Storiesonline.net
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                            Recluse and Ghost
                             by Dual Writer

Copyright© 2012 by Dual Writer


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Description: Mike Grayson's intent was to get away from it all, to become a recluse. Mike wanted to get away from responsibilities, away from the Army, away from people. He runs into and becomes involved with many obstacles to his peace and quiet. The spooks come out and it isn't even Halloween.

Codes: MF cons
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Chapter 1

Getting old is hell. I'm not even that old, but so many times lately, I can hardly move when I get out of bed. The good news is, I can limber up and be able to move around reasonably within half an hour or so.

For this tale to be interesting, you need to know who I am and how I came to be out in the sticks. Call them hilly, mountainous, or backwoods, they're still sticks. I am here by choice, so it isn't a forced thing. It's something I wanted and needed to find in order to get some mental peace. I kept thinking I wanted to be a recluse.

You see, I'm only thirty-eight years old; not really part of that wonderful group of people known as Baby Boomers. I am a product of that era, but wished I was a part of my grandparents' Greatest Generation. Their values kept the country together against devastating odds. My generation? The jury's out; a little cloudy, but full of good people.

Because there was no way for me or my family to afford college, I joined the Army the day after I graduated from high school. At that time, academic scholarships only went to kids who lived in a large metropolitan area; there were none for farm or small town kids. I wasn't all that disappointed, since I really wanted the excitement of the military.

I would have joined the Marines, or maybe even considered the Navy, except the Army recruiter came to the school several times and was able to paint a great picture of men, real men and women, learning to be more than anyone could expect them to be. All that, and a seventeen year old kid is easily influenced by a good looking babe in a uniform with a bunch of stripes, ribbons, medals, and an 82nd Airborne patch. I always wished she would tell us about each of those little ribbons she wore. She had one of those parachute insignias, so she wasn't a pushover. She did say she wasn't allowed to fight in the infantry, but could be, and was trained to be an infantry medic. She had served in Desert Storm and was now recruiting young men and women into the most advanced and proficient army in the world.

This babe, and I do mean a babe, was not that much older than I was, probably about twenty-five, and she had a bunch of stripes and medals to attest to her service. I wanted that. I wanted the excitement this lady described.

Because I was only seventeen, my dad had to sign for me and constantly cautioned me to follow orders and learn as much as I could. My dad was proud that I wanted to join the Army, as he was a Viet Nam vet.

Before my induction, I took an exam that seemed as if it should be given to eighth graders. The Specialist proctoring the test told me that I had scored the highest he had ever seen and I would be eligible for any job I wanted. My dad told me the truth though, as he said, "Depends what they need at the moment you're sworn in. They put all of the available schools and positions into a big jar and reach in for yours." He did tell me that I could attend another school for something else after my initial training.

My twenty years were interesting. I requested about every school there was, and I was sent to another infantry or airborne unit after each one, until it was time to spend many tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The one incident that would influence the rest of my life was when I got blown off course during a training jump. I was with a dozen other men who ended up being blown against a cliff, and dropped a hundred feet to a rocky river below. I broke my left leg in two places, my hip, right arm, and my clavicle. It took me almost six months to heal, but heal I did. One guy died, and another six were medically retired. I knew a couple who could have continued to serve, but they thought the accident was a golden opportunity. I felt as if it was just one more way to keep me from the excitement the Army promised.

I spent a lot of time in the Middle East, and after the first tour I was sent to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey to learn Farsi. I seemed to have a talent for it, and as soon as a commanding officer knew I could do it, I would have to sit in on every briefing with an Arabic translator. They were always afraid they were being bull-shitted. They were right a number of times.

So what did this mean? It meant that I didn't go out on patrol often. I was shown to a chair outside a CO's office, or given a small desk in the corner of a dayroom. They found out I could type and I typed a ton of forms. That's one thing the military has a bunch of, forms. Most are now on a computer, but they still have loads of them that have to be typed. They didn't let me use a computer until the last rotation, but it didn't matter. They were all the same forms. I did do a lot of exit interviews with soldiers. You know, closing out their DD-214s, figuring their unused leave time, etc. I tried to talk every one of them into re-enlisting, but wasn't that successful. A lot of guys were tired of the sand and its extreme heat or cold. Having to live within a compound, with no real outside contact, isn't much fun either. At the time I retired, it looked like Afghanistan would last another twenty years.

I kept telling the officers that I was not a clerk, I was airborne infantry. I would do this pointing at my infantry and airborne badges for emphasis. The old salty master sergeants and sergeant majors kept telling me to keep quiet, but I didn't like what I was doing. It did have some benefit, as my efficiency reports were always top notch, and every time I went back stateside, I got first pick for the good schools. I got promoted to E-7, Sergeant First Class, the first time before the promotion board, partly due to the college degree I managed to get in evening classes. The next time I rotated back to the states I got DI school. Being a Drill Instructor was one of the best ways to get promotion points. As much as I had hated the DI's in airborne training, I was now one of the sadistic bastards.

Now when I went back to the combat zone, I was too valuable a resource to send on risky patrols. I was a member of the command staff and spent my time in the headquarters doing paperwork and monitoring translators. I made Master Sergeant on the first try with seventeen years of service and three years left on this enlistment. I was getting so tired of the politics prevalent in the headquarters areas, that when the reenlistment officer put the pen in my hand, I balked. I didn't necessarily want to get out, but I was so bored and tired of all the bull that I really needed to do something else. My combat experience was limited, even though my class A's had hash marks up and down both sleeves. There had been some street fighting in Iraq, but it was really tame stuff compared to what I had seen others go through, those who were always in the field.

During my twenty years in the Army, my father had passed away and Mom sold the farm. She was now in a small over fifty-five park, where she had a lot of friends to visit and play cards with. She was always happy for me to stay with her for a while on the few short leaves I took, but I think she was happy when I left.

I have a brother and sister who live near Mom, but they are both married with kids. Me? I never seemed to hook up with women. My sister always told me that I was good looking, and a couple of Army type women said I was handsome, but no one ever tripped me or set off that hunger you're supposed to have.

One of the things I had accomplished while in the Army was finishing a degree from the University of Maryland. I even took leave and paid for my mom to come to my graduation. I was proud of that as I was this lowly farm kid who was now a college graduate. I think I was a Staff Sergeant E-6 at the time and made pretty good money. If you listened, my peers thought, I was weird. I didn't drink much, but did drink a beer when it was available. I liked some other booze too, but was too cheap to pay for it.

When I was back in the States, I looked at the guys who went with the local bar girls for a twenty around payday, or ten just before payday, with a jaundiced eye. Most of the B-girls were scary, as all I could think of was all the men they serviced every day. Whew, what a mental picture.

Hey, there were some round-heeled USO cuties that probably wanted to hook up with a Sergeant to possibly get separate rations, the benefits, and access to the wonderful (not) PX. I enjoyed them the same as most smart troops, but when the opportunity arose, you can be sure I suited up. I let the clean ones teach me, and ran from those that smelled bad.

Anyway, Mom wanted me to get married and settle down like my siblings did, but I still had a sense of wanderlust.

To summarize, I was a thirty-eight year old retired Master Sergeant, in addition to my retirement, I was evaluated as being thirty percent disabled. Like a dummy, I disagreed and fought with the doctors who thought they were doing me a favor. They didn't want to change their decision, so it became a losing battle. Shut up or you could find yourself reduced in rank. Not me, no way, I had not even received an Article 15. I was the fair-haired boy everywhere I served. I did what my dad said; I obeyed and responded when directed or ordered.

Oh yeah, my name is Mike Grayson, and if Mom is hollering at me for doing something stupid, it's Michael Allen Grayson.

So what do I do? Mom suggested that I find a nice apartment in the nearby city, but I couldn't see myself as a cliff dweller among thousands of people. I didn't have any appreciable or employable skills, unless it was as a sharpshooter or damaged airplane jumper. I could type, but I didn't know anything about computers except how to use them. I had no marketable skills at all.

I really didn't need a job, since I was receiving, or going to receive, a nice chunk of change every month. I kept thinking that what I needed was some place away from people, but not that far away. Someplace that I could become a recluse, but still able to go into the city every once in a while to get my fix of people. I would have to hunt for this place.

I knew it wasn't going to be around Cincinnati or the small community south of Cincinnati where Mom lived. Kentucky was just across the river, and the secluded place where I wanted to spend my life might be there. I had rented a car for a week and the turn-in day was in three days. I needed to find myself some form of transportation.

With my laptop, I shopped for cars, SUVs really, but none were what I wanted. I was thinking about something a little more rugged, something like a Humvee or Jeep. I was scanning through various four wheel drive vehicles for sale, when a picture of an older Dodge four wheel drive pickup showed up. The price was really cheap, and that made me wonder what could be the matter with it. Then I decided there was no sense in wondering, why not find out?

I called the number in the ad, and an older sounding lady answered. When I told her I was calling about the Dodge pickup, she said, "Oh please, I need to sell that thing. My brother passed away, and it has been sitting here for nearly six months. It's kind of ugly, but he loved it. I don't think it has a lot of miles on it, so please come to look at it."

Right up my alley. Something I could use that someone else wanted to get rid of. It only took half an hour to get to the older Cincinnati neighborhood. The little house was what you pictured when you said you wanted a house with a porch and white picket fence. There wasn't much lawn in front, but it had a driveway leading to a detached garage behind the house.

It only took seconds for the door to open after I knocked. A beautiful old lady (aren't they all beautiful) smiled at me. "Are you the person who called about Manny's truck?"

"Yes Ma'am, I'm the guy."

She came out of the house and waved, "Follow me."

We went to the back of the house where a big Dodge pickup was sitting. The thing was a rather ugly yellow-orange, so it didn't have a lot of curb appeal. I really didn't care what it looked like, but I did want to know how it ran.

The lady handed me the keys, "Start it up. I start it and let it run a couple of times a month. Every time someone calls about the truck, they ask what color it is or what kind of engine it has. I can tell them the color, but not the engine and transmission and the callers lose interest real fast."

I started the truck, and listened to the big Cummins 6 cylinder diesel make the usual noises. I checked the glove box for a book and found the original. The truck was a 2000 Ram 2500 with a turbo-diesel engine and a six speed transmission. The odometer said there were only 33,412 miles. The interior and body looked it. I noticed the tires had just been changed, so the mileage should be correct. After the truck warmed up, I easily slipped it into gear and let it rock forward. The clutch felt good. I did the same in reverse and was convinced the truck was probably in good shape.

The little gray-haired lady was standing in the doorway. "What do you think? I know this truck has always been noisy, but Manny said it was because it was a diesel. I imagine the truck isn't worth as much if you can't use gasoline in it."

I shut the truck off and told the lady, "This truck should be worth more than a lot of gasoline trucks, as it probably gets better mileage. I'm not sure, but I think that is probably correct. Regardless, what do you want for the truck?"

"I want to get rid of it. What will you give me?"

This was a dilemma, since I wanted to buy it cheap, but I couldn't justify cheating an old lady out of money. I had looked the truck up on the net to see what it would be worth, but all of the ones listed had over a hundred thousand miles, and this was a diesel. I showed the list of trucks to the lady and she pointed at one that was a 2000 that had 190,000 miles on it. She said, "Give me half of what they want for that one and we have a deal."

I looked at her funny, and she said, "I'm serious. I'll take fifty percent of what another 2000 is and be happy. I need to sell this thing, as I'm in the process of selling the house. Want to buy that too?"

I had to laugh at the spunk the lady was showing. I told her, "No, I want this truck to find a place out in the country somewhere. I want the seclusion of being away from people for a while. I just came out of the military and need the peace and quiet."

The lady patted me on the arm and said, "Then that's all the more reason for you to get a good deal. Actually fifty percent of that truck in the ad is more than I thought I would get. Now, do you want it?"

"Of course, Ma'am, I can write you a check, give you cash, or go get a cashier's check, any one of those."

She said, "Let me get my purse and we'll go to your bank for the money. They can witness the title and put their seal on it. I'll be right back."

Thirty minutes later, I was parking in the driveway. I opened the door for the lady and helped her down from the high profile truck. As I put her down, she was looking at the garage and exclaimed in a very uncharacteristic manner, "Oh damn, I forgot about that thing. Come take a look and see if you can help me."

The lady opened up the big two-car garage door and pointed. There was a pickup camper up on jacks. It looked as if it was set so you could back the truck up to it and let it down in place. The lady asked, "Do you think you could haul this thing to the dump for me? If you think you could use it, all the better, but I have to get rid of it."

With a smile, I told my benefactor, "I'll put it on the truck. If it's no good, I'll take it the dump. If it's good, I'll use it to hunt for my dream place."

She watched as I maneuvered the truck around and gently backed under the camper. I had not noticed before, but the bed was fitted with all of the clamps for the slide in RV body. When I had that done, the lady waved her hand at the back of the garage, as she asked, "Need any tools for cutting trees or making a garden? Manny had power tools for everything. He thought he was a big woodsman and loved to cut trees down. Take what you can haul, all of it, if you can get it in the truck. Take that big tool box, too. I won't be able to get that out of here by myself."

"Ma'am, let me give you something for this camper and the tools. These are exactly what I will eventually need, but I can't take these for free. Not after you gave me such a good deal on the truck."

She looked at me real hard. "How much you got in your pocket? Want to give it to me for the whole kit and caboodle?"

"But I only have about fifty dollars on me."

"Perfect, young man, give it to me," the sweet lady said. "I'll buy some curtains for my new place when I get there."

It took a while to load up all of the various tools. There was a little to keep up a city yard that included a rake, some clippers, and a push mower. I left all of those. My haul included a medium-sized and large chainsaw. There was a gas operated post-hole digger, a huge weed whacker, and a Craftsman double chest full of tools. I had to empty it out to get the boxes into the back of the camper, then loaded the tools again. Included in the haul were two sizes of receivers for the hitch on the back of the truck. I would hunt for a trailer.

When I was done, I gave the lady all of my pocket money and received a warm hug. I laughed when she told me where she was moving. "My mother lives there. I've been staying with her, but will only be there another night or two."

"Then I'm even happier to have helped a young man just out of the military. You be careful out there and enjoy yourself."

The truck was so loaded down that I had to slowly drive over speed bumps to keep the springs from bottoming, all the way to a trailer sales place. It took me an hour to buy a trailer and get the light connections to match. From there I went to a storage place near Mom's home and rented a space for the trailer. It took me the rest of the day to unload the camper of all of the tools, including the jack stands for the camper. The little enclosed trailer wasn't full, but it wouldn't hold a whole lot more.

At home, I had to beg Mom to go with me to get the rental car. She took one look at the light orange, almost yellow, truck and stuck her finger in her mouth, acting as if to gag herself. She rolled her eyes. "You could have at least bought something more pleasing to the eyes. What do you want a truck and camper for? Are you going to go traveling? If you are going to do that, go buy a motor home."

She was that way all the way to the quiet neighborhood where the truck came from. As soon as I parked the truck, the little old lady came out of her house and introduced herself to Mom, telling her what a wonderful son she had. Mom was grinning, then, when the lady said she was moving into the same over 55 park that Mom lived in, they were instantly old friends.

I didn't think they would ever get done yakking. I kept hoping the little old lady wouldn't invite us to supper. She didn't, and I finally got Mom home. First, she complained about three cars in her tiny driveway, and then started in about the yellow-orange behemoth next to the house. It wasn't too late, so I told Mom to have something to eat and I would get something at the car rental place. They advertise they will pick you up and take you back, so I knew I would have a ride. At least I didn't have to listen to Mom for a while.

I was the first person at the title registration office the next morning. I asked if I could buy a temporary tag as I thought I might move to Kentucky. No deal. I was stuck buying an Ohio license for the truck and trailer.

At home, Mom asked me when I thought I might be leaving on my quest to find solitude, so I asked, "Are you expecting company?"

Mom actually blushed before telling me, "I just might be. It's none of your business. Someone in this family needs to pick up the dating if you won't."

That tickled me, and I was laughing so hard that Mom chased me out of the house. I spent the rest of the morning cleaning the camper up. The truck was perfect, but the camper was full of dust. I rinsed out the water holding tank and filled it. There were all of the pots and pans I would need. There were a couple of plates and eating utensils, along with some plastic and aluminum cups and glasses, everything I would need. The camper was an over the cab model, with a queen-size bed up there. There were windows all around, but the side facing the front was curved for less wind resistance, so I wouldn't be sleeping close to that side. As it was, I would have to remember not to sit up straight or I would begin the day with a headache.

One side of the cabin area had a table with wraparound seating. The other side was kitchen, and there was some storage on the cab end of both sides. The kitchen consisted of a switchable 12/120 volt refrigerator, a small range top with one big and two little gas burners, and there was a convection oven that looked like one that the guys had to make pizzas in back in the sand. Above the window over the range was a decent microwave, also voltage switchable. Next to the microwave was a 13 inch flat screen TV that probably was not voltage switchable. I would see how it worked later.

Then, I made the discovery. I lifted up one of the cushions of the table seating area and was looking at a wealth of firearms. I just stood there staring.

When I recovered, I lifted the table from the stand and removed the stand to get into the long seat on the back side of the table area. I pulled that open and there were rifles and shotguns. These were hunting pieces. A Remington 1100 12 gauge auto-loading shotgun, a 12 gauge Stevens side by side double barrel, a fancy Browning over and under, and a fiberglass stock Mossberg 500 12 gauge pump. Wow, this was a fortune in shotguns. The rifles were a Remington .22 automatic, a nice Browning .308 and .223, both with scopes, and an authentic looking Winchester lever action 30-30. Everything was perfectly clean and in homemade racks to hold them. Underneath were multiple gun cleaning supplies.

The handguns were from small to large: two different types of twenty-two automatics, a thirty-eight special in a heavy frame, a Ruger .357 magnum in a similar frame, a Sig Sauer 9 millimeter, and an Colt M1911 45 caliber. There was a presentation case that I opened and found a replica of an old Colt 45, something to look at, brag about, but probably never fire.

With some greedy hope that there was more, I lifted the last seat out and found a lot of ammunition for all of the guns. There was also a small metal lock box that I didn't have a key for. I would look for the key. What more could there be?

My next duty was shopping. There was an Army/Navy surplus store nearby, so I went there to see if they had any decent cammies. I was used to wearing them and only had the ones that had all of my insignia. I had kept six sets, but wanted to keep them pristine in case I decided to join the Reserves.

They had desert cammies, as well as jungle and mountain colors. I bought some jungle and mountain outfits, along with another pair of boots. This guy was a thief for the money he was getting, but he had a corner on the market. I bought a couple of blankets, a couple of canteens, a web harness with a belt, and an issue holster, since I knew their quality.

My next stop was a clothing store for underwear, socks, jeans, shirts, some work boots, and tennis shoes. I had workout shorts and a variety of T-shirts. This was Sears, so I bought some towels and wash cloths too. Next was the grocery store for various soaps, a bunch of strike anywhere matches, and a variety of dehydrated camping meals. I would buy food for the refrigerator when I was on the road.

That did remind me to have the big dual gas bottles topped off. I thought I was ready, at least until I pulled the panel off that aforementioned generator. There was a decent Honda generator that slid out on a shelf and an empty composite gas can behind it. There was no gas in the can, and the generator tank was dry. That led to a quick trip to the gas station where I filled the generator tank and the five gallon gas can. While at the gas station, I pushed the button and the generator started, with the gauges showing me that it was producing enough power to recharge the batteries and supply power to the cabin.

On the way home, I saw a laundromat and pulled in. There was an attendant that made extra money for washing and folding your clothes and bed clothes. She told me to come back at six for the clothes and how much she would charge.

Now I was ready.

At Mom's I asked, "Are you going out with your friend tonight, or is it tomorrow?"

Mom looked ashamed. "Tomorrow, Honey. I'm sorry I put you in the corner on that. You really don't have to scram. My gentleman friend probably won't want to stay over anyway."

"In that case, how about I take you out for a special supper? I'm going to take off in the morning and head south into Kentucky. I need to celebrate with my mom, how about it?"

We went to supper, but I stopped along the way to put my cleaned clothes into the camper. Mom had wanted to take her car, but I had to get all of the clothes.

Mom loves the Olive Garden, so that is where we ate. From there, Mom wanted to drive out past our old farmhouse, so we did that. She was weeping a little as we slowly passed our old place. As Mom wiped her eyes, she said, "You know that I really do miss your father. We were only married thirty-five years when he died. We had a good life and he was a good man who left me taken care of."

Mom actually giggled. "Did he ever tell you how we got married?" I shook my head no. "I was only fifteen and he was seventeen. He was like you and finished high school early. He was already working and wanted to get married. Your grandfather wouldn't hear of it and watched me like a hawk. They couldn't keep us apart, and I happily informed them a couple of months later that I was pregnant with your brother. I thought my Dad was going to kill your Dad, but he relented and was happy he didn't have to get the shotgun out." After Mom had a smiling contest with herself in the sun visor mirror, she continued, "Your sister did the same thing, but at least she was seventeen. She finally finished her GED and it didn't keep her from having a good job. She's a good worker."

Mom was talkative. "Your brother actually waited until he was almost twenty and his girl was nineteen. They talked about getting married for six months, then they both wrote notes to her parents and us, and eloped. When they came back, both her parents and your dad and I were surprised, as we thought we were going to have to put them up. Not your brother, he already had a decent apartment for them to move into. He was always sneaky efficient that way. You know I'm proud of all of you kids. All of you have been good children."

When I helped Mom from the truck, she hugged me and said, "Now, just because you're going to go out in the country to find your special place, don't forget me and your siblings. We all love you, Honey, and will want to see you. Promise you'll come to visit for the holidays?"

"Of course, Mom; I'll need to see civilization sometimes. Besides, I love to see all of my nieces and nephews grow up."

I didn't sleep all that well, as I was anxious to get going.



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Chapter 2

While I was putting the last of my stuff in the camper, mom made breakfast for me. We ate and chatted and I teased her about her many men friends and warned her to be careful, as there were bugs even for folks her age. She swatted me for my impertinence, but grinned in recognition of my concern.

Driving out of the over 55 park was a milestone for me. I stopped at the first grocery store I came to for some lunch meat, a steak, some canned veggies, milk, coffee, coffee filters, and an eighteen pack of beer. There wasn't much room in the fridge, so I only put six cans in there. After checking to make sure the fridge was working fine on 12 volts, I went to the storage place, put my duffle bag with my old uniforms in the trailer, locked it, and headed south.

Interstate 75 goes in the direction I was most interested in. I didn't go very fast, about fifty-five to sixty, not to save fuel, but to gawk at the land as I went by. I stopped to top off the tank, which was low on fuel, and while inside the station, I picked up a couple of 'land for sale' brochures. I also bought a Kentucky roadmap, and a campground map. A lot of the places for sale were small, and priced way over what I could afford.

I had been good about saving my money for the last twenty years. In all of that time, the only cars I owned were what we used to call base cars, junkers that would pass a vehicle inspection, but really weren't worth much. The idea was to keep them running and get as much for them as you bought them for when you rotated out. I had been a farm boy and knew how to keep equipment running.

My cash balance, derived from twenty years of saving my salary and re-enlistment bonuses, was wonderful. Add to that my last year or so of paid unused leave time, and I had some good cash. Still, it wouldn't be enough for the big prices people were asking.

I was still too close to the big city, so I needed to keep traveling south. I was on Interstate 75, south of Lexington, near Berea, where there was an RV park, so I pulled in there and rented a space for the night.

It was early yet, so I wandered around and talked to a lot of people. The RV park owners knew everyone within fifty miles it seemed, and knew of land for sale everywhere. The man had several places that sounded good and were within my price range, so I had to get my pad and write them all down. I walked over to a gas station to get maps for three counties, and was able to mark places the park owner knew of that were for sale. It had been a good move to pull in here.

The best lead was pretty far down in the boondocks, south of a place called Stanton. The park owner had an old lady aunt who wanted to move up near him, and he said she would probably sell out cheap. He also told me she didn't have a phone and I should cautiously approach the house to make sure she could see that I was unarmed. She sounded like my kind of woman. He did say that I could write her a letter and she would tell me the same thing, 'Come on down.'

I was up early the next morning, made breakfast, did my dishes, and was ready to go. The park owner stopped by with an envelope and wanted to know if I was heading toward Stanton. When I nodded, he asked, "Give this to Eliza. Don't say much until she's read all of it. She may have to go get her glasses, but just stay where she can see you. When she reads this, she'll soften up some. Make sure to answer her honestly when she begins giving you the third degree. That old witch has always been able to tell when I was spoofing. Really, it was more like I was telling her stories." He added, "There is another town, south of where you will be, called Pine Ridge. Go there for an RV park; it doesn't have much else other than that. They might know of a place you could buy, as well."

This wasn't going to be that far from where I was. I would have to cut across to I64 before going south on what was called the 'Ben T. Combs Parkway' to Stanton, then at the split for Highway 213, look for a gas station with a road next to it that went east. It was a gravel and dirt road, but I was assured it was passable. The park owner told me there was one area that was a concrete ford, but the water never got high as it was a natural spring runoff creek going downhill.

At the split past Stanton, I stopped at a gas station for a cup of coffee and a short conversation. The owner of the gas station saw my hand drawn map and wanted to look at it. When he saw it, he commented, "That's Eliza's place. You better be careful going up her drive. She's a might touchy about visitors."

The man thought for a second and made a mark on the map near Eliza's road. "This is old Ben's place. You'll know it for the Goat's Milk sign. Go get him and tell him you want to see Eliza. She knows him and he'll get you up there. That's a nice place she has, but she has let it get pretty run down. I don't think she's had power for a while. She just doesn't have the money for it."

The man was nice, but acted as if I didn't have a chance in hell of uprooting Eliza.

Instead of attempting to upset Eliza, I stopped at Ben's Goat's Milk sign and drove up the short lane to his place. Before I could get out of the truck, an old guy propped a rifle up on his porch next to his door and came walking toward me. I stepped out of the truck with my hands in sight, so he knew I wasn't a threat. He took his hands from inside his bib overalls and stuck one out to shake.

I had a conversation with him and he was all smiles. He kept telling me that if Eliza didn't want to do business with me, I might make him an offer. He kept telling me how much he was making on his sheep and llama wool. Seeing the condition of his place, I didn't think it was all that much.

Ben picked up his rifle and the two of us walked up Eliza's road. It was only about a half mile of Ben's constant chatter, as he pointed out various trees and telling me how much un-harvested timber there was around.

As we reached the top of a steep incline of the road, I could see a small cabin with a machine shed that was considerably bigger than a double-wide city garage, a couple of small log buildings, and a small two floor barn. You could tell it had two floors because of how tall it was, and a closed door about halfway to the roof. A couple of dogs announced our presence, and a lady armed with a double barrel shotgun came walking out, carrying it with one hand on the forestock, or as some call it, the 'forearm' and the other hand at the trigger guard.

"Who you got there, Ben? Who you bringing out here? Stay right there until I decide if I want to talk to you or him."

Ben hollered, "The man was told to come see you by your nephew up near Lexington. I think he wants to live up here and wants to talk to you about buying your place."

You could see the lady thinking about it, until she finally waved the barrel of the shotgun toward an old picnic table and told us, "Come sit. I'll get us some spring water. Don't have no coffee made, and if I did, I probably wouldn't share the way it costs anymore. Come sit."

The lady went inside and came out without her shotgun. She was carrying a big pitcher and some glasses. She poured three glasses of water and sat across from Ben and me. I had pulled the envelope from my pocket and as I handed it her, I said "Byron, at his RV park, gave me this for you. I should have said I had it before you went in so you wouldn't have to go back for your reading glasses."

Eliza looked up at me, squinting, and told me, "Don't need no reading glasses. Besides, I got them right here in my underclothes pocket next to my pistol. Let me read this. Byron knows I don't read so fast, but is constantly sending me letters."

Ben elbowed me. "Eliza is a good reader. She reads my stuff to me when I get a letter. I don't have a lot of kin like she does, but I get letters from the electric company and the county all the time."

Eliza looked up at Ben. "Those are bills, you old fool. Them ain't letters. A letter is like this and tells you something. A bill is just a way of asking you to pay for something. Now hush up and let me read this. It's most of a whole page."

Eliza began sitting up straight and was smiling when she was done. She carefully folded the envelope and deposited it with her glasses in her secret underwear pocket. I'm sure it was right next to her pistol.

I love this old lady.

"So's you was in the Army all your life?"

"Not all my life, Ma'am, just the last twenty years. I went in after I finished high school."

She was smiling. "A lot of the kids don't finish high school out here. They used to run off to the coal mines when they got to be sixteen, but now they have to wait until they are eighteen. What they do now is cut timber and poach. There's a lot of them moonshinin', but the revenuers are thick as thieves around here. This is a dry county, you know. You got to go all the way to Wolfe County to buy something legal. Grow corn or buy a lot of sugar, and you will have a visitor. The kids are growing that funny tobacco and make money from that too. I'm told they take it to the city where city people pay a lot money for it. They oughta just let the kids work the mines."

Eliza turned back to face me. "So you did spend all your growed up life in the Army?"

I nodded and answered, "Yes, Ma'am."

"See what the Army does for a young man, Ben. They teach them to be respectful, yes Sir, no Sir, yes Ma'am, no Ma'am. That's the way it ought to be."

The lady patted her bosom where she had deposited the letter. "Byron says you want to live out here and you have money to buy me out. I'm not going to go cheap, because I'll have to live in the city. Byron says I'll need at least," she took a big breath, "A hundred thousand dollars to make it along with my government pension money. I worked in Lexington during the war, building war cars, you know, Jeeps, and they paid me regular. They took out pension money and have been sending it to me for the last ten years. Byron keeps it for me right now, but he shows me how much is in the bank. He has a little book he keeps all of those numbers in."

She squinted at me again. "Can you give me that hundred thousand?"

"Ma'am, I can do that, but I might want to look at the property to see what you have. Can you show me?"

The lady smiled. "You got your walking shoes on, Honey? Let me show you around. The place isn't very big, but it's all up and down."

Ben said to us, "You two don't need me no more. I need to go back to shearing them sheep I have in the barn."

When Ben was out of earshot, she said, "Those sheep ain't in the barn. He shears them right in the big room in his house. He's too lazy and cheap to build a barn like I done."

As we walked, Eliza described her place, "I have two hundred and five acres of beautiful property. There is only about fifty acres total in the three meadows where you can grow anything. I have cleared field roads to those and they aren't difficult to get to. I have five natural springs that flow down the mountain and join the creek down at the base of the mountain. You drove through the big one. I have water in the house from the spring, but it's too cold to bathe in. I have to heat water up for that.

