by N. C. Reed
Rhonda had found a meal planning guide at the library, and she and Mary spent a good deal of time going over it, planning meals that would be hardy and healthy, ensuring that the Todd ‘family’ got all they needed from their meals to keep them strong.
All in all, life was moving. Some things were bad. Some weren’t.
Just like normal, almost.
*****
“Well, you wanted a white Christmas,” Billy told Rhonda, as they looked out the bedroom window at the snow covered valley.
“It ain’t Christmas, yet,” she muttered. “Ain’t even Thanksgiving. I had stuff I needed to get done today.”
“Well, you can still do it,” Billy shrugged. “But that looks like a heavy, wet snow to me. I didn’t have to get out in it, I wouldn’t.”
“You’re going out,” Rhonda pointed out.
“I have to,” he said pointedly. “You don’t.”
“You don’t have to,” she replied. “You could let things go one day.”
“No, I can’t,” Billy shook his head. “That’s how things start goin’ bad on you. You don’t follow your plan, and you get in trouble. Plan says I check the livestock. So, I’m checkin’ the livestock.”
“It’s just one day,” Rhonda rolled her eyes.
“To you, it is,” Billy nodded seriously. “To me, it’s fallin’ away from my plan. I can’t. . .I have to focus, Rhonda,” he told her. “I can’t just fly by my pants, and the like. I gotta have a plan, and I gotta stick to it. I don’t, I start forgettin’ things. I can’t afford that. Not nowadays.” He stood, having laced his boots. “And the plan says-”
“You check the livestock, I know,” Rhonda snorted, holding her hand up. “I get it. I’ll have breakfast ready when you get back.”
“Okay,” Billy nodded. He pecked Rhonda on the lips, and walked downstairs, when he found Danny Tatum ready to go.
“Ready when you are Mister Billy!” the boy said brightly. Amazing what a few good meals and good nights’ sleep could do for a fourteen year old.
“You ain’t got to go, Danny,” Billy told him. “Your choice,” he added when the boy looked slightly crestfallen.
“I want to help.”
“Suits me,” Billy grinned. “Let’s go.”
Rommel and Dottie followed them out, running and playing on the snow all the way to the barn. Billy showed Danny how to care for the horses, and watched as he did about half the work himself, nodding when the boy did the job correctly.
“Cows next,” Billy told him, and the two walked over to where Billy’s own small herd, grown now to twenty-five head, stood clustered together. They looked fit and well, and there was cover if they needed it. The hay was protected from the falling weather, and there was plenty of it.
They walked next to look in on the hogs, who were all gathered into the small make shift barns. They, too, looked fine, though they didn’t seem to like the cold so much. They shifted some at the scent of the dogs, but the cold stopped them from doing much more than that.
Satisfied, Billy started back to the house, Danny in tow.
“Things look pretty good, Mister Billy?” Danny asked.
“Yep,” Billy nodded. “Days like this, you just make sure the stock ain’t in distress, and that they got access to feed and water. Ain’t much else you can do.”
“Them cows, they ain’t got no barn,” Danny said. “Where do they go when it’s cold?”
“Cows is pretty much stupid by nature,” Billy told him, sighing. “They’ll all huddle under a tree durin’ a lightnin’ storm, where one bolt’ll kill half of’em, you let’em. They can always get under the pole barn, if they’re a mind,” he reminded the boy. “But you see what they’re doin’. Huddlin’ together. That’s just how cows is, Danny. O’nery and stubborn.”
“To be fair, they don’t really need cover, not for this little bit o’ bad weather. Their coats are thick, and they’ll stay warm huddled together like that. The jacks will stay with’em, and their coats are even thicker. Won’t no harm come to’em,” he assured the teen. Danny nodded, filing all this away.
Billy looked at the boy from the corner of his eye. Danny was bright eyed, and willing to work. Billy knew from experience he was a good worker. Always had been. His parents had been the same way. After Billy had talked to him, Danny had gotten his ‘bundle’ as he’d called it, from where he’d stashed it near the road. It had included two changes of clothes that he’d outgrown, and were in even worse shape that what he’d been wearing. His Bible, a gift from his parents, and pictures of both his mother and father. A Buck knife, which he was wearing right now, and not much else.
