Chapter 23
"Sir, rider approaching on horseback." Sgt. Langford said.
"Well well. On a horse you say? This should be good. How soon until the plane is completely unloaded, Sgt?" Greg asked.
"About another 10 minutes sir." Was the response.
"Well, keep an eye on our rider. I don't think he is dangerous, but double check with security." Greg stated and went over to where one of the two vehicles that had been unloaded already sat. Greg sat on the hood of his Humv and watched as the rider got closer and closer.
Greg watched interestedly as the rider finally arrived and dismounted from his horse. Sgt. Langford talked with the man for a moment then hurried over to Greg.
"Sir? His name is Mark Garret. He is a rider for a local farmer rancher by the name of Halstead. Apparently Mr. Halstead wanted to know what was going on and sent Mr. Garret here to find out." Sgt. Langford stated.
"Well, lets not disappoint the man. In the meantime, help get that plane turned around. We still have another load coming in." Greg said getting up and walking to meet with Mr. Mark Garret.
"Mr. Garret? My name is Greg Baron. General Greg Baron." Greg said, holding out his hand.
"What did you say? Over." Asked the voice of Julian Halstead over the radio.
"It's a government exploration group sir. They say they are exploring parts of the Eastern States.
Apparently they are going to head out to the coast and sort of map the area sir." Mark Garret said into the radio.
"Tell you what, see if General Baron would like to come up to the house. Hell, bring 'em all. From what you say, there aren't that many of them. Over." Julian instructed Mark.
Greg had been listening in and nodded his head to Mark, who then relayed Greg's agreement. He told Mark to relay that there was another plane due in shortly, and that when it was offloaded they would be ready to head out to the Halstead house.
An hour later saw Greg and two of his soldiers going up the drive of a very old house. To be more exact, it was an old mansion. Plantation style. Greg could not believe what he was seeing. It was almost something from the movie Gone With The Wind. He almost expected to see Clark Gable standing there.
Instead there was a man of about 40 or 45 standing, and waiting for them. Greg got out of his vehicle and the man came forward with his hand out.
"General Baron? I am Julian Halstead. Welcome to Halstead House." Grinned Julian shaking Greg's hand.
"Thank you. Nice to be here, and might I say, a very impressive home." Greg responded.
"Thanks. Wait till you get the ten cent tour before you make any judgments though." Grinned Julian.
"Actually, I look forward to it. Before I became a general in the army, I wrote books, and I had a story set in a local such as this. Be nice to see how close I got it just from my research." Greg said.
About that time a young lady came out the front door. "Snacks are set dad. I set them up in the east dining room." She said smiling.
"And this, is my daughter, Shirley. She is my right hand, and mistress of the house." Julian said, smiling with fondness at his daughter.
Shortly all were sitting at a medium sized table in the home's east dining room. They had set a nice table of welcome for Greg and his two men. Home made bread, slices of roast were thinly cut and lay for the taking. Along with potato salad. Two tall pitchers, one holding just water, the other cherry koolaide. After eating, Julian lead Greg and his men out to the back of the house, and into a screened in porch. It was quite comfortable.
"So. The meal is done, and now we come to the crux of the matter. What brings you here?" Julian asked.
"As we told your man, the US is doing a survey of the east coast. We have a freighter coming up from the south, but it will take several days to get here. In the meantime, I am going to try to set up a base of sorts, and do a little local looking around. Since you have a place here, perhaps you could fill us in on conditions here, and on the coast?" Greg suggested.
"That's interesting. How is the rest of the country fairing, do you know?" Julian asked.
So Greg filled him in on what he knew. What had happened after the disaster, and how things stood in Montana and Texas. A few other states had centralized areas with stable populations now. Slowly, almost glacially, the country was starting to pull itself back together.
"Well, with us it was a little different. Virginia sits on the coast. After it starting raining, we had people straggling in, but nothing that seems to have bothered the others. Unless you know we are here, we are sort of protected by the land itself.
