A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 01

Josh stayed, but left within an hour of the funeral. Sam didn't have any family, and there were a few of Rosie's people there, so she would be in good hands. He himself was far too upset to talk to anyone. He'd been less upset when his own father had died. As he was turning onto the main road, he's was almost broadsided by an older red Cavalier. He just shook his head and rode on.

He was back this year on a leave of absence to help Rosie with the jobs around the place that he and Sam hadn't been able to get done before his death. Rosie was still trying to decide what to do with her life. This was the first time that Josh hadn't ridden down. Sam's "old girl" had been left to him and he planned to have it shipped to his home.

Josh knew he had maybe another hour before Rosie got home from the municipal offices where she worked. He had just walked back to the porch to begin working on his next victim, though he knew that the soup can was in little danger. He was fairly certain that the stars wouldn't line up for another miracle anytime soon.

Josh had never hunted; he had no need. He had nothing against responsible hunting, it just wasn't his thing. He could drive a tack with a rifle, but never had a kind thought for pistols, until that rattlesnake had bounced off the side of his boot the week before while he was fixing some rusted out fence.

He'd never seen so many of the things around before this year. He wondered what population of small creatures in their food chain had exploded to cause this many to be around. Surely they were living on something. He had no fear of snakes, but he did have a healthy respect for these pit vipers. He'd often surprised them accidentally, but had always been able to retreat peacefully, or give them a chance to leave if they would. It was the possibility of meeting two of them at once that bothered him the most.

He was about to stuff another round into Sam's gun to replace that last lucky shot when a sound came to him faintly, it seemed like a small voice in the distance. He listened hard, but heard only the wind. He looked off to his right, and stared into the wavy haze. There appeared to be a moving blob out there, far off. "Damn, I guess Roswell must be missing an alien." he muttered.

Josh walked onto the porch, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel, and grabbed the binoculars. "What the ....?" There were two of them. "There are TWO aliens walking on Rosie's land." He waited a minute, and looked again.

He saw a woman and a child.

He ran for his SUV. He only paused long enough to puzzle over the climate controls for a second. He never changed them much, but now he wanted the AC cranked when he got out there. He paused a second time when he saw that Daisy stood resolutely in his path, and that she wasn't going to let him go anywhere without her. He sighed, and got out.

"Fine, but you get in the back!" He swung out the tailgate, and she jumped aboard. As he turned onto the rough, Josh selected 4 WHL HI and motored.