The sun streamed through the slats of the faded gray miniblinds creating rays of dust glittered light. Sam surveyed the room through watery eyes. Dust was her worst enemy when it came to her allergies. Speaking of minor annoyances... She stifled a sneeze and set Sheba's carrier down next to the sheet draped armchair. The cat was asleep, thankfully. She'd had a rough twenty four hours and Sam was not looking forward to dealing with an unhappy diva. After spending the night in her carrier then being returned to it for the trip to Lisa's house and the rough ride up the mountain to the cabin, she deserved a medal for not killing them all.
"I'll let you out in a minute your Highness." She answered the cat's insistent bleating, "Let me at least find your food dishes and spare litterbox. I'm pretty sure I put them in my room for storage." The only answer she received was a short bark.
The front door swung open as Riley kicked it, his arms were otherwise occupied carrying the front half of his baby brother. He stepped over the threshold, stumbling as his heel caught the metal. He stopped to adjust the weight of his brother's fur covered shoulders. Daniel had Caleb's back paws tucked under his right arm while supporting his hips. It wasn't an easy thing for a man of his age to be doing, but he wasn't about to let Riley try and carry the sleeping jaguar alone and risk opening his still healing wounds. He knew that his son wasn't as healed as he had tried to convince Samantha he was. He would need to shift and hunt to do that. Hopefully they had time. Thane wasn't one to give anyone a rest, especially his brothers.
There was a soft thud that stirred up more dust as Lisa dropped the tool box and their meager belongings just inside the door. "I grabbed Dad's tools incase anything needed to be fixed. I haven't been up here since his funeral. There's no telling what still works and what doesn't." Her voice broke as she forced the word funeral out.
She huffed, sending a stray strand of blonde hair up only to rest right back in her eyes. She went cross-eyed and wrinkled her nose. A look that garnered a chuckle from her sister. She stuck her tongue out in response, turning back to where the men were in the process of trying to lay the furry slinky on top of the dusty sheet covered couch.
"Wait a minute!" She darted the few steps across the room. "Let me move that!" She grabbed the sheet by one corner and pulled. It sent up a cloud of choking dust as it sank to the floor. Daniel coughed and nearly dropped Caleb's feet. Riley pitched forward and dumped his brother's shoulders on the brown leather couch as his already bruised ribs tightened painfully with each attempt not to cough. He sank to his knees resting his head on his brother's chest.
Daniel propped his son's paws on the couch, they hung off the end of the arm at an odd angle. He grinned through dusty tears as they slid off the slick leather and took the rest of Caleb with them, landing three hundred pounds of furry dead weight in Riley's lap.
Sam burst out laughing. Lisa sank to the floor next to Riley holding her sides. The girls' giggles were infectious. Riley found himself laughing despite the pain it caused him. His brother was going to be the death of him someday but it was good to hear their laughter. It released the tension from his battered muscles and eased the worry lines on his father's face. He lifted the big cat up enough to slide out from under him.
"Why don't we just leave him here? Let him wake up on the floor like a common house pet. It will serve him right for scaring us all half to death."
"Works for me." Sam dried her eyes with the back of her hand and shrugged. "He can keep the diva company while we do all the work." She held out a hand to help her sister up, "Lissie, help me get the rest of these sheets taken up. Then we can see what else needs cleaned to make this place livable to someone besides the dust bunnies." She turned back to Daniel, "Can you and Riley check the electrical box? The well house is out back as well. The pump should kick in automatically once you get the power on."
Sam had gone into full on mom mode. Lisa recognized that tone. Her sister was hiding exhaustion behind feigned control. She also heard a touch of their mother's steel underlying it. It made her inner child cringe involuntarily. She couldn't even begin to think about what their mother would have thought about all of this. Nothing good she was pretty sure.
The fluorescent lights in the kitchen came on with a steady hum when Sam flipped the switch on the wall. Well at least some things still work around here. Sam walked across the tile floor and knelt down to check the water heater. She heard the satisfying slosh of the tank filling up as Riley primed the pump out back. She grabbed the camp lighter from the shelf inside the closet to light the pilot with a little whoosh. There'd be plenty of hot water for showers soon. She sighed at the thought.
A hiss from the living room brought her running back into the room. She was just in time to see Lisa jump between Sheba and Caleb's still prone form with a broom at the ready.
"I thought letting her out would be a good thing, but she seems hell bent on tearing him to pieces while he can't defend himself." Lisa frowned, raising the broom for another round.
Sheba hissed again and attempted to jump around the offending broom. Lisa defended her charge like a pro goalie, catching the cat in midair with the flat of the corn bristles. She dropped to the floor and glared at Lisa, but did not attack again.
Sheba meowed mournfully as her person swooped in to manhandle her away from the prone usurper in front of the couch. How dare they allow another cat in her house.
She was still growling as Sam dropped her in the center of the big bed in her parent's room. "You can stay in here until you either calm down, or Caleb wakes up. I have enough to worry about right now without you trying to assert your authority over someone who can't defend themselves." She shook her finger at the furry lump, not that it did any good. Ms. Diva had turned her back to busy herself kneading the blanket. Sam sighed and left the room. She locked the door on her way through and pocketed her mom's key ring again.
There was a rush of air through the vents in the floor as the long silent AC unit kicked on. It pushed a dusty, frozen odor up that made Sam's nose wrinkle. At least it was working. That was something going right for a change.
Making her way back to the kitchen, she stood at the kitchen sink and stared out of the window. The view down the path to the lake should have made her happy. So many memories were wrapped up in this place.
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