“That’s good info,” Jim said. “I can see we might need to recon the road before sending a caravan in.”
~~~
“Mark, don’t be such a worrywart. I already told you I’m not going back into Marquette with the next crew.” I stopped my pacing to face him.
“I’m glad to hear that. It’s too dangerous for you,” Mark said, looking up briefly from the medical charts he was working on at his desk.
“Have you taken any of the supplements I brought back yesterday?” I asked him quietly.
“No, I don’t believe they will do any good. Besides, as long as we’re careful, wear our masks and gloves, and wash our hands frequently, we’ll be fine.”
“Well, I’m taking them and I’m pushing the kids to take them too. Even if they don’t help they certainly won’t hurt.” Upset with Mark’s attitude, I walked back across the street to talk with Tom.
“Take these,” I stated, and set a bottle of garlic capsules on his desk. “We can’t afford for you to come down sick.” I slumped in the chair. “When did Jim leave?”
Tom glowered, though it wasn’t meant for me.
“They left a half hour ago to scout the road.” Tom tossed his pen aside. “Jim refused to let me go with them! Said it was too dangerous for me. Can you believe that?”
“Yeah, Mark was adamant about me not going either.” We looked at each other and started laughing. “Tom, when did we get to be so important?”
~~~
The colonel returned two hours later, dusty and disheveled.
“We had cut our way through two areas of downed trees, only to be stopped. There’s a rockslide at a tight curve that I’m assuming is what you were calling the Hairpin. We tried moving some of it, but there are boulders that will require earth-moving equipment that we don’t have,” Jim informed us, clearly frustrated. “It’s obvious that’s a much higher elevation than here since there’s snow on the ground. Not much, but enough. I think we’re stuck until spring.”
“Yes, it’s part of a small mountain range and it’s almost two thousand feet higher than right here on the lake,” I said. “Can you get around the rubble on an ATV?”
“Doubtful, but we can try.”
“Can you walk around it?” I was suddenly interested in finding a solution to this latest problem. It was unacceptable that all those supplies were sitting there for the taking and we couldn’t get to them!
“Sure, we could walk around or over, though that doesn’t do much good unless …” he sat up straighter, “… unless we had something on the other side! If we can get to town somehow, and commandeer a large vehicle, we could bring supplies to the other side. Then it would only be a matter of hauling everything from one side of the blockage to the other!”
“What about a motorcycle?” I asked, remembering one of our original town members was a Harley enthusiast.
The three of us headed out to Eagle Beach in Jim’s dusty brown Hummer. I hadn’t had any reason to be here in months, except for once. At the crossroads I motioned for him to turn right. Turning left would have taken us to the house where I met John. I shut the memory down.
We passed several nice and elegant houses, intermixed with much smaller, and well-kept camps along the half-mile road until I spotted the place I recalled.
“Still got those bolt cutters?” I asked Jim with a sly grin as I hefted the padlock on the large gray and white metal pole-barn. Jim snapped the lock off easily, and slid the doors open to reveal not one, but six pristine Harley Davidson motorcycles of various models, some covered with heavy tarps. The keys were all hanging neatly on a pegboard, labeled with the year and model.
“Thank you, Dan,” I whispered to myself, watching Jim run his hand over a black beauty of a roadster.
“An Electra Glide; 1200cc engine, looks to be maybe a 1970 with a Shovelhead engine and an electric start.” Jim found the keys on the board and started it up. “Purrs like a happy kitten! Your friend sure took good care of his bikes,” he said, straddling the quiet machine. He pushed with his feet and backed out of the barn.
I found a piece of chain to hold the doors closed, and slipped the now broken lock back in place.
~~~
“It’s too late in the day to try again,” Jim said, after he parked the bike in the safety of the big garage at his new home. “I would like to head out early in the morning though. You think Eric would mind if I took Rayn with me?”
I was puzzled. “I don’t think he has any say in it, Jim. You’re still her commanding officer, but why Rayn?”
“She’s a small person and will ride easily on the back of the bike. Once we get to town and pick up a van or something large, I know she’ll be fine driving it. She can drive anything,” Jim grinned. “And there’s no way I’m leaving my new ride behind! After that, we can take several of the guys.”
“So ultimately you plan on driving up to the landslide, walking around it, and then taking the new vehicle back into town?” Tom asked.
“Yep, might even pick up a second car, so we can double our capacity, making as few trips as possible.”
“That makes sense,” I said.
CHAPTER 39
November 28
“Nahna,” Emi whined as she sat down at my table, “I’m bored. With school closed and most of you adults off into town being busy, there’s nothing for me to do. I feel useless. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Oh my, she sounded so grown up. This new life of ours was making our children mature so fast. I admired that she wanted to do something helpful and productive.
“You and Jacob have been spending a lot of time with Joshua and the animals, that’s being helpful.”
