Siren Song (Deathlands) by Axler James

Author:Axler, James [Axler, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Charm had prepared the evening meal. Jak liked that. He could pull his weight, knew how to skin a rabbit and how to cook one, but he liked that she took care of him and had a meal ready when he came in from the field. The smell of herbs mixing in the pot was enough to make him smile as he walked into the shack they now shared.

Charm had not been working this day. The Melissas were rotated three days on and one day off, and this was her day off, though she cooked for him other times, too. He found her sitting on the back porch with the kitchen door open so she could hear if anything boiled over. The porch looked out over fields and the side of a mountain. It was a simple view, nothing special about it, but it looked good in the sunset.

“Missed you,” Jak said as he walked through the house, through the kitchen and out to the back door.

Charm looked up. She was wearing a light dress colored the same yellow found at the center of a dandelion. It came down to her knees, leaving the bottoms of her legs and feet uncovered. She wore no shoes, and her honey-colored hair was loose. “Missed you, too,” she said, smiling with her eyes.

Jak looked down at her, leaned in to kiss her. Expressions of closeness didn’t always come easily to him; he had spent too long on the road, too long hiding and fighting for his survival. All this was new, or new enough after what had happened with Christina.

“Eat soon?” Jak asked after they had kissed.

“Yeah, not long,” Charm told him, gazing out at the fields again. There was a low drone from the fields, and dark specks could be seen rushing in zigzags in the air as the last of the insects hurried to gather pollen before the sun disappeared.

“You okay?” Jak asked, watching the field.

Charm nodded. “Look at them go,” she said, indicating the bees. “It must be frantic, being an insect, not really knowing how much time you have left before the sun sets and you’re on your own. They always find their way home, though, don’t they?”

Jak nodded, moving to sit beside her on the stoop. Charm moved over, letting him squeeze on, his arm around her.

“We’re different from them,” Charm told him. “We’re not stunted by the sunset the way that they are. We’re not scared by the dark.”

“Not always,” Jak said. His eyes moved from the field to look at Charm’s legs, the way they stretched out in front of her. The right had been scratched by the bear but the wound had healed. She had not been to the medical faculty; she had just let it heal its own way. The cut had been deep but the skin looked unmarked now. If he hadn’t seen the wound, Jak wouldn’t know it had ever been there. What had it been? Two days? Two and a half? She was strong; he liked that.

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