Chapter 02

A Different Life

The trip deeper into the property does take them through a few of the lower fences, and Pat is surprised all of the gates are left open. When asked about it Sarge says, “If we leave the gates open it makes moving about easier, but the main reason is it allows the little stock we do have here to wander as they will so we don’t have to move them to new grazing. In short, we’re too lazy to move the stock so we let them move themselves when they wish to.” Pat laughs at the very practical answer.

Some distance from the roadside gate they come to a fair sized lake made by putting a dam across a stream. Sarge slows down as he says, “Well, here we are.” Pat looks for a house because all he can see are a lot of trees. Then he notices a well camouflaged door in the ground just back of the tree line. He gets out and looks about. Further away are two more pickup trucks under the trees, the pickups are painted like this one and are hard to see. Sarge adds, “One ancestor built into the low ridge here when he built the dam. Being in the ground it’s cool in summer and warm in winter. The trees have grown up here since the house was built, so it’s very hard to see. We like it. There’s a kitchen, a large lounge, and dining room, plus ten other rooms we can use. Not sure if they were all bedrooms, but that’s what we use them for. I’ve modernised it a bit and added store rooms. We’ve some solar panels hidden in the trees and scrub so the place is now mostly electric while it has the old wood stove and fireplaces. Satellite television and Internet plus cell phone and cell service Internet. Everything in the place is direct current so it all runs off the solar cells and the batteries, even the water pump out in the dam.”

He grabs two of Pat’s bags and heads toward the door. It opens and a mid-thirties woman stands in the doorway. She sees them, leans back, and shouts, “Work detail,” turns to Pat and says, “Hello, Pat. I’m Erin, your nurse for the next few weeks. I’ll shake hands later when yours aren’t so full.” She passes them then four other men walk out the door.

Sarge shows Pat to a room, places the shoulder bag on the bed, and the suitcase on a dresser. Pat sits on the bed when the others walk in with the rest of his suitcases. All of them are in BDUs that blend in with what Pat has seen of the local scrub. He thinks, Old habits are hard to kill, while looking at them lined up as if on parade. Sarge says, “Erin is our medic, what the Marines called a Corpsman, retired from the Navy. The others are retired, three sergeants from the Army and a Marine. The one on Erin’s right is called Digger, and the one on her left is Hard Ball. The next two are our beached Marine called Gunny, because he was a Gunnery Sergeant, and Bubba is last in the line up, another Army sergeant.”

Erin says, “I retired as a Chief Petty Officer, the Navy version of a top sergeant. I’m out on medical grounds, the rest are all time expired. So you’ll have to get used to living with a bunch of old combat vets.”

Pat grins as he says, “I’m an Army brat, so I’ve some experience with living with the troops around me. Lived all my life on Army bases. The big thing for me will be living out in the wilds like this.” They all grin.

The rest of the day is taken up with showing Pat the house and Erin helping him unpack his suitcases into his cupboard and drawers.

After breakfast the next day Sarge shows Pat how to load and use the two-shot Bond Arms Snake Slayer IV pistols. Initial training is with an empty gun so Pat can’t accidentally shoot anyone. Then they drive over to their range set up about half a mile away. Pat sits on a chair with the pistol in his right hand as he aims and he shoots at targets to his right. Sarge is doing the loading because Pat has only the one hand he can use right now. When Pat is consistent with the shot shells at five yards Sarge changes guns to one he loads with two forty-five calibre Colt rounds. He points at a new target five yards away and steps back. Pat takes good aim, and he hits the edge of the target. Thirty-six rounds later he’s hit the centre of the five, ten, and fifteen yard targets four times in a row.

Sarge says, “Good. You can hit what you aim at from five yards to fifteen yards. If you need to shoot at anything beyond that you should be using a rifle or a combat grade pistol. As you saw, the shot is good for several yards, but after that you’re wasting your time. So if you have something big coming at you and you have only one shot, wait until it’s under five yards out then shoot it in the face. You should blind it if the hit isn’t good enough to kill it. The same goes for a human attacker.”

Pat asks, “At that range it’ll kill a man, won’t it?” Sarge nods yes. “If I want or need to question the person I think I’d do better to shoot them in the balls. Wouldn’t I?”

“Actually, if you want them alive you’re probably best to wait until they’re only a yard out to shoot them in the balls. Otherwise you may rip open a major artery near the inside of their thighs, then they’ll bleed out and die on you within a few minutes. If the artery is hit it’s very messy with blood everywhere.”

