Story PARABELLUM

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 1

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” The old man had told him.
John took another sip from his CamelBak and got his mind back in the present. He reached over to the pack beside him and pulled a Millennium Bar out of the side pocket.

Blueberry. He like blueberry. Opening the package, he took a bite of the bar. He needed the carbs. He still had five more miles to go and maybe then he would be safe, for a while at least.

He finished the bar, balled up and stuffed the foil packet into the side pocket on the backpack, then secured the pocket flap. Picking up and shouldering the pack, John picked up the Colt M4 and headed up the game trail.

He had “borrowed” several cars until he left the last one abandoned outside of Springfield at a truck stop. Making his way to the railyards, he had hopped freight trains and rode gondola railcars down to Fort Smith, then took off cross-country on the last 42 mile leg of his journey.

Kneeling in the brush, he carefully scanned the small open area around the lodge. He work his way around the clearing, slowly searching for any signs anyone had been there recently. Not even the grass in the overgrown driveway was disturbed. He made his way to the butchering shed, felt on top of the beam near the kerosene lantern hook and found the key. Making his way to the lodge porch door, he unlocked the heavy door then locked it behind him as he went through. Turning on the red lens penlight, he searched in the pantry, found the hurricane lamps, and took one out. Lighting it, he sat it on the rustic wooden table next to the M4 carbine. The lodge looked the same as when he came here as a boy. Grandpa had built this lodge with his buddies that served with him in World War II. They had all been members of the 100th Infantry Division and had all become close friends while battling the Germans in the winter of 1944 in the Vosges Mountains of France. Luckily, they made it through the war and after, kept in contact. It wasn’t until the 50s that they went in together and bought this land from one of the buddies, Joe Taylor, who had come under hard times. The land had been in Joe’s family since the 1800s and was pristine. In later years, They built the lodge and every year they all gathered here to deer hunt, drink whiskey and tell lies on one another. When one of the men died, the rest would gather her 30 days later to toast his passing in commemoration. John had spent several summers here too after Grandpa dammed up the stream and made a ten acre lake. The forest surrounding Washita Lodge was established in 1907 as the Arkansas National Forest; the name was changed to Ouachita National Forest 1926. The land ownership had been grandfathered and the original owners maintained all rights. There was a chained gate at the only access road to the property and no one in their right mind, except John, would chance the rugged cross-country walk to get there. His father and Grandpa taught him how to live off this land….no, those weren’t the right words…they taught him how to live WITH the land.

John had spent most of his formative years living with his grandfather in Greenwood, a sleepy little town southeast of Fort Smith. He never understood why his grandfather picked that town. He found out much later that his grandfather had more money than he’d heard anyone in Fort Smith having. He and three of his friends had all been investment bankers in the fifties and sixties and did very well, John supposed. He had never known how much his grandfather was worth until he died last year. Even his father was surprised, John thought sadly. He hadn’t seen his father since the funeral. That had led him to get his degree and go into investment banking. At the same time it got him into the mess he was in now.

John had graduated college with a 3.9 GPA and easily got a job with Carlisle Investments, something he would later come to regret.

John ran his hand over the M4. He hadn’t taken it out of his pack until he’d reached the heavy Ozark forests. There was always the danger of running up on black bear, panther or maybe even the Ozark Howler here. John had never seen a Howler, but had heard one scream in the distance. Grandpa called it a Wampus cat. Whatever you wanted to call it, John felt better with the weapon.

He picked up the lamp and walked to his Grandfather’s study. Over the door was a plank from a bald cypress with the quote: “Si vis pacem, para bellum” carved in it. If you want peace, prepare for war. That was definitely germane to his situation.

John went to the floor-to-ceiling bookcase, pressed the hidden switch and pulled the bookcase out. Turning on the penlight, he entered the narrow staircase and pulled the shelf closed behind him. Walking slowly down the stairs, he reached the bottom and flipped the light switch and pedestrian tunnel was lit by mounted LED lights down the center of the roof. Good. He saw no moisture at all. He walked down the tunnel and punched in a code his grandfather had given him. He heard a click and turned the wheel, sliding the locking bolts out of the doorjamb. Pulling the heavy blast door open, he turned on the lights and scanned the room. Nothing looked out of place. Nothing should have been. He and his father were the only people left alive that knew of this place. John went to the storeroom and pulled out several freeze-dried meals and a container of lemonade powder then left the shelter, cutting off the lights. Once back in the kitchen, he suddenly remembered the shutters were closed. When they had added the shutters, they were designed and built to keep any light from escaping the house. It was still daylight outside so he turned the lights on in the kitchen. If the cameras still worked, he would check after sundown to see if the shutters still kept the lights from being seen. John went to the stove and turned on a burner. Not hearing a hiss, he went over to the pantry and turned the gas on. He rinsed out a kettle and filled it with water, lit the burner and set the kettle over the flame. The adrenaline was slowly draining from his system. He had been on edge for the last few days and now, at least for a while he could calm down enough to get his head straight and figure out what happened.

The whistle of the kettle startled him from his doze, causing him to jerk his head off his arms crossed on the table. He got up and took the kettle off the stove and opened a bag of the freeze-dried spaghetti. It was getting to be late Fall and he was going to need some heat in here soon. There was an outdoor wood furnace that heated the house and provided hot water in the winter. The furnace building was set in a grove of thick pines that help dissipate what little smoke was released from the furnace. The furnace had a catalytic combustor that reduced emissions by 75 percent.

John added water to the meal, stirred it with his long handled spork and closed the bag back up to let the spaghetti absorb the water. Looking in one of the cabinets, he found a bottle of Texas Pete and sat it on the table. Rather than sit around and wait, John took a headlamp out of his pack and put it on. John turned the red lens light on and carried his pack through the dark house to the first bedroom he came to. He’d roll out his sleeping bag later. Returning to the kitchen, John made a glass of lemonade and checked the spaghetti. Adding a few dashes of hot sauce, John mixed the spaghetti up and started eating. He wasn’t going to think any more about why he was here. After he’d eaten, he wanted to get a shower. It would have to be cold, but he didn’t care. Clean clothes and a good night’s rest were what he needed right now.


John woke up refreshed. He swung his legs off the bed and sat there for a minute. He pressed the light button on his watch and saw it was a little after 9:00 AM. There was no light showing around the shutters on the window in the room but that didn’t mean anything. If the shutters worked correctly, you wouldn’t see light anyway. Putting on his boots, he headed back downstairs to fill his growling stomach. Searching in the pantry with his penlight, he found a can of bacon, a #10 can of freeze-dried bread, pouches of powdered eggs and a jar of coffee crystals. Breakfast.

John opened the can of bread first. Taking out six slices, he wet the slices in spigot water, patted them dry with a towel, and had to let them sit for 30 minutes in a zip lock bag. He put on the kettle to make hot water for coffee. Seeing a can of pilot crackers in the pantry, he searched through a box and found MRE peanut butter packs and jelly packs. He opened up the can of crackers and ate the bland wafers with the peanut butter and jelly to knock off the hunger pangs. John made a cup of coffee to wash the crackers down and began his thinking process.

1. The bomb wasn’t a coincidence.
2. They were trying to kill him.
3. He had been stupid to log into that computer.
4. Do they have enough information to track me here?

That was enough to play with right now. First, if that guy had not tried to steal his car, he would have gotten into it the next morning and probably have died. Why? Because of what he had seen on the computer. When he hit the space bar the monitor screen awoke with all the information he wasn’t supposed to be privy to. The very investment firm he was working for was the money behind drug traffickers in the southwest part of the U.S. He had copied a lot of files to a thumb drive he carried before he heard someone coming down the hallway but they found out some way he had been at that station. He had just wanted to quickly check his email. He had sweated the rest of the day and when he got home, went over his actions that day. Yes, he had probably left fingerprints. The information was poison if he didn’t get it to the right people. The problem was the state’s Attorney General looked to be part of the operation. He thought about his personnel information in HR and if there was any information that would lead them to here.

The wake-up call came when his car blew up at 3:00 AM in front of his duplex. The unlucky dude that tried to steal his car…..or maybe trying to put the bomb on the car and made a mistake….whatever….made him quickly get dressed, grab his BOB and head out the back door of the duplex. He had been on the run ever since. He needed to get a phone. He’d dropped his phone through the opened passenger side window of a truck outside of Springfield to keep from being tracked. The truck was headed for a Tyson’s Food plant somewhere. He’d have to check and see if the Jeep Gladiator was still in the shed and if it even ran. He was going to have to tread lightly.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 2

John took the Sangean radio and an earbud out of his pack. Checking the charge level on the battery meter, He sat back and cranked the radio for twenty minutes. Extending the antenna, John tuned the radio until he found a news station. He didn’t know why even bothered. They only reported what they wanted you to hear and the lies were so interlaced within their dialogs, news became fiction. He tuned the radio to the weather band and heard the local broadcast. If it kept like this he could do without heat for a while, although he could use a hot shower. He turned the radio off and placed it and the earbud back into their drawstring bag and the bag back into his pack. Going over to the refrigerator, he removed the tape off the door that held the wedge that kept the door cracked open and checked it out. Nothing was growing inside so he slid the fridge out far enough to plug it in. The compressor motor came on with a hum. He got down a pitcher, made a pitcher of lemonade, and sat it in the refrigerator. Looking through the utensil drawer, he found a can opener and opened the can of bacon. He rinsed and dried the cast iron frying pan and set it on the lit burner. Rolling the bacon out of the can, which looked to be about two packs worth, he laid four slices in the heating pan. The bacon was already partially cooked so he wouldn’t get a lot of grease out of it, but enough to scramble some eggs. While the bacon was cooking, John opened the pouch of freeze-dried eggs and measured out the equivalent of four eggs, added water and beat them. Once the bacon was done, he laid the slices on a plate and poured the egg mix in the pan and scrambled them up. Taking the ZipLock bag of bread slices, he had prepared, he took two slices out. Giving the eggs one more stir, he scraped them onto the plate with the bacon and threw the bread into the pan to toast a little. In the pantry he found an unopened jar of apple jelly and set it on the table. He turned off the burner when the toast was done and added the toast to his plate. John sat down, only to get right back up to pour a glass of lemonade. He almost made it into his seat when he turned and went back to the pantry. Yep, there on the shelf was a can of Red Feather canned butter. He quickly opened the can and spread a thick layer of butter on his bread and added some jelly. Taking up a forkful of eggs and a strip of crispy bacon, he began eating his breakfast.

He ate a few bites then stopped, shook his head and got up and turned the light on in the kitchen. As he finished eating, he was starting to see things he hadn’t noticed before. They’d made a few changes since he was here last. On the wall at the end of the counter was what looked like a tankless water heater. He finished eating, wiping the plate with the last of his toast, and popping the bread into his mouth, and got up. John inspected the enameled box on the wall and went over to the sink. He turned on the hot water faucet and let it run. The water didn’t get any warmer, in fact, it seemed as though it was getting colder. He went back over and found the on-off switch on the far side of the unit and flipped it to the on position. Going back over to the sink, he put his hand in the running water and smiled when he felt the water start getting warmer. Putting the sink stopper in, he added a little dish soap and placed everything but the frying pan in the soapy water. He washed, rinsed and dried his dishes before tackling the frying pan. He ran just the hot water and rinsed the cast iron pan, using a copper pot scrubber to remove the last bits of egg. When it was clean, he dried the pan thoroughly and sat it on the stove top.

Well, it wasn’t a 5-star breakfast, but it was filling and really not that bad.

Curious, John went down the hall and checked the bathroom. He didn’t see anything in the light he shined around until he opened a cabinet door. There was an electric on-demand water heater. John grinned. He could have his hot shower without having to start a fire in the outdoor furnace. He was beginning to think there had been more changes around here than he was aware of. Going to his pack, he pulled out a fresh set of travel underwear his dad had purchased for him three years ago. When he traveled, He could go with two T-shirts and two pairs of boxers. He could wear one pair, wash them out that night and wear the other pair the next day. The material was quick drying so they were ready to pack away the next morning. John had packed three pairs though, just in case. He took his hygiene kit back to the bathroom and got his hot shower, putting on fresh underwear and wearing the clothes he had change into the night before.

Feeling much better, John washed his underwear out and hung it on the shower rod. He was feeling more human. He brushed his teeth but didn’t shave, just using the pair of folding scissors to trim his mustache and beard. Maybe it would help to hide his identity.

John went back to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. He remembered seeing a French Press, found it and put a kettle of water on to boil Maybe it would be better than the coffee crystals.. John watched the flame as it heated the kettle. Natural gas. Grandpa had his own gas well drilled and the equipment needed to supply the lodge. They never had used propane here. He wasn’t sure why they had put electric water heaters in. They had more than enough gas to heat everything. Maybe he would figure it out….if he were here long enough. He just had to wait out the Plan.

"Giving money and power to government is like giving the car keys and whiskey to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke

John turned on the bronze, Tiffany-style floor lamp and sat down in the leather chair. Putting his feet up on the ottoman, he picked up the book off the side table, Louis L'Amour's Last of the Breed. He tried to give his attention to the book but his mind kept drifting. By the Plan, he was supposed to stay here for a week without contacting someone else or until someone came and gave him the correct bona fides. He laid the book back down and went and got his pack. Emptying it completely, he repacked it, taking note of what he needed to add to it. John went down to the shelter and got enough food for four days, plus more Millennium Bars from out of a case of them on the shelf. Repacking the pack, he remembered the underwear he had left in the bathroom to dry and retrieved it. Setting the pack on the floor next to the entrance to the shelter, he swung the bookshelf back and went down the stairs and to the entrance to the escape tunnel. He opened the hatch and turned on his headlamp. Following the tunnel to its end, he unlatched the dogs and slowly lifted the hatch. The cedar thicket still concealed the hatch and it looked like everything was clear. He noiselessly closed the hatch and secured it then returned to the library to read. A few minutes later he put the book back down and went back down to the shelter storeroom and checked the buckets there. Selecting one, he unscrewed the Gamma lid and took out a 1-lb bag of pinto beans and closed the bucket back up. Taking the beans to the kitchen, he got out a Dutch oven and rinsed it out. Opening the vacuum sealed bag, he dumped the beans into the pot, retrieving the three packs of ham flavored powder from the bag. He dumped the powder into the pot and went to the pantry. Searching the shelves, he found the jars of minced onion and garlic, added a good portion of each in with the beans, added water to cover the beans, then placed the lid on the pot and sat it on the burner. Going over to the utility drawer, he got out two AA batteries and put them in the battery box that supplied power to the piezo igniter on the stove. Turning the burner on, he heard a couple of clicks and the gas flame ignited. After adjusting the flame and setting the kitchen timer, he went back to his book.


The ding of the timer caught John’s attention. Laying the book down, he went to the kitchen and checked the beans, adding more water. Resetting the timer, he went back down in the storage room and took the inventory off the wall. He scanned down the list until he found cans of cornbread mix, Taking one upstairs, he sat the can on the table. He tasted a bean to determine its doneness and opened the can of cornbread mix. After reading the instructions, he turned the oven on and got down a bowl. Measuring out the mix and water, John stirred the batter. He got the tin of lard out of the pantry, smelled it, then greased a frying pan and poured the batter into the pan. Placing the pan in the oven, he set the timer for 40 minutes. Sitting down at the table, he let his mind wander.

He was ten years old when his father trained him in orienteering. He ran John through military type training on how to use a map and compass and crossing long distances with ease and speed. Early on some mornings, John’s father would give him a geographical coordinate , a description of the cache site, and a time he had to be back, usually just before dark. This would happen two or three times a week. When his father was away traveling for his government job, his grandfather would send him out. John would have to go to the first location as fast as he could, find the cache and get the location for the next cache. Sometimes there were only three, sometimes as many as five caches, but the last cache would almost always be the same. The last cache would contain the coordinates of the house and he would have to bring back whatever article was in the .30 caliber ammo can. The last can always contained something that would enhance John’s wilderness survival skills. A multitool, some type of fire starter, miniature fishing kit, sheath knife, 550# cord, camouflage tarp and a mylar sleeping bag were some of the things he had brought back.

John went to the coat rack by the back door and took down the leather day pack that still hung there. The leather was still as pliable as when Grandpa had helped him make it. John had killed his first deer there on the property and Grandpa had showed him how to field dress it, skin and brain tan the hide. After they had tanned and smoked the hide, Grandpa made some cardboard patterns and had John trace the outlines on the hide and cut them out. Using heavy sail needles, a sewing palm and Spiderwire 50# test braided fishing line, Grandpa showed him how to sew the pieces together and make the pack, They even improvised and made a map pocket and a compass pocket for it. John carried that pack from then on his orienteering runs, although he didn’t have to use the map much after a while. He knew the terrain on the 3300 acres so well he could take a look at the spot on the map he was going to and just using his compass to keep him going in the general direction, head right to the spot. Of course, the caches were never in the same place. Grandpa and his father would use the Rokons to go out and set the cache, which made finding the caches more difficult, but he never failed to find them. John opened the map pocket and the laminated map was right there where it rode for all those years. The compass was still in good condition too. It was like opening a treasure chest of memories when John emptied the pack out on the table. He sorted out the things and a flash of memory came as he picked up and handled each item. It hadn’t taken him long to get some things on his own and turn the pack into a light survival pack. When he had gone to college, he had left the pack here because he didn’t think he would need the items in the city. It didn’t take long for him to start putting together an urban survival kit which later grew into the Bug Out Bag that had gotten him here.

The timer went off so he went and checked the cornbread; perfect. Turning off the oven, John sat the pan on the stove and sliced a good sized wedge, placing it on a bread plate, Ladling out a bowl full of beans, he got the butter out of the fridge and buttered his cornbread. Pouring a glass of cold lemonade, he sat down to enjoy the meal.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 3

John’s eyes snapped up from the book. He’d heard a faint noise. Taking the pistol from the side table, he silently got to his feet and walked softly to the door of the library where he could see the back door. TAP….TAP..TAP..TAP. softly sounded. The tap code for the letter “K” was only part of the bona fides. Walking softly to the back door, John cocked his pistol and stood to the side of the door. Raising his left hand he softly tapped, TAP..TAP..TAP..TAP….TAP, the letter “Q.” It was answered with TAP..TAP..TAP..TAP….TAP..TAP, the letter “R.” John unlocked the door and stepped well back, leveling the pistol. The door slowly opened as John’s finger slowly touched the trigger.

“I’m glad you made it son.”

John uncocked the pistol. “DAD!” How did you get here?”

“Through the gate. I have a key you know.” Jeremy Cassidy said with a grin.

Jeremy grabbed his son in a bear hug. “I was pretty sure you would be here but I had some lingering doubts.”

“No! I mean, what’s going on?”

“I need something to drink first, then we will talk.”

“I’ve got cold lemonade.”

“No, I just want a glass if that well water. I missed the taste.”

Jeremy got a glass out of the cupboard and let the water run in the sink for a few moments before filling the glass. Drinking it down, he filled the glass again and walked over to the table and sat down.

“First, let’s talk about what made you come here.”

John told him about finding the information on the money laundering, drugs and the information about the operation’s principle actors.

“Dad, I didn’t know where or who to turn to. It’s almost as if every politician and Judge in St. Louis is involved.”

Jeremy nodded. “They pretty much are, and so are most of the law enforcement. The chain goes all the way to our Justice Department and a couple of three-letter agencies.

“How do you know all this Dad?”

Jeremy looked across the table at John.

John, what I’m about to tell you can never be uttered to another soul. Lives depend on it, and possibly, the future of this nation.”

John swallowed hard and nodded.

“Overtly, I work for USAID. My job is perfect cover for my other work with a covert organization called ‘The Shield.’ The Shield acts as another check and balance in the system. It was put together by a few men over thirty years ago to counter the creeping corruption in our government when it became obvious corrupt men would eventually change our form of government. There are now a couple of thousand members scattered through the government and hundreds of auxiliaries who support the effort in one way or another.”

“What do you do to stop them?” John asked.

“We try to expose them to public scrutiny but generally they end back in the cabal in some other form after getting their wrists slapped. When this happens, usually some form of selective elimination is used.”

“You mean you kill them?”

“Like you would any deadly pest that invades your home. They won’t bother you anymore.”

“There is that.” John grinned.

“What did you do with the information?” Jeremy asked.

“I have it on two flash drives.”

“I need to take them to our intel people. This is a real coup to get information straight from their computer network. There have been people killed trying to do that.”

“Yeah, it damn near got me killed and now I’m on the run.” John said gloomily, staring at the table.

Jeremy grinned. “Think again.”

John looked up. “What?”

“Well, Somehow, the DNA test they ran from the pieces and parts found in and around your car matched your next of kin’s.”

“What! How?”

“A little evidence manipulation. I told you we had people everywhere supporting us. So, you are, for all intents and purposes, D-E-A-D.”

“Now what am I going to do? I can’t use my credit cards, driver’s license…..I’m stuck here!”

“Calm down. I’ll get some new papers built for you. Your grandfather worked this out a long time ago. From here on, you will be Brian Cassidy, First Cousin Once Removed.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“It means you will be free again. Just don’t go back to St. Louis. The beard will help too.”

“Then I’m going to open the shutters and let some daylight in here!”

Jeremy chuckled. “John, this property has no ties to the Cassidy name. As far as the records show, it is owned by John Henry Development Corporation which has only two shares of stock. You own one and I own one.”

“That’s all well and good, but this isn’t exactly an income producing property and I’m going to have to get a job. I can’t live off freeze-dried food forever.”

Jeremy smiled. “You’re hired.”

“Hired? For what?”

“You are now the Property Manager for Washita Lodge. You’ll get a steady paycheck, well above what you were making sitting behind a desk in St. Louis.”

“Really?”

“Sure. No stress of city life, call your own shots, feed the Howler a bag of apples now and again.”

“Well, it would have been kind of creepy going back to St. Louis. What about my things?”

“You apparently got out in the nick of time. That duplex was engulfed by the time the police and fire trucks arrived.”

Okay, I guess I’ll take the job then. I need to get some clothes and things.

“Well, don’t make me twist your arm!” Jeremy grinned. “We’ll head out in the morning and get you started on a new identity packet and do some shopping. We’ll head up to Broken Arrow for that.”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 4

“Where did this come from?” John asked.

“From the garage barn, Where it’s always been. You didn’t check out any of the buildings when you got here?”

“No, I waited until dark and stayed inside out of sight.”

“Well, use this vehicle when you go anywhere. It is known around here.”

“This is diesel?” John asked.

“Yep. Silverado 2500. I’ll show you the diesel storage tank when we get back. It isn’t easily recognizable for what it is.”

“Where are we going?”

“First, We need to make a stop to get your identity papers started. Then it’s off to do your shopping.”

“I’ve only got about a hundred in cash on me.”

“Be patient. We’ll take care of that.”


Traffic was sparse on the way to Fort Smith and light also on I-40. When they turned off I-40 to head to Broken Arrow, Jeremy pulled into a Love’s Truck Stop and bought bottles of spring water.”

“You said there is a Bass Pro up this way? I like to get a couple of Nalgene bottles to keep in the fridge.” John said.

“No problem, There’s one in Broken Arrow. We’ll go to it after we make the first stop. We need to kill some time anyway.”

Before they actually got into Broken Arrow, they got on secondary streets and ended up at a small boat dealership. When they walked in the door, a man behind the counter got up off a stool and made his way through a door behind the counter. Jeremy went around the end of the counter and followed the man back, John following Jeremy. They ended up in an office in the back of the building.

“Good to see you Jer.”

“You too Bill.” Jeremy said, handing Bill an envelope.

“What all do you need?”

“The full makeup. He’s going off the map.”

“I can get him a driver’s license made up in two or three hours. The rest will take about three days.”

Bill went over to a safe and got out a white box and a camera and handed the box and a card to John.

“Brian, you can activate the phone in three hours. The account will be set up under the name of Brian Cassidy. Use that name from now on. Now, sit in that chair over there and let me get a couple of photos.”

Bill looked at the digital photos and was satisfied.

“Jer, come back in three hours, just to be on the safe side, and I’ll have the ID cards and driver’s license ready.”

“Okay Bill, thanks.”

On the way out, Jeremy tossed the truck keys to Brian and got in on the passenger side.

“Go up to the next intersection and take a left.” Jeremy directed.

