Beyond the New Horizon

by Christine Conaway

  “We may be grateful that she did. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to get one of them.”

  “Send John in as soon as you guys get done talking please.”

  “We’re done now, I’ll ask him to come in.”

  Journey sat on the edge of John’s cot, cuddling Nathan.

  “Does Mary seem a little disconnected to you?” She hadn’t seen her and how she reacted to Nathan the past two days, but before that, Gina had wondered at Mary’s treatment of the baby. She took good care of him, seeing to his immediate needs, but she didn’t spend time holding or cuddling him.

  “When no one is here, she holds him and cries. I think she knows in her heart that he is in dire straights, and she may be trying to deal with the reality, that he could very well die. She’s real fragile right now.”

  “I can see that, and how can you blame her? First, the shit hits the fan, her house is burned down practically around her, she has her children, stuck in this falling down cabin in the woods, and we really don’t have enough food to last us until spring.”

  Listening to herself, Gina realized she had answered her own question. She couldn’t imagine how she would react in Mary’s place. How do you get up every morning with the realization, that today could be the day you saw your child get shot or beaten or have to face the possibility of watching them starve to death? Gina shook her head, “I’m going to get that goat or a milk cow from somewhere, if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Don’t you mean we? You aren’t going anywhere without me, and you seem to forget that baby is my nephew. It almost sounded like you knew where we could find a goat,” Sam had come in when Ben left and had heard Gina talking about goats.

  Gina told Sam what Ben had said about the place he’d been staying, and the goats Abby had released to run wild.

  Sam nodded, considering the idea of getting, or at least trying to get, one of the goats. “Do you think the goats are still there? Were any of them female goats and are they like cows, and only have milk where they give birth?”

  “What I know about goats, you could put on the head of a pin. I have no idea, but I bet Abby does. Ben said she spent time with them and that’s why she turned them loose. She told Ben, she didn’t want them eating the baby goats.”

  “Well, we don’t have anything to lose. I know Nathan needs this and if we don’t do it, losing him would devastate my family.”

  “Shall we saddle up and head down there?”

  “Nope, we can take the jeep. We’ll take Lucas too, because we might need him if we have to run them down.”

  “No need to chase them. Journey told me they brought the bags of feed. Most farm animals come when you shake a can of feed or grain at them.”

  “I knew that worked with cows and horses, but goats? I always wondered why people kept them or what they were good for.”

  Gina shook her head in disbelief, “You’re kidding? Right? Jesus, Sam, what kind of a farmer are you? Goat milk, cheese, weed eaters and meat.”

  “Stop right there. We are not farmers; we’re ranchers.”

  “Well, I would say you are both. You raise cattle and grow hay. Farmers grow…”

  “Enough! If you guys can put your bickering aside, how about that goat?” Journey was bouncing a fussy Nathan, “Send Mary back in here, please. We need to get something in this little guy’s tummy.”

  Gina started to follow Sam when she stopped, “What about sugar water. It might stay down, and it would give him some calories.”

  “We don’t have any sugar.”

  “Have John look in that stuff we brought from the ranch. You’ll find a small blue barrel of sugar, and there are a couple of jars of honey with honeycomb still in it.”

  Gina stepped aside to let Mary pass, “Thank you. Sam told me where you’re going.”

  “Let’s not get our hopes up until we see if the goats are still there. Journey has another plan too.”

  Ben held a red gas jug to the fill spout of the jeep. Sam and Lucas were both carrying their rifles, and Gina was pretty sure they had side arms also. Her saddle was sitting on a log with her 30/30 still in the scabbard. While the AR15 held more ammunition, she had more confidence in her 30/30. She knew where it hit and knew it improved her accuracy if she ever had to use it.

  John stood with his arm around Sherry and watched them drive off. Abby stood beside Sherry, fuming because she hadn’t been included.