Bubba joins in from the side, “If they look unreasonably chubby in the chest but not the rest of the body it’s likely they’ve body armour on. In which case you won’t hurt them at all unless you hit them in the face, the balls, or the thigh. That four-ten will do some serious damage at close range, but it has to be within five yards. Outside of that is a waste of ammo. Under three yards is best. If you have to shoot someone you need to shoot to kill, unless you have extremely pressing reasons to keep them alive.” Pat nods at the advice being given. He’s not happy with the idea of having to kill someone, but he accepts the reasoning for the advice being given to kill in self defence if he wants to stay alive.

Sarge says, “The wildlife maps show many dangerous animals in this area. Humans are the worst with jaguars, cougars, bobcats, grey wolves, rattle snakes, and coyotes being listed as dangerous. I’ve never heard of a jaguar in the area and I’ve not seen any cougars or wolves, but I have seen bobcats, coyotes, and rattlesnakes. There’s a fifty pound pig called a javelina or peccary that isn’t listed as dangerous, but I’ve seen them hurt people and they make good eating. For food there’s wild turkeys, deer, rabbits, and jack rabbits also called hares. Others in the area are skunks, badgers, gophers, squirrels, weasels, a little raccoon type animal called a ring-tail cat, rats, and mice. So always keep an eye open for danger from humans or animals.”

After lunch Gunny is helping Pat to complete tests to see where he stands with the local curriculum. Pat won’t be able to attend school for another month and the current school year will be almost over, so Pat will start at his new school when the new school year starts in August. Right now they want to assess his standing with tests they got from the local School District Office. Gunny is monitoring the tests to see they’re carried out as per the rules, then he’ll take them in to be marked. The teachers will then identify what school level Pat is and assign studies for him to do so he’s ready to start school next year. They’ll give him the proper state tests just before the year starts to justify his starting grade.

Pat spends the afternoon and the next morning taking tests. After lunch on his third day at the ranch Sarge and Gunny take Pat and the tests into the school in Rosita to introduce Pat to the staff, borrow some text books, and to hand in the exams for marking. They borrow the text books for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grade. After they get back to the ranch the adults take turns working through the text books with Pat. The first is the maths text books. They soon learn Pat knows what’s in the 2nd and 3rd Grade books plus almost all of what’s in the 4th Grade book, so they mark the sections he has issues with then move onto the next subject.

The schooling evaluation with the text books continues on all day Tuesday. By bedtime Tuesday night they’ve a very good idea of where Pat is in regards to the school studies at the local school. With a little help and studying between now and the start of school he’ll be ready to go into the 5th Grade in August.

Medical

Wednesday morning Erin and Sarge take Pat into their local clinic for his first medical examination. They arrive a few minutes before the time of the appointment and are taken in to the doctor’s examination room a few minutes after the appointment time. The doctor is good and he gives Pat a full check. However, when he starts to discuss Pat with Erin he has the annoying habit of excluding Pat from the conversation as well as referring to Pat in the third person. When they leave the room Pat goes to the front desk to ask, “Excuse me, Ma’am, how many General Practice doctors are here?”

Before the receptionist can answer a woman wearing the same sort of jacket the doctor had on asks, “Why do you wish to know that?”

Pat says, “I was just examined by the most arrogant rectum with a medical qualification I’ve ever met or heard of. So I want to see if you’ve a doctor who treats people my age as people and not a cypher on a page. Someone who’ll talk to me and not over me in the third person.”

The woman smiles as she says, “Sorry about that. I see Erin is with you while you’ve a broken arm and a broken leg. Are you Pat Nolan?” He nods yes. The woman turns to the receptionist, “Move Pat to my patient list, please, Maria.”

The receptionist nods, types on the keyboard, looks at Erin, and asks, “Will the same time in two weeks do for the next appointment, Erin, Pat?”

Pat nods yes while Erin says, “Yes, Maria. Thank you. Please make sure everyone who needs to know gets a copy of those medical authorities Sarge signed to allow us all to approve whatever Pat needs. I’ve got the script of pain killers he was given by the doctor in Australia. Pat needs more of them, but I’m not sure he needs the same dosage level.” She hands the prescription to the doctor.

The doctor looks at the prescription, checks the file, talks to Pat, and writes a local prescription for the same drug with half of the dosage and says, “Try one tablet. If it’s enough, stay with that. But if it’s not, take two. OK?” She looks at Pat when she speaks. So he smiles and nods to show he understands the dosage instructions she just gave him.

