Bill stayed seated on his horse. “I've got bad news.” He removed his cowboy hat and set it on his knee. “Charlie Best has killed himself.” There was an audible gasp let out by those gathered.
Charlie was the loner, who Kelly knew was a diabetic. A neighbor had found a note on Charlie's door that morning explaining that he was nearly out of insulin. He had decided to kill himself by injecting all of his remaining insulin so he wouldn't die a slow and painful death. Sure enough, Charlie was found out in back of the house lying in a self-dug grave with his old dog, dead, beside him. Lynn turned away from Bill as he spoke. Emma took her in her arms and placed her forehead on her shoulder. Everyone was stunned.
“Baruch atah Hashem Elokeinu melech haolam, dayan ha'emet,” Dennis recited softly. The words seemed to comfort Lynn and she whispered them with her father. “Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, the true Judge.”
“Dennis, would you lead a memorial service?” Bill asked.
“Of course,” Dennis said. “Any death is a loss but a suicide is particularly tragic and wasteful. It is Jewish custom to bury the dead as soon as practicable.”
“Yes,” Emma said. “From a health standpoint, a quick burial may be best. When were you thinking of having it?”
“Tomorrow,” Bill said hanging his head a little. ”I've got some of the men working on a better grave now.”
“We should see about making a simple coffin,” Dennis said. A burial shroud can be made from his sheets. I would feel better if someone stayed with the body until the funeral. The watching, or guard, of the dead is a sign of respect.”
“It's like when I was on the honor guard for a Civil Air Patrol funeral,” Jess said.
“Yes, exactly, an honor guard,” Jose said.
The next day, the people of Sunflower gathered at Charlie's house. Many wept openly. Dennis began the service by reading Psalms and then asked if anyone would like to speak about Charlie. A few people spoke, mostly about Charlie being a good neighbor, but the underlying theme was the harrowing times. Beatrice Banning, Emmet's wife, was barely able to control herself. Everyone knew Emmett was an insulin dependent diabetic. Just like Charlie Best, his days would soon be coming to an end. Emmett sat stoically patting Bea's hand. After placing the casket in the backyard grave, everyone with a shovel mounded dirt on the casket until the grave was full. Silence hung in the air. All that could be heard was the rustle of the leaves in the fall breeze. After the emotional service, the neighbors spoke among themselves but didn’t linger.
Emma and Kelly stood with the Wise clan on the front lawn of Charlie's house. “I'm going to swing by Bea and Emmet's,” said Dennis. “They are pretty tender now. I'll see if they want me to visit in a day or two.”
“We're lucky to have you here, Dennis,” Emma said. “Kelly and I are heading over to see Chris Barnard and check on his heart problem.”
“Wait for me,” called Lynn. ”I want to go too.”
“Sure, you can come. I was hoping you would take an interest,” said Emma. “I've been interested in herbal medicine for a long time because of my medical missions. It looks like it will come in handy now.” Emma addressed the men. “We'll take the three saddled horses. You can all ride the cart back. We shouldn't be long.”
“What's wrong with Mr. Barnard?” Lynn asked, pressing her heels into her horse's sides to keep up with Emma's taller horse.
Emma wanted Lynn, as well as Kelly, to understand what the problem was. “His heart doesn't beat strongly enough. It's called congestive heart failure. The medicine he takes now helps him get rid of excess fluid, which makes his heart work less, and he'll be running out of it soon if he hasn't already.”
“Will he die without it?” asked Lynn.
“Well,” said Emma, “I'm going to try some juniper berry tea with him and see if works to get rid of the excess fluid, just like his diuretic pills—I mean water pills,” Emma added for Lynn's benefit. She paused for a moment, considering the process she would need to follow. “First, we need to see how many pills he has left. If we start the tea now, maybe he can decrease his dose and make the pills last longer. Lynn, why don't you write down what I do to make the tea? That way, his wife will be able to make it for him again later.”
