The Journal of Madie Beartri

Journal 52

Joshua and I stood there in front of the leader’s tent. I was thinking to myself “Take me to your leader.” Joshua looked; well, he looked a little upset. I don’t think he enjoyed our little indoctrination.

We only stood there a moment when Father himself stepped out of the tent. He was quiet and calm. I hate it when people pretend as if they are at peace with the world. (I need to remind myself not to role my eyes at people when I find them annoying.)  Father asked if he could help us with anything. Before I had the chance to answer Joshua poked his gun into Father’s nose. This time I was annoyed with Joshua because you can’t just poke guns into people’s noses and expect them to cooperate.  I told Joshua to put his gun away. He ignored me. I demanded he put his gun away. Father said in a calm voice, “We are a peaceful community. We are not here to cause trouble.” He asked Joshua to put his gun away and invited us into his tent. Joshua complied with the request, but you could see that he was not happy with having to put his gun back into its holster.

It was a nice tent. I won’t go into detail about the whole conversation.  Joshua accused and Father denied. I tried to stay neutral and keep Joshua from displaying violent tendencies and I tried not to roll my eyes too many times. Father assured us that his community had nothing to do with the cattle disturbances. I am not sure I believe him, and I am certain that Joshua doesn’t believe him.

We said our goodbyes and left. Joshua said almost nothing the whole way back to Bear Country. He plans to watch this community closely. I plan to have my people watch them also. I don’t trust this new community leader in town. Something disturbs me. Besides the annoying calm demeanor, I don’t like something. He looks so innocent, like the boy next door, but I am thinking I shouldn’t turn my back on him.

Journal 51

The first thing I noticed about the Heroes of the Earth members is that they all dressed pretty much the same.  Same drab brown clothes, not much in the jewelry selection, except for Mother and Father and they both wore the same medallion around their necks. I think it’s their symbol of authority.  Why do people who are trying to save the Earth always wear boring clothes? You never see any brightly colored outfits, with outlandish jewelry. Everything is earth tone. With one exception, everyone in this community has stripped red hair. I am sure that is a symbol of something.

Joshua and I were sitting in the back of the tent. Father and Mother entered and walked slowly to the podium. Father raised a hand in a motion to silence everyone. Suddenly, the tent breaks out into “New Pace…New Pace…New Pace.”  I almost fell out of my chair. I didn’t realize a one of the members was standing directly behind me. I think I now have hearing loss in my right ear.

It was a very sweet welcoming statement to everyone in attendance. Then the sermon began. At least it felt like a sermon to me. I was expecting everyone to break out in song and then fall to his or her knees and beg forgiveness for offending Mother Earth. Joshua kept looking at me and rolling his eyes. I could tell father touched him with the sermon. It lasted a good 45 minutes, maybe less but it felt like at least that long.  Mother and Father exited the tent as slowly as they entered then another community member took the podium. He gave an invitation to those moved by the sermon to join THE HEROS of the EARTH community. Apparently, Mother and Father were making an honest effort to spread the word throughout the world and gain new members on the way.

Joshua and I weren’t interested in joining this quaint little community, but we were interested in talking to Mother and Father. Joshua and I left the tent searching for answers. You can always tell where the leaders are hanging out. They are usually in the tent with all the guards on the outside. We walked towards the tent but didn’t get very close before being stopped by guards.

Journal 50

Joshua and I dressed in our best going to meetin clothes and walked out towards the large, raised tent. This tent was huge. It looked like an old circus tent. It took a little bit of muscle to get that thing raised. People from all over Bear Country were entering the tent by the time Joshua and I arrived. Members from the Heroes of the Earth were mingling with the crowd, being friendly and introducing the people of Bear Country to their philosophy of life. I was trying hard not to make faces every time I heard one of them say something stupid.

Joshua and I grabbed a bulletin and took a seat near the back of the tent close to one of the exits. It wasn’t long before Father and Mother arrived. The room became immediately quiet and then our indoctrination began.

