2nd Earth: Shortfall (13 page)

They say they will bury those two since they were part of their group, sort of. When we get home Dayna insists on cleaning the knife wound and thinks it needs a couple of stitches because it keeps opening up and bleeding a little. I talk her through the process because I can’t talk her out of it. I tell her I think she is just using this as an excuse to hurt me. Jessica and Jenny come over to the house and apologize for causing so much trouble. I assure them it was not their fault, but I think from now on the women and girls should not go off into the woods or anywhere outside the house area unless a man is with them. Billy, Tim, Rod, and several others of the more mature members of the family are here so we take this time to discuss how we want to set up rules and how we want to handle situations where discipline may be necessary. Hopefully it will never be serious discipline, but we should have some sort of written pact or agreement.

Some of the family, especially the women, say that I should be the leader and make those decisions. I thank them for their confidence, but I think we should have a group of leaders with both men and women of different ages to represent us all. We should change that leadership periodically to make sure that everyone feels equal, also just because someone is a leader, doesn’t mean they don’t have to work and do their part. Everyone here thinks that’s a good idea. We all agree to tell the others in our homes who are not here and we will meet just as soon as the building is completed, which should be within a couple of days now.

In the morning we take the big trucks and head into town again. We go to the farm store first to look for light bulbs. We kind of overlooked that item as something we will need a bunch of. We were reminded of the need when the bulb in the bathroom blew and it took us almost an hour to find a replacement bulb for it. We find several cases and load the enclosed truck with as many as we dare take at a time. Our neighbors are going to need some as well so we will share what we are taking. We go to the grocery store next and find several cases there as well and we also find that someone else has been here recently. The canned goods on the shelves are thrown around like someone didn’t know how to open them. We load several cases of canned goods from the store room then head through town to look for something special.

I am explaining to Ryan that we could probably go into any one of these homes and find hundreds of jars of canned goods. We find another bank in town and show Ryan and the others about taking the silver and the paper money if they would like to. We have several hundred thousand dollars mostly in silver just in case money ever means anything again. We split what we find in this bank with our neighbors and continue looking for that certain house or building. Finally when we are almost all the way through town I spot the sign I am looking for. It says that there is a gun shop inside the house, we park and go inside to see if there are any guns left. It doesn’t look like anyone has touched this place since the owner died. We load all the guns and ammunition we find in the room the owner used for that purpose.

When that room is empty our neighbors start to get into the truck to head back when I tell them to follow me, now we will get the good stuff. I was looking at the owners records behind the counter and it said that he bought guns and ammunition that were not in the room. We head down to the basement where we find a goldmine of canned vegetables, meats and fruits. I also find a revolving door that pivots and opens when force is applied in just the right location on the door. Inside is a treasury of weapons. The owner has just about every military weapon I have ever heard of and plenty of ammunition to fight a small war for quite a while. It takes us close to an hour to empty this cache, but it is worth it. Dayna came to town with us today and she wants us to get some of the canned goods from the basement.

We have enough room in the trucks for several cases so we don’t mind and we may as well get this stuff when we can. While we are loading the truck Dayna is supervising the loading, when I come up with my third load, she whispers that we are being watched from across the street. I acknowledge what she says and tell her I will check it out, this worries her because of the minor wound I got yesterday. I head back into the house, but go out the back door and behind a couple of houses until I can work my way around to the one she said she saw someone at. It takes a few minutes, but I am coming up behind the house when I see two young women looking intently at the loading of the trucks across the street.

The young ladies are whispering to each other wondering if they should see if we are friendly or not. I can sympathize with their concern. It’s very difficult to trust anyone you don’t know. I wait a few moments, when another young lady and a teenage boy come out of the house and show the others that they found some jars of canned fruits in the house. I am only standing about twenty feet away. The two that came out of the house happen to look my way and are so surprised they drop one of the jars. The young man puts his foot under it to keep it from breaking, they look like they are trying to decide if they should try to outrun me or talk to me.

While they are deciding Dayna comes across the street along with Ryan’s wife Carol and asks them if they are hungry and lonely. They are not that much older than the two girls who were watching first and it is obvious that they are scared, but they are also desperate. Within a few minutes they are coming with us and Dayna has them telling us their life story. Apparently they were living with their parents in a town a little south of here, but their parents were older and recently passed away. The mother died first and then the father a month or so later. They didn’t have much food left in the store where they were living so they decided to see if they could find somewhere that may have more food and maybe even meet some nice people. They say now it looks like they have done both.

