Chapter 14: In My Darkest Hour

(MEGADETH)

“Blaire?” a voice asks.

She turns her head to the left, searching for the person who called her name. The voice sounded familiar, as if she had heard it long ago. Her eyes find a face that, as the voice, seems somehow familiar. It was an old man, gray hair and beard. Dark sun-kissed skin with deep wrinkles around the eyes and at the corners of his mouth. He is thin, but obviously large in frame. This feature seems strange to her until recognition hits her.

“Uncle B?” she says with a frown.

A grin spreads over his face. She smiles back at him, glad to see a familiar friendly face at last. She walks over to the table where he sits by himself. He rises, holding out a hand to shake, but she pushes it aside, embracing the old man. He doesn’t fight back, accepting the tight hug with a soft chuckle.

“Gawd, it’s good to see you back,” he whispers into her ear.

“It’s good to see you too, old man. Why are you here in town?”

He pulls from her embrace and sags down into the chair, motioning to the chair across the table. She sits down without a word.

“Oh, yes,” he says. “You probably don’t know. I was out of town. My nephew came to fetch me about a year ago. He wanted me to live with him and his wife on the other side of the country.”

“And you went?” she asks with an incredulous giggle.

He shakes his head from side to side. “I know, right? Stupid. I wanted to come back within a week. He kept me close, though. But I escaped over the weekend and only made it here an hour ago. How are things at The Farm?”

She waves a hand at him. “Let’s talk about that later. How have you been? What have you been up to?”

He shrugs. “Let’s see… I fell in love, did you know?”

He looks at her face and then shakes his head. “No,” he says with a sadness that she can feel in her soul. “Of course you don’t. I met her about two years after you left. And we got married a year later.”

“You got married?” she chuckles. “Who would have thought? You always said you’d die a bachelor.”

“I did, but she was totally worth breaking that promise. Soulmates. That’s what we were.”

“Were? Past tense?”

Tears form in the corners of his eyes. They glitter in the light until he wipes them away quickly.

“She got the Big C and passed away about eighteen months ago. I went kind of mental for a while. That’s why my nephew came to fetch me. At first, I really needed to get away. However, once therapy and meds sorted out my head and heart, I wanted to come back. He refused. We fought like Spartan warriors about it. His wife told him either me or her and the kids leaves because she needs her space. That’s when he decided to put me in an old age home. And the moment I knew that, I made my plans. I slipped out as soon as I could and ran.”

Blaire stretches across the table to take a bony hand in hers. The hand is too cold. She remembers him as large as a bear, fit as a fiddle. He won’t last two weeks in an old age home. Some people just don't have the soul to live there. Uncle B is one of them.

“I had a dream call from the Bull King. I made a Blood Oath that I’ll hand myself over to him within ten days if he allows me to come home to say a proper goodbye and to hand over leadership to Skye officially.”

He doesn’t look at all happy with her declaration. “Why would you do such a stupid thing?”

“I’m tired. Beyond tired, actually. Living on the run is hell on earth. Never to even call home. No visits. I miss my family. I miss you all. And I miss the comfort of being home, of belonging to a place and people.”

He nods. “Now, that part about home I understand completely. I didn’t know anyone out there where my nephew lives. No friends. Not even acquaintances.”

“I’ve been just as lonely,” Blaire says. “We all need to be loved, even someone like me.”

“Someone like you? You say that as if you’re bad.”

“I am. What I did was a sin.”

“A sin? To whom? To a God in the sky that we can’t see and never hear? There is no-one up there, believe me. I prayed for my wife. Hours and hours. I gave money to the church. I asked others to pray. All I got for this was heartbreak. I spent an entire night screaming at the sky. I begged to die. One flash of lightning. A heart attack. Anything. Nothing happened. Throughout all those dark hours, God did not answer.”

“Well, I get that. I can’t tell you how many times I prayed for forgiveness. Or for a miracle. At the darkest hours of my life, I sat in the bath, knife to my veins, waiting for a voice to tell me to stop. For some grace to shine on me. For … I don’t know what. Maybe a hand to reach down from heaven to intervene.”

