On Giving Chase

The Cobbs were a prominent family in town. Good stock, people said. Devon and Abby Cobb were proud of their brood. All five boys had completed Primary and Secondary schooling. Two had gone on to Tertiary, one in mathematics and the other in mechanics. All of them had learned the value of hard labor by starting in the Mines, but none had stayed in the pits for long. Their oldest oversaw the bookkeeping for off world suppliers and vendors. Two more made regular trips to the Core planets for sales and marketing, capturing clients with their rustic charm. One owned his own shop, overhauling, modifying and repairing custom company machinery. They were a raucous brood, loud mouthed and big hearted. Brought up in honesty tempered with charity and hard work.

Ethan, the youngest, was bright and quick-witted. Both had served him well while growing up at the bottom of the pack of Cobb pups. His humor was dry, but his smile was genuine. He drank in the warmth and laughter of his family. Always the quietest one, he lusted after solitary work. When his oldest brother brought him out hunting for the first time, he knew he had found his passion. He loved the crashing waves of commotion that surrounded him daily, but in the focused stillness of pursuit, he found his soul.

*********************

Lily was a petit thing and it was only a matter of weeks before her clothes were seam-stretched. Her mother had always created fine crafted clothes for her children. Quality fabrics, with appropriately humble patterns, lined her small closet. Now she wore her mother’s cast offs. She knew she shouldn’t let her mother’s shame and pettiness upset her, but with each stained or threadbare article that appeared on her bed, neatly folded and smelling of lavender, Lily’s anger swelled.

Everyone treated her as a beautiful, broken thing, held together with cheap glue. No one dared to handle her. Would have been inappropriate to hide her away somewhere, so she sat on a corner shelf. Just within eyesight, but not to be regarded closely.

Momma prayed under her breath almost constantly, sounding, for all the world, like a mad woman. Daddy smiled weakly at her in the rare moments he saw her. Kept himself busy, away from the cracks forming at home. Nana regarded her son and daughter-in-law with disgust. The household seemed a maelstrom of snippy remarks and thinly veiled retorts. One supposes if Misery loves company, then Anger throws parties.

Lily struggled with the foreign emotions roiling in her. The day she heard the slap reverberate from the kitchen, she knew things were crumbling. She ran in to find her mother wide-eyed and speechless, a red handprint visible across her pale cheek. Daddy sat at the table, the weight of his head cradled in his hands. Nana, hand still upraised, finger now pointed accusingly at her son’s wife, continued her tirade.

“…And YOU! A woman so PIOUS! How DARE you even conjure the notion of killing that baby!” Nana shook with fury. “Lily is as pure as the day she was born, and you go on to treat her as though she done evil! You make a body ill!”

“Kill my…Momma? Momma, you want me to lose my baby girl? I…I can’t believe…”Lily was stunned.

Nana recovered first. “Lily, let’s me and you take a walk away from here. I don’t think I can stand to be here right now!”

Nana gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her from the house. By the time Nana had discussed the whole kitchen conversation with her, Lily had cried out her last tear of disappointment. She knew there would never be a home for her back there again.

The last youthful luxury she aloud herself was a simple irritated thought.

~Gorram it! She was going to miss her room.~

*********************

Lily sprawled on the grass near Ethan, silently fuming while he patiently cleaned his guns. He had mentioned to her that the soft pink sweater she wore put him in mind of spring. It was a casual comment of little consequence. Her ire was unnoticed. She hated herself for wanting him to be angry as well. Truth be told, she wanted the whole town raging in indignation. When his mother walked by and noted the flattering shade to her as well, it was almost too much.

The sweater had been a deep, lively red in is heyday.

“I’m leaving.” She said grimly to Ethan.

“You gotta get on home? Thought you were gonna stay for lunch?” He deftly turned the cartridge in his hand eyes grazing over it for any missed grime. “You know Nathan got a transport home earlier than he thought. Got home yesterday. Wanted to look at you some before he’s off again.” He blew a sharp puff of air to clear imaginary dust. “Said he’s got a proposition for me, contracting for the alliance security force or some other such thing. Sounds promising, don’t you…” The words died in his throat as he took in her glare.

“I mean I’m leaving. Didja know that Momma wants me to ship to St. Casamir so I can lose it? Momma! All her praying and charity, and my baby girl has to be gone so she won’t be reminded! Nana had fits! It happened to ME, Ethan…ME!” Her fists were clenched and there was a wildness to her that was vaguely frightening.

His mouth worked silently for a moment. He dropped his work and met her gaze. His skin sizzled with the sensation that a storm was about to hit. He wasn’t far off.

“I didn’t ask for this, Ethan! Gorram it all to Hell! I can’t scream at him for what he did! Can’t hit him! Can’t change one gorram thing about it! It’s done!” She stood and held him with the fury in her bright eyes. “I need this baby! I need to have something good in my life! I was robbed! This is my….my…gorram, what’s the word…”

“Recompense?”

She visibly convulsed and seemed to shrink back into herself. “Yeah, that’s the word,” she huffed.

She smoothed her hair back from her face and eyed him grimly. She tilted her head to the side and jutted out her bottom lip just so, as she did when giving anything careful consideration.

“This is my home. Always thought it would be.” She squinched up her nose, thinking. Inhaled. Blew the breath out. “There’s those as always want to get away. Hate this whole town, whole world. I’m not one of them. I’m 15, Ethan,” tears began to well up in her eyes. “How can I stay here when…God above have mercy…I just…I can’t!”

“Where would you… go?” Why the hell was his stomach turning on him?

“Nana will pay transport passage for me to head to Cyprian and stay with her sister for a spell. See if I can find work, now and later, after she’s born. I’m leaving next week.”

“Lily…”

“Don’t much… feel like lunch…I’m gonna…” she let the words trail off and turned distractedly away towards home.

*********************

The fox sat quivering, fear and anxiety warring with compulsion to move. Move forward. Move beyond. Keep moving. She broke from cover, only thinking of her need to move, to get away. An innate response without conscious thought, evoking the rival response from the hound. Unable to deny the want for what runs away, the hound raised his shaggy head at the sound. The movement caught, the scent tracked, he had no choice. Heart pounding with frightening, unforeseen emotion, he bayed and gave chase.