World’s End
Book One of The Seed Mother
Chapter Eleven: Making Room
Within a week after the Langstons arrived, more people, livestock, and even house pets began to trickle in, and as Ellen had predicted, room had to be made and plans altered again and again.
With the arrival of help and more temperate weather, Moira rescinded her decision to free all the livestock, and everyone but the young colts seemed relieved to be back in their pens. The poultry had been especially hard hit by predation and the village was down to just three hens and a single rooster, plus a single hen turkey from each of the turkey breeds and no rooster from either. But each of those turkey hens had apparently mated, both with their absent mates and evidently with a wild turkey male as well, for after they were penned, they nested and began producing some very odd-looking chicks along with some who looked quite ordinary. A mystery but not one they’d question, since the flock was now up from two to sixteen. The chickens had also been busy, each hatching out a brood of half a dozen or more. Not all of those lived, of course, but the chickens from the original flock numbered well over a dozen now, and the birds would likely nest again before fall. In addition, a motley little flock of four migrant chickens, including a brown leghorn hen, two bantam hens, and a bantam cross rooster, all of them ragged and some injured, stumbled into the village late one day, the rooster answering the call of the resident male. After some introductory tussles, they were welcomed into the flock, and the gene pool was further enhanced.
Likewise, a pregnant Holstein cow, then two Angus heifers and a bull calf, and then six rangy beef cattle of questionable lineage showed up at the lower gate, plainly asking for shelter and a little graze. They, too, showed signs of being worried by some kind of predatory animal and so were let into the gate of the harvested oat field and contented themselves tidying things up. Most of the Tamworth hogs returned, followed by a meek little Berkshire gilt, all of them polite and looking for a little corn. They trotted merrily into their enclosure, following a rattling grain can, and soon were happily settled.
One morning when she left her apartment, a small gray cat with golden eyes was sitting at Moira’s door. She warned it about the dogs but it marched inside, stood all its hairs on end, smartly slapped each puppy on the nose as it approached, wove its way around Sheba’s legs and purred, and made itself at home. Moira saw it was a girl and named it Stella. So, slowly but steadily, the village began to fill.
The arriving humans, with few exceptions, seemed to have been selected and sent by Glen. Most of them showed up holding hand-drawn maps on scraps of paper, and most seemed to understand the still unwritten rules of order. By the time Glen himself finally came home, he’d sent more than a dozen on ahead. In addition to their personal effects, each of them brought items of food, tools, medical supplies, reference books, and other salvaged and irreplaceable commodities from the world outside, and each presented those things as their entry fee. Each seemed eager to declare an open mind and religious tolerance among their qualifications for admittance. Obviously Glen had given them a talking to before drawing his maps. With every arrival, new skills and talents came with them.
First down the lower road by the river came Toby Stoffer, an organic farmer and orchardist who was carrying with him bundles of fruit tree scions he’d salvaged from the wreckage of his nursery, and Rickard Mills, his husband, a landscape designer. The two of them arrived with some fanfare on a noisy all-terrain vehicle pulling a trailer. On it in addition to the tiny trees were tools, boxes and bags tightly packed, several jerry-cans of fuel, and a Maine coon cat named Edna. Edna immediately set to work in the barn. Rickard applied for a job. ”I recognize that my profession has gone extinct, darling,” he told Moira. “I’ll work at anything you’d like me to do. But I hope you don’t mind if I pretty things up a bit as I go along.”
“I think you’ll both be as happy here as we are happy to have you,” Moira said, and then, realizing her choice of words could be taken two ways, added, “I’m delighted you’re here. This place could use a facelift and we can certainly use the extra hands. You’ll have all the work you want.” The men chose as their residence the lower shed just up from the gate, once used for storing landscaping equipment. Those items were moved, with some reverence on the part of Rickard, to a larger open-fronted shed opposite the gate, and the former landscaping shed soon acquired a patio, a tiny kitchen, and an outdoor grill. Before long, it became a popular after-work destination for many village residents.
Toby offered himself as Ellen’s assistant in the garden and Rickard was soon put to work refitting the “demonstration” shops of the village as living quarters and some real shops. Evenings he spent digging, planting, pruning, and “prettying” the extensive grounds. Soon Ellen handed over the food gardens and a growing orchard to Toby and devoted herself entirely to the medicinal herbs, and Rickard’s designs went far beyond prettying. Within days, he began approaching Moira with drawings he’d made on a small sketch pad filled with ideas for expanding the food gardens, developing more home sites, and creating planned public areas. As for the structure of the village’s common area including Main Street, he said, all that was lacking was sufficient people to run the shops. That, he predicted, would in all likelihood, take care of itself. And it did.
