I watched Isabelle walk out the door.
“Thank you for this, Charlene,” I said when Isabelle reached the hall.
“I’ll speak to the funeral director,” Charlene said gently. “Go. We’ll follow in a bit.”
When I reached the parking lot, Isabelle was by the car. Her stare across the street worried me until I noticed her vacant expression. The past did that to a person. Drew them in and made them forget the present.
I opened the door and lightly touched her back. She got in without a word.
The rest joined us several minutes later, and we drove back to the farm house. Isabelle kept her face turned toward the window, but she couldn’t hide her pain from me. The scent of it clung to her.
We’re going to the house with you. We’re hoping she’ll be ready to talk, Winifred sent me.
Given her current state, I doubted she would be.
Isabelle didn’t comment when we followed Winifred’s SUV into the yard. I parked, and she opened her door. Instead of going to the house, she started walking toward the fields in back.
Where are you going? Winifred asked.
I don’t know. She hasn’t spoken yet. I won’t let her go too far.
She walked until she reached the center of the first field, still within easy distance of the house. There, she stood and looked out over the land, grief etched into her bruised and scabbed features.
I moved to stand next to her.
“Do you need to spar?” I asked softly.
“No,” she said too quickly. “Just avoiding the pity party in the house.”
Her words were meant to be playful, but her tone held no humor.
“Tell me what you need,” I said, desperate to try to help her.
She closed her eyes, but the gesture didn’t diminish her torment.
“I’m tired.” Her pulse skipped at the lie.
She isn’t ready to talk, I sent Winifred. I think Bethi’s right and am afraid of the consequences if you push her.
“We can go back. Everyone else will leave,” I said before Winifred responded.
“Where are they staying?” Isabelle asked with no curiosity.
“A neighbor’s place not far from here. Except for Grey. He’s been sleeping in the car.”
We’d like to try, Winifred said.
No. Not now. Not today. She just said goodbye to the only family she had. You’re risking more than just her safety if you upset her.
We started walking back toward the house.
“How long are we staying here?” Isabelle asked.
“As long as you need.”
“I want to go back to bed.”
This time there was no lie. She wasn’t tired. She wanted to hide.
“Isabelle—”
“Don’t.”
I studied her as we walked and knew I was right. She couldn’t be pushed. Not yet.
If you insist on talking to her, do it alone. Don’t risk the rest. Send them away.
Before we were halfway to the house, the group left the house and all but one vehicle pulled from the driveway. Grey remained with the final car.
“Why doesn’t he just go with them?” she asked as Grey got into the backseat.
“He’s here just in case.”
Isabelle didn’t say anything else as we closed the distance to the house. Grey nodded at me from his reclined position in the back seat and closed his eyes. Inside, Isabelle went straight to her room and closed herself in.
I stood in the kitchen, hesitating. I wanted to go to her and try to comfort her. But she wasn’t ready to let go of the pain yet. So I went to the refrigerator to see what I could make for lunch and dinner.
She was sleeping when I brought a sandwich to her for lunch. When she still slept at dinner, I decided to wake her. She needed to eat.
I placed my free hand on her arm and gently shook her. Her eyes opened, and she stared up at me. The redness didn’t seem to be getting any better.
“I’m not hungry,” she said, before I could speak.
I glanced at the burger I’d made her.
“If you’re not hungry for this, I can take you—”
“No. I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to be alone.”
“You need to eat.”
“Go away.” She rolled away from me.
I studied her back. She wanted to push me away. She was hurt. I understood that. And, I wanted to give her what she asked for. But I couldn’t leave her. Not now. Not ever.
“I can’t,” I said softly.
I lightly touched her hair then left her.
You hungry? I sent Grey.
Starving. There might be a few holes in the back of the headrests.
Come in. We’re having burgers.
He was at the door a moment later and looked around the kitchen, puzzled.
“Where is Isabelle?”
“In her room. She wouldn’t eat. Lunch or dinner.” I set the plate I’d made for her on the table, then grabbed the other two. Like I had at lunch, I’d prepared a plate for Grey.
“Grief is an odd thing,” Grey said, picking up his burger. “When she’s ready to open herself up, she will.”
I knew he was talking from past experience. My childhood hadn’t been easy, but he’d made it bearable.
We ate in silence and when he finished he went back outside, leaving me with Isabelle and my book. I did the dishes then sat in the living room to read. Close to midnight, Grey interrupted my thoughts.
Gabby says two Urbat are approaching. I’m circling the house.
I stood and went to Isabelle.
I’m in her room.
Weak moonlight filtered in through the sheer curtained window, making it easy to see. Isabelle lay on the bed, her red hair a stark blot on the white pillow.
Outside, a yip and a yowl indicated Grey had found the pair.
