Core Beliefs : Chapter 8 : A Silo and a Farm

Core Beliefs - Chapter 8 - A silo and a farm

Saturday morning came clear and bright. A cold front had pushed the clouds to the east. Matt, Chris, and Joe ate breakfast at a diner and pulled into the Coblentz driveway before 9:00.

As Joe brought the car to a stop, three kids stepped from the house onto the porch. Two girls and a boy stared at the three men as they exited the car.

Matt realized that Eldridge was in his forties, and he knew he had children. Matt remembered Eldridge talking about the children while they walked the previous day. Still, he was so focused on putting an agreement together that he hadn’t thought of them as real people, and now he saw them and immediately recognized their similarities to Eldridge and Marcy.

As Matt rounded the car, the smallest girl yelled over her shoulder, “They’re here!”

Seconds later, Eldridge stepped through the front door, walked briskly down the steps, and, going to each man, shook their hand, saving Matt for last, giving him a particularly vigorous shake.

“Gentlemen,” he motioned toward the children, “I would like to introduce the rest of my family. Come on, kids.”

The three young ones edged forward, a little on the shy side.

One girl was introduced as Ellie. She was very tall, nearly six feet, and thin like her mother. Matt guessed she was about eighteen. The boy, who appeared to be the middle child, Elvin, was nearing six feet in height, and it stunned Matt to learn he was only fourteen. The youngest girl was named Emily. She was 12 years old and well over five feet tall. More than the others, she was a curious ball of non-stop nervous energy.

It was evident they had been told that these men had helped save the farm, and they should be very nice to them. Matt enjoyed shaking hands as Eldridge made introductions. First, Matt as Mr. Lehman, then Joe also as Mr. Lehman, and finally Chris.

“Ah, mister…Mister?” Eldridge stumbled a couple of times, trying to recall Chris’ name.

“Martin,” Chris said as he stepped up and shook hands, “Just call me Chris, okay?”

With the introductions done, it was time to head for “The Scrub.” The name had become the way to refer to the silo site. Eldridge drove the tractor, and Elvin rode along. Matt’s car would never make it across the fields, so Eldridge had them drive his pickup truck. As Matt got into the front seat between Chris and Joe, he noticed the back of the truck had shovels, picks, and other tools. He also saw lanterns, rope, and useful things that had not crossed his mind.

It was a slow drive behind the tractor, which took nearly twenty minutes. As they topped a ridge, Matt saw the tree line. Straight ahead was an area that appeared to have an old chain link fence around it. Inside the fence was a thick layer of brush and a few scraggly-looking trees.

As they neared, Eldridge stopped and stepped down from the tractor. They all lined up and stared through the rusty fence.

Chris identified an area that appeared to have some raised mounds about 100 yards inside the boundary. “I think that’s where we should start looking.”

“Is there a gate around here?” Matt asked.

“Nope,” Eldridge chuckled, “but we can make one real quick.”

“Make it so,” Matt ordered, copying Captain Picard.

Eldridge climbed on the tractor, backed up about twenty feet from the fence, and raised the front-end bucket. The tractor rolled forward, gathering some speed, and rammed the fencing.

Matt’s adrenaline ramped as the tractor impacted the wire and snapped through the steel links.

The chain-link fence parted immediately, breaking in a ragged line where the bucket and the tractor body collided with it. Down at ground level, there was a two-foot-high section that the tractor ran over that managed to hold together. Eldridge backed out of the gap, lowered the bucket to ground level, and, with a quick push, the rest of the fencing was cleared.

Everyone mounted their rides and proceeded into the scrub, following the path Eldridge cleared. After what felt like forever, they reached the nearest mound.

Chris stopped the pickup and stepped into the back with the diagram of the Titan II site and the aerial photograph. After several minutes, he pointed to a second mound about ninety feet away. “Eldridge, that’s the best place to dig.”

It took twenty long agonizing minutes to clear the way to the second mound.

With directions from Chris, Eldridge cleared around the mound and pushed the scrub off the top. Exposed, they could tell the mound was about four feet higher than the ground around it.

Chris made out a roughly rectangular shape about twenty feet by forty feet. He went over to Eldridge and asked him to start clearing dirt from the top. Eldridge, using the front-end loader, scooped buckets of dirt from the top, gradually whittling it away.

He was almost level with the surrounding ground and made a run forward to scoop dirt. The tractor bucked hard as the bucket crunched into something solid.

Whatever it hit caused the tractor to shudder to a stop before it lurched forward. Eldridge shut down the machine in the middle of the area he was clearing and stepped down. He walked around the tractor, peering under it, jerking on hoses and hydraulics. After the inspection, he turned to Matt, wiped his hand across his brow, and smiled.

“It’s okay,” he called.

Matt breathed a sigh of relief.

Behind the tractor, people stared at the spot where the impact had occurred. There were concrete chips along the edge of the platform.

Chris trotted to the pickup, grabbed a shovel, and ran back, telling the others to give him some room. After about five minutes, he had cleared a section about five feet by five feet, showing the finished concrete top and edge of what was obviously a structure.

