Coven of the Ancient Swamp

Author's note:

This story is my first run at posting here at Lit. If you want a stroke story, this isn't it.

I'd genuinely appreciate constructive comments. First, I would like to thank Gamblnluck for his kind assistance in getting this story up. And thanks to you for reading this. I hope you enjoy going out into the bayou and swamp.

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Coven of the Ancient Swap

Chapter One - The rise of the virgin

Finally, the end of my time in the new Navy had arrived, and today my new life starts. Going over to yet another grey desk, "Chief? I'm Master Mender Tom Johansen, or at least I used to be, I guess. But after this exercise, I'm still Tom.

Looking up over from the screen on his desk, the old yeoman mumbled, "give me your pad, so all this stuff gets to you. Tom, today is the first day of a new life for you. First off, these are your separation orders. You know the first of every month you get your allotment? Next are all the farmhold docs. There's the title to the old mill and house you got there in Crawl Bayou and some land around it. You also get the title to swampland near your place. Here are the writs you'll need to get you the new equipment for the mill. When you're ready, call this number, and they'll make all the arrangements for you to get to do a survey and get the equipment for the mill.

Here's the info on getting the new solar power cells all set up and their number; give them a call when you get to the new place. There is a line credit to the Supply Store. That's tied to your NavFed account. These are the folks to call to get the surplus salvage barge you have sent to you. When you get there, what you'll need to do first is to go to the city-county building. Go to the clerk's office to get your property in your name. Then stop by the Sheriff's office and see them; likely, you'll need to get your POV registered there. Also, you collect the three new slaves that are being held for you there as well. It seems they all forgot to pay their taxes, so the whole family got enslaved, damn shame. That's everything you'll need."

Well, well, isn't that a boot? Not even a handshake, a salute, a cup of coffee, or much of anything else. Just like the old sign says, dogs and sailors stay off the grass. The next thing for me to do is head out into the rising sun and find my way to my new life.

Leaving Galveston, I made my way onto the super slab and headed my transporter eastward toward Crawl Bayou, my new home. The ride over was like riding on silk; the pod took care of navigation. As the transporter came to a stop at the bottom of the exit ramp, I saw a rusty old sign that read, "Welcome to Crawl Bayou, the front door to the Ancient Swamp."

The map showed Crawl Bayou sitting atop a sandbar wedged between the gulf on the south and the swamp on the north. Wandering around town, I found the dock where the fishing boats tied up. Next to it was a cramped repair yard that had a sorry-looking old fishing boat up on blocks. Next to that was the Supply Store, and down at the end was Goshert's Trading Post and General Merchandise. On the front of that building, a giant green alligator was looking down. Seeing that, I wondered if I fell into a rabbit hole and came out sometime before the plagues, a trading post, and general merchandise?

Behind this was the village of Crawl Bayou, which mainly consisted of some old tired small cabins and a few houses. The pod took me out of town and toward my new home, where I wanted to spend the night.

As I pulled up outside of the raised cottage, which was to become my new home, I reached over and got out of the onboard frig, two N-17 bars, and a bottle of water. As I ate the bars and sipped on the water, l looked about. The first thing that got my attention was how covered up the live oaks out in front were with moss. Well, that's for the future. For now, I needed to get the hammock out and string it up on the porch, so I have a decent place to sleep. Then going to the back of my transporter, I got out one of the seabags that held my clothes and brought it up to where my hammock was.

As morning came, it sounded like every bird out in the swamp was singing about the stranger on the porch of the old house. Who could that be laying out in front of there? What is he doing here? Into this chorus, I began to move about getting dressed in a clean set of utilities. First things, first. Getting coffee was the first thing to do, then go up to the city-county building and take care of the legal beagles there. That way, I won't get my ass tossed in jail for trespassing on my place. Then see about my new helpers, the slaves. Somewhere along the line, I wanted a real meal too, and I needed to talk with Solar Power.

Pulling into town, I spotted a grocery store tucked off the road. I dashing in, I ran into the scent of fresh coffee. Yeah, this is good; l need this coffee. Looking across the street, I saw a little cafe sitting there, Caroline's.

