“That is correct,” Sam said, lighting a long, slim cigar. His men never asked where he got the cigars, and Hartline never offered any explanation, “Such as the game has turned out to be.”
“Who killed Tony?”
“Who gives a shit?” Hartline replied, puffing smoke to the slight breeze that wound through the trees. He was thoughtful for a moment. “We can forget the slaves that were here,” he said. “Come daylight, I want a full platoon to stay in this area, and start picking up anyone who comes wandering through here. Start getting these places back in shape. The crops are harvested for this season, so we’ll have some months to rebuild. Fuck Tony Silver.” He smiled. “I was going to kill him first chance I got, anyway.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Ben pinned the silver stars of a general on Cecil’s jacket. He smiled at the man and shook his hand.
“I wish you had warned me about this, Ben,” Cecil muttered so only Ben could hear.
“If I had, you’d have run off and hidden,” Ben replied.
Cecil joined Ben in laughter.
Ben turned to face his people, now more than three thousand strong, counting Abe Lancer and his mountain people and Dave Harner and his group from Macon. Ben lifted a bullhorn to his lips.
“There is a lot I could say, but I never liked long speeches. But let me say I am so very, very proud of you all. I’ll be leaving in a few moments, heading out to at least start what I had planned on doing back in ‘88. That is to chronicle the events leading up to and just after the great war that brought this nation to its knees.
“I am leaving in charge a man I have the utmost faith in, General Cecil Jefferys. I don’t want any emotional goodbyes. For I will be back. And when I return, I want to see permanent homes, schools, farms, and an orderly, productive society. You’ve all done it before, you can do it again. And you don’t
need me standing over you telling you what to do.
“Call this a small vacation for me. Just getting away from the office for a time. I’ll see you people in about six months. That is all. You have duties to attend to, get to it.”
Ben lowered the bullhorn, handed it to Cecil, and walked toward his new pickup.
The cheering behind him lasted for more than five minutes before Cecil shouted them down and sent them back to work. To rebuild something out of the ashes.
Gale was waiting for him at the truck. She smiled and said, “Well, Raines, if you’re expecting me to get all mushy and sentimental, you’re going to have a long wait.”
“Heaven forbid, Gale. That would destroy my image of you.”
“Uh-huh,” she said dryly. She rose up on tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “You take care of yourself, Ben.”
“I’ll do that, kid.”
She slipped from his hands and walked away to where Tina was standing. Tina flipped her father a salute and Ben returned it. He got into the pickup, and drove off, heading north into Kentucky.
“You handled that rather well,” Tina said.
“Damned if I was going to cry,” Gale said. “One thing I learned about Ben, he doesn’t like weepy women.”
“Well, you can have a good cry when you get behind closed doors at your house.”
“No,” Gale said. “Ben wouldn’t want that. I’ve got him growing within me, and that is enough. He’ll be
back. Whether to me, or to someone else, only time will tell. I think this, Tina: Ben is a man whose destiny is carved in stone. And he’ll see that in a few months. He will see where his duty lies. And he’ll come back. His destiny is not to wander the earth like a nomad, but rather to build, to bring order out of chaos, civilization out of anarchy, towns and cities out of rubble. He knows all that. He’s just got to clear his mind. And when he does that, he’ll be back.”
Tina smiled. “You know him pretty well, Gale.”
“Knew him,” she corrected softly.
Both women looked up at the sounds of engines drawing closer. White flags flew from radio antennas on each vehicle.
James Riverson walked up. “The slaves from down south,” he said. “They radioed us they were coming in.”
“Survivors,” Tina said.
“From out of the ashes,” Gale softly said. “More men and women looking for order in a world gone mad.”. She looked toward the north, toward the now-empty highway Ben had taken. “Good luck, Ben.”
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Blood in the Ashes ta-4 Page 27
