In the Midst of Tribulation (6 page)

"My, god," Doris held onto the doorframe in disbelief. "It's been five years since the War and you have so much."
"Two people don't use that much and you learn to be frugal." At the doubting glances, she raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, so we stockpiled a few essentials and canned a lot of vegetables." Shooing them back out the door, she added, "There'll be plenty of time to see everything later, let's get through the rest of the house now."
Flipping off the light, she directed the group to door to the right of the stairs and entered the laundry room. She walked over to the circuit breakers. "Gather around, gang. Let me go over exactly what powers the house."
Jay waited while the group circled around her. Once they had stopped fidgeting and had fallen silent, she began to lecture. "I've got a 1,400 watt solar array on the roof that consists of four 24 volt direct current sub arrays." She pointed at a dial. "This indicates the power that is currently being consumed. Beside it is a digital readout of what is being generated by the photovoltaic panels on the roof."
Kicking a double line of car sized batteries along the floor, she continued, "These twenty Delco batteries are attached to an equalizer that keeps the battery bank's charged so that all the batteries have the same capacity." At their blank looks, she explained, "Running down the batteries shortens their life."
"With just Harmony and myself, the house averaged about 900 kilowatt hours a day. This system is designed for nearly twice that at 2,400 kilowatt hours a day." Jay smiled. "Now that there will be so many of us, I'm glad I oversized the system."
She opened the breaker box. "Each item is labeled with the amount of kWh required once that breaker is engaged and all the items plugged into are running. I've got a list here of what is currently using power." She unhooks a clipboard and calculator from a nail beside the breaker box. Flipping through the pages, she ticks off various items. "The upstairs fridge, the freezer and hot water heater are listed with steady watt use, see?" Jay waited until everyone had seen the figures.
Taking the calculator, she did the additions. "Okay, we switched on a light in the basement. That's 60 watts, plus 66 and 68 for the freezer and fridge respectively. Add to that 818 for the water heater. Finally, you have to add the requirements of the system itself to the total. That number is 30, which is the combined wattage of the battery regulator, equalizer, and inverters. Our current total is 1042."
She jerked her thumb at the digital readout. "Right now, the system is delivering 2,128 watts of continuous use, leaving us plenty of watts to play with. On a cloudy day, we might only be getting 1,000 watts. On such a day, using the washer would exceed our capacity."
"What do you do then?"
"Remember, that we can subtract 60 for the light and maybe even turn off the freezers for a bit." She looked around to see if everyone was following her. "Before you turn on anything else, you have to do the numbers. Exceeding the base load is really, really bad. I can't stress that enough. If the system is drained, we can lose what is in the cold cases." She hooked the calculator back on the wall. "Worse, we may never get the system back online again."
Piper flipped through the pages on the clipboard. "You can do all this with solar power?" she asked, hardly able to get her mind around what Jay was telling them.
"That and a well designed house and energy efficient appliances. Neat, huh?"
Cody asked, "What about during the winter?"
"As the days shorten, we won't be able to run as much. But I built the house so that panels are aligned to collect as much sun as possible and we have the benefit of the battery system to supplement our needs. In any event, you'll still be better off than you were." Wagging her finger at everyone, she sternly repeated, "Check the numbers before you turn on anything."
"Got it." Susan spoke for everyone when she added, "We never expected anything like this."
Jay laughed. "Darling, you haven't seen anything yet. I've got loads of tricks up my sleeve." She pointed at the numbers. "As we've still got several hours of daylight, I figure that we have enough to power to run at least two loads of laundry through the wash and for everyone to shower."
"Oh my, goodness," Doris' voice was hoarse. "Are you sure you're not kidding us?"
"I have a sneaking suspicion that y'all wouldn't respond well to me pulling your leg. The system is everything I've said it is."
"I just can't believe it."
Martha ran her fingers over the dials. "We figured you were just surviving out here. I don't think anyone thought that you'd be living so well."
"You took a big risk coming out here in that case."
"Susan had faith that this was the place for us to come." Martha touched the back of her hand to Susan's cheek. "As usual she was right."
"We sure stepped through the right looking glass." Piper added.
"Nothing that fantastic. It was a simple matter to build around a worst case scenario."
