He told them about President Logan's plans to relocate the people; and that most of them were going along with it. Logan's stripping the citizens of firearms.

It did not surprise Ben to learn they knew more about it than he.

“We won't bother Logan as long as he doesn't bother us,” Pal said. “We just want to live and let live."

Ike's words, Ben thought.

“You're welcome to spend the night with us, Ben,” Lila said.

“This is my house,” Ben said.

Lila looked at Salina. “Then perhaps you'd better come with us, Salina."

“I like it here,” Salina said. Ben could feel her eyes on him.

“It will only cause hard feelings, girl,” Cecil reminded her of Kasim.

“Kasim is a pig!"

“You're half black, half white,” Lila said, a touch of anger in her voice. “Are you making your choice, is that it?"

“You're the only one talking color and choices. If Ben is colorblind, so am I."

Pal and Valerie stayed out of it, as did Ben and Cecil. The two women argued for a few moments until finally, in frustration and anger, Salina jumped to her feet and ran from the room, crying.

After a moment, Juno rose from the floor, stretched, and went into the room after Salina.