Calamity in America (7 page)

I took my new wife around and showed her the places where I had stashed my money.  I had put it in several spots just in case of fire or theft.  I did not have an overall count of how much I had accumulated and I seldom ever looked at it.  I only added to it when I had more. 

When Beth saw the money she was surprised.  I guess I was too.  I had never guessed that I had saved that much.  We did not count it now either but we could both see that it was quite a bit of money.

“How could you save so much?”

“I never paid rent, I inherited the place with everything on it and everything already paid for.  The only big purchase I ever made was my pickup and obviously I did not pay all that much for it either.  I’m not a drinker and I never smoked.  I just never spent much money.  This money I saved looks like a lot but it really is not all that much money in this day and age.  Just think if I would have bought a new pickup; it would have cost me thirty or forty thousand dollars.  And think of everyone else always driving those new cars or trucks.”

“I guess I’m a rich woman now!”

“Its all yours just as much as it is mine now.  It would be a shame if we had this money and it all became worthless.”

“What do you mean worthless?  It’s money!”

“It is only printed pieces of paper and with the economy the way it is and the country just about shutting down due to all the debt, who knows what will happen with the printed money.”

“Yeah things did not look very good in the city today.  So where are you taking me for our honeymoon?”

“Um. Well.  I guess I never thought too much about that.  I just wanted to get married and that was as far as my thinking went.”

“Maybe you should carry me over the threshold and we should retire to the bedroom and talk about it.”

I never said a single word.  I just picked her up and I carried her into the house and all the way into the back bedroom.

Chapter 9

We both thought about our discussion on the fate of the printed dollars.  Right now it still had value and we could still buy things with the money.  We both decided to make another trip into town and buy more stuff.  Stuff for us to keep and use and maybe stuff that we could trade with others in the future if money lost its value.  So that is what we did.  I drove my truck to town for this trip.  We bought more food staples and many other items that we could not make or grow on the farm. 

The days passed and there was work to do on the farm.  Things were both the same and different since Beth and I got married.  The parts that were the same were good.  The parts that were different were great.

The garden was drawing to a close and I decided we should go and introduce Beth to a couple of the neighbors that I was friendly with.  Plus I wanted to get some more honey from one of them anyway.  So we got on our bikes and headed down the dirt road.  I had a mostly empty backpack on my back so I could carry whatever I bought from the neighbors (if anything).  Mostly I just wanted to show off my new wife!

We made it to our first stop and received a warm welcome.  Beth hit it off with the pair right away.  We talked about the nation’s situation and how dangerous it now was in town.  I also warned them that it was dangerous out here in the country too.  I did buy two quarts of honey in mason jars from them before we left.  I had brought some worn out towels to wrap the jars in so they would not get broken in the pack on the way home.  We bid our friends good bye and headed off to another neighbors place farther down the road.

When we got there the wife (Patty) met us at the door when I knocked.

“Oh Chip it is so good to see you!  Jack twisted his ankle a few days ago and we could really use a helping hand.”

“Just point me in the right direction Patty and you know I will do whatever I can to help you.”

“I do know that for a fact Chip.”

She gave me a short list of chores that needed doing and I got right to work.  I had helped all the nearby neighbors several times in the past and would again when ever it was needed.  That is what neighbors are for.

I was still working when Beth (who had stayed with Patty to help her) came out to get me for lunch.  After I got cleaned up and walked into the kitchen I could see that Patty had put a lot of extra work into the lunch.  It was to be a full meal.

Jack hobbled into the kitchen and had lunch with us.  He was having a tough time of it but when I asked he told me that he had indeed went in to the doctor and it was only twisted and not broken.  Though it would still be painful and take awhile to mend enough so he could work.

We all talked through the big lunch and when done I went back out and got back to work.  I worked most of the afternoon and things were mostly caught up.  At least what was the most important anyway.  I collected Beth and told Patty that I would come back in a couple days and do some more and to keep Jack from over doing anything with that bum leg.  Patty thanked me again and Beth and I left and pedaled back home.  It had been a good day.  When I went to take the honey out of the backpack I found that Patty had put in two dozen eggs for us.

Beth was happy meeting some of our neighbors and making new friends.  She was anxious for us to go back over to help Patty and Jack.  We spent the next day out foraging and managed to pick a few more late apples from the nearby vacant places.  Through the years many of the small farms had been bought out by large commercial farms and often the houses and buildings had just been razed.

The following day we went back over to help Jack and Patty.  Again I worked most of the day over there.  Jack’s accident had happened at good time for me because our garden was about all done now so I did have a little spare time.  The weather was cooling some and soon I would start putting up some additional firewood.  I had quite a large supply of firewood already stockpiled at the farm but I would continue to add to it.

The next day at the farm we got our first beggar.  It was a man and a woman with one small child.  I knew this day was coming where beggars would show up.  I had told Beth that we would get beggars and the best thing would be to just send them away with no food.  I knew Beth would never go for that.

This time Beth made up a bag of food and gave it to the family of three.  The small family had almost nothing.  The food we gave to them was just items that did not need to be cooked because when they had left their home they took their clothes and blankets but failed to bring any pots to cook with.  Idiots.  I knew they would never survive and the food we gave them was just a waste.  When they received the food they thanked us and moved on.  Two days later more beggars showed up.

This time it was a loose mixed group.  All adults and no children.  Beth and I met them together and one man that was maybe their leader stepped forward to speak.

