Saying Goodbye
Carol woke up early to the smell of coffee. Daryl had brought home a case of the brown gold after a run in December and they only brewed a pot on special occasions. He must have known that she would need several cups of coffee to get through this day. Grandma Lydia was being buried today after a service in the white clapboard church just down the mountain. She had her funeral plans in her nightstand and had given them to Emily before she started her round of visitors yesterday.
Daryl poured Carol a cup of coffee when she came into the kitchen. "Sit down and have some breakfast before you get started," he said as she took the cup from him. Carol took the cup but stopped to kiss him good morning before she sat down to toast and jelly. She bit her lip as she looked at the jelly. Grandma Lydia had given them the jelly when they moved in and has written the recipe on a welcome to the mountain card. Carol had kept the card not just because it had the jelly recipe but because it was from Grandma Lydia, the first person to welcome them to the mountain and who had opened the doors literally and figuratively to a happier life.
Daryl sat down beside her and she leaned on his shoulder for a few minutes. "Eat your breakfast, sweetheart. Gotta have some fuel to get through this." Daryl had read the funeral plans. Grandma Lydia was using her own death to start the campaign to rally the mountain to defend itself. The three cousins were going to be busy today.
Eugene came downstairs and got a cup of coffee and some toast. He kept stealing glances at Carol and she knew he was struggling to articulate his feelings. Eugene finally said, "I am sorry, Carol." Then he began to eat.
Morgan came downstairs and Carol saw him look at the jelly and then moved to stare out into the gray dawn. Morgan had adored Lydia. He was always going over to her house to do chores and coming back with some treat that she had given him.
Carol finished her breakfast and went to see the children. There was a rocking chair in the room and she sat for a few minutes looking at them. Matthias had kicked off his covers and he was just waking up. He crawled out of bed and went toward her. He stood in front of her and she gathered him into her lap and he went back to sleep as she rocked him. His hair stuck out in all directions and she smoothed it down as she held him. Carol watched Alia as she slept. These two children were worth whatever she had to do to keep them safe.
Alia turned over and opened her eyes. She was always alert when she woke up. Alia jumped out of bed and came toward Carol, "I missed you, Mommy".
Carol scooted over in the chair and Alia moved in beside her, "I know, baby. I have to be busy today too. I am sorry that I can't be home but your daddy is going to take care of you and Matthias today."
Alia asked, "Did Grandma Lydia die?"
Carol answered, "Yes, she is going to be buried this afternoon. I have to do some visiting this morning but I'll be back before the service. Are you hungry? Daddy is in the kitchen. Go to the bathroom and I'll put Matthias back to bed."
Carol went back to her room and finished getting ready for the morning. Emily and Jesse were having a cup of coffee with Michonne and Morgan when she came out again. Daryl was feeding both children. She bent and kissed them, "You two taste like jelly." They both grinned at her and she felt that rush of love that had no bounds.
Emily and Jesse finished their coffee and they started off in Jesse's jeep. They were going to visit every home on the mountain to tell them that Lydia had passed and the funeral would be at two o'clock.
Jesse drove down a rutted muddy road to the first house and beeped on the horn. There was a high fence around the farmhouse and barn. Jesse and Emily got out and stood by the jeep and waited. Soon a man and a woman appeared on the porch and the three cousins ventured closer. Emily called out, "Grandma Lydia died last night and we are having her funeral at the church at two o'clock today."
The man said, "She was a fine woman and we'll be there to pay our respects. I am sorry for your loss but she is in a better place. Do you have time to come in and have something to eat or drink?"
Emily said, "We'll just come in for a minute."
The house was immaculate and the couple's two sons looked to be in their teens to Carol. Emily introduced Carol to Carsel and Jane Spencer. Carsel had looked at Carol, "You look like Nancy McAllister. She gave us the money to build the fence and told us to stock up on things we really needed." Carsel looked at her carefully, "Do you have it? Do you have the sight?"
Carol took a deep breath. She did like a man who just came out and said what was on his mind. Jane was making a little clucking sound that was obviously her way to reprove her husband's impolite manners. "I am just getting it. It scares me sometimes."
