by T J Reeder
Beth soon joined us, so I gave her my seat and found a flat rock close by. She then moved over and sat on the ground between my knees and snuggled in. I knew with Old Woman here the babies were getting to sleep in and ‘They’ weren’t going to be waking them up as usual. It took a while but they finally came dragging ass out to join us and seeing no babies got pouty looks, but Beth just laughed at them. They joined us and as much as I hate it draped that damn old rag of a quilt over us. It could be 100 degrees and rising and Sandy would still have that moldy old thing out here. I’ve thought so many times about tossing it off the cliff into the lake but it might kill the fish. I swear Sandy growled at me.
Beth and I decided with Kid ‘in school’ we would cook breakfast. We went in and Old Woman was just coming into the room and asked if it were possible to have pancakes for breakfast. I laughed right out loud and enjoyed the twinkle in her eyes. We got right to it and shortly good smells were invading the house and JC let us know he needed food! And of course ‘they’ took off fighting thru the door to be first. Why? I’ll never know. Sandy always grabs JC and May wants Sam so what’s the battle over?
Beth leaned over and said, “Shh, it’s their way of starting their day. It’s not about who gets what kid it’s about being first one there.” I know that but still…oh well. Charley and Kid joined us and we lit into a huge breakfast. We need more laying hens. The way these kids eat eggs we need a lot more, which reminded me I wanted to get some meat chickens going ‘coz I love fried chicken.
While we were eating I raised the subject of my brainstorm. I looked around the table and asked why we couldn’t have language classes for everybody who wanted to attend. I pointed out that kids learn real fast, and wouldn’t it be great if ours grew up speaking Navajo as well as Spanish and (since we have such a diverse group) any other language. We have Chinese speakers and who knows what else. Kid said Bear could teach Texas grunting and the laughter started, but Old Woman looked at me and said, “Johnny, you’re not just a pretty old face are you?” More laughs followed that. She liked the idea so much she said she would take charge of the project. I knew if our kids were exposed to somebody speaking different languages around them they would learn it as a cradle language.
Everybody thought it was a grand idea and Kid offered to help Old Woman set it up, so they took charge and it was done. Being the leader has its good points- I have ideas and others make them happen. And on that note I made a hasty retreat out the door and down the trail followed more stately by Charley who said, “You never know when to shut up do you?” I just smiled and said, “Well, yeah but life is more interesting when they have a thorn in their ass!” He just said, “Uh huh, and you know they will be after you soon right?” I agreed with that but said, ”I have a plan, we are heading to the gunsmiths shop and if they show up they will forget why they followed us down here.” I think he muttered, “What’s this ‘us’ shit, white man?” but I’m not sure.
We walked into the gun shop and Jackson the head gun nut started grabbing guns and putting them away. I told him they weren’t here, he said, “Yeah, you mean yet” and he was right, because not one minute later they burst thru the door where I was looking at a nice single-stack Springfield Armory 1911 in 40 S&W. It was stainless and had been worked over till it was smooth as butter and had about a three pound trigger.
I handed it to Charley, but it met a small hand on its way, and like smoke in a wind it was gone. They were fondling it in an almost obscene manner; I reached for it and got glared at. They looked at Jackson and said, “Whose is it?” He said it was one he picked up and worked on because it was there.
May said, “I want it.” Sandy said, “I got here first!” “Big fuckin' deal” said May. “It can be” said Sandy. “Oh jeeze, I’m scared” said May and on it went till I managed to get the damn thing away from them and hand it back to Jackson. He was laughing at me while they crowded closer to his table. Finally he sighed real big and said, “So…one of you really wants this?” Both said yes. “Well then, we have a problem don’t we?” They agreed it was a problem so off we went to the range for a duel- not a real duel but a shoot off. Both got to shoot five rounds and best group got the gun.
Now Sandy is the better shot as a rule; she is faster at getting into action, but May has more patience and never hurries her shots unless it’s life or death. May waved a ‘you first’ hand to Sandy who got all set. The target was a three inch orange spotter at twenty-five yards. Sandy shot slow (for her) and did real good since the gun wasn’t sighted in for her. May took it, slapped a loaded mag in it, studied the target, then very slow and deliberate she fired her five shots and shot the red spot all to hell on her target.
We could tell from where we stood that May had won. Sandy said, “She cheated.” May said, “Bullshit. Then Sandy blamed me, then Jackson- who laughed at her. She was really getting wound up when Jackson grabbed the front of her shirt and holding her at arm’s length pulled another gun from under his shirt and handed it to her. It was the same gun May had won. Jackson got them both!
They were actually stumped for a bit, then they switched guns and messed around a bit, then May said she liked the trigger better on Sandy’s. Sandy said she was willing to trade and they did. They are two of a kind. Jackson was laughing and told them he had found the guns in a box of stuff from the fort and decided to slick them up just to start a catfight between them and it worked.
