Protect The Heart by LK Hunsaker

Abraham slung his backpack over his shoulders and headed down the dusty road toward town. His father asked to take him. Begged, nearly. But Abe didn’t want his goodbye, which could be his final goodbye, to be at the train depot. He wanted it at home, on their farm, where by all rights he should have been helping with chores. His father would manage without him. He had always managed. Even through the torturous years of watching Abraham’s mother drift away through the mind-dissolving dementia and then finally leave them for good, his father had managed.

Abraham hoped with every part of his soul he would return to the farm, to his father, and be there to help him manage during his aging days. It would be soon. Charles Luchner showed signs of slowing. It hurt Abe to see it. It would hurt him more to have to see his father watch him leave on that train, standing on the platform managing to control his sadness, his fear.

At the edge of his property, he kicked a rock out of his path. The long walk into town would do him good, help him prepare for what was to come. Not that he wasn’t prepared already. Constant farm chores without machinery to make them easier had built his strength and stamina well. Days of rising before the roosters to take care of the crops and the cows, and to move lines in bitter cold air and knee deep snow and in the hottest times of the summer made him sturdy. He didn’t figure war would be much harder, physically. What he wasn’t sure of was how disruptive it would be to his mind. He had no qualm about fighting as needed. He was raised to stand up for himself and those around him and did so without hesitation. And now he was proud to do it for his country. He’d never actually taken a life, though. He knew how to avoid that risk during a fight.

His father told him to be someone else out there, to tell himself he was doing good and that sometimes evil was necessary to prevent worse evil. “Never let it make you feel bad about who you are.” Charles Luchner’s voice echoed in his thoughts. “Remember your heart is in the right place and that’s what matters.” Lives came and went. They always would. The heart is what lasted. Protect the heart, he’d said.

Abraham adjusted his backpack in an imitation of adjusting his thoughts and wondered how soon his father would find the wood carving at the back side of the house. He’d done it in secret as a message for when he wasn’t there. A heart. Enclosed within hands inside an image of the farm, their farm. Abe engraved it in the back of the wooden bench swing he’d made while he kept it hidden in a corner of the barn. His father loved to sit out behind the house on nice days and simply look over their land, land passed through generations of his family, worked by many hands who loved their bit of America, as his father said. Before he left, Abe wanted him to have a more comfortable place to do it; a place that would leave a part of himself behind for his father to keep. He’d moved it out to the yard just as dawn was breaking.

As he walked, he eyed the light echo of misty mountains in the distance. There weren’t many trees in Snake River country, at least not in his part of it, in southern Idaho. What were there were rather sparse, as compared to what he’d seen during his travels back east. His father had sent him to see something of the country after he earned his diploma and before he settled in to learn how to take over the farm. Abraham’s thoughts often returned to the long train trip where he jumped off here and there to explore different territories and different people. As much as he loved the travel, he also loved the return to his mountains. To his farm. One day, it would be his. One day after that, he would share it with a family of his own. Anyway, that was his plan.
If he returned.

Tires flying up the gravel road from behind broke his thoughts and he moved into the yellowed weeds. They needed rain. But then, they usually needed rain.

The car stopped. “Get in.”

Abe sighed and looked over at Cameron. He wanted the long walk into town to be alone with his thoughts, to be alone in the circle of his mountains.

“Come on. What’re you walking for, anyway? Old man wouldn’t take you in?”

“He tried. Go on. I’ll meet you in town.”

“Have you lost your marbles? Don’t think we’ll get enough walking when we’re shipped out? Get in.” Cameron reached over to open the passenger door.

It would be pointless to argue. His friend was too stubborn. Abe threw his pack in the back seat and lowered into the front.

“So this should be some grand adventure, hey?” Cam threw the car back into gear and skidded the gravel. “A few nights in town and then off on a hero’s journey. Can’t wait to show up at Maura’s in this uniform. Bet she’ll give in to me when she sees it’s going to be real. Don’t you bet?”

“Don’t know, Cam. Haven’t met her but from what you’ve said, I’d have my doubts.”

“Aw, but she’s just scared I won’t come back, you know. And when she sees that could really be, when I show up looking like a real soldier, she’ll wanta make sure we at least have a couple days. Right?”

Abraham didn’t bother to answer. Nothing he said would matter. If Cameron hadn’t taken Maura’s hints by now, more than hints from the way it sounded, he wouldn’t take them from Abe, either. The girl didn’t want a soldier. She wanted someone who would be around. Abe couldn’t blame her.

“So come on up to her place with me. You should meet, you know. It’s about time you did, as you’re my best friend and she’s my best girl…”

“I’m your only friend, and my guess is she’s not your only girl, which could be part of her objection.”

Cam laughed. “That’s Abe. Always too blunt. No wonder you don’t have a girl. They don’t like that. You gotta learn to sweet talk.”

“Some girl might want blunt instead of roundabout truths that sound good.”

