by Stan Morris
Up on the palisade, the other Ranger watched enviously as his fellow soldier helped the well endowed girl enter the gate. When the two of them disappeared, he turned his attention back to the field and to the view beyond. The field was empty, but the view was simply magnificent.
At dinner, there was a head count. Two boys were missing. Lieutenant Kennedy reported to Major Collins that they were the two boys who had first found the Army post. The Major sent men out around the edge of the knoll to look for the boys, but there was no sign of them. The worried Major swore, but there was no way to search for them in the dark.
The next morning, the soldiers searched again. Soon, they found a heavy rope tied to the small oak tree at the edge of the knoll. The Lieutenant and some of his squad climbed down the rope. They found fresh tracks which they followed. The trail led in a circular way into the forest. In the late afternoon, they followed the trail out of the woods and onto the saddle land. There, the trail disappeared. They searched the area, and they found signs of a camp. The Lieutenant reported back to the Major.
“We lost them, Sir,” he said to the Major. “They seemed to have met some other people. The others had a vehicle with them.”
What the hell is going on, Collins wondered.
The Major was suspicious, but there was no time to worry about two boys who didn’t want to be at the fort. There were too many preparations for the winter still to be made, but he vowed to find out what had happened to the boys and who they had met.
One day in December, Major Collins noticed one of the young Rangers talking to the big breasted girl that had been rescued from the bikers. A small notion occurred to him. He did some investigating, and when he was certain, he called the girl in for a visit.
“Your name is Erin, I believe,” Major Collins said, once she was seated.
“Yes, Sir,” she replied.
“Erin, I have a question for you. Do you know what happens to spies?” he said sternly.
“Yes, Sir. In wartime, enemy agents of a foreign power are executed. In peacetime, they are usually exchanged for our own agents,” the girl replied.
The Major’s eyes widened. “You are remarkably familiar with the rules of espionage, Erin.”
She grinned. “I’m an Army brat, Sir. Grandpa and Dad were both Army. I grew up by Ord. My Mom and I lived in Monterey. Sir, I have a question. How did you figure it out?”
The Major stared at her, and then he laughed. “It wasn’t easy,” he said ruefully. “I saw you talking to one of the Rangers one night, and it suddenly occurred to me that you were in remarkably good mental health for a girl that had been systematically molested for over a year. Most girls have an aversion to men after that.”
Erin remembered Maria’s slow recovery. “Oh, rats,” she said. “I should have thought of that.”
“Then I remembered that you were one of the few people who were on the knoll, on the day that the two boys disappeared. I grilled the Ranger who was there that day, and I heard about your mishap. He finally confessed that it was not only your leg that you had trouble with.”
Erin blushed. The Major continued.
“So, I have a pair of boys who show up unexpectedly. They bring news of a gang I’ve been itching to find. One of them knows the way back. We get there, and the kids are not chained up, they are down on the road waiting for us. What luck. Lieutenant Kennedy did notice the chain on the door, by the way. It finally occurred to me that after the boys escaped, there should have been more security, not less.”
“We couldn’t think of everything,” Erin explained.
Collins nodded. “So, we have a very successful mission. A few days later, the original two boys disappear, obviously with help from someone outside the post. I suppose I didn’t want to admit to myself that I had been conned by a couple of kids. I talked to Lieutenant Kennedy. It turns out, that you were the one who met the soldiers at the gang’s hideout. You told him that all the kids were there. And you were there, the day the boys disappeared. You created a remarkably effective distraction. And you were the only one who refused to be examined by our medic. I’m guessing that you’re still a virgin.”
“Please, don’t make me answer any questions about that,” Erin pleaded, suddenly embarrassed.
“I won’t,” the Major assured her. “But now that the cat is out of the bag, I want you to have a medical examination. Don’t worry. The results will be confidential, even from me.”
“Anyway,” he continued. “I’ve talked to the rest of the kids. No one remembers you before that night. They thought you were with us. It’s time to come clean, Erin. Who are you, and where are your friends?”
Erin sighed. “I told you who I am, and that is the truth. My friends are back at our Lodge. We planned this, so that you could rescue those kids. That was our only goal. I stayed to see what kind of people you are, because I’m comfortable around military personnel.”
“Where is this Lodge?”
“It’s somewhere to the west. I don’t know for sure. Remember it was night when we did this.”
“Who is in charge there?”
“You met him. Mike. We call him, ‘Chief’.”
“The person in charge is a boy?” asked Major Collins skeptically.
“I know it sounds crazy, but yes,” Erin insisted. “Mike is in charge. He’s the Chief. You had to be there to understand. All of us were kids. He kept us alive. And the plan to rescue the children from those bastards was his plan.”
“Leaving that aside, how many are there at this Lodge?”
“Um…fifty three counting the people at Davis Brown Farm. No, I’m here, so there are fifty two there.”
“Fifty two people?” This was a surprise to the Major. “That’s sixteen more people than we have here. Are there any adults at all?”
“If you count Mrs. Brown, there are four adults. Well, more than that, because some of the kids are eighteen, now.”
“All right, you can go,” Collins said.
