Story Up On Hartford Ridge

feralferret

feralferret

Veteran Member
AlaskaSue said:
Chicken fried steak, mashed taters and gravy, greens and bacon, pickled beets. Dessert is ice cold black diamond watermelon chunks and hand-cranked homemade vanilla ice cream. Yummmmmmy!
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Leave out the bacon (or use turkey bacon) and give me black-eyed peas instead of beets. Otherwise it sounds fantastic. It's the sort of meal I often enjoyed while growing up in the country.

I don't eat pork. And no, I'm not Jewish or Muslim. I'm Christian.
 
sssarawolf

sssarawolf

Has No Life - Lives on TB
All caught up again, I was hoping another chapter had been posted and I hadn't seen it. Another thank you for the story.
 
teedee

teedee

Veteran Member
I just spent the last 3 days rereading the whole story. It was still just as good as I remembered. I just love how kathy makes her charters so self sufficient and strong. I do love all of her stories but this one is very special to me for some reason! Thank you dear lady.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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Chapter 142​


I saw blood. Thankfully it was on Cutter’s arm and not his chest. Turns out the blood wasn’t from a direct shot but from a too-close-for-comfort sharp piece of granite that made up the foundation stones on that side that broke off from a ricochet. But I didn’t know that then. All I saw was blood, then all I saw was red. I’m admitting here that Burt isn’t the only one that has some things to work out and work through. However, feeling guilty for grabbing the fallen axe and thunking it into that man’s leg isn’t one of them.

He screamed, dropped the rifle, grabbed his leg knocking the axe loose, and tried to back pedal to safety. He only made it a couple of feet before getting taken down by a stray bullet but I can’t tell you where it came from, only that it spun him around and when he did hit the floor, he moaned but didn’t move.

I turned quickly, after making sure the bad guy wasn’t a threat to find Cutter giving me a look.

“Don’t you start,” I muttered.

“Yes’m. I mean no’m. I mean I’m gonna be a gooood boy from here on out.” I could not believe the oversized Goofus was actually trying to joke at such a time, but I admit somehow it helped me not to fall apart.

“That’s gonna get you in hots with St. Paul, and St. Peter is probably laughing his backside off at the very idea. Now hold still so I can see …”. I stopped and cleared my throat. “Let me see how bad it is.”

More seriously he said, “I’m alright Kay-Lee. Just sliced up. I’ve had worse from a prank going astray. Let’s move.”

“Let me at least stop the bleeding. I won’t even put a pretty bow on it. You can have Beth do that.”

He gave a small, sad grin. “I just want them safe. I hope Beth’s father had the sense to get them all down in the Panic Room I built in their basement, even if she is claustrophobic. Can’t you hear it? This isn’t just at The Farm. And that’s not drones in the sky either.”

# # # # #

There were too many brawls for us to sit around lollygagging and having a deep conversation about it. That said, my brain told me that what I was hearing wasn’t natural. There were big explosions echoing across the Ridge. The sounds were from the military not taking the jail break of their POWs lying down. We later found out that there were traitors – aren’t there always and at all levels – that were going to use one jail break of the POWs to instigate more of the same happening. And yes, there were a few more that tried it but that only meant that those that could fight were what you might call steamed up at finding such in their midst and the military and other such people learned real fast to get out of the way and stay out of the way when it came to direct hand-to-hand fighting on the ground.

Now the sky? Yeah, they let fly with stuff Sawyer called ordinance when they knew there’d be a group of escaped prisoners in one location … or they were boxing them in and other sorts of actions … but by and large the ground forces were made up of locals that had by God had enough. All over the country they wound up having to move many POWs to “safe locations” to prevent them from being “the victims of vigilantism”. These days the POWs don’t want to be taken because there is no guarantee that their trials and such won’t be interrupted by armed groups of citizens demanding a life for a life, meaning many in the group were made up of people that had lost a close loved one or friend to the war.

Cutter finally got me clear of the barn but being outside wasn’t much better. Cutter and I spotted a couple of people setting fire to a corner of the building at the same time and there was no choice but to take action because there was still family inside. Just as bad was the fact that the barn was close to several other structures that could catch fire when the barn collapsed … including the Big House.

Too many people running around in the dark for us to tell whether they were foe or family so guns were out. Cutter did was Cutter does best … next to pranks … and started plowing some down. I had yet to turn loose of my skillet and just waded in and started letting fly. I swear, you’ve never heard such whimpering and wailing. I mean seriously, you set out to do bloody mischief what do expect is going to happen? Cutter and I were soon joined by a brigade of Young Hartfords led by Burt.

I remember back in school we were watching a wildlife documentary and one of the scenes were about these ants that would band together and overwhelm a threat by sheer numbers. Those ants would take on things hundreds of times their size. Watching those boys was a bit like that. A grown man would be standing there and then the boys would just … well, I’m not sure there was any plan to it, they simply climbed him, took him down, and then basically took him apart. The same as those ants had done. Cutter and I kept any of them from using guns on the boys though, God forgive us, we didn’t stop the boys from using guns when they had the opportunity to.

I really don’t know how long this went on, long enough for the light to change as the raiders and the Hartfords went after each other in waves, only to change positions, catch their breath and go after each other again. That night was the bastard child of chaos and anarchy.

I got winded and tired and then got separated from everyone. I didn’t get turned around in the dark, but I was definitely running out of steam and needing a break and wanting Sawyer. Well my prayer was answered. Sorta.

# # # # #

“Don’t stop! You ain’t gonna are you?!”

“Aw c’mon Uncle Burt. What happened next?!”

A young girl with hair so black it absorbed the light rather than reflected it said, “You better not let Momma hear you two knuckleheads. She hates this part. Just because Daddy said you were finally old enough to hear it doesn’t mean Momma might not take a stray hair and decide old enough and mature enough might not be the same thing.”

The two boys, Ray Huel and “FTD” (Forrester Thomas Davis Hartford), looked at their older sister and decided that they might just want to take her advice this time around. It was absolutely true that Momma could sometimes have strong feelings on matters, especially family matters.

Burt Penny looked at the young girl and grinned. “For a fact Aunt Kay-Lee might not care for the way your brothers are acting, especially as she’s trying to get Linda Jean down for a nap. And your father might have something to say about it too since the doctor said that when Linda Jean naps, your momma is supposed to as well.”

The young girl who went by the name of Lilah Barb nodded and then added, “And I’m not going to be the one washing dirty diapers either.”

The boys did straighten up right quick at the reminder of the last time they’d been sentenced to such torture and quieted down to wait for the rest of the story.
 
Sammy55

Sammy55

Veteran Member
SUPER!! It's wonderful to have another chapter............and it didn't end "The End".............yet.

But I have a feeling that it is near the end of this book.

Kathy, thanks muches!! And I, like the others, hope and pray that you are feeling and doing much better!!
 
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