Beyond the New Horizon (Book 4): Dark Times

by Conaway, Christine

  “Charlie! Can you come here for just a minute? I found another box to balance out the food box, but I need help.”

  “What’s up child?” Charlie saw what she was pointing at and reached down. “I guess Mark was planning for the survival of our souls,” he said with a chuckle. Charlie looked around as Abby had and she saw that his dilemma was no different than hers had been.

  “I couldn’t figure out what to do with them either. It seemed wrong simply to dump them out, but it’s the only box big enough to balance the food box. Nothing else comes close, at least that’s strong enough to hold much.”

  He tapped the book against the palm of his hand. His eyes wandered to the to the sky, and he frowned, “I was hoping that thing would be settling down by now, but it doesn’t appear to have diminished at all. I think the best thing we can do is to dump out whatever is in that black garbage bag and stack the books inside it. We’ll add two of them to our supplies and call it good. We can’t be lugging that around with us.”

  He saw the frown on Abby’s face, “God will understand, besides, God is in our hearts not in these. These books are simply some man’s interpretation of his words, and there’s no telling how much was lost in translation.”

  Abby nodded and went to get the black bag he’d pointed at. She undid the tie wrap and dumped the contents out in the bottom of the trailer. Abby tucked a thick strand of hair behind her ear and knelt beside the pile of material and knitted things. She thought it had to be something from Marks wagon because she didn’t think Charlie or his boys would have had crocheted doilies or embroidered slipcovers. She felt almost as bad leaving the stuff piled in the open bed, but Abby didn’t know what else to do with it. Looking through the stacks of material, Abby didn’t understand why Mark’s wife had thought them important or a necessity for their new lives. There were folded pieces of soft flannel with pictures of teddy bears, safety pins, and baby rattles as well as lengths of pastel colored ribbon; probably she had used the stuff to sew baby clothes or blankets. There had been something bothering Abby for a few days, and she realized that it might not be an ideal solution to her problem, it would take care of her predicament short term. She wanted to remember to ask Lucy what the other women used for their, “Time of the month.” The memory of her dad explaining it to her when she was ten, made Abby smile. He hadn’t wanted her to learn about the “birds and the bees,” from, as he called it, a stupid movie in front of a bunch of other kids or the gym locker room. She was going to be thirteen in a couple of weeks, and she thought she should be prepared. She had no idea how long it would be before they caught back up to the others, but she wanted to be prepared just in case.

  With the Bibles now covered by plastic, Abby put the tie wrap back on and gave it one final twist. When she went to slide it up the tilted bed, she was glad she had the forethought to stack them inside the bag while it was sitting on the fiberglass bed then on the ground. Abby couldn’t move the bag without tearing it. She left it where she’d filled it and dragged the box to where Charlie and Lucas were just finishing up attaching the empty food box to the harness that Walker wore. Just the empty weight of it pulled the harness down on one side, but Charlie said it was going to work. He hadn’t fastened the girth as tightly as he would have had they been filling the box up. He would wait until they had the opposing case attached.

  It didn’t take as long for Charlie to cut two holes through the thick plastic and Lucas had re-purposed a length of leather from the reins to attach it to the harness. Charlie stood with a groan and bent over to rub his knees, “I don’t think these old bones were meant for kneeling on the ground so much, but never mind. Lucas, let’s get it fitted and see what we’ve got.”

  After some adjustments on both sides of the cumbersome set of panniers, they thought it would work. The boxes sat relatively level but made the width of the horse and boxes almost five feet wide. “We’ll have to sort the food and whatever we’re going to put in them into two equally weighted piles, or we’re going to have a problem not only for us but for Walker too. We don’t want to sore him up and have a lame horse.”

  Lucas’s stomach growled. He rubbed his hand over it as if it would help to quieten it and grinned, “Dinner was a long time ago.”

