by Joe Nobody
“Before you go, I want to show you something. It won’t take but a minute.”
She shuffled down the front steps, her expertise with the crutch much improved. They stepped around to the backyard, past the garage where just two days before he’d held her captive.
There was a gravel alley behind the houses here, and Toni led him to the right.
They trekked another block before arriving at a nondescript, white building that had no windows. Jack detected a pungent odor from just outside the door.
Stopping to face him, Toni’s voice grew low. “This is what the LumberJacks were after,” she announced. “This is our most prized possession. I wanted to show you because I sense that you’re just like the rest of us – you need hope.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned and produced a ring of keys. A moment later, the padlock was hanging from the latch. Toni pulled open the door to reveal a large room full of roosting chickens. Jack was amazed.
“Wow,” Cisco muttered, sticking his head through the entrance as if he was visiting the gold reserves at Fort Knox. “How did you…. How many…. How did you keep them alive?”
She didn’t answer, instead choosing to hobble a few steps inside, stepping gingerly on the straw-strewn floor. After eyeing the rows of nesting slots, she reached up and produced one egg, and then another. “Here,” she offered, “take this back and tell your friend to keep them warm. With any luck, he’ll have a couple of chicks. Maybe one will be a rooster. Tell him we’d be interested in trading with friendly, honest people. He can approach our town waving a red piece of cloth, and we won’t consider him hostile.”
“Red? Why red?”
“When everything went to hell, we had a lot of people waving white flags that were not genuine. Nobody believes in that signal anymore. Red, however, will indicate he is friendly.”
Jack took the eggs from her, handling the two samples as if they were newborn babies. Pieces of the Pinemont puzzle began to fall into place. “These are what the Lumberjacks were looking for. How did they know you had chickens?”
Rolling her eyes, she replied, “When this whole nightmare started, we bartered with them. Eggs were extremely valuable, and we used them to trade for meat, medicine … just about anything of value. After a while, they probably began asking themselves where we were getting our supply. We were so naïve back then. Now, these birds are a closely guarded secret.”
“And yet you just showed me?”
Nodding, she responded, “You proved to me that some good still exists in this world. We can’t live on eggs alone, and I doubt your friend can survive on veggies. We should barter.”
“Thank you,” he managed, still astonished at the gift. “And you’re right. It does give me hope.”
“You could stay here,” she offered, flashing him a smile that somehow managed to be both inviting and genuine. “You could help us rebuild … be a part of our recovery.”
He shook his head, “Thank you for the offer. It’s very tempting.…”
“But,” she interrupted.
“But I have to get to Texas. There are times I can think of nothing else. I have to find my family.”
Nodding her understanding, Toni said, “An officer and a gentleman to the end. I hope you find them Commander Jackson Cisco. If not, you are always welcome back here in Pinemont.”
He stepped toward her, extending his hand. She ignored the gesture and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. “Good luck, Jack.”
“Same to you, Toni. I’m sure our paths will cross again. I look forward to it.”
They walked back in silence, Jack tucking the two eggs on the inside of his body armor where they would be nice and snuggly warm. Toni had been right – he did feel a renewed sense of hope.
He mounted the bike, double-checking that his precious egg-cargo was secure. Patting his pockets, he found the nuts and bolts that had been the entire reason for this trip. “Good luck,” he turned and said.
“Good luck!” she called as he pedaled away.
Archie was checking the eggs, slowly turning them in the makeshift nest he’d created in the warmest part of the greenhouse.
The rancher turned to see Jack hiking up the path from the waterfall, the commander’s face splashed with a huge smile.
“Turn it on!” Jack shouted before he’d even managed the glass structure’s door. “Turn it on!”
Dashing to the far end, Archie did as his cohort instructed, flipping a small breaker bar than connected Jack’s waterwheel contraption to the water pump by the spring.
Cisco was beside him by the time a spit of water shot from the hose, then another. The two men exchanged eager glances.
They watched for over a minute, listening and waiting for the liquid to spew out of the hose. When nothing emerged, Jack began tracing the new line of PVC pipe that led up the mountain, wondering what was wrong. “Maybe that little pump doesn’t have enough power to force the water up the canyon?”
“Could be,” Archie frowned. “Or we might have a leak. You laid that pipe pretty quickly.”
Jack started to turn, thinking to trace the line back to the spring and wondering if he’d ever taste fresh running water again. Before he could take a step toward the door, the hose spat again.
A bubble of air popped, and then a strong stream of clear, fresh water began flowing from the pipe. “Yes!” he celebrated.
Archie stood and watched the rivulet for several seconds before picking up the end of the hose and taking a small sip from the stream. Smacking his lips as if he were attending a wine tasting, the rancher nodded and immediately began watering his plants with an expression of pure joy.
Moving to his host’s side, Jack watched as the steady flow saturated a row of pinto beans. The smell of water and soil seemed so fresh and alive.
“You did it,” Archie finally managed, the emotion nearly getting the better of the tough, timeworn gent. “Glory hallelujah, you actually did it.”
The two men took turns working the hose, both of them sharing the moment, both a bit paranoid that the water would somehow stop running.
After 15 minutes, Archie turned to Jack with a very sad expression on his face. “I suppose you’ll be leaving for Texas now.”
Nodding with a grimace, the commander replied, “Yes. You know I have to go. It tasks me.”
“I understand, son, and I don’t blame you one bit. You’ll have to forgive this emotional, old man. I’ve enjoyed having company ... having someone to talk with and share the time. I never realized how much I missed having another heartbeat around.”
Trying to lighten the mood, Jack smiled and said, “Bullshit. You enjoyed having someone help you carry the water.”
Archie laughed, but the humor didn’t hold for long. When Jack noticed the frown returning to his fellow survivor’s face, he said, “Go introduce yourself to Toni, my friend. I’m sure she can find a good person to come back here and help with expanding your garden. There are welcoming folks less than 20 miles away. Take a little vacation. Meet some new people. Take in the sights. Eat lots of eggs. Drink their moonshine.”
Nodding, a smile soon returned to Archie’s face. Staring down at the hose, he said, “First things first, young man. I’ve been saving up firewood to heat water. I can’t decide whether to take a bath or wash my clothes first.”
“Take a bath,” Jack teased, waving his hand in front of his nose. “With your clothes on.”
Episode 3 now available