They were all awake right at dawn. Ready to be on their way and excited that today might be the day they reached the cabin. The day was cloudy but not threatening. They covered the few miles by noon. They rounded a sharp corner and stood on a high point that Jack had described to Cody. He told him that if you stood at that point, you could see the metal roof of the cabin in the distance. There was a sweeping view from their perch, mountains nearly all the way around and green meadows covering the foothills. Cody scanned the land below them. He saw piles of rubble dotting the view and he knew it was ruins of houses. He also saw some rooftops, perhaps five within his sight. He said excitedly, “Look, over there...see that shiny roof?” The others tried to spot the place.
“Oh, you mean right there? I see it! Do you think that is the cabin?” Ashley exclaimed.
He grabbed her and swung her around, “It's Jack's cabin. I just know it.”
He started leading the horses down the steep incline, when he reached the bottom he jumped in the wagon seat and clicked to the horses. The others ran to catch up and piled in the back of the wagon that was bumping along the winding gravel road. Jack's words, “You get to the crossroads and you don't go right, you have to go left...around the big sharp corner and you can see the cabin, right next to the road,” were imprinted in Cody's mind. The rattling wagon trotted past a weathered house that stood in the bend of the road. Cody noticed that it did not look deserted. He had no patience to investigate. Just a little farther up a slight hill, there was small dark green painted house with a metal roof, near the road. A sea of tall natural grasses floated around the cabin. The covered porch across the front was still standing but a flat open deck in front of the porch was collapsed to the ground. Even as they drew near, they could see that most of the green paint was there, covering cement board siding that used to be advertised as guaranteed for twenty years...might have been true.
As Cody pulled the wagon up next to the house, the horses walked under an open carport, his heart was pounding. He stood for a moment on the steps at the back door. The others were not saying anything, just waiting. He looked back at them and then reached down in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a key. It was one single key, on a ring with a souvenir tag that read Colorado. He put the key in the lock and it clicked sharply, he pushed the door open. It was dark inside and Cody walked across the floor covered with a thick carpet of dirt, leaving footprints. There were only two windows in this open room and they were covered with heavy wooden shutters. The shutters were closed with a metal bar that dropped down. He lifted the bar and opened the shutters on one and then the other. Light streamed in a kitchen and small living room. The others stood at the door now.
A wooden sign hung on the wall, a bit crooked, Welcome to the Cabin, Jack & Beth. The adopted son dropped into a well worn leather chair and rubbed his hands along the dirty arms. A tear slid down his face, “I am here Jack, I found it.”
The others walked in and started exploring. There were only three other windows in the cabin, Ashley opened up all of the shutters. David said, “Can you believe it? Why do you think this place is still here and not all torn up and falling down?”
Cody stood up and started looking around himself. “Well, the windows are shuttered and the doors are metal. When Jack and Beth left every Fall, they turned off everything and drained all the pipes. It is very well built and most any animal would have been kept out.” He walked to the open pantry shelves in the kitchen area. “Not much here but I know that any friends of theirs would have known to come and get all of the usable food. I know a couple of people had keys to the house.”
The refrigerator stood open, just as Beth had left it. It too, was filled with dirt. Beth had always told him that the wind sometimes blew so hard through this valley that nothing kept out all the dirt. She griped about how she always had to clean big time, when they arrived in the Spring. For the most part, the cabin looked like when the couple had closed the door for the season and left it. And just like the home that Cody had been welcomed into, back in Texas, their taste and the simple comforts made you want to sit down and stay.
Ashley and Shawna had already found a broom. They were so excited to have real beds in the two small bedrooms. They started pulling the bedding off and taking it outside to air. Cody and David got the horses unharnessed and staked out in the surrounding grass. Cody looked out the front window and over the top of the house that they had passed, he saw a small herd of wild horses grazing in the meadow.
A shadow moved across the open back door and an elderly man stepped in, his rifle leveled at Cody. “Who the hell are you? You don't belong here,” the man spoke quietly but clear.
“Is this your house?” said Cody.
The man said a simple No. He did not lower the gun.
Cody said, “Are you Charles?”
Another simple Yes.
Cody stuck his hand out, “I am Cody. I have been with Jack and Beth for the last fifteen years. Jack told me about this place and he gave me the key. This is Jack's grandson, David and this is Shawna and Ashley.”
The man lowered the gun just a bit. “Jack and Beth are still alive?”
“No,” said Cody and told the man that Jack died a few months earlier, Beth before that. He told Charles about Unity and about their long journey to get to the cabin.
Charles pulled a wooden chair away from the long table that Jack had built, he sat down. “My Ann is still with me but she is not very well.” Rain started pattering down on the metal roof. Charles stood again and said, “Come out here with me.” He walked out on the long front porch, it creaked with every step they made, a few boards were popped up. At the end of the porch, on the back side of the house, sat a large plastic square container with a metal cage around it. Gutters that ran on the front and back of the small cabin, came together above the container and were trickling water into an opening in the top. The older man grinned, “Years ago, they were ver-ry particular about water up here. They did not even like for you to collect rain water...no watering, washing of cars, etc. Jack and I both set up these water collectors.”