Carsel nodded, "It'd scare the shit out of me. You probably always had it a little but with Nancy and Lydia passing then you and Emily will inherit it." He looked at her intently, "Nancy saved us by telling us we needed stronger fences, what are you going to make us do?"
Carol flushed, "You'd have some Coulter in you I guess." The man was startlingly perceptive.
Carsel laughed, "My mother was a cousin to Nancy and Lydia". Their eyes met and Carol smiled. He was kin indeed. Carsel nodded, "Now what are you going to make us do?"
Carsel took Jane's hand and they waited together. Carol took another deep breath, "There's a war lord coming in the spring. He is wearing an army uniform and his henchman all wear the uniform of American soldiers. They will burn our houses, enslave us, and take our boys to be soldiers." Her eyes went to the boys who were listening intently and back to their parents. "We have to be ready to defend ourselves under one flag. They have taken the American flag and dishonored it. We must take it from them and make it ours again. They must be stopped here before they get any stronger."
"You mean to raise an army out of these hardscrabble farmers?" Carsel had seen his death in Carol's eyes. He and Jane were destined to die when the army came to his farm. They would try to slow down the soldiers so that the boys could get out the back and it wouldn't work. They would become groaners and the soldiers would laugh at them as they raided their supplies and burned down their home. Then they would leave them to wander the land aimlessly trapped in dead flesh.
Carol knew that he had seen what she had. It was in his eyes and voice and she hastened to give him hope, "Hardscrabble famers and their families are tough enough to survive if they join together. They defeated the British army one time and they can vanquish this enemy." She paused a second, "If they work together." Their eyes met again and this time they shared a vision of raising the American flag over Adair courthouse. There was another flag there, just under it, a blue flag with a gold plowshare and a sword it. There was a crowd gathered at the courthouse to raise the flag and Carsel and Jane were holding hands and standing beside their sons as the flags rose into a blue sky.
Carsel stood up abruptly and moved to this two sons standing between them. "We'll be with you, Carol. You're thinking we need to get started now? I'll talk with my sister and her husband before the funeral today. He served in Iraq. He'll be on our side."
Jesse and Emily exchanged a what the hell look. Their kindly cousin was morphing into a warrior woman before their eyes. Grandma Lydia's death had unleashed the latent power in Carol and she had stepped up to embrace it.
The morning passed quickly, a blur of houses and people. They shared the news and issued an invitation to the funeral. A good many of them commented on how much Carol looked like Nancy and there was an unspoken question in their eyes. "Do you have it? Do you have the sight?"
Carol barely spoke to the other two. She was lost in her own thoughts and they didn't disturb her. Carol had shared a vision with Carsel. She realized that Emily had more sight than she was willing to accept. Nancy's power was stronger than Lydia's but it was always stronger when you opened up your power to another sighted person. Emily was denying her power and so was Jesse who had a portion himself. They would need all of their combined sight to defeat the army headed their way.
They were on their way back to Carol's house before she initiated a conversation. "You have it too. We are given this gift so that we can survive. Don't deny it and don't defy it. You are good people and we can use it to what must be done. We are more powerful linked together than apart."
Jesse pulled the jeep into the parking lot of the church. He sighed and twisted in his seat and finally spoke, "We need to start taking runs to get supplies with the people who live in those houses. They need to start interacting with each other. They need to see the world outside of this mountain and come to understand that men like the General kill everyone in their way."
Carol shivered when Jesse called the man in the uniform "General". That was what she called him in her mind.
Emily spoke, "I have a degree in agriculture and I need to start sharing that. I can work with those families to increase their food supply. We need to find safe houses away from here so that we can move the children out of here when the fighting comes. We need a group that cares for the children and the other that fights the General and his army."
Carol linked her hands with her cousins the way she had last night as they waited for the death angel to come for Lydia. They closed their eyes and Carol could feel the power flow through all of three of them.
They quickly turned loose of each other's hands and laughed. Jesse snickered, "I guess we'll have to find a way to close off our personal lives when we link up. I just found out way more than I needed to know about your sex lives. I mean I am glad that your needs are being met and all. Moderation is all things. Just saying".
