The Journal: Raging Tide: (The Journal Book 4) (29 page)

Tom stood. “I hope that settles this matter.
On another note, tomorrow will be the first Seed Day at the
township hall. Mr. Harold Wolfe has come to town offering garden
seeds, of which we are in need. I think you will find his ‘prices’
more than reasonable. Doors open at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.
Meeting adjourned.” Tom hit his gavel on the table and we all stood
to leave.

I was quite impressed with the way Jim
handled the meeting, always referring to Karen as Deputy Gifford
and not as Ken’s wife. A fatal shooting as the wife could be looked
at as an act of passion, not self-defense. This still concerned me.
I was the only other one there and I know Karen didn’t have to
shoot.

*

Those who had sat on the dais, Tom, Jim,
myself, Art Collins, and Father Constantine, now sat at the kitchen
table, each with a glass in hand. The vodka, bourbon, and rum
bottles were left out on the island. Father Constantine was
enjoying a glass of ruby port.

“Well, I’d say that went rather well, except
that truth and justice should always go well,” Father Constantine
said.

“Yes. Still, doesn’t mean there won’t be
problems, there should just be fewer,” Jim replied. “Karen will
need time off, mainly to take care of Ken. I don’t want her on
patrol and exposed while the town is still upset. That leaves our
force pretty lean.”

“I can offer a few men to fill in if need
be, colonel,” Art responded. “And wasn’t Lenny one of your deputies
before, Allex?”

“Yes he was. It will be up to the colonel to
decide though,” I said, looking at Jim, who appeared deep in
thought.

“I appreciate that, Art, and I’ll take you
up on that. It makes this next thing a bit easier.” Jim looked at
me then turned away. “I need to make a quick run back to Sawyer.
I’m leaving first thing in the morning and I’ll be back the
following day at the latest. With county road 150 open the trip
down should only take a few hours. I would suggest all of you keep
my departure quiet. I’m taking Perkins with me to ride
shotgun.”

This stunned me. Why would he take Perky and
not me?

May 25

“I’ll tell you
everything when I get back, Allex. For now, please just trust me,”
Jim said and he tossed an overnight bag in the Hummer. Perkins was
already seated and anxious to be somewhere other than Moose
Creek.

*

Tom and I opened the doors of the Moose
Creek Township office building precisely at ten o’clock. Harold had
all of his seeds out on a table for the public to view. It was a
nice display, I must admit. He had brought along a small box of
plastic snack bags to put seeds in once a person decided on their
choice.

“I think I can find you another box or two
of those bags, Harold,” I said when I noticed his dwindling
supply.

“For that, Allexa, your seeds are paid for.
These are irreplaceable now,” he lamented. “So what would you like,
corn, peas, squash?”

“Even before the ash cloud we were never
sure if we would have a growing season long enough for corn, so
I’ll pass on that. Besides, I still have some.”

“Perhaps then we can trade like for like to
add variety to each other’s supply.”

“That’s worth considering,” I said. I
selected some Detroit red beets and he measured a tablespoon full
into a baggie and labeled it with a marker. “How much pea seed for
another, still sealed marker?”

He looked up, surprised. “You are good at
bartering! How about a half cup of peas?”

“Deal!” I also took six pumpkin seeds and a
teaspoon of radish. “I’m surprised you have flowers, Harold. I
would have thought you would carry only edibles.” I picked up a
bottle to read the label.

“Not just any flowers: marigolds, which are
a natural bug deterrent in gardens. Plus the nasturtiums, which are
edible.”

The townspeople started filing in around
ten-thirty. By noon the place was empty again. Everyone seemed in a
good mood being able to get fresh seed so they could be ready when
it was warm enough to plant. It also looked like the shooting issue
was pushed aside in favor of something more positive.

I noticed that Harold was giving growing
advice quite freely, and he never gave enough seed for two seasons.
I asked him about that.

