Avalon- The Construction

by L. Michael Rusin

  The procession leading to the old cemetery was long. Two horse drawn travois’ with the bodies of Dr. Dan and Sam Wolchak led the procession. A third one followed, carrying the body of Lieutenant Chris Bell. One horse was led by Caroline, another by Mike, and the third by Sergeant Eric Bell. Directly behind them came Dana and Crystal.

  All of the travois’ were draped with ribbons and flowers. Each body was wrapped in white sheets that covered the men’s faces. On top of the bodies were more flowers.

  The rest of the people walked slowly behind, stretching out for more than three-hundred feet. Three graves freshly dug waited at the journey’s end to receive the bodies. The people gathered at the grave of Dr. Dan first. His body was lifted off the travois and gently lowered into the grave. Mike gave a brief eulogy. His heart was heavy with grief, and it was obvious as he talked. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his face, his lips and chin trembled.

  “We commit the body of our friend, our doctor, a man of many accomplishments. We will all miss this smiling face knowing he genuinely cared about each of us. In all the years we were friends I never heard him say a disparaging remark about anyone. He was a man truly loved as a father by all of his children, by you, and by me. He was a faithful and loyal friend. We will never know his caring touch again. But because we were so privileged in knowing him, he left us a legacy, Dana carries his baby.”

  Dana began to wail. It was an agonizing soul-piercing throat scream of absolute agony. Several people came to her and she was enveloped in a group hug. If they hadn’t been holding her, she would have collapsed.

  “I pray I may live long enough to know his child; to tell him wonderful stories about his father. To let him know what a great man he was, how much I loved and respected him.”

  Mike got quiet in that moment and he fought to control his sorrow. He composed himself again and finished by saying,

  “May God take you into his heart Daniel Crowley! And may we all rejoice someday when we meet again. Goodbye for now, my friend. If there is anything holy and the promise is real, we will meet again. We will smile at each other in friendship.”

  Dana collapsed and fainted. There were plenty of people still holding her to catch her and care for her. Crystal and Caroline were there, as well. She was now the principal doctor of the group and the surrounding areas. Her training had been at the direction of the deceased doctor and she was good at her chosen profession. In the days to come, she would be tested many times by the loss of her mentor.

  Others came forward and said a few words. When they were all done, they moved to Sam’s grave. His body was removed from the travois and lowered in the same manner as the doctor’s. Crystal stood at the graveside. She continually rubbed her stomach. Each person delivered their words to the man who everyone loved and admired. Many of the children were crying. Those who were crying couldn’t stop. Sam loved children and was always playing some game or another with them. His favorite was the “pull my finger” game, and always delighted the children. As one woman told the story, most of them laughed, remembering Sam’s antics.

  Once again, Mike stepped up to say a few words about his friend Sam.

  “I’ve known some courageous warriors in my time and Sam was, by far, one of the greatest. He was such a jokester, it was easy to forget he was the kind of fighting man that he was. There was no man I’d rather go into battle with. His courage under fire was without par. His quick mind and the ability to make the right decisions at the right time were legendary to those of us who fought with him.

  “To say, I’ll miss him just isn’t enough to describe how I feel. Suffice it to say, he was one hell of a man. I’ll miss my friend, and his sense of humor. There will probably never be another one like him, but I’m hoping the baby his wife carries will be just like his dad. I look forward to watching him grow up, so I can see for myself. And through him, maybe—just maybe—I’ll have a chance to repay my friend through his son for his unwavering friendship. I sincerely hope your journey takes you to blue skies and a peaceful afterlife. Rest in peace my friend. Always remember, Sam, if you can hear me, I love you like the brother I never had. Your jokes, your smiling face were an elixir of happiness for all of us who knew you. Until we can all gather again together as friends, no, as brothers, know that those who love you will never forget you. Thank you for what you brought to me—to all of us.”

  Most of the people there had a comment to say, and soon they moved to the next grave.

  The final ceremony was for Lieutenant Christopher Bell, United States Navy. The first speaker was Admiral Mike Reynolds. He waited until everyone had shifted and was gathered around the grave before he spoke.

  “I did not know this man well, but it makes no difference. He was a sailor, a warrior, a fellow officer and a gentleman, a man who died in defense of our freedom. We are grateful that he came to our aid. Our souls are indebted to him for his courage. It’s my hope that God will shine his blessings on you. We thank you for your service to our nation and I hope you hear our words of thanks for your sacrifice on our behalf. We will never forget you and what you did for us. Fair winds and following seas.”

  Eric spoke next. He was ashen faced, and he trembled as he spoke.

  “My big brother is gone. I always looked up to him and admired him because he was a hero. I wanted to be like him in every way. He was one of the best baseball players I ever saw play the game. Once, when he caught a grounder coming at him, he fell as he captured the ball in his glove. He leaped to his feet to throw it to first and threw the guy out. It was an amazing play…

  “But that’s my brother. I was so proud of him. I’m still proud of him today. He’s gone now, and God only knows how much I will miss him. The pain I feel will never go away. My parents are gone and now my brother is too. I’m the only one left to carry on the legacy of my family. I promise to honor their memory. I so wanted him to meet the woman I plan to marry. He would have liked her. He may have been a little jealous too. Together we will have children, and if I have a boy, I will be sure to name him after my big brother Chris Bell. Good bye for now.”

