Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie (63 page)

I couldn't take my eyes off it. I couldn't turn my ears off either. There were dozens of sleigh bells hanging all around the base of that stagecoach, jingling out what
ever tune sleigh bells jingle.

As the “contraption” slowly cleared the trees
, I saw an unbelievable and almost indescribable sight.

There were three metal rods extending from the rear of the stagecoach and there were six HDI's hooked to each of the rods for a grand total of 18. I had to lower the binoculars,
shake my head, and look again.

The HDI's were attach
ed with handcuffs and chains.

The ends of the rods went through bowling balls. BOWLING BALLS? I didn't believe my own eyes, but I could see
the finger holes through my binoculars. I felt like we were victims of a cruel joke.

Suddenly, two men appeared from underneath a tarp in the bed of the pickup truck. They began shooting toward
the trailer fence.

Dane, Rick, and Ian arrived at the bottom of the driveway just in time to get shot at. They ducked behind the trailer fence and the big rigs in the yard and began
shooting with Mick and Kevin.

The guns held by the men in the truck bed were long and
black, and I realized they were at least, semi-automatic because they were shooting bullets faster than I could think, much less, count.

One of the men jumped the gap between the truck bed and the front of the stagecoach. He almost didn't make it and had to pull himself over the buckboard. He ducked behind it and continued sending bullets toward the men and the trailer fence. The entire time, the truck slowly traveled down the road.

As the truck passed directly in front of Mick and Ian, one of them “eliminated” the man in the truck bed. He dropped his automatic rifle as he fell and it hit the road. “That'll come in handy” I thought to myself right before the stagecoach wheels ran over it. I said several bad words out loud and was disgusted with myself when I noticed Amber and Michael standing behind Marisa.

As the stage coach passed the gate
, I saw the center curtain move and a long barrel came sliding out. I wanted to scream and tell Mick but he'd already seen it and was prepared.

He began firing into the stage coach. Someone inside the stage coach was firing back and I could hear bullets hitting th
e gate and the trailer fence.

Kevin and Jason were still on top of the trailers and they stood to shoot down at the man hiding behind the buckboard. The man was
nowhere to be seen and Kevin figured he had somehow crawled inside the stage coach.

All of a sudden
, the truck came to a complete stop and the driver side window was lowered. The driver pointed his pistol straight toward Kevin. Mick shot the pistol out of the drivers hand before he had a chance to fire. The man screamed and jumped out of the cab of the truck and began firing a second pistol with his good hand. Kevin dropped into a laying position and took the man out with a bullet to the head.

I
heard a loud clanking sound and directed my binoculars along the length of the truck and the stagecoach. When I passed the coach and had my eyes on the HDI's, I noticed that the log metal rods had been released from the rear of the stage coach and were laying on the ground. The HDI's were on the ground as well, because the falling metal rods pulled them down.

They began “accidently” sliding their arms down the length of the metal rods, away from the end with the bowling balls, and their hands slid past the unblocked end of the metal rods. There were 18 HDI's loose on the road and they began trying to climb each other and the trailer f
ence to get to Mick and Kevin.

Mick and Kevin pointed their rifles over the side of the trailers and began shooting the HDI's. Dane, Rick, and Ian were shooting from behind the gate and
suddenly, the gunshots stopped.

Kevin, Jason, and Mick stood and made their way along the top of the trailer fence toward the gate. They hung fro
m the sides of the trailers. Ian, Rick and Dane helped them down.

They opened the gate and headed toward the crazy contraption that had just aided several bad gu
ys in causing so much trouble.

When Dane checked the interior of the stagecoach he let out a yelp and began motioning for the other men to take a look inside. I couldn't understand a word he was saying and decided to walk down the hill and find out
what else could be happening.

Dane met me about a quarter of the way up the hill. He was carrying something in his arms and it took me a few s
econds to realize what it was.

It was a tiny, old woman. She is no more
than five feet tall and has long gray hair hanging down her back and over her shoulders. She's dressed in a sweat suit that's way too big for her. She has short, black boots on her feet. Her arms were wrapped around Dane's neck.

Dane carried her to the porch and I sent Rebecca to sit with the girls in Clinic Diane and
send Hisa over to the house.

The woman looks half starved. She said her name is Emma Jane Riley and that she was with the stagecoach gang so she'd have
something to eat. She cooked anything they hunted including cats and dogs. She washed their clothes and cleaned up after them, and says she was only trying to survive. I'll bet we get her entire story when she is well enough to tell it.

She said that the rods with all the HDI's lost their wing
nuts and pulled out of the board on back of the stagecoach, freeing the HDI's. She also said that none of the men, nor herself had thought about cutting the sleigh bells off the stagecoach. Der!

Hisa has no room for her in Clinic Diane
, so Emma's going to sleep in Micks recliner. For some reason, she doesn't want to sleep on the chaise.

Dane went back down the hill to search the tan truck and the stage coach. Ian and Rick loaded HDI
bodies onto the flatbed trailer and took them to the power lines. I came in here to write out what happened before I start convincing myself that everything I saw was just an illusion.

My mind is still reeling over the stagecoach and the captured HDI's. I'm going to lay in bed and try to sort this out in my head. Maybe I can get the
full story from Emma tomorrow.

Bye for now.

Monday, March 31

Nana and Emma woke me up several minutes ago. They're talking, laughing, and cooking breakfast.

Emma got a shower in Nana and Pop's motorhome this morning.

