The Final Arrangements
Laura got up early the next morning. She and her new family had fallen asleep late the night before, and the others weren't awake yet. She knew she had a long list of things to write down, the first of many lists. But before she did that, she had two other people to talk to. No one had mentioned them last night, but Laura had been thinking about them since J.D. had first spoken to her and Sam last week.
These two others were a mother and daughter that Laura thought should come with them to Oklahoma. This little family was alone in Mexico, hampered by the problem of speaking neither English nor Spanish, although both of them were learning both languages. They were refugees from French Senegal in Africa, and Laura had come to love them dearly.
Their names were Jama and Binata Diagne, and they had been visiting New York when the super blizzard arrived. They had been trapped in the New York Public Library with Laura, Sam and the others. Jama and Binata had been somewhat dependent on Laura because she was the only other person in the group who spoke French.
Jama had been visiting New York that fateful November week when the world seemed to come to an end. Her husband had died a year before, and she had decided it was time to finally achieve her dream of visiting America. What a decision that had been! Jama and Binata had never been able to return home. Instead they'd been brought to Mexico with Laura and the others from the library.
It was partly because of the Diagnes that Laura and Sam were in Nuevo Laredo and not with his parents in Mexico City. After their rescue from Manhattan, the helicopter pilots that had picked them up flew to the camps just across from Texas, where they landed for fuel. The pilots had been told to bring Jack and his assistant Jason, and Sam, Brian and Laura to Mexico City, but were not told where the other library survivors were to go. Laura felt responsible for Jama and Binata, and refused to leave them. Sam then refused to leave Laura behind, and so he and Brian stayed as well. Jack was extremely displeased, but it was obvious that this motley assortment of people seemed to think Sam was their leader. Reluctantly, Jack and Jason climbed aboard the copter alone and left for the Mexican capital.
For 15 months, Binata and Jama had suffered even more than many others in the camps. They knew little English and faced prejudice from both the Mexicans and the Americans. Jama gradually had come to the realization that even if they could go back to Senegal, her family was probably long dead. She quietly mourned for her lost life.
Jama was always the first one up in her barracks. She and Binata found it easier not to have to compete with everyone else in the lines for the restrooms, showers and mess hall, with the threat of harassment. So they were already headed down the road to the women's facilities when Laura caught up with them.
The woman could only hug Laura when Laura asked if she wished to join she and Sam on their journey. "Yes, I will come with you," Jama said immediately, in stilted English. There was no hesitation in her voice whatsoever. Little Binata, now 8 years old, was excited. At last, they would get to see more of America!
Jack counted heads that afternoon at Sam's apartment. Not including he and Lucy, there were 13, and one "on the way": Binata, Brian, Elsa, Fred, Jama, J.D., Jeremy, Judith, Laura, Luther, Maria, Peter and of course, Sam.
"Babes in the woods," he muttered. But he did not say any of his reservations out loud.
Lucy noted that Binata and Peter, the only youngsters, were already talking. They'd never met before, but months ago Lucy had asked Peter to write to the little girl a few times, much to Binata's delight.
Over the next few weeks the two younger survivors would develop a patois that Sam nicknamed "Sprengch," a pidgin of Peter's English, Binata's native French and the Mexican Spanish they had learned in the past year. Laura, who had a gift for languages, came to understand their private conversations and later chimed in often. To the rest of them, however, it was usually incomprehensible.
"You still have several major problems to solve," Jack reminded them all. "Sowing and harvesting wheat is one of them. You'll need to locate a tractor and a plow, not to mention the gas to run it. Then you'll have to learn how to grind the wheat into flour."
"You'll need to find some mode of transportation. I hope you can find an abandoned pickup truck that you can jump-start. Again, you'll need stores of gas to keep it running, not including the maintenance."
"Third, you won't be able to survive on Elsa's vegetables alone. You'll need meat of some sort. I know some of you probably can fish, but you're going to have to find a way to hunt or trap animals for food or fur. Or maybe you can find chickens to raise."
"There are fishing poles at Uncle Corny's," J.D. answered him. "He took me fishing several times. He showed me the difference between using flies and worms."
"Did he show you how to clean and cook the fish?"
"Yes. I thought it was gross, though."
"Tough luck. You'll need to do it on a regular basis. Have any of gone hunting?"
For a moment there was silence. Then Luther answered, to everyone's surprise, "It's been years. I used to go all the time with my dad and uncle. They made me help skin the deer and cure the meat. I hated it."
"Would you be willing to try again?" J.D. asked.
"For all of you, yes." Luther smiled. Jack smiled back. At least there was one trained person going where they were going!
The next six weeks were very busy. The logistics of planning this move were more than any of them had thought it would be. Just convincing the local National Guard contingent to loan a truck and two Guards for a week in April took Jack several days in Mexico City with the head of the Guard.
The major finally relented when Jack announced that he and Lucy would be headed to Houston after dropping off the others in Oklahoma. Jack also reminded the Guardsman that President Becker owed him a favor. Jack knew that Becker secretly felt guilty about not listening to him before the storms hit, and so the President himself permitted the loan of the vehicle. (Jack knew he'd have to pay his boss back eventually.)
Jack decided this trip to Corny's was as good a time as any to get to Houston, and so decided to hitch a ride. Besides, this would be a way to make sure his son and his friends would at least get to their destination.
Lucy went shopping in the capital, buying work clothes and new shoes for everyone, seed, several reference manuals covering various topics, a hunting rifle with ammunition (Laura and Lucy both shuddered at the sight of it), and one beautifully made bow with a quiver. Dr. Hall had a little money which she had acquired by being one of the best known American doctors in town, but the cash was gone by the end of several days of shopping.
Then two American soldiers had driven Jack, Lucy, Peter and Maria in a truck from Mexico City to Nuevo Laredo. Lucy and Maria recognized the truck from riding in it a year earlier when they'd moved to Mexico City. The physician, nurse and patient originally had been brought from the States to Mexico and been placed in a barracks for pediatric patients in Matamoros. But then Lucy and Jack wanted to try to reconcile their marriage. Meanwhile, Peter had been showing signs of remission, and was healthier every day. So the three headed south, where Maria was reunited with her own family and Lucy brought Peter home with her.
It was now early April, and they were all tired of making lists and preparations. Luther privately thought they were creating more work than necessary for themselves. He was used to owning nothing and getting by day to day, and couldn't see why the others had to be so over-prepared. Besides, he'd seen plenty of others leaving the camps and heading north recently, and they'd gone with far fewer supplies than this group did. But on the other hand, no one seemed to ever hear from these folks again, and no one knew if they ever reached their destinations.
Two days before departure day, they all met again at Sam's and Laura's little apartment. Another couple, and their three children, had already made arrangements to move into the small room once the two left.
Jack repeated his question one more time: "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Look at it this way, Dad," Sam reassured him. "We'll give it a year. I promise you we'll survive. If we really, really don't like it, we'll come back."
"That's just it, Sam," Jack said with finality. "You can't come back."
