B00C74WTKQ EBOK

by Tackitt, Lloyd

  At that point the chasing militia moved forward far more slowly, unwilling to be mistaken for raiders by the forward militia. Linda had to assume that some of the raiders managed to escape, but it wouldn’t be very many.

  An hour before dark the mop up was completed and the militia had all returned to the bridge. After posting sentries Linda gathered the men and women together. They had killed thirty-eight raiders, and shot all wounded raiders on the spot, per Linda’s orders. She wouldn’t allow vermin like that to live to raid again.

  The militia had lost two and had eight wounded, two seriously.

  Linda told the group, “We’re going to have to stay here a few days, maybe a week. We have to tend to our wounded, and repair our trucks. Set up camp here; we have the bridge for shelter and the river for water.”

  The next day Roman walked across the bridge and found two large trucks, ready to block the road. Thought so.

  Chapter 23

  During week three Adrian said to Jose, “I had an idea last night for transporting our army to Del Rio. Freight train. What if we could get a locomotive into operation. The Admiral sent us six tankers of diesel. We could place one of the tankers on a flatcar behind the locomotive. It starts out as soon as possible clearing the tracks and setting the switches to Del Rio. Then it comes back and we make up a train to carry personnel and equipment.”

  He leaned over the map and pointed out the route. “We use the tracks that go from here to San Antonio, then over to Del Rio from there. We can carry everyone and everything on one long train, or two shorter ones if we can get two locomotives running. I’m thinking we should be able to make the trip in thirty-six hours, give or take. It’s the cleanest and surest way of transporting. The locomotive has to be solidly reliable for this though, last thing we want to do is get everyone stranded far from the action zone.”

  He looked up at Jose.

  “I want you to take personal responsibility for this, see if you can find any railroaders here, find a locomotive, get it running, and clear the tracks of stalled trains. From what I understand of railroads, there should be double tracks every now and then, places where trains can wait while another train goes by. Push them onto those. We want a clear, straight run when we go…assuming you can get a locomotive going.”

  “It’s brilliant! I’m on it.” Jose saluted and left on his mission.

  Adrian turned then to Ryan. “You wanted to see me?”

  “I do Adrian. If you have a few minutes I’d like to talk to you about something critically important.”

  “Shoot.” Adrian replied.

  “Let’s sit down, this is going to take a few minutes.” After they were seated in the camp chairs under the overpass, Ryan continued. “I’m a historian. I have a doctorate in history. It’s been my passion since I was a kid, and believe me when I tell you that what I’m going to say…well I’ve put a lot of thought into it. I’ve looked it over from every side and came to the same conclusion every time.”

  Adrian grinned at him, “You might want to tell me what’s on your mind then. I’m listening.”

  “Keep an open mind Adrian because there’s a part to this that you might not like, and I don’t want you to reject it out of hand. Keep it in mind and think about it for a few days. Watch and listen to everyone in camp and test what I’m going to tell you against their attitudes when they talk to each other. Okay?”

  “Okay. What is it?” Adrian asked, wary, but curious.

  “Okay, so here goes the prepared speech.”

  Ryan took a deep breath and dove in.

  “There’s a desperate need to return to a society of law and order. We came from that society, although it had been rapidly getting to the point where there was too much law and order. It had gotten to the point that no one could get through a day without breaking ten laws. Sorry, I drifted there for a second. The point is now we have no law and order anywhere except maybe in a few, very few, villages such as your Fort Brazos. These people here are the salt of the earth, the absolute best of the best of our society. But there are a lot more people out there that are just plain criminals. They steal and kill without fear because there is no one, no group, to fear.”

  “I’m with you so far,” said Adrian.

  Ryan continued. “Right now we have the best opportunity that will come for decades to build a new society based on law again. There are people from every region of the state here right now. Once this war is over and everyone scatters to go home it will be too late; it will be near impossible to gather everyone all together again, not unless another invasion threatens. In order to pull ourselves together, a leader will have to emerge. You are the only real choice for that leader. I don’t have to go into what a celebrity you’ve become. I know it was never your intention, but there it is. I know you don’t want to take center stage, stand in the spot light, or become a political leader. But you must. You absolutely must.”

  Adrian raised his hand up, palm out, to stop Ryan from saying more. Before Adrian could speak, Ryan went on.

  “Please let me finish, this is too important for quick reactions. You’ve heard the old saying that some people are born to greatness where others have greatness thrust upon them. You’re in the second category. From a historian’s view, this time, this place, these circumstances, are all working together to thrust you into the front. Just think what you rescued the girls from. They had been there for years and none of the neighboring people did anything about it. You know why they didn’t? Because they didn’t have a leader, because there weren’t any laws, because they didn’t think of banding together to do it. But if there had been a bona-fide authority to go to, you can bet someone would have gone to them. It’s the same all over the country Adrian. People living without hope of getting any help when the bad guys come. And the bad guys come, Adrian, every day. Right now there are probably several hundred bad guys tearing up good guys, destroying lives Adrian, tearing down what others have built. You’ve told me about Colonel Fremont’s difficulties in getting here, that’s going on all over the state right now.”

