#255
"Ma, would you like me to back the Suburban and the bus up to the back door for easier loading?" Milo offered, bravely taking the place as the oldest man on the place. Actually he was terrified that Ma might try to drive, that would put them all in immediate danger.
"Yes please," Clora was so busy prioritizing the removal of important items, that she overlooked the wash of relief that covered Milo's face.
"Put the seats down in the Suburban, and I'm going to have you kids load Dad's important papers in there. Robert and Teddy, you come with me to the office, Benny and Tess, please go up stairs and get the extra pillow cases from the closet. In each room, roll clothes into tight circles and put in the cases, Start with jeans, underwear, socks then shirts. In the second case put shoes and boots and a heavy coat and hat." Clora was ticking off items to do.
"Gary, Lou and Sam, please stay with the triplets until Milo gets the vehicles moved, then we will have you help move items."
"Helga, you get your things ready to move and leave them inside your room. Hopefully the men will get back soon and come help."
Clora knew exactly where Mark's most important boxes were, and set then aside. In first, into the Suburban interior, went the heavy bars and coins of Rhodium. Milo was crouched inside, moving the boxes as the brothers brought them out. Milo made a single layer, and then had to put another layer on top. Next, Clora sent out the weapons from the safe, and the boxes of ammo.
Clora dashed out to see how much room was left, and nodded to Milo. "Good work organizing it so tightly. Stack the next boxes to the roof." she added as she dashed back inside. Boxes of Mark's 'goodies' all had a special symbol on the outside, so they were next. Then as Robert announced they had room for about five or six more of the bankers boxes, Clora sent the boxes of cash and important papers; sweeping the contents of Mark's desk into the one empty box in the room. That box, Milo had to bend the corners to get it pushed into the last space available.
"Good work boys," Clora had all of the older kids go upstairs and bring down the cases filled with clothes. "Open the back door of the bus and stuff them in as tight as possible. Tess you come and help me load the babies stuff."
Like precision, Clora and the kids went through the house and loaded items as they had planned. The smoke and smell of the fire was getting stronger, the wind picking up and raining ash and cinders.
Sending all the boys to the basement to load cases of the canned food into the back three rows of the bus, "get the stews, soups and chili's first, all the canned meat you can," Clora hollered downstairs. She was deviating from the plan, because Mark's pickup was not there to load the food in.
Clora dashed in their room and threw clothes and boots, coats and necessary items into the sheet she removed from their bed. There wasn't time to roll and stuff cases so it was neat and contained.
Because they had thought about and written out a plan, in less than thirty minutes the house of sixteen people was almost ready to move. On top of the cases of food that were bus seat high, Clora had the boys stow all the camping gear. Then they moved the jugs of water. The boys were slowing down because of the weight they were moving, but Clora encouraged then to move steady.
The Griswold, coffee pot and the night's supper were put on the floor behind the front seat, along with the dishes and silverware.
Helga came from her bedroom with cases of clothing and had Milo throw them in on top of the camping gear.
While the boys moved the Surburban and spent precious minutes trying to hook up to the stock trailer; Clora sent Benny with the Kubota to the center of the high school parking lot. Mark had identified the bare, almost acre area, as a meeting place.
"When you get there, run to Aunt Twila's and help her load her van," Clora sent Benny on his way, blessing Mark's strict rule that the tractor always be parked, full of fuel. Robert and Gary she sent to Millie's to help her load, and then they stopped to catch their breath, have water and assess what still needed to be done.
The boys were putting Lady in the front of the trailer, and the two cows and goat in the back. Milo got in the driver's seat, started the Surburban and drove it slowly out of the yard toward the high school.
On the table in the kitchen, Clora nestled the milk pails together along with a strainer and jars. All the additional nice to have items were next. Wrapping the most important rifles in a roll of blankets, Clora has Teddy put them on top of everything in back. The twenty two's and ammo were lined up along the kitchen wall, along with Clora's rifle and ammo.
Not having Mark's pickup there really hampered the amount they could load, but then Clora thought, they might not have it the next time either.
In an hour, they had stripped the house and pantry, and Clora had them start on the shop. Because they had no where to load the boxes of tools, Tess went running for the backhoe and brought it back to the house. In the front bucket they piled the hand tools and what extra they could fit in the empty spaces. Tess took off for the parking area once again, and Clora looked up and said, "we have to go."
The fire was close, less than a block away when the white bus with the three crosses on one side and the picture of Daniel in the lion's den on the other, bucked and snorted out of the yard, headed for the parking lot.
With her cast on, Clora had trouble apply correct pressure to the accelerator pedal, and the bus motor screamed as she floored the heavily laden bus. Wisely, the kids walked, packing the three young ones with them.
Twila and Benny were there when the bus coughed and snorted and stopped with a skidding of brakes. Clora got down out of the bus, and sent the innocent appearing vehicle a very dirty look. They had everything they had room for packed and with them. It had taken an hour, way longer than they had practiced, and troublesome to Clora, until she realized they were down three adults. Herself, Mark and Karl were gone or out of commission. So the children had done a tremendous job.
Millie and her pickup came chugging into the lot, the boys running after. If Millie and Wayne had practiced an evacuation, it didn't look like it by the way items were thrown into the pickup and box. Robert had a tarp and rope under his arm, and the boys went to work covering the open bed.
They were all there, safe and sound. Wayne, Mark and Karl and Ben were missing and the clan there in the parking lot, joined hands and prayed for the men to be safe.