Money Grab

"No, I'm not. That's exactly what I told Anthony. I told him I was afraid to leave you here."

"That's not exactly what you said, Davis. You said you were afraid to leave us here alone. To me, that meant you would leave us here if we weren't alone."

"You're right. I didn't mean to put it like that. I did think if I could make sure you were safe I could go. I'm sorry girls. That would be breaking my word. I won't do it. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course we forgive you," Malina kissed his scar. "But you are not to make such decisions. You might make sure that we are safe. I am not at all sure that I think you would be safe. I know you are safe when you are with me. I can see you. If something were to happen to you it would kill me. I do not want to live without you. It would be as if someone cut out a third of my heart. Who would wish to live such a life?"

"That's exactly how I feel," Calley told him. "Besides, I wouldn't ever feel safe if you weren't here. I wouldn't feel safe locked up in Ft. Knox without you. I know you aren't Superman, but sometimes I remember those men down at the river and the only thing that kept me fighting was that I knew you were coming. 'I'll never leave you alone again'. That's what you said, Davis, and I'm holding you to it."

"Okay, I've got it. I'm sorry girls. I wasn't thinking well. I've been used to being alone for so long it's hard to get my mind around the fact that I've got you to think about now."

"I know, Davis," Calley said. "But you did say one thing that made me feel all warm inside."

"Well, I like the sound of that. What did I say?"

"You were talking to Mr. Anthony about giving him some fuel. You said that you would help him and then you said, 'I'm not going to run myself and my family out though'. Did you mean me and Malina?"

"Yes I did. I didn't plan it out or anything, but that's what I meant."

"Are we your family, Davis?"

"Well, yes you are. I mean, you're not related to me, and we're not married or anything, but you're family to me."

"I would very much like to marry you, Davis," Malina told him.

"Well, I won't marry you, sweetheart."

"Why not?" she asked.

"You're too young to be married. In a year or two you might decide I'm too old for you and want to marry someone like Greg Wilson."

"Bah," she said, "he is a silly boy. I will marry you, Davis, or no one."

"Ask me again when you're 25," he told her.

"I will," she promised.

"I'm 25," Calley told him. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will," he said. Malina began to protest and he cut her off. "Let me finish, Malina. Calley, I'll marry you the minute Malina turns 25 and asks me again. How's that?"

"You're a wise man," Calley told him.

"Yes, we will be married together. Calley, will you marry me, too?"

"I can't imagine it any other way, baby."

"Well, actually I don't think any of this is legal. There really aren't any laws anymore. It was never legal for a man to marry two women and I don't think it was legal for two women to marry in Kansas; much less for them all to be married to one another."

"I do not care for legal," Malina said. "We are our own state now. You said so, Davis. The state of Rade, De la Vega and Nebrija; we will make our own legal."

"Well, now that we settled that, I have work to do. You girls do the dishes and I'll see what Will is up to. How would you girls like to hire him to work for us? I think I could talk Angus out of him."

"Yes, I like Will," Malina said. "He is very quiet and droll."

"Yes, I guess he is," Davis laughed. "We would have to build him a house. He can't live in the bunker forever."

He went out and left the girls planning their wedding. The day passed quickly and when it was time for bed, the girls showered and put on their night clothes. They played monopoly while Davis showered and when he went to bed they came in and climbed in with him.

"It's a good thing I have a king sized bed," he laughed as they sandwiched him between them. "That reminds me of something. He sat up and opened a drawer in the nightstand and gave them twin discs.

"What is this?" Malina asked.

"Birth control pills," Calley told her.

"Where did you get them Davis?" Calley asked. "They're not fish birth control, are they?"

He laughed. "No, when Cindy was alive she lived here with me and we didn't want children right away. We thought about it and she went to doctors all over the state and got prescriptions for birth control. We stockpiled them and I've kept them frozen ever since."

They both took one and Davis pulled Malina down on top of him. He kissed her and ran his hand up her back under her undershirt.

She kissed him but said, "No, Davis, I am much too sore. Calley is sore, also."

"I just want to cuddle you, little girl. The birth control needs two days to work anyway. I'll let you tell me when you're ready."

