A Love as Steady as Stone

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 9: Neighbors

Work never really stopped, but already Aaron could see the improvement on the town itself. Multiple buildings were repaired, their plumbing now working, and they had managed to restore electricity to them by using the solar panels. There was just massive evidence that things were working out. He looked over at Limestone who was working installing a countertop in the house they were currently working in. The home was a nice enough one, a bit small, but certainly a decent enough home.

He had finished replacing some of the flooring where it had begun to develop soft spots and rott through. Standing in the doorway, watching her, he could see the way her muscles worked. She had removed her shirt, and he could see her bare back as she finished fitting the countertop onto the counter she was working with. The top itself had been made there in the house. Plywood, a few sheets of vinyl, and she had crafted a professional looking countertop. He liked the color scheme she had gone with. The vinyl was a rich green, and she had somehow managed to find a few strips of gold colored vinyl as well. She had taken those strips of gold and managed to make two eighth inch running stips that ran down the countertop. He walked up behind her, seeing her relaxing for a moment, and he wrapped his arms around her.

She tensed for a moment, but only a moment, before she relaxed.

“Finished with the floor?” she asked.

He grinned, “All done. I even managed to get carpet down in the rooms that had it, and I saved the linoleum that was in the hall. It’s been mopped, cleaned, and should be good to go,” he said as he held her, “Looks like the countertop is done.”

She nodded, “Just finished.”

She felt his hand as he held her, his lips kissing the back of her neck, and despite the fact there was so much more work to do she was okay with what seemed to be coming. She began to strip when they heard someone walking into the house. He backed up, allowing her to grab her shirt, which she pulled over her head, and they walked toward the sound. There was Igneous, but beside him was a couple of people he’d never seen before.

“Dad, who’s this?” Limestone asked.

Igneous smiled, “Verily, we were visited, and questioned unto if perhaps there was room for those weary of traveling to stop and stay.”

Aaron smiled, walked forward, and looked at both the man and woman. She was African American, barely five foot, and perhaps a hundred pounds if she was soaking wet. The man was caucasian, well over six foot, but like her he looked as if he’d missed meals. He studied them for a moment and then nodded.

“We’re opening the town up to residences, and if you want to come in and take a seat I’ll explain the rules, what’s going on, and you can decide if you want to settle her or not.”

They both nodded, walked in, with Igneous behind them, and they walked toward the kitchen table. The chairs were all repaired, thanks to Limestone, and they took a seat around the old table. Aaron smiled and looked at both of them, “So, this is was, and is going to be again, a mining town, but we need more than miners. We need people that know a trade, artisans, laborers, and pretty much the full nine yards. Those that agree to move in and agree to work will receive a home of their own. The thing I ask everyone to do is to work toward making the town better,” he looked at them, “I mean actually work toward it. I want to see this place become something worth having. I want to have people move in, and know that by living here they have a shot at more than just surviving.”

The woman looked at him, “I’m a cook,” she said, “I worked as a baker, and I’ve worked in a frying kitchen, so I’ve got a few years of experience in that.”

The man looked at him, “I’m a carpenter. I can build counters, shelves, doorways, even houses if needed.”

He nodded at them both, “Both of those skills could be used here. Would you both be against working with us to repair more of the houses, the buildings, and get them prepared for more individuals?”

The man shook his head, “I think we’d be fine with that, and in return we get our own place? Do we have to share it?”

Aaron smiled, “No, you get to have it to yourself. It’ll be your home for as long as you stay here.”

The woman looked excited, her brown eyes practically twinkled with excitement, “We’re going to say yes, right Bob?”

He nodded, “We’re tired, and to be honest we’ve been traveling for days. Those folks that met us, the Equestrians, were kind enough to feed us, and our kids, and give us some water,” he looked at the ground, “We…”

She touched his arm and smiled, “We’ve managed to get away from a corporate farm. Bob found a backdoor to the system that charged us, and I’m not proud of it, but he exploited it.”