  “But right here, right now, we have an opportunity to do something about it. We gather the volunteers, organize them into regional caucuses, have them vote a representative to attend a constitutional convention. They’ll agree on a constitution; Perry has one ready to go from what you’ve told me. We lawfully agree on and sign the constitution and we create a government. These men go home then and spread the word. This new government, with you as its leader, organizes roaming law enforcement groups. They go wherever there is a need and restore law and order. It’ll start small and somewhat rough—a little like the Old West, perhaps—but it’ll grow over time. This is a watershed moment Adrian. Exactly the kind of moment I’ve told you about. Either we take advantage of this rare opportunity, or we fail to and everyone suffers.”

  Ryan fell silent, looking at Adrian with anticipation mixed with trepidation. He was afraid Adrian would reject it out of hand. Adrian looked at Ryan intently, but Ryan couldn’t read his face.

  “Why does it have to be me Ryan. Why not you, it’s your idea. Why not somebody else?”

  “That’s false modesty Adrian. These people, people all across the country need and want leadership. They crave a stable social arrangement but they don’t know how to launch it. Imagine a family that’s homesteading far from others. Most people are in that situation. How do they go about starting a country? They can’t, they just can’t, and you know it. It takes a spark and it takes kindling. You’re the spark. Everyone admires and respects you. Everyone knows you; you’re the one and only natural leader on the horizon. I’ve heard a lot of talk about just such things among the volunteers. You listen and you will, too. They are the kindling, all together here in one bunch, ready to burst into flame if you will just provide the spark.”

  Watching Adrian’s face as he talked, Ryan didn’t
see outright rejection, more of a tired acceptance creeping in. It was time to close the deal.

  “With your leave I’ll arrange a camp-wide meeting for tonight. I’ll propose to them what I’ve proposed to you. You watch their reactions, and if they don’t want this, then you won’t have to do it. But they will. I guarantee they’ll be ecstatic about the idea.”

  “So what is it you’re proposing exactly?”

  “No one out there will go along with restarting the United States. Not one. The only way we can restore a civilized society is to start a new government entirely. I’m proposing we restart the Republic of Texas, but under a new constitution. Later on, other states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico will hear about this new republic and how it’s putting things in order. People will start moving to Texas from all over the country when they hear how well it’s working. Then other states will begin organizing along the same model. Within a handful of years there’ll be a movement towards organizing into a coalition of the new republics. It’ll spread, Adrian. The need is great and an example of a working model will encourage others to move in the same direction.”

  “For the time being it’ll not take any of your time. After the war it’ll take a little of your time. We need you, Adrian. You have a widespread reputation like Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett had, and that reputation and you’re willingness, mixed with the need of these people will make it happen. Nowhere else in America is there an opportunity like this to help people. It would be an absolute crime not to do this.”

  Adrian sighed. “Call your meeting then. If you’re right I’ll go along with it, for now. But if we don’t win this war it won’t matter. Let’s get your meeting over with and get back to the real business we have at hand.”

  The overpass was much too small to accommodate the crowd, so the meeting was held out in the open. Adrian was standing in the crowd and watched as Ryan climbed up onto a hastily erected speaker’s platform. The crowd had been noisy, even raucous at times, but as Ryan stood there the silence came slowly at first, then rapidly as they waited to hear him speak.

  Ryan, not comfortable speaking in public but knowing that he needed to do this, acted with a confidence he didn’t actually have and spoke loudly. “You have a moment in time, a place in history, right now right here…but only if you grasp it quickly. You can let it slip away forever, or you can show your courage and your honor of your fellow Texans by bringing them back two gifts: The first gift will be a resounding victory over the army that intends to invade your land.” Loud cheering followed for several moments. Ryan waited, and when he gauged the time was right he held up his hand for silence, which he quickly got.

  “The second gift is just as big. Bigger. It’s a gift to the men and women of Texas that want to lead their own quiet lives. People who are raising children and want their children, your children and mine someday, to live in a better place than we have now. A place where law and order work for the citizen and against the criminal raiders that scar our land. Gathered here today are the people needed to create a new government, our own government, crafted by our own hands. I’m not talking about resurrecting the United States, or even the state of Texas. I’m proposing that we, right here and now, vote to restore the Republic of Texas under a new constitution.”

  Ryan paused in the dead silence that followed. For a brief, horrifying moment he thought he had misjudged. He thought they might turn away with disinterest because every face turned to him was silent.

  Then one man started to clap. The shock washed away across the crowd as they spontaneously erupted into wild cheering and applause. Men were slapping other men on the back, fists were raised and pumped, a few had tears streaking down their faces. The crowd went absolutely crazy.

