Ichabod Read online

  Jeremiah 23:14

  For the first time in a week, Danny enjoyed eating breakfast at a table like civilized folk. He sat at the large solid oak table with Alisa, Steven, Dana, and Nana, when she wasn’t scurrying back and forth from the kitchen to bring coffee, eggs or biscuits.

  The conversation flowed steadily as they ate. The first order of business was to fill Nana in on the gruesome details of the trip. Danny wished he could avoid the topic all together. It made his heart race to relive the violent accounts of the two attacks in which he’d had to take human life to survive.

  Once that unpleasantness was out of the way, the discussion moved directly to his latest dream. While not quite as upsetting as recounting the journey, he did not relish telling the ugly vision.

  Steven put a hand in the air. “Wait! You didn’t tell me about the cow speaking earlier this morning.”

  Danny shook his head. “I had to go get water for coffee. I didn’t get to finish.”

  Steven crossed his arms. “But you can’t just leave in the middle of a story like that without telling me about the talking cow.”

  Danny rolled his eyes. “Well, now you have the rest of the story. Any idea what Ichabod means?”

  Dana spoke excitedly. “Ichabod. Ichabod Crane. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He was the school teacher who has to run from the headless horseman.”

  Steven shook his head. “I don’t think the cow was talking about Ichabod Crane. Let me grab my Bible, I’ll be right back.”

  “Rest your leg. I’ll get it for you.” Alisa got up and retrieved Steven’s Bible.

  Steven took the book from Alisa when she returned and flipped through the pages. “In First Samuel, chapter 4, the Israelites are facing a battle with the Philistines. The two sons of Eli the priest bring the ark of God into the camp, which represents the very presence and glory of God. The Israelites are sure that they will defeat their enemies, since the ark of God is in the camp, but instead, they are defeated and the ark is captured by the Philistines; and the two sons of Eli are killed in the battle. When the pregnant widow of Phineas, one of Eli’s sons, hears that her husband is dead and the ark has been taken, with her dying breath, she names her son Ichabod. She says, ‘The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.’”

  “Ichabod is Hebrew for no glory. It comes from the root word, kabod, which means glory, abundance and riches. So, Ichabod is basically the absence of all of that.”

  Alisa raised her eyebrows. “That’s a pretty accurate description of America.”

  Steven pursed his lips. “Yeah, but it’s not good. It also represents the presence of God leaving the country as a whole. It would be one thing if all of our tribulation was simply God’s discipline to bring us back to himself, but this sounds like his complete abandonment.”

  Danny asked, “Didn’t the ark eventually come back to Israel?”

  Steven nodded. “Seven months later. It had brought plagues on the Philistines, so they built a cart and sent it back to Israel. Of course, the Israelites didn’t follow the prescription of the law for handling the ark and many of them were killed. This whole episode of the ark being taken and Israel being defeated is a rebuke against the priest class. Eli never disciplined his sons who were desecrating the temple sacrifices by taking the best cuts of meat for themselves before it had been sacrificed. So God took the priesthood from Eli and his sons and handed it over to Samuel.”

  Alisa said, “Pastor Earl told us that he thought what was happening to America was largely because church leaders were being too tolerant of sin. Do you think the same thing that happened to Israel is happening to America, like on a spiritual leadership level?”

  Steven paused for a second. “Yeah, that make sense. Like Eli, they didn’t want to confront sin, so now, all of the guys with the mega churches who were focused on entertaining folks, have had the proverbial priesthood ripped from their hands.”

  Dana looked sad. “But God eventually came back, right? Samuel was a good priest?”

  Steven smiled. “Samuel was a good priest. Israel went through some tough times, being oppressed by the Philistines, but Samuel eventually anointed King David, who ushered in Israel’s golden age.”

  “Then there’s hope for us? For America?” Dana asked.

  Steven nodded. “Eventually, after we’ve repented, there’s hope.”

  Nana pointed to Dana. “But Dena might have a point. A colonel in the War of 1812, was named Ichabod Crane. A lot of miracles happened during that war. We just about lost this country, but the hand of God intervened in several battles.