Jeremy kept giving him directions until they were at a branch of the First National Bank of Broken Arrow. Going in, Jeremy asked the head teller to see the Manager. They were ushered into a conference room and asked to wait. In a couple of minutes, a woman came through the door.

“Hello Jer, welcome back.”

“Ashe, I need access to the box and a couple of signatures.”

“The key?”

Jeremy handed her a key and she left the room, soon to return with a safety deposit box. Jeremy opened it up and took out a large, padded envelope and a smaller one. Opening the smaller one, he took out two card holders, one containing a credit card, one containing a debit card, and some paperwork. Jeremy showed on the paperwork where Brian was to sign then passed the paperwork to Ashely.

“Jer, we need to set the pin number for the debit card.” Ashely said.

Ashely had Brian accompany her over to a computer terminal in the room and placed the card in a card reader with a numeric key pad. She sat at the terminal and hit a few keys then directed Brian to type in his desired pin number. He hesitated a second then typed in 1-8-9-2 for his favorite rifle back at the Lodge, the Winchester 1892. Ashely told him he could remove the card from the reader.

“Is there anything else Jer?”

“No, that will be all Ashe. Thank you.”

Ashely took the box with her as she left. Jeremy tore open the padded envelope and removed a money belt.

“Put this on under your shirt. There’s $500 in there.”

Brian strapped on the money belt and loosely tucked in his shirt and put his light jacket back on. As they got up, Ashely returned and handed Jeremy his key.

“How long are you in town for?” Ashely asked.

“Just for today, then I’m off again.”

“Well, next time, make enough time to take me out to dinner.” Ashely said, grinning.

“You can count on it. Thanks again Ashe.”

“You’re more than welcome.”

They left the bank and Jeremy gave Brian directions to Bass Pro.

They each got a shopping cart and headed for the men’s clothing area. Brian picked out a couple of sets of jeans, hiking pants, cargo pants, underwear, base layers, flannel shirts, long sleeve T-shirts, a medium weight coat, a heavy winter coat a couple of knit hats, socks, Gortex rain suit, hunting clothing, boots and gloves. Brian picked up a couple of Nalgene bottles.

“I think that should do it.” Brian said.

“You need some slacks, Sport Coat, or anything like that?”

“Not right now. Maybe later once I’ve settled in.”

Jeremy nodded and they went to the checkout.

After loading the purchases in the truck, they went over to Los Cabos Mexican Grill and Cantina for lunch. Jeremy had a beer with his lunch and Brian drank iced tea. They killed time talking about the Lodge and stretched the lunch out until it was time to go back and pick up the IDs. Jeremy directed Brian out of town and back to the boat dealer. Bill had everything ready when they walked in.

“He’s already in the computers. He’s as legit as he can be without standing in front of the camera at the DMV.”

“Thanks Bill.”

“I’ll give you a call Brian, when I have the passport done.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Not a problem. Keep your powder dry.”

On the way down 351 Brian asked, “Are Bill and Ashely part..”

“Yes, but don’t ever contact them directly without notifying me first. Otherwise, you could crash the cells.”

Brian drove on in silence. He had a lot more questions but they could wait until they got back to the Lodge.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 5

The next morning Brian cooked bacon, eggs and toast again for breakfast. Jeremy ate it, but during their scant conversation suggested Brian get fresher groceries.

Brian chuckled. “I’d planned yesterday to stop and get a few things but my mind was in a whirl. Dad, what is happening?”

“Well, the bottom line is, Shield is tired of playing whack-a-mole. From now on they are going to grab the moles by the neck and tear them out of the machine. The left, with the support of the main stream media have damaged this country to the point to where it is difficult, if not impossible to counteract their Marxist’s agendas without extreme prejudice. Look at what has been happening in the last five years. The FBI has become the enforcement arm of the leftist establishment, the Democrats are threatening to pack the Supreme Court to get the laws that only benefit the Leftist’s agenda. Right now they are trying to politicize the Court and put outside political pressure on the justices. To pack the Court will politicize it beyond redemption. Leftists Senators are basically saying they don't want courts and laws anymore; they want just politics as the basis for what's the law, same as Hugo Chávez once did. The fevered tirades clearly show we have reached the point that the left has decided that policy will not be made like sausage, but through tantrum, intimidation, and riot. If the Supreme Court doesn't rule its way, then the Court is illegitimate, stolen and therefore has to be destroyed to save itself from making incorrect rulings. As a political pundit so eloquently recently noted, "whenever the left feels they have lost control of an institution, they try to destroy it."

“So it boils down to a civil war.” Brian stated.

“Yes, that pretty much what it boils down to. But it won’t be a scorched earth policy like the Democrats have historically run. The collateral damage with be there, in war that can’t always be helped, but we will minimize it as much as possible. It will be selective elimination to the greatest extent possible. Like I said, we’re going to grab the moles by the neck, rip their heads off, and crap down their throats. The Democrats like to preach and support intimidation, now we’re going to show them what intimidation really is. We aren’t going to play word games, we’re playing for keeps.”

“What can I do?”

“Get back in tune with the land. Occasionally I will be back or will contact you about someone coming here to stay for a short time. I’ll need to leave in a couple of days, but tomorrow, you and I are going to the market and get some fresh food! I’m feeling a desire for some fresh meat.”

The next morning they went the Harps in Waldron and filled a couple of carts. Brian bought several packs of ground beef, strip steaks, a couple of packs of chicken breasts, some steak burgers, beef hotdogs, four packs of thick sliced bacon, smoked ham hocks, three packs of tortillas, smoked sausage, cheddar cheese slices, sliced loaf bread, hotdog buns, hamburger buns, eggs, seedless red grapes, a bag of salad, 3 pounds of baking potatoes, 2 pounds of white onions, and a pound of smoked salmon. Jeremy got a strange look from Brian when he selected two 5-lb, mesh bags of apples and set them in the cart. In another aisle Jeremy added a case of beer.

When they pushed the cart out in the parking lot Brian asked his father about the apples.

‘Wait, I will show you later.”

When they got back to the Lodge Brian put some of the things into the freezer and kept out a couple of steaks, potatoes and the bag of salad for dinner. Jeremy picked up one of the bags of apples and told Brian to follow him. Jeremy walked out to the garage barn and laid the bag of apples on the cargo rack of one of the Rokons. Checking the fuel level, Jeremy gave the starter rope a pull and the bike started. Brian checked another one and got it started. Brian followed his father out of the barn and they rode to the distant woodline. When they reached the woodline, they rode about 100 meters into the forest and stopped next to a huge oak tree. Jeremy got off the bike, picked up the bag of apples, and carried them over to the tree and hung the bag on a rusted hook embedded in the tree. Jeremy got back on the bike and a puzzled Brian followed him back to the garage barn.

“What was that about?” Brian asked.

“Let’s go to the Lodge and talk.” Jeremy replied.

Inside, Jeremy got two beers out of the fridge and handed one to Brian.

“The apples are for Harvey, or whomever is running the show.”

“Who is Harvey?”

Jeremy chuckled. “It’s not a matter of ‘Who,’ But ‘What,’ is Harvey. Harvey is a Howler.”

Stunned, Brian stared at his father. “You’re telling me there is such a thing as the Ozark Howler?”

Jeremy took another sip of his beer. “Howler, Swamp Ape, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, Skunk Ape, Almas, Wendigo, Orang Pendek, Mapingauri, Yeren, Genashowa, there are many names for them, but yes, they are real. There’s been a family or tribe or whatever you call a group of them around here for as long as the Taylor family had owned the land. They leave us alone, we leave them alone, except in cases where we need to do something to protect them. They scream when anyone enters their territory, except for us here at the Lodge; they accept us. For that, we put out a bag of apples now and again for them. Those apples are probably already gone. They have excellent hearing and would have heard us.”

“What do I do if I run into one?”

“Nothing. Just walk away. They are no danger but get uneasy of someone looks at them too long. They’ll probably turn away before you can.”

“So, you are leaving tomorrow?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got things I need to do. The cell phone, have you activated it?”

“Not yet.”

“Well activate it. Do not download any GPS type apps. They won’t work. That is an untraceable phone. It can’t even be traced via cell towers. I don’t know how they do it but the geeks have a way of doing that.”

Brian got the phone out of the box and activated the phone. Jeremy took the phone and dialed his number. When his phone rang, Jeremy handed the hone back and took out his phone.

“Add that number to your contact list. Anyway, the phone acts just like any other phone. You can text, email, browse the internet, everything.”

“So, what do I do here?” Brian asked.

“Anything you want, within reason. We used to keep horses here, and cattle too. Get a couple of horses, some cows to raise for slaughter, find a girl and have some fun. There’s one more thing I need to show you. Come with me.”

Jeremy got up and walked down the hall, Brian following. Jeremy opened the door to a storage closet, tripped a hidden switch and pulled a door open. Before them in the narrow area was a ladder going down. Jeremy flipped a light switch on and went down the ladder. Brian hesitated then followed. At the bottom of the ladder was a room that had gun racks on one side of the room and what looked like ammo cases on the other side. Stacks of other cases were arranged throughout the room.

“There’s guns, ammo, night vision devices, body armor and I don’t know what all down here.”

“What’s it for?”

“Just in case.”

Jeremy went back to the ladder and climbed up. Following him, Brian looked up and there was a cage-like thing hanging above the door at the top of the ladder.

“What is that?”

Jeremy pressed a button on the wall of the shaft and a big basket was lowered.

“This is how we get equipment up and down.”

Jeremy raised the basket and shut off the light in the shaft.

“What do I do with that stuff?”

“Give it out to those who come here for something. Sign is Robin, countersign is harvest. I’ll text you when they change. If someone comes and doesn’t say something with the word ‘Robin’ included, they are not from us. Treat them like a civilian.”

Brian nodded in understanding.

 

[Mr Bill]

Cool beans

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 6


Brian’s father was up and had coffee made when Brian came out of his room the next morning.

“I made a copy of the flash drives. I didn’t think that old HP was going to make it,” Brian said, handing the single drive to his father.

“Where’s the other one?”

“That’s a bigger drive. I managed to copy both onto that one.”

“You might as well move into the big bedroom, Brian.” Jeremy said.

“Yeah, my closet won’t hold all the clothes I have now.”

“Grab a cup of coffee. I’ll need a ride down to the south pasture. I’m being picked up at 0700.”

“We’d better leave now then, That’s a twenty minute drive, unless you want to spill your coffee.” Brian replied.

Jeremy went over to the pantry and came out with an orange smoke grenade. Brian looked at his father quizzically.

“It’s for the pilot, so he can see the winds. When he comes in sight, pull this ring and hold it up in the air. It won’t get hot. Get rid of the cannister when I leave. It will burn.”

They went and got in the truck. There wasn’t a road, per se, to the south pasture, just a faint set of ruts. Brian parked the truck in the woodline and he and his father walked out into the pasture. At 0655, they heard the aircraft coming in from the southeast. When Brian saw the faint outline of the wings and nose of the aircraft flying just barely above the trees, he moved a few more meters out into the pasture, pulled the ring on the grenade and held it above his head. The smoke mostly drifted up. There was little to no winds. The plane floated to the ground and came to a rolling stop. Brian then recognized it as a Highlander. Jeremy and his son hugged and Brian watched him climb into the plane. The pilot pivoted the plane around and quickly rolled down the pasture and suddenly was in the air. Banking sharply, the plane stayed below the surrounding hilltops and flew away to the west, following Bush Hollow. Soon, the sound of the plane faded away. Brian looked around. The place could use a cow or two on it.


Well, now that he was basically free, he wanted a few things he had been without. He was only about 50 miles from Fort Smith where he could probably find everything he wanted. Brian didn’t even bother stopping at the Lodge on the way out. An hour later he arrived at a computer store he’d found on his phone that sold Dell computers. He liked the computer he lost and wanted the same setup. The guy Wesley, set him right up. He noticed they were also a deal for Hughes satellite. Brian wasn’t interested in the TV part of it, but the internet intrigued him. Wesley was a big help with that also, and told him he didn’t really need an installer to come out and set it up. Anyone who had an IQ higher than a mule apple could set it up. In fact, when the installer pulled everything out of the box, he would tuck away the setup instructions so the customer didn’t know how easy it was. Brian outright bought a system instead of leasing it. Wesley didn’t have all the software that he wanted for his new computer but did direct him to other stores that would have what he wanted, and gave directions too. Brian made sure he took one of Wesley’s business cards.


When he got home, it took longer to set up his computer than it did the satellite system. Once he got the computer set up, He logged into the net and started resaving what bookmarks he could remember. The first one was FreeRepublic.com and he stayed there for a while and read the posts. He almost logged in then remembered he’d have to do a new registration. He got the registration completed then added the information to his secure password manager. He’d have to add the software licenses to the program for his computer software soon. Reading through the articles, he noticed an article about the CFO of Carlisle Investments, Richard Claybourne, dying in a private plane crash outside of Bedford, Indiana. A chill went down Brian’s spine. Claybourne was neck deep in the money laundering. Brian shut the computer down. He walked over to the old Capehart International multi band portable radio that was prominently displayed on the bookcase below another multiband radio.. It was amazing this thing had worked for over forty years until one of the tubes gave out. It had been replaced by one if the earlier models of Sangean multi-band radios that had FM reception also and even used the original wire antenna they had put up for the old Capehart. Technology had come a long way. Now you could buy a multiband radio that could fit into your pocket. Turning the Sangean on, Brian found WEGR in Memphis, and listened to Fox News for a while. When they began repeating what he had already heard, he turned the radio off and went outside. He walked over to the garage building and inspected it thoroughly. The tool room was well equipped and also had a room full of filters, spare parts and oils for what he assumed was every vehicle on the Lodge land. The other bays contained the Rokons, next the old Allis Chalmers WD45. (He tried to start the tractor and after a few failed attempts, it started right up.) The next bay held a restored 1960 Jeep FC-170. It cranked right up. They hadn’t restored it to showroom quality but had used it for a farm truck. It started right up and Brian was surprised to find current plates and registration for it. Who was doing that?

Moving on to an opened front equipment shed ,he found the implements for the tractor and a couple of trailers. The smoke house was still serviceable and just needed the cobwebs cleaned out. The rock-lined root cellar also needed the cobwebs cleaned out and maybe a bug bomb or two. The big two-story barn held no surprises. Grandpa had the timber framed barn dismantled in Pennsylvania, trucked here and assembled. Only a few of the original boards had to be replaced and a metal roof added. The barn was said to be over 150 years old. It was dry and dusty inside but nothing was in disrepair. The tack room was empty as was the feed room. Maybe he would get a couple of horses.

He walked back to the Lodge and got a glass of iced tea. He was just lifting the glass to his lips when he heard a vehicle on the drive. Quickly setting the glass down, he looked out the door saw a young woman getting out of a pickup truck with the logo “Silver Creek English Golden Retrievers.” She walked up to the porch steps and stopped. Brian remained in the doorway, pistol in his hand, hidden behind his leg.

“I was intrigued by the number of robins I saw in the field.”

Startled, Brian answered, “Yes, but they will leave soon after the harvest.”

“Hi, I’m Jenna, The registration renewal came in for the Silverado,” Jenna said, taking an envelope out of a messenger pouch slung over her shoulder.

Brian stared at her and slowly holstered the pistol

“I guess Jer didn’t tell you about me….us?”

“Who’s ‘Us’?”

“My family. We keep a watch and take care of the place when no one is around. We also pick up the mail.

“I wondered why the Lodge was so clean.”

“Jer pays my Aunt Millie to come over once a week to clean. If you have someone else here she can stop coming.”

“No! Uh….I’m here by myself and will be for the extended future.”

“Oh, okay. Well, she usually comes by on Thursdays. Oh!”

Jenna pulled a cell phone out of her bag and dialed a number. Brian’s phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the number.

“Now you have my number.” Jenna said. “If you need anything, just call me.”

“How did you get my…”

“Jer sent me a text. We have the same kind of phone.”

“What’s with the Golden Retrievers?”

“We raise them. Not the kind you normally see. These are English Cream Golden Retrievers.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Well, if you need anything, just call.”

Brian watched her drive away. “Well, I guess that leaves out going around here buck naked.” Brian mumbled to himself.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 7

Brian went to the Farmers Co-op in Waldron and asked one of the clerks if they knew of anyone who sold horses. He was told there was a farm down in Boles that trained and sold horses. Brian drove south and was not quite to Boles when he spotted the sign for Silver Creek English Golden Retrievers. He decided to ask them if the horse farm was reputable. As he drove up to the kennel and outbuildings, a man came out a kennel door.

“Good morning, I’m Brian Cassidy.”

“Yeah, Jenna told me about you. I’m George McGinna. How can I help you?”

“Yes, I was looking for a couple of riding horses and I was directed down to a farm in Boles. Do you know anything about them?

“Oh yeah, George Carson. Raises some of the best horses around. Man’s as honest as the day is long. He’ll do you right.”

“Okay, that’s good. I just wanted to check with some local and make sure I wasn’t walking in blind. I appreciate your advice.”

“Don’t you want to say hello to Jenna?”

“No sir, that’s oka…”

“JENNA! SOMEBODY’S OUT HERE!”

“Jenna came out the kennel office door and walked over.”

“Yes?”

“Brian here is going over to George’s to buy a couple of horses.”

“Hi again.” Jenna smiled.

“Why don’t you ride over with him and make sure George treats him right.”

“But I thought you said….”

“Let me put the two puppies away and I’ll be right back.” Jenna said, trotting to the kennel.

“That girl knows her horses and will make sure you get good stuff.”

Jenna came back out and she and Brian got in his truck. Brian turned around and headed back to the highway.

“Sorry about this. My father thinks he’s doing me a favor by pushing me at men. I’m not that way.”

Brian remained silent.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

Your sexual orientations aren’t any of my business.” Brian replied.

“NO! I didn’t mean it that way. I mean I don’t want a relationship right now. I just go along with my father. That way there’s less complaining about me getting to be an old maid.”

“Very well.”

Jenna pointed out the horse farm to him and he pulled onto the long driveway. In about a quarter mile they pulled up to a house. Jenna and Brian got out of the truck as a young woman came out on the porch.

“Glory, this is Brian, he’s looking to buying a horse.” Jenna said.

“Ohhhh, finally got you a man?” Glory grinned.

“NO! I just showed him how to get here.”

“What type of horse are you looking for Brian?” Glory asked.

“Actually, I’m looking for two riding horses.”

”Oh? Does your girlfriend ride too?”

Brian flushed. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh really?”

“Glory, just show him some horses!” Jenna said brusquely.

“Testy, testy!” Glory said to Jenna, waving her finger at her.

“Glory led them out to the paddock and showed Brian the six horses they had available.

“Could I see that bay over there?” Brian asked.

Glory whistled and the horses trotted over to them. She slipped a halter over the bay’s head and brought her out.

“This is a good filly. She’s got great stamina and loves to run. She’s four years old and has been shod recently and gentle too.”

Brian checked her mouth for any problems and stroked her flanks.

“Want to take her for a ride?”

“Yes, I would.”

Glory led the horse to the barn and stopped in front of the tack room.

Glory got a bridle out of the room and told Brian to pick a saddle. Brian picked out a saddle and a blanket. Setting the saddle down, he smoothed the blanked on the horse’s back and set the saddle. Glory watched closely as he tightened the cinch and straps and adjusted the stirrups. Brian knew what he was doing.

“Why don’t you pick another one out and we can ride them down the trail for a bit, trade horses, and you’ll be able to check both out.” Glory recommended.

“What about the buckskin?”

Glory got the buckskin and saddled him. They got on the horses and headed down a trail along the fence. Jenna stayed at the paddock fence with her arms crossed, watching them.

When they returned, Brian was riding the buckskin. He grinned at Jenna. “Both horses are great!”

“Would you like to take them with you today?” Glory asked.

“No, I’ve got to arrange for hay to be delivered and I need to stock up on feed, plus, I don’t have a livestock trailer.” Brian said.

“Oh, we have hay here for sale at $7 a bale and we can deliver it. We also have straw for bedding. You can get horse feed at the Farmers CO-OP in Waldron. We can deliver the hay and straw this afternoon and the horses to you tomorrow. I’ll go get their records and make up a bill of sale.

“Wait! Where can I buy tack for them? Also, I’ll need enough hay and straw to last me through the winter.

“If the gear you used is acceptable, I can sell that to you. We break in saddles and sell them too.” Glory said.

“Yes, add them to the bill please.” Brian replied.’’

“She’s been very helpful.” Brian replied, watching Glory walk to the house.

“Yes she has, hasn’t she?” Replied Jenna.

Brian shelled out slightly more than he had made in a week in St. Louis then he and Jenna left the horse farm.

“Is there more than one kind of horse feed? Brian asked as they got near the kennel drive.

“Just keep driving to the CO-OP. I’ll show you what to get.” Jenna said.

Jenna showed him the feed he should use since they would have plenty of pasture grass and picked out a feed scoop.

“This is a two pound scoop, Give each horse one scoop a day. If for some reason they can’t graze, then give them seven pounds of hay per day.”

Brian came away from the Farmers CO-OP with a feed scoop, three 100-pound bags of horse feed two halters and two lead ropes. He loaded the bags of feed with ease and they headed back to the kennel.”

“Thank you for your help today Jenna.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Maybe you could come over sometime and we could go riding.”

“I thought you and Glory would have already a ride planned.”

“To tell you the truth, I find Glory to be a little bit pushy. I’ll have to watch it around her.”

Brian pulled up to the kennel and Jenna got out.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jenna said. Walking to the kennel with a slight smile on her face.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 8

Brian unloaded the horse feed in the feed room and hung the bridles with their lead ropes in the tack room. He went to the house and into the kitchen to get a glass of tea and smelled the ripening apples. Going to the pantry he picked up the bag and went back out the door. Going to the garage barn, he rolled a Rokon out and started the engine. Placing the bag of apples on the cargo carrier, he headed to the far tree line. He got to the large oak and hung the bag up, eyes searching the forest. Seeing nothing, he cranked the Rokon and headed back to the Lodge.

When he got back to the Lodge, he pulled the pack of eight chicken legs from the fridge and sat it on the counter. Getting out the cast iron chicken fryer , he sat it on the burner and added frying oil. By the time he’d breaded the chicken, the oil was hot. He carefully placed four legs into the pot and fried them to a golden brown. Placing the cook ones on paper towels to drain, he placed the last four in the fryer. When they had finished cooking he added the legs to the plate to drain and cut the burner off. He would let the oil cool, strain it and save it until next time. He left the chicken out and went to the outdoor furnace. The firebox and ash pan were clean so he laid down a bed of wood and built a fire on top. Once it caught he would add more wood. Meanwhile, he went to the smoker next to the built-in grill on the patio and checked it out. It had been cleaned and looked serviceable, as far as he could tell. He was thinking of picking up a pack of turkey legs and smoking them. He loved smoked turkey legs. Going back to the furnace, he added more wood and adjusted the vents. It would keep the lodge warm without having to use the fireplace, and would for a couple of days.

The hay and straw were delivered and the two strong young guys loaded it all in the hay loft of the barn. John took some bales of straw and covered the floor in a couple of stalls for when the horses arrived the next day.

Brian went back to the Lodge and ate a couple of chicken legs and put the rest in the refrigerator. He liked cold chicken. He might think about getting some chickens. He’d have to build a chicken coop for them. Going to his computer, Brian began looking for chicken coop plans. He found the plans for a 19th century chicken coop, downloaded the plans and started making a list of the tools and materials he would need.

At nine the next morning the horses arrived, Jenna leading the way. Briefly, Brian wondered why, then remembered she had access to the gate. They went directly to the barn paddock and lead the horses out of the trailer out into the open area. Turning them loose, the horses frolicked around in their new home then settled down to grazing. Brian and Jenna leaned on the fence and watched them.

“You should get some carrots. They like carrots and apples.” Jenna said.

“I’ll get some and put carrots on my list to grow next year.” Brian said lazily.

“You’re going to plant a garden?”

“Sure why not?”

“Well, you don’t seem like……nothing.”

“I don’t seem like nothing?”

“That’s not what I meant. Just forget it.”

“Jenna, I apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m not upset. It’s just, well, you don’t seem like the Farmer in the Dell type. I can’t figure you out.”

“Nothing to figure out. I’ve got a new life and have to adapt. There are things I don’t know and have to get wise to. If you see me doing something wrong, please let me know.”

