As the Eagle Flies

by J. D. Oliver

  I got them sat firmly in the saddles, then I said, “Just follow Clancy, well really you don’t have to day anything, just hang onto the saddle horn, the horses will take you to our camp.” To Clancy I said. “You know of course I can’t leave anybody alive back there?”

  “Yes, I know. Catch up when you can.” Then they all headed off north into the darkness. I walked Brutus over to their camp. I found a case of Antifreeze in back of one of the hummers. Good, it was the old kind, pure poison. I took a bottle out and opened it up. Then I went to each passed out drunk, opening their mouths I poured a goodly amount down their throats. They didn’t even stir. As I came up to the last one, she jumped up, “I’m not with them, they captured me two weeks ago, I played along, or I would have been dead, I wanted to live.”

  I looked at her, she was about in her mid-thirties. Her face turned red, “Don’t say it, I know what you’re thinking, death before dishonor, well that’s a bunch of bullshit, when push comes to shove, I wanted to live.”

  “Why didn’t you do something when they started to molest those children?” I asked. She started to cry, “I wanted to, really I did, but they would of killed me too.”

  I thought a minute. Hell, if I wasn’t who I was, but just a pencil pusher, I might of did the same. “Alright, get yourself some clean clothes and come along, you can jump up behind me, you stink, you know that?”

  “Yes, I need a bath, but I thought if I could repel them just a little, they wouldn’t rape me so much.”

  “I know of a stream close by, we’ll stop so you can take a bath.” I said. She got up behind me. I said to her as she settled behind me. “Who did this bunch report to?”

  “Nobody. They just did whatever they wanted to.”

  “So I suppose they won’t be missed then, huh?”

  “No, I don’t think so, do you think anyone will find them?”

  “Well, when they start stinking, someone might come see what smells so much. But maybe not, I think the vultures and such will take care of most of it.” We rode on in the dark of the night. I stopped at a small stream, it was just breaking light in the east.

  “Hop off and skinny out of those stinking clothes, crap, you have me smelling also. I’m going to have to wash my clothes. She wasted no time in disrobing. At least she wasn’t shy. I got a bar of soap out of my saddlebags and tossed it to her. “Use this, but not all of it, I want to wash my clothes as well as myself.” I said. As I also got undressed.

  The water was bracing, to say the least. She was a redhead, all the way. Reminded me a little bit of Rosie. She soaped down and tossed the soap back to me. I washed my clothes on a rock, she had just tossed her dirty ones in the stream and let them float away.

  We both got out and let the morning breeze dry us off. She looked at me. “Nice,” she said, “but I suppose you’re married?”

  “Of course, her name is Faith, we’ll catch up with them pretty soon.” She went to the horse, where I had tied her clean clothes on back of the cantle. She untied them and walked back to me. “There wasn’t any underwear, do you think your wife will have some I can borrow?”

  My clothes were damp, but wearable, they would finish drying on me. She was a little disappointed when I got dressed. “Look, whatever your name is, what did you do for a living before they got you, you seem pretty brazen?” I said.

  “I was an exotic dancer, I wasn’t a hooker though. I played it straight. And my name is Lacy O’Claire.”

  “O’Claire? I’ve heard that name before. Anyway, let’s hit the trail, my wife will be getting worried.” She hopped up behind me, I mean hopped! She was standing flat footed and just jumped. She put her arms around me and pressed her breasts into my back. I ignored them. At least she smelled better now.

  We got up with them about ten that morning, they were camped near the Medicine Wheel. There were two springs, one warm and one cold. With plenty of tree cover. Clancy and the other ones had caught up with them at dawn.

  Lacy jumped off and lit beside Faith, who was standing there tapping her foot.

  “You must be Faith, do you have any clean underwear I can borrow?” Lacy asked.

  “Uh, yes, of course. Who are you?” Faith asked.

  “I’m Lacy O’Claire, your husband rescued me, isn’t he just a darling?”

  “O’Claire? Where are you from Lacy?”

