Saturday was finally here and our dream was about to become reality. Ron and I had just started a survival supply company, Rainy Daze Supplies. We were starting by setting up tables at a gun show and opening a internet site. After all the purchases for stock there wasn’t enough money yet to start the store we planned. Several of our friends were helping us out by going down to the show to help set up and hopefully sell to customers. Before the show we were all going camping at Lori’s family farm for a week to unwind, play some teotwawki and try out some of the products we weren‘t as familiar with.
Jeff and Lori had 5 girls age 10 to 17. Jeff had grown up in a family of 4 self sufficient homesteaders. They all had a lot of knowledge of making do, living off the land and farming. Jeff was also a retired sniper for the Coast Guard. I never even knew they had snipers until we met him. Lori’s family had owned the old farm from the first time it was settled. Their girls were very well behaved and loved shooting and camping, except for his oldest and she was just a typical teenager and thought it was gross. She was going to cook and stay around camp.
Bob and Karen had shot black powder and done mountain men re-enactments for several years. They were bringing their old style gear along with some newer gear they wanted to check out. We were all looking forward to trying out their black powder guns.
Big John and Amy had an allowance from a trust fund that paid for his own truck and trailer. He had a older Peterbilt tractor with a huge living area. It had been set up for a flat bed company with a 15 speed, with 5 under, so seldom got stuck, even in mud with a heavy trailer. The cab was set up with a generator and several batteries he could charge with his generator or solar panels he had mounted on the roof. Awesome rig, and totally self sufficient.
Ron’s folks had been camping for the winter in Florida and were going to meet up with us down at the property on Monday. They would call on the cell phone or CB when they got within range. We had sent them a directions but just in case we were going to show them the way in.
Ron hollered, “Katy you about done checking off everything on your list yet. Are you about ready to go?” I came up behind him, “Yeah, just this one last thing to be loaded then I’m ready to go.” I’m a list maker and can’t seem to remember everything without one or more lists. That week had been one long week of making lists and checking off everything one by one.
We had decided to use the weekend as SHTF exercise and with the show the next weekend it should give us ideas to talk about when selling the supplies. We had all sorts of food products including MRE’s, Mountain House Meals in packets and cans, dried foods including year supply of foods, and canned meat, butter, and cheese. We were going to try different oils, making bread from the wheat, and generally tasting different things. I had lots of how-to books, recipes, canners, radiation detection equipment, KI pills, camping supplies, water purification, and other things for survival. Plus I was taking the laptop, printer and paper along with all the disks of information I had downloaded off the internet. Even including some of the stories off of the Frugal Squirrel site. I wanted to try some of the ideas from the stories I had read there. In fact that is what got us to try to increase our retirement funds by setting up this business. We were also taking most of our guns so everyone could try them out. Lori said there was a place we could even take the Windrunner 50 BMH out and shoot. Great gun but we had never been able to sight it in or fire it.
Ron held the door since my arms were full of our cat. She was also going with us. As he got in the truck he asked again “You think we have everything? Is everything turned off? Anything before we take off?” I replied, “All ready to go. I’ve checked every list and made sure of everything. I we don’t have it now we’ll either do without or get another one. With a truck and camper full I can‘t think of anything we could have left and if I did we have no more room for anything else.”
We all met just south of Indianapolis at the Pilot truck stop on I 65. After everyone had made use of the facilities, we piled into our vehicles and headed down the road. We had all hooked up CB’s and were monitoring channel 28, (we had plenty of CB’s from the time we drove a truck, every time someone had one better Ron would have to get one like it too). We had planned another stop just on the other side of Louisville, Kentucky in case we got separated in traffic. We were all talking on channel 28 and Ron and I had one CB set up on channel 19 in case we heard of any problems we could let everyone know.
Jeff came over the radio “Did I ever tell you about Charlie, the caretaker for the farm? He’s really into gathering wild plants and living off the land. Also keeps some chickens and rabbits around for eggs and meat.” I answered “No but I sure am looking forward to meeting him. I’ve always wanted to learn more about wild plants and taking care of a farm.“ Jeff said “Charlie has lived all his life around there and when he gave up his own farm to his son, he moved into the old farmhouse to keep it safe and just putters around there. His son also keeps some livestock at the farm and Charlie feeds them every day but any heavy work his son takes care of. They only live 10 miles away.”
For the show I had made table covers out of sheets and bought some nice tablecloths that were made for the 8 foot tables like at the show. I also had some squares of fabric for special displays and had geared it all towards a red, white and blue theme. They were packed at the back of the load so they would be the first out. We had also planned to stair step the products so more could be seen, only problem is I was only 5’ tall and couldn’t even see over some of the displays. We had made some pegboard displays that I had also painted either red or white or blue with stars, I just like those colors and wanted to coordinate them, the guys all thought it wasn’t necessary but all us women thought it looked good. Karen had several quilts that she’d made that were the same theme and she was adding those to the tables to sell.
We made it through Louisville and decided to head on down and stop at the Flying J just this side of Lexington. Once we arrived, we saw on the TV’s and heard everyone talking about some fighting that had broken out on the border between China and Russia. Both countries were claiming land that had been part of Mongolia. Big John turned to Ron “Maybe this will be for real TEOTWAWKI instead of just a practice run.” We all grinned as we loaded up to leave, we didn’t know what we were in for soon.
Once we were on the road we joked back and forth about how the supplies in the trailer and what we had in our vehicles could be used to keep us all going. It was spring and along with the food we also had cans with heirloom seeds for growing vegetables. We took our exit, made our turn and as we passed an abandoned store, Lori said on the radio “This is where we will meet Ron’s parents when they get here.” and she pointed out a little parking area in front of a small boarded up store, after that I lost all sense of direction. I didn’t think the tractor trailer would make it onto some of the roads Lori had us on. Big John had driven many years and could really do some interesting moves in keeping that old Peterbilt moving. We had one little stretch where one side went straight down and the other went straight up, and trying to take that long truck and trailer meant one side was almost touching the up side and the other was almost falling off the down side. We were all praying he would make it but not as hard as Amy, she was on the down side. Once we were past that the most beautiful valley opened up. Lori announced, “Only about 30 more miles to the homestead. Just past those trees up ahead.” We were all extremely grateful to be off that road and I told Ron “Your gonna have to take someone else back to show your parents where we are.” I don’t think I want to leave until time to go and set up for the gun show.
Lori’s voice came over the radio, “We’re here. Follow us over to the parking area for the campers.” When we pulled up Charlie was outside and waiting for us. He had heated some of Anita‘s, Lori’s mother, home canned stew and along with some homemade bread Marion, his daughter-in-law, had made we had a fine feast laid before us. We all joined hands for the prayer, “Thank you Jesus for bringing us all together, Thank you Jesus for making it possible for us to have such wonderful food, Thank you Jesus for being our Savior, Amen”. John, his son, and Marion were there also and we made quite a group talking and introducing everyone. Since we already had a big John we started calling him Little John which was funny since he was over 6 foot just not as tall or large as Big John.
After we ate, Jeff pulled a huge camper out of one of the barns. Lori’s family had put in camping connections for family gatherings so we all had water, electricity and sewer. Lori was explaining, “My father and grandpa started setting up connections in the 70’s when my aunt and uncle started bringing their camper up in the summertime. As we could find them cheap we all ended up with one and even a few extra so when the whole family gathered we all have our own place to stay. My mom and dad use the house and we all gather for meals there.” We all got busy then leveling and getting everyone set up.
We had gathered wood for a fire and put it in the middle of the camp area. Jeff had Big John take the loaded trailer into the barn to be out of the way. When they were coming back Bob and Karen were setting up a big canvas tent, Bob hollered out “Come on over and help us get this thing set up, we also have a teepee I made out of canvas painted to look like rawhide. Jeff hollered back “Can’t you put up your own tent?“ Karen just laughed and got out of Jeff’s and Big John’s way. Big John started picking up a corner and grunted “You trying to give yourself a hernia or what, this thing is heavy.“ With all the men helping they made short work out of getting both set up. Our little camp area had a varied assortment or vehicles from a big 5th wheel travel trailer that had slides going out both sides, our modest 26 foot Prowler with 2 doors, the Peterbilt, with a large canvas miners type tent and a teepee, and when Ron’s parents got there we would have another 5th wheel.
Anita kept a big cellar full of food, replenished when they came in summer and canned everything fresh from the field, so they had plenty of home made food to keep everyone fed. All of us women went down into the cellar and were amazed at the amount and variety that was down there. They also had dried fruit and vegetables Anita had fixed. Marion said “All the women around here have the same, I would rather have my own than what can be bought in a store. Papa Charlie uses old fashioned ways of farming with mules and horses unless we manage fuel for the tractor and it doesn‘t break down.” We were back upstairs then and Little John said “That is one way we’ve all kept our farms. We’ve never used credit, also no one in the valley has grown anything for the drug trade. That happens a lot back in the hills, it’s how they make enough money to buy them fancy cars and houses and other things. “
Marion said, “The preacher’s going to be out in the middle of the week when he gets back from seeing to his other flocks. He travels to 3 other communities around here and holds church at a different location each week. He has his own place here and the women all contribute to his root cellar since he hasn’t married yet. Last year the preacher had a heart attack, and he was replaced by Matthew, he’s 28, and a very good preacher. All the young women are busy trying to outdo each other hoping on catching him as a husband. Needless to say he is not looking for a wife and has many uncomfortable moments while visiting his different congregations.” I was looking forward to meeting him and also looking forward to Ron meeting him. Ron was a good man, but nothing I could say made him feel worthy of redemption. He said he didn’t think he could live without doing something he shouldn’t. He had seen to many people that used salvation as a once a week fix and continued all their old behavior just expecting Jesus to forgive and forgive.
