Post by gunnut on May 24, 2020 21:24:52 GMT -6
Book 1 Some limitations.
Chapter 1
Jerking awake Martin sat up and smacked his head on the cabinet door, "dang useless no good..." Martin muttered to himself and again made a mental note to fix it so it wouldn't fall open. The dogs barking made him forget his mental note and pulled his mind back to more pressing matters.
This is it, he thought standing up he slipped on his shoes and groped for his glasses. It was still pitch dark finding his glasses he put them on, not that it helped much in the dark.
Martin had been sleeping in the woodshop next to the smoke house. He'd slept there every night for a week ever since the second time someone had tried to break into the smoke house the first time they had stolen two hams and his dogs had woken him up but by the time he'd gotten dressed and ready all he saw were tail lights shining through a cloud of dust. Disappearing around the bend. He'd radioed into town to call the sheriff but since he lived so far out of town no one came until the next morning.
Martin and the deputy had looked around and saw some tracks that looked like cowboy boots but that didn't really narrow it down by much. Martin and the deputy went back inside. Martin must have looked pretty discouraged because the deputy tried to cheer him up by asking about the HAM radio sitting on the table. "Yeah" responded Martin "that's how I call into town now. Some drunk idiot hit a power pole a few months ago and it took out power, phone and internet. The powers not too bad. I've got a solar system and you saw my two windmills, and if all else fails I've got my diesel powered welder that can work as a generator. As for the internet I have tried to get satellite but when they told me what it would cost to get someone out here to install it I decided to hold off, after a few weeks without I didn't miss it. And if I really need to look something up I can always go into town and use their libraries computers.
"So like I said there power isn't really a problem and the internet doesn't bother me. It's the phone that really bugs me. I have to radio Mark Goodel and have him call if I have a need." "Oh yeah I know Mark" replied the deputy (he'd introduced himself when he got there but Martin forgot his name) "we go to church together, he's a good guy."
"Well" said the deputy. "You look like your pretty prepared, have you got a gun?" The question surprised Martin, and he wasn't sure how to respond. The confusion must have showed on his face because the deputy hurried on to say. "It's not for any particular reason I just figured that you living out of town like you do would have something to run off varmints and predators." "Yeah I've got this old shotgun" Martin pointed towards the door leaning by it was an old break action H&R 12 gage "I have a 9mil adapter in it for now, I've run out of shotgun shells and I'm planning on getting some more when I can get into town but first I've got to get Leroy running." "Leroy?" Asked the deputy raising one of his eyebrows. "Yeah Leroy, my old bronco I swapped in a Cummins but now I think it needs a new fuel pump or filter. " Aahh" replied the deputy, "Well, like I was saying I figured you'd have a gun to chase of predators four legged and two legged." With that the deputy gave Martin a knowing look tapped the side of his nose and stepped outside. On the porch the deputy pulled on his hat, turning to Martin he said "I'll try to come out this way as often as possible but the fuel shortage has the county doing rationing, I probably won't get out here for a week or so."
The deputy drove off and Martin figured he'd be on his own to protect what was his. He got down his box of 9mm hollow points. He had 10 left. He put five in his shirt pocket and took to carrying them and the shotgun with him wherever he went.
The first two days he hardly slept and was jumping at every sound. He even shot something moving in the dark. It turned out to be a turkey. Well it would be a nice addition to his smoke house anyway. After the second night of bad sleep and packing a gun everywhere he went he stopped carrying the shotgun and started carrying his hunting knife, an old Ka-bar that his dad had bought from the Army Navy store.
He also put a lock on the smoke House door "now they'll at least have to work to steal from me he thought to himself. That night was the first night since the break in that Martin fell asleep quickly and he slept soundly through the night until the dogs again woke him up barking like mad he glanced at his watch and saw it read almost 0330 he jumped up and was putting on his pants when he heard someone shout in plain and one of his dogs started whimpering. Rushing to get outside Martin glanced around for his gun but didn't see it, and three AM Martin couldn't remember where last night Martin had put it. He ran outside anyway not really sure what he was going to do but knowing he was going to do something. The first thing he saw when he got outside was his dog Macy. She was a mutt but mostly border collie. She was limping and letting out a yelp each time her front right paw touched the ground. Looking past her he saw those same dang taillights heading around the bend.
By this time Macy had run under the porch and Martin figured she'd keep. rushing out to the smoke house he saw the door and the lock looking a bit battered was still holding strong.
Checking his two other dogs Bear and King both catahoula mixes he found them licking at some blood that was spilled in the dust by the smokehouse. There was also some smeared on the wooden fence where the thief had climbed it. Both dogs had blood on their muzzles but Martin didn't know if it was from biting or licking the already spilt blood.
Martin then went to check on Macy she wouldn't come out from under the porch till he got a spoon full of lard to bribe her she was still whining and limping but seemed to be putting more weight on her leg Martin felt along the bone to see if he could find any breaks but it felt alright there was one spot where she yelped when he touched it and it was missing some fur.
Martin went inside and found his gun, it was under the dinner table, taking it he went out and hid across the road from his smokehouse and kept a look out until he fell asleep. He was woken up by the sun falling full on his face. He got up his neck and back both letting him know that he'd slept in an unfavorable position.
He tottered around the yard feeding and milking the cows feeding his chickens, horses, and pigs and generally doing all the small things that make a farm work. He took twice as long as normal because his back and neck were so stiff.
Martin was a hog farmer, but not just any hogs, he raised and sold heritage hogs he mostly sold to small-time wannabe Farmers that had more money than sense and saw on a YouTube channel that heritage hogs were what "homesteaders" raised. He also sold show pigs. piglets he had sold had won Grand champion at several county and two state fairs. Low volume high cost was the way he preferred to do things. The show pigs we're a Hampshire, Poland China cross while the heritage are a line of Spanish Black Iberia that he had documentation for going back all the way to Europe. The yuppies that thought they were hippies really liked that and would spend out there wazoo. He often made more on one Iberian piglet than he made on three of his show pigs. He also had a standing offer to buy back any of the pigs he sold if "homesteading" wasn't as much fun as the yuppies thought it would be. And he often bought them back at a discount. He had one old sow he'd sold three times to the same woman (a different man each time) she was one of his most productive sows.
Martin hadn't sold one of his high priced Iberians in a while and the out of state orders for his show hogs weren't coming in. The few he had sold were to locals and they hadn't gone for the usual price. He'd heard people on the HAM talking about the economy crashing and some sort of booger something happening in Virginia but most of the HAM people were nuts anyway. All Martin knew was the pig feed he usually bought had almost doubled in price and the cost for groceries and fuel had gone up quite a bit. Instead of the usual $300 monthly trip to Costco he'd splurge and spent over $700 but only on staple foods (beans, flour, pasta, canned tomatoes, canned peaches, vegetable oil, oatmeal, and so on) he bought enough staples to last six or more months. That combined with his hunting, fishing and the produce from his greenhouse, orchard/vineyard and more meat from his hogs and smokehouse he figured he'd be eating good for quite a while.
Chapter 2
Martin decided that his house was too far from the smokehouse to have the proper response time. He moved into the shop. It was much closer to the smoke House. He started chaining his dogs up at night not wanting them to get hurt or killed.
He slept in the shop six days each morning he banged his head on the cabinet door and reach morning he made a mental note to fix it, each day he got to busy planting and tending in his greenhouse, picking apples and canning them, harvesting nuts from his Walnut, pecan, and Filbert trees, raking leaves for his cows to eat, putting in a winter cover crop for his garden, and harvesting rose hips. He built some cross fencing through the oak brush on a side hill so he could mob graze his hogs through there, figuring what with feed costs he'd have to find another way to feed his hogs. He also killed and processed two of his show hogs that never sold. In general he was doing things that would keep him close to home. And each evening just before falling asleep he made a mental note to fix that dang cabinet door. All this brought him to tonight.
