Sunday, December 19, 2010
New story will begin soon
I will begin posting another story in a couple days! Please leave comments and let me know what you thought of this one. thanks for reading!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Epilogue 2: for those who like me, want a "HAPPY" ending!
Epilogue 2
“NO!” yelled Roger. Then he was being shaken hard.
“Roger, ROGER! Wake up, you’re having a nightmare!” came his wife’s voice.
Frantically Roger clawed through the nightmare towards wakefulness. “Oh my God!” he moaned and then looked into the big brown loving eyes of his wife. “I never want to have that nightmare again! It was about how we met and how the whole family got together but with a very different ending.” He declared and then reached for his wife. Hugging her tightly, he said “I shudder to think I may have never met you if the Big Guy hadn’t been watching out for you.”
“Well, He was, you did, and I’m here” declared Carrie as she softly kissed her husband.
“NO!” yelled Roger. Then he was being shaken hard.
“Roger, ROGER! Wake up, you’re having a nightmare!” came his wife’s voice.
Frantically Roger clawed through the nightmare towards wakefulness. “Oh my God!” he moaned and then looked into the big brown loving eyes of his wife. “I never want to have that nightmare again! It was about how we met and how the whole family got together but with a very different ending.” He declared and then reached for his wife. Hugging her tightly, he said “I shudder to think I may have never met you if the Big Guy hadn’t been watching out for you.”
“Well, He was, you did, and I’m here” declared Carrie as she softly kissed her husband.
Epilogue
Epilogue
The pouring rain stopped as the small caravan of five vehicles stopped in front of the small farm house that had been hidden deep in a small valley of the Ozarks. The house was well kept but also well used. The small barn off to the right had the same well used but well cared for look. There were flowers growing everywhere and as Sam got out of one of the trucks, he saw there were also many medicinal herbs all throughout the small beds.
Sam helped John and Bobby get Jane’s wheel chair out of the back of their truck, closing the camper shell tight in case it began to rain again. The brothers made sure Jane was comfortable in her chair as Sam went back to his truck and helped a very pregnant Rhonda out. Naomi and Nick were getting out of their Jeep Cherokee along with Mollie and Renee and Roger was getting out of his truck. Gloria and her twin boys brought up the rear and quickly caught up with the group as they made their way to the front porch of the house. An old woman met them with a curious smile on her face.
Sam took the lead and began to introduce everyone, then turned back and said “We sure hope we have the right place. Please tell us that you are Sally Madison.”
The old woman replied “Yes, I’m Sally Madison.”
The group all sighed in relief and in unison. Sam got a big grin on his face and said “we are all friends of Carrie’s. Actually we all were complete strangers until we each met Carrie and now -through her, we’ve become great friends, family even; and so we would love to see Carrie and let her see just how much she touched each of our lives. You have a remarkable granddaughter, Mrs. Madison. Can you call her for us?”
Sally Madison looked the group over carefully but could see no hint of malice in any of them. “Come with me” she said and then led them off the porch, down a small well worn pathway, and into the very middle of the flower beds. She then stepped aside and the group could see a small headstone. “I’m sorry but Carrie was killed by her mother’s boyfriend almost a year ago in New York.” Sally sighed and turned towards the small headstone; “I’m thankful that her mother allowed me to bring her home.“
“NO!” yelled Roger.
The pouring rain stopped as the small caravan of five vehicles stopped in front of the small farm house that had been hidden deep in a small valley of the Ozarks. The house was well kept but also well used. The small barn off to the right had the same well used but well cared for look. There were flowers growing everywhere and as Sam got out of one of the trucks, he saw there were also many medicinal herbs all throughout the small beds.
Sam helped John and Bobby get Jane’s wheel chair out of the back of their truck, closing the camper shell tight in case it began to rain again. The brothers made sure Jane was comfortable in her chair as Sam went back to his truck and helped a very pregnant Rhonda out. Naomi and Nick were getting out of their Jeep Cherokee along with Mollie and Renee and Roger was getting out of his truck. Gloria and her twin boys brought up the rear and quickly caught up with the group as they made their way to the front porch of the house. An old woman met them with a curious smile on her face.
Sam took the lead and began to introduce everyone, then turned back and said “We sure hope we have the right place. Please tell us that you are Sally Madison.”
The old woman replied “Yes, I’m Sally Madison.”
The group all sighed in relief and in unison. Sam got a big grin on his face and said “we are all friends of Carrie’s. Actually we all were complete strangers until we each met Carrie and now -through her, we’ve become great friends, family even; and so we would love to see Carrie and let her see just how much she touched each of our lives. You have a remarkable granddaughter, Mrs. Madison. Can you call her for us?”
Sally Madison looked the group over carefully but could see no hint of malice in any of them. “Come with me” she said and then led them off the porch, down a small well worn pathway, and into the very middle of the flower beds. She then stepped aside and the group could see a small headstone. “I’m sorry but Carrie was killed by her mother’s boyfriend almost a year ago in New York.” Sally sighed and turned towards the small headstone; “I’m thankful that her mother allowed me to bring her home.“
“NO!” yelled Roger.
A Place to Call Home -Eighteen
Eighteen
Carrie had taken the habit of keeping an eye out for small pebbles that she could use in her wrist rocket. She used up hundreds as she would practice each evening after finding a good camp site and each morning before she left. She also took to fastening it to her fanny pack so it was within quick reach. The fanny pack had an outside zipper pocket that she would slip her extra pebbles in since she kept small stainless steel “beads” in the handle and only practiced with the rocks.
Carrie also found a long straight stick that she was using for a walking stick. It had been gnawed on both ends by a beaver (or two) and was slightly thicker at one end than the other. She had come across a bunch of them her first morning after leaving her new brothers, but most of them were either too long or too short. She found three that were a comfortable length (just slightly longer than she was tall) but two of them were just too thick. She loved her walking stick. It was perfect and sure did come in handy with all the “ups” and “downs” she was walking now that she was in the hills.
It was two days after she left her brothers that Carrie found she had strayed too close to “civilization”. She had been listening to the radio and so knew that despite the NSA and UN’s martial law; the unrest across the country seemed to be escalating to proportions that were beginning to stink of some kind of “behind the scenes” influences that kept stroking the fires, so to speak. Carrie was no dummy and figured out pretty quick that these newest rashes of riots were different than the previous ones.
First of all, churches were being burnt down at night at a rate of 20 or more each night. And it seemed that no denomination was spared. Large Catholic Cathedrals along with the newer ‘mega’ churches were being set on fire just as often as the small town Baptist and Methodists churches.
Also, the government was finding out that people were simply not going to turn over their food resources or their guns. All the major camps that the government had set up for collection of goods and arms were not getting any resources turned.
Carrie was only hearing about the larger cities and towns although there had been some mention of local troubles as she would move through different areas.
It was late afternoon when Carrie heard the first scream. She froze. She hadn’t realized she was by any place that people were around, so she carefully made her way towards where she thought she heard the scream. Carrie found herself coming up on what looked like a small farm. The first thing she saw was a fairly large barn and then a couple shed like buildings, all of which looked in need of some paint.
Staying well within the tree line, Carrie quietly made her way all around the fenced in area until she found a place she could easily squeeze through the barbed wire. She could now hear some yelling going on and see one person sitting out on the tail gate of an old Ford pickup truck.
Carrie looked carefully all around her to memorize the various brush and trees. She then made sure her knife was secure on her arm and also the one she had inside her right hiking boot. Carefully and quietly, she found an older tree with a nice place to hide both her backpack and fanny pack. Taking only her knives and wrist rocket, she made her way to the space in the fence and slipped through. A woman was now crying and every few moments, Carrie could hear her yelling NO!
Before making her way to the Ford, Carrie knew she had to be sure there were no more people outside. It looked to her that the guy was keeping guard and after a few peeks into the windows, Carrie counted only two other guys in the house. They were busy harassing the woman in the kitchen, who was attempting to fix what looked like sandwiches in between the pinches and slaps from the two men. Their threats of ‘punishment’ were very clear even to Carrie. This treatment of the woman fueled Carrie’s anger.
Knowing that surprise was her friend, Carrie slipped up to the far side of the Ford and she readied her wrist rocket so that when she made a soft “pssst” sound and the man turned toward her, she was able to let ‘er rip! ZING! Right into the left eye socket of the man went the small steel ball. Before he even realized he had been hit, Carrie had her knife out and jumped the final few steps to his side and had the knife slid between his ribs and deep into his heart. She was surprised that he didn’t make a sound. Carrie had a half a second of doubt but realized that if that man had been a good guy, he would not have been out there while the other two were inside having their sick kind of fun with the woman.
The man had a handgun and a shotgun that had been sitting on the tail gate with him. Carrie picked up both and checked them, yep they were loaded. She was suddenly very aware of the knowledge she had gathered from her brothers just a few days previously. And VERY thankful. Carrie took a deep breath and steeling herself as she sent a word of prayer up for strength and guidance to do what must be done to protect the woman. Her Gramma’s words echoed through her mind “it’s our responsibility to protect the innocent”.
Quickly but as quiet as possible, Carrie made her way up and on the porch and slipped into the house. She knew by peeking in the window, the front room could not be seen from the kitchen because there seemed to be a small hall way between the two. She made her way towards the hall and could still hear the woman who seemed to be getting angry with all the manhandling she was receiving. But she couldn’t really make out what the woman was saying since the men kept laughing. Easing to the kitchen doorway, Carrie noticed she could see the glass window of the stove and microwave and that they were reflecting almost the whole kitchen. The two men were now sitting at the small kitchen table and one of them had the woman pulled to his lap. Both the men were eating sandwiches but having their mouths full, did not stop them from talking nor did it stop the man whose lap the woman was on, from pinching and groping her. He was sitting farthest from the kitchen door way, on the far side of the table and if Carrie were to step into the room, he would be facing her.
