He was amazed at the number of entries that came back. Pages of them. Suddenly one particular one caught his eye and he clicked on the link. This had to be what that banker from Tennessee had been talking about at the last convention to which he’d gone. Edward had forgotten about that until he saw the company name.
The man said he’d bought one of the pre-packaged shelter deals. If he remembered correctly, several of the other bankers had expressed an interest. Maybe this might be the thing to do. If other bankers were doing it, there had to be some merit in it. He’d hate to go to a conference and have to admit he’d prepared for a financial emergency, but not a physical one. “Hum…”
Courtney buzzed him and Edward went back to the bank’s business.
CHAPTER NINE
The three weeks went quickly for Percy. Aside from helping get the Bluhms settled, and working on the grant paperwork, Percy also kept busy working in the greenhouses on spring harvest. Two of the roadside trailer stands were set up on the weekends and Percy hired four high school kids to staff them. Many locals looked forward to Percy’s early produce every spring.
Percy was tired that Monday evening in late April. He had worked the day as usual, giving the others the extra day off after all the hard work they’d all been doing. Everything was going well, but even with the automated systems, caring for all the animals for two days was still a strain.
He ate a small potpie that Mattie had left prepared for him. Percy ate in the den, watching the news channels. Halfway through the chicken potpie, Percy quit eating, his attention taken by the news report from the disputed border area between India and Pakistan.
The conflict was worsening. There were exchanges between ground troops now, in addition to the artillery exchanges. As yet, no air strikes, but Percy figured that was just a matter of time.
Reports from Germany were continuing to show strong nationalistic bent. The talk of withdrawing from the European Union was stronger than ever. It seemed the talks of individual treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia were coming to fruition. New talks were beginning with Hungary. US forces were being isolated from the German population, with new restrictions on fraternization being imposed.
France seemed to be going back to the imperialistic expansion ideal from the turn of the previous century. Many of the former French colonies were having troubles. France was sending troops to many of them, apparently not just to assist in keeping the peace. They were not requesting UN help for the efforts and were taking steps to emplace French rule it seemed to many in the international community.
There were talks in the UN about both situations. Great Britain played only a small role. With their new energy independence because of the oil fields in the North Sea, they were becoming somewhat isolationist. There was a move to bring as many of her subjects back to the islands as they could persuade.
The British Navy was in a building phase, with many of the current vessels being used as convoy escorts as the trade between Great Britain and other nations was more and more being conducted with British merchant marine vessels only. With the problems of piracy and terrorism, the ships needed protection.
There had been several confirmed reports of a rogue submarine preying on shipping in the South Pacific. It was still not known from which country the submarine originated. No country admitted to the defection of any submarine crews. The rogue was stopping lone ships on the high seas. They were taking over the ship and selling the cargos in the small ports of the Pacific. So far, no ships had been sunk, but a few crews had been massacred when they tried to resist.
When the news was over, Percy turned on the computer in the den and pulled up the lists of emergency supplies he had on hand. All the items were up to the levels he had kept for years. The items were all used in rotation, the oldest being used as new stocks were added to the stores. For essentially everything they used that they didn’t produce themselves Percy maintained a minimum of a six month supply. He decided to extend that time to a year, minimum.
By the time he went to bed that evening, Percy had a long shopping list. The next morning he went to see the Bluhms. They were doing some minor medical work at the old clinic, but the facilities weren’t the best. They were seeing people in the old clinic three days a week, and then working at the county hospital in the city two days a week taking care of patients they couldn’t treat in the clinic, which were many.
Percy talked to the couple for a long time. By the time he left and headed for the city, he’d arranged with them to allow him to stock an extensive line of medications, almost a small pharmacy, at the estate. In addition to the medications, they were willing to have him stock some tools and equipment for their use, in case of emergencies. Percy gave them permission to check on the status of all of it at any time, so they would know he wasn’t using any of the items. They were strictly for the doctors’ use in emergencies.
He’d done something similar with his regular doctor in the city, but to a much lesser extent. The pharmacist wasn’t that surprised when Percy took in the prescriptions to have them filled. While that was being done, Percy filled a cart with the over-the-counter items the two doctors had recommended.
Percy added a few choices of his own, plus plenty of standard first aid supplies. He already had an extensive first aid kit, trauma kit, and what he called his Only-Aid aid kit, at the estate. Each licensed vehicle had extensive first aid and trauma kits as well as a pair of ten-pound fire extinguishers. Bernard was a trained extinguisher service technician. There were supplies and equipment in the equipment barn to refill the extinguishers in the vehicles, and the others placed around the estate.
When he stopped at the medical supply shop, they wouldn’t fill the prescriptions for the dozen bottles of medical oxygen, two sets of regulators and masks, and two oxygen concentrators. It took a few calls, but when Jock had called the hospital and the hospital administrator had called the supply house, Percy was finally able to pay for the items and arrange for delivery to the estate.
Percy included a few items that didn’t require prescriptions, which the shop was happy to sell him when they saw that it was a legitimate sale for the oxygen supplies. Very happy. Percy dropped a bundle on medical equipment. If things went well, he’d just donate it to the clinic when it was finished and write the expense off on his taxes.
Feeling a bit better, Percy headed for one of the big discount stores, saw the nearly full parking lot and changed his mind. “This would be a good job for Mattie, Susie, and the twins,” Percy muttered to himself. Having decided to let the others do some of the shopping, Percy impulsively went by the state building to see Sara. She was delighted to go to lunch with him and insisted on paying, despite his strong protest.
Mattie looked at him strangely when he entered the house that evening, whistling cheerfully. “You sound cheerful, boss. What’s going on?”
“Hey,” protested Percy. “I’m cheerful a lot. You make it sound like it’s a rare occasion.”
“You’re avoiding the issue.”
“Well, if you must know, I accomplished a few things in the city and had lunch with Mrs. McLain.”
Mattie smiled. “Well good for you. What should I expect to be getting delivered?”
“How do you know I ordered anything for delivery?” Percy asked.
“You’re on another buying jag. Because of the news. I remember what happened when the first Gulf War started. You did the same thing.”
Percy had to acknowledge the truth of the statement. He’d had similar feelings of possible trouble at the time and nothing had come of it. They’d just rotated the extra supplies through the normal course of consumption until the stocks were back to the normal six-month supply. He’d started the bee barn and orchard barn at that time, come to think of it, Percy thought.