Twenty minutes later they have the filled prescription and are back in the truck. The pickup’s bed is half filled with groceries Sarge bought after dropping Pat and Erin outside the clinic. They stop to collect the dairy products then they head back to the ranch. While they drive Pat thinks, I’m sure the place has a name, but I’ve not yet heard it mentioned. I’ve got a Roadside Mail Box address to give to people for deliveries, but they all just call it ‘The Ranch.’ I wonder why? It’s too much for Pat so he asks, “Sarge, why don’t you ever say the name of the ranch?”

Erin grins as she says, “None of us can pronounce the ranch’s name properly so we don’t even try to say it at all. It’s a long Spanish name given to it when it was first purchased. I suppose we could use an English translation of the name, but it wouldn’t be the ranch’s name and then it wouldn’t seem to have the same continuity of ownership. We all simply call it ’The Ranch’ as we all know where it is. The mailbox number is all anyone else needs to make a delivery, so we don’t bother with anything else.” They all laugh and the talk moves to other topics. The trip goes by faster with them chatting and laughing while they get to know each other better.

The next few weeks pass by very quickly for Pat. The adults take turns to help him study so he’s soon finished with all of the 4th Grade material. Most of it was simple, but some of the US specific subjects are new to Pat so they have him studying the material of the earlier grades to get the background material. With no other activities he can do Pat spends all of his time studying or shooting, so by the time the doctor approves him for normal activities he’s up to date on all of the studies he needs to know to be ready for the next school year. He’s also now accurate with the forty-five calibre pistol rounds to twenty-five yards and he can hit the centre of the target with the shot at fifteen yards. He doesn’t like the way the guns kick in his hand or their noise, but all of the practice is making his wrist stronger too. To help with that he does some weight lifting in the gym they have in the house, along with some exercises he’s taught. The weight work and exercises also help with his overall physical condition. Walks in the area help with this too. Pat’s physical fitness soon returns to his pre-crash level and then he starts to develop more strength in his muscles while his stamina increases too. Pat’s rehabilitation exercise program is putting him in a better physical condition than he was, so he keeps it up after he no longer needs it as part of his injury recovery treatment.

Note: Although some of the exercises change over the years Pat keeps up his new fitness routine for the rest of his life.

The .45 Colt pistol round is also called the .45 Long Colt (LC). Pat has two break action guns to carry all the time: one of them is for the .410 shot and one is for the .45 Colt pistol round.

Mobility

After each visit to the doctor Pat is allowed more mobility due to how well his broken bones are healing, but he is restricted to inside the house unless accompanied by an adult. His most common trips out of the house are to Eagle Pass to go to the clinic and go shopping or to the range to use the pistols. Every other day Pat is down at the range for an hour, but not until after mid-morning, and no later than mid-afternoon. One thing Pat notices is on his range mornings the other adults go out early and Sarge doesn’t take Pat to the range until after Sarge gets a call from them on the phone. This has Pat wondering what’s going on, and why.

On one of the Eagle Pass trips they go early so Pat can be measured for more clothes and some decent boots. On the next trip they pick up the clothes and Pat finds he now has seven sets of BDUs that blend in with the local scrub in his size, along with three pairs of boots to match, and three loose cloth caps. He also has two full sets in black. Both sets of gear include matching webbing equipment harnesses with gun-belts and holsters for his two pistols plus extra ammunition pouches. Pat has to laugh as they now have him dressed up like a soldier just like they are, but a soldier a lot shorter than they are.

All of the others can cook some food and Pat can cook a bit too. So part of how he spends his time is learning how to cook what each of the others knows how to cook. The range of foods served expands to be a lot more than what they used to prepare each week because they’re teaching him all they know how to cook. Previously they limited their turns as cook to what was quick and easy to cook, but now they’re adding in harder to cook dishes. For each new dish Pat learns they have to show him how to cook it a few times then he has to cook it a couple of times. Thus a particular dish may turn up on the menu for a whole week while Pat learns it, so the overall menu varies a lot more than it used to.

In late May the doctor pronounces Pat as clear for any activity. The next day Sarge takes Pat up near the south-east corner of the ranch to teach him how to blend into the scrub and how to hide in it without a person seeing him. He also teaches Pat how to move through the scrub without disturbing it, leaving any tracks, or making any noise. Pat is a quick study and he’s soon competent, but knows he still has a lot to learn.

