From Chapter 1
When Jake went to help lift the sick woman from the truck bed, he discovered she had died sometime during the last climb up to Foresthill. He told the two brothers, Paul and Gordon as gently as he could, but, how does one tell boys 15 and 13 that their Mother is dead? The two boys were sobbing and Denny came up to them. He looked at his new Poppa and Jake nodded, so he put his arms around the two brothers and said, "Come on, guys, let's get you cleaned up and somethin' ta' eat." Jason saw Denny leading the two boys away and he looked at Jake, "Two more?" Jake just nodded his head and said, "At least two more."
ADAPTION AND ADOPTION
There were occasional family groups and separate individuals who made their way to Meadow Valley, but the majority were discovered whenever the residents made foraging trips out to the world beyond their protective mountains.
Jake and Jason had taken in four boys Denny and Athol and Kurt and Willie. It was not very long before the four boys began using the name, Williams. They were all old enough to know there was no going back, that their families and their homes were gone.
All four boys were fast developing into leaders, whenever there was a task to be done, one could pretty much count on one or more of the Williams boys leading the effort. Kurt was the biggest of the four boys and he had hooked the old moldboard plow to the dray horse and plowed up another two acres for a vegetable garden. The rest of the boys planted the garden in fall vegetables.
It was Denny and Kurt who came up with the idea assisting with guard duty, so the men would be freed up to keep the place going and to hunt or fish for food. Athol and Willie were only 10 years old, but they led a group of younger children to help weed the vegetable garden, collect the eggs and feed the chickens. During the day, they would carry lunch to the men who were standing guard duty.
Friendships began, generated by the tense sense and fear of danger all around them. There was one man they all had a particular liking for, Charlie Haskins. He would tell the boys stories while he ate his lunch and he had a huge knowledge of mountain lore that the boys would sit for hours listening to Old Charlie tell them about animals and plants that lived in their mountains.
If one of the children had a skinned knee, Charlie knew just what leaves to crush and press on the scrape. He showed them what wild fruits were safe to eat and where to find the juiciest berries. He always had time to hold a crying child or comfort a child who had lost his or her parents, and he would spend his off duty hours sitting on the porch with several children cuddled up in his lap, they were ALL fast asleep in the warm sunshine.
The two youngsters, Athol and Willie, noticed that, whenever Old Charlie was on guard duty, Timmy Bellamy always wanted to come along when they were delivering the lunches. One evening, as Jake and Jason were putting the boys down for bed, Athol and Willie asked, "What if a boy really liked a man and wanted to live with him like we do with you guys? Maybe the boy would even like that man to be his Daddy?"
Both Jake and Jason listened, more to what was behind their sons' words than the words themselves. Jason grinned and asked, "Who ya' got in mind?"
Both boys hummed and hawed a bit and finally Athol said, "Old Mr. Charlie really likes Timmy and Timmy likes Mr. Charlie. Maybe they could, eere ahhh...."
Jayson smiled, "You guys playing matchmaker here?"
Athol replied, "Oh no sir, we's been told never to play with matches!"
Jake chuckled and said, "Well, you guys get some sleep, maybe the answer will come to you in the morning."
As Jake was bringing the weekly inventories up to date that night, Jason said, "Ya think........"
Jake said, "Yeh, I do. I have seen that old coot relate to that boy. Charlie would lay down and die before he would let anything happen to Timmy, or any other boy for that matter. When his wife, Carolyn, died trying to give birth to their baby, something died in Charlie and Timmy has brought it back to life." He thought for a few moments and then continued, "I think I will drop a few hints to Charlie and see what happens."
It had been a long day in a long line of long days and the two men were ready for bed, they had never thought being community leaders would be so much work. They had to keep track of food inventories, fuel levels, schedule the turbine-generator for maintenance when they could get by without electricity and figure where in the "hell" they were going to get some more laundry soap and now, their latest crisis, salt!
They both knew of a salt seep down on the eastern slope, but that was getting a little too close to the awful destruction over in the Sacramento Valley. They would have to be pretty desperate before they would be willing to take a chance with all the radiation over there. The memory of the woman who had died of radiation poisoning was still fresh in their minds!
The next day brought with it more trouble than they had bargained for, they found the fence cut in the south pasture and two yearling steers were missing! All the usual suspects were eliminated when they found the fence had been cut. Neither bears nor mountain lions carry a pair of wire cutters in their hip pocket and choose just a juicy yearling steer for breakfast.
Jake rounded up a "posse" and they started out, following the trail. The people who had taken the steers were making no attempt to hide their trail, but they were moving fast.