Emily and Carol both blushed scarlet and avoided each other's eyes. Emily finally said, "What happens in linkup, stays in link-up. I am shutting that door next time and concentrating on what we need to keep these people alive. I think I am going to go home and take a cold shower before the funeral or find Brian."
The others snickered and Jesse started the jeep, "I am taking you two dirty girls home to your men. I hope the twins are asleep when I get home."
Michonne and Morgan took Matthias and Alia to visit the horses at McKenzie Farm and Daryl decided to take a shower while they were gone. They would need a bath when they got back. He was just taking off his clothes in the bathroom when he heard Carol call out, "Where is everyone?"
"I'm in here, sweetheart," Daryl answered and Carol came into the bathroom. "Morgan and Michonne took the kids to look at the horses."
Carol smiled at him and said, "They won't be gone long, let's not waste any time." She began stripping her clothes off. Next time they would shut down those doors but there was a surprise bonus to this linkup. She was incredibly horny. She wouldn't be able to look at Brian and Temperance in the eye for a while but she wasn't wasting feeling this either. Cold shower? No way.
Daryl stripped off his pants and boxers. "Come on, girl. Show me what you've got?"
It was a challenge and Carol turned and locked the bathroom door. "Daryl, you have no idea what I've got. She kissed him and put her hands on his ass and rubbed them lovingly. "I do so love you". She slapped his ass cheeks then.
Daryl felt the sting and his erection at the same time, and he grabbed one of the towels and spread it out on the flood and pulled her down with him. Last night she needed sweet slow loving and it looked like today she needed something else.
She was quickly aroused but kept holding him off. Denying them both satisfaction as the need for it increased until she was ready and then she allowed him inside her fully and he denied himself the quick thrusts that would send them both over. He thrust deeply and slowly just to feel the pain-pleasure of holding back. Finally he allowed himself to answer her tempo to bring them both to a crying out finish.
Afterward, they lay in a puddle of their clothing and towels. "I don't know if I can let you hang around with those cousins of yours. You come back with all sorts of ideas". Daryl figured she would give a smart ass answer to his "let" statement and he was planning to hold her down and tickle her as a retaliation.
Carol grinned at him, "Let's take a shower before the children get back."
TWDTWDTWD
The cousins were at the church by 1:15. Grandma Lydia's coffin had been brought over at noon. It was a simple oak box that Brian and John had put together yesterday and this morning. The cousins shook every hand and were hugged by every person and told a hundred times that they were sorry for their loss and that Grandma Lydia was in a better place.
The rest of their families walked in before 2:00. Carol and Daryl had discussed whether their children were too young, but Daryl had wanted them to see Grandma Lydia in her coffin. "They don't need to think that dying makes you a walker. She won't look that different to them." He held Alia and she held Matthias for a quick peek before the coffin was closed.
Elijah played "I'll Fly Away" on the church piano as a congregational song. He stood in front of the coffin and sang "Wayfaring Stranger" a capella. There was not a dry eye in the church when he was finished.
Emily spoke next. She told some family stories about the mischief that Nancy and Lydia had gotten into when they were young. "They were as full of life when they got old as when they were young. They faced hardships and trouble like everyone else but they always had a good time. Nancy shared her children and grandchildren with Lydia. We grew up on this mountain with two grandmothers who loved us and they loved you. They set an example for us to follow; love each other and share your lives with others. I will always miss Grandma Nancy and Grandma Lydia but I know that somewhere they are happy to be back together."
Jesse was next, "It has taken me a long time but I have finally gotten home. I have lived all over the world but only this place, this mountain, and these people are my home. Grandma Lydia never gave up hope that I would straggle in someday. There were time that I didn't think I could go another mile and in those times I was sure that there wasn't anyone left up here. I felt her calling me home in those times. I couldn't see how she could still be alive after seeing what this world had turned into, but I would still feel this pull to keep going. I have come home and I will never leave again. I will do whatever it takes to keep this place. So I am here to thank her for never giving up on me. I loved her and I will always miss her. My cousin Carol found her way here and she will speak next."