"Don't tell nobody, but I have six good sized caves and several smaller ones on the property. My husband used to make wine. There is a good grape vineyard that I've kept up. I take the grapes to market when they come in. If you was to want to make wine, the press is still in the cave, along with a lot of barrels. I think there might be a dozen or so barrels in there with wine still in 'em. I don't drink that fancy stuff. I'd rather have a taste of shine. If you were to get a license, you could sell the wine you make, but not local. I don't know what all it takes, but it can be done. Bud only made enough for him and the neighbors."

We were walking through what looked like an orchard. "There are two kinds of apple trees and some pear trees. There are enough apples that you can sell quite a few at the market. I'm beginning to have trouble climbing up to harvest them apples and pears. It's not easy work."

We had walked around the meadows, looked at two pigs, a steer, and a calf she had, and she topped it off by showing me the chicken house in the back, almost against a rock bluff. She said, "The damn chickens are setting on eggs and chicks out in the grass. Their chicks are all gonna die from the cold or animals getting 'em, but chickens don't listen. If you ever get them chickens back in the yard, keep 'em there if you want the eggs.

We walked over to the barn where she showed me her prize Jersey cow. "This girl gives about five gallons a day. I use her milk for butter, buttermilk, and baking. I drink some too, but I have to keep the bottles in the running spring water. The spring house is like my refrigerator when I don't have power. I can't afford it sometimes, and tell them REA people to shut it off until I get money."

We walked back to the picnic table and sat. She poured us some more spring water, but it wasn't as cool anymore. She looked at me intently. "What do you really think, can you pay me what I need?"

It was my turn. "Eliza, I think I might have to give you more than what you're talking about. I will go into the county seat and check the tax assessment. That way I'll know what's fair."

"No need to do that, Mike, I got them papers right here at the house. I haven't had the money to pay the taxes yet, but I figured I could pay up when I sold the place."

Eliza went into the house and came back with some papers. The county sends out the last assessment and the estimated millage in January, so people can pay their taxes before the end of the year. She wasn't showing arrears, only what she would need to pay for this year's bill. The choker was the assessed value. Her two hundred and five acres was assessed as limited, difficult farmland, with buildings marked as rundown. I can imagine some shyster coming along and offering Eliza the assessed amount of forty-seven thousand dollars. That would be like 235 dollars an acre. Anything less than five hundred would be thievery.

She held out two more tax bills, "These are for the land on the other side of the mountain. I own it, but it isn't worth anything because you can't hardly get to it. There isn't any farmland unless you were to clear it and build a road over to it. If you don't want it, I'm going to let the guvment have it for taxes. It ain't worth nothing."

She went on to tell me, "It's actually two different parcels, the upper and the lower. Bud bought the lower parcel when the Jorgensen's sold out. He bought the northern parcel when nobody paid the taxes after the horrible times that family had."

I looked at the bills and hunted for the size. They stated the combined two parcels were about two hundred and forty acres, more or less, but both are considered un-farmable and non-sustainable. The taxes for that much ground was less than a hundred dollars, and the land assessment was listed as twenty-five hundred dollars.

When Eliza saw I was through looking at the papers, she said, "If you can pay me the money I need, I'll sell to you. If you will pay the taxes for me, I'll give you that other land. You might be able to harvest timber, but most of the cutters don't want to work that hard to get it out of there. They's enough nut trees back there, you know, walnut and hickory, you could sell nuts if you was to gather 'em."

She was trying to sell me on the place. "You know you could be like me and live here free with just the butter and egg money. Watch your money during the year and you'll have your tax money. You really don't need the REA if you don't mind trying to read by lamp or candle. This is really a good deal."

The older lady was nervously wiping her hands on her apron, so I calmed her, "I will buy your land and pay your taxes. I will also do what I can to help you get to where you want to be. I'll pay you extra for your cow, steer, calf, pigs, and chickens.

"What I will do is to pay you, let's say five hundred an acre for your main land, and fifty dollars an acre for the other side of the mountain, sight unseen."

Eliza looked at me. "You got that kind of money? Are you rich? I thought you was in the Army for the last twenty years."

"Eliza, the Army pays good money now, and I make even more because I was hurt in the service and I was a Master Sergeant when I retired. I saved my money the whole time. I don't spend money on silly stuff, so I have some money saved. Yes, I have enough for what I offered."

Eliza stuck her hand across the table. "Deal. I wish I was younger; I'd take you on as a lover in a heartbeat. I could have treated you right. Bud died when I wasn't forty yet, and who would believe I'd live this long. The one thing Bud did do was buy this land way back when, and he left me with a stake. When can I move?"

I was almost laughing. "Tell you what, I'll take these tax bills into the county seat and find a lawyer to transfer the land. I'll have to get the money transferred into a bank account for you."

Eliza wanted me to do something special with the money. "Put the money into the account Byron has for me. That's what I'm going to live on."

Eliza was smiling, but then a cloud came over her face. "I didn't tell you everything about up here. I hope it don't change your mind. We're haunted. There's a ghost that has lived up here for the last ten years or so. I've seen it, or her, twice, and I know old Ben has seen it a few times. She doesn't bother anyone, but she's out there. She will come near sometimes, but the dogs are not afraid of her. Are you afraid of ghosts?"

"I don't have an answer to that, Eliza. How many people know about your ghost?"

The lady waved her hand in circles. "Everyone around here. They all think she lives on my part of the mountain, but she's not seen very often. So far, only Ben, me, and men who hunt the property have had a glimpse of her. One second she's there, the next she's gone. She's scary enough that hardly anyone hunts here anymore. The deer are beginning to overrun the fields around the area."

I was happy to observe, "If she isn't dangerous, she isn't a bad ghost. I'm kind of a live and let live guy."

Eliza stood. "Go get that paper work done. I'll get that bank number for you right now. Next time you come, what kind of car do you have?"

"A big yellow-orange truck with a camper on the back. You'll hear me before you see me."

I walked down the hill to Ben's, but couldn't find him. I drove toward Stanton, as that was where the Post Office box is that the taxes were sent from.

The county seat is Stanton, and announces on the sign at the city limits to have a population of only three thousand, so the Powell County court house was not difficult to find. If you want a lawyer in a small town, either look near the courthouse, or go in and ask the first person you see. All of them are related to an attorney.

When I walked in, there was an older black man with a dust mop. "Could you direct me to the County Clerk's office?"

The old man pointed toward the end of the hall. "Yezir, down on your right."

I thought to ask him, "How about an attorney, who's a good one?"

The man angrily threw the dust mop handle down, and said, "Anybody but the shyster Benson across the street. He charged me almost fifty dollars and didn't get me off. Because of him, I have to dust these floors for a month. I only had about ten gallons of shine, and he couldn't get me free."

Without laughing at the man, I qualified the type of lawyer I needed, "I need a real estate lawyer, not a lawyer like you needed."

The man had picked up the dust mop and looked around sheepishly. "Then Benson be your man. He tole me he don't know nuthin' bout no jail law, only that other lawyer stuff."

I smiled and waved at the man dusting the floors before walking to the County Clerk's office.

A lady was sitting at a desk behind a tall counter, "Hi, my name is Mike Grayson. I have some property tax papers I want to verify."

The lady got up and came to the counter. She adjusted the half glasses on her nose and looked over the top of them at me. "What are you doing with Eliza's tax papers?"

"Ma'am, I'm going to try to buy her property up there. We've agreed on a price that is more than the assessed amount, and I'm going to pay the taxes as part of the deal."

The lady sighed. "Hate to lose Eliza. She's been here forever. Her husband, God rest his soul, bought that land back when you only paid ten dollars or less an acre. He had a note on it for a long, long time, but he finally paid it off. Of course, just like always, reach a goal and the Lord smacks you and your kin around. Since he passed, Eliza has had to scratch to make a living. That she's hung on this long is amazing."

While she shuffled the papers around, "Now what is your name, Honey?"

"Michael Allen Grayson."

The clerk wrote my name on a legal pad as she asked, "When are you going to buy the place and pay her taxes? You really don't have to pay them until December, but you get a discount if you pay before August." The lady was pointing to where it showed the discounted amount.

"First things first, Ma'am, I have to find a lawyer to help with all of the paperwork. If I'm going to do this, I want it legal."

That got her attention. "Oh, just go across the street and talk to Benson. Tell him Gert sent you and I'll get a ten spot for the referral."

As I walked out of the courthouse, I stopped where the old man was dusting the floor. "Do you stay in jail at night, or just work here in the afternoons?"

He smiled and told me, "They send me home so's I don't eat their foods. Only really bad people are in jail. I'm only a little bad."

I handed him a ten and said, "This is for referring me to Benson. I appreciate it."

"Damn, Mister, I tole you for free. You don haf to gimme nuttin."

I gave the man a casual salute and walked out of the courthouse. He deserved the referral even if Benson couldn't get him off. This, more than likely, wasn't the first or last time the man had a run in with the law over moonshine. I chuckled to myself all the way to the street. When I looked both ways before crossing the street, I thought to myself, "Dummy, there isn't any traffic here. Just look where you're walking."

When I went into the office that had a simple sign on the front, 'Attorney, ' a gum chewing young lady was sorting papers as she popped her gum. She looked up at me and asked, "How can I help you, Sir?"

"I need a lawyer to help me buy some land."

The girl straightened up in her chair. "May I tell Mr. Benson your name?"

"Yes, Mike Grayson."

The obvious high school girl went through some big doors and came back out. "Mr. Benson will see you now, Sir. Please come through here."

Once I had shaken the hand of the infamous Benson, I mentioned first, "Gert at the County Clerk's office recommended you." When he grinned, I added, "She says you'll give her a ten for the referral."

This made the man smile. He was dressed in suit pants, white shirt, tie, and a pull over sweater vest. Considering it was about sixty five outside, I thought he might be a little overdressed.

"How may I help you, Mr. Grayson?"

"First, you have to tell me your full name," I stated, "no one calls you anything but 'Benson.'"

He chuckled as he responded, "If you call me Beauregard, I think I would have to call you out for a duel. Everyone else around here knows that, and I am referred to only as 'Benson.'"

"The older black man at the courthouse dust mopping the floors even called you 'Benson.' He says you're not any good at criminal stuff, since he has to mop every day as a sentence."

"Amos is a jewel, Mr. Grayson. The man makes some good shine, but is always getting caught. This is a dry county you know, and the revenuers would put him in a federal prison for a long time. He needs to learn how to stay away from the law. I'll remember him, as well."

"Benson, I took care of the man, so don't go spoiling him. I'm here to get you to draw up a sales contract for Eliza Morgan's property. We've made an agreement that she's happy with, and I need to make sure the title is properly transferred."

The man moved a legal pad in front of him and began writing. "Are you buying all of her land or just the front part? I know there was some indecision on Eliza's part as to whether she should sell the back acreage."

"I'm buying all of it, both, or rather all three parcels. I'm thinking that if all of the land at the top of the mountain is mine, I can have the privacy I want. Ben, my closest neighbor won't visit that often, so like I said, I am excited to have the whole mountain top."

Benson stood behind his desk and stretched before walking around the desk in front of me. "You know the story behind the property on the other side of the mountain, don't you?"

I didn't speak, and shook my head no.

Benson began, "Somewhere in the 1860s, a family came here to escape Sherman's attack on Atlanta. They were not dignitaries or rich people, just average citizens caught up in a terrible war. They homesteaded the back side of the mountain, as it was an area not already claimed, nor sought after by the carpetbaggers of that era.

"This was an Irish family, the Finnerty's. They brought minimal skills with them to live in the wild where their homestead claim was. The family lived in caves for a couple of years until they were able to build a home. In time, they built a home, a barn, and some stockyards to raise beef stock. They became regular visitors to the markets at the bottom of the mountain. All went well until the 1960s, when the flu killed most of the existing family. The only ones left were a retarded son and the youngest girl child. People helped them to exist, giving them foodstuffs and teaching them to take care of themselves.

"Somewhere in the late seventies, there was a fire on that side of the mountain that overran the cabin they lived in, and killed the retarded brother. The girl lived and tried to rebuild, but ended up living in a cave instead of a regular home. Some men, we suppose were hunters, found her one day and ravaged her. She died in the process and the hunters dumped her body at the base of the mountain. Somewhere around ten or so years afterward, people began seeing something, or someone, when they were near the back of the mountain. It is thought that what they see is the ghost of the Finnerty girl."

"How does that affect the sale of the property, Benson?" I asked this as I knew of the ghost suspicion from Eliza.

"Just wanted you to know, Mr. Grayson. You shouldn't be expected to buy haunted land or land that was owned by a family that was deceased."

I had to ask, "If that land was the property of the offspring of the original owners, how did Eliza's husband come to own it?"

"Somewhere in the late seventies, Bud bought the lower Jorgenson homestead on the back of the mountain, before that, back about the mid-sixties, the taxes had not been paid for a while on the northern homestead, so Bud bought that land for back taxes. It wasn't but a couple of hundred dollars, and he was doing well selling his crops. He didn't tell anyone why he wanted the property, but he owned it then and left it alone. He even tried to warn hunters off so they wouldn't be confronted by the supposed ghosts."

This was interesting, but I had more to do today. "What do you need from me to get this transaction taken care of?"

Benson had sat back in his big chair behind his desk. "Can you bring Eliza in tomorrow morning? I will go over everything at the courthouse and make sure the land was surveyed back when it was purchased and homesteaded. The surveyors back then built concrete markers with stamped metal markers embedded. All of those still stand around the area, so we won't have to re-survey the property. If you bring the money, we can consummate the sale tomorrow."

I stood and stuck my hand out. This was my kind of guy, as he was going to get this done right away. I smiled at the young receptionist on the way out to head for my truck.

The trip back up the mountain for the second time today was not much different, except it looked like it might rain by morning. When I pulled up into Eliza's yard, the two big dogs of shepherd descent came running out to greet me. Eliza stepped out the back door and asked, "Is everything still okay? You're back awful quick."

"Eliza, I've talked to the County Clerk's office and have hired Benson to take care of the paperwork. He seems to think we can finish this in the morning. I wanted to tell you about it so I can take you to town in the morning."

"That's right smart and kind of you, Michael. Can you pick me up around seven so we can be at Benson's by eight? I'll want to call Byron to tell him I'll be on my way. You did say you would help me get up there, didn't you?"

You have to give it to the old gal. She remembered everything. "Yes, Ma'am, I did say that, and I'll be happy to transport you up there. I can take the camper off the truck and haul as much as you want. If it takes more than one trip, I can do that too."

"No need, Michael, I can have everything I want from here in a couple of bundles in the morning. If you will take me up to Byron near Lexington, I'll be fine. Come into the house and see what you're getting."

Inside the small cabin was a very big room with a kitchen in part of it, a big table, and a living room area centered in front of a big fireplace. The kitchen had a big wood stove near a big sink. There were regular faucets, but Eliza pointed out, "When I don't have power and gas, I don't have hot water. Bud made the place pretty modern because we have indoor plumbing, a tub, a shower nozzle, a toilet, and a sink for you to shave in. You're going to have to heat water to shave, but that's pretty easy. There's plenty of stove wood out back and plenty of logs to bust up for the fireplace and stove there, too. Have the REA turn on the electricity and there's a coffee pot, a small microwave, and a little electric oven. The flue for the fireplace was cleaned last fall, so it should be fine for a while. The fireplace will heat the whole house without much wood. The heat from the fire turns these fans that will circulate the hot air around the house. I have one modern convenience here. I have a smoke and carbon monoxide detector. That way, the fireplace won't get ya."

We looked at the small bathroom that was very nice, but tiny. In the one bedroom was a single bed, with a small vanity and a chair. It looked comfortable. The other bedroom was much bigger and had what was probably a double bed, a big dresser, two chairs, a table with an oil lamp on it, and as a surprise, a flat screen TV up on the wall. Eliza pointed at it, "That thing is nice, but it needs power. When I have money for power, I can get Sputnik TV. The round thing is on the back roof. That's really nice."

I told Eliza, "I'm going to go back to Stanton or over to Pine Ridge and stay at a camper park. I'll be here early to pick you up."

The old woman looked at me. "Can't you just park that truck and sleep in there? You're going to do that anyway. Why not stay here? I'll fix you breakfast. If you need to shave in the morning, I can heat some water up for you. Stay out here; the dogs like you already. That makes me happy because I was afraid for them. They are not the sweetest dogs around. Both are from a German Shepherd that bred with some wolves. I found them in a cave after a hunter said he killed a bitch wolf. I raised them for me, and you can see, they are sweet dogs — just big."

I guess I had dogs to go along with a house and a ghost.

Eliza pulled on my arm and said, "Come out here and let me show you a couple of things."

We went straight to her outbuilding that could be called a garage, or more commonly on a farm, a machine shed. We opened the big doors where I saw a late forties pickup truck and an ancient Ford tractor. Eliza was grinning. "I know the old truck ain't worth nothing, but the tractor is worth a lot. Bud bought the tractor in the fifties and used it in our fields, to make our garden, and to plow between the grape vines and orchard rows. It works fine and has a reasonably new battery. Behind this is a gas barrel with probably thirty gallons of gas. When you need it filled, call the distributor and he'll stop by to refill it. You don't have to pay the road taxes on the fuel since it is for the farm." The old lady gave me a wink. "That distributor is also the man to deliver you bottled gas for the hot water heater. The big tank is under that mound in back of the garage. It feeds the burners and hot water heater in the barn too. It's been empty, or almost empty, for a while. I just haven't had the money to fill it up. You know, if you've a mind to, you could buy one of those modern gas stoves. You wouldn't have to cut up stove wood. Of course, you could get really modern and put in a gas heater. The fireplace works so well, Bud never wanted to put one in."

I looked the old pickup over. Eliza said, "Bud kept this thing perfect. I've tried to keep it up, but a lot of the upholstery is getting worn out. There ain't no rust because I won't drive it in the salt. I wash it and have even polished it several times. I hope it serves you well."

Everything the old lady told me and showed me brought more smiles to my face. When I took her back to the house, she said, "Let's go out back and see if we can shoo them chickens back in their yard and house. If we can get them in there, they will have eggs for us in the morning. They are more docile when it gets this time of day. While we're back there, I'll show you the big cave where we keep the other farm equipment. You know there are caves everywhere around here."

We found what she thought were most of the chickens and were able to get them into the fence and chicken house that held nest boxes and a roost. We found a half dozen setting hens on eggs and shooed them into the fence as well.

Eliza gathered all of the eggs the hens were setting on to take them into the kitchen area.

Before we went back to the house, she wanted me to come to the far side of the chicken house where it was easy to see the huge opening of a natural cave. Eliza walked in a little ways to point out the equipment. "There is a good plow, a disk, a spring tooth harrow, a cultivator for the corn, a manure spreader, and a couple of other pieces. We don't have a baler, but you can work a deal with a neighbor to get that done. You know, up here, most everything is done by trading and helping each other."

Back inside the small cabin, I watched as she lit a candle and held each egg up to look at it with the candlelight showing through. She put them into three piles. She told me, "These are chicks that will be born, these are eggs that will never hatch, and these are fresh eggs." We'll throw the bad ones out, but go put these eggs into four groups in the nest boxes out there. I marked the fertile eggs that are going to hatch so you will be able to gather the fresh eggs. Those big brown chickens have the most chicks, so when you run low on chicken, let them set. The white chickens are good layers, but their eggs aren't that big. You'll have to get some ducks and turkeys for some really big eggs. A big man like you can eat a couple of duck, goose, or turkey eggs for breakfast."

I said goodnight to Eliza and moved the truck to a level spot. I found a bucket and brought some water to heat up in the morning. I know my tanks had water, but the spring water tasted so good. I was undressed and asleep in minutes.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Eagle Guru, Rotorhead

Thorsten Thrusts Thoroughly Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 3

I was sleeping in the camper parked near Eliza's cabin when something woke me.

There was some noise outside. I thought at first that it was the dogs, but the sound was more like feet shuffling, feet trying not to make noise. Without making a sound, I rolled over to look outside. Clouds hid the moon, so it was pretty dark outside.

There it was. I saw a figure. It was looking at the truck. The figure went all around the truck, looking at everything, but not touching anything. It must have sensed me watching since it kept looking up at the windows next to the bed. I watched as the figure reached down and petted the dogs before walking off in the direction of the other side of the mountain. That was interesting. At least, I thought, the ghost wasn't dangerous, just curious.

My body clock told me to get up. My wristwatch said it was five thirty. I started the generator and used some of the water I brought in to make some coffee. While that was perking, I washed my face, shaved with some heated water, and dressed. I wore jeans and a nice shirt instead of fatigues this morning. That should be fine to conduct business around here.

I was just about to pour a cup of coffee when there was knock on the door. I opened it and found Eliza holding a ceramic cup. "What does a person have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?" she asked.

I invited her in and had her sit at the little table. We had drunk our coffee before she said, "I'm not going to make you breakfast. We're going into town to the Kitchen. I'm sure you saw it, as it is right when you drive into town."

I did remember a place with a sign that said 'Kitchen'.

"What about the animals, Eliza? Don't we need to feed and water them? Don't we need to gather the eggs?"

She smiled, "Naw, Ben will be up here in a little while to milk the cow and do the feeding. He'll probably keep all the eggs today, as we haven't been gathering any lately. He knows not to take the marked eggs."

"What does Ben do with the milk?"

Eliza made a circling motion with her hands. "We make butter and buttermilk with it. We keep the evening milk for drinking, but the morning milk is full of the yellow curds of butterfat. If you want some good ice cream this summer, have Ben make some for you from our milk. It is just about the best you can get."

As we finished our coffee and I was putting things away to travel, Eliza cautiously asked, "Did you hear our visitor last night?"

I looked at Eliza to see if she was spoofing me. "I saw it. The ghost looked all around my truck, but didn't try to get in it. I think it was more curious than anything else."

"You know, Mike, you might want to leave some things out for the ghost every once in a while. I leave some bread from time to time. I know it likes any meats I leave, especially bacon when I have it fresh. You know that I have that smokehouse that I do hams and bacon in, and that ghost has never taken anything. I leave something on the porch, and it's gone in the morning. You'll need to do that now that I'll be gone."

There was the question, "How come the dogs don't get upset with the ghost visiting at night?"

Eliza smiled, "I'd almost bet the ghost led me to those pups when they were motherless. They have never barked at it, or as I think, her. The way it walks and acts, it almost has to be a girl."

I carried Eliza's bags to the truck as she stood in front of the house and stared. With tears streaming down her face, she softly spoke, "Take care of this place, Mike. I've lived here a lifetime, and I'm now leaving it to you. You have a big responsibility up here. You know that you could invite me back up here and come get me. I think I'll need to visit here every once in a while."

As I opened the door to my truck, Eliza took my arm. "I forgot to tell you. I like to leave soap and shampoo once a month for the ghost. I've left dresses, pants, tops, and coats for her, and they are always gone. I think she makes clothes from hides, but I'm not sure. There's a Goodwill place in Stanton that you can get stuff to leave out. You know, I leave books for her too. The books are gone for a while, then reappear on the porch. I know she likes to read at night, since the candles are always gone. I know that she needs more candles when she leaves a candle stub on the porch. Take care of the ghost, Mike."

This woman had a relationship with a person she's never met, a person that sneaks around at night looking at everything. I'd almost bet that when Eliza watched television, the ghost would be outside her window, watching with her. Strange stuff, but it was all part of the mountain's mystique.

On the drive to Stanton, out of curiosity, I asked Eliza, "I understand there used to be a family that lived on the property you own on the other side of the mountain. Benson told me their name was Finnerty."

Eliza elaborated, "They were decent folk, but had a boy who wasn't all there. Their elders came from Atlanta during the Civil War. Their luck wasn't any good at all, as the folks died off from the flu, then a fire took the boy. The girl showed up dead at the bottom of the mountain a few years later. Some say hunters killed her, but I don't really know."

I asked Eliza, "Do you think your ghost is related to the Finnertys? Maybe it is another child that no one knew about?"

The old woman didn't pause to think about it, "No, there was a good while between when the girl showed up dead and people began seeing a ghost. At first, hunters thought there might be more than one, maybe even three, but no one knows. If there is more than one, I think they are all females."

We stopped at the Kitchen for breakfast. Eliza introduced me to so many people that I would have had to be a genius to remember all of their names. A couple of the men asked if they could still hunt on the land, and one even said he'd show me some great fishing places in the valley.

In town, I used my cell phone to call Byron. When I told him his aunt was going to be on her way, with a smile in his voice, he said, "Bring her on. I just knew you two would hit it off. Did you give her the amount I told her she needed?"

"Yes Sir, I'm giving her all of that and more. I think it will be fair for her, but still a good deal for me."

There was no receptionist when we entered Benson's office. Benson was in his office with the door open. He yelled, "Come on in, Denise isn't in until after one, so I have to do both duties. Eliza, let me show you all of the contracts."

Benson was a good attorney. He had all of the appropriate paperwork in stacks so he could show it to us before we signed. He went through each stack and began having both of us sign documents. He looked at me, "Do you have a cashier's check, or can you transfer the money to Eliza's account?"

When I nodded yes, I sat my laptop on his desk and searched for a Wi-Fi connection. There was an open one, so I logged in to the bank and began entering the information. I went to Benson's printer and looked at it for a second, then went back and made a wireless printer connection. I made the transaction and printed out all of the information. When I handed a copy to Eliza, she asked Benson, "Can I use that phone on your desk? I'd like to call the bank and make sure the money is there."

Eliza made the call and asked her questions. She turned to me and hugged me. The next thing she did was to pull my cheek down to kiss it, and said, "You're the first man I've kissed since I married my man way back when. You've been a good man to me."

We all went to the courthouse where I paid all of the taxes for the year and Benson filed the land transfer papers. I stood back and was almost in shock when I realized I was now a property owner.

After handshakes all around, Eliza and I began the trip up to Lexington. It really didn't take that long, but it was long enough for Eliza to ask me about every question she could think of. She even got a small spiral notebook from her purse and wrote down the names of some unmarried women. This included some spinsters, widows, and grass widows, you know, women who were now divorced. Eliza told me that the best place to meet women was at church on Sunday. She said they will all pray with you in the morning, and bed you at night if you let them. She did caution me that I could get a bad reputation if I decided to bed all of them too quickly. Eliza was a jewel.

When we arrived at the RV park, Byron rushed out to embrace his aunt. When I asked where I should put her bags, Byron pointed at a brand new manufactured home, and said, "There you go, Aunt Eliza, a home for you forever. Let's take these things to your place so you can start getting used to the newness of it. I think Shirley and I have everything you'll need. I'm so happy that you've finally come to live with us. Let's go take a look."

The place felt twice as big as what she was leaving. Totally modern and full of furniture, as well as kitchen stuff. Eliza stood amazed at what she was looking at. With a smile she raised her arms. "Thank you, Lord, this is a dream come true. I didn't think I could leave the mountain, but this has made it a good thing."

When the excitement settled down, I excused myself to return back to what was now my mountain. I had a lot to learn about the place, and a lot of work in front of me.

I stopped at the REA building in Stanton. I used one of Eliza's old bills to show where the power was to be turned on. The lady said that she would radio a truck to come out this afternoon so I would have power this evening.

As I traveled up the mountain for my third time, I saw more of the scenery and road markers as I went. When I came to the 'Goat's Milk' sign, I stopped to say hi to Ben. He came out and said, "Eliza wrote me a letter and left it on the porch, but I don't read too good. Would you read it to me?"

I read it for Ben:

"Dear Ben, 

I've sold the place to Mike Grayson, as you can guess by now. I'm sure he's reading this to you. Ben, Mike is a good man and you should treat him the same as you treated me. He knows about the ghost and all of the superstitions, so teach him the way of the mountain. If you can, take him to the back side so he can see that area too. You know Bud planted a lot of apple trees back there and started another vineyard there as well. There are a couple of meadows that would make a good growing garden area if you can figure out how to get the tractor back there.

Ben, I'll miss you, and you should come to Lexington to visit sometime. I'm sure Mike would take care of your stock for you while you visit, so plan on it. You've been a good neighbor, Ben, and if you need anything, I'm sure Mike will help you.

Eliza

Ben was staring at the writing over my shoulder as I finished. He sighed, "I'm going to miss that mean old woman. There ain't many like her, that's for sure."

He changed instantly. "Do you need some butter? That cow gave a lot of milk this morning, and I made a lot of butter. If you don't need any, I might go down to the market and do some trading. There was enough last night for almost a gallon of pure cream. The Kitchen eatin' place always buys the cream for their coffee."

There was a lot to learn.

Ben looked at me sort of sideways. "If you stayed there last night, did you meet the ghost?"

"I didn't meet the ghost, but I saw it as it looked at my truck. I'm going to stay there tonight, and I'm going back to Cincinnati tomorrow to bring the rest of my stuff up here. Depending on my mother, I may stay up there tomorrow night. Thank you for taking care of the stock."

Ben was happy. "It's a good deal for me. Eliza has enough hay for both of us, and I can use the eggs and milk. She always shares her pork and beef with me, so it's fair all around. If you want to spin, I have plenty of wool and llama. That would even us up a little."

I had to smile. "I don't know how to spin thread, Ben, and I may not ever learn. Just learning to farm up here is going to be tough enough."

As I got into the truck to leave, Ben said, "I'll ride back up there with you. It's time for the evening chores. How many eggs do you want for the morning? Oh yeah, did Eliza tell you to get some ducks, geese, and turkeys? Those can be good moneymakers. I have some of those setting and can give you some chicks if you want. You'll have to make a warm, safe place for them."

"Next time, Ben. Let me learn how to take care of what I have."

We rode back to the house and were met by the two huge dogs lunging at me for attention. I parked the truck on a level spot and turned the generator on to keep the fridge cold. Inside the house, I found the spring house door where there was some bacon and ham. There was a refrigerator with the door open a little and a box of baking soda inside so it wouldn't smell bad.

I wasn't even into the bedroom yet when a horn honked and the dogs started going crazy. Outside, the REA truck driver had his window down about two inches. "If you'll put the dogs up, I'll turn your power on. Make sure you throw the breaker off while I hook you up. When you turn everything back on, do it one breaker at a time so you don't start a fire."

I took the dogs to a pen in the barn. They knew what it was for and didn't like it, but easily went in. I watched as the man did the easy hookup and turned the meter around. He told me, "Go ahead and try the main breaker, then flip on the refrigerator breaker and see if it comes on."