"I would love for you to cuddle me," she said. "Can we cuddle Calley, too? She is very nice to cuddle. She is chubbier than you."

She gave a little shriek as Calley smacked her on the rump.

Chapter 9

The next several weeks were very busy. They killed and butchered the young pigs. Davis had a smoke house and they made a cure of brown sugar, salt and black pepper. They rubbed the hams, wrapped them in white cloth sacks and hung them in the cooler. They hung the bacon in the smokehouse and Davis kept the fire going and smoke filled the room. They removed the loins and cut the pigs up into the size they desired.

Davis had been feeding two steers and they butchered them and hung them in the cooler to age.

They cut and hauled wood along the creek until they had a huge pile seasoning under a pole barn near the house.

Davis had a small combine and they harvested the wheat up on the wheat field. The girls hauled the wheat to grain bins in a grain buggy pulled by the tractor and Davis drove the combine.

They harvested the garden and canned and froze the vegetables. They fished the ponds and Davis calculated how many fish of which type they should harvest from each one. They filleted the fish and packed them in the freezer.

Three of the hens hatched eggs, and the girls fell in love with the chicks. They brought them inside and they lived in a small, newspaper lined cage in the mudroom under a heat lamp. The girls got them out constantly and held them, and it was not at all unusual to see a small yellow fluffy chick run out from under the sofa.

Several of their neighbors came and traded their hybrid grain for Davis' Turkey Red seed wheat. Joel Anthony came with a tanker truck and Davis traded him 500 gallons of fuel for labor. Anthony was a very good carpenter and they built Will Bryant a small one bedroom house behind the bunker.

Angus' dance and dinner party started a fashion and soon there was a gathering of the neighbors once a month for an event. The girls insisted, and Davis finally gave in and hosted one.

There was a new face in the crowd, one that Davis had never seen before. Angus introduced the man to Davis and the girls.

"This is Reverend King, Davis. Reverend King, this is Davis Rade. The lady in gold is Calista De la Vega and this lovely thing in white is Malina Nebrija. This is their house."

Davis extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you; you new around here?"

"Reverend King is from Topeka. A mob burned his church down and he's been wondering ever since. The Methodist church up in Coats was abandoned and he's holding church up there."

"You're welcome to attend any time, Mr. Rade. Are you three related?"

"I'm not much of a church goer. I go maybe ten times a year. I always attend the German Baptist Church up in Sawyer when I go. They're good people and I've known them all my life. Do you know any of them?"

"They don't teach the same gospel," the reverend replied. "We preach the true gospel, Mr. Rade."

"Okay, but to answer your other question, the girls aren't related to me, or to each other. They were neighbors in Wichita and they had to try and get away from some men that were attacking them. Calley knew me from before and they came and asked me to help them. We've been together ever since."

The reverend nodded. "Young men and women shouldn't be living together outside marriage, Mr. Rade. Do you plan to marry one of them?"

Davis felt his face go hot. "What the hell do you know King? You're a guest in my house. My business is none of yours. Keep a civil tongue in your head or get out."

The reverend began to bluster but Angus cut him off. "Now, Davis, I'm sure the Reverend didn't mean anything. Take it easy boy, dinner's ready; let's eat."

Davis turned away and Calley took his arm. "Take a breath, Davis. Your Latin nature, according to Malina, is showing. Don't lose your temper."

"Yeah, but I'm not Latin. Jesus, Calley, that's just the kind of pompous windbag I've always hated. My dad took me to church all the time when I was a kid and there was always someone like him around; trying to bully other people into accepting his 'true gospel'. Do you go to church Calley?"

"I used to. I was raised Catholic, of course. Most Hispanics are you know, especially Mexicans. My parents came here before I was born and they took me to mass every Saturday night. After they died, I started going to a big community church just because that was where the important people went. I thought it would help my career."

They continued their conversation after their guests went home. Malina joined them and they drank wine in Davis' bed and talked.

"Did you go to church in Spain?" Calley asked her.

"Oh yes. I am a Christian, Calley. We called it Mass. Many people go to church in Spain; especially in the villages. When I came to this country my host family went to church every Sunday. They often took me and there was a service in the afternoon in Spanish. It was not exactly Castilian Spanish, but I could follow along easily."

