“It doesn’t look very safe,” Mary said.

“Yeah.”  And I didn’t see how I’d be able to use it.  Where would the water drain?  Emptying it the same way I would fill it didn’t sound like much fun.

“Maybe we could use some of the boards they pulled off the shed,” Mary said.  “If we laid them cross ways on top of the other boards, I mean.”

“Maybe.”  I glanced at the door.  I worried that going out to get the boards would draw attention and prompt offers of help.  Unable to stand the thought of someone else being beaten for helping me, I stayed where I was.

“Want me to get them?” she asked.

I nodded.

While she did that, I moved the table between the sink and the fireplace.  I’d just started to place the chairs around it when Mary walked past followed by two men.  They carried boards over their shoulders, and both men nodded at me.  I gave a small smile and a nod in return then ignored them.  While they were in the tub room, someone tapped on the outer door she’d left open.  Reluctantly, I went to answer it.  This man looked older than the others.  Grey hair covered his chest and vines held up his loose pants.

“Hi,” I said simply.

“Hello.”  His deep, rumbling voice sounded amused.  “Mary said you needed food again.”

I nodded hesitantly.  We hadn’t eaten yet, but I hadn’t planned to ask anyone for anything.  There was still another can of beans I could open and share with Mary.  I preferred beans over asking someone to hunt for us and risking showing favoritism.

The man at the door pulled out a skewered rabbit from behind his back.  “I hope you’re not as picky about eating rabbit,” he said with a slight grin.

I tilted my head and really looked at the man.  I saw some familiar features and smiled wider.

“You’re Mary’s dad, then?”

“I am.  You can call me Henry.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Henry,” I said, moving aside for him.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” he said.  “Want me to put this on the fire for you?”

“That would be great.  Thank you.”

He moved into the room and squatted by the fire while I closed the door.

“Mary’s glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad she’s here, too.”

He stood and turned toward me.  “They mean well,” he said with a deep sigh.  “I remember how it was when I saw Mary’s mother that first time.”  He shook his head, and a fond smile tugged at his mouth.  “That beautiful, angry woman...she fought me, you know.  When I tried to Claim her.  She had big plans.  She’d watched some people building a house and decided she wanted to live like them.”  He looked around the room.  “This was our compromise.  She loved this place, but we never lived here.”

Mary walked out of the tub room and smiled at her dad.  The two men followed her.  Henry nodded at both and watched as they left.  Neither closed the door.

“You two stay inside for the rest of the day.  They’re getting restless waiting for Winifred.”

Mary nodded, and I glanced at the door.  Many of them unabashedly looked in as they walked past.

When Henry left, he closed the door behind him.

“Let’s bring this up to our room,” Mary said, patting the dresser with the missing drawers.

*    *    *    *

Friday it rained and tempers flared.  Mary and I ate a quiet breakfast of rabbit and beans—I was growing to hate beans—while listening to faint snarls and muted growls.  We’d moved all the items from the day before to their proper places, soaked the dishes in boiling hot water, and cleaned out the tub.  The small additions made the place feel less run down and vacant.

We’d worked so much the day before that we had nothing with which to occupy ourselves.  So Mary started the long process of heating water for a bath.  We watched the floor carefully as we poured in each pot, but the extra boards held steady as the depth of the water increased.  When there was enough water, I took a quick bath.  Sitting there undressed with no lock on the door made me nervous.  However, stepping away clean made it worthwhile.  Emptying the tub by hand wasn’t very fun; but with Mary’s help, it went fast.  We then worked to fill it for her.  When she finished her bath, we sat together and dried our hair by the fire.

Twice someone knocked on the door, but we didn’t answer it.  After the second time, I noticed the men were starting to watch us through the window.  I nudged Mary.  We glanced at each other, stood, and went upstairs to our room.  The fighting outside grew worse afterwards.  It was a long day and a longer evening.

I restlessly lay on my bed, wondering if they would decide to ignore Winifred’s command and come inside to bite me again.  Mary’s father had no chance of holding them all back if they decided to come for me.  And I worried he’d just get hurt like Anton.

The scabs were beginning to itch on the very outside, and I knew I was starting to heal.  It didn’t mean I was ready for another bite, though.

Mary seemed to sense my anxious mood.

“Want me to sleep on the bed with you?” she asked.

I nodded and closed my eyes as she lay behind me.  I pretended the world and I were normal and that nothing could hurt me.  I knew better, though.

Five

“Good morning,” Winifred said as she opened the bedroom door.

Late morning sunlight glared through the window, blinding me, and I squinted at her.  She gave me a wry smile.

“They kept you up late?”

I nodded.  The motion nudged Mary, who lost her precarious perch on the edge of the bed.  She fell to the floor with a thump and a grunt.

“Sorry, Mary,” I mumbled as I sat up.

“It’s all right,” she said.  She didn’t bother moving, just closed her eyes again.

I grinned down at her.  Her brown hair fanned around her head in a tangled web and partially hid her face.  She hadn’t slept much either as we’d lain in the dark, listening.

“How is your neck?” Winifred asked, pulling my attention from Mary.  “May I look?”

She swept my hair aside after I nodded.  The skin on my arms prickled at her light, cool touch.  She studied the area for a moment then sighed.

“It doesn’t look much different,” she murmured.  “Which, I guess, is to be expected for your kind.”  She moved my hair back in place.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up at her.

“You’re a slow healer compared to us.  Don’t worry, though.  There’s still the other side of your neck.”

“What?”

“I’m teasing,” she said with a laugh as she sat on the end of the bed.  She reassuringly patted the blanket over my leg when I continued to stare at her.  Her comment wasn’t very funny.

“I’m not ready to permit anyone within five feet of you.  But I would like you to come out and speak with a few of them.”  I opened my mouth to decline.  However, she kept talking.  “I also brought a few things for you, which I think you’ll like.  Coke, chocolate chip cookies, squeeze cheese and crackers, and bread and jam.”

I knew it was a bribe but didn’t care; I was out of bed before she finished.  My mouth watered for all of it.

“Mary, wake up.  You’re going to want to eat,” I said as I moved toward the door.  She grumbled but stood and followed.

“I saw you made your own bathroom,” Winifred said as we descended the stairs.

“Not a very good one.  It’s not easy to empty the last three inches from the tub,” I said.  I didn’t even mention the bucket, which we’d relocated.

“Don’t worry.  It will get better,” she said.

*    *    *    *

I savored the last bite of my chocolate chip cookie.  It reminded me of home.  Although I missed my family, I still believed in my choice to leave them despite the new, crazy world I’d discovered.

Winifred waited until I’d stuffed myself before she asked if I was ready.  The food had mellowed me, and I sat back to study Winifred.