"I don't think anyone else on the planet planned so well for disaster." Her voice dry, Susan couldn't help but smile at her ex-lover.
"Hey, I tried to get you on board but you thought I was a cock-eyed pessimist."
"More like the boy who cried wolf."
"Just because Y2K was a bust and the Loma Prieta and Northridge quakes didn't shake your particular corner of the state, doesn't mean that you were entirely safe." She chided her.
"Not the first time I was wrong."
Jay laughed, loudly. "Yeah, but I never tire of getting you to admit it." She put her arm on Martha's shoulder. "You can back me up on how nice that is, right?"
"No comment. You don't think I'm stupid enough to agree with you?"
"Coward." She ruffled the taller woman's hair. "All right, let's go see what's upstairs." Leading the way back to the stairs, Jay stopped at a closet. "Oh, here are pretty extensive medical supplies. Does anyone have training in first aid?"
Martha nodded. "Both Piper and I are certified."
"Good. I've also got the Army medic's field manual on disc upstairs. In case of a real emergency, anyone can follow directions and become a surgeon."
"I'm not so sure that I want any of you operating on me." Doris threw out.
Jay laughed. "Hey, when it comes down to the wire, I don't think I'll be concerned about checking qualifications."
Nodding, Susan agreed. "I wouldn't care if someone played connect the dots with my entrails as long I was still alive at the end of it."
"Here, here, love." Martha kissed her partner and looked over at her sister. "Don't worry, Doris. We'll respect your wishes to die from your injuries instead of receiving any amateur treatment." The two siblings stuck their tongues out at each other.
Returning upstairs, Jay opened the door next to the basement entrance. Here is the first guest room." Inside was a double bed and a desk with an extensive computer set up. "That Mac uses a lot of juice, so it should only be accessed on really sunny days or after you've turned off everything else."
She directed everyone to the next room. There was a bed against one wall and a couch along the window. Opening one of the closet doors, she revealed a television. "I've got a pretty good collection of videos and DVD's but, again, they should only be used on the sunniest of days or at night when we've turned everything else off and can expect a sunny day the next day."
In front of the entrance to the bathroom was a circular staircase that led to the upper floor. It led up to Jay's attic hide-a-way. A large bed dominated the floor space. A number of large windows gave the room plenty of light and all the available wall space was filled with built in bookshelves. She showed them her small half bathroom and Franklin stove. "This room can be shut off from downstairs to help with the heating. You'd be surprised at how much heat the damn thing puts out."
Susan walked over to the bed. There were books and a half filled glass of water on one nightstand but the other one was clear of anything but a candle. Picking it up, she asked, "Jay, where's Harmony?"
For a long moment, it didn't look like she was going to answer. When she did, her voice was hoarse. "She went to find her brother in Los Angeles."
"That's crazy. There's nothing left."
"At first we thought that too. When we went down the mountain to Willow Creek for spring trading there were about twenty refugees from Monrovia. She left that spring to look."
"How long has she been gone?" Carol asked quietly. She had always liked the former teacher and thought that the two women had been really happy together.
"Almost nineteen months."
"You think she's coming back?" Doris voice was derisive. "She's long dead by now."
Jay had Doris on the floor with her hands around the other woman's throat before anyone in the room could react. She shrugged off the attempts by Martha and Piper to pull her away from the person who had given voice to her greatest fear. As Doris clawed at the fingers around her throat, Jay started to cry. With an angry snarl, she shoved the choking woman's head hard against the floor before standing up.
"If you want to stay here you won't ever say anything like that again," Jay hissed. Without looking at anyone else in the room, she stomped back downstairs.
Susan and Eva helped to pick Doris up off the floor and support her while she tried to draw breath. Everyone was shocked by the suddenness of the attack.
"Easy, Mom." Eva led her mother to the bed and helped her to sit.
Cody spoke for all of them "That was pretty scary."
"I don't know Jay at all but I don't believe that's typical behavior." Piper crossed her arms and leaned against one of the windows.
"You're right. I've never known her to fly off the handle like that." Rubbing Doris' back, Susan didn't look at the group as she spoke.
"Can you blame her for being upset?" Carol nearly shouted. "Just think how scared she must be for Harmony. It must be driving her out of her mind."