  “I still don’t see why I didn’t get to go,” she patted herself on her chest, enunciating each word, “I’m the reason those goats are still there. I should get to go and help catch them.”

  “I think for the same reason I would not have let Sherry go. He’s trying to keep you safe.”

  “But Lucas went,” Abby said with no other words to justify why she had said them. She frowned up at John waiting for his answer.

  John, always ready with an answer, watched the trail in silence. He finally drew in his breath until his lungs were full, then blew the air out loudly. His mumbled, “I guess because Lucas can shoot like a man,” was his only explanation.

  It troubled John that Lucas had gone, but his arm would still not allow him to use a rifle or his sidearm, and one thing he had already learned, no one could be trusted in their new world. Lucas would at least be able to help defend his Uncle and Gina if it came down to it. Lucas, in his short life, had already seen how people had devolved and with plenty of coaching from Sam, knew that someday he would have to kill someone to protect his family.

  While John didn’t want to believe it, he knew in his heart that Sam was correct. He hoped today wouldn’t be that day, but he knew without the goat they were going to get, they could lose Nathan. Even with the goat, they could lose him. He also knew how fragile Mary was and if anything happened to one of her kids, it would be more than she could handle. The loss would be the catalyst to push her over the edge.

  John almost tripped over Sherry when he turned to walk back to the cabin. He grabbed his girl to keep her from falling and realized how thin her arm was. He didn’t remember feeling bones when he’d held her before. Mary had felt thinner when he’d hugged her just that morning, but had shooed him away, telling him she had set new goals for herself. He now wondered if that was the reason she wasn’t making any breastmilk. She wasn’t eating enough and possibly not eating at all to save the food for her children. He needed to move his family to the winter pasture. If anyone could show them how to survive the winter, it would be Carlos.

  John shooed the girls away. “Go ask your mother or Journey what you can do to help.” He needed some alone time and having two little girls trailing him around would not do. He stacked wood on the fire and walked to the other cabin. He would be close enough if they needed him, and with the bare trees, he could keep an eye on the road as well as some alone time to reflect.

  Sam, always the least trustful in their family began loading their hunting gear into the trailer the second night after the lights had gone out. John hadn’t believed Sam when he’d told them the power wasn’t going to come back on anytime soon. In fact, he and Mary had both laughed in private, about Sam’s conspiracy theories. It wasn’t so much the conspiracy itself, that had worried Sam, but the manner in which American citizens would deal with it.

  When Sam had returned from his last stint in Afghanistan, he had parted ways with the military, led a single man’s lifestyle for months living like he had no thoughts or cares about the future. Whenever he came home for a change of clothes, Mary would tease him about his “wicked ways” as she called them. She had stopped when she’d overheard Sherry repeat her words to Lucas. “Hell in a hand basket,” spoken in her daughter's voice, was not a phrase she wanted coming out of her 10-year-old daughter's mouth.

  Six months before, Sam had come home from one of his outings and his whole attitude had changed. At the time, John had thanked God, that Sam was finally going to settle down, but Mary was sure that something had happened to bring about the changes in Sam. They had rejoic
ed he had finally given up his bachelor ways. He’d built his man-cave down at the hay barn, pulled more than his share of the work as well as pursuing undertakings of his own, all regarding ranch safety. He had helped both Sherry and Lucas to hone their firearms skills, and several times had taken Mary out to the back forty to improve hers. While she hadn’t liked the idea of hunting herself, shooting at paper targets had taught her accuracy as well as control. Sam had high praise for her abilities and John had wondered if it was to bolster her confidence or if she had excelled at using the rifle and Glock under Sam’s tutelage.

  Sam had never discussed why he felt it was imperative to turn his family into sharpshooters, but if it made Sam feel better to do it and the exercise kept him at home with his family, he and Mary had agreed, they would continue with the activity. The price of bullets was small compared to the loss they all felt whenever Sam was gone.

