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Post by CountryGuy on Jul 21, 2022 19:30:43 GMT -6
Hot digity damn it's 'bout to get good up in here...
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Post by bretf on Jul 23, 2022 5:30:28 GMT -6
Chapter 11
It took several moments for the full meaning of what their savior said to sink in. The twins reacted first. Alison formed the name soundlessly. Wide-eyed, she turned to Brooke and mouthed the name again, followed by more soundless words. They leaped up as if spring loaded and wrapped their arms around his neck before he could react.
“MAT!” They squealed in unison, making him wince from the near-shouts next to his ears.
Alison continued in solo, “You’re our brother! We came to find you, and you found us instead!” She released her hold, backed up and studied him. “You’re taller than our other brother,” she said with a touch of awe in her voice.
“And better looking,” Brooke added. She too had let go of his neck and taken a step back.
Mat’s stern look softened under the girl’s attention.
Lisa stood and moved behind the girls. “Mat,” she said with a catch. “Okay, it sounds strange to call you that. You’ve always been Mateo to us, and we only found out yesterday you go by Mat, but I’ll try. So, please excuse me if I mess up. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, it is so good . . . to finally have the chance . . . to meet you. We . . . we . . . wanted to get up here before . . . and find you, but . . . Oh, Mat, I’m so glad to meet you. I only wish it was under different circumstances.” She sniffed loudly and pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes and swiped across her nose.
“Mom, don’t be sad,” Brooke said. “This is our brother. We found him!” She had an ear to ear smile.
Chad’s mouth hung open, and he stared at Mat with fresh eyes. That’s my brother Mateo! Why didn’t I put it all together? Man, what a way to meet! My brother! he thought. His mind spun with the revelation.
#
The fire popped and crackled over the hiss of damp wood burning. The water gurgled and rustled in the nearby creek. They were the only sounds for a long minute. Chad eventually broke the awkward silence. “So, I’ve never seen a rifle like that before. What is it?” he asked.
He ignored the question while his mind raced. While he and Chad had gathered fuel and got the fire going, he’d simmered. The urge to leave nearly overwhelmed him but he fought it down. No matter how distasteful it was to stay with them, he couldn’t allow himself to desert the family due to a decision he’d made years earlier. It’d been the directing force for most of his life: what would mama think of my actions. After she died, he missed her so much and didn’t want to do anything to tarnish her memory. Maybe she watched him from Heaven, and maybe not, but he made a vow to live as if she saw every move he made.
Where some of the kids he knew turned to drugs and gangs, he’d allowed adversity to mold and shape him into the person he was, someone his mama would’ve been proud of. He’d been made into something stronger, better, like when a potter transformed a lump of clay and fired it in the kiln. However, in his case, he thought the potter stopped before the glazing step. He viewed himself as pretty rough. But he looked at the reflection in the mirror and knew the man who looked back wouldn’t shame his mama if she was still with them.
Mat’s irritation eased, but only slightly. The situation he’d stepped into filled him with anger and resentment, and he didn’t like it, not one bit. He stood and studied the woman and the kids who claimed he was their brother. He considered them each in turn. Lisa sounded sincere, and those girls are adorable. And the kid has spunk. He didn’t turn to mush when he faced those two idiots.
Still, he wanted nothing more than to grab his gear and beat feet. And if I do that, he told himself, I can never look at the man in the mirror again; ever. It would shame her, and I’d be on the same level as those idiots at the side of the road. He glanced at the twins. Running now might even put me on the same level as the scum who started the whole mess.
Firming his resolve, he faced Lisa, his palms sweaty. “It’s . . . it’s nice to meet you, Lisa. And . . . I’ve found, no matter how hard we try to change things, at times circumstances are beyond our control. What matters more is how we deal with what comes our way,” he said and held his hand out.
Lisa grasped his hand and wrapped her other arm around him and pulled him close. “I am so glad to meet you. I’ve . . . we’ve looked forward to it for the longest time.” The girls joined their mom, one on each side, and wrapped their arms around him.
Mat was stiff and clearly uncomfortable. He freed himself from the vice-like grip and stood at arm’s length to Lisa. “Uh . . . I can’t remember when I’ve had this much female attention. But, that said, I have to be honest with you. I’m not exactly happy with the turn of events, not at all; but I mea –”
Lisa interrupted, “I understand. If you don’t want us –”
“No, I said you could–”
“We don’t want to burden–”
“You can’t –”
“We’ll–”
“Wa –”
“B –”
“Hey, both of you; knock it off!” Chad snapped and gave each an intense look.
They were both startled. His mom flinched before she pulled her gaze away from Mat to look at her son.
With their attention on him, Chad asked, “Don’t you know why we have two ears and only one mouth? I shouldn’t have to explain it to you, it seems rather obvious. I might expect that type of behavior from little kids, but really? Come on now! Listen to the other person; let them finish.”
Chad looked from his brother to his mom. “I mean it. Really LISTEN! Geesh!”
Lisa shrunk under his stern gaze. “You’re right Chad, thank you for pointing out my poor behavior. Um, Mat, well, I’m –”
“No Lisa, it’s my fa –”
“No, you were tal –”
“But you h –”
Chad shook his head wearily. “REALLY?” he shouted. Softer, he continued, “Are you guys kidding me? Stop and look around. Dad and Aunt Heather are in the middle of the road. They were shot and need care and you two won’t even let the other talk. This is ridiculous, you’re being ridiculous.”
Lisa lowered her head, her face red with embarrassment. Mat mimicked her. He couldn’t believe how he was acting. He hadn’t been so out of control in a long time.
“Lisa, may I speak?” he asked. To himself, he asked why it took a kid to set him straight.
She bit her lower lip and looked at him, her eyes welling up again. “Yes, Mat, and please accept my apology for not allowing you to finish before.”
“Thank you. Now the way I see it, things may be, no, things will be awkward, but you’re all coming to my house. I’m not overjoyed with the situation, but it doesn’t matter. You’re coming. You don’t have any other choice.”
“Alright, Mat, thank you for your hospitality. I . . . wish we had other choices and didn’t have to put you in this situation, even though we do want to get to know you. I’d rather not impose if you’re not comfortable taking us in. I know it’s a big sacrifice for you, so, are you sure you want to do this, to let us stay? We might be able to find someone in Hamilton who could help us.”
A twin was on each side of him, each grasping one of his hands. They stared up at his face with pleading eyes. He glanced at them and paused, before returning his gaze to Lisa. “I’m sure.”
Lisa wiped her eyes again, and said, “All right then, thank you. So what now? How are we supposed to get there?” she asked. Fresh tears ran down her face as she looked at Dan and Heather’s motionless forms.
“I’d like to get your truck out of the barrow ditch and look it over to see if we can drive it to my place. It might not be far, but it doesn’t mean I want to pack your husband there on my back. You stay here and keep an eye on your people and keep the fire going.” He turned to Chad and said, “Come on Tiger, let’s see what we can do with your truck,” and led the way.
Mat stopped after a few feet, bent down, and looked under his arm to make sure the girls hadn’t followed. He cussed under his breath while he pulled a spike strip free of the road. “Those idiots may have more of these out, so check for them first thing.”
Chad looked around and saw two more strips the pickup had passed without hitting. When he pointed them out and prepared to pull one, it elicited more cussing from Mat.
After the strips were pulled and stuffed into the pickup, Mat looked over to Chad and said, “Now, we have to hope it’ll start and we can get it back on the road.”
“Can’t we go get your car, or truck, or whatever you have?” Chad asked. “It might be easier.”
“It’s not available; I can explain later. But for now, we have to make yours able to travel or we walk,” Mat said.
He got in the driver’s seat and turned the key. The engine started, but with a horrible racket. He ignored the noise and put the transmission into reverse and let the clutch out. One tire spun before it got traction, and the pickup backed onto the road. Chad put his fingers in his ears to lessen the din until Mat shut the engine off.
Mat joined Chad near the front of the pickup. “I guess the first thing we need to do is get the fan away from the radiator. Do you have tools we can use?”
“Yeah, we’ve got a toolbox. I’ll get it,” Chad said.
Mat forced the bent hood up and had it propped open with a stick when Chad returned, bent over carrying the heavy toolbox in both hands. Mat gave him another appraisal. Yep, he seems to be a pretty good kid, he thought.
Mat looked in the toolbox to get an idea of what it held and then checked the engine compartment, not pleased with what he saw. After studying it, he decided the radiator needed to be taken out; the fan connection bolts were buried into it. He looked at the mangled pickup, then back at the people on the ground and considered the access to his house. He let fly another silent barrage of cussing and dug into the toolbox for a ratchet and socket.
Chad watched for a few moments, and then closed the lid on the toolbox, scooted it beside the pickup, stood on it and started working at something on the inside firewall. Mat glanced at him and asked, “What are trying to do?”
“Getting the jack out. We’ll have to change the tire when you’re done there. After I get the jack, I’ll try to get the spare out if you don’t need me.”
Mat kept working, but said, “Good thinking. Go ahead and work on that. I’ll call you if I need a hand.” To himself, he added, Yep, he seems to be a pretty good kid.
It took Mat longer than he’d have liked, but at last, the radiator was out, allowing the fan clearance to spin freely. He started the engine again. The awful racket was gone, but he shut it right off, as more coolant ran onto the ground. He looked into the engine compartment again.
“Well, Tiger, we won’t be able to drive far without coolant, so I guess it’s a good thing we don’t have too far to go. Now let’s get that tire changed.”
Once the spare was on, Mat worked the jack handle, lowering the pickup. “Hold it,” Chad said. “The metal is going to rub on the tire if you lower it any more.”
Mat moved to see where Chad was looking and considered. He saw the damage and knew how he would attack it, but was curious about Chad and how he thought. “So Tiger, what do you think we should do?” he asked.
Chad pointed at the space between the tire and displaced metal. “I think we could use a couple of strong tree branches like pry bars, and bend the metal enough it wouldn’t rub.”
“It might work,” Mat said. “Do you happen to know of an ancient Greek guy by the name of Archimedes?”
“Hmm, the name sounds familiar,” Chad said and flashed Mat a grin. He began to quote. “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it,” he said, and paused with a questioning look at Mat.
“And I shall move the world,” Mat finished. “Yep, I guess you’ve heard of him. Now let’s find those levers, and try to move this one small part of the world.” He gave a nod of approval to Chad.
Chad dug the ax out of the back of the pickup while Mat looked around for branches to suit their needs. He pointed to a pile of small trees that’d been carried down the creek at high water and hung up on the bank. “What do you think of those?” he asked.
Chad studied them for a bit. “They should do,” he said.
In short order, they’d trimmed the branches from two of the trees and were back at the mangled pickup. Mat let Chad direct the placement of the levers, wanting to see more of how the kid thought. He was pleased when Chad pointed out the same places he would’ve put them. As soon as he had the thought, he was taken aback. Why should I care what the kid knows? he asked himself. He was motionless while he contemplated the puzzle.
“Hey, you helping or not?” Chad asked, shaking Mat from his reverie.
“Oh yeah, sorry Tiger. I didn’t mean to zone out.” Mat worked his lever into a gap, and they exerted pressure on the metal. It groaned and creaked as it grudgingly yielded before coming to a stop. It still looked too close to the tire. Mat looked at Chad with a question in his expression. “Well, what do you think?”
“Dad says sometimes things just need a little more persuasion, meaning a few solid whacks. What if one of us keeps pressure here,” Chad tapped a spot, “And the other hits it here with the flat side of the ax,” he said, pointing out a protruding section of mangled sheet metal.
“Okay, it might work. So are you the persuader or the pressure applier?” Mat asked.
“I think you can keep more pressure than I can, especially if you use both levers. It’s the most important part,” Chad said.
“Okay, let’s do it,” Mat said. He positioned the branches and put his weight on them. It was awkward for Chad to get a good swing, but he did as well as he could, hitting the folded metal over and over. The results weren’t immediate, but slowly, the metal moved a bit, and then a bit more with each hit.
#
Lisa jumped as Heather groaned and softly said, “Oh, make it stop. My head is killing me.” Her pained expression was replaced by confusion when she tried to touch her head and found her arms confined in the sleeping bag. Her movements grew more animated, and the grimace of pain returned as she freed her hands. She reached to her head and felt the gauze holding the dressing in place, and slowly traced it.
Lisa took one hand and in a soothing tone said, “I’m right here Heather. Try to lay still.”
“Wh . . . what’s . . . going on? And what’s that infernal racket. Make it stop. My head is pounding.” She pinched her eyes closed, then opened them and looked at Lisa. “And what am I doing in the sleeping bag? Lisa, what . . . what is this . . . what’s going on?” She grimaced and pinched her eyes closed again.
Lisa squeezed her hand and caressed it with her other. “What do you remember?”
“I . . . uh . . . We were driving to find Dan’s kid. . . We went through Indian Valley and . . . and . . . well, I can’t remember anything after that.” She closed her eyes again and said, “Can’t you stop that banging?”
“Heather, two men put spikes in the road to ambush anyone driving past. Our tire blew and Dan ran off the road and wrecked the pickup. We got out and . . . and . . . you and Dan were shot. The men who did it, they were . . . they were . . . going to . . . the kids . . . they . . . the kids . . .” Lisa couldn’t finish and began to sob uncontrollably, tears running onto her and Heather’s joined hands.
#
“It looks good,” Chad said as he peered at the wheel well, watching while Mat lowered the pickup.
“Good, because we’re down all the way,” Mat said and pulled the jack free. He knelt beside Chad and looked past the tire. “Well, we have clearance, but I wouldn’t call it good. It’s a good thing we don’t have far to go. We’ll have to be extra careful on bumps and a couple of sharp turns.”
They stood and were joined by the girls, each one holding a water bottle out to Mat. “Are you thirsty? We brought you some water.” Alison said.
Mat grinned at them. “Thanks, but aren’t you going to give some to your brother? Don’t you think he might be thirsty too?”
“Our OTHER brother, you mean,” Alison told Mat with a giggle. “You’re our brother too, silly.” They both giggled at him and Chad snatched a water bottle away from Brooke.
Chad unscrewed the top and put the bottle to his lips. He took a small drink and froze in mid-motion when he saw his mom bent over Aunt Heather, sobbing. The water hit his stomach like a rock.
“Aunt Heather,” he whispered. Stumbling towards them, he wanted to call to his mom but was afraid to put the thoughts to words. He yelled silently, No! Mat said . . . her wound was . . . His thoughts ran wild. “Mom!” was all he could get out in a high pitched voice.
“Mom,” he said again in an anguished voice and dropped to the ground next to her. Mat dropped to the ground on the other side of Heather’s head. Chad looked down at his aunt and was shocked to see her eyes open.
“Hey Buddy,” she croaked. “Your mom was trying to tell me what’s been going on.” She put a hand on her head, “But she couldn’t finish.” She closed her eyes and took a breath through clenched teeth. “You care to tell me?”
Chad understood why his mom was acting the way she was. He choked up and turned away, unable to speak.
#
“Maybe I can help,” Mat’s calming voice came from her other side. “But first let me look at something.” He moved her hair and looked in her ear. “A couple of idiots used a bullet to give you a new part in your hair and it laid you out for a while. I don’t see any fluid in your ear, so that’s good. No battle signs.”
“What?” Chad asked, turning back to face Aunt Heather and Mat.
“Battle signs. It’s a term for bruising behind the ears, and it goes along with raccoon eyes. Either one is an indicator of possible skull fracture or internal bleeding, so thankfully, I don’t see any. Now let me see your eyes to check the pupils. Close them please.”
“Wha . . . who . . . bullet?” Heather got out. She tried to roll her head in the direction of the strange voice, and stopped, gasping at the burst of pain.
“Do what he asks Heather. I think he knows what he’s doing,” Lisa said.
Heather’s eyes were closed tight, and Mat assumed it was more from pain than his order. It didn’t matter though, as long as they were closed.
When the pain was more bearable, she said, “A new part in my hair, huh? So is it bad? Are you a doc, or what?”
“Not a doc, but I’ve had my fair share of experience with this sort of thing. Now, let’s see if your pupils are equal and reactive. Open your eyes.”
Heather opened her eyes with Mat looking down on her face. He stared down into the most vibrant green eyes he’d ever looked into. He was lost, swimming in their depth.
“So it’s bad, huh? You can’t even talk about it,” Heather said breaking his trance.
“Uh . . . well . . . un, no. They look . . . uh . . . great. . . so I’m thinking you’ve got a concussion, but no other brain damage.”
“Okay, Mr. Not a Doc, do you have something to take the edge off this? My head’s killing me.”
Chad was ready with Mat’s kit and handed it to him, and had the top off his water bottle, ready if she wanted to wash the pain pills down.
“Thanks, Tiger,” he told Chad and turned his attention back to Heather. “I’ve got over the counter stuff, and something a little stronger. I’d rather save the good stuff until we get you to my place. It might put you back out, and it’ll be a big help if you can move on your own.”
“Whatever. Just give me something,” Heather hissed. Her eyes were pinched closed again.
Mat handed two tablets to Lisa. She held them to Heather’s lips. “Here you are. Chad has water if you want it.”
“Just a sip,” Heather said. “I feel like I need to puke. But raise me up a bit first.”
Lisa and Chad helped her get the pills down while Mat watched. After they gently laid her head back down, Mat said, “We should get them in the truck and up to my place. They’ll rest a lot better there.”
“Okay, how do we do it?” Lisa asked.
“Try to wake your husband. It’ll make it easier on us if we don’t have to manhandle him.”
Lisa nodded, and moved beside Dan and worked to wake him while Mat went to the pickup and opened the door. He stood beside it and looked at the group. What on earth have I gotten myself into? he asked himself. He shook his head and cussed quietly, biting the words off when his gaze fell on Heather as Chad and the girls assisted her into a sitting position. He sucked in a sharp breath when they helped her to her feet, where she swayed a bit before getting steady. When she was able to stand on her own, she closed her eyes and put her hands gently on each side of her head.
Mat pulled his gaze away and asked himself again, Man, what have I gotten myself into?
#
Chad helped Heather to the door Mat had opened. “I think you better sit in the back,” Chad said. “Dad might need help to steady him so Mom can sit by him in the front. I’ll get in next to you after we get Dad in.” He saw Mat’s appraising look and thought he detected disappointment. It made him wonder if he’d done something wrong. “Is that okay, Mateo, er I mean Mat?”
Mat nodded his head. “That’s fine. You’re doing good Tiger.”
Lisa had Dan sitting up and the sleeping bag unzipped all the way. “Mat, I don’t think Chad and I are strong enough to get him up and moved on our own. We’ll need your help.”
Mat responded in a less than enthusiastic manner, “Yeah.” He crouched beside Dan, forced one arm under Dan’s knees and wrapped the other around his back. “This won’t feel good,” he said to no one in particular and stood up.
Dan let out an anguished cry, turning Lisa white while she tried to support his injured leg. It didn’t help. She had to let go and back away from the pickup door when Mat slid him onto the seat. Chad had run around the front of the pickup and was on the front seat. He helped slide his dad to the middle. Dan’s face was twisted with pain and slick with sweat. He was silent with his jaws clenched and Chad decided he wasn’t aware of anything but pain.
“Mom, you need to get in here with him,” he said and got back outside. “Ali, Brooke, get the sleeping bags loaded.” While they jumped at his order, he went to the back of the pickup, found the shovel, and spread the remains of the fire into the barrow ditch. “Mat, it looks to me like everything is wet enough I don’t need to put it all out, what do you think?” They’d needed petroleum jelly infused cotton balls from Mat’s pack to get the damp wood burning in the first place. The flames had become smoldering embers from being spread out.
“Yeah, it’ll go out in no time,” Mat said. He redirected his attention to Heather. “Uh, I’m going to close the doors now.” He swung the back door in place and gently pushed it to latch. He wasn’t as gentle in closing the front door. He and Chad put his pack and the rifles in the pickup as the girls finished with the sleeping bags, and they all got in.
Mat drove slowly over the bumps, but the mangled metal still contacted the tire in a few places. He kept a close eye on the heat gauge, not wanting the engine to overheat without coolant circulating through it.
As he’d said, they were near his home and soon turned off the main road into a brushy draw, and he shut the engine off. “I’ll only be a minute or two,” he said and got out and moved the brush from in front of the pickup to reveal a narrow two-track leading into the draw. Chad looked over at Aunt Heather, wondering what she thought, but her eyes were closed tight. Mat got back in and started the pickup moving again.
Live brush overhung the track and the branches parted grudgingly, scraping the sides of the pickup as it forced its way through. The squeals sent shivers down Chad’s back and he thought if the pickup hadn’t crashed, his dad wouldn’t be happy with the new scratches.
The track left the brush and crossed a hillside dotted with rock outcroppings and scrub brush. Chad wasn’t impressed with Mat’s driveway, or his home’s location for that matter. He couldn’t imagine much of a home based on what he was seeing. The cow trail they were on, he decided it was a fitting description of the non-road, approached a thick grove of pine trees. The ground leveled off, and after entering the trees, Mat made a sharp turn. It was too tight for the amount of clearance the newly acquainted brothers had made for the tire. Mat had to back up and pull ahead twice to complete the turn. As soon as the pickup was back on the trail, a dog stood in front of it, snarling.
“Mateo!” Lisa gasped, startled by the dog’s sudden appearance.
“It’s all right, she’s mine,” Mat said as he shut off the engine and opened his door. “She’s alarmed by the strange truck.” He got out and said something in Spanish no one in the pickup understood, but the dog instantly transformed from menacing into a squirming mass of hair with a darting tongue.
Mat stepped behind a tree, and moments later, a cable blocking the path dropped to the ground. He got back in the pickup and glanced over to Lisa while he started the engine. “I’ll come back after everyone’s settled and put the cable and the brush at the road back up.”
“I can do it,” Chad volunteered.
“I appreciate that Tiger, but until Perro-Feo knows you, it wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Perro-Feo? What?” Chad asked.
“Right, Perro-Feo, that’s my dog. You’ll understand later. For now, let’s get your aunt and dad settled in,” Mat said.
Mat drove out of the pine grove into an open, relatively flat space which stunned Chad. He hadn’t expected anything like it. He decided he’d been too harsh with his opinion, although he was yet to see a dwelling.
The area was a shelf on the hillside, four or five acres hidden by the trees. A half-acre portion, roughly the size of their garden at home, was fenced in. A row of young fruit trees ran down one side of the space and the ground was covered by a green crop. Chad decided it must be Mat’s garden, but he still didn’t see a house. He did see a metal building, a shed or barn, he guessed. Mat couldn’t live in it, could he?
Since the garden was there, Mat’s house had to be near, so Chad continued to look for it. Maybe it was concealed by the shed building. But he didn’t see any other structures. He decided it had to be Mat’s house, and his opinion for his brother lowered again. Then he noticed the hillside, with the flat cut-out area faced with glass. Maybe the glass was in front of Mat’s house, rather his dwelling, he amended. He figured Mat must’ve found a cave or something and covered the entrance. That’s just great, he said to himself. We meet my brother and he’s a caveman.
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Post by bretf on Jul 23, 2022 5:31:36 GMT -6
Chapter 12
Mat stopped the pickup near the glass wall and shut it off. Dismayed, Chad shook his head and thought to himself, Yep, it’s the entrance to his cave. As if things aren’t bad enough, now we’re taking Dad and Aunt Heather into a hole in the ground. I can’t believe this. He continued to shake his head while he got out of the pickup without considering it would have to be a very large cave for such an expansive wall. It stretched across the front of the hillside for nearly forty feet.
The dog, Perro-Feo, was at the side of the pickup when Chad got out. It looked like it planned to eat someone, and at the moment, he was the someone. The hair on its back stood straight up, its teeth were bared, and it growled low and menacing. Chad gulped, and pulled his sisters behind him, making a barrier between them and the snarling animal. He missed the fact the dog ignored the girls, perceiving him as the threat.
The girls didn’t protest. In fact, they hardly noticed as their heads swiveled and they took in as much as they could. With a word from Mat, the dog again writhed happily and licked his hand, and then proceeded to clean the giggling girls’ faces. It ignored Chad and concentrated its efforts on the two faces closer to its own level.
Mat shook his head at the dog. “Still need more work,” he muttered. He turned to Chad and said, “Chad, open the door, then cross the room to the hallway, and open the first door on the left. I’ll get your dad.”
“Door? What door,” Chad asked.
Mat walked around the front of the pickup with Chad and the girls close behind him. The girls were accompanied by the dog. It squirmed while it walked, its tongue darting from one face to the other, drawing giggles with each slurp. Mat pointed to a sliding glass door in the wall. “That one is the door,” he said and continued to the passenger side of the pickup.
Chad stood still for a moment and looked at the glass wall, then he saw the wide moldings and handle where Mat had pointed. “Ahh, now I get it,” he said under his breath. “Duh.”
Drawn by an anguished moan, he looked behind him and saw Mat getting his dad out of the pickup. His dad’s face was a mask of tortured pain. Chad turned away quickly, stepped to the door, and slid it open. He went through the opening and stopped, shocked by what he saw.
Expecting little more than a hollow in the hillside, he entered a spacious room with finished walls and furniture. It was a normal living room and kitchen, not a cave. Further shocking was how clean and orderly it was. The room was comfortably warm, a welcome change after the long exposure to the outside. The floor was stone, but not the native stone of a cave floor. It was smooth, the close joints grouted. Area rugs were in front of the furniture, as well as one he stood on, obviously for wiping feet. He wiped his feet automatically as his mouth dropped open and he turned in a slow arc and took it all in.
He was looking around awed when Mat staggered up behind him. He had Dan’s arm around his shoulder, taking the weight off his injured leg. Dan’s face was a rictus of pain as the two of them shuffled to a stop, with Lisa right behind.
“Chad, the bedroom, get the door,” Mat snapped.
“Oh yeah, right, sorry,” Chad said and hurried to comply. He opened the door, expecting it to be dark. Instead, muted light came from a lens in the ceiling. Walking over to it, he looked up and saw what appeared to be a tube, leading to the outside. Mat’s place was one surprise after another. He looked around while making sure he was out of the way for Mat and his dad.
Mat entered the room with Dan, moving in their awkward, shuffling, three-legged manner. At the bedside, Lisa helped Mat lower Dan onto the bed, turned him and laid him down. Lisa froze when Dan cried out in pain, but Mat kept at it until the injured leg was propped on a stack of pillows.
Mat crossed the room, opened a cabinet door and took out two blankets. He handed them to Lisa and then hurried out of the room. Lisa’s eyes were wide and her hands shook as she covered Dan up. In a voice as shaky as her hands, she asked, “Dan, honey, can I get you anything? Do something to make you feel any better?”
“Water,” he rasped. Then he said, “Wha . . . where are we?”
Before she could answer, Mat reappeared. He had two tablets in one hand and a glass of water in the other which he held out to her. “Get these down him. They’ll take the edge off the pain and knock him out. But that’s alright since he’s here.”
Mat handed her the water and tablets and crossed the room. He stood on a chair and opened a vent at the top of the wall, got down and opened another one near the floor. Lisa watched him, puzzled.
Seeing her expression, he told her, “The warmer air from the front will circulate into here with these open. I generally keep this room closed off so it’s cool now, but it’ll start to warm up pretty soon.” He scooted the chair to where Lisa hovered above Dan. “You can leave the door open or close it, your choice. The air will circulate either way. Now, I’ll go see to your sister.”
#
Lisa said, “Thank you Mat,” and turned her attention to Dan. After she got him to swallow the tablets, she settled onto the chair, her mind awhirl. Their day had started with such nervous hope. Then in the most unimaginable manner, they’d ended up at their hoped-for destination. “Dan,” she said softly.
“Mumph,” he muttered, and his eyelids fluttered. Whether from the knock on his head, the shock of his shattered leg, the pills, or most likely all in combination, he was beyond conversation
Lisa had the thought the girls were unsupervised, and then remembered Chad had disappeared after she’d gotten inside the bedroom with Dan and Mat. He must’ve gone back to corral his sisters. He would’ve taken care of Heather, too. As had been the case since the whole mess started, her son stepped up and did what needed to be done. She grasped Dan’s hand tight and bowed her head and prayed.
#
Mat stepped into the living room and sized up the situation. The door was closed and Chad was checking the wood in the stove. A bit of red hair and bandages showed above the top of the recliner, and the girls were busy exploring. It looked like Chad had taken care of the rest of the family while he helped Lisa with Dan. He was drawn to the recliner.
The chair was facing the glass wall where he’d positioned it to take advantage of the view and the best reading light. He had no reason to direct the furniture into the room like most houses since he’d never bothered with a television. Who needed one of those when nature provided such a spectacular show?
He approached the chair carefully. He didn’t think he made any noise, but Heather said softly, “I hope you don’t mind me taking over your chair, but I needed to sit down. I was pretty dizzy.”
“No, that’s totally fine. You can have the chair, or I can take you to my bed.” Mat cringed when he realized what he’d said and his face flushed as red as Heather’s hair. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that –”
Heather reached an arm out and grabbed his wrist. “Stop, I understand. My head already hurts, so don’t make it worse. Next time though, I’ll give you a hard time for being so forward. Now, if it’s all the same to you, I think it’d be better to keep this drum beating in my head elevated. So, how about honoring your word?”
Mat wasn’t sure what she meant. He was off balance and appalled at himself for how it sounded when he offered her his bed. “Uh, honor my word?”
“You said you had better painkillers once we got here. Sorry to be anti-social, but I could really use it,” she said.
“Oh, um, yeah. Hang on and I’ll get it.” He hurried down the hallway and missed her response.
“Hang on? Like I could go somewhere else.”
Mat was back in moments with two tablets and a water bottle. After telling her what he was doing, he tenderly placed the pills in her mouth. His hand trembled when it brushed against her soft lips. “Would you like some water to wash them down?” he asked.
“Please,” she said softly.
He tipped the bottle carefully and was mesmerized as he watched her throat contract and relax while she swallowed. He took a deep breath and pulled his eyes away, looking sightlessly behind her. After another deep breath, he took her hand and put the water bottle in it. “You might want more of this,” he said gently.
“Thanks,” she said and put the bottle between her leg and the side of the chair. She reached out and grasped his wrist.
He looked down at the fine fingers, glad he’d taken off his coat and long sleeved shirt when he passed his bedroom. He felt rough, working hands, yet soft and tender at the same time. It was an amazing contrast in one compact package. He looked back down at Heather’s hand and felt the temperature rising. “Would . . . would you like me to get you a blanket?” he asked.
“Hey Mat,” Chad said from the kitchen. His face showed surprise; he was standing in front of the sink. “You have running water! Is it safe to drink? The girls are thirsty, and you know, the fallout and everything. I see you’re using bottled water for Aunt Heather.”
Mat shook his head to try to clear it and looked into his kitchen. “Yeah, it’s safe to drink,” he said. He looked back down at the hand on his wrist and heard Heather’s soft breathing. Gently, he placed her hand on her lap and got the blanket he’d offered and covered her. Muttering under his breath, he watched her breath for a few moments before he turned and started for the kitchen. “So did you find the glasses?” he asked.
“Yeah, I did,” Chad said.
Mat got a glass out for himself and filled it with water. Sipping, he looked around. His home had always felt large and roomy with only him and his dog. It felt smaller as he looked at the two girls, Chad, and Heather, and wondered how long he’d be saddled with them.
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Post by bretf on Jul 24, 2022 11:22:28 GMT -6
Chapter 13
Chad stood at the glass wall chewing on a piece of dried deer meat and looked at the area outside the house. Behind him, the girls were curled up on the couch asleep. When he’d checked on his parents, he found his mom was also sleeping. She’d moved from the chair and was under the blankets with his dad. He’d carefully closed the door, trying not to disturb them.
Chad swallowed the bite in his mouth and pulled his gaze away from the outside. He looked across the room at his brother. His brother! He still couldn’t get over the way they’d met. His brother saved them! “I was wondering Mat,” he said, “How is it you came to be there to help us?”
“Since the stuff hit the fan, I like to make short patrols to keep an eye out for problems. I smelled smoke where I shouldn’t have and knew something was up. So I went to find its source. I needed to know whose fire it was and what they were up to. I tell you, those idiots must’ve been sending smoke signals, the way their fire was burning. I know all the wood is damp, but their fire, well, it drew me like a beacon. By the way, in the next couple of days, I want to get over there and find their camp. Anyway, I was pretty close when I heard the shooting start. So I hustled my butt the last bit and got a good spot to watch from, and figured out what was going on. You know the rest.”
“Well, thank goodness for poor fire building,” Chad said. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”
“I told you, I really think you were going to come out on top with those idiots,” Mat said.
“Yeah, but then what? I didn’t know what to do with Dad and Aunt Heather.” Chad’s voice caught. “Are they going to be all right?”
Mat didn’t respond right away, and when he did, Chad wasn’t reassured. “Your aunt will be fine. She’ll have a headache for a while, but she’ll come out of it all right. Your dad, however, his wound is very serious. It could go either way.”
Chad wiped at his face and said softly, “And without you, he wouldn’t have any chance.”
They were quiet for several long minutes before Chad said, “So, shouldn’t we go put the brush back to hide your trail into here? At least I guess that’s why it was there. And put the cable back up?”
“You’re right about the brush, so yeah, it should be put back up. I can do it, and you can stay and keep an eye on everyone,” Mat said.
Chad said, “I’d rather go along if it’s alright. I think after the day we’ve had, everyone will sleep for some time yet. And I’d really like to get my mind on something else for a while,” he said and waved his arm towards the bedroom. His face was a mask of anguish.
Mat initially stiffened at the suggestion, but he softened as Chad finished. He looked at the girls and Heather, his gaze lingering, and after more consideration, he said resignedly, “Okay, you can come along. Let’s get ready.” He checked the wood in the stove and looked under the lid of the pot of stew he had simmering. He stirred it and pulled the pot to a cooler part of the stove top, and went to his bedroom. He emerged after a couple of minutes wearing his coat, hat, gloves, and carrying the strange rifle.
Chad buckled his belt on the outside of his coat as Mat reappeared, slung his rifle on his shoulder, and followed Mat outside.
They’d only taken a few steps when the dog materialized from somewhere. It stayed a few feet away and eyed Chad with suspicion.
“You two better get acquainted,” Mat told Chad. He spoke a command in Spanish, and the dog approached slowly.
“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but that is an ugly dog. What kind is it anyway?” Chad asked.
“It’s a mix breed mutt like me. Perfect match, don’t you think?” Mat asked with a touch of bitterness.
“Mat, I –”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t be that way. I thought I’d learned to embrace my lineage, but, well today dredged up things from my past I’d prefer not to remember.
“Now kneel down beside me. Hold your hand out for her to smell, and when she’s ready, she loves the base of her ears scratched. And to answer your question, Perro-Feo has a mix of Airedale, border collie, and something else. I’m not sure what, but I’m thinking dingo. Whatever it is, she’s the toughest dog I’ve ever been around. She won’t back down from anything I’ve seen, including a mamma bear with cubs that came through one day. She’s smart too. She has more to learn, but she picks things up fast.”
