Sudden Independents

“You have? How wonderful! But, I haven’t anything decent to wear.”

“Leave everything to me, dear. All I need is my magic wand and a few of your furry little friends. Now what are the words to that spell?”

Jimmy cleared his throat. “If this is a bad time we can come back later?”

“No!” Samuel said. Two dolls vanished behind his back.

“Yes!” Catherine said, shooting Jimmy a disturbing look of pure malice for someone her age and size. Then she noticed him holding hands with Ginger and started bouncing up and down with excitement. “Hurray! Are you two finally in love?”

Jimmy nodded, his face burning, his heart thumping as he saw Ginger nod, too.

Samuel clambered up with his hands still behind him. “Hey, Jimmy, I want you to know I didn’t say a word.” He motioned his head in Catherine’s direction.

“Yes, yes, you’re perfectly innocent, aren’t you, Samuel?” Catherine leveled her gaze at him and the dolls he was hiding dropped to the floor. She squealed and scooped up her Barbies. One was missing a leg and another, an arm. Affectionately, she placed them on a shelf above her bed. “That mean, old boy didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Samuel appeared overjoyed to be relieved of his dollhouse theater duties. Jimmy intended to mention his performance as often as he could, in front of as many people as possible.

“How much do Ginger and Catherine know about what’s going on?” Jimmy asked Samuel.

“Just that there are some visitors and you wanted to talk to Catherine before she met them.”

Catherine positioned herself in front of Jimmy. “I like visitors.”

“I’m sure you do, Catherine, but I have concerns about our visitors that I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Come on in and have a seat,” Catherine said, tying on a little, yellow apron with frills that appeared out of nowhere. “I’ll pour us some tea.”

Samuel, Ginger and Jimmy looked at one another like they’d just been asked to strip down naked.

“Sit!” Catherine commanded. They plopped on the floor immediately, cross-legged, in a circle.

“One lump or two, Ginger?”

“One, please.”

“Jimmy?”

“I’ll take two.”

“Samuel?”

“None for me thanks. I’m trying to watch my figure.”

Once everyone acquired a teacup, Catherine sat on the bed and looked down at her party guests. “Drink, please, before it gets cold,” she said, urging them on with a wave of her hands.

They lifted their teacups and drank. Samuel made yummy sounds.

“Now, tell me what concerns you about these visitors.”

Jimmy ran a hand under his hat to collect his thoughts before answering. “Everybody’s motivated by something. I don’t know their motivation yet. Maybe they just want to make contact, maybe they want to exchange goods, or maybe they have a large group hidden somewhere outside of Independents waiting for the attack signal.”

He looked for some support from Samuel who daintily lifted his teacup, pinky extended, and indulged in another imaginary sip. Jimmy shook his head.

“I’ll be straight with you, Catherine. You’re special.”

“Thank you.”

“You know what I’m saying. I’m about to turn eighteen and I’m afraid I’m going to die from this stupid plague.”

Sudden tears distorted Jimmy’s vision making it difficult for him to think clearly. He shuddered from the fear surging inside his whole being, fighting its way to the surface. Ginger reached out and caressed his shoulder.

“I think you have the power to save me the way you saved Vanessa and healed Hunter’s arm. I’ve been hoping for a miracle, Catherine, and I believe you’re it.”

He stopped and lowered his head, rubbing his eyes free of tears with his open palms. Ginger gathered him into her arms and as he felt her softness and strength, something new replaced his ever-present fear. He was overcome by grief because Ginger loved him, and he’d waited so long to tell her that he loved her.

Two little hands lifted his face. Jimmy stared into Catherine’s shining blue eyes and was once again reminded of a sunny day.

She nodded slowly at him, “Why do you think I’m here, silly?”

“Oh crap!” Scout squeezed the brakes and a screen of dust billowed from his skidding stop. A truck roared out of the gulch to his right with two kids standing in the bed. Three kids on motorbikes swooped out from his left.

Behind him, Hunter cursed and slid past, losing control and toppled his bike over. Hunter rolled to his feet and within seconds, he raced to his fallen motorbike and started it again. The dirt on the back of his leather jacket was the only evidence of his crash.

The group from the gulch closed in. From the looks on their faces, Scout knew this wasn’t going to be a pleasant exchange.

“What do you want to do?” Hunter asked. His eyes were wide and his chest heaved from an adrenaline surge. Scout wasn’t worried about him; that was the least interesting accident of Hunter’s so far this year.

“They don’t have any guns pointed at us,” Scout said over the rumble of the approaching trouble.