“Gina, we have to stop. Lucy can’t handle this pace.”
Gina pulled Sailor down to a walk and then let him stop. He was more than ready for a rest. Journey and Lucy pulled to a stop beside her. Gina saw from Lucy’s pinched white face and clenched jaw that something was indeed wrong.
“Lucy, what’s wrong? I’m sorry for the pace, but I wanted to get us away from there. Are you okay?”
Lucy nodded without saying anything. It was obvious she was lying.
“Dammit Lucy, we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s wrong.” Then Gina remembered how much attention Lucy was giving her knee earlier. “Is it your knee? Does your leg hurt?”
Lucy nodded and massaged her limb. Through clenched teeth, she told them, “The socket that goes over my stump has probably rubbed my leg raw. I just know I can’t keep up this pace unless one of you has some good drugs.”
Gina smiled sadly and shook her head, “Sorry, none here.”
“Like you would take them if we had some. You forget girlfriend, we know you too well. You haven’t taken more than an aspirin since we’ve known you.”
“Well, I hate to sully my reputation, but right now I would take anything.”
“Do you want to stop and remove it?”
“That’s probably not a good idea. If it swells up, she won’t get it back on.” Gina looked at where Lucy sat hunched over her knee. “Lucy, can you stand it until we stop for the night?”
Lucy’s head snapped up, “What do you mean stop for the night? How are we going to stop for the night? We don’t have our sleeping bags or anything. Let’s go all the way,” Lucy was yelling and angry by the time she quit talking.
Gina frowned at Lucy and Lucy had the grace to look embarrassed. Lucy never yelled, and that in itself spoke volumes. Gina was pretty sure what they needed to do, but it was up to all of them to decide.
“Journey? Can you do this? Lucy’s right. We don’t even have warm jackets, and it feels like it’s going to get cold tonight. At least moving will keep us warm.”
“How much farther to the service road?”
“Maybe a mile and then another five up the road. Gina looked at her watch, “We could be there in two hours maybe a little less. These guys are getting tired too, but they can rest up tomorrow.”
Lucy picked her reins up and nudged Joe to a slow trot. “Let’s go,” she flung over her shoulder.
Journey and Gina exchanged looks and hurried to catch up to Lucy. The forestry road was closer than Gina had thought and they reached it within fifteen minutes. Lucy didn’t slow Joe down, but continued up the gravel road. The horses were still moving well, at least they weren’t stumbling with fatigue, so Gina left it to Lucy to set the pace.
Lucy had been around the horses and knew Joe well enough to know when he’d had enough.
As she rode, Gina thought about what they had learned. She knew next to nothing about solar flares or the repercussions from one.
While the man had given them some information, it had been just enough to make Gina wonder how it could have gotten so bad so quickly. She suspected the man and his group had to have had some form of communication for them to know anything.
Sailor had slowed his pace when a rock caused him to stumble, and Gina knew it was past time to call for a halt. Not only could they not treat one of the horses if they sprained an ankle or pulled a tendon, but they also had no means to put shoes back on them either.
“That’s it, guys. We need to give the horses a break,” she called out. Then she realized she hadn’t heard them in a few minutes. She had been so lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t know when Sailor had slowed down or how far behind them she was. It seemed to her as if they had been at a mind-numbing trot for hours.
She came around a bend in the road and less than a quarter mile in front of her she saw both Lucy and Journey sitting on the side of the road. Both horses were standing with their heads down, and Joe was picking at the grass.
She bailed off Sailor as soon as they got close and pulled his bridle off to let him pick at the grass if he wanted.
She flopped onto the dirt beside Journey, who was occupied helping Lucy with her prosthetic. Journey was rolling the sock back on Lucy’s limb, and from the pained expression on Lucy’s face, it had to be hurting her.
“You okay Lucy? I knew we should have stopped earlier.”
“No, she’s not okay. We should have stayed here in the first place, but, oh no, we had to ride down to find help. And did we? Not even no, but hell no we didn’t. Now her leg is swollen, and we can’t put her prosthetic back on.” Journey hung her head as soon as the last word passed her lips and began to cry.
Lucy reached out for her friend, but Journey stumbled to her feet and ran to where Bess was trailing her lead rope.
In the dim light, Gina could see that whether, from the pain or their situation, moonlight glistened off her shiny eyes. To confirm, Lucy sniffed.
“What now?” Lucy choked out. “What’s going to happen to us?”
Gina cocked her head sideways, “Nothing’s going to happen to us. We are going to do what we always do. We are going to survive. Right now, our primary concern is getting you back to the truck then we’ll worry tomorrow about what to do.”
“Sorry about that. I guess it just hit me all at once,” Journey said as she sat back down. “This whole thing feels like a dream and I need to wake up.”
“We all couldn’t be sharing the same dream,” Lucy said and finished pulling the sock back on her leg.
“We can lift you on to Joe, and we can lead the horses for a while. I could use the walk.” Gina rubbed her throbbing lower back muscles. “We need to get back to the truck, get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow we can make some plans.”
Journey picked up Lucy’s prosthetic and tied it behind her saddle. Gina helped Lucy to stand on one leg and hopped her over to Joe. Journey took Joe’s bridle off the saddle horn and slipped it over his head.
