by T J Reeder
Kid talked to the scout teams coming in but it was slow because while she’s better than Sandy at it, she’s still not a native speaker. I finally said, “Fuck it” and took the mike. Speaking in the clear I told them where the town was and where we were more or less in relation to the town. Getting thru the town was going to be a problem but they said they had it covered… and I believed them.
A different voice came on and said, “John, can’t you take a vacation without getting your ass in a bind?” I could hear laughing in the background. These young Navajo weren’t as stoic as Charley, and god I so wish he was here. I was laughing when I answered; it felt so damn good talking to friends who were coming.
He came back and said, “Admit it, the girls started it, didn’t they?” Right then Sandy grabbed the mike from behind me and said, “Billy Horse, I know you and you’re gonna be seeing me in your nightmares.” He laughed and said, “Old Woman is my great aunt. She don’t scare me. Why would you?” Sandy was laughing and said, “Well, between us we can ruin your life.” With that we signed off. I was wondering how they had it covered.
Morning came and with it a renewed attack. They were using concentrated fire on the windows and doors keeping our heads down, and to a degree it was working. I laid well back from the loft door looking for muzzle flashes and got three of them, then moved to the cabin and found a place where I could look out from deeper in the room and off to the side. I was shooting on an oblique angle and got two of them that way. This could not keep up.
Night came and it was time to go out hunting again. I took Sandy with her bloop gun and the SAW again and the suppressed 10-22. We used the night viz glasses to scan the woods and were able to make out their fire way back in the trees. We also picked out a couple of guards who were smokers, their smokes flaring in the night glasses like a flare.
We decided to head for the smokers because they were ruining their night sight and seemed to be less on the ball. We took it real slow and got within just a few yards of them. Thru the glasses I could see they were star gazing and the cigarettes were ‘roll your owns’ and not tobacco. They were so stoned they never knew we were there. And now they never would. The 10-22 with sub sonic rounds is very quiet.
We crawled thru their position, got very close to the fire and saw a shitload of people there- way more than seemed possible. We quietly eased open the pack I carried, removed the two Claymores in it and eased even closer. We set them up side beside and angled away from each other to gain all the spread we could get, then we eased back unrolling the command detonation wire behind us as we went.
We got back to the edge of the woods and then even further. After wiring the clacker triggers to them I took both in my hands and said, “Do it.” Sandy fired a bloop round over their camp and the flare lit them up like daylight. They all jumped to their feet, I pumped the triggers three times and the blast was shattering,
We waited for a response from the other guards but when none came and the flare died down we were up and running. We made it almost back to the barn before anybody fired a shot and it was answered by May on her M-16 with the other Beta C drum. She chewed the edge of the woods to splinters where the shot came from.
Again morning came and with it a lot of renewed firing. I assumed they were up to something.
And they were. They came in a rush, spread out so we couldn’t use the SAW’s to maximum advantage, plus they were finally using some military skills; somebody had arrived that knew something. They were moving fast and in fire and maneuver style, some prone shooting, some up and running.
All we could do was try to hit the runners, or wait until the ones shooting jumped up to run- right at that moment they were standing still and much easier targets. But they were gaining the advantage, we couldn’t use mass firepower. We were in trouble.
Even as a kid I remember watching the old cowboy movies where at the last second the Cavalry came charging in and put the Indians on the run while saving the pretty lady. I also remember even then thinking, “Yeah, right!” So it was a complete surprise when out of nowhere a Hummer followed by a second one shot into the clearing and the gunners on the 60’s opened up on the unsuspecting bad guys.
The scouts had arrived. They were followed by something I never expected in a million years. Our chopper shot into view and started tearing up the enemy camp and tree line with the door guns!
And then another surprise that blew my mind completely- an airplane shot across the sky and men were falling out with chutes popping open. They were so low the chutes had hardly opened and they were on the ground. It took me a moment to realize the plane was our jumper plane. The jumpers were up and into the woods in seconds and it sounded like a war going on- hell, it was a war!
We stayed inside while the scouts mopped up and soon the chopper returned to land. The first person out was my Spirit Brother, Charley. I walked out to meet him, and we stood looking into each other’s eyes; he almost smiled and nodded. I said. “Fuck the stoic shit” ,grabbed him in a bear hug and pounded on his back. I freely admit I had tears running down my cheeks when I let him go. So much for stony-hearted warrior. The girls had followed me out and greeted Charley with hugs. Beth and Kid had the babies, which Charley took one at a time and looked into their eyes then nodded and smiled, really smiled. I just had to say, “Boy, I bet that hurt.” Sandy and May both punched me.
The shooting in the woods had stopped, so we went into the cabin and the girls got the coffee pots going. Charley and I sat on the porch and watched the scouts picking over the dead. Their weapons and ammo were all they would touch. I noticed they were cutting throats as they went. I remembered that from the battle in New Mexico. I still don’t understand it but accept it. But this time I didn’t have to join in.
