“Can’t say that I blame you, neighbor,” Harold replied. “I appreciate you helpin’ out with this diggin’ and for givin’ me a hand loading Levi up this morning.”
“Ain’t a big thing,” Calvin said. “I aim to finish this ‘afore I leave.”
“You really don’t have to do that, you know,” Harold said. “I’d be anxious to find my wife if I were in your shoes.”
“Well,” said Calvin, “It ain’t that I haven’t enjoyed the peace an quiet for the past day or two. She’s my wife an I gotta’ do my part to look out for her. I feel like I’m honor bound to lend a hand here first, though.”
“I appreciate it, neighbor,” said Harold. “Let me know what I can do to help you out.”
“What’s that?” Beetle asked, pointing toward the house. The men looked and could see a man and a little boy heading their way.
“Jake and Ryder,” Harold said as he recognized the two. “I wonder how they got here.”
The men climbed out of the hole and met the newcomers a few yards away. Harold bent down and lifted Ryder up into a big hug.
“I missed you, Uncle Harold,” the small boy said.
“I missed you, too, Buddy,” Harold responded. He looked into Jake’s eyes and could tell that he had heard about Alice.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to say goodbye,” Jake said. “I know she’s in a better place now.”
“She is,” Harold said. He leaned in and met Jake in a tight hug. His eyes filled with tears once again.
“Uncle Harold,” came a muffled voice. “I can’t breathe.” The two men separated so the squished child could get some air. He wiggled his way to the ground.
“Can I go see the chickens?” Ryder asked enthusiastically.
“I’ll take you to see the chickens,” Beetle volunteered. She grabbed the boy by the hand and the two started walking away. Ryder went willingly. He was crushin’ on his older cousin.
“Allie and Marie up at the house?” Harold asked.
“Yep,” Jake answered. “We brought as much as we could carry. It’s pretty bad in town and Allie didn’t want the kids to be there.”
“Not a problem,” Harold said. “You did the right thing by bringing ‘em here.”
“EMP?” he asked.
“Afraid so,” was the response.
“Well,” said Jake. “I guess we better get this over with. You got another shovel?”
Inside the house Allie told the other ladies about the craziness going on in her neighborhood that had forced them out of their home. It was difficult to discuss without crying. She held back the tears so the children wouldn’t worry. Marie asked if the kids could go outside and play. The adults all thought this would be a good idea. The girls went out the back door with Ashlyn following close behind. Allie followed Kay and then helped her down the ramp at the back door.
It took another couple of hours for the three men to dig six feet down. Calvin had to grab an aluminum ladder where the men could climb out of the hole once the job was finished. All three men sat down to take a little break. They could see the children playing and the women sitting in a group chatting away in the fenced in area near the house.
Allie soon walked out to the men carrying three quart-sized jars of iced tea. She had a pretty good idea that they would appreciate the refreshing drink and wasn’t surprised that all three men chugged down all the contents of their glasses. By the time they sat their jars down Beetle was walking their way with a full pitcher of refills.
Facing the house, Harold could see that someone was walking up the pathway between the house and the neighbors place. He wasn’t really sure who it was until he heard the two girls yell, “Daddy,” and run excitedly toward the back gate. It was John, Ashlyn’s husband. He looked sunburned.
“I think I’ll head on over to the house and get things ready for my trip,” Calvin said as he stood up off the pile of dirt. “Looks like you got more company.”
Harold nodded. “You wanna’ use that old three-wheeled bike?” he asked. “It may make the trip a little easier and a lot quicker.”
“That’s mighty kind, neighbor,” Calvin answered. “If it won’t be too much trouble, I think I’ll take ya’ up on that offer.”
“No trouble at all,” Harold said. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
The small group walked toward the house, joining the others in the back yard. John was on his knees hugging his girls while Ashlyn stood next to him massaging his shoulders. As they got closer it became obvious that John had more than a sunburn.
“You alright there John,” Jake asked. “Looks like you’ve been through hell and back.”
“Why are you dressed up like a clown, Daddy,” Addie (the oldest of the twins) asked.
“Yea, Daddy,” Maddie (the younger twin) added, “Where’s your hair?”
“It’s a long story, ladybugs,” John replied. “Nothing else matters now. Daddy’s here and he is one happy camper.” Another round of hugs ensued.
“Why don’t you go look in my drawer and get the Silvadene,” Kay whispered in Harold’s ear as he leaned over her shoulder and hugged her. It was obvious that John had been burned somehow and medication was in order.
“Got it,” Harold answered. “Are there any pain meds other than Mom’s morphine?”
“There should be some codeine tablets in the closet,” Kay answered.
“Hey kids,” Beetle said loudly. “Ya’ll want me to read you a book?”
“Yeahhhh,” a chorus of small, excited voices yelled.
Ashlyn made eye contact with Beetle and mouthed the words, “thank you.” Beetle nodded an acknowledgement back to her. She was a pretty smart cookie who could tell when the children needed to be somewhere else.
“Let’s go inside and choose a book and then we’ll go sit by the swings to read,” Beetle said as she chased the kids inside. Each of them chose their favorite book.
