A Dish Best Served Cold

by T J Reeder

  A long Lonely Road

  A Dish Best Served Cold

  Book nine

  By TJ Reeder

  Have you ever had a nightmare so bad you wanted to scream? A nightmare you can’t wake from? That won’t release it’s grip on your heart?

  That’s where I am, I see flashes of bad things, things that are breaking my heart but I can’t escape this fkn nightmare.

  I keep seeing the same scene as if on a video loop and it’s killing me.

  It’s a beautiful day and I decided to take a ride since we haven’t ridden since Vegas and that was just too long, Buck and his clan were starting to think retirement had come. So I broached the idea to the ladies and it was greeted with squeals of delight and hugs, which are a good thing!

  So after breakfast we headed for the box canyon we used for a corral where we found Buck, Rab and the “Horse with no name” waiting as if they knew, hell maybe they did, who knows, life is a mystery and always has been and who are we to solve it? Not me, I don’t care enough to care.

  After we had them saddled we stopped at the

  Cave as I call it and loaded the stuff we took as we would a BOB. Saddle guns, over night gear and some food and water. The plan was to just have a nice day trip but to be prepared to be out over night, common sense even if the world wasn’t in melt down.

  We spent the best part of the day just riding and looking and feeling the easing of tensions that being on a horse will bring. Riding is better then all the Prozac ever made. We stopped often just to look across the land which with the rains that came had turned green for a while, it was beautiful.

  We were hading back home and on a trail that cut off some miles when something spooked Buck causing him to toss his head and jerk to the left. The next thing I knew blood was flying off Bucks head and he was rearing up! As we went over my last sight was Beth falling off her horse, her chest covered with blood. Buck and I hit the ground and everything went black but I could hear gun fire as if thru a long dark tunnel then nothing.

  This dream was the cause of my breaking heart, and I couldn’t wake up. I thrashed and thought I was yelling for Beth but she never came. I called Sandy and May and heard them from afar, they too were in the long black tunnel and I couldn’t find them.

  I make a promise that if I can wake up I’ll never sleep again, silly huh? I felt hands grabbing at me in the dark and I was filled with fear.

  I tried to fight but I was being held down, I couldn’t move my arms, I had a lot of bad dreams after the war but never like this. At last I felt hands on my face and a wet cloth, thank god, somebody was trying to help me.

  I heard Sandy and May both saying “Wake up John!!” like they always do when I nap, and usually waking up involves bailing them out of their latest problem.

  I heard a mans voice, one I know, but I can’t place it. He’s telling me I need to wake up, well shit! Really dude? Like I’m stuck in the fkn black tunnel because I wanna be? I should wake up so I can slug the silly bastard!

  The voice calmly says. John, Beth is fine, Buck is fine, And John, The Baby is just fine. I sat up and fell back but my eyes were open, I could tell I was in a darkened room with just a bit of light.

  I looked at the man leaning over me and said “Hey Doc, how’s it hanging? I smiled and said what a fucked up nightmare! He smiled back and said John, what did I just say to you? I had to think for a moment and feeling very proud I repeated it to him, then I stopped smiling and said Doc? It wasn’t a nightmare was it?

  He said no John, you got a very bad concussion when Buck went over on you, lady luck was with all of you.

  Then his words hit me, Buck and Beth were ok? That means there weren’t ok before they got ok.

  Then his other words hit me.

  BABY? What baby? We didn’t have a baby! He looked at me and smiled and said well no shit you old fart, but congratulations John, in about six months you will have a baby. I was confused, where was I gonna get a baby? I saw the girls standing behind the Doc and held my arms up and they gently hugged me, not at all like the dog pile I was used to.

  I asked where Beth was and they pointed to the bed next to mine and there she was! All smiles and wrapped in bandages around her chest. I tried to jump up but the room got drunk and spun away. When it settled down I asked for food and water and then said ok, somebody tell me what the hells going on.

  Sandy spoke up first telling me that just as Buck spooked and turned a bit a rifle bullet passed thru his ear, missed me and hit Beth! I looked at her still smiling and reaching her hand out to me, I reached out and took it. I asked if she was really ok? She said yes but she needed a new pistol, I must have looked lost so Sandy opened a drawer by the bed and pulled out Beth’s STI 10 mm, the slide was bent and had a bullet sticking part way from it!. I looked at her and the doc spoke up saying the wounds were from the metal splatter from the impact, all shallow cuts that bled a lot. She has a big bruise but was ok otherwise.

  I asked the girls where we were getting a baby? They both lit up and made the Ta Da thing with their hands at Beth. Looking at her I said where are you getting a baby? She smiled the most beautiful smile and said “from the usual place John” I’m slow, even without a concussion I’m slow and it took a bit laying there looking at all three of my wives all radiant and happy looking.

  Then it hit me! My mouth fell open and I was making some kind of sounds that sounded like Ba BA Ba BA!!! All three nodded and smiled even bigger.