But there had been a rifle, and an over and under 20 gauge shotgun and .22 rifle combo. The rifle was a single shot .243 Handi Rifle. The shotgun was an H&R.
Billy would get the boy a better set of guns in a few days, when he had the time to check him out good, and take him to shoot them. Until then, he’d placed the boy’s current armament in the downstairs safe. Danny hadn’t objected.
“Danny, we might holler at Toby after while, maybe see can we scratch up a deer. Or even a turkey. Be Thanksgiving soon. Couple o’ wild turkeys’d sure fit the bill for that, wouldn’t they?”
“Sure would!” Danny nodded enthusiastically. “I like turkey!”
“You like ham?” Billy asked.
“You bet!”
“Well, expect we’ll slaughter a hog, too,” Billy told him. “Maybe slow cook it, weather allows.”
“That’d be neat!”
“Thought you’d like that.”
*****
The weather didn’t clear, though. In fact, the snow got heavier. And deeper. Billy checked the thermometer on the porch, and saw that the temperature was dropping, as well.
“This ain’t just a snow,” he murmured to himself, looking at the sky. Heavy gray clouds, seemingly pregnant with snow yet to fall, hung over them. The wind was from the north, and Billy judged it had picked up to around fifteen miles an hour.
“Makes the wind chill mighty frigid,” he shook his head. He looked out over the land, wondering how many people, how many kids, were suffering through all of this with nothing. His eyes watered slightly at the thought, but he blamed it on the wind.
Shaking his head, he went back into the house. The house was warm, and inviting, with sounds of joy all over. Danny and Mary were playing a video game, laughing at and with each other. Billy had never really thought about whether they would get along or not, but they did. Both had lost everything, but had found a home here, with him and Rhonda. And perhaps they’d found a sibling, as well.
“Whatcha been doin’?” Rhonda asked, as Billy walked into the kitchen.
“Checkin’ the weather,” Billy told her, sitting down and taking the cup of hot chocolate Rhonda offered him. “Looks like we’re headed for a full on blizzard, ‘fore it’s over.” Rhonda frowned.
“Is that. . .I mean, are we okay?” she asked.
“We are, yeah,” Billy nodded. “Everyone else here should be, too,” he added, his wave indicating the Farms. “Was more thinkin’ on them as are like those two,” he nodded toward the living room, where a fresh shriek of laughter rolled through the house.
“Billy, there’s nothing you can do about it right now,” Rhonda told him, sitting down and placing a small hand atop his. “Please don’t beat yourself up.”
“I ain’t,” he assured her. “You was right, the other night. I. . .I can’t do it all. And I can’t be forgettin’ how much we have done. We’ve helped a right smart o’ people, you know? I wish. . .I wish I’d have thought about kids like them earlier, though. I do. Thing is, I was thinkin’ about Danny on the way back. And Mary.”
“Both o’ them was armed. Had we just showed up, lookin’ to help, might o’ got shot for the trouble by a scared teenager. And that would suck,” he chuckled. Rhonda laughed at that.
“You did almost get shot by a scared teenager,” she told him.
“We can do what
we can, and that’s all we can do,” Billy looked at her. “Thanks for makin’ me see that, too.”
“It’s what I do,” Rhonda smiled, and kissed him.
“Billy, got your ears on?”Jerry’s voice came through the room from where the radio sat. Billy got up and went to answer.
“I’m here, Jerry. How ya’ll doin’?”
“We’re fine, just fine. But I think this storm is still building. I ain’t seen snow like this hardly at all in the last twenty years. And it’s gettin’ colder, too. And the wind’s come up, last hour or so.”
“I was noticin’ that, myself, just a few minutes ago,” Billy replied. “I think we’re in the first stage of a real blizzard.”
“Me too,” Jerry agreed. “As far as I know, we’re okay, all around. Still, it’s a problem if we have to get out, any.”