The young man is still holding the two jars of fruit he found. He asks us where we live, so we tell them how we came to be here. When they see the farm, actually both of them, they are very much impressed and say that if we don’t mind they would love to stay with us. They like our group slightly better because we have several teenagers and young people about their same ages. After the trucks are unloaded at the two farms we have lunch. The young man we just met wants to know what he can do to earn his keep. I like his enthusiasm, I introduce him to Dan and Don who are only a year or so older than he is. I tell him these are our main hunters for the family and I would like them to show him how to hunt as successfully as they do. They decide to go hunting this afternoon so I tell them to see if they can find some sign for more pigs and another nice steer wouldn’t hurt either. They have gotten into the habit of saluting me when I tell them something. They always laugh when I tell them I’m not a sir, I work for a living.

That’s a military joke, everybody knows a sir is an officer, and officers don’t do anything, at least that’s the myth. The steel building is coming along fine and it looks like we will finish it tomorrow. That will be a relief, finally we will have a place that is big enough for all of us to sit down and talk or enjoy a group meal. We can also hold church services here and even invite our neighbors over for a dance or something. Our three hunters return after about an hour with a report that they found several very large pigs and even more cattle than pigs. They really want to get more venison, and they know where a very large herd of deer are, if I say they can get a couple. They have the bows we got for them, so I tell them to first give Andrew some instruction, and then they can go get some venison.

I don’t know how much instruction he got, but they are gone when I quit working on the building to go with Dayna, Robin, and the children to pick some apples, or more precisely to pick up some apples, because by this time they have all fallen off the trees. We decide to take the truck so we can get several bushels instead of just a few small bags or baskets. The children love picking up the apples, and we even find some pear trees at the far end of the orchard. Everyone, except Tim and I, are amazed at how much we can get from the land. At first when we came here most of them were afraid, but now they can’t see how they ever lived the way we did. I know exactly how they feel, after being with Dayna for this relatively short time, I don’t know how I ever lived without her.

We fill several bushels to overflowing with the apples and pears. We decide to do some exploring while we are out here anyway and find several other trees that appear to be peach and cherry trees, if the rotten fruit under them is any indication. When we get back our three great hunters are waiting for us on the steps to our house. They run to meet us and help unload the apples so we can go pick up the three very large deer they shot with their bow and arrows. They say they had to follow one of them for a ways before it died, but it was a clean hit. I tell them it isn’t always easy to kill an animal, they hold on to life very hard and actually, it is uncommon not to have to trail a deer after it is hit.

They are right and have every reason to be proud. These are by far the largest deer I have ever seen. They already have them field dressed and ready to be loaded on the truck. When we get them home everyone is happy for them and glad to have more fresh meat hanging in the freezer. Dan asks if we can take his deer over to the neighbors, so they can have some fresh meat as well. We do that and spend the next hour or so showing them how to cut up a deer. They have a similar freezer in their barn as we do so we tell them we will show them how to get it working tomorrow morning. This is the first time any of them have had venison, but I’m sure they will like it. We return home for a very good supper and an evening of getting to know the new family members.

13

Our new meeting house is done, at least for now. For heating it we got two very nice wood stoves and installed one of them at each end of the building. Outside we built a shelter to keep firewood in that will hold approximately two face cords of wood each. Two of the teenage boys volunteered to keep them full for us. Frank and Tom decided to trim the apple trees in the orchard when they saw the apples we brought back the other day. Frank knows all about farming and he is teaching dad as much as he wants to learn. They are going to do the other trees as soon as they finish with the apple orchard. It’s surprising how much dad has perked up since moving here. In the city he was almost listless and didn’t seem to care about living. Now he gets up every day and looks forward to a full days work. Dayna says her step mom has noticed a big difference when they are alone as well. Getting to where we are hasn’t been easy, but it is definitely worth it. Besides it could have been a lot worse, so we count our blessings every day.

