Beyond the New Horizon (Book 3): Living on the Edge

by Conaway, Christine

  “Lucy, what do you think about leaving here? Since you and Ben have gotten together, we never hear from you anymore.”

  “What do you mean? I talk with Journey every day. What you should have said is that you’ve been too busy with Sam to have time for your old friends.”

  If Lucy hadn’t laughed, Gina would have believed she was serious. When in fact, they had all changed direction. It was no longer just the three of them nor the six of them. With their losses and then the addition of Charlie and Oliva, their family still had a population of fifteen. Fifteen people to feed, house, clothe and protect.

  Gina looked up to find Lucy staring at her. “Does it look that bad?’

  Lucy blinked and must have realized she’d been staring even if she hadn’t meant to, “Oh my God no. My eyes may have been looking at you, but my brain was a million miles away. I keep wondering who these people are that Sam is always talking about, he says they are going to be coming through here. I wonder where they’re coming from and where they’re going to. I wonder how people are getting around without cars and how they are surviving without stores. I wonder how everyone else is surviving.”

  “I’m sure we are all wondering the same things. Now, back to my face. Truthfully, how bad is my face? Am I going to be scarred for life? Am I going to have to wear a Burka so that I don’t scare people?”

  Lucy leaned closer and gently pushed Gina’s hair away from her face. She touched the blister on Gina’s forehead, “I think if I were you, I would have Journey drain this one, but the others don’t look so bad. You might have to wear a hat to protect it from the sun for a while, but I don’t think the rest will leave noticeable scars and if you even mention wearing a Burka again, I will throttle you.”

  “I haven’t seen it, but it feels as taut as a drum. I swear I can feel it slosh when I turn my head. I wouldn’t want to break it accidently. You know me, I sleep on my stomach with my face buried.”

  “You sure wouldn’t want to get it infected,” Lucy may have been sitting beside Gina, but it felt like her mind were occupied elsewhere.

  “Okay, now back to your thoughts. If you could talk to Olivia about those guys in Haugan, I would feel better. I keep wondering how she could still be sane after being held there. With what the boys said and after listening to her, I think those are the kind of people who will be coming. Maybe not right away, but someday. They are the kind with no skills to grow food and raise animals for food or even hunt if it came down to it. They will travel in packs like wolves and take what they want whether they need it or not.”

  Lucy laughed, “You’re starting to sound like John, the both of you have forgotten, that this is Montana. Big Sky country! The population of the whole state isn’t as great as Los Angeles or maybe not even Seattle.”

  “If Mark is right, where do you think the people who survive the first year will go? With our weather taking an about face, they will be moving out of the big cities looking for food.”

  “Oh come on Gina. Who’s going to come to Montana expecting to get fed? What do they grow here? Grain and what else?”

  Gina had to think for a minute but then began counting off on her fingers, “Cattle, wheat, apples, potatoes, beans, peas, squash, and maybe grapes and that’s only the ones I can think of, off the top of my head. There’s alfalfa too. It won’t be about what these people grow, but the fact that the people or most people who live here are self-sufficient. They’re used to hard winters and surviving without electricity when the power goes off. There isn’t a Wal~Mart on every corner. The people in northern Idaho and Montana are the real survivalists, and this is what people will want.”

  “Like Journey’s friend from Libby? Do you think those guys are in a better position than we are?”

  “The way we’ve had these earthquakes, I’d be surprised if Libby still exists. They have more mountains and fewer places to run to if they had to leave. So, I would be surprised if they were in a better position.” Gina sighed, “I know I’d feel better if we weren't sitting in the shadow of that thing.”

  Lucy looked at the mountain, “It looks like the smoke is getting thicker.”

  “It’s when it stops smoking, that I think we have to worry about it. Look what happened today. This morning nothing was coming out of it and then BAM, it nailed us. We’d better keep an eye on it while we’re packing.”

  They sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, and when Gina didn’t answer Lucy, she saw that Gina had nodded off. Nothing about the way Gina was sitting could be labeled comfortable, but Journey said to let her rest. She and Journey went into the trailer to begin the task of readying them for the move.

