Story Grace, Mercy and Blessings

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
RG,

Thanks for the 'saga' and a bout of hysterical laughter at 5 in the morning. Now I have coffee everywhere and I'm trying to be quiet and not wake up my houseful of guests.

Actually, I believe I needed that laughter to diffuse stress and work over the next couple of days. Thanks, Pac.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#104

Chuck made it to the clump of trees and a small stream. He strung a high line rope to tether the horse and pack horse, and scrounged around for wood to start a fire. Other people had camped in the grove and left a mess of litter, and Chuck cursed the stupid ancestors of whomever left the garbage.

"A bunch of oxygen wasters," he seriously told his saddle horse, and gathered the trash to burn. The horse didn't seem to want to answer, so Chuck continued togather up the junk and drop it in his fire.
What ever he did, he always had one eye on the approaching black cloud, and the closer the cloud got, the more he had a uneasy feeling.

The cloud swallowed the sun in it's unrelenting march across the sky, and Chuck felt he was ready for the all encompassing darkness. When it finally reached the grove, the gritty feeling darkness strangely ate any light available. Chuck was sitting less than three feet from his fire and he could feel the heat more than he could see the flickering firelight.

The fire seemed like it was dwindling down, almost as if it was lacking oxygen to burn. Chuck moved the chunk of dead wood further into the flames, and wondered what in the world was happening. Tying his bandana over his nose, he decided to try and filter the darkness, rather than breathe the stuffy smell.

Dory sat in the basement until she was tired of waiting, bored and ever thinking of all the work there was to do topside. Taking the ultra small oil lamp that was almost out of oil, she climbed the stairs and stared unbelievingly at the wall of solid darkness on the other side of the window pane.

"Well, isn't that a fine thing, what a mess." she sniped to the empty house. Opening the damper, she added wood to the cookstove and decided to cook something to eat. Finally she closed the damper, nothing sounded good to eat, and Dory couldn't seem to get motivated to go look in the cupboard. Sitting at the table, she yawned and just sat there.


All over the clan controlled area, people started coming up from their basements and out of the storm cellars to sit in the kitchen and wonder if they should cook something, but no one was hungry.
 
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Freebirde

Senior Member
Thank you Ms Pac!

No one hungry? Now this is serious, never known any of the clan to feel that way.

Thank you!

It takes time to be hungry, the black cloud looks to have some temporal properties, probably suppressive. The big question is what will changed when it is gone. Only the Black Cloud and Ms Pac knows, Bruhahahaha!
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#105

Andy and Donny worked on their deer until the dark cloud threatened to overtake their efforts. "We had better get a fire started," Donny spoke up. "That cloud don't look natural to me, what'ta think?"

"Yeah, let's get the horses unsaddled and staked out, I'll do whichever one you don't want to do." Andy offered, acting more like the close knit brother that he used to be.

"I'll do the horses, wadd'a ya think about putting a haunch on to cook, I feel starved," Donny felt his stomach growl.

"Really, you feel hungry?" Andy questioned. "I sure don't, and I didn't get any breakfast this morning."
Working swiftly as the darkness was starting to settle around them, the two young men made camp as quickly as possible.

"I can't see a blasted thing," Donny complained, "only the fire gives off a little light and as big as we made it, that's sure funny it's not brighter than it is. It's gonna take forever for that haunch to cook, I think we'd better carve off a couple of strips and thread them on a stick and hurry up the cooking."

Standing shoulder to shoulder, it was difficult for the young men to see one another. "This sure ain't natural," Andy observed. "I sure hope Judy is in the house and in the basement, sometimes it's hard to tell what she's gonna think to do." The two of them used sharp knives to cut strips from the spitted roast, and loop the long skiver of meat on a green stick.

"I'm gonna push that log in a little further, we need more heat and light on the subject," Donny made a small joke. "I don't have to worry about Sally and the kids getting caught outside in this goop, they never go far from the kitchen stove. Cotton is good to keep the wood box filled, and they have lamps and canned goods to eat, I ain't much worried about them. Not like I'm worried about us. This is spooky, I wonder how long it's gonna last?"

"For sure, there's no traveling, this is the proverbial can't see my hand in front of my face blackout. We came straight west from your place, but without the sun to tell us where East is, it sure would be easy to get turned around and fall off the end of the earth." This time it was Andy that made the nervous joke.

"There's no wind, no animal sounds, no birds tittering, it's almost like this darkness is absorbing sound the same way it seems to absorb light.
 

