The Lost Children: Homestead

Overgrown fields of green tipped with gold stood stock still, scorching under the late June sun perching high in the center of the sky as three children made their way across, miles from civilization. The children trudged through the harsh thicket underfoot moving ever closer to an unknown destination. It mattered not where they where going, only where and what they were getting away from. For miles around the trio nothing but overgrown and untended hay fields mimicked their immediate surroundings; the area filled with nothing but derelict reminders of the war effort in Europe and the demands it placed on the citizenry of the midwestern United States.

Joe Jack, the oldest, had met up with Samantha and her little brother Mikey a week earlier as the two siblings fled their urban home – they had gotten as far as a nearby railroad overpass. The two were hungry and scared when Joe Jack happened upon them, led by the soft whimper of 6-year-old Mikey.

Crowning the hill first, from his vantage point at the fore of the group, Joe Jack immediately saw the top of the dilapidated barn. Sitting in the bowl of a large field, one suffering from the greatest overgrowth in the surrounding area. Once upon a time, this barn had likely been a central part of a large, working farm – though it was likely that the owner would probably never return to restore it to its former glory.

Three trees that had once sat beside the barn now lay mostly across the roof of it, the sprawl of their branches and leaves mostly hiding the structure, the roots of the trees thrusting into the air. Only a faint glint of sunlight on the metal roof peaking beyond the sprawl of living cover alerted its presence to the world.

He had seen many sights like this in his life, strong winds often simply pushed trees over, lifting shallow root systems out of the ground but leaving enough to keep the tree alive. To him, this seemed to be a great place to investigate, a place to cool off for the afternoon – maybe even stay longer than just the night.

Blocking the sun with his hand to surveil the scene more clearly in the distance, Joe Jack could make out only sparse glances of red painted wood and a receding blackness to the front of the building. This he concluded could possibly be a safe way inside. Through their travels across almost identical terrain for days, the children had not encountered any property such as this; all the other sites they might have taken shelter in had been near housing of some sort. There were no signs of habitation, or even human activity, that could be easily picked out and beyond that, the children were tired and hungry.

“Hey, is there any food left?” Little Samantha called from behind the older boy, her voice plaintive and husky despite her being only 8 years old. “I’m soooo hungry!”

“Yeah, ‘Mantha is right.” From beside her, Mikey agreed, his once blonde hair now golden from the days spent walking in the summer sun. His face shined red and cracked from sunburn and prolonged dehydration, his eyes shining ever bluer because of it.

Joe Jack turned around, the profile of his Romanesque nose standing staunchly cut out against the vibrant blue of the midday Midwest sky, his brown eyes showed just the slightest sign of aggravation and fear for a moment. The 14-year-old boy blinked rapidly, trying to hide his fear at the fact that they were out of food. “There’s a barn up ahead that I think will be great for us to stay in for a while, we’ll get some food as soon as we get settled in.”

Away from his young charges, the elder turned again to face the ramshackle barn, his youthful brow knitted with fear and worry. The lines from his consternation only made him look more like an adult. Already a tall boy, he had spent every year since he could walk following a mule pulling a plow and had grown quite robust. He was even sporting the first wisps of a mustache upon his lip.

“We’ll be fine guys; I reckon there’s food around here somewhere.” He had taken on the role of leader and protector for the small band of runaway children, though he never imagined their way would be this harsh. Below his breath he mumbled, “Dear God, let there be food around here…”

Overhead, the clear sky offered no respite from the oppressive sun beating down on the children as they made their way through the rough overgrowth that almost encompassed them completely. No wind moved across the golden plain, however the thicket would have obscured the travelers from its delicate kiss. Joe Jack did his best to stomp down the thick stemmed undergrowth to make the way easier to traverse for the smaller children behind him. But it was no easy task still and they continuously stumbled.

“How much further Joe?” Mike’s voice sounded weaker than it had normally; in an explosion of form and contrast the broken ridgeline of the roof of the barn emerged from the tall brush surrounding.

“We’re here! Guys, we’re here!” Joe Jack yelled excitedly.

As they approached the barn, a thick grove of trees could be made out directly beyond the barn, further encapsulating it inside a protective womb of living cover. Closer to them, wrapping the front portion of the barn, stood a thick bracket of some type of unknown overgrowth. Despite this Joe Jack could almost make out a small slat door, beyond the thicket wall.

A flash of energy moved into Joe Jack which he used to plow down the last several feet of obstacles between him and their new shelter. In a rush he was standing at the double doors of the decrepit old barn. His eyes feasted upon the broken and warped wood planks once painted glorious red as if the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his short life, though they were now receding into a rust brown and black. “See, it’s an old hay barn! C’mon y’all!”