“If you men will back off,” Eldridge said, “I’ll clear this now that I know where things are.”

Taking it a little more carefully, Eldridge had the entire top cleared in about fifteen minutes. There was one area near one side that looked to be filled with dirt.

Chris pointed to the spot, “That’s where we need to go.” Eldridge turned the tractor around and, using the backhoe, started pulling the dirt out. It only took a couple of loads for them to realize that beneath the dirt were steps. Eldridge dug as much as he could with the tractor, but in the end, they were all taking turns with shovels to clear the stairwell.

Elvin did the most work, and finally, after almost an hour, they saw the first signs of a door on the right side of the stairwell.

Matt was exhausted but insisted on taking his shift. Joe was worse off. At over 250 pounds, he was woefully out of shape, and they let him pass if he didn’t feel up to the task. Surprisingly, Chris was good with a shovel and seemed to have endless energy.

After another forty-five minutes, they had cleared dirt from a short, covered passageway, reached the bottom, and cleared a door. The five crowded in the small space, staring at the barrier.

“This is a steel door,” Chris said, “but it is not like the blast doors that lead to the silo or command center.” He got a flashlight from Eldridge to examine it. The handle and lock were still coated in a thin layer of dirt and appeared rusty.

“Eldridge, do you have a pry bar?”

Eldridge sent Elvin to the pickup, and he returned with a heavy pry bar and sledgehammer.

Eldridge and Elvin took over the work. It was obvious they worked as a team, and without a word, Elvin took the pry bar and stuck the tip in the doorjamb by the lock. As he held it steady, Eldridge measured his available backswing and, with a compact but powerful stroke, drove the pry bar into the seam. A gap appeared between the door and its frame as dirt fell from the grooves. Eldridge took another swing, and with a blast of rusted metal and dust, the door sprang clear of its latch.

For a few seconds, they just stared.

“Will somebody push the stupid thing open?” Chris barked.

Immediately, Eldridge leaned against it, and with Elvin adding his weight, the door groaned and moved inward. In the dim light cascading down the steps, a steel landing and more steps lead down inside the structure.

The air reeked. Joe started coughing and gagging.

“Everyone out!” Matt screeched.

They scrambled to the top of the stairwell, choking and coughing, gasping to get a fresh, clean breath.

Matt’s lungs burned, and his skin itched like crazy. He looked at the others, making sure they were okay. It took the group only minutes to recover.

We almost bought it. Matt realized they could have died from the foolishness.

“That was not very smart of us,” Matt said firmly. “From now on, safety comes first. You are all too valuable to risk injury or worse. No one enters the silo until we figure out how to make it safe.”

“We need some protective gear and breathing tanks,” Chris said. “We’ve got to get supplies together.”

“I can think of some other things,” Eldridge nodded, “like a gas-driven generator, fans, electric cords, and lights.”

“I think we have found what we were looking for,” Matt said, “and it appears to be all that we had hoped. That was why we came here today.”

They all nodded except Elvin, and Matt could tell he was itching to go exploring. He stepped face-to-face with the young man, who was two inches taller than Matt. “Elvin, I need you to promise me two things.”

Elvin looked at him, “Yes, sir,” in a quiet way that indicated he knew what was coming.

“First of all, do not under any circumstances go in there. Do I have your word?”

Elvin looked down at Matt, “Yes, sir, I promise.”

Matt continued, “This is not just for Elvin. It’s for all of us. I want you all to promise not to say a word to anyone about what we have found or where it is. Can you do that?”

They each agreed they would keep the secret.

“Eldridge,” Matt faced the giant of a man, “you have been a wonderful help today. Would it be possible for you to put boards over the stairwell and pile some of that brush back on it?”

Eldridge nodded.

“With this settled,” Matt said, “I think it’s time to head back to the house.”

Arriving at the homestead, they grabbed iced tea. While Chris and Joe were making the supply list, Matt asked Eldridge if he could spare a minute. The two men walked on the porch and sat in a couple of creaky rockers near the end of the porch.

“These have been a couple of interesting days, haven’t they?” Matt said.

“'Bout as strange as anything I’ve ever had happen in my life,” Eldridge dragged an extra-large handkerchief across his face.

“There has been one thing bothering me,” Matt said, “and I need to talk with you about it.”

“When we agreed on me partnering on the farm,” Matt’s voice softened. “I forgot this has been your family home for four, going on five generations, and when we made the deal that I would buy 50% of the farm, I didn’t realize it included the house until last night.”

It was clear Eldridge hadn’t realized it until that moment.

“When I have Joe draw up the final contract, I’m going to have him include a provision for you to buy the house and all the land around it for $10.00. That way, your family will really own it free and clear.”

Matt watched the big man tear like a child.

“I ain’t never had nobody ever treat me so good. Mr. Lehman, I’m forever in your debt, me and my family. Anything you need me to do, I’ll do it.”

Matt smiled as the two men stood and shook hands.

“You’re a good man, Eldridge, and all I want you to do is continue being a good man.”

As Matt drove home, he felt that something more than luck was at work, and Dr. Chang’s voice kept echoing in his head.