We didn’t stay much longer at Mathers Lake once we arranged a time for Nathan to come here, with Lenny, to begin teaching Joshua how to use the Ham radio.
“Yes, it did. I was fairly certain that all we needed to do was to appeal to fairness in trade, and he would come around. Art Collins is not stupid and he does have the best interest of his people in mind. Now we need to work out what we can barter and what we won’t.”
“Well, thank you again for including me in this, Allexa, Mark. Now it’s time for me to collect my people and get back to Marquette. I can hear the thunder still going on from here, and it has me concerned.” Jim sighed, downing the remnants of his drink.
CHAPTER 25
October 14
“Mark, will you come outside with me for a few minutes?” I called into the house. I had finished closing up the chickens for the night when I noticed something very odd.
“What is it, Allex?” he asked joining me out on the lawn as he slipped a jacket on.
I took him by the hand and led him out on to the quiet street, walking north away from the houses. We turned, looking south.
“Look at the sky,” I said, pointing.
“It looks… reddish,” he said, perplexed. “The setting sun?”
“Red, yes, but it’s over the area where Marquette is, and that’s southeast, not west. I wonder if that’s from the fires Jim was talking about.” There was another flash of lightning in the crimson colored sky and a rumble of thunder followed less than a minute later. Suddenly there was a rapid succession of lightning bolts and flashes and the rumbles seemed to be non-stop.
“Wow, I wonder if that’s what we looked like when the storm hit us that hard,” I commented. “I don’t want to call it impressive, but it sure is a sight to behold!”
October 15
The four hours of clinic time were uneventful, but we stayed the entire time since Mark had promised. Around one o’clock, Lenny and Nathan stopped by when they saw our car in the parking area.
“There was no way to let you know we’d be by today. Mr. Collins thought it best if we got your radio up and running as soon as possible so we could have a means of communication,” Nathan said. He was a plain man, perhaps forty years old, sandy hair and brown eyes, the kind that blended into a crowd.
“I’m sure Joshua will be delighted to get started on the lessons,” I said, and then turned to Lenny. “He’s one house down from mine, in David’s house. I’m sure you can find it.”
When Mark and I returned home just after four, the truck was still parked at Joshua’s, so we decided to walk down and see how things were progressing.
I was extra surprised to see Emilee sitting at the console, with the radio muffs snug around her tiny ears, twisting a dial, deep in concentration.
“She’s quite the apt student,” Nathan said. “She caught on to every nuance quite quickly. I’m impressed.”
“She’s doing better than me,” Joshua laughed. “Since Emi was already here playing with Matilda and wanted to learn, we agreed that it would be better to have two of us get lessons right from the get-go.”
Nathan straightened up and stretched his back. “I think three hours are enough for the first day. I’ll be back tomorrow, same time, and we’ll do the next phase. If that’s alright,” he had turned to us for that last confirmation.
“Sounds good to me, as long as these two are up for it,” I agreed.
“Nahna! This is so much fun!” Emi shrieked, sliding the muffs off her head.
“Don’t forget your homework, Emilee. You have to learn all these codes before you can talk to anyone,” Nathan reminded her, handing her a few sheets of paper.
October 16
Nathan showed up by himself to continue the lessons on how to operate the radio. Initially I was a bit alarmed, though we are trying to foster trust between the two communities so I didn’t say anything.
At noon I walked down to Joshua’s to talk with Nathan.
“Can you take a message to Mr. Collins for me?” I asked him.
“I’ve got him on the radio now, Ms. Allexa. You can deliver the message yourself, if you like. Just hold down this button when you talk and release it when you’re finished. Emi, please let your grandmother sit there and use the ear phones.” Emilee was quick to respond, which told me Nathan was a good teacher and she respected him.
“Mr. Collins, this is Allexa, are you there?” I asked after sitting.
“Yes, I’m here,” he replied.
“Would it be alright for us to discuss a trade agreement tomorrow? We’ll come to you; Mark doesn’t think you should travel yet.”
“How about two o’clock? Would that fit your schedule?”
“Yes, that would be perfect. See you then. Out.” I handed the muffs back to Emi and stood.
“May I speak to you privately, Ms. Allexa?” Nathan asked, and we stepped outside.
“What is it Nathan?” I hoped he wasn’t going to defect and ask for asylum!
“I wanted you to know that most everyone at the compound thought we were getting too isolated and we’re all quite pleased your group came along,” Nathan said. “And even though he might not admit it, I think Art is happy to have new company.”
CHAPTER 26
October 17
I carefully measured five pounds of rice and scooped it into a new cloth bag. Since our favorite is the basmati, with the second being long grain, I had selected the short grain rice to use for barter. I know I was being selfish, but why give up our favorites?
“Five pounds isn’t very much is it?” Mark eyed the bag.
“No, it isn’t though it will give them a meal or two, and tantalize them into wanting more. I want to see what Art is going to offer in return,” I told my charming husband.
I tied the bag closed with a piece of string, then put the rice bag in one of my cloth carryalls, along with a loaf of fresh bread.
