Eden's Root Page 5

  “Fi?” her mother called. “Are you up here?” Fi zipped her pack and closed the compartment, quickly piling Kiara’s books back onto the shelf. “Fi?” her mother walked in just as she was holding the last book. “What are you doing in here Fi?”

  Fi whirled, “I thought I’d bring a book so that Papa could read Kiara to sleep tonight when you visit.”

  Her mother smiled and her eyes shone a bit. “What a nice idea Fi. You’re such a generous hearted girl,” she said, hugging her. They heard a honk outside.

  “That’s my ride,” Fi smiled. “I’ll see you when you get to the hospital. I have some money so I can get food there,” she called as she headed down the stairs.

  Outside there was a heavy, nearly freezing rain falling and Fi had not grabbed an umbrella. Shivering, she pulled up the light hoodie she wore under her winter jacket. She hopped into Lucy’s car and shut the door quickly. “Man, it’s pouring outside,” she said, and then leaned in to kiss Lucy’s cheek, “Hi Aunt Lucy. Thanks for the ride.”

  Lucy kissed the air and nodded. “Hi honey,” she said kindly. “As if you need the rain on top of everything else,” she rubbed Fi’s arm. Fi shrugged and looked out the window.

  “Like the saying goes. When it rains, it pours.

  Preparations

  You Have to Hunt

  ----------- Fi -----------

  Fi walked toward her father’s hospital room. Last night he had told her that there were three main things she would have to do to survive, once they left for Eden.

  “You have to hunt, you have to gather, and you have to fight,” he’d insisted. “It’s back to basics Fi.”

  She took a deep breath and walked into his room. “Hello Papa,” she said, smiling as she walked toward his bed. She was determined that he not be able to detect any distress in her face. “I’m ready to go back to basics.” This was a declaration. She bowed her head, as she believed a good soldier would do in the same situation. He sighed and patted her hand.

  “I wish I could laugh at your bravery,” he said. “Instead I must be amazed by it. Last night I cursed myself all night for frightening you so. How can I ask this of you, my little love? My little Fionualla Marie?” A tear slid down his papery cheek. “I wish I could be here to protect you all.” Fi felt tears in her own eyes and she reached out to wipe away the tear on his cheek.

  “No Papa. You were right. I’m the one.” Holding his gaze, she wanted him to know that she had understood about Maggie. He nodded wearily, tears filling his eyes for just a second, but Fi shook her head at him. This was not a time for tears. It was time to focus. “Please tell me more about what I need to do.” She knew taking this tone would help him to focus and fight back the emotions. Somehow Fi sensed that calmness and firmness would be important to her in the new world. “This is a war Papa. I understand now. I will do whatever it takes to protect the family, to protect Kiara.”

  He nodded, chagrined. “Well as I hinted at last night, you’re going to have to hunt.” She cringed. “I know,” he frowned, “I know how much you love animals and how hard it will be for you to hunt. But think about it, you fish now, right?”

  “Yes, I do Papa,” she agreed. “It’s ok. I don’t think hunting is bad if you do it to live and that is what we are talking about, right?” He nodded. “So ok then. How do I learn to hunt?”

  “Well, I will tell you what I was going to do because I didn’t want anyone else to know,” he began. “I was going to buy a hunting crossbow online and then watch online videos on how to begin using it. I realized that all the information you need to learn to do anything is online. It’s crazy. I know you’ll need to practice but here is what you do.” She leaned in toward him. “Here,” he said, gesturing. “You got the things from Kiara’s bookshelf right?” Fi held up her pack with a nod.

  “Good,” he grunted. “Then you have money. I will also give you my credit card information. My advice is to go online and spend a few hours researching hunting bows, try to find one that you think will be a good fit for you and be sure to get yourself extra arrows…they may be all you’ll get, so you’ll have to take care of them.” She nodded again.