“Joe, I don’t feel so good…” Mike was now barely speaking above a harsh whisper. Samantha turned to him just as his small body collapsed to the ground. Her voice squealed out in a terrified scream, “MIKE!”

Joe Jack spun around without thinking, his bare skin catching on the thorns of a large blackberry bush protruding from the bramble around the barn. The vicious little thorns dug into his arm like hungry, angry little teeth as he pushed forward to reach for Mike’s crumpled frame. The little boy was shaking, Samantha was clutching at his small frame fearfully as Joe Jack scooped him up and turned back for the barn.

Blood tracked in rivulets down Joe Jack’s arm as he barreled toward the only salvation he could imagine in the moment, the nearby barn door. With the momentum of fear, he rammed the plank door and with a thunderous crack it gave way. Joe Jack and Mikey tumbled through and onto the hay covered ground, Samantha following blindly behind – tripping over them as she came and landing further inside the fallen barn.

Quickly righting himself to a kneeling position, Joe Jack cradled Mikey in his arms while scanning the surroundings. The barn was mostly dark, aside from golden light streaming onto the center of the space coming down from the roof in dust filled shafts. It was apparent that the tree had survived collapsing into the barn, several large limbs had grown inside – thrusting their leafy branches about the large space.

The edges of their newfound shelter were still obscured by darkness, the children’s eyes still adjusting to the gloom abounding. The barn was large, larger than it looked from outside; the center of the barn was mostly clear, aside from the tree growing down into it, and was flanked on both sides by corn cribs. Above the corn cribs, the second level of the barn was mostly stuffed with old moldering hay.

Convinced that the area was safe for the moment, Joe Jack produced a small tin flask from the back pocket of his denim overalls. He popped the cork out with his teeth and pressed the opening to Mikey’s mouth. “Hey buddy, you gotta drink!”

Mikey’s lips, cracked and near to bleeding, offered no assistance or even awareness of the offered drink. Joe Jack felt a pang of fear, the fear that he had been too late. Feeling helpless in the moment and determined to do anything to help the boy, he whispered to Samantha. “He needs some air, fan him with something!’

The girl grabbed at a large, thin piece of plank that had splintered off the door and began to fan her little brother. The wind kicked up by the motion licked at Mikey’s face, pushing little tufts of his hair up in the breeze. “Drink Mikey!”

Mikey’s shuttered eyelids fluttered a bit as his eyes moved beneath them and his lips parted ever so slightly. Joe Jack tilted the flask up, careful not to overrun the poor boy’s mouth or waste their last precious drops of water. A few drops escaped from the container and out of their intended target, falling to the dusty floor but a solid draught found its target.

Joe Jack sighed in relief as Mikey awakened in stages, first he swallowed the water, then his lids moved slightly open. He smiled at first, then began to cry in a low, shuddering moan. “I’m so hungry Joe Jack.”

“Joe Jack! You’re bleeding!” Samantha observed with a start, pausing her fanning for just a moment before resuming her cooling duty.

“Oh yeah, that, that’s nothing…” He paused, then laid Mikey down gently and made for the door in a hurry.

“Joe Jack, where you going?” Mikey seemed offended at the sudden apparent dismissal. Samantha joined his concern. “Joe Jack, what’s wrong?”

Several minutes passed with the two siblings sitting in confused and frightened silence. The sun was now passing from directly overhead and beginning its evening descent into the western portion of the sky, causing the shadows inside to grow and transform. Finally, Joe Jack entered once more through the shattered doorway, the afternoon sun shining behind him.

In his hand was the white shirt he had been wearing crumpled up into a large ball, angry stains growing across its already soiled surface. A giant smile painted his face as he plopped down beside Samantha and Mikey, dropping the shirt in front them as an offering. He opened the shirt and grabbed a handful of the contents, offering one up to Mikey’s mouth. “Here, it’s a blackberry! There’s a whole bunch of ‘em growing outside, they’re everywhere!”

Mikey accepted the berry. It felt to the young boy that the tangy sweet flavor of the berry physically invaded his mouth, forcefully removing the existing flavor of thirst and hunger. He could feel the sugar rush over him in waves. Slowly he sat up and reached for a handful of berries, looking weakly at his sister. His smile strengthened as he saw her face already covered in blackberry juice as she crammed berries into her mouth a handful at a time.

The immediate threat vanquished, the children settled in the cool shade of the barn, munching on blackberries, and relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever. Joe Jack smiled, beaming inside, as he admired the two young children and rode the grateful feeling of delivering them to this new home. As the sun began to fall in the evening sky, his mind moved to securing a spot for the three to rest overnight.

Tomorrow would bring new challenges, but Joe Jack was content to leave those challenges until tomorrow.