“Sure, but there are only so many eggs to collect and Joshua says I’m too small to milk Bossy,” she pouted.
Too small? She was almost as tall as I am!
“I think I have a solution to two problems, Emilee, yours and mine. I’ve been so busy in town with helping the new people settle in and working with Mark when needed, that I haven’t had enough time to bake. If you could take over the baking duties, I would really appreciate it.”
Her eyes lit up and she sat straighter in the chair.
“It won’t be easy, though. To satisfy our family, I’ve been baking two loaves every day. Do you think you can do that?”
“Oh, yes!” Emi exclaimed. “Do I have to bake only bread? Can I try other things?”
I could sense her excitement and decided to capitalize on it.
“Sure. I have lots of cookbooks that can give you ideas. Any thoughts on what you want to try?”
She looked at me with a grin. “Cookies!” I laughed.
“Okay, here’s one book on cookies and another on breads,” I said, handing her two books from the bookshelves. There were so many books there she would be kept really busy. “The deal for today is two loaves of bread and a list of what kind of cookies you want to try. Remember, Emi, we might not have all the ingredients you need, so pick several recipes, okay? And tomorrow you and I will go over what you’ve selected and gather supplies.
“The other thing though, is you and Jacob still have to stay with Joshua when no one is here, is that understood? Joshua has a good working stove and oven, so you can do all your baking there.”
“That’s fine with me, Nahna, I like Joshua. He’s fun and he lets me talk on the ham radio, and Jacob is happy almost anywhere as long as he has his letters, books to read, and can watch cartoons at least once during the day.”
“Great! I’ll get enough baking supplies together for you to make two loaves of bread every day for a week, while you get the wagon out of the barn. When you see Joshua, ask him to check his propane level. You’ll be using more of his supply with the baking and I don’t want him to run short.”
“The propane truck came by when you were in town with Colonel Jim and filled all of our tanks. Didn’t you know?” Emi looked surprised.
No, I didn’t know. More stuff going on behind my back, this
time though, I couldn’t argue.
~~~
I was going to have a talk with Tom about filling our tanks while not wanting his own tank refilled, however, by the time I got into town it was snowing and it was coming down really hard.
“I think winter has finally caught up with us,” I said, announcing my presence when I walked into Tom’s office. “Oh, I didn’t know you had someone here. Do you need privacy?”
“Not at all, Allexa, please join us. This is Earl Tyler, a really interesting man,” Tom stated. “We were just going over the designs he’s come up with for a workable, easy to build wood burner. Earl, please continue.”
“I was explaining to the mayor that with the welding equipment across the street, and a few extra hands, I can mass produce a simple wood stove that can also be cooked on,” Earl said. This young man, possibly in his middle thirties, blond and brown-eyed, was very animated as he talked.
I looked at the designs on Tom’s desk. “May I ask your background, Earl?”
“Basically, I’m an auto mechanic, but I… fix things, and build things. Half the time at my shop in Ishpeming I had to manufacture a part for what I was working on. I’ve been welding for almost twenty years, Tig, Stick, Mig welding, as well as soldering, brazing. Give me a torch and I’ll make you anything,” he grinned.
“I’m impressed! Sounds like you’re a good addition to the town,” Tom said.
“There is something else I do, as a hobby more than anything, so I think I can shed some light on what’s been happening,” he said.
Colonel Jim was now beside me, listening with interest.
“I thought you were going to try getting into town,” I said when I noticed him, changing the subject.
“Not in this snow!” he said, sounding disappointed.
“Now that we are all here, let’s take this to the conference table where we have more room,” Tom said. “I’m very interested in what Earl has to say.”
“First of all, I’m not a paleomagnetist, although I’ve studied under one,” Earl began.
“A what?” I asked.
“A paleomagnetist is one who studies the records of the Earth’s magnetic field in rock and other archeological findings,” he explained. “It’s really quite fascinating. The different layers of rock show how and when the magnetic poles have shifted.”
“I thought you said you were an auto mechanic. This seems to be a strange hobby for that profession.”
“I started out wanting to be a geologist, but turning wrenches pays better,” he confessed with a forlorn smile. “I’ve kept up with it though, taking classes at the U whenever possible.”
“Please go on,” Tom said, giving me a look that said to shut up.
“Anyway, the last study group I was in revealed that we are, or were, getting close to the next magnetic pole reversal, which happens every ten thousand years or so. The magnetic north has been drifting for years, mainly further into Russia, and I think it’s into the shift now.”
“What makes you think so?” Jim asked, “And what would that mean to us?”
“The Earth is held together by its magnetic forces, like this,” he started drawing on the chalkboard behind him. “When the pole shifts this direction, it pulls on the tectonic plates,” he drew more lines, “and that causes the plates to move and create earthquakes, mainly along the Ring of Fire. The last theory is the shift is moving the opposite direction and will now pull on the northern and eastern plates; like this.” He tossed some finish nails on the table and produced a large magnet, moving it in different directions while the nails realigned.
