Sinagua Rising: A story of survival after a worldwide catastrophe

by R. G. Andersen-Wyckoff

  Meanwhile, Travis had made a discovery of his own. Growing along the floodplain of the Verde River were blackberry brambles so thick and loaded with blackberries that nothing could penetrate the brambles—other than a bulldozer. Travis took several hundred cuttings of the bushes, wrapped them in old, damp pieces of cloth the women said they could spare, and placed them in the back of Bud’s truck.

  Bud told Bishop, “I’ll plant these cuttings all along the edge of the mesa overlooking Duwa Valley and in no time we’ll have an almost impenetrable hedge the full length of the Valley that will add security while providing us as much fruit as we can possibly use. This stuff grows so fast and thick it won’t take more than a little watering in the beginning and then you’d better stand back,” he said with a smile. By the time the group was ready to leave they all had black finger tips and lips that were impossible to hide—and very full stomachs that some would pay the price for later.

  Bishop agreed to Rafael’s request that they stay for dinner and the group was again treated to a feast of fresh grown vegetables, corn, and smoked beef Jonas had given them to take to Rafael. Despite the language barrier, through sign language and broken English and Spanish, the groups talked into the late hours about life after the Scorpion War and, in particular, about the eclipse. The two young couples, Hank and Mattie, and Tess and her young man, who she later identified as Eduardo Miranda, sat off to the side admiring the stars and each other.

  In the morning they said their goodbyes after a breakfast of greens, onions, tomatoes, refried beans, and shredded beef wrapped in corn tortillas. Rafael called it a Hauptman Burrito. Bishop’s group called it delicious.

  Mattie hugged her father and whispered something in his ear that made him smile and hug her even more. He gave Hank a hug, too, and then shook his hand. When the caravan reached I-17, they separated; the Stentons headed back toward Cornville and the Duwanians headed the other way toward the Village and Duwa.

  The Hauptman farm was on the south side of Camp Verde, so as Colby was approaching the downtown area, he radioed Bishop in the other truck that he wanted to make a stop on Main Street at Top Shelf Liquors. Bishop inquired as to why he needed to go to a liquor store.

  “This isn’t just any liquor store,” Colby responded. “This one also happens to be the leading dealer in archery supplies anywhere in the county.” The store had been ransacked, as Colby had expected, having been a target of pillagers immediately following the CME and cleaned out of its liquor supply. But in their haste to get the liquor, and destroying that part of the store, they had left the archery supply shelves and cabinets untouched. It was like Christmas and his birthday all wrapped into one for Colby.

  Not only had Bishop’s group come away with cotton and blackberries, some bean seeds Travis had begged from the women at the Hauptman farm so they could make their own refried beans, and now some hunting bows, arrows, bowstrings, quivers, and finger and arm guards; but they had strengthened the alliance between the four groups and insured that their new world would be one of peace and cooperation—and probably intermarriage.

  In the quiet of their tent that evening, Matt told Kristen that Mattie and Hank looked very happy and that it appeared marriage agreed with them. Then he told her Mattie’s whispered secret—she’s pregnant—and would try to come back to Duwa before the baby was born in the spring.◘

  Chapter 43

  Life Is Good

  Within days following the trip to Scorpion Meadows and Hauptman Farm the monsoon began. Travis mobilized everyone to harvest the corn, beans, and squash crops before the rain destroyed them. They also harvested what remained of the watermelons they had been picking since mid-summer. It rained steadily for three days and then on and off for another week. The flow in the creek increased exponentially with the rain and was soon entertaining the children with a rooster tail shooting up over the makeshift rock dam. No one was allowed to go down to the creek, so they watched from the safety of the promontory. Some tree debris hung up on the dam and restricted the flow even more, backing the water up into a large lake all the way around the bend, almost to the bottom of the falls below the deep pools from which they drew their water. It was apparent that damming the creek would provide a nice swimming area and fishery once they stabilized the dam and built a smaller dam upstream. They would add some trout once the stabilization was completed and next season’s rains filled the lake.