Finding his glasses he reached out for his gun and jacket the extra bullets were in his jacket pocket. Putting on his jacket he slipped out the door. He was about fifty feet away from the smokehouse peering around the corner. He saw the truck it was driven through a section of fence and parked so it's headlights were lighting up the front of the smokehouse. He saw two men in the glare of the headlights one had an axe and was hammering at the lock but he kept missing, he was standing in his own light. the other had a flashlight in one hand and a revolver in the other. The truck was a 90s model Ford F150. With a ladder rack.
Martin was torn he didn't want to kill anyone be he also didn't want to get shot or robbed. The decision was taken away from him when his dog Bear pulled loose of his collar and charged the guy with the pistol. The guy started cranking off rounds so Martin put a bullet into him. The guy dropped his gun and flashlight threw his hands up in the air and fell on his back. Martin thought it was strange, just like in the movies. The man with the axe spun around and put this back to the door Bear was lunging at him but was kept at bay with clumsy axe swings. Worried for his dogs health Martin ran forward and yelled at the man to drop the axe. The man responded with "call off your dogs'' Martin grabbed the scruff of Bear's neck with his left hand and again yelled "I've got him, drop it!" The man then seeing Martin made one of the last mistakes of his life. He raired back with the axe over his head; he looked like he was going to throw it. Seeing this Martin pointed the gun at the man's chest. One handed it was kinda hard to control but he was only 7 or 8 feet away. Pulling the trigger he let go of Bear. Martin realised his mistake immediately, he'd forgotten to reload after the first shot. Panicking he broke the gun open lucky the ejector popped the insert out a bit which in turn popped out the empty 9mm. Groping for a reload in his pocket Martin looked up to see the man swap the grip on his axe from an over the head throw grip to a grip with one hand close to the axe head and one most of the way down the handle. With that he brought the handle down in defence as Bear lunged and was able to deflect the lunge. Finally Martin found the bullet in his pocket and shoved it into the insert and closed the gun pulling the gun to his shoulder. He did even try to find the aiming bead. He just looked down the barrel and pulled the trigger. The man's left arm dropped uselessly to his side.
Martin, fearless from an adrenaline dump, and worried about his dog, charged in and slammed his shotgun's butstock into the left side of the guy's head knocking him down where he began to kick him until his foot hurt. Then he noticed barking behind him. Spinning around again he jammed his left hand into his pocket while his right broke open the shotgun with a practiced wrist flip the empty brass again tumbled to the ground as his left hand quickly pushed the new cartridge into place. He heard barking then a shot and the barking stopped his vision obscured by the glare from the headlights he saw a shape struggling to sit up. moving quickly to his right out of the wash off the headlights he heard a shot and felt jolt in his left arm. He had gained enough of an angle to see the guy with the gun. It was pointed right at him he saw the hammer go back then forward "click" it was the sweetest sound he'd heard in his life.
Not wasting any time Martin took careful aim and put a bullet through the gunman's head. Quickly reloading he steps up to the guy on the ground the guy's left arm had bone showing but he was still gripping the axe handle with his right. "Get up!"Martin yelled "F*** you man!" The guy shouted "ju’shotme, andju killAdam!" The man was slurring his words.
"Get up" Martin ordered again then he took a step forward to kick the guy. The guy less hurt than he was pretending swung the axe at Martin's legs. Off balance Martin tried to jump back. All he could manage was to fall heavily on his back, the axe connected with the side of his right foot. Sitting up he put another bullet into the man. The man curled in on himself, letting out a howl, in a fit of rage he began crawling after Martin. Martin scrambled back until he hit the front of the pickup using it he climbed to his feet and again popped the empty cartridge out of his gun this time the brass case didn't fall out on its own. Limping backwards he pulled a bullet out of his pocket and tried to load it but he just pushed the empty brass back in finally tearing his eyes from the madman crawling towards him with an axe glancing down here saw the shiny brass of the stuck case. Plucking at the stuck case with his fingernails but they were too blunt to dig it out. He backed around the side of the truck and into the open drivers side door. Hoping for safety he swung around the door and jumped inside slamming it closed and locking it. He heard the man slam the axe against the door tearing the sheet metal once twice then silence.
Martin was still struggling to get the empty brass out of the gun. Finally he pulled out his pocket knife and prying with the tip was able to remove the stuck case and load the new one still held in his left hand. He realised he hadn't heard anything in a while and the trucks dome light was reflecting off the glass preventing him from seeing out the side window. Wanting to get a better view he went to put the truck in reverse but as he pushed his left foot down on the clutch his right foot automatically pushed the brake. He felt a grinding in his foot and a pain shot from his foot up his leg and he blacked out.
Coming too a short while later Martin suddenly remembered the pistol if his attacker got the revolver and reloaded it he was toast. Knowing it would hurt but this time mentally prepared for it Martin put the truck in reverse and backed up. He hit something and almost stalled out. Putting the truck into low range then looking over and seeing that the passengers door was caught on a fence post Martin pulled forward and leaned over and pulled the door shut. Sitting back up he put the truck in reverse and gunned it bumping up and over whatever it was with the front wheel peering through the windshield Martin saw that it wasn't a piece of the fence like he'd originally thought he'd actually run over the axe guy. The guy had crawled under the truck maybe to try to get to the other door, maybe to wait for Martin to step out so he could attack his feet. Either way he got run over. Not trusting the axe guy Martin backed up 20 or so feet, stopped and opened the door. He didn't see any movement stepping out; he shot the guy again. No response. Still not sure he shot again, still no response. Gathering his courage he reloaded and limped over to check on the guy. When Martin got close the guy still wasn't moving. "Get up!" Nothing. Finally Martin got close enough to see the guys eyes, he was dead, Martin had killed enough animals to know what death looked like.
Limping back to the truck he got it into gear and drove up to his house. Not wanting to hurt his right foot anymore he just pushed the brake with his left foot and killed the truck in front of his house.
Falling out of the truck he landed on his left side and was abruptly reminded that he'd been shot in the left arm about half way between his shoulder and elbow. The pain shocked some sense into him and using his shotgun as a crutch he staggered to his feet dragging himself into his house, locking the door he collapsed to the floor. Wanting to get a look at his arm he took his jacket and shirt off. There was a hole about the size of his pinky going in and a larger one coming out but he didn't think his bone was broken and the blood was slowly oozing not gushing or pumping. He wrapped it tight with a bandage. Then he took his boot off, that hurt, and he probably passed out once or twice. But he got it off, his foot was an ugly shade of purple and with the pressure off it began to swell Martin was just glad it wasn't cut. With that Martin took two ibuprofen and went to bed.
Chapter 3
Martin was awakened by someone pounding on his door and calling his name. "Martin! Martin are you alive, it's deputy Rigsby!" That's right the deputy's name was Rigsby Martin thought groggily. "Martin I'm coming in!" he heard the door rattle but he must have locked it when he came in. Then he heard something slam against the door "wait" he tried to shout but all that came out was a weak rasp. Two more times the door shook from hard impacts then with a sound of splintering wood the deputy kicked the door open gun leading the way he moved into the house quickly peering into each room and seeing that the place was empty except for Martin he holstered his revolver
Moving over to Martin he asked if he was alright Martin tried to respond but couldn't manage the words. Gesturing weakly Martin indicated the water bottle on the table. Looking around deputy Rigsby wasn't sure what Martin wanted "wa... waaa," Martin managed to grab the water the deputy gave Martin a drink. Martin tried to drink greedily but began to cough and sputter after a few attempts working together they managed to get most of the water down Martin's throat.
