The Renewal

by Steven Smith

  "Why's that?"

  "I don't remember, but I remember thinking at the time that it made sense."

  "That's a pretty small community."

  Jim nodded. "People are funny. They want to be around each other and live around each other, but it doesn't take many before trouble is almost a certainty."

  "That's a fact. Why do you think that is?"

  "Oh, some won't work as hard as others, some will be jealous of others, some will talk about each other, and small little resentments or irritations will start. Over time, they'll turn into big ones and, pretty soon, there's a problem. It always happens."

  Christian shrugged. "Well, you can't stop progress."

  Jim nodded slowly. "Isn't it interesting that a part of people's progress is always problems?"

  "It's why we always had jobs."

  Jim heeled Ghost to head down the hill. "That's the truth."

  They entered town on South Street, watching workers putting the final touches on the community hall. Work had started on the buildings along the southern and eastern sides of the square, though the work had slowed a bit due to crews being pulled from town to build the trading posts. A group of boys rough-housed on the community hall lawn and two older men sat on a recently placed bench, talking. A cob truck entered the square to deliver its load to a building crew.

  "Getting to be a real Mayberry, isn't it?" said Christian.

  Jim laughed. "Yeah, or Dodge City. I don't know whether to expect Barney or Festus to come along."

  Christian smiled. "You want to pop into the Inn for some lunch?"

  Jim looked up at the sun. "It's a little early, but I could use something. You buying?"

  Christian laughed. "Sure."

  "Good. Let's put 'em up and have a bite. Then we'll walk around town a bit."

  They stabled their horses with Cesar in order to keep them off the street and entered the Jamestown Inn through the back door.

  The large dining room was cooler than outside, and most of the tables were empty since it was slightly before lunchtime. Nodding to several early diners as they passed, they took a table in a back corner where they could both sit with their backs to a wall.

  Jim raised his chin toward the bar. "Isn't that the girl we brought back to the compound with her daughter?"

  Christian looked at a girl at the bar filling a basket with biscuits. "Yeah," he nodded. "Jenny. She started working here last week."

  "Is she still living up in a cabin?"

  Christian nodded. "Uh-huh."

  "Who's watching her little girl?"

  "She drops her off at a neighbor's house when she gets to town in the morning and picks her up when she gets off."

  "Does the neighbor have kids her age?"

  "No. I think they have a baby. Jenny kind of knew them when she lived here."

  Jim watched the girl working. "So, her daughter has to spend the whole day with somebody else and no kids her age?"

  "Yep."

  Jim shook his head. "That's how it started before. Single mothers having to work, and their kids being watched and raised by other people."

  Christian shrugged. "That's about the best she can do. She doesn't have a husband, so she has to work."

  Jim took off his hat and set it in the chair next to him, allowing his head to feel the coolness of the room. "There's got to be a better way."

  They watched as Jenny turned from the bar and brought the basket of biscuits to their table.

  "Hi, guys," she said with a bright smile, setting the basket on the table. "How are you today?"

  "We're fine, Jenny," said Jim. "How are you?"

  "I'm good.” She shrugged. “Still trying to get the hang of things around here."

  "How long have you been working here?"

  She folded her hands in front of her. "About a week."

  "And how is Jennifer?"

  Jenny smiled at the sound of her daughter's name. "She's fine. We like it in the cabin, and a friend watches her during the day while I work."

  Jim looked at her thoughtfully. "That's got to be hard on both of you, being apart all day."

  Jenny nodded, looking down, her smile fading. "It is. I hate being away from her, and she doesn't like it either, but I'm just glad I have a job."

  She looked back up at him. "And thank you again for letting us stay in a cabin. We really like it there."

  Jim smiled at her. "Good. I'm glad things are working out. What's on the menu today?"

  Jenny straightened up and squared her shoulders. "For lunch, we have four tacos for a credit, a chicken salad sandwich on a hoagie bun with coleslaw for a credit, or a barbecue beef sandwich on a hoagie bun with baked beans and slaw for two credits."