  “Even if Steven is right about the red cow bein’ an omen of war, God can still work divine wonders to deliver his chosen ones.”

  Nana turned toward Danny. “You sure the cow wasn’t like these on the farm? They’re red. Most of ‘em has that white face, but once in a while, we’ll get one that’s solid red.”

  Danny shook his head. “No, Nana. It wasn’t like a Hereford. It was fire-engine red.”

  “I reckon that sounds about right then. I suppose a war is a comin’. Nick will know what to do when he gets here.”

  “How do you know he’ll make it?” Alisa asked.

  “I just know. I can’t tell you how, I just do. Faith, I guess.” Nana smiled.

  Danny spun his coffee cup on the saucer as he thought. “Nick thinks the Russians or the Chinese might invade after enough time has passed for most of the American population to die off.”

  Steven’s voice was nervous. “How could we possibly stand against the Russians or the Chinese?”

  Danny shrugged. “The Afghan guerrillas did it. They fought the Russians for years and finally drove them out of the country.”

  “Yeah, with help from the CIA.” Steven tittered. “If we can get a shipment of shoulder-fired rockets like the Mujahideen, we might have a chance. Unfortunately, the CIA is out of commission.”

  Alisa faked a smile. “On the bright side, we have to survive the winter before an invasion can even become a problem.”

  Danny took her hand. “We’ll make it.”

  Dana held Puddin’ in her lap and stroked the cat gently. “I have an announcement to make.”

  Nana shook her head. “You best not be fixin’ to tell me that animal is pregnant. There’s a limit to my hospitality.”

  “No, Nana. Puddin’ is spayed.” Dana giggled. “Last night, I prayed to ask Jesus into my heart. God kept his end of the bargain and gave us a miracle to save Steven, so I kept my end of the deal.”

  “Praise Jesus!” Nana threw her arms in the air.

  “Congratulations!” Alisa got up from her chair and hugged Dana.

  Steven pursed his lips. “You know, it’s not a trade-off. God isn’t a magic genie in a bottle. And I hope this is something you genuinely want to do . . .”

  “What do you mean?” Dana furrowed her brow.

  “I’m saying, I hope you aren’t just doing this for me.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Steven!” Dana got up from the table and stormed off to the other room with Puddin’ in her arms.

  “Good job, Steven. Couldn’t you just be happy for her? Everything isn’t about you.” Alisa patted Steven on the shoulder and followed Dana out of the dining room.

  Nana passed the biscuits to Danny. “Eat another biscuit, Daniel.”

  Danny took a biscuit and did as he was told.

  Steven slumped down in his chair. “I goofed that up.”

  Danny just nodded as he put some jelly on his biscuit.

  Nana said, “At some point in my marriage to Howard, I figured out when it was best to keep my mouth shut.”

  Steven sat with his arms crossed. “Thanks, Nana. But I doubt Dana and I will ever be married.”

  “Keep talking to her like that and you sure won’t.” Nana got up from the table and cleared the dishes.

  Danny cleared the rest of the dishes and followed her to the kitchen. Nana used water from the bucket Danny had filled earlier to fill a wash
pan in the sink. She washed the dishes and Danny dried them.

  “We’ll commence meetin’ here on Sundays.” Nana handed a plate to Danny to dry. “Why don’t you ask Steven if he’ll put together a sermon?”

  Danny dried the plate and put it in the cupboard. “Steven knows the Bible. He’s certainly been a believer longer than me, but do you think he’s qualified to be a preacher? You can see that he sort of drops the ball from time to time.”

  “That don’t matter none. The Lord knows what he’s doin’. If we didn’t let nobody lead a meetin’ lest they was perfect, we’d a been waitin’ more than two thousand years without no preachers on this earth.”

  Danny laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Besides, it’s his callin’. And it might be the thing that gets him to behave like a man and quit actin’ like a child.”

  “How many people will it be?” Danny asked.