That evening as we sat around the fire we discussed what we had heard about the fighting overseas. Ron got our radio out of the trailer and cranked it up to hear if any new information was going on. Seems like China had tried to take over a section that Russia claimed as theirs and new fighting had started between China and India, and China and N Korea. Seems like the Chinese were taking territory from all their neighbors. So far it was just border skirmishes and we all hoped it would not escalate. The UN was trying to get the diplomats into negotiations but hadn’t had any luck.
Lori said “Hey we have caves around here we could use in case anything goes nuclear.” Big John wanted to know where and how big. Lori didn’t remember so we decided the next day we would try to find them. First we were going to church, dresses casual, then we can go look for the caves. We decided to get ready for bed and get a good nights sleep. Jeff took care of making sure the fire was out.
After Ron and I got our showers and got into bed, the cat joined us to be loved on then left to prowl around. We never really named our cat, just called her cat or kitty. She is such a scaredy-cat that she jumps when something moves, you have to be careful with the covers because any wrinkle or area where they get bunched up is a monster or something that is going to get her it took a while for us all to settle down. We had to make our way around everything I had loaded in there. Ron asked “How about we put up the big tent and store some of this stuff outside?” I replied “Sounds good to me, we have church then looking for the caves. Unless we get up early.“ He replied “May do that, we’ll see what happens in the morning. Ron got into bed and turned on the television. I pulled out a book to read till he went to sleep so I could turn off the television and get to sleep myself.
Sunday the sky was clear, the weather mild, and all the birds out singing as we set out for church. Lori introduces us to the small congregation. Charlie led the prayers, next several people told how God had been present in their life in some way during the week, then everyone joined in singing old fashioned hymns from the hymnals. I enjoyed the small service and meeting the people living in the valley. They were all what you would call down home folk. There were about 6 families ranging in age from newborn to almost 100. They had planned a potluck lunch and everyone brought food from home.
After church as we all sat down together to eat lunch, Marion announced “I’ve brought enough for all you campers and my family also. We all know you weren’t able to drive down and still have time to fix anything. So everyone grab a plate and dig in.”
We all heartily thanked her for going to so much trouble. While we chatted with everyone, we ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, homemade rolls and iced tea. She sure was a good cook. Um-um, finger licking good.
We went back to our little camp, changed into rugged clothes and waddled outside to meet up before we left to look for the caves. The food was so good most of us just wanted to lay down and nap. Lori shouted,
“Come on you loafers, we’ve got some ATV’s we can use to get there a lot faster than you guys are waddling.”
Big John lumbered over,
“Hey Jeff, what do you have for ATV’s?”
and off they went, all of us following along behind. When we got to one of the other farm buildings, a combination storage and shop, Jeff was showing Big John around. We heard Big John muttering,
“Why didn’t you ever tell me you had one of these? You been holding out of me bud, I could of used some of this when we were working on my truck.”
Jeff said
“You don’t remember the drive to get that truck in here? You think we could of done that before you got it running?”
We followed Lori inside and there sat all kinds of vehicles. Some I couldn’t recognize and a few were being repaired. Jeff and Big John headed in to started up several of the ATV’s. Big John was still exclaiming over what all was in there. Ron and I claimed a nice little red one with a trailer attached and could carry 2 people. Jeff came over to take off the trailer and Ron told him,
“Can we leave that attached, you know Katy, she always find things for us to lug back, plus we need to take some gear with us.”
I liked finding plants, rocks and other things when we’re able to get out and explore.
“Sure and with Big John with around, you can even find big rocks for him to load.” Jeff replied.
Everyone found an ATV to use, and Jeff and Lori were on another one with a trailer, Lori said
“Hey I know where we can find plants to gather, and I also need to harvest Yarrow for making up Grandma’s medicine while we’re there.” She went to the other side of the building and added some small shovels and gardening stuff. I followed her over and asked,
“What else do you need for your medicine and what is it to take care of?” She was rummaging around and said
“Thought I might make some salve for any little cuts and scratches we might get. We used it many a time growing up. My Granny swore by some of her concoctions. She even had a little ledger of sorts, I’ll let you look at it when we get back. You want to help make up some things?”
“Sure” I said, “will you let me look through it and write some of her recipes down and keep?”
Lori replied “Why not, no one else in the family is interested in this but me, I’ll open up her old still room and we’ll spend at least one day in there.”
We went back out where everyone got a chance to drive the ATV’s around, then loaded them up before we got on a faint trail out back of the building.
Lori yelled, “OK everyone follow us and keep on the trail, we have some places next to the trail you really don’t want to get into. Even this late in the spring it gets really muddy and I don’t want to spend all day getting everyone unstuck.” We all got in line with Jeff and Lori leading and Big John pulling the rear.
He said “ Just in case someone gets into any trouble, I have a radio I can have Jeff stop and we will deal with it.” Sounded good to the rest of us so off we went.
Ron drove our ATV, he was pretty good and kept us going smoothly. And Karen drove her and Bob’s, Karen had driven ATV’s a lot before they married, she was quite proficient. We couldn’t keep from kidding Bob though.
Bob got into his mountain man act “I kin knock a coon out a tree and skin it afor ya kin even get a pot out to boll it in, mek me no nivermine iffen ya arnt big enuf man to let yor lady drive.”
Big John did the Tarzan yell and said “Me big man, woman stay pregnant and keep fire going.”
Amy socked him on the arm, “You big lummox you have to sleep sometime.” All the men joined in and offered to help keep him awake.
Jeff kept on the trail until we got to a bluff layered in limestone and granite. Some places even had seeps of water weeping down the cliff face. Other places the water ran back and forth on little ridges in the rocks. We headed over to the base where different areas were covered over with old growths of briers, willows and other plants, I even recognized some fiddlehead ferns and wild asparagus.
Lori pointed over by a small stream and up a small trail. “Up that way is where I like to look for my plants, it leads over through those trees. I find a lot of things not only to eat but also to make Granny’s recipes.” All of us females decided to head up that way while the men decided to walk along the base of the cliff to see if they saw any cave openings.
Jeff said “Around here somewhere I saw some caves before but only during the winter, I think they’re probably blocked by plants during the rest of the year. We‘ll probably have to hack our way through and stay close to the cliff.” He had loaded several machete’s in their wagon and began handing them out.
We all pulled out our smaller packs we’d brought, and I pulled out the holster for my CZ75 put the mags in the mag pouches. I had them set up for when we went to either IPSC or steel shooting competition’s. I had a quick draw holster with a little post that went through the trigger guard and that would lock the gun in place. To release, you pulled up the bar, located under the gun’s handgrip. What I like about this holster is it holds the pistol below your waist but not down around your knees. In other words down where my hand actually hung. Besides when your only 5’ tall a gun in a belt holster ends up in my armpit and a drop leg one hangs about my knee area.
Lori told us “We’ve spotted snakes in this area and have Charlie told me about some wild dogs and coyotes had been spotted. Most won’t attack a person but it’s always best to be prepared.”
I’d packed two books, my Peterson Edible Plant guide and my Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. With those two I could usually identify what I was looking at. Even though I had been learning plants for about 3 years there were lots I didn’t know. Several people have helped me learn to recognize certain plants so not all of my identifications were from books. I added plastic zip-loc bags, my Becker Tac Tool for digging, my folding pruning saw, and my gardening gloves. I found the things for working in your own garden are often superior to things you can find in the camping section. Once we were outfitted up we all got the giggles, we were all armed and it looked as if we were over the hill wannabe’s. All of our equipment was mismatched, some old, some new, some solid color, some hunting camo, some military surplus not anything alike. No one would take us seriously.
Us women head out and were pointing out what we saw as edible or otherwise useful and decided that we wouldn’t harvest anything until we were on our way back. That way we wouldn’t have to carry it so long and it would be fresher when we arrived back. All of us had spent time outdoors learning different plants, so pooled our information and we all learned something new.
Lori pulled out a list, “This is the list for what we need for Grandma ‘s salve for cuts and bruises. Yarrow, Plantain, Calendula flowers and if we can find some Jewelweed stems. Also we want to get some extra Jewelweed since it’s also good for Poison Ivy. To make the salve we add Olive Oil, then boil in double boiler, strain and add Beeswax reheat then pour into container.”
I added “I want to gather some Plantain for eating, cooked like spinach it’s pretty good. Add a little bacon and hot bacon grease wilt it and it’s excellent.” We discussed different ’wild’ food and how we had fixed it in the past. We had a good day gathering and exchanging recipes until we heard shooting. We turned and began to run back.
The men had not had such a good time. Starting out they had to hack through thorny briers to get between the plants and the rock cliff. After about an hour hey had finally found a cave. It was to small, room for 2 people, maybe 3 in an emergency. Going on, they crossed the spring, went 20 feet and then 10 feet up a small hill. A hill full of brambles I should add. They could see an opening in the rocks. As the men came up the hill dogs came pouring out snarling and growling. The lead dog was a huge beast from Hell, John later said it looked to be a huge Boxer. It managed to knock Bob down. Bob was able to roll with his fall onto his stomach to protect his front and Big John was able to take out the big dog with his machete. Ron and Jeff both used their machetes to stab the dogs attacking them and then pull their guns to shoot the next ones coming after them. Ron had bites on his arm with one bleeding pretty good.
