by P. A. Glaspy
“I’d like to propose a toast. To everyone here who have all worked so hard to help get the place to where it is. To everyone out there, trying to make it without hurting other people. To those we have lost,” he said, moving his glass toward Sara and Ryan, “and those still here. On this day when we celebrate our hard-fought independence which was won at great cost to our countrymen and forefathers, may we always remember that freedom isn’t free, and the fight for our freedom never ends. There will always be others who want what we have, or just want to see us fall. Whoever put us in this position wants to break us, to have us fighting each other so that they can come in and scoop up whatever and whoever is left. We won’t give up and we won’t give in. We are not quitters. We are Americans! Cheers!”
We all responded in kind, then sipped our drinks. The moonshine was amazingly smooth and burned all the way down, just as I expected it to. I closed my eyes as it slid down my throat to my stomach then immediately made a U-turn back up to my brain. I’m not going to say I was a lightweight, but we hadn’t done much drinking since we moved to the farm. Most of us were so worn out from the day’s work that we went comatose at night, no nightcaps needed. That was great, just to be sitting by the fire, enjoying a drink, like our world wasn’t turned upside down. It rocked.
Chapter 10
The next morning, Carrie leaned out the back door and spied Ryan walking from the bunkhouse toward the gate. He’d just come off security detail, but was going back for more apparently. “Hey Ryan, can you give me a hand in here?”
Ryan stopped and turned toward her. “Sure, Carrie. What do you need?”
She smiled at him and held the screen door open, inviting him in. “Just a little muscle. We’re trying to get everything rearranged in the clinic downstairs since Lee finished the bunk beds. It’s going to open up some more room for us and Kate wants to use every available space we can. I think she’s afraid Anne will commandeer some of it for other supplies if it looks unused.”
From the kitchen, I yelled, “I heard that! And she’s probably right!”
Carrie giggled, which elicited a grin from Ryan. Looking through the window above the sink at him, I swore I almost saw our old Ryan in his face. Interesting. He walked to the screen door, pushed it open, and inclined his head for her to precede him. The gentleman move. Very interesting. He gave me a nod as they headed for the basement. I smiled back and watched as they went through the doorway that led to the stairs. Was this a budding romance in the making? Oh my goodness, that would be so good for Ryan. Something to move him from the dark past into a bright future. I threw up a quick prayer that just that would happen.
As they went down the stairs, I heard them talking. Not that I was eavesdropping, but the world was a whole lot quieter now and sound of any kind carried very well. Carrie asked him what his plans were for the rest of the day. Ryan replied, “I was just gonna head back out front, help out with the watch. Why?”
“Well, I was thinking if you could get the afternoon off, we could go look for some elderberries. There are some bushes back behind the campers a little way that I think might be them, and I know I can’t go by myself, so I was wondering if you’d come with me. Miss Millie said there were some back there at one time, but that it had been years since she went out that way. They are great for flu symptoms and can ease the pain of sinus infections, sciatica, nerve pain and such. They also boost the immune system so with a lack of doctors, and some day, multivitamins, I figure we can stock up if we have some close by, maybe make up some tonics and tinctures, or dry some for teas. We just need to find them first.”
“Do you know what they look like? Or are we just gonna go breaking off limbs and bring them back here for Miss Millie or someone to identify?” He took on a teasing tone with her, another shadow of the old Ryan.
“Yes, smartass. I mean, I’ve never seen one, but I have this.” I peeked around the corner to see what she was showing him. She held up the mini tablet, with the color photos of plants. Man, was I glad I had loaded the survival, prepping, and homesteading books on that, too! A black and white e-reader was nothing compared to a color photo when you were identifying a plant. Go me!
He grinned at her then. “Gotta love Anne’s gadgets in the apocalypse. Sure, I’ll escort you on your plant-finding adventure. When do you want to go?”
“Right after we finish filling up this space so it looks like we’re actively using it. You know, because Anne …”
“I can hear you down there!” I had gone back to the sink where I had been washing up some ginger I had pulled from a plant in the “farmacy.” We had been inundated with the occasional upset stomach in the past week or so, and were hoping it wasn’t an issue with the water supply or some kind of bug. With our folks working over at the Dotson place and being around the folks from town, they could very easily bring some kind of crud home. Ginger is well known for its ability to ease stomach issues (ever had your mom give you ginger ale when you were nauseated?), so I was helping Kate and Carrie out with getting some chopped up for teas. “I have no idea why you all think I want all the extra space around here. Tell me one thing I have put in a place that wasn’t designated for it.”
They had come back up the stairs by then, and Ryan looked at me with a smirk. “How about the bucket tower in the bunkhouse? You took the whole corner up with stacks of buckets of beans and rice and I don’t know what all. We were planning to put a dartboard on that wall, if we could find one. Bill and I—” He stopped at the utterance of his brother’s name, that had rolled so easily off his tongue, as the raw pain of that loss seemed to envelop him. He stood there with his eyes closed, took a deep breath, and continued. “We had one at our house on a wall that would have needed a lot of patching if we had ever decided to sell the place. Bill was great at darts, I wasn’t half bad, but we had some buddies who really sucked at it—especially after about a dozen beers.” He appeared to have pushed the hurt back inside, and even graced us with a small smile.