“We’ll you did put the straw in the stalls instead of hay.”

“I’m not completely ignorant. I read all about that one time in a Roy Roger’s comic book.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “You need to work on your comedy routine.”

“I need to go into town and get some materials to build a chicken coop.”

“Wow, you’re really going all out!”

Brian shrugged. “I like fresh eggs. I’m getting tired of powdered eggs and well water.”

Jenna giggled. “Jer gave us a can of those one time. They’re not bad if you don’t have anything else to eat. I’d rather have fresh eggs too. How big are you going to make it?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Jenna followed Brian to the Lodge and went in. Brian picked up the sheets he had printed out.

Brian, this says it will hold 34 chickens! You can’t possibly eat that many eggs!”

Brian shrugged. “Don’t plan to. I’ll start out with about six hens and a rooster. It will give me room to grow.”

Jenna laid the plans down. Well, I’ve got to get to work. I’m training a couple of new puppies.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“I’ll see you around.”

Brian walked with her to her truck and watched her drive off. He went back inside and got the keys for the FC-170, his shopping list and pulled the truck out of the garage. Driving it over to the well house, he rinsed the dust off of it and slowly drove it down the drive and headed for the grand metropolis of Waldron to the combo Ace Hardware and building supply. Getting into Waldron, he went on past the hardware store and went to Harps first to pick up a couple more bags of apples and some carrots.

One thing you could say, the hardware store had every tool he needed, and then some. He gave them his lumber order and while they were loading it, went inside and began collecting the other things on his list. After getting the power saw, he had to have power, so he got a 3500 watt generator, and the list snowballed. He hadn’t realized a chicken coop would cost this much. On the way out of town he filled his newly purchased 5-gallon gas can and headed home. He backed the stake-bed back into the garage because it was supposed to rain the next day and he didn’t want everything to get wet. Going into the house, he grabbed two chicken legs and a Mountain Dew and sat down at the laptop to read up on raising chickens.

Two hours later he got up and stretched. He looked at his list and the notes he had made on his list. He still had feed and oyster shells to buy, feeders, waterers, he needed to have some place to store the feed…. he was going to have to eat a lot of eggs and chicken to break even on this project! It suddenly dawned on him he’d left the apples and carrots in the cab of the stake-bed. He walked out to the garage and carried the apples and carrots to the root cellar and took one bag of carrots to the barn. Dumping the carrots into a bucket, he took one out, hung the bucket on the wall and walked to the paddock fence. Whistling to get the horses’ attention, they came trotting to him. Breaking the carrot in half, Brian fed each horse their treat. He rubbed them for a bit, they seemed to enjoy that. Finally giving them their last pat, he left them for a while. He would be back to put them in their stalls before dark.


It was raining, not heavily, just enough to be aggravating. Nevertheless, Brian put on his rainsuit and headed for the barn. He didn’t know if the horses like to get out in the rain or not, but he would leave the stall doors open and they could come a go as they pleased. When he opened their doors they walked to the paddock end of the barn alley and stared out at the rain, the looked at Brian as if to say, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Brian chuckled and gave each a half a carrot. He got a brush out of the tack room and brushed each down. He knew they enjoyed it because you could see them quiver a little as he ran the brush over their backs. Brian put the brush away and went back to the house. As he walked in his cell rang. He pressed the receive button and he heard two beeps.

“How’s it going Brian?”

“Pretty good Dad. I bought two horses.”

“That’s good. Everything quiet?”

“As a mouse. Say, you failed to mention about the cleaning lady and the Carsons.”

“Oh yeah, that slipped my mind. They are such a constant I don’t think about things like that. They are great support. The reason why I called, there will be a plane coming in tomorrow at 0700 with a package. Take it and put it down in the gun room.”

“It’s supposed to be raining tomorrow, Dad.”

“Doesn’t make any difference, he flies in any weather.”

“Okay, I’ll be there. Do I need to pop smoke?”

“Yes. Red is the color of the day.”

“Got it.”

“Okay, you take care. I hope to see you in a couple of weeks.”

“Okay Dad, Bye.”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 9

Brian shuffled around in the misting rain as he waited for the plane. Although it had rained for a couple of days the pasture was still firm. The soil was gravelly and drained quickly. He was hoping adding manure compost to his garden would help it retain moisture better. Jarred out of his thoughts by the sound of the plane, he popped the smoke grenade and held it up. He saw the plane about a mile away as it made its approach. Setting down, it taxied up to him. Brian stayed clear of the propeller and went around to the pilot who opened the door and handed him the package. The package was a little heavy but he quickly took it and got away from the plane as the pilot pivoted the plane around and began his takeoff run. It took the same path as before and disappeared out of sight.

Brian took the package back to the Lodge and put it in the secret gun room and made a cup of hot chocolate, opened his computer and browsed sites on raising chickens.


When the rain stopped Brian pulled the Jeep stake-bed out between the barn and the hedge row and began unloading the lumber, organizing it in stacks by lumber sizes. That accomplished, he headed to the tool room in the equipment shed to get a set of post hole diggers. As he was about to open the door, Brian glanced over and there laying on the ground behind the 3-bottom plow was a set of post hole diggers for the tractor, still with patches of Allis-Chalmers orange paint. Brian looked it over, then dragged it out in front of the shed. He brought the tractor over and after a few twists and turns, figured out how it attached to the three-point hitch and the PTO. After getting it connected, he drove the tractor over to his grand construction site and shut it down. Taking another look at the plans, Brian drove three of his 2”x4” stakes into the ground, forming a 45 degree angle. then measured over parallel to the hedgerow and drove in another three stakes. He cut two lengths of 2x4 to connect the three stakes, forming a corner. He had just finished forming the other corner when he heard a vehicle driving up. It was Jenna.

“Morning! Layin’ out your chicken coop?”

“Morning. Yep. How are you this morning?”

“I’m fine. Jenna answered. ”Yes you are,” thought Brian.

Jenna watched Brian measure over and drive in another stake, then straighten up.

“What brings you around this morning?”

Well, this morning is “Me” time so I came over to tell you Mama wants you to come to dinner.”

“Me time?”

“I need some time away from the puppies, refresh my soul a little.”

“I didn’t realize puppies sucked your soul out of you.” Brian grinned, putting on his tool belt.

“They don’t really. I just need time away once in a while.”

Brian finished driving in his stakes and cut some more pieces of 2x4 , leveled and nailed them onto the stakes.

“What time?” Brian asked.

“What time for…oh you mean dinner?”

“Yeah.” Brian said, stringing out mason line.

“12 o’clock, of course.”

Brian looked at her. “Oh! That dinner!”

Jenna gave him a confused look.

“Sorry, I lived in the city too long. What you call dinner, to city folks would be lunch. Dinner to them would be your supper.”

Jenna shrugged.

Brian drove a nail into the level 2x4 and tied it off, leaving about a three foot tail then cut the string. He did the same on all sides. He took his 100’ tape measure and ran it across the string box to check the squareness.

“Need some help?”

“Yeah. I don’t have enough hands.”

She held the tape measure and he adjusted the strings until he had his string box square. They measured and marked the post holes with a set of hand post hole diggers until all the holes were marked. Jenna untied the strings and coiled them up while Brian brought the tractor over. She guided him back then he lowered the auger and dug the holes. When they had finished digging, Brian dumped a half of a bag of two inch gravel into the bottom of each hole and added a pressure treated 4x4 post. They put the strings back up and leveled the posts and secured them in place with 1x4s and stakes. When they had finished it was almost lunch….er…dinner time.

“We need to wash up and go or your Mom might get perturbed.” Brian said.

They went to the Lodge and Brian let her use the washroom while he dusted off and washed his hands in the kitchen sink. They went out and she got in is truck with him and they took off down the drive. ”She must be planning on coming back.” Brian deduced.

When they got to her house, Jenna’s mother, Sally, and her Aunt Millie were setting the food on the table. George walked in and took a seat at the head of the table.

“Go on, take a seat Brian!” George said.

Brian pulled out Jenna’s chair and sat her down then took a seat. Sally and Millie grinned at each other.

George said grace then bowls and platters were passed around. Sally had cooked meatloaf. There were boiled potatoes, green beans, squash and cornbread to go with it.

Jenna picked up the pitcher and pour tea in Brian’s glass.

“Brian is building a chicken coop.” Jenna announced.

“Oh, what kind of chickens are you gonna have?” Sally asked.

“I don’t know right now. I’d like to find some Leghorns.” Brian replied.

“Jenna, don’t the Claybornes raise Leghorns?”

“Yes Mama. I’ll help him get some.” Jenna replied.

Sally and Millie talked back and forth about different things as they were eating. Brian kept his mouth shut unless answering a question. When dinner was over. Brian thanked them and he and Jenna left, Millie and Sally watching from the kitchen door as they left.


When they got back to the Lodge, Brian got the wheelbarrow, a shovel, mortar hoe and a small trowel and took them over to the truck. Pulling a water hose from the well house he dumped a bag of pre-mixed concrete into the wheelbarrow, mixed up the concrete and shoveled it around the post. Taking the trowel, he sloped the concrete above ground around each post to let the water drain away while Jenna mixed another bag. In a couple of hours they were done.

“Thanks for the help Jenna. I would have been here until dark getting this done.”

“I enjoyed it. It’s something different than I’m used to.”

Brian rinsed the wheelbarrow out and they cleaned the drying concrete from the tools with a wire brush. Putting the tools away, they went to the Lodge and Brian got them a glass of iced tea.

“You need a dog.” Declared Jenna.

“Yeah, maybe in the future.”

“No, you need a dog now to keep you company. They are a great comfort to have around.”

“I’ll think about it. You want to go riding?”

“Sure!”

They emptied their tea glasses and sat them beside the sink.

Down at the barn, Brian whistled and the horses came running up.

“Did you name them yet?” Jenna asked.

“The Buckskin I call ‘Buck’.”

“Oh! How original!” Jenna said, rolling her eyes.

“The Bay’s name is ‘Dolly’.”

“I like that name.”

They fed each a half a carrot and brought them into the barn alley. Taking a stiff brush, they brushed them down and followed with a soft brush. Brian check their hooves to make sure they were free from gravel and dirt. They placed bridles on them, followed by the saddle pads. Brian glanced over at Jenna as she carefully smoothed out the pad, making sure there were no wrinkles. He helped her lift the western saddle and placed it on Dolly’s back. Next, she fastened the back cinch and when she went to tighten the cinch, you could see Dolly’s chest expand, Jenna hauled off and punched Dolly in the side and as Dolly exhaled, finished tightening the cinch. Brian smiled as he finished saddling Buck. ”She knows what she is doing.”

They led the horses outside and Brian watched as Jenna mounted, then adjusted the stirrups for her. Getting on Buck, they trotted toward the main gate at the highway but turned and went through a gate into the west pasture and road along the tree line, circumventing the forest.


Back at the barn, they dismounted and walked the horses around a bit to let them cool slowly. They stripped off the saddles and pads and hung them up to dry. Walking them to the water trough, they let the horses drink their fill. Since they'd had access to water all day, Brian wasn't worried about them overdoing it. They pitched some clean alfalfa hay into their feed troughs and groomed the horses, all the while talking about nothing.
When they had finished, Brian walked with her to her truck.

“I had a fun time today.” Jenna said.

“Hey, I had you working most of it!”

“I know. It was still fun.”

Jenna hesitated, started to say something, then started to get into her truck. “I’ll see you later.” She said.
Brian laid his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know too much about this area. Is there somewhere I can take you out to dinner? You know, for helping me today?”

Jenna’s smile lit the air. “Why don’t I come over and we can cook something together. I’ll bring the fixin’s.
Brian grinned. “Saturday night okay?”

Jenna grinned. “Perfect!” Quickly kissing him on the cheek, Jenna jumped in the truck and waving, went down the drive.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 10

The board and batten siding went up quickly. Brian built the trusses and had those up in a short time. The hard work was getting them up over the wall but he figured it out. Once he got the roof sheathing on things went faster. Turning the skill saw blade around backwards, he cut the roofing and screwed it into place. Next to go up was the wire on the run, which took some trickery, but he got it up tight and secured. He built the doors and used a couple of old windows he found in the little loft of the garage barn for the coop and the feed room he had added to the plans. It was easier to go ahead and build the feed room than have a pre-built shed bought and delivered. It was almost like he knew what he was doing. Using mostly screws in the construction made things go a lot faster. Nesting boxes were constructed and the outside doors from them covered with pieces of roofing material. Thursday afternoon, his butt balanced on a sawhorse, Brian sat back and looked at his project he had just finished painting with paint that was as close to the color of the other buildings as he could get. Now he had to go get the waterers and feeders at the Farmers Cooperative but first he got a bale of straw to cover the floor in the coop and line the nesting boxes.

Friday morning Brian hitched a trailer to the truck, drove to the Farmers CO-OP and bought two treadle feeders, a drum waterer, chicken feed, oyster shells and several more bales of oat straw. He got the 35 gallon waterer and the feeders filled in the coop, now all he need was the chickens. He called Jenna.

“Jenna, it’s Brian. You mentioned you knew where I could get some Leghorns?”

“Yes, are you finished with the coop already?”

“Yep, all ready to go. I’m just short a few chickens.”

“Come on over and I’ll take you. Bring some cash.”

“Got it.”

Brian drove up the drive to Jenna’s as she was carrying two pet carrier cages out of the kennel.

“Put these in the bed. Gotta have some way to transport the chickens.” Jenna grinned.

Brian put the cages in the truck and Jenna jumped in. By her directions, they were at the farm in about fifteen minutes. Jenna picked out six young hens and a rooster they put in the cages. Brian paid the lady and they took them back to the Lodge. Brian carried the cages into the run, and one-by-one released the chickens. Obviously, they were accustomed to treadle feeders because they immediately went over and started eating.

“Nice setup.” Jenna said, looking around. “Was this in the plans?” Jenna asked, pointing out the added feed room.

"No, I added it. I didn't want to have to carry feed from the barn feed room.”

“Well, aren’t you a smarty.” Jenna grinned.

“Shucks ma’am, twarn’t nothin’.”

Jenna giggled. “Stop that! You’ll have me checking to see if you have all your teeth.”

They loaded the pet carriers into the truck and Brian took Jenna back to the kennel.

“Come on in, I want to show you something.” Jenna said, taking one of the cages out of the truck. Brian grabbed the other one and followed her in. She set her cage down and said, “Follow me.”

They went through another door and six puppies were running around playing.

“So these are English Golden Retrievers? You’re right, they are a lot lighter than the ones I’m used to seeing.” Brian remarked.

One of the puppies stopped playing, dropped the ball from his mouth and looked at Brian. It ran toward him and Brian squatted down to pet the puppy. The puppy jumped up and started licking Brian’s face.

“That’s Harley. He’s picked you.”

“What do you mean he’s picked me?”

“The best dogs pick their owner, not the other way around.” Jenna said, grinning.

George walked in. “Doggoneit! You were right! Harley picked him! Brian, looks like you have a new dog.”

Brian scratched the puppy. “I guess. How much is he?”

“Naw, you go on and take him.”

“I insist! You’ve spent time and money feeding and training him. He is trained isn’t he?”

“Oh yes!” Jenna said. “Harley SIT!” Harley sat and looked up at Brian.

“Again, how much is he?” Brian asked.

George rubbed his chin. “Well, he isn’t a pure Cream, as you see he is got a red tint to him. I’ll let him go for $600.”

“I’ll get you the cash and bring it over today.”

“Just give it to Jenna the next time she’s over.”

Brian squatted and petted the puppy, who jumped back up in Brian’s knees and wagged his tail. “Well boy, we need to go get you some things then.”

Jenna left and came back with a large envelope. “Here are his papers, shot records and tags. I can go with you to the CO-OP and show you what feed to get if you want.”

“Yes, I’d appreciate it.”

Jenna got a collar and leash and put them on Harley. She walked with him out to the truck and got in.

“You best go on.” George said. “When she’s got something on her mind, she don’t hesitate.”

Brian grinned. “I’m seeing that.”

They went to the Farmers CO-OP in Waldron and Brian got a small bag of puppy chow and a larger bag of food for when he would soon transition to adult food. Jenna picked out some treats for him and with Harley’s assistance, picked out some toys. Water and food bowls, a bed as well as grooming items and shampoo were added to the cart . Brian picked up a new collar for him and a sixteen foot retractable leash also. Brian stopped by the bank, got the money, and handed it to Jenna. She didn’t want to take it but Brian insisted. Reluctantly, she took the cash, folded it, and put it in her shirt pocket.

“What are we eating tomorrow?” Brian asked.

“I thought we’d keep it simple. Steak, potato and salad with cheesecake for dessert.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll chill a bottle of wine.”

Jenna grinned. “I can’t wait!”

Brian dropped her off at her house and took Harley home.

As soon as they got to the Lodge, Harley jumped out of the truck and began marking his territory. Brian went in, with Harley on his heels and set up his water and food bowls. After filling his food bowl, Brian laid the bed out in a relatively clear area at one edge of the room. Harley walked around the room, sniffing everything. When he found the chair Brian normally sat in, he tried to use his nose to push the bed over closer to Brian’s chair. Finally, he went around and grabbed the bed with his teeth and dragged the bed up next to Brian’s chair. Brian grinned the whole time, watching the dog’s antics.

“Come on boy! Let’s take a tour of the place.”

Harley raced to the door and waited for Brian to open it. Jumping down the steps, Harley waited in the yard to see which way Brian was going to go, When Brian turned toward the outdoor grill to see if he had enough charcoal, Harley stayed ahead of him. Brian took him to the chicken coop where Harley seemed fascinated with the chickens. They continued to the barn where Harley met his first horse. He sat as the curious horses came up to the paddock fence. Dolly sniffed at Harley as she waited for her carrot. They seemed like they would get along all right so they headed back toward the Lodge. A thought ran across Brian’s mind, he changed directions and went to the garage. Rolling out one of the Rokons, he lifted Harley up and placed him on the cargo carrier. He then lifted Harley off and sat him on the ground. Patting the cargo carrier, Harley jumped up on it. Brian took a treat out of his pocket and gave it to Harley and praised him. Setting him back down, Brian cranked the bike, got on and patted the carrier again. Harley jumped right on. Brian rode slowly around the yard then up to the gate and back. Harley seemed to enjoy that. When they got back to the garage, Brian snapped his fingers and Harley jumped off. Brian put the bike away and they walked back to the Lodge.

“Jenna was right, boy. You are a great comfort to have around.”

 

[Mr Bill]

Keep um coming. Thanks

 

[feralferret]

I was wondering which story you would bring over next. Now I know.

That Jeremy character sure seems to get around.

Thank you!

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 11


When Brian woke up the next morning, Harley was laying on the rug next to the bed. As soon as Brian threw the covers back, Harley was on his feet, wagging his tail, or his tail was wagging him. It was hard to tell. Brian took a quick shower and got dressed, Harley sitting there in the bedroom, watching him. They went downstairs and Harley went over and sat beside his feed bowl.

“Hungry Buddy?”

Brian gave Harley the plastic cup of food then put on a small percolator of coffee. By the time the coffee was ready, Harley had eaten his food and was dancing around the porch door with a tennis ball in his mouth. Brian poured a cup of coffee and walked out with him. Breathing in a lungful of the clean air, Brian slowly walked toward the chicken coop while Harley patrolled for killer attack possums. He peeked in the coop and all except for a couple, the chickens were sitting on the roosting bars. Brian walked around and checked the nesting boxes and checked for eggs. There were two. He decided to wait another hour and check again at 7:00 since the chickens hadn’t really started stirring yet. Brian decided he needed to get a basket or something to gather eggs in. He didn’t want one busting in his hat. Walking down to the barn, he opened the stall doors and the horses scrambled out, eager to romp around the paddock. Brian turned back toward the Lodge and Harley came running toward him with the tennis ball in his mouth. Harley laid the ball on the ground in Brian’s path and Brian picked it up and threw it across the yard. Harley scrambled after it and came trotting back, head held high and proud of his accomplishment. This time Brian held his hand out and Harley dropped the ball in it. Brian chuckled and threw the ball toward the front of the porch steps. When he reached the steps, Harley was laying on the porch panting, with the ball between his paws. Brian stepped around him and opened the door. Harley snatched up his ball and followed Brian in.

Brian made breakfast as Harley waited rather impatiently, for some of the good smelling bacon cooking in the pan. Brian did relent and fed Harley one slice, one half at a time. After eating, Brian cleaned his dishes and put them away and made sure the kitchen was clean. He checked the half-bath and made sure it was clean then went to the barn to muck out the stalls. Harley went on a sniffing patrol around the property. When he was finished, Brian walked out to where he was planning to put a garden in the Spring and looked around. It was close enough he could water the garden with sprinklers. He needed to begin adding some of the manure from the compost pile to the garden plot and get the soil turned. They hadn’t had any freezing temperatures yet so he might get away with planting some clover to enrich the soil. Brian got the tractor out and hooked the 3-bottom plow up and turned the soil up in a 30’x70’ area. He called Harley back in and they rode into Waldron to the Farmers CO-OP and purchased clover seed, and then on second thought, got Harley a second bed to put in his bedroom. Going back home, he broadcast the seed and got a trailer out and loaded it with manure/compost. Spreading it out over the garden, he then used the disc harrow to further till the soil. Brian put the equipment away and looking at his watch, was surprised it was 2:00 PM. They went back to the Lodge, Brian cleaning his boots off on the boot scrubber next to the steps and went in. He gave Harley a Milk Bone an put a couple of bottles of Chardonnay and Merlot in the fridge to chill. Leaving Harley inside, he went out to the covered patio area to add chunk charcoal to the grill. The grate was clean, they had always cleaned it after cooking so all he did was take a soft bristled brush and dusted off the countertop. Opening a cabinet, he took a can of grill spray and sprayed the grate and wiped the excess off the surrounding bricks. He took the can of charcoal lighter out and set it on the counter, then added the charcoal to the grill. Everything was ready. He went back inside to a peeved Harley, who soon got over it, and sat down to research what he could plant in his garden.


At 4:00 PM, he shut the computer down and went to get a shower and change clothes. Harley followed him and guarded the bedroom door. He trimmed his beard and moustache a little and got his shower. Selecting a collared shirt and jeans, he dressed and slipped on a pair of moosehide moccasins then went into the kitchen. Selecting a couple of wine glasses out of the china cabinet, he washed and dried them and left them on a counter. What else? He guessed he was ready. Jenna didn’t say what time she would get here, but he hoped it was soon. He was a little anxious.


At 5:15 Jenna called.

“Brian, do you have butter and sour cream?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Okay, good. I’ll be over in a bit!”

When she ended the call, Brian paced around and finally got the bottle of Chardonnay out, opened it, the set it back in the fridge. At 5:45, Harley jumped up and ran to the door, tail wagging frantically. Brian went to let him out and followed. Jenna was just getting out of the car. Going down the steps to help her carry everything in, Harley beat him to the car. Jenna took a large market basket containing the food out of the back seat, handed it to Brian, then reached in a came out with a smaller basket.

“This is for you to gather eggs in.” Jenna smiled.

Brian slapped his forehead.

“I meant to gather eggs this morning at 7:00!”

“Well, let’s put these things in the kitchen and go get them.”

They went inside and put the salad in the refrigerator and left the steaks on the counter. Brian wet the potatoes, covered them in Kosher salt, wrapped them in foil and placed them in the re-heated oven. Harley led them to the chicken coop and they gathered 8 eggs in the basket. Going by the outdoor kitchen, Brian lit the charcoal before they went inside. After pouring glasses of wine, Brian looked at the steaks.

“My God! I haven’t seen lomos this big since Uruguay!”

“They’re tenderloins.” Jenna said.

“The Spanish word for tenderloin is ‘Lomo.’ If I’d known you were bringing these I would have made some chimichurri sauce.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a sauce made of parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, oregano and a little lemon juice. It’s great with Lomo.”

“Let’s go back out to the patio. It’s nice outside.” Jenna said.

They went out and Brian retrieved chair cushions out of a deck box.

“So what did you do today?” Jenna asked.

“Oh, I mucked out the stalls, and plowed up a garden.

Jenna stared at him.

“Brian, I’ve become fond of you, but I’m perplexed. I want to know who the hell you are and what you are doing here. Are you some kind of government agent like your father? Are you, or were you married? Have kids? What makes you tick?"