Cody said, “That's great.” He noticed an old steel fire pit, laying in the grown up grass, they might could use that.
The rain shower was already stopping, Charles turned to him and said, “Welcome. A friend of Jack's is a friend of mine. When you all get settled in, you come down to the house. I will show you some of my gadgets, I have some solar panels and some other things you might be interested in.”
Charles started to move away at his slow pace. Cody said, “Oh, Charles. What about Jack's other friends, the ones from Texas, do you know about them?”
“I'll show you the way around to their place,” said Charles. “As far as I know, they are still alive and there. I haven't been around that way in a long time. There are maybe half a dozen families out here, surviving. There could be more, it's pretty isolated, hard to know. Mostly old like me,” he grinned again. “No trouble, really. On up the hill there, those folks are slackers, not worth anything. I wouldn't say dangerous but don't trust them. Lot's of coyotes around, an occasional mountain lion. You do need to watch out for the bears, though.” Charles said in his quiet voice and a twinkle glinted in his eye.
“Thanks for the advice,” said Cody and shook his hand again.
Ashley stood on the porch, with the broom in her hand, “Bears?” she said.
The women were thrilled to find the water. By the late evening, they had most of the dirt pushed and swept out of the house. The sofas and rugs would need to be drug outside and beaten. The little cabin was getting cleaner. They unloaded much of their own supplies and each couple chose a bedroom. They found one big sealed bucket of dried beans and more stuff than anyone could need to eat on, cook with and take care of a home. Beth had filled the little cabin with all the necessities for living, she didn't want to drag a lot of things back and forth between their two homes. The did find signs that animals or maybe humans had attempted to get in the cabin, sc
ratches and bangs on the doors, window screens torn away and one broken window. Somehow, they had not been desperate enough or Jack's defenses were strong enough, it did not appear any living thing had been inside for all these years.
Shawna and Ashley stood in the small space, their hair full of cobwebs and their faces streaked with dirt. “Still needs lots of scrubbing,” said Ashley, “Looking pretty darn good.”
Cody and David had dug out the old fire pit, it had a grill for the top and around the sides were cut-out shapes of bears and deer. They placed it under the carport. Charles had told him that he would need to figure out some way to cook and have some warmth inside and they would immediately need to start gathering wood. “This isn't Texas, son. It will get bone chilling cold and that carport won't help a bit. Matter of fact, the wind and snow blows right in from that direction. Often, drifts are halfway up that back side of the cabin.” Cody was already considering that he could take the useless electric range out and make a place to put the rocket stove. Fortunately, rocket stoves burned very clean. Maybe they could use it without venting outside.
That cool Fall night found the two couples snuggled under the blankets in their very own real beds. They had even toted in some water from the big tank and managed to get a bath. They had found some scissors in a drawer. The two men wanted the long hair to be gone, so the women gave them haircuts. The miles and miles and struggles of their journey were already fading away. Even with Ashley pulled up close next to him, Cody could not make his mind slow down. His thoughts were spinning with all the things that he could and would do to make the four of them a home here.
Morning was very cold and they all were moving around in their coats and the women were filling the fire pit under the carport with wood and getting some coffee going. David agreed with Cody that they better get the old stove out and the rocket stove set up. It was not quite October yet, this kind of cold was going to be a new experience for them all.
Unlike the little fortified cabin, the storage building out back had been completely ravaged. The obvious intrusion of animals and possibly the slackers up the way, had taken a toll on the small building. Holes were in the floor and sides and a door torn off and the smell was rough. However, typical of Jack, there were many tools, both hand tools and useless power tools. Digging in the filth, Cody and David found hammers, saws, all kind of nails and fasteners, shovels, hoes and a pick axe. There was an old metal Igloo water cooler with a spigot and they found two oil lanterns, a couple of bottles of lamp oil. The space was small inside the cabin, so it wasn't easy to maneuver the white electric stove out. They finally got it out of the house and put it behind the deteriorating storage shed. They found some extra sheets of the cement board siding that was on the cabin and used them on the floor and wall to make a spot for the rocket stove. They would just have to keep the nearby window cracked, no matter how cold it got.
The Igloo cooler sat on the cabinet beside the white sink that was one big open bowl. The spigot made it handy for water. They had each taken one of the oil lanterns to their bedrooms. Instead of moving the washer and dryer out of the small laundry room, they decided that they would make some storage. They brought several containers of water into the laundry area because they did not know how solid the water in the big tank outside would freeze. Charles had said it usually dropped below zero at least once or twice a season.
Two days later, Cody was banging away on the front porch, trying to at least knock some of the warped boards back down. David had found an old weed sling and was knocking some of the grass back from around the cabin. When they opened up the cabin, two wooden rockers were inside. Cody recognized them from photos of Jack and Beth sitting in them on the porch. They now sat back outside on the porch. The women continued to scrub and air out and clean. Today was sunny and warm and a good day to drag things outside. Two very grubby looking men walked up to the front porch. “Hey there,” one of them yelled over the hammer.
Cody looked up, “Hey.”
