by Tj Reeder
Well the tears got me and I stood looking down into her beautiful face with the soft green lines on it and said “well, I love your markings, and to me they always seemed like the color of emeralds , but that’s not a good name, so I here by name you…..Jade.
She threw her arms around me and said “oh my love thank you for the beautiful name “then dragged me over to the old man who was starting to get on my nerves a bit, when he saw we were ready he came back and my bride was whispering in my ear the word for Jade in her native tongue, when the old coot asked me again what I assumed was my brides new name I repeated the word she had given me, he looked at me for a bit and I thought he would get pissed off again but instead he smiled real big and shouted out a long bunch of words the last one was all I knew, the native clan members all shouted and started singing, the log that was the drum was being beat to death with gusto, and Jody turned to John and said something to him, he raised his arms and when it was quiet he announced to “MY” clan that the bride was “Jade” and the locals not to be outdone let out some loud Rebel yells and somebody started shooting in the air…and it was done.
Well no, the renaming was done, but now we had to kill and eat another hog which I found out had been done while we were sleeping…the feast started as soon as it was almost dark and lasted until the last person turned out the lights and crawled home.
Getting married is rough enough if it a plain old boring American wedding, being at a wedding of these people who were thousands of miles from their roots well it was a really wonderful thing, And it made them feel like this land was now their home, which I found out it was because they were all moving here in a few days, Jody said we would have much need for them in the times to come and god knows how right he was to be,
Me I didn’t care, I had Sin….er…Jade now and …..well for as long as we have together, I had learned the hard way that it’s all about the right now, here this minute, because in the next minute it could all be gone, so from this moment I would live each and every hour of every day as if it might be the last, with love and joy for the time we have.
By the next day things were getting back to normal, Jade and I cooked breakfast together for Jody and Song, who’s name didn’t change it seems.
After we had eaten we talked about the progress being made on the Mall and the other projects, Jody talked to me about going ahead with earth bagging the green houses but that for the rest of the barns and other buildings he wanted to change the plan to what looked like the old Quonset buildings , half round shells of metal, with earth covering them 3 ft deep and earth berm’s shielding the front and back ends where big heavy doors opened like garage doors only bigger, with room to drive around them and into the barns, I could see where this was going and agreed at once, also the job would be much faster.
I asked about the Clan as we came to call them, Jody said most , not all would be coming to the ranch to live, mostly the older ones who remembered their old way of life and they wanted to live in the forest around the ranch and use native materials to build their homes.
I said hell lets build them houses but Song said this was what they wanted so it looked like we would have a tribe of people living as they had for a thousand years right inside the woods.
I asked about food and he said they would grow gardens as always, and the men would hunt the forest as always, and seeing as they dearly loved their pork and seeing as Texas only had about 4 million hogs running wild and breeding faster then they could be killed it was a win - win for all concerned, but I also had come to know my new father in law and brother in law well enough to know there was more to this then I knew, but I would be told when I needed to know.
So life on the ranch moved along and the work was going fast, I was happy, Jade was happy, what more could a man ask for? Life is good!
A week later I was at the mall just watching the work going on, John asked me to go for coffee so we headed down the road to the Early Bird, there was a goodly bunch in the place and all gave big howdy’s and smiles, John was a regular now and several called out to him and bantered back and forth.
Miss Ellie asked if we’d like Pie with our coffee and of course we did, I also asked her to bring an extra piece and another cup of coffee, she did look at me sorta funny but I was learning real fast, well sir, I was into my second bite when the door flew open and , you got it, the bottomless pit flew thru the door to a loud course of laughter from the locals who were used to this by now, but this time I was ready, her pie and coffee was waiting, she never even slowed down, just kissed me and started eating, I heard the door open and turned to look and when I turned back my pie was going away as fast as hers did, John just sat there and then slid his half a piece of pie over to her, she rewarded him with a smile and dove into it, well half the country side was watching this and seemed to be enjoying it, at last she was done, drank her coffee , finished mine and was looking at Johns when he grabbed it and said MINE!! With a laugh and a kiss she was up and out the door.
John and I sat there silent until he said; you’re out gunned ya know right? I sighed and nodded at him; he just shook his head and then smiled a big one and said does she have a sister? Now that was scary!! I wasn’t sure about the tribal customs they had but I damn sure couldn’t afford to feed another one like her…
A week later and the concrete was poured at the mall, basements and then the exterior walls, all were 12” thick with narrow windows all around, but using Solar tubes there would be plenty of light, the narrow windows were strange looking to most folks but obvious as hell to some of us, they let in light but also were almost too narrow to let a normal sized person in.