“Why do you need to know all that?

“Like I said, I’ve become fond of you. I’m hoping we can take it beyond fondness, but I don’t want to get blindsided if whatever you’re doing here is over and you just up and disappear.”

Brian looked at her and took a sip of wine. Sighing, he told her of his time in St. Louis, what had driven him here, his identity change and his acceptance of having a new life.

“So, if you think that getting chickens, horses and plowing up a garden is some sort of elaborate cover to hide my real mission here, then quit reading into everything. I too would like to know and spend more time with you. I’m here permanently and am trying to make it my forever home. I’m now just a simple country boy trying to survive.”

“But you won’t pass for being from around here. You have all your teeth.”

“How do you know that?” Brian grinned.

Jenna put her wine glass down on the patio, got up from her chair and went over to Brian. Holding his face in her hands, she kissed him, snaking her tongue into his mouth, counting his teeth. Ending the kiss and standing upright, Jenna grinned. “Yep, still got ‘em all!”

“How do you know I’m even a man?” Brian grinned.

“Oh, I’ll find out…..in due time.”

Brian got up and checked the grill. “The coals are ready.”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 12

Brian seared the tenderloins, then cranked the grate up and cooked them to a medium-rare doneness. Jenna went inside and brought out the salads and potatoes, then went back in and got the plates and silverware. Brian opened the bottle of Merlot and poured the wine. Running back in, he got the salt, pepper, butter and sour cream. The patio was the perfect place have an intimate dinner, with its softly glowing patio lights, if you could ignore Harley's whining coming from the Lodge. Jenna finally got up and let him out. He trotted out with her and laid down next to the table.

"This is delicious, perfect!" Jenna said.

"Where did you find these tenderloins?"

"We get a whole beef each year from a meat cutter down in Mena. They are really good. We used to raise a couple each year but Dad began buying a side or two each year. They'll cut it up and package it too."

"I need to go down there and stock the freezer. There's absolutely nothing in it. I haven't even plugged it in yet."

"I can call they and have them bundle a side if you want me to." Jenna offered.

"Do that. I may still get three or four head for here. Do they butcher too?"

"Yes they do. You can have them hang and age the beef for you too if you like."

"Sounds good. I'll need you to show me where they are.

They finally finished their meal and sat back with groans.

"That was delicious!" Brian said.

"Yes! I could chill the rest of the night." Jenna said.

Brian got up and pulled the cushions out of the deck box and laid them on the chaise.

"Come over here and get comfortable." Brian said.

Jenna sat down and stretched her legs out. Lifting her arms up she said, "You too."

As Brian turned to sit down on the chaise, the distant noise of an approaching helicopter was heard.

Brian went over to his chair and took his Glock out from under the seat.

"Take Harley into the house." Brian said stiffly.

Jenna picked up Harley and trotted to the Lodge, while Brian slipped into the shadows. The helicopter came to a hover and settled down in a grassy area next to the drive and one person could be seen getting off and began walking up the drive. As they got closer, Brian recognized the gait of his father.

"Dad, over here!" Brian called and walked out to meet Jeremy.

"Whose car?" Jeremy asked.

"Jenna's."

"Oh, sorry, I should have called ahead."

"That's okay. We were just celebrating getting my chicken coop finished. She helped me a lot."

"Well that's great. She's a good girl." Jeremy replied.

"Come on in. We just got through eating. Can I fix you something?"

"No, I'm fine. I had something in Little Rock before we left."

Jeremy, carrying a small duffle, followed Brian inside to be greeted by Jenna and Harley.

"Well, something more than building chicken coops has been going on around here!" Jeremy grinned.

Jenna blushed.

"You've added a dog too! What's his name?"

"Harley."

Jeremy squatted down to scratch the tail-wagging Harley.

"Well, you're getting settled right in!" Well, I'd like to take a shower. You two go about whatever you were doing. I'm going to turn in. I had a long flight to get to Little Rock. Good night."

"Good night." Brian and Jenna echoed.

They went back outside and Jenna sat back down on the chaise.

"Now where were we?" She grinned.

Brian sat down, stretched his legs out on the wide chaise and signed. Jenna maneuvered around so she could snuggle up into his right armpit and lay her head on his shoulder."

"I could get used to this."

"Me to." Brian sighed.

Jenna stretched up and kiss Brian on the cheek. "Thank you." She said.

"For what?"

"For being you." She said, then snuggled back onto his chest.

"Maybe we could make this a weekly event." Brian commented.

"I'll check my date book, but I think I can make time." Jenna grinned up at Brian.

Brian tilted his head down and softly kissed her. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you." Brian said, pulling her even closer.

"You need some end tables for the chaise." Jenna said. "My wine is way over there on the table."

Brian chuckled and got up, going over next to the outdoor kitchen and taking two folding end tables out of a cabinet. He set them up on each side of the chaise and brought their wine over.

"Thank you. You really didn't have to do that. I was comfortable."

"Well, you'll just have to get comfortable again." Brian said as she snuggle back into him.

"Would you like to stay the night?" Brian asked.

"I would love to. I even brought a bag, but your father…"

"I understand."

"…but I will when he has gone. He's never around for long."

"I'll run him off tomorrow."

Jenna giggled. "No, don't do that. The anticipation will make things better."

Brian kissed her again and they lay there in each other's arms until she finally had to leave.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 13

Jeremy took another sip of coffee. “You still practice your Krav Maga?”

Dishing the sausage and scrambled eggs onto his father’s plate, nodded. “Yeah, a couple of times a week. It’s been a while since I sparred with anyone though.”

“Well, You’ll have someone soon. I’m sending Joe Adler out her for a few weeks. I need to put him on ice though he may be here permanently. I haven’t decided yet”

“Joe Adler. I didn’t know he was even still alive. I hadn’t heard anything and assumed
it was a death you wanted to keep quiet.”

Jeremy chuckled. “Oh no, Joe will never go out quietly. He will go out trailing smoke and there will be a lot of people sweating for weeks about what information would be released after Joe’s natural or unnatural death. That’s why we need to put him on ice, he’s getting burned out. Anyway, the things he could do for us can be done from here. He’s got a 5th wheel trailer so he won’t be staying here. There is a field up toward the center of the property about a mile from here that has a capped well. We were going to run cattle up there, then your grandfather got sick and I just didn’t follow through. I’ll get a septic system put in and he can park up there and have a little privacy. You too. Oh, and I’ve got a company coming here from Talihina to go over the solar system. It hasn’t been upgraded in several years.”

“Talihina? That’s over in the Choctaw area, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, the company owner is a pretty smart guy, He’s either Choctaw or Chickasaw. Anyway, he started up an Alternative Energy company and does mini hydro, wind and solar projects. The company has become well known in eastern Oklahoma. He hires only Native Americans to boost their standards of living.”

“When are they coming?” Brian asked.

“I gave him your number. He’ll call you when he can get here to inspect the system.”

“Anything else?” Brian asked.

“No, that pretty much…..wait. A painting crew will be out next week to pressure wash the Lodge and treat it with wood preservative and a top coat. I do that about every three years.”

“I wondered about that. It still looks the same as when they built it.”

“Well, every log was kiln-dried and soaked in biocides to kill any insects, so it’s lasted well. You feel like a little cookout and we invite the McGinnas? I haven’t sat down and talked with them for ages.”

“That’s fine with me. How long are you going to be here?”

“Around ten days, why?”

“Well, Jenna told me about a meat packing place down in Mena where I could buy a half of a beef. We had lomos from there the other day and they were great. I thought I’d call down and have them wrap me up a side and I can order the tenderloins.”

“Do that. We can throw a traditional Asada. I can be the Asador. I know a place where I can get baguettes, chorizo, salchichas and cheeses.”

“Great, but let’s stay away from the Achuras.”

“What don’t you like calf’s thyroid glands?”

“Please, I’ll stick to the tenderloin.”

“I’ll get a couple of cases of Dos Equis Amber. That’s about as close to Uruguayan beer as we’re going to find. When do you want to throw the party?”

“What about next Saturday afternoon, around 3:00 PM?”

“That will work. By the way, I’m having a vehicle delivered here Monday. It’s taken two years to have it restored to what I wanted, but it is beautiful.”

“What is it?”

“A 1979 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.”

“Are you going to leave it here when you leave?”

“I won’t be able to take it with me. You keep it here. I think you’ll like it.”

Brian grinned. “You know possession is nine tenths of the law.”

“I can share, besides, it’s registered to the Lodge anyway. Do you have any apples?”

“Yeah, there’s a couple of bags in the root cellar.”

“I think I’ll go hang a bag.” Jeremy said.


Monday morning, Brian called and ordered the side of beef and the tenderloins. They would be ready Tuesday afternoon. He wiped out, plugged in the chest freezer and filled milk jugs that he been saved over the years with water and placed them in. Jeremy’s Blazer was hauled in that afternoon and it was good looking. It was a two-tone white and what looked like gold paint. The upholstery and dash were completely redone and instead of just a radio, had a radio/CD changer in its place. A small screen was added in the dash with a backup camera installed. The seats were heated and cooled and were covered in leather. They took it for a spin and it drove nicely too.

Brian sat down and made a list of the things he would need for the Asada. The first thing he put down was the ingredients for the chimichurri. When he finished the list, he went over it with his father and his father made a separate list of the things he’d pick up.


Friday, Brian laid on four more large bags of chunk charcoal. They had everything ready. Brian’s mouth was already watering. He would peel the potatoes early in the morning and soak them in cold sugar water to make papas fritas. He and Jeremy sat in the Great Room and talked.

“Dad, how long are you going to keep working?”

“I’m already grooming my replacement. It will only be a couple of more years. Our work will take decades so I can’t finish it. It’s a target rich environment and the best we can do right now, without revealing ourselves, is to make them keep their heads down and toe the line. If we let up the least bit, they will be off and running again. Those that show themselves will never know what hit them.”

“So, what’s Joe going to do here?”

“Rest, relax, and train you up.”

“Me? You aren’t expecting me to work for Shield, do you?”

“You already do, being the manager here. You just won’t be active outside of Lodge lands. Joe is going to brush you up on some skills. As a young man, Joe was an instructor for Shin Bet you know.”


The McGinnas arrived at 3:00 PM the next day. Sally and Millie snooped around to see if there was anything they could do, but the two men had everything already prepared. Jeremy had fired up the charcoal an hour earlier and already had meats cooking for snacking on. Brian had prepared the chimichurri and everyone loved it. They all just set around on the patio and talked and had a good time. Just before it was time to cook the lomos, Brian and Jenna went inside and prepared a pot of boiling oil, drained and dried the potatoes with paper towels and fried them. They tossed the potato fries in a paper towel lined stainless steel bowl and brought them and the salad out as the lomos were coming off the grill. You could almost cut them with a fork, they were so tender. George stated he had never had a better piece of meat. The men refused to let the women clean up the dishes but they did let them stack them up on one end of the table. Out came the cards and George, Jeremy, Sally and Millie began playing Pinochle. Brian asked Jenna if she’d like to take a walk and she agreed.

They walked down a farm trail toward an oak grove separated from the forest about 300 meters from the Lodge. Brian spread his jacket on the ground at the base of an oak tree and sitting down with his back against the tree, Jenna sat down between his legs with her back against Brian’s chest. They were quiet for a long time, just enjoying the evening and the warmth of each other's company. Jenna eventually turned her head slightly and said softly, "Brian, there is something I need to tell you."

Brian’s heart lurched in panic. “Go ahead.”

"I think you should know is that I've fallen in love with you..." she trailed off, waiting for his response.
Brian’s heart was suddenly going ninety miles an hour and he felt like his smile reached from ear to ear. "That's great to know, since I brought you up here to tell you the same thing!"

Relief washed over her face as she reached up to hold the side of his neck, sighed and settled closer into his chest.

"I thought ... but, well, I wasn't sure," she mumbled. "I'm so glad you feel the same!"

"I guess neither of us is easy to read," Brian replied, stroking her silky hair. "I mean, I was pretty sure you liked me, but I was afraid that if I told you I love you that, well, it would scare you away."

"I don't scare that easily, dummy!" she laughed, reaching and lightly slapping his cheek.

Getting up on her knees, she forced his legs together and crawled onto his lap. “Now, tell me you love me again so I can kiss you properly.”

Brian put his arm around her shoulders and they kissed “properly.”

“Jer, when’s that boy of yours gonin’ to ask that daughter of mine to marry him?” George asked.
“I don’t know George, but I suspect it won’t be long. They’ve been dancing around like a doe and a buck. I don’t know what he’s waiting for.”

“That’s none of you all’s beeswax.” Jenna said, coming out of the darkness, holding Brian’s hand. “Am I eatin’ too much at the house that you’ve got to go and marry me off?”

“No Darlin.’ I just want to see you happy.”

“Excuse me.” Brian said, heading toward the Lodge.

“Brian, wait!” Jenna said.

“I’ll be right back.” Brian replied.

A couple of minutes later, Brian returned and walked straight to Jenna. Dropping to one knee, he held out a ring box and asked, “Jenna, will you marry me?”

The McGinna women gasped.

“YES! Jenna said, holding out her hand for Brian to slip the ring on her finger.

As Brian stood, Jenna grabbed him and they kissed.

“I guess that answers your question George.” Jeremy said, smiling.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 14

Brian looked at the driveway and saw potholes developing. He didn’t want to have to spend any more time than he had to grading and putting more gravel on it. He called a landscaping company and inquired about installation of heavy duty gravel stabilization grids on the driveway. They said they could do it and got the information on the location of the project. They would send someone out to survey the work area.

Jeremy was still there when Dan Brock from Thunderbird Power came out with a couple of people to survey the solar equipment. Brian hung around because he wanted to know more about the equipment. After they had done their inspection, they all sat down and Dan went over what they could do for them.

“Jer, we’ve found several things that should be upgraded. Your system is over ten years old and there have been some great improvements made over the years that would give you more power and efficiency. First, I’d replace the battery bank. The batteries are due to be replaced anyway. Advancements in battery technology will give you a longer charge time and we’ve got a few tricks that will keep them charged without have to use a backup generator except in the most extreme cases. I would change out the photovoltaic panels too. There are better ones now that are a lot more efficient.”

“Dan, go ahead, but I also want you to overbuild it. I want to run power to all the outbuildings also so we’ll need the extra power.”

“No problem. We’ll need to move the battery bank from the house, it will take more space than you’ve got now. We can bring in a pre-fab and wire everything.”

“Okay, that’s fine. What do we do with the old panels and batteries?”

“We can recycle the batteries and the panels, well, they still have a little life in them. We usually donate them to things like the Boy Scouts and community colleges. They have a technology badges now in the Scouts that they can build their own solar systems for merit.”

“In that case, replace the charge controllers and inverters too. I’m sure there are better ones out there.”

“One other thing, Jer. I’d like to add a wind generator to the system. It has a collapsible tower that rises automatically at night and disappears at daylight. It will take advantage of the evening breezes and continue to charge the bank when there is no sun.”

“Add it.” Jeremy said.

“Will do. Well, we can start working on this in the next week. We’ve got everything we need in the warehouse.”

“Thanks Dan, if you need anything, let me know. I’ll help out in any way I can.”

“I know Jer. You’ve done plenty already. That’s why I can keep a warehouse full of parts and equipment.”

When Dan and his men left, Jeremy turned to Brian. “Well, it’s in your hands now to see it through. Now, what other plans do you have?”

“Just the driveway for now. I do want to find a rotary tiller attachment for the tractor to do a garden with.”

“Brian, I’m sure you can find one that will work, but I think you should get rid of the tractor. Allis Chalmers went out of business around 1989. If I were you, I’d replace everything. That tractor is over 50 years old.”

“Yeah, that might be a good idea. Parts are going to be hard to find and will be expensive too. I’ll get it and the attachments replaced this winter.”

“There are people who buy antique tractors. You probably can sell it pretty quick.” Jeremy said.


When Jeremy left, Brian began looking for a tractor dealer. He found one over in Cabot and they said they could cover everything. Brian made an appointment to go see the equipment before they made a deal. Brian called Jenna and asked her if she’d like to ride there tomorrow. Of course she said yes. Just to keep his memory straight, Brian took pictures of the tractor and all the implements with his phone.

Since they were leaving early the next morning to make the two and a half hour drive to Cabot, Jenna invited Brian and Harley to eat breakfast with them. He did and they were able to leave the McGinna’s by 7:00 AM. As they were going out , Jenna picked up an overnight bag she had placed by the door. Brian looked at her and looked at the bag as they went out the door.

Jenna looked at him looking at the bag. “I told Momma I was staying over at your place tonight.”

They made it to the dealership shortly after it opened. Jenna snapped Harley’s leash on as they walked around looking at the equipment. Brian picked out a Massey Ferguson tractor with a cab and what Massey Ferguson implements they had. The rest of the implements were all Woods brand. The salesman noticed Brian scrolling through the photos on his phone.

“Are those pictures of your present equipment?”

“Yes they are.”

“Would you mind if I looked at them?”

“No, not at all.” Brian said, handing the man his phone.

The salesman scrolled through the pictures.

“These are all original Allis Chalmers implements?”

“Yes, I believe my grandfather bought it all at the same time.”

“I’d like to buy it if you’re interested.” The salesman said, and quoted him a price, which was almost a third of what he was spending today.

“I have no way to get the equipment here.” Brian said.

“I tell you what, what if we delivered your new equipment to you and we can backhaul the Allis Chalmers equipment back here.”

Brian thought a second. They would deliver free of charge if you were within 100 miles. The Lodge was over 200 miles and he would have to pay for delivery. He could get the new equipment delivered and get rid of the old stuff at the same time.

“You’ve got a deal.”

Brian walked away happy with the deal. He held no sentiments for the equipment and was getting the equipment out of the way. He would start setting the implements out for them to be picked up and get some new gravel in the equipment barn. On the way home, they stopped in Danville and got a late lunch at the El Mariachi Restaurant. Neither felt like cooking that night.

“So, what are you going to do first with your new toys?” Jenna grinned as they were waiting for their food.”

“Hook up that rotary tiller and cut up the garden. I want to get that manure compost good and pulverized and mixed in. I want it so rich we’ll have to tie down the corn stalks to keep them from jumping out of the ground.”

Jenna giggled. “What all are you going to plant?”

“I don’t know yet. I definitely want tomatoes, collards, corn and potatoes. I was hoping you could help me plan it out.”

“Momma has tomato seed we save every year, and some other seeds too. I’ll see what she has. We need to build a cold frame or something to start the plants late this winter for Spring planting.”

“Okay, you’re in charge of planning the garden. I’ll help you.” Brian said.


When they got back to the Lodge, Harley went on his pee patrol and they went inside. Jenna took her bag into Brian’s bedroom, came back out and started to get a glass of iced tea.

“Do you want a fire in the fire pit?” Brian asked.

“Yes, that would be nice. I’d better not drink iced tea then. What if I made some hot chocolate?”

“That would be good.” Brian said. There’s a bottle of Michael Collins Irish Whiskey and a bottle of Baileys in the liquor cabinet if you want to dress them up a bit.”

“Perfect! Go get the fire going and I’ll make the drinks.”

Brian got a lap blanket out of the hall closet and went out to the covered patio. He loved having the firepit out here. The chimney for the hood over the firepit went right up through the roof. You could have a downpour and still be comfortable. Maybe he would look into glassing in the patio so they could use it in the winter. Maybe a covered walkway to the porch too. Brian laid the fire and started it. They dry kindling quickly caught and in turn catching fire to the larger split wood. He would add unsplit short logs later. Brian got out the cushions for the cypress sofa and was putting them in place as Jenna came out with two large, steaming mugs in her hand. She handed one to Brian who took a sip and smacked his lips. Turning on the patio string lights, Brian went over and sat down next to Jenna. Handing her his mug, he spread the blanket across their laps.

“This is nice. The blanket soaks up the heat and radiates it to my legs.” Jenna said.

“What would you think about fixing the patio area so we could use it in the Winter?”

“How would you do that?” Jenna asked.

“Oh, you could build a knee wall and make windows that would go in when it got colder. Once it’s enclosed, it would heat up in here.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“No, but I’ll find someone who can.”

They enjoyed the fire and finally finished their chocolate. Jenna got up and took Brian’s mug.

“Come up in twenty minutes.” Jenna said, kissing Brian on the lips.

Brian watched Jenna walking to the back porch, took a deep breath and looked at his watch.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 15

Dan and his work crew were back in a few days in a convoy of box trucks and 5th wheel campers. Brian show them where they could park their 5th wheels and Dan gave them the rest of the afternoon to get settled in. They ran water hoses with manifolds to the three trailers and had all the comforts of home. Dan sat down with Brian and went through the sequence of events on how they were going to proceed with the installation. The power would be off only a relatively short time when they switched over to the new battery bank.

Earlier that day, The new tractor and implements were delivered and Brian was waiting for a truck load of gravel. The had placed the implements and tractor inside the shed but when the gravel arrived, Brian would use the bucket attachment on the tractor to move the gravel inside. Brian told Dan he had free use of anything if needed. They did use the auger attachment with the 12” bit to dig the holes for the mounting bases for the sun-tracker frames. A pre-fab, unfinished 10’x16’ utility shed was delivered. While they were installing the batteries on the reinforced floor, Jenna stained the outside with the same colors as the Lodge. When Brian had finished spreading the gravel, he helped her put the wood waterproofing treatment on the shed.

When it was time to switch the power to the new system, Brian turned all the circuits off while they made the switch. Once they were ready, he turned each circuit on with a 30 second pause between each circuit so they could monitor the meters. When the last switch was flipped they continued to monitor the system. One of the men installed a transmitter inside the bank building and a receiver in the Lodge so the meters could be monitored without going out to the battery bank. Brian was shown how to download a systems test, should anything ever go wrong, and send it to their office for evaluation. Dan and his crew left the next morning. Brian couldn’t really tell any difference, but then he had learned to live with an off-grid system and did the little things you did so as not to use too much power at a time, The two appliances that used a lot of power were the gas clothes dryer and the washer.. The motors used more electricity than the refrigerator. Dan told him he wouldn’t have to worry about that any more. He would have power to spare.

Brian finally got around to tilling the garden with the rotary tiller, and just in time. The early winter rains came, giving them four days of slow, soft rain.


When the rains stopped, the landscaping company came in and graded the drive and began laying the gravel stabilization grids down. It took them a couple of days but now the gravel didn’t shift after being driven over several times.


Joe Adler showed up the next week. Brian took him up to the site where he was going to set up his travel trailer.

“We had a septic system put in. I’ll need to get a pump to put on the well.” Brian told Joe.

“Don’t worry, I got this. Give me a hand.” Joe said.

Joe walked around to the rear of the trailer and pressed a button on his key fob. The rear lowered and the back end was a toy hauler, except it carried more than toys. Brian helped him carry out a solar panel and set it beside the trailer.

“I’ve got a 12 volt water pump I can hook up. Jer said the water was at 60 feet so it will pump just fine. Now, all I’ve got to do is guy in the support pole for the panel and we’re in business.”

“Joe, I’ve got a tractor with an auger we could dig a hole, then all you have to do is guy off the panel to keep it from twisting in the wind. We don’t have to fill in the hole.”

“Good idea.”

“I’ll go get the tractor.”

Brian was back in a half hour and Joe had everything laid out. Brian dug the hole where Joe indicated and they soon had the panel angled correctly and guyed. Joe got the trailer leveled and disconnected.

“What do you do about power?” Brian asked.

“The top of this thing has nine 200 watt PV panels. All I really needed was water. The grey and black water are captured in cassettes. I just needed to dig a hole and bury the contents. Since there is a septic system, I don’t now need to dig holes.”

“Is there anything you need?”

“Nah, I’ve got it from here. I’ll be down to see you later. Here, here’s my cell number.”

When Brian was disconnecting the auger and putting it and the tractor away, Jenna drove up and went inside the house. When Brian went in, she was in the kitchen with an attentive Harley. Brian went over and gave her a quick kiss.

“What’s up?”

“I stopped by Mamma Gina’s and picked up a couple of raw pizzas.”

“You are a sweetheart. Oh, we’ll probably have a guest.”

“Who?”

“Joe Adler, an old family friend.”

“Adler, that name sounds familiar. When is he coming?”