"Only two ways into this area. The first is the road you landed those planes on. The bridges are down at several locations, so we have had no traffic at all, except for local stuff. The second is an old dirt road that winds and is bad in several places. However, that would be your best bet to get out of here."
As they talked, the sun started going down. Julian offered to put up Greg and his men. Greg accepted, and Julian once again sent his truck out, this time over the main road to guide the remainder of Greg's men to the house. In the meantime, Julian brought out maps of the area, and Greg poured over them.
"If you would like, I can give you a tour of the grounds tomorrow. I run some cattle, and I farm. Between all of us who live in the area, we do pretty well. Probably better than most. We have a small Amish group that is located here with us, and they have been a help. Those folks live without modern conveniences and have been a godsend to all of us."
Shortly, the rest of Greg's men and remaining vehicles drove up. After eating a very hearty evening meal, everyone sat and talked for a bit. Since he had a total of 10 men in all, he decided to divide guard into one man on guard replaced every two hours. That way no one would be overly tired the next day.
After a good nights sleep, Greg rose to a knock on his door with the announcement that breakfast would be in 20 minutes. There was a jug of water and a pan to wash with. Pressure had been lost long ago in the water pipes and water was provided by a well located a short distance from the house.
Breakfast was good. Eggs to order, bacon, ham, home made bread fresh from the oven. The house smelled heavenly with the smell of baking bread. Home made butter was on a platter and several dishes with jelly were placed around the table. All in all it was a very good breakfast. The only thing missing was coffee. When Greg offered a pound of coffee as contribution, Julian snapped it up with thanks, and soon the smell of coffee also permeated the air.
"That was a very good breakfast, Julian. My complements to your cook." Greg said, sitting back and sipping his coffee.
"That would be my house keeper and daughter. My wife died a couple years ago. She fell off a horse and broke her neck. She was an accomplished horse woman, just one of those things I guess." Julian said a little sadly.
"I'm sorry. I know how it is." Greg said simply.
"Well, when your finished with your coffee, care to look over the grounds, at least close in?" Julian grinned.
"I would be happy too. I think you would like my home in Montana." Greg said as they left the table.
For the next 30 minutes, Greg was given a tour of the grounds. Two large barns were located on the property. A machine shed which housed the tractor and a pick up truck, as well as plow, rake, disc, and harrow. A smoke house had recently been added. A chicken coop was located about 200 feet from the house and housed over 100 chickens. A corral with 25 horses in it was attached to one barn. Two fifty foot grain silos were set off to one side of the property.
"Just before the strike, I filled my silos to the top, laid in a huge supply of feed grains, and got a lot of seed. I have about 150 acres of wheat growing, as well as another 50 in corn. We have tomato, potato, lettuce and onion. The others are growing other items. Everyone in the area got together some time ago and agreed on dividing the growing among us. Seems to be working out pretty well. Of course, everyone has a garden for vegetables. But I grow extra anyway.
"The Amish have the hog farm. That's where our bacon and ham come from. I send out all my extra eggs. Most people have chickens, but a lot haven't any. I also collect and send out all my extra milk and cream. We churn butter once a week and send that out too. I run 120 head of cattle. I had more, but a lot died over the winter. Had a bit of rustling going on too, believe it or not." Julian finished.
Greg was impressed. Another example of the community getting together for the good of all in a desperate situation. Greg decided to hold off leaving for the coast that day. He wanted to learn more of this valley and the people in it. He thought it might make a good area base for future operations should the government need one.
Greg noticed that everyone who lived in this valley had a job that contributed to the well being of all. It was a good solution. They had actually taken in about 50 people during the rains. That was until the bridges gave way due to the earthquakes and flooding. One bridge had remained standing, but with people coming over it, someone had decided to bring it down. No one knew exactly who, but there had been a huge blast, and the result was one blown up bridge.
Greg contacted Cheyenne and told them about the valley and it's
people. He also told them about the bridges being out. He informed them
of the possible exit through the fire road, but said he wanted to spend
a day or two here doing a meet and greet. Cheyenne agreed, but
cautioned him that the freighter had already sailed and that it would
be off the Virginia coast in just a little less a than week.