No Normal Day IV (Travelers)

by Richardson, J.

  Lauren composed herself and sat forward in her chair. “My husband had traveled to visit a sister in Utah when the world fell apart. We were not young, I was seventy and he was seventy two. His sister had been ill and he thought he needed to go. We had no communication and he would have not been able to return home. I have not known all these years, if or how long he survived.”

  “The letter was given to me, by a womans,” said Jeff

  “The letter was written several years ago, Mrs. Greenlee. Perhaps the sister had kept it,” said Emily.

  The woman sighed, “That is probably true, bless her for that. I feel I can have some peace now, having those last words from my beloved husband.”

  The travelers camped that night within the thick walls around the pueblo style house. Jeff was relieved and glad that he had been able to deliver this last letter from the road. Lauren told them that some of the few people left in the town, like the man at the church, did check on her regularly. She had a deep well in the back corner of her courtyard that still gave her water. She had lifted the pistol, a small tremor in her hand but she firmly grasped it, and smiled to them, “No one really messes with me.” She insisted that they take some of her lovely hand made pieces of silver jewelry, with torquoise and coral hued stones.

  The next morning, the snow floated down in a white cloud and covered everything in a thick white blanket. The woman seemed to enjoy their company and was quite infatuated with Girl, who could be a real charmer when she met a new person. It was the third morning when the sun was bright, the blanket slowly melting that the travelers said goodbye to Mrs. Lauren Greenlee.

  ***

  The last week of April and the wagon turned eastward, the less than one hundred miles to Jeff's goal stretched ahead of them. The weeks since leaving Sante Fe had taken them between two mountain ranges and through the oldest town in Colorado. The ruins of the tiny border town still held the beautiful sculptures of the stations of the cross. The life size depictions, all done by one artist stood on a twisting trail that led up to an old church that stood in decay. Because Spring was barely showing it's warm and green arrival, they covered the miles north of San Luis in about three days and now as Jeff looked to the east, he tried to not show how excited he was. There was no way to know if he would find the immigrants from Unity alive and well or what he might find. He did not want to give false hope to his family. Still, he was so hopeful that they could find home and haven in this beautiful high country.

  It took the travelers a whole day and most of the next to pull over the mountain pass that was between them and their destination. There were some light snow flurries on the top and they made camp for the night. For the first time in a good while, Jeff was awakened by noise outside the wagon. He heard some of the bags on the side of the wagon crash to the ground, he peered out the back of the tent cover. The campfire was still smoldered and Emily's dutch oven sat to the side. He watched as the large black bear dumped out the biscuits, sat back on his haunches and helped it's self to the warm rolls. By that time, three more sets of eyes peeked out from various places under the tent. The father raised his pistol and yelled, “Shoo bear!” he shot above the furry thief's head. The big visitor lumbered off into the swirling snowflakes and disappeared into the Aspen trees.

  “Sorry, there went breakfast, Hon,” he said to Emily and they all laughed. They huddled back under their blankets. He thought to himself, I understood that bears hibernated...I guess, even though this white stuff doesn't look like Spring, it is nearly May. And they probably wake up starved. He slept with one eye open the rest of the night. Once, as they made their way down from the pass the next day, they caught sight of a bear in the distance, with two cubs right behind her. The noise of the wagon had startled them away.

  Three days later, standing at a high point on a narrow curve, Jack looked out at a beautiful valley stretching below them with meadows sweeping up to surrounding mountains. Splotches of new green and scrubby trees dotted the landscape. A small irregular shaped stretch of blue water shimmered beside a cluster of tall rocks. An antelope drank at the edge and further away about a half dozen horses grazed. Two smoky spirals rose into the huge blue sky, from structures that looked no bigger than toys from their view. He checked the map one more time, the map that the family at Unity had drawn for him. He had been constantly checking it the last few days. The bundle of letters sat in the top of the mail bag. A strong wind, not warm but not freezing either, whipped at the tent cover, chilled their weather tanned faces. Emily, Kevin and Cissy stood beside him, their hands shading their eyes and he said, “I think we have made it.”

  Chapter Nine

  The House That Jack Built

  Jangling loudly along a gravel road, they twisted down from the high point and into the foothill meadows. Away from the road, through tall grasses, they passed a house that was completely in ruins and another that was in nearly that state, pieces of old outbuildings, corrals and fences were still visible. In the bend of a wide turn, a house stood that looked deserted but in fairly good repair. They were approaching a small house on their right, the origin of some of the smoke plumes. On their left, very near the road, a slightly larger cabin with faded dark green paint crouched. In front of the house, a fire blazed in a large metal container. The wagon pulled up near the cabin, a tall thin man came around the corner of the house, he pushed his long hair behind his ear and raised a rifle, “Who goes there?”

