Switched On by Franklin Horton

Author:Franklin Horton [Horton, Franklin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-26T22:00:00+00:00

The pair remained off-road until they were well past the fairground area. When they reached a point where the main road was no longer cleared of snow and few footprints had marred it, they rejoined the road. An hour’s riding brought them to a paved secondary road heading east.

“Let’s go this way,” Jim said. “I need to see a man.”

The temperature may have been up to the low forties. The snow was melting. It was down to around ten inches deep depending on where you were, however, it remained a slimy, nasty mess that made walking difficult for man or horse. Jim and Hugh rode for four more hours, stopping a couple of times to water the horses and let them rest.

They ate MREs in the saddle. The men were not accustomed to such long days in the saddle and both were aching intensely from a second day of it. They bemoaned the world and bemoaned their circumstances. They bemoaned a government that had reduced them to having to ride horseback. In their moaning and bemoaning they hardened their resolve to not let the government deprive them of power generated locally using local coal.

It was nearly dark when Jim and Hugh passed the youth sports complex for their county, not far outside the town limits. There were two baseball diamonds and several tennis courts, as well as a soccer field. The baseball and soccer fields were packed with an assortment of mismatched cattle. The playing fields were turning into a muddy mess from the wandering beasts. A crude log structure sat in the tennis court providing shelter for perhaps fifteen or sixteen hogs that ambled about in the snow, pawing at the clay court and digging futilely for roots and acorns.

"What the hell?" Jim uttered.

“Looks like somebody in the neighborhood started a mini farm."

"You'd think there'd be a guard since they’re this close to town.”

"Maybe there," Hugh said, pointing at the elevated announcer’s booth with its glass windows looking out over each field.

Jim squinted at the booth. "You can see a sentry in there? I can’t see shit.”

Hugh shook his head. "Don't see one but that's where I'd put one."

“You’re probably right. We should just keep moving along and not show any special interest."

"That’s probably best."

A little more than a mile down the road, Jim swung his horse to the right and angled up a steep road. The driveway was steep and the snow contained the tracks of a man and several different animals. Runoff from the melting snow had created a wet track down each lane of the road.

"Is this Kyle's driveway?"

Jim gave a slight nod and Hugh turned his horse, following along. After topping a rise, a log cabin became visible. It was set back deep on the property, resting on the shore of a scenic fishing pond. Smoke curled from the chimney, barely visible in the sea of varying grays.

Jim nudged his horse in the direction of the cabin.

"How do you know this guy?" Hugh asked.

"We went to high school together.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.