Original Work Barry The Fairy.

Walking up the trail and around the bend Barry searched for a place to stash the money and weapons. Finding a good place between two trees he placed his loot inside and rolled a good sized rock over the top to hide the evidence. Then, he dragged several juniper deadfall’s into a clear area and began breaking down the dry limbs and twigs. First he build a good solid bed of dried grass, then twigs, and finally some small limbs. The rest of the material he broke down according to size and left three piles of flammable wood. Once completed, he picked up his rifle and pack then headed towards where he had left the woman and her children.

Arriving at the location he found no one there. Damn, they done run off! Can’t blame them though considering the events and gunfire. He thought. Knowing he had to find them before the narcos or police did, Barry began looking around for some sign of what direction they had taken. He quickly found their trail from all the disturbed rocks, crushed grass, and broken twigs. Like rat s—t in a sugar bowl! He thought grimly. Barry had followed their trail no more than 50 yds when the terrified woman stepped out from behind a small clump of oak saplings. “Oh thank God it is you! I wasn’t sure who would be coming after us so I moved the children into a denser grove of threes right over there.” She said pointing out the direction. “And where is my husband?” She asked with a direct stare.

“Ma’am I wish I had some good news for you, but I don’t. Your husband died a brave man trying to save you and the kids but he didn’t make it. “ Barry explained. He couldn’t tell if she was buying the story or not, but hoped she would since people always want to believe the best of their family even though the evidence was seldom there. She stood there for a moment then looked Barry in the eye and asked; “Did he? Lance never was the brave type. Always thinking of himself and others be damned, that’s what got us into this mess. He was a handsome man, but as my father said on many occasion, he was worthless.” She compleated. “I’d like to see him one last time.”

“I’m sorry Ma,am but there is no time. We have to go now. With all the shooting, some of it from assault rifles, the area will soon be occupied by cops and narcos. You don’t want either one of them to find you. One will kill your kids, and the other will take them into CPS and it will be a while if ever, before you see them again. We have to move now. Do you have people around here, or is there a safe place for you where they don’t know you maybe?” Asked Barry.

“We don’t know anyone around here, Lance was trying to get a new start, he did that a lot. My family is too far away from here, so I don’t really know where we could go.” She concluded.

“Where is home? Where is your family?”

“Ponca City Okla.” came the reply.

“That’s a bit over two hundred miles from here. I can’t take you there, but I can get you there. There is a town about fifty miles up the highway that has a nice motel, and a Wal-Mart across the street. I can leave you there with enough money to get cleaned up, get new clothes and a bus tickets back home. You can say Lance deserted you a couple of towns back and it took you a while to get enough money to get back home. Of course you’re gonna have to find a way to deal with your kids and their memories of today’s events. It won’t be easy, but it will beat your other options, which amount to nothing.” Said Barry.

She looked suspiciously at Barry for a moment, then her eyes hardened and she opened her mouth to say something.

Barry jumped in with: “I know you don’t know me, and have no reason to trust me, but you’ve gotta remember that I saved your lives when I could have, and probably should have just walked away. No body but me would have ever known. If you don’t want any help outa this mess, you’re not gonna have to take any from me. I can’t afford to be caught here, and neither can you. With or without y’all, I’m leaving here pronto, so make up your mind.” Barry said softly but firmly.

“You’d just leave us here?” She asked.

“I can’t save you from yourself, and I’m not gonna try. Just tell me what you want and we will be done with it.”

“How much can you afford, and what will it cost me?” She asked.

“I took a bunch of money off those narcos, so it will be quite a lot, and it won’t cost you anything. All I want is for you to get those kids to safety, quit running with white-trash, go to church, and live a decent life for the kids. I realize that is a lot to ask, but you should still try.” He finished sarcastically.

Cut to the core the woman sagged on her feet ashamed to look at Barry.

“OK, let’s go.” she said.

Barry deposited the family near the road then went back to his prepared burn site. Placing the drugs and the husband’s wallet on top of the tender pile, then he began to pile the smaller then larger wood on top of the drugs until all the wood was in position. Using the butane lighter he carried, Barry set fire to the pile and stepped back. It was a windless day, so there was no fear of the poisonous cloud being carried toward and people. Birds would suffer, but what could he do? Seeing that the fire was going to catch well, Barry turned on his heel and began the walk back to his cashe thinking “Bet this is the most expensive fire I’ll ever start.” With a laugh.

The End

 

The End? What about a little romance? Barry, her, the kids, and all that money? Shake-and-Bake family or at least a quicky.

 

Sorry, I am no good at writing romance. Won’t write about sex. Barry just wants to get out of the area without any baggage. He moves to a small place near Trinidad Colorado where he mostly hunts, fishes, and makes several million buying and selling oil on the internet. He will be a quiet old man that comes to town every now and then. No one will know anything about his past.

I might bring him back for more shooting though.

 

I'll take what I can get!