On the Road Again Read online

  A Long Lonely Road

  On The Road Again

  Book Four

  By

  TJ Reeder

  All rights reserved by Author

  Dec. 4th 2012

  Ahh Spring in East Texas, sweet smell of Honeysuckle in the air, cool breeze coming from the north. I swear I can smell the Mountains in it. It’s truly a beautiful day.

  So why am I sitting here all pissed off? I’m glad ya asked. First thing is I’m not a farmer, nor am I a gardener. Ain’t sure what I am but I damn sure know I ain’t them other things. And there is no sense in acting like I am.

  What I’m really pissed about is getting shot again, yea yea well at least not in the ass this time. And it’s all my fault the whole damn thing.

  It started with me stompin into the cabin and grabbing the shorty double 12 ga off the wall by the door. And of course little smart ass just had to step in front of me and ask what or who was I planning on killing?

  I told her to just follow along and see. She did and when I leveled off she said “Johnny Long Walker” that’s a bird!! Yep says I, sure is and soon gonna be was a bird, I’ve been working in the garden all morning and that sumbitch ain’t shut up a second and I’m tired of it!

  She said “ It’s a blue Jay and noise is what they do for a living!!

  Well she said some other things I won’t repeat and I can assure you I’ve no idea where she learned to talk like that but it sure and shit wasn’t from me!

  Needless to say I didn’t shoot the damn Blue Jay ( Damn Noah ! If he’d had a pair of nads he would wrung their necks while stomping on them damn spiders.) After making me sit on the porch a spell and getting me a cold drink we sat and rocked a bit and I told her I was tired of farming and all that crap.

  She just smiled and said “ Thank God you finely got yer head outta yer ass! See how she talks? Anyway we rocked some more and she kinda giggled and said John lets saddle Buck and the “Rab” the Arab and go to town, we can go to Sally’s café and have a nice early dinner and some pie and plan to make our break outta here.

  Well Sir by the time she had that out I was up and heading inside to clean up a bit with her trotting right along. Very shortly we were saddling ol fat ass Buck and the “Rab” and rode over to the cabin where we added our rifle scabbards with a couple of nice old lever guns.

  Around here things got so peaceful we don’t pack the heavy artillery much and in these thick piney woods a 30-30 slug will do better then a round from a poodle shooter, plus folks act funny when half pint walks around town with that MP5-40 lol, she do look rather wild!

  We also pack our 45’s everywhere. American express guns. Never leave home without em!

  Well it’s only a bit over three miles to town and it was so nice to be back in the saddle. Buck was really stepping out too I think he could tell we was about to flee this happy prison we been in.

  We got to town and headed right to the café where we tied the critters in front at the new hitching post. Since the troubles came most folks seem to have adapted well to going back to more simple times. I sure did. As long as it don’t involve a hoe or shovel.

  The smells coming out of the café was getting to me so we got to getting and settled in a corner table looking out at the animals since I don’t trust most anybody.

  One of miz Sally’s daughters came to take our orders, she was the cutest little bean, bout 9 years old and very serious so we acted serious too. I ordered the chicken fried chicken and the usual, fried Okra, smashed tatters and gravy and biscuits. Sandy said “ Me too!” and off the little honey went.

  The food is cooked in the outdoor kitchen out back and the old wood cook stove was putting out a nice hickory smell. Iced tea without ice was fine.

  After eating that I wanted pie, Sandy didn’t so I was eating that and watching her to keep her away from my pie. I heard the door open and before I looked up I heard Sandy say real quiet like “ Well Shit” I didn’t even have to look up coz I knew it had to be that sorry son of a bitch “ Call me Parson” Brown.

  He was no more a preacher then Molly was and maybe less so. But he had his flock of sheep that baa baaed around him. He was of the opinion that all the trouble was Gods wrath for us all being such bad folks.

  And every time he came around I never let him forget I was proud of my contribution to it.

  He knew we was there when he saw Buck which was the root of our failure to communicate. He actually informed me one day in town a bit ago that it was my civic duty to donate Buck to his church to be used as a communal work mule.

  Well since Buck can’t speak for him self I looked at buck and said “Huh”?? then put my ear down by his mouth nodded a couple of times and told the parson Buck said to kiss his red hairy ass.

  A bunch of the town loafers took to laughing and the fart stomped off mad. I don’t know where he come from nor what he thought he was doing with his bunch of bible thumping sheep but I wished he would go back there.

  He headed right for us and stopped about 10 feet away glaring at Sandy like she was a demon which I knew she was and he could find out if he wasn’t careful, which thought got me to laughing with a mouth full of pie. And that pissed him off. He raised his hand with his bible in it and said “ God will not be laughed at” !!

  Sandy just glared and said “ He was laughing at “you” ya simple son of a bitch!” ( Yep she was mad ) Well sir several things right then shoulda of happened. He shoulda kept his mouth shut and I shoulda paid more attention to the dude standing beside him.

