As he looked around, Colt replied, “Yeah, this is nice.”
Beth continued, “I sure do miss the city but growing up in Kentucky as a kid with all of the kin folk down there; this reminds me of how it used to be. It shows me Colt, that all that city living really was not what it was cracked up to be. Sure you could call Pizza Hut and get it delivered but you had to live with all of that damn hustle and bustle. This right here, it’s the simple things…. And all the education and money in the world didn’t stop what took place but now look at this….. Here we sit like the old days, when all people had to survive was each other and a roof over their heads.”
Beth then quietly sat shaking her head while looking around, “I just hope the others out there have it as good as we have it right now.”
Ceara came running back through the kitchen patting Heath on the back as she went, “Smells great!”
She got to the living room smiling at Beth, Colt and Tabitha, “You guys have to come see this sick patio!!”
Beth turned on the couch looking at her, “Sick?”
Ceara shrugged, “You know, BAD ASS… cool… You know what I mean!”
Colt stood up holding out his hand to Beth, “Well madam I believe we have been invited to the sick patio.”
Beth smiled taking his hand, “Why I do believe we have.” She turned to Tabitha, “Come on, we are going to see the bad ass patio.”
Tabitha laughed, “Lead the way…”
Ceara was smiling as they all walked back through the kitchen, Heath stood stirring the chili, “Soups on!”
Beth grabbed some bowls and things as they walked to the patio. Heath followed her out and set the large pot on the picnic table, “Grab it while it’s hot!”
They all sat around the table and on the benches enjoying the hot meal.
Charlie looked up from his bowl and out to the west where the sun was setting. The orange and purple sky was beautiful. A few clouds reflected the colors and birds were flying to the tree tops for the night.
Taking a spoonful he looked out again, “Holy shit look at that.”
They all looked at Charlie and he was pointing out in the desert with his spoon. A man’s figure was walking towards them his body silhouetted by the sun. His stride was long and determined and on his head was a cowboy hat. The wind blew dust devils and a few tumbleweeds around him as he walked toward the patio. There was no mistaking who the figure was. Alden stood out to all of them.
As he neared Charlie smiled, “Don’t tell him I said this, but that right there is something straight out of an old western movie.”
Alden walked around to the side gate and entered the patio. He placed two old burlap sacks on one of the cedar chairs and took off the hat and hung it on a nail on one of the posts. Grabbing a bowl he dipped himself some chili. Walking over to a chair he sat down and started eating. Looking up he smiled, “I found the hat out there about half a mile along with some other goodies. Poor guy had a broken leg. I took what I thought we could use. There were some old six shooters on a gun belt, that hat which fit and a nice pair of boots that were my size too.”
Alden went back to eating. Maximus had gone over and was growling at the bags so Ceara got up and went over to the chair to check them out. As she reached down one of the bags moved and fell off the chair. Maximus jumped back barking as Ceara screamed out, “WHAT THE FUCK!!!”
Alden smiled, “Oh and cupcakes the other bag has tomorrows supper.”
Ceara turned and glared at him, “And just what the hell is in there.”
Alden got up and refilled his bowl then sat back down, “Oh them…. Those are rattlers. I love rattlesnake. It’s the simple things in life that make me happy.” He chuckled as he saw the looks in their eyes……
Chapter 22 – Homestead
Within a couple weeks time, the seven survivors had begun setting up home for the most part. Routines of living were now beginning to give comfort and together they found themselves becoming quite the family. Each one of them had certain obligations that they had to do to keep everything up and running and not one of them minded at all.
Security watch had finally been broken down to taking night shifts rather than hours. They had all agreed it was easier to take full nights watch rather than trade off every two hours.
Ceara had started one morning unpacking some of the things that they had packed away and when she got to the box that had the china in it her eyes got as big as saucers. Beth walked into the kitchen with the box that was full of canned food that they had left over. Seeing Ceara gawking at the plates, Beth kept right on walking over to the cabinets.