All clear, he sent me a minute later. Gabby says no others are close.
Instead of leaving the room, I studied Isabelle. Her cheeks were wet. Even in her sleep, she mourned for him. I understood her pain and hated that she was suffering it.
I moved to the chair near the bed and listened to her breathe. She cried on and off, small whimpers of noise that broke my heart. When it got bad, I’d talk to her and tell her she wasn’t alone.
After an hour, her breathing changed, and she lifted her head.
“What are you doing?” She sounded angry and ready to fight.
“Listening.”
“To what?” Her words came out less harsh.
“To you crying in your sleep. For him. I can’t take your pain away. I can’t make this better. But I can share it.”
She laid her head back down. Light reflected off her open eyes as she stared at me. She didn’t talk, and I didn’t push. Eventually her eyes closed again, and she went back to sleep.
****
I stood at the stove and listened to the water turn off. I dreaded what was to come. After last night, Winifred wouldn’t take no for an answer. We were leaving after breakfast. Someone just needed to tell Isabelle. And that someone—Bethi—was on her way over. The sound of the running shower had surprised me and made me hopeful that Isabelle would be willing to leave after I served her breakfast.
Before I could plate anything, though, she appeared in the kitchen. I turned off the burner and took the toast from the toaster.
“Sit,” I said.
“No, thanks.”
I glanced at her. Her eyes looked a little better. Less red, more yellow. But, they still held so much sorrow.
Outside, gravel crunched as a car pulled in.
“Bethi’s coming,” I said. “She knows you’re not eating.”
A moment later, Bethi stepped through the door. She stopped and studied Isabelle.
“Good morning,” Bethi said, warily as gravel crunched again.
“Morning.”
“Carlos says you’re not eating.”
“Carlos has a big mouth.” Isabelle said it without rancor and sat at the table.
Relieved, I plated the food and set some before each woman. While they ate, I started cleaning up and returning the place to the way it had been when we’d arrived.
“Why are you here?” Isabelle asked as soon as Bethi had cleared her plate. Isabelle pushed her plate aside. She’d barely touched the food, but I didn’t comment. Instead, I took both plates to the sink and listened to their conversation.
“We need to leave today. Two Urbat came last night. Grey took care of them. We think it was just a test to see if you were still out of action. More are gathering to the east.”
I scraped Isabelle’s food into the garbage.
“I agree,” Isabelle said after a moment. “We can’t face them like that a second time.”
She pushed her chair away from the table and stood. I stopped her before she took more than a step toward the bedroom.
“I’ll clean up everything in here. Go outside and get some fresh air,” I said. I didn’t want her holing up again.
Bethi followed her out the door. I hurried to gather and repack our things and tidy the house. By the time I was walking out the door with our bags, the other cars were pulling in. Isabelle and Bethi watched them from near the house.
Vehicle doors opened as I stowed our bags in the trunk. Everyone getting out couldn’t be a good thing. Before I could caution Grey to back off, Isabelle spoke.
“We can run some more, but it won’t stop the bad guys from trying again. Not if what Bethi says is true. They need us,” she said, looking at Gabby, Michelle, and Charlene. “But we can’t fight like that again. You three need to be more than helpless.”
Clay and Emmitt growled at her. Grey slowly shook his head at me as I stepped toward her.
“Shut it,” she said, looking at the pair. “You want them to die?”
“What do you have in mind?” Charlene asked.
“When we were fighting, we couldn’t see overall movement.” She walked up to the three. “Stand back to back.” Michelle glanced at Charlene, but all three moved to do as Isabelle said.
“Back to back, you can have a 360 range of vision if you work together. Gabby has the ability to see long range, but when we’re fighting, it’s the short range that will keep us alive. The three of you have to be our center and our eyes. You watch and shout out what you see.”
“Like what?” Charlene asked. “There was so much motion, nothing made sense.”
“We’ll work on that,” Isabelle said. “And, we can’t have two layers of protection.” She glanced at Winifred. “Not against the numbers we faced. The rest of us need to form a single ring around them.”
No one looked convinced.
“Trust me. Fan out around them. Grey, Jim, Carlos, Thomas, Winifred, Clay, Sam, and Emmitt.”
We moved around the women, Bethi and Isabelle joining the outer circle. I made sure I stood beside Isabelle. Jim stood on her other side, where Ethan would have once stood.
“This is how we’ll practice,” she said. “This is how we’ll learn to fight together. And this is how we’ll keep anyone else from dying.” A sudden swell of pain closed her scent. “Gabby, your job is to find us two quiet places each day where we can stop for thirty minutes to practice.”
Isabelle stepped away from the circle and headed toward the car. I wasn’t the only one who watched her with concern. Charlene patted my arm and moved to her car.
“Let’s go,” Isabelle called.