CHAPTER 8
Two sets of headlights began illuminating the surroundings of the Falstead's small home. Susan hadn't left the woodpile yet, she simply sat on the biggest stump and stroked the hairs of her daughter's head while Micah slept against her knee, blissfully unaware of anything but his mother's presence.
Susan tried to forget about the rifle leaned against her other knee, but the lights beginning to wake her baby girl were forcing her to consider it again. She hoped it was David and Habi coming to get them.
It had to be.
And then she heard the gun shots in the far distance.
“Micah!” She woke him. “Get up, come on honey. Come on!” she whispered frantically, clutching Shayla to herself. “Run that way, wait for me.” she ordered, pointing the opposite direction of the house.
Micah nodded and broke into a waking stagger. Susan paused, looked back a the rifle... and picked it up. “Come get me David. Oh Lord keep him safe.” she whispered as she turned after Micah.
The boy had managed to break into a waking stagger as he pushed his way forward. His mother caught up easily and urged him forward with a hand to his shoulders, gently passing him and pulling him forward. The vehicles reached the home and the doors opened. Susan looked back, lights crossing her face as she identified the soldiers.
Stooping down below the lights quickly, her mind raced. Where was David? Why wasn't he here? With her? She was the one that needed him. Right?
Susan pulled her daughter tighter against her, as well as she could over the seven and a half month-old child she held within her. “Micah.” The mother whispered. “Come.” She indicated off to the right, as she pulled him towards her into the thicker trees. They were a good eight hundred feet from the house now. The trucks were still running, and she hoped that would cover the noise of their escape.
To where though? She couldn't get across the river with both Micah and Shayla, much less to Habi's home.
The river offered the only hope though. That was another three hundred or so feet. “Come on.” she whispered. David. She thought, willing him to hear her from afar. The soldiers were speaking, but she couldn't hear them clear enough to discern words. Their actions, however, she could see through the foliage, scattered pieces and movements at a time. They were coming. Moving towards her faster than she could go. How could they do this to me? To us? I have two children and one INSIDE of me! Why do they have to come after me?!
They spread out, prodding things with bayonets and maintaining a loose fan formation as they pressed to the river. They would find her.
She had to try though. The weight of the rifle managed to be a constant reminder of one last option, but she had counted them, and there were at least ten. Susan couldn't beat that.
“Micah. Shhh.” she breathed into her boy's ear. “Follow mommy, honey” She said, staying low and moving back towards the water. Micah nodded, finding the back pocket of her capri pants to hold on. Clinging on like his life depended on it. Somehow he must know...That that really is the cost. Somehow...He's smart. Like his daddy.
He seemed to be bearing up well, but - “Where's daddy?” he asked blandly.
Susan twisted, watching and placing a calming hand to his mouth. The men simply continued moving, but one looked up.
“He's not here.” she whispered. “Shhh.” Susan grasped his small hand and kneeled down to him. “Come on, Mic.” she said, pulling him to her and with a heave, she lifted him up and slid her arm under him. “Hold on.”
She was now carrying three kids. The mother turned back, trying to stay low. Susan was unable. Her knees simply couldn't hold two small children and one still inside of her. Her left foot landed on a river-water slick branch and slipped away, dropping her on her stomach and rocking Micah back from her arms against the cold ground.
She managed and cradle Shayla, and caught herself on her right arm to keep from landing completely on the boy. Pain splintered up through her left leg, and her elbow cried out under blow. She bit the pain back though. Micah, however, began to cry.
Words began flying through the open airspace. But not theirs. The men were speaking. The fan converged and the steps quickened.
Tears began flowing. “Micah!” She said. “Go!"
He rolled over, pushing himself up. “Mom?”
“Go Micah! Don't ask questions. Just go, baby!" she ordered, unable to point as she winced, pressing herself up off the ground once more. “Go!” she whispered again. Not willing to let the tears come. Not now.
Micah stepped forward, and stumbled in the dark, but pushed back up again. Susan found a tree and pulled herself up. Flashlight beams were fluttering through the trees, but the foliage was thick yet.
