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Post by headlesshorseman on Mar 8, 2018 10:04:27 GMT -6
Cutter, the author has to keep writing. It is the only way to find out what happens. I seldom knew how the paragraph would end let alone the chapter. In Slow Boat the kids would bring a friend home for supper, they would stay and raise families.
Always remember THE CHARACTERS ARE IN CONTROL!
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Post by accountant on Mar 8, 2018 10:54:17 GMT -6
Cutter, it's true what Headless says.
In my story (The Accountant - Chapter 25 now available for your reading pleasure - shameless plug), It was supposed to be a simple story about a normal guy trying to find his way in the new world. I didn't foresee him going to the distribution depot, looting the pharmacy, or giving the poor family food.I also didn't see Carol surviving and going along with him on the trip. he was supposed to be the lone survivor of the attack by the gangs.
Part of the joy I am finding in writing is that the characters are taking me along on this trip. I think I know some of places and people that they "should" be meeting along the way, but who knows what will happen.
Just hang on and enjoy the ride!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 8, 2018 11:13:05 GMT -6
Cutter and Accountant and everyone else reading this,
I thoroughly agree about the characters being in control of where the story goes (In spite of the author's planning, outlines, and plot development efforts to the contrary). "Out of the Stump" has taken me many places I never intended or imagined when I first outlined the story. Writing is an adventure for both the story teller and the reader.
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Post by supermag on Mar 9, 2018 11:04:48 GMT -6
Wow, I've finally caught up. This is a great story (all the parts!) and I'm almost mad at myself that I've caught up and now have to wait for more, thank you for sharing it with us.
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Post by cutter on Mar 9, 2018 19:47:14 GMT -6
Well, they went over the cliff. Now for the landing. Please, enjoy.
Chapter 4
When Stacy finally gets to the top of the stairs, Mark isn’t standing there waiting for her. He’s sitting in a chair with his elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands. It looks like the weight of the world is crushing him. She goes down the stairs as fast as her stupid heels will let her. He may not love her anymore, but she knows this Mark only too well. This Mark is the one who always made her heart hurt the worst, not because of him, but for him. This is the Mark who saved her life and the lives of almost two hundred other people, but couldn’t save Kat. This is the Mark who couldn’t see his worth when he couldn’t move his legs after his back was broken in that same explosion. This is the Mark who was willing to give her up, rather than come between her and her then eight year old brother. This is the Mark who blamed himself when Troy raped and nearly killed Kit because he didn’t see what none of them could have known. This is the Mark who had wept until dawn in her arms, the night his mother passed away, because he thought he’d abandoned her. This is the Mark who rode off alone into the woods because he thought everybody had turned on him. This is the tortured Mark, the broken Mark, the Mark only she has ever seen, because she was the only one he trusted enough to ever let see this side of him. This is the Mark who she has seen the least, but who always turned to her for comfort and help. He may not love her anymore, but she can’t leave him like this; her heart won’t let her.
“M-Mark? Mark, what’s…”
Mark looks up and sees his own personal angel standing in front of him. She is the Lady Anastasia Elizabeth, the girl he fell in love with, four years ago. She looks like a queen in the elegant blue formal she wears, her braided blonde hair with bows formed from some of the strands running down the length of the braid, draped over her shoulder. The diamond pendant he gave her for her birthday is lying on her chest just above the heart she has worn ever since Erin gave it to her, four years ago. The woman he loves more than anyone or anything but God is right in front of him, right now. This is his last chance and he’s never letting her go. He stands and wraps his arms around her tightly as his tears fall on her bare shoulder.
“Anastasia, I’m sorry. I haven’t been here for you. I haven’t paid enough attention to you. I haven’t held you enough, kissed you enough, loved you enough. Please Anastasia, please give me just one more chance. I don’t care about anything else, just you. All I want forever is you; nothing else matters to me. Please, just one more chance, please? God, please don’t walk away. Don’t leave me. I love you, Anastasia. Please don’t leave. I’ll do anything, just give me another chance. I can’t stand to lose you!”
Stacy’s speechless for a minute. She was wrong; this isn’t the broken Mark she’s comforted before. The man holding her so tight it hurts is completely shattered. She’s been his girlfriend for four years. She’s known him since they were both five. She has never once heard him beg anyone for anything; but he’s begging now, begging her for one more chance to fix what she broke. She was wrong. Thank God she was so very, very wrong about him. Her Mark never left. He still loves her. He still wants her. He’s still hers. When she finally finds her voice, she says the only thing she can say to him, the only words that will matter to him as she cradles him in her arms.
“I’m not going anywhere, Love. We belong to each other. We’re never letting each other go. I love you too.”
At her words, Mark completely loses it. He holds her even tighter, so tight she almost can’t breathe; but Stacy doesn’t care. Right here, right now, there’s nobody and nothing else in the world, just the two of them. All that matters to Stacy is the man she loves. She holds him tight and cries with him.
At the top of the stairs, Kit stands watching them. She heard every word. Tears of joy trace down her cheeks as she thinks about just how close her two best friends came to losing it all. She offers a prayer of thanks.
Downstairs, Mark’s finally pulling himself back together. He’s still holding onto Stacy like the whole world is trying to take her away. He says one of those sweet, stupid things people tend to say after their emotions turn them inside out.
“I got you all wet.”
“Don’t worry about it, Love. That’s why God gave us shoulders, for the people we love to cry on.”
“Th-The limo has been here for about twenty minutes. Do you still want to go?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you. Where you go, I go. Come on, Love. We have a lot to talk about, I think.”
“Please don’t leave me. Give me another chance.”
“I won’t ever leave you and you don’t need another chance. You’re doing just fine with the first one. Let’s go on a date; it’s been way too long.”
They walk to the limo hand in hand. They both know just how close they came to losing each other over nothing. They’re together now, and they’re staying together. They won’t let anything get in the way of that, ever again.
“Good evening, folks. I took the liberty of calling the restaurant. They said not to worry; your table will be waiting for you whenever I get you there. You two look fantastic! What’s the occasion?”
“It’s his birthday, Sir.”
“Well, happy birthday. I hope it’s a good one.”
“So do I.”
Mark and Stacy talk all the way to The Bistro. By the time they get there, both of them have figured out they were seeing a lot of things that weren’t there. They really had been spending even more time together than they did that first year before they started all the preparations for their future. They came to understand that the time they spent working side by side meant more to them than almost anything else they had done together. They just about have all the damage from the last three years repaired when the driver stops the limo in front of The Bistro and opens the door for them. Of course Robert and Gary are waiting for them at the door, but Bernard, Francesca, and Gerome take them by surprise. There are hugs from all the men and kisses from both women as the two families of special friends greet each other for the first time in far too long. When Stacy stands on tiptoe to barely reach Gerome’s chin to give him a kiss, he holds onto her for a moment.
“You’re a guest tonight, but the next time you’re here, you’re in my kitchen! That mystery cobbler you told me about is so popular, it’s on our regular menu now. The beauty of it is now easy it is to make. I want to see what else we can come up with together!”
Stacy smiles widely at the very tall, handsome black man who, along with Robert, is one of the Tonini’s two adopted sons and the executive chef of The Bistro.
“You’re on!”
As Mark and Robert do the handshake, one arm guy hug, they have a short conversation.
“Sorry we’re late. We had some things to work out.”
“I’m glad you were. We had a lot of trouble finding the flowers you wanted. We had to have a courier bring them from Louisville. They just got here about ten minutes ago.”
“Make sure you put it on the bill.”
“Not this time, my friend. Tonight’s on me. Dani and I are getting married this fall. If you hadn’t shamed me into asking her out, I probably never would have. I owe you one.”
“It’s what friends do for each other.”
“So is tonight. Does she suspect anything?”
“After the last couple of days, I’m still surprised she even came with me.”
“Sounds like a story I want to hear, later. Let’s get you two seated. Gary’s your server tonight, just like you asked.”
“I hope I didn’t offend you.”
“Not at all. All of us have a few guests who are special to us. You and Stacy just happen to be good friends of mine and Gary’s both. I’m actually kind of glad. We’re getting slammed tonight and I have six servers to supervise. Fortunately, Gary and the other five are all seasoned professionals. You picked a good night. She’s gonna’ say yes in front of a packed house.”
“I just hope she says yes. Get us to our table before I lose my nerve.”
“Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen. Come on.”
When they step into the courtyard, Stacy sees what looks like a small flock of little white birds perched on green sticks in a vase on their table.
“Mark, are those what I think they are?”
“White egret orchids from Japan. You said they were your favorite.”
“How in the hell did you get flowers from Japan? It’s April; those aren’t even in bloom right now!”
“Robert said they found them in Louisville and had them delivered today. Must be a greenhouse that grows them.”
“Mark, you planned this. How long?”
“Tuesday.”
“What are you up to?”
