Page 51 of Almost There
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Tessa
Tessa handed the keys unceremoniously to Robin as she opened the passenger side door. Robin nodded and headed to the driver seat. She pushed Tessa’s pillow out of the way and her knees bumped against the dashboard as she climbed behind the wheel. The flashlight beams shone over the dirt, with moths flitting around in their glow, toward the house with the corpses still inside.
They’d stayed longer than she’d wanted to, standing guard while the woman—Julia—packed her own truck with supplies and buckled her daughters into their seats. The moon was already high in the sky. Tessa pulled Emily onto her lap and tucked Mason under her arm.
Julia honked the horn with a final goodbye as she turned south and Robin headed north. Two hundred miles on HWY 225 before they needed to make another turn.
“Mom, what really happened in there?” Mason asked as he rested against her side.
Santa Claus. Tessa sighed. “There were bad men that broke into Mrs. Julia’s house but Momma took care of it. Now get some sleep.”
“Who are you?” Robin whispered in the darkness of the truck, her eyes wide and white as they reflected the lights from the dashboard.
“I’m me?” Tessa’s eyebrow arched as she adjusted Emily’s weight and stretched her feet under the warmth of Moose’s body on the floorboard.
“No, I mean like who are you?” Robin shook her head. “Where did that come from? How did you know to play them like that?”
Tessa closed her eyes. The past was coming fast and they were driving straight to it. There were things that needed to be said, but she was too tired to think. Her family was safe. That’s all that mattered. The rhythm of the drive tugged at her aching body, lulling her to sleep, but she knew Robin wanted an explanation. She’d explain more later, but for now, “I’m just a mom.”
“Are you sure about this?” Robin shivered beside the truck in the gray darkness before the dawn where the dew clung heavy on the trees. They’d been forced to pull over for a few hours when the winding curves and towering pines cast shadow monsters in the night, tricks on the eye that looked like road blocks and made your heart skip a beat.
Moose finished his business and raced back, his tail wagging and excited for breakfast.
“It’s not time for that yet.” Tessa reached down to scratch him behind the ear. “And yes, I’m sure.” She carried the map to the headlight beams and studied the route. “Arthur and Sally must be worried sick after not hearing from us last night.” Tessa left out the part that her heart ached to know if there was any news from Landon. Robin already understood.
“But you said yourself that we’d be at your dad’s house in a few hours and it’s still pretty early in the morning to go knocking on some stranger’s door,” Robin pointed out. “Why don’t we wait until we get to Moose City and find a radio then?”
“We owe it to Arthur and Sally to at least see if their friends are okay. We wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for them.” Tessa climbed the tire to reach into the back of the truck for the containers of gas.
Robin took the cans from her when Tessa handed them over and shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m ready for another incident like yesterday.”
“If anything is wrong, we’ll keep going straight.” Tessa jumped down from the wheel and helped Robin lift the heavy gas can to pour into the tank. “Plus, it’s literally right off the road. We have to drive by it anyway. It would have been the easiest stop.”
The inclines and dips of the journey grew less pronounced, climbing higher steadily as they drove the sideroads through the national forest to avoid Boise and the surrounding towns. The early gray dawn gave the thick forests an eerie feel like a black and white photo framed in a haunted house. But as much as this trip had felt like running away from her life, seeing the wild and untamed terrain again brought a familiar comfort almost like coming home.
Almost. Tessa bit her lip. She still owed Robin an explanation for what happened yesterday, but, of course, the kids had decided to wake up now even though it was earlier than they ever got up. They sat quietly watching the forest pass.
“When I was a teenager, I got into a bit of trouble hanging out with the wrong crowds,” Tessa started, choosing her words carefully so she could speak past the listening ears.
“The cousins by marriage?” Robin asked as she glanced over her shoulder with an amused smile.
“Them.” Tessa cringed when Mason looked up to her. “But I learned it’s important to always listen to your parents and do the right thing.”
“Got it.” Robin nodded, coughing to hide the laughter in her voice. Heat rose to Tessa’s cheeks, but she was glad Robin found the small-town drama amusing even if it was embarrassing to think back on.
She changed lanes at the divided road and made note of the mileage on the odometer. It should be a mile from here. And the tank was almost full. Plus, they still had plenty of extra gas in the back. She slowed Old Blue down as they rounded the bend.
What was left of the house to the right, tucked into the valley and surrounded by tall pine trees, was a twisted charred skeleton of black walls and a collapsed roof. Smoke drifted from still smoldering embers and rolled over the grass in the early morning like fog.
“That house is all burned up.” Emily crawled to her knees and pressed her forehead against the rear window.
“Sure is.” Tessa didn’t look back; glad she hadn’t made it this far with nothing and not allowing herself any anxious thoughts. She focused on the open road instead. Being so caught up in her anxiety yesterday had almost made her miss the danger right in front of her and she couldn’t afford to make the same mistake again.
“Was that?” Robin motioned with her thumb to the side mirror as the first warm rays of sun broke through the trees and reflected off the glass.
Tessa nodded and tears filled her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. It was morning now and the kids were going to be up for the day. We’re going to be okay. “Alright guys. We have about four hours to Grandpa’s house. Who wants to pick the first song to sing?”
