by Akart, Bobby
Chapman had set an arbitrary deadline of four days following the loss of the Boones’ home to make a decision on leaving Riverfront Farms for higher ground. The discussions amongst the group turned into heated debates between Levi and Carly, who argued on the side of riding out the storm in the barn, and Chapman, who was the voice in favor of departure. Quietly, Isabella supported him, but she intentionally stayed out of the fray because she was new to the family.
Kristi and Tommy, both scientific-minded individuals, saw the handwriting on the wall although they were unsure as to when the deadline for evacuation should be.
Sarah listened to Chapman’s arguments and tried her best to keep emotions out of her decision-making. She, too, saw the rising waters and was astounded that the rainfall had never dissipated since it had begun over a week ago. She had many questions and tried to address these privately with each member of the group. She asked Chapman not to press until the group was on board with a final decision on whether they should stay or go.
After everyone gathered around, Levi finally broke the awkward silence after giving his wife’s hand a squeeze. The gesture was not so much an act of reassurance as it was a reminder for Carly to stay out of the discussion. She’d ignited several heated arguments in the past few days, as her concern for her children, and the property she loved so much, was at the forefront of her mind.
“Well, here we are,” he began as he hopped off a hay bale and wandered to the barn entrance facing the Ohio. As the light of day turned the skies from dark to gray, the waterline could be seen closer than the afternoon before.
“It’s not stopping, Levi,” interrupted Chapman, getting right to the point. “And it’s not likely to for the foreseeable future.”
“Yes, it will,” mumbled Carly, who immediately turned her head after Levi shot her a glance.
Chapman continued despite her comment. “As I’ve explained, just because the rains come to an end doesn’t mean the water will recede. This could be the new normal. The rain is only a part of it. It’s what we are experiencing here, on a localized level. Around the planet, there are melting glaciers wreaking havoc.”
Levi was somewhat snarky as he interrupted his brother. “I know. I know. Rising sea levels and all of that.”
“It’s more than that. For years, we’ve been inundated with talk of global sea levels rising. This is far different. This is real and can be potentially catastrophic for the planet.”
For the first time, Isabella joined in the debate, primarily because she was gravely concerned about the group’s lack of action. She walked to the side of the barn and picked up a steel-toothed rake.
“It is like a seesaw,” she began, holding it in her hand so it wavered up and down. “At the poles, glaciers are melting and some are breaking away and floating toward the equator. This shift in weight caused by the mountains of ice moving, together with the excessive weight of the water, is changing the landscape of the planet.”
Chapman stepped in to continue. “I don’t want to get too detailed, but nineteen thousand years ago, when the planet was covered with glaciers, heavy sheets of ice thousands of feet thick pressed down on the Earth’s surface. As this happened, the topography took the shape we know today.
“The pole shift has begun a process of reversing this period in the planet’s life. As the ice sheets melt, the pressure on the tectonic plates and the mantle changes. It could take some time for it to sort out, but meanwhile, the ice will melt, the waters will rise, and they’ll likely stay there until the planet gets comfortable with the change in weight distribution.”
“What does that look like?” asked Tommy.
“Cataclysmic changes like earthquakes and volcanic activity in a frequency unimaginable by scientists.”
Levi shrugged and stuffed his hands in his jeans as he spoke. “Okay, let’s say we’re no longer safe here. By here, I mean right here, on this spot, in this barn. What’s wrong with finding a little higher ground on the farm? Or over in the state park? I’ve hunted along cliffs that are higher than this.”
Chapman nodded and changed his tone of voice. He seemed relieved to see Levi’s attitude change from hell no, we won’t go to maybe.
“Two things. One, I’m not sure the ground will be high enough, and two, everyone else will have the same idea. There simply won’t be enough real estate to sustain everyone in a three-state area trying to reach the same high ground.”
“What’s our next option?” asked Levi. “Out west, as in the Rockies? You can’t get any higher than that.” He glanced at Carly, who nodded her agreement.
