Renewal 10 - Blind Force (10 page)

“Off to the Capitol. That way,” Bill said.

Terry maneuvered around the lead truck, and accelerated down the picturesque streets near the capitol building. As they approached the front steps, Bill said, “Just park it in front. I think we’ve earned some privileges.”

Terry smiled at the idea, but his mind had already translated Bill’s order into, “I’m too tired to walk across the parking lot,” and Terry agreed wholeheartedly.

The men piled out of the truck onto the wide sidewalk and climbed the steps to the front door. Inside, the incredible blonde was still behind the curved reception desk. They ignored her and turned into the stairwell. Four long flights later, Bill led them down the short stretch of rotunda balcony, turned sharply into Charlie’s office, and nearly ran the man over.

They accepted Charlie’s always-enthusiastic greetings, followed him through his office door, and flopped into the nice leather chairs in his gigantic office. Charlie was perched in his own chair two seconds later.

“Forgive me gentlemen, but you look mighty worn out,” Charlie began.

“More by the minute, Charlie,” Bill answered.

“Well, we’ll keep this short then. I take it you had a big day.”

“Yes, indeed. The Dragons showed up in the dark hours of the morning, along with Wyatt Jenkins and some men from the families.”

“And?”

“And it went fine. We took some losses, but they took huge losses. Gary Tucker Jr. walked right across a wide open field and into Kirk’s trap. That was a slaughter. Part of the army split off and came straight for the front gate. It wasn’t a total defeat for them, but it was close enough. That group lost about three-quarters. Kirk singled out Tucker and captured him. The interesting part was that Wyatt Jenkins had a change of heart, and his men slid away from the Dragon army just minutes before Kirk destroyed them. They put down their weapons and sat in the middle of the road until it was over.”

“So, I know you brought Wyatt and Gary. What did you do with the rest of them?”

“I sent them home. We had some trouble with Garrett Cox’s boys a couple of nights ago, and showed some mercy to the lone survivor. He went back to town with a changed heart and was probably key to the number of Manchester men who showed up. I figured I would take another chance on mercy. It doesn’t do me any good in the long term if I look like another Jenkins coming into power,” Bill explained. “What are the Dragons going to find when and if they get home?”

“Not much. I cobbled together a militia of sorts and they are probably handing out food to the citizens of Columbia as we speak. It may take a while, but eventually we’ll get a decent county government running. Hey, we found some very nice Italian sports cars in the Dragon’s garage. Want one?”

Bill laughed at the notion of driving a sports car in on the rough roads of Coffee County. “Does it come with a lifetime supply of gasoline?”

“That would be real trick, wouldn’t it? I wonder what those people were thinking. I suppose diesels aren’t sexy enough.” Charlie held up his shoulders in a comic shrug.

“I don’t know. Ooooo, shiny?”

Everyone laughed at that.

“You said ‘if’. Why wouldn’t they make it home?”

“That’s another part of the story. Near as we could tell, the Dragons left home with three thousand men. Kirk asked Tam Rogers over in Bedford if she could slow them down for us. She took it pretty seriously. I saw the tail end of her idea of delay tactics. That woman does not fool around. After she was done with them, they traveled right down Jackson Street in Tullahoma, and the cannibals took out some more. By the time they showed up at our place, my best guess is that they were around a thousand strong.”

Charlie whistled at the number of dead somewhere in Bedford County. Terry spoke up, “Bill’s skipping the part where he stopped to pick up some Dragons on the side of the road. They lost their trucks and were planning to hike the rest of the way, I guess. Anyway, Bill had me pull up next to these guys, and pretended he was one of them. Next thing you know, the truck was packed full of Dragons on their way to meet Kirk.” Terry grinned at the sheer sneakiness that Bill could manage.

“Remember when I said something about the water in Coffee County and big brass balls? I double my statement, Mr. Carter,” Charlie announced, returning Terry’s grin.

Bill was about to say something modest and changed his mind. He laughed loudly at the ceiling instead.

“Ok, Mr. Big Balls. What do you want me to do with your prisoners?”

