The Journal: Ash Fall (25 page)

Jason, Amanda and Jacob arrived a few minutes
later and we all sat out under the boughs of the maple trees that
graced my front yard with cooling shade. When a familiar compact
car arrived next, I knew my suspicions were correct. John had gone
back into town, paid Dr. Mark for his services with a pricey steak,
and invited him to join us tonight. Those two just might get to be
friends someday. Would that be a dilemma for me at some point?

Ten minutes later, Eric and Emilee started
across the freshly mowed lawn. Eric was pulling the green garden
cart with a drowsy Chivas sprawled over the blankets, and Emilee
was pulling the small plastic cart loaded down with an ice chest
filled with Eric’s latest brewing.

The main topic for the evening was of course
our adventure up on the Plains and Chivas’ injury. Mark reminded
Eric that he would be by tomorrow to check on the puppy and to
change her bandages. There were many questions for John about the
mining accident, which he couldn’t answer because of the disclosure
he’d signed yesterday.

“Has anyone heard any more about the
Caribbean earthquakes and tsunami?” I asked.

“For as major of an event that it was,
Allexa, and so recent, the news is just down to a trickle,” Bob
answered in frustration. “And most of it is just a rehash, with
very little footage, mostly what the island used to look like! It’s
as if they don’t want us to know what’s going on.”

“I’d like to say that’s the new world we live
in, Bob, however, it isn’t. The media and the government have been
doing that to us for years.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my big
black kitty cautiously approaching the wagon where Chivas lay
resting. I’d been letting him out during the day to hunt for birds
and mice, hoping to keep his dry food needs to a minimum. He
sniffed at the puppy’s paw dangling over the lowered edge, and then
smoothly leaped, landing deftly on the blanket. Tufts examined the
bandages, and then in a surprising move, licked Chivas’ face, which
caused the pup to breathe a sigh. The cat curled up next to the dog
and rested his big black head on the golden shoulder of the injured
canine.

In spite of the somewhat depressing
conversation, it was a wonderful evening. The risotto was delicious
and John grilled the steaks to perfection. There was enough chilled
champagne for everyone who wanted it, and the rest had icy
beer.

* * *

“I have a present for you, Jacob,” John
announced just after dinner.

“What is it, Grandpa John?” Jacob looped his
arm through John’s in a positive sign of affection. So many
autistic children shy away from physical contact, thankfully, that
wasn’t one of Jacob’s issues.

“Well, maybe you should open it,” John said,
and handed Jacob a small package wrapped in old newspaper and tied
with string.

Jacob squealed with delight when he held the
book John had given him. It was an alphabet book in Swedish that
John said had belonged to Sven when he was a child.

Seeing that book reminded me of the check
hiding in my drawer.

JOURNAL ENTRY: July 15

I saw Mark’s little compact car across the road at
Eric’s this afternoon. I’m guessing he was checking on Chivas. I
must admit I find it very admirable that he would follow up on a
puppy surgery. Chivas means a great deal to all of us. She’s become
a sign of hope and a normalizing future.

* * *

CHAPTER 26

July 17

“John, look at that!” I pointed to the sky
where thousands of birds were in flight. It was early in the day
and we were working in the garden. He was picking green beans for
our dinner and I was tending the sprawling tomato plants.

He looked up, as mesmerized by the sight as I
was. I was used to seeing the geese in long Vs going north in the
spring and south in the fall, but the geese were greatly
outnumbered by the lower flying birds. It was difficult to separate
the species, though I caught flickers of red and blue and yellow
amongst the darker browns and blacks of the high flying flocks. It
seemed that the cardinals and bluebirds, which were rare this far
north, had joined their cousins in a strange mass migration.

I felt a distinct rumble under my feet. John
had already stopped and straightened up, looking around.

“What was that?” I said out loud.

The movement in the ground was more of a
vibration, like a really heavy truck had just gone by – even though
there are no trucks anymore.

He looked worried. “I don’t know, but it felt
like an explosion. Distant, but definitely an explosion.” I will
always trust what he says in that realm, he was the expert when it
came to explosives and the Earth moving. “It was much like what I
felt just before the cave-in.” His confession surprised me. I’d
never asked him about the mining accident, and I never would.