She followed her son. “Go to the water!”
Micah nodded, still moving.
“Go, I'll..... beat you.... there.” she challenged, her breaths heavy and forcing her words apart. Her son broke into the best run a four year old could manage. One hundred feet to go. Maybe. She fell again. She twisted, landing on her right shoulder and sliding onto her back. Micah stopped and headed back. “Mom!?” he called.
Oh David. The tears flowed freely now. She had to try though. The men were coming.
She had landed on the rifle. The chamber slide even now was wedged up under her left shoulder blade. Susan leaned to the side, kissing her stirring daughter as she did so. With her weight off the rifle, she pulled it loose and rolled onto her side. Mrs. Falstead stabbed a hand out, clutching for anything. A root showed itself and she pulled on it, fighting her knees forward to gain every foot she could.
Her daughter began crying. Micah was strangely silent, and she looked to the water's edge. Where was he?
She pulled forward again. The words had become shouts, and the steps were now running. Any moment now. Finally, her hand felt water. She fell in up to her waist, plunging her head and upper torso fully into the water. Her hand scraped against the shore, finding another root, this time submerged. Susan pushed up. Her head cleared the water with a splash. Shayla's cry became louder, and then..
Silent.
Susan twisted her head to look, but was stopped by one strong hand wrapping around her mouth and pulling her head back in someone's chest. She kicked her head back, but the strength of her assaulter was too much, holding her tight.
“Mrs. Falstead! It's Phillip Goddard! Nod if you understand me!” he whispered frantically.
She nodded, relaxing her head against his chest and inhaling deeply. He patted her shoulder. “Give me the girl.” he said quickly, accepting Shayla as Susan handed her to him. He kept his hand over her mouth, forcing her to breath through her nose. Susan ignored the fear in her daughter's eyes. She had to. Phil pointed at the water. “Come on, into the water we go.” he stated. It wasn't an order, simply an accepted fact that there was no where else to go.
He set the example by wading in. The shouts were very near, the beams bouncing off the water. Then he clasped his hand tightly over the child's air passages and disappeared beneath the dark surface.
Susan pushed off after him, flailing in the water until she grasped his arm again reaching out for her.
Where's David?
Phillip kicked off the shore, and relaxed into the flowing water, floating to the surface. He held the girl up off of his chest and allowed her to breathe while Susan watched. “Where are we going?”
Phillip pulled the girl to him again. “There's a rope just above the surface here in a few hundred feet. Raise your arms to catch it.
She did, and he twisted over, raising his right arm high. The rope stopped them both, and he wrapped his arm over and kicked out his legs to slow Susan as she clutched at the thread of life that had miraculously showed itself.
He nodded towards the same side of the river they'd just left, about a quarter mile behind. “Go that way.”
Jake was there to pull her up. She broke into tears at the site of Micah eating a chocolate bar in the passenger seat. The younger brother held his left arm out and allowed the mother to break into tears. He hugged her. “We've got you Ma'am.”
Phillip stood up out of the water and handed the freely crying Shayla to her mother. “I'm going to get the rope back.” he stated, heading back in.
Jake nodded, guiding the mother to the truck. Micah leaned out the window, holding the chocolate aloft. “I saved some for Shayla.” He announced, scooting over to make room for his mom.
Phillip came back a few moments later as Jake started the truck. He coiled the rope and climbed into the back of the truck. Sitting down in the corner on a coat, he rested his arms on the sides of the bed and tapped the window.
The Jeep shifted into gear and left nothing but tracks to explain yet another miracle. They were safe, for now, at least.
Sue leaned back against the headrest, comforted by Jake’s steady presence as he accelerated forward through the night. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Not once, but twice she had been saved of serious injury, and both in one very long afternoon.
Micah leaned against her arm, his adrenaline leaving him slowly as he tried to watch his sister gnaw on the chocolate. Sue wrapped her free hand around his tousled muddy head.
It had been just hours ago she and her much missed husband had been walking hand in hand through the woods to their house. Flirting, talking about baby names for the one still lodged inside her now very sore stomach.
