Page 42

Claire

D espite the busy flurry of activity the past week, the real work on the homestead was just beginning. John woke me at dawn the following morning with a packed to-do list. He and Kimmy sat at the kitchen table and went over the plan as I made breakfast at the woodstove.

“Kimmy and I are working on the irrigation system today,” he said to me. “I’m hoping we’ll replace all the parts that need it in the next couple days.”

“That’ll be a relief,” I said, turning the omelet in the pan. “How can I help?”

“Honestly, not sure you can,” Kimmy replied, a note of apology in her voice as she dug into her own omelet. “There’s a lot of technical stuff that we don’t have time to teach you right now. John can show you some other time, but for now, we need to be able to work as fast as possible.”

A twinge of guilt nagged at me for my inadequacy. I should’ve been used to the experience of learning that I knew nothing useful, but it still hurt that I couldn’t help as much as I wanted to.

I looked a little forlornly at my still-sizzling omelet.

It smelled delicious; I’d seasoned it with dried herbs from Sarah’s welcome basket.

I was a decent cook and did it often, mostly because it was one of the few ways I could be of genuine assistance.

But I didn’t want that to always be my only contribution.

I needed to become worthy of this place and of John’s faith in me.

“I want to do something useful,” I said quietly, scooping an omelet onto a plate and placing it in front of John. “Even if it’s not that.”

John pulled me down for a kiss. “You’re doing just fine. Because Kimmy and I are going to be busy, I asked Jenna to come over and keep you company. She’ll show you the ropes around the farm. That sound okay?”

Jenna hadn’t spoken much at the Armstrongs’, but to be fair, there’d been a lot going on. Still, she’d seemed nice enough, and she’d voted for me to stay. It’d be a good chance to get to know one of our neighbours without the buffer of John or Kimmy. Even if the thought made me a little anxious.

But John couldn’t keep holding my hand forever, and I didn’t want him to, either. Finding my footing felt daunting…but it could also be the beginning of something new and hopeful.

“Sure,” I said brightly as I started preparing my own omelet. “Is Asha going to be joining us?”

She hadn’t come down to breakfast. Kimmy and John exchanged a look.

“She left before first light,” Kimmy said gently, but I noted the regret in her tone. “Off on her first scav mission. She’s taking it pretty seriously.”

I sighed. “Yeah. I hope she’s okay.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” John said as he carried his plate to the sink. “Seems like she can handle herself.”

After breakfast, a loud knock sounded on the door. I followed Kimmy to answer it, and she greeted Jenna with a warm smile and a hug.

“Thanks for coming to help out,” Kimmy said. “We appreciate it.”

Jenna made a face. “Anything to escape Danny’s dad jokes for the day.”

She turned her gaze to me, and her chocolate brown eyes were kind. “Hi, Claire.”

I forced a smile despite my twinge of nerves. “Good to see you again, Jenna. Thanks for teaching me today. I know you probably have lots of other things to do.”

She scoffed. “Nah. I have more free time than I like lately. Let’s get started, hmm?”

While John and Kimmy headed to the utility shed, Jenna led me to the stable, where Ghost and Bella were awake and clearly hungry. They nickered at us as we retrieved their bags of feed.

“So, you lived in a compound?” Jenna asked casually as she fed Bella. “This must be a whole new world to you.”

Like her older sister, Jenna had an open demeanour that suggested she spoke her mind. Unlike most of the Valley residents the day before, she didn’t treat me with reserve or suspicion, and I appreciated it.

“You could say that,” I replied as I filled Ghost’s food tray. “Honestly, I still feel overwhelmed sometimes by how different it is out here. But I’m glad to be here.”

Jenna nodded thoughtfully, tilting her pretty face toward Bella.

“What was it like, living there? I’ve heard stories, from time to time. That you guys have so much more Old World stuff than we do.”

I shrugged. “We had access to a lot of cultural material from the Old World, yes. Most of it was preserved digitally. We also had advanced technology that meant we didn’t have to work as hard to survive on a daily basis.”

“What do you miss the most?”

I hummed, thinking. “Besides not having to worry about food all the time? I really miss music. I know John said that some people have a small collection of Old World music in hard copy here, but at home, we had an unlimited virtual library. Millions of songs.”

“Millions?” Jenna asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief. “How did you ever listen to it all?”

I giggled. “Well, we didn’t. But we had the option. And because I was a musician, I liked having more song to learn to play. ”

Jenna broke into an unexpected grin. “I like to play music, too. I play violin at some of our community dances with Liam. What did you do?”

We launched into a happy conversation about music as we mucked out the horse stalls and let the horses out to pasture.

I learned that Jenna had been playing violin since she was seven years old, and she seemed to share my passion for music.

She played in a duo with her friend, Liam, who played piano.

I told her about my singing, how the piano was my favourite instrument, and sang a few of my favourite songs.

Unsurprisingly, she’d never heard most of them before, but she was nonetheless intrigued.

Her large, friendly eyes sparkled with interest and intelligence, and perhaps for the first time since I’d left the Cave, I felt like I’d discovered a kindred spirit.