  Ryan stood above them knowing he had gauged them correctly after all. He looked for Adrian in the crowd to judge his reaction. Spotting him, he saw that Adrian was smiling through the back slapping he was enduring. Ryan knew that as sure as the sun would rise in the morning that Adrian would be President of the Republic of Texas before this meeting ended. Ryan the historian was making his own history now and he knew it, and fully believed it was the right thing to do. History will judge me for this, I only hope approvingly. He was fully aware of the irony of a historian being judged for his place in a historic moment.

  Choosing the right moment, after the cheering had begun to decrease just slightly but well ahead of anything resembling an orderly crowd, he raised both hands. Slowly the celebrants noticed his call for silence and gradually the crowd settled down, but Ryan knew they were primed to explode again at the slightest cue.

  “We’ll need to do this in an orderly fashion. First we need to elect the President of our brand new Republic.” Before the crowd could start shouting again Ryan quickly shouted out, “Are there any nominations for the office of the President of the Republic of Texas?”

  Ryan knew exactly what would happen next and was not disappointed.

  A voice answered immediately, shouting out from the middle of the crowd it said “Bear! Bear! Bear!” His chant was immediately taken up by the crowd. They shouted loud and were soon in unison, shouting “Bear! Bear! Bear!” for nearly ten minutes. No amount of hand raising on Ryan’s part slowed them down. When he looked down, he saw that Adrian was being pushed towards the platform by the crowd, they were propelling him forward.

  Adrian reached the platform and climbed up. The crowd went even wilder than it had before. Adrian turned to face them and they instantly got quiet again, not wanting to miss a word. Before Adrian could speak, Ryan shouted “I second the nomination, and by voice count I declare that Adrian Hunter, General Bear to his soldiers, is hereby legally and duly elected President of the Republic of Texas!”

  It took a full fifteen minutes before the ecstatic crown quieted enough for Ryan to once again speak.

  “Before I turn the platform over, there is some quick business we need to attend to. After the meeting tonight we need to meet in smaller groups, groups by region. North Texans meet north of the platform, South Texans south of the platform and so on. Each group will nominate and elect three representatives to act in their behalf in a constitutional convention that will be held as soon as we can. Now…without further delay here is the Father of the new Republic of Texas!” The crowd yet again went wild as he shouted out those last words..

  Ryan climbed off the platform leaving Adrian there, alone. He knew the die was cast now, his job done for the time being. He didn’t know that at the back of the crowd a ham operator had set up his radio and was broadcasting the meeting across the world, or that the Mexican Cartel leaders were listening with intense interest.

  Adrian, when he finally had a chance to speak, said, “I promise to make a short speech if you’ll promise to give your throats a chance to rest. They have to be aching by now.” Adrian gave a smile and continued quickly, “Ryan sprang this on me earlier today so I haven’t had much time to consider it. I promised him though that if you really wanted me to I’d take it on. Well you’ve made it obvious. I think it is a radical idea, but a good one. There’s going to be a lot of work to do to get it rolling, a lot of work. You’ll be engaged in that work, every one of you. As long as you promise to do your part I promise to do mine. I thank you all for what you’re about to do, for making a start on bringing a civil society into these hard times. I’m assured that this is a legitimate government, but with big problems to solve. Together we’ll solve them. Our first great challenge of course is to win this war. We have to continue to make that our number one priority.

  I’ll say this much more, and then I’ll be quiet. I’ve never seen or been associated with finer men and women than those gathered right here. You are the cream of the crop of Texas citizens. It will be an honor, an absolute honor to serve you in our new government—Long Live The Republic Of Texas!”

  It was dawn before the camp was
quiet again.

  Chapter 24

  Race heard of the radio broadcast of the creation of the Republic of Texas from one of the cooks. She was stunned, as she had no idea that Adrian had become involved in creating a new nation.

  Race knew immediately that the Rangers were going to Cotulla, but she also knew that if the Admiral thought the girls had that idea in mind they would be held on the ship.

  Race gathered the girls and told them what she had learned, “Adrian has been elected the President of the Republic of Texas along with going to war with Mexico.”

  The girls were as surprised as she had been, their expressions a mixture of shock and puzzlement.

  “We have to go to Cotulla and fight with him,” Race continued. “But, we can’t let anyone know we’re going, or they won’t let us off the ship. This is extremely important…Do not let on that we’re going to go to war with Adrian. Swear it now, hold your right hands up and say ‘I swear.’”

  The girls all immediately did so.

  “Good,” Race said, satisfied. “I’ll tell the Admiral we’re going on a training exercise for two days, and that we’re going to be just outside Corpus city limits on the north side. We’ll head for Cotulla as soon as we’re out of sight and drive non-stop. By the time they start looking for us to the north of the city we’ll already be in Cotulla.”

  Six hours after leaving the ship Race pulled the truck off the road and into a thick stand of mesquites.

  “We’ll spend the night here.” She was tired from the driving, the truck’s lack of power steering made it a difficult physical activity. Navigation had been simple though. She had an old highway map in the truck and it was a simple matter of taking the highway from Corpus to Cotulla across inhospitable semi-arid country.