Susan stroked her stomach, feeling for her child, searching for any movement. The baby wasn’t moving, and it scared her. She was worried that there might have been permanent damage to the baby with all the falling she had just been through, and all the lifting of her two other children. But she kept it to herself.
There was no way around knowing the possibilities, but she didn’t need to say anything. Not yet. Not when these two young men had come into her life just minutes prior, and saved the life of her three children and herself. She would be forever in their debt. That could come later. Right now, they were all in danger. They needed to find a way to get around all these unfortunate happenings…Somehow.
We need to pray, she thought. Running her hand over her still sore belly, she silently prayed for her husband. Because he could use all the prayer he could get. They all could.
~(*)~
David pushed up on his good hand, gazing out across the knee-high grass towards his home. Towards his wife and kids. The jeeps were loading up. There hadn't been any shots, very little yelling, very little activity of any kind really. That was a good thing, if anything. The vehicles started up and began heading back towards Habi's home. The pilot lowered himself back down. "Alright Jalen." he whispered, gesturing with his left. "Go."
The young girl wiped another tear from her face and began moving forward again on her hands and knees toward a loan boab tree silhouetted in the moonlight. The wide, oddly shaped trunk beckoned to them as a safety as they pulled themselves forward. Abana was just in front of him, oddly silent as he followed his sister. David reached out with his free hand, tousling the boy's short hair. "You're doing good, son, keep it up. Keep going." he said, keeping his voice low.
Jalen lowered herself to her stomach as she crawled into the small flattened clearing around the tree where she had played for the last few years. She stopped, overly cautious as she checked everything in site. Her small head twisted both ways, up, back, and ahead again as she began moving. She felt around, then finally laid a hand on the tree as if she'd won a victory. "Here we are." she announced quietly.
David rolled over and leaned against the tree, laying the rifle on the ground beside him. He could see the trucks in the distance as they reached Habi's house. They wouldn't find the tracks of the three refugees too easily. Not in the dark, and especially since they hadn't started crawling until they were a good seven hundred feet from the house. No, they were safe for tonight, but that was it.
Jalen pulled her brother to herself and leaned against David's shoulder. His right one, thank goodness. Even in her grief she had the presence of mind to avoid paining him further. He wrapped his arm around them both and rested his left hand on Abana's head, who was already falling to sleep. "You did good, girl. Well done." he commended, speaking to Jalen.
The jeeps had loaded up and they slowly began to leave, heading back to where they had come from. Mr. Falstead breathed out a sigh of relief. He tilted his head back, relaxing a moment to marvel in the stars overhead. He'd always been fascinated by them. Not to an astrological interest, or even to memorizing constellations, but simply in their presence and cold beauty. David mindlessly caressed the shoulder of the girl trusting in him now. His thoughts retreated to his wife. He desperately hoped she was ok. Her and the children. Fear for her was ever present lately, and the last hour had been horrible to him in that regard. He closed his eyes in a silent prayer.
When he opened them again, the jeeps were nearly out of sight, their engine's roar slowly fading away into the sounds of the evening. Then... headlights, more of them. A pair revealed their presence behind them, illuminating the area to their left. It creeped along, the lights as dim as they could be. It wasn't a rover or anything normal, but rather one of the older Jeep trucks. David slid the rifle to him and pushed Jalen and her brother over to the side a little. Jalen awakened silently and laid down on the dirt, pulling Abana down beside her.
The pilot shouldered the rifle and put the sights on the passenger side window. The truck was a mere four hundred feet away, crawling along towards the house. Clever. He held the trigger tight, following the window. It wasn't often they used trucks, for the simple reason that you couldn't carry as many men. He debated on pulling the trigger now and simply raking the whole vehicle with lead. There couldn't be that many in there.
No. He would wait. He could easily miss someone in the back, and his left shoulder was really starting to pain him. David desperately needed it tended to before infection seriously set in. He didn't lower the rifle though.
The truck continued moving. and seeing nothing, sped up as it neared the house. It slowed to a stop at the front, and the pilot heard the doors open and close. And very faintly... very very faintly, almost like a still small voice, he heard:
"David?!"
