by T J Reeder
I finally had the sense to ask Charley if the two POW’s who were talking before were still able to talk, he said “Of course! Why hadn’t I thought of them? I must be getting forgetful hanging around you old people” the girls liked that one, I flipped him off. He was on the radio the next second rattling off something, got a reply then signed off. He said the two were on their way.
When they arrived they wore blindfolds and gags and had not been together since capture, I took one away in my HV and asked him to tell me everything he knew about their leader. He said all he knew was that he was a black man, tall and well-built and a former military officer or so the word was. I asked when he had joined the bunch; he said about a month before they came here. He said he had no excuses for being with them but it was better then being alone in the new world. I asked why he didn’t join some community. He said he did but got bored with working gardens and standing guard duty.
I asked where the bossman was from, he said he had heard the LA area but really didn’t know because he kept to himself with his few trusted officers. He said those had all been black too.
After I was done with him I had the same conversation with the other one who was able to provide the man’s name but it was some Moslem sounding street name which can be changed like ones shirt.
He also knew from overheard conversations that the man had a special place where nobody but his trusted staff was allowed. He said he had heard it was a big house with a wall around it and a guard force of very loyal troops and was located near Barstow California. That was where the US Marine Supply Depot was located. If he had taken that place he had access to about everything one could want to wage war with but I had doubts he had done that. Regardless I wasn’t gonna chase this asshole all over the Mojave Desert. If he could he would pop up again someplace and we would get another chance at him.
It was time to go home, the girls were making jokes about the great time I showed them in LV, and how everything that happened there stayed there “In ashes!” laugh laugh…Or how I showed them a “hot time in LV” more laughs, they were working overtime. I think Charley was even quietly chuckling. I told them they were as funny as a dose of clap which set them to clapping their hands in time with each other and saying “clap, clap, clap… Charley told me to just shut up and they would get bored and maybe go to sleep. Funny thing is he was right, in five minutes they were sound asleep. I looked at him and asked what he slipped into their water. He smiled. I wondered.
Driving back thru the canyon reminded me we had the sad duty of burying our people who died. We had lost a total of six people, four in the HV and two who were hit by rifle fire from a sniper who was taken out by a HV mg gunner, too late for them. The good folks of St George offered their cemetery but so far we had always buried our friends on high ground so that’s what we did. We picked a hill out a ways from the city and there we laid them to rest.
As had become out way, everybody took part in the grave digging. We laid them together in one grave, comrades thru time. The mechanics used their equipment to make a marker out of polished stainless steel with the names in raised weld and the words “Freedom is never free” We then took turns burying them, with rocks on the top and the steel rod of the cross pounded deep into the earth.
We stood silent for several minutes saying our private goodbyes and slowly in ones and twos we left them there with our love and we would hold them in our memory.
I was saddened that I really hadn’t known them personally but that was just not an option. It was enough that they were a part of us and would remain so until the last of us were gone in our own time. It makes me sad to think in a hundred years somebody will say “Wonder who these people were” and nobody will know.
But surprise! When we returned to the city the local deputy Wilfred and his wife Marylyn said the locals had asked if they could build a monument at the grave site detailing who and why they were buried there and they would build a stone wall around it. We thought that was a wonderful thing and said so.
Marylyn and Charley were in deep conversation and I could see she was enjoying talking to him. Wilfred looked at me and suddenly said “John, you think there is anything in your settlement an old busted down lawman could do to survive.” I told him we would make a place for them and the canyon would be an ideal place because a lot of the Navajo lived there in the area and it was close to Shiprock.
He walked over to his wife and greeted Charley in Navajo and told his wife to start packing because they were moving to the Canyon near Shiprock. She threw her arms around him and started crying with joy.
Charley was smiling as big as I had ever seen him do, was a good end to a sad day. Marylyn was going home to the red rock canyons of her birth. Wilfred was going into a whole new part of his life and both were happy. And if they could garden and he could fish and maybe hunt a bit they would find a happiness they had never known. He said they had that part down pat!
A few days later we were ready to head home. Wilfred and Marylyn were packed in short order with all the help we had and trucks to haul their things. These folks were prepared! I think it took one truck just to haul all their canning stuff and canned foods and a ton of empty jars. I love these folks; they are what we all should have been “Prepared!”
Wilfred had a truck of his own that he was driving and I could see a few sour faces of people who resented them not so much for leaving but taking all of their stores, even among good people there are always a lot that resent others for almost nothing.
Then it was head slapping time! I said “Shit!!” they said “Stop cussing!” I said “We forgot Buck and the gang plus the guy’s truck we borrowed,” they said “SHIT!” With a big smile I said “Stop cussing”! They said “Shut up! How could you forget our family?” I think I was gonna say “Hey WE forgot them” but they both said “Shut up” before I could get a word out. I really hate them! “Do Not!” Stop it! “NO” (giggling). I told Charley what was going on and he looked at me so sad and said “How could you forget your family?”
