A Long Lonely Road

by Tj Reeder

  Anyway it goes…

  “Nothing can compare with sitting on a good horse up high because when your do so, you can see all the way to God.”

  I hope sitting on a mule don’t reduce the point…

  There is a clean quality to the air in the high Mountain country that can not be duplicated by anything except perhaps being far out to sea facing into the wind. Regardless they are both wonderful and I have been privileged to have experienced both many times.

  I often stop in places where the sun has warmed the boulders and just sat having a drink of water, pouring some for Molly who lays at my feet to make sure I don’t sneak off on her.

  The mules enjoy it too since they can graze and often I watch them staring out across the miles of empty country and the unending blue sky that inspired the name “ Big Sky Country” which of course was back in Montana but applied here as well for is it not the same sky?

  This way of life is good and if my family were not needing me and I not needing them and to be there making them safer by my presents I could stay up here and let the world sort it’s self out.

  But I think this and yet I know I would not because if the good people hide from evil who then will end the evil? I’m not brave nor a self righteous person but for all my faults I know right from wrong, good from bad.

  And five dead men back in Montana will never hurt anybody again because I chose to become involved, what man could call himself a man and not do so?

  My how things changed. It would be so easy to say it happened so fast but in truth it started a long time ago. When fools sent fools and crooks to Washington to make stupid laws and to make themselves rich.

  No, it wasn’t quick but it seems so to those who had no ability to see and understand what was being done to our nation, our people and our way of life. I knew millions were dying as I sat here on this mountain yet there was nothing I could do about it today.

  Had I been braver years back and had I the conviction to do what needed doing would it have helped? Should good men die in wars started by evil men desiring to bring about changes to better control others from a seat of all power?

  Should a congressman ( Person? Hahaah) be removed by force if necessary to preserve all that is right about America? The answer in my heart is a resounding “YES!!” but can one man alone bring down their army of evil men?

  We should have tried and it will rest hard on our souls that we did not. I’ve often asked. Could one good man with an honest conviction of right and a good rifle have prevented WW 2 ??

  Had Hitler, dying at the hand of a good and decent man willing to die for right have accomplished an end to the hell that was coming? We will never know but 100 million people had to die before the slime bag ended his own worthless life.

  But for a nail the shoe was lost, but for a bullet all was lost for many years. Damn this sitting in the sun is cooking my brain! Best be making some miles.

  I feel like I’ve been on this mule all my life yet I’m broke in to it now and I’ve lost the “Deer Gut” I packed for so many years, I know Buck can tell the difference.

  We had been steadily dropping down out of the high country for days now and were getting into more crowded country. I was figuring it might be wise to travel after dark, laying up during the day but it would be a lot slower and time was hounding me yet I know I have many weeks if not months to go.

  After so long in the high lonesome I was quick to notice the smell of smoke and at first thought it was a camp fire but soon it was quite obvious that it was a structure burning. Or rather that had burned just from the smell of stuff like wiring and carpeting.

  It was time to become cautious. The wind was quartering from the west and a bit south and I could have just ridden on past but I also couldn’t damn my nosey ways!

  So I turned Buck into the breeze and road forward into what? Sometimes I hate myself! But I’d hate myself more if I thought somebody needed my help.

  And in the end the only help I could give was to bury the folks I found in the yard of a burning house. A man and woman and two small boys. All shot at close range and worse yet the clothing of a woman. All had been cut from her body while she stood in the blood of her family.

  I was burning with rage as I studied the tracks in the dirt of the drive way. It looked like maybe a truck and for sure a few motorcycles. I knew I was going to be too late for the girl but if I could I’d see if I could find the bastards who did this.

  I got my shovel and started digging a grave big enough to hold the family. After it was dug I looked for the mans wallet and found it in his pocket.

  His name was Tyler Jones, I never found anything with the family names but I’d do the best I could for them.

  After I got them buried I started tracking these scum and on a dirt road it wasn’t hard. But it was in the wrong direction for me so no matter how I felt I couldn’t spend too long on this.

  We covered about 5 miles before I started to hear loud music, which surprised me. Figures, the worlds electronics are burned out as some dickhead gets heavy metal going.

  I got as close as I dared before I rode Buck into the woods and behind some brush. I unsaddled and un packed the mules and left them loose in case I didn’t make it back.

  I had to think a bit about what weapons I wanted and settled on the Ruger pistol with the can on it, and my Ak, Put on the Tac vest with 5 mags for it plus one in the rifle.

  Molly and I started moving closer with her on a 10 ft leash. Molly hates thunder and lighting and gun fire so she was going to be kept close until the shooting started.