The woman just happened to look at the stove and noticed something not quite right. There was a reflection in the glass into the hall way. She looked up at the microwave and saw a small face and a shotgun.
The man she was sitting on groped her breast hard and she squealed and tried to slap his hand away.
“I like my women feisty but not too feisty.” The man said as he pinched her. The woman glanced again at the reflection and saw the face slowly nod.
Since she only had experience with the shotgun, Carrie carefully tucked the handgun in the back of her pants after making sure the safety was on. She knew she would only get one good shot off so taking a deep cleansing breath she raised the shotgun as she stepped around the door.
As she came around the door, the woman squealed again and managed to jerk herself out of the man’s lap just as his head caught a round from the shot gun. The second man didn’t really get a chance to register what was happening before his head also met a round from the shotgun.
The woman had scooted across the floor so she was well out of range and Carrie walked over and held her hand out to help her up. “Hi I’m Carrie and I got the one outside also, so unless there is another bad guy hiding somewhere, they are all dead.”
“Thank YOU!” the woman gushed out and then she ran out of the room into the hall way. Carrie followed her as she went to the long string hanging from the trap door to the attic. Fascinated, she watched as the woman pulled the door down and pulled out the steps until they hit the floor.
“Matthew, Morgan! It’s ok, you can come down now, Mommy’s ok.” After a few moments and more words of encouragement, Carrie saw two small faces appear in the opening of the attic. Twin boys, no more than 8 years old, showed signs of intense relief as they saw their mom at the bottom of the ladder. They were down that ladder and in their mom’s arms before Carrie could even blink.
The woman hugged her boys tightly and then turned back to Carrie, “My name is Gloria and these are my boys, Matthew and Morgan and I want to thank you so much for saving our lives.”
Carrie blushed as she said “Ma’am, I did what any good person would do. And I had some help from the Man up there” as she pointed upwards “if He hadn’t helped me, I’m sure things would not have turned out so good.” Carrie hesitated a moment and then added “why don’t you take your boys back into one of the bedrooms and I’ll …..clean up.”
“No” Gloria said, which surprised Carrie “we live in a new world and my boys are going to have to see just how ugly the old world was so that they will make our new world a better place.” She then turned to her boys and knelt down to their level “I love you boys more than life itself and if there was any way that things were even just a bit different, I would spare both of you this……situation. Our lives have changed. And even though it was not by our choice, we are going to have to live in this new world we find ourselves. So boys, despite your young age, you are about grow up a whole lot in a very little amount of time. There are some dead men in our home, they were very bad and Miss Carrie here helped to protect us by killing them. So together, we are going to clean our home and make it ours again. And then we are going to do all we can to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
The two small boys straighten their shoulders and dried off their faces with their hands, it was clear that they no longer would be small little boys.
Carrie spent four days with Gloria and the boys. She helped them bury the bodies way out in the middle of the woods and clean up the house. She also gave both the shotgun and the handgun to Gloria and with some of the ammo they found in the truck; Gloria and the boys learned how to shoot both. They had removed everything of value out of the truck, which wasn’t much. There was the ammo and some tools. Carrie found some drugs in the pill form, stashed up under the seat but they ended up flushing those. They also drained most of the gas out and Carrie stayed with the boys while Gloria drove it far from her home and walked back. If Carrie knew how to drive, she could have driven Gloria’s truck and followed but neither wanted to keep the truck around and felt it would take too long for Carrie to learn.
Carrie did try to call Jane but only got her answering machine, so she left a brief message with Gloria’s number on it along with plenty of doggie slobbering sounds for Beautiful and Duke.
The rest of Carrie’s trip was spent well away from any people and she learned many new edibles. While there were times that she didn’t have any meat for her meals, she had gotten into the ancient habit of gathering any edibles she saw as she traveled so she was well fed.
It was three weeks later that Carrie was walking up a small dirt driveway that made a couple twists and turns and found a well worn house with an old woman dozing as she sat in a rocking chair on the porch.
Carrie was so scared, she just stood there close to steps as she waited for the woman to wake up. It wasn’t a long wait.
“Carrie? Dear sweet Carrie? Is that you?”
Carrie ran up the stairs towards her Gramma with open arms! She was HOME!
Carrie had taken the habit of keeping an eye out for small pebbles that she could use in her wrist rocket. She used up hundreds as she would practice each evening after finding a good camp site and each morning before she left. She also took to fastening it to her fanny pack so it was within quick reach. The fanny pack had an outside zipper pocket that she would slip her extra pebbles in since she kept small stainless steel “beads” in the handle and only practiced with the rocks.
Carrie also found a long straight stick that she was using for a walking stick. It had been gnawed on both ends by a beaver (or two) and was slightly thicker at one end than the other. She had come across a bunch of them her first morning after leaving her new brothers, but most of them were either too long or too short. She found three that were a comfortable length (just slightly longer than she was tall) but two of them were just too thick. She loved her walking stick. It was perfect and sure did come in handy with all the “ups” and “downs” she was walking now that she was in the hills.
It was two days after she left her brothers that Carrie found she had strayed too close to “civilization”. She had been listening to the radio and so knew that despite the NSA and UN’s martial law; the unrest across the country seemed to be escalating to proportions that were beginning to stink of some kind of “behind the scenes” influences that kept stroking the fires, so to speak. Carrie was no dummy and figured out pretty quick that these newest rashes of riots were different than the previous ones.
First of all, churches were being burnt down at night at a rate of 20 or more each night. And it seemed that no denomination was spared. Large Catholic Cathedrals along with the newer ‘mega’ churches were being set on fire just as often as the small town Baptist and Methodists churches.
Also, the government was finding out that people were simply not going to turn over their food resources or their guns. All the major camps that the government had set up for collection of goods and arms were not getting any resources turned.
Carrie was only hearing about the larger cities and towns although there had been some mention of local troubles as she would move through different areas.
It was late afternoon when Carrie heard the first scream. She froze. She hadn’t realized she was by any place that people were around, so she carefully made her way towards where she thought she heard the scream. Carrie found herself coming up on what looked like a small farm. The first thing she saw was a fairly large barn and then a couple shed like buildings, all of which looked in need of some paint.
Staying well within the tree line, Carrie quietly made her way all around the fenced in area until she found a place she could easily squeeze through the barbed wire. She could now hear some yelling going on and see one person sitting out on the tail gate of an old Ford pickup truck.
Carrie looked carefully all around her to memorize the various brush and trees. She then made sure her knife was secure on her arm and also the one she had inside her right hiking boot. Carefully and quietly, she found an older tree with a nice place to hide both her backpack and fanny pack. Taking only her knives and wrist rocket, she made her way to the space in the fence and slipped through. A woman was now crying and every few moments, Carrie could hear her yelling NO!
Before making her way to the Ford, Carrie knew she had to be sure there were no more people outside. It looked to her that the guy was keeping guard and after a few peeks into the windows, Carrie counted only two other guys in the house. They were busy harassing the woman in the kitchen, who was attempting to fix what looked like sandwiches in between the pinches and slaps from the two men. Their threats of ‘punishment’ were very clear even to Carrie. This treatment of the woman fueled Carrie’s anger.
Knowing that surprise was her friend, Carrie slipped up to the far side of the Ford and she readied her wrist rocket so that when she made a soft “pssst” sound and the man turned toward her, she was able to let ‘er rip! ZING! Right into the left eye socket of the man went the small steel ball. Before he even realized he had been hit, Carrie had her knife out and jumped the final few steps to his side and had the knife slid between his ribs and deep into his heart. She was surprised that he didn’t make a sound. Carrie had a half a second of doubt but realized that if that man had been a good guy, he would not have been out there while the other two were inside having their sick kind of fun with the woman.
The man had a handgun and a shotgun that had been sitting on the tail gate with him. Carrie picked up both and checked them, yep they were loaded. She was suddenly very aware of the knowledge she had gathered from her brothers just a few days previously. And VERY thankful. Carrie took a deep breath and steeling herself as she sent a word of prayer up for strength and guidance to do what must be done to protect the woman. Her Gramma’s words echoed through her mind “it’s our responsibility to protect the innocent”.
Quickly but as quiet as possible, Carrie made her way up and on the porch and slipped into the house. She knew by peeking in the window, the front room could not be seen from the kitchen because there seemed to be a small hall way between the two. She made her way towards the hall and could still hear the woman who seemed to be getting angry with all the manhandling she was receiving. But she couldn’t really make out what the woman was saying since the men kept laughing. Easing to the kitchen doorway, Carrie noticed she could see the glass window of the stove and microwave and that they were reflecting almost the whole kitchen. The two men were now sitting at the small kitchen table and one of them had the woman pulled to his lap. Both the men were eating sandwiches but having their mouths full, did not stop them from talking nor did it stop the man whose lap the woman was on, from pinching and groping her. He was sitting farthest from the kitchen door way, on the far side of the table and if Carrie were to step into the room, he would be facing her.
The woman just happened to look at the stove and noticed something not quite right. There was a reflection in the glass into the hall way. She looked up at the microwave and saw a small face and a shotgun.
The man she was sitting on groped her breast hard and she squealed and tried to slap his hand away.
“I like my women feisty but not too feisty.” The man said as he pinched her. The woman glanced again at the reflection and saw the face slowly nod.