Since I had gotten to the city-county building before they opened up, I called Solar Power to get that started. The lady I spoke with told me they had already sent someone who surveyed both the mill and cottage, so everything was ready to go. She went on to say to me that the survey had shown both buildings would need to have all new wiring, so while they were hanging the panels and installing the batteries, they would get that done as well. The only question left is when do you want it done?" I asked hopefully, "can you do it tomorrow?"

The prompt and cheerful response was, "sure, we will have the crews at your place first thing in the morning."

Ahhh, the city-county building is open. Things are moving along.

Next to the entrance door was where I needed to go, the clerk's office. As I walked in, a woman waved me over, "Yes? What do you want, stranger?" I explained I had been awarded the title to the old mill, the cottage next door, some land around the two buildings, and something to do with the swamp around the place. Connecting my pad to her terminal, I transferred the necessary documents to her.

After the transfer was completed and reviewed, she snorted, "Well, looks like everything is in order. For sure and certain, when Little Leo hears about this, he will be majorly pissed. But that isn't my problem, mister. Need to get your fingerprint to get this all recorded." With that formality completed, the place out on Shell Road was mine.

"Oh, ma'am, can you direct me to the Sheriff's office?"

"Yeah." She grunted, "It's around back behind this building. You can't miss it."

I drove to the back of the building, parked my transporter there, and walked into a place that looked at best gloomy. Camped behind the desk was a sergeant who seemed to have forgotten how to smile. I politely explained what my business was here, that I needed to collect my new slaves and get my transporter registered here in the Crawl. I got my pad out and synced it with his terminal, then downloaded everything to him. He quickly looked at what I had downloaded, then looking up, he said. "Let me call out to the tombs and get your property heading this way. You need to go over the terminal there and follow the instructions to get a slave owner's license. When you get a green light come back here, I'll have your transporter registered and your slaves on the way."

Going through the screens necessary to get the slaves listed in my name, I thought this was just like back in the Navy when I reported to a new duty station. There was always a kiosk, like this, listing the station regs. Finally, I got the green light and went back to the desk sergeant. "OK, I got your records updated showing your new license and ownership, and I got the transporter registered here too. Take a seat over there, and as soon as you slaves are here, I'll get them scanned and released to you. Then take them and go about your business."

Fifteen minutes later, a heavy door swung open where three very disheartened slaves huddled together in the dark hallway. There was a man who looked to be about my age, a woman who might be a little younger than him, and a younger woman. All three had their hands behind their backs handcuffed. Attached to their shiny new slave collars were heavy black leather leashes that a deputy held in his hand. Another deputy came up to them with a scanner. He quickly scanned each slave's collar, then pulled the slave's lip down and checked the tattoo there. Quickly he confirmed that the slaves I was going to get were the slaves that I should have. With that done, the threesome became mine. I asked, "deputy, please remove their handcuffs and leashes. I believe they will be fine." He looked at me as if to ask, you sure. But he did as l had asked. Finally, we got out of there; I took them out into the morning sunshine.

Standing outside together in the parking lot, "folks, my name is Tom. I just got out of the Navy, where I was a Master Mender, which means I fixed every damn thing in the Navy. I'm new here in town, so you can expect I will be asking you for your help all the time and a lot of questions too. If you will, please introduce yourselves."

The older man began, "well, me, I guess you can call me Jackson, Master Tom."

Quickly I raised my hand, "Jackson, I'm going to ask, no, I will insist that all of you call me Tom. When I was in the Navy, Master was my rate. I was a Master Mender. Today that is not me; I'm Tom.

That statement seemed to put all three of them back a step or two. "Tom? Well, yes, I can do that, but you have to do something for me too. Call me Jack; you know my Momma would call me Jackson when she was setting to blister my butt. And I sure do hope you don't blister my butt. The lady next to me is my wife, well I guess ex-wife since all this happened, she's Angie. This youngster is our jewel, Paulie. Sometimes we call her Paulie Girl or just PG. But we always love her no matter the mischief she gets into."

As all of this was taking place, we had been walking out to my transporter, and I jumped. My flock went to the back of the transport and started to get in. "Folks, wait a minute! You do not ride in the back. You always ride with me! That work?" That statement resulted in another round of disbelief as they got in the front.