Susan. "Susan!?" He called back in reply.
"David! Where are you!" his wife called out tearfully.
"Marco!" he called.
He heard a laugh. Not his wife, nor a child, but a young man. A good hearty, well amused laugh. "Polo!" the voice belonging to the laugh replied back. A truck door closed and the truck backed up, turned around and headed his general direction. It stopped about a minute later, and the man shut the engine down. "Marco!" he called out again.
David waved his hand in futile as the truck. "Polo! I'm just ahead of you at the tree!" he directed.
"Coming." announced the younger man. He started up the vehicle again and came to him. He stopped once he reached the clearing and opened the door, stepping out. David grinned at him. The guy was tall, probably six two, and brawny. He didn't carry massive arms nor a well formed torso, but he wasn't a wimp either. What he could see of his lower arms were toned and weathered with work, rolling up into loose but able shoulders under a light brown leather jacket over worn jeans. The guy smiled back, sporting dimples and tousled brown hair. His beard was nearly non-existent, but definitely a shadow. He probably hadn't shaved in a day or two. The suddenly familiar man offered his hand out.
David lifted Abana up off the ground and handed him to... "Phillip? I think? Goddard's boy?"
Phillip took Abana in his arms and pull Jalen up to her feet too. "That's me. Jake's back with your wife and Micah's in the truck an-"
Micah spilled out of the driver seat, stumbling into the dirt. "Sup!" he called, pushing himself up out of the dust. He brushed himself off quickly with his hands and ran to his father, who was pulling himself up with his right arm gripped up in a knothole on the tree. Micah ran to his left side, pulling on his dad's arm and clutching his leg all at the same time. "Daddy! Phil taught me how to say sup! Like... what's up. But easier than what's up." He grinned. "Sup!?"
David laughed a tear past the pain in his arm as he ran his hand through his son's hair and lifted him up with his good arm. Phillip grimaced. "Mr. Falstead?"
The pilot caught the man's eye and nodded. "Yeah. It's not too bad but it needs handling pretty bad." He pushed past that and tossed his head at the house. "How's Susan?"
Phillip opened the passenger side door for the father and son. "She's not bad." he said. Jalen slid into the center of the seat and pulled Abana onto her lap as David sat down and pulled his feet into the cab. "My rifle's on the ground there." he said, indicating over near the tree.
The younger man shut the door and retrieved the firearm. He set it in the back and dropped into the cab, firing the jeep up to life. "She's scared pretty badly, and she found Habi's body just as I was leaving. You'll be lucky if she doesn't have that kid tonight, with everything she's been through. We pulled her out through the river just ahead of them."
"I'm beholden to you guys." acknowledged David. "How did you guys know?"
"We stopped by the Haye's first, and there was no one there, so we headed here. Pretty quick we noticed the activity going on, so we set up shop downriver from your home and got up there to your wife and kids. We weren't here in time to help Habi, and in all honesty, I don't think we're able to handle thirteen men quite yet." said Phillip, gassing the truck towards the house.
David nodded. "Yeah. Three is catching up to me. We can't keep fighting. We need to go home. Can we do that tonight?"
"No. Those men know you got away. They'll be watching the border like hawks."
The pilot nodded. "Alright."
"Where else can you go, Mr. Falstead?"
"You're not twelve anymore Phillip. You are more than welcome to call me David."
"Daddy? Can I call you David?" piped up Micah.
"No. I'm still Daddy to you." replied David, catching his son's eye.
"Alright. Sup Daddy?" asked Micah.
"What's up is that we're going to have to talk to Phillip about what he's already teaching my children." stated David, glancing back at the driver. "We've got people in town that I think we can hide with, but we have to go tonight while it's still dark. My wife can't be out like this any longer. She desperately needs stability."
"I understand. We'll have to hide the truck once we get into town though." Phillip pointed out.
Micah glanced at Abana, sitting in his sisters lap. He held up a hand with something in it. "Want chocolate?"