  “Southern California, but that was sometime ago. I was dancing in Cheyenne when the shit hit the fan.” She said, then Faith and her walked off toward the rest of the women. I was dismissed, I guess.

  I walked over to where our bedrolls were already stretched out. Clancy was curled up sleeping not far away. He opened his eyes, “Well, how did you do it?”

  “Antifreeze.”

  “Good choice, they won’t be found for a long time anyway. So there won’t be much left of them. When they are, they will just think they killed those two you hung up and then drank themselves to death. I see you found one of Rosie’s relatives.”

  Huh? You mean Lacy O’Claire?”

  “Sure, she’s a cousin of Rosie’s. Didn’t you notice the red hair?”

  “Yes, but a lot of women have red hair.”

  “With the name of O’Claire?”

  “Okay, but she’s so different. Rosie is so refined. Lacy is a roustabout. But she does resemble Rosie to some extent.”

  “Oh, come on, didn’t you notice her breasts, they’re just like Rosie’s.”

  “I don’t make it a habit of looking at my daughter’s breasts. I did see Lacy’s and they do some what look alike, I guess. But don’t tell Faith I said so.” Then I laid down and went right to sleep.

  I awoke to the sounds of laughing and giggling. I turned toward the cackling. There sat Faith, Rosie and Lacy playing some kind of card game. They were setting cross legged around a blanket. They were in different stages of dress. I watched them for awhile. Didn’t take me long to figure out what card game they were playing: Strip Poker.

  I got up, quite like, and skulked away. Maybe skulked is the wrong word, crept might better describe my leaving. I wasn’t about to go anywhere near that.

  Most of the women and children I had rescued, were still sleeping. I went over to the warm spring. Hank and Poppy had just got out. I asked Poppy, “How are those new people doing? Are they fairly healthy?”

  “Yes, but they were sure dirty. It’s a good thing this warm spring has a good turnover in water. Who is that woman you brought with you?” She asked me.

  “Her name is Lacy O’Claire, Clancy said she is a cousin to Rosie, but I wouldn’t know. She’s an extrovert, it looks like.” I said, glancing their way. Lacy was completely nude. While Rosie and Faith had most of their clothes on. Now how can one person be so unlucky in cards? That is unless she purposely lost? I didn’t mind nudity any, but I don’t like to flaunt it.

  I turned my back and jumped into the warm pool. It must have some kind of minerals in here, it sure felt relaxing. Hank went off to tend to the horses. Poppy went along to help him.

  “Dad?” It was Rosie. She stood on the bank.

  “What Sweetie?” I said. Looking at her, she was fully dressed.

  “Did you know that Lacy has the same last name as mine?”

  “Yes, I did, well not really, your last name is Bronson, don’t you remember we adopted you?”

  “Yes, of course. Do you think she is any relation to me. She sort of resembles me. Even her, you know, down here, is not only red, but the same pattern.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that Honey. I don’t make it a habit of looking, you know down there. But I will tell you this, Clancy said that she was a cousin of yours. I hope it’s a distant cousin.” I said.

  “Don’t you like her? I know she is sort of brash. But I think she could grow on a person.” Rosie said, while looking over where Faith and Lacy were setting, they were cutting for high card.

  “Yeah, I suppose, she told me she was an exotic dancer. She’s in pretty good shape. I guess all of that dancing is
the reason. But she still has a ways to go, to catch up to you and Faith.”

  “Does she know that she is a cousin of yours?” I asked Rosie.

  “I don’t think so, you just told me that yourself.”

  “Yeah, stupid of me. You can tell everybody that we will be spending a couple of days here. Those women and children need the time to rest and recuperate. Besides I’m tired of traveling at night. Tell them to make lean-to’s. Cover them with boughs from the trees, we need to cover the supplies up. We might make sort of a base camp here. I haven’t decided.”

  “Shouldn’t we put that to a vote?” Rosie said.

  “Nope, this is not a democracy. I’m the patriarch. You all are my responsibility. Do you want that responsibility?”

  “No, no way, Dad. You can have it.”

