Ichabod

by Mark Goodwin

  Alisa stepped a little closer. “What if it were a hollow point bullet? Didn’t Nick tell us something about that preventing over penetration?”

  Danny shrugged. “Perhaps.”

  “Or, it could have been a bow and arrow. That would explain why we never heard a gunshot.” Dana stood back with her arms crossed and a look of disgust on her face.

  “Maybe, but why would they have turned it over?” Alisa asked.

  “The poachers could have shot the cow with an arrow, took out the arrow, cut the leg off the side they shot it, then flipped it to cut the legs off the other side. That would explain it.” Dana walked up to stand right behind Alisa.

  “That fits. Want to help me flip it over to find out if your theory holds?” Danny asked.

  “No way!” Dana turned and began walking back to the house.

  “I guess I better tell Nana and see what she wants to do about it.” Danny left the butchered animal as he’d found it.

  “Can we still eat it?” Alisa asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure Nana will.”

  Danny and the others arrived back at the house. Nana met them on the porch. “What was all the fuss about?”

  Danny motioned toward the barn. “Poachers killed a cow last night. I guess they were in a rush. They took the legs and left the rest of the carcass.”

  “You best go fetch Rocky up the hill. Tell him what happened. He’ll help you skin it and figure out what’s worth savin’.”

  “Yes ma’am. I’m going to grab a coat.” Danny wiped his feet on the welcome mat. “Do you girls want to come with me?”

  “Sure.” Dana said.

  Alisa nodded.

  Danny put his coat and toboggan on. He then led the girls across the bridge, which went over the creek, and up the hill toward Rocky’s. Danny walked to the door and knocked.

  “Who is it?” a woman’s voice called from the other side.

  “It’s Danny Walker, ma’am. I’m looking for Rocky.”

  “Oh, Miss Jennie’s grandson. Hold on one minute.” The clamor of the deadlock being unbolted was followed by the sound of the door chain being removed.

  A woman who had aged gracefully opened the door. She was clean, as was her house. She wasn’t skinny, but neither was she overweight. She had the gently lined face of someone who had worked hard all of her life and enjoyed it. “Come in, I’m Pauline Cook, Rocky’s wife. Sorry about the door, but you can’t be too careful these days.”

  Danny introduced Alisa and Dana.

  “Rocky is down at the barn. He should be back in half an hour or so. Will you have some coffee?”

  “That would be great if it’s not too much trouble.” Danny smiled.

  Mrs. Cook led the way into the kitchen. “I just made it, no trouble at all. Miss Jennie told us about your dream. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have any coffee at all. So, I suppose we have you to thank for it.”

  Danny dropped his head. “I had very little to do with it. I’m afraid I can’t take the credit.”

  She took three cups from the cabinet. “You were faithful to warn folks, so you did your part. A lot of people would have worried that people would think they were crazy and not have said anything.”

  Alisa joined the conversation. “Our pastor in Savannah told us the story of Jonah. He ended up doing what he was told to do anyway. It’s easier to just follow God’s instructions in the first place.”

  Mrs. Cook poured the coffee. “Yes, but most folks choose to do it the hard way. What did you want to talk to Rocky about? Is Miss Jennie doing alright?”

  “Yes, she’s fine. Someone killed one of our cows last night. Nana thought Rocky might be able to salvage some of the meat.” Danny sipped his coffee.

  “Oh dear, that’s dreadful. I suppose we knew folks would start getting desperate sooner or later; I had hoped it would take longer than this.” Mrs. Cook looked distressed. “It took you a while to get here from Savannah. Did you run into trouble?”

  Danny nodded. “We did. It was a rough journey.”

  “But God brought us here alive,” Dana added.

  Rocky came in the back door wearing slightly soiled overalls and work boots. He removed his ball cap, revealing his short, thin, grey hair. “Hey, Danny! You made it. When did you get in?”

  “The day before yesterday.” Danny shook Rocky’s hand, introduced him to the girls and explained why they were there.