David nodded his agreement. "For sure. It's too recognizable." he said as the vehicle pulled up to the house. He pushed open the door and spilled into the arms of his wife. She wrapped her arms all around him and buried her head in his shoulders before he could set a foot on the ground.
"Sup mommy?" Micah asked.
"Yeah. Sup!" quoted Abana from the cab, cheered by the chocolate now in his hand.
David grunted in pain, wrapping his right arm around his wife and pulling her closer. She looked back at him. "Blood? Are you hurt?" Her eyes changed as the situation suddenly went from relief to what she needed to do to ensure her husband's future.
Man. He loved his wife.
"It's not bad hon. But it does need tended to. Let's get organized first, though."
"Okay." She said, nodding for him to sit where'd it be easiest for him, up against the tire. "I'll be right back."
He nodded back and settled in, unwilling to find a place to sit in the house, near Habi. He closed his eyes, letting the events of the day consume his thoughts. Today could have gone so many diferent ways. God, thank you for keeping my family safe. Please help us as we take on the new challenge of two young children who just lost their parents. Help us to know how to respond to them, Lord.
Phillip must have know that he'd need the time to think and pray, because he just left him alone for a few minutes, stepping to the other side of the vehicle to unload the kids. David cranked his neck over, popping the joints within. He stretched his good arm out, realizing he hadn't even talked to his wife about accepting the kids. He couldn't imagine her seeing it any other way. He leaned back against the tire. "Phil?"
The young man set Abana on the ground and offered Jalen his hand. "Yeah?" he replied over the hood.
"How bad is it?"
Phillip pulled the tired girl from the cab and lifted her up in his arms. Her barely-wakened head tipped over onto his shoulder and he took a step back, then pushed the door shut with his foot. "Well, it's not good." He admitted, taking the girl inside and disappearing for a moment to lay her on a bed. Phillip returned, coming over to sit by David. "Basically it's another coupe, just like any other. Anan's trying to not tick off America though, and that's nice."
"Fine job he's doing so far." said David ruefully. He jerked a thumb at the house. "Isn't her dad still in there?"
"No, Jake took him and the daughter out back and is burying them now."
David nodded. "So, how is he not trying to tick off America?"
"Well, for one, he's deporting missionaries, rather than shooting them." Phillip replied, spreading his hands out to indicate the irony. "Hayes is just being a pain in his eyes. He's deporting Americans period, really, expect for a few journalists who are sticking around as long as they take good pictures and report on the peace sweeping across the country."
"Is it?"
Phil shrugged. "Seems to be alright so far. No one really cared for the last guy and Anan's a fairly public figure with a good reputation. So far."
"So what's that mean for us?" David asked after a moment.
"A loose end, I assume." Phillip pointed at David's rifle. "It's not a good thing for their publicity if American Missionaries get shot. So they have to stop the word. The lie is just getting bigger. I think they're trying to keep the problem local, right now, rather than actually presenting it to Anan. He's got enough fish to fry right now. He probably has no idea."
"Alright, so it's nearly ten 'o clock." The pilot warned, glancing at his watch. "We've got to do something."
"You said you think we can hide?"
"Yeah. We've got friends in town."
"Is that safe?" questioned the younger man.
"No, but we're going in degrees of relativity right now. Its safer than bucking for the border if you're right about the increased patrols."
Phillip nodded. "This is true. We'll need another vehicle."
"Habi's truck is in the garage. We should get as close as we can with both, then hide yours and ride in Habi's the rest of the way. It'll attract less notice than a J10 Waggoneer."
"Ha! You're a Jeep fan?"
David shrugged. "That year range was full of good models. Hard not to be. Really wish I had one too. Where's Susan?"
"I'm right here." She said still somewhat out of breath.
