Pa hurries back with him in Ma's lap and the kids in the back. She is not taking any chances of him bouncing around until Doc can take a look at him from top to bottom. Pa is flying down the road, and Ma is yelling. "Don't spare the horses, mind the ruts, but let's get there all in one piece, dear," she said while holding EJ's head against her chest. Pa stops and pulls in front of the farm gate.
The door had already swung open, Granny waving them in, pointing the way as she cleared everyone away and the hallway as Pa lifted him out of the pickup. He carried EJ back down the hall, where Doc was waiting for the first time, with his bag open and the bed turned down.
Martha and the boys close the door as Pa lays EJ in the bed. "Alright, Martha, let's see what we got here." Doc puffed, his mustache twitched, muttering under his breath. "And to think this time we did set up shop across town, we still weren't close enough," as he stomps around the room. "I just don't get it?" Doc is looking at all the stitches. "Not one of them is out of place. In fact, we can take this one out, and these small ones should have been gone last week," As he wiped his face. "Kinda peak' ed. Has he been eating enough, Martha?"
Martha nods. "Yes, Doc," with tears in her eyes.
"Kinda yellow round those. EYES. Martha, this kid is sick, and I mean sick, influenza, Martha, or maybe yellow fever," Doc said, taking another listen to his chest. "Tisk, tisk," he shakes his head, closes his bag, and covers him back up. "This house is now on lockdown. I want every child he has been in contact with to be seen NOW! Git Doc Whitmore. Nobody comes near him without seeing me first. Now move it, Wayne, boys, get comfy. You are not leaving either. Wayne, out, since you and I haven't been here long enough yet," pushing Wayne and heading towards the door. "Martha, sorry, dear. We'll bring a cot in for you for now," he said, sitting her in a chair and closing the door. Ned, go get Richard; it's an order," Doc said as he smiled, rubbing his sides as he walked out the door, grabbing Wayne and Ned by the shoulders.
Martha stared at them. "But I feel fine, Doc," she said.
"Don't argue with me, Martha, or you, Will. Robert, get in those beds and stay there," he said. "Wayne, I want you to lock this door; nobody, and I mean it, nobody is allowed in or out of this room unless you or I give permission. Is that clear?" he said.
"Yes, Doc," Wayne said.
"Good because it looks like we're locking down the farm and this house, and we're not going to let anyone in either," he said, puffing air out of his mouth, making his mustache twitch. Seeing Martha and the boys' worried, scared faces, Doc said, putting his hand on her shoulder, looking at EJ and the boys.
They nod. "Alright, Doc, we'll stay put." Ma wipes the sweat on EJ's head, tucks the three boys into bed, and closes the door as she sits in the chair with them.
Ma turned to the boys, Will and Robert. "It will be alright," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. Then she looked out the window towards the farm.
Wayne and the Doc lock the door behind them, posting a note: Do not open; Quarantined. "Wayne, I want you to clear everyone out of this house. Meet me in the yard," he replied as he looked towards the boys' room. "We have work to do, son," he said, sighed tiredly, and headed towards the door. Pushing people out as he goes, grabbing Aunty M. by the arm, "I need everyone's attention, and I need you to block all incoming and outgoing traffic to the farm right this second," he replied.
Aunty M. stands on top of the wagon and shoots off her gun, which scares all the chickens and both roosters with a thud to the ground. Then, with a shrill whistle, you could hear a pin drop on the farm.
Doc said, uncovering his ears. "Thanks," and he nods, turning the time over to the Sheriff. "I hereby declare Downing Farm locked until further notice. Please line up and be counted and signed in," he said as he watched the Deputies close the farm gate, locking everyone in. "You will be required to be seen by the doctor before coming and going into the house and on the farm starting now, folks, so get comfy, house cleaning time," he said, "starting with me, Doc, and my boys," Wayne said.
"Sorry, Wayne, not this time," Doc said, gazing about the farm. "I need you," Doc said, handing him a list. "You and your boys first to set up, then we will look you over, but then I go first in line this time," Doc said, laughing. "Now then, where is that boy of yours, Ned, Granny?" Doc asked, feeling his sides.