  After that she was free to run back to the mules and wait. If I didn’t make it she was on her own and I hoped she would maybe back track to Harvs camp but had my doubts.

  I got closer to the loud music and soon could see smoke thru the trees. They must have just moved this far before they couldn’t wait any longer to use the girl. It was a mistake. A bad one.

  I made it within 30 yards of their camp and saw 3 dirt bikes and an old pickup and what looked like 5 losers, one of which was in a tent with the woman while the rest shouting encouragement.

  I was still trying to figure out how to do this when the one in the tent let out a blood curdling scream and staggered out of the tent. Pants around his boots and both hands where his dick used to be.

  Everybody stood frozen for a moment trying to understand out what was going on when the woman charged out of the tent buck naked and a bloody knife in her hand! Which she abruptly drove low right into one of the shitheads gut and ripped it straight up.

  Before the others could react I shot them. The Ak was incredibly loud and seemed to echo all around the low hills forever which was about 5 seconds.

  The one the woman had gutted was just standing looking at his insides becoming his outsides. Nasty! Then he dropped to his knees and fell over.

  The dickless wonder was still flopping around holding his crotch while the woman watched him bleeding out all the time screaming Help me!! Help me!!

  The lady walked back into the tent and came out with his missing unit and in mid scream she shoved it down his throat! This was one tough gal! who was just now beginning to understand the rest were dead.

  Looking around she saw me and fear flashed in her eyes for a moment until she figured out I had killed the other three. The first one had finished choking on his own Johnson and was blue in the face.

  She watched me for several minutes then looked around at the bodies and seeing that one was smaller then the others she started going thru their gear until she found his bag and found some pants and a shirt that sorta fit.

  Now I have to admit I was waiting for her to collapse and start going into shock but it just never happened. I figured she had to be either the toughest woman on the planet or she was a Psycho.

  I watched her finish getting dressed and waited. Finely she looked at me and quietly said thank you. I just nodded, I figured she would do as she wanted and it was her choice. Because right now she sure as
hell didn’t need a strange man telling her what to do.

  After a bit she went to the truck and found some bottled water and some candy bars which she wolfed down way to fast while washing them down with the water. At last she seemed to run out of steam and just sat down and then threw up all the candy and water.

  I walked over and got her some more water and told her to drink it slower and to chew another candy bar also slow. She did so. After that stayed down I asked if these 5 were the only ones? She nodded yes and looked at me and then stood up and said will you help me search their gear for stuff I can use?

  We went thru their stuff and found a lot of guns in the truck but not much ammo. It looked like they had stole it all from somebody’s home. I asked her if she could use a gun which got a sad smile and a nod.

  She finely picked out a 30-30 Marlin rifle and a 9mm Glock simply because they had the most ammo for them. After getting her picks into a pack we walked away and back to my animals.

  She perked up when she saw the mules and really did when Molly ran to her all happy dancing. I really wanted to get away from the area in case they had friends so I packed the mules and climbed on Buck and offered her a hand and an empty stirrup. She grabbed my hand and seemed to float up on Buck like a feather.

  I felt her tensing up when we got close to the burned out house but she calmed when she saw the grave. I stopped Buck and she slid off and walked over to the grave and stood for a moment.

  She turned to me and said “They were good people “. She said they were her Fathers sister and her husband and she had been there only a few weeks. Since her Dad had died a month or so back.

  She looked at me and said. Are you the kind of man who can be trusted with women folk ? I smiled and said well I like women but I avoid the ones that play with sharp knives! She nodded and kind of smiled . Then asked where I was heading? Texas I said to get back to my family.

  She nodded again looking at me and at last said well I’ve never been to Texas and I don’t have a family anymore. I smiled and said you do now if you want it. And with that we both laughed.

  She told me these folks had some horses in a nearby pasture and saddles in the barn, So that was our next step. In the barn we found everything we would need for her riding needs. Better cloths would have to wait.

  We went to the pasture and the horses came at a run. I finely asked the girl her name and told her mine. She didn’t get the play on my name. her name was Sandy, she never said her last name.

  She knew the horses pretty well since in the few weeks she was here she rode often. The one she picked was tall and long legged and had the look of a part Arab. If so he was going to be perfect for this trip since Arabs had been winning most endurance races for ages.

  Sandy started saddling her horse, While I was looking around the barn I saw a nice pack saddle set up and now I was thinking! Looking around for the grain barrels produced enough grain to last a good while so the next step was to figure out which horse was the pack horse.

