Odd Billy Todd (30 page)

Billy had to admit that for someone who wasn’t prepared, that wasn’t a bad way to get along, things being what they were. It was a lot like the train, really, at least on theory. He hoped that whoever it was didn’t share the train people’s way of thinking about every one else.

If someone was out there, have they moved on? Or have they decided to stay, with winter coming on? If they decided to stay, did they know about the folks already living here? Was that the reason they’d decided to stay?

Too many questions and not enough answers. Billy shook his head and got to his feet.

He had work to do tomorrow. He’d need rest.

He headed up the stairs to Rhonda, leaving the problem behind for tonight.

CHAPTER THIRTY

“Hey, Billy!” Ralph called as he and George rode into the yard. Rommel was instantly on guard, but since he knew the two men, he waited to see if he’d have to attack or not.

“Fellas,” Billy nodded, laying aside the hammer he’d been using. He was beefing up the ‘shack’ as he called it, where his secondary storage was. “What’s goin’ on?”

“You got a minute?” George asked. “We need to talk to someone with some local flavor.”

“Well, I guess that’s me, okay,” Billy grinned. “Ya’ll wanna come in? Rhonda’s got some coffee on.”

“Sure!” the two men chorused. Coffee was hard to come by.

Once seated, with Rhonda joining them, the two men got down to business.

“We talked to Jerry yesterday about maybe making some bio-diesel,” Ralph said. “We’ve not ever done it, but we know how it’s done. Thing is, there’s some stuff we’ll need in order to make a start. And,” he added, “we’ll need some specific seeds to grow the best crops for the process.”

“Well, what kinda ‘quipment do ya need?” Billy asked, frowning a little.

The talk turned technical after that. George and Ralph went over the plan they had worked out over the last evening, and Billy tried to follow. Finally, though, he gave up.

“Look, guys,” he said, sighing, “this is lost on me. I can’t follow half what you’re sayin’. Tell me what you need to make it work.”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Ralph looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry, we kinda get carried away.”

“No problem,” Billy nodded. “But I can’t really follow all that technical stuff. And anyway, I ain’t gotta. I just need to know what you need. Then we’ll see if I know where it is, or if we gotta go lookin’ for it.”

George produced a list, which he handed over. Billy read it, frowning at times, nodding at others.

“Okay, I know, roughly, where we can get about half this stuff,” he told them. “Some of the others, I don’t even know what they are. You need to decide what you need first, to get started. And you need to list alternatives we can all be lookin’ for, in case we can’t find what you want, or there ain’t enough of it.”

Both men looked at him for a moment, the looks on their faces indicating they hadn’t thought about any of that. Rhonda didn’t quite smirk as she refilled their coffee cups.

“Uh, yeah, we can do that,” George nodded. “You think we can get the stuff in the town nearby?”

“Some of it,” Billy nodded. “The hardware for almost certain. Some o’ them chemicals, I don’t know. Maybe. That oil, cookin’ oil and the like, we can scavenge from restaurants at first, to get you started. After that?” Billy shrugged.

“Best bet would be if we could find a warehouse that had a lot of it.”

“Well, the oil is just for now, and to help us get the project going, and perfect our. . .well, methods. To make diesel in any significant amount, we’ll have to plant a lot of acreage in something we can extract oil from.”

“Such as?” Rhonda asked.

“Probably rapeseed,” George replied. “It’s what they make canola oil from, and it’s about the best oil for making bio-diesel, at least so far as I know of. There’s plenty of others, too, but if we can generate canola oil on a big scale, we’re on our way to makin’ bio-diesel.”

“Sunflower oil is about the next best thing,” Ralph opined. “It’s not quite as good as canola, but it’s still pretty good.”

“Can you mix the two?” Billy asked. He got owl blinks in reply.

“I have no idea,” Ralph admitted. “None at all.”

“Well, ‘spect we can worry on that later,” Billy shrugged. “You guys get your lists straight, and then we’ll head into town. What we can’t get there, we’ll have to go further out for.”

“That could be risky, too,” Rhonda spoke up. “Don’t forget the train.”

“You really think they’re still around?” Ralph asked, frowning.

“No idea,” Billy held his hands up, palm up. “But I ain’t takin’ no chances. We’ll be extra careful. But still, this is somethin’ we need. Without it, we’re back to a mule and a plow. We can stay fed, but you can forget anything extra.”

“If we can keep machinery going, we can grow wheat, too,” Ralph nodded. “Be nice to still be able to bake bread a year or two from now.”

“Sure would!” Rhonda enthused. Mostly to cover her near slip of revealing that she and Billy would have bread in a year or two. No sense sharing that, as Billy liked to say.