Journal 49

The Runt brought me a flyer this morning. It was an announcement to join a new community. They call themselves The Heroes of the Earth. The flyer was asking people to be a part of the NEW PACE (New Established World Order that Prevents Animal Capture and Exploitation). This sounds suspicious to me. Curiosity was killing me, so I took my new brightly colored flyer and walked out to the Spurs to see Joshua. By the time I had arrived, he had a flyer of his own. Joshua was certain this new community was behind all of his recent troubles. Not wanting to point fingers right away, I suggested that we go to town and check out the Heroes of the Earth. I thought it might be a good idea if we talked to their leader. This whole thing could be a coincidence.

Joshua and I went to town. It wasn’t long before we ran into several members of the Heroes of the Earth. They were handing out more flyers and giving their speeches about saving all animals. Humans are destroying the delicate balance of nature. Apparently if we don’t stop eating animal flesh (their words, not mine) and exploiting animals for our own selfish reasons the Earth will continue to destroy all humans.

I consider myself an open-minded woman. People should be able to live their lives in pretty much anyway they choose. I think they are a cult. I don’t have anything against anyone that is a vegetarian. Some people can’t stomach the thought of eating meat. I think that is normal. I’m not getting a normal feeling from these people. Joshua and I asked one of the members if we could talk to their leader. They greeted us very friendly and said that Father and Mother will be holding a meeting later in the evening we were welcome to attend. This should bring up another red flag. Any community that addresses their leaders as Mother and Father is weird.

Joshua and I have a date. It should be fun.

Journal 48

The raids to frighten the cattle continue on the Spurs campsite. Joshua is extremely irritated. He wants the guilty parties captured. Last night one of his boys was arm’s length away from capturing one of the raiders. At first, I thought maybe it was someone playing stupid games but now I am thinking it is probably something more sinister. I hope that we will have the answers soon.

Little Aleece is still doing well but I am thinking she is probably starting to miss her mom. Casey has been gone for a few days (although no time limit was set) I am hoping she will return home soon.

Lost is doing well. She didn’t even have an accident in my room last night. She has started sleeping under the baby’s cradle instead of on my bed. It’s somewhat funny but I think Lost is trying to protect Aleece.  She lets out a little bark whenever someone walks by my room. Joshua said I shouldn’t let her do that. He said the barking would become an annoyance when she gets older. Joshua is going to come by later and show me something better to teach her.

Journal 47

It was a lovely day. Tony and I went around Bear Country trying to gather information from the different gangs about the raids on the Spurs’ cattle. No one seemed to know much or weren’t interested in giving any information for whatever reason.  I haven’t been able to come up with any reason why someone would want to give the Spurs trouble.  Maybe it is just someone being stupid and causing trouble just because they can.

The walk with Tony was nice. I thanked him again for his help with Aleece the other night. I tried to fish for information about his past. I only know that we used to attend school together before life here in Bear Country changed. He used to date cheerleaders. We had classes together, but we really didn’t know each other.  Tony actually didn’t arrive here in Bear Country until long after we had the Bear Gang established. It was a great day when we learned he was very good at fixing things. We had so many things broken. He fixed everything. He even got the showers to work. I didn’t find out much about his past except that his parents were the first to die in his neighborhood. He misses his parents as much as I miss mine.

Journal 46

Joshua dropped by to talk. At first, I thought he was mad at me for something I did. He was just frustrated. He spent the entire night chasing down cattle rustlers. He wanted to pick my brain and find out what I knew about the local gangs. I know a great deal about the local gangs. I know their attitudes, weaknesses, and strengths. I don’t know who might want to cause the Spurs trouble. As far as I can tell, everyone is happy The Spurs are here.

The Spurs have been excellent guests and hosts on numerous occasions. I believe the Spurs are an asset to Bear Country. I told Joshua I would ask around and see if I could come up with any information that might help him find his cattle rustlers.

I think that Matt and Hemy have solved their living arrangement problems. They both had smiles on their faces from ear to ear all day long. Sheriff Pete, several of his deputies and Jon. went out to the Spurs campsite to see if they could lend a hand. I have been having a very good day with Aleece. We went to the basement to thank Tony for his assistance in the middle of the night. He said it was not a problem. I asked him how he knew what to do and he said his mother had taught him long ago. I was going to ask him more questions, but he didn’t look as if he wanted to go into any further detail.