"What kind of church was it?"

"They were very kind people. They called it Iglesia de Christo. They did many peculiar things. They had no organ and all the people sang and there were no statues or candles. Are you a Christian, Davis?"

"Well, I guess that depends on what you call a Christian. I believe that there must be a God. None of the other explanations make any sense. I believe he must be good. I believe there was a man named Jesus that taught a lot of good things I try to live by. Be kind to your neighbor, don't steal: stuff like that. God must be good because he likes good things. Some of the stuff is too good for me. I can't do it. But I've never belonged to a church or anything. Would you girls like to go to church with me Sunday?"

"Yes, I would love to go to church, Davis. Me, I am a great sinner and I need to confess to God," Malina told him.

"I have to warn you, this won't be like anything you've ever seen. These people all dress very plainly. The women all wear bonnets and the men all have big beards and wear hats. If you're a member, all the men sit on one side and all the women and girls sit on the other. Sometimes boys sit with their fathers, but they're all very kind and they'll help anyone."

Calley looked dubious but Malina was very excited and so she agreed to go.

"We must dress plainly and wear hats so we will not scandalize them," Malina instructed them.

The girls spent all day Saturday making "plain" dresses and bonnets. When they came out of their rooms Sunday morning, they came to the bar where Davis was eating and demanded to be inspected.

The dresses were high necked and made of a white cotton damask with small blue flowers for Malina and dark burgundy flowers for Calley, with matching bonnets.

"How do we look?" Calley asked.

"Well, they're a little more form fitting than they'll be wearing." He squeezed Calley's butt through the dress. "You can't disguise that, beautiful. No one will have a bubble like that."

She slapped his hand. "Stop that! We're going to church, Davis, and you're feeling me up."

"He told us many things were too good for him. You may feel my butt if you like, Davis."

He was happy to oblige and she purred and rubbed herself against his hand.

"I said, stop that," Calley slapped his hand away. "Let's go before I strip both of you naked and spend the day in bed with you."

"Promises, promises," Davis murmured.

She shot him a wicked look, took their hands and led them to the Suburban. Will had decided to go with them when Malina asked him, and he drove them the 15 miles just outside the small community of Sawyer. Davis saw some smoke to the north as they pulled into the church yard.

"See that, Will?"

"Yes, I've heard some gang is raiding some of these people out of Pratt. There's some kind of a National Guard unit up there that's gone rogue and giving them some trouble. You know these people won't fight back, and it's pretty hard on them."

Several women were sobbing in a corner of the church when they went in. A man with a bushy red beard spotted them and a big smile spread across his face. He hurried back and embraced Davis. Davis hugged him back. "Good to see you Kent."

"It's very good to see you, Davis. Somebody told me you'd been shot. You okay?"

"I'm healed up. Calley, Malina, this is Kent Ray. These girls came to me looking for shelter, Kent. They lived in Wichita and when everything went crazy they came to me for help. Kent's one of my oldest friends. His wife's name is Susan, and she's over there with her arm around the woman that's crying. What's going on Kent?"

Kent shook the girl's hands. "Ladies, it's good to meet you. Any friend of Davis' is a friend of mine. Davis, we're in trouble. The Miller's got raided last night. Some Guardsmen out of Pratt stole everything they had and burned their house down. It's the third time this month this has happened to someone in this church. You know we won't fight back. Those people know it too and we're easy pickings."

"No you never would fight. Not even in college when those punks tore off your shirt and painted you red. Kent was my college roommate, girls. There were some punks that thought it would be funny to pick on him."

"Yes, and I remember what you did to them," Kent laughed. "I don't know what we're going to do, though. There isn't any law; I guess we'll just have to take it."

"You don't know what to do, but I do. We'll put together a posse and the next time you have trouble we'll come running."

"I don't want you to do that, Davis. I wouldn't have told you if I thought you were going to do that. I won't have you fighting for me."

"I'm sorry, Kent, but that's bullshit. Yes I know you don't like me to talk like that, but you don't get to tell me what to do. I know what you believe and I respect the heck out of you, but I'm not going to set back and let something happen to Susan or your girls. I don't believe like you do. You know that and I'm going to do what I believe in just like you follow what you believe."

