New Beginnings
Betty woke to another day, unusually tired. She wasn't sleeping well, and she had been irritable for days now. Roger's place in the big log bed was empty, as usual these days. He had gone through a period of self doubt and adjustment as the community grew, but had now pretty much returned to normal. She wished she could do that.
Her mother had experienced an early menopause, and Betty was terrified that she was about to go through the same thing. Only 46, she dreaded the hot flashes and mood swings sure to come. The prospect of dealing with all that, probably for years, in the face of all her work and responsibility in the ranch community made her cringe and want to hide beneath the covers, but she resolutely put them aside and got up to start her day.
Lauri and her team were busy in the old community kitchen. The school was putting on a parent's night and they'd decided to have a pot luck supper along with it, so much of the cooking and baking were being done early. Many of the original settlers missed the old community meals and took every opportunity to get together like this.
Pacing with a cup of tea, Betty looked out the big east windows of the dining room at the falling snow. This February wasn't as brutal as the last two had been, but they would have more than sufficient snow pack for a good water supply, and the wolves had not been nearly such a problem this winter.
Suddenly somewhat nauseated, she dumped the rest of the tea and headed for the radio room. She had put herself back on the regular duty roster last fall when one of the girls who usually worked the radio had been sick. She'd realized she missed talking to all the other communities, so had stayed on the list.
Sitting at the radio, she went through the notes of the previous shift and scribbled some of her own as she talked to her assigned frequencies. There was no particular news, and everyone was as anxious as she for the spring to come - as always. She reached for a new pen and, not getting a good grasp on it, dropped it. When she bent over to retrieve it, she threw up the little tea she had swallowed earlier.
.
Roger happened to enter the room at the same time, and he rushed to her aid. "What's the matter?" he said.
"I don't know," she replied. "I'm just feeling crappy."
"Let's get you over to see the doc, honey," he insisted. And this time she didn't protest or argue - which worried him even more.
Betty endured the thorough examination and the worried look on Roger's face when they came out of the examining room. Rachel, the doctor, sat down at her desk and briefly reviewed her notes.
"From what you tell me, Betty, there is a faint possibility of menopause onset, but I'll lay my bets on something quite different. In my professional opinion - absent all the tests we used to have - you are about 3 to 6 weeks pregnant."
Absolute stunned silence reigned for at least a full minute. Roger had been holding Betty's hand and he suddenly realized he was holding on too hard so he tried to let go. Betty had gone rigid, then limp, but clung to his hand as if it were a life line. They both looked at the doctor as if they'd seen a ghost.
Rachel smiled, then suggested that Betty consult with the herbalist about something to control the nausea, assuring her that it was most likely temporary. "Simple morning sickness," she said.
Thanking her, they left hand in hand and went back to their room where they could speak privately. If Rachel was right, they would have a great many adjustments to make. Roger was torn between the wildest joy and terrible fear for Betty. He knew that a first child at her age was not either comfortable or particularly safe - and not safe for the baby either. They discussed the potential for Down's Syndrome and other things, then explored the changes that would have to be made in their living arrangements. Neither one even mentioned the idea that Rachel had been wrong. They knew in their hearts that she was right, however improbably it might be.
*****
That spring brought an absolute orgy of building and changes. A new home was started across the street from the original headquarters, which was soon almost gutted and the scene of massive remodeling. With walls removed and heavy columns installed to support the roof, the bulk of the old HQ was turned into a very large room that would serve as both meeting and dining room. The kitchen was expanded, and an addition went up to house the radio equipment and, hopefully, someday the computer.
Roger and Betty moved into their new home from temporary quarters in an old cabin as spring ended. The new place wasn't really very large, but it had a wide porch around three sides and they had been careful to leave a few mature trees at suitable places around it. Two bedrooms and an extra room for storage were a luxury Betty hadn't even dreamed of since the original conversion of their former home, and she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of both love and material gifts from the people of the community.
The beautiful pine floors were dotted with colorful home made rugs, and each window was delightfully draped with home woven fabric. Hand crafted furniture graced every room. Two easy chairs had been fashioned and covered with glowing leather. There were boxes of things she hadn't even had time to unpack, including a large number of baby garments, blankets and so much more that she would need.