“He’s already here. He has a 5th wheel travel trailer parked up northeast of here.”

“Guess what I did today!”

“Planned the wedding I hope.”

“Well, sort of. I asked my Uncle David, who has a church over in Keener if he would marry us. Brian, I don’t want a big fancy wedding. I want to get married right here on the patio with just a few friends and family.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Oh, and if you want to do the patio thing with the glass, my cousin has a home improvement company. When I explained what you wanted to do, he said he had time to do it if you want.”

“Maybe he can do it before the wedding. By the way, when DO you want to get married?”

What about the weekend before Thanksgiving?”

“That doesn’t give us much time for a honeymoon.” Brian said.

“Oh we’ll have a honeymoon, all right! It just won’t be on a tropical beach somewhere. Right here in our home is just fine with me.”

“Wow! I’ve searched the world over and finally found what I’ve been looking for!” Brian grinned.

“What’s that?”

“A cheap date!”

Jenna slugged him on the arm and Brian started to grab her when there was a knock on the door. Brian went to answer it while Jenna slid one of the pizzas in the oven.

“Hey Joe, come on in.” Brian said when he saw who it was.

“It’s good to be back here. Place has been spruced up a bit.”

“That’s my fiancé Jenna’s doing.”

“Jenna walked in and Joe squinted. You’re George’s little girl, aren’t you?”

Jenna grinned. “I’m not so little anymore. I remember you. I thought I remembered your name when Brian told me you were here.”

“Yes, you must have been around 11 or 12 when I last saw you. Fiancé, hunh? When’s the wedding?”

“The weekend before Thanksgiving.” Jenna replied.

“Joe, how about a beer? Jenna brought pizzas.”

“Yeah, I’ll take one.”

Brian got beers for everyone and brought them back into the great room.

“Dad say’s you’re thinking of finally settling down.”

“Yeah, it’s getting tiresome. Sometimes I think we just need to hunker down and let the fools kill their own selves off. The problem with that they never seem to get hurt buy the crap they pull, but everyone else does. They need to be hurt also. Say, you still hang apples down on the oak?”

Brian tried to signal him to stop.

“Hang apples on the oak?” Jenna said, puzzled.

“Oh, she doesn’t know? Sorry.”

“Know what?” Jenna asked.

“I’ll explain it to you tomorrow.” Brian said.

Jenna went to check the pizza.

“Sorry, I assumed you had told her.” Joe said.

“I was going to. No foul. I’ll take her down with me tomorrow.”

“Have you seen any?” Joe asked.

“Not a one, so far.”

“Once they get used to you, they’ll show themselves.”

“Come and get it guys!” Jenna yelled.


When they finished eating, they all retired back to the great room.

“Your Dad said you haven’t sparred in a while.”

“Not since I went to college.”

“Well, if you want, we can get you refreshed.”

“Refreshed in what?” Jenna asked.

“Krav Maga.” Joe replied.

“What’s that?”

“Krav Maga is a self-defense system that uses instinctive movements, aggressive counter attacks and a no-holds-barred mentality without the ceremonial elements of traditional martial arts. It’s dirty fighting.” Brian explained.

“Then teach me too.”

Joe raised his eyebrows. “It can get rough.”

Jenna grinned. “No pain, no gain.”

Joe chuckled. “Don’t forget, you asked for it.”

“I always wanted to learn self-defense.”

Brian sighed. “Oh boy!”

 

[Mr Bill]

Cool beans. Time for an after workout massage perhaps. Thanks

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 16


The “refresher” training began the next morning. Joe and Brian went for a run to warm up and came back to the Lodge where Brian demonstrated to Joe, in slow motion, the counters to Joe’s attacks. Then they went at full speed, and except for groin kicks and punches, everything was full contact. Brian held his own as Joe kept attacking in different ways.

“Okay!” Joe said, backing off. “Now, let me show you a couple of other techniques.”

They were just finishing up when Jenna drove up.

“I said I wanted to train too!” Jenna pouted.

Joe chuckled. “I tell you what, I’ve now some new techniques to teach Brian. I’m going to let Brian teach you the three basic techniques and we’ll go from there.”

Jenna looked at Brian. “Will you?”

“Yes, but you’re going to have to be here early. Will start with some warm-up exercises, we’ll run a couple of miles to get limber, do some cool-down exercises, then start your training. We will train for an hour to begin with and once you get the soreness worked out, we’ll extend the training times.”

“Okay, I can do that. Can I say overnights?”

“You’re a grown woman. I’m fine with it. You make your own decision.” Brian said.

“Well come on in. I’ll make y’all breakfast.”

“I’m going back and get a shower. I’ll be right back.” Joe said.

“Come on sweet cheeks. Get your shower while I start breakfast.” Jenna said, pinching Brian on the butt.


Joe came back and he and Brian ate four eggs each, a stack of buttermilk pancakes and six slices of bacon each. Jenna had to get up and make another pot of coffee.

“You need to take that rotary mower and clear those trails out.” Joe said. It will give you longer and varied routes to use on your runs.” Joe said.

“Joe, I’ve never been to the ends of those trails. Where do they go?”

Do you know the story of those trails?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Brian replied.

“Well, back during the Depression, there were very few jobs and people were having a hard time getting enough to eat. So they came up with a bunch of job projects. The Civilian Conservation Corps, established by Congress on March 31, 1933, provided jobs for young, unemployed men during the Great Depression. The CCC made valuable contributions to forest management, flood control, conservation projects, and the development of state and national parks, forests, and historic sites. In this District they had a hotshot supervisory committee that decided they needed roads through the national forest to give access to the area. Without doing due diligence, They started doing road building projects through the area and through the Lodge parcel. Well, the family didn’t have anyone living on the land and it wasn’t until late 1940 that it was discovered what the CCC had done. They went to court and it wasn’t until 1946 it was finally settled. The family was reimbursed for the trees that were cut and the government had to close off the entrances to the land. All they did though was put up big earth berms to block the roads. All you need to do is bush hog the roads to clear them. It would be easier now and get rid of the old stuff, then keep it cleared every month or so. That will give you around four extra miles of trails.”

“Well, I’ve got a Woods 15' batwing rotary mower I can put to use and make one pass. It’ll help fill in the time.” Brian said.

“Well missy, are you ready for your training?” Joe asked Jenna.

“In Krav Maga?”

“No, we’ll start that in the morning. Today, we’ll go to the pistol range.”

“But, but I don’t own a pistol!”

Joe looked at Brian. “Get her equipped and I’ll meet you at the pistol range in an hour.”

When Joe left, Brian took Jenna into the library.

“Jenna, what I’m about to show you stays in our immediate family. Your family shouldn’t even be told about this unless an extreme situation calls for them to come here.”

“Okay.”

Brian opened the entrance to the shelter and went down. In the common area, he unlocked a box on the wall and selected four pistols and laid them on a table. A Walther CCP, a Glock 43, a CZ 75 SP-01 and a Heckler & Koch P30.

“These are guns that should be comfortable for you. I’m going to run you through a firing drill and you decide which one is the most comfortable for you.”

Brian got a box of snap caps out of the cabinet and loaded two rounds into each pistol’s magazine. He showed her how to clear the weapon and had her reload the expended round. She loaded a round in the chamber and flip the safety off with her thumb. Doing this with each pistol, Jenna decided she liked the Glock the best. Brian got six magazines, a belt holster and a couple of boxes of 9mm ball and went back upstairs. They let Harley out to pee then locked him back in the house. Brian drove them to the range, which was behind the field where Joe had parked his trailer.

Brian set his range bag and the can off ammo on the range bench. Jenna pulled the Glock out of her holster, laid the magazines on the table and began loading them. Brian got two sets of electronic ear protectors out, tested them, then gave a set to Jenna, along with a set of eye protection. Joe put up targets for both of them at 7 meters and came back behind the firing line. When they were ready, he had them engage the 7 meter target with three rounds. Brian put two rounds in the center of the target and one in the head, Jenna put three rounds in the head area of the target. Joe looked at Jenna with amazement.

Jenna grinned. “I said I didn’t own one, not that I couldn’t shoot one.”

They cleared their weapons and Joe moved the targets to the fifteen meter line. Again, he cleared them to engage with three rounds when ready, once he was behind the firing line. Again, Brian put two in the chest and one in the head. This time Jenna put one in the head and two in the groin. Joe winced when he saw what Jenna had done. They cleared their weapons and laid them on the range table.

“Jenna, why did you take those shots?”

Jenna shrugged. “A vest doesn’t generally cover the groin area. I read that somewhere.”

Joe shook his head and went downrange and set targets at the 25 meter range. When given clearance to fire, this time Jenna put two in the chest and one in the head. Brian did the same.”

Joe nodded. They would do. “Pack up and go clean your weapons. 0600 out in front of the patio for training in the morning.”

Brian and Jenna picked up their brass and packed up their equipment. Back at the house, Brian got out the cleaning kit box, they stripped their pistols and gave them a thorough cleaning.

“You keep that pistol with you. We need to see you about getting you a CCW permit. We’ll take care of that this week.”

Jenna wrapped her arms around his waist. “I had fun today.”

“We’ll don’t think you’re going to have fun tomorrow. Tomorrow evening you’re going to be sore as a boil.”

“Like I said, no pain, no gain.”

“I’ll need to go home after dinner and pack a bag with my running things and some other clothes.” Jenna said.

They walked into the into the house to fix lunch….er dinner.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 17

A slightly damp Jenna, from running and exercising, stood in front of Brian.

“Krav Maga is based on simple principles and instinctive movements using Punches, knees, elbows, and kicks, something you would do instinctively, but I will show you how to do it more effectively. We’ll begin by learning the 7 basic Krav Maga moves. They are the Neutral Stance, the Fighting Stance, basic punches, basic elbow work, the groin kick, the stepping side kick and the palm strike.”

Joe watched and listened a few minutes. Brian was doing fine and going by the book, so he jogged back to his place to get a shower.

After his shower, Joe was pulling on his boots when his phone rang.

“Joe, it’s Jer. I’ve got a plane coming in this afternoon. Have Brian put the forks on the tractor and bring a trailer, the 6x10. Store and tarp it up by your place. We’re putting in a bunker next to the range.”

“What time?” Joe asked.

“Around 1700.”

“We’ll be ready.”

“Okay, talk to you later. Out here.”

Joe looked at his watch and went over to the refrigerator and peeked inside, trying to decide on lunch.


Jenna stood in the shower, the hot water pouring over her aching body. She had undoubtedly used muscles this morning she had not used before because they were talking to her. Lathering her washcloth, she slowly washed her body, rinsed and got out. After drying off, she put on fresh clothes and made a single braid of her hair. Slipping on her socks and boots, she went into the Great Room, then into the kitchen where she found Brian laying out her lunch, barley soup and a sandwich.

“Are you going to starve me now?”

“This m’lady, is both nutritious as well as filling.”

“Well kind sir, if you so insist.”

Brian pulled the chair out for her to sit and slid a plate in front of her. He poured a glass of juice and placed a straw in the glass.

“Is every day to be like this?” Jenna said.

“You’ll get used to it. Once you exercise those muscles more, it will become easier.”

“No, I mean the special treatment. I don’t ever want to get used to it.”

“Then I shall dole it out lightly, but the love will always be there.”

Jenna grinned and took a spoonful of the soup. “Delicious!”

Joe knocked on the door and Brian opened it.

“Tuo padre ha chiamato. C'è un aereo in arrivo alle 17:00.”

“Capito, grazie Joe.”

“What was that you two were saying?”

“Joe was just telling me there was a plane coming in at 5:00 PM and I thanked him for the information.”

“Why were you speaking in that language? What was it?”

“Italian, and it is part of my refresher training.”

“Well, I don’t like it. It’s like you are keeping secrets from me.” Jenna said.

“You wouldn’t believe what knowing a different language from those around you can mean in a tight situation.”
Jenna remained silent and ate her lunch.

After lunch, Brian saw Joe down by the equipment shed. He walked down to see what Joe was doing.
“Jer said to have the tractor and a trailer at the airstrip. There is cargo to retrieve. Get your rifle and one for Jenna, plus ammo and magazines and meet me back here. We’ll go from the range to the airfield. Help me put the forks on.”

Brian went back inside and got his M4, another one for Jenna, his range bag, two mag carrier vests and an ammo can of 5.56. Jenna helped him carry everything down to the equipment shed where Joe waited. Brian and Jenna put the vests on, loaded the bag and can into the trailer and rode there as Joe drove them to the range. Jenna wasn’t familiar with the AR-15 variants so Brian gave her a short class. Walked her through finding her zero and got a good zero. This side of the range had a distance of only a 100 meters but it was good enough for defensive practice. Jenna did quite well, especially with the reflex sights. She was getting kills with every shot. During a lull in training, Jenna went down to Joe’s trailer to use the bathroom.
“Brian, have you ever killed a man?” Joe asked.

“No.”

"Are you going to be able to pull the trigger when the time comes?"

Brian shrugged. “The sooner we all find out about that, the better. I think I can do what I'll need to do, but I'm not fool enough to say that I can without having done it."

Joe’s eyes scanned Brian’s face, and Brian held his gaze. Joe gave a quick nod and said, "You'll do. Just think about what needs to be accomplished, what you are fighting for, nothing else."

Jenna returned and they continued training until 1615. Picking up their brass, they bagged it and loaded everything into the trailer and Joe drove down to the south pasture.

“Brian, let me show you something.” Joe said, pulling his belt knife from its sheath.

Walking out into the pasture, he dug through the matted pasture grass and moved it aside.

“This is a grid system, not unlike the one on your driveway, but made for an airfield. It runs a 100 feet wide by 800 feet long. This area was laid out for STOL cargo aircraft.”

“What is coming in this evening?” Brian asked.

“Won’t know ‘til it gets here.”

They actually saw the plane before they heard it. Brian popped the smoke and stood next to the “runway” with Jenna.

“What is that?” Brian yelled to Joe.

“It’s an Arava, with modified flaps.”

The plane touched down and taxied over to them. It pivoted around so the twin boom section was pointed toward them. The engines were shut down and latches released on the inside of the fuselage while Brian lowered the trailer jack and unhitched the trailer. Driving the tractor over to the aircraft, he took the first pallet over to the trailer and set it down. After retrieving the second pallet, the rear of the aircraft, the back end was closed up and the engines started. As they were hitching the trailer back up the aircraft flew off, hugging the terrain.

“What do we do with this?” Brian asked.

“I’ll drop you two off at the Lodge and take this up to my place. There are tarps and camouflage nets on the pallets I can cover them with. I’ll bring the tractor back in the morning.”

Joe drove the tractor back and stopped in front of the Lodge. Brian and Jenna grabbed the gear off the trailer and Joe drove off into the twilight.

“Want to tell me what that was all about?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t know Jenna, I really don’t know.”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 18

Jenna was eager the next morning. Brian began the run at a relatively slow pace in deference to her but she picked up speed and Brian Joe matched her. Brian had her take a left at the old Route 14 intersection which made the run a little under six miles. Jenna was breathing hard, but not exhausted when they ended up back at the Lodge. They cooled down and began training. Joe started with Brian and worked on a couple of different techniques against an attacker with a gun or a knife. When Brian got the hang of it, they practiced for a few more minutes. Brian then began working with Jenna for the next hour. She was getting pretty good. He was going to have to get some pads so she could work out at full impact. If he hadn’t cross-blocked her earlier, he would have ended up with a par of aching jewels for the rest of the day.

Brian let Jenna get her shower first. He went and checked the chickens and gathered the eggs. In the kitchen, he put on a pot of coffee and reconstituted some frozen orange/pineapple juice. Oatmeal was next followed by eggs, bacon and toast. He got the water boiling for the oatmeal and began frying the bacon. Before he could turn the bacon, Jenna was back and she took over cooking while he got his shower. Everything was ready when Brian came back out. After breakfast, Brian got a 32 oz. Klean Kanteen out of the pantry with its carrier and filled it.

“What are you doing today?” Jenna asked.

“I’m hooking up the mover on the tractor and cut the trails. It’s as good a time as any.”

“No range training today?”

Brian chuckled. “You really got into that, didn’t you?”

Jenna grinned. “Yeah, I did.”

“Okay then, no P.T. on Saturday mornings. We’ll go to the range. If it’s raining, we go. If it’s snowing, we go. Only if it is lightning will we not go.”

“In the rain?” Jenna frowned.

“You can have situations pop up in any weather.”

“Okay. I need to run to my parent’s house this morning. I’ll be back before dinner…uh, lunch. Don’t come in, I’ll saddle a horse and bring lunch out to you.”

Brian grinned. “You be careful.”

“I will.”

Brian looked at the swath he had started and decided it was wide enough and just make one run. He started forward, set the cruise control and tuned the tractor radio in to KAGE out of Van Buren. Brian smiled when a singer started with “Green Eyed Texas Girl,” an image of Jenna popping into his mind.

Around noon, Jenna caught up with him, riding Dolly and had a shopping bag hooked over the saddle horn. Brian shut the tractor down and got off.

“I went into town to get Daddy his dog feed and stopped by the Charbroiler to get you something to eat.”
She handed him the bag that contained a carry-out container and a thermos of hot coffee. Jenna tied Dolly up and they went over to a tree and sat down on the leaves.

“You didn’t get anything?” Brian asked.

“I got a cheeseburger with fries and ate it while the coffee was perking.”

“What is this?”

“A brisket sandwich with lettuce and tomato and fries.”

Brian took a bite and it was delicious. Jenna poured a cup of coffee for him.

“What wedding planning do we need to do?”

“Nothing really. Momma and Aunt Millie and the cousins will be over a day or two earlier and get things dressed up. She told me not to worry about anything, which worries me. I do know she’s got Cousin Albert bringing his Bluegrass band for after the wedding.”

“Well, I hope you don’t come down the aisle to the wedding march played on a five-string banjo.”
Jenna giggled. “No, I won’t let that happen.”


Brian finished his meal and put all the trash back into the bag.

“Do you want to keep the thermos? Jenna asked.

“No, I’m good. I still have water. I’m going to finish up this stretch and go down and do that section south to the property line. I’ll be back before dark.”

“Okay. I’m making liver and onions tonight.”

“Sounds good.”

Brian stood and watched as Jenna got on Dolly and headed back down the trail, her blonde ponytail bouncing with the gait of the horse.

That night after dinner, they cleaned up the kitchen and went into the great room. Brian turned on the radio to listen to the local weather forecast. After listening to it he turned to a news station to get the national news. After listening for a while, Jenna blurted out, “This is all so stupid! What is wrong with this country!”
“I'll tell you what's wrong. Educated and skilled foreigners go through a rigorous process to just get immigration rights into this country while some tattooed gang-banger can hop the border fence and is welcomed. We have to be okay with some mentally derange man who wants to be recognized as woman or we get ostracized. They say there are no genders but want to elect a woman president. Now it's 'un-American' to count the number of Americans in America for the census. Some foreign country influencing elections in America is bad, but letting illegal aliens vote is okay. People who have never owned slaves should now pay reparations to people who were never slaves. People who have never been to college should pay the debts of those who racked up huge debts getting a degree. We have to vaccinate our pets but they allow people who have communicable diseases to walk right over our borders. If you cheat to go to college you go to prison but if you cheat to get into this country, you get to go to college for free. We've watched countries go socialist and collapsing all over the world for decades but now it seems like a good idea for America to accept socialist ideas. Everything now is racist. The word no longer has any meaning.

Evil is gaining ground in this country. There are those who believe a civil war is coming. I'm trying to keep out of it but if it comes to my home, you'll be washing their blood off the porch steps with a garden hose.”

Jenna looked at Brian and nodded, agreeing with everything he just said.


The next morning during training, Joe stayed around longer than he usually did. When Brian and Jenna had finished he called them together.

“Okay, I feel a little attitude this morning from Jenna, What’s going on.”

“I’m sorry Joe.” Jenna said. “Last night we were listening to the news on the radio and I got pissed. Brian explained a few things to me and it has me even more pissed. All the wrongs going on in this country and I don’t know what I can do to stop it.”

Joe looked at her, the ground, then back at her.

“Jenna, there are four things that never lie to you, children, drunks, yoga pants and me.”

“I can tell you right now there are powerful people in this country, both political and fiscal, who are dragging us toward their version of Ragnarök. They want to destroy this country to rebuild it in their version. We can’t let that happen. There are some of us fighting every day to stop them in many ways. You might not think you can do anything, but just one little gesture, one little donation, one little act means something. From an individual, it might not seem like much, but added to those hundreds of thousands or even millions of people doing the same thing will add up to change. It may come to a bloody civil war but we intend to preserve and protect the Constitution from those who want to destroy it.”


When Brian finished his shower and came out to eat breakfast, Jenna was scraping their scrambled eggs onto their plates.

"La tua colazione è pronta, amore mio." Jenna said.

Surprised, Brian grinned and said, "Grazie amore mio."

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 19

Brian got the protective and practice pads in and Jenna’s whole demeanor changed during practice. When she was attacked, she was the personification of a wolverine. Brian was glad he had ordered a neck pad because she liked to strike there a lot, and the eyes. She was not above trying to blind someone when her life was in danger. Joe got to the point to where it was the best part of his morning to watch her spar. It was like watching one of those old movies where the human turns into a werewolf and attacks. Brian offered, but Joe didn’t want to even spar with her. Brian needed the practice in keeping his ass from being whipped anyway.

The wedding day drew near. Jenna had taken Brian to Fort Smith and got him a new suit. She, her Mother and Aunt Mille had taken a very long day in Little Rock to find the dress she wanted. Brian hadn’t seen it yet, the women kept it over at the McGinna’s place. As Jenna had stated, the McGinna clan showed up a couple of days before the wedding and began preparing the patio and surroundings for the wedding venue. Both days Brian saddle Buck and took off for the far ranges of the property for the day. It was on one of these days he got his first glimpse of a Howler.

He had taken a bag of apples with him the first day he went out. He put a folding camp saw in his saddlebags, along with food for the day, a machete and his Klean Kanteen slung over his saddle horn, his GPS on a lanyard around his neck and the bag of apples. He was going down to the oak and hang the apples up then ride toward the northeast part of the property and cut back limbs for a riding trail. As he approached the tree, he and Buck made little noise but it was enough to spook the Howler, or Howlers. There were two of them, one about half of the size of the other. They were moving quickly to the east and disappeared into the forest. Brian hung the apples and headed northeast.

Brian took his time and mapped out a decent trail for casual riding. Getting off once in a while, he’d trimmed limbs that would hinder a rider. Buck, in his slow walk, led him to a spring at the head of a small stream that meandered back to the southwest. Brian stopped and let Buck drink and came across some large footprints.

”The Howlers must range up to here too.” Brian thought.

“He let Buck drink his fill and rested there for lunch, pulling out a sandwich, a Millennium bar and an apple. He sat there, leaning against a tree, enjoying his lunch when Buck’s ears twitched. Out of the bushes stepped the little Howler, or at least one about the same size, and slowly stepped toward him, holding its hand out to Brian. Brian saw where the gaze of the little fellow, or little female was directed, picked up the apple, and held it out. The little creature slowly stepped forward and quickly snatched the apple and ran back to the bushes. A few seconds later, the bigger Howler looked from around the tree and quickly disappeared. Interesting.

Brian sat there a little longer, contemplating what happened. Buck wasn’t bothered by them. Perhaps they had met before. Getting up and making sure he left no trash behind, Brian remounted and they continued their journey.


The GPS beeped when he reached his destination, a small pond filled by a spring that had been man-made for the wildlife. There were animal tracks all around, including those of the Howlers. He reset the GPS for his next waypoint, which was the firing range, about 2.75 klicks away. It would take him across a couple of streams and a low ridge. This was almost all oak forest in here. The forest floor was thick in some areas with ginseng. That was something to remember. If he ever needed it, ginseng sold for $500 to $600 pound, but he didn’t see that ever happening. Besides, he wanted to keep the area as natural as possible.

When he got to the range, he went on past and stopped at Joe’s trailer. Joe was sitting out next to a fire ring relaxing.

“Had to get out of their way?” Joe asked, grinning.

Brian dismounted. “You got that right!” Brian grinned.

“Jer wants to build a bunker up at the range top store those pallets of ammo. A crew will be out next week to start on it. It will just be a buried Quonset hut with a concrete floor.”