Big John pulled his first aid kit out, said “Ron you and Jeff reload and check out the cave. Make sure we don’t have anymore in there. I’ll patch up Bob and stay here with him.” Ron and Jeff reloaded, topped off their mags, pulled out their head lamps, turned them on and started in.
The opening was just a little wider than a full grown man and extended up about another foot, they could only go single file. Jeff went first with Ron right behind him. They went in about 5 feet before the entryway turned. They could hear growling ahead and cautiously advanced. When they got to the turn they were surprised to find the cave widened out and turned back the other way. Rounding the turn they could now move side by side, to the next turn in the rocky corridor. They slowly moved forward until suddenly ahead eyes glowed back. They could both see a lone female dog in the middle of birthing a puppy, she was trying to get up and attack them but was to weak. She was piteously emaciated couldn’t manage to stay upright to advance. They could see two puppies and it looked as if another was in the birth canal. It was almost dried up and certainly dead, it was covered in dirt. She must have been straining for some time to birth it. She was on the far side of a large chamber with a stream running through it. The floor had litter the dogs had dragged in along. As they walked toward her she continued growling and trying to get up until just as they approached she gave one last effort, fell back and just faded away. Both Ron and Jeff had tears rolling down their faces. On the dogs neck they could see an old tattered collar. At one time she had been a beautiful Rottweiler, now emaciated. Her coat dull and her eyes filming, she was gone. They looked down at the small pups, they couldn’t be more than a day old, their cords had been bitten off and she had cleaned them up from birth, they must have gotten a little of their momma’s milk because their stomachs were nicely rounded. Ron picked them up and put them in his jacket pocket. “Do you know anyone who has a litter of puppies around here Jeff?” he asked.
Jeff replied “We’ll have to ask Charlie if he does, we haven’t been down in a while and I don’t think anyone at church mentioned any. I’ll ask the women when we catch up with them.”
Ron blurted out “I don’t understand why people take their pets out to the country and just let them out. Don’t they know country folk can’t take care of every stray that comes along. Some have never been outside before and don’t know how to fend for themselves, and to let a female out without being spayed that is sentencing her to a agonizing death like this. Sometimes I’m ashamed to be a human.”
He tenderly picked up the small puppies and carried them back out with him. Outside they asked about Bob’s bites and told them what happened in the cave. Big John said “I think Bob will be OK, but we probably need to take the dog that bit him in to a vet to make sure it didn’t have rabies. I read a story on Frugal’s that was about rabies and I sure don’t want to come up against anything like that. Sure was a great story but scared the ‘be Jesus’ out of me. He was probably just protecting the female”
We women had managed to track the men by the chopped up vegetation and we were soon arriving at the scene of slaughter. We all were talking and wanting to know what happened. As the men explained Karen had to see Bob’s injuries then re-bandage him. We all headed back to the ATV’s and Big John carried the dog that had bitten Bob. Ron and Jeff brought up the rear with Lori, Amy and I in between. When we arrived back Jeff took Bob over to the Doc to get treated. The Doc had retired there and treated just the people in the valley. Karen called the vet and Charlie took the dead dog and the pups in to be checked out.
The vet had a Mama dog there that had just given birth. One of Charlie’s grandkids had brought it home after finding the dog dumped by the side of the road last week when they went to town. They were able to slip the puppies in after one of her pups was still born, they rubbed both pups with birth fluids. The dog licked them clean and even smelled them but they must have passed muster because she let them start to suckle. The vet said both pups should be fine. The vet said he would let us know about rabies but he didn’t see any indications of it and the dog’s were probably defending their territory. He too was saddened by the wanton abandonment of such animals.
Ron and Big John were going to head back out in the morning to check out the cave and bury the dogs. After talking together they decided they would clean out the cave. We all wanted a chance to explore there. They would carry their radios so when we heard from Ron’s parents we could let him know to come back to lead them in. .
That night after everything was done, we sat around the campfire and discussed the day before we went to bed. Bob had already laid down, between the excitement and the pills the Doc gave him he was out like a light.
It had been a long day and as we sat by the dying fire we joined hands and quietly prayed. “Dear God, we ask that you protect Bob, help his injuries to heal, and also keep us in your protection. Thank you for allowing us the time to gather and spend this time together. Keep us strong and let us recognize your purpose in our lives, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.”
The next day dawned clear and warm. The birds were singing in the trees and two Blue Jays were raucously going at it for their turn to get under the spray from the sprinkler Charlie had set up in the garden. We decided to make breakfast burritos. I had all the makings. Flour tortillas, eggs, sausage, cheese and picante sauce. We set up one of the camp stoves on the picnic table outside and I started my big cast iron fry pan heating up to fry the sausage. Bob was stiff and sore this morning so Karen was pampering him a little and bringing his coffee out to him. Lori’s girls were also out this morning. They wanted to go out and see the cave we found yesterday, after spending yesterday visiting with Little John and Marion’s brood, they felt they had missed all the excitement .Ron told them “Look, we’re going out to bury those dead dogs and clean out the cave. There won’t be any excitement just a lot of hard, sweaty, smelly work. I think it would be best to pick something else to do for today. Plus my Mom and Dad will be here this afternoon and I’ll have to come back in time to show them the way in. Why don’t we plan another day to go back and maybe have a picnic there later this week.” Lori added “I am not going to let you go out there until we are sure you will be safe. So quit your grumbling. If you can’t find anything to do, I’ll find you some chores to fill your time.” That changed their minds pretty quick and they were suddenly finding other things to do today.
Once the sausage was done, I drained all but a little fat out and added the eggs to scramble. As they were cooking Charlie came out to move the sprinkler and we asked him if he would join us for breakfast. We had moved the picnic tables together under the trees and had all brought out dishes to use, Lori had a place already set for him. Once the eggs were done we quickly melted the cheese into the mixture, spooned it onto the hot tortillas, then dribbled the picante sauce on top, umm were they good. Amy had brought out a jar of her homemade sauce, it was way too hot for me but the men all seemed to like it. Bob said “This is some of the best I’ve eaten since we were down in Mexico last year.” We laughed when we noticed his eyes were watering as he said it.
After cleanup, Jeff took Ron and Big John over to get ATVs from yesterday and added some other tools to the wagon attached to little red one we had ridden. Big John loaded up the one he and Amy had used. They had their guns holstered and packs on their backs when they took off. Lori, Amy, Karen and I all went into the farm house to open up the still room.
When we opened the door to the still room it was just the way I imagined one would be from earlier times. It had a small little copper still, a wood stove for heating things up, a small kitchen sink with a hand pump and drain board, a small scale, several different sized cups with measurements on the side, several odd sized containers to hold the concoctions, everything from liquids to creams to powders. There were glass ones and tin ones, some had droppers and some even had those eye wash cups made into the tops. One whole wall was made up of cabinets in a dark, rich looking wood. It was a beautiful room that seemed as mysterious as it was intriguing. Over all lay a thin layer of dust.
Lori had some dusting cloths, soap, rags and a dust mop. Announcing “Ladies lets get to this so we can start making some potions.” and we all marched in and chose our weapon against dirt. I ended up washing everything at the sink in the kitchen, since there was no hot water in the still room. At least I didn’t have to dry and put away. From one of the cabinets Lori brought out a large pot of cream, “This is something my grandma made up to shine all the woodwork. I’ll have to make some more soon as I’m almost out. She used it to shine all the wood in the house. Smell the wonderful smell.” It had a hint of apple and some of vanilla. Almost apple pie a la mode.
The morning went fairly fast for all of us and soon lunch time was here. When I got to the camper I turned on the radio to listen for Grant and Doralei, Don’s parents. So far nothing but static. I checked the cell phone to make sure the battery and signal were still good. And was glad to find we had a good signal but decided the batteries needed to be charged. When I pulled the charger out it scared the cat and she jumped straight up then went streaking off the bed. I guess she thought there was a big snake coming after her. She finally settled down in the front of the trailer after I convinced her the charger wasn‘t out to get her. We had taken her in as a stray when she was about 6 months old and she’d never gotten over being skittish. Just as I set the phone down, it rang. Grant was on the line saying they had just eaten lunch and were almost to Knoxville. They would call again once they crossed into Kentucky.
I stayed in the trailer straightening up, listening to the radio and taking things out to the tent we had set up. All the sudden the trailer felt like it was being towed down a bumpy road. Luckily I was moving things in the bedroom and rode it out on the bed. When the movement quit I carefully went outside. Everyone was coming out and asking what had happened. Amy was laying down in the truck, but woke up with the shaking, she came out announcing, “I just heard on the radio about a earthquake over by Memphis. Did everyone feel that?“ We all gathered around the radios and listened to the reports coming in. Shortly the guys came in from the caves and we told them about the earthquake. They had started back when the shake hit. Said the trees swayed like a heavy breeze but they didn’t see any damage down at the shop or farmhouse when the parked the ATV’s. They were more interested in a hot shower and something to eat.
