From the journal of Nikki Feather, June 30

June 30, 2017

     Today, a couple walked out of the rain and into the farmyard of the old house we've been staying in. The rain was still pounding down and Jackson and I were downstairs, fixing some soup for lunch when something made one of our sound alarms go off. We grabbed guns and headed outside together. We found a man and his wife, Charles and Marcy Cook, standing with his legs tangled in the string attached to the cans filled with rocks. His wife, Marcy, put her hands up as soon as we came outside and Charles stopped trying to get himself untangled and put his hands up.

Charles and Marcy Cook

     Jackson and I had to decide what to do, so we talked about it and we did let them into the house to get out of the rain. They were in their 30's and had been teachers before the pandemic. Charles taught English and Marcy taught American History. They hiked on the weekends and school breaks and had a good supply of survival supplies when the pandemic finally got to them. They packed up their SUV and then left their city to head into the hills. Since then, they said they've been hiking around and staying away from people.

     This seemed a little suspicious, since they came right into the farmyard and made contact with us. Jackson and I decided that we would take a watch each and relieve each other, just to make sure they don't try to steal from us or hurt us.

      I do have to admit, it's been nice to have someone besides Jackson to talk to. He's never been the most talkative person and having Marcy to just gab with while we cooked up more soup so everyone could eat, well, it was nice. We talked about our jobs before this all started and about people we knew and funny things they did. We talked about people we lost and people we don't know if they're still alive. We talked about her students and the last day she saw them.

     Lunch was good and warm and they were appreciative because it was the first warm meal they'd had in a week or more. We ate, talked a little more, then Jackson and I read out loud for while. Charles and Marcy fell asleep and Jackson is taking the first watch. He'll wake me up in four hours for me to take over watch.

     I really hope we can end up trusting these people. They said they don't have a plan about where they were heading, so maybe we can travel together. It would be nice to have another woman to talk to, and I bet Jackson will like having another guy, too. More people just mean more people to watch each others backs and that's good for us. If they turn out to be trustworthy. We've seen evidence of too many people who were killed or tortured by people that they must have trusted long enough to let in. We need to be careful, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they turn out to be just what they seem.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.