Sinagua Rising: A story of survival after a worldwide catastrophe

by R. G. Andersen-Wyckoff

  Jack suggested that Philip could now unfasten the ropes from the top of the windmill, as they would no longer be needed. Philip untied first one line and then then next, working his way around the structure and throwing each rope clear of the windmill. As he untied the last rope on the farthest side of the structure and threw it to Matt, holding on with only one hand, he lost his balance and his foot slipped from the structure. Momentarily he had only one foot and one hand on the structure and then he had neither. Airborne, he fell backwards to the pool, taking the brunt of the force on his backside. He quickly sank and just as quickly surfaced sputtering and coughing. He was embarrassed but unhurt. “This water is damned cold,” he yelled to no one in particular. Bishop had reacted with amazing speed, making a large loop in the end of the rope he had already coiled, and then threw the looped end into the pool, telling Philip to place the loop over his head and under his arm pits. He and Matt pulled the rope taunt, which helped move Philip to the mesa wall at the edge of the pool. Bishop instructed Philip to just walk up the side of the wall as Matt and he pulled him up, making sure to keep his weight back toward the pool. In just a couple of minutes Philip was sitting on the edge of the mesa wet and laughing. He was joined in laughing by the others who, having recovered from the initial shock of seeing Philip fall, were now able to join in with relief.

  “Now, that was a surprise,” lamented Philip. “A few seconds of pure terror, followed by a few seconds of pain, followed by a few seconds of very cold water. It was quite refreshing in its own way,” he laughed. “Thanks for the quick work with the rope, Bish. Too long in that water could have made for a very different ending.”

  “We need to get the discharge line connected to the pump and then over into the storage tank,” Jack informed them. “Then we can release the tail of the windmill and, when we get some breeze, we‘ll be able to see if everything works right. That probably won’t happen until tonight.”

  “I’ll do the climbing this time,” offered Matt, “so young Philip here won’t decide to do his high diving act again.”

  Matt climbed the structure, attached the discharge line and ran it into the intake line on the top of the storage tank. He then put the overflow line into the tank just below the intake line. Jack explained that the overflow line, as its name infers, would allow any excess water that occurs, once all three storage tanks were full, to overflow back into the pool so none was wasted. Jack then pulled on the thin chain that released the tail on the windmill. Without a breeze the windmill did not rotate, as they had expected.

  Bishop suggested they collect all the tools and equipment and put them in the bucket of the backhoe and head back to the village. “It’s already past our afternoon swim time and working in this heat today has made me look forward to that swim. Besides, Philip shouldn’t be the only one who gets to enjoy a bath and a swim today,” he chuckled.

  All agreed and while the others collected the equipment, Jack closed the outflow valve on the storage tank so any water collected during the night would be retained in the tank. The next day they would put the delivery line together and attach it to the tanks at the village and then check the line for leaks. Barring any, they would then backfill the trench and the delivery portion of their water project would be completed. They would then only need to put in the temporary supply lines at the village that would provide water to the encampment until the permanent buildings were built over the next year or two.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  When the men returned to the village they found it empty. The clotheslines were filled with bedding and clothes, a sure sign the women had been busy getting their living units cleaned up. As Bishop entered his tent, he was greeted by Chloe who purred loudly and rubbed against his legs, but there was no other sign of life.

  Travis, who had gone up to the ruins to see how much Bud and Colby had progressed on the new greenhouse structure, stuck his head in the tent and told Bishop that all the women and children had gone down to the creek for a bath and swimming. It had gotten quite hot, in the mid-90s, that afternoon and, not being bound by any schedule, they decided it would be nice to cool off while the men were otherwise occupied.

  Bud, Colby, and Tate, along with Jason who, upon his return from walking around the mesa with Kathleen, had been drafted into helping dig the holes for the footings for the greenhouse, came down to the village and suggested that a cool swim would be just what the doctor ordered. In less than ten minutes the men were in their swim trunks and trudging down the trail to the creek, where they could see the women and children cavorting in the sandstone pools and sunbathing on the rock shelves at the water’s edge.

  The men were still in an ebullient mood from having completed the major portion of the water project and from the more than hearty laughs they had enjoyed following Philip’s unexpected, but nevertheless, comical diving act.

  Bishop told the story of Philip’s mishap to the women and even the children were spellbound and then amused. Then Tanner and Matt began exaggerating the story giving points for Philip’s diving skill, his arm-motoring movements in the air, the grace of his butt-first entry into the pool, and his sputtering resurfacing. Before they were finished they had him doing swan dives, jackknifes, and somersaults from the windmill like the famous cliff divers of Mexico. They also made up imaginative stories about how he walked up the side of the mesa dangling from the end of a rope. Everyone was in stitches, holding their sides in laughter, except Philip, who was red-faced, but then even he could not avoid the contagious laughter and joined in. It was the first truly carefree and enjoyable time the group had experienced since their adventure had begun, and they all reveled in it.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  Dinner that night was Michael’s gourmet spaghetti with his secret sauce, along with all-you-can-eat cornbread muffins baked by Maria. Actually, to be fair, Maria had cooked double the amount of pastries as she had the first time, all of which ultimately disappeared. So it wasn’t ‘all-you-can-eat,’ but no one was complaining. She felt that Bud and Colby finished off the last ones just to make her feel good. They used the cornbread to sop up any remnants of Michael’s sauce so that even Chloe, Jackson and Belle found virtually nothing to lick on the plates that were offered to them; but they licked them anyway, just in case. The fruit cocktail they had for dessert really wasn’t necessary, but no one left any.