Richard comes dashing through the gate like Doc on horseback, all trussed up. "You called Doc as promised. He said he would come when he was finished. So I wrestled him up; I guessed he was finished," Ned said, taking the handkerchief out of Richard's mouth. "Where would you like him, Doc?" Ned asked. Wayne laughed and opened the door, "Yes, sir." Wayne Walked him down the hall, put him in the room with the rest of the boys, closed the door, and re-locked it.
Will and Robert, seeing Richard all trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, laugh. "Don't sweat the small stuff;" they just help him to bed.
Richard looks over at EJ, who is still sleeping and a little bit gray. "Mrs. Downing, what did the Doc say?" He asked.
"He thinks it could be influenza or yellow fever; I'm not sure yet," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. But I think it could just be something else, and he and us will be okay. But for now, just get some rest, Richard," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," she said as she wiped the sweat off his face and tucked Richard into bed with the rest of her boys, kissing his cheek. "You do feel a little warm, dear. Are you sure you're, okay?" She asked.
Wayne, handing Ned a shotgun, making sure not to let anybody through that gate, sends off another rider to fetch Doc Whitmore at Downing Villa through the gate, telling him to shoot first, ask questions later, changing his mind, tells him to have Granny ask the question; he can shoot them while she asked the question. Putting a smile on her face, she said. "Thanks, Sheriff, for that. I might give up my moonshine," she said as she kissed her grandson and did a jig.
Doctor Whitmore and his rider behind him, the Doc's dress blowing in the wind. Be careful, Doc, you're a little bit high center there as the ladies whistle and wave as he goes by. Is he wearing spotted leopard underwear? Trying not to look at his gown riding up past the knees. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked, seeing the farm locked up tighter than a drum. "Have you completely lost your mind, Doc?" Doc Whitmore said, looking at all the men surrounding the farm, pointing shotguns bearing down on him.
"Nope, we are under quarantine, Doctor Whitmore."
Granny pulled his arm through the gate, shoving him towards the house. Granny looked at Ned smiling. "Can we shoot him now? He crossed the line, and I saw him. He and his dress of his. I always wanted a new set of curtains for my living room, Ned," she replied.
"No, Granny. We need him, I'm afraid. Maybe he'll give you a set instead? Right, Doc?" Ned said, pointing the gun at his dress.
Wayne laughed and slapped Granny on the back. "Martha will make you some, I promise," he said.
Granny hugs him. "Thanks, Sheriffs; alright, Ned, he goes."
Doc leads Doc Whitmore into the house and down the hall. As they go, Doc explained, "Hmm, I see," shaking his head. He re-examines EJ sleeping in the bed, listening to his heart and chest, checking him out from head to toe. Doc, you are right, I am afraid. Looking at those eyes, he definitely is sick, really sick, and contagious, too," looking at Richard and the rest of the boys now just showing signs but not as severe yet.
"Could be just the flu, Martha, or influenza or yellow fever, not sure yet; the next forty-eight hours, we will know more, but for right now, boys, you are not going anywhere, I am afraid. Make yourselves comfy," he said as he backed away from the room, shoving, and asked who else had been with them the longest the last few days. Martha and the boys looked crestfallen but looked at EJ sleeping and lying in bed, and Ma was wiping her tears in the chair and holding his hand.
"Yes, Doc, we'll stay put as you say." Then, shoving Wayne out of the room and Ned out into the hall with Doctor Hatfield. Doctor Whitmore gently tells Martha and the boys. "I'll be right back," as he walks down the hall. Taking a mask out of his bag, "Doc, you need to call the hospital, call my nurses, relay a message. Just say code Red Downing Farm as soon as possible, and make it snappy.
"Wayne, I am glad you cleared everyone out of this house from top to bottom. Then, meet me outside for a meeting. Then I want you to lock this place tighter than a string on tight rope cable; no one leaves without being seen, at least by me or Doc, until we're satisfied. Then I want this place scrubbed, scoured, clean, right down to all the animals, insects, shot, shooed, vaccinated, human, none, two leg, four, three, no legs, if breathing, has a heartbeat checked. Now move it; we have worked to do," he replied.