  I still had Beth’s hand and looked at her and asked the age old question… A baby? She nodded. You’re gonna have a baby? She nodded. How did that happen? They all laughed, even the Doc thought it was funny.

  I fell asleep or passed out for a bit, then my eyes popped open and I bellered “ A Baby? We are having a baby? When? Who’s is it? Beth was still smiling and said well John I guess it’s yours since you’re the only man I‘ve been with since my husband was killed, so yes love we are having a baby.

  Sandy and May were bouncing like balls, they looked like they were having the baby, but then of course in a way they were. I was too shocked to think.

  I’m too old to have a baby! How will I support a baby? The girls went to the other side of Beth’s bed and pushed it against mine so Beth and I were close together. Dizzy or not I managed to raise up and kiss her then hugged her then the girls who were on the beds with us. Doc was just smiling.

  After that I fell asleep for real, and no dreams. I slept for ten hours according to the nurse lady who was there when I woke up, I was hit with several emotions all at once, I knew I was starving, I knew I needed to take a leak really bad, and I looked at Beth who was sleeping with a smile on her face and her hand wrapped tightly in mine.

  I just laid there for a long time watching her and wondering how in the world I had managed to make her pregnant? I’m old, really old and tired and hard to live with and …old, too old to be having kids. But it looks like I’m not as old as I thought. But was this the world to bring kids into? Couldn’t be any worse then the ones brought into the middle of a world war.

  Whatever, it was what it was so I’d deal with it as always, one step at a time. I watched Beth breathing, looking for any sign that things weren’t right. I trust Doc but I believe in trust but verify.

  She looked beautiful laying there and her smile was so sweet. I sensed motion behind me and looked in time to see the girls tiptoeing into the room, both stepped out of their shoes and like cats just flowed onto the bed and curled up with me. All of us watching Beth sleep, they were smiling softly and almost purring.

  The look on their faces it was like self Congratulations, and I suddenly wondered if they had set this whole thing in motion? And like clock work both sets of eyes swiveled to meet min
e and both smiled like a cat with feathers sticking out of it’s mouth.

  And I knew right then and there that both of them had conspired to bring a small bundle of joy(??) into our lives and it explained the bigger house. I looked at them and wondered if Beth was in on it or was innocent? And both simply shook their heads “no”.

  I didn’t know if I should beat them or hug them but from the look on Beth’s face I knew the answer. Our own warm, kind, sweet spirit of peace and love was going to bring something to our family that was lacking, even if I didn’t know it. So I took the chicken way out and hugged them both to me.

  Someplace in there we went to sleep, all four of us together as it should be. When I next woke I was alone in my bed and still holding Beth’s hand, she was watching me sleep and smiled when I opened my eyes, then her smile failed and her lips quivered so I dragged myself close to her and just held her close while she softly cried, when she stopped I kissed her tears away and said so you’re making me a Dad? She said nope, you’re making me a mom! We both laughed and then the Doc came in and said hell I think I’ll kick you both out this morning.

  He checked my eyes and everything else and pronounced me as ok as I was gonna get then checked Beth and said she was fine. The door opened and the girls came in with clean clothes so Doc left us alone while we got us up and dressed.

  In a few minutes walk we were home and I was ready for bed again but just plopped down on the slab bench I call the stump and sat. The girls all went inside and soon were giggling and carrying on like a bunch of teenage girls or at least what I assumed teen girls would sound like.

  I looked up and saw Charley walking toward me but he stopped and made a hand motion so I walked to him and we headed for a more private area. After we were seated he asked what I knew about the events after I was knocked out and that was nothing, I was aware that nobody was talking about it and figured they were hiding something. But I figured it could wait a while.

  Charley said he had gone over the area with a fine toothed comb along with his best scouts, he read it like this.

  The shooters had come into the area from a southerly route, moving at night and laying up during the day. My first question was to ask if we had just been unlucky? He said no, these people were sent in here to kill you. I thought a moment and said how did they find us out there? He said pure dumb luck on their part. They were infiltrating into our area and we rode up on them causing them to jump the gun so to speak.

  He said he found where Buck had spooked and that it had been Walker who alerted to the danger and had leaped in front of Buck as he raced to the point of the attack.

  When Buck jerked he moved his head into the area in front of mine and I slipped to the right. The bullet intended for my head hit bucks ear spraying me with blood and when we went over backwards I hit the ground and it looked like I was dead.

  Beth fell at the same time and the girls had opened up with their 45’s so fast they had the shooter and his team ducking, before they could regain the momentum the girls had charged right at them with their rifles and just hosed the shit out of them.

  Charley said they killed three of the hit team but two got away, first on foot then onto horses and rode them nearly to death getting out of there. The girls had dropped the chase and headed for Beth and me.

  They saw right away that Beth was ok just some splatter cuts but they knew I was in bad trouble so May took off riding for the canyon while Sandy stood guard.

