Sarah’s curt retort was cut off by Kimmy interceding.
“What John is trying to say,” Kimmy said with a pointed look at him, “is that we’ve been away a long time, and we’ve made some attachments we can’t break. But this is our home, and we belong here. And thankfully, we brought back something that may sweeten the pot a little for the council.”
Sarah raised an expectant eyebrow. “I assume you got some PNCs, then?”
“Better thansome,” John replied. “Enough to last several lifetimes. Enough that the Linds might be able to finally make our own and end our dependency on scavenging.”
“Really?” Sarah said in wonder. “That’s…wow. I don’t know what…”
There was a quiver of emotion in her voice, and she paused briefly to regain her composure.
“If that’s true, you’ve saved us.”
There was a quiver of emotion in her last words, and John gave a small smile.
“I know,” he said, his tone gentler. “I told you before we left that we would find them, or we wouldn’t come back at all. You think I could show my face here if I returned empty-handed? I meant it.”
A tear cascaded down Sarah’s cheek, and she wiped it away clumsily with her hand. John gave a small smile, and Kimmy went to give her another hug. Jake stopped the truck-elephant rematch and looked at his mother with alarm.
“Why is Mommy crying?”
“Mommy’s just happy, baby,” Sarah said over Kimmy’s shoulder. “It’s all okay.”
Sarah pulled him against her and tickled him until he started giggling and settled in beside her to snuggle.
“My goodness,” Sarah said after a moment, a brilliant smile lighting her features. “I can’t believe it. I thought you were dead, but now you tell me you’ve saved the whole Valley all on your own. It’s…a lot.”
“Not all on our own,” John said, and he squeezed my hand and gave me a tender look. “We couldn’t have done it without Claire.”
Embarrassed, I murmured, “I helped a little.”
“Too modest for your own good,” Kimmy said with a smile. “But it’s why she’s already earned her place here. She helped save a whole community of people she never met.”
Sarah’s gaze fell on me, and I did my best not to look away.
“In that case, where are my manners?” she said softly. “I’m sorry, Claire. We’re wary of strangers in these parts. It’s what’s kept us safe. But if you really helped save our home, then Kimmy’s right—you deserve to be here.”
I flushed with pleasure. “Thank you.”
Sarah gave me a once-over and groaned as she got to her feet.
“You all look like you could do with some fattening up,” she said, suddenly businesslike. “Traveling in the winter can’t have been a picnic. Let’s get you fed.”
She led us into the bright, airy farmhouse kitchen. Sage green walls, grey stone floors, and a gleaming steel refrigerator and stove greeted us. A large island with four stools took up much of the space, along with a giant wood table. Oak cabinetry lined the walls, and a large stockpot simmered on an old-fashioned wood stove, giving off a heavenly aroma. Every surface was shiny and polished. It was the cleanest place I’d been in a very long time.
I sat at the kitchen island, sandwiched between John and Kimmy, as Sarah added more stock to the pot and stirred. My empty stomach growled, and saliva pooled in my mouth. I hadn’t eaten more than a few bites of food in days, and I felt positively weak with hunger. John covered my hand with his on the countertop, tracing slow, reassuring circles with his thumb.
The three of them chatted amiably back and forth, filling in the gaps since they last saw each other. The harvest had been good this year; some of the elders had retired; Danny had taken on the Lead Outrider position; a couple called Isla and Noah had had a baby boy recently.
Asha watched Sarah warily, as though waiting for retaliation of some kind, but Sarah paid her no mind, busying herself with food preparation.
“It’s been nothing but doom and gloom around here lately,” Sarah said with a sigh. “The last of the PNCs got installed in October, and we’d already begun to ration electricity use.”
“Did Jameson and his people ever change their minds?” Kimmy asked.
Sarah shrugged. “Sure did, but by that time, it was too late, and you’d already been gone some time. He sent others out to look nearly every day, but they came back with nothing, and nobody wanted to venture farther out. Nobody’s as crazy as you and John.”
“Brave,” I cut in, still staring at the stockpot on the stove. “I think that’s the word you’re looking for.”
