We Interrupt This Program...

[A.T.Hagan]

I don't think works of fiction were quite what the mods had in mind when they created the High Priority category.

I've got another piece nearly finished that I wrote last night. I'll try to get it up this afternoon sometime. Over did it a bit clearing brush yesterday so I'm a bit whacked today.

.....Alan.

 

[BillBk]

Sure would save a lot of BUMPS if they would!

 

[Cowardly Lion]

hi alan

you may be right that the mods may not have had fiction threads in mind when they created the hi pri definition, but based on response i'd say you have a hi pri thread for a lot of people here, whether the mods choose to recognize it as such or not.

no complaints, mods, just a suggestion . . .

cowardly lion

http://turnemout.freeservers.com . . . . . political site
http://cowardlylion.iwarp.com . . . . . . . . personal site


of course, i may just be jealous of your success.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

November 28, 2002 - Thanksgiving

"…In Jesus's name we pray." John concluded the Thanksgiving meal grace, "Amen."

"Amen" The gathering at the table repeated.

John loudly inhaled as he looked over the table. "Ladies, you have outdone yourselves. This is quite a feast!"

Ann blushed and said, "Thank you. It was quite a group effort too! Ellie was our real ace in the hole this year in the way she straw bossed the operation this morning so that everything would come to the table at the same time. Lisa and the girls did a lot of the prep work yesterday before I got home as well. We're becoming quite a team!"

Ann passed the carving utensils to John who fingered the edge of the long carving knife for a moment before proceeding. "This thing would fair pass for a short sword in an earlier time." He swooped the blade up in a fencer's salute towards the golden brown bird. Grinning at Melinda he said, "This is Tom's finest hour and we should pay our respects. Now let us see if a long summer of eating grasshoppers has done right by him." He began carving the bird and putting slices on plates with Ann passing them down to his right and Ellie Strickland passing them on his left. John, Ann, Melinda, Robert, Luke, Lisa, Heather, Ed and Ellie Strickland had sat down to Thanksgiving dinner and the table was filled to capacity.

When Ed had filled his plate he admired it and said, "The week after the Impact I'd never have thought we'd be sitting to such a nice Thanksgiving dinner but the country and the community here as a whole have really pulled itself together. We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year."

John grinned and said, "Yes, we surely do. We've come through Hell and high water but at least in our neighborhood most of us are still here. That first twenty four hours after the asteroid hit I was really afraid we'd all had it. I think it says something about the basic nature of humans. Once the accumulated nonsense of easy living gets knocked out of us we remember that we once clawed our way to the top of the food chain. We've lost a lot but we pulled together, saved what we could and sacrificed only what we absolutely had to. It's a shame we'll forget it all again as the passing years fade our recollection of what it was like. Not that we're quite finished surviving of course, we've still got what's shaping up to be a severe winter to get through but at least we're not fighting bandit hordes and each other trying to stay alive."

Luke thoughtfully finished chewing a bite of turkey, swallowed and said, "Well, not here at least. The more urbanized areas have had a more difficult time of it. Lisa and I talked it over last night, as soon as we can get our house in town livable again we're going to sell it. An event like the Impact may never happen again in our lifetimes but this one has taught me how thinly lies civilized behavior over the baser animal natures of a good many people. We're going to find a place out here in the country somewhere and if we can't find what we want we'll build even if it means settling for a smaller house. I could have been making twice the salary I get here if I'd set up practice in D.C., Boston, or Atlanta but what good would it have done me when the system broke down? As a species I think we have been very foolish in not building more resiliency into our cities. Maybe this is because it's been so long since we've seen the elephant so to speak here on the home front but we've just had a good lesson in what one major, unexpected shock can do to American, indeed, world civilization. I've decided if we won't build more resiliency into our urban areas then the best place to be is away from them. I'll work in Gainesville because that is where my practice is but we're going to live in one of the smaller outlying towns like Archer, Newberry, or some place similar."

"You know Ann's father was a physician too. When we were dating I always thought her father was a little odd for keeping a small farm when he could have lived a much more comfortable life without it. He told me that the family had learned a hard lesson in the Depression which his father had drilled into him constantly. He said so long as he didn't lose too much money he was quite happy to keep the farm going, even if it meant having to hire a man to run it while he ran his practice. Now that I have children of my own I begin to grasp what he was after in the way he raised his own children. I think I may just emulate at least some of that with my family."

Heather looked up and said, "Dad, you're not going to buy a milk cow are you?"

The table chuckled at this and her father replied with a glint in his eye. "Oh, I don't know hon, I think milking is doing you some good. In fact, I haven't heard you say, 'I'm bored' in months even without 300 CDs, an electronic game station big enough to run NASA, and spending weekends at the mall. You've really blossomed since coming here. You should be proud of that."

Heather blushed and said, "Well… I guess I am, a little bit anyways. But you're still not going to buy a cow are you?"

Her father laughed and said, "No, probably not. Maybe we could work out a trade or something with the Horne's here for milk but I don't think we really want to cope with three or more gallons of milk every day. I do think a bit of a garden, a few hens, and perhaps a beef or two in the pasture keeping the grass clipped would be within our capacity. We should be able to cope with that, though it might mean spending a little less time at the mall."

His daughter stuck his tongue out at him and took a large forkful of sweet potatoes. Ed said, "I think we'll be seeing quite a few folks getting the itch to move back to the land like the hippies did back in the Seventies. We've let ourselves forget that food doesn't come from the grocery and we've paid for it. These last few years Ellie and I have been feeling our age a bit and slacking off on things that we used to do like canning and what not. We haven't been hungry but this last month or so the Strickland diet has been getting a little monotonous. We didn't used to be like that. When I was coming up we always bought in quantity, mainly because it was a lot cheaper that way and we couldn't afford to be coming into town every week. Wasn't no paved road then anyways. We never thought anything of it because that's what everyone did. After the war things begin to change. When I got back from Korea I bought mama her first freezer. She still canned every year but we got used to that convenience. Still didn't go to town every week. We didn't start doing that until the early sixties when they paved the road. Not the one out there, but the road from Archer into Gainesville. They didn't pave the road out there until the early seventies but they did grade it. Slowly but surely everyone got accustomed to being able to just go and fetch something when it ran out and we stopped buying like we used to. Thank goodness Ellie had the summer garden already put away and we had plenty of beef and venison in the freezer. I'm not sure what my mama would have to say if I told her that we've run slap out of coffee and sugar in just three months though. She bought her sugar by the barrel and green coffee beans by the sack and roasted them herself."

Ellie chuckled and said, "I remember the first time your mother asked me to roast the beans. She gave me her big old iron skillet and pointed at the bag of coffee beans. I burnt those beans nearly black! She just shrugged it off and ground them up anyways. We'd never heard the word 'expresso' back then but that's sure what it looked like when she brewed it up. I think Ed was considering throwing me back after that one but I made amends with my pancakes which he said were better than what his mother made - not in front of her of course!"

Ann put down her glass and chimed in. "Well, living in a college town it was easy to fall into the fast food mentality. When I was growing up in Maine my mom always kept a lot of food on hand. She was feeding five people so she said it was just more efficient to buy that way. Of course, up there we have the advantage of having basements that stay cool which makes keeping lots of food on hand much easier than it does down here where no one has a basement and it's hot for so much of the year. In Maine you could keep stuff like potatoes, apples, squash, and the like all winter in a box in the cellar. Here everything seems to rot so fast. You all have to can, or freeze, or dry a lot of stuff that we just keep in a wheelbarrow. It wasn't until after I'd married him that I realized how odd many people thought John was for keeping so much food in the house. Eventually we just quit talking about it outside of the family. Everyone else wanted to live in an instant, just-in-time world where everything was easy and convenient. I do have to admit that keeping up with it all and trying to find places to store everything really got to be a drag at times. I sure miss having a basement. Our first addition on the house after we bought it was a full, walk-in pantry which is nearly as good."

Robert said, "It's funny how interests can skip a generation. No one in my generation has had an interest in farming or anything like what my father and his brothers did. I reckon that's because we grew up that way and no one wanted to stay down on the farm. Make a much better living in town and didn't have to work so hard to do it too. Now John here never really grew up on a farm at all though he did spend summers at his grandfather's. He's always wanted to farm but couldn't figure a way to make it pay so he ended up working in town like the rest of us and doing a little homesteading on the side - hobby farming I'd guess you'd call it. Not a hobby anymore now but when things pull back together again I expect most folks will go back to the way they were before the asteroid came."

Conversation dwindled for a while as everyone became absorbed in their plates. Gradually as appetites were assuaged talk turned to local subjects. Ed took a deep swallow of his tea and said, "I hear tell that there's going to be a motion in the county commission to bring back public hangings. Now don't you know that's going to be a free for all when the college liberals get their teeth into it, leastwise them that survived the last few months with their political philosophies intact."

Lisa replied, "I sure hope not! Who would want to watch such a thing? I think it's a dreadful idea."

Ed said, "Well, they stopped that kind of thing before I came along but my daddy used to talk about a couple that he saw up to Live Oak when he was a boy. Said families used to bring picnics and make a day of it."

Ann shook her head, "Well, I certainly don't want our children watching public executions!"

John looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke up. "Well, it's not the kind of thing I'd want to watch regularly but when Archie Lauren walks up the steps I'd like to be there to look him in the eye. I think it would be a good thing for a lot of people to see him swing. He committed a particularly ugly public crime and I think it would be good for him to receive public justice."

"Ann, where did you get the cheese for these au gratin potatoes?" Ellie asked, "I'd have expected it would have spoiled by now. Did you have some in your freezer all this time?"

With a grateful look for a change of subject she replied, "No, actually. We ate the last of ours several months ago. This is Dandelion cheese! It was our first attempt at cheese making and while it wouldn't have won a ribbon at the county fair it seems to have done OK for these potatoes."

Luke looked interested at this, "You MADE this cheese? How interesting! Was it difficult?"

Ann said, "Well, it was me and the girls who did it last week. No, it's not particularly difficult but it does seem to be very experiential. We followed the instructions exactly but it didn't come out looking like it was described as. Of course the rennet was kind of old too so that may have been part of the reason. It was a box of Junket rennet that Miguel had lying around which he gave me when I mentioned trying to make cheese. We've got instructions on using vegetable rennets as well but we won't be able to get thistle or fig sap until next year. There's a lot of work involved so when we do it again I expect we'll make large batches."

