Read Renewal 6 - Cold for Free Online Page B

If that doesn’t do it, tell them the best way to guarantee the help they need is if we owe them a favor.”
     
    Chapter 6 - 11
    With new winter gear, Dad was able to stay out longer with Arturo and Kirk. They spent the next few days gathering up everything they could lay their hands on, starting with the building supplies. They siphoned the gas out of vehicles scattered around Manchester as they went. By the time they were done, there were materials and gear stacked all over the barn, on top of the firewood, in the drying racks, outside under the lean-to, everywhere except the stalls. New tarps were nailed over the hay bales around the barn, and over any supplies that needed to be outside. Almost as soon as the tarps were in place, they became as hard as glass. There was still no snow, but the rapid changes in temperature and extreme cold were building a permanent layer of frost over everything outside.
    I was put in charge of keeping the well pump fire tended during the day. I fed a steady stream of wood into the blaze, and shoveled the ashes away at least once every afternoon. The week before, my every thought was about firewood. This week, it was about that particular fire. The one thing I learned was that our incredible supply of firewood was not nearly enough. Somehow, we would be back out for more. Mom tried to assign Juannie to the woodstove inside. Dad had quickly attached a long piece of flue pipe to both of the stoves. The smoke exhausted into the upper reaches of the barn, and was quickly whisked away on the wind. Juannie neglected the stove, of course, and forced two cold starts in two days. That’s when I was put on double fire duty. It seemed like all I did was walk back and forth with an armful of split wood. In any case, the barn stayed above freezing for the most part, and the water continued to flow.
    Mr. Carroll was careful to come out at least a couple of times a day. He would thank me like I was the real hero of the operation, and he would offer to help. I always told him I had it covered, and he always told me I was the first eleven-year-old he had ever met with my determination and responsibility. I thought the job was pure drudgery but still better than running into town for supplies. By then, I understood what kind of danger was in the world.
    When the supply runs were complete, Dad switched to construction mode. He had a quiet talk with Mom, and made some changes in the roster. Juannie was put on daycare, and responded in a way that made us wonder if she even liked children. Lucy got my fire duty after we spent a morning working the fires together. Mom was still organizing the new supplies, and almost cried for joy when she found a new pile of food underneath some plywood that had been hastily leaned against one of the barn poles.
    “David, where did you find this?” she asked.
    “There was a little grocery store out on the Woodbury Highway. Bars on the windows and no one in sight. We yanked the bars with the station wagon and dumped everything out the window. We got everything. There’s another pile over there,” Dad said, pointing to the dark area behind the stalls.
    “That’s terrific! I didn’t expect you to find any food.”
    “We didn’t either, but we figured it was worth a look. One less possum for supper...” Dad said wryly.
    Dad, Arturo, and George went to work on the shelters outside while Kirk and I got a job that made me miss fire patrol. We got to dig. Dad told us to start at the front stall, and to dig each stall at least five feet deep. We were to use the wheelbarrow to pack the excess dirt between the round bales outside. Mr. Carroll had pushed the bales tightly together, but there were still plenty of gaps for the cold to seep through. Dad also made sure that we understood not to undermine the stall supports, and showed us where he thought it would be safe to dig. Before we could even begin, we had to move a great deal of firewood and salvage to make paths to the