Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

"I'll go huntin' fer more."

"Took ya long enough ta go huntin' far these," she snapped, but he remained undaunted.

"I'm back now, Ma," Luke said. "There'll be plenty a meat on the table again."

"Um," she said skeptically. "All right, better bring in yer things, Angel," she told me.

"All she got is one suitcase," Luke said.

"One suitcase?" Annie Casteel's eyes widened with new interest. "She looks like she should have a truckload a things. Well now, ya come on inside and watch me put up a rabbit stew and tell me all about yerself."

"I'll break out the apple cider, Luke," Pa said behind us.

"Now don't ya go and get yerself and Luke all soggy and plastered with that rotgut linker, Toby Casteel," she warned. Luke's father laughed. Luke and he followed Annie and myself up the rickety steps and into the cabin. My expectations had been lowered considerably the moment I had set eyes on the cabin, but I was still not prepared for what I found inside.

The cabin consisted of two small rooms, with a tattered, faded curtain to form a kind of flimsy door for what I imagined was to be a bedroom. There was a cast-iron stove in the center of the big room. Next to it sat what looked to be an ancient kitchen cabinet outfitted with metal bins for flour, sugar, coffee, and tea.

"As ya kin see," Annie began, "we ain't got a castle, but we got a roof over our heads. We got fresh milk from our cow and fresh eggs when our chickens have a mind ta lay 'em. The hogs and pigs roam at will and snuggle down under the porch at night. You'll hear 'em snortin', along with the dogs and cats and whatever else decides ta make its bed under there," she said nodding toward the floor.

I believed she wasn't exaggerating. The cabin floor had at least a half-inch space between each crookedly laid floorboard. As I gazed around, I realized there was no bathroom.

Where did they go to the bathroom? How did they take a shower or a bath? I wondered. Luke's mother read my thoughts. She smiled at my look of curiosity.

"If ya wonderin' about the toilet, it's outside."

"Outside?"

"Don't tell me ya never hear of an outhouse, child?"

"Outhouse?" I looked back at Luke.

"Don't you worry, Angel. First thing I'm going to do is build you your own outhouse. I'll be startin' on it as soon as I get back from town tomorrow."

"What's an outhouse?" I asked softly.

Luke's mother laughed.

"Ya sure got yerself a city girl, didn't ya, Luke? An outhouse is a bathroom, Angel. Yer go out ta the little buildin' when nature calls and ya sit on a board with two holes."

I might have turned a little pale. I don't know. But Luke's mother stopped smiling and looked reproachfully at him. He dropped my suitcase and embraced me.

"I'm going to build you a real nice one, Angel. You'll see. And it won't be for all that long anyway. Why in no time, I'm going to have enough money to start a home in the valley."

"You know anything about makin' a rabbit stew?" Annie Casteel asked. I looked up and saw her lift two dead rabbits by the ears out of a small ice box. I gasped and swallowed hard. "Well, after I skin 'em, I'll show ya my ma's recipe."

"Ma makes the best rabbit you ever tasted," Luke said.

"I never ate rabbit, Luke," I said swallowing back my gasps.

"Then you're in for a treat," he replied. I nodded hopefully, took a deep breath and looked around me. Luke's mother and father were about the poorest people I had ever seen, yet when I looked at Toby Casteel, I saw a bright, happy smile on his face, and when I looked at Luke's mother, I saw pride and strength. I was confused, tired, and frightened. Life had thrown down another challenge just when I thought I was beginning a magical life of happiness. But I saw there was no time nor place for tears here. There was only work, the battle to survive. Maybe there was some good to be had. Maybe I would grow stronger, leaner, tougher, so I could face down the evil in the world we had just left.

"Someone's got ta peel those taters," Annie Casteel said and pointed at a bushel of potatoes on the floor.

"I'll do it," I volunteered, even though I had never done it before. She looked at me skeptically, which only made me more determined. "Where's the potato peeler?" I demanded. Luke's mother smiled. "We ain't got no fancy tools, Angel. Just use that pocket knife there and don't cut too deep.

"Luke, ya go an' put Angel's things behind the curtain."

"Behind the curtain? But where are you and Pa goin' to sleep?" Luke asked with a look of concern.