  “You’ll want to pick something that would be powerful enough to fell a deer,” he instructed and Fi’s eyes widened. Jesus, she hadn’t really thought about hunting deer. Maybe rabbits or ducks or something, but not deer. “Think about it Fi, when you eat most game meats you can be fairly sure that you’re eating food that isn’t altered. Of course deer are better than say, boar, which may have bred with domestic pigs. Regardless, game meats going to be are about as “Heirloom” as you can get.”

  Fi smiled. “They’re Truefood,” she nodded; using the term they had created for heirloom food strains, the foods that her father had told her about.

  Her father nodded in response, “Exactly, they will help to keep you healthy. Of course the deer will be hit hard by the death of the grasses, though some will survive on other things. You may have to rely on what you can get: rabbits, squirrels, fish if you’re lucky. You have to try to eat a variety of things to make sure you’ll get enough fat. Game meats are very lean,” he warned.

  “That makes sense,” Fi agreed.

  Mike nodded and then continued. “In addition to a bow, you’ll want to bring snares and some simple freshwater fishing gear in case you get to fish. We believe that most freshwater fish have not been altered, so they are mostly Truefood too, if you can get them.”

  “Well, at least I already know a lot about fishing,” she said. “One thing already checked off the list. Do you want me to order the fishing gear online too?” she asked him. “Wait, where am I going to have all this stuff sent? I can’t have it sent to the house because Maggie will see it.”

  Her father drummed his fingertips against his chin, “Yes, you’re right. I was going to have things sent to me at work.” He sat in thought for a minute. Fi couldn’t think of anyplace she could have these things sent that she wouldn’t face questions. “I got it,” her father said. “Bob. I’m sending you to see him anyway. We’ll have them sent to Sensei Bob.”

  “Who?” Fi asked with a surprised laugh. She’d never heard of a Sensei Bob. That was a name she would have remembered. “He’s an old friend of mine from college,” her father smiled. “He is going to give you some help though he won’t know all the details. I’ll tell you more about him later, ok?” She nodded. He gestured for a pen and scribbled down a name, ‘Empire Taekwando’. “Look this up and find the address. Send the packages to Bob Park with this message,” he scribbled again. ‘Bob, Please hold these for my daughter Fi. I will send her to see you. Mike Kelly’ he wrote with a flourish. He had unusually beautiful handwriting for a man.

  “His name is ‘Sensei Bob’?” Fi cocked an eyebrow.

  Mike nodded and laughed a little, “I know, the name is funny, but it’s who he is.”

  Fi put the paper in her backpack. “Ok, so then what the heck do I do once I have all this gear?” She glanced at the door warily. Maggie would be arriving soon with Kiara.

  “Well the next step is to practice,” he said, his tone conspiratorial. “You can hike out to the woods and set up targets on trees and start there. You can watch videos online to learn. You’ll want to practice hitting the target while you are stationary and while you are moving. And if you wanted instruction, I’m sure you could make something up and get it.”

  She raised her eyebrows. He wanted her to bullshit people? Well, she thought, I guess it’s not any different than pretending nothing is wrong while I’m actually preparing for Armageddon. She shook her head. This still felt like it was all some kind of sick joke rather than her reality. It was like she had stepped through the looking glass. One look back at her father’s gaunt face snapped her back to reality. No, she was really in the middle of this nightmare…and Mike was ‘dying’ proof. Her father read her expression and shook his head.

  “All bets will be off Fi,” he insisted. “You may have to lie, cheat, and steal to sta
y alive, so don’t be squeamish about it. You may want to start practicing some of those things to make sure that you can make yourself do them without flinching. Can you steal something from someone, from a store? Can you lie to someone’s face convincingly? It’s time to explore your flair for the dramatic and put it to the test.” He tilted his head. “If it helps you, just pretend it’s all a game…like a play or a contest…don’t think about what it really is…”

  Fi considered this. It’s not like she’d never lied, but she hadn’t ever stolen anything. And she’d never told any real whoppers about something essential, like her name. Maybe pretending it was a game would help her. Maybe she could start practicing being a person on the run. Acting that way. Thinking that way.

