It was early, still dark, when Bass woke feeling something missing. Charlie wasn't in bed. After using the bathroom, he padded downstairs looking for her. Through the large front window, he can see her sitting on the porch.
She looks over as he comes through the door. "Missed you, Babe. Can't sleep?"
"I woke up and heard the loons. I love the way they sound; it makes everything feel so peaceful."
Bass leaned over, kissed her, then sat in the chair beside her and took her hand. They sat like that for a while, just enjoying the night and their good fortune. "Ready to go back to bed?" Bass asks as he stands, holding out his hand.
Over a breakfast of oatmeal with dried fruit and coffee, Bass and Charlie planned their day.
"I need to look over the barn and outbuildings. See what they need. I already noticed some shingles missing from the coop."
"I was thinking that we should introduce ourselves to our neighbor at some point. Probably sooner than later."
"Let me check out the buildings and turn out Lilly. Then we can head on over."
Charlie smiled, "Sounds good. While you're doing that, I'll start on the other two bedrooms."
Bass pushed away from the table and gave her a kiss and a hug before heading out the back door. Pushing away from the table, Charlie gathered up the breakfast dishes.
Two hours later, they were saddled up and heading out for the half-hour ride to the nearest farm.
"Do you remember what the Sheriff said their name was?" Charlie asks.
"Nope."
The lane opened to a large open yard with a well-kept rambler-style home. They came to a stop near the front of the house. A woman of about forty-five came out onto the porch with a shotgun handy but not threatening. She looked over Charlie and Bass, determined that they weren't a threat, and set the gun down, leaning it against the porch railing.
"Howdy!" she calls out. "Can I help you, folks?"
Bass flashed his most charming smile. Charlie smiled and spoke up. "Hi, we just took over the Carney property. We wanted to come by and introduce ourselves. I'm Charlie Monroe, and this handsome guy is my husband, Bass."
They both watched carefully to see if the Monroe name brought about a reaction. If the woman recognized it, she didn't show it.
"Well then, welcome! I'm Maddie, Madeline, Thompson. My husband Warren is out checking on our stock. He should be back shortly. Come on down off those horses. I have fresh berry pie." Maddie was a pretty woman, around five-four, with medium-length dark auburn hair, green eyes, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and a friendly smile.
"I'll never turn down pie," Bass says with a smile.
"Good. There's a place to hitch your horses in the side yard, then come on up on the porch and pop a squat. I'll get us that pie."
"Pop a squat?" Charlie whispered.
"Yeah, it's a movie line." Charlie just shook her head.
The porch was the length of the front of the house, roomy, and covered. At one end, there was a comfortable grouping of four Adirondack chairs. Bass and Charlie sat, and Maddie appeared shortly carrying a tray with their pie and a pitcher of tea and four glasses.
"I hope you like sweet tea, or I can get you water if you prefer."
"Sweet tea is great," Charlie responded.
Maddie set the tray on the small table that was in front of the chairs then served the pie and tea. "So, when did you move in?"
"Yesterday. The Sheriff told us about the property. When we saw it, we were stunned; it's just so perfect." Charlie tells her.
"It is a lovely place. Wilfred and Ester always kept the place nice. They had that house built only about five years before the blackout."
"It's amazing. We don't need to do anything to the house at all. Even the screens are intact." Bass says.
"When Ester died four years ago, Wilfred didn't have the heart to stay there. He left to go and stay with his daughter outside of Oklahoma City." Maddie explained.
"The family didn't want the place?" Charlie asked.
"Apparently not. Where are you folks from? You don't have that Texas drawl, and ya don't sound like you come from around here either."
"We're from back east," Bass says without any more explanation.
"What brought you out this way, family?"
"No, my family is back in Austin and Willoughby, Texas. Bass, well…" Charlie reaches for his hand.
"I lost my family before the blackout."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Yeah, it still hurts. Charlie is my family now," squeezing her hand.
Warren made his appearance then, and Maddie made the introductions. "Go get cleaned up, and I'll have some pie ready for you."
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
Warren is a big man, about Bass' age, over six feet, muscular with light brown hair.
The two couples got on like old friends, and before they knew it, they had been chatting for over an hour.
"Bass, would you care to see the place?" Warren asked.
