Alone (18 page)

As the sky darkened, the wind began to howl. The snow fell so heavily that Ralph was concerned that his makeshift roof would collapse. He used several large pieces of wood to prop up the sagging branches. The small amount of warmth from the fire caused some of the snow to melt and drip into the hole. Ralph sat his cup beneath one of these drips and caught the falling water. Through that long night, Ralph slept in fits and starts. He couldn’t afford to let the fire die out, so was forced to continually feed a small amount of wood to it.

Daybreak brought no relief. The snow and wind continued to howl. Ralph pulled a small ball of twine from his backpack and tied one end to a large branch. He held the other end and struggled out of the hole. Once he was out in the wind, he could feel it bite through his clothing. He walked to the end of the string and relieved himself. As he walked back, he searched for any dead wood he could find. Anything that may have been lying on the ground was covered by snow. He broke several dead branches from the trees he passed. He gathered as much wood as he could and then pushed it into the hole. Jason flattened his ears against the wind and Ralph pushed him into the hole.

“You stay there boy.” Ralph shouted. “Stay!”

It was not enough wood to last and Ralph continued to search for more. Finally he knew that he had gotten all of the available branches within the limits of the twine area. He looked around thru the biting snow and spied a large tree just within his vision. He untied the string and walked slowly to the tree. Once there, he retied the string. Looking back, he could barely make out his shelter. He carved an arrow pointing in its direction in the bark of the tree. He then walked to the limits of the string and gathered more wood.

When he finally made it back to his shelter, Jason climbed all over him in joy. He could barely feel his fingers and his face was stinging. He piled the small fire high and warmed himself. After the shivering stopped, Ralph surveyed his situation.

“Jason, old buddy, we don’t have any food. We can melt snow for water. If this keeps up much longer, we won’t have any more wood to burn. Since there is not a thing we can do about it, I suggest we try to sleep.”

Jason had apparently come to the same conclusion, because he was already drifting off to sleep. Ralph chuckled and placed one of the largest logs he had on the fire.

“Hopefully, this will burn awhile and I can get some rest.”

With that thought, Ralph fell asleep. It was not a deep sleep and he woke several times. When he was asleep, strange dreams filled his head.

On the third day in the hole, they ran out of firewood. They spent the night huddled together for warmth and morning brought a clear sky and no more snow. Ralph dug his way out of the shelter and looked around.

Jason quickly learned to let Ralph break the trail. Even then, Jason struggled thru Ralph’s path. Ralph quickly tired and his legs began to ache. He was constantly fighting the snow and it quickly wore him out. He had not eaten for 2 days and didn’t have the strength he needed. They broke frequently to rest. Ralph’s clothing became soaked and he was chilled to the bone. After what seemed like forever, they broke out of the woods and into a meadow. The bright sunshine glinted from the fresh snow and it looked like they were crossing a field of diamonds. Ralph recognized the landscape and knew that they were getting closer to home. By the time the sky was darkening, Ralph stumbled to the stockade. He got to the house and quickly pulled the soaking clothes off. Shivering in the cold, he slowly made his way into the bathroom and climbed into the shower. With the water on cold, he gradually increased the temperature. The water stung but slowly warmth began to creep back into him. When he finished, steam filled the bathroom. He quickly dressed and started a large fire. He cooked a huge mound of food and he and Jason piled into it. By the time he was stuffed, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He stumbled into the living room and dropped on the couch by the fire. Jason climbed beside him and both drifted off to sleep. Several massive snowstorms racked the area that year. Ralph learned his lesson and was very careful to watch the weather whenever he was away from home.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

At last the snows melted and the days grew warmer. During that spring, Ralph began to rely more and more on the horses to get around. He rode them regularly and was careful to ride each one to keep them used to the idea of someone on them. The truck had developed an engine problem and he couldn’t figure out how to fix it. During a visit to the local car lot, he found that most of the cars had flat tires and none would start. Every battery was dead. It didn’t seem that critical to try and get one started, so he just left them there. Jason padded along beside him as they headed home.