“It’s better for everyone to learn to save
their own seeds. By designating a couple of plants out of the many
they grow, they can have enough seed to perpetuate their gardens
indefinitely.
That’s
my objective,” he explained. “To feed
the world, one garden at a time.”

May 26

Jim arrived back home late afternoon, tired
and in a good mood.

“Mission accomplished!” he said
gleefully.

“And are you now going to share what this
mission
was all about, Colonel?” I pushed, still a bit
miffed that he didn’t want me along. Tom smirked as he poured us
each a drink.

How long had this drinking been part of our
evening ritual? Forever it seemed. And what would we do when the
booze ran out?

“Well, after the town meeting the other day,
the truth and the implications of my words really hit home. We
are
under martial law and likely will be for a very long
time. In out of the way places like Moose Creek, martial law is
enforced by the senior military leader, and in this case that’s me.
It occurred to me that my retirement would have changed that.”

I hadn’t thought about that part. Who
would
be in charge after Jim retired?

“Currently, as a full-bird colonel, I’m in
charge of the entire Upper Peninsula. The thought of military
troops stumbling into our fair town and taking over bothers me,
though that can happen only if I retire,” he continued.

“What are you saying Jim?” I whispered, now
worried.

“I rescinded my retirement papers.”Tom and I
were both shocked. “Can they call you back to duty now?” I
murmured.

“No. What I also did was to take an
indefinite leave of absence by initializing years of back furlough.
In effect, I’m still a colonel in the army, with all the rank and
privileges, but I have no orders to follow. It’s the best of both
sides, Allex.”

“I can see where you felt the need to do
that, Jim,” Tom said. “And as mayor, I thank you for thinking of
the town.”

“So doing that took you all day?” I
asked.

“It took a good portion of it, yes. Once I
got a chat link with my superior—- and friend— General Jameson,
whom I had sent my retirement papers to, asking for them to be held
for a month, I kept the link open until we had finished our
business. That was my primary objective, but not my only one.” He
looked at me with a Cheshire cat grin. “Because my other reason
would take longer, I initiated that one first and contacted the
acting commander at Selfridge, Chandler O’Malley.” He took my hand.
“He himself went to your sister’s house to give her your message.
At first she wouldn’t even open the door to him, until he gave her
the password of ‘Tufts’. He told her you received her letter and
that you and your sons were fine. Chandler said she broke down
crying and thanked him over and over.”

I couldn’t talk. The tears streamed down my
face. I reached out for him and held on tight.

“There’s one final message from her. Here’s
the copy.” Jim handed me a sheet of paper.

“‘The fishing is getting better,’” I read
aloud and laughed.

May 28

Jason
greeted me as I dug and turned the soil in another of the raised
beds. “Eric said you wanted to see me about some kind of
shelter?”

“Yes, thanks for coming over.” I smiled at
my youngest and wiped my hands on a towel at my waist. I found a
small towel easier to wash once a week or every few days as opposed
to washing dirty jeans every day. “With some of that plastic we
used to wrap the porches from the ash fall, I’m hoping you can
cover this area, like a greenhouse. With the cool weather we’re
experiencing, I’d like to retain as much heat as possible.”

Jason paced the diameter of the area and
measured the height of the tiered section in the center that was
home to all the herbs. “Do you want sides on it?”

“Won’t hold much heat if there aren’t any
sides…”

“You do know that it might get
too
hot in here then?”

“That’s why I want the sides to roll up,” I
answered. “Besides, come September and October it won’t be too hot
anywhere, and I still want to extend the season as long as
possible.”

Jason nodded in thought. “Give me a day or
two to collect enough posts for the roof support and I’ll be back.”
He gave me a hug and left.

With the way Jason worked he would likely
have this done in less than a week. I got back to digging, hoping
to get the soil ready for the beet and pumpkin seeds I had
pre-germinating in the house.

*

There was a stiff, cool breeze coming in
from Lake Meade, making it too cool to continue working in the
garden. As necessary as the garden is, I was confident a day or two
wait wouldn’t affect the growing season. I decided to pay a visit
to Ken and Karen.