“Honestly? I knew we were getting kinda’ rocky. I had no idea it was as bad as it was. I didn’t know I was about to lose you until today. I just wanted to make it up to you for not making enough time for you. I wanted to give you a special night. I damn near waited too long.”
“You saved us tonight. It’s special enough already. I don’t care what happens; we can’t let things get that bad again. I’m sorry too.”
“We start over tonight.”
“Chef is working on your appetizers now. What may I bring you to drink?”
“Gary, we could probably both use a bottle of bourbon, but I’ll stick with coffee.”
“Stacy, considering you are very underage, that would probably be best. Mark, what would you like?”
“Coffee sounds good to me too.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Gary heads toward the kitchen and Stacy starts talking to Mark again.
“You picked the meal too? Is there anything you didn’t think of tonight?”
“That’s as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I just figured on ordering off the menu.”
After an incredible five course meal that included Stacy’s personal favorite dessert, a double chocolate fudge cake concoction that Gerome almost never makes because it’s such a nightmare to get right, Mark and Stacy sit holding hands and sipping coffee. Mark catches Gary’s eye and winks at him. Gary goes over to the musicians and has a quick conversation.
“Will you dance with me, Lover?”
“Watch me take the chance to show my man off! Take me to the dance floor and make this night completely unforgettable for me, and everybody else if I know you.”
“I think I can manage that.”
The dance floor’s empty as they take their places right in the middle as the song ends. There are a few moments where the musicians don’t play as the striking young couple comes together on the dance floor. As Mark places his hand on Stacy’s back, the first notes of Peter Cetera’s Glory of Love starts playing. As they start dancing to the music, Stacy reaches her hand up and cups the back of Mark’s neck.
“This isn’t an accident. You told them to play our song.”
“Yes I did.” Mark stops dancing and goes to one knee in front of Stacy, still holding her left hand. “I promised you I’d propose to you on my birthday. I’m early, but you will make me the most blessed man in the world if you will be my wife. You’re all I ever wanted and all I’ll ever need. I almost lost you; I don’t ever want to risk losing you again. Anastasia, I love you more than anyone or anything on this Earth. Will you please marry me?”
“I can’t….I can’t live without you; I won’t. I want to be your wife more than anything. Yes. I love you, Timothy Markus. I’ll always love you, forever.”
The band, the restaurant, the guests all standing and applauding, their friends the Tonini’s, nothing exists for the two young lovers as Mark slips a small diamond ring on Stacy’s finger and stands. He wraps her in his arms and sweeps her off her feet as he kisses her. His kiss is gentle, delicate, but full of promise. In all the time they’ve been a couple, Mark’s never kissed her like this before. There’s love, and passion, and strength, and power, and several things Stacy doesn’t have names for in this kiss. She’s seen sides of Mark that she never knew were there before tonight. After all this time, he can still surprise her. When he finally breaks the kiss and sets her back on her feet, Stacy looks up into his brown eyes and sees only love and joy in them.
“Love, take me home. We’ve waited long enough.”
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Post by headlesshorseman on Mar 9, 2018 20:48:31 GMT -6
Way to go Mark and Stacy! Definitely a home run!
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Post by biggkidd on Mar 9, 2018 21:15:42 GMT -6
Thank you!
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Post by gipsy on Mar 9, 2018 22:13:15 GMT -6
It's about time!!!
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Post by udwe on Mar 10, 2018 6:50:01 GMT -6
Thank you, but "damn pollen"!
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Post by cutter on Mar 10, 2018 7:27:54 GMT -6
But they're happy tears.
Here's some happy news for you. That new voice in my head I was talking about just got on the clan's radar. He's on his way and looks to have at least as much attitude as Troy did, and a longer rap sheet. He's going to be joining the family whether he wants to or not. I think his outcome will be quite a bit better than Troy's was. I can tell you for sure that there are going to be high tensions and quite a bit of tough love. Of course, tough love is one of the things Mark's best at. I see the new kid benefiting from Stacy and Mark's martial arts training and also the pistols they have both taken to carrying around the farm. I think the new kid's going to be a tougher project than Bobby was, but I think it's going to turn out well for him. Oh yeah, Val's wanting to get more involved in the story too and Betty's got news.
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Post by cutter on Mar 11, 2018 15:47:34 GMT -6
You know, all they wanted was one weekend to celebrate without drama, just one weekend. Oh well. Please enjoy.
Chapter 5
The trip home is more like a prom date than a ride to a very private post engagement party. Stacy’s giddy and playful and Mark’s just thanking God he didn’t lose her. His eyes are distant, but he has a dumb smile on his face. After the third time Stacy asks him the same question, she pokes him in the ribs.
“Hey! Earth to sexy!”
“Wha? Sorry.”
“I said, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I just barely avoided ruining my whole life and I was telling God thank you.”
“Yeah, I’ve already done that about a hundred times. Listen, it’s supposed to rain tonight, so the fire pit is out. Where are we going to go?”
“Let’s go home.”
“We are going home. Where are we going to go when we get there? I’m not sure spending the night in either one of our bedrooms is an option..”
“No, let’s go to our home. Send Erin a text to tell them where you’re going to be.”
“You better do the same.”
“Brian and Morgan already know where I’m going to be. I told them before I left that if I wasn’t home by eleven, we’d be at our house; and if I was home by eleven, I was going to be in my room with a bottle of bourbon and the first one of them who said anything about me being underage was going to get the empty bottle straight up the…”
“I get the idea. What’d they say to that?”
“Brian told me he’d bring a bottle of his best when he came to my room and two glasses. He said he wouldn’t leave until I passed out or we needed another bottle. He said if it went down that way, I’d need it. The way he was acting, it seemed like he knew what he was talking about. There’s something there I don’t know about. Morgan looked like she was going to cry and went to their bedroom.”
“I think I know some of it. I don’t think you want to know any more than I want to tell you, but I will if you really want me to.”
“Maybe someday, but not tonight. So, are you ok with going to our house? It’s late to go to the cave.”
Either or. We left the tent set up and we can keep it warm, but the air matress is probably flat as a pancake. We’d have to change too. Something tells me we’re going to be out of patience by the time we get back. Let’s go to the house.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“What did you do?!?”
“Not much. You’ll see. How about a kiss?”
“I think I’ll be giving you a lot of those tonight, getting quite a few too, among other things. Pucker up, Buttercup.”
“Really? Seriously? Buttercup? Oh, what the hell. Come’ere.”
Mark and Stacy don’t think the ride back home will ever be over, but eventually, they pull up in front of Stacy’s house. They thank the driver and go to the front porch.
“I thought we were going to our house.”
“We’ll take the ranch’s gator from here. It’s easier than trying to explain it to the driver and we won’t be stuck walking tomorrow, assuming either one of us can walk.”
“Should I change before we go?”
“I’d rather you didn’t, but it’s up to you.”
“Let’s do it your way tonight. We tried it my way and it almost ended in disaster.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I thought you liked how our house turned out.”
“I love our place, but it worked you half to death. I misunderstood and was too stupid to talk to you about it.”
“Yeah, and I got too wound up in trying to make you happy with stuff. Lesson learned, for both of us. The limo’s gone; Let’s go home.”
The rain starts just as Mark and Stacy pull in the garage of the house they will soon call home.
“We timed that right! It’s really coming down out there!”
“Sure you don’t want to spend the night at the fire pit?”
“If you want to get wet that bad, we can play in the tub; it’s big enough for two.”
“Is that why you wanted it?”
“Yup.”
“Sounds like fun, but not yet. Would you like me to carry you over the threshold?”
“Let’s save that for the wedding. Right now, I just want to get inside and out of these damn heels.”
“I hope that’s not all you want to get out of.”
“Dirty old man!”
“Well, dirty young man anyway. Don’t blame me; you’ve only been teasing me for four years! Do you realize how many times I’ve woke up with you in my arms and the only thing between us was our underwear?”
“Yeah, I was there, remember? You wanna’ go in, or stand out here in the garage and talk about it all night?”
Mark takes Stacy in his arms and kisses her on the nape of the neck. He’s had enough practice the last few years, he always hits just the right spot. Then he whispers in her ear.
“What do you think?”
“Unzip me. Right here is just fine.”
Mark lets go. “Get in the house. I made up our bed. Go tell me if you like it.”
“It’s perfect; now let’s go try it out.”
The rain stopped around two or three in the morning. Mark and Stacy were way too busy to notice. The sun’s already up when they wake up.
“Good morning, Stud.”
“Yes it is, Lover.”
“I was a little busy last night, but thank you for laying my dress over the chair instead of just dropping it on the floor.”
“Are you kidding? I wasn’t about to risk ruining it. That dress must have cost a fortune!”
“Oh yeah, cost near as much as it did to build this house. Mark, that dress and the purse together cost me about $35. Those damn heels cost more than that.”
“You’re kidding! Thirty-five bucks!”
