Alone (7 page)

“Good grief” he said as he was once again covered in dust. Walking away from the chickens and dog, Ralph looked around. There was an attached two car garage on the single story home. Both bays were empty, the doors raised. The green wood siding blended nicely into the surroundings. A few flowers grew against the house and a small apple tree grew near the corner.

A small barn sat to the right of the house and it was there that the horses and cattle were heading. He reached inside the truck and brought out the riot gun. Ralph walked over to the barn and went inside. Several feed troughs lined the outside wall of the barn and the animals were standing patiently by them. Ralph found some oats and grain and gave to the horses and gave the cattle some fresh hay. He threw several hands full of grain into the yard and the chickens immediately converged. Jason had tired of chasing them and he trotted over to the barn. He ran to the back of the barn and began slurping from the water troughs. They were full of clean water. There were various farming implements hanging on one wall and a small tractor was parked just inside the door. Ralph opened the rear doors and stepped into the field. A couple of the horses sniffed at him and then turned back to the oats. The water troughs had a small pipe leading to them and from this pipe trickled a small amount of water. The water filled the troughs and then spilled into a small stream that lead away from the barn. It ended in a little wallow that the animals had been using. He heard the rhythmic creaking from the windmill and decided to take a look. Jason raced up the hill ahead of him. The windmill was perched at the top of a small hill behind the house. The hill was about fifty feet tall and the windmill stood on a flat at the top. The windmill was running a pump that was bringing water from a well. Not a lot, just enough to keep the water troughs topped off. From here he looked back to the house and saw a large tank at the rear of the house.

“I’ll just bet that that is a water tank.” he said to himself.

He continued looking around and saw a small creek running across the hill. It was behind the rear fence about 100 yards from the windmill. Ralph walked over, climbed the fence and examined the creek. It was full of clear water. The creek made a bow at this location, as it crossed a small depression in the ground. It almost turned back upon itself as it left the depression and headed into a copse of trees. Jason bounded into the stream and lapped at the water.

“I’m just about ready to do that myself.” Ralph said as he watched Jason frolic. With a sigh, he turned back to the windmill and the house below. This hill was one of the highest points around and he had a good view of the surrounding countryside. The windmill appeared to be very old, but was in good condition. Someone had evidently been taking good care of it. Ralph walked back down the hill and returned to the barn and then into the yard. The chickens watched him warily and they scattered as Jason bounded out of the barn. He ran through the chickens but didn’t chase them. Ralph stood and looked around again. The more he looked, the better he liked this place. Ralph approached the house and stepped onto the large front porch. He rapped the front door.

“Anyone home?” he called.

After a couple of weeks of not seeing another person, Ralph didn’t expect any answer and when a voice called “Who is it?” from inside the house, his heart leapt into his throat.

“My name is Ralph Bannister. Are you alright? I haven’t seen another soul for a week. Do you know what happened?” he asked frantically.

The reply floated from inside. ”Who is it?”

“I just told you my name is Ralph Bannister. Can I come in?” he asked.

“Come in, come in.” the voice called.

Unsure of what awaited him, Ralph clutched the riot gun tightly. The front door opened easily and he stepped inside. Jason followed on his heels and had his nose in the air. Ralph left the front door open and checked to make sure that it wouldn’t close behind him. He wanted to make sure that he had an escape route if anything went wrong.

“Hello. Where are you?” Ralph called. He stood just inside the door and looked around. He was facing a short hallway which ended in a closed door. Open doorways on the left and right were situated about half way down the hall.

The voice called from a room on the left. “Who is it?”

Ralph stepped further into the house and the sickeningly familiar odor of rotten food washed over him. He walked the short distance down the hall and turned to the left and entered the room. The first thing he saw was a large parrot in a huge cage. The parrot peered at him and bobbed its head.

“Come in, who is it?”

Ralph stared in amazement as the large parrot spoke. He turned to go and the parrot squawked. There was no food or water in the cage. Ralph looked around and found a large box of bird food on a small table. He filled the bird’s dish and it attacked the food. It was making some small noises as it wolfed down the seeds. Ralph wondered how long it had been without food. He was amazed that it had survived. The water dish was dry and he carried it thru the room and toward the back of the house. He found the kitchen and without thinking, walked over to the sink and turned on the water faucet. Cool clear water gushed out and he filled the parrot’s bowl. He carried the bowl back to the parrot and placed it in his cage. The parrot immediately hopped from the food dish to the water and began drinking. Over half of the seed was either gone or strewn across the bottom of the cage. Ralph filled the dish again and watched the parrot.

“I’ll bet that water tastes good.” Ralph said to the bird as he watched him drink.

Like a slap in the face, it hit him. The water worked! He rushed back to the kitchen and turned the faucet on, again cool water gushed forth. He turned the tap to hot but the water remained cold.

“There’s no power stupid. Of course there’s no hot water.”

A faint iron smell reached him and he brought the water to his nose. The iron smell was stronger and he noticed the sink was stained a light red. He took a drink and it tasted delicious.

“Fresh water!” he yelled as he splashed the water on his face.

He had not bathed since the power had failed. He had been hauling bottled water home and using it to drink and cook. It took too much time to try to heat water to bathe in. He had been forced to take sponge baths and he longed to stand beneath a hot shower but a cold shower would do in a pinch.

He turned off the water and roamed thru the house. He found the bathroom and stepped inside. He was already pulling off his dirty clothes.

“Oh boy! A shower.” he said as he stepped into the shower stall.

