Walkers (Book 1): The Beginning (11 page)

     "What ya doin down there Duke"  He jerked up and banged his head on the underneath of the table.

    "Dammit JD!"

    "Daddy" admonished Mandy.

     "Sorry"  he patted Mandy's leg.

     He wiggled his way from under the table, then sat rubbing his head.

     "Randy said something about you showing me something".  I tried not to smile, but he looked so cute.

     "If you say I look cute I'll kick you in the shins".  He said rubbing his head.

     "Daddy, that's not nice" Mandy came crawling out from under the table behind him.

     Duke hung his head then looked at me and shrugged.

     "My apologies, JD.  I don't know where my manners are."  I could tell he wanted to say more, but because of this little girl he adored more than life, he would mind his manners.  He turned toward a table where a miniature, six foot,  gray helicopter sat. Next to it was some sort of remote control device.

     "It's a stealth, attack, remote controled helicopter.  It has three directional remote controls with built-in gyro stability and a LED light built into the nose for flying at night."  He said proudly.

     "Gyro?"

    "Yea, it keeps it from spinning in flight.  Easier to manage".

     He actually pet the damned thing. 

     "I have a miniature camera strapped to the bottom of it.  I've been working on it for a while.  The camera kept knocking it off kilter so I removed the missles and launcher and then taped a pencil on it to balance it."

      "Well, maybe when the guys get back, you can give us a demonstration."

     "Yea, that's what I thought to.  They should be pulling in real soon.  Where did Randy and Lacy head off to?"

     "They went to check the hillside where we were earlier.  Sarah felt I needed to stay home".  I then brought my hands out from behind my back so he could see the way they were wrapped in guaze.  "She thought I had done enough damage for one day."

     "Wow,"  he whistled,  "I have to say, you sure know how to peel the skin off."

     "Yea, well, we carry ropes with knots in them from now on. Make climbing with them easier on the hands and faster."

     "Or wear gloves, Mason brought back a whole case of em last time"

     I wanted to growl in frustration, but Mandy had started doing it and we were trying to break her of it.  The clicking of nails on the floor alerted us to Bubba, and when I saw him I gasped.  He had a bright scarf wrapped around him from his head to his belly and was hunched in the middle with his tail between his legs.  

     Duke looked at Mandy and she quickly picked him up.

     "He wanted to look nice for when Howard gets back and he said it was ok to put it on him.  Doesn't he look cute.?"

     "What do you think Howard is gonna say when he sees him?"

     Mandy sighed then kissed Bubba and started removing the scarf.  When she put him down he was gone in a minute to parts unknown.  The clicking of his nails gradually silenced.  He'd come out when Howard got home.

     Just then Randy and Lacy came flying in the house. 

     "Wait till we show you what we found.  Would you download these pics for us Duke?"  Duke took the camera and downloaded the pictures.  In seconds we saw row after row of hay bales. Hundreds of them were stacked one on the another.  Beside the bales were rows and rows of stacked, split wood.  There was tarps on most of it but you could see where the wind had torn some of em off.  I smiled, happier than I'd been in a long time.  Winter didn't look so bleak after all.

     "Whoo who!"  I jumped up and punched the air. "We can feed the cow and build a fire at the same time"  I grabbed Mandy and we danced around the room.  

     "Randy, any chance I could get you to drive me to the top of the mountain?  I want to put up a camera and a signal booster on the cell phone tower".

     Randy shrugged and said "Why not"  then he leaned over and kissed Lacy and brushed her hair from her forehead.  Lacy sat at the table to watch the monitors while Mandy went in search of Sarah.  I wandered outside just as the mule turned the corner and was gone.  I walked around the deck and sat in a rocking chair looking up at the craggy, snow capped mountains in the distance.  For just a minute the aches and pains of the day disappeared and the cool, clean air filled my lungs with contentment.