“What’s he holding ammo here for?”

“Just in case. You ready to get hitched?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m trying to milk as much time away from there as I can.”

“How are you feeling, nervous?”

“No, not really. I just don’t like all the parading about. I say get it done and let’s get on to the next thing. I think I’ll go on back, groom Buck and spread some manure on the garden plot.”

Joe grinned. “You have at it.”

Brian gave Buck a good currying and brushing, went ahead and fed the horses, Buck getting an extra half-scoop of oats. He loaded up the manure spreader and spread the manure on the garden, following with the tiller and tilled everything up. When he started seeing people leaving, he cleaned everything up and returned the equipment to the shed. He took his boots off on the porch and went inside. Jenna, Sally and Millie were in the kitchen.

“How was your ride?” Jenna said, kissing him on the cheek.

“Good. Let’s elope.”

Jenna giggled. “Not on your life! Aunt Millie has made a beautiful wedding cake!”

“In that case, I guess I’ll stick around.”

“We’ll come back tomorrow and do final touchups. Sally said. “The florist will be here at 10:00 on Saturday morning and that will be the last we need to do. George has the meat for the barbecue of course and laid on all the beer and champagne. That will be about it.”

“Thank you Momma, Aunt Millie. This is just the way I wanted it.”

“Well, we best be going. We need to start supper.”

“Okay, bye Momma.”

They had no sooner gotten inside when they heard the sound of a helicopter.

“I’ll bet that’s Jeremy.” Jenna said.

They went back outside and sure enough it was Jeremy with a suit bag and a suitcase coming across the field as the helicopter lifted off and flew away.

“I didn’t know if you were going to make it.” Brian said.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Jenna, where should I put my things?”

“Anywhere but the room next to ours. That’s where Brian is sleeping tomorrow night.”

“What!” Brian said.

“Well, you aren’t supposed to see the bride before the wedding. I cut it as close as I could.” Jenna grinned. “I’ve already moved your wedding things in there.”

“Well, I guess I can do without your snoring for one night.”

“I don’t snore! You’re hearing your own echoes!”

Jeremy came back into the kitchen.

“What do you say to some Mexican food tonight? Let me take you two out for dinner.”

“Let me change clothes and I’ll be right out.” Jenna said.

“Are you going to change clothes too?” Jeremy asked Brian.

“No, I’ll just slip on my Wellingtons and change hats.”

Jeremy chuckled.

“I saw a couple of Howlers. Even gave a little one my apple.”

“They came up to you?”

“Just the little one. I had spotted them earlier and I guess they followed me. When I stopped for lunch, the little one reached out, wanting the apple, so I gave it to him or her.”

“They’re getting used to you. You can probably expect to see more of them in the future.”

Jenna came back, Brian put on his boots and got a different ball cap, and they went to dinner.”


At 1:00 on Saturday, Brian watched Jenna on George’s arm walk slowly across the patio. The day was chilly but the patio enclosure kept a lot of the heat in from the firepit. The next thing Brian knew he was married and kissing Jenna. She was beautiful with a floor-length dress and a lace shawl. When everyone began clapping and whistling, Jenna and Brian grinned at each other and were given glasses of champagne for the first toast. A new chapter in their lives was unfolding.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 20

After Jenna and Brian finished getting showers and dressed after their run and workout, Brian stood on the porch and watched the rain drip off the roof. He didn’t stay long, it was cold and blustery. Harley had taken a quick run out into the yard and helped water a tree then ran back to the porch. Shaking himself off, Harley pawed the door to go back in.

“Good idea boy. I’m not going to get a lot done today.” Brian said.

Brian went in and still chilled, added more wood to the stove. He then went into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Jenna’s waist and nuzzled her damp hair.

“Hello Mrs. Cassidy.”

“Hi, Mr. Cassidy. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Something light. Looks like I won’t be working outside much today.”

“Eggs, bacon and toast? I’ve got some melon too.”

“That’s fine.”

They finished their breakfast and together did the dishes, then Brian took a cup of coffee and went out on the porch. Jenna put in a load of laundry and went out on the porch to see what Brian was up to. Brian was leaning against a porch post just looking out across the misty pasture.

Jenna put her arm around Brian and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Me, us. I want to warn you right now, I married way below my station. I feel so lucky to have you in my life.”

“But?”

“There are no buts. When I think of how I came to be here, I see how empty my previous life was. First, I didn’t have you then. Second, I’ve always had a hankering in me to build things. Oh, I built portfolios worth millions of dollars, but it wasn’t tangible. All I made then was on paper, or in some computer in a bank somewhere. I like to see and touch what I make. Don’t get me wrong, money is great. It helps you get things done and lures in pretty women.”

“I didn’t marry you for your money, Brian Cassidy!”

‘That’s why I married you. That’s why I didn’t have any real relationships back in St. Louis. The women were so transparent. As soon as they found out where I worked, they were all over me like a duck on a Junebug, and it wasn’t because I’m suave and debonaire.”

“Oh but Sir, you ARE suave and debonaire!”

“Well, coming from you, that’s all right to think that. Anyway, I was thinking I would have a shop built to build things in. We have enough power now I could run a table saw and other woodworking equipment, as long as I didn’t have everything running at the same time. I could build something that you could lay your eyes and hands on it and say to yourself, ‘I made that.’ Just like the garden next summer, we will see the fruits of our efforts.”

“Well, get your shop built. I’m anxious to see what you can do. By the way, we need to be at Momma’s tomorrow at 10:00 so I can help finish up Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Do you think your cousin Henry could build me a shop?”

“I’m sure he could. I know he’s built garages and such. Ask him, he’ll be at dinner tomorrow.”


They arrived at the McGinna’s a 9:55. Jenna went in and Brian went to the kennel where he saw George working.

“Mornin’ Brian. Janie had a litter of puppies last night and I was just checkin’ up on ‘em.”

“How many did she have?”

“Six, and all doing just fine.” George went over to a refrigerator and took out two brown flippy bottles. Rotating the bale on one of the bottles and displacing the ceramic cork, he handed it to Brian

“Taste this, best batch I’ve made in a while.”

Brian took a taste of the hard cider.

“This is good George.”

“I get six bushels of Honeycrisp apples every year from up in Michigan. This year the sugar and tannin balance was just right. I’ll have to be careful and not drink it all myself.”

They walked back to the house and when they went in, Sally gave George a hard look.

“Kinda early to be getting’ into the cider, isn’t it?”

“I was just lettin’ Brian here have a taste. I didn’t want to be rude and let him drink alone.”

“Get out of my kitchen!”

George chuckled and went into the den, taking a seat in his recliner, Brian sitting on the couch.

“What have you been up to, Brian?”

“Not much, with this rain. I’m thinking of getting a shop built to do some woodworking. Do you think Henry could handle it?”

“Henry is your man for that. He could have you one up in no time, as long as the weather allows it.”

“Good, Jenna said he was coming to dinner so I’ll ask him.” Brian said.


By noon, more people showed up. The women congregated to the big country kitchen and the men to the den and sun room. By the time they were ready to eat, tables had been set up all over to provide places to eat. Platters of food were laid out on the counters and people filed through, cafeteria style, to fill their plates. When they sat down, not much conversation was going on. They were too busy eating the delicious food. Most of the people were too full to eat any of the pies and cakes that were brought so the men drifted out to the sun room to smoke their pipes while the women cleaned up the dishes.

“Brian, what do you think about these gun control laws these people in Washington are trying to pass?” George’s brother Able asked.


“It’s a waste of time. Those politicians who are pushing the anti-gun laws are using it to cover for their total ineptness. You can pass all the laws in the world and it won’t stop the criminals. They laugh at gun laws because it disarms the honest people, making them a bigger target. Let’s say they did get rid of everyone’s, and I mean the honest people’s guns. It wouldn’t make things better. The government can’t stop, or won’t stop, the tons of drugs coming over our borders every year. What’s stopping someone from smuggling guns over the border? Those who are willing to break the law, like every single person to commit a mass murder or violent assault, won’t be disarmed. It doesn’t matter what you do. On that note, there are some who want to legalize drugs to solve that problem when they should be lining up the criminals who bring those poisons into our country and shooting them.”

“What about a fair trial?

Brian took a second to answer. “When a man goes around burning people’s houses down and he comes to your house, as he is throwing a flaming bottle of gas into your home, are you going to wait for a fair trial before you shoot him. What he’s doing is a criminal act, he knows it, you know it. He knows there are consequences to his criminal act. In my opinion, death should top the list of consequences. If a few individuals in this state were to end up missing, you wouldn’t have much of a drug problem.”

The conversation moved on to other things and they men finally decided to have some of that dessert. The women already had the coffee on and dessert plates were handed out and coffee poured. When they were done, the dishes were tended to and people began drifting back to their homes. Brian and Jenna were the last to leave, loaded down with leftovers.

 

[Siskiyoumom]

Thank you

 

[Mr Bill]

Thanks for the updates

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 21

The next morning after their run and practice, Brian and Jenna were at the breakfast bar drinking water before getting their showers.

‘What did Henry say about the building?” Jenna asked.

Brian chuckled. “I didn’t even get two words out of my mouth and Henry said he’d be over in the morning to see what I wanted. George had already talked to him.”

“Well, Dad is always trying to help out. You’re not mad, are you?”

“Oh, heck no. Let’s get our shower and breakfast and get the horses out. There’s something I need to do.”

“Come up with me and wash my back.” Jenna said, grinning.


Later, much later, they made a quick breakfast and went to the barn. Saddling the horses, they mounted and Brian rode over to the root cellar. Hooking a bag of apples over the saddle horn, Brian led the way to the oak tree. Hanging the bag on the hook, Jenna looked at Brian, perplexed.

“That’s too high for a deer to get to.”

“They’re not for the deer. Just wait.”

They waited for a while and finally the horses’ ears twitched and turned their heads toward some brush about 50 meters away. Brian pulled his sheath knife out and slit the net bag enough to get one apple out. He got down from Buck and held the apple out. The small Howler came out of the bushes. Jenna gasped, but kept quiet. The little Howler trotted over to Brian and took the apple, turned and trotted back to the bushes. As it neared the bushes, a larger Howler stood up, chest and shoulders rising above the six foot high bushes. Both Howlers quickly disappeared.

“What the hell was that?” Jenna said, in shock.

Brian grinned. “What do you think it was? The common name around here are Ozark Howlers. In other parts of North America they are called Swamp Ape, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, and Wendigo. There are different names for them in different parts of the world.

“They are real!”

“Yep, they’re real, and you shouldn’t speak about them to anyone off this land.”

“Oh, I won’t! They’d take me directly to Arkansas State Hospital with my own room reserved. How long have they been here?”

“As long as anyone can remember. We kind of protect them plus feed them a bag of apples now and again. They are more afraid of us than we are of them. I guess people have chased them around for so long they don’t trust many people. It seems though they are beginning to trust us.”

“What do they eat?”

“I’m not sure. We know they at least eat apples. Probably local vegetation and maybe small animals.”

“Maybe when the garden begins producing we could try giving them some vegetables.” Jenna said.

“We could try.”

They rode to the south for a while the looped back to the barn. After brushing the horses down and giving them a bait of oats, they walked over to the garden area to look it over.

“I’m going to build three eight foot long cold frames over there. We can start seeds in late February and they should be almost a foot tall by planting time. By the time we’re ready to plant, the temperatures will be in the 60s during the day. We’ll should start having vegetables by early June. I’ll put a shed over there to keep our garden tools and such in.””

“Momma’s getting us a canner. How are the shelves in the root cellar? Will they hold a lot of jars?”

“Let’s go check.”

They walked to the root cellar and found the shelves were made out of oak. Brian couldn’t bow the shelves at all when he partially suspended his weight on one.

“They should work. Are you planning on canning a lot?”

“As much as we can. I’d rather have home grown that store bought.”

“Works for me. The meat down in Mena is going to be ready next week. Do we need to clear anything out of the freezer to make room for it?”

“No, we should be fine.


—Breaking News—

A moving and storage company building in Otay Mesa, a community in the southern section of the city of San Diego, blew up and burned last night. When inspectors went through the rubble, remains of six unidentified bodies were found with automatic weapons near the bodies. Further examination found a tunnel that went south into Mexico.

A company came in and poured the concrete floor for the ammo bunker. They were prepared and covered the concrete to kept it warm enough so it cured properly. The men worked like clockwork and assembled the Quonset hut, then covered it with a rubberized fabric on all but the front of the shelter. Earth was taken from a borrow pit to cover everything. The area was sloped gently and grass and native bushes were planted to help it blend into the landscape. The overhang in the front would conceal the entrance to the bunker except from the most oblique satellite photos or walking directly up to it. Joe used the tractor to move the pallets inside when everything was done and installed industrial, weatherproof electronic locks on the doors.

“Can we go to Little Rock next weekend? It’s getting close to Christmas and I haven’t finished my shopping.” Jenna said. “Henry will be finished with the shop this week and it could give you a chance to look for equipment to put in it.”

“I hate Christmas crowds, but yes, we can go. What about Harley?” Brian asked.

“Dad said he could stay with them.”

“Okay. I guess we’re going to Little Rock.”

Jenna booked them a room at the Holiday In on the west side of Little Rock. They planned to use taxis to go around to do their shopping and keep their purchases in the room. They left early Friday morning after dropping Harley off at the McGinnas and arrived just before noon. Jenna wanted to head out shopping as soon as they got their bags into the room. They first went to the River Market District, where Jenna picked up a couple of things. Brian then realized his true purpose on this trip. Bag Carrier. They then went to the Promenade at Chenal and a couple of more items were purchased. Brian kept his eyes open because he saw several people who couldn’t have afforded the $1.00 pretzels at the vendor cart. Thankfully, they left soon and returned to the hotel.

After a great steak dinner that night, they returned to their room and Jenna poured over her shopping list and planned her attack for the next day. Brian found a woodworking equipment dealer where he could probably find everything he wanted. Jenna was just going to some downtown shops Saturday morning so she released Brian to go look for his woodworking equipment. She would meet him back at the hotel and they would have lunch before striking out again.

Brian was pleased with the dealer. He was able to order a radial arm saw, bandsaw, table saw, miter saw, router, a small planer and a joiner. He paid a little extra to have the equipment delivered outside the 100 mile limit, to be delivered on 10 January. That took less than two hours, so he had time to find Jenna a couple of more gifts and something for his Dad. He got Joe a bottle of Macallan Triple Cask and let it go at that.

After lunch, Jenna had only four more gifts to pick out so they went to another area downtown and found appropriate gifts. Thank God! They deposited their gifts in the room and went for a leisurely stroll before dinner, a leisurely as you could in a Christmas crowd. They found a little Irish pub and spent the rest of the afternoon sipping on beers and munching on Irish Potato Bites. They went to a recommended Italian restaurant that evening where they ordered different entrees, but shared. It was all very good and the bread was delicious.

Sunday Morning, Brian got a baggage cart and carefully stacked the bags, at Jenna’s direction of course, and loaded everything in the back seat and floor of the crew cab. With the light traffic, it was with relief when he got on I-30 and headed home. As they entered the Ouachita National Forest, heavy flakes of snow began to dot the windshield.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 22

The truck was making visible tracks on the road as Brian and Jenna neared home.

“There isn’t enough room for Harley in the back seat. Let’s go home and unload then go pick him up.” Brian said.

Brian pulled up close up to the door and they quickly carried the bags and packages into the Lodge to the first guest bedroom they came to. Brian built a fire in the Great Room stove before they left. They headed out again to the McGinna’s to pick up Harley.

Harley was overwhelmed with joy when he saw the two walk through the door. George was sitting in his chair chuckling.

“That dog heard the sound of the truck and damned near broke his neck to get to the door. It looked like a cartoon to where the feet were moving but wasn’t getting any traction. Funniest damn thing I’ve ever seen.” George said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes with his bandana.

Jenna kneeled down and Harley was all over her face with kisses.

“How are the roads out there?” George asked.

“Not bad; drivable. We aren’t supposed to get much, are we?”

“Naw. Weatherman says around four to six inches.”

“Where’s Momma and Aunt Millie?”

“Down in the basement doin’ something.” George replied. Jenna went into the kitchen and down the basement steps.

“How was Little Rock? George asked.

“Busy. Everyone getting their shopping done.” Replied Brian.

George lowered the footrest of the recliner and leaned toward Brian.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m takin’ Sally and Millie on a 4 Night Bahamas cruise next month. Can you and Jenna take care of the dogs while we are gone?” George asked at almost a whisper.

“Of course we will! Does Jenna know?

“Hell no! Else they’d be down there squawking like Starlings!”

Brian chuckled. “Then I won’t mention it. You know this is going to entail a shopping trip for them to get ready to go.”

“I know, but those two work hard and deserve it.”

The three women came back upstairs and quickly shushed when they came through the door.

“Now, you see that Brian? That’s what I hate about this time of the year. The women folk tiptoeing around with all their little secrets.” George grumbled.

Brian coughed to stifle a grin. You about ready to get back Jenna?”

“Just a minute. Aunt Millie baked some apple pies. I want to pack one up.”

“Brian what is going on? You not feedin’ her enough? She runs off down the road and I’ve still got to feed her!” George grumbled, almost hiding his grin.

Well George, haven’t you noticed? I’ve been fattening her up.”

“I heard that!” Jenna yelled from the kitchen. “I AM NOT fat!”

“You two leave her alone!” Sally said. “Although I wouldn’t mind seeing her belly plump up a might.”

“Momma, don’t you start!”
Brian opened the doors on the truck for Jenna and Harley and they climbed in. On the way back to the Lodge

“No honey, that was just George and I pulling your leg.”

Brian helped Jenna into the house then he and Harley went to check on the chickens and horses. The chicken feeders and waterers were full and he got what eggs there were. The horses were standing in the barn alley and Brian fed them both a whole carrot each and petted them for a few minutes. They didn’t seem interested in getting out in the snow. Brian and Harley went back to the Lodge where the smell of fresh perked coffee greeted them as they walked in. Jenna poured Brian a cup and plated a slice of the still warm apple pie. Brian smiled and took a bite.

Jenna insisted on a Fraser Fir for a Christmas tree. She had pulled out what Christmas decorations she could find in the attic and frowned at the ball of old Christmas lights she found. She immediately tossed them in the trash and Brian immediately retrieved them. He could at least burn the plastic off and get the copper in them, until he trimmed the plastic back and found the were aluminum. He tossed them back into the recycle can. Leaving Harley in the house, The first went to Walmart and Jenna filled a shopping cart with every conceivable decoration they had. They stopped by the Hallmark store and she had a an ornament made while they waited, commemorating their first Christmas together. It was close to lunch so they stopped at a diner that served good rib-sticking meals , placed their orders and sat their talking and drinking coffee as they waited on their meal. Jenna ordered Chicken Fried Steak and Brian ordered Liver and Onions. They were hungry and quickly devoured their delicious meals. Jenna excused herself to go to the restroom as the waitress refreshed their coffee. As she was returning, a Latin-looking man at the table adjacent to them got up. Placing his hand on her butt and rubbing the other hand across her breast, he said, "Hola querida, ¿cómo te va?"

Jenna twirled around like an attacking cat and gave the guy a knuckle punch to his Adam’s Apple then her knee smashed into his groin with enough force he partly lifted off the floor, then collapsed, groaning and holding his crotch. His companion jumped up from the table and drew his fist back to punch Jenna when Brian intervened.
Brian quickly rose, did a counter block on the guy's forearm, followed with a rapid knuckle strike to the hollow of the armpit of the attacker. This move, actually taken from Aikido, is an attention getter. Although not a disabling strike, it can be quite painful if done correctly. The man grunted and turned toward Brian enough, Brian's knee had a straight-line shot to the guy's family jewels, which wouldn't be worth much to this guy's family any more. The man quickly bent to grab his destroyed crotch and Brian finished him with a knee strike under the chin, flipping him back on the floor hard enough it knocked him out. It all happened so fast few were able to look up from their meal to see what happened, but the two waitress did.

“I’ll call the police!” The waitress with the nametag “Alice” said.

The police arrived shortly as Jenna and Brian were sipping their coffee, the two men slowly coming to their senses.

Alice explained what had happened to the officers as they came over to the table.

“Do you want to press charges?” The officer asked.

“YES! I want them both hung!” Jenna blurted.”

“Well, let’s get them before a judge first.” The officer said, grinning.

“Officer, that man over there sexually assaulted my wife then when the other man tried to sucker-punch her, I took him down.”

“Well, looks like you were pretty effective. I’ll need you to come down to the station and sign the charge sheet.”

“No problem.” Brian said.

An ambulance arrived to take the two semi-conscious men to the emergency room.

“If you two will follow me down to the station, we’ll get the paperwork started.”

“When they got outside the diner, Brian asked, “Are you okay?”

Jenna smiled. I’m fine, and thank you. And I don’t mean thank you for helping me in there. I mean thank you for teaching me how to defend myself.”

Brian gave her a hug and opened the truck door for her.

They filled out the paperwork and filed charges.

“Ma’am, which man assaulted you?” An officer asked.

“Just what I put on my statement, the man in the red and black plaid shirt.”

“I’m sorry, I haven’t read the statement yet. Anyway, looks like he won’t be doing much anymore. Doctor says he’s probably going to lose both of his….uh…testicles. The other guy isn’t much better.”

“GOOD! Animals like that shouldn’t be allowed to breed anyway! Jenna lashed out.

The officer laughed. “What did you do to him anyway?”

“I’ve been teaching my wife Krav Maga, officer.”

“Well, don’t go and offer to teach it to my girlfriend. Jesus!”

Brian and Jenny finally were able to leave and went directly to the Farmer’s Market where a Christmas tree lot had been set up. Jenna pick out the tree she wanted and the worker ran it through the netting machine and bagged it. They loaded the tree into the back of the truck and Jenna took Brian’s hand and said, “Come with me.”

They went inside where Jenna grabbed a little garden wagon and placed two half-bushel fruit baskets on it. Then she had Brian pull the wagon around as she filled it up with apples, melons, grapes, bananas, kiwis, plums and pears.”

“What are you doing?” Brian asked.

“For our friends at the oak tree.” Jenna said, grinning.

Brian paid for everything and loaded the fruit baskets into the back of the truck with the tree while Jenna stepped off to the side talked on her phone.

“I want to make one more stop to get Momma and Aunt Millie a couple of Poinsettias.”

“They have them here.”

“Yes, but they aren’t as pretty as the ones at the flower shop.”

At the flower shop, Jenna took an inordinate amount of time, it seemed to Brian, to pick out the plants for Sally and Millie. Then she decided she wanted a couple for herself, then took her sweet time picking those out. Finally, they were on their way home.

“I’ll have to use the tractor and trailer to haul the baskets down there.” Brian said as they were driving home.”
“Maybe.” Jenna said. “Why don’t we carry just one down there today and then put one out for them Christmas Eve.”

“Okay.”

When they got to the Lodge, parked next to the steps was a green John Deere Gator with a big red bow on it.
“This is one of my Christmas presents for you. I thought I’d give it to you early. It would be easier to carry the basket than the tractor.”

Grinning, Brian walked all around the Gator. “I can definitely get some use out of it!”

They unloaded everything. Brian placed both baskets of fruit in the cargo box of the Gator and stopped by the root cellar, left a basket there then they drove to the tree and set the basket out. They waited a couple of minutes and nothing appeared so they went back to the Lodge. They took the tree inside, cut the netting off and placed the tree in a stand next to the window. The rest if the evening was spent decorating the tree and drinking hot chocolate. The last ornament to be hung on the tree was the commemorative ornament with the inscription:

Brian and Jenna
2018
The Best Is Yet To Come​

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 23

Christmas Eve, they loaded the second basket of fruit into the Gator and drove it to the oak tree. Brian set the basket out on the ground and they stood there off to the side and waited. A few minutes later the small Howler came out of the brush and stood there. Then it slowly and cautiously made its way over to the basket. The adult Howler came out into the open and stood there, just watching the smaller one take an apple out of the basket and gnaw on it. Brian tugged on Jenna’s jacket, pulling her toward the Gator, got in and left.

Early Christmas morning, Brian woke up spooned behind Jenna. He slowly ran his hand up the top of her leg, over her hip and onto her stomach.

“Want me to give you and early present right now?” Brian said, kissing her neck.

