Oh, Crap!

“Was there any word on where they are now?” It’s a long road between here and Marquette, over thirty miles.

“Last seen was at Ravens Perch.”  That was good news and bad news.  Ravens Perch was a long bypass off from 695, several miles; some nice homes, some older homes, but there was at least fifty and that would keep a gang occupied for a few days; bad news for those fifty, definitely.  The other bad news was there was very little between Ravens Perch and Moose Creek; just a small settlement of a dozen houses, Midway, that was midway between our furthest lakeshore point and Marquette.  The gang was close.

“Bobby, this is valuable news.  I need to get this information to Paul & Donna.  Maybe we can set up road blocks or something,” my mind was reeling.  If the gang was heading to Moose Creek, we here were first and on their way.

“Paul and Donna?” he questioned. “I thought they were retired.”

“Once this all started, they were pulled out of retirement by Sherriff Lacey.  Law enforcement just doesn’t exist up here, you know that.  They’ve been doing good and we’re lucky to have them.”  I turned to John, “you can stay and see what else you can find out, but I have to get to town and warn them.”

“I’ll go with you, and we can come back later,” somehow I knew he wouldn’t want to stay.  Bobby and Jane were strangers to him.

“That ok with you, Bobby?” when he nodded, I asked him to keep listening and write down anything he thought we should know.

Our first stop was Paul & Donna’s house, but no one was there.  I wasn’t hopeful about the township offices since it was so late in the day, so we tried Darlene’s place.  Clayton said she was at the office.  Go figure.  Not only was she there, but so were Paul and Donna, and they were all in a deep discussion.

I wasn’t the least shy about interrupting them.  “Have you heard yet about the gang coming this way?”

“We just found out,” Darlene answered.  “We really need to get you a radio or someway we can reach you,” she added, half in a mumble.  “How did you find out?”  And I explained about Bobby’s Ham radio, adding that the latest word was they were at Ravens Perch.

“Have you thought of anything yet to stop them?” I asked.  That’s when Paul spoke up.

“We were just looking at maps to see where the best place would be for a blockade.”

“I would suggest The Big Guppy Creek.  It’s swampy on both sides; a load of timber would seal it off.”  They all looked at me. “Hey, it’s my job to think the worst case.  The Little Guppy is too close to where they are now and we need as much time as possible.  Next we need to seal off 150 at the Hairpin, though that will depend on if it’s been kept open, if not, the snow is our best barricade.  But that’s secondary.  The Big Guppy is our best hope of stopping them.” I tapped my finger on the map.  “We need a logging truck, already full would be ideal.  Who’s left in town?”  Paul said he’d go talk to Danny Greenwald; Danny always had a few hundred logs stacked nearby.

“You look troubled, Deborah,” Darlene sat down across from me.

“If we can’t stop them, they’ll be heading for town, pillaging everything in their way.  And my plowed road is like a neon sign,” I whispered.  “Any chance on getting reinforcements from Marquette?”

Darlene scowled. “We tried that first, with no luck.  In fact it was Lacey who called to warn us.”

“I guess it’s time we organize our own militia.”

<to be continued>