Beyond the New Horizon (Book 3): Living on the Edge

by Conaway, Christine

  “So, you’re planning on making a move to the canyon?”

  “I was going to let John have the pleasure of filling you guys in, but in light of everything that’s happened, I guess I can. The canyon now opens up into what we used to call the St. Joes River area, or we think it does. From the hill, you can see a valley with a water source running beside it. John thinks it’s where the hiking cabins used to be.”

  “And you think it’s safe for us to be there? What makes it any better than here?”

  Sam picked up a stick and began to draw in the dirt. He worked for several minutes before looking up. “Okay. That’s the way it used to look.” He moved over several feet and continued drawing. Several times he paused as if thinking and added and erased as the memories unfolded. With a sigh, he turned to them, “The last time I went flying over this area, that’s how I remember it looking,” he pointed to his first drawing. “There were a bunch of trails and campgrounds. They followed along the St. Joes River, and there was a road.” Sam pointed to the second drawing, “Of course, this isn’t from the air, but from the top of a hill, but that’s the way it looks today. As impossible as it is to believe, I think the river has changed direction, and I believe that it now drains Lake Coeur D’Alene. That’s the only explanation I can come up with, but the flow now goes to the east.

  Journey grabbed Gina’s arm and squeezed it, “Avery! That was our second choice to coming up here. Remember, they had the cabins and paddocks, but we wanted more seclusion than they offered down there?”

  Gina nodded and pried Journey’s finger loose from her arm, “That’s right, it was our second choice. If they didn’t open up this area for camping, we were going to hunt for garnets at the Emerald Creek Garnet Area. “But that is a long way from here. How could you possibly see it?”

  Sam looked at Lucy, “Well, I don’t know that it is the same area. I’m saying it looks like it, and if you look on a map at the Montana, Idaho border, you can see where it makes several sharp turns. As the crow flies, it’s probably a lot closer than going by road. To get to the valley is a good day and a half ride and surprisingly, it’s an easy ride, not like it used to be at all.” Sam looked up when John walked over to them, “Hey John. How’s Mary doing?”

  “How do you think she’s doing? She’s heartbroken. She’s going to go home with Mark and Evelyn for a couple of days. Tomorrow, Mark and I are going to ride over to McGrubbers and see if he wants to part with that old wagon of his. Mark and Evelyn are going to start packing up, and Mary’s going to help them. When we leave here, they’re going with us.” He scuffed Sam’s dirt drawing with his toe. “He says we need to move and wants to join us. He thinks that mountain isn’t done and doesn’t want to be around if it lets go.”

  “Wow, I didn’t think there was anything that could force Mark away from his land. Then I guess we better get in gear then. The question is, do you believe that we can get a wagon through the route we rode?”

  “Not the way it is, but soon as I get back, Mark, Andy, Lucas and I will work on the trail while the rest of you pack us up.”

  “Before we go anywhere, we need to go into St. Regis to the feed store. Olivia here thinks her father has some guns and ammunition stored in a hidden room. And there are a few other things we need from there too.” He hoped John would not argue about them going, but he felt it was more important to have the guns if they were still there than to flee the area with no way to defend themselves.

  John thought for a moment, “What kind of guns and how many? If indeed there are guns, maybe we do need them. I guess any would be an improvement over what we have now. As for the other things, I can’t imagine what you think is so important, but how do you plan on bringing them home?”

  “With the wheels from Marks two bikes, I plan on building a wagon. If I ride over with you, I can pull the wheels off of them and come right back. Ben and Andy are going to put together a frame out of that old angle iron you have. We should be ready to leave by tomorrow noon at the latest.”

  “Can I assume one of the horses is going to pull it?”

  “That was the plan, but I can tell that maybe you have something in mind.”

  “I know you probably have something you’ll jerry-rig up for a harness, but Mom’s old driving harness is up in the overhead above your room. I don’t know what shape it’s in, but with a little work, it might do. We oiled it pretty good when Dad and I put it up there.”

