Lottie wiped the sweat from her eyes and tucked her hands under her cheek. It was swelteringly hot in Casey’s tent and she was thirsty. She licked her dry lips and rolled over. She really didn’t want to get up and go outside for more water, but she couldn’t get comfortable without it. She sat up.
“There’s Tristan,” Teo said. He sounded closer to the tent than he did a few minutes ago.
“About damn time,” Ethan replied.
Lottie listened for footsteps.
“You’re late.”
She was pretty sure she heard two people walking up the hill toward Casey’s tent. Their boots crunching on some gravel. “Get over yourself, Ethan.” She recognized Tristan’s voice.
“You’ll have an easy time of it,” Teo said. “She hasn’t left Case’s tent since she got sick this morning.”
Lottie grimaced. Her mouth still tasted like vomit.
“She’s sick?” Tristan asked. His tone concerned.
“How long has she been in there?” Someone else asked at the same time.
She wrapped her arms around her belly when Ethan answered. “Since right after our shift started.”
“Seven hours?”
“Yep.”
Tristan barked, “Without lunch?” There was a pause and Lottie assumed Ethan or Teo answered with a shrug or shake of the head. “Did you at least make sure she had water?” Again there was a pause and Lottie assumed the guards responded. “Jackass!” Lottie shifted in her seat. She tried to see Tristan out of her tent screen. “She’s court-martialed. Not a prisoner of war!” Lottie watched the shadows on the ground shift and move. “You”—the word punctuated by a shadow of a finger pointing—“get me a canteen of water. And you”—another shadowed arm wave—“get me some travel rations. No. Out of your personal stash.”—again, a shadow of an arm wave—“No! I don’t want to hear it. You should have been more attentive to what she may need.”
“She never said anything. We figured she—”
Tristan cut Ethan off. “If she refuses to talk, you have to guess what she may want and then offer it. Especially when Case’s orders are clear. And you can’t get much clearer than ‘make sure she eats and drinks’. Now go get me that water,” Tristan growled.
Lottie heard someone move away from the tent and she took a deep breath.
“Wu,” Tristan said. His voice calm, and his tone low. “She hasn’t met you yet. Do you mind waiting out here while I see if she’s all right?” He paused before adding, “She’s skittish—rightfully so—and I don’t want to overload her with people in such a small space.”
“Sure. I’ll let you know when they get back with the supplies.”
Tristan thanked him and then scratched at the tent flap door. “Momma? You all right in there? Can I come in?”
It was nice of him to ask, but she wondered why he bothered. He had no reason to be courteous. And he could come and go as he pleased.
“Yes,” she answered him.
A moment later the zipper rasped and Lottie saw his booted foot enter the tent. A heartbeat later, Tristan ducked his head into her temporary quarters. “Good lord it is hot in here,” he said as he stepped through the door. “You doin’ all right, Momma? They said you were ill.”
“I am all right,” Lottie whispered. Her throat was dry and scratchy and his request for water made her thirst almost unbearable.
“Our food make you sick or is it just the pregnancy?”
Lottie wasn’t fooled. He would tell Casey every word she said, and she worried about Ethan and Teo’s reaction. What if Casey punished them and they took it out on her? They already bemoaned the fact she created more work for them, and they had threatened her safety. She decided to not say anything about their behavior and instead answered with the safer option. “The pregnancy.”
“Well not much I can do about that,” he replied, and squatted at the end of her bedding near the door. “Water and food are on their way. You hungry now?”
She looked into his blue eyes. The skin around his them crinkled when he smiled, and he brushed sandy blond hair from his forehead. The friendliness reflected there perplexed her. Why was he being so nice? Did he expect her to fall for it, and begin trusting him? That would not happen. Lottie dropped her gaze to the blanket under her.
“A little,” she finally replied to his question.
“I bet.” Tristan cleared his throat as if he was nervous. “So, I’m curious. I know statistically you’re going to have a boy, but do you know the gender of your baby? Or did you run before you found out?”
Lottie debated about answering truthfully. She could guess the sex and say yes she knew. If she was wrong it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It wasn’t like the surgeons’ were always right with their diagnosis. But saying yes would mean she’d been running for under six months. And, how would she explain escaping the tightened security? The pregnancy wing of the hospital was a prison. Virtually no way to escape it without some form of help or prior planning. If she answered no, then she had to worry about how much he could deduce from the information Casey already knew. Again, she decided to go with the safest answer. “I don’t know.” There! Try to determine how long I have been on the run with that, she thought.
“Well, I’m going to hope you have a girl. We need more women in the world.”
Lottie didn’t think she agreed. At least a boy would be able to do grow up and be something other than a human guinea pig.
There was a shifting of weight outside the tent and a scratch at the flap. “Tristan?”
“Yes?”
“Ethan is on his way up the hill.”
“Thanks.” Tristan looked at her. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded in understanding and licked her lips in eagerness. He smiled and stepped back out into the sunshine.
Lottie took a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead and then dried her hand on her shorts. She felt gross and wanted to soak in the river.
It had been cool and refreshing yesterday, but she quickly discarded the idea. Someone would have to watch her do it, and she didn’t trust any of the soldiers to leave her alone. Even though it had been uncomfortable to bathe with Casey a few feet away, he had been discreet when he watched her. He even sent that other soldier, Lincoln, away so that she could have more privacy. Maybe when Casey came back from his patrol she would ask him to take her back to the river.
The crunch of gravel drew her attention and she focused on the door.
“I think you have mess duty.” Tristan sounded so cold and angry, and Lottie opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“I can read a schedule.”
Tristan added, “That was me telling you to leave.”
