“That makes me feel better. This is over fifty grand in saddles and gear. They may have been cowboys but they had new gear,” he said, holding up the different saddle bags. He pointed at a saddle. “Take that one for your saddle.”
“I have a saddle,” Amanda protested.
“That is an excellent trail saddle, trust me,” Nathan said, pulling down some spurs.
Amanda gasped. “You are going to use spurs on poor Smoke?”
“No, but now with more horses, we can swap out. We don’t know how the new horses will react to gunfire. When a horse does something you don’t like, spurs just let them know it,” Nathan explained.
“I like Trix,” Amanda whined.
Nathan shook his head. “The only ones that need to change horses are John and me. The rest of you are light.”
They carried out armloads of stuff and dropped them beside the camping area. After another trip the pile was rather large. “That’s a lot of shit,” Jasmine pointed out.
“Some of its replacing what we have. The rest is going with us,” Nathan said as he picked up Emma. Jasmine didn’t believe a word he said. Nathan went down to Knight. Leaving Emma outside the stall, he saddled up Knight, then opened the stall to a very pissed off Emma. Picking her up, Nathan put Emma in the saddle as he led Knight through the barn.
“Where are you going?” Jasmine asked.
“Amanda said there were more horses behind the corral. I’m going to look,” Nathan said, grabbing a couple of leading ropes. Opening the door, he led Knight outside across the corral and opened the gate. Nathan held onto Emma as he kicked Knight into a trot.
They didn’t have to go far to find the horses standing around a water tub fed by a windmill. There was a tree and a large covered shed with the opening facing the water tub. All the horses looked up at Nathan as he rode over. When he stopped, several came over, greeting Knight.
Hearing galloping hoofbeats, Nathan turned around to find Jasmine leading the girls down. The horses looked up at the new horses. “Guys, they don’t know your horses so keep a tight grip on your reins,” Nathan said.
Amanda lifted up her M-4. “They hurt Trix, they die.”
“Just be careful,” Nathan said, walking through the small herd of horses. Nathan figured it was about thirty. Seeing an appaloosa mare staying beside him, Nathan put a leading rope over its head. He spotted a calm mare quarter horse and slipped a lead rope over her head.
He slowly left the group, leading the two horses over to the others, who were surrounded by horses. “Okay, let’s head back,” he said.
“Nathan, they are all around us,” Amanda whispered loudly.
“Don’t act afraid, they can smell it. It makes your horse nervous and scared,” Nathan said, and saw Amanda calm down. “Horses are very social. They are just saying hello and seeing who your horses are.”
Natalie looked at the horses beside him with a lead rope. “Are they are coming too?” Nathan nodded.
“Let’s take that white horse,” Amanda said, pointing.
Nathan saw the big white horse. He was starting to get an idea about why Knight had been separate, in the corral. “No way, that is one of the alpha stallions. The other is that big brown one with the white star on his head.”
“We don’t have many boy horses. Just the pack horse and Knight. We need more boys,” Amada said.
“No, I have two stallions and they are stupid. The pack horse is a gelding. Stallions have to be watched and have to know you are in charge. They still try to show dominance. They only think about one thing,” Nathan said, giving a soft kick to Knight.
“What thing do they think about?” Casey asked.
Nathan was about to explain but saw the small face looking at him totally innocent. “Ah, boys being stupid,” Nathan offered.
“Bullshit,” Amanda popped off. “The pack horse is a stallion, I can tell.”
“Gelding is a boy that’s had—” Nathan stopped and saw Amanda looking at him intently. “He’ been made so he can’t make babies,” Nathan finally answered.
“Oh, neutered,” Amanda said. “Our dog had that done.”
Exhaling a long breath, Nathan nodded. “Yes, same thing.”
“What are the boy horses thinking about? Maybe we can make them stop. The white horse is really pretty,” Casey said.
Nathan looked at Jasmine, who was just smiling. “You can jump in anytime here.”
“They asked you, not me,” Jasmine smirked, holding onto Chip as they rode.