“We’ve retreated back more than one hundred years boy.” Ralph said as they walked along.

“Back to the days when horses were the most important means of transportation. I’m sure we will slip farter back than that before it’s all over.”

Jason merely glanced up and then dropped his gaze. He would miss riding in cars, but they had always been a mystery to him.

In his younger days, Jason would have roamed ahead, sniffing and searching. Since the day when the lions attacked, he had preferred to stay close to Ralph whenever they were out.

Ralph unconsciously dropped his hand to gently touch the top of Jason’s head. He did this frequently, even though he was not aware of it. They both were continually checking to make sure the other was all right. They also continually scanned the surround area. Ralph would even walk backwards and scan they way they had come. He kept the shotgun at ready and was always alert. Several times they had been surprised by animals crashing through the undergrowth and once they had walked upon a mountain lion that had just made a kill. They had been searching one of the area farms for anything useful. Ralph checked each house they came to because you could never tell what you may find. On this particular farm, Ralph had discovered a still. It had been located in a back room of a barn. When Ralph discovered the padlocked door, his curiosity had overwhelmed him and he made short work of the door. Stepping into the small room, he found the still occupying the center of the floor. Stacked on shelves behind the still, were hundreds of bottles of clear liquid. Ralph picked one at random and unscrewed the lid. The smell of alcohol filled the room. Ralph was not a drinker, but he bet the stuff would come in handy for other things. For one, it should be a good disinfectant and would probably burn like gas. He resealed the jar and carried it outside with him. He walked away and entered an open field. The field was covered in tall weeds and saplings. Jason was bouncing around because he thought Ralph had something to eat. Ralph laughed.

“I don’t have anything for you, silly.”

He was thinking about the still and didn’t hear the noises until he stepped into a small area that had been trampled. There, not five feet away, stood a large mountain lion. It had a small antelope clutched in its jaws and it crouched and growled at Ralph. Jason growled back and Ralph whispered “Quiet!.”

The cougar took one last look at them and then with a mighty bound was gone, the antelope still clutched in its jaws. Ralph had considered taking a drink from the jar he carried but instead he sat down and waited for his heart to stop racing. After that, he was more diligent in paying attention.

Ralph was always aware that there would come a time when guns would be useless. Sooner or later all his ammo would be used or unusable. He decided to see what he could do to make weapons that would not become obsolete. He decided on a bow for his main weapon. He had several compound bows, but they were complicated and hard to repair if anything went wrong. Since his very survival may depend on his weapon, he wanted something he could trust.

One morning, he said, “Jason, how about a ride?”

Jason, having not heard that in a long time, at first looked at him suspiciously. Then he bounded to his feet barking. Several other dogs ran in to see what was going on, but upon seeing nothing, lost interest and left.

“Come on old buddy, let’s go!” Ralph said as he opened the front door.

Together they walked across the yard and Ralph hitched a small trailer to the tractor. He climbed on the tractor and looked down at Jason. Jason was looking around for the truck.

“I know it’s not the same as you are used to, but it’s the best we can do now.” Ralph said.

Jason stared for another minute and then leapt into the small trailer.

Ralph started the tractor and headed out of the compound. He secured the gate behind him and drove down the road as fast as the tractor would go. Jason, sitting in the wagon, at first wasn’t sure what to make of it, but as the wind streamed across his face, he barked joyfully and settled down to enjoy the ride.

As he started, the feeling of terrific speed almost overwhelmed Ralph.

“Wooo boy!!! We’re really moving now!” he shouted to Jason.

Jason, with his ears flapping in the wind seemed to grin back at him. However, it was a relatively short time before the feeling of speed was replaced with the feeling of creeping along. The tractor was fast, compared to a horse, but not compared to a truck. Somewhat mollified, Ralph and Jason settled down for a long trip.

