by Patrick Shea
“Okay, I think I’ll take a walk. I’ll have a flashlight, my nine, and my phone, so don’t worry about me.”
When he returned Heather had made up the sofa bed in the living room and Jack said, “Heather, I told you to take the bedroom for this trip; I even changed the bed clothes for you.”
“I know you said that but I can’t take your bedroom. I’ll be fine here so just go to bed, or sit here and read if you’d like. You won’t bother me unless you laugh at my flannel pajamas, in which case I’ll smack you.”
Jack laughed and said, “No, I think I’ll shower and then turn in. We’ll be up at six o’clock so it’s close to bedtime. I’ll keep the bedroom door closed but if you hear anything unusual in the night get back here. You have your nine with you and I’ll prop your shotgun up just inside the bedroom door so it will be near if you need it.”
“Jack, I was perfectly fine until you said that. I don’t know how we could have any trouble though. There shouldn’t be anyone around us.”
“I agree Heather. I’m just being overly cautious. Anyway, sleep well. I’ll be here if you need anything.
The night was uneventful and Heather insisted on cooking breakfast. They were headed north by seven o’clock.
Heather asked, “Are you going to stop and meet the Delaware group?”
“No I’m not. I don’t want any email or chat room traffic talking about us and where we are, or what we’re doing. We might stop on the way home though.
The day was uneventful. They discovered the Sawmill Pond Jack had found in New Jersey was a street, not a pond. Fortunately it was a short road and contained only four houses. The houses were large and as much as he hated to, Jack checked each one while Heather stood guard outside. He had brought along a pair of facemasks with breathing devices, but he didn’t like wearing them. They really restricted his view.
When they finished they drove west to I-95 and headed north again. There was lightly drifting snow on the ground and Jack hoped it didn’t get any worse than this. His RV was equipped with four wheel drive and he had chains for all tires, but he really didn’t want to use them. The next stop was Sawmill Pond, Connecticut.
Heather was driving as Jack perused the maps. His satellite map showed that Sawmill Pond was long and narrow and looked like a stretched out Hooded Cobra with the head on the north end while the pond curved back and forth to the tail further south. All in all you would measure the pond by yards rather than acres or miles.
Jack explained that they would leave the RV a couple of miles from the neighborhoods that surrounded the pond. Jack didn’t think this was the place since no houses actually sat on the pond, but he was going to check anyway.
Heather drove to Clarks Falls, just off of I-95, and parked the RV at a car dealership. Jack found the keys to a new car and they used the car to quietly approach the area of the pond.
Jack explained that he was going to drive up and down each street as he approached the pond. He was looking for an RV and since this was a neighborhood there was a good chance if one was here they would find it on the street or in a driveway. Heather was once again riding shotgun. They drove with the windows down and the heater running full blast.
They approached the pond from the west and it took about two hours to work their way to the east side of the pond where the houses were closest to the pond. Jack was getting tired, and he reminded Heather now and then to stay alert. As he rounded the next corner Heather gasped and Jack immediately reversed out of there. They had both seen three RVs parked on the street in front of a large house.
Heather said, “Jack, it has to be them, no one owns three RVs, unless a family of RV lovers was having a reunion.”
Jack smiled at her attempt at humor and said, “I agree with you, something looks wrong here. Let’s go back to the RV and equip ourselves.
Jack told her he was going to wait until after dark. He thought whoever was in the RVs would be feeling pretty safe if they had been living here for a couple of weeks. They had parked behind the dealership so there was little chance someone would see them as they prepared. Jack had night vision goggles from the Armory, and he checked his handgun and rifle and made sure he had extra clips for both. He put the ammunition in a fanny pack he wore backwards.
When he finished he told Heather she had to stay where she was for the night and if he didn’t join her by morning she should head home.
She said, “I’m not arguing with you but let me tell you what I’m thinking please.” Jack raised his eyebrows and she continued, “I think with three RVs there could be more trouble than you planned on. There could even be three bad guys who brought one or more survivors with them, although probably not.
“I think it’s more likely that there are a couple of bad guys there with a couple of victims. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to get three RVs here and still guard people. I think I can help you. At least I’m willing to.
You’ll have to tell me what to do and I agree you won’t be able to trust me with too much. But I know how to point and shoot a gun and I’m willing to do that if you think it will help you.” She sat back with big eyes and a concerned look and waited for Jack to think.
He said, “Your assessment surprises me. I agree with it totally. I think there may be more than one bad guy and I trust you to point and shoot if you have to. I think two of us might be safer than one of us alone, but the thought of you getting hurt scares me to death. You have to want to do this and you have to be sure you can. Be totally honest with me.”
“I’m scared to death, but not so much that I want to go home. I think I can help by following your lead and doing what you tell me. I wouldn’t know what else to do. The critical thing in my mind is that you can trust me to shoot if I need to. I’m absolutely sure that I can do that. I’ve been preparing for it every day since Jane shot Schumann.