Nathan looked ahead and thought about it. “They think about girls,” he finally said.
“Well we have girls, so they will be happy,” Casey said.
Amanda reached down and patted her horse. “Yeah, Trix would like more boys around that aren’t neutered.”
“Why would she like more boys around?” Nathan asked, hoping she would explain it to Casey.
“She doesn’t want babies, but having boys around would make her feel better. Momma said that if Teddy couldn’t make babies he would quit trying to raise his leg peeing on everything,” Amanda said.
Nathan raised his hand up. “Girls, I’m not having this conversation now or anytime soon. When we get home I have some anatomy books and we will talk about it.”
Amanda huffed. “Why do we need anatomy books to tell us why a boy horse thinks about girl horses?”
“I’m not talking about it till we get home,” Nathan said as he rode into the corral and climbed off of Knight.
“You are really cool but sometimes you can be a dork,” Amanda informed him.
Nathan led Knight inside with the saddle on and carried Emma back out to see Jasmine saddling up the quarter horse. Emma clapped when Jasmine rode around the corral. The girls took turns riding both horses after Jasmine did. Nathan closed the corral and went inside, leading the rest of the horses and the two donkeys out to the corral so the horses could mingle.
Jasmine walked over to him as they watched the horses walking around establishing hierarchy. Smoke was the leader of their herd and didn’t like the way Knight was running around. Smoke ran over, showing her teeth, and leaned her ears back, chasing Knight. “Shit,” Nathan said, handing Emma to Jasmine, who was already holding Chip. Nathan picked up a two-by-two next to the barn that was about five feet long.
As he approached, Smoke bit Knight on the butt. Knight squealed and spun around, rising up on his hind legs, kicking with his front legs. Smoke rose up to meet the challenge. Nathan ran over and started whacking both horses hard.
Jasmine and the girls stood with open mouths, watching Nathan. The horses dropped down and stared at Nathan. Both folded their ears back. “Uh-oh,” Jasmine said. Nathan started hitting both horses, driving them back. When they tried to go around, Nathan smacked them on that side, turning them back.
When he stopped, the horses were backed up to the edge of the corral. Smoke lowered her head in submission but Knight stretched his head out, folding his ears back and baring his teeth. Seeing that, Jasmine was suddenly reminded of Emma as Nathan broke the stick over Knight’s head.
Knight actually stumbled to his side as Nathan walked over and started rubbing Smoke. Knight turned around, lowering his head as he walked over to Nathan and Smoke. Nathan rubbed his head and loved on him. Then Nathan walked away, heading to the barn.
As he passed Jasmine he took Emma. “I’m the alpha male.”
They all went inside to eat and stared packing, even though it was still early afternoon. When they were done they brought in the horses and saddled them up. Nathan put the pack saddle on the appaloosa and loaded it with bags of feed, then replaced what they used in the donkey’s pack saddle. All the spare horses had saddles and were loaded down with saddle bags. Then they made the pack saddles lighter, spreading out the supplies.
When they were done, Nathan hadn’t left anything behind. Jasmine almost pointed it out but didn’t. As they waited for the sun to leave, Nathan read to them. He wasn’t used to answering questions as he read a
nd was thinking this wasn’t a good idea at all. When Jasmine said it was time for supper, Nathan wanted to applaud.
As Nathan fed Emma, Casey came over and held out a piece of paper. “Another one, thank you,” Nathan said, opening it up. He saw a big circle with a person standing on the circle, and eight figures inside the circle, smiling. There were things outside the circle, but he couldn’t even guess. “Tell me about it, it’s the best one yet,” he said.
Casey moved over beside him. “Silly, it’s you wrapping your arms around us, loving and protecting us. See, we are happy. These are the monsters and bad guys you make go away. This is the big road we crossed, and your backpack, and see Emma has her carrier over her.” Casey explained the picture for fifteen minutes. Nathan was sure he was going to forget most of it before he could write it on the back.