The fridge came right on, so I closed the door. I flipped each breaker, one at a time, and went to check what the identification said. As I finished, I saw a breaker for 'washer' and a 220 circuit for 'dryer'. I wonder where that was. There was a breaker that said garage, and a double breaker for 'barn'. I flipped it and ran out to the barn to make sure I didn't start a fire. When I turned the light on, Ben hollered, "Whoopee, let there be light. You have a little gas, so turn the water heater on to wash the milking stuff. That will be nice so I don't have to heat water on the burner or carry the utensils inside all the time."

I was going to have to learn all of the duties involved in taking care of the animals. If Ben can't do it, it still needs to be done.

As I went by the garage, I heard a hum I didn't hear before. It was coming from the back, so I looked back there. There was a huge tank in an attached shed that was being filled by the tank and a pump motor. I suppose it was drawing water from an underground spring somewhere so there would be good water pressure at all of the faucets.

Before Ben left, he cautioned, "When we are going to get a freeze, we have to drain the big tank and the lines. We leave all of the faucets open so the freeze won't burst the pipes. You'll still have running water from the spring flow. I'll watch and tell you the next time the cold is coming."

I was all alone at the house for the first time. I re-inspected the house, looking through closets and drawers. Everything was empty, except where the towels and bed clothes were kept. The kitchen was full of everything you needed to live, so I looked around the big room.

On each side of the big fireplace were bookshelves filled with hard covered books and popular paperbacks. There was a good selection, and there was a bright green card sticking out of the books where a couple had been taken out. That must be the books for the ghost.

I found the washer and dryer in an enclosed lean-to that ran the length of the side of the house. As I stood back there and looked up at the tall cliff behind the house, I realized that the house was built where it was to shelter it from the brutal winter winds. The house faced east and west, so it should always get the sun when it was shining, while the cliff was on the north side, and the valley area was to the south. I pictured Bud deciding how and where to build the house.

I brought the food from the camper into the house for supper, but left the generator on for a while. I decided to use some wood in the fireplace to cook my steak and started a fire with kindling and stove wood. I prepared to nuke some veggies and put the steak on a big swing away grill in the fireplace. You put your meat on the grill then swing it over the fire. You had to watch it or you could burn the meat pretty fast. I pushed the button on the microwave and when it was done, the meat was done. I ate my first meal in my new old house while drinking a beer. Life was good.

I did the cleanup, including the grill. It was cool enough that the small fire in the fireplace took the chill out of the house. I'd bet a fire in the morning would feel nice. I stretched and prepared to go to bed. I turned the TV on and received a couple of channels, but I would still need to have the satellite subscription renewed.

I went to sleep smiling.

Something made me open my eyes. Across from the bed was a window that faced the TV. I had fallen asleep with the TV on, not thinking that it would draw attention. There was a face in the window, intent on watching a commercial program. They were advertising some kind of special cooking oven, and the face was mesmerized by the picture.

I lay there, studying the face, trying to define the features. It looked young, at least younger than me. The hair was long, but it could be a male with no haircut available. As I watched, the eyes would flash at me to make sure I wasn't moving. It must have thought my eyes were open as it did a double take of my face, then went back to the TV.

Without worrying about the face in the window, I drifted back to sleep, dreaming of the mystery person wandering around the mountain.

The next morning, I was up, and had a fire in the fireplace by six. Ben had left me three eggs, so I cooked some of the bacon and the three eggs for breakfast, and quickly ate. I forgot about having hot water now, and was surprised when warm water came from the kitchen sink faucet.

My next step was to quickly shower, as I was beginning to get ripe. Without thinking about it, I put on a set of cammies, laced up my boots, and was ready for my trip back to Cincinnati. As I went outside, I thought I saw movement over by the chicken house by the cliff. I steadily watched, but there was no other sign.

I pulled out my cell phone and looked to see if there was a connection. I had two bars, so I dialed my mother. I knew I would wake her and enjoyed harassing her as she was terrible about sleeping late.

When she answered, I said, "You better get that guy out of there before I get home."

"What? What are you talking about? Oh, you! Mike, you are terrible. I don't have anyone in my bed. Try me tomorrow morning and maybe I'll get lucky."

I laughed. "Mom, you are a true cougar, except you don't go after the young ones. You should try one of those young studs who could turn you every which way but loose."

"Why are you calling me before seven o'clock in the morning, Michael?"

"Mom, I'm coming up to pick up my trailer full of the last of my stuff. Do I still have anything at your place?"

Mom was bright and awake now, "I don't think, so but I'll look. Where are you anyway?"

"Down near Stanton, Kentucky, south of I-64 and east of I-75. It will take about two to two and a half hours to get there, so I'll come by before I pick up the trailer. I took a bunch of pictures on my cell phone and will show you my new place. It's almost on top of a mountain and is beautiful. It's pretty rustic, but perfect for someone like me."

"Just like a man, you mean it wouldn't work for a couple, but it's fine for a single guy, right?"

"Oh, Mom, the lady I bought the property from gave me a long list of available prospective women in town. I'm sure I'll meet someone one of these days and I might even give you another grandchild."

"Be still, my heart. Mike, I swear if you were to get married and bring me a grandbaby, I would faint dead away. You have to be the strangest man alive. Don't you chase or want to chase? Come on, live a little, you know, get a little."

My mother was terrible. You would think she was a sex addict the way she talked to me. I know she didn't talk to my brother or sister that way. I suppose the two of us had become buddies over the years. She was the one I always called on the internet phone. She was the one I e-mailed and wrote letters to. My mom was my buddy. It's too bad she's my mom, or I would chase her.

I was laughing at myself as I stared at the door, realizing it didn't have a lock on it. Oh well, if the ghost comes in, she could watch TV or even eat something. I didn't leave any beer in the fridge and had made a list of food for a Kroger run.

The trip up to Cincinnati was fast, and I was early enough to take Mom to an early lunch. She loves lunch at the IHOP, so that's where we ate. She couldn't believe her youngest had bought his own place and how quaint it looked. She really didn't believe me when I told her I had a cow, a steer, a calf, pigs, and chickens. She was still laughing as I drove away from her place.

I filled up with fuel at the cut rate station before picking up my trailer. I wasn't in all that much of a hurry, but I made it to the Kroger parking lot in Stanton by three. I bought what I needed and drove home. I backed the trailer up near the outbuilding where the truck and tractor were, but didn't bother unloading anything.

I took my duffle bag from the trailer and brought it inside so I could hang my uniforms up. No sense in having them wrinkled.

With my clothes hung properly and my other clothes in drawers, I made a TV dinner for supper that was pretty good. I saw someone had put a large bowl of fresh churned butter in the fridge. There was also a quart jar of buttermilk and a bigger jar of regular milk. Sitting in the back of the fridge was another quart jar that had clear liquid in it.

I took the cap off and sniffed. Wow, just a sniff was almost enough to get high on. Feeling brave, I took a sip. It was good, potent, but good. I guess these folks know how to make good corn liquor, or moonshine as they call it.

I had a beer tonight while reading a newspaper I had picked up at the cut rate gas station. I needed to get the TV going so I could watch the news. I also thought I might get another TV so I could watch TV in the big room. That would be nice. It shouldn't be difficult to run the cable into the living room. I would just have to figure where it should be.

I noticed a clock on the mantle over the fireplace. It had the wrong time on it, and I saw it had a power cord when I approached it. The cord was plugged into an outlet on the side of the rock chimney. The outlet was only an old single and the wiring looked worn. I would get a big TV and hang it over the mantle. That would be perfect, since you can see that area from anywhere in the big room.

I was also going to have to research an internet connection. I'd bet they have them, but they probably were not good broadband.

The day caught up with me and I was ready for bed early. I was in bed by ten with the TV on, hoping I would wake up to catch the ghost watching TV again. I flipped around channels and found a Lexington station with local news.

I woke again in the middle of the night and looked at the window without moving my head. The face was in the window again, but had its head lying on the window sill. The ghost had fallen asleep watching TV. I wanted to go get it and put it in the other bedroom, but I knew better. If I touched it, the ghost would run screaming into the night.

I was back asleep in minutes.

The morning came roaring in, getting colder with a heavy downpour. I figured Ben might wait to come up, so I went out to gather eggs and feed the chickens first. The chicken house was not far from the door, so I ran to chicken house with a basket. The place was going to need cleaning, so I made a mental note of that. I know the chicken droppings made good fertilizer, and I wondered where the chicken manure was stored. I'm sure everything was used to make a better garden, orchard, or vineyard.

I didn't think I had as many chickens as I had eggs. There were almost three dozen eggs. I might have to have a chicken dinner soon to reduce the population around here. I'll ask Ben what he thinks. I put the eggs on the back porch for Ben before pulling my wet weather boots on and dropping my slicker over my head. When the hood dropped over my eyes, I went back into the closet where I put my clothes. A cap was what I needed.

When I walked into the barn, Ben was sitting at the rear of the cow, hand milking the old girl. She was casually munching some grain, but also had some hay to help make more milk for this evening. Ben hollered, "Hey, Mike. You ever milk a cow? You need to learn in case I can't make it."

I answered 'yes' but not often, as it was the women who did the milking in my family. Ben stood, taking the bucket and poured what he had in the bucket through a filter funnel into a small milk can. The can was about half the size of most milk cans that I was familiar with.

Ben handed me the bucket and pointed at the three-legged stool. When I sat, Ben took my hand and my thumb, began squeezing next to my hand, closing his fingers over my thumb, and started pulling down. He did that a couple times and said, "That's what you do with her teats. When morning comes around, she's full of milk and enjoys getting milked. When you first sit down, you have to get the bucket under her right away or you'll waste a lot of milk. She lets down fast.

"Before you begin milking, wash her teats and udder real well with this solution. It's just a bacteria destroying cleaner for cows. Go ahead, try milking her. She's gentle and will take to you, knowing that you will milk her and feed her grain."

I did what Ben showed me and, surprise, surprise, milk streamed from the teats. As I did the squeezing and pulling, Ben explained that it was easier to milk the two on the far side first, then the two nearest me. He commented that a lot of people milk the bigger back two at the same time, then milk the smaller two in the front. He told me it really didn't make any difference, but the cow would tell you if you weren't doing it right.

Ben told me to lean my head into the cow's side just in front of her thigh. He said that relaxes the cow even more. Who would have thought I would be milking my own cow, in my own barn, on my own farm?

When I finished stripping out the last of the cow's milk, I poured my bucket through the filter funnel into the can. Ben took the filter funnel and set it aside before putting the lid onto the can.

I asked Ben about the size of the can and he said, "This is a five gallon can. It's small for a farmer that only has one cow, or in your case, a cow that gives such high butterfat milk. You and I have all the milk and butter we can use right now. We need to take this into the market so people can buy it to make butter, buttermilk, cheese, and regular milk. A lot of folks don't want the milk from the dairy. They say it may have been chemically treated, and once it is worked over, it don't make good butter."

Ben showed me a spring house on the side of the barn. You could feel the lower temperature in there, but Ben went one step farther by setting the can into the flowing water to cool down.

Inside, we took the cow back to the lean-to on the back of the barn before going up to the small hayloft for some more hay. Ben pointed at the steer and calf below the rear door, instructing me, "We'll wait until spring to begin graining the steer. We'll pen him up and wait until he's nice and tender before we butcher him. Old Johnny down in the village does a right good job cutting and packaging. He'll do the job for some of the meat and the hide. He won't take the best cuts, and you can be sure he strips every piece of meat there is on a steer for ground beef and such. He usually has customers waiting for tongue and brains. When you do a pig, I don't think there is anything wasted there either. Some folks like the chittlins, some the ears, and some even the tail. Funny isn't it, how there's someone who has a taste for all parts of an animal."

We gave some grain to the pig, and Ben dumped a big bucket of slop into the trough. "That's my garbage for the week. The hog loves it. Don't throw anything away. If it's food stuff, it's slop. If it ain't edible, it's compost for the garden."

I told Ben, "Come to the house and have a cup of coffee. There's plenty of everything, so have breakfast with me."

The man was eager for the company, so he followed me inside. While I started bacon on the wood stove, Ben put a log on the fire in the fireplace and stirred up the embers. The weather was getting colder. When I commented, "With this rain, and as cool as it is getting so fast, you would think we were going to get snow."

Ben began laughing, "Oh yeah, we're going to get a good one. The TV people said the higher areas are going to get six to ten inches. You know, we're that higher area."

When I motioned toward the back of the cabin, "I thought that cliff protected us from the heavy stuff."

"It does, Mike, but only the heavy drifting. Enough snow falls that if you didn't have a good four-wheel drive vehicle, you wouldn't get anywhere. If you can get that camper off the truck, we'll take your extra eggs and the milk down to market. You can trade for fresh or canned vegetables or sell it outright. Don't take the first offer on the milk, and make them give you a decent can in return. You're gonna get tested for a while, so you have to be smart about your tradin'." Ben was sitting at the table sipping his coffee.

The old man looked up at me, "You seen your neighbor? You know, your ghost?"

"She was outside the bedroom window the last two nights. She fell asleep against the window sill, but I didn't wake her. I hope she didn't get wet."

"So you think it's a she, huh?"

"Eliza says it's a she. I've not seen her all that well yet, but I'm sure I will. Hopefully, she will come around and I can help her live an easier life. Eliza says she reads a lot, so I think I'm going to write her a note. I'll leave a notebook for her to write to me in if she knows how. Somehow, I think there is a lot more to our ghost than meets the eye. If you think about it, the ghost has supposedly been around these parts for more than fifty years, but has only been very active for the last ten to fifteenyears or so. There was the Finnerty family who suffered death from the flu, a fire, and someone killed the girl. Eliza said that the ghosts began showing up again a little over ten years ago, and somehow that tells me that it may have been a couple who had a kid. Something scared them so bad that they hid away up here and have raised their one child to be as wary as they were."

Ben was swirling his coffee. "You may be right. I hadn't thought of the ghost that way. I always thought it was the ghost of the Finnertys, especially the girl. We needed a fresh mind up here to figure this out."

I was finishing washing the dishes when Ben said, "Let's get your camper off the truck and take your eggs and milk down to the market. This will give you a chance to meet people and to make partners on some things."

I opened the trailer and pulled the jack stands out. It didn't take long to lift the camper from the pickup bed and move the truck out from under. Ben commented on the contents of the trailer, "Looks like you have some good tools in there. You can help me cut that dead oak out front of my big barn. If you can cut it up good with them saws, we'll both have firewood and stove wood for the rest of the winter."

We loaded the milk can in the bed, tied it to the side, and put the eggs on the floor of the extended cab. As we went down my road, Ben asked, "Mind if we take a goat along with us? I have a female Nubian that is bred. She ought to bring some decent money. I'm getting too many goats lately, and they don't have good coats for hair. I've got plenty of nanny's for the people who come for milk." Ben looked out the window. "There won't be many coming for milk with the snow looming. I'll put what I have in a can and sell it too."

Ben kept fidgeting around during the ride down the mountain, and finally said, "We better make our deals and get back up home. There is going to be a lot more than the eight inches they are talking about."

Ben directed me to an open air stall market. We parked next to a covered dairy stall and went in. Ben introduced me to a group of men, "This here's Mike Grayson. He done bought Eliza's place. The boy is at least a farm boy, but doesn't have any mountain experience. Help him out, he's a good man. You know he is a retired Army man."

Every person Ben introduced me to was impressed that I was a retired 'Army man'. These were down home people, with down home values. When we came to a stall that had a lot of poultry, Ben pointed to a lot of young turkeys, some ducks, and some geese. "That's what you need to make a deal on. Trade some of your eggs for a couple of weeks or trade some cream. The only thing worth much is the turkeys. The ducks and geese are fun to have around. You have plenty of feed, so get some for friends."

We were looking at what was available when Ben said, "See those grey lookin' chickens?"

I nodded. "Those are guinea hens."

"Yep, they are guinea hens and the best watchdogs you'll ever have. Put them to roost in that low mulberry tree on the road, and they will tell you when a person or animal comes up to the house. I call them a fowl alarm. Ha, ha, ha. They work. Get some, even if you have to pay for them."

The man who owned the guinea hens was easy to deal with. He sold me a couple of dozen young ones for a buck apiece. The whole time he kept telling me that if I fed them under the tree, they would roost where I wanted.

Ben's goat brought what I thought was top dollar. The eggs were all brown, so they were worth just a little more than the white ones. The can of milk surprised me, however, because I was holding some greenbacks and a fresh can almost as soon as we arrived.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Eagle Guru, Rotorhead

Thorsten Thrusts Thoroughly Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 4

There was a stall that had electronics in it. It was apparently only open a short time each day and all day Saturday.

That gave me an idea. I went to the man attending the booth and asked, "Can you recommend a satellite company around here that is any good?"

He smiled. "I sure can. There is only one here in town that is worth a hoot, and he will also come and install in any kind of weather." The guy went for a card. "Tell Mervin that Jess told you to call. I'll get a little something for referring you to him. Get the works from him, as he's pretty generous. Call him now and he may install you tomorrow."

I called the cable guy on my cell phone. He was a hoot. Every other comment the man made was a joke. He should be on TV instead of some of the dull characters who are already on there.

He was a comedian, but he was also a decent salesman. He convinced me to buy a couple of packages that sounded interesting, and to prepay a year, while signing up for three. He asked if he could install me in the morning. I was giving him directions, until he asked, "Are you the guy that bought Eliza's place? I know who you are. You're the retired Army guy."

When I told him 'yes', he said, "You already have a dish. You need a new receiver card and could use one of the DVR recorders. Eliza's receiver was only good for a few cable channels, plus Lexington's. If you have more than one TV, I'll wire both so you can watch the DVR anywhere. If you get more TVs I can put another set box there too. Shoot, the hardest part of this one will be driving up your road. I have a four-wheel drive, but you almost need an eight-wheel drive to get up on that mountain with snow on the ground. How about eight in the morning? I should be done by lunch. If you warm me up and feed me lunch, I'll give you some free movies."

I was enthralled with the guy. I wish I had a business so I could use him as a salesman. I was smiling when I hung up.

It had started to snow while Ben and I ate lunch at the 'Kitchen', the local diner, as a treat before starting back up the mountain. Ben pointed at a church. "That's the best church around. Actually, that is the only church around. There's a Catholic church down in Pine Ridge. This one here has a preacher that tells it like it is and works hard for all of his people. Eliza and him fell out because she didn't want a man. The preacher thought a woman needed a man to make the world happy. He didn't know Eliza."

We had to slowly fight our way up the mountain. On the way, Ben told me, "You know, you're gonna hafta get a front plow for this thing. If you want, you can plow driveways to make money, but most important, you can plow up your road. Make a track to my place and head home. I'll try to make it in the morning, but be ready to do the chores by yourself."

After dropping Ben off, and when I got back to my place, I took the guinea hens to the chicken house, hoping they would get along. There is no way to put them in the tree while it's this cold and with so much snow coming. The man told me they fly like a bird, so you can't keep them in a pen very long. I figured that as soon as the snow cleared a little, the birds could be indoctrinated into the mulberry tree.

The dogs, Spook and Witch followed me up on the porch, shaking the snow off. When they looked at me mournfully, I let them in the house. The two went to the front of the fireplace and lay down on a big woven rug, with what could pass as a 'dog smile' on their faces.

I put a log on the fire and stirred the embers up. I also stoked the woodstove since I needed to cook later.

That's when I remembered evening chores. I gathered eggs and put fresh water out that I expected to be frozen by morning. I thought it was funny, since some of the bigger guineas were already in the nest boxes next to the chickens. Well, eggs are eggs.

I made sure the hog house was water tight and the hogs were huddled together for warmth. The steer and calf were huddled with the cow, but the cow was bawling, waiting to be milked.

I first had to wash the milk can I received in return for the one I sold filled with milk. When I led the cow in and put her head into the wood stanchion, she snorted and shook her head in displeasure. Oh yeah, food. I scooped up some grain and put it in front of her, along with some hay next to it. Everything was all better from her point of view.

After washing the milk bucket, bringing some warm cleansing solution in another, and washing the cow's udder, I placed the milk bucket under her and reached for her teats. I began on the far side teats. As soon as my head was buried into the side of the cow, she relaxed and gave her milk easily. I did notice the back two larger teats were easier, but didn't seem to have any more milk than the front two.

I finished about the time she finished her grain. As I released her, she looked at me, blinked her big black eyes, and turned to the door toward the lean-to barn extension where the cattle stayed during inclement weather.

With the milk in the can, I washed the other equipment up and scooped the cow shit out from where she had stood. After scooping it up, I sloshed some water in the trough behind where you milked to wash the floor down. The one thing you have around cows is a lot of cow shit. There was a storage pile about twenty feet from the barn that was all cow shit. I suppose this was supposed to be used on the garden or farm land in the spring.

The animals were taken care of, so I went inside and made a cup of coffee. While sitting at the table, I realized I needed more wood for the fireplace, as it was going to get cold. I would also need stove wood. Fifteen minutes later, after doing some on-demand splitting, a new log was catching in the fireplace and the stove was warming.

Tonight's dinner was a pork chop with some fried potatoes. I found Eliza's stash of canned beans and opened a jar. As I ate, I realized that I needed to make the outside water faucets freeze proof, so I put my heavy clothes back on and headed out. The dogs went with me as I drained the camper before turning off the main valve that fed the outbuildings. I opened all of the faucets and tried to think of anything I didn't know about.

The dogs and I went back to the cabin where I toweled them off before they lay in front of the fire again. I put another log on and sat, wondering about the ghost. I hoped she was snug with a warm fire in one of her caves.

By the time ten o'clock came, I was ready for bed. After brushing my teeth, I slid into bed and was soon asleep without the benefit of the TV. Hopefully, that would keep the ghost in her cave.

Spook and Witch had their muzzles in my face. They had their heads lying on the edge of the bed, looking at me. It was enough to make me laugh out loud. My laughter made the two dogs bark, sharing my levity.

I took them to the door and opened it. The picture in front of me was beautiful. The ground was covered with at least an eight inch thick blanket of pure white snow. The dogs raced out into the snow where one squatted and the other one lifted his leg to relieve themselves. It was funny as the two romped around, playing in the snow, diving under the snow to come up, making snow spew high into the air. The two changed in attitude as the male had his face buried into the female's back parts. Their courting didn't take long, as they were almost instantly connected in their mating ritual. I let them do their thing and went back inside to make coffee.

Someone knocked on the door. I opened it to Ben, who stamped his feet at the door and came in. "Your dogs are breedin' out there. It's the wrong time of year for that. I want one when they whelp. Eliza's dogs are great. A lot of people in town want one too. You know they are half wolf, don't you? Seems a wolf bitch was here for a while and one of the family's dogs bred with her. The latest pups, yours, are from one of the mixed breed female who bred with a huge male wolf, and your pups are part of that. Eliza found them in a cave and raised them."

I told Ben to sit down and have some coffee while I dressed. After he was warmed up, we did the chores, and I fed him breakfast once again. When I was finished washing the dishes, Ben asked, "Could you bring your saws down and cut that dead tree up that's tryin' to fall? It will make good wood for the rest of the winter. I'll share with you if you need some."

"Let me get the saws, oil, and gas. You'll have to wait a little to do what you want though. Mervin the satellite guy is coming around eight. When he gets done we'll go cut up that tree. I have to warn you I'm not experienced with chain saws, but I'll try."

Mervin showed just after eight and spent about ten minutes testing the satellite dish, and then thirty putting a new access card in a new cable box under the TV, and programming it. It only took about an hour to run new cables from the dish to the bedroom and a receiver with DVR in there. I paid the guy and he was gone.

I had Ben's big tree down and cut into manageable pieces by two. It had been hard work and I was sweating, in spite of the under twenty degree temperature. Ben fed me a delicious goat meat sandwich, made with homemade bread and some homemade meat sauce. The man wasn't going to go hungry, that's for sure.

Ben said, "You do the evening chores. I'm a might stove up tonight and could use a hot bath. I think you made me use every muscle in my body today."

It didn't take me long to do the evening chores. The cow was happy to have her grain as I relieved her of her milk. The can was full, so I needed to wash out another for tomorrow morning. The chickens couldn't go anywhere today, so they ate and laid eggs all day. One hen began hatching babies from the clutch of eggs she was sitting on. Wonder what I should do for them?

The dogs wanted to come inside again, but had lingered around the back of the chicken house. They had been up near the bluff, nearer to the chicken house than the big machinery cave. I was hoping to see the ghost, as that had to be what they were trying to get to come out. I made supper with the hamburger I had. I was able to make a small meatloaf that tasted great, with some instant mashed potatoes and more of Eliza's canned beans.

I was about to put the leftovers into the outdoor refrigerator when I had a thought. I warmed the meatloaf, the mashed potatoes, and the green beans up, put them on a big metal camp plate, and set all of it, along with a fork, on a hot plate turned on 'warm', out on the porch. If the ghost didn't appreciate the hot meal, no harm was done. I could feed what was left to the pigs.

In the morning, the plate and fork were back on the porch, empty and clean. It was good to know the food had been eaten and probably appreciated.

Figuring Ben was probably still stove up, I made short work of the chores. I rummaged around in the barn this morning and found some more milk cans. There were six more of the small ones, and a couple of ten gallon normal sized cans. I cleaned up one big and two of the little cans so I would have fresh cans to use as necessary.

The day began warming up, so the snow began melting. I spent the day emptying the trailer. The machine shed, or garage, easily held all the tools. I was looking forward to warmer weather so I could do some field work and work on the machinery. By nightfall, there were some patches that were bare, but there was still a lot of snow everywhere you looked. Once again, I made more food than I could eat so I could leave some out on the porch. This time I put some buttered bread with it.

The days and nights pretty much ran together. I was meeting a lot of people at the market, and with Ben's help, became known as a regular guy. I traded fair and expected something fair in return.

I now had turkeys, ducks, two geese, and lots of guinea hens. The guineas roosted in the mulberry tree just at the top of the hill. When Ben walked up the road, they would start a clamor that anyone could hear. The guineas sometimes flew back into the chicken yard during the day to feed on the grain. They liked the nest boxes, and I soon had a couple of dozen more guineas. My big brown Rhode Island Reds were setting as well, so my chicken population was growing. The turkeys, ducks, and geese were too young to set now, but would probably bring some more baby fowl toward fall.

When the weather permitted, I hiked all over the property. I made it back to the other side of the mountain and began charting it so I would have an accurate layout of the two hundred forty acres there. I was looking for a way to build a road to that side so I could work the small fields there. I found several caves, but none showed signs of use. Some of the heavy brush up near the rocks and bluffs may be hiding more caves, but I didn't take the time to investigate. I figured I would see paths where people had traveled, and not just a worn area or game trails.

For the most part, I lived frugally. I didn't do much, other than go to the market, feed store, and the grocery store. I began reading the books on the shelves, especially several books on vineyards and wine making. That became my favorite thing in the evenings. I would sit in a big rocking chair in front of a fire, with the dogs at my feet, reading. My days were normal farm days. I did chores, cut wood, split dry wood for the fireplace, cut and split dry stove wood, and did minor repairs every time I would see something that needed fixing.

The ghost didn't come every night, but showed up regularly when the weather wasn't too cold. I had to buy more soap, shampoo, and also some candles when a stub was left on the porch table. I even made a trip through the Goodwill store and bought a bunch of clothes, visualizing the ghost I had seen outside the camper and my window. The store had a deal on old blankets, so I bought a dozen to warm the ghosts from the really cold temperatures. After I had washed and dried the blankets, I put them on the porch. You can bet they were gone the next morning.

I had brought all of the guns into the house. I made a really nice gun rack that fit perfectly on the side of one of the bookshelf areas. I was able to put all of the shotguns, rifles, pistols, and ammunition in the area. I put my personal Berreta M9 in with them. Over it, I put up a panel that didn't look like a door to secure the weapons. I didn't want to put a lock on the house door, but I needed to secure the guns in case someone did try to burglarize the house.

There were a lot of rabbit tracks all over the mountain, so I thought I might take a shotgun and see about a rabbit dinner. I was surprised to see some wild turkeys, several deer, and lots of rabbits. This area wasn't far from an area called Bear Hollow. I'm sure there were plenty of bears in the area, what with all of the food and caves. I'd have to be careful around the caves in the spring. If hunters were coming out this way, they were not thinning the game out much. There was almost too much game for the area. If it continued, the fish and game people would have to organize a hunt. Otherwise, with the lack of predators, the overabundance of game would diminish the food supply and all of the animals would die. I decided that I would have rabbit at least once a week during the winter. When I put the cooked rabbit out, it was taken, so I began bringing in two rabbits each time I went hunting.

Over the spring, I made sure to plow up the weeds and cut down any volunteer trees around the apple orchard. The vineyard was going to require some learning, since you had to cut the old vines back before the thaw came, so the new vine shoots would grow. The wire that was used as the trellis support for the vines to grow on was getting old in places, and I could tell that the method of replacing the wire was to put more up and let the old rust away. There was a little of the wire in the machine shed.

The vineyard also required some long posts where the olds ones were rotting through. I wondered why creosote wasn't used to keep the posts from rotting, but maybe that affected the grapes. That was something else to research. By the time the weather was breaking, I had the three small fields in the condition I wanted. I learned that to have enough hay for the winter, I had to use the big field for hay, and the other two for corn and oats.

I found out that the chicken shit was to be mixed into the soil around each of the grapevine bases. That was a tough job, as you had to dig up the ground, put some chicken manure on the top, then mix it into the soil. You don't want to put too much, or it will burn the plant. After 20 years in the Army, I was used to chicken shit, so this wasn't that big an adjustment.

There was an antique iron-wheeled manure spreader in the cave. It was in good shape and only required greasing. I think everything on the farm required a lot of grease. The way the manure spreader worked was that the big rear wheels made the other mechanisms work. When you engaged the gears, the manure was raked toward the back, where some steel forks and paddles threw the manure out in about a twenty foot arc. The fields I was going to use for corn and the big garden were where I wanted to put most of the manure. I did spread a very light coat of what I had left on the hay field. That was a nasty job, and an even nastier one to clean the spreader. It took several hours to get it perfectly clean, spread old used oil on the working parts, and add more grease to take care of it until the next time I needed it. If I had the time this summer, I might paint the outer area and wheels. That would at least make it look good.

Many of my days were spent at the Farm Bureau in Stanton, learning how to be prepared for the growing season. I had learned that I should use my old horse-drawn converted spring tooth harrow to rake across the combination alfalfa, timothy, and clover field before broadcasting more seed. According to the Farm Bureau agent, I should have done this during the early previous fall, but since I didn't know whether or not Eliza did, seeding this spring was going to have to work.

