“Not nearly.”  He tugged me forward.  Off balance, I braced my palms on his chest.  He wrapped an arm around me and lifted my chin with a finger before I could blink.  His lips touched mine.  Soft and sweet and full of promise, his warm mouth brushed over mine twice.  My eyes fluttered shut, and my heart went crazy.

Every time we stood too close, I secretly hoped for this.  My heart and stomach said yes while my mind hesitated.  Yet, when his lips touched mine, doubt fled.  He felt right.  We felt right.  I could understand his persistence when we kissed.

He pulled back enough to kiss my cheek.

“I will be worthy,” he said softly.  Then, he let me go and left the room.

I stood there with a hammering heart.  I wasn’t sure if it was due to the excitement of the kiss or the fear that he would be worthy, and I’d need to face an uncertain future with these people.

Eleven

Early Sunday morning, Winifred left with her empty cookie plate and a truck bed full of metal.  I leaned in the doorway, watching the taillights pass through the trees.

“What should we work on today?” Mary asked.  I caught her upward glance and followed her gaze.  A sky, dark with heavy clouds, promised a day of rain and storms.

That meant inside work.  Ann and Mary had done a good job sewing yesterday.  Ann had taken several pieces with her to her room last night to make things for the baby.  Earlier, Leif had come to take breakfast back to her.  She wasn’t feeling well.

“Sewing, I guess.”  Not my favorite pastime.  A rumble echoed across the clearing, and I retreated indoors.  Sewing beat being soaked, though.

We’d barely made it to the table when a loud boom made us both jump.  Seconds later, rain lashed at the main room’s window.  Mary and I looked at each other.  Anton had only managed to repair a few more windows on the second floor with the salvaged glass.  Casements that had once held broken shards, a partial barrier against the elements, were now completely empty thanks to our repair efforts.

Rain whipped through the air from the east, the direction of the clearing.  We ran from the room to start checking windows.  The intensity of the deluge brought a concerning amount of water through the moderate openings in more than a dozen rooms.

“We should have boarded them,” Mary said, eyeing the growing puddles on the floor.

I looked at the water and then tilted my head to look at the boards above.  Drips of water fell from the ceiling of the room in which we stood.  A little rain wouldn’t hurt the wood too much the first time, but I recalled the already sagging porch and wondered how many times rain had already soaked this wood.  How long until it turned rotten?  We couldn’t take chances like this.

Winifred had left me with thirty dollars from the items they brought to town.  That made a total of forty-three dollars in my possession.  It wasn’t enough to replace the boards in this place if they all went bad at once.

“It’s not too late to board the windows down here,” I said.  “But I don’t think we can do anything about the second floor.”

“Winifred is listening to her radio.  The storm should pass in a few hours.

The wind howled outside and further down the hallway a door banged shut.  Above the noise, I heard someone call my name.

“Here,” I called back.

Anton found us staring at the wet room.

“Come on.  I have something to show you.”

In the main room, we found several squares of wood set on the tables.  They were all just a bit bigger than the size of the windows.  A man stood near them, waiting for us.

“Hello,” I said, meeting his gaze.

He nodded.  “Before Henry and Paul left, we started to make these with a few of the broken boards from the shed.  They fit over the windows for the most part.  I have more started but ran out of nails.”

“These are perfect,” I said, lifting one to eye the construction.  It was a frame covered by boards.  The frame would fit over the casement that stuck outside.  I counted six on the table.

“Totally awesome.  Thank you,” I said, looking at the man again.  “Let’s put these on.  I have some money to go get more nails when it stops raining.”

I made it a step from the table when Thomas opened the door from outside.

“Not you,” he said with a frown.  “We’ll do it.  Once we have these on, we’ll do what we can to protect the rest of the windows.”

The man picked up a stack, Anton plucked the one from my hands, and the three left.

“What was the point of coming to get us?” I said to Mary.  She shrugged.

It took them an hour to board the exposed windows.  They used old, rusted nails and whatever else they could find that was solid enough to drive through the wood.  It took Mary and me even longer to clean up the water.  By the time we finished, the rain was letting up.

We brought the wet cloths and the pots to the kitchen.  As soon as we walked into the main room, I smelled cooking meat.  Two birds already roasted on the fire, and when I checked the oven, I found two more in low pans.  Carrots and potatoes crowded around the baking birds.  My mouth started to water as I stared at the carrots.

While Mary dumped the excess water, I pumped some more into a pot for rice.  I couldn’t wait to eat.

The door opened with a bang, and a group of four men I didn’t recognize strode in.  Rain dripped off their naked skin.  I froze; my hand, full of dried rice, posed over the water.  The gaze of the first man through the door settled on me.

“What do we have here?  I thought I smelled smoke.”

I flicked a quick glance at Mary.  She was staring at the men with wide eyes.  I hoped she was mentally screaming at Winifred or Thomas.  I did not want to use my will against these people any more.  They were beaten enough without me adding to it.

I tilted my hand, dumped the rice into the water, and fully turned toward the men.

“Welcome.  There are dry clothes in the entry.  You can help yourself to what you need.  Food will be ready soon.”

He stared at me as a slow grin spread over his features and lit his eyes.

“We were told to come here.  No one said there would be unClaimed females to tempt us away from our choice to become Elder.”

Understanding why they’d suddenly appeared helped ease some of my fear.

“We’re not here to tempt you, but we are the reason more Elders are needed.  Winifred will return Friday.  Until then, you’re welcome to take one of the rooms on the first floor and some clothes.”  I really hoped they’d get the hint and put some pants on.

The man in front didn’t lose his grin as he took a step toward me.  A hand clapped down on his shoulder, stopping his advance.

“Remember why we’re here,” the second man said.

The third stepped forward.  “We’re here because there aren’t enough females for all of us.  Yet, here are two, and one seems a definite possibility.  We haven’t committed to anything.  Why not explore the possibilities.”  As he spoke, he began to change.  Most notably, his teeth.

I wasn’t about to allow another bite.  I struck out suddenly and violently with my will.  Wait outside.  All four men stumbled back and blinked dazedly.  Then, as one, they turned and left.

Mary gave me a shaken look as I exhaled slowly.

“What did Winifred have to say about them?” I asked, hoping Mary would think Winifred had sent them out.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t think of her.  I just reached out to Thomas.  He’s on his way.”  She paused for a moment.  “Winifred is speaking to them now and to Thomas.  He’s angry none of the men he left here stopped them from entering.”

I turned away from Mary, not wanting her to see my worry or frustration.  All of Thomas’ talk about protecting, and where was he?  And Winifred?  I thought she reached out to everyone who came here to tell them not to bite me.