by David Wilson
“Do a really quick walk through and grab anything you think we can use. I’m talking five minutes,” Talon said to Ben. Turning to Diane, Talon asked, “Where do you keep the grain for the horses. They are going to need some along the route.” Diane nodded and led Talon over to the horse barn. Talon and Diane grabbed one of the other horses and quickly put a pack-saddle on the horse. Talon loaded one 50 pound sack of oats on each side of the pack saddle and led the horse out to join the main group.
With everyone mounted, the group moved out as soon as Ben came back out of the house with a few more supplies. They moved at a canter to the ferry parking lot and across the field to the location of where they had camped after the ferry building fight. Slowing to a walk, Talon kept them moving until Billy said he needed to go to the bathroom. Moving the group into a small stand of trees, they all dismounted and loosened their saddles. After everyone had finished with their own individual needs. Talon gathered everyone together and gave them a brief rundown of what they were facing. Afterward, Talon handed out power bars and told them to eat while they were riding.
Getting the horses ready, they all mounted again and headed northwest, keeping the Potomac River within sight. The group alternated between a walk and a canter for the next five hours. Seeing that the horses were about done in, Talon led the group into a large stand of trees near the river. Stepping down from the saddle, Talon led his horse deeper into the trees until finding a suitable place to camp for the night. Tying Shadow up to a tree limb, Talon pulled a rope from his saddle and began making a picket line for the horses. Ben helped Diane and Billy get their saddles off their horses and put halters on each of them before bringing them over to where Talon was. Talon stripped the saddle off Shadow and removed his bridle, replacing it with a halter. Ben gathered all of the halter ropes and led the horse away to water them. Talon finish laying out all of the feed bags and hobbles then grabbed his saddle and carried it to a good location for his hammock.
Pulling his solo stove from his pack along with his cooking supplies, he walked over to where Diane already had one solo stove going. Dropping off the supplies, he continued over to help Ben with the horses. Grabbing the feed sacks, Talon filled the bags from one of the new bags of grain. After filling the bags, Talon made sure the grain sacks and pack saddle was covered in case it rained during the night. By the time he had finished this chore, Ben was back with the horses, and Talon helped him tie off the halter ropes to the picket line and put the hobbles on all of the horses. Talon started putting the feed bags on the horses while Ben gave each of them a quick brush down.
Finishing with horses, Ben and Talon walked over to where Diane and Billy were sitting beside the solo stoves. They already had four bags of Mountain House sitting on the ground. Diane looked up and said, “The water is almost ready for coffee if either of you wants some.”
Talon turned and walked back over to his saddlebags and retrieved a bottle. Coming back over to the fires, Talon said, “I think this calls for something a little stronger.”
Ben nodded and took the bottle from Talon. Pulling out the cork, he raised the bottle to Diane, but Diane shook her head, politely refusing the offer. Ben shrugged his shoulders and took a small pull from the bottle. Coughing just a little, Talon took the bottle back and took a not small pull from the bottle, shoved the cork back into the bottle, and put it back into his saddlebag. Returning to the circle, Talon pulled his helmet off and sat down with his back to a tree.
He looked around the small group and saw everyone’s eyes were on him. He gave a small grin and asked, “How is everyone holding up?” Everyone nodded and said they were ok. Talon continued, “I hope everyone realizes we have added a few more obstacles to our path. According to the DHS guy back there, we are all wanted terrorists, and DHS has passed the word to all the forces supporting martial law. So really all we have now is our support in Winchester. All we have to do is waltz in and rescue Jake and have him launch his coup of the DHS guys and hope that everyone can keep their mouth shut. Hopefully, Don and Mat are still there and safe. That way I can try and get back to Texas with all the Iranian hit teams, DHS, law enforcement, and military looking for me. Hoping all the time they don’t go after my family before I can get home and get them moved. No problem, just a few obstacles.”
Watch for next book in the “Lone Star Odyssey” series
Coming out in the spring of 2020.
