Sandra walked out of the kitchen and onto the porch. She glanced to her right and smiled when she saw Elise, who was sitting in a chair and reading a book. Sandra was glad Elise had decided to stay… she felt like they had given the girl a second chance at life.
“Sandra?”
Elise and Sandra both turned to Nathan as he walked toward the house with a stack of boards on his shoulder. Manuel was a few steps behind him with five of his own. They dropped them on the ground as Sandra walked down the stairs to meet them.
“Where did you get those?” she said.
“From that farm,” he said, pointing to the south.
“There wasn’t anyone there?”
“No… there wasn’t anyone there and it looked like they had left in a hurry.”
Sandra nodded. It made her nervous that so many of the farms around her were deserted and had been looted or worse... which made her glad Nathan was working to build a fence. There was already one that ran along the north side of her property, where the road and gate were, but the other three sides were open.
“Is there still more lumber?”
“Yeah… it should take us about six or seven more trips.”
Nathan leaned against the railing and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Manuel sat down on the bottom step.
“Do you want to take my truck?” Sandra said.
Nathan turned his head back and forth.
“It would make it easier… but I think it would be best not to draw any attention to us and we should save the gas in case of an emergency.”
It made sense to Sandra, she hadn’t even thought about that. She had always been trusting of strangers and she needed to remind herself that things were different.
“Anyway,” Nathan said, “I think I’ll just get some water and then head back for more.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“You sure?”
Sandra nodded and smiled before turning and heading inside. She filled two large glasses from the pitcher on the counter and carried them back outside. She descended the steps and handed water to Manuel and Nathan before sitting down next to them.
“What’s your plan with the fence?” Sandra said.
“I feel like we need a fence around the house to protect us.”
“A wooden fence?”
“I figured chain link is easy to cut through… so wood would probably be our best choice… and whatever other materials I can find to reinforce it.”
Sandra hadn’t really thought about it, but she trusted Nathan.
“Sounds good. Is there enough wood at that one farm for that?”
“No… there’s not nearly enough… but it’s a start. Manuel and I are going to bring it back and he’s going to start digging post holes while I go search for more materials. If I can’t find more wood, I’ll figure out something else to use.”
“Can I help?”
Nathan shook his head as he took a long drink of the cool water.
“No… I’ll take care of it. How’s the planting coming?”
“Good… I’ve got the first patch ready to sow. I’m thinking spinach… and then I’ll get the next one ready for snow peas.”
Nathan finished his water and stood up.
“Good, we’re going to need as much as we can grow. How are you in terms of canning supplies?”
“I have a decent amount of jars and lids… maybe two hundred or so, but the stove isn’t working.”
Nathan bit his lip and sighed.
“What about the wood stove in the living room?”
“It’s not big enough… my pressure canner won’t fit on it.”
“Do you have to use the pressure canner or can you just use a pot?”
“I can use a water bath for high-acid stuff, but any meat or vegetables have to be done in the pressure canner.”
Nathan nodded and drummed his fingers on the railing.
“All right… I’ll figure something out.”
She smiled at him. It was nice to have his help. Nathan smiled back before turning and nodding to Manuel. The two men started to walk, heading to go find more lumber and supplies for the fence. Nathan had looked through her tools and found a hammer and some nails, but not enough to finish the fence.
While they walked he thought about going to another farm to find additional lumber and also a way to resolve the canning dilemma. It wasn’t even summer yet, but he knew from spending enough winters in Colorado that it would come soon enough. The winters could be mild, but constant temperature fluctuations made growing tough. They had time to figure it out, but it was important enough that it would be on his mind until a solution was found.
Nathan turned to Manuel as they reached the farmhouse.
“Can you go get some wood? I want to have a quick look around inside.”
Manuel nodded and headed toward the shed where they had found the pile of boards. Nathan climbed the stairs and went through the already open front door. He had checked the house for supplies earlier in the day, but hadn’t been looking for anything in particular.
He made his way through the living room, quickly looking around and went into the kitchen. The cupboards had been cleaned out. The pantry door was ajar and he checked it next. There wasn’t any food, just paper products, but he spotted what looked like glass jars. He pulled the package off the shelf and brought it out into the light of the kitchen. It was a case of Ball Jars and lids. He smiled and set them down on the table. There were only sixteen in the case, not nearly enough, but it was a start.