Ron came in and asked “Have you heard anything from Mom and Dad?” I replied “They called a couple of hours ago and they still had to get through Knoxville, they’ll call back when they get to the Kentucky border. How did it go up at the cave?” He sighed “We got all the dogs buried, then raked and shoveled about three bags of trash out, I’m going to get cleaned up and then I want to eat. Do you have something quick?” I replied “I have bacon and tomato sandwiches, so all I have to do is heat up some bacon in the microwave and make some toast. Do you want some soup with that or chips and pickles?” As he shut the door to take a shower he replied “Just chips and pickles will be fine then I’m hitting the sack till Mom and Dad call back.”
They didn’t call again until almost 4:00 PM, they said they had some trouble coming through Knoxville but should be at the exit in about 30 minutes. Apparently what Ron heard from his Dad was not good. He went outside talking and then I could hear him yelling at Big John, “Get your ass out here and bring your 1911 and your shotgun. I need you to come with Katy and me to meet up with my folks. Hurry up we need to get up there.“ Big John leaned out of the sleeper door and quizzed Ron on what was going on then came busting out strapping on his 1911 and slinging a shotgun over his shoulder. Ron returned, strapped on his gun and told me to grab my pistol and both AR15’s. “We’ll take my truck, Katy will ride in back and you take shotgun” Ron said grimly.
On the road out I prayed, asked questions and prayed again. Ron said “My folks had a run in with some gang down by Knoxville and were shot at, Dad had to shoot back and the police told them they couldn’t help them when they called 911. Sure am glad he had that Smith & Wesson 910 of mine and had all the high cap mags loaded and ready in the console. Mom’s a little freaked out since he had to use it and he’s hauling ass up here. He thinks he still has someone following him but wasn’t sure. They’re far enough ahead to get here but will need backup if they do catch up. So we need to be ready.” We were going to ambush someone. My thoughts chaotic, they had shot at Grant and Doralei, we had to help them, but how could I shoot a person? The only time I had butchered a rabbit, I almost fainted. Would I be able to do this? Could I stand by and let someone shoot my family?
Ron was on the phone with Grant again as we were pulling into the little store then pulling around back. They were coming off the exit and heading this way. The vehicle following was a big dark van. Grant said it came off the same exit and turned the same way he did. It was also honking and flashing it’s lights which didn’t make much sense to him, but he wasn‘t stopping. We decided they would pull in past the store, then stop. We would be waiting for them, Ron would circle the store to come up on their back side while Big John and covered them from that side. We could use a small dumpster for cover. After Grant pulled past us, he would get out and join us. Even pulling a trailer his big Dodge dually pickup didn’t even bog down coming up the hill, however the dark van was smoking and didn’t do so well which gained us a little time.
Grant and Doralei pulled in and stopped, the dark brown van followed a short time later. It pulled into the parking area and came to a screeching halt as Ron came out behind them and Big John stood out with his pistol aimed at them. He was still partially behind the dumpster and I prayed everyone would be safe. They skidded to a stop and just held their hands up. It was a young family with two kids and a baby. My heart almost stopped.
Big John motioned them out of the van and you could see they were scared to death. The young woman was sobbing holding the baby, and the 2 kids hid behind their Dad. They kept saying “We only followed them to be safe, we don’t have any guns.” The young man moved to stand in front of his family. He said “You can shoot me but let my family go.“ We lowered our guns and asked what they were doing. It turned out they had been behind Grant and Doralei all through Knoxville, even fueled at the same place just before reaching Knoxville, they saw the gang that tried to take them out and then almost got them. They decided the best thing to do was to keep up with the armed older couple, they had no way to protect themselves and the older couple did. They’d moved to Chattanooga recently and their apartment building had just burned down. They loaded all they could save into the van and were headed to Cincinnati to some friends. They’d just heard from their friends when the gang had attacked. There was no room, they had family who moved in today when their places burned.
Grant walked up after helping Doralei out of the pick up, and Ron turned to him and asked “Dad, you said over the phone that you and mom were running for your lives and were afraid you were being followed by the gang that had tried to run you off the road. You said they shot at you and you shot back and the police said they couldn’t help. WHAT IS GOING ON.” Grant looked at his son and shaking his head replied. “I don’t know about the earthquake, but before we left Patrick AFB, we heard the government is going broke. Not only with the War in Iraq, but with all the ‘help’ they handed out in the wake of Katrina, and the earthquakes in California and Washington, and the tsunami’s on the west coast. There won’t be any welfare soon, there’ll be food ration cards for pregnant women and kids, for certain items like milk, rice, beans, and other basics, that can only be obtained at government centers that are being set up. They’re also cutting social security and a lot of other subsidy‘s. One of our friends, that recently retired, knew some of the base personnel there at Patrick. They said to find somewhere safe and remote and dig in. It’s not supposed to change for a couple of months and we thought we had time to make it to get set up together. Don’t tell Katy this but she’s been right all along. I always wondered after GW left office what the new president would be like. Now were going to find out.”
Big John called Jeff back at the farm and after explaining to him what the excitement was about, told him about the young family. Lori got on and said of course bring them out. We have another trailer and can make do some way. Can’t leave them out there to fend for themselves. Big John checked both vehicles and said they all should make it to the farm, he did top off their coolant so it wouldn‘t overheat. The young couple, Winston and Carrie Emerson, and children Garret age 7, Julie age 5 and baby Charles, were wide eyed after that. I asked them if they had anywhere else they could go. Winston said they had no family, they had met when they were foster kids and married right after they turned 18. He had just finished Veterinary school and moved to Chattanooga after a local practice hired him to help in the office. He had done all sorts of odd jobs to help get through school. Carrie also did sewing alterations and babysat since with small children it was so hard to have a job away from home. Big John drove the van back to the farm, Winston was pretty shaky and Carrie rode in back to comfort the kids
When we pulled up with the young family, Jeff had already pulled another trailer out for them to use. Lori and Jeff took charge of them while Big John and Ron took care of getting Grant’s and Doralei’s trailer set up. I guided Doralei into our trailer and sat her down on the couch. I told her about the still room we worked on that day hoping to help her calm down. She accepted a beer and started to pet the cat, that had come and checked her out and curled up next to her. I left her a few minutes to check on how the guys were doing. They were finishing up and checking connections to make sure all was in working order. They’d also found a couple of bullet holes and were making sure nothing was damaged then putting duct tape in until they could work on them tomorrow. My offer of a beer each was roundly approved. Ron came in to check on his Mom and to grab a couple of beers. I stayed outside and caught him on the way out to see what else I should do to help. “Right now just keep Mom company, I’m going to talk to Dad.” Ron said has he started handing out beer.
Lori had taken Winston, Carrie and family under her wing. Jeff had helped Winston pull things out of the van and the girls were showing the other kids around. Carrie had the baby cleaned up, changed and had food from the diaper bag out ready to feed her. Lori was finding out what they needed and helping to put away things as the men were bringing it in. The camper they were going to use was also a large one and had 2 sleeping areas and tip outs everywhere. Carrie said it was bigger than the apartment they had while Win was in school. As the baby finished up her food. Charlie came in carrying a small travel bed/playpen. “This should take care of the baby. One of Carrie’s cousin left this down here. Said it didn’t fit in their car to well and the baby did better in the car seat than using this. Seemed like a waste to me then, but now I’m glad we have it.” and with that he went in to set it up in the larger bedroom. The other bedroom had only bunk beds that the two older kids could share. With the small baby bed they would all have a place to sleep tonight. Lori said that supper would be there soon. Amy was making Goulash for all along with biscuits, and whatever else she heated up. Lisa had given her free reign to get some canned stuff from the cellar and use up some of her mom’s canned vegetables from there.
Grant came over and helped Doralei over to their trailer for a nice hot bath. Amy was cooking enough for all of us to eat. We decided to stay all together to eat so I set the picnic table with dishes and utensils and went to help Amy finish up supper. Grant, Ron and Big John were gathered up by the tables talking quietly, I heard Grant talking about what he had heard on base before he left. As I slipped by he pulled me into their circle and gave me a hug. “You have been after us for some time about what we needed to have and what to do if something happened. Thanks to you we were prepared enough to get us here. I have a little something for you. Stay right here a second let me get it.” In a few minutes he brought out a blue plastic box. He said “I know how much you love your CZ, I found this one in Florida and was able to buy it for you. It’s a CZ 75 Champion in 40 cal with 16 round magazines, I also have 10 extra magazines and 1000 rounds of personal protection ammunition and 1000 rounds of ball ammunition. There’s also a mount for a holographic site. And guess what? There’s even one of those. I really hate to say this but you were right. Thanks for taking care of my son. And keeping after Doralei and me.” He had been walking me back to our camper and opened the door showing me what they had stashed in my absence. After a big hug he patted me on the back and turned and walked away. I went inside and sat down and opened the box and stared at my new gun. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We had kidded back and forth about how much I liked guns but to get this one. I had been using my CZ 75 9MM in competition for a couple of years though still had much to learn. The cat wondered in and decided the gun was in the way of her getting some attention, so I put it away soothed the kitty and went back to help Amy.
