“Yeah, well, you’re welcome; but it’s highly possible I was just running from my own shadow. I mean, yeah, I took off on that cop when he was in the middle of busting me, so I’m sure I’m a wanted man now. But all those other cops I thought I saw? Who knows. Maybe they were so busy eating donuts they never even noticed me. I just had to be sure I wasn’t leading anyone back here, you know?” He shoved a big scoop of oat cereal into his mouth.
Sarah nodded, waving her spoon at him. “I get it. Totally. You did the right thing. I just wish you’d had a phone so you could have called us and told us what was going on.”
“One phone isn’t enough,” agreed Candi. “Next time we go into a town, we need to buy a second one. I don’t know why we didn’t before. I mean, we should all have one.”
“Too expensive,” said Jonathan, shaking his head. “Plus, there would be a big problem if any of us were ever taken into custody. They’d confiscate the phone, trace the numbers it had called before, which would be all of our numbers, and then pinpoint the location of the other phones using satellite technology. We’d be found within an hour.”
“Oh,” said Candi, sounding deflated. “That would be bad.”
“So, one phone it is,” said Kevin, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his full stomach. “And whoever gets caught with the phone has to eat the chip inside before anyone can get to it.”
Sarah laughed. “What are you talking about?”
“The little chip thing under the battery. Pull it out and eat it. It’s the only way.”
Candi frowned at him. “The only way to what? I’m not eating that plastic chip.”
“Yeah, you’ve got to. It’s the only way to keep them from tracing our steps.”
“But we haven’t called anyone from here, so we’re safe,” said Jonathan. “But, you bring up a good point. Where’s the phone?”
Sarah pointed to the kitchen. “In that drawer over there.”
Jonathan got up and went to the drawer, taking out the only thing linking them to the outside world.
Sarah watched as he pulled the back cover off, took the battery out, and removed the chip underneath. “What’d you do that for?” she asked.
“As long as the phone isn’t sending power to this chip, they can’t trace it to find us.”
“I’m lost,” said Candi, sighing loudly. “What’d I miss? Apparently I haven’t watched enough spy movies or whatever.”
Jonathan came back to the table with all the phone parts in his hand, looking at everyone as he calmly explained. “If they figure out where we went after we left the FBI’s safehouse, it will be fairly easy to trace our steps to the cell phone place. If they get there, they could find out what cell phone we bought and what the chip identifier is, and then it’s just a simple matter of putting that information into a tracking program. If the chip is live and sending a signal, they’ll be able to latch onto it and determine our location. I’m not sure how accurate the location is - maybe it’s only to a few-mile radius. But it could be within feet.”
“Great. So we have a phone, but we can’t use it,” said Candi, disgusted.
“It’s for emergencies only. And I suggest that we don’t use it from here when we do. Only from that other town.”
Sarah stood up and went into the kitchen, opening up cabinets.
“What are you doing?” asked Kevin.
“Looking for something … this,” Sarah said, grabbing the small plastic container she’d put away yesterday when she and Candi had been cleaning to get their minds off Kevin being missing. She carried it over to Jonathan and set it down on the table. “Put all the parts in here and then put it back in the drawer. That way if we ever need it, it’ll be easy to find and put together.”
Jonathan put everything in the container and sealed it up tight. He stared at it for a long time, making Sarah smile.
“What are you thinking right now, babe? That hamster in your head is out of breath.”
Jonathan looked up in confusion. “What hamster?”
“The one that runs on a treadmill in your brain, keeping it powered with hamster energy for all that analyzing you’re always doing.”
“Hamster energy. Hmmm … an interesting concept. I wonder how much energy they could generate running on a wheel in an average amount of hours a day.”
Sarah stood, picking up her empty bowl and his. “Sounds like a really fun experiment for a much different day. Or not. Speaking of which, what are we doing today?”
“Security detail,” said Jonathan firmly as he stood, the box full of telephone pieces in hand. “We have to get this place ready for intruders. I drew up all of the plans last night.”
“Where are they?” asked Kevin, moving to the sink to do the dishes. “I’d like to check ‘em out.”
“They’re in my head,” said Jonathan.
Sarah leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, taking the sugar off the table so she could put it away in the kitchen. “Of course they are.”
“Just read it to me out of your superbrain, then,” said Kevin, sudsing up the sponge. “It’ll help keep my mind off this woman’s work.”
The sound of a wet rag snapping on his arm echoed in the room, followed shortly by a very girl-sounding scream. “Aaach! Shit! … Candi! I’m gonna get you back for that, you little punk.”
“No, you’re not,” said Sarah, coming up to stand next to her little red-headed friend. “You have to go through me, first. And you deserved it for that comment.”
Kevin looked over his shoulder and shot them both a glare, but they just laughed at him.
Candi held up her hand for a high-five and Sarah happily obliged, declaring, “Kickin’ butt and takin’ names.”
“Taking names but not prisoners,” added Candi, smiling and looking like her old self - or at least, her island self, which was the very best version of Candi as far as Sarah was concerned.
“Is it safe for me to come over there?” asked Jonathan. “I’d be happy to help with the dishes, but I’m not really a big fan of the wet-towel-in-the-locker-room game.”