Next to arrive was Eldon Case, a 40-year-old farmer from just up the river from the Langston farm. He’d survived the winter but had watched his wife and father succumb to the cold and dark and terror that the nightmare changes had brought. He came in riding a tall bay mule, leading a donkey packed with his belongings, and driving before him a Jersey cow and calf. Riding behind him on the mule was his mother, Marianne Case. Running alongside and helping guide the cattle was a little cattle dog answering to “Burt.”
A little behind them that day came a lone woman driving a horse before a small buckboard wagon loaded with unknown items under a tarp. Her progress was tentative and Moira wondered why – until she recognized her.
“Oh my God it’s Helen!” she exclaimed, and went racing down the road, startling the Cases’ animals. “Sorry,” she called as she slowed so as not to startle the horse next in line. “Oh, Helen, I’m so glad you’re alive. I had so hoped that someone from the staff was out there and would eventually come in. Steven’s here.” As Helen pulled the wagon to a stop, Moira climbed aboard and threw her arms around the older woman. Helen Walker had been the manager and chief cook for the museum’s demonstration kitchen, had gone off with the rest for the Thanksgiving holiday and had never returned – until now.
Moira took Helen’s hand in both of hers and said “How are you? Really.”
“Well, we had a tight house and enough to eat and we just holed up and waited for the storm to pass,” Helen said. We only live about five miles away, but we were afraid to come down here, afraid of what we’d find and afraid we couldn’t get here and back. The bridge up there is out, you know. Then Nathan took sick about a month back, and, well, your man got there just about in time to help me bury him. He said you were OK and you’d have room for me. I sure hope you do.”
Moira gave her hand a shake. “Are you kidding? I’d take you in if I had to throw somebody else out. Now come on, let’s get you inside and get somebody to tend to your horse. We’ll get the wagon unloaded when we’ve settled on where to put you.”
Meanwhile, Toby and Steven were quizzing Eldon. Soon they knew he had grown up on his family’s farm but had worked in town as a welder, carpenter, and sometimes mechanic, and he had an abundance of manual skills to offer. He was at once befriended by Steven and offered charge of the tool room at the Center. He made his living quarters in the smaller of the barn’s two tack rooms and took his meals with the Langstons. Mrs. Case settled in one of the farmhouse’s upstairs bedrooms and offered to help in the kitchen and garden, although she soon began eyeing one of the little shops and mentioned she was a competent seamstress. When Ellen told her of the stored bolts of cloth, she began planning her new career. She and John Langston became immediate friends when Marianne confessed she played piano and John began to acquaint her with his small squeeze box accordion. Helen moved into the space up the hill that had been the dressing room for the performers, right next door to her beloved kitchen. The small population had already been eating Helen’s cooking from the meals stored in the freezer, but they soon discovered the fresh version was even better.
Learning of potential resources awaiting them at the abandoned farms upriver, Rick and Toby spent a can of their precious fuel on multiple trips hauling tools, materials, and supplies back to the village. Moira made sure they were both armed, but apparently the noise of the little four-wheeler was enough to keep the feral and vicious “wee little piggies” at bay.
Two days from the opposite direction down the road came the two Riggs sisters, 49-year-old Reatha and 40-year-old Ruthie, whose farm was downriver. They had not been sent by Glen. They had been living on their parents’ farm downstream from the Park for several years but had kept to themselves. They had dared the trip upriver after hearing, faintly, the noise from Toby and Rick’s ATV. It was the first human-made sound they’d heard since the “Changes,” they said, and they were afraid it might be the last. They’d come in a small, two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, saying they’d left all their worldly belongings behind in the care of the neighbors who’d joined them over the winter and who had stayed behind to do the milking. They could go fetch them if they could all please stay, they pleaded with tremulous voices, offering up their list of useful skills. They were schoolteachers but also dairy farmers, cheese-makers, and beekeepers, they said. They could, with help, bring with them as many as a dozen hives and ten head of Guernsey cattle, all good milkers. It was almost too good a gift and would strain the ability of the existing facilities both to house and to feed just the animals, not to mention another batch of new two-legged arrivals to consider as well, including that other family yet unseen. It was time to consider a larger plan.