“What about these two other fellas ya’ll was talkin’ about?” Billy asked. “Tell me more about them. Or anyone you’ve thought of besides.”

“Well, Terry Blaine is about forty-two, maybe forty-three, I can’t recall exactly now. He’s married, wife’s name is Maria. They got two kids, a boy who’s twelve, I think, and the girl is nine. He’s a gunsmith. Got to doing that work in the Army, and kept it up afterward.” he broke off as Billy rolled his eyes.

“He’s also a pretty fair mechanic, or was when we were in service together. Maria was a veterinarian assistant. Well, I guess she still is.”

“Pete Two Bears is an Apache Indian. By now he’s got to be, oh, twenty-six, maybe twenty-seven. He joined up at seventeen, to get off the reservation. He settled in Tennessee because his last duty post was Fort Campbell.”

“Paratrooper?” Ralph asked.

“Nah, they don’t do the paratroop thing anymore,” Billy shook his head.

“Right,” George nodded. “They use helicopters. Air Assault they call it, now. Anyway, Pete was a designated marksman, what they used to call a sniper. Hell of a tracker. Several NCO’s tried to get him to go SF, but he was determined to get out. Said he’d done his thing.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Ralph nodded.

“Anyway, they’re sorta hangin’ together at the moment, I think. At least they were together when I saw them at Franklin. That was. . .two, no, more like three months ago now.”

“They’re good people, you think?” Ralph asked.

“I think so,” George nodded. “Served with them in Iraq, and Afghanistan. We were in the same squad, in fact, in Iraq. Same platoon in ‘stan. Took fire with’em,” he added solemnly.

“Always a resume booster,” Ralph agreed. “Any down side?

“Terry can be short tempered,” George nodded. “His wife, o’ course, takes some o’ that starch outta him. She wasn’t with us in theater, mind, but when she’s around, he’s better behaved.”

“That short temper be a problem?” Billy asked.

“I really don’t think so,” George shook his head. “Like I said, it was while we were in country. Man acts different, times like that.”

“What about. . .Two Bears, did you call him?” Billy asked.

“Pete’s kind of a loner,” George said. “Quiet, unassuming. But he is lightning fast, and as dangerous as a rattlesnake. If you hear him rattle, it’s too late.”

“I take it he’d not be inclined to act such upon us?” Ralph asked.

“Nah, he ain’t like that,” George assured his friend. “And he’s a hard worker. Man he could go all day, seemed like, and never stop. He works slow but steady, and just keeps right on until the job’s done.”

“I like that,” Billy nodded. “I tend to do that some.”

“He’s a lot like you, Billy,” George nodded. “Lot o' the same ways about you. Slow, deliberate thinking, but once the actions starts, he never hesitates.” Billy murmured something the others couldn’t hear, his ears reddening at the implied compliment. Rhonda snickered, but held her tongue.

“Well, I guess if we’re gonna contact them, or anyone else, we need to do it soon,” Billy sighed. “I gotta feelin’ we ain’t gonna be too mobile once winter sets in. I figure this’ll be a cold one, and likely wet, too. Travel might get pretty dangerous.”

“Well, I can call Terry on the HAM,” George offered. “See if he’s interested. He’ll know how to contact Pete, if he thinks Pete might be interested.”

“Ralph, what about you?” Rhonda asked. “Anyone else you can think of, that might make a go of it here? Especially someone with skills we need?”

Ralph pursed his lips together, thinking. He snorted, finally, and grinned a bit lop-sided.

“Well, yeah, there’s one,” he answered finally. “One outfit, actually, but I don’t much think you’ll want him around here.”

“Who?” Billy asked warily.

“Ben Kelvey and his bunch,” Ralph admitted.

“Oh, hell no!” Rhonda snapped out before Billy could even reply. “I ought to whack you upside the head for even suggestin’ it!”

“Hold on gal,” Ralph held his arms up in appeasement. “I said you’re not likely to want him around, but hear me out, okay?” Rhonda folded her arms, her face set into a look that said it’s not happening, but she didn’t object.

“Ben really ain’t a bad sort,” Ralph told her. “You saw him on a very bad day, don’t forget. Man loves his family. Can’t fault him for that. Ain’t sayin’ what he did was right by any means, I’m just sayin’ you caught him on a bad day.”

“Ben is good fella, just got a mite o’ temper. You should know how that is,” he risked a grin at the flame haired Rhonda, who snorted. She was not amused.

“Anyway, if his brother, Jonathon, and their nephew Howie survived, they’d make a good addition around here. Ben is a carpenter. I don’t mean a shade tree one, neither. A master carpenter. Can build a whole house from scratch, you give him the goods for it.”

