by Geo Dell
“Okay, let's go,” Mike said. He walked over to the truck he and Ronnie were driving, got into the passenger side and Ronnie pulled around the other trucks to lead the way.
The Nation
“There are two ways you can do it,” Bob said. He held an ear of corn in his hand by the stalk with the ear pointing away from him. He held a curved knife in his hand. He took the knife and ran it down the length of the cob: A slab of corn fell away and into the bin. He rotated the cob twice more and he was finished. “That's one,” he said.
“The second way is to let the machine do the work.” He fed a cob into a screw like apparatus that he, Tim and Tom had worked out. It had four blades mounted at angles. The cobs rotated up against the blades and were peeled like a potato.
He picked up half a dozen ears of corn and slid them down the chute that fed the machine. “If you keep this chute full the machine will do the rest.” The machine grabbed each ear, stripped it, and then dropped the cob into a large basket that would eventually be dumped and taken to mix in with the silage or fed to the pigs as it was.
They were in the second day of harvesting the field corn. They had about a quarter of a field to go. At the rate they were going they would be done sometime this afternoon. When they had planted this same field they had figured at least four days to harvest it with the labor they had available at that time, Candace recalled. She and Jan had talked about how many newcomers that there might now be in the Nation this morning. It was something that Candace had not given much thought to either. She, like everybody else, had assumed that someone, probably Janet, was keeping track of it. She had an idea that Janet's conservative number of about two hundred was way short of the real number.
Jamie, one of the women who had come in a few months earlier had been siting with them this morning as they had discussed it and she had volunteered to get the number for them. Candace wondered now how well she was doing, and what the real number might be.
Candace, Patty and Lilly had grown bored with all the inactivity, so they had switched jobs with Janet, Roberta and Bonny. They had been equally bored with stripping corn from the cob and had jumped at the opportunity to prepare meals and watch the action from the sidelines.
The children were all sleeping: Since they were harvesting there was no school. They were in between meals, so there was not a lot for them to do. The day was hot, clear and sunny. All the hints they had seen of winter on the way were nowhere in evidence today. The sky was an endless bowl of light blue, not a cloud in sight. Both dogs had found a shaded spot under a wagon and were lazing around watching the insects lift into the sky from the field as the people made their way through it. Two of the children had crawled under with them and fallen asleep curled up with them.
The smell of wood-smoke was on the air, and heat shimmers rose from the large concrete pad between the two barns farther down the valley. The sweet smell of corn roasting filled the air along with the smokey smell of wood fire. Craig and Tom kept the heaps of corn turned and spread evenly on the pad. They were both bare to the waist. The humidity next to the slab causing them to sweat freely.
They both wore heavy rubber soled boots, but the heat could still be felt through the soles of the thick boots. The fires were still nothing more than coal beds. An occasional fresh log kept the coals replenished.
About six hours on the concrete and the corn was dry enough to go into storage. They kept one wagon in constant use taking corn to storage and bringing more corn to dry. A large chest sat nearby filled with cold water from the creek.
Farther down the valley, a herd of horses grazed near the stream. The large teams they used for work were stabled in one of the barns, and had their own fenced area to graze. The rest of the herds were turned loose to graze during the daylight hours. They made their way back to the barn at evening. Instead of individual stalls, one end of the barn was a large open area. The dirt floor was kept clean and fresh hay was put down daily. The horses bedded down in that area each night once the evening came on and the doors were then closed for the night. They had plans to build stalls before fall settled in hard, and cull out some horses for riding. It would have to wait until the harvests were finished and the chores were lessened so there was free time to do it.
Down the valley farther still, the cows grazed along with the Bison. They grazed the end of the valley and around into the El that began the second valley. There were a half dozen Moose mixed in that seemed to think they were cows. Two huge moose bulls had found their way into the meat supply after they had refused to leave the cows alone. Running them all day, which had hurt their milk production. Between the two huge bulls they had smoked more than two thousand pounds of meat, and they had eaten Moose burgers, Moose steaks and Moose stew until everyone was sick of it.
