Alone (11 page)

He realized that with no people around, the animals had gradually moved into places where they had long been away from. With the abundance of small gardens around, the rabbits and deer were every where. And when they moved into an area, the hunters followed.

Ralph turned to Jason and explained as if Jason could understand every word.

“Maybe he can.” thought Ralph. “Maybe he can.”

With a shake of his head, Ralph turned his attention back to the road and they slowly drove away. They were forced to make several stops along the way to clear obstacles from the road. Fallen tree limbs dotted their route.

As the evening sky darkened, Ralph suddenly swore and slammed on the brakes. The truck skidded to a stop and Jason, woken from his nap, jumped up and looked around.

“Would you look at that?” Ralph said excitedly. He was pointing to the right side of the truck and Jason looked at the end of his finger.

“Not my hand, you goof. Out there!” Jason looked up at Ralph’s face and then again peered intently at the end of his finger. Ralph reached over and patted the dog’s head. As he did, he gently turned the dog toward the window. He felt Jason stiffen beneath his hand as the dog looked out the window, and then Jason began barking furiously. Moving slowly and sedately through an open meadow, the small herd of giraffes glanced back at the truck and then stepped into the trees on the meadow edge. Jason continued to bark until they were all out of sight while Ralph just stared in wonder.

“I never even thought about animals like that. I wonder how many animals there are in this county in zoos and animal parks? Lots of people own wild animals. If the giraffes could get out, what about the lions?” Ralph stopped as the idea bounced around his brain.

“Everything just got a bit more interesting.” he said thoughtfully as he headed on down the road. Jason peered behind to see if the strange animals appeared again, but they did not.

They arrived at the farm after dark. Ralph pulled the truck into the barn and killed the engine. As the engine cooled, he sat and thought. At last he decided that there was really nothing he could do about any wild animals around here, he would just have to be careful. He patted the pistol on his hip and renewed his promise to practice until his shooting improved.

CHAPTER NINE

As the season progressed, Ralph stayed at the farm. He seldom used the truck and had started riding the horses. More to exercise the horses than anything, he none the less realized that sooner or later, the truck would be unusable. He combed the surrounding countryside and brought every animal he could back to the farm. His small herd of cattle doubled and he found a couple more horses. At one farm several miles away, he found sheep. All of these animals he coaxed into a covered trailer and brought back home. He kept a local map in the glove compartment of the truck and marked his searches on it. At some farms he discovered that something had beaten him to it and there were no animals left. All of the hog pens he found were empty. Constantly rooting thru the soil, the hogs had quickly escaped their pens and headed into the countryside. He found evidence that the pigs were thriving in the wild. He knew them to be a very intelligent and resourceful animal. Wild boars were hunted in other areas and if opportunity presented itself, Ralph would gladly add pig to his larder.

After a time when it seemed that the small animals like rabbit were everywhere, they suddenly became scarce. The snares he had set around home began to turn up empty more frequently. While this loss of food was not critical, Ralph carefully observed the area in case there was some type of disease spreading. Ralph knew that where the prey was, there came the hunters. With the decline in the rabbit population, he had seen a corresponding increase in the number of carnivores. Everything balanced out in the end. He lost a few chickens to something, but for the most part, he wasn’t bothered by wild animals. Jason patrolled the area and most wild animals did not stick around where a dog lived. The days grew shorter and the weather grew chilly.

Waking early one morning, Ralph shivered as he got out of bed.

“Brr! It’s cold out here.” he said as his feet touched the floor. Jason peered up at him from his place at the foot of the bed, then dropped his head and closed his eyes.

Ralph made his way to the bathroom and hopped into the shower. After a hot shower, Ralph dressed and headed for the kitchen. Jason jumped from the bed and followed.

“Now you’ll get up. You think you’re gonna get fed, don’t you?” Ralph said. He reached into a cabinet and pulled down a can of dog food. He had brought an entire truck load of dog food to the farm. The spare bedroom had cases stacked to the ceiling.

Jason padded close and sniffed Ralph’s hand.

