Charley breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve got it,” he said. For years, he had been accumulating gold as an inflation hedge. He had stored at least a thousand ounces of the yellow metal at his house. In a world suddenly thrown back to primitive barter, at least he had that means of survival. “Dave and I will be back to pick the stuff up at one o’clock this afternoon. But one more thing—Tony, can you loan us a couple of your biggest trucks and a couple of drivers for about six hours? We’re going to need a little help hauling all that stuff up to the site.”

“No problem, Charley. See you at one. Pleasure doing business with you.”

With that, two stunned former athletes retraced their route back home.

AT TWO O’CLOCK ON SATURDAY afternoon, the convoy set out for El Refugio, along with Charley, Dave, the Quintana family in Charley’s two trucks, and four heavy-duty former military vehicles. The narrow road was all uphill, with a lot of slow-moving traffic. It took them four hours to reach El Refugio.

The land where John Edwards had built his home and conference ground was vast and beautiful. There were seemingly endless vistas of purple mountains and rolling valleys punctuated by scattered forests, cultivated fields, manicured lawns, and a large sparkling pond at the bottom of the hill. At the far side of the property was a small river that wound, snakelike, from one end of the valley to the other. “If there is a heaven on earth,” Manuel whispered to Cathy, as Charley’s truck pulled to a stop in the driveway, “this has got to be it!”

John Edwards, who had heard the rumbling of the trucks, came to the door and looked out. Charley jumped down from his truck and called out to their host. “Jack! Come on out here and see what we’ve brought you.”

John Edwards hurried across the lawn, rubbing his hands together in delight as he looked at the military vehicles. The drivers had already jumped down from their trucks and were starting to unload.

“Charley, you’re the best!” John exclaimed. “I can’t believe my eyes!”

“All compliments are gratefully accepted,” Charley said, grinning. “Now, tell us where you want this stuff.”

John Edwards directed the unloading of supplies. Boxes of perishable items were stacked in a barnlike structure near the house. Tents and other supplies were quickly stacked up next to the building and covered with tarps. When the supplies were unloaded, John Edwards asked the drivers to stay for dinner. They were all anxious to get back on the road before dark, so they declined. But John insisted on sending them on their way with bags of chips and cans of soft drinks.

As the army trucks started down the driveway, Charley said, “I’ve got something else you’ve been wanting.”