Resurrecting Home

by A. American

  “Don’t know what you call that dive, but I’ll give it a three,” I said through my laughter.

  “I’ll go five for creativity,” Thad added.

  Jeff was wiping water out of his eyes when his feet started to slide again. After several acrobatic bouts, he managed to get his balance enough to get out of the water and take his boots off, pouring the water out of them.

  “All right, tanks are full, we need to get back to it!” Sarge shouted.

  Danny cut off the pump to a chorus of jeers, and very reluctantly everyone started out of the water. Jess made quite the show as she came out—I don’t think she realized that she was looking the part of a wet T-shirt contestant. Jeff ogled her as she walked past him, and Mike caught the action too, though he was slightly more discreet about it.

  “Hey, Jess,” he said, and pointed down to his chest.

  Jess looked down and turned bright red but then recovered. “You boys act like you’ve never seen them before.”

  “Oh, we’ve seen them, just not those,” Mike said with a grin.

  “Like Ron White said, once you’ve seen one you want to see the rest.” Jeff cackled.

  “Now that the show’s over, can we get back to work?” Sarge asked, drawing some snickers from a few of us.

  “Yeah, let’s go. Nothing to see here,” I said as Jess moved toward the Suburban.

  We were back in the ash, soot, and smoke all too quickly. While we were gone a couple more spot fires had started. One was nearly an acre in size and took everyone’s effort to knock it back. Every time we took one on, it was done in the same manner. On the downwind side we’d start raking back the litter from the forest floor while attacking with the hoses and working the edges with the beaters and shovels. The method was very effective and we were able to quickly gain control over all the small fires that appeared. After attacking one of these we were taking a break in the middle of the easement. Sarge was looking back toward the main fire. “Looks like it’s starting to burn itself out,” he yelled.

  I looked across the open patch. Black soldering stumps and snags jutted out of the ground, some with small flames flickering out of them. “It does.”

  I told Jeff to take a break and jumped on the four-wheeler and rode down the easement looking for any additional fires. The only thing I found was the smoking remains of the fires we’d already dealt with, thankfully. Riding back I stayed on the north side of the easement, where the fire had originally approached from. The smoke was still heavy, heavier maybe than it was at the height of the fire. With the main blaze now burning itself out, it was no longer creating the updraft, drawing air in at ground level and pumping it along with smoke, ash, and embers out the top.

  As we headed back toward the trucks, I caught a bright flash. That wasn’t . . . I thought to myself. Another flash came, then a large wet drop landed on my forehead. Another landed on my shoulder, then another, then another. I whooped and spread my arms out wide as the large drops began to come down hard and heavy. The thunder rolled on for a long time, a crescendo signaling the end of our fight.

  Pulling back up to the group, I shut off the ATV and held my hands up. “Look at it!” Everyone stood in the rain, soaking it up as it quickly built in intensity to monsoon proportions. Sarge was leaning on the hood of the Hummer smiling. “Think this will do it?” I asked.

  Sarge squinted up into the sky. “I don’t think it’s going to rain for forty days and forty nights, but I think it will certainly do it.”

  “I’ll take it. I don’t care how long it lasts,” Thad said.

  “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!” Danny shouted, looking into the sky.

  Mike held his hands out as the rain puddled into them. He shook his head. “Better late than never.”

  I looked up. “We’re glad to see the rain now, but remember, hurricane season is right around the corner.”

  “Shut up and enjoy it, Morgan,” Mike shot back. I couldn’t help but smile.

  The rain beat down what remained of the fire to the point that there wasn’t a flame to be seen. We’d been saved. It was a small miracle. Finally, something had gone our way.

  “Saddle up, boys. Let’s make like a donkey’s dick and hit the road,” Sarge said. He always did have a way with words.

  Pulling up to the gate, we saw Doc and Tyler standing in the rain. Doc held his hands out. “Divine intervention?”

  “I’ll take it, no matter what it is,” I said.

  “Can you believe this rain? I can’t remember the last time I saw rain like this,” Tyler said.

