Solar Storm: Homeward Bound

by Vincent Keith

  Jack looked at Ross, trying to remember what he’d said, then realized the quiet man hadn’t actually ever said what he did for a living. Jack glanced at Miguel, who returned the question with raised eyebrows.

  “Okay, I’ll bite.”

  “I’m a blacksmith and farrier. I make horseshoes for a living. Back when my truck worked I covered most of the territory between the Columbia River and US-97. Mark has his two guys over in Okanogan. There’s also Don and Paul in Omak. Between us, we cover most of this whole region.”

  Miguel laughed.

  “Is there something I’m missing?” asked Ross, wondering what he’d said that was so funny.

  “Ah, no, not really,” said Jack. “Allan spent the better part of a day looking for a farrier in Coulee. We finally did the work using a hydraulic bearing press and a milling machine.”

  “You made shoes with a milling machine?”

  “We had blanks, we just had to tweak them to get a good fit. Say, maybe we can retrieve your gear when Miguel takes a team in to clean up your old town.”

  “No need, it’s in the wheelbarrow.”

  “Wheelbarrow—I’ll be damned, I was wondering why that sled looked so familiar, you took the handles, and the wheel supports off. But, didn’t you say last night you’d sold off your tools?”

  “No, I told Bud I’d sold my old hand-tools, and that the stuff I had left needed power to work, which is why he burned us out. I was no use to him. The fact is, if he’d known I was lying, we’d have been nothing more than slaves. That’s how they’ve dealt with everyone they’ve turned on so far, either you go to work for him on his terms, or you get burned out. No way was I staying for that. He’d have put Nicki and even Sara to work in his whore house operation. The sick son of a bitch.”

  Jack watched Ross’s face as his tone got icier. Clearly, the man was suppressing his rage with all his will. To have everything you know as normal yanked out from under you was bad enough. To have neighbors turn on you like vicious dogs, to threaten your family, or destroy your home, was too much. Given a choice between standing up for yourself and fighting back or swallowing your pride, grabbing what you could and running, he’d chosen the latter.

  “It’s good that you were at least expecting it.”

  “Yeah, well I guess I was more or less ready for it, but the truth is, I never really believed it would happen. I just kept expecting sanity to return.”

  Ross had made the smart move. Jack wasn’t at all sure he would have done the same. His eyes tracked over to where Rachael was busy packing. Maybe, he thought, eyes still moving until they landed on Lexi. No, he did exactly the right thing. Nothing I have would be worth losing them. Then again, we’re not going to let them get away with it either.

  “Well, that whole thing is going to come crashing down on his head before spring would be my guess,” said Jack.

  “Might take another couple weeks to get the necessary intel but it’ll be close enough,” said Miguel. “He’s going down hard. We’ll make sure of that.”

  “Wish I could be there to see it. Anyway, if you really have as many horses as it sounds, I think I can be a real help. I can do a lot of regular blacksmithing work too, making tools, axes, knives, spear points and such. I can learn how to make most anything else you can do with a forge.”

  He paused and scratched his head. “I sure will miss traveling though. It was our way of keeping up with what was going on in the world.”

  “I wouldn’t give up on the idea of travel just yet, we may figure something out. But you have a working forge? It’s not gas?”

  “I can work it with gas, but it works fine on coal or charcoal, and we can make our own charcoal.”

  “Yeah, Henry has a Rocket stove set up to make the charcoal he uses for grilling.”

  “I don’t know what a rocket stove is, but charcoal is charcoal. We’ll go through quite a bit of it.”

  “Good to know you’ve got a valuable skill, that’ll help a lot. Let’s get you and Allan together and get your gear loaded up. We’re short on saddles, so I’m not sure what we’ll do there. Maybe Allan will have an idea.”

  Doug led Ross toward the horses in search of Allan.

  Miguel went to help with the packing. He’d been hoping they’d make it to the Monastery by nightfall and wouldn’t have to set up camp again. With the lack of saddles, someone would either need to ride bareback, or they would be on foot. If that were the case, their final day of travel just became three, or maybe four. Even with the horses breaking trail in the snow and no loads, it was doubtful that anyone but he and Doug would manage over twenty miles in a day. More likely it would be ten or twelve, and they still had forty to go.