The dog sniffed Chad thoroughly. When she was finished, he followed Mat’s lead and they each scratched the base of one of her ears.
“That’s a strange name you call her. I’ve never heard it before; does it mean something in Spanish?” Chad asked.
Mat chuckled, and said, “Yeah it does. It means “ugly dog”.”
Chad laughed out loud, looking at the dog. “But you know, she’s so ugly, she’s cute in a way.”
Mat grinned at the dog. “Yeah, she is. She’s my security system. I tried different things, but they didn’t work with all the wildlife around. I didn’t want to disrupt the animals if I could help it so I got her. Perro-Feo has figured out what’s a threat and what isn’t. And she can cover a lot of ground fast,” Mat said.
“Speaking of covering ground, can we get going? I don’t like to be out in this air too much since I got sick from it,” Chad said.
“Yeah, we should get on with it,” Mat said. He gave a hand signal to Perro-Feo, and she ran for the trees ahead of them. “So you got sick, huh?”
“Aunt Heather and I both did. We spent quite a bit of time outside doing chores after That Day. Because of all the exposure, we got fevers, we were puking, run down, and had bad headaches. I was afraid it was the smallpox, but she looked it up in a book and decided we had too much radiation. Since then, we’ve tried to limit our time outside.”
“It sounds like your aunt is a pretty smart lady,” Mat said.
“Yeah, she is. She was a wildlife research biologist before everything fell apart.”
Mat amended his assessment. “I guess I should say a very sharp lady then.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“Well, I suppose the fallout will be a concern as long as we have this overcast sky,” Mat said. “And who knows what all will be contaminated, probably everything. I’m afraid things will be messed up for quite a while. And you’re right; we should try to keep this trip as short as we can.”
“Yeah, I sure don’t want to be sick from that again. I felt horrid. Then Aunt Heather said our hair might fall out. I don’t want to be a cue ball. I did lose some, but not a lot,” Chad said.
They’d entered the trees while they talked. Mat pointed a few feet ahead of them. “I’ll show you how to hook the cable when we come back.”
They left the trees and entered the open hillside. On foot, Chad saw the hillside wasn’t as open as he’d originally thought. Short, dried up brush was everywhere. He’d like to see it in a normal spring; it should be green and spotted with wildflowers. He decided he needed to learn to not jump to conclusions.
Perro-Feo ranged ahead, covering a lot of ground as Mat had stated. When they were at the bottom of the hill and working on hiding the trail to the house, she checked with them and then disappeared on the other side of the road. Mat and Chad replaced the brush, making it look as natural as possible. Once it was in place, Mat brushed their tire tracks and footprints away with a final piece of brush, then laced it into the makeshift screen.
They stood back and looked at the results of their work. “It’s not perfect, but it helps. Let’s go back up,” Mat said. He whistled a single note and started into the brush off to the side of the trail. Perro-Feo flashed past them in short order.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I didn’t notice it earlier, but I was preoccupied, you know,” Chad said. But to change the subject, you didn’t tell me about your rifle when I asked you before. I’ve never seen one like it.”
“Ah, this is my toy.” Mat held it out and admired it, and then handed it over to Chad. “You know boys and their toy guns. But as you found out, it’s not a toy, although some people consider it frivolous. You’re holding a .50 caliber air rifle.”
“Air rifle? In .50 caliber? I never heard of such a thing,” Chad said. He had an air rifle; well he did before the bikers destroyed their house. But it was, well, a normal air rifle in .177 caliber. He’d used it for shooting chicken-chasing dogs and starlings. It had a pump handle on it, but he didn’t see anything like that on Mat’s rifle. It was hard to believe the beautiful, deadly weapon he was holding was also an air rifle.
Chad was getting a little winded, talking while going up the hill at the fast pace Mat set. Mat noticed, and also caught him flinching a few times, most likely because of the bullet crease on his back. He slowed the pace.
“I’d never heard of one either until I was reading an account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I was intrigued when I learned Meriwether Lewis owned a high caliber air rifle that he took on the trip.” Mat got animated as he talked. “That rifle was very important for the Corps of Discovery; in fact, it was the most important weapon they had. What they did with it, well, it was pure genius.”
Chad was intrigued. “Okay, you say it was genius, but I’ve never heard of it before, so what’d they do that was so smart?” he asked.
“Well, soon after they made contact with a new group of Indians, Native Americans if you prefer that term, they set up shooting demonstrations. His rifle had a tubular magazine that held twenty-two .46 caliber balls. They shot one after the other, twenty-two shots, no reloading, and no cloud of smoke to see through. Nothing. Just shoot, slide a little knob in and out to put another ball in, shoot again. Over and over. I tell you, some of the guys witnessing that firepower must’ve needed to change their breechclouts after seeing that. They couldn’t have imagined anything like it. Heck, I found it hard to imagine when I read about it.”
“Wow,” Chad said trying to picture the scene. He smiled and added, “And let me guess, they never loaded it or charged it with air where they could be seen.”
Mat nodded his head. “You guessed it. They always did it inside a tent and they never let on it was the only one they had. The natives didn’t know if they had one or thirty-eight of them. It was genius, I tell you. The Corps achieved peace through superior firepower, even if it was only perceived. The Expedition never had any trouble with the natives. They were able to pass through peacefully to the Pacific Ocean and back again.”
Unnoticed by Chad, they were in the grove of pine trees. He’d been totally mesmerized by Mat’s story and admiring the air rifle. He loved studying the Corps of Discovery and wished he could research the rifle.
Mat turned off the path behind a tree and stopped at a pipe, sticking four feet out of the ground. A smaller piece of pipe was welded perpendicular onto the main pipe near the top. It took a moment for Chad to realize they were at the cable.
“So, it’s nothing fancy, but it can stop a vehicle. I welded a ring to the main pipe inside this smaller pipe,” he said tapping on it. “The cable hooks onto the ring with the padlock. This section of pipe is to deter someone with bolt cutters.” He reached into the smaller pipe and removed a padlock and showed it to Chad. The lock was the type with four numbered rollers that could have the combination changed. “The number is pretty easy; it’s 0911. You know, for September 11th. It’s a good reminder of why I set up my home here.”
They started for the house again, and Mat continued talking about his rifle. “So after I learned about Lewis’s rifle, I looked into air rifles when I could. I found several companies manufacture them in different calibers. I read guys’ accounts of hunting big game with them, so, I decided I had to have one. Now this rifle, it’s nicer than the one Lewis had in some aspects. It handles higher air pressure than his did, so the speed and force of the ball is greater. On the downside, it’s a single shot and not a repeater like his, so that made his nicer.”
“Well, how do you pump it? I don’t see a pump handle like the air rifle we had,” Chad said.
Mat pointed to the end of one of the tubes. “A pump attaches here, pretty much like a hand tire pump if you’re familiar with them. And here,” he pointed under the fore-stock, “Is the air pressure gauge. Maximum pressure is 3000 psi, and it’s at 2000 now.
“They’re marketed as being a good varmint gun, although the literature means the four-legged variety, not two. But obviously, it works as well on them. It’s not as loud as a regular rifle, which I like a lot, although I’m sure it’s a lot louder than any air rifle you’ve shot before. Then there are the bullets. I bought molds along with the rifle, so if I run low, I can cast my own. Try making ammo for your rifle if you run out. Those aspects made it a desirable gun to me in case those stinking Koran thumpers ever pulled off the big one, The Stuff Hitting the Fan. And well, here we are.”
Chad stopped walking so he could look the rifle over better without having to watch his step. His eyebrows raised and he grinned at Mat. “So . . . can I shoot it?” The need to limit their exposure to the outside air was forgotten.
“I wondered how long it’d take you to ask,” Mat said. His dark eyes twinkled with humor. More serious he asked, “Do you know the rules of guns? Although I should have asked you before I handed it to you. I guess I made an assumption since you’re already packing.
“Every gun is loaded,” Chad said. “There’s no such thing as an unloaded gun. Only aim at something you’re willing to kill. Don’t put your finger on the trigger until the sights are on the target. Make sure of the target: that it really is what you want to destroy, and there’s nothing between you and the target and nothing behind it.”
Mat studied Chad critically. “Well, it sounds like you know the rules, but do you practice them, too?”
“Of course. Dad and Aunt Heather both insist on it. And I’m not sure what she did in the army, she won’t talk about it, but she acted like a drill sergeant when I was learning to shoot,” Chad said.
“Your aunt was in the army?” Mat asked.
“That’s what I just said. So, can I shoot it or not?” Chad asked.
“Huh, oh . . . yeah. See that block of wood against the hill?” Mat pointed at a round of firewood, cut side toward them, sixty yards from where they stood. “I’ve put a few slugs in it, so see if you can add more.”
Chad looked at the block of wood. “Okay, nothing behind it or anything on either side and a clear line to it. Would you hold my rifle for me?”
“Sure,” Mat said. He held the air rifle, then the AK after Chad unslung it from his shoulder. Chad took the air rifle back and held it carefully while he got down on his stomach and planted his elbows. He steadied his breathing and sighted on the block of wood. Only then did he click the gun off safe and move his finger from the trigger guard to the trigger. He gently squeezed the trigger. The recoil was less than he expected for such a large rifle, a little less than Aunt Heather’s rifle. And the sound was a lot less than a regular rifle but substantially more than the little air rifle he was used to. It was more like the black powder muzzleloader he’d fired at a trappers’ rendezvous reenactment.
Mat fished into his pocket and extracted a round lead ball. He held it out to Chad. “The one you just shot was a conical bullet. It’ll shoot balls too, so give this a try.”
Chad put the ball in following Mat’s instructions, sighted, and fired again. He stood up and they traded rifles. “That’s pretty sweet,” Chad said. “It’s still hard to believe that size in an air rifle though.”
“Maybe you can believe it better later. I’ll let you recharge it with air so you get the full appreciation. By the way, the rifle Lewis had on the expedition took around fifteen hundred pumps.” Mat grinned at him. “Let’s go look at that block of wood.”
“Fifteen hundred?” Chad muttered. “I can hardly wait.”
Two holes were in the pine block less than two inches apart. The freshly exposed wood was easy to differentiate from the discolored holes where Mat had shot it previously. “Not bad,” Mat said. “You held pretty steady.”
“Sweet,” Chad said when they looked at the wood. “So, is this the only rifle you have?”
Mat chuckled and said, “Oh no. I have more; too many, in fact. I spent enough money on guns and ammo I wasn’t able to do a few of the things to the house I wanted. And now it’s too late. But no, I’ve got more guns. I just like messing with this one. Now we better get back to the house and check on everyone.”
Chad turned from the block of wood and fell in beside Mat. “So, what have you used it for, I mean besides . . . uh . . .” he asked.
“I moved in here last summer. So during hunting seasons, I used it for deer and elk. But I also packed a regular rifle in case I needed more knock down power. I wasn’t sure what it’d do, so I considered the hunts research, besides putting in meat. It killed the deer easily. The elk too, for that matter, but I spent three-quarters of an hour getting closer than I would’ve needed to if I’d used the other rifle. I didn’t want to try a long shot and maybe just wound the animal. It was good to find out what it’s capable of, though.”
“I wish I could’ve been with you,” Chad said. “But anyway, thanks a lot for letting me shoot it. That’s a really neat rifle.” He considered what he’d just done. He’d had fun WITH HIS BROTHER! Mat seemed like a great guy. It was like he’d imagined, doing fun stuff together. It’d been so fun, he’d come close to forgetting about his dad’s condition.
#
Mat didn’t respond right away. Instead, he glanced at Chad. When he’d gone down to the road, he wanted to be alone after the morning’s crazy events, not bothered by the kid. He’d still been feeling the urge to distance himself from the family. And then the kid looked like he was going to cry if he was left behind, so he caved and let him tag along.
He glanced over again. Surprisingly, Chad turned out to be a good companion and hadn’t been a burden at all. It shocked him, but he found he’d enjoyed their short time together. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed contact with other people.
He said, “You’re welcome. Maybe after we put our rifles away you can get what you guys need out of your truck and I’ll move it over to the lean-to.”
Chad answered with a smile.
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Post by bretf on Jul 24, 2022 11:26:26 GMT -6
Chapter 14
At the front of the house, Chad looked from Mat to the pickup unsure of what he should get out. He said we could stay until we make the pickup workable and Dad and Aunt Heather are fit to travel. How long will that be and what’ll we need in the meantime? He’d need time to figure it out.
Looking around he said, “You said we’d park the pickup under the lean-to. I don’t see one.”
Mat pointed to the metal building. “It’s attached to the shed. There’s room under it since my truck isn’t here. Now I’m going to check on the stew and your family. I can give you a hand afterward,” he said.
“I should be okay,” Chad said and turned to the pickup. I don’t know how much to get out, so I guess just the basics.
#
Mat stepped into the house and looked automatically at the recliner. Heather appeared to still be sleeping. He studied her, watching her chest slowly rise and fall until movement on the couch drew his eye.
One of the twins was waving at him. She had an open book on her lap. Her sister leaned back against the couch, her eyes drooping closed as much as they were open.
Mat gave a little wave in return. As he looked at the girls, he tried in vain to discern any differences between them. He walked closer and said softly, “Okay, I give up. How can I tell you two apart?”
The smile on the girl’s face broadened. Mat had figuratively thrown gasoline on her fire. “It’s easy. I’m Brooke.” She wasn’t as concerned about waking Aunt Heather as Mat was and spoke in her normal voice. The skin around her eyes crinkled and the grin remained. Her eyes seemed to dance. “No, wait. I’m not Brooke, I’m Alison.” The door opening and closing erased the mischievous grin.
“Alison, are you pulling that on your own brother?” Chad said in a stern voice from behind Mat. “Show him.”
“Do I have to, already?” she asked, her glee replaced by a whine. “It’ll be fun to mess with him ‘til he figures it out.”
“You show him or I will. Or maybe I’ll see if he has tape and I’ll put letters on your shirts.”
Alison stuck her bottom lip out in a classic pout. But was it Alison? Maybe Chad was in on it too, working with the little . . . sprites was the term that came to Mat’s mind while he looked at her. Chad seemed pretty serious, but would he be playing along with them to keep him confused? Alison’s glare at her brother convinced him Chad wasn’t messing with him.
“Okay, but you’re no fun.” She pointed to a mole under her left ear. It was mostly obscured by her curly hair. “This dot here, Brooke doesn’t have it.” She turned from Mat and stuck her tongue out at Chad.
Mat looked at the spot; half hidden. He wasn’t sure it’d be enough.
“Also, Brooke is a little more filled out than Ali. It’s tough, but once you get used to them, you can tell pretty quick. Now I need to put this stuff in with Mom and Dad,” Chad said and walked to the bedroom.
Chad returned with his arms free and said, “If we need anything else out of the pickup, I can go to your shed to get it. I’ll move it over there if you want.”
“You can drive the truck?” Mat asked.
“Dad let me drive at home. Not on the road though. He thought we’d get pulled over if we met a cop.”
“Okay, go ahead and move it.”
Mat stood at the glass wall and watched Chad get in the truck, start it, and pull away from the front of his house. He hoped Chad wasn’t exaggerating and wouldn’t run into something. He turned back to the girls. Studying them, he looked for the spot and the differences in their faces. He shook his head and thought, I’m not sure it’s enough difference for me. Taking his coat and hat off, he stepped outside and shook them thoroughly. He figured it was wasted effort and little could be done to escape radiation exposure. But maybe it would help a bit. He took them to hang in his bedroom, wishing he’d thought of having a mud room as part of the house.
#
Mat looked around the table, unaccustomed to people sitting at it. It was strange. The girls were across from him and he tried to study them without being obvious. Alison’s hair hid her mark of distinction and Brooke copied her, both girls striving to keep him thrown off. Though the light was fading, he was able to compare them better as they sat side by side. Chad was right; their faces were ever-so-slightly different. Now he had to get to where he could recognize it in an instant. Maybe then, he could turn their game around on them. He suppressed a grin at the thought.
His gaze shifted to Heather. Lisa had roused her to see if she’d be able to eat something and she said she’d try. She’d woken easily, which allayed Mat’s fears concerning her head injury. She wasn’t without pain, of course, but it’d require time for it to fade. He was pulled from his musing by Chad.
“I’m sorry Chad, can you say that again,” he said.
“I asked if you were going to ask the blessing on the meal,” Chad said.
“Uh, you go ahead.”
“Okay. Uh, Dear Lord, we, um, we thank You for bringing us together with my brother. It’s not at all how we thought we’d meet, but well, at least we’re together. I know that’s saying a lot as messed up as the world is, so, um, thanks, I guess. We, um, ask You to get Dad and Aunt Heather better, to heal the wounds they got. And please bless our meal. Amen.”
He didn’t sound very sincere in his thanks, but given the fact his father was in bed, and it was questionable if his leg had any chance to heal, and his aunt was at the table with her head bandaged, his feelings were understandable.
The pot of stew was in the middle of the table next to a plate of flatbread Mat had made. He pulled the pot closer and looked around the table. His gaze lingered on Heather an instant before he looked intently at the girls. “Brooke,” he said to the twin he was looking at, “If you pass me your bowl, I’ll dip you some stew.” The girls’ faces dropped because he’d gotten it right. He suppressed his grin and did a mental fist pump at their reaction. When the girls’ bowls were filled, he cleared his throat. “Heather, can I serve you some?”
“A little bit, please,” she said. She held the bowl up for him and he took it, feeling the lightest brush of his finger on hers. He froze for a moment and felt heat creep up his arm, into his neck and face. Reluctantly, he took the bowl and put a ladleful of stew in it.
“Tell me when,” he said in a strained voice.
When everyone was eating, Lisa swallowed a mouthful and said, “Mat, since we got out of our seclusion from the smallpox, people have been leery of us because of the scars. Well, a couple of people in Hamilton were okay with them, but they still wanted to know how long we’d been without the scabs. But you didn’t seem concerned. May I ask why?”
“Well, first of all, after the rumors Saddam Hussein had weaponized the virus, everyone who got sent to the Middle East, me included, was inoculated. Then once we were there, I saw a number of people who’d had the pox and survived. Smallpox ravaged the region a number of times after it was eradicated here. All the people I saw who’d contracted it were elderly and caught it decades ago, but still, I got to see them up close. After the initial shock wore off, it wasn’t too hard to differentiate scars from active pustules. We’d been shown a lot of photos of all stages of the pox before we deployed,” Mat said. “I could see you only had scars, although they were recent.”
They ate quietly for a few minutes before Chad said, “I’ve never seen a house like this before. Why’d you build it this way? And why do you have safe, running water in the sink?”
Mat took a bite of flatbread, chewed and swallowed before he answered. “Okay, I’ll give you a bigger picture first. I assume you know I spent a lot of time in Afghanistan. The more time I spent there, the more concerned I became we were never going to win. Despite all our success, the worst of the worst were still alive, still plotting against us. You see, we play by a set of rules. We do our best, I guess I should say we did our best, but we had pretty strict protocols. I’m sure you saw the news any time we made a mistake and caused collateral damage, you know, non-combatants hurt or killed. The press made a big deal out of every mistake, big or small.
“While we were under heavy scrutiny, the other guys didn’t follow any rules. The Geneva Convention? It wasn’t in their twisted view of the Koran, so it was only something to restrict our movements while they ran wild. They relished blowing up schools full of kids. Then they’d scamper off to Pakistan and figuratively stick their middle fingers out at us. We had to dance a pretty fine line with Pakistan on what we could and couldn’t do. So we were handcuffed while those bast . . . those guys ran wild. I decided no matter what we did, someday, someway, they were going to hit us hard.
“So I started looking for a place to land when I got out of the service. I had realtors in all the least populous areas in the country looking. I didn’t get a lot of leave, but when I did, I spent it checking out what they found. My basic criterion,” Mat said and held up a hand. When he continued to speak, he extended a finger with each point. “Was seclusion, a spring that could be developed for drinking water, an area to raise a big garden, a water source to irrigate it with, and affordability. All five fingers were stretched out. “I had a number of other factors that weighed in as well, but those five were the most important. The hillside for the house was also important, and swung the scales for this location.” Mat’s stew was cooling, so he stopped the narrative for a couple of bites.
Chad took advantage of the break. “So, you worked on the spring, got it sealed up, and piped into the house?”
Mat nodded while he chewed, swallowed, and said, “That’s right. I also had a storage tank, a cistern of sorts, put in with the filter system, so I could have more volume and higher pressure. Part of the water goes through a solar heater too, but this incessant cloud cover doesn’t allow it to heat much. It did a good job before the clouds, though.
“So that brings me to the house with the south facing hill and all the glass. I wanted my place set up for passive solar heating and cooling. The whole idea is during cool weather, it collects and stores the sun’s heat, and releases it to warm the house after the sun goes down. I didn’t want to send up smoke if I could help it, and I’d prefer to avoid cutting enough wood to last through the winter. I didn’t want gas, electric, or oil heat either. I didn’t want to be dependent on any company. Again, the clouds aren’t helping, but before That Day, it was very comfortable all winter, without using backup heat.” Mat paused again for a bite of cool stew.
“Everything that could be made in concrete is; the walls, the roof, the floor. The concrete and the stone on the floor are great heat reservoirs. In the cool months, the sun shines straight in and the mass absorbs the heat and releases it at night. In the warm months, they cool down at night and keep the house cool during the day. The hillside with the dirt makes for great insulation, and keeps the heat in or out depending upon the season,” he said. “I don’t know if you’ve been around a traditional root cellar or not.”
His listeners nodded they had.
“Okay, the same concept applies here. And like a root cellar, it stays cool in the summer. Also, I’m not sure if you noticed the roof overhangs the glass. It keeps direct sun out of the house throughout the summer. As the sun’s angle changes with the season and gets lower to the south, the sun starts hitting the glass again when the weather cools down.” Mat pointed at a corner of the wall. “And if I pull those heavy curtains across the glass, they do a lot to help regulate the temperature, too.
“Then I had the solar tubes put in for light everywhere. It took over a year to get the whole project done. It drained every bit of savings I had and used all my leave. But it was complete this summer just before I was . . . well, before I left the service,” Mat said.
“Well, it’s amazing. But how were you able to get it done while you were overseas?” Lisa asked. “Done right I mean.”
“I’ve got a buddy who had a medical discharge and lives a few hours’ drive from here. He and I used to throw ideas back and forth constantly since we both wanted a house like this. He returned home and got one built and agreed to camp out here while mine was being done. He’d been in his long enough he was able to make recommendations for things we never considered when we were hashing out the designs.”
“What about your family, I mean on your mom’s side. Didn’t you want to be near them?” Lisa asked.
Mat’s face turned grim. “The only family left was Mom’s sister and her offspring. My aunt is okay, but those kids of hers . . . I’m afraid if I was around that bunch of hoods, someone would get shot, either them or me. If they’ve managed to survive ‘til now, they’ll be preying on weaker survivors. So no, the only family I had were the guys in my unit, and they all went different ways when we got back.”
“Well, you have family now,” Lisa said.
Mat bit off his response and amended it after glancing at Heather. “Yeah, I guess,” he said.
“And your home is lovely. I can see you put a lot of thought into it. Not having to heat or cool, who wouldn’t appreciate that,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, well I wanted to do some other things to the place, but I ran out of money and I wasn’t going to go into debt. I’d saved almost every penny I ever made and sunk most of it into this place and equipping it, and I still came up short. But I had enough to cover the land and get the house built before I ran out of cash. Maybe I should’ve borrowed money since I doubt the loan officer would come and hunt for me. But no, that’d be little more than stealing, and I’m not a thief.
“Anyway, the next thing on my list was getting a little hydro unit set up in the creek for power. But I wasn’t able to swing it. As I said, I spent everything I had and it’s not like I won the lottery or inherited a wad from a rich uncle or anything.” He took another bite and looked deep in thought while he chewed and swallowed. “Hey, do I have a rich uncle?” he asked.
It was the first thing he’d said to acknowledge he was related to his house guests. Before Lisa could answer, Chad said chuckling, “Well, you don’t, but I do. The rich uncle is on Mom’s side of the family. You’re out of luck, Bro.” The corners of his mouth curled into a grin he was obviously trying to contain. Lisa and Heather looked at him like he’d lost his mind; they didn’t have a brother. It was only the two of them.
Chad couldn’t hold it in and busted out laughing. “No, I’m kidding. But I do have an uncle on Dad’s side, his brother. So I guess you do too. Probably had is more like it though. He might’ve been rich, but I wouldn’t know. He was a real butt-head.”
“Chad!” his mom scolded.
“Well it’s the truth Mom, and you know it.” Chad redirected his attention to Mat. “He worked in an office in a high rise in Chicago. He couldn’t lower himself to come to see us, you know, out in the sticks. He might’ve gotten his loafers dusty, or heaven forbid, step on chicken poop. I only met him one time, and that was at my Grandma’s funeral. The dirt wasn’t even covering her casket before he was on his way home. Grandpa died six months later. My dear uncle, grandpa’s eldest son, was too busy to come out again so soon.”
Chad shook his head in disgust and snorted. “Rumor had it I had two or three cousins, but I’m not sure, I never met them. And you know what, I don’t really care. I bet Chicago got nuked, and if any of them managed to live through everything, I doubt they have a clue how to live in this world.”
“Remember Chad, we didn’t visit them either,” his mom said. “And they had two kids, Mike and Howie.”
“Well,” Mat said, “It sounds like we both have or had cousins we’re better off without. Now we better get the sleeping arrangements figured out and clean up. You guys had quite a day.” He stood and looked at Lisa. “Do you think you can get him to eat anything?” he asked, indicating the bedroom.
“I can try, thank you. And thank you for making it, it was delicious.” She ladled stew into a bowl and put a piece of flatbread with it, and went to the bedroom.
“Uh, Heather, uh, I can give up my bed for you, that or I have a storage room we could put an air mattress in. Or you’re welcome to the couch or recliner,” Mat said.
“If it’s not much trouble, the air mattress sounds fine,” she said. “You’re doing enough for us already; I couldn’t take your bed. And don’t try to change my mind, either.”
“Aw, it’s no trouble. But you need to know something about the room. When the house was designed, I only planned for two bedrooms to get heat. The rooms in the back were for storage. The only heat that room will get is from the hallway. The room has vents into the hall, but it won’t be anywhere near as effective as the vents in the two bedrooms. Are you sure I can’t give you my bed? I’ll even put on clean linens.”
“It’ll be fine. I like sleeping in a cool room,” Heather said.
“Well, if you regret the decision later . . .” he let the statement hang, but she looked like her mind was made up. When she didn’t say more, he continued, “So I’ve got one more air mattress. It could be in with your parents if you’d like,” Mat told the twins. He paused while looking at them. Alison is on the left and Brooke’s the one on the right, he told himself.
The girls said they’d be happy to share the room with their parents in their uncanny way of saying the same thing at the same time. Mat just shook his head at them.
“Okay Chad, I guess it’s the hard floor or the couch for you,” Mat said.
“The couch works.”
“Then let’s get those mattresses set up. We can do the dishes after that’s done.” He looked back at the girls. “Alison, Brooke, I don’t suppose you’d mind feeding the dog, would you?”
“We don’t mind,” they said in chorus.
Mat didn’t know how two different minds could come up with the same response without rehearsing. Those two were something. “Okay, I’ll show you what to do. The first thing is a little of the stew.” He put a spoonful in one of the dirty bowls and went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet. A large bag of dog food was inside. A dog bowl and water dish were on the floor nearby. The door beside the cabinet swung open and Perro-Feo materialized out of it, wriggling all around.
Brooke quit paying attention to Mat and stepped to the door and raised it. “Alison, it’s a tunnel. Let’s see where it goes.”
Mat chuckled and said, “Not now, it’s almost dark outside. You can see the outside entrance tomorrow. Besides, you’ve got a job to do, remember?” He was glad she’d called her sister by name. In the fading light, he wasn’t able to tell which was which.
“Oh, sorry,” Brooke said.
Mat didn’t think she looked sorry, except for not getting her way. He showed them how much dry food to put in Perro-Feo’s dish, put the stew from the dinner bowl in with it, and sat it beside the water dish. “Next time you can do it on your own, okay? And you need to rinse the water bowl and refill it for her, please.”
“All right,” Brooke said in a pout.
“Uh, Heather, you uh, can sit in the comfortable chair until we get your bed ready,” Mat said.
“You won’t get any argument from me,” she said. “I’m still kind of woozy.”
“Well let me help you to the chair,” Mat said, and held her arm and walked her to the recliner.
When she was settled, he led Chad to a room past the bedroom Dan was in. The walls were lined with shelves, everything orderly on them. Mat took a pump off one shelf and handed it to Chad. He took down an air mattress and dropped it on the floor, and kept ahold of another one. “I’ll help you spread this one out for your sisters and you can fill both of them,” he said.
Chad led the way back to the bedroom. Lisa was sitting in the chair beside the bed, with a worried look on her face. “Mat, he doesn’t want to eat and he’s really hurting. And he’s running a fever, too. Do you have anything that might help?”
Mat stiffened. He didn’t want to, but he studied the man on the bed, saw the clenched teeth, the flushed skin. He moved the dressing on Dan’s leg and peered at it. His grim expression intensified. “Yeah, I’ll go get something.”
He left Chad to work on the mattress alone while he went to a cabinet in the bathroom. He returned with four tablets in two different colors and size. “Give him these, and we’ll see how he reacts. I’ll get blankets for the girls’ bed.” He left the room as fast as he’d entered.
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Post by CountryGuy on Jul 24, 2022 17:54:52 GMT -6
Uh oh, poor blood flow, start of sepsis or gangrene? Possible field amputation?
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Post by bretf on Jul 27, 2022 6:43:34 GMT -6
Chapter 15
“Hey Chad, wake up Tiger,” Mat said shaking Chad’s shoulder.
“Huh, what, Mateo, er uh Mat?” Chad mumbled. It was hard to open his eyes. After the stress of the previous day, he’d been exhausted and fell asleep moments after his head hit the pillow. He felt like he could sleep for hours more, but not with Mat accosting him. “Alright, quit shaking me,” he said and forced his eyes open. They felt full of sand.
A single candle flickered on the end table and cast its meager light over them. Mat wore his coat, a black watch cap, and thin gloves. An automatic pistol was holstered on his right hip and a rifle was slung across his back along with a small pack. In the flickering candlelight, Chad saw it wasn’t the air rifle, but of a design in the style of Aunt Heather’s rifle.
“Wha . . . what’s going on Mat? It’s still dark outside.”
“Yeah, it is, but I wanted to get an early start. I’m going to Hamilton,” Mat said quietly.
“Hamilton, why are you going there?” Chad asked. He pushed the blankets aside and sat up.
“To get the doctor for your dad. He needs better care than I can give him. His fever is back, worse than before.”
“Our dad, you mean,” Chad said.
“Don’t push it, Chad.” Mat’s voice was cold and hard. “He hasn’t earned that title. I . . . I was raised by mi abuelo, my grandfather. He was very bitter, and you never would’ve been born if he could’ve found your dad. Abuelo wanted to give him a Columbian necktie, but Mama never told anyone who he was until years later, and then she only told me and her sister.”
“Wait, a Columbian necktie? What on earth are you talking about?” Chad asked.
“Abuelo thought Mama had been raped. He wanted to find the man who did it and got her pregnant. He wanted the man to pay with his life.
A Columbian necktie is when someone’s throat is slashed vertically, and his tongue pulled out through the hole. That’s what Abuelo wanted to do to your dad. I’m sure he would’ve too if he’d ever found out who he was. Abuelo was full of hate for the man who defiled his daughter. He raised me after Mama died. If you’re around that all the time, it’s impossible to keep it from rubbing off on you. My mama told me differently, but I was always pulled in both directions. Then Mama was taken from me much too early. After that, it was just Abuelo and his hatred. He even blamed your dad for Mama’s death. I could see his point on that too. Anyway, it was hard to make sense of anything. So, don’t push.
“But enough of that. We need the doctor, so I’m going to see if I can talk him into coming out,” Mat said.
“Hamilton has a doctor?” Chad asked.
“A veterinarian, but he’s the best hope we’ve got,” Mat said.
“Okay, but how are you going? I don’t think our pickup can go that far. What is it, like twenty-five miles?” Chad asked.
“Closer to thirty. And I’ll ride my bike. While I’m gone, you need to keep an eye on everything. Watch Perro-Feo, she’ll let you know if anything is amiss. Things should be quiet, but you never know.
“You saw the pantry, so if anyone needs something, it’s up to you to take care of them. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He stood straight and disappeared out the door into the darkness.
Chad sat in a daze. The whole weird conversation had taken little more than a minute before Mat faded away. Mat said he had bitter feelings for his dad but was taking off in the middle of the night on his bicycle to get him help. Chad didn’t know what to think of it, but he looked out into the blackness and wished the moon and stars were visible to light Mat’s way. “I hope you stay safe and can get the doctor to come . . . brother. OUR dad needs him.”
He continued to stare out into the nothingness until a wet nose touched the side of his hand, then worked its way under it. Absent-mindedly, he caressed the stiff hair on Perro-Feo’s head, while yearning for Mat to stay safe and return with someone to help.
The candle on the end table wasn’t needed, so he bent over and blew it out. With the room plunged into total darkness, he detected dancing light coming from the bedroom where his parents were. He stood, and walked carefully through the unfamiliar room towards the light with Perro-Feo padding beside him.
Although he was pretty sure what he’d see, it still hurt. His dad was feverish and red skinned, in obvious pain. And it was right on top of the smallpox. Chad wondered if his dad had recovered enough to fight off another barrage to his body. Hurry, Mat. We need the doctor, and you need to see your grandfather was wrong. Dad’s a good person. I know you’ll agree if you get the chance to know him. Please hurry, Chad pleaded soundlessly.
#
Chad paced in front of the glass wall following the same path he’d tread over and over since daylight. Gazing out, he saw the same view he’d seen all morning no matter how hard he longed for it to change. Mat never appeared. As he walked, he absently counted his steps. “Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.”
He didn’t know when he’d started counting his paces as he fretted over his dad and brother, but he had and welcomed the diversion once he figured out what he was doing. Years ago, his dad had shown him how counting paces across a space could give him an approximate distance. Each step Chad made covered two and a half feet.
While he paced, he did the math in his head, willing the functions to take his mind away from the present. Fourteen times two and a half is . . . uh . . . thirty-five. And fifteen times two and a half is . . . thirty-seven and a half. The glass and the room must be about thirty-six feet across, he decided. Thirty-six; that’s a couple of feet bigger than our house is, er, was, before those . . . bikers showed up.
A word to describe the group who’d trashed their house came to mind and he instantly remembered the taste of soap. His mom didn’t tolerate foul language from her children. She wouldn’t allow it and backed up her displeasure at the utterance of filth with a good cleansing. Chad thought of the bikers and imagined blowing bubbles from his mouth.
Pushing thoughts of soap and filthy bikers from his mind, he wondered if Mat had made it to Hamilton safely and if so, how he was accepted. Chad was certain he’d make the trip work out. He’d only been around his older brother for one day of course, but he seemed able to handle most any situation. He also decided Mat was pretty cool. Cool and capable. He’d had no idea what Mat would be like but found he was far from disappointed. Well, except for his attitude towards their dad. That needed to be improved.
