Sinagua Rising

by R. G. Andersen-Wyckoff

  As they headed back down Verde School Road, Carly radioed Bishop to tell him they were heading back and Bishop said his group would be right behind them and would lock the gates.

  The ladies were able to unload their trailer at the village, while the men could only drive the large truck and trailer to the trailhead and then shuttle smaller loads in Colby and Bud’s trucks up the hill. They had made quite a haul for one day.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  That night’s dinner was chicken pesto, with garlic potatoes, string beans, with MREs providing the basics and then seasoned by Michael and Maria to “flavorize the taste,” as Michael put it. Maria made cornbread from some of the dehydrated packages they had and served it with fruit cocktail, and iced tea, without the ice. The meal was applauded by all and, as Michael and Maria took their bows they took the opportunity to report to the group on the inventory work they had done on their food supplies.

  “We completed the inventory of our current food supplies,” started Michael, “and we were amazed at how much food we actually have. The Disaster Relief folks must have been planning on feeding the entire Village of Oak Creek for a week, or they got one helluva buy on MREs, because we have nearly 35,000 breakfasts, lunches and dinners. That means almost two years’ worth of daily meals. And, of course, we have all the food we salvaged from the restaurants and homes, and multiple cases of dehydrated mixes for breads, rolls, puddings, dried fruits, and more. So, I think we’re pretty well set until we can get our own gardens growing. Unfortunately,” he said with a chuckle, “the main entrée’s will be Salisbury steak, breast of chicken, lasagna, beef ravioli, or chicken pesto, like tonight, along with some spaghetti meals for as long as it lasts. But, I don’t think we’ll starve!”

  There was instantaneous applause from the group that seemed to go on for a full minute before Maria added,

  “Michael’s a genius at adding spices and supplemental foods to make the meals taste good. And, of course, we serve them on plates, not the cardboard or foil packages the MREs come in, so they not only taste good—they look good, too. If we can supplement our diets with fresh beef or venison from time to time, I think we’ll feel like we’re eating pretty high on the hog, so to speak. And, with the dehydrated foods and our kitchen foods, I’ll be able to do some baking from time to time. So bon appetite!” she concluded.

  Michael added, “MREs have a shelf life of three and a half to five years, so we should be just fine, because we’ll use them up long before they expire, even if they’ve been in the warehouse for a while. And the dehydrated foods have a 20-year shelf life.”

  “And I’ll have fresh vegetables and maybe even some fruit growing by next spring,” Travis chimed in. “In fact some of the vegetables will actually be ready to harvest in a couple of months.

  “Well, that’s the kind of positive reports we like to hear,” said Bishop. “And we’ll just have to keep our eyes open for any other fresh food opportunities that may come along,” he chuckled.

  “How about a report from you, Carly. From the stacks of supplies and chairs and what not at the back of the Hall here,” he said, waving his hand toward the back of the Meeting Hall, “I think you made a pretty good haul.”

  “We did, indeed,” replied Carly. We were able to get some desk chairs and plastic mats, white boards on easels, markers, and office supplies at the Administrative Office. We also got three small computer desks, too, so there’s one for Jack’s radio, one for the medical tent, and one for wherever Jen wants to set up her inventory computer. Oh, and we made a discovery,” she hesitated, “a large propane tank that must serve the Administrative Office and the Visitor Center. If Jack can tap into that, we’ll have plenty of propane for the heaters for this winter, at least,” she said with exuberance.

  “That’s great,” Jack responded. “I can certainly set up a tap. Good work. The next time I’m down there, I’ll turn off the service to the two buildings so there’s no leakage.”

  “We also got another couple of dozen cushioned stack chairs so we have plenty of chairs for our meals and meetings and some left over for our living units,” she continued. “We brought all of that loot up here before we went on to Weber’s and the school.”

  “At Weber’s we were able to collect lots of things to make our life easier in the future. I won’t list them all but the one that will interest y’all the most is toilet paper.” There were light chuckles and smiles around the tables before she continued. “I know it makes you chuckle,” she said, “but just think what life is going to be like when we no longer have toilet paper; the greatest invention of man—or woman,” she said with her own big smile. “I, for one, don’t even want to think about it. In fact, tomorrow we’re going to the Hilton to see how much more toilet paper, tissue, and other things like that we can find. They should have cases of those things for their guests in the hotel and the time-share condos.

