by Mark Goodwin
“No, but I will. Is Sox going to the cabin?”
Noah took the pancake mix out of the cupboard. He hadn’t thought about that. He considered everyone else that would be in the cabin and who might be allergic to cats. No matter. If Sox had to stay in Lacy and Cassie’s room, he’d just have to get used to it. Lacy needed her pet. “Yes, Sox is going.”
“And Lynette?”
“Yep, she’ll be there.”
Cassie walked into the kitchen and kissed Noah. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you, too.” Noah found the powdered eggs and set the container on the counter. He had a few fresh eggs that David Ray had given him, but he’d save those. Powdered eggs were just fine for pancakes. “How many pancakes can you eat?” he asked Cassie.
“Thirty or forty; I’m starving.” Cassie started the coffee.
Noah laughed. “I’ll make a bunch. If we have leftovers, we can warm them in the toaster oven tomorrow.”
After breakfast, Cassie started opening the canned yams that she was using for the yam casserole. That was her dish to take to the Ray’s for Thanksgiving dinner.
Noah started loading some supplies into the truck. David and Isaiah would be by shortly to take a load of goods down to the cabin. He loaded up 10 five-gallon buckets containing beans and rice, along with several cardboard boxes filled with canned and dry goods. He set an ammunition dry box with a few of the remaining silver coins near the door. It went on top of another ammo box, which was actually filled with ammunition.
Half an hour later, Noah walked back into the kitchen. “How close are you to being done with your casserole?”
Cassie sprinkled the tiny marshmallows on top of the dish. “Done. I just have to stick it in the oven. Why?”
“Could you make a cache tube for the .22 and the shotgun like you made for the .38 and the 12 gauge you got from Tim’s?”
“Sure, but why don’t you just dig those up and take them to the cabin?” Cassie slid the yam casserole into the oven.
“I’d like to have some contingencies. I think it’s best to leave them where they are.”
“Do you want to put the Cheetah in there, so you’ll have a pistol if you need it?”
“That’s your conceal carry weapon,” Noah said.
Cassie put the utensils she’d used to prepare the casserole in the sink to soak. “We’re going to the woods. I can carry the Glock on my hip. I don’t really need a concealed carry weapon. If I do, I can dig it up. I’ve been burying and digging up guns since long before you came onboard.”
“Great. And you’ll throw some ammo in there as well?”
“Wouldn’t be much good without ammo.” Cassie went to the gun cabinet and retrieved the Cheetah, magazines, and ammo. She sealed all of it in the GameSaver plastic bag. Noah brought her the .22 rifle and their old shotgun, which were sealed along with ammunition in the same way.
Noah followed Cassie to the shed and assisted her as she cut two lengths of plastic pipe and inserted the weapons.
Noah heard a car horn. “That sounds like Isaiah. Are these going to be ready to move?”
Cassie painted the purple pipe glue inside the rim of the first PVC end cap. “Go ahead and load up the rest of your stuff. The glue dries really fast. They’ll be okay to move by the time you’re ready for the cache tubes.”
Noah walked out front to find Isaiah and David with both of their trucks loaded to capacity. “Looks like moving day. I thought we were just bringing a few things out.”
David laughed. “Our definition of ‘a few things’ varies greatly from that of the girls.”
Isaiah looked in the back of Noah’s truck. “If I were a betting man, which I’m not, of course, I’d say you’ll be making another trip out to the ark.”
“The ark?” Noah asked.
David slapped him on the back. “That’s what everyone calls it behind your back: Noah’s ark.”
Isaiah winked. “It’s a compliment, trust me. It was your idea and a good one at that.”
Noah shook his head. “So why will I be making another trip? Do I have to get two of every animal? I might need to borrow a trailer.”
Isaiah chuckled. “No. I think once Cassie and Lacy figure out they might be out there for a while, they’ll want more stuff. You know, there’s a possibility they might not ever come back to this house.”