Moira asked the sisters to return home and bring everyone back the next day right after the morning milking so all could attend a town meeting. She proposed a discussion to work out the details of how this larger village might proceed. The sisters happily agreed, and were invited to stay for lunch and beyond to meet the rest of the village residents before returning home. Tom and Toby on horseback escorted them back to their farm and returned home just before full dark.
The meeting was set for 10 a.m., but preparations had been underway since dawn, when Ellen, Helen, and Marianne began work next door in the kitchen, turning the regular morning meal into a brunch-style buffet more suited to the gathering. Moira also enlisted Steven and Tom to make some adjustments to the room that had been the museum’s theater. The addition of a long folding table down front with chairs behind it where the village’s unofficial leaders would sit made the space perfect for the meeting. They had also added, at Ellen’s suggestion, another long table at the back to hold all that food and drink. The theater at the former visitors’ center, which could seat up to 120 people, had seemed too large, but was still the best site for this meeting, as it was comfortable, and everyone could be seen and heard.
As the meeting time approached, people began strolling up the hill in what was becoming a festive mood. Steven’s daughter Sarah had recovered her strength enough that she and Joey were now looking after Ted Langston, who was still weak and was having a hard time building back his strength. As the meeting approached, and with help from Eldon, they hitched one of the trained Morgan mares to a flat-bedded farm wagon, enlisted “Grandpa John” Langston as wagon master, and offered a ride up the hill for Ted and anyone else who wished it. Ted hesitated, then agreed to ride and keep his grandfather company. The Riggs sisters said they’d like a wagon ride, too. Toby and Rick, who had already started up the hill, came walking up alongside the shy Lettie, the girl who’d taken refuge with the Langstons. Each of the men took an arm, and walked with her up the hill, chatting quietly in the bright morning, as the sun filled the shaded upper hollow. Above them, they could hear children laughing. Tom Langston and his mother were walking quietly behind them.
“You know,” said Toby, “if this is going to be the end of the world, I think we could have done a whole lot worse, don’t you?” He gave Lettie’s arm a squeeze. He’d heard the story of the loss of her family and was careful not to be flippant. She smiled a small smile, then took a deep breath and seemed to breathe in the beauty of the day. Her smile grew larger. “It could be worse,” she agreed.
As others began to file into the center and find the theater, Rick pulled Moira aside and pressed for a serious discussion of setting up an ongoing and regular schedule of meetings where residents could be informed and educated and have input into how the growing village should be organized. She agreed to bring it up, but she said Rick would have to be in charge of presenting suggestions for a plan. He pulled out his notebook.
“I don’t suppose you’d have a larger piece of paper?” he said. He had changed from his usual jeans and landscaper’s apron and was wearing a thin cotton shirt and dove gray slacks. His graying blond hair was tied back at the neck. He looked every inch the landscape designer.
She directed him to the conference room where a presentation pad and easel were stored.
As he hurried away, Ellen, Helen and Marianne came parading up to the theater entrance carrying large trays of pastries and other finger foods which they arranged on the table at the back next to pitchers of iced herb tea, flasks of coffee and a random assortment of glasses and cups. People continued to stream in, and soon all were gathered, sipping and nibbling as the discussion began.
The first suggestion was that they find a suitable name for this structure they were in other than Visitors Center, and designate the theater as the town hall. But what should the entire facility be called? Joey raised his hand.“Why don’t we just call it the Keep, because that’s where you keep everything important?”
Everyone agreed it was short and descriptive enough, and the name was adopted without further conversation. Moira, who had assigned herself as host of the first meeting and was determined to keep her input to a minimum, shook her head as she served coffee to the small group, muttering something about how she hoped everyone realized that this made her the keeper.
Next, Rick arrived, set up the easel, and began to sketch out a plan using a dark marker. He began to explain his plan for how the village should be developed over time.
“We’re barely even a villagette here, Rick, not a real village,” Moira said in protest, but he pressed his point.
“Not yet, we’re not, but the more who arrive, the less there’ll be opportunity for changes. We don’t have enough room in this hollow to just let it grow like Topsy. We need an organized plan to make the best use of the space,” he insisted. “We already need a school. And soon we’ll need to add a church or two, I expect. And a community center, and an Inn, or at least a hostel, and…” She nodded, waved a hand in surrender, and agreed. From now on, she said, she would host weekly meetings here, where everyone could have a seat and a say, and everyone could voice their concerns and ideas, and listen to the concerns of others.