  She nodded. “That will work,” she agreed. “I will pretend it’s a game and challenge myself. I won’t focus on anything else for now.” At that moment Fi realized that her mind was already racing ahead, eager for its new task. Though she had never considered it before, she could picture herself hunting. Crouching in silence until a deer came into view, she would bide her time and then let loose her arrow. In her mind, her movements were sure, her mind clear. She could picture herself successfully bringing Truefood to Kiara and Maggie with pride. Yes, she thought as he heart began to race, she was already thinking like a survivor now. It was almost thrilling, she thought and then her stomach turned. This isn’t a game, she reminded herself. I just have to pretend like it is.

  Just then, Maggie poked her head into the room and Kiara rushed through behind her.

  “Papa!” Kiara yelled and threw herself at Mike.

  “Oooof!” he grunted.

  “Careful Kiara,” Fi and Maggie both chided at the same time.

  “Oh, sorry papa!” Kiara gasped and pulled away.

  Mike wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight hug. “Oooooooohhhh my baby girl,” he said and stroked her beautiful hair. “Don’t ever be sorry that you hugged me!” He gave her a big smack on the cheek. She giggled and settled into the crook of his arm. Maggie pulled up a chair and Fi reached into her bag and pulled out the book she’d grabbed from Kiara’s shelf. She was careful to make sure that Maggie didn’t see the other contents.

  Maggie smiled and patted her hand. “Did you have a good visit with your Papa?” In the background, Mike played ‘Gotcher Nose’ with a giggling Kiara. Maggie’s face looked tired, but it still glowed with her spirited warmth.

  Fi nodded and pretended to search through her pack again. “Yes,” she said. “We had a wonderful visit.”

  The next morning Fi awoke ready to take on her newest assignment. Thank goodness it was a weekend, she thought as she grabbed her pack and headed downstairs. Maggie would not suspect anything if she disappeared for a few hours. Fi had already laid the groundwork by telling her that she had to spend the morning at the library in the next town as part of a school project. On her way through the kitchen, Fi grabbed an apple and waved goodbye to her mother in her art studio.

  “I’ll be back after lunch Mama,” she called as she banged out the door and headed for the bus stop. It was fortunate that she had been raised to appreciate public transportation. Many kids her age were trapped at home unless their parents drove them somewhere, but Fi used the buses with Maggie all the time. She knew her way around. On the slow ride to her real destination, Fi listened to upbeat music and rehearsed her story in her head. It was time to try out making up stories as Mike had suggested.

  When the bus reached her stop she hopped down the stairs and took a deep breath. Ten minutes later she found herself in front of the On Target hunting supply and firearms store. It was a low brick building with a single plate glass window protected by bars. Attached to the back of the building was a large warehouse.

  “Just like it said,” Fi murmured, patting her pack where the tablet was stored. She pushed open the heavy green door and a bell rung, startling her. As she entered, she gasped. This was definitely the right place. A full array of hunting bows lined the wall to her right and there were low beige metal shelves stacked with accessories and ammunition. Her heart picked up at the sight of so many bullets. But that’s good, she chided herself, maybe I can steal extra ammunition for practice. The owner was chatting with another man as he rang him up and he didn’t seem to notice her. Fi wandered over to the crossbows, searching for the one she’d found online.

  “Can I help you miss?” The old man had come out from behind the counter. She whirled and the man’s eyes widened. It was clear he was shocked to see such a young girl. Good, Fi thought, I can work with that. She pushed it by widening her eyes and tilting her head. She twirled one curl around her finger.

  “Ummm, Yes. You can help me I think,” she started, her voice pitched a little high. “You see,” she began and launched into her planned story. “My name is Marie and I have this crazy idea I guess.” The man frowned and she rushed forward, “I mean, I want to learn something about cross-bow hunting to surprise my father.” The man’s face softened and Fi stifled a smile. Yes, daddy-daughter bonding was a nice storyline. Now to add the hook, she thought.