  “Holy crap! I can’t believe I forgot about the attic space. I wonder what else is up there?”

  John started to leave, but turned around, “Here’s something to keep in mind, Mark was saying that he rode along the new river, and it looked to him like the way was passable all the way to McGrubber’s at least to where the road headed north. He didn’t go past there, but he did say it looked okay heading to the east. You might try going that way rather than to pick your way overland. I assume it will be you and Ben going?”

  Sam saw the look of dismay on Gina’s face, “Ben, Gina, and I.”

  “I should have figured that. Okay, I’ll see you when I get back. I’m just going to give Mary a ride to Mark’s, ride over to McGrubbers and then I’ll be back to give you a hand.” John turned and walked away, over his shoulder he flung back, “I’ll bring the wheels back with me, so there’s no point in you going too.”

  “Can we use bicycle tires for a wagon? It doesn’t seem like we’d be able to carry much.”

  Sam laughed, “You should see the size of the tires they have on their bikes. They’re those big balloon tires. They’ll be just fine. First, we need to gather supplies.”

  “What can we do to help?” Gina asked. She, Journey, and Olivia wanted to help but had no idea where to start.

  “Under the end of the trailer is a toolbox. It’s probably a little heavy and will take two of you to carry it. It’s full of hand tools that Carlos collected over the years. Under the bed is a plastic box of nuts and bolts, we’ll need that too.”

  Journey and Olivia set off for the trailer. Gina still had nothing to do. “What are you going to use for the bed of it?”

  Sam was on his knee busy sketching another diagram for Andy and Ben in the dirt. He looked up, “I think there are some old one-by-fours by the angle iron. We can cut them to size.” He went back to his drawing.

  “And what about for the shafts? Do you have something in mind for them?” Gina thought she could see from the picture, what Sam was planning on building, but she could already see how it wouldn’t work. If he placed the shafts on the outside corners of his wagon, the shafts would be too far apart for a horse to pull it.

  Sam looked at the sketch over to her and back at his markings in the dirt and frowned. He sighed and chewed on the inside of his lip, “Well, dang. I didn’t think about that.” He drew a pair of shafts in the dirt and saw where they needed something that curved to use to attach to the horse.

  “I have an idea. You guys build the frame and figure out how you’re going to put the axles on it, and I’ll find the shafts.” Lucas had been standing just watching the men and had been pretty quiet. Gina thought it was time for him to get involved, “Come on Lucas, you can help me.”

  Lucas grinned at Gina, and she thought he knew what she had in mind. She had been intrigued by the versatility of the stretcher he had made and knew just what they could use to make the shafts. Gina found her saddle and got her saw out of her saddlebag.

  “Come on kiddo. I bet you know just where we can find the right kind of wood.”

  “I used to know. Let’s go see if there is any left.”

  They left, walking the top of the hill above the trailer. Gina saw Journey and Olivia already starting the climb back to the hay shed and waved. Journey was carrying one metal toolbox while Oliva had a smaller one. Lucy and the three girls were sitting around the unlit firepit, watching the goats that someone had turned loose. They hadn’t moved the goats or chickens up top, and Gina was glad they had put it off. It would have given the goats too muc
h freedom, and they would have been too hard to catch with the open space.

  Gina had heard the footsteps before he got to them and resisted the urge to look behind them. She continued walking toward the trees when Lucas squealed. Gus had stuck his nose up by Lucas’s ear and snorted.

  “Dang donkey! Why’s he always doing that? Every time I’m outside he has to be bugging me.” He wiped the mule slobber from his neck.

  Gina shoved Lucas’s shoulder, “Because you insist on calling him a donkey. Besides that, he likes you.”

  “Well, I don’t like him! He’s always rubbing his hair off on me.”

  “He’s shedding, just like the horses.” Gina realized that Gus had stopped and turned to see why. She grabbed Lucas by his jacket and turned him around. Gus’s ears, which normally stood straight up hung down at an angle, his bottom lip hung loose. If any animal could express himself correctly, it was Gus. He looked like he had lost his last friend.