He nodded, “I know it wasn’t right, but they were working us to death. The same with our kids, and when I found that open system I just got in there and erased all of our debt due to the rent, rental of equipment, and rental of clothes. I then applied all of the money we had made toward our debt that we had originally with the hospital and it cleared it up,” he looked at the floor, “The computer disabled our tracking bracelets, and we just left.”

Aaron touched his hand, “Well, you’re somewhere safe here,” he said, “And like I said, our offer still stands, but know that we’re not going to be renting everything to you like they did.”

Limestone looked at them, “No, you keep what you earn. You’ll be expected to work, but what you earn in return is a home, a life, and a place where neighbors watch out for each other.”

Both of them seemed to nod, and then Aaron stretched out his hand. A handshake was made, and then he grinned at them, “We’ll do the paperwork tonight, but welcome to Foreman’s Field.”

Both of them smiled at him, and then they looked at Limestone, “Do you both feel up to starting today?”

Bob nodded, as did the woman.

“Good, we’re getting ready to paint this house, check the roof, and then we’re moving over to that store and going to see what needs to be done with it,” she looked at the woman beside Bob, “I didn’t catch your name,” she said.

The woman smiled, “I’m Anna. Anna Paulson.”

Limestone nodded, “Very well Anna Paulson, if you both feel up to it then as I said we’re going to continue to work. Bob can help us with this home, and the store, and if you don’t mind to follow my dad back to the hotel I’m sure that my mom could use your help in the kitchen.”

She nodded, “Sounds good,” and with that she got up.

Both her and Bob kissed before she followed Igneous out of the home. Bob followed them outside and watched as a ladder was set up beside the house. He followed Aaron up to the roof, and together they looked at the room that was in remarkable shape. Someone had used sheet metal to cover the roof, and their decision had made the roof itself last far longer.

“Well, this certainly is good news,” Aaron said.

Bob nodded, “No kidding,” he said as he walked the roof, “It looks like you’re really only going to have to check the areas where the vent for the furnace is poking through. Although it looks pretty good.”

Aaron walked toward him and looked at the section where the vent was located. Like Bob said it looked to be in good shape. He was surprised at how well preserved it actually was. Seeing that it seemed to be in decent shape the two of them crawled off of the roof and met Limestone at the bottom of the ladder. She was holding it for them, and then she lifted two buckets of paint. Aaron nodded, grabbed a bucket, and found a paint tray, a roller, and selected a section of the house. Most of the paint had long since faded. They had already cleaned the outside of it, and what they were doing was more touch up work than anything else.

He watched as Bob and Limestone joined him. Together they began painting the old house. An hour passed, then two, and finally after six hours the house was repainted. It had been a lot of work for the three of them, but it was well worth it. Limestone wiped her brow, and then looked across the street. The store was one they had already been inside of a few times. They had found a few sets of clothes, some tools, and some dried goods. Originally it had been some kind of small general store, something called a Dollar General, but in truth it reminded her of a discount store like Barnyard Bargains.

They walked into the store, and she noticed that for the most part there didn’t seem to be any water damage. That meant that there were no obvious leaks. From there the three of them began to check on the building itself, and over the course of the next four hours they had repaired shelving, replaced sections of sheetrock that had cracked or collapsed, and even began pulling the boards off of the windows. When they were done the store looked as if it could be store again. They walked outside and Aaron began the process of pulling down the sign over the building.

“What are you doing?” Limestone asked.

He looked at her, “Well, Dollar General still exists, kind of, but the building is ours. I’d rather for a local to open their own store, and not have to worry about a larger corporation coming in and trying to claim that their goods, and services, was theirs.”

She nodded, “Okay, that makes sense.”

The sky was getting darker, and the three of them walked toward the hotel. Both Aaron and Limestone had decided against using the truck today, mostly because they already had the materials they needed at the house, due to using the truck before. Instead they made their trek back only to hear the thunder in the distance. Aaron looked at Limestone, and he could see the fear slowly making its way back to her. He stepped closer to her, took her hand, and he felt her grasp it willingly. They made it back stepped inside, and no sooner had they entered the hotel than the storm started.

Thunder and lighting struck outside, and the sound of rain poured down overhead. The storm was another wild storm, another howler, but they were safe inside of the hotel itself.