  The loud thunk as the trailer door slammed, jarred Gina awake. Her head jerked up, and she looked blindly around. Her eyes nor her brain were focused on her surroundings. Her neck was stiff from the awkward way she was sitting. She groaned and sat up. Without thinking, Gina rubbed her face. “Aw Geez Journey, help!” Fluid ran down her face from her blister. Gina leaned forward so that it would run off onto the ground rather than down into her clothes.

  Gina heard the squeak as the trailer door opened and closed. A few seconds later, she saw Journey’s boots on the ground in front of her, “It was an accident. I forgot it was there.”

  “Why did I know this would happen? I came prepared, now let’s see what you’ve done.” Journey pressed a clean white tee shirt onto Gina’s forehead. She dabbed it until the skin lay flat and no more liquid ran from it. “How the heck did you do this? Last that I looked, you were sitting there sleeping.”

  “I wasn’t thinking, and it didn’t hurt until it broke. Now it doesn’t hurt much either. It just stings a little.”

  “You know as well as I do that the burns that don’t hurt are the ones you have to watch out for because the nerve endings have been damaged.”

  Neither of the women had heard Evelyn approach until she spoke, “Oh, my. Do you have any gauze to wrap it with?”

  “No, we don’t. I’ll have to rip strips off this tee shirt to cover it.”

  “Oh dear. Don’t do that. I think Mark put our medicine kit in the wagon. Girls, come help me.” Evelyn waddled off to where she had parked the yard tractor and their trailer. John had found what was left of their blue tarp and laid it over the top to protect the contents. Sherry, Abby, and Maggie followed her down.

  “Hold this here and don’t rub it. I’m going to see if Evelyn has any antibiotic cream.”

  Gina watched her run off while she held the cloth to her head. Maggie seemed to accept the death of her parents better than anyone could have thought. Gina knew that it being an accident had helped the girl deal with it. Journey had taken her under her wing and spent time listening to Maggie talk about her Mom and Dad.

  Gina laughed inwardly, four months ago, not only had they been single, but childless as well. Now they each had a child that had attached themselves to them, and they tentatively had men and a huge family besides.

  Gina didn’t see or hear Oliva and jumped when she spoke, “Did you break it?”

  Gina grimaced, “Not intentionally. How’s it look?” Gina lifted the material away and pulled the flap of skin with it. In the short time, she’d been sitting, the fluid as well as skin had stuck to the material. Now she had a flap of skin hanging down over her eyes. “Oh, crap. Put it back up there for me please before Journey sees it.”

  Gently, Olivia flattened the flap of skin back where it belonged. “It’s not going to stay. As soon as I let go, it falls off.”

  “Put it up and put the cloth back on it. Maybe Journey will think she did it when she comes back.”

  Oliva’s eyes opened wide, and she grinned nervously over Gina’s shoulder. “She’s standing right there isn’t she?”

  Olivia nodded and stepped back allowing the flap of skin to fall when she backed away with the rag still in her hand.

  Journey walked around the front, “Olivia, go tell Evelyn that we need her scissors too. Hurry before she puts it all away.”<
br />
  “It just came loose. I moved the cloth, and it fell.”

  Journey shook her head and said nothing. She held the flap of skin, and as gently as she could, and dabbed cream all over the exposed tissue.

  While she waited for Olivia to bring back the scissors, Journey inspected Gina’s scalp. “You’re lucky we don’t have to cut your hair off. No brushing it or washing it for a while until these blisters break and begin to heal.”

  “Aww, and just when I was planning for an evening in the tub with bubbles, just like at the spa. Talk about a party pooper.”

  Journey smacked her hand upside Gina’s head, “That’s not even funny. Do you realize how close you came to looking like someone had scalped you? When the hair does begin to fall out, you might want to pray the hair follicle isn’t damaged too. Besides that, I don’t think you’ve ever been to a spa.”