Mat had certainly shown up at an opportune time and done an efficient job of taking care of those hillbillies. And Chad still wasn’t sure about Mat’s statement that he might have taken them down himself. As far as he was concerned, his whole family would be laying at the side of the road instead of those two if not for his brother.
But the longer he was gone, the more concerned Chad was for him. Sure Mat was capable, but thirty miles was a long way to ride a bike in a messed up world. And a lot of it was in the dark. Anything could be hiding and waiting.
Chad had ridden his bike around their home of course, but five miles would’ve been a long trip for him. Thirty miles was unthinkable. Anything or anyone could’ve slowed Mat . . . or worse. He decided it was better to not think that way. Mat would be okay and he could handle anything! Positive thinking had been drilled into his head while he grew up, and he needed it more than ever. He’s okay and on his way back, he told himself.
The sliding door seemed to open from its own volition and Chad stepped outside to listen. The only sound was the murmur of Wilson Creek in the distance. Like every other time he’d been outside. He has to be coming, he has to be! Chad stepped back inside, but turned just inside the door and stared out, seeing the same things he’d seen since dawn.
He avoided looking at the bedroom where his dad lay suffering. He needed medical care and he needed it soon. Thinking about his dad and everything which might delay Mat, a wave of despair threatened to sweep over him.
“Chad, we’re hungry.”
Chad jumped at the unexpected voice behind him and turned to see one of his sisters. He was so preoccupied he didn’t correct her for saying “we’re” when he only saw one of them. They tended to think in plural, even when only one was present. “Oh, hey Ali, sorry; I didn’t know you were up. What are you hungry for?”
Alison dipped her head sheepishly. “The stew Mat made yesterday was good. Wasn’t some of it left? Can we have it?”
Chad noticed the second time. “We? I only see one of you. How does one make “we?”
“Chad,” Brooke said, full of indignation. She stood near the sink, unnoticed until she spoke. “You keep looking outside so much, you don’t know what’s right behind you. Alison and I together make ‘we’. You should know that. I bet our other brother does.”
Chad rolled his eyes. A remembrance of the taste of soap and a short conversation flashed in his mind.
I didn’t say anything, Mom.
You said it without words, young man!
Lisa didn’t put up with much from her children.
Chad faced Brooke and spoke slowly. “I’m so very sorry Brooke. I didn’t realize you were here. I apologize for missing your radiant presence. Can you find it in your heart to forgive your unworthy brother?” Under his breath, he muttered, “Ungrateful brat.”
“What did he say, Alison?” Brooke asked.
“I’m not sure, but if you and he are done, I’d like some stew.”
Chad didn’t wait to hear Brooke’s response. He crossed the room and entered the hallway. The first room drew his eyes despite his desire to walk past. His dad looked the same and his mom sat in the chair beside him, one hand wiping his face with a damp washcloth, the other clutching his hands. Chad hurried past. The door to the room Aunt Heather was in was open a few inches. He paused and glanced inside. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He hoped so.
At the end of the hall was a heavily insulated door leading into another storage room. It was at the furthest point possible from the heated section of the house. Across from it was another door. Mat said it was the back door and went into a tunnel. A house with only one door was dangerous, he told Chad and the girls, and he promised to show them where it went at the first opportunity.
Chad clicked his flashlight on and pulled the insulated door open and stepped inside. The room was Mat’s version of a root cellar and short term refrigerator. Mat showed him the room Chad the previous evening when they put the leftovers from supper inside. According to him, the room stayed cool all the time. In the short time Chad was inside, he believed it.
Chad got the stew and flatbread, closed the door, and returned to the kitchen. The girls had a saucepan ready to warm the stew in. Chad tipped the dish of stew over the pan and was spooning some into it when the dog flashed past, and startled, he missed the pan with the stew. Perro-Feo emitted a low growl as she hit her door at a run.
“Chad, someone’s coming,” Alison said. “They’re in one of those small pickups with two big seats.”
The dish dropped out of Chad’s hand and more stew landed on the counter as it rattled to a stop. He rushed across the room and snatched up the AK, flinching at the blast of fiery pain in his back. He’d been doing so well making careful, guarded movements and keeping his back as still as possible. In a moment he’d forgotten and had to deal with the shot of pain as a reminder. Through gritted teeth, he said, “You guys wait in the hallway until we know who it is. If it’s trouble, get in with Mom and Dad and barricade the door.”
He kneeled carefully behind the recliner while he watched the pickup approach. The recliner wouldn’t stop bullets if they were under attack, but it afforded the best view while being mostly hidden. It would have to do.
He gripped his rifle firmly as the pickup got closer and then he saw the dog. She pranced alongside the vehicle, looking into the cab. Her hair lay flat on her back and it was obvious she didn’t see the occupants as threats. He shifted his eyes to the pickup bed. The handlebar of a bike protruded above the top.
Standing, but staying behind the recliner, he said, “Girls, I think it’s Mat with the doctor. Perro-Feo acts alright with them. But stay back until I know for sure, okay?”
As soon as he said he thought it was Mat, the girls began to inch forward, disregarding his final instruction. Chad never noticed as he watched the pickup come to a stop in front of the house.
His grip on his rifle didn’t relax until he saw Mat emerge, and then he let out a long breath he didn’t know he was holding. The driver’s door opened and a familiar face appeared. Russ Camp stepped out and stretched. Chad was confused. Russ wasn’t the vet. Why would he have driven out with Mat? Did it mean something was wrong and the vet couldn’t or wouldn’t leave town? Chad had gone over more reasons than he could count that would keep the vet away. It appeared he’d been right to doubt.
Russ said something across the hood to Mat that got a smile in return and a response Chad couldn’t hear. Perro-Feo watched the newcomer carefully, the same as she’d watched Chad the day before. Mat opened the back door on his side of the pickup and a stranger appeared. Was he the vet?
Without realizing he was doing it, Chad crossed the space to the door and pulled it open. He had another surprise when Glen Camp get out of the pickup from the seat behind his dad. Glen held a rifle that looked like a twin to Aunt Heather’s.
“Hey there, Chad. It looks like you found your brother, huh,” Glen said. “And more.”
“Uh, yeah, you could say that, I guess. What are you doing here?”
Before Glen could answer, Mat was crossing in front of Chad, the stranger in tow. The man carried a large bag, and Mat a second one. “Chad, this is Doc Stevens. I’m taking him to see your dad. You can meet him later when he does his needlework on your back.”
“OUR dad, Mat,” Chad said to his brother’s retreating back.
Glen walked up to Chad and said, “What are we doing here? Well, when Mat came to the roadblock and told the guys what he wanted, they told him to shove off. Things were tough all over, deal with it or else. I was on duty too and talked them into letting me go get Dad. Dad, on the other hand, insisted we get Doc, and let him decide. Doc wanted to help, but he’s too valuable to risk running off with a guy only a couple of people in town ever met. So the two of us came along to ride shotgun. You know, the term means a lot more than it used to. Now, it’s pretty much like when it first originated. Anyhow, we figured you guys didn’t run into the only lowlifes around, so Doc needed some firepower with him. Plus, we wanted to check in with you guys.”
“Well, I’m glad you were at the roadblock,” Chad said.
“It helped, but I gotta tell ya. That brother of yours was pretty insistent. I’m not sure, but I think he was ready to whip all three of us at once so he could go see Doc. And I’m not sure three of us would’ve been enough to take him.”
Chad felt a burst of pride for his brother.
Glen continued talking. “So Mat said you were shot too. How are you doing anyway?”
Russ joined them and placed a hand on Chad’s shoulder. “Good to see you upright and mobile, Chad. According to your brother, things got pretty dicey.”
Chad flinched at the touch. It was amazing Russ's hand could telegraph all the way through his back.
“Yeah, it was intense. Mat showed up at a pretty good time. I wish he could’ve been a bit earlier, but you know how it is with wishing. But I’ll be fine. It’s Dad and Aunt Heather who were hurt bad. Now let’s go inside where it’s warm.”
Chad gestured for them to enter and then slid the door closed after following them into the house.
“Wow, I wouldn’t have expected anything like this. This is nice,” Glen said.
“Yeah, it surprised me, too,” Chad said. “Can I get you guys anything, something to eat or drink?”
“I’d love a cup of hot tea if it’s available,” Russ said.
“That sounds good,” Glen added.
“I’m not sure if Mat has any, but I’ll see what I can find,” Chad said. He turned to the kitchen and saw the stew he’d been working on. “Oh, I need to get the girls some food heating and clean up my mess first, alright?”
Russ and Glen followed him, looking curiously around the house. “Hmm, it looks like you were in a bit of a hurry,” Russ said.
“Well, I was doing fine until you guys drove up. You kinda startled me.”
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Post by bretf on Jul 27, 2022 6:48:42 GMT -6
Chapter16
The cups were cold and empty, but for the bit of tea that always seemed to remain, and Chad was getting anxious all over again. The doctor, Chad had quit considering the man a veterinarian, he was a medical doctor plain and simple, had been in with his dad for a long time. He hoped for good news once the doctor emerged, but doubted it would happen. It seemed good news didn’t exist since the Super Bowl.
Movement in the hall drew his attention and he jumped up. Oh, it’s Aunt Heather. He mentally kicked himself for his reaction. It was the first time he’d seen her out of the room since she’d gone to bed the night before. She looked better than she had then; her hair was wet and the blood was washed out of it, her face was clean, and she didn’t look like her head was ready to burst.
“Morning, Aunt Heather,” Chad said. “Good to see you up and moving. You’re looking better than yesterday.”
“Hey, Buddy.” She looked at the Camps and then the glass wall. “Okay, so I don’t remember much, but I recall the wall. And was that Mateo and this is his place?” She brushed her hand across her head. “We were ambushed, right, and that’s where this came from? But what are Russ and Glen doing here? I missed something.”
“They came with Mat and the doctor,” Chad said.
“Doctor? Okay, Buddy, take it slow,” Heather said. She ran her hand over the wrap on her head again and lightly touched the area with the dressing. “You guys came with a doctor –”
“That’s right, and you’re next on my list,” a voice said from behind her. The man looked to Mat standing beside him. “Now, can you set me up to wash before I look at her head?”
“What about Dad?” Chad asked, afraid of the answer. The doctor followed Mat to the sink, so Chad trailed along with them. Aunt Heather would have to wait for an explanation.
The doctor stood beside the sink holding his hands out while Mat mixed hot water from the tea kettle with cold water from the faucet. “I did what I could, but I’m afraid that leg of his will never be the same. Mat did a great job of initial care by the way. Without that, I’m pretty sure I would’ve had to take the leg off. But it’ll heal, although I couldn’t repair the bone that was shot. The big bone was broken and should heal fine. You two did a fine job of setting it. But without the small bone, along with the muscle damage, the leg will always be weak. You guys will need to make a brace for it when he’s able to get up and around.”
Mat had the wash water ready and a bowl with rinse water on the counter. The doctor scrubbed his hands and wrists and then held his hands over the sink. “Would you give me a rinse, Mat?”
Chad said, “He seemed dazed after the wreck, and then his head slammed the road. What about that?”
“Yes, your mother told me about it. As I told her, the cuts were superficial, but he suffered a concussion. In my regular practice, I didn’t run into concussions, but I had to study up on them when I was talked into being the athletic trainer for the school. He’ll have symptoms that may last for weeks, including nausea, headaches, slurred speech, appearing dazed, forgetfulness; and a number of other things. Just be patient with him.
“And speaking of concussions, Mat says you have one too, young lady,” Doc Stevens said, crossing the room to stand in front of Heather.
She snorted at the comment. “You’re not building credibility with that statement, Doc. I don’t feel very young. Are you sure you can see well enough to work on me?”
Doc chuckled. “I’d wager you’re younger than I am, and I refuse to grow up, so that makes us both young. However, recent events have made me question that; I may have to grow up whether I want to or not. Now, let’s get you in one of those kitchen chairs beside the glass so I can see what you’ve got under that dressing.”
Mat hurried to move a chair where Doc indicated.
Once Heather was seated, the doctor removed the dressing and looked over the wound. “It looks very good, considering. And the best thing is, your hair will cover up my rough sewing job. I’m not a plastic surgeon after all. Mat, please set my bag within easy reach and open it. Then be ready to assist me. You did an excellent job with this wound, by the way.”
Mat’s hand had a slight tremor when he stood next to Heather and held her hair as Doc directed him.
“Chad, girls, would you like to see your father,” their mom asked softly from the door to the bedroom. He’s groggy, but I think you can talk to him a little while.” All three of them hurried to the bedroom while Lisa stepped aside. She glanced at her sister and the two men standing over her, and then to the couch. “Russ, would you mind stepping over here where we can talk, please?”
“Sure,” he said, and the two of them stepped to the far corner of Mat’s kitchen.
Lisa bent her head close and talked quietly enough no one else in the house could hear.
Doc made much faster time with Heather’s wound than he had with Dan’s. In a very short time, Mat was at the doorway to the bedroom. “Alright, Tiger. Doc’s done with Heather and ready to look at your back,” he said.
Doc might be ready, but Chad didn’t want to leave his dad’s bedside yet. But he did. “Okay. Dad, I’ll see you later.” Chad squeezed his dad’s hand and followed Mat.
“Doc wants you to strip to the waist and rest your upper body across the table,” Mat said. It was then that Chad noticed the table had been moved next to the glass.
When the hypodermic needle touched Chad’s back, he instantly regretted drinking a cup of tea while he sat with Russ and Glen. It felt like the needle was a foot long and made him want to pee his pants. He tried to think of anything - fishing, picking vegetables with his dad, shooting Mat’s big air rifle - except Doc and what he was doing. It did little good. He gritted his teeth and wondered how long it was going to take.
#
“Doc, we really appreciate you coming out,” Mat said. “I’m not sure what works for payment now, but I have a 9mm pistol I could part with if that’s acceptable.”
“You don’t need to do that, Mat,” Lisa said. “We can find something for the doctor. We’ve inconvenienced you too much already, so we’ll be leaving with Russ and square up when we can.”
All eyes were on Lisa at the statement.
“Mom, wh, what are you talking about?” Chad asked, in a strangled voice. “We just found Mat, and well, we sacrificed a lot. What do you mean we’re leaving? You can’t mean it!”
“I’m sorry Chad, but Russ offered to take us back to Hamilton with him and let us stay at his house. Your dad can be close to the doctor, and we won’t be imposing on Mat.”
“But . . . but Mom –”
“Lisa, I said you could stay,” Mat said quietly.
“I know you did, but you also said you weren’t happy with us showing up. Russ has agreed to let us stay with him until we manage to work out a ride to Reynolds Creek,” Lisa said. “We don’t want to be a bother to you. I want to respect your wishes.”
Mat looked over the family. The girls, his half-sisters, looked ready to cry. The bookends who got such delight in fooling people were far from delighted.
He looked at Chad, his half-brother, tense like he was ready to fight someone. His younger brother who’d refused to back down, even when faced with overwhelming odds. He was little more than a boy, but he was willing to sacrifice himself for his family.
Mat’s gaze shifted to the couch, to Heather, and lingered. She’d been quiet, seemingly indifferent. He knew he was only dreaming, but a man had to have his dreams, didn’t he?
And what about the man who claimed to be his father? Abuelo had ranted against the man, saying he deserved a slow painful death for what he’d done. But his mother said otherwise. Which was right, or were either of them?
It would be so easy to let them go and get back to his simple life; his life alone on a hillside with a dog as his only companion. Wasn’t that what he wanted anyway? Back to the long lonely days and nights.
The solitude had been welcome for all of three weeks. Then he’d begun to miss the sound of people’s voices. The radio was his only respite from the quiet, and then it was gone after the bombs. After That Day, it was just him, the dog, and the wind.
The wind carried voices of the dead. He’d been nearly pushed over the edge as the wind talked and dredged up memories he tried to keep buried. The same wind and voices that’d followed him from the mountains of another continent.
But he’d been presented with an alternative to the loneliness. He saw hope in a world filled with despair. Throughout the long bike ride he’d imagined the future. He cleared his throat and looked at Lisa. He didn’t understand it, but he knew what he wanted.
“Lisa, have you ever said anything in haste?” His words were no longer quiet. “When emotions were high, and then later, when you looked at the situation calmly, regret what you said? You’re right, I said that. But since I said it, I’ve spent time with these wonderful people.” He spread his arms and gestured towards the kids, but also looked towards Heather again. What’s wrong with dreaming, after all? “Now I want to get to know them, to know all of you, even more. You’re my family, and I WANT you to stay and allow me to know you.”
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Post by bretf on Jul 27, 2022 6:52:08 GMT -6
Chapter 17
Silence hung over the room while Mat and Lisa looked at each other. It was broken when Lisa asked, “Are you sure Mat? I don’t want tension to build up and have you regret your decision later. Are you certain you want us to stay, even your father? He’s written you a lot of letters and never gotten a single acknowledgment or reply from you.”
Mat had a wry look when he answered. “Am I sure? That’s a good question without a good answer. I’ve been off balance ever since Chad told me his name and why you guys were on the road. Am I sure? Ha! I haven’t been sure of a thing since then.
“You’re worried there may be tension. Hmm, let me see; first, we had a smallpox pandemic. Smallpox! The dreaded disease that was eradicated decades ago. But there it was, and it ripped through the country and pretty much brought our nation to its knees.
“Then, what was left of our country was hammered with nuclear bombs. NUKES, for God’s sake! Weapons so horrible, only two had ever been used previously in warfare; but hundreds of them destroyed what remained of our country.
“There’s no food supply, no fuel, no medical facilities, none of the modern conveniences we’ve all taken for granted. Our lives just became primitive and barbaric. It’s going to take extreme luck and the Grace of God, which I’ve strongly questioned lately, for anyone to survive. Tension; how can there not be tension?”
“You’re right of course, Mat. But that’s not what I’m talking about and I think you know it,” Lisa said. She leveled a piercing stare at him. “The tension I’m concerned about is between you and your father. You can’t get out of the room he’s in fast enough.”
Mat’s face looked pained while he searched for the right words. “My abuelo, my grandfather raised me. For the second time in a day, he told part of the story he’d kept buried for years, including how bitter and venomous Abuelo was and what he wanted to do to Dan.
“But my mother, God rest her soul, said he was good. She told me she was more at fault than he was. She asked me when I grew up to try to find him and get to know him. Then she was taken from me too soon and I only had my grandfather. Him and his venom.” Mat paused and breathed deeply with his eyes closed. Abuelo told him to find “that man” too. But Abuelo didn’t ask him to get to know the man. He implored Mateo to do what he’d never been able to accomplish. He kept that part to himself.
Mat opened his eyes and looked back at Lisa and said, “I haven’t had long with them, but your children, yours and his, come across as good kids. That doesn’t happen by accident. They have good upbringing. I know, I’ve been around enough bad parenting to recognize the difference when I see it.” Again, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. “I owe it to my mother. I’ll try to get to know him and give him the chance to prove her right, and Abuelo wrong.
“I don’t know how long you’ve been married, but haven’t you had tension in your relationship? Of course this is different, but still, we’re people not familiar with each other thrown together in a difficult time. You won’t be able to avoid tension, whether you’re here, in Hamilton, or back at Reynolds Creek,” Mat said. “All I can do is try, and I guarantee you, nothing will be easy.”
Lisa studied him silently. He looked away from her to the others. The twins no longer looked ready to cry but stood with Chad. He held them tight, hopeful looks on all three faces. His gaze moved on to Heather. She gave him a brief smile, the first such he’d seen. He closed his eyes again and took another deep breath, wishing he could get inside her mind to know what the smile meant.
He looked back at Lisa. She was still studying him. “Lisa, I’d like to discuss something else, but in private if you don’t mind.”
“All right,” she said and followed as he led the way to his bedroom.
After he closed the door behind her, Mat closed the vents in the wall, saying, “This will keep our talk a little more private.”
While he did it, Lisa looked around his most private space. The contents of the room were basic; a bed and nightstand, a dresser, a bookshelf filled to capacity, a chair, hooks with coats, and a closed closet door. A gun rack was on the wall holding a variety of rifles and shotguns, and an automatic pistol was on the nightstand. A shoebox filled with white envelopes sat open on the dresser. Beside the box, a sheet of paper was unfolded. She looked closer and recognized Dan’s handwriting.
Mat saw what she was looking at and pushed the chair to her. “Here Lisa, have a seat,” he said, picked up the letter, folded it, and returned it to the box. When he had the lid on the box, he stepped to his bed and stood in front of it across from her. He gestured her to the chair and said, “Please, Lisa, sit down.” He sat on the bed once she complied.
“Have you given any thought for long-term, or have you been taking things one at a time?” he asked. “I know you discussed going back to Reynolds Creek, but I don’t see how it can be done now.”
“A couple days out seems long-term since all this started. Other than coming here, we’ve been reacting to what happens around us,” she said.
Mat nodded in understanding. “It’s certainly been crazy, but now you need to slow down and think and plan farther out. As I said, I don’t think it’s feasible for you to try to go back to Reynolds Creek with your husband in the shape he’s in. If you run into trouble again, I’m afraid you won't get out of it, what with him and your sister hurt. The inner beast has been set free in people. It boggles the mind, the depravity people are capable of, but they’re true savages. For the sake of your family, shelve the idea of going back for the present. At least until he’s mobile again. That said, it brings me to the part I wanted to keep private; food.”
“You know, his name isn’t ‘your husband’, “him”, or ‘he’,” Lisa said.
Her response annoyed Mat. “Did you hear the rest or just that part?” he asked. “Or that I didn’t call Heather by name either?”
“Oh yes, I heard the rest. But Mat, you have to understand how important this is to me, how crucial it is to what we do next. If you accept the rest of us but not him, you’ll come to resent us all. I don’t want it to come to that. If that’s where this will go, I want to leave now and avoid it. The kids and I could leave with fond memories of you.
“But if we stay and you despise your father,” she said, watching him carefully. “I’m afraid the feelings will spread to the rest of the family. Granted, I’ve spent most of my time with Dan in the short time we’ve been here, but from the little I’ve seen, my son adores you. He wants to get to know you better, to learn about you. If you come to despise our family, well, I don’t want that to happen. Not to him, not after the way he’s handled everything this crisis has thrown his way. It would devastate him and I won’t allow it. I’m his mother, and I’ll to do whatever is in my power to protect him. You’re his brother, and you and he, well . . . you have to deal with it in your own way. That’s the hand we’ve been dealt. We have to play that hand or fold.”
Mat said, “This isn’t what I brought you here to discuss.”
“I know it, but as I said, it’s very important,” Lisa repeated. “If we don’t get over this obstacle, we have no reason to proceed. So, do I go out and tell Russ we’re going to Hamilton with him? I find it hard to take your good will seriously if you always refer to Dan as ‘my husband’.”
“Fine, I’ll call him Dan, but don’t expect me to call him Dad,” Mat snapped. “I can’t call him that, there’s no way, but I’m willing to get along with him.”
Lisa studied him intently. “I wouldn’t expect you to call him ‘Dad’, but ‘Dan’ would be a good start, so . . . thank you,” she said.
Mat wanted that portion of the conversation behind him, so he jumped right in to what he wanted to discuss with Lisa. “As I was saying, with DAN in the shape he’s in you shouldn’t leave. Now, I’d like to address the real reason I asked you here.” He bit back the sarcasm he yearned to throw in. “I have no idea how the Camps or the town as a whole are set up. Russ did tell me they’ve made an effort to keep the cattle shielded and butcher one when it’s needed to feed the entire town. So there will be a protein diet. I have no idea what they’ve got beyond that.”
“That kind of diet grows old fast,” Lisa said.
Mat looked a question at her but didn’t speak.
“At Jerry’s ranch, in Reynolds Creek where we stayed, beef was the one thing they had in surplus. We had it every meal. It doesn’t take long before you start to wish for something else. But, it fills you up,” she said.
Mat nodded his head in understanding. “As I told you, I ran out of money before I got everything done I wanted. So a big consideration for staying is food. I was able to stock up enough for one person for eighteen months at normal servings. It’s not all beef steak and hamburger either, although I did add a deer and an elk to it this past fall. That should offset anything I’ve eaten from my storage since I moved in. If you choose to stay, I don’t know how far we can stretch it, but there’ll be hunger involved. We won’t be able to avoid it, but I’m willing to miss meals. With this whole nuclear winter deal, I don’t know if we’ll be able to provide any additional food, or if it’d be safe to eat if we are able to produce anything. There are so many questions in this mess I don’t know the answers to. But at some point, we’ll have to try to supplement our diets and hope it doesn’t do us more harm than good. It’s that or starve, and who knows, we might starve no matter what we do. Anyway, I wanted you to know we’ll have lean times if you stay. Maybe you wouldn’t face the same concern in town. You needed to know that before you send Russ back to town without you if that’s your choice.”
“Thank you Mat, I appreciate you being upfront,” Lisa said refraining from telling him what was in their pickup.
Mat nodded acknowledgment of her thanks and said, “Another thing, and again, I have no idea how important it is, is the fallout. Some of the stuff I’ve read says how you need a lot of concrete or soil over you for protection from fallout. The gamma radiation, at least I think that’s what it’s called, will penetrate most everything, given time. Heavy masses of concrete and dirt are the exceptions. After the above-ground nuclear testing in Nevada, people were fine after the blasts with only cars and houses for protection. But it only gave short term protection. Years later, they had problems, lots of problems. You remember what my house has for insulation, don’t you? I believe my home would give you and your children better long term protection from the fallout than you’ll find anywhere else.”
Lisa said, “But after Chad and Heather got sick from exposure back home, it cleared up after a couple of days inside.”
“Right, but . . . man . . . I wish I could remember everything I learned about fallout, but I can’t. I never expected to have to deal with it. However, I don’t think radiation passes through a surface like light through a window. I think it takes time, but with enough time, it does pass and contaminate the inside too. I’d wager that now, the inside of your house is hot with radiation, as well as every stick house; a lot hotter than inside this house. I wish I had data to check, or better yet, a monitor, but I don’t, so it’s all just my opinion and vague remembrance. I didn’t think it would happen, so I wasn’t prepared for it.” Mat stopped and waited for her response. She remained silent.
“Now, what about security?” he asked. “I could have snuck into Hamilton in any number of ways. They only watch the roads leading into town! People are out of gas; they aren’t going to go driving up the highway if they want to steal the town blind.
“But very few people know this place exists. You and your family can stay safe, out of the way and pretty much hidden. We won’t be a target, but a town will be.”
Mat wondered what it would take to sway her. Part of him asked why he was even trying.
Lisa watched him, and when she was sure he was finished, she leveled the stare at him that worked so well with her children, and said, “IF we stay, we may be able to help with the food problem. You’ve convinced me, but, you see, I’m married. And a good marriage is a partnership. I won’t make a decision of this magnitude alone. Let’s go across the hall, and you can ask Dan if he wants to stay or go back to Hamilton.”
Mat chewed his bottom lip and ran his fingers through his hair while he looked past her. His gaze landed on the closed shoe box and he shut his eyes tight and drew a deep breath. Lisa stood up. Mat opened his eyes at the slight noise and stared at her. “All right,” he said, “Let’s go over and I’ll ask him.”
Mat opened the door and motioned for her to go ahead, and Lisa stepped into the hallway. Chad saw her, and said, “Mom –”
She cut him off with a gesture and went into the room where Dan was lying in bed. Dan opened his eyes and looked up when Lisa spoke but he had a vacant look. Doc had given him some good painkillers
“Dan, I have someone here you need to meet. Then he has something to ask you.” She stepped back so Dan could see Mat. “Dan, this is Mateo Gomez, but he goes by Mat. Mat, I’d like to introduce you to my husband, Dan Smoke.”
Dan appeared to mull over what she said before he reached a trembling hand out. Mat sucked in a breath, gripped it for a moment and said, “Dan . . . Russ Camp from Hamilton has offered to take you back to his house, and let you stay until you’re able to travel. But . . . you don’t have to go. . .” He looked around the room like he was searching for a hole to crawl into.
Lisa put a hand on his shoulder and nodded to him. After a stammering start, the words come out in a rush. “You . . . uh . . . I’d like you and your family to stay here with me.” He stepped away from Lisa’s hand and looked at her. “You two can better discuss what you’re going to do in private.” He stared at Lisa until she gave him a slight nod, and he left the room.
Mat stepped into the hallway and saw Chad and the twins a few feet away. Wordlessly, he flashed them a weak smile and walked past. Chad turned and watched him for a moment before going into the bedroom with his parents. The girls followed him.
Mat went straight to the wood stove and picked up the teakettle. “I’m going to make tea. Would any of you like some?” he asked the room at large. The teakettle, carried in his unsteady left hand, sloshed water on the floor while he walked to the counter. He looked down at it and cursed under his breath.
“I’d like a cup, please,” Heather said from behind him. “Unless you think I need to consider bathroom breaks on the way into town?” She said it with a questioning tone as if fishing for the results of his and Lisa’s conversation without asking directly.
Mat turned and looked at her, and deliberated his response. Do I really want them here? . . . Why . . . why did I say they could stay? . . . Did I speak up too fast? . . . Was it enough to satisfy Lisa, or did she need more? He tried not to get lost in Heather’s endless green eyes and say something that would make him look foolish. “It won’t take too long to drive back to Hamilton . . . If that’s what you choose to do” Mat said. “One cup shouldn’t make much of a difference.”
Heather held his gaze. “Then I’ll have some. Now, what do you have that I can clean that water off the floor with?”
Mat held her gaze a little longer, and then set the teapot on a hot pad. “You don’t have to do it. I can clean up my own messes,” he said in a harsh tone. He regretted his snappish answer instantly. Get your head together man. Softer, he said, “Besides, you just got sewed up. You should be resting. How do you feel by the way?”
“Better, but fuzzy headed. The stuff the doc used to numb me feels like its spread to my brain. But it’s better than the headache, I guess,” she said.
“Fuzzy headed; now that I can relate to. I’ve been that way for a while myself,” he answered.
“So can I clean that up or not? I’d like to help,” she said.
“I’ll get you the mop, thanks,” he told her. He cursed under his breath again, as he crossed the room to the broom closet.
#
The tea had seeped enough for Mat’s taste and he was past ready for it. Maybe it would calm him, but he doubted it. A row of mugs, spoons, the sugar bowl and a jar of honey sat on the counter. He was pouring the second cup when Chad emerged from the bedroom, a wide smile lighting his face. Mat understood without words, and questioned himself again if he really wanted it; his peace disrupted by six people, one of which it’d been drummed into his head didn’t deserve to live.
Doc saw Chad’s big smile and stepped over to Mat. “Well Mat,” he said, “I appreciate the earlier offer for payment, but I’ve got a good 9mm.” He slid the cup Mat had filled close and squeezed a little honey into it. While he stirred, he said, “But would you happen to have any spare ammo for it? I think I might be critically short, considering circumstances. How’s a couple of hundred rounds sound to you?” He raised the mug and took a sip.
“Uh . . . yeah,” Mat said. “That uh . . . sounds fair.” His head swiveled back to the hallway; Brooke and Alison left the bedroom and seemed as pleased as Chad. All right, which is which, he asked silently. He turned back to Doc. “Let me see what I can find.” Before going to the back, he offered a cup of tea to Russ and asked, “For your time and gas, would a box of 150 rounds for those rifles you and your son pack be fair?”
“I want to say no, Mat, but as I told you on the way here, things have been walking away in town during the night. I think sooner or later, we’re going to have trouble. That won’t leave you short, will it?” Russ asked.
“No, I can spare it,” Mat said.
“Well, in that case, that’ll be fine. Thanks, Mat, I appreciate it, and I hope we never use a single one of them,” Russ said.
“Just remember what I told you about your town’s security,” Mat said.
Russ nodded in response.
Chad hurried to the counter where the three men were standing. “Mat, Mat! We’re going to stay!” he said.
Mat gave him a crooked smile in return. “That’s good Tiger. Now I have to go to the back. Help yourself to the tea if you’d like.”
Well, there it is, for better or worse. He walked away, hearing the voices of the dead; they were both talking to him. It was like the old cartoons of someone’s conscious.
His beautiful mother was angelic; telling him Dan was a good man. He should get to know him. On the other side, Abuelo hissed at him to kill that man, to defend his mother’s honor. The old man’s final words came to him, pushing his mother’s face from his thoughts.
“Mateo,” the old man croaked and took a labored, noisy breath. He clutched the young man’s hand with a strength he hadn’t displayed in months. His eyes burned with intensity. “You find him and kill him! Promise me, Mateo, you will do right for your family. If it wasn’t for him, your mama would still be alive. Promise me, Mateo!” He took another labored breath that sounded more like a gasp.
Mateo looked away from the intense stare for a moment. “But Abuelo, mama said –”.
The old man cut him off and hissed the words out, snake-like. “Your mama is dead because of him! Promise me, Mateo!” Then he coughed; a weak effort to clear his obstructed lung passages. He took another gasping breath.
Mateo blinked several times, steeled himself, and met Abuelo’s gaze. “I pr–”.
The rest of his statement was cut short by another cough and a strangled gasp. The solid grip on Mateo’s hands loosened and the fierce eyes glazed over.
Mat leaned his head against the ammunition cabinet for a long minute, his eyes pinched tightly closed, willing the images to leave. When he opened his eyes and looked for the boxes for Russ and Doc he said, “Mama, I guess I’ll see if you were right or not. Those kids won’t like it if it turns out Abuelo was right, and I send their dad to meet him in hell. I guess time will tell.”
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Post by bretf on Jul 30, 2022 7:43:09 GMT -6
Chapter 18
“So can we go this morning?” Chad asked the moment he saw his brother. Mat had emerged from his bedroom as the first light of day shown through the front of the house. Expectation and excitement mixed in his tone. “It’s been three days since you rode your bike to Hamilton. You’re not puking. Do you have a headache? Evidently, you didn’t get too much radiation, and you’ve had this much time for it to work through you. Dad and Aunt Heather seem to be doing all right and won’t miss us if we’re gone for a while. So can we go?” The statements and questions were spat out rapid-fire, not giving Mat an opportunity to answer.
When Chad stopped talking, Mat looked at him dumbly for a few moments. He didn’t get much of a chance to respond.
Chad started in again. “Besides, you said you took daily patrols before. It’s been days since you’ve been out. All kinds of lowlife scum could’ve shown up since you’ve checked the area out. You don’t think those two hillbillies were the only ones, do you? Russ Camp said quite a few undesirables still live in the hills. So, are we going or not?” Chad asked.
“Whoa, slow down a bit, Tiger,” Mat said before Chad could take a deep breath and continue. “I just got up. I haven’t even been in the bathroom yet, let alone had coffee.”
“I have coffee on the stove and it should be boiling any minute. I put food out for the dog. But I can’t help you with the bathroom, you’ll have to handle that all on your own,” Chad said with a grin. “So after that . . .” His head thrust forward and he held his hands out, palm side up.
