Chapter 1

I was traveling from my home in Alabama to Arkansas to visit with my Uncle Lee (Robert Lee King). With a name like that that you didn't have to wonder where my family was from. I am Jeb Stewart King, my friends call me Stew, and my mother called me Stewart. I had graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in forestry and wildlife management the previous year and had gotten a job with Alabama in the State Lands Division. State Lands manages the lands owned by state prisons and state parks, mostly. I was taking some time off to visit my Uncle Lee, who is my favorite uncle, my only uncle actually. My dad had no other siblings and my mom had two sisters both of whom were spinsters. They would be pissed if they heard that description of themselves, but I think that they were spinsters according to Webster's definition. They both were teachers, 1 in high school and 1 taught 2^nd grade.

Uncle Lee had been married, but his wife had died of cancer a couple of years previous and they had no kids. I guess I was the only hope for the family to continue. No luck so far, I was not bad looking, 5'10" tall (all the men in my family were exactly the same height, I don't know if that is unusual or not) 190 pounds (not fat but not a body builder) in pretty good shape from working outdoors and walking a good bit at work, dark brown hair and hazel eyes (my grandmother called them goat eyes). Anyway, I was going to see Uncle Lee in Arkansas. He lived in the hills near the Ozark Mountains, near the flatland a very pretty setting. I had not been out to see him lately. He had taken early retirement from his company when my aunt died. I guess it really shook him up. Uncle Lee was an engineer and was an inventor for fun and profit (not much profit).

I had left Prattville early, so I would be getting to Uncle Lee's late that night. It is a long haul from "God's Country" to Arkansas. It was about 9:30 when I pulled in to the house. Uncle Lee came out and hugged me and helped with my luggage. I had brought out several sets of clothes and boots as well as my rifles and 3 of my pistols to show Uncle Lee. He liked guns and had a good safe place to shoot near his house.

He had an unusual house in that he built it on stilts. It was one story, but underneath it was a garage/storage area with the stairs up to the house in the center. It was half enclosed and had a place to park equipment under the other half, but part of that was taken up with a metal building where he had stored some of his "inventions".

We went inside and he said, "We will put you up in the second bedroom. I have my reloading equipment in there but the room is big enough for you to fit in too." He was right, the room was 20 by 25 feet and his reloading equipment only took up 1 wall with a bench and some storage underneath. I stored my stuff in the closet and the chest of drawers in the room. The house had 2 large bedrooms and a kitchen/living/dining room with a fairly large bathroom and a large unfinished attic. I really liked the house, as it was just right for one person to live in.

We visited a few minutes, he asked if I was hungry, but I had eaten a while before and said I would have something to drink. He got out a beer for himself and a coke for me (I really do not like beer). We talked a bit and he told me about his new hobby, reloading and shooting early cartridge type guns. He told me he had just gotten 2 new Marlin 336 Cowboy lever action rifles in 38-55 caliber. They were very pretty and suited him well as far as power, accuracy and the ability to shoot full power loads with lead bullets. He said, "You should always have two guns that shoot the same cartridge, just in case something happens to one, your ammo will still be useful." I thought this was a bit of an unusual comment, and said so. He told me that when the hard times come we might not be able to get ammunition as easily as we do now. I said, "I hope those times don't come around again," referring to the depression. He said, "You can never tell."

I was getting tired by now, and said I was going to hit the sack. He told me good night, and we both went to bed.

I awoke the next morning feeling very good. I slept well and was hungry. I washed up and went to the kitchen. Uncle Lee was in there and asked what I would like to eat. I told him whatever he was having would be fine. We had smoked sausage and toast with milk to drink. It was good. Uncle Lee said it was venison sausage, with a little beef fat thrown in so it would not be dry. He said he had turned into a bit of a survivalist since Aunt Peggy had died. I said, "What do you mean, survivalist?" He laughed and said, " Not the kind you are thinking of. I don't think there is a government conspiracy or anything like that. I just like to do things that let me take care of myself, like gardening, and hunting and making my own bread, stuff like that." I said," I am interested in that stuff to an extent, so you will have to show me about it. And I will show you about my new hobby, also." He asked what my new hobby was, and I told him I was competing in action pistol matches, and was having a great time shooting holes in paper targets. I liked the timed matches best as I was fairly fast at acquiring targets after the shot. I said, "I want to show you my 3 target pistols after breakfast." He said, "Great, and I will show you mine, too."

