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

by Conaway, Christine

  Not an hour after John and Charlie had come back down the hill, the fissure where the hay shed used to be, had spewed boiling water high into the air about ten hours after the initial eruption. Gina was timing it to see if they had any chance of retrieving the rest of their belongings. If it could be counted on to wait the ten hours between each release, she thought they could get in and get out safely.

  They had spent until it was too dark to see, packing their things on the back of Charlie's wagon and loading the camp trailer until it was full. They had piled the rest of their possessions on top of the mattresses in Marks trailer, leaving only enough room for the three youngest girls to ride on top when they grew tired of walking or riding the horses.

  With their added population they were now several horses and saddles short of having a mount for each of them. John had decided that when they left the next day, they were going to leave the goats penned below and the chickens which were still running free, until the next trip. Journey, Andy, Gina, and Sam would stay behind. Andy and Journey to keep watch of their property and Gina and Sam would retrieve the guns and anything else they could carry from the farm store in St. Regis. They were going to take Gus with the hard sided panniers to carry what they found. The guns, ammunition and any antibiotics or medicines would have priority.

  It had taken some talking on Gina’s part to make John see the necessity of going while they were still closer rather than having to make the trip after the move. It had taken the combined arguments from Ben and Andy to convince him. After finally nodding his approval, he had stomped off to get some sleep.

  “Something is coming,” Olivia said and sat up with her head cocked to the side while listening.

  At first, Gina didn’t hear anything, but the night sounds and crackling of the wood burning in the pit. She had been daydreaming about what they would find after they reached their destination.

  “It sounds like another tractor…sort of.”

  Gina listened and realized that Olivia was right. It sounded to her like a motor that was only running on half the cylinders. The chugga-chugga was certainly not anywhere close to the smooth repetitive chug-chug of John’s big tractor nor Marks small yard tractor.

  Gina had her 30/30 leaning against her chair but didn’t feel the need to check to see if it was ready. She knew it was. The sounds were coming from the trail to Marks and not from up above so she thought it had to be Mark and Sam.

  Gina knew that sitting in the glow of the fire was as dangerous as sitting under a spotlight, so she and Olivia moved away into the shadows to watch. It wasn’t long until she saw a bobbing light about five feet off the ground. To her, it appeared as if someone is walking in front of the tractor carrying some kind of a bobbing light or lantern, and she realized it had to be Sam lighting the way for Mark.

  About halfway down the slight hill, she saw the light bobble and drop close to the ground. Gina almost laughed when she heard Sam cussing. She thought he must have stumbled or tripped. He led the way to the fire with Mark and Mary riding on the tractor with Ben and Lucas following on their horses.

  The load on the trailer looked much the same as the one that Mark had sent over earlier. Plywood lined the four sides, and their remaining possessions piled up to the top of the wood. Something was thrown over the top and tied down.

  Mary came and hugged Gina and Olivia and asked for John. Gina told her he was in the trailer and she left to join him. When Ben and Andy had taken care of their horses and turned them loose, they went inside to find somewhere to lie down and get some rest, leaving Mark, Sam, Gina, and Olivia at the fire.

  “What happened to the tractor? It doesn’t sound like it has many miles left on it. Hearing you coming it sounded like it was trying to die.”

  “We’re going to try to distribute some of the stuff between the other wagons, as soon as Mark has a chance to sort through it with a different attitude than when they loaded them up. Somehow, maybe a ricochet put a hole in the oil pan, and we lost too much oil. I didn’t even think we would make it this far.”

  “I can’t even get the darn thing repaired.”

  Sam laughed, “At least not for a while.”

  Mark shook his head sadly, “It was a great old tractor too. Now I’ve got to decide what we can and can’t live without but Evie is going to have my hide if I don’t at least keep one mattress for her.”

  “Truthfully, A mattress would be the last thing on my list. Food, medicines and clothing and any firearms and ammunition.”