Mat gave him a half-grin and shook his head. “I suppose we better do it. It’s probably the only way I’ll be able to shut you up. Maybe I should start calling you “Mosquito”, the way you buzz around being a pest.” The grin widened into a smile. “But to tell you the truth, I’ve got cabin fever myself. Now if you’re done buzzing around for a moment, I’ve got a few things to take care of before we go.” He turned on his heel to go down the hall to the bathroom.
“So we’re going?” Chad asked.
Mat looked at him over his shoulder and told him, “That’s what I just said, isn’t it?” He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Two days earlier, Mat told Chad he still wanted to find the camp of the idiots who’d set up the ambush on the road. He didn’t expect to find anything worthwhile but wanted to find it anyway. Chad had been bugging him to go ever since.
With his dad and aunt still half-dingy and not over the headaches from their concussions, Chad went through each day like he was walking on eggshells. Between that and seeing Mat avoid the bedroom where his dad was, it was driving him stir-crazy being stuck in the house. He wanted to go outside for something other than a load of firewood. Each time he asked, Mat insisted they spend more time inside after all of the exposure they’d had recently.
At long last, they were going to escape from the house for a while. Chad hurried to be ready to leave the moment Mat got his precious coffee down.
#
Perro-Feo looked at her master expectantly, saw his hand signal, and then ran ahead sniffing the air and ground. She soon disappeared into the trees. Chad was poised to ask Mat a question, but thought better of it and remained quiet. He decided it’d be better to make as little noise as possible.
Mat noticed his indecision and looked at him with a question. “Well, what is it?”
Chad hesitated a moment longer, before saying, “Well, I thought we should be quiet. But I was going to ask how you live here without a pickup or anything. That has to be pretty inconvenient.”
“I’m not too concerned about talking this close to the house. I doubt anything or anyone is near enough to hear us. Perro-Feo usually goes through the trees several times every day, so if someone were there, we’d know about it. But that’s good thinking,” Mat said.
“So as for my truck; I do own one, or at least I did, but I had to abandon it,” he continued. “You remember I mentioned my buddy with a house like mine? He needed help, and after he babysat my place for so long, I couldn’t leave him hanging. So I went to do what I could for him. The travel restrictions were put into effect while I was there. I managed to bypass the roadblocks, although it was tough with snow blocking some out of the way roads. Then I hit the state line and the river and couldn’t find a way across with my truck; they had everything bottled up tight.”
Chad grinned at him and said, “You need to get Aunt Heather to tell you about her trip to our place. She found the same thing, but figured out a way across the river the authorities never thought of.”
“Hum. It’s too bad she wasn’t with me then,” he said and blushed slightly. “Anyway, I made it to a small town on the other side and got a guy to run me across the river at night in his boat. I left my truck is at his place and walked the rest of the way home.”
“That’s a long way to walk,” Chad said.
“Yeah it is, but I’ve covered a lot of miles in the past with a pack on my back, so it wasn’t too bad. I’m just glad the sky was clear until the last day,” he said. “Plus, it was still early enough in this nonsense I wasn’t as concerned someone would try to shoot me as I was on other long hikes I’ve been on. Now though, I think we have to be as alert as if we were in Afghanistan.”
They entered the trees and Mat indicated a game trail crossing the two-track they were on. “Let’s take this trail. It parallels the road but stays up on the hillside. We’ll keep on it until we get above where you guys were hit, then we’ll drop down to the road. You lead,” he said and emitted the one-note whistle to alert Perro-Feo.
The dog overtook them in short order, passed them, and ran ahead scouting the hillside. Chad could see why Mat wanted to use the trail; it had more concealment than the road and allowed them to look down on it occasionally.
“So Chad, you mentioned your dad had a brother in Chicago. Do you have any other uncles?” Mat asked. “Or aunts?” he threw in as an afterthought.
“No, just the uncle and aunt in Chicago, and Aunt Heather of course,” Chad said. “Not that I ever met the other aunt.”
They walked in silence for a while before Chad stopped and turned to look at Mat. “Aww, I get it. Why didn’t I see it before?” His face split in a wide smile. “I bet you’re glad Aunt Heather is Mom’s sister and not Dad’s, aren’t you? And no, she’s never married.”
“Huh, what’re you talking about?” Mat asked.
Chad grinned at him and said, “Come on. You seem pretty smart, so why are you playing dumb now? You know what I’m talking about. And you wanna know something, she’s pretty cool.”
Chad continued to grin at him, Mat looking back soundlessly, and Chad’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “I know why I didn’t see it. I’m not used to seeing the moon anymore, so I don’t recognize it when you get all moony-eyed every time you look at her.”
Mat looked at him askance and his faced flushed with embarrassment. “Watch it, kid; your mouth might get you into trouble.”
Chad laughed out loud. “But that’s my job.”
“Now what are you talking about? Your job?” Mat asked.
“Come on, you know,” Chad said. “Being a brother. When you’re together, without other people around, you pick and tease and give each other a rough time. But it’s always good natured. But if someone else is around, you might give little jabs, but you stick up for them and defend them. You stand up for them when they need it. Man, it looks like I’ve got some teaching to do. Old Moony Eyed Mat doesn’t know about being a brother. Oh well, we’ve got time for me to teach you, I guess. But you’re on your own with Aunt Heather. I don’t know the first thing about girlfriends. I’ve never had one. I’m too young for that you know.”
Mat was over his embarrassment, and said, “You know, I’m trying to remember why I said you could stay.”
Chad laughed at him, and said, “See you’re getting the hang of it. That’s a good brother comment.” He laughed more. The laughter stopped abruptly, the mirth gone from his eyes, replaced by hurt. “So . . . is that why you . . . let us stay? . . . Because of . . . her?” His voice conveyed the pain showing in his eyes.
“I, um . . . no,” Mat stammered.
Chad turned his back, blew his nose, and sniffed. He wasn’t going to let Mat see him cry. He wasn’t! He choked back a sob and remembered the taste of soap. He felt betrayed and wished Mat had sent them back to Hamilton with Russ Camp and been done with them. It would’ve been better to leave right away. And he’d thought he felt a connection between him and his so-called brother, but no, he was only interested in Aunt Heather.
Chad sniffed again and wiped at his eyes. “Can I borrow your bike? I need to go to Hamilton,” he said, still facing away from Mat. He sniffed again and turned back in Mat’s direction, but kept his head down. Mat was in the middle of the narrow trail, but Chad started for the house without waiting for an answer or for Mat to move, bumping him hard with his shoulder as he brushed past.
Mat regained his balance and stood for a moment watching Chad’s retreating back and then hurried after him. Reaching a hand out to the boy’s shoulder to slow him, he said, “Hey, hold on a minute, Tiger.”
“Hold on yourself!” Chad snapped and jerked away from Mat’s hand.
“Please, Chad, stop. Listen, you’re only partially right. Yes, your aunt being with you influenced my decision, but she’s not the whole reason, not even close. Stop, please! C’mon little brother, let me talk to you,” Mat said.
Chad stopped and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. It was the first time Mat had said or done anything to acknowledge they were brothers. He blew his nose again and kept his back to Mat. “I’m listening,” he said.
“Do I really get moony-eyed when I look at her?” Mat asked.
Chad turned slowly, incredulous that after he stopped, that was what Mat asked him. Shaking his head slightly, his voice laced with hurt and anger, he said, “Yeah you do, when you think nobody’s watching, but what ab—”
“Okay, so this feels weird, but well, yeah, I think your aunt is pretty hot. But she’s not the only reason I asked you guys to stay, okay? I like you and the twins and your mom. I want you guys to have a safe place during all the crap that’s happening; you’re my brother and sisters after all. And I want to get to know you guys. Okay?” Mat said.
Chad brushed at his eyes again. Mat hadn’t mentioned his dad, but his mom had filled him in on their conversation, so he let it slide. “You’re right, it’s weird talking about Aunt Heather, and have you saying she’s hot,” he said. “She’s cool and all, but, well, that other part’s weird to talk about.” He studied Mat silently before asking, “So you really want us to stay?”
“I do,” Mat said. “You know, I’ve never had much of a family. I was pretty young when my mama died, so I guess I need a brother to teach me the ropes if you’re up for the job. I’m going to make mistakes, but I’m trying.”
Chad considered and then spoke in a squeaky, nasally voice, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
“Right, Master Yoga,” Mat said. “Now, do you think we can we go find those idiots’ camp?”
“Yoga? Master Yoga? I can’t believe you called him that. He was only the coolest character in the whole Star Wars series, you Wookie. So what are we standing around for? You’re the one who knows where we’re going. Jeez . . . Yoga?” Chad said, shaking his head, as he followed Mat along the trail.
They were quiet while they went around a rock outcropping which once they’d passed, they could see across the next draw and down to the road. Mat dropped into a crouch and studied the area carefully. While he looked, he glanced quickly at Chad and said very softly, “You won’t say anything to her, will you bro?”
Chad tried to remain quiet while he studied the country ahead of them, but despite his best efforts, soft laughs escaped.
#
The dog checked with them regularly, each time turning and running ahead again. She never indicated danger, yet Mat remained on high alert. After he paused at the next ridgeline and scanned the area, Chad asked quietly, “Why wasn’t Perro-Feo with you the other day, you know, when you found us on the road?”
Mat continued to scan the country before them, and as quietly, said, “I usually have her check out the area near the house then wait for me. I don’t like the idea of a surprise waiting when I get back. This morning though, I wanted her senses out ahead of us. I figured your aunt could handle the house if anything came up.” He said the last part halfway between a statement and a question, accompanied by raised eyebrows to Chad.
Chad chuckled at him. “Digging for more information on her, are ya?” He snickered again, and in complete seriousness said, “Yeah, she can handle most stuff. You ready to go?” He stood and Mat copied him. Chad chuckled again when they started walking.
They approached the next ridgeline cautiously, even though the dog hadn’t indicated danger. The ridge jutted out from the surrounding hills further than the others they’d crossed and afforded a broader view. For the first time, part of the wide valley where the small town of Indian Valley was located could be seen.
The draw directly ahead of them had a smattering of tall pine trees and thicker undergrowth than the area they’d passed. It offered more areas of concealment, causing Mat to study the area longer. When he was satisfied nothing was moving or out of place, he took a different game trail, one that led down the ridgeline towards the road. He stopped near a tall tree with a clear view of the road below them.
Chad eased up beside him and studied the area ahead of them. “Is that where . . .” he asked, unable to complete the sentence.
“Yep.” Mat said quietly and pointed to a large tree a little further down the slope. “I was behind that tree and used it to rest the rifle against. Look around close, and see if anything looks out of place. I doubt those idiots went far from the road.”
Chad looked all over but didn’t see anything out of place, only the dog as she worked her way through the brush near the road. Watching her instead of scanning more of the area, he saw her slow and ease into a patch of brush and smaller pine trees. That’s when he saw a tiny corner of blue, a color that didn’t fit. “Mat, I think I see something,” he said.
Mat nodded and told him, “Then you better lead.”
The blue turned out to be a plastic tarp, stretched loosely between trees. The remnants of two filthy sleeping bags were under it, torn up by mice and packrats. The stench of the rats was heavy under the tarp. An open pack lay beside a rock fire ring. Mat prodded the pack’s opening with the barrel of his rifle. Nothing jumped out, but he made out two unopened cans, two filthy spoons, and a hand crank can opener inside. Three more cans, opened, were in the ashes. He glanced at the fire ring, irritated the fools had thrown the cans into the fire. A rusted, kid-sized hatchet was in the edge of the ashes. Kneeling by the pack, he checked the pockets. They were empty. He cursed under his breath.
“Anything in there?” Chad asked.
“Two cans of Pork and Beans. I’m gonna leave them because I’d imagine they’ve absorbed a lot of radiation. I can’t believe this was all they had. They were total idiots,” Mat stated.
Standing upright, he looked around the camp with disgust. “Look at that, those animals couldn’t even get out of their camp to crap.” He pointed to the makeshift toilet, mere feet from their sleeping bags. “Think how this camp would be if flies were out. IDIOTS! They definitely needed to be removed from the gene pool. I’m not sure what I expected to find, but I’ve seen enough. Let’s get out of here,” Mat said. He continued to grumble about the men, using a few adjectives to describe them Chad could never repeat in front of his mom.
“Should be expected I guess, from a couple of spray and pray idiots,” Mat grumbled.
“What did you call them? I understood your other colorful descriptions, but not that one,” Chad said.
“Spray and pray idiots? That’s the way they were shooting at you guys. Spray lead all over and pray they hit something. They didn’t have much ammo to start with it, and then they used most of it up. That method’s not near as effective as aiming and making sure of your shot before you pull the trigger. Remember that. Make good shot selection and make it count. I fired twice. Idiots!” Mat snarled and whistled for the dog.
“I feel dirty just from being here!” he told Chad and set a fast pace up the hill. He paused for a slight breather once they hit the game trail on the ridge.
After Chad caught his breath, he grinned at Mat and said, “Boy, you’re going fast. Are you in a hurry to get back to the house and see someone?”
“Isn’t part of a big brother’s job to toughen up his little brother by beating on him whenever he gets lippy?” Mat asked.
Chad couldn’t answer; he was laughing too hard to get words out.
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Post by bretf on Jul 30, 2022 7:46:05 GMT -6
Chapter 19
As Chad and Mat entered the house, Chad was laughing again and Mat was red-faced. Mat froze in his tracks when he looked around the room. Dan was on the couch, his injured leg resting on a pillow on the footstool. He nodded to Lisa and Heather, and they got on each side of him and helped him stand. His face was a mask of pain before he controlled it. Lisa handed him a walking stick and he rested his weight on it like a cane, and then she backed away, leaving him alone to face Mat.
Heather had slipped away to the kitchen. She returned with a tray of mugs and set it on the end table. “I made coffee if you’d like some Mat,” she said, and went back and stood near the kitchen counter.
“Mat, I know we met briefly before, but I’m sorry, I don’t remember it,” Dan said. “I’d like to do a better job now since my head’s on straight again. So . . . I’ve looked forward to this day for a very long time. Of course, nothing happened as I envisioned it, but I’m glad to have the chance to meet you. Thank you for helping us out as you did, and thank you for bringing us into your home.”
“Why are you here?” Mat asked bluntly. “With the world in the toilet, why come? Why unnecessarily expose your family to danger?”
Dan looked as if he’d been slapped. His face twisted with new pain. “Well, I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. But to come now, well . . . I . . . I guess I came for purely selfish reasons. I came close to dying from the smallpox, in fact, I was sure I would die. My best friend did die while I watched, and I was helpless to do anything to help him.
“Then the bikers came and destroyed our home. We all would’ve died then but for Heather. I suppose it was my brushes with mortality that made me want to come. I figured the way everything was going, I WOULD die soon. And I couldn’t let it happen without meeting you first. I was bound and determined to meet you or die trying. As you know it almost happened, too, and would have, if not for you.
“I knew you’d grown into a fine man, but I had to see you with my own eyes. I never was a dad to you, and I’ve regretted it since I learned what fatherhood was like. Although honestly, I wasn’t dad material for a number of years after you were born. It’s regrettable, but the truth.
“So now I’ve seen you and met you. I’d like to hug you if you’d allow it; if not, maybe you’d shake my hand. But that’s why I’m here.” Dan’s eyes glistened with tears not caused by the pain in his leg. “I don’t want to be a bother to you, so when I’m able, we’ll fix the pickup and be on our way.”
Mat felt all eyes in the room boring into him. He held Dan’s gaze and said. “I’ve had this conversation with your wife and skirted around it with Chad. I’ll say it to you and for everyone else to hear again. You don’t need to worry about fixing your truck and leaving. You can stay as long as you need or want.”
The twins left their mother and ran to Mat, one on each side, tugging. “Come on Mat.”
“Hold on a minute,” he said. He leaned his rifle against a mullion in the wall and shrugged out of his pack and set it on the floor next to the gun. He took off his coat and hat and dropped them on the pack. Then he presented his arms to the girls. He allowed them to escort him across the floor and stopped in front of Dan and extended his hand. Dan grasped it as a tear ran down his cheek.
“My coffee’s probably getting cold,” Mat said, and dropped Dan’s hand and moved to the end table and picked up a cup. Holding it near his face, he said, “Thank you. Heather.” He sipped from the cup watching her over the brim. He couldn’t help but notice Chad’s grinning face as he walked over to Heather and said something to her. Chad, you keep your trap shut, he stated silently. He was pulled away from his musing by Dan talking. “I’m sorry, I missed that,” he said.
“I asked if you would mind sitting and talking for a bit. I’d like very much to spend some time and learn about you, and start to get to know you. I know it won’t make up for lost time, but we have to start somewhere,” Dan said.
Mat glanced back at the kitchen counter before he said, “I suppose I can talk for a while.” Heather and Lisa hurried over to help Dan sit and got him back on the couch with his leg up. It was obvious it hurt, despite the boards strapped to his lower leg as a makeshift splint. Mat sat in the recliner and turned slightly to face him.
Chad, with the grin of an evil scientist, carried two chairs from the kitchen table, placed them with one beside the recliner, and promptly sat on the other. He shot the grin to Mat and said, “Do you mind if Aunt Heather and I join you guys?” He motioned for Brooke to sit with him without waiting for an answer.
Wait till I get you alone, you mosquito, Mat thought to himself. He turned to Dan and said, “So on the subject of your fathering, how often do you beat your kids, especially the one with the goofy look covering his face?”
Dan was shocked by the question. “Uh, I’ve never done what I’d call a beating. And I’ve only given them a rare spanking. Why, has Chad done something I should be aware of?”
“Nothing you need to be bothered with,” Mat said. He shot Chad a look, then turned away, uncomfortable when Heather sat in the chair between them.
“Please tell me if I need to have a talk with him. I don’t want him being a bother to you,” Dan said. “But on the subject of my fathering, some people would say I made a mistake, a very big mistake. I can’t say it was a mistake to be with your mother; that would indicate you’re a mistake. And it’s obvious you’ve grown to be a fine, upstanding man. But, the truth is, I shouldn’t have been with her, so it’s a puzzle for me to categorize my own actions.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the room until Lisa spoke. She’d sat on the couch beside Dan with Alison sitting between her legs. “So Mat, would you mind telling us about your life, your childhood. We’d all love to know more about you.”
Mat snorted. “Childhood?” He snorted again. “Mine was some childhood, a world away from the burbs.
“My mama didn’t have the luxury of staying home with me. As soon as she was able, she was out in the fields, packing me along or leaving me in the shade of whatever crop she was working. As soon as I was big enough, I helped with whatever the family was doing. I couldn’t do much, but I was in the fields from sunup to sundown. At least until mama was killed.”
Lisa hugged Alison tighter.
“I never had a home,” Mat continued. “We were nomads, following the crops north until we couldn’t go any farther, and then we went south again. Sometimes we could stay on for most of the summer, other times work was scarce and we continually moved. We went from one labor camp to another. Most of the people in the camps were good people, hard workers who were just trying to get by and make a better life than they had in Mexico. Unfortunately, a few bad apples were always around too. Abuelo always looked for a permanent position on the farms, but no one wanted to give him a real job. They were more afraid of immigra showing up than he was.”
Chad asked, “Do you mean the immigration service? Could you have been deported?”
“I was legal since I was born here, but Abuelo wasn’t. I never knew Mama and her sister’s status. So I’m not sure what would’ve happened if we’d been picked up,” Mat said. “It would’ve definitely been a sticky situation. Anyway, that’s my childhood in a nutshell, up until Mama was killed.”
“May I ask how she was killed?” Lisa asked. “But don’t tell us if you don’t want to.”
Mat’s voice was hard. “She was raped . . . beaten . . . and strangled.”
Heather gasped and put a comforting hand on Mat’s shoulder. “Oh God Mat, that’s terrible. How old were you when it happened?”
The hard edge melted under Heather’s hand. It felt like electrical jolts passed into his shoulder. He looked at her, into those endless emerald eyes, expecting to see a reaction to the shock he was feeling. But he was disappointed. The eyes didn’t reflect the feeling; instead, they were filled with compassion. “I was eight,” he said in a much gentler tone.
“How did it happen?” Heather asked her eyes and hand soothing him.
He hesitated. For years, he’d bottled up the memory, trying to keep the pain at bay. Those eyes soothed him and implored him to speak.
Chad slid forward on his chair, nearly unseating Brooke.
“You know I said there were always bad apples at the labor camps? We were in a new camp in the Central Valley in California. Two guys were there, a few years younger than I am now. They never went to the fields to work, but always had money. They spent most of their time around the camp, getting high or drunk. They were pushy, real pushy, coming on to my mama. She was so young and beautiful and had a son following her around. They figured she must be easy to have a kid at her age. No one else would’ve gotten pregnant so young. They pushed her hard whenever Abuelo wasn’t around. I think he scared them, but not enough to back off. The more she put them off, the meaner they got and said she was the worst kind of whore; that she wouldn’t put out for her own people, but gave herself to the people who took advantage of us all. And I, her little-mixed blood abomination, was the proof. One night when Abuelo wasn’t around they took her. No one lifted a finger to help. They were all afraid. Her body was found the next day.”
Heather rubbed her hand in circles on his shoulder and placed her other hand on his trembling hands. “Oh Mat,” she said. “That’s so terrible. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you.”
Heather’s compassion spurred him and he continued his narrative. “It didn’t take much of an investigation for the cops to pick those guys up. Then someone hired them a good lawyer and they made bail, and promptly skipped town; at least that was the assumption. A month or so later, one of them was found in a shallow grave. Animals had been at work on him so it was hard to tell what happened. The Medical Examiner thought he had his throat cut, but it was inconclusive. The authorities decided his partner killed him and fled to Mexico, never to be seen again. Not that the authorities cared; they figured he’d saved the taxpayers the cost of a trial and prison sentence. I thought different and still do. I think the second guy had the same thing happen to him and was buried deeper so the animals didn’t smell him and dig his body up.”
Mat saw Chad shudder and knew what must be running through his mind. If he could’ve found your dad, you never would’ve been born. Abuelo wanted to give him a Columbian necktie.
Mat considered stopping, he’d dredged up enough memories. But the hand on his shoulder remained; its comforting presence gave him the strength to continue. “Abuelo was never the same after that. His bitterness was worse than ever; first, his beautiful daughter was impregnated, then she was murdered. Though he liked working in the fields, he found a job as a janitor and got an apartment so I could go to school. That’d always been my mama’s dream; that I could get an education and become something more than a wandering laborer. Abuelo wanted distance from the camps, and I think it was a concession to Mama’s memory, to honor her wish. He drank too much and frequently took his frustrations out on me. I was the constant reminder of what he’d lost.
“School wasn’t a whole lot better. Not only did I get beat at home, but a bunch of trailer park bas . . .” he glanced at the enthralled twins, and changed what he was going to say. “Some other kids took it upon themselves to make my life as miserable as possible. They changed my name from Mateo to Mat to Door-Mat, and they proceeded to treat me like one. They figured my purpose in life was for them to beat on and stomp on like their drunken dads did to them and their moms. The only good thing I can say for them is they turned me into a heckuva runner. And they led me to some people who changed my life.
“Four or five of them chased me past a fire station one day. The fire-fighters were out front cleaning one of their trucks and saw us coming. They put a quick stop to it and chased the punks off. They took me under their wings and became the father figure missing from my life.” He stopped talking and was ready to flash a glare at Dan when Heather squeezed his hand.
“Those guys were a wonderful bunch of men and they transformed my life, besides turning me from a doormat. They taught me what a good man was. While my cousins started running with the worst elements in town, I had real role models I could look up to. One of the firemen was a youth boxing coach. One had wrestled through school. One was into martial arts. And the best of the bunch was a veteran and he could whip all of them. The station had a nice work out room and they had me drop by every day after school. If they weren’t on a call, one of them worked with me, training me to defend myself. Before long, my tormentors became the doormats. It’s pretty funny how guys who love to dish out pain can’t take it themselves.
“But besides the physical stuff, they instilled a feeling in me. Pride: pride in myself, my abilities, and my country.”
“School got better after that since I wasn’t afraid all the time. The school discovered something else. My mama had always insisted I speak clear concise English. Abuelo, on the other hand, insisted on Spanish, so I grew up speaking both. The school I went to was in the worst, poorest part of town where immigrants from all over ended up. It was a real melting pot and I was exposed to quite a few different languages. For some reason, they were easy for me to pick up. Years later, some of the army brass was all over it when they found out.
“Anyway, my childhood got better, a lot better after I met the firemen. Unfortunately, life at home didn’t improve much. No matter how much I tried to avoid it, I still had to go home to Abuelo. And he drank more and got meaner every day. When I told him I was enlisting, he snapped. That and not letting him beat me anymore did something to him. He died the week before I shipped off for basic.
“And that’s my childhood in a nutshell. Real fun stuff, huh?” He snapped out the last sentence, stood abruptly and went outside into the gloom.
#
“Where do you think he is Chad?” his mom asked. “He’s been gone over an hour and he left without his coat. Do you think something happened to him?”
“He’s pretty capable, I’m sure he’s okay and just needed time alone. That was some pretty lousy stuff he told us. But I better get a load of firewood in. I’ll watch for him while I’m outside,” Chad said. “Aunt Heather, do you want to get outside for a bit and give me a hand? The change would do you good.”
He didn’t tell his mom, but he had a good idea where Mat was. And he figured Mat had had enough time alone to get over his demons and should be ready for something positive. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too ticked off if Chad happened to show up with Aunt Heather. He fought down the grin threatening to show. Hopefully.
“The wheelbarrow and firewood are under a lean-to on the shed,” Chad said when they were outside.
As they neared the shed, Heather asked, “What’s that noise?”
“I’m not sure,” Chad answered. He worked to keep a straight face as he mentally patted himself on the back for guessing right. A thumping sound came from the shed. At times a number of thumps were in quick succession, and other times, more spaced out. “Let’s go see what it is.”
He led the way to the shed, the sounds getting louder the closer they got. He opened the door and they stepped into near-darkness, the heavy cloud cover limiting the light from the translucent roof panels. The source of the noise was definitely inside the building.
It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dim light. When they did, they took a few steps towards the area the sounds were coming from. Mat was in front of a heavy bag, shirtless. He delivered a flurry of punches to it, creating the thumps they’d heard from outside, though they were much louder inside the building. He stepped back and delivered a strong sidekick, causing the bag to swing away from him. His back and arms were strong with corded muscles and he glistened with sweat in the cool air.
Heather looked at him with new eyes as he pounded the bag with another flurry of vicious punches. “You know something, Buddy? You’ve got an impressive brother.”
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Post by bretf on Jul 30, 2022 7:46:57 GMT -6
Chapter 20
While Chad and Heather stood in the shadows and watched, Mat delivered another ferocious flurry of punches and kicks to the bag. The impacts were unnaturally loud in the otherwise silent confines of the building. Mat’s hands and feet were a blur of motion, and Chad involuntarily took a step back.
He wouldn’t want Mat to unload on him. Maybe he should be more careful with his teasing; it could be unhealthy to push too far, at least until Mat knew him better. The final blow snapped loud, an exclamation point on the violence Mat unleashed with his hands and feet.
Mat leaned his forehead against the bag, his sweat soaking into the leather covering, a dark ring expanding outward. Chad expected his breath to be in ragged gasps after the flurry but was surprisingly steady.
“Chad, come over here,” Mat said quietly without looking up. The words sounded loud and caused Chad to flinch. He’d thought Mat was too focused on trying to knock the stuffing out of the bag to notice he and Aunt Heather were in the room. What a wrong assumption. It was something to remember. Even when his attention was focused on something, Mat was still aware of what was going on around him. It would be good to remember, indeed.
“Uh oh, I think I made him mad,” Chad whispered in Aunt Heather’s ear. He forgot how quiet the room was and how Mat’s words had carried.
“No Chad, I’m not mad, now get over here before I am. You don’t want to make me mad.” The last was delivered sternly, and Chad missed the grin on Mat’s face.
Chad hurried across the space separating them. Heather followed slower.
Mat turned from the bag with the light from the roof panel falling across his sweaty face. His eyes and mouth were shadowed, deep black cavities, while his cheekbones and nose glistened. It made Chad uncomfortable to look at him; it was eerie.
“So Chad, what’s the most dangerous weapon at your disposal?” Mat asked.
“Uh . . . uh,” Chad stammered. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t that question. He looked away from Mat, from the face looking so much like a Halloween mask or something out of a horror show. The atmosphere and question, along with the vacant appearing eye sockets, put him on edge. “Uh . . . a rifle . . . I guess,” he said. The answer sounded more like a question than a statement.
Mat looked around theatrically, his eyes catching the light and seeming to flash and burn with intensity, and asked, “Do you see a rifle? I don’t. So since we don’t see one, do you see anything else you’d consider a dangerous weapon? Anything at all?”
Chad couldn’t help but look at Mat’s hands and feet - they were certainly dangerous weapons - before pulling his gaze away and looking around the room. He wasn’t sure what Mat was driving at, but he saw a number of things that could be used as a weapon in a pinch. “Uh . . . I see some things that’d be dangerous . . . in the right . . . or wrong hands,” he said without a lot of confidence in his answer.
“I think you’re starting to get it, but not the whole idea,” Mat said quietly. “In my opinion, the most dangerous weapon of all is right here.” He reached out and tapped Chad lightly on the side of his head. “The human mind, with all its twisted wonder, has caused death in unimaginable numbers. Our race has always been intent on killing one another, long before the rifle was ever dreamed up. Go all the way back to Cain and Abel; the firstborn committed the first murder. Humans can be barbaric, evil, and ingenious. People came up with new ways of killing each other for centuries before they ever had guns. Guns only simplified it and made it more efficient. But make no mistake, we always manage to kill just fine without them. Knives, hammers, rocks, whatever. People are killed.”
Mat started pointing out things in the shed that could be used as a weapon; it turned into a litany of ways to kill people with simple but effective methods. Some were obvious, like the pitchfork, ax, and hammer; others Mat told Chad how he could use it.
Chad was reminded of Bubba from the Forrest Gump movie when Bubba droned on and on telling Forrest all the ways he knew to prepare shrimp. But Mat wasn’t talking shrimp; he was reciting ways to take another person’s life. It sent a shudder through him. He certainly didn’t ever want his brother mad at him.
“In the right hands, anything can be used as a weapon. And when all else fails . . . rely on those hands,” Mat said, and delivered a strong punch to the bag. The punch snapped in the stillness, emphasizing how dangerous those hands could be. Chad flinched and took a step back.
“You told me earlier today about a brother’s job. I might not have had a brother in the context you meant, but the guys in my unit were my brothers. Every one of us had a job, a responsibility to the others to do whatever we could to keep everyone alive. I’ve spent a lot of years being a warrior,” Mat said. Still talking soft, the words had an ominous feeling and gave Chad a chill, coming from his mask-like face.
“I’m going to do my best to pass all that knowledge on to you. Chances are high we’ll run into the same savagery I saw in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and you need to be ready to face it. You’ve had a taste of it a couple of times already. We’ll start training tomorrow.”
Heather stepped out of the deep shadows that’d mostly obscured her. “This training you’ve got planned; is it going to be an exclusive boys’ club?” she asked.
Mat turned his shadowed features towards her. “No, everyone needs to be ready to handle trouble at any time. Even the twins and Lisa, although I don’t think their training will be as intense as Chad’s. You’ll have to determine your own level, though Chad indicated you have some training,” he said.
Chad was still off balance and didn’t take the opportunity to say Mat would like to give her personalized lessons. Besides, it was better not to say something like that where she could hear.
“The girls should pick right up on whatever you plan to show them; you know, the old “get ‘em young, train ’em right” idea,” Heather said. “But don’t make it too intense for them. This guy though, I think he’s ready for whatever you can give him.”
“Can I start now?” Chad asked.
“No,” Mat said. “I need to think a little more on how to start, and we need to discuss it with your mother.”
“I’ll talk to Lisa,” Heather said. I think I know how to push the right “mommy buttons” to make sure she’s fully on board.”
“Sounds good,” Mat said. He walked to the wall where his shirts hung. They’d talked long enough the sweat had dried on him. While he buttoned his long-sleeved shirt over his tee shirt he said, “Chad, I’d like you to get your truck moved to the house. We need to get everything from it and into the house and see where we are with food. We’re going to face lean times ahead, and how much you eat will have bearing on how hard I work you.”
“Alright, but I was going to fill the wheelbarrow with firewood and take it to the house,” Chad said.
“I’ll do that,” Mat and Heather said at the same time. Heather turned and grinned at him, and he returned it with a shy smile.
All three went outside and Chad looked behind the pickup and up the path to the house, trying to figure out the best way to get it moved. He didn’t see a good spot to turn around and that posed a problem. It was one thing to drive forward; he’d gotten pretty good at that, at least in his own mind he had. But he hadn’t had much practice backing up. He wasn’t sure he could do it without running into something.
It was a relief when Mat said, “You don’t look too sure of yourself. You want me to move it?”
“I sure would. I’m not very good at backing,” Chad said.
Mat looked regretfully at Heather before returning his attention to Chad. “Okay, where’s the key?”
“I left it in the door-pocket,” Chad said.
Mat nodded and got in the cab, taking a few moments to watch Heather and Chad through the side mirror. He started the engine and backed slowly to the house, resisting the urge to watch Heather fill the wheelbarrow. But he did follow her progress once the engine was shut off.
Lisa stepped outside and went to the side of the pickup when she saw it was Mat behind the wheel. “Mat, I’m glad to see you. I was getting concerned; you were gone so long and didn’t even take a coat,” she said.
“I’m fine, I just needed some alone time,” he said. “Now, I’d like to get your truck unloaded. You said you had food in it. We need to get it all in the house and figure out what we’ve got and how much we’ll have to stretch it.” He opened the camper shell door and the tailgate. “Wow, you guys did a lot of canning,” he said in a pleased tone.
“Yes, your dad always insisted on growing a big garden and preserving as much as we could,” Lisa said. “While I saw the wisdom in it, I never imagined it’d be this important. There’re also bags of dried meat. We usually butchered a steer each fall and had a freezer full of meat when the power went off. Chad and the girls dried it over the wood stove when the power went out. It’s not seasoned like jerky, but it’s still good.”
“Well, we need to get this stuff inside. With the sky the way it is, it’s hard to tell, but it feels to me like we’re going to get rain,” he said, and turned and pulled a box of full mason jars out of the pickup and carried it into the house.
The rest of the family, except for Dan, joined Mat in emptying the pickup. He could only watch. “I feel so useless!” he grumbled.
Mat heard the comment as he went past, sat the box down he’d carried in, and went down the hallway rather than back outside. When he returned, he had a clipboard with a stack of papers on it and held it out to Dan. “We need to write down everything we have here. You can be useful and do that. Then we’ll update those other sheets listing all the stuff I had. I’m sure the girls can call stuff out to you.”
When everything from the pickup had been moved inside the house and noted on the papers, the lists of the combined food appeared impressive. The papers were spread out on the table, the adults and Chad studying the lists and quantities, and making figures on clean sheets of paper. It would’ve looked like overkill a few months earlier, borderline hoarding. But faced with no possibility of restocking, the perception had changed; it looked woefully inadequate.