“You have a free pass,” said Sarah, waving him over. “You know your place in the man-woman hierarchy, so you have nothing to fear.”
Jonathan raised an eyebrow as he walked over cautiously, setting the box down on the counter. “I’m afraid to ask, but my curiosity won’t let me sleep tonight if I don’t.” He picked up a dry towel and took the rinsed dish that Kevin handed to him so he could wipe it down. “Please educate me on this concept of man-woman hierarchy. Is that from sociology class? I don’t remember it.”
“Gender equality in chores. There’s no such thing as women’s work or men’s work. But there are some things we might be more suited to than you, and in those cases, we have veto power.”
“Ha! And what areas would those be?” asked Kevin. “Dish washing and toilet cleaning?” He looked at Jonathan and winked. “See? Told ya. Woman’s work.”
SNAP!
Kevin threw his sponge down. “Dammit, Sarah! I told you …” He spun around, but stopped when he saw his sister and Candi.
“Take one more step and you’re going down,” said Candi, twirling the towel in a slow circle below her hand.
“You cracked my ass, Gumdrop?” He almost looked happy about it.
Candi smiled proudly. “You’re damn straight I did. And I’ll do it again if I have to.” She gestured to the sink. “Get back to your washing, boy. We did the cooking, you do the cleaning. Those are the rules.”
Kevin smiled devilishly. “You are so going down later when I’m done here.”
Candi smiled back, just as evilly as he had. “I look forward to seeing you try.”
Sarah leaned over and took the towel from Candi’s hand. “Give me that before you get into anymore trouble.” She pointed at Kevin. “Seriously, hurry up and finish. We have other work to do, and we need your man-muscles to do it.”
Kevin flexed a couple times, sighing with self-love. “Yep, that’s what it all c
omes down to eventually.” He went back to soaping the dishes. “You’re all about the woman-power until you need some raw man-power. Then you’re all back to the helpless chick who needs a real guy to bail her out. Where would they be without us, Jon?”
CRACK!
“Goddamn it!” Kevin yelled, spinning to face the girls. “Sarah!”
Sarah didn’t stick around to see if he’d come after her. She sprinted to her bedroom and locked the door behind her, bending over with the giggles that were attacking her as she pictured the look on his stupid face again.
***
Jonathan stood in the shed, handing out boxes. “Take these and pull out anything that’s metal and not too heavy.”
Candi was digging through the first box that Kevin had put on the ground next to her. “How heavy is too heavy?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t have the exact weight calculated. I could do that if you want me to.”
“No, please don’t,” said Kevin. “Just give us a ballpark. Heavy like this?” he asked, holding up what looked like an old car alternator. “Or is this also too heavy?” he held up an old rusty fork.
“Yes, the first item is too heavy, but the fork isn’t. It’s perfect, actually.”
“What are we going to do with all this junk?” asked Sarah, picking gingerly through the box nearest her.
“We’re going to string them up together and attach them to a rope of some sort. We’ll put the rope up at the areas leading to the house, and anytime someone steps on it or runs into it, it’ll make the items bang together and create noise.”
“Like old forks hitting each other?” asked Candi, holding up the fork and looking a little unconvinced.
“Yes. A very strange noise for the woods, so hopefully one that would alert us to the arrival of an intruder.”
Kevin held up several metal parts that were unidentifiable. “Yeah, and they can double as some kind of art stuff. You know, like those gardens where people hang crap they’ve welded together in the trees and call it genius.”
“That would be kind of handy, actually, to have it seem like art,” said Sarah, creating a small pile of usable items on the ground next to her box. “In case that lady who owns the place comes by. She might decide she doesn’t want to rent to us anymore if she thinks we’re nut cases.”
“Better she thinks we’re terrible artists,” said Candi, smiling. “Makes sense to me.”
Jonathan supervised the gathering of items and then left the girls to the boxes, working with Kevin at stringing the main lines across several areas leading to the cabin. Kevin was a great worker until he got hungry. Then he was easily distracted and tended to complain.
They were back at the shed again, pulling out more ropes and pieces of twine when Kevin started whining again. “Is it lunchtime yet? I’m starving. And don’t even think about feeding me plain noodles, either. I need some meat to fuel all these muscles that are getting a workout.”
“Hold your horses. We’re going to go make you lunch with meat in just a minute,” said Sarah. “We just need to put this last piece together.” She was tying some fishing line into several knots, to make sure her fork, spoon, and old wrench noise-maker wouldn’t fall apart.
Candi stood and took the end of the clear string, holding it up for their inspection. Several metal parts attached to it bumped into each other making a clanking sound.
“Perfect,” said Jonathan, smiling. “Just what I was looking for. Give it to Kevin. I’ll take this one, and we’ll go put up our first operational alarm.”
“And we’ll go make lunch,” said Candi, brushing off her pants before offering her hand to Sarah. “Come on, pregnant lady. Let’s go do this.”
Sarah stood with Candi’s help, her hand on her stomach. “I’m not so sure about lunch.”
For the first time today, Jonathan noticed her face was pale. “Why don’t you go lie down?” he suggested.