  “You might want to consider being up at first light to repack. I sure don’t like the looks of that. They sat in silence for a few minutes, after Gina pointed out the red glow on the mountain. Mark’s eyes widened in surprise when Gina told him about the geyser.

  “I told you I could smell sulfur…but did you believe me? Nope, you said I must be getting ready to have a seizure or something.”

  “Aw, Mark. You know I was only teasing. I couldn’t smell it and thought you imagined it.”

  Mark sat with his elbows resting on his knees, leaning close to the fire to which Oliva had just added wood. He shook his head sadly, “I sure didn’t like having to leave the loader behind. The first time it has ever refused to start.”

  “I already told you I would find you a battery. If you hadn’t already packed your jumper cables in the first load, we could have jumped it.”

  “I know, I know. I don’t need to hear it again. Never thought the battery would give out.”

  Sam looked at Gina, “I’m not going tomorrow. I believe we need to go to the farm store and get the guns, plus now we need a battery. John is just going to have to deal with it.”

  “There’s no dealing with it. John already gave his consent. Between Andy, Ben, and I we convinced him we needed to go. As soon as Journey told him we needed the antibiotics, he agreed. He wasn’t happy about it but agreed. Andy and Journey are going to stay here, and you and I are going. We’ll take Gus with us to pack.”

  “I don’t suppose there is some place for this old man to catch a couple of winks is there? Today I feel like I’m old and tired. All I could do to leave the homestead knowing I probably wouldn’t be back.”

  “There are blankets stacked inside the door, but I fear all of the good places to sleep are already occupied, but there’s probably enough room on the floor.”

  Sam pointed at the travel trailer, “What about…”

  “Full. There’s nothing left in this one but the carpet. The girls even dismantled the stove and loaded it.”

  “Carpet sounds fine to me.” Mark walked to the trailer and went in, quietly shutting the door behind him.

  They sat in silence for several minutes. “What did you do with the cart you guys built?”

  “It got wrecked when the building fell. Why?”

  “How badly is it wrecked? Like a total loss, or can it be fixed?”

  “Two of the wheels were destroyed, and some of the boards broke. Now, are you going to tell me what seems to be on your mind or am I going to have to guess?”

  Gina chewed on her lip thinking about the wheels. “You know what a sulky is?”

  “Of course. It’s a two-wheeled…what a great idea. If I drilled a couple more near the center of the board, we could mount the axle close to the middle and have a two wheeled cart. Kind of like a travois on wheels.”

  “We brought extra shafts, and we already have the harness, so why not? Sailor would pull it just fine, and we could leave Gus to go with the others.”

  “I can drive it,” Oliva said. When she saw both Sam and Gina looking at her and before they could say anything, “I’m going, and nothing you can say will make me change my mind. There are things I want to get too. I refuse to spend the rest of my life wearing other people's clothes. Besides, I can get some of my things for the other girls. After going through everything we saved, none of them have any clothes either. So I’m going, so don’t try to talk me out of it.”

  Gina had a surprise for the girl. She had al
ready given it some thought because Oliva knew where to find the things they would need and she wasn’t a typical fifteen-year-old. Unlike their other girls, Olivia had seen the worst that men had to offer and had survived. She was strong, physically as well as mentally. “Okay. Now go get some sleep.”

  “I know you think I’m too…what?”

  “I said go get some sleep, so you are well-rested before we go.”

  Olivia jumped up and headed into the trailer. She came out a few seconds later with a quilt in her arms. “There’s no room for me.”

  Gina and Sam both pointed to the haystack. Olivia nodded and climbed under the tarp. They heard her shuffle around for a few seconds until she got herself comfortable.

  “You know that John is going to raise a fuss when he hears you want to let her go with us?”

  “Once you explain that she is set on going no matter what we said, and for her reasons, he’ll be okay. Now, I think it’s time for the both of us to get a few winks as well.”

  “Me? You want me to beard the lion in his den? Why me?”

  Gina laughed softly, “He’s your brother.” She took her sleeping bag off her saddle and climbed the haystack, slithering under the edge of the tarp.

