by Sally Six
Time was up and Bert slipped in to make sure his grandmother and sister, Tammy, were awake to relieve them. His grandmother was getting Tammy up and was ready to go out so she walked out and relieved David. It would only be for two hours then they would all be up, but David thought that was better than nothing.
David woke up later and turned to see Duke sitting on the sofa putting on his well wore dark brown cowboy boots. He smelled food cooking and sat up.
Duke looked at him. “How did your guard shift go last night?”
“No problems. It was nice and quiet.”
He moaned some as he rolled up his sleeping bag. He wasn’t used to all this ground and floor sleeping.
Duke grinned. “I like the hard floor. My bunks real nice and hard too.”
From the kitchen. “Ok you two stop you’re gabbing and come and eat.”
It was Carla and Tammy was helping get the plates and silverware out.
Carla was taking scrambled eggs and ham TVP (textured vegetable protein) off the Coleman stove. David felt a cool breeze and saw the kitchen window was open a bit. Funny he had been so hungry last night that he hadn’t even noticed that.
“How did you keep these eggs for so long” He had noticed they didn’t have chickens. “Did you keep them in the spring?”
Carla answered. “No, but I sure wish we could have done that. These happen to be powdered eggs.”
Reece decided about five years ago that he didn’t like the way things were going in the world. So after he bought this place he bought grains, beans, rice and dried foods. We kept some at home and some up here. So we can feed ourselves and contribute to the ranch when we get there. I didn’t see his point of view at first. The more that I saw happening in the world after he pointed things out to me. The more I thought he wasn’t nuts after all.”
Reece was walking into the kitchen at this point.
“You mean you finally approve, Carla? I think I will faint.”
He put the back of his right hand to his head and staggered around a little.
Carla rolled her eyes. “You call your daughter a smart aleck. Now I know where she gets it from.”
Reece was chuckling by now and so was Carla. The kids were walking into the kitchen and asking. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh your father is just trying not to faint.” Carla laughed some more at the looks on their faces.
Tammy was heard saying out loud. “Old people are weird.”
That brought even more laughing by the old folks.
“Time for us to say goodbye,” said David after breakfast. “We sure are thankful for the dinner and breakfast. We will be back in three or four days if not sooner. We have to be onto the next place which I think is the last home to check.”
They all shook hands and wished each other good luck after the horses were all saddled. Then Duke and David got on their way.
After riding another forty minutes, they did a repeat of getting off their horses and walking in and around the house. They found no one home, but the place had been ransacked.
Duke who was standing beside David said. “This must be where those guys got the jewelry. At least I hope it is. We best be getting back to the ranch. We can take this road around and down. It brings us right back near the ranch.”
It was just a dirt road, unimproved, but it worked for the people up here.
Before three hours were up, they were nearing the turn off for the ranch. David felt like he had been gone for more than just two days. It didn’t really seem possible that it really had been such a short time. Thirty minutes later they were stopped at a gate at the front of the ranch. That gate hadn’t been there when they left. A very heavy well-made gate that looked to David that it was made out of galvanized pipe.
“Is that what I think it is?” He said as he looked to Duke.
“Yes, David it sure is. That was one of our plans. Your grandfather collected scrap pipe for this very thing. There will be one at the back of the ranch also. As you notice the fencing may be painted brown but it isn’t wood.”
Duke leaned over and rang a bell that was hanging off to the right side on a post.
No, David hadn’t noticed that fact. He had just assumed it was wood. He hadn’t even really looked to see that it was round and had joints like pipe would have.
“We have been working on this for years. I know you noticed the ranch proper was all fenced in and the corrals then additional fencing after that. We can’t do the whole ranch of course because that’s 15,000 acres. I guess we should have talked more on this trip. Your grandfather has had us dig foxholes and a few bunkers here and there around the ranch also. There are maps at both the bunkhouse and the main house. You had to have seen it as you came in right by the front door. We won’t be using this bell long to announce someone is at the gate long either. I don’t think so anyway. It’s way too loud. In fact, I am surprised there isn’t a guard here.”
“Yes I did see a paper with x’s and squares, but I never bothered to ask what it was. I guess I will now.”
“That’s partly our fault too David. We were so busy trying to bring you and your family up to speed on things and teaching you to shoot that we just took some things for granted. I best talk to Theodore about this.”
They saw Juan headed down from the bunkhouse with rifle in hand. A set of binoculars was hanging around his neck. He waved to them and they both waved back. Olive was stepping down off the porch. He could tell it was her even from here. She had on her favorite green flannel shirt of late, one of his. They went straight to the horse trough which was close to the horse corral and started to take the saddles off the horses and let them drink. They hadn’t been ridden hard so it wouldn’t hurt the horses to have a drink right now. Olive came near and threw her arms around David.
“Oh David it felt like you had been gone forever. I was so worried.”
“Olive it’s not like I haven’t been gone from you before for a couple of days.”