Carol had never given a speech. Most of her life had been spent being quiet and not attracting attention. She stood up on shaky legs and released her grip on Daryl's hand. She went to the podium and looked out at the assembled people.
Daryl thought that she looked beautiful. The high windows of the church were allowing the afternoon sun to strike her and turn her hair into almost a halo. She didn't look like an angel though; she looked powerful and sad all at the same time. The crowd was absolutely silent and even the babies were still.
Carol began, "I am new to these mountains. My father was Michael McAllister and he was killed before I was born. I never knew my grandmother Nancy McAllister and I didn't have much time to know Grandma Lydia, but I loved her from the moment I met her."
"She accepted me as her own. She had this endless capacity to love even the long lost and never known granddaughter who just showed up on this mountain one winter day. She opened her heart and her home to me and I'll forever be grateful to her for that. She managed to live in this world with grace and courage. She gave me more than a place to stay. Lydia gave me the courage to accept my birthright as a Coulter woman with the sight."
Carol looked around the crowd. There was murmuring and whispering and she saw Carsel nod at her. He understood that this was more than a funeral. They were laying Grandma Lydia to rest but there was no rest for the living. They would have to struggle on to survive.
"She and Nancy had used their sight to warn you of what was coming. Your lives are a testament to their love for you. She warned me before she passed that another danger is on its way. She couldn't go to her rest without giving a warning. She loved us all that much. We are going to face this challenge with the courage that kept us alive at the turn."
"We are their legacy. They are gone from us now, but they left so much behind. I saw those fences today and you have told me the stories of how you managed to survive. Those stories are their legacy. We are the remnant left in this world to rebuild it into a better place. God had left us here for that reason and I say this to you in His house. He isn't finished with us yet. We will leave a legacy behind that will bless our children's children." Carol finished with that and the church said as one body. "Amen".
There was one last song, Beth and Elijah sang "Beulah Land". Brian gave the closing prayer. The pallbearers were John, Carl, Greg, Bree, and Arya. The coffin wasn't heavy and they carried it to the horse drawn wagon and hoisted it up. Brian drove the wagon and the pallbearers rode with him.
Most of the people went on home then. They had chores to do and things to take care before it got dark. The others walked to the family cemetery for the internment service. It was simple. They sang "Amazing Grace" and Elijah gave a prayer. The remains of Lydia Coulter McAllister were set to rest beside of the husband that she had lost nearly fifty years before.
There was a meeting at the house that night. It was decided that they would start taking runs with the survivors on McAllister Mountain. Rick, Abraham, Daryl, Jesse, and Morgan would work together to set up the runs. They were going on a run tomorrow with Carsel and his two sons. Carsel was bringing a brother in law and a cousin who had two teenage daughters. Brian and his four teenagers were going. Michonne, Sarah, and Tara would be there to provide security during the run. Carol wished she could see the faces of Carsel and his sons when Michonne wielded her katana to decapitate a walker. Good times in the ZA.
Carol would be staying home. She was going to watch Michael for Sarah and Judith for Rick. There were other pots to stir tomorrow. Glenn, Elijah, Rachel, Temperance, Emily, and Eugene were meeting here to talk about how science and technology could improve life for all the people who lived on this mountain. Beth and Maggie would be there too.
Bob, Sasha, Rosita and Tyreese were going on a run to look for some medical supplies. Bob was going to start a clinic on the mountain.
Carol and Daryl left the meeting to see to their children. They were ready to go to sleep and they liked for both parents to be with them then. It had been a long day for them too. Carol read them a story and Daryl said their prayers with them. It was their nightly ritual.
Carol dreamed that night she was walking between Grandma Lydia and Nancy McAllister. It was morning and the sun was just coming up through thick fog. They came to a long bridge. They hugged her close and then gently turned her around to go back. The two sisters just kept on walking and soon she lost them in the fog. She went on home then. There was so much to do.
AN
The blue flag with the plowshare and the sword? The Bible says there is a time to turn the sword to plowshares and in this story they turn their plowshares to swords to fight for their homes.
I hope you like this chapter. I liked writing it. It's the Scotch-Irish in me, we love a good funeral. I will miss writing Grandma Lydia but it seemed like a good time to send her off.
A review please.