Beaches

Part 11

The gulls circled overhead, screeching a warning to one another that they were there. In the distance Jacob could hear waves rushing the beach. The ground fell away in a long slope that wore on his tired legs. At the bottom of the hill he turned right and stopped at the stone wall to shift Emma into a more comfortable position on his back. Her small hands grasped his shoulders as if she thought he might drop her.

He tried to remember the last time they had come to the beach together. He had still been young enough to play games with her, his patience with his big sister seemingly inexhaustible. Then had come puberty and girls and parties. She had become an embarrassment.

The sun was high by the time they crested the hill and the path turned to sand. He stopped to rest and reflect on how much had changed. First his grandmother, then his grandfather. Then the virus and the end of the world. Now he was back, and he had Emma again.

It was three weeks since he had learned that his sister was still alive. The nightmares hadn't troubled him since.

She moved restlessly on his back, feeling the sun on her face and tasting salt on the wind. Her body tensed with excitement, he was learning to read her again; she wanted to be down on the beach and he did too.

He went carefully down the stone steps, moving to make Emma more comfortable and hoping that he didn't slip and drop her. Rosemary was waiting for them at the bottom. She helped Emma down, a throaty laugh echoing across the empty shore. Emma got to her feet and wobbled away to investigate something that had caught her eye.

Jacob stood beside Rosemary and watched. He didn't know how long they could stay there, the future was a mystery, but he knew that they were together and that was all that mattered.