A spark of delight ignited in my belly. I loved John and Kimmy, but they were nothing like me. I’d come to appreciate our differences, but Jenna loved so many of the same things I did—music, books, art.

“Isla always made fun of me for it,” Jenna said as we moved on to the barn, “but there are never enough books around here for me. I go through them too quickly. We only get what we can scavenge, and sometimes, they come back with nothing. I’m so jealous of how many books you guys had.”

I smiled. “I do miss it. I never realized how much of a privilege it was until I lost it.”

We repeated the feeding and cleaning process in the barn, chatting amiably about what other things I’d had access to in the Cave.

Jenna was fascinated by the idea of TV and movies, so I spent a lot of time telling her about the ones I’d seen.

I told her about modern art, and my paintings, and the artists I’d admired.

Inevitably, it led me to recounting my second teaching subject: history, and that fascinated her more.

She asked me all sorts of questions about the past, with a thirst for knowledge that rivaled my own.

It made the hours pass at a lightning pace.

For her part, Jenna was patient and kind as she showed me how to do various tasks around the farm.

On top of basic animal care, she taught me how to milk the cows, helped me gather eggs from the chickens, and instructed me on how to check the animals for signs of disease.

She told stories about life on her family farm, growing up with Danny and Isla and their grandparents.

Their parents had died when Jenna was only a year old, so they were the only family she’d known.

“And you were a teaching assistant to Dr. Irons?” I asked as we headed back toward the farmhouse.

She nodded. “I loved the job, especially working with the little kids. Dealing with Dr. Irons, though…”

“Seems like he had a reputation,” I remarked, and she chuckled.

“He wasn’t a bad guy,” she answered. “Just old-fashioned. Stuck in his ways. Liked to do things by the book. He was a better teacher when I was a kid. The years had started to catch up to him by the time he finally admitted he needed an assistant.”

“Why didn’t the council find a replacement sooner?”

Jenna sighed. “Politics, mostly. When Oisín was chairman, he tried to find someone, but nobody wanted the job. On top of that, Dr. Irons found the search for a replacement insulting somehow, like we were saying he was old and washed up.”

I didn’t point out that it sounded like he had been old and washed up, but Jenna seemed to read my thoughts, because she chuckled.

“Anyway, after Jameson took over, suddenly it wasn’t a priority anymore,” she said.

“He was always tight with Dr. Irons, and much more conservative. So, the process stalled until I got the assistant job. He planned to train me to eventually be his replacement, but—” she shrugged, “—then he had a heart attack.”

We walked to the greenhouse, where Kimmy had told me they grew medicinal herbs for the clinic, as well as a small number of crops in the winter. Of course, at the moment, it was desolate, but I could at least begin the process of restoring it to its former glory.

The greenhouse was small and mercifully warm, a welcome change from outside.

Jenna helped me haul bags of soil and fill plant pots, remarking that she was impressed with how much I already knew about planting.

That, at least, made me feel a small spark of pride.

The many hours I’d spent in the garden at our camp hadn’t been for nothing.

“What did you do, back at the compound? Did you guys have jobs?” Jenna asked as she scooped dark soil into an empty pot.

“Yes,” I said, keeping my voice casual. “I was a music and history teacher for several years before the attack happened.”

Her eyes flew open, wide as saucers, and I avoided her gaze .

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” she exclaimed. “Here I am, commiserating about how we don’t know what the hell’s next as far as school goes, and you’ve been a teacher all this time? You can literally solve all my problems.”

She said the last part with such certainty that I couldn’t suppress a giggle. Nevertheless, I said, “I’m an outsider who was barely allowed to stay. I don’t think anyone would really want me teaching their kids.”

“That’s just not true,” she replied, patting down dirt a little more aggressively than was needed. “You’re more qualified than anyone we could possibly find. And I’d help you—I know all the kids and their parents. I know what’s going on, lesson-wise. I can fill you in.”

I hesitated. “I don’t know. I don’t want to make waves.”

Jenna clucked her tongue. “That’s the only way you’ll make a difference, though. And you’re smart and resourceful and lovely; you’ll change their minds.”

“You just met me,” I said, bemused.

She fixed me with a serious stare, but her eyes twinkled. “Yes, and I’m an excellent judge of character.”

Her complete confidence made me laugh—it reminded me of Kimmy—but I was still unsure as we walked back toward the farmhouse, our duties done for the day.

“Please, Claire,” Jenna begged. “I need a mentor. Together, we could get the education here back on track. Please at least say you’ll think about it.”

I bit my lip. “Alright. I’ll give it some thought.”

“And come to music practice with me and Liam,” she said with a grin. “We meet twice a week to play together.”

The thought of playing music again made excitement rise inside me, and despite our age difference, I was eager to hang out with Jenna again. It just felt so good to have shared interests with someone again.

“I will,” I said happily. “Thanks for helping me today. It made everything much less overwhelming.”

Jenna scoffed as she followed me into the house.

“What are friends for?