Noah had been so caught up with his mortality he hadn’t spent much time considering what the girls would need to bring. “Maybe I’ll let Cassie drive the truck out to the cabin and keep it there.”
David bit his lower lip and looked up at Noah. “No vehicles registered to any of us can ever be left at the cabin.”
“But they’ll need some type of transportation,” Noah said.
Isaiah combed his beard with his fingertips. “There’s a gravel pit on the south side of Maryville. We’re living in a post-dollar world; no dollar means no paycheck. I’m sure no one’s working out there. We could dump a vehicle in the woods behind the gravel pit and leave the girls with a key. You’ve got two bikes; they could ride the bikes out to the pit.”
“Don’t you think the pit will be gated and locked?” Noah looked at Isaiah.
David stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’ve got bolt cutters, and a lock. We could put our lock on the gate. I’d leave the bolt cutters with the girls in case the locks get changed again. The problem is, if anyone sees a nice looking truck out there, it’s going to disappear.”
Isaiah looked at his vehicle. “My truck is the oldest. We could use a sander and take the shine off in about twenty minutes. I think I have some rust colored spray paint, too. We can make it look pretty decrepit; we could even let the air out of one of the tires and give the girls a hand pump.”
David looked at Noah. “Sounds like a plan. What do you think?”
Noah nodded. “It’s worth a shot. How far is the gravel pit from the cabin?”
“About ten miles. It’s all paved roads. You could do it in under an hour on a bike,” Isaiah said. “Are we ready to go?”
Noah thought for a moment. “Let me tell the girls to get a few more things together while we’re gone.”
“We’ll be here,” David said.
Noah loaded the last of the ammo boxes in the truck and then went to the shed to get the cache tubes. “Good job, honey, but I forgot to put the rice in the PVC tubes to absorb any moisture that might creep in.”
Cassie smiled. “I took care of it while you were chatting with your friends. You’re ready to go.”
“Thanks. Listen, David and Isaiah think it’s possible you might have to stay out at the cabin longer than we anticipated. Maybe you and Lacy should box up some more clothes and personal items, just in case.”
Cassie looked down at the pipe glue on the work table. “I really wish this wasn’t happening.”
Noah wrapped his arms around her and held her for a while. “Me, too.”
Cassie kissed him. “Chin up, we have to be strong. If Lacy see’s us worrying, she’ll get upset. Worrying won’t help anyway. I’ll get more of our stuff packed for the cabin. When will you be back?”
“I don’t know. It should only take about three hours, but they have a ton of stuff to unload.”
“Then you better get out of here. Thanksgiving at the Ray’s is supposed to start at two. If were late, Becky will have a fit.”
Noah kissed her goodbye. “That shouldn’t be a problem, but if I’m not back by then, go ahead and drive over in the Santa Fe. I’ll meet you there.”
Cassie slapped his butt. “Hurry!”
“Ouch!” The slap stung. Noah would have returned the playful gesture of affection, but his hands were full with the cache tubes. He figured that was why Cassie had decided to take the risk.
***
Noah’s convoy arrived at the cabin in just over an hour. They quickly unloaded all three trucks. The contents were dumped haphazardly all around the living room.
David piled another load up against the living
room wall. “The girls will need something to do when they get here. Besides, we wouldn’t put anything in the right place anyway.”
“As long as we leave a path so we can navigate in between the boxes.” Noah started stacking light-weight boxes full of clothing on the couch. The seller had left all of the furnishings, as he didn’t want to be bothered with getting rid of them.
Once the trucks were unloaded, David grabbed his shovel. “Let’s find some places to bury this stuff.”
Noah took his shovel out of his truck. “Did you bring a lot of hardware to hide?”
David nodded. “Quite a bit.”
Isaiah retrieved his shovel as well. “I have a couple of things, too. Should everything go in one place, or would it be better to spread it around?”
“Definitely spread it around. Just don’t make it too hard to remember.” David started digging along the side of the gravel road near the house.
Noah looked at the spot he selected. “This is out in plain sight. Wouldn’t it be better to hide our guns back in the woods?”