  Jeff pulled up the donkeys and answered loudly, “It's Jeff...aren't you Cody? Remember, my son and I met you in New Mexico. You were on your way here.”

  Cody lowered the rifle, “Jeff...yes I remember...your son and you were...” Bull came running and barking from behind the house across the street. This brought Girl out of her cuddled up place in the back of the wagon and she began to yip-yip. A man and a women came out of the house, their weapons drawn and one woman stood in the doorway. The commotion brought David up behind Cody, he had an arm load of firewood and Ashley stepped out on the porch of the cabin.

  “It's okay, everybody back off, we know this man,” said Cody.

  When the “everything is fine” was finally clear to everyone and the dogs were quieted, they all gathered in front of the cabin around the fire. Jeff introduced Emily, Kevin and Cissy. Sarge had been the man from across the street and Pat had stood in the doorway because at her feet had been a stocky little toddler, who was barely able to wobble around. Shawna had been visiting them and now stood beside her partner David. Cody stood with his arm around Ashley's shoulders.

  It was obvious that these three couples had settled and were defending a home place here. Jeff was not sure if his family would be welcome. First and most important, he pulled out what he hoped were the last letters that he would be trusted to deliver, the letters from the family at Unity to the immigrants in Colorado. He and Emily and Kevin told them about how they had been welcomed in the small town. They answered all of the questions about everyone in the community. They certainly understood the tears of the two couples, how much they missed the people of Unity and their joy and laughter as they heard about how they were all doing.

  That were plenty of comments, such as yeah, that sounds like Brook...how is my uncle Lee feeling? Or who did you say Nicky married?

  Jeff stood with his back to the fire and looked at the cabin, “So, this is the house that Jack built?”

  “Yes,” said Cody, “I am so proud to have found it and to be here.”

  Emily said, “Well, after being at Unity, it's pretty clear that Jack and Beth were sort of a legend. They were loved and respected. I can see why it was important to you to come to this place. I wish we could have met them.”

  Sarge said, “We feel the same, it's great that you got to meet Ashley and Cody's family.”

  Pat said, “When we realized that little Bubba here was on the way, we decided that we needed a house of our own. The house across the street was abandoned and so we fixed it up and moved in. I know that the cabin will always be
home for Cody and Ashley and for David and Shawna.”

  They read the letters, talked and the day was passing. Cody added some wood to the waning embers and said, “Well, I hope you are going to be with us for a while. We want to hear more stories of Unity and we want to hear about how you met Emily and Cissy and what is out there where you traveled.”

  David said, “Yeah, did you say something about those weird creatures we saw? You know something about them?”

  Jeff promised David that he would tell him the story later. The father looked at his family and then to Cody, “To be honest, we were hoping to make a home here. I mean, we would respect your wishes, it is clear that you all have worked hard and you have a haven here. We would not expect to just squat here, we would work and contribute. And, we would build our own shelter.”

  Cody reached out for Jeff's hand and slapped him on the back. “Of course, you are welcome, man. Where would I be, if Jack had not welcomed me into his family. Actually, if he had not walked with me on the day that this whole world changed, I might not even be alive. Jack made me believe in the importance of family, of unity.” All of the others spoke up in agreement and there were some hugs and hand shakes all around.

  Ashley said, “That house, down there in the corner, it is empty now. The couple that lived there were summer time friends of Jack and Beth. They were close to their age. When we first arrived, the wife was already not very well. She passed away last winter and Charles was not long after. He told us to take anything that we wanted, once he was gone. He even tried to talk us into moving into the house.”

  “You know, we are just happy here, though. We have all actually lived close together for a long time and it seems natural to us,” said Shawna.

  Pat said, “We did take things that we really needed but for the most part, the house is pretty intact. Charles was a scientist, he loved to putter with small inventions and experiments. He made himself and his wife very self sufficient.”

  Emily's eyes were excited, “Jeff was an engineer, that would be great for him.” Kevin grabbed Cissy's hand and they walked a ways to look down at the house. Both of them turned towards Jeff and grinned. Girl was curled up against Bull, next to the fire. Little Bubba squatted down and tried to give her a gentle patting.

  Too good to be true, was the thought that came to Jeff's weary mind. He looked out at the pure beauty of the place, the meadows and mountains. Maybe it was false security but he had such a feeling of peace. This place felt so right and they were being welcomed.

  Cody spoke, “I know friend, it's almost paradise. You know, the world has to get re-built from somewhere. That house will just fall to the ground, take it for your family. Join us, you are home.”