  Gina tried to sleep. The rhythmic in and out of Oliva’s breathing should have soothed Gina, but the girl's breaths only reminded her of what the next day would bring. Gina thought she was doing the right thing by letting her go with them. Olivia had said more than once how she would like to finish burying her parents, and just that day, Olivia had said that as soon as they were situated in their new home, she was going back to St. Regis for just this purpose. It had been months, and Gina knew the likelihood of there being anything left to bury was minuscule, but Gina wanted to be there to help her in case she was wrong. If John did have a problem with the girl going, Gina would let Sam deal with it. With the thought of asking Lucy to borrow Joe for the girl to ride, Gina fell asleep.

  She woke when she felt Sam climb in beside her, but not enough to do anything but snuggle into his side when he got himself situated.

  Sam found himself wide awake. He had thought to find sleep beside the other two, but his eyes refused to stay closed, and his thoughts plagued him. He wondered if they were putting enough distance between themselves and the volcano. He knew there was nothing to prevent another from popping up out of the earth just like their present one had, but he couldn’t think of anyplace else to go. As long as they stayed in the shelter of the mountains, they would be threatened, with not only volcanoes but after the way the earth had opened up when they were trying to get the goats, he wondered if there was such a thing as a safe place unless they left the mountains. Being out of the mountains would also give them a whole new set of problems to have to conquer. Greater visibility could be detrimental to them. There would be bigger cities and more people who may have survived the apocalypse. With the turn of events regarding their winter, or lack of it, people would be on the move looking for something better than they already had and Sam couldn’t imagine the complications they would bring with them.

  Sam thought about Mark and his ability to find out the news with his radio. He wondered if it was such a good thing to broadcast from their new home. They had heard so many different variations of what could have happened to America, to bring her to her knees, he wondered which of them was correct. It would be easy enough to believe their government had perpetrated the biggest scam on their citizens to not only do away with the welfare system and social security, but eliminate the old, and the infirm who relied on hospitals, machines or medicines that kept them alive.

  Sam sat up, trying not to disturb Gina who had snuggled close. “Well, son of a gun!” he breathed. “Is that it?”

  “What?” Gina whispered, her voice husky with sleep.

  “Nothing. Go back to sleep.” Sam settled back down in his sleeping bag. He hadn't fully thought out his assumptions and didn’t want to sound like he needed a tinfoil hat. But thinking back on an email he’d received from a survival food blog about the government wanting to buy all of the long term survival food they had, Sam wondered how far off base his thoughts were.

  Sam also realized that even if he had bought the years supply as he’d been tempted to do, they would have probably lost it when the house burned. The small amount that Gina and her friends had brought for camping wouldn’t support them for long if they were to be shared between all of them, but they were lightweight, high calorie and easy to fix, but only if there was water clean available. He had to admit that Mary was adept at stretching their food and the combinations that she came up with were tasty.

  Sam added vegetable seeds to their list of things to look for while they were in town. He thought about getting up and making the adjustments to the cart but decided it could wait until daylight. Once John and the rest of them had left, there would be time enough.

  Chapter Eight; Caravan of vehicles

  The next morning, there was no preparation or elaborate ceremony, but as the procession rolled away from the trailer, Mark left three new sets of mister’s and misses’s behind. He had married the three couples without fan fair or by sticking to his pre-planned ceremony.

  The six now married adults, stood and watched the procession leave out of the end of the pasture. Mark led the way with his wagon, which was piled higher than before, with a mattress on top, and his garden tractor, Charlie in the middle driving his team of Percheron’s, Abby sitting high on the seat beside him. John and Mary followed with the rest of the kids and young men riding their horses strung out between the caravan of vehicles. Matt, riding Bess was dragging a protesting Gus along behind.

  Gina looked at Lucy who was looking a little shell-shocked by the hasty ceremony, “Why did the two of you stay behind? I thought Andy and Journey were the only other ones staying?”