After we ate and cleaned up, we got out our toys and had a show and tell. I showed him my target guns, I have a Glock 19, 9mm Luger a Glock 32 in .357 Sig (my favorite) and a Colt Gold Cup in .45 ACP. He particularly liked the Colt. I think it was more for the caliber then the gun. He had 2 new acquisitions, both Colt replicas in .45 Colt caliber. I told him they were very cool, but I was not really into revolvers. He said, "I have one you will like" and stepped into his bedroom and returned with a CZ75BD, on which he had installed a ghost ring rear sight and a large dot front sight with a tritium insert. I said, "Now, this is cool, high capacity magazines, and excellent quick targeting, just look through the back and put the dot on the target."

We shot the breeze for a few more minutes and then he said, "Let me show you my place." This was the first time I had been to this house, Uncle Lee had sold out in town when Aunt Peggy had died and bought this place which is very rural. It has power lines and telephone, but not much in the way of amenities. I really liked it so far.

Uncle Lee told me that the house sat on a large shallow gas deposit, so he had to get his water from a spring. The spring was up the hill from the house. He had dammed up the run from the spring and had placed a pipe with a strainer in the water. The water ran down the hill about 10 yards and filled a wooden tank (he called it a cistern). The tank was higher than the house so the water would gravity feed into the house, but the pressure left a bit to be desired for a good shower. Uncle Lee had installed a pump on the line to get the house pressure up to about 50 psi, enough for a decent shower.

I asked how deep the gas was, he chuckled and said, "About 25 feet, I hand drilled a well and struck gas. That is what I use in the house, but I have to be careful because it doesn't have the smell injected. I use it for the water heater, and stove. I had to put a couple of pressure regulators on the line to get the pressure down to a useable level."

"I'll bet that is a big money saver," I told him. He said, "Yeah, it's the stuff" (he didn't cuss much).

He showed me his garden, it was about a quarter of an acre, but produced enough vegetables for him, except corn, corn takes a good bit of space. I asked him how he kept the garden up. He told me he used hand tools along with a push plow and push seeder. He proudly said, "I have enough seeds to last 2 years stored ahead. I use the oldest first, and either save seeds, or purchase after the seed goes on sale." We talked a bit more about the garden, and then we went back toward the house.

When we got to the house I happened to see his invention storage shed and asked him if he had invented anything lately. He said he had been working on a method to keep radio signals separated so more stations could broadcast in the same bandwidth. He was not very successful so far. He had also been working on a microwave enhancement device. He told me more about it, but I really didn't understand what he was talking about. He told me he was mostly trying to work on alcohol fuel improvements for all sizes of vehicles. He had an old motorcycle (a Honda Trail 90) converted over to alcohol fuel. He said, "You would not believe all the seals and hoses that have to be changed to make alcohol work." I asked him why go to all the trouble to convert to alcohol. He told me that alcohol was cleaner and you could make your own in a pinch. I asked him if he had a still. He said, "Of course, strictly for fuel and medicine only, Ha Ha." He liked a nip as well as the next guy.

It was lunchtime, so we went upstairs and had a couple of sandwiches and some ice water. The spring water was very good. After we cleaned up, he said we might want to get the guns out and go shoot a little bit, I was all for that. We got the rifles and some ammunition and put them in the truck. I took my 2 and he took his hunting rifles. We got some target holders and targets and a pair of strong binoculars for spotting the shots. His place to shoot was an eroded place at the base of a hill, the longest range possible was about 125 yards, but it was enough. There are not many places in the east where longer shots are common. I have 2 Remington 700 rifles, 1 in .308 Winchester and 1 in .243 Winchester. I like the short action calibers because the guns are about 6 ounces lighter and the actions are stiffer (read a bit more accurate). Uncle Lee had 2 Browning B.A.R.'s 1 in .308 and 1 in .243. We agreed on that. All of the guns had telescopic sights. Mine had Tasco World Class 3X-9X variables. His had Leupolds the .243 had a 3X-9X variable the .308 had a 4X fixed power. He held that a big game gun did not need strong magnification in the sight. We shot for about 3 hours and had a great time, as well as sighting in the rifles for the upcoming hunting season. We went back to the house and fixed supper and ate then we cleaned up, bathed and sat down.