  “But, I’m open to any input. Anytime anyone has a suggestion, feel free to tell me. I’m the patriarch, not a dictator. And I have my wife’s permission to say so.”

  “Oh Dad, if I didn’t know you, a person would think that you’re a wuss. But of course you’re not.”

  “Well Rosie, that’s what marriage is all about; is the two becoming one. I wouldn’t dream about making a big decision without talking it over with Faith. But the decision to stay a couple of days, isn’t a big one. There is something that you and Hank and Poppy can do. Those new people, after they get rested, they need to start doing their share.”

  “What do you mean, their share?”

  “Well, taking care of the stock. They need to learn how to do that, you know load pack saddles and such. Also KP.”

  “What’s KP?”

  “Kitchen Police. They need to learn how to cook and clean. Also we need to set a lookout schedule, you know routine stuff. Do you think the three of you can take on the task of teaching them?”

  “Sure Dad, what if they balk?”

  “I don’t think they will, what choice do they have?”

  ‘Yeah, you’re right. None of us have much choice, if we want to survive. And that’s what it has come down to, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Sweetheart, it has. It feels like things have been pushed back hundreds of years. All except now there is technology that makes killing each other easier. Oh, and don’t forget Lacy, she needs the same schooling as the rest, so go pry her away from what they are doing. Tell Faith I want to see her down by the warm pool.”

  I went and sat on a rock watching the water cleaning itself. Faith came up and sat down beside me. She was carrying her clothes. I looked at her. “Don’t you think you should put them on?”

  “Nope, I haven’t had a bath yet, you coming in?” She said, as she laid the clothes down and stepped into the water. Of course I was.

  We floated around, “What were you and Lacy talking about?” I asked my beautiful black haired wife.

  “Mainly woman talk. But I did learn that she was raised in So-Cal. You know southern California. She’s definitely some relation to Rosie. I know, Clancy said that she was a cousin to Rosie. I think she’s basically a nice person. She’s just had some bad breaks.”

  “Well, yeah. But so did Rosie. If we hadn’t of come along, I don’t know what would of happened to her. Where’s Alita?”

  “She’s with Jessica, they seem to be getting along pretty well. You never did tell me the full story of what went on back there?”

  “Not much to tell, but they were all captives of those so called Militia. Jessica and Peter were about to be molested, when I killed the perverts. The rest of them were dead drunk, so I just finished them off, I poured anti-freeze down them. Clancy said it would be a long time before they were found.”

  “What about the family’s of the captives?”

  “They told me that their families were all killed when they were taken. I sort of imagine that sort of thing is going on all over, you know survival of the fittest, or at least survival of the ruthless. I wonder if there is going to be any meek left to inherit the earth?”

  “What precipitated all of this?” Faith asked, after she came up from diving to the bottom to get a pretty stone.

  “Well, the way Clancy told it, it started with the collapse of the financial market’s world wide. It just snowballed from there.”

  “Yeah, I knew it would. That last administration ruined not only our economy, but the world’s as well. Since all the world’s markets are so tied together. More or less like Dominos, I bet.” Faith said.

  “Yes, I suppose so. We don’t know for sure, since we have been gone for two years. But we can see the results, anarchy for one.” I said. There came a voice heard over our splashing.

  “Hey, is it alright if I get in with you guys?” It was Seven. She was already pulling her clothes off. One thing about the present, there was no room for false modesty.

  She was in her middle thirties somewhere. She had two children. But she was fit, no fat anywhere. In fact all of the women and children didn’t have any fat on them. Why would they? They had barely been getting enough food to survive on. “Well, is it?” She said, standing there.

  Faith said, “Of course it is. If all of us are to survive, at times we’re going to have to forget about the old taboos.”

  Seven dived in. Then came up and swam over by us, where we were standing in about four feet of water. She had brought a washrag with her. She was washing herself. She said, “How long are we going to stay here?”

  Faith answered, “Well, I thought at least a couple of days. I haven’t talked it over with Clay yet.” She looked at me.

  “Yeah, that sounds good, do you think we should stay longer or not?” I said.