They followed the thieves' trail across Wayman Flat and down the gorge that led to the American River. About half way down, Old Charlie held up his hand for everyone to stop. Charlie was the best tracker they had and he could "sniff" out a trail across bare rocks! As they peered over the edge of the precipice, they spotted a large flat below them that held a dozen or so tents and they could see people walking around.
There were women and children huddled in a pen and men were being used as animals to haul logs into position to build a large log building, possibly a fort.
Men were on horseback, using whips on the men hauling the logs, the horrible realization came over them as they watched, "SLAVERY!" Those who had watched were numbed and they could not believe that slavery had raised its ugly head so quickly!
They backed away from the edge and Jake called everyone to a "pow-wow." He said, "I am gonna send Denny and Tom back to Meadow Valley for more help."
Old Charlie was sizzling mad when he saw a couple of kids being whipped by the slavers. He turned to the two boys and said, "Denny, Tom, I want you two tell everyone what we have seen here. I want every man, except those needed to guard our homes, back here by nightfall. Everyone is to have at least one rifle and one hand-gun and enough ammunition that we can wipe out these fiends. Bring the small wagon and two horses, 'cause we are gonna have some hurt folks and some of us might get wounded."
He turned to Jake and said, "Sorry Boss, but them slavers made me so durned mad, I's jist had ta' do something right away!" Both Jake and Jason knew that Old Charlie had been a Master Sergeant in the Army in his younger days and they valued his expertise. They carefully watched the two teens as Charlie interacted with them, there was no question that the two boys loved that old man.
Old Charley hugged both teens and sent them on their way, telling them to be super careful and not let any of "them damned slavers get sight o'them." The boys rode "Hell Bent for Leather", making the trip back to their valley in just two hours!
They rode into the yard, screaming and hollering, waving their hats to attract attention. Their words, "SLAVERS" brought every person within earshot of the two boys running on the double with horrified looks on their faces.
When they reported in to Jason and he began blowing the alarm horn at the Boiler House and even more folk crowded around to learn what the problem was. The women refused to be left out, Millie Zeiss and Becky Loudon both pointed out they were as good or better shots than most of the men, and most certainly better than their husbands!
They decided that twenty people would be sufficient, it was a mixed group of men and women, some older teen boys and one teen girl! All of them were chomping at the "bit" to rid themselves of the slavers and robbers. All of them were crack shots and excellent riders.
Denny and Tom hitched up the small wagon and led the way back to Wayman Flat and the gorge that overlooked the slave camp. The two horses on the wagon were foaming at the mouth as the group arrived where the first party had made camp.
Everyone had moved well back from the overlook and they planned a cold camp, wanting no fire to give away their presence. They ate cold rations that night and everyone bedded down early, they planned an attack right at dawn the next morning.
The next morning arrived before anyone was ready for it, after gulping down some water and some sandwiches as they again peered over the edge and watched as the slave camp came alive. They had to restrain some of the boys, they were horrified to see whips and fists being used to urge the slaves to work harder and faster. They had never seen such brutality and they were gonna put a stop to it, "RIGHT NOW!"
The attack force carefully worked their way down the gorge, using the trees and bushes to hide their approach. When they had worked their way down to the last ledge, they could see there was no escape routes the invaders could take, it was a sheer drop to the raging river far below the half completed fort.
On Jake's signal, everyone had picked out a target, and, on his command, the roar of gunfire in the confines of the canyon was terrific and could be heard over the roar of the river below them. The slavers were not able to determine which direction their attackers were shooting from and they milled around in panic.
Some attempted to escape down the gorge, but it was too steep and they and their horses fell to their death. The slavers tried to surrender, but the folks from Meadow Valley were having none of it, when the smoke and dust finally cleared, there were over fifty bodies sprawled out in the dirt, not a single slaver survived! The slavers' horses were confused and milling around, some they would have to shoot as they had been badly injured, but the rest would add to their own horses back at the mill.
They gathered up the injured children first and sent the wagon back to the valley while the injured adults were being patched up. The adults were in pretty rough shape, they had been abused for weeks, with little or no food. They all had to be hoisted back up the canyon to the flat area at the rim, there was no way the injured, former slaves could make the climb, especially the teens, who were still with them.
It was a frightening experience for the injured who had just been rescued, but they were soothed by the knowledge that they had been freed by these people who had appeared out of nowhere to save them.
Charlie Haskins was driving the wagon that hauled the children back to the valley and Timmy was riding "shotgun". Charlie drove the wagon slowly as to not jostle the injured children and, as they came up over the rim of the gorge, Timmy told Charlie to stop.