  Jim chuckled. "I was ordering barbecue when this whole thing started. I think I'll have that for luck and old time's sake."

  "Same for me," said Christian.

  "Okay," Jennie nodded, smiling. “You all want water or coffee or both?"

  "Both, please," said Jim.

  "Same, please," smiled Christian.

  "Okay. Be back in a minute."

  They watched her walk away as a group of four men entered the dining room and took a table near the bar.

  "She seems like a good kid," said Jim.

  "Yeah, she does. I hope things work out for her."

  Jim watched her turning in their order. "Me too."

  He turned back to Christian. "So, do you have a list of everything to stock the trading posts with when they're finished?"

  Christian nodded. "Kelly's working on it and I think she's about done."

  Jim looked up as Jenny set their waters and coffees on the table, nodding his thanks, then took a drink from his water glass. "Good. What kind of things are you putting in them?"

  "Mainly clothing and drugstore stuff like soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, mouthwash, razors and shaving cream, and all of the other things like that they've been out of for a while. But we'll also take orders for things."

  Jim nodded. "How are you handling trade and payments?"

  Christian took a sip of his coffee. "Kelly set all of that up, and it's pretty slick."

  He looked toward the group of four men, one of who had just yelled something at Jenny, then continued. "Most of our items will be small stuff. There may be small things they have that we could use and can make pretty close trades for, but a lot of their trades are probably going to be big - like livestock."

  They looked toward the door as it opened, and two more groups came in and sat down.

  "So, how are you handling the big stuff?" asked Jim.

  "That's the slick part," said Christian. "Say a guy brings in a cow, a horse, whatever. Those are things we can use, so we offer him an amount in credits and those credits are on the books for him to use however he wants for as long as they last."

  Jim took a sip of his coffee and nodded. "That's a good system."

  Christian leaned back in his chair. "And here's where it really gets good. Now, say the guy with some cows wants to buy one of Sean's buggies, but Sean doesn't want cows. What's he going to do with cows, right? So, the guy sells his cows to us for credits, gives those credits to Sean for a buggy, and now Sean has those credits to spend here."

  Jim looked at him with a sly smile. "Kelly put that together?"

  Christian leaned forward and nodded. "Yep."

  He smiled. "You really married her for her smarts, didn't you?"

  Jim chuckled. "Nah, I married her 'cause she was hot."

  Christian leaned back again and laughed.

  "You two must be having a good day, with all of your laughing," said Mrs. Hernandez, smiling, as she walked up to their table. "How good it is to see the two of you."

  Jim smiled up at her. "How are you, Mrs. Hernandez?"

  "I am very well, thank you, Mr. Wyatt."

  She held a white envelope to him. "This came for you on today's shuttle from Sheriff Freelove. I was going to send it up to you, but here you are."

  Jim took t
he envelope from her and looked at it. It was addressed to him personally and bore the official return stamp of the Osage County Sheriff's Office.

  "Thank you, Mrs. Hernandez. How is Jenny doing?"

  She looked toward the bar where Jenny was getting water for the table of four men.

  "She's doing very well. She's a nice girl and a hard worker. People like her."

  "Do you think you could get by with her only working half-days?"

  She shrugged. "Sure. I always have people wanting to work. Why do you ask?"

  Jim tossed the envelope on the table and leaned back in his chair. "She has to leave her daughter at someone's house during the day while she's working, and I don't like them having to be apart that much."

  Mrs. Hernandez shook her head. "No, that's not good. Children should not be taken care of by strangers."

  He nodded. "So, I was thinking that if I could find something for her at our place in the mornings, then let her daughter stay with our kids while she comes here in the afternoons, it would be better for them. At least until school starts, and, of course, if it wouldn't put you in a bind."

  She looked toward where Jenny was placing the glasses of water on the table for the men and nodded. "I think that would be good.”