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Hope all are well that are caught outside...Wait, this is just a story, right?
Thank you
Been following the Linderman tale so long, its easy to forget its NOT news from somewhere.
Ma'am, your fans await clarity on the current situation. A lot of issues could be resolved 'under the cover of darkness' couldn't they?

Well....or, maybe not; it's the clear light of day & Chlora's discernment backed by the clan's decisive
actions....Who am I kidding? Like most of the Linderman followers, I'm waiting for Ms. Pac to shine her light on the whole thing.

You will, won't you?
 
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Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Folks,

We are getting ready for a hum-dinger of a party, Mr. KC's 80th. I have company and no time to write. Be back Monday evening. Thanks. Pac.
A definite milestone; give him my best wishes for as many healthy and happy years as he can add to that.
The L. clan need to get out from under the light sucking cloud and locate their appetites anyway.

G.
 

Sammy55

Veteran Member
Please give my "Happy Birthday" wishes to Mr. KC, too!! Have a wonderful party and enjoy the family blessing time while you can! We'll wait for ya!
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#106

Clora opened a couple of jars of chili and set it to heating. The big stove seemed sluggish about catching a draft and starting to draw, and Clora opened the damper all the way. "This is strange." she remarked to the two men sitting at the table, "the stove has never acted this way before."

When Mark and Wyatt sat down, Mark maneuvered the sheriff around so his back was to the urns with their slashed writing. Something in his gut told him to be cautious with the urns and the overly inquisitive lawman.

It didn't work. As soon as Wyatt swallowed his first sip of coffee, he was asking Mark about the urns and was he going to open one or all of them up.

"No, that may open up a can of snakes, forget the worms," Mark drawled. "Years ago we had several of these sent to us, and they belong to some very powerful people that I don't intend to irritate. It's beyond unusual that we would get more, especially after the manner the last session with these ended," and Mark waved his hand toward the brass appearing cylinders.

"You're not curious?" Wyatt pressed. "How would anyone know if one had been opened?"

"I can see that there is a fine gold wire anchoring the stopper to the neck of the urn," Mark said calmly, "one I have no intention of breaking. The other urns we were sent contained the cremated ashes of people, not anything interesting, but important to the people they belong too. And," he stressed. "people I intend to return the urns to intact."

"Do you know who they belong too?" Wyatt had his law man radar working overtime.

"Close enough to get them returned to the proper people," Mark stressed with finality.

Talk about a big problem, Mark was supposing a letter written to the Saudi consulate would be the first step.

Clora was leaning up against the counter with her arms folded and her hand under her chin deep in thought. She was getting an impression of war and devastation, but it was unclear where the war was taking place.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#107

As attuned to Clora as Mark was; he could see in the dim lamplight that she was greatly troubled and looking stressed. Making small talk, he kept Wyatt busy so Clora could have time to get her thoughts together.

Clora flashed Mark a look of thanks and turned to fiddle with the stove. As befitting company, the first meal of supper that Wyatt ate with them, was chili and cornbread. This meal would reflect their more normal eating pattern of rice with bean sauce and biscuits. However the stove simply refused to draw correctly and heat the oven hot enough to cook biscuits. So it was going to be rice with bean sauce.

Clora was thinking that the sheriff might as well see how they managed to make it through the winter; there wasn't any magical food fairy godmother that bestowed them with pantry staples, they had to be careful and judicious with the bounty they had grown and preserved.

Bowls of rice with seasoned bean sauce and glasses of water were put on the table and the blessing said. If Wyatt thought it was poor grub, he didn't say a word, and all three of them picked at their supper.

"What about the rest of your clan?" Wyatt asked out of boredom for something to say.

"Very troublesome," Mark replied soberly. "Chuck is out hunting, as are Andy and Donny. How far away from here they managed to get, is unknown. Tess is capable of tending to herself and her boys, and the only other problem I can think of, Milo's wife is close to having their baby. I don't believe there is any use of trying to go from here, to any of the other houses. For some reason, I don't think we'd make it without getting lost. Have you looked at your watch?" he asked Wyatt.

The lawman took a quick glance at his prized gift from his father and was totally astonished to see the hour hand slowly spinning around.

"Hey, that's crazy," Wyatt blurted out, "so I'm guessing that a compass wouldn't work either. That was going to be my next question."

From somewhere fairly close, there was a startlingly deep wolf howl. It set Ivory to whining and scratching at the back door, wanting in. Mark walked over to open the door just wide enough to let Ivory in, and she made good use of the invitation.

Locking the door, Mark tested it and the windows for secure closure.

"Now isn't that just enough to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck." Wyatt said into the silence following the drawn out warble. "I've never heard a wolf around here."