“Should I be worried too?” I asked. He
glanced at me. “I can see the concern written all over your face,
John.”

“I think for now awareness is prudent,
especially of anything unusual. It might be cause for concern, it
might not,” he stated a bit too quickly. He was right though;
ignoring something out of the ordinary would not be wise,
considering our situation. And this mass flight of birds was
definitely out of the ordinary.

I paused, my hands still holding a wayward
branch, heavy with green tomatoes. “What do you think it was,
John?”

He looked around again before answering me. I
knew he was choosing his words carefully.

“I really do feel it was an explosion of some
kind…it felt very odd to me and it felt deep, maybe far away. I
just don’t know, Allex, maybe another earthquake.” Then he frowned.
“Maybe you should give Tom a call.”

“I will, maybe later. Information is slow to
move around these days so he won’t know anything for a day or so,
even if it is something important.” I brushed it off and tried to
forget about it, but that rumbling underfoot kept creeping into my
thoughts the rest of the morning.

* * *

Dinner was finished, dishes were washed and
put away, and we were taking a leisurely walk down the quiet road
when the next rumble hit us. I could hear my wind chimes clattering
several hundred feet away and the chickens sent up a raucous
clucking. I swayed slightly on my feet and clung to John’s arm.

“John…” I said with an unasked question.

“That was a quake, Allex.”

“Maybe I should try to reach Tom,” I thought
out loud.

Just then my cellphone vibrated and the
ringtone started: “Hall of the Mountain King”, a melancholy dirge
of doom. It was Tom White. Uh, oh. I unhooked the phone from my
belt.

“Yes, Tom?” I answered quickly, switching to
the speaker so John could hear, too.

“Did you feel it?”

“Yes. Was it an earthquake somewhere?”

“How did you know? No, it doesn’t matter. It
just came across the EM fax line. There was a major quake in
Yellowstone this morning, a 7.4, and I’d say everyone is
worried.”

Just then I felt another, more intense
vibration under my feet. I reached out for John, not wanting to
feel the panic that was rising inside me.

“Tom! I just felt another one! That’s the
third one today.”

There was a long pause on his end. I could
hear something printing in the background. “Third? Hold on, another
fax is coming in.” He had set the phone down, leaving the line
open, and I heard him swear. It wasn’t a good sound.

“Allex, I gotta go. The Yellowstone Caldera
just erupted! I know that’s bad, though I don’t really know what
it’s going to mean to us here in the UP.” There was an edge to his
voice that I’d never heard before, one of disbelief, maybe even of
panic.

“Tom, wait! I know what it will mean,” I
needed to keep him on the line for some weather information. “Tom,
can you get us some wind projections for the next few days from the
weather service?”

“Yes, but what good will that do us?”

“It will tell us how much time we have………” I
left the rest unsaid.

“What do you mean? Time for what?” He
rightfully sounded confused… and worried.

“Just find out and call me back. Quickly,
Tom, quickly!” I hung up.

John was staring at me. I don’t know when
I’ve felt so scared and I couldn’t hold back the tears that were
raging inside of me. He pulled me into his arms and held me tight.
We stood like that until I caught my breath and the shaking
subsided.

John was very serious and even he looked
scared, something I’ve never seen before. “Okay, so tell me what
you meant, Allex, about how much time we have.”

“If the caldera has erupted we could be faced
with a cascading effect plus a massive ash cloud, depending on the
wind.” I took a deep breath as I picked up my walking speed back to
the house. “That ash could kill everything that breathes: plants,
animals… us.”

He stopped walking, bringing me to an abrupt
halt. I tugged on his hand. “Come on, John, we’ve got work to do.”
It was only 6:30pm, plenty of daylight left.

* * *

My next phone calls were to Eric, Jason, and
Anna, in that order.

“Anna, don’t talk, just listen, okay?” I said
as soon as she picked up her phone at home.

“Okay, Allexa, I’m listening.”

“I need you to arrange a town meeting for
first thing in the morning, say around nine o’clock. Make this a
mandatory meeting for everyone, and I do mean everyone, no
exceptions! I’ll need a screen and a VCR.” I stopped for a moment
to collect my thoughts; my mind was racing.