Charley said when the word came in from the scout unit that Kid had reached, it took a bit to understand she was trying to say we had stumbled into a nest of cannibals and were in big trouble. Once they figured it out they went to work, balls to the walls.
I said we had to clean out the town before it was done, but Charley said it was being done as we spoke. A team of scouts was leading the Barttle brothers and their people in dealing with that problem. About that time we heard a vehicle coming and in rolled the Jeep!
Dirty as hell and heat still rising off the barrels, the girls were up and running and had poor Jim pinned against the Jeep. They were yelling about how they never had a chance to use the gun and here he was with their jeep after burning thru all their ammo. Poor Jim.
His brother was driving, and he slipped away and joined us on the porch with a cup handed to him by Kid. He sat down and said, “I told him it was a bad idea, but he was just dying to try it out.”
Jim wasn’t impressed with their antics and finally got their shirt fronts and dragged them to the porch where he took a seat and a cup from Kid.
They were still in his face so we just watched them till they run down. Charley said, “I’m hungry. Missed supper and breakfast” that ended the war for now. Jim was smiling and said it was worth it.
All in all it was hard to believe and yet it wasn’t. These were the best of the best- free thinkers and doers. They had, on the garbled words of a 13 year old girl, put together a strike force and moved hundreds of miles and arrived just in the nick of time. Ol’ John Wayne couldn’t have done it better. I was so impressed with the airborne thing. Charley had been working his young men along with Fox and JJ, who were the only ones who knew shit about jumping out of airplanes. Speaking of the devil and his shadow here came Fox and JJ, both were in cammies and were painted for war.
They dropped onto the porch and Fox sighed real big and said, “Y’all throw the best damn parties!” JJ don’t talk much but he was smiling.
Sandy, (who may be half an inch taller than JJ) said, “Hey half pint, did you have to put rocks in your pockets to make the chute go down instead of up?” JJ just smiled and said, “Nah, I went by your place and filled my pack with a bunch of those piece of shit 1911
’s y’all collect- they make good rocks!”
Neither of the girls were smiling, but they worry JJ about as much as a fly. They act like they hate each other, but they don’t. There is a mutual admiration for each other’s abilities as creatures of mayhem. I worry about them cooking up shit together- they are already bad enough as it is.
Beth and Kid had breakfast ready and were hauling plates out as fast as they could. Since we didn’t need to worry about re-supply they had cooked all the bacon and baked biscuits and made hotcakes, of course. JC and Sam were happily crawling from person to person getting fed, no eggs tho. I think they were disappointed.
The dead were left where they fell. The wolves probably wouldn’t touch them but nature would deal with them. They deserved nothing better. The gang from Timberline had brought our vehicles so we just loaded up the stock and rolled out of there after closing up the place for the next people needing a place to be.
When we arrived back in the town where it all started the Timberline crew had wrapped up their operation. There were no survivors and I didn’t ask, some things are best left alone. They had piled all the bodies in houses and as we rolled away they tossed in the matches. It went up with a ‘whoosh’!
I did remember to tell Jim that there was some of these scum in his town. He said when the word came in about the war going on they noticed right away that two of the newer members of the community went missing and this news explained it.
We paused to watch a nice little town burn to the ground, but who would ever want to live in it again? Jim’s people were pale-faced and several were still tossing their guts out when we arrived. they didn’t say, and again we didn’t ask. We had already witnessed these bastards’ work.
Beth came to me and wrapped me in her arms and said, “Johnny; please take me home. I’m vacationed out.” Even the girls agreed. So we loaded up and went home. It had been one hell of a few months. I was tired and crawled into the camper with the girls while one of the scouts drove the truck. I don’t remember falling asleep but I know I was wrapped in warm bodies. The last thing I think I remember was Kid saying, “Maybe next vacation we could go someplace exciting.” Damn kid.
A Troubled Land
Book 14
One of my most enjoyable times of my day is in the evening, standing at the point of the ridge where we live in our stone fortress (AKA: The Rock Pile) on said ridge.
The point is a ways further from the house and it’s very quiet this time of day- nobody’s hammering on anything, no saws going, the kids are all settled down from a day of really being kids; working, learning (which is the same thing here) playing or in general just living a semi wild and free life.
My point is that it’s quiet and I can usually count on not being disturbed, even the wildcats that inhabit the home respect my time here (as hard as that is to believe). Beth sometimes joins me, but her inner calm does nothing to disturb the moment as the sun begins to sink below the distant hills. So it was surprising when I heard footsteps approaching and then Kid stepped in front of me. I smiled because she has that same inner calm Beth has, but this time she was kind of excited and said, “Dad! Charley and Old Woman are coming!”
