Second Chances (102 page)

“You are doing production runs?” Anne asked.

“Yes, but we only have so much material to go around. Sure we've got plenty of polyester yarn, but the wool and cotton is limited. With the cotton, very limited. So I'm trying not to produce more than what we need.”

“I see,” Anne said. “And with the kids growing like weeds, we need to get them new clothes practically every month it seems,” she said, making a face. Some of the teens were the worst. Once they hit puberty, some shot up an inch or two every couple of weeks. She couldn't keep Kamerin in jeans; the kid just kept growing.

“It's not just the clothes, it's the shoes too,” Selma complained, waving her hands in distress. “I am not cut out for leather. Honestly,” she shook her head vehemently no. “Rozerita worked in a tannery, but she didn't do cobbling. We need that,” Selma said. “She and I are doing what we can, but it's hard.”

“That's why we've been having issues with footwear?” Anne asked. Selma made a face. “Selma! Why didn't you tell me! I could have gotten you some help! We've been around all winter...the kids could pick up some of the slack on the basic chores. I've got some people doing make work! They could help!”

“I know. But handling that is a skill, in some ways an art. You have to shave the leather just right, punch the holes, stitch, work it...” the frustrated woman sighed. “And if we lose Rozerita...”

“What do you mean?” Anne asked, suddenly confused. “Loose her...is she sick?” she asked.

“No...” Selma sighed and ran a hand through her black hair and then rubbed her temples. “Well, you might as well know, but this doesn't go further,” she said.

Anne nodded. She'd had her share of gossip.

“Rozerita's been talking to a guy in Dunn's fortress. She's not comfortable here.”

“Why not?”

“Memories of Mateo,” Selma said softly.

Anne nodded slowly. “Oh,” she murmured. She frowned thoughtfully, looking away. In a way she couldn't blame the woman, despite having the other kids being in a place that reminded her of her son's death...and the threat of losing another child...No, she couldn't blame her.

“She's got a guy talking with her in Spanish. A regular Don Juan. He and that colonel guy have been after her to move to them in the spring. If spring ever comes around,” she said, shaking her head.

“She's going to just uproot her entire family and head south? How? Oh, with Paul?”

Selma nodded. It's a problem though. She's been trying to sell the idea to the kids and some aren't buying it. Miguel is 10 now; he wants to stay. Ruby is interested in seeing the boys there,” she rolled her eyes. Anne snorted. “Fernando and Ricardo Junior are too young to care. But...” she sighed.

“What is the colonel telling her? Is he trying to steal her? Offer her perks or something?”

“That's just it. He claims everything is the same or better there. She'd be with people from her own culture, that sort of thing. She wouldn't feel so alone.”

“Ah.”

“But...on the other hand she doesn't want to offend Mitch. He saved them. He couldn't save Ricardo or Mateo, but he saved the rest of the family. She doesn't want to appear ungrateful.”

“I'll talk to Mitch,” Anne said slowly. “I'm not sure about losing her skills though,” she said.

“That's an issue too. I think we can get by without it. Maybe import the leather products? Dunn's got a good setup, he's planning on exporting a lot more this year. We don't need to produce everything here,” Selma said. “It doesn't have to be all on us. A lot of people outside of...” she waved a hand to indicate the base. “...sort of resent that.”

“I'll talk to Mitch,” Anne said. “People should be allowed to follow their heart. He'll understand that part. She should be aware though, the grass may not be so green on the other side,” Anne warned, holding a finger up. Selma nodded grimly. “And getting to Dunn's fortress could be hazardous. She has to consider that too.”

“I think she's thought about that part. But since Paul's been making regular runs...”

“He was. He's not at all thrilled about it though. Dunn's a piece of work.”

“Oh.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Anne said. “Focus on the critical stuff. Boots for one. Don't worry about fashion. Socks are important too I suppose. I do know we need the boots. I'll shift some schedules and find you some help. They won't be experienced, but they will be able to help to some degree,” Anne said.

“Thanks Anne,” Selma said.