  The women were already talking to Emily about the house, Jeff walked down to where the kids stood. He seemed to be saying something to them. Kevin jumped in the air and shouted, “Yippee!” He and the girl ran down the gravel road towards the house, Girl jumped up and ran after them.

  The couple led the noisy wagon down to the house and all of the immigrants followed. It was a small house with faded brown cedar siding. There would be three bedrooms and there was the shop that Charles had spent hours working in. It had not been empty that long, though the contents were from another time, everything was still neat and clean. Later, that night the family would spend their very first night sleeping under a roof that belonged to them alone. They agreed to meet in a couple of hours with the others for dinner. Just like at Unity, the three couples gathered for their meals, they shared in raising of food, in preparing it and always ate together. Jeff, Emily, Kevin and Cissy would become a welcome part of that tradition. Emily made biscuits and that instantly secured her place in the order of things.

  The true Spring had arrived. The distant peaks still sparkled with white icing but the days were pleasant. The meadows became greener, the single antelope was now a small herd, with even tiny calves appearing. The donkeys grazed in the meadow with them and when the howl of coyotes were heard, the donkey's bray followed. Donkeys are actually aggressive protectors. One early morning, Jeff saw one that kicked and chased away a coyote trying to move in on a new calf.

  Finally, all of the dangling bags and cases of goods were gone from the wagon and it sat next to the shop behind the brown house. All the things that had allowed Jeff and Kevin and eventually Emily and Cissy to survive had been dispersed into their new home. Various items were given to the other immigrants. Kevin and Cissy pulled many of the toys from the suitcase and had great fun giving them to Bubba. The stacks of books were placed on shelves in a one room office area, where Charles and Ann had stored rows of their own. It was agreed that all of the people of the three house community, and a few that they knew survived in the area would share it as a library. The painting of the Pecan Plantation in Louisiana now hung on the wall. The quilts that the lady from Bandera had sewn and Mae had cleverly suggested be privacy panels, now spread across the family's beds, real beds and mattresses. Emily's blue dress that the women of Unity made for her to marry in, hung in the closet, one of Caleb's flannel shirts next to it.

  Emily was pleased to learn that the women were hunters, she often joined one or two of them to hunt the nearby woods. She planned to teach Cissy how to be a skillful huntress. Jeff had decided that one of his first projects would be to build a still, using the knowledge that he had observed in Bandera. The other men were perfectly willing to assist in that project. They had shared their heirloom seeds from the silo survivor and a garden was already started in the field between the houses. Clothes and linens that had been washed or just needed airing fluttered on a line between the house and shop and the family got ready to attend a special first birthday dinner for Bubba. Jeff wore his belt with the large buckle from Joe Redfern in Oklahoma, Cissy and Em wore jewelry that Lauren Greenlee had created and Kevin had an alligator tooth on a cord that the people on the river gave him.

  Happy Birthday to you...happy birthday to Bub-ba...happy birthday to you, the toddler clapped his little hands. A single thick candle adorned the rather flat cake and he sputtered it out. Presents that were not new but new to him were unwrapped with tiny fingers. He was a child of the After world, this was his world.

  Later, Emily dropped big dollops of cornmeal and onions into a pot of grease on the fire and told the women how she learned to make hush puppies and why they were called that. That and all the stories that each of these friends carried in their minds, were shared over the days and months and years. The stories of survival, of the good, the bad and everything in between that happens when humans, in an instant loose their idea of normal.

  From the moment over fifteen years earlier, that a man named Jack looked in the rear view mirror of his truck and saw traffic stand still, the day he opened his heart and took in a boy named Cody, all of the experiences had twisted and melted together and brought these survivors to this place. All the experiences had brought Jeff and his young son to Emily and Cissy, had made them a family. Jeff no longer felt weary, he no longer felt like he was surviving, he felt like he was living. He had a fresh hope that his family was going to have a new world in the future, that maybe the world got a chance for a “do over”. Whatever the world would bring, they would not have to face it alone.

  A coyote howled and tiny paws clicked through the house, he heard the sweet giggle of Cissy as Girl sprang into her bed. Kevin made a soft snoring sound from his room. The breeze from an open window blew right across the bed that he and Em lay side by side on. He reached for her hand. The moon cast enough of a glow for him to see the houses that belonged to their new extended family group, the house across the gravel road and the house that Jack built. They were no longer travelers, they were home and they would be the keepers of the stories.

  I hope you enjoyed book IV in the No Normal Day series. They have been a joy for me to write.

  If you would like to send me a note, I always appreciate the words from my readers.

  richardsonjo66@gmail.com


  All four of the books in the series are available on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and Kobo.

  My Regards, J. Richardson