Wildfire by Duncan Ralston

Author:Duncan Ralston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Duncan Ralston
Published: 2019-06-19T18:49:19+00:00

"WHO WANTS PANCAKES?" Bo said cheerily as she stepped into the house, belying the ever-present undercurrent of anxiety.

"Ooh! Me, please!"

The dog skittered across the floor, clamped a venison t-bone between its tiny teeth, and returned to where Caleb sat on his butt on the floor, dropping the bone at his feet. Caleb tossed it again further off, and the dog ran for it, yapping.

"He looks happy," Bo said.

"Momma, can we get a dog?"

"You know how I feel about that."

"Why? Just 'cause Daisy bit me when I was little don't mean you gotta give up on the lot of em."

"That ain't why. 'Sides, a dog's just another mouth to feed. Come winter we'll have trouble keepin just you and me fed, you know that. Now go wash up, and I'll get them pancakes on the stove."

Bo whipped up a batch of pancakes and venison sausage, and laid it out on plates. The dog sat by Caleb's feet as he tucked in, famished from going without breakfast so long. Bo ate hers with zero enthusiasm, mechanically moving the food from plate to mouth, like an assembly line robot. Chewing without tasting.

We are well and truly fucked, she thought, as if the idea had only now just occurred to her, and she looked up at Caleb as if she'd spoken the swear aloud. The boy chewed away dreamily, his brow furrowed, but seemingly in a contemplative way.

"More syrup?" Bo asked him.

He nodded enthusiastically. She poured maple syrup from the last of Roy's collection onto Caleb's rapidly shortening short stack, glad he seemed to have gotten over his stomach pains. He'd been getting them a lot recently, mostly after dinner. She'd figured it was food-related, possibly an allergy, though neither she nor Roy had been allergic to anything. She supposed it could easily have been caused by stress, since Caleb usually finished his homework before dinner.

Not as fragile as you thought, is he?

Caleb reached down and gave the dog a nibble of sausage.

"Not at the table."

They ate in silence.

"D'you think Rainey's hungry?"

"Ask me if I care."

Caleb poked at his pancakes. "We're gonna have to feed her sooner or later or she'll starve down there."

Bo dropped the fork on her plate with a loud clang. "I told her to keep quiet, you understand? I told her his life depended on it. A man is dead because of her selfishness. She don't deserve your pity. You know who does? Darius Dawson. The man whose life she didn't think twice about throwing away just so she could get her ass outta the goddamn cellar!"

Caleb's chair squeaked as he stood and ran for his bedroom. The dog followed him, barking at his slammed door.

"Everybody's throwing tantrums," she muttered to herself.

She stewed on it. Ate a few halfhearted bites of pancake. Dropped her fork again.

"Fine," she said, getting up and stomping over to the hatch. She tore it open. The door smashed down on the floorboards. "You want up?"

Rainey Layne, her face bruised beyond recognition, squinted up into the light.

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