Feeling much better Martin attempted his standard greeting "hi, howareya?" The last three words running together. The deputy sat back on his haunches and laughed. Standing up he exclaimed "how am I? How am I? Well I'm better than you are.
"First thing first I followed a blood trail in here are you seriously hurt?" "I got shot and I think my foots broken." The deputy checked Martin's wounds "the gun shot don't look too bad but that foot." The deputy let out a low whistle. I think we better take you in to get an x-ray.
As they were driving into town the deputy told Martin the rest of the story.
Chapter 4
The two men that died trying to rob Martin were the Carter brothers. They were fairly well known, to the police at least, and had been in and out of jail, mostly low level stuff that their belligerence and attitude made worse. For instance the last time deputy Rigsby had dealt with Adam, the older brother, he had pulled him over for not having a license plate. Adam had argued with Rigsby then when he was handed the ticket he tore it up and threw it on the ground the Rigsby told him to pick it up, he wouldn't. He rolled up his window and started the truck Rigsby had moved in front of the truck pistol drawn. Adam put this truck in reverse and crashed into Rigsby's police truck then he panicked and killed the truck. Panicking even more Adam got it and tried to run away but he hadn't tied his shoes and tripped himself. When he was booked into the jail they did a blood alcohol test and he was above the limit.
Then Rigsby told Martin about what led him out to Martin's place that morning. The Carter brothers Adam and Joseph lived in adjacent trailers by the river. With a girlfriend and various children each. Most of their income was from various welfare programs but inflation was rising steadily and cash wasn't worth much people began trading for more of what they needed but no one wanted to trade a welfare check for supplies or labor the local church had a food program so the girls and kids wouldn't starve or even go hungry really but the church wouldn't give away alcohol or cigarettes, and smoking while drinking was the Carter brothers favorite past time they started stealing to help pay for their habits and with each success they became bolder and bolder they weren't just burgling they were robbing people. Not at gunpoint they had sold their guns long ago and no one would sell or trade one to them. This being the case the Carters targeted "softer" targets mostly old people or places with only women and children. Rumors began to spread and the Carters sent their women to trade with stolen goods. These goods were identified and people shunned the Carters and wouldn't deal with them so the Carters began looking farther out of town that's the first time they robbed Martin. After that they got in a fight with the local church leadership and Adams' woman left him. Sometime in here they tried Martin's again but the dogs ran them off. A few days later Joseph's woman showed up at the medical clinic beaten quite severely, and the Carter brothers were in the wind. They had broken into a house and killed the old couple that lived there (this older couple owned a big ranch that bordered Martin's land on three sides tho they lived in town on a small lot). That's where they had gotten the revolver. They also got quite a bit of alcohol when Joseph's woman found out about it she threatened to tell the police. Adam, quite drunk, had tried to beat her to death, thinking he'd killed her; he'd chucked her out the back door of his trailer. Joseph had been passed out. When they came to the next day they decided they would have to run off. That was when they decided to go out to Martin's for the last time they thought they could kill Martin and hide out at his house for a while till the heat died down. Joseph's woman had heard them discussing it and she heard them leave. She was feeling quite weak but her anger gave her strength and she managed to get to the nearest neighbor and have them call the police. Deputy Rigsby had talked to Adams and Joseph's women and they had told him about the stolen hams they had tried to trade. So he knew they'd been the ones who had stolen from Martin he'd tried to make it out to Martin's but his truck had broken it wasn't till the next day he'd been able to get a ride out to Martin's and that was when he'd found the two dead Carters and Martin.
Chapter 5
Martin woke up in a strange room. Looking around he spotted a cup sitting on a bedside table on his left seeing the cup he was reminded how thirsty he was. Reaching out he was suddenly aware of two things first and most importantly his left arm hurt and second he didn't have a shirt on under the blanket. He stopped panting from the pain in his left arm and waited for a moment. The pain subsided and he tried again this time mentally prepared he was able to push through the pain and reach the cup, pulling the cup towards himself he tipped it up and spilled it in his face jerking from the cold he spilled more. Freezing he thought for a second then tried sitting up, he managed to pull his left shoulder off the bed and leaned on his right elbow. Again he tried drinking this time he had much more success until he tipped the cup too far, a twinge from the winds e in his arm made him drop the cup. Dumping water on his chest the cup clattered to the floor. He heard someone in the room snort and move. Then a light clicked on and he saw a tired looking woman in scrubs. She was yawning and stretching. She'd been sleeping in a chair by a door about four feet away from where Martin was laying. She stood up and smiled at Martin. "Made a mess didn't'cha?" She moved over to look at him taking a small cup from the bedside table. She said "take these'' . It had two big pills and a third smaller one. While he was distracted trying to swallow the pills, she quickly grabbed his blanket and pulled it off. "I'll get you a new one" she said, turning to walk out the door. It was only after the door closed that Martin realized he was naked. Panicking he looked around for something to cover himself up. Grabbing his pillow he covered himself and promptly fell back asleep.
Waking up again Martin found that he was tucked back into bed first thing first he thought and reached down and checked he was pleased to learn he was wearing a hospital gown. Looking over here saw that deputy Rigsby was now sleeping in the chair relieved that he was covered and he fell back asleep.
Waking up Martin finally felt rested and hungry. Sitting up and stretching he was painfully reminded of the holes in his arm. Looking to his left he saw that his arm was still in a bandage. This bandage reminded him of his foot, thinking about his foot caused a reflexive twitch in his foot which in turn sent a jolt of pain up his leg. Gritting his teeth he thought at least I know my foot is still attached. Looking over here saw the chair was empty. Laying back down he tried to fall back to sleep but he couldn't. He felt an urge to go to the bathroom. He waited a few minutes but all that happened was he felt a building pressure. Sitting up he looked around the room and spotted some crutches leaning on the bedside table. Pulling back the blanket he noted with relief that he was wearing a hospital gown. Looking at his foot for the first time he saw it was still a bit swollen and a bruise covered all of his foot except his big toe and reached up towards his ankle. The bruise was that ugly greenish yellow color at the edges shading to a darker purple on the edge of his foot where the axe had hit. Thinking to himself that it didn't look too bad he swung his feet off the edge of the bed and grabbed the crutches. Just before he started to lean up the door swung open. It was the woman from before. "Nope! You lay back down mister." She scolded, stepping forward to grab his crutches. "But I gotta pee" she pointed towards the foot of the bed with a sense of dread Martin realized she was pointing at a bed pan.
Martin was just settling back into his bed when the doctor came in. "Hi I'm Doctor Minks, how are you feeling?" The doctor, a short man with a big brown cowboy mustache, didn't wait for a reply "You have a fractured metatarsal, that boned in your foot that goes to your pinky toe. I'm prescribing you need to stay off your foot for two weeks then" Martin opened his mouth to protest, two weeks he couldn't be off his feet for two weeks, but Dr Minks just held up his hand and continued talking. " Then after a check up I'll probably put you in a boot" he paused to take a breath and Martin was able to break in. "I've got a farm doc I can't just lay around for two weeks!" "I understand." Doctor Minks replied "believe me. What I can do is put you in a hard cast, so you can get around but if I do that I'll only give you a handful of oxycodone, you can take one to get to sleep but during the day I only want you on aspirin and ibuprofen. If you're on oxy all day you might forget how bad your foot is damaged and over do it."
Wanting as much mobility as possible Martin agreed to this plan. While Dr Minks was putting his cast on deputy Rigsby came to see Martin. "Knock knock. Hey doc hey Martin how ya feeling?" Martin opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by doc "oh he'll be fine if he does like I say and keeps off his foot." He paused for a breath and Martin asked. "How long have I been here? What about my animals, the cows, the pigs should be fine, they've got the feeder, my dogs, Bear!?" "Yeah." Deputy Rigsby said running his hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his head. "One of your dogs is dead. I don't know it's name. It was a big blue catahoula he got shot and he bled out under your porch. I took him and buried him in the orchard at your place. Your animals are all fine. I brought four calves out and put on your cows, and like you said the pigs have the feeder.