Ceara turned around and asked in amazement, “Beth? How did these get here? I thought that there was no room.”
Beth smiled and looked out the window then back to Ceara, “Why don’t you go ask Charlie… I think he may know.”
Ceara put her hands on her hips and smiled a smile that Beth hadn’t seen in a long time. After putting the canned goods away, Beth walked past her and paused for a brief moment, “Ceara…. I was telling Colt that when we got here, it’s the simple things that I appreciate now, and seeing you smile like that is one of those things.”
Beth left the room without saying another word or waiting for a reply and made her way back out to the Rover where she saw Colt with his hind end sticking up out of the back end as if he was looking for something.
“Did you lose something?” asked Beth.
Raising his head up in surprise he hit his head on the roof the chuckled, “I just wanted to see if I had left anything else in any of the compartments back here.”
Colt made his way over to Charlie’s van and started looking around. Charlie looked up from the yard work, “What’s up?”
Colt shook his head, “I just thought I had packed my axe but I can’t find it.”
Charlie laughed, “Dude, that was unloaded within the first couple days, it’s in the shed out back. Why do you want it, there are others that are sharper than yours ever was?”
Colt started to walk off toward the shed, “Call it a sentimental thing.”
Charlie dismissed him turning back to the fence to dig the next post hole.
Ceara finished off her things and made her way to the living room, she started getting nosy. On the shelf was a closed cabinet, reaching up she pushed on the door making it pop open. Inside were DVDs, “DAMN!!! HEY CHARLIE!!!”
Charlie came running in as did everyone else in hearing distance, Ceara blushed, “Umm I was just going to say you can see a John Wayne movie if you want.”
Tabitha looked at her like she was crazy, “REALLY? That is what the hell you just screamed bloody murder for???”
Ceara pouted, “It wasn’t bloody murder… Just thought that we could have a movie night, if Alden is ok with it?”
Tabitha gave a disgusted sigh, “Well does the guy have any good movies?”
Ceara looked back to the shelf, “I think he was a Clint Eastwood and John Wayne fan but there are other ones too.”
She ran her finger over some, “Hey, he has McLintock! That was my dad’s favorite! Do you think Alden will let us watch it tonight? It can’t take that much power, can it?”
Charlie pushed the cabinet door closed, “We can ask tonight, but for now we all have chores.”
Alden had finished his watch from the night before and had eaten his breakfast. The morning had come in with clear skies and cool temperatures so he decided to go for a walk. Taking Tonto was not an option, he simply followed his master. The two had walked throughout the desert for about a half hour with Tonto simply running one way, then another checking everything that moved. Alden was alone with his thoughts when he suddenly realized that Tonto had stopped on top of a flat rock and was looking down. Alden shook his head thinking it was probably more deer, his steps slowed and crept quietly to Tonto’s side.
“What is it boy? What ya got?” Tonto looked to him then looked back down. Alden knelt down and peered over the edge. Below was a sight to beho
ld. A herd of twenty to thirty horses had gathered in a small box canyon. A few of them even had saddles still attached.
Alden sat back crossed legged and surveyed the situation. Tonto sat down beside him as Alden reached over and petted him. “I wonder if we could catch them and get them back to the ranch?” Tonto looked at him then looked back as if he understood what Alden really wanted.
It took another twenty minutes for the two of them to work their way down there without being seen. Alden looked at Tonto, “Okay boy, you stay here. They see you, they may bolt. Hell boy, they may bolt if they see me.”
Alden pulled some dried grass off the ground and walked slowly around the rocks that had hidden him from view.
The horse closest was one of the saddled ones it snorted and moved away cautiously but didn’t run. A few of the others nervously walked backwards keeping their eyes on him. As he approached the saddled horse, it moved away a little, then stopped and looked at Alden.
Holding grass out in front of him Alden began speaking in a soft tone, “C’mon boy. Here I got some grass for ya. I ain’t going to hurt you. I want to take you someplace safe maybe find you some good oats to eat you’d like that right?”