“How is he doing?” I asked Karen when she
answered the door. They were still in the house just down the road
from Jason and Eric. For some reason that surprised me and I said
so.

“We’ve discussed moving into town after Ken
has healed and is back to work,” she said. “We have loved being
here and part of your family, Allex, though I must admit it’s not
the same without
you
here. Being in town will make it easier
on both of us and on the gas situation. And before you say
anything, yes we are getting whatever diesel we need. However, if
we don’t need it, it can go toward feeding the generator, which is
more important to the community as a whole. Besides, I’m looking
forward to riding one of those bikes,” she added with a grin.

“Have you selected a house yet?” I
asked.

“We loved living on the lake, and I suppose
we could move back into our old house. I think that’s still too
far, so I’d like something on the lake but right in town like maybe
the old Johnstone place. I know it’s still vacant,” Karen said. I
could hear the question in her voice, asking for permission.

“That would be a good position for the two
of you. I’ll mark it off of the available housing and save it. So,
how
is
Ken doing?”

“Well, it’s been less than a week and
recovery is slow. Doctor James thinks he’s progressing well,
however, Ken is stubborn and wants to be all healed yesterday.”

We walked into the room where Ken was
sitting in bed, reading.

“Allex, good to see you,” he said. “Have you
come to spring me from this boring life?”

“Nope! Only Jim can do that once Doctor
James says he can. So just get used to it.”

*

I stopped at the township offices on my way
home to talk with Tom about the housing situation. When I stepped
out of my car I was met with a blast of icy air and snowflakes.

“What happened to our nice weather?” I
remarked, shivering.

“Have you been watching the sky, Allex?”

“Yes, and I’ve noticed how dark the clouds
are getting again.” I frowned, thinking of my new garden. “Has
there been any word on the ham radio about the situation?”

The ash cloud produced by the Yellowstone
eruption last July was now circling the world, bringing with it an
ever diminishing level of sunlight.

“This morning one of our contacts down in
Lansing said there were more eruptions in Yellowstone over the past
few days. They weren’t nearly as bad as the first ones, but it just
keeps adding to the ash in the upper atmosphere. Whether that
prolongs the cover or just makes it denser is pure conjecture at
this point,” he replied. “Allex, I’d like your take on
something.”

“What?”

“I’d like to move the ham setup here to the
offices where we can monitor all day,” Tom said. “Joshua and Emilee
have done a great job so far, especially making the initial
contacts. However, they can’t listen to it all day and still get
chores done. I’ve noticed that the time stamps Joshua puts on all
the communications are toward the evening. And Emilee has to be in
school during the day.”

It didn’t take me long to think this over.
“I wouldn’t move the radio, Tom. Everyone needs to feel like part
of the community and that they are contributing somehow. This is
the only way Joshua does that. He’s very much a loner and I’m
afraid he will withdraw even more without this. And it would
devastate Emi. She’s growing and maturing rapidly. The radio is her
window to the outside world.”

“I’d still like to figure a way of moving
it, Allex,” Tom insisted. “It would also help to reduce the gas
consumption. Which is something we need to have a meeting about:
rationing.”

“Let me talk to Joshua first, please, and I
think I know a way to soften Emilee’s disappointment.”

“I certainly don’t want her to be hurt,
Allex, those pre-teen years are tough enough. What did you have in
mind?”

“What if we made the radio part of her
school curriculum?” I suggested. “Eric can bring her in early and
she can have an hour on the radio; then again after school until
someone can take her home.”

“The school is close enough we could make an
hour midday part of her classes and she can bike over here,” Tom
said enthusiastically. “So far she’s really one of the best
observers.”

“I think that’s from being young enough that
adults still see those her age as invisible and talk freely around
them. Those youngsters pick up a great deal of info that way,” I
said.

*

I explained the situation to Joshua as
gently as I could.