“That’s a natural destination, but we’d never get there,” replied Chapman. “If the Ohio River has doubled its width, at least, I can only imagine what the Mississippi looks like. Plus, there’s the distance we’d need to travel. Denver is due west of here and it’s eleven hundred miles or so.”
Levi shook his head and chuckled. “Obviously, you’ve given this a lot of thought. Where do you think we should go?”
“Back to where we came from,” replied Chapman.
Chapter 2
Riverfront Farms
Southeast Indiana
Although Sarah was focused on finishing up her family’s breakfast, she was keenly interested in the interaction between Levi and Chapman. The two brothers had been at odds with one another over the decision on whether leaving Riverfront Farms was a necessity. Sarah knew, in the end, she’d be the decision maker. She was intrigued by Chapman’s response.
“What do you mean by that, dear?”
Chapman took a bowl of oatmeal and leaned against the center post of the barn. “I’m suggesting we retrace this family’s roots and return to the Appalachian Mountains. If we were to follow the Wilderness Road back to Cumberland Gap, we’d have the benefit of a much higher elevation and a sparsely populated part of the country.”
In the mid-1700s, Squire Boone Sr. moved his large family, including his wife, Sarah, and his pioneering sons Daniel and Squire Jr., from Pennsylvania to the mountains of North Carolina. In 1767, some of the Boone sons, led by Daniel, ventured west through the Cumberland Gap across upper East Tennessee on a hunting expedition. They later attempted to create a settlement in Kentucky, but when Cherokee Indians attacked and killed two of the settlers, they retreated home.
They tried again in 1775 and blazed a trail from present-day Kingsport, Tennessee, through hostile Indian territory until they reached an area on the Kentucky River. They built the first settlement, named Boonesborough, and later extended the route all the way to present-day Louisville.
Levi gobbled down his oatmeal and spoke in between bites. “That’s a little over two hundred miles. I’d consider that doable.”
Kristi tried to make her brother feel better about capitulating to Chapman’s continual urging to abandon the farm. “You traveled a whole lot farther than that, didn’t you?”
Carly couldn’t contain herself. “By himself,” she shot back before taking a deep breath. “Listen, don’t get me wrong. I’m relieved to have my husband home. I’m just not sure I can put the kids through a trip like this. It’s more than just the weather. People are gonna be desperate. They’re not gonna welcome us with open arms and a hot meal.”
“Carly has a point,” cautioned Tommy. “But, that said, it makes the case for moving sooner rather than later. People may still be getting along with what is in their pantries. Maybe neighbors are still helping neighbors at this point. I think we’re fortunate to have the advice of Chapman and Isabella. You know, to be a step ahead of everyone else.”
Chapman smiled at Tommy in appreciation. “This is another reason I like the Cumberland Gap. It’s on the western side of the Appalachians. The large population centers along the Atlantic coast will be evacuating to the mountains as well, but it’s a long way to cross Virginia and Carolina to get to where I have in mind.”
Levi set his bowl down and leaned over to kiss Carly on the cheek. Then he whispered in her ear, and she reached up to sq
ueeze his hand. Her demeanor immediately changed, and she provided him a soft smile.
“You guys know I’ve retraced the route our ancestors took half a dozen times since I got my driver’s license. I’ve done it a thousand times in my head using what I’ve learned from Dad, Grandpa, and the history books. If we all agree that it’s necessary to abandon the farm, then I can sign off on the mountains. There are still a lot of questions to answer, such as when, how, and to where, exactly.”
Chapman responded, “Today won’t be soon enough. The longer we wait, the higher the water rises, making crossing the Ohio a bigger challenge.”
“Oh yeah, what about the rivers?” asked Kristi. “I didn’t do well in geography in high school.”
The group laughed as they kidded her about her single, male geography teacher, who had been more distraction than educator.