Charlie was finishing up with the third fence post when he looked up. “HEY COLT, YOU’VE GOT TO COME SEE THIS.” He was laughing as he yelled and started to walk towards a dust cloud that was coming towards him.
Heath had been working in the barn organizing tools and simply cleaning things up. He walked to the door and looked out. Colt had walked up next to Charlie, looking at what Charlie was pointing to out to the desert. Heath turned and smiled at the scene. Out in the desert was Alden riding a painted horse, holding the reins of two following him. Behind them were about four more.
Charlie Colt and Heath walked out and met him. Alden handed the reins to Colt as he dismounted. “I found these out there just wandering around.” He looked at Heath, “I figure you’d know what to do with them.”
Heath took the reins of the one Alden had been riding and walked around looking at it and checking it over. “There in good shape. A little under fed, but they’ve been surviving on the sage brush. We do have enough room in the barn over there for them but we need to re enforce the fence and gate.”
Heath was checking the other horses out when noticed something. “Alden? What was your friend’s middle name?”
Alden turned, “Lamar, Why?”
Heath point to a brand on the rear of the horse he was holding. It was a wavy set of letters two L”s and a B. “It’s on these three so I imagine these were his. I don’t know about the rest yet.”
Alden smiled, “No wonder they seemed to know the way home.”
Ceara came running out wiping her hands on her t-shirt, “Can I have one this time!! I want to name them… I’ll take care of them…. I want…”
Alden held up his hand making Ceara trail off, “Hold up a minute, let’s focus on the obvious first. We get the fence fixed, get these guys fed, then we see about getting the shoes on them checked. The shoes have to be in bad shape, these guys have been running wild for a good bit of time from the looks of them.”
Ceara reached up to pet a creamed colored male that stood shorter than the others. “Alden, I have been around horses all my life, I can check the shoes while you guys fix the fence.”
Heath smiled at Ceara, “In the barn in the first stall on the left there is an anvil and a whole big crate of shoes. There’s also a hammer and nails laying there. Probably everything you’ll need.” Taking the reins of the Alden’s horse, Heath lead him into the barn. The others followed along.
Most of the horses had shoes on, but in bad need of either shaping or replaced. Ceara led the first horse, tying his halter off in a stall to both sides of the wall to hold him still. In the front of the barn Larry had all the tools hanging on the wall, Ceara grabbed a hammer, clench cutter, pair of pull offs, file, pick, and nippers then headed back to the horse.
She laid all the tools down outside the stall, smiling she thought back to her dad’s names for each tool. He called the pull offs the big O because it looked like a pair of pliers but the ends formed an O, so Ceara always knew what tool he wanted. The pull offs were known as gators, for the ridged teeth that bent at the end which made it look like an alligator to young Ceara. She laughed a little when she laid out the hoof pick; daddy called it the captain hook. Last were momma’s toenail clippers, for obvious reasons he never referred to them like that when Ceara’s mother was helping them with the horses.
Ceara started cutting the nail heads with the clench cutter and a hammer. She set the clench cutter down then used a pair of pull-offs to take off the first shoe. She picked up the horse’s foot and used the hoof pick to clean the bottom of the hoof. Ceara took the time to pick out all small stones and any other small thing in the horse’s hoof that wedged in over the past month or so. Ceara had to use a knife to remove excess, flaky sole from the bottom of the foot.
Taking a short break to let the horse relax for a few minutes, she then took the hoof nippers and trim excess hoof wall around edges, using a rasp to create a flat bottom. Fitting the shoe was easy, nailing it in place, careful not to go out the top of the hoof wall. Once the nail was driven, Ceara used the hammer to bend it over against the hoof. She never understood that step but daddy always did it so she did too.
Ceara used the file to file a line below the remaining stub of nail. Final step was to use a pair of clenchers to seat the nail in the groove. She let the foot down and wiped her brow, looking out at the afternoon sun, “Forgot how much work this was, but it will keep me busy.” Ceara patted the horse’s neck and went to the next foot to start the process again, wondering if Charlie might want to learn to do this too.