"Who's calves?" Martin asked "well" deputy Rigsby said "you remember that older couple I told you about, the ones the Carters killed?" "Yeah" Martin replied. " Well they had two cows that each had two calves after the Jenson's, that's the name of the older couple, after they were killed no one fed or watered the cows and they both dried up the calves were in pretty bad shape and there was no one to milk your cows. I called it fate, and you can keep the calves as far as I'm concerned. They would just be dead anyway." " Well," said Dr Minks. "Your cast is all done, it just needs to dry for 30 minutes or so. We did the fiberglass cast. It's more durable." He said patting Martin on the knee. "I've got other patients" he stood up "but you need to come for a check up in two weeks."
Chapter 6
After Dr Minks left deputy Rigsby sat down. "Martin you are scheduled to appear before the Judge today. Do you think you'll be up to it?" When Rigsby mentioned the judge Martin blanched. "Why do I need to see the judge?" Martin asked knowing he hadn't done anything wrong but still feeling a general fear of 'maybe'. "Really" Rigsby replied. "I found two dead people on your property. The law may not have as much reach as it used to but there still is a law."
After a few false starts Martin was able to get the hang of walking with crutches. He thought he was doing pretty good, he was able to get in and out of the deputies truck, until they got to the courthouse. It had a big set of steps leading up to it. Steps the enemy to everyone who's ever used crutches. Martin was standing at the bottom of the steps looking up when deputy Rigsby called to him. "Over here" he was standing by the corner of the building. "We have an elevator around this side" with a sense of relief Martin followed deputy Rigsby around to the end of the building and got in the elevator with him. Martin couldn't think of anything to say and Rigsby kept quiet until they arrived at the third floor
"Right here" Rigsby said, holding open a door. The pain killers were starting to wear off and all Martin cared about was finding somewhere to sit down. Rigsby introduced them. "This is Judge Rodgers, Judge this is Martin Barns" The Judge was a short rather fat man that reminded Martin of no one more that the mayor of Mayberry from the Andy Griffiths show. The judge was sitting behind a big desk covered in paper folders and binders. He stood up to shake Martin's hand then gestured at the chairs across from his desk. "Sit down please," "actually judge I've got some things to take care of but I'll be back in a half hour to pick up Martin." With that Rigsby walked out.
"Well let's see, let's see, Barns, Barns, Barns. Ah, here you are," he said looking through then grabbing a file off his desk. "Barns, Martin" he opened the folder and read through it making soft tisk, tisk sounds through his teeth. After a bit he put down his folder muttering "bad business" then he looked up "so Mr. Barns tell me what happened."
So Martin told his story keeping to the truth as best he could. He stopped his story when deputy Rigsby broke in and found him. He didn't want Rigsby to get in trouble for telling him about the Carters thinking it might be confidential or something.
Opening the folder back up the judge flipped through a few pages before he asked without looking up "Did you know then men you killed?" At that question Martin felt some cold settle in the pit of his stomach. "Do I need a lawyer?" At that the judges head snapped up. "No, no, I'm just making sure we've got all our I's crosses and T's dotted"
"Well I knew them by sight. I've seen them around town but didn't know their names, but that night in the dark with my adrenaline I didn't recognize them. Mostly I was looking at the gun and the axe."
"So you didn't know who they were that night?"
Martin shook his head
"Did you think they were the same people who'd stolen from you before?"
"Yeah, but it didn't really matter, I knew they were stealing from me now."
"Alright and what would you say the value of your lost or stolen items is?"
"I don't know I haven't been out to look around… I know I lost at least one of my dogs and I've turned down offers for $500 for him. And whatever the doctor is gonna charge me, they also crashed through my fence, like I said I'll have to look at it before I can give you a final amount." Martin was starting to ramble the effects of the painkillers were starting to show.
There was a knock on the door and Martin jerked his head up from his chest, he'd apparently fallen asleep. The judge said "come in" and deputy Rigsby stuck his head in the door. "Ready?" He asked. Yeah Martin said wiping a depressing amount of drool off his chin.
As he grabbed his crutches to get ready to go the judge told him to wait. "I've made my ruling. You will receive the Carters Ford pickup as partial payment for the damages done to you and your property. Also at the time of their deaths the Carters were wanted for murder, assault and battery, and spousal abuse. As a reward for your help in removing these public menaces from our fair county I am awarding you the four calves that are already at your place and the farm that the Bicknel's used to own. Let me be clear times are tough and I can't have land lying fallow not producing food for the community. You can go now." with that Martin stood up and thanked the judge and left.
Martin spent most of his first day home cleaning up. He'd bled all over the place and it had soaked into his floor and mattress so he slept in the bed he'd made up in his shop.
He checked on all his animals and decided he wouldn't milk the cows for another few weeks. He turned his hogs out to graze on the new land. And planned how he would cross fence it to do some intensive mob grazing like he'd read about in Joel salatins book. The Bicknel's had a barn and tractor the judge didn't mention anything about them so Martin figured he wouldn't bring it up.
Epilog
After three weeks Martin drove the Ford into town for an appointment with Dr Minks. He'd been talking to the good doctor on the radio every week. Dr Minks decided to take the cast off and fit Martin for a boot.
"Well now that ought to do" Dr Minks said patting Martin's knee "oh yeah Ryan said he wanted to talk to you."
"Ryan?"
"Yeah, Ryan Rigsby, the deputy."
"Oh I didn't know his first name," Martin said, feeling kinda bad. "What did he want?" Doc shrugged. "He said he'd come by, come on." Doc said standing up."Let's see if you can walk on that." Martin stood up, swayed a bit, not used to balancing without crutches, after a few steps he was feeling much more confident.
Rigsby was in the waiting room and he told Martin he had something for him in his truck. Rigsby held the door open for Martin as he toddled out he spotted a truck with the sheriff's logo and star backed in next to the ford, Martin still had a hard time thinking of it as anything other than 'the Ford'.
Walking around him Rigsby opened the door to Martin's Ford and said "you hop in I'll go grab it for you." He walked around and opened the passenger door of the Ford and the passengers door of the sheriff truck effectively blocking anyone from seeing what he was doing. He then grabbed two long gun cases and put them in Martin's passenger seat. He looked at Martin put his finger to his lips to gesture silence and winked then he turned back and grabbed another gun case and a duffle bag and one more trip brought a milk crate with four .50 cal ammo cans in it. That he put on the floor boards.
"Alright first thing you should know I was married to the Bicknel's only daughter. She died in a car wreck about a year after we were married. John and Fran were like parents to me and I was devastated when they were murdered and I thought killing the Carters would help but when I saw their dead bodies I didn't feel any better. Anyway they left everything to me but I grew up farming and hated it my whole life. I'm not going to have any kids and I told the Judge to just give it all to you. I'm going to keep their house but the farm it's all yours. I also wanted to give these to you." With that he opened the duffle bag. And pulled out a big revolver in a holster "this is the one they used at your place it's a Smith and Wesson model 29, John bought it after seeing the first dirty Harry movie. He only shot magnums in it a few times mostly he shot 44 specials that I loaded for him. Extra soft. In this bag" Rigsby pointed to one of the long rifle bags "is a Winchester 94 that also uses 44 mags this one he got after he shot one I had he thought it was really fun. This one" he said indicating another long gun bag "is his deer rifle it's a Winchester model 70 30-06 and last but not least is this" he said touching the longest bag "it's a Mossberg 500 12 gage it has a 18 inch barrel and a 26 inch barrel."