We had completely run out of room in the root cellar after the Dotsons got there and added Charlotte’s home canned goods to the mix. The food in the buckets was at least inside mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, so they could handle probably six months to a year without a loss of nutritional value in what would become higher temps in the bunkhouse with no air conditioning. Trying to get our happier Ryan back, I ribbed him again. “What’s more important: a dartboard or food? Can you eat a dartboard?”
“No, but I could eat off a dartboard; you know, like a platter.” He grinned then, and there was our Ryan for another moment. “Aren’t you the one that likes things to have multiple uses?”
I laughed out loud at that, something we hadn’t heard or done a lot of in the past couple of weeks. “Carrie’s right—you are a smartass. Go find her plants.”
They headed for the door and Ryan placed his hand on her back as he held the door for her. Definitely something brewing there. I smiled at the thought. Carrie could be the very thing to bring him back.
I jumped a foot when Millie spoke up behind me. “Yes, I do believe there might be something wonderful happening between those two young people.”
“Geez, Millie, you scared the crap out of me! And, yes, I agree, and it makes me very, very happy at the thought.”
She grinned at me, then went to watch them walk across the yard to the fence row. “I was afraid we might have lost him to the pain he’s kept inside. It happens that way a lot. The ones who are the most outgoing, the most gregarious, are the ones who hold their emotions deepest. They let the world see the face they want it to see. The darker parts they hide away.”
I was watching them through the window as well. “I know he has so much love to give. You can feel it when he smiles at you, or hugs you because you gave him a fresh cup of coffee. Or at least you could, before …”
She turned from the door and joined me at the sink. “You’re right, and I know for a fact the love of a good woman can turn a man around; it can help him break down
the walls he builds to keep the world away from his heart. I have a feeling we’ll see our former Ryan again. Maybe not entirely the same, but a more mature version who is ready to start a new chapter in his life. Ready to love someone more than he loves himself. Now, what can I do to help get the ginger ready? I heard one of the Scanlin girls, Katlyn I believe, saying her stomach was hurting.”
“If you insist, you can put some water on to boil in the kettle. We’ll make up some ginger tea, a big batch. I think a couple of the other kids are complaining with the same thing. Lord, I hope we don’t have a bug starting.”
“Well, dear, if we do, you can pretty much count on a bunch of people getting it. We are living in pretty close quarters.” Millie filled the kettle from the pump on the sink.
I sighed. “No matter how much you preach to wash your hands and be careful around each other, it happens, especially with this many folks. I’ll get some honey to put in the tea as well. That should improve the taste, and the tummies.”
With the soothing properties of the ginger and the antimicrobial properties of the honey, we were truly hoping to nip whatever this was in the bud and quickly. We didn’t have time to be sick. Summer was here and the real work was coming.
****
We were getting into the summer months and the gardens were coming on fast. We had fresh fruit and veggies at every meal. We were canning and drying every day trying to keep up and not lose anything. Fortunately, we had three experienced hardcore canners in Millie, Charlotte, and Casey. They had pots going inside and out just about non-stop during daylight hours. We also had food and herbs in the drying racks Millie had shown us how to use. During one particular canning session, pickles were the focus. Pickles are a good source of antioxidants and aid in the supply of probiotics, which help with food digestion. Now you know why that garlic dill pickle was served with your sandwich at the deli. The cucumbers were almost out of control so we were doing our best to get the most of them. Still, we had some that had sat for a few days before we could get them canned. Casey questioned the more senior ladies as to the viability of the cukes as pickles.
“I’m not sure these can be saved,” Casey said, shaking her head. “The skins are turning white already. They will probably be mushy. Yes, that’s the voice of experience talking. I lost a half-dozen jars that way once.”
Millie smiled at her. “Well, let’s see if we can give them a little help. Janet, go outside and grab some leaves off those grapevines back by the fence.”
Janet looked quizzically at her aunt, but did as she asked. I looked at Millie and started to ask what was up, why the grape leaves, but she silenced me with a raised finger. “Just wait. When Janet gets back, I’ll share with everyone.” Spooky how she could tell what you were thinking half the time.
Janet came back in with a handful of the leaves and asked the burning question we all wanted answered. “Why do you want these leaves, Aunt Millie? What do they have to do with making pickles?”
Millie took the leaves to the pump on the sink and rinsed them off. She handed them to Casey. “Put half a leaf in each jar before you process them. Grape leaves are naturally rich in tannin, an enzyme that promotes crispness without adding alum to the process for pickles. My grandma taught me that a long, long time ago.” Did I tell you that woman was a wealth of information?
Casey did as Millie instructed and the pickles were put in a water bath canner outside. Ten minutes to process, then about a week until the taste test. When the pickling spices were gone, we had plants that could contribute to our lifestyle without actually being food. And once again, the old ways were becoming the new ways.