"Sheriff, I'm not certain that was a wolf," Mark said slowly, looking over the sheriff's head to stare at Clora. Clora gave a slight nod, giving Mark the go-ahead to discuss the demon apparitions they had dealt with in the past.

"Wyatt I'm assuming that because you are still here after the 'cleansing wind' that you have been saved and have a close personal relationship with God." Mark stared hard into the sheriff's eyes, looking for any signs of deception.

Wyatt reacted sharply by raising his head and reacting defensively to the question. "I don't have to answer such a personal question," he snapped. "You are out of line Sir."

"It all becomes tied in," Mark explained, "but no way am I going to tell you the experiences that have happened to us, until you answer my question."

There was a fifteen minute stalemate while Wyatt mulled over in his mind whether he was going to answer Mark, or not.

For his part, Mark was in no hurry to lay out on the table, the astonishing and sometimes preposterous story there was to tell. He was certain that Wyatt was analytical enough, that the sheriff wouldn't believe the story in the first place.

Lying by the back door, Ivory growled low and turned to look at Clora. There was a scratching sound as paws on the outside, tried to dig through the wooden defense. A deep growl from the outside and then there was silence.

"I don't think I really want to know what that was," Wyatt had a wobble to his manly voice. "It was hunting us, wasn't it?"
 

bartender

Contributing Member
Thank you Mrs Pac, seems like you could be writing about our times. Peril is surely at our door step. Thanks again.
 

Sammy55

Veteran Member
These last two chapters gave me goose bumps. I don't know whether to thank you for them or not, Mrs. Pac! LOL

But I'll thank you anyway! Just get us out of goose bump land....
 

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Good thing Helga isn't here to panic...Thank you.
YES!
I almost forgot about the late Helga & her 'volves' issues!
So Mrs Pac, we have triplets (some troublesome, some not [yet]), the return of 'urns' and now, a mysterious black cloud (Joe Btfsplk in the house?) and some sort of ravening wolfen-thing clawing at doors! Plus all those random issues like the band of protection agents who probably aren't really, marital discord and relationship mis-steps and all the other 'stuff'.

Some day you need to tell us just how many white boards you have to keep track of all this.

And, if any of you reading this don't know, she's been doing this for over a decade (yes, longer then a two-term presidency!) and over about a dozen or so volumes. I think that officially qualifies as 'a body of work!'

NEVER a dull moment in PNW Land.

Thank you Ma'am.

Stay healthy all y'all.

G.
 
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PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#108

Wyatt tapped his fingers impatiently on the table top. his mental debate finally landing on the side of being truthful with the white haired patriarch of the Linderman clan.

"I have been saved since my early twenties," Wyatt sort of mumbled. "I was in a terrible gunfight with a band of thugs hell bent on stopping cars at stop signs and dragging people out of their cars and robbing them. I was shot multiple times and not expected to live. The hospital Chaplin walked along side my gurney as they were taking me to surgery and led me to the Lord. I ain't real proud that it took such a major trauma to turn me to the Lord. I'm forever grateful that it happened, but I don't know anything about what's in it, other than kid Sunday school stories."

"You got saved a lot earlier than I did," Mark watched the effect of his words on the sheriff. "We aren't interested WHEN you got saved, only that you are and you try and live by God's laws."

"I do, but it ain't easy." Wyatt leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "I've spent more time here visiting with you folks than anyone else in my jurisdiction. I have such a large territory, that I don't get around it like I should. For the most part, folks are peaceable and reasonable around here, but still, it's my responsibility to be the sheriff for them all. And now this government situtation coming up," and Wyatt nodded his head when Clora came by with the coffee pot.

"I thought," Mark pondered on how to say what he wanted to say. "I thought there was already a rudimentary government in place. I asked you right after we settled here if the country was up and running."

"Yes you did," Wyatt agreed, "and I was pretty sure what government we did have seemed to be functioning as well as possible under the circumstances."

"Then why, I wonder, is there this call for a patriot meeting to institute a new government? That doesn't make sense. Is there any reason you can think of for calling a gathering of men to a certain area? Is that a method to remove capable fighting men from the defense of their farms and businesses?"

"I hadn't considered it in those terms, but I don't see why it couldn't happen that way." Wyatt admitted slowly. "Suddenly, I don't like the circumstances that are happening. I was instructed to bring together all the capable men that would come to a patriot meeting. So my reputation is on the line here, and conversely, my neck on the line if there is a massive problem."

"How and who did you get the instructions from? Someone you know in authority?" Mark asked with interest.

Wyatt reached inside his vest and withdrew a rumpled envelope and passed it over to Mark.

