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“Yes. Thank you. I need to do something.”
Lara pulled eggs from the refrigerator. Those she knew how to make; they did have chickens up on the mountain.
“If you pull a bowl from the cupboard, we’ll scramble them.”
She did as she was told, happy for something to do.
The door opened behind her as she cracked the first egg. She whirled around to see Aidyn. She dropped the egg in the bowl and ran to him. He scooped her up in his arms.
“Oh my God, I’ve been so worried. Are you alright? Do you need anything? What happened?”
He kissed her lips and she kissed him right back. She squeezed him tightly. He chuckled and the vibrations rumbled through her body. Spencer came in behind Aidyn and she waved, but didn’t want to let Aidyn go.
He squeezed her then set her on the ground but kept his arm around her.
Tate and Adelaide came in from the office, her mother trailing behind them, and the kitchen door opened once more and the two team members she hadn’t met yet entered.
Aidyn introduced them. “Henry and Maya, this is Elena,” he gestured to her mother, “and Elena’s mom, Grace.”
Elena’s cheeks flushed hot as Maya grinned. She was still wearing her clothes. “Thank you for loaning me something to wear.”
Maya nodded. “Happy to help.”
Henry nodded and went to the refrigerator. He pulled a bottle of water out and cracked it open.
Tate stood at the big table. “Let’s sit and talk about what happened. Then we’ll talk about next steps.”
Elena noticed that Lara had taken over cracking the eggs. “I’m sorry. Let me finish this.”
Aidyn kissed the top of her head as he passed her, and she was finally able to lower her shoulders and relax a little.
Lara handed her a funny tool. “Now you use this. It’s a whisk. Add a bit of milk to the eggs and whisk them all together.” She looked at the whisk and grinned. “I saw a picture of one of these in a book.” She put it in the bowl and stirred it.
Lara chuckled. “Put movement into it. Like this.” She spun her hand quickly and Elena mimicked her movement.
The eggs broke up and the milk stirred in. It was fun, much more efficient than a fork or spoon, and she burned off some energy too.
Lara then showed her how to work the stove for the scrambled eggs and she managed rather well. She wasn’t ready to do it on her own just yet, but she was learning.
She carried two big bowls of eggs to the table, Lara brought fresh biscuits and bacon. And they all filled their coffees or waters or orange juice. She’d never had orange juice before. Her mom, either. They grinned at each other as they ate their first piece of bacon. Their diet usually consisted of venison or squirrel, eggs, biscuits, and potatoes or carrots. Tea and water were the only liquids they had, besides the elixir, which she didn’t drink because of the risk of addiction.
When they were mostly finished, Tate asked, “Aidyn and Spencer, tell us what happened out there.”
She watched Aidyn’s face as he retold the activities of the night. When he mentioned that Ramsay and Brenner had been shot, she felt bad. Her mom was the only one who voiced the truth. “They were being trained to hate and be hateful. It’s too bad their parents didn’t have more influence on them. They hung on to Craig and his negative talk.”
Her mom’s eyes darted to hers and she nodded slightly.
Aidyn said, “Hopefully they’ll be alright and change their behavior.”
Her mom responded. “They’ll die. Depending on where they were shot. There’s no doctor up there and Craig won’t allow them to come down for help. Elenor does the best she can and she’s better than most. But she can’t do much more than remove the bullets and stitch them up. Sometimes the elixir will help a bit but it’s not good for repairing tissue. It helps with heart ailments and breathing issues.”
Elena listened to her mom’s matter-of-fact description and remembered all the times her mom warned her of their limitations and the problems facing them up there on the mountain. Though she was born on the mountain, her mother had told her what they left behind a lot. When her mom married her dad, it was a love match and that kept her mom up on the mountain, but late at night in their cabin, her parents often discussed the pitfalls they faced up there.
Aidyn reached over and covered her hands with his. She turned to look into his eyes. “Do you think Kent was earnest?”
Aidyn’s eyes stared into hers. She felt comforted by his calm. “I do. He wants change.”
“Does he think Gerard will overthrow Craig?”