Since she only had experience with the shotgun, Carrie carefully tucked the handgun in the back of her pants after making sure the safety was on. She knew she would only get one good shot off so taking a deep cleansing breath she raised the shotgun as she stepped around the door.
As she came around the door, the woman squealed again and managed to jerk herself out of the man’s lap just as his head caught a round from the shot gun. The second man didn’t really get a chance to register what was happening before his head also met a round from the shotgun.
The woman had scooted across the floor so she was well out of range and Carrie walked over and held her hand out to help her up. “Hi I’m Carrie and I got the one outside also, so unless there is another bad guy hiding somewhere, they are all dead.”
“Thank YOU!” the woman gushed out and then she ran out of the room into the hall way. Carrie followed her as she went to the long string hanging from the trap door to the attic. Fascinated, she watched as the woman pulled the door down and pulled out the steps until they hit the floor.
“Matthew, Morgan! It’s ok, you can come down now, Mommy’s ok.” After a few moments and more words of encouragement, Carrie saw two small faces appear in the opening of the attic. Twin boys, no more than 8 years old, showed signs of intense relief as they saw their mom at the bottom of the ladder. They were down that ladder and in their mom’s arms before Carrie could even blink.
The woman hugged her boys tightly and then turned back to Carrie, “My name is Gloria and these are my boys, Matthew and Morgan and I want to thank you so much for saving our lives.”
Carrie blushed as she said “Ma’am, I did what any good person would do. And I had some help from the Man up there” as she pointed upwards “if He hadn’t helped me, I’m sure things would not have turned out so good.” Carrie hesitated a moment and then added “why don’t you take your boys back into one of the bedrooms and I’ll …..clean up.”
“No” Gloria said, which surprised Carrie “we live in a new world and my boys are going to have to see just how ugly the old world was so that they will make our new world a better place.” She then turned to her boys and knelt down to their level “I love you boys more than life itself and if there was any way that things were even just a bit different, I would spare both of you this……situation. Our lives have changed. And even though it was not by our choice, we are going to have to live in this new world we find ourselves. So boys, despite your young age, you are about grow up a whole lot in a very little amount of time. There are some dead men in our home, they were very bad and Miss Carrie here helped to protect us by killing them. So together, we are going to clean our home and make it ours again. And then we are going to do all we can to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
The two small boys straighten their shoulders and dried off their faces with their hands, it was clear that they no longer would be small little boys.
Carrie spent four days with Gloria and the boys. She helped them bury the bodies way out in the middle of the woods and clean up the house. She also gave both the shotgun and the handgun to Gloria and with some of the ammo they found in the truck; Gloria and the boys learned how to shoot both. They had removed everything of value out of the truck, which wasn’t much. There was the ammo and some tools. Carrie found some drugs in the pill form, stashed up under the seat but they ended up flushing those. They also drained most of the gas out and Carrie stayed with the boys while Gloria drove it far from her home and walked back. If Carrie knew how to drive, she could have driven Gloria’s truck and followed but neither wanted to keep the truck around and felt it would take too long for Carrie to learn.
Carrie did try to call Jane but only got her answering machine, so she left a brief message with Gloria’s number on it along with plenty of doggie slobbering sounds for Beautiful and Duke.
The rest of Carrie’s trip was spent well away from any people and she learned many new edibles. While there were times that she didn’t have any meat for her meals, she had gotten into the ancient habit of gathering any edibles she saw as she traveled so she was well fed.
It was three weeks later that Carrie was walking up a small dirt driveway that made a couple twists and turns and found a well worn house with an old woman dozing as she sat in a rocking chair on the porch.
Carrie was so scared, she just stood there close to steps as she waited for the woman to wake up. It wasn’t a long wait.
“Carrie? Dear sweet Carrie? Is that you?”
Carrie ran up the stairs towards her Gramma with open arms! She was HOME!
Friday, December 17, 2010
A Place to Call Home -Seventeen
Seventeen
Carrie ended up staying the next day and night with the brothers. They let her recharge her net-book and they even taught her how to shoot the shotguns.
Bobby had a wrist rocket, better known as a slingshot, which Carrie got really good with. It had a hollow handle that he filled with small but solid balls that were bigger than bee bee’s but still small enough to fit quite a few in the handle.
Later that afternoon, they were on the back porch and he gave it to Carrie since he hadn’t really used it in awhile.
“You can have this, for those times that your snares don’t work or if you see a turkey or pheasant for dinner.” Bobby said.
Carrie was touched “thank you so much!” and then she startled them both by giving him a big hug!
John spoke up and said “if I give you the hammock, do I get a hug too?”
“Really?” exclaimed Carrie and she gave him a hug also.
“Well now that I got a hug, guess I’m gonna have to give you the hammock.” John said and they all laughed. The hammock was one of those cheaper ones you can find at Wal-Mart that is just made up of the cording and ties to the trees on each end. Or in this case, a porch post and an eyelet hooked to the house. The thing packs down to about six inches and would fit into Carrie’s pack.
The boys also gave Carrie some deer jerky that they had made from the last deer they had got. It was very tasty and she asked “this is great, how did you get it so tasty?”
“Secret family recipe. Can’t tell ya.” John said straight faced.
“Yep, you have to either be family or we’d have ta kill ya if we told ya.” Added Bobby.
Carrie got very serious and with something like hope in her eyes, she declared “I’d be honored to be your sister.”
Now the brothers were taken aback because they had been kidding around but they could see that Carrie meant what she said.
“Well then our sister you’ll be then!” declared Bobby “But we are gonna have to some kind of ceremony to make it real.”
And so with a toast made with shot glasses full (for the boys) and only half full (for Carrie) declaration of family was made and the beginning of the Hudson-Madison clan was forged.
“Now that I’m your sister, I get to ask for a favor.” Stated Carrie.
“Oh no, already the demands begin!” joked John.
Carrie laughed and said “seriously I have a dear friend in New York that I haven’t spoken to in a few weeks, would you mind if I gave her a call?” She then gave her innocent look and the boys laughed and couldn’t say no.
“Hi Lady Jane, I’ve got some great news! I’ve got two new brothers! Their names are John and Bobby Hudson!” Carrie burst out as soon as Jane answered the phone.
“Wow! It seems like your trip is going great. I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been worried, it’s been awhile since you’ve called but I’m glad you’re ok.”
“Oh yeah, I’m just fine.” And then Carrie proceeded to fill Jane in on all that had happened the past few weeks and her plans for continuing her journey.
“I’m a lot closer now, Lady Jane; I figure just a little over a month, and I’ll be in Arkansas. I think I am going to have to go more off road though due to all that has been going on. I’m just west of Lexington, Kentucky so I have about 700 miles to go.”
The call was coming to an end when Lady Jane asked Carrie to hand the phone to one of the brothers.
“Please don’t yell at them, ok?” begged Carrie.
“Oh no, I won’t, I’ll be very polite, I just want to thank them.”
Carrie handed the phone to Bobby who had the ‘misfortune’ of sitting closest to her.
Carrie couldn’t hear what Jane was saying but she could hear what Bobby was saying “yes ma’am”,” no ma’am” and “yes ma’am” and then finally “I sure will ma’am, it was nice talking to you too.”
Once off the phone, Bobby looked at Carrie then at John “she’s our sister alright and I think we even got a new mom thrown in the deal.”
The evening passed too quickly for all three and when the brothers woke up the next morning, Carrie was already well on her way. They found a note on the porch where the hammock had been.
My dear brothers, John and Bobby,
Thank you so much for all that you’ve shown and shared with me these past two days. Little did I know that this trip I am on would bear such wonderful blessings. I’ve gained some great friends and now two great brothers.
Someday soon, I hope to have a home to call my own and I would love to have you come and visit. As you know, I’m headed to find my Gramma’s but however my trip ends, I will always consider you my brothers and never forget you and I will be sure to keep in touch with you!
Until we see each other again!
Love, Carrie!
Carrie traveled for another good week until things again went bad in the country. The black outs were now more often than not and this had the citizens in an uproar. Carrie had been listening regularly to the news since that is all that was on. There wasn’t much music anymore because of the blackouts. Only talk radio was on and it only came on once an hour due to them having to use a generator most times.
“….has recalled all the loans made to the United States during all the major bail out bills during the past year. The President has been in negotiations for more time to repay all the loans and has signed an executive order allowing the IRS to withhold an extra 30% in income taxes out of all checks. This will go into effect next Monday. In order to cover these extra taxes, many citizens are dropping their insurances and all savings plans. Many citizens have quit their jobs or have been laid off. The unemployment rate has risen to 44.7%, the highest ever recorded.
In other national news, the crime rate has doubled just in the past five days and many businesses are closing down due to loss of profits and vandalism. There also has been an increase in people hoarding food. According to Executive Order number 10998; all farms and food sources are now under governmental control and no hoarding is allowed.
Also due to the increase of lawlessness, the President has called into effect Executive Order 11310 and has ordered that prison camps be set up to contain those who are being arrested for unlawful acts.
(http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/fema_executive_orders.htm)
Again the president has had to declare martial law and it will be strictly enforced and all offenders will be effectively dealt with. No one is to be out from 6pm to 7am. All officers of the NSA have been ordered to use deadly force, no exceptions.
Centers will be set up as soon as enough food and goods are gathered for distribution. All centers are expected to be operational within the next two weeks. The government would appreciate everyone to bring all excess food and goods to these centers for fair distribution to all. Anyone caught hoarding will be dealt with severely and will not be allowed to receive any food or goods.