"I would. Maybe you could give me some pointers. I am completely new at this game."
"Be happy to help any way that I can."
While the guys went off, Maddie took Charlie into the kitchen. "I was about to get some lunch together. Would you and Bass like to stay?"
"That would be nice. Thank you. We still need to get some fresh food. With the lane blocked off from fallen trees, we can't get a wagon out to go to town. Our supplies are limited."
"Maybe we can help with that."
Warren showed Bass around. Bass asked him some questions about raising chickens. He told Warren that he hoped to raise some pigs as well for meat and trade.
"Ya need to get ya self a couple of goats and maybe a milking cow," Warren suggested. "Stick with me; we'll get 'cha set up."
Finished with the tour, Warren led Bass down to the lake, where he had a couple more Adirondack chairs.
"Bass…I believe I know who you are, not too many Sebastian Monroe's. That is what Bass is short for, yes?"
"You got me. Warren, we just want to live in peace. That ugly chapter of my life is over. I did some unforgivable things, some of which involved Charlie's family. She somehow found it in her heart to not only forgive me but to love me. She's pulled me from a dark pit and given me a second chance at life."
"She is a lovely girl," Warren says. "Family?"
"She has family back in Texas. They… well… don't approve is putting it nicely. We came out here to get away from all that."
"I believe that I saw bounties out for you at one point. Aren't you worried about that, especially with Charlie?"
"I fought the Patriots for Texas with Charlie and her family. President Blanchard gave me a pardon as recognition of my service. In fact, he offered me a position as a General with the Texas Rangers. I turned it down. I'm done fighting."
"Well, good. Far be it for me to second guess the Great Republic of Texas," Warren laughed. Then he pulled a flask from his pocket. "Here's to the past is past and to the future," Warren took a pull and passed the flask to Bass. Bass tipped the flask to Warren and took a long pull.
"I bet Maddie has some lunch up there. Shall we find out?"
Maddie and Charlie had been talking non-stop. Maddie told Charlie that she was the town's Midwife, and she runs the town's clinic, seeing patients once a week on Thursdays, making house calls as necessary. She was a nurse practitioner before the blackout.
They have two grown children, Ally, twenty-three, who lives in Durant with her husband, and a son, Sean, the town's deputy.
Charlie told Maddie an abbreviated version of her family. She talked about the Patriot War and the role they played in it.
"My God…it must have been difficult. What a way to live."
"We felt that we needed to do something. We found out that they were the ones responsible for bombing Philadelphia and Atlanta. They had to be stopped. It was a hard year. Sleeping on the ground in all kinds of weather. Finding a bed was pure luxury, no matter the condition. And never knowing if you were going die tomorrow. It's such a relief that it's all over."
"How did you meet Bass?"
Charlie smiled, "It's complicated…" she chuckled, then thought about the best way to answer without getting into a messy history that involved the Republic. "Bass was my uncle's best friend."
"Interesting dinners, I bet."
"You could say that. My mother won't speak to me. That's one of the reasons we ended up out here. Here's the thing… I love him. He's my everything, and I can't imagine not having him in my life. I know that I am so much younger than he is, people just love to remind me, my family, especially, but I don't relate to men my age with what I've gone through. Most men don't get that I'm a warrior. They want a woman in the kitchen and 2.5 kids."
"You're happy? That's all that matters. You look good together, happy. Do you want kids?"
"We do."
Warren showed up in the kitchen with Bass. "Tour over?" Maddie smiled. "How about some lunch. Bass, Charlie, will you join us?"
"That's very kind, thank you," Bass answers.
Maddie made a platter of sandwiches with some raw vegetables on the side.
"Bass, let me know if you need any help with anything. Don't hesitate to ask." Warren says around a bite of sandwich.
"The same goes for you. And, well…actually…I didn't come here looking for anything, but I would like to take you up on your offer if I could."
"What do you need?"
"I could use some help clearing our lane of blowdowns. We can't get a wagon down it as it is."
"Done! How's tomorrow morning?"
"Hey, that would be great!"
"I'll ride over in the morning then."
It took all day, but Bass and Warren got the lane passable. While the men were working, Charlie went hunting and took a good-sized doe. She field-dressed it and used Lilly to get it back to the house. Charlie cleaned the table behind the chicken coop then butchered the deer setting aside half of the meat for Warren and Maddie.