  That too was easy since there was only one that the set up would fit without adjusting all the straps. He was a stout looking gelding not too tall but big in the right areas. Part of me saw Morgan in him which was a type horse I always really liked.

  After getting the pack saddle on him and filling the hard style panniers on him and filled with grain he still wasn’t loaded for his size so I added a gunny sack to the top of the load filled with more grain. And feed bags for Sandy’s horse and of course for the big guy packing the load.

  And with that we got the hell out of there and headed for the highest hills around. One thing the Marines always said was take the high ground, make the bastards get tired running up hill coz it slows them down and makes em easier to kill.

  I pushed hard the rest of the day and stopped for the night in a small grassy meadow with a creek running thru it. We watered the stock and set the mules loose but kept the horses on lead lines until they were far enough away from the home place to be trusted.

  I had spent a lot of time with a good friend who had the most barn soured horses I ever seen. I can’t remember the times he had to use my horse to ride back down the trail to get his.

  It was a funny memory and I smiled which got a look from Sandy so I told her the story. She laughed and said well he never learned so why should his horses? True!

  Before we settled down for the night we walked down stream and found a pool about 3 ft deep and I told her I was going to take a bath and she could go first which she did.

  She came back after a long while and looked like a new person. At least on the outside. I knew the inside was a different story. Grabbing my gear I headed down to the pool and while it was pretty cold it was wonderful.

  Shaving wasn’t an issue as I had grown my beard 40 years ago and wasn’t shaving for anybody. And I didn’t have enough hair to worry about so I just kept my head shaved but without hot water I was letting it grow. Both of them! Lol .. After washing my hair I can’t do a thing with the one on the left.

  Back at camp I was surprised to find a nice small smokeless fire going and a can of Denny Moore stew cooking. But after looking again I could see it looked more like two cans. Well this lady was gonna eat me outta house and home.

  I never asked her a thing about her life but I did tell her about mine and about the things since the event. She looked a bit shocked when I said the 3 I shot to save her were 6,7 and 8 since the troubles started.

  She sat a minute and did the strangest thing. She got the 30-30 and taking her knife she cut 2 little notch’s on the plastic butt plate she looked at me and said I never want to forget those two bastards. I guess I could understand that.

  I woke up to the fire going and the coffee pot starting to bubble. I sat up and looked around and couldn’t see Sandy or Molly for that matter, but Molly was raised by a woman and I guess she needed female companionship. Hell I understood that!

  After a bit they came back to camp and I could see Sandy had soaked again. I nodded at the coffee pot and said thank you. She smiled and said no, Thank you! I’d be dead right now but for you.

  We had our coffee and some jerky which was getting low and something would need to be done about that soon.

  She watched me doctor my coffee and called me a wuss so I flipped her off without thinking but she laughed out loud so I guess it was ok. But then she added sugar and creamer to hers so I called her a wuss and she flipped me off. Nice…..

  I will say that traveling with anybody is better then being alone and if the other is an attractive woman with a good sense of humor that’s even better.

  Sharing the chores got us back on the trail quicker then usual and we headed right out. I had studied the map before dark last night and could see we pretty much needed to head more South East a bit and also there was a bunch of highways and small towns coming up.

  I needed to decide what to do about that. We talked it over and decided to just pick a small place and watch it for a day or so because we needed to get her some proper fitting cloths and some good boots.

  Towards late afternoon we came to a paved road and were pretty sure where we were. Turning right would take us to a closer town but it was the wrong way so rather then go out of our way we went left.

  I was spooky about riding on the side of the road but Molly was ranging out about a hundred yards so I was counting on her to warn us. I had no real idea just where we were but I knew we needed to camp and see what the next day brought.

  We passed the night with a dry camp but the animals had watered at a creek just before dark and we had the canteens for our needs.

  We ate jerky and water and went to bed. Later that night we woke up to a volley of shots off towards where the town was and soon after a loud vehicle raced past our area.

  We laid awake for a good while but finely did sleep. After getting packed up and ready to go we talked about the fact that if the town had been hit by raiders the folks there might just shoot first and last.

  We decided to cir
cle around and see what it looked like from a ways off. Which we did. We found a hill where we could see the town pretty good with the spotting scope and watched it all day, taking turns looking.

  It looked to be a town of a few hundred, A main street and a side street on each side. One thing I saw and I liked was both white and black folks were moving around and working together. That was a big plus as far as I was concerned.

  After talking it over I decided I’d take the pack horse and ride in with her 30-30 since that looked about as non aggressive as could be. Sandy was going to ease in close and cover me with the AK which she said she could shoot just fine thank you!