Bill’s smile faded. “I want you to nail Gary Tucker to the wall. Kirk said he’s gone a little crazy, mumbling about God and such. Anyway, I’m sure you can find a million reasons, but we’ll be happy to supply as many as you need. As for Wyatt Jenkins, I want him to do some time for his responsibility in the whole Jenkins circus, but not too long. I think he has already learned a few hard lessons, and I think he can help us keep the families in line in the future. I believe we can talk with George Talley as well. He refused to participate in the fight. George Cox showed up early and we captured his entire crew alive. The mechanics of the battle put him right in the Dragon army’s firing lanes this morning. Nobody made it. The good news is that he has a son named Derek who seems a little less power hungry, and  I have some hope we can work with him down the road.”

“Sounds like you have it covered, Bill. I have some more things to discuss, but you look dead on your feet. How about I come down in a week or so to talk things over?”

“Sounds good, Charlie. I look forward to it. Thanks for seeing us.”

“No problem, Bill. Have you noticed? I’m the only one dumb enough to make a habit of working on a Sunday. Pisses my wife off to no end. It’s me, the tourists, and that ridiculously hot blonde in the rotunda. Hard times.”

The men smiled, and got their feet with groans and popping joints. They exchanged another round of handshakes and made their way down the stairs.

“You still good to drive?” Bill asked on their way out the front door.

“Yeah, I’m good, as long as you keep talking,” Terry replied with a mischievous smile.

Chapter 10 – 17

Sally Bean waffled between hysterics and a sage bit of wisdom on that sunny Wednesday morning. She knew beyond hope that Joe Miller was walking out of her life. She wanted... She wanted something, she didn’t know what. Maybe it was the comfort of a warm man sleeping beside her. Maybe it was some long forgotten sense of security she was after. Maybe it was something akin to love, but when she really examined her feelings, she understood that it was kind of love that did not lead to the places she dreamed about. It was the kind of love that two people shared out of mutual respect and long familiarity. In the sad end of her long musings on the matter, she knew she had no claim to Joe. She knew he had every right to do whatever he wanted in this world, and she decided to let him go with grace.

These were all perfectly good ideas alone in bed at night, but now Sally was standing in the front yard watching it happen. Joe had on his ridiculous hat with the broad floppy brim. He wore a shiny nylon backpack that he had kept in his closet for almost thirty years. His favorite hunting rifle was strapped to the one side and a fishing pole to the other. His skinning knife was strapped to his hip and his Smith and Wesson revolver was clipped to his chest strap in an oily leather holster. For an old man who had almost died of pneumonia a year before, he looked remarkably fit and strong under the heavy pack. More than that, he looked excited and eager to see the world he had denied himself for an entire life. After a wife he still loved and children he had lost, he was finally free to travel.

Mom was peeking out the window to make the call on Sally’s private time for goodbyes, and she quickly realized that Sally had already said what she needed to say. Mom gave us a little come-on wave and headed out the door. We poured into the yard and surrounded Joe. The cacophony of goodbyes held him fast for a few more minutes, until he finally took his first two steps down the driveway. He turned around for a final wave, and for some reason, he spoke to me.

“Work hard, Bill, and you’ll make it right.” Joe turned again, slowly under the weight of his pack. He took three more steps, paused, three more, and then found his rhythm and slid steadily out of sight.

Sally watched long after he disappeared beyond the trees.

I was holding my sadness in reserve. I knew we were about to say goodbye all over again, and if I couldn’t hold myself together through Joe’s departure, I had no hope for Arturo and Jimmy and Jones. As for Joe, I never realized that we had a close relationship until he was gone. When the pain of his absence grew strong, I shuffled back through my memories of our short year of acquaintance. All the chores where he worked by my side. All the patient explanations that I assumed went to everyone, I finally realized too late that they were just for me. When I grasped that bit of truth and added it to the fact that I would never be able to tell him that I noticed, never be able to thank him, it was more than I could handle for hours at a time.