Warren and Bass walked up to the house, tired and dirty.
Bass stuck out his hand, "Warren, I can't thank you enough, man. It would have taken me at least a week to clear that out."
"No problem. You've got yourself a good bit of firewood too. Well, I best be on my way."
Charlie was in the back with the deer when she heard them come back from working on the lane and she went to greet them.
"Hey, Luv, how'd it go?" Charlie asked while wiping her hands.
"It's done. We can get the wagon out now, thanks to Warren."
"It was no bother, really."
"Warren, I got a deer while you guys were working. I've wrapped half up for you and Maddie," Charlie tells him.
"Thank you, Charlie. You didn't need to do that."
"Warren, you saved us so much work; it's the least that I can do, and we can't keep all of that meat."
"Can you stay for a drink?" Bass asked.
"Love to, but I need to get on home."
Bass helped him fasten the meat to his horse then reached out his hand. "Thanks again."
"Really, Bass, I was glad to help."
Warren left, and Bass turned to Charlie. "I need a swim…coming?"
"Absolutely," trotting to the lake, kicking off her boots and already stripping out of her clothes. "Last in cooks!" she yells, causing Bass to laugh and jog after her. He would be cooking dinner.
Two days later, Bass was in the barn mucking the stalls when he heard a wagon approaching. Leaning his shovel aside and checking that his handgun was tucked into the small of his back, he went to the yard.
"Warren, Maddie, this is a surprise!"
"Wanted to try out that lane that we worked so hard on," Warren said, chuckling. "We come bearing gifts. Consider it a housewarming."
"More like a barn warming," Maddie laughed.
Bass noticed clucking and grunting coming from the back of the wagon. In the back of the Thompson's wagon were two crates of chickens and six piglets, two males and four females.
"Shit! I don't know what to say! I can't accept all this. Let me pay for them."
"Hell no! It takes a lot to get a farm going. We can help. We want to help. We have more than enough chickens, and our last litter of pigs was twelve. More than enough to share."
"Don't you usually sell or trade them?"
"Bass, shut up and take the pigs," Warren chides.
Coming out of the back door, Charlie calls over. "Hey, guys! What brings you by? Not that you need an excuse."
"Charlie! Warren and Maddie brought us some chickens and six little piglets."
"Seriously? God, that's too much!"
"That's just what your husband said, and no, it isn't. We missed having neighbors. We want to make sure you stay," Maddie said, laughing. "We're in good shape, and we want to share."
"Come on, General," Warren said teasing, let's see where you're going to put the little piggies."
Bass laughed and showed Warren where the two pens were.
"This one looks good," he said to Bass. "It has a hut for them and plenty of room. There's already a trough there too. Let's get the little buggers settled."
The four of them got the squirming piglets into the pen. Bass filled the water trough. "Do you know anything about pigs?"
"Other than ham and bacon," Bass quipped. "No."
"These little suckers are two months old. The females will be ready to breed at eight months. Momma takes about four months before popping them out, so you can expect at least one litter around a year from now. The piglets will be weaned at one month. You are well on your way to having a bunch of piggies. You have any questions or need any help, let me know. They're fairly self-sufficient, just keep-em fed and watered."
"Warren, Maddie, this is amazing," Bass was becoming emotional. Except for Charlie, no one has been this kind to him for no reason other than friendship since before Miles left him in Philadelphia. "I…I…don't know what to say," he choked out.
Warren looked a little uncomfortable, not expecting that reaction from Bass…the big bad general. Charlie slipped an arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. "I think the words you're looking for are 'thank you', Charlie teased and kissed his cheek.
"Warren, Maddie, thank you!" Charlie says. "You are too kind."
"Our pleasure, guys," Maddie answers.
Warren continues. "I brought you a bag of feed grain. Mix it with water to make a gruel for the piglets. Then go ahead and feed them any of your leftovers. Charlie, they will eat the leavings from your garden too. Also, any of your leavings from your hunting. Great way to get rid of that stuff. Now, let's get the chickens settled. I brought you six hens and a rooster. That should kick start ya."
"Can you stay for lunch?" Charlie asked.
