Glenn Beck - The Eye of Moloch

Noah took a deep breath, and then said, “Okay.”

Pierce’s man nodded and smiled, backed up a few steps with his eyes on the guns, gave Virginia Ward a good long look, up and down, and then turned and walked away toward the tree line.

The three of them went to the door to watch this stranger until he’d disappeared into the woods. During this time the dog came up next to them and sat there, close to Noah’s side.

“What did you just do?” Hollis asked.

Virginia answered for him. “He did what he had to.”

“There might be a hundred more of his men out there right now,” Noah said. “As of today the only defense we’ve got is you two, and anybody else here that can handle a gun.”

“That’s just about everybody,” Hollis said. He’d stepped to the side window to scan the rest of their surroundings. “These aren’t city people here, and they’re ready to fight for what’s theirs—”

“Well, I’m not quite ready for another war today,” Noah said. “Tomorrow, maybe, but not today. You heard him, it’s a truce, not an alliance. It’s never going to be that, but I’m not going to get us all killed before we even get started. Now come on, let’s sit down. I need some help to think this through.”

They all took their seats, with Hollis and Virginia across from him at the table.

Of course, he knew what Molly would have done. She would have stood her ground no matter the cost rather than make any sort of a deal with the devil. But Molly was gone, and if seeing things only in purest black-and-white had killed her, then purity be damned. And as he thought about it, he’d realized what he owed her. For a lot of his life he’d had no direction, but now he found he wanted more than anything to see her work and her vision for the country survive. If getting there meant getting his hands a little dirty for the greater good, maybe he’d just have to accept that.

Virginia Ward reached across the table and patted his arm.

“Welcome to politics,” she said.

• • •

Noah called a meeting of all the residents, including the brand-new ones and the surviving Founders’ Keepers, to be held that evening at the central hall. He’d asked Lana and Tyler to find a way to stream a live video of the proceedings; there was apparently quite a growing audience out there, in this nation and in others around the world, waiting to see and hear what would be next.

That night, when the fireplaces were lit to warm the place and they’d all been gathered together, he stood up and assured them that he didn’t plan to speak for very long. There was much work and planning to be done, but that evening wasn’t the time.

On the upcoming Sunday there would be a memorial service, he told them, for Molly and the other loved ones who’d been lost. Soon a monument would be erected on these grounds for a more permanent remembrance of their sacrifice, a place where all could visit and honor those who’d fought and died to keep them free.

As for the future, his message was simple: the battle would go on, but there was going to be a change.

“There’ll be no more time wasted,” Noah said, “in trying to convince people who refuse to get the message. That’s over now; I’m pulling up the gangplanks. We’ve lost too much already trying to wake people up who won’t even be bothered to think for themselves. From this point on it’s not going to be about what we say, but what we do.

“So, to all of you out there who can see me or hear my voice, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to found this country again, starting right here. This place is where the future begins, and if you’re really up to the challenge, you’re welcome to come here and roll up your sleeves and be a part of it. We’re small now, like a pebble dropped into calm water, but what we build and what we become will spread out from here, and grow.

“And to our enemies, I’ve only got this to say. You can do your worst, and I’m sure that you will, but mark my words: Liberty is not going to end here—not in my generation.

“This piece of ground is where we stand. We’re going to give everyone here and everyone out there something to work for, and fight for, and hope for. We’re going to give these children a free land to inherit and pass on. And I know that in these times, with all the damage that’s been done, that may sound like a grand ambition. But when it comes to aiming high, believe me, I learned from the best.

“Moving forward, we’ll each do what we can. For my part, I’m not much of a hand with tools or farming or any other practical skill, but I’m not completely useless. To protect you and represent you, I might someday have to go and run for office, maybe to serve in the capitol down in Cheyenne. Someday after that I might even have to hold my nose and travel to Washington, D.C., if any shred of a constitutional government is still standing there by then.

“But all that’s in the future. For now, we have some new resources that will help sustain us through these early days, and we also have new friends who’ll do the same.

“I want to welcome all of you. It’s not going to be easy, but I doubt any one of you would really expect it to be. You know, as I do, that our rewards will only come from the trials of the struggle ahead.”

Noah looked around at all the faces before him and it occurred to him then that he should stop now, and take his own good advice. There’d been more than enough said already; it was time to begin to do. With a few closing words the meeting was over and he bid them all good night.

• • •

Despite what Hollis had said about him, that dog seemed to have taken an immediate shine to his new roommate. On Noah’s walk home the animal emerged silently from some hunting expedition in the nearby woods and sauntered up beside him, and then stayed with him all along the way.

When he was almost to the cabin, Noah paused at a great granite stone that had been hauled up and placed to the side of the main trail. The dog sat beside him, and waited.

This was the stone that would serve as the basis of the monument he’d mentioned to the crowd. It was still quite rough from the quarry and would take a great deal of work and polish before it was done. But when it was completed, it would no doubt still be standing with its message for a thousand years to come.

A stencil had been perfectly hand-lettered and taped in place to serve as a guide for the stonecutter’s chisel. Noah read over the closing words there, and when he was finished he read them once again, aloud.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:

’tis dearness only that gives everything its value.

Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed

if so celestial an article as freedom

should not be highly rated.

There weren’t going to be any names carved on this memorial stone. There would be far too many, and too many more were still to come. This fight had been going on since the dawn of man and it certainly showed no signs of ending anytime soon.

He took it slow along the path as he walked the rest of the way, and when he reached the cabin he found his friend there, already tending to some minor maintenance around the hearth.

“Nice speech,” Hollis said.

“Thanks. Hey, I need your help with something. Probably you and Lana and Tyler.”

“Just name it.”

“Back in Colorado, Ira Gershon gave me a little radio to listen to, something Molly’s people—” He stopped himself. “Something our people used to stay in touch in that prison. It was just some wires and a few pieces cobbled together; it didn’t even need a battery. I wish I could show it to you but I had to leave it behind.”