“Bread too?”
I smiled at him. “What I hope this instigates are baking lessons. I think it’s important for us to share skills as well as extra supplies.”
~~~
We arrived at two o’clock as agreed. Mark parked the car facing out, a habit we all have developed.
“And who is this?” Art Collins said, hobbling out onto the wooden porch. “Can it possibly be the little chatterbox from the radio?”
Emilee bounded up the steps to greet him and held out her hand.
“Hello, Mr. Collins, it’s nice to meet you,” she said very adult-like.
Art looked past Emilee at us and grinned.
“Thank you for this most delightful surprise!” he said. “Please come in.” He took Emi by the hand and let us follow. She has a way of winning over the most stoic of adversaries.
A swinging door bumped open behind Collins and a golden retriever nosed his way out. When he spotted Emilee, his tail went into full wag-mode. She reached down to pet him, and he licked her face which got her giggling.
“This dog looks like Chivas, only bigger,” she said, giving the dog a hug. “What’s his name?”
“This is Captain Morgan; Morgan for short. Who is Chivas?” Art asked.
“She’s my dog, a golden retriever too, but she’s still a puppy. Karen found her last spring and gave her to Uncle Jason for his birthday but he let us keep her when he and Aunt Amanda moved back home,” Emi stopped to take a breath. “Dad’s been training her and she’s a good dog to have around. She got shot a couple of months ago, but Dr. Mark saved her. He said it was the first dog he ever did surgery on.”
Art smiled at Emi’s monologue. “Maybe someday when she’s older you can bring Chivas to meet Morgan.” He looked up at us, and it was obvious he was thinking of breeding the two dogs.
“We don’t intend on staying long, Art, but we thought you might want to meet another member of our group,” I said. “Actually, she insisted on coming along, and she can be very persuasive.”
“Are there any kids here, Mr. Collins?” Emi asked, getting rig
ht to the point.
“Yes, we have a few. Would you like to meet them?” He asked and she nodded her head vigorously. “Claire can take you where they are having their lessons, if it’s okay.”
“I think that would be fine, as long as they don’t go off anywhere. As I said, we don’t plan on staying,” I answered.
Once Emi and Claire left, with Morgan right behind them, we got down to business.
“Claire is obviously getting around well,” Mark said, his eyes had followed the duo out the door.
“Yes, she seems better and better every day. I still don’t like her doing much, though walking appears to be good for her. Thank you again, Doctor.”
“You’re welcome. Now, I’d like to take a look at your arm, see how the wound is healing.” Mark removed the bandages from Art’s arm, touched and poked it a bit, then reached for his black bag. He spread some antibiotic cream over the stitches and re-wrapped it with fresh gauze.
“It’s doing well, I say we can take the stitches out in a week, but the bones will need at least another six weeks to knit. We’ll need to do a scan at that time to be sure,” Mark finished, snapping the black bag closed.
“Let’s get down to business,” Art seemed uncomfortable with the attention.
“Of course,” I replied, and I picked up my carryall. “We brought five pounds of rice for a start. I know it isn’t a lot, but we both know that rationing of irreplaceable supplies is necessary. And as an extra incentive for our trading, here is a loaf of fresh bread.”
“Real bread made with wheat flour and not corn? This is more priceless to me than the rice!” Art confided. “We had very little flour stored when the quakes hit. We thought we had time, you know, more time, more warning to pull in those extra supplies.”
“That’s one of the things that many failed at, preppers and survivalists alike. Everyone thinks they will have warning, because they want to believe that. In reality, the worst situations come without any warning at all!” I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t have all I would have liked, but I had all I really needed.”
“So what do you want for the rice and the bread?”
“The bread is yours, this loaf anyway,” I smiled. “I think we could arrange one loaf every week. It will be up to you how to share it. I had initially thought of offering baking lessons, and I still could do that, but without flour to bake, lessons would be wasted. As for what you would want to give us in return for weekly bread, I will leave it up to you to make an offer. Likewise with the rice, you figure it out what it’s worth to you.”
Mark and I stood to leave. Collins struggled to stand.
“You don’t have to see us out, Art. I’d rather you stay off that leg,” Mark said.
“What direction did Emi go? We can find her.”
We got to the building Collins had described, only to be met with silence instead of the sound of children playing that I was expecting. Claire was just coming out the door and met us on the steps.
“Where is Emilee? It’s time for us to leave,” I said.
“Oh, they decided to go for a walk and show Emi the lake,” Claire smiled.
“We clearly said she was not to go anywhere else! Show me where they went,” I said angrily.
Claire lost her smile. “This path leads to the lake. The kids left only a few minutes ago.”
Mark and I hurried along the pine needle trail, catching up with the group when the shimmering lake came into view.
“Nahna, isn’t this lake beautiful? Jeremy says they were swimming in it all summer! Can I go swimming?” Emilee said, clearly not realizing how distraught I was.
