Sheeple

Eric gave Andy a puzzled look as the kids headed down the hall. "Gretchen and Tabitha?"

"The dog and cat."

"Oh. I can understand the enthusiasm for sleeping over, but I gather that Bess sleeps here often. So, why the big deal?" Eric was trying to understand the girl's joy at a sleep over.

"Yes, Bess is here a lot. Mom's a barkeeper. However, don't knock my mom's hospitality before you've tried it. This is the type of place where you get chocolate cake for breakfast and all the cartoons you can choke down until the adults wake up." Andy laughed.

"Ah, if it were more of that cake Kate made tonight, I can understand. Was it like this all the time when you were growing up?"

Andy nodded. "Unconventional sort of describes it. Dad was gone a lot on business, but that never stopped life going on here. There were always lots of people about and even when money was short, Mom managed. She did really well after Dad died."

"What did your dad do for a business?"

"Dad was a consultant for business computers. He did the install and update work. He liked it."

"Is that why Zach and the rest of you are so computer savvy?"

Zach, Mom and Pat are. I could care less for the damn things. I don't even do email."

"Wow. That's a bit of a surprise. I'd have expected all of you to be rather up on computers."

"Yeah, but to be honest...I'd rather be out climbing or hiking. I work in a cafe downtown at night so that I can climb. Hell, I can't even find a girl who likes to hike as much as I do." Andy was a bit exasperated. "Had one once, but she started asking me to stay home and go shopping rather than go hiking. Got on my nerves. So, we split. Now, I just do my own thing. Mom lets me stay here, but who knows... I may just move on someday."

"I can understand the whole outdoors thing. I'm rather partial to being in the mountains myself," Eric said.

Andy nodded. "Maybe we can go hiking some afternoon. I know most of the trails."

"That sounds good. I've only seen what's out there from the skyline. Haven't had the time to even walk to the edge of town yet."

"That sucks. At least we live in an older part of town where there are still lots of trees and open spaces," Andy said just as the kids came back down the hall.

"Bedtime! Bedtime! Luuvly luubly bedtime!" Bess was singing.

"Yes it is!" Andy shooed them into the room. Eric followed them, determined to tuck his two in bed. It was a nice room. Once again, bookcases lined the walls. Science fiction, spy novels, text books and some on the local hiking trails. Boots spilled out of the closet as well as a worn backpack. Eric smiled.

Andy got the three of them nearly on the bed when he looked to Eric for help. "Umm..... could you?" he asked pointing to the other side of the bed where Mark stood.

"Mark, get into bed. You've got a pillow. Climb in."

"But Dad, will we still have our stuff in the morning?"

It took Eric a moment to figure out this latest oddball comment. "Mark, we are only spending the night here. All of our stuff is still in our room downtown. Don't worry."

"Oh. Ok. I just wondered. Night Dad."

"Just sleep. Goodnight Mark."

"Da-dddddy,..." Jamie said in a sing-song voice.

"Yes Jamie?"

"Are you going to go hunting rabbits? Cause last time we stayed the night somewhere, you went hunting."

"No. I'm not hunting rabbits tonight. Silly girl," Eric said rather quickly.

Andy gave Eric and Jamie a look in turn and decided that he wasn't sure where this conversation was going. Maybe he'd ask later.

"Now go to sleep. Sweet dreams." Eric kissed his children goodnight. "Night Bess."

"Nite!" Bess said to everyone.

Andy and Eric left the room after turning out the light. Andy closed the door.

"Hey Eric, why'd Jamie think you were going hunting?"

"Probably because when we lived up on the ranch, I'd go hunting at night." Eric hoped that that would be enough of an explanation to satisfy Andy.

"Oh. Ok. Just wondered. It isn't the normal sort of bedtime comment ya know."

"No, it isn't. And yes, it does sound weird." Eric turned and almost walked right into Kate who was coming down the hall to meet them. "Oh! Sorry!"

Kate stopped quickly and moved out of the way fast enough that they just missed. "Not a problem. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?"

"What kind of tea?"

Andy started giggling. "Oh man. What a loaded question! It's more like which of the 47 kinds of tea in the cupboard do you want. Mom, if you've got the kettle on, I'll have regular tea."

"Of course. I figured that there'd be at least four of us wanting a cuppa. Come along Eric. I'll show you the cupboard and you can choose. We have all sorts as Andy hinted." She turned into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. The entire top shelf was full of teas. Herbals, green teas and black teas.