  John thought about the morning they had awoken to find they were without power. It hadn’t been an issue. They had already completed most of their fall activities with the cattle; the first being getting all they planned to ship to the auction yard. He had been grateful for the high prices his cattle had brought. With no electricity to power the washer and dryer, he had decided they would move the cows to the winter pasture two weeks early, and take Carlos, and his provisions.

  With the cows tucked into the hidden valley and Carlos set for the next month with food, they returned home to find the ranch shrouded in a cloak of darkness. Not even the vapor lamps had come on, and the freeway off in the distance, from which they could usually hear traffic from was silent. Not so much as a pair of headlights graced the dark.

  They had lost their power countless times during their lifetime, always to have it come back on within a few days at the most. As usual, Mary had taken her little transistor radio, a relic from her past, down from the top cupboard and set it on the table. She had always been sure to keep fresh batteries in it, and was surprised when it didn’t light up. They had always counted on it to keep them informed. Mary brought new batteries from the basement freezer, where she kept a supply of every size.

  “I was sure that I had just changed them after the last blackout,” she muttered as she pulled out the old and replaced them. She had turned it on, and the dial began to glow. They always kept the dial on their local station, and no one had been more surprised than John was when they heard nothing but white noise. Thinking the knob had gotten turned when Mary changed out the batteries, John began to fiddle with the dial. No one had been more surprised than he was when every channel broadcast nothing more than static. He’d extended the telescoping antenna all the way out, and it fell off in his hand.

  Lucas had come in to tell him about Sam leaving with the Jeep and trailer, taking their minds off of the broken radio. He hadn’t mentioned having any hauling to do, but put it out of his mind when Mary had said, “He didn’t go to town, so let's not worry about it.”

  John hadn’t realized it at the time, but Sam had probably saved all of their lives when he had taken off with the horse trailer and jeep. He didn’t have time to worry about it when Mary pressed him into service. She cooked, and he washed the dishes with water heated on the old wood stove.

  It seemed to him as if the more people who came, the nastier and angry they became. Some began refusing to leave, demanding John and Mary put them up. He explained they were only trying to help and how they should make their way to town before all of the rooms were taken.

  “John, if this keeps up, we’ll be out of food in a matter of days. We have to make these people leave. Can you ferry them into town in the pickup?”

  “Why not,” he said when he remembered that Sam had used the Jeep. For some unexplained reason, it had run, so maybe there was a chance his truck would too. The continuous knocking on the front door had everyone on edge. He went out onto the front veranda, “What the hell?” Someone had lit a pile of tree branches he had trimmed from the trees along the drive, on fire. They now had a bonfire in the middle of his front yard, while people continued to drag more limbs onto his lawn.

  John jumped when Mary put a hand on his back, he heard her sharp intake of breath, “What’s going on? Oh my God, John, you have to stop them.”

  “Grab my keys off the hook. I’ll see about getting these people to town.”

  Within seconds, Mary had pushed the keys into his hand. John hurried to the side where his truck was parked, clicked the fob, and nothing happened. He used the key to open the door and knew his truck was no better than the vehicles parked along the freeway. He sighed and slammed the door.

  When he went back to the end of the veranda, a man was shoving Mary. She was trying to stop him from rushing into the house. John had grabbed the man from behind and flung him off the porch.

  “What the hell is the matter with you people? Can’t you see we’re doing all that we can?

  About then, Sam had come out the front door armed with a shotgun. “Get off the porch.” He jacked a shell into the chamber to show he was serious. He grabbed Mary by her elbow and steered her back toward the door.

  “Load up everything you think we’ll need, and load the horse trailer parked at the back door. Get the kids to help you, I don’t think we have a lot of time, and nothing we have here is worth our lives.”

  Mary hadn’t questioned him, but had disappeared inside, calling out to Sherry and Lucas to help.

  John and Sam had sat watch on the veranda watching the strangers around the bonfire on what was left of the front lawn. Sam had pointed out where two people seemed to be drinking from a bottle and wondered out loud where they had found alcohol. With a closer look, they saw more than one being passed around.

