Chapter 6

I was very excited about Carla's pregnancy. This was my first child, and I wanted it to be healthy and happy.

We loaded all the stock up and the vehicles drove back to the main ranch. I took of in the plane and flew around looking for anything interesting while I tried to keep a watch on the caravan. I flew to Midland and fixed the 100-octane pump to gravity flow, and filled the plane up. I flew back and found them easily, they were the only moving vehicles on the road. They found a place to camp and I landed the plane on the road and pulled off onto the shoulder.

I couldn't keep my hands off Carla. I apologized to everyone and told them I was so excited that I wasn't myself.

Carla pulled me into a kiss and said that I was perfectly fine. She gave me permission to touch her whenever I wanted to.

Amy, Elaine and Sandra were very tolerant, they smiled at my excitement.

We rested as well as could be expected on a campout, and headed for home the next morning.

They filled up at our usual diesel station and came on home. I landed about an hour ahead of them and had already bragged for thirty minutes to Ford, Cheryl and Kerry.

Ford said to Carla, "Please go and take care of him, he is running us crazy."

All of my wives laughed and helped me unload the things from the trip. I let the horses out and gave them some feed. We spent the rest of the day making things ship shape around the ranch.

Sandra told me that we were running low on meat in the freezer. I told them that I would go look for a steer to feed up and kill.

After a sweet night of loving, I saddled up a horse and took Bob and Joe to look for a steer.

I found a nice steer on our property. I herded it back to the house and caught it up in the big pen. I kept feed for it out all the time, and it ate hungrily.

I planned to feed it until February and then kill it while it was cold enough for the meat to keep while we processed it.

There was an abundance of furred game around. Carla shot a deer the next week; I couldn't believe how far away it was. I stepped it off and she had killed it from 375 steps.

I processed the meat into steaks and ground meat. It made excellent tacos and spaghetti sauce, as well as country fried steak.

The deer had used up most of our wrapping supplies so the next trip to town needed to pick up those items.

The garden was all done now. I turned it so the plants would rot over the winter.

I fixed the land in the pasture behind the house for a corn field next year also. We might have to irrigate it, but we needed the crop.

The winter passed wonderfully. Carla was healthy and happy; I made love to all my wives every time they could get me to.

Ford was as happy as a pig in slop, Cheryl and Kerry were keeping him very content, and he them.

George and Deuce were happy also. They kept our equipment top notch, and also kept the buildings well maintained along with Ford and I.

Mikie kept us in rabbits, and kept the varmints held down a bit.

I religiously checked the radio every night. One night in December, I picked up a signal on the emergency broadcast system at 640 kilohertz.

It said, "I am Luke Barefoot, I am in Hollis, Oklahoma. I have three families from the Monetahay Indian Reservation. I need some help.

I looked at my wives and friends. Sandra nodded, Amy ran up and hugged me and said, "Willie, I am afraid for you. I know you have to go, but I don't know what I will do if you are killed."

George said the Maule is ready to go. Let's lay out a route.

We got a map and saw that Hollis was in western Oklahoma. That made sense, it was dry there. It would take most of a day to get there, and would require that I refuel.

George and Deuce had fixed up the plane to use high test auto fuel, so I felt I could find gas. They had also rigged up a built in inverter in the plane so it would run the pump at a gas station.

Elaine had also heard the message and had gotten an army field medical kit and packed up her things for a short stay.

She took a .45 pistol and her Thompson carbine. I took a Sig and one of the Remington sniper rifles. We left the next morning.

The plane ran well, and we flew the direct route. We stopped at a truck stop, and filled up the plane after rigging the inverter to run the pump. We took off and got to Hollis near dark. I flew around and finally saw someone waving to us. I checked a field near him and landed there.

Elaine and I got out of the plane and saw a young person running up to us.

"I am Willie Gainous and this is my wife, Elaine."

"I am Stevie Barefoot," she said.

"We heard your radio broadcast and came to help you, if we can."

"Come with me," she said.

We walked to a nice house, nearby.

We were introduced to Earnest and Ann Barefoot, and their son Ernie. There was also an older couple, Joseph and Giselle Branch, and Luke, Stevie and Edie Barefoot, brother and sisters.

"What can we do to help you?" I asked.

We are almost out of supplies and are hunting every day for food. We need to move to a more hospitable place, near friendly people if we can. We wanted to try the civil defense radio before we just started wandering around scavenging.

Hollis wasn't much of a town as towns went, and it didn't have a lot to offer as far as subsistence. The rainfall was low and farming opportunities were limited.

"We live over east of Midland, Texas. I think there may be a place for you near us if you are interested," I offered.

They were interested.

We hunted around town and found suitable vehicles for them to pack their belongings and family treasures. I came to find out that they were all related, and lived on the reservation, in the middle of nowhere. That is why they made it.