  “Oh my lord, We never did eat the rice I was fixing, and I bet the desert has turned into charcoal.” Charlie hurried back to the fire where the coals had burned down to glowing embers, and not many of them were left. He grabbed the rag he had been using to hold the pot handle with and pulled the Dutch oven from under the grate. He lifted the lid and smiled, “Not too bad. It still looks edible,” and set the lid back on it. He lifted the lid from the other pot and smelled it. “Now this smells way better than it looks. Abby, dig through there and see about some silverware for us. We’ll just pass the pot around so don’t bother with the plates.”

  They ended up sitting close to the pot and digging their food out as they ate. Charlie told them they needed to save some for their next meal and almost reluctantly, Lucas set his spoon aside.

  “But, we do have this to fill in any gaps,” he said as he swapped the Dutch oven with the pot of rice and fish. He lifted the lid and smelled it, “Dump cake.”

  Abby laughed, “Why do you call it that? It sure smells good.”

  Lucas didn’t care why Charlie called it dump cake; it made his taste buds stand up and pay attention. They hadn’t had dessert after a meal almost since the beginning. Whatever dump cake was, it smelled like dessert to him. He picked his spoon back up in anticipation.

  “Bisquick, water, a little sugar and a jar of fruit. I just dump it all in there, stir it up and set it on the coals.”

  “Maybe we need to grease the bottom of the pot next time. It’s kind of stuck to the bottom,” Abby said as she dipped her spoon in.

  “Won’t be too many next times I’m afraid. We have no flour unless we grind it and we can’t take the bags of grain with us, and there’s only a small amount of Bisquick left.” Charlie sighed loudly, “We need to load all of the things on the ground into the wagon bed and we’ll cover it as best we can. Either we come back for it, someone else finds it, or it’s still sitting there ten years from now.”

  “Does anyone else smell that?” Lucas had his face tipped up drawing air in through his nose. “It almost smells like when you light matches.”

  Charlie sniffed, “Sulphur. I was hoping we could stay here at least until daylight, but I sure don’t like the idea of getting trapped in this canyon if we have a river of lava headed this way.”

  “But it moves really slow doesn’t it?”

  Charlie shook his head, “If the lava is leaking out the fissure we saw down the side of it, it can move as much as forty to sixty miles an hour. I think it depends on the terrain if it has an established channel and how much lava there is. Right now, I think we’ll get the horse gear on and move away to the higher ground.”

  While Charlie and Lucas re-tacked Jack, Abby took their bucket to the small creek she had found earlier to get water to clean up. As soon as she dipped the bucket, some splashed her feet, and she dumped it out and ran back to the camp. “We need to hurry I think. The water in the creek is hot. Not steaming or anything but too warm to drink. What can I do to help?”

  “Put my saddle on Jinx and tie those bags on like we did before. They’re piled behind the tree he’s tied to.”

  Charlie and Lucas loaded everything they could into the two improvised panniers, careful to keep it balanced despite the need to hurry. Abby saddled Jinx and tied everything that Lucas had set behind the tree. She saved her backpack until last because she couldn’t lift it up over her head to get it hooked on the saddle. When Lucas finally came to help her. They boosted it up on top of the saddle and Lucas used the thin leather strips on the saddle to tie it in place. “I didn’t want it hanging off one side for the same reason Charlie said about Jack. The weight dragging down on only the one side could make him shoulder sore before too long.”

  “So, we
're leaving tonight then?”

  “Charlie says that we don’t have a choice. Look at the trees up there.” Lucas pointed, and it was easy to see that some of them in the distance seemed to be ablaze. A line of red accented the darker horizon, and it was easy to imagine the trees on fire. A halo of sparks drifted high into the sky, and a cloud of dark smoke rose over the top.

  “Kid’s, come here please,” Charlie called urgency punctuating his words. He had a halter on Jack with a lead line and the cut-down bridle on Walker. Walker wore his harness, but a folded blanket lay across his back over the harness from his withers to his hips.

  “Will that horse of yours lead if we tie him to Jack?”

  “Yup, and you can lead another horse off of him too. Carlos did a good job when he broke him.”