Conversation passed on to other food and cooking topics and the meal gradually wound down. The women began clearing away the dishes and the men went outside to feed the livestock, gather the eggs, and lastly for the evening milking so that the girls could assist the older women with the clean up. The sun was beginning to dip towards the tree line when Ed went into to collect Ellie so he could get home in time for his own evening chores. Luke, Robert, and John went into the living room to warm themselves by the stove.

Robert said, "I think I've eaten too much of that rich food. I'm feeling a little puny so I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Good night." He walked to his room and shut the door.

In the living room John and Luke sat around the stove talking. Luke asked, "You said you were looking forward to Archie Lauren hanging. Isn't he the Ku Klux Klansman you arrested for raping and murdering that family a couple of months ago?"

John nodded, "Yes, that's him. I take no joy in the death of any man but in his case I'll feel better when he's dead and buried. Oh, I'm sure one or more of his compatriots we took with him that night will meet their reward too when he does but they didn't strike me as much more than followers who were either taking advantage of an opportunity or too afraid or stupid to say 'no'. He was the heart and soul of the whole affair. I'd never heard of Christian Identity before nor understood how big it is amongst such groups as the Klan. The rest of those men were just tools to his end but HE was a True Believer. I'm not embarrassed to say I'll be thankful for putting an end to such a predator as he."

With a sigh Luke said, "I'm afraid he may not be the last one - True Believer that is." He repositioned his chair closer to the stove and continued, "I had lunch with Randy Hart last week, he's the chair for Psychiatry. He was telling me they are seeing a whole new phenomena of what they are coming to call 'Apocalyptic Psychosis.' There seem to be a good many individuals out there who have interpreted the asteroid strike as a Sign - from God, from extraterrestrials, the Devil, Illuminati, and even stranger entities. Fortunately, only a few are murderously active like your Mr. Lauren. A small number have committed suicide as well - directly attributable to their interpretation of the Impact as a Sign and not just general hopelessness. CNN had a blip that same day about an Internet rumor going around that another asteroid had been detected that was projected to impact off Catalina Island at midnight. It was completely untrue but it caused a brief panic in Los Angeles as thousands of people all tried to flee at once. The media played it for the humor aspect but I think it's indicative of where some people's minds are at now. In time it will fade away but how long it will take I don't think anyone can say. For a while longer it's going to be the Apocalypse, Ragnarok, or Armageddon for some and they're going to act as their basic natures direct them."

John poured two glasses of whisky and handed one to the doctor. "I suppose it's to be expected. The more stressful the times the nuttier some folks are going to behave." He took a deep sip from his glass. "I reckon I can live with folks wearing tinfoil hats thinking the asteroid was all some form of conspiracy by the New World Order or a sign of the Second Coming so long as they're not murdering each other. I have to admit there are times I'd find comfort in it myself if I really thought there was some Purpose to it all other than just some random chance of orbital mechanics that caused a half-mile wide chunk of space rock to fall from the heavens and blow our lives apart. Many people want there to be a purpose for what happens in their lives even if it is inimical to their existence."

The two men sat for a time, not speaking as they sipped their liquor staring at the fire. Warmth, whisky, and a large meal leeched away all ambition. Presently Melinda, Heather and Brittany came into the room and unfolded a card table. "Daddy, Uncle Luke, we're going to play Uno, would either of you two like to play with us?"

-- -- -- --

Luke came into the kitchen in his bath robe and went to the stove where the coffee pot gently steamed. John looked up from the waffle iron he was tending and said, "You're up mighty early doc. Since you're here how about turning those ham slices in the pan there."

The doctor picked up a fork and began to turn over the slices of meat gently browning in the pan. "When you're a surgeon you get used to being up early since O.R. call typically starts at 7:00 a.m. Never could get used to just lying in bed late on the weekends. Why are you cooking breakfast? Don't the girls usually rustle this up?"

The other man grinned and said, "It's something of a Horne family tradition. The day after Thanksgiving I get up early and cook breakfast for the girls since they usually spend the whole day before putting the big meal together. Usually do it with dad but he must still be feeling poorly from last night because he usually gets up before I do. Since you're here you can help instead."

Luke looked interested and said, "OK, what would you like me to do?"

John took down a cast iron waffle iron from an overhead cupboard and set it on the gas stove and turned the fire on underneath it. "I can't man two irons, fry the ham, and tend the sauce all at the same time so I hadn't gotten this one out. Give it a minute to heat through then spray it with the cooking spray. A ladle of batter will coat the bottom iron then bring the top iron down onto it. Give it about a minute and a half to two minutes then turn the iron over on the fire and let the other side cook. Don't worry if you burn the first one, we did too the first couple of times we used it. You'll get the hang of it right quick. In the interim that pot there has the peach sauce for the waffles in it which needs to cook down a bit more. Stir it frequently to keep it from sticking."

"I think I can handle that. You look like you know your way around a kitchen. Do you cook much?"

"Actually, not as much now that I'm home full time as when Ann and I both worked." John answered, "We used to split the cooking chores depending on what the other one had to do that night. Now Ann's gone all week and I'm nearly full time busy trying to make this place a going concern so it's mostly Heather, Brittany and Melinda that do the cooking now. Mel was coming along pretty well for her age but since Heather came they've all three been blossoming and learning a lot. You should see them sitting down with the big Joy of Cooking book talking about what they want to try next and how to substitute for ingredients we don't have or can't get. Oh, we get the occasional meal that we just have to force down since we don't have enough food to throw any away because it didn't come out like they thought it would but for the most part they've done right well."

"I never really did learn to cook" Luke looked thoughtfully at the frying ham "at least not in the make a cake from scratch sort of cooking. I suppose because my family was in the traditional gender role mindset. When I left home there was too much school work - or partying - to want to cook then in med school there simply wasn't time. Lisa was working when I met her and except for about four months she took off when Heather was born kept on working so except for special occasions we didn't do a lot of cooking at home. This is a new experience for Heather so I can see how she's taking well to it. It may say 'gourmet' on the label but a frozen waffle is still a frozen waffle. Anyone can pop one in a toaster oven but making your own waffles from scratch is an accomplishment."

The two men talked for a time about the ins and outs of cooking and the differences between the way men and women went about it. The stack of waffles grew taller in the warm oven and the smell of food infused through the house.

Lisa came in the kitchen shortly after, yawning and owl eyed followed by the three girls. Ann followed them a moment later still tying the sash of her robe. "Well, there's our sleepyheads!" John said brightly, "You'll notice Luke how they showed up just as the last waffle was coming off the iron."

Ann stuck her tongue out and headed for the coffee pot. "There's coffee on the stove for them what wants it and the milk will be hot for chocolate in another minute or so." John pointed with a fork at the respective pots on the stove.

"Ohh, real hot chocolate!" Lisa said, "I'm for that."

When everyone had fixed their cups John took the waffles out of the oven and set them on the table as Luke put the ham down. Looking around John said to Melinda "Go and wake your grandpa up and ask him if he feels well enough to come to breakfast. I haven't heard him stir all morning."

"Yes sir" his daughter said and left the room. A moment later they could hear the muffled knock on his door. "Grandpa? You awake yet? Breakfast is ready."

John was draining the peach sauce into a pouring cup when his daughter rushed back into the kitchen. "Daddy! Come quick! I can't wake grandpa up!"

John set the pot and cup down and glanced at Luke who stood to accompany him. "Mel, sit down and eat your breakfast. Dr. Luke and I will look in on grandpa. Ann, will you give the grace please?" Both men left the room heading for Robert's bedroom.

He knew as soon as he entered the room that his father had left their presence. He lay on his back in the bed, his eyes closed, as if only sleeping soundly but his chest did not rise or fall. Luke crossed the room and felt for a pulse in the man's throat then raised his eye lids to examine his pupils. He looked at John and shook his head. "Help me turn him over" he asked.

The two men turned the body over so that Luke could examine his back. "Much as I suspected" the M.D. said, "Morbid lividity is beginning to set in. He must have expired last night sometime not long after he went off to bed."

He said nothing for a few moments as he contemplated the fact of his father's death then asked, "What do you reckon the cause of death was Luke?"

The doctor said nothing for a few moments as he continued to examine the body. "Well, it would take an autopsy to say for certain but from the outward signs I'd say he had a stroke in the night. Must have been already starting when he said he wasn't feeling well before he went to bed last night. He seems to have just gently subsided away. Unless you feel the need for an internal examination I'll just sign the death certificate 'natural causes.'"

A muffled choke from the door caused the men to turn around where they found Ann and Melinda looking on with Lisa and Heather peering in from behind. John sighed then said, "Well, since you're here you may as well all come in. He's passed."

Ann said, "John, I'm so sorry." The other females nodded in agreement. Melinda looked very pale.

"It's for the best I suppose." Her father said, "It's the way he wanted to go. Quick and final. He really hated the way mom went with the tubes and surgeries and all. I think he must have known his time was near yesterday and it would be just like him not to say anything until it was too late to stop it." He bent over and pulled the sheet up and covered his father's face. "No use us all standing around here, let's go back and eat our breakfast before it gets cold."

Melinda stared at the still form under the white cotton. "Daddy, I don't think I can eat."

John bent down and picked his daughter up and held her close, "Sugar, I know this has come as a shock but your grandfather will be the first to tell you that life goes on. We've all got work to do today and you need your strength. Come to the table and try to eat at least a little bit. It will make you feel better. I made that special peach sauce you like so much to put on your waffles."

The girl smiled weakly and said, "I'll try daddy." And they all went back into the kitchen.

It was a somber meal but everyone ate, though it took a little urging from the parents. When it was over Ann said she and the girls would tend to the clean up so that John could do what needed to be done about his father. John picked up his coffee and went out on the front porch where white frost still lay thick in the shade of the house. A moment later Luke joined him.

They looked out across the fields for a time then John said, "Dad and I used to go out and shoot doves out there in Ed's pasture every year. He and Ed would always get up a group of men and we'd make a day out of it. He was never much of one for gardening or farming but he surely did love to hunt and fish."

Luke took a swallow of his coffee and asked, "Do you know what sort of arrangements your father would have wanted?"

The other man nodded his head, "Yes, I know what he wanted. We were both of the same mind about such things. He hated the whole funeral industry. Always said he wanted to be buried unembalmed in a plain pine box in the bare ground. Of course, in Florida you're required to have a concrete vault and all that crap so he told me long ago to just cremate him and scatter his ashes. It's what I want myself, to be burned and scattered out right here on the farm."