“It won’t do any good to wish, but it would sure be nice to supplement this with a garden,” Dan said.
“I don’t think we can until next year, if then,” Mat said. “Between the clouds, the colder temperature, and the contaminated ground, I don’t think we’d be able to grow anything. Even if we did, I don’t know how safe it’d be to eat. So I think we have to plan on getting by on what we have. I think Chad and the girls should get two meals a day, and the rest of us get one.”
“If you guys can make it on one meal, so can I,” Chad said.
Lisa had her mouth open to speak but didn’t get the chance before Mat replied to him. “It’s not up for negotiation. The three of you are still growing. Your bodies need the extra nourishment or your growth will be stunted. It’d add new meaning to “little brother” if you don’t eat enough. We can manage for you to have a bit more.”
“But –” Chad said.
Mat shot him an intense look and said, “I’ve seen the results of malnutrition in kids, and if we can swing it, you three get more.”
“He’s right Chad, you WILL get two meals per day,” Lisa added. “But he’s wrong about something else. Mat,” she said, turning her attention to him. “We also need you to be strong. You’re going to have to carry the heaviest load for all of us. We can’t chance you getting weak.”
“But –” Mat said.
“You two can “but” all you want and it won’t do you any good. You both get extra,” Lisa said. “Now let’s find a place to put all of this. Chad, you put the pickup back where it was. Come Mat, let’s see what your storage spaces are like and get all this put away.”
Heather grinned at the stricken looks on Mat and Chad’s faces.
Mat followed Lisa obediently, while Chad put his coat and hat back on and went outside to park the pickup. Mat was partially right he observed. Raindrops, mixed with heavy wet snowflakes were falling. It seemed the weather wasn’t sure if it wanted to rain or snow, so was doing both at the same time. Chad climbed behind the wheel of the pickup and held the steering wheel without starting the engine. The raindrops yielded until only snowflakes fell on the windshield, where they instantly melted, although some stuck to the cold metal hood. He stared at the white flakes and thought it was late in the year for snow.
Chad looked out the side window at the fallow garden. Too cold and contaminated with radiation; if anything grew in it they couldn’t eat it anyway. There had to be a way though. He didn’t want to eat while he watched the adults skip meals. He had to do something but he didn’t’ have any idea what it was.
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Post by bretf on Aug 3, 2022 5:29:05 GMT -6
Chapter 21
Chad’s face was stricken as he looked at the oatmeal in front of him. He didn’t like the situation one bit and read in Mat’s face he felt the same. The twins ate their oatmeal, oblivious to the tension around them. Perro-Feo watched the girls eagerly for any dropped food. Her rations had also been reduced.
“It’s already cooked and we don’t have enough food to waste, now eat!” Lisa said.
They ate while Lisa and Heather had water for breakfast. Chad ate mechanically. Knowing his mother as he did, nothing would change her mind. The serving, though small, felt endless. Each bite went from tasteless to bitter; it grew and grew in his mouth until he forced it down. The acid in his stomach seemed to boil. Rather than giving him a contented feeling, the meal left him unsettled and queasy.
He cleaned every drop from the bowl and carried it to the sink with his head down. It was wrong, shameful, to eat in front of others while they went hungry. That’d been drummed into him by his mother, the mother who was making him do that very thing while she had nothing but water. Inside, he fumed. The remembered taste of soap replaced the flavor of the cereal as he considered the people responsible for the mess they were in.
Chad returned to the table and slid a stack of military manuals close. Mat had carried them out from his bedroom and set them on the center of the table before they ate. “Those are for you to read,” Mat told him. “If you see something you don’t understand, make sure you ask.”
He picked one titled “U.S. Army, The Warrior Ethos and Soldier Combat Skills”, and thumbed through it. As he did, Mat placed his spoon beside his empty cereal bowl, picked up the bowl and tilted it towards Lisa, making sure she knew he’d eaten all its contents.
Setting the bowl back on the table, he said, “Girls, I need you to listen up, this is important.” With their attention on him, he continued. “A lot of bad people are around now, who if given the chance, would try to hurt you. Some of them already hurt your dad and aunt. I don’t want anything like that to happen to you, so I’m going to start teaching you how to defend yourselves against those people. That way, you might be able to stop someone from hurting you.”
“Are you going to let us shoot your guns?” Alison asked. “Aunt Heather taught us how.”
Mat said, “Not right away, but I will in time. First, you can learn the weapons you always have with you.” He held one hand up in front of them. “You’re small, but that doesn’t mean you have to be helpless. If someone ever grabs you, I want you to kick, hit, scream and bite like a wild cat. And when you’re doing it, certain places are better to attack than others. Those parts of the body are especially tender and hurt more than other places if they get hit or poked hard. So if someone grabs you or tries to, you need to try to go after those spots if you can.” He stood, and held one hand over his groin and the other over his throat. “These places are very tender and hurt a lot if they get hit. But there’s something else that’ll disable a person faster, two somethings actually, and most of the time is easier to get to. Do you know what it might be?”
His question was answered with puzzled looks from the girls.
“Okay, it’s the eyes,” he said and pointed a finger directly at one of his own. “Think how much it would hurt if you jabbed your straight fingers right into someone’s eyes. Or if you jabbed them in the eye with one of those spoons you’re holding. I know for certain someone would let you go if you did that.” The girls paid rapt attention, and Alison tightened her grip on her spoon and made a short thrust with it.
“Yep, just like that,” Mat said with a grin.
Once the breakfast bowls were cleaned up, Mat had everyone stand in a half circle facing him. “I think you need to learn defensive stuff first, so I’ll start with ways to break free if someone grabs you. After that, we’ll work on punches and kicks. So Chad, come over here and get a good hold on me from behind. I’ll show everyone a way to break free.”
Chad stood where he was and said, “I won’t be able to see what you’re doing if I’m behind you. Can Aunt Heather grab you instead, because I’m sure she’s done a lot of this before?” He suppressed his grin while he nudged her toward Mat.
Without waiting for him to say it was alright, Heather stepped towards Mat and said, “Go easy on me, Mat. I’m not up to speed yet. Maybe after my head’s healed we can make it more realistic.”
“Sure, I’ll take it easy. I won’t make the same promise if I get ahold of your nephew, though,” Mat said. He shot a look of irritation at Chad, and mouthed, “You’ll pay!”
Mat taught the group to escape various holds, making Chad work extra hard to escape from his choke hold, but at least it was realistic. For his part, Chad took it all in stride. When he had the opportunity to put a chokehold on Mat, he whispered in his ear, “Now, tell me you didn’t like it.”
Mat reversed the hold in a blur of movement. “Maybe,” he whispered back.
Mat moved to offensive moves, demonstrating air punches and kicks, and watched until he decided they needed resistance, something to hit. To Lisa and the girls, he said, “I don’t know if Chad or Heather told you I have a heavy punching bag in the shed. Let’s go out and pound on it for a while so you can feel the shock from hitting and kicking something.”
He went into his bedroom and returned with his hat and jacket. He put them on and picked up the rifle and pistol from their place near the door. Lisa and Chad had convinced him the twins wouldn’t mess with them, so he’d been leaving the guns where he could reach them instantly if the need arose. Still, he made sure not to leave a round in the chamber of either one.
Chad was already outside, so Mat went out and followed in his tracks in the dirty wet snow. Chad was off the trail and ambling towards the fence around the garden patch. He turned at the sound of the squishy steps and said, “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Although I think you enjoyed it.”
“I think you’re a spoon,” Mat said, “Always trying to stir something up.”
Chad ignored the statement and stopped at the fence, preoccupied. He looked across the dirty snowpack on the garden. “What did you have growing? It looked like a cover crop of some kind.”
“It was,” Mat said. “I’ve been trying to build up the soil ever since I bought the place. When I was on leave, I broadcast seeds and hoped for the best. Once I came here for good, I put out winter rye, daikon radish, and field pea seed. From what I read, each one does something different to help soil fertility. The rye will choke out weeds and add a lot of organic material. The radishes will aerate the ground and pull minerals from deeper down. The peas help with nitrogen and add more organic material. I didn’t plan on this extended cold weather when I put them in, but they’re all fairly cold hardy. With luck, some will reseed, but I sure don’t know with this.” Mat indicated the gray sky and kicked the snow at his feet. “We sure won’t be benefiting from any of it this year, unless it helps the soil. So did you guys use cover crops in your garden?”
“No, we had cows and chickens, so we used manure and the hay the cows pulled out of the feeder and wasted. That, and lots of compost,” Chad said.
“I didn’t have any of that available unless I bought it and hauled it a long way, so I went for the green manure crop. But I’ve never gardened, so I have no idea how they compare. The little I remember from working the fields with Mama and Abuelo, all those big-time farmers were heavy into chemical fertilizers,” Mat said. “I didn’t want those either. I wanted something self-sustaining.”
He looked up as the women and girls left the house. “Let’s get to the shed. I think I’ll name my punching bag Chad, and see how well it likes being knocked around.”
Chad lingered at the fence, looking at the snow-covered garden. A puzzle hid somewhere out of reach in his mind, and the garden added to the feeling. He pulled his gaze away and followed in Mat’s footprints.
With snow covering the roof panels, the shed was darker inside than it’d been the previous day. Mat lit a lantern and hung it near the punching bag. He had the girls get on each side of it and practice what they’d learned in the house, watching intently and making corrections when needed.
Chad took the opportunity to do a more thorough job of looking at what Mat had stored in the building. He fished the flashlight out of his coat pocket and directed its beam into the darkened recesses of the room.
It was typical of what he’d seen in the house: Mat had everything neatly organized. One wall held a rack with shovels, hoes, pitchforks, rakes, and other tools, complete with a supply of spare handles. Near the tools were an old, beat-up rototiller, a chain saw, and two gas cans. Chad continued to look and saw a workbench with hand tools hanging above it and a tall toolbox at the end.
On the opposite side of the room was an impressive supply of building materials. Mat had assembled stacks of dimensional lumber; 2 x 4’s and 2 x 6’s, 1 x 4’s and 6’s, and a stack of heavier timbers. A couple of wooden doors and three or four glass panels like the ones making up the front of the house leaned against a pile of sheets of oriented strand board. At the end of the pile was a stack of rolls of pink insulation, alongside rolls of felt and roll roofing and a large roll of clear Visqueen. Just visible behind the insulation were a number of windows. It appeared Mat had a building project or two in mind.
“Chad, are you going to get over here and take your turn at the bag?” Mat asked.
Chad hadn’t noticed the girls and his mom had finished. Heather had decided against hitting the bag for the time being. “Oh, sure. Sorry, I was snooping around while you were occupied,” he said.
He went to the bag and took his jacket off, and worked through everything Mat had shown him in the house, making corrections when Mat told him to. He was mechanical in his delivery, still searching for the idea that wiggled at the back of his mind. Mat had drilled him well in the house, and he was able to go through the motions with little thought.
Lisa left with the girls in tow. They’d cooled off after having their turn with the bag and wanted to get back to the house.
“You all right Chad?” Mat asked. “You seem off.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just trying to remember something,” he said.
Mat looked at Heather with a questioning gaze. She shrugged in response.
“I’d considered a little gun training after we’re done with this, but I’m not sure we should now,” Mat said.
“Huh?” Chad asked. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“Never mind,” Mat said.
Chad delivered a punch the way Mat had taught him and said, “You’ve got quite a bunch of building material. What’s it all for?”
“Remember I mentioned to you before I wanted a generator set up. I was going to build a shed to house it. I also figured I’d add chickens someday, so I’d need a hen house if it ever happened, maybe a shelter for a few animals. As I told you, I wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. And this winter has shown me I need a mudroom, though it wasn’t planned for.”
Chad nodded his head and continued to hit the bag.
#
Chad stared at the page of the booklet he’d picked out of the stack. He’d thumbed through all of them and stopped on one particular booklet when he saw a chapter on surviving a nuclear blast. “Mat, have you read this one?” he asked, looked around, and found he was alone in the room. It wasn’t that big a house, but everyone else had left unnoticed. He read the first half of the chapter, rereading parts several times. “Mat,” he said to the empty room. “You need to read this. I think I know why you didn’t get sick after riding your bike to Hamilton. It has to do with the half-life of the isotopes and the time since the blasts. I think we can spend more time outside if we need to, without getting sick.” He marked the page with his finger and looked around, considered finding Mat and showing him the page, but held off. Mat would show sooner or later. Besides, he might find more to show him deeper into the chapter. Opening the booklet back up, he continued to read.
He reread the same paragraph and accompanying table he’d read three times. It was clear, but it tickled at the thought that’d been evading him since parking the pickup the previous day. What was it he couldn’t remember? The glass wall and the snow-covered garden drew his attention. He closed the booklet and stared outside at the unusable garden, letting his mind drift.
If things were normal and they were home, the cold hardy seedlings from the greenhouse would have been moved to the garden. They’d be taking advantage of the warm spring days, the plants starting to put on real growth. The other seedlings, those susceptible to frost, would be getting transplanted into larger pots. The snow outside faded and in his mind, Chad was with his dad, back home in the greenhouse. Chad leaned over a planter box to scoop a clump of tender plants out of the rich dark soil. The glass of the greenhouse roof and walls allowed the sun’s warmth inside, and Chad and his dad were working without their jackets despite the cool air on the other side of the wall. The cold air beyond the glass wall.
Chad jumped up from the couch. The booklet fell on the floor, unnoticed near his feet. He looked at the glass wall at the front of the house and slapped the palm of his right hand against his forehead for being so dense. Despite smacking himself, his face spread in a wide smile. He knew how to help with the food problem.
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Post by bretf on Aug 3, 2022 5:29:52 GMT -6
Chapter 22
Chad looked up from the paper he was drawing on when he heard Mat’s bedroom door close. Other papers and a couple of books were scattered around the table near him. “Hey Mat, do you have any PVC pipe or conduit, and twine?” he asked. “I didn’t see any in the shed when I was looking around. I guess if you don’t have anything we could make stakes with long branches.” He was deep in thought for a few moments before he said, “Actually, we should use branches anyway, and save manufactured stuff for what it was made for since we won’t be able to replace it, if you have any, that is.”
“Well yeah, I’ve got a bunch of PVC pipe in the rafters in the shed, and a couple of spools of baling twine. I can show you later if you want. Now though, why don’t you pick up your mess? I’ve got a nice little Browning Hi-Power for you to look over. You can disassemble, clean, and reassemble it, and check out how it works. When you’re up to speed on it, we can go outside and you can shoot it a few times and see what you think. Do a good job with it and you can start using it for your carry pistol instead of the .22,” Mat said. “But only after you prove to me you can handle it safely, that is.”
“We can do it later. This is more important,” Chad said. He looked away from Mat, turning his attention to the glass wall, pointed with his finger and counted, and wrote a note on the paper in front of him.
“Are you kidding?” Mat asked. “The way you acted with my air rifle, I was sure you’d jump all over this. So . . . what’s more important? It’s a nice gun. And a lot more powerful than what you carry.”
Chad never looked up, just continued to pore over the paper, scratching notes. “I’m sure it is a nice gun and it’ll be great to have more firepower, but not right now. It can wait a few days. I’m working on a garden plan. That’s what’s more important, supplementing our food supply. We really need to start producing food, and soon. We can work with guns after everything is planted.”
“Chad, we went over this. We can’t grow a garden this year. Between the weather and the fallout, it’s not going to happen,” Mat said. “I’ve never gardened, but I’m pretty sure I’m right.”
Chad looked up from his papers, his eyes sparkling. “I don’t mean outside.” He stood while he talked, and pointed. “I mean right there,” he said, his excitement flowing out with his words. He made a sweeping gesture across the front of the room.
“O . . . kay,” Mat said. His tone said he wasn’t pleased with the idea, in fact, he sounded irritated. “Are you saying we should rip my floor up? There’s concrete under the stone, you know. Taking it out would mess up the whole passive solar heating and cooling concept. I put a lot of planning and money into this place. This cloud cover won’t last forever, you know.”
Chad didn’t let Mat’s reaction dampen his spirits. “Oh no, we won’t mess with the floor. It can stay like it is and we’ll do all we can to protect it. We’ll build raised garden boxes. It’ll be like our greenhouse at home. I don’t know why it took me so long to see it. Mat, your house is a hillside greenhouse! We’ll use some of the lumber you’ve got stored to make the boxes, and line the sides and bottoms with Visqueen to protect your floor. But we’ll have to be careful with watering that we don’t waterlog the dirt. We should be able to manage it, though,” Chad said. “If we set it up that way, the floor is taken care of, and once the weather gets back to normal, we can rearrange stuff so the passive solar works the way you want.”
Mat stared at him, a look of concentration on his face, then looked at the room and glass wall in a new light. “All . . . right, that sounds acceptable . . . I guess. . . But, the dirt, did you forget it’s contaminated? And I don’t know for certain, but I’m guessing it would pass the radiation on to the plants and from the plants to us.”
“No, I didn’t forget. This just ties right into one of your other projects,” Chad said.
“One of my other projects? What project?” Mat asked.
“Your mudroom,” Chad said and flashed Mat a huge smile. He picked the booklet he’d been reading earlier from the clutter on the table top and opened it to the page he’d marked with a strip of paper. “Here, look at this. Radiation doesn’t go more than three feet through dirt. That’s what this booklet recommends for a safe fallout shelter. So, we excavate for the mudroom out of the hillside right outside the side wall. The top three to four feet of dirt, we’ll move away. Once we get past that, we bring the dirt inside for the garden beds.”
“Humph, we’ll probably hit bedrock,” Mat said.
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll run into rocks, but they’ll be mixed in with a lot of good soil. Depending on the size of the rocks, I don’t know, we might put some in the bottom of the beds. That’s what we did with pots at home. We put gravel in the bottom to help with drainage,” Chad said. Mat’s reluctance hadn’t dampened his enthusiasm. He’d had a lot of time to sort through the problems.
Mat looked away from the booklet to the stone floor, to the wall, and the bit of hillside he could see at the side of the house; and looked at all of them again. He walked to the wall to see more of the slope at the side of the house. It didn’t let him see much more, but he knew what he’d see if he went outside. “You know . . . you might be right . . . it might work,” he said, warming to the idea.
“Oh, I’m sure it’ll work, but it’s going to take work, a whole lot of hard labor, to get it going,” Chad said.
Mat looked at everything again, then fixed his gaze on Chad. “You know, I think you’re onto something. So what are you doing sitting around? We’d better get busy if we’re going to be eating corn on the cob this summer. Come on, let’s get to it.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think we’ll grow corn this year,” Chad said.
“What, no corn? Why not?” Mat asked. “Fresh corn is one of the best things during summer.”
“You’re right, it’s one of my favorites too, maybe my very favorite. But corn takes most of the growing season to produce, at least the kind Dad planted does, it needs lots of nitrogen, and you pick one or two ears off the stalk, and it’s done. Finished.
“Don’t get me wrong, I want corn on the cob too, at least as much as you do. But I think we need to grow things that produce constantly as long as you keep them picked,” Chad said. “Once we plan room for all of those things, I don’t think we’ll have room for single harvest varieties. Except for fast developers, that is. And those, we can plant again after we’ve eaten the first planting.”
“Okay, I’ve told you, I’m not a gardener. Abuelo got away from the fields after my mother . . . But I’ve read up on gardening so I’d be able to grow as much of my food as possible, but I haven’t actually grown anything yet. Reading and doing are very different things, as I’m sure you know. I thought I’d have time to ease into it and learn as I went, nothing like this. So, what do you think we should grow?” Mat asked.
“We’ll have to talk to Dad and see what he says because he knows a lot more about growing stuff than I do. But anyway, here’s what I think. First of all, we need veggies we can eat the soonest, the fastest growers for a jump start.
“The fastest growing and producing vegetable we ever planted was radishes. They were always the first veggies we ate every year. Something might be faster, but I don’t know what it’d be. Radishes can be ready to eat in less than a month. And besides the bulbs, you can eat the leaves too. Though most people don’t eat them we can’t be so picky. They have a strong flavor, but we can mix them in with spinach leaves and leaf lettuce. They’re fast producers too. We always picked the biggest leaves off the spinach plants and let the plants stay and keep growing. That’s all I can think of for the quick-growing stuff.
“Now for the things that keep right on producing, well, there’re green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, and peppers. There’s sure to be more, but we’ll have to ask Dad. Those are the ones I remember growing. Oh yeah, we need to plant potatoes and garlic, too,” Chad said.
“Wait a minute, are you messing with me?” Mat asked. “I might not know much, but I do know potatoes and garlic are one-time harvest plants. Why do you think we need to grow them? Not that I’ll mind adding them to the menu.”
“Oh, they won’t be to eat, not very many anyway. We need to grow them for seed, for next year’s garden.” Mat gave him a confused look before he continued. “Have you noticed how shriveled up and shrunken the potatoes we’ve been eating are?” Chad asked. Mat nodded his head that he had. “Well, we plant a potato to grow the new ones. If we don’t get fresh ones grown, we won’t have seed potatoes for next year. The potatoes we have won’t store for another full year, no way. It’s the same with garlic. Think about it, that in a year, there might not be any potatoes to grow new crops. No potatoes, on top of everything else that’s happened. So we have to fit in as many as we can.”
“No potatoes? You can’t be serious,” Mat said.
“I wish I wasn’t, but if people aren’t growing new ones this year, there might not be anything left to plant next year. I know most of the potato storage places were electrically controlled so they won’t be any help. Besides, I bet they’ve been stripped bare. So we have to do what we can for next year.”
“Thanks. You bring me right back down, after getting my hopes up talking about fresh food. I guess nothing’s going to be easy anymore, is it? So do you have seeds for all of this? I saw a box marked “garden seed” we took out of your truck, but I didn’t look in it,” Mat said.
“Oh yeah. We’ve got all of that, and a lot more too. You know carrots, cabbage, and, well, all the stuff we ever grew, including sweet corn,” he said with a grin.
Mat looked at the area in front of the glass wall again. “How do you think it should be set up, and how much real growing space are we going to get?”
“I haven’t measured anything yet, but I paced it off and came up with around thirty-six feet across the front of the room,” Chad said.
“That’s pretty close,” Mat replied.
“So if we make beds three or four feet wide and leave a little space to get between them, and a space for the door, of course, I think we can get in seven planters. We’ll have to move the recliner and couch and this table. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to your lumber, but if we can make ten-foot-long raised beds, well, seven planters that size will give us a nice sized garden.
“Dad had a book on square foot gardening. I didn’t read it, only looked at it a little. But in it, the guy used every inch of his space. If Dad remembers much of it and we can grow stuff like that, we’re going to get a lot of fresh food,” Chad said.
“Should we grow anything else just for the seed? Anything, that if we don’t grow now, we won’t be able to grow later?” Mat asked.
“I know seed companies say parsnip seeds are only good for one year, but Dad proved them wrong. He had seed he saved from our garden a couple of years old and it germinated. But he planted a lot, just in case.”
“What’s parsnips?” Mat asked.
“It’s sort of like carrots, but you’ll have to wait until we can grow a real garden to try them. Anyway, I can’t think of anything else we need to be concerned about. But really, we have to talk to Dad.”
Mat looked back at him and smiled. “That’s good thinking you’ve done . . . little brother. Now, are you going to get up and get to work? We’ve got too much to do for you to be lollygagging.”
Chad smiled back at him and said, “It’s obvious I’m the brains behind this operation, so that makes you the brawn. Though I suppose I better go along and supervise. We sure don’t want you messing up something this important.”
“You’re about to get brained, you know, now get your coat.”
“Alright, alright, but let’s get accurate measurements first,” Chad said.
#
Heather followed the sound of hammering down the path to the shed. It was nearly dark, and Chad and Mat hadn’t been seen for hours. “So that’s where they are. What’ve they been up to for so long?” she asked the gray sky.
Her hand was on the doorknob when the sounds stopped and Mat said something. She opened the door and stepped inside. The sky-light barely illuminated Chad and Mat, standing on each end of a wood box.
“That’s the one we’ve been looking for; the last one. It’s a good thing, too. We wouldn’t be able to see if we tried to do another one unless we fired up the lantern,” Mat said. “But I think it’d be easier if we don’t put the plastic in them until they’re in the house.”
“For sure,” Chad said as he walked to the other end of the box. “Gimme your hammer and I’ll put them away.”
Hammers in hand, he stepped out of the meager ring of light afforded by the roof panel. He jumped in startlement when he saw her indistinct shape and took several moments for his heartbeat to slow down while his eyes adjusted enough to identify her. “Oh hey, Aunt Heather,” he said, relief evident in his voice. “I didn’t hear you come in. You’re too late though, we’re all done for today. Tomorrow though, we’ll have a lot of work for you.”
“Hey, Buddy. So what have you two been up to? Making coffins for broad shouldered tall guys?” she asked.
“Not quite,” he said and put the hammers in the toolbox. “Come over and look.” He took her arm and pulled her along to the wood frames. His voice bubbling with excitement he said, “These frames are to grow our garden in. We’ll move them into the house tomorrow and start filling and planting them.”
“You’re going to grow a garden in the house?” Heather asked, looking thoughtful. Her face changed with understanding. “Of course, it’s so obvious when it’s pointed out; duh. Mat built a greenhouse to live in.”
“Yeah, it’s obvious now, but it took Chad to see it. I’m starting to think he’s a pretty fart-smeller, er, smart-feller, I mean. Sorry Chad, slip of the tongue,” Mat said with a grin.
“He does appear to have a good head on his shoulders. I hope it doesn’t get too big for his hat when we have a jungle growing in the house,” Heather said. “Those boxes look good. It’s too bad we can’t get dirt in them today, but we’re almost out of daylight.”
“We’re going to take one of these up to the house and get it in place. Chad thought it’d be fun to explain his plan with a visual aid,” Mat said.
He looked up as he heard the door close. Preoccupied with Heather so near, he hadn’t noticed Chad slip away. It suddenly felt warm in the shed, unnaturally warm. “It … looks like . . . Chad needed to go outside,” he stammered. “Would uh, you mind . . . giving me a hand getting one of these outside? I can probably handle it after that.”
“I’d be happy to help, but I’ll help you pack it all the way; you don’t need to try to get it to the house alone,” Heather said.
“Oh, I can manage,” Mat said.
“It’s too big and bulky. I’d think you’re showing off for me if you don’t let me help,” Heather said with a smile.
Mat’s face reddened.
She bent down to pick up one end of the nearest frame. “Well?” she asked as Mat stood and watched her. “When I said you’re not doing it alone, it didn’t mean I was going to. Now grab ahold of this thing.”
“Oh, sorry,” Mat said, glad the room was too dark for her to see him well. He bent down and picked up the opposite end of the garden box, and slowly followed to the door.
Heather opened the door and was greeted by the sound of a block of wood dropping into the wheelbarrow. “It sounds like Chad’s getting the firewood, so I won’t need to come back after we get this taken care of. That’s sweet of him.”
Mat didn’t comment, just silently agreed. He got the door closed, and followed with his end of the frame, enjoying the view.
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Post by bretf on Aug 3, 2022 5:30:36 GMT -6
Chapter 23
“But Mom, you need to eat something this morning. We’re going to work really hard all day, and besides, this is going to help our food situation and make it so we don’t have to stretch what we have so far,” Chad said.
“Chad honey, I’ll be fine. Besides, you and Mat will be doing most of the hard work moving all the dirt. The rest of us will have it easy compared to you two,” Lisa said. “And, though we all agree your idea is wonderful and will help immensely, we haven’t harvested anything yet. Until we do and are able to gauge how well it’ll produce, I’ll keep skipping breakfast. Now eat your oatmeal.”
Chad fumed while he ate. He’d been so sure growing a garden would change things. It still might, but his mom was stubborn. She wouldn’t budge until she saw results. And his feeling of guilt wouldn’t leave.
The previous evening had been fun, the most fun he’d had in months. Everyone had been thrilled with his idea and they were the happiest he’d seen them since before the Super Bowl, or since he’d known him in Mat’s case. Even his dad’s spirits lifted with the prospect of contributing. It was decided he could sit beside the beds after they were filled with soil, and with the twins’ help, plant the seeds. He complimented Chad numerous times on his thinking and said how he looked forward to going over the plans in the morning. He didn’t want to wait that long, but he’d do it while the dirt was being moved so he wouldn’t need to use a candle or fuel to see the layout drawings.
Feeling happy, Chad fell asleep, only to get up the next morning and be faced with the adults having water for breakfast. As he fumed, he made a wish that the soil going into the beds was fertile and they’d harvest a bumper crop. They had to!
Chad finished his breakfast silently, washed his dishes and went to the shed for the wheelbarrow and shovels. After placing the wheelbarrow near where he and Mat had decided to dig, he set the spare shovels aside and started digging.
Mat joined him by the time he had two shovelfuls of dirt in the wheelbarrow. “You know, she does have a point,” Mat said. Talking didn’t distract him from the work as he handled his shovel with practiced ease. “What if the ground doesn’t yield like we hope it will? And we have the whole light deal. You told me how important the amount of light is for plant growth. What if they don’t get the right light through this cloud cover? Besides, we might have other problems we didn’t think of.”
“I know it, but man, I don’t like to eat when they’re going hungry. It’s not right,” Chad said.
“She’s doing what’s best for the long run to get all of us through this as well as possible. But I agree with you, and I don’t like it either, not one bit. So this grand idea of yours better work out,” Mat said.
The door to the house slid open and then closed behind Heather and Lisa. They walked to where Mat and Chad were digging. “Would one of you show us where everything is we need to line the boxes. We’ll get that part ready while you guys are getting to the clean dirt,” Heather said.
“You go,” Chad said to Mat. “I don’t know where everything is yet.” He turned back to the slope and jammed his shovel blade into the soil. Lisa held her hand out for Mat’s shovel and took his place when he and Heather walked away.
“Chad honey, I haven’t told you enough how proud I am of you. You’ve done such a wonderful job of watching out for your sisters, well the whole family actually, since everything started.” Lisa’s eyes were puffy and red, and she brushed at them with the back of her hand between shovelfuls of dirt. “And I know you’re still watching out for us. We’ll get by until your garden starts producing, and I know it will. You’re such a wonderful young man, and I couldn’t be prouder of you.” She wiped her eyes again. “This wheelbarrow is getting pretty full for you or me to move, so we better dump it. Where do you guys want it?” She stuck her shovel upright into the slope and grasped the wheelbarrow handles.
“Thanks, Mom, follow me, I’ll show you.”
Mat was waiting with his shovel in hand when Chad and his mom returned with the empty wheelbarrow. She patted Chad’s shoulder and went inside. Chad watched her leave and noticed the silly look on Mat’s face. “It looks like you enjoyed going off to the shed,” he said.
“We’ll get to the good dirt faster if you put all your efforts into the shovel instead of stirring stuff up, you spoon,” Mat said flatly. “And if you work hard, it might be enough to keep me from wanting to bloody you up.”
“Uh oh, I think I hit a nerve,” Chad said with mock sincerity. “But that’s alright if you don’t want to answer. In fact, it’s better that way. I know a real gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, and well dude, Aunt Heather deserves a gentleman.”
“Oops, I’m not sure what happened there,” Mat said, his shovelful of dirt landing on Chad’s foot. Chad couldn’t help but laugh at him. His dirt didn’t miss the wheelbarrow.
“You know, it’s a good thing Aunt Heather didn’t show up in the shed yesterday until we were done with the boxes,” Chad said. “If she had, you’d have gotten so flustered you wouldn’t be able to work today after hitting your hand so much with your hammer.” Another shovelful of dirt hit Chad’s foot and caused him to laugh again.
“So okay, seriously, Mat,” Chad said. “What vegetables are you looking forward to most? I mean except for corn on the cob?”
“As many field rations as I’ve had, any fresh vegetable is an improvement,” Mat said. The two continued to work and discuss the virtues of all the vegetables they hoped to be harvesting in the near future. The pile of dirt they moved grew large, and the discussion moved to other vegetables that wouldn’t be grown until the following year. It drifted next to fruits and berries they wondered if they’d ever get to eat again.
The door to the house opened and the women and girls stepped outside. “Can we make snowballs Mom?” Alison asked.
“No honey, you better not. I don’t think this snow is safe to play in,” Lisa said. “Now, let’s do what we came out to do.” They all walked down the path to the shed.
Mat watched them a moment and turned to Chad with a questioning look. “I don’t know what they’re doing. I’ve been with you, remember?” Chad said. “But I think one more wheelbarrow load, and we can start to fill the first box.”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” Mat said. He put the shovelful of dirt in the wheelbarrow and looked up at movement from the shed. Lisa and Heather were on opposite ends of one of the planter boxes, a twin helping each of them. When they had enough room, they leveled it and started for the house. “So that’s what they’re doing,” he said to Chad.
Chad looked at his mom, aunt, and sisters, and came close to telling Mat what a go-getter Aunt Heather was, but held off. They might hear him and it was so much fun to tease Mat when they were alone. It could wait.
“Brooke, get the door open, please,” Heather said as they approached the house.
“Hold on a minute,” Mat said. “We’re almost to clean dirt. Okay, that sounds funny, but you know what I mean. We figured it’d be a lot easier to roll the wheelbarrow in if the boxes aren’t in the way.”
“We’re way ahead of you. We’re going to put this one on the opposite side of the room and line it with plastic, so it’s all ready for dirt as soon as you get the first one filled. Once it’s ready, we’re going to bring the rest of them and stack by the house, staging them to set inside,” Heather said. “Or would you rather I take a turn shoveling?”
“I could use a break from this for a while. Can you take my place and I’ll work with Mom?” Chad said. Mat’s shovelful of dirt missed the wheelbarrow and landed on Chad’s foot. “But watch out, this guy gets dirt all over the place.”
#
The garden took two long, gruelingly hard days to be put in, hard but satisfying. The seven raised beds extended out from the glass wall, filled with moist soil and seeds. The beds were planted nearly as Chad had diagramed the layout. Dan had only made slight adjustments to the plan. Despite the hard work they’d done, the hardest part for Chad was still ahead of him: waiting for the beds to produce. No matter how much he stared at the dark brown soil, he couldn’t will any tiny leaves to appear.
The floor around the beds had been a mess while they worked. The snow and dirt made mud that got tracked through most of the house before they were done. Lisa spent a lot of time cleaning during the project, but it was futile. Despite her best efforts, she missed errant globs of dirt.
The new household arrangement made a huge reduction of the space available for Mat’s training sessions, which he started again the morning after they were finished with the garden boxes. It meant more time in the shed with the punching bag. Chad thought Mat was making up for the lost time and worked them hard. Each session left him as tired as getting the garden boxes set up had. In the shed, the girls and Lisa would go through their drills first and return to the house, leaving Mat, Chad, and Heather to continue more vigorous activities.
Mat studied Chad closely when he delivered a solid punch. “Does your back hurt? It looks like you’re favoring it.”
“It doesn’t hurt, but it feels tight and pulls with certain movements,” Chad said.
“Has your mom said anything when she checked your stitches and dressing?”