Due to the current flu strain that is ravaging the world, all should be wearing surgical masks and making sure they are washing their hands frequently. Anyone needing masks or sanitizer gel, can pick them up when they bring in their excess food and goods at the centers….”
Carrie finally turned off the radio. She decided she was going to have to travel deeper into the country side and stay totally away from town, especially big ones.
That night she poured over her maps and knowing she would not be able to make a straight line due to having to cross rivers and highways, she felt she was able to make a fairly straight path. She figured she could cross them during the day so she would not be shot if found during the night. She attempted to make sure her path would cross the rivers by bridges. But she also knew she would be tweaking her path as she went. There would be fences to climb and areas to go around.
Her fire was small that night and as soon as she cooked the small squirrel that she had killed with her new wrist rocket and she even tried to cook some fiddle heads she had found. In her cup, she heated up some water for tea, and then when she was done, she banked the coals so she would be able to use them in the morning for some more tea before she set off. That night she laid awake in her hammock for a good long while watching the stars. She didn’t know if they were so bright because of the area or if it was because there were not so many lights on in the world that night. She counted five shooting stars before she fell asleep.
Carrie enjoyed walking through the country side and made good time. There were plenty of back roads that Carrie followed even though she was not actually on the road. She spent a lot of time looking for plants in her book, since it was getting well into spring, actually summer now that she thought about it; she was finding many different flowers. She hadn’t had the nerve to try any mushrooms that she had found but she did find morels a couple of times and roasted those over the fire. They were pretty good. One thing she found a lot of, was cattails. She did have fun pulling them up, cleaning them, and roasting them. She really wished she had a pot where she would be able to try making a stew with the edibles she had been finding. She decided to keep an eye out for something she might be able to use. She was finding a lot of places where people just seemed to dump things.
She was missing her new friends….and brothers, though. This was something new to her and she wasn’t sure exactly how she should be feeling. When she was real young, there had been a lot of love in her life. From her dad and Gramma and even her mom was somewhat loving. But the past five years were simply too harsh and demanding and had scorched her heart. She hadn’t thought she would be able to trust anyone again. Her mom had pretty much devastated her and left no real hope that Carrie would be able to find anyone she could trust or love. Carrie wasn’t a fool and knew she had been very blessed and she thanked God every day and night for allowing her to travel safely and find so many she could trust. She also knew that things were really getting bad in the country and sooner or later she was going to run into trouble.
It was just two days later that Carrie did run into trouble and she wasn’t too sure how to get out of this one.
Carrie ended up staying the next day and night with the brothers. They let her recharge her net-book and they even taught her how to shoot the shotguns.
Bobby had a wrist rocket, better known as a slingshot, which Carrie got really good with. It had a hollow handle that he filled with small but solid balls that were bigger than bee bee’s but still small enough to fit quite a few in the handle.
Later that afternoon, they were on the back porch and he gave it to Carrie since he hadn’t really used it in awhile.
“You can have this, for those times that your snares don’t work or if you see a turkey or pheasant for dinner.” Bobby said.
Carrie was touched “thank you so much!” and then she startled them both by giving him a big hug!
John spoke up and said “if I give you the hammock, do I get a hug too?”
“Really?” exclaimed Carrie and she gave him a hug also.
“Well now that I got a hug, guess I’m gonna have to give you the hammock.” John said and they all laughed. The hammock was one of those cheaper ones you can find at Wal-Mart that is just made up of the cording and ties to the trees on each end. Or in this case, a porch post and an eyelet hooked to the house. The thing packs down to about six inches and would fit into Carrie’s pack.
The boys also gave Carrie some deer jerky that they had made from the last deer they had got. It was very tasty and she asked “this is great, how did you get it so tasty?”
“Secret family recipe. Can’t tell ya.” John said straight faced.
“Yep, you have to either be family or we’d have ta kill ya if we told ya.” Added Bobby.
Carrie got very serious and with something like hope in her eyes, she declared “I’d be honored to be your sister.”
Now the brothers were taken aback because they had been kidding around but they could see that Carrie meant what she said.
“Well then our sister you’ll be then!” declared Bobby “But we are gonna have to some kind of ceremony to make it real.”
And so with a toast made with shot glasses full (for the boys) and only half full (for Carrie) declaration of family was made and the beginning of the Hudson-Madison clan was forged.
“Now that I’m your sister, I get to ask for a favor.” Stated Carrie.
“Oh no, already the demands begin!” joked John.
Carrie laughed and said “seriously I have a dear friend in New York that I haven’t spoken to in a few weeks, would you mind if I gave her a call?” She then gave her innocent look and the boys laughed and couldn’t say no.
“Hi Lady Jane, I’ve got some great news! I’ve got two new brothers! Their names are John and Bobby Hudson!” Carrie burst out as soon as Jane answered the phone.
“Wow! It seems like your trip is going great. I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been worried, it’s been awhile since you’ve called but I’m glad you’re ok.”
“Oh yeah, I’m just fine.” And then Carrie proceeded to fill Jane in on all that had happened the past few weeks and her plans for continuing her journey.
“I’m a lot closer now, Lady Jane; I figure just a little over a month, and I’ll be in Arkansas. I think I am going to have to go more off road though due to all that has been going on. I’m just west of Lexington, Kentucky so I have about 700 miles to go.”
The call was coming to an end when Lady Jane asked Carrie to hand the phone to one of the brothers.
“Please don’t yell at them, ok?” begged Carrie.
“Oh no, I won’t, I’ll be very polite, I just want to thank them.”
Carrie handed the phone to Bobby who had the ‘misfortune’ of sitting closest to her.
Carrie couldn’t hear what Jane was saying but she could hear what Bobby was saying “yes ma’am”,” no ma’am” and “yes ma’am” and then finally “I sure will ma’am, it was nice talking to you too.”
Once off the phone, Bobby looked at Carrie then at John “she’s our sister alright and I think we even got a new mom thrown in the deal.”
The evening passed too quickly for all three and when the brothers woke up the next morning, Carrie was already well on her way. They found a note on the porch where the hammock had been.
My dear brothers, John and Bobby,
Thank you so much for all that you’ve shown and shared with me these past two days. Little did I know that this trip I am on would bear such wonderful blessings. I’ve gained some great friends and now two great brothers.
Someday soon, I hope to have a home to call my own and I would love to have you come and visit. As you know, I’m headed to find my Gramma’s but however my trip ends, I will always consider you my brothers and never forget you and I will be sure to keep in touch with you!
Until we see each other again!
Love, Carrie!
Carrie traveled for another good week until things again went bad in the country. The black outs were now more often than not and this had the citizens in an uproar. Carrie had been listening regularly to the news since that is all that was on. There wasn’t much music anymore because of the blackouts. Only talk radio was on and it only came on once an hour due to them having to use a generator most times.
“….has recalled all the loans made to the United States during all the major bail out bills during the past year. The President has been in negotiations for more time to repay all the loans and has signed an executive order allowing the IRS to withhold an extra 30% in income taxes out of all checks. This will go into effect next Monday. In order to cover these extra taxes, many citizens are dropping their insurances and all savings plans. Many citizens have quit their jobs or have been laid off. The unemployment rate has risen to 44.7%, the highest ever recorded.
In other national news, the crime rate has doubled just in the past five days and many businesses are closing down due to loss of profits and vandalism. There also has been an increase in people hoarding food. According to Executive Order number 10998; all farms and food sources are now under governmental control and no hoarding is allowed.
Also due to the increase of lawlessness, the President has called into effect Executive Order 11310 and has ordered that prison camps be set up to contain those who are being arrested for unlawful acts.
(http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/fema_executive_orders.htm)
Again the president has had to declare martial law and it will be strictly enforced and all offenders will be effectively dealt with. No one is to be out from 6pm to 7am. All officers of the NSA have been ordered to use deadly force, no exceptions.
Centers will be set up as soon as enough food and goods are gathered for distribution. All centers are expected to be operational within the next two weeks. The government would appreciate everyone to bring all excess food and goods to these centers for fair distribution to all. Anyone caught hoarding will be dealt with severely and will not be allowed to receive any food or goods.
Due to the current flu strain that is ravaging the world, all should be wearing surgical masks and making sure they are washing their hands frequently. Anyone needing masks or sanitizer gel, can pick them up when they bring in their excess food and goods at the centers….”
Carrie finally turned off the radio. She decided she was going to have to travel deeper into the country side and stay totally away from town, especially big ones.
That night she poured over her maps and knowing she would not be able to make a straight line due to having to cross rivers and highways, she felt she was able to make a fairly straight path. She figured she could cross them during the day so she would not be shot if found during the night. She attempted to make sure her path would cross the rivers by bridges. But she also knew she would be tweaking her path as she went. There would be fences to climb and areas to go around.
Her fire was small that night and as soon as she cooked the small squirrel that she had killed with her new wrist rocket and she even tried to cook some fiddle heads she had found. In her cup, she heated up some water for tea, and then when she was done, she banked the coals so she would be able to use them in the morning for some more tea before she set off. That night she laid awake in her hammock for a good long while watching the stars. She didn’t know if they were so bright because of the area or if it was because there were not so many lights on in the world that night. She counted five shooting stars before she fell asleep.
Carrie enjoyed walking through the country side and made good time. There were plenty of back roads that Carrie followed even though she was not actually on the road. She spent a lot of time looking for plants in her book, since it was getting well into spring, actually summer now that she thought about it; she was finding many different flowers. She hadn’t had the nerve to try any mushrooms that she had found but she did find morels a couple of times and roasted those over the fire. They were pretty good. One thing she found a lot of, was cattails. She did have fun pulling them up, cleaning them, and roasting them. She really wished she had a pot where she would be able to try making a stew with the edibles she had been finding. She decided to keep an eye out for something she might be able to use. She was finding a lot of places where people just seemed to dump things.