"We'd love to," replied Maddie.
When Maddie first met Charlie and hearing her history, she figured that she had minimal experience with the domestic side of things. During their conversation the first day they met, Charlie explained that her life didn't allow her the opportunity to learn domestic skills other than the basics. Her cooking consisted of cooking game over a fire and putting together stew…lots of stew.
Over lunch, Maddie offered to help Charlie with the garden and come over once a week to teach her how to make bread and help with her cooking. Charlie offered to help her in the clinic.
"You might want to get yourselves a couple of goats. Say, two nannies and a billy. Bret Hutchens has a farm down the other side of County Rd. He raises goats. I could introduce you if you like." Warren suggested.
"That would be great," Bass replied.
"Good, I can take you down there at the end of the week if you like…say Saturday?"
"Saturday it is."
June was coming to a close, July and Bass' birthday just around the corner. Charlie wanted his first birthday in his new home to be special, so she enlisted Maddie in helping her plan a special dinner. They would have pork roast with an applesauce glaze, mashed potatoes, and candied carrots. Maddie is going to provide the cake.
Charlie picked up Maddie for their weekly trip into town to bring their eggs, milk, and vegetables for sale or trade.
"July 8th is just five days away, and I still haven't gotten a gift for Bass. I want something really special for his first birthday in our new home."
"Maybe there's a nice watch in one of the shops."
"Hummm…I suppose….but it's not really doing it for me."
Arriving at the town green, they pulled their wagon up to their usual spot and set up their wares. Two hours later, Ned Valadamire arrived at the market with a litter of blank and white fluff balls in the bed of his wagon. Ned said that they were mutts with a lot of Shetland Sheep Dog.
"Maddie! That's it! Bass loves dogs, and I know that he wants one."
"Go for it!"
Charlie approached Ned and negotiated a trade for one of the puppies. She picked out a male with white paws and white tips on his ears and tail.
On the way back to the farms, Maddie drove while Charlie held the puppy.
"Could you keep him until his birthday? If it's too much, I'll give him to him today."
Maddie laughed. "Sure, but you'll owe me, especially if he cries all night."
"Huh?"
"Have you ever had a puppy?"
"No…"
"Well, when they are first separated from their litter, they get lonely, especially at night, and for the first few days, they cry."
"Oh… I don't want you to have to deal with that; I should just take him home."
"That's up to you."
"I didn't realize. I'll take him home. I'm excited to give him to Bass anyway."
Maddie was dropped off at her farm, and the puppy settled into the back of the wagon for the rest of the ride.
When she got back, Bass was working in the barn and hadn't heard her come into the yard.
"Bass?"
"In the barn," he called out.
Charlied picked up the puppy from the back of the wagon, carried him into the barn and turned him loose in the stall where Bass was working.
"Well, where did you come from little guy? Charlie?"
Charlie came around the corner grinning, "Happy Birthday, Luv."
"He's ours?"
"He's yours. Do you like him?"
Bass had the pup in his arms and was getting puppy licks. "Charlie, he's awesome!" sporting a wide smile. "He needs a name."
"I leave that up to you."
"Tucker."
"Let me guess, Civil War reference?"
Bass chuckled, "Confederate General." Putting the pup down, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her deeply. "Thank you, best gift ever." Kissing her again.
By the end of the summer, Charlie's garden would yield all manner of vegetables. The corn would be ready in early fall. One section of the old garden had been used for herbs, and they were plentiful. In the fall, Maddie was going to teach her how to can and preserve her vegetables and fruits.
With Maddie's help, Charlie was getting better in the kitchen. During one of the days, she was in town helping in the clinic, Charlie visited the bookstore and found a post-blackout cookbook that someone had put together called 'Cooking in the Dark.'
Bass did a lot of the cooking, especially breakfast. He enjoyed it, but he had a lot of work with the farm, so she wanted to learn. A year ago, if someone had said that she would enjoy cooking, she would have said they were delusional.
Maddie became the big sister she never had. It was wonderful having another woman to talk to.
Over the next month, the Thompson's and Monroe's fell into a weekly routine of sharing dinner and playing cards, alternating houses. They became close friends.
June 2032, one year later:
Bass had just returned from the Thompson's. He had helped Warren sacrifice a pig, and he was a bit of a mess. He had cleaned up at Warren's, but his clothes needed to be washed.
