Free Barren Fields by Robert Brown Page A

our group.”
    “Just being a Christian doesn’t make them trustworthy or your friends, Samantha. I know exactly the type of danger Arthur is talking about, and it is more real than you understand. Isaac thinks his brother and more of his men will be a danger to us if we don’t help them out.”
    “Did he threaten you to get onto the ranch?”
    “Isaac warned us that he wouldn’t be in charge anymore if this trip of theirs ended without major supplies and a better idea that they can survive another winter. Jeremiah doesn’t look kindly to people like Simone and me existing, and he won’t think taking what we have is wrong because he doesn’t think we are worthy of having it, at least not in the Lord’s eyes.”
    Samantha gives an expression showing she’s unconvinced that they could be a real threat. “I think you might be inflating the danger a bit, Eddie.”
    “Just think about how well the Catholics and Protestants got along in Ireland, and you’ll understand how dangerous even a small difference in religious belief can be, let alone something as serious as my family not believing at all. I’m not exaggerating. Isaac thinks his brother is a threat. I haven’t heard much from you, Donald. What do you think?”
    “I think we have to let them join us and don’t think we have much of a choice at this point, do you?” he asks.
    “No. We really don’t, I guess.”
    “Why don’t we have a choice?” Hannah asks. “We can’t let them bully us into taking them in. We are better trained than they are, and the ranch is secure.”
    I frown at the thought and think how to answer. “They are an armed group that trained at the ranch so they know the inside layout. They have a large group of women and children that they need to protect and are low on supplies. They know our group will be stretched to the breaking point trying to care for the Stick People, and they know the people we are taking in have less to offer us than Isaac’s group does. If we turn Isaac away, as decent a person as he is, he won’t be able to stop his people from trying to take the ranch from us. In fact, they would have every reason to turn against us and try to take what we have. I just hope the more zealous members of their group don’t disregard Isaac’s control of his group because they’ll be giving up too much.”
    “And what would they be giving up?” Donald asks.
    “Control,” I reply. “They didn’t let their women come here to fight, and I don’t remember any women training with them before when they were at the ranch. They also said they left some men to guard the women and children.”
    “I did catch that. Why can’t their women defend themselves?” Simone asks.
    “Exactly!” I say while nodding. “If they want to join our group, then they will be joining our group, not working as a secondary group on our ranch. That means even the women and able children are armed and trained to fight. That might be a deal breaker for them if they are segregating jobs by gender. It is also still my ranch, and I have you leaders and advisors picked out, whatever you want to call yourselves. Whatever hierarchy Isaac’s group has, they will have to earn their place and our trust on the ranch like everyone else we encounter. On a separate note, have we had any problems from the six survivors we told we weren’t taking with us?”
    “No. They have stayed out of our way so far and are all by the rear bathroom last time I checked,” Arthur says, obviously disturbed by the subject. “Eddie, I don’t want you killing them. It isn’t something any of us want to see happen.”
    Everyone nods with Arthur’s objection.
    “Letting them live will end up costing us something eventually, you understand that, right? We know they are trouble makers and those types of people thrive from the misfortune of others.”
    “We know some of them may cause problems eventually, but it doesn’t feel right killing all six when they haven’t done