  There was little conversation during dinner but, as they began to reach their fill, small clusters of conversation began and before long the entire group was engaging in animated conversation, for the most part reliving in exaggerated detail Philip’s diving prowess. Jessie squeezed Philip’s hand under the table just to reassure him that it was all in fun.

  Carly reported the obvious, the women had begun the task of washing all the bedding, not only the bedding used by their group but ALL the bedding. They planned on wrapping the unused sheets, blankets, and towels in plastic to preserve them for future needs and to make sure there was clean linen for the first aid tent, should it be needed. She also reported that the ladies had discussed setting up clothes closets in a couple of the unused spaces in the tents as a sort of communal source of clothing. Some of the Duwanians had been able to bring virtually all the clothing they owned, while others had only the essentials they had packed before joining the others at Bishop’s for the 4th of July. Tess, Manny, and Javi had only the clothes on their backs and would have to borrow from the closets if they were to have any clothing at all; especially when winter set in. The women figured that hand-me-downs would take care of the children for the foreseeable future, at least until they grew into the adults sizes.

  “We realize,” said Carly, “that at some point, hopefully at least several years down the road, we’ll have to be making our own clothes from remnants, animal skins, or materials we’re able to find scavenging among the ruins of homes in the Village, if the world doesn’t return to some semblance of normality. Unfortunately, we’ve agreed, we may now be living the ‘new normal.’ We’ll us
e the small dressers you brought up from our homes to store underwear, t-shirts, socks, etc., and we’ll use one of the unused food storage shelf units for footwear. We’ll make sure that everything is clean before being placed in the closets…”

  “Do you hear that?” Jack interrupted.

  “Hear what?” responded Carly, who had been interrupted in mid-sentence.

  “The wind,” said Jack. “It’s the wind we’ve been waiting for.”

  Now that their attention had been drawn to the sound, they could, indeed, hear the whisper of wind against the tents.

  “That’s hardly a wind,” intoned Carly. “It’s just a light breeze.”

  “A light breeze here in the valley,” responded Jack, “but up on the mesa where the windmill is, I’ll bet it’s just the kind of mild, but steady, wind we need to pump water into the storage tank.”

  “Let’s go see,” Jason said excitedly, as he and Kathleen jumped up and headed for the door.

  “Sounds like a good idea,” said Bishop, “but take flashlights and let’s stay together. We have an open trench out there and other obstacles to trip on, so hold onto the children’s hands and walk slowly. The wind and the windmill will still be there no matter what our pace.”

  Jack and Matt took the lead, being the most familiar with the terrain and their destination, followed by the entire village. Even Manny and Javi, who really had no idea what was happening, still got caught up in the excitement and, holding hands with Tess and Olivia found themselves in the middle of the group. Deliberately falling back to the back of the group were Philip and Jessie, and Jason and Kathleen, holding hands and sharing the warmth of togetherness, which was almost as strong as their eagerness to see if the windmill was working.

  As they approached the windmill there was no question it was working. The windmill blades were facing into the wind, indicating the tail was doing its job, and the sound of water falling into the bottom of the tank was clearly audible as it splashed into the water already at the bottom.

  “If the wind keeps up all night,” Jack said, “the tank will probably fill up by tomorrow night, if not sooner, and then overflow back into the pool. It will take at least all of tomorrow to join and lay the water line to the village and then slowly let the water into the line to test for leaks. Then we’ll need to backfill the trench and mark the valves and line so we can find them again once Mother Nature has erased all sign of our work.”

  “I have just the thing to mark the location of the line,” offered Bishop, “but I’ll leave it for a surprise when the time comes,” he said will a big smile that was even apparent in the moonlight.

  “Well,” said Jack, “I guess that’s the excitement for tonight, so let’s head back to the village and relax. I want to listen to the shortwave again for a while before I turn in.”◘

  Chapter 28

  Missing in Action

  As they awoke the next morning, Carly reminded Bishop that “Today’s Friday, the 17th of July, two weeks since the CME occurred.” Carly had kept a daily journal for as long as Bishop had known her and she had continued it since the CME. She always had a ready, accurate record of daily occurrences; that’s why she had been a great secretary and library volunteer. Her account of what happens in Duwa will provide someone in the future with a very accurate record of life after the CME, Bishop thought.

  “It’s hard to believe it’s only been two weeks, Sunshine,” Bishop responded quietly. “I feel like it’s been a lifetime already,” he admitted.