After everything was ready we all gathered at the picnic tables and ate. I was overwhelmed by the days events, but everyone else asked questions until Lori said to hold our questions until later motioning to the kids. Once supper was finished and the kids were settled in bed, everyone gathered at the campfire to tell about what we had heard about the earthquake and for Grant to tell us all he had heard before he left Patrick. “The government is stopping all welfare, and social security. Unless you can prove this is your only income (then you have to move into government quarters, government doctors, government food), basically no free money going out. There’s no more foreign aid. They’re cutting government jobs, drastically. This will be a new way of life for a lot of us.” I asked him “Since your retired military will this affect your retirement? And what about Doralei’s medicines?” Doralei has type 1 diabetes and high blood pressure, her medicine is very expensive except for the fact she’s covered under Grant’s retirement benefits. They would be staggered by the cost. Grant just shook his head and said “For now they haven’t changed that since we fall under the military pay system. The military is one thing they are not changing.” Now with the earthquake down in Memphis, having damaged all the bridges up and down the Mississippi, and moved that river to some new paths. The scope of damage may well double or trebled the damage from Katrina. We all wondered how this would turn out in time to come. The fire was about out and Ron and I stayed out a little longer just holding each other as we watched the last of the flames die. What was going to happen to us all.
It couldn’t be morning; I’d hardly had any sleep. My husband, Ron was gone; He was probably over visiting his parents. As I reluctantly got moving, the cat decided she needed some loving and petting. After giving the cat a good scratching and combing, she curled up in an empty box while I began to dress. I turned the radio on to listen to the news. The newscaster was announcing, “Memphis, Little Rock, St. Louis, and Chicago were all declared disaster zones. FEMA does not enough equipment or supplies to go around. The president has announced this morning he will not declare a national disaster; any disaster relief will need to come from each state. They can apply to FEMA for their allocation of available relief supplies.” Families have not been able to go home from Katrina and that over 3 years ago. The earthquakes last year in the west followed by the tsunamis had damaged so much, rebuilding hadn’t even started. Now the middle of the country had been split apart. They were saying now “All bridges across the Mississippi have been declared unstable and will be closed. No timetable has been set to repair or rebuild them at this time.” That made we wonder how is everyone going to cross, wait for new bridges or someone to set up a ferry. No mention was made that everything in the US was carried across the country on trucks. Now there was no way to get across the country. Was it just yesterday that everything seemed so normal? Stress was from overwork or trying to pay bills or taxes, not from your family being shot at or your life being torn apart.
As I wandered out to find Ron, I was lost in thought. I heard Lori calling my name. Then she said “Come over here a minute, we’re having a little pow-wow.” I looked up and saw everyone sitting at the picnic tables. Grant, Ron, Bob, Win, and Charlie were at one table with their heads together, and Jeff and Big John were no where to be seen. All of the women including Carrie and her baby were clustered around another. Lori had pen and paper and was rapidly writing whatever Carrie was telling her.
As I joined them, I heard Carrie talking about sewing and things she had done while Win was in school. With 2 small children she worked at home and learned to make do on very little. I couldn’t imagine the years she spoke of doing laundry by hand, growing a small garden and canning all she could. Tears were running down her cheeks as she managed to sob “It’s all gone now and no way to get it back. I thought with Win finishing school we would finally be able to get ahead. Now I have to start over. All my jars of food, my big canner, and the rag rugs I had made. All the clothes I made for the children, and all their pictures…….” She slowly stopped and just sobbed. Lori tilted her head up, and told her “I don’t know what you’ve lost, we’ll share what we have and you can be a real help to all of us with what you know. Your family has a new chance. So buck up and let us know what your family needs. We’ll meet with the community this evening at the church to discuss what we can do together. I’m making a list of things we have, things we can share and what everyone already knows how to do. After we’re done here we’ll need to see what we have for babies in the house. Charlie may know if anyone has anything for a baby. The Doc will need to see everyone to know what supplies he’ll need to take care of us all.”
One after the other we had our turn with Lori for what we could contribute and what we might need. The lists grew longer and longer. Doralei joined us as we scrounged up easy things for breakfast.
The shooting had affected her a lot more than she let on. She was startled by everything. I told her that she was as bad as the cat and she laughed but didn’t make much comment.
She finally started talking about the time Grant was in the Army and attached to the embassy and they had to be evacuated from whatever country they were in. Ron was just a small boy and all the wives and children flew out on a small plane, they could only take was what they could carry and still the little plane barely made it over the mountains. The embassy staff and soldiers were flown out on a later flight. She said “I never thought I would have to lose everything again. At least now we have our trailer and everything we’ve used this year. I know Grant is safe this time, but I still miss my home and the life we had.” I replied “We’ve all lost our homes except the people around us. You still have your son and your husband. A lot of us still have family somewhere we hope are safe and will remain safe. You have more than you know.” She smiled tremulously, nodded and agreed.
We all went to look through the old farmhouse. It was a huge rambling building, I think it started as a log cabin, and then the two story rock house was built next. At some point they added on another wing, wood framed, and then last added a large wrap around porch. One side of the porch had been turned into a glassed in conservatory for plants, but now was set up as a sun room. Lori said “Let’s all pick a bedroom and go through the drawers and the closets, then we’ll go up to the attic and see what we find, there. We’ll need to spread out to both attics the one over old part and one over the newer part. We’re looking for clothing, shoes, and linens, anything someone could use in setting up a household or living here. Make a list of everything left in the room. Sack up all washables in one sack, then one sack for shoes and one sack for other things like purses, umbrellas, rain slickers. Then strip all the linens from the beds. Oh and don’t forget the hangers. We’ll stack it out in the hall and Charlie will haul it all downstairs. When your done put a sticker on the door and write the number of beds, then use a ‘t’ for twin, ‘d’ for double ‘q’ for queen and ‘k’ for king. That way we can bring linens up and quickly determine what room needs what linens. I’m not very sure about every room either. We all stay in the trailer while we‘ve been here. “
Everyone got to work and soon all the bedrooms were emptied out, we headed to the attic. I was in the group to work in the older attic. The door to the attic stairs squeaked when Lori pulled it open. “A lot of my Grandma’s things are in the other attic. This has things mostly from in the 1800’s. We were quite a bit more prosperous then. It was kept locked while we were kids and I can’t say that I can remember ever coming up here.” We could smell the age and the dust, as we climbed the stairs, at the top we could see the dust swirling in the beams of light coming in from the small gable windows. Lori pulled the string to turn on the first of several bare bulbs that had been mounted on the rafters. In the brighter light you could see dust covering everything stored there. We all started sneezing and retreated back down stairs. Laughing as we saw how dusty we all were from moving around that little bit. Lori was laughing so hard she had little streaks down her cheeks where tears cleaned the dust away. “I’ll go get a couple of vacuums and some masks to keep from breathing in the dust” she said. We all followed and helped her haul them to the top of the stairs.
Once we assembled everything to tackle the chore again, we found we didn’t have anywhere to plug them in. “Hold on everyone, I’ve got to find extension cords to run from downstairs” Lori hollered. It took us a good hour to get all the vacuums working and sucking up the dust. And the rest of the afternoon sort the tightly packed attic. We were all excited when an antique spinning wheel was discovered, followed closely by a loom, a treadle sewing machine, a whole trunk of knitting needles and crochet hooks along with some old instructions for making various things for everyone age group from babies through adults, to bad the yarn wasn‘t usable, it was so old it wouldn‘t hold up to knitting or crocheting. We also found several trunks of very old handmade wooden children’s toys along with one box with notes and plans on how to make them. In one trunk were journals dating from the original time her family settled in the area and Lori lovingly packed them all back into the trunk and decided to set them aside to read through later. On the first page was neatly written the persons name and the date of when it was written. She said, “It will be exciting to peek into the lives of the early settlers, and maybe see how they managed things. Just think these are probably written by my ancestors, they all have my last name.”
It was late when we were through sorting and listing everything. We all went to our separate campers to eat and get ready for the meeting tonight. The men had been through various buildings around the farm listing all the useful tools they could find and where they were located. Except Jeff and Big John, they had been gone all morning contacting everyone in the valley about that nights meeting at the church. The pastor had arrived back about noon with more news to tell.
We all assembled after cleaning up and having a quick supper. Doralei seemed in much better spirits having spent her time helping Charlie to look through the kitchen and cellar. She loved cooking, and going over the supplies and all the kitchen cupboards and the cellar seemed to have soothed her. We decided to drive since we wouldn’t return until after dark and we didn’t want the kids walking home that late, I was pretty pooped to.
When we arrived at the church it seemed almost everyone had come. Everyone was talking about the problems in the cities and the earthquake, but didn’t think it would bother them here. Most of them stayed in the valley, seldom venturing out. Then the preacher stood up. He said “I’m Matthew Kincaid, to any who don’t know me. I just came back from some of my other churches. The church closest to Somerset has been burned down. They are also burning people out of their homes. Everyone needs to tell all their loved ones to get here as quickly as possible. We will also need places for people to stay; we have some good God fearing people who have no where else to go. The ones with family they can go to are heading out, but a few do not. I also want everyone here to make a list of what they have and what they need, we need to get as much for the valley as we can, and pray we have enough time to fill our needs. I don’t know if this will blow over but I feel it won’t. We need to be prepared and work together to see we all survives the bad times ahead.”