I planted a full acre of garden up near the house. I made sure the rows were the same size as corn rows so I could use the tractor mounted cultivator to plow weeds. I even planted a couple rows of three types of potatoes the night of the full moon nearest St. Patrick's Day. I know the time to plant was silly, but it was what my dad believed in.

I planted a bunch of rhubarb and asparagus on the edge of the garden. Neither one would be good this year, but I would have all I wanted next year.

Up in the mountains, the summer months were all about preparation for winter. You raised your hay and grain for the rest of the year. I was getting so many chickens that I actually caught and caged most of the leghorn chickens and traded them at the market. Because I didn't realize how fast ducks and geese multiplied, I traded some of those too. When my female dog whelped six pups, Ben told the rest of the county, so I had people wanting to trade me all kinds of good things for a pup. After Ben got his pup, the rest were gone the first Saturday I took them to market.

As fall came, I was inundated with grapes, apples, and pears. Actually, the pears were first, then the grapes, and the apples last. If you have six rows of grape vines about two hundred feet long, you are going to have a lot of grapes. I had a lot of grapes.

During the summer, I found the nearby cave that Eliza said Bud had his wine press in. I cleaned it out and made sure it was going to work for the fall. I also found over twenty full barrels and one partial barrel of wine. The barrels were in threes and represented three different vintage years. I was surprised that the wine had not turned to vinegar and was still pretty tasty. Almost like a dark red Merlot. I had to spend some time at the library, looking at information on how to make wine, so I would be ready when the time came.

I applied for a permit to make and sell a limited amount of wine in other non-restricted counties. I think I was probably the first person in the entire region that actually was going to have some legal homemade alcoholic beverage. I ordered two dozen more barrels and a hundred one gallon jugs and began filling the jugs to get rid of the wine I already had. Some of it was delicious and some just so-so. I kept one barrel from each year vintage and kept a gallon of each of the vintages on a shelf above the barrel. I also saved several gallons of what I considered the best tasting wine and was able to sell about five hundred gallons of wine at the market in Wolfe County to the south at the Pine Ridge market.

To make the new and old barrels work, I had to trade for gallons of beeswax to coat the barrels so they wouldn't leak. I was able to fashion some good oak corks to put in the barrels, and I was ready. At least, I thought I was ready. Pressing the juice out of grapes isn't as much fun as having a bunch of cute women stomping on the grapes. It was hard work. The other thing I didn't consider is how much trash I was going to have from the stems, seeds, and skins. I was able to separate about thirty pounds of seeds that I thought would be good for more vines or to trade at the market. I had read that most commercial vineyards propagated their vines by grafting, but that, unlike apples, grapevines did breed or grow true from seed. I also read that the Italians distilled their own brand of moonshine, called grappa, from the skins, but unlike so many of my neighbors, I didn't have a still, and didn't figure I could compete with the local taste for corn liquor. Still...

I filled twenty barrels and sold bushels of grapes at the market. My Saturdays were becoming an almost all day affair between the two counties.

I found I had far too many apples. I sold apples almost by the pickup truck load. Even the local Walmart manager up in Sterling about twenty minutes away bought a truck load, along with ten bushels of pears. I had to begin charging a little more and trading better, since I had to keep buying bushel baskets. If someone brought me a basket, I filled it at a lower price. One of my customers told me he'd buy my culls and discards at 25% of the price of the good apples. When I asked him what for, he laid his right finger by his nose and winked at me. Later on, it dawned on me that he was planning to make apple jack or a similar hard drink from the apples.

A couple of ladies gave me recipes for apple butter, apple pies, and canned candied apples. Of course, the pigs loved the extra apples or leftover vegetables like bad pumpkins and bad melons.

Speaking of pigs, I had two butchered and traded for another two. I had cut a ton, really a ton, of dead and down hickory trees to burn under the smokehouse. I had the hams, bacon, and meat for sausage hung in there, slow curing. It's an art to wrap the meat in salty gunny sacks. You have to wet the sacks every day and keep spreading honey over the hams and bacon.

I had a lot of extra meat, so I rented a freezer locker at the processor. Johnny was a neat guy, with two kids who also butchered. They butchered my steer for the trade we had agreed on, but they were also getting my business for the freezer locker. The man told me he would do my deer for free if I would donate one for the poor people. When I heard that, I made sure the local poor received a lot of apples, pears, grapes, pumpkins, and melons. There was no way I was going to be able to trade and eat everything I grew. Next year's garden was not going to be as big, unless I found more time to be at the market.

The one thing I did find out was that I could trade a lot of fresh vegetables for fresh canned vegetables. I'm sure that a lot of what I got back in jars was what I had already sold. I was made pumpkin pies, apple pies, and I was lucky to have found a boysenberry patch that was prolific. I learned to make my own pies from those. There were blackberry patches all over, but you wanted to watch them first to make sure that a bear wasn't snoozing in the middle. I traded for some black raspberry canes to root, too, after somebody gave me a taste of their black raspberry jam. Black raspberries leave other berries in the shade!

I visited mom once during the summer, and stopped by to visit Eliza. I asked her if she wanted to come up to the mountain for a visit, but she said she was happy with Byron and family.

I was realizing I might enjoy some company. That brought me to the decision to clean up on Sunday mornings and begin showing up for the church service. This was a rural community, so the service was at ten. If you came at nine, you could attend bible classes or Sunday school if you wanted. It was surprising how many people I already knew from the market. The preacher was very nice and welcomed me back every Sunday. There were several ladies on Eliza's list that were a little predatory. The only ones who really weren't all that interested in getting closer were a couple of widows and most of the spinsters.

The one spinster schoolteacher was an ice cube to me for a while, until one bible class had the teacher, actually the preacher, talking about education. When I proudly admitted to my degree, Miss Snowshoes warmed up a lot. It was almost to the point of my having to tell her, "Down, Girl, down."

My two nearby neighbors were a lot of fun. I took the widow Fletcher to church with me most every Sunday. She would hang on to my arm as if we were doing a lot more than sharing a ride to church and an occasional Sunday meal. The more we talked, the more I realized that Mrs. Fletcher and Teddy had a twenty plus year relationship since her husband and his wife had passed away.

Teddy had a hay baler and a pull-type corn picker and combine. He was willing to trade for his time in advance during the summer for vegetables and some of the hay and corn in the fall. He only had chickens, so I was going to be able to trade meat for baling and corn picking also. Up here, your cash came from your back and your garden. The widow Fletcher and Teddy needed wood cut often, so I became our neighborhood's savior with the power saws, since someone always had a dead tree to be cut down and made into firewood.

The seasons were changing and the weather rapidly cooling. Thanksgiving came and went with a trip to see Mom, my brother, sister, and their kids. It was just like always. The kids were great fun and the meal was delicious. We always made the same promises of getting together more often. I knew that the only way to get Mom or my siblings to visit me was to build a bigger house. That just wasn't important yet. The fact that I was still using a wood stove should give you an idea of how content I was to live rustically.

Thanksgiving brought the first snow. The visits by the ghost were still steady, but I didn't have a window visitor at night as it was too cold out. Christmas came and went, and brought us to the point where life on the mountain really changed.

I had to spend more time inside and only went out for chores and to fix whatever needed fixing. It would be nice to have the internet, but that would require a phone line or a cable hookup. Mervin, the great satellite TV salesman and installer, had made a deal with a cable company to supply our area with TV and internet. As soon as I heard about it, I called the man.

"Why would you want cable when you have a premium satellite package?"

"Mervin, I'd really like to have access to broadband internet. I know I'm way out in the boonies, but if you'll figure out a price, I'll sell my neighbors on cable. You'll make money from them on that instead of satellite. I'll keep my satellite and still have cable for more local programming. If I can get the internet, I would be a happy camper."

"Mike, is your bitch going to have pups again soon? I'd really like to have one."

Aha, Mervin wanted something I would soon have. Now we're talking. "You figure out what I'll have to give to get broadband cable up here when it's available, and I'll make sure you get a pup by this spring. She's pregnant, but I'm not sure how far along. Want to do some trading?"

Mervin was cautious, "How much did you get for those pups last year?"

I embellished a little, "Almost the equivalent of two hundred for the females and a hundred fifty for the males."

"Damn, that's what I heard. Those are some great dogs though, and big. I can't believe that a two thirds or half wolf pup would be so friendly and protective. I have a wife and a couple of kids. I sure would feel a lot safer with a dog like that."

"Like I said, Mervin, figure out a price to bring me broadband cable, and I'll make you one hell of a deal on a pup."

I knew I had the hook set when he told me, "I'll have you a price by church on Sunday. We have a deal. You're going to have to wait for the cable company to get it to town and to the distribution points. It could be late this spring or early summer."

That's how I was going to have the internet. My laptop still worked, but I made a visit to Walmart to buy a decent desktop. All I needed now was where to put a small desk. I suppose the best spot would be at a window between the front door and the doorway to the bedrooms. Nearly every wall had something.

The bare area over the mantle was still on my mind, but I wasn't ready to commit that much of my life to a TV. It would be nice out in my main room to watch the local news programming and weather, but not necessary. My place in front of the fire, with dogs at my feet and a book, was still the best.

It was late February and the skies were looking mean. It felt like it was going to snow, and by noon it was coming down heavy. Knowing the temperature was going to crash, I did the anti-freeze treatment on the water supply before cooking supper.

When I finished eating a nice small roast, I put a heaping warm plate with roast, mashed potatoes, and green beans on the porch hotplate.

As I reached for the door, I heard a scuffling behind me. Turning, I saw a figure, wrapped in blankets, edging toward the porch. I asked if it was hungry. The face looked at me intently before saying, "Come, Momma is not good. Please come."

I grabbed my coat, and with the dogs, followed the blanket wrapped person toward the chicken house. Behind that building and pen, there was a small hidden cave opening that the person ducked into. I followed and found myself in a large cave chamber with a fire in the center. Next to the fire, a person that must have been her momma lay on a woven mat, wrapped in multiple blankets.

Kneeling by the person laying by the fire, I checked for a pulse and found it good. I listened to the breathing, and it was shallow and a little broken, like congestion. As I leaned over the person, her eyes came open, and there was shock and fear at first. Then a calm look came over the face and she actually smiled.

The person's forehead felt very hot, so I thought it must have a high fever and it needed something to reduce that. I told the other blanket wrapped person to go get some snow and put it on her face.

This was way out of my expertise, so I sat back on my heels. Looking at the two, "Can you two trust me? I need to take this person to the hospital, to a doctor who can figure out what's the matter and help. Will you let me do this?"

The person lying on the mat nodded and closed her eyes. The blanket wrapped person had fear in its eyes, but kept looking back and forth between me and the mother.

The person on the mat said, "She will go with you if you tell her. Tell Summer you are going to take me, and she should come with you."

The blanket wrapped person was now known to be female, as was the person on the mat if she was Momma.

I scooped up the small, frail person with the mat and carried her from the cave. At the entrance of the cave, the other person hesitated. In a voice that was more of a command, "Summer, come with me and your mother. She needs you. I need you to come with me. I will protect you."

The fear in her eyes eased a little, but she was still hesitant as I carried her mother toward the house. Once inside, I laid the person on her mat on the table while I left the room to get dressed to go to town. I quickly changed clothes and came back into the big room and saw the blanket wrapped girl in front of the fire, holding her hands toward it.

I put another log on the fire so it would eventually catch and keep the cabin warm. I held my hand up, "I am going to start my truck so it gets warm. Stay here, I will be right back."

The snow had begun falling again, and the temperature was still dropping. I pulled the rear bench seat of the truck down so the lady on the mat could lie down. Taking a totally unknown person into my truck to take to town was a crazy thing to do, but thinking of the blanket wrapped lady, the apparent mother, I felt it was necessary.

After putting the sick person in the back seat, it took a lot of cajoling to get the blanket wrapped girl into the cab. Once there, she didn't want to have anything to do with the seat belts. After I put mine on, she did reach around and copied me to latch the belt.

The trip down the mountain was not nice. The snow had drifted a couple of feet in places. At the bottom of the mountain, I turned toward town, hoping I knew where the hospital was.

I did find the small hospital easily and was able to get them to look at what I confirmed was indeed a woman. After a thorough exam and a chest x-ray, it was found that she had pneumonia. The female doctor pumped her full of antibiotics and gave me a bottle full to give her in addition.

While we were there, I led the blanket covered girl into an exam room and asked the doctor to give her an exam as well. When she was done, the lady doc said, "That young lady is in good health, but undernourished. She could use a bath and some regular meals, but she is in good shape. Where did these two come from?"

Not knowing how to properly answer, I told the doc, "They came from the caves near my cabin. I don't know them, but I'll take care of their bill."

The doc was happy that I would pay the bill, but only nodded at that information. She did ask, "You're that Grayson guy right?"

"Mike Grayson, yes."

"You bought Eliza's place right?"

I nodded.

"Are these two some of the ghosts up on Eliza's place?"

I just smiled and shook my head. "If they were ghosts, would we see them so plainly?"

The doctor didn't make any comments.

After settling the bill, I carried the woman to the truck to lie in the back seat again. I put the blanket wrapped girl into the cab and didn't get any flack about putting her seat belt on this time.

As we headed out of town, I saw the Family Dollar Store and turned in there. Once parked, I told them both, "Stay here, I am going to get some warm clothes for you to wear. We'll do more of this shopping another time, but stay here right now."

I collected what clothes they offered in what looked like the sizes of the women. I intentionally found clothes that were a larger size. It was easy to tie the clothes tighter, but you can't stretch them out. I bought a couple of heavy flannel nightgowns, but they might not know what they were for. The last things I added to the pile were two long, heavy winter coats.

It took a while to get back up the mountain, but when we were in the yard, it took some convincing for them to come into the house again. Inside, I handed the older woman a nightgown and showed her into the spare bedroom. I told her, "You will stay here tonight. I will take care of you. Don't leave, I am a friend and can help you."

I put the younger woman into the same bedroom with a nightgown and left both. I put another log on the fire and made some bark tea. I was always taught by my mother that the bitter tasting bark tea cured everything. That Eliza had some bark tea makings told me my mom was probably right.

When I knocked on the door, no one answered, but the door opened. I handed a cup to the woman and another cup to the girl. The woman grimaced, but smiled. The girl almost began spitting until the older woman put her hand on the younger female's arm and showed her how to take another sip.

I lit a candle and shut the light off. Without shutting the door, I went into my bedroom, stripped to my undies, and crawled in bed with the TV on.

Within a couple of minutes, a face appeared in the doorway looking at the TV. I raised the sheet and blanket to invite her to come to bed. She didn't hesitate and instantly was in bed.

Almost as soon as she covered up, she was back up and left the room. Seconds later, both ladies came into the room, and the younger one lay in the middle, while the older lady lay on the outside. Remember that this was only a double bed.

I quickly fell asleep, as the day had been stressful for me. The last thought I had was that these two hadn't said anything except the few words when I first met them both.

I slowly awoke and realized that a warm body was nearly wrapped around me. A pretty face was on my shoulder. One arm attached to the body of the pretty face was thrown across me as her leg was wrapped around my nearest leg.

The need to get up was imminent, and there was a dog with its face next to mine, staring questioningly, also in need of me getting up.

I slipped from bed, let the dogs out, and used the toilet. The flushing noise must have awakened the two visitors. Both were sitting up in bed as I came back into the room.

Both had a terrified look on their face, but I put my finger to my lips, "Shhhh, you are safe here. I will feed you this morning and keep you warm. Stay with me for a while and be comfortable. You both can take a bath." I pointed to the older of the two. "And you need to get well before you go back into the cold."

I looked intently at the two. "Do you know what a bathroom is? Do you know how to use a bathtub or shower?"

The older of the two nodded her head 'yes'. The younger of the two just stared at me. This lack of communication could become frustrating. The twenty questions routine for everything I did for them was going to get old.

"I put extra towels and washcloths out. There is soap and shampoo on the shelf over the tub," I told them as I left the room.

The fireplace took another log and I was able to use some of the hot embers to start the kindling and stove wood. In minutes, I had bacon cooking and some Bisquick biscuits in the oven. I was hoping the heat was hot enough for baking, but I did know it was hot enough to make the skillet on the stove very hot. Wood burning stoves were neat and cheap, but I would rather have gas or electric for baking.

There were almost a dozen eggs in the cooler, so it was going to be bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and gravy. The one thing my mom had taught all of us kids was how to feed ourselves. She used to have one of us responsible for meals. For some reason, I was almost always chosen for a breakfast.

As the gravy was thickening and the rest of the food warming, I hollered, "Come to the table. I have breakfast for you."

A face peered around the door jamb from the bathroom and bedroom area. I waved at the face and pointed at the food on the stove, "Come in and sit. The food is ready."

The face ended up being the older of the two. As soon as she tentatively took a step toward the table, the second face appeared in the doorway. I began putting bowls on the table and finished putting a plate of bacon and a plate of biscuits there too. The other thing I did have was a lot of very good butter.

The two were about a foot from the table, watching me intently. They were still dressed in the nightgowns, but they both had wet hair. Hopefully they used some of the shampoo I had in the bathroom. Seeing them in their flannel nightgowns, I put another log on the fire.

As soon as I sat in the chair nearest the stove, the two came toward the table. Ever so hesitantly, they pulled a chair out and finally sat on the edge of their chairs, looking at the food.

I scooped up some eggs, bacon, and a biscuit. I spooned gravy over the biscuit and put it down in front of the older of the two. I repeated the action for the younger one. When I had plates in front of them, I loaded one up for me. My plate was near overflowing.

When I picked up my fork and scooped the first bite of eggs, the two followed my lead and ate a forkful of eggs with me. I took a piece of bacon with my fingers and ate it. This was probably not the Emily Post method of eating, but I like to use my fingers when eating bacon. The two imitated me with that. When I cut a piece of the gravy smothered biscuit, the two did the same, and when they put it in their mouth, they each had a very pleased look on their face.

I had put a glass of milk by each of our plates and knew they had to know what that was. Once again, it took me to take a drink before they did. 'Oh well, ' I thought, 'I'm hungry, keep up with me if you can.'

I ate my plateful and had some more eggs. I only took one more piece of bacon, as there was only about five pieces left. I took a biscuit, pulled it apart and spread butter over the warm doughy treat. They had watched me intently and now dished out more eggs and took the last of the bacon. With better dexterity than I thought they had, each pulled a biscuit apart, spread butter on it, and began eating.

This was a very good breakfast. That's when I heard the plain bawl of the cow. I needed to do the chores. Old Ben must be having problems at his place.

I tried to explain to my visitors. "The clothes in the bedroom you were going to sleep in are for you. Please put them on. I will be back in a little while. I must milk the cow and feed the animals."

Sitting on the little bench by the door to put my boots on, I noticed the two intently watching me. Neither had said a word since waking, so I figured they would talk when they were ready. To see if I could get through to them, as I put on my heavy confiscated Army parka, I spoke, "We need to talk when I come back in. That means all of us have to say something. Think about it as you get dressed. We need to talk about you and where you live."

The cow was happy with me and the warm water solution I washed her with. She was ready for milking as she was dripping milk from her teats as I put the freshly rinsed bucket down. This morning I filled the bucket once and almost half again before the cow had given up all her milk. She had consumed her grain and a lot of her hay, so I put some more out for her in the area where she stayed during bad weather. The steer and calf were just as interested in the hay, and the pigs, well, they eat anything.

After washing up the milking utensils, I stopped at the porch to get the basket for the eggs. The chickens' water needed refilling and was not frozen. Their house was insulated enough to keep them a little warm. There was a coal oil burner type stove in the middle of it, but there was a roof cap over it. I figured they would be fine with some grain. There were, as always, more eggs than I thought I had chickens. I was going to have to look for the chickens that were sneaking in to lay eggs. I checked on the guinea hens that came into the chicken house for food and water during the really bad weather and they were fine. When the weather broke, I would entice them back up the mulberry tree.

When I brought the eggs into the house, the two women were now dressed in the Dollar Store clothes, sitting at the table. The only thing on the table was a couple of biscuits on a plate. Everything else was not in sight. The table had been wiped down, and I suspected and hoped they had washed the dishes.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Eagle Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thrusts Thoroughly Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 5

When the chores were done, I came back into the cabin and found the two women standing, waiting for me.

I didn't laugh, but I wanted to, as the clothes I had bought were several sizes too large. The two seemed happy with the pants and shirts. Hopefully, they each put a T-shirt on for the additional warmth.

There were three chairs in front of the fireplace, so I put another small log on the fire. I poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot I had at the rear of the stove, staying warm without boiling. It was bitter black, but I didn't want to make another pot yet.

I sat in one of three chairs and said, "Come, sit with me so we can talk."

Once they were seated, I continued, "Thank you for cleaning up the kitchen for me. The big pan is heavy and I know it is difficult to clean. Thank you."

The compliment gained me smiles from both. I hope the praise was warranted.

"Okay, my name is Mike Grayson. What are yours?"

The two women looked at each other, a little frightened and remained quiet.

"Look, I know you can both talk. You both said something to me last night. If we are going to live on this mountain together, if we are going to share some food, if we are going to watch TV together, you have to talk to me."

"I am Summer Jorgenson. I live with my mother," the younger of the two said, and stopped as if she had told a horrible family secret. I tried to make her feel good by smiling at her.

When I looked in the eyes of the older of the two, she quickly looked away, but finally spoke, "Thank you for taking care of me last night. I was very sick. I feel better now, but need more rest."

Now, I was almost sarcastic, "I'm sorry; I didn't get your name."

The lady squinted at me. "I didn't tell it to you."

"Well?" I said, to see if she would take the hint. She was a tough nut to crack.

She was intensely squinting at me for at least a minute, before she said, "I am Mildred Jorgenson. Many years ago, my ancestors homesteaded the lower half of the other side of the mountain. They grew their own food and meat. They also had a vineyard similar to the one here and the one on the Finnerty land. My parents sold the property to Eliza's husband when I was a young person, and moved into the city. Our one hundred acres was below the Finnerty place. I heard what happened to them. That was terrible.

"There was a time I had a good man. We were good people, living in a good neighborhood. My man, ah, um, ah, my husband, worked on the railroad and made good money. One day, the railroad was robbed. Someone accused my man of being a thief. He was afraid he would be put in jail and not be able to provide for Summer and me, so he brought us here, to my parents' old homestead. We had visited the land many times, so we knew the house on the land to be good, and we could raise our own food to live on.

"No one knew we moved to the other side of the mountain. The way the cabin is, you cannot see it unless you are right next to it. It is built into the mountain, in the front of a cave, so it is fairly warm in the winter and cool on hot summer days. We have a good garden, but we didn't have animals for meat. We caught some wild pigs and were raising them, but someone found the pen and let them go free. My man was good with his hands and was able to make a bow to kill deer. We were lucky and usually had meat that way. We didn't have salt, but we would chip off small pieces from the stock salt blocks in the area. We didn't have lamps either, but I did learn how to make candles from bear fat. That's how my husband Bernard was killed. He shot the bear with a bow, but didn't kill it. He shot the bear four times, but none of the arrows killed the bear. It caught my husband and killed him. Luckily, the bear did not eat him. I buried him near a meadow on the mountain. We have not had meat other than squirrels and rabbits since then."

She sat there, looking at me for a while, before adding, "I have done my best to teach Summer everything she would need in the world away from the mountain. She is a good reader. She knows her history of the United States and the world. She is good with math through algebra. I have been able to find books, and Eliza has put out books for me over the years."

After waiting to see if she was done, I asked, "Mildred, when your husband was killed, why didn't you go back to civilization? Why didn't you try to get Summer back into school?"

"I was afraid we would be in trouble for living on land that was not ours. I was also afraid people may have thought my husband had me help him with the robbery. I was so afraid."

Before I could say anything, with a curious, and almost angry tone, Mildred asked, "Why did Eliza sell her land to you? Did she owe you money?"

As an explanation, I told the two of them, "I was lucky to find someone who wanted to sell their house and property. Eliza wanted to live near her relatives, and I wanted to live away from people. This was perfect for me."

Summer was curious. "Eliza didn't have the TV for a long time. You do. She didn't have the electric lights, you do. She didn't use her refrigerator, just the spring house. Everything works for you. How is it that way?"

"Eliza didn't have enough money to have electricity. She only had enough to continue to buy feed for her animals and for the food she couldn't grow. She sold vegetables, milk, and eggs for her money."

Summer was listening intently. "I understand, I think."

"What are you going to do now that I know you live on the mountain?"

The lady very cautiously said, "We will go back to the other side of the mountain and live. We were trying to live a little closer to Eliza as she was helping us with food. If you let us live there, we will find another way to eat at our home."

I got up and made a small pot of coffee. This was going to be a tough one. How do you kick out a couple of people in the middle of winter without food and probably not a lot of clothing? The kid needs to go to school, although she is probably past high school age. The woman looks about my age, maybe a little older. I wonder if she might have some survivor benefits from Social Security. Depending on how long ago her husband was killed, they may have some child survivor's benefits too.

I went to my bag and pulled my notebook and pen out. Sitting back in my chair in front of the fire, I asked, "Please, give me yours, Summer's, and your husband's full name, social security numbers, and dates of birth. The date of your husband's death will be important. If you can remember, please give me the dates of the railroad robbery your husband was accused of. I'll need your old address and anything you can tell me about that time.

"We will have to go to where you buried your husband, but first I need to get an instrument that will tell me that exact location so I can write it down. The government may want to dig him up to find out what killed him."

After I had all of the information written down I saw that I didn't have Summer's date of birth as we went right past that. I was going to ask again but thought it might be something the mother was trying to keep from me. I informed them, "Okay, now I need to go to town again. I need to stop by Ben's to make sure he's okay. Do you show yourself to him often?"

Summer quickly spoke, "We are afraid of men, especially men with guns."

I told the two of them, "Ben and I only have guns to hunt and to keep bad people away. He is a nice man." They knew I was able to feed us many rabbit and deer dinners with a gun.

After a deep breath, I poured some coffee and asked, "Will you two stay here while I go to town? I need to call about your husband's incident with the railroad. I can use the information you have given me to find out most of what I need to know. We may have to go to Lexington to do everything. Let me keep you here for a while. I promise to not let anything happen to you and will feed you while you are here. Please stay while I am gone. The dogs will protect you if necessary."

They seemed content to stay, so I put my coat and boots on again and headed out. Down the road, I stopped at Ben's. There was smoke coming from his chimney, so I knocked. Ben came to the door and opened it, nodding for me to come in. "I'm sick, Mike. Sorry I didn't do the chores. I figured you would realize I didn't come and take care of them. My chest hurts because I've been coughing so much."

"How about I take you to the doc in town? I have a few chores to do in town and need to run up to Sterling to the Walmart. If the doc is going to take a while, I can do my running around while you sit in a warm waiting room."

He nodded and said, "I probably caught my death from taking a bath the other night. I was beginning to smell myself and I've been around you a lot. You're a clean guy; Army, and all of that, so I thought I should get clean too. I'll have to keep the house warmer when I do that."

I told him, "I doubt you caught what you have from taking a bath. You probably caught it from someone at the market. I'll bet you've never had a flu shot, have you?"

His questioning look told me the answer. "I ain't never had to have one of them. I heard one time you get the flu so bad from the shots it lays you up in bed for a week or so. No need to do that."

"That has changed now, Ben; let them give you a flu shot this time. I'll bet they can give you some antibiotic that will make your chest feel better too."

Ben put his boots and heavy coat on and followed me to the truck. When we got to the hospital, the same nurse from last night was there, "You have another person with pneumonia for me to fix up? Are the lady and her kid doing okay?"

Ben looked at me curiously, and all I could say at the time was, "Later."

Ben described his problem and the lady said, "You have what everyone around here has. I wish you people would get your flu shots. How about you, Mr. Grayson, have you had yours?"

I smiled and said, "I got it the day before I retired. I have had the Far East flu shot and one for here in the states. Don't worry, I'll be back every year for mine."

The nurse pointed at some chairs, mostly filled with people who looked as sick as Ben. "Sit over there and wait your turn, Ben. It's going to be a while."

After getting Ben seated, I told him what I was going to do, "Ben, I'm going to do some running around. I'll give the nurse my cell phone number so she can call me if you finish before I get done."

The nurse wrote down my cell phone number as I turned it on. It showed a full set of bars, but I already knew the area had good cell phone coverage.

The first place to go was Walmart twenty minutes away in Sterling. I bought a battery operated GPS that looked easy to use, then headed for the Sheriff's department. The Deputy at the desk didn't look interested in anything that I had to say, so I asked for the Sheriff. He looked at me funny and asked, "And who may I say is asking?"

"Mike Grayson, a..."

He interrupted, "Yeah, the guy who bought Eliza's place? The same guy that brought a couple of women to the hospital last night? Who are you anyway, and where'd you come from. You a city boy?"

I really wanted to reach across the counter and smack the asshole. Instead I smiled at him, "I retired from the Army and wanted to live somewhere peaceful, away from people." I wanted to say that I wanted to live far away from assholes like him.

He took a different tack, "What can I do for you, Mr. Grayson? Since you are a taxpayer according to the City Clerk, I work for you."

Son of a gun, he got something right.

I explained I wanted to investigate a railroad robbery that happened fifteen years ago. I gave him the dates, Mr. Jorgenson's name, social security number, and date of birth. I told him that I really wanted to know what the disposition of that case was. Since it was a federal case, it should be easy to find.

"Why do you need something like this?" The man was testing me.

"Something tells me the man was never found and that he probably wasn't guilty. The man has since died, but his family needs to know as they have been in hiding since then."

"Where are they hiding? We'll run out and pick them up. If they're hiding, they're guilty of something."

"Easy, Deputy, could it have been a wife was following her husband. They could have had a kid with them."

The man looked at me a few seconds before picking up the phone and dialing. He was smart enough to call the FBI in Lexington. There was an extended wait, but when whoever he was talking to came back to the phone, the Deputy punched a button on his phone and put the receiver down.

Over the speaker, I heard, "We have a closed file on that case. The robbery was done by J.B. Beyers from Cincinnati. We caught him about three months after the robbery. According to the file, everyone near the rail yard was a suspect. Several quit and disappeared. The file said they kept thinking the last person to disappear was the guilty one, until the Beyers guy showed up trying to sell the goods in Toledo. What else can I do for you?"

I quickly said, "My name is Michael Grayson, Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, retired. Can I get a faxed copy of that file? It is important to one of the men's family that was under suspicion back then."

"Man, this file is probably ten inches thick. How about I send you what I have on that guy's name and the final disposition. Will that work?"