  “Just in the nickel dime,” Mike said with a smile.

  “I’m guessing this took care of it?” Doc asked.

  “Yeah, it did. And tomorrow we’re going to celebrate,” Thad said.

  “What’re you planning?” Doc asked.

  “We’re going to roast a hog tomorrow.”

  That was met with a chorus of cheers.

  Doc smiled. “Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

  “Really? A pig roast?” Tyler asked.

  “Hell yeah! It’s about time,” Danny said.

  Doc looked at Tyler. “And ole Thad here sure knows his way around a pig.”

  Thad smiled. “I can make one fit to eat.”

  I laughed. “That’s an understatement. Are you guys good here for now?”

  Doc nodded. “Yeah, we’re good. I know you guys are probably tired.”

  “I’m beat,” Thad said.

  “Yeah, I’ve got a whole new respect for those guys who fight these wildfires,” Danny added.

  “You guys head on home and get some rest,” Doc said, waving us off.

  “Thanks, man,” I said as Thad started to pull off.

  Thad pulled the little red truck into my yard and I hopped out. I, for one, needed to change my clothes and relax for a bit.

  “Catch up with you guys later,” I said as I headed for the house.

  I found Mel inside lying on the couch, Little Bit beside her. “The rain! Is it helping?” Mel asked.

  “We don’t need to worry about the fire anymore. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to change out of these filthy clothes and take a siesta,” I replied.

  After showering, I fell onto the bed, asleep in no time. Mel came in and woke me what seemed like a minute later. Sitting up, I felt groggy. However long I’d slept, it was either too long or not long enough.

  Rubbing my face, I asked, “What’s up?”

  “Danny’s here.”

  I looked around. “What time is it?”

  “Almost ten in the morning.”

  “What? I slept all night?”

  “Like you were dead.”

  “I feel like I am. When did it stop raining?”

  “Sometime late last night.”

  Getting up, I dressed and walked out to the living room.

  “What’s up, man?” I asked.

  “Come over to the house real quick.”

  Still not entirely awake, I slipped on my Crocs and hung my pistol on my belt. As Danny and I walked toward his house I asked, “What’s up?”

  “You gotta see this,” Danny said.

  That piqued my interest. “What is it?”

  As we passed through the fence between the houses, he pointed. “That.”

  Tyler was there, skinning a deer. Two others were hanging beside it, waiting their turn for the knife.

  “Holy shit!” I shouted.

  Tyler looked up. “Hey, Morgan, check it out—got three of them.”

  “I can see that! When did you do this?”

  “This morning, early.”

  As we were talking, Thad walked up. “Someone’s been busy,” he said.

  “Yeah, ole Tyler here bagged ’em,” Danny said.

  “Well, let’s get to work, then,” Thad said as he drew his knife.

  “You still want to do that hog too?” I asked.

  “I’d like to. I’ll do it a little different now, though, considering we hav
e these deer. We can render all the fat down. It’ll really help with this lean meat,” Thad said.

  “We can freeze some of it, but the freezer’s not big enough for all of this,” Danny said.

  “Don’t worry, we can smoke most of it,” Thad said.

  “Dry some too. We have salt and vinegar still. I’ll make biltong,” I said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Thad said.

  The smell of fresh hanging meat got the attention of the dogs. Their eyes tracked every movement and didn’t miss a thing. Tyler had the hide off the first deer and was ready to open it up. He hadn’t field dressed them as the organs were valuable. Simply dumping them in the dirt was an unthinkable waste.

  We pulled out a large tub and set it under the suspended animal. Once opened up, most of the entrails fell out on their own. The heart and liver were removed and set to the side. When the offal landed in the tub, the dogs sat up. The lungs had to be cut out and dropped into the tub. I took them and cut them into three pieces, tossing them to the dogs, who eagerly set upon the fresh meat.

  Thad and Danny were already working on the second deer. Its hide was quickly off, the tub was slid under it, and the process repeated. The dogs would certainly eat well today.