Things were going along as planned and seemed to be ahead of time, with John riding herd on the builders at the mall and the other jobs being as well managed there wasn’t a lot for me to do, so I was very receptive to Jody’s request that Jade and I head back to Dallas and check on the prefabs, I suspected it was really just a chance for Jade and I to have a honey moon and we were packed and rolling within a couple of hours.
While driving to Dallas I got around to asking Jade about the wedding and what all it was about.
She said “ when the Elder spoke the first time it was to introduce both of us to the other Clan people, then when we were moved to the others former side of the fire, and he spoke again and the people responded, he was asking if the clans were willing to accept the person standing in front of them into their clan, Jody acted as my Father giving me permission to go to your clan, John did the same for you, so we each became members of the others clan.
It’s much more then you and I being married, we married each others clan, and the two clans are now joined thru us, does it make sense?”
I guess I could see where that was important, in a harsh area it makes both clans stronger and reduces the chance of a war between clans, she said” yes that’s it, right on the nail head, two become stronger as one.
I had the flash that maybe these “Primitive” people had the jump on the more supposedly civilized folks of the world, She went on to say that when the Elder had spoken out to the night, he was asking the spirits if they had any objections to our union, I said well thank god they didn’t, which got me a smile.
The Name changing thing was because she had become a “Woman” in the eyes of the clans and left her child’s name behind, and as the husband it was up to me to decide what my wife should be called. I kind of liked that idea.
After things had settled down on the third day, Jade and I had our own private ceremony where we placed the rings on each other and made a vow to each other.
All in all my life had changed for the very best the day I met Jody, and I knew that over time we would only become closer friends. I hoped Song and I would have the chance to become more then brother in laws as time passed, he had left quietly on the early morning of the third day, we saw him off with the hopes of seeing him soon.
Jade had gotten us the same room where we had come together as a couple which
was very nice and the big tub was just as nice if not better then the first visit, dinner and bedtime. Married is nice!
With the morning we headed out to see Bob and Sally Grant, the place was jumping as usual, Bob was very glad to see us and called Sally to join us, we headed out to the plant where we saw the first of the buildings we had ordered, after walking through it we were very happy we had come here to do our business.
After the tour Sally asked us to join them for lunch and led us thru the building and into another part which turned out to be their home!
It was built just like our buildings and was very well appointed, Sally and Jade went to the kitchen and Bob and I sat out on the deck under some nice shade trees.
He sat for a bit and then asked if we would mind if the first unit was delivered next week as soon as the slab had time to cure and if he and Sally could come along and see just how things were going to go .
I had no problems with it at all but did realize that Bob and Sally were not dummies and it wouldn’t take long for them to start to wonder just what was going on at the ranch, I told him that I’d clear it with Jody but I saw no problems with it except we were strapped for room but that Jades room was now empty, bob smiled and said, yea I noticed the rings! Congratulations! And shook my hand.
Just then Sally and Jade came in loaded with treys of food, after sitting down Sally told Bob they we had gotten married since we had met them, she also said she would have bet we would from the looks Jade had tossed my way, she was surprised at the name change but loved it.
I mentioned to Jade that they wanted to come out for the first building set up, she thought it was a wonderful idea and then said the same thing I had, talk to Jody and get back and they could stay in her former room, I had to smile because it was like she had heard the conversation already…I’d never try to hide a thing from her!
We spent several days in and around the DFW area, went out to dinner with Bob and Sally, who were becoming friends,
Bob and I spent an afternoon shooting sporting clays, I borrowed a gun from him and really had a good time, so much so that I decided to mention the idea of building a nice shooting range in the home area if not right on the ranch, with rifle, handgun and trap and sporting clays, I felt it would make enough to pay for it’s self, couldn’t ask for more then that.
The ladies had fun shopping but I noticed neither really bought much of anything, when asked about It, Sally said, Bob and I have a dream to make enough money thru hard work to buy some land and build us a nice place away from the city and all the bad stuff that comes and will come with it, well that sounded a small alarm in my head, and I saw Jade smiling her small HMMMM smile she gets when a thought was grinding away.
I asked where they had in mind and Bob said” well one of the reasons we want to come over with the crew is so we can look over your area, we both really love the eastern part of the state” Sally spoke up with “yes and Jade and I are going to be great friends and I want to be close enough to be able to visit back and forth once in a while.
I asked her, while looking at Bob what she thought was going to happen in the DFW area that they would want to be elsewhere? He got a look of discomfort and she kind of stuttered a bit, neither seemed to know what to say, so I took the bull by the horns and said well Jade and I believe that there are some very bad times coming and that if a person is smart they will start finding a hole to jump into with plenty of beans and bullets.