“Jon used to drive a log truck. Big woodsman. Knows how to hunt, track, and the like. So good that people hire him as a guide during huntin’ season, you know?”

“Howie is an electrician. Rebuilds electric engines, appliance repairs, wires houses from the box on. In fact, when Ben built a house, it was usually Howie who wired it, unless he was busy somewhere else. They’re all pretty handy.”

“I. . .I don’t know about Beth,” he admitted. “After what happened, I got no idea what frame of mind she’ll be in, or whether her and Howie are even still together.”

“Anyway, like I said, they’re pretty good stock, all things considered. And I’m fair sure Ben is sorry for what he did and said,” he added. “I mean, that crunch to the jaw didn’t hurt him, none, either,” Ralph grinned, nodding to Billy. “But honestly, he’s not bad people.”

“I have to agree,” George nodded. “No one ever had anything bad to say about Ben, or any of the rest, either. Stick to their own knittin’, and take care o’ each other. And,” he added thoughtfully, “right now, they’d be likely to react pretty well to becoming part o’ this set-up. Things ain’t good in Franklin. And if Jon and Howie ain’t able to work, Ben will work enough for all of them. That’s just the way he is. He don’t want charity. He works for everything he gets. They’re all like that.”

Rhonda looked at Billy, clearly expecting him to say no.

“We can talk to him,” Billy said evenly.

“What?” Rhonda all but screeched.

“Rhonda, I told you before I didn’t think he was a bad man,” Billy said calmly. “And he ain’t like to forget that jaw, neither,” he admitted. “If he’s as good as these guys think he is, then we can at least talk to him. And his family.”

Rhonda spluttered, looking for a coherent thought.

“We can always say no,” Billy reminded her.

Rhonda harrumphed loudly.

“We can,” Billy stressed.

“Fine,” she waved the subject away.

“Rhonda, I swear,” George said earnestly. “If I thought, even for a second, that he would cause trouble, I wouldn’t even mention him. I like Ben, but I love my family. This place is a paradise in the time’s we’re livin’ in right now. My family is safe, sheltered, and well fed. I won’t risk that for anyone.”

“Same here,” Ralph agreed with an emphatic nod. “And if I get even a hint of a suspicion of a thought that he might make trouble, I’ll tell you straight out. Like George said, I don’t like nobody that much.”

“We can talk to him,” Rhonda muttered. “Ain’t no harm in talkin’, I reckon.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The next day, despite any misgivings, Billy took George and Ralph into Cedar Bend. All were armed, of course, and Billy pulled one of his empty trailers.

“Be careful,” Rhonda whispered as she adjusted Billy’s collar against the morning cold.

“You know I will,” he grinned at her. “Always careful.”

“No, Billy, you’re not,” Rhonda sighed. “Go on, and get, now. Sooner you’re done, sooner you’re back.” She kissed him lightly, and stood on the porch as he walked to the truck. She waved at George and Ralph, then walked into the house.

“You’re a lucky man, Billy, if they ain’t nobody told you already,” George told him. “She’s got sand. Like my Debbie. Man got a woman that’ll stick by him in times like this, he’s blessed.”

“I know,” Billy said quietly.

They drove to town amid talk of what they could do, and what they could do it with. It was a chance for them to see some more of the available farm land, and to get a look at the grimness of what was left of Cedar Bend, Tennessee. Population now zero. And holding.

“Damn,” Ralph murmured to himself, seeing the carnage still everywhere.

“Yeah,” George agreed, though he wasn’t as shocked. He’s seen worse in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this was America. This didn’t happen here.

Don’t be a fool, George,the former soldier shook himself mentally. It can happen anywhere. Anytime.

“Let’s see what’s on this list at the Co-Op, first,” Billy said, taking them that way. “Watch out for the rats.”

The two men had already been warned about the rats, but seeing was believing as the saying went. Both were astounded.

“Man, this is bad,” Ralph said softly.

“Happenin’ like this in plenty o’ other places, too,” Billy told them soberly. “Won’t be long ‘fore anything worth usin’ is gone. Ate up or chewed up. Rurnt.”

“Maybe. . .well, that can wait,” George waved it off. “We got other problems right now.”

“What’s in that head o’ yours?” Ralph asked his friend.

“It’ll keep,” George smiled. “Let’s get today behind us. Then we’ll talk.” Satisfied, Ralph nodded.

“Here we be,” Billy said brightly. “Let’s start lookin’ for the gas station.”

*****

“All we need now is some wire, sealant, a few electrical connectors, and some water heaters,” George announced, looking at his list.