She raised her head and looked up into his eyes. “David it’s different now. You never know what you will find out there or who. They may ambush you to take what they want. Now it is so very hard to wait at home while you’re away. I could hardly believe how I felt myself, but the way things are really sank in while I was waiting for you to come home.”
With the horses taken care of, Duke said he would put them in the corral, the saddles in the tack room and brush the horses down. David took his saddlebag and Olive by the hand and headed up to the house. He did notice around the back of the house on the left side that a mound of logs had been built like the kind you could hide behind. The mound was about four feet high, give or take a few inches. That also was new.
That afternoon they gathered together, that is whoever wasn’t keeping an eye on things outside. They would be filled in later about what went on during Duke and David’s trip into the mountains above them.
Granddad O’Dell was happy to hear of the two families that would be joining them, but he had hoped more had been home to be able to do so. Maybe they would just have to go further afield. The whole family was shocked to hear of the Porter family being attacked and David and Duke taking out the bad guys. David didn’t mention the interest of Bert Porter either. He thought he would just let Bert be a surprise to Kate.
Duke also explained that he thought they best tell the family what all was at the ranch and around it. Where supplies were buried and the covered foxholes and bunkers were. Gramps thought that was a good thing to do. They would have a better tour of the ranch at verbally and what was in each building before the evening was out. Then they all broke for chores, dinner started and to get things ready to head out in the morning with three wagons.
Chapter 21
Capture
Gramps was having David go back up so the folks up there in the mountains would have a familiar face. Juan would drive a wagon and so would the boys Tyler and William. They would be trading off and on driving the wagon and riding a spare horse. Juan had t
hem practicing driving a team of horses as well as their weapons while their dad was away. David was the green horn at it. When it was his turn, it showed. Olive was sitting beside David on the buckboard. Gramps hadn’t assigned her to go but when he said who was going she chimed in all ready to go, small pack and all.
Olive stated, “I’m going too. No way that I am staying behind this time. Not with my husband and boys going along. No way.”
Gramps tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Gramps gave up and remembered to tell David and Olive that the folks might not need to bring beds. There were three in each cabin, but if they had more to bed down bring an extra bed. They already had sofas, chairs and tables in the cabins.
The wagons pulled out at 6:00 AM in the morning. Gramps thought the sooner that they got those folks down to the ranch the better, especially if the attacks had already begun.
That left very few at the ranch and they wouldn’t get as much done. Those at home could continue reinforcing the fence line with heavier pipe and painting it. Making sure those bunkers and foxholes had the supplies that were needed in them along with the regular chores.
The bunkers were 8 feet by 10 feet. The height in the center was 6 feet. They were rounded and sloped down. They were covered with dirt so they looked like small hills that blended in with the other real hills in the landscape. They had been lined with boards that had been water proofed and there was camouflage netting over the guns and look out slots. Rifles, ammunition, water, food, a couple blankets and small propane stoves with camping cookware were the name of the day in them. Don’t forget the corner five gallon bucket with a lug-a-b-loo toilet seat snapped onto it.
The foxholes weren’t quite as nice but better than just an open hole. Gramps had the holes partly covered on two ends with camouflage netting and the middle with plywood and rebar with a 2 inch layer of concrete over part of it to be able to stay out of the weather. Then some dirt placed on top planted with plants and grass like the bunkers. They were slightly raised and you could see out and put a gun out all along the front and side the sides. If need be there was a hinged area in the back that could be opened to either shoot from or escape. They were 8 feet by 8 feet and had been dug five feet down. So they weren’t real tiny and could hold some supplies including a toilet bucket.
Riding on the buckboard and helping put supplies in the bunkers and foxholes Kate was thinking about what she had to do for the day. She would have her normal chores now and a few more with Olive being gone. But at least there were fewer to cook for. Gramps helped out with that. It wouldn’t be for very long as the others would be back before many days passed. Duke and Kate were riding on a small horse drawn wagon with supplies. They were going from foxhole to foxhole and the bunkers making sure the supplies in them were still okay.
The day wasn’t bad as the temperature was in the 50’s. It was partly cloudy with a slight wind making a nice semi warm day. They weren’t finding many things that had to be replaced in the bunkers and foxholes, thank goodness. An animal had managed to get in one and had made a mess. It had somehow gotten a plastic bin open and eaten some of the less well wrapped foods and a couple of MRE’s. It took about 45 minutes to clean it up and get things replaced and then on to the next one.
Gramps and Red were building more log barriers at places around the main house and the ranch yard at different places like the bunkhouse and the cabins that looked like old sheds. They didn’t want the buildings to stand out so they also built a few barriers by the barn and corrals. All together there were fourteen log barriers. Each barrier was 10 foot long and 4 feet to 5 feet high depending on how thick the logs were. They had 2’x4’ supports holding them up. They had driven for each barrier 4-6 foot 2’x4’s into the ground 12 inches apart at two ends. They had slipped the logs in-between the 2x4’s so that they wouldn’t have to worry about holding them there with long nails and making it more complicated. Duke and Kate had headed to the bunkers after the others had left for the mountains and loading the wagon. Now it was almost noon.