  Rocky rubbed his chin. “That’s terrible. Let me get my things and we’ll see what we can save. Normally, a cow should be gutted right after it’s killed. Maybe since it’s so cold outside, it will have bought us a little time. Otherwise, Rusty and my dogs are going to have the feast of a lifetime.”

  Danny and the girls thanked Mrs. Cook for the coffee and walked outside to wait for Rocky.

  Rocky came from around back with a selection of knives, some buckets, trash bags, and a bone saw. “I’ve got a plastic barrel behind that shed. If two of you want to grab it, and bring it with us, I’d appreciate it. It’s not heavy, just cumbersome for one person to carry.”

  “Want to give me a hand?” Danny looked at Alisa.

  “Sure.” She followed him to retrieve the 55-gallon barrel.

  Dana walked next to Rusty as the group followed Rocky back to Nana’s barn.

  Rocky turned to look at Danny as they walked. “Do you know if Miss Jennie picked up the extra vinegar she was planning to buy?”

  “Yep. She loves to make her pickles, relishes and ketchup. She bought several gallons.”

  “Good. We’re going to need some of it. Since the cow went so long without being gutted or bled, it’s going to have blood in the meat. Soaking it in vinegar and salt water will pull that out and stop any bacteria that might be setting up. Dana, do you think you could run back to the house, ask Miss Jennie for a gallon of vinegar and bring it over to the barn?”

  “Sure. I’ll meet you there.” Dana sprinted ahead with Rusty tagging along behind her.

  “Do you need salt?” Alisa asked.

  “Nope. I’ve got a box in my bucket.”

  When they arrived at the carcass of the cow, Rocky separated his buckets and turned one upside down to use as a stool. He lifted the animal’s head to look underneath. “Looks like they took it down with a bow and arrow.” He made quick work of gutting the animal.

  Alisa said, “I don’t think I can watch this.”

  “Would you mind filling my other two buckets with water and pouring them into the barrel?” Rocky continued his task.

  “Sure.” Alisa grabbed the buckets.

  Dana was approaching about that time with the vinegar.

  Alisa caught her arm. “Come on, help me get water. Trust me, you don’t want to see what’s happening over here.”

  Dana didn’t protest. She set the vinegar next to Danny, then took one of the buckets as Alisa handed it to her.

  “Looks like you’ve done this before.” Danny forced himself to watch in case he had to duplicate the job at a later date.

  “I butcher two or three deer every year. This is my first cow, but the skill set seems to be transferring over pretty well.”

  “Do you think it’s going to be edible?” Danny asked.

  “Yep. It still looks fairly fresh. After a good soak in the salt and vinegar, it’ll be just fine.” Rocky went through the gut pile and pulled out the kidneys, heart, lungs and liver. “I’m going to use all of this for dog food, unless any of you eat liver. I know Miss Jennie doesn’t care for it.”

  Danny felt queasy but forced himself to keep watching. “I think I speak for everyone; the dogs can have it.”

  “Once I’m done here, you should bury the head, the rest of this gut pile and any other waste left over. Otherwise, it will attract coyotes and they’ll start associating your cattle with a free meal.”

  “Thanks. Any idea how we can keep the two legged coyotes away?”

  Rocky looked up with a quick smile. “Yep, they’re gonna be a problem, ain’t they.” H
e continued skinning the cow. “I suppose someone will have to watch them around the clock, like a shepherd. It’s going to be a big task. Not a lot of work, but very time consuming.”

  “Any chance we could put our cows in with your cows and take turns watching them?” Danny asked.

  “That’s a good idea, but we wouldn’t have enough grazing land on either property.”

  “Couldn’t we herd them back and forth?”

  “Yep. I suppose we could. Then we’d have to figure out how to know which cattle belong to who. I guess we could brand them. It wouldn’t have to be a complicated brand, just something simple.”

  Rocky chuckled as he finished peeling back the skin off the cow. “You know, these idiots took the cheapest cuts and left the best parts. We’ve still got the ribeye, the filet, and the T-bone. But I guess they were in a hurry to not get caught.

  “When the girls get back with the water, you can mix that box of salt in one of the buckets of water before you dump it into the barrel.”