  “I want to keep the brains,” Danny said.

  “Wanna tan some hides?” Thad asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll freeze the brains until the hides are ready.”

  “Cool, I’ve always wanted to do that,” Tyler said.

  The skinned animals were cut up, the back straps, tenderloins, and front and rear quarters removed. We even cut the ribs off, leaving nothing more than a spine and head. Danny used a hacksaw to open up the skull, and the brains were removed. He cut the spines into pieces and tossed them to the dogs, much to their delight. I was skinning the third as the first two were finished. Tyler was helping me, and just as the first two, it didn’t take long to have it reduced to pieces.

  Danny had a nice grinder and all the accessories to go with it. We’d hidden it in the garage down the road when we’d left. We piled the meat into the gray tubs and took it into the house, where we’d bone and grind it. Danny set a large poly cutting board out on the counter and immediately got to work. While he, Thad, and Tyler were cutting up the meat, removing the hams to use as roasts and cubing everything else, I laid the back straps out. Using a fillet knife I carefully cut the wide sinew from them, ensuring no meat was left on it. Once all three were removed I took them back out to the shop.

  Finding a piece of plywood I stretched them out, tacking them in place with small nails. With all three stretched out I left it on the work bench to dry. While we didn’t really need it, I wasn’t about to waste it—there were simply too many uses for the stuff. With that done I went back inside. Bobbie was in the kitchen watching the work and making sure no one made too much of a mess in her kitchen.

  “Danny, you got any extra screen?” I asked as I worked on a hindquarter.

  “A little, what do you want to do?”

  “I want to make a screen box of sorts, to dry the meat in. We really want to keep flies off it as it dries.”

  “I’m sure we can manage that. Let’s get this all cut up and we’ll check it out.”

  “Are you just going to hang it up and let it dry, not other treatment?” Tyler asked.

  “Pretty much. What I’ll do is sprinkle some vinegar on the meat and leave it in the fridge overnight. Then I’ll salt it and then we’ll hang it up to dry. It’ll take a couple of weeks to dry to the point we can store it,” I replied.

  Tyler looked at me, obviously skeptical. “And that’s safe to eat? You don’t smoke it or anything?”

  “Don’t need to, man. I used to make it in the kitchen, hanging it up between two cabinets. Back then I’d put some cumin on it for flavor. It turns out just like jerky.”

  “I bet Mel loved that, bunch of meat hanging from the ceiling in her kitchen,” Thad said with a smile.

  “Yeah, first time she saw it she was like What the hell is that!” Everyone laughed at my impression of a pissed-off Mel.

  “Brandy would probably strangle me in my sleep with it if I’d have tried,” Tyler said, tossing a handful of cubes into a tub.

  Bobbie looked into one of the bins. “What’s that?”

  Danny looked over. “Brains.”

  “What are you going to do with those?”

  “Freeze them for now.”

  “Not in my freezer!” Bobbie shouted.

  “You know of another working one anywhere?” Danny said.

  “Well, you better put them in something. I don’t want to see them.”

  As we worked, other people started to drift in. First was Jess, Fred, and Aric.

  “Oh wow, is that the pig?” Jess asked, looking at all the meat.

  “No, Tyler shot three deer,” Danny replied.

  “It was easy too. They were moving away from the fire and ran out right in front of me,” Tyler said.

  “Looks good! Are we having them for dinner?” Fred asked.

  “Let’s cook these back straps and tenderloins tonight,” Danny said.

  “Why don’t we just dust them in kudzu flour and fry them up?” I asked.

  “That’d work, let’s do it,” Danny said.

  “As soon as you guys get out of here we can get started on it,” Bobbie said.

  “Now that most everyone is here, we can now officially say the fire is out, we don’t have to leave,” I said.

  There was a round of claps and catcalls. It was a great moment, the threat over, the relief of the stress and the sudden abundance. After everything that’d happened recently, it was incredible for things to be making a turn for the better. I just hoped it would last. The house filled with talk—of the piles of meat on hand, of the fire’s defeat, and of the rain. I sat back and took it all in. It was wonderful.

