Home Coming (The Survivalist Book 10) by A. American (ebook reader .TXT) 📕

everyone as it had been so long since anyone had had a fry. The buns Kay made went over well too. She even made a pretty decent ketchup that really dressed up the burgers and went well with the fries.

“Kay, this ketchup is really good. I have missed ketchup so much,” Mel said.

I laughed, “That’s putting it really mildly,” I said. “You ate fries as a vehicle for ketchup.”

Mel dipped a potato into the sauce and replied, “You’re right and this is really good.”

“But it’s not Heinz.”

“Heinz hasn’t got a thing on this stuff.”

“Thank you, Mel.” Kay said. “It’s alright. Better than nothing.”

She was shouted down with cat calls and praise for her variation. It was just nice to have something like it, something different. I looked across the table at Dave and asked, “How big a tater field do you guys have?”

“We grow a few acres of them,” he replied as he stabbed one with his fork. “This variety does well down here and is really prolific. We dehydrate a lot of them and use as many fresh as we can. We can give you some for seed if you want.”

“That would be great,” Thad quickly said.

Nodding in Thad’s direction, I said, “Thad is our resident farmer. He’s the primary one that takes care of our garden.”

“Be sure and take some of the seed spuds with you. We’ve got plenty of them.”

“Things are looking up,” Sarge announced. “We’ve got beef, taters and corn. Things are starting to change!”

“Amen,” I said.

I ate two hamburgers and a steak. Not to mention a pile of fries. The kids stuffed themselves on the potatoes. It probably helped that they were fried in beef fat in a big pot over the fire. That fat added something to them that was hard to describe. A heart surgeon’s nightmare, but damn good. Besides, we could afford to eat like this every now and then. There just weren’t many opportunities to indulge in foods that were less than healthy.

The kids all ran for the lake as soon as they finished their food. Well, almost finished. I saw Edie running for the water with half a burger in her hand. There were other kids here as well and when Travis walked past me, I asked about them.

He pointed to two little towheaded kids. “Those two are ours.”

The kids were splashing and playing at the edge of the lake with Jace and Edie. “How are you related to Dave?” I asked.

“We’re not. I just knew the family and when things went south, we eventually found our way here. I work for them and in turn, they took us in. Treat us like family. Dave and his family are good people.”

“That’s good. It’d be hard to be on your own now.”

“Yeah, it was tough. Erin is a nurse, so they really like having her around. I can work on about anything, so it’s a good deal for all of us.”

“I’ve got something in the truck for Dave, I almost forgot,” I said as I headed for the front of the house.

Slinging the sack of flour over my shoulder, I walked it back to the house and set it on the floor in the kitchen. Going out to the porch, I told Dave.

“You didn’t have to do that. But we really appreciate it.”

“I told you I’d give it to you and I want to keep my word.”

“We’ll surely put it to use. I can already taste the biscuits and gravy.”

I looked at Travis and asked, “You get those hogs into a pen?”

“Oh yeah. We fixed up a pen for them. They’re not getting out of it either.”

“Well, fellers, I think I’m going to go for a swim,” I announced and headed for the lake.

The lake was nice, with a white sandy beach and all the weeds cleaned out from the swimming area. The water was cool and clear. When I asked about gators, Dave laughed and said he was waiting on another one to move in. He was out of gator meat. Naturally, this gave him and Sarge something else to talk about. He also told me the lake was spring fed, so it never heated up like smaller bodies of water will do in Florida.

Seeing me coming, Little Bit got excited and started calling for me to get in the water. I took off my shirt and shoes and waded into the water where I was immediately attacked by a throng of kids. I fought back by picking little bodies up and tossing them through the air to splash down in the water. The kids loved it and I spent the next several minutes hurling small bodies and splashing around.

But they wore me out and I squatted down in the water. Little Bit climbed up on my back and I swam around with her. Then, I had to give all the other kids a ride as well. They wore me out! My intention to relax in the water had not played out as planned, but that was ok. So, after giving the last little one a quick ride, I said I was getting out and started for the bank.

“Come on, Daddy! Don’t get out!” Little Bit cried as I tried to walk out of the water. She was wrapped around my leg, making it slightly difficult.

Reaching down and tickling her, I replied, “You’ve worn me out, kiddo! I need to go sit down and relax now.” She wouldn’t let go, so I wrenched her from my leg, held her up over my head and waded back out to a little deeper water and tossed her in. It gave me the chance I needed to get away.

I took a seat in a chair in the field between the house and lake where I could watch the kids and dry in the sun. Mike and Crystal were still together, sitting on a small dock in the center of the lake. As people finished their meal, they made their way to the lake’s