“It’s amazing how cheap stuff is when you don’t have to pay for the labor.”
“Whoa! You made that dress?”
“And the purse, and your tux, and your cumberbund and bowtie.”
“You know, it’s kinda’ crazy we’re talking about clothes when I have my beautiful, willing, and might I add, naked fiance in bed with me.”
“Later, lover boy. We need some food if we’re going to do much more of what we did last night.”
“Give me a few minutes to wrap my head around last night and get my back to cooperate, and we’ll go see what we can scare up to eat.”
“Why don’t you just stay in bed. I’m going to get up and make some coffee for us, right after I see if I have anything to put on other than that dress. I’ll bring it up when it’s done.”
“You have a couple of outfits in the dresser and we have a pair of nice, thick robes in the closet. Why are you worried about getting dressed anyway?”
“I guess I could go prancing down to the kitchen naked, but be my luck the boys would be peeking through the window.”
“That’s why we built the bar in the bedroom, so we wouldn’t have to go downstairs if we just wanted a snack or something to drink. We do have a coffee maker and coffee up here.”
Stacy isn’t particularly modest as she gets up and goes into the bedroom from the deck. Mark can’t help but watch with an “I can’t believe I got a girl like that!” look on his face.
“Damn, she was worth the wait!”
It turns out, Stacy changes her mind and decides a cup of coffee and a bathroom break are all they really need. She convinces Mark they have more important things to do than breakfast; it doesn’t take much. By the time lunch rolls around, the two young lovers are starving and ready for a nap.
“Anastasia, we have to get up.”
“Ok, what room do you want to break in next?”
“None of ‘em! My back hurts, I’m not sure my legs will work, I’m hungry, and I’m trying to remember who I am! You are insatiable!”
“You’re pretty amazing too. I’ve had some pretty good nights with you, but last night was by far the best. Not only was what we did better than anything I ever imagined, when we finally did go to sleep; I slept better than I ever have. Mark, it was damn hard sometimes, but I’m glad we waited.”
“So am I, but now we have to make up for lost time. After lunch, do you want to do something else, or just keep scaring the wildlife?”
“Why don’t I help you get started on the shelter in the west pasture?”
“Mostly because me, Bobby, and Jamie got it finished last week.”
“You lied to me!”
“I had to make it look good so it wouldn’t ruin the surprise. I almost did too good a job.”
“Let it go. We both screwed up. We both forgave each other. Let’s move on. I love you too much to let one little misunderstanding get in the way. Let’s saddle up Swifty and Gwen and ride the north fence line. That’s a really pretty ride and we can say we were working.”
“I’d like that. We need to stop by and pick up our gear first.”
“Actually, as much as I like the view, Stud; I think we better get dressed first, then maybe eat some lunch. We can always pick up where we left off, tonight.”
“I’m looking forward to it, but there’s one thing I really want to do tomorrow. I haven’t been to church in over a year; I want to go in the morning.”
“I do too. I’ve missed sitting beside you in church. Everybody else misses you too; they ask about you all the time.”
“It’s going to be embarrassing, crawling back after being gone so long.”
“Mark, you’re not crawling back anywhere. Your faith is as strong as it ever was. So you were gone for a while, so what? They’re the same people they were when you were there last time. We’ve added a dozen or so new members, but the feel is still the same. They’ll just be glad you’re back. There’s a guy I want you to meet anyway. His name’s Jason Mcguire and I think you’ll like him. He’s our age.”
“Already got a boyfriend on the side?”
“If it’s going to keep being like last night, where would I find the energy? I’m glad you said no just now; I can’t take any more for a little while!”
“Thank God! Now put your robe on and let’s get some lunch, before I change my mind.”
“Take your own advice before I get my second wind.”
After a lazy lunch, Mark and Stacy showered and dressed. They went to the stables and saddled their horses. Mark saddled Swifty, his captured wild stallion, with the saddle Stacy’s parents gave him for his twelfth birthday. Brian and Morgan had returned the favor two years later with a saddle for Stacy’s mare, one of the Tennessee walkers named Guinevere, Gwen for short. They planned to breed the two horses this year. They picked up their weapons from their families’ houses and turned toward the back forty. They talk as they ride at an easy walk.
“Remember when we didn’t need to carry these around here?”
“I always had my pistol on me when we went out in the field.”
“Yeah, but now I’m carrying one too. You have your M1A and I’ve got my AR. We both have a spare pistol and more ammo in our go kits in our saddle bags. It pisses me off a little that we might actually need this much firepower with us on our own place!”
“We’d be more than pissed off if we needed it and didn’t have it. Coyotes and wild dogs have started to become a real problem around here. The National Park Service has done such a good job with the black bear population in the Smokies, they’ve spread out and one is occasionally seen here; there’ve even been a few sightings in Bowling Green and Nashville. And I’d still love to get my hands on the idiot who thought reintroducing wolves to the area was a good idea! I just wish those were the only reasons we’re armed to the teeth.”
“I’ll tell you right now, Mark, we find another one of our cows chopped up and half eaten beside an old campfire; whoever did it better not be there. I will make them have a damn bad day!”
“Easy there. The last thing either of us wants to live with is shooting somebody. You know how long it took Larry and Eric to get past it. We’re going to have to hire some more hands to patrol the fence line and watch over the herds if things keep going like they are. That’s tricky though. If it was an illegal who killed that cow, he could be covered in gang tattoos and the courts might still rule against us if we even held him, much less killed him. Even if he was armed, we might lose that case. I doubt it, but there’s also a slight possibility we could know the people who killed her. The economy’s going straight to hell. A lot of folks are having to choose between food and a place to live.”
“Still, those animals are our livelihood! Nobody in this family would ever turn a hungry person away. That’s how Doc, Teri, Emily, and Jacob got here. They were half starving and were still going to lose the house. Emily talked to me about it and you and I talked to the family. Now they live in the foreman’s house and we have a vet and three farm hands on the payroll. It worked out good for everybody. We worked too hard for what we have, to let some thief take it away. More than that, when they kill our animals and tear up our crops, they take food out of our mouths and all those people we help feed through the church. You do realize that the farm is giving up about $3000 of income every month to charity, right?”
“We’re giving up more money than that after expenses, but it’s for a good cause. I am a little worried. Brian was telling me that Rubycon is way down from a year ago. The government is about the only one building anything these days. If it gets any worse, he said they might have to lay some people off. We could pick up two or three, but we can’t pay them what Brian and Morgan do.”
“It’d beat starving to death or freezing in winter. Mark, I’m not changing my mind, but should we wait to get married until things turn around?”
“I’m not sure things are going to turn around; they might, but it’ll take a miracle. Some things can’t be fixed, or can’t be fixed without a hell of a lot of misery. I doubt we’ll run out of oil in our lifetime, but what’s left is getting harder to get to. That means less is getting to market and it costs more. Higher fuel costs mean higher prices for everything. There are just short of eight billion people on the planet. In the first world countries, we have a birth rate below the repopulation rate. Our populations grow only because of immigration, both legal and illegal. Many second and third world countries are baby factories, so the world population is still growing. There are more people every year, but no more land to put them on or grow food for them. We couldn’t feed everybody now if it weren’t for oil powered farm equipment, chemical fertilizers, and genetically tinkered frankenfood. Those fertilizers have damaging side effects on the ecosystem and humans. Inflation is going crazy worldwide. The world economy is slowly falling apart. On top of that, those damn terrorists can’t seem to get the message that we’re not going to give up and trade our Constitution for Sharia law.”
“Earth is still making coal, natural gas, and oil. To fix the fuel problem, we either have to stop using it faster than the planet can make it, or find another source of energy, or both. The only moral way to deal with the population problems is birth control without abortion. Not only would that take too long to avoid a world of hurt, people are too greedy and stupid to go that route. Humans will keep murdering babies, which only slows the growth. What will most likely bring the population back in line with what the Earth can sustain, without the extreme intervention we do now, is war or famine and disease. The terrorists are trying real hard to make that war part happen. The economic problems aren’t helping either. People are getting desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.”
“I love you. I don’t think things are going to get better anytime soon. We don’t know how long we have on this Earth together. When one of these balloons pops, we might or might not survive it. We’re getting married sooner rather than later and spending whatever time we have, together.”
“Damn Mark! Could you have been a little less romantic?”
“I am being romantic. Only God knows how long we have together and what’s coming next. I don’t want to waste one second of that time and I want to face whatever comes with you at my side. You’re the love of my life, my best friend, and my closest ally. There’s nobody else I want to face my future with, and I sure as Hell don’t want to face it alone. It may sound a little morbid, but if I go first, I want God to gather me up out of your arms and I want ‘I love you’ to be the very last words you ever hear me say. I love Him and am looking forward to meeting Him face to face, but I fully intend to make Him work at it to get my hand out of yours when He calls me home.”
“I feel the same way about you, but I’m not in any hurry to say those words for the last time.”
