She turned back to me and smiled, showing off the laugh lines around her soft brown eyes. “No need for the formalities, Joshua. You can call me Marion.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to call you Miss Langley or Miss Marion, and if I didn’t say ma’am, my mother would be very disappointed in me.” I imagined her coming down from Heaven just to scold me on my manners. The thought comforted me.
“Well, we are in the South. I suppose I could get used to a little Southern hospitality. Miss Marion would be fine”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
I wheeled Marion through the town square and she asked a few questions about Promised Land that I was able to answer, thanks to Juniper Jenkins’s very comprehensive tour. In the cafeteria, I helped her with her tray and drink. Lunch was grilled cheese and a choice of soups, potato or broccoli. Too bad we could only choose one because both smelled delicious. I selected the potato and Marion got the broccoli. We were a little early for the lunch crowd, and I didn’t see any of my friends, so I found a table that was big enough for them to join us later.
“Are you not from the South?” I asked Marion once she was seated. I placed myself where I’d be able to hear her over the noise of the cafeteria.
“I’m from a small town in Pennsylvania. Moved to Philadelphia when things got bad, but it was a little too crowded for my taste. I got word from my professional circles that a place called Promised Land needed a midwife, so I figured I’d strike out into new frontiers. I met Stephen, my escort, in Birmingham. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it back.”
I nodded soberly. I was curious about what had happened, but I didn’t want to be rude by asking, since it was surely traumatic for her. Just then Cipher appeared at the entrance to the cafeteria and sauntered over to us, glistening with sweat and sexy as anything, with only a few of his knives strapped to him and a tool belt slung around his slim waist where his gun holster was usually kept. My working man. I tried not to focus on the strip of skin that showed as he adjusted his belt and leaned down to kiss the top of my head.
“You look much better than the last time I saw you,” Cipher said to Marion with a friendly nod.
“All thanks to you. So, this must be Kitten?” she said, inclining her head toward me.
“The one and only,” Cipher said. “What’s good, sweetness?”
I showed him my plate of food, mostly eaten. “The potato soup was really tasty, but there’s broccoli too.” I blinked up at him, hoping he’d get the hint.
“I’ll get that one and you can try it,” he said without me even having to ask. “You guys need anything?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Marion said.
I handed Cipher my empty glass. “More lemonade please?”
“You got it.”
“I think I’m addicted to the lemonade,” I said to Marion once Cipher had left.
“It’s very good,” she agreed. “Cipher told me about you and your friends when I was facing down my own death.” At my confused expression, she added, “I was weak, starving, and had lost a lot of blood. I thought I’d been bitten by Rabids, so I asked Cipher to help me along.”
“Oh,” I said. Her story sounded familiar. That she had been asking for death made me feel a surge of sympathy for Cipher. He did what had to be done, even when it hurt him to do so. Chasing after that was guilt because I’d given him hell for going back into Rabid Country to find Marion. But to be honest, if the same situation were to present itself today, I’d probably fight with him the same. He might be willing to risk his own life, but I wasn’t.
“Cipher found me too. I was taking care of my mother, but she...” My throat tightened and Marion laid her hand on my arm.
“The virus?” she asked and I nodded. “That must have been hard.”
“It was hard. He took care of her for me. I was really mad at him. It took me a while to understand why he’d done it.”
I didn’t like to talk to our friends about my mother because whenever I did, they got quiet, as if they felt bad about what happened to her. It was true that I had blamed them once, but not anymore.
“I had to do the same for one of my daughters.” Marion lowered her eyes and cleared her throat. “Hardest thing I’ve ever done. It changed me… forever.”
Her eyes flooded with tears and she dotted them with a cloth napkin. This time, I reached for her hand. “I can’t imagine how painful that must have been.”
“I had to leave Philly. Too many reminders. I needed a fresh start.”
I nodded. “Artemis says it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from, only where you’re going.”
“Artemis sounds very wise.”
Cipher came back along with the rest of our crew, and they quickly took over the conversation, everyone wanting to share what they’d accomplished that day. Artemis didn’t join us because she had to watch over the children. They filed into the cafeteria behind her like little ducklings all in a row. She waved to us, then helped the little ones with their trays.
“I miss her already,” Teresa said and made grabby hands in Artemis’s direction. “But I like working at the store. Sister Diane says I’m allowed one candy per day.” She smiled at me. “Maybe I could ask for one for you too?”