Most families didn’t have room for extra people to stay, but Lori did and announced “I’ll let any who need a place come to our farm. It may end up being crowded. If we all work together we can make it work. Mom and my baby sister are on their way. My baby brother’s in the Navy and I don’t know where he is at the moment. So everyone pray for his continued safety.” The few others who had room also offered. Matthew said “I’m leaving in the morning to find out who needs to be moved out here and see if either of the other churches needs help or can offer help. So I will close with a prayer. Jesus, we beseech you to look out for all your children trying to survive here in America. Watch over us all as we prepare for the times ahead. Come into each of our hearts and sustain us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”
We stayed to speak to everyone after the service. Talking of how things were done in the old days before electricity, Grandpa Harris the oldest member at 97 said he remembered the grist mill had been operating when he was growing up. And when it was closed he thought all the things were kept here and not sold off. He was reminiscing about how things were done. He mentioned several people had water wheels set up to generate electricity much as other areas used windmills. They didn’t always get enough wind for that and the few people who tried to use windmills converted them to water wheels. He rambled on and we were a willing audience. We will be blessed to have someone who remembers how people lived before all the modern conveniences.
When we returned to our camping area, we were all tired and turned in. No campfire tonight. We had all worked harder than we had in a long time. I think this is just the beginning of very different life for all of us.
Unlike the previous day, this morning was overcast and drizzling rain. Ron and I couldn’t stay cooped up in the camper, so got our ponchos out. After a quick breakfast we talked Grant and Doralei into joining us and went to see Lori and Jeff. Lori suggested taking the ATV’s and riding down to where the old mill was and see how it was holding up. She said “Last fall we had to do some patching to the roof, Charlie said he hadn’t been there at all this winter. See if it is still weather tight and look at what is left to see if all is alright. Here’s the key for the door” she handed me a old skeleton key, “the original lock is still on the door, in fact the whole mill is just the way it was when it was abandoned about 80 years ago. My grandpa would tell us stories about the times he worked there as a boy, and how the mill worked. I was always fascinated by his stories.” She drew us a little map so we wouldn’t get lost. Ron and Grant went for the ATV’s and Doralei and I got our gear, plus a lunch to take. We were soon on the ATV’s and heading out.
The old mill was in the opposite direction from the cave. Since we hadn’t been this way we took our time to look at the area we were passing through. Ron had brought his GPS unit and had set a waypoint where we started. He had gotten it several years ago and still wasn’t familiar with all the things it could do. I always kidded him if we really needed it we would never find our way anywhere.
We soon arrived at the mill; it was built of rough hewn logs on a stone foundation. The large water wheel had been taken off and was under a lean to built on one side. Looking into the shed it looked like the sluice and all the parts were there. We went around to the other side and the door had a well worn rock walkway with plants spilling over the edges. Here and there they grew on the path where soil had filled low lying stones. As we approached the door, I was amazed to see detailed carvings showing the plants of the different grains they had milled there. . We fitted the key into the lock only to find it wouldn’t turn. Ron yelled “Hold on, Jeff gave me some stuff to squirt into the lock in case we had trouble.” as he ran back to the wagon and brought out a small old fashioned oil can, the kind with a little round base and a long tapering spout. He said “This is Charlie’s concoction, it will take a minute, I need to work it into the lock, and then I’ll put some on the key. Charlie said it has graphite and some other stuff to coat the old mechanism, then I’ll need to work the key back and forth.” he suited words to actions and in a few minutes you could here the lock click open. He squirted the hinges, and then the knob had to be similarly worked a little before the door popped open.
Inside we saw cobwebs hanging about and dust everywhere. Moving slowly into the shadowy room we looked around. We could see better once we got our flashlights on, and the old grist stone was still there although dusty. You could see little mouse or rat droppings on the floor and funny tracks in the dust. Suddenly Ron hollered “Snake, get out of here. Watch your step but head back outside. “Doralei and I started back to the door scared to death. My shirt got stuck, so I stopped to unhook it, and Doralei made it out the door. I had just gotten it unhooked and turn around. Right in front of me on the floor there was a black and tan snake. It was in a coil, with its head up and you could see the tail waving back and forth. RATTLER, I thought. I froze and just stared at the snake. Ron saw me freeze and headed my way. As he was rounding the large stone I realized it wasn’t a rattler, it was a rat snake. Ron was bringing his gun up to shoot it and I yelled at him “Don’t shoot, It’s not a rattler it’s a rat snake“. He thought I was yelling because the snake had managed to bite me. It was close but I managed to stop him before he had shot the snake. I pointed out it had no rattles, even though it mimicked a rattlers behavior it wasn’t poisonous and ate mainly mice and rats. As the snake crawled off Grant came back in to check on what happened and we had to convince him it was a Rat snake. Grant said, “When I grew up on the farm in Kansas, we had some around, it’s been so long since I saw one I thought rattlesnake when we saw it. When he crawled away, I just wanted to make sure we were safe and didn’t think past my first impression. I’ll go get Doralei so we can finish looking at the mill. We were able to make a good inspection and determine once the building was cleaned, and put back together we should be able to grind grain and maybe generate electricity
After we finished looking at everything in the building we noticed the sun had come out and everything was drying out. Doralei exclaimed, “Let’s have our picnic there along the stream. It’s so green and pretty here.“ On one side of the building there were some large rocks that were flat on top, Grant said, “I wonder if that is where they loaded and unloaded bags of grain when the mill was running.” as we walked over to take a look at it. The sun had already dried it the top off and since everywhere else was still wet we voted it the nicest place to have our picnic. We spread our cheese, crackers, sausage and fruits out and ate lunch.
I kept looking around feeling like someone was watching us. I wanted to invite them over to share our meal, but never found anyone. I asked Grant, “Did you see anyone around while we were eating? I kept feeling like someone was there. “He said, “I felt it also but didn’t see anyone either. Remind me to talk to everyone else when we get back to see if they’ve felt it. “We gathered our things, then returned to the ATV’s and headed back to camp. Before we were half way back we saw Big John coming our way. We all pulled up and shut off the engines to hear what he was doing, he said, “Lori’s mom and sister had gotten here, they had a scary time of it. Come on back and we’ll fill you in on what all happened. They’d come from Louisville, and almost didn’t get out of there. If they hadn’t known all the back roads I don’t think they’d have made it.”
When we arrived back at the farm house, Lori came out and said, “Mom and Faith have just eaten and they’re going to bath and take a nap. They left out Monday and what is usually few hours drive has taken them almost 3 days. Mom said she and Faith alternated driving and were able to find a place to stay. A lot of the roads are blocked going into the small towns and they were only allowed through because of we’ve driven it so often enough people recognized them. Still it took a lot out of both of them. I thank the Lord they made it here.”
Everyone seemed to be busy at chores, and I agreed to dust and sweep the bedrooms while Doralei volunteered for laundry duty. We were getting all the clothes and linens washed up. We wanted everything done before the people needing a place to stay arrived. We were setting up a thrift store for the farm. Everyone could get what they needed immediately, and then as things settled down they would contribute back with either extra labor or homemade items. Some of the ladies were going to have sewing bees for quilting, rag rug making, sewing clothes and lots other things we all would need. She found out Karen knew how to make pottery using a campfire so Bob had taken her out to look at the clay in the area.
When Faith awakened from her nap, Lori brought her in to meet everyone. We were all taking a much needed break, drinking iced tea and talking. Faith was quite a bit younger than Lori, being only 29. Lori had told her about finding the cave and being attacked by the dogs. Lori said, “That sounds like the cave Dave and I played in, we name them Twin Caves. That one was mine and the other one was Dave’s.” Lori said, “We only found one cave where is the other one?” Faith replied, “They connect through a larger chamber and Dave’s side comes out further along the cliff. The entrance on his side is harder to find. Next time someone goes out, I’d like to go and check it out. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there…………..Why what’s going on?” We were all staring at her and Karen realized we had alarmed her. She said, “Ron and Big John never even mentioned that it branched off into another cave. I would have thought they would have if they had found it. We’ll ask them when we catch up with them tonight. Last I heard Big John was out working on some of the machinery.”
We all needed to finish up with our chores and Faith joined right in. She was quite a bit younger than Lori, and was a hard worker. She started in on the bathrooms, scrubbing and taking stock of towels, washcloths, soap and shampoo. Also going through the medicine cabinets and linen closets and adding to the mass of washing being done. As I went by I heard her muttering, “Geez, I have to count everything and make a list? Has Lori fallen out of her tree?” She’ll learn I thought to myself.
We were beat by the time we had finished with the bedrooms. We did manage to prepare all of them for use. Faith finished the bathrooms except for the last few loads of towels. Each bathroom was partially stocked, and could accommodate several users. Doralei and Charlie had cooked up a huge meal and we called the men in from their various tasks and enjoyed a very good meal of fresh baked chicken, new potatoes, beans, biscuits and gravy. Doralei even had a healthier look. She enjoys household tasks, especially laying out a huge meal.
After we ate Karen asked Big John about the cave. He didn’t know about the other cave. Faith went into great detail on where it was and Ron explained all that was in the area she described was a pile of rocks. Big John wondered if they could have had a cave in. Faith didn’t think so and was ready to go out then to show them where it was. Lori said no after all those wild dogs we can only go in the daytime. It would be too dangerous at night. Faith agreed to wait, and only go with other people. We don’t know what might be out there and we want everyone to stay safe.
We were to have another meeting at the church and we all hurried to get ready to go. Once at the trailer the cat couldn’t wait to get close to Ron, she always loved the way he smelled if he had been out working and got sweaty. The more he had sweated the more she loved him. He got cat duty while I got the first shower. We were both soon ready and met everyone outside.
Once we were all together we split up to drive to the church. Everyone who had met last night was there again, and we discussed what supplies were needed in order to have a good harvest of needed food not only for us humans but also for the animals. As we were discussing added stock to the valley, Pastor Matthew arrived and advised us we would have several families coming to stay.