“Nah anh. There is a tradition to uphold," Jenna said, grabbing his hand.

"What tradition?" Brian asked, leaning up on an elbow to see her scoot out of bed.

"Presents are given around the tree, you know," Jenna grinned, “Like a normal family. Save that present for when we come back this afternoon and won’t have my parents looking on."

Brian made coffee, began loading up all the presents for the McGinnas to head down there for the day. Harley couldn’t decide which toy he wanted to take so Jenna handed him one of the net pet stockings filled with treats and toys and he was satisfied. Carrying the stocking out to the truck in his mouth, he jumped in and waited for Jenna and Brian to finish loading the presents.

Millie and Sally were busy doing preps for their brunch while George was out tending to the dogs. Brian stoked the fire in the fireplace and added another log. When George came back in, they all got their coffee and gathered around the Christmas tree to give out presents. When Haram brought out the envelope with the cruise confirmation in it, Sally and Millie both jumped up, hugged and kissed George. They were all giddy the rest of the morning. After all the wrapping paper was cleaned up the women finished putting together the brunch. George took the bag of trash out to the cans and Brian was left by himself in the den. Brian took a look at the confirmation letter and was surprised it was for a stateroom with a king-sized bed for three occupants.

Jenna and Brian finally left around 3:00. As they were driving home, Brian told Jenna what he saw on the confirmation letter.

“Why wouldn’t they all sleep in the same bed?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t know if I could sleep in the same bed with my sister. It would be awkward.”

“Well, I think it’s fine if they share Daddy. Aunt Millie is practically a mother to me too.” Jenna replied.
“But George,….sleeping with his own sister…”

Jenna burst out laughing. “Brian! Aunt Millie is MOMMA’s sister!”

“Oh well, in that case, do you have a sister I don’t know about?”

“Not on your life buster! Just because my parents have a polyamorous relationship doesn’t mean I’m going to have one. I’m not sharing you with ANYONE!

As the days got colder, Brian and Jenna moved their Krav Maga training into the enclosed patio. Brian would build a fire in the firepit before they went on a run so it would be fairly comfortable in there, although still cool. He had purchased thick exercise mats so their bodies wouldn’t be slammed onto the stone paver floor. Brian had her focus on front kicks to the groin, bearhug/takedown defenses, and knife defenses, of course using a rubber knife. She didn’t hold back on anything. The groin protector he put on after running was barely enough to keep him from being injured. Jenna attacked like a wolverine and zoned in only on putting down her attacker. Sometimes Brian had to step back and let her get her head back into what they were supposed to be doing….practicing.

Joe had left before Christmas to visit a sister in Iowa. Jeremy showed up New Year’s Day, right after Joe, bearing gifts for all.

“I wish you could have spent Christmas with us.” Brian said.

“Yeah, I had to tie up some loose ends and anyway, I wanted you and Jenna to have your first Christmas here by yourselves.”

“We were hardly by ourselves, with the McGinnas and the Howlers.”

“What happened with the Howlers?”

Brian told Jeremy about the fruit baskets and the Howler’s reaction.

“Well, you’ve gotten farther with them than anyone else has. Just be careful.”

“Are you making any inroads with your, uh, projects?” Brian asked.

“In some areas. In others we’re holding our own.

“Did you have anything to do with that stuff that happened in San Diego?”

Jeremy looked at Brian; “Ronald Reagan once said, ‘When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.’"

Brian nodded. “Well I guess that made a dent in the drug smuggling.”

“A small dent. Have you seen Joe?”

“I think he’s back, but I haven’t seen him.”

I believe I’ll up down to see him.” Jeremy said.

“Take the Gator if you want, and take his present. He ducked out before we could give it to him.”

Jeremy knocked on the trailer and it was opened a few moments later by Joe, who was moving slowly.”
“How are you doing?” Jeremy asked.

You catch a 7.62×39mm round in the plates and see how you’d do.”

“No thanks. How’s Gary?”

“He’s fine, just a little shrapnel. What’s that?”

“Little present from Jenna and Brian. Open it up. It think it sloshes.”

They had used the plan many times. Use a decoy flotilla of illegal immigrate boats to draw the Border Patrol craft up the lake and run the drugs across under the cover of darkness. The silent low-riding boats were slow, but they would have plenty of time. As the boats neared the international border that ran roughly down the center of the lake, four Javelin missiles impacted on the boats, scattering debris across the water. There were no survivors.

Jeremy’s phone beeped. He pulled it out and looked at it.

“Carlos finished the job.”

“What’s next?” Joe asked.

“We need to bring the heat to the Senator.”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 24

It became a weekly thing to pick up half-bushel baskets of whatever fruit they could get and leave it at the oak tree. Sometimes the variety wouldn’t be that great so they just increased the quantity, as long as the basket was full. The Howlers became more accustomed their being nearby, Brian realizing this when the larger Howler came and picked the basket up while they sat near the Gator, about twenty meters away. They didn’t try to take pictures. If the pictures ever got out, they would bring down more attention than they ever wanted to have. They just watched in amazement and didn’t try to get any closer than they had been.

Jeremy and Joe were picked up by a helicopter a few days later to take care of some business, leaving Brian and Jenna alone around the Lodge. Jenna helped Brian build the hot bed frames, a project both enjoyed. First, they built a wall to block the prevailing winter winds. Brian made it functional, but Jenna made it also decorative. Next, Brian dug down about 8 inches deep in each bed area then laid down thermostatically controlled electric cable in 6 to 8-inch long loops. This was covered with 2 inches of sand, then hardware cloth was laid over this to protect cable. Finally, 6 inches of good soil was laid down over this. Then Brian built the bed frames over this out of cedar and banked soil up around the sides. Wanting something besides electricity to keep the plants warm at night, Brian assembled a ring of 4 inch black PVC pipe around the inside of each frame and half-filled them with a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze. This would absorb heat during the day and release the heat at night. The automatic thermostats would kick in if the temperature fell too low during a sudden freeze. Ratcheting stay arms were added to the glass sashes to keep the frame open for working or to partially open the sash to keep the plants from overheating when the temperature rose above 45 degrees. They tested the temperature in the beds for a few days and were pleased the south-facing sashes were allowing plenty of the meager sun’s rays to heat the beds.

Jenna confiscated an area in Brian’s new shop to start seeds. Brian built her tables and frames to hang the grow lights from. Seed heating mats were placed under the seed starting trays to fool the plants into thinking the shop was sunny and spring-like. The seeds were sprouting nicely and as soon as they could, they’d be moved to the hot bed to get them acclimatized.

During their work on the beds, they hadn’t noticed anything, but they were being observed.

Three nights later, Harley jumped up from his bed in the Great Room and gave out a low growl. Brian looked up and took his pistol off the side table next to his chair and his Mag-Lite, commanded Harley to stay and went to the door. Brian looked out, but didn’t see anything, then went out on the porch. Using the Harris Technique, Brian shined the light around the yard, sweeping across the backs of what looked to be three large retreating Howlers. He stepped out into the yard and searched around then finally saw the bodies, There were four of them, all with their heads turned at impossible angles. Brian went back in, grabbed his phone and hit the speed-dial button for his father, the phone automatically going secure. When Jeremy answered, Brian said, “Dad, I have a problem.”

Hearing what had happened, Jeremy told Brian someone would be there within the hour. “Let them handle everything.”

Forty minutes later A large, blacked-out helicopter landed and six guys came to the porch.

“Where are they?” The first man asked.

Brian led them over to where the bodies lay. The men unfolded body bags, pulled them up around the bodies and began carrying the bags to the helicopter.

“We spotted their car. We’ll take care of it. Don’t speak to anyone about this.”

Brian answered, “Okay.”

The turbines of the helicopter wound up and it was soon headed toward the gate. Brian went back inside.

“What did they do?” Jenna asked.

“They took the bodies and are getting the car I guess the men came in.”

“The Howlers did that?”

“Jenna, the way those guys necks were broken, I don’t think anyone or anything else could have done it.”

“Do you think they were protecting us?”

“I don’t know, but just to be on the safe side, I’m going to go in and get four baskets in the morning.


Brian kept his ears open but not much was said about the disappearance of the four men. All were recent residents of the area. Their abandoned car, however, was found parked at a natural gas well up near Booneville Lake. No one ever came out and questioned them about the men.

Brian and Jenna’s Saturday morning shooting practice intensified. Joe got hold of a heavy loader and bermed a 3-gun course area and began training Jenna and Brian. Brian had shot 3-gun before, but only for fun. The recent events made it more serious now.

Plants were being transplanted to the hot beds and Jenna started more. Her idea was to stagger the plantings so they had a continuous harvest throughout the summer. Jenna had worked out the right combination of compost and Miracle-Gro and the plants loved it. When danger of the last frost was gone, they began planting the tomatoes and beans. Cool season vegetables like cabbages and carrots, broccoli, lettuce, spinach and Brussels sprouts had been planted earlier and they hoped to get a harvest off of them before the weather got too hot, then plant again in the latter part of the summer for a fall crop. Brian put together a misting system not only for irrigation but to also keep the plants cool in the hot summer.

Brian’s father was in every few weeks for “R & R” and enjoyed helping in the garden. He showed up one Sunday afternoon with a guy named Dave Richardson. Jeremy said Dave was retiring and Jeremy wanted to give him a job helping out around the place. Dave seemed a little young to be retiring, but he seemed like a good guy and he started to work. Actually, Brian could use the help. He had begun cleaning up the deadfall in the forest around the property and an extra hand would be nice. He had already gotten a good bit of firewood from his endeavors and Dave showed him how to go about it a little more systematically. They used a map and overlayed it with a one-acre grid system and they could tint in the areas they cleared as they went along. This was about more than gathering firewood. The climate was changing and forest fires were more prevalent now. The mismanagement of forests and the lack of removing debris that caused the hot fires in the liberally governed western states had taught them a lesson. Brian had purchased a log hauler and another tractor just for gleaning the wood. Another hidden concern was the safety of the Howlers. Forest fires were a danger to them also.

Brian had a cabin built for Dave at a site Dave selected down near the south pasture in a little cove that was isolated but near enough everything. A well was bored and the four room cabin went up quickly. Brian wanted to prepare Dave and got him aside one day to talk to him about the forest creatures.

“Dave, there’s something you should know. You might see or hear some strange things here….”

“Jer already told me. I’m originally from northwest Oregon. We had them up there too. We didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother us. Don’t worry, I won’t shoot at them. There’s plenty of two-legged critters that should be shot in this world before them.”

Brian purchased a towable firewood processor and they soon had large, weatherproofed stacks of firewood around the property.

When the vegetables were ready to be harvested, Millie and Sally came down and helped do the canning. With the three of them, it was quickly done. Jenna had worked the harvesting so that canning day was on Thursday. They would have everything prepared and would quickly get it done. Although it was hot work, the cool patio and abundant iced tea helped them endure it. When the pinto beans came in, they canned some and Brian built a screened drying bin to further dry the rest of the beans for storage.

An idyllic calm had settle on the Lodge, but they were ever aware of the storm clouds brewing.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 25

Do you have everything on tape?” Jeremy asked.

The young man grinned. “Technically it is solid-state drive, but yes, I’ve got everything.”

“Are you going to be able to distribute it safely?”

The young, pimply-faced technician grinned. “I’ll have this bouncing through a minimum of 26 nodes and 8 countries. As far as anyone is going to be able to tell, the stream will be coming from Faulkton, South Dakota, population 826. Let the damn crooked FBI chase that down!”

“Okay pull the gear out when they leave and clean up. Let’s go Joe. We’re RTB.”

Jeremy and Joe came in on a STOL at the south pasture strip Sunday afternoon. Brian and Harley were waiting for them. Jenna was back at the Lodge grilling venison pinwheels for snacks when they guys got back. Beer, Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky were available.

Jeremy and Joe threw their B-4s into the cargo box of the Gator and climbed in.

“Are you back for a while? Brian asked his father.

Jeremy chuckled. Yeah, I want to watch the explosion from a safe zone.”

Brian didn’t ask what explosion his father was talking about. It would probably be obvious when it happened.

Brian pulled up next to the covered patio and parked. The smell of the cooking meat was obvious and made each man’s mouth water. Jeremy went in and gave Jenna a hug.

“What are you cooking? It smells delicious!”

“It’s a recipe I modified. Normally, you butterfly out a flank steak and smear it with a mixture of roasted garlic, anchovy paste and Cajun spice, then roll it up to cook it. I substituted the beef for venison. Get a drink. There’s Scotch, Irish whiskey and beer, or if you want there’s iced tea in the fridge inside. Ice is in the cooler.”

“I think I’ll have a bit of the Irish.” Jeremy said pouring the whiskey in a glass.

Joe poured himself three fingers of Scotch, neat.

“How’s Dave doing?” Jeremy asked Brian.

“That guy is a hard worker. We’ve cleaned up six acres of deadfall and diseased trees so far. That only leaves 3,294 acres left to clean up.”

Jeremy laughed. “Well, that keeps you off the street corners on Saturday night.”

“Yeah, but we are accumulating a hell of a lot of firewood.” Brian said.

“Jenna, any of your cousins up to making some money?”

“Are you kidding me? What do you need?”

“Round some of them up and we can get them set up to sell firewood.” Jeremy said.

“Give me a couple of days.” Jenna replied.

Jenna took the meat off the grill and cut the rolls into pinwheels, then into quarters and put them on a platter. A handful of wooden skewers were added and she set the platter down in front of the men.

“Man! That is good!” Joe said.

Jenna grinned as she watched the men wolf the meat down.

Jenna’s six cousins showed up about the wood cutting job. Brian got them all out on the patio to speak with them.
“I need some help cleaning up deadfall, dead trees and damaged and diseased trees. I guess you’ve heard or seen the big fires out west that are eating up millions of acres. Part of the blame is not maintaining the forest, keeping the debris cleaned up. We have a map with overlays showing what acres have already been cleared. As we clear an area, we mark it off one the overlay. What I will do for you is buy a dump bed truck and trailer, chainsaws and whatever other equipment you need, including safety gear. I will pay you all a salary until you start selling wood. I know there isn’t a big call for firewood in the summer, so basically, you’re starting a firewood distribution company. I’ll help you get set up and once you start selling wood, 75% of the profits, after expenses, go to you, 25% goes to the Lodge. This is Dave Richardson. He’s your ‘go to’ man. If you have problems, see him first. He also maintains the map. He’ll go into town with you and start purchasing equipment starting tomorrow morning. I’ll let Dave coordinate with you for the rest. Dave.”

Brian listened to Dave a couple of minutes then went into the garden. Jenna was pulling what few weeds were sprouting up. There weren’t many because they had mulched heavily, not just for weeds but also to retain soil moisture. Jenna had Brian’s Sangean radio playing country music and didn’t pay any attention to Brian being there. Brian went to the garden shed and brought out the roll of woven fence wire and began cutting it into 12’ lengths to make a tomato trellis. Jenna came over and helped when she was finished weeding. Once they had the number of lengths they needed, Brian drove in the 2x4 stakes along the rows to support the trellis. They took a length out, secured one end to the stakes on one row with large zip-ties then bent it over and secured it to the stakes on the adjacent row, forming an arched tunnel. They covered two 25 foot rows this way. Cloth strips would be used to secure the tomato plants to the wire. Brian had added manure compost to the hole when they transplanted the tomato plants. On top of the compost was about three inches of sandy soil. When the roots hit that compost in a week or two, they would have to adjust the ties on the plants because the plants would take on an unbelievable burst of growth. When they had zip-tied all the wire to the stakes and the wire lengths to each other, they went through tying the plants up and pinching off suckers.

The green beans were already running up their trellis and the melon vines were beginning to run. Jenna walked down the row of cabbage, checking for cabbage worms. Brian walked down the four corn rows and the stalks looked healthy. They would tassel soon and they would be enjoying fresh corn before long. Brian got to the end of the row and took a garden spade to dig a hole. He was checking the moisture of the soil at root level. It looked like he had the timing of the soaker hoses right. Brian had spent a few hours building a zoned manifold system to deliver water to the garden areas via the soaker hoses. There was plenty of galvanized pipe and threaders and cutters in the shop he had used. The addition of shut-off valves allowed them to water the whole garden, individual zones or even just individual rows. Buried under the mulch, the soaker hoses allowed sufficient water to the plants without loss through evaporation.

That evening after dinner, Brian, Jenna and Jeremy were sitting on the covered patio enjoying the cool evening. Brian and Jeremy had removed the window panels so the night breezes would penetrate the sitting area through the screens. Jeremy had brought his notebook computer out and had it set up on a table to stream Fox News The big news of the night was two of the biggest adversaries of the Conservatives in Congress were caught on hidden camera having sex with what looked like underage boys. This time the media couldn’t move fast enough to cover it up because it had been broadcast all over the internet, to major news organizations and dozens of porn sites. The cry went up by hundreds of people for the Congressman and Senator to be charged with numerous crimes. They were soon to resign from government service and efforts were made to take their congressional pensions away.

When the news stream was over, Joe walked through the door.

“You missed it Joe.” Jeremy said.

“I was standing outside listening.” Joe said.

“Wow! Those two should be tarred and feathered. If it were anyone else I’d feel sorry for them with all the shame and ridicule they are going to go through.” Brian said.

“The gay lobby will still support them.” Jenna said, disgusted.

“Don’t feel sorry for those lowlifes.” Joe said. “There’s a lot more out there that need to be exposed.”

“Speaking of being taken….the plane will be here in the morning to pick us up.” Jeremy said.

“I need to talk with you.” Joe said.

Jeremy got up and they walked toward the barn.

”That must have been the explosion Dad was talking about.” Brian thought.

Brian was partially correct. He would not foresee the shitshow that would be forthcoming.

 

[Mr Bill]

Thanks for the fine updates

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 26

George had gone up to Fort Smith so Brian took Jenna, Sally and Millie to Waldron to do a little shopping and to take them to lunch. A new Chinese restaurant had opened and they served dim sum, which Brian liked instead of ordering off the menu. They had a nice lunch and Brian dropped them off at Walmart while he went to the Back 40 Farm Supply Store. Sally wanted a couple of new spatulas and a measuring cup and Jenna was looking to see if they had powdered buttermilk in stock. Jenna found the buttermilk powder and picked up two cans. Rejoining Sally and Millie, they were just browsing through the garden section. All off a sudden Jenna was jerked around and was half-facing a guy with a knife, She’d had her purse strap over her shoulder and across her chest and he’d tried to cut the purse strap off, but the strap had two small steel cables in the seams to prevent such an occurrence happening. Jenna went into attack mode and the guy ended up on the floor next to the lump charcoal, unconscious, with a broken nose, and blood pooling next to his head. Store security was quickly there and secured the man until the police arrived. Jenna called Brian and he was there in a matter of minutes.

“What happened? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. A guy tried to cut my purse strap and snatched it but it’s that new concealed carry purse I ordered. He ruined the strap!”

“I’ll buy you a hundred of them. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Honey. He never knew what hit him.” Jenna giggled.

An officer walked over to them.

“Ma’am, you are free to go. We have your statement and pulled the security video which clearly showed what happened. What did you call that….whatever you did?”

“Krav Maga.”

“Weren’t you terrified?”

“Scared, yes, terrified, no; my husband trained me to deal with attackers using various weapons. Besides, he was just a dumb meth-head whose stupidity made them more of a threat to himself than to me."

“Well, be careful out there. More and more of this type thing is happening every day.”

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Brian said.

“Wait! We’ve got to pay for our things.”

“Here, take the keys. I’ll pay for it.” Brian replied.

Brian carried the purchases out to the truck. When he got in he grinned.

“I swear! I can’t take you three anywhere!”

“Hush!” Sally said, “or I’ll hit you on the head with my new spatula!”

Jenna giggled. “And where were you when that guy tried to get my purse?”

“The spatula was in the bottom of the cart. You had him on the floor before I could reach it!”

Brian sighed. “What am I going to do with you women?”

“Well, I’ll a little far into my years to get frisky.” Sally said.

“But Jenna’s young enough that if you kept her barefoot, pregnant and at home, she couldn’t be off getting into trouble.” Millie said, grinning.

“Aunt Millie!”

“She does have a point, Dear.” Sally grinned.”


Thursdays morphed into canning and dinner days. George was a pretty good cook in his own right so he and Brian collaborated and came up with a meal for the women after a hard day of canning. They made the women cool off on the patio while they finished the cooking for their evening meal. Truthfully, the women would can every day for the treatment the men gave them. They were putting away an abundant amount of food, so much that Sally decided not to put in a big garden next year. The Washita Lodge garden easily provided food for both families. Jenna had been putting together a mixed basket of fruits and vegetables for their forest neighbors. It was funny, after Christmas, the Howlers began leaving the empty baskets under the oak tree. Brian thought it strange also, but it did keep him from having to buy the half-bushel baskets. It seemed the Howlers loved the Moon and Stars watermelons. Those, Brian had plenty of. The women canned a lot of pickled and candied watermelon rind, and Brian ate a lot of the super-sweet melons, but he still had enough to put at least one with the basket. He’d set the melon on the ground next to the basket because there wouldn’t be enough room for the rest of the treats otherwise. He and Jenna watched one day when the two Howlers came and picked the food up. The smaller one easily picked up the 25 pound melon and gently cradled the melon it its arms as they headed through the brush.

Jenna wanted to try freeze-drying some of the produce so Brian ordered a freeze dryer. When it arrived, it weighed as much as a medium sized refrigerator. It wasn’t something you moved into the kitchen for canning every Thursday, so he and Jenna went into town to a building materials dealer on the edge of town. A man sold his garden sheds on sale there and he agreed to custom build a 12x20 building for them. It only took a couple of weeks to deliver it and it was perfect for freeze-drying and dehydrating the foods. Brian had an electrician come out and run power out to the building and Brian laid down some good vinyl flooring and built work tables for the freeze-dryer and the dehydrators. They also purchased another impulse sealer, mylar bags of various sizes and another vacuum sealer for the prep area.

Jeremy stayed around for three weeks before he took off again. He had only been gone a couple of days when Brian received a call from their lawyer, Harold Gibson.

“Brian, I need you to stop by the next time you’re in town. You need to see something we’ve found.”

“What about in the morning?”

“That would be fine. I’ve got an opening at 10:00 if you can come in.”

“I’ll be there.”

The next morning Jenna and Brian went to Mr. Gibson’s office. They were immediately escorted into Mr. Gibson’s office.

“Good morning Brian, Jenna. Please let’s sit over here where it’s more comfortable.”

Mr. Gibson took a file folder off his desk and they went over to a small sitting area with a coffee table separating a leather couch and two arm chairs. They took a seat on the couch, Mr. Gibson taking a chair across from them.

“Anthony Philmore, the Trust accountant, was reviewing property records at the county clerk’s office and found something I had forgot about entirely. Prior to your Grandfather’s death, he offered a conservation group a parcel of land that they failed to come through with the money. Tony had wondered why your property taxes were so low and was seeing if the land had been over valuated. This is what he found.” Mr. Gibson said, handing Brian a sheet of paper.

“Six thousand acres!”

“Well, more like 6,495 acres to be precise. The taxes are low because it will never be developed for residential or commercial use. That’s one of the stipulations for the lower taxes.”

“Where is this property?” Brian asked.

Mr. Gibson pulled out a survey sheet and an old aerial photo and slid it over to Brian.

“Why this is right across from the Washita tract!”

“Technically, it is a part of the Washita tract.”

“Well, I’d like to get this surveyed and a more recent aerial photo taken.” Brian said.

“I’ll handle it. What are you planning to do with it?” Mr. Gibson asked.

“Well, I’ve got an idea, but selling it is definitely not in my plans. Thank you Mr. Gibson.”

“Just call me Harold. Looks like we’re going to be working closer than we have.”

“Sorry about that. I’ve been slowly working my way into these things. I’ll be more attentive.”

“That’s fine. I’ll get a survey started. How big of a photo do you want?”

“How big can they make it?”

“Oh, they can run them off on a digital plotter these days.”

“Well, give me two about three feet wide. One with the final survey on it.”

“I’ll have it done.”

They all shook hands and Brian and Jenna left.

“What are you planning to do?” Jenna asked.

“Depends what the final survey shows. Do you like to fish?”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 27

The next time Brian talked to his father he asked him about what Brian called the “southwest tract.”