With the verbal explanation over, Nathan smiled at her. “I only noticed me hugging my family. Thank you,” he lied. Casey hugged him, and Nathan had a thought. He pulled out the drawings Chip had made. “They’re scary. Chip drew them. Will you explain them?”
Casey casually explained each one, letting Nathan know he and Jasmine had missed a lot. When she was done, Nathan kissed her, then she ran to Amanda and Natalie. Quickly Nathan wrote on the back of the picture Casey had drawn for him. He felt that was the most important; it was a present for him. Then, on the drawings Chip had made, Nathan wrote what Casey had told him, circling parts of the drawings.
As he finished, Nathan saw Emma grab a handful of food, shoving it in her mouth. She was covered in food and the plate was empty. Nathan put the drawings in his messenger bag and promptly washed Emma off.
When he was finished, Emma was pissed but Nathan was happy. Next, Nathan pulled out his map and tablet, laying out the route. Everyone ran over, pulling out maps. Watching them, Nathan smiled, and noticed Chip had pulled out his coloring book. Emma just sat in his lap, drinking her sippy cup.
Just as the sun sank, Nathan led them out of the back of the barn and through the corral. They trotted past the horses and John jumped off his horse and cut the fence. When John was back on his horse, they went through the opening, leaving it open. Nathan was on Smoke but Knight was behind him, tied to his saddle.
Nathan looked behind them to see the horses timidly walking out the opening. He turned around leading the group west. When they reached the fence for the cattle pasture, they cut it, leaving it open. Tom still had the three pack animals, John had the quarter horse, and Natalie and Jasmine had the other animals.
They crossed the pasture at a trot under the clear sky. Nathan was confident he could spot a hole with his monoculars on. After two hours they came to the road Nathan was going to lead them west on. Nathan held up his hand, brought up his thermal binoculars, and scanned ahead. He could see cows but nothing else. Dropping the binoculars and letting them hang around his neck, he flipped the monoculars down.
He looked at the road, then northwest out across the field beside the road. He turned to look over his shoulder. “John, cut that fence.” John climbed off and cut the fence. Nathan led them through as John climbed back on his horse and followed.
They had only traveled a mile when the group moved up to Nathan, riding around him. “Care to tell us?” Jasmine asked.
“We are making good time on this pasture land. The odds of someone in the middle of this are beyond remote, near the road not so much. If we run up on someone out here, fate wanted us caught,” he said.
Amanda picked up her rifle, scared. “You think someone is around?”
“No, but why take the chance?” Nathan said. After they thought about it, they all liked the idea. When Nathan spotted a prairie dog town, he turned Smoke around it. After he spotted it, he felt much better traveling over land. At midnight they stopped at a pond, letting the horses drink.
Nathan climbed off of Smoke and onto Knight, and pulled out his map. Studying the map, he marked a spot with a grease pencil. “This is our new rally spot,” he said, passing the map around.
Amanda looked at it, then at Nathan. “That’s over twenty miles past our first rally point. It will be daylight.”
“No, our first rally point is three miles from here,” Nathan said.
“There’s no way we went over forty miles,” Amanda stated.
“You’re right, we’ve gone thirty-two,” Nathan said. “Roads go around stuff and weave over the country, but we are traveling in a straight line.”
“Why didn’t we do this sooner?” she asked.
“Because there are woods and a fence every hundred yards in the south. Remember, we did that a few times,” he said.
“Not in Kansas,” she said.
“We have extra horses, so if one gets hurt going cross-country, we can get on another one,” Nathan said.
Casey let out a gasp. “We are going to hurt Pepper?”
Nathan closed his eyes, tilting his head back. “No, I’m just saying if one gets hurt or sick.”
Accepting that, they all finished eating and John changed horses. When they set off, Nathan could tell Knight wasn’t tired from carrying a rider. He trotted along in a prance. They did see roads but they just crossed over them.
It was three a.m. when Amanda trotted up to Nathan. “You haven’t asked what’s been going on over the radio.”
“I’m sorry, I have a lot on my mind,” Nathan said.