“OK here it is.” Ralph placed the now full food dish on the floor. He gave Jason fresh water and started a pot of coffee. From the living room came a great squawking. Ralph grimaced and walked into the room. The large parrot saw Ralph and squawked even louder.

“All right! All right!!” Ralph said above the din. “Just give me a second.” He emptied the food dish and refilled it with a fresh supply of feed. He put a new full dish of water in the cage and walked back into the kitchen. The parrot continued to squawk as he ate. Occasionally he spoke. He only knew a few words and when he started, he used them over and over.

“Who is it?” he called from his perch. “Come in.” He repeated the phrases until Ralph thought he would go crazy. Ralph did not like the parrot and the feeling was mutual. The only time Ralph had attempted to take the parrot out of the cage, he had received a painful bite for his trouble.

At first Ralph had answered the bird each time it spoke. Mostly he said “Shut up stupid.” He didn’t realize his mistake until the parrot started repeating him. Now about every time that Ralph spoke out loud, he was answered by “Shut up stupid!” Ralph was tempted to just open the cage and let the bird fly, but he knew that it could never survive on its own. If he let it out, he was killing it. So he endured the squawking as best he could. On warm nights, he had taken the cage out to the barn. The horses got used to the parrot and when Ralph entered the barn with the cage in hand, the horses quickly walked out to sleep in the fields. Now with cold weather approaching, he just had to bear it.

“Who is it? Shut up!”

Ralph quickly finished his breakfast and he finished right after Jason had wolfed down the last bite of his food. Together they headed out the door. When the front door closed, they could barely hear the noisy bird. Ralph looked into the yard and saw that the first frost of the season was here. He took a deep breath of the clean crisp air and felt it sting his nose.

He made his daily rounds checking the farm. All of the animals were ok and he set out food for them. The chickens happily pecked at the grain he threw around. Jason and the chickens had a truce. At first Jason had chased the chickens every chance he got. He never caught one, but that was beside the point. The fun was in the chasing. Unfortunately, the chickens thought otherwise. One bright day, he spied a lone chicken pecking around the house. She had a nest nearby and was keeping a watchful eye on it. Jason crept around the house and ambushed the chicken from behind. The chicken gave a squawk and jumped into the air. Jason, barking furiously raced at the chicken. But this time instead of running away, the hen ran toward him. His leg splayed as he slid to an abrupt stop. He watched the chicken continue its headlong rush. With a great flapping of wings, the chicken was suddenly on his head. And not only that, it was slapping him with its flapping wings and was pecking the top of his head as if it meant to drill a hole clean thru. He shook his head, but the chicken just gripped his fur, flapped its wings and kept on pecking. Howling in terror, Jason turned and fled. Ralph, coming out of the barn, had watched and laughed as the dog raced around the yard, a chicken on his head, Feathers were flying and Jason was howling as he tried his best to shake the demon attacking him. At last the chicken let go and flopped to the ground. Jason sped between Ralph’s legs and cowered in the barn. The chicken strutted back to her nest, confident that she would not be bothered again. And she was right.

From that day on, Jason gave each chicken a wide berth. He never wanted to go thru that again.

Ralph had laughed until tears filled his eyes.

As the cold weather increased, Ralph checked the house to make sure it was ready for winter. By the time of the first light dusting of snow, he knew he was ready. He had installed a small heater in the greenhouse and had planted some of his seeds. Day by day they grew, and he looked forward to fresh vegetables during the winter.

It had been several months since the last visit into town, and there were a few items that he wanted to get before the snow hit heavy. He had a list of books he wanted to look for and he wanted to pick up some canned food. The truck hadn’t been started in a while and was sluggish, but the engine caught. Jason hearing the rumble of the truck made a beeline to the barn and stood patiently beside the passenger door.