After she left, he considered what she had told him. He needed to find those kids, but it was too late in the season to send the Rangers to search for them. There was nothing that he could do to help them now. They would have to wait until spring. He shuddered when he thought of all those kids trying to survive with a minimum of adult help. He vowed that he would find them, and that he would take them into the protective embrace of the United States Army, as soon as he possibly could do so.
Chapter Twelve
PETERSBURG
It took the boys three weeks to hike from the Army post to the Lodge. Mike was in no hurry. For the first time in over a year, he had no responsibilities. The leader of their foursome was Jacob. It was Jacob’s plan that had extricated them from the fort. If the Rangers had looked closely at the knoll, they would have found a smaller line on the other side, tied to a heavy bush. It had hand holds, and it fell over the steep cliff. Reaching the bottom, the boys entered the woods, and within a few hours they made their way to the road leading away from the post. By the time the Rangers traced the false trail that Jacob had created, the boys were miles away.
There was plenty of food in their caches, and they didn’t try to travel fast. Jacob and Mike even waited below while Nathan and Kevin climbed the road to the bikers’ camp, so the twins could see where all the excitement had happened. But the teens were sobered when they viewed the remains of the camp and the graves at that evil place. They hiked down the hill, and the four boys resumed their journey home. They stopped at a lake for a day to rest among the red fireweed and the green lady ferns. They fished and caught golden trout from the lake and seared the fish over an open fire.
“This fish is good,” Kevin said with a sigh, after finishing his portion. “But I wish I could have a Big Mac.”
“I’d like a double cheeseburger, myself,” Mike replied.
“Fast food would be nice,” Nathan agreed. “But what I really would like is the internet.”
“Yeah!” the boys chorused.
“I miss WOW,” said Kevin. “Did you play that, Chief?”
“Nah,” Mike replied. “I was more into single player games. I had some Wii games I really liked.”
“Everquest is the best game ever,” Nathan stated.
“You mean Evercrack,” Kevin said as he snickered. “Once, a girl called him, and he wouldn’t take the call, because he was too busy playing.”
“Oh, shut up, Kevin,” Nathan said, scowling at his brother. The other boys laughed.
“I wonder how long it will take us to get to the Brown farm,” said Jacob. “I’m tired of water. I want some milk.”
By the time they arrived at Davis Brown Farm, they were footsore. In Mary’s kitchen, Mike noticed a calendar that had been hand drawn by Lily. It was two weeks past Labor Day in the old world. Mike hoped that Howard had given the tribe a day off. Mary wanted them to stay for a few days, but by now they were eager to get home, so the next day the four travelers climbed into the wagon bed with Comet, and Ralph drove them home. As they left, they passed the frame of a new barn.
It was a happy homecoming for the travelers. The children had been rescued, so their mission was accomplished, and they were welcomed as heroes. There had been changes at the Lodge and in the valley. The grain had been harvested and stowed. There would be a lot more food available this winter than last. The chicken coop was finished, and the chicks would soon become egg bearing hens, and Mary Brown had given them two roosters. Some of the kids had suggested naming their community. There were a lot of suggestions. One of the most popular suggestions was, ‘Michaelsville.’ In the end, however, Yuie’s suggestion carried the day, and their small village was named ‘Petersburg.’
“I thought that’s what you would want,” Yuie said to Mike, as she waited anxiously for his reaction.
Mike smiled and hugged her. “It’s perfect,” he said.
A ceremony was held after Meeting one night, where Mike proclaimed that henceforth, their tiny community would be known as the Village of Petersburg.
Kathy and Hector had been busy. The ladder to the second floor had been replaced by a staircase. They had added a large loft over the central area of the Lodge and had connected it to the upper room walkway. In addition to having a new sleeping area, the rear of the loft caught the droppings from their resident birds. The area under the loft was now a bird safe zone. They had built a covered walkway with handrails over the ledge leading from the door of the Lodge to the Porta Pottys. It would still be a cold walk, but they could use the toilets in a blizzard. But the best improvement was the sight of a shower head in the washroom.
“But won’t we use up the hot water that’s supposed to heat the Lodge?” Mike asked.
“There’s no way that all of us can take a shower every day,” Hector conceded. “But I borrowed the thousand feet of five-eighths black tubing that Mary’s not using, and I ran it up the hill, and set it in the river. The point of intake is higher than the roof of the Lodge. Now we can mix cold water with hot water to take our showers, and we can add water to the heating system as we use up hot water. It takes about four hours to completely heat the water in our system, so on days when we get six good hours of sun…,” He stopped and waited.
“Two hours of hot water for showers,” Kathy finished.
“If we allow ten minutes for a shower…,” Mike did the calculations in his head. “Twelve people can take a shower that day. Wow. That’s over a quarter of the tribe.”
“Girls first, of course,” Kathy said.
“Oh, of course,” Mike replied, giving Kathy an insincere smile.
At Meeting, Mike reported on what he had learned at the Army Post. Most of the kids were glad to hear that Major Collins seemed to be a decent person. To Mike’s surprise, they were still reluctant to make contact with the unit. The kids seemed to feel that they were doing fine, and that they didn’t need the added uncertainty and possible complications that might arise from interacting with the Army.