"Umm...... I don't know where to start."

"Well, what do you like?"

"Mom, just give him the regular stuff. None of the fancy crap." Andy pulled down cups from the cupboard.

Eric looked at Kate. "What is 'regular'?"

"Regular is English black tea. Like Typhoo or PG Tips. Strong enough to make coffee look wimpish. Most of us drink ours with milk or creamer and various amounts of sugar."She waited for the kettle to pop.

"I'll try regular. With milk and two sugars."

"Ok."

Kate poured the water into the cups. None of them were small and soon there was tea brewing. Kate got the milk out for Eric and the creamer for her. She dumped the prerequisite sugars in the cups and then finished up the tea. Kate handed Eric his cup and sat back with her own cradled in her hands. Andy had his black, and his mom shuddered as he picked it up and started drinking. "Don't know how you can drink it that way."

"Well, I don't like sugar Mom, and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... and who use to eat all of his Samhain candy in one night?"

"Me. And it did me in. Can't stand it now."

"No, but you eat my cake."

"That's different Mom. Nothing beats your cake."

Eric was watching the two of them and tentatively sipping his tea. It was hot, and the first sip singed his lip. Blowing on it, he tried again and was surprised at the flavor. He'd expected it to taste like the stuff you got in a cafe or diner. Oh was he wrong. "Hey! This is great tea!"

Kate smiled at him. "Glad you like it. Fair warning, it has more caffeine in it than coffee."

"Ok. Where'd you get this? Find this?"

"At one point, David worked in England. I went to stay with him for part of the time and fell in love with England. Especially the tea. For years, I depended on friends to send me tea. Then I found a British import store online. Now I order a couple of boxes a month."

"Oh my. And there are people who come to visit you who don't like this?"

"Well, there are some that don't do caffeine. Others who won't drink anything but certain brands. So, I cater where and when I can. Plus, some of those teas in the cupboard are more medicinal than pleasurable."

"Yeah, like that bloody bone set tea," Andy said with disgust.

"Hey! Don't knock it. It helped you heal up that broken arm didn't it?"

"Ok, it did. But does it have to taste so nasty?"

Eric laughed. "I think it must be part of the contract. My mom use to brew stuff for colds that would knock you off your feet. I always thought she made them so nasty so as you'd not want to be sick."

It was Andy's turn to laugh. "Your mom and mine must have gone to the same school. The last thing any of us boys wanted was to smell chamomile tea."

"It worked though didn't it?" Kate asked.

"Yes. Still didn't have to like it. Granted, I'm not sure you didn't think anything could stand up to chamomile, mint and lavender."

"Well, they worked too."

"Yeah... but still..." Andy hesitated.

"But still what?" Kate teased.

"Oh, never mind. Good thing I love you Mom. Some days I thought you were just trying to make me sicker than I was."

"Nah,...... that would have been easy. Curing you was the hard part."

"I take it you don't go in for traditional Western medicine?" Eric asked.

"Not exactly. Never had the money to just run to the doctors for every sniffle or cough. So, I learned about herbs. We also had a really good common sense doctor one time. Saw him when the boys were young, and he helped form my opinions on certain things. Especially antibiotics."

"Ah. I understand. Same with my family. You had to be really ill before anyone would even consider a hospital. My grandma was the local 'doctor'. She'd have a decoction or a tincture for just about anything."

Kate smiled. "I think your grandma and I would get along just fine. Would you like to come see my herb garden? The porch light throws enough light."

"Yes, I would," Eric stood up. Kate motioned for him to follow and lead the way out the door. This time, they went out the door opposite the basement stairs. The door was midnight blue and covered with hand painted silver stars. Eric smiled. He could smell the mint and sage as they walked down the steps.

"It isn't the biggest garden, but it survived the drought we had." Kate pointed out the various herbs.

"It works and that's what counts. I like the low wall business. Raised beds are really nice."

"Yes. I also like the fact that I can sit out here at night and enjoy the garden." She sat down on one edge.

Eric sat opposite Kate wondering if the conversation was going to stray from herbs or not.

"I heard you say you were a famtrad. What kind and where from? If you don't mind me asking?"

Eric took a sip of tea to give himself time to think. "I was born in Montana. Most of the families around there were 'family' if you know what I mean."

"I understand. So, how would you style yourself?" Kate

Eric took another sip of tea. How to explain without freaking Kate out before he'd had time to get to know her. He'd made that mistake before, and was tired of running. "Well, the family has been around for a long time. Came over from Europe at some point. I don't have the history down pat, so I can't give you dates, but we'd been in Canada for at least 175 years."