Gramps thought the two should be back shortly. They showed up around 1:00 PM and told him all the foxholes and bunkers had been fine but one. That an animal had gotten into it. Gramps had already stopped and made lunch. He and Red were eating when Duke and Kate got back. So gramps held off getting back to work while Red went out and did a look see making sure there was no one around that shouldn’t be. Red would hear later what had happened. They had kind of done away with a constant guard while they were so short of people. They prayed that for the short time they had to do with constant guards that they would be alright. That’s how the day went on the ranch plus taking care of the animals and seeing to them.
***
Meanwhile on the road.
David thought the wagons seemed slower than riding a horse and they couldn’t take short cuts with them. It took over four hours to get to the North’s cabin. They did stop one-quarter mile back. David went by foot to the North’s cabin to make sure all was as they left them. When he got to hollering distance and watched for a few minutes both the front and back door all seemed to be fine. They were hauling some things outside to be stacked and ready for putting in a wagon.
“Hello at the house. It’s me David O’Dell.”
Things were dropped and pistols came out of holsters.
“Man alive David you about scared the pants right off me,” said Greg. “Come on in.”
David stepped out from behind the Ponderosa pine that he was behind and walked over to Greg.
“Greg we have wagons and people to help get you to the ranch, but I have to tell you we have another family we’ll be getting too. They have more things. So I hope you won’t have to leave too much behind. If you do, we can come back up and get it maybe in a few days. Oh, Granddad said there is some furniture in the cabins and three beds in each. So you won’t have that to worry about.”
“Well David since we really got caught with our pants down so to speak. We don’t have all that much to bring anyway. I am glad we can leave the furniture. That will be one more bed than we need since there is only three of us. Maybe the other folks can use it.”
“Yes they can. There’s four in their family. There are two kids, one boy and one girl, the dad and the mother in law. I best get back and tell the others to bring the wagons on in. See you in a few minutes.”
With that David went back off through the trees to the waiting wagons. He stepped through the trees where he had gone in. He saw everyone on the wagons had been looking for him the way he had gone. They had their guns in their hands just in case.
They all looked relieved when he stepped through the trees. They holstered their rifles and he saw a smile on Olive’s face as he walked up to the wagon. One of the boys, William on the spare horse, called, “Hey Dad is everything ok over there?”
“Yes son, everything’s fine. They’re waiting for us. Let’s go.”
A few minutes later, they were pulling into the driveway. All three wagons could fit with the horses even though they all weren’t needed. Juan had the boys see to the horses before they met the family. They were watered and then feed bags of oats were put on them. When the boys went up to the house, they were the only ones not introduced. The boys looked to their dad who was doing the talking.
“Greg, Toby and Ruth North these are our sons, Tyler and William. Tyler and William, this is Greg and Ruth North and their son Toby.”
Tyler and William shook hands all around and both boys thought it was nice that Toby wasn’t too much older than they were. They would be thirteen next week. Toby looked about fifteen years old. They just hoped that he wasn’t the bossy type because he was older.
They all pitched in getting the North’s suit cases, kitchenware like dishes, pots and pans, sheets, towels, bathroom supplies and so forth on the wagon. Most were in boxes that had been stored broken down then re-taped and plastic tubs full of things. Greg had two-12 gauge shot guns, a 30.30, a 30.06, 3-Glock 17
’s with extra ammo for them besides what they wore on their hips. Ruth wore a 22 pistol but Greg and Toby both wore 45’s. It ended up all they needed was one wagon. There was still some room left in it. Less than two hours later they were on their way to the Porter’s.
Ruth was looking back at the cabin with tears in her eyes. She sat behind the buckboard next to her husband on Olive and David’s wagon. Greg noticed the tears and put his arm around her and let her have a cry. He knew they would most likely not see their home in town again and now this place. Maybe a few years from now, it would be safe enough again to live up here by themselves, but then she thought by then we would be too old to live like this, roughing it. Their son Toby was sitting beside Tyler who was having his turn driving one of the other wagons.
It took better than an hour to get to the Porter’s home. They repeated David going to warn the folks that they were coming so no one would accidentally get shot. Now they also had more people to stay at the wagons to protect them.
David stood behind a tree again. He was just playing it safe. He didn’t want to get shot because he showed himself and someone got excited and shot before asking.
“Hello at the house. It’s me David O’Dell.”
“Yo David come on in.” Bert was standing guard and stepped out from behind a tree that was close to the house.
David made his way to the house. He had been about 125 feet away.
“Hey Bert how are things coming? Did you have any more trouble after we left?”
“Everything is humming along. We’re almost ready for you and no we haven’t had any more trouble since you left. Just a second,” he then gave the all-clear whistle and told David to go on in. David stepped into the house to be met by Reese.
“Good to see ya boy. Where’s your people?”