Journal 45

Marty, Gretchen, and Cecelia delivered a set of books on parenting to my room as soon as they heard I was going to be taking care of Casey’s baby. It was a sweet gesture, and I am thankful for their thoughtfulness. Although I am not sure if the library intended for the books to help me with my endeavor of caring for Aleece or if they actually thought I was lacking in my parenting skills. Oh well, it turns out the books have a lot of useful information. When the day started, I was sure that Lisa and I were up to the tasks, taking care of a baby as small as Aleece didn’t really take a lot of effort. Currently, she eats, sleeps and poops.

Our first day actually went really well. Lisa and I prepared a schedule of the tasks that each of us would be responsible for. Aleece seemed to be accepting the schedule well. We diapered, feed, and rocked her to sleep. It was so easy until about 2 o’clock in the morning. We changed her, fed her, and rocked her in the rocker.  She cried and cried and cried some more. Therefore, we changed her diaper and tried to feed her another bottle. The crying escalated until we had just about everyone awake that was sleeping in the admin hallway. People can get so cranky. I tried to rock her, and then I walked around the room a good hundred times. Then Lisa tried. We were almost in tears because we were sure we had broken this little baby.  Tony entered my room and asked if he could help. I almost laughed. What could he do that we haven’t already tried?  Out of frustration and a deep sense of defeat, I handed over the crying baby. Tony made a quick check to make sure she was not wet and wasn’t hungry.  Lisa and I both rolled our eyes. There was no way a man was going to be able to do what we couldn’t. Tony sat in the rocker; he unbuttoned his shirt and placed the baby’s tummy against his chest. He rocked Aleece in the rocker and sang a little song in some language I have never heard before. In a moment, she was asleep. Lisa and I looked at Tony in amazement. Where did he get these parenting skills? I don’t know but I am thankful and so is Lisa. Both of us fell onto our beds and went to sleep. I don’t know when Tony left or when he laid the baby in her cradle, but she woke Lisa and me up at around 8 o’clock this morning. She was happy again. My respect for Tony has increased to a new level.

Journal 44

I woke up this morning looking forward to my date with Joshua. I was walking toward the showers when I heard Casey crying. She was sitting in her chair holding Aleece. For a moment, I thought something was terribly wrong with the baby. Lisa was already in the room trying to comfort Casey and asking her what was wrong. I went in and asked if there was something I could do. Lisa looked a little confused herself. She shrugged her shoulders and said that Casey had been crying most of the morning. Poor Casey, I think today she was just a little overwhelmed with motherhood and raising a baby alone.  Little Aleece was fine. I think that sometimes life seems too much. Yesterday and the day before Casey appeared fine. She was happy and enjoying life. I offered to watch Aleece for a couple of days so that Casey could get away and find herself. Lisa thought it was a good idea. She said she could help with the baby too. At first, Casey didn’t want to go but we insisted. It’s somewhat funny because I was complaining about having to take care of a puppy. The puppy cries endlessly if not allowed to sleep on my bed.

I am sure a baby is a little more complex and will require a lot more responsibility and attentiveness. I have decided to name the puppy “Lost”. (It is not a dumb name for a dog) It perfectly describes her. Anyway, we helped Casey pack her things and sent her on her way. Aleece is sleeping and Lost is sleeping. Lisa has moved into my room to help during the night. Surely, the two of us can take care of a baby for a few days.

I almost forgot. I cancelled my date with Joshua. Oh well, perhaps we will go out another time.

Journal 43

Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. I overheard Matt and Hemy arguing about their living arrangements. I wasn’t trying to ease the drop, but their discussion wasn’t a quiet one.  Matt wants Hemy to move into Bear Country and Hemy wants Matt to move into Central. Hemy doesn’t want to give up her position as gang leader. I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to give up being a gang leader either.  I am hoping they can come to some sort of neutral ground. They are the cutest couple, and they seem so happy. At least they seemed happy before their loud discussion earlier.

I am going out on a date with Joshua. He promises this date won’t involve square dancing or roping cattle. I don’t have anything against those things, but they are not in my top ten favorite things to do.

Speaking about roping cattle, apparently Pete and Jonas are getting very good at it.  Joshua said they are a quick study. They both have stopped falling off their horses. Both boys have cut their bruise count in half.