Chapter 11

I told him to have a seat and wait. He would have to talk to Jennifer. He simply nodded.

After a few minutes, I went inside to check on how things were progressing with Marvin and Angie. Angie was saying, "I want to go. I have not liked being subject to the whims of men. If Marvin can't handle that, then a termination will occur."

"Angie, dear," he said, "I am not happy with men leading like they do here at Moreno and leaving women out. It's just difficult to leave our farm after all the work we have put into it."

I stayed out of things not even approaching the table. Angie saw me and asked, "Do you really let Jennifer make decisions?"

"It's not 'let, ' it's that she does. If we can, we consult on big decisions but, if we can't, one of us makes the call and the other one of us trusts that decision. At Camp Pen, we have found that a stronger mating relationship results."

Marvin said, "You have told us there will be farming and there are houses available. Is that so?"

Before I started, Jennifer said, "Marvin, the situation is as described. We have empty houses that merely need cleaning to become homes. There is plenty of land for farms though we will have to fence it because we want to have ranching of livestock, also."

Marvin nodded. Angie said, "Marvin, I think this is for us. I think that we will be stronger by becoming partners in our mating. Look at Jennifer and Sal; they think together and act together but are still individuals."

"We care for each other deeply." I said.

Jennifer blushed. "Sal is my love and my partner in everything."

Marvin reached over to Angie and hugged her tightly. "If they will have us, we will go."

Jennifer looked at me and I nodded. "Okay," she said, "we'll have you. Be ready to go in a few days." We shook hands all around and they left looking very happy at each other.

I ushered Benjamin into the room. Jennifer waved him to a seat. "What brings you here, Benjamin?" I remained standing about six feet away.

"You are an abomination!" He shouted. He lunged out of his chair with a knife in his hand. Before he could reach Jennifer, she had drawn her revolver and shot him from under the table. He went over backwards clutching his crotch and screaming in pain. I had to modify my charge to his new position and almost got shot myself. I kicked the knife away We knelt over Benjamin.

"Why." I asked, "did you try such a foolish act?"

"You had to be stopped! What you are trying to do is wrong! People are listening to you and being lured into your pattern of behavior. My wife," he gasped in further pain, "she is terminating our mating because of what you said. It cannot be allowed." He gasped once again and went limp. By then, Paul and Rob had come charging into the room. Benjamin was dead. I guess that having his balls shot off would have left him feeling dead even if he had survived the wound. Massive bleeding did it. Ella started washing down the kitchen with Terry's and Rob's help. I took Jennifer outside and held her as she shook. Paul went to inform Benjamin's former mate and Jack, the presiding elder. Paul reported later that Benjamin had killed his mate before coming to us.

Jack, his son and his son's wife all wanted to come. Jack's mate had died just over a year ago.

The day continued on. We accepted sixteen couples. There would be only five left in Moreno when we all left. Between the Sanbern's and the prospect of a new life at Camp Pen, there were few that wanted to maintain the old ways and have to fight off the Sanbern's. I decided to leave a rifle at each house with plenty of ammunition. I had a bad feeling that they would need it and that it still would not be enough.

Four days later, we formed a large party to leave for Camp Pen. Rob and Terry were now officially mated. Jennifer and I both hugged her tightly when they made the announcement. Our trip back to Camp Pen was without incident even when we told everyone that Jennifer, Terry and I had constituted the entire population of Camp Pen. Terry bragged to all that Jennifer and I were the leaders and would perform excellently. I sure hope so!

When we reached Camp Pen, everyone fanned out in search of houses. Jennifer, Terry, Rob and I went to our place and found it Carol and John there undisturbed. We went inside and unloaded. We all gathered together and Jennifer said, "I want to find us a new place. We can keep this as a refuge but I want a more normal place to live now that we will have neighbors. Terry, I would like for you and Rob to live next door so we will have to find two places together that will suit. John and Carol will make three houses if they want."

We were all in agreement. We decided that tomorrow would be house hunting day. That would give us the remainder of the day to clean up our refuge and look around at what others might have found. That's what we did.

After cleaning up and dusting, we started out to check out the others. Most of the rest had found housing that suited them close to open fields or old parade grounds that came down to the same thing. While walking around, we found four beautiful houses, mirror images of each other, that looked right. We went inside and found them in comparatively good repair. We started checking them out further and were surprised at their condition. It would seem that they had been occupied after the Destruction though not lately. Then, I found a diary in a desk and began to read it.

It was written by Tom, one of two brothers. They and their wives had moved in and lived here for many years. There were no children, an issue that Tom bewailed in his writings. Then, one by one, they started to die. It looked like old age but I wasn't sure. Tom was the last. His story of burying his brother and then his sister in-law were tough though short. I couldn't handle reading his few sentences describing his wife's illness and death. He buried her and wrote that he was leaving because it hurt too much to stay. He finished by hoping that someone would come and adopt the homes and take care of them. He wished a good life to whoever moved in. We were all a little weepy after I had read the last pages aloud. We decided that we wouldn't look further and that this would be our new home. We found the graves of Tom's brother and their wives. A tree had grown through and around the grave sites indicating that probably twenty or thirty years had passed since anyone had lived there permanently. We moved in that evening.