Ralph headed out of town and headed to the next town with a library. With the destruction of the town by fire, Ralph had been forced into journeying farther and farther from home to get supplies. He wanted to see if he could find some books on bow making and blacksmithing. After several hours of travel, they reached a small town and searched around for the library. Grass and weeds had invaded the roadway and sprouted from every crack and pile of wind borne debris.

“Jason, in a few more years, you won’t even be able to tell where the road was.”

Searching for the library, they discovered a small pickup at a gas station. The pickup was inside one of the service bays and had been up on a lift. The pressure had leaked off and the lift had lowered until it struck a metal drum. There it had remained. With the tires off of the ground, they were low in pressure but had not dry rotted. Ralph used an old bicycle pump and re inflated them.

He found a brand new battery that had not been filled and added water. The truck was a four speed and when he had succeeded in lowering the lift, he pushed the truck out of the service bay. He tied a rope to the truck and unhitched the trailer from the tractor. He filled the gas tank from a couple of cans he had in the trailer. Then he pulled the truck to the highest hill he could find. He released the truck and moved the tractor off the road.

“Come on Jason.” He said “Let’s have a real ride”

Jason bounded into the truck and Ralph followed. Ralph released the emergency brake and depressed the clutch. With his left leg outside, he pushed with all his might. The pick up slowly began to roll. Ralph pulled his leg in and slammed the door. Jason was looking at him as if to say, “You’ve got to be kidding. The tractor was faster than this.”

‘I know boy. Just give it a little time.” Ralph laughed.

Slowly the truck rolled down the small hill. Faster and faster it began to go, picking up momentum as it rolled. When he felt the speed was right, Ralph hollered, “Here we go!”

He turned the ignition on and put the truck in first gear. With a grin, he released the clutch. The truck shimmied and shook and then suddenly the engine roared to life.

“I told you.”

Jason barked with joy and Ralph gently increased speed until they were cruising down the highway. Jason stuck his head out of the window and his ears flopped in the wind. He opened his mouth and his tongue danced from side to side.

“Ye Haw!” Ralph shouted as they headed down the road.

After riding horses and then the tractor, Ralph felt as if he were flying. Several times he decided to slow down only to realize that he was only going 25 miles an hour.

Ralph and Jason reached the next large town and quickly found the local library. The front door was unlocked and they cautiously headed inside. In a very short time, Ralph had piled a large amount of books onto a library cart and had pushed them to the front door. The pick up sat outside idling. Ralph was afraid to shut the engine down because it may not start again. He moved the pick up truck to the front door by driving up the steps. He jumped out and quickly transferred the books into the bed of the truck. Jason climbed into the cab and Ralph quickly followed.

“OK, lets head home.”

By the time they drove to the stockade at home, the small truck was sputtering and missing. Ralph managed to open the gate and get the truck inside before the engine died.

“Crap.” He said looking at the now useless vehicle. “Crap. I wanted to use this to get to the tractor and bring it back.” He said walking around the hulk.

“Oh well.”

Ralph carried the books into the house, opened the gate again and pushed the truck out of the fenced in area. He made sure it was away from the wall and out of the way. He hurried back to the gate and closed it. Jason had spent the entire time standing in the open gate and studying the surrounding countryside.

“Come on buddy.” Ralph said as they headed to the house.

“Let’s get something to eat and have a look at those books.”

Jason perked up when he heard the word eat, but so did every other dog in the area. They all ran to the rear of the house and stood quivering with excitement, waiting for their meal.

Ralph studied the books over the next month and gingerly began experimenting on building a bow. He decided on trying to build a longbow. The type of bow was known as a recurve. He broke several of his first attempts. At last he was able to produce a working model. He had used several different types of wood and the most successful had several different types of wood laminated together. With the bow finished he attempted to make his own arrows but quickly gave up. With the sporting good stores filled with aluminum arrows, it wasn’t worth the trouble.