Standing one on each side of Lucy with Lucy’s arms draped over their shoulders, they all realized there was no way for Lucy to stand on her short leg and put her other foot in her stirrup. She couldn’t have gotten on no matter which leg she had lost.
Lucy looked from Journey to Gina and began to laugh. Hesitant at first, Gina tried not to laugh as did Journey, but soon they all were. For a minute, they would get it under control and then look at each other. As if the looks were the fuse, they would begin again. Finally, Lucy slid to the ground. Gina, no longer having to support Lucy, walked away to get control of herself.
“Doggone that felt good. I know we have no reason to be laughing, and if I thought about it, there’s not anything the least bit funny, but oh man it sure feels good.”
“I’m sure Gina and I would agree with you, but it’s better than crying. I’m afraid if I start, I won’t ever stop.”
“Laughing?” Journey said with a snicker. She was laying on her back with her eyes closed.
“Crying. My leg hurts so bad I can’t think right now. But, if you guys can help me on Joe, we can at least have somewhere to sleep tonight besides on the side of this road.”
Gina walked back, and this time, She and Journey physically lifted Lucy up and on his back. He didn’t so much as move a muscle even though both Journey and Gina were using his big body for support while they lifted Lucy. He seemed to understand the severity of their situation.
“I think I can handle this if we just walk them. I let my leg hang out of the stirrup most of the time anyhow.”
Gina rode in front with Journey riding beside Lucy. She let Sailor pick his own way as long as he was going up the hill.
“Has anyone thought what we can do? Myself, I don’t believe that we should be going to Spokane even if the truck did run.”
“I was thinking about what Gina said about them having a working radio. I think they probably do. Who else but someone who knew what they were doing, would have camo paint and a rifle like he had?”
“I
’ve heard there is a whole prepper community somewhere here in Idaho. Or maybe they call themselves Militia, but I’ve heard there is one. If those guys are part of it, I bet they are a whole lot more prepared than only a radio.”
“Journey, remember when you and I took the horses up to Kootenai National Forest and that bunch of people we met?
“When we went to Libby and they wanted us to move up there and be a part of their clan? Those people?”
Gina cringed with the memory, “I guess they have the last laugh, don’t they? At the time, I figured they were a bunch of conspiracy nut-jobs. But, they did leave the invitation open if we ever changed our minds. Do you think it’s too late?”
“Well, if that means, can we ride there before the snow hits, then yes it’s too late. If you mean would they still welcome us? Probably we would still be welcome, even if this didn’t happen. I kept in touch with David via the internet and the last thing he asked me, was if we had considered coming back for a visit.”
“That’s probably because you both have specific skills and if that guy down below is right, your talents would be needed. Now myself, not so much. Unless they can find something for a one-legged has-been to do.”
Gina pulled Sailor to an abrupt stop, and Joe had to move over to keep from walking into the back end of him. She turned in her saddle to face Lucy, who was now on her right side. “That’s enough of a pity party. Where we go, you go, and if that’s not acceptable, then we don’t stay. Besides, that leg doesn’t change the way you shoot. With long pants on no one even knows you’re handicapped.”
“Yeah, you shoot better than most of the guys we know, and a hell of a lot better than either of us, and we have never considered you handicapped ever!”
“I just don’t want to be a burden for anyone. You two included, but right now I feel handicapped. I don’t suppose either of you has any aspirin or Tylenol.”
“Not with me…wait a minute, let me look.” Journey turned and reached down to unbuckle her saddle bag. After some rummaging, she pulled out a tiny white metal box. “I had forgotten all about this. I’m not even sure what’s in it, a patient gave it in a gift basket when he left us.”
Journey held up a small plastic envelope, “Ha! I believe this to be aspirin.”
Gina offered the last few swallows of water from her water bottle. “I don’t know why you don’t carry painkillers with you. You know if we are in the saddle all day you end up hurting.”
“I have some for emergencies, but I really don’t want to take them.”
“You never have told us about your aversion to pain meds. Do they upset your stomach or what?”
Lucy put the two tablets on her tongue and chased them with the last of Gina’s water. “It’s a long story, but I come from a long line of addicts, and it’s my way of not following in their footsteps.”
Sailor stopped, and Gina looked up to find the pickup truck sitting right where they’d left it. Journey and Lucy were both slumped in their saddles, and she suspected they had all nodded off for the last mile or so.
“Wake up ladies. Let’s get these poor animals some food and us some sleep.”
By the time they had gotten Lucy off of Joe and situated her on the tailgate, Gus had come braying through the brush. It was obvious he was as happy to see them as they were to see him. He ran straight to Journey and rubbed his big head all over her.
“Dammit Gus…let me do this,” then she stopped measuring the feed and gave his ears a scratch. “I’m glad to see you too,” she mumbled wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Journey, I’m going to take two buckets down the hill and bring the horses water. Can you put our stuff away and throw the hobbles on them for tonight?”
“Why hobble them? They can get their own water if we just turn them loose.”