With a smile, I said, "That'll work. The name you're looking for is Jorgensen, and the Deputy will give you his local fax number."

The agent told us, "It'll be on its way in a minute."

I thanked the man before the Deputy gave the agent his fax number. When he pushed the button to hang up, "You know I shouldn't let you use the fax like that. But since you're a taxpayer, I suppose it's all right. You are a retired soldier, so you deserve something."

I thanked the Deputy after I mooched two copies of the documents and told him to tell the Sheriff if he came out my way to stop in for coffee. The Deputy said, "Man, nobody goes up that mountain unless they have to. The road is horrible and you got ghosts. You got balls livin' up there."

This had not taken very long, so I spent a few minutes making a grocery list. I didn't really know what meat was left at the cabin other than the smoked meats. I bought a couple of roasts, a bunch of ground beef, some fish, a few cans of vegetables Eliza wouldn't have canned herself, bread, honey, a bag of dog food, some dishwashing soap, some regular soap, some ladies' shampoo, a couple of hair brushes, more toothbrushes, and a couple of popular paperbacks.

Back at the clinic, Ben was still sitting, but with his head back, snoozing. The nurse told me the doc should be able to see Ben in half an hour or so. I thanked her and told her I would be back.

I went back to Walmart up in Sterling again. This time I looked at all of their little ovens. They had a TV type oven that showed a roast, a pie, and a cake on the cover, so I put that in the cart. They had a deal on a crock pot, and I knew I could use that. As I pushed the cart past the TV display, I saw a nice forty inch TV that would fit over the fireplace perfectly. Anything bigger would look too big. I put a boxed one in the cart, with a speaker set and all of the cable connections someone would need. Oh yeah, how about a movie player. What to do, what to do? I had to listen to a fuzz faced kid tell me the advantages of a Blue Ray player. It wasn't much more than a CD/DVD player and would play any media, so I put that into the cart as well. If the cabin was going to remain my home, and now having company, I might as well have some of this stuff. I found a couple of movies, including what I considered a chick flick. I needed some music, so I bought some CDs of decent ballad and blues groups.

It took a while to checkout, and it took me a while to finish choking over my spending habits. I really didn't feel bad, as I hadn't spent a lot of money on myself so far this last year. I was going to need a bunch of cash to upgrade Eliza's place, but that was later, maybe the next summer.

The nurse had woken up Ben and taken him into the exam room. While I waited, I called Mervin and told him about a problem I was having with the satellite. It wasn't receiving very well and I also had a new TV to hook up over the fireplace. He promised to be out early in the morning.

It a few minutes, the doc came out with Ben. "This one isn't as bad as the lady last night. He only has the flu. He'll be fine by morning. He needs some food, some hot tea, and a good night's sleep. Check on him in the morning and he'll be dancing the jig."

As Ben shuffled toward the door, the doc held my arm. "He'll be fine, but if you can get him to come in again, I'd like to do some tests. He's getting up there in age, and his ticker isn't sounding that good. A lot of these old guys are too stubborn to get checked out. If you tell him, he might listen. Try, okay?"

I smiled at the doc and said, "I'll do that, Doc. I'll make sure Ben comes in. Does he need an appointment?"

"No, we're pretty loose here. When you bring him in, tell the nurse it's for me to check him out. She'll pick up on that and we'll get him in right away. I have a couple of specialists that come through on a regular basis, so we'll get him right in and checked out. Take care of the old folks like that, they are our history."

Ben was waiting for me at the door. I took care of his bill and took him to the truck. He was smiling as he sat in the seat. "You know, Mike, I know what the doc wants, and I'll come in with you. I know I'm not right all the time and probably need a little help, but I have to do what I have to do. I love our mountain and plan to live the rest of my life up there. Thank you for caring for me. Now you'll have to do the same for the other two old folks up there."

"They are a couple of good ones, aren't they?"

"You got to love old lady Fletcher just below me. She's an old witch that everyone loves dearly. She makes the best apple pies in the county. You know she's about my age, but never would give me a tumble. She says that by the time she became a widow, she didn't need a man no more, but I know different."

Ben was smiling. "You've been making deals and trades with Teddy. That old coot is about ninety and acts nineteen. He's like you, though. He's a retired Army guy from World War II and Korea. The way he hikes and hunts around the mountain, you two should be best buddies."

I offered, "How about we go visiting again soon? I can pick you up and we'll go visit with them."

"We'll do that, Mike, but now you have to tell me something. Who was the woman you brought to the hospital last night. The nurse said they were two of them. Who are they?"

I looked over at Ben and said, "I don't want to hurt your heart or shock you, Ben."

"Don't bullshit me, Mike. Who'd you bring to the hospital? The nurse told me the woman had pneumonia. Who was they?"

With a smile, I looked at Ben as I drove and said, "They are the ghosts."

I thought Ben was going into cardiac arrest the way his face turned ashen. When he was back to breathing normal, he asked, "You're being true? They was the ghosts? Really? How'd you meet them? Where'd they come from? Damn, Mike, tell me."

This had to be delicate, "Ben, you have to promise me you won't tell one person until I get some things straightened out. Can you do that?"

"Depends, Mike; now that I know you know the ghosts of Mystery Mountain, I can almost sell that information. Tell me more, Mike."

"No way, Ben. I'll make you a deal though. If you will do a couple of things for me, I'll let you in on a lot of it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, keep your mouth shut from outsiders for a while. That's outside our mountain. Two, help me keep the two women from running off. I don't know what you can do, but I'll think of something. Ben, this is important. These women have been living in fear for probably fifteen years. Do you remember how far back the ghost stories started?"

Ben looked at me hard. "Somewhere around when I was a boy. More were around when my woman was still alive. But you have something when you talk about fifteen years ago. That's when a lot the sightings started back up and strange things were happening for a while. Hunters would find the leftovers of a deer killed and dressed. Over the years, they found several pieces of bear that had been killed and dressed as well. One hunter found a pen with a couple of wild boar in it. He let them out because he thought they might be abandoned. You're telling me they might not have been?"

"You're probably right about that, Ben. There was a family running away from something they didn't have anything to do with, who came back to the mountain as their grandfolks and folks had lived here."

"Do you mean the Jorgensons? They sold out to Bud about twenty or twenty-five years ago and all of them moved to Lexington. It was rumored that when the Jorgenson twins grew up, they lived in the city together as man and wife. Hell, I remember them kids. They was always huntin' and fishin' around these parts. Their pappy raised a little stock and had a little farm on the other side toward the bottom of the mountain. Hard to get to, but private. No real road to get there. They didn't even have a mail box. They went to the post office for general delivery."

This story kept getting more bizarre by the minute. I told Ben, "I think I've found the Jorgenson female half of the twins. I think the boy, or man half, was killed by a bear about five years ago. The woman half and their child have been the ghosts."

Ben sat back in the truck seat. "Son of a gun, this is more news than I can contain. Damn, I wish you wouldn't have made me swear I wouldn't blab or gossip. Christ, this is almost more than people are gonna believe. Holy smokes, Mike, where are they now?"

He was leaning forward to look at my face again. I grinned at him for being so curious. "Tell you what, Ben, if you can keep quiet for a day or so, I'll bring them by your place in the morning before eight. I'll come get them after lunch. If you will treat them sweet, they will probably tell you their story. I'll try to make them comfortable about coming, but keep your guns hidden away as they are afraid of them. Is it a deal?"

Ben leaned back in the seat again. "You are a real son of a gun, aren't you? I'll keep my part, but you gotta let me tell the story when it's okay. I'll have the best piece of story for miles and miles, maybe the whole county."

All I could think of was, 'whatever turns you on.' Just don't screw up the ladies.

I took Ben to his place, where he was now acting pretty spry. He said he would be up for chores later. When I told him he didn't have to tonight and he should rest like the doctor told him, he said, "No way. I'm comin' up there and meetin' them women tonight. I'll be sweet, I promise. They need to meet me tonight if I'm going to host them tomorrow."

He had a point.

When I pulled into the yard, I noticed it had snowed a little more, but there were no footprints in or out of the house. Hopefully, my guests stayed home. I chuckled as I figured they were in the bedroom watching TV.

As I carried the first load to the house, two faces appeared in the window to watch me. Mildred met me at the door and took the packages. The next load was taken by Summer, and they alternated until the last thing I brought in was the TV. I put all of the appliances on the table for a few minutes and put the food away.

I smelled something good and looked at the stove. There was a pot on the stove that smelled like beans of some kind. When I looked in, there were big chunks of ham floating with black eyed peas. I used a nearby spoon to taste the contents of the pot and found it delicious. How about that, good country cooking; I didn't have to get special food for them.

It was still early afternoon and I had not had lunch, so I made a sandwich with a couple slices of ham. The two eagerly watched me, so I made them each a sandwich. We ate in silence because the ham was so delicious.

The next thing I did was get the TV wall mount out. I went out to the garage for tools. I looked through the big tool box and found a masonry drill bit for the battery operated drill and some screw anchors. I took a measuring tape and level inside and soon had the anchors in place. The wall mount was easy, but the nearest electrical outlet was about ten feet away.

There was a twenty five foot extension cord out in the tool chest that would work until I could buy the Romex, Panduit, and outlet box. The Blue Ray player and some of the speakers sat on the mantle, while the big bass speaker and a couple of others sat on the floor. I put in a Stevie Ray Vaughn DVD and listened to the great sounds of a master. The speakers were phenomenal. The girls were wide-eyed when I took the TV from its box. They couldn't believe the size of it.

I tested the mount with a couple of hard pulls before hanging the TV on it. Using a multi-outlet surge protector, I was able to finish plugging everything in. I turned the TV on and inserted one of the kids' movies into the Blue Ray player. While I cleaned up the mess from the boxes, the two sat in the chairs in front of the fireplace, mesmerized by the movie.

Perfect, now I knew how to get some private time if I wanted it.

When I noticed the time, I paused the movie and was greeted with frowns. "Ladies, we need to talk about a few things. Ben is going be here soon to do chores this evening, and wants to come in to meet you when he's done. I want you to know that I want to take you to his place tomorrow morning while a man is here to install some equipment that you will like and also fix the satellite. We will then have a choice of hundreds of TV channels and movies on this big TV. There will be so many shows and programs that you will never be able to watch them all.

"But I need for you to stay with Ben while the new connections are being done. Ben is a good man and will probably ask you a thousand questions. Tell him what you want, and he will respect that. Will you do that for me?"

Summer looked at me seriously. "Why don't we just go to the cave? We would be safe there while the man is here. Why do we have to go to Ben's place?"

"A couple of reasons; I want you to meet Ben and spend a few minutes with him. The man is a good person, and can and will be a good friend."

Getting ready to tell them the real news was easy. I looked at both of them. "I want you two to get used to being around people again. I found out today that your husband and Summer's father was cleared of the train robbery long ago. The police know he didn't do it. They are not looking for him or you. We will have to do some more things before this is done, but you two need to get used to people again. Will you do that with me?"

You could see the surprise, the confusion, and the indecision all coming out and changing their facial expressions. They didn't know what to think. Mildred reached out and touched my arm. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure the railroad police aren't looking for us? You do mean that we can live anywhere now? Tell me who told you and how you found out."

I jumped up and went for the papers that were faxed to me. I kept the original faxed copy and gave each of the women their own copy of the Jorgenson part of the file.

Mildred was reading the documents and looked up. "It says here the only reason they wanted to talk to my husband was to see if he had seen or heard anything suspicious." The lady sat back in her chair, holding the paper with her eyes closed. "He was afraid people would find out about us. He was trying to protect us from someone discovering our secret. We thought they suspected him and would find out everything about him and his family. I'm as much to blame."

Summer looked up at me, "This is good news, yes? Does this mean we can go live where other people live and I can go to a real school again?"

Mildred stood and hugged her daughter, telling her, "I'm sorry your dad and I put you through this for so many years. I thought we had to or we would be separated. I couldn't bear that."

Summer was becoming excited and reverting to being a little girl. "Momma, we can have new clothes, like Mike got for us, but that will fit. We can live in a regular house with water and electricity like Mike has and like our old place we had in Lexington. Isn't this exciting, Momma?"

As the two became involved in their discussion about what their future would be, I made myself some coffee and sat at the table, listening to them talk. In a little while, both of them got up and began working at the stove and sink. I saw that the stove wood box was empty, so I put my coat on and went out to replenish the wood supply in the house.

Cutting and splitting wood is good therapy. It allows you to think about other things in life while making the physical effort of splitting wood up into small short pieces for the stove. I split up an armload of the small pieces for the stove and carried them in and came back out to split up some larger cuts for fireplace logs. I knew it was important to have both thick pieces and smaller pieces so you could keep the fire balanced. Without realizing the time, I split enough wood to use in the fireplace for a week. I came in with an armload and put them in the box near the fireplace. As I hung my coat by the door and sat to take my boots off, I heard the stamping of feet on the porch. Ben must be done with the chores and wants to meet the ladies.

I quickly walked over to the ladies and asked, "Can we have Ben join us for supper? That would be an excellent way to have your first meeting with the outside world."

The two ladies looked at each other and Mildred smiled. "Yes, we need to meet people again."

I went to the door and opened it as Ben had his fist raised to knock. "Come on in, Ben. We're about to sit down to eat and would like you to join us tonight. Come in."

Ben came in, took off his heavy coat, and sat at the door bench to take his boots off. I motioned for him to sit in a chair near the fireplace to warm up for a few minutes. He liked that and immediately headed there. He couldn't take his eyes from the two women the whole time. They were not dressed very fancy in their oversized clothes, but they were clean and brushed.

Summer put a tablecloth on the heavy oak plank table before putting out four place settings. It was fun to watch as she carefully placed each knife, fork, and spoon in perfect rows to line up with the outside of the plate.

Mildred lifted the big pot and put it on a pad on the table. Next she brought a plate piled with corn bread. That was a pretty neat trick, since I didn't know we had that. There was also a bowl of home canned cut up tomatoes.

Ben and I waited for the women to be seated and then sat at the table. I think all of us were smiling at the newness of the situation. Ben was probably smiling at the wonderfully smelling food too.

While we ate, Ben only inquired how the two ladies were and if they enjoyed being in this fine house. Mildred did the talking and told Ben, "You remember me, don't you, Ben? When Bernard and I were young, we used to come to your place often. We would sometimes trade you deer meat for goat meat. Dad was the one to always send us. Our life was fun back then. We had to go down to the little road near the river to catch the school bus that came out here. It was only a mile, but really difficult in the winter.

"When our parents sold the property to Bud, Bernard and I were very unhappy as we had so much freedom up here on the mountain. We knew where all of the caves, and the spring fed pools where fish were and where animals came to drink were. The whole mountain was our playground."

Ben happily looked at Mildred before saying, "When your folks moved, I was sorry to see you go. You kids used to be welcome visitors, and I always enjoyed trading with you. Remember, I had you bring me a couple of raccoons so I could teach you how to skin one, save the hide, and how to tan it? I taught you how to make coon barbeque. That is one of my favorites."

I enjoyed eating the black-eyed peas, chunks of ham, and cornbread while listening to them talk.

Mildred was loosening up while talking to Ben. She asked, "Is the market about the same size as it was, or is it bigger or smaller?"

"Well," Ben replied, clasping his hands behind his overall bib. "It is a mite smaller than it used to be, but people still come from all over to trade. The daily people show up between six and seven and are gone before nine or ten, but the weekend crowds come early and are still doing some trading late afternoon."

Ben was telling the next part as much for my information as the women's. "A lot of people come from the city all the way down here to buy some of the art stuff. We have a lot of wood carvers, egg painters, picture painters, ladies who do special knitting, crocheting, and sewing. If you want to buy or trade a piece of machinery, that's the place to be on Saturday morning. I'd say it's still about the same size on weekends now. Of course, if you are looking for some shine, that's when you can get it."

Mildred shivered. "That stuff tastes funny and makes you feel even funnier. Bernard and I tried some of our dad's just one time. We never tried it again." The older lady was being funny, "I tried Bud's wine in the cave. It was better than the shine, but you can't drink much or you get a headache."

It was Ben that gave the compliment, "That wine is right good. If Mike can make it as good as Bud, he'll do himself proud down at the market, or if he's legal, over at the Pine Ridge market."

Ben had enjoyed meeting the two ladies who had been the ghosts of Mystery Mountain. He was also looking forward to hosting them in the morning when Mervin came out.

When it got late, Ben left to go home, saying he would look forward to having the ladies over in the morning. I began straightening up before going to bed, but Mildred quickly stood and put her hand on my arm, "Please, let us do this. Summer and I appreciate what you have done for us. Please let us become a part of taking care of ourselves and you."

The dogs went out one more time, so I waited until they had completed their duties and toweled them off when they came in. While the two women finished putting a couple of glasses into the sink, I brushed my teeth and prepared for bed. Not thinking there would be a repeat of the previous night, I flipped the TV on before going into the main room to throw a log on the fire before shutting off the lights.

When I came back to the bedroom, I was surprised to see the two women under the covers once again, obviously wearing the nightgowns. Well shoot, how do I tell them they shouldn't be in my bed? Mildred should know that, and Summer would have a little idea as to why it might be wrong to sleep together.

I slipped my pants and heavy shirt off and was down to my boxers and T-shirt when I slid into the bed next to Summer. As I lay back in my usual manner, flat on my back, Summer turned to me and resumed the position she was in when I woke up this morning. She was snuggled up to my side with a leg over mine and an arm thrown over my stomach. She said, "Momma, you should try this. It is so warm and comfortable. This is the best bed anyone could have."

Okay, I guess I have been reduced to being a bed warmer. The young lady had best not be squirming around too much, since her body that close to mine was trying to wake parts of me. It took some mental mind over matter, or in this case, mind over body, to will myself not to think that way about the snuggled person. I had hardly even begun to pay attention to the TV when I fell asleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Eagle Guru, Rotorhead

Thorsten Thrusts Thoroughly Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 6

This morning was not much different from yesterday morning, except that I had another body snuggled to my other side. Mildred had her head on my shoulder and a leg thrown across my other leg. She, too, had an arm thrown across my waist, pulling her as close as possible.

The dogs weren't moving around, so they didn't need out yet. I listened intently to hear if Ben was doing the chores yet. This was comfortable. I had never thought about waking up in the morning with a woman lying next to me, much less two women.

Now that I was awake, I needed the bathroom, and I was going to need a shower soon, perhaps this evening. I should be all right today, since I wasn't going to be doing anything with anyone except Mervin, and that was only around the house.

That reminded me; I could call Mervin and have him bring some Romex, a surface outlet, and some Panduit. He would know exactly what I was talking about. With some delicate effort, I slid from between the women, girl and woman, or something like that. I was going to have to find out Summer's age. She could be jailbait.

I went to the big room and let the dogs out. I turned my cell phone on and had a bar of signal, so I called Mervin's number that was still on my dialing list. When he answered, I asked if he would stop at a hardware store for what I needed. "Mike, I have everything you need, except the outlet. I'll stop and pick one up and we'll get you fixed up in no time. I should be there about eight to eight thirty. You're up mighty early. Are you enjoying being a farmer and getting up with the chickens?"

He laughed as we both hung up. I dressed and began the day by emptying the ashes from the stove and beneath the fireplace. Everything is used around here, and the ashes went to one end of the compost pile. I had discovered that huge night crawlers thrived in compost mixed with the ash. I had already promised myself that I would do some fishing this coming summer.

When the fire was going good and the stove was heating up, I gently woke the two ladies. Mildred looked up at me with a contented smile and reached out to touch my arm. "Thank you for letting me sleep next to you. That brought back many good memories. I think I might want to do that some more."

"Me too, Momma," added Summer, while smiling and yawning. "I really like how Mike feels when I'm next to him. It makes me feel a little funny, but it's a good funny. Do you get those funny feelings too?"

Mildred had a strange smile on her face when she looked up at me. "That's the feeling you get when you're with a man, Summer. It does feel funny, but it feels good. It is supposed to."

I needed to break up this train of thought. "Time to get up. I'll help Ben with the chores. If you will cook breakfast for all four of us, we can eat before you go to his place."

I was dressed warmly and out the door in minutes. The dogs were still romping around, playing in the snow. I did the chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys real quick. My turkey population was thinned out from Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I only had a couple of orders for geese. I was going to have to begin giving ducks away pretty soon, as the population was growing too much. They did lay some big eggs that I gathered every day so they couldn't set on them. When I took the duck, goose, and turkey eggs to the market, several women liked those for baking. They traded me some great canned goods for them, so I was coming out at least even, if not ahead.

The cow was bawling, so I let her in the milking area, which is usually called a 'parlor', and gave her some grain and hay. It took me a couple minutes to get the washing and milk buckets ready. With the five gallon can ready with the filter funnel on it, I began milking. The cow was probably going to dry up soon as she should be less than three months before her calf is born. She still gave two gallons, so her body still wanted to produce milk. I would have to ask the vet if I should quit milking her. I'd hate for her bag to swell up from lack of milking. Drying up was supposed to be natural; I just didn't know when it would occur.

As I was finishing the cleanup, Ben slowly came up the road. He was acting tired lately, so it probably meant he overdid it yesterday in order to meet the women. He probably is going to need another trip to the doc for that checkup. Ben apologized for being late. "Don't worry about it, Ben. It's good for me to mess with my animals anyway. Come inside and have some breakfast."

After eating, I drove the three of them down to Ben's so he wouldn't have to walk. I told Ben, "When Mervin finishes, how about I take you to the doc for that checkup. I would really like you to feel good. If you keep feeling poorly, I'll be the one coming over to do the chores."

Ben agreed, "I'll go. I haven't had the energy to do much lately, and that flu really knocked me out. The stuff the doc gave me did make me feel better, but I'm just not right yet."

I left them to watch over each other while I was with Mervin.

The man was as fast as he was funny. With two of us pulling wire and hooking things up, we had a professional looking better electrical outlet by the fireplace and the TV cable connection ready in a short time.

Mervin and I discussed the cost of getting cable up the mountain and whether the signal would be strong enough for the distance. He asked, "How about I talk to your neighbors to see if they might be interested? They have satellite, but they don't have any internet unless they use dialup. I know the widow Fletcher has a telephone, but I'm not sure about Teddy. You could always get a phone and use dialup. It's slow, but it works. But you know what, getting a phone line up here might be the same price as cable."

"I'll have to think about it, Mervin. I haven't been spending a lot of money because I want to do some remodeling of the house, but I would like to have broadband like we talked about."

Mervin was thinking about something, "The feds and the state have a program for people like you — who live out in the country — that offers a subsidy in order to get broadband. I think I'll check that out. Since the cable company is going to use me and give me a commission on customers, I'll be able to stay in business. A lot of folks are going to want to keep their satellite service, since there is more programming. Those people will have both cable and satellite."

I fed Mervin a couple of ham sandwiches and helped him pack up. With cash for his work, he left with a smile.

I knew I probably smelled even worse than this morning, and I didn't want to go into the clinic like I was. It only took fifteen minutes to shower, shave, and change clothes. I put my usual fatigues and boots on. I'm always surprised that more people don't wear comfortable fatigues instead of jeans or overalls.

When I pulled up to Ben's, Mildred came out and asked if Summer and she could come into town with me. She said, "If you will take us home, we can clean up and put on fresh clothes. I want to meet people again."

That was a couple of shocks. First, she said to take her "home", then that they wanted to meet people again. Ben told me, "Take them home. I need to wash up a little so I don't smell either. I'll take a few minutes to shave, too. I'm lookin' a little scraggly."

I took the girls to the house and let them shower and dress. They were not fashion models in the clothes that were too big. When they came out and put their heavy coats on, I said, "We will stop in at Walmart and get you both some clothes that fit. If you pick out what you need, I'll get the stuff to make the clothes you already have to fit. Can you sew?"

Mildred told me, "Yes, I can, and I have taught Summer a lot. We don't have much thread left at our place anymore, but we were able to patch our clothes as necessary."

When I picked Ben up and we were riding into town, the situation kept playing in my mind about a bunch of farmers and their families coming to town. If the two women wanted to meet people, I'll bring them to market on Saturday and church on Sunday. Church might be a problem, what with all of the wagging tongues over me keeping a couple of women in my small cabin.

When we brought Ben into the clinic and told the desk nurse he was there for the doc's checkup, she immediately asked for us to wait just a minute, as the doctor wanted to see Ben.

The doc came out and congratulated Ben for coming in to be looked over. She looked at the two women before she looked at me and said, "I see you still have the two ladies. Mildred looks fine now. You'll have to fatten both of them up a bit. They are nothing but skin and bones."

She was grinning when she said, "It's going to take about two hours to run all of the tests I want to do. We're in luck today, since one of the specialists I told you about is here. Why don't you look around town for a couple of hours and come back for Ben."

The first thing I wanted to do was to get any shopping out of the way. The girls had to be pushed into selecting clothing and trying everything on to make sure it fit. By the time we were done, we had a basket full. They now had jeans and heavy shirts to wear outside in the cold, and that included some long johns. I made sure the jeans were loose enough to wear long underwear beneath them.

We found some flannel shirts that fit, as well as a couple of nice blouses with dressy slacks. I wanted them to each get at least two dresses to go to church in. They could wear the dressy slacks, but a dress is always more feminine. Mildred didn't want to get a dress that fit too snug, as she said that both of them would gain weight and fill out the clothing better.

We found some outdoor brogans, a pair of tennis shoes, and a pair of dress shoes for each of them, along with socks and two pair of pantyhose. I didn't know much about women's clothing; I just knew they needed a lot of things. The last items were the personal things. Mildred had Summer pick out a bunch of panties and try bras on over her T-shirt to get the size right. She told me, "Summer and I aren't big enough to wear bras all of the time, but we should wear them and a slip under our dresses and blouses for church."

Mildred had me wait in the aisle as she and Summer went into the health and beauty aids area and came out with a big box of what I knew to be pads for women's periods. This made me have to figure out how to dispose of them. I decided I'd have to use the fire pit for those things. It made me wonder how they had been handling that without the modern pads.

We spent some time buying needles and thread before going through the checkout line. I didn't have enough cash on me, so I used a bank card. Mildred asked if I was charging what I had purchased, but when I told her no, that it was a debit card, she was confused. I told her I would explain it later.

You can bet other customers and workers were thoroughly checking us out at the Walmart and again at the grocery store. I can imagine the phone lines were soon buzzing as word was sent around that Mike Grayson, the retired Army man who bought Bud's and Eliza's place, had brought two women into Walmart. I'm sure they were guessing these were the same two as I had brought to the clinic. You didn't need a newspaper in a town this size. The only way you wouldn't hear any of the news around town would be if you were deaf or dead.

Mildred and Summer were really funny as we pushed a cart through the store. Since Stanton is the county seat, the town not only had a small Walmart, but also a good sized Kroger store. This made the girls' shopping experience that much more fun. They touched and tried to read labels on at least half the store. I finally had to move them along as we needed to go check on Ben.

On the way to the clinic, I stopped at the meat locker for some beef and pork. With three, possibly four mouths to feed, I would need extra food.

The doctor was talking to Ben out by the front desk when we walked in. Ben was smiling, so his prognosis must be good. The doctor said, "Ben is in good shape, but needs to stay away from his shine for a while. It's running him down some." The doc looked at me. "I hear tell that you make some good wine, so give him a glass every day to satisfy his urge for a taste. You should bring me some too, so I can give it a more sophisticated taste test and declare it medicinal. That'll help you keep the wine making license." When the doc said that, she and the nurse broke up laughing. The nurse said, "Doc you been sneakin' a sip of local shine for years and years. How would you know good wine if you tasted it?"

The doc puffed her small feminine chest out. "You know I did go to college and medical school. I even worked in one of the biggest hospitals in the State of Kentucky. Just because I'm a country girl doesn't mean I don't know what the rest of the world is about."

I thought it was nice that the doctor was just a good ole' boy, or in this case, a good ole' girl in a white coat. She had gone away to school to become a doctor and returned to where she grew up.

As we left the clinic parking lot, I asked Ben if he needed anything in town, and he said he didn't and couldn't buy anything anyway after giving the clinic almost a hundred dollars. I can imagine they gave Ben about an eighty percent discount. They knew he would bring them some eggs, goat meat or goat milk, along with some of the butter from my cow.

I was happy to get us back to the mountain. I convinced Ben that I would help him with his chores before we did mine, then we would eat a good supper.

We took the women to the cabin, unloaded everything, and turned around and drove back to Ben's. I milked my first goat, but it was three of them in this case. Ben only had a couple of chickens that did lay an egg or so a day, but Ben's chickens were for eating rather than for eggs. Ben had an ancient mule that he fed a little grain and a couple of cubes off a square hay bale to. Ben told me, "That mule is near twenty nine years old. She don't work no more, but I don't have the heart to sell her to the dog food people. She won't last that much longer, but she has been good company for all that time. I even trained her and her partner to work the field I have. Now I get a neighbor with a tractor to plow and get my field ready for planting. That neighbor being you, of course, since Eliza left.

Back at my place, I had Ben go inside while I did the chores and milking. The chickens were very prolific, and I was pecked a couple of times while checking under the setting guinea hens to see how many eggs they had.

The evening felt as if the weather might break soon to warm up for spring. I hoped so, since I was tired of being cooped up in the house.

I almost died laughing when I went into the house. Supper was being prepared, but it was taking a little longer than usual. Ben and Summer were sitting in rocking chairs in front of the fire watching the big TV above the mantle. Mildred was working on dinner, but kept being distracted by the TV, as Summer had figured out how to channel surf. With close to three hundred channels to watch, they could never make up their minds. My arrival did startle them, and Summer jumped up to help her mom finish the food.

As we ate supper, I gave Ben a small glass of my wine, along with a big glass of spring water. He didn't turn his nose up, but commented, "Amazing how good shine is, but isn't so good for a body. The doc says a little of this every day will help my blood. I'm going to try it her way and see if I get better."

After supper, the ladies did a quick cleanup and were soon occupying the other two chairs in front of the fireplace. I wasn't all that interested in the constant search for a channel that might be better than the last one they were watching, so I spent an hour reading over some information from the Farm Bureau. That place was a wealth of information, and they were always happy to help a guy out.

The Farm Bureau had become more than just a place to learn a little about farming. They had regular classes on forestry, crops, fertilizers, dairy business, even chickens and other fowl. The one thing they had that I was saving money on was insurance. My two trucks, the house, the buildings, and all of my equipment were insured by the Farm Bureau. The agent had even come out to the house to check the conditions of the buildings, equipment, and the antique truck. All of the people from that organization were an asset.

