Heckel Casey by James Hoch Page B

awe.
    She didn't say a word, just busied herself preparing breakfast.
    "I hope you like scrambled eggs."
    "You have eggs? You have chickens?" I babbled in disbelief.
    She just smiled and continued cooking.
    "Okay, this is unbelievable. My mouth hasn't salivated like this…oh, heck, I don't…"
    "Just relax and enjoy," she said, handing me a plate with scrambled eggs, bacon and several hard crackers.
    "Sorry, there's no toast. I haven't found any yeast for a while to make bread."
    "No need to apologize. This is a feast," I said excitedly as I sat down at an old round oak table. I waited for Sela to join me. Jerky was purring loudly over by the counter. She was squatting in front of a large bowl of food. It wasn't just ordinary cat food. It was a mix of scrambled eggs, a few bits of bacon and some other scraps I didn't recognize. The cat, judging from the volume level of her purring, was clearly in the same food nirvana as I was.
    Sela sat down and asked me to say grace. Now that took me by surprise. I stumbled, cleared my thoughts and was about to say that I forgot how, when I remembered what my mom always said for the blessing. I cleared my throat and said the prayer of thanks. "Bless us, O Lord, for these Thy Gifts which we are about to receive from Thy Bounty through Christ, Our Lord. Amen."
    "Amen," she said softly and picked up her fork. "Dig in."
    A large lump welled up in my throat and a tear gently inched its way out of the corner of my eye. I sighed heavily and picked up my fork.
    "You all right?" Sela asked, putting her hand on my arm.
    "Just a little emotional, I guess."
    "Nothing that a bit of warm tasty eggs can't fix," Sela said smiling.
    That first taste of eggs sent wave after wave of pleasure. I closed my eyes and leaned my head slightly backward as if I were in some sort of hypnotic trance. I let the forkful of eggs sit on my tongue so that every taste bud could dance over the mound of eggs. Who would have ever thought that the incredible, edible egg would taste so remarkably fantastic? It was as if I were tasting lobster or filet mignon for the first time. I finally swallowed. Each subsequent bite was savored to the fullest.
    "Did you sleep well?" Sela asked as she mashed a few crackers into her eggs.
    "Like a rock. My back was particularly happy. How about you? I hope Jerky didn't hog the bed too much."
    "She kept my feet warm," she said, looking over at the cat. "Um, do you have any plans?"
    I shook my head, waiting to swallow a huge mouthful of food. "Not really. I just want to make it down to where it is warm for the winter. My goal is to eventually reach the coast of Oregon."
    "Why there?"
    Staring out the window at the blue sky, I shrugged my shoulders and confessed that I had no real reason. However, I explained that I just felt drawn to the area. "For about a year, there's been something inside me that keeps nudging me along. No, it's been more like a push."
    "Interesting. Any chance you'd…"
    A large rock came crashing into the window, breaking our conversation. Sela was up in a flash. Grabbing a rifle, she went to the front door. Looking around the room, she spotted a pair of binoculars. "Hand me those," she commanded.
    Passing her large Brunton binoculars, I whispered, "You said you haven't had any visitors in a while."
    "Correct. Hopefully, I can scare them off," she said, looking intently out the window.
    "See anything?"
    She didn't respond at first and then very slowly and softly announced, "I see three large assholes." She raised the rifle, looked through the scope and fired. A scream rang out across the front yard. She fired again. I grabbed the binoculars and saw two men running down the road.
    "They're gone," I said confidently.
    "They're never gone," Sela replied with a worried tone. "If they smelled food, they'll be back. Shit. This isn't good."
    I tried to assure her that everything would be fine and that she definitely scared them off. My efforts at calming her down didn't work. She