"Oh my. Let me guess.. French at some point?"

"Bretagne."

"Ah.... a subtle difference."

"You could call it that."

"So, is the family still up North?"

"No, most of them left the area about twenty years ago. Politics being the main problem," Eric thought about just what politics had driven most of them away.

"Oh. Do you keep in contact with your family?"

"Some of them. Run into family in the oddest places too. Mostly cousins and such."

"Ok. You never did define your 'flavor' though."

Eric drank more tea. Kate was astute and was following the conversation and not just asking idle questions. Damn. "Umm... I guess you'd call it a combination of shamanism and European folk witchcraft." He hoped that was a broad enough definition to give him some breathing space.

Kate nodded. "I was one of those kids raised to believe in G.O.D."

"God? Like in Jesus? I though your boys said you were pretty much famtrad yourselves." He was perplexed.

Kate started laughing. "Oh no.... not God, but G period, O period, D period."

"I'm lost..... I don't understand."

"Dad was a mountain climber. We spent 90% of our weekend in the mountains on hikes, camping or rock climbing. It stands for Great Out Doors."

Eric suddenly put it all together and started laughing. "Oh my! Now I understand. Were your parents hippies?"

"No, they left that to me." They both laughed this time.

"So, how'd you get from naturist to witch?" he asked.

"Well, never did fit in with the Christian crowd, so I went looking. Tried to find a balance between what my parents taught me, what I felt and what I knew."

Eric nodded.

"My searching explained a lot of things that I'd never understood as a child, but that my parents and grandparents accepted. I'm a precog. I appreciate my parents not going nuts when I'd try to tell them something was going to happen. My teachers weren't so sweet. Plus, I can find just about anything lost. Not people, but things. Like your keys or a pen. That kind of thing."

"I'm a precog too. Some days it is really frustrating to try and figure out what you're seeing," he said.

"I agree. Film clips or sound bites out of context are a pain in the ass."

"Yes. So, what kind of a heading would you put yourself under?" He was trying to keep Kate talking.

Kate downed the last of her tea and set the cup on the wall next to her. "Ummmm... don't laugh, Kitchen witch. You know, the kind that lived at the end of the lane with all the herbs in the garden, half a dozen cats and three quarters of the town sneaking in the back door to see her. I'm a healer, herbalist, mom, shoulder to cry on, etc."

Eric smiled. "Any other bits?"

"Well,... I'm so not a fluffy crystal worshiping follow any author and his/her book type. I guess you'd say that there is a heavy Celtic influence in my mind, but there are guest appearances by a variety of key players from other pantheons."

"Why Celtic?"

"That's what most of my heritage is. Welsh, Irish, Scots, English and a bit of Swedish and Croatian thrown in too."

"Ah, I understand. And I take it that David was pagan too? And the boys were all raised that way?"

"David became pagan. The boys were raised pagan. Each of them has found their own 'flavor' so to speak, but definitely pagan. That's where the business of being a famtrad comes from with them."

"Well, according to some, they are. You probably are too, if they don't get snotty."

"I've run into the snotty ones. Prejudice is just as ugly in a pagan as it is in a Christian or any other religious persuasion. I don't like it in any form."

Eric was relieved in a way he couldn't explain to Kate now. She had gained points with that statement. He didn't feel as nervous as he had been earlier this evening. You just never knew how people would react to some things. He yawned to cover his silence.

"Kate, I hate to say it, but I'm fading," A second yawn following the first.

"Oh. What was I thinking. Sorry Eric, but its been so long since I've had someone to really talk to that understood things without too much explanation."

"I understand. Me too." He stood up and headed for the kitchen.

Kate followed, feeling like she'd missed something.

*

"You're welcome to bed down here. The one couch turns into a bed and its really comfy. Zach and Anne have gone to her house for the night and Pat's downstairs with Suzie. So there is room."

"I thought Andy was sleeping on the couch because the kids have his room?"

"He decided to sleep outside. That boy is my wild one, and not in the tear up the world kind of sense."

Eric nodded. He'd felt a connection with Andy when they talked and wondered about him on many levels. "Well, its just..."

Kate gave up. "Do what you want Eric. You're welcome to the couch. I don't lock the doors, so If you decide to come back, just walk in."