“Perhaps another time, Emilee, right now it’s time to go home,” Mark gentled his voice, a signal to me to calm down. I met his eyes, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
~~~
In the car, I turned to Emilee who was buckled in the back seat.
“Emilee Rush, you clearly disobeyed me and I am not happy about that!” I said sternly.
“It was just a walk, Nahna,” she replied in a small voice. “We didn’t go far.”
“That’s not the point! You were told to not go anywhere else. We don’t know these people well yet and you had us worried!”
“I’m sorry,” she said to her chest, her chin tucked low. I could see the tears dripping onto her hands. I turned in my seat to look forward, or I would start crying too.
October 19
“What are you doing here?” Mark demanded, when Art Collins hobbled up our steps with the help of Adam. “You can’t keep walking around like that and expect your bones to heal straight!”
“I understand that, Doc, however, I felt my personal attention was necessary in this case,” he replied, settling into a kitchen chair.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” I asked, wondering what was so urgent that he would venture out of the security of his compound.
He looked at me skeptically. “You have coffee? Thank you, I would appreciate that. As fond as I’ve gotten of tea, I’ve missed coffee.” I set the cup in front of him, along with the creamer and sugar. He sighed with contentment after two spoons of sugar and a healthy dose of Joshua’s rich cream.
Mark and I sat side by side, waiting for Collins to tell us why he had come here.
He got right to the point. “I feel a personal apology is owed to you for the misconduct of my wife and the children during your visit. Claire told me how upset you were when you left yesterday and you had every right to be. Your request that your precious granddaughter not leave the designated area was completely reasonable, and for them to disregard that and go wandering off to the lake was unforgiveable.” He paused for another sip of coffee. “I did explain to them that we were trying to build trust between our two groups and their actions have hurt us. I hope not irreparably.”
“We had a similar discussion with Emilee,” I said. “As a rule she is good at doing what she is told. I believe she was so excited about being with other children that she lost her common sense. She was as much to blame as anyone. I appreciate that you have come to us about this matter. It says to me that you have the same concerns about the safety of your children as we do.”
“I would never have forgiven myself, or the others, if anything had happened to Emilee at the lake. Sometimes the children forget that not everyone can swim like they can,” Art swallowed hard.
“That wasn’t my concern, Art. Emi can swim just fine. I was concerned about her getting lost, or injured or even… abducted,” I stated, leaving the veiled accusation hang in the air.
Collins was silent for a long moment.
“I would never let anyone harm a child, Allexa, not one of mine and not a guest in my home. Will you accept my deepest apologies?”
It was my turn to be silent in contemplation. Mark is my husband, but these children are of my flesh.
“Apology accepted. It tells me a great deal about your character coming here,” I smiled. “More coffee?” The tension in the air dissolved.
“Would you ask Adam to bring in my bag?” Collins requested. After setting it down in front of him, Adam stepped outside again. They definitely had a pecking order.
“As a further apology, please accept this smoked goose, the one you liked so much, Doctor,” Art said with a smile.
Mark looked at the package.
“I’m sorry, Art, we cannot accept this as a gift. Your verbal apology was sufficient,” Mark stated. Collins looked affronted, until Mark continued. “However, we will accept it as payment for the rice we brought over the day.”
Collins smiled. “I like your style, Doc.”
So do I.
CHAPTER 27
October 23
The temperatures had been holding at a moderate fifty-five to sixty degrees, and even though the sky was a smudgy gray with ash clouds, the day felt wonderful, even normal.
Mark was on the back deck reading so I decided to spend the morning in the greenhouse. The air was wonderfully humid and the fish pond g
urgled. I tossed some breadcrumbs to the fish and smiled as they flickered back and forth grabbing each tiny piece.
Everything was growing remarkably well and the abundance of green plants made my heart happy. While I weeded and cultivated around the plants, I discovered some mature beans hiding among the leaves! Fresh vegetables were hard to come by even in here. The greenhouse was only so big and had only so much room. I looked up at the tomatoes in the hanging baskets to see a few of the green fruit starting to get a blush. The cornstalks in the pots by the pond were healthy, however there weren’t any ears developing.
The biggest surprise for me was how well the kale plant was doing. A month ago when we harvested all the root crops, I had pulled the kale plant up by the roots and set it in a bucket of water. It had continued to grow and flourish and to give us crunchy leaves once a week. Kale had so many nutrients and it was obviously hardy. I would definitely have to grow more next year.
~~~
“What do you want for your birthday dinner, Eric?” I asked. I felt a bit of nostalgia looking at my oldest child. Where had the years gone?
“Would lasagna be too much trouble? I’ve got a real taste for it,” he said, then looked around to see if we were being overheard. “Amanda is a good cook, but I’m getting tired of her casseroles almost every night.”
“That won’t be a problem,” I said to him, also thinking of the new batch of green beans ready to harvest, maybe even a salad of kale greens.
October 24
We had just sat down for our morning coffee when I saw two vehicles pull in the driveway. Rayn go out of the military Hummer, and Tom White got out of the other one, a dark blue sedan.
The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) Page 16