It Was 2052, High Haven Read Online Free Page A

Goings

    Taylor's
telling was interrupted once again by the grinding sound of an engine
growing slowly closer. Above the noise, a
voice said, “See ya
later, Sue...couple of days maybe.” The tractor's chugging gradually faded and left
the landscape once again washed in the sounds of nature. Boots clomped across the porch of t he
green cabin, where numerous dogs now lounged. The smallest with it's
head on the paw of the new est and largest.
    “ What the hell, are you? Equine
or canine?” Kevin's hand reached for the screen door,
“Cody...Dad?” Inside, his gaze fell on the stranger
sitting at the end of the table.
    Jeff stepped forward, “Son, this
is Taylor. He's a traveler.”
    Cissy
gave her brother a smile, she knew that the two men, as well as she
and her mother remembered well being travelers. She assumed that her
father was giving Kevin a bit of clue about the man. Her
brother didn't offer a hand to the man, just nodded. She wasn't
surprised, this was a stranger. Kevin moved over and took a seat next to Bubba on a long sofa, c overed
with a clean blanket, t he
sofa had seen plenty of use over these last years. David
and Shawna 's two daughters
sat in chairs across from the couch.
    Kevin gave Bubba a hard punch on the
shoulder as he sat down. The young man said, “We're just
hearing the stranger's story.” He raised his eyebrows at his
favored one of the girls and grinned, “I think we might be
getting to the romance part.” The girl didn't return his
smile.
    The
man, Taylor, looked around
at the many faces in the room. They had listened with apparent
interest to his story so far. Cissy waited. She knew that every one
of the family had their own stories, still
like herself they were already intrigued. They wanted to hear what
had happened to him for the last twenty plus years, since his father was murdered. There was a curiosity about
life away from their sheltered community.
    Cissy's
father sat down near the man at the table, “So, after your
father was killed, the woman helped you. What
did you do then?” There was an empty chair at the opposite end
of the long table, Cissy pulled it out, tried not to stare at Taylor.

    ***

    “ There
was never a discussion about whether Lauren would stay or go.”
A low sound of amusement came from Taylor, “She was just there,
didn't leave. There were lots of things that we didn't
seem to need to talk about.
She was a few years older than me and had been on her own for a long
time. God, she was tough and smart, I learned a lot from her. Lauren
and I were partners, a good team.”
    He looked over toward Bubba and the
others sitting in the living area, “And yes, there was romance.
She was very loving but always guarded. There were never children
and I didn't question why.” Turning back to the others in the
room, his gaze lingered just a moment on Cissy's. She quickly broke
the eye contact and shifted a little in her hard backed chair. Here,
too---a guarded and tough woman.
    His weary voice filled the expectant
silence of his hosts. “We continued to camp around the edge of
the city. After about three years, we moved into the city. There did
seem to be some progress being made. We lived in a one room
apartment, two bathrooms on the floor, shared with about ten units.
We had running water, never really trusted that it was clean. I
wouldn't have taken even a sip without boiling it. Outside, there was
a big yard area, always fires going there and that's where you'd cook
if you wanted hot food. Eventually there were even areas of the city
where some electricity was provided. Too expensive for most to live
there, though.”
    Taylor felt exposed, didn't really
enjoy telling strangers his personal business. But he was tired, he
needed to stay put and get some rest. It was necessary for him to
make these people comfortable and to finish his story.
    “ I should've taken my father's
advice and kept us away from the city. I found work here and there.
A couple of old