Harold also went inside and retrieved the medicine. He brought it back outside and handed the salve to Ashlyn and two pills and a bottle of water to John.
Jake joined Harold in the barn. The worked together to place the coffin onto saw horses and prepare to add support to it. Allie pushed Kay’s wheelchair over to the barn doors and the two ladies watched and chatted as the men worked on the wooden box.
In a few minutes the job was done. The generator that was supplying power to the refrigerator sputtered as it ran out of gas and died. Jake went and started the other one and switched the extension cords over. He decided that he would refuel the spent generator later.
Harold carried the two saw horses out back and placed them near the hole in the ground. He then placed three 2x4’s across them to hold the coffin. He finished just about the same time Jake did and joined him back at the barn.
The two men carried the coffin around the house and inside through the front door. They took the longer route so the children, who were happily listening to their books on the other side of the house, could not see what was going on and start asking too many questions. As they walked up the wheelchair ramp, Calvin came walking up from across the road. He was accompanied by a man that Harold recognized as the newest neighbor from down the road, James.
“Hi,” James said. “Calvin says you guys may need a hand for a few minutes.”
“That’d be cool,” Harold replied. “I’d shake your hand but …” Calvin grabbed Harold’s end of the coffin and took the weight off. Harold reached over and shook James’ hand.
The four men carried the coffin in through the living room and into Alice’s room. With much difficulty they were finally able to lift her body and gently place her into the coffin. They placed the lid in its place and took a short break.
Moments later the four men carried the heavy coffin out through the front door and around the house. Not a word was spoken as they trudged their way to the far corner of the back yard. They placed the box onto the 2x4’s and took another break.
Harold and Jake walked up to the
house as the two neighbors backed away to the other side of the old oak tree to allow the family a little privacy. The gesture did not go unnoticed.
Pulling a wheelchair through a muddy yard, about 100 yards, was no easy task. It was done.
If what happened next was considered a funeral service, it was a short service. Everyone said a few words about what they remembered and loved most about dear Alice. There were many tears shed. Kay finished the “service” with the Lord’s Prayer. It was intimate. It was very touching.
Calvin and James had good timing. After everyone said amen they walked up from the distance. Jake and Harold grabbed the ends of one length of rope at the head of the coffin and the two neighbors grabbed the ends of another at the foot. They lifted the coffin as Ashlyn and Allie removed the boards from beneath it. The men slowly lowered the coffin to the bottom of the six-foot deep hole.
A small bouquet of yellow roses picked from a bush in the back yard had been placed on top the coffin. It remained in place and stood out in stark contrast atop the wooden box at the bottom of the deep hole. All four men grabbed a shovel and made quick work of refilling the grave with the dirt they had so recently piled next to it.
Such ended the story of a great woman who had lived an amazing life and gave so much of herself to her family, her friends and her patients.
Rest In Peace, Mom.
Chapter 5
A new direction
Jerry stepped out of the woods and stood alongside a ditch near a blacktop road. He looked both ways and recognized it as Clear Lake Road. He had traveled down this very road many times before. A couple of hundred feet to his left was a small dirt road almost hidden among the trees around it. He had come out very close to the exact spot he had wanted to.
There were no people in sight, but he could hear a dirt bike in the distance. He thought it was strange that there were no cars passing by this time of morning, but he was grateful that there weren’t. Maybe there was a God and he was helping Jerry avoid people.
He walked along the tree line toward where the dirt road lay on the other side of the asphalt. The ditch was full of water and Jerry had no idea how deep it was. He knew that these ditches usually had mud bottoms that would allow a person to sink a foot or more than where the top of the dirt was covered with water. Being wet was alright, but mud in the boots made them weigh five times as much as normal.
Luck found Jerry again a few yards away from his destination when he found a chunk of tree stump near the ditch. He was able to free it from its resting spot and throw it across the ditch, making a temporary bridge to cross over the water on. When his feet hit the asphalt on the other side of the ditch Jerry sprinted across the road and beyond the tree line onto the rarely traveled pathway. He was glad he still hadn’t had the misfortune of crossing paths with any humans. He liked it when he didn’t have to talk to anyone.
It was a couple hundred yards up the dirt road when the path widened and merged into a pipeline. The grass was a little higher on the pipeline than on the dirt road, but that was fine with Jerry. He felt comfortable walking pipelines.
By the time Jerry had walked the distance of the pipeline to reach the driveway to the airport his muscles had loosened up quite a bit. He wasn’t near as sore as he had been when he woke up this morning. And even though his feet were covered in mud and soaking wet, he didn’t feel like he was being dragged down by them. The day was actually looking better and better.
Jerry could see the airport ahead. As he walked up the road leading to the hangers and control tower, he saw that someone was apparently clearing land on the left side of the roadway. A bulldozer was parked in the mud. Next to it was a wooden frame with an infant swing attached to it. That looked odd.
The closer he got to the control tower the clearer the parking lot next to it came into view. In that lot was a familiar vehicle; a black Durango with an unmistakable logo on the doors. He knew exactly who that vehicle belonged to. He wondered what it was doing parked there, but soon realized that its owner was probably out checking on the area pipelines. He silently hoped that he didn’t run into him.