When Ben began yawning and stretching, I suggested, "How about I run you home to get some sleep. Don't bother coming up for chores in the morning. As a matter of fact, I'll come down in the morning to make sure everything is all right with you and help you with your chores."

I took Ben home and returned to find the women in their flannel nightgowns. I think I need to get them some more of those, and possibly a nice heavy robe and some slippers. I smiled to myself at how I was trying to make the ladies comfortable.

I took a few minutes to consider what my motivation was. Was I just being a Good Samaritan, or did I think something more could come of the relationship with the women? Maybe I just wanted some company and enjoyed the interaction with two ladies. At that thought, I realized I still had no idea how old Summer was. I'll have to ask when the opportunity presents itself.

When I told the ladies that I was going to go to bed, they worked furiously trying to find the 'off' button on the remote. When the TV was off, Mildred went to the bookshelf and brought back a large Bible. She brought it to the table and opened it to Psalms and asked me, "Would you read some from here? My man used to do that every night. I like this part of the Bible, and I want Summer to hear it."

I asked, "If you had a Bible at your place, what happened to it?"

"The animals got to some of our books when we were staying at the higher caves one summer. They ruined our Bible, especially this chapter."

I read the first chapter of Psalms and said, "We'll save the next part for tomorrow. Let's go to bed."

I was between the two women when Mildred softly said to me, "Do you know that man and woman are supposed to be together? Being together is how families are made. The Bible says that it is good for man and woman to be together and to grow their families."

This was becoming a strange conversation that I was uncomfortable with. Mildred continued, "You do make me feel that urge, which is why I wanted you to read the Bible to us. I wanted you to feel what we are supposed to do."

Mildred was moving around a little with her leg across mine and pressing against my thigh. Summer was listening intently, but was being still in her now usual position. She saved me with, "Can we turn the TV on? I want to watch what we were watching. They had people singing and playing music."

I had to reach across Mildred to retrieve the remote for the new set top box and turned the TV on. Summer took the remote and carefully pushed the buttons for the channel she wanted. Aha, MTV; I hoped she didn't start singing rap. I turned the sound down near off and leaned over Mildred again to put the remote back on the nightstand.

As I began coming back to lie down, Mildred smiled up at me and raised a hand to the back of my head. She pulled it down so our lips touched. We kissed, and not just a peck. Mildred gave me a real live, I want more than this, kiss. When we parted, she smiled and wiggled against me. The only words she spoke were, "I have the urge real strong. I hope you get the urge soon."

Oh yeah, I had the urge and was doing everything possible to keep down what was making every effort to get up. I couldn't just roll over and boink the mom while daughter was lying next to us. I really didn't have that much experience, except for years of some USO and enlisted women. The Army lectures took hold, and I kept thinking that I couldn't do this since I didn't have a condom. The reason you used a condom wasn't so much for birth control, it was to be protected from some horrible disease that would make your wanger shrivel up and fall off.

Next time I was at Kroger's or Walmart, I would buy some of those things. Hmm, that might not be a good idea, because by the time I was in my truck, the entire town would know that I had purchased condoms. Any dummy could figure out what for. I would have to go somewhere else where no one knew me. I needed some beer, so I could go to Pine Ridge for beer and condoms. That was a plan.

When I let it sink in that I might do something like that, my lower regions were telling me they, it, or whatever, liked that idea too. Now to lie still so neither would feel that thing.

I fell asleep worrying about how to go about doing something like that. If a woman had what Mildred called the urge, does she get something like the blue balls guys get? I was so used to doing without that I had worked out a ritual when I showered. I would enjoy a warm shower, and if I was alone and not in a common shower, I was able to get some relief. For the last twenty plus years, I had been working things out by hand and usually wasn't in any hurry to work at convincing a young lady to join me. Those that had asked me to take them home had been pleasured most of the night. A good GI isn't going to pass up the opportunity to thoroughly explore a clean willing body that was anxious for some fun. I wondered if I could still keep going time after time. I felt like it, but you never know.

I had to get up to pee during the night. While I was up, Mildred moved over to the middle of the bed and was sleeping on her left side, spooning Summer. I didn't think anything about it, but slid in behind Mildred and spooned her, enjoying her warmth.

It couldn't have been an hour later that I was poking out of my boxers into something warm and wet. My natural reaction was to push in and withdraw, as the warm wet orifice pushed back to get all of me in, then assisted my withdrawal by dragging me across someplace that must have felt good, as the orifice quivered and the body I was hugging was shivering.

Oops! I froze. I realized I was balls deep in Mildred. When I stopped, she whispered, "More, my urge is really strong; I am enjoying your urge, more please."

Mildred kept right on moving back and forth until I joined her hip movement, giving us a full stroke in and out. Our intensity built until I heard Mildred gasp and the tight channel I was in squeezed tighter. She was totally stiff, but her channel was milking me.

Not a chance. There was no way to stop what was happening. I loosed more than a year's worth of desire for some of this, but only a few days of saved up juice. I pulsed into her time after time, until I thought I was going to go soft. Instead, junior kept his head up in the now sloppy place.

Mildred pushed back onto my continuing maleness and moaned, "Yes, more, it is good."

We did more for quite a while before we both exploded again. I went soft this time, and Mildred kept me inside her as she pushed back against me. She put my hand over her small breast and whispered, "That was good, now I will sleep well."

I glanced up at the time on the new set top box and saw it was only midnight. Hopefully, our young bed partner didn't wake up during the festivities. Otherwise, this was going to be difficult to explain.

On the other hand, no condom could mean an accident with Mildred. I wondered if she was still fertile. I wondered what my reaction would be if she told me she was pregnant. Oh shit,  I thought, I've screwed the pooch. No, I screwed Mildred.

I did drift off to sleep.

I was on my other side when I woke up, and Mildred was snuggled up to my back with my appendage in her grasp. The combination of needing the bathroom and a strange hand had me pointing the way.

The two dogs had slept in the living room, but were now poking around at my crotch before hunting for more of that smell and trying to nose under the covers. I put them out and quickly dressed to go do the chores.

After I finished my chores, I took my truck down to Ben's to see if he needed help. He was finished with his morning ritual and was putting a small milk can out on his porch.

"Morning, Mike," Ben greeted, "You're up early this morning, aren't you? I was just about to come up to do the morning things."

"I didn't get up that early, Ben. I already did the chores and thought you might need some help. How are you feeling?"

The old man replied, "I'm feelin' pretty damn good. No aches or pains this morning, and I slept like a log. It's probably all the good eats you been feeding me. Having a couple of women around is going to fatten us both up."

"I hope they stay around long enough to fatten up a little too," I said, thinking of what the doc said. "Anyway, Ben, come back with me for some breakfast."

"Hey," he said, "Can I watch the big TV again for a while? That sure is something. We need to take some milk and eggs to the market after breakfast. I could use some grain, and I'm not sure your supply is big enough for both of us until you have some more this fall. We both might need to be trading for grain."

As we topped the hill before reaching the cabin and buildings, Ben said, "If you'll help me, I'll plant my acreage in grain this year. I used to swap back and forth with Eliza for grain and hay. She would plant her two small fields alternately with me between grain and hay. We would keep a plot in alfalfa, clover, and lespedeza for three or sometimes four years, then switch back to corn and oats. You know that field by the house is about seventy acres and I can easily split it up. My biggest problem is that I don't have any equipment to plant with. You have that drill for oats and wheat, or you can broadcast new ground. You have a two row corn planter too. You did good this last year, let's put my ground to work and we'll have more grain and hay for next year."

In the cabin, the two women were busy with breakfast. We were going to have some ham steaks, eggs, biscuits, and gravy this morning. The food was ready to be put on the table as we walked in.

The four of us ate heartily, and as we did, Mildred asked, "I know Eliza has a washing machine. Can you show me how to use it? Summer and I need to wash our new clothes and work on our clothes that are too big."

I didn't think too much about it and nodded as I stuffed my mouth. After breakfast, I told the ladies, "Ben and I need to go to the market to sell milk and eggs. I'm going to take a goose with me and hope someone wants one for Sunday dinner. Do you ladies need anything from the market?"

Mildred grinned and asked, "Take a couple of jars and lids so that if someone has pickles, you can get some of each. We'll need more honey for the meat in the smokehouse, and you should put some more hickory in there before you leave. There is not much smoke coming out the chimney."

Summer asked, "If we had more flour and sugar, we could make cookies, or even a cake. I know that comes from the store unless you get one of those big bags. A small one from the grocery would be good."

Ben was putting his boots on at the door when he advised, "You better get out of here or you're going to have a list. Let's go."

I caught a goose and loaded up six dozen chicken eggs and a dozen huge eggs from geese and ducks. The turkeys weren't laying eggs right now after their flock had thinned. Funny how some animals will have more babies with a larger population.

I put two five gallon milk cans in the back of the truck and we headed to market. I found the pickles as requested and ended up trading a half dozen eggs for what I needed. A lady wanted the big eggs for baking as she and her husband ran the local bakery. One of the farmers had a big barrel of blackstrap molasses, so I traded for a gallon, along with another three gallons of honey. I had brought some gallon plastic milk bottles that I had traded a dozen eggs for a while back. They were usually used for shine, but I didn't need any of that.

Ben told me, "That man with the honey has those extra beehives here today. I'll bet he'll do some trading. Try for some made up butter and a smoked ham for this Saturday. I'll bet you'll make a deal."

The man with the beehives was interested in a deal and finally let me have a two tier hive with bees for two dozen eggs, and three deer roasts. The butcher shop and cold locker were right next to the market, so I went for the deer roasts. Ben was surprised that the man didn't want the ham. I was just as glad as I liked the ham from the smokehouse. The butcher sold me hams he butchered at a good price, so I was always smoking hams and bacon. He often traded me for butter and eggs too.

It seems a lot of people liked my smoked pork, and word gets around. What made my hams and bacon good was hickory. I had plenty of downed hickory trees that I had to drag up to the house, but that made the best wood for the smokehouse.

At the Kroger, I bought ten pounds of sugar and twenty pounds of flour, along with a big bag of salt for the smokehouse and a regular paper can of table salt. I knew we were getting low on pepper, so I bought some of that as well. It was a good day, as I had enough cash from the market to pay for the groceries and still had some money left for fuel.

When I stopped at the gas station for diesel fuel, I spoke with the owner, who was the local gasoline, diesel fuel, and propane gas distributor, about getting the fifty-five gallon drum filled and topping off the propane tank. He asked how the roads were and I told him they were still solid, so he might want to do it before the thaw made the roads hard to drive on.

The man took me behind his station and showed me a good sized caterpillar tractor with a big blade on the front. He said, "This ain't being used much lately. How about we make a deal for you to rent this thing and knock the hump out of your road. If you drag the rock back on the road and drive over it a few times with this, it will pack it down so it won't wash out or get too soft. That little area of your mountain is clay and that packs down as hard as concrete. The only bad thing is it's slick when it's wet. You won't have a problem with your four-wheel drive, but don't be driving Bud's old truck when it's wet. There's no reason to slide off into the ditch."

As I was talking to the man, I thought I might try to make a road to the other side of the mountain. I would need a high road and a low road, along with a road from the lower half down to the county road next to the little river. Since the river is on the far side of the hard or county road, they have already put culverts in for the spring water to run under the roadway to the river. With all the springs on this mountain, my land makes that river fill up.

We dickered for a while, until we agreed on a price that included what else but hams and cream for butter. He was going to have to wait another week for the hams, but it was a reason to go back to the butcher for a half dozen more hams. It was agreed that he would drop the tractor down by Teddy's drive, since he had a big wide spot in the road, without ditches, that he could use to turn the big truck around.

We had to dicker over whether I would pay for more barrels of diesel fuel for the tractor, or whether he would supply them. I told him I would build a stand for the two diesel and one gas barrel if he would supply the two barrels. He said he would want the barrels back when I was done with the tractor, but I knew he would let me keep at least one for my truck. That would be cheaper than buying gas and fuel retail at his station. He was getting a good deal since he wouldn't have to drag his hose to the back of the machine shed to fill the gas barrel up any longer.

I now needed some cut lumber for the stand. I drove over to the lumber yard and talked to the owner who worked out a simple plan for the three barrels. He sold me four creosoted posts and stacks of treated two by eights to make a rack and cross braces for the barrels. He had the bolts I was going to use and rented me a gas powered drill to drill holes in the twelve inch thick posts. There was discussion about the summer sun making the gas in the barrels expand. The lumber yard man sold me some more lumber to make a roof for shade over the cans. It would also shield whoever was using the barrels from getting wet on a rainy day.

That reminded me of the vineyard and my research about treated posts out there. I bought a twenty-five gallon barrel of creosote to treat the new posts I would need in the vineyard this spring.

Ben was amused and told me, "You're going to be a real farmer if you keep this up. That land up there is going to become high tax land if you continue. Someone is going to figure out how much you're bringing to market and have the tax man up there making new appraisals."

"Oh, Ben," I said to make him more at ease with my improvements, "I plan to add on to the house this summer, anyway. I should probably add on to the machine shed too, in case I want another tractor."

That had Ben looking at me sideways, trying to figure out if I was a retired Army man or some guy trying to go into business.

We drove home with my load of goodies, and Ben wanted to be let out at his driveway. When I had stopped, he asked, "When you have that bulldozer up here, will you smooth out my drive? You need to go by Teddy's and the widow's place to make some trades there. I know they will want you to level and pack their drives too. No one ever wants to come up here to work on our places. You'll be the first for at least twenty years."

Back home, the girls had prepared some beef and beans for lunch. They had made some good navy beans and had cut off some of our smoked beef jerky. We had that with some leftover biscuits from breakfast. Mildred had grown up out on the mountain and had learned to cook like a country girl. We also each had a pickle.

I had the two girls help me decide where we wanted the beehives. We decided to put them on the edge of the field nearest the house. That should get the garden plants, as well as the fields, the near vineyard, and orchard pollinated. Our crops would probably be better with the hives. We should probably have a lot more hives to supply the honey needed for the smokehouse.

Next was measuring out the area for the gas and diesel barrel rack. I decided to keep it away from the buildings and put it right at the driveway, in front of the wide area in front of the machine shed. That should be perfect for the delivery truck, as well as the vehicles and tractors.

Using the big powered post-hole digger I bought from the lady in the city, I drilled my holes, fighting rocks all the way. I would have to use a file to knock out all of the nicks the rocks made in the auger.

Before I planted the poles, using the Sackrete I bought at the lumber yard, I drilled the holes in the poles with the drill I rented. That thing was an arm twister. With all of the holes in the poles and wood for braces done, I set the poles. I was smart enough to put string between the poles and keep a level up to make the stand level all around and to keep posts plumb.

Next, I used galvanized bolts, washers, and nuts to bolt the frame on the poles. The high cross pieces were under the cross pieces that would hold the barrels going in the other direction. I put angled cross pieces on the inside and outside of the front, back, and sides to keep the rack from twisting and collapsing. I framed the roof using the posts as supports for rafters on the two ends. I made the rafters as trusses and nailed everything down with sixteen penny nails. After that, I put the plywood decking on, then some tar paper, and used the few bundles of old shingles the lumber yard owner gave me for free.

It was done about the time Ben came up the road to do the evening chores. He looked at the rack and told me, "Right smart rack you got there, Mike. You learned a lot in the Army."

He agreed to do the chores while I cleaned up the tools. While I was doing this, I watched the two ladies come out of the house, go to the chicken house and yard, then go back to the house with a full basket of eggs. I knew they would wash the eggs and put them into the egg holders that people brought in to trade for a full one. Ben would be pleased with the help.

The last thing I did was roll the empty fifty-five gallon drum into the back of my truck to take it to the stand. I was able to pick the barrel up and put it on the stand. If it had a gallon of gas in it, I probably wouldn't have been strong enough to get it up there. I was getting weak.

I rolled the barrel to the one end and marked where I would saw a notch on the front and back. I made another mark with a level for the outer edge of the barrel. I then moved the barrel to a position where the inside edge was about an inch away from the other mark and marked the position where the bottom center barrel was going to rest. I was able to get all three barrel locations marked. I was even more pleased as the two outer barrels would be against the posts with the center one about an inch from the two outer ones. The barrels were about five feet up, and I figured I would call the distributor to sell me hoses and nozzles to make filling equipment easier.

Ben and I washed up out in the barn where the wash area was. When we were inside with our boots off, I realized I had used some muscles I had not used for a while.

Tonight, we had a pork roast with some home grown potatoes, peas, and corn. The ladies looked nice in their new clothes tonight. I could tell they were proud of how they looked. Both of their hair looked a little shorter, but both had long ponytails. Mildred looked a lot younger tonight, and I might have to lower the age I thought she was.

After eating, Ben watched a TV program before leaving for home. I called the fuel distributor to make sure he brought hose and nozzles with the barrels. I also asked him if he could wait for the cash, since I didn't have much on hand. He told me, "I have one of those credit and debit card machines that work off a cell phone. If you can call me, I can take your card. Is that okay?"

"Perfect, that way I don't need extra cash lying around. So I'll see you about eight?"

The distributor said, "I'll deliver the fuel and gas with your barrels about seven, and be back at Teddy's driveway about nine-thirty. I already have the tractor on the trailer. I put the big grease machine on the trailer, along with a twenty-five pound can of grease. You need to grease that thing after you use it each day, or before you go out for the day."

I told him, "Just like a tank or track. Those things constantly need greasing."

Okay, I was set. I pulled my hand-drawn maps out to look at the path again that I thought would be the best way around the mountain to get at the high field, the little orchard, and the old vineyard. This would be really good if I could get that done.

I used my cell phone to call the widow. She was happy to hear from me and said she would welcome me and pay cash for her drive to be graded. She told me she also had not had her drive done for twenty years. I asked if Teddy had a phone, and she gave me a cell number. Teddy was the same and said to me, "You are oh so welcome over here. I can't get out my driveway right now except on the tractor. I have two loads of rock to spread down the road too, if you can do that. I think you're going to have a free harvest this year. I'll pick your corn, combine your oats, and bale your hay for this work. I might still owe you, but we'll work it out.

I needed a shower, so I mentioned to the ladies that I would be in the shower. I took some clean underwear with me and shaved before stripping down and stepping into the tub. I was just starting to shower when the curtain moved back and Mildred stepped into the shower.

This tub isn't all that big, so it was pretty cozy. The view of the skinny lady had the same effect as it would have if she were a Playboy bunny. I was instantly erect and she was just as quick trying to claim it. After a couple of kisses, Mildred said, "I still have the urge. Let's do it right here, right now, so we don't mess the sheets up again. I really like the way we do it."

Darn, I still didn't have condoms, even after having been to town. This was going to get dangerous if we kept it up. But the little head won out over the big head and we happily joined for some very nice coupling. When we had both experienced a nice release, Mildred said, "We can save some for tomorrow. I really like the way we do it. You are a good man."

We finished cleaning up, then Mildred put her gown on, and I put my boxers and a T-shirt on. When I came out of the bathroom, Mildred said, "Summer and I have made a cake. Let's have some before we go to bed."

I enjoyed some cake at the table, dressed only in my skivvies, and neither lady thought anything about it, or at least they didn't act as if I was out of line.

We went to bed, leaving the dogs in front of the fire. I was once again put in the center as an additional pillow.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Eagle Guru, Rotorhead

Thorsten Thrusts Thoroughly Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 7


I was up, doing the chores before six, since the fuel delivery was going to be early. I still had to notch the cross members, but the delivery shouldn't be until seven. Ben showed up, so I could quickly make the notches using my small chainsaw. I was getting very good with it.

I had just cleaned up the saw and put it away when the distributor showed up. The first thing he did was to park by my new stand, and together, we put the two new diesel barrels up in the notched locations with a large capped hole dead center at the bottom. He told me to go get a couple of big pipe wrenches and began knocking out the plugs for the hose couplers. We set the couplers on all three barrels and put the hose and nozzle attachments on them.

This guy was smart. He had an air hose connected to the compressor for his air brakes. He put a cork with an air connector in the top of the barrel and squirted a soap mixture around the bottom connector with the nozzle. He sprayed air into the tanks and kept an eye on the connections. There were no bubbles. He tested the air pressure by squeezing the nozzle. Air rushed out. He did all three barrels the same way, then began filling them. The first was a barrel of gasoline, followed by two barrels of diesel. When he had pulled his truck closer to the mound where the propane tank was, he told me, "Pull your truck around and I'll fill both of your tanks. I noticed you only filled one at the station yesterday." I told him that was because the front tank had still been full and the only fuel I used was from town to here.

I went to the house to get my debit card, and when he finished filling the big five hundred gallon propane tank, I was ready with the card. He processed the sale, gave me a receipt, and said, "I'll be at Teddy's in about an hour. The roads are clear and I didn't have any trouble getting up your drive."

The man left and I was excited to begin working on so many things on the place. Spring was wonderful.

I met the distributor at Teddy's driveway, and while we unloaded the big Caterpillar tractor, Teddy came out of the driveway on his tractor. The distributor asked if Teddy was going to start buying gas and fuel again, and Teddy told him about his road. The distributor whacked me on the back, saying, "This thing is going to pay for itself with the jobs you're lining up. You just may want to buy it for yourself. I'll sell you the tractor, the hauling tractor and trailer, and all my extra parts for this thing cheap. Think about it."

The man wanted to make sure I could operate his tractor and I found out it was like driving an old APC (armored personnel carrier) or command track. In addition to the normal controls, this had handles for the blade. You could put the blade at a variety of angles to do grading, leveling, loading, and scraping. After going over how the blade operated, the man showed me where all the grease fittings were and where to check the oil, hydraulic fluid, and fuel. The bucket had detachable forks on it, and I didn't need those for what I was going to do, so I took those off with some tools I had in my truck.

The distributor left and Teddy climbed up in the cab. "Let me ride down the road on the first pass so I can show you where the big rocks are. The last time we tried to do this with Eliza's tractor and her little blade, we darn near wrecked the tractor and the blade." I wondered where the blade was kept, since I didn't remember seeing it anywhere.

Three hours later, I had the road leveled and ready to put the rock down. The big rocks or boulders that were there were now road markers at the side of the road. For not knowing anything about grading, I thought the leveling job on the road was very professional

At Teddy's end, I stopped and asked him if he would like lunch. If he came for lunch, he could drive me back so I wouldn't have my truck down there too. I figured on getting the rock spread and tamped in by evening.

At the house, I suddenly realized Teddy didn't know about the ladies. Oh well, he might as well find out now rather than be surprised later.

I wasn't too dirty, but still washed up in the barn. The guineas let me know Teddy was coming and the dogs went nuts until he got out, then tried to lick him to death. At the house, Teddy and I sat on the little bench and took our boots off. While we were doing that, the women came over and I introduced them to Teddy.

He squinted at Mildred and asked, "Was that you and your brother that used to come visit me all the time? We used to do a little trading for honey, didn't we? Jorgenson right?"

Mildred replied, "It is good to see you, Mister Anderson. This is my daughter, Summer, and Summer, this is Teddy Anderson. He used to not like to be called Mister Anderson. He said it made him sound too old."

"Still do, young lady. Summer, please call me Teddy."

We ate lunch while Teddy asked a thousand questions, but didn't really find out much about Mildred and her brother. He was sad the brother had died. I think he thought that I had met her somewhere else and they were only visiting to get a look at their old place.

After lunch, I went back to work on Teddy's driveway. I was able to spread the rock fairly evenly and run back and forth on the road to make it fairly smooth. Teddy couldn't thank me enough, promising a cheap harvest this year. While I stopped to pick up the equipment I had left at the end of the driveway, Teddy came out of it with his truck, heading toward town or the widow's.

On the way home, I made a couple of leveling passes at Ben's driveway and ran across it several times to tamp it down. The road drained well naturally, so it was hard even with the thaw. It really didn't take much to make it nice.

I drove the tractor up to our place and dropped the blade to take off a little of the hump. The dirt was solid clay with some rock mixed in. I would easily be able to do the driveway.

After filling up the fuel tank, spraying the dirt off, and greasing the tractor, I checked the oil and hydraulic fluid. While fooling with the tractor, I found the operating and maintenance manual, so I took that into the house.

Ben was already there and had already finished doing the chores. He said, "You've got some good help here. They did the chickens, and Summer even helped feed the pigs, steer, and yearling. All I had to do was milk, and Mildred showed me that she knew how to do that. I had to scoop up a load, but that's about it. Mildred wants me to leave the can so she can churn tonight.

"We'll go to Friday market early and do some trading. You need to bring a couple of bushels of those sweet potatoes, and a bushel of those red potatoes, and one of onions. I don't know how much you have left, but a lot of people ask about them."

That night there was no fooling around. The next morning, Ben showed up early and suggested, "How about doing a little trading at our market, then run down to Pine Ridge and let you get to know some of those folks. They need to know you better. Bring some of your wine."

Mildred and Summer heard the conversation and asked to come along with us. We loaded up eggs, about five pounds of butter, and three bushels each of sweet potatoes, red potatoes, and onions. Just for kicks, I put another goose in a cage to see if I could lessen my goose population. Having so many geese is expensive, as they eat a lot. The last thing I loaded were five gallons of wine that I couldn't legally sell in Stanton, but could in Pine Ridge.

We ended up trading all of our sweet potatoes in Stanton, but only one bushel of red potatoes and one of onions. We sold the cream to the Kitchen, along with all our eggs. It seems some of the farmers were cutting down on their chicken population as the cost of grain was up. Maybe I can raise enough to sell more eggs. That was going to take a bigger chicken house.

The ladies drew a lot of attention, but country people are wary of new people as well as just plain nosy. No one had really asked any probing questions yet.

Down at the smaller Pine Ridge market, I traded all the potatoes and onions I had left, and the goose. A couple of people asked if I had any more geese I might want to sell. I told several that I had extra geese, ducks, and guinea hens. I was asked to come back with more potatoes if I had them. We were going home with a lot of canned beans, tomatoes, preserves, and a young calf that just had his nuts banded. I had to give some booty for the calf, but not nearly what it could have been without trading.

Ben told me we had traded really well for a Friday at both markets and that we could probably do even better on Saturday.

The part that was fun was so many men scrambling to make a trade for the five gallons of wine. The guy with the calf told me that he would trade if I had any shine, but he didn't like wine. That was okay, as the men who wanted the wine ended up paying money, except for the man with two dozen Rhode Island Reds to get rid of. For a gallon of wine, I ended up with probably two dozen more eggs a day, and four jars of his wife's blackberry jam. The chicken house was going to have to get bigger.

It was good that we went to that market, since I had the chance to go to a Family Dollar store that was like a Walmart, but smaller. I bought a big box of condoms and some lube in case the condoms were dry. I figured that with a gross of those suckers, I would not run out soon.

The ladies and Ben found a couple of items they felt they needed at the store, so we were getting ready to be checked out and leave. I kept watching Mildred squint at a lot of things, and made a mental note to ask her about that.

Tomorrow was Saturday, and I wanted to have at least a can of milk, and four or five dozen eggs, along with more of our produce. Ben said he still had a couple pounds of butter, and Mildred thought we might have about six pounds in the refrigerator.

I had plans for Saturday's market day. I needed blades for my hay mower. The old mower worked very well, but the blades were probably way over ten years old. Hopefully, the machinery parts guy would do some trading so I didn't have to use any cash. I was really into this cashless barter society.

The purpose of improving the mower was that this past summer, Teddy had to use my tractor and mower while his tractor was being worked on. So my sickle bar mower got a lot of wear. My little tractor did the mowing, and was strong and fast enough to use a power takeoff driven rake to put the hay in rows to bale. As Teddy raked, I helped unload his tractor from the Western Auto mechanic's truck. By the time Teddy had the raking completed, I had his baler hooked up to his tractor, ready to bale the hay.

Teddy's baler had two different setups. He had the wire configuration that made pretty heavy bales of near to over a hundred pounds. He also had the twine set up so he could swap to twine and those bales were for the market, but only weighed forty to fifty pounds. This year, I wanted to have the mower in good shape in order to continue the equipment swap with Teddy. That man loved my manure spreader, as I had done a little work on it so it tossed the manure in a bigger arc, making it faster to spread on the fields.

I also had a machinery list and wanted to see what else might be available. I had plans on using the bulldozer to build roads to my other remote fields and to clean out brush and trees surrounding the fields in order to increase my grain and hay crops.

The girls said they wanted to see what the other women traded, so they would know what to make or prepare.

Ben asked me to stop by his place to help him get his pigs into his truck. He was going to have two butchered and sell the other three he had. He said he didn't want to have to keep so many animals, since it was getting difficult for him to care for them. My friend and neighbor was aging. I wondered how old he really was.

Friday evening, Ben was having supper with us and there was a lot of excitement at the table. The prospect of the women going to the Saturday market and what we might be able to find was very exciting. While we were discussing the possibilities, I kept thinking of Ben selling his other three pigs. They were all the right size to butcher or sell. My thought was to make a deal with the butcher to give me the hams and bacon to smoke, along with some pork chops and loins for the freezer. He could have the rest of the three hogs for the butchering and a couple of months' rent on the food locker. I'm sure he would go for that.

After Ben had gone home, it was decided that we would wash up tonight so we wouldn't take a lot of time to get ready in the morning and could get an early start for the market. Summer took a bath or shower first, then Mildred told me to shower next.

I had just got into the warm water when Mildred stepped into the shower with me. She faced me and wanted some hugs and kisses that I willingly gave her, as she stroked my eager sex. I could tell she was more than ready, but she wouldn't turn so I could enter her. She held up one of the condom packets and said, "I saw you get these. You are a good man to think it best I don't have a baby right now. We will have to keep these near the bed."

We used that condom, and it was probably a good thing, as I filled up the little bubble end so much that the extra was all down the side of the condom. When we got out of the shower, we were both very satisfied.

Summer was already in bed and ready to snuggle. When we were arranged with me on my back and a woman on each side snuggled to me, Summer asked her mother, "Momma, when will I be old enough to get close to Mike like you do?"

Oops, I guessed Summer wasn't as oblivious to our fooling around as I had thought.

"Summer, Honey, you are nineteen now, and plenty old enough to have those feelings and to enjoy what I enjoy with Mike. We will talk about this more in a couple of days and see what would be good for you."

"Thank you, Momma, lying with Mike makes me feel funny, but a good funny. My stomach gets fluttery and it makes my hips wiggle. It's really different, and I like the way it feels."

Mildred had stiffened at the original question, but was now relaxed against me as we lay still. That is, until Mildred's hand encircled my sex in my shorts and began stroking me. I leaned to kiss Mildred on the forehead and told her, "No, Mildred, let's get some sleep."

