Bonus for the long wait - 2 chapters
Chapter 26
Friday, 8 August, 8:10PM
"Bath already, Daddy? But it's not dark yet!"
"Not quite dark, Lisa, but sunset isn't that far away. Lacey's almost asleep in your Aunt Sarah's lap so I think it's bath time and then bed time."
"She'll help us with our hair?"
"I'm not sure how much help you'll need, as you got your hair washed and rinsed well by yourself the last time you asked me to help you, but Lacey's had a scary and tiring day and she may need that help. You do remember how to ask?"
"Yes, Daddy. Aunt Sarah, please help us with our hair."
"OK, Lisa. Who reads?"
"Uncle Harry, 'cause I think Lacey needs shoulder time with him."
"I think my smart niece is correct. Get your jammies…"
"Got my pink ones and Lacey's green ones, Aunt Sarah."
"Thank you. Then to the tub."
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"Jack, you think they'll make more than one chapter tonight?"
"Harry, neither of them may stay awake for one chapter. That's OK. We can repeat the chapter tomorrow night."
"How long will we be in the 'Little House' books?"
"I think the set is seven books and there are maybe 15 or 20 chapters each? Probably at least three months."
"Their smiles tell me the books haven't gotten old for them yet and they may not ever get old."
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"They're asleep?"
"Lacey is, Sarah. Lisa wants Jack to kiss her goodnight."
"I'll go do that."
"Goodnight, sweet girl."
"Goodnight, Daddy."
"Me too, Uncle Jack."
"On your nose, other sweet girl."
"I thought Lacey was asleep."
"Harry, she's still sensitive to light and the presence of others in the room when she's asleep. Very good traits in our current circumstances and especially heightened after today's events."
"Don't know if I'll be able to get that much blood out of her favorite shorts and tee shirt."
"Luigi put her clothes in a bucket of water with some product that's intended to remove grass and blood stains. You can check it in the morning."
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"Sarah, how's Jesse?"
"Fever's down to 100.8 and he says everything hurts, even his hair. If he can complain creatively, I think he's getting better. Considering how tired as he was after sitting up beside the bed to eat supper, I don't think he'll be close to normal for several weeks. You should put him on the 'walking wounded' list for a month or more, even if it isn't visible."
"Making notes."
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"NO! LET ME GO!"
"That's Lacey!"
"You take her, Harry. I'll take Lisa if she's awa…"
"LET ME GO!"
"Lacey, it's Daddy."
"Daddy?"
"You had a bad dream…"
"He had me and wouldn't let me go!"
"It's over now. You might dream about it again but I want you to remember that he can't ever hurt you again."
"I wanna go shooting and have my own gun!"
"Your Uncle Jack already talked with you about that and showed you the gun that fits your hand after supper. Remember?"
"Oh… Yeah… I remember!"
"Head on my shoulder and we'll use a rocking chair by the big fireplace. Jack?"
"Lisa hasn't said anything but she has tears on her cheeks and a death grip on me. We'll be in the other rocker."
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Chapter 27
Saturday, 9 August, 6:30AM
"Good morning, sweet girl."
"Good morning, Daddy. Was there some yelling last night?"
"Lacey had a bad dream about what happened to her yesterday…"
"And we got lap time?"
"Both of you, in the rockers by the big fireplace."
"I love you, best Daddy ever."
"I might like you a little bit."
"Just enough for me to snuggle in your lap."
"You do fit perfectly."
"Huh? Uncle Jack?"
"Good morning, other sweet girl."
"I get lap time?"
"If Lisa scoots over a little, I think both of you might fit."
"Were we up late? I'm still sleepy."
"You had a bad dream…"
"He wouldn't let me go!"
"And then both of you got rocked back to sleep."
"I like living here with lots of family."
"Me too."
"Ready to cook for that family?"
"As soon as we…"
And the rest of that is lost as they run to the bathroom to wash hands. Nice to be able to get kids excited about caring for themselves and others.
---
"OK, Willie. Out with it, although I think we know why your size 14 feet are barely touching the floor."
"I asked Sharon last night."
"And?"
"She said 'Yes'!"
"Congratulations!"
"Sarah, you have any experience as a wedding planner?"
"No, Luigi."
"That's OK. Sharon's Mom has done that - and she bakes wedding cakes."
"So the wedding will be a family affair, Willie?"
"Lots of family. Sharon wants Lisa and Lacey as junior bridesmaids. She has a niece who's four who can be the flower girl and a couple of nephews who can escort Lisa and Lacey."
"When and where?"
"Sunday week, at the church, with Reverend Keifer officiating."
"Which house, Willie?"
"Across the dirt road behind this property. I'll have one neighbor I trust without question."
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"Uncle Willie is getting married?"
"Yes, Lisa."
"But he won't live here any more."
"What if you and Lacey make a map to his new house?"
"We can?"
"After the breakfast dishes are washed."
"OK."
---
"Daddy, will you read some more from the old books about our farm?"
"Lisa, the books are more interesting than the treasure?"
"The diamonds and stuff we might can use to get some things we don't have but the books tell us about real people living here and how they grew stuff and made stuff."
"So the 'treasure' really isn't worth much right now?"
"Only in what we could use to buy stuff from other people - but the books tell us how people lived here without 'lectricity or tractors and how to take care of all kinds of animals."
