The Free Republic of Texas 2015 (11 page)

Power, Control, the very reason Government and Religion were created. Not belief in a creator, but the organized mayhem of modern Religion, where one has to have another person to intercede with God on your behalf, when the very Bible they preach out of says they and only they can call out and ask God for forgiveness, no other can do it for you…unless you accept the idea that this person has the power to intercede for you and you must allow him to do your talking for you. This is Control, this is allowing a mortal to have Power over you and Government is no different, some want all Control, all Power, over your very life and if you allow it you’re very Soul.

Jody stopped talking and it was very quiet for a moment until Sally spoke up and asked “Are you against church’s Jody? Against the teachings of the Bible? Jody smiled and said of course not. I just believe that I have the ability to read whichever Holy Book I choose to read, to believe in the Creator in the manner I choose to believe , without a Church or Government telling me How and When to believe.

I don’t need another man to tell me if I’m doing wrong, nor to tell me that I must listen to him explain to me what he believes is what the creator says, thinks, wants.

He added, I believe I am responsible for my own problems, my own sins and it’s up to me to do what I feel I must to make amends with the creator. With that he said ok, enough on religion, if anybody wants to build a church here on the ranch for themselves and others who feel the need to worship in such a place, then by all means lets build a church, and I may even attend once in a while, but be forewarned if I think the person “Spreading the word” is wrong I will say so and we can debate it right then and there until one or both of us is clear on what is being said! I burst out laughing and said let me know when your going to be in church and I will be there cause I love a good debate! And that settled the religion discussion.

So what we were doing was building a place of refuge for as many people as we could, and hopefully people with lots of talents and abilities to start the long march back to the kind of Country we wanted to build, one as our forefathers wanted, one where free men could live in peace but have the means and willingness to fight and if need be, die for that peace.

Sally and Bob were both anxious to return to Dallas to start working on a deal to sell their business, hopefully to some of the employees and get moved to the ranch, before they left we all walked the main area and looked for a nice place for their house, and we found it under some huge Oaks with huge spreading limbs to provide shade …and the need for a new roof if they fell, the Grants laughed at my comment and said it would be worth it to have a home in that spot.

Their plan was to build it like the mall was being built, a heavy duty basement, with heavy thick walls of concrete above ground, narrow windows and earth beamed up as high as the windows, with native stone laid on the exposed walls and a metal roof with water containment guttering into a huge holding tank under the basement floor, Bob said he had worked on a home that had that and he knew how the system worked to divert the first water after a rain to wash the dirty roof as much as possible and then use filters to clean the water for use when needed.

This was the same system we had put into all the Mall units so we were all on the same page, As far as the Mall and Ranch were concerned most of the stuff we had build was as bomb and bullet proof as we could make it, all except the Dorms, but after most of the work was done we would bring in a small contractor to put in metal culverts as tunnels running from the Dorms thru an escape hatch through the slab floors, into a tunnel to the barn shelters, the tunnels themselves were as good a shelter as we could want as they were going to be 12 ft in diameter with a concrete floor to make movement easier with pallet jacks to move supplies around that we would store in them, All of this planning came out of a thick book that Jody had with him all the time, reading and making notes in the back of it.

I was glad for that because I wouldn’t have thought of a 10
of this stuff, even the smallest of details seemed to be in there, Once he even said we needed to think about boxed puzzles and games to keep small minds occupied, It was worth the sore ribs when I asked if he was thinking of Jade, but I really need to get that body armor vest, but then god knows where she might hit! Maybe just keeping my mouth shut would work…now there was a concept!!

Time was moving fast, the building projects were moving faster then we had figured, Ellie had noticed one of the contractors crewman starting to talk a bit to much about all the goings on here but his boss took him outside and when they came back in the guy never said a word again, this was good

News.

Jody and I decided to speak to him about the tunnels so we picked him up and went to Ellie’s I told her as soon as I walked in the door that if she called my wife and told her we were there I’d…that was as far as I got, she walked in the door and seeing my look said. WHAT? I gave up right then, I don’t know how she does it and I may not want to know, hell her brother probably has access to bugs that placed in my truck would allow her to listen to all my conversations, I didn’t want to know, I was forewarned to always be good.

Ellie and Jade sat together and talked in low voices while we talked to the contractor, Jody told him we had a job that we did not want even one word of to slip out and it would require him and his top two men only and should be done in a week or so, he was very happy to accept the job without knowing more then that for the moment, he would have a few days to go home and get together what equipment would be needed when he was done with his part of the mall work which was maybe a week away, we wanted the work done before the other Dorm buildings were in place as it was easier to do with no building in the way.

Jody took him back to the job to look over some stuff and I joined the two conspirators who were plotting something which would surly mean problems for me no doubt, and sure enough they stopped the low talking as I sat down and went to normal girl stuff, when Jade was done eating the place empty I told her I needed a ride home.

I won’t go into what riding with her was like, she had asked for a Jeep and I let her pick it out, Shiny and as Black as the Jonas brothers with enough chrome to blind the blind, I’m not real sure what model it was but it went too damn fast and she drove like she was at Daytona most of the time, but with roll bars and a upgraded set of seat belts she was as safe as she was going to be. But she was doing much better since I reminded her how I came to be single, which made her cry and promise to do better.

I must admit she had done so, but it was still like driving with a wild person, long hair blowing back, laughing and having just way too much fun.