She was missing her new friends….and brothers, though. This was something new to her and she wasn’t sure exactly how she should be feeling. When she was real young, there had been a lot of love in her life. From her dad and Gramma and even her mom was somewhat loving. But the past five years were simply too harsh and demanding and had scorched her heart. She hadn’t thought she would be able to trust anyone again. Her mom had pretty much devastated her and left no real hope that Carrie would be able to find anyone she could trust or love. Carrie wasn’t a fool and knew she had been very blessed and she thanked God every day and night for allowing her to travel safely and find so many she could trust. She also knew that things were really getting bad in the country and sooner or later she was going to run into trouble.
It was just two days later that Carrie did run into trouble and she wasn’t too sure how to get out of this one.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A Place to Call Home -Sixteen
Sixteen
Having her right arm grabbed didn’t stop Carrie from swinger her left fist. And it was only after she connected to a hard stomach and the whoosh of air; that she realized it was Roger who had a hold of her.
“Why in the world would you scare me like that?” She demanded in a hushed whisper.
Roger struggled to catch his breath but did not let go of her arm. He held one finger up on his free hand and managed to croak out “Dang you hit hard.”
“Well it serves you right, sneaking up on me like that and grabbing me.” Carrie declared.
“You were gonna leave without saying good bye!” He complained.
“I left a good bye note for everyone. And I think you know why I preferred to not be alone with you…like we are right now.” She saw the gleam come into his eye “Oh no you don’t!”
But oh yes he did. A quick but firm kiss on the lips and then he stepped back…out of her range.
“Good bye for now. But you can be sure you’ll see me again someday.” Roger said and then he went back towards the house.
“So long … for now.” Carrie whispered to his retreating back with a grin on her face.
Later that day, Carrie was making good time and was long out of town; Roger and his family were talking about Carrie and Roger remembered the phone call she had made that first day. Checking his cell phone, he found that the number was still on his recent dialed list. He called it.
Traveling went well for Carrie for the next three weeks. She was making good time and finding out of the way places to camp at night. She had stopped twice to replenish her food supplies and she still had a pretty good amount of cash left. She was being as frugal as she could. She had hit a good stride, staying off the main roads and had even taken a ride from a couple of people. Only women though and they had to have a good vibe to them. She turned down many rides.
She would listen to the radio quite a bit. And so was aware of what was going on in the country and world. She knew that the martial law had been lifted and that the issue of turning in all guns had been sent to the Supreme Court who was due to issue a ruling within the next few days. Speculation was running wild with many people still protesting on both sides of the issue.
The rolling brown outs had turned into black outs and this has caused many to close up stores and other businesses earlier than usual. This left the streets emptier than usual and allowed Carrie to slip through the towns in the evenings or early mornings with no trouble.
But it wasn’t in a town that she found herself in trouble. One morning she was actually following a short cut on one of her maps, and totally by accident happened to run into a small illegal still operation. Carrie didn’t see anyone around and was curious about the still. She had heard about them from online, even read some of the sites where they were described as being used for an alternative fuel. However, she didn’t think this one was for fuel and then she ended up dawdling a tad too long.
Carrie could tell by the look in the eyes of a couple guys that walked into the small area, that she was gonna be in some big trouble if she didn’t think fast. Especially since both of them were carrying shotguns. So drawing on the advice of her dear Gramma; Carrie did the last thing the two men expected her to do.
“Howdy!” Carrie said with a big grin. “I was hoping someone would come by. I need some help.” And before the two guys could say anything, she continued “see I’m traveling through and was hoping to be able to do a bit of fishing and hunting to help feed myself. I have these small snares that I learned about on a website but I’ve never actually tried to set them before I set out. Earlier when I tried to set them, about two miles or so back that’a way” Carrie pointed towards where she had come from “I just couldn’t get the hang of it. And since I’ve not come to any place to fish, I figured I’d try the snare things again. Do you guys think could help me?” Carrie took a deep breath.
Now the two fella’s had curiosity written on their faces, but the anger was gone and Carrie didn’t think they were going to get violent.
“WELLLLL lookie here John, we’ve got us an intruder……one lookin’ to hunt on our land.”
“I got eyes in my head, Bobby; what are we gonna do about it?”
Carrie thought briefly about running but realized that like most predators, running would simply set them off and she wouldn’t be able to run fast with her pack. So she had to figure out how to make them NOT predators.
“Really sirs, I mean no harm. I really do need some help with the snares, it’s been a while since I had a hot meal and I was hoping to snare a rabbit for supper. I didn’t know I was on your property and I do apologize. I’ll leave and look for somewhere else to figure out how to work the snares. I know I should have done that before I left, but I ran out of time and had to leave in a hurry.”
Bobby and John seemed kinda shocked, it may have been because no one had really ever spoken so respectful to them or said so much so quickly or it may have been that they had just realized that Carrie was a girl.
Oh crap! Thought Carrie, but she kept her cool and decided to appeal to a higher authority so she quickly sent up a prayer for help and guidance and a plea for knowledge on how to best handle this so she wouldn’t end up in an unmarked grave after being raped.
In the very act of praying, an idea came to her; THANK YOU!!! She shouted mentally upwards and then she again began to speak.
“I’m sure you two nice men are very busy and I really shouldn’t impose on you, and I am sorry that I’ve managed to upset you. I really didn’t mean any harm. If you could show me how to set the snares, I would be more than happy to share anything caught. I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to skin a rabbit and cook it. And I think I can also help you.”
Bobby spoke up “what do you think you can help us with?”
John also said “yeah, you’re just a little girl. Maybe in a couple years we could work us out a trade.”
Carrie blushed but was a tad relieved that they viewed her as too young and so she kept that in mind. “Well, I have some good notes on making fuel and I noticed that there are a couple things you could do to your still to make it more efficient.” She walked over to the still and ignored the stiffing of both John and Bobby, “like right here, you have a short pipe here, I think they call it a column or some call it a cracking tower; but if you were to make it taller, it would make the alcohol purer and be a better fuel. I tell you, I definitely see the wisdom of making your own fuel; gas prices have really gone through the roof, they are even higher than when Bush was president. And having a pure form of alcohol will give you better gas mileage. Can I show you my notes?” Carrie finished by putting an attempt at compete innocence and a hint of eagerness to please on her face.
It was the ‘purer alcohol’ that pushed the guys over to her side.
“OK, we’ll look at ‘em” John said.
“Great!” said Carrie and she walked over to them and stuck her right hand out “and my name is Carrie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” And she shook the hands of two very surprised men.
Carrie had found some pictures online about three different types of stills that she had saved, so she pulled out her little net-book and in no time at all, had the folder she had set up on stills open and began going through the saved documents. She found the pictures and opened them. (http://www.homedistiller.org/types.htm)
“See here is kinda what your still looks like, with the shorter column,” she said as she pointed to the first pictures. Then she scrolled down and pointed at the last pictures “this is what you want for a purer alcohol, see the longer column?”
Both John and Bobby read through the short article, taking turns since the screen was small and they had to lift it closer but by the time they were done, they both were nodding their heads.
“Yeah, that will work.” Said Bobby.
“We even have what we need around here,” John looked around “we could get this fixed up in no time at all. We even have a batch ready to distill.” John walked over to a five gallon bucket that was filled with a fermented mixture. “Which is why we had come down here to begin with.”
Carrie grinned big.
“Do you have anything on here about converting engines to run on homemade alcohol?” John asked. Because while they were really not making an alternative fuel, the guys were not stupid, they just had not really thought about making their own fuel and it sounded like a good idea.
“Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure I do because someday I want to buy a jeep and convert it so I can make my own fuel also.” Carrie took the net-book back and searched through her files. She knew she had saved something from Mother Earth News, ah, there it is she thought and opened the document. (http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me2.html)
She totally had them hooked now and they gladly showed her how to set snares and even showed her a few places she could place them that were not too far away. The afternoon passed with the still being rebuilt and producing its first batch of 95%+ proof alcohol. The guys had taken turns copying the notes from a few different documents that Carrie would pull up on her net book. They found that the pot they were using was a good one, solid stainless steel. And their water source was from a small spring on the property. They had hooked up a garden hose and so there was a constant gravity flow that cooled the condenser.
Carrie had a blast and helped them every step of the way, loving the fact that she was actually DOING what she had read about. They remade the ‘cracking tower’ and also found a better way to rework the condenser so that the water flowed over it more evenly and instead of it dripping on the ground, they rigged up some piping to divert back into the small creek that the spring fed. It made the area a lot less muddy.
She also learned that the two men were brothers who lived together now that their mom had died. They owned about 100 acres, of which she had stumbled onto the ‘back 40’ of and actually were making moonshine in their still for some extra cash. The still was their first attempt at making one and they had simply used the plans they had gotten from one of their friends. They hadn’t dared make a still while their mom was alive, she would have tanned their hides. John was the oldest at 25 and Bobby was younger at 23. They actually were pretty nice but they had been having some trouble over on the other side of their property with teenagers going out into one of the fields and partying and leaving a mess.
“You know, since you are making fuel, your still is legal. But you might want to check into all the laws of this state about it.” Carrie said.
John got thoughtful “well how ‘bout that, we’re legal, Bobby.”
Bobby snickered and said “don’t know what I’ll do, never been legal before.” Both men laughed.
