Eden's Hammer - By Lloyd Tackitt Page 0,3

to her grave, keeping it even from me in order to spare you that pain. She’s a damn good woman, and that would have eaten on her for the rest of her life. I’m sorry you had to find out, but at the same time I’m relieved that she doesn’t have to carry that.

“Speak of the devil. There they are now.” Roman said.

Roman and Sarah’s two children and their spouses—Jerry and his wife, Karen; and Shirley and her husband, Dave—came through the door, followed by their five children. Sarah came out of the kitchen to join in the homecoming. Adrian was happily surrounded by his cousins and nieces and nephews. Roman and Sarah had taken Adrian in after Adrian’s parents had been killed in a car crash when he was eight years old, and this was his family.

Jerry and Shirley, officially his cousins, were more like brother and sister to him, having lived with them for ten years. Adrian was two years older than Jerry and four years older than Karen. They looked up to him as a big brother. Hugs, kisses, and backslapping took over the room. When everyone found a place to sit, Adrian had to recount the events of the year he had been gone. Because some of the children were still quite young, Adrian omitted some of the facts about his war with the cannibals. He would fill his cousins in on the details later. The children were thrilled by the bear stories, and two of the littlest girls clapped their hands in delight when Adrian described the bear cubs. The boys were all secretly planning to make spears the next day and go hunting.

When Adrian finished his story, there was a long, comfortable silence. Adrian was soaking in his family’s warmth and their obvious love for him. It was a good feeling, the best feeling he had had since before Alice’s death. Finally, Adrian said, “I have to apologize to all of you for taking off like that; I know it wasn’t right. Well, I know it now; I didn’t then. At the time, I was hurting so bad that it was the only thing I could think to do, so I ran away and tried to hide in the mountains. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on ever coming back. If it hadn’t been for the circumstances I got into, I might have stayed hidden up there for years before I had enough sense to come back. I realize now that it was selfish to run off when all of you were hurting from her death, too. I can’t apologize enough.”

Shirley went to Adrian and gave him a big hug. With tears in her eyes, she said, “I know I speak for all of us when I say we know how much pain you were in. Alice was wonderful, we all loved her, and we all still miss her. There’s not a day goes by that she isn’t in our thoughts, and we talk of her often. The entire village loved her and still misses her. For you to lose the love of your life—and so soon after finding her—was devastating. Then to find out she was carrying your baby…well, no one here blames you a bit, or thinks any less of you for taking off.”

Adrian looked around the room. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and suddenly Shirley pulled him to his feet and everyone spontaneously gathered around for a family hug with him in the center. It was a delayed sharing of grief that staggered Adrian with its depth of emotion. He knew he had been a fool to run away from this much love and support, especially while they were hurting, too, and here he was, a year later, and they were sharing with him their love and understanding of his pain. Hot, scalding tears streamed down his face, and for the first time in his entire life, he wasn’t embarrassed to be seen crying.

MARCH 2, NIGHT

Later, when everyone had gone home and Sarah had gone to bed, Adrian asked Roman, “What about my men? Are they all still here?”

“All five of them, and they’re sound and healthy,” Roman replied. “They’ll be throwing you a party when they find out you’re back. They’ve heard about the bear cubs, so I expect you’ll get some heavy ribbing—not that you don’t deserve it. I’ll send the word to them after a bit.”

Adrian asked, “How about you and Aunt Sarah? How have you two