  “At the school we loaded up with all the school supplies we could find so our kids get a proper education. Who knows, we may be here long enough that even grandkids and great grandkids will be needing what education we can provide them.

  “So, tomorrow, we’re going to the Resort and then we’re going to the branch library in Tequa and load up with all the books our trailer and car can handle. Then maybe some of you big strong men will bring the empty shelfing up here for our new Duwa Library,” she said in conclusion.

  “I guess we’ve been given our marching orders,” Bishop said. “Just let us know when you’re ready for us to move the shelves and we’ll take care of it,” he directed at Carly. “Another positive report.”

  Bishop nodded at Jack and he stood to give his report.

  “We were able to get all the solar panels and inverter/controllers from our homes and some of the sliding glass doors,” he reported. “Another half day tomorrow and we should have all the sliding doors and glass panels we need. Do you agree, Cole?”

  Colby nodded, as did Bud, and Jack continued. “I think tomorrow, if Colby doesn’t mind, Philip and I will stay here and, along with Matt, we’ll go back to work on the water system. We still have a significant amount of work to do to get it operating and it will only get harder when the rains come.”

  “Does that work for you Cole?” Bishop asked.

  “Absolutely,” was the response. “I think the five of us can get the rest of the doors and glass,” he said, indicating Bud, Travis, Tanner and Bishop.

  “Anything you need to report, Matt?” Bishop asked.

  “Well,” Matt replied, “the trench is almost complete and then I’ll finish up some of the work at the pump site that Jack wants. But, before I do that, now that the greenhouse has been moved, I’ll dig out the cistern area at the head of the valley so we have some water retention when it rains. That should take just a few minutes and then I can join Jack and Philip. Also, the tilling of the valley has been completed and I suggest that Mattie and Tate go ahead and seed the valley tomorrow, unless you have something else to assign them to. They’ve both had experience seeding fields with a hand-operated seed spreader, which we have. If we have the wheat seed down before it rains it will help us get a good winter crop to hold the soil.”

  “I don’t see why not,” responded Bishop.

  “Oh,” Matt continued, “I also filled in the latrine site, covering what little garbage we had in it. I’ve dug another pit, up on the mesa away from the village, to use for garbage disposal, so that entire side of the valley can now be seeded.”

  “Just so y’all know,” Travis said, “Colby and I are going back down to my house tonight after the moon comes up to give us some light, to retrieve my beehive. We’ll need the bees if we’re going to be able to grow fruits and vegetables. Trying to develop a new hive later could be problematic. So, we’ll do that tonight.”

  “Can I go with you?” asked Jason. “I’ll be your look out.”

  “Good idea,” said Colby, “we can use the extra eyes, because we don’t want to turn on our headlights if we d
on’t have to. Those headlights will tell anyone who happens to be out and about that somethings going on; and we don’t need visitors.”

  “Okay,” said Bishop, “the rest of us will relax here tonight and get an early start tomorrow. Make sure you have a radio and firearm with you,” he said to Travis and Cole, “and we’ll be awaiting your return.”

  No one said anything about the ladies encounter at Weber’s that afternoon, although Carly and Jen would fill in their husbands that night. Carly just didn’t want to make a big deal of it and maybe scare some of the others.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  The moon was high and bright when Travis, Jason, and Colby started off the mesa—without lights. From the edge of the mesa they could see small dots of light off in the distance, obviously campfires in what had once been a thriving, vibrant Village.

  “It appears there are other groups working at survival,” commented Travis. “I hope they’re as successful as we are, though I must say the Mavericks brought a lot of skills to the adventure that other groups might not have. But I wish them well all the same.”

  They also noticed a campfire at the far north end of Jack’s Canyon, in a small housing enclave that adjoined the farthest reaches of Horse Mesa. “We’ll have to keep an eye on that one,” stated Colby, “they’re pretty close to us and might decide to check out the mesa someday in search of game.”