The deer made their home down past the El in the second valley. A small forest of mixed hardwoods grew right up to the steep rock walls of the valley. The deer seemed to prefer the shelter of those trees, and the succulent leaves and grasses that grew there. Even so they would make their way back down through the valley and return to their own barn each night.
Candace placed the last three ears of corn into the chute that fed the machine and watched as they fell into line. Lilly reached for another ear to core by hand and realized they were finished.
“I would have fallen asleep if I had stayed out there,” Lilly said to no one in particular.
“Me too,” Candace said.
“Yeah, but now we all smell like corn. My hands are sticky with corn juice. I have corn silk all over me,” Patty said.
“Bitch, bitch, bitch,” Candace said laughing.
Patty grinned. “It's a trip to the locker room,” she said.
“Yeah,” Lilly agreed.
“Ditto,” Candace added.
The locker room was what they called the area where the women took their showers or bathed. There was a very small waterfall, only about nine feet high before it crashed into the water. The air was always misty because of it. It made a perfect shower, and the mist had reminded Arlene of the steam in the showers when she had been in high school. She had coined it the locker room and the name had stuck.
Candace reached over and flipped the switch on the machine, another one of Tim's creations that seemed to work well. As she shut the machine off, Bob popped his head through the door. Annie with him.
“It's off, we're done,” Candace told them.
“I am so jealous,” Annie said. She turned sideways to showcase the small bump that seemed much larger than it really was on her small frame, running her hand across her stomach. Candace turned sideways and Lilly and Patty followed suit. “God,” Annie said. The four of them laughed as Bob looked on puzzled. He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
“Let me kill the Gennie too,” he said as he moved off into the barn.
“You are so big,” Annie said. She ran her hand over the smooth hardness of Candace's stomach and the baby kicked. Annie's eyes misted instantly. “I can't wait,” she said.
“Oh, honey, you can,” Candace told her. “Just wait until it kicks you in the Kidneys once or twice.”
“Yeah,” Lilly sighed, “Or the bladder and makes you pee yourself.”
Bob came from the gloom of the huge barn at exactly the same time. His face instantly colored. All four women broke out in laughter. Patty managed to get herself under control first.
“You need us for anything else, Bob?” she asked.
Bob grinned, relieved. “Nope,” he said. “I believe all the other ladies are heading in that direction as well,” he said, guessing where they might be going. “Janet has the kids, so go relax. And thanks for the help too,” he told them.
On The Road
They stopped in the early afternoon as they reached the end of the reforestation project and rolled out into the first long valley. They unloaded the sheep to let them graze, and everyone piled out to stretch their legs.
“It's about thirty miles from here,” Mike s
aid in answer to Beth Jefferies question. “We'll stop here for the night, rest up and we'll be at our valley mid morning tomorrow,” he finished.
“What's it like,” she asked. She brushed her white-blond hair away from her eyes and smiled as she did.
“Probably like nothing you have ever seen, Beth. We have a big cave, it goes deep into the mountain. So deep we haven't found the ends of some passages yet, unless they've done more exploring since we've been gone.”
“We closed it off at the front with stone from the mountain. A wall to close the huge main room off from the elements. There is also a huge overhang and we built a wall to close that area off too. We built huge sheets of acrylic into the front, so we still have the light. It's nice. Really, there is enough room in the cave for all of us... Well, that depends how many more people have come. The new people always stay there the first little while... Or pitch tents somewhere in the valley, but with winter coming, the cave will be the place for anyone who hasn't built a place.”
“We have places built in the valley too. Stone houses, it's the easiest building material to find; wood, even steel buildings for the barns that we trucked in, in pieces, but we all lived in the cave for the first few months, and some still do.”