Nathan headed out the back door and glanced to his right as he went down the stairs. He stopped and frowned as he noticed a pit in the back yard. He slowly walked over to it and smiled when he realized it was a fire pit. There was a large metal grate over the center of it. It took him a second, but Nathan realized they could dig a fire pit of their own and they could put the pressure canner on the grate. He figured it should work and he would get the grate when he came back for the jars. Nathan didn’t think there was any chance of someone else showing up and taking either the grate or the jars seeing as how the house had already been cleaned out.
He met Manuel at the shed, where he was already hoisting seven boards onto his shoulder. Manuel froze and looked to his left. Nathan turned his head and tried to spot what Manuel was looking at. He saw it—a cloud of dust just over the next hill.
Nathan hadn’t seen or heard a single car since arriving at the farm and seeing the dust cloud worried him some.
“Wait here… I’m gonna go upstairs and see if I can get a better view.”
Manuel nodded in response before setting the wood back down. Nathan took the back steps two at a time and pushed the door open. He ran to the stairs off the living room and ran up them. When he reached the back of the house he could just see over the hill.
There was a dark blue pickup driving down the road. He watched as they turned up a driveway and headed for a farmhouse that sat on top of the next crest. Nathan was fairly confident they didn’t live there… he believed he would’ve seen or heard their truck if that were the case. He leaned his face closer to the window as the truck stopped just short of the house.
Two men jumped out of the back of the truck, with rifles in their hands, and two more men climbed out of the cab. They walked toward the house, rifles raised, and went inside without slowing down. One of the men came out a moment later and waited with the truck. Nathan didn’t take his eyes off the house for the next few minutes as he waited to see what would happen. The three men walked back outside. They circled the house once and got back in their truck.
Nathan stepped back from the window as his heart raced. He needed to get back to the farm. Nathan ran down the stairs and out the front door. He rounded the house and signaled for Manuel to follow him. His friend nodded and they took off running. Nathan didn’t have to say anything—the look of panic on his face told Manuel everything he needed to know.
Manuel was a few steps behind as Nathan reached the house and ran up the stairs. Elise dropped her book and followed him inside.
“Sandra? Sandra?”
“What?”
She walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face, which instantly faded when she saw the look on Nathan’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Where’s the shotgun?”
She ran by him to the kitchen and pulled open the pantry door. She pulled the shotgun out and handed it to Nathan. He quickly checked to see if it was loaded.
“Shells?”
She reached into the pantry and came out with two boxes. Nathan took them from her and dropped them on the table. He quickly loaded another three shells into the pump shotgun.
“Nathan,” Sandra said, “you’re scaring me. What’s happening?”
“I want you and Elise to go into the cellar and lock the door. Don’t come out no matter what until I tell you the coast is clear.”
“Nathan….”
He looked into her eyes and she nodded.
“Elise, come with me,” Sandra said.
Sandra took Elise’s hand and pulled her toward the back door. Manuel stepped into the kitchen as the back door closed.
“There are four guys, at least two of them armed.”
Nathan dumped the rest of the shells on the table and shoved the fifteen shells into his pockets. Twenty-one shells wasn’t much, but he was going to be damned if he wasn’t going to fight for Sandra and her parent’s farm.
Nathan headed out of the house with Manuel close behind him. He wasn’t sure he was making the right decision, but he felt like he should go to the barn. It would give him a chance to watch for them as they approached, but at the same time not be visible in one of the windows upstairs.
Manuel ran to the woodpile on the side of the barn and grabbed the ax before following Nathan inside. They left the door open a little and Manuel stayed there as Nathan climbed the ladder and went into the hayloft. He ran to the window that faced the road and ducked down next to it.
Nathan set the shotgun on the floor next to him and slowly raised his head until he could see the road. He waited for the next few minutes, feeling his heart race as he wondered what was about to happen.
He kicked himself for not telling Sandra how he felt as he watched the truck pull up to the bottom of the driveway and come to a stop. It was too late—he was certain he had missed his chance. It didn’t matter what the men had planned, Nathan wasn’t going to let them get to Sandra and Elise even if they had to kill him.
I wish I would have told her how much I love her.
Nathan held his breath as he waited for the truck to turn up the driveway. It didn’t. The truck pulled away in a cloud of dust. He dropped to the floor and rolled onto his back. He knew they had gotten lucky… and it might not happen again, but he wasn’t about to complain.
There was something he needed to do… something he had put off for far too long.