On Memorial Day they all put on dress uniforms. Erin surprises Pat with an Australian Army dress uniform in his size with his Dad’s medals for Pat to wear at the Eagle Pass Memorial Day activities. When they get in the trucks Pat looks back at the house. He sees shutters have been closed and an extra door moved across the front door so the area looks like a section of the ridge, thus the house is not visible at all. When they drive out of the trees Pat takes care to look for tyre tracks, and he can’t see any at all. Then he thinks back over all the trips, and he realises every time they take a vehicle somewhere they take a different path through the final screen of trees to park in a different spot. This is their place, but they all act to keep it well hidden and untraceable, so Pat wonders why.

Pat is dropped off near the group he’ll be marching with, a group of dependants of allied forces. The rest take the trucks away to park them. While the march forms up Pat spends time talking to other kids his age or near his age, and he learns he’ll be going to school with some of them. He also uses the opportunity to practice the Spanish he’s been learning for the last few months. He’s doing well for someone with his little bit of training, but he’s not good enough with his pronunciation or syntax to not accidentally create some funny sentences. The other kids who speak Spanish tease him about his mistakes while they all respect the way he accepts their corrections then works to correct his errors without getting angry with them for correcting him. He makes several new acquaintances he hopes will become friends in the future when they can see more of each other at school.

The day is a good one. However, when they get back to the ranch they stop short of the house while Gunny and Digger check it out. After half an hour they come back and Digger says, “They were here, looked around, but nothing’s disturbed.” Sarge slowly nods before they continue to the house, park nearby, and go inside.

While Erin prepares the evening meal Sarge sits Pat down and says, “I’ve not troubled you with this before, but you’ll now be more active and I expect you’ll move about the ranch. I need to warn you to take care and to watch out for trespassers. For some months there’s been a group of men watching us. We don’t know who they are or why they’re doing it or who they work for. So keep yourself hidden and watch out for them. At the moment they don’t know you’re here. Understand?”

Pat replies, “Yes, Sarge. Watch out for the hostiles, hide from them, and make sure they don’t see me. If they don’t know of my presence they won’t make plans to deal with me when they do something, so I have to stay out of sight as the secret reserves.”

Digger says, “After we let you know the area is clear you can go out. If they see you well away from the house area they’ll probably think of you as being a neighbour and not associated with us. But work hard to not let them see you at all.”

Pat nods and says, “Next trip to town I need to buy myself a good cell phone and a few other things we need, like two canteens for each of my outfits, good binoculars, and whatever else we can think of.”

Sarge grimaces, “Pat, I’ve got a good income, but I also have to pay bills as per the budget. We need time to save up to buy them.”

A frowning Pat asks, “Didn’t the trustee send my money over yet?” Sarge frowns in reply. Pat goes to get his laptop computer, raises the Internet, and activates Skype. He checks the time zones then he connects to Dawn Mason’s Skype account. A couple of minutes later she comes on, and Pat says, “Miss Mason, what’s the status on my trust account?”

Dawn replies, “Hi, Pat, the bulk of it was shifted to an account with the recommended public trustee who also does investments. The firm does all of the taxes for it as well. Their main office is in Boston while your account is with their San Antonio office. They have an agency with a solicitor in Eagle Pass who also has a retainer to handle any legal issues you have. The records show they opened a local bank account for you in Eagle Pass with an initial deposit of five thousand plus an allowance of a thousand a month to be paid to you on the first of the month. I’ll email you the details. They should have sent you mail about it by now. If they haven’t, let me know. There’s still a few loose ends here then I’ll transfer the rest of the money to the US for you. You don’t have to worry about money. The allowance is so you have money on hand, and it’s only a small part of the interest being earned by the investments. You can have more money to spend if you can convince the solicitor it’s needed for an important project.”

“Thanks, Miss Mason. We don’t check the mail all the time so we’ll go check it. I’ll also visit the lawyer, that’s what they call solicitors over here. I need to buy some things so I need some cash to do so.” They chat for a few more minutes then they end the connection.

All of them are staring at Pat when a stunned Erin asks, “Pat, how much are you worth?”

He shrugs as he replies, “I don’t really know. The bastard who killed my family was rich so I got paid a good compensation for their deaths and my injuries. I was told how much, but I didn’t take it in at the time. I do know the insurance payouts were for more than a million dollars. So I’m probably some sort of multi-millionaire, but it’s in a trust fund. You just heard I get a thousand dollars a month allowance and an initial five thousand. So there should be several thousand dollars sitting around. The money is to pay for food, clothes, school needs, and anything else I need or want. I thought they were paying you direct, Sarge. If they aren’t I need to pay you for what you’ve already spent on me.”