“That sounds honest all right. Let’s do some planning, and tonight we’ll do this together.”
Chapter Thirty One: Rules
Saturday evening: Yellowstone National Park, The Old Faithful Inn, Wyoming
Sam opened the meeting that evening with plans of reviewing more of the constitution. She started by asking Christian if any issues were raised after the minutes from the last meeting had been posted. He told the group that no one had raised questions about the written record.
Sam then asked the group if anyone had any questions before they moved on. She was surprised when Colleen raised her hand.
Sam pointed to her and Colleen said, “Sam, as everyone knows, I talk to all of the newcomers as they arrive, and today I’ve talked to a couple of groups of people that were with the first arrivals. One common question is what we do about church services? After all we’ve been together for weeks now, and Sunday is tomorrow. Some of us think it would be nice to have a worship service, but we’re not sure how to go about it since I don’t think we have any men or women of the cloth with us”.
Sam responded, “Thanks Colleen, like you I’m not sure the best way to do this. I should start by asking if there are any ordained ministers in the group.”
She looked around and was surprised when no one raised their hand. “If we don’t have any ordained ministers do we have anyone in the group with experience in leading religious services, who would be interested in doing so tomorrow morning?
Six men and four women raised their hands. Sam was surprised that Noah was one of them.
She said, “I think our first service should be non-denominational. If the group agrees with that, do any volunteers have experience with those types of services?”
All but two of the hands went down. Again Sam was surprised; Noah was one of the two.
The other man said, “I have just limited experience so if Noah has done this I’ll be happy to defer to him.”
Sam said, “Thank you. Noah, you have the lead for the service Sunday. Do you need any help before the service?
Noah stood up and addressed the group by saying, “Yes I do. First,
I have my own way of looking at God, and I’m not sure all of you will agree with me, so let’s talk a little before you and I agree to let me conduct the service. As most of you know I was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southern South Dakota. I was raised as a Christian, but I was also raised to believe in and support our original Lakota Sioux way of life, and to honor that way of life as a religion. I believe in one true God, but I believe the people of the world refer to this God by different names, and use different vehicles with which to approach God. I want you to know this so when I ask again if you are okay with me leading the service you’ll know what you are getting into.”
A man in the group said, “Noah, it seems most of us are Christians, but not all of us, does that matter to you?”
“Not at all, and I’m sure we have many different Christian faiths represented, some of them with conflicting beliefs.”
“One problem I see it is that each of these Christian faiths look at and react to the Bible in different ways. And of course people of the Jewish faith, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others follow their own written word. And some don’t actually have a written book, but a compilation of beliefs that have been put in writing over the centuries. Some people believe vehemently, that only they know the correct word, the only one that God will accept.
“I’d like the group as a whole to agree that they will listen to what I have to say before they draw conclusions about my worldview of religion. I believe that you’ll find it non-controversial but demanding of you. By the way, I won’t try to convert any of you to a new religion. I look at this as an interim solution until we all get to our new home and at that point we can all find our own religious leaders and follow whatever faith we choose to follow.”
As he looked around the room he saw questions on the faces of some and consternation on one or two. He chose the man that looked the most put out and said, “Warren, you look like you have a question or comment for me.”
“I’m not sure I care for this approach. I believe that the bible is there for us to follow, and that every word in the bible is sacred and true. I don’t believe we can modify the bible’s meaning and still be saved.”
Noah was smiling through this statement and while it appeared Warren wanted to get upset, he showed restraint and waited for Noah to answer. Noah also noticed that a number of people in the room were nodding agreement.”
Noah kept his voice soft and asked, “Warren, do you agree that the Jesus spoke Aramaic, and that Aramaic was the common spoken language in Galilee at the time of Jesus?”
“I do agree with that from what I’ve heard and read over the years, but I don’t claim to be an expert in those things.”
“That’s okay. I want to use our dialogue on this subject so everyone in the group has a better feeling for my perspective, so stay with me please.”
“Okay, but I’ll ask that if anyone in the group can help me out feel free to do so.”
Noah continued, always with a soft smile in his voice, “Fair enough. Would you also agree that the New Testament was written first in Greek?”
Warren said, “I don’t know that, but I don’t doubt it if you tell me it’s true.”
Two others in the group spoke up and agreed with what Noah had said.
“Do you agree that the Old Testament was first written in Ancient Hebrew, a language scholars tell us might be a dialect of the Canaanite language?”
“Warren looked unsure of himself, but another man said, “I’ve no doubt that has been discussed, but I don’t know if it’s actually true.”
Noah said, “Fair enough. How about if we agree that the Old Testament was originally written in one of the ancient languages, one not in common use today?
Quite a few people in the room murmured their agreement.
“One more point I’d like to ask your concurrence on is that the bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, were translated into other languages before they were translated to English. Certainly some of the earliest texts were translated to Latin, and the Guttenberg Bible was printed in Latin.”
