Darkness upon the Land
Chapter 21

It was a good thing Reuben knew how to determine time by looking at the stars because he had to rely on that method every morning. The problem was, after he’d stirred for the third time during the night, he would start getting up to look out the window to see if he should go back to sleep or go ahead and get up. He wondered if he’d ever be able to sleep soundly through the night again.

He’d slept on the couch again, but as he padded back to the bathroom to prepare for the morning he decided tonight he could move back into his room upstairs. If he threw an extra blanket or two on his bed he could leave the windows open, and perhaps the combination of the colder room and clear night noises would improve the quality of his sleep. He hated to set up night watches with Alexia again because he knew she needed her rest. He could tell he was starting to feel the accumulated effect of his restless nights, however, and he needed to be able to stay on the alert. If he could only get rid of the nightmares ....

After brushing his teeth and getting dressed, Reuben walked over to her open doorway and stepped just inside her room. Last night she decided she could sleep in her own bed as long as she left both hers and her mother’s room doors open.

“Alex, it’s morning,” he said in a low voice.

She always woke up easily, and he wondered if her nights were any better than his.

“Good morning, Rooster,” Alexia muttered as she sat up.

He hesitated. On previous mornings he’d immediately left, but this new designation tickled his imagination.

“Should I be saying cock-a-doodle-doo instead?” He asked.

She stretched her arms up and out as she glanced toward him. “No, that would be what I’d call a Rube awakening.”

He stared at her. The young woman was barely awake and already living up to her nickname. “Do you dream up this stuff during the night?”

“Actually the idea occurred to me last night, and you just gave me the opportunity to use it.”

Reuben supposed he should be flattered that he made such a good “straight man” for her. “Well, I’ll meet you in the kitchen. Say goodnight, Gracie”

Apparently not all of her neurons were firing yet, because as he walked away he heard her quizzically mutter, “Say what?”

When he got to the kitchen, he stood at the sink and gazed out the window. The first red cast of dawn was seeping into the eastern sky, which meant they were pretty much on schedule. In order to conserve what lamp oil, candles, and even batteries they had, he tried to use supplementary means of light as little as possible. With the moon waning that was going to get harder to do for a while, but at least the days were growing longer. And this morning the aurora borealis was dimmer again.

The fading celestial lights that were a reminder of what had put them into this tense situation made him contemplate everything they would be starting today. What little familiarity he had with warfare might be a disadvantage, but Reuben did know that turning disadvantages into advantages could sure make a difference in the outcome. That was just a life philosophy – part of striking the balance.

They were limited in numbers, arms, and ammunition. His slingshot could be an advantage because of its silence and his adversaries were unaware of it. And maybe, just maybe ... Liana wouldn’t like this one bit ... maybe they even had a secret weapon.

He mulled over that notion as they did the morning chores and had breakfast with Liana in her room. She seemed a little better than yesterday. Now that she had some solid food in her, her strength was already returning. With help she could sit up in bed and feed herself, but her mental acuity was the most recovered.

Her face was still swollen and bruised, and sometimes he thought he found that particularly disturbing because she had always been such a beautiful woman. At thirty-seven she still possessed many youthful qualities, but he had noticed how she would make more effort to “spiff up” on those occasions Ben would come home. In fact, she seemed to undergo a personality adjustment whenever her husband was around. Although Reuben sensed she could still be scrappy, she always seemed to cater to Ben when he was present. It was probably part of their arrangement in this so-called marriage.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” Liana asked as she sipped on the cup of green tea they had steeped for her. Her voice was still pretty weak but her endurance for speaking had improved. Reuben had moved a second chair into her room, and he and Alexia sat beside the bed.

“Even more than we have been doing,” Alexia replied. “Except I’ll get to help Rube out more now that I, well, I don’t have to keep an eye on you so much.”

He added while her mom’s brow furrowed thoughtfully, “It is Friday. If it’s all right with you I thought I’d prepare a decent Shabbat meal for tonight.”

She smiled as she looked at him. “Of course that’s all right. That’s one of the things I always liked about your visits.” Her attention shifted to Alexia. “How’s the garden?”

“It’s in good shape,” she replied. “We had some rain a couple of nights ago.”

“Are you keeping up on the maintenance? Weeds pulled up? Insects patrolled? Suckers pinched back?”

“Rube’s done a little of that, but we’ve also been busy with the purifying water and drying and cooking.”

“We’ve got to keep on top of that garden. Today I need you to go in there and give it a thorough going through, and that way the two of you can keep on top of it every day.”

Something about Liana’s request unsettled him slightly, but he had no idea why that would be so. “If we break up the duties between both of us,” he suggested, “we could get it knocked out pretty quickly.”

She barely shook her head. “No, there’s no hard labor that will need to be done. Alexia can take care of it. While she’s doing that, I’ll need you in here.”

He frowned slightly. “Got some heavy lifting you need me to do?”

She smiled. “Something like that. And how is our very pregnant Jinx doing?”

After they cleaned up in the kitchen and started some more water boiling, Alexia decided to get the garden work done. Reuben returned to Liana’s bedroom. At first she appeared to be sleeping, and he hesitated beside the bed as he debated waking her. But her eyes opened and her gaze fixed upon him.

“Where’s Alexia?” She asked.

“In the garden.”

“Take a chair. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Let me guess.” He followed her instruction. “For some reason you don’t want Alex to know about it.”

“She may have to replace out some day, but it’s too soon right now. But if I don’t make it, somebody else needs to know the truth. Somebody else may need to tell her.”

Reuben frowned. “Don’t talk like that. You’re well on your way to recovery.”

She frowned back at him, and he was actually relieved to see how she could still show some spunk. “I’m not giving up the fight, young man, but we all know a fight might wind up coming down our road. First of all, if I don’t make it, Alexia stays with you, understand?”

This conversation was becoming unsettling very quickly. “I understand.”

“And if she stays with you....” Liana paused to take a long, slow breath. “I know you’ll do what’s right. Nothing is like it was before. You’ll have to adapt. And you’ll know when the right time is you’ll have to tell her what I’m about to tell you.”

He stared at her. The cryptic quality of her remarks seemed to insinuate something that he’d prefer not to know.

“Alexia might ask what I really called you in here for.” She locked her gaze on him again. “So our story is I’m grilling you for any details that she might not know about or might not want to tell me about.”

He was really taking a disliking to this conversation. Reuben had no problem fabricating a story to someone outside his “inner circle” in order to help out someone within that circle, but he could never lie to those with whom he had established that foundation of trust. Both of them belonged to his circle.

And to make matters worse, he was contemplating something that he and Alexia might want to keep from Liana. He was setting himself up to be caught between both of them.

But he could only reply, “I understand.”

“I do regret I have to burden you with this, but once you’ve heard me out, you’ll realize how important it is.” She glanced down. “And I wouldn’t blame you if you think less of me when I’m done.”