There was a spring nearby at the top and was ringed by wild blackberries, Timmy asked a couple of the boys who were not too badly hurt, to help as he brought fresh cold water and his hat filled with the berries. The sugar content of the berries revived the children somewhat and, by the time they resumed their journey, the children were more alert and were sitting up, watching the landscape pass by as Charlie eased the wagon down the old logging road.
Timmy climbed over the seat and began telling the children about Meadow Valley and what was in store for them. The children asked all sorts of questions, one little girl asked, "What does we gotta do fer food?"
Timmy was a little startled at the questions, he asked, "What do you mean? All I gotta do in the morning before breakfast is to get dressed, wash my hands and go over to the chow hall."
The little girl replied, "No, I's means, does we gotta do sex things with the men before wes kin have somethin' to eat?"
Charlie was grinding his teeth, he couldn't remain silent another second! He stopped the wagon and turned around in the seat. He held Timmy in his arms and said, "Guys, there ain't gonna be no sex stuff in Meadow Valley! We is family folk, this here boy, Timmy, is gonna be my son, iffin' anyone even tries to do sex stuff with him, theys gonna be dead!"
He looked at the children seated in the wagon and continued, "If anyone wants you to do something you don't like, you come tell an adult or you come tell me, I'll fixem' permanent like!"
Timmy looked up at Charlie and whispered, "Ya' mean that, PAPA?"
Charlie hugged the boy and said so everyone could hear him, "YES, I do, SON! Ain't gonna be nobody what does stuff like that whiles I gots me my rifle an' bullets ta' go in it!"
They got the children unloaded as soon as they arrived at the mill and Timmy led them into the new bunkhouse where he showed them how they could get cleaned up. Their cuts and scrapes were attended to but one little boy had a broken arm that had not yet been attended to.
Mark Bledsoe had been a Navy Medic serving with the Marines in the 'Stans, he set the boy's arm and fashioned a sling for him before he carried him over to the chow hall. The boy was unable to eat, as it was his right arm that was broken, so Mark sat beside the boy and fed him the first full breakfast the child had eaten since everything went bad.
Mark knew from the "git-go" it was a losing battle, his own wife and two children had disappeared during the collapse and he had even given up searching for them. He had never found even a trace, their home had been a pile of rubble and none of the neighbors had seen his wife, Alice, or their sons, David and Donny.
The little boy, Bobby, looked up at Mark and gave him a kiss, well flavored with scrambled eggs and bacon. That was all it took, Bobby belonged to Mark from that moment! Bobby would grow up as Bobby Bledsoe and, when the crisis was finally over, he and his Daddy, Mark Bledsoe, would remain at the mill for many years.
Charlie had gone back for another load of refugees and they began to filter through the system, the adults were no less incredulous than the children, they were sure they would have to pay some awful price for the food and care. As days went by and nothing more than normal chores was asked of them, the men got up their courage and sought out Jake and Jason to ask what the bill was going to be. They were dumbfounded when they were asked to join the Meadow Valley Community and live among the folks already there!
After the shock of the slavers had worn off, both Jake and Jason were concerned over the safety of their people and decided it would be a good idea to erect a log wall around their small community for protection. It was slow, hard work and was not completed until just before the winter snows began.
They had brought in all the crops, they had a bumper crop of potatoes, onions, beets and other root vegetables. They constructed an earthen cellar with log walls on the inside to store the root crops, it was cool and slightly moist in the cellar and the vegetables stayed firm and solid the entire winter. They constructed shelves on the log walls and vegetable were stored everywhere. (Author's note: I grew up on a farm and now, 75 years later, I STILL cannot abide zucchini squash!) The corn had done fairly well and they had squashes coming out their ears!
There were more pigs than they ever thought possible and some of the "old timers" remembered how to smoke the hams. Smoked Pork sausage began showing up at breakfast, there was plenty of local sage to season it and the children were showing the results with rounded tummies and no cries at night over hunger pains! When bacon began to appear for breakfast, the little boys all grabbed a fist full of slices and went running out to the barn to gobble their stolen delights!
They had found an old, horse drawn sickle-bar mower in one of the small towns they had scavenged and the mechanics were able to repair it. They had to make a few pieces, after they figured out how the thing was supposed to operate. Nobody in the small community had ever seen a horse drawn mower working!
Hay was cut for winter fodder, they had over fifty horses and a growing cattle herd and a flock of sheep that needed to be fed daily. They were using more of the horses than they were using the gasoline trucks, they were saving the gasoline for emergencies only.
When they cut the wheat, they were careful to save every grain possible, most of the crop was stored as seed for the next year, but a limited amount was converted to flour and fresh bread was served once a week as a treat.