  Some of the sailors from the crew of the sub Chris was on came forward and said a few words. All of them were deeply saddened by Chris’ death.

  ◆◆◆

  The entourage drifted back toward the main lodge. The walk was slow and solemn. People reminisced about Dan, Sam, and Chris. There was a bit of laughing as they shared fond memories of them as they walked along back to the main lodge. Mike addressed the group when they reached the terrace.

  “Food will now be served. Please eat your fill. I know that some of us will go to the bar after we’ve finished eating.”

  When most had eaten, they went, one-by-one, to the bar. Sheriff Bob Waters and his wife Marcy came in. Mike and Caroline were already there. Just about everyone who was anyone at Avalon came to reminisce and honor the dead.

  Most of those crowding into the bar were quiet. It was as if they all wanted for someone else to say something. Penny Rolls came in with Harlan Herrera, and they walked toward the small stage where the piano sat.

  That was where young couples had lovingly stared at one another all those years ago when Avalon was the retreat of the wealthy. Someone played tunes on the piano and that made the young hearts soar. The melodies promised love and romance and sent many hearts fluttering. Today, it was a gathering of people who cared about three men who had made a difference in so many lives.

  Penny walked up onto the stage and addressed the crowd. She stood there until it quieted down, and she began to speak.

  “All of us here are sad today. We should always be grateful to those great men who sacrificed their lives for us. I know I’m damned glad for who they were and what they did for me.”

  She paused to organize her thoughts. She wanted her words to honor those men she loved as brothers. They were three great men who did not deserve to die. As she spoke, unnoticed by her, the red hair on her head nearly appeared to be on fire; a stained-glass window
behind her bathed it in red-colored sunshine. It nearly gave her a halo.

  “We can never understand the injustice in such a tragedy. Rather than sink into despair, we should be proud that these men sacrificed their lives for us. We are so fortunate to have lived among such great people. Our country was needlessly bombed and attacked by evil people. Then, when the war was over, we realized our great country had fallen into slavery once again at the hands of our own countrymen. That is ended. We have paid an enormous price for that accomplishment. Once again, as Americans, we have ended a terrible injustice. I hope that it has truly ended, and people will no longer have to fear strangers.”

  Then she folded her arms against her chest and stared out into the crowd. People were still trickling in. She paused long enough to collect her thoughts before she spoke again.

  “As a people, and as a nation, we want peace, and a life where we don’t have to worry about whether those we love will be taken into slavery or killed. We merely want to raise our children and live from the sweat of our labor. We simply hope that God will be good to us if we live an honest and worthwhile life.”

  She was quiet again as more people gathered in the bar. Her chest rose rhythmically as she breathed. She was patient. She continued because there was a need to.

  “We’re willing to help those less fortunate than ourselves, but we will never go back to those times when parasites who could have worked didn’t. Those who live off the sweat of others, people who contribute nothing, deserve very little from those of us who do work. We will help those who are infirm, or elderly, but we won’t help slackers. We fought a great battle the other day and we lost three good men. We cannot, and will not, let them have died in vain, as long as I live, and I will never forget my brothers and the love we shared as a family.”

  Penny paused again and took a drink of water. Harlan came closer to her and put his arm around her waist. She continued once again.

  “We will continue to build, at Avalon and elsewhere, with the idea that freedom is cherished. It’s a place where a good night’s sleep comes from a good day’s work, and a place where we can all live together in peace and camaraderie. If you are new to Avalon, we say welcome. If you’re an old hand here, remember those we lost and let us strive to not lose anyone else to senselessness. Part of me has been ripped away by the deaths of these three great men. We will all die eventually, but let it be from old age and not by violent confrontation. Let us die of old age surrounded by those we love and who love us.”

  She looked up and raised both arms up into the air. Tears streamed down her face.

  “Heavenly father… We thank you for sparing so many of us. Please give your blessings to us and cast your healing hand on our hearts. We humbly ask for your blessings and ask that you receive our departed brothers into your heavenly grace. Amen.”

  Everyone in the bar shouted, “Amen!”

  Penny stepped down from the platform and walked toward the bar with Harlan. Mike walked toward the piano platform, turned and stared at the crowd for a long moment. It became very quiet in the bar. He finally spoke in a soft, even voice. He wanted to explain why he did not pursue a path of vengeance toward the slavers.

  “You’re all like family to me. I love every one of you as much as I loved my three friends. We put this place together those many years ago with you in mind. We didn’t know you then, but we had a vision of what this place could be. Not everyone shared our dreams, but we didn’t let that stop us. We shrugged off the subtle criticisms we occasionally heard. We went about our business of building this place, and invited people to join us who could see the vision we had, what it could mean in terms of preventing our annihilation if something was to happen.