Carrie’s net-book battery finally died that evening but the brothers had finished copying all the notes they wanted. Carries snares had netted two fat rabbits and since the still was on a propane burner, they decided to make a small fire, well away from the still, and roast the rabbits for supper. Bobby took off for awhile and came back with some potatoes and fixin’s for a salad in a small cooler. They washed the potatoes with water from the spring and after poking holes all over them, wrapped them in foil and stuck them in the coals of the fire, turning them every so often.
It was late when they shut the still down. They ended up with a nice batch of alcohol. The brothers sipped a bit and after they caught their breath, gave the thumbs up. Carrie’s eyes watered just breathing in the vapors of one of the bottles. The brothers had a small glass coke bottle, just 12 ounces, that they filled and gave to Carrie.
John said “you take this because you helped us make it and who knows, you might be able to use it for trade.”
“Well, I also could use it if I get a cut or scrape. I don’t have any rubbing alcohol and I think this stuff will kill any germs!” She laughed as she accepted the small bottle and carefully wrapped in one of her bandannas after making sure the lid was tight. She tucked it in the middle of her pack so that her clothing helped to protect it.
They were just finishing up their meal when Bobby wondered out loud “where are you going to sleep tonight, Carrie?”
“Well, if you guys don’t mind, can I just camp out here? I’ll leave first thing in the morning and won’t leave a mess.”
John thought for a few moments and then said “we have a hammock strung up on the back porch of the house, why don’t you sleep there? It’s gotta be more comfortable than the ground, even with your small bedroll. Besides there are a lot of snakes around here and I don’t think you’d like to wake up with one in bed with you.”
That of course led Carrie to tell them about the two skunks she woke up with once. But it was settled and Carrie softly swayed to sleep later that night in the hammock.
Having her right arm grabbed didn’t stop Carrie from swinger her left fist. And it was only after she connected to a hard stomach and the whoosh of air; that she realized it was Roger who had a hold of her.
“Why in the world would you scare me like that?” She demanded in a hushed whisper.
Roger struggled to catch his breath but did not let go of her arm. He held one finger up on his free hand and managed to croak out “Dang you hit hard.”
“Well it serves you right, sneaking up on me like that and grabbing me.” Carrie declared.
“You were gonna leave without saying good bye!” He complained.
“I left a good bye note for everyone. And I think you know why I preferred to not be alone with you…like we are right now.” She saw the gleam come into his eye “Oh no you don’t!”
But oh yes he did. A quick but firm kiss on the lips and then he stepped back…out of her range.
“Good bye for now. But you can be sure you’ll see me again someday.” Roger said and then he went back towards the house.
“So long … for now.” Carrie whispered to his retreating back with a grin on her face.
Later that day, Carrie was making good time and was long out of town; Roger and his family were talking about Carrie and Roger remembered the phone call she had made that first day. Checking his cell phone, he found that the number was still on his recent dialed list. He called it.
Traveling went well for Carrie for the next three weeks. She was making good time and finding out of the way places to camp at night. She had stopped twice to replenish her food supplies and she still had a pretty good amount of cash left. She was being as frugal as she could. She had hit a good stride, staying off the main roads and had even taken a ride from a couple of people. Only women though and they had to have a good vibe to them. She turned down many rides.
She would listen to the radio quite a bit. And so was aware of what was going on in the country and world. She knew that the martial law had been lifted and that the issue of turning in all guns had been sent to the Supreme Court who was due to issue a ruling within the next few days. Speculation was running wild with many people still protesting on both sides of the issue.
The rolling brown outs had turned into black outs and this has caused many to close up stores and other businesses earlier than usual. This left the streets emptier than usual and allowed Carrie to slip through the towns in the evenings or early mornings with no trouble.
But it wasn’t in a town that she found herself in trouble. One morning she was actually following a short cut on one of her maps, and totally by accident happened to run into a small illegal still operation. Carrie didn’t see anyone around and was curious about the still. She had heard about them from online, even read some of the sites where they were described as being used for an alternative fuel. However, she didn’t think this one was for fuel and then she ended up dawdling a tad too long.
Carrie could tell by the look in the eyes of a couple guys that walked into the small area, that she was gonna be in some big trouble if she didn’t think fast. Especially since both of them were carrying shotguns. So drawing on the advice of her dear Gramma; Carrie did the last thing the two men expected her to do.
“Howdy!” Carrie said with a big grin. “I was hoping someone would come by. I need some help.” And before the two guys could say anything, she continued “see I’m traveling through and was hoping to be able to do a bit of fishing and hunting to help feed myself. I have these small snares that I learned about on a website but I’ve never actually tried to set them before I set out. Earlier when I tried to set them, about two miles or so back that’a way” Carrie pointed towards where she had come from “I just couldn’t get the hang of it. And since I’ve not come to any place to fish, I figured I’d try the snare things again. Do you guys think could help me?” Carrie took a deep breath.
Now the two fella’s had curiosity written on their faces, but the anger was gone and Carrie didn’t think they were going to get violent.
“WELLLLL lookie here John, we’ve got us an intruder……one lookin’ to hunt on our land.”
“I got eyes in my head, Bobby; what are we gonna do about it?”
Carrie thought briefly about running but realized that like most predators, running would simply set them off and she wouldn’t be able to run fast with her pack. So she had to figure out how to make them NOT predators.
“Really sirs, I mean no harm. I really do need some help with the snares, it’s been a while since I had a hot meal and I was hoping to snare a rabbit for supper. I didn’t know I was on your property and I do apologize. I’ll leave and look for somewhere else to figure out how to work the snares. I know I should have done that before I left, but I ran out of time and had to leave in a hurry.”
Bobby and John seemed kinda shocked, it may have been because no one had really ever spoken so respectful to them or said so much so quickly or it may have been that they had just realized that Carrie was a girl.
Oh crap! Thought Carrie, but she kept her cool and decided to appeal to a higher authority so she quickly sent up a prayer for help and guidance and a plea for knowledge on how to best handle this so she wouldn’t end up in an unmarked grave after being raped.
In the very act of praying, an idea came to her; THANK YOU!!! She shouted mentally upwards and then she again began to speak.
“I’m sure you two nice men are very busy and I really shouldn’t impose on you, and I am sorry that I’ve managed to upset you. I really didn’t mean any harm. If you could show me how to set the snares, I would be more than happy to share anything caught. I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to skin a rabbit and cook it. And I think I can also help you.”
Bobby spoke up “what do you think you can help us with?”
John also said “yeah, you’re just a little girl. Maybe in a couple years we could work us out a trade.”
Carrie blushed but was a tad relieved that they viewed her as too young and so she kept that in mind. “Well, I have some good notes on making fuel and I noticed that there are a couple things you could do to your still to make it more efficient.” She walked over to the still and ignored the stiffing of both John and Bobby, “like right here, you have a short pipe here, I think they call it a column or some call it a cracking tower; but if you were to make it taller, it would make the alcohol purer and be a better fuel. I tell you, I definitely see the wisdom of making your own fuel; gas prices have really gone through the roof, they are even higher than when Bush was president. And having a pure form of alcohol will give you better gas mileage. Can I show you my notes?” Carrie finished by putting an attempt at compete innocence and a hint of eagerness to please on her face.
It was the ‘purer alcohol’ that pushed the guys over to her side.
“OK, we’ll look at ‘em” John said.
“Great!” said Carrie and she walked over to them and stuck her right hand out “and my name is Carrie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” And she shook the hands of two very surprised men.
Carrie had found some pictures online about three different types of stills that she had saved, so she pulled out her little net-book and in no time at all, had the folder she had set up on stills open and began going through the saved documents. She found the pictures and opened them. (http://www.homedistiller.org/types.htm)
“See here is kinda what your still looks like, with the shorter column,” she said as she pointed to the first pictures. Then she scrolled down and pointed at the last pictures “this is what you want for a purer alcohol, see the longer column?”
Both John and Bobby read through the short article, taking turns since the screen was small and they had to lift it closer but by the time they were done, they both were nodding their heads.
“Yeah, that will work.” Said Bobby.
“We even have what we need around here,” John looked around “we could get this fixed up in no time at all. We even have a batch ready to distill.” John walked over to a five gallon bucket that was filled with a fermented mixture. “Which is why we had come down here to begin with.”
Carrie grinned big.
“Do you have anything on here about converting engines to run on homemade alcohol?” John asked. Because while they were really not making an alternative fuel, the guys were not stupid, they just had not really thought about making their own fuel and it sounded like a good idea.
“Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure I do because someday I want to buy a jeep and convert it so I can make my own fuel also.” Carrie took the net-book back and searched through her files. She knew she had saved something from Mother Earth News, ah, there it is she thought and opened the document. (http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me2.html)
She totally had them hooked now and they gladly showed her how to set snares and even showed her a few places she could place them that were not too far away. The afternoon passed with the still being rebuilt and producing its first batch of 95%+ proof alcohol. The guys had taken turns copying the notes from a few different documents that Carrie would pull up on her net book. They found that the pot they were using was a good one, solid stainless steel. And their water source was from a small spring on the property. They had hooked up a garden hose and so there was a constant gravity flow that cooled the condenser.
Carrie had a blast and helped them every step of the way, loving the fact that she was actually DOING what she had read about. They remade the ‘cracking tower’ and also found a better way to rework the condenser so that the water flowed over it more evenly and instead of it dripping on the ground, they rigged up some piping to divert back into the small creek that the spring fed. It made the area a lot less muddy.
