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the kitchen and had lunch with us.  He was having a tough time of it but when I asked he told me that he had indeed went in to the doctor and it was only twisted and not broken.  Though it would still be painful and take awhile to mend enough so he could work.
    We all talked through the big lunch and when done I went back out and got back to work.  I worked most of the afternoon and things were mostly caught up.  At least what was the most important anyway.  I collected Beth and told Patty that I would come back in a couple days and do some more and to keep Jack from over doing anything with that bum leg.  Patty thanked me again and Beth and I left and pedaled back home.  It had been a good day.  When I went to take the honey out of the backpack I found that Patty had put in two dozen eggs for us.
    Beth was happy meeting some of our neighbors and making new friends.  She was anxious for us to go back over to help Patty and Jack.  We spent the next day out foraging and managed to pick a few more late apples from the nearby vacant places.  Through the years many of the small farms had been bought out by large commercial farms and often the houses and buildings had just been razed.
    The following day we went back over to help Jack and Patty.  Again I worked most of the day over there.  Jack’s accident had happened at good time for me because our garden was about all done now so I did have a little spare time.  The weather was cooling some and soon I would start putting up some additional firewood.  I had quite a large supply of firewood already stockpiled at the farm but I would continue to add to it.
    The next day at the farm we got our first beggar.  It was a man and a woman with one small child.  I knew this day was coming where beggars would show up.  I had told Beth that we would get beggars and the best thing would be to just send them away with no food.  I knew Beth would never go for that.
    This time Beth made up a bag of food and gave it to the family of three.  The small family had almost nothing.  The food we gave to them was just items that did not need to be cooked because when they had left their home they took their clothes and blankets but failed to bring any pots to cook with.  Idiots.  I knew they would never survive and the food we gave them was just a waste.  When they received the food they thanked us and moved on.  Two days later more beggars showed up.
    This time it was a loose mixed group.  All adults and no children.  Beth and I met them together and one man that was maybe their leader stepped forward to speak.
    “We need food and water.”
    No please.  Just a demand.
    “We have clean water we can give you if you have containers.  No food.”
    “We need both food and water and most of us have no way to carry any water.”
    “Well those with water containers can fill them here and then you can move on.”
    “I know you have plenty of supplies.  Give us what we need.”
    I made a show of loosening the big revolver in my holster but made no further comment.
    “I said give us what we need or I will gather another dozen people and we will come back and take everything you have.”
    I stood still and quiet for a moment then made a reasonably fast draw and shot the man in the chest.
    “Anyone else want to threaten me and my family?”
    The rest of the group turned and ran as a group back the way they came.  I turned to Beth who had never spoken a word through the exchange.
    “I will not abide any threats.  And demands will get nothing from me.  I’m sorry you had to witness this.”
    “But you just shot him.”
    “He made a very serious and plausible threat against us.  It would have been folly to allow him to leave and carry out that threat later.  Me, doing nothing now could easily have led to our deaths later.”
    “I’ll have to think on this.  I can understand your thinking and these times are obviously different from the ordered world we used to live in.