Luke buttoned up his coat and said, "Cremation is going to be a problem right now John. Crematories use natural gas and right now that's strictly rationed. The government isn't allowing it to be used for cremations. This has created something of a stink with people who can't get their loved ones handled the way they want them but it's the way it is."

John sighed, "Well, I suppose that's to be expected. Just hadn't thought about the mechanics of it. Reckon he'll have to be buried. He wouldn't have wanted that. He did have a small life insurance policy to cover expenses but what with the insurance industry washed out to sea I don't know if we'll be able to get a payoff on that policy or not. I wonder what a burial plot is going for these days? Going to be mighty expensive no matter what I do."

They stared out across the fields for a time again then John spoke with a tone of resolution. "NO. The State be damned! I'm the master of Horne farm and I'll not commit my father to some bone yard that he'd have hated. The State can take a flying leap. We'll bury him right here. There's a holly tree in the back pasture that he liked to sit under in the Fall of the year we'll put him there. I'd give him a funeral pyre if we didn't need the wood so bad. Reckon I'd better call over to Mike's and see if I can get Jake or Stevie to help me dig the hole. Six by six by three is a lot of dirt."

The doctor looked at him for a moment then said, "I haven't dug a hole that big in a long, long time but I think my hands will still fit the handle of a spade. Why don't we keep this in the family so to speak?"




== == ==

Edited for errors.

 

[Maiden]

I knew for sure when John's Dad wasn't the first one up in the morning that he had died during the night. Well, it was just the way he wanted to go. I'm glad they are going to bury him under his favorite tree in the pasture.

At least he had a last Thanksgiving Day feast and it didn't happen before that.

This was so very touching, Alan. I am continuing to enjoy your on going story more and more. Thank you so much for all the effort you put into each installment.

 

[AngieM2]

thank yyou

A. T.\.
Thank you for the story.

It's some of the best reading I've been across is some time.

I'll be watching for what happens next, and next and next.

Regards,

and would love to see the movie

AngieM2

 

[OddOne]

Aww, man, you just HAD to go and kill off a character.

My grandfather died even faster and more silently than the Robert Horne character. Went to the bathroom and died right there on the commode. We found him still upright, but slumped over - died so fast he didn't even twitch, let alone fall off the crapper.

Quiet and serene is the ONLY way to go...

oO

 

[freemen]

Alan,

Especially poignant to me. Buried an an old friend today.

freeman

 

[Laurane]

For a minute there.....

Alan, you had Luke married to Ann in one paragraph.....

"I never really did learn to cook" Luke looked thoughtfully at the frying ham "at least not in the make a cake from scratch sort of cooking. I suppose because my family was in the traditional gender role mindset. When I left home there was too much school work - or partying - to want to cook then in med school there simply wasn't time. Ann was working when I met her......"

I am detail-oriented and seem to always pick up the spelling and grammatical errors, but I love this whole story
.........mixed-up wives and all!

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Thanks Laurane!

Writing and posting on the fly like this is always fraught with errors sneaking in.

I'd already written and posted a piece mentioning Ed's wife which had been up for several days (and thus too late to edit) before I realized I'd already named her in a much earlier post and the names didn't match!

Had to go through the entire story and compile a Dramatis Personae after that.

.....Alan.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

November 30, 2002- Vita brevis

John stooped and picked up a handful of damp earth from the pile under the holly tree and cast it into the grave as he began to read from an old and worn leather bound book -

"Unto Almighty God we commend the soul of Robert Joshua Horne and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and sea shall give up their dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious body; accordingly to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."

Ed, Luke, Miguel, and Mike began to shovel the earthen pile into the grave as John finished the reading.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen."

He gently closed the book, then handed it to Ann. Taking up a spade of his own he began to assist the others in filling the grave so that it was soon filled with a softly rising mound. The labor finished the five men shouldered their tools and accompanied the small gathering back to the house and went inside to the welcome warmth.

Ed poured a cup of coffee for John and said, "That was a mighty nice service you did there John. Sounded like you'd done it before. Robert decide he didn't want a regular preacher for his burying?"

John took a sip of the warming fluid, "Actually, he never mentioned it at all. You know he never darkened the door of a church. Never seemed to have much use for them, leastwise not for the last thirty years or so. It just struck me that he'd find it hypocritical to have a preacher come out for his burial so I decided to do it myself. He'll make it through the Pearly Gates on his own merits or not, I can't see how someone who's been ordained will affect that."

"Well, you're probably right about that. Never did see him go to church in all the years I've known him." Ed opened the door of the stove and stoked the fire. "I think he'd have been pleased with you reading and all. You did a pretty fair job of building his coffin for not having any longer than you did."

"I gave him what he always said he wanted. A simple pine box. I did get it more or less coffin shaped and not looking too much like a packing crate. I think he'd be pleased."

Ellie stuck her head through the kitchen door and said, "Y'all come on. Lunch is ready."

The gathering filed through the kitchen door to share the communal meal the mourners had brought. There were so many they split up between the kitchen, dining room, and living room. John sat in the dining room with Ann, Luke, Lisa, Ed and Ellie. In an attempt to keep the conversation light for the meal talk turned to day-to-day subjects like the weather and farming.

"John, how's that crown vetch coming you seeded into your ryegrass?" Ed asked as he passed the salt.

"Well, it's growing but not very much. Don't know if it's because of the weather or not." John replied.

With a soft chuckle Ed continued, "About what I figured. Ever so often them extension boys want to try something new to see if it'll do any better than the last time. Reckon they figure we're going to get so much cold weather maybe some of those northern forages will do better here. Mitchell ever tell you he talked me into planting that vetch once back in the sixties? He'd just started there at the college and I'd just inherited the ranch from my dad and we thought we were gonna conquer the world. Lost my butt on that one and I learned to listen to the seasoned ranchers around here as well as the extension service and make up my own mind. Now next year you over seed your pastures in ryegrass and white clover and you'll do much better."

Ann said, "Well, if no one ever experiments how are we to make new discoveries?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say never try anything new" Ed qualified, "Ever once in a while I still let Mitchell talk me into one thing or another. Sometimes it even pays off too. The ones that don't I just write off to the cost of an education. Old Mitchell knows what he's about most times, he's done me a world of good in improving my haying over the years. He's the one that talked me into putting in that new strain of Bermuda grass along about seven or eight years ago. Some of the best damn hay I've ever seen."

Ellie grinned, "It's not all one sided. Ed talked Mitchell into trying his hand at bull riding the year after he came to the college from North Carolina. He stayed on that bull for a good five seconds then it about threw him to the moon! Broke his leg when he hit the ground and the bull stepped on him. It must have been ten years before he let Ed forget about that one, I can tell you."

Everyone at the table grinned at this. Luke asked, "John, you ever tried bull riding?"

He glanced at his wife first before John replied, "Me? No. Never have. Thought I'd give it a go once but Ann said flat out she'd divorce me on the spot if I climbed into that chute. Seemed a steep price to pay for eight seconds of glory so I let it go. Besides, who'd take care of me after the bull stomped all over me?"

"Ha! Bull riding is a cowboy intelligence test" Ellie said jeeringly. "If you're fool enough to get on one you're an idiot. If you don't you might have sense enough to pour water out of a boot."

With a hangdog grin Ed said, "Well, I don't know about that. I've rode my share as a young man and I made out alright."

The three women looked at each other and speaking together quoted one of Ellie's favorite aphorisms, "Behind every successful man stands a woman with her foot up his butt!"

-- -- -- -- --

"Dear, is there anything I can get you?" Ann asked John who was sitting in a chair next to the wood stove listening to the shortwave.

"No, darling. I reckon I'm OK. Go on to bed if you like." He replied.

She bent over to kiss him good night and said as she walked towards their bedroom door, "Well then, don't stay up all night listening to that radio. You've got work to do tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night" he said as she closed the door. He took another deep sip of the bourbon and water in his glass, feeling melancholy and hoping for a news broadcast to distract him. Tuning into Radio Moscow he caught the last few minutes of their English language North American broadcast.

<i>…Mexican officials restated today that further talks on the Mexican-American petroleum agreement would be dependent on the beginning of talks concerning the status of the Aztlan territory in the U.S. Southwest. President Bush has thus far declined to discuss the issue and declared that further delays in completing the agreement would jeopardize the U.S.'s participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement as it applies to United States and Mexico.

Widespread fighting has broken out again between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian military in the capitol city of Bogota with FARC forces now thought to control nearly one third of the city. A spokesperson for the organization in Caracas, Venezuela stated today that the left leaning revolutionaries are expected to take the city within the week and that the present Colombian government will be forced to capitulate within the month. Colombian President Andres Pastrana blasted the statement as being beneath contempt and that the Colombian army will soon begin a counterattack to oust the FARC rebels from the city. The Colombian president also decried the continued withdrawal of American troops and equipment from the beleaguered nation stating that without their help it would be impossible for Colombia to stem the tide of illicit drugs flowing from that nation into the U.S.

This is the English Language Service of Radio Moscow. We will bring you more news at 0400 Greenwich Mean Time.</i>

John took another long pull from his drink, studied his frequency list and punched in a new frequency set into the radio. A moment's static then a cultured British voice came from the speaker -

<i>In Russia today there has been continued fighting in several Northern provinces today between central government troops and provincial forces as struggles over food and fuels shipments continue in the face of an increasingly bitter Russian winter. Repeated rumors of war crimes and massacres have made their way out of the snow bound nation but none as of yet have been verifiable. The Kremlin has declined to comment. Attempts at contacting any northern provincial governor's offices have proved unsuccessful so correspondents have been dispatched to the scene to report in person. We will bring you word as soon as they have arrived.

European Union officials report that with internal European relief efforts becoming better organized it will be possible to increase the amount of aid being sent to the disaster stricken United States as soon as President Bush agrees to allow EU officials administrative authority over the distribution of the aid. The Denver White House has not yet commented on this latest request.

Repeated rumors have reached the BBC of the death of Chinese President Jiang Zemin but as of yet we have not been able to obtain confirmation. Articles in the Hong Kong, Macao, and Shanghai papers have made allusion to his death but they have thus far not published news confirming the premier is indeed dead.</i>

John took another pull from his glass. His eyes felt grainy so he closed them and laid his head back to rest them for a while before trying another station. Presently he began to softly snore.

<i>In the Middle East Iranian President Mohammad Khatami stated today that further machinations on the part of the Russian Federation to squeeze Iran out of the rich Caspian seafloor oil fields will only drive his nation further into the arms of the more hard line elements of the OPEC nations. The Iranian president did not clarify his remarks when he was speaking before the Iranian state assembly.