  As they went down the hill Colby took it slowly, because it was pitch black in some of the hollows. They locked the maintenance yard gate behind them and made their way to Travis’ house.

  Travis had one, two-box hive in the back corner of his yard. The hive was set up on concrete blocks and had handles so it could be lifted without touching the hive. Travis had harvested many a jar of honey from these bees, which he had shared, from time to time, with the Mavericks. And the bees had done their work fertilizing his plants and fruit trees and probably the plants and fruit trees of many other gardens in the area.

  Travis spoke quietly to Colby and Jason: “The reason we had to wait until it was dark,” he said, “was because the bees return to their hive at night and I wanted to make sure we had the entire swarm; didn’t want to lose any workers,” he chuckled.

  Travis got his smoker from a small wooden cabinet near the house and lit it, using some burlap and pine needles he kept in the box just for that purpose. When there was far more smoke than fire, he closed the lid of the stainless steel smoker, tested the bellows, and then approached the hive. Using the bellows, he spread the smoke in the opening at the base of the hive and then the top of the hive. Then he put duct tape over the entrances to the hive.

  “The smoke will fool the bees into thinking there’s a fire and instinctively they’ll start gorging on the honey in the hive, thinking they’ll have to fly away to start a new hive,” he said. “As they gorge they’ll get lazy and rest, just like we do after we’ve had a big meal,” he said laughing. “Because I’ve closed off the entrances we can safely move the hive to the truck now.”

  Within a few minutes they had placed the hive in the truck bed and placed the concrete blocks against it to hold it in place. Travis also collected the storage cabinet that contained his bee keeper’s hat and veil, tunic, gloves and smoker materials, and put it in the truck, as well. He kept the smoker with him and decided he’d ride in the back with the bees.

  The trip back to the village was uneventful, though thoughtfully slow, and before long they had carried the hive up to the temporary greenhouse and placed it on the blocks next to one of the sidewall vents, giving the bees access to the greenhouse. Donning his hat and veil, just in case, Travis stripped the duct tape from the entrances and stepped back. There was some activity as guard bees checked around the newly opened entrances but, sensing no danger went back inside to spend a peaceful night.

  Travis and Jason returned to their tents to do the same. Colby stopped by Bishop’s tent to tell him about the campfires they had spotted around the Village.

  “Well,” Bishop said in response to Colby’s report, “as someone once said, it appears we are not alone. Maybe, over time, the various survivor groups will be able to work together for the better good but, I’m afraid, for now, the instinct for survival will make us all think about ourselves first and others last. With 31 to care for in our village, I think we’ll have our hands full.”

  Colby nodded, What more could be said? he thought as he headed to his tent for some much needed sleep.◘

  Chapter 26

  Finishing Touches

  The villagers awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee brewing but, as they stepped out of their tents, they were greeted by an overcast sky and a light drizzle. They hustled to the Meeting Hall, noticeably slipping on the damp clay and dirt surface. As they passed the field kitchen they were greeted by Michael, Maria, and Olivia, who was stationed by the entrance door and requested that they remove their shoes on the canvas that had been spread for that purpose just inside the doorway. It was obvious to everyone how important that little forethought had been, keeping the floor of the Meeting Hall free of mud, which would have been difficult to clean up. The women determined they would do the same thing inside the doorways to their tents, as well.

  Before joining the others, Travis went up to the temporary greenhouse to check on his bees and make sure the vent was open for the bees to move about freely inside and outside. The bees seemed to be in a good mood, flitting from the hive to the plants that still had flowers on them and to the potted fruit trees outside the structure and then back to the hives. They had all the wildflowers and cactus flowers of the mesa available to them, as well. They seemed to have survived the move just fine. When at breakfast, he informed everyone, particularly the children, to avoid the hive as the bees might be a little agitated and need some time to fully adjust to their new home. He didn’t want anyone stung.

  Colby informed Bishop that the morning’s drizzle and the resulting mud reminded him that they needed to cover the alleyway and provide a dry walkway between the tents, restroom, and Meeting Hall. He suggested that he not join the group retrieving the glass and sliding doors and remain in the village to build the walkway cover. Bishop agreed and asked if he needed assistance. He said he would but could use the older children and Jessie, leaving Tess to watch the younger children.