  When May got to the canyon Ralph bailed into the chopper and May jumped in with the Doc and they flew out to the scene. After checking both of us Doc got us loaded in the bird and leaving the girls to gather the stock they flew us back to the canyon and Doc’s mobile hospital.

  Surprising me the girls after stripping the bodies of anything they had on them they headed back instead of trying to run down the two who got away. They were all five Mexicans and not really very good at their job except for the main shooter who got away with one other.

  Charley got word right away and within minutes had people on the way to the scene to start tracking the runners while others scattered out across the country on roads and high points waiting and watching.

  I was surprised to find out that I was out for three days! So the bastards had gotten away I said. Charley smiled and said no, they think they have, but we have them spotted and can shut them down whenever you say the word.

  He added that he figured I would want to know where they were running to and who they were reporting to. He was right but I think we both knew who was behind it.

  We sat quietly for a while until I had a thought, I asked if there was any way we could get ahead of them and get close to the border and wait for them to get there. I knew who sent them and he was a dead man walking. And if I had a chance he wouldn’t die real quick, trying for me was fair but Beth? No fucking way, for that he was gonna die slow. Charley knew what I was thinking and said John, you know Beth got hit with a bullet meant for you. I agreed but wasn’t gonna back off so he just said ok, lets get with it if you are ready.

  I thought for a bit and said ok, here’s the rub, I don’t want any of the girls involved. He smiled and said good luck. But I was not letting them get into this one, it was all mine. After talking it over we decided I’d lay back for a day or so and when they girls were up on the ridge beating the building crew to go faster coz they needed a nursery, I would simply drive off in the truck and meet up with Charley who would have one of his lads drive the truck back and hopefully get away before being tortured to death for what he knew.

  Charley and I would then take his truck and head

  south, me with the old hat on and with my beard I had growing since we left for the ride. Charley had everything we would need at his place and would be loaded when we met up.

  Now to clear my mind of the details because I still believe they can hear me think. Yea I know, it’s crazy but there is no other explanation for it.

  So I was gonna work on only thinking about the coming addition to the family. Which I admit is really filling my head. I’m scared and thrilled and worried because I remember people saying women past their 30’s might not ought to have babies or some such crap. I guess if Doc and all three of the ladies weren’t worried what was I worrying about? Fk it, I have the right to worry. It’s my job! And I give great worry.

  Charley headed out after we agreed on when and where, he did remind me that I was gonna be in really deep shit over this, but I wasn’t gonna let them chance getting hurt. I’m the head of the family and I’m the one who’s the boss…Well that might be a stretch but I’ll still stand on it.

  I got back and had just sat down on the stump when they came out and dragged me inside for a nap. I had no complaints. We had dinner on the bum and made the rounds to all the cook fires where Beth was the queen of the canyon and I was sorta tolerated. Well not really. But I like to take on the mantle of abused. Now they are laughing at me. I think real hard about the baby. Beth leaned over and said John, the baby will be fine, I will be fine, all’s well so stop worrying ok? I smile a weak smile wondering how she knew?

  As always dinner on the bum was awesome, if it swims in the canyon waters we eat it, the young hunters are having to work harder finding the rabbits everybody loves stewed. we made a rule that all hunting had to be at least a half mile from any of the living areas to create a safety area for us and the animals, I enjoy seeing the rabbits ducking from bush to bush as well as the deer slipping down to drink so with a safe area we can enjoy seeing them here and eating the ones from elsewhere. Simple. Well except the fish, they get no safety area.

  I’m still amazed at how the clan, tribe, bunch, family? have adapted to this life style, no hurrying off to a jib, no taxes, no keeping up with anybody. We were all healthy from living outside most of the time and more exercise, yet nobody was killing themselves working.

  I can imagine how it was for the Indians who lived here a thousand years ago, but they didn’t have a doctor with a complete mobile
hospital and even a dentist.

  No we had the best of all worlds and I truly believe none of us would ever again want to live as we did before. The kids never mention stuff like TV or those games they played on the boob tube. We had kids reading and learning stuff several grades above their age bracket simply because nobody said “ You can’t” They learn at their own level.

  We had some young girls learning medicine from Doc.

  Some learning how to rebuild an engine on vehicles they couldn’t even drive. Our motto is if you know it, teach it, if you wanna learn it go do it.

  Some of the older kids have taken up with the miners and are working on our home, learning how to make square rocks out of round rocks. How to make the concrete that lays between each level. They just want to know how and do it.

  Charley has sent some of his scouts over to take the kids who are interested out into the desert to learn to scout and survive. So I guess our school is pretty damn good but I’m sure the National Teachers association wouldn’t approve but in the words of my immortal old Gunnery Sgt., Fuck em if they can’t take a joke!

  I slowly got the gear I wanted to take out of the cave and into the truck, I warned the Mechs that one loose word would cause pain, they said “Shit, them girls gonna kick yer ass so bad you can’t hurt nobody” see? no respect! They all three headed up to the ridge and I was ready, before they were on the trail up to the top I was at the truck.