The woman gave a grunt of displeasure and snuggled up tighter, but didn't let go of her hand hold. Although I had been wonderfully satisfied earlier, my physical being was controlling my mental state. I did finally fall asleep.

Sometime during the night, we had switched about with me spooning Mildred's back. The naughty lady gave me a push with her butt and wiggled a little. With her left hand, she raised her gown before pushing my boxers down to free my rapidly growing sex. In seconds, I was buried deep in Mildred's very wet center. I guess the use of condoms was being forgotten.

Mildred rode me by pushing back and forth for a couple of dozen strokes until she quivered and shook. What she did surprised me, as she reached into the bedside table drawer and tore a condom open. Without looking, she rolled the sheath onto me and had me inside her in mere seconds.

This time she pushed and pulled slowly, enjoying the feeling of being thoroughly fucked. About her third or fourth shivering and quivering, I filled the condom.

Mildred turned to kiss me, and in a whisper, told me, "We do that very good. I'm glad I am here with you."

She pulled the condom off and dropped it on the floor at the side of the bed, but when she turned her back to me again, she slid me into her and squeezed. That wasn't going to put me to sleep.

As we were drifting back to sleep, Summer softly said, "That smell is so exciting. I want to do that too."

Mildred didn't answer, but gave my sex a couple of squeezes.

I was awake at quarter to five, feeling very good and ready for the world. It didn't take me long to shave again and dress to do chores. As I was shaving, both women came into the bathroom to use the toilet. I don't think they thought a thing about it. Okay, I suppose this was just a natural function, so there was no need to be embarrassed.

This morning, Summer did the chickens, while Mildred milked the cow, and I fed the yearling, the two calves, and the pigs. I did the poop scooping and hosed the floor, while Mildred cleaned up the milking equipment. I put the full five gallon can into the back of the pickup, along with almost all of the balance of our sweet potatoes. I had removed all the mower blades from the sickle bar, so that if new ones were not available, I might be able to get them sharpened.

We stopped by Ben's to help him load his hogs in his stock trailer. We shook again on the deal we made for the three hogs he was selling me.

This morning, the two women were dressed as most other farm women who were at the market for normal trading were dressed. They were wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and a heavy coat with brogans or what were really low boots. Both had their hair in ponytails, and Summer had found one of my caps to wear. There were women in dresses there, but they were the ones with the fancy cakes, pies, and rows of canned items.

The first thing I did was to head to the machinery area. I couldn't find any new blades, but an older man, probably in his late sixties, was sharpening everything from plow shears to hand scythes. He gave me some tips how I could do this myself if I was to buy a good bench grinder.

While I was doing this, Mildred and Summer stayed with the truck as it was backed into the row of pickups with items to trade. When I looked at the women, they were busy talking with people wanting butter, sweet potatoes, regular red potatoes, onions, or eggs. They knew a dollar and cent price, but they also knew what and how much to trade for.

An old guy was selling a nice looking John Deere tractor. He had a number in mind that sounded pretty good, but was more cash than I wanted to give up. Others came and looked at the fine piece of machinery but no one was showing interest. I was going over every inch of the tractor again while the man was talking to someone I thought must be one of his neighbors. He said, "When I get this sold, I'll be able to hire that man with the bulldozer to knock down those trees next to the creek and fill the gully that's washing out. I need the creek to stay straight there so I don't lose the acreage."

When the other man walked away, I asked the old guy, "If I fix that wash for you and straighten out the creek, would you trade the tractor for that?"

The man smiled at me. "Son, that's a lot of hard work if you don't have a bulldozer. The fuel man has one, but he don't like to do the work any more. But to answer your question, Yes, I would make that trade. The heavy equipment man from Pine Ridge said he would do it, but it was way too much money. Yes sir, I would make that trade."

I had him give me directions to his place and advised him I would stop by this afternoon. That's when he asked, "You have a trailer to get this home? I had to get a neighbor to bring it in for me today."

Well, shoot, I knew where a truck that would haul the tractor was, but did I really want to go whole hog and buy the bulldozer and tractor trailer? That would take almost a quarter of all the cash I had left. I was getting regular money every month and I wasn't spending a lot, but I just hated to give up so much cash.

Something told me to go ahead and make the deal, so I told the man, "I'm making a deal on that bulldozer you were talking about. I'm using it right now to do a few things around my place. I'll haul it to your place and we'll get your creek taken care of right away."

The old guy replied, "Tell you what, give me a few days to have the trees there cut up so you can do what you need to do. I have to get one of those lazy cutters to come out. They don't always show up when you need them."

The deal was getting better. "How about I do everything? I'll cut the trees, even haul the wood up to your house if you need it, straighten out your creek, and fill your gulley washes. We'll make some kind of trade for the extra work. You figure on something fair."

I thought the old guy was going to kiss me. As it was, we shook hands for an extended period of time. I told him I would be back with the big trailer right away.

I needed my truck or to get Ben to take me to the gas station to talk to the fuel distributor. The girls were having a great time and had traded for a variety of things. I'm not sure how they did it, but sitting in the back of the pickup was a sewing machine on a stand. This was a real Singer machine with a wrought iron and wood stand. I don't know much about sewing machines, but it looked like it might be an older model, but in good condition. When I asked about it, Mildred told me, "The lady we traded with has a new machine and needed to get rid of this one. This has an electric motor, but it also has a foot treadle to make the machine work. She gave me a whole basket of threads and bobbins. I know how to use one of these."

What was surprising was all of the produce we had brought was gone but the ladies had four boxes of quart jars of various canned vegetables and a pickle crock that looked full. Sitting in the front of the truck bed was a hand crank ice cream maker. I guessed I knew what we are going to have as a treat.

When I asked where Ben was, Summer pointed to where his truck was. There was a guy in front of him, trying to get Ben to do something, but Ben kept shaking his head no. I thought I should probably go see what was up.

"Hey, Ben, I need you to help me with something."

The scraggly looking guy was holding what looked like a bucket with a lid. He looked at me hard before asking, "You the reason Ben won't buy my shine today?"

I laughed. "No, Ben was told by the doctor to stay off the hooch for a while. I'd bet you have enough customers without fussing with Ben, don't you?"

"Yeah, but Ben always buys a jug on Saturdays. I bring some just for him."

The guy was persistent, so I said, "Go visit the other men around and sell what you have with you. I'll bet you'll go home with nothing left and a pocket full of cash. Now go sell someone that shine for more than you charge Ben. He'll buy more from you one of these days."

The guy grumbled, but left carrying his bucket. Ben was grinning. "You did that better'n I could. He wasn't takin' no for an answer. I thank ye."

I told Ben about the tractor and what I felt I would do about the bulldozer. Ben said, "If you don't want to commit to that bulldozer yet, I'll get Frank Mathews to lend you his big truck. He has one of those trucks the bed slides back into a ramp. It makes it easy to get a tractor on and off fast."

"Ben, what does the man need that I could trade him?"

Ben laughed and laughed, until I cleared my throat so he would or could answer, "Why, just take him a gallon of that fancy wine you got and he'll be happy. I suppose if you were to trade him a ham, he would be happy with that too, but I think he would like the wine better."

Ben took me over to Frank Mathews and Ben introduced me. We chatted a minute before Ben asked in a low voice, "Frank, you know how much you used to like Bud's wine?"

"Oh, yeah," Frank said smiling, "I miss Bud and his wine. It's been a lot of years since we've had any good wine here."

I didn't want Ben to have to make my deal, so I asked, "I need to have that John Deere taken to my place, and for that I'll give you a whole gallon of Bud's wine, or if you like mine better, you can have that."

The man looked at me with a squint. "You gotta deal, Mike. Let's load that sucker up."

Now it was me that was laughing. "How about waiting a little bit so we can finish trading? I still have a goose left, some onions, and I think there are a couple dozen eggs left."

Frank answered, "Okay, I'll wait. The thought of some of that good wine has my mouth watering. Go finish your trading, then we'll load up the tractor."

When I went back to the truck, the girls were sitting on the tailgate with a fairly full bed and a couple of empty bushel baskets. Mildred was happy. "We traded everything, even the goose. Summer has the name of a family that wants six to a dozen guinea hens, so you can reduce your population a little. That same family wants some ducks. I think I know where there are plenty of barnyard ducks."

Mildred even made a joke, how about that? In just a couple of days she has really loosened up. That's when I noticed that the worry lines that had been on her face were going away.

Summer turned to me and I saw something new. She was grinning. "How do you like my new sunglasses? I traded a lady a couple of pounds of onions and some sweet potatoes for them. She said she had two pair of these fancy RayBans, is what she calls them, and didn't need both."

Well, this had been a great market day for our little corner of the world. I explained what I was going to be doing and asked the girls to wait at the truck. I would be right back.

I found Frank with the farmer, loading the tractor onto his truck. Ben was right there helping, directing, or something like that. The old guy said, "When you come to do the work, I'll get you the title to the tractor. Now let's shake on it, and I'll go home to brag to the wife that I'm going to get the creek fixed."

We made a convoy with Ben leading, Frank in the middle, and us following. At the cabin, Mildred told me to back up near the cabin porch and they would begin emptying the truck.

Ben and Frank were taking the tractor off the truck, so I went into the spring house attached to the barn and poured two small cups of wine. After Frank tasted the two wines, he chose one and asked if he could buy another gallon.

"Frank, I can't do that. Now I could do that if I was to see you over in Pine Ridge, but not here in Powell County. We can trade, or I can give, but not sell. You take a couple of gallons home, and when you really want some more, we'll work something out."

He was happy, Ben was happy, and I was very happy. Now I needed to go see about the tractor trailer for the bulldozer. I needed to get that started.

I went to the house to help unload the truck and found the girls carrying the sewing machine in. That was the last item in the truck. It was just eleven o'clock, but I convinced Ben to eat before driving me to the distributor for the tractor and trailer.

While some ham sandwiches and beans warmed, I called the distributor. When I told him I was going to buy his bulldozer and rig, I thought the man was going to have a coronary, he was so happy. He asked me, "You going to give me my first asking price?"

I laughed and said, "Well, we might have to discuss that a little, but you know I'm fair. I'll be in around twelve-thirty to do the trade. I have a job to fix a creek and need the tractor and trailer to get the bulldozer to his place."

"Okay, I want and need to sell that thing. I want it out of here so I'm not tempted to burn it. People ask me to do stuff for them every day. Now I can refer them to you. You know no one has any money in this part of the country. You'll only get half of what you make off that thing in cash. Everything else is traded. I don't have time to fool with trading for everything. It's bad enough with the fuels sometimes, but that stuff has a fixed price. Bulldozer work is whatever you can get. It wouldn't be so bad, except that I have to pay the state inventory tax in cash, and it's too much hassle getting the cash to pay the tax. Since you're not going to be in the rental or sales business, you won't have to pay the inventory tax, and it'll just be part of your farm equipment. Hardly any tax on that."

Ben and I ate before we drove my truck into town. Ben was excited because he was going to be able to drive my diesel pickup home.

The distributor was extremely eager to get the tractor and trailer off his lot. I made him what I thought was a low offer, to see how far he'd go down from what he asked, and was shocked that he jumped on it. Rats, I paid too much. I did get him to fill the tractor up with diesel fuel. That ended up being two hundred gallons. The big tractor trailer will hold a total of four hundred gallons.

The man went over the maintenance items for the tractor and the trailer. He told me, "If you watch the auctions, you can pick up a nice stock trailer or a flat bed. We don't have any regular haulers around here, so if you want the work, there is plenty for you. All you'll have to do is leave word at the grain elevator and you'll be busy right away."

I was thinking, "Huh, so much for my nice relaxing retirement to become a recluse after twenty years in the Army."

After making arrangements to pay the man, I carefully drove the big truck to my place. I had just enough room to turn around and point down the road to load the bulldozer.

Ben knew where George Adams lived, so he led me to his place on the valley side of Stanton. The man had a big dairy and beef operation. He came out of his house almost running. He used his truck to take me down to the creek and gully wash that needed the work. The field that I would be working on wasn't planted yet, so I could leave the truck and trailer until I was done.

The more I looked at the job, the faster I figured I could get it done. It would be nice to have a helper, but I thought I could do it by myself. I drove the truck to the field and unloaded the bulldozer. I tested the creek to make sure it wasn't too deep and that I was going to able to drive through it. There were some grade stakes on the truck with plastic strips on them, so I put some out to mark the straight line the creek was going to be in. This would give Adams at least another five acres. The problem with straightening a creek in these hills is that if you take all the bends out, it makes the grade too steep, so that it erodes into a mini-Grand Canyon, unless you take that into account. The easy solution is to push the rocks and boulders I was scraping up into a low dam every 100 yards or so, making a series of ponds along the run of the creek. That's good for stock, too, as well as reducing erosion, while keeping the creek overall within better defined bounds. Of course, you have to widen the creek bed some above those little dams, and push some of the rock onto the sides above and below them, but it does a nice job of controlling erosion and looks nice, too.

While the men watched, I made a path through the first couple of turns of the creek. They would have to be deeper but I didn't want the water to run through them yet. I was keeping the dirt I removed in a pile nearby, so I could fill in the old creek bed when the first part was complete.

I knocked off at four, telling Ben and George that I needed to do chores. I would be back Monday with my chainsaws to work on the trees that were in the way. There were some big hickory and a couple of black oak that would make good fireplace and smoke house wood. I thought I even saw one black walnut that I could sell to a sawmill for a profit, since it's such a popular wood for fine furniture.

Up at the farmer's house, I saw several men of obvious Latin descent preparing to do the milking. George noticed my interest, and said, "I get a steady group that helps work the farm with me. I'm trying to close down some of my operation, but will still keep up some of the place. The property is becoming worth more every year, so I might sell out one of these days."

"I like living up where I do, George. The fewer people the better."

The last thing we said to each other as Ben and I drove off, was, "See you in church."

On the way back through Stanton, I stopped at Western Auto and saw the signs being changed to Tractor Supply. That was a big chain, but it really wouldn't make any difference to the people around this area. I needed something to sharpen the chains on my saws besides a hand file.

They had chains on sale, so I bought a couple of new ones, but I also bought another hand held battery operated drill with a bunch of grinding stones for it. The man at the store showed me how to sharpen the chain while it was still on the saw so I didn't even have to take it off. He cautioned me to keep the chain tight as it wore if the saw was not self-adjusting. I bought a lot of oil for the saw, the chain, and another plastic five gallon gas can.

I let Ben out at his place and told him I would do chores tonight and if he wanted to go to church with us tomorrow, to tell me when he came up for supper. Ben protested, "What are you doing? You don't have to feed me. I can feed myself. I been doing it for nigh onto seventy years. I left for the coal mines when I was sixteen and been on my own or married since."

"Ben, you are our friend and I have lots of food. If you eat with us, I'll know you're getting fed and that you're doing alright. I like knowing you're okay."

Ben got out of my truck shaking his head and grumbling about having some guy trying to mother him. I knew he was happy to have a good friend.

The girls were finishing up supper, which was the pork loin and lots of vegetables. Mildred's cooking was improving by the day. She could make that wood stove do magic. While eating supper, Ben said he would pass on church, but would do the chores in the morning so we wouldn't smell like animals in church. He knew I would clean up and change clothes, but he had to have a reason to help us out. I told him breakfast would be at the usual time.

The girls got out their clothes for church and asked me if they were the correct thing to wear. The clothes they chose were very conservative, and I felt they would be perfect for the wagging tongues.

Summer said she wanted to watch a movie on the big television and would join us in bed when it was over. This was like a big green light to Mildred. This was our first opportunity to play. She kept saying she really had the urge, but I kept right on bringing her right to the brink, then starting over again. In time, I was thrusting into her while sucking and biting a nipple. She had a pillow over her face that she could yell into as she came and came. When we were both sated, Mildred turned to me, "We do that good together. Are you my man now? Am I your woman?"

Whew, how to answer that on the fly. Mildred had an expectant look on her face as I said, "Something like that, Mildred. We don't know each other very well yet, but I can tell you I really enjoy you being here. I didn't plan on meeting someone and have them live with me, but you are a bright spot in my life."

The lady hugged me tight as we drifted off to sleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Eagle Guru, Rotorhead

Thorsten Thrusts Thoroughly Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 8

Sometime during the night, Summer came to bed and backed into my stomach. I was lying with my arm around her, my hand covering her small breast. The girl did feel as if she was putting on weight, but I'm sure it will take a while for her to fill out.

The problem with the position was that Mildred was holding my very rigid sex with an almost stranglehold. Considering my sex was being held straight out, and that there was a girl in front of me with her gown up around her waist, this was not a good position. I needed to extricate myself.

As I slipped from bed, both of the girls moaned in displeasure. I was happy to use the bathroom after letting the dogs out. I tossed a log on the fire before scooping out the ashes from the fireplace and stove. I made some coffee in the electric pot, and also made up a big pot for the stove. Percolated coffee is really good in my opinion. It just doesn't stay fresh long.

Today should be interesting. Church should be unusual considering that after a year, I was becoming a part of the community, instead of a newcomer. To now show up with two women, one who some may remember, was going to be something for people to talk about.

Mildred and Summer came from the bedroom to begin breakfast. It doesn't take long to make our small cabin smell delicious in the morning. By the time Ben came in from doing the morning chores, the food was ready for the table.

Ben was a pretty smart old guy, and he asked me, "How are you planning on introducing your two women to those people? Some are going to be happy for you, some won't care, but you can believe there will be several that will carry on all week about you having a couple of women up here at your place. You have a good reputation around the area, and it is becoming better all the time, but your having a couple of women visitors is going to make some tongues wag and telephones ring."

I considered an alternative, "I expect so, Ben, but I'll tell the truth in a way they might just buy. These women were sick, and I took them to a doctor. They were hungry, and I fed them. They had little to wear, and I clothed them. They lacked shelter, and I housed them. It's not settled yet whether or not they will go back down to their place when the weather breaks. We'll have to see. What they will do next is up to them. If those gossips don't recognize this as Christian, they're not reading their bibles."

Old Ben was grinning. "It's still gonna make tongues wag. By this afternoon, anyone who wasn't in church will have been told. That will get the women who traded with them yesterday to talk about how well you did too. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised."

Ben was pushing his fork around on his plate and, almost under his breath, said, "You might be too."

Our eyes met as he gave me a little grin and I raised an eyebrow.

The ladies wanted to go early for the Bible study or Sunday school. I had been to the early part of the Sunday service a couple of times and had enjoyed it, but I was feeling a little guilty right then, considering how Mildred and I had been carrying on. We were dressed and at the church by nine fifteen.

When you come in to go to Bible study, the first thing they want a new person to do is fill out an information card. Mildred was really smart. She used her old address in Lexington, with another address under it that said, "Star Route, Jackson River Road, Stanton, Kentucky." Summer filled hers out, with excellent penmanship, using the same information she copied from her mother's. When Summer put her date of birth down, I confirmed she was nineteen. Too bad I didn't pay attention to what Mildred wrote on her card. Still, I kept thinking of how smart the lady was and that she sure was a fine person.

The church had free hardcover Bibles for people who didn't have one or couldn't afford one. I made sure all three of us had one of the larger hardcover books and put three twenties into the donation jar next to the stacks of good books. That was probably way too much, but it was for a good cause today.

The class for adults was held in the church where services were held. The preacher was in charge of the adult class today and spent the entire class discussing the Old Testament Song of Solomon. The class bordered on the risqué, but the preacher kept it clean while reminding the adults that each partner had a sexual responsibility to their mate. He did use Corinthians to establish the marriage bond, but would go right back to Solomon with many quotes about physical love within a relationship.

This was just what I needed to hear at church, sitting among many who were dying of curiosity about my two companions. I'd bet their information cards had already been read by several dozen nosy women.

Between Bible class and the regular church service, there is always some visiting between those attending. Many of the people I knew from the market, George, the farmer I was doing work for, Mervin and family, and the distributor all welcomed the ladies as new friends in the area.

Mildred and Summer were very pleased at their reception, but I noticed a lot of women bringing their hands up to their face as they said something to someone next to them, while glancing our way.

The Church service was tame in comparison to the Bible class, but was a good one with some good songs for the congregation to sing. They did the collection a little different here. When the service concluded people, men, mostly, filed past an open wooden box and dropped in what they could. There was a note over the top that welcomed donations of food and clothing to help those in need. I would have to remember to drop off some food each Saturday. We were trading for more food than we could ever eat, so this would be a good way to help the church and community.

After the service, the preacher stood at the door, as most preachers do, and spoke to each of the congregation as they left. As we came up to the preacher and his wife, he asked, "Mike, would you and your ladies wait just a minute? Martha and I want to speak with you."

Mildred, Summer, and I moved to the side, and a couple of minutes later, the preacher shook the last hand and thanked the last person for coming. The preacher turned to us. "Mike, you always call me preacher but I have a name. I'm Harold, and I think you know my wife, Martha."

I was quick to introduce the ladies as Mildred and Summer Jorgenson, who were trying to live on the old homestead on the mountain.

Martha, the preacher's wife, asked, "Didn't Bud buy that land from the Jorgensons a long time ago?"

"He did, Ma'am, but Mildred and Summer ran into some bad times and the only place she could think of to go to try to make it was at their old place. They were having a hard time, and I discovered them when I was needed to take Mildred to the doctor. They have stayed with me in my spare bedroom since. It's nice to have company, but they may not stay long. We'll have to see what the future brings."

The preacher was cagey. "I hope you enjoyed Bible class this morning. Remember if you want to follow up on the words from Corinthians, you know I can do that right here." He looked at the two ladies. "I hope you both come back while you are living on the mountain."

Martha was as smooth as the preacher, as she easily moved Mildred and Summer to the side by talking to them. When they were moved away, the preacher asked me, "I heard you traded the fuel man out of his big bulldozer. I've also heard that you're trading George for his John Deere for some work that includes cutting some timber. Martha and I have a place in your direction from Stanton and our driveway could use some grading. It isn't a long one, but it sure can get nasty. We have to ford a small spring runoff that is always muddy. What we need is a culvert. The highway department has some surplus pipe that I can buy cheap. If you could dig a trench for the pipe and put it in for me, our driveway would be perfect, or at least a lot more passable. When you finish with George, come by my place to see what I mean and we might be able to do some trading."

"Harold, you probably know my phone number. You know you could have called me instead of putting the arm on me at church."

The man laughed. "Oh, but I can make much better deals if I ask for help here. It's more difficult for people to turn me down. We'll do some business, Mike. I'll make sure you're taken care of. Oh, when you come by, bring me some of the extra guinea hens you have. A lot of mine have been killed off by hawks lately. I'm going to have to start shooting those chicken hawks again. Oh, my wife will give you some of her special canned tomatoes, and if you're lucky, she might even make you a pie for the guinea hens."

Pretty slick guy, this preacher. I could probably do what he needs in a half a day, so it wouldn't be a big deal. The problem was that I'm working for everyone else and not working on my own driveway or making the field roads I needed.

When we walked in the cabin, there was a wonderful smell coming from the stove. Mildred used a pot holder to open the oven and forked a big roast she had in there. Mildred told me, "Dinner will be ready by the time we get changed into farm clothes. Why don't you run down and get Ben so he can eat with us?"

I quickly changed and drove down to Ben's. He was working on fixing a chair leg when I came in. "Come on, Ben, Mildred has a giant beef roast for us to eat."

"You know, Mike, I've been eatin' at your house almost every meal, almost every day, for a good while now. You either gotta stop askin' or you'll have to start chargin'. You're still givin' me about a third of your eggs to trade and about that much of the milk, even though you're doing the chores more than me. You know I can't be gettin' charity; I gotta earn my keep. You're gonna have to figure out what I can do."

"Okay, Ben, we'll figure something out, but I'd rather be feeding you than having to bury you and take care of your critters. That old mule of yours likes to nibble on my butt the way it is. If you weren't around, she might really take a bite."

"Oh hush, let's go eat your good food," Ben said, as we walked to the truck.

While we were eating, I asked Ben about the Latino men I saw at George's place. Ben said, "George has been hiring Mexicans for over fifteen years. He mostly has one family that he hires, but I think they tell George every new man is their cousin or something, since no one has as many cousins as these people. What are you thinking, Mike?"

"I could use a strong helper when I cut the trees at George's place. I'll need to haul the wood up to his house, and I want to bring the hickory back here for the smoke house. I'm continuously keeping that place full of meat now. Between the butcher and me, we're doing a pretty good business."

Ben looked at me. "When you first came here, you said you wanted to be a recluse. You wanted to hide out and not see much of people. You sure did change your mind. You're a regular on Saturday at the market and do some tradin' during the week as well. Now you're going to church and doing call out work for people. That ain't bein' a recluse."

"You're right, Ben, it isn't. I think I want to just do a little work for others, but do more here on this place. I am going to build on to the cabin, but nothing huge. I also think I'm going to enclose the back porch and move the wood stove out there, then buy me one of those gas stoves. If the addition I make on the place is too big for the fireplace, I'll have to get a furnace, too. I'll have to see what kind of plans I make."

After pausing a bit, I went back to what I wanted to know, "Ben, you got off track on me. I wanted to know if people around here get upset by folks using Mexicans like George does?"

The man thought for a few minutes. "I don't think so, but you might check around in town to see if there is someone that would want to work with you for a while. Considering all of the things you want to do, you might need several men."

"I can't hire too many, Ben, I won't be able to pay them. Everything I'm doing right now isn't for money, so I'm going to get skinny real quick."

"That's why George has them Mexicans. He don't pay them much and is able to have a lot of them work. You're probably too generous, and you would go broke hiring people. Ask George what he pays, and pay them or someone from town the same. If that's the going rate, then they have to accept it."

When we were finished with dinner, I told the family I was going to cut up some of the trees on George's place to get a head start on tomorrow. I would be back for chores. Ben heard me and said, "I'll stay and watch your big TV and do chores this evening. I did mine late this morning, so I wouldn't have to do them again until tomorrow morning. I'll milk the goats when I get home."

I went to town at George's, cutting the trees that needed to be cleared. I made sure I cut the trunks right at the base in order to make it easier. I was figuring on buying some dynamite from the Farm Bureau so I could blow the stumps. I doubted the bulldozer could push the stumps out. I was planning on using the stumps to stop the washes on the creek. It should make it easier to hold the bank up, and they would hold back the spare dirt I was pushing into the gully washes as well as any new erosion. There were a lot of heavy rocks around, too, but those would mostly go into the low dams I was building.

When it was almost six, I had brought down and cut up ten big trees. I put a bunch of the hickory into the truck and went home. After unloading the hickory and cleaning and sharpening my saws, I washed up and went inside.

More good smells welcomed me, and there was a cake on the counter next to the stove. Mildred had a big smile on her face as she bustled around the kitchen. Something had been added: Summer and Mildred had full aprons on. The two really looked like homebodies dressed in their farmer jeans and aprons. My, oh my, just look at those two.

After more of the great roast, we had a piece of cake before I took Ben home. I needed a bath, so I stripped down to take a shower and was joined by Mildred. She said, "You heard what the preacher said today; you need to make your partner happy and I need to make you happy. He said we should be married, but I think of us as being together. That's something like being married. We should talk about us soon."

For a woman of few words, she was saying a lot with her body. She didn't want to wait to go to bed, and she might have been apprehensive that she might have to share. Of course, our activity was creating heightened curiosity by Summer.

We did the deed very thoroughly and finished washing while there was still hot water remaining. I know one thing an addition to the house would need, and that would be a bigger shower. I was tired tonight and quickly went to sleep.

-------

Morning was here. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already five thirty. I needed to hustle, since I wanted to be at the Farm Bureau when it opened this morning, so I could buy dynamite, blasting caps, and fuse cord. It would have been so much easier to be able to buy C-4 with detonators that had timers. It's amazing how you have to work with very primitive explosives, when I'd bet C-4 was cheaper to make, and I know that it is a hell of a lot more stable. Hot weather could sweat the nitroglycerine right out of dynamite, so that you could wipe the drops off with your hand and snap them off onto pavement, or rocks, with the droplets exploding with little snaps as they struck.

I was halfway through chores when Ben showed up. I told him I needed to run and appreciated him finishing for me. Without breakfast, I jumped into the truck and went to town.

I had to fill out several forms in order to buy some kind of gel that was supposed to be the equivalent of ten sticks of dynamite. They were pretty loose about the transaction, after I showed them my military ID card, even though I knew I probably shouldn't be allowed to buy the stuff. Each tube of gel was in a plastic tube and cushioned in a foam box. What a waste of materials. The detonators or caps were as dangerous, but they were loose in a box. I bought ten of those, assuming they would work and thirty minutes of fuse cord. That was probably more than I needed, but it should be enough.

The crazy thing is that I could go to the gun store and buy quart jars of black powder to do the same job, and all you had to show is a driver's license. That stuff is a hell of lot less stable than most explosives.

From there, I went to the new Tractor Supply store and bought two hundred feet of very heavy nylon rope to pull some of the big trees away and possibly to help pull stumps from the ground. It was only 7:45, so I took fifteen minutes to eat breakfast at the community banquet style table at the Kitchen restaurant. For two-fifty, you ate from a variety of foods and poured yourself coffee. This was perfect for the working man. Customers were responsible for bringing their plate and used utensils to a big tub near the real kitchen door.

I arrived at George's place at eight thirty and was waved down by George. "Mike, if you want to use an extra man or two, there are a couple of new men that I can't use. One of them speaks enough English so that you should be able to work with them. If they do a good job, pay them good."

Two Latin men that I suspected were probably "undocumented" came up with expectant smiles. One said, "I am Pedro, and this is Jesus. We are good with work. You show what you want, we do good work."

Both men were dressed for heavy work and both had work gloves stuck in their back pockets. They looked like they could do the job. I put them in the truck and went to the field where I was working. The first thing I did was to have them load the truck with the cut pieces of oak for George. While they were doing that, I took down another tree and began cutting it up as well.

I had to stop to make a trip up to George's place to unload the wood. George came out again and said he was sending two men down with a tractor and big trailer we could load the wood in, since it would be faster than a pickup truck load at a time.

By noon, I had all of the trees down and cut up, except for the smaller branches that you couldn't use for firewood. I needed to test the explosive, so I used a shovel I brought to dig a hole under a hickory tree stump. After carefully separating the gel in half, I put a cap on one piece, fit the fuse cord to the cap, and cut off five minutes of cord. The cord was marked in one minute increments.