“From the study group’s previous findings, it might also explain the storms. It’s really hard to determine if the pole shift triggered the tectonic plate shift that erupted Yellowstone, or if Yellowstone sling-slotted the shift. We may never know. Either way, both circumstances would create magnetic storms, and those would produce the kind of weather we’ve been seeing for the past several months, especially massive amounts of lightning. It would also produce some awesome Northern Lights, though we can’t see them because of the ash clouds. I also believe we will continue to see some very erratic weather for months to come.”
“Why didn’t you bring this information forward before?” I asked.
“I tried to,” Earl shrugged, “but I’m just a grease monkey…”
“Is there more?” Jim asked.
“Only that the tremors we felt recently seem to support the theory. My guess, and it’s just that— a guess—is it isn’t over. There could be another larger quake or even two, as the pole continues and finishes its shift. When it’s over, we could be much closer to the magnetic equator than we were before.”
“Earl, I have to ask why we are even feeling these tremors. I didn’t think there were any fault lines under the U.P.” I said, looking back at his crude drawing on the board.
He chuckled. “Ma’am, there are tectonic plates literally everywhere on the planet and where there are plates, there are faults.”
“So are you saying we could become the next tropical paradise?” Tom asked.
“Oh, no, sir. A magnetic pole shift is different than a geographic pole shift, although some of the side effects are similar, like the earthquakes and the weather changes, and there is speculation that at times they have occurred together. Magnetic poles change every ten thousand years or so, however geographic pole flips are millions of years apart. And let’s all pray a geographic movement is not what’s underway.”
“What would happen?” Tom queried.
“Ever hear of an ELE? That’s an Extinction Level Event,” Earl said solemnly.
~~~
“So you’re putting off your trip into town?” I asked Jim after Earl left and Tom went back to his office.
“The traveling will be done mostly by motorcycle, and that’s not gonna happen in all this snow,” he answered, gazing out the window as the wind picked up and turned the parking lot into a mini tornado of powdery snowflakes.
“Well, I think Eric will be relieved. He wasn’t happy about Rayn going.” I smiled. “Ah, young love.”
“Young love? Mark doesn’t like it when you go off on one of these excursions either,” Jim reminded me.
“He has a difficult time remembering how independent I am. He is making progress in that direction though.” I glanced out the window. “I’m trying to be understanding in return, considering I don’t like the way he exposes himself to all the sickness going around.”
“How many have we lost so far?” he asked quietly.
“Out of the four hundred fifty-seven people who arrived here back on October twenty-fourth, there are now two hundred forty-three left.” I shut my eyes momentarily. “That’s two hundred fourteen lost, fifteen of those were children.”
“Are there any still sick and at Camp Tamarack?” he asked.
“About a dozen, however the Sisters think those may recover. The percentages are scary, Jim. Two-thirds of everyone here caught the virus, and eighty percent of those died. Are you and Tom taking those supplements I dropped off?”
“Yes, although I think staying away from sick people does the most good; can’t catch it if I’m not exposed,” Jim tried to reassure me.
“I wish I could convince my husband of that!”
CHAPTER 40
JOURNAL ENTRY: November 29
The heavy snow from yesterday melted quickly in the fifty degree sunlight, though there isn’t much light to the sun these days.
*
“Jim, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” I said when I found him at the Inn. “Did any of the evacuees bring any guns with them?”
“No, I didn’t think it wise. I’m doubting my wisdom now,” he answered.
“How are they going to hunt?” I asked.
“That’s why I doubt the wisdom of that decision. I’d like to know how someone took down the deer that we’ve been eating!”
“Oh, those came from Art Collins, as payment for some supplies.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” he looked up from his bowl of soup. “I was more concerned with violence than I was with hunting; my error. I should have remembered that the mind is the only true weapon, everything else is just a tool, and we need tools.”
“My group members all have guns and rifles. I’m sure they would be happy to do the hunting. I haven’t seen any deer moving though. They seem to be content to stay up at the Resort,” I said.
“My team are well armed, too. Plus,” he looked guilty, “I did control an armory.” He laughed. “Even though I can safely say we have plenty of munitions, it won’t last forever.”
“True, but the best shots only need one bullet.”
~~~
I did not want to go to Camp Tamarack. I did need to find one of the Sisters though, so it was my lucky day that I saw Sister Margaret coming out of the school.
“I’ve wanted to ask about the clothes Amanda’s been washing,” I stopped her on the sidewalk. “How is that working out?”
“It has been a Godsend having her help us that way, though we’re done now,” Sister said.
“Done? What do you mean?”
“There are only eight people left at the camp now and all well on the way to recovery. They should be going home tomorrow. “We haven’t had any new patients in days. I truly feel we are over this flu. Thank God!” She crossed herself.
“How is Father Constantine doing?” I asked carefully.
The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) Page 26