In Breaking News Al Jazeera television in Qatar has just now broadcast that it has received confirmation that President Sadam Hussein of Iraq has indeed been assassinated. There is no word as yet who is responsible. Turkey has placed its troops on full alert as has Iran, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. has ordered two carrier battle groups to stations along the Iraqui coast. Further news as it becomes available.

This is the BBC World Service. Further news at the top of the hour.</i>

 

[Wild-T2]

Hmmmmmmm. This could get very interesting!

Great job Alan

 

[Albuburbia]

"Hmmmmmmm. This could get very interesting! "

Or ...

is the assasination of SH your way of saying "and they lived happily ever after" ???

 

[A.T.Hagan]

"Hmmmmmmm. This could get very interesting! "

Or ...

is the assasination of SH your way of saying "and they lived happily ever after" ???

Much will be revealed in the coming days.

Not that I'm going to say what, or how, or when.

BTW, I had a reader write to me to let me know the BBC no longer has a North American Service which I believe is true.

The do, however, still broadcast to the Caribbean and with a decent antenna you can receive it across much of Florida.

.....Alan.

 

[Halffast]

Mr. Hagan,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your gift with us. I look forward each day to seeing what is going to happen. It just gets better and better. Thanks a million.

David

 

[A.T.Hagan]

December 15, 2002 - Certamen eternus

CRACK! The rifle blast rolled like thunder across the ice covered field. One hundred fifty yards away the middle sized of the three dogs flipped sideways, kicked once and was still. "Damn!" John swore. The largest of the three dogs he'd been aiming at had lunged forward at a doe goat the instant his finger broke the trigger. Working the bolt as fast as he could without taking the gun from his shoulder he lined up the cross hairs on the fleeing dog, leading it a bit - the canine appeared to be a mixed breed of some sort with a lot of mastiff in it - and squoze off another shot. CRACK! The dog's backend slew around so quickly that he was nearly facing back the way it had come. The dog began screaming and snapping at its hindquarters.

John quickly worked the bolt again scanning the pasture and its tree line for the third dog but it was no where to be seen. "Well, it'd be a bit much to expect to down all three of them with just one rifle" he muttered to himself. He sighted in again on the writhing wounded dog, the rifle spoke once more and the dog flipped sideways and was still. "Hate to waste a shell on it but I'm damn sure not going to get within arm's reach of a dog that sized to try and cut its throat!" Working the bolt to chamber another shell he stood up from the fence post he'd been leaning on to steady his rifle and began to walk across the frozen, crunchy grass. "I ever get a chance I'm going to get some real livestock guardian dogs. These damned old yard dogs are about useless. I oughta just shoot the lot of them and save the feed! Well, maybe not Jake, Mel would holler blue blazes about her dog but Andy and Bad would be no loss."

The radio on his hip crackled and Ann's voice came out. "John, we just got a call about your gunfire. Is everything alright?"

He took the radio off and spoke into it, "Yeah, everything's alright - NOW. Just killed two damned old feral dogs and lost a third. One of them is about the biggest damned dog I've ever seen. If that's Ed, Mike, or Rick calling let them know that one got away and to be looking for it. It was maybe shepherd sized, large enough to be a problem for goats, calves or young cows. Looks like they managed to kill one of our young billies and looks from here like we've got at least a doe wounded, maybe more. I'll know better when I can get a bucket of feed and call them all in. Looks like cabrito for supper tomorrow, make up some of that mustard sauce you did that time. I liked it right well. Over."

"I copy. Over" Ann replied.

He crossed the pasture and examined the scene. As he'd seen from a distance they had killed on of the young male goats - fortunately not the one he most wanted to breed next year - and one of his young does had a chewed up left rear haunch but he thought it might heal with some proper attention. He examined the two dogs. One was a blackish colored mixed breed, looked like a lot of Labrador in it with maybe some bull terrier. The other dog was enormous and would have been bigger still were it not so gaunt. "Reckon that explains why you lasted so long" John said to the cooling carcass. "You're big enough to whip most any challenger and big enough to take down cows by yourself. Still looks like you about starved to death though which is probably why you jumped my goats in broad daylight. Glad to have put paid to you!"

Crossing the pasture again he filled a feed bucket with grain in the barn and set it in the back of his truck then opened the pasture gate and drove through. The goat flock ran to meet him when he got out again and shook the bucket. He scattered grain on the ground at his feet and when they surged forward he reached out and grabbed the wounded doe. With a quick motion he bound her feet and laid her in the back, then picked up the dead billy and the two dogs and put them in the back as well. Driving back through the gate he stopped outside the barn and picked up the radio. "Ann, ask one of the girls to come out and help me with this goat. She's going to need doctoring." The clouds were darkening and settling lower so that once the grain had been consumed the rest of the flock began drifting towards the barn.

A moment later Brittany came out and walked across the yard towards him, "Mel and Heather are making a cake. I said I'd come and help."

The man reached into the back of the truck and picked up the doe. "OK," he said, "Blood going to bother you any?"

"No sir" the girl replied.

"Good. Let's get her inside where it's warmer. She's acting a little shocky." They went into the barn over to the milking area. "This'll do. The stand's clean and we've got water. Get that pan over there and run to the house and fill it about a quarter full of hot water then come back here."

"OK" Brittany said picking up the pan and disappearing out the door.

John began to gently probe the wound. Speaking to the goat that watched him with big eyes he said, "Not as bad as it first appeared. We'll clean this out, pack it with some antibiotic goo and put in a few stitches and you should be OK in a few days." Waiting on Brittany to return he went into the feed room to get the rest of his necessary gear. By the time he'd gathered it all she'd returned with a pan of steaming water and set it down on the stand.

He looked into the pan and said, "That's just what I wanted. He picked it up and ran some cold water from the tap into it until it was just cool enough that he could put his hands in it then ran in some disinfectant soap. He dipped in a soft bristled brush and began to gently scrub the wounded area. The goat bahhed loudly. Quickly finishing he rinsed the wound with some cool water and said, "The blood made it look worse than it is. Britt, open that tube of goo there and squeeze a gob out on my finger here."

The girl picked up the vet med, took off the cap and squeezed a large blob out onto his finger. He gently rubbed it into the wound and the goat subsided somewhat in her struggling. He picked up a small curved needle already threaded with some plain cotton thread and told Brittany to squeeze some more ointment onto his finger. When she'd done what he'd requested he ran the needle and thread through the ointment until it was all coated. He began suturing up the wounds, not very neatly but closing the gaps well enough for them to heal. "This is really Lisa's or Luke's department" he said to the wide eyed girl, "but they're both in town until tonight. I'm too big fingered and clumsy to do neat work but it should get the job done nonetheless. How about while I'm finishing here go over to the last stall there on the left and put down some clean fresh bedding, then fill a water bucket and hang it inside. We'll keep young Miss Goat inside for a few days until we can see if the wound's going to heal proper or not. If it goes and gets infected then we'll have to see if Lisa or Luke can physic a goat as a well as they can a person."

Brittany went off to find a pitchfork and prepare the stall as John tied off his last suture then began to coat the wound outside with ointment. With that finished he cleaned up in the pan of soapy water then poured it down the sink and cleaned up the general area. The girl was hanging the water bucket as he finished so he took the goat over and untied her then shut the stall gate. She went to the water bucket and began to drink. "Good" he said. "Must not be too shocky then." He filled the hayrack and said to Brittany, "I reckon that's it then. I'll take care of the rest in the truck."

He stood for a moment examining the two dog carcasses before deciding that both of them were too poor and gaunt looking to be worth skinning for their pelts. Without pigs to feed them to he didn't have much use for the dogs so he decided to bury them in the orchard so they could provide nutrients for the trees come Spring. Taking out his pocket knife he began to skin the young goat and soon had it out of its skin. It was damaged to the point there didn't seem to be much point in trying to tan it so he threw it onto the dogs along with the guts they wouldn't be eating. He put the rest back into the ribcage of the skinned carcass and took it up to the back porch where he kicked the back door with his boot. Heather came to the door and he said, "Get a big pan out of the pantry for me to put this into. Ann will know what to do with it. I've got to dispose of the waste and clean up."

After a moment the girl came back with the pan and he put the meat into it and she took it off into the kitchen. He came inside long enough to wash his hands with warm water and dry them, then went back outside to the truck. Gas was still in short supply so he decided against driving to the orchard so he fetched a wheel barrow from the workshop and loaded up the carcasses, skin and guts along with a spade and crossed the yard. He buried one dog under a pear tree, the second under an apple, and the goat remains under a young chestnut. Crossing the yard again he screwed a hose onto a tap and washed the wheelbarrow out then up-ended it under the eaves to dry. He his hands were going numb from the cold and wet so he decided to go into the house.

As he passed through the kitchen he encountered the delicious smell of the cake the girls were baking for supper that night and shook his head. Ever since the cold weather had set in they had been baking up a storm, so much so that Ann and Lisa had to carefully regulate the amount of supplies they used lest they run short. Food was regularly coming into the markets now, Miguel had even managed to reopen his store, so it wasn't like you couldn't restock what was used but it was very expensive and getting more so by the week. There was much speculation that the dollar revaluation scheduled to happen next month would relieve the spiraling inflation but John wasn't so sure. In any case they were being very careful with their food stores until matters settled down and they could replenish what they used.

He passed through the dining room where Ann was going over Brittany's algebra work and explaining how to work the word problem she'd given her. He was quite happy to leave them to it and grateful he didn't have to try to explain it himself. "Never was any good at them word problems. Kids nowadays run circles around me with a pencil and paper."

In the living room he opened the door on the stove and stoked the fire then stood for a few moments warming his hands. To no one in particular he said, "This cold is really starting to get to my hands. I wonder if I'm starting to get a little arthritis or rheumatism?"

When he had sufficiently warmed himself he put his hat on again and headed back out the door. On the back porch he saw scattered fat flakes of wet snow falling. "Well, ain't that just great." He stepped off and crunched across the yard towards the splitting block where he'd been producing stove wood before he'd heard the commotion with the goats. He picked up his splitting maul then looked towards the sky, a fat snowflake landing on his face. "Was a time that snow in Florida was a big deal. Now it's just another pain in the ass. Well, it's not a snow storm at least." With a grunt he swung the maul and split a round of oak. Swing after swing the pile of split wood gradually began to grow. Growing tired of the movement he put the maul down and piled the billets into the wheelbarrow to take them into the small woodshed to be stacked. When he returned he found the splitting stump in a coat of white. Looking around he noticed snow was beginning to stick and deepen everywhere and that he could now barely see the far pasture fence. "Damned if we aren't going to get the heaviest snowfall I've ever seen in Florida."