Arturo had that same look of expectant excitement as he hovered around the door of the station wagon. He and Dad had worked out the technique for getting decent gasoline out of old tanks, but no one could guarantee that the wagon would run beyond the first tank. Regardless, Arturo had a translucent plastic barrel tied to the roof of the wagon. He called it his barrel of optimism. He gave it a couple of thumps for good luck, and stepped away from the car for his final goodbyes. In a parade of hugs, well wishes, and good lucks, we all filed past Arturo, then Jones, and finally little Jimmy, who was not so little anymore. Arturo accepted it with good, if a bit impatient, grace. Jones became a tearful wreck when my mom whispered something in her ear, and everyone who followed had to be content with just stealing a hug on the way past. Jimmy was probably not quite old enough to know what it meant that day. He fought the hugs, and ignored the goodbyes.

I thought he was confused, but he wasn’t. He simply wanted to get past the people to say his only serious goodbye. That was for Bear. The dog knew something unusual was happening, but he maintained his jowly grin as Jimmy bawled in his ear and squeezed his neck hard enough to make a lesser dog pass out. Jimmy held an entire conversation with the dog, but we couldn’t understand a word of it. Maybe Bear could.

When the new family got into the car, Bear’s grin went slack at the corners. He looked at the people gathered around him, sensed the sadness, and came to a canine realization. The grin was instantly replaced with a look of concern. The car rumbled to life and began to roll. Bear was pure anxiety, the first time the dog had ever seemed the least bit off balance. As the car accelerated down the drive, Bear took off in pursuit. He barked his deep bark of alarm all the way to the driveway. Jimmy stuck his head out the window and yelled something in return. Bear kept running and barking, running and barking, until the old green station wagon left him behind.

Even Bear knew we might never see them again.

Chapter 10 – 18

The heat of the September air was tempered by a faint hint of autumn on the wind. Wispy cirrus clouds high above did little to mask the deep blue of the sky. They merely hinted at the changing weather to come. That was for tomorrow. Today was for celebration. Teeny Town was turned out for the event on the public lawn between the town proper and the guardian line of trees to the east. Bill Carter scanned the trees by habit, checking to make sure that the treehouse guard posts were manned. There was no reason to believe in any threat since the one-sided battle with the Dragons, but old habits die hard.

By force of will, he pulled his gaze back down to the people around him. His enjoyment of the spectacle of his community wearing something other than work clothes was tempered by the knowledge that there were seventeen young people who would not be able to attend. Seventeen was a miniscule price for the community, compared to what it might have been, but it was an enormous price for the individual people who made Teeny Town a secure place to live. The funeral had been long and bitter, although Bill had been amazed once again at Aggie’s ability to make even the worst events somehow beautiful and appropriate. If he looked just south of the trees, Bill could make out the near edge of the cemetery where his people were buried. My people in responsibility, but our people in love, he thought. They rested high on the rim of the valley as another line of spiritual defense from a hard world.

Here in the no-longer-hidden edge of the town he had envisioned long ago, Bill knew the world was not quite as hard, not any longer. Charlie had brought the State’s power and authority to legitimize Bill’s plan. Bill’s new responsibility stretched across the whole of Coffee County and beyond. If he could make it work here, then he expected that Charlie would take the hard lessons learned and apply them statewide.

Bill was a rare man. He had led the community as a single individual without being tempted to take advantage of those he led. It worked in Teeny Town, but he was not fool enough to think it would work outside the valley. His life of simple and elegant solutions, of making decisions and having them enacted, was over. He was not looking forward to the committees and assemblies and consensus that would be sure to follow, but he knew that the only guard against the weakness of human nature was to share the burden of leadership among more than one man or one woman. He fervently hoped that the safeguards could be built without giving away the ability to act.

It had been a long summer, but a corner had been turned. The weight had been lifted. He could now proceed from the ideology of survival to the long road to true recovery. There had been many times in his life when he was sure they would not make it to this point. Times of hunger and pain. Times of loss and regret. Times of confusion and misdirection. All those instances, all those events had led him to the brink of giving up. In every one of those times, Bill recognized his pure good fortune in having his family around him. Kirk was his strong right arm. Lucy was the provider of plenty. Tommy was usually the comic relief at the perfect moment. But mostly, there was Aggie. He had once helped to pull her from the jaws of her own breakdown, her own place of surrender against the human race. She never broke. She came back stronger, and gave Bill a large piece of her strength. Without her, he knew, this day would have never come.