David Robbins - Denver Run

“How is Sherry?” Blade inquired.

“She was injured during the attack,” Hickok informed them. “But she’s okay. Actually,” he said, and lowered his voice so only Blade and Geronimo could overhear, “we’ve been busy making babies.”

Geronimo stopped so abruptly the others almost ran into him. “You’ve been doing what?” he demanded in a loud tone.

Hickok placed his right index finger over his lips. “Shhhh! Not so blamed loud, pard! Do you want the whole world to know?”

Geronimo cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hickok and Sherry are baby-making!” he shouted.

“Shhhhhh!” Hickok frantically motioned for Geronimo to pipe down.

“Beware, world!” Geronimo cried. “I don’t think you’re ready for another Hickok!”

The gunman feigned outraged indignation. “You dang-blasted, mangy, good-for-nothin’ Injun! I should of known better than to tell you! You’re a regular gossip, you know that? The Elders ought to appoint you as our official town crier!”

Blade smiled. Things were back to normal. And, for the first time in months, he felt genuine happiness pervading his soul. This was what it was all about, he told himself. The Home, the Family, his loved ones and friends together, sharing their lives, their joys, and their sorrows, encountering life’s difficulties and emerging from their trials even closer than before.

It didn’t get any better than this.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

A year passed, a time of relative tranquility.

Toland was elected President of the Civilized Zone, and a representative legislature was duly installed. A constitution was drafted insuring everyone their fundamental rights.

The Flathead Indians were freed from their slave labor in the Civilized Zone and returned to Montana. A delegation arrived at the Home and, after considerable soul-searching, Star, the Indian princess, decided to rejoin her tribe. Before leaving, she signed a treaty between the Flatheads and the Home.

Months were required, but eventually the Home was completely rebuilt.

A new drawbridge was installed, only this one was designed to open by swinging outward instead of inward, this enabling the Family to preserve the new bridge.

Joshua, Bertha, Samson, and Gremlin all recovered. Joshua became the undisputed spiritual sage in the Family. Samson again took up his duties as a Warrior. Bertha received the highest honor she could imagine: she was relegated to Warrior status to replace one of the four lost. Three other Warriors were also selected: Sundance, Helen, and Marcus.

By deciphering the Doktor’s four blue notebooks, the Elders discovered the source of the premature senility: the Doktor had poisoned their water supply, the stream, by installing time-released chemical canisters in the stream above the moat. The notebooks detailed the location of the seven canisters, and specified the antidote for the senility.

Plato recovered his vitality and strength and, to Blade’s relief, retained his position as Family Leader.

Both Blade and Hickok became fathers to newborn sons during the course of the year. Hickok assisted in the delivery of his, and Sherry afterward claimed she hardly noticed her labor because she was too busy laughing at Hickok’s antics.

About a year after the siege, the Family, the Civilized Zone, the Clan, the Moles, the Cavalry, and the Flathead Indians held one of their periodic conclaves. The respective heads unanimously agreed the time was propitious for discovering the fate of the rest of the country after World War III. Accordingly, they decided to send an expedition east of the Mississippi to ascertain if the terrifying rumors they had heard were true.

Because of its impervious body and its lethal armament, the SEAL was chosen as the appropriate vehicle. Volunteers were called for, and all of the Warriors offered to go on the mission.

Three were selected.

But that is a tale for another day.