  Jack discovered that their supply of distilled water was beginning to run low, without which their batteries would cease to function. He decided it was past time to build a still to provide the distilled water so they didn’t run into a problem in the winter. As he discussed it with Philip, he discovered that Philip already knew how to build a solar still, having done so as a high school Science Fair project, and decided that this would be a productive project for him to pursue. Philip was delighted with the task and, after only two days, had a working solar still sitting on concrete blocks in the bright Arizona sun. It was made entirely of materials readily available from the kitchen and the storage tent. Philip was an instant hero to the villagers, not because they would personally use the distilled water, but because Jack had told them how important it was to the life of the batteries and because Philip had the knowledge to build the still from scratch.

  The heavy rains made working in the pueblos a muddy endeavor but Colby, Jorge, Bud, and Matt worked there regardless in an attempt to get roofs on as many rooms as they could before winter set in. They had been working on restoring the walls but the rain made it difficult to use cement. Determining they would have to wait until things dried up a bit, they nevertheless were able to start setting telephone poles in the interior corners of the rooms and span them with beams that would support the roofs. They concentrated on the single story buildings because they were easier to work with.

  As soon as the rains ceased, near the beginning of September, they began installing the roofs. The roofs were almost flat with a small pitch to the backside so they would drain. They were built on 2x6 joists tied in to the previously installed beams and corner poles, then covered with plywood and roofing paper and finished off with roofing tiles. A gutter was installed along the entire length of the outside wall, draining the water into barrels at either end. Colby decided that winter would be on them too quickly to build the second-story walls and roofs on the western side of the pueblo and they should, instead, concentrate on rebuilding all the walls in the southern section that now had roofs.

  Travis, Jason, and Tate began planting the blackberry cuttings along the west side of Duwa Valley, getting soaked to the skin each day. Once planted, however, due to the rains and the potential winter snows, they had natural irrigation for the plants instead of having to carry water to them. The rain did wonders for the bamboo plantings at the north end of the valley and new shoots were already visible. The quantity and quality of the vegetables and strawberries growing in the greenhouse was impressive, as was the herb garden, much to Michael’s delight. And the growing wall of beans and tomatoes was impressive, as well. The starter beds for the vegetable plants guaranteed an ongoing supply of new plants for the growing beds and, therefore, an ongoing supply of fresh vegetables and strawberries regardless of the weather outside. Travis even added a watermelon patch in one corner of the greenhouse, to the children’s delight.

  One evening, after dinner, Travis had a discussion with Bishop, Tanner, and Matt about an idea that had occurred to him while they were visiting the other farms. “The two things they don’t have,” he said, “are fruit trees and honey. As time goes on we’ll want to continue getting salt and cotton from the Hauptman farm and probably livestock or more corn and vegetables from the Scorpion and Stenton farms. As nice as it was for them to give us these things now, in the future we’re going to have to trade for these things—that’s the only way the alliance will continue to work.

  “So, my idea is that we’ll continue to divide our beehives, building new bee colonies and producing larger and larger amou
nts of honey. In the short term, that will give us enough for our own needs and to trade, along with some watermelons, until they start growing their own. We have a limited supply of plastic containers for the honey so we’ll have to make sure we retrieve the empties from each of the farms and maybe Ellen will have to start making pottery jars for the honey. Also, we can go to the apple orchard approaching Sedona and take cuttings, like we did with the blackberries, and plant our own orchard in the upper part of the Dry Beaver Creek floodplain, near the motorhome. We have plenty of metal fence stakes and snow fencing to fence the perimeter of the orchard to keep animals from eating the new trees. If we start small, maybe 20 trees, we can expand it later, if all goes well. The soil should be plenty good in the flood plain and we can water the trees using the remaining 500-gallon water trailer.”

