Page 62 of Thunder Pass

How could she say “yes” without talking to Martha? Martha was already housing her, Sarah, and four woofers. The woofers might have left by now, but the dorm where they all lived wasn’t suitable for winter.

“We’ll figure something out,” said Gunnar. She met his gaze, and saw that he was talking more to her than to the kids. The lump of worry in her heart eased. For months, ever since she’d been put in charge of the kids, the responsibility of their well-being had weighed on her. But with that one word, “we,” Gunnar had offered to share it, at least a little bit. “Are you guys hungry?” he asked the kids.

A clamor of “yes, sirs” followed.

“I’m going to put some chili on the hot plate and you’re all welcome to it, so long as you don’t call me ‘sir,’” he told them. “It’s Gunnar. You got it?”

“Do you like guns?” Noah asked as Gunnar headed for his workbench to plug in his hot plate. “Is that why your name is Gunnar?”

“My name is Gunnar because my parents named me that. Guns are alright, but you know what’s even better?”

“What?” The kids trailed after him as if he were the pied piper of chili.

“This.” He brandished a can opener in the air with a flourish, and used it to open an enormous can of Hormel Chili. “And this.” He picked up a torque wrench and gazed at it admiringly. “This’ll get my rig going, and this’ll fill my belly.”

Ruth hadn’t known that Gunnar was such a natural with kids, but maybe she should have—he got along with everyone, why not children?

“Ruth,” Nick said softly. She turned to face him. “Do you mind if I ask the kids a few questions? Someone was in Gunnar’s office, and they might have seen who it was. You might have a few questions for them too.”

“You mean, like, what on earth is going on at the compound?” she dryly. “Yes, I do. But I’d rather it come out when they feel safe again. I know how things are out there. Saying the wrong thing can get you into trouble. You learn to keep your mouth shut.” She thought about it for a moment, then added, “But you can ask them if they saw anyone in here. Their memories are fresh right now. Come on.”

She led Nick over to the workbench, where the aroma of spicy chili was already rising from the pot on the hot plate. Clearly, this was something Gunnar did a lot to feed himself. At the compound, canned goods were rarely used in everyday cooking, as they were considered more of an emergency food, something to be stashed away in the event of a storm or an apocalyptic event.

Sometimes she’d wondered if Luke and Naomi were hoping for such an event, and she’d been right—except they’d planned it themselves. Was Luke now planning another one?

She clapped her hands to get the children’s attention. “Listen up, kids. This is Mr. Nick Perini and he has a question for you. Please think carefully and answer truthfully.”

When all the kids had nodded, she let Nick take over. “While you were hiding in the shop, did anyone else come inside?”

Immediately, Noah nodded. “That old man came and got a hammer.”

“Who do you mean?” Ruth caught the quirk in Nick’s smile; “that old man” could refer to a lot of people in Firelight Ridge.

“Pinky,” Lilith piped up. “His name is Pinky. I remember because I named one of our chickens Pinky. She has a pink splotch on her neck.”

“Did Pinky do anything besides take the hammer? Did he go into the office, over there?” Nick gestured toward the office door.

“No, he just got the hammer. And then he stopped and talked to someone who was just coming inside.” Noah screwed up his face, trying to remember. “I scrunched down so they wouldn’t see me.”

“Does that mean you didn’t see the other man either?”

“I didn’t see his face.”

“Did anyone else see his face?” Nick asked the other children, who all shook their heads.

“No, I was covering up my face so my breathing didn’t make too much noise.”

“That was very smart,” Ruth told Lilith.

“That’s what I do at home, too.” She snapped her mouth shut, looking guilty.

Hmm, so Lilith was a little eavesdropper. That could be a good thing, but Ruth didn’t want to put her on the spot in front of everyone.

“But we heard them arguing!” Lilith added.

“What were they arguing about?” Even though Nick’s tone was even, Ruth could tell his interest had just shot up.

“The one who wasn’t Pinky said the other one better not tell anyone, or he’d be in big trouble.”

---