Mark opened the creased papers, and read the call to arms, the paper relying heavily on the patriotic fervor of the Continental congress. There was a lot of flowery language and engraved looking calligraphy that was real short on facts and specifics.

Clora wandered over to touch the paper and she replied a low "no, it's a fake."

"I wondered, there are several glaring spelling errors, and the punctuation is terrible." Mark flipped his fingers on the letter. "Wyatt, I don't think this is a legitimate offer. Do you think the band of ' protection soldiers' would be organized enough to pull something like this on such a large scale?"

"It's possible, but why? Why go to such lengths?" the sheriff scratched his chin.

"Oh, I don't know; maybe extortion, ransom, murder, over throw of the country, slavery. and maybe a few more that I can't think of right off the bat. Weren't you the one telling me that there was a push by some of the more vocal men that they wanted a feudal war lord type of rule? What better way to inflict that type of rule, than by killing all the most capable men." Mark had the sudden thought that he was more accurate than he wanted to be.
 

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
Man's desire to enslave and control has not died.

Now the Dark is an unknown problem, but a problem.

War coming again.

Thanks Pac for the chapter.

Texican....
 

Sammy55

Veteran Member
Wow. Things just get thicker and trickier.

It makes me wonder why Clora and Mark and family can't have a "normal" life.

But I guess, if they did, this wouldn't be such a spellbinding, exciting story!!

Thanks, Mrs. Pac, for keeping us on the edge of our seats.
 

PacNorWest

Veteran Member
#109

"Dad,...…….Dad, can we come up" Ricky whined in his most piteous voice. "We're tired of being here in the basement, we want to see what is going on outside."

Milo sighed in exasperation. "You can come up for ten minutes. It won't take that long for you to discover that you can't see a blamed thing outside. It is pitch black," and Milo sighed again as the two boys raced up the stairs to stop suddenly at the top.

"Geeze, you weren't kidding; it's blacker than black outside. How come Dad? I thought you said it was just a cloud, and we ain't been in the basement all that long, so it should still be light outside. Hey,....neato, look at my watch, it's gone cuckoo." Robbie held his arm up near the lamp on the table.

"Lemme see," Ricky demanded, "are you making it do that?" he said accusingly.

"Nope, but something is," Robbie seemed fascinated by the time piece malfunction. "Wadda think Dad, why is it doing that?"

"Don't know son, this isn't a normal time for sure. Now you kids get back down in the basement, your Ma isn't feeling well and if we have a tornado, I will carry her downstairs and I want you guys out of the way."

"What's wrong with Ma?" Ricky craned his neck to see down the dark curtain of the hallway. "This stuff ain't making her sick, is it?"

"No, her stomach is upset, so you kids git, take the plate of cookies down with you as you go." That was probably the only thing that would have moved those two Linderman brothers off center, and back downstairs they went.

Milo went down the hall to check on Honey; and found her curled up on the bed resting. "It's eased up some," she whispered, "I'm hoping to hold it off until you can see to go get Doc Trish."

Milo held his opinion, that there was no way he would be able to find the clinic, much less have Bruce turn loose of Trish under these circumstances. Milo did the next best thing, and said "ummm."




Judy sat in the dark house shivering. She had heard the far off wolf howl and the darkness seemed all the more scary with Andy gone. Taking the lamp, she walked over to test that the back door was locked, and put the lamp on the counter to put wood in the stove. Hot water for tea sounded good.

Sitting at the table drinking tea with precious sugar stirred in, Judy folded her hands around the mug and prayed for Andy's safety. A little later she threw in Donny and that girl he had married with all those brothers and sisters. It was so frightening to have Andy outside in this unusual darkness, and through out the night Judy prayed long and hard.


George and Millie sat at the table, eating the warmed over stew and cornbread from the noon meal. The lamp on the table between them, barely cast enough light to see to eat, and Millie toyed with her potatoes and beans. "I'm just not hungry," she explained to George. "All of a sudden my appetite has vanished."

"Yeah, I thought I was hungry, but now, not so much." George finally put his fork down. "This is the craziest stuff I've ever been in; it's like a person can almost taste it on your lips."

"I wonder how long it's gonna last, it's not windy, so I had expected a tornado but I don't believe that will happen." George drug out his hanky to wipe at his forehead.
" I'm thinking we might as well go to bed, even though it can't be later than 4pm. I feel kind draggy and tired, how about you?"

"Is the downstairs locked up?" Millie wanted to know.

"Yes, I double checked all the doors and windows and the security slats are down and secured."

"Well then, I guess we go to bed." Millie replied calmly.
 
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