Reckless (Wrecked) (31 page)

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 comes 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!

“God
damn
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 points 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.”

“James isn’t complicated.  He’s a hyper goofball who can’t focus on any one thing for longer than five seconds.”

“Whatever.  He’s good practice for me.  Maybe the Peanut’s going to be hyper; you never know.  Kevin was when he was little.”

“Not Jonathan.  My parents say he’d sit in a corner of a room and play with his toys all by himself for hours not bothering anyone.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” asked Sarah, wryly.  “He must have livened up when you came along, though.”

“Nope.  When I was born, he just sat next to me and talked to me while he played.”

“And what did you do?”

“My parents said I just watched him like a hawk, like I was memorizing his every move.”

“Or you were looking at him thinking, ‘
What the hell is this kid’s problem?  Why isn’t he raising hell like every other boy out there?’
”

Candi smiled.  “Maybe.  He’s always been different than other boys.”

Sarah smiled with self-satisfaction.  “And that’s what makes him perfect for me.  I’m an original, so it’s only natural that I be with another one-of-a-kind.”

“You sure are,” said Candi.  Sarah would get no argument from her on that.

“I know you’re mocking me, but I’m ignoring you.  See, I’m more mature than you are.  That’s because I’m a mom.”

“Whatever,
mom
.  Help me with this command.”  Candi had been trying to get Xena to go on alert, but she wasn’t sure what technique she could use to simulate a bad guy coming without actually having someone play the role.

“I still think you should get Kevin to tie some blankets on his arms and let her attack him for practice,” said Sarah.

“You’re nuts.  She’ll tear him apart.  We can’t risk him actually getting hurt.”

“Whatever you say,” sighed Sarah.  “You’re the boss.”  She looked over at James.  “Fetch!”  She pointed to a broken lawn chair someone had pulled out from under the porch.

Candi laughed.  “He can’t fetch that; it’s five times his size.”

James ran over and stopped in front of the chair.  He turned to look at Sarah who merely nodded.  The dog dipped his head down and grabbed the metal leg with his teeth and started dragging it through the grass.

Candi fell into hysterics, watching him struggle with it and then go nuts over the chair getting stuck on a bump.  He yanked and pulled and twisted all over the place until he got it free, not giving up until the stupid thing was sitting at Sarah’s feet.

“Good boy, Jamesie, good boy!” Sarah squealed, rubbing his little ears and feeding him something from her pocket.

Candi’s eyes narrowed.  “What did you just give him?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Sarah innocently.  “I didn’t give him anything.”

“Yes, you did.  You are so busted; I totally saw you.”  Candi walked over and held out her hand.  “Come on … hand it over.”

Sarah sighed heavily before reaching into her pocket.  She pulled something small and red out, putting it in Candi’s palm.

“Gummy bears?  You’re giving him
gummy bears?”

“Yeah.  So?”  She shrugged.  “He likes ‘em.”

Candi laughed again, a little less enthusiastically.  “I’m not sure if I should be mad at you for cheating or worried that James is going to have some sort of diabetic attack.”

“He’s fine,” she scoffed.  “He’s been eating them for two weeks without a problem.”

“But I thought you said you needed gummy bears to settle your stomach.”  Candi put her hands on her hips, now thinking they’d all been conned.

“I did, but then they stopped working, so they were just sitting there getting stale.  And one day I dropped one, and James went nuts for it, so I figured I might as well give it a shot.”