“Ain’t plannin’ on gettin’ out,” Billy told him. “Reckon somethin’ might happen as would make us have to, but unless it does, I think we’re gonna hole up tight, and wait for this to pass.”
“That’s what I plan on doin’, too. Still, it’s a worry, not bein’ able to move when we need to. Reckon we need to think on this a bit. We might need to find us a snow plow. You know, like them the highway department uses?”
Billy thought that one over. Wasn’t a bad idea. He keyed the mike.
“Ain’t no bad idea, I’d reckon. Won’t help this time, but if there was another time, it’d be here, was we to have a need.”
“What I was thinking, too. Well, I’m gonna go have a cup o’ somethin’, and relax. Reckon I can be lazy today, and not feel bad about it.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Billy echoed the older man’s laughter. “Take care, and if you need us, we’ll be listenin’.”
“That ain’t no bad idea,” Rhonda nodded. “There’s something else we might want to get too,” she added, looking at the wood stove that was helping to heat the house.
“What’s that?” Billy asked.
“A fire truck.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The storm lasted three days. Billy had never in his life time seen such a blizzard. It was like the storms he would see on TV from out west, or far to the north. Jerry agreed. He was by far the oldest person on the Farms, and never had he experienced this kind of storm.
Billy was more sure than ever, now, that the mass die off of people, accompanied by the untold numbers of cars gone idle, factories gone quiet, all of the things that had generated heat, now long still, would make their winters colder.
It could also, he thought, looking out the window at well over two feet of accumulated snow, make the summers less hot. He didn’t know. Time would tell, he figured.
He had been thinking about what Rhonda had said, too. The one thing he’d never really considered was a fire. Why hadn’t he? Fire was always a risk. Always. Especially in an area where so many had used wood to at least supplement their heating, if it wasn’t their sole source of heat.
There was also the threat of a brush fire, and the winter was just as good a time for one as the summer. Everything was dead, or dormant, and dry as a tinderbox. Summer time brought thunderstorms, and lightning could touch off dead and dry woods and leaves, fires that wouldn’t always be smothered by the rain such a storm might or might not drop.
And, how many houses still had some kind of power? It would all be solar, by now, he figured, but that would still provide power to things that had been on when the occupants passed on, or didn’t return from where they might have been. And how many propane pilot lights were still on? Could they start a fire? Billy didn’t know, but he wished, right now, that he did.
As he continued to look at the deep snow, he both admired the beauty of the snow covered landscape, and cursed their inability to act on the new ideas that had come to them.
But right now there was nothing he could do except sit, and wait.
*****
It was a week before they were able to move. A week that Billy squirmed and fidgeted. He and Danny cleared a path to the barn, and then hooked the small blade to the Ranger, using it to slowly and carefully carve out a trail to the hog lot, and then to the pasture. They were able to feed, and make sure the stock was okay. The horses were becoming fidgety, having to stay cooped up in the barn. Billy cut their grain out, hoping that would keep them calm another day or so, until the weather was clear enough to get them out and ride.
Finally, six days after Billy had started worrying over fire, he was able to get out and move around. He and Rhonda saddled up their horses and rode the fence line. Danny wanted to go, but he wasn’t a skilled rider, and Billy didn’t have time to teach him, so the teenager had to settle for using the Ranger to clear the drive way. It wasn’t the same as riding horses with Mister Billy, but as a consolation prize it wasn’t bad.
The fences checked, the two of them headed to Jerry’s. They found him doing pretty much the same thing they were, down to Toby using his four-wheeler to clear the Silvers’ driveway.
“Hello, neighbor!” Jerry waved. “Climb on down!”
“Thought we’d see how ya’ll was makin’ it,” Billy told him. “And we need to talk, too.”
“Not a bad idea at all,” Jerry nodded, after hearing Rhonda’s idea. “One we should of already done, too,” he admitted. “A fire anywhere would about wipe us out.”
“That’s what’s got me worryin’,” Billy nodded. “Hadn’t thought about it at all, ‘til she brought it up. Now, that’s all I can think about,” he said glumly.