She nodded. “I think I will.” She left the area, not waiting for Candi.
“Is she okay?” Candi asked, looking to Jonathan for his diagnosis.
“I think so. She’s got another month of feeling like this from what I read. Maybe a little less. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Candi nodded. “Okay. I won’t worry, then. See you guys soon.”
Jonathan signaled to Kevin, and they both walked out to the first line they’d strung across the main driveway.
“So, how is this going to work, exactly?” asked Kevin, following Jonathan’s lead.
“That line we hung just there by the road is connected to another one we tied to the house. The tree branches we used will give them the support needed to keep tension on the lines. I need you to go hang that noise-maker to the rope attached near my bedroom window. Once you’ve got it on, signal me so I can test the tension. It has to be loose enough to send the vibration through the rope and create enough motion to jiggle the noise maker. It works on the concept of a basic wave, like we learned in physics class. I could use some trigonometry functions to get the ideal tension, but I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Yeah. Me neither,” said Kevin, sounding bored. “I’ll be right back.”
Jonathan waited until he heard Kevin whistle. Walking over to the rope that was strung up about six inches from the driveway’s surface, he approached it from the direction of the main road. He stepped on it, simulating the action of a car tire rolling over the top of it. He might have heard a slight tinkling sound off in the distance, but he wasn’t sure.
“That’s good!” yelled Kevin.
“Maybe,” said Jonathan, speaking softly to James who’d come to sit nearby. “I can’t really tell from here, though.” He traipsed through the woods and over to the cabin, the dog right behind him. When he got to where Kevin could hear him, he said, “You go back there and step on the rope. I need to see if I can hear it from inside.”
Kevin jogged out of sight, and Jonathan ran into the cabin so he could be in place before Kevin started his part of the experiment.
Candi watched him run in with alarm. “What’s wrong?” asked Candi from the kitchen.
“Nothing,” he said, not stopping to explain. He threw open the downstairs bedroom door and jumped onto the bed, lying on his back and simulating his sleeping posture.
Sarah sat up in bed. “Is it nap time for you too?”
“Shhhh,” said Jonathan, lifting his finger to his lips briefly before letting it drop to his side. He focused on being calm and quiet, just like he was at night with Sarah at his side. He opened one eye to peek at her, unable to stop himself.
She had her arms crossed over her chest. “What’s going on?”
“Shhhh!” He said louder this time, wishing she would be quiet so he could complete his experiment properly. He lifted his head and gave her a serious look.
Candi came into the room to stand beside Sarah. “What’s he doing in bed?”
She dropped her hands to the bed and shrugged. “You’ve got me.”
“Would you two please be quiet?!” Jonathan yelled.
A sudden muffled jangling near the window made all of them look over.
“What was that?” asked Candi.
Jonathan smiled, sitting up and scooting off the bed and going over to stand at the window. “That was our alarm system. That’s what we’ll hear if someone comes up the road in a car or motorcycle, or if they walk up it and don’t see the string, which they might not in the day but definitely wouldn’t when it’s dark.”
“Nice,” said Sarah. “Are you done then?”
“Heck no. We have to put these all over the place. We can’t assume anyone coming here with bad intentions is just going to come up the driveway. If they’re smart, they’ll come from the back or side of the house. We have to set up all approaches with warning devices.”
“Maybe we should eat lunch first,” said Candi, coming over and patting him on the shoulder.
Jonathan nodded absently, his mind generating visions of the different po
ints of entry into the perimeter of the cabin. His brain took those positions and calculated their approximate distances from the house, comparing them to the length of rope he knew they had left and the number of noise makers available. He was going to have to be very precise if he wanted to be able to cover all their bases.
Sarah got up and took him by the hand, leading him out into the main room and over to the table. She pulled out his chair and pointed. “Sit. Calculate. Analyze. We’ll bring you your food.”
Jonathan just nodded, his brain too busy with the variables to focus on putting together the words necessary to formulate a proper response.
***
For the next week, Jonathan and Kevin busied themselves with securing the area around the cabin, and Candi and Sarah worked on training the dogs. All of them practiced their archery on and off, Candi being the one with the best aim by far.
At first Candi had to guilt Sarah into participating with the dog training, but after they enjoyed their first successes with the dogs, she didn’t have to say anything anymore. Sarah was a natural at convincing the dogs what they should do, especially James. The fact that she could get that mutt to do anything but chase his own tail was some sort of miracle in itself, but she’d gone even way beyond that.
“How did you get him to do that?” asked Candi, watching James run over and pick up the item Sarah had pointed to. No matter what it was, he’d grab it and bring it back.
“It’s all about incentive. Use the right one with James, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”
“I’ve used treats and praise and everything else, and the only thing I can get him to do is sit and stay for about five seconds.”
“You have to use the force of your gaze. He’s watching you to see how serious you are. You’re not serious enough.”
“Xena thinks I’m serious.” Candi reached down and tickled the belly of the white dog at her feet. Her chest was flat again, which made it a lot easier to give her a decent rub.
“Xena’s easy. She lives to please you. James is more complicated. He has other interests besides just making humans happy.”