They had experimented with bean flour, but it was not very tasty. They did find the bean flour made a pretty good soup, when flavored with bits of ham and pork. They had discovered a few "restaurant sized" containers of chili powder and they rationed out chili beans once in a while.
By Christmas, they were a community of seventy-five children and sixty adults. Despite their hardships, everyone was healthy, even little Bobby's broken arm had healed and he was an active 8 year old boy who worshiped his daddy, Mark Bledsoe.
There had been no word from the outside world since the first snows had closed the pass into their little valley. It was as if the outside world had ceased to exist. They all prayed that people outside their valley had survived the awful bombs and that they would make contact someday.
They had taken to holding classes in the "big house" for the children. The men had fashioned plywood sheets, about the size of a book, and painted them with a flat black house paint. Using lumber coding crayons, the children could do their lessons on the pieces of plywood, then the crayon could be washed off with soap and water.
There were four levels being taught, Early Elementary, Middle School, Junior High School and High School. The children were all at their lessons one morning when the steam horn went off at the boiler house.
Classes ended immediately and all the older boys went for their rifles while the younger children were herded into the barns for safety. Four teen boys stood guard over the small children, their rifles chambered and the safeties off! They were determined that NOBODY was gonna get to the children they were guarding!
THE OUTSIDE WORLD INTRUDES
The steam horn gave off an awful caterwauling, the men grabbed their rifles and the women shooed all the small children down into the barn behind the main house or into the horse barn because it had strong timber walls. The teen girls were up on the roof with their own rifles, sighting in on the intruders.
A young man, leading a troop of twenty mounted men, looked up and saw the round holes of rifle barrels pointed directly at him. He shuddered and called his men to a halt. He called out, "I am Second Lieutenant James Mason of the First Provisional Army. I am making a survey of survivors for the Governor of Cal-Vada. We mean you no harm, we are just trying to find out how many folks survived and where they are. Please let us dismount, we have come a long way and we are all saddle-weary!"
Jake told the young officer to leave his weapons with his horse and come up to the porch. Lieutenant Mason looked up at the rifles still pointed at him and shuddered once more, but he was committed now, he could not just turn around and ride out.
He walked slowly up to the porch, holding his hands out in front of him to show they were empty. He stepped up, onto the porch and held out his hand. Jake took it and started to shake the young man's hand, when he looked closely, he asked, "Are you Dalton Mason's boy?"
The young officer replied, "Yes sir, my Daddy used to be the High School Principal in Auburn." He then looked down and continued, "They killed him, sir, they killed my Daddy."
Tears began dripping from the young officer's face. Jake hugged the young man and asked, "Who killed your Dad?"
The young man replied, "Those people who were collecting slaves, sir. We are not sure where they went, but, if I ever set eyes on them ......"
Jake hugged the young officer even tighter and said, "Don't you worry about them, we already sent them to hell!" Jake pointed over to the children looking out from the basement windows and said, "Those children, we took from them and we are caring for them."
At that moment, a child's voice shrieked out, "JIMMMMEEEEE!" and a small child was seen streaking across the porch and threw himself into James Mason's arms! Both boys were flooding with tears, Jimmie looked up at Jake and said, "ssSir, this is my brother, Mikey. Hhhow ddid you fffind him?"
Jake said, "Tell your men to stand down and you all come in and have lunch with us. We will tell you all about it."
The soldiers were amazed, they had been subsisting on C-Rations and old, outdated MRE's and they were served hot roast beef sandwiches, slaw and berry ice cream! The soldiers watched as the children calmly ate their meal, it was easy to see that they ate like this all the time, it was NOT a show just for their benefit!
The soldiers and their lieutenant ended spending the night with them and Jake promised to watch after Mikey Mason. The next morning, before they left, the soldiers were served scrambled eggs, pork sausage and corn meal biscuits covered in real butter and berry jam! More than one soldier promised himself that he was gonna come back, SOON, even if he had to desert! Capture would be worth it for another breakfast like they were eating!
Second Lieutenant James Mason would be a regular visitor to Meadow Valley! His little brother was a mighty magnet, but so were the sausages and biscuits! He would have to rotate his squad, otherwise he might be faced with rebellion and mutiny!
As the troopers left the next morning, a very proud little boy was standing on the porch telling all who would listen that his big brother was the "osificer" out in front of the troop!
Lt. Mason had taken down all the information about the Williams Cousins and their group at Meadow Valley and he advised the cousins to set up a regular guard detail, the slavers they had exterminated, were not the only ones operating in the area and that there were rumors that some gangs from Mexico were moving north, looking for easy pickings.
Both Jake and Jason thought his advice was good and they asked for volunteers. They had thought a seven man squad would be about all they would get to volunteer, they ended up with a thirty man platoon!
