by T J Reeder
Well, we would find out soon enough because if Old Woman said we needed to do this, then there was a reason for it. I for one was tired of fighting and just wanted to stay home and await the birth of my number two son.
When everybody else was up we fixed breakfast, and cleaned the mess up while Sandy and May carried their battle rattle down to the boats. I spent time holding Beth, then headed down with my gear. I found the whole bunch waiting for me. Wyatt and Doc were standing by Matt Bastardson, who was not only wearing the derby and cane, he had on a frock coat from god knows where and a six gun high up and butt forward on his left hip. He looked like he stepped out of a saloon in Dodge in 1882. I was laughing as I walked onboard the pontoon boat. Fox had really turned the shaft on the girls but they only had eyes for the cane. I was starting to fear for Fox- they can get nasty when their collecting is involved. Fox was ignoring them, JJ was making comments like, “Man! That’s a sweet cane sword! It was made in the 1850’s in Alabama? Wow!” Him I wasn’t worried about, he sweated them like a fish sweats water.
We cast off, and with the Chief in charge of the boats we headed out of the canyon into the lake proper. Since we were at the upper part of the lake we headed down lake, looking for what I have no idea, nor does anybody else. We would search one side for half a day then cross over and come back on the other. This would work for a while but where the lake spread out it would take up a lot of time crossing over to return. At that point we might have to start camping out overnight to avoid spending all day covering the same area.
We spent several days doing this with no results and it was getting to be a bit much. Finally I decided to go see Old Woman and ask outright what we were looking for. When we got back and made it to the rock pile we found Old Woman sitting on the stump with Beth watching the kids running around in circles for some reason. She looked at me and said, “You wanted to see me?”
I just shook my head and laughed. The girls took our gear inside and brought back cold beer. Old Woman took mine out of my hand, saying, “Thank you, John” with a smile. The girls laughed, but May did go get me another one.
After I drank half of it, I said, “OK, please tell me what we are looking for.” She sat looking across the lake and said, “I don’t know, John. I just know something evil is over there and it needs to be stopped.” She had no idea what or where it was but it was there and people were in danger. I just sat and looked across with her. Finally I said, “We are going to have to use the choppers pretty soon, because we have reached the point where it’s taking all day to get back to where we turned back the day before.”
That night I was standing in the dark looking across the lake, and I saw a pin point of light that appeared to be moving. I knew it was a fire- a big one, and it was a long ways from the lake. I took my compass out and took a sighting on it (as best I could) then I drew an arrow in the dirt pointing right at it.
Come first light we were taking two of the Blackhawks across, loaded for bear. The only thing that scared me was the one thing I thought we had wiped out down in New Mexico and again in the High Country. Surely there weren’t more of those bastards out there, were there? Throughout the land there was millions of head of cattle gone wild. Food wasn’t an issue unless one was too lazy to even look, so why? Why, that’s the question.
Morning came and I told the girls what I saw and what I feared, and for the first time ever they looked scared. Nobody wanted to have to deal with them again.
The choppers were ready; we had our battle rattle on, all the ammo we could carry, some food and lots of water. I had told everybody what I thought; now everybody had a haunted look.
We rose up into the air, men and women heading into who knows what. Time seemed to slow down, I could feel their heartbeats in my head. Whatever was out there knew one thing for sure: We were coming, and we would keep coming until whatever it was lay dead on the ground.
And, it wasn’t afraid.
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I hope this one worked for you folks. It sure rambled around, didn’t it? I never know where these things will go or how they will end.
Till next time-
TJ