"So the books are now the biggest part of the treasure?"
"They tell us how to stay alive."
"That's my smart girl."
---
'Jack Wilson from Don.'
'Jack here.'
'Liz fell and broke or dislocated a bone in her wrist. Can you help?'
'Put ice on it or a wet cold compress if you don't have ice.'
'Well water is about 54F.'
'Good enough. See you in 15 minutes.'
"I have the EMT bag, Jack."
"Thanks, Sarah."
"Me too, Daddy?"
"So you can hold Tyler's hand again?"
"Daddy! I know the names of all the things in the EMT kit so I can be Aunt Sarah's gofer."
"She has a point, Jack."
"You need people on watch while you travel and while you work."
"We do, Jesse. You're still on the 'walking wounded' list so Carl and Luigi will do that."
"No arguments. Today, I think either of the girls could take me down in hand-to-hand. I've been watching what Jack's been teaching them over the past couple of weeks and those girls are scary serious about learning to protect themselves. Their respective histories probably have a bearing on that. I think that either of them could handle someone who's 12 or 13 and together they could slow or stop many adults."
"No hand-to-hand for you today but you can do some fill-in reading for Lacey so she's at the same place in the family history that Lisa is."
"C'mon, Uncle Jesse!"
"Harold, Harry and Willie can hold the fort until we return. Susie Carver and Kevin with us. If Don trusts them, they could stay in the travel trailer there and help out until Liz recovers."
"Got it, Jack."
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"Liz, best I can tell without an xray it's just a dislocation. Rare to get this level of dislocation without breaking anything but apparently you hit it just right. I know it's painful but getting it back in place will hurt even worse. You know that oral pain meds take 20 minutes or more to start taking effect so this oxycodone will help later. You can probably expect to faint from the pain when it goes back in place. Don, can you hold her arm still if she starts screaming 'NO!'?"
"Maybe."
"Carl, you hold this arm while I get it back in place."
"OW! THAT HURTS! OH GOD, MAKE IT STOP! OOWWW…"
"She fainted?"
"Some men do. That's possibly the most painful unbroken bone injury you can have. Let's get her comfortable on the sofa and let her come around naturally as that will give the oxy a little more time to take effect and the pain level when she's conscious again will be much lower."
"Does it need a cast, Sarah?"
"A cast would be good but this two piece splint is adequate, doesn't require a special saw for removal and can be reused in the future. Lisa, I need the ice to reduce the swelling before I put the splint on."
"The little red and white cooler, Aunt Sarah. It's in double bags so it won't leak when it melts."
"Thank you, sweet girl."
"Jack, is there anything you're not teaching this girl?"
"We teach both girls the things they need to know to stay alive and follow up on anything else they show an interest in. I don't know that Lisa's ready to give an injection of any medication but she can talk you through filling a syringe to a specific level and doing an intra-muscular injection."
"And they have to be how old to get into nursing school?"
"At least ten years older than she is."
"She's smart."
"Daddy tells me that every day."
"He's correct."
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"How will I sweep or wash dishes with my arm in this sling for weeks?"
"Liz, Don. We may have a solution. Susie Carver and Kevin are looking for a safe place. I think her words were 'we'll sleep in the barn and eat chicken feed'. If you trust them, maybe they could stay in the travel trailer out back and you'd have two sets of hands to help with the work."
"Susie's alive?"
"You know her, Don?"
"She's a distant cousin. We tried to tell her about Rob before they married but young love is sometimes blind, deaf and has no sense of smell. Are they with you?"
"In the truck."
"Send them in."
---
"Don, a question about your water..."
"We're good, Jack. When I spoke with Martin about Betty teaching school, he mentioned what you'd done there. I had turned the pump off and we'd been using from the 500 gallon tank in the basement before that. I added the Sawyer Point Zero Two I had put back for 'future need' and our system is now very much like Martin's. Would a slow sand filter also work on the viruses?"
"If the internet is up and the CDC site has power, you could check their 'Safe Water System' pages. From what I remember, slow sand filters get bacteria and protozoa but have limited effectiveness on viruses and the good ceramic filters get bacteria and protozoa but not any viruses but you probably shouldn't trust your life to someone's memory."
"After things are flushed by the rain we'll get from the hurricanes, would the rainwater be safe if run through either of those filters?"
"Don, that's a definite maybe. I'll ask up the line and see if anyone in the military has an answer. Remember that they use reverse osmosis filters which remove almost everything - it's just that a lot of power is needed to pump water through those filters. For small quantities of water or an emergency situation, the P&G 'Purifier of Water' packets treat 10 liters - 2.5 gallons - with a flocculant and a disinfectant. Think of it as a water treatment plant in a bucket. It's not cheap, as the packets are over a dollar each in small quantities and they do have a 'Best By' date. However, they kill bacteria, protozoa and viruses and remove heavy metals such as arsenic."
"Good choice for a BOB or GHB if the dates are far enough out."
"Don, that's only if you have the containers for doing the processing."
"Each BOB and GHB includes a folding five gallon container."
"Then you'd be good if you keep the packets up-to-date."
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CDC site with lots of information about treating water:
www.cdc.gov/safewaterInformation on slow sand filters:
www.itacanet.org/doc-archive-eng/water/Intro_SSF.pdf