  He was dressed in all black like the idiot with a long frock coat and I just assumed he was a sheep following his master.

  Wrong assumption.

  First thing was the idiot turned red in the face so bad I thought he was gonna stroke out. But after starting a couple of times he roared out “ Shut your filthy mouth you unmarried Whore!! “

  Well there I set, left hand on the table, fork in my right hand and Sandy just hauled off and threw her heavy white crockery cup and hit the silly bastard right in between the eyes and you shoulda seen the blood fly!!

  I was so busy sitting with my mouth open that I barely saw the other fool pull a gun from under the coat. And before I could do more then try to jerk away he shot me. Yep he did. Not very well I might add.

  I was still falling away when I heard the next shot and several more then I was on the floor face covered with blood and Sandy yelling her lungs out!

  Well he was fast that’s for sure only he was so busy trying to finish me off he paid no attention to the flaming mad Red Head. And she just reached under her jacket and pulled that 1911 from the shoulder holster and shot him a bunch. Then for some reason she shot the Idiot Parson several times.

  Then she was pawing at me all over my chest and then screamed

  “ OH! My God he’s been shot in the head!!” Well I was pretty happy it wasn’t in the ass again. I put my hand up and swiped the side of my head and let out a beller! Son of a bitch shot my ear off!! Well actually it was the little hangy down part where I would have an ear ring if I was that kind of a guy.

  Sally had come running with her shotgun and saw what was going on and headed back for a pan of water and some clean rags and they commenced to cleaning off the blood. After she saw where I was hit Sandy started laughing.

  Stress will do that or maybe a crappy sense of humor. I know which one I picked.

  Well they got me up in a chair and got the blood more or less stopped and really there’s enough I can still wear a small earring.

  About that time folks started pouring into the place and the local town marshal a former deputy sheriff looked it over and said “well John wanna explain how you got yer ear shot off and still killed these two?”

  I said Howdy Fred “ Just call it PFM” he looked at me a bit and took the bait like a starved fish. “ What’s PFM John”? Ear or no ear I had to smile when I said “ Pure Fkn magic” Fred! He didn’t even smile.

  Sandy stood up to her full 5 ft + not much and said I shot the bastards then replaced her empty magazine while saying it.

  Fred’s eyes watched the empty fall to the floor and heard the loaded one slap into place and got that dear in the head lights look.

  But she slid the 45 back under her jacket and into the rig.

  Fred looked kinda relieved.

  So we sat and told the story and he asked Sandy why she shot the Parson. She looked him right in the eye and said sweetly “ Well Fred he had something in his hand and was pointing it at me!”

  He looked down at the parsons outstretched arm and he still had that bible in it. Fred looked at that and at Sandy who was smiling at him with those pretty green eyes shining and he just nodded.

  I said if he had any more questions he could come to the homestead but we was heading out in a few days for a short trip and might be gone a while.

  He just nodded and said that’s good idea John, might be best to let this cool down. If I need you I’ll come out.

  We shook hands and out the door we went. Pushing thru the crowd I heard a few of the Parsons sheeple wailing to beat all and a few people muttering in angry tones. I just looked at them and pulled the rifle out and laid it across the saddle and heard Sandy doing the same.

  Fred came out and said all right break it up and go home. It’s over! And one of the crowd yelled “Not by a long shot it ain’t!!”

  I kind of turned Buck so the rifle barrel was pointed more or less at the loudmouth and just looked at him till he quieted down.

  Not one to ever pass up an opp
ortunity to have the last word

  I said” Your Parson and his friend assaulted us, the man with the preacher shot me with no warning while I was eating. And would have finished the job if my lady here hadn’t dropped him and the preacher who appeared to be armed.

  Now if anybody wants to say something do so right now coz I don’t wanna hear nothing about nobody bringing trouble to the Homestead. Coz you all know that will be a bad thing.

  Fred spoke up and said go on home John and get your head sewed up ( I think he meant my mouth but..) so we turned and rode out slow and easy coz my head was splitting.

  We rode along quiet like and finally Sandy asked if I was mad at her? For what I asked? Saving my life?

  She said no for shooting that loud mouth bible pounding, woman beating asshole!

  I said well hell you thought he was armed! She looked at me and smiled and said “ Right”! I looked at her riding along smiling sweetly after just killing two men who needed it, well one did for sure. I was wondering if I raised her wrong.

  She said “ John the words been out for a while among the women around the area that he took the “Man it the head of the family” to the point that he was beating the women on their bare butts with a paddle!

  And for gods sake those sheep bastards allowed him to do it whenever he decided somebody’s wife or daughter needed to be guided back to her place.