His shoulder muscles protested when he picked up the maul again so he stood for a moment with the tool on his shoulder looking out across the pasture, garden, and orchard. The snow steadily increased and he watched it fascinated. A breeze began to slant the falling snow slightly but also sending penetrating fingers of cold searching his collar, sleeves, and pants cuffs. "Sure doesn't take much wind to make itself felt when it's twenty five degrees outside" he muttered to himself. "Clouds getting so thick that it's going to be too dark to see soon. Think I'll do the sensible thing and call it a day." He laid the maul in the barrow and picked up the sledge hammer and wedges to go with it and took it all into the shop. He stopped by the barn on his way out to make sure that all was in order. One of the girls would be out after supper to milk. On his way to the house the snow seemed to be falling even heavier and was not seriously beginning to pile up on any surface not steep enough to shed it. "If it were drier the wind would probably be pushing it around more. Temperature drops anymore it won't be wet for long." A gust of wind seemed to thrust itself down his neck. He stepped onto the porch and eyed the thermometer which read twenty two degrees. Shaking his head he opened the door and stepped into the fragrant warmth of the kitchen.

Heather looked up from the cake she was icing and said, "Hi Uncle John! Supper won't be ready for another half-hour or so. There's hot chocolate on the stove if you'd like some."

With a grin he replied, "I do believe I will." He poured himself a cup and went through the dining room where Ann, Brittany, and Melinda were working on their Spanish. "Hola Senora Horne" he said, "und los ninos!" His wife wrinkled her nose at him and said, "Sounds like you need to be cracking a book yourself! 'Und los ninos!' indeed!" He laughed as he passed into the living room

Glancing at the mantle clock he picked up his frequency list for his short wave receiver to decide what he might have a chance of catching. Not really being dark yet he thought Voice of America might be the best choice. Carefully punching in the frequency number he caught the end of an interview seemingly concerned with grain production in Central Europe but it ended before he could determine who was being interviewed or where. The news came on next.

<i>At the NATO meeting in Brussels today tensions remained high as Turkey adamantly refused to recall its troops from Northern Iraq. Satellite and reconnaissance drones reveal Turkish army troops in active and open conflict with forces of the two major Kurdish groups that control the northern Iraqui "No Fly" zone and disorganized units of the Iraqui army. Turkish military spokesmen have repeatedly stated that Turkey will not allow a Kurdish Free State to form in the chaos that Iraq now represents and will use whatever military force it must in order to carry this out. U.S. and NATO officials are negotiating with Turkey at this moment to find a workable solution. Units of the Syrian army are also alleged to have crossed the Iraqui frontier but no confirming evidence is available at this time. Both Turkey and Syria have had long standing concerns about the formation of a Kurdish state.

Also in Iraq units of the U.S. Army and Marines are continuing make good northern progress along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in their drive to reach Baghdad and link up with the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions now occupying that city. An Nasinyah, Al Basrah, and Umm Qasr have fallen in the last week and the cities of Al Kut and An Najaf are expected to fall within the next forty eight hours. Representatives of the Russian Federation strongly protested this use of American military forces to intervene in what they contend is strictly an internal Iraqui matter. Meanwhile, American military intelligence continues to report a build up of military forces and supplies along the Iranian border. President Bush has been in telephone contact with Iranian President Khatami allegedly warning him not to allow Iranian forces to cross the border.

In Latin America the nation of Colombia seems to be sinking deeper into civil war as FARC forces are now said to be in control of half of the capitol city of Bogota after the failure of the second counteroffensive by the Colombian army to dislodge the rebels from their control of the business areas of the city.

In the U.S. fresh reports of raids along the southwestern border…</i> "Uncle John! Supper's ready!" Heather's voice cut through the radio. <i> …killed, twenty two wounded. Hours later three Mexican nationals were lynched in the town of…</i> Click. John turned off the radio and stood up. "Would it hurt them to broadcast some GOOD news once in a while? These people could drive Pollyanna into despair!"

Stepping through the door he spied an elegant chocolate frosted cake on the counter then said, "Well, at least there's something to live for."

 

[Fuchi]

As always, this story is fantastic! Keep up the good work.

 

[Ironskull]

BUMP Alan, it keeps getting better.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

I haven't forgotten you guys.

Between trying to get my front fence line cleared so I can run new fence and having to wait to use the computer when my wife doesn't need it for her schoolwork it's been hard to get keyboard time this weekend. I've got another one about two thirds finished but I'm stuck on something that I'll have to think about.

More coming.

.....Alan.

 

[Peanut]

ALAN!!! You big tease!!! I saw you had the last post and came "running" in here to see your latest chapter. I tripped on the mouse and everything.

Ok...trying to be patient....

Great story btw

 

[jazzy]

just to say thanks...........



i joined this forum today mainly to be able to personally say thanks to Alan for the incredible work. i am truely hooked. i agree with other posters that this is publishable---in fact its a dang sight better than alot of stuff i have read over the years.

hope you do submit it and make a ton of money before the real thing happens!

best wishes to you, and to all the members here.


jazzy

 

[A.T.Hagan]

December 14, 2002 – Impending

“Thank you Eddy” John said, “I’ll be by to get them and part of the feed about dark on Christmas Eve.”

The man in the overalls and heavy brown coat shook his head and grinned, “It’s the kind of thing my dad would have done when I was their age but you sure your girls will go for this? Seems like today’s kids would rather flip burgers at the mall or something than do any sort of real work on the land.”

John shrugged. “Don’t know for sure but we’ve always raised a couple of feeder pigs every year and Mel helped me a lot with them this year so it’s not like it’ll be a completely new experience for her. The girls do the milking every day and Mel’s been the one doing most of the work with feeding the hens and egg gathering for the last couple of years so they should do OK handling pigs with me to advise them. Come spring when your birds start to lay I’ll pick up the geese. Never fooled with them before but if the girls raise them from day old goslings we shouldn’t have too much trouble. If locally produced food becomes as popular as I think it will they’ll likely sell all they can raise and geese will feed themselves out of a pasture more than anything but a cow. If it doesn’t work out we’re not out much and we can simply eat them ourselves. If it does work they’ll make a little money and it’ll be something they’ll have done for themselves. Don’t think you can give a better lesson in self-reliance and work ethic than that.”

“Well, I wish you luck then! Sure wish I could get my grandkids interested. Not that I expect them to take up farming but they don’t seem to want to do anything productive, just sit on their butts all day in front of the TV.” The old man and John shook hands then John went on down the row at the market looking for other possibilities. Except for the inspiration of giving the girls their own stock to raise and sell he hated Christmas shopping. Didn’t like Christmas in general for that matter. As he did every year when he shopped for gifts he wondered why he held such antipathy for a day that most others truly looked forward to and as always failed to come up with an answer that really satisfied him. Whatever the reason he just didn’t like it and that was that. If it weren’t for the girls he’d not bother with it at all but he’d fought and lost that battle with Ann long ago and had no taste for hashing it out again. “Humbug!” he said passionately as he strolled along looking at the tables. Several people nearby smiled when they heard him.

After another hour had passed he’d found several more gifts that he thought would serve and that he wouldn’t feel too bad about giving. He was trying to find as much as he could at the Archer market because one could trade here rather than spending cash money. Ann’s salary only went so far and with the dollar devaluation coming next month they were being as frugal as they could with what they had because no one was sure what the future would hold. Prices in paper dollars were steep but many folks were willing to make reasonable trades if you had any kind of decent trade goods. He’d worked out the deal for the dozen goslings, two young sows, the services of one of Eddy’s boars, and two feeder pigs for six bricks of Winchester .22 cartridges and three boxes of #6 shotgun shells for a twelve gauge. Ammunition was one commodity that simply had not come back onto the civilian market and no one knew when, if ever, it would reappear so it was extremely valuable as a trade item in its own right. It was also an item that John was slow to offer for that very reason, no matter that he had a healthy supply remaining.

The dense gray cloud cover had been steadily lowering all morning and was now beginning to drop a cold misty rain on the Earth below. The chilly precipitation caused him to feel even more morose than he’d been before so he decided that he’d exhausted the possibilities of the market and went to his truck. He felt guilty looking at it, he really should have hooked up one of the bike trailers and ridden it in but more than a few miles of pedaling made his knee ache for hours. He didn’t know how much of a load he might end up with to carry home so he’d decided against riding Cricket into town which left the truck. It only cost a little over a half-gallon of gas in and back but come January he’d be losing his fuel ration paid by the sheriff’s department as the sector deputy program went into mothballs. He could apply for his own ration card but even with one gas was $7.00 a gallon on the open market – when it was available – and rising. He got in, shut the door and started the motor, “Well,” he grumbled out loud to himself, “it’s Christmas. It’s not like I hardly go anywhere anymore. Ann, Lisa, or Luke bring me out most anything I need from town. Going into Archer is beginning to feel like I’m really stepping out!”

He turned the truck around and headed down U.S. 27 towards the county road. As he approached the intersection he saw the lights in Miguel’s store looked warm and inviting. “It must be the cold and gray that’s getting to me. Probably should have let Ann put in those special bulbs last year like she wanted.” Without really thinking about it he pulled into the small parking lot, got out and walked up to the door. He stepped through into the scented warmth of the interior smelling of coffee and Carolita Alvarez’s cooking. She was spooning food onto a plate for Miguel’s lunch. The shopkeeper looked up and said, “Buenos tardes John! Sit down and have lunch with us. There’s plenty.”

John looked at his watch and decided he would, he’d told Ann he might be late getting back from the market so they wouldn’t be waiting lunch on him. “Thanks Miguel! Reckon I will. You were very fortunate that you married such an excellent cook. Is that Carolita’s chicken and yellow rice?”

The woman smiled and said, “Yes, it is. I remember how much you like it. Come and set with us. We haven’t seen much of you lately. Are you ready this front coming in? The weatherman says it will turn to freezing sleet by this afternoon.”

John sighed. “Yeah, we’re as ready as we can be I suppose. The stock will come in on their own and I’ve got a big stack of wood on the porch. I expect we’ll probably lose power again like we’ve done the last two times. I hate ice storms! I’d rather have ten degrees and snow up to my behind than an ice storm at thirty.”