Doc Hatfield was calling Doctor Whitmore's hospitals on the phone, relaying the message that really made them hop, for they were at the farm within the hour, and the vets were showing soon after. Things on the farm started to fly quickly as Wayne shoved people outside the door, grabbing Doc Hatfield by the collar. "Let's go, Doc. I believe that includes us," closing the door behind him. Seeing Aunty M. whispering in her ear that we needed to get things started, she quieted things down as we brought things to order.
She hopped on a wagon, fired two shots in the air, and scared all chickens and both roosters with a "thud" as they fainted to the ground; then, with a shrill whistle, Doc covered his ears as she laughed. "How's that, Doc?" and winked then yelled. "Doc Whitmore, they are all yours!" Aunty M. pointed to the crowd below.
"Folks, as of now, I agree with Doctor Hatfield that this farm is under quarantine and lockdown on the orders of the Sheriffs. Please sign in and line up to be seen by the doctors, Hatfield, and myself."
The Doctor's tent went up quicker than lightning as the nurses arrived. While Doc and Wayne checked in the supplies, people lined up as soon as they were ready, starting with the boys with Martha behind them. Nurses scrubbed every inch of their very lives. While the women washed and scoured their room till every speck of dirt would dare scream, "Help, oh my," then tucked them safely back into their bed, locking the door with four boys in their room and their mother on a nice comfy mattress, she refused to sleep in another room without her boys, even though she was fine.
Even Richard didn't seem to mind. He said. "Why sweat the small stuff?" Martha tucked him into bed, wiped the sweat off his head, and gently kissed his cheek. On the outside of the farm, things were hustling and bustling about the farm. Vets were looking at all the animals, examining every last one.
The roosters gleamed with shining feathers. Mad as they stick them with a needle and put them in a nice soap and water soup pot, scrubbing them down to their toes and beaks. They were put in nice clean cages to dry until their nice clean pins of fresh straw were ready and stamped okay. They were placed back into their pins, mad but okay. Some chickens end up not as lucky as they were hauled way to, let's say, to retire as some would say dinner, but not on the Downing Farm, no way.
Aunty M and Granny signed a treaty with them. They stated that "these chickens would not be killed in any way from this farm. They were shipped to a retirement home to live out chicken days there on Aunty M's farm with an old Mr. Rooster she knows, and a few extra granny chickens hooked on moonshine. They will be just fine to live out their days, setting them each on the train on the clean straw of hay, stamped "OK" by Aunty M. and Granny with a note for Marty tacked on their pin.
Washerwoman scrubbed the house from top to bottom while Docs examined everyone on the farm. Aunty M. and the girls paced, making a list of items as the nurses delivered to the boys in the room. Docs were puzzled as they paced up and down the hall. There was no sign, no change in EJ or the boys, who soon joined EJ in that crucial forty-eight hours. It was as if they were sleeping, and he could not figure out what was wrong as the day went by hour by hour.
Martha, keeping watch over her sleeping boys, whispered. "At least they are all together." She sighed, looked down upon their pale white faces, and then watched out the window of her farm.
Only one person in the dark corners of the shadows knew what was taking place as he walked the halls of the house, whispering in Aunty M's ear. "Margaret, the boys are safe and in my care for the moment," she worried, pacing up and down the halls. She felt the dark shadows against her skin as she watched the corner and saw the shape heading for her room.
She glanced at the boys' closed and locked room, then her's, where the figure abides, welcomes to join him. Treading lightly down the hall, she merely pauses, but after a moment of entering, the door closes behind her, locking her in. The figure looks up and removes his hood. "Let me introduce myself as I'm sickness and health; some call me the black plague or simply Death in disguise.
"Some call me Mr. Golden Eyes. What, you thought you already met him?" As he laughed. "There are more of us out there than you know, dear; please have a seat. Now that I have your attention, you have nothing to fear, and it's not you or your time. You still have work to do, and I will be the one that will take you when it's time. Unlike my brother, I'd offer you some Joe, but I feel it's not to be in your best interest if you know what I mean," as he grins. "I, too, have a favor. It's more of a request, really," he said as he pulled up a chair in the room.