“What cha' doin?” said the other, “You takin' over this place?”
“No, this is our place,” he looked over to David, who had moved up with is hand on his pistol. “Our grand dad gave it to us.”
One of the men, scratched at his behind. “Got any food...we ain't got much up at our place.”
Ashley walked out on the porch with a small bag of beans in her hand. “We just got here, don't have much ourselves. You can have this.” She held the bag out to the man.
The man gave a snort, “Beans! Don't care much for beans.”
David moved up a bit closer and Cody said, “Well, we got work to do, nice to meet you.” He turned and started banging the hammer again. He stole a glance as the two sauntered away. Yep, better watch out for those scums.
Charles gave directions, Cody and David rode the horses around the winding gravel road and found the old friends of Jack and Beth. They were surviving but were old like all of the friends and their health was not very good. They were happy to see Cody and David and got all the stories.
The days were slipping away into Winter, many of them were windy and cold. The four friends were working hard each day, trying to prepare for the extreme frigid season. They knew that since it was too late to plant a garden, they would have to be very careful with their food. The wild horses and the small herds of antelope often roamed across the meadows in front of them. Going by the date on Cody's watch, Ashley had modified some outdated calender pages from the wall in the bedroom, to keep up with the days. One morning late in October, David was standing with his coffee looking out the front cabin window.
He excitedly said, “Look ya'll, it's a herd of elk.” The large dark brown animals grazed and moved in mass across the field, the majestic antlers of the males heavy on their heads. It was the time of year that the huge males pursued the females with gusto. A couple of the males were trumpeting a high pitched bellow that echoed across the meadows and they butted heads, their massive antlers clattering together.
Shawna said, “We have to get one of those, it would be food for a long time. As cool as the temperatures are, if we dress it right, it will keep.”
David said, “You are right, great amount of food. We will have to be very careful, the males are extremely dangerous and aggressive when they are in the rut.”
The two went for their rifles. They moved through the trees behind the old storage shed and up towards the meadows and the grazing herd. David picked out a female towards the back of the herd, aimed and shot. She fell to the ground, the herd stampeding away in a thunderous wave. As they cautiously moved towards the downed body, they heard a whistle. Looking over towards the weathered house, they saw Charles giving them the thumbs up sign. They field dressed the elk, loaded it on an old wheelbarrow that they found behind the shed and brought it to the house. The ground here was very hard but if you dug after a good rain, it was a little easier. They had dug a hole a little over three feet deep and three feet wide, in the corner of the carport. They re-enforced the sides and planned for this to be some cold storage. A big rock would secure the top and keep out the varmints. The kill would definitely help their winter food supply.
Later, they took some of the fresh meat down to Charles. He thanked them and gave them the tour of his inventions and innovations. He had been functioning quite well all these years since the event. Ann was glad to have the women to talk to. Sitting in the corner was a short wave radio. Cody said, “Does the radio work?”
Charles said, “You bet, would you like to use it?”
David said, “We sure would like to try to let our family know that we are here and safe.” After some time, they heard the voice of Lee. There was another short and emotional visit. The family was, of course, so relieved to hear from them. Before they signed off, Cody said into the mic, “Oh yeah, Ashley and I are...well...we are married,” he gave her a look and she kissed his cheek. There was laughter and chattering on the other end of the long distance communication. The last words came from Lee, �
��That's great Cody, we love you all.”
The pioneering survival life was keeping them all tired and busy. They would be ready for even the harsh winter. After all, these four had mostly forgotten what it was like to have the conveniences of the modern life. They had been taught and learned to live in a self sufficient way. To them, finding this cabin and having all the basics to work with to survive had been liking finding treasure.
By scrounging around the area, they had found enough non barb wire fencing to make the horses a good pasture and they had even done some repairs to the old shed so that it was closed up and good storage again. On the worst winter days, they would be cooped up in the house which was not exactly warm but decent. There had been stacks of blankets and even odd sizes of jackets and coats that Beth just left there. Charles's wife Ann was having a pretty rough season, so they tried to trek down the hill and check on them often. Cody would sometimes layer on one of Jack's old coats and trudge down through deep snow to knock on Charles's door. The elderly man would often be sitting by the window, an easel in front of him, painting the beautiful views. When Cody had admired a small painting one day, the man had given it to him. He went back and hung it proudly on the cabin wall.
Ashley had found herself writing more and more in the journal. As she settled into her life with Cody and the two friends, she understood why Dianne had wanted to record the daily life. Shawna and David often walked the meadows and hunted. Even in the freezing cold, they liked the beautiful surroundings.
Cody still was very distrustful of the folks up the hill. They came begging on occasion and he did not think thieving would bother them. He kept things secure and rarely slept the whole night without getting up to check the place. One evening, as he slid his pistol case under the edge of the bed, he hit against something. Getting down on his knees with a flashlight, he looked under the bed. Pushed back and unnoticed even in the cleaning chaos, was a soft rifle case. He pulled it out and found a Henry rifle that had belonged to Jack. He later made a rack for it and proudly hung it near Charles's painting.
No Normal Day III (West) Page 13