“We could. We’d have to leave almost everything behind except for what we could carry. You and I could take a bit extra weight. That would give us food for a couple of days,” Father said.

They discussed who’d get what before splitting up.

Father headed to the garage.

“Sherman, Jerry,” Mother said, “Y’all need to ditch anything you don’t want to carry. Don’t worry about clothes. We can always buy some when we get to safety.”

Sherman opened his duffle bag and looked at the sweater from Grandma. He’d hold on to that. He set it aside and dug out the rest of the clothes he had packed. He put the sweater back in the bag with Bop and his computer. With those three, he could face the world.

Jerry added to the pile of clothes.

“Hearts on your underwear?” Sherman asked.

“What would you prefer?” Jerry asked. “Teddy bears?”

“Boys,” Mary said.

Father returned from the garage with a few small bags.

“I found the matches. I don’t know if they’ll work or not. They’re several years old.”

“They should be fine. Those things’ll last forever,” Mark said.

“Hey,” Father said. He turned to Jerry and Sherman. “I found a couple of small backpacks you can use. They should be a lot easier than a suitcase or duffle bag.”

Sherman took the bag. It might hold the sweater, but it surely wouldn’t hold all three. That didn’t mean he couldn’t try.

He put the sweater in, neatly folded to take as little room as possible. Bop could be pushed in as well. He hated to do that to the bear. He wouldn’t want to be smushed into a bag for who knows how long.

The bag didn’t look too waterproof. If rain got in, then Bop would be soaked. But then, so would the computer. With a few grunts and some effort pushing things around, he managed to zip it shut.

Now, the bag seemed like an odd, overstuffed ball. He could squeeze it and get some give out of it so the computer might fit. It wasn’t that big. He opened the zipper just enough to fit the computer and tried to slide it in between the sweater and Bop. That might protect it from a bit of water if some got in. It seemed to snag on the sweater, but it was going. He rummaged around between the sweater and the computer to straighten things out. Eventually, it went in.

It was tight, but everything that he had to have with him was there.

Mother handed them some raincoats.

“Wear these over the backpacks, and they should stay dry.”

Eventually, everyone was ready, and they set out. Father was in the lead, and his Mother brought up the rear. Sherman and Jerry were in the middle.

The stream had become a pond creeping towards the house, looking for higher ground to escape the other water coming in but meeting the rivulets of water collecting from the slow rain.

They walked until they could see the water moving again.

Sherman looked back at the house.

“What about Smitty?” he asked. He should have remembered him earlier, but the rush of packing and leaving had distracted him.

“He’ll be alright,” Father said. “Animals have a way of surviving these things.”

“We should open the gate and let him out.”

“Anyone want to trudge back through the mud and rain?”

Everyone stood there, looking at each other.

“We’ll only be gone for a few days. He has a roof, food, water. He’ll be fine.” Adulfus patted Sherman on his shoulder. “I know you care about him, but it’s okay.”

“I’ll do it,” Sherman said as he stepped towards the house.

“Sherman!” Mother said. She reached out to him, but he was already moving.

He was running now. No one else might care about Smitty, but he wouldn't want to be left if he were a dog.

If he hurried, he wouldn't delay them too long.

Smitty was standing at the gate and wagging his tail. He was drenched from the rain but happy to see Sherman.

“Come on, boy. Let's get you out so you can stay out of the water.”

He opened the gate.

Smitty bounded out of the yard and jumped on Sherman.

“Whoa there. You’re muddy!”

Smitty stopped moving. His ears pricked up and moved like radar dishes.

Just then, Sherman heard a scream from the family.

He looked back.

A group of people were walking down the stream towards them with their rifles leveled.

They didn’t seem to have noticed him yet.

“Come on, Smitty,” he whispered. “Let's hide around the corner.”

He slipped around the house and looked back to see the men surrounding his family.

Father, Mark, and Adulfus stood with their feet spread apart, blocking the other group from reaching Mary or Mother. Jerry was standing in the middle, mimicking the men.

Sherman could see the conversation. Mark was waving his arms around, and Father was shaking his head.

Adulfus gave up his rifle. Father pulled a pistol out of his pants.