Margaret just watched and stood there. "You see, it has been a long time since I've had any fun and a bride of my own," the figure looking sad and sorrowful. "I was thinking that now is the time. Yes, you are the one I am told that could help me solve this problem for me, and I'd be in your debt; call it IOU if you like," he said as they watched the shadows on the wall. "Now I'll tell you upfront the person I wed, and they will live, and I'll say and will know the existence of me but still be willing to give everything to live a long and happy life. She will have a happy life that I will guarantee with children and grandchildren at her side.
"Like my brother, I am, too, watching and grooming someone, and he or she is in my care; sorry, it's a secret, rules, you know," as he grins. "All I want you to do is invite me to this little party of yours, and I'll help the best I can," he paused just for a moment as if looking into the future. "I can tell you this, dear: be prepared to hunker down for a storm, darling; more are coming this way, and the word is out.
"For remember bleakness and sickness, you can find strength, and that's where you'll find me. Light and shadow are one and the same. So don't run, don't scream, embrace the fear, for it is the strength and Light you seek as I wrap you in my arms and guide you, carry you swiftly to distant shores," he said as he faded into nothing, whispered. "Save a dance for me, Margaret."
Aunty M. stares at the spot where the shadow dissipated, gasping, leaving her cold, empty, and numb. She rubs her arms. She quickly leaves the room, heads back down the hall towards the boys' room, glancing at the locked door, and pauses, wondering, hearing slight whispers. "Yes, it was me. They will be okay. Let them rest, except for one, and he is still in need."
Aunty M. watched the darkness leave the room under the door, heading down the hall out the front door. Hearing someone scream as if someone has just died on the spot for no reason, Aunty M. hears laughter in the wind. "His time was up," and takes five more before leaving down the road just for fun.
Aunty M. yelled. "Ned, go find the Sheriff, tell him we need to talk," while she made a pot of Joe, making it extra strong, her hands shaking as she looked towards the hall. "Yes, sir, it is going to be a long farmers' picnic," she shakes her head. "Mike, I don't think you would like this."
She hears a whisper in her ear. "Don't sweat the small stuff; you take what you can get, as a figure in the corner gives her a nod and fades.
"Aunty M., did you want to see me?" Wayne asked coming into the room.
"Yes, Wayne, I did," Aunty M. said, looking towards the hall. "We need to get crackin'," she said.
"Are you out of your freaking mind, Aunty M.? My boys are all sick, and the farm is on lockdown; we are all scattered from here to breakfast," he replied.
"I know that, Wayne," she said, pouring herself a cup of joe and him a cup as well.
"You know I don't drink that stuff; a little bit too strong for me," he said.
"Fine, Wayne," he patted his shoulder. Let me tell you what I know, and then you can decide whether we need to get to work or not."
Aunty M. looked around the room, then told her little tale. She told Martha the same story, and now the one that happened a couple of minutes ago. Watching him empty his cup, pouring him another with his knees, hands shaking just a little, and when the screen door bumped closed when Doc Hatfield came in, busting through it, noting three more people dead in his ear, making a total of eight. "Wayne, I didn't know you drank old Joe," slapping him on the back, Doc poured himself a cup.
"I do now," Wayne said, gazing over at Aunty M., then looked towards that hall. "You're right, let's get crackin'." Nodding to Aunty M., and grabbing Doc by the arm, Wayne said. "Let's go check on my boys and Aunty M., round them up; we have work to do, daylights a burning." Wayne, downing another cup of Joe, headed down the hall with Doc in tow, thinking he had fallen out of a tree.
Robert, Will, and Richard are just waking up from their long sleep as Ma wipes their faces, trying to figure out what's going on. First, they were sicker than a dog; now, they seem better, except for one. Doc and Wayne open and unlock the door to the boys' room, seeing the boys waking up, except for one.