Everyone sat to the table and Miguel gave the grace. John spooned food onto his plate as Carolita poured his coffee. Continuing with the conversation he said, “No, haven’t been into town much. Too much work to do around the place. Luke’s only home on the weekends and not always then so all the heavy work falls to me alone since dad died. Besides, there’s not much reason to go anywhere.”

Miguel sipped his coffee and said, “Maybe you should have one of Mike’s boys come out and help you. Jake and Stevie are big, they could do a lot of work.”

“Yes, they could.” John agreed. “But Jake’s gone off and joined the Recovery. Think he was feeling pretty confined at home having turned eighteen back in April and his chances of going to college washed away with the tsunami. Probably do him some good. He was getting a little wild there for a time. Stevie would probably be happy to help but…ahh, it would be impolitic right now to have him over. In another couple of weeks I’ll do it anyway because I’m going to need the help felling trees.”

Carolita looked puzzled and asked, “Why would it be impolitic for Steve to come to your place? He’s a good boy isn’t he?”

John would really rather have not answered that question but the woman looked expectantly at him so he finally said, “Well, he’s pretty sweet on Heather and just now I think Lisa would prefer he not see too much of her.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “I see.” she said and spoke no more about it.

Casting about for something other than the problems of the kids in his household to talk about he asked Miguel, “How business been? You getting regular shipments again?”

The other man shrugged, “It’s been better but we’re getting by. One cannot buy through the official channels without the necessary permits and the prices are steep but what choice does anyone have? I buy what I must and mark my prices up accordingly. The fluff products like prepared foods are scarce and very expensive if you can get them but the staples everyone must have to survive can be bought. Only fuel, dairy products, eggs and meats are rationed but I suppose you wouldn’t have to concern yourself much about those since you produce them yourself except for fuel. In fact, if ever you have a surplus I’d be happy to buy it from you direct.”

John grinned, “Well, next year we’ll have surplus eggs at least. I don’t usually put a chick order in until right about now for a January delivery but with things being the way they are and all we cleaned up our old incubator a couple of weeks ago and fired her up. I expect our first batch of eggs to hatch starting next week sometime if we did it right. We’re going to hatch out at least a couple of hundred over the next two months, maybe more if we can find folks that want to buy chicks. Come the end of April, beginning of May we’ll have cockerels for the table and not long after that the first pullet eggs will start coming in. Of course, these aren’t meat breeds so they’re not going to be the fat birds like Tyson sells.”

Carolita smiled, “The bird from which I made this arroz con pollo was one of our old hens. I don’t think you’ll have any problems selling those young roosters even if they’re not as meaty as what the Colonel offers. I think it’s going to be a while before we see rationing end so people will not be as discriminating as once they were. I’ll buy some of them myself. A good free range bird makes the best tasting chicken. We have always raised our own birds because they taste so much better. In fact, I’ll buy some of your chicks. Our hatchery that we buy from is in Texas so who knows if we’ll be able to order from them again?”

Her husband asked, “You going to expand your flock in a big way? That takes a lot of time doesn’t it?”

John shrugged, “Well, time is about all I have now. The university is steadily calling people back to work as they get the campus rehabilitated for the new semester starting next year but they haven’t called me. From talking to Ann, Luke and a couple of others the Federal government is preoccupied with other things than funding research the way they did before the Impact so there’s not much call for grant writers now. Personally, between you and me, I think a lot of that’s going to go back to the states. You’ve heard how resistant Tallahassee has been to being told what to do by Denver. We just may be starting to see a resurgence of state’s rights and authority. Did you hear that Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont told the National Recovery Command to pack their bags and get out? They’re making them do it too. National media isn’t giving it much play but it’s on the shortwave. Folks up there are really angry about the high handed way General Steiner treated them. A good many of the Western states have told the Bureau of Land Management to take a hike too and are taking over administrative authority of everything but National Parks, Monuments, and Forests. I expect the Supreme Court is going to have its hands full for a long time to come sorting it all out”

The other man smiled, “Well, it would not break my heart to see our Dear Uncle Sam have his sails trimmed a bit but if the States force the Federal Government back into some nineteenth century model it will mean a very great change in the way the nation conducts its affairs. Many people will be out of work..”

Swallowing a mouthful of rice and washing it down with some coffee John replied, “Reckon we’ve already seen that happen. In fact, an asteroid impact, nuclear war, or some other such major catastrophe would be the only thing I can think of that would cause it to come about. The Federal government will still be in charge of the military, at least the non-National Guard parts of it, international affairs, and the sorts of things that a national government should be responsible for but for many of the states I think they’re beginning to realize the Impact is the best chance they’ve got, maybe ever will have, to lighten the yoke of Federal authority. You know that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California took control of their National Guard units back from the President after he tried to Federalize them? They’re being deployed along the Mexican border instead of going overseas. Can’t imagine the contention that must have caused. Likely couldn’t have done it if the Guard officers and troops themselves didn’t support what their states were trying to do. The Governor of New Mexico said flat out that if the Mexican governor didn’t do something about keeping those Villaists on their side of the border he’d send his troops across the border himself to take the fight to them. In fact, the four governors of the border states are supposedly signing an agreement about just that, though it’s not certain if California will play or not. I think those raids have been a lot worse than the media has been letting on.”

Miguel shrugged, “To be expected I suppose. There are so many Americans out of work now that the jobs the illegals once held are being sought after by citizens leaving little or nothing for them. If they get desperate enough and think the government can’t protect the border some will decide to come and take what they can no longer work to get. Naturally, the residents of those states are going to resist.”

Carolita asked, “I’ve been too busy these last couple of days to keep up with the news. You said the government wanted to send National Guard troops overseas? Where to?”

John shrugged, “I’m not sure, but I suspect they’d go to the Middle East. Iraq has come apart at the seams with Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran all claiming pieces for themselves and the President seems determined not to let them have it all. I think the Saudi Arabia/United Arab Emirates thing has him spooked since that Al Saladin fella seems to be really gaining a lot of popular support among the poorer classes and the fundamentalists. If they get away with grabbing a big part of Iraq that will make his party that much stronger. Probably got a lot of the moderate Gulf states spooked too. Sure seems like a bad time to be sending our National Guard troops overseas though when we’re still not out of the woods here.”

Miguel looked sour. “We should let them fight it out among themselves. Does it matter to us who is in charge there? They have to sell their oil regardless and there’s too many other competing oil nations for them to raise their prices too much.”

“It would seem the President does not agree. I find it hard to believe he’s not taking the Mexican border situation more seriously.” John ate his last bite of rice. “He threatened to send troops across the border but since has done seemingly nothing. Can’t say I blame the border state governors for forcing the issue about their Guard troops.”

He was about to say something else when the CB base station behind the cash register counter suddenly split the air. “Base to John Horne! Base to John Horne! Oh God, John come in! Come in!” Anne’s voice sounded nearly hysterical. John’s chair fell over as he leapt from the table and leaned over the counter to snatch the microphone from the counter.

“John to base! I’m here! What’s wrong? Over.” He spoke as evenly as he could, alarmed by the hysteria in his wife’s voice.

“Oh thank God!” She came back. “John, you have to come back right now! Brittany just came home alone. She says that Melinda has been kidnapped!”

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Thanks for the kind words Jazzy!

You're the third or fourth new member that I've noticed has made their first ever post in this story thread. Good to see some of our lurkers joining the throng so to speak.

OK Peanut, here's your story post! Now you won't be all hot and bothered for nothing!

I made myself finish the story post for today before turning in. I'm beat!

.....Alan.

 

[Oregon Dave]

Thanks

Well, let me make it number 5.
A.T. you're one of the main reasons the I joined this outfit, mainly just to say thank's for all the pleasure that you've given me. I read a lot and your work is some of the best I've come across. Keep up the good work. I'm hanging on every word.
Best Regards
Dave

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

Alan,
This story is one of the main reasons I just joined also. It really helps to put a face on one or more of the possible scenarios. From what I've seen so far this is a great bunch of people.
Whats the title?????
Thank you!
WW

 

[Glandor]

AT-
Your story is also the main reason I joined up, I mean heck I have so many forums I check everyday, but I find that your story allways seems to be the first on my list

Woulda checked in sooner, but I had to wait for them to re-open registration.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Morton298]

I am a new member as well. I have lurked for a while and had been following this riveting story. The bandwagon looked like it was starting to get full, so I decided to jump on before it was too late.

You should consider taking a stab at publishing this story. It doesn't hurt to try.

Morton

 

[gardenlily]

This story is just fantastic!!!! It too was the reason I joined--just to say thank you for sharing your talent with us!

 

[Just a thought]

bttt

 

[Bobga]

Alan! You have such a way of keeping me on the edge of my seat. Great work.

Bobga

 

[Just a thought]

bttt

 

[Deena in GA]

Alan, if you didn't keep leaving us hanging we wouldn't bug you so much! Thanks for continuing the story. It's great! We'll try to wait patiently.......sigh.........

 

[Tim J]

Wow Alan! 20222 views! You've sure got people looking and waiting. Keep it up.

 

[Glandor]

BTTT So the man can find it easily *cough hint hint cough*

 

[A.T.Hagan]

It's COMING! It's COMING!

Haven't been able to get any keyboard time for the last couple of days. Had to write most of this on paper then transcribe it in the off moments.

You'll get the next piece...

...eventually.

.....Alan.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

December 14, 2002 - Realization

A cold hand gripped John's heart as the import of his wife's words over the radio came to him. He took a deep breath to steady his voice then spoke into the microphone again. "Ann, calm down. What exactly has happened with Melissa and Brittany? Take it from the beginning and give me the details. Over."

For a moment there was dead air then his wife came back. "I'm okay. This is what happened - Melinda and Brittany had gone over to play with Judy Starling, Rick's niece this morning. I told them to be back by lunch since that front is moving in. A few minutes ago Brittany came running back to the house by herself in a hysterical state. She said three men had stopped them at the intersection of the county road and the lane leading up to Rick's. She said at first they asked for directions on how to get to the church until they got within ten feet or so when they jumped and grabbed the girls. They took the shotgun and Melinda's pistol then asked if she was Melinda Horne. When she said she was the older of the three men then looked at Brittany and asked, 'are you that orphan girl John Horne took in?' Britt said she was and said the man smiled at that. He told her to run home and tell you that he had your daughter and you'd be hearing from him directly. John, what are we going to do?!!"