The ice as they say broke, in only a few minutes we were all talking at once and the two of them were telling us how they had been working their butts off to get the money to build a hole in the ground and that they were just about there and that the contract from us had about done it for them, not enough to retire but enough to prep a retreat and get a real solid special purpose “BOV” Jade beat me to asking what he meant, so he explained that in some of the survival forums they both read there was a lot of chatter about special built vehicles made to get you out of a bad spot and to safety, I asked if he meant like bullet proof glass etc, he said no not really, it’s an idea but the costs are way to much for the every day people,
They had more in mind a big heavy 4x4 with maybe steel plates inside the doors and other goodies like that, run flat tires, self sealing radiators, glass that was stronger then normal and more shatter proof, none of which I had heard of or thought of, we hashed that over while the girls went off on a mission, when they called us it was to have something to eat, there was several different veggies and meat, and all was very good but different, Sally then told me it was all home canned from their garden and the deer and fish that Bob and she had shot and caught… it was outstanding, I will admit I made a pig of myself, followed only by a little bit by my darling wife, I could tell Sally was still shocked by that girls ability to put away chow! Bob asked me if I had trouble keeping her fed, and she smiled and said oh no, I always manage to get enough , as she stabbed a nice chunk of deer meat off his palate, setting off a roar of laughter around the table, they had watched her helping here self to my food but hadn’t seen her attacking others…
After talking half the night away we headed to the Hotel after telling Bob and Sally we were looking forward to hosting them at the ranch, after a late brunch the next morning we headed home, it had been a great time, we had made some good friends and both felt that after Jody met them there might be a place for them in our plans.
It was closer to two weeks before the slabs were poured for the prefabs, and on the 14 day of our return from Dallas the trucks rolled into the ranch with the Dorms on them.
Bob and Sally led the way in thru the new zig - zag road which was well packed from all the cement trucks running in and out.
We all met together at the slabs where the unloading and rebuilding would take place. The crew didn’t slow down for a minute, there was 3 trucks with 2 men in each, all swarmed over the trucks, one truck had a forklift piggy backed on it, It was very obvious that these men knew what they were doing.
With Bob and Sally in tow we headed to the house for some ice tea, more tea and sandwiches were taken out to the workers, by a member of the new house staff that we had acquired while Jade and I were playing in Dallas.
Jody had hired some of the Clan women who wanted to work outside the village, most were younger women who had been raised in America and while willing to live in their native dwellings wanted to work where there was something more then chasing the chicken for dinner.
The two who took the food out to the workers cause a bit of a stir, although all of them had seen Jade at the factory this was their first real close up look at these tattooed beautiful ladies, they were very interested and Bob commented that he might loose some good workers if they decided to hire out to the ranch, which was an interesting thought.
While the work went on we talked more about what Bob and Sally had in mind in regards to getting out of the city, after we had talked about all the things we thought might happen and things that were in fact going on right now, both here and abroad and some of the things we thought would be needed to counter the troubles we all headed out to get a closer look at the work.
I had never seen a prefab go up and it was really a learning experience, in just a few hours the exterior walls were up and the interior walls were being placed and bolted together and a gun with a cartridge that fired a concrete nail thru the bottom of the wall into the concrete slab, really nailing the walls into place.
My old house was now a bunk house for the work crews that might need to remain over night, bunk beds were installed and TV set and a pair of computers rounded out the entertainment for the guys, with their meals at Miss Ellie’s on the ranch tab. Without thinking I said that the 6 of them couldn’t run up the tab any more then Jade alone could, sore ribs and a promise to be good I decided a body armor vest might be smart, damn girl can hit, but the hug and kiss afterwards made up for it.
After the crew headed into town for the night we all sat on the porch and drank ice tea and talked a b
it about how well the work was coming, Then Jody broached the subject again of the coming bad times, Bob and Sally were both well versed in most of the things Jody brought up and showed very good knowledge of the subject.
Jody asked them what they had planed as far as a place and what kind of place for their retreat, It mostly boiled down to what we were doing on a much smaller scale, also it would be a while before they could do it due to business slowing down due to the state of the financial mess the congress had created. But they had decided to go ahead with their plan to look around in this general area for a place.
After dinner and more talk we all settled down for the night with the plan that Jade and I might ride with the Grants in their quest.
It wasn’t to be, as I was awakened by my cell phone with a call from Jody asking me to go with him for an inspection of the work going on to prep the river bank land for the berries and brambles, so I slipped out of bed and got dressed and quietly met him upstairs.
After driving along the road that was being made from the equipment readying the ground and looking it over I asked Jody what we were really doing out here, he laughed and said “ can’t fool you for a minute huh” no answer was needed for that, He drove on a bit then pulled over and turned in the seat and asked what I really thought of the Grants, I told him I liked them, a lot, that Jade did also, and I hoped we could all stay in touch in the future after the job was done.