Realizing this meeting and the ones going forward would need some structure, Moira asked for items to go on an agenda, and nearly everyone had something to add. Clearly, people had been thinking about the future. Rick was still adding to his drawing, so she asked if he would yield the floor temporarily so other business could be taken up. He held up his hand with the marker to show he’d heard her, then continued drawing.
Eldon was first to speak but he had obviously been talking to Rick.
He stood and removed his green feed cap, revealing the tan line that stopped halfway up his forehead – a farmer’s tan. “Since it looks like we’re all gonna be here a while…” He paused, waiting for someone to disagree, but no one did. “…and I expect we’ll see some more show up before long…” Everyone nodded, so he went on. “We’d better be tryin’ to get as ready as we can, and as soon as we can. We’re sure not ready now, even though this place as it stands is a real blessing. But we’re going to need more rooms, more places under roof, more food, more …” he stopped, looking for the word.
“Structure,” said Steven, and Eldon nodded. Rick looked pointedly at Moira, who acknowledged him with a wry grin.
“I’m not saying I’m the one to do that, at least the planning part,” Eldon continued. “Now I can build things or take them apart. I know how things go together. But I’m not one to know where to put them. Lord, if you could see my place…” he looked at his mother, and tears sprang to his eyes. Then he turned to Rick. “I know you all did some foraging up there, and that’s fine. But you didn’t make a dent in what’s there. What I’m saying is, I’ve got lumber put away, and tools, and some more food stored, not much but some. We could take a crew and a couple wagons back up there, cause then I can build you some more little houses. And I think you ought to let me have the wood shop at the mill. I can get the wheel going and use that to get the saw going, and then we can make our own lumber. I think we’re gonna need all we can make.” He looked around. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Steven raised a hand, and Moira nodded to him.
“He’s right on all counts. We can’t do it all at once, of course, but I’ll be happy to work on that with Eldon, and I think he’s the logical one to take on things at the mill.” He turned to the man, who had taken his seat and put his cap back on. “I don’t mean we expect you to do it by yourself. We’ll get you some help down there every time we can.” He suddenly remembered himself and quickly turned to Moira. “That is, if that’s all right.”
“Let’s don’t stand on ceremony here,” Moira said. “If that’s what works, let’s do it. But I want to hear more of what Rick has to say about structure before we go much farther.” She turned to him, and he rose from his seat on the end of the front row. He had finished drawing and sat down to wait his turn. He looked suddenly young and almost elegant, Moira thought.
“Hello, dears,” he said, stepping back to the easel. He folded back the sheet where he’d been drawing to reveal an enlarged aerial photo of the museum grounds that he’d found in the conference room. “Forgive me, I’m such a ditherer, I just can’t work without visual aids, or I’ll just blather on and confuse everyone. I hope you don’t mind.” He nodded and rubbed his hands together as his audience mumbled what he took to be assent.
“Well,” he said, picking up a long wooden pointer. “Here is what we have now. And here is what I propose we do with it.” He turned the page back, to let them see the sketch again, then turned back to the photo.
“Let me explain,” he said, and everyone nodded. “Here at the mill dam is our electric power source. It’s limited, so it will have to be used judiciously. Maybe street lights, but that’s about all. So things that need to operate off that power – small industry, perhaps – will need to locate there, or nearby. Doesn’t have to be big, doesn’t have to be dirty. In fact, we shouldn’t allow it to be dirty.” He moved the pointer’s end across the pond to the mill itself.
“Now here’s our mechanical power source. It, too, could be retrofitted to produce some small bits of electricity. But the belts that run directly off the wheel will drive the sawmill and the cotton gin and some woodworking tools. All that in good time.”
The pointer moved again.
“Now, here we are down at the farmstead. We will need more housing immediately, yes. But as people work out where they want to live and what they want to do about that, they may well want to put their own houses in a location that suits them. What we need is somewhere to put the newcomers in the meantime. Because I’m nearly sure more are coming. I propose we take the old log building next to the mill that was the general store in pioneer times, and turn it into a distribution point for general stores, like nails and hand tools and such, that everyone will need and that we’ll need to keep track of. It needs a little work, but it’s a sound structure and we need a place in a central location to put things we use frequently. We can’t just go to the hardware store if we lose something. And we shouldn’t have to walk all the way up the hill to fetch a nail. We should probably move the smithy up here, too, so the means for making and repairing tools would be nearby.”