“Me either. Dammit!”
“What?”
“It’s Paladin; he’s hurt! Call Doc and tell him to grab his bag and a gator and get back here. Ride back to the creek crossing and guide him back.”
“I’m on it!”
Stacy takes off at a trot as she calls Doc. She tells him what, where, and right now, and hangs up. As soon as her phone is in her pocket, she urges Gwen to a full gallop. Mark dismounts and pulls a saddle bag off Swifty. The dog lifts his head and wags his tail a little, and Mark lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Mark sees a jagged, deep wound on Paladin’s rear leg.
“Hey old man, what’d you tangle with? Here, let me take a look. It’s gonna’ take some work, but I think you’ll be ok. I’m gonna’ wash it out. You lay still now and don’t bite me.”
Mark pours some water over the wound out of his canteen. Paladin yelps and raises his head, but doesn’t snap at Mark. Mark strokes the dog’s belly as he talks softly to him.
“It’s ok, I won’t do that again. It’s pretty clean. I’m gonna’ bandage you to get it to stop bleeding and keep dirt out of it. Don’t worry, Doc’s on his way to take care of you. He’ll fix you right up.”
Mark hears movement to his left, in the trees on the other side of the fence, and draws his pistol. Sheba, along with her offspring Sandy and Rose, come through the fence. Their teeth are bared, their hackles are up, and their muzzles are bloody. They are a terrifying sight. Mark calls to them and they come, looking much less fearsome than they did a moment ago.
“Sheba, come!...Sit! What the hell did you four get into? Let’s have a look at you three. You definitely got in a fight with something, but you three look a lot better than the old man. Guard!”
All three of the females get to their feet and start prowling in a rough circle about ten yards out from Mark and Paladin. They are alert and aggressive looking. These dogs are ready for a fight.
By the time Stacy gets back with Doc, Mark’s attention and some water to drink have perked Paladin up. The three females all but ignore the two humans who just showed up. They are familiar and the dogs have a job to do.”
“What happened to him, Mark?”
“Stacy, get my bowl out of my saddlebag. These mutts need some water too. Doc, it looks like a dog bite but I’m not sure. That spot on his back leg is the only major one I found. I rolled him on his back and checked his other side, but didn’t see anything serious.”
“You cleaned this up good. Did he try to bite while you were working on him?”
“Not even once. He yelped and jerked his head up when I washed it, that was all.”
“This is one of the most even tempered cross breeds I have ever seen.”
“It helps that he sees me as the pack alpha. How bad is it?”
“It ain’t good, but I can fix it. This boy’s going to be in the house, sacked out on a blanket for a few weeks. Think we can get him on this stretcher so we can load him in the gator?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll take the end full of teeth. Ready? One, two, three, lift.”
“He didn’t even twitch! That’s a good boy! Let’s load him up.”
“Stacy, will you ride with Paladin to keep him calm? I’ll bring Gwen back.”
“Sure. See you at Uncle Brian’s.”
“I’ll be along. I think these three made whatever attacked Paladin have a real bad day. I want to find out what it was.”
“Just be careful. I still have to get you to the altar, you know.”
“Will you just go. I’ll be fine. Come on, mutts!”
Mark pulls his rifle from the scabbard and heads toward the fence where the dogs came through, leaving the horses ground tethered. He follows their trail and comes upon a mortally wounded dog. From the looks of him, the animal is wild. Mark aims his rifle and shoots the dog once in the head, putting it out of its misery. The scavengers will pick the carcass clean and anything left will replenish the soil with nutrients. Nothing wasted these days.
“Let’s go home, girls.”
Mark walks back to the horses with the dogs in tow. He slings his rifle, mounts Swifty, takes Gwen’s reins in his hand, and turns toward home at a walk. The dogs range around him, but they know their destination.
By the time Mark gets to Brian’s house, Paladin’s asleep on a blanket on the floor, a cone of shame around his neck. Stacy and Doc are talking to Brian and Morgan at the kitchen table.
“...and then I went to meet Doc at the creek. I still want to know what they tangled with.”
“It was a wild dog. I don’t know how much of it was Paladin and how much was the girls, but he was about finished when I found him. I shot him to put him out of his misery. Guys, this is starting to be a real problem, as if we don’t have enough problems already.”
“What do you propose we do about it, Little Brother? We can’t afford to hire hands just to patrol.”
“Can’t we? We already have Jamie and Christina living in the cabin we built by the pond. Doc and his family are living in the old foreman’s house on Larry and Erin’s place. We’ve got the line cabin we built on the back forty that can house up to sixteen! All we have to do is put a septic field in for the bathrooms. We could hire four hands for room and board plus a little money for less than the price of a cow every month. We’ve lost a cow and three calves since January!”
“And what do we tell them to do if they come across trespassers?”
“Hold them at gunpoint for Pete. Anastasia made a good point to me today. The damn thieves aren’t just taking our livelihood when they steal or kill our animals. They’re taking food off our tables and out of the mouths of some damn good, needy people that we’re helping to provide for through church. If you ask me, the first time one of those people dies because they’re starving or sick from lack of food because we don’t have it to give because some damn thief took it; it’s murder. From what you’ve said, it’s already just a matter of time before all of us contributing to the food banks won’t be able to feed everybody in need, unless something changes. Every cow or chicken we lose brings that time that much closer. Hell, we can recruit hands from the people getting help from church. We have enough work around here to take on four for part time patrol and part time work. Everybody wins that way.”
“Ok, I don’t want your birthday and engagement celebration ruined any more than this already has, so I’ll ride over to Todd and Sarah’s to tell them and we’ll figure on having a trustee’s meeting here on Tuesday. We’ll talk about it then. How’d it go last night anyway?”
“You have to ask, Uncle Brian? I would have thought you heard me.”
“Takes after her Mother, eh Mark?”
“Oh hell no! Erin’s a chipmunk on helium; Anastasia’s a wildcat!”
“TMI, Little Brother.”
“In this family? There’s no such thing.”
“So when’s the wedding?”
“Haven’t gotten that far yet. Paladin had to be taken care of first. How is he, Doc?”
“That other dog got him good. The muscle’s tore up and a ligament was torn in two, but I got it sewn back together. He’s going to be ok, but it’ll take a month probably. We’re going to have a problem if things don’t turn around. I’m having to go black market sometimes to get some of the drugs and supplies I need, when I can get them at all. Who ever thought suture kits and livestock antibiotics would be worth enough to sell under the table?”
“Brian, if they’re that hard to come by, we need to stock up any way we can. Once they’re gone, we’ll just have to do without them, but for as long as they last…”
“Mark, what are we going to buy them with, our good looks?”
“I don’t know about you, but I still have about $85K in my trust fund. Todd still has some in his too. I don’t think Jacob and Sonje have touched his. That’s another thing. I talked to him Thursday. He said he might get RIF’ed along with the rest of the A-10 crews. DoD is tossing maintenance crews and pilots for those planes and just replacing them with F-35 crews as they phase out the A-10’s. The Army and Marines are taking a few, but not near enough to absorb the whole fleet. Brian, if they boot him, they’re coming home! Sonje’s got nobody left in Germany. Where are we going to put them? We need to get all of us together on a conference call with them and make some decisions. Everything’s costing more, when we can even find it, and our money’s worth less every day. The inflation rate is higher than the interest rates on my trust fund.”
“Geez! Ok, I’ll call Jacob this weekend too and we’ll set up a trustee meeting and video conference with him on Tuesday. You two might want to take the rest of the weekend to be irresponsible lovebirds while you still can.”
“We’ll take our time, Uncle Brian. We won’t make that mistake again.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I thought you two didn’t do that until last night.”
“Last night was the first time either one of us did what you’re thinking. Aunt Morgan, I was going to break up with Mark last night. We almost lost it all because neither one of us took the time to talk to each other about things that were bothering us. I’m not losing my fiance because we’re too busy to make time for each other.”
“What is it with the couples in this family? It seems like all of us had to have our one minute of stupid.”
“Hard headed and stubborn. If you don’t need us for anything else, we’re going to get back to celebrating.”
“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“Morgan, I lived with you for the last four years. As long as it’s with Brian, there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do.”
“My brother has a point.”
“Shut up, Brian. You two get gone before you get us all in trouble.”
“Bye guys.”
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Post by biggkidd on Mar 11, 2018 16:38:54 GMT -6
Heating up I see! I hope Mark and Stacy don't have anymore personal problems.
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Post by cutter on Mar 11, 2018 18:23:18 GMT -6
I never know with those two, but I don't see any. I'm working on that new addition now. He is one nasty little piece of work. The clan and crew are going to have their work cut out for them. I expect he'll show up in a posting in the next two weeks or so.
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Post by headlesshorseman on Mar 11, 2018 18:27:02 GMT -6
Thank you. A great chapter.