  “I know the stress of leadership weighs heavily on you,” she replied, “but I can’t think of anyone else who could have pulled us all together and turned a tragedy into a new beginning. You have a special talent for leadership and the rare quality of inspiring others to bring their A-game to the fore. And they all love you, and respect you, for it.”

  “Obviously, that’s wonderful of you to say so, but I think you’re a bit biased,” he responded.

  “Well, do you want me to bring it up for a vote at breakfast,” she chided him, “and I’ll prove my point, biased or not?”

  “Absolutely not,” he quickly responded. “I’m honored and privileged to accept the leadership responsibility. I just don’t know how long I can keep up a brave face and positive attitude before it all catches up with me.”

  “This doesn’t sound like you, Bish. What’s really behind this?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure I know,” he responded, “I just feel a little down today, that’s all. Maybe once I get some breakfast and we get to our chores it will pass.”

  “I hope so,” she said, “because we need you; I need you. You know I love you and if you need help, or just a good ear to listen, you know where to find me.”

  They walked over to breakfast hand in hand, like the lovers they were, even after all these years.

  The others already knew it was the two-week anniversary of the CME and their new adventure, but there was no noticeable sadness in the group. Life in Duwa was what it was, and everyone accepted that living in the past was a very large waste of time.

  After breakfast they all headed for the chores and assignments they already knew had to be done, but before Bishop could leave the Meeting Hall Jack pulled him aside.

  “I expect we’ll get the water line all connected today,” Jack said, “but we’re running low on water and I don’t think we should take a chance on running out if something goes wrong with the new water system. I think all the washing of the bed linens used a great deal of water. The clouds are piling up on the horizon again and I’m certain we’re in for some rain soon, which will limit our ability to drive down the hill for water. One of our water trailers is almost empty and the other one will go fast if we hit a snag finishing the water system. I think you should take Philip and go to the Golf Resort and fill up one of the trailers,” he finished.

  “Okay, that’s no problem,” Bishop responded. He had a feeling of exhilaration at the thought and then he knew why he had been in a funk that morning: he was still worried about his friends, Jonas and Cindy Caldwell, and a little guilty he hadn’t insisted they come with him to Duwa when he talked to Jonas the last time. Getting water at the Resort would give him the perfect excuse to remedy that situation, or at least try.

  Bishop recruited Tanner and Philip and the three of them siphoned the remaining water from the mobile water trailer to the one they had mounted as their primary supply, hooked it to Tanner’s Jeep Cherokee, and prepared to head down the mesa. Before leaving, he assigned Jason and Kathleen to the lookout posts on the mesa with instructions to keep a sharp lookout and to alert them by radio if they saw anything unusual on the highway. The two lovebirds were, of course, delighted at being given the assignment, both because they knew it was important and because they would be together.

  Tanner put his rifle in the Jeep and they made their way down to the maintenance yard where they had to remove the fencing and move the big truck before they could leave the yard for the Resort.

  As they entered the resort it seemed to Bishop to be ominously quiet. It was nothing he could put his finger on, just a feeling. The large carrion birds still flew circles overhead and the songbirds were singing, and yet he still had that feeling.

  At the pump station they found that the generator and power line they had given Jonas were gone. That only increased the strange feeling he had. Fortunately, they had thought to load another generator and power cord into the Jeep, just in case they were needed, and Philip quickly set about splicing the new cord into the pigtails on the pump. Tanner walked around the pump station a few times and, seeing nothing, he moved to the roof of the Jeep. He still couldn’t see any movement but nevertheless kept a keen eye peeled. The fact that Jonas or his people had not come out to greet them weighed heavily on Bishop.

  It took only a half-hour to fill the 500-gallon water tank. Philip detached the power cord and returned the cord and generator to the Jeep. Tanner came down from the roof and all was in readiness to leave, except Bishop.r />
  “I can’t leave,” he said, “without checking on my friends.” Tanner knew Jonas and Cindy, as well, and agreed with his father that it would only take a few extra minutes to go to the Caldwell’s home to check on them.

  As they approached the Caldwell’s home they were all now acutely aware of the silence. Multiple vehicles were parked along the street or in driveways and all had their gas fill covers and caps open. Tanner was the first to add two and two together: “It looks like they siphoned the gas out of all the vehicles for some purpose,” he said.

  “And I think it’s more gas then would have been required to operate the generator we gave them,” Bishop added.

  At the Caldwell’s they found no vehicles. The garden, which had been Cindy’s pride and joy, was devoid of any plants, as if they had all been dug up and hauled away. Miscellaneous pots and pans were scattered about and here and there a suitcase or cardboard box of clothing sat abjectly on the ground. The front door of their home was open and, calling out to them, Bishop entered the house. It hadn’t been ransacked but had obviously been rummaged through.

  There was no note or any other indication or hint as to what had happened to the Caldwells or their friends. At first, Bishop felt the weight of guilt again fall on his shoulders but then, he rationalized, They must have chosen to leave suddenly, maybe right after I talked with him. If it had been the Scorpions or some other group their homes would have been trashed and there would have been some sign of conflict.