Finished! She tossed the fleshing knife in the wash bucket. Now she could go get that bath and play with Grey as she’d promised. Looking up, she spied him on the other side of the clearing, playing with King near Ally and the infants. King nudged Grey with his muzzle, earning a squeal of glee from the toddler. The dog then ran a few steps and stopped, waiting. When Grey drew close enough, King nudged him and bounded away again. Lottie snickered. Grey loved King, and if their game of tag was any indication, then the feeling was mutual.
“Grey?” she called as she stood.
Grey and King froze and swung their heads toward the sound of her voice. King barked at the same time Grey yelled, “Mommy!”
“Ready for that bath?”
“‘Ath!” Grey agreed. His game with King abandoned, and he took off in a stumbling run to get to her faster.
Laughing out loud, Lottie met Grey halfway across the clearing. Swinging him in the air, she spun him around before dropping him to her hip. “Should we take King?” she asked, bopping him on the nose.
Grey giggled. “‘Ing ‘ome wish’us.”
Barking and bouncing around her feet, King let her know of his agreement to their plan.
“Great,” she said. Calling to Ally, she asked, “We’re off to the river. Need anything before we go?”
Waving, Ally shook her head. “No. They’re sleeping, so I’m good.”
Great. Lottie didn’t want to wait another minute before getting clean. “Come along King,” Lottie ordered and left the clearing for the river platform. They were halfway there when several things happened at once: the hairs on Lottie’s arms lifted into goosebumps, and she felt the distinct sensation of being watched, King began growling and slowed to a stop with hackles raised, and Grey popped his thumb in his mouth, nuzzling into her neck and whimpered.
With shaking hands, Lottie retrieved her sling and a stone from her pocket. After fumbling with the weapon, she finished loading it and tensed, ready to let the projectile fly at the slightest indication of a threat. Slowly, she scanned the area, crooning to Grey under her breath, trying to keep him quiet. If they were being stalked by a wild animal, she’d spot it as soon as it moved. Of course, if it was already on top of her—she lifted her gaze to the trees—she might not have enough time to spin up her sling and launch the stone. Lottie let out the breath she’d been holding. There was nothing in the canopy above them.
As if sensing her relief, King’s growl stopped, and he sat on his haunches, tongue hanging out.
“What is it, King?” Lottie whispered. She hated it when he did that. His abrupt canine moods were more than a tad unsettling especially when he’d just been threatening the empty path before them.
King swallowed a bark, and at the same time, Grey lifted his head from her shoulder. “‘Ampa “Oha?”
“Lottie?” The sound of her name—though faint and coming from behind her—had her pivoting on her heel and heading back to the settlement. Her heart pounded, and she patted Grey on the back as she hurried down the path. “Lottie?!” the voice—Ally?—called again.
Covering Grey’s ear, she yelled “Coming!”
Turning the corner, Lottie nearly ran over Ally and the two babies who had come to meet her. Their collision upset Cody, and she began to cry. Her hand fluttered in front of her face for a moment until her fingers landed in her mouth. Her whimpers leveled out as she sucked. Max, on the other hand, blinked at Lottie owlishly, clearly unfazed by his sister’s tears.
Lottie touched their heads and addressed Ally, “What’s wrong? Why were you yelling?”
“There’s a man at camp.”—Ally continued to speak even though Lottie had already pushed past her at the first mention of a stranger. Lottie snapped her fingers, ordering King to follow her.—“Says Noah sent him, but Noah’s not here, and neither is Jaesen. I didn’t know what to do.”
Motioning her to be quiet, Lottie set Grey on the ground. “Stay with Auntie Ally, all right?” Blinking, Grey tucked his head and popped his thumb in his mouth. His arms wrapped around Ally’s knees and he nodded at Lottie. “Good boy, Grey. Mommy’ll be right back.” Standing, she gave Ally a tight smile. “I’ll let you know when it’s okay to come out.”
“Be careful.”
