For a moment, she thought about her next words. Sheridan was still plainly uncomfortable with the idea of being a queen. For all their sakes, Derek hoped she would soon come to terms with it. “But the fact that I lead you and oversee what each of our ministers do doesn’t mean you don’t have a say in your lives. I am no tyrant, no dictator.”
A small grin lit up her face. “Honestly, that would take more time out of my life than I have currently to serve as your Chief Surgeon too.” She grew serious again. “You all have your jobs and you know them well. I am just here to make sure that we all stay in the same direction without randomly scattering to the nine winds. I am here to make sure that priorities are set and then kept. With that being said, we now have the really hard work to do—we need to plan what our next step is and I know we don’t all share the same idea of what needs to come first. I understand that you all held meetings within your respective teams and chose a Minister to lead you and speak for you. Court is open in the Kingdom of Panache Lake.”
She brought down a solid stone against the thick wooden beam of the rail and the sound of the make-shift mallet rang out through the hall.
* * * * *
Kaine’s ears ached from the shouting in the meeting room, but there was little he could do about it right now. With Neil’s death, and still no way to contact emergency services, the calm now cracked within the University’s leadership. I told them this would happen, thought Kaine as he watched the argument between the others. And none of them listened…
“Was it murder?” demanded one of the professors, a man Kaine never could remember the name of.
There were too many for him to remember so he gave the man a nick-name. It was not charitable, but until Kaine knew his name he decided this first one would be Long Nose.
The second, a woman he called Waxy Hair, and she laughed, but he could hear how hollow her mirth was. “Hardly. Might have been a heart attack but there were no signs of any foul play.”
“We should wait until the police get here…” pointed out Long Nose.
Kaine sighed, “They’re not coming.”
Waxy Hair turned to him and asked in a demanding tone, “And how in hell can you possibly know that, Dr. Kaine?”
“I have my sources and I know no one is coming,” Kaine answered, jabbing a finger onto the table for emphasis. “We are on our own here and we will have to be the ones to pull ourselves out of this mess.”
“Even if that’s the case, who’s going to lead? Neil is dead, Kaine,” pointed out Long Nose.
Kaine pinched his nose and sat down. “I know that - and I’m as distressed by it as much as the rest of you are. But we can’t let this stop us in our tracks. If we do the, the whole university will be lost. We’ll be dead too from either starvation or hypothermia.”
“What do you suggest, then?” asked Waxy Hair.
“We tighten our belts, and we use what generous resources we have here to prepare for the eventuality that we will have to do it again next winter,” answered Kaine before shrugging. “And if I’m wrong, no harm done. We just simply tested our emergency preparedness—something we should do anyway. It will be a morale building experience. And if I’m right, and I truly believe I am, then we have just ensured our own survival.”
“Who will lead? You?” asked Waxy Hair with a bit of a snort.
“And why not?” asked Kaine, lifting a brow. “I have the experience and I had the foresight to recognize the writing on the wall when the rest of you did not. I think I should lead and my first order of business will be one of making sure we don’t starve or run out of resources.”
“Wait a second here,” pointed out Long Nose. “We’re moving too fast…”
Kaine stood up and the man stopped speaking, his mouth closing with a click. “No, we’re not acting fast enough. Had we done so, perhaps Neil would still be in charge, perhaps not. I appear to have the vision and plan you all lack. No, I will lead and you will follow that lead or we will all die here.”
They looked at each other and finally, the woman sighed. “Fine, you’ve made your point abundantly clear,” she said.
About bloody time you realized it, thought Kaine, but he had the presence of mind to not say that aloud. “Thank you,” he said, as he inclined his head. “Now, perhaps we can discuss a matter a bit more pressing than that of our own internal politics.”
“I’m hoping that means food,” said the other.
“Actually, it does,” answered Kaine, lifting a brow. “But it’s something I need help with—both in resources and in labour.”
“Such as?”
“I’ll give you a list, once I have finished making it,” answered Kaine. “But, right now, our biggest need is seeds.”
“Seeds?” asked the woman.
“As in the literal sense?” asked the other man.
Kaine nodded. “Our food supply is dependent on what we can scavenge. But what if we didn’t have to do that at all? What if we could grow what we needed, year round, and simply harvest it?”
“Sounds great,” said Waxy Hair. “But where are we going to find seeds?”
“Well, that’s where you come in. I know there’s a lab or two that was gathering seeds for various purposes. I also know there has to be a house or two that had a backyard garden—and that means possibly a supply of seeds that they didn’t use,” said Kaine. “Failing that, we’ll have to venture further afield.”
The others shifted uncomfortably and looked at each other before they looked back at him. “If what you say about the world now is true, that’s a dangerous proposition,” said Long Nose.
Kaine shrugged. “Be that is it may, it would still be to our advantage to start looking. We can start close to home and venture further later.”
“He is right,” admitted one of the others. “It would work to our advantage. We wouldn’t starve next winter if we did as he planned.”
“Where are we going to grow this?” asked another.