“It's like playing with the chemistry set I got in third grade,” said Lynn. “Brewing tea and saving people, imagine.”
“Have you ever used juniper berry tea, Mom?”
“No, but one of my homeopathic books recommends it. I imagine it will take some experimentation on our part to get the dose right. There are other things we can try as well, but we'll start with this. I'm hoping we can use herbs to save him after his pills have run out.”
As the women approached the white picket fence, they saw a sign attached to it warning against trespassing. It read: Violators will be shot. Kelly spotted Chris Barnard. He stood on the side lawn, speaking with Bill. “Hi, Chris,” Emma called.
“What can we do for you ladies?” Chris asked.
“I was hoping to talk to you about your heart medicine,” Emma said cautiously, hoping not to offend.
“Well, I'd appreciate that,” Chris said with a big grin. Lynn recognized the grin as part of his “nature,” the nature of patients Emma had been teaching her about.
“Do you mind if we all talk? Kelly is a nurse and Lynn here is an aspiring nurse.”
“Well, I'll be. How did a man get so lucky as to have three beautiful nurses looking after him?” Chris said. His belly laugh made all the ladies join in.
****
It was quite late the night of the funeral, but Kelly and Jared were still up, sitting in the living room, when they heard Rich yelling from outside.
“Come to the radio! Come to the radio!” His voice grew louder as he got closer to Emma's house. Kelly and Jared rushed out onto the porch.
As soon as Rich saw them he pivoted on one foot, turning back toward his place at a full run. Kelly looked at Jared, puzzled. They saw a light come on in Emma's room; she must have heard him too. The pair took off running after Rich, up the hill toward his house.
Rich was out of breath but already seated at his ham radio desk when they entered the house.
“I've got 'im,” he said. Rich turned quickly to Kelly. “I've got your dad on the radio! I've been talking to Utah for a couple of evenings now and the pieces just seemed to fall together. I'll tell you more later, but just talk now while he's on.”
“Dad, it's Kelly. Over,” the younger Wise spoke excitedly into the microphone. The rest of the clan arrived in the ham shack, wearing puzzled looks.
“Hi, Cowgirl,” Sam Wise's voice boomed into the room. “I sure didn't think I'd be talking with you tonight. I'm so glad you and Emma are alright. I was worried sick about you. I'm fine here. The ranch is pretty self-sufficient, you know. We have good water, big gardens and lots of milk and beef. How are you holding up? Over.”
“I can't believe I'm talking to you, Dad. Mom's right here, too. We're doing okay. I left most everything behind in Lehi, but I brought Hokey and Pokey. You know how Mom is. She's in pretty good shape with her gardening, canning, and cattle. We do have a very full house, though. There's a total of eight of us here. I won't take the time to explain except to say one of them is pretty special to me. Over.”
Jared stepped behind Kelly and put his arms around her shoulders as if Sam could see him through the radio.
“Well, I'll be. I'm glad to hear it. Tell your young man hello from me and tell him I expect him to take care of you as I would. I don't know what I can do to help from here. Everything is shut down hard. We don't dare travel yet. Over.”
“We know. It's pretty dangerous to travel here too. We are well armed and our numbers help.” The radio made a burst of static and then Sam's voice was broken. Rich took over the radio and tried to dial the frequency back in, but the signal was fading. Several more broken words were heard and then just static.
“I think we lost him,” said Rich. “I'll try t
o get him back.” He continued to work with the radio while all those gathered spoke amongst themselves.
“Wow,” said Kelly, leaning against Jared. “Richard, you are a magician just to get him for that long.”
“I'm glad your dad is alright,” said Emma.
“Who would have guessed we could reach him?” asked Kelly. “He sounds good.”
Everyone sat around Rich's living room for about half an hour, waiting to see if communication could be restored, but good radio propagation—the way the radio waves bounced off the atmosphere—had passed, at least for talking to southern Utah, and everyone was tired.
“Well, that was exciting, but I think we should all get off to bed,” Jose said. “I've got chores planned for these kids all day tomorrow.”