  Gina sat up straight, “You’re kidding? Right? Come on Journey, tell me you’re joking?” Gina’s hands were patting her head trying to feel for the impending hair loss.

  Journey shook her head. “I guess you better have a look in the mirror. The fact that it didn’t hurt when I put the ointment on tells me there was some nerve damage. The only thing holding the blisters on top of your head in place is your hair. I’m serious, no washing or brushing it. Not that it looks like you’ve gotten close to it with a brush lately.”

  Journey tried to look stern but failed at the look of horror on Gina’s face, “Oh, stop it. It’ll heal up just fine if you leave it alone. You need to change that bandage every time it gets wet or at least daily. I expect it to weep some so don’t worry.”

  Satisfied she had done all that she could, Journey stood up and looked around, “Wow, those girls were busy. It appears like they got everything from the root house. Evelyn and I packed everything from the inside, and Lucy dragged out all of the stuff that was stored under the trailer too. You were worried about not having any clothes. Our black bags were under there as well as everything else we carted here from the cabin.”

  “Oh my God! How stupid am I? There’s almost a full tank of diesel in my pickup truck. How could we forget that? I should have told John sooner.”

  “Your pickup is two or three days of hard riding away from here. I doubt anyone wants to go and get it. Besides that, we don’t have any way of knowing if it’s still there.”

  “Well, maybe Sam and Andy will find some. I sure wish we had those guns, though. At least the ammunition would be good.”

  “While you’re at it, why don’t you wish for pigs and more chickens and a rototiller for when it comes time to plant.”

  “Heck, I’d be happy if we had shovels, but chicken wire would be nice too.”

  They laughed together, and everything seemed right, for the moment. The three women used to sit around the campfire in the evenings and think up things they wanted or would buy if they were rich. Back then it had been a new horse trailer with real living quarters, a new barn with an arena and a bigger house out of town. Now they wanted shovels, chicken wire, and pigs.

  “You know, for everything that’s happened, I don’t feel like we lost everything. At least not yet. I even have moments when I forget we’re in the middle of an apocalypse. Most of the time, I can admit to being happy.”

  “It’s funny you should say that. Andy and I were just talking about how much we’ve gained from being here. We no longer have paychecks, but we don’t have bills either and no more taxes. It’s funny what you can do without when it’s no longer available.”

  “No more crummy neighbors either. It galls me when I think those people probably benefitted from our food and the rest of our things.”

  “You know it’s better if we don’t think about it, and it doesn’t matter who took our stuff, even if it was the crummy neighbors.” Journey turned when she saw movement, “Hey, look who’s back. I was hoping they wouldn’t have to ride after dark.”

  Gina watched the smile spread across Journey’s face and realized how lucky they are. While their situation could have been better, it could also have been so much worse. They had a lot to be thankful for and would make the best of it.

  Sam and Andy and rode toward them, both wearing big grins. Gina couldn’t say if it were because they were happy to see them or they had found what they went after.

  Gus walked beside Sham without pulling against the line as he had always done with Journey and Bess. His ears were pointed forward as if leading the way. The darn mule looked happy. Gina knew Gus well enough to tell by the way he planted his feet when he moved that the fuel jugs in the packsaddle were heavy, which meant the guys had found the fuel.

  Sam dropped his reins and climbed down. Gus butted Sam with his head as if reminding Sam that he needed to be taken care of right then. Sam gave him a scratch and pulled the lead line off his saddle horn. “Come on Gus, let’s get you unloaded.”

  Gina went to help him when he led Gus to the trailer. If he noticed the bandage around Gina’s head, he didn’t say anything right then. She lifted the first jug out with a grunt, and it almost slammed to the ground. “Dang, poor Gus. Are they all full?”

  “They are, and if need be, we can go back for the rest of it. I think there was more in the barrel than Charlie thought.”

  “You know my pickup has at least 70 gallons in it. I filled it up in CouerD’ Alene when we came through there. Of course, it may not be there now, but it’s something to keep in mind.”

  Sam nodded as he picked the last jug out of the box and set it down. “It’s too far to go and get it. Where are John and Charlie? Did they get the trailer turned back upright?”