“No, she just puts that cream on it and re-covers it.”
“When we get to the house, I’ll look at it with the better light. What has it been, ten or twelve days since you got sewed up? It might be time to take the stitches out,” Mat said. “Out of your head, too,” he told Heather. “Chad, did you know that when stitches come out, you pull the knots through the holes. That way it cleans them out.”
“WHAT?” Chad was aghast at the idea. Wide-eyed, he saw the wide smile on Mat’s face. “Okay, you got me on that one. We could ask Mom and Dad how long it’s been. They have a calendar in their room and they mark off the days. I’m pretty sure Mom marked the day we got here, but I think you’re right,” Chad said.
“Why don’t you check when we get back to the house,” Mat said. He still did a good job of avoiding Dan. “Now, let’s work on something new,” he said as he walked to the rack with the spare shovel and hoe handles. Taking one down and tossing it to Chad and another to Heather, he kept one for himself. “They aren’t exactly staffs, but they’ll work under the circumstances.”
They worked up a good sweat by the time Mat called a halt for the day. As he had the past few days, Chad managed to slip away fast and go to the woodpile. Heather and Mat stepped outside together and Mat pulled the door closed behind them.
“You’re sure good with him, Mat,” Heather said. “I see how much he admires you when you guys are together. He’s doing everything he can to please you. You’re great with the twins too. You know, for being thrust into the job, you’re an excellent big brother and role model. They really need this stability in such trying times.”
Mat was tongue-tied for a moment before he said, “He’s a great kid, smart too. I, uh, better see if he needs help.”
They made it to the woodpile in time to see Chad pick up the handles of the wheelbarrow and start for the house. They followed a few steps behind.
The door to the house slid open and the girls rushed out. Each of them grabbed one of Chad’s hands, barely allowing him to set the wheelbarrow down as they dragged him towards the open door. “Chad, come on, you’ve got to see this. You were right.”
They stopped near one of the garden boxes, the one they and their dad had sprinkled radish seeds into. They pointed, their hands dancing around with their excitement. “Chad, look! They’re growing!”
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Post by bretf on Aug 5, 2022 6:37:30 GMT -6
Chapter 24
“Everyone who shoots much has a preference in 9mm pistols. A lot of good ones were made, but I’m partial to this one,” Mat said as he held the Browning Hi-Power out in front of Chad. “John Moses Browning was one of the smartest and finest firearms designers ever. One of his designs was the 1911 automatic pistol like your aunt and I carry. But the last design he was working on was for this one, the Hi Power. As I said, everyone has preferences, but certain people consider this the greatest pistol ever made. I won’t debate it, but I will tell you it’s a very nice weapon. You could do worse, lots worse than having this one. Browning never managed to finish it though; he died at his workbench, so his assistant completed it.”
Chad had already heard most of it when Mat talked him through disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the gun, but he stayed attentive anyway. It was hard telling when Mat might throw in something new to trip him up, which he did anytime he thought Chad’s mind was wandering.
Chad wanted him to get on with it. Weeks had passed since Mat had first mentioned the pistol and Chad put him off in order to get the garden started. Since then when Chad brought it up, Mat came up with one excuse after another why they couldn’t shoot the gun. He missed Mat’s sly grins and was tired of his answer. “Patience Chad. You have to learn patience.” Chad cleared his head and got back in the present before Mat could notice his lapse.
“Some of what I’ll tell you and have you do might be different than you’ve heard before. Everyone develops their own methods; I’m not going to tell you any of what you’ve been taught is wrong, but I may strongly suggest corrections if I need to. But I’ll try not to unless it’s something that might cause problems. You’re sharp, you can think your way through everything and come up with whatever is most effective for you. One thing I know most instructors stress is breathing; taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly and all that, and that’s good advice,” Mat said.
“Now one thing I’ll tell you upfront to disregard, and that’s anything you saw in a movie. Chances are high, if you saw it in a film, it was most likely nonsense. They were especially bad in most of the cop and gangbanger flicks. Not to say they were all bad, because there were a few good depictions of shooting in films, but as a rule, Hollyweird wasn’t too concerned with accuracy where guns were concerned. So rather than making me try to remember a certain movie, disregard all of it, and only consider what real people have told you.
“Now I’m sure you’d rather not think about it, but try to take yourself back to the road, when that redneck had his rifle aimed at you. You drew your gun to shoot that piece of crap before he could shoot you. You took a deep breath, right, and were slowly exhaling while you steadied your weapon didn’t you?”
Chad’s face was blank and he said, “Uh . . . I don’t remember. I . . . was just trying to stop those guys from shooting the girls and Mom. I wasn’t thinking about breathing or anything.”
“That’s right; in a situation like that you don’t have time to think, you have to act and react. So I want you to get a good foundation first. Get into good habits and be consistent, so every time you squeeze the trigger, you do it right. When you’re good at the basics, we’ll throw real-world wrinkles at you,” Mat said.
“Now as I remember from down on the road, which could be wrong by the way, you were hunched over the girls. You rose up and swung your right hand with the .22 over to a two-handed grip. Think about what you might’ve done if something was wrong with one of your hands or arms and you couldn’t do that.
“With enough time and practice, I want you to be able to shoot two-handed, left-handed, or right-handed. I want you to be in a full sprint, pause for an instant and control yourself, and fire accurately. I want that deep breath to come so natural you don’t think about it, it just happens, its instinct. So the next time some piece of crap aims his rifle at you or one of the family, you make it the last thing he ever does,” Mat said.
He saw the concerned look on Chad’s face. “I know this sounds harsh, but as you saw down on the road that day, it’s a harsh world we live in. Taking another person’s life is never to be done lightly, but if it’s either them or you, or any of the rest of us, it needs to be done.
“Anything you’d like to add Heather?” She’d joined him and Chad as she seemed to be doing more and more of late.
“I agree with everything Mat told you. But I want to emphasize one thing,” she said. “Chad, it’s a terrible thing to contemplate, but if the need ever arises, you have to be prepared to take a person’s life in a heartbeat. However, you never, ever do it lightly. Regrettably, at times it’s necessary and if you hesitate at a crucial moment, it could have horrible results. It only takes an instant at times. I . . . had a good friend in Afghanistan who hesitated at a critical time. Because he didn’t act instantly . . . well . . . I cried over his coffin before it was loaded in the plane to return to the states.” She looked ready to cry again from the memory.
Mat raised a hand as if he wanted to reach out and hold her, to comfort her. But he let his hand drop and returned his attention to Chad.
“Okay Chad, what are the four top rules of shooting again?” Mat asked.
Chad recited them, as he had each time Mat had him handle the Browning. They’d been over the gun thoroughly in the house, as well as the rest of the guns they had. The whole family, including the twins, sat in while Mat lectured on every weapon in their possession. He insisted everyone be familiar with them all.
Chad finished going over the gun safety rules to Mat’s satisfaction and looked at him expectantly.
“Alright, get your muffs on and take this,” Mat said.
Chad took the shooter’s earmuffs from around his neck and settled them in place over his ears. He took a few moments to adjust them over the earpieces of the safety glasses he wore, and took the pistol carefully from Mat, making sure it wasn’t pointed anywhere near him or Aunt Heather.
Mat took a few steps back and said, “Okay, you’re killing that block of wood, so get in a good shooting stance.”
Chad looked at him blankly and pantomimed with his left hand that he couldn’t hear while keeping the pistol pointed safely at the ground with his right hand.
“You can too hear, smart guy, and why didn’t you say you can’t hear? You’re the one with muffs, and I haven’t even got my earplugs in yet,” Mat growled. He repeated more of what he’d told Chad in the house, albeit louder.
Chad found it harder to concentrate on what Mat was saying with the weight of the gun in his hands. He wanted to get on with it and start shooting.
“Just like guns, there are varying opinions on stances. I’ve explained the isosceles to you, so get it that stance and see what you think. When you’re ready, do your thing, just like Heather and I told you, but please, try not to shoot one of us or yourself. And remember, squeeze, don’t pull the trigger.”
Chad stood facing the wood with his feet at shoulder width apart, his left foot slightly forward, and his knees slightly bent. Slowly he raised his hands, his arms locked straight ahead until his hands and the pistol were extended straight out from him, forming the isosceles triangle the stance was named for. He gripped the pistol as Mat had instructed him and double checked that his thumb was clear. It wouldn’t do to lose skin when the slide rocked back.
Chad thought back to shooting with his dad. Mat sure made him go through more things than his dad had, but he was sure with practice, it’d all come naturally.
His shoulders were squared up to the wood and he sighted on the dark spot Mat had made on it. With his finger still outside the trigger guard, he breathed the way he’d been taught and tightened his finger and said, “Bang.” He went through the same dry run practice five more times before he was ready, jacked a round in, and did the exercise for real.
“I don’t see anything that needs correcting, do you?” Mat asked Heather quietly.
“No, it looks fine to me,” she said.
Chad had been nervous the recoil would be like Aunt Heather’s pistol, he hadn’t cared for shooting it, but pleasantly, the Browning’s was quite a bit less. Still, his hands were lifted farther than he would’ve liked. Re-sighting, he squeezed the trigger again, sighted and fired a third time, and repeated the action until he’d fired five times. Mat had told him he would shoot five times each, from two different stances, and they would discuss the results and Chad’s thoughts on each. Chad pointed the pistol at the ground in a safe direction and nodded to Mat, the whole time making sure his finger was outside the trigger guard.
Mat moved the block of wood around so the opposite side and a new black dot were towards Chad. “Okay, now get in the Weaver stance and fire again.”
Chad shifted his body so he was in more of a boxer’s stance and partially angled towards the target, leading with his left foot. His elbows were bent, with one arm pulling and one pushing. After he raised the gun into position a number of times, he fired five times in succession. With his elbows bent, the recoil pushed his arms back rather than up, allowing him to sight back on the target faster between shots.
After he was done, he unloaded the pistol and slipped it into the holster on his belt. It was a relief to take the earmuffs and glasses off and he took a few moments to rub the spots where the muffs held the glass’s earpieces tight against his head. While he rubbed he grinned at Mat and Aunt Heather’s backs as they walked together to the wood block.
‘Look at that, would you? That’s a nice group,” Heather said noting the tight spacing of bullet holes in the wood.
“Humph, I guess it’s a nice group,” Mat said, glancing back at Chad to make sure he couldn’t hear them. Quieter he said, “It’s tighter than I can get, rotten kid. You’ve done a great job teaching him.”
Heather chuckled. Chad joined them and she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “That’s pretty good shooting, Buddy.”
Chad studied the holes in the wood. “Yeah, but I can do better with more practice. How's the other side look?” he asked.
Mat rolled his eyes at the comment and moved the block so they could see the other side. The grouping wasn’t as tight, but one hole was dead center in the ring Mat had drawn.
Chad looked at the second group of holes and said, “Yep, I’ll get tighter groups with more practice.”
“You better,” Mat said. “I won’t have you wasting ammo if you don’t improve.” At a sharp look from Heather, he said, “But that was good shooting. I’m impressed. So you’ve tried both stances, what do you think?”
“I think with the first one, I can be really accurate if I take a lot of time. I hurried a little on a couple of shots and it shows. I liked the other one for faster shooting. And I see what you mean about the Weaver making me a smaller target and why a lot of cops would use it. I imagined someone behind that wood, pointing their gun at me. I felt more exposed with the isosceles. But I want to practice each way,” Chad said.
“That’s the idea. Keep an open mind and figure out what works best for you. And besides shooting, you need to get your arms stronger. So when we aren’t busy, you need to work with the pistol and get used to holding it out and aiming at random targets. Now go back to the spot you shot from and empty the magazine in whichever way you want. I’d like to have you shoot more, but that’ll have to do it for today. While we have a good stock of ammo, it’s not an endless supply. After you empty the magazine, you need to go take care of that weapon and we can spend time working on the mudroom. If everything goes right, we might be able to get the roof on it before we call it a day.”
After Chad fired the last three rounds, he went to the house. Opening the door, he paused, filled with awe like every other time he stepped inside and looked at the garden boxes. They were filled with lush green plants, reaching upwards with a pronounced lean towards the glass wall. Wooden stakes protruded from the beds in numerous places. Cucumber plants and tomato vines got tied to the stakes and supported as they grew. Other supports kept the bean plants mostly vertical.
His dad took care of most of the gardening, so Chad hadn’t checked recently, but he thought they could pull radishes and pluck salad leaves any day. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he stepped inside and walked between two garden beds to the table.
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Post by bretf on Aug 5, 2022 6:39:48 GMT -6
Chapter 25
As Chad went to the house, Mat and Heather continued to the shed for the tools and material they’d need for working on the mudroom. Once they were inside, Heather said, “Mat, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he said. “What is it?”
Heather stepped closer to him and said, “I’ve been wondering what it is you’re holding over his head.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I figured you must’ve threatened Chad with something so he’d leave us alone all the time. It looks too coincidental and convenient. I’m trying to figure out your angle and the motive behind it,” she said and stepped closer still to him.
“I, uh . . .” Mat said, his eyes wide, stepping back until he ran into the closed door. “You . . . uh . . .”
Heather kept moving towards him. She stopped with her face only inches from his and placed one hand on each side of him against the door. He had the wide-eyed look of a cornered animal. The ends of her mouth twitched up.
“So, you don’t have anything to say for yourself? I want to know if your intentions are honorable, and maybe if you’re planning something like this,” Heather said in a husky voice. She leaned closer to him, tilted her head slightly, and closed her eyes.
“Mom, the door’s stuck,” Brooke said loudly from the other side. Her voice was accompanied by hands banging on the opposite side of the door. “Help me push Ali.”
In a rush of movement, Mat and Heather jumped away from the door and it swung open. Alison stumbled on the threshold and fell to her knees. Brooke’s tight grip on the doorknob kept her mostly upright.
“Honey, are you alright?” Lisa asked from behind her. Perro-Feo was faster than Lisa and reached Alison first, thoroughly cleaning the girl’s face with her tongue.
Alison giggled and shoved her away with a “Perro, stop that,” command that was ignored. The dog had adopted the girls as littermates soon after their arrival; younger littermates. She ran and played with them, but also kept them herded. No matter how they tried, they couldn’t get as far as the pine grove with the dog always cutting them off.
Heather snuck a glance at Mat and brushed at the front of her clothes, flattening non-existent wrinkles while she took a few more steps away from him.
“I’m okay Mom, it didn’t hurt,” Alison said. She looked up at Mat and said, “Mat, can we do the stick fighting now that you’re done letting Chad shoot the gun?” She grabbed the hair on the dog’s back and pulled herself to her feet.
Lisa bent over to brush the dirt off the knees of Alison’s pants and caught a glimpse of Heather’s face before she turned away. It was darker in the shed than outside, but Lisa saw something that caused her to nod slightly. Smiling sweetly at Heather, she said, “I don’t know Alison, maybe Mat was busy with something else he’d rather be doing, and is anxious to get back to.”
“No, it’s okay. We can work with the sticks,” he said in a rush. He wasn’t sure what’d happened, rather what’d almost happened, blind-sided the way he’d been. Time to think would be good.
Mat, Chad, and Heather had cut, trimmed, and sanded straight thorn brush branches to make fighting sticks, small sticks for the girls and larger sticks for the adults and Chad. Once the girls learned all they could beating up the air and the heavy bag, Mat presented them each with another pair of practice sticks they could use against each other. They were short sections of PVC pipe with pipe insulation padding. Lisa cringed every time one of them got a strike in on the other, although it was obvious live practice on an opponent who fought back made them better. They might be small, but they were quick and determined. And they loved every minute of it, never getting enough.
“Go through the forms with the real sticks,” Mat told the twins. He stood, seeming to observe them so he could make any needed corrections. Seeming to; they could have done everything wrong and he wouldn’t have noticed. He only saw Heather’s face, her lips getting closer to his, and felt the gentle touch of her hair brushing his cheek. Was that what I think it was, what I hope it was? he wondered. “Okay girls, that’s good, switch to the padded sticks.” He was still in a daze as they attacked each other.
Lisa picked up the adult-sized padded PVC pipes and tossed a pair to Heather. “Come on Sis, let’s work through the forms,” she said and pointed to an open space away from the girls. They squared up in front of each other and Lisa made a deliberately slow move towards Heather with her stick. She brought her head beside her sister’s. “Look at Mat, he’s sleepwalking over there. What’d you do to him? We apparently interrupted something.”
Heather countered the move with equally slow movements and leaned her own head close. “What did I do? Not near as much as I planned, thank you very much. But isn’t he cute with that stunned look.”
Their laughter caused Mat to look over at them, away from the girls he hadn’t really been observing.
“Ow, Ali, that hurt,” Brooke squealed.
“Your timing sucks, you know,” Heather whispered. “I should pound you for that. You realize don’t you, that even with pads, these things will sting.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt important business, or should I say important monkey business,” Lisa said with a soft laugh. “But don’t you remember the signal from your college days? Put a hair scrunchy or bandana on the doorknob next time.”
“I’ll remember that,” Heather said and delivered a fast blow to Lisa’s backside. “But I don’t want to explain what it means to Chad or the girls. Would you do it since you’re their mom?”
“I’d rather not. Why don’t you ask your boyfriend to tell them?” Lisa asked with a wide smile. Heather’s next move and the resulting contact from the practice stick wiped the smile from her face.
A short time later, the women left the shed, both giggling, leaving the girls with Mat. Dismissing the sparring girls from his mind, he stared at the closed door. It opened a few minutes later and he leaned forward in anticipation but slumped back when Chad walked in. “Hey Mat, Mom says they’re going to be ready to eat in a half hour so we shouldn’t bother getting the tools out. She said maybe if you were up for it, you could work me through forms.”
“Uh, yeah, we can do that, I guess.”
They took up the practice sticks the women had left and squared off. Chad was mostly on the attack while Mat defended himself. “You all right Mat?” Chad asked when his padded PVC made contact with Mat’s thigh for the third time. “Or are you letting me get hits in you usually stop?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Mat said.
#
Lisa stood at the kitchen counter and observed her family seated around the table. She bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. Mat and Heather each made sly, quick glances at the other, and looked away quickly if the other noticed. Mat still had a half-dazed look, but it didn’t stop the furtive glances. Dan was oblivious to it all while Chad told him about shooting the pistol Mat had given him to use. Chad and the twins also seemed oblivious to Mat and Heather, or was Chad, she wondered. He had a slight grin that kept popping up she wasn’t sure was only because of the gun. She couldn’t hold back her own smile. In an ugly world filled with death and destruction, she saw something beautiful.
Turning her back to the table, she said a silent prayer that nothing would come up to derail Heather and Mat’s developing relationship. She’d hoped for years her sister could find a worthy man but had never expected it to happen the way it had. She finished the prayer and wiped her eyes and picked up two plates and carried them to the table.
She carried the rest of the plates to the table and placed them in front of each person, saving Chad’s for last. “Enjoy it, Honey, you earned it,” she said. Her face was split by a wide smile.
Chad looked at his plate and smiled too. The smile was replaced by a concerned look while he looked around at the other plates. “Hold it, Mom, this isn’t right.”
“Its fine, Honey. It’s all because of you, so you get the first ones. Dan, would you ask the blessing please.”
“No Mom, it’s not fine. Hold on Dad,” Chad said. He got up from the table and went to the kitchen cabinets and took out a clean plate. Sitting back down, he scraped the small pile of salad greens off his own plate onto the clean plate and separated it into seven piles. Split up like that, it looked like a pathetic amount. Two fresh radishes were on his plate; he sliced them and put the pieces on the small salads and handed the plate to his Aunt Heather on his left. “Now once everyone has their share, Dad can ask the blessing.”
Lisa took her seat to his right and squeezed his hand with her left hand while she wiped at her eyes with her right.
The plate was passed around the table, each person taking a tiny salad, and back to Chad. He put his portion of salad on his plate and nodded to his dad. Dan nodded back. “Dear Lord,” Dan began. “We thank You for this meal and ask Your blessing . . .”
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Post by bretf on Aug 8, 2022 12:49:57 GMT -6
Chapter 26
“You know, I could be wrong, but I think more light’s getting through the cloud cover after last night’s rain,” Mat said. “It looks brighter this morning.”
“You might be right, but I’m surprised you’d notice, as goofy as you’ve been since yesterday afternoon,” Chad said.
Mat glared at him. “You’ll see goofy next time we spar if you keep up the smart talk.” They walked side by side, the twins and the women trailing behind. The trail and the ground beside it were mushy, and water ran in small rivulets in several places. The storm had lasted most of the night, delivering a heavy soaking rain.
Mat had endured his own stormy night, reliving the encounter with Heather over and over, wondering where she was going with it before the girls interrupted. They sure picked a crummy time to show up. After having time to run it over and over through his mind, he longed to know what they’d stopped her from doing.
“After we work the forms, we might have real work to do, besides the mudroom I mean,” Mat said. “And with the heavy rain last night, I wish we’d have pushed and got the roof on it when we had the chance. Oh well, we can’t go back, only forward.”
Chad shot him a grin and said, “Well I wasn’t the one walking around like I’d been hit in the head.”
Mat scowled at him. “Anyway, we better walk down to the road and make sure the water ran off our lane right. It’s possible we’ll have to work on water bars. That’s one more chore if you have a dirt road in hill and mountain country, making sure the runoff doesn’t erode the road away. You might think it’s a cow trail now, but it’ll be a lot worse if we let parts of it wash away,” Mat continued. “Your truck might not be in the best shape, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be able to drive it down the hill if we need to.”
Mat opened the door to the shed and stood beside it, closing it after everyone had entered. Tapping the girls on the shoulder, he motioned for them to stay with him. He leaned his rifle against the wall inside the door and unbuckled his belt with the holstered .45, and set it on a shelf above the rifle. He glanced at the rest of the group, making sure they weren’t too close and kneeled so his head was as the girl’s height. “You remember what you’re going to do, right?”
“We sure do,” they said in unison.
He still wondered how they could say the same thing at the same time. They obviously had a deeper connection than he’d ever understand.
Before leaving the house, he’d done a little instruction with the girls in his bedroom. It was time for some fun. Standing back up, he said to everyone, “I want to do something a little different today. If the girls ever have to defend themselves, it’s not going to be against someone their own size. It’ll surely be an adult. So I want Brooke to spar with Lisa, and Alison to spar with Chad. And to change things up more, I want you to spar at the same time. So get set up for that.”
When Mat said go, the girls attacked like it was real. Lisa and Chad were stunned by the suddenness, Chad barely able to stop the onslaught after being hit once, Lisa not as fortunate. The strikes came fast and lower than either was accustomed to, with each of Lisa’s legs taking hits before she was able to mount a defense.
Heather laughed at her sister’s predicament. “This reminds me of a Chihuahua nipping at big dog’s legs,” she whispered to Mat.
Mat saw she was right and mentally kicked himself for not realizing it before. He’d have to tell the girls to take an adult’s knees out if they were ever in such a situation. Lisa’s seemed to beg to be hit.
Alison switched from offensive to defensive moves after Chad got over the shock of his sister’s attack and decided it was payback time. The girl gave ground quickly under the stronger blows.
“Brooke, now,” Mat snapped.
Brooke turned away from her mother and attacked Chad’s exposed side in a flash, her practice sticks thumping loudly against his leg on one side, his rib cage on the other. He spun to face the new attack, leaving himself open for Alison to whack him from the other side.
“Ooh, that one’s gonna leave a mark,” Heather said.
“Yeah it will,” Mat agreed.
Lisa sucked in deep breaths and watched wide-eyed as she witnessed the ferocity of her sweet daughters. They might be small, but attacking from two sides and fighting like wildcats was more than Chad could handle. It would’ve been even worse if Mat had turned them loose on her. As it was, Chad needed help against their combined efforts. She took another deep breath, stepped closer, and blocked a blow that would’ve landed solidly on his back.
“How long are you going to let them go?” Heather asked.
“Not much longer. The girls hit so hard and fast, they’re almost winded,” Mat said. As if she was responding to Mat’s comment, Alison called, “TIME,” and jumped away from her brother and mom. The point of her practice sticks dropped to the dirt floor and she gasped for breath without diminishing the huge smile on her face. “We . . . sure . . . got you . . . Chad,” she got out between gasps.
“You sure did,” he said, rubbing his arm where she’d whacked him. Glaring at Mat, he said, “You might have told me what you had planned instead of having them ambush me.”
Chuckling, Mat said, “Yeah, but it was so much more fun this way. Actually, I did it this way to make a point to all of you. If you would’ve known what to expect, do you think they’d have got you as good as they did?”
“No, of course not,” Chad said.
“Exactly. I wanted them to take you by surprise to make the point. Suppose a degenerate redneck happened onto them, looking so sweet and vulnerable, do you think he’d expect them to fight like that or do you think he’d figure he could do whatever he wanted?”
“Well,” Chad said, “I guess he’d figure he could do anything he wanted to them.”
“Right, that’s what I figure too. Why look at them. Who wouldn’t think that?” Mat asked. “Now, you’re getting pretty good with the sticks and hand to hand fighting. I think you could hold up very well against most people and whip a good percentage of adults one on one. You’re getting that good. And combined, the girls were getting the better of you.”
Mat made eye contact with everyone in the room in turn while he talked, to make sure he got his point across to all of them. His next comment was directed mostly to the girls. “He really is good, but working together, you two could take him. You can do that with most adults, you know. So if someone ever gets ahold of you, work together and knock the stuffing out of them. And I saw one more thing when Brooke attacked your mom. Against an adult, besides those other tender spots I told you about, knock the crap out of their knees, too. That’ll also stop them, I promise.”
It was clear to everyone the girls wouldn’t be easy victims for someone. It made an impression on them as well, and they looked at each other and smiled. Having confidence should go a long way if they ever found themselves in a sticky situation. As long as it didn’t make them overconfident. Mat would have a lesson to prevent that later.
“So Chad, what’d you learn from this little exercise?” Mat asked.
Chad considered it for a while and said, “I should’ve moved to take away their advantage.” Mat nodded while he talked. “If I’d have gotten in a place they couldn’t get behind me and I could face both of them, I’d of had a better chance.”
“That’s right,” Mat said. “So have you been abused enough, or do you want to work with me for a bit?”
“He looks pretty tired. I’ll take his place,” Heather said.
“No, better not, I don’t like to hurt girls,” Mat said with a grin.
“I think you’re afraid you can’t take me, and after I finish, you’ll be the one crying like a little girl,” Heather said with a wicked grin. “Maybe you’d prefer it if we don’t use the sticks, and wrestle instead. But be aware, I might have tricks for you if we do.”
Mat felt the heat in his face and neck and couldn’t come up with a response for her. He thought he was getting closer to figuring out the previous day and she’d knocked him off-balance again with the wrestling comment. His face remained hot.
“Come on, spar with someone closer to your own size,” Heather taunted. She took the practice sticks from Chad and tossed them to Mat. He nearly didn’t react in time before snatching them out of the air. “I promise not to be too hard on you.”
Mat studied her for several moments before he said softly, “As you wish,” quoting a line from the movie The Princess Bride.
Heather’s head jerked to look at him. His face didn’t give anything away, any more than the blush he’d had since she mentioned wrestling. She took the other pair of practice sticks from Lisa. “You know,” she said, “It’s not inconceivable that I’m better than you at this.” She flicked out the stick in her left hand and he deftly blocked it. “You are good, but I must confess, I am not left-handed,” she said using a line from the movie, and the practice stick in her right hand snaked out at him.
His face split in a wide grin as he blocked the stick. She’d gotten his reference and wasn’t backing away. “As you wish,” he said again. “But I am not left-handed either.” Again, he blocked her thrust. They circled smiling broadly at each other before Heather attacked him.
They flowed from one move into another smoothly, appearing to be in a well-choreographed dance.
“Mom, what were they talking about? I didn’t understand any of that,” Chad said.
Lisa laughed at him. “They were quoting a movie. I wish you could see it; I loved watching that one with Heather. Oh well, come on kids. Let’s all go up and see if your dad needs any help with the garden. It’s hard for him to carry water after all. Grab your stuff Chad.”
After he picked up his jacket and belt and she grabbed her coat, she wrapped an arm around him leading him to the door while keeping the twins in front of her. Chad turned at the door to shoot one more questioning look at Aunt Heather and Mat. Despite their efforts, they both had huge smiles on their faces.
The twins were met at the door by Perro-Feo and the three of them ran ahead, mud and water shooting up from the girl’s feet with each step. “It’s going to be fun getting those clothes clean,” Lisa quipped.
#
The air was still unseasonably cool for early May, but warm enough Chad and Lisa carried their coats over their shoulders for the walk back to the house. Chad decided he needed to dig out a lighter jacket out for the walk to check the road. If they were still going to do it he amended. Thinking of Mat and Aunt Heather made him grin, even if he didn’t understand everything that’d happened. Combined with the goofiness the evening before, he thought he understood a lot of it.
The door to the house slid open revealing the giggling twins. They loved to go in through the dog door and “surprise” their mom and Chad.
“Thank you girls,” Lisa said.
“Hey Dad, do you need help carrying water or anything? Chad asked.
“Nothing needs water right now, but a few of the plants need to be tied to the supports,” Dan said. “I’d welcome your help.” He awkwardly moved in his two-cane means of travel to the bed with tomato plants growing high above the box. Chad grimaced as he did every time he saw his dad move and went to the bed to help.
“Dad, Dad, we beat Chad up,” Alison said, running past Chad to their dad.
“What?” Dan asked.
“It was two against one Dad and they ambushed me,” Chad said. “Next time though, they won’t catch me by surprise.” If he stopped them from getting him from behind, he was sure he could take them with his longer sticks. Next time.
The twins excitedly described the sparring session to their dad, with a few points of clarification thrown in by Lisa.
Dan shook his head in wonder. “That’s amazing girls. It sounds like it would’ve been something to see,” he said.
“Now girls, would you pollinate the zucchini blossoms, please?” he asked.
“Okay dad,” they chimed. Without bees, the pollen wouldn’t get from the male blossoms to the female blossoms. The first time they did it, Chad provided small paint brushes from Mat’s supplies to carry the pollen from blossom to blossom, and Dan had to explain to his helpers why it needed to be done. He’d sputtered his way through the awkward conversation with them as he demonstrated and pointed out the two different types of flowers on the plants. They wouldn’t accept his “that’s just the way it works” explanation; they wanted to know why it was needed. Saying one plant was like the mommy and the other like the daddy didn’t help. They still weren’t satisfied. Flustered, he’d sent them to ask their mother.
Chad kept one eye on his dad while they worked, watching how he moved. If they could come up with a crutch, it might allow him to move with one hand free. A better splint would help too. How hard would it be to make them?
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Post by bretf on Aug 8, 2022 12:52:21 GMT -6
Chapter 27
Chad smirked as he watched the strange, changing expressions on Mat’s face when he and Aunt Heather walked from the shed to the house. He looked happy one moment, stunned the next, and then something else altogether. After a lingering look which Heather returned, he had the happy smile again. Heather saw Chad watching and grinned at him, and he grinned back.
Mat and Heather’s hands were full, one carrying two shovels, the other a shovel and pry bar. They leaned the tools against the wall and went inside the house. At seeing Chad, Mat wiped the smile from his face, and said, “Grab your rifle. We’re going to go down the hill. Brooke,” he said, looking right at Alison, “Alison,” he said looking at Brooke, “Do you two want to walk down the hill with us?”
The girls giggled and whispered together like they did each time Mat called them the wrong name. They hadn’t caught on to his joke as everyone else had. Once he’d figured out how to tell them apart, he purposely called each the wrong name. He wondered if it even mattered since they were so much alike in thought and actions. Enough so, it unnerved him at times. They defined the term “two peas in a pod”, in his mind.
“We want to go,” they said in unison.
“Okay, get your jackets and weapons,” he said.
“What weapons?”
“Your fighting sticks; the real ones, not the padded ones. They’re the only weapons you’re trained on so far. From now on, if you go away from the house and shed area, I want you to carry them with you. Like Chad, Aunt Heather, and I always have our pistols. You never know when you might need them,” Mat said.
“Is it necessary?” Dan asked. “If they’re not going alo—”
Mat’s happy mood evaporated in an instant at Dan’s question and he didn’t allow Dan to finish. “When I found you guys on the road, they were helpless and moments from being victims. Hell, you all were for that matter except for Chad. I’m trying to make it so they have a fighting chance the next time they run into trouble. And mark my words, they will run into trouble, sooner or later. The lessons have got to be instilled in them when that trouble hits,” Mat said tersely.
As much as he was able, he still avoided interaction with Dan and didn’t appreciate being questioned on something so important. Couldn’t Dan see their lives may well depend on it? Considering the conversation complete, he went back outside to wait for everyone. His hard look melted when Heather stepped out of the house with her rifle. She wasn’t smiling.
“He’s a good man and he means well,” Heather said. “So good in fact, it’s tough on him to admit how depraved people can be.”
“Well, he better wake up soon,” Mat snapped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be sharp with you, but, well, he needs to wake up. Enough has happened to him, he should be able to see it.”
“Oh, he sees it, but he doesn’t like to accept it. Back at his house, he didn’t hesitate to act after those bikers trashed the place. But you’re talking about his innocent daughters. He wants to protect them himself and shelter them from all the depravity in the world. It’s tough for him. Besides, he’d rather see the good in people than the bad,” Heather said. “And speaking of bad, if those kids don’t get out here soon, I might have to drag you back to the shed.”
Mat flushed at her comment and he forgot his irritation with Dan.
Once the twins and Chad joined them, Mat said, “We haven’t patrolled down to the road for a few days, and someone might’ve shown up in that time. We’re going to separate and go down in three different places. We’ll meet at the bottom if everything is safe. Girls, you’ll go with your Aunt Heather on the main trail, and you’ll have to help her carry the tools, along with your weapons. But you won’t walk in a group; you’ll have a big space between each of you. Do you know why?”
The girls shook their heads they didn’t. Mat thought for a comparison they could relate to and recalled something he’d heard the day they were working on the garden beds. “Did you ever throw snowballs at Chad and your parents?”
The sly grins gave the answer before their words did. “Mostly at Chad, but sometimes at Mom and Dad,” Brooke said.
“Okay, so was it easier to hit one of them if they were standing close together, or if Chad was standing alone? Maybe when he was with your mom and dad, you might miss him and hit one of them?” Mat asked.
The grins grew wider. “I hit Mom once when I tried to hit Chad,” Alison said.
“The snow went down her neck,” Brooke added, laughing.
“Right, that’s what I’m talking about,” Mat said. “That’s why you’ll have big spaces between each of you while we walk. That way, if any bad men are hiding and try something, it’ll be harder for them to hurt you guys, okay?” They nodded their heads up and down, so Mat continued.
Pointing to their left, he said, “Chad, you’ll take Perro-Feo and go down the game trail on that ridge.” To Heather and the girls, but also for Chad’s benefit, he said, “From that trail, he’ll have several viewpoints to see down each side. He’ll go very slow and take a lot of time watching before he exposes himself. Perro will scout ahead of him, so between her nose and his eyes, they should be able to figure out if anything is amiss.”