“And that didn’t happen. I know it didn’t, but you are still here. I’m so happy that you are.”

Nancy arrives with her coffee, finding the table empty. Blaire waves at her and whistles softly. Everyone looks at her sharply. Only Nancy smiles, walking briskly towards them.

“You found a friend?’ she asks Uncle B.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He beams at Nancy and winks at Blaire. “I told her I was away for a while and hoped my friends were still where I left them.”

“And then you meet one here, of all places. Although she’s just passing through.”

He nods. “Yes, but maybe I can change her mind about that before the meal is done. She always listened to me when she was younger.”

“Oh, yes, I did. So did everyone else. You were as big as a mountain then. A real scary guy. And the temper… fast and furious.”

“Well, sir,” Nancy says, “I can see why she did then, but now…” Nancy takes a step back and lets her eyes run up and down the old man slowly, shaking her head in the negative.

“Call him Uncle B,” Blaire says. “That’s what his friends call him.”

‘Well, Uncle B, I’m going to check if your food is ready.”

“Can you bring it out together with Blaire’s? I’d hate to eat in front of her.”

Blaire snorts. “If she brings out your food before mine, I’m eating it. I’m famished.”

Nancy walks away, or rather skips away. She has an energy that Blaire admires. Despite the whispers and stares from other customers, she just keeps going on as if she didn’t notice. Or maybe she did, but just doesn’t care. It might just be the fact that she’s so young.

“I can’t remember having that level of energy when I was young,” Blaire says.

“I can remember you having that kind of energy when you defended the weak, or got into fights,” Uncle B says. “It used to drive your mother up the walls, but Red King would tell her it was in your blood and that she should just get used to it.”

She clings to his hand. “Uncle B.”

He looks up at her, probably hearing the sadness that crept into her voice. “What?”

“I have to tell you something. It’s the worst news ever.”

His shoulders slump, and for a moment he looks like a child. She squeezed his hand, hating the feeling of loss that washes over her.

“I promise not to make a public spectacle. Hit me with it.”

“Bull King didn’t keep his promise,” she whispers. “They came to The Farm before I even got back. Everyone… well, they killed them all.”

“No,” he drawls.

She nods at him. “I arrived late in the afternoon two days ago. Spent all day yesterday gathering the pieces together for a funeral. The only thing left standing is Luka and my house. I haven’t even been to the warehouses and the livestock yards yet. The fields, the orchards, everything else, burned down to the ground. Some of the large trees are still on fire.”

“Oh no, Bear.”

The childhood name grabs her by the heart and shakes her. This time she is the one crying, and he takes her hands, caressing her knuckles with large flat thumbs.

“I’ve tried so hard to keep everyone safe,” she says. “Ten years is a long time to not come home. And then, while I was on the way, they rushed in and…”

Her hands shake, and he lifts them to his mouth for a warm kiss. “It’s not your fault. Don’t take the blame on you. Vasiliev shouldn’t have made that promise to you if he didn’t intend to keep it. That is not our way. If I were you, I’d bring it to the gang court. Don’t even go to see him. If he can break a promise, so can you.”

“That’s not me. Not us either. The Snake Clan always keeps their word. Also, I’ve basically given up on the guy upstairs completely. So I’m contemplating a summoning.”

“Following in Red King’s footsteps,” he says. “We all knew you were the one that will one day take over from him. You were so alike. Fighting on behalf of others. Now you are taking this path, too.”

“Well, despite all the good I tried to do in ten years, the other one never responded to my calls. After that day, I lived as good a life as anyone I know. Yet I never felt his grace shine on me. No forgiveness was forthcoming. I carried that though, thinking that at least my family was safe. That was my anchor in the strange and storm-tossed sea I floated on. To come home and find…”

“Shh,” Uncle B says. “What are you selling your soul for, if you insist on going to see King Vasiliev, anyway?”

