Remnants

Heirloom Gear

The remainder of Henry and Aly's transformative day and the next day were spent preparing for the mission. Henry and Aly had both been shown the routine patrol routes and were instructed to conduct their routine patrols at random intervals to prevent onlookers from determining a pattern. Anya would leave her horse behind for Aly to ride while Henry would ride a horse with similar coloring to George as Jack refused to leave his trusted companion behind.

Gate guards in the village were only given the information that Henry and Aly would be posing as Jack and Anya until further notice and that they should behave as though the decoys were really the master and apprentice out on exercises and patrols. As Evan had mentioned, their ruse would be unlikely to work on the residents of their village but the intent was to throw off any outside spies with only general descriptions of the Journeymen.

As Evan and Jase had already done, Jack chose his attire for the mission strategically. Rather than dressing like a hunter, he wore a plate carrier stacked with magazines for Anya's AK-47 that he would be carrying and likely using in emergencies. He also did his best to match the clothes of the man he was replacing, wearing an athletic style OD green long sleeved shirt and OD green cargo pants to match his more tactical looking plate carrier. He refused to leave his scout rifle behind and instead had it in a scabbard mounted on George's saddle.

Anya was significantly less satisfied with her wardrobe for the mission. Begrudgingly, she agreed to borrow dresses from Liza to wear while also packing a set of more practical clothing in case she needed it. The only way that the team going on the mission had talked Anya into wearing dresses was that she would also wear combat boots. She also donned a pair of elastic biker shorts under the dress to prevent her father's pistol and Ka-Bar knife that were strapped to her legs under her flowing dress from chafing against her skin. Next to her seat on the wagon, Anya rigged a position to mount her sawed off Obrez to give her quick access to heavier, close range firepower.

Evan had also elected to hide another weapon on the wagon that he had brought all the way from his district in what had been southern Colorado. Anya saw Jack's eyes light up in a way she had never seen before when Evan showed them his secret weapon. Hidden in a long compartment in the bottom of Liza's wagon, Evan had brought along a Barrett M82a1 .50 caliber rifle. As he had said it was being brought along, "Just in case the mission goes from a recon mission to a sabotage mission." Anya would have called Jack's reaction to being told that he would be the one to operate it as childlike glee.

Jack was missing one crucial part of his gear on the final evening before their departure. Having supplied Aly with his body armor that had pouches for AK pattern magazines, he needed magazine pouches for the carrier he would be wearing on the mission. He had only been able to think of one person in the village who would have an unused set. Anya insisted on joining him on his trip to borrow them.

The two Journeymen elected to walk. It was not far and by this point, they had plenty of time. As they reached the house Anya sighed deeply before stepping onto the property. It was laid out similarly to all the other homes in the village. Almost every square foot of available space was cultivated for gardening. A small orchard of fruit trees that had only just begun to produce a good harvest of fruit within the last year were starting to get their green leaves back after winter. Chickens roamed the yard, searching for whatever food they could find.

Walking up the driveway, they were met by a dog whining with excitement at the possibility of visitors. Right before it reached the approaching humans, the dog dipped its shoulder and rolled into the belly up position and awaited the appropriate toll for entry to the small homestead.

"Hey, Bandit," Anya said as she crouched down and scratched the dog's belly with both hands.

Wiggling with excitement, the blue heeler, named for the dark colored fur around its eyes in the shape of a mask, let his tongue loll out to the side and wagged his tail against the worn concrete of the driveway. She stayed for a moment, lingering in the peaceful simplicity of time spent with a dog. Giving two final firm, loving pats and scratching the kind dog's cheek, Anya stood up and nodded at Jack.

Bandit shifted into a sitting position and waited, expectantly looking up at Jack. Kneeling down, Jack affectionately scratched behind the dog's ears. Their immediate task now complete, Anya and her master now approached the door of the house. Jack knocked politely and they were soon met by Sam Thornhill at the door.

"Jack, Anya, how's it going?" he asked with a smile.

Jack answered for the pair, "We're good. We were actually hoping to see Sherry. I'm wanting to borrow something of Chuck's."

Sam nodded, contemplatively, "Yeah she's around somewhere. I think I can hear her in the kitchen, its almost supper time. Come on in, guys."

Jack and Anya stepped in, Anya giving Sam a hug. As they broke from the hug, Sam closed the front door behind them. He looked from Jack to Anya knowingly.

"I heard about what Aly and Henry are doing and that you two will be leaving town. Jack, I will be happy to take Aly out to the trap line every day if I need to. I promise I won't let anything happen to her if I'm with her," he said.

Anya had no doubt that there was anything but truth in his statement. Sam understood the pain of losing what he cared for while he was away and the apprentice felt sure that one of her oldest friends would keep his promise. Jack nodded and shook Sam's hand.

"Thanks, Sam. I feel better knowing people will be watching out for her," he said.

"Jack and Anya, to what do we owe the pleasure of having both of you visit at the same time?" Anya heard a familiar voice ask from the kitchen.

Sherry emerged from the kitchen, wiping sweat from her brow with her wrist. Her straight black hair was tied back in a hasty bun and she wore shorts and a t-shirt to handle being in the kitchen while cooking. Without air conditioning, cooking indoors had become an exceptionally warm endeavor.

"Hey, Sherry. I was actually hoping to borrow some of Chuck's magazine pouches for my plate carrier," Jack said as he pulled his best friend's widow in for a side hug.

Sherry held him at her side as she replied. "Oh yes of course you can. For whatever this secret mission is, I assume. I talked to Aly yesterday. It's crazy how much she and Anya look alike now."

Anya laughed at Sherry's statement, "Yeah, I keep seeing her from behind and thinking I'm having some out of body experience. I think it's freaking Jack out a little bit."

Jack raised an eyebrow at her, "Maybe it startled me a little bit when I woke up next to her this morning. If it wasn't so temporary, it would take a lot of getting used to."

"How temporary?" Sherry asked knowingly, still holding an arm around Jack's waist.

"Only a couple weeks. Maybe a little bit longer."

"And I assume I can't know anything," Sherry said.

"That's right. Sorry, the less people that know, the better. Make sure and squash any rumors you might hear too."

"Of course," Sherry said.

She paused and looked up at Jack and then looked over to Anya. When their eyes met, she could see that Sherry's eyes were brimmed with tears. The timeline had probably sounded all too familiar to the mourning woman. The sorrowful eyes suddenly became hardened and intent, still wet with tears that had not yet fallen. She looked back to Jack and squeezed him with her arm.

"You two better be safe and you had better come back. Do you understand?"

"We understand," Jack said, giving Sherry's shoulder a reassuring squeeze with his hand.

Anya felt her eyes grow wet with tears and she did everything she could to blink them down. Her bottom lip began to quiver so she bit it between her teeth. She looked down at the floor, unable to look at the woman who had been left widowed by the last mission. The woman whose children had been left fatherless. The resilient soldier's wife who had lived through the nightmare of saying "see you in two weeks," only to never see him again.

"Alright, let's get those pouches. Are they for AK magazines?" Sherry asked, wiping her eyes and separating from the hug to take care of the business at hand.

"Yes ma'am, they are," Jack said as he followed her.