  “Allan,” Jack called out spotting the young man cinching down the ropes that held the loads on the pack horses.

  “Hey, Jack. What’s up?”

  “Allan, the Garrett’s will be traveling with us. Do we have any way to rig up saddles, or are we looking at some of us going bareback?”

  “Uh… No, I mean maybe we could rig something like a stirrup to the pack saddles. I don’t know how well that would work. We’d probably lose most of the morning trying to figure it out. Bareback—well, nobody’s going to do forty miles that way. They might do half a day, but it won’t be comfortable, that’s for sure. I think riding double would be better. Not good, just better. It gives the person not in a saddle something to hang onto.”

  “I was kind of afraid you’d say that. Let’s get Ross’s stuff loaded up. With all the food, feed and wood we’ve used up, we should have plenty of room, right?”

  “Oh sure, that’s not a problem. What’s the heaviest item you’ve got Mr. Garrett?”

  Ross had a grim look on his face, “The anvil. It’s two hundred and sixty pounds. The forge parts I can break down. Maybe forty or fifty pounds. I can’t make the anvil any smaller.”

  “Oh man.”

  “Problem?” asked Jack.

  “Yeah, all that weight hanging on one side? We’ll need to balance it, and that’s a lot of weight to put on one horse for that long. I’m not sure any of them, except maybe Maggie, could even handle it for more than a half day. If we weren’t fighting the snow and bad footing, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

  “I pulled it in the wheelbarrow, it’s stayed on top of the snow pretty well, could the horse pull it?”

  Allan considered the idea for a minute. “Can I see it? We can probably make that work, but I’d want to see it first.”

  Ross nodded.

  “I’ll leave you guys to it. I guess I’d better talk logistics over with Miguel.”

  Allan and Ross went to gather up everything the Garrett’s had been dragging behind them or carrying on their exhausting trip from their burned out home.

  “Master Sergeant.”

  “Bareback or double up, right?”

  “Guess I should have figured you’d already have worked all this out. Allan thinks we should double up.”

  Miguel nodded. “We might make twenty that way, but more likely it’ll be less. After our chat with Ross last night, we went over the maps. We’ll cut across country and skirt around the town and the correctional facility. The last thing we need to do is walk right into trouble. Unfortunately, it’s going to add at least another day to our trip, maybe more.”

  “Crap. Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

  “The younger kids will probably do better riding bareback than us old farts…I suppose Allan and I could ride bareback. That would free up two saddles. I just can’t afford for Doug to be on point and bareback. No matter what we do, we’ll be moving slower.”

  “Damn. So, maybe three days?”

  “Four maybe, five is more likely. We’ll need to ration the food. We have four new mouths to feed, and we have more than doubled our expected travel time.”

  “Great, slower, more uncomfortable, and hungrier all rolled up together. Ah hell, I wish I’d thought of this last night.”

  “Wouldn’t change things much woul
d it?”

  “I don’t know, but I’d bet that if I can get Henry on the radio, he could come meet us with horses and saddles.”

  “That would help if you get him today. Are you going to be able to?”

  “I don’t think so. Typically, we use the forty-meter band during the day and eighty-meter at night but last night I barely had a signal. If I try that today… Well, either it’s going to work, or it’s not. I’ll go find Lexi, and we’ll see what happens.”

  “Roger that. I’ll bring the others up to speed. We’ll be ready to move as soon as you’re done.”

  Lexi and Jack took the radio to the top of the rise Jack had used the previous night and set up the antenna. The NVIS was the only shot they had. There were just too many hills in the way for a direct signal, and they were far too close to use skip. The signal had to go more or less straight up, bounce off the ionosphere and then back down. They’d reached over 600 miles using that setup back in Adin, but things in the sky had changed over the past several weeks. Last night Jack had failed to reach past 300 miles, and that was with a weak, noisy signal.