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Post by cutter on Mar 12, 2018 21:34:35 GMT -6
I'm sitting here working on telling a little more of the clan's story, listening to some old trucker music. Right now, Red Sovine is telling about Little Teddy Bear. Feeling a little sentimental and thought I'd post a chapter, just because. Incidentally, I got to listening because I mentioned Red in the story. I love that old trucker music. Please enjoy the story.
Chapter 6
(Saturday, April 24, 2021, Marshall homestead, 3 PM)
“What are we doing now?”
“I still want to go to church tomorrow, so we can’t stay; but let’s go check on the cave and the cabin. When we get back, we’ll turn the horses out and take a gator to both our old places to get some of our stuff. When we get back home from that, let’s put some supper together.”
“It sure was nice of Bobby and Kit to stock our refrigerator while we were out last night. We need to thank them for that.”
“Let’s have the three of them over for supper next week. They’ve fed us enough times.”
“Hey, yeah! We can do that now! This having our own place thing is going to take some getting used to. We are going to move in now, right?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve spent our last night apart.”
“I wanted to ask you; what did Mom and Dad say when you asked them?”
“Anastasia, your Dad cried. He’s going to have a hard time getting used to you not being there.”
“Mark, I don’t want to just stop spending time with them.”
“We’re not going to. We’re going to spend time with your family and Brian and Morgan. You can just get it out of your head right now if you thought it was going to be any other way. I expect we’ll be starting the cookouts again soon too.”
“That’ll be nice, but it won’t be like it used to. We used to have people come from town and all over the county for the cookouts. Nobody can afford the fuel anymore.”
“Yeah, we’re starting to feel the crunch here too. This $5 a gallon gas and $7 a gallon diesel is starting to hurt. I don’t want to talk about it right now, but when we get home and I can really put my brain on it; I want to talk to you about some things.”
“Lover, you suck! Dangle that in front of me and then say you don’t want to talk about it right now?”
“I just know how you are. If we talk about it now, you’ll have more questions than I have answers. You will later too, but at least then we can work on answers together.”
“Nice save. So what are we looking for up here?”
“I want to know if anybody has tried to get in the cabin or cave.”
“I can see the cabin, but the only time we’re sure anybody other than you, me, Brian, and Morgan was ever in the cave was 1956. That was sixty-five years ago. Anybody he told about the cave is probably dead or too old to be able to make it back here now. Kit and Bobby still don’t know. Even if somebody did luck out and find it, they can’t get past the gate.”
“I still want to check on it. When we get there, we need to talk.”
“There you go again with the suspense.”
“No, I want us standing in our super secret shelter and supply depot while we’re talking about it. I want both of our heads in that game when we get there so we don’t waste time. You know, I still have plans for you tonight.”
“I DON’T want to talk about those. Surprise me.”
“I thought you might say that.”
“I don’t know what else you think you can do with me.”
“Think about who you’re talking to.”
“I am in so much trouble.”
“You have no idea.”
“I can believe that. There’s the cabin.”
(...)
“Mark, other than it needing a good cleaning, everything looks ok.”
“Yeah. I checked around. All I saw were animal tracks. The shelter looks ok too. I want to get some updated prices for the solar panels, batteries, inverters, and charge controllers. I want to look into some more of those LED ribbons too.”
“Mark, we don’t need more power here. The batteries are full up and the only draw we have is the pump to keep fresh water from the creek flowing into the pond. What do you want more light for? We can already light the cabin and shelter up like the surface of the sun if we want to.”
“Spares. We did two smart things on this farm with the power. First, we got off the grid, even though it cost us a fortune. Second, we used the same components for everything. Every solar install on every building is interchangeable with every other one. All five of the windmills are DIY designs and we have the capability to interchange parts, make parts, or modify to fit available parts to make them work. The two hydro generators we have are the same now too, since we upgraded the one for the cave.”
“Next week. This is our engagement, remember?”
“After last night, how could I forget? I don’t know where in Hell you learned how to do some of those things!”
“I’ve been talking to Mom and Kit a lot for the last three years. Let’s just say that Kit and Bobby are surprisingly adventurous for her past and Mom and Dad...well, Mom and Dad are legendary in this family.”
“Erin told you how to do those things!?!”
“Some of them, and her face was as red as her hair every time. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what Kit told me about. You and I have some very long, very private nights ahead of us.”
“Speaking of couples behaving badly, when do we want to get the crew together to announce our engagement?”
“Let’s shoot for weekend after next. Everybody will probably know by then, but we can still have a party and we can coordinate transportation so everybody can afford to come.”
“Think Alan will come?”
“Since Jen left him, I don’t know. Sky said his head’s a total wreck right now. After all he did for her, all he helped her through, I don’t understand how she could do that to him, and with a friend of his!”
“I think there’s more going on there than we know about, maybe even more than Alan knows about. I don’t think Joel is near the friend either one of them thought he was either. I just have a bad feeling that Jen is going to end up repeating her history.”
“What can we do?”
“You tell me. I don’t have the first damn clue or I’d have already done it. Joel’s got money. He’s popular and even I’ll have to admit he’s a good looking guy.”
“Alan’s handsome too!”
“Yes he is. I didn’t say he wasn’t. Alan’s also taking a full course load at WKU and working a full time job on top of that because he wanted to be able to get a job to provide for them and so they’d have a place of their own to land after they graduated. He was doing everything he could to be responsible and do right by Jen. Joel’s taking her to fancy places and buying her things. Oh yeah, he’s getting her drunk off her ass too. According to Alan, those frat parties are crazy and they run on booze. You watch, Jen’s going to wake up on a frat house floor some morning with her panties gone and no idea how she got there or who the father is, and that’s if she’s lucky!”
“That’s pretty rough, Mark.”
“So are ecstasy and alcohol, especially when you mix them.”
“Mark, that’s pretty judgemental. We both drink a little, even though we’re both underage. Jen doesn’t do drugs anyway.”
“Yeah. I have one beer or one shot of bourbon in a glass of ginger ale with the guys on Friday nights when I have the time and I’m not with you; one beer or one shot. I’m at home and I stay there. You have a beer or one of those fru-fru drinks you and Erin like once in a while, at home; and you stay there. You and I took a six pack that one time when we went up to the back forty together and we brought back two of those; we each had one with our supper each night. The way Alan tells it, Jen can’t resist having a drink when she goes to a party and won’t stop at one, or even five or six. He’s carried her to the car and held her hair while she puked more times than he can remember! She left him because he, and I quote, ‘was boring’. I hope nothing bad happens to her and I hope she comes to her senses, regardless of whether or not they patch things up, but I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for her. She’s being stupid and acting like a whore. And by the way, if she ends up taking ecstasy, she won’t know it until it’s all over and she ends up in the ER with a rape kit. Joel or somebody else will slip it in her drink.”
“Mark, that’s…”
“She broke up with Alan when he came home early one day because he was sick and found her with Joel, in their bed! She didn’t even have the decency to cover herself up or get off her boytoy when she told him it was over between them! If you think that isn’t a problem, we need to talk!”
“I could never do that to you. You give me everything I need, everything I want from my man. I have no reason to go looking and every reason not to. Mark, I can’t even imagine wanting somebody else, much less having sex with another man, especially in our bed! Jen is so wrong that she doesn’t even know what wrong looks like anymore, but she was a friend of ours once.”
“She still is a friend of mine if she ever wants to be again. Truth’s the truth though. She gave up more than she knows for a roll in the hay with a rich pretty boy. He’ll throw her away when the new wears off of her. Where’s she gonna’ be then? Alan’s so screwed up that he can barely talk to you and Kit! He doesn’t do much better with us guys! She messed him up so bad; I’m not sure he’d take her back and I’m even less sure I’d blame him if he didn’t.”
“If Joel tosses her, she’ll be in the same shape with another guy or alone. God help her. Mark, I know we almost lost it all, but there wasn’t anybody else with me. I still loved you. I just thought you didn’t love me anymore.”
“We were both wrong about us. Just be glad we’re still together.”
“I am, more than you know. Let’s go check our special place.”
When they get to the waterfall, Mark and Stacy dismount and leave their horses by the pool at the bottom. They slip underneath the falls together and stand for a moment on the flat rock they call the front porch, letting their eyes adjust. Mark pulls a keyring from his pocket and reaches through the bars that cover an opening in the rock wall. A moment later, they hear a sharp snap and Mark pulls a lock through the bars. He pushes and the bars swing in with very little noise.
“I need to grease those.”
“They didn’t make much noise.”
“They’re not supposed to make any. Must be a little rust on the ball bearings. It isn’t a big deal. Hit the lights and let’s check the place over.”
Stacy goes ahead while Mark closes the gate and hangs the lock in the hasp. He follows her into their special place. The main room of the cave looks exactly like it did four months ago when he was last here.
“I don’t see anything out of place. Do you?”