A number of people nodded or said they agreed.
“Great, as I said I’m not looking for controversy, I’m seeking concurrence that the bible we read today has been translated at least a couple of times leading to the versions we read today. And that even the Bible many of us grew up with, the King James Version, has now been re-written by the scholars. You don’t have to look far to know that you have multiple bibles to choose from, and many of them have been changed in our lifetimes. We have the International Standard Version, The New American Standard Bible, The GOD’S WORD® translation Bible, The King James Bible, the American King James version, and others. And you can find Christians who believe vehemently that the version they follow teaches the true word of God. They can’t all be right, and some religions, like the Catholic faith, teach that the bible has changed over the centuries, but that doesn’t diminish the powerful message it carries.”
Lily spoke up and said, “But that doesn’t negate the words found in the bible, especially the words of Jesus himself.”
Noah responded, “Miss Lily, I agree completely. Our only problem will be in deciding which interpretation of the bible is accurate. I don’t think any of us would argue with the need to follow the words of Christ, be we Christian or not.”
“But Noah, if the scholars don’t know, how should we know?”
“Ah, that would be a good place to start our service. But we won’t finish there. We’ll also need to talk about the written words of the other major religions of the world. The Hindu faith, the Jewish faith, the Muslim faith, and the words of Buddha.
“I know this isn’t a normal way to look at faith, but I remind the group that these aren’t normal circumstances for any of us.”
Lily said, “It sounds to me like you’re going to try to convince me that the bible I’ve been following my whole life is wrong.”
“Miss Lily, I assure you I wouldn’t try that. You are the last person in this room I would alienate. ”
Everyone in the room laughed and Sam was astonished that one person could get a room full of people to agree to an open minded review of religion before they understood what his actual beliefs were. Were they crazy to trust him she wondered? Well, they would learn more about that in the morning.
Lily said, “Noah, I’ll take your word for now, but I’m not letting you off the hook until I hear what you have to say.”
“That sounds good to me. If you don’t like what I say just let me know and I’ll be happy to turn the service over to someone else.”
Sam stepped back to the podium and said, “Okay, I’m glad we settled that. Now let’s move on to the first agenda item. Colonel Ted Green is going to talk to us about the militia.
Ted explained that since the group had approved the militia two nights ago he had formed two formal squads, consisting of men and women with different skills, as a permanent militia. He now wanted set up a training schedule for any man or woman who was willing to defend their community if need be. He was looking for people who were interested to sign up after the meeting tonight. His group would then prepare and issue a training schedule letting everyone know what would be required of them.
The group then decided that Sunday would be a day of rest for the community. No work would be scheduled or conducted. A few members of the group wanted to define work but Sam convinced them that they should start by using common sense as their guide. If anyone thought this principle of no work on Sunday was being violated, they could raise the issue with Christian’s rules committee, who would investigate and report at the next meeting.
Next Sam moved to the primary agenda item, the continuation of establishing rules. She thanked Christian again for agreeing to Chair the Judicial Committee. She finished by saying, “I think everyone in the room is very happy about you leading the committee.”
Christian looked up and said, “Everyone but me I would guess.”
The room l
aughed as they remembered how adamant Christian had been about not accepting the responsibility to chair the judicial panel. Sam had nominated him and the group had agreed before she would let him have the floor. She thought he was still irritated at her, at least a little.
After the meeting he had explained to her how he had left the law and returned to ranching a couple of years after law school. He found he didn’t like working in a field where money, more than anything, determined the outcome of cases, at least for those who could afford the best attorneys. He did not want to return to practicing law now.
Sam thought he was exactly the right kind of person to chair the judicial panel and he had finally agreed to do so until after they had made their move to a permanent home in the springtime.
Sam looked at the group and said, “We’ve done a lot of work, and we’ve agree to skip everything dealing with procedure and the legislature. All we want is to know what rules we as a group want to live by. So let’s move to the personal freedoms contained in the constitution. I think we’ll want to mimic most of these, or at least I will. I could stand up here for fifty years and not be able to make improvements on what the framers gave us. I just want the group to agree as a whole. The first ten amendments you know as the Bill of Rights. Only the first eight are personal freedoms, so let’s cover those as a group.
“We have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble peaceably and the right to petition the Government for redress of a grievance.
“And we have the right to bear arms.
Then comes the third amendment which says that soldiers can’t be quartered in a private home during peacetime without the consent of the owner, but they can be so quartered in war if the law is followed
The fourth amendment offers protection against illegal search and seizure;
The fifth amendment deals with the requirement for a grand jury in serious crimes, and it excepts those in the military or militia in time of war; this amendment also includes the double jeopardy clause which means you can’t be tried twice by the state for the same crime; that you can’t be forced to testify against yourself; that you can’t be deprived of life liberty or property without due process of law; and finally you can’t be deprived of your property without just compensation, in the event the property is needed for public use.