The one direction we have not explored very much is the other side of the main road that we came in on. Today I decide it would be good to know what is on that side of the property. Dayna and I along with Robin and the children head out in that direction to explore our surroundings. We only have to go about a quarter of a mile when we come to a river or large stream running east and west. It is full of water, but doesn’t appear to be very deep and the water is not moving fast. Now I wish I had a fishing pole with us so we could try our luck. As soon as I say that, ten year old Teddy takes a stick out of his pocket with some fishing line on it along with a hook and bobber. He says he has used it to fish in the pond that is over by the orchard. I really have to find out everything we have on the land and around it. You never know when that information may be important.

Teddy is proud to show me how he finds worms by lifting rocks and looking under them. We find a couple and since it’s his line I let him try first. He says he hasn’t had any luck at the pond, but this is a bigger place so there may be fish in it. He tosses the line out about six feet from shore and we sit down to wait for a bite. We no sooner get seated when his bobber disappears under the surface of the water. He is so excited I’m not sure he even knows what to do. Robin tells me he got the idea of fishing from one of the books he likes to read, but other than that he doesn’t know what you are supposed to do beyond throwing the line in the water. We tied the end of the fishing line around his arm to keep him from losing it, but the fish that is on the other end almost pulls him in the water.

I tell him to pull it in and he replies that he is trying, he just can’t budge it. Robin is holding him from behind to keep him from falling in while I grab the line that is starting to hurt his arm. For a ten year old he is putting up a very good fight. One big heave by us when I count to three finds the largest crappie that I have ever seen. Now everyone is excited about fishing, we decide to take the fish home with us because Teddy wants to show off his trophy and see if we have some fishing poles that we will be able to use. Teddy is yelling and shouting for everyone to come and see the fish he caught long before we get back to the house. Everyone comes running and are totally impressed with him and his catch.

We ask if anyone has seen any fishing poles and they look at me like I have grown another head. I forgot that none of these people have ever been fishing before. Tim comes up and laughs, he says he is pretty sure there are some poles in the middle barn. If not he knows there are a whole bunch of them in the farm store in town. All the young people run to the barn to find the poles and when we get there they are asking us if everything from an axe handle to an old broken shovel handle are fishing poles. Tim goes to a small room at the back of the barn and comes out with about ten fishing poles complete with hooks, line, and sinkers. Oh yeah, they have bobbers on them as well. Teddy tells me they don’t look like the poles in his book, he runs home and comes back quickly with it and shows it to me. It shows the young man in the book using an old bamboo stick for a fishing pole. I explain that they are both correct and work well for catching fish, but the ones we have allow us to cast them out farther than the bamboo poles do and these bend a lot so they don’t break when you catch a big fish. He says he guesses it will be okay to use these. Then he asks if we can go fishing some more today.

I tell him it will be up to his mother so he turns to Robin and tells her daddy says he can go fishing if she says it is okay. Dayna and Robin laugh and say it’s okay with them if daddy wants to take everybody fishing. All the young people are looking at me now as if asking me to please say yes. How can I say no? I tell Dayna and Robin that they are helping clean the fish that our children catch though. Actually we have about twenty people of all ages that want to go see how you go about catching fish. The young teenage boys know where there are a ton of worms, their words not mine, but they are not far off. They dig under the hay that is piled up beside the barn after it is shoveled out of the barn for bedding. They have a very big can of them in no time, so we all head to the river to catch supper for tonight.

We found some more poles so everyone gets to fish except me and Tim, because we are running around helping the others. Even big old Billy is having the time of his life, catching the largest pan fish I have ever seen. There seems to be crappie, rock bass, and sunfish in the mixture. I can see that they are all over a foot long and very thick. These will be great for filleting. It only takes about an hour to catch enough fish for the whole family to have some for supper. Everyone wants to continue fishing until they catch enough for our neighbors to have some as well. Who am I to take their fun away? When we think we have just about enough fish, Billy latches on to something that almost takes the pole out of his huge hands. It’s a good thing it wasn’t one of the children who caught it.