“Vengeance,” she answers. “I’m selling my soul to bring death to the entire Bull Tribe.”

“And who is going to rebuild The Farm if you’re gone? Who will look after an old man like me? Because I’m not going back to live with my nephew, I can tell you that right now. I’m going home. That’s it. I don’t care what it looks like. I don’t care if it’s burned to the ground. I don’t care at all. It’s my home and I want to live there.”

“You can live in my house,” Blaire says.

“But I’m no farmer. I’ll die there without food. Someone needs to take control and get it all going again. And you,” he leans in to poke at her chest with a bony index finger, “you’re it. There is no-one else.”

“I know the livestock side well,” Blaire says as Nancy approaches the table. “But the orchards and vegetable gardens are beyond me. We’ll need to find someone to run those, because I’m not a farmer, either.”

“Wait, you are looking for someone to run your farm?” Nancy says.

“Yes,” Blaire answers quickly. “It’ll be the orchards and fields, mainly. Do you know someone?”

“Hmm, let me think. Would someone with a brand new degree in agriculture qualify?”

“He sure would.”

“What about if that someone was a she and not a he?”

“The Farm is an equal opportunity place,” Uncle B says. “We’ve never cared about who or what you are, as long as you treated people with respect and worked hard.”

“So, where do I hand in my resume?” Nancy asks. “I graduated two years ago, but it’s rather troublesome for a female to get into the field. I expected some problems, but it’s more difficult than I anticipated. And I swear, I didn’t spend thousands of dollars and four years of my life on education just to server at my family’s diner, no matter how nice the place is.”

Blaire sits back in her chair with a smile. Uncle B waves at Nancy, and then at her. He lifts an eyebrow and smiles.

“It is meant to be,” he says. “Nancy, this is Blaire and she owns The Farm. I’m Uncle B, and I’m the temporary manager. The Farm just had the worst crisis ever, and we are trying to get it back on its feet. It’ll be hard work, but we pay well. Above industry standards. You’ll be able to flip off any of those fuckers that didn’t want you.”

“Oh, this sounds delicious,” Nancy answers. “Almost as delicious as the food here. I’m ready to start immediately.”

“Tomorrow is fine,” Blaire says, holding up a business card. “Forward your resume for our files. This was your interview. You are hired.”

“Where is The Farm?” Nancy asks.

“It’s not too far. Get on the road leaving town towards the desert, and on the third road you turn left. Go straight for about twenty minutes. You’ll find the gate on your left. The official name is Nathara’s Farm. Ask anyone in town. They all know where it is.”

“I’ll be there bright and early.”

Blaire claps her hands together, satisfied with the way things are moving along. “I have important business to attend to, so I’ll be leaving by tomorrow night or the next day at the latest. I should be back within a week, if all goes well. But Uncle B is there, so you’ll not be alone. There is only one house right now. It has three bedrooms, and if you don’t mind having me and the old fart as housemates, you’re welcome to move in.”

“When you say crisis, what do you mean exactly?”

“I mean, everything is burned to the ground. All the houses, fields and orchards. One warehouse is looking undamaged from afar. I didn’t have the courage to go look at anything on the livestock side. I suggest you two,” Blaire says, waving her hand between them, “start by doing a proper walk-thru and stock taking. What equipment is left? What can be fixed and what should be scrapped. Look at the seeds, fertilizer, and all that shit. For all we know, it might be fine, still. And then order what we need. Uncle B knows the suppliers and they know him. I’ll have the credit cards replaced, so you can each have one to use when needed.”

“We’ll need more people once we start from scratch,” Nancy says.

“I’m sure some will come once they hear we are operating again,” Uncle B says. “The Farm has an awesome reputation. And I'm sure you have some classmates still looking too. Feel free to hit them up. But they work under your leadership, or not at all.”

Nancy smiles, giving them a curtsy. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Just work hard, and stay kind,” Uncle B says. “That’s all we need.”