“Yuie’s really been dissing the idea,” Desi said.
“Yuie? Yeah, she didn’t like the idea of linking up with the Army from the beginning,” Mike responded, remembering the discussion.
“Erin’s friends are kind of sad.”
“Me too. But this was her choice,” Mike replied. “And it might come in handy for us have a friend inside their post.”
September passed, and October began. The rain changed to snow, but there wasn’t much of it yet. Jacob brought in a deer. Luis and another boy brought back a large buck. The deer was killed and readied, and a lot of it was thinly sliced and smoked. Jean and her students had gathered what seemed like tons of edible plants and fruits, and Lily’s pictures had been a great help. From Mary Brown’s fields they obtained a huge assortment of winter squash.
They missed Erin’s social organizing skills, but one of her friends filled in. The Social Committee made plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. A fir tree had been marked for Christmas, and they made sure that they had plenty of pine cones this year. Mike did not want a repeat of the lost gatherers.
Hector winterized the machinery, and he drained the water lines in Chief’s Headquarters and in the dining hall. This year they decided to leave the freezers in the dining hall and to make their way to them through the snow. This was on Mary Brown’s advice.
“It may seem like it’s cold outside,” she said, “But it’s still not consistently as cold as a working freezer would be.” Eric thought that their propane would last another year.
Nathan and Kevin asked Mary if they could spend the winter at her house. She happily accepted, and Ralph was glad to have their help. Their new barn was not finished, but it was framed to the point that it would be possible to work on the structure until the temperature became exceptionally cold, or when the snow was too deep to wade through. Star was disappointed that she was not allowed to stay at Petersburg for the winter. No matter how much she wheedled, Ralph and Mary said, ‘no.’
Jean and Howard received a private room this year. The boys, who had previously occupied that room, were moved into the new loft. Although the loft was connected to the girls’ catwalk, Hector had added a separate ladder to the loft, which was so much fun to climb that some of the boys in the cave asked if they could sleep in the loft, too. That started an argument over who got to sleep in the loft. If that wasn’t enough, some of the girls complained that the boys in the loft could see into their rooms, and that the boys were spying on them.
Mike told Howard to deal with those problems. Since he had returned from the Army post, Mike was relying on Howard more and more to handle the mundane details that arose day to day. Howard was called on to settle squabbles, allocate resources, and generally act as the tribe administrator.
“He is a real King Salmon,” John said in admiration.
“That’s, King Solomon, Doofus,” Eric replied.
Howard was good at getting things sorted out. The boys were allowed to sleep in the loft on a rotating basis. The girls were advised not to leave their canvas curtains open when it was time for bed. People started calling Howard, ‘Admin.’
“Hey, Admin, why can’t we have mashed potatoes more often than French fries? French fries don’t taste good without grease.”
“Admin, we should reserve some Porta Pottys just for the girls. The boys keep forgetting to lift the seat before they pee.”
“Admin, nine is too early to start school. Let’s start it at ten.”
In the middle of October, Mike pulled the Spear patrols back to the boundaries of the camp. There was not a lot of snow on the ground yet, but he was taking no chances. The hunters were the only ones still allowed to go deep into the forest. Mike gave them until the tenth of November to hunt. After that, he wanted everyone close to the Lodge.
By the first of November there was enough snow to break out the cardboard sleds. Mike gave everyone a two week break from school. There would be time for that during the long winter months ahead. The last trips to and from the Brow
n farm were made.
One of the hunters did not return to Petersburg. In the middle of November, they waited for Luis. Mike allowed Jacob and Jean to travel upriver for three days to search for him. They returned empty handed. Mike refused to let them go search again. He thought it was the hardest decision that he had ever made.
“Luis should have been back ten days ago,” Ahmad said gloomily. “Something happened to him. I know it.”
“It’s karma, bro,” John murmured.
“Yes, the Gods take and give,” said Rasul sadly. “We are all mortal.”
Luis did not return. In January, the tribe held a memorial for him.
One day in early December, at the end of Council, Mike asked if anyone else had anything to report.
“I’m pregnant,” Desi said cheerfully. There was stunned silence.
“Impossible,” Mike stated, after he managed to close his mouth.
“Oh, it’s possible all right,” she assured him. “Believe me.”
“Impossible,” Mike repeated. “We have cases of unused condoms, years of pill packs, and plenty of diaphragms. How could you possibly get pregnant?”
“Well, I never did get an exam from the old Admin, so I didn’t want to take the pills. And I don’t actually know how to use a diaphragm. And as for the condoms, well, we forgot,” Desi admitted.
Mike turned to glare at John. “Don’t hang me, Chief,” John said meekly.
“How far along are you, Desi?” Yuie asked.
“A little over one month,” she replied. “I missed my period.” Everyone relaxed.
“It’s way too early to tell for sure,” Eric said.
“Yes, your period might start tomorrow,” Jean added.
Desi just smiled. Mike looked at her glumly, and then he exchanged glances with John. They knew that smile. If Desi thought that she was pregnant, chances were she was.
