Tuesday Teaser April 9, 2019: Gina’s Wolf, Part 42

The river crested yesterday at 35.03 feet, the 7th highest flood since records started being kept in 1902. It didn’t really cause much trouble, not like in 2009. But we’re not quite done with our spring woes yet. A nasty blizzard will barrel through Nebraska, South Dakota, southern North Dakota and southern Minnesota. Fargo will probably be on the edge of it. We may get 6 to 8 inches plus some wind, or we may just get a little wind and rain. It just depends on what Mother Nature decides to do. But it will definitely be different temperatures compared with what we had last weekend. I wonder if the weather they are having in the book (Omaha in late March) should be a little colder?

Speaking of the book, I have a good snip for you. I really need to go in and add a little details about the setting. What does the tent look like, where exactly are the characters, things like that. So this is pretty bare bones. I meant to do some self editing and fleshing out last night, but I came down with a nasty stomach bug and I just couldn’t do it. But I hope the main line of the story is clear. Enjoy!

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There were many latrine areas around the perimeter of the camp, but Jon and Tanner led her in the opposite direction of the cage where Cole was. She almost protested. She wanted to see Cole but making a fuss would just draw more attention to him. And the latrines in this direction were on the edge of camp. Could she get away?

No, she could not. They followed her right up to the latrine. Tanner even tried to follow her inside the cramped booth. She turned furiously on him. “There’s not room for two people in here,” she snarled. “Even if I wanted you in here, which I don’t.”

Tanner slapped her face with casual violence. She fell against the wall, holding her cheek and gaping at him in horror. “Don’t ever use that tone with me,” he warned.

There was blood in her mouth. She spat it at him. Tanner reacted with the expected fury. Jon grabbed his arm to hold him back. “Watch it,” he muttered to his brother. “Wait until we’re away from here before doing that.”

Tanner ran a sneering glance over her. “What are you waiting for? Me to offer to wipe your ass? Get in there and get it done. We need to be on the road by daybreak.”

She went in and fumbled to lock the door. She couldn’t leave with them. She could not be their wife. From outside the thin walls she heard Tanner say, “I get her first.”

“I’m older,” Jon countered in his mild voice. “And neither of us will get her first. You know dad always goes first.”

Brother Saul? Did he mean that Brother Saul would have sex with her? The thought made her stomach revolt. Or maybe it was the stench of the waste in the latrine. Gina would have stayed in there for hours, but the odor was too horrible. It was almost pitch black but she imagined the ditch under the booth was overflowing. She took as much time as she could, but after only a couple of minutes, Tanner pounded on the door.

“Hurry up. You don’t want me to come in there to get you.”

She spent a moment imagining the pleasure of pushing his head down the hole. That was only a fantasy, so she buttoned her pants and opened the door with a stoic face. She brushed past the brothers and made for the harem tent.

The ache in her cheek and lip intensified to a throb as she strode along. She was sure her face was swelling. What would her stepfather do when he saw the evidence of Tanner’s violence? Just before she got to the tent Tanner made an attempt to grab her arm. One of the guards blocked him. Gina could have hugged the private. She ducked under the door flap that the other guard held open for her and charged for the area she’d last seen the President. He was still there, sitting at the table with her mother. Brother Saul and the officers were gone.

“I’ve packed your bags,” her mother began, but her voice trailed off when she saw Gina’s face.

Satisfaction at her mother’s reaction warmed Gina. She turned to Todd. “I cannot marry them” she proclaimed, pointing to Tanner and Jon who had followed her in. She blotted blood from her lips with the back of her hand and held it out to show it to him. “See what Tanner did to me?”

“An accident,” Tanner said breezily. “It’s dark out there. I couldn’t see where she was.”

Her stepfather wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Just like squabbling children,” he sighed.

Gina clenched her fists. Was he going to overlook it? He couldn’t. Backing down now after making a point of her treatment at breakfast would make him look weak.

A man flung the door flap open and burst into the dining section.
Red-faced and sweating, he was panting as if he had run a long way.

“Sir,” he wheezed. “A classified blue message for you.”

Gina watched her stepfather take the envelope. The messenger backed away, his hands braced on his thighs as he sucked in air. Blue was the highest level of classification, but not for wartime. As Todd read, his face was dead white, then almost green. He crumpled the paper and pressed it to his chest.

“Get out,” he screamed. “Out!”

The messenger rushed for the door flap, followed by Tanner and Jon. Gina didn’t want to follow them anywhere. They would probably take the chance to bundle her off to their commune. Her mother didn’t leave, so Gina eased herself to one side of the room and watched her stepfather. He clutched the paper to his heart sand rocked back and forth in his chair.

“My son,” he moaned. “My son.”

“Gerald.” Her mother put a hand on his shoulder. “What is it?”

 He flung her off. “My son is dead! Suzanne lost the baby. I am cursed to have no children.” The dreadful grief in his voice turned to vicious anger. “None but your ungrateful, disobedient daughter.”

Gina swallowed, recognizing the budding signs one of his insane rages. She should have followed Jon and Tanner after all.

“After all I’ve done for you, how does she treat me?” His voice rose with every word. “She runs away. She lies to me. She disrespects me. She disobeys me. She embarrasses me in front of my allies. I won’t have it!”

She definitely should have left. He had never raised his hand to her, but in this mood, he was capable of anything. His lips were shiny with drool. Bad sign. That was a very bad sign.

“Where is she?” he screamed.

Her mother glanced over at her. He followed her gaze and when he saw Gina his entire face lit up with an unholy fury. Gina cringed involuntarily.

He drew himself up to his full height, which wasn’t much taller than she was, but the madness made him seem ten feet tall. “You,” he spat. “I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to drown you. Your mother refused to allow it. I am a loving husband, so I was merciful. And this is how you repay me? My son is dead!”

Gina almost blurted that she hadn’t killed the baby. She took a sidling step toward the door flap.

“You stay right there,” he screamed. “I’ll have justice for my innocent son.”

He came at her with hands extended like claws. Gina back pedaled as fast as she could.

“Gerald!” Her mother’s voice was hard and cold. “Stop.”

Gina sent her mom a quick glance and her moth sagged when she saw the pistol in her mother’s hand. Belatedly, she remembered that she had a knife. How could she have forgotten it? All the times she had practiced pulling the knife out were worthless now. She fumbled, her hands too icy and shaky to grasp it easily.

“Gerald, stop. You’d regret hurting her when you calmed down. Please.”

He barked a contemptuous laugh, latching onto Gina’s throat. “You die now, just like my son.”

A thunderous crack deafened Gina. The hands cutting off her air fell away, and her stepfather looked into her eyes with mild surprise before sliding to the ground tarp. Gina gaped at the smoke rising from the barrel of the pistol in her mother’s hands.

“Mom?” she said.

The door flap was flung open and the two guards ran in. Tanner and Jon followed them. Jon’s face turned harsh with accusation. Tanner laughed. Laughed? Gina tore her eyes from her mother’s pale face to stare at him.

“Murder,” Tanner said gleefully. “Fraticide. No, not that. What is it called when a wife murders her husband?”

“Justice,” her mother spat.

“Ma’am,” stuttered one of the guards. “Mrs. Todd, hat happened here?”

Jon pushed past the guards to her mother. “It’s obvious what happened. Arrest her.”

A horn sounded three short blasts. The guards looked at each other. “We’re under attack!”