  “Good! Tie him on and then come here. Abby, I’m going to boost you up behind Lucas, and you have to keep an eye on Jinx. Make sure he stays with us. Come on Lucas, hurry.”

  Lucas hurried up. He had heard Charlie talking to Abby and knew what was expected of him. He reached as high as he could, grabbed the harness and raised his left leg. When Charlie lifted him by the ankle, Lucas bounced up and threw his right leg over the big horses back. He reached his hand down for Abby to grab hold off and waited while Charlie boosted her up. He pulled when the older man lifted, and Abby was quickly sitting behind him. Lucas gathered the reins and waited for Charlie to say what came next.

  “There’s room up here for all of us.”

  Charlie untied Jack and set off at a walk, “That may be, but that one don’t lead so well, and this one don’t cotton to be dragged by Walker. You and I will take turns riding.”

  “Where are we going? Why aren’t we following the same trail that John and the others followed?” Abby scooted around until she found a comfortable seat and put one hand on each side of Lucas.

  He wondered the same thing and had been surprised when Charlie set off toward the stream. “I have no idea, but I’m going to trust that he has a plan in mind.”

  Chapter four

  “Don’t be whispering back there. If you got a question or an idea speak up.”

  “We were wondering why we were not following the others? Wouldn’t it be quicker to stay on the road?”

  Charlie didn’t even miss a step or slow down, “Would have been at that and also it would have been a straight shot down the valley. Remember the defined channel we talked about for the lava flow? That could be the valley, so unless you’re ready to take that chance, we’re going up there.”

  Charlie could have nodded in the direction he was walking, or he could have pointed, but in the darkness under the trees, neither Lucas nor Abby could have seen. Lucas followed Jack’s butt. He stopped when Jack did and backed up when Charlie couldn’t get through because of the brush. Once they had left the creek, they had been on a steady climb. Every time Lucas had asked about changing places with Charlie, he had waved him off. Lucas was at the point where he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and he knew the way that Abby leaned heavily against him, she had already fallen asleep. More than once he had to wake her when she started to slide off.

  Lucas didn’t know if it was a forestry road or an old logging road but was happy when he no longer had to duck brush or low-hanging branches. Charlie kept to the easier walking on the track until the trees opened up in front of them. It felt like they had continuously climbed a slight grade the past couple of hours, but with only the moon to light the way, it was hard to tell. There was some kind of a dirt pull-over space that probably provided an overlook to the land below them, but with it still being night, they had no way of knowing exactly what was out there. Lucas no longer smelled the sulfur, but the downside to their location was they were on the southeast side of the hill and could no longer see the glow in the sky.

  “This is it for tonight. That sun will be coming up directly, and we can see what we’ve got. Until then, tie the horses and find a place to rest. I don’t want to unpack them until we know.” Charlie slid down the trunk of a tree coming to rest at the base of it, Jack’s lead line still gripped in his hand. The big horse stood over him as if on guard.

  Lucas swung his leg over the neck of his horse and slithered to the ground. He had been on it so long he forgot how far it was to the ground and his knees buckled at the drop. He took a couple steps to regain his balance and reached his hand up to help the half asleep Abby to the ground.

  Abby walked to the shoulder and stretched out in the weeds. Lucas watched her until she fell back asleep and led Walker to a nearby tree and tied him. Jinx had no other option but to follow along as Abby had tied his lead, to the harness. As well as the two horses seemed to be getting along, Lucas left him tied there. He could see a sliver of light along the horizon and thought the sun would soon be peeking over the distant mountains. As tired as he was, Lucas couldn’t bring himself to lie down and sleep. They were not established in a secure location and had no idea if others had sought shelter in the mountains. They hadn’t seen anyone, but he knew that didn’t mean they weren’t there. He walked across the dirt apron of the road until he was standing on the edge of the wide shoulder and listened. Carlos and his Uncle Sam had taught him the value of listening. He knew that under the right conditions, a person could hear the sound of a twig snapping, or the swish of a branch being moved by the wind, or by a person’s hand. It was the savvy hunter who understood the difference. He sat down with his legs crossed and rested his hand's palm up, and open in his lap. He closed his eyes and opened his mind up to the sounds around him. He was able to distinguish the difference between Charlie’s heavy breathing and Abby’s soft snores. He heard the stirring of the trees from a breeze that felt soft against his upturned face. He heard the first chirps as birds took to the air in search of food and the whirring as a grouse or pheasant took wing.