Tim is telling him how to play the fish. He explains that with a big fish, you sometimes have to let the fish tire itself out, before you can bring it in. Billy is having the time of his life and naturally everyone is watching and cheering him on. It takes about twenty minutes, but finally he pulls the largest catfish I have ever seen to the bank and reaches down to pull it out of the water. When he holds it next to his legs its tail is on the ground and its head is at Billy’s waist. That makes that fish somewhere around three and a half feet long and at least six inches thick at its head. Billy says he is eating this fish for supper. Naturally, Tim and I ask him if he is planning on sharing it with anybody, or if he is planning to eat the whole thing himself. He turns red and says naturally he couldn’t eat this much fish by himself. We all laugh then he knows we are just teasing him, it’s a good thing he is so easy going, or he could really do some damage if he gets angry.

It is getting pretty cold by the time we get back home. We take the fish to the barn to clean them while the women go into the houses to get the fires going in the wood stoves. We decide to have this meal together in our new building so a couple of the guys who didn’t go fishing today start the wood stoves in there to make it nice and warm inside. Our neighbors have CB radios as well so we call them and invite them over. The only kind of fish any of either family except Tim and I have had is tuna out of a can. They like that so they figure they will like fresh fish as well. Frank and his wife say they had fish when they were young, but it was so long ago they don’t remember whether they like it or not.

Connie, Frank’s wife, says she remembers her mom making a batter of flour and milk with salt and pepper in it. She says after they filleted the fish they would dip them in the batter and deep fry them until they were golden brown. We found some white flour in plastic bags in the store in town and it seems to be good. At least there are no bugs in it so we decide to try a couple pieces in it, and if it doesn’t taste good we will try the wheat flour, that we grind ourselves. For oil we are using lard from the pig we slaughtered, we rendered it down using instructions that we found in the butchering room. Our neighbors are excited about the fish fry and can’t wait to try some of the fresh fish. All the young and not quite so young people are having a great time telling everybody how hard they had to fight the fish they caught.

The first pieces come out of the boiling oil and everybody is in awe. We figure since Teddy caught the first fish today that he deserves the honor of being one of the first to try it. Tim and I try a small taste to make sure the flour tastes okay before he does, but since it is fine we cook it all that way. It is funny because there is not a sound in the room when Teddy and his sisters Kathy and Karen take that first bite of the fish. When they smile and say it tastes great everyone lets out a cheer. I love being part of this family, everything we experience is an adventure to most of them and that makes it more exciting to me. It takes three large deep fryers to cook all that fish until everyone has their fill. Billy just about does eat that whole catfish, just kidding, but he definitely puts away a large portion of it.

Frank remembers that his mother used to make corn meal balls and deep fry them when they made fish. Connie says she remembers that as well, she says her mother used to call the meal eating cats and dogs because they usually ate catfish and the corn meal balls were called hushpuppies. Now everyone wants to try hushpuppies, a couple of the younger children, Tammy and Tina the four year old twins say they just want a puppy. Their mommy reads them a story about a puppy every night and they really want one. They are so cute, usually one of them will start to say something and the other one will finish what they started. Then more often than not they will look at each other and nod their heads in agreement. I tell them that I will make sure they get a puppy as soon as we can find one for them.

Kathy and Karen want to know if they can have a puppy as well, when I tell them they can, they give me a big kiss and tell me I’m the best daddy in the world. That makes me feel great, but now I have to try to figure out where we can get a couple of puppies. I have heard dogs barking at night, but I am sure they are wild dogs and would not be very good pets for these children. I discuss it with Dayna and Robin after everyone leaves for the night. They agree that wild dogs would not be a good choice, but maybe we can find one that has known people and would not be hard to tame. We agree that a couple of dogs would be very useful to not only play with the children, but to warn us if someone was trying to snoop around the houses. We will have to keep looking for some puppies or a full grown dog that is friendly.

In the morning everyone is still talking about how much they enjoyed either going fishing yesterday or how much they enjoyed eating the fish. We spend the next couple of days working around the yard, but the weather is turning cold and it has even started snowing from time to time. So far we haven’t had more than an inch at a time, which is a whole lot better than New York, but it gives us an opportunity to sit and relax a little without worrying about working every minute. Our family is really enjoying being here instead of up in the city. They are always telling us how they used to almost freeze all winter because it was impossible to find somewhere that was insulated enough not to have more cold wind blowing in than the small fires they could build could warm. Now they are able to sit in comfort and sleep in more comfort than they can ever remember. It makes Tim and I feel good that we have been able to help these people. We feel that we have been sent here to help them get a fresh start. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but we can’t help feeling that way.