Eric gave her a look of concern. "You don't lock your doors? Isn't that a bit on the dangerous side? Don't you worry about break-ins and such?"

"No, not really. I've got the dogs as noisemakers, and to be honest I've had more trouble from people invited in than from those coming in on their own. I only lock the doors if I'm going out of town for a long time."

"Oh." He didn't know what to add. The idea of not locking doors made him rather uncomfortable. He didn't know this area well enough to feel that kind of ease. "Well, I'd still like to go down to the shelter to get clean clothes for the kids for the morning. Maybe I'll sleep there, maybe I'll come back."

"Ok, you've got keys for the shelter. Just make sure the back door is shut tight." Kate moved towards Eric as she talked and gave him a hug. "Good night, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Kate." Eric returned her hug. He headed out the back door and down the stairs at a quick pace. One matched by his heartbeat. What in the world just happened he wondered as he moved swiftly down the street.

*

Kate closed the door behind Eric and watched him through the window as he ran, no loped down the street. It was the only term that fit. Just like when Gretchen or Luna ran in that liquid way dogs do. She turned and moved towards her room. What on earth had possessed her to hug him? Well, besides the fact that he so obviously needed one. She barely knew him and yet, there was that feeling that she had known him all her life. Strange.

Kate peeked in on the kids in Andy's room. They were all sleeping, curled up with Gretchen the puppy, and about half a dozen cats of various colors. It brought a smile to her face. Walking down the hall, she thought again of the feeling she had when she hugged Eric. It had been like hugging an old friend or one of the boys. She shook her head. Perhaps being alone for the last four years was just getting to her.

Luna was on her bed, looking guilty. Kate wondered why until she saw the bones at the end of the bed.

"Aw Luna! When are you ever going to learn." Kate spoke out loud as she picked them up and put them on top of the dresser. Rib bones from the barbecue. She'd dispose of them in the morning. Kate dropped her clothes to the floor and grabbed a teeshirt to sleep in. Never did to shock the house guests, especially as her door never managed to stay closed. Crawling into bed, she fell asleep listening to music and feeling Luna climb up on the bed.

*

Eric entered the shelter by the kitchen door and ran up the stairs to their room. He grabbed clean clothes for the kids and a new teeshirt for himself. Pulling off his old one, he put the new one on and then picked up the pile of clothes. He stuffed them in a bag and headed back down the stairs. He locked the back door and headed back up the hill towards Kate's house.

He slowed down as he got to the top of the hill. All the lights were out, but Eric kept looking, searching. No, no one was awake. He walked quietly up to the house and in a corner put the bag with the kids clothes down first. Then he added his own clothes to the pile. After a moment of checking, he turned and headed off down the road towards the edge of town.

Eric took an easy pace as he headed down the alleys. A few dogs barked at him as he passed, but most just sniffed the breeze and headed back to their dog houses. He loped across the school football field and found a huge culvert. Cats, dogs, foxes and others had used this as a way into and out of the town. Eric used it too. It was cooler in the culvert and there was the occasional puddle. As he came to the other end, he sniffed the air. Smelling nothing more than grasses and a skunk, he exited out onto an open expanse of field. After getting his bearings, Eric plotted a course and just ran. Ran like he hadn't done in months. He hadn't had a safe place to leave the children since they'd left the ranch. Not that the ranch had been that safe near the end, but at least he'd been able to get out at night. Late at night.

Eric scared the hell out of rabbits and prairie dogs as he ran through the scrub oak and sage brush. Almost ran into a chola cactus too. He'd forgotten that there were cactus in this part of the country. That was stupid. He'd brushed past it and continued on his run.

He stopped on top of a sandstone rock outcropping. Low pines were all around it as well as more sage and cactus. It afforded him a beautiful view of the valley just outside of town. He laid there and caught his breath. It felt so good to be out. So good to run. The heat of the day radiated from the rock even this late at night. Eric rolled over and looked all around him. He rested for a while as the stars had begun to shift in the sky.

Eric felt his muscles stiffening up and decided that he'd better head back. Stretching, he found a few sore places, but overall, he just felt good. Heading down the rocks, he decided to change course just a little. This time he ran down an arroyo that was parallel to the highway for a little bit. This brought him in on the other side of the older part of town. Loping down the back alleys, he came up to Kate's house from the other side. The house was still, and as far as he could tell, no one was awake. Over the fence, he walked across the back yard and froze. He had forgotten that Andy was asleep in the yard. Quietly, he walked around Andy and headed up the stairs.