"Like I said these were all John's guns and I feel like you should have them. That shotgun with the 9mil insert saved your life but you would probably be the first to admit it has some limitations"
Chapter 1
Jerking awake Martin sat up and smacked his head on the cabinet door, "dang useless no good..." Martin muttered to himself and again made a mental note to fix it so it wouldn't fall open. The dogs barking made him forget his mental note and pulled his mind back to more pressing matters.
This is it, he thought standing up he slipped on his shoes and groped for his glasses. It was still pitch dark finding his glasses he put them on, not that it helped much in the dark.
Martin had been sleeping in the woodshop next to the smoke house. He'd slept there every night for a week ever since the second time someone had tried to break into the smoke house the first time they had stolen two hams and his dogs had woken him up but by the time he'd gotten dressed and ready all he saw were tail lights shining through a cloud of dust. Disappearing around the bend. He'd radioed into town to call the sheriff but since he lived so far out of town no one came until the next morning.
Martin and the deputy had looked around and saw some tracks that looked like cowboy boots but that didn't really narrow it down by much. Martin and the deputy went back inside. Martin must have looked pretty discouraged because the deputy tried to cheer him up by asking about the HAM radio sitting on the table. "Yeah" responded Martin "that's how I call into town now. Some drunk idiot hit a power pole a few months ago and it took out power, phone and internet. The powers not too bad. I've got a solar system and you saw my two windmills, and if all else fails I've got my diesel powered welder that can work as a generator. As for the internet I have tried to get satellite but when they told me what it would cost to get someone out here to install it I decided to hold off, after a few weeks without I didn't miss it. And if I really need to look something up I can always go into town and use their libraries computers.
"So like I said there power isn't really a problem and the internet doesn't bother me. It's the phone that really bugs me. I have to radio Mark Goodel and have him call if I have a need." "Oh yeah I know Mark" replied the deputy (he'd introduced himself when he got there but Martin forgot his name) "we go to church together, he's a good guy."
"Well" said the deputy. "You look like your pretty prepared, have you got a gun?" The question surprised Martin, and he wasn't sure how to respond. The confusion must have showed on his face because the deputy hurried on to say. "It's not for any particular reason I just figured that you living out of town like you do would have something to run off varmints and predators." "Yeah I've got this old shotgun" Martin pointed towards the door leaning by it was an old break action H&R 12 gage "I have a 9mil adapter in it for now, I've run out of shotgun shells and I'm planning on getting some more when I can get into town but first I've got to get Leroy running." "Leroy?" Asked the deputy raising one of his eyebrows. "Yeah Leroy, my old bronco I swapped in a Cummins but now I think it needs a new fuel pump or filter. " Aahh" replied the deputy, "Well, like I was saying I figured you'd have a gun to chase of predators four legged and two legged." With that the deputy gave Martin a knowing look tapped the side of his nose and stepped outside. On the porch the deputy pulled on his hat, turning to Martin he said "I'll try to come out this way as often as possible but the fuel shortage has the county doing rationing, I probably won't get out here for a week or so."
The deputy drove off and Martin figured he'd be on his own to protect what was his. He got down his box of 9mm hollow points. He had 10 left. He put five in his shirt pocket and took to carrying them and the shotgun with him wherever he went.
The first two days he hardly slept and was jumping at every sound. He even shot something moving in the dark. It turned out to be a turkey. Well it would be a nice addition to his smoke house anyway. After the second night of bad sleep and packing a gun everywhere he went he stopped carrying the shotgun and started carrying his hunting knife, an old Ka-bar that his dad had bought from the Army Navy store.
He also put a lock on the smoke House door "now they'll at least have to work to steal from me he thought to himself. That night was the first night since the break in that Martin fell asleep quickly and he slept soundly through the night until the dogs again woke him up barking like mad he glanced at his watch and saw it read almost 0330 he jumped up and was putting on his pants when he heard someone shout in plain and one of his dogs started whimpering. Rushing to get outside Martin glanced around for his gun but didn't see it, and three AM Martin couldn't remember where last night Martin had put it. He ran outside anyway not really sure what he was going to do but knowing he was going to do something. The first thing he saw when he got outside was his dog Macy. She was a mutt but mostly border collie. She was limping and letting out a yelp each time her front right paw touched the ground. Looking past her he saw those same dang taillights heading around the bend.
By this time Macy had run under the porch and Martin figured she'd keep. rushing out to the smoke house he saw the door and the lock looking a bit battered was still holding strong.
Checking his two other dogs Bear and King both catahoula mixes he found them licking at some blood that was spilled in the dust by the smokehouse. There was also some smeared on the wooden fence where the thief had climbed it. Both dogs had blood on their muzzles but Martin didn't know if it was from biting or licking the already spilt blood.
Martin then went to check on Macy she wouldn't come out from under the porch till he got a spoon full of lard to bribe her she was still whining and limping but seemed to be putting more weight on her leg Martin felt along the bone to see if he could find any breaks but it felt alright there was one spot where she yelped when he touched it and it was missing some fur.
Martin went inside and found his gun, it was under the dinner table, taking it he went out and hid across the road from his smokehouse and kept a look out until he fell asleep. He was woken up by the sun falling full on his face. He got up his neck and back both letting him know that he'd slept in an unfavorable position.
He tottered around the yard feeding and milking the cows feeding his chickens, horses, and pigs and generally doing all the small things that make a farm work. He took twice as long as normal because his back and neck were so stiff.
Martin was a hog farmer, but not just any hogs, he raised and sold heritage hogs he mostly sold to small-time wannabe Farmers that had more money than sense and saw on a YouTube channel that heritage hogs were what "homesteaders" raised. He also sold show pigs. piglets he had sold had won Grand champion at several county and two state fairs. Low volume high cost was the way he preferred to do things. The show pigs we're a Hampshire, Poland China cross while the heritage are a line of Spanish Black Iberia that he had documentation for going back all the way to Europe. The yuppies that thought they were hippies really liked that and would spend out there wazoo. He often made more on one Iberian piglet than he made on three of his show pigs. He also had a standing offer to buy back any of the pigs he sold if "homesteading" wasn't as much fun as the yuppies thought it would be. And he often bought them back at a discount. He had one old sow he'd sold three times to the same woman (a different man each time) she was one of his most productive sows.
Martin hadn't sold one of his high priced Iberians in a while and the out of state orders for his show hogs weren't coming in. The few he had sold were to locals and they hadn't gone for the usual price. He'd heard people on the HAM talking about the economy crashing and some sort of booger something happening in Virginia but most of the HAM people were nuts anyway. All Martin knew was the pig feed he usually bought had almost doubled in price and the cost for groceries and fuel had gone up quite a bit. Instead of the usual $300 monthly trip to Costco he'd splurge and spent over $700 but only on staple foods (beans, flour, pasta, canned tomatoes, canned peaches, vegetable oil, oatmeal, and so on) he bought enough staples to last six or more months. That combined with his hunting, fishing and the produce from his greenhouse, orchard/vineyard and more meat from his hogs and smokehouse he figured he'd be eating good for quite a while.
Chapter 2
Martin decided that his house was too far from the smokehouse to have the proper response time. He moved into the shop. It was much closer to the smoke House. He started chaining his dogs up at night not wanting them to get hurt or killed.
He slept in the shop six days each morning he banged his head on the cabinet door and reach morning he made a mental note to fix it, each day he got to busy planting and tending in his greenhouse, picking apples and canning them, harvesting nuts from his Walnut, pecan, and Filbert trees, raking leaves for his cows to eat, putting in a winter cover crop for his garden, and harvesting rose hips. He built some cross fencing through the oak brush on a side hill so he could mob graze his hogs through there, figuring what with feed costs he'd have to find another way to feed his hogs. He also killed and processed two of his show hogs that never sold. In general he was doing things that would keep him close to home. And each evening just before falling asleep he made a mental note to fix that dang cabinet door. All this brought him to tonight.