She also learned that the two men were brothers who lived together now that their mom had died. They owned about 100 acres, of which she had stumbled onto the ‘back 40’ of and actually were making moonshine in their still for some extra cash. The still was their first attempt at making one and they had simply used the plans they had gotten from one of their friends. They hadn’t dared make a still while their mom was alive, she would have tanned their hides. John was the oldest at 25 and Bobby was younger at 23. They actually were pretty nice but they had been having some trouble over on the other side of their property with teenagers going out into one of the fields and partying and leaving a mess.
“You know, since you are making fuel, your still is legal. But you might want to check into all the laws of this state about it.” Carrie said.
John got thoughtful “well how ‘bout that, we’re legal, Bobby.”
Bobby snickered and said “don’t know what I’ll do, never been legal before.” Both men laughed.
Carrie’s net-book battery finally died that evening but the brothers had finished copying all the notes they wanted. Carries snares had netted two fat rabbits and since the still was on a propane burner, they decided to make a small fire, well away from the still, and roast the rabbits for supper. Bobby took off for awhile and came back with some potatoes and fixin’s for a salad in a small cooler. They washed the potatoes with water from the spring and after poking holes all over them, wrapped them in foil and stuck them in the coals of the fire, turning them every so often.
It was late when they shut the still down. They ended up with a nice batch of alcohol. The brothers sipped a bit and after they caught their breath, gave the thumbs up. Carrie’s eyes watered just breathing in the vapors of one of the bottles. The brothers had a small glass coke bottle, just 12 ounces, that they filled and gave to Carrie.
John said “you take this because you helped us make it and who knows, you might be able to use it for trade.”
“Well, I also could use it if I get a cut or scrape. I don’t have any rubbing alcohol and I think this stuff will kill any germs!” She laughed as she accepted the small bottle and carefully wrapped in one of her bandannas after making sure the lid was tight. She tucked it in the middle of her pack so that her clothing helped to protect it.
They were just finishing up their meal when Bobby wondered out loud “where are you going to sleep tonight, Carrie?”
“Well, if you guys don’t mind, can I just camp out here? I’ll leave first thing in the morning and won’t leave a mess.”
John thought for a few moments and then said “we have a hammock strung up on the back porch of the house, why don’t you sleep there? It’s gotta be more comfortable than the ground, even with your small bedroll. Besides there are a lot of snakes around here and I don’t think you’d like to wake up with one in bed with you.”
That of course led Carrie to tell them about the two skunks she woke up with once. But it was settled and Carrie softly swayed to sleep later that night in the hammock.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A Place to Call Home -Fifteen
Fifteen
Nick and Roger left after breakfast to see for themselves how the town was doing and to check on the store. Mollie and Renee showed Carrie all their treasures since school was closed for the duration of the rioting. The local news reported that the sheriff was confident that the town would be back to normal within just a day or so.
Naomi declared a “girls day” with happy squeals from Mollie and Renee. At Carrie’s confused look, Mollie and Renee proceeded to explain to her what a “girls day” was.
“Ok a girls day is when the girls get to make all the plans and decisions. We basically get to do whatever we want.” Mollie began.
“As long as it’s legal” piped up Renee.
“Right. Sometimes we spend the day pampering ourselves with facials and manicures and just all those kinds of girly things. Sometimes we get to take our ‘Mad Money’ and go shopping for silly things.” Continued Molly.
“But sometimes we decide to do really cool stuff, like go 4 wheeling or hiking.” Added Renee.
Naomi cut in with “since Carrie is our guest, why don’t we let her decide what we will do today. We may be hampered because of all the foolishness going on out there; but there are plenty of things to do right here.”
“I don’t have any idea at all. You guys will have to decide. I’ll just go with the flow.”
So the rest of the day was spent doing a myriad of “girlie things” and Carrie had the time of her life.
Later that night, Carrie grabbed a moment to herself and pulled out her Gramma’s letters.
13 March 2002
Dear Carrie,
Don’t worry about your old Gramma, I’m doing fine. I got a clean bill of health from the doctor yesterday which is why I’m sending you this letter. My heart will still be going strong for years yet.
Your prayers were heard, dear. And thank you for them. Always remember that God will hear prayers that are sincere and come from a pure heart. It’s all about the heart-a-tude. We may mess up, but He will forgive us if our heart is right by Him. And it’s always good to pray for others. Don’t forget we have to work in harmony with our prayers also. It doesn’t do much good if we pray for help and then don’t help ourselves as much as we can. He fills those gaps that we can’t.
I’ve got lots of plants started for the garden; the green house is pretty near to over flowing. I think I’m going to have to give some away or make the garden bigger.
I had to kill a coyote last night; he was trying to get to the rabbits. I couldn’t let him. No one should let an innocent one get hurt if they can stop it. We have a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Mrs. Henders sent over some of her famous strawberry jam for you. It’s in the cupboard waiting for your next visit. And you better sit down for this; she even sealed the recipe in an envelope and made me promise to not open it. She is passing it on to you dear. I know, I’m shocked too. Aren’t you glad you are sitting down?
Ok dear. I’m going to get this in the mail. And no I still don’t have that ‘internet thingy’ and no email. Those things are for you young ones. Besides you would have to show me how all that works.
Much love and hugs,
Gramma
Carrie went back out to the kitchen where everyone had gathered since Roger and Nick had finally gotten back. There was a stack of boxes in the den from the store. They were talking about it looked like someone had tried to break in to the store sometime that previous night but despite the effort, the store was still secure. They had gone and tried to talk to the sheriff but no one knew just where he was since he had been roving the town attempting to restore order. And it seems like once he brought out his shotgun and put two men in the hospital; order seemed to slowly begin to come into focus for the town. The national news also seemed to be talking about how well the new NSA was in quashing the riots and how martial law was expected to be lifted by the end of the week.
Naomi brought up the subject of what Carrie was going to do. She, in her ever so loving yet demanding way; ‘suggested’ that Carrie stay with them until martial law was lifted and order restored so that she would at least have a better chance of having less trouble on her way.
Roger volunteered to drive her to her Gramma’s and Carrie turned white at the suggestion, knowing she really did not need to be alone with Roger anymore! So she politely turned Roger down on his offer but did accept the offer to stay until the end of the week, which was three days; but made no commitment to stay any longer no matter if the martial law was lifted or not. But she also insisted that she carry her weight.
The next three days flew by as Carrie learned a lot that week and while she attempted to steer clear of Roger, it seemed like his oblivious family was just as intent to throw them together. She ended up helping him cut and stack firewood, reopen the store, and since the girls were still not able to go to school; Roger ended up homeschooling them and Carrie.
Carrie got her time in with the girls and taught them some of the things she had learned online about self defense. And while her ways were not perfect, they were effective. Mollie and Renee took it upon themselves to practice on Roger who became paranoid with his sisters stalking him all the time. They became fans of Carrie's knife holder and between the three of them fashioned holders for Mollie and Renee.
Carrie was definitely developing feelings for Roger but kept them to herself since she knew she would be leaving again really soon. She was ruthless with herself and squashed them down. Roger however, was not cooperating.
Friday evening, after dinner; Carrie slipped outside for some fresh air. While she was very comfortable around the family (with the exception of Roger and only then due to raging hormones); sometimes she still felt the need for some alone time.
She had taken to going to back corner of the back yard and looking off into the surrounding hills and watching the stars come out. She had been there for only about 15 minutes when she heard someone coming, thinking it was Mollie since Mollie had come out there to watch the stars with her for the last two nights, she didn’t turn around. But she was surprised when she felt an arm slid across her shoulders in a sideways hug and when she opened her mouth to protest, Roger slipped a Linden’s truffle into her mouth.
Thoroughly bribed by the chocolate, Carrie allowed herself to feel the warmth of Roger’s arm and they both stood there and watched the stars come out. Carrie savored the creamy chocolate slowly and tried to concentrate on that instead of the increasing of her pulse.
After the last bit of chocolate had melted, Carrie turned to Roger and started to say “Thank….” But was cut off by him once again kissing her. But this kiss was no soft and gentle kiss. This was a kiss of a man who was staking his claim on his woman. Now Carrie felt like she was the chocolate truffle that was slowly melting.
Finally Roger allowed Carrie to come up for a breath of air; but before he could kiss her again. She managed to get out “this really is not a good idea…..I mean….you kiss good, but we should not be kissing…. I’m going to be gone soon and I really don’t have time for …….oh my God…you do make me feel so good…………..but, really…..” Roger shut her up again.
Who knows what may have happened if Naomi hadn’t taken that moment to call outside from the door “Roger? Did you find Carrie? Roger!”
Carrie blushed in the starlight and pulled herself away from Roger. She was so thankful that the shed hid them from the sight of Naomi.
“Yeah mom” Roger hollered back “we are coming right now.” Roger than said to Carrie “you go ahead, I’ll be in….in a moment or two.” Carrie fled to the house. Her mind was made up, it was time to go!
She was in the girls’ bedroom when Roger came in and was confronted by his mom. “Just what do you think you are doing?” she demanded in a hushed but serious tone.
Roger straightened up and said “I’m going to marry her someday Mom. No doubt about it.”
“That may or may not be; but you’ve no right to her right now! She’s only 14 years old and you are 18. The age difference won’t be a problem when you are older but it IS a problem right now and I won’t have you messing with that girls feelings.”
Roger did have the grace to looked somewhat abashed but he insisted “I will not do anything to harm her. I really have fallen for her. But I’ll keep my distance, for now.”