  “Sounds good to me,” replied Bishop, to which the others agreed.

  “I can build Ellen a kiln, just like the Sinagua,” Tanner interjected, “and, as soon as the creek level recedes we can dig up a large quantity of clay and put it in buckets to keep it moist for Ellen to work with.”

  “When did you want to start this project, Travis?” Bishop asked.

  “There’s nothing wrong with right now,” he replied. “We just need to take a trip up to the apple orchard and get the cuttings. Jason, Tate, and I can do that tomorrow, if that’s all right with you.”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Bishop.

  “I’d like to go with them,” said Matt. “Just another set of hands and eyes,” he added.

  “I’ll talk with Ellen,” said Tanner, “and decide where to put the kiln and how big she’d like it to be. I’ll start gathering the basalt to build it and, as soon as it gets dry, I’ll mix some cement and build Ellen a first class kiln.”

  The next day, Travis and the others drove to the orchard and, according to Travis, got some quality cuttings. They saw no one on the road or in the area of the orchard, and returned quickly. It appeared to Travis that whatever groups of survivors there may have been, had either died out or moved out of the area, as the Pine Valley group had. They spent the next several days laying out the orchard, planting the cuttings, and fencing the entire orchard. Matt built a gate at the end nearest the motorhome so they could take an ATV and water trailer inside the fenced area. Travis made sure the rows of tree plantings were far enough apart to allow the vehicles to move up and down the rows without damaging the plantings now and as the trees grew.

  At dinner one night, Carly made an observation that got the attention of almost everyone. “Since we’re getting close to finishing some of the pueblo rooms, it occurred to me,” she said, “that it certainly would be nice if we could have some real mattresses to sleep on, rather than the cots we’ve been using since we left our homes. Not only would it be more comfortable,” she added, “but it certainly would improve romance.” Her last comment drew laughter and applause from the adults. No explanation was necessary. “I think,” she continued, “we need to get them now before they start rotting or otherwise become unusable. I’m sure some have been wet from rain or snow, especially since we’ve removed so many of the windows and doors to our homes—and who knows how many varmints have taken them over.”

  “I think that’s a great idea, Sunshine,” Bishop agreed, and it was seconded by the rest of the adults. “We can try to salvage mattresses from not only our homes but from the remaining hotels rooms, as well, since we have more bodies now than when we lived on Morningside. We’ll take the trucks and trailers and collect as many as we can transport. A few extra would be prudent planning for the future.”

  “We can put the house number on the mattresses we take from our old homes, so we can easily identify the owners,” Carly suggested. “I know I’d love to sleep on our mattress again.”

  The next day they did just that, collecting enough undamaged mattresses to service the entire community and then some, and writing the house number on the end of the mattresses that were taken from the Mavericks’ homes. Unfortunately, several of them were wet, mildewed, or bug or rodent infested and had to be left behind. When they brought them back to Duwa, they carefully wrapped them all in plastic sheeting to protect them until the pueblo rooms were ready for them, and put them in the large storage tent.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  With the monsoon rains over, Matt rigged up the till behind the backhoe and turned the corn stalk and remnants of the beans and squash into the soil. Once it was levelled, Tate and some of the children used the spreader and spread the winter wheat seed in the western half of the valley. Because the rains were now over, they didn’t worry about the seed being washed away, over the edge of the cliff and into the flood plain below. The cattle would just have to make do with the residual growth from last year’s seeds. Matt knew that a time would come when diesel for the backhoe would no longer be available and the work of tilling the soil in the valley would have to be done by hand, so he designed and built plows like the farmers had used before mechanization during the winter months, while he still had the ability to use the welding equipment to cut and form the blades.

  Fall came early, with the first snowfall occurring before Halloween, the normal time. But, they were ready for it. A thin layer of snow lay on top of the newly planted fields, sheltering the seed until the plants were ready to make their appearance in the spring.