  They all ate a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sliced pears, washed down with Tang and weak coffee. Michael apologized for the coffee but indicated that the stores of coffee were limited and he was trying to make it last as long as possible. He was forgiven.

  ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘ ◘

  Bud’s group, consisting of Travis, Tanner, and Bishop made quick work of stripping the remaining sliding glass doors and plate glass, from the picture windows of their homes and carefully wrapping each pane in blankets they had brought with them. Only the high glass panels in Bishop’s home were left, because they were too high and too heavy to manage. Each wrapped piece of glass was carefully laid on the floor of the big trailer to be hauled back to the trailhead and then moved in the back of Bud’s pickup to the village. They loaded the back of the large truck with anything else they felt might come in handy: ceiling fans, small dressers, shelving, chairs and small tables, lamps, and clothing. There wasn’t a light bulb or ceiling fan left in any of the houses. They were back at Duwa by lunch time, gingerly moving the glass and other materials into the storage tent, which by now was getting rather full.

  Jack had followed them down the hill that morning, riding one of the ATVs, and had shut off the supply lines from the large propane tank to the buildings. He checked to make sure his appliance would work to fill their smaller propane bottles from the large tank and, satisfied it would work, went back to work on the water system with Philip and Matt.

  By the time he returned, the sky had cleared and the sun had come out, but it was humid. To the far north Jack could see a build-up of large dark clouds and, to the south, grayish white clouds were beginning to pile up high into the atmosphere. He knew
a storm was coming, he just didn’t know when.

  Matt cleared the topsoil from the cistern until he uncovered a line of stones about six inches below the surface. Using a shovel he cleared the rest of the soil from the stones, revealing a 20 foot square that obviously delineated the cistern. The soil within the square was loose and he had no difficulty digging out the square down about a foot to the hard-packed clay bottom the Sinagua had placed there. He found that the rock wall had been caulked with the same baked clay that lined the bottom of the cistern. He built a berm of the removed debris on the downhill side of the cistern. Any water that might overflow the cistern was channeled around the ends of the berm and into the large channel Bud had dug down the center of the valley several days earlier. He determined that it was unnecessary, at least for now, to build the block retaining wall and plastic lining for the cistern that Colby had originally envisioned. They could always do that later. As he prepared to return to digging the trench for the PVC water line, he saw that Mattie and Tate were busy using the hand spreader to seed the valley.

  Philip had been assisting Colby, until Jack came back, and the beginnings of a 2x4 structure over which a plastic canopy would be laid was already taking shape. The structure was anchored to each of the five doorway entrances to give stability and to the restroom trailer awning. Only the food storage tent entrance would not be covered by the alley cover, because it was behind the medical tent and faced the side of the Meeting Hall. When Jack returned, Philip joined him, and Colby began stretching the heavy gauge construction plastic sheeting from his work trailer over the framework, with Jessie’s help. He stapled the plastic to the frame and at each tent opening he stapled the plastic to the entranceway and then duct-taped it so the water would run away from the door.

  The older children were given the job of carrying all the wood pallets from the storage tent to the alleyway, where they were laid end to end to form a raised walkway. They also laid pallets for a walkway to the food storage tent, even though it wouldn’t be covered. It took two children to carry each pallet, and several rest breaks, but they approached the task with a smile. By lunch time there was no question that the new cover would more than adequately protect them from the coming rains and snow, even though it wouldn’t be water-tight. An opening was left between the east side of the frame and the wall of the outcropping and the covered frame was tilted that way, allowing the water to run off the cover along the wall. All that was left now was to dig a trench along the wall line that would move the water down to the restroom trailer before flowing under the walkway and then down the valley, close off the north end of the walkway from the north wind, enclose the awning at the restroom so the rain and snow wouldn’t blow into the entranceways, and install guy wires on each of the vertical supports that formed the framework for the walkway cover. Colby knew he could get the remaining tasks done by dinner time or first thing the next morning.