“Nope. I’d say nobody’s been here; there’s too many goodies in this room for a trespasser to resist.”
“Imagine what they’d think if they found the shaft and got to the lower level.”
“Yeah, that would be bad. Let’s go check our room. I want to know if I was right last night.”
They go into the second chamber of the cave and have a look around. Everything is exactly as they left it. Stacy laughs when she opens the tent.
“I was right, flat as a pancake. That’s a shame; I was hoping it would still be inflated.”
“We can blow it back up if it means that much to you, but it’ll just go flat again before the next time we come back here.”
Stacy can’t stop giggling. “Who says we won’t need it until next time? Get the air pump.”
“Really!?!”
“Hey, we Marshall and Waters girls have a reputation to maintain. We don’t have to use the air matress if you’re in a hurry.”
“I’ll get the pump.”
“Good. I’m going to get more comfortable. You might go tether the horses before things get out of hand. I’d do it but I’m not dressed for it right now.”
“Heaven help me. Do you plan for us to get any sleep tonight?”
“Eventually, Lover.”
“If that’s the way you want it, fine. I think you’ll surrender before I will.”
“I think you’re right, but it’s going to be fun finding out for sure. Go tether the horses; I’m waiting.”
A few hours later, Mark and Stacy have unsaddled their horses and are dragging to the house. Between the excitement with Paladin, the long trail rides, and their “leisure activities”; they are both worn out. Mark has a really bad feeling when he sees Brian waiting for them on the back porch.
“Whatever it is can’t be good. Is it Paladin?”
“He’s sacked out by our bed. He’s ok. Mark, do you remember Gerty Marywether?”
“Yeah, she used to own Larry and Erin’s place.”
“We got a call from her daughter Suzie today. Gerty passed away last night.”
“She was around eighty-five, wasn’t she?”
“She would have been eighty-six in May.”
“Good, long life, not that that makes it any easier on her family. What happened?”
“With the Medicare cutbacks, they couldn’t afford her heart medication. Suzie said she passed away peacefully in her sleep last night. She said Wade was right beside her.\”
“I’m glad she went peaceful, at least. She was a sweet old lady. We used to bake sugar cookies together when I was little. Are they going to bury her in Florida?”
“No. She called to ask if they could lay her to rest beside Everett in the family plot here.”
“I don’t see Larry and Erin having a problem with that. We’ve been maintaining the cemetery ever since y’all bought the place.”
“They’re fine with it. I just thought you’d want to know because you used to spend time with her.”
“I’m glad you told me. I’m going to the funeral. Just let me know when.”
“It’ll be a week or so. They’re trying to arrange transport.”
“Think the funeral home would go get her?”
“No, they can’t afford the fuel to drive the hearse down there and back. Suzie and her family are flying in with the casket.”
“I guess that is the best way.”
“Y’all want to come over for supper tonight?”
“Would it hurt your feelings if we took a rain check?”
“Morgan and I expected you wouldn’t come, but we wanted to extend the invitation. It’s ok. You’ll get it worked out of your system eventually.”
“You and Morgan have been married five years now and you never have. How’s she feeling today?”
“Oh you know, a little morning sickness, just like the last two times. She hasn’t had too bad a time of it today. Right now, her biggest problem is that she can only have one cup of coffee a day. I never realized just how much caffeine contributed to her sparkling personality.”
“No kidding! Without her coffee, William is the only one in the house who’s safe. I’m really glad Stacy and I are moving in together over here.”
“Chicken. Just wait until it’s Stacy. She’s liable to tie it in a knot.”
“I will not! I like to take care of my toys so they’re not broken the next time I want to play with them. Besides, I’m pretty sure Mark can stop me from doing that anyway.”
“Listen, I’m heading home. You two take care and I hope we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“We’ll probably ride in with Stacy’s bunch, but we’re planning on going to church in the morning. You’ll see us then and we’ll be at your place for Sunday dinner.”
“Speaking of which, have Aunt Morgan call me and let me know what she wants me to bring to dinner tomorrow.”
“Will do. Oh, call your folks too. Larry’s having a hard time today.”
“Brian, I hope it doesn’t hurt your feelings, but that’s why I wanted the rain check. I’m thinking we need to go have supper with them tonight. I’d like it if we still had supper with our families at least once a week. Now that we’re going to be living together on our own, we can have y’all over and feed you, instead of us eating you or Stacy’s folks out of house and home all the time.”
“Our feelings aren’t hurt. We knew Larry was going to have a hard time with this. You two go take care of the old softie. Why don’t we talk about us having supper together sometime next week?”
“Sounds good to us. You know, we could make this simple and just everybody get together once or twice a week for a big extended family meal.”
“That’s not a half bad idea. Let’s all talk about it tomorrow at dinner.”
“Sounds great. You best get home to Morgan and we need to get cleaned up to go to Larry and Erin’s. We’ll see you at church tomorrow. Thanks for coming and telling me about Gerty.”
“See y’all.”
“I hate to hear that about Mrs. Marywether.”
“Yeah, Gerty was a great lady, but it isn’t all bad. Gerty had a long and mostly happy life. She and Everett were married right out of high school. They bought your folks’ place right after they got married. They raised a couple of adopted kids and had a happy marriage for fifty years until Everett passed. After she moved to Florida with Suzie, she met Wade and they had the time of their lives together, according to her. Suzie said she went peaceful and Wade was with her, so that was a blessing to her and her family. When it’s my time, I can think of worse ways to go than quietly in my sleep.”
“So can I. Let’s go in and get cleaned up. I’ll call Mom and tell her we’re coming.”
“Why don’t you call Larry and ask if it would be ok for us to come for supper and visit. It’ll help him feel better. Tell him we miss him; it won’t be a lie.”
“You are way too smooth, Mark. How about I make my call real quick and then we can grab a shower; I’ll wash your back for you.”
“I thought we were going to supper with your family.”
“I’ll behave if you will.”
“Sure you will.”
“Ok fine, I’ll mostly behave.”
“Don’t make me turn you over my knee and spank you.”
“I thought we were going to supper with my family.”
“I’ll wait until we get back. Make your call and let’s get ready.”
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Post by udwe on Mar 13, 2018 14:13:51 GMT -6
Wow!
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Post by cutter on Mar 14, 2018 19:37:03 GMT -6
I'm not even sure what to say about this one. Please enjoy.
Chapter 7
(Saturday, April 24, 2021, 7 PM, Waters kitchen)
“Anybody home?”
“STACY!”
“DAD!”
Stacy leaps into Larry’s arms and he twirls her around. “I missed you this morning, Sweetheart!”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“No you’re not and you shouldn’t be. I’ll get used to it. Would you be upset if I called you in the morning once in a while?”
“Dad, you call me anytime you want. You know, nothing says Mark and I can’t come over for breakfast any day you want us to. Nothing says you guys can’t come to our house anytime you want to, either. Our family is always welcome in our home.”
“I love you, Anastasia. Our door is always open for you and Mark too. You two come anytime you want.”
“We’ll take you up on that; now put me down so I can say hi to everybody else.”
Larry puts Stacy down and she goes to say hi to everybody and help her Mom with supper.
“Mark, did you guys walk or ride over?”
“We walked.”
“Supper won’t be ready for about another hour, you want a drink and a cigar?”
“Sounds good. I’m guessing you want to talk to me alone.”
“That too, but mostly I just want to spend some time with you. Your usual?”
“That’d be great. Yeah, whatever you have and ginger ale.”
A few minutes later, Mark and Larry are sitting on Larry’s back porch, watching the stars come out and indulging their bad habits.
“I can’t believe I let you and Brian get me hooked on these things. These damn cigars are bad for us and cost twenty bucks apiece now! I’m glad I only smoke about two a month.” Mark takes a sip of his drink. “Oh damn, Larry! That’s smooth! What did you give me?”
“Old Smokey Tennessee blended whiskey. Max has been bringing me back a case of it and a case of applejack every week when he comes home from the Gatlinburg job.”
“Two cases a week! Are you turning into some kind of alcoholic?”
“No. Max is already there for the job. The client is paying the fuel and travel expenses, so all I’m paying for is the liquor. When the job’s done, who knows when or if any of us will ever be there again. I’m building up a supply that will last for years. You want to take a bottle of each home with you tonight? It isn’t like you’ll abuse it.”
“Yeah, thanks Larry. It did me good to see you and Anastasia together just now.”
“She’s been gone when y’all go on your campouts and such, but I miss her more now. I guess it’s because I know she doesn’t live here anymore.”
“I hope it isn’t going to be a problem with us.”
“Hell no! We’ve all known this was coming for years. Mark, I’m happy for you both and I’m glad Stacy can live her own life with a good man who will protect her and take care of her. It’s like I told you, she was ours for such a short time and now she’s yours. Humf! Who am I kidding? We’ve shared her with you ever since the first day she came to us. She’s just on your side of the share now. Mark, Erin’s right; we’re gaining a son, not losing a daughter. Hell boy, I’ve known you since you were in diapers; I wasn’t far out of them when you were born. You’ve been like a mix of son and brother to me ever since you came back. I’m not mad. I want you to tell me the truth about something though. Did you two really wait until last night?”