“I will. King? Come with me,” she commanded, as she confirmed her sling was ready. Stepping from the trees, Lottie noted the dark-haired man who sat on a log next to the fire.
He must have been listening for her, for he stood and turned her direction the moment she exited the woods. His blue-green eyes were startling, and her breath caught in her lungs. Her vision wavered and sweat popped along her brow. It’s not him. It’s not him, she chanted to herself. Even though her sight told her she was safe, her heart didn’t believe her.
King growled, low and deep in his throat reminding her of the potential threat.
“Hands up. Where I can see them,” she said, cursing under her breath when her voice wavered.
The stranger complied. “Are you Private Forrester?”
His voice, though deep, had a slightly scratchy sound to it, almost as if he had a cold and was about to lose his voice. Lottie’s fear faded further. He didn’t sound like her attacker, and she seriously hoped he normally sounded hoarse, because if he was coming down with something… Well, the babies were still too delicate to be exposed to illness unnecessarily especially since they didn’t have any type of medicine available.
With King at her side, she forced herself forward on shaking legs and brought her sling to the ready. “I’m going to come closer. No sudden movements or you’ll get a rock right through the forehead.” She doubted it would do any damage but ought to hurt like hell.
He nodded. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “I’m Brad, Brad Leon. Former Captain of Munitions Analysis and Distribution.”
“MAD? How nice.”
Again, he nodded. “Noah recruited me for that very reason.”
Lottie came to a stop about five feet away from him. After commanding King to sit, she addressed Brad, “If Noah recruited you, then where is he? He wouldn’t have just told you where we were and then left.”
“He went to find retired Privates Bell and Clemens.”
Lottie slowly lowered her weapon to her side. Would a stranger know of Tristan and Jaesen? Maybe, but she doubted it. Besides, he knew them by surname, and those weren’t generally used in the settlement except by Noah. And with that revelation, she decided Brad had proven himself safe enough. She called over her shoulder, “You can come out now!”
“Okay!” Ally answered from the trees.
Lottie patted King on the head. “Good boy.” But before she could continue questioning Brad, her son popped out of the woods and bee-lined toward her. “‘Ath? ‘Ath, Mommy?”
“We’ll get a bath in a few minutes,” Lottie replied, and as Ally came to stand next to her, Lottie stooped down and picked Grey up. Squaring off against Brad, she said, “So… A Weapons Specialist. What’s your specialty?”
“Besides gunsmithing?”
“Yeah.”
“Range weapons: modern and pre-modern.”
“Like missiles?”
“No. More archaic: spears, bow and arrows, slings,” Brad said, indicating the weapon in her hand with a nod of his head.
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you here?”
“To help keep you and the other women safe and to spread my knowledge.”
Lottie frowned. It sounded too good to be true, but really, she wouldn’t put it past Noah to have orchestrated this. “When did Noah talk to you about us?”
“For this mission or in general?”
General? She’d have to explore that in more detail, but first… “This mission.”
“Four years ago,” Brad answered without any hesitation.
Lottie’s eyelids narrowed. Four years ago… “I didn’t know Noah four years ago. Why would he have approached you about us then?”
“You may not have known him, but he knew of you.”
“What? How? I made sure to avoid everyone.”
“Well, as the story goes, you managed to trip one of his booby traps near his cabin, but when he went to investigate, he heard you blundering around instead. Your movements were so loud and uncoordinated that he knew you couldn’t be one of Fort Sutton’s soldiers on patrol about to discover him. Since you weren’t a threat,” Brad said, using his fingers to do air quotes at the word “threat”. “Noah chose to watch you instead. From what he’s told me before, he didn’t have enough resources in place yet to take care of you properly, so he let you go about your merry.”