  “There was about eight or ten of us meetin’ here, regular for Bible study. I’d imagine they’ll be here, plus a few more. Folks might have a little more time for the Lord now that they ain’t got a mess of distractions.”

  “Might get tight if you have more than ten people in the living room.”

  “Then we’ll meet in the barn,” Nana said matter-of-factly.

  After the dishes were finished, Danny and Alisa walked down to the barn. Rusty, the farm dog, followed close behind. They needed to throw out some hay for the cattle, as the ground was still covered with ice and snow.

  Alisa climbed the ladder into the loft. Danny took two biscuits out of his pocket for Rusty to eat while he waited, then ascended the ladder.

  “You look a little preoccupied. Are you okay?”

  Danny cut the string on the bale and began pulling the hay apart to toss to the cattle below. “Yeah. The barn, it looks just like it did in the dream. It’s spooky. And then there’s the impending war, I’m not looking forward to that.”

  Alisa helped him toss another clump of hay over the ledge. “Maybe it won’t affect us.”

  “It will affect us. You interpreted the dream. You specifically said it will affect us.”

  “I know; I was just trying to make you feel better.”

  “Thanks.” Danny couldn’t help but smile at the quirkily honest statement. He was grateful for the pleasant distraction that his new wife provided.

  “Did you ask Nana about these plastic bins up here?”

  “Never got around to it. I’ll ask her when we get back.”

  Once enough hay had been dispensed for all the cattle to have some, they descended the ladder. Rusty seemed anxious for them to return and quickly led the way out the barn door.

  Danny followed him around the back of the barn where the RV was parked. “I think he has the scent of some animal. Come on.”

  “We should have brought a gun. It might be something we can eat.” Alisa scampered to catch up.

  “It might be a groundhog. Would you eat groundhog?”

  “Does it taste like regular hog?”

  “I doubt it. Groundhog is closer to a rat than a pig.”

  “Eww! Rusty will probably eat it though.”

  “Look, behind the RV, a metal shed. Nick must have bought it. I knew they were bringing more stuff, but there’s plenty of room in the barn. I wonder why he went through the trouble of buying this.”

  “We’re not finding out today.” Alisa checked the lock to make sure it wasn’t just dummy locked. “Any chance it could be an EMP shield?”

  “Maybe. They might have some electronics in here. It’s way too small for a vehicle.”

  “I hope he’s got a boatload of batteries in there. Electronics won’t be much good otherwise.”

  “I guess we’ll know soon enough. Let’s head back to the house.” Danny patted his leg for Rusty to follow.

  “Are you as sure as Nana is about Nick and Cami making it back?”

  Danny sighed. “I’m not going to let myself start worrying. That won’t do any good at all. But to answer your question, probably not.”

  When they arrived at the house, they found Dana in the back by the chicken coop.

  She held an old plastic whipped cream container. “Look! I found eleven eggs!”

  “Good job!” Alisa said.

  Danny looked at the selection of eggs in varying shades of white and brown. “The chickens did most of the heavy lifting on that one, but thanks for helping out.”

  “And, I fed the chickens.” Dana gloated. “I also fed the rabbits and named them all.”

  Danny knuckled his forehead. “That might not be the best idea.”

  “And why not?” Dana was visibly incensed.

  He couldn’t believe she didn’t know. “Because, we’re going to eat them.”

  Dana handed the eggs to Alisa and covered her mouth. “No! Danny! Are you kidding me?”

  “That’s what they’re here for. You’re from the mountains, you never ate rabbit?”

  “No! I’ve heard of people hunting them, but people don’t eat pet rabbits!”

  “We do.” Danny led the way back in the house.

  Dana followed close behind. “Well, I won’t!”

  Danny walked into the living room and placed two more logs in the potbelly stove. “What about pet cows? Do you plan on eating them? You’re going to be awful skinny if you don’t eat pet cows.”

  “That’s different.”

  “Because they’re not as cute?” Alisa asked.