Later that night as Carrie and Mollie were talking in bed, Carrie told Mollie that she was leaving in the morning. They talked about many things and promised each other to stay in touch. Since Carrie didn’t know what her address would be, Mollie wrote down her address and phone number. Carrie slid into her packed and ready bag. All she would have to do in the morning was change real quick and put her sleeping clothes in her backpack, slip on her shoes, and go. She even had her tooth brush ready so she could also just slip that into her bag after she was done brushing her teeth. Her water bottles were full and she had enough food to last at least a week and if she was careful, two. She especially loved the beef jerky that Roger had insisted she pack.
“Mollie I want you to know that I feel so blessed to have gotten to know you and your family. I think of you as the sister I never had.” Both girls cried over the loss they knew was coming but each encouraged the other to do what they knew was the right thing to do.
“I’m going to miss you so much! But I know you have to go find your Gramma! Gramma’s are special. And I promise to do my best to keep practicing the things you taught me until I can flip Roger before he knows I’m there!”
Both girls giggled at the picture that came to their minds. Renee slept through it all.
The next morning, Carrie slid a folded piece of paper on the counter in front of the coffee maker since she knew that is the first place anyone in that house went to because the rule was -first one up makes the coffee; and then slipped out of the house. The eastern horizon was just barely beginning to lighten up.
She had just slipped around the corner of the garage towards the road when someone stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her right arm.
Nick and Roger left after breakfast to see for themselves how the town was doing and to check on the store. Mollie and Renee showed Carrie all their treasures since school was closed for the duration of the rioting. The local news reported that the sheriff was confident that the town would be back to normal within just a day or so.
Naomi declared a “girls day” with happy squeals from Mollie and Renee. At Carrie’s confused look, Mollie and Renee proceeded to explain to her what a “girls day” was.
“Ok a girls day is when the girls get to make all the plans and decisions. We basically get to do whatever we want.” Mollie began.
“As long as it’s legal” piped up Renee.
“Right. Sometimes we spend the day pampering ourselves with facials and manicures and just all those kinds of girly things. Sometimes we get to take our ‘Mad Money’ and go shopping for silly things.” Continued Molly.
“But sometimes we decide to do really cool stuff, like go 4 wheeling or hiking.” Added Renee.
Naomi cut in with “since Carrie is our guest, why don’t we let her decide what we will do today. We may be hampered because of all the foolishness going on out there; but there are plenty of things to do right here.”
“I don’t have any idea at all. You guys will have to decide. I’ll just go with the flow.”
So the rest of the day was spent doing a myriad of “girlie things” and Carrie had the time of her life.
Later that night, Carrie grabbed a moment to herself and pulled out her Gramma’s letters.
13 March 2002
Dear Carrie,
Don’t worry about your old Gramma, I’m doing fine. I got a clean bill of health from the doctor yesterday which is why I’m sending you this letter. My heart will still be going strong for years yet.
Your prayers were heard, dear. And thank you for them. Always remember that God will hear prayers that are sincere and come from a pure heart. It’s all about the heart-a-tude. We may mess up, but He will forgive us if our heart is right by Him. And it’s always good to pray for others. Don’t forget we have to work in harmony with our prayers also. It doesn’t do much good if we pray for help and then don’t help ourselves as much as we can. He fills those gaps that we can’t.
I’ve got lots of plants started for the garden; the green house is pretty near to over flowing. I think I’m going to have to give some away or make the garden bigger.
I had to kill a coyote last night; he was trying to get to the rabbits. I couldn’t let him. No one should let an innocent one get hurt if they can stop it. We have a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Mrs. Henders sent over some of her famous strawberry jam for you. It’s in the cupboard waiting for your next visit. And you better sit down for this; she even sealed the recipe in an envelope and made me promise to not open it. She is passing it on to you dear. I know, I’m shocked too. Aren’t you glad you are sitting down?
Ok dear. I’m going to get this in the mail. And no I still don’t have that ‘internet thingy’ and no email. Those things are for you young ones. Besides you would have to show me how all that works.
Much love and hugs,
Gramma
Carrie went back out to the kitchen where everyone had gathered since Roger and Nick had finally gotten back. There was a stack of boxes in the den from the store. They were talking about it looked like someone had tried to break in to the store sometime that previous night but despite the effort, the store was still secure. They had gone and tried to talk to the sheriff but no one knew just where he was since he had been roving the town attempting to restore order. And it seems like once he brought out his shotgun and put two men in the hospital; order seemed to slowly begin to come into focus for the town. The national news also seemed to be talking about how well the new NSA was in quashing the riots and how martial law was expected to be lifted by the end of the week.
Naomi brought up the subject of what Carrie was going to do. She, in her ever so loving yet demanding way; ‘suggested’ that Carrie stay with them until martial law was lifted and order restored so that she would at least have a better chance of having less trouble on her way.
Roger volunteered to drive her to her Gramma’s and Carrie turned white at the suggestion, knowing she really did not need to be alone with Roger anymore! So she politely turned Roger down on his offer but did accept the offer to stay until the end of the week, which was three days; but made no commitment to stay any longer no matter if the martial law was lifted or not. But she also insisted that she carry her weight.
The next three days flew by as Carrie learned a lot that week and while she attempted to steer clear of Roger, it seemed like his oblivious family was just as intent to throw them together. She ended up helping him cut and stack firewood, reopen the store, and since the girls were still not able to go to school; Roger ended up homeschooling them and Carrie.
Carrie got her time in with the girls and taught them some of the things she had learned online about self defense. And while her ways were not perfect, they were effective. Mollie and Renee took it upon themselves to practice on Roger who became paranoid with his sisters stalking him all the time. They became fans of Carrie's knife holder and between the three of them fashioned holders for Mollie and Renee.
Carrie was definitely developing feelings for Roger but kept them to herself since she knew she would be leaving again really soon. She was ruthless with herself and squashed them down. Roger however, was not cooperating.
Friday evening, after dinner; Carrie slipped outside for some fresh air. While she was very comfortable around the family (with the exception of Roger and only then due to raging hormones); sometimes she still felt the need for some alone time.
She had taken to going to back corner of the back yard and looking off into the surrounding hills and watching the stars come out. She had been there for only about 15 minutes when she heard someone coming, thinking it was Mollie since Mollie had come out there to watch the stars with her for the last two nights, she didn’t turn around. But she was surprised when she felt an arm slid across her shoulders in a sideways hug and when she opened her mouth to protest, Roger slipped a Linden’s truffle into her mouth.
Thoroughly bribed by the chocolate, Carrie allowed herself to feel the warmth of Roger’s arm and they both stood there and watched the stars come out. Carrie savored the creamy chocolate slowly and tried to concentrate on that instead of the increasing of her pulse.
After the last bit of chocolate had melted, Carrie turned to Roger and started to say “Thank….” But was cut off by him once again kissing her. But this kiss was no soft and gentle kiss. This was a kiss of a man who was staking his claim on his woman. Now Carrie felt like she was the chocolate truffle that was slowly melting.
Finally Roger allowed Carrie to come up for a breath of air; but before he could kiss her again. She managed to get out “this really is not a good idea…..I mean….you kiss good, but we should not be kissing…. I’m going to be gone soon and I really don’t have time for …….oh my God…you do make me feel so good…………..but, really…..” Roger shut her up again.
Who knows what may have happened if Naomi hadn’t taken that moment to call outside from the door “Roger? Did you find Carrie? Roger!”
Carrie blushed in the starlight and pulled herself away from Roger. She was so thankful that the shed hid them from the sight of Naomi.
“Yeah mom” Roger hollered back “we are coming right now.” Roger than said to Carrie “you go ahead, I’ll be in….in a moment or two.” Carrie fled to the house. Her mind was made up, it was time to go!
She was in the girls’ bedroom when Roger came in and was confronted by his mom. “Just what do you think you are doing?” she demanded in a hushed but serious tone.
Roger straightened up and said “I’m going to marry her someday Mom. No doubt about it.”
“That may or may not be; but you’ve no right to her right now! She’s only 14 years old and you are 18. The age difference won’t be a problem when you are older but it IS a problem right now and I won’t have you messing with that girls feelings.”
Roger did have the grace to looked somewhat abashed but he insisted “I will not do anything to harm her. I really have fallen for her. But I’ll keep my distance, for now.”
Later that night as Carrie and Mollie were talking in bed, Carrie told Mollie that she was leaving in the morning. They talked about many things and promised each other to stay in touch. Since Carrie didn’t know what her address would be, Mollie wrote down her address and phone number. Carrie slid into her packed and ready bag. All she would have to do in the morning was change real quick and put her sleeping clothes in her backpack, slip on her shoes, and go. She even had her tooth brush ready so she could also just slip that into her bag after she was done brushing her teeth. Her water bottles were full and she had enough food to last at least a week and if she was careful, two. She especially loved the beef jerky that Roger had insisted she pack.
“Mollie I want you to know that I feel so blessed to have gotten to know you and your family. I think of you as the sister I never had.” Both girls cried over the loss they knew was coming but each encouraged the other to do what they knew was the right thing to do.
“I’m going to miss you so much! But I know you have to go find your Gramma! Gramma’s are special. And I promise to do my best to keep practicing the things you taught me until I can flip Roger before he knows I’m there!”
Both girls giggled at the picture that came to their minds. Renee slept through it all.
The next morning, Carrie slid a folded piece of paper on the counter in front of the coffee maker since she knew that is the first place anyone in that house went to because the rule was -first one up makes the coffee; and then slipped out of the house. The eastern horizon was just barely beginning to lighten up.
She had just slipped around the corner of the garage towards the road when someone stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her right arm.
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