Jim Dotson added even more knowledge of primitive food preservation by showing us how to make jerky without a dehydrator or oven. Hunting had been successful in the woods around us. We didn’t have a lot of folks out there competing with us for the game—yet. Ryan hadn’t been hunting since the loss of his brother but Jim and Carrie had, as well as Bob and Lee, who were hunters in training. They were good for a couple of rabbits, a few squirrels and a deer or wild turkey almost every day. The smaller critters were incorporated into the day’s meals. The larger were either canned, smoked, or dried. We made a lot of deer jerky.
The setup was basically a three-pole tepee with no cover. He then tied sticks between the poles to drape the meat over, which had the added benefit of giving the rustic structure more stability. The drying setup was out in the open where the sun was on the meat most of the day. The kids helped him set it up, then were given the responsibility to keep the bugs off. Tony was in charge of keeping a small fire under it, barely burning with green wood so it smoked a lot, which created a natural bug deterrent. The younger kids took turns keeping an eye out for any stubborn bugs that weren’t deterred, and were equipped with hand fans to run them off. Once the meat was completely dried, it was loaded into jars or zipper bags and added to the dry stores.
Since the episode with the marauders, we hadn’t been as diligent about daytime fires as before. The bad guys (that we knew about) knew where we were so we didn’t think there was a need to try to hide it. Also, the folks from town who were working the community gardens knew we were in the area. But then again, we had beefed up our security since the incident. We had two more on watch with the previous four. One patrolled the house, yard, and trailer areas, another the field behind the trailers. The meat drying we needed to do during the day when the sun was out so we had no choice but to have the fires. As well, the natural predators of the night wouldn’t be so apt to try to obtain the food during the day.
Jim had spotted some coyotes behind the campers during a particular jerky making session. He said they seemed to be less afraid than they should have been with that many people out and about. Perhaps we were putting a dent in their food supply with the increase in hunting in the area. Tony began carrying a twenty-two rifle slung over his shoulder while we were drying meat, joining the ranks of the rest of us toting rifles. No sense taking chances with children out and about.
We talked about the people in town. We had to give them credit—they stuck it out and stuck together, somewhat, from what Sheriff Burns had told us. They had a chance of getting through this if that attitude continued. Still, there would be people who didn’t want to have to sweat in a garden all day to grow food. Too many days at a desk and nights as a TV zombie, when all you had to do was slap a frozen dinner in the microwave or order a pizza and have it delivered, had made most people soft. An hour workout at the gym is nothing like spending four to six hours in the hot sun, because you don’t plant crops in the shade; bending over, squatting down, pulling weeds, or chopping them with a hoe, all while dealing with flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and ants; with sweat running down your face, burning your eyes; perspiring so much that every stitch of your clothing is stuck to you, embedded with dirt from the dust you’ve raised tending the crops. Couple that with the knowledge that you won’t be able to take a nice hot, or even lukewarm, shower when you’re done because you have to use the water hauled there in fifty-five-gallon drums to water the crops if it hasn’t rained—and no one had a working shower anyway. With the exception of a couple of the older folks, no one had any idea what they were going to have to do to create food for themselves and their families. They had no concept of how hard it can be to grow things without the modern machinery used by huge farms before the pulse to grow millions of pounds of food, or the ability to produce water on demand from a hose or sprinkler system. To keep a daily vigil over the precious plants for pests that would try to steal them for themselves, including the four-legged and the two-legged kind.
The hardest part was the waiting—waiting for the produce to mature so it could be consumed. The lettuces and radishes had broken ground and were taking on the look of actual food. Beans and cucumber plants were growing as well. A lot of precious gas has been used to till up lawns in town, but the skeptical now saw the value. They had food growing right outside their doors. Which of course presented another problem:
those folks that didn’t want to do the work for their food. There was a mysterious rash of garden theft from folks who didn’t have fenced yards. Seems the thieves weren’t hungry enough to climb fences—yet. Or perhaps they were just taking the easy way. It seemed like it always came back to there being some who worked for what they had and others who wanted to live by taking what someone else had.
****
From what Gary had shared, they had set up a community larder at town hall. About a half dozen men and women hunted daily, donating all but about 25 percent of their kills to the food bank. For their donations, they were given fresh vegetables like leafy greens in the beginning. As the summer wore on, a portion of the vegetables would be eaten when harvested, while the majority of the food would be canned for the winter.
They had established basic medical services, for both human and livestock. They had a leatherworker who was using the hides from the animals taken for food to make shoe soles, scabbards for knives, and rifle slings, among other things. They had a butcher who had taken on two helpers to process the meat, both wild and domestic. He said she had a large freezer being run by a system that utilized a spiral wind turbine to generate electricity. That was impressive to those without power. Setting up the solar power system at the farm never seemed to get moved up the line in front of food and security. Mike was very interested in the turbine setup though, and wanted to go into town to see it. Monroe said he’d go along as well, and Bob and Brian rounded out their group. They took Bob’s SUV so everyone could fit comfortably. Mike instructed Matt to get the pole put back in front of the gate after they were out and leave it up until they got back.