------*------

Anne was careful to brief Mitch with Sandra present. He scowled, not at all happy losing the Estaban family to Dunn. Nor did he like what had been going on behind his back. “Look Mitch, I think to some degree she's right. So is Dunn,” Anne said.

Mitch frowned, crossing his arms. “Continue,” he said.

“Dunn's people are good at leather craft. They have all that meat, all those hides. Their people are great cobblers. She wants to go there, to be with her own people. We can't tell her no.”

“True,” Sandra said, nodding. She eyed her husband. “This is a free community. People aren't slaves,” she said. He nodded.

“I've been involved in some of the leather crafting from time to time. It's dirty, smelly business. I say let Dunn and his people have it.”

“I'm...”

“Mitch! We can't do everything!” Anne said, finally exasperated.

Mitch held up a hand before she could continue. “That's not what I was going to say,” he said. “People do have the right to leave if they wish,” he said, nodding to his wife. “But...” He frowned, collecting his thoughts. “What I don't like is Dunn seducing her. That bothers the hell out of me. She is my friend, and I don't like it. But, you are right, she has to follow her heart and learn, even if it is the hard way,” he said.

“It might be different for her. She's lonely here, Mitch,” Sandra said softly. He looked at her.

“I...wasn't aware of that.”

“She feels isolated. There are only a couple people who speak Spanish here. Miguel Santos is one. I know he and little Miguel are friends, but Santos is with Tia so...”

Mitch waved the gossip aside. “That's not all of it. I'm staying out of that sort of drama. Not my business. I don't like the seduction, the promises...but whatever. No, I don't like giving Dunn a leg up. Giving that bastard anything he can turn around and use against us,” Mitch growled. “I don't like being dependent on him at all for anything.”

“I don't like him either,” Anne admitted. “But I look at it this way. He's not going to be around forever. He's living in a dangerous area, and he's a prick. Eventually he's going to slip up or piss the wrong person off.”

“Everyone can cool their jets about it right now,” Sandra said. They turned to look at her. She smiled a half smile. “No one is going anywhere just yet. We still have three feet of snow on the ground. Piotr said we may get more snow. Until then there is time for her to change her mind,” she said.

Anne nodded and turned to Mitch. “That's true.”

Mitch shrugged. “That's fine. I suggest you work with Dunn's wife, Ciara. Put in a test order for leather goods. Belts, whatever. See what they can do.”

“They don't have the metal for buckles...oh wait, that junkyard. I guess they do for now,” Anne mused. Mitch nodded.

“You are right; we don't have to do everything. See if someone will be her understudy. That way we'll have the hides we produce tanned and not wasted. We can look into exporting them or finding a cobbler or whatever later,” Mitch said.

“Again, we've got time,” Sandra said. The other two people nodded.

------*------

With Mitch's supposed blessing, Rozerita hesitantly approached Paul for transport. Paul looked at her for a long moment, long enough for her to feel uncomfortable. “Lady, you really don't know what you are getting into,” he warned her.

She frowned. He pulled out his tablet and tried to show her images of Dunn's fortress. At first she wasn't interested, but then when he showed her some of the people she became intrigued. “Is Juan Ortez in there?”

He shrugged. “I don't know many of the names to go with the faces. I think you met Dunn right?” he asked, pointing Dunn out. She nodded. “He was here so I suppose you met him. Here are a few of the others I know,” he said, pointing out the Salazar family including young Franco. She cooed over the image of the baby. “So much like little Ricardo at that age,” she murmured.

Paul pointed out Ciara and a few of the others he knew by sight. She nodded. “Can I have a copy of these?” She asked.

“I didn't dissuade you, did I?” he asked with a sigh. She shrugged. “Fine,” he said. He showed her where the images were on the net so she could access them later. She went off smiling and excited to try to puzzle out which male was Juan.

“Didn't work,” Sam grunted.

“Nope,” Paul drawled, drumming his fingers. “It didn't,” he said. He heaved a heavy sigh. “Looks like one of us will have the Estabans as hitchhikers,” he said.