He pointed to the right. “And I’ll take the game trail on that ridge. Heather, you and the girls stay behind the brush screen where our trail hits the road and Chad and I’ll join you there. Everybody got it?”
Heads nodded all around, so Mat helped the girls get a solid grip on their sticks in one hand and a shovel in the other. Heather was stuck with the last shovel and pry bar. “Chad and I can help with the tools on the way back up the hill, but we should keep our hands free for our rifles on the way down.”
After a look at all their faces and seeing no questions, he led off to the pine grove. At the crossing trail, he pointed at Chad and the direction he would go although Chad and he had been on the trail previously and pointed to himself and the direction he would go on the trail. He gave a lingering look at Heather and they flashed smiles to each other before he set off through the trees.
Mat stopped in the concealment of a clump of brush and studied the hillside ahead of him. Everything faded and he was filled with Heather; he saw her face, felt the conflicting sensations from her hands, rough, yet oh so soft and gentle, smelled the mix of sweat and soap on her skin. And he felt the heat and softness of her lips on his, remembered the feel of her in his arms. Had all that happened, for real? Man, but he could be lost in those feelings forever.
He also recalled her stern look and admonishment. Those had certainly been real.
He was lost in his thoughts when a sound nearby startled him and he jumped before he calmed himself and located the source. Water running in the cut near him had undermined a rock, making it tumble a short distance before it landed in a stable position. Mat shook his head and cussed himself. It wouldn’t do to be distracted like he was.
He’d sent Chad and the dog on the other ridge thinking it was less likely to have a threat. Maybe they should be taking the route he’d chosen for himself if he couldn’t keep his mind on task. While mentally berating himself, his thoughts drifted back to Heather. It was going to be very hard to concentrate.
#
Chad went slow, paying close attention to the dog, and utilizing all his senses as Mat had taught him. Occasionally his mind drifted, but at a glimpse of his aunt and sisters small in the distance, he focused harder. Slowly scanning the area ahead of them, his attention lapsed and he recalled the smiles he’d caught Aunt Heather and Mat flash at each other. He considered the strange sparring session in the shed. I could be wrong, but I think Mat has a girlfriend for real, he told himself. He couldn’t contain his grin.
Chad continued to work his way down the ridge, with long stops to study the surrounding area. It was the first time Mat had sent him alone, well, alone with Perro-Feo at least, and he told himself he wasn’t going to mess up. The only movement he saw was from his sisters and aunt. Once, he thought he caught a glimpse of Mat but wasn’t certain. Whatever it was, was gone in a flash. But nothing else moved; not an animal, a bird . . . nothing.
The lack of wildlife was disappointing. It’d always been the highlight of hikes before the nukes, seeing a variety of birds and animals. He hoped some would make it through the fallout alive and enough would survive to reproduce and restore their respective species. His disappointment was mixed with gratitude, as he also failed to see threats on the way to the meeting place.
Chad watched closely as Mat approached the brush screen. Perro-Feo made it obvious he was coming, so Chad took a few steps away so he could observe Mat and Aunt Heather at the same time. Mat slipped through the brush, acknowledged Chad with a nod and looked quickly away from him, his eyes searching. His gaze stopped on Heather. Chad watched and grinned. Mat and Aunt Heather stared at each other, their looks of concern turning into happy smiles, their eyes dancing at the sight of the other. Yep, ol’ Mat has gotten himself a girlfriend for real, Chad thought.
He cleared his throat, and said quietly, “Nothing looked out of place my direction.”
Mat jerked his gaze away from Heather. “Uh, yeah, good. I didn’t see anything either. What does our road look like? Do we need to work on it?”
“The runoff is cutting into it in two places. Otherwise, we just need to add a few rocks at the end of a couple of the water bars.”
“Alright, let’s get to work,” Mat said. “Here, I’ll carry the pry bar.” He reached to take it from Heather and their gloved hands made contact, lingering contact Chad noticed before Heather released her hold.
At the first place the water had cut a gouge down the trail, Mat told the girls, “Although we didn’t see anyone or anything wrong, someone could still be hiding and watching, and we’re going to be exposed. We need you two to keep a good lookout while we work, can you do that?”
Chad thought to himself, It’s obvious you and Aunt Heather won’t see anything coming. You can’t quit looking at each other. He looked around the hillside, grinning.
“We can do it, can’t we Brooke,” Alison said.
Chad, Mat, and Heather all went to work with their shovels, digging a small trench and piling the dirt and mud behind it, making a hump in the road which sent the runoff over the edge of the trail. Mat used the pry bar to work a large rock out of the bank and placed it where the water flowed out the end of the new water bar.
“You know,” Chad said, “It would’ve been nice to get the roof on the mudroom yesterday before all the rain came. It’s too bad you two got sidetracked while I cleaned the pistol.” He kept his head bent, but not enough to prevent him from seeing their faces. His comment brought a blush from Mat and a broad smile from Aunt Heather. Yep, I thought so, he said to himself.
#
The muddy girls and Perro-Feo ran ahead on the way back to the house. Lisa stopped them inside the door and made the girls strip, and sent them to the warm bathwater she had waiting. She couldn’t do much about the dog; regrettably, she would just go get muddy again. Before following the twins, she gave Dan’s hand a reassuring squeeze and said, “You can do this, Hon.”
Dan hobbled to the door and waited. He lurched his way outside when Chad, Mat, and Heather got close. “Mat, I’d like to say something, please. I know I may have said something about what you’re doing with the kids that came out wrong. I’m sorry about that.
“Even with one bad leg and these blotches everywhere, I’ve had a hard time accepting everything. Plus, the whole situation has made me question my self-worth and it’s quite humbling. Now I need to reassess everything I thought I knew. But it looks to me like I’m pretty much worthless to the family. So anyway, you were right. We’d all be dead if not for you. So I want to thank you again for putting us up and thank you for everything you’re teaching the kids. I know it’s invaluable knowledge, knowledge I don’t have, and it’ll give them a better chance at survival than anything I could ever teach them. So, thank you, Mat.”
Being so near Dan and listening to his apology after trying to avoid contact with him brought the conflicting memories screaming into Mat’s mind. Abuelo, so bitter, even on his deathbed ranting. Kill him, Mateo, promise me, you will find him and kill him. His mother, so young and lovely, telling him a different story. He is a good man Mateo. You need to find him and meet him; get to know your father. And he remembered Heather’s admonishment.
Mat looked at Dan, anguish evident on his pockmarked face. He stood with his two sticks, bent, broken, and humbled. His mother’s voice came to him clearer and more forceful than Abuelo’s. “You’re wrong Dan,” Mat said. “You have as much to teach them as I do. I told Chad to survive in this world he should be a builder and a warrior. I can only cover part of that. Your influence and teaching is the reason we have the garden, not mine. I would have never come up with something like that. You’re the one making it flourish. That mudroom we’re trying to build, we can’t do it without your knowledge and guidance. It would fall down in the first storm if I built it on my own. You have a lot to teach all of us; it’s just different than what I have to teach.”
Mat stared at Dan. He appeared to stand a little taller, not as hunched over his sticks as he had been. Abuelo’s bitter ranting faded in his head.
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Post by bretf on Aug 10, 2022 4:29:42 GMT -6
Chapter 28
“Tomorrow we need to do a big loop when we go, further out than usual. We haven’t seen anything close to the house so I want to be sure no one’s holed up past where we usually patrol. For part of it, you’re going to lead and show me if you’ve learned what I’ve been teaching you,” Mat told Chad.
The two of them, along with Heather on occasion, had spent a fair amount of time scouting the area around the home in the past month. Mat used each trip as a teaching opportunity. From his lead position, it appeared Chad had a good grasp on everything he’d been telling and showing him and it was time to see from the back side. Also, Lisa wanted Chad kept away longer than usual. She’d planned a surprise for him when they got back.
“Sounds good,” Chad said. “I hope you’ll be able to keep up.” He waited for a reaction but continued when none came. “Is it just us or is Aunt Heather going along, too?”
Mat answered as if he hadn’t heard the keeping up comment. “No, it’ll just be you and me. She’s going to stay and keep an eye on things,” he said.
“You two have been pretty chummy lately. Are you sure you can handle being away from her for a long walkabout? I won’t look behind me at some point and find you’ve run back to the house will I?” Chad asked with a wide grin.
Mat gave him a flat stare. “You’ve sure got a smart mouth lately. So you caught us making out, do you have a problem with it? If you do, you better be careful tomorrow. You might have an accident out in the wild and have a hard time getting back to the house.”
“Uh oh, it sounds like I struck a nerve,” Chad said. “Actually, I think it’s cool, you and her.”
“Whatever. But we’ve had enough of a break. That opening’s not going to get done if all you exercise is your mouth,” Mat said. He capped his water bottle and went back into the new mudroom.
From the outside, the new addition looked complete, including a double coat of off-white paint and a roof to keep the rain and snow out. The inside was a different matter, however. Exposed studs made up the walls, and the floor was dirt. It turned out constructing the shell was the easy part. The real work was making an opening through the concrete wall of the house to mount a door.
Mat didn’t own power tools to cut the concrete, let alone have the power source for them. All he had was a hand-held drill he’d picked up on a whim at a flea market. The drill was held in one hand and struck with a sledgehammer in the other. It was a slow and tedious process.
Lines had been drawn on the wall, marking the area they needed to remove for the doorway. Chad and Mat used the drill to bore holes through the wall every couple of inches next to the line. Light shot through the holes they’d done in a straight line running vertically from the floor, across the top, and part way down the other side.
The other adults also took turns with the drill, but Chad and Mat spent the most time on the project. Still, every swing of the hammer someone else took was a welcome relief to them. Chad used a two-pound sledge, Mat a three pound. They took turns drilling; swing the hammer and hit the drill, give it a slight twist, and repeat, until their weary shoulders refused to raise the hammer again.
Mat took his ear muffs and safety glasses from the shelf they’d hung and put them on. He pulled his gloves on and picked up his sledge with a groan. “I’ll be glad to take a break from this tomorrow. It’s sure taking longer than I thought it would. And what I wouldn’t give to be ambidextrous so both shoulders could ache,” he said and swung the hammer.
Chad watched Mat pound away and ran calculations in his head. Barring no setbacks, at the rate they’d been going they’d need two more full days of making holes before they could start knocking the concrete out of the opening. Two more dreadful, torturous days of nothing but pounding away at the drill and that was if everything went right. And more pounding would follow that, but at least it wouldn’t be aimed at the drill. And when the concrete was out, they’d have to cut the rebar rods going through the space. Hopefully, Mat had enough hacksaw blades for the job.
Looking at what still needed to be done after all the time they’d already spent on the project was depressing. It’d be so nice to have proper power tools, so recently available at most rental shops. Maybe the mudroom hadn’t been such a good idea after all. All too soon, Mat stepped back from the wall and held the drill out to him.
#
Chad sat up on his bed soon after the sky filled with its muted light. It was a major drawback of sleeping on the couch; the wide glass wall didn’t stop the early light. It was fine, though. He and Mat had a long walk ahead of them, and they liked early starts. Mat said it was the best time of day for a stroll. Like he knew how to stroll.
Thinking of the coming hike made Chad nearly appreciate the cloud cover and the cooler temperatures it provided. He couldn’t welcome the impact of the clouds, but in certain instances, he didn’t mind it near as much. Long hikes and “strolls” with Mat were such a time.
The idea of taking one of Mat’s hikes in a normal summer wasn’t something he wanted to consider. At times, Mat made them quite difficult. It was one thing to joke with him about keeping up, but at times, Chad thought the man was part mountain goat. The steep hills only slowed him a little, and he liked to sprinkle sprints, quick dashes, and mile eating jogs in occasionally. If the planned hike was longer than normal, Chad was glad he’d be out in front for at least part of it and setting the pace.
It was too bad Aunt Heather wasn’t going along. Though still not what Chad would call a stroll, Mat took it easier when she joined them. Chad thought it was because of the diets they each were on. Although the garden beds were producing, his aunt and parents still didn’t eat enough. They appeared to get thinner and thinner.
He considered Aunt Heather not going along. She won’t be setting a trap for me somewhere, will she? Well, better her than more hillbillies. Mat liked to sprinkle in the element of surprise on occasion.
“Okay, enough sitting around, better get dressed before he comes out,” Chad said to the empty room. Standing, he stretched, wincing when his right arm straightened out away from his body. He winced several more times when he swung his arms in circles to work out the stiffness and scowled at the concrete wall. When the stiffness diminished a measurable amount, he quit wind-milling his arms and dressed. Pulling his boots on, his toes pushed against the ends. They’d been doing so for the past week, but he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. It wasn’t like they were able to go buy a pair to replace them.
He pulled a too-large, long-sleeved camouflage shirt on over his tee-shirt. Mat had given him the shirt and a boonie hat that was also too large to wear when they scouted the area. Mat was concerned Chad’s blue jeans would stick out, but all his pants were too big and baggy. So he wore a pair of jeans blotched with stains, although still mostly blue. His belt went on last, holding the holstered pistol and the pouches containing the spare magazines for both his guns.
Mat walked quietly from his bedroom and nodded at Chad. “Glad you’re up. Are you ready?”
“Almost,” Chad said. He took his water bottle to the sink and filled it, took a long drink, refilled it, and put it in his pack. Lifting the pack, he gave it a shake, checking for any noise that might announce him. Hearing nothing, he said, “I’m good. Let’s go.”
They picked up their rifles and slipped outside.
Still unhappy to be eating more than the rest of the family, on days they patrolled they slipped out of the house before Lisa could make them breakfast. They received a tongue lashing when they returned, but they were none the worse for skipping a meal. After a fast walk to the pine grove, they stopped out of sight of the house. Perro-Feo rustled through the brush and walked up to them, her tail wagging fiercely, making her whole body wriggle.
“Okay, what now?” Chad asked, absently scratching the dog’s ears.
“We’ll take the hillside trail down-country. We’ll go a half mile or so past where you guys were ambushed and decide where to go from there. Lead off,” Mat said.
Chad went slow, his head swiveling from one direction to the other. Despite his jest about keeping up the day before, he moved with the utmost care. Approaching the ridge he couldn’t see beyond, he put his left hand out behind him in a gesture for Mat to stop. Checking to make sure Mat did stop, he’d seen Mat check on him enough times, he pointed to himself, to his eyes, and at the ridge. He approached the ridge in a crouch, working his way behind a clump of brush where he stopped and studied the area ahead of him.
Mat nodded his head as he watched. The dog was unconcerned as she watched Chad, waiting with her master for the signal to proceed.
After several minutes studying the area ahead of him, Chad motioned Mat to proceed and moved slowly down the trail. Mat went to the spot Chad had looked from and did his own study of the area. When nothing caught his eye, he continued following Chad from a distance.
They continued in that method of travel until they reached the furthest ridge Chad had been to. When he signaled Mat to proceed, he held his position, allowing his brother to join him. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do from here, so rather than mess up, I thought it’d be better to discuss it with you,” he said softly.
“That’s fine,” Mat said. “You did everything right leading. Good job, but I’ll take the lead from here. Nothing against you, but I have the experience factor.
“So I’m thinking we go past that ridge,” he said, and pointed at the next ridge in their path, “And look for a trail down. We’ll cross the road and the creek, and go up the hill until we find a trail that’ll parallel the road. The cattle and wild game have a number of trails at different levels going up and down-country. If nothing makes us change course, we’ll work our way back up and cross back to this side around a mile above the house, then make our way back home. Does that sound good to you?” Mat asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Chad said. “Will Perro-Feo be with you or me?”
“I’ll let her go in front. Her nose is the best alert system we have,” Mat said.
He’d opened his pack while he talked, and took out a piece of dried meat for each of them. It was a concession they’d made to Lisa to eat something. They silently chewed and studied the area ahead of them and what they could see of the hillsides across the creek. After swallowing the last bite, Mat took a long drink of water, put the bottle away and stood, shouldering his pack. “Shall we go?”
“After you,” Chad said and mimicked Mat’s actions. When Mat was far enough ahead of him, he moved out, maintaining the wide distance between them.
Near the road, Mat waited behind the cover of a large pine tree for Chad to join him. “Watch from here and be ready for anything. I’ll be exposed on the road and the average goon will watch it more than he would those hillsides we’ve been on,” Mat said quietly into Chad’s ear.
Chad stepped beside the tree. He put his left arm against it for stability, his hand holding the foregrip of his rifle. After a glance at the dog to see if she detected anything, he nodded to Mat that he was ready and looked away for possible threats.
He was still intently watching the area when Mat signaled him to follow. Crouching, he crossed the road and joined Mat behind a tangle of brush.
“What do you think? Has anyone been on the road since the last rain?” Mat asked.
“Well . . . uh, I don’t know. I just hurried across. I figured you’d checked it out good,” Chad said.
“So I noticed,” Mat said dryly. “I’m not perfect, Chad. I could’ve missed something you might’ve seen if you’d only looked. Remember, two sets of eyes are better than one. Don’t rely on me or anyone else. Make certain for yourself, all right.”
“Okay,” Chad said, chagrined. “Should I go back?”
“No, it’s good. But next time . . .” Mat left the rest unsaid, but delivered it with a stern look. “Now, keep watch again. I’m going to try to get across the creek without getting my feet wet. I’ll whistle when I’m ready for you to come.”
Mat faded into the brush lining the watercourse, any noises he made covered up by the running water. Chad was glad to be out from under his scathing stare. His face burned from his mess up and he vowed to do better.
At Mat’s signal, Chad crossed the creek and followed, maintaining the space between them. They worked their way up the hillside until they struck a stock trail running the direction they wanted to go and took it, moving back up the valley. At the first ridgeline he came to, Mat motioned for Chad to join him. “Let’s watch both sides for a while. It gives us a different vantage point on the lower country, and I want to make sure no one’s following us,” Mat said. They were fairly well concealed in a jumble of rock and brush a few feet off the trail.
“Sorry about back on the road,” Chad said.
“We all make mistakes. It’s up to you to learn from it and not repeat it,” Mat said. His voice changed, full of wonder and he said, “Wow, would you look at that!” From their new angle, the valley below was visible, including scattered ranches and the cluster of buildings that made up Indian Valley. Mat handed his binoculars to Chad. “Look to the north side of the barn at that ranch,” he said.
Chad took the binoculars and looked where Mat indicated. Three people on horseback were riding out of the barnyard. “What do you make of that?” Mat asked.
“Well, I’m not sure. But at our house, the destruction was obvious, and well, Aunt Heather’s house was burned to the ground. That place looks in good shape. And those guys aren’t in a hurry. I think it’s the people who live there or somewhere close, and things are all right,” Chad said. After a little more thought, he added, “Well, as all right as things can be.”
“That’s my guess too,” Mat said. “Now you watch the other direction and I’ll keep an eye out this way.” He dug out the dried meat and gave a piece to Chad, and gnawed on his own. Mat raised the binoculars and watched the riders.
Before Chad turned to watch his side of the ridge, he also took another long look at the riders. People were alive and well! His mind drifted back to Hamilton and the evening he and his family had arrived. A girl’s lovely face filled his mind. With so many problems facing them, he hadn’t thought of her since they’d left the town. But as he watched the riders he remembered her and made a silent prayer she’d fared well, and maybe, he’d get a chance to see her again. Too soon Mat said it was time to move on.
Chad guessed they’d gone a half mile when Mat stopped again. Waving him up, Mat crouched down, keeping his silhouette low as possible.
“What?” Chad whispered.
Mat pointed, not saying a word.
Chad looked in the direction Mat pointed until he saw it. A doe was working along the hillside, nipping the tender shoots on the ends of bushes as she went. Chad watched a while, not wanting to disturb her before he whispered in Mat’s ear. “She looks pretty ratty, but man, what a beautiful sight.”
Mat nodded and turned so he could speak as quietly in Chad’s ear. “It took me a bit to realize what she was. I can’t get those riders out of my mind, and I thought she was a horse before my brain clicked in.
“And yeah, she is rough looking, but she’s alive! She’s survived the radiation to this point, so maybe she can make it through. Remember what you said about half-lives? I think anything that’s been exposed to all the fallout and made it this far, well, they’re sure to be weak, but I can’t help but think they have a chance to make it. They have to make it!” Mat spoke louder than he intended and more forceful. The doe was far enough away she didn’t hear him.
“Just think Chad, that’s one; the first thing we’ve seen alive in months. She might be scroungy and rough, but she’s alive. There’s got to be others. Those damned nukes didn’t destroy all life!”
Mat’s passion rose and Chad shushed him. He didn’t want to frighten the deer. “You’re right; if she made it, others had to,” he said very quietly and calmly. All the while, he wanted to jump up and cheer and give Mat high fives and chest bumps and whatever else those football players had done after doing something that seemed so meaningless.
The two sat on the side of the hill ignoring the chill from remaining motionless for so long and watched the deer. Someone could’ve been following their trail and come upon them without notice, they were so transfixed by the sight. Perro-Feo caught their mood and sat in rapt attention, her ears cocked up, and the three of them watched the deer browse along the hill and cross the upper ridge out of sight.
The animal had been out of sight for at least ten minutes before Mat stood up. “I guess we’ve stayed here long enough,” he said, leading off.
They went steadily up the valley, not stopping until Mat stumbled drunkenly when a rock he’d stepped on began to slide. Forgetting silence, he unleashed an upbraiding on himself for sleepwalking.
Chad hurried to join him, concerned with him being so out of character. He shot Mat a questioning look.
“Sorry Chad, I just can’t focus. I keep thinking about those riders and the deer, and then I stumbled onto that rock and well, I don’t know what to say,” Mat said. He looked at his feet and swore as he gave the piece of shale a nudge with his boot.
Chad followed his gaze and watched the rock, the flat rock, as Mat pushed it away. Mat continued speaking while Chad stared at the rock and the others like it on the hillside.
“Anything could come up on us and I’d let it happen. We’d be better off if you take the lead.”
Chad didn’t acknowledge Mat’s statement but continued to study the rocks littering the slope. They were pieces of a puzzle.
“Chad, are you paying attention?” Mat demanded.
“Not totally,” Chad admitted. “But you want me to lead. That’s okay, I can, but we need to change course. We’ll look for the first trail leading down and take it. And we have to figure out the landmarks to get back here.” He took his pack off and set it beside a slab of shale. Mat watched while Chad got the rock inside his pack and picked up a second piece to join it.
Chad stopped what he was doing and grinned at the confused look on Mat’s face. “Let me guess, you’re wondering why I’m putting rocks in my pack, aren’t you,” Chad said.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Oh c’mon Mat. Forget the deer and those riders for a little bit, and think about the house and the mudroom,” Chad said. “You know the project we’ve been working on for what feels like forever. And what we still need to do after we get the door done.”
Mat watched Chad stuff the flat rock in his pack while he thought. “The floor,” he said. “Of course, you want to use these rocks to make the floor.”
“Wow, you guessed it, and I didn’t even have to give you more clues,” Chad said. “So quit standing around and fill your pack.”
The floor of the new mudroom had been a subject of discussion that’d never been resolved. They were hesitant to use Mat’s lumber for the floor, lumber they wouldn’t be able to replace. Concrete was out of the question, and when the idea of a stone floor came up, it was thought to be a good idea if only the right stone could be found. The drawback was all the outcroppings of rock near the house were rough lumps. Chad always watched for appropriate stone when they were out, but any he’d looked over thus far were far from ideal. They’d been resigned to having a packed earth floor with a wood rack for the main pathway.
Mat took off his pack and looked for the largest rocks it could fit. “Okay, so I’m not real attentive. But Chad, we saw a deer. We saw something approaching normal down around Indian Valley. Life is still hanging on despite everything that happened. I haven’t mentioned it, but I’ve been concerned Indian Valley and Hamilton were taken out by a bunch of goons. So you’ll have to excuse me,” he said. Solemnly, he added, “I saw villages in Afghanistan where the Taliban decided they needed to set an example of what happened when the locals talked to the infidels. I’ve pictured the same crap happening here.”
A lump formed in Chad’s throat. He couldn’t respond if he wanted to as the face of the girl from Hamilton flashed into his mind again.
Mat fit two slabs of shale into his pack. “You know, I’ve got a bigger pack I can use when we come back. But however you look at it, we’ve got a lot of work to do to get enough of this hauled home for a floor.”
Shaken from his grim thoughts, Chad said, “More work, oh boy. And I was afraid we’d run out of hard work after we finish cutting through that wall. And getting the firewood in. And turning everything under in the garden, and reseeding it. And finishing the mudroom, and –”
“Shut up and lead,” Mat said, shouldering his pack. He rarely wore a watch but he had one on that he checked with his back to Chad. “You’re making me tired just telling me all we need to get done. But I think we’ve scouted around enough, so find the most direct route back to the house.”
#
“Chad, we’re glad you got back,” the girls chorused as they ran up to meet him and Mat. Perro-Feo was with them. She’d run ahead some distance from the house to check on her girls.
“I’m glad to be back too, this pack is heavy,” Chad said.
“Hurry Chad, you need to come in the house,” Brooke said.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong, but we have a surprise for you,” Brooke said.
“Don’t tell him,” Alison scolded.
“Oops,” Brooke said.
“I need to set my pack down. It’s full of rocks,” Chad said.
“Rocks? Why are you carrying rocks?”
Chad leaned his rifle against the wall of the mudroom, shrugged out of his pack, and set it on the ground. He pulled the two flat stones out and placed them next to each other beside the wall. “For the floor. What do you think of using these for the floor in the new room?” he asked.
The girls looked skeptical. Those won’t make much of a floor,” Alison said.
“One’s taller than the other, and they don’t fit together,” Brooke added. “They might make stepping stones but not a floor.”
Mat chuckled at the less than enthusiastic reaction and went to the door, opened it, and stuck his head inside. “Are you ready, or should I get him away for a bit more?” he asked quietly.
“You timed it pretty much right. We’re ready; we were watching for Perro-Feo to come back, and we finished up once we saw her. Go ahead and bring him in anytime,” Heather said.
He closed the door and went to where Chad was still pleading his case to his sisters. After setting his rocks along with Chad’s he said, “Why don’t we all go in the house?”
“Yeah, come on Chad,” Alison said, and she and Brooke each took one of his hands and dragged him to the door.
Mat chuckled at them, and picked up Chad’s rifle and followed.
Chad let the girls lead him into the house and was greeted by the most incredible array of odors he could remember. Delightful cooking aromas filled the air. Something smelled like pie, and before he could figure out anything else, the girls propelled him past the garden beds. His parents and Aunt Heather stood near the loaded table.
“Happy Birthday Chad,” they said together.
“What . . . birthday . . .” Chad stammered.
“Yes Honey, today is July 3rd, Happy Birthday!” his mom said with a beaming smile.
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Post by bretf on Aug 10, 2022 4:32:17 GMT -6
Chapter 29
Chad stood where he was, stunned. He had no idea it was his birthday. With everything going on it wasn’t as important as it had been in the past. It didn’t feel like a big deal at all. He recalled other birthdays when his dad told him they were celebrating two birthdays in one; his and the nation’s, albeit a day early. Happy Birthday, America, he said to himself. After That Day, he didn’t think July 4th would be a big deal either.
“Now if you and Mat would wash up and go to the table, we’ve made a nice meal to celebrate,” his mom said.
The family settled around the table, covered with much more food than normal. Plates held sliced tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Another plate was heaped with battered, fried zucchini slices. Chad’s mouth watered at the sight. Steamed zucchini had been too repetitive and the bland flavor was tiresome. Maybe it was a big deal after all because it looked like his parents and Aunt Heather would all eat well for once.
A pot held green beans, and when Chad looked closer, he saw it also contained bits of bacon the way he liked them. His mom had been very stingy opening the jars of bacon, and he felt a lump in his throat at seeing she’d used some for his birthday. He looked at the spread on the table, more touched than by any previous birthday celebration and willed himself to hold back so his parents and Aunt Heather could eat their fill; it was a feast for everyone.
His mom passed a dish to him and he smiled again. It appeared she’d reconstituted some of the beef Jerry had sent them off with and cooked it in gravy. It was another simple, but favorite menu item for him. He took a small spoonful, happy to see so much in the bowl.
After his dad asked the blessing on the meal, Chad said, “Thanks Mom and Dad and Aunt Heather for doing this. It means a lot.”
His mom smiled at him and said, “You deserve it, Honey. You’ve done so much, and well, this is all the birthday present we could give you this year.”
Chad looked at the plates filled with more food than he’d seen his parents and aunt eat for a long time; that was a gift. Not as much a gift as having his family alive and relatively safe and healthy, though.
“Mom . . . when . . . when Dad got the smallpox . . . and you . . . did too, I, uh, I . . . was afraid . . . you both were going to die. Especially . . . after . . . Matt. I . . . read enough stuff online . . . that I knew few people survived and . . .” he pulled the handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his eyes. “I have a family. A brother. I don’t need any other presents.” He lowered his head and wiped his eyes again and sniffed loudly.
It was silent around the table for a long minute. Alison looked at Brooke and broke the silence and said, “Well I’m going to eat.” She emphasized the statement with a fork loaded with zucchini.
Shaken from their thoughts, everyone dug in with gusto, showing their appreciation to the effort to prepare the meal. As they ate, Mat looked around the table with a grin. Heather noticed and said, “Mat, you look like the cat that ate the canary. What’s up?” she asked.
“Just remembering our walk,” he said. “We had a great scout, and saw some very encouraging things.” He took a bite and chewed slowly.
“Yeah, so what’d you see? Swallow already,” Heather said.
He grinned again at the response. “Well, for one thing, we found a bunch of rocks.” He took another bite.
“I seem to have noticed rocks are everywhere.” Heather hadn’t seen the rocks they took out of their packs, and she’d never seen any she considered special.
Mat said, “Right, but you know, most of the rocks around here are leaverite.”
“Leavrite? What’s that?” Heather asked.
“Leave-er-right there. They aren’t good for anything to speak of. But the ones we, well Chad found are worth packing home.” He stopped talking and took another bite.
“Okay, Chad, he’s being too theatrical. Why are the rocks you found special?” Heather asked.
“They’re shale,” he said simply. At a blank look from her and a wink from Mat, he took a bite himself.
“Gee Lisa, that cleared everything up, didn’t it,” Heather said with obvious sarcasm. “Of course, they’re shale.”
Dan remained quiet, but nodded his head slightly, understanding the significance.
“It’s for the floor, Aunt Heather,” Brooke said enthusiastically. Bits of food flew with each word. She wasn’t as careful to chew and swallow before speaking as Mat and Chad were. “They’re going to make a floor in the mudroom like the floor in here.”
“Okay, thank you for telling me, Brooke.” Heather took a bite and shot an irritated look at Chad and Mat.
Mat’s fork was poised near his mouth. “That’s not all, though. We saw something else notable.” He put the forkful of green beans in his mouth and chewed slowly.
“Hopefully it was a snake, and it bit you,” Heather said.
Mat tried to chew while he chuckled. He nodded to Chad, and Chad said, “Nope, not a snake. It was a lot bigger.” He held his fork in front of his mouth, ready to take another bite and drag the story out, but couldn’t wait. “It was a deer!”
“A deer?”
“Yep. With them being outside all the time in the fallout, and every bite of food they eat contaminated, we were thinking they’d all died around here. We haven’t seen tracks of anything for quite a while, so it was neat to see her. She looked pretty ratty and didn’t have fawns with her. But she’s survived this long, so hopefully she’ll make it,” Chad said.
“Yeah, she needs to make it,” Heather agreed. “Mat, I can’t remember. Did we tell you about the survivalists that went past Jerry’s place in Reynold’s Creek?”
“I don’t believe you did.”
“Jerry told us after the bombs went off a number of people passed through his area headed for the high country. They were well armed and going to go live off the land,” Heather said.
“Lots of luck to them. They probably did all right for a while if they got a large animal or two and didn’t get too much exposure. Afterward though, if the game disappeared as it has here, it’s gotta be slim picking. If they’ve survived, hopefully, they won’t become predators and give your friends trouble,” Mat said.
Heather didn’t answer right away as she appeared to consider his statement. She sniffed and said, “Jerry thought those guys would get snowed in and starve. But if they ran out of food, who knows what they did.”
“Mat, I don’t understand,” Alison said. “Mr. Jerry and the people at Hamilton had cows. How come they were still okay, but you don’t think the other animals are?”
“I’m only guessing, but I’d imagine everyone who was able has kept their animals in barns as much as they could. You know, like Chad and Aunt Heather made you stay inside the house,” Mat said. “And consider the food and water. A lot of people would pump water from wells for their animals, and it should be mostly safe. The majority of the feed would come from covered haystacks. The radiation was sure to get into it, but it had to be less than the feed the animals eating in fields and hills got. Maybe all together, it cut down the amount of radiation those animals took in enough that they were okay. Wild animals didn’t have any of that, so they got the maximum exposure.”
“Well I think next year there’ll be more animals and birds,” Brooke stated with youthful confidence.
“Mat, on the subject of snow,” Dan said, “I’ve been wondering, do you have plans for firewood? Even though we don’t use the fire now for heat, we still go through a fair amount of wood cooking. By the way, was cooking with wood what you had planned before everything happened, I mean.”
“No, I planned on getting a gas stove and having propane tanks. Yet another thing I didn’t get done before I ran out of money. I always figured I’d have more time for a lot of stuff, but we all know hindsight is 20-20.
“As for firewood,” Mat continued, “A number of trees in the grove died,” he said. “It looks like the messed up weather is hard on them too. I hope we don’t lose more before things get back to normal. Anyway, they’re close, and we need to get them cut down and sawed up. I have a couple of cans of gas I put stabilizer in. But even doing that, it’ll go bad in a year or so. So I’d rather use it than lose it. I want to cut every dead tree that’s close, and maybe some further away if it doesn’t look like enough, so we have not only one, but quite a few years’ worth of wood cut. The cloud cover can’t last forever so the solar design of the house will do its job when it clears. But we’ll still need wood for cooking and back up heat.”
“Do you think we should put off working on the mudroom and concentrate on the wood?” Dan asked. “Since we don’t have any idea how long this semblance of summer will last, I mean. We can always work on the room regardless of the outside weather, and the wood is more critical.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking, too,” Mat said.
“Can we use enough gas to run the rototiller over the garden and turn all the plants under?” Chad asked.
Dan and Mat started to answer at the same time. Dan stopped talking and gestured to Mat to proceed. “Only after all the wood is sawed up,” Mat said. Dan nodded in agreement. “If we have to, we can always do the garden work by hand, although it’d be a lot tougher than using the tiller. But I’d rather do that than chop down a tree with an ax. Also, we don’t have a hand saw capable of cutting the trees, so firewood comes first as far as gas is concerned.”
“Can we use the pickup to move the wood?” Chad asked.
“It would beat rolling every block all the way to the shed, for sure. I think that’s a good idea and we should do it as long as it has gas in the tank,” Mat said.
There was no mention of repairing the pickup and using the remaining fuel to leave, to Hamilton or Reynolds Creek either one. The words had never been spoken, but it was understood by all Mat’s home was all their home, despite the chill he exhibited towards his father.
