I winked at her. “Later.”
We went to Danny’s house. Miss Kay would be very important for what I had planned. Bobbie was sitting on the porch while Jace and Edie played in the yard with the dogs. Little Bit bailed out to join them and took off. Lee Ann and Taylor said they were going to go find Fred and Jess. I know Taylor was ready to do something, anything, after being cooped up for so long.
Walking up to the porch, I asked if Kay were inside. Bobbie nodded, “Yep, she’s in there.”
I went in and sat down at the bar as Kay puttered around the kitchen. “Kay, I have an idea for something and was wondering if you could make it.”
She leaned over the counter and asked, “What is it?”
“We’re going to have a party in town Saturday. There’s going to be a band and lights, and I wanted to have some food.”
“It wouldn’t be a party without food. What were you thinking?”
I smiled and leaned in closer to her. “Pizza.”
Kay laughed and exclaimed. “Pizza! How in the world can we make pizza?”
Mel was beside me and looked at me like I was crazy. “Pizza?”
“Well, we have flour, so we can make the crust. We have sausage we can put on it. And Gina has a lot of tomatoes. I was wondering if you could make sauce out of it.”
“Sure we could make sauce. That’s easy.” I could tell she was starting to think. “You know, we took all the spices from the houses around here and have plenty of seasonings. We could make the sauce easily. But what about cheese?”
I pointed to the farmer’s cheese hanging in a cheese cloth from a knob on one of the cabinets. “We could put chunks of that on, like fresh mozzarella.”
Kay looked at the cheese. “We’ll need more cheese.”
“I’ll get it.”
Kay looked at Mel. “You ready to start making sauce?”
She nodded. “Yep!”
“Gina is coming over tomorrow. She’s bringing what we need to make the sauce and other things for toppings.”
“This will be so cool. Can you imagine a pizza party?” Mel asked.
Holding a finger over my lips, I said, “Don’t tell the girls. Let’s surprise them.”
Mel clapped her hands together and rubbed them. “Oh yeah. They’ll be so excited.”
“Morgan, how many pizzas do we need to make?”
I shrugged. “As many as we can.”
“Let’s see how much sauce we can make.”
The next day was hectic. Gina came over, and she, along with Mel, Bobbie, Kay and Mary, kept the kitchen a hive of activity. I, along with all the guys, was shooed out. It was made pretty clear to me that we weren’t welcome, and to find someplace else to be. Sarge was sitting on the porch in a rocking chair drinking coffee. He laughed as we were all kicked out of the house one at a time.
“I told you boys not to go in there,” he cackled.
Dalton passed through early that morning and disappeared again after breakfast. From the sounds of things, he was back to work at his forge as rhythmic hammering filled the air for most of the day. But I still needed to get the cheese, and jumped in the truck for a short ride to town. Since Little Bit was busy with the kids, I left her to play. Lee Ann and Taylor were off someplace as well, I had time to myself.
On the way out of the neighborhood, I passed Ian and Jamie. They were walking together in the direction of Danny’s. I pulled up beside them and stopped. “How are you feeling, Jamie?”
“Good. I wanted to go on the raid, but I guess it was best I didn’t. I’ll be back up to speed in a couple of days I think.”
I winked at Ian. “You two have fun. Have her home before dark.” They both replied with the finger and I laughed as I drove off. But it brought a smile to my face. Two people hooking up was a good thing in my opinion.
The night before I’d gone through our arms stash at Danny’s and found a crap load of shotgun shells. I grabbed a couple boxes and mixed them up. Giving him number six, eight and some 00 and number four buck. I thought it would make for a good trade considering the value of ammo today. They certainly weren’t making as much as they used to.
Wheeling into the market, I pulled up to the milkman’s booth and got out. He smiled and waved, then gave me the fish eye. “You bring me some shells?”
I reached in and grabbed the two boxes and set them on his table. “There’s a mixed lot in here.” I said as he opened them and looked the ammo over.
He said, “Oh, this’ll be just fine! I’m glad it’s mixed up and not just a bunch of seven and a halves.” He pulled a five gallon bucket out from under the table and set it down, wrenching the lid off. “This should be enough for you.”
It was over half full of creamy white cheese, and looked great. “Oh yeah. That’ll do just fine.” As he put the lid back on the bucket, I said, “Let folks know what we’re doing tomorrow evening. Tell folks to come to town for music and fun. I think everyone could use it.”
He nodded. “I’ll do that. Me and the missus will be there for sure.” He leaned in and squinted. “Be sure and save me a piece of the pie.”
Picking up the bucket, I said, “I will. Appreciate the trade as always.”
He waved. “Any time, friend. I like trading with you.”
With cheese in hand, I went back to the house. Danny’s porch was crowded with people. It looked as though everyone was there. Carrying the bucket of cheese up onto the porch, I was met with the wonderful smell of baking dough. I took the bucket into the kitchen and set it on the counter. Kay immediately came over, eager to inspect the product.
I pulled the lid off and she leaned her head over. “That looks wonderful. It’s going to be just like fresh mozzarella. Well, maybe not exactly, but close enough.”