  “Ready? I think I’ll let you do the honors. It seems your keying is better than mine at the moment.”

  “Cool!”

  Lexi plopped down with the ease of youth and hunched over the small radio with the tiny paddle set attached to the front for doing Morse code. The thin antenna cable ran up the lightweight, fifteen-foot sectional pole they’d cobbled together when they’d passed through Adin.

  Lexi tapped away on the keyer. She repeated the pattern three times, paused and added a station identifier, then stopped to listen for a reply. After a couple minutes of silence, she repeated the process. After almost ten minutes with no response, Jack was ready to move on to the next frequency. He grabbed the extension wires and walked to the end of the antenna.

  Forty minutes later Lexi and Jack came back down the hill, slipping and sliding. Rachael watched as her daughter and Jack helped steady each other on the way down the hill. There was no doubt in her mind that Jack loved Lexi. She just wasn’t positive about how he felt about her. Although, she was pretty sure she was in love with Jack. Am I holding back on purpose? Is he?

  Lexi slid to a stop and gave her mom a hug. Rachael was slowly getting used to this rather welcome change. In the years following her father’s death, Lexi had become a little distant with her. That phase seemed to have passed, and Rachael was thankful for that. Even if it took the end of the world to make it happen.

  “I take it you couldn’t get through to Henry?”

  “No. How’d you know?”

  “I think it was the lack of bouncing up and down,” Rachael leaned back and smiled at the girl.

  “I don’t bounce!”

  “My mistake,” Rachael smiled. “Must have been someone else with all that energy.”

  Lexi stuck out her tongue.

  “Looks fine, say Ahhh.”

  Lexi giggled, then turned to watch Jack’s approach. “Slowpoke.”

  “Yep. And your point would be?”

  “Hush,” Rachael interjected before the two of them could get started. “No luck then?”

  “No, and truth to tell, I was pretty sure we wouldn’t get through. I’m not sure what’s happing up there.” Jack pointed skyward, “Conditions for radio are changing. I suppose that’s not too surprising. Have you noticed, the Aurora is almost invisible?”

  “Yes, but I have no idea what that means.”

  “Changes in the electromagnetic field around the planet for sure. I suppose things are normalizing but… I’m just not sure what normal is going to be.”

  “So not being able to reach that far has happened before?”

  “Oh sure, and if I were a betting man, I’d say it will come and go just like it used to.”

  “Won’t that make it a lot harder to keep in contact with everyone down south?” asked Lexi.

  “Yes, and no. We may find windows for other frequencies opening up. We’ll just keep experimenting. Maybe the Rangers can help us set up some relays if we can find or build the right equipment.”

  Jack looked at the frown on Lexi’s face. “You, young lady, have been spoiled. There have always been periods when things didn’t work the way we’d like. I remember a few years back I had a long chat with a guy in Colorado and another with a guy down near LA on six meters. That lasted about three days, and I haven’t caught a window like that since. Then again, I haven’t spent much time trying either. Not to worry, we’ll figure out something.”

  “Okay, I just feel better when we can talk to people.”

  “You can talk to me,” said Rachael as she wrapped the girl in her arms. “So what’s the plan then?”

  “Unless Allan has changed his mind, we’ll double up rather than trying to walk. Are we all packed?”

  “Just waiting for you two to get your toys put away.”

  Jack handed the case with the radios and the antenna mast to Lexi, “Okay Sparks, go pack your stuff.”

  Lexi took the case, slung the collapsed mast over her shoulder, and headed toward the pack horses.

  “Sparks?”

  “Nickname, Art gave it to her. It’s an old radio operator nickname, Sparks or Sparky, it comes from working around things that generate sparks. I guess it’s used more for electronics techs nowadays.”

  “Nowadays?”

  “Recent history as opposed to say, mid ’40s and ’50s? She likes it. I think…”

  “Oh, she’d have let you know if she didn’t. I’m not sure why but when she was much younger I used to call her pumpkin, probably something I picked up from my parents. I think about the time she turned five she told me, I’m not fat, and I’m not orange so stop calling me that. I got a dirty look every time I forgot. No, you’d know if she didn’t like the name.”