  The winter wheat had become a part of their diet, being used to make hot cereal and ground into a flour to make biscuits and tortillas. They also mixed the wheat berries in with the cracked corn to feed the chickens.

  Jason and Tate watched as Travis smoked the beehive and divided the hive into another box Jorge had built for that purpose. The bees seemed to adjust quickly and before long the two hives were busy in the greenhouse.

  Tanner finished building the kiln and they collected a fair amount of clay after the monsoon flow in the creek had subsided. Ellen was busy experimenting with the clay, mixing it with fireplace ash as binding, and fired the first pot. She had selected a spot near the southwest corner pueblo, suggesting that would be a good place for her and Michael to live, once the rooms were finished, because it would be close to the kitchen. Tanner had agreed, as had Bishop, and now the first pot was in the kiln. It wasn’t perfect, in her estimation, though it sure looked good to Tanner, but she would perfect the mix of clay and charcoal more each time she did it. Matt built her a potter’s wheel, since she had not been able to bring hers with her on Travis’ plane.

  After the first snowfall but before the real cold weather set in, Colby and Jorge went hunting for deer again and bagged one by the Horse Tank, as he had two times before. Tanning another hide and then making more moccasins gave Tanner plenty to do over the winter. This became their routine every two months, though from time to time they were able to supplement the venison with beef from the growing herd wandering in Woods Canyon.

  Matt and Bishop led a party of men and women to gather wood to carry them through the winter. They took hammers, saws, crowbars, and a chainsaw and both utility trailers. They started first at the Oak Creek Estates, Nizhoni Village, and the Oak Creek Estados Apartments, gathering any wood that was unburned, and then did the same thing at the Wild Turkey condominiums. Any walls still standing were knocked down and the salvaged wood cut into useable lengths and placed in the trailers. They salvaged wood this way until the two trailers and the truck beds were filled. They made their way back to the village and, using the truck’s four-wheel drive, managed to climb the road to the mesa, where the wood was unloaded, cut into two-foot lengths and placed in the food storage tent, which was now vacant, since all the food had been moved to the walk-in pantry in the new kitchen. Collecting firewood this way, even tearing down homes when necessary, would insure Duwa would have ample firewood for years to come, and would protect the trees on the mesa. Tanner told them that the Sinagua had burned most of the available wood on the mesa for heat and cooking, wiping out a very valuable resource and was possibly a factor in their leaving Tuw
alanki. He indicated that that was why Pinyon Pine no longer grew on the mesa and had been replaced by the juniper forest they now had. They made two more trips collecting wood from the motels, restaurants, and other buildings that had collapsed due to partial burning, because this was the easiest and fastest way to stockpile the firewood they’d need—just in case it was a colder winter than the previous year.

  Despite the colder temperatures, the chickens were happy and provided plenty of fresh eggs—the rooster did his job—and the flock grew. Travis fenced off an area of the hen house for the chicks where they could grow unmolested by the older flock. As the chicks grew and were ready to begin laying eggs, Travis would select some hens to be removed and used in one of Michael’s recipes.

  By this time it was evident that Jessie was, as they said in the Bible, with child. She confided in her mother that she felt sure it had happened during their honeymoon and the baby could be expected in the spring—and Estella let the other women in on the news. Though it was obvious she was pregnant, no one had said anything to Philip or Jess, waiting for them to break the news. Jorge did so at dinner and the couple were greeted with cheers. Matt and Kristen decided this was as good a time as any to let everyone in on Mattie’s news, as well. The Duwanian family was about to grow some more.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  This winter seemed to be particularly harsh, maybe only because the previous one had been mild, and the winters before that had been spent in their warm homes in the Village. It got so cold that the water in the swimming pools froze. Jack and Philip daily inspected the water lines and fittings on the water system both inside and outside the village and were pleased to find that the lines had been buried deep enough and the valves and fittings insulated well-enough that they didn’t begin leaking.