“What?” Billy asked. “Water heaters?”

“Yeah, that’s what we’ll use for tanks,” Ralph nodded. “Easiest thing to use, according to what we’ve managed to read, so far.”

“Well, there’s the hardware store, and there’s Mister Burke’s furniture’n appliance store. Don’t know that he’d have water heaters, though,” Billy rubbed his neck. “Ain’t really an appliance, I guess.”

“We can check, if there’s nothing at the hardware store,” George shrugged.

“If there ain’t, there’s plenty o’ houses,” Billy shrugged. Both me looked at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Why in the hell didn’t we think of that?” Ralph asked George, accusingly.

“Hey, you’re the brains in this outfit,” George protested.

“Is that why you insisted on making the list, then? On account of I’m the brains?”

“Reckon we can do this later?” Billy asked quietly, but firmly. “I really don’t like it here.” Both men looked chagrined. They had been joking, actually, but realized how hard it must be for Billy to see his home town in the shape it was in these days.

“Sure, Billy,” Ralph nodded. “We was just funnin’ anyway,” he added.

“Figured that,” Billy nodded. “Ain’t against it. Just want to get done. I don’t like it here,” he repeated.

“We’re on it,” George said firmly, getting into the truck.

The hardware store held three water heaters, two of them thirty-five gallons, and one larger one at fifty-five gallons.

“Man, these will work great!” Ralph enthused, as they carted them out of the store. A hurried search found the other items they needed, including the wire. Willing hands seized them, and soon everything was loaded.

“Not a bad haul,” George smiled. “We can probably get something going in a few days,” he added, clearly thinking.

“Where you aim to set it up?” Billy asked.

“Probably need a barn, somewhere,” Ralph offered, looking to George for confirmation.

“Yeah, that’d be good,” the other nodded. “Somewhere we can get some power from a solar set-up, or even better, a generator. Something that will give us a good power source.”

“Problem with solar is just in the batteries,” Billy said. “Better the batteries, better the power source. All’s the panels do is recharge the batteries.”

“True, but we’ll need a good, solid source for six hours or so at a time. That would take a lot of batteries.”

“True,” Billy nodded. “Well, I got a heavy generator I took from the hardware store when I left town,” he told them. “Eight thousand watt. Runs on diesel, too,” he grinned. “Guess the more you make, the more you can run the generator, huh?”

“Sounds like a plan,” George nodded. Yes, sir, he liked Billy Todd. Liked him just fine.

Wouldn’t o’ minded havin’ him in the Outfit, back in the day, he thought to himself. But he wouldn’t wish that on anyone he really liked.

“Let’s go home,” he settled for saying.

*****

George and Ralph picked a barn about two miles away to work in. It was on the Williamson farmstead, and was in good repair. They went to work right away, promising to get things going, and then get back with Billy on what else they would need.

Billy spent the next two days working on his own farm, checking over the community herd, and making sure that his and Rhonda’s storage was in good shape for the winter. He still had a feeling that the winter would be a hard one. With so many people gone, factories and cars idled all over the world, the temperature was bound to drop some.

It wouldn’t be unlivable, but it would be harsher than anyone now living had experienced, other than the occasional winter over the years. The house was set. He’d already checked the insulation, the window and door trim, and the flues to the chimneys.

They had plenty of wood, there was still nearly ten thousand pounds of propane under ground, and the above ground five hundred pound tank was three quarters full. Billy didn’t want to use much more of that than he absolutely had to, since there was nowhere to get more.

He straightened up at that idea. Nowhere to get more? Sure there was!

“Tanks are full of it!” he said aloud.

“What?” He started at Rhonda’s voice from behind him. He hadn’t known she was around.

“I was thinkin’ out loud,” he admitted. “About propane.”

“You sound like Hank Hill,” Rhonda giggled.

“Who?”

“Hank Hill? King of the Hill? It’s a. . .never mind,” she sighed. “What about propane?”

“Well, I been worryin’ about not havin’ more, once what we’ve got is gone,” he told her. “Thing is, there’s propane everywhere! It’s in tanks in no tellin’ how many yards, and it’s in the big tanks at the gas places! We just gotta go and get it!”

“You know how to do that?” Rhonda asked.

“Well, I know how the transfer works on our tanks,” Billy said thoughtfully. “Maybe one o’ the other guys knows.”

“It’s a thought,” she nodded. “Still won’t last forever, but it’s better than not havin’ it at all.” She took his hand.

“But that’s enough on that, for now,” she smiled. “C’mon. It’s supper time, and I’m hungry.”

“Works for me.”