“I thought Dad sold that. I haven’t even thought about it in years.”

“Well the sale didn’t go through, so we’ve got an extra 6,495 acres we didn’t know about.”

“What do you mean ‘We,’ white man. Those papers you sign were to take ownership of everything. I just hope someday when I retire, you let me build a little cabin out in the woods to spend the rest of my days.” Jeremy said, happily.

“Well, okay then. When are you headed back this way?”

“It’s going to be a few weeks. There will be a lot of fireworks going off.”

“Enough said.” Brian replied

“How’s the garden going?” Jeremy asked.

“We’ve got enough canned or to be canned produce to feed us and the McGinnas.”

That’s good. I’m looking forward to eating some of them. Look, the land is entirely in your hands, I just hope you aren’t thinking about selling it.”

“That’s the last thing on my mind. I am thinking of developing it, but for our personal use only. I’ve got to get a bit of information together, but I hope to have a plan developed when you get back here.”

“Sounds good. Okay, I’ve got to get to a meeting. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay Dad, bye.”

Brian went into the kitchen where Jenna was husking and slicing strawberries to prepare them for drying.
“How many quarts will that make?” Brian asked.

“Twelve for the strawberries, of course they dry smaller when freeze dried.”

“Do you want to take a ride to Ft. Smith in the morning? I want to go to Sam’s a get some blueberries to dehydrate.”

“Sure, but could we go an hour further and got to Little Rock? They have a Sam’s AND a COSTCO.”

“Sure. If we leave here at 8:00 we can be there as they are opening.” Brian replied.

“Can you get me the 5 pans for one of the dryers and the silicone mats for them? I want to put these in the chest freezer tonight they we can slide them in the freeze-dryer in the morning. They should finished right as we get back tomorrow.”

Brian went to the dryer building and retrieved the freeze-dryer pans and the mats. He helped Jenna arranged the strawberries, filling all the pans. The twelve pounds of strawberries would yield about three to four pounds of dried strawberries. Jenna was hoping to find a deal at Sam’s or COSTCO on frozen blueberries and strawberries.

Jenna and Brian were up early the next morning. Jenna took care of the chickens and gathered the eggs while Brian attended to the horses and hooked up the box trailer. They went in and had breakfast then were rolling out the gate at 07:55.

“We are teaming up with the 18th West Judicial District Drug Task Force for this operation. Officers from Mansfield, Huntington, Hartfield, Booneville, and Mena departments will be assisting us. We don’t have that big of a problem here yet but we’re going to conduct the raids concurrently and snatch as many people as possible. The warrants are all ready and we’ll assemble at the high school at 7:00 PM tomorrow evening. Harris, you, Billings and Davis are on immediate patrol to act as a mobile reserve when we are assembling. I know all of you have probably smoked a joint when you were kids but this stuff out on the streets is a hell of a lot more potent. They add all kinds of chemicals and some of the weed they are buying these days has as much as 75 – 95% THC. We’ve got to bring a halt to this quickly and keep our feet on the dealer’s and potential dealer’s necks. That is all.”

Brian and Jenna arrived at the Sam’s Club 15 minutes before opening. They got out and walked around the parking lot to stretch their legs, killing time. When they saw people start going inside, they went in. Jenna grabbed a shopping cart and Brian got a flat cart. Jenna had her list she printed off from the inventory of things they needed to replace in their rotational stock so they started filling their carts. They weren’t looking for anything extra but Jenna did find a buy on frozen hashbrowns. They had also had good prices on frozen sliced strawberries and frozen blueberries. Brian picked up four 8 pound bags of each. They didn’t quite fill the carts so Jenna wheeled them around and picked up more bottles of maple syrup, paper towels and toilet paper. You can never have two much of any of the three as far as she was concerned. They checked out and used up the money from previous savings and the total wasn’t that bad. Brian asked one of the Sam’s employees where he could get dry ice and the employee told him in a whisper, “COSTCO.”

Brian smiled as they went out and began loading the trailer. Brian had brought four 70 quart coolers for the frozen and refrigerated items so they would be fine until they could get the dry ice.

COSTCO filled out the rest of Jenna’s list so she looped around and picked up a few things that weren’t on the list but wouldn’t hurt to have extra. Feminine supplies, oatmeal, olive oil, laundry and dish detergent, restaurant sized rolls of aluminum foil and food wrap, rice, dry beans, peanut butter, bouillons, Cholula and Texas Pete hot sauces, Worcestershire sauce and Mac and cheese dinners. Brian added the dry ice to their purchases and picked it up out of the cooler box on the way out. Once they got everything loaded and secured, they stopped by a Mexican restaurant and had Enchilada dinners.

On the way back to Washita Lodge, Brian received a call from Harold Gibson telling him the surveyors would be starting in the morning. He warned Brian it was going to take a while because the perimeter of the tract was almost 14 miles. He also told Brian the aerial photo was being taken next week and did he want a copy before the survey was finished. Brian told him no, to wait until the new survey was imprinted to the photo.
They unloaded everything and put it all away, then bagged up the freeze-dried strawberries, setting two bags aside, they boxed up the rest to be put in the shelter storage room. They washed out the dryer trays and loaded both freeze-dryers with frozen strawberries and the dehydrators with frozen blueberries. Jenna went back to the house, poured two glasses of iced tea and they relaxed on the patio until it was time to bring the horses in for the night.

Jaheem Brothers was, on the outside, an unassuming meek man who had won a seat on the County Commissioners by his ethnicity alone. He didn’t show it, but he was ambitious. Coming from a poor background, he was going to better himself one way or another. The drug task force had been monitoring his contacts for months and it was by pure chance he was at the rural farmhouse when the raid happened. Standing in the stripped out room, except for various equipment used for manufacturing illicit drugs, he was caught red-handed standing in front of a table with two kilos of cocaine and bags of various pills. There was no place to run and he was taken into custody.

No one town in Scott county had enough room in a single facility to contain the forty personnel arrested that night. so they were housed in the individual town detention centers. It was just a small, difficult step the task force would have to take in their attempt to rid the area of criminals and deadly drugs and all the while being fought by well-meaning or corrupt politicians.

When the survey was finally completed and Brian had received the aerial photos, the outline of Brian’s plan morphed into a full blown idea. He would build a lake. Using Google Earth, he drew the outline of where he wanted the lake and it seemed he had the room to put in a 300 acre lake on the tract. The timber that had to be cleared would pay for the lake itself. He would have a timber company come in to the clear-cut the trees in the future lakebed.

Brian contacted a company that specialized in building ponds and lakes and sent them his printout from Google Earth. One of their representatives came from Louisiana, inspected the area, and suggested a few changes. Brian agreed and ended up signing a contract for them to build the lake and put in a floating dock. They would send their surveyors to mark out the lake and a 10 yard cleared strip above the water line. Once the area was surveyed, Brian would have the trees removed.

Brian called around to a few companies who weren’t aware that the land was not a part of the Ouachita National Forest. They all were scrambling for the right to cut after they had done a timber survey of the area. All the timber was old growth of sizes they had not been able to cut in decades.

The construction completed the survey and just before the timber company with the winning bid was able to start cutting, the rains came.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 28

The rains lasted a couple of days and it was two more days before the logging company could get in begin to stabilize the old roads and trails so they could handle the equipment. It wasn’t long before loaded trucks were rolling down the trails.

They had started in the center of the area and worked out to the survey lines. In behind the cutters were two tracked skid-steers whose sole purpose was to pick up and stack the debris into a burn pile. The logging foreman said it would take about a month to clear everything out. The construction rep came out and looked at what had been done so he would have some idea when to schedule his men to come in. As soon as the eastern end had been cleared, they could begin removing the stumps from where they were going to remove dirt to build the dam. They wouldn’t have to remove all of the stumps, most would be under ten to twenty feet of water. The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) representative who had cleared Brian’s plans, came out to review the ongoing work. Brian asked him about fish habitats and he gave him a contact over in Conway at the Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office. Under their Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, they provided free technical and financial assistance to landowners interested in improving wildlife habitat on their land. A few days later, Brian and Jenna took a trip to Conway and got all kinds of information on emplacing habitats and building your own structures. Brian was definitely interested in that. The artificial structures ran around $100 each. Not that he couldn’t afford them, but he liked the idea of building them himself. The woman they talked to offered to come down before the lake was filled to show them good places to put the habitats.

Jeremy came back for a week and went down to the lake site to see the progress.

“Right up there is here I want to build my place.” Jeremy, pointing to the north bank.

“Tell me what you want and we can get started on it.” Brian said.

“Not yet. I’m having it custom built. I’m going to use shipping containers. There is a company outside of Austin that makes them. ‘ll just need to clear an area, dig a well and put in a septic tank.”

“Well, give me the dimensions and we can clear the area out and get the well and septic in.”

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Jeremy said.

They rode around on the Gator up to where they were still harvesting trees. Almost two thirds of the cutting had been done.

“You’re going to have one hell of a bonfire this fall.” Jeremy said.

“Yeah, I’m going to wait until they have what stumps they are going to pull out and burn them then.”

“Make sure you notify the forest service.”

“I will.”

They rode back to the Lodge and got a couple of beers and sat on the patio.

“How are things going back east?” Brian asked.

Jeremy just shook his head slowly.

“The Democrats are digging their own graves, some of them literally. They have developed a two-tiered, no-justice system. What you see going on right now will be their death knell. Once the Conservatives take back control, there are people who are going jail. They may escape judicial justice, but justice will prevail. The FBI is going to have to be cleaned up one way or another. We know who the traitors and they’ll answer for what they have done.”

“So what happens when a balance has been reached?”

“Then our people will go back to plowing the fields, back to normal citizens.”

“How long is it going to take?”

“Longer than I’ll be around. Some of those people will go to ground and act like they didn’t do anything wrong. It takes time, but they will answer and they will know why they were targeted.”

“How are they reacting?”

“You’ve seen some of it. They’re ratcheting down on their power in Congress and on the American people. They are trying to grind into dust anyone who is against them. I can name a dozen right now I’d like to see a third eye on. They are evil and should be destroyed.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Exactly what you are doing now. Establishing a refuge. Someone, somewhere is going to flip the wrong switch and the American people are going to suffer. You just make sure the Lodge personnel and the McGinnas don’t suffer too.”


Brian invited the McGinnas over for a BBQ Saturday afternoon while his father was still there. The ribs and steaks were cooked to perfection and the men, including Joe and Dave drank plenty of beverages, but none were inebriated. Harley made his rounds and made sure everyone got a chance to pet him.

“Whatta ya going to do with that lake Brian.?” George asked.

“I’m gonna get Millie up on some water skis.” Brain replied.

“NO YOU’RE NOT!” Millie said.

George chuckled. “You gonna stock it?”

“Yep, with Bass, Coppernose Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, Fathead Minnows, Grass Carp, Channel Catfish and Black Crappie.

“Well looks like I won’t need to fish in the Ouachita River no more.”

“For the first year, I just want to catch and release, let them get a head start.” Brian said.

“Sure, sure, I do that at the river too.”

“When will they finish the lake?” Dave asked.

“It will be sometime in the late fall. They have to remove some stumps to remove dirt in certain areas to build the dam. I suppose we can close off the drain by Christmas. It could be filled by the end of next year. I’m just guestimating though.” Brian replied.

Joe’s phone buzzed and got up and walked away talking softly. He soon returned, looked at Jeremy and nodded. The women called them to eat dessert but the men ate the rest of the riblets instead. The men continued talking about events that were concerning the country late into the night.

The next morning the news carried a sequence of events that had become somewhat normal in these days and times. Four meth labs blew up in and around Atlanta, one at a lake cottage owned by a state senator. She feigned innocence but in the coming days, search warrants were issued for her $750,000 home in Peachtree City. Later that day she was remanded by the Fayette County Drug Enforcement Unit. She was out in a few hours on a $500,000 bond but was relieved of her passport.

The cabbages were harvested, half to be frozen and half were pulled up, roots and all, and stored in the root cellar. They would last in there three to four months. With the last of the plants dead or gone, Brian removed the trellis and stakes and spread manure compost over the garden and plowed it in. He then planted a mixture of crimson clover and hairy vetch as a cover crop.

Jeremy got the information he needed from the container house builder. He and Brian rode back out to the lake site and Jeremy picked out the site for his house. They also decided that would be where they would put in the floating dock. They staked out the area and Brian would see to it that it was cleared. They rode back to the Lodge and Jeremy led them down into the hidden gun room. He went over to a corner table and picked up the brown paper wrapped box he had Brian place down there months ago. Cutting the paper off and opening the box, he started removing the contents. Brian stared at the stacks forming on the table. When Jeremy finished there were 50 purple strapped packs of $20 bills, 25 yellow strapped packets of $10 bills, and 25 red strapped $5 bills.

“There’s a little over $87,000 here. Use it, but first, wash the bills in the washing machine and dry them in the dryer.”

“Are they real?” Brian asked.

“Official U.S. Government printed. Some ill-gotten gains from a government official turned drug lord. They may have some cocaine residue so make sure you wash them.”

“What do I spend it on?”

“Whatever you have been spending money on, but you could use it to pay a dozer driver to clear that ¼ acre, get the well and septic in. Also, think about making a beach at the upper end of the lake. Have a landscaper come in and lay it out. Build a small, covered area for a couple of picnic tables and a grilling area. We’ll use it in the coming years. Oh, and get a couple of more Gators. I’ll need one for my place. Remember cash will get you discounts, especially if it’s paid under the table.”

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 29

Fall was a magical time to Brian. It was when Mother Nature put her children to bed. With the last of the harvesting done, Brian would switch back and forth to helping clear deadfall to checking the lake site. He hired a recommend landscaping company out of Fort Smith, gave them an outline of what he wanted and turned them loose. Now he knew they would pad the project with attractive things so he turned Jenna loose on them and she micro-managed the hell out of the group. That behind him, he watched as the first tons of dirt were packed into the dam base. They had emplaced the overflow pipe and drain valve the day before and were carefully tamping the dirt with a heavy road tamper. He had never seen one like it before. It had a big roller like he was used to seeing but it also vibrated. One pass over the soil the excavator spread out and the ground was hard as concrete. Nothing more to see there so he went and caught up with the wood crew.

The guy’s firewood sales had picked up and two of the guys turned into a full-time deliverymen/stackers. They cut down and rewelded a small dumpster until it held exactly 64 cubic feet of wood, which was half a cord. Once it was filled, they would pick it up with the tractor forks and dump it into the tilt-bed truck or the dump trailer. They would dump the wood when it was delivered and for an extra fee they would stack it also. They also made and sold firewood racks. It was a pretty good deal for them.

Brian could feel they were being watched as they went through getting up the deadfall, but they never saw one of the Howlers or saw any sign. They once heard a scream off in the distance but the men shrugged it off as a puma.

Jenna called Brian on the radio and asked him to come down to the lake. When Brian arrived, Jenna was talking to the landscaping crew chief.

“What’s up?”

“Jerry asked me a question I didn’t know the answer to.”

“I asked her if she wanted landscape fabric laid before we poured the sand.” Jerry said.

“Yes, how far out are you taking it?”

“Only 50 feet. The surveyor said the water would be 8 feet deep there.”

“Okay, that’s fine.

“They got the solar lighting hooked up.” Jenna said.

Brian and Jenna walked over to the pavilion.

“This is looking nice Jenna.”

“They are going to transplant native shrubs and sow native wildflower seeds around here too. It’s going to be beautiful next Spring.”

“We’re selectively planting Dogwoods also.” Jerry interjected.

“What do you mean ‘selectively’?” Brian asked.

“Dogwoods are shallow-rooted trees that prefer morning sun and afternoon shade. They will burn in full sun. So we’ll plant them at the best locations to insure they’re protected.

Brian walked over to the light switch and flipped it on. The 12 volt light strings came on. He shut the switch off. Following the wiring conduit, he saw up in the rafters were the batteries were stored. Walking over to the grill, Brian studied the stone veneer.”

“That’s GenStone.” Jerry said. It’s 50% cheaper than masonry and just as durable.”

“I like it.” Brian said.

“How big is this lake going to be?” Jerry asked.

“Around 300 acres. It will be a little under two miles long and 2000 feet at its widest point.”

“Are you going to sell lots?”

“No, it will be entirely private.”

“Can we get a garden shed to keep chairs and things in?” Jenna asked.

“Sure. Jerry can you arrange that?”

“What’s that Brian?”

“Jenna wants a storage building, an 10x12, to keep extra chairs and such in.”

“Sure. Do you want it the same color as the stain on the pavilion?”

Brian looked at Jenna. “Yes!” Jenna answered.

“The dozer guy is coming tomorrow. I’ll meet him at the gate and lead him to where dad wants to put his dumpster house.” Brian said.

“It’s called a container home.” Jenna said.

“Yeah, okay. Anyway, as soon as he’s finished clearing the area I’ll get the well driller in here.”

“Is it that area over there that’s staked off?” Jenna asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Could we run a waterline down here to a post hydrant?”

“We can and will. I’ll pick up the water line and a hydrant the next time I’m in town. In fact, I need to go in and get some fruit. Want to ride along?”

“Sure, let me get my canteen.”

They drove the Gators back to the Lodge and took Brian’s truck.

“I couldn’t see from the beach, how far along are they on the dam?”

“They are just getting started. They are packing the dirt down carefully so it’s going to take some time. That dam is going to be almost 50 feet tall from the base.

They got to the market and Brian got the four baskets out of the back that they’d brought. They went through and selected the fruits they wanted and filled two of the baskets. As Jenna ran the fruit through checkout, Brian would place it into the empty baskets. They placed the baskets into the truck and drove down to the farm store and got the waterline, connectors and the hydrant. While he was there, Brian looked over the ditch-witch they had for rent. It would be perfect when it came time to put the waterline in. He wanted to put the pipe four feet underground and the ditch-with would easily do it. He paid for their purchases and headed home.

“Where are you going to get your chairs for the pavilion?” Brian asked.

“Momma knows a place in Fort Smith that caters to the lake and river crowds. She says they have everything I could ever want.”

“Well, don’t go buying up anything until the shed is in.”

“I won’t."

Brian unloaded the pipe, connectors and hydrant at the equipment shed and placed one of the baskets in the root cellar. They put the other basket in a Gator and Brian, Jenna and Harley drove down to the oak tree. Brian placed the basket out and nothing showed up after a few minutes and Harley didn’t alert to anything. They drove back to the house and decided on BLTs for dinner.

The offices of DC-based consulting firm Arabella Advisors, which oversees a large network that pulled in $715 million in secretive donations for left-wing causes in 2019 alone, were completely destroyed last night in Washington, DC, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Durham, N.C. All offices were struck at approximately the same time, although in different time zones. When employees attempted to access their server files, they found the servers had been completely wiped clean. The terrorist actions are currently under investigation by the FBI.

 

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 30

Jenna, Sally and Millie came back from Fort Smith with a trailer load of “Things.” As soon as the shed was in they all three looked it over while the guys were still staining and putting waterproofing treatment on it. They left early for Fort Smith and didn’t come back until late afternoon. Thy had 20 good quality folding chairs, 6 folding chaise lounges, folding side tables and six hurricane lanterns with hangers. It all fit in the shed with room to spare, to Brian’s surprise. The women were already planning a 4th of July party out there.

Throwing the rope over the wire, Jason gave a quick jerk and the wire fell into the grass next to the spewing faucet. Now it was just a matter of waiting.

As the sun rose, he got his gear in order. Jason watched as the man ran out to the barn to turn off the water to the broken faucet. Not seeing the downed power line, the man made jerking motions and collapsed into the puddle of water.

Jason folded the bipod on the rifle and made his way back cross country to his pickup point.

Brian watched as they laid the liner on the upstream slope of the dam and proceeded to pack more earth onto the dam and lay rip-rap. The clayey soil was excellent for this. It packed tightly and would keep the water from seeping through. A few more feet and they would began to pour the emergency spillway. It looked like they would be able to start filling the lake around a week before Christmas. The small stream, fed by springs back in the hills wouldn’t be adequate to fill the lake. They would need rain, lots of rain.

Brian saw the project foreman and drove over to him.

“How’s it going Bill?”

“We’[re a little ahead of schedule. I’ve got a crew coming in tomorrow to get started on the hydroseeding of the edges of the lake with creeping fescue.”

“What’s that?”

“Hydroseeding is a seeding process in which seed and hydromulch are mixed into a slurry and applied to an area with water. It usually consists of a blend of seed, fertilizer, mulch, and a tackifing agent that is mixed with water to be sprayed from a specialized machine.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that when they build roads.”

“Exactly.”

“Are you going to hydroseed the dam?”

“No. We’re using Zosia grass and that takes a while to establish through seeding. We’ll be using rolls of Zosia sod to cover the dam. That way we don’t have to worry about erosion.”

“This lake is going to hold a lot of water.” Brian said.

“Around 131,000,000 gallons, plus or minus a pint or two.”

“Wow.”

“Have you talked to anyone about fish habitats?”

“Yes, I went over to Conway to the Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office and got some pointers. When I’m ready, an agent will come out and show me where to best locate the habitats.”

“You need to talk to them to about oxygenating plants too.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that. I was concerned about evasive plants.”

“They’ll steer you right. Carp will take care of most of them though.”

Brian rode around to the beach and found the women attempting to put up the lantern brackets. Brian took over and soon had all the brackets installed.

“Well, is that it?” Brian asked.

“All we need is water.” Jenna replied.

“Well, I need to get that brush pile burned. What stumps don’t burn I’ll haul them off to a ravine. As soon as the humidity is right I’ll set it on fire.”

As it was, the following Wednesday was perfect. Brian poured 20 gallons of kerosene on the huge pile and lit it with road flares. He called the forest service so they had warning if they saw the smoke. One of the forest rangers came out anyway and checked things out.

“This will be a nice lake.” Ranger Bell commented.

“I don’t know who to contact but if there are fires in the area and you need to dip water or fill tankers, feel free to get as much as you want here.” Brian said.

“I’ll pass that on.”

Brian drove Ranger Bell around in the Gator go he could get coordinates of the lake perimeter to add to their map.

“There will be a locked gate at the road entrance to here. If it’s an emergency, just cut the lock.”

“Okay, thanks.”

When the Ranger left, Brian headed back to the house.

Jeremy came back to see to his container home. It was on the road from Texas and would be in the first of next week. He and Brian rode down to lake site to the lot Brian had bulldozed out. Brian already had a garage shed on site with his father’s Gator in it. The well and septic system were in and ready to be hooked up to the house.
“I ran a water line over to the beach pavilion and have an outside hydrant put in here too.” Brian said.”

“Good. Thanks. This is going to be nice. How’s the dam going?”

“They’ll be finished in about three weeks. They are finishing the emergency spillway and still have to sod the dam face. Let’s take a ride over there.”

Brian drove down the Lake bed until he got near the dam then cut into the trees so they would come out at the top of the dam. A gravel road ran across the top and a concrete bridge ran across emergency spillway to the other side of the lake.

“I’ll have the wood cutters clear a road around the lake and have a dozer come in and make the roadbed.”
“Keep the cutting to a minimum, only cut a tree where you really have to. It’s not like we need a high-speed avenue of approach.” Jeremy said. “Just cut trees and have someone with a stump grinder come in. There’s no marshy areas so it should work all right.”

The container home arrived and the crew set to work bolting together the foundation frame and concreting in the support posts. Once it was leveled, a crew began building a deck and another began assembling the solar panels and connecting water and sewer. In a couple of days the home was ready to move in, except it had no furniture.

Jeremy was afraid at first that he had made a mistake asking Jenna to go furniture shopping with him, but she was surprisingly supportive. All she did was recommend items he should have and left it to him to pick the style. He wanted durable men’s stuff, and she came through. By the weekend, she had guided him through getting the furniture and all the little things men don’t think about. On Sunday, the fridge was stocked, the two beds were made, gun safe in its place and the kitchen outfitted. Brian brought over a trailer load of firewood and stacked it in the woodshed for the small wood stove Jeremy had included in his plans.

One more month and Jeremy would be home for good.

 

[Mr Bill]

Hope he has picked a "cool" replacement. Thanks for the update

 

[Freebirde]

Lighted flag poles at the dock and pavilion along with solar lights along the dam would help if someone had to make an "emergency" landing on the lake. Didn't they use flags and pennants before windsocks?

 

[feralferret]

Thanks!