THE DUSTY ROAD part 6

THE DUSTY ROAD……………………………
(the miseries)
In the wheat fields I have wandered now for perhaps three days,,
I have finally found a dusty road that seemed mostly to be

heading east… And I think that perhaps I will be thru these wheat

fields soon,, for there seems to be much more about,,

more trees and farms and,, many more roads that cross my path…
Yes,, she is still with me,, that dog that I found along the road,,

I still have to carry her upon by back,, but she is much more

lively now,, and she has gained some weight,, tho she still has

trouble walking upon that back foot of hers,, so I carry her,,

most of the time…
I decided to call her “Joe”,, why not??,, should someone ask,,

Joe is as fine a name as any other,, at night she just lays by the fire,,

always watching me,, maybe she thinks I’ll leave her someday,,
No,, I’m afraid she’s stuck with me… I’m grateful that I found her,,

she makes a fine companion for this trek along this dusty road,,
not so lonely has it become with Joe around…

Another day did we travel thru the wheat fields and when

we emerged,, we found ourselves among green farmlands,,

with pastures on both sides,, or corn fields and maybe soybeans

I think they were... This must be the first time that Joe has every

seen a cow,, for sometimes she barks a lot when they come

within view,, and I have to settle her down,, cause it’s not too good

for my ears… Each day I examine her leg and clean it,,

it seems to be healing well,, and Joe is now moving around more,,

when we sit by the fire,, she’s trying to walk again…

So it was for Joe and I,, as we trekked thru this pasture land

on this dusty road,, a pleasant enough journey...

At least it was for most of the time… But there were days when

the weather would change suddenly,, and we would be caught in

the open with the thunderstorms pouring rain and sometimes

hail apon us,, there was really nothing we could do,, except seek

shelter under some trees,, or just sit down and brace ourselves

against the wind,, at these times I would put Joe under my coat,,

to try and protect her from getting too cold and wet,,

I don’t think she’s well enough yet,, to be out in that type of weather…

In early August it must have been,, we were caught in the open

without much shelter,, it must of rained for three days straight,,
at least it seemed that way,, it was a miserable time,, the road we

were apon become flooded then we had to trek thru the

muddy fields until finally we found an old silo that we could get

shelter from… Not very good shelter,, for the roof and walls did

let the rain in,, and the floor was a muddy mess,, but at least we

were out of the howling wind…
I was able to get us out up from the mud by stacking some fallen

tiles on the ground,, I used a piece of roofing metal to make a
place to lie…
But for 1 ½ days we were stuck in that silo,, with no way to build

a fire and only cold beans and wet biscuits to eat,, it was not a good

couple of days at all,, a rainy,, soggy mess it was…

When the sun did finally appear and the clouds were gone,,

I again started east down that now muddy road,, and I kept Joe

under my shirt,, I don’t think she’s feeling too good,, all that rain

and dampness must not have been very good for her leg,,

I will have to attend to it soon,, as soon as a dry spot can be found

to stay awhile…
Slogging thru this muddy road is not much fun,, the mud sticks to

my boots and must weight ten pounds each by now,,

the August heat is making things very muggy,, and the flies and

bugs are beginning to be a real bother,, I hope this road dries up soon…

Then I saw it up on the hill there,, an old barn,,

somewhere we could take shelter,, at least for a couple of days

and wait for the road to dry outa little more,, I was tired of all this

mud we were going thru…

This old barn apon the road turned out to be the perfect place for us,,

its roof was still good,, there was dry hay inside, and the rain had

not gotten in too much,, so the floor was mostly dry…
So it was that I decided to stay there awhile,, at least until some

of the mud had dried up,, I quickly made a fire so that we might get
dried off and also to make some stew,, we had not eaten a good meal

in over a week,, it was time for a filling meal…

I unpacked my supplies and took stock of what I had left,,

not too good it was…For I only had 2 cans of beans, some old rice,

and just 1 can of flour,, I had no biscuits,, for I never had time

enough during the night to make them,, due to the rain and the mud,,

I will have to pick up some more supplies at the next town we come too…

I cooked up what was left of the supplies and I made as many

biscuits as I could from the flour that was left,, not very many,,

but we ate them all and all the stew too,, Joe then just laid down

in the hay and slept,, I don’t think she’s feeling very well,,

I have to get a good look at her leg soon…

As Joe slept,, I went about trying to clean my clothes to be rid of

the mud and dirt,, for I am a wanderer,, not some tramp or bum,,

and I like to look the best that I can… I was able to clean them as

best I could in an old metal watering trough beside the barn,,

that was half full of rain water,, I used most of the bar soap I had,,

and then I hung them up along some forgotten line in the barn…
I was completely naked now,, and I’m glad no one was about…
I boiled some water to pour into that trough so I could at least
take half a bath,, I then laid in the sun to dry myself and feel the

