Avenging Home (12 page)

“I was thinking of dumping it out there where the hogs could get to it. Let them get what they want off it, and the buzzards will finish what they leave.”

“Is that a good idea? We’re going to be eating them one day,” Danny said.

“Ain’t going to hurt us none. Let ‘em have it,” Sarge said as Thad left to get the tractor.

Little Bit was talking about the pigs eating the gator. She thought it was kind of funny because a gator would usually eat a pig. Now it was the other way around.

“Is that enough teeth for you, missy?” Sarge asked as he dropped another tooth on the pile.

She smiled. “Yes. Thank you, mister Sarge.”

Danny went into the shed and came out with an old peanut butter jar. “Here, we’ll put them in this until we think of something to do with them.”

“Need to dry them out, Danny,” Sarge said.

“Yeah they’re kinda stinky,” Little Bit added.

Hearing the banging again, Sarge asked, “What’s all that infernal banging?”

“Oh, Dalton made himself a forge. He’s over there hammering out tomahawks,” I said.

Sarge’s bushy eyebrows shot up. “Really? A forge, you say?”

“Yeah. It’s quite the setup. Actually pretty impressive.”

“He’s making tomahawks?” Danny asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. He’s got some old axe heads over there that he’s reforming into hawks. They look pretty good too. He’s got a whole operation set up over there. He’s making charcoal and using that to fire the forge.”

“I got to see this,” Sarge said. “If you boys got this, I’m going over to check it out.”

“We got it. When Thad gets back with that tractor, I’m going over with him to let the hogs out,” I said.

“I wanna go watch the pigs eat the gator!” Little Bit shouted.

Rubbing her head, I said, “You can come.”

“I’ll see you boys at supper,” Sarge said as he walked off.

When Thad returned with the tractor, Danny and I wrestled what was left of Sarge’s lizard into the bucket. Danny said he wanted to go in and check on the kids and left us. Little Bit wanted to go along, and Thad said she could ride in his lap, so I hoisted her up to him. Once she was settled in, I straddled the three-point hitch, and held onto the headache bar. Little Bit thought she was a big shot because Thad let her steer the machine down the dirt road.

Once at his place, I hopped off as he pulled up to the gate that led into the pasture, and opened it. He pulled through and drove towards the back of the field near where the new wire was strung, and he dumped the load. While he was doing that, I let the hogs out. They were very happy to get out of the barn. They took off running as if the barn were trying to eat them. I walked out to where Thad and Little Bit were, following the pigs.

As I walked up, Thad pointed to a sow. “That one’s about to drop, like today or tomorrow.”

Pointing to another, I added, “That one too. We’ll be covered up in piglets soon.”

Little Bit squealed. “I can’t wait for the babies!” Looking up at me, she asked, “Can I have one as a pet?”

Smiling, I said, “We’ll see.”

“Aw, Come on, Daddy. You know Mom would like it too. We could house train it and everything!”

Thad started to laugh and chimed in. “Yeah. Come on, Dad. It’ll be house-trained and everything.”

With a glaring smirk, I replied, “You’re not helping.”

Thad nodded. “I know.” And he broke out into that deep laugh.

“Look. They’re sniffing the gator but they aren’t eating it,” Little Bit said. The pigs were cautiously approaching the carcass and sniffing at it, but not one had yet touched it.

“They probably recognize it as some kind of predator,” Thad said.

“Give ‘em a day. I say they’ll eat it,” I said.

“We need to tend to something in a bit, over there across the road from Danny’s house.”

I nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll come down in a bit,” Thad said.

Grabbing Little Bit by the shoulder, I said, “Come on, kiddo. We gotta head home and check on your mom and sister.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you at supper, Thad.”

He nodded. “I think after supper we need to take a moment out at Brandy and Tyler’s grave.”

It wasn’t a happy thought, but certainly one we should address. It was an all too frequently occurring event, standing by the grave of fallen friends.

“We should,” I said with a nod as I turned to walk away with Little Bit in tow.

Danny found Bobbie in the house with the kids. They were sitting on the couch together, curled up tight beside her and fast asleep. He looked at her and smiled. Bobbie ran her hand through Edie’s hair and smiled as well.

“How are they doing?” Danny whispered.

“They’re ok. They seem tired, exhausted. If they’re not sleeping, they’re eating. They don’t seem to fill up. Kay’s been feeding them fresh bread all day.”

Danny looked around. “Where is she?”

Pointing to the downstairs bedroom door, she said,” Taking a nap.”

Danny eyed the place more carefully. “I think you guys are all onto something here. Think I’ll join you.” He sat down into a recliner that he’d salvaged from one of the nearby houses. It wasn’t his old one, but it was a decent replacement. Grabbing the handle on the side, he rocked back and stretched his feet out. The sound woke little Jace up. He sat up and rubbed his eyes and looked around. Seeing Danny, he climbed down off the couch and walked over to him. Danny helped the little boy into his lap where he quickly made himself comfortable and was asleep almost instantly. Danny brushed hair from the boy’s face as he broke out into a smile.

While the events leading to this little union were tragic, they were not without some happiness. The kids were still very young, and Danny promised himself there and then to raise the two children as his own, something he’d always wanted. Sad though it was to happen this way, he would do his best to make the most of the situation. For the kids and himself. He glanced over at Bobbie and saw she’d drifted off to sleep as well. Laying his head back, he closed his eyes and soon joined them.

Taylor was in the living room with Mel when we came in the door. She looked up and smiled halfheartedly. “What’s up, kiddo?” I asked.

“I’m worried about Jamie. Have you heard anything?”

“No, not yet. But I have to go to town tomorrow. I’ll check on her then.”