“Besides the houses and the barns, we have crops planted... We have cows, horses, bison, deer, chickens... I'm forgetting some I'm sure... Pigs... Beefalos, a cross between the bison and the cows... We even have some moose that followed us in and stayed,” he laughed. “They believe they are cows... They really do. Bob was thinking of trying to make cheese from deer milk... Probably has by now. We have meat, butter, cheese... There really isn't anything that we have to leave the valley for except the stuff we can't make ourselves... Vehicles... Wiring... Generators, computers... The list could go on and on.”
“Do you ride the horses,” she asked.
“Some,” Mike said. “There are different types of horses.... We collected them in... Tennessee, Kentucky. Some are thoroughbreds, Bob says pretty much worthless for what we want, but those horses should make good riding horses. It's one of those things that someone will take over and get done... Right now we have maybe a half dozen we use as draft horses. Huge. Strong. Oxen too. I know about ten things about horses then I'm just guessing.” He laughed. “There are some gentle enough to ride.”
That seemed to satisfy the young girl. She thanked Mike and wandered over by the sheep: A dreamy smile on her face.
Steve Choi came over with a cup of coffee and dropped to the ground next to Mike. He was a likable, easy going young man with thick, black hair and steel rimmed glasses that might or might not be real gold. He looked like a doctor, Mike thought.
“Steve... How's he doing,” Mike asked.
He was Joe Stevens. It had been his sister Lisa that they had found by the burned SUV, and he had taken it hard. They had still had her body wrapped in blankets in the back of one of the pickups. They had buried her in the campground. Joe had dug a deep hole in the early hours of the morning after they had got back. She had been buried with no words before the sun had even come up. Joe had taken the whole thing very hard.
“Still feels responsible, if he'd only gone with her... Talked her out of it... You know, I'm sure,” Steve said.
Mike nodded. “It's easy to blame yourself after the fact. Do you think, well, do you think he'll be alright?” Mike asked. He knew he had asked as a direct result of what had happened with Molly and Nell. He found himself thinking longer about decisions he made when it came to individual people. Or maybe it was no longer assuming that he knew someone. Better to take more time. Ask more questions.
“I believe so, Mike... Believe me,” he lowered his voice. “I heard about your situation... I am watching him carefully. I don't want to lose him.” Steve blushed a little. He wasn't used to being so open about himself. Here it seemed perfectly normal. In the old world it could end a young doctors career.
“I checked on Jessie,” he said after a brief pause. “Her leg is looking really good... So... You think we'll be there tomorrow morning,” he asked.
Mike nodded. “Yeah. Early to mid-morning... What's on your mind, Steve?” Mike asked.
“I guess I'm trying to figure out what it will be like... To be me... With Joe... I've never done much with my hands,” he said.
“Ah... Listen, Steve. The way I am? We're all like that. You won't even get a second glance from anyone. And, as for your skills?” Mike laughed. “We are lucky enough to have a very skilled nurse and a veterinary assistant, but, what you know? It's golden. If you stayed you would end up with more work that you could handle, most likely. You'll be a doctor. You'll have to work to get free time, I would imagine. Even if Jess stays, we're coming back with fifteen new people. There are twenty-three of us here and somewhere south of a hundred there,” he thought a moment. “At least, maybe closer to a hundred and fifty. We sent back some others a few weeks back... Bear's woman, Cammy... Some others of his people.”
“And the babies are going to start coming... A doctor would be very helpful. My Candace, Ronnie’s woman... There are at least a dozen I can think of right off hand that will deliver this fall or winter. Believe me, Steve, you won't be sitting around looking for things to do, or expected to know how to milk a cow.” Mike laughed at the expression that crossed Steve's face.
“I have no idea how to do that... I mean,” he laughed himself. “I guess I was a little concerned... What's the nurse like?”
“Sandy... She's a good woman. Her woman is Susan. Sandy has been teaching her. They work together. They've been studying herbs, and medicinal plants. The two of them work with Shar, Sharon... She's a veterinarian assistant, or was, but she spends most of her time helping them. Runs herself ragged trying to do both things. She's also teaching a young woman about animal husbandry. So she has her hands full. Having you there would free her up I expect.”