  “Okay, well it fits, she’s really got a knack for it.”

  Miguel approached, riding Snowy without the saddle. Following close behind on a lead, were Panda, Angel, and Gracie. He stopped and handed the reigns to Jack. “Mount up, let’s get this circus moving.”

  Lexi arrived at a trot with Sara right on her heals. Jack gave Rachael a leg up, then Lexi as she climbed into the saddle on Panda. He helped Sara climb up behind Lexi before heaving himself up into Gracie’s saddle. Ross moved up with little Andy seated in front of him, followed by Nicole riding Allan’s usual remount.

  “Yeah, Allan and I will try bareback and see how well it works. With the kids doubled up I think we’ll make pretty decent time.”

  “Let’s get moving, I think I’ve wasted enough time this morning.”

  47

  SURPRISES SUCK

  After a day and a half of travel through the sparse forest, avoiding the Garretts’ hometown, they reconnected with the snow-covered two-lane highway. Doug found a reasonable spot for lunch next to a flowing creek. The deep snow along the edges made getting water somewhat risky. Even so, it was much faster than trying to melt snow.

  Jack had taken up the tail position and was almost 300 yards back when the rest of the party stopped. He’d been watching the sides of their trail, looking for any sign of other travelers. He suspected that Doug would spot anything well before he did but there was always the remote possibility that someone would move in behind the main group.

  Ross and Allan took charge of the horses, and as usual, Jack got the stove running so they could have something hot. He decided to use up the last of his freeze-dried food. They were close enough to home that unless something went seriously wrong, they wouldn’t starve. There wasn’t enough of the freeze-dried food left for more than a single meal.

  “Seems kinda early to stop,” said Doug.

  “Apparently bareback is harder,” said Jack.

  “I don’t know why you didn’t just have the girls ride bareback. They’re both good riders, and they don’t have equipment that’s subject to getting bruised by the motion. I suspect they’d rather enjoy it.”

  “Doug!” Rachael looked sh
ocked at first, but then she started to giggle.

  “Yeah, you know I’m right.”

  Jack looked around, but neither Lexi nor Sara was close enough to hear the conversation. He suspected they would be mortified assuming they caught the significance. Given kids today, he was pretty sure they would.

  “I don’t know about the Sergeant, but that’s about all the bareback I can handle in a day. One way or another, we’ll need to switch. Both Sara and Lexi are good riders, and they’re so much lighter, I’d think it would be easier for them.”

  Rachael glanced at Allan to see if he was serious. That guileless expression assured her, he was both serious and had no clue about the subtext of Doug’s comment. “Lexi won’t mind, as long as she and Sara can ride together. She’s really missed having someone her own age to talk with.”

  Miguel walked toward the stove with his bowl in hand, “Fine with me. Let’s get cleaned up and moving. We’ve got maybe four hours of daylight left, and we’ll lose an hour of that swapping horses.” Putting words into action, he poured a small amount of hot water into his bowl and scrubbed it with his fingers.

  Jack hung onto his mug. He’d already cleaned it out and filled it with coffee, which he figured he could either finish while they moved the saddles to the remounts or while they rode. Either way, he wouldn’t let it go to waste. The little group broke up and started on their usual tasks.

  “Hey Miguel, got a sec?” asked Jack

  “Sure.”

  “That was the last of the freeze dried. We’ve got enough MREs for three meals. I think we have enough oatmeal for two, and then we’re down to the last of the jerky and stale donuts.”

  “Yeah, not much we can do about it. If all goes well, we’ll be there mid-morning day after tomorrow. I just don’t think we can push the horses any harder, and neither does Allan. Even if we run out, it’ll only be for a short bit unless everything goes to hell all of a sudden.”

  “I kinda wish we’d brought more, but we didn’t expect to run into the Garretts or to have the trip stretched out two or three extra days. It didn’t help that the folks at the dam were so short on supplies.”