Chapter 30

[Janice writes]

I went to the four men and said, "I have questions that will be answered. There are two choices. You can scream or answer. My young daughter had to kill two of your evil friends when they attacked her. She is upset and so am I. If you want any hope of returning to your people, some one needs to talk."

I looked the four over. As usual, I picked the largest. Robby hadn't tied any of them. I said, "You, get up. Which arm?"

"I'm sorry. What do you mean?"

"I'm going to break one of your arms so all four of you will know that we're serious about hurting you."

"Lady, there's no incentive. If I fight, he will kill me. I'll stay on the floor. You'll just kill me anyway."

I said, "If you can beat me bare-handed, we will set you free. It's not likely to happen, but there is some incentive for you."

"Lady, I will tell you everything you want to know. I would like to get back to my wife and kids. Before you showed up and Senior Tom made us attack, we were going to sneak out. If I am able, we will still leave. The craziness has been too much. You got Senior Tom but there are two of them left back at the camp. I will have to take them on. So, if you're going to disable me, kill me knowing that my wife and daughters will be killed then, too. If I don't get them out, they will be sacrificed soon."

One of the other men said, "Marv, you're a fool. They're just as bad. Senior Tom said they took Jacob and sacrificed him by throwing him from their plane."

I moved to him. Would you recognize Jacob's voice?"

"Yes, ma'am. He will know mine, too."

"Interesting. That leaves you two. What's your story?"

One said, "We came because Senior Tom left his two assistants at the camp. They will kill Joe's wife and my son and his wife if we didn't come to fight and if we lose."

The other one said, "Lady, did you really throw Jacob from the plane?"

I said, "No. I can prove it."

Robby tossed me my pistol back and said, "I'll get a radio set up. The easiest way to shut off a lie is the truth."

I nodded. "Guys, we're going inside. You will not try anything. You might be surprised at how well this can turn out for you and your folks." We went inside.

Marv gasped. "That's Senior Tom's wife and son! The other three nodded.

I said, "You two carry her out and you two get the boy. They are the ones who attacked my daughter. A girl her age shouldn't have to kill to protect herself from bad people." They went as directed and carried them out to join the other dead bodies. I followed them out and had them drop the bodies off away from our area and the landing and taxiways. They were then directed to carry the men over to the same spot. We went inside and they were given water to drink and to use to clean up.

Robby had some help and got the radio set up. I ushered my four captives over close to the radio where Charlie was calling for Preservation. On his third try, he received a response from Poppa Jack's mother. Charlie said, "Grandmother, it's good to hear you. I'm in California with the family. Would you please call Herb or Mindy Harold and ask them to tune to this frequency and have Jacob with them?"

"Of course. Is everyone okay out there?"

"Yes, ma'am. There was a fight and Uncle Ted got a flesh wound on his arm. The attackers didn't do so well."

"Okay, Charlie. Standby."

A few minutes later, Mindy came on the radio. She said, "Calling Charlie. Calling Charlie. How are my future son in-law and my daughter?"

"We are fine, Missus Mindy. Is Jacob there, I need to speak to him, please."

"Here he is. I want to talk to Andrea later, too."

"Hello, Charlie. Where are you?"

"I'm in Bakersfield."

"Are-are you okay?"

"We're fine. We were attacked and the attackers didn't fare well. There was a rumor that you had been thrown from a plane."

"You have to be kidding! I fly planes."

The man who had said he would recognize Jacob's voice was awestruck. "May I talk to him?" I nodded and pointed him at Charlie.

Charlie said, "You talk into the mike. Press that button to talk and release it to hear the other side talk."

"Jacob, is that you?"

"Yes, who is this?"

He said, "This is Gene Talmer. I was a friend of your real father before he was killed."

"I remember. I'm in Georgia now. The community is called Preservation. My adopted sister is there. Andy, are you okay?"

Andy grabbed the mike. She said, "Jacob, it's good to hear you. I'm here with Charlie and we're fine. We have four prisoners. You just talked to one."

Jacob said, "He's a pretty good guy. He was trapped in the situation. What about Senior Tom? He is the leader and a real bad guy."

Gene said, "Senior Tom is dead."

Andy repeated. "That Gene man says that Senior Tom is dead."

"Good. He and his wife killed my parents."

I took the mike. "They are both dead along with their son who was your age or a little older."

"Missus Janice, that's good to hear. Help them please and end the terror."

"We are considering that, Jacob. You have been a great help. Your sister wants to talk to you again."

I moved away with my four prisoners and Bennie. I said, "I think we have established our bonafides." The four nodded. I said, "Let's sit down and get into details.

Marv said, "How many children do you have, ma'am?"

I smiled. "First, you must understand that I have four spouses. Bennie, here, is one of my two husbands. Robby is the other. Pam and Melissa are my two fellow wives. Yes, there are five of us. It works for us. Among us, we have six children. They are all each one of ours. We don't tell who was the blood father or mother because it doesn't matter. Each one is mine and each one is Bennie's. Like I said, it works for us."

"Your husbands allow you to fight?"

Bennie chuckled. "No one 'allows' Janice to do anything. She just does it. Besides, she beats me up when we practice hand-to-hand fighting. Everybody is nice to Janice."

Charlie came up to me and said, "Mom, Missus Mindy wants to talk to you."

"Okay, Charlie. I'm on the way." I looked at the four. "He's our oldest. He plans to marry Mindy's daughter next spring when they are of age. Her son plans to marry our oldest daughter when they are of age. I'll be back in a minute."

I left them talking to Bennie. I went to the radio and said, "Mindy, this is Janice. What's happening?"

"Hi, Janice. I just wanted to check with you to be sure our couple on that end is behaving."

"They are doing fine. I have SJ tasked to sleep between them at night." I laughed as I released the mike with Andy and Charlie sitting beside me looking scandalized.