“I hope it has enough gas for that and one more thing,” Chad said.
“Oh, and what’s that? You remember it can’t go far without overheating don’t you?” Mat said.
“The shale rocks. If we can, I’d like to pack them down the hill and get a bunch by the road. When we have enough for the floor and a bunch of extras, we drive the pickup down, load them up, and drive them up here,” Chad said.
“We’ll have to keep it in mind, but remember, the firewood comes first,” Mat said.
“Okay. But you know, at Jerry’s ranch, we used a big manual crosscut saw. Do you think those people we saw might have one we could borrow? If we run out of gas, I mean,” Chad said.
“What? What people, who did you see?” Dan, Lisa, and Heather all asked in some form at the same time. Their words were jumbled together and hard to understand coming as they did.
“Oh yeah, we never finished telling you everything we saw on our scouting trip did we?” Mat said.
“I think you may have neglected something,” Heather said dryly.
Mat grinned at her and said, “You know we went farther down-country than usual and crossed to the other side of the creek. Once we got up on the hill, we could see quite a ways, all the way to Indian Valley itself. At a ranch yard, we saw three people ride out from the barn on horseback. They were a long ways off, even with binoculars mind you, but it seemed peaceful, and they were riding at a nice comfortable pace.”
“That’s great,” Heather said. “I know you’ve been concerned they’d all be killed or something and we’d be on an island here, all alone.”
“Yeah, but watching them, things looked peaceful, normal,” Mat said.
What had seemed like a huge amount of food when they sat down diminished until little was left to show for the efforts. Tomato juice and a few seeds were on one plate, the fluid the beans cooked in all that remained in the large bowl, and a greasy smudge the only evidence of the fried zucchini.
Lisa deposited the stack of empty plates in the sink and bent over to the floor. “Ugh,” she said, “This is heavy. Mat, would you be a dear and give me a hand with it please.”
“Sure,” he said and pushed away from the table and joined Lisa.
Chad watched and wondered what was up. Whatever it was, Mat seemed to know. He bent over and picked something up. When he cleared the end of the counter, Chad saw he was carrying a large Dutch oven. Lisa set two boards in the center of the table, and Mat leaned in and lowered it onto them, the muscles tight in his forearms.
Lisa removed the lid and the aroma of cooked apple desert flooded the room. “It’s not a cake, Honey, but we made you something that resembles apple cobbler. I hope it’ll work for you,” she told Chad.
“It smells wonderful, Mom, it’s perfect. But do you mind if we wait a while to have it? I’m full, and it’d be a great snack to have when we’re done for the day,” Chad said.
“That’s fine Honey,” Lisa said. “Okay girl’s, we’ve got a big pile of dishes to do.”
“It’s your turn to dry,” Brooke said.
“I did it last time, it’s your turn,” Alison countered.
“Oh, yeah. But there’s more this time. Can we both do it?”
When Lisa and the still-negotiating girls went to the sink, everyone else left the table. Soon, the rhythmic sound of the hammer striking the hand drill came from the wall. Dan hobbled to the sink, putting a little weight on his bad leg while leaning heavily on the crutch Chad and Mat had made for him. “I think I’ll see if I can walk to the shed. I’d like to see Mat’s chainsaw and look over his tools and the firewood storage area.” Though Dan had been moving around more since getting the crutch, he hadn’t gone as far as the shed as yet.
“Can you make it? This can wait till later and I go with you. Or maybe Chad or Mat can go along. Only one can work that drill at a time, after all,” Lisa said.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll take my time and make sure of my footing,” Dan said and started hobbling towards the door.
“Alison, go with your father,” Lisa demanded.
As he’d stated, Dan went carefully. It wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter, he had a single speed. Alison was a step behind him with Perro-Feo playfully tugging her hand. Dan turned past the corner of the shed to where he could see the side not visible from the trail and froze, wide-eyed. “Dad, why’d you stop?” Alison asked, running into him.
She looked past him and saw what had stopped him. “Aunt Heather, you’re kissing Mat!”
At the first sound from Alison, they untangled themselves from each other. “Uh Dan, uh, hi,” Heather said. “We were just, uh . . .”
Dan smiled at her, over the initial shock. “Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt your “uh”.” He turned around and said, “Come on Ali, let’s go back to the house.”
Lisa looked up from the sink as Dan emerged from between the garden beds. “That was quick. Did you decide not to go?”
“Oh we went,” he said, while Alison giggled and ran to Brooke and whispered in her ear. Dan told Lisa what he’d stumbled upon.
“Oh. They’ve been wondering how to tell you. Despite my reassurance you’d be fine with it, they were nervous how you’d take it,” Lisa said.
“You knew? How long has it been going on?” he asked.
“For a few weeks. But really Dan, you need to pay better attention. I think sparks flew the first time Mat ever looked at her.”
“A few weeks and you’ve been holding out on telling me?” Dan said.
“I wanted to tell you, but Heather made me promise not to. She said she would. She was nervous, him being your son and all, and it seemed awkward,” Lisa said.
“Humph. Well, since they’re afraid to talk to me, you can tell them they don’t need to sneak around. They’re both consenting adults,” he said and shook his head. “Who would have thought it; your sister corrupting my son, just like you corrupted me.”
“Hey,” she said and saw his grin. She flicked the dishwater off her fingers onto his grinning face.
#
As the muted light faded in the sky, everyone gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” to Chad and have a bowl of cobbler. After Lisa whispered in Heather’s ear while they prepared the bowls, Heather sat close beside Mat. He looked stiff and embarrassed and flinched when she rested her hand on his leg. “It’s fine,” she whispered in his ear, but he didn’t relax.
“This is great Mom, thanks for making it,” Chad said after swallowing a mouthful of cobbler. As far as he was concerned, the preserved apples made the desert as well as fresh ones back home.
“You’re welcome Honey, I’m glad you like it,” Lisa said. It was quiet in the room while they all savored the desert. Brooke held her bowl to her face when she was finished, using her tongue like the dog to get every little bit.
When he was finished, Chad pushed his bowl away contentedly and said, “Mat, would you tell us something about Afghanistan?” Mat appeared to get stiffer at the request if that was possible. “Please,” Chad added.
Heather gave his leg a squeeze and shot him a silent plea with her eyes.
Mat closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Well, I was confused why our forces were there for so long. I thought we rolled over the Taliban in short order, yet troops, including you, stayed for years. Were all the Afghanis militants, but hiding it?”
“No, only a few were. Most of them were like us, just trying to survive in a hostile world. When I enlisted I figured they were all alike; they were all bad like you mentioned. It was wrong thinking, but I was that dumb at the time; not to say you’re dumb for suggesting it. But we got a good dose of brainwashing after the towers went down, and unfortunately, I fell for a lot of it. So after I’d been in the country for a while, saw how the people lived, got to know some of them, well, I saw I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was like saying all Americans are alike, and we know how wrong that is.
“You see, most of those people haven’t known anything but war their entire lives. The Soviets took them first, and they were replaced by the Taliban, and then we went in. There were and are bad people like we have here, but the average villager just wanted peace and stability. That’s been a hard thing to come by in that country.
“Remember I told you I pick up on languages easy?” Mat asked, and received confirming nods from his listeners. “I learned a lot while I was there. In most of the country, they speak Dari, but in the mountain region, the people speak Pashto. Pashto is also spoken in Pakistan. I learned both fair and got to spend a lot of time talking to the people. One brilliant officer said since I could talk like the natives and my skin was darker than his, I might be able to pass for a local. He thought I could assimilate right in with the Taliban and bring them down from within. Thankfully, he didn’t last long.”
Heather laughed out loud at the absurdity she saw in the officer’s idea. Mat welcomed the interruption and sighed.
“Some of those Afghanis are the toughest men I’ve ever seen,” Mat said. “They’ve fought overwhelming odds against Russia and us, yet they kept at it regardless of the odds. Most of them only wanted their country left alone. Unfortunately for them, different factions pulled them every which way for years, for decades. That said, there were also some who were very screwed up after being brainwashed by the militant side of Islam.”
Mat’s audience listened attentively, though the girls looked confused by a lot of what he said.
“Our mission might’ve gone a lot better if Afghanistan wasn’t next door to Pakistan. The news reports were fairly accurate that we took out the Taliban in Afghanistan in short order. The problem was, the survivors ran across the border and took refuge in Pakistan.
Our government and troops had an interesting relationship with the Pakistanis. Never what I’d call rosy, it went downhill when we went in without notification and took out Osama bin Laden. But we couldn’t have told them or he’d have gotten away again before we got him. See, we were supposed to notify them of any incursions we took on their side of the border, and we had to have credible evidence, like getting a search warrant here. But it was hard to tell them we were going in because more often than not, they warned the guys we were after.
“The Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, cultivated the Taliban and protected them and al-Qaeda. They weren’t too keen on us taking out their pals. A lot of evidence showed the ISI facilitated bin Laden being in Pakistan. So while the government gave us lip service that they were doing all they could to help us, they were harboring the guys we were after.
But they were convincing enough to Congress that they were our friends, so convincing we pumped them billions of dollars; twenty-five billion the last I heard. Meanwhile, we had veterans without health care, homeless and going hungry. A lot of them were pretty messed up from their time overseas and our government just cut them loose. Crap like that doesn’t make me miss the government. The congressmen should’ve talked to our guys on the ground for a different viewpoint on our good friends in Pakistan. Not that it would’ve done any good. Those guys only heard what they wanted to hear. Nope, a lot of what they did makes it hard for me to miss them.
“Sorry, I’m going political on you. Anyway, the Commander in Chief decided we’d completed our mission and it was time for us to come home. While I appreciated the gesture, we knew we weren’t done.
“We got wind a special meeting was going to take place in Pakistan, an Al Qaeda bigwig was getting a bunch of jihadists together. One of our sources said it was Ayman al-Zawahiri; the leader of al Qaeda after bin Laden was killed. He reportedly had something big in the works. Things got quiet, too quiet, and most of the militants disappeared. We’d come to expect daily hits somewhere, but it was like they all pulled back for something.
We went into Pakistan to try to find the grand gathering without asking permission first. We didn’t want them to be warned and slip away. If we were being pulled out, we wanted to take that bunch out before we left.
“We weren’t given the chance to find their burrow, but we must’ve come close. The ISI came down hard with a lot of pressure to stop “that rogue unit” as they called us. We were under strong political pressure and some of the heavy hitters in D.C. were calling for our collective heads. Our government seemed to have a real sensitivity when it came to Muslims, despite all the terror acts they pulled off on us. They didn’t think we should be pursuing the bad guys across borders, especially so close to Ramadan. According to one buffoon in Washington, the Muslims weren’t anything like those Godless Viet Cong who’d staged the Tet offensive in ’68.
“Rumor had it the Commander in Chief herself ordered us home. I’m not sure how history will treat our leader, if scholars will ever record anything at all, but I feel I was part of one big failed mission. And I lay it all at the hands of our own government. Given the chance, could we have provided an alternate ending? We’ll never know.
“Regardless, my unit was shipped home and we were all quietly discharged. I got to come up here before I’d planned. It turned out to be good timing, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. I can’t help but think that if we’d only had a little more time in Pakistan, we might’ve stopped everything. I know in my gut we were close to finding the hole those scum crawled into. I’ll never know, but I have to wonder if that damned smallpox pandemic came from the get together we weren’t allowed to find.”
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Post by bretf on Aug 11, 2022 6:54:28 GMT -6
Chapter 30
The shortened summer turned into a flurry of activity, leaving the small party dirty and exhausted at most days’ end. The real work began with cutting firewood, the day after Chad’s birthday. The dead trees in the grove were sawed down and cut into rounds. After removing the camper shell, the blocks were loaded into the pickup, transported to the shed and dumped out in a jumbled heap.
Mat and Chad did their best to calculate the amount of wood they’d need based on the usage since the clouds had enveloped the sky. The firewood they’d piled beside the shed was guessed to be enough for two years with the constant cloud cover, or more than five years if they only used the wood to cook with.
It made it hard to come up with a solid target amount, not knowing how long before they saw the sun again. But they’d cut every dead tree in the grove and were short of the amount they decided they should have. Other dead trees were found, but nowhere near as convenient as the ones they’d already cut. A lot more lifting, rolling, and sweating was required; and swearing by Mat when Lisa and the girls weren’t around. The pickup’s gas gauge was on empty when they were satisfied enough wood was piled near the shed.
No one looked forward to splitting the mountain of wood, but that was fine. The most critical phase was done, getting it near the shed. It could be split and stacked a little at a time later.
One gas can was empty, the second half empty when they were finished. They decided to save the remaining gas for the chainsaw in the event more of the trees in the nearby grove died. Chad could only look at the unmoving rototiller as he walked past it and yearn for more fuel. After a couple of hours spent turning the green manure crops under in the garden, he asked Mat if he was ready to reconsider using the tiller. They were in the garden patch with Lisa and Heather turning the plants under. The girls followed along and broke up the larger clods and did their best to level the ground where it’d been dug and turned.
Dan was unable to help with the garden project, which visibly frustrated him. His damaged leg wouldn’t allow digging. The twins accomplished more than he did, both with the garden and bringing the firewood in.
Lisa saw his exasperation and encouraged him on keeping the producing garden up, that his efforts with it were very important. The results of his work were seen and felt daily with the food they ate and the vegetables around the stove drying for storage.
Lisa’s words helped, though it still felt like he wasn’t doing his fair share. But he made the most of his efforts. While the rest of the family was in the fallow garden patch, he worked on the inside garden beds.
He’d witnessed in his garden and greenhouse at home, certain varieties of plants appeared finished near the end of summer before freezing temperature killed them. He started new plants in any available space, and doing a few at a time, replaced the established plants, so they not only continued to have fresh produce but also had vigorous plants ready to take the place of the plants nearing their end.
It turned out saving the gas was a fortunate decision. One day in late summer, a day darker than normal, lightning flashed, illuminating the sky brighter than it’d been since the clouds had formed following the nuclear blasts. Thunder rolled across the hills in a near continuous rumble. Chad was reminded of the bikers and the roar of all those engines the night their home was destroyed.
Rain fell with such force it didn’t have a chance to soak into the ground before it started running downhill in ever larger rivulets. The raindrops became nearly horizontal, pushed along by a powerful wind that blasted up the valley and rattled the window moldings. The crack of breaking and falling trees echoed with the rumbling thunder.
The morning after the storm, Chad, Mat, and Heather walked to the grove to survey the damage. The devastation was disheartening as several more trees were down. Though a few remained upright, the grove was greatly reduced. As if the bombs and the resultant weather hadn’t caused enough destruction, Mother Nature added to it.
“It looks like it was a microburst that went through,” Heather said.
“Whatever that is, but why couldn’t this have happened before we fought with those other trees?” Chad said. “These will be a piece of cake after some of those.” He picked up a pine cone and gave it an irritated throw.
“That would’ve been nice, but what’s done is done,” Mat said.
“So do we saw them up now?” Chad asked.
“No, I don’t think so. We have a lot of wood in, so I think getting the garden turned and reseeded is more time critical. We need to have decent growth in it before winter hits if it’s going to do us any good. And who knows when we’ll get winter and what it’ll be like,” Mat said.
“But we still can’t use the rototiller?” Chad asked hopefully.
“No, we better not. But I’ve been thinking about those slabs of shale. I’m not looking forward to packing that much rock up the hill on my back. I think after the garden is taken care of, we do your idea on the rock pile. I think if the three of us and your mom get the rocks to the road, your dad and the girls can stack them in the truck. One long, hard day should do it. And we can take the can of gas with us, just in case we need it to get the truck back up the hill,” Mat said. “What do you both think of that?”
“I’m good with it,” Chad said.
“It sounds fine,” Heather said. “But Lisa and I won’t be able to go as fast or carry as much as either of you.”
“I wouldn’t think you would, but every little bit will help. Once the rocks are here, I think that’s when we saw these trees up,” Mat said. “Sound good?”
“With one addition,” Chad said.
“I hope you’re not going to suggest the rototiller again,” Mat said.
“I wish, but no,” Chad said. “When we go for the rocks, we need to take all the empty buckets we have. The girls can dig sand out of the creek while we pack rocks. We’ll use it to level the rocks when we make the floor.”
“Sounds good to me,” Mat said. “Now I suppose we should get to work.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Chad said. His usual ‘get it done’ attitude was lacking, worn down from constant labor.
#
The pickup was able to get the load of stone up the hill without additional gas. After the rock slabs were piled near the mudroom, the work efforts were directed to the fallen trees. A lot of wood remained to move when the pickup ran out of gas, loaded with wood on its way to the shed. Chad hadn’t gotten it onto the main trail when it sputtered and died, lurching to a stop. After that, the larger rounds of wood were rolled to the shed and the smaller rounds moved in the wheelbarrow.
“I guess we’ll have to push the truck to the shed,” Mat said. “That’s not going to be fun.”
Dan looked at the mangled front and considered for a few moments. “We don’t have fuel for it, it needs a radiator and can’t turn sharp. It’s pretty much worthless to us. I say we leave it right where it is and use the lean-to for firewood. Keeping the wood out of the weather will be more important than protecting a busted up old pickup.”
“Are you sure?” Mat asked.
“Positive,” Dan said.
The pickup remained where it died.
The gas for the chainsaw didn’t last long enough either. Two trees still needed to be cut when the saw coughed and died the final time. Mat held it out and looked at the remaining trees. “Well, I guess we’re done with this. It would’ve been nice if it’d gone a little further, but, oh well.”
“Oh boy,” Chad said. “Now we get to swing the ax and splitting maul or swing the sledge against that wall. I can hardly wait.”
“Your dad could use help on that, you know,” Mat said. Dan, feeling so worthless in getting wood and turning the plants under in the garden patch, had been able to balance well enough to swing the splitting maul. Though not as efficient as he’d been in the past, he still managed to split a fair amount of wood. The girls and Lisa kept pace with him and stacked the split wood in neat ricks under the lean-to.
With new concentrated effort, the section of wall was removed. The edges of the opening were rough, despite a lot of tapping with hammers and scraping with rocks, but with a deep pad of insulation between the concrete and wood, the framed door was anchored in place. They put insulation in the walls and roof but didn’t do anything more to finish the room. Though Mat had enough material in the shed to cover the walls and ceiling, it was decided to leave it as it was. Something might come up later that would make them wish they had the material available. Instead of finished walls, a plank with pegs to hang coats on, and a broad shelf were secured to the studs.
Placing the stones to make the floor was like assembling a large jigsaw puzzle. The edges weren’t exact despite chipping parts away, but they came close. The rocks were various thicknesses and required most of the sand to make them somewhat level. Despite all the work, the floor wasn’t as nice as the stone floor in the house, but it was serviceable. Leftover rocks were arranged to make a pad in front of the mudroom entrance. The last rocks had a heavy layer of frost on them when they were placed.
The family gathered around and admired the rock pad when Mat and Chad stepped back after tamping the final stone into place.
“Good, that job’s done,” Chad said. “I thought real winter might hit before we were finished.” Small snowflakes fell on the rocks as if cued by his statement.
“I agree with you; I’m glad it’s done. I don’t like to work on my knees if I can avoid it,” Mat said. He looked to the sky and added, “I guess if it’s going to snow, we better get as much of the wood under the lean-tos as possible before it gets buried.”
All the wood that’d been split was stacked under the metal roof. But the un-split rounds were in jumbled piles under tarps. “That’s a good idea,” Dan said. “It’ll make it a lot easier to get to if we get real snow.”
Mat started to walk towards the shed, but Heather stopped him. “Mat . . .” she said.
“Right now?” he asked.
“That’s what we decided, isn’t it?” she said.
“All right.” He looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat. Heather took one of his hands in hers, and the two of them faced the rest of the family. “Uh, well . . . we, that is Heather and I, uh, have an announcement and request. We uh, would like you to perform a wedding ceremony for us, Dan.”
Lisa let out a squeal and wrapped her sister in a tight hug, bumping Mat aside in her enthusiasm. Chad grinned at the couple while the twins whispered to each other.
Dan smiled at Mat and said, “You know, of course, I could never be accused of being a pastor.”
“We know, but we discussed it and decided under the circumstances, you would do a great job,” Mat said.
“All right. It would be my pleasure. But don’t expect anything eloquent. I’ll make it short and sweet. When were you thinking you’d like to do it?”
“This evening would be great, Dan,” Heather said over Lisa’s shoulder.
“Okay, that’s fast. Do you have anything in particular you’d like me to say or read?”
“No, we’ll leave it up to you. But we’ve each written vows to read,” Heather said.
“In that case, I better get in the house and look through my Bible,” Dan said.
“And I need to figure out what to make for a wedding feast,” Lisa said. “Chad, girls, help me, please. Chad, I need you to get the Dutch oven and . . .” Lisa walked away with her helpers, giving each one instructions as they went.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” Heather said and beamed at Mat.
“Are you sure you want to thank me? All our help ran off so you and I will have to put these tools away and stack wood by ourselves,” Mat said.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but you’ll have to work on it alone. I have to go in and bathe and dress for my wedding,” Heather said with a wide smile.
Mat watched her retreating backside through the door of the mudroom. He smiled and picked up the tools he and Chad had used, and walked down the trail to the shed. The snowflakes swirled and fell thicker as he walked, landing on his face, but failing to remove his wide smile.
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Post by bretf on Aug 11, 2022 6:55:08 GMT -6
Chapter 31
Mat and Heather stood before Dan, Heather radiant in her well-worn, but clean clothes. Mat was cleaned up and freshly groomed, his patchy beard gone. Lisa stood beside her sister, with Alison and Brooke in front of her. Chad stood on the other end, next to Mat.
“I’d like to open in prayer,” Dan said. “Our Heavenly Father, we come to You and ask Your blessing on this joyous occasion. That You smile down on this happy couple and bless their union, that they be husband and wife in Your eyes. Amen.”
“Amen,” was echoed by the group.
“I looked through my Bible at verses that discuss marriage and the roles of each of you in marriage. I found the standard verses in Ephesians: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” And this one: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Those verses were popular in Christian weddings, and I’ve heard pastors go on and on discussing them.”
Dan went to another page marked in his Bible. “But they didn’t feel right to me. So I looked for something else. I went to the book of Matthew, to a part where Jesus is with his disciples and he was asked “which is the greatest commandment”.” He glanced back down at his Bible, where his finger marked the passage. “Jesus answered them it was to love the Lord. Then he said, “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.” This is the part I want to emphasize, though I won’t say a lot. In this case, I think not of the love for your neighbor, but your love for each other. I could try to expand on this and botch most of it up, so I want to ask you both to remember this, to love one another, not as yourself, but more than yourself.”
“Heather, your vows,” Dan said and indicated her with his free hand. The hand holding the Bible dropped to the stick he used as a cane and he took an awkward half-step back.
“Mat, I take you as my husband, loving you for who you are. I promise to listen to you and learn from you, to support you and accept your support. I will laugh with you in times of joy, I’ll laugh at you when you deserve it, and comfort you in times of sorrow. I will love you and have faith in your love for me, through all our years and all that life may bring us, through the hardships and the triumphs.
“Okay, I said my piece, it’s your turn,” she said. Mat grinned and gave her hand a squeeze.
“Heather, I promise to love you as long as I live. All of my possessions are yours. I will tend you, comfort, protect and shelter you for all the days of my life.”
He reached into a pocket and removed an item. Holding up a ring, he said, “This was Mama’s. It’s not gold or anything, just a simple band. But Heather, I give it to you; an unending band to symbolize my unending love for you.”
As tears streamed down her face, she held her left hand out. After trying her ring finger, he slipped it onto her little finger.
Mat turned from Heather and looked at Dan expectantly.
“All right, let’s pray,” Dan said. “Dear Lord, Mat and Heather came to You as individuals and now ask You to view them as one and to bless their union. Amen.”
Mat and Heather looked at Dan, wondering if he was finished. “Well kiss already and seal this marriage,” Dan said.
Mat blushed while Heather turned and gave him a passionate kiss. She released her hold, turned and hugged Lisa.
Dan held his hand out. “Congratulations Son,” he said grasping Mat’s hand.
They stood with their hands locked together, staring at the other.
“Thank you,” Mat said softly and nodded. “Thank you!”
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Post by bretf on Aug 11, 2022 6:55:37 GMT -6
Chapter 32
Winter came for good soon after the wedding. Snow piled up and the family shoveled pathways, kept the snow away from the glass wall, and when able, worked on the wood pile. In addition, they continued their physical fitness class in the shed, learning more skills with their hands, feet, staffs, and short sticks. Alison and Brooke especially enjoyed working with the staffs.
As snow accumulated, Dan inquired if Mat had snowshoes. He didn’t, so he and Chad trudged to the creek bank and returned with far more pliable staffs than they needed, or so they thought. They broke several trying to shape them. It was a steep learning curve and Chad was beginning to think they’d have to take another trip to the creek. He hoped not. The snow had continued to pile up. As it turned out, a second trip was unnecessary as they ended up with six workable frames. The lacings were made with rope.
Lisa lamented the loss of the home-school material she’d had at their house. To substitute for it, the four adults, with greatly varying skills sets, put together their own curriculum. It wouldn’t have won the approval of the State Board of Education, but it would educate Chad and the girls in a way to enhance their survival in the new world. It had a lot of traditional education information, mixed with real-world applications. End of the world or not, the Smoke kids wouldn’t grow up illiterate.
Chad was ecstatic they didn’t have any Charles Dickens books, though he missed his other books. He considered the last book his mom had assigned him to read, and the opening line: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. His family had certainly been through the best and worst times he could imagine. Hopefully, they were done with the extremes. In place of the books from home were Mat’s manuals, and Chad spent endless hours going over them under Mat’s tutelage.
Lisa also lamented the absence of the board games they’d left behind. Mat only had a couple of decks of cards and no other games. They played every card game they knew over and over as the snow piled deeper. Humorous to Heather and concerning to Lisa, Alison and Brooke became very adept at poker. The odd link the twins shared made it so one or the other won most hands. No one could figure out their silent signals.
Dan decided checkers and chess would be possible and spent hours carving game pieces. The checkers were easy; the chess pieces more involved. He didn’t mind; it kept him occupied during the dreary days.
The garden beds required little attention. In early November, the amount of daylight, muted though it was, dropped below the ten hours plants need for vigorous growth. Although the heat was constant, the plant growth slowed considerably. They still harvested, but the production was greatly reduced.
Outside, winter raged with fury.
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Post by bretf on Aug 11, 2022 6:56:19 GMT -6
Chapter 33
Dan and Lisa stood at the glass wall with the heavy curtain against their backs and looked out into the inky darkness as they waited for their son to trudge up the path from the shed. They were dark shapes in front of the black appearing wall. Mat and Heather worked through the curtain’s seam and joined them, their hands entwined.
“What’s keeping that boy?” Lisa asked.
“Beats me,” Mat said. “I figured he’d come in by now. I know I was ready to get in and relax and warm up by the fire when we finished everything. It felt to me like it cooled off a lot more than usual this evening.”
“Well, I guess this nuclear winter cleared up the debate on global warming for at least one year,” Dan said. “It makes me wonder what next year will bring.” When no one offered an opinion, he said, “That’s a lot of snow piled up. How does it compare to last year at this time, Mat?”
“This is a lot more, especially the accumulation. Last year, quite a bit fell but it would warm up and melt most of it off; it never built up like this is. The temperature staying below freezing has made a big difference with that. Still, I’d guess overall we’ve gotten twice as much as last winter,” Mat said. “However, last winter, besides the warm spells, a few cold fronts came through too and dropped the temperature below zero for a week or longer at a time.”
“Brrr,” Heather said. “I’m glad it hasn’t gotten that cold this winter, and I’m sure glad we got all the firewood in. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it.” The fire in the stove kept the house at a comfortable temperature, despite the winter beyond the wall.
Brooke and Alison squirmed their way between their mom and aunt, looking out into the dark. “Do you think Santa Clause will come tonight Mom?” Brooke asked.
“I’m afraid he might not find us this year,” Lisa said, keeping her voice steady. “After the smallpox and the bombs, Santa will probably take this year off.” Her children wouldn’t get any Christmas presents. Just as they hadn’t gotten any birthday presents. The girls’ birthday in October had been celebrated much as Chad’s had been.
“That’s okay Mom. Santa must’ve had a bad year like everyone else did,” Brooke said. She stood against the glass wall and cupped her hands around her eyes and looked out into the dark. “When is Chad coming in?” she asked with the more important question out of the way.
“I don’t know Honey,” Lisa said.
“I’m tired of waiting,” Alison said. “Dad, can you tell us the story now? I don’t remember it too well from last year.”
Dan told a story each year at Christmas about an event that exemplified the spirit of the day. “Your brother will be disappointed if we do it without him,” Dan said.
“You can tell it again when he comes in,” Brooke stated.
“All right, but let’s sit down,” Dan said. They left the wall and took seats on the couch and the dining chairs, leaving Dan the recliner. When everyone was settled, he began.
“It was 1914 and World War I waged across Europe. The allied troops had stopped the German advance, and the soldiers dug trenches they took cover in and faced each other. Barbed wire and parapets were out in front of the trenches. The area between the lines of trenches was called “No-Mans-Land” because anyone who stepped into it was killed.
“Life in the trenches was miserable.” The shadows caused by the flickering candle danced on Dan’s face, adding to the stories effect. “Besides men shooting at each other, there was heavy machine gun and artillery fire.” The girls looked confused at the term, so Dan added, “Big, cannon-style guns. And on top of all that, the weather was horrible, with constant rain, snow, and cold. The trenches were either full of mud or ice. It was a miserable existence.
“And then it was Christmas Eve. Both sides received packages of food and presents. The sky cleared and the stars shone brightly. It is believed the Germans made the first move. At some point in the lines, under cover of a white flag, they delivered a chocolate cake to the British and proposed a cease-fire so they could have a concert. The British accepted and sent tobacco to the Germans. The goodwill spread along the trenches stretching out for miles.
“Enemies left the trenches and met in the middle, in No-Mans-Land. They sang songs, exchanged gifts and played soccer games. And to me, that story exemplifies the spirit of Christmas.”
“Why don’t you sing the song for them, Honey,” Lisa said.
“It was one thing when I sang along with the recording, but I don’t think I can do justice to it on my own,” Dan said. “If I can remember all the words.”
“Please Dad,” Brooke and Alison said as one.
“Oh, all right. So a singer and songwriter by the name of John McCutcheon heard the story of that night and wrote a song about it. It’s called “Christmas in the Trenches”, and I’ll try not to mess it up too much,” Dan said.
He cleared his throat and took a small drink of water, and began to sing in a baritone voice. His voice didn’t match McCutcheon’s and he didn’t have the guitar for accompaniment, but his listeners loved it just the same. He was halfway through when the door burst open.
“Guys, come on, you’ve got to see this!” Chad nearly shouted as he rushed into the room, the door still open behind him.
“What is it, has something happened?” Lisa asked.
“Come on, get up, you have to see it!” he said, and held his dad’s cane up to him in one hand and offered his other hand to pull him to his feet. “Hurry, you’ve got to see it!”
The girls were on their feet in an instant, catching Chad’s excitement, and ran for the door. The rest of the family followed. Lisa made sure to close both doors of the mudroom after going through.
Chad stopped in the trail to the shed. “Do you see it?” he asked, his words an excited rush.
“What are we supposed to see? Aunt Heather asked. “I just see snow.”
“No, look up!” Chad said and pointed into the dark sky, his arm a dark shape in the night air.
Everyone raised their eyes to the sky. A single star shone brightly where they’d seen nothing but gray cloud cover for so long. It looked so bright and close; Brooke reached out as if she could touch it.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful,” Lisa murmured.
The family stood mesmerized and watched the single star. Words of dismay came from each mouth when a cloud drifted in front of it and obscured the view. But no one moved. They stayed where they were, rooted in place staring into the black sky, hoping for one more glimpse of the star.
“I’m getting cold,” Alison said. Lisa squatted down and wrapped her arms around the girl. A breeze blew, adding to the chill.
“Me too, Mom,” Brooke said and wormed her way in next to her sister.
“There, look further to the west,” Heather said. Another star was visible, and another and another, as the clouds skittered across the sky. Soon, the entire sky was filled with stars and a tiny sliver of moon. The sight was accompanied by “oohs” and “aahs”, reminiscent of a fireworks show.
Heather was trembling from the cold when she said, “Okay, I’m freezing; I’ve got to go back in the house. Merry Christmas everyone.” She received a “Merry Christmas” as she hugged each in turn. “Are you coming Babe?” she asked Mat.
“I’ll be in in a minute, I’d like to say something to Dan,” he said.
“Come on Chad, girls; let’s go in with Aunt Heather,” Lisa said, and followed her sister.
Dan and Mat stood alone in the star-filled night. “I’ve come to a decision, Dan.”
Dan was quiet, waiting.
“I’m not sure what Lisa told you about our conversation when you first arrived, and you were still out of it from getting shot and knocked on the head,” Mat said. “I told her how my grandfather hated you with a passion. He figured you raped my mama and were responsible for her death. If he could have found out who you were, he would’ve hunted you down and killed you. He raised me after Mama died and shared that hate daily. I heard constantly how you needed, how you deserved to die for your crimes. On his death bed, he wanted me to promise him I’d do what he couldn’t. Promise I’d find you and avenge my mother.”
Mat stopped and he and Dan stared at each other. It was hard to see with the lack of light, but the intensity of Mat’s stare was obvious. With those eyes burning into him, Dan’s shudder was only partially caused by the cold air.
“Anyway, I thought it all was in the past, and then you showed up,” Mat continued. “You brought all those old memories, the pain, the turmoil, everything boiling to the surface.
“But you also brought something else. You brought your family, filled with love and respect. It was all new to me, being part of such a group. Still, I had warring emotions constantly. It’s been hard, very hard for me at times. The family I never knew, your family, helped me immensely through those times. They, well, all of you have nurtured my troubled soul.
“So I’ve watched and observed you for eight months, often with Abuelo’s words filling my head. I’ve watched you with your kids, with Lisa and Heather, and how you’ve treated me. I’ve decided Abuelo was wrong. I don’t believe you’d rape anyone, but I think you and Mama let raging hormones overpower whatever brains you had as teens.
“So, well, I’m not ready to call you Dad, but I, well, I’m . . . glad Abuelo never found you. . . And that . . . you found me. . . Very glad. Merry Christmas.” Mat reached out and took his dad’s hand, pulling him into a loose hug. “Merry Christmas,” he murmured again, “And thank you.”
Dan’s hot tears ran down his cold face and dropped onto his eldest son’s shoulder. He blinked several times and gazed at the beautiful star-studded sky. “Merry Christmas, Son,” he answered.
Neither of them saw Chad standing between the glass wall and the curtain. He couldn’t make out much in the darkness, but he saw his dad and brother come together and felt a lump in his throat. It’d been a bad year, starting with the smallpox pandemic and only getting worse for a long time afterward. But out of all the hardship and pain, they’d found Mat and bonded together to form a tight family. The world was harsh and nothing would be easy, but he was sure by facing it together, they’d be alright.
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