As she walked in he immediately knew something was off. Something in her countenance. Something in her eye that he couldn't quite distinguish. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt so she could start bandaging him. But he could go any further. She was trying to hide it, but she couldn't from him. They were one. That happened the day they said "I do" and since then it has become an even greater truth. No. She couldn't hide it from him. Something was wrong. Not in her countenance. But in her eyes. There was fear in every glance. One that made him also fear. He tried not to let it show to the other men. She wouldn't want them knowing something was wrong if she was trying to hide it this much. He needed to talk to her. But when? They could no longer just up and leave for a walk in the woods like they had done just earlier in the day. What a long day. He thought. What a way to change so many lives. God please help us get through this. Help us become stronger in You. God, please keep us safe, and put our hearts at ease with what will come next, even though we don't know what it will be. Please help Sue. And me. And...Then it hit him. She had seen her best friend, her husband and one of their children die today. She had been chased by people she thought were after her life. She had protected her children from being killed. She should never have had to deal with any of this. He felt for her. They knew what they were getting into when they signed up for this job. But in all their time here, they had not once had to deal with the brutality of it...Until today. When so many lives were lost.
The other man kept talking. But he kept his eyes on his wife. As she sat down he noticed she winced. Of course. She did all she went through today with an extra person and an extra 45 pounds or so. Of course she was in pain. But the fear was still there. It wasn't the pain. Her eyes were glazed over. She feared something else. But what?
She kept her eyes on the bandages in her hand while putting some ointment on it. He always admired that about her. She worried about other people first. He leaned over and she kept her eyes from meeting with his. "Honey." He said as a fact. "What's wrong?" She kept her eyes on her work and pointed to Phil and Jake. "Shhhh. You need to listen to what they say. It may be our only way." She had a point. He knew that. But that could wait 5 minutes. "Sue. Tell me. What is going on? Are you okay? I know you're not. But tell me what it is." For the first time since he came into the hut, she looked straight at him. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and he felt his heart jump out of his chest.
"I haven't felt the baby move since I fell down while running." She said, each word getting caught in her throat.
"You fell?!" He asked with a louder voice than he had meant to use.
" Shh. Honey, please. Don't talk so loud. They'll hear. I don't need them worrying about me. This is about all of us." She stated very matter of fact like. "And yes, I feel twice actually. Once hitting my stomach on the ground. The other not so bad. But, Dave...They hurt so bad both time." Tears kept forming, but she never let them come. " I don't know what to do. This far into the pregnancy, and I haven't felt it move in hours. That's really bad, baby."
" We need to get you to a doctor." He replied. His head was spinning. He kept figiting with his shirt. Tying it in knots, anything to keep himself from showing too much emotion like Sue had asked.
Phil and Jake stopped making plans and was now paying attention to the conversation David and Sue were now having. Sue made a look at him that he had seen before, and he stopped talking. He looked back at the two men that were still boys, really. Phil, the older one asked with concern, " Is there something we should know about?"
He couldn't hide it. He knew that. They would be traveling with these boys for sometime yet to come. They deserved to know what they were getting into. " She's seven and a half months pregnant." He stated.
Phil and Jake both exchanged a look. "Yeah. We know. We aren't clueless as to what pregnant women look like." They both let out a chuckle.
"No. That's not it." Dave had to kind of laugh inside himself too. How could have said it like that? Of course they knew that. "We think there may be some complications with the baby. She fell while running the woods today and hit her stomach." He blurted it all out. Then as he realized it. He looked back at Sue. Her head fell to her chest.
"Complications? Like what?" Jake asked
Susan slowly lifted her head. "I haven't felt the baby move since before we were running. I fell twice while in the forest and can't feel a thing other than the pain from the actual fall."
They all kept silent. All eyes on her. Sh let her head fall again and David went to her. There were bigger problems than a half bullet wound to his arm. The bullet wasn't even in there. No. They both had bigger problems than his wound. This could be a huge factor in whether or not they would have three children in a month or so, or simply stay with their precious two.
He needed to be bandaged, yes. But that's all. Susan's could not be bandaged and be changed once a day. This could be something that could define their lives for months to come. Even years.
All of the work below is the property of James D. Haigler and Caitlin D. James and is not available for publication outside of our own means. Copyright May, 2009, by James D. Haigler and Caitlin D. James. All rights reserved.
For now,
Cait
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