“I’m already in your debt, both of you—deeply.” Eli looked intently across the fire at Lynn. “Anything you do for me, I can’t—there’s no way for me to return the favor.”
“You don’t worry about that right now,” Stebbs said, intervening easily when he saw Lynn about to open her mouth. “We’ll work things out as we go, right now keeping you and your woman alive is the priority.”
“She’s not my woman.”
Lynn felt an inexpressible bubble pop in her stomach. His inability should have filled her with contempt, but instead it made her want to help him. And the woman in the shelter was so sharp tongued, it didn’t take much imagination to picture him sliced to ribbons at her feet. For some reason, she didn’t think she wanted to see that.
Stebbs watched Eli closely for a moment before speaking. “She’s a good-looking woman, yours or not, you’ve got a duty to protect her now.”
“It’s been my job since Bradley died, my brother.”
“That was his baby?”
“Yeah, his son. Neva was his wife. He died as we were leaving Entargo. One of the guards shoved Neva. Usually she’s pretty light on her feet, but she was so big with the baby she lost her balance. Bradley lunged to catch her, and the guard shot him, said he was going for his gun.”
“Just like that?” Stebbs asked.
“Just like that. He bled out in the square with his kid and wife right there. Lucy had crawled up into my lap, bawling for someone to help her daddy, and Neva was on her hands and knees cradling his head against the baby. There was a crowd around us, and a few that I knew to be doctors, but nobody could help.”
“Why not?” Lynn’s question brought Eli’s attention back to her.
“Population schedules,” he said. “You’re only allowed one child per couple, and they already had Lucy.”
Stebbs sighed and tossed a stick into the fire. “I thought they would’ve lifted that ban by now. So that’s the deal still? You screw up and the entire family is out of the city?”
“They won’t waste water on lawbreakers. Sometimes they’ll keep older kids, males mostly, to help protect the city. Lucy not being a boy helped her out in that respect.”
“Won’t help her out here,” Stebbs said shortly, giving Eli a hard stare.
“Yeah, I know,” Eli said. “I guess we were lucky when those men came for our food, Neva being pregnant and Lucy being . . . well, none of them seemed to be of that persuasion.”
Lynn glanced from Stebbs to Eli, completely lost.
“Maybe so, but your lady isn’t pregnant anymore,” Stebbs said. “And like I said, she’s your responsibility.”
“Being good-looking doesn’t seem to drop the survival rate out here.” Eli darted a glance at Lynn, but she was still trying to puzzle out their earlier exchange.
“Being good-looking and a sharpshooter doesn’t hurt,” Stebbs said with a wry smile.
The mention of shooting brought Lynn to her feet. “I gotta get back, been here too long already.”
“True enough,” Stebbs said, struggling to rise. “We’ll get you squared away, son. There’s no point you dying here when we’ve got the means to help.”
Lynn chewed on her lip as she and Stebbs struck for home. His parting words to Eli had been meant to console him but also to let her know where Stebbs stood on the issue. She’d been reluctant to offer her help for the evening, and Stebbs had promised more without asking her. She wasn’t rooting for Eli and Neva to die of exposure, but she wasn’t against them figuring out the basics of survival on their own either.
Stebbs seemed to understand her mood and held his tongue. Early morning dew had fallen on the long grass, soaking their pants as they walked and chilling them to the bone. Lynn clicked off the flashlight to save batteries once a strip of gray appeared on the horizon. They were halfway to her house when Stebbs took a misstep that turned his good ankle and brought him to the ground with a crash.
Lynn helped him to his feet and he tested his good leg. He winced when he put weight on it. “You go on without me if you want,” he said. “I know you’re in a hurry to get back to—”
“Lucy,” Lynn said, snaking an arm under his. “Yeah, I am.”
Stebbs leaned against her for support. “I was going to say ‘the pond.’”
“Yeah, that too.” She ignored the curious look he shot her as she stepped back to give him some room. “Can you manage?”
“I just need to walk it off.”
Lynn was already backpedaling toward her house. “I’ll check on you,” she called over her shoulder and dove through the grass, suddenly anxious.