Finding his glasses he reached out for his gun and jacket the extra bullets were in his jacket pocket. Putting on his jacket he slipped out the door. He was about fifty feet away from the smokehouse peering around the corner. He saw the truck it was driven through a section of fence and parked so it's headlights were lighting up the front of the smokehouse. He saw two men in the glare of the headlights one had an axe and was hammering at the lock but he kept missing, he was standing in his own light. the other had a flashlight in one hand and a revolver in the other. The truck was a 90s model Ford F150. With a ladder rack.
Martin was torn he didn't want to kill anyone be he also didn't want to get shot or robbed. The decision was taken away from him when his dog Bear pulled loose of his collar and charged the guy with the pistol. The guy started cranking off rounds so Martin put a bullet into him. The guy dropped his gun and flashlight threw his hands up in the air and fell on his back. Martin thought it was strange, just like in the movies. The man with the axe spun around and put this back to the door Bear was lunging at him but was kept at bay with clumsy axe swings. Worried for his dogs health Martin ran forward and yelled at the man to drop the axe. The man responded with "call off your dogs'' Martin grabbed the scruff of Bear's neck with his left hand and again yelled "I've got him, drop it!" The man then seeing Martin made one of the last mistakes of his life. He raired back with the axe over his head; he looked like he was going to throw it. Seeing this Martin pointed the gun at the man's chest. One handed it was kinda hard to control but he was only 7 or 8 feet away. Pulling the trigger he let go of Bear. Martin realised his mistake immediately, he'd forgotten to reload after the first shot. Panicking he broke the gun open lucky the ejector popped the insert out a bit which in turn popped out the empty 9mm. Groping for a reload in his pocket Martin looked up to see the man swap the grip on his axe from an over the head throw grip to a grip with one hand close to the axe head and one most of the way down the handle. With that he brought the handle down in defence as Bear lunged and was able to deflect the lunge. Finally Martin found the bullet in his pocket and shoved it into the insert and closed the gun pulling the gun to his shoulder. He did even try to find the aiming bead. He just looked down the barrel and pulled the trigger. The man's left arm dropped uselessly to his side.
Martin, fearless from an adrenaline dump, and worried about his dog, charged in and slammed his shotgun's butstock into the left side of the guy's head knocking him down where he began to kick him until his foot hurt. Then he noticed barking behind him. Spinning around again he jammed his left hand into his pocket while his right broke open the shotgun with a practiced wrist flip the empty brass again tumbled to the ground as his left hand quickly pushed the new cartridge into place. He heard barking then a shot and the barking stopped his vision obscured by the glare from the headlights he saw a shape struggling to sit up. moving quickly to his right out of the wash off the headlights he heard a shot and felt jolt in his left arm. He had gained enough of an angle to see the guy with the gun. It was pointed right at him he saw the hammer go back then forward "click" it was the sweetest sound he'd heard in his life.
Not wasting any time Martin took careful aim and put a bullet through the gunman's head. Quickly reloading he steps up to the guy on the ground the guy's left arm had bone showing but he was still gripping the axe handle with his right. "Get up!"Martin yelled "F*** you man!" The guy shouted "ju’shotme, andju killAdam!" The man was slurring his words.
"Get up" Martin ordered again then he took a step forward to kick the guy. The guy less hurt than he was pretending swung the axe at Martin's legs. Off balance Martin tried to jump back. All he could manage was to fall heavily on his back, the axe connected with the side of his right foot. Sitting up he put another bullet into the man. The man curled in on himself, letting out a howl, in a fit of rage he began crawling after Martin. Martin scrambled back until he hit the front of the pickup using it he climbed to his feet and again popped the empty cartridge out of his gun this time the brass case didn't fall out on its own. Limping backwards he pulled a bullet out of his pocket and tried to load it but he just pushed the empty brass back in finally tearing his eyes from the madman crawling towards him with an axe glancing down here saw the shiny brass of the stuck case. Plucking at the stuck case with his fingernails but they were too blunt to dig it out. He backed around the side of the truck and into the open drivers side door. Hoping for safety he swung around the door and jumped inside slamming it closed and locking it. He heard the man slam the axe against the door tearing the sheet metal once twice then silence.
Martin was still struggling to get the empty brass out of the gun. Finally he pulled out his pocket knife and prying with the tip was able to remove the stuck case and load the new one still held in his left hand. He realised he hadn't heard anything in a while and the trucks dome light was reflecting off the glass preventing him from seeing out the side window. Wanting to get a better view he went to put the truck in reverse but as he pushed his left foot down on the clutch his right foot automatically pushed the brake. He felt a grinding in his foot and a pain shot from his foot up his leg and he blacked out.
Coming too a short while later Martin suddenly remembered the pistol if his attacker got the revolver and reloaded it he was toast. Knowing it would hurt but this time mentally prepared for it Martin put the truck in reverse and backed up. He hit something and almost stalled out. Putting the truck into low range then looking over and seeing that the passengers door was caught on a fence post Martin pulled forward and leaned over and pulled the door shut. Sitting back up he put the truck in reverse and gunned it bumping up and over whatever it was with the front wheel peering through the windshield Martin saw that it wasn't a piece of the fence like he'd originally thought he'd actually run over the axe guy. The guy had crawled under the truck maybe to try to get to the other door, maybe to wait for Martin to step out so he could attack his feet. Either way he got run over. Not trusting the axe guy Martin backed up 20 or so feet, stopped and opened the door. He didn't see any movement stepping out; he shot the guy again. No response. Still not sure he shot again, still no response. Gathering his courage he reloaded and limped over to check on the guy. When Martin got close the guy still wasn't moving. "Get up!" Nothing. Finally Martin got close enough to see the guys eyes, he was dead, Martin had killed enough animals to know what death looked like.
Limping back to the truck he got it into gear and drove up to his house. Not wanting to hurt his right foot anymore he just pushed the brake with his left foot and killed the truck in front of his house.
Falling out of the truck he landed on his left side and was abruptly reminded that he'd been shot in the left arm about half way between his shoulder and elbow. The pain shocked some sense into him and using his shotgun as a crutch he staggered to his feet dragging himself into his house, locking the door he collapsed to the floor. Wanting to get a look at his arm he took his jacket and shirt off. There was a hole about the size of his pinky going in and a larger one coming out but he didn't think his bone was broken and the blood was slowly oozing not gushing or pumping. He wrapped it tight with a bandage. Then he took his boot off, that hurt, and he probably passed out once or twice. But he got it off, his foot was an ugly shade of purple and with the pressure off it began to swell Martin was just glad it wasn't cut. With that Martin took two ibuprofen and went to bed.
Chapter 3
Martin was awakened by someone pounding on his door and calling his name. "Martin! Martin are you alive, it's deputy Rigsby!" That's right the deputy's name was Rigsby Martin thought groggily. "Martin I'm coming in!" he heard the door rattle but he must have locked it when he came in. Then he heard something slam against the door "wait" he tried to shout but all that came out was a weak rasp. Two more times the door shook from hard impacts then with a sound of splintering wood the deputy kicked the door open gun leading the way he moved into the house quickly peering into each room and seeing that the place was empty except for Martin he holstered his revolver
Moving over to Martin he asked if he was alright Martin tried to respond but couldn't manage the words. Gesturing weakly Martin indicated the water bottle on the table. Looking around deputy Rigsby wasn't sure what Martin wanted "wa... waaa," Martin managed to grab the water the deputy gave Martin a drink. Martin tried to drink greedily but began to cough and sputter after a few attempts working together they managed to get most of the water down Martin's throat.
Feeling much better Martin attempted his standard greeting "hi, howareya?" The last three words running together. The deputy sat back on his haunches and laughed. Standing up he exclaimed "how am I? How am I? Well I'm better than you are.