We talked about the family, Mom and Dad, Aunt Peggy and me. Uncle Lee said that since I was his only heir that he was planning to leave everything he had to me. I allowed that he had many years left and I would worry about that when I had my own kids. He said, "You are 24 years old, I was married for 2 years by the time I was 24 and now I wish we had married younger than that. You never have enough time with those you truly love, and nothing is more important than family."

We had a wonderful visit. We worked in the garden, and I helped him work on converting his pick-up truck to alcohol. It was truly aggravating. An alcohol burner will burn gasoline with adjustments to the fuel air mix, but not vice versa. We shot the pistols, we reloaded some of the old cartridges, and we made bullets from old tire weights. It was a great vacation, but over too soon. Lee (he told me to drop the Uncle) invited me back any time I could come. I packed up and we separated. I had a good trip home.

Over the next year, I did my job and really enjoyed my work. I met some girls, but other than a few dates, my love life was fairly weak. My folks got along well, but my Aunt Lettie (the 2^nd grade teacher) fell down in class and got a bad concussion, with some brain damage. She could still talk and was not a veg, but she had to take a medical retirement. She moved in with my Aunt Dot. They got along ok and visited Mom regularly just as usual. On one of the visits they both gave me the "you are my only heir speech". I laughed and said, "Between you two and Uncle Lee, all I have to do is stay around a few years and I will be rich." Aunt Dot and Mom jumped on me, held me down and tickled me. We loved each other.

I kept competing in action pistol tournaments, kept having a good time and even won a few local tournaments. I got a set of sights on my Glock 32 like Lee had on his CZ and they sped me up a bit on new targets. Some competitions required a big bore pistol to compete so I got a .40 S&W barrel for my Glock 32. I did not like the .40 as well as the .357, but for competition, what the hell. I saved my money and took Lee's advice and bought a back up gun for each of my competition guns. Ouch, oh well, what does a single guy have to spend money on anyway. Like an old man said one time, "I spent most of my money on whiskey and women, the rest I just wasted." I did not drink much and the girls would not let me spend money on them so I got some new guns. I also worked on converting my Honda Element (new car too) over to alcohol fuel. I really had too much time on my hands.

I talked to Lee about twice a month. He talked me into taking my vacation in November and coming out to visit and going hunting with him. I made my arrangements packed all my stuff, and left out early one Sunday morning. I had a good trip out and arrived late Sunday night. I got out of the car and 2 orange and white bullets were jumping all over me. Lee had gotten 2 Brittany Spaniels (Buck and Cass). They were as cute as could be, and I liked them at once, they also liked me. We took my stuff inside, had a drink, and went to bed.

The next morning we visited and talked about what we had been doing. Lee had been working on his inventions some, but mostly he fooled around with his dogs, garden and vehicle improvements. He had his still going well, using sour fruit for his mash and getting a pretty good grade of fuel alcohol. His Honda ran like a top. So did his pickup. He said he was accumulating more supplies for the hard times, and he had gotten an old gas burner tractor (Ford 8N) and was converting it to run on alcohol fuel to raise a bigger garden and some corn. I teased him by saying that he was going to use up all of his flat land. He said, "That is what it is for." He said he was getting interested in using wind to produce electricity. I joked, "Pretty soon, you won't need anything from outside." He said, "That would be very good."

The next morning we went hunting, Lee killed a nice buck. I heard the shot and did not shoot the big doe that I saw. We worked on the meat that day, and that afternoon he showed me that he had gotten a new shotgun, a Beretta 1201 in 12 gauge. It is a nice gun, the sights are very good for short range work in poor light.

It was another wonderful vacation. When it was over, we separated with a hug, and I told him I loved him. I had a good trip home.

We had a nice family Christmas that year and we all talked to Lee on the telephone Christmas Day. You could hear the catch in his voice from his missing the family, especially Aunt Peggy.

In March, Lee called and said that Arkansas had an opening for a forester in his area, if I was interested. I called the state and asked for information on the job, and they sent me information and an application to be put on the state register.