Levi spoke up. “The Ohio is the biggest challenge, based upon what we’ve seen. Chapman’s right. At the present water elevation, the bridges may be covered already. After that, we can travel around the Green River, and the Kentucky is farther east than our route would take us.”
“The Cumberland would be our last obstacle,” interjected Chapman. “Again, we could travel around it if the bridges are swamped.”
“All right, how are we gonna get there?” asked Carly.
Chapman wandered toward the horse stalls. “We’ve got horses, two old-school covered wagons, and there’s Tommy’s pony.”
“Huh?” asked Carly.
“He means the Mustang,” replied Tommy. “Because it was made in the sixties, it’s not bogged down with electronics like newer cars. Its simplicity turns out to be its saving grace. The Mustang can make the trip as long as we can keep it gassed up.”
“We can use it as a scout vehicle,” added Levi. “You know, drive ahead to check for trouble.”
“Washed-out bridges or roads,” suggested Kristi.
“Yeah, and people,” said Levi. “People always get in the way.”
From the back of the barn, a young voice entered the conversation. It was Levi’s son, Jesse. He and his younger sister, Rachel, emerged from their makeshift bed in the middle of a dozen hay bales stacked to keep the kids dry and out of the wind. Brooke, the family’s adopted chimpanzee, walked along with them, holding their hands.
“Don’t forget Wonky Donkey. Grandpa would want him along, too.”
Levi wrapped his arms around his kids as a silence fell over the group in remembrance of Squire Boone.
Chapter 3
Riverfront Farms
Southeast Indiana
For the moment, the excitement of a new adventure overshadowed the reality of leaving the farm that had been in the Boone family for generations. The legal issues surrounding the foreclosure efforts by the now-deceased banker, Billy Clark, had been cast aside in the days following his death in Corydon. Kristi and Tommy had made several trips to see Allen Edmund and Misty Garness to keep abreast of activity in town.
Billy’s death was considered to be an accident caused by his own drunken negligence. Nobody suspected Levi or any member of the Boone family had anything to do with his demise. Levi never confessed to anyone, including his wife, that he’d played a role in the fire.
The sudden death and devastating fire were a wake-up call for the Clark family. Joella, who was always the most law-abiding of the bunch, found a way to distance herself from Billy’s unseemly banking activities.
Billy’s wife, Wanda, who inherited her husband’s shares in the bank, wanted nothing to do with the enterprise and quickly made a deal with Sheriff Randy Clark to acquire the bank in exchange for a place to live.
Randy, feeling pressure from his sister and the town’s citizens, purged his department of the inmates he’d deputized and looked to clean up his act as he planned for a future after the catastrophe ended.
The Clarks, despite having information provided to them by FEMA couriers, had been caught off guard by the devastating impact the torrential downpours and the solar flares had on modern civilization. As lawlessness took hold, they increasingly experienced difficulty in controlling the locals and transients who stopped in Corydon. Their platters were full without pursuing Billy’s unseemly foreclosure action against the Boones.
On that final day at the farm, Kristi gathered up certain items of intrinsic value that they couldn’t carry with them on the journey, and traveled to see her friend the veterinarian. Misty’s practice was near her home, and she was known to keep a stockpile of veterinarian-grade pharmaceuticals on hand for emergencies. Kristi and Tommy traded some of their belongings for medicines that contain the same ingredients approved for humans. From painkillers to antibiotics to antianxiety medications, the drugs, while not identical in dosage, were safe for humans. They also stocked their own emergency medical kits in the event their animals were injured during the journey.
“The Mustang looks more like a pack mule,” quipped Levi as he studied the vintage Ford. “I’ve gathered up all of our gas cans and siphoned every drop of fuel out of our other vehicles that I could. I had to strip the quarter-inch water line from Mom’s ice maker on the fridge. The small diameter was stiff enough to bypass the anti-rollover valves on the newer cars’ gas tanks, but it took forever to pull the fuel out. Anyway, the car’s full and I have three five-gallon cans stored in its trunk.”