The place seemed deserted. A black car was parked near the front door of the small control tower, which wasn’t really a tower but more like a little office building attached to a two-door hanger. A lady was sitting at an outdoor table smoking a cigarette. She looked distraught.
“Good morning,” Jerry said as he approached the lady. She watched him as he walked toward her.
“It certainly is morning,” she replied. The man didn’t seem to notice the handgun laying on the table beneath a towel, mere inches from her ashtray. “Is there somethin’ I can do to help you?”
“I was hopin’ I might find a little work,” Jerry said with a smile. “Maybe sweep up a hanger or wash some of these planes for the owner?”
“Sorry, but there’s no work here today,” the lady said in a monotone voice. She looked blankly toward the road. “We have much bigger things to worry about than clean floors or planes.”
“That’s ok, ma’am,” Jerry replied. He was used to people turning him away. The way he must look to people made their repulsion understandable. “Mind if I ask a question? You wouldn’t know where the owner of that Durango might be, would you?”
The lady seemed to focus her attention to Jerry. “Now why would you ask that?” she asked the bearded man.
“I know the man that owns it pretty well,” Jerry said. “I was thinkin’ he might give me a ride into Kountze where I can find some work.”
“Haven’t you heard what happened?” the lady asked. “Have you been under a rock for the past couple of days?”
“Well,” replied Jerry, smiling again. “More like up the creek without a paddle, so to speak. Camping on Village Creek.”
“We’ve been without power for two days,” the lady explained. “Nothing works. No cars. No planes. No cell phones. Even the radio is dead. I’ve been stuck here two days with no way to contact anyone or to go and find my husband. The man that owns that truck? He went up with my husband before we lost power and they haven’t come back yet.”
Jerry swallowed dryly. “You can’t be serious,” he said.
“As a heart attack,” she replied. “My husband is a great pilot. I have complete confidence in his abilities, but I’m worried that his plane may have lost power just like everything else. A plane can’t fly with no power.”
“Where were they when you last had contact with them?” Jerry asked. Where were they heading?”
“The last time I had ‘em on RADAR they had checked in near the Neches River near Evadale and were headed back here,” she said. “They were approaching the north end of Silsbee from the east.”
Jerry turned and walked around the corner of the hanger and into the parking lot. He went to the driver side of the Durango and reached under the rear fender and into the wheel well. His fingers wrapped around a small rectangular box. He yanked on it and it pulled away from its place against the metal.
“Nice to see that you haven’t changed your ways, old man,” Jerry said aloud as he looked down at the hide-a-key box in his hand. He slid it open and retrieved the keys hidden inside. He unlocked the driver side door and tried to start the vehicle. Nothing. He reached underneath the driver side seat and pulled out a small red bag.
The brown engraving identified the bag as a Justin Case first aid kit.
Jerry exited the vehicle, draped the strap of the first-aid kit over his shoulder, and walked to the back, where he inserted the key and opened the back gate. Inside was a tool box, a laser leveler and a rectangular case. There was no need to look inside because Jerry already knew what the case held. The owner of this vehicle always carried his crossbow with him during hunting season.
As he turned with the crossbow case in hand, he was met by the lady standing in front of him. “Just where do you think you’re going with those things?” she asked. She was standing with her feet firmly planted on the pavement and a rather large handgun in
her hand.
“I’m going to find my father and I might need this,” Jerry said firmly. “Now would you mind moving out of my way?”
“Your father?” the lady asked incredulously. “You’re telling me that your father works for the pipeline company?”
“No ma’am,” Jerry responded, “my father owns the pipeline company. He takes a hands-on approach to running his company. He’s the toughest old bastard you’ll ever meet so if he hasn’t come back for his things there must be something terribly wrong.”
“And your father’s name is?” she asked.
“Bobby Jones,” Jerry answered without hesitation. “Sometimes he goes by B.J. He’s about 6’4” tall and is a pretty healthy-looking guy. His hair is salt-and-pepper, and he doesn’t talk too much with strangers. I am his oldest son, Jerry Jones. Do you mind?”
The lady believed this strange, bearded man for some reason. “I’m Pam,” she said as she reached out her free hand. “My husband is with him and I’m coming with you.”
“I don’t think so lady,” the bearded man said as he sidestepped her and started walking up the road and away from the hanger.
Jerry was halfway to the highway when he heard a small engine approaching from behind. He stopped walking as an old four-wheeler pulled up next to him. The lady, Pam, was sitting on the atv with a bottled water in her hand, holding it out to him. He looked into her eyes and she stared back at him. He took the bottle of water, opened it and took a long drink.
“Jump on or walk,” Pam said, “it’s your choice. Either way I’m going to find my husband.”
Jerry climbed on back of the four-wheeler and held on tight.
- - -
Calvin and James teamed up to lift Kay’s wheelchair and carry it up to the house as Harold followed them, carrying the shovels. Jake and Allie walked arm in arm as they fell in behind the others. John and Ashlyn completed the group as the mourners left Alice in her final resting place and made their way to the main house.
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