Walker: Surrender

Chapter 9

Getting down the stairs proved to be just as difficult as getting up them as Maddie slowly navigated her way down from the bedrooms to the lower floor again. When she reached her chair she sank into it with relief, taking a moment to catch her breath. She had really, really pushed herself much too hard getting up and down that flight of stairs. 'Won't be doing that again in a hurry.' She murmured softly as she rested in her chair. It was a miracle that she hadn't fallen. Then again, she had been holding onto that handrail for dear life. That was the only good thing that had come out of her not being able to walk. She'd gotten a nice set of arm muscles.

Stella, August and Todd were long gone by now as she wheeled herself out of the house and onto the porch. Liam was working on something on one of the workbenches, her uncle looking up for a moment as she came over.

'Maddie. Didn't notice you were around.'

'Yeah. Had to speak with Stella before they left for town.' Maddie replied. 'What are you working on?'

'Just cleaning up some of these old signs. You can help if you like.'

'Might as well.' She picked up the sponge he handed to her. 'Got nothing else to do.'

Liam chuckled a little at that. 'I thought you'd want to be out riding on a nice day like this. Come to think of it, I haven't seen you ride since...' His voice trailed off as he washed out the sponge again before returning to work on the sign.

Maddie shrugged. 'Just haven't felt like riding. Besides, it's been too hot anyway.'

'Fair enough. You do make a point there. Maybe we should go for a swim in the pool later.'

'Yeah, we'll see...'

Silence fell as they both worked together to clean off the signs, the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive catching their attention. It was Cordell returning, her father reversing the truck up to the house before he got out, grabbing a couple bags out from the tray.

'Hey. How we looking on snacks--' Liam started, looking over at his brother. 'is there anything I can do to help?'

'Got it all squared away.' Cordell replied, holding up a couple bags. 'Uh, Augie's not gonna like it, but we're playing all of Stella's greatest hits.'

'Ah, well, little brothers, you know? They're used to getting the short end of the stick.'

'I wouldn't say that.' He came over to join them on the porch, taking a look at what they were working on. 'I would just say that August and Stella are dealing with change in their own ways. We all are. Isn't that right Maddie?'

'I guess.' She replied with a shrug. 'Sure gonna be different not having Stella around.'

'Right.' Liam agreed. 'You know, I haven't even heard Stella say a word about Oregon lately.'

'Exactly. Augie can't shut up about it. Mostly about getting a bigger room.'

'Yeah.' He wiped his hands dry on a nearby rag. 'It's their own ways.'

Cordell nodded. 'Their own ways.'

'Hey, um...' After taking a glance at Maddie and seeing she was still working on the sign, Liam walked closer to Cordell. 'You said it would get easier...' He started softly, his voice lowered so Maddie couldn't hear their conversation. 'With time, not talking about it in there, but it hasn't.'

'It will, just stick with it.' He replied optimistically, hearing another vehicle pulling up behind him. 'Listen, Cassie's here.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Liam nodded. 'We-we can talk about it more on the road trip.'