He didn’t have one.
After an uncomfortable pause, Betty and Maria both started talking at once, now playing to the seven people gathered around. Pete could tell sides were being drawn by the looks of sympathy and nods of agreement being shared with both women.
About then, another man spoke over the top of everyone. “ Something similar happened when I bartered with Jose three days ago. I traded a half pound of sugar for an old pistol and a used pair of boots that Jose wanted to get rid of. Problem is, he can’t find the boots now and thinks his wife might have thrown them out. That wouldn’t be a problem if he could give me part of my sugar back, but unfortunately, his wife made preserves with it already.”
Another woman spoke up, “I’ve had two oil lamps I’ve been trying to get rid of for three weeks now. I’ve been waiting to trade them with someone who has something I need, but so far I haven’t been able to manage that. Now, I’m not sure I’ll ever get rid of them.”
On and on the conversation went, with more and more people joining the crowd from surroun ding homes. Pete listened, completely sympathetic to the situations. He had a whole boxful of items he had traded for back at the bar, and there had never been time to set up a table at the market and exchange them for his own necessities. It was a growing problem—bartering was becoming a bottleneck.
Pete looked over his shoulder at the sun and realized everyone had been standing around complaining for a long time. “Excuse me! Excuse me! I suggest we have a town hall meeting this afternoon. Let’s call the meeting for four o’clock. Let’s get everyone together and see if we can come up with an answer to this problem.”
Several heads nodded up and down in the crowd. Begrudgingly, Betty and Maria agreed to shelve their problem until cooler heads prevailed.
As Betty and Pete walked back to ward Main Street, Pete gently scolded his friend. “Betty, why didn’t you tell me you were running low on food? You know I’ve got plenty and would be happy to share.”
Betty didn’t hesitate, “Pete, I’m not going to find myself beholding to you or anyone else. It makes me feel good to hear you say that, but I’ve always managed on my own.”
Pete waved her off. “Oh, now, there ya go. You know I worry about you down here all by yourself. You’ve done a great job keeping the place up without being paid anything. Besides, I think you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
Betty blushed, not sure o f how to take Pete’s last comment. Thankfully for her, the pair had arrived at the front steps of the hotel, and she didn’t have to continue the conversation. She replied, “Why thank you, Pete. That’s very kind of you to say so,” and rushed for the door. Pete shrugged his shoulders and slowly made his way back to the bar, wondering why he sucked so badly when it came to women.
Bishop ran a slightly different route back to his quarters. He was feeling that tingling rush to the extremities and had finally gotten into what some athletes call “the zone.” The sun was fully above the mountains to the east, and the sky was a cheery shade of Colombia blue. Movement up ahead distracted him from the natural warmness of a new day, and he realized something important was going on up ahead.
His route was taking him into Biggs Field, which was basically the base’s airport. As he rounded a slight bend in the road, he noticed a flurry of activity around Air Force One. I wonder if they are going to fly the president’s body back to Arlington, he pondered.
The sc ene before him elicited a mixture of emotions. He had rescued the Commander in Chief from a certain death. A group of soldiers loyal to the Independents had made a desperate attempt to kill the man, and Bishop had disrupted their plans. Looking back now, it wasn’t so much because he was loyal to the old government. He had taken action because he didn’t want to see the country
After an uncomfortable pause, Betty and Maria both started talking at once, now playing to the seven people gathered around. Pete could tell sides were being drawn by the looks of sympathy and nods of agreement being shared with both women.
About then, another man spoke over the top of everyone. “ Something similar happened when I bartered with Jose three days ago. I traded a half pound of sugar for an old pistol and a used pair of boots that Jose wanted to get rid of. Problem is, he can’t find the boots now and thinks his wife might have thrown them out. That wouldn’t be a problem if he could give me part of my sugar back, but unfortunately, his wife made preserves with it already.”
Another woman spoke up, “I’ve had two oil lamps I’ve been trying to get rid of for three weeks now. I’ve been waiting to trade them with someone who has something I need, but so far I haven’t been able to manage that. Now, I’m not sure I’ll ever get rid of them.”
On and on the conversation went, with more and more people joining the crowd from surroun ding homes. Pete listened, completely sympathetic to the situations. He had a whole boxful of items he had traded for back at the bar, and there had never been time to set up a table at the market and exchange them for his own necessities. It was a growing problem—bartering was becoming a bottleneck.
Pete looked over his shoulder at the sun and realized everyone had been standing around complaining for a long time. “Excuse me! Excuse me! I suggest we have a town hall meeting this afternoon. Let’s call the meeting for four o’clock. Let’s get everyone together and see if we can come up with an answer to this problem.”
Several heads nodded up and down in the crowd. Begrudgingly, Betty and Maria agreed to shelve their problem until cooler heads prevailed.
As Betty and Pete walked back to ward Main Street, Pete gently scolded his friend. “Betty, why didn’t you tell me you were running low on food? You know I’ve got plenty and would be happy to share.”
Betty didn’t hesitate, “Pete, I’m not going to find myself beholding to you or anyone else. It makes me feel good to hear you say that, but I’ve always managed on my own.”
Pete waved her off. “Oh, now, there ya go. You know I worry about you down here all by yourself. You’ve done a great job keeping the place up without being paid anything. Besides, I think you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
Betty blushed, not sure o f how to take Pete’s last comment. Thankfully for her, the pair had arrived at the front steps of the hotel, and she didn’t have to continue the conversation. She replied, “Why thank you, Pete. That’s very kind of you to say so,” and rushed for the door. Pete shrugged his shoulders and slowly made his way back to the bar, wondering why he sucked so badly when it came to women.
Bishop ran a slightly different route back to his quarters. He was feeling that tingling rush to the extremities and had finally gotten into what some athletes call “the zone.” The sun was fully above the mountains to the east, and the sky was a cheery shade of Colombia blue. Movement up ahead distracted him from the natural warmness of a new day, and he realized something important was going on up ahead.
His route was taking him into Biggs Field, which was basically the base’s airport. As he rounded a slight bend in the road, he noticed a flurry of activity around Air Force One. I wonder if they are going to fly the president’s body back to Arlington, he pondered.
The sc ene before him elicited a mixture of emotions. He had rescued the Commander in Chief from a certain death. A group of soldiers loyal to the Independents had made a desperate attempt to kill the man, and Bishop had disrupted their plans. Looking back now, it wasn’t so much because he was loyal to the old government. He had taken action because he didn’t want to see the country
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