The Parker’s, Jerry and Christie, and their sons Gary 19 and Andy 17, owned the hardware store, and were staying there after their home was partially burned. They were loading up everything lock stock and barrel, and had salvaged a lot from their house and were planning to bring it also. Christie had told him even a little smoke damaged it was theirs. Since the store made deliveries they had a few delivery trucks they were going to use. He had a couple of trailers there they could use also if Big John would take his truck in and bring them back. Three were the shorter 40’ pups and one was a 53’ trailer. One of the 40’ pups they hadn’t even started unloading and another was partially unloaded. He was going to put that right back in and add more.
The Clayton’s Jacob and Marlie, hadn’t had any trouble yet, but lived not far from Jerry and Christie, and felt it was only a matter of time. Jacob worked in the grocery as a butcher and his hobby was working on a forge he had built. He had asked if it would be ok to pack that up. He enjoyed forging knives, but also enjoyed making other things out of iron. He had designed made and installed a beautiful wrought iron fence for their front yard and also had several people begging him to make them patio furniture like what he had made for themselves.
The Patterson’s, Jimmy and Kay, ran the orphans home. He admitted he had no idea how many children they cared for. Plus he was told they were adamant about bringing additional children they knew who were in the state run orphanage. They claimed they had met many of them at the small school they all attended. If any could take some of the children would be a blessing. They were both teachers and had the blessing of the school to bring as many school materials as they wanted. Since they were bringing most of the student body and the school would close after this year. They had some of the other teachers interested in coming also. They would help take care of the children and also help to teach. The principal would allow them to use the school buses to get moved in.
The Garret’s, Mick and his 3 sons Tom 30, Robert 29 and Davis 28, had a small herd of horses. All the horses were trained to pull a carriage or wagon. They hired out for carriage rides at different places during festivals and fairs. They also had a small taxidermy shop where they only stuffed and mounted animals but also tanned hides and made other things from the animals. They had an online store selling sinew, feathers, horns, bone beads, etc.
That’s all that wanted to come at this time. Now the daytime is ok, but I don’t want to be caught out after dark. The police are patrolling during the day, but from what I heard you wait a long time for help once night falls.
Several of the families volunteered for the children, even ones who didn’t have room for a family. We would bring all the ones in now that were coming we would have room at the farm. Also we would need all the help we could get for planting. Too much of the farm had been left fallow and would need to be plowed and soil broken up with as much organic material as possible added before it would be ready to plant. We needed to get it done soon.
As the meeting broke up, I found that Lori had another stack of lists. She already had a list of things needed for everyone on the farm. Now she needed to see what other people needed or had extra’s of and hopefully fill some of the gaps in supplies that way.
We headed home to get some rest. I told my husband Ron, “You know all this is really hard work. Reading about it on Frugal’s isn’t anything like having to live through it. I’m sore in places I didn’t know I had. I’m scared of what is coming and I’m scared we’ll make a mistake and that will be the end of us. Are we doing the right things? I wonder if somehow this is just a dream and I’ll wake up or if things will be back to normal soon and we’ll have gone through all this work only to find out we were wrong.” Ron patted me on the leg and said, “Honey, whatever happens we get through it together. If everything goes back to normal, we’ll have many stories to tell of what went on here. We never know what tomorrow brings so don’t beat yourself up on not knowing all the answer.”
We pulled in by our camper and as we were going in I felt that same feeling of being watched. I hurried in and pulled the door closed. “Did you feel like someone was watching us again?” I asked. He nodded and pulled the cell phone out. “I’ll call Big John, Jeff and Dad and let them know. Maybe they felt it to. At least we can all be careful tonight.” he said.
I began to clean out feed bowl for the cat then filling them back up. She was loudly proclaiming we had been neglectful and had fallen down on our job as her humans. We needed to give her a lot more attention. I got her comb out and rubbed her and combed her. Shedding was not fun for her or us. I had fur flying all over. I’d hate to see what we would have from a long hair cat.
The knock on the door startled me and sent the cat into a full scale retreat into the bedroom. She hid in the little space in the nights stand. All you could see were her eyes peering back. Ron had gone outside to have a chat with the other guys. I was bushed and got ready for bed. I was asleep long before he came back in.
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Up on the ridge, Tinker had just returning to their base camp. “What are the conditions down in the valley?” the Boomer asked. Tinker answered “Right now they are easy prey. I did hear them talking about bringing more people in from down around Somerset. They had a big meeting down at the church and sounds like we will be having a lot of traffic, more things being brought in along with new people arriving.” Tinker replied. Boomer nodded and walked off deep in thought. “Tell Sparks to keep a watch out, I’m going out to check on some things, you get some sleep.”
Faith woke up with a start. She heard someone moving about inside the house. She found her pepper spray in her purse; thank God, she had brought her purse up to her room last night. There was just enough light from the moon for her to see her way silently out the door. She thought the noise came from her brother Dave’s room. She silently moved down the hallway to see if anyone was in there. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest she could hardly breathe. Forcing herself to take slow steady breaths, she slowly pushed the door open. The next thing she new she was flat on the floor with a knife at her throat, and a figure dressed in black was holding her down.
“Cripes sis what are you doing sneaking around at night? I could have killed you.” Dave her brother whispered as he let her go. Faith glared at him and hissed back “And just what in the tarnation do you think your doing? You’re supposed to be God knows where, doing God knows what. And why didn’t you let anyone know you were here? Sneaking around scaring the wits out of me.” Dave looked around sheepishly and replied, “Well……..we followed you and Mom from Louisville to make sure you arrived here safe. And…well…..thought we would skip letting anyone know we were about just yet. This way we can keep an eye out for everyone and make sure, no one comes in messing with you or Mom. Do you know where I can find the keys to my motorcycle? I was looking for them when you sneaked in.” Faith sighed and turned to leave, “I’ve got them, hold on and I’ll get them.”
When Faith returned a few minutes later she was dressed and slung over one shoulder was a small backpack. “Where do you think you are going?” Dave asked. “I’m not going anywhere, WE are going outside so I can give you something I bought for you, and then WE are going to sit down and talk.” Faith replied. Dave gave her a long silent look, and then turned back to what he was doing. “OK, hold up a minute, I need to get a couple of things here.” he said as he started dumping stuff in a pack leaning against the side of the bed.
They left the house together and Faith led the way to the old barn. I have two of those prepaid cell phones, one for you and one for me. No one else has the number of these things, in fact the numbers are in memory as ‘other phone‘. At the time, I wanted only to stay in touch. Now you can call me if you need anything and if I need anything, I will call you. With that, Faith pulled the cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to Dave. “Well why come all the way out here to give me this if you had it while we were in the house?” Dave asked. “Because I didn’t want to argue with you and wake everyone up, and I’m going back with you to your little camp to see where you’re staying.” Faith replied.
Faith couldn’t convince Dave to let her return with him but reluctantly drew her a map to where they almost had camped. He would make sure to check it often in case she showed up. He would have to make it look like he was camped there. Then he slowly made his way back up to the ridge.
He and seven other friends had taken 60 days leave to check on family, since Dave was the only one with any close family; they all came home with him. They were all Navy Seals and wanted to keep his family safe. They had been home with him to the farm several times on leave. They sometimes needed the time to get away and he and his friends would come out and do a little hunting and fishing to unwind. They all knew the valley well and wanted to make sure everyone in it stayed safe. Doc had moved there after coming out several times with Dave and friends. He retired after he was injured on his last mission. He had liked the valley so well, he and his wife decided to move there permanently.
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This morning it started out drizzling rain. According to the radio, the clouds would clear off by lunch, and the rest of the day would be sunny and clear. The men all started unloading the trailer of the Rainy Daze supplies loaded in it. Loading it seemed so long ago now, when it was only last week we had loaded the last things in it. We were taking Big Johns truck and the trailer we were emptying, and were going to stay overnight with one of the families we would be moving back here. I hope that the next day we would start shuttling trailers back to the valley. Several of our neighbors in the valley would be available to unload each trailer as it arrived, and then we would return it to town.
We all packed a bag with changes of clothes and sleeping bags for our nights staying in town. All too soon, it seemed it was time to go. We loaded up in Big Johns truck with Mr. Howard and Grant in Grant’s big pick up truck; Karen, Amy and I were the only females going and had charge of filling as much of Lori’s lists as we could. We had very explicit instructions on what was top priority. She had been on the phone several times with the church members moving to the valley, and they had all been shopping which had helped us fill our lists.
Grant had some business in town and so did another neighbor, Mr. Howard. They would be spending the night with us and would help us find as much on our lists as they could. Lori was going to watch his mentally retarded grandson while he was away in town. Timmy was 28 but mentally about eight. He was a big strong boy and reminded me of the young bartender/helper from the TV show Cheers. He proudly told everyone he would be busy picking greens for supper and pointed out all the edible plants around the area.
Big John had found a local company that had tractors and trailers, they were day cabs, meaning they did not have the bunk in the back and should be easier to bring down the road. The owner was looking for a good place to keep them until things settled down, so had agreed to let us take them until he returned from his country place. We were to meet him at his yard and take them from there. Once we had taken the first few loads back, we could double up on returns and that would enable the people at the farm to shuttle trailers in an out for unloading. He had also taken several of the trailers the families that were moving, where we would pick them up already loaded.
