Once the three girls had packed up everything they had, they found they had a problem. While the snow and wind hadn't been very heavy, it had been constant. Snow had drifted against the door. First Jesse tried to open it, and then she and Linda worked together with the same lack of progress.
"Now what do we do?" Amie asked .
"Maybe we can...Shh. Listen." Jesse said.
The faint sound of an engine could be heard. As they listened, it got closer to them.
"Oh no. The army is the only ones with anything that runs anymore. What are we going to do if they come up here?" Linda asked in a frightened voice.
"That doesn't sound like any army truck I've ever heard. It's more like a snowmobile. Do they have those?" Amie said.
None of them knew for certain. They did know they were trapped in the shed, with no way out. Shortly it was clear that the noise was coming closer. They waited for certain capture, and the forced mating that would follow. Suddenly the sound of the engine changed. It was clearly having trouble getting up the slope to the shed. Then it stopped. They listened hardly daring to breathe. Two men began to talk.
"I didn't think we'd get up this hill. The tread on this thing is about shot. We can't get enough traction to get up there."
"Maybe we should walk up there."
"Walk? Are you crazy? I'm not going to climb up there. Besides, look at it. Snow has drifted up against the door, and there aren't any footprints leading up to it."
"Someone could have gotten in there before the snow started. And you never know. There might be some food or something up there."
"Up there? Listen dummy, that thing is too small to hold much of anything. You want to fight your way up that hill, through all that snow, you go right ahead. I'll stay here and finish the coffee before it gets cold."
O.K., o.k. I guess you're right. How much coffee is left?"
"I'd say about a half a cup each."
"Well share it out. Then we'll head back."
"Sounds like a plan."
They listened to the men chat for a couple of minutes, and then heard the machine start up, slowly turn around, and begin to make its' way back down the hill.
Linda sighed in relief and said, "Boy, we got lucky."
Jesse looked at her. "Luck had nothing to do with it. That was The Lord."
"How can you be sure of that?"
"If we had left when we first tried to, our prints would have been clear enough for them to see. It would have only been a short time before they caught up with us."
"But we couldn't leave. The snow has us trapped in here."
"Does it? Help me try the door again."
Doubtful of the outcome, Linda moved to the door. Together Linda and Jesse pushed the door again. While the snow resisted, the door slowly opened, until there was more than enough room for the girls to leave. Linda stared at the open door, and said,
"Thank you God."
"Amen." The sisters said.
Director Ives once again began to think of the little town that had stood against him during the war. Now there wasn't anything to stop his men from going into that town, and cleaning it out once and for all, except for the snow. That problem would be solved as soon as the next rise in the temperature. Until then, all he had to do was get his men into position, and wait.
Once again, he looked over his maps from the war. He would pull some men in off the plains, and get them closer to the foothills. He carefully planned how he would bring men up from Carson City. Also more men, veterans from the vicious fighting in Montana would be moved down from the north. Men from Cheyenne would cover the eastern flank. By moving slowly, just a few miles a day, they would certainly pick up the Christians trail, sooner or later. He called the secretary to give the orders.
Captain Rutherford read the orders for the third time. It still didn't make much sense to him. He and his one hundred and fifty men knew where every town and village was between Cheyenne and the Rockies. Why were they being ordered to spread out so far apart? It would make so much more sense to stick together and go from town to town. Especially if they ran into any remaining Russians. It just didn't make sense.
"Hell, Captain. It isn't like we have to leave today." Sergeant Rutherford, the Captains son, said. "It's going to take a week or more for the snow to melt enough for us to get started. I mean if we still had snow plows, that would be one thing, but this can't be done on foot in snow like this. Why don't you try to confirm those orders, or try to have them change them?"
"I think your right Son. I don't like spreading out so far in good weather. In all of this, if any one group runs into trouble, nobody would be able to get to them fast enough to do anything, except bury the bodies."
As Director Ives soon found out, Captain Rutherford wasn't the only one who didn't like the orders. The idea of skirmish lines spreading out for miles on end, just wasn't going to happen. These men were too battle smart to do what he had hoped they would. As much as he wanted the men spread out, in order to cause them to take maximum casualties, they weren't going to do it. Some of them had even sent messages saying as much. It very colorful language.
It took a little time for him to come up with a good excuse, but eventually he sent out new orders requiring each unit to scour every place they came to, for anything that could be used for reconstruction. He also warned them to not only watch out for surviving enemy soldiers, but for those cowardly Christians as well. They would be expected to begin moving out within a week, as a warm front passed through the area.
Major Ferguson didn't politely knock at Bobs' door as he usually did. This morning he pounded impatiently. Bob came to the door, wide awake and already dressed.
"Good morning, Major. I take it you had a visit last night as well."
"If you are talking about Michael, the answer is yes. Bob how are we going to do this?"
"First thing is we have to do is have Jim make an announcement tomorrow at church. Find out if we are the only ones that had this dream."
At that point Alex came jogging up to his father and the Major.
"Wait until you hear about the dream I had." he said.
"The one with Michael?" Ferguson asked.
"You to?"
"And your Dad. I wonder how many people had the same dream?"
Bob looked up and down the street. People were coming from both directions.
"I think we aren't going to have to ask Jim to help with this. Take a look."
It wasn't long before everyone who had the dream was gathered in the general store. Bob stood at the front of the group and addressed them.
"O.K. folks. It seems that we all had the same dream. Let me briefly recap, and see if we all got the same message. In short, the Arch Angel Michael has told us that we have ten days to get ready to leave this town. We will have to take food and water for the journey, and everything we can carry in the way of weapons, and building materials. No lumber, or anything like that, just hammers, nails, screwdrivers, and screws, of course. In short, just hand tools. Does anyone have anything else to add?"
"Not everyone got the dream. What about they? I mean, what if they don't want to leave?"
"We'll just have to do our best to convince them."
"What if we can't?"
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess."
"How are we going to move all the stuff we have to take?"
"I know we have a pickup, an S.U.V. and the three trucks that the Major and his men brought with them when they came. I know it isn't much room to work with, so everyone think carefully about what you'll want to bring with us. For example, I don't believe that everyone is going to have to bring a hammer. Things like that."
"Bob, may I make a suggestion?"
Certainly Anna."
Why don't we organize this thing from here. As people finalize their lists of what to bring, they bring the list by here and compare it with others."
"Sounds like a good idea, Anna. Would you do the honors of coordinating that?"
"If you want me to, sure."
"I can't think of anyone better qualified. Anyone else have ideas?"
Nobody else could think of anything, so the meeting broke up, and everyone went on their way to begin their preparations.
Needless to say, Mrs. Molton didn't like it one bit. She knew that they had been led here for a reason. The idea that they would have to leave didn't improve her mood. She certainly didn't see any good reason to leave while it was so cold. It would be almost impossible to move through all this snow, and without transportation, why should she have to walk to who knew where.
And she just knew that since that harlot was in charge of coordinating things, she would use that position to make things miserable for her and her friends. Probably put them in the back of the group, so they would have to walk through the mud and filth after everyone else had already walked through the snow and melted it.
No. There was no way she was going to put up with this, and in the morning, she would make her husband go with her down to the store, when the meeting was going on, and talk some sense into these people.
BW, Vietnam Vet