  “They are going to watch our camp and the animals while Andy and I go round up the horses from Minnakers. Mark said they were still there and we need them. Right now we don’t have enough mounts to go around.”

  Andy had several halters with the lead ropes attached in his hand and held them up. “We were hoping the two of you would double us over there and drop us off on your way by.”

  “That’s why Matt was riding…” Journey’s words were interrupted by the ground shaking, and they stood silent until they heard the release of water pressure from up at the hay shed.

  “Ten hours right on the dot,” Gina said while looking at her old watch.

  “I thought you didn’t know what time it is because you forgot to wind it?”

  Gina started to roll her eyes at Lucy and stopped, her forehead reminded her how much it hurt to frown at all. “I marked the time when it blew the last time, and it’s been ten hours give or take a few minutes. I don’t have to know what time it is for sure, just the length of time in between eruptions.”

  “Oh. That makes sense I guess. Ben and I are going to try to catch the few chickens that survived and put them in the cage you built.”

  “Good! I know you all think I’m crazy for wanting them, but someday you’re going to thank me when we get to sit down to a fried chicken dinner and have real eggs for breakfast, not the powder stuff that Carlos had.”

  “I’m sure we will…someday.” Journey exchanged an ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ look with Lucy, and they laughed. They were used to Gina making promises and plans and most of them never turning out quite the way she’d said they would. She always delivered something, but not quite what she’d promised. They had spent thousands getting their land ready to plant hay and the yield the few years that they were there was minimal at best. Gina had thought they could grow enough hay to feed all the horses through the winter the first year it was planted, and they hadn’t, and not even the second or third year. They knew she had good ideas, but sometimes they never turned out as well as she’d hoped.

  “If we don’t get in gear, we’ll still be sitting here when lunch time rolls around. Andy, if we’re riding
you to Minnakers how are you going to catch the horses? Wouldn’t it have been smarter to keep your mounts here and use them?”

  “Nope. Mark said that they raised well-broke riding stock for the dude ranches in the area. I remember hearing they sold good stock, so we’re working under the assumption that the horses there will all be broke to ride.” He held up the half dozen halters, “We get these on some of them and ride one and lead the rest, at least Journey made it sound that easy, and Mark agreed.”

  Gina looked at Journey, “You might want to take some of the cob we saved out for the goats to eat. Something tells me it might not be as easy as you think to catch the first one. They’re probably pretty spooked by everything that’s happened and not seeing people for several months, may make them hard to get close to.”

  Journey nodded, “As soon as I heard you were taking the cart if the guys ever get it finished, I scooped out a bucket of feed to take along.”

  Sam hadn’t been able to drill new holes because someone had packed up the hand tools, leaving nothing behind. They remounted the good axle and tires in the back holes and attached the new vine maple limbs for shafts. They had to make some adjustments to the harness as it had been set up for the smaller mare but once done. Sailor didn’t seem to mind pulling the cart. They let Olivia drive around to get used to the feel of driving rather than riding the horse. Sailor patiently showed her how it was done.

  “He knows what he’s supposed to do even before I ask him,” Olivia called as she went by the adults who were watching with interest.

  Gina nodded, “Take him over so Journey can secure the bucket of grain.”

  She looked at the empty bed of their wagon, “Hey, you guys don’t have to ride double. You can ride on the cart.” Gina got her sleeping bag off Joe and opened it out. “Sit on this, and it’ll keep the slivers out.”

  Their arrangement worked well, and they left the farm, following the river, which they had jokingly named the Interstate river, and set the horses to a jog. Sailor didn’t seem to mind pulling his load and acted as if it wasn’t back there. When they reached where the driveway to the Minnaker ranch had been, they knew by the partial eggs for sale sign, hanging from the post, Sailor had adapted well to being a carriage horse, and Olivia was a seasoned driver. As long as they had stayed close to the new river bed, they had no problems with the terrain. The balloon tires from Mark’s bikes were made for riding on dirt and handled the trail well.