Charlie was busy pulling long round logs that Larry had stacked neatly by the rear of the barn. Each log was about eight foot long and around three to four inches in diameter.
Alden walked up and picked up the end, “Last time I was here, I seemed to remember having to do this.” He smiled at Charlie as they approached a broken section. Colt and Heath walked up with a large roll of heavy wire and a bucket filled with hammers and nails.
Alden smiled, “Okay cowboys pay attention I’m only going to show you this once.” He took the bucket and found some long eight inch nails.
Taking one he hammered it in about three inches then took a pair of pliers and bent it upward slightly. Walking to the next post he repeated the process. “Okay cowboys grab the first pole and lay it down in the bend of the nail.”
He walked back to where the three young men stood. Reaching down he grabbed the wire and began to weave it around the log and post pulling it tight then twisted it off and cut the excess. Standing up he looked at them, “Set the bottom rail about two feet up; the top rail about four inches from the top of the post. You cowboys think you can handle that?”
Charlie nodded, “Yeah, yeah we got it.” He said with a sneer.
Heath grabbed the hammer and nails and started the next rail trying to avoid the tension. Colt joined him. Alden looked at Charlie then turned and started to walk away. Charlie turned to the others, “I don’t mind the cupcake shit but he makes us look like idiots sometimes.”
Heath looked up, “Charlie in case you didn’t notice, we were promoted.”
“Promoted?” Charlie said.
Colt laughed, “Yeah dude, we’re not cupcakes any more. We’re COWBOYS!”
Heath raised a hand and Colt high fived him, while they both yelled, “YEAH BOYZ!”
Charlie looked at them smiling and reached to grab the pole when he heard Alden’s voice, “HEY!” They all stood and looked at him. “YOU ALL MIGHT WANT TO LOOK IN THAT LEATHER BAG IN THE BUCKET!” Alden turned and mumbled to himself, “I should have let the idiots get blisters.” He walked to the generator shed.
Heath reached down and dug out a medium size leather bag. Inside were several pairs of leather gloves that showed signs of wear. Handing Colt and Charlie each a pair,
“Here these will keep us from getting blisters.”
The three put the gloves on and went back to work. They switched off hammering and wiring. It took just an hour to finish the first fifty feet.
Colt looked at them frowning, “Damn this shits tough, and we ain’t half way down.”
Heath placed a hand on his shoulder, “No Colt, we’re only halfway done with this section” Pointing off to the prairie, “We got two and half more to do to bring it back around to that corner of the barn.”
Charlie smiled, “Well guys it’s almost lunch time, so I got to go. Ceara and I have watch tonight. Looks like we’ll be eating and going to bed.”
Ceara looked up just as Charlie came around the barn door; he motioned for her to follow him. “Come on, lunch break… even us peons get breaks.”
Ceara patted the horses side then set the tools off to the side, “I just finished with Patton, just got to let him back out.”
Charlie followed behind them as she swatted Patton’s flank sending him out with the others. Charlie leaned on one of the stalls propping up his foot on one of the rails, “Why Patton?”
Ceara busied herself hanging all the tools back where she had found them, “That was the one Alden road in, it just kind of seemed fitting.” Ceara glanced over her shoulder at him, “Please tell me you know who Patton was?”
Charlie rolled his eyes, “I went to school Ceara, I just didn’t watch TV. I was in an orphanage not under a rock.”
Ceara smirked at him, “Well you didn’t know who John Wayne was and my dad always said anyone that didn’t know John Wayne must live under a rock.”
Charlie started for her and spoke in a low voice, “You want me to show you what I learned under that rock?”
Ceara backed up smiling, “Behave, we have things to do!” She backed into a corner, “Charlie be nice!”
Charlie wiggled his eyebrows, “Where you going to go now?” He started tickling her, she tried to push him away and guard herself at the same time.
Breathless with tears rolling down the cheeks, “Charlie stop!!!”
Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future Page 43