140 Another Great Find

140 Another Great Find

I had severely underestimated exactly how much happier the people at the camp would be to have something new to do. The ATV was more of a curiosity than anything else, since most didn't want to travel far from the camp and be so unprotected. The canoes however? I was mobbed with hugs, kisses on the cheek, and a few gropes of my butt. I ignored it for now and hoped that it was Amy.

Apparently, Amy's stories about spending relaxing time on the lake with her father, had really resonated with everyone and they all wanted to try it, even the kids. The parents were especially grateful for all of the life preservers I had grabbed, too. The mob ran off with my ill-gotten gains as they happily chatted about making another rotation list and everyone would be getting a turn as soon as possible.

Dale came over to me and he looked like a proud father. “You keep giving us all so much joy, Rick.” He said and patted my back. “It's almost shocking, you know?”

I chuckled. “I do and I'm almost as shocked, since I hadn't intended to bring the canoes back at all. It was a whim I had after loading up the ATV. I figured it was much more versatile and could travel much farther on less gas, giving us a more stable option than Merle's motorcycle.”

Dale chuckled, too. “So, you're saying your mistakes are more beneficial than your plans?”

I laughed and shook my head. “I just need to stop expecting certain things to come out the way I think they will.” I said and motioned to the ATV in the back of the truck. “Give me a hand unloading this thing, will you? I still need to grab those gardening things and the tool chests I saw.”

“Sure thing, Rick.” Dale said and we unstrapped it and opened the back, set up the ramps, and he volunteered to ride it down.

I showed him how to kick it into neutral and where the front and back brakes were, how much pressure to apply to not jerk him and the ATV around, and how to start it and shift gears. Dale looked quite happy at the quick lesson and then he rode the free-rolling ATV down the ramp and used the momentum to swing out and do most of a u-turn to face back towards the truck.

“Nice one, Dale.” I praised and he had a huge smile on his face. “You can start it up and drive it over by the motorcycle. Just make sure to keep the keys in your pocket until I can teach the people that want to try to use it how to use it properly.”

“No problem.” Dale said and started it up, revved it a little, then set it into first gear and drove it off down the driveway to park it near the motorcycle.

I watched him set it near but not block the motorcycle, which was perfect. I waved to him and he waved back before he walked back over to the RV, the huge smile still on his face. I climbed back into the truck and backed up, turned around, and drove away. No one wanted to come with me for my second run and that was fine.

It would be a lot more movement intensive if anyone came along, because I couldn't use my storage trick to load up the truck if they were there. So, I drove back to that subdivision and stopped at each and every shed to raid them. Some of them didn't have much inside, like only a lawnmower and some junk. Most of them had what I wanted, like shovels, lawn care tools, and bags of fertilizer. Apparently, this subdivision took great care of their lawns and it showed.

I loaded up the back of the truck with everything I could find and eventually made it back to that first shed I found on my way back to camp. I raided it and took everything except the lawnmower, filling up the last of the space in the back of the huge truck. That meant another run back to camp to drop all this stuff off and I would have to come back to check out the house.

The trip back to camp went fast and my return gained almost no recognition by anyone, except from Dale. He waved and pointed to the spot where the old tarps used to be. We had spread out the various parts that were left between the different vehicles for the winter, which meant I'd need something small like a two-wheeled trailer or something to keep it mobile and to collect them back together.

Well, it wasn't like I needed them anymore, since no one questioned me anymore about where I was getting all the things I was. It was almost like they expected me to pull things out of my ass when they were needed and I didn't discourage that. Being seen as a miracle worker would only benefit me and my reputation.

I dropped off all the things there, not concerned that there were no tarps, because it was all going to be used in the dirt anyway. I gave Dale another wave and headed back to the subdivision to pretend to grab those tool cabinets. I wasn't sure if we would ever need them; but, I'd rather have them and not need them instead of regretting not revealing that I had them.

Unfortunately, the cabinets and the welding tanks filled the back of the truck again and I had to make yet another run all the way back to camp. Dale looked constipated as he fought to not laugh at me appearing again so quickly and I still had to go back to town. I flipped him off before I turned the truck around and he laughed and laughed.

I made it back to that well-protected house and slowed down as I passed it. I did a quick check around to make sure there were no stray walkers, honking my horn a few times to draw them out, and then went back to that house. There were no movements or sounds, so I hopped out and went to the back of the house. I apparated inside and began my search.

You see, if the house was this well-preserved, there had to be something worth protecting inside. It didn't take me long to find what it was. A small library. It was filled with books of all kinds, including a collection of encyclopedia from A to Z, and all kinds of fiction and non-fiction. I nodded at my theory being confirmed, so I also needed to check something else in the basement.