He went into the house through the kitchen and saw Charlie through the large front window sitting on their porch with a book and went out to see her.
Bass walked out onto the porch, and Charlie looked up. "Hey, Babe…"
"Eewww. You're a mess, and although I love you, you smell." Charlie says, wrinkling her nose. "Get out of those clothes and throw them out the back door. I'll heat some water for you."
Laughing, "Will do. Maddie says hi and to tell you that she needs to see Julie Richardson tomorrow if you want to go. She said that she'll stop by in the morning."
"Will you and Warren be doing one of our pigs tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that's the plan.
"I'll go with Maddie. I don't want to be here when you do it. I can hunt down deer. and field dress it, but I just can't get used to sacrificing the farm's animals," she shivers. "But I do love bacon and ham," she said smiling.
"I'm going to use some of the hickory that I got for the smokehouse."
"Sounds good."
While on a house call with Maddie, Charlie noticed a gizmo on their patient's counter. "Jared, what is that for?" Charlie asked.
"Oh, my Estelle liked to make pasta. It's a pasta maker."
"Pasta?"
"Thin noodles you eat with tomato sauce or cheese sauce."
Charlie picked it up and looked it over. "You can take that if you like. I don't have any use for it."
"Thank you, Jared, but I wouldn't know how to use it."
"I'll help you, Charlie," Maddie offered. "I have one."
On the way back to the farm, Charlie told Maddie that she was anxious to try it. "I'd love to surprise Bass."
"The guys should be done sacrificing your pig by the time we get home, and Bass should be occupied with the butchering for some time. If you want to surprise him, we can make everything up at my place. Then you can just bring it home and warm it up for supper. We'll do up some tomato sauce, and I'll help you with the pasta. It's easy. I can get some pork and put it through my meat grinder. We'll season it and add some to the sauce and make some meatballs."
"Meatballs?"
"Yeah, you'll see."
Maddie and Charlie made some pasta noodles. They made double of everything so that Maddie would have some for her supper. Maddie helped her with the sauce, showing her how to cook the tomatoes and season them with fresh basil and garlic, and then they made meatballs. All of this was new to Charlie. She grew up on game meat and garden vegetables.
Maddie dropped Charlie off with her Italian surprise. Thinking that Bass was still in the butchering shed, she lit the cookstove and put everything on to heat up. The meatballs went into the oven. She put a pot of water to boil for the pasta, remembering what Maddie said about not overcooking it.
Bass was lying back in the tub, almost asleep, when an aroma that he hadn't smelled in more than a decade came wafting in.
"Holy shit! That smells like…Italian?" Bass opened the drain and climbed out of the tub. Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his waist and padded into the kitchen.
"Charlie? What is that fantastic smell?"
Charlie turned from the sink, beaming. "I got a pasta maker! One of Maddie's patients gave it to me. Maddie showed me how to use it." Charlie went to the oven and pulled out a tray of meatballs that they had made to go with the pasta.
Bass went over behind her and pulled her against him in a backward hug, nuzzling her neck and kissing her cheek. "Smells wonderful, Babe. I'm starved."
"Go get dressed; it's almost ready."
Bass ate two helpings. He put his fork down and leaned back in his chair. "God, Charlie, that was so good. I haven't had spaghetti since…I don't remember when. Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me. I'm just happy that it came out good."
"It came out good. Very good."
The following morning brought Maddie by to pick up Charlie. She and Charlie went off to make a house call on the other side of town, taking most of the day.
It was after three when Maddie was dropping Charlie off the smell of hickory smoke coming through the trees. Bass had already cleaned up and had his clothes hanging on the line. Charlie found him sitting on the porch with a whiskey and a book opened on his chest. He had fallen asleep. Smiling, Charlie took the book from him and climbed onto his lap.
"Hey," he said as he opened his eyes. "Didn't hear you get back." He kissed her. "How was your day?"
"It was good. We checked on Julie Walters. Her baby is due next month, and Maddie didn't want her riding into town."
"How's she doing?
"Great, everything looks good."
"I missed you."
"I missed you too," she leans in for a kiss, then climbs from his lap and reaches for his hand, pulling him toward the house.