warm sunshine… I guess I slept for a while,, because when I awoke
Joe was beside me there… Having given myself a bath,, it was now

time to give Joe one too,, I washed her up in that trough and I used

up what was left of my soap,, and I carefully cleaned her leg…
It wasn’t looking very good,, the wound there was starting to swell

and did look very reddish…

Her leg is not very good,, that wound on it is bad,, I’m no doctor

but I know that something has to be done,, and I doubt that there

are any Vets around,, at least none that I can find,,

I’ll have to do something…I can’t just go cutting her leg off,,

I wouldn’t know what I was doing… Well I bound Joes front feet

up and I tied her mouth shut too,, so that she couldn’t jump about

or bite,, for I had an idea of what I could do,, I boiled some water

and cleaned her leg,, and then I cut away what looked like bad pieces

to me,, and then,, this would be the hardest part,, I placed a red

hot iron on the wound to seal it…
It was all that I could think to do,, Joe as you can imagine didn’t

like any of this,, and I think she must of passed-out or something

from the pain,, then I ripped up one of my skirts and boiled it,,

after it cooled I wrapped her leg with it,, I’m going to have to get

some medicine or something for that leg,, or get her to a Vet,,

wherever that is…

I wasn’t feeling too sure about what I did to Joes leg,, I had read
about it somewhere,, but I still needed to get her some medicine…
So I gathered up my gear and headed down that dusty road,,

hoping to find a town nearby,, and buy provisions and maybe some

medicine and be back before Joe could leave or even die…

On the road I was for only perhaps ½ a day went I came upon a

small group of buildings,, and this dusty road did go straight thru it…

A town I suppose… I went into this town to see what it was there

and to see if I could buy any supplies and medicine for Joe...

This town was almost vacant,, with just a few stores open,,

and a small rundown bar,, I guess it was,, no kind of grocery store

could I see… But there was kind of a country store there,,

where people could buy different things,, I went inside,, to see

what was there,, and inside I found some can food supplies and

some dried meat among the fishing poles,, and I found some salve

for wounds it said,, it was for humans but it was the best I could find,,

and also among the shelves I found some tea,,

earl grey I think it was,, these things would have to do,,

until I could buy some more…

As I left the country store and started to walk back to that

old barn where I had left Joe,, hours before,, three men came out

of what was the town bar and they tried to stop me,, they started

to rough house me a bit,, until the bartender told them to

get out of here,, they listened to him,, for he was a big man,,

they were a little drunk and just showing off…

No harm was done to me,, I thanked the bartender and started

upon that dusty road once more,, I was in a hurry to get back to

that old barn,, and to Joe,, so I quickened my pace,, and within a

short time I saw it on the hill,, and soon I would be there…

Then I heard them,, three men on motorcycles came roaring over

the hill and stopped between me and the barn,, these were the same

three men from outside that bar in town… They must of thought

they could have some more fun with me,, and take what little I had,,

I don’t know why,, I have nothing they could use,, and my money

I keep well hidden as for my credit cards,, I doubt they could

ever find them…

They started to shove me about and demanded my money and
to give them everything that I had in my pack,, now I probably

would have given it to them,, because I knew it was nothing

they wanted,, but then the younger man smacked me in the face

with his fist… This he shouldn’t have done,, for it just made

me angry,, and so I hit him along side of his head with my oaken

walking stick and I kicked the middle one right between the legs,,

and hit him in the head too,, but as I was looking at both of them

on the ground there,, the third biker brought out a knife and tried

to stab me with it…
As we were scrambling about,, Joe coming running out the barn

as fast as she could on three legs and bit him on the leg,,

and she didn’t let go,, he let out a painful scream and then I wacked

him over the head too… Now all three bikers were laying

unconscious on the ground,, with Joe still having a hold of that

guys leg,, I had to yell at her a number of times to let go of it…

Well I guess Joe still has a lot of fight left in her after all,,

she just stood there on three legs wagging her tail and I could swear

she was smiling…Before we left that day,, I put some of the salve

on Joes wound,, then wrapped her leg again with pieces of a

new shirt I had bought at that country store…

When we left,, we passed those bikers still asleep on the ground there…

And to make sure they couldn’t come after us for a while,,

I put some holes in their gas tanks,, and threw in some dirt too,,

then threw their keys as far as I could…
And just for good measure I took all their wallets too…
I think Joe and I will head south,, just for a couple of days……………