“Do you want to take the chance they’ll still be here in the morning? I know Sailor will come to my whistle, but we are all aware how hard it is to catch Bess. So, are you sure you want to do that?”
Journey groaned, “No, I guess not.”
By the time Gina struggled back up the hill through the brush, she had less than a full bucket between the two. She gave each of the three horses an equal share, or as fair as she could judge it in the dark. Journey had already hung full hay nets from three D-rings. Gus had sidled up beside Bess and was quietly munching the hay.
Gina couldn’t handle another night sleeping in the cramped driver's seat so she flipped up the center console so Journey could lay across the full front seat.
With Journey stretched out in the front seat and Lucy in the back, Gina spread her sleeping bag out on top of the hay. In spite of being dead tired, she tossed and turned. It wasn’t that she couldn’t get her body comfortable, but she couldn’t slow her mind down.
Her thoughts were on what the guy at the bottom of the hill had told them. She wondered how many people there were down there and if they were some of the looters and killers he had told them about. She wondered if he would tell his friends about them and if they would try to find them.
Right then, she decided they couldn’t trust anyone. Gina lay awake until almost dawn mulling ideas around. She finally decided on a course of action and would put the plan before Lucy and Journey as soon as they woke up.
She watched the last of the stars blink out and closed her eyes.
Chapter six…………Building a travois
Birds chirped, and for an instant, Gina couldn’t place where she was. She opened her eyes to a baby-blue sky framed by branches of yellow and red leaves. A light breeze made them dance and sway above her head. Inside her sleeping bag, she was warm, but outside of it, she could feel the crisp morning air on her exposed face.
The familiar fragrance of coffee drifted by and she realized not only was someone up before her, but they must have built a fire and made the brew.
Reaching down to the bottom of her bag, Gina pulled out the hooded sweatshirt she had put there the night before. Waking up to damp clothing was the only part of camping that she didn’t care for. Normally their clothing was either in their tent or in the tack room.
“Time to get up, sleepyhead. No way are you getting to sleep all day while we do all the work.”
“I’m up,” Gina said and pulled the sweatshirt on and zipped it. Her boots, that she had pushed under the hay tarp were soon on her feet, and she was ready to climb down.
Lucy’s leg must have felt better, she was up and walking around. Journey had built a small fire ring out of rocks, and their steel grate sat on top of the rocks with their blackened coffee pot perking on the middle of it.
Lucy had gathered more small branches and twigs. She laid them by the fire ring and sat in one of their folding chairs.
Gina stepped off the road and down behind some brush to relieve herself. As she came back to the road, she saw Journey and Lucy sitting by the fire waiting for her. She frowned, tilted her head to listen and looked around.
“Where are the horses?” She looked at her watch, “Are you kidding me?” She looked at her friends, “You let me sleep until noon?”
“We didn’t let…you do anything. We’ve been making enough noise to wake the dead, but you were all burrowed down in that bag of yours, and I guess you didn’t hear us.”
“Journey took the horses down to the creek and re-hobbled them so they could eat and get their own water.”
Gina almost blurted out, about giving them hay or pellets when she remembered how much they had and how long it might have to last.
“Gina, we know you tossed and turned all night because we felt you. Every time you moved you rocked the pickup.”
“Sorry, I was trying to make sense of everything we learned yesterday and trying to figure out what we should do."
“Well, we have a few ideas of our own that we’ve been talking about too,” Journey told her as she set three plastic bowls on the now open tailgate. She poured a few cheerios into each bowl and added a measure of milk. A bowl in each hand, Journey
gave them to Gina and Lucy. Getting the last bowl she came and sat in her chair.
“Eat first and then talk?”
Lucy and Journey already had their mouths full and nodded yes. As she ate, Gina studied her friends, wondering if they realized the danger they were in. Journey was their dreamer, while Lucy was their strength and Gina knew that they both considered her their realist. Gina kept them grounded, and she almost hated to tell them what she thought, but she couldn’t see another way.
Gina tipped her bowl up and drained the last of the fresh milk and set the empty bowl on the ground beside her chair. Leaning forward to stare into the fire, she rested her elbows on her knees and clasped her hands. She sat like that until Lucy and Journey set their dishes aside.
When she looked up, she saw she had the attention of both women. The birds were still chirping, and the breeze still rustled the leaves, and in the distance, they could hear the horses as they grazed. Normal everyday sounds as if no one but her, knew how different and challenging their lives were going to get.
She sighed heavily and studied her hands. “If that guy is to be believed, and I for one do believe him, we are in big trouble right now. I don’t think going home is even an option for us. If what he said about Spokane is true, there’s nothing to go back to.” She looked up, and both Journey and Lucy were watching her and nodding.
“We don’t want to go back either,” Lucy said. “If we could even get there.”
“Okay then. The way I see it, we need to find somewhere to hole up in until spring. I was thinking maybe that old mine or cave that we found. It would put us at a lower elevation and on the downhill side of this mountain.”
“There was that small meadow not far from there, and I bet that creek runs year around,” Journey contributed.
“You mean when it’s not buried under ice?”
Journey slapped at Lucy, “Don’t be such a pessimist. We have to think and plan with a positive attitude.”
Beyond the New Horizon Page 4