The Final Crusade

by Enfield

Gifts From The Storm

After Dave and Katherine had woken up Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell, James Jacob and Billy packed the car while John and Debra said farewell to James' parents.

“You really should stay with us next year,” said Debra.

“Billy and Jacob always enjoy having a friend to play with, and James gets on well with them,” said John.

“If we can manage it next year we will pick a house close to yours,” said Dave.

“Well we hope you have a safe trip back,” Debra said.

Dave and Katherine left the house and started up the car, James and the Crusaders boarded the car and then were driving back to the highway. Driving upstate back home was a little tricky for them, the hurricanes wrath had damaged a good part of the Chesapeake bay bridge. Once they were clear of the bridge the level of destruction became less and less as they drover further up to New Jersey, as James neared home he saw that the storm hadn’t affected the town too much. Once they got back home James took notice of the several boxes on the front porch.

“What’s all that?” James asked as he jumped out of the car.

“Don’t know,” said Dave.
James walked over to the boxes, they weren’t very big or eye catching. A while envelope caught James' attention he seized it and tore it open.

“What’s it say?” Katherine asked.

“It’s from the Red Cross but delivered by the National Guard,” James replied, “Says here that they took their time to help us by getting us the stuff we lost.”

“That’s nice of them,” Dave said.

“There’s also something here about the Enforcers and that one of those boxes is meant for me,” James added.

“Here it is,” Sweetie Bell said handing James a box. James took the box, it had his name printed on the top and “Government Property” written on the side.

“Wonder what lies inside,” James said as Katherine opened the door to the house. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Dave took the cases inside and James with the help of Sweetie Bell took the cardboard boxes inside.

“Looks as if the neighbors brought the mail in for us,” said Katherine. James sifted through the pile of mail and took the firearms and video game magazines into the den with him. The Crusaders followed James to see what the box contained.

“Are you going to open it?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I’m going to have to be careful in case it contains something fragile,” James said as he picked a large steak knife to slice the tape open with.

“What do you think is in there?” Scootaloo asked.

“I have no idea,” replied James, “Let’s find out.”
James cut the tape and opened up the box a letter sat on top of a foam covering whatever lay inside. The letter also had James' name on it, James tore it open and pulled out a piece of neatly folded paper.

“Dear James,” it read, “I have sent this letter with your Enforcer gear so I can tell you that I see you as one of the best future National Guard members. You have got what it takes to be a Marine but you choose to stay home and protect it from the many enemies of America, that is what it greatly looked upon for any Guard members and more importantly, Enforcers. I hope that you and those girls live your lives well from this day forward, may God be with you no matter what. Sincerely, Corporal Rickter. P.S. I found a little something while sifting through the rubble of your beach house and put it in the envelope, I think you know who they belong to.”
James took the envelope from the table and looked inside it, inside were three seashell necklaces.

“I think these are yours, girls,” said James. He took the necklaces out of the envelope and held them out for the Crusaders. The Crusaders were in disbelief, they took the necklaces and stared at them.

“We thought we had lost these,” Apple Bloom said.

“Well someone found them,” said James, “Now let’s see what the box holds for me.”
James removed the foam covering, underneath was a black Enforcer uniform. James took out the top half of the uniform and held it over himself, his name was printed on the left breast above one of the pockets. He then took the rest of the uniform out of the box, black boots and a beret completed the set.

“Wow, I can’t wait to try this on,” James said as he neatly folded the uniform back into the box.

“I can already see you in it,” Sweetie Bell said.

“James,” his mother called from the kitchen, “There’s another parcel for you.”
James went into the kitchen and saw a much smaller box sitting on the table. James took another knife and cut the box open, inside was something he never expected to get but it was sitting right there in front of him.

“What is it?” Scootaloo asked.

“A bayonet,” James replied as he took it out of the box, “Who got me this?”
The bayonet was about a foot long with a wooden grip and a ring that protruded out of the top of the grip. James had no idea what it could be for.

“I’m going to have to look this up to see what gun it goes on,” said James.

“Here’s a piece of paper I found in the box,” said Apple Bloom. James took the paper and read it, it described which gun the bayonet was for. The bayonet was for the Enfield Jungle Carbine.

“Well this is a tad unusual,” said James.

“Why?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“Two things, one is that I had no idea that the Jungle Carbine was capable of having a bayonet attachment and two is that even if I did know there’s no way I could get one,” James replied. He slid the bayonet into a sheaf that was in the box, James had no idea how he got this and neither did his parents.

Comments

[theshinobistallion]

Discord I bet

[Fa-18]

theshinobistallion...maybe