by Darrel Bird
Out of my cold dead hands
Austin and Gabe had called a meeting for four pm, but Josh came into the living room early to find Austin sitting with a cup of tea, the coffee having run out the week before.
“I’d offer you some coffee son, but we don’t expect a shipment soon.”
“Something happened to the grocery truck?”
They both laughed, then Josh said, “I really didn’t come to discuss the coffee Austin.”
“I didn’t think so, what’s weighting you down Josh?”
“Lisa wants to marry me; that's what’s weighting me down; she's just sixteen.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“To be honest, and we haven’t done anything mind you, but I love her, I can’t explain that, cause like I said, we haven’t done anything.”
“Son, both, you and I are just victims of the times, and circumstances we live in. Lisa is too; we all are; everybody is.”
“When the day came that I had to shoot a man in my own front yard in self-defense, and to defend her, things changed, and life began, in its own defense, to position her for survival. I’m not saying that survival is why she wants to marry you, I’m just saying that times like these intensify everything, every necessity.”
“If you want my blessing, you have it, providing you live another day. War is coming to us Josh; that's why we called a meeting. I hope you don’t mind a long lecture from an old man.”
“You putting it that way, I do understand a lot of things I didn’t before I walked into this room today, you clarify things, and it gives me the larger picture.”
“Good.”
They heard someone kicking the mud off his boots at the back door, and shortly Gabe walked into the room, “Been down to the Creek at the back of the property…the water is running low. I was able to channel some of it to the largest garden. We are sure going to need those vegetables canned this winter. We have to have them if we expect to get through it.”
“Will the gardens, and the fruit tree’s feed as many as we have, do you think?”
Gabe dropped his head, “If Boyd comes looking for a fight, which he will, we won’t have as many to feed.”
“Yeah.” Austin said with a sigh.
Men started filing in from the various ranch chores until the rather large living room was crowded, the immigrants looking self conscious. Two new men had come in looking for work, and that made sixteen men crowded into living, and dining room. Some found chairs, and some stood against the walls.
Gabe cleared his throat, “Men…Boyd has given us an ultimatum to clear out or fight. If any of you don’t have the stomach for it, now would be a good time to clear out.”
One of the new men spoke up, “We had to fight our way here; we ain’t looking for any fight, but if I have to fight, so be it, you with me George?” The other man shook his head, “Yeah; I'm with you Glen.”
“How about your people, Adolpho?”
“Si, we will fight senor, but we have few weapons, and three of us do not have any.”
“Ok, those three hang back when the fight starts until you do have weapon’s. You can grab them off whoever is down.”
“Mother of God!” Said a young man standing against the wall, crossing himself. Most of the immigrants had spent their lives working in the fields. Each of the immigrants followed suit.
“Ok, we double the guard tonight, and every night. Josh, you will be in charge of arranging the guard shifts, and each of us will take our turns of four hours on, and four off. Men, we just can’t afford to sleep on guard, if you sleep, it may cost others their lives, including your own. Am I clear?” Gabe said, looking around the room at each man. None of the men answered back.
“Ok, let's get back to work, we still have to farm until something happens. I think Boyd will come at us from the direction of town, so you boys posted along the county road keep sharp. That’s it.”
“You and Josh stay.” Gabe whispered to Austin as the men filed out of the house. He spread a Yakima county map down on the kitchen table.
“I know Boyd doesn’t have military training; I've known that jackass since we were kids in school, he was always a trouble maker. And college didn’t help him any. He has just turned out a four bit crook. That is the reason I think he will just barrel in here from the direction of town. That doesn’t make him any less dangerous, because if I know Boyd, he has got every crook in Yakima to help him take over these farms down here.”
“How many men do you think he might have?” Austin asked.
“Maybe a hundred.”
“A hundred men against sixteen?” Josh whistled.
“Some of them will be honest men who have fallen for his line of bull, his new buzzword, ‘growers association’ sounds mighty enticing, but when honest men see what’s really going on, they’ll turn tail, and go back to Yakima. Then there are the ones who, when the shooting starts, won’t have the stomach for a real war, that will cut it down to maybe thirty men. Austin, you were a sniper in Vietnam weren’t you?”
“Yeah, can’t say I liked the job much though.”
“Well…as bad as was for you, it would help us a tremendous amount if you could sit back off, and use your scope.”
“I’ll do it. I said I didn’t like it, I didn’t say I didn’t do the job. A sniper can do a lot to persuade a guy that he’s in the wrong business.”
“Ok, there's the little hill up by the county road, we’ll go up there, and dig you a hole to sit in, that’ll give you at least a five hundred-yard range in about every direction.”
“And what if they don’t come in from that direction?”
“Then you pick the best spot you can think of at the time, but I’m betting he will come from that direction. He’s too full of himself to take ideas from other people.”
“Josh, you keep a horse saddled at the barn twenty-four hours a day until the fight starts…you can change out the horses as needed every few hours, but I want you to be able to move from one place to the other quick.”
“Ok, I can let them walk around in the corral with plenty of water and hay.”
“Ok then, that’s all I have, any suggestions? Questions?”
“Lisa and Ann can shoot, do we arm them?”
“If we have to pull back to the house, then everybody shoots. Let's keep the women in the house here, it’ll be safer for them that way, don’t you think Austin?”
“Yeah, but they ain’t going to like it; those girls weren’t raised to avoid a fight. I’ll try to keep’em out of it, as long as I can though.”
“Yeah, I’ll try to do the same with Maria.” Gabe sighed as he folded the map.
The days went by with no sign of trouble, and the tension eased. The hot summer days ripened the fruit, and the women put up hundreds of cans of food. One morning the air was a bit chilly, and it felt crisp, the herald of fall. The men killed the fat hogs, and hung them from a crossed pole to process; the labor went from morning till night.
The next morning just before daybreak Adolpo and another of the immigrants were sitting on watch on where the property ended at the county road. He was thinking about Mexico, and the wife and children he had left there to tend his small garden and his flock of chickens when he heard a sound barely audible come from the direction of town. He gazed in that direction, and saw the glow of headlight's blink off about a half-mile away.
“Quick, go wake the others Chiron, our enemies are coming.”
“Go quick!” he punched the other man on the shoulder, and the man began sprinting for the house.
Josh awoke out of thick sleep as Austin shook him, “They’re here get up.”
“Which way?”
“From the direction of town, just like Gabe predicted. Get on the horse, get out there and see if they circle. Gabe will post the main group up by the county road, when the shooting starts have the men fall back toward the house gradually, using the fighting berms we raised.”
“Got it, where will you be?”
; “In my sniper hole, and I hope to God, I can see to shoot. It’ll be light soon, so that will be in our favor.”
“Don’t stay out there until you get cut off Austin.”
“I won’t, now get going, and good luck son.” Josh looked at him and nodded as he went out the door.
Austin sprinted for his hole on the top of the hill, and as soon as he got into it, he began training his scope on the road. It wasn’t long until he saw the shadows of men marching up the road. He got a man in his cross hairs and fired. The man went down, and the other men began dropping to the ground. That’ll slow them down a bit. He saw another movement in the scope and fired again. The man cried out, and he saw no other movement.
The light began to take hold, and then he saw many men start running through the orchard. Gun fire broke out over the orchard as he took aim and fired again, and again until he found himself surrounded. He felt the shock of a bullet, then another, then he felt someone reach under his arms and begin dragging him, then he blacked out.
He awoke in his bed; he could hardly breathe, his chest burned like fire as the vision of Lisa, Josh, Ann and one of the new men swam into view.
“Wha…what happened?” He could barely get