Jared stood and held out his hand to Kelly. She took it and he pulled her up from the couch where she had been sitting next to him. The evening air was chilly and Jared ran with Kelly toward Emma's house. Emma and Lynn walked leisurely, talking. It was good to know there were other people out there and some were even safe; at least for now.
Chapter 17
The night was cool and still. The moon was full; its light shone through the sheers of Emma's bedroom window. Maybe the moonlight was keeping her awake. Emma lay in bed thinking about the chores she needed to accomplish the next day: grazing the cows and horses, doing the wash, and canning carrots. Suddenly, she heard chickens screeching from the yard. Their pitiful squawks quickened and intensified.
“Coyotes!” Emma screamed, loud enough to be heard through walls. “Get a rifle!”
Lynn, startled, sat up in her bed as Emma reached the door to the hallway.
“Got a gun?” Emma asked, nearly knocking Kelly over as she exited her room.
Kelly turned on her heels and darted back into her room.
Emma collided with Jared in the doorway to the kitchen. Jared, still half awake, stepped back and let the determined lady pass, clad only in her night dress.
“I hope you've got a gun, it might not be coyotes,” Jared shouted after her. He went directly to the couch and pulled his .45 from under the cushion.
“We can't afford to lose a single bird,” Emma cried as she exited the kitchen door. “Shoo, get outta here,” she screamed as she ran for the coop.
Panicked by the melee and concerned Emma would meet gunfire, Jared, wearing only his briefs, sprinted to catch up to the old woman and what he hoped were four-legged coyotes.
Rich was headed toward the fracas at top speed. “Emma, don't shoot uphill. I'm coming down!”
Everyone in the clan was headed for the coop.
Rich got there just in time to see three coyotes headed into the night, each with a large bird in its jaws. He got off a couple of rounds but failed to hit any of the three moving targets. The rest of the clan joined him, one by one, out in the back forty.
“I wished I could have shot one,” Rich said in disgust. “We could have at least tried coyote stew or jerky in place of, or in addition to chicken.”
“Damn!” Emma said. “I thought that coop could withstand those mongrels.”
Rich walked up to the enclosure. “Looks like the fence was left open,” he said, swinging the gate to and fro, hinges squeaking as usual. “No signs of damage to the chicken wire fence, but this coop door has been dug open,” Rich pointed to deep claw marks in the plywood, “and there's hair caught all around the door too. Those damn mutts ripped those birds out of that hutch. They didn't have a chance.”
The heavy, metallic smell of blood hung in the air. Feathers lay strewn around the chicken yard and a disembodied wing lay in the dirt. The remaining six chickens, clucking softly, stayed on their roost.
“Stupid birds!” Emma fell to one knee and wept. Kelly walked to Emma, leaned her rifle up against the fence and laid a hand on her mother's shoulder.
Emma sobbed, “I don't know why I'm crying. Is it for the birds or for us? Maybe both.”
No one else said anything. Jose picked up the wing and exited the coop, rattling the lock to make sure it was tight. Everyone understood the loss; it put them farther behind on food production.
Emma stood up. Everyone stared at the moon silently, shoulder to shoulder. They were eight people fighting against nature, against mankind, against the world. Only the slightest hint of breeze rustled the leaves of the trees. How peaceful it was. Peaceful and daunting at the same time, just like every aspect of their existence.
Jess hung his head and started back uphill, alone.
Rich pulled Jose aside. “Your son gathered the eggs this afternoon.”
“I was hoping it wasn't him. What should I do?”
“Oh, I think he'll take it hard enough to learn his lesson. I don't think I'd say anything, but somehow I'd let him know I knew. The boy can't think he got away with it completely.”
The men, except Jared, went together toward Rich's place. Jared put one arm around Kelly's shoulders and the other around Emma's, and Kelly reached out and put her arm around Lynn. The four walked back to the house together.