  He and Sam had decided to turn the horses into the bigger back pasture until they could come back for them. With the trailer finally loaded they had headed out to the horse shed.

  About the next thing, John remembered was coming to with a strange woman hovering over him.

  Now, he had to pray that Sam found a nanny goat. Failure to do so would mean the death of his youngest child unless they could find another solution.

  It seemed to him as if God was conspiring against them. That morning the kids had told him the creek was low, but he hadn’t been down to check it. Now, with Sam telling him what they had found, and like Sam, he thought it was time to move. He had never considered going to the box canyon, simply because it was just that; a box. If someone came looking for them, they could be trapped. Sam said he had the solution to being trapped there, but hadn’t elaborated on his idea and wouldn’t until they got back from Mullan.

  “Dad! Dad, come quick. It’s all gone. There’s no water in the creek.”

  Chapter twenty-five…………Trail of a goat

  Sam pulled the Jeep onto the wide apron of dirt at the freeway junction and stopped. As soon as they had dropped off the last hill, the temperature had risen noticeably, but with nothing to prevent the wind from entering the jeep, the wind chill factor had come into play. He could hear Lucas’s teeth chattering from the backseat. Wrapped in one of the sleeping bags, all that showed were his eyes. Gina was covered in an eclectic assortment of clothing, most of which belonged to someone else. No one had on gloves but him, and his hands were cold from clutching the steering wheel, and his feet felt like blocks of ice.

  “We need to get out and move around some. Would build a fire to warm up, but we won’t be here long enough.”

  “You thinking the same thing that I am?” On the ride down the hill, Gina had wondered if they were taking the Jeep all the way to the old store, or if they were going to walk. Walking would be the safest and quietest, but not the fastest nor the smartest.

  “Probably.” He sighed, warm air clouded around his face. “Stealth or speed?”

  Gina waved her arms from front to back, looking like she was doing some kind of fitness exercise, and bent over at her waist stretching her back muscles. She saw both Sam and Lucas staring at her. “What? I feel like we were in t
hat Jeep for days, not hours, and my muscles have tightened up. If we have to move anywhere fast, I want to be able to move.”

  “You have so many clothes on it would be hard for you to move anywhere fast.”

  Lucas snorted, “It’s hard to tell who you are, you’re so…round.”

  Looking down, Gina thought he was right. She had John’s heavy jacket on and had filled out the extra room with clothing she had pilfered from the pile. With her hands pulled up inside the too long sleeves and the bulk of her clothing, she could have been anyone. No one would guess she was female.

  Gina laughed, “That’s the effect I was going for.”

  “It worked,” Sam said, as he walked the short distance to the overpass. Gina rolled her eyes at Lucas and followed.

  The semis were still parked where they had been, as well as the cars smashed up against the cement barrier dividing the east and west side. A smattering of snow coated the gravel on the shoulders, but what was disturbing, were the tracks made by tires.

  “I don’t like the looks of those,” Sam said and pointed at the pavement. “There is no way to tell how old they are.”

  “Well, we do know they never came up here. But if they’re still in the area, they’ll know they’re not alone.”

  “At this point, we don’t have a lot of choices. I’m just trying to think how we can avoid a confrontation.”

  “Hot wheels!” Lucas said and looked from Sam to Gina with a grin.

  “Hot wheels? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “He’s right. We should have thought of it. The Jeep is manual steering anyhow, so we coast down to the bottom.”

  Sam nodded, “That’s easy for you to say.” He sighed, “but it just might work.”

  As they rolled passed the semi-trailer, Gina pointed at the scuff marks in the snow and at the back doors. It looked like someone had tried to force the lock off the back doors without much success. It looked as if they had tried to chop the doors open with an ax, but the head of it was still stuck in the door material. Whoever it was had given up, or gone to find bolt cutters.