Martha walked over and took Susan into her arms. "I don't think I would be able to stand it if I didn't know what was happening with you."
"She nearly killed me!" Doris was outraged at the lack of sympathy.
"You shouldn't have said what you did," Cody snarled back, glaring at her.
"Oh, get real. You know I spoke the truth."
"No." Piper was adamant. "We don't know that. All of us have seen miracles of survival. We can't say for sure that Harmony isn't on her way back here right now."
"For damn sure, until we do know, we can keep our mouths shut." There was no room for debate in Susan's voice. "You should apologize."
"I will not."
"Fine. Then you stay as far from her as you can and you keep quiet about things that don't concern you." Susan looked around. "I hope we can get past this because I don't want to leave."
Carol was crying. "I want to make a home here."
"I don't feel safe," said Doris.
"Then maybe you ought to leave," snidely responded Susan.
Cody was still angry. "Nobody is keeping you here."
"Everybody, just chill." Martha's voice was commanding. "I don't think we should let one incident drive a wedge between us all. Let us all take a deep breath and continue the tour without verbally attacking one another. Okay?"
The group nodded and went back downstairs. When they rejoined her, Jay was standing staring into the empty fireplace. At the sound of their feet, she turned and wiped a hand roughly over her face. She tried to shake off her fury but her head continued to pound. "I apologize for losing my temper."
Susan touched her lightly on the arm. "Honey, no-one wants to wish Harmony ill. We didn't know and I'm sure Doris didn't mean anything by it."
The woman in question was dramatically rubbing her throat and coughing. She ignored Susan's significant look.
"My sister is a boor. Don't hold the rest of us guilty for her foot in mouth disease." Martha added.
"I'll try not to let it happen again."
"Try?" asked Doris, hoarsely.
Jay glared over at her. "Maybe there should just be some things that are off limits to discussion."
"We agree," Martha said quickly and then grinned at her sister. "Right?" After she received an answering nod, she asked Jay, "So, where were we?"
"Pardon?"
"What were you going to show us down here?"
Jay cleared her throat. She couldn't meet anyone's eyes as she finished the tour. "Out here, we've got a sleeper sofa and two day beds." She began, waving at the living room. "As you can see, there is plenty to read and a good sized fireplace to keep the chill away." She indicated the walls of books. "Feel free to borrow anything that interests you."
She walked over to the dining area and leaned against the back of one of the eight chairs. "Looks like we've finally got the perfect number for meals. Oh, and there is a bathroom behind the staircase with a shower and tub and over there is the kitchen."
"Well, we should figure out where everyone is going to crash. Downstairs are two singles, up here are the two single day beds, the two sofas, the double bed and the queen." Jay looked at the silent group. "How about you all talk it over and I'll start dinner?" Without waiting for an answer she escaped into the kitchen.
Stirring the coals in the stove, Jay added several pieces of wood before turning to fill a large Dutch oven with water. She also filled the teakettle while she had the water running. Humming softly to her self, she reached to the back of the counter and pulled out a crock of sourdough starter. She took out a portion and deftly added flour, salt and olive oil to the bowl before she scooped out a cup of water from the pot. She went to the sink to wash her hands and began to knead the bread, stopping only when the kettle screamed.
Tapping her index finger to her upper lip, she decided on mint tea and poured the water into a pitcher with the single bag. Jay returned to kneading until the dough was elastic. She then coated it with more olive oil and returned the ball to the bowl. She set it to the side to rise. Muttering darkly over how few tomatoes were left, she choose several and set them near the green beans. Emptying her mind while her hands worked, she snapped the beans.
She glanced up when Susan came into the kitchen. "Do we have a solution?"
Susan nodded. "Yeah. Martha and I will take the queen. Doris will take the double, Carol and Eva will share the basement and Cody will take a day bed and Piper will take the sofa."
"Great." Jay swallowed. "Uh, Susan?"
"Yes?"
"I really am sorry about what happened up there. I don't know what came over me."
"You were scared, honey. It was appalling to hear your fears put into words." Susan came closer and pulled her ex-lover into a hug. "I believe that if it is at all possible that Harmony will come back to you."