“Yes sir, we really did. How we managed it, I don’t have the first damn clue. It was a damn close thing a couple of times. That weekend up at the back forty when we did the pour for the shelter and the night of Bobby and Kit’s wedding almost did us in. The night we finished the house and stayed there for the first time was the hardest, but we somehow managed to stop before we couldn’t.”
“I’m impressed. I couldn’t have behaved myself with Erin for four years.”
“I never said we behaved ourselves, just that we didn’t go all the way. As far as you and Erin, I don’t think she would have behaved herself either. You know, we’ve talked about this before. All of us guys won the lottery. All of our women are our best friends and most loyal allies. From what I’ve heard you, Brian, Todd, Jacob, and Bobby say, and what I know from my time with Stacy, all of our women are considerate and attentive lovers. There are men who will look their whole lives and never find what we did. By the way, I wish you’d told me sooner, but thanks for the advice.”
“What advice?”
“The sun was shining today and I took the time to enjoy it with my girl. If it rains tomorrow, we’ll deal with it, together.”
“Yeah, I just wish none of us had learned it the hard way like we all did.”
“Yeah, but the four of us got through it.”
“Not just the four of us, all of us in this clan. Don’t forget Brian and Morgan and Bobby and Kit. Todd and Sarah too, although Sarah was the dumb one instead of Todd.”
“I must have been camping with Stacy for that Friday night boys’ night. What am I missing?”
“Well, you know how hard Bobby works, but at least he takes a little time every day for Kit and Eliza, just not enough. It wasn’t that Sarah didn’t want to marry Todd, just that she wanted to finish college first. Her mistake was that she didn’t bother to tell him that, any of the fourteen times he asked her to set a date. Let’s just say that Brian should have spent more time paying attention to Morgan and Morgan should have asked him why he wasn’t when they were dating.”
“Would you mind explaining about Brian and Morgan a little better?”
“Yeah, I mind. If you don’t know and really want to, you need to talk to them.”
“You men ready for supper, or are you too busy gossiping?”
“On our way, Chipmunk.”
“You know, I hear our couch is a pretty comfortable place to sleep.”
“Why would you want to sleep there? There’s plenty of room in our bed for you.”
“Would you two just get your butts in here so we can eat?”
“Yes Ma’am.”
As the family goes to the table, Larry holds Erin’s chair for her. His place is at the head of the table, but as with everything else in their lives together, Erin is his right hand. Mark pulls out the chair at Larry’s left for Stacy and she kisses his cheek as she sits down. “Thank you, Love.” Mark gets her settled and pulls out the chair beside her, only to have three year old Al slip into it before he can sit down.
“Hey Speedy, that’s my seat.”
“I not Speedy. I Al. I sit with Sissy! My chair!”
“Ok, Buddy. Will you sit next to me, Roni?”
“Uh-huh, Huncle Mark!”
Once everybody’s settled at the table, all eyes turn to Larry as the family holds hands in a prayer circle. Jordan actually has to stand up and lean over the table a little to hold Roni’s hand, but he doesn’t mind. Both of the twins are holding onto Mark’s hands like they think somebody is going to steal him. Stacy can’t decide who’s holding her hand tighter; Al on her left, or Dad on her right. It doesn’t matter; she’s cherished by every person at the table and it warms her heart. At Larry’s first word, they all bow their heads and close their eyes.
“Lord God, we’re thankful tonight for your blessing. We thank you Lord, for filling our table with food, our home with family, and our hearts with love. Lord, we thank you that..that Mark and Stacy are here...that they have cho-chosen to share their celebration of this new chapter in their lives together with us. We...we thank you Lord, that Erin and I will soon gain a son, and our family will be so much stronger for his presence. Lord, we ask all of your blessings on all of our children, and thank you for them. Please forgive us our sins and make all of us the people you want us to be. Lord, there are so many in need. Help us to be mindful and to not harden our hearts against them. In Christ’s name, amen.”...”Dig in, guys.”
After supper, everybody’s sitting in the living room visiting. The twins are sitting on either side of Stacy. After supper is always story time for the twins, and Sissy is their favorite storyteller.
“Why Laura use candle?”
“Well, way back then, nobody knew how to use electricity. Laura and her family used candles and lanterns for light at night.”
“Like campouts!”
“Just like the campouts. The lanterns we use make more light, but it’s the same idea.”
“Glad Sissy home. Miss you last night.”
“Sissy stay home tonight?”
“Al, Mark and I have to go home to our house tonight. We’ll be back tomorrow morning to go to church.”
“We wan Sissy home!”
“Mark wants me home with him too. I’m sorry guys; I can’t be both places.” Stacy looks over at Mark with tears in her eyes. He smiles and nods toward the twins and then jerks his head toward their house. She understands. “Would you like to come stay with us sometime?”
“We stay Sissy and Mark?”
“Sure you can. Sissy and I would love to have you stay with us. Why don’t you two come stay with us next weekend? Noah and Jordan can come stay too and your Mom and Dad can have a weekend play date.”
Erin shoots coffee out her nose as she laughs. Larry starts laughing at her.
“Mom, can we? We’ll be good, we promise!”
“Guys, we really would love to have them stay with us, if it’s ok with you.”
“Mark, you’re serious!”
“Larry, of course I’m serious! I love these guys! They can come stay with us anytime!”
“Would you two like to stay with your sister and Mark?”
“YEAH! STAY WITH SISSY!”
“I guess that settles it. Mom, I’ll help you get their bags packed for next weekend. The boys can handle packing themselves, I think. Why don’t you call Bailey and Christy and see if Tabby and Sherry can come stay with us too?”
“Let me get this straight. You two got engaged and moved in together last night, and after only a week living together, you want to have six kids in your house with you as their chaperones?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Was last night so good that you got all your celebrating out of your system already?”
“Mom, we have the rest of our lives to celebrate. You two haven’t had the house completely to yourselves for three years. Give us the boys and the twins and take the weekend. It won’t really be much different than the campouts for us and we have all week before they stay. Who knows, we might get another brother or sister, or both, out of it. And by the way, the Earth stopped turning last night and the whole world held its breath to keep from ruining the moment.”
“When you put it that way, ok; but if you just jinxed us, I might have to kill you. We already have our own basketball team.”
“You’re both big kids; bag it if you’re that worried about it.”
“Well! Yes Ma’am!”
“I don’t know what you’re worried about anyway; you have an open bedroom now.”
“Not yet, we don’t. Your Dad spent about three hours sitting on your bed last night, just looking around and daydreaming.”
“Really, Dad?”
“What can I say? I miss you. Your’ Mom’s leaving out the part about her being with me the whole time.”
“Well then pick up the freakin’ phone or walk over and knock on the door! What’s the matter with you? I’m not saying we’ll never leave here, but I can’t imagine what would ever make us want to live somewhere else. We are a phone call and five minutes apart. This is our home and where we want to raise our children. Quit acting like we’re moving to Alaska; we’re right next door!”
“OK! OK! I get it; I’m being stupid.”
“Larry, you’re not being stupid. Stacy and I moved in together and you’re not used to her not living here yet. Truthfully, we’re not quite used to it yet either. It’ll take time and we will do all we can to help you, Erin, and the kids through it. My little blond hothead is right though. Pick up the phone or knock on the door; y’all are welcome in our home anytime. We are going to go home though. The littles are falling asleep, we’re tired, and my back’s hurting a little.”
“Let me get you those two bottles. You kids have a good night and we’ll see you in the morning.”
After a round of hugs, and a few kisses here and there, Mark and Stacy are walking home.
“Is there a reason Dad gave you two bottles of liquor?”
“Yeah. He knows we both like this stuff and we won’t get stupid with it. We need to put it somewhere it isn’t obvious and where none of the kids can get to it. The very last thing I want is the jedi twins running around here drunk.”
“Not a problem. We’ll put it in that locking cabinet you built into the bar in our bedroom.”
“See, that’s why I keep you around. I forgot all about that.”
“And here I was thinking it was because you thought I was sexy.”
“Those are two of the many reasons. When we get home, do you feel like lighting a couple of candles and soaking in your garden tub?”
“It would probably help your back and I’d enjoy cuddling.”
“Is that all you want?”