I had not a clue what they wanted with the 40’s since they both shoot .45’s, but the .40 does have its good points; faster cycle time, less recoil and truthfully I used to have a Para P-16 .40 that I shot better than the P-14 .45,(never knew why). But regardless, I love the big old pumpkin roller .45’s. We left the girls with their new toys and Jackson sent one of his young apprentices back with more magazines and a lot of ammo. Charley and I stayed and visited with Jackson a while.
Charley asked why he would go to all that trouble to get them fired up. Jackson smiled and said when things got boring it was common knowledge that if you come up with something to get them butting heads things weren’t boring anymore. It could be dangerous if not handled right, but he was smiling when he said it. And he added, he had the two guns and was bored so he went to work on them and enjoyed it. He admitted to having a soft spot in his heart for two little vermin. Charley smiled and said, “You like poking five-foot rattlers with a one foot stick, don’t you?” We all laughed at that. I took the opportunity to tell Jackson it looked like trouble might be headed our way…again. He asked who I had pissed of this time. Not funny.
Charley and I headed back to the rock pile where we found Kid had apparently left to join her gang at the range. Beth and Old Woman were bathing the kids who enjoyed sharing the water with everybody. Charley and I sat outside on the stump and watched the sails of the fishing villagers across the lake.
Finally, I asked if he had any direct contact with William which he did, since a couple of Charley’s scouts had elected to remain in Wyoming when we headed home so they had contact that was secure. We decided to make a quick trip in the new plane because of its range. Next, Ralph. I called down to the communications shack on the five-watt and asked for somebody to send him up to join us.
It took a while to locate him, but he showed up within an hour. We explained the plan to him, and he said if we didn’t haul a full load we could make the jump, assuming there was fuel on the other end. We decided to leave the next morning. Charley headed to the communications shack to make the call while I tried to figure out how to tell the girls they weren’t going. I may be slow but I’m not stupid and this could cause a fight, so I went looking for Ralph who had headed for the plane to prep it.
Halfway down the trail I met up with ‘them’. Before I said a word, Sandy asked when we were leaving. May was tapping her boot on the rocks while Kid sighed and shook her head (too much hanging with Charley). I know better than to try the innocent route so I lied. It seldom works, but it gives me a moment to think. Before I could think of a
good lie, May said, “We already talked to Ralph” which meant he spilled his guts, the coward. I did have to ask if he was too hurt to fly. Kid laughed and said that was a good joke because as soon as the girls walked up to him he started telling them everything he knew.
I tried to explain that the plane didn’t have the range to make it with a full load. That didn’t work since they already picked Ralph’s brain. He had told them they could go ‘IF’ they didn’t load the plane with a ton of explosives and guns- just personal weapons and not a lot of ammo. Ralph is a weasel, but I can understand it because these two tend to intimidate him just with a look. But if he says they can go then so be it; I know when a fight is lost even if it never started.
With the coming of morning we gathered at the plane, where Ralph pointed out the very heavy packs the girls had dragged down. He said, “That can’t go, they weigh more than both of you.” I picked one up and it weighed damn near as much as one of the girls. I opened it to find ammo and candy bars- all chocolate. I shook my head and dumped it all out amid sharp glares. I put the candy back in the pack, then checked the other one and removed a dozen hand grenades, a bottle of Johnny Walker and pile of loaded magazines.
I put the booze and 12 mags back in the pack and tossed it and the other one in the plane. They weren’t putting up a fight and that worried me. Kid was there, and being Kid she had brought an empty bag and started loading all the stuff I dumped, all the while humming and smiling, and ignoring the whispered comments from ‘Them’.
Ralph took me aside and whispered in my ear, I sighed and reached inside and opened the hatch to a small compartment at the back of the last seat. I dragged two more bags out and didn’t bother opening them. I set them beside the one Kid had loaded. It was gonna be a real long day. They were glaring at Ralph, who was getting in to start the engines, which ended the coming storm for now. I hugged Kid and told her we would be back tomorrow or the next day.
We lifted off smoothly with Sandy at the controls and Ralph watching her like a hawk; when it came to teaching her to fly he had no fear of her at all. He was the plane commander and she knew it. She was really getting good at the flying game. I looked at May who said, “Shut up, I’m mad at you” I laughed. Charley just sighed; she did tell him she still liked him. He pulled his old hat over his eyes and went to sleep.
I was blown out of my socks when Ralph said we were getting close to our meet up spot. I don’t wear a watch of course, because why bother? But I knew we hadn’t been flying that long. I had to remember as best I could and realized it was only around 500 to 600 road miles from our location to Laramie and since I knew we were doing around 200 mph and flying is straight from A to B, we had covered a lot of ground damn fast. I also realized the plane most likely had fuel for the return trip, but a full tank is best.
Ralph said he was in contact with somebody on the ground. Sandy took over the talking which I assumed was in Navajo; regardless, we were dropping lower and soon over flew a small town with an airport. She banked us around and lined us up and I was impressed that Ralph was letting her land us. She greased it in like she had done it for 20 years. After she turned us back to the cluster of buildings I saw a small crowd waiting for us. William was standing with several others, mostly older men I assumed were tribal elders.