“We need food and water.”

No please.  Just a demand.

“We have clean water we can give you if you have containers.  No food.”

“We need both food and water and most of us have no way to carry any water.”

“Well those with water containers can fill them here and then you can move on.”

“I know you have plenty of supplies.  Give us what we need.”

I made a show of loosening the big revolver in my holster but made no further comment.

“I said give us what we need or I will gather another dozen people and we will come back and take everything you have.”

I stood still and quiet for a moment then made a reasonably fast draw and shot the man in the chest.

“Anyone else want to threaten me and my family?”

The rest of the group turned and ran as a group back the way they came.  I turned to Beth who had never spoken a word through the exchange.

“I will not abide any threats.  And demands will get nothing from me.  I’m sorry you had to witness this.”

“But you just shot him.”

“He made a very serious and plausible threat against us.  It would have been folly to allow him to leave and carry out that threat later.  Me, doing nothing now could easily have led to our deaths later.”

“I’ll have to think on this.  I can understand your thinking and these times are obviously different from the ordered world we used to live in.  I had just hoped to never see anyone die again.”

Beth walked back into our house and I went and got what I needed to bury the man I had shot.  When I returned and checked his pockets I found a small automatic pistol in one pocket.  I put it in mine instead and went to work digging a hole next to the last grave.

When I had the man buried I made a tombstone out of wood and placed near the two graves.  On it I had painted the words “Here lie those who would steal or cause us harm.”

I painted a one with a slash through it and next to it I painted a two.  The sign/tombstone would maybe help prevent me from having to bury more.  I doubted the sign would be enough to do that though.  When I went into the house to wash up I showed Beth the pistol that the man had on him.

That night and the next day I did a lot of thinking.  In the past Beth and I had left the property for several hours at a time and had thought nothing of it.  But now I was reluctant to do that anymore.  If found empty the place could easily be taken over by anyone who just happened past.  Also I would not want to leave Beth here alone while I was gone for any length of time because it was just too dangerous.  It was certainly a quandary with no easy answer.

So I just worked around the place doing odd jobs I had put off for awhile.  I needed to both stay busy and be ready at all times.

Beth and I talked at length about the current situation.  I fully explained my views on the food beggars.  We had some extra food here now and hopefully the means to grow more food next summer.  The trouble was that growing more food was not a certainty.  We could plant a large garden but many things beyond our control could lead to no harvest or a very limited harvest.  At that point we could be in serious trouble food wise.

Giving food to a beggar seemed the right thing to do.  But what if a thousand showed up here begging for food?  And with a city of around two hundred fifty thousand within a one or two day walk from our house the number of beggars showing up here could easily exceed a thousand.  Obviously we could not give food to that many people even if we gave away every crumb we had.

If we were to pick and choose who we gave food to that could easily lead to many other problems.  And this was all assuming that everyone was totally peaceable and that would certainly not be the case.  Our situation was both complex and dangerous.

Chapter 10

Between us we decided that one of us would always remain here at the house until things sorted themselves out.  Winter would take care of that I thought.  Either the nation’s situation would get better before and during the winter or the nation’s population would be dramatically lower by the time spring rolled around.

One thing I did was load several of the long guns and placed them near the front and back doors of the house.

Over the next several days we had a few beggars.  Not everyday but enough so it was not surprising when one (or more) came up to ask for help.  We gave a little food to those with children.  We were having cooler weather now and after another few days with no violent encounters at the house I thought I would risk doing a little hunting.

On my first outing I shot two pheasants and the fresh meat was mighty good.  When one of our neighbors stopped over one day I was not surprised.  I guessed at what was the reason he had come over.

“Hi Chip.  How’s everything going over here?”

“Mostly good.  Had a little trouble but nothing in the last week or so.”

“I saw the tombstone you made.  Is there really two graves out there?”

“Yes.  One drew a gun on me and the other made a dire threat against us that I could not just let pass.  You have any trouble?”

“That’s kinda why I stopped over.  What are you doing with the people that stop and ask for food?  We have been giving out a little but they seem like they are never satisfied and there are just too many showing up now to give them all food.”

“We quit giving out any more food.  We always offer them clean water but that is all.  Many come here and do not even have a pot to cook anything in.  They left their homes but brought no supplies of any kind with them.  I’m not sure what they were thinking or even if they were thinking.”

“We noticed the same thing.  Many have gotten pretty mad when we told them we had no food to give away.  I see both of you are carrying pistols.  I guess we will have to do the same.  I don’t know how any of those people are going to get through the winter.”

“I was thinking the same unless things straighten out real quick around here or the federal government comes in with a lot of aid and supplies.  I just don’t think that will happen.”

“In the past FEMA has been very slow to react and those were only localized events.  I have to assume that this is nation wide.  I don’t think anyone can expect any salvation from our government.”

“This is a massive bad deal for everyone.  You know you can count on me if you need any help.”

“Bad deal is an understatement.  And yes I know we can count on you.  I better get back to the place.  I don’t want to leave the family alone for very long anymore with the way things are now.  I just wanted to check in with you guys and see if you were OK.  Stop in if you are out my way.”

“Will do and thanks for coming over.”

“Nice to see you again Beth.”

I figured everyone around here on the farms and ranches were having beggars show up.  It sounded like Sam had not had any violent encounters yet and for his sake I hope he never did.  Our place was one of the farms that many would come to first if they traveled this road out from the city so we would have to deal with most of these refugees first.