"Guys, as I told you before, I am going to want your help. Now, I haven't had breakfast today, and well, to be honest, I think I just felt my belly button rub on my backbone, and I need some coffee. Have you guys had breakfast yet?"

Jack looked up and, halfway mumbled, "well, to be honest, Tom, ever since this all happened, the only thing any of us has had was a bowl of slave chow. And hell, that couldn't fill a fly's belly."

"All right, Jack, so where do we go?"

"The only place to go to in the Crawl is Angie's. I'll show the way there."

In a matter of five minutes or less, we pulled up on the side of Caroline's Cafe and piled into a wall of perfume that spoke of good food. I followed my flock inside. As we walked in together, an explosion happened, or so it seemed. A crazed cook who looked to me to be an amazon came flying out of the kitchen. Yelling, "praise the elders for they have returned my blessed sister Angie from the dead. How could this have happened? For this is a miracle for all the ages." And on and on, she went as she wrapped her arms around Angie, Jack, and PG. As the dust began to settle, I made my way around and got a table for us.

At last, Jack got Angie and PG free of the wild amazon, and they made their way to our table. As he sat down, looking over at his daughter, "baby, get Tom, your Momma and me a cup of coffee and you some milk, please."

Leaning back, the warmth that flowed from Jack, Angie, and PG gave me hope that this project would work. Then out of nowhere, the amazon returned, and four huge platters landed on the table. Each of us had a platter that held a mountain of hashbrowns and grilled onions topped with two over-easy eggs. Next to that was a giant cat's head biscuit and three venison sausage patties. Looking at all this wonderfulness, I knew this is not Navy food; this looked like manna from heaven.

As I finished the fantastic breakfast, another explosion rocked the cafe. Jack looked over at me, "well, that's going to the middle sister and her tribe." Looking over, I saw the three sisters wrapped into a warm embrace that was well seasoned with many tears of joy and cries of relief. "That will be sister Judy, and the beanpole is Zeke, her husband. And if I don't miss my guess, PG is outside with Karen. Those two are like twins and always into something together."

Zeke came over to our table and greeted Jack warmly, "brother, you and your krew are a sight for sore eyes. Having all of you here, regardless of the circumstances, is truly a blessing." With that, Zeke reached out and shook my hand. "Mister, thank you for saving these good people. They did not deserve what landed on their doorstep."

As Jack chatted with Zeke, the mutual respect they had for each other was apparent. These two men had worked together many times. Zeke looked outside at the two girls taking and giggling together. Jack? Seeing those two mischief-makers together now reminds me of when they graduated high school; what was that? Two years ago now?

At last, my flock and I left the cafe and made our way of town. As I passed the grocery store that had saved me early this morning with coffee and started on Shell Road, another explosion rocked my ears. This time it was PG. "This road goes to our old home, Daddy. I need to go there now, Daddy!! I just, I must see all the chickens and, and I know that the puppy has to be feeling so lost since no one has been there. Daddy, I, I just have to go. Daddy, you tell Tom to take us there right now!!"

Angie reached and patted PG's knee, "It'll work out, baby. You'll see, sweetheart."

In time we pulled up in front of our new home, and everyone slowly got out looking, around wondering what will be next. Going over and taking Jack on the side, "What say you and I run down to your old place and look around and see about bringing some stuff back here. But I suppose the first question is where should we set up a place for you, Angie, and PG to sleep. I was thinking maybe setting up something out in the mill for you guys; there's plenty of space there. Will that work?"

"Jack, how far is your old place from here?"

"Well, our old place is down at the end of the road here, oh maybe two miles at best. It's pushed back up against the swamp. Nothing more than a tumbledown shack that we got from LL. Yeah, we need to go and see what we can get from there and to bring up here."

With that, we headed out, going further and further back into the bayous. Out here in the back end of nowhere was the small shack that Jack, Angie, and PG called home for years. As soon as we had stopped and gotten out, the puppy ran up to Jack and barked his hello. Then there were PG's chickens running around the coop. This home had the sounds of life.