  She nodded toward the table Jenny was serving. “Do you know those men?"

  Jim shook his head. "No." He looked at Christian. "You?"

  "Nope."

  "I don't like them," she said. "They've already said bad things to Jenny twice."

  Christian looked at the men more closely. They were rough looking, wearing a mixture of denim and camo. Three of them were talking and laughing loudly while one sat silent. "If you don't like them, tell them to leave."

  "Can I do that?"

  "Sure. It's your place."

  She looked back at the men for a moment. "We will see. You enjoy your lunch. And please give my best to Mrs. Wyatt."

  Jim smiled. "We will, Mrs. Hernandez. Thank you."

  Christian nodded toward the envelope. "What's that?"

  Jim picked up the envelope. "I don't know. Let's find out."

  Tearing it open, he withdrew a piece of paper and read for a minute, then handed it to Christian.

  Christian read the letter and looked up. "They want to re-establish the state of Kansas?"

  Jim took a sip of coffee. "Looks like it."

  Christian looked back at the letter. "Do you want to go to this thing in Topeka?"

  Jim thought for a moment while he sipped his coffee. "Yeah, we'd better. I don't want a bunch of people I don't know making decisions that could affect us without being there to see what's going on."

  Christian handed the letter back. "What do you think about the idea?"

  "Here you go guys," Jenny said as she set their plates down in front of them. "Can I get you anything else?"

  Jim shook his head. "I think we're fine, Jenny. Thanks."

  "Okay," she smiled. “Let me know. I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

  They nodded to her as she turned away.

  Jim took another sip of his coffee. "I guess it's as good an idea as any. Things are going to start coming together again in one way or another. Resurrecting a state makes as much sense as anything else, I guess."

  Christian nodded. "I suppose there ..."

  "Stop it!" cried Jenny, dropping a tray of glasses as she backed away from the table of four men.

  One of the men shoved his chair back and stuck his leg across the aisle between the tables, barring Jenny's path. "What's wrong, honey," he laughed. "I was just givin' you a friendly pat on the butt."

  Jim and Christian rose from their chairs, Jim angling toward the door.

  "That's right, sweetheart," leered one of the other men. "It's been a while since we've seen a pretty little thing like you."

  Christian walked up behind the man with his leg stuck out. "You men get up and get out."

  The man turned his head lazily around, as if looking for something. "You guys hear something? I thought I heard a little mouse or something."

  Two of the men laughed while the quiet, older one looked at Christian with cold blue eyes.

  "There's some guy standing behind you Johnny," the older man smiled.

  Johnny kept turning his head until he locked eyes with Christian. "Well, there sure is something here, but I don't think it's a man."

  He squinted and leaned toward Christian a bit as if studying him.

  "Nope, it ain't a man. I think it’s a mouse. A big mouse, but still a mouse."

  The quiet man studied Christian while the other two snickered.

  "The trouble is, mouse," said Johnny, "that I don't speak mouse. So, you better scurry away before I squish you."

  "Get up," said Christian quietly as Jim slid his revolver into his hand and held it next to his leg.

  Johnny looked at his friends, snickering. "Boys, I think the mouse is askin' me to dance."

  "I don't think he's gonna’ like how you dance with him,” laughed one of the men.

  "Well, let's just see," said Johnny, pushing himself up out of his chair.

  He stood up to his full height, hitched up his pants and smiled. "Now, mouse, I'm gonna give you about two seconds to scurry back into your little mouse hole before I stomp you into a puddle."

  Christian looked at the man, about two inches taller than his own six foot two. "Okay. One, two."

  Johnny looked confused at Christian's counting, then blinked and brought his hands up to block Christian's left jab that he didn't realize was a faint. His scream covered the sounds of the tendons and ligaments around his left knee snapping as Christian drove a kick through it and he collapsed to the floor writhing in pain and gasping for breath.

  The quiet man put his hand on the arm of one of the other men who started to get up and nodded toward Jim, who was pointing his revolver at them.