The man paused to consider for a moment then spoke into the microphone again. "Ann, put Brittany on the radio. I want to talk to her. While I'm doing that you call the Sheriff's Office right now and apprise them of what has happened then start calling Ed, Rick, Jimmy, and Mike. Tell them I'll meet them at the house in a few minutes. Do you copy that? Over."

With a plan of action coming together Ann's voice became steadier. "I copy. Here's Brittany. We're phoning now. Over."

Another voice came from the speaker. "I'm here Uncle John. I'm so sorry! They took us by surprise! I'm so sorry!"

John spoke firmly into the mike, "Britt, steady yourself and calm down. I need you to tell me exactly what you saw and what you heard. What did these men look like? When you left them did they get into a vehicle of some kind? Did you see them go down the road in a particular direction? Over."

Over the air he could hear the frightened girl take a deep breath then she spoke. "They were three white men, Uncle John. Uhhmmm, the one who spoke to me was older than the other two, about your age I think. He was wearing an army cap but you could tell his hair was cut really short, kinda like the way you see Marines wear it, brown but with some gray on the sides. He had a lot of tattoos on his arms that I didn't recognize except for one that looked like one of those German symbols - I can't remember what they're called but you see them on the flags on Hogan's Heroes. He wasn't wearing a coat, but just a short sleeved blue workshirt like you wear sometime. He had on blue jeans, pretty faded. He wore brown boots. I couldn't take my eyes off him when he spoke so I remember him. I didn't look at the others too well but they were both younger, one maybe about Jakie's age, the other one was older but not a lot older. One had a camouflage Army jacket on, the other one had a brown coat of some sort. I don't think I remember anything else about them. Oh, the youngest one was wearing a black cowboy hat."

He nodded his head, trying to commit the details of her description to memory. "That's very good Brittany, very good. Just stay calm and work with me here. Now, did you see what direction they went in? Did they get into a vehicle of some sort? Over."

The girl replied, "No, Uncle John, I didn't see a car or truck or anything. They just turned and walked into the woods away from the direction of your house. I couldn't see them very good after they went more than a few feet, you know how thick the pine trees are there at that corner. I ran straight home as soon as they were outa sight."

He closed his eyes and tried to visualize a map of the area in his mind. "You say they walked into the planted pines there at the corner? Where they heading in the direction of Rick's place or where they going away from both roads?"

"Uhhh, they weren't heading towards Rick's and they didn't seem to be walking alongside the big road, they looked like they were heading straight out through the woods to me. Do you think maybe they've got a camp or something in there?"

A faint hope began to blossom in him and rage began to burn within his heart. "Brittany, I want you to listen carefully to me and do exactly as I tell you. As soon as you put down the microphone go out on the porch and call the dogs into the dooryard and shut the gate so they'll stay in. Tell Ann to get a lead out and put Jake on it. Then tell her to get the jeans that Mel was wearing yesterday and put them in a plastic bag but NOT to handle them with her bare hands. Then I want you, Ann, and Lisa to lock the doors and windows in the house and all of you are to be armed. Do you have all of that? Over."

"Yes sir," she replied, "call in the dogs and keep them in the yard, put Jake on a leash. Put the jeans that Mel wore yesterday in a plastic bag but not to touch them with our hands. Lock up the doors and windows and get out the guns. Is that it?"

"Yes Britt," he said, "Now tell Ann I'm leaving right now for the house. Over."

"I copy, Uncle John. I'll tell her."

He hung up the mike and turned around to see Miguel and Carolita looking at him with grave concern. Miguel immediately said, "John, what do you want us to do?"

John replied, "Miguel, I'm leaving for the house right now. Try to contact Ed Harris by phone. Tell him I think they're making for U.S. 27, it's the nearest road in the direction Brittany said they were headed in. They'll either be on foot or on horseback. Either way, they're a good three or four miles from the road and it's thick as hell through there and the weather's crapping out so they're not going to make good time. If he can get men strung out down 27 they have a good chance of spotting them if they try to cross the road. County Central will likely send men out as well. Once you're off the phone with Ed, get your truck and whatever men you can find that you trust and come to the house. Between Ed's crew on 27 and ours coming behind them I think we'll be able to drive them like we did the dogs. That front is on top of us so tell everyone to get out their foul weather gear. I'll see you to the house."

"Vaya con Dios, my brother" the storeowner said, "I'll meet you at your house as soon as I'm off the phone with Ed." The screen door slammed before he had finished speaking.

-- -- -- --

John braked hard to a stop in front of his gate. He could see Ed's truck already in the drive and Jimmy came up behind him. He leapt out of the truck and ran up onto the porch. Ann came out the door to meet him followed by the rest. It was plain the women had been crying and he gave his wife a tight hug and a kiss. "I'll get her back darling, I swear to you that I WILL get her back."

Ann wiped away her tears and said, "I know you will John. Mike called and said he's on his way but he's coming from north of Newberry. County Central called and said the Sheriff is coming too but he's in Ocala. You're to take charge until he arrives."

John nodded and said, "OK." Just then Rick came up on a bicycle and Stevie Daniels ran up carrying a lever action Winchester. John said he wanted to wait a few minutes before making their plans to give Miguel and the others a chance to arrive. The rain began to fall harder and the temperature was dropping steadily so he went inside to round up his foul weather gear. When he came back out he dumped his lined military poncho on a porch chair and finished belting on his big S&W pistol, an SKS was slung over his back.

Ann gave him the bag with Melinda's jeans in it. "Are you going to try to use Jake to track Mel? Will he do that?"

Her husband said, "I don't know. I do know that she raised that dog from a pup five years ago when dad gave him to her and he'll follow her anywhere that she'll let him. It can't hurt to try."

Miguel pulled up in his truck with his two sons and several other men. The radio crackled and John answered, it was Ed Harris advising he had six men on the road and more coming so that he expected to be able to keep a long portion of U.S. 27 in sight. The assembled men discussed the best placements for Ed's men according to where they thought the kidnappers were likely to go and would extend the surveillance line as more people became available.

Over the next fifteen minutes twenty men had arrived so John decided they had enough to get started. They'd incorporate newcomers as they went along over the radio.

Before they left John turned to Ann, Lisa, Ellie and Brittany then said, "Until we eliminate these predators the rest of you could be in danger so this is what I want you to do. Listen carefully because I am dead serious about what I say. Until I tell you differently if ANYONE other than myself, Mike, or the sheriff tries to come through that gate without your permission you SHOOT them. Don't try to reason with them and for damn sure don't let them get within twenty feet of any of you. Just shoot them. The bastards already have my daughter. They're NOT getting anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Yes dear, I understand. Get her back John!"

"Darling, I WILL get her back! Believe it darling, I WILL get her back!"

The Posse donned their gear and weapons, loaded up onto Miguel's and John's trucks and headed for the intersection where the girl had been taken.

They arrived a minute later. John assembled the Posse to address them. "OK, here's the plan. This is going to be just like our dog hunts except this time the dogs can shoot back. If you make contact back off but stay in sight and call on the radio. The rest of us will come running. Brittany only saw three but there may be more. I don't think there'll be a lot more so we should have them outnumbered by at least three or four to one once we pin them down. So long as we have them boxed within a general area then time is on our side because we'll have more and more men steadily coming in. All we have to do is keep them from getting out of the box and we'll eventually run them to ground. Move quietly as you can, keep your radios on, try not to be seen, and don't get yourself into a firefight. Spot them and call it in, the rest of us will come running. It'll be all over not long after that."

Everyone nodded and Jimmy went first to try to pick up what sign he could. The group of men trailed the kidnappers through the planted pine, scuffed up needles leading them onwards through the dense stand. Four hundred yards in they came to the end of the trees and into a pasture where they lost the trail. Mike called them on the radio and said he was at the road with another dozen men and was expecting a dozen more to arrive shortly along with the sheriff. John told them where they were at and said they'd wait on them to arrive. Using Jimmy's radio he called Ed Harris who told him that he'd put another ten men on the road and more volunteers were coming.

When the new men arrived Jimmy told the searchers to spread out in a wide line and walk towards the other fence. The rain fell steadily and was turning to sleet. It would be dark early this day. They reached the far fence a quarter mile away with no sign. "Ground's firm and the grass is short enough in this pasture not to show much sign" Jimmy said, "We'd best spread out. It's pretty thick woods in front of us. Put about fifty yards between each man and we'll move forward in a line. Unless they've doubled back on us we ought to have a pretty good chance of someone seeing them before we hit the road."

Mike spoke into his radio and ordered a surveillance line of men along the county road and the lane running to Rick's place. More men were arriving as news that John Horne's daughter had been taken and the ongoing search for her spread through the community and the sector deputies in the west side of the county. The sheriff arrived and took up station with Ed Harris on the federal highway. He said they'd have the departmental helicopter in the air as soon as it could be arranged but it had been down for maintenance when the situation broke.

The men began to spread out into their line. John took out the plastic bag, opened it carefully and rubbed the blue jeans across Jake's nose. "Find Mel Jake! Find Mel!" With that he slipped the leash and let the dog go. Jake seemed excited and ran back and forth across the pasture for a time then ran under the fence into the brush. John climbed the wire and followed as best he could but passage through the thick brush and trees was difficult and the freezing sleet made visibility difficult. His right knee began to send sharp, shooting pains upward.

He'd completely lost the dog and wasn't sure what direction to head in when he heard a bark far ahead to his left so he began to move in that direction. "Hope that dog isn't chasing a squirrel" he grunted as he stepped tall over a fallen tree. His boot came down into a deep pothole and icy water flooded in over the top. He pushed on. Twenty minutes later he'd neither seen nor heard the dog. He pulled out his compass and took a reading and continued to head in a generally southwestern direction. He thought he might be ahead of the search line but he wasn't sure.

A dense thicket of blackberry briers was impeding his progress when the radio suddenly crackled. Rick's voice broke through, high pitched in excitement - "Contact! I've made…" A shot crackled through the trees soon followed by many more. They were to his left and close by. John lunged mightily through the tangled briers and began to run as fast as he could through the trees.

He soon broke through into a clearing of gallberry bushes about twenty yards across then caught sight of a brown canvas coat leading to the realization that three men were standing just inside the far edge of the waist high brush. The men quickly looked up from the ground in front of them and a fourth man hurriedly stood in front of them. One of the men in a camouflage BDU jacket was holding Melinda, a knife in his hand laying on her shoulder. John's SKS came up in his hands pointing at the men. "You men just hold right where you are." He said loudly. Melinda looked up, saw John and shouted "Daddy!"