Betty complained about not being allowed to lift or do much, but would not hear of giving up her shift at the radio. She convinced them, rightly, that she needed that activity and involvement now as much as ever.
For the first three months, Roger nearly wore himself out rushing back and forth between various projects and his wife's side, until she finally convinced him that she was doing well and he was being silly. She had only to ask, and any number of her neighbors would have done anything they possibly could to help her or give her company. She'd never felt so well loved.
Spring slid into summer and everyone was busy as usual with the farming, animals and building projects. The traders made their regular treks, and people went back and forth between Bradshaw town and East Valley. Half a dozen weddings were performed, and twice as many new infants as usual were welcomed into the community. There was talk of building a church, but the new school was chosen as a priority. The contributions for the school were sufficient to build, furnish and supply it for at least a full year and the teachers moved in gratefully. The previous building was given over to the growing medical community and remodeled into a clinic and hospital. The former meeting room was divided into offices for the various doctors, midwives, herbalists and other health practitioners. Betty's original dream of having a birthing center there became a reality.
The apprentice program was working wonderfully, and there were usually more positions available than young people to fill them. They had recruited so much from other communities that many of them started their own programs in order to keep their children at home. The rivalry was friendly, but serious, especially with the East Valley which was rapidly growing and might soon overtake the ranch in population numbers.
The council met regularly, but real problems were few because people worked out their differences privately or with arbitrators. Richard resigned as sheriff, to be effective that fall. He'd had so little to do that he wanted to go back to full time construction work. Nobody else was nominated, and the office would remain vacant unless another need for it arose.
The militia continued to meet and train, but their numbers had dropped off significantly in the last year as well. Mutt and his closest friends continued to patrol at night, and knew that many others would respond immediately if either wolves or goblins became a hazard again.
****
The old gray gelding leaned against the fence and watched the children leading the rapidly growing foals around the main pasture. He was fully retired now, having been injured in a wolf attack the winter before. The injury healed, but he was not judged sound enough to ride. Nobody would have dared suggest that he be put down, however, and Roger was not apt to ever forget that he had saved David's life.
Donald was part of the growing group of youngsters who worked for Bill after school and during other spare time. They were responsible for handling the foals and getting them halter broken. This was a tremendous service to the men who would later train them, and also to the foals because it reduced their stress and potential injury during training. Properly handled and cared for, they would have little or no fear of the men or the harness they would be required to carry when the time came.
The sun was dipping deeply into the west on a glorious summer day as the last of the foals were groomed and turned loose into their own special pasture to squeal and nip at each other over the grain ration. Donald lingered just a few moments to watch them, hoping that Bill might come out of the barn in time to walk with him back to the house. He loved any excuse to visit Bill and Linda, and to play big brother to the two pink and gold little girls.
Eventually, that hope died and he began the walk to town, tempted to go the long way around the new school so he could stop in to see his brother Evan, and Margaret his new wife. Seeing that the sun was lower than he'd thought, and knowing his mother would be anxious if he didn't come home on time for dinner, he decided against it. Swinging into an easy stride, he loped for home and came up onto the porch only slightly winded. He loved to run now, and was mostly unconscious of his growing stature and stamina. He was becoming an exceptionally well made young man.
Hope, now a precocious four year old, ambushed her brother and squealed with delight as he tickled her. Then, quickly going to wash up, he hugged his mother and grinned at his father as he slid into his place. It still seemed really strange not to see Evan at the table. Cathy smiled at all of them and settled the kettle of stew in the center of the table, then began to dish it out.
Next door, Maria was getting her children settled around the table for their evening meal. Boosting Elizabeth into her special chair, she called the other two children again. Angel didn't want to stop playing with the old dog, and Sean was jealous because he considered the dog to be his own special property. They fought like any siblings, and Maria could only be glad that Angel had become a very normal little girl, in spite of all the trauma she had lived through. At seven, she was becoming more and more independent and willful, but Maria could only see that as a good thing. She knew it worried Jeff sometimes, but his love for them all never wavered.