“Well, there’s a buncha trucks around,” Jerry mused. “No idea how many, to be honest. All the volunteer outfits had’em, and they had three or four in town. And we need to try and get that plow, too.”
“Yeah, ‘bout forgot that, thinkin’ ‘bout the fire thing,” Billy admitted.
“Well, let me tell Em what’s doin’, and then we can head out.”
*****
“Damn, I never thought of that!” Ralph looked stunned.
“Reckon none of us did,” Billy said miserably. Now that the threat of fire had been brought to his attention, he simply could not let it go. It had driven him to distraction while he was cooped up in the house.
“Snow plow’s a good idea, though,” George added. “Especially after this.”
“If we want to move in weather like this, we need it,” Jerry nodded.
“Ain’t ‘specially wantin’ to,” Billy grimaced. “But we might have to.”
“And we won’t, without a plow.”
“Well, we need to start lookin’ for fire trucks and a snow plow, then, looks like,” Ralph sat back. “Today?”
“Today,” Billy nodded definitely.
“How may people we need?”
“I figure three, maybe four,” Rhonda mused. “I’d say if we find more than one usable truck of each kind, we get it while we can. Anyone know how to operate a fire truck, by the way?”
*****
“Actually, yeah. I can,” Ben nodded. “Used to be a volunteer fireman. Jon, too.”
“Ain’t too hard, once you know what does what,” Jon agreed. “We can work it out.”
“Well, that’s one problem solved,” Jerry sighed. “Reckon we can figure out how to operate a snow plow, too,” he added.
“How hard can it be?” George asked.
“Ain’t no way o’ knowin’ ‘til we get one,” Billy said pointedly. “And we ain’t gettin’ one sittin’ here.”
*****
“I’ve never ran one, but it’s basically a dump truck with a blade on it, right?” Two Bears asked. Others nodded.
“Well, then once we figure out the blade, I’d say we’ll have it down. I’m in.”
“Well, we’re set then,” Jerry declared. He, George and Two Bears would accompany Billy and Rhonda in search of the needed equipment. Terry, Ralph, and Ben would remain behind, in case anything happened.
The five of them piled into the Ford and set out for Cedar Bend.
“We’ll hit the Fiv
e Forks Station on the way in,” Jerry suggested. “Nearest volunteer station to us. They had a truck, and a rig for working brush fires and car wrecks, too.” Billy nodded, and turned the Ford down the proper back road.
The Five Forks community fire station looked undamaged from the road. The Ford slid it’s way into the lot, and the five of them got out.
“Reckon the door’s locked?” Billy asked.
“Shouldn’t be,” Jerry shook his head. “If there was a fire, they’d need access to the truck in a hurry. Let’s give it a try.” The side personnel door opened without a fuss, and they walked inside.
The building was surprisingly warm.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Rhonda said, feeling the heat inside.
“Not really,” George said, pointing to two infrared heaters suspended from the ceiling. “I’d imagine the heaters are on a thermostat. Can’t afford to let these trucks get too cold. The water would freeze. Might damage the pump.”
“Lucky the fuel lasted so long,” Pete remarked.
“Probably hasn’t been running long,” George pointed out. “Weather was pretty calm until about three, maybe four weeks ago, at most.”
“Wonder if she’ll turn over?” Jerry mused, looking at the truck.
“One way to find out,” Billy shrugged. As he approached the truck he smiled.
“Looky here,” he grinned, pointing to a long cable stretching to the engine. “This is a power couplin’ for a trickle charger. If it’s solar, then the battery should be hot.”
It wasn’t.
“Must’ve run off electricity,” Billy murmured. “Ain’t no way she’ll turn over.” Checking the brush truck, they found the same issue.
Billy pulled the Ford into the bay door, once they got it open, and they used it to jump start the engine. It ran rough, the fuel having soured some. Billy added some Lucas fuel treatment to the tank, with a bottle of Pri-G for good measure. Even with both chemicals, it took a half hour before the engine was running smoothly. As the men were working to make the engine road worthy, Rhonda inspected the smaller truck. It had been used for medical calls, vehicle accidents, and the occasional brush fire.