Well, that was good news. I hadn’t seen him for a while and I missed him. I told her, “Thanks” and went back to looking across the distance. She spoke up again. “John! Did you hear me?” Calling me John was reserved for times when she had something really important for me or I wasn’t paying enough attention. I told her I got it the first time, and that we would have a feast or something tomorrow when they got here. She replied with, “Dammit John! Turn around!” I did and there was Charley smiling at me and shaking his head. Old Woman was just walking thru the open door.
After greeting each other and thanking Kid, we wandered over to ‘the stump’ as it’s called. Kid ran for the house so as to miss nothing. She was a big fan of Old Woman. Charley and I sat watching the sun finish its journey to the other side of the world leaving us under a mostly full moon and a zillion stars. We still remained silent while Charley studied on what he had to say. Finally he said, “John, Old Woman wants to move and I wanted to talk to you about it.” Well, I was stunned; she had been there for more years than anybody could even guess. Hell, when the world’s lights were turned on she flipped the switch.
Shiprock without her was not even imaginable! I was also torn because my best friend would be moving, maybe even further away and we would be even longer between visits. I was quiet. Finally Charley asked if I thought it would be OK. I sighed and said, “Well, my brother, you have to do what she wants.” He smiled and said, “John; you are the slowest person I know.” I laughed even though I didn’t want to.
Finally Charley said, “So you think it would be OK?” I just looked at him and at last I saw the sparkle in his eyes and asked the real question. “Where does she want to move to?” He finally laughed out loud and said, “Here John, she wants to live here with all you white folks.” Well now I was really stunned but quickly said, “Oh, hell yes!” Then I asked, “But why?”
Charley sat a moment (as he will do when he thinks about his words), then he said, “Well, most of the people that lived around the trading post have moved on. Many are old and have gone to live with their families. The place is pretty empty and she loves it here with all the kids and the people living together like a tribe. It is lonely at the old place and she misses people and she loves you and your family and of course there are the babies.” Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather, but I was thrilled to say the least. I told him we could make room in the rock pile but he held up his hand and said, “No, she wants her own home but close to here”.
We headed into the house where we found the ladies passing around a bottle of wine that probably cost hundreds of dollars pre-event. All were laughing so much I figured there was an empty bottle in the trash can. Sandy and May were bouncing off the ceiling while Beth and Kid acted more like grownups. Old Woman was laughing at something Sandy was telling and I swear she looked 40 years younger! Charley was right, she needed this. And we needed them.
Kid made a small fire to take off the chill of the desert night and settled on the bearskin with the ‘littles’ while the grownups acted like kids. Charley and I got a cold beer and headed for the big leather chairs near the fire. JC spotted the beer and made a beeline for me, now we were heading for trouble! A very good baby doctor once told me that beer in very small quantities was good for babies, something about doing good things for their innards. So, if the kid wanted a sip of daddies beer then so be it. On the other hand ‘They’ would get on the fight about it. Beth just smiled and watched the fight. I think she agrees with me but lets them have their fun. JC got his sip and headed back to his sister who never wanted any of it after her first taste, which she spit out and threw a fit over. I think it gives JC a feeling of superiority. ‘They’ were distracted this time so I got away with it.
I could tell that Charley had other things on his mind but wasn’t going to talk here, so I grabbed us another beer and headed out to the fire pit we had built and got a fire going. It was really nice, the moon and stars, the fire and cold beer with my best friend. What could be better? I waited while he meditated about it and at last he coughed that little polite cough that says ‘I’m gonna speak if nobody else is’.
He opened with, “You remember William Horse Walks over in Wyoming right?” I assured him I did. He said he had a message from William that there was a big spot of trouble brewing back east and we might need to be aware of it. My first words were, “Shit! Didn’t we finish that mess last time?” Charley said that from what he understood from the cryptic message, it was bigger and worse and still in the east but wanting to move west. My first thought was fine. When it gets here we will stomp on it, but then I remembered all the good folks between us and whatever it was.
I asked Charley what he thought we should do and of course he wanted to head out there to see William and get it all first hand. I figured we co
uld do that and could use the new plane we stole to get it done. Of course Ralph would have to make that decision, since I know jack about planes.
We were joined by the girls who said Old Woman was being baby watch for the night, meaning the big bed was gonna be crowded, but I can deal with it. We just sat and sipped our beer until the fire burned down and called it a night. Charley took Kid’s room, she made a big pile of bedding on the rug and had a small fire and was reading. She smiled her happy smile and said good night.
Morning came and I was buried under a tangle of pieces and parts of women. How three smallish ladies could take up so much bed is beyond me but they do. It’s like they go to sleep and all their bones disappear and they flatten out like a cat. Getting loose was a battle but I made it; I was following the smell of coffee.
I got a cup and headed outside where Charley and Kid were working on her Navajo. She was doing pretty well and a light bulb went off in my deflated brain. I took a seat and just let them work at it, they were speaking so soft that it didn’t distract from the morning.