The next time Lt. Mason and his troopers came through the gap into Meadow Valley, they were surrounded by mounted men with rifles, all pointed in their direction!
Meadow Valley Provisional Second Lieutenant Denny Williams commanded the First Mounted Ranger Squad that intercepted them. He asked Denny if he was another Williams Cousin and he smiled as he said, "NOPE, I AM A SON!"
The young Lieutenant had already surmised that the Williams Cousins were partners and he wondered which cousin the Provisional Second Lieutenant belonged. He soon learned that Denny considered BOTH Jake and Jason his Daddies!
Jimmy Mason was impressed with the professionalism displayed by the Rangers and said so in his report. That report would have far reaching consequences as time went by. A trained armed force was going to be vital if they were to survive.
As the troopers rode in, Meadow Valley looked like a Frontier Town, there was a log wall around the village, with guard posts at each corner. The gate was guarded by armed soldiers, who made it very plain that nobody was going to enter their town until they had checked them out!
Inside the town, things were bustling, there was a central cookhouse, where mouth-watering smells were coming out the vents, and schoolchildren were sitting down to a mid-morning snack of fresh fruit, yogurt and a buttered muffin. Each child had a glass of milk and there were plates of sliced cheese if anyone was still hungry!
The soldiers were looking on with envious drool running down their chins! Jimmy said to Jake, "My God, Mr. Jake, even the Governor doesn't eat this good!"
Jake smiled and replied, "Why don't you bring him with you the next time you come by?" Jimmy made a mental note to himself to do just that! He thought the Governor NEEDED to see what was going on in Meadow Valley as he was always turning down projects as something they could not do!
Mikey was standing by his big brother, anxious to show him his school work and his report card! Jimmy said, "Little Bro, this is the only working school in the entire state, I am so proud of you!" Mikey beamed at the praise and he spent the rest of the time his brother was there, showing him around.
The small troop stayed several days, enjoying the hospitality of the folks of Meadow Valley. Hot bath water was an instant success, the soldiers ran screaming to the showers, pulling off their clothing as they ran! Sourdough pancakes with butter and honey for breakfast, grilled pork sausage and kraut for lunch, and roast beef with mashed potatoes and berry pie for supper tempted Jimmy's troopers sorely towards desertion!
The troopers had hardly gotten out of the valley when the trouble began unfolding. Jake and Jason were going over the inventories when the steam horn began its dreadful wail. They heard the gate slam shut and the shouts of the men as they manned the guard towers.
Both men grabbed their rifles and ran for the gate. As they climbed the ladder into the guard tower, they heard a strange language being spoken outside the gate. As they peered over the top of the wall, they saw about twenty heavily armed men, dirty, filthy and shabby. It was obvious that English was not their primary language, they demanded tribute and slaves.
Millie Zeiss had already proven herself as the finest shot in town, she drew a bead on the bandit's pistol that he was waving in the air. She fired just one shot, the bandit's pistol went flying in the air and he was holding his hand in pain, cursing the "feeelthy gringos" who dared shoot at El Magnifico! He screamed at them that they were going to pay for this outrage!
The bandits drew back and started riding around the wall, looking for a weak place, they would dash in, shooting wildly, hoping they could push through the logs. The stand-off lasted three days before the bandits finally rode off.
The bandits made a big show of riding off in disgust, but neither Jake nor Jason were taken in. They waited until dark and Jake led two dozen men out the side gate and they hid in the boiler house. About 2 am, just as the new moon was rising, the bandits were back.
This time the bandits had explosives and were about to blow the main gate when they were hit by hot water and steam! The boiler house crew had rigged up a hose from the steam cleaner, used to clean machinery, and they doused the bandits with boiling water and live steam! The bandits were blinded by the steam and they were scalded by the hot water, they were screaming and tearing at their clothes, trying to get the hot water off them. They were being cooked alive!
The bandits were screaming in agony, the fight had been boiled out of them! They locked the bandits up in an unused hog pen while they sent to Auburn for Lt. Mason and his troopers. When the troopers finally arrived, they couldn't help laughing at the pitiful bandits, half-cooked, nearly naked and still soaking wet.
Three days later, the entire bunch of them were hanged at the Provisional Capitol of Auburn! Unfortunately, these bandits would not be the last of their kind, the folk of Meadow Valley would have to fight for their place in this new world they found themselves in. It would not be pretty or easy, but they were determined not to be made slaves and easy pickings for any "two-bit" bandit looking for an easy place to rob!
TBC
It's going to be a long haul to bring back order and civilization. It will take the combined effort of everyone to make it a success.