  A rumble in the yard, announced by the dogs barking, let us know Sarge had arrived. I walked out on the front porch and waved as he and the guys got out. As they came up on the porch, Sarge patted me on the shoulder. “You get some rest, Morgan?”

  I nodded. “I did, you?”

  Sarge stretched. “Yeah, took a little nap. Feel better now.”

  “You guys are just in time. Come on in,” I said as I turned and headed back into the house.

  “Damn, look at all that meat,” Mike said, clapping his hands together.

  “So stay out of the damn way. I’m hungry,” Sarge barked.

  “Then you guys need to clear out so we can start dinner. Jess, Fred, Mary, can you help?” Bobbie said.

  They quickly jumped at the request. “You know it. What do you need us to do?” Fred asked.

  “I’ve got this. Why don’t you guys go chill out so I can cook,” Danny said.

  “All right, Chef,” Bobbie said, giving him a little salute. “I knew I married this man for a reason.”

  Sarge tapped me on the shoulder. “Morgan, why don’t you and me give them boys at the barricade a break.”

  “Sure thing.” We made our way over to the Hummer and hopped in. Doc and Aric were leaning on the barricade watching the sun drift toward the horizon. Hearing us coming they turned around and leaned back.

  “’Bout time you got here,” Doc said with a smile.

  Sarge snorted. “Yer lucky I came at all. You boys seen anything?”

  “Nah, there were a bunch of deer moving before, but they’re gone now.”

  “There was all kinds of wildlife earlier. It was amazing,” Aric said.

  “That fire was pushing them,” Sarge replied.

  Doc looked at the old man like he was crazy. “Ya think?”

  Sarge smiled and walked toward the pile of logs. As he did he flicked the back of his hand into Doc’s crotch, finding the sweet spot, apparently. Doc folded up and went to his knees with a moan. Sarge smiled and looked at Aric, who was wide-eyed. When the old man’s eyes fell on him, he naturally covered his jewels with his hands. It cracked me up and I started to laugh my
ass off. Sarge saw it and laughed as well. Doc, however, didn’t see the humor.

  “Dammit, that hurts,” Doc said as he straightened up.

  “Sorry about that, Ronnie, I slipped,” Sarge said with a toothy grin.

  “I bet you did. Just for that I’m taking the truck. Your old ass can walk,” Doc replied as he headed for the Hummer.

  “Thanks for being down here, guys,” I said.

  Tyler and Doc waved. “No problem, Morgan,” Doc said.

  “You might want to hurry up. They’re cooking some venison,” Sarge said.

  “No shit. Man, that’s going to be good,” Tyler said.

  “Yeah, I’ll be thinking of you while I eat it,” Doc said, giving Sarge the finger.

  I started to laugh again when Sarge headed for the truck. Doc hurried to start it, backing up as soon as the engine caught, an obvious look of relief on his face as he did. Sarge laughed and waved, then returned to the barricade. The sun was now kissing the horizon, a very dull orange orb balanced on the hay field across the road. With all the smoke still in the air it darkened the sun so much it looked like a giant pumpkin.

  “How’s the hip?” I asked.

  Sarge kicked his leg out. “Almost back to normal.”

  Nodding, I replied, “Good, we were worried about you.”

  “Shoot, don’t need to worry about me. Take more than that little snot nose to kill me.”

  I smiled. If he were half as tough as he thought he was, he’d be twice what he really is.

  “Yeah, well, take it easy. We kind of like having you around.”

  With the sun almost gone I looked down the road toward Altoona and a pair of white eyes stared back at me. “Hey,” I said, slapping Sarge’s arm, pointing up the road.

  “Looks like we got visitors,” he said.

  “Wonder who’s got the stones to be on the road in the dark,” I said.

  “We’re about to see.”

  As the lights got closer it became obvious there were two vehicles. I mentioned it to Sarge.

  “Nothing to worry about: they’re Hummers.”