They piped up with “Yeah! Heartless!” I simply tucked my tail and slinked away. I had the thought of how peaceful it would be if I just took off in the truck and returned it by myself and then enjoyed a quiet ride back to the canyon.
When I got to the truck they were leaning on it with disgusted looks and glaring at the same time. “What now?” I asked. Both just climbed into the truck so I did too. It was a chilly ride thru the desert. Even Walker was glaring at me. Finally I said “So, where yawl wanna stop for dinner?” That worked, food is one thing that will break thru their pouts. “We don’t pout” I heard “Fine, whatever.” We decided to just drop the hammer and get back to the family. We really miss them even if “we” forgot them in all the excitement; after all it’s not every day you get to burn down Las Vegas! That made them laugh and the freeze was over and the fun started. They are like puppies, puppies with really sharp teeth!
We pulled into the motel tired and starving, but showers came first then food, or so I thought, we showered …pause…showered again then went to dinner where we found Ben and half the town waiting for us, Ma brought out our dinner before we could sit down, everybody was polite and let us eat before telling the story.
The first question was from Ma, he asked if the girls really burned Las Vegas to the ground. I let them answer. Sandy spoke of the loss of our track crew and the decision to just burn them out but that we only burned the strip and maybe a few blocks around it. Ma said “Good! I always hated that place.” Ben asked for us to just tell it as it happened and for everybody to hold their questions. I let the girls tell it because folks like them better then me and they have a way of telling a story that I can’t compete with.
I mean how many ways is there to tell the story about my getting shot? Yet Sandy has told a dozen different versions of it and all of them leave the listeners with tears’ rolling down their faces, and not tears of sympathy for yours truly, that’s for sure.
They took turns t
elling it and made the canyon ambush sound like Custers Last Stand, and the burning of the strip sounded like the burning of Rome. They do have a way of telling stories. The entire place was so quiet you coulda heard the proverbial pin drop. When they were done there was even applause. I think for them not the story.
After the folks drifted off I looked for Ma’s helper for some more coffee, seeing it he went for the pot, I asked where his helper was. Glaring at the troublesome twins he said she seemed to have found some reason to hang out at the motel stables a lot. “They” started laughing and high fiving, Ma asked if I had ever thought about selling them but he retracted it pretty quick. The girls took off for the stables to check on the stock, yeah right.
Ma sat with me and asked about the lake settlement project and the plans for it, I told him I had not a clue what or how it was gonna go but that May’s people who were all one kind of an engineer or another seemed to think it was mostly just a job of diverting some power lines or stringing new ones using available resources and that from there on it was adlib as we go. I asked if he was interested in moving. He said he might because the place just wasn’t the same without his wife Jane. I told him all about the canyon home and that while it was getting full up there was almost 2000 miles of shore line with canyons everywhere and open areas that looked over the lake.
I left him thinking and went looking for the match makers who were once again shooting their bows with an audience made up of the twins and each had a friend with them. I could see the seeds the girls planted with Ma’s helper had taken! When she saw me she said “OH!! I gotta get to work! Ma will be angry” which caused us all to laugh, like Ma could ever be angry at her. I had the thought that if Ma decided to up root the café just might have a new owner, not a bad gig, motel, stables and café! These kids were all workers and I could see the future right here.
Leaving the girls I went off to do what I do best, I took a nap and woke up to the usual tangle of arms and legs, but for once they weren’t buttering me up for something I would say no to. Naps are gifts from a higher power; they are made so wonderful that you almost have to feel guilty over taking them. Almost.
When we woke up it was late afternoon and the first thing I heard was their tummies growling, I said “you ate half a cow this morning how in the hell could you be hungry, they just laid there limp, “from hunger” they said. I said fine lets go eat.
Not now they said “we have other plans,” I reminded them we had already made love earlier, they reminded me so what, I reminded them I was old, they proved I’m not so old. Tired? Yes. Shaky? Yep! But old? Not so much!!
We made it to Ma’s just in time to still get breakfast, Ma having gotten smart filled the table for them then brought me mine. Ben came in and just sat and watched, he asked if I’d had them on short rations, they said I starved them the whole time we were gone plus watching cities burn down made them hungry. He was impressed. Ma joined us while his helper removed the dishes as they were emptied figuring they wouldn’t bite the girl.
I was surprised when Ma mentioned maybe moving to Ben, Ben wasn’t surprised at all. He said he had always liked the Lake area himself and had planned to retire there and spend his days fishing. I asked him why he wasn’t doing that, he said well the world ended and he just settled in and forgot about it. He started asking a lot of questions about the lake settlement, I told him what I could, he looked at Ma and said he was gonna talk to his wife and see what she thought.
I was kind of blown away at how acceptable a lot of folks were to the idea of just up and moving on but I guess in unsettled times people wanted to be with others who think along the same lines. Speaking for myself I had to admit I loved the desert more then most any place I ever spent time and it was awesome riding country, so much to see if you could get away from the roads.
