Chapter 14: Outpost

Within a couple of weeks, the realtor from Green Horn Creek had dropped off a set of house keys. Grandpa Carson had let us know to expect him, and said that we were to feel free to do whatever animal sacrifices or other arcane rituals were necessary before the movers started arriving the following week. Taking us at our word, and living up to his, Grandpa had expedited matters by paying cash for the new house. The three of us, Dad, Mom and I, went over that afternoon as soon as Dad got home from work. I had been afraid to really do much more than register its presence with the realtor and Grandma and Grandpa there the other day, so this time I really let my senses flow around the jump point. It was probably a little stronger than I thought, not as strong as the ledge, but definitely stronger than the downtown location. As we entered the house, I could already tell that the jump point was probably going to be reachable from anywhere in the house, and perhaps even from the back yard, although since that looked out over the golf course it wasn't exactly private.

As soon as we were in and the door closed I took us through. We were in the middle of a field of tall grass, probably a quarter mile around. I could hear water running somewhere in the distance. That was good, a water source was something we had been wondering about. There were several small groups of taller trees scattered throughout the field, and the rest was either covered in the tall grass or the pine scrub we were used to from our other location. We were ecstatic. This was exactly the sort of location we had hoped to find, and while our jump point was not exactly isolated, it was at least private. I jumped us all back to the living room, and we headed back home. I drove, and as soon as we got home I called Ginny and told her that the new house was perfect. She knew what I meant, and we didn't say anything else about it. We weren't exactly being that secretive, but we all felt uncomfortable talking on the phone about the jump points or my ability.

We moved a small pile of supplies and materials through in the following few days. The U-haul van reappeared loaded with various interesting items, the highlight of which was an Argo Avenger. This was some serious All Wheel Transportation! Its an eight wheel, Diesel powered fully amphibious ATV.
We relocated and retrieved the Quads from the downtown jump point that night. It was faster than searching for them over the rough terrain on the New Earth.

Finally the day came when Grandma and Grandpa pulled up in front of our house in the GTO, We were expecting them and Ginny was with us waiting. They had met and already loved and appreciated Ginny. As Grandma loved to say, "Thank God! Another McKesson male is saved from a shabby existence by the love of a smart beautiful woman!" of course she claimed to have provided the same service to a helpless male named Carson a few years back herself.

We let Grandpa unlock the front door with his key, and the two entered the house, with the rest of us following. They had bought the house fully furnished, so the boxes which had been piled in the various rooms were mostly clothes and other personal possessions. The living room had only a a couple relatively neat stacks of boxes placed in out of the way spots along the edges of the room. When
Grandma invited everyone to sit and rest a bit, we all picked chairs or spots on the very nice couch along the far wall. Ginny of course picked my lap. We asked about the trip, and the efforts of packing, and just generally let them catch their wind a bit. Finally though Grandpa said, "Okay Son, we're here, in the house you asked us to buy, and we're ready for that explanation we were promised."