The drive in was uneventful, and beautiful scenery. The road twisted some and went through several areas with steep drop offs. We concentrated on remembering the way out since we would return the next day. Everyone had a map of the area, along with directions to return several different ways.
Being armed, we wondered about our new neighbors reactions to all the guns. Lori had informed us we would have additional people who wanted to join us. We had her permission to deny them if we didn’t think they would be make neighbors. We agreed to call and discuss everything once we had met with them.
We were going to split up, Karen and Bob were going to stay with the Garrets and Big John and Amy were staying in the truck next to the Garret‘s house. Grant, Mr. Howard, Ron and I would stay with the Claytons; I think Ron was interested in discussing knife forging with him.
Just before we arrived, Ron and I joined Grant and Mr. Howard in the pick up. Bob and Karen stayed in the truck since Big John could drive his truck right up to the Garret’s place. He had room where he loaded all the trucks and trailers for moving the horses and carriages to the various fairs and other places they traveled to put on the carriage rides.
When we arrived at the Clayton’s, we were relieved to see not only were they carrying pistols but they were also carrying rifles. Some of their friends were over who were also armed. Their names were Gunny and Irene Tolleson; I learned during the introductions. Gunny was in a wheel chair and my first thought was of Tired Old Man, as I chuckled a little at my fanciful thoughts, he asked me what was so funny. As I explained, he chortled and said, “What would you say if I told you I called my wheelchair Selena?” and at the look on my face, he just howled. Said he was on Frugal’s website too and TOM was one of his favorite authors. He liked all the information he put in his stories and how he was so particular about his research. In addition, he sometimes felt so much a part of his stories since he was in much the same shape as TOM wrote about.
We talked about all the different stories we had read their, when I noticed we had a couple of anxious people watching us wondering if we would now let them come to the valley. I excused myself a few minutes to use the facilities, but also to call Lori, she agreed they both would be welcome after I explained they had been on Frugal‘s a while and were comfortable with firearms.
When I returned and had their attention. I asked them “When can you be packed?” You could see the relief in their eyes. I told them, “We wanted to be sure not to bring anyone in who we felt couldn’t or wouldn’t pull their weight.” Irene asked, “Gunny’s in a wheelchair and can’t do heavy work, and I can’t either. We haven’t even given you a good reason to welcome us. Why would you just welcome us?” I explained we wanted people who were of good moral fiber and not someone who wouldn’t try to help. We can’t all do everything, but each contributes in their own way. Moreover, the knowledge your husband has on several different subjects may be essential. Nevertheless, most important of all you are ready to defend yourselves and your neighbors. We think that will be important. I could tell that by the way you handle your guns that you know what to do with them. The fact you were here armed told me you would protect your neighbors, and the fact that Gunny knew so much about Frugal’s I would expect he has been on for some time, and if I don’t miss my guess you have done a lot in preparations.”
Irene said, “You’re right on all of that, he does have lots of information in his thick skull, and we do have a lot of preparations at home. I think now would be a good time to explain we will need help to get loaded up. The Garrets have offered to help, but we’ll need more help than they can give. Gunny not only has a little gunsmithing workshop, but also reloads and has lots of ammunition, supplies and reloading stuff. We want to take as much as you are willing to carry. In addition, I have my beehives, beekeeper equipment and other farm stuff. “
I was delighted with what they would bring and called Lori back and told here. She said, “I’ll ask some of the people here in the valley if they would help and they can ride back with whoever brings back the first of the trailers. The Garrets have a family over that Big John wants to move back also. They are the Phillips, Gary, his wife Shannon, and their 2 boys Nick 15 and James 13. He is with the Electric Company and can put all sorts of things together for electricity. His wife Shannon works at a nursery and she thinks we can get many of the plants we want there. The owner will be leaving and wants to sell as much as she can quickly.”
The sheriff arrived just as I hung up the phone, wanting to make sure everyone was all right. He had extra patrols in the area that had seen the two vehicles arrive. I explained who we were and he explained, “I don’t know how long we will be able to protect this area. My deputies are spread pretty thin right now; but since one of our deputies lives out here, we try to keep a watch out. When the Patterson’s place burned, we were caught off guard and were unable to prevent it. You have any room for another family out where these people are moving?” Ron saved the day when he came right out and asked him “What kind of people are they? Do they belong to a church? We started this out to bring other church people into the valley for safety from the gangs. We can’t do this for just everyone.” The sheriff gave Ron a long look. He finally came to a decision, and said “Paul and Naomi Gunderson are good people; Paul was raised until the age of 10 as Amish. His family had been expelled from the Amish community when his father protected his mother from an attack by some local youths. He grew up wanting to protect women and children, which led him to becoming a deputy. They still have many old fashioned ways. His wife was his childhood sweetheart who agreed to leave the Amish community to marry him. I would be glad to ask them to come and meet you.” We all agreed and he said he would bring them over after supper.
After he had left, Ron and I asked about this family and they all said they didn’t know them to well. From what they had accomplished since they had moved in, it appeared they were hard workers. Gunny said he hadn’t even known Paul was a deputy; he was soft spoken and had none of the arrogance that many of the deputies seemed to possess. After a discussion of what they knew, we decided to wait until we met them. I called Big John and Lori and everyone agreed it was up to what Ron and I decided.
Along with what we brought and what the Clayton’s had cooked we had a huge supper, soon after the Gunderson’s and the sheriff arrived. They were both young, in their twenties it seemed. Both were dressed very plainly, Paul had a firm handshake and Naomi stayed by his side. She was still wearing plain attire and had on a simple dress that was long by modern standards but I thought was shorter than what she would have worn if she had stayed with the Amish. I asked her what kind of things she took care of around the house. Shyly she answered, “I sew all our clothes with a singer sewing machine we found at an auction, it has a treadle and is so much faster than sewing by hand. I make our own soap, and take care of our milk cow and hens. I also make have a new stove, which has a large oven. We grow everything we eat and I grind the wheat and the corn for baking. We buy a few spices and other things but everything else I make. I know how to run a house without any electricity since that is how I grew up.” Paul added, “I built our house from trees I cut and cured, I also grew up without many of modern things in our house. Even though my family left the community we still did used many of the old ways.”
Ron and I excused ourselves and went outside to call Lori, she said yes of course, she remembered when his family moved into the area, and they would be welcome. Ron and I went back inside and gave them the news. I asked “What kind of help will you need to get packed and how much many trailers will you need?” He was surprised when they were accepted so quickly and said, “We’ll have to get packing, and organizing to move. We will need help loading, and someway to bring the animals.” I called Big John who asked the Garrets if they would help with the animals. They agreed they would be able to use their trailers to move them. He knew what animals they had and even had cages for their chickens and could help with the bunnies they grew for meat also.
Before everyone went home, we joined in prayer. “Dear Lord, lead us to live the Christian faith, and follow your plan for our lives. Watch over us in the days to come, and keep us under your wing of protection. In Jesus name, we pray. “
They next few days were very hurried, Grant and Mr. Howard, or Howie as he said he was always called, were off on errands together several times. They were also somehow getting some good deals on some of our necessities. Where they came up with almost a whole trailer of toilet paper and feminine products I don’t know. Something about the man we were getting the trucks and trailers from, and that he couldn’t use it all and had no way to deliver any of it.
We had almost a whole nursery full of plants, tools, seeds, fertilizer, and other planting paraphernalia to fill another whole trailer. They came back with wheat grinders from the health food store along with lots of wheat berries, beans, salt, and other things we could not easily replace. They must have cleaned out the better clothes at Goodwill. In addition, they had arranged the delivery of every large storage shed they could find. I found out after many questions that Grant felt it was his contribution to stay in the valley.
Howie as I now called Mr. Howard was also going to set it up that several of us could move over to his farm. He wanted more people there to help with taking care of Tim, his grandson. Since it was just the two of them, they had lots of room. He was worried that if anything happened to him, Tim would not have a family. “My grandson will never be able to live without someone being there to help him. I’m getting old and now with the way things are I don’t know how much longer I will have, I have cancer and without being able to go in for treatment, the docs don’t know how long I have left. Would you be willing to take care of Tim if anything happens to me?” he said. Solemnly I told him, “If that is what you want I will treat Tim as my own. I will make sure he always has someone who will take him in as a family member.”
We had everyone moved to the valley and took a few days to get everyone settled. Grant, Doralei, Big John, Amy and I moved over to Howie’s farm and Doralei, Amy and I began getting everything arranged. Tim rolled his eyes at us scrubbing and cleaning everything, but lent a hand. He was good at making sure he understood what you wanted him to do then would patiently work his way through the chore. With his strong back and steady patience, he helped the work go faster than we thought was possible. Howie showed everything on the farm to Ron, Grant and Big John. They then started work on all the repairs Howie hadn’t been able to accomplish by himself.
On Monday, we all met again at the church and everyone had a few more things we felt we needed. We set up a convoy to go into town to get as much as we could find. At the farm, we needed cloth, sheets, blankets, and all sorts of little things. In all we would take, several of the trucks to load, and Grant and Howie would again go in the pick up with a trailer for their special project.
We had good luck and found lots of linens at the Goodwill, and plenty of cloth at a fabric store the owner was closing until things settled down. We were also able to get many notions for sewing like buttons and zippers. Our big find were two singer treadle sewing machines on consignment there. We were able to buy both of them. We also went to an antique store down the street and were able to find several other useful items. A reproduction wringer washer, a butter churn, some butter molds, candle making equipment, and an assortment of other items.
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