     I was resting my eyes with Mason popped into my head
Hey smartypants, we're approaching the gate, ok to come in? 
I thought back at him
yea, mudcat, come on in. 
I felt his smile and heard the sound of semi's gearing down to come around the bend.  There were three this time and only one was different.  They had planned to pick a different semi since the last one was low on fuel and it was simpler than trying to fuel one up.  One trailer pulled a pup and I got curious.

      Mason stopped short when he saw my bandaged hands and the limp but didn't say anything.  Some men are so smart.  Flynne however, had a lot to learn.  "Wow, been sliding headfirst down gravel roads again?"  I looked at Mason but he'd turned to say something to Howard who had just managed to catch Bubba when he launched himself at him.   I raised my eyebrows at Flynne and limped down the steps to peek into one of the trailers. 

     The trailer pulling the pup held another wind generator, and the pup contained pallets of large car type batteries, and extra parts for the wind generator.  The next trailer held bolts of cloth (Sarah and her treadle sewing machine) palletts of plastic and tape (for the windows for winter) and one marked "Duke".  The third trailer was food stuffs and odds and ends.  Our chance of making it throught the winter was looking better all the time.

     I smiled at Mason before limping back to the rocking chair.

    " Where is everyone?"  Flynne asked leaning against the rail.

     "Randy took Duke up to the mountain top to install a booster of some kind and a camera, they should be heading back about now.  Lacy is in the lodge somewhere and Sarah..." 

     "...is right here", she said as she sat in the other chair.  "Dinner will be ready to eat as soon as you all clean up."

     "Made from that poor widdle deer Jadee kilts the other day"  Mandy said from the swing Flynne had hung from the big shade tree.  "I ain't eatin it".  She shook her head just in case anyone misunderstood her.

     "You mean killed, Mandy.  Come along and get washed up."

     "Howard, did ya bring something back for me?"

     "Might have, Munchkin, but you have to eat supper first.  Mama's word is law around here.  Come on Bubba old man, lets find us some grub"

     I motioned the guys along and we started into the lodge when Duke and Randy pulled up. 

     "Hey guys, wait till I show you my new toy."

    "That could mean just about anything coming from you Duke." Mason said.  He waited on the porch for them to catch up while I went on inside.  Flynne followed me.

     "You gonna tell us what happened while we were gone or not?"

     "I'm gonna tell it just once so you can wait till dinner or let someone else tell you."

     "Do I get to feed you since you're handicapped?"

     I whirled around and gave him the finger but the way my hands were wrapped kinda lessened the effect.  Still he got the idea and went to the kitchen sink to wash up with a smile on his face.

     I told the story of the ravine walker with unwanted help from Lacy.  Mason got redder and redder but never said anything.  He retired to the porch rocking chair.  I felt him in my head but he didn't say anything there either.

     After an exhausting time of trying to get Mandy to eat more than a salad we retired to the main room to hear how the trip went.  After that we all went outside to watch Duke's new toy perform.  He explained the benefits of being able to see around a curve or on the other side of a building.  Then he told everyone about the camera and booster he installed and how the booster would let us hear things miles away.

       Howard disappeared for a few minutes, reappearing with a large box.  Inside were several dozen dvd's of movies in every genre.  Mandy was over the moon and jabbered non-stop until we got the dvd player hooked up and the movie going. She was staring at the tv the last I saw her.

     Mid way through a movie I went outside and met Flynne coming from around the back.

     "I tied several knots in a sturdy rope and put it and several pairs of leather gloves in the box behind the seat of the mule."

     "Thanks, meat head."  He smiled, nodded and said good night.

                                                                     
CHAPTER 11

     I've been secretly compiling a list. Not just any old list. No sir, not me. A Christmas list. I'm going on our next trip to town, although no one knew that yet. It couldn't be helped, I needed some personal things anyway and I'm going. The guys have been putting me off every single time they went into town with some reason or another. I can drive a semi so...No more. I am going. End of story.

     I wish Duke could go but he can't drive a semi and wouldn't be much help with the picking and choosing of items. Sarah and Lacy seemed to be content to sit here. I'm just afraid after a very long winter they will be nuts or drive the rest of us crazy. I think he needs to get out of the lodge but I can't for the life of me figure out a way.