After the girls were done eating Ma out of house and home, again, and asking what was for supper they helped the young lady with the dishes then the three of them went to the stable, Ma said you know I feel like I’m losing the daughter I never had, We had never asked about the girl even her name, at least I hadn’t, I’m sure the girls knew all about her. Ma said her name was Alma and she lived with her grandparents, her folks had been on an anniversary cruise when the EMP hit and never made it back, he was her uncle a couple times removed and had been best man at her folks wedding, so he helped take care of her and her grandparents who were getting on a bit.
He also said he was glad the girls had gotten her interested in as he put it “The stable” and laughed. I told him that if the town wasn’t careful it would wake up and find it was owned by the twins and Alma and the hard working unpaid stable hand who was courting Jill. He laughed and said yeah, everybody in town was talking about that.
I was conflicted on hanging around here or heading out for the canyon. I decided I’d let the girls be my barometer on that one, when they got bored they would let me know. I really enjoyed the place and figured we would be hated by all if we took Ma and Ben away, but oh well, been hated before.
Being bored myself I decided to saddle Buck and take a ride before he got so fat he waddled, while I was saddling him the girls showed up asking what I was doing and why I didn’t say anything to them, I asked why they showed up when they did, they said to find out why I was going riding without them. “Ta-da! There’s your answer” I said, “You knew what I was doing and why I was doing it and you came, what’s to tell you?” You already knew. Well for once I had them, they just looked at me. May said “He’s getting smart huh?” Sandy said “Yeah, maybe too smart for his own good. We need to do something about this!” So off they went to saddle their horses, both came back ready to go and I wasn’t surprised to see both had their rifles in the scabbards.
Now I will admit I wondered fleetingly about why they had bed rolls tied on the saddle, but I really didn’t think it over, I found out why later in a nice little bowl of a meadow while the stock grazed. I’m old, but getting younger every day. Maybe.
When we returned to the stable all the young folks were there, the boys asking about the ride and the girls looking at the bed rolls and smiling real big. I hoped the girls were having motherly talks with them. Hay lofts have a reputation well deserved!
We stayed for a total of 10 days and rode every day, there was even some rain that blew thru for part of the time and turned the area green and the wild flowers did their thing, they usually only last a day or so but for a while the mountains look like a colored carpet, mother nature at her best. At last we knew it was time to head out so we loaded up one morning and had a last breakfast with Ma and Ben who had decided to take a ride up to the canyon area and look it over. We were looking forward to hosting them.
The girls spent some time with Jill and Alma, I assumed a birds and bees talk but I had a feeling these kids were smart enough to keep their priorities in line. And with that we rode out heading home to the canyon, more or less. We weren’t looking at a time clock or any clock cos time really didn’t mean much, it was either be up time or be in bed time and well I forget feeding time! I laughed, they glared.
We had Charlie’s map with water holes marked and decided to take a different route back. I know I needed time to decompress, things happened too fast, one minute we were just minding our own business and the next we were burning down part of a city and burying six of our friends. Life had changed so much in the last few years that nothing was simple anymore if it ever was. Regardless I needed down time away from the world.
We found one of Charlie’s water holes with a good flow into and out of a deep clear hole with graze all around since the rain came. In dry country you never camp right on the water simply because it deprives the wild life of water, but in this case there was plenty of places for animals to drink both above and below us so we camped right at the deep hole. And it was cold!! But we got clean and felt much better, a good hot dinner and early to bed.
If you have never spent the night in the desert with no man made light anywhere a
round then you haven’t seen stars, one can spend an hour just looking at the equivalent of a six inch square and be amazed at the number of stars. It’s one of life’s truly beautiful things. And it’s free! No dish needed, no monthly bill to pay and the stars didn’t go out when the lights did.
The next beautiful thing is watching the sun come up in the desert. If you just sit still it will astound you at the life all around you where it looks like nothing can live. I guess I’m a hopeless romantic but I see beauty everywhere I look, right now I’m watching God’s most beautiful work of art standing knee deep in the pool trying to keep from screaming at the cold!! They are so cute but I best get up and build the fire or I’ll pay later. Nice view anyway.
We wandered all over the place for three weeks, just riding and looking but even here in the desert it was getting pretty cold so we decided to head for home. It’s always warmer in the canyon, why I don’t know since cold air settles in the low spots, may have something to do with the red rock absorbing the suns warmth, same in the summer when you can fry an egg on it or so it seems.
Do you ever have voices in your head? I do, lots. Here’s a sample. “You know what would be so cool?”
“What”
Silence………
“Well?!”
“Well what?”
“What would be so cool?”
“What?”
“Yes, what?”
“What what?”
“Shit”
“Stop cussing it sounds like shit”
“Yeah right miss potty mouth”
“So?”
“So what”?
“So what would be So Cool”?
“Oh”
“Oh what”
“Oh, right, I forgot”