Free Escaping Home by A. American

Little Bit get off.
    Danny replied, “Sarge wants to get a couple of the hogs moved out to the river as well.”
    I looked at the barn, then back to him. “And how the hell we going to do that?”
    â€œCatch ’em and tie up, toss ’em in the trailer and take ’em,” Reggie said.
    I thought about it for a second. “Makes sense, I guess. Are we going to pen up against the river?”
    â€œYeah, taking that solar hot wire,” Reggie said.
    â€œIt still works?” I asked.
    â€œYeah, wanna test it?”
    Danny and I laughed at the same time. “No, I’ll take your word for it. Thanks, though.”
    We walked toward the barn, where Sarge, Ted and Doc were looking over the side of the one of the pens. All the girls were gathered around the picnic table talking when Sarge turned and called out to them, “You two bigguns come over here.”
    Lee Ann and Taylor looked at me quizzically. I shrugged and we walked over to him.
    Sarge pointed into the pen. “You two get in there an’ catch us a couple of them hogs.”
    The girls were horrified. They looked at one another, and Lee Ann asked, “Dad?”
    â€œSorry, guys, don’t look to me for help,” I said with a smile.
    They looked back at Sarge, who was as straight-faced as a gambler. “Come on, get in there. They ain’t gonna eat ya.” They were not convinced. “Come on, I’ll help.” Sarge opened the pen door and waited. They weren’t budging.
    â€œCome on! Let’s catch some pigs,” I said and headed for the pen. They reluctantly followed.
    â€œI can catch a pig!” Little Bit shouted.
    â€œJust wait, let’s see if your sisters can first,” I said.
    The process of catching the pigs was filled with squeals and shrieks. The pigs added their own complaints to the racket. At first, the girls were very reluctant to grab them, but after I climbed in, we cornered one. Grabbing it by the hind leg. I told Taylor to grab the other. It took her a minute, but she did, and we pulled it out. Sarge showed them how to loop the rope around their hocks and what sort of knot to tie. Those who weren’t involved in the wrangling were leaned over the pen laughing and shouting. For a few minutes, we were removed from the reality of our situation. It felt good to laugh.
    Once the pigs were loaded into Sarge’s trailer, Mel and Bobbie asked to go see the cabins. They said that if they were going to have to live there, they wanted to see the place first. After a few minutes we decided the girls would go with Danny, Sarge and I.
    Once again, Sarge would lead the way with Danny and Bobbie riding with them. At first Bobbie didn’t understand why they needed a ride in the buggy with Sarge, and he explained to them that it was for security. She shuddered a bit. This was one of the first times in a while that the girls had been outside of our neighborhood.
    As we drove up to the corner store, Sarge turned off the road into the parking lot.
    â€œWhat are we doing here?” Mel asked.
    â€œI have no idea, but we’re about to find out.”
    I pulled up beside him to ask what he was doing. He said he wanted to see if they had any gas that we could trade for, and asked me if I knew who was running the show. An old woman soon came out of store, giving us the stink eye. I nodded toward her. “I think you’ve found the ringleader of this circus.”
    The boys she paid for security were watching Sarge carefully as he approached the woman.
    â€œHow y’all doing today?” he said, nodding at her and her detail.
    â€œFair to middlin’,” the old lady replied.
    â€œYou got any gas left in them tanks?”
    â€œGas, we got gas. What’cha tradin’?”
    â€œWell, what are you takin’?”
    â€œBeans and bullets, mostly.”
    â€œHow many of each do you need for fifty gallons of gas?”
    The old woman rubbed