  Christian looked at the man on the floor, then at the others. "Get up, leave a tip for the waitress and get out."

  "Why should we tip the waitress?" demanded one of the men. "We didn't get nothin'!"

  Christian looked at the man. "For the trouble you caused." He placed his hand on his pistol. "Do as I say. Now."

  The men looked at the quiet one, who continued to look at Jim.

  "This can get worse," said Jim, holding the large handgun steady on the men.

  The man gave a brief nod. Slowly reaching into his pocket, he took out some coins. He tossed one onto the table. "Silver," he said.

  Jim shook his head. "Not good for anything around here."

  Christian approached Johnny, who was holding his knee between his hands, trembling and sucking in short gasps of air.

  Shoving him over, Christian quickly frisked him and removed a Glock 19 from his pants. "This will do. It'll give her something to shoot the next moron with."

  He stuck the Glock in his belt and motioned to the man on the floor. "Get him up and get out of here."

  The leader nodded at the two other men, who got up, moved around the table and struggled to get their friend to his feet.

  "You didn't have to break his leg," growled one of the men. "He was just havin' a little fun."

  "Stop," said Christian, holding up his hand.

  The men froze, eyeing Christian carefully.

  "Now, you have to pay the stupid tax."

  "Stupid tax?" whined the other man. "What's that?"

  Christian moved around behind the first man, making sure he didn't get in Jim's line of fire. "Your friend was stupid enough to think I'm stupid. Life puts all sorts of taxes on stupidity, which I'm sure you all are familiar with. Today, I'm the collector."

  He put his hand on the man's shoulder. "You take your hands off your friend or move a hair on your head and you're next. Comprende?"

  The man scowled but nodded.

  Christian patted the man down and took a Ruger .357 magnum revolver from a waist holster under his shirt. He moved around and patted the other man down, finding nothing, then looked at th
e quiet man. "You haven't done anything or said anything, and I figure you're the boss who needs the gun I'm sure you have in order to keep control of these idiots, so I'll let you keep yours." He motioned with the Ruger. "Now get up and let's go."

  The man gave a slight smile and pushed his chair back, then rose to his feet slowly. He looked from Christian to Jim and back again. His smile grew bigger, but his eyes were cold. "Are you the law in this town?" he asked quietly.

  "I'm as close to it as we need. Let's go."

  The man nodded and kept smiling, turning toward the door. "Let's go, boys. We're not going to finish this today."

  He led the others out, the injured man supported by the other two, crossed through the courtyard and walked into the street where he opened the passenger door of an old, dusty, mustard-colored Mercury Grand Marquis with a torn brown vinyl top and two missing wheel covers. He waited as the two other men got the third into the backseat, then turned around to face Christian. "What's your name?" he asked.

  Christian knew the game and recognized the threat. He looked in the man's eyes and smiled. "The day I tell you my name is the day you'll die."

  The man looked at him for another moment, then turned away and got into the car.

  The car started and backed away from the wall, then drove slowly down the street and turned toward the main road.

  Christian motioned over two scouts on dirt bikes.

  "Follow them. See where they go."

  25

  "If they're talking about reconstituting the state of Kansas, they're really talking about creating a country," said Bill as he spooned honeyed yams onto his plate. "In the absence of a larger political entity within which it intends to be a part, it is sovereign unto itself. The only question is whether they intend it to be a nation-state or simply a country - or whether they intend this as a first step toward a confederation of states of which they hope to be a part."

  The core had gathered on the main house veranda for dinner at Jim's invitation, and he had read Freelove's letter to them after grace.

  "What's the difference between a country and a nation-state?" asked Tom.

  Bill finished chewing the piece of steak in his mouth. "A country is essentially just a geographical area under the political authority of a government, whether that governing authority is of representative form or not." He took a sip of water. "A nation-state, on the other hand, includes elements of shared identity, especially language, a common culture, religion and often race."