     Winter was fast approaching and we needed to get in at least one more run. The fence was nearly done and a wooden corral was built for Casey the cow (Mandy named her). Hay was restacked to the north of the corral for a wind break and the wood was restacked all over the wraparound porch. Wood was up to the bottom of the windows and up each sideabout 6 feet. We still had enough to stack on the decks between the rails.

     We had five wind turbines running with extra batteries and parts and a trailer full of more parts. Duke believes in being prepared. There were water pump parts, two extra water heaters and several electric heaters for individual uses and electric stock water heaters also for the cow, hogs and chickens.

     The clinic had been moved to Howard’s room. Since it had an attached library and bath, he graciously gave it up to move into Randy's old room. The clinic held a nice exam table, heart monitors, iv drips, cabinets of antibiotics, pain meds, you name it we had it and was learning how to operate it. We learned to take blood pressures, temperatures, give injections and stitch cuts. Our medical library was pretty good with diagnostic dictionaries so we could look up the big words. I sincerely hoped we never had to use it. We even had a small area for animals like Bubba.

     The freezer was stocked with venison, chicken and pork. Flynn and Mason ran into a small herd of wild hogs and we spent several long days processing meat. The survival books gave ideas on how to render fat, Yuk. We had three live hogs in a small wooden corral we were planning to fatten up. I gave the livestock over to Randy's gentle touch and he seemed to flourish.

     The trailer fence was finished with a steel reinforced, solar powered, electrified, remote controlled gate. If anyone tried to climb over it or move it they would be fried. Another one of Dukes inventions. He installed so many cameras that the monitors had to be numbered to keep up with them. He knew what was where and you knew better than to touch anything. He was the one who found some deer on the other side of the mountain with his helicopter. Took some nice pictures with it to, of which we haven't heard the end of yet.

     I took everyone aside individually and asked if they wanted to pick up something for someone for Christmas and to make a list. So far, I had a list from everyone but Mason. Even Mandy got in on the act. Asking for a pretty sweater for mama and a ball cap made with Hawaiian material for daddy.

     I'd checked in the attic and found tons of Christmas decorations and wrapping paper. So all I had to pick up was tape. We used a lot of tape. Lacy and I had already picked out the tree so all I needed to do was go shopping.

     We had a snowstorm roar through for two days and I thought I was too late, but the sun came out and melted everything and warmed up nicely. The guys got together and started planning a trip for the next day. I pulled up a chair, sat and smiled at them. A collective sigh arose and I steeled myself for the fight ahead.

     Before anyone had a chance to say anything I blurted out "I'm going if I have to take the RV" It was mine so I knew they couldn't stop me. They knew it to.

     "Ok" Mason said, throwing up his hands. The others just smiled and I knew they had planned to let me go before I had opened my mouth. Smart asses!! I'll show them.

      I was waiting on the porch in the rocking chair early the next morning. Sipping coffee from a travel mug, I admired the view, slowly rocking, waiting for someone to come out. I was too excited to eat anything but I knew the others would, if for no other reason than to piss me off. Wrong! Nothing was going to upset me today.

     Flynn came out first with his travel mug and leaned against the railing looking at the sunrise.

     "Sure is pretty here". He said.

     "Yep"

     "Prettiest place I've ever been"

     "Uh, huh".

     "Hate to leave, it's so pretty".

     "We leaving or are ya gonna talk all day" said Mason as he barreled out the door in front of Howard. Randy was watching the lodge with Duke and Lacy. We were planning to be back tonight, so I had my racing shoes on. We piled into the semis, me in the truck with Howard. I noticed that Mason and Flynn hesitated like they wanted to say something, then got in their own rigs. Howard seemed surprised at first, then just grinned as we waited for the air in the tanks to build up.

     Duke signaled that all the explosive devices were disabled and the gate was opening so we pulled out. I was so excited that I started taking pictures of everything. When we hit the interstate I was surprised to see most of the traffic roadblocks were cleared and we had a straight shot to town.