Conflicted Home (The Survivalist Book 9) by A American (learn to read books TXT) 📕

they only lasted a short time. I’d need some tools, so I headed to the house.

The house smelled wonderful and I found Mel and the girls gathered around the dining table. “What smells so good?” I asked.

Mel got up and went into the kitchen and returned with a plate for me. “Here. Made you one too.”

I sat down, leaning my rifle against the wall. “What is it?”

“It’s a bar-b-que sandwich. Kay baked rolls and I slow-cooked some of the beef in a crockpot. It came out really well.”

“It’s really good, Dad,” Lee Ann affirmed. Her sisters both nodded their agreement.

I picked the sandwich up and sniffed it, “This smells amazing.”

And it was amazing. “Wow,” I said as I licked sauce from my fingers. “This is terrific.”

We chatted around the table as we ate. Normal talk, nothing morbid. Nothing about Bobbie. Sad as it was, life had to continue. Our lives had to continue. So, we talked about how good the food was. About the cookies Kay was baking for dessert and about the coming weddings. Bobbie’s death put a damper on the coming nuptials, but they were still going to happen, and it gave us something positive to focus on. Well, for some to focus on. I rarely thought about it.

After eating, I told Mel I was going out to work on the truck. Little Bit said she wanted to help and carried her plate into the kitchen before meeting me at the back door. I used the moment to remove the plate carrier, any reason to get out of the damn thing. Before heading out, I grabbed a box of baking soda and bag of Epsom Salt. We walked out to the shed while she told me a story about a squirrel she had watched earlier today as he buried acorns. She said every time he would bury one, another squirrel would run over, dig it up and steal it. I laughed when she said they should be nice to one another.

“That’s critters, kiddo. Only the strongest survive,” I said.

Her lip curled and she replied, “Or the sneakiest.”

“Or the sneakiest,” I agreed with a pat to the head.

“What are we going to do?” She asked as I put tools and other items I’d need into a bucket.

“We’re going to fix the batteries in the truck.”

“You going to charge it?” She asked.

“Yeah, but we’ve got other things to do first.”

Once I had everything I’d need, I carried the bucket out to a small yard cart and set it down. Naturally, Little Bit wanted to pull the cart. I only had to help a little. At the truck, I asked her for the wrench in the bucket. She handed it to me and I removed the two batteries from the truck. I asked her to set out a dish-pan type container I’d brought as well as I popped the caps from the batteries.

“What are you going to do?” She asked.

“We’re going to pour this old acid into there.”

“Can I do it?”

I smiled, “No, sweety. The batteries are very heavy and this acid can burn you. We have to be very careful.”

I slowly poured off the first battery, ending with it held upside down over the tub to get as much of the acid out as possible. Then, I drained the second one. Once the batteries were empty, I mixed up a solution of baking soda and water.

“Grab that little funnel and stick it in one of those holes,” I said.

“What’s that for?” She asked as she placed the funnel into one of the open cells.

“We’re going to clean the battery with this.”

“The inside?” She shouted.

I smiled and nodded, “Yeah, the inside.”

We filled the cells of both batteries with the solution. Then I capped the batteries and rocked them back and forth. Little Bit tried to help, but discovered just how heavy the batteries were. After agitating the solution in the batteries, I poured them out into the tub. The baking soda would help neutralize the acid already there.

“Now what?” Little Bit asked.

I rubbed her head. “Now we need to go inside for the next part.” I picked up the Epsom Salt and handed it to her. “Can you carry this?”

She cradled it against her chest with both hands. “Yep. It’s heavy, but I’m strong.” She made me smile and we went back inside.

I told her to take the salt to the kitchen and I’d be right there. I told Mel I was going to use the stove for a minute before taking out a Pyrex container. I measured out four cups of water from the Berkey filter and poured it into the bowl, then lit the stove. Setting the measuring cup on the counter, I told Little Bit to fill it with the salt.

“Is it safe? Can I touch it?”

I nodded, “Yep. It won’t hurt you.”

She reached in and grabbed a fist full of the crystals and let them fall through her hand into the cup. She repeated this until the measuring cup was full, and there was quite a mess on the counter. I tested the water with my finger, it was getting hot, so I started slowly pouring the Epsom Salt in while Little Bit stirred it with a spoon.

“This is fun. It’s like we’re cooking,” she said with a smile.

“We are cooking. We’re cooking up science!” I replied with an exaggerated smile as I tickled her sides, getting a squeal out of her.

I added another two cups of water and we measured out another two cups of salt and continued the heating and mixing process until all the salt was dissolved. I was using a two to one ratio of water to salt and the process went faster when the water was heated. With the solution ready, I told Little Bit it was time to go back outside. We walked back over to the truck and she held the funnel while I poured the solution into each cell until both batteries were full.

“Now what?” She asked.

As I was