“You. I'm headed north first. Local work first, I'm sticking close to home,” Sam said.

“Hell. The long road is going to need servicing just as bad,” Paul grumbled.

“Yeah, but we run trucks to Iron Village and around here more often, which means more wear and tear,” Sam said. Paul nodded grudgingly. “And these trucks are just as loaded as yours. Quit your bitching, I'll see what I can do after I work on the Copper Town road. Maybe I'll get to East; I don't know. This year I'm not going further. Dunn and the rest can kiss my fat hairy ass,” Sam said.

“I'll take your word on the hairy part,” Paul quipped. Sam opened his mouth, then closed it and glowered at his friend. Paul snorted as he got to his feet. “Well, we're still stuck here, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit on my ass for much longer. I'm driving Frances crazy. So, I'm going to go pass on the nuttiness and go drive Lisa crazy.”

“Doing what?”

“Run maintenance on the trucks again,” Paul said. “Might as well get it done in the garage where we have access to the machine shops. It's a hell of a lot easier than in the field. I'm not looking forward to the transmission tear down though. Coming?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, heaving a sigh. “I suppose,” he drawled, getting to his feet. He followed Paul out.

------*------

When Piotr reported a high pressure zone moving inland the news was happily greeted. Southern communities like Crash Town, the Falklands and Dunn's fortress had already thawed out. Now it was everyone else's turn to finally get the warmth of spring going.

The high seemed to melt the snow and thaw the ground overnight. In days the white snow was gone, replaced with puddles and late blooming sprouts. Once Piotr was certain there would be no further blizzards, Ivan and a very pregnant Hejira swung into action. They chased out a drafted crew to the fields and started ploughing and planting in earnest while also agitating Mitch to expand the perimeter once again. Vance and Brian, however, had planned other projects with Sam, mainly paving all the roads on the interior and adding drainage so that was out. They had to make do with the fields they had.

Maggie, Jeff, Walt, and the others drove the herds from the barn to the various pastures. It was a sight to see the animals ambling down the road to the distant river pasture. Robots, cowboys and fencing were strategically placed to keep the animals in line. They had a few critter escape attempts but Maggie's cowboys and cowgirls rounded them up without much incident or injury. When the animals realized they were being turned out into fields they picked up the pace and spread out into the field to happily graze.

“We're going to need more farm equipment soon. The automated feeders are nice, but I'm going to need trucks to run hay and feed. Not to mention more hay,” Maggie told Mitch when the animals were turned out.

“Mags, why didn't you put that on the list?” Mitch sighed.

She dusted herself off. “Cause I didn't think of it at the time?” she said. “I was focused on vet equipment and stuff I could use during the winter.”

“Right,” Mitch sighed. “Put it on the list,” he said fatalistically. She nodded and kept working at getting the dust out of her jeans and boots.

Springtime also meant reconnecting with the people of the far flung communities. As soon as the airports were cleared and up and running, Jackie and the pilots swung into action. They took out aircraft for trade, passengers, and long overdue medical support. Mitch managed to give Sandra a kiss before she took off to Copper Town to make the rounds. She was tearful when Tucker waved goodbye to her.

Jolie reported that according to the radio report, Colonel Dunn's people had decided to explore this year. Jesus Salazar had taken their only aircraft southwest along the coastline to establish a new landing site, cache and trading post. “He's basing it on your prediction of where the last three communities are,” Jolie said.

Mitch nodded.

“That means he's going to get there before Jackie. She's going to hate that,” Pete said, making a face. Mitch shrugged the idea off as he continued reading the report. According to what Irma had told Jolie, they were planning on going further down the coastline using the map from Mitch's people as guide. He shook his head, trying to remember what they'd given them. Then he remembered the images Jim's balloon project had turned up. He called it up and whistled softly. They had managed to combine screen grabs and eliminate the cloud cover enough to get a better composite image. Enough of the southwestern coast was there for Dunn to take a chance apparently. He nodded.