Kaine stood up and pointed to the athletics centre. “The pool has been… refitted… as a hydroponic farm,” explained Kaine and he sighed at the sudden silence as he turned to face them. “Would you rather have food all year round or a pool?”
Waxy Hair deflated at this. “Food, obviously.”
“What will you need to build this?” asked Long Nose.
“The list is forthcoming,” answered Kaine, smiling now that they had finally bowed to his leadership. “And, trust me, I will need every last scrap I have on it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
One day it seemed like the cold and the snow simply vanished overnight. After decades of the same, Derek thought he would have expected it. But, after a while, each day had blurred everything into the same routine. Even the discussions had blurred into the same discussions and then into each other. Planning for the spring simply seemed like he was spinning his wheels, but not actually getting anywhere.
And then, as if someone had snapped their fingers, spring arrived in Northern Ontario.
The warmth that greeted him that morning when the sun rose was welcome. It meant the core of the house that kept the entire structure warm did not need the back up from the fire at night and it was safe to let it bank back to embers. Individual rooms no longer ran the same risk of fire due to not even needing to be lit in the first place.
This, of course, meant that there were other issues to address.
Marissa was already up and deep in a discussion with Sheridan and Shiloh when Derek came down the stairs.
“The problem is that now that massive wall of snow is going to turn into water. It’s already losing structural integrity,” pointed out Shiloh. “The best thing would be to get up there with shovels again and scatter the snow to make it melt off faster and more evenly. While a few teams are doing that, and digging a trench for the run-off to follow, we need to send other teams to scour the country side for rocks and logs to build the permanent wall.”
“How fast are we going to need to do this?�
� asked Sheridan, clearly thinking of whom to send and how many are needed per team.
“As soon as possible,” answered Shiloh. “Once the snow starts to melt, it’ll be like a sudden cascade of failures in its structure. We’re soon going to have an open road and a weak northern perimeter.”
“The ground is still frozen,” pointed out Derek as he walked up to them, accepting a coffee, or a coffee substitute, from Lorraine. “That will make digging anything extremely difficult.”
“We’re going to need some real digging equipment,” said Shiloh, with a short barking laugh. “Considering how many mines and industries are around to support the mining, it shouldn’t be too hard. The hard part is finding the fuel and getting the equipment here.”
“That George fellow had pole drivers and the equipment in his shop,” pointed out Derek.
“That’s a start,” said Sheridan, and she turned to Shiloh. “I get the feeling you already have an idea of what you need to do and who is the best suited for it.”
“I do,” she answered. “I’m guessing we should get on this right now.”
Sheridan nodded and Shiloh left the house, leaving Sheridan, Derek and Marissa.
“I have things I need to attend to as well. I think I’ll borrow Terrence’s old drafting room, Sheri,” said Marissa, touching her husband on the shoulder as she got up and handed her cup over to Lorraine.
Sheridan sighed and nodded softly. Derek stared at Sheridan for a moment before he sat down across from her.
“How are you holding up?” asked Derek.
“I have a funeral to plan, now that things are thawing out,” Sheridan answered, as she returned his gaze. For the first time in weeks he saw a shadow of the spark she had before Terrence had passed away. “The better question is how are you doing?”
On the other hand, Derek had found his experience from his former life as a sales consultant less than useful in this new world. No one had access to money, and so his career suddenly found itself shut out.
Thankfully, his skills as an outdoorsman had literally saved him—numerous times, in fact. If he had had his sales skill only to lean on he would have been the same as the others.
Here on the sufferance of Sheridan.
As kind as she was, it was not something he wanted. He had been raised to walk on his own two feet and earn what was given. Still, though, this was not his home. Not originally. It was now but the home he had left behind with all his mementos and family photos may as well be on the other side of the planet. He felt bereft… like he was floundering.
How was he holding up?
On the outside he supposed he looked like he was holding up just fine. The reality was that he was not sure just how well he was really—truly—holding together.
“As well as can be expected,” he answered finally, not noticing as Sheridan looked not at him but past him. “Now that you have my answer… answer my question.”
“Far better than you,” Marissa answered.
Marissa had silently walked back into the room behind him and her sudden appearance made him jump as he turned to face her. ‘‘Oh?”
“Let me see if I can sum this up. You’re basically homeless at this point, even if you have a roof over your head. Everything that you held dear, outside of Marissa, is unreachable. What defined you no longer can,” Sheridan said. “And yet you feel that you’re in a far better position than others simply because you were lucky enough to know us.”
He was quiet for a moment and then he laughed quietly, but it was without any sense of humour. “Isn’t that the case?”
“No,” answered Sheridan. “Every single person here, even you, is as rare and valuable as gold. More so because you still breathe and still can make a difference. That’s the most important thing right now. You don’t know if everyone is dead. While you still breathe and live, they have a real chance of finding you. I guarantee you that out there somewhere is someone just as worried that you’re dead as you fear their death. That we all still live and survive is a victory, not a failure.”