The icy cold water hit him and took his breath away. He was going to have to be quick about it. He grabbed the soap and lathered up and he felt the dirt and grime begin to rinse away. He washed and rinsed quickly until the water was clear. He washed his hair and finally felt clean again. He was shivering from the cold, but at least he was clean. He padded across the bathroom and found some towels. Drying, he wrapped a towel around him and wandered into the bedroom. He looked into the closet and found some shirts that would fit, however all of the pants hanging up were too big. He gathered up his filthy clothes and searched until he found the washer and dryer. He opened the washer and threw his clothes in. He added detergent and then realized that there was no power. He slammed the washer lid in disgust and headed back into the bedroom.

After more searching, he found some jogging pants that weren’t too big. He put on a large shirt and the pants and wandered down the hall. The house had two bedrooms, one small and one large. Two baths, a laundry room, living room and kitchen. He opened every window he could as he walked through the house. He went back into the kitchen and cleaned the rotten food from the fridge. He filled several large trash bags and threw them into the back of the truck. With the smell clearing out, he went back into the kitchen to see if he could find anything to eat. He looked through the cabinets and found some canned peaches. He opened them and ate at the small kitchen table. This house reminded him of his grandparent’s home. He used to spend summers there and the memories of those times were all good. He closed his eyes and listened. He could hear the bells on the cattle as they headed back out into the pasture. He heard the pounding of hoofs as a couple of horses raced across the fields. In the distance, he could hear the rhythmic creaking of the windmill and the clucks of the chickens in the yard. With a sigh he stood up and continued his inspection. He closed the windows and then left the house. He hadn’t decided what to do with the parrot, but making sure it had plenty of food and water, he had left it there. If nothing else, he would return to feed it and take it with him if necessary. He didn’t want it, but he didn’t think it would be able to survive on its own.

He and Jason drove slowly away and he thought out loud.

“This one has the land for a garden. They’ve already planted a small one and it is coming along fine. There are horses and cattle and chickens. They have a well. All of the animal troughs are filled by the windmill pump. The stream is there in case the well gets dry.” he said.

Jason watched Ralph as he spoke and seemed to be agreeing with him. Ralph knew that Jason would be happy anyplace Ralph was as long as he was warm and well fed.

“This is the one.” Ralph said as he drove down the gravel drive.

“This is where we will stay.” Jason barked and then stuck his head out of the window.

Over the next few days, Ralph and Jason made several trips to the farmhouse, hauling in items he thought would be essential. He had spent one day, cleaning items from the house. He hated to throw them away, so he had boxed everything he didn’t need and had hauled it to a self storage place in town. There he stored it in case the owners returned. It was a hard job, boxing away some stranger’s life. He found lots of items that reminded him of Mandy and the boys and he had spent a lot of the time in tears.

CHAPTER SEVEN

He hauled the generator to the house and hooked it up to the breaker panel and was finally able to take a hot shower. He stood beneath the hot spray until he had emptied the hot water tank. He stocked the pantry with food and used the smaller bedroom to store even more. He built shelves out of two by tens and cinderblocks and then crammed them full of food.

On one of his scouting trips, he had discovered several pigs at a dilapidated farm house. He had been going by each day to bring them scraps of food. He decided to try and take them to the farm, but when he arrived, he discovered that one of the pigs had been killed and the others were missing. It looked like the dogs or something had killed one of the smaller pigs and the others had escaped. He vowed to keep a close look out for the dog pack and to try to stay out of their way. He knew the pigs would survive and would prove to be a source of game in the future. He was afraid that a showdown with the dogs was inevitable and he hated the thoughts of killing them, but he would do what was necessary to survive.

He settled into the new house and began to relax and think of ways to make life a little easier. It was now late summer. Most of the crops had been harvested from the small garden. He had a large supply of seed for next year’s garden. He decided to put up a green house so that he could have fresh vegetables during the winter months. He read all he could find about greenhouses and then rummaged through the lumber yards looking for kits. Finally, he used the plans he found in one of the library books and built his own. He hauled wood from the lumber yard on a large flatbed trailer he found. He had entered the parking lot of the local lumber company and there it was. It was hitched to the back of a small truck and looked as if it was in the process of being loaded. He removed the material on the flatbed and unhitched it. He rolled it back and then swung his truck around and hitched the flatbed to his truck. He then loaded up all the lumber he thought he would need. What he didn’t use, he could store in the barn loft.

He visited the local glass company and secured several sheets of glass and various windows. He laid mattresses on the flat bed and then laid the glass on the mattresses. He started down the road and broke several pieces before he got home. He made another trip and this time loaded the glass onto the truck the glass company used. He was able to get all of the glass safely home. He quickly found that he was unable to handle the large pieces of glass alone, so he was forced to make another trip to the glass company. This time he loaded up smaller pieces and as many replacement windows as he found. He worked steadily for 10 days until the green house was finally finished. He had placed several casement windows in the roof and these he could open by a handmade crank. The walls consisted mainly of replacement windows. This would allow him to ventilate the greenhouse. The finished greenhouse was 10 feet by 20 feet. The walls and roof were framed with two by sixes and glass panes filled in the gaps between the windows. He had caulked every pane and the greenhouse was as sealed as he could get it. He spread gravel several inches thick on the floor to act as a heat sink. The sunlight through the glass would heat the gravel and then at night the heat would radiate back into the building. He made a potting table using flagstones he had found. This would also heat up thru the day and keep the soil warm. He used picnic tables and potting trays and filled the greenhouse with them. He hauled all of the sacks of potting soil he could find to the barn and filled every potting tray with soil. He already had a steady supply of horse manure that was stored behind the barn. He was as ready as he could be. He cleaned out the gardening center and brought all of the seed home. He stored the seed in airtight plastic containers and these he stored in metal drums. He had discovered that the rats and mice had multiplied since the day and they were devouring any food they could find. The super store had become infested and he had set out all of the traps and poison bait they had, but he was fighting a losing battle. He stored as much food as he could in metal containers and then sealed the containers to keep the rodents out.