Down the street, just past the oldest storage building, Lauri and her dog wearily made their way toward her cabin near the center of town. She smiled to think that it had once been on the very edge, near the main road, but now she could see the twinkling lights of all the new houses and mobile homes that had been built or brought in over the last few years. They stretched out to the base of the foothills on the north, and around the bend in the road to the east and almost to the farms on the west. The broken land to the south was safe from building, she supposed, but time would tell. She thought they might have a thousand people in the town now.
Her new husband opened the door as she mounted the porch, and he smiled a quiet greeting as she described the fish she had caught that day. Bob was blind, and seldom ventured out of the house, but he was very interested in all the people and goings on in the town. His work room was always busy as people brought him things to be repaired or picked up completed jobs, and many stayed a while to watch his patient work using only the touch of his hands to "see" and fix the problems. His two busy apprentices kept things moving smoothly, and they had become almost like sons to the older couple.
Lauri hugged him as she went out to the kitchen and put the fish in a hot pan to fry for their supper. Bob had harvested some squash and snap beans from their little garden, so she set them to steam with some new potatoes and then set the table. The dog looked out from behind the wood box, taking in the good smells, but knowing he was not allowed to beg.
Bill and Linda worked together effortlessly after such long practice, and both girls were fed and put to bed in record time. Later, sitting out on the porch in the cooling evening air, Linda gave her husband the wonderful news that the girls would have a brother or sister before spring, and he was as happy as she could have wished. She wouldn't have traded her daughters for anything, but hoped she would have a single boy this time. Another set of twins would be too much.
Richard and Deborah watched their sturdy son, Adam, play on the floor with the big cloth "emapunt" he had been given for his birthday. He was especially intrigued by the long trunk and big floppy ears, and jealously guarded his treasure from the puppy that would have loved to chew on it. The stuffed elephant had been intended to help keep the youngster from playing too rough with the puppy, and Deb was very glad to see that it had worked even better than she hoped.
Eventually, Adam drifted off to sleep with his head cradled on the toy, and Deb gently bundled him into bed with it. The puppy curled up on the rug to wait patiently for its young master to resume their play.
And so it went, from house to house, all over the valley. People going about their everyday lives in peace and plenty. The farms were prosperous and well managed, livestock healthy and prolific, and children grew in both stature and character without any "authority" over them except that of their loving parents and cooperation from the community.
Fall came with the usual increased pace of harvest, canning and drying, hunting and slaughtering, moving the livestock down from the mountains, and all the other normal preparations for the coming winter. A late September morning also brought the start of labor contractions to Betty, and she was taken to the birthing center by a very worried husband.
The last month had been very hard on her, with swelling in her legs and feet the most troubling, but not the most serious. Her blood pressure had been much too high a few times, and the midwife had been grateful for the help of the herbalist and the old doctor as well. They were anxious to get her delivered, both for her sake and that of the infant.
Everyone in town was aware of the unfolding drama, and many prayers were offered for a safe and happy outcome. Many lingered as long as they could in front of the clinic building, grateful for the occasional progress reports from one of the young medics in training. Maria sat with her, taking turns with Roger holding her hands and moping her brow as the hours wore on.
A vigil was kept through the night. So many people who's lives had been touched directly by Betty's love and hard work stayed to watch, and many silent prayers were offered for the well being of both mother and child.
Then, just as the light began to creep over the eastern hills, a sleepy young man came out to let them know that the Bradshaws had a beautiful, strong son and Betty was doing well. The vigil became a joyful flutter as they scattered to spread the news all over town.
Mutt drew a cup of "the brew" from a pot on the stove and asked Jeff, "Did you hear what they're going to call him?" Jeff nodded and said, "William Robert, I think. That's both of their father's names and a good tradition."
*******
Thus ends the story - my story, but not the dream - my dream of a free society. I think there will be many different dreams and plans carried out, and no one of them will suit everyone. Just as there are many hundreds of different personalities and philosophies, there will have to be many different societies to provide the community they need. And there will always be a few who prefer the lonesome life of hermits, as well as misfits who only wish to prey on others. Utopia is not an option.
And remember, every choice and action has consequences.
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Topic: MamaLiberty's new story (Read 121514 times)