  I was just flabbergasted as they say, lost for words. Finely I managed a “ Your shittin me right”? Nope she said and the only reason she didn’t shoot him 5 times was coz I taught her to always leave the last round in the chamber while reloading in case she needed it before the Magazine was in it.

  We road along quietly a bit and I had to ask “ Now let me get this straight, you shot the first guy 4 times and then the preacher 4 times and in the middle of all this you remembered to save that last round if you could?” Yep she said.

  I said “ Damn you done good!! She looked at me shaking a bit and said “well I forgot to reload until Fred started acting like a cop right then“. She was starting to shake harder so I just leaned over and hauled her out of her saddle into my lap and held her almost all the way home.

  After she was over the shakes we pulled off the road into a clearing and she got back on “Rab” and we talked it over.

  We decided to just quietly let Rick and Miz Sheri know and tomorrow we would head out.

  We had planned to ride all the way when we went but now we both felt maybe we should get moving fast and worry later about riding.

  After we got home and put the animals away we made it to the cabin and got me out of the bloody shirt and cleaned up better. I looked at the ear in the mirror and said “well crap I’ve cut myself worse then that shaving!.”

  Ain’t it funny how the smallest head cut bleeds all out of proportion to the wound size? About that time Molly gave her woof that company was coming and Rick stepped up on the porch and knocked.

  I told him to come in and he looked at my ear and said “Well hell I’ve cut myself worse then that shaving! “ Which set the two of us laughing and him looking like we had flipped out. Finally.

  We stopped and he looked at Sandy and said “ Well Wyatt, how you doing”? She just smiled and said “why I’m just fine thank you for asking and I have reloaded by the way”. He just grinned.

  We sat down out on the porch and Sandy poured some tea and joined us. I asked if the word had beat us back and he said almost and that there was some bad talk going around over the preacher being unarmed.

  I said well fuck em, that bastard set that whole thing up and you know he was trying to grab the whole area and especially this place. He said yea he knew that and fortunately so did a lot of others.

  I told him we planned to be on the road the next day with the Dodge and the trailer loaded with the livestock. He just nodded and said that’s probably best and we all know you been chomping at the bit every since y’all came back from that mess over in New Mexico.

  I said I was sorry I wasn’t cut out for the farming life yet but I figured I had one more good run before I was ready to settle down and write it all down.

  I could tell there was a small part of him that wanted to say screw it and come along but he wouldn’t. Because being the kind of man he is he needed order in his life. And keeping it here in this place kept him happy.

  He’s one of the most decent men I ever met and I often wish I had been like him. Happy and always busy with something , I’d be bored shitless ……

  When we returned from New Mexico we hauled a ton of military hardware back with us and it was right here on the place and very few knew even a part of it. And that was why I wasn’t worried about the place with Rick in charge and some of the folks who returned here to settle with us who knew about the stuff but even better had used it and knew how to.

  Today we got up with every intention of being gone real fast but there was just too much planning and preparations to make for a trip like this to just jam it because some sonofabitch tried to have me whacked.

  And only failed because he was so convinced that women were here as servants to men that he never figured on Sandy droppin his ass in the dirt.

  So when we woke up I put my “stubborn don’t screw with me” hat on took my coffee out to the porch where I’m now sitting all pissed off like a one legged Marine in an ass kicking contest.

  But the coffee is good and hot with a bit of sugar and real cream in it and just a taste of home made brandy. Nice. Wyatt is sittin here with me having hers while she swabs out the barrel and chamber of her Colt Gold Cup.

  She does love that thing and right now I’m loving her and the damn hand cannon!

  Better to have a bit less of an ear then getting prepped for a dirt nap like the two asshats in town. I’ve almost expected to see the women from the sorry bastards so called flock show up at the gate with fresh hot cookies for Sandy but they are probably still acting all sorrowful. Acting being the key word.

  We talked it over and decided we would spend the next few days really getting things in top shape for the trip which now that we really are going has kinda morphed into something different. We may be gone a lot longer then we had planned so we needed to take everything including the kitchen sink

  The truck will go into the homestead shop this morning for a complete going over as will the trailer. Our food supplies will ride in the trailer in any nook or cranny we can stuff.

  Mostly dehydrated right here at home, some Mountain house we picked up where and when we could in barter or finding a place the rats or other survivors had missed.

  We did take home made jelly’s simply because the world turns on PB and J sanny’s! if you have bread! We also had plenty of dried goods, bean and rice etc plus we will hunt as needed.

  The mules and Rab are being shod and the Vet who stayed when we went after the “Nasty’s” is making sure all’s well with them.

  All in all it’s sure much simpler now then when I left that camp ground in MT what seems like years ago and is really what? A year? No.. maybe 18 months? Damned if I can remember… but I think this is the second spring after the EMP. Who cares? I don’t,

  Don’t carry a watch either, yet some folks do. Why I’ll never know, we get up with the sun and usually in bed by dark.