“That should be enough,” observed Chapman, who quickly estimated the Mustang’s gas mileage and applied it to the distance they needed to travel.
“It depends on how much scouting is necessary,” cautioned Levi. “Chapman, it’s not gonna be that easy to cross these rivers.”
“I know, but honestly, I think the Ohio will be the hardest. The good news is we have a bridge right down the road in Mauckport. It’s a little lower than Louisville but not by much.”
“Hey, Kristi and Tommy are comin’!” shouted Carly.
She’d been helping Sarah load the wagons with necessities—sleeping bags and tents, tools, food, clothing, and weapons. To be safe, they’d divided all of their supplies in half and placed them in the covered wagons in equal amounts. Carly would drive one wagon with Rachel, and Sarah would take the other with Jesse and Brooke. The rest of the group would ride on their horses and lead the additional animals, which included the two fillies. Squire’s Wonky Donkey was loaded with supplies and was tethered behind Sarah’s wagon.
The riders dismounted and distributed the medications between the two wagons. Kristi also presented Levi, the group’s designated navigator, with a gift from Misty.
He unfolded the Kentucky map and chuckled. “What are ya sayin’?”
“Nothing. Although men have been known to be stubborn when it comes to the use of maps. You guys would rather get lost than admit you need a little guidance.”
Levi closed the map and slapped it against the palm of his hand. He glanced past Kristi and studied the dark, cloudy skies. “Without the sun and the stars to help, I might end up leading us in circles. I remember how to get there, but we may get detoured, you know, if we run into something.”
As Levi finished his sentence, a thunderous boom caused the barn to shake, forcing dust and debris to fall on their heads out of the rafters. The kids shrieked and Chapman immediately raced outside to look for the source of the noise.
“Thunder?” asked Tommy, who chased after him.
“No. Um, I’m not sure. Did you feel the ground shake?”
“Not at all. It almost sounded like it came from over our heads, but I don’t think it was thunder either.”
Chapman looked upward toward the sky and shielded his eyes from the rain. Like the others, he’d given up on trying to keep his clothes dry. Being sopping wet was a way of life now.
“The cloud ceiling is so low, the sound of any explosion could carry for miles rather than escape into the atmosphere. Either way, maybe we oughta get going.”
When the guys returned to the barn, everyone was waiting for them except for Sarah. She’d wandered to the so
uth opening facing the Ohio River, which crept closer to them.
Chapman left the group and approached her. “Mom, are you okay? Are you having second thoughts?”
Sarah wiped the tears off her face and shook her head. She allowed herself a smile and patted her son’s arm. “No, just saying goodbye.”
“Mom, it may not be forever. I really hope I’m wrong about all of this.”
“This is the right decision. Besides, if things get back to normal, we can always come back. Right?”
She took Chapman by the arm and led him back to the middle of the barn, where everyone waited by their respective rides. Sarah walked into the center of the group, and everyone closed into a circle around her. She spoke to them from the heart.
“Squire and his dad would be amazed at what we’re about to do. The Boones and the Chapmans have a history, a legacy, of venturing into the unknown.” She paused to make eye contact with her three children before continuing.
“Kristi, you were the first to carry on this family’s tradition. You could’ve been a vet, following the path of your friend Misty. Instead, you took off for Africa and brought back what you learned to help those incredible animals at the zoo.
“Chapman, you’ve always had wandering feet. Standing in front of a green screen in a studio was never good enough. You didn’t want to report the weather story. You wanted to be in the middle of it. By risking your life, you saved others.
“And, Levi, my miracle child. You could’ve left the farm and found your own way. But instead, you stayed here to help me and Squire. You’ve made a beautiful family with Carly and learned everything you could from your dad and grandpa.
“Each of you, together with Isabella and Tommy, bring this family strength. It gives me confidence that we can survive what’s happening to our world, probably more so than many others. However, I want you all to remember God is there for us, too. He’ll help us through this if you give Him a chance. Kids, please indulge me as I say a prayer before we leave.”