“I don’t think anyone is going to care. I mean, it’s pizza!” Bobbie shouted.
Kay looked at Mel. “Alright ladies. Let’s get to cooking!”
Mel looked at me with a dripping-sweet smile. “That’s your cue to get the hell out of here.”
I grunted. “That’s all I am, huh? Just a beast of burden?”
“Strong back, weak mind.”
I pointed at her and looked down my nose. “I’ll remember that. I’ll remember.”
“Oh Morgan, you know we love you,” Gina said with a smile.
I left the ladies to their work and wandered out to the porch. Sarge was in a rocking chair with his coffee cup in his hand. He was watching the kids play in the yard, a slight grin on his face. I walked over to the end of the porch. Thad and Mary were in the garden as usual. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. It felt good.
We spent the day lounging around on the porch. There was no talk of the assault or anything dealing with fighting or trying to stay alive. We talked as though we were at any normal Saturday bar-b-que. Dylan was on the porch carving something. It looked like a small animal from what I could see so far.
“What’cha carving there, Dylan?” I asked.
He held it up to inspect his work. “It’s going to be a horse when I’m done.”
“Looks pretty good.”
He bobbed it up and down as though it were trotting. “It’s just a way to relax. Takes my mind off everything.”
The door opened and Mel came out. She was carrying a large tray that she set down on a small table between the rocking chairs. Sarge looked down and asked, “What’s this?”
“We thought it was a good idea to make sure it was edible before we tried to feed to it to the whole town.”
Mike, who was lying on the edge of the porch asleep, instantly bolted upright. “Food?” He looked around and saw the pizza. A big smile spread across his face as he reached for a piece.
Sarge whacked him on the knuckles with his now empty coffe
e cup. “Wait yer turn, snot nose.”
“Hey!” Mike barked. “Wait for who?”
The pie was cut into small squares. Sarge took a piece and sampled it. As he chewed, he began to smile and looked up at Mel. Giving her a thumbs up, he said, “That’s a damn fine pie, Mel. Give the ladies my compliments.”
We all grabbed a piece and quickly realized the old man was right. It was a good pie. But how could it not be? Fresh sauce, fresh toppings, it couldn’t help but he good. I could taste the basil, it mixed well with the tomato. Such a taste after so long was a real treat. We finished the pie, making sure everyone, including the kids, got a piece. But it was more of a tease than anything. Now we’d have to wait all day to get another sample.
Now that it was no longer a surprise for the girls, they helped with the preparation of the pizzas by folding boxes and putting the pies in. There were countless requests for more pizza. Knowing we could make it now, I saw it on the menu again in the near future. That is, as long as the flour holds out.
By four o’clock, the cooking was done. Everyone was relaxed after spending the entire day lazing about. There were stacks of pizza boxes ready to be loaded. It was time to get going, so everyone pitched in to load them into the MRAP sitting in Danny’s driveway. As the truck was being loaded, I went to find Dalton who had been absent all day; but the hammering let me know he was busy.
I found him at his forge. He was sitting on a stump holding a long blade. He looked up as I approached and held it aloft. “What do you think?”
It was a long thin thing that looked like it would serve well to hack the brush here in the Sunshine State. “Looks good.”
He inspected his work. “Just messing around.”
“We’re about to head to town. You coming?”
He stood up and picked up his shirt. Shaking it out, he said, “Hell yes!”
“The ladies have made pizza, a bunch of them.”
He looked at me surprised. “No shit? Pizza?”
I smiled. “Yeah. And it’s damn good too.”
Putting on the shirt, he shouted. “Lead on, lad and we shall sally forth!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him. By the time we got back to the house, everything was loaded and all were ready to go. Mel and the girls were waiting by the truck. Dalton hopped into the back as I got in. Looking at Mel and the girls, I asked, “You guys ready to go to town?”
The girls jumped with shouts of excitement. They all piled into the truck, and I pulled out behind the MRAP. Mike and Ted were in the buggies as well. With the addition of Gina and Dylan, we had quite the crowd. Even though we were going to a party and this was a happy occasion, everyone was armed. We traveled rather heavy with SAWs mounted to the tops of the two buggies.
As we rolled down the road, we passed many people walking towards town. There was a steady stream of folks headed out of Umatilla. Several ATVs passed us, and a few people on horseback. As we passed an old couple riding a small donkey, Dalton laughed. “Now there’s an animal I could ride!”
I laughed at the thought. “All you’d have to do is put your feet down and the thing could walk right out from under you.”
The girls all laughed at the statement and continued to laugh as Dalton told the story of the last time he rode a horse. He finished it with, “The last time I rode one, was the last time I’ll ride one!”
There was also an old truck rolling slowly down the road. The bed was like something from a movie about India or Indonesia. The bed was overloaded with people. Packed to capacity with standing room only. There were even smiling and waving faces sitting on top of the cab. I laughed at the sight as we passed it, and the girls all talked about it. It was quite the sight.
In Eustis, there were throngs of people walking down Bay Street towards the park. We slowed as we made our way through the crowd. Mel looked over at me and said, “I don’t think we have enough food for all these people.”