“Sandy and Susan?” Steve raised his eyebrows.
Mike nodded. “Yep. Like I said, you don't have to worry about that. No one will even raise an eyebrow... Religion? ... Sex? ... All the stuff that everyone always seemed so willing to stick their noses into? Gone. Done. No one cares. Your life is your business and that's that.”
The Nation
Candace was drying her hair when she saw Arlene come around the corner of the ledge carrying a radio in her hand. Her heart leaped in her chest and seemed to skip a beat. The babies protested with a couple of quick kicks. 'Don't be silly,' she told herself. 'It's too soon.'
Nevertheless, Arlene stopped in front of her. A small smile on her face, but hint of sadness resting in her eyes. In fact, Candace noticed, it looked as though she had been crying. Her heart staggered again.
“It's Mike,” Arlene told her.
“You okay, Arlene?” Candace asked.
“I'll let Mike tell you, Honey.” She put one hand to her mouth as she handed the radio to Candace.
~
They talked for over an hour and Candace wept freely. It sounded to her as though Mike came very close to crying himself. Probably he had already dealt with what he had to, but it was too fresh for her to handle.
Patty sat not ten feet away talking quietly to Ronnie. Her face was a careful mask. Sadness written there, but she did not cry.
Somewhere else, other conversations were taking place. Bear and Cammy, Tim and Annie, others. Bob stood nearby. He had talked to Mike first and then he had talked to Janet. They would talk to the people once Candace and Patty were done talking.
“I love you, Baby... Promise,” Candace said now. “Okay... Okay... I'll see you there, Baby. Yes... Yes... I'll be fine. Pats will take care of me.” She looked over at Patty whose eyes had raised to he own. “We'll take care of each other,” she amended as she saw the first gleam of tears in Patty's eyes. “She'll take care of me... She always does. We'll both be fine... I love you... I do... Okay... See you then... Bye... Bye... See you then.” She clicked off the radio and lowered it to the floor still clutched in her hand.
She took a deep breath and looked over at Patty.
Patty talked for a few moments longer. “I love you... I do... I miss you... See you then... Bye, Honey.” She clicked off the radio; looked over at Candace and burst into tears. Candace got up and went to her. She held her, stroked her hair; told her she loved her and that it was all going to be alright. The same things, she told herself, that Pats always says to me.
“Usually I'm the baby,” she told Patty. “Usually I fall apart.”
Patty burrowed her face into Candace’s breast and cried. She was shocked at how much the news of Molly and Nellie's death had affected her, but she suspected it also had to do with hearing Ronnie's voice. With knowing it could have been Ronnie who had been shot. It could have been anyone, but it could have been Ronnie. And that made her feel guilty that she didn't care enough about Molly and Nellie. That she only cared about her man. And that wasn't true, but it did her no good to tell herself it wasn't true. But what if it had been Ronnie? And Molly had been carrying Ronnie's baby. How did that make him feel? How did she feel about that? It was too much. She couldn't stop the tears.
Candace held her and stroked her hair as she cried it out of her.
~
Janet bought them coffee a short while later.
“Sandy says that you can both have a couple of Aspirin if you need it,” she told them.
Patty sat up straighter, smoothed her clothes and her hair and dabbed at her puffy eyes. “Thank you, Jan,” Patty said as she took the coffee. “I'll skip the aspirin though.”
Candace took the offered coffee as well. “I'll skip the aspirin also,” she said quietly. She looked up at Jan. “Who else knows?”
“Just us. You two... Bob and I. Lilly and Arlene... Annie. I imagine that Cammy and Beth know too... They both talked to...” She looked up at the ceiling. “Bear... Bear is his name,” Janet told her. “I haven't told Sandy. Susan... Shar... Cindy...” She looked at Candace.
“What are we going to say about Molly,” Arlene asked. She had walked up and joined them.