At that, Steven nodded. “Works for me,” he said
Then Rick pointed to the shops on the little street. “Now let’s look at downtown,” he said.
“This rather oversize building here, the one that’s almost finished.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “It was intended to be the general store. It’s perfect, but not for a grocery store. It’s a two-story structure, very sturdy. Now just imagine. If we were to put in some partitions, several upstairs and a few down, we could easily turn it into an inn for those newcomers who aren’t sure if they’ll stay or are just passing through, or we don’t have anywhere else to put them. And later, for those who want to stay and haven’t built yet, or can’t yet, the next thing to build would be a boarding house, or a bunkhouse, which we can put here, just down from the farmhouse to house single people, temporary workers or the like. That should get us through the next little while and use up what lumber we can get hold of. The shops downtown, we should only use to bed down people temporarily, because we’ll want actual businesses in there, as tradespeople become necessary.”
At that, Marianne Case’s hand went into the air. “Speaking of trades,” she said, “I know I’m out of turn, but if I had a sewing machine, I could use one of those to set up a shop to make clothing for people. Would you all be interested in that?”
Several nodded agreement and the crowd began talking together.
“Great idea. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Rick cautioned, pointing back to his drawing. “That’s wonderful, Marianne, and I think we’re going to find that kind of business very necessary and very soon. I think everyone who wants to try out a small business should just do it. With the understanding that for the foreseeable, it’s all going to be on the barter system, with all of us working as hard as we can and helping each other, just to get enough to keep us all.
“But I want you to look at this other drawing and consider how I’ve laid out these other, future parts. I wanted to allow for areas to be used as we need them, how we need them. I want you all to think about all this and tell me what you think works and what doesn’t. For instance.” He pulled a pencil from his pocket and made X marks on the map. “All these crosshatched areas should be converted into food gardens – not right this minute, but as soon as possible. Why? Because the soil here is very productive bottomland, it’s below the millpond so it will always have water, and it is close to all of us so we can pitch in when needed and give the crops the attention they need. We will likely not be having any lettuce trucked in from California very soon” His voice rang in the sudden silence. “Everything we eat we will have to grow or forage for. Fortunately, Moira has seeds for just about everything. But the distance between seeds and food is marked by toil and sweat. We should start immediately if we want to be getting fall crops in.”
Steven asked to speak next, and what he said was a surprise.
“ I want to take up the matter of these newcomers and their farm now. I think this is the right place for it, while we’re discussing plans for the overall village. Because I have another thought on what to do about the sisters’ offer of their stock and the beehives. They’re offering to bring all their worldly goods and move off their farm. But it’s a pretty darn good farm, and it’s closer to us than we may have thought. There’s just a great big hill between us. But in the shape it’s in, with its good barns and its milking parlor and its well-built home, their place is exceptionally well equipped. I’ve been looking at maps of the area, and the sisters’ land actually abuts the park at a point just around the river bend. I’m wondering if the sisters might want to just stay where they are now that they know they have neighbors who can offer help in need. We could even extend the perimeter fence to enclose both places within the village. There are some nice house sites over there facing the river, and some good pasturage, and we can hold the area between for small industry as it develops. We’d leave the fields in place, and clear some more areas of bottomland as needed to add to our cropland. Even with the livestock we have now, we’ll soon need more forage. And they have a regular dairy already set up down there. They can even make cheese.” At this a cheer went up and the level of enthusiasm rose markedly.
Reatha was beaming and Ruthie began to cry openly.
“I was so hating the thought of moving,” Ruthie said. “Our family has had that place for four generations. But we just didn’t want to be alone anymore. Yes, yes. Of course we’ll stay.”
To that end, Steven asked Eldon to first help build another buckboard wagon so the sisters could travel to and from their farm to run the projected school, and then, with the help of Rickard, to begin designing that school.
By this time Moira’s smile had widened until she thought it might crack her face wide open. She set down her agenda and just let people talk, and by the afternoon’s end the village was officially named Falling Spring, Marianne Case had a clothing and “notions” shop on Main Street, Nancy Langston revealed her talent as a weaver and asked for the shop next to Marianne to set up her loom to eventually produce cloth for Marianne’s use. Best of all, Grandpa John Langston had asked for help in clearing the last of the threshed oats from the broad threshing floor in the middle of the large barn, and to get it done before the next Saturday. Then he invited them all to a dance.