  “Sure thing.” Danny saw Alisa walking toward him with the water bucket, struggling to carry it, so he went to help her with it.

  It took a couple of hours for Rocky to get the meat cut up into small enough pieces to fit into the barrel, but he eventually completed the mission. “We’ll let that soak overnight and all day tomorrow. The thermometer on my back porch said 34, so hopefully it won’t freeze solid. If it does, we’ll just cover it up and leave it till it warms up. I’ll herd my cattle down here before dark tonight. You watch em’ tonight and I’ll stand guard tomorrow night.”

  “Okay, sounds good. And thanks for all of your help.” Danny waved as Rocky walked away with his tools and buckets. He then retrieved a spade shovel from the barn to begin digging a hole for the gut pile. As he started excavating the dirt next to the waste, he realized that surviving this new way of life was going to require more than simply learning to get by without a cell phone.

  CHAPTER 5

  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

  Matthew 5:11-12

  Danny awoke to Alisa’s gentle nudge and soft voice Saturday morning. “Danny, wake up. I brought you some coffee.”

  He opened his eyes and saw bales of hay. Danny quickly realized that he’d fallen asleep in the loft of the barn while on watch. His heart jumped. “Oh no! I fell asleep?”

  “Relax. All the cows are fine.”

  “Yeah, but what if they weren’t? It would be my fault!” Danny jumped up and looked out the ventilation window he’d been using for a gun port. He surveyed the cattle to make sure there were no half-harvested carcasses.

  “It was your first night and you were exhausted from skinning a cow, herding cattle, burying guts, and making crutches for Steven yesterday. You’re being harder on yourself than anyone else would be. If anything would have happened, you would have woken up.” She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked out over the cattle which were searching for grass beneath the melting snow.

  Danny sighed. “I doubt someone shooting an arrow into a cow would have roused me. I was out cold.”

  “You’ll be rested up and prepared next time. No harm, no foul. Drink your coffee.” Alisa handed him an old metal thermos.

  He removed the cap and took a small sip. “Thanks.”

  She hugged him tightly. “I missed you last night. All I could think about was you being out here in the barn, freezing.”

  “I missed you, too. I was bundled up. It wasn’t that cold.”

  “Well, you’ll be back in your own bed tonight.”

  “Hey!” Steven’s voice came from outside.

  Danny walked over to the loft door where the hay was loaded in via a pulley suspended from an overhanging bracket. He lifted the latch, opened the door, and looked out to see Steven standing with his homemade crutches. “Wow! Look at you. You’re getting around pretty good.”

  Steven shielded his eyes from the light as he looked up. “Yeah, these crutches aren’t bad considering you threw them together with saplings and duct tape. Nana said to get to the table. Breakfast is almost ready.”

  “Okay, we’ll be right down.” Danny closed the door, gathered the blanket he’d brought to keep warm, and slung the AK across his back. He and Alisa climbed down the ladder and made their way back to the house.

  After breakfast, Rocky and Pauline Cook stopped by with two boxes of canning jars. The rest of the day would be spent processing the beef from the day before. The freezing temperatures were gone and it was unlikely that they would return any time soon. This meant that any meat they couldn’t eat in the next few days would have to be made into jerky or canned.

  The better cuts of meat were cubed up and canned. The scraps and the tougher cuts were ground into hamburger which was also canned.

  “You make the cutest little butcher,” Danny said to Alisa as she worked diligently to remove as much meat as possible from the rib bones.

  “Stop it!” She blushed as she handed a pile of scraps to Dana who was operating the hand grinder.

  Danny smiled and kissed her. “Having spent so much time in the restaurant business, I hate to see such beautiful cuts of T-bone and ribeye cubed up and canned for what amounts to stew meat.”

  She smiled. “Me, too, but I’m thankful that we have food, a means to preserve it, and that we’re in a safe place with friends and family.”

  Danny nodded. He was happy that they were safe as well, but he wished his sister were there also. As each day passed without Cami and Nick showing up, he couldn’t help but think that the chances of them making it home grew slimmer and slimmer.