“That’s all I care about. If it goes anywhere else, I’ll enjoy that too. It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just that tending to you and the intimacy are more important to me than the sex. Now that we’re engaged, I know our moments of passion won’t always end in no. I also can see now that before we let our dreams consume our life to the point that we weren’t taking proper care of our relationship, the intimacy and play was enough to carry us through and mostly satisfied us. We both know there’s more to love than lovemaking. We both know that pleasure isn’t always found between the bedsheets. That weekend we did the first pour for the shelter? The massage you gave me was beyond incredible, and way too tempting by the way; but the one I gave you the night before and the one after you got done with me that night were two of the best moments of our lives together to me. I was showing love to you, caring for you, and you trusted me so much that you fell asleep under my hands both times. Mark, we’ve been together a long time; I know how much you trust me. Very few people could ease you to sleep like I did those nights. That trust means more to me than any lovemaking ever will.”
“I feel the same way. Anastasia, thank you for a wonderful day.”
“The part with Paladin and the news about Gerty weren’t so wonderful, but I enjoyed the rest of it.”
“Want to listen to the Opry while we soak?”
“It’s not as much fun as it used to be. So many of the old timers are gone. Let’s just plug the speakers into your phone and listen to a playlist. I’m in the mood for some Patsy Cline anyway. You have any Red Sovine on your phone?”
“Yeah. I have some of his stuff, Jerry Reed, all that old trucker music. I love that stuff.”
“Tell you what, I’ll draw us a bath and get things set up. You put together a playlist. Make sure our song’s in there somewhere. Don’t put it up first; surprise me.”
“I can do that.”
Two hours later, a completely blissed out, very relaxed, and pleasantly pain free Mark kisses Stacy on the cheek. “You about ready to get out of here and go to bed, before we turn into prunes?”
“Depends. How are you feeling?”
Unbelievably good. I’m completely relaxed and nothing hurts.”
“Then no, I don’t think I’m ready. Mark, I’m exhausted! Between last night, this morning, Paladin, the trail rides, whatever that was at the cave, and supper with Mom and Dad; I am worn the hell out! You are one nonstop adventure! I never thought I’d say this, but I would love to know what just one dull moment with you feels like!”
“Then let’s get out and dried off. You put your granny gown on and I’ll put on my sweats.You put your head on my shoulder; I’ll put my arm around you, and we’ll cuddle up under the covers and get some sleep. Inside or outside?”
“Outside, and that’s not dull, but it’ll do. Forget the sweats and granny gown too. I’m liking this skin to skin thing. I’ll take my chances.”
“Come on, Love; let’s get some sleep.”
(Sunday, April 25, 2021, Mark and Stacy’s, 6 AM)
Stacy lies in bed and watches as God puts the first brush strokes of day on the southeastern sky. It took a couple of years for Mark to make her the “before morning” person he always was and she has become. She thinks how this morning is a rare treat. Stacy is luxuriating in her current circumstances. She is soothed by the sounds of Mark’s steady breathing and the strong heart beating in his chest as he still sleeps. His soft, warm skin over hard muscle against her own, gives her the simple intimacy she has come to crave so much with her fiance. She takes it all into herself as she watches the deep blues and purples of the awakening world turn into the electric pinks and yellows of the sunrise as the birds and wildlife wake up and come alive. In this moment, she is content. In this moment, she has her God, the love of her life, and her future. She runs her fingertips lovingly through Mark’s hair and down his jaw. He takes a deep breath and opens his eyes.
“Good morning, Love. Why’d you let me sleep so late? The sun’s almost up.”
“Mark, this is the first time I can remember that you’ve slept a full eight hours without being sick or hurt. It’s been far too rare to see you this peaceful. I was just soaking up the love and the sunrise. I just couldn’t bring myself to wake you.”
“I’m glad you finally did. The dream was good, but the reality is better. Why don’t I get up and fix some breakfast for us? We’ve got about three hours before we need to be at your folks’ place.”
“Let’s both get up and fix breakfast together. It’s been so long since we’ve cooked side by side, so long since we’ve done so many things really that we used to do together; I’ve missed it.”
Mark gives his bride to be a gentle kiss. “Like I said Friday, we start over new. Do me a favor and cover up quick when you get up; you’re just way too tempting and I really want to go to church this morning.”
“You know, being told you’re irresistible is a really nice way to start the day. I could get used to this.”
“I hope so. Come on, let’s get movin’.”
In the kitchen, time and trouble have not diminished the young couple’s connection. The two work together with a fluid intuitiveness that often fascinates onlookers when they cook or work together in places like their church. They almost seem to be reading each other’s minds as they anticipate each other, rarely needing to talk about anything they’re doing. That’s not to say they work in silence. They talk and laugh easily together.
After they finish breakfast and are ready for church, Stacy tries to call her Mom and Aunt Morgan.
“Hey Love, call Aunt Morgan. My phone doesn’t have a signal.”
“Sure. Huh, that’s weird! My phone doesn’t either. I guess the tower went down. That’s never happened before.”
“Turn on the radio. See if they say anything.”
Mark turns on their radio. “...crews worked through the night, but the Electric Plant Board says the repairs to the substation may take several days. Anyone in the affected areas with special needs can contact the hospital or Simpson county emergency services for assistance. We’ll bring you more information as we get it….”
“I wonder what happened. Those transformers are huge and the power company can’t afford to have a spare one just lying around. TVA might have a spare. I’m glad we went off grid with the farm and ranch. This could go a week or more.”
“Mark, we’ll be fine, but what about everybody else? I wonder how many people are without power.”
“Don’t know, but we need to make sure our place looks like we are too. We need to tell your Mom and Dad to do the same. Unfortunately, Brian and Morgan can’t hide that they still have power, with Rubycon. We need to carry at least our pistols anytime we’re here too.”
“You really think we’ll need them?”
“I hope not, but desperate people do desperate things. We have some pretty good neighbors, but if their thin veneer of civilization wears off, they’re liable to get real jealous. That might not turn out so good for anybody.”
“Mark, I don’t want to shoot anybody.”
“I don’t either, but I’ll be carrying my pistol and you WILL carry yours. If things go bad and you’re in danger, I want you to be able to defend yourself. If this goes bad, it could be just like Troy, except we might have ten Troys on our hands. If they’re willing to hurt you, they will have no problems hurting Al and Roni, or any of the rest of the kids.”
“Like hell they will! Nobody’s doing anything to the kids!”
“That’s right. We wanted to be grown ups; well, this is part of it. We defend the family at all costs.”
“You know I will; I just don’t want it to come to that.”
“Neither do I. We’ll take it as it comes and deal with it if it gets here.”
“Well, since it has to be this way, will you run up to our bedroom and get my pistol? I forgot to pick up any other dress shoes and these damn heels are no fun on stairs. At least I lucked out and grabbed a dress that goes with them.”
“Be right back. I’m sorry it has to be this way, Anastasia.”
“I’m sorry too, but family comes first. I’ll just keep praying we’ll get lucky.”
“So will I.”
(...)
“Mark, what are we going to do with these when we leave? We aren’t old enough for carry permits. We’re not really even supposed to carry them openly at our age.”
“I’ve been wearing mine to church ever since the explosion. Put yours in your purse and keep your mouth shut about it. Who’s gonna’ catch us, Pete? All he’ll do is tell us we’re printing and to go to the bathroom and fix the problem. If we actually need them there, nobody’s going to care that we have them until it’s all over.”
“Ok, but I hate this!”
“I did too, when I first started carrying. You get used to it and it stops bothering you then. You’ll never get to a point where you don’t care if you shoot somebody; at least I never have.”
“That’s some good news, at least. I really don’t want to lose my conscience. We’re running late. Let’s go.”
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Post by udwe on Mar 14, 2018 20:22:26 GMT -6
Sounds like the manure is starting to hit the fan.
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Post by papaof2 on Mar 14, 2018 20:42:32 GMT -6
And someone probably has that fan running at supersonic speed...
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Post by cutter on Mar 14, 2018 21:14:54 GMT -6
Nah, what I'm seeing is more of a harassment action, a guerrilla war. You're right though, things are slowly ramping up.
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Post by supermag on Mar 14, 2018 22:32:27 GMT -6
I haven't thought about the old trucker music in years. I used to enjoy listening to it as a kid when on family road trips.
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Post by gipsy on Mar 15, 2018 9:36:57 GMT -6
You can find a lot of it on Youtube with the search engine
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Post by cutter on Mar 15, 2018 10:48:30 GMT -6
That's where I listen to it most of the time. Here's an oldie but goodie. White Line Fever.
And one of my all time favorites, guaranteed to make your eyes water, "Hello, is anybody there? Come on back truckers and talk to Teddy Bear."
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Post by headlesshorseman on Mar 15, 2018 14:37:40 GMT -6
Wolf Creek Pass was always good for a grin.
A great chapter. Thank you for your efforts.
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Post by gipsy on Mar 15, 2018 15:20:44 GMT -6
That's where I listen to it most of the time. Here's an oldie but goodie. White Line Fever. And one of my all time favorites, guaranteed to make your eyes water, "Hello, is anybody there? Come on back truckers and talk to Teddy Bear." I have to agree. It seems to get very dusty when that is playing
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