The position was about 2 ranks higher than my job in Alabama, but it did not pay appreciably more. However, I was in a dead end job in Alabama, while there was a career track from the Arkansas job, so I talked it over with my family and eventually was called in to interview in Arkansas. The interview went well and I soon began to pack my things to move to Arkansas. I rented a truck and towed my Honda. I was going to move in with Lee at first to save a little money, plus I loved that place out there.

After I got to Lee's place and got settled, I found I really liked this new job. I interacted with people much more than in my previous job. Lee and I worked on the place together. We gardened, we worked on the vehicles on the weekends, we molded bullets for his old guns, we cooked out we generally really had a good time together. We were very much alike. I called home regularly, that helped Lee stay in better touch with Dad, also.

What I missed most was that there was no local gun club with action shooting, but most everything else was better. So you win some and you lose some. Still no girlfriend, I must be a real loser; even if my Aunts and my Mom think I am very smart and handsome.

That September, while I was in another county for work, Lee went to town to shop for some groceries. He never got back home. He had a heart attack in the grocery store and never made it to the doctor. Fifty-eight is too young to die, but I guess it is what is in store for all of us.

He had put me on all of his bank accounts and told me that if anything happened to him to empty the accounts. The next morning I did just that. He had more money than I thought. I could live comfortably for several years on that money. When the will was read, I inherited everything. I would rather have Lee back.

The family came out for the funeral, they thought I should come back home. I told them I was home. I missed them very much for a while after Lee's death.

I still received things that he ordered for about 2 months. Primers, bullets, gunpowder, alcohol proof rubber gasket material. PVC pipe and fittings and glue, you name it, it came in. I was really glad the dogs were there for company. You know dogs are always upbeat.

Everything was getting back to normal, then some bad weather came rolling in. Lightning was popping everywhere, I let the dogs into the stairwell to make sure they stayed dry. Took a good stiff drink (unusual for me) and went to bed. I was waked up in the middle of the night by a really close lightning strike, but went right back to sleep.

The next morning I got up and the power was off. Oh well, low water pressure but I had some water anyway. I had breakfast and got ready for work. I went down stairs and let the dogs out. I looked at the garden. Something had definitely gone very wrong. The garden was not there. There were trees growing where it was supposed to be. What the hell is going on here. I got in the car, but the road was gone too, so I shut the motor off. I went into the house and turned on the portable radio-nothing. If this was a joke, it damned sure wasn't funny. I decided to take the dogs and look around.

Something weird was going on, so I followed Lee's advice and got a pistol in a holster, and got a rifle, got a flashlight and left searching for anything useful. It looked like everything about 35 yards from the house was normal, but just like a line drawn on a piece of paper at that distance from the house the vegetation changed the soil changed. It was like somebody took a scoop and picked up the house and set it down in a new place.

I went to the cistern, it was just inside the line but the feed pipe was cut clean and was not to be found. Curiouser and curiouser, the dogs found nothing unusual, so we walked up the hill to the spring. It was there, but it was not dug out, or dammed up. I was starting to freak out. We walked back down the hill, as I was approaching the house I noticed a tremendous scorch mark on the metal building. I guess lightning had hit it last night. I walked around and opened the door, Lee's inventions were a smoking melted mess, but not in danger of catching fire, so I shut the door and went upstairs.

I still had gas, so I had low pressure hot water and a cook stove, so I ate something, had another stiff drink to calm me and sat down to think.

I needed to check out my situation, starting with the house. The dogs and I were okay, no leaks in the roof. I had gas, so the well was still functional. The gas had a bit more pressure than before, but otherwise okay. The plumbing was okay as far as I could tell. I probed around and found the septic tank, It was in tact, but my guess was it was a bit short on drain field now, probably about half as much. I would need to set up a way to send all the water except the toilet into a different waste system. The washer already went into the yard, I guess that the other items could just go into the yard for a while. Maybe I could find some gravel and make a dry well. I had better run the generator for a while. Maybe I could rig up a feed from the gas well to operate the generator.

Oh, well, first things first; water. I had enough water pipe to replumb the spring feed, thanks to Lee. I got a pick and shovel and the wheelbarrow and went up to the spring. I put my rifle down and began to dig out the spring reservoir. The water was just as good as it was before. I worked the rest of the afternoon on the water project. I was worried about the dam. I should not have worried, this place had rocks in plenty to build the dam for the small reservoir.