  “I think you hurt his feelings.”

  “They don’t have feelings. Gus is just a mule. It’s not like he can understand me.”

  “Really? I think you better tell that to him.”

  Lucas went back to the mule and knelt in front of him. Gina couldn’t hear what was said, but Gus’s ears stood up straight, and he seemed to be grinning. He let go with one of his bray’s and nudged Lucas over onto the ground. Lucas slammed both of his hands over his ears and laughed. “Okay, okay! I do like you a lot.”

  Gus apparently heard what he needed to hear to make his day right and jogged off ahead of them, ears up and tail swishing from side to side. Lucas got up and came back to Gina.

  “Okay, so maybe he does understand. I really do like him. You know that don’t you? He’s just different from the horses, but I like all of the animals. I just don’t want to get too attached just in case we ever have to eat them.”

  Gina stopped walking and laughed, “Trust me, we are never going to eat Gus, and it’s a safe bet that we won’t eat the horses either. Now, let’s get some of that vine maple.” As they walked, she told him exactly what they needed. When they were making the stretcher, they had needed it to be straight, and half the problem then was that it grew crooked naturally. Now they needed some of the twisted limbs bent just a certain way.

  Lucas nodded and set off into the brush. Gina was surprised by the number of new leaves on the trees, even those that leaned over seemed to have new growth. The vines and bushes had buds, and new growth poked up through the layer of debris on the ground. John had been right about the amount of ash they had received, and a brief morning drizzle had washed it into the dirt. The trees and bushes still had a dirty gray cast to them, but they didn't appear to be dying.

  Gina looked up toward the mountain and saw smoke still spiraled up from it, and to her eyes, it looked as if it came from more than one place. She thought it was a good thing that they could still see the smoke because she thought it meant that it wasn’t building up pressure inside of it.

  “It still looks scary, doesn’t it? I heard Mark tell my Dad that the other volcanoes were still erupting and some people were getting sick.”

  “Sick? From the volcanoes? Unless they are putting out lots of toxic chemicals, I don’t see what would make them sick.”

  “I didn’t hear the whole conversation. But I think Mark said it was the plague.”

  Gina stopped walking, “Are you sure he said plague?”

  “No, I’m not positive. Like I said, I only heard part of it, but I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.”

  While they searched for the right pieces of vine maple, Gina thought about what Lucas had said. She as well as Journey had learned about the three types of plague in medical school, and working with soldiers who were returning from some of the third world countries, they both tried to stay current in their knowledge. The soldiers were always in danger of catching something either from an infected person or flea bites. Countries, like many of the desert countries with an uncontrolled rat population, were always the most suspect.

  To Gina’s knowledge, they had not treated a case of the plague because their returning veterans usually came from a military medical facility in Germany and one time, Italy. If their soldiers had contracted the disease, they would have been treated with massive doses of antibiotics and deemed healthy before shipping them home.

  Lucas, overhearing Mark say that people were dying, made Gina want to hurry, find their shafts and talk with Mark. If he had said that people were dying, they needed to know where. If it was in the U.S., it meant that conditions had deteriorated drastically in towns and cities. Without rodent control, and if people were dying in their homes and not being properly buried they were going to provide a feeding ground for rats and other vermin. The thought of the plague spreading across the U.S. made her blood run cold. She needed to talk to Journey.

  “Just grab those two. They will work just fine. Let’s get back to camp.”

  “But, you said we needed four of them just in case.” He was frowning at her like she had lost her mind.

  Gina sank onto a half-buried tree trunk. “Sorry, you’re right. We do need to take the extras while we’re here. I keep thinking about what Mark said, and it scares me. At one time the plague killed millions of people.”

  “We learned about the Black Plague in school and typhoid and cholera. People don’t get them anymore, do they?”