She perked up a little at that. “Can I come?”

Mel started to say something. I knew what it would be, so I cut her off. “Not yet. You’re not strong enough for that yet. Give it some time and you’ll get back to normal.”

Her shoulders dropped. “It’s just sitting in the truck. I can do that.”

“Unless something happens. I don’t want you out there and something goes wrong and you’re not fully mobile.”

Mel gripped her leg. “We just don’t want you to get hurt again, sweetie.”

Still moping, she replied, “I know.”

Moving closer to her, I stuck my hand out. “Look, as soon as you’re back up to speed, I’ll get you out of here and take you for a ride. Deal?”

She reached out and gave my hand a perfunctory brush. “Deal.”

Little Bit came out of her room with a checkerboard and set it on the coffee table. “Taylor, you wanna play checkers?”

Taylor reached out and pulled the table closer to the couch. “Sure, why not.”

I went to the kitchen for a glass of tea. Mel came in as I was taking a long drink.

“What are you doing for the rest of the day?” She asked.

“I’m going to take some of the gator meat over to Gina and Dylan. They can use it, and will probably trade us some veggies for it. What are you guys up to?”

“Nothing really. Can I come with you?”

Setting the cup down, I smiled and said, “Hey baby, you wanna go for a ride in my new car?”

“Yeah, I’d like to get out of here for a while.”

I looked into the living room. “You think they’ll be alright?”

“We aren’t going to be gone long, are we?”

“No. Just go over there and come back,” I said.

“They’ll be fine. They’re playing checkers.”

“Alright then. Let’s take a ride. Let me go over and get some of the meat, and I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be waiting when you get back.”

I went over to Danny’s and tapped on the door before walking in. They were stretched out snoozing. Danny looked up and I whispered what I was doing. He gave me a thumbs up, and I went to the kitchen and pulled the meat out of the small fridge. There was quite a lot, and I took a few pounds and placed it in a double plastic grocery bag. Funny, that even now the bags were still around. With my trade goods in hand, I tiptoed out and quietly closed the door.

Mel was out by the Suburban when I got there and asked what Danny and Bobbie were doing. I told her they were napping with the kids.

“That’s good. It’ll be as good for them as for those two poor kids,” she said.

“Yeah. Danny’s always wanted kids.”

“Even Bobbie is happy. She was doing Edie’s hair earlier when we were over there.”

We pulled out onto the road and headed towards the bunker. The girls were walking down the road with Aric and I stopped beside them. “What you guys up to?”

“Nothing. Sarge and Dalton took over, so we’re going to take a break,” Jess said.

“Where are you guys going?” Lee Ann asked.

“To trade some meat for some veggies,” I said.

“Can I come?”

“Sure, hop in.”

She looked at the group. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Ok,” Fred said and looked at Aric. “I think we’re going to take a nap.”

Lee Ann got in and we headed off. Mel spun around in her seat. “You alright?”

Lee Ann smiled. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Have you met Gina before?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You’ll like them. Both of you will. They’re good people,” I said.

Once out on Hwy 19, I decided to go up to the store and see what was going on there. Plus, I thought Mel and Lee Ann would enjoy getting out and browsing the offerings. As we drove, we passed a couple pulling a wagon down the road. They waved as we passed, and Mel waved back. She looked at the wagon and asked, “Where are they going?”

People could still be seen walking down the road. Though it was different now. We didn’t see so many looking like refugees. The people we saw now looked more like they were out trying to make a living in one way or another. They didn’t have the same hopeless look to them, and they moved with some semblance of purpose. It was a nice change.

“Probably the same place we are,” I replied.

“Where are we going?” Lee Ann asked.

“Up to the Kangaroo store. Thought we would check out the market and see what’s going on.”

“Oh really! I haven’t been there before,” Mel said.

We pulled into the parking lot and parked, and got out to check the trade offerings. I was seeing a change in what people were offering, and mentioned it to Mel. More actually useable items were being offered up. Lots of food items in various forms were on display. Clothes, shoes and boots were popular items, as well as hand tools. Without electricity, they were the only really useful items for the kind of work now common.

“What did they have before?” Mel asked.

“You name it. Lots of electronics. Lots of stuff that was valuable before, but is useless now.”

“Hey, Dad. Look, they have butter,” Lee Ann said.

“Where?” Mel asked.

Lee Ann pointed to a table, and we walked over. A couple in their late fifties I guessed had a table set up with jars of butter and farmer’s cheese, honey and other food stuffs. Mel quickly picked one of the jars up and inspected it.

“That’s fresh honey butter.” The woman said.

“What kind of cows do you have?” Mel asked.

“We’ve got a small herd of Jerseys.”

“How have you managed to keep them?” I asked.

“We’re kind of out in the boonies. But me and my son keep watch on them. The dogs help too,” the man replied.

“You’re lucky. Anyone with livestock has an advantage now.”

“Yeah, but it’s a lot of work. We have to move them around to graze and bring them in to milk. I’ve got fields in hay that I’m going to have to put up by hand. It’s a huge task,” he emphasized.

“How much is the butter?” Mel asked.

“Well, that depends. What’cha trading?” The woman asked.

Mel looked at me. I smiled. “How about a couple pounds of fresh gator meat for a jar of butter and some cheese.”

“Gator meat, you say?” The man asked.

“Yeah, we just butchered it.”

Rubbing his chin, the man said, “Let me see it.”

I went to the truck and separated the doubled grocery bags, then split the meat into the two bags and carried it back over to the man. Opening the bag, I showed him the cubed meat. He inspected it and said, “That works for me. A change in diet is always nice.”