  She pretended to laugh a little and said, “I never thought I’d be doing this. I was always the one that got mad at him and Luke.” She stared up at the man with big shiny eyes. “For ‘killing Bambi’ I mean,” she smiled and bit her lip. The man nodded, his look tender. She kept twirling her hair. “But then last year when we lost Luke…” her voice trailed off.

  In a calculated move Fi turned away, just allowing herself a peripheral glance to see the reaction her revelation had on her audience. The old man looked like he was going to cry. Got him, she thought. An older woman had emerged from the back of the shop and joined him. Her face was also pained as she stood behind the counter clucking her tongue.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’,” the man murmured. “What can we do for you?”

  “Well, the boys’ annual hunting trip passed us by this year and Papa was so sad I couldn’t take it, so I made a decision.” She shook her head. “I saved up my money to come get a cross-bow I could use. I’m not sure how I’m going to learn to use it, but I want to surprise him for his birthday in May. I want to show up with my gear and invite him to go with me in the fall.” She smiled a little half-smile to each one of them. Then suddenly she released her fingers from her hair as if she’d just noticed she was twirling it and was embarrassed. She ducked her head for good measure. She could almost hear them both say, “Awwwwwww.”

  This was actually fun, she realized, surprised. In fact, she hadn’t expected to enjoy it at all. Though she wasn’t sure when she’d stopped being nervous, she realized that she wasn’t now because she was pretty good at this. Not something to be proud of really, being a good liar, she thought for a second. But it was nice to know she could do it if she must.

  Fi had thought about it for a while as she planned this day. What makes a lie seem real? She realized that when she told little white lies herself, adding a detail that was real to the lie made it seem believable. Then again, if you gave too many details for no apparent reason, people start to grow suspicious. She realized that what you do is provide a little reality within an overall untruth. When she first lay in bed constructing her story she considered other options, but she kept coming back to the story about Luke’s death.

  As she’d thought about her goal of learning to hunt, she realized that she didn’t just want a weapon…she wanted some help learning to use it. But how could she do that at her age without arousing suspicion? How could she spend time at a class or with a group of people? Every time she thought about it, the story of a “birthday secret” for a mourning father seemed like one that no one could fail to believe.

  They would believe her, she thought, and they would help her to keep it secret. She also saw a side benefit in using this story. By including her brother’s death and his real name, she knew she would project actual pain that would give both authenticity and weight to her story. And, by making the story elaborate and forcing he
rself to sustain it over time while she learned, she knew that she would have the practice at deception that she needed. So what if it makes me a bad person that I am enjoying myself, Fi thought. The feeling would be useful to her.

  The man and his wife gestured for her to come to the front of the store and have a seat. Margie, the wife, fussed over Fi and offered her sweet tea. Fi hated sweet tea, but she took it because Margie was so kind. The man, Ross, bustled to the wall and pulled several bows down for her. They both murmured things like, “Sweet girl, honey, and darlin” a lot as they spoke with her. They seemed to think she was younger than she was, and that was fine with her.

  Ross ambled back with four bows in his hands. Two were crossbows and two were regular bows that Ross later explained were called compound bows.

  “Here is the thing darlin’,” he drawled. “Why did you pick a crossbow?”

  She shrugged and said in a small voice, “I read on the internet that they were easier to learn to use.”

  Ross nodded, “Lot’s of folks do think that. It’s pretty true really, it’s usually easier to learn the crossbow, but the compound is allowed more places.” I don’t care about that, Fi thought, trying not to register her real emotions on her face. He continued, “And it’s easier to steady and more accurate.” That’s the ticket, Fi thought, steady and accurate are what I need. She kept her face friendly and interested.

  “Besides,” he said, “Sometimes folks have a knack with these right at the start,” he held up the compound bows. “And I’ve seen a lot of excellent shots that were girls in my time.” He winked at Margie who blushed and nodded, her chin tilted a tiny bit upward. Now Fi’s eyes widened in actual surprise. Margie? This little older lady who looks like she couldn’t shoot a fly? She could see Margie shaking and realized that she was chuckling at Fi’s expression.