  Nana and Pauline ran the canning operations, delegating various tasks to the rest of the group. Additionally, Nana prepared the tenderloin along with instant mashed potatoes for the day’s lunch. Except for breaks to eat or rest for a few minutes, the task of preserving the meat occupied the entire day.

  The next morning was Sunday, and as Nana had anticipated, there was a large turnout and had to be moved to the open side of the barn. Pauline Cook was the first to arrive. Rocky didn’t come as he’d been up all night standing guard over the cattle.

  Catfish pulled up in one of the few working vehicles around and was dressed as though he was accustomed to attending church in a barn.

  Next to show up was the Reese family -- Korey, Tracey, and their three children; Jason, who was ten, Kalie, seven, and Emma, three.

  Danny, Dana, and Alisa carried the lawn furniture down to the barn and found whatever they could to provide seating. Hay bales made up the majority of the seating and proved to be quite comfortable.

  The Castells came last. Nana introduced everyone: JC and Melissa and the two children who were with them; Jack, aged sixteen; and Annie, who was two.

  Danny shook JC’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  JC looked like a South Carolina native. He wore cowboy boots, jeans, a big belt buckle, and a John Deere hat, but when he spoke with a thick New York accent, it was quite obvious that he had not grown up around these parts. “Yeah, you too.”

  Danny’s surprise must have been obvious to Nana, who said, “He don’t look it, but he’s a Yankee. If you don’t understand him, get Lisa to translate for ya.”

  “I think I can manage, Nana,” Danny chuckled. “So, how long have you been in South Carolina?”

  “Two years. I retired from the NYPD after twenty years on the job. I had to get my wife and kids out of there; place is turnin’ into a zoo.”

  “You look like you’ve assimilated to the new environment fairly well.” Danny didn’t quite know what to say, and he hoped that didn’t sound offensive.

  JC didn’t seem to take it wrong. He laughed. “Yeah, I guess I’ve really embraced it. I was ready to leave that place behind.”

  “I’m sure you’re happy to have got out of there before the lights went out. You must have retired young.”

  “If you make it twenty years doing what I did, you cash in your chips and get out o
f the casino. Know what I mean? And I ain’t that young anymore neither. I’ve got a son about your age.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, Chris. He’s in the Air Force. Been in about a year. I pray every morning and every night that God will bring him home safe. He’s a smart kid, top of his class in everything he’s done in the military. If anyone can make it home, he will.”

  “Sorry to hear that. I’m sure it’s different when it’s your kid, but I know the feeling. My sister, Cami, she’s still out there too.”

  “Yeah, I stopped by to check on Miss Jennie before you got here. She told me about the both of you. I’m glad you made it. She says Cami’s husband is a pretty resourceful guy. I think they’ll make it.”

  Danny nodded. “I’m praying they do.”

  “Y’all need to find a seat. We’re a-fixin’ to start this meetin’.” Nana spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “Catfish is goin’ to play the French harp. Everybody ought to know these songs, but I wrote the words out on three pieces of paper, just in case. If there’s more than three of ya that don’t know the words, why you’ll just have to share.”

  Danny held one of the handwritten song sheets with Alisa on one side and Dana on the other, looking on. He looked around at the others, who were all struggling to see one of the few pieces of paper containing the lyrics. As was customary, Nana’s assessment of the way things should be was greatly divergent from reality.

  Steven sat on top of a bale of hay in front of everyone else as he was going to be teaching. Catfish took a harmonica out of the top pocket of his bib overalls and blew on it a few times as if he were warming up.

  Alisa whispered to Danny, “Is that what she calls a French harp? I was expecting some elaborate instrument.”

  “Elaborate instrument? This is Catfish we’re talking about.”

  She tittered. “Point taken.”

  Catfish found a melody and Nana began singing Bringing in the Sheaves.

  It took a few moments for everyone to catch on, but soon the barn was filled with the voices of the small group in joyful worship. Next, they sang All Creatures of Our God and King, and finally, Amazing Grace.