David kept digging. “If you can find a place where you can dig down without hitting roots, knock yourself out. Once I throw some leaves over this, it will look like the rest of the yard. The good thing about this spot is that it’s easy to remember. Another good spot would be next to the wood shed. We can stack a rick of wood on top of it that could be taken down in a few minutes. But, it’s not likely that anyone would run a metal detector over a wood pile.”
“I’ll start on the hole next to the shed.” Isaiah took his shovel to the small wooden out building.
“I’ll go look around in the woods.” Noah grabbed his shovel and walked down the hill a few meters. He soon located a hole that looked like it had been excavated by an animal. He took his small flashlight out of the pocket of his cargo pants and bent down to look inside. “That’s just about right.”
He walked back up the hill to where David was working and told him about his discovery. “I could top it off with some creek rock and then smooth it over with dirt. Then I’ll cover it with leaves to make it blend in.”
“If you can get an animal to dig your hole, more power to you. Just make sure you’ll be able to describe the location to Cassie.” David finished his shallow hole and walked to his truck.
Noah retrieved his cache tubes and walked down the hill. He had to widen the mouth of the entrance with the shovel just a bit to fit both tubes. He found some rocks to fill the mouth of the hole and topped it off with dirt from a nearby rotting tree stump. Noah covered the area uniformly with leaves. He looked at his work for a few seconds. David’s right, he thought, if I forget where I put those tubes, they’re gone forever.
Noah looked around for anything that could be used to mark the location. A towering oak was slightly under two yards from the cache and directly between it and the cabin. Noah thought about the directions he would give Cassie to the stash. Walk down the hill to the giant oak, go around to the back side of the tree. Then, roughly five feet, straight down the hill.
Noah looked from the tree; he’d have no trouble finding the cache, but he wanted it to be super obvious for Cassie. He located another creek stone just a few yards further down the hill. It had moss growing on the top of it, making it barely visible. Perfect, he thought. Noah placed the stone, mossy side up, right over the cache.
He walked back up the hill and began helping Isaiah stack wood over his cache.
David finished covering his weapons and came to help Isaiah and Noah. “You know we kid you about Noah’s ark, but this really was a great idea. I wish we could have bought another fallback position as well. Since this is the only one, we’ll jeopardize the girls if we have to come here to hide out, but I don’t know where else we could go if Sevier County gets hot.”
Isaiah lugged a large log on top of the rick. “If we do ever have to come out here, we’ll have to make sure the last five miles of it is on foot, so we know we’re not being followed.”
The extra work put them behind schedule, but they could still make it to David’s well before three o’clock.
“I’m dirty and sweaty. I’ll have to run home and take a quick shower. Tell Becky I’m sorry, and don’t wait for me.” Noah closed the door of his truck and started the engine.
Isaiah dusted the bits of bark off the front of his shirt. “Yep. I’ve got to do the same.”
David stowed his shovel in the bed of his truck and closed the tailgate. “Just hurry, guys. If we hold up dinner, it’s my fault.”
***
Noah arrived home and hurried to get cleaned up. As he was putting his shoes on, he looked at the other personal items that Cassie and Lacy had packed. Sox was sniffing the boxes as if he was trying to figure out what was going on.
“Don’t worry, Sox. You’re going, too. I’ll be the only one here all alone.” Noah felt the grief of not having his family around already, but today was to be a celebration of Thanksgiving for all the good things God had blessed him with. Noah purposed in his heart to enjoy the time he had left with his family.
Noah pulled into the Ray’s drive, right behind Isaiah. He cut the engine and walked briskly to the door. He winked at Isaiah. “We’re fashionably late.”
Isaiah chuckled as he knocked on the door. “I hope they’re not fashionably out of turkey.”
Becky Ray opened the door. “Right on time, come on in, fellas.”
Noah thought she was being sarcastic. “Sorry we’re late.”