She flicked her long hair over her shoulder and then squeezed his elbow. “Come on, I have just the task that will make you feel better.”
Derek looked at her sideways while remembering the trip out to the Fire Hall before following Sheridan out to the barn.
“Speaking of the funeral you have to plan,” he pressed. Sheridan sighed, and continued walking toward the barn. “Oh no, you are not getting off that easy. Deflecting the attention back to me isn’t going to work.”
He jogged to catch up, and darted through the doors into the barn. The main barn was the closest, even if it was not the largest, and held Sheridan’s prized personal stock of Friesians.
The Friesian was a large breed and was also known as the Belgian Black and, before the apparent end of civilization, had been the favoured horse for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The prize mare of this barn was Sheridan’s personal favourite eventing horse, called Northern Shadow, as she was a massive black horse with no markings at all. In the dark of the barn she appeared as a massive black shadow.
Currently, Shiloh was exercising her in the ring and Derek found his eye following her.
This was not new to him—he had seen Shadow perform before—but there was something that caused his eyes to follow the horse’s movements in awe every time he saw it.
Northern Shadow was always given the best training an eventing horse could get and only ever entrusted to the best of riders until she was finally retired. Of the two foals she had just one remained here—although he was a yearling now and ready to start training.
Derek was surprised to find himself in the same paddock as Shadow Broker, the very horse dammed by Northern Shadow.
He looked from Sheridan to the yearling and back again. “What are you saying?”
“He’s yours,” said Sheridan. “I can’t think of anyone better to take him into the world. Given his young age, we can train him for a new purpose other than show jumping and eventing. His sire, Breaking Storm, was a Friesian down south from a farm near Belleville. His owner didn’t believe in breeding the new sporting breeds making this big boy a bit more in line with the older standard of the breed.”
The confusion on his face made her continue her explanation. “The newer standard favours lighter horses interbred to remake the breed into a lighter, more sport, horse. Breaking Storm’s owner and I were of the same mind—if the Friesian was ever meant to be a light horse, it would have been so. Neither of us subscribed to making a ‘lighter’ version of the horse. He’s not going to be as big as a Clyde, but he’s definitely going to be a big boy.”
“Why me?” asked Derek.
“As I said—we all have to get used to some new roles. He will never be an eventing or show horse. He’s going to need training to match this new world and he is going to be yours,” she said. “Both of you will head out into that world in a new role.”
Derek looked at her, crinkling his brow. He suddenly had this suspicion that Sheridan had an idea of where his life should go now. She wasn’t going to force it on him but was giving him the option to take it and do what he wanted with it.
“What did you have in mind?” he asked.
“Derek, you have a certain way with people that Terrence didn’t have,” she answered, her eyes on him. “We both know that. He was never the most diplomatic of people.”
Derek snorted, “Understatement of the century.”
“Indeed, but you also have his ability in the field,” she pointed out and waited for him to make the connection.
Which he did. The realisation dawned on him. “You want me to be—what? An ambassador?”
“If required, yes—if not, your skills out there and your experience would make you a perfect scout. I'd never send you too far. I know what that would do to Marissa unless she chose to join you out there. I know that there has to be others who survived and I know we can easily reach them by horse,” she answered. “I also need t
o know just what it is we are facing and you have that agile mind to be my eyes and ears outside the wall.”
Derek sucked in a breath and looked over at Shadow Broker. “I’ll do it if Marissa agrees to it… and comes with me.”
“Fair enough,” agreed Sheridan.
He ran a hand down Broker’s neck and looked back up at Sheridan. “You still can’t just deflect me. As you said, things are thawing out. Throwing ice and snow on him isn’t going to keep him from thawing out eventually.”
She stared out into the ring, watching her cousin exercise the foal’s dam. “I know,” she answered, her voice quiet. “I just haven’t found a way to close that chapter in a way that fits—and in a way we can manage on our own.”
* * * * *
Spring melt held wildly different meanings, depending on who was asked. For those at High Falls it meant full capacity, perhaps even, over-capacity. Garrett did not want to release the overflow as he knew that as soon as he did, the flooding down river could turn catastrophic.
His daughter and niece lived on a river similar to this one. High Falls formed the head water of the Spanish River but there was a similar dam on the Vermillion. He had worked at both.
Finally, with a sigh, Garrett turned from the window he was staring through to the controller at the computer. “All right, let the river go. If we hold off any longer, it will be washing over the dam.”
“Yes sir,” answered the controller. “Full or half?”
“Quarter at first, then work your way into full. Don’t want to cause the opposite effect of the controlled pressure release,” he answered, patting the younger man on the shoulder before heading out of the controlling station and over to where he had managed to rebuild the old HAM radio.
He had not yet had any success in getting anyone else on it, but he would not give up until he managed to find someone.
Anyone.
He shivered as he looked over his shoulder. Dane leaned on the frame of the door, an odd grin on his face. Garrett grumbled slightly as he walked past him. “And what can I do for you?” asked Garrett.
After Oil Page 20