  These were familiar noises to Lucas, and he listened harder, disregarding them as known sounds. He strained to hear the unfamiliar reverberations of the unknown. In the distance, Lucas heard the tinkle of water and realized the horses never did have the opportunity to drink, and he thought of taking them to the water until he realized how hard it would be. As soon as Charlie or Abby woke, he would find the stream and carry some up to them, unless the creek was in the direction they were going. They still had the two rubber feed buckets, and Charlie said they would be dual purposed for grain and water. They had very little grain left with the bulk being left at the wagon. The horses could eat grass in place of the grain, but they would always need water, and the buckets would at least carry it.

  Lucas sat up straight because something caught his attention, but he couldn’t decide what it was. At any other time, he would have thought it was an airplane, but he knew it was impossible. Lucas listened and soon lost the sound completely. He opened his eyes. He hadn’t realized how long he had been sitting except his knees ached from being folded for so long, and the sun had already risen above the horizon. Full daylight exploded around him, and Lucas saw green trees close in from of him, and cliffs of rock down below. The rock walls looked like they were freshly washed so clean was the surface. There were no pockets of dirt or foliage growing from the crevasses in the rock wall like he was used to seeing on their mountains.

  Lucas stood up and rubbed the small of his back and stepped toward the edge. With a turn of his head, he checked to see if Charlie or Abby was awake and saw that not even the three horses were paying him any attention. Lucas felt on top of the world looking out over the tree tops. To his left, the two-track continued, and he walked that way only to stop when the road ended. He leaned out and looked down. To his eyes, it looked like the side of the hill they were on just stopped. It was a sheer drop off with no way that he could see to get down. Lucas backed up slowly in case his weight sent the slab of dirt he was standing on sliding to the bottom.

  Across the narrow valley, Lucas could count the different layers that made up the wall of rock. He thought it looked like a photograph in black and wh
ite of some cliffs he had seen on the television. There were only shades of gray, and black, but the more he looked, the more colors he could differentiate. There were thin layers of tan and thinner layers of red all compressed together, and they rose straight up. One row of cliffs ran north and south and the other east and west. It looked impenetrable except for where the two walls of rock met. There was no grass or bushes or even trees at the junction, but as he stared at it, he saw a dark shadow between them. The landscape looked like some kids drawing of a mountain range with sharp angles and lines which either ran up and down or across the page. He shivered because he thought that he was looking at land that no human eyes had ever touched or photographed. Just the thought made him weak, and while his eyes were taking it all in, his brain was telling him it was impossible. His father had explained that when they got to the Saint Joes Valley, there were rolling hills with trees on both sides with a road running parallel to the river. As far as Lucas could see, there was nothing in front of him that resembled his dad’s description at all. He remembered a picture he had seen of Pulpit Rock in Stevanger Norway, and this was like that, but not just the one peak, but a whole row of them slabbed together and pressed tight forming a solid wall. The strangest sight was to have them almost joined at the bottom, but going in two separate directions.

  From where Lucas stood, he saw no way to the bottom that he would consider safe but back the way they had come to find an alternate route, and if Charlie’s thoughts were correct going back might not be an option. “It’s time to wake them up,” he said and walked backward away from the edge.

  Lucas knelt on one knee in front of Charlie. The man looked exhausted, deep lines covered his face, and Lucas realized with him relaxed in sleep the man looked far older than he and Abby had thought. They hadn’t heard how old his boys were, but Lucas thought Charlie had to be older than his father. His hair was completely white as well as the beard that grew thick on his face. Had he grown it longer, he would have fit the mental picture that Lucas had of Santa Claus. He fell over backward when he saw one of Charlie's eyes pop open.