“You know you’re being an asshole, right?” Ethan retorted. “We didn’t do anything wrong. It isn’t our fault she puked and then hid in the tent all day.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” he snapped, and Lottie wondered if more emotion had shown in her expression than she’d wanted. “If it turns out that’s all it was then I’ll give you an apology. I’m not holding my breath. I’ve seen pups like you before. Bluster and asshattery—”
Ethan retorted, “Fuck you, Tristan. You’re not perfect.”
Tristan talked over him. “—Takes a few knocks to the ears before you figure it out.”
“Other’s think she should be put to work while she’s here. Earn her keep.”
“Others? Like you?”
“No—”
“That’s not how things work. Once you’ve been on a few round-ups you’ll realize how hard it is on them. Maybe then you’ll grow a pair and be nicer. Take care of them like they deserve.”
“Deserve?” Ethan spat. “Have you seen the treatment they get in the communals? They’re pampered pets,” Ethan said, incredulous.
“You have a lot to learn, pup.” Lottie crawled to the edge of the tent and peeked out the door. Tristan was shaking his head. “Pampered? We may be owned by Uncle Sam, but at least in the army our bodies are ours. We have choices.”
“Their bodies are theirs—”
“Open your eyes, youngster.” Tristan shifted so Lottie could no longer see his face. “If you saw how hard pregnancy was on their bodies you never would say something that inane. If you want to see how pampered she is, watch her struggle to walk, or sit, or even eat. She’s earned any pampering we can give her.” He paused and Lottie wondered what face he was making that caused Ethan look that angry. “And then, when the government thinks she’s used up, they give her the option of working her to death acting as a mother in the communals or being a prostitute for the whims of men.”
That’s not completely accurate, Lottie thought. There were other choices available.
“They get to live in plush housing. All the meds we still manufacture to keep them healthy. Food. Sex. I’d do it.”
“All you hear is the word sex.” He’d shifted again and Lottie could see his profile. His eyebrows were drawn down and he was frowning. “Yes, they’re given what they need to keep their bodies healthy. But nowhere in that equation are they given the option to choose their life. Then, God forbid if they actually produced offspring.” She watched as the anger melted away and sympathy replaced it. “If you saw the required treatments after a healthy pregnancy, you’d want to run away too. It’s bad enough we have to take her back. The least we can do is make sure her stay in our camp is as pleasant as we can make it.” Lottie was spellbound as even the sympathy left his expression and only a weariness remained. “Now get out of my sight, pup. You have failed in your task today.”
“I still think she should work for her keep,” Ethan remarked.
She saw the frown grow on Tristan’s face. When he spoke, his tone again conveyed anger. “You would. Now go away. You have work to do in the mess hall.”
Lottie watched as Ethan pulled himself straighter, and gave Tristan a dirty look, before turning on his heel and marching down the hill.
“You really believe all that, or are you just giving him the business?” Wu asked. Lottie turned to look at him and then swiveled her head back to look at Tristan.
“I do believe it.”
“I wish I could say the same.”
“Give it a few more years, and you will. I’ve seen women at every stage of pregnancy. It’s hard work. Harder than anything I’d ever want to do. And I’ve worked the fields.”
“I doubt it,” Wu disagreed.
Tristan shook his head and turned. Lottie yanked her head back and shuffled backward on her hands and knees. Her heart pounded in her chest. It wasn’t like she eavesdropped. He had made no effort to hide the whole exchange, but she hadn’t intended him to see her staring from the tent.
A second later, he scratched at the tent flap and stuck his head inside. “Momma? Why don’t you come out of that hot tent? It isn’t good for you or the baby to bake yourself in there. Come sit in the shade and eat.”
He seemed so sincere.
After a moment of indecision, she replied, “All right,” and crawled toward the door. He offered her his hand to help her stand, once she reached the exit. “Thank you.”
He acknowledged her appreciation with a nod of his head. “There is a nice comfortable place to sit, right over there.” He pointed to a log under a tree about twenty feet away. “You look flushed. Do you need help? Here is that water.”
Lottie took a deep breath and reached for the canteen. He was standing too close and it was making her uncomfortable. But he was trying to help her, so she schooled her expression and exhaled slowly. “No, I can manage,” she told him after she felt in control.
She made her way over to the log and declined his hand when he offered to help her sit. After she settled, he sat on the ground next to her.
“So, Momma, what do you want to do with your time between now an’ dinner? Because, if I have any say in the matter, you are not going back into that hot tent ‘til the sun dips behind that bluff.” He put his hands behind him on the ground and leaned back. “We could go for a walk or if that’s too much, we could just sit here and watch base.”
Lottie sipped her water and looked down the hill from Casey’s tent. Ethan and Teo were by the cook fire and someone else was walking out of a wood shed. “I know that building’s command, and the other one is the storage shed, but what is that one?” She asked and pointed down the hill.
“The smoke house.”
She’d forgotten that they smoked their own meats.
“That reminds me,” Tristan said. “Here’s that jerky I promised.”
She took the dried meat that he handed to her, and she sucked on it to soften it. “You said you raised chickens. May I see them?”
“Sure. You want to feed them some corn?”
Lottie smiled, unable to hide her eagerness. It was amusing, even to her, how excited she was at the prospect of seeing some birds. It wasn’t like she didn’t see small wild animals before, but the only ones she ever got close to were the ones she killed. The city didn’t allow domesticated pets and forget about the big farm animals. Too hard to keep people fed, let alone the critters.
He returned her smile. “You sure are pretty when you smile.”
She felt the smile slip, and self-consciousness replaced the ease she was beginning to feel in his presence.
“Give me a minute, Momma. I have to get the grain.” He stood and called to Wu, “I’ll be right back. You got her?”
Lottie heard Wu’s sullen reply.
She sighed and took a bite of the jerky and rubbed her baby through her belly while she waited. The action earned her a foot or hand pressing back in response, and she smiled.
Comments (0)
See all