"First thing first I followed a blood trail in here are you seriously hurt?" "I got shot and I think my foots broken." The deputy checked Martin's wounds "the gun shot don't look too bad but that foot." The deputy let out a low whistle. I think we better take you in to get an x-ray.
As they were driving into town the deputy told Martin the rest of the story.
Chapter 4
The two men that died trying to rob Martin were the Carter brothers. They were fairly well known, to the police at least, and had been in and out of jail, mostly low level stuff that their belligerence and attitude made worse. For instance the last time deputy Rigsby had dealt with Adam, the older brother, he had pulled him over for not having a license plate. Adam had argued with Rigsby then when he was handed the ticket he tore it up and threw it on the ground the Rigsby told him to pick it up, he wouldn't. He rolled up his window and started the truck Rigsby had moved in front of the truck pistol drawn. Adam put this truck in reverse and crashed into Rigsby's police truck then he panicked and killed the truck. Panicking even more Adam got it and tried to run away but he hadn't tied his shoes and tripped himself. When he was booked into the jail they did a blood alcohol test and he was above the limit.
Then Rigsby told Martin about what led him out to Martin's place that morning. The Carter brothers Adam and Joseph lived in adjacent trailers by the river. With a girlfriend and various children each. Most of their income was from various welfare programs but inflation was rising steadily and cash wasn't worth much people began trading for more of what they needed but no one wanted to trade a welfare check for supplies or labor the local church had a food program so the girls and kids wouldn't starve or even go hungry really but the church wouldn't give away alcohol or cigarettes, and smoking while drinking was the Carter brothers favorite past time they started stealing to help pay for their habits and with each success they became bolder and bolder they weren't just burgling they were robbing people. Not at gunpoint they had sold their guns long ago and no one would sell or trade one to them. This being the case the Carters targeted "softer" targets mostly old people or places with only women and children. Rumors began to spread and the Carters sent their women to trade with stolen goods. These goods were identified and people shunned the Carters and wouldn't deal with them so the Carters began looking farther out of town that's the first time they robbed Martin. After that they got in a fight with the local church leadership and Adams' woman left him. Sometime in here they tried Martin's again but the dogs ran them off. A few days later Joseph's woman showed up at the medical clinic beaten quite severely, and the Carter brothers were in the wind. They had broken into a house and killed the old couple that lived there (this older couple owned a big ranch that bordered Martin's land on three sides tho they lived in town on a small lot). That's where they had gotten the revolver. They also got quite a bit of alcohol when Joseph's woman found out about it she threatened to tell the police. Adam, quite drunk, had tried to beat her to death, thinking he'd killed her; he'd chucked her out the back door of his trailer. Joseph had been passed out. When they came to the next day they decided they would have to run off. That was when they decided to go out to Martin's for the last time they thought they could kill Martin and hide out at his house for a while till the heat died down. Joseph's woman had heard them discussing it and she heard them leave. She was feeling quite weak but her anger gave her strength and she managed to get to the nearest neighbor and have them call the police. Deputy Rigsby had talked to Adams and Joseph's women and they had told him about the stolen hams they had tried to trade. So he knew they'd been the ones who had stolen from Martin he'd tried to make it out to Martin's but his truck had broken it wasn't till the next day he'd been able to get a ride out to Martin's and that was when he'd found the two dead Carters and Martin.
Chapter 5
Martin woke up in a strange room. Looking around he spotted a cup sitting on a bedside table on his left seeing the cup he was reminded how thirsty he was. Reaching out he was suddenly aware of two things first and most importantly his left arm hurt and second he didn't have a shirt on under the blanket. He stopped panting from the pain in his left arm and waited for a moment. The pain subsided and he tried again this time mentally prepared he was able to push through the pain and reach the cup, pulling the cup towards himself he tipped it up and spilled it in his face jerking from the cold he spilled more. Freezing he thought for a second then tried sitting up, he managed to pull his left shoulder off the bed and leaned on his right elbow. Again he tried drinking this time he had much more success until he tipped the cup too far, a twinge from the winds e in his arm made him drop the cup. Dumping water on his chest the cup clattered to the floor. He heard someone in the room snort and move. Then a light clicked on and he saw a tired looking woman in scrubs. She was yawning and stretching. She'd been sleeping in a chair by a door about four feet away from where Martin was laying. She stood up and smiled at Martin. "Made a mess didn't'cha?" She moved over to look at him taking a small cup from the bedside table. She said "take these'' . It had two big pills and a third smaller one. While he was distracted trying to swallow the pills, she quickly grabbed his blanket and pulled it off. "I'll get you a new one" she said, turning to walk out the door. It was only after the door closed that Martin realized he was naked. Panicking he looked around for something to cover himself up. Grabbing his pillow he covered himself and promptly fell back asleep.
Waking up again Martin found that he was tucked back into bed first thing first he thought and reached down and checked he was pleased to learn he was wearing a hospital gown. Looking over here saw that deputy Rigsby was now sleeping in the chair relieved that he was covered and he fell back asleep.
Waking up Martin finally felt rested and hungry. Sitting up and stretching he was painfully reminded of the holes in his arm. Looking to his left he saw that his arm was still in a bandage. This bandage reminded him of his foot, thinking about his foot caused a reflexive twitch in his foot which in turn sent a jolt of pain up his leg. Gritting his teeth he thought at least I know my foot is still attached. Looking over here saw the chair was empty. Laying back down he tried to fall back to sleep but he couldn't. He felt an urge to go to the bathroom. He waited a few minutes but all that happened was he felt a building pressure. Sitting up he looked around the room and spotted some crutches leaning on the bedside table. Pulling back the blanket he noted with relief that he was wearing a hospital gown. Looking at his foot for the first time he saw it was still a bit swollen and a bruise covered all of his foot except his big toe and reached up towards his ankle. The bruise was that ugly greenish yellow color at the edges shading to a darker purple on the edge of his foot where the axe had hit. Thinking to himself that it didn't look too bad he swung his feet off the edge of the bed and grabbed the crutches. Just before he started to lean up the door swung open. It was the woman from before. "Nope! You lay back down mister." She scolded, stepping forward to grab his crutches. "But I gotta pee" she pointed towards the foot of the bed with a sense of dread Martin realized she was pointing at a bed pan.
Martin was just settling back into his bed when the doctor came in. "Hi I'm Doctor Minks, how are you feeling?" The doctor, a short man with a big brown cowboy mustache, didn't wait for a reply "You have a fractured metatarsal, that boned in your foot that goes to your pinky toe. I'm prescribing you need to stay off your foot for two weeks then" Martin opened his mouth to protest, two weeks he couldn't be off his feet for two weeks, but Dr Minks just held up his hand and continued talking. " Then after a check up I'll probably put you in a boot" he paused to take a breath and Martin was able to break in. "I've got a farm doc I can't just lay around for two weeks!" "I understand." Doctor Minks replied "believe me. What I can do is put you in a hard cast, so you can get around but if I do that I'll only give you a handful of oxycodone, you can take one to get to sleep but during the day I only want you on aspirin and ibuprofen. If you're on oxy all day you might forget how bad your foot is damaged and over do it."
Wanting as much mobility as possible Martin agreed to this plan. While Dr Minks was putting his cast on deputy Rigsby came to see Martin. "Knock knock. Hey doc hey Martin how ya feeling?" Martin opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by doc "oh he'll be fine if he does like I say and keeps off his foot." He paused for a breath and Martin asked. "How long have I been here? What about my animals, the cows, the pigs should be fine, they've got the feeder, my dogs, Bear!?" "Yeah." Deputy Rigsby said running his hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his head. "One of your dogs is dead. I don't know it's name. It was a big blue catahoula he got shot and he bled out under your porch. I took him and buried him in the orchard at your place. Your animals are all fine. I brought four calves out and put on your cows, and like you said the pigs have the feeder.
