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“I don’t need to. I know the answer. It’s hell yes. My intuition has been pretty clear for the past decade or so, but since yesterday it’s loud. I don’t mean literally. I don’t hear voices or anything like that. But the feeling is crazy strong. I knew from the moment Karen said something last night that we are going to leave.” She picked up three of the five plates, balanced them expertly and then jerked her chin at the other two. “Can you handle those and the forks?”
“Got ’em.” Mercury picked up the plates with the forks and as they retraced their steps to the main room, she asked, “Hey, where’s Jenny? I thought she was out here with you.”
“She was, but she and Tyler are going around with the housekeepers, boarding up broken windows, collecting supplies from the rooms, etcetera—basically making this place into as much of a fortress against whatever is out there as possible.”
“Sounds smart,” said Mercury.
“Definitely.”
“But we’re not staying?” Mercury asked with a sideways glance at Stella.
“Absolutely not. We won’t be here very much longer. That came to me this morning when I went out to the truck. By the by, there’s a camper shell from a wrecked Chevy in the parking lot that just might fit on the bed of our truck. We should check it out as soon as possible.”
Mercury stopped in the hallway just outside the foyer. “And you’re not scared about going out there?”
“I’m fucking terrified, but we gotta go. Don’t know when yet, but soon. Don’t know why yet, but I do know it’s the right thing for us to do.”
“Us?” Mercury said. “As in you, me, Imani, Gemma, Jenny, and Karen?”
“Us as in any one of those you just mentioned who want to leave with us. Mercury, you should be ready for some not to want to leave—and if that happens, we don’t argue. We go and let them stay.”
“You know that for sure?”
“My gut does.”
“That’s good enough for me. Let’s eat and then fill the doc in on the blood stuff,” said Mercury, and they headed for their table, where Imani and Gemma, joined by Karen, waited with steaming mugs of coffee.
They ate mostly in silence, appreciating Stella’s delicious casserole and enjoying the sound of giggles that came from the wounded, who were happily filling the space with their own harmless version of green fog.
As they finished breakfast, Dr. Hilary joined them with several sheets of the lodge’s stationery, on which she’d written recipes.
“Stella, I have to tell you again how much I appreciate your skill in the kitchen,” said the doc. She was wearing another floor-length boho skirt that billowed around her long legs. She’d pulled her hair back, but little tendrils had escaped to halo her head. “These recipes are pretty simple. I’ll have Tyler bring you some of the mason jars of bud. If you have any questions, though, please do not hesitate to come to me.”
Stella took the pages, glanced through them, and then nodded to the doctor. “This is doable. I’m pretty sure we have all of these supplies in the kitchen.”
Hilary smiled. “You should. I’m pretty sure the staff has been making edibles for years. Amanda, the young woman who was hostess for the Cascade, had a real gift for cannabis truffles. I wish she’d been in the restaurant and not out by the pool when the earthquake hit.” The doctor shook her head sadly. “I’ll miss her sweet smile.”
“Dr. Hilary,” Mercury began, “could you spare a few minutes to speak with us? In private, in the kitchen.”
“Well, I was going to change the dressing on Marge’s leg. That break is pretty nasty.”
“I’ll do that, Doc,” said Gemma. “You’re gonna want to hear what they have to say.”
“You’re certainly capable of changing Marge’s dressing,” Hilary told Gemma. Her gaze went back to Mercury. “And I’m becoming intrigued.”
“Well then, let’s go to my office,” said Stella.
Stella led the way. Hilary, Mercury, and Imani followed. Karen stayed to assist Gemma, and Jenny was still working with Tyler. They made their way to the rear part of the kitchen. Stella turned on the two floor lamps to illuminate the rear counter on which sat the potatoes Mercury’s blood had spattered the night before. The sprouts had continued to grow and were now easily showing six inches of vibrant green. Beside them were a spotless potato, a carrot missing its green top, a golden beet also minus any greenery, a big red tomato, and a pile of dried lima beans. A chef’s knife rested beside the line of vegetables. The group stopped in front of the table.
Hilary looked from the vegetables to the three women. “Now I am entirely intrigued.”
“Tell her,” Stella said to Mercury.
“Oh, okay. Well, Dr. Hilary, this is going to sound crazy, but we’ve discovered that our blood can make things grow. Some of our blood, that is. We can’t all do it. I can. And so can Stella, Imani, and Gemma—but not Jenny or Karen.”
She paused and Stella continued to explain. “Last night Mercury accidentally cut her finger. Some of her blood got on a bag of potatoes. The potatoes she bled on started to sprout—right away. She tried it again. Same thing happened. Then last night all of us tried it, which is how we know whose blood has the ability and whose doesn’t.”
Mercury lifted the finger she’d sliced into to show the doctor. “See this tiny pink line?”