  Seven spoke up, “You’re damned right. I was talking to Rosie, not only do we all need training in the basics, but weapons would also be nice. I see in your packs that you have plenty of them. Believe me, I have been out there, we’re going to have to know how to defend ourselves.”

  I looked at my wife, she nodded. “Yeah, Okay, we’ll set up a program, Faith and Rosie will be in charge, their both experts. I’m going to scout around for a couple of days. I’ll have Gabe look out after all of you, Clancy can come with me.” I said.

  “Hold on there, this is the first I’ve heard about this. You’re just going to go off by yourself?” Faith said.

  “No, I told you, Clancy will come with me. Gabe will watch out here.”

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Well, we are heading for the Judith Basin in Montana. So I thought I would go overland from here to Fort Smith in Montana. Pick the best trail, so we can travel in the daylight when we all leave here. But don’t worry, I’m going to travel at night, and I have a pair of night vision goggles that I liberated from that bunch.”

  “I’m not worrying about you, you big lug. I’m more worried that you’re leaving a bunch of women to fend for themselves.” Faith said.

  “I’m not worried, you all can beat ten times your number. Besides, as to all women, what about Harry Silver, he used to be an FBI agent, he should be good for something.”

  “Oh yeah, sure. Maybe, if he and Patty weren’t off banging each other all of the time. I swear, I’ve never seen two people go at it like them.” Faith said.

  “Seen? You mean you watch?” I said with a laugh.

  “No, silly, that was just a figure of speech, but I have heard them. I think maybe I’ll have to throw a bucket of water on them, they must be stuck together.” Faith said with a straight face. Seven broke out in a fit of laughing. She almost drowned she was laughing so hard. That was good to hear, her laughing. Showed that she was a survivor anyway. Anytime someone could laugh, they were going to be alright.

  We all got out and stood in the sun to dry. One thing I did notice about the ones we just liberated. They didn’t have any fat on them, like I said before. Seven seen me looking, she said, “I used to have stretch marks on my belly and varicose veins, but now my tummy is flat and muscled and the varicose veins are gone. I guess there is something to be said for not having the amount of food we
used to have. Also in doing a lot of walking and work.”

  “Yes,” Faith said, “they say riding horseback is the second best exercise, just short of playing tennis. Look at my muscles.” She said turning in the sun.

  Seven was looking at my hair, “What’s with those white lightning strips in your hair, one on each side and two down the middle?”

  “I’ll answer that,” Faith said, “he’s always making himself a target. One time he was in a coma for six months. Of course sometimes I still think he is in one.” She said as she plastered herself against me, kissing like there was no tomorrow.

  “Whoa, you guys had better cool it, you’re both starting to steam.” Seven said. She was right, I had to turn a little so no one could see just how steamy I was.

  “Yeah, I want to get things ready to leave, I have to talk to both Clancy and Gabe. Faith, why don’t you explain to the rest of our party about staying here for awhile. After I talk to Clancy and Gabe, we’ll go for a walk. I wasn’t going to leave till after dark.”

  Clancy thought scouting out the trail ahead of time was a good idea. But Gabe didn’t see the need, since he could always see what was ahead from his place in the sky. He knew though that I didn’t feel like setting around while the women rested. So he agreed to stay and watch over them.

  Of course, the walk that Faith and I took wasn’t for exercise. Well not exactly, we needed to be alone, it was pretty hard to make love with everyone so close around. We weren’t like Harry and Patty.

  Afterward, with Faith laying beside me, she said, “How come I haven’t gotten pregnant? We certainly do it enough.”

  “Yeah, but maybe it’s due to the stress level. We’ve been on a roller coaster ever since we got married. It’ll happen when the time is right.”

  “I suppose you’re right. It’s really not a good time to bring a child into this world.” Faith stood up and picked up her Stilettos and strapped them back to her leg. I was sure glad she had taken them off. She even swam with them on, everyone sort of looked at her askance when she did though. But she wasn’t the only one, Rosie and Alita did also, that is swim with their knives on. All three of them could hit a rabbit on the run with them.