“What’s going on, Allexa?” Anna asked, and I
could hear the worry in her quiet voice.

“There were at least two earthquakes at
Yellowstone today, one this morning and another just a bit ago.” I
took a breath before going on. “Then the caldera that’s below most
of the park, erupted, Anna. It’s the largest known subterranean
volcano.”

“That’s way out in Montana,” she
protested.

“It’s mostly in Wyoming, but that’s
irrelevant. Regardless of where it is, it’s huge and it’s to our
west. The ash cloud it has produced will come this way. It’s just a
matter of how soon. Now, please, Anna, just do it. I’ll see you in
the morning,” I said, hanging up.

* * *

Eric and Emilee arrived first, of course, and
I gave them a quick rundown of what was going on.

“Nahna, I’m scared,” Emi said with a
quivering lip.

“That’s okay, honey, sometimes it’s helpful
to be scared. It means you’re aware of what might be a bad
situation, and that makes it easier to deal with,” I answered her,
knowing I wasn’t going to sugar coat anything.

“What does this mean to us, Mom? And what do
you want us to do?” Eric asked in his calm voice. I could see the
anxiety in his clear blue eyes.

“So I don’t repeat myself, we’ll wait until
Jason and Amanda get here,” I said. “You can start by driving each
car up to Fram’s and topping off the tanks, okay?” I tossed him my
keys.

I turned to John. “You know where I keep the
cash pouch? Will you get it for Eric?” He nodded.

“How much?”

“All of it! Come tomorrow, cash might be
worthless.”

That stunned all of them, even Emi.

* * *

By the time Eric returned from filling the
second vehicle, his double tank pickup truck, Jason and Amanda had
arrived, so we had a family conference. Just as we all sat down at
the kitchen table, my phone rang. I set in on the table on
speaker.

“What have you found out, Tom?”

“Right now the winds are coming from the
northwest, as usual,” he said. “With the hotter air building up
from the eruption, the National Weather Service is expecting that
to shift, pushing further north, and bringing us the northern edge
of the ash cloud.” I could tell by his calm voice he was reading.
“So, does this mean what I think it does, Allexa?” he asked.

“Tom, I have you on speaker phone,” I warned
him. “My family is here and I want you to listen to what I’m going
to tell them, it might help you too.” I took a sip of water from
the glass John had just handed me. “The winds coming northwest
would push the ash cloud below us. A straight west wind could still
take the cloud past us. However, a southwest current will very
likely bring that cloud right to us, and the ash cloud is fine
particles of pumice, which will turn to a thick sludge once it
comes into contact with water. That isn’t as much of a problem as
the fine shards of rock falling. It would be like breathing
glass!”

All the information I had read in the past
few years about what-ifs slammed to the forefront. I needed to get
to my notes.

“This is all speculation so far, of course.
Anything can change, but I’m not going to bet our lives on it. We
have to start making plans and getting certain things done, and as
quickly as possible,” I told them.

“How much time do we have, Allexa?” Tom asked
quietly, voicing everyone’s concern.

“That will depend on how fast the wind is.
Three or four days would be my guess, maybe less. I’m not an
expert, so I just don’t know. Tom, if you can, please stay on top
of the weather and keep me updated. I’ve got notes somewhere on
someone else’s speculation, plus an old video that was done by one
of the PBS stations as a fictionalized documentary. I’m going to
play it for the township tomorrow morning.”

“What are we going to do to get ready for the
worst case, Mom?” Jason asked.

“Think about what this will do. The cloud of
ash will be just that: ash, and not breathable. Any living thing
will suffocate trying to breathe that air unfiltered. Going outside
at any time will require wearing a mask, no exceptions. All the
wild animals are likely to die. It’s not the same as nuclear
fallout. This is survivable. The first thing we need to do is think
about everything that will ready us to stay indoors for an extended
period of time. I’m talking perhaps weeks, not just days.” I looked
at the stunned faces of my family. “As the ash falls and
accumulates, it will smother everything else: plants, fish, and
trees.”