  “Cows are cute.” Dana pouted. “But not as cute as rabbits.”

  Alisa winked at Danny. “You can’t dispute the logic. It’s rock solid.”

  Danny shook his head and plopped down on the easy chair to rest.

  Nana brought a pot of soup into the living room to simmer on the potbelly stove. “We have to conserve the gas as long as we can. When it’s gone, it’s gone. And ain’t nobody gonna want a fire in this stove, come summer.”

  Steven sat silently on the couch, studying his Bible with notebook in hand, trying to put together a message for the coming Sunday.

  After a short rest, Danny and Alisa took advantage of the remaining daylight to go through the clothing and personal items they had brought out to Nana’s over the previous weeks. They worked on getting everything organized and Alisa picked out some clothes to give to Dana, since she had next to nothing. Dana was very appreciative and put the donated clothes away in the second guest room.

  CHAPTER 4

  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

  Joel 1:4

  Friday morning after breakfast, Danny helped Steven hobble back to the couch. “I’m going to construct some crutches for you to get around on.”

  “I appreciate it. Sorry I’m such a bother.”

  “Steven, you saved that kid’s life. Letting us help you while you’re on the mend allows us to share in the blessing, right?”

  “I guess so.”

  “No, you know so.” Danny winked and gave Steven an encouraging smile. “Now let’s get these bandages changed out.”

  Alisa and Dana walked into the living room zipping up their coats.

  Alisa wrapped a scarf around her neck. “We’re going to feed the cows, chickens and rabbits. Be right back.”

  “Don’t forget to check for eggs.” Danny was already unwrapping Steven’s bandages so he didn’t look up.

  “I already thought of that.” Dana held up the large plastic whipped cream container then followed Alisa out the door.

  Nana walked in the room with a dish pan of warm water, a towel and a bottle of iodine. “How’s that leg lookin’? Reckon we’ll have to take it off?”

  Danny looked at Steven who was not at all amused by the comment. He fought back a grin. “No, Nana. His leg actually looks like it’s healing quite nicely.”

  Nana slid the ottoman over to sit on as she cleaned the wound. “Yeah, it do
es, doesn’t it?”

  Minutes later, Steven’s leg had fresh bandages. “Thank you both. I really appreciate it.”

  “Glad to help.” Nana collected the towels and iodine in the wash pan.

  A scream shot out in the distance.

  “That was Alisa!” Danny jumped up.

  Steven pointed at his shotgun next to the couch. “Take my gun. It’s loaded. Go!”

  Danny grabbed the gun but didn’t bother with a coat. He bolted out the door and toward the barn. Alisa, Dana and Rusty were running in his direction and they soon met up.

  Danny put his hand on Alisa’s shoulder. “What happened?”

  “The cow, it’s dead!” she replied.

  Dana walked behind Danny and turned to face the barn. “It was awful. The cow’s legs are gone.”

  Rusty barked as if to give his account of the scene as well.

  Danny’s first thought was that this was another dream. A cow with no legs, it sounded like some type of allegory, perhaps it spoke to the fact that no one had any mobility because most of the cars had been taken out by the EMP. But in every other vision, the second he realized he was dreaming, the nightmare would intensify. Not this time, he could tell this was really happening.

  “Let’s go check it out. I have to find out what’s going on.” Danny led the way with Rusty bravely at his side.

  Alisa and Dana trailed behind reluctantly.

  As he walked around the corner of the barn, he saw it. The poor beast lying there with no front nor hind legs. The back legs had been taken off at the hip joints. The front legs were removed just below the joints. The strangeness of the abhorrent image before him was certainly on par with the grisly appearances of his dreams of late, but he knew this was real life.

  Danny looked, but saw no bullet wounds. “I doubt it would have died if it had been shot in one of the missing legs. But somehow, I suspect poachers are responsible for this.”

  “Could the bullet hole be on the other side?” Dana asked.

  “Maybe, but I would guess most guns large enough to take down a cow would go straight through.” Danny walked around, inspecting the deceased bovine from every angle.