“I know, but tonight F-U said the government tried to get into Cheyenne yesterday and pushed the loyal troops back. The patriots blew all the bridges and stopped the government and are trying to push them out. And Nathan, I haven’t heard any military talk. On the frequencies they were on I only hear squeaking noises,” she said.
“Their radios are encrypted now. Anyone say anything about the doorstop?” Nathan asked.
Amanda shook her head. “No, just that Homeland is really good at finding people.”
Grabbing the thermal binoculars, Nathan scanned ahead. “Did they talk about that any?”
“Not really, they just said they were really good at finding people hiding. There are reports everywhere of people hiding in really good locations, but they are getting found. Same thing about people sneaking out of cities, they are catching them in some very interesting places. F-U and several others said they think Homeland has out UAVs but a general with the patriots said they haven’t seen much UAV activity on radar,” Amanda said.
Lowering the thermal and flipping down his monoculars, Nathan rode in thought. After a few minutes, he shook his head. “I have to agree with the general. America is too big for them to be spotting people hiding with UAVs. The number they would need is astronomical.”
“You think its people being tattletales?” Amanda asked.
He turned to look at her. “I’m sure some are, but that would be a very small percentage.”
“I don’t know, Nathan, F-U said they were offering rewards of food to turn in what they call ‘treasonists’ but F-U calls ‘patriots’. There are reports the amount of food is several weeks’ worth for a confirmed tip,” Amanda said.
“Oh, I’m not saying people aren’t turning in others even if they aren’t patriots. But I went through your notes a few days ago and I spotted a few captures that should’ve been impossible,” Nathan said.
Amanda huffed. “It’s not right for them to keep people in cities and camps. The things they are saying on the radio about the camps are atrocious. There is barely any food and water.”
“That is what they want. Those people are dependent on the government for food and have to do what they are told. Then with, the promise of food for turning in someone, anyone, becomes a big motivator. You’ve seen what a starving person will do for food. For all intents and purposes, those people are slaves,” Nathan said.
Letting out a long sigh, Amanda looked down at her notebook. “The governor of Texas sent troops to help in Oklahoma. It was reported that government troops were on the Indian reservations, killing everyone. When the troops arrived it was confirmed that six
ty percent of the reservation population was wiped out.” She looked at Nathan. “Why would they kill the Native Americans?”
“Shit, I have no idea. Before this, Native Americans were almost totally dependent on the government. They got money, government health care, and food. They really didn’t have to do much. If you look at it, they fell into the trap of total dependence. They went from proud warriors to standing around waiting on handouts,” Nathan said.
Shaking her head, Amanda continued. “The Navy has cut the amount of troops arriving on American soil in most cases in half, but in the northwest by as much as three quarters. F-U reports up to two million foreign troops are now on American soil. On the east coast it’s mainly European troops and on the west coast Chinese. Only forty percent of American troops remained loyal to the government, and the rest are consolidating in the south and west. California is being marked as a total loss by the government, and they pulled back to Nevada. The patriot Navy reported all assets were pulled out of California and taken north, but not where.”
“I think the government moved too fast,” Nathan said. “If they had waited till bringing in U.N. troops they could’ve gotten more people to voluntarily report to camps and cities.”
Amanda continued to read her notebook. “Yeah, that’s why I’m with you. I knew if you weren’t going it couldn’t be good.” Nathan nodded, agreeing with her reasoning. “The president will announce that Congress passed a new constitution, and will outline the new bill of rights. Any person caught with a weapon other than law enforcement or military can be detained or shot if they don’t turn it over. Hoarding of supplies is against the law and all kids ten to fifteen are to report to regional boarding schools by June the first. Any parent refusing will lose custody immediately.
“Several states have announced they are withdrawing from the union. Texas was the first, along with Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada, South Dakota, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana. Other states said they were also, but there are too many U.N. troops currently in them to really say they are independent. The governor of Texas has called for a new America, and called for representatives of independent states to come to Texas and pull together,” Amanda said, looking up. “It’s like the American revolution all over again.”
Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home Page 23