Brad shrugged and glanced at King and Ally before continuing, “But anytime you came near, he would watch, waiting for the perfect time to take you under his wing.” Brad took a deep breath. “Can I put my hands down? My arms are getting tired.” At her curt nod, he dropped his arms, shook them, and then shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Anyway, two years ago you wandered through his property. Only this time you were very pregnant. And even though he wasn’t ready to take you on, he decided ‘no more waiting’ was in order. Of course, Noah wasn’t the only one hunting you that stormy August night, but Huxley and his team were able to get to you first.”
He shifted his weight, pulling his hands from his pockets. Crossing his arms, he continued, “Noah backed off, deciding to wait and see what Huxley would do.” Uncrossing his arms, he waved one hand around for emphasis. “Think about it from Noah’s point of view. Here is a soldier—someone unaware of the ‘family-steading’ effort Noah’s been building for years—keeping a pregnant woman hostage at his base. Would he turn you in? If Huxley had, you never would have made it to St. Louis.” Brad grinned. “Thankfully, Noah’s extraction plans were moot. Huxley ultimately proved he wanted to keep you and the baby,” Brad said, nodding toward Grey in her arms. “Noah took a risk in bringing him in on the grand plan. And I’m glad it worked out.”
Disoriented and a bit light-headed at how much Brad knew, Lottie sat, situating Grey on her lap. King huffed and dropped his head on her knee. Grey patted him in his not so gentle way, and King looked at her as if to say, “You’re going to let him keep doing that aren’t you?”
“Why? Why did you come here?” Lottie asked, her tone no longer accusatory.
“Not everyone believes our women should be bred with no regard to their feelings or the families these women create.”
“That is…” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That is blunt.”
Brad shrugged. “Most of Noah’s team feels the same. And well…” he said, indicating Ally with his hand. “Family is important.”
Lottie looked over her shoulder. Ally’s mouth hung open in clear surprise, and Lottie wondered how much of this Ally had known before today. With both Lottie and Brad’s attention on her, she snapped her mouth shut and blushed. Waving her closer, Lottie said, “This is Ally, her daughter Cody and her son Max.”
Brad acknowledged Ally with a nod. “Glad to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Ally caught Lottie’s gaze. “Can you hold Cody? I think Max is getting hungry.”
“Of course,” Lottie said. Lifting Grey off her lap, she set him down beside her. He sniffed and curled his arm around her leg but otherwise didn’t make a sound. Lottie brushed the hair from his forehead and bopped him on the nose. “We’ll be done soon. Okay?”
Grey nodded. “‘Kay.”
After shoving her sling and stone into her pocket, she took Cody from Ally and set the baby on her knees. After teasing the little girl's chubby cheeks, Lottie refocused on Brad, Lottie asked, “So, weapons specialist… Did Noah selected you, or were you a happy little accident like us?”
“No. Not an accident. Not by a long shot.” Brad smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Noah’s been playing this game a long time. A lot longer than you or I have, that’s for sure, and I’m just the first of many. Soon we’ll have a surgeon—someone who specializes in pre-modern medicine. And I heard Noah’s been talking to RTC, LPD, WCD, and WDC. Basically, if you can name it, then Noah’s been trying to recruit someone to provide it. I even heard he had an in on the ‘Catherine of Sweden project’—Catherine of Sweden?—a few years ago, but the army rejected his prospect before he could get them installed.” Brad paused to take a deep breath. “Noah and his team’s reach is far and wide, spanning states. They’ve been planning these settlements for years and have been quietly recruiting in all the time I’ve known him.”
“Settlements?” Ally squeaked, from where she sat on a log next to Lottie. Her high-pitched noise startled King, and he twitched his ears in her direction, listening. Lottie patted him on the head, letting her fingers dip to behind his ears where she scratched him.
“Yes,” Brad said, letting his answer hang in the air between them. “Settlements. This one’s just the first of many.” He must have seen something in Lottie’s expression which he interpreted as disbelief, for he added, “Why is this such a surprise, Private Forrester? You knew about his plan. The desire to reunite families.”
“It isn’t,” Lottie replied. “But I must admit, I thought he only started this one because of me and Grey.”
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