  “Most of us know the scoffers down there are probably all dead today. They paid no attention to world events and did not prepare for the worst. We found this place and outfitted it as a just-in-case scenario. Did we do the right thing? I think so. We’re here because we had the foresight to get ready for such an event. The decisions we made were the right ones for us.

  “Unfortunately, we have lost three of our cherished members. No one can understand or feel the depth of my pain. I won’t let that burden any of you, it is mine to carry, and I’ll do it in my own way.”

  Mike paused as Caroline moved toward him and he held his hand up. This was difficult enough. If she came closer, he might not be able to finish. She smiled in her understanding way and stood there near her husband as she watched and listened in silence.

  “I know some of you are asking why I decided to let those people go without punishment. It’s simple. We need to stop the carnage, the stealing, the murders, and the slavery now. Not in another month or another year, but now! It will serve no useful purpose other than revenge to hunt them down and kill them. We’ll adopt an attitude of wait-and-see, for now. If they continue the same kind of activities, we’ll exact a fair administration of justice later. They have been warned. They now know that they cannot escape the arm of civil justice. I would rather try to work with them than remain in a constant state of war. We don’t need more deaths.

  “I’ll be meeting with them in a little over a week. We’ll hammer out a fair and workable plan. Sheriff Waters will help, since he is the Governor of California because Dan is no longer with us.”

  Several people began shouting questions at Mike. The whole bar was awash in conversations. The din of the conversations made it difficult to hear anything, and people began to shout.

  Mike raised an arm and waited for them to settle down. They did in another minute.

  “I know some of you have questions about the amnesty and some of you don’t agree with my decisions on this matter. I don’t have the luxury of a staff. I don’t have the people to help me make these difficult, on-the-spot decisions. A reprieve for the slavers seems like the best choice for everyone here.

  “I promise you this. If the slavers do anything that goes against the laws of man, we will hunt them down and we will dispense justice. But enough people have died, and I don’t want us to constantly live under wartime conditions.

  “How many of you like war?”

  He waited for an answer, there was more murmuring in the audience, but nobody responded.

  “How many of you are not distraught that Doctor Dan and Sam are dead because of this war?”

  Again, there was murmuring, but there were no comments.

  “I want it to end now. We’ll wait and see if the slavers are going to work with us or continue to work against us. Are there any more questions?”

  The crowd was quiet. What he said made sense. Mike turned to Linda Sienna,

  “How about a scotch and water?”

  “Coming right up!”

  Mike downed it quickly and asked for another.

  Chapter 23

  The Reconstruction

  The slavers had their own meeting before heading back to Fitch. They all felt robbed of what they considered their fair share of what was out there. Slasher calmly listened to the various men give their opinions and comments before addressing the group of thugs.

  “I’ve heard your concerns, but listen to me now, because the decision we make today will keep our necks out of a noose later. You boys need to understand, we lost, they won. We can no longer operate as we once did. The lootin’ and shootin’ has ended. It was fun while it lasted, but those farmers have organized, they’ll soon have even more people on their side, and we’ll never again be able to maintain or continue business as usual.”

  He paused and looked out at the group of bikers. There were approximately a hundred men and just over a hundred women remaining in the group. The women were not at this meeting, they stayed away. Not by force, but because they didn’t want to be there.

  “We all knew we wanted to continue doing what we like doing. Nobody wants it more than I do, but we have to be realistic. If we continue on the same path, they will hunt us down and execute us. You don’t have to be too smart to figure that out. So, we have t
o change our tactics.”

  He paused again to let his words sink in.

  “There are towns out there with nobody in them. We will choose one for us to move into. We will do what those farmers are doing and grow our own food.”

  The groans and moans were immediate. These people didn’t want to do any of that kind of work. They wanted someone else to do all the manual labor while they played all night and slept all day. Slasher held up his hand in an effort to calm them down. He wasn’t finished explaining.

  “What’s the matter with you bozos? Can’t you see what we have here? We have an opportunity to play the game for now, and sort of stay within the rules.”

  He grinned,

  “And we’ll make sure the rules favor us. We will rule society!”

  The cheers and high-fives went up and Slasher knew he was on the right track. He wanted them to calm down before continuing.

  “The men will continue running the show. The women will work the gardens, do the cooking and cleaning. If a woman doesn’t like the way we manage things, she can git! It’s time some of you show some backbone and manage your women the way real men do. Make them understand that men are the ones in charge! They will do what they’re told to do, and that’s final!”

  This set them off again. The laughing and catcalls went on for several minutes. Once they settled down again, Slasher began anew.

  “What we have to do is appear to be like them, on the surface anyway, but behind the scenes we will continue business as usual. We’ll appear squeaky clean to those farmers. We’ll buy and sell stolen property. We’ll fence anything and everything. If someone has a grudge to settle, we’ll settle it for them—for a price of course.

  “If something needs to be twisted, we’ll twist it. We’re gonna run for office and become the sheriffs and councilmen. We can even run for higher office such as governor. We’ll insert ourselves into politics because that’s where the real power and wealth is. We’re gonna run things in this state, and every county we can get ourselves positioned in. We will rule.