*****

Billy spent the next day making a plan. He hadn’t made a new plan since everything had happened. He didn’t like being without a plan. Not having a plan was an invitation to disaster in his view.

They needed to take a look at the propane situation. Each farm had a tank of it’s own, though he doubted that the others had the reserves he did. And he wasn’t telling them. That was his business, he figured. Well, his and Rhonda’s.

Gotta get in the habit o’ thinkin’ like that, he chastised himself again. He and Rhonda were together now, and he had to stop thinking like he was still alone.

They needed the chemicals for the bio-diesel. Sure, they had what they needed for now, but that was just to get started. If they wanted to keep making the diesel, they needed more. Probably a lot more.

They needed to get prepared for winter. Billy was prepared at home, but it was coming time that everything on the Farms would need to be set for the winter. Did they have enough feed and hay for the cattle? Horses? Hogs? Where all the structures sound enough to hold a foot, or even two, of snow? Were their vehicles capable of winter travel if needed? Someone might need the doctor in Franklin. Long trip on snow and ice.

Billy spent a good deal of the morning studying the problems they faced, and trying to figure the best course of action to deal with them. Rhonda, seeing him so deep in thought, left him be, baking bread most of the day, and a pecan pie for after supper that night. She also took time to clean the house, and do their laundry, something that had been neglected over the last week's hectic work schedule.

By the time she was finished, Billy was up and moving.

“Get everything worked out?” she asked with a smile, as Billy walked into the kitchen.

“Some, maybe,” Billy nodded. “Somethin’ smells good!”

“Fresh bread,” she told him, and handed him a slice of hot buttered bread. He bit into it hungrily, realizing that he was famished.

“Man, that’s good!” he exclaimed, gobbling the bread down quickly.

“Easy, tiger,” Rhonda teased, handing him another. “There’s more where that came from.” He ate the second piece more slowly.

“I made a list o’ things we still need to get done,” he told her while eating. “Not you and me us, but all of us,” he clarified. “Reckon we need to have a meetin’ o’ some kind. Gonna take all hands, maybe, to lay all this in. And it’s almost Thanksgivin’.”

“It sure is,” Rhonda realized. “Wow, I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. I need to get together with everyone else and see about a Thanksgiving Dinner.”

“Good idea,” Billy nodded. “We can play host, I guess. Our house has got the most room.” Rhonda smiled, not telling him how warm and comforting hearing him refer to the house as ‘ours’ made her feel.

She sometimes had to stop for a moment, and take stock of the flurry of things that had happened in the last few weeks. It seemed like things had always been the way they were right now, sometimes. Like the two of them had always been together.

Time has a funny way of making that happen.

“Anyway,” Billy was saying when she broke free of her reverie, “there’s a lot to do. We need to make a plan for all that, and then get on it. I think we’ll see snow ‘fore Christmas this year.”

“Maybe a white Christmas?” Rhonda brightened, smiling hopefully at him.

“I dunno,” Billy shrugged. “Be nice, though, wouldn’t it,” he added.

“Yeah, it would.”

*****

There was a meeting the next afternoon at the Todd place. Everyone was there, and Rhonda had made finger foods like cookies and muffins. There was no milk, but there was coffee and hot chocolate, and still some soft drinks. The adults all gathered around the big table, and listened attentively as Billy ran down his list.

“Wow,” Ralph was the first to speak.

“Yeah,” Jerry sighed heavily. “Reckon we got a load o’ work to do, yet, ‘fore winter. Normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but we ain’t normal no more.”

“Well, I reckon this here is the new ‘normal’,” Billy pointed out.

“True enough,” Jerry nodded. “Well, what’s first on the agenda, then?” he asked. Jerry had no problem letting Billy take the lead. Even when Billy didn’t want to.

Jerry Silvers knew his limitations. And he knew how old he was. Children had come to him and Emma late in life, and they were not, as Emma had put it, spring chickens. Most mornings, in fact, Jerry felt more like a rooster from two years before.

He knew, even if Billy didn’t, that Billy was the future. Billy shortchanged himself too much, the older man figured, and he understood Billy’s reluctance. But the facts were there for all to see. Billy was the one who always found a way to get things done. Sometimes when everyone else had thrown up their hands.

There would, sooner or later, be trouble with others, and Jerry knew that. He would back any play that Billy made, but he knew that Billy would handle things better than he would.

He also knew that one day there’d be a community here again. Not in Cedar Bend itself, but here, on the farms around their neighborhood. And that community would need a strong leader, with a load of plain old fashioned horse sense.

Jerry had decided that leader would have to be Billy Todd.

He had not shared that decision with his young neighbor, however. Or with anyone else, for that matter, including his wife.