Free Out of Exodia by Debra Chapoton Page A

look
on his face and knew.
    He climbed the stairs two at a time,
dropped the rod, and pressed himself against the eastern windows.
The sun stabbed gold and red daggers in his eyes, but he shielded
them with his right hand and steadied his body against the console
with his left. It took a moment but he spotted three sheep carts
led by two women and a man. It had to be Kassandra and her father
and sister. Gresham could be riding in one of the carts. His heart
caught in his throat at the excitement of seeing his son again. His
boy. Walking? Talking?
    * * *
    I’m sure I must be dreaming. I blink
away the tears and look again. They’re entering the airport from
the east side, the gated way, the only untrampled path. Raul easily
swings the iron aside and leads the group toward the mass of
waiting Reds who have no idea that they’re approaching. I wave my
hand though the Lunas aren’t looking up here. My people are,
though, and they stretch their necks to look in the direction I’ve
pointed. They’re quick to fear outsiders, but Mira has directed
Harmon and Lydia to reach them first. I want to run to Gresham, but
now my legs are as sluggish as my tongue. Harmon yells to the crowd
to tell them who these visitors are. The uninterested fall back,
the curious reach out a hand in welcome, Lydia kneels down to greet
my son, and, this I can hardly believe, Mira lifts a baby from
Kassandra’s arms.
    This is what Barrett knew and never
told me. He’d made the detour past Usala’s Rock and on to the
ranch, collected the ledger papers I’d left there—they’d become
divorce papers—and he’d seen Kassandra. He told me Raul and Katie
worked the ranch while Kassandra tended Gresham and he told me
something else: that they’d both grown fat. I knew then that it was
a clue, but I ignored it.
    My feet still stick tightly to the
floor. Dozens of pairs of eyes look up at me. I try to swallow, but
can’t. At last Lydia waves me down, smiling that brave wonderful
smile of hers.
    * * *
    Whispered explanations
morphed into rippling gossip once Mira and Jenny told Onita and Marilyn, who
turned to the women beside them who in turn passed the news outward
that this was Bram’s family. It didn’t matter that a few facts got
corrupted and names were mixed up. Once it was obvious that they
weren’t leaving the airport today most of the Reds wandered away
from the awkward scene.
    Bram received Raul with a sad nod of
his head, then he lengthened the greeting into an elaborate bow
and, strangely, kissed his former father-in-law on the cheek. Katie
grumbled a hello when Bram looked at her. Kassandra grabbed up the
baby and reached for Gresham’s hand.
    “ Hello, Dalton.” Her voice
was a mix of acid and honey.
    “ He goes by his real name
now,” Lydia said. “Bram.”
    Kassandra glanced at Lydia while
Dalton, now Bram to everyone, stood mute. “See how Gresham’s
grown?” She shifted her poisonous gaze back to him. “And this is
your second son, Eli.”
    Bram put his palm on the baby’s head,
stroked the soft fuzz of black hair, and ran his fingers down Eli’s
chubby cheek. He looked so much like Gresham had the last time he’d
seen his firstborn, only Eli was twice as big, maybe three months
old. He drew in a faltering breath and choked out a low greeting to
the baby. Then he squatted down to be eye level with Gresham who
sat wedged in the cart. He offered a smile. The toddler poked his
fingers into Bram’s beard and giggled. The sheep that pulled
Gresham’s cart jostled the toddler and he laughed some
more.
    “ My father made us come,”
Kassandra spit the words over his head. “He read it in the
stars—how you brought everyone out of Exodia. How you’re wandering
aimlessly.”
    “ I didn’t say aimlessly,
Kassandra.” Raul spoke with deliberate impatience. “Dal-, Bram, I
knew you’d be close enough for us to travel a day and a half to see
you. I needed to hear for myself all that has happened.”
    * * *
    Kassandra