Free Never Never by Susan Kiernan-Lewis Page B

the wagon stop.
    â€œHow’s he doing, then, Fiona?” Kevin asked as he twisted around in the driver’s seat.
    â€œHe’s good. Is it lunch we’re stopping for then?”
    â€œFor the night I imagine. It’s well past five. Had a good kip, did you?”
    â€œI guess I must have.” Had she really slept the day away? She stood up in the wagon and saw Sarah walking down the line of wagons toward her. Her face was directed downward as if she was memorizing the ground, her expression set in concentration. Within seconds, she was at the wagon and pulling herself on board.
    â€œHey, Fi. How’s he doing?”
    â€œHe’s grand, Sarah. Sleeping for now.”
    Kevin dismounted from the wagon and walked away. Already the other people in the group were setting up campfires and starting dinner. Fiona caught a glimpse of Mike on horseback down the line. He held Siobhan in one arm as he rode.
    â€œI brought more Percocet. How are you doing?” Sarah asked.
    â€œI’m grand, Sarah, so I am,” Fiona said carefully. She knew Sarah felt betrayed by her decision not to return to the convent. “And yourself?”
    â€œYou know this is all a mistake, right?”
    â€œI know you think so.”
    â€œFine. Be that way. I just hope Declan doesn’t end up paying the price.”
    â€œBecause blaming a loved one for that would be a terrible burden,” Fiona said coolly, her hands gripping the blanket as she felt the tension creep into them.
    Sarah ignored her. She gently turned Declan to check his bandage and then tucked his blanket back.
    â€œWe need to start getting something in him besides broth and tea.”
    â€œSure I do know there’s evil in the world, Sarah.”
    â€œYou more than most, I imagine.”
    â€œAnd then there’s just bad luck. Accidents happen.”
    â€œYou can make them happen less if you plan for them.”
    â€œExcept sometimes the best laid plans will still have you mopping up an unforeseen mess.”
    â€œYour point, Fi?”
    â€œWe can’t see the future.”
    â€œHave you been dipping into Declan’s pain meds?”
    Fiona felt her anger and helplessness course through her.
    â€œI’m just trying to say that sometimes the fear of a thing is worse than the actual thing.”
    â€œThat’s idiotic.” Sarah nodded at Declan. “Is the fear of Declan getting stabbed worse than the fact?”
    â€œOf course not. It’s just that I see you reacting to everything like the world will blow up in your face any minute and—”
    â€œFirst, I don’t think I’m reacting to everything like that but thanks for the globalization and, second, there’s every reason to believe that this world will self-destruct with almost no provocation and if you don’t think so, well you’re just deluded.”
    Sarah stood up and swung one leg over the side of wagon to leave.
    â€œNo, forget delusions,” she said. “With a disabled and twice-stabbed husband laying right in front of you, you’re either a fool or a liar.”
----

    S arah’s hands were still shaking by the time she arrived at the first campfire. Sophia and some of the other women were feeding sticks into the blaze while Gavin field dressed a dozen rabbits. The sight of the bloody carcasses turned Sarah’s stomach. Seeing their little paws outstretched over their heads brought her an instant memory of a puppy she once had in childhood.
    Now we eat the cute little animals we used to think of as pets.
    â€œOh, Sarah,” Sophia said, looking up from her work. “Looking for Mike?”
    Sarah swallowed down her revulsion and rubbed her hands against her jeans to make them stop shaking.
    â€œHe and the bairn are doing a final circuit before tea,” Gavin said.
    Sarah nodded her thanks and turned away before the insanity of calling a dinner of bloody trapped rabbits in the middle of a