The books had to have been brought in somehow, because doing it individually would have taken way too long. I found what I wanted in the far corner and smiled at the high stack of folded cardboard boxes. I was really grateful for magic, because cardboard was very easy to make copies of. I took the stack and went back up to the library, set it down, and cut the string holding it together.

The whole stack popped up into the air, like one of those springy snakes from a Pringles can, and they flopped all over the floor making me laugh. I didn't bother trying to pick them all up, because I was going to be using them all anyway. I grabbed the closest one and pulled on it to make a box shape, cross-folded the bottom, and used sticking charms to hold it closed because I didn't have any packing tape.

I used my wand to point at the first shelf of books. “Pack.” I said and swiped my wand to the box.

The books floated out and sorted themselves into the right shape and slid right into the box and it closed and sealed.

“Awesome.” I said and repeated that, over and over.

When I reached the last of the unfolded cardboard boxes, I made it into a box shape and then duplicated it to use the copy instead. It cost a single Karma Point to make permanent, so I asked to make the Copy Spell itself mastered. It cost 50 points, just like the Apparate spell did, and my spine tingled as the small amount of knowledge for the spell flowed into my head.

I swiped my wand across the room and dozens of finished boxes appeared and I nodded. “Pack.” I said and another swipe of my wand sent the rest of the library into the boxes. There were a few left over, so I unfolded them and added them to the stacks of boxes. I levitated the first stack over to the back door and repeated that until the living room was filled with cardboard boxes.

I unlocked and opened the back door, went to the truck, and turned it around and backed it up to the back door. I cast the human revealing spell and nothing showed up, so I used the levitation spell liberally to move the stacks of boxes into the truck. God bless sticking charms, because there was no way I was getting all of them into one load if I didn't stack them really high.

I was halfway done before I realized how ridiculous it looked with the boxes twice the height of the truck and sighed. I needed to make multiple trips and it was getting late. I hadn't eaten after missing lunch and supper was going to be soon.

“Give this thing another few cranks when I say so.” Rick said and went to the other side. He cranked it down to the same spot and set the lock before he subtly dismissed the featherweight charm. “Okay, on three, and crank it five times to lift it from the truck.”

“Got it.” Shane said. “One...”

“Two...” Rick said.

“Three.” They said as one and then grunted as they cranked the little cranks.

“What... do you have... in this thing?” Shane asked between breaths.

“A lot... more weight... than I thought.” Rick answered.

They reached four turns and heard the clink of the hitch separating and gave it one more crank.

“Set the locking pin!” Rick shouted.

Shane did as he said and let the small crank go. His hands stung and he sat in the dirt to stare at the metal trailer.

Rick came back around and hopped in the truck, drove it a foot, and turned it off and climbed back out. He walked over to Shane and patted his shoulder. “I'm sorry about that. I hooked the thing up before loading it up with... something.”

Shane huffed and held a hand up.

Rick took it and hauled him to his feet. “Give me a hand opening the back and we can let the lookie-loos have a gander inside.”

“Lookie-loos?” Shane asked with a chuckle.

Rick laughed. “I don't know where I picked that up, either.” He said and walked over to the back of the trailer where the others had gathered and were muttering about what it could be. He stood there and let them speculate about it for a moment and nodded to Shane. The each took a door and unhooked it and pulled the handles to open them up.

The small gathering stepped back and a few of them gasped.

Shane hooked the door handle in the slot to hold it open and looked inside the trailer himself. “What's so good about a trailer full of empty shelves?”

“Don't you see those?!?” Miranda asked and pointed at the boxes.

“They're boxes.” Shane said.

Miranda shook her head and looked at her husband. “Juan, darling, help me up! We must start right away!”

Juan looked as confused as Shane and did as she asked. He picked her up and sat her on the back of the trailer's opening.

Miranda used his shoulders as braces and climbed to her feet. She then looked at Rick. “You need to go find Andrea right away. She needs to be here to help, as you very well know.”

Rick nodded. “Try to not let anyone run off with anything, all right? Until we get an accounting of everything, no one can borrow anything and they have to stay inside.”

Miranda smiled and nodded. “We'll have it done in a few days. It's too important not to.”

Rick walked off at a fast pace and left the others there.

Miranda saw they were still slightly confused, so she opened up the closest box and reached in to pull out two books, which made the other woman there immediately try to climb inside. Shane and Juan gave her a hand without grabbing anything important and helped her scramble up inside.

“I don't get it.” Juan said.

“Books, dear. It's books.” Miranda said and gave him a very sexy smile. “All these boxes that made this thing so heavy are all filled with books!”

“We have our very own library!” The other woman almost shouted and opened another box. “Ohhh, the Encyclopedia Britannica! I hope it's all here!”

Shane and Juan exchanged looks with Jim and all three of them turned and walked away without looking back. They heard Andrea's excited shout and sped up their walk to a jog to try and hide before she saw them. None of the men wanted to spend the next few days sorting books and putting them onto the shelves.