She's dressed in some of Nana's clothes. They're too big for her but they're a hundred times better than her old stinky
sweat suit. Her hair's in a little bun on top of her head and she has a pair of Merry's little sneakers on her feet. She seems like a genuine, sweet, little old lady.

She told Nana that she “knows better'n anyone how ta grow a garden” and she'd be happy to “partner up” with Pop and Nana on the job. Nana welcomed her to join them. I hope Emma doesn't eat a lot and I hope she didn't loosen those wingnuts on the metal rods.

Nana doesn't actually “like” a lot of people before she gets to know them. It seems like she likes Emma already. Nana and Pop are both good judges of character and can spot a liar a mile away.

Pop pulled me aside and told me that the stagecoach gang had killed Emma's husband and took her alive
as their slave. “They didn't rape her” Pop said, “they just treated her like dirt.”

I
replied “Thank goodness, but I thought we weren't takin' in any more people.” He pointed at me, gave me the “you better hush right now” look and said “What if it was YOUR momma alone and trying to find somebody to help her?”

I guess we now have a permanent “Emma” in the compound.

I'll ask for her story when she's better settled.

I just heard Hisa's voice in the kitchen. I'm sure she's here to get breakfast plates for the girls.

I'm headed out to eat and find out everyone's plans for the day. See ya later.

2:20 PM...

I saw one.

I saw a relative of our most feared enemy. A fly came in the door with the men at lunchtime today. It wasn't the big HDI fly with green spots on its wings but, nevertheless, the sight of it made my heart skip a beat. Mick took it out with the flyswatter of death.

Now
, I'm not so sure that I want the boards off the windows. Flies have arrived. I'm on edge and I passed out bottles of insect repellant with deet. The men sprayed themselves before heading out to finish the remaining portion of the back fence.

They'll start on the side fences tomorrow. They'll build the sections in the midst of the meadow and put them in place on each side going down the hill. I don't know how long it will take. The sides are almost twice as long as the rear.

The two buildings on Mick's trailer will be used for Isaac and Emma.

Jeremy and Jesse are still bringing in hay. They brought a load of square bales before lunch and headed out for more afterward. They took the cattle trailer for the second load so they can determine if they can get more bales in less time by stacking it to the ceiling of the cattle trailer instead of three or four rows high on the flatbed. It'll
save time because they won't need to tie them down. There are two houses to check out at the farm where they found this bit of hay. Shawna went along to help keep watch and help loot the houses.

Pop and Emma are in the garden and there's already a basket of broccoli in the kitchen
, waiting for me to get my rear end in there and take care of it. I plan to freeze some it. Emma knows how to do it right and said she'll teach me.

Deuce, Luke, and Larson brought in six more quail about an hour ago. Rona's busy cleaning them to add to the “bird section” in the big freezer.

We're having venison roast for supper. Elaine and Valerie are on supper duty and they started the roast in the crockpot after breakfast this morning. It'll be falling apart by supper time. I believe we're having green beans and rice with it, because I saw several quarts of green beans and a pail of rice sitting in the kitchen when I walked past a few minutes ago.

Shawna and I did laundry after lunch. We
covered ourselves in bug spray and jumped every time something with wings got near us. We were both armed with flyswatters of death. Pop sat on the stump beside the motorhome and laughed until something with wings got close to him. He suddenly didn't think it was funny anymore.

Nana has Amber and Michael in the motorhome for school time. They've had several sessions and she says they're doing great. She now believes that kids learn faster and retain knowledge better when they're taught one on one. It's like Nana suddenly had an epiphany and invented home school. Geez! I love that woman!

Rebecca went back to her cabin after lunch. She doesn't feel well and both Hisa and Elaine say they're getting worried about her. She hasn't gone to Hisa with any complaints. If she continues to complain that she “isn't feeling well” I'll stick my nose in it and coerce her into telling me what's going on. Jeremy changes the subject when I ask him about it.

I'm headed out to do something with broccoli. See ya later.

9:30 PM...

Dane, Mick, Jason, Ian, and Rick got the wooden buildings off Mick's trailer before supper.

Emma had offered to make her bed on the porch, and there's no way any of us were gonna let that happen. She had tears in her eyes when the men set up her little building near the garden.

Isaac's building is set up in line with Rick and Ian's so he can use their outhouse without having to dig another.

Apparently, Rick and Ian take care of the outhouse barrels when I'm not looking. So far
, the outhouse doesn't stink.

Before breakfast tomorrow
, the men plan to get both of the broken wooden buildings off Kevin's overturned trailer and place them to the side for now. They'll have to be thoroughly checked out before anyone uses them. One of them lost its porch and they're both wobbly and a little broken. We may have to use them as scrap wood.

Dane says they'll rig up chains and rope and use the backhoe and Kubota to pull Kevin's trailer upright.

You know what they'll do after that. Yep, they'll work on the fence.

There was a chorus of snores coming from the living room after supper. The men were exhausted and all of them headed to their respective cabins and homes early to get some sleep.

It was 82 degrees this afternoon, and I admit that I stepped inside the big freezer to cool down.

I hear Nana and Emma saying goodnight in the living room. I think I'll hurry in there and see if I can catch Emma before she goes. Maybe I can get her story.

Bye for now.

Thursday,
April 1

Rebecca and Merry made cranberry muffins for breakfast this morning. There are so many people here that even the small task of making muffins from mix
has turned in to a big task.