****
Jared ambled into the kitchen and sat at the table. The legs of the chair scraped across the wooden floor boards, making a clack, clack sound. Breakfast dishes had been long since cleaned and sat in the drainer. There weren't a lot of dishes this day, since the meal had consisted only of pecans and oatmeal made from the horse's oats, confiscated from the barn.
“What's up, Jared?” Emma asked. She was preparing a rabbit to go into a crock with other vegetables, and then the solar oven.
“I was sitting in the living room when Rich brought the kids in for their literature lesson.”
“Rich seems like a pretty good teacher from what I could hear from in here.”
“Oh, I'm sure he's great, and the kids like him.”
“Where's Kelly?” Jared asked, looking around as if expecting to see her somewhere in the kitchen.
“She went up to tend the horses. She's been gone quite awhile,” said Emma, finishing washing her hands and then flinging a dish towel over her shoulder.
“I'm goin' up there.” Jared grabbed a plaid jacket from a hook next to the back door and exited, letting the screen slam as he leaped from the back stoop. As he passed Rich's house, he could see Kelly standing near the lean-to that made up the back wall of the corral. She had one foot up on the bottom rung of the split rail fence. He could imagine her chewing on a piece of straw like the cowboys in movies did.
“What's up, gorgeous?”
Kelly jolted around, face ashen. “You shouldn't sneak up on people like that.”
“I wasn't sneakin'. You were a million miles away.” Jared put his arm around her waist and pulled her tight. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“What do you think of this old trailer?” She pointed at one of the ATV trailers they had acquired on the highway a few months back.
“I don't think much of it, why? You have plans?”
Kelly looked at Jared. She played nervously with the collar of his jacket and bit her lip. “I think we should leave. I don't mean tomorrow and I don't mean without telling everyone, of course, but I've come to the conclusion that this arid piece of desert cannot support all of us.” Jared let her talk. “If we stay here we'll all die slowly. Anyone can see that we are using up our supplies faster than we can grow new ones. We lost those chickens last night, and we can't grow grain here.”
“We're still in the early phase. The cows will multiply and the garden can be replanted in the spring. We can plant corn—it's a grain. We got some at the feed store.”
Kelly pulled back, putting a little room between them. “That's just it. The cows will multiply, but slowly. Only the garden my mom has now can be replanted; there isn't enough ground for corn to make cornmeal. This is still the desert, even if there are trees down by the stream. The soil here is ground granite. It contains very little organic material and we can't drive to the nursery to get compost and fertilizer. It will take years and hundreds of man hours to
collect and compost enough material to make it productive. We're all gonna die if we stay. We've gotta get to my Dad's.” She sounded logical, practical, almost matter-of-fact, but her heart was pounding. Saying the words out loud about leaving her mother flushed a cold surge of guilt through her veins. She carried on anyway; it had to be said.
Noticing a quaver in her voice, Jared took Kelly in his arms and pulled her toward his shoulder for comfort. She lay her head against him. “Maybe you're right,” he said. “We need to consider this carefully. I don't think it's going to be very friendly out there and it's like, what, three or four hundred miles of mostly desert to your dad's? Your mom and Rich are no spring chickens either.”
“Mom and Rich will never leave. My mom would never go to my dad's anyway. She's got Rich and there's ample food for the two of them.”
“You're talking about leaving her here?”
“If she won't come—and she won't—it's the only thing we can do.”
“Okay, let's say we have to go. How do you propose we get there?”
“Horse-drawn wagons, like in the old days. We can modify this trailer for the horses to pull. We can sleep in it, cook from it. It will carry everything we need to get all of us to Utah.”
“All of us? Who are you talking about?”
“Dennis, Jose, the kids, and us, of course. We will all have to go if Mom and Rich are to have a chance. It will be safer if all six of us go together, too.”
“We're going to have to give this a whole bunch of thought before pulling out of here, Kel.”
“I already have,” Kelly said, pulling away and turning her back on him.
“I can see that, but I think the rest of us should be in on the discussion.”
“I don't see any alternatives.”
Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure Page 24