Becky closed the door behind them. “Really, you’re not late. I tell people to come an hour earlier than when I plan to serve. It always works out.”
“Good, we didn’t want to get David in trouble.” Isaiah took off his coat and hung it on the coat tree in the corner.
Becky grinned. “I said you’re not late. That doesn’t mean David isn’t in trouble.”
Cassie had Noah’s place saved at the table and waved him over. “I poured sweet tea for you. I hope that’s okay.”
Noah kissed his wife. “That’s fine. Thank you.”
Isaiah read a few verses from the Bible and said the blessing. He asked God for protection in the coming days and for wisdom to make the right decisions. Afterwards, everyone took their plates to the kitchen and served themselves, buffet style.
Noah took healthy portions of cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, yam casserole, and green bean casserole. All the varieties of foods looked so tempting, but Noah preferred the traditional fare. He made a conscious effort to not wonder if this would be the last Thanksgiving dinner that offered such an abundant selection. It seemed that everyone chose to embrace the joy of being together and to ignore the despair of what the coming days could bring.
***
After the feast, those who would be involved in the raid met in the living room, while those who wouldn’t were asked to go to the den where Lacy and Lynette normally played by themselves. Knowledge of the raid was, in and of itself, an act of treason, according to the Rouge Administration occupying the nation’s capital. Additionally, specifics of the raid could not be extracted by torture or coercion from anyone who had no knowledge of the details.
Noah gave Cassie a big kiss. “I’ll come get you as soon as we’re done. You know, you should assert yourself as head of security for the cabin. You could use this time to lay out your own strategies and plan out some security patrols. Everyone at the cabin will need to be assigned specific tasks.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Cassie forced a smile and headed to the den.
Becky Ray, Caroline Rodgers, Sharon Beck, and Sandy Taylor seemed content to retire to the other room. Cassie, however, did not. Noah knew his wife all too well. He’d noticed how she’d completely avoided engaging in conversation with Sarah during the meal. He was sure that Cassie resented Sarah for being on the strike team. Like Sarah, Cassie had the heart of a warrior. She was very feminine and as girly as they came, but fragile and afraid she was not. But, Cassie’s first responsibility was to Lacy, and she would have to accept
her role as mom. It was as simple as that.
Noah sat on the large couch with David and Jim.
Kevin unfolded a large map made of eight regular pieces of paper taped together, each with a Google Maps printout of a specific area in the zone where the operation would be taking place. Together, they formed a giant overview of the river, detention camps, and surrounding buildings. Kevin took several army men out of a plastic bag to use as markers for the different players involved in the operation. “Guys, we’ve done the best planning we could do in the time we’ve had. Sarah, David, and I have gone over this several times, and we all agree the plan has a relatively good chance of success. Some of you may disagree with certain details, but I ask you to trust our combined battlefield experience.” Kevin looked around the room. Everyone nodded to show that they believed his reasoning to be sound.
Kevin continued laying out the plan. “David is going to be doing a dry run with you guys here, early tomorrow morning. Unless something comes up, we’re going to launch the assault at 5:10 AM, Saturday morning. Eliot and Noah, according to your reconnaissance, we should have a major train wreck right about that time. Benny also connected with some people in the intelligence circle that confirmed the train’s schedule. He was even able to get a partial manifest of what the train would be hauling. Looks like it has several cars of fuel running on this load, so we might be looking at a nice warm fire. That would certainly help out with creating a distraction and making the tracks impassible. David, do you want to pass out those treats you put together?”
David handed each member of the strike team a thirty-round magazine filled with 5.56 tracer rounds.
Kevin explained their purpose. “Jackknifing rail cars tend to generate a pretty good spark when they slide down the tracks, but just in case the fuel cars need a little help lighting up, these are phosphorous tipped. Is everyone shooting 5.56?”
All nodded.
“Good,” Kevin continued. “We’ve marked the bottom of these magazines with a length of red electrical tape, so you can quickly identify them in your mag carriers and switch over to tracers if you need to light up a fuel tanker.”