I nodded. “I didn’t think we’d made enough to feed everyone. When it runs out, it runs out.”
When we got to the park, the lawn in front of the band shell was crowded with people. There were chairs and blankets with families sprawled out on them. Children ran around playing. They were everywhere. The band was already on the stage, and I could hear a fiddle hard at work as I pulled up to a row of tables Shane and Sean had set up for us. There was a group of Guardsmen there waiting for us as well.
Shutting the truck down, Little Bit jumped out and looked at Mel expectantly. “Can I go play?”
Mel looked out across the park. There were uniformed Guardsmen wandering through the throngs. They were all over the park, just to make sure there were no issues. She looked at Little Bit. “Yes. But stay close and don’t leave the park for any reason.”
Little Bit smiled. “I won’t!” And she took off at a run to join in with the other kids.
Mike backed the MRAP up to the tables and everyone got out. Sarge looked around the park. After taking the crowd in, he looked at me. “You’re going to start a damn riot, Morgan.”
I shrugged. “I’m just trying to give a little something back to the community.”
Sarge looked at Mike. “You, Teddy, Doc and Ian keep people away from this truck.” He looked at the guys. “No one gets near this thing, understood?”
“Roger that, boss,” Ted said.
Ian and Doc nodded, and the guys spread out around it. Jamie was in her BDUs today, in full kit. She went with Ian as they took up a position on one side. I enjoyed seeing them together and remembered the day I told them they should knock boots and get it over with. She was so pissed, it made me laugh just thinking about it. But now they seemed inseparable. It was good.
Looking at Sarge, I said, “I’m going up to the stage. I’ll make an announcement about the food and ask folks to line up.”
Sarge shook his head. “This is going to turn into a cluster fuck.”
“You just don’t trust people do you?”
Sarge snorted. “Hell no! I know people! Shit, I am one. I know what they’re capable of.” He wagged a finger at me. “Never underestimate the power of idiots in large numbers. And this is a damn idiot convention!”
I shook my head and turned to head for the stage. Mel took my hand and walked with me. “Didn’t know you were coming with me,” I said.
“Oh, I’m not going up on that stage!” She said with a laugh.
“I didn’t think you were. But thanks for coming with me.”
We made our way to the stage. The sun was starting to go down and the lights in the trees came on. The crowd acknowledged it with a round of applause. A generator had been set up behind the band shell. It ran the lights and the sound equipment for the band. They’d brought in some old school amps and mics. I could tell by looking at it, the gear had seen some miles. But it sounded good.
As we approached the stage, they were in the middle of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”. The banjos were playing fast and furious. I stepped up on the stage and waited for the song to finish. From where I was standing, I could see the entire park. Kids were running, playing and laughing. Some adults were dancing. Everyone seemed genuinely happy. The lights added to the scene and made for a happy sight.
As the song finished, Mel looked at me. “You ready?”
I shrugged. “May as well be.” I leaned over and kissed her and walked out onto the stage.
Approaching one of the band members, I leaned in and whispered into his ear. He nodded and stepped up to the mic. “Howdy, folks. Are you enjoying the music?” There was a round of hoots and applause. “We got someone here that wants to say a few words.” He looked at me and motioned to the mic.
I stepped up and adjusted it. “Evening, everyone. Are we having a good time?” There was another round of applause and shouts. “Some of you know me, but for those that don�
��t, I’m Morgan Carter.”
From the crowd came several shouts. One above the others, “Sheriff Carter!” Followed by whistles and cat calls.
I laughed. “Yeah. I suppose. Anyway, I organized this for everyone tonight with the help of the guys from the police department. How about a round of applause for Shane, Sean and the guys that strung all these lights and set this up?” There was a loud round of applause, whistles and cat calls. I stepped to the side and swept my arm over the stage. “And let’s hear it for the band!” The crowd erupted once again as I continued. “These guys sound pretty good!” The park erupted even louder and the band members nodded their appreciation.
I motioned for them to quiet down, and after a moment, I was able to speak again. “We’ve all been through some tough times. Our world has changed, hasn’t it folks.” I could see heads nodding in agreement along with a couple of shouts. “But working together, we’re getting better. The park is full everyday of folks trading and bartering, things are starting to get done. But we’ve got more to do and the only way we can do it is to work together.” There were more nods and shouts. “Like the farm. With everyone working together out there, we’ve got nearly forty acres planted. That’s food for everyone!”
Again the crowd erupted. I gave them a minute to settle down before continuing. “To show our appreciation, and to make sure we had a real party, I arranged some food for tonight.” That really got the crowd going. Trying to shout above them, I said, “It isn’t much! But it is a bit of a treat.”
People were looking around and shouting, “What is it? Or, “Where is it!” The idea of food excited them.
“This will only work if everyone cooperates. We need to form an orderly line at the tables set up over there,” I pointed to where the tables were. “So line up for a slice of fresh pizza! But there’s only so much. We made as much as we could, but I’m sure it won’t be enough for everyone. So let’s line up orderly and we’ll do our best to hand it out.”
Avenging Home Page 30