I guess she was spoiled as Jody said but I had not yet figured out how to say no, hell the Jeep cost less then that foolish ring I was going to buy her so I had no complaint.

In a shade less then 6 months the Ranch was finished for the moment, the Mall was done as was the ranges. With little fan fair the stores were open for business.

The locals had all been there for the whole job and knew as much as any about how and what went into it all, but by some quirk of agreement nobody was telling anybody a thing.

I guess in truth these folks here in the Piney Woods were as close knit as the Clan on the ranch and frankly most of the locals were in fact part of it all and understood that and seemed to feel good about it all.

The Clinic was up and running and Doc Ellen as she was called by all was working her buns off and proving to be worth her weight in gold, she had found and interviewed her own PA and office staff as well as the nurses who really did 80 % of the work.

All were living in the dorms as none were married and were happy with the job and the whole scene, none were aware of what was really going on but they were adapting very well to rural life and as the nurses were all new fresh from school and known to Ellen and not to mention good looking, the guys working on the place were content to hang out after work instead of heading off to get drunk as most youngsters do.

The Vet was a different story, he was a crusty old coot who had decided to get out of Dodge as he put it before he strangled the next over pampered over fed poodle in the door, he also made it plain that if it was a choice between a cow a horse and a poodle, well the poodle could wait and if it died tuff shit!!, Jade really liked him, he brought his own crew with him, most were only a few years younger then he was but all worked together.

,During the so called interview he said that if he ever found a good young person or three who could work and keep quiet he could teach them more in a year then 4 years of vet school…I was sorta impressed, when I mentioned it to Doc Ellen she said he was right, that back in the old days the skilled people had apprentices that they taught all they knew too who then passed it on to their apprentices or sons and that it was the approved way for century’s until somebody decided you must be taught about your trade buy a person who had never done the job but had read about it once or twice, she used the phrase, them as can , do , them as kain’t, teach… I told her that seemed a bit denigrating toward teachers but she wouldn’t back down said it was true and the medical field was full of people like that… she was as hard to argue with as Jade but I could kinda see it too.

The gun shop was up and running and every good ol boy for many a mile around was coming in and spending their money, John had the thought that selling a guy a gun that had little room for profit at near wholesale and he would buy all his other needs there, ammo, slings, scopes, reloading gear etc etc, all items with a lot of wiggle room to offer a good deal and yet still make a decent profit, return customers were to be desired.

Bob had taken over running the ranges and was having a ball, he had the idea of starting a gun club to encourage people to shoot more and at the same time to pick out future possible folks to man a security force down the road a ways, also the more they shot the more they bought!!! And even with a store discount for members it was still turning a profit.

Until the time for a school, Mary was running the grocery store and it was doing very well, prices were on par with the big stores in the city but we also sold case lots with a deeper discount, about wholesale priced, and we now had most of the area prepping and not even knowing it!!!

Our fuel station was doing great because our prices were less then the nearest station 20 miles away, and would remain so, we didn’t “Have” to make a profit, just break even.. Might really piss off a bunch of folks but we figured most had been milking every thin dime out of the folks around here for way too long and it was time they got a break.

All in all the whole plan had taken form and had filled out faster then we had ever believed possible, all in all we had recreated a corner of this county

Into a small bustling community with jobs for the locals who wanted one… wages were good and we had a great medical plan!!…No need to belong to a national health plan, I could see problems in the future with that.

Doc. Ellen saw them too and made the early on decision to not be involved with Medicaid or any other Government controlled plan, if somebody needed care they got it, and paid what they could when they could if they had no insurance , We were also tossing around the idea of forming an LLC insurance company but it was just too much hassle, we did though restrict any care of “outsiders” as strictly emergency based care only, we sure didn’t intend to become a welfare health clinic, as a private unit the clinic could get more done with less cost then it ever could by allowing the state and Federal government’s to run things or be involved in any way.

So far in the short time things were up and running it was working great, in the first month alone all the different units had shown a nice profit and looked to keep doing so.

John and Bob were turning into best of friends, their love for all things involving shooting was a good glue.

Their plan was for Bob to find the best of the young shooters in the newly formed gun club and to integrate them into working in the gun shop which had more traffic then a strip bar, but they wanted only real shooters working there, people who not only could shoot but could help the customers without being condescending, they wanted no Rambo wannabes just people who could not only do it but teach it in a good manner, to me it looked like they had it going.

Mary was having fun with the grocery store and while never complaining wanted to be back teaching, she and Jade spent hours together, Jade was working with Mary just to be busy and be with her first real female friend of her life. I had hopes Mary would have a calming influence on Jade but It seemed to be headed the other way , as on the day they both took off with nary a word and returned hours later with Mary driving a mate to Jades jeep except it was an ivory color.

Bob and I just stood there and never said a word, John looked it all over and said you two are learning, bout damn time, then burst out laughing and got out of there.

I just shook my head and started walking towards the café, a nice hunk of Ellie’s pie would help, Bob caught up and the two wild cats blew past us and got inside before us, inside we found the girls being served and ours was in place so we did as we were supposed to and sat down to eat, Neither of us said a word about the not so matching Jeeps and just for a change had a nice quiet time of it and surprising the hell out of us we got to keep all our pie, this was getting real scary real fast. I didn’t know how to handle it cause it had never happened, but the girls were their normal selves, chattering away and ignoring us, I was scared to move because it would break the spell.