  “Not like that, but there’s still a few cases every year in the southwestern states, but we have streptomycin to combat the plague. I don’t think we’ll find antibiotics being readily available anymore.”

  “Can we catch it from someone else?”

  “That’s a good question and Journey would be the one to ask. She always kept up better than I ever did with infectious diseases.”

  Lucas cut the last two pieces of vine maple, while Gina held the branch steady. Gina thought the first two were perfect, but the last two were their insurance, and between the four of them, she was sure they could make a set of shafts.

  With a limb under each of their arms, they dragged them back to camp. They were longer than Gina thought they needed to be, so she wasn’t worried about wearing the ends off on the ground as they had with their travois poles.

  Gina couldn’t help but look up at the mountain as they came out of the trees. She stopped walking and stared. The smoke they had seen earlier was no longer visible.

  “Well, I guess that’s that then.”

  Lucas stopped beside her and looked, “Do you think it’s getting ready again?”

  She shook her head, “I think it has to build up pressure, but what do I know. Maybe it’s done. I guess we can’t worry about it right now. There’s not anything we can do to stop it, so no point in worrying. Leaving the area will be the best thing we can do, but unfortunately, we can’t leave just yet.”

  With one last glance at the hill, Gina followed Lucas away. They had wandered further from the hay shed than she’d thought, but an hour of steady walking brought them out of the trees. She realized they might not have been as far away as she’d thought, but carrying a twelve-foot limb under each arm hadn’t made the walk any easier. They weren’t heavy, just awkward to maneuver them through the brush.

  As they passed the cemetery, Gina noticed that someone had placed plastic flowers on Nathan’s grave as well as a single flower on Carlos’s. She looked where Mike and his family were buried and felt relieved to see that several flowers marked their plot as well. The fresh dirt had already begun to dry out even with the rainfall they’d had. If someone didn’t know the significance of the rock by Carlos’s grave, no one would ever know there were six family members buried there. Gina felt better believing that Mike’s family and Nathan had died accidentally.

  Chapter Five; One man’s family

  “We were beginning to think we’d have to send out a search party for you two. Gus came back an hour ago looking like he’d lost his best friend.” Sam took Gina’s poles and laid them out on the ground. He look
ed them over with a critical eye.

  Lucas dropped his beside hers and stepped back. Sam immediately selected both of the poles that Lucas had carried. “Aw, these are perfect.”

  Lucas didn’t brag or say anything, but Gina saw the look he gave her. His two poles were the last two that they’d cut, and if it had of been up to her, they wouldn’t have had them. He did point his chin in her direction and grinned.

  Gina wrinkled her nose at him, “Precocious little brat!”

  “What’s that?” Sam stopped walking and waited for Gina to repeat herself.

  “Nothing, I guess I was thinking out loud. How are you coming along with your wagon?” She glared over at Lucas because by the way he’d rolled his eyes at her, she knew that he had heard her.

  “It’s not a thing of beauty, but it’ll get the job done. What took you guys so long? I expected you back an hour ago?”

  “We had to find the right ones. What did you use for the bed?”

  “Some of the siding we took from around the bottom of the trailer.” Sam had looked at Gina when he answered and wheeled around when he saw that her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were huge.

  “Well. Wouldn’t you know? That’s McGrubbers team pulling the wagon, and it looks like old man McGrubber driving it. Wonder what’s going on?”

  As John loped toward them, “I guess we’re about to find out.”

  John reined his gelding up in front of Sam and Gina. The big bay set back on his haunches and slid to a stop. “Good, I was hoping we got back in time to catch you.”

  “Did you bring the wheels and what’s McGrubber doing here?” “Dang! No wheels. Mark and I dropped Evelyn and Mary off at the house and headed straight to McGrubbers. Sorry, Sam, I should have gone by Mark’s on the way back, and I forgot. Charlie was already on his way here.”

  “We can see that. Where’s he going? Looks to me like he has everything he owns in that wagon. So, I guess that means you can’t borrow or buy it.”