Martha stared at them in disbelief. "Doc, I don't know what's going on," she said, looking at her boys, trying to keep them in bed.
Wayne goes over, sits next to EJ on his bed, shakes his head, and wipes the sweat off his head. "Martha, boys, might as well get comfy; you are not leaving, so you might as well stay in those beds," Pa said.
"But Pa, we feel fine," the boys answer back, glancing down at EJ, still asleep, "besides, he told us to get busy; there's a storm coming, and you need us. He is waiting for someone," the boys said, pointing to EJ in the bed.
Martha looked at them as they all lost their marbles but didn't shake her husband any. "Not this time, boys." Wayne closed the door behind them and made the boys get back into bed. "Just for me, please, one more day for my sake and your mothers," he said as they sighed with a nod of their heads.
"Yes, Pa, and yes, sir." Let's Ma tuck them back into bed while he told them the whole story that mostly Martha knew, except the last part as she drinks, shaking her stiff lemon tea. Doc and the boys gasped as they looked at EJ and around the room, under the beds in dark corners of the room. "Pa, mind turning on the light for a while when you leave the room, please," the boys said. Richard placed the dresser against the closet door as the boys nodded their approval. Ma didn't say a word as she drank her stiff tea, watching EJ. Pa and the Doc wonder if they should still lock or close the door.
Decide to give Martha the key to let her decide. Walked down the hall, and all they heard was a "CLICK" from the door, a muffled noise. "Thanks, Ma," as she went back to her chair to watch the farm with a careful eye. It's a good thing Doc and Pa have a spare, but all they really need to do is knock to get in, hoping she and the boys would let them in.
Aunty M. finished rounding up the boys in front of the yard as requested by the Sheriff. "Alright, Sheriff, they're all yours." Sheriff paced in front of the house, trying to shake the chill as he looked over at Aunty M. "Boys," he said, walking up and down the line, "let's say we get to work instead of stewing around here," as he pulled out his charts. "We have work that needs to be done, and it can't wait. I have looked at my boys, and they're doing just fine and resting comfortably, so it is up to us to go on without them for now. Let them join us later."
"Now I think we can still work and still be on lockdown," Wayne said, turning to the Docs. "They assure me you will be checked twice a day with all the nurses to ensure you will not have any problems that we can't deal with and deal with immediately. So what do you say? Yee haw, let's do it, boys." As they fire their guns in the air, bang, scaring all the chickens, thud, fainting roosters on the ground, back in the soap and water to get another bath. Poor Mr. Rooster and his friend Mr. Tom Rooster.
Granny opens the gate and lets the boys out towards the fields. It was an odd-looking group as they signed in and at the roster because they also had to sign back in to get back into the farm. That was the rule: to go somewhere near Downing Villa with an escort, or you had to be scrubbed clean to go back to work, preventing anything from getting past the farm known as the clean zone. Not that there was anything wrong with Downing Villa; they couldn't take any chance of being late with all the coming in until the lockdown was over.
They placed guards in and around the place in both territories, keeping the peace so nobody went without. That was another reason they needed to get working on the New Downing Villa: Cracken and Downing Villa were getting overcrowded, and the weather was starting to turn. The Sheriff was amazed at how fast these barrack huts went up. They easily and comfortably held sixty people.
The problem was mattresses, pillows, and cloth. They now had an estimated six hundred and climbing in New Downing Villa and Cracken Villa, and more were coming, he was told. The boys and he made a shabby list of things that needed to be built for these thousand acres to help them through.
At least twenty-five barracks or more had to be built, plus a:
Dance hall.
Cooking area.
Shopping trade center.
School.
Smithy.
Working Woodshop.
Courthouse with (Judge, Sheriff, Doc,) Offices.
Post office.
Large Stable.
Other stores could be an add-on later if the weather holds, but this should get them started, and on their way, they figured. Lucky for them, the railroad tracks were nearby and hadn't been used for quite some time. Aunty M. thinks she can set up a trading route from an old friend. She knows to get them back online and get some of the stuff quicker. Let's hope so. I feel the winds are starting to blow, watching the autumn leaves turn color.