“Just a couple of minutes boy.” Ralph said. He went back to the house and grabbed a rifle and shotgun. Both were loaded and ready to fire. He safetied both and carried them out. The parrot squawked and Ralph saw that it had eaten all of the seeds from its dish. Ralph picked up the container, opened the cage and poured the last of the bird seed into the dish. Turning, he placed the now empty feed container on the table and reached for the door latch to close the cage door. The parrot had already started on the seed and seeing Ralph reach out, had nipped his finger. Ralph pulled his hand back and slammed the cage door shut. Muttering under his breath, he stomped out of the room. He slammed the front door and headed across the yard.

“Stupid bird.” he muttered. He peered at his finger which was still smarting.

“Who in their right mind would keep a mean and nasty animal like that as a pet?” he wondered out loud as he walked across the front yard and into the gravel driveway.

He reached the truck and climbed in. The keys were in the ignition and he started the truck up. From the passenger side he heard Jason bark.

“Sorry, I forgot.” He said leaning across the cab.

He opened the door and Jason jumped in. He favored Ralph with an aggravated look that said, “Were you planning on going off without me?”

Ralph patted his head and apologized.

“Sorry buddy, I forgot. That stupid bird bit my finger and I was preoccupied thinking about him. There’s no way I would head out without you. We’re a team.” He said. “That reminds me.”

He pulled out the list of items he had made. To the bottom, he added bird food. He put the list back into his pocket and drove out.

In the house, the rumble of the truck faded away. The parrot continued eating. As he moved around, the cage door, which had not been properly latched, slowly swung open. The parrot eyed it in distrust, said “Come in!” and continued eating. After several hours, the parrot had investigated the open door and had flown out. He was now perched atop the mantle piece sleeping. From outside a faint scratching could be heard and still he slept.

That day in town, Jason and Ralph had been extra careful. But the day passed uneventfully. The street in front of the library was empty except for a scattering of bones. They saw no rats as they went about their errands. Without regular traffic, the roads were being covered by weeds. The leaves had fallen and piles were scattered around, tossed by the wind. They both felt uneasy in town and they rushed about. The town had the air of a mausoleum and Ralph felt ill at ease as he moved thru the deserted streets. Finally, they jumped back into the truck and headed back the way they had come.

They stopped at a small mini mall and surveyed it for danger. Seeing nothing, they approached the grocery store. Jason sniffed all around and then seemed to dismiss the store. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ralph pushed against the doors. They hadn’t been moved in a while and were quite stiff. Slowly they opened and man and dog entered.

“This is the last grocery store in town. We’ve already cleaned the others out.” Ralph said as they started down the aisles. A fair amount of light penetrated the store thru the dusty front windows. About mid way down the aisle, it grew dark. Ralph pulled out his flashlight and flicked it on.

A sickly musty smell filled the store. Steering the wobbling buggy, Ralph headed to the canned goods. He loaded up the cart with every can on the shelves. Some of the labels had fallen off and he took those cans also. When that cart was full, he simply grabbed another and filled it. He found the coffee and again grabbed every can on the shelves. It didn’t matter what brand. After he had cleaned the shelves, he meandered thru the aisles with an empty buggy. He got several jars of pickles and olives.

He snatched peanut butter and jelly. All of the bread was gone, and rat and mice droppings filled that isle. The crackers too were gone. The rats and mice had eaten everything they could find. The only salvageable items were those in cans or jars. He passed the pet isle and turned down to grab some more canned dog food. Again, he took every can on the shelves. The dry food had been eaten as had the wild bird seed. Finally satisfied, he gathered all of the full shopping buggies at the front of the store and then pushed the buggies outside and moved the food into the truck. He went back into the store for soap and shampoo, washing detergent. Walking toward the front, he glanced down and saw canned milk. He grabbed it all. He also picked up several notebooks and a handful of pens and pencils.

He couldn’t get the front doors to shut all the way, so he left them half way closed. Ralph finished packing the items into the truck as Jason lay at his feet. Jason had discovered a large rawhide bone and was happily knawing on it. Ralph had wondered how the bone had escaped the hungry rats but Jason didn’t care. Ralph opened the passenger door and Jason settled into his seat with the bone. Ralph surveyed the remaining stores in the mini mall to see if there was anything else he needed. None of the other store interested him. He walked around the truck and climbed inside.