"Who's calves?" Martin asked "well" deputy Rigsby said "you remember that older couple I told you about, the ones the Carters killed?" "Yeah" Martin replied. " Well they had two cows that each had two calves after the Jenson's, that's the name of the older couple, after they were killed no one fed or watered the cows and they both dried up the calves were in pretty bad shape and there was no one to milk your cows. I called it fate, and you can keep the calves as far as I'm concerned. They would just be dead anyway." " Well," said Dr Minks. "Your cast is all done, it just needs to dry for 30 minutes or so. We did the fiberglass cast. It's more durable." He said patting Martin on the knee. "I've got other patients" he stood up "but you need to come for a check up in two weeks."
Chapter 6
After Dr Minks left deputy Rigsby sat down. "Martin you are scheduled to appear before the Judge today. Do you think you'll be up to it?" When Rigsby mentioned the judge Martin blanched. "Why do I need to see the judge?" Martin asked knowing he hadn't done anything wrong but still feeling a general fear of 'maybe'. "Really" Rigsby replied. "I found two dead people on your property. The law may not have as much reach as it used to but there still is a law."
After a few false starts Martin was able to get the hang of walking with crutches. He thought he was doing pretty good, he was able to get in and out of the deputies truck, until they got to the courthouse. It had a big set of steps leading up to it. Steps the enemy to everyone who's ever used crutches. Martin was standing at the bottom of the steps looking up when deputy Rigsby called to him. "Over here" he was standing by the corner of the building. "We have an elevator around this side" with a sense of relief Martin followed deputy Rigsby around to the end of the building and got in the elevator with him. Martin couldn't think of anything to say and Rigsby kept quiet until they arrived at the third floor
"Right here" Rigsby said, holding open a door. The pain killers were starting to wear off and all Martin cared about was finding somewhere to sit down. Rigsby introduced them. "This is Judge Rodgers, Judge this is Martin Barns" The Judge was a short rather fat man that reminded Martin of no one more that the mayor of Mayberry from the Andy Griffiths show. The judge was sitting behind a big desk covered in paper folders and binders. He stood up to shake Martin's hand then gestured at the chairs across from his desk. "Sit down please," "actually judge I've got some things to take care of but I'll be back in a half hour to pick up Martin." With that Rigsby walked out.
"Well let's see, let's see, Barns, Barns, Barns. Ah, here you are," he said looking through then grabbing a file off his desk. "Barns, Martin" he opened the folder and read through it making soft tisk, tisk sounds through his teeth. After a bit he put down his folder muttering "bad business" then he looked up "so Mr. Barns tell me what happened."
So Martin told his story keeping to the truth as best he could. He stopped his story when deputy Rigsby broke in and found him. He didn't want Rigsby to get in trouble for telling him about the Carters thinking it might be confidential or something.
Opening the folder back up the judge flipped through a few pages before he asked without looking up "Did you know then men you killed?" At that question Martin felt some cold settle in the pit of his stomach. "Do I need a lawyer?" At that the judges head snapped up. "No, no, I'm just making sure we've got all our I's crosses and T's dotted"
"Well I knew them by sight. I've seen them around town but didn't know their names, but that night in the dark with my adrenaline I didn't recognize them. Mostly I was looking at the gun and the axe."
"So you didn't know who they were that night?"
Martin shook his head
"Did you think they were the same people who'd stolen from you before?"
"Yeah, but it didn't really matter, I knew they were stealing from me now."
"Alright and what would you say the value of your lost or stolen items is?"
"I don't know I haven't been out to look around… I know I lost at least one of my dogs and I've turned down offers for $500 for him. And whatever the doctor is gonna charge me, they also crashed through my fence, like I said I'll have to look at it before I can give you a final amount." Martin was starting to ramble the effects of the painkillers were starting to show.
There was a knock on the door and Martin jerked his head up from his chest, he'd apparently fallen asleep. The judge said "come in" and deputy Rigsby stuck his head in the door. "Ready?" He asked. Yeah Martin said wiping a depressing amount of drool off his chin.
As he grabbed his crutches to get ready to go the judge told him to wait. "I've made my ruling. You will receive the Carters Ford pickup as partial payment for the damages done to you and your property. Also at the time of their deaths the Carters were wanted for murder, assault and battery, and spousal abuse. As a reward for your help in removing these public menaces from our fair county I am awarding you the four calves that are already at your place and the farm that the Bicknel's used to own. Let me be clear times are tough and I can't have land lying fallow not producing food for the community. You can go now." with that Martin stood up and thanked the judge and left.
Martin spent most of his first day home cleaning up. He'd bled all over the place and it had soaked into his floor and mattress so he slept in the bed he'd made up in his shop.
He checked on all his animals and decided he wouldn't milk the cows for another few weeks. He turned his hogs out to graze on the new land. And planned how he would cross fence it to do some intensive mob grazing like he'd read about in Joel salatins book. The Bicknel's had a barn and tractor the judge didn't mention anything about them so Martin figured he wouldn't bring it up.
Epilog
After three weeks Martin drove the Ford into town for an appointment with Dr Minks. He'd been talking to the good doctor on the radio every week. Dr Minks decided to take the cast off and fit Martin for a boot.
"Well now that ought to do" Dr Minks said patting Martin's knee "oh yeah Ryan said he wanted to talk to you."
"Ryan?"
"Yeah, Ryan Rigsby, the deputy."
"Oh I didn't know his first name," Martin said, feeling kinda bad. "What did he want?" Doc shrugged. "He said he'd come by, come on." Doc said standing up."Let's see if you can walk on that." Martin stood up, swayed a bit, not used to balancing without crutches, after a few steps he was feeling much more confident.
Rigsby was in the waiting room and he told Martin he had something for him in his truck. Rigsby held the door open for Martin as he toddled out he spotted a truck with the sheriff's logo and star backed in next to the ford, Martin still had a hard time thinking of it as anything other than 'the Ford'.
Walking around him Rigsby opened the door to Martin's Ford and said "you hop in I'll go grab it for you." He walked around and opened the passenger door of the Ford and the passengers door of the sheriff truck effectively blocking anyone from seeing what he was doing. He then grabbed two long gun cases and put them in Martin's passenger seat. He looked at Martin put his finger to his lips to gesture silence and winked then he turned back and grabbed another gun case and a duffle bag and one more trip brought a milk crate with four .50 cal ammo cans in it. That he put on the floor boards.
"Alright first thing you should know I was married to the Bicknel's only daughter. She died in a car wreck about a year after we were married. John and Fran were like parents to me and I was devastated when they were murdered and I thought killing the Carters would help but when I saw their dead bodies I didn't feel any better. Anyway they left everything to me but I grew up farming and hated it my whole life. I'm not going to have any kids and I told the Judge to just give it all to you. I'm going to keep their house but the farm it's all yours. I also wanted to give these to you." With that he opened the duffle bag. And pulled out a big revolver in a holster "this is the one they used at your place it's a Smith and Wesson model 29, John bought it after seeing the first dirty Harry movie. He only shot magnums in it a few times mostly he shot 44 specials that I loaded for him. Extra soft. In this bag" Rigsby pointed to one of the long rifle bags "is a Winchester 94 that also uses 44 mags this one he got after he shot one I had he thought it was really fun. This one" he said indicating another long gun bag "is his deer rifle it's a Winchester model 70 30-06 and last but not least is this" he said touching the longest bag "it's a Mossberg 500 12 gage it has a 18 inch barrel and a 26 inch barrel."
"Like I said these were all John's guns and I feel like you should have them. That shotgun with the 9mil insert saved your life but you would probably be the first to admit it has some limitations"