Sandy chopped the power and the props spooled down fast. I got the door open and crawled out followed by Charley. We were greeted by William, who was wearing a big smile and asked if Sandy was flying now? I told him she seemed to be keeping the clean side up which got a laugh.
We headed into a small building that was more of a waiting area. It had coffee going and plates of meat and cheese for sandwiches (which looked damn good). We loaded up, took our seats and got the eating out of the way.
William was looking good as were his people; life in the tall grass chasing buffalo was agreeing with them. After we got the feed out of the way and most of the people had left the room, we sat in a corner with a cheerful fire going in a wood stove. It felt good but between the food and the fire I was about to doze off, so I suggested we walk and talk. It was just Will and Charley and me, ‘they’ had wandered off someplace. We walked along quietly for a while until we came to a small picnic area with a few tables.
We sat and Will finally told us what was going on. A ways further to the east, he said people in military vehicles had approached some of his tribe and told them they needed to return to the boundaries of their reservation. When asked why, they were told the Government was rebuilding and the people in office needed to know where people were and wanted a census taken.
They also said that since the military was now rebuilding into a force to ensure peace, that all weapons were to be turned in and they would be back in two weeks to gather them up- all of course to ensure the safety of the people. He said none of his people said a word just kind of nodded in agreement and as soon as the military drove away they packed up everything they could carry and headed for Wyoming with no intention of turning over any weapons.
He said he sent some scouts into the area and even further where they had encountered folks who had been visited with the same message. They told of some who came thru in a hurry that had witnessed what happened when people refused to be disarmed. The survivors were taken away in chains and nobody could find out where.
I was shocked because I thought this shit had been settled when May’s brother blew up a big meeting in Chicago. Will said this bunch was coming out of Washington DC and from the rumors, it was a bunch of former congress critters that had apparently been safely living in underground shelters while the world and the country ripped itself apart. Now that things were settled down and the survivors had pretty much wiped out the outlaws they were crawling back into the sunlight looking to take over again.
Sandy and May had found us and Sandy summed it up in very few words. She said, “Yeah, well fuck a bunch of them.” May said, “Yeah. what she said”. My darlings seemed to cut thru the bullshit faster than a hot knife thru butter.
Charley didn’t say anything nor did I. I was busy thinking, and Charley had already dismissed the whole thing as not worthy of discussion. He would fight till he was dead before he would see what we had had created go back to the worthless scumbags that ruined the country in the past. We love our way of life and before we gave it up the whole country would be a smoking ruin…again. But that’s just us and we are pretty simple folks.
Will looked at Sandy and said, “Hey runt, don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel” which got a big laugh, even from May (who is a whole inch taller than Sandy and reminds her of it several times a day). Sandy asked Will if he liked looking at buffalo. He of course, said, “Yes, why?” She smiled her ‘Sandy smile’ and said, “Keep this ‘runt’ shit up and I’ll stake you out and let you watch a stampede.” Will laughed hard at that and patted her on the head, which she hates. She tried to bite him, which is better than grabbing a gun.
When we stopped laughing I asked what he thought we should do. He said the rest of the story was that word was going out that the new leaders in DC wanted a sit-down with what they referred to as ‘Area Commanders’- which meant folks who had assumed some leadership role among the settlements where people were living in safety: Meaning people like Me, Charley, Will, and the folks in Texas.
Now I may not be the sharpest tack in the box but I am smart enough to know that if you’re planning to become the big dude on the block the best and first thing to do is get the opposing leaders together in one place and have a big fire. We all agreed that had to be their plan.
The proposed meeting place was in Springfield, Missouri. Will said they were reaching out to everybody who had been leading any kind of force and was building safe havens for folks to live free as they wished. I wondered why they had chosen to ignore us. Will said he figured it had to do with what happened in Las Vegas and LA. He figured they didn’t want what they thought of as a trigger-happy cowboy involved.
In my opinion they wanted t
o get as many area leaders together as they could and try to sell their bill of goods. If there was disagreement they could just say let’s all think it over tonight, pass the booze and food around and sometime in the night simply blow the place sky-high.
May asked a question of the group that caught me way off guard. She asked if it were possible they had drones? Now that was something that we had not encountered at all anyplace we went. There had to be some still out there if their electronics hadn’t fried, and I wasn’t the only one who looked up. It was a very scary thought- in fact it was so scary I intended to find out as soon as possible.
I asked Charley if he thought there was a chance in hell these people were able to crack our Navajo talkers? He got that far off look in his eyes and we all just waited. After a bit he came back and said, “Yes, it’s possible. Likely? No, but we need to take some precautions.” I was all for that but how do you do that? He smiled and said, “John, you don’t know all our secrets.” I also wondered if a radio message was recorded, could a computer translate it. That was another worrisome thought. He said he would think on it. May said she didn’t think it was likely that somebody had set up a computer program to translate native languages.
I needed to talk to the folks running the Republic of Texas Guard; they had lots of air force geeks in their units. But now I wondered if somebody was listening to us. I had to think about this.