"Yes, Davis, we must help them," Malina told him.

"Davis, if you get hurt or you hurt someone else I'll feel responsible. I appreciate you wanting to help but that's not our way."

"That's just the point, Kent. You're not responsible for me. Who made you responsible? I'll respect what you want, but if I see a way to do something I'm going to."

People were beginning to take their seats, and Davis and the girls sat in the middle row of pews. Susan Ray came and sat beside them. She was a very pretty, soft spoken young woman. She introduced her two daughters to the girls and kissed Calley and Malina on the cheek. The girls were younger copies of their mother. Krista was 16 and Vera was 14.

The service was very simple and moving and they went to dinner with the Ray's. Kent insisted and they sat around and told stories about their college days. They went back to church in the evening with the Rays and drove home.

Malina was strangely silent and Calley asked her if she was okay. "Yes," she sighed. "The church just reminded me of Spain. The people there are very much like village people in Castile. They are very simple and good. They are so very droll with their whiskers and hats. I like them Davis. We must go back often."

"They are wonderful people. There's a dark side to them though. Not here, but I've heard things over the years about other groups of them that are very cruel to people in their families that don't live by their rules. They drive them away and refuse to speak to them. They call it shunning. I've never seen that happen here, but I've heard of it. Some of them are pretty old school."

"Let us go to the Z bar and speak with Angus about helping them," Malina said.

"I want to help them too Davis," Calley told him. "They seem so gentle and peaceful. I can't bear the thought of someone hurting those beautiful girls. I could be good friends with Susan."

Davis turned off on the road to Z bar and they talked to Angus about the situation.

"Davis, the problem is that if those raiders are a rogue National Guard unit they're bound to be well armed and trained. I've got a pretty salty crew but we aren't soldiers and we don't have that kind of weapons. 30/30's are fine guns but they're not up to military standards."

"How many men could you spare?" Davis asked.

"Maybe 30," Angus said. "I won't strip my place. I like those people too, Davis, but I've got to take care of the Z bar. A lot of people depend on me. Why don't you go around to the neighbors and see if you can get some people together?"

"I've got 50 M16's," Davis said. "I'll arm the whole crew. That ought to tip the odds quite a bit. There can't be more than 15 or 20 in that unit. Most of the guard units weren't local. They traveled from all over the area to form up."

"What if they've got heavy machine guns or armored vehicles?" Angus asked.

"I've got a heavy machine gun, too, and a bit of a surprise for armored vehicles. I'll figure out something to make that gun mobile. I'll make the rounds and see which way the wind is blowing."

Over the next two days Davis and the girls made the rounds of the neighbors. He picked up promises from a man here and two there and 10 from the Rocking Ladder. He had one ranch left and he almost didn't go. He had never liked Tom Clanton. They had gone to school together and Clanton had been big for his age in grade school. He had been a bully and had selected Davis as a good target. For ten days in the fourth grade there had been a fight on the playground every day. Clanton started the first one and Davis had started the rest. He lost every fight, but after the tenth, Clanton was through. He had promised to never bother Davis again if he would just stop attacking him. They had never been friendly after that and as they got older, Davis got much bigger and Clanton never grew much after the 7th grade. As his size decreased in proportion to his classmates he became much less aggressive.

He pulled up in the yard and Clanton was sitting on the porch. Davis was surprised to see that the Reverend King was there. He told the girls to wait and walked up to the porch.

"Tom, how you doing?" He nodded at the Reverend.

They made small talk for a minute and Clanton asked, "What's on your mind Davis?"

He explained the situation and asked if Clanton would be interested in helping with the raiders. "If they clean out the German Baptists they'll be looking for new targets. We might be next."

"Never cared much for those Dunkards anyway," Clanton said. "I know you was thick as thieves with the Rays and Millers, but they always seemed sort of odd to me."

"They're more than odd," Reverend King exploded. "They're the spawn of the false prophet."

"What are you talking about?" Davis said. "You told me you don't even know them."

"I know they don't believe in the millennial reign of the Lord. It's here Rade. The axe is laid to the root of the tree and the fire of God is raining down on all the followers of the false prophet. The earth is being cleansed and the temple of God is being set up in the New Jerusalem."