The man who'd stood up was wearing a brownish civilian camouflage and a BDU cap. John knew instantly it was the man Brittany had described. "You'd be John Horne then?" the man asked. He glanced at the girl for confirmation. "I reckon you would be at that." With a smile he continued, "Well then, it seems our mission has not gone totally awry after all. Our guest-of-honor has arrived."

John's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man. "Just put those rifles on the ground right there in front of you and let go of the girl. You're all under arrest."

"Ah, the genuine article for sure. I'm proud to meet you deputy Horne, I've come a long way for the pleasure." The man seemed in no way distressed at the rifle pointing in his direction.

"Shut up and throw down those guns like I told you" John said harshly.

"No, I don't think so, deputy. You see, you've got a rifle on us and we have your daughter." He slid a pistol out of his holster. "I don't think you're going to take a chance of hitting her are you? Why don't you just put down your rifle there and we'll get to know each other better. Just drop it right there in that pot hole in front of you. Now."

The deputy said nothing for a moment as he eyed each of the men in front of him, finally he said, "No. No deal."

Again the lazy insolent smile crept across the man's face, "Surely daddy you wouldn't want to see your daughter's pretty face cut would you? You know we've got nothing left to lose, but you have. Put down that rifle and we'll let the girl go. Otherwise we'll just have to kill her in front of you and then kill you. Surely you wouldn't want it to come to that now."

"The first one of you makes a move against my daughter will die as sure as I'm standing here in front of you. Put your guns down NOW!"

"But if you shoot old Wayne here," the man nodded towards the other man holding Mel without taking his eyes off of John, "I'll shoot you. If you try to shoot me, Wayne here will cut her throat. If somehow you take us both, then Denny or Sandy here will kill you both. Your options here are few deputy, put down your rifle and we'll let your daughter go. Surely you want her to live, don't you?"

John thought furiously, trying to play for time. He knew that the shots had to have been heard by the others and they'd come running but these woods were deep, tangled, and after the rains of the previous months, quite wet with a lot of standing water so their progress would be slowed if they had to come any distance.

"You know as well as I do that you'll kill her too…" he never got to finish the sentence as a dark gold blur shot from a thicket of young pine saplings and hit the man holding Melinda. He screamed as canine teeth met through the wrist and palm of the hand holding the knife. The older man snapped his head to his right at the scream and John slapped his rifle against his hip and fired off three rapid fire shots towards him causing him to suddenly spasm forward and fall to the ground. John pivoted to his left and fired another three quick shots at the man to the right of the one who had been holding Melinda. That man spun and John leapt behind an ancient live oak to his right and bark leapt from the tree as rifle bullets slapped it. He could hear Melinda screaming, Jakes growls, a man's gassy wheezing scream, shouting and rifle fire. He belly crawled around the tree on the other side looking for targets, trying to keep trees in between him and the men he'd seen on the other side.

In the distance he could hear men shouting and knew the rest of the Posse were fast approaching. He'd just come around a large pine when a bullet slapped the tree next to his head and he dropped. Dropping into as low a crouch as he could manage he sprinted to his right further into the trees and cut back to his left. The wet camouflage of his poncho breaking up his outline in the failing light. A small caliber pistol sounded, once, twice, three times, then a man leapt up and ran from behind a bristly palm tree. John sighted in and fired, dropping him. He low crouched across to his left again when a bullet slammed him to the ground, he rolled over, unable to feel anything on his left side. Melinda screamed in a register so high that he nearly could not understand her - "Daddy!!!" He'd dropped his rifle when he fell and could not see it. He was desperately clawing his poncho out of the way to get at his pistol when a man in a camo BDU jacket stood up from behind a stump, a lever action rifle in his hands pointing at him bringing it to his shoulder, squinting down the barrel. John was desperately rolling to his left when he heard a shot from very close.

For a second he felt nothing…

Then realized how badly his knee hurt...

Then he realized how badly the rest of him hurt but not the way he thought being shot by a rifle would hurt.

He rolled over again and saw a BDU clad body lying on the ground. Stepping out of the brush from ten yards away was Miguel with a Browning autoshotgun in his hand looking directly at the body on the ground. John laid his head down on the ground and let out a long, long sigh.

Miguel carefully crept up to him and said, "John, can you hear me?"

The man opened his eyes and spoke, "I'm here Miguel. For the moment at least. My left side hurts like hell." No shots could be heard and they could hear the sounds of running feet crashing through the brush. In the near distance they could hear a man whimpering in pain.

Miguel put out his hand and helped John up. They walked towards the sounds of the man and Melinda ran up to them "Daddy! Daddy!" She wrapped her arms around his waist so tightly he could not get her loose. Finally he pulled her arms free and picked her up.

"I'm all right honey. Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"

The girl stopped sobbing long enough to say, "I'm OK daddy. They didn't hurt me. I was just scared to death! They were going to kill you!"

"Well, they didn't kill me honey. I'm still here. Let it out until you can pull yourself together. Miguel and I have to look around a bit. How many men were there?"

"Four daddy. There were only four. There's another man they were going back to meet, in Archer I think."

"That's very good Mel. Very good. You just keep holding my hand and you'll be alright. Let's go look around." The men and the girl began to walk towards the sound of the whimpering. Melinda's tears continued to roll down her face to be lost in the freezing rain interspersed with the occasional sob.

They found the man who'd been holding a knife on Melinda lying on the ground, clutching his bloody left arm between his legs, his left ear torn and bleeding profusely with Jake standing over him, blood on his muzzle and face. Looking around they found the rest - the older man laying where John had shot him. Just in front of him Rick lay on the ground, dead. The second man was at a distance from where he'd been when John had rapid fired at him, laying face down. This left only the fifth man still unaccounted for - the one who was still back at where ever they'd come from.

Posse members were arriving, Jimmy, Mike, others. John ignored them when he walked up to the surviving kidnapper. He squatted down and took a pistol out of the man's holster and handed it to Miguel. Then he took the fellow by the chin and raised his face so they could look at each other.

"Where's the fifth man?" He asked.

The man let out a whimper of pain then said, "There ain't no fifth man! It was just us four! You done killed us all!"

"There's another man back from where ever it was you came from." John persisted. "Where is he?"

The man began to marshal himself better and repeated, "I told you, there AIN'T no fifth man!"

John said nothing but stood then stomped his booted foot down onto the man's mangled hand and ground it into the dirt under his heel. The man let out a gassy scream and John shouted over it. "I ASKED YOU WHERE HE WAS YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The man lay panting trying to form words, "Ple… Please, mister! Don't do that again! There ain't no fifth man! I swear to you!"

The folding knife went 'snick' as it left John's pockets and before anyone realized what he was doing he reached down and sliced a strip off of the man's mangled left ear. The man screamed again and the rage filled father repeated, "WHERE IS HE!"

"Oh God! Please! Oh God! Please, you got to understand! You don't know what they'll do to me if I tell you! Oh God! Please, don't hurt me no more! Please!"

John quickly sliced off another piece of the man's ear invoking another scream. "I don't care what they'll do to you! You'd better worry about what I'M going to do to you! You goddamned piece of filth! I'll whittle pieces off of you all night if I have to! WHERE IS HE!!!"

The wounded man looked up at the men encircling him, staring at him with eyes of cold stone, none of whom spoke a word. The man in the deputy's uniform equally silent. John bent over with the knife again.

"NO!!! Please!!! Oh God!!! I'll tell you!!! His name is Lucius! I don't know his last name! He lives down on the county line road!!! A white trailer with brown trim! Please! Don't cut me no more!" The man began to sob. Mike began to question him more closely about the precise location of the trailer the man named Lucius lived in. When he finished he spoke into his radio, relaying the information to the sheriff out on 27 who said he'd have a couple of cruisers go there immediately.

Their immediate questions answered the men wrapped cloth around the dog chewed arm and hand of the man then cuffed him. After conferring with Jimmy they decided they were closer to the federal highway and would go out that way. Men began to cut poles and rig litters to transport the dead.

John helped lift the leader of the kidnappers onto a litter and winced. Miguel looked at him and asked, "didn't you say you were hit? I don't see any blood on you but you seem to be hurt. Turn around."

John did as he'd been told and Miguel whistled, "Madre Dios! There's a hole in and out of your jacket here John! Take it off!"

He unbuttoned his jacket, wincing as he pulled it off his shoulders, afraid to see what lay underneath. Miguel scrutinized him closely and frowned.

"What is it?" John asked, afraid that he was going to tell him.

"John, there is no hole in your shirt but there's two holes in your jacket. No sign of blood either? I don't understand this. Let me see your jacket."

As tension bled off John began to shiver in the rain and wind but he handed his jacket over to the other man. Miguel stuck his finger in one hole and poked it out another then said, "ahh!" Reaching into the inside pocket he took out a stainless steel flask, turning it over in his hands while he examined it, then handed it to John with the statement, "Here is the secret of our iron man!"

John took the flask and turned it over finding a long deep groove streaked with copper across its middle. "Son of a bitch!" he said with a sigh of relief. "Must have hit at a fairly shallow angle to have only ricocheted across the outside like that instead of penetrating. I'd have been in a bad way if it hadn't hit this flask. Glad it didn't hole it, was a birthday gift from my dad last year. Still not sure it didn't crack a rib though. That was quite a wallop."

He unscrewed the cap and took a deep swallow then passed it to the other man who grinned at him, took a deep swallow himself, then said "The Lord looks after drunks and fools, it is said. Today, my friend, you should be glad!" He laughed as John winced himself back into his jacket.

John didn't try to load anymore bodies onto litters but as they lifted one man on to a litter he stared at him, then asked the men moving him to roll him over. He poked around the dead man's jacket then said, "I thought I'd heard a small caliber in there, that's what killed this fellow. Three shots from behind." He looked around then spotted the pistol in Melinda's holster. "I thought Brittany told me they took your little pistol when they grabbed you?"

Melinda looked at him wide eyed, her chin quivering. "They did daddy. It was in that man's belt." She pointed at their prisoner. "It fell out when Jake attacked him. I picked it up while he was fighting with Jake and I shot that man."

"I did right, didn't I daddy? He was about to shoot you."

 

[Albuburbia]

ATTA GIRL, MELINDA!!!!

Great action!!! My heart is racing!!

 

[AngieM2]

whew....
and WOW.

Thanks again, I keep looking until there's more....

AngieM2

 

[AngieM2]

whew....
and WOW.

Thanks again, I keep looking until there's more....

AngieM2

 

[deterdog]

BUMP

Melinda........You Go Girl

training pays off once again

bttt