  Gina was embarrassed to tell him that she had been napping and had no idea where the two men were. She looked around, and Charlie’s two draft horses were nowhere in sight, so she assumed they were still at the hay shed. “I actually don’t know. I’ve been down here the whole time you were gone.”

  Sam looked at the containers and bags lined up down the side of the trailer, “It looks like you guys have been busy. It’s too bad it’s so close to dark. We could have gotten started with the move.”

  “John said we’d go and load up the rest of Mark’s first things in the morning and put on some of ours if there’s room.”

  “Isn't that Marks tractor and trailer there?” Sam asked, looking where Evelyn had parked.

  “Hey Sam,” Matt hollered as he hobbled toward them, “John wants you to bring up the tractor. He’s gonna pull the trailer down here so we can load it up.”

  Sam waved and picked up a fuel jug in each of his hands and went to the tractor. When both cans were empty, he started it and headed up the hill.

  Charlie was coming down the hill walking behind his team of horses. The way he trailed behind his big horses, Gina couldn’t decide if he looked like a farmer or a horseman. In spite oh the warm weather, Charlie wore a blue flannel shirt, with the collar button up with a blue down vest zipped all the way up. At one time he may have been a heavy set man, but the last couple of months had taken care of it. His pants hung on his body, gathered at the waist by a belt. He was leaning back as he walked and Gina suspected it was to hold the horses from out walking him.

  He must have felt her staring at him, and grinned at her. Blue eyes crinkled at the corners from humor or squinting in the sun. His skin was the polished bronze of someone who spent hours outside in the weather. He had gray whiskers sprinkles across his face, but he was clean and smelled like old spice when he got close.

  “Need a hand? Those horses look like they’re going to drag you to the ground. ” Gina said when he drew even with her.

  He chuckled, “Naw, they wouldn’t do that. As soon as my weight slacked off the lines, they would have stopped. I was letting them help me down the hill. As for helping me, I would never say no to a beautiful woman.”

  Gina rolled her rolled her eyes, the man was also blind, but she liked the sound of his laugh, and his blue eyes screamed that he was an old soul and a gentleman. She went to give him
a hand taking their harnesses off. She would rather be helping him than sorting and packing. Charlie and Gina hung the leather harness on the hooks Charlie had mounted down the box of his wagon. The hooks kept the harness off the ground, and when the rolled tarp along the top edge was open, the harness would stay dry. It also allowed Charlie to clean and oil the leather without bending over. While Charlie cleaned, Gina brushed both of the big horses down until their dappled gray coats shone. She picked their feet and gave them each something to drink.

  They finished about the time that the tractor came down the hill towing the camp trailer behind it. It wobbled on its wheels and no longer looked square, but it appeared to have everything intact except the door which had been boarded over.

  John pulled it up close to the row of containers, buckets, and boxes that were stacked up ready to load and shut the motor off.

  “Did Ben and Lucas get back yet?” John looked around as if expecting to see them. “Sam, lets hook the snowmobile trailer up and head on over to Marks. I’d like to get everything in one spot tonight because I think we’re running out of time.”

  “Why are you talking about running out of time? Don’t we set our own schedules? The flat-bed trailer has hay on it still. You want me to unload it?”

  “Bring it down here and stack the hay up. When we leave tomorrow, we’ll throw the tarp over it to keep any ash that falls off of it. You guys might want to keep an eye on the mountain just in case and stay away from the hay shed. It wouldn't surprise me to see that thing blow again. You can almost see a yellow haze above the hole in the concrete, and it stinks like sulfur up there.”

  Chapter Seven; Ready for the move

  Sam hadn’t returned from Mark’s by the time it was dark. Everyone else had found a place to lay down and rest, except for Gina and Olivia. They sat in the lawn chairs at the fire pit. Gina had deliberately faced her chair toward the north. She was doing what John had asked; keeping an eye on the mountain. They could see a line of red that appeared to be sliding down the surface as if there was a crack in the structure of it, allowing molten lava to escape.