Jack was standing out in the yard, almost as if he was lost as he looked around his old home. "Jack? We need to start getting things together here. What should we take out first? Not to worry, we will come back and get everything you want to bring."

He sighed. "All right, Tom, let's do it. Momma got a world of things for her kitchen inside that she will think are vital. She's put up a ton of preserves, so those need to go. I know seeing all that will make her feel better. And, of course, we better bring that puppy along, or there will be no living with PG, and let's round up the chickens. That'll make the first load."

When we pulled into the cottage's front yard, and PG saw her puppy, well, I doubt I have ever seen a young woman more overjoyed. Then again, Angie was beside herself, seeing all of her prized kitchen things in the back of the transporter. The four of us working together got everything out and on the porch. The chickens were set free in the yard, and well, they scattered as the sounds of life rang out around the cottage.

Jack and I went up and down the road going back and forth, gathering everything we could, then bringing everything up to our new home. Angie and PG worked like a pair of whirlwinds, getting things sorted out. Those two even got the beds set up in the mill. Then Jack looked at me, "Tom, I need to make one more trip down there. I am going to burn that nasty place off the face of this earth. That son of a bitch LL doesn't need what we had here."

We got back there just as the sun slipped back into the swamp. I stood out on the road and watched as Tom went down the hidden path leading out into the bayou. Soon a thin wisp of smoke rose in the air; as Jack returned to the Shell Road, the two of us silently watched the smoke roll over the treetops. "OK, let's go. It's going to start raining before long, and we need to get home."

Pulling into the front yard, we were greeted by Caroline calling out. "Jack!! I said, Jack!! You get over and bring that other guy with you too."

That woman was a force of nature, and there was only one to do. Do what she said and do it then. When we got up to the porch, we each had a plate shoved in our hands. The plate had a bun filled to overflowing with pulled pork; on the side was a creamy carrot slaw. Seeing all that, I thought, lady, you are welcome here anytime. Thank you for this. Soon after supper, Caroline went back into town, and a soft, gentle rain set in.

"Angie, we need to put our thinking caps on. Solar Power will be doing their thing tomorrow, so we should be fully up and running by sundown. While that's going on, you need to ride with me and go up to the Supply Store. We need to get a range, frig, and a washer too. We can get a dryer if you need one, but I like having my clothes hung out in the air to dry. And we will need to stop at the grocery store and get stocked up too. What am I missing, ma'am?"

With the next day's plans seemingly in order, I went out to the porch and hung my hammock and promptly fell into it. Laying out here in the softness of the evening breezes coming from the bayou was heavenly. Being out here on the porch gave me a sense of purpose as I looked out toward the mill. Here on the bayou, with these people, well, it just felt right. Sleep was washing over me like the mist that washed up the waters around my new home and slowed the world. For most of the world, peace ruled. Then the puppy came up next to the hammock and started yapping for attention. I reached down and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. I got that wiggling not-so-little fur ball next to me, and the both of us slipped into the mist of sleep.

Dawn found my ears being tickled by what I thought was an angel calling. There was PG softly giggling, "you and that puppy look so peaceful lying there, Tom. It's beautiful seeing that." The puppy was curled up at my feet and had no interest in moving. I had to agree with him; the thing to do now was to enjoy the beginning of a new day.

"Tom? Zeke's here, and he's brought us all breakfast and coffee from Caroline's. And Momma said, if you don't get a move on, she will pour your coffee out and feed breakfast to the chickens."

Looking up from the hammock and seeing her eyes, "PG, you know your Momma is a good woman. But damm, she is a demanding woman." With that, I rolled out and slowly started to move where my nose told me that breakfast was. Only to be stopped in my tracks by the puppy's sharp bark. It was like him saying, hey you, why did you forget me here. Reaching over and getting him on the ground, he happily ran out into the yard, did what he needed to, and then quickly resumed his station under my feet.

Angie looked about as everyone was finishing up breakfast, "all right, Jack, you and Zeke need to get out in the yard and start in on two projects. You need to start getting ready to set the footings for a chicken coop and the post holes dug for the fence around it. And second, see where we should put in a vegetable garden. We need to get that garden in real soon, so there's plenty of fresh veggies for all of us. So what do you two need to make that happen?"