“Yeah, maybe. But not the kind I want.” He turned a corner too sharp.

Abe grabbed the dash. “Why are you in uniform already? We aren’t supposed to be. Not till we’re officially signed and sworn.”

“Didn’t you hear me at all? I’m going to go sweep my gal off her feet. Gotta look real.”

Maybe you should be real instead. Abe didn’t say it. He knew he should say it. But he didn’t. Instead, he watched the horizon, the tumbleweeds drifting in the browned flat fields, the cows in the dairy farm they passed with its odor lingering along with them. The town was barely within his view now, the grain silo at its edge a beacon of sorts.

The day before, he’d spent time along the canyon, wandering its edge, peering down the jagged rocks where not much more than a trickle of water snaked along the bottom of the wide crevice. There wasn’t much water this time of year. The way the little bit of it that went through had dredged such a huge canyon in its wake was a magical thing in Abe’s mind. He’d carved images of it now and then, in tree trunks that ended up shaped like the canyon, at least to some extent. One of them he’d sold to a bank in town. They’d topped it with a piece of thick glass, put the thing on legs, and used it as a welcome table just inside the entrance, complete with a plaque stating the “artist’s” name.

Abe didn’t feel like an artist and so it was kind of embarrassing when people made note of it and asked him what he’d done recently. He liked wood. He liked working with his hands. He loved nature. And so the wood carvings just slipped out. He’d sold a couple of other pieces, smaller, that became wall hangings or shelf decorations. He didn’t charge much. His father said he should increase his price, as much as people liked his work. But he would do it even if no one bought it, so he figured getting a few dollars here and there for things he didn’t know what to do with as he finished them was good enough.
He had packed his carving tools, though. He hoped they’d be allowed to travel with him. If not, he’d drop them by the bank to be returned to his father next time he was in town.

Charles Luchner would have to go to town more often since Abe wasn’t there to go for him. The thought made his heart heavy. Father didn’t like going into town, not since Mother had become not herself and people start to stare and treat her differently. Father couldn’t see those people without it reminding him.

Abe wasn’t bothered by it. They were only concerned or confused. Or maybe they were afraid if it could happen to such a beautiful, intelligent soul as Annette Luchner, it could just as easily happen to them and they didn’t want to face it. Maybe going into town on a regular basis would be good for his father. He needed to talk to people more, other than the few long-time friends who stopped by or whom he visited. Abe was at least glad his father would still have them.

“Hey, hello. Why do I think I’m talking to myself?”

Abe threw a questioning gaze at Cam as the car came to a stop in front of a diner.

“Didn’t hear a word I said, did you? You gotta stop that, Abe, or people will think you’re going nuts already like your mother. You’re too young for that. Although I know it’s just ‘cause you’re too into your own thoughts. Others won’t know.”

“She wasn’t nuts.” He opened the door, got out, and grabbed his pack from the back. “I’ll meet up with you…”

“Hey, come on. I know she wasn’t.” Cam caught up and took his arm. “Put it back for now.” He gripped Abe’s pack and threw it in the car. “We’re going to eat. I plan to eat hearty the next few days while I can and you’re going to join me.”

“I ate before I left.”

“Yeah, sure ya did. But I mean really eat. Thick steak. Beer. The whole thing. We deserve this. And I’m buying so don’t argue.”

“No need for that. I’ve got money saved.”

“I know you do, but my guess is I’ll need favors before long so I’m paying for them now.”

“I’m your friend, Cam. You don’t have to buy my favors.”

A woman walking past threw a surprised glance at his statement.

Cam laughed. “Great, now we’re even more hooked together in their minds. Buy my favors. What a riot. That’ll be everywhere by tonight.”

With a sigh, Abe knew his friend was right. But they all knew Abe well. It would be no more than a laugh, even if they weren’t so sure of Cameron.

His family was new in the area, up from somewhere in California, and Cameron’s rash decisions and joking nature made it hard for locals to understand him. Without understanding him, they couldn’t quite accept him into their midst other than with the general friendliness they showed everyone.

It didn’t help matters that Cameron’s family dressed their part. They had money. So did lots of folks around, but most didn’t show it. They were farmers, hatchery owners, store managers, and so on, but you had to know who had the money in order to tell. They all dressed casual and comfortable, ready for work at the drop of a hat. Of course, the bankers and such were dressed for the job, but still, you’d be hard-pressed to tell an owner from a teller if you didn’t know.

Abe appreciated that. So did the rest of the area. Cam’s family showed too much, boasted too much. Dressed nice just to grocery shop. Because of it, few locals gave them more courtesy than the time of day.

Cam chose a table front and center, shoulders back boasting in his uniform he shouldn’t have been wearing. It worked, though. Everyone stopped to talk to him at least long enough to wish him well and a safe return. They wished Abe well, also, even if he wasn’t in uniform. They all knew.

~~ ~~ ~~
{ Not convinced yet? Go to Chapter Two and meet Maura! }