I packed the explosive with dirt, laid the fuse cord out, and then turned to my helpers. "Go over to the bulldozer and stand on the other side of it." When they were where I wanted them, I pulled my little waterproof case with strike anywhere matches out, and lit one. The cord easily lit, and I could see it was going to be the full five minutes.

I walked back to the men behind the bulldozer and pointed to an outcropping of rocks on a mound at that end of the field. Water was bubbling from the ground flowing into the creek. We each cupped our hands several times to drink our fill. We were walking back to the bulldozer when the blast surprised us. I checked my watch and saw that it was right on the five minute mark.

We inspected to see if the big tap root on the hickory stump was broken, and it looked like it might be. I was about to start the bulldozer when I remembered I had to grease it. After doing the appropriate servicing, I put the big teeth on the bucket and then tried to pull up the stump. I tried to just raise the stump, but it wasn't going to do that. I leveled off and began pushing. The stump finally broke loose and came out of the ground. I just kept pushing until I put the stump into the corner of the bend of the creek where it was washed out. When I parked the bulldozer, Jesus was already digging a hole under another tree trunk. This time it was a Black Oak about the same size as the biggest hickory I had cut down which was the one I blasted. I prepared the other half stick of the explosive and only put two minutes of cord on it. As I packed it in, the two men retreated to the other side of the bulldozer. This one was also a surprise, even though I was waiting for it.

I was able to lift the stump from the ground, tearing the roots loose. I dropped this stump on top of the other one.

It was getting to be lunchtime and I know I was hungry. I was considering taking the two men home for lunch, when George came down to the field with a basket full of sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. He asked if I was starting my own war down here. I laughed and told him that I knew how to handle explosives, but didn't care for them much. The two men were extremely grateful for the lunch. Both men ate three sandwiches, the same as me. We finished off with an apple and a cup of coffee.

George wanted to watch me blow a couple of stumps, so he stayed for a few. It's really no big deal, since you hear the noise, the ground shakes a little, and the stump and earth around it rise a little, then settle back down, but not as far. The smaller stumps break loose and sort of cock to one side.

We broke the other sixteen stumps loose, and I placed them at the bends of the creek. I had to smooth out where I pulled the stumps, but the ground is rolling enough dirt to be able to do that and pack it down with the bulldozer.

Pedro knew how to use a chainsaw, so I had him cut eight foot poles from the longer branches I had saved. Jesus was to sharpen one end with an axe.

Next was finishing the cuts to straighten the creek. I really hoped the old creek bed had as much rock as it appeared. I started at one end and made a deep cut all the way through to the other end. I might have gone deeper than I needed, but I wanted the creek to stay in its banks during the spring runoff so that it wouldn't wash out so easily. Too much flow, and it could wash around the little dams I was building.

We then began driving the poles across the washed out area so that we could stack logs behind them like a seawall, and fill it in with rocks and dirt on top of the tree root balls.

We were moving right along, when I realized that it was getting late, already past six. We loaded the pickup with more hickory before I took the two men up to the house with me where I had to think about what I should pay them. They had given me a little over eight hours of labor, so I figured eight an hour would be fair. I gave each man seventy dollars and they just stood there and stared at the money. I got it across that they had worked hard for me, and I wanted to use them again tomorrow. I would be here about seven thirty to eight. They left almost running, clutching their money while happily smiling.

George came out and asked me how much I paid them. When I explained what I paid and that they had worked hard, George said, "That's a might heavy for farm work, but you had them humping down there. You're a fair man. Do you want to eat supper with us or go home?"

"I'll go home, George, I would stink up the place if I came in. I'll see you in the morning. I should be able to finish up tomorrow."

At home, I unloaded the hickory on my stack of logs by the smokehouse before going into the barn to wash up a little. When I went inside the house, Ben was watching TV from a rocking chair that had magically appeared. He turned to me, "Sure glad you finally quit for the day. I'm gettin' a mite hungry."

I felt a lot better with my outer shirt and boots off. That roast from yesterday was being used well. Tonight, we had a stew filled with potatoes, carrots, green beans, small onions, and big chunks of meat. Something special had been added; we had real homemade rolls. I looked at Mildred. "These are really good. I didn't know we had any yeast."

Mildred was smiling and said Summer had gone through all of the cabinets and canned goods in the spring pantry, so we would know exactly what we had. "When Summer found the yeast, she was excited and wanted us to make bread. I made two loaves of bread and all of these rolls. I will make you a lunch to take with you tomorrow."

I explained that I had used a couple of men to help me and had completed a lot of the work. "I hope to be able to finish up tomorrow."

I was thinking that if I can get enough dirt and rock from the hillside, I'd be able to fill in behind my pseudo seawall, and then pack it in. This should work. I cut the creek at sort of a circle so that if it was going to wash out again, it would wash the other way, toward the rocky bluffs on that side.

I helped a little on the cleanup as I wanted to watch how Ben was doing. He seemed fit, so I vowed to quit worrying. He had driven his truck up to the house, and when he was ready to go home, he said, "Now that my drive and your road are better, I'll just drive back and forth. It'll save on my energy. Mike, I might have to have you dig a hole for my mule. She's acting real poorly and had a hard time standing this morning. I hate to see the old girl go, but we all get old."

I knew he was also referring to himself. It's tough to grow old. I'm glad the girls and him have become such good friends.

That night in bed, while Summer was still watching TV, Mildred wanted kisses and hugs, but wouldn't let me go after her. She kept pushing me back to lie flat. When she was finally satisfied with my position, she surprised me and used her mouth to bring me to a quick climax. When she sat up, smiling and licking her lips, she said, "It is my time. I have to put off the urge. In a week and a half, ten days, we can scratch my itch again. I can do this though, it is fun to do."

"Mildred, you know I can do that for you too. I've done it before."

The lady hugged me. "If you do that, I will forget it is my time, and we will have babies. Let me do this and remember to keep my legs closed."

She was sort of humorous in the way she talked about it. I didn't wait around to think about it. I did the man thing and quickly went to sleep.

Tuesday was a good day. I was able to start working by seven and while the two men were stacking logs behind the poles we had driven in with the bucket, I parked the bulldozer in the creek and washed the tracks off with a big heavy bristle push broom I brought. After pulling back out, I greased the bulldozer and began moving more earth from the side of the hill to the filled in washes.

Mildred had made a dozen roast beef sandwiches that could have used some mayonnaise or something. Along with that, I had a thermos of coffee and a couple of extra cups. We ate that along with some apples and went right back at it. By four, we were picking up any loose limbs that were left over. I loaded up the last of the hickory and told the two men how happy I was to have them help me. I found out about twenty of them lived in a house on the edge of town. They had one cell phone that one of the women who spoke English answered. I promised to call them if I needed help. Pedro got me off to the side and confided, "I have to be honest with you. I do not pay the taxes like I should. I have this green card, but Jesus does not. If you know of a job that is regular, I could pay the taxes that way. I think Jesus may get his card soon."

That didn't sound exactly right, but it was what I figured about the two. I probably wasn't going to need any help anytime soon, but I told them I would call them if the need came up.

I drove home and found Ben involved with chores. As I helped finish them up, I told him that I would need him to drive the pickup from George's over to the preacher's place so I could get that little job done. That reminded me to call the preacher so he could get the pipe for the culvert.

I called the preacher, "Hey, Harold, I will be by your place about mid-morning to do your driveway, so if you can, have that pipe delivered in the morning."

The man happily said, "The pipe is already by the road. I had it brought out yesterday when George told me you were about done with his place. He sure thinks you're Superman by the way you were able to fix him up so fast. He says he has another place he might have you do. I think he has more equipment to trade."

We agreed to see each other in the morning, and I went inside to enjoy supper. I wasn't so tired and beat up tonight, as most of the work I had done was on the bulldozer. As I ate, I thought about what I had accomplished, and was pretty happy with myself. If Dad were still alive, he would have been proud of me. He had taught me a lot.

That reminded me that I should call Mom. I went outside in the cool mountain air and called her. I asked her if she was busy with a man sitting next to her, and she scoffed at me, "Oh you, you know I'm as bad as you about meeting someone. What's with the call? Do you feel guilty about neglecting your old mom?"

Mom's always good for a laugh. "I just wanted to touch base with you. I've become somewhat of a busy person. I needed a bigger tractor, and in the process of making a deal for it, I've bought a bulldozer along with the tractor and trailer that hauls it. I'll hopefully be able to make it pay. So far, everyone wants to trade out the work."

"You watch it, Mike. Fuel is too expensive for you to be trading out much work. Listen to your mom and make sure you only trade for half the job. Collect cash for the other half. If you have to take more than half in trade, make it about a three to one trade. You deserve the extra for the fuel."

"You always had the business head, Mom."

"Darn right, Mike. The woman has to watch the bills while the man is busting his butt working the fields."

"Mom, I have a little news."

"And that is, Mr. Secretive?"

I had to take a deep breath to get my nerve up to admit this, "I've met a lady that is pretty special. We're at the just getting to know each other stage, but we seem to enjoy each other and are pretty compatible."

"Oh my goodness, Mike; you are going to give me a stroke if you keep talking like that. That is wonderful. Is she younger than you? Is she young enough to maybe give you a baby?"

It was my turn to laugh. "You know, Mom, having a baby may not be realistic or even possible. You're getting the cart before the horse. We're not anywhere near married yet."

Ever the practical mother, "If you get married, is there a church around there you might get married in?"

"I go to a nice church, Mom. I've been going regular for a long time. I'm even friends with the pastor and his wife."

"So what kind of church is it, Mike? Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist?"

"You know what, Mom, I don't even know. I think it's one of those non-denominational churches, a church for everyone."

My matriarch told me, "That's nice. That's like the church we used to go to. Sometimes it is better because there isn't as much politics in a church like that."

"That's what I have thought. Nice church, nice people, and a nice pastor. You would like it."

Mom told me, "I'll have to consider coming down to visit you one of these days. I'll wait until the weather is nice and you can fix up that spare bedroom for me. As long as you have indoor plumbing, I can live with the rest. I think I need to see this paradise my youngest has retired too."

"I'll look forward to it, Mom. If I can, I'll come up for Easter, but that may not be possible. I'm busy being a farmer at this time of year."

"I know, Honey. Remember, I'm a farmer's wife. That time of year is always busy. Well, Son, I have to get ready for bed. You know me; I still go to bed and get up with the cows and chickens. Call me, Honey."

"Bye, Mom."

It always has taken a little out of me to talk to Mom. She has always been that special person. My mom, the mom who always listened to all of us kids, taught us to be good people, and sent us out to dad to finish our education. If she comes to visit, I had best make my mind up about a few things. She could almost come for... , I almost thought of the word 'wedding'.

Tonight was a repeat of last night. Mildred happily made me feel great, and let me play with her tiny breasts a little. That excited her and she told me, "I have to watch my legs so they don't open. They want to, but I'll keep them closed. You do make me feel good."

I was drifting off to sleep with one head on my right shoulder, when Summer came in and snuggled on my left. As she snuggled up, she reached up and kissed my cheek. That made me smile.

Wednesday was busy as Ben drove me to George's, where I serviced the dozer before I loaded it. I put the few pieces of hickory that were left on the truck bed and followed Ben from the field. George met us and had us come in for coffee.

At George's kitchen table, we drank some coffee as George described another field that had some wash problems. He said it should be easier than what I had just done, since it wasn't as serious of a wash and was only a single gully so far. "Mike, I have a few pieces of equipment you might be interested in that we could trade for. I think I took advantage of you on this last trade, but I didn't think you would do it. When you're ready, we'll take a look at what I have that is mostly for your tractor. I'll put some cash with it too. I know fuel is expensive."

With that, George gave me a stack of papers, along with the title to the tractor. He was happy and I had a heavier duty tractor.

Ben and I drove to the preacher's, where I saw that his driveway was only about thirty yards long, but was really torn up. The biggest problem was the spring thaw runoff had washed the road out real bad. On the side of the drive, up near the road, was a big pile of something. I asked Harold what it was, "That's mostly gravel, with a lot of good clay mixed in. It came from the blacktop paving yard. It was leftovers."

I told Harold, "I'm going to get that pipe in the ground then spread that pile of rock and asphalt up and down the lane. I'll pack it in and you should be good to go for a long while."

I looked at the wash and told him, "I'll put the pipe in, but you'll need to build little seawall like sides to act like a funnel to route the water the way you want. Put those on both sides and you shouldn't have any more problems.

Ben wanted to watch, so he stayed as I dug out a deep trench before using my rope to lift the 18 inch pipe and lay it in place. I was getting really good at handling the bucket. I filled in over the pipe and watched the water flow through it the way it was supposed to. There shouldn't be any more wash outs if Harold builds the funnel. I made a couple of passes to grade the rest of the drive, then began spreading the rock and old asphalt.

Around noon, Martha brought out a bunch of sandwiches that we ate on a blanket on the ground. We had some pulled pork on homemade bread, with homemade pickles and iced tea, a really nice lunch.

Harold commented, "You're almost done. I thought it would take you a day and half, but you've done everything that I wanted, and now you're spreading that pile of rock for me. I'll have to really work at finding something to trade you. Let me think on it, and I'm sure you'll feel it's fair."

Martha said, "And don't feel like you have to give to us because we're the preacher and wife. We have animals and properties, so we can do right by those that help us."

It made me smile to be a part of a community like this. The preacher and Martha spent some of our lunchtime trying to get Ben to come to church, and I would almost bet that if I could get him to Walmart for some clothes, he might come.

Martha commented, "I see you like to wear your hair short, Mike. You need a haircut. If you stop at the house before you go, I'll cut it down for you like I do Harold's. I wish it were that easy for me." The lady looked over at Ben, "I'll cut yours too, Ben. Don't worry; I won't cut it as short as Mike's or Harold's. Come up while Mike finishes, and I'll take care of you now. You'll look good enough to come to church on Sunday."

It took me a couple more hours to get the driveway leveled and packed with the new rock. I had used all of it in order to get the mound off his field and to better use it on his drive. When I loaded up my bulldozer, Harold came out and walked to the house with me. Martha had some electric clippers and made fast work of my head. When she was done, she handed me a mirror and I was surprised to see she had given me a flat top like Harold wears. "Thanks, Martha. You did a good job on my hair. I appreciate it as I was beginning to feel pretty shaggy. I can't always get into the barber when he's open. The man only works Thursday, Friday, and Saturday."

Martha complained, "The two beauty shops are just as bad. You have to have an appointment a couple of weeks in advance or you don't get a cut. I almost have to beg if I want a perm. That's what you get out here in the sticks."

Ben and I waved goodbye and drove to my house. I unloaded the bulldozer and began working on my own driveway. I made it a gradual hill from near the fuel barrels all the way to the road. There were a couple of big holes by my entrance, so I leveled those out and packed them in.

After driving back and forth on my driveway, I decided that I needed to invest in some gravel and some of the new stuff that you sprayed on top of gravel, earth, or clay, that hardened like concrete. The Farm Bureau could order it for you. The big deal was, you were supposed to use a roller to compact the ground. I'd have to find out where I could rent one of those.

Up at the house, I fueled the bulldozer and did all of the maintenance on it. I pulled a water hose out, and with my big broom, washed the bulldozer down to clean it up, feeling really good about everything.

Ben and I finished up the chores, then ran down to his place to do his and check on his mule. She was still there, but wobbly. Ben lovingly curried and brushed the old critter. You could tell the feelings between the two were mutual, as the old mule draped her head over Ben's shoulder when he was close.

We came back to the house and washed up in the barn before going inside to take our boots off and relax.

I poured myself a big glass of my good wine that I liked. I gave Ben a smaller glass and we sat in a couple of rockers, talking about the day. I told him my plan for the rest of the week. "I'm going to use my GPS and the map I have, and chart a way from the main road up the mountain to where Mildred's and Summer's place is, then on up to where the orchard, vineyard, and that twenty acre patch is. I think I can widen that land to about thirty five acres with the bulldozer so that it could become a producing field. I'm also thinking that we need to expand the garden."

I looked over at Mildred, who had an ear cocked to listen in, "Since it looks like I have a couple of women around full time now, I need to expand the garden. With two of them to help, we can do some heavy canning of a lot more items. It's time to finish getting the garden ready and most of it planted. I'm going to plant corn early too, but I'm only going to plant half now and half in a month, so it's not all ripe at once. Ben, what do you think if I plant about four or six rows of sweet corn to trade at the market? The sweet corn could be planted like one row a week, so we would have fresh sweet corn for a longer time. I noticed there wasn't all that much corn this last year. We can put a lot up for us too."

My comment on having the two women didn't go un-noticed. Both of them were smiling and elbowing each other. They were very nice to keep around, so I was figuring on keeping them.

Ben answered me, "Sound like a plan, Mike. You've got the garden about ready to plant. You have to do any last minute repairs on the vineyard and orchard before you fertilize. You should get those two Mexicans up here for a week to get everything in. If you can afford it, have them come up and do that and help you with your road. You could even prepare both vineyards and get both old orchards back in shape."

That was a thought. I would have to balance my checkbook. I really haven't done it for over six months, and I need to get it ready to do taxes again. I have a list of the money I've collected from the farm, and a list of what I've traded for, but I really don't know what to report. I suppose there is an accountant in town that can do this for me. I sure don't want to run afoul of the IRS. They would latch onto my retirement in a heartbeat.

After supper, I pulled my big spiral notebook out and began listing the projects I had to do.

I brought out my stack of receipts that I had used my bank card for and listed them. My last bank statement showed all of my deposits, so I deducted the total of the bank card receipts and was amazed that I had been living on a whole lot less than half of my retirement, not even counting my disability money. Even with all of the extras I bought lately, like the TV, the satellite programming, the fuel and fuel tanks, and the bulldozer, I was doing great. I still had a really good chunk in savings that I wanted to keep for a rainy day, but I also wanted enough to add on to the house, machine shed, and barn. I was almost laughing at myself that I now was considering expanding my barn.

I listed some estimated costs to do the things I wanted to do, and the total didn't use up what was in my regular account. I wasn't even into the money market account or the savings account. I might want to put some of that into a mutual fund or somewhere as an investment. I was living the way people here lived. I was living cheap.

A feeling of satisfaction washed over me as I sipped another glass of wine.

I dug through the recent mail and found the income tax form. I figured up what the taxes would be if I didn't list any of the traded goods, which I felt might be the case since I was putting something out for something I was getting back in return. What I had grown could be considered profit, but if I included fuel, the cost of seed, and labor, I was probably still way ahead. I did the quick form and wow, I had a really fat tax refund coming. That should pay for the materials for the house.

Something that I was going to have to find out about was how to cover subcontractors such as Pedro and Jesus. They should be given a 1099, but that would probably be a wasted effort. I'll have to talk to an accountant and maybe even Benson.

Ben was right. I could hire those two men and have them help me get the land ready and help plant the garden. Doing the road was going to be more than one man can do. I walked outside to call them, but decided to have a better plan ready, rather than begin paying them before I had a good sense of what I was going to do.

Before Ben left, he said, "The girls have been making butter, so we'll have better'n fifteen pounds for market. According to Summer, you have a big surplus of some of your canned goods, so you need to trade some of those. I know you don't want to advertise the bulldozer, but when you do, just drive the big truck and trailer with it loaded on the back, and you'll have a month's worth of business."

"I need to do the stuff here before I do work for anyone else right now. I've asked the fuel distributor not to spread my name and number around. Let me get a running start on what I need to do this spring, then we'll see. This sure isn't like I imagined. I was originally going to be a recluse, but I now have a couple of ghosts and a host of new friends. I think I like it. We'll see how my second summer works out by having a couple of helpers."

Ben said, "That's three helpers. You're feeding me now, and I like doing stuff here with your womenfolk. This is just the pace I need. I've got your barn about spic and span and have straightened the machine shed up a little. I've brought my chickens up here, along with the few turkeys I had, so I'm shut of birds except for the ducks in the pond and my guinea hens. I think I'm going to sell the llamas and sheep. I don't want to mess with all that wool and hair anymore. You don't get enough for it to make up for the work it takes, and I don't need no money, the social is giving me a check that I don't use except for 'lectric and taxes. I'll keep the goats for right now, as too many people want goat milk. Yep, I think I'm going to sell off most of my critters and clean up around the place."

Old Ben sounded serious. I enjoyed having him around. He was a wealth of knowledge and brought some humor into my life.

I put most everything away, keeping my heavy notebook with my maps in them out. I checked the new GPS I bought and read the directions. Actually, it was fairly modern, even more modern and smaller than the handhelds we had in the service. I had the property marker longitude and latitude numbers, so I was going to find them and paint them orange with a spray can I found in the shed so it would be easy to spot them in the future.

Morning was fun. When I came in from chores with Ben for breakfast, I said, "I'm going to the other side of the mountain and down to the lower area. It sure would be nice to have company. Who wants to walk down there with me?"

Both ladies were excited. Summer said, "We can show you our cabin in the mountain. I know all of the paths that go down to the road, so I can show you. We'll pack a lunch and have a picnic."

Ben told us he was going to work at home to get his llamas and sheep ready to sell, and for us to come by for him later.

Our trek to the other side of the mountain took some time, and we went directly around to where the other old vineyard and orchard were. The path we traveled could actually be made into a road fairly easily if I was to cut several trees and move a few boulders. Where the road was now, came from behind the chicken house, along the bluff, around a big boulder, to the existing wide path or road that led to my vineyard, the wine cave, and the small orchard. The path is smaller from there, but could be easily widened with a bulldozer and chainsaw.

The old orchard and vineyard needed a hell of lot of work, but could be brought back in a couple of years with some attention and the planting of some new shoots. The apple trees were all old mature trees that were all fruit bearing, so I wouldn't need to do anything with them except to clean them up.

We ate lunch in the little meadow near the upper spring. We watched a couple of rabbits hop by and we saw a young doe deer as it was eating meadow grass before it spied us and quickly ran away.

After lunch, we walked back a little ways, until Summer showed me a path hidden by some blackberry bushes. We went around the berry patch, and it was almost like a road that traveled down at a gentle angling slope. A lot of the path was sheer rock, without any trees, but still slanting down. It was amazing that this wasn't already a road as it had a perfect pitch for vehicles. We came to a fairly large meadow that Mildred talked about, "This was our old cornfield, and toward the rocks over there, is where our garden was and is. Come, we will show you the cabin."

The old cornfield, that still showed signs of volunteer corn that had been eaten by deer or other critters, was probably twenty-five to thirty acres when you included the garden area. This could be another producing field.

We encountered a heavy stand of blackberries again, but on one side there was an open path that led to the bluff on the other side. Behind a stand of pine trees was the front of a cabin, complete with glass windows and a working door.

Mildred opened the door and looked in and around, I suppose to make sure there weren't any wild animals that had come in to enjoy the comforts of home.

I stepped back outside and looked up and saw that the roof was only about six feet deep, but was covered by a large overhang of stone. Back inside, Summer had lit a couple of candles, so the place came into view. The big room actually had wooden walls. There were three open doorways from the main room. At one side of the main room was obviously the kitchen, because of the big wood stove. On the opposite side of the room was a fireplace. Again, I stepped outside to see where the chimney and the vent pipe for the wood stove were. Very neat, and for being as old as it was, the place was in remarkable condition. It must be because it was out of the weather under the rock overhang.

Back inside, I saw Mildred take a glass from a cupboard, look at it, then lift what looked like a pump handle. Water poured out as she rinsed the glass, filled it, and tasted the water. Mildred was nodding to herself that the water was good. I wonder how that works and then I thought, Where is the water running off to? I asked where the water went to from the cabin.

Mildred took me by the hand and walked me outside. Over at the side of the bluff was an open pipe that led downward. She said, "This is for the drain from the kitchen. That is our water supply for everything. Daddy made that valve before I was born and it is still good. He brought the water from the spring in the back of the cave to the big sink. The rest of the water goes out through an underground passage that comes out at the bottom of the mountain.

Off to the side, in another stand of pine, was a privy. That answered another question I had.

We went back into the cabin, where Mildred led me through the center door while holding a candle. It flickered from a draft that came through there, but what I saw was amazing. There was a huge cavern where you could hear water running. We walked back to an area that had water running down a wall, through a rock path, and down again into an opening in the floor.

On the side of the cavern, shelves had been built and were filled with empty glass jars for canning. I'd bet this is what was left over from when they were able to garden and can. The furniture was all very rustic, but in good shape. There were four big chairs near the fireplace, but they were also obviously used for the table as there were no chairs there. Mildred showed me one of the side rooms, and it had a bed, but the mattress was in bad shape. I suppose it was what you used if it was all you had.

I said to the two, "Come, let's close this up and look for that road down to the main road. Let me take a fix on your place too. Oh yes, can you show me the location where you buried Bernard?"

We left the cabin and walked to the edge of the meadow. There was a cross that marked a grave covered in a mound of rocks to keep the scavengers from digging it up. I took a fix on it and marked it in my book.

After Mildred stood and looked at the grave for a while with wet eyes, Summer led us to the other side of the meadow. "Just down here is the little vineyard and some apple trees. Everything still grows, and I had a lot of good grapes and apples last year."

I made a mark on my homemade map to mark the GPS location, and a note that said the down slope was reasonably gradual, less than twenty degrees and solid.

Mildred pointed away from the area of the vineyard and showed me something. "I think this is an old wagon road. It goes all along the side of the mountain and curves around to get to a couple of big caves high up. No one ever goes up there, as it gets very steep near the end. This goes down all the way to the main road, where this would cross the river and continue on to someone else's land over there.

We followed the old road that was dug into the soil from many wagons passing this way a long time ago. It was narrow, but wide enough for a car or even a big truck. Sure enough, the old road ended at a blackberry patch next to the county and state road. I took a fix on the location and compared it to the home fix. We were nearly five miles from the house, but at an angle. We walked back up the old road and path to look at the old vineyard and the apple trees. We followed the way we came back through the meadow, then used another path that was also well worn. I thought it was a deer run at first, then realized it was the path they took to get to Eliza's, or now, my place. I stopped every few minutes to get a fix so I had an idea of how this path ran. It was surprisingly level and easy to follow, showing a promise of becoming a road if I wanted. We came out at our orchard, and followed what would be our road back to the cabin.

I wished I had some big graph paper to draw a better map. There's more to explore, but I now knew how to build some roads. A better road to my main vineyard and orchard would be easy. From there down to the other property, orchard, and vineyard wasn't too bad, but I could bypass that and have a road that went from our orchard to the meadow on the girls' place, then on down to the main road. That would actually only be a couple of days' work. I was going to do that as it would cutoff way over ten miles to get to Pine Ridge. I had to see how I could skirt the blackberry patch to get from the main road to the old wagon road, and figured that would keep hunters out. If necessary, I could put up a gate with a lock.

I went out to do chores, while Summer did the chickens, and Mildred worked on supper. As I was washing up in the milk can storage area, or milk house, Ben came up in his truck. When he was out of his truck, he came over and said, "I think my old girl isn't going to make it through the night. I gave her a last brushing and an apple. She could barely eat it. You know, l love that stubborn old mule. She's so stubborn that she just won't let go. If I had a heart, I would put her down, but I can't. I just hope she doesn't hurt."

Ben turned away as I'm sure he didn't want me to see tears in his eyes. He sniffed and asked, "If you would, Mike, would you go check on her in the morning. I don't think I could stand seeing her down."

Now I was getting choked up. I put my arm around the old man as we walked to the house. Ben asked, "You know, maybe the ladies would go to the Mt. Sterling Walmart with me to help me get some duds for church. I guess it's past time for me to go, and I probably should ask the big guy if I can come to his place."

I reassured my old friend, "You're going to be around a long time, Ben. That's why you're eating with us and enjoying life here. Come on, let's eat, then I want to drive to town to get some big graph paper to draw a map."

During supper, we talked about our walk today and my enthusiasm about a road all the way to the county and state road. Ben said that he had heard stories when he was a kid that the high caves were where moonshine was made a long time ago. He said no one ever went up there because of all of the ghost stories from back then, and that is how this had become Mystery Mountain.

After supper and a quick cleanup, we went to town and were just in time to get into an office supply store that had big pads of graph paper. I bought a box of pencils, a school kid's pencil sharpener, and a good ruler. We thanked the lady and went to Mt. Sterling and the Walmart Supercenter. The ladies had Ben fixed up with a nice pair of pants, a white shirt, and a string tie he wanted, instead of a regular tie or open shirt like I wore. Ben saw a medium weight coat he really liked, but was passing on it. I told him, "Ben, you know what you've been doing for me, and I've been doing all the trading, so I owe you a lot. I'll get you fixed up so we can go to church together."

Ben argued, but eventually saw I was serious about owing him. It was the manly thing to do to let a man make his evens.

At the end of the evening, the ladies had Ben's new clothes to get ready for Sunday, and everyone was tired from the long trek.

I lay awake this night, thinking of the two women, and the original three who lived there with no way to get food other than scavenge and hunt, but still made it. That they didn't revert to outright thievery was surprising. I'm sure a chicken that wandered away became a meal, but that was probably all. The ladies were down to the last of everything, with no way to eat except Eliza, then me. Whew, it was good that Summer came for me, or Mildred would be next to her brother.

My mind wandered to the caves at the top of that side of the mountain. I know there are still several hundred feet, probably over a thousand, to climb higher, so I suppose those caves weren't that far away, just hard to get to. I was curious and told myself that I would go hunting that way soon. I had the direction the old road ran, so I should be able to intercept it by just following the mountain around and up to the caves. That was kind of exciting.

I lay there with a head on each shoulder, thinking of the work I needed to do right away, and realized that I should do things at a slow pace, and not so fast that I'd want to leave this ideal place. No, I was here to stay, and probably with these two women.

Two, I don't need two, but Summer is a joy to be around. She is so young. She needs to meet and know other young people her age. But what would they have in common? Summer has a totally different background than even the hardest country girl around. I'll have to think about that.

I closed my eyes.



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Chapter 9



This was another morning that I woke up with Summer's bottom pushed into my rigid sex that was being held by Mildred. There was a fleeting thought that raced through my head about keeping both women for myself. But like I said, it was fleeting.

After getting up, letting the dogs out, and using the toilet, I emptied the ashes from the stove and under the fireplace before putting another log on the fire. I lit the stove to warm up and boil some coffee, then went into the bathroom to wash, shave, and dress in my usual cammies. Some of them were beginning to look a little ragged, so I knew I was going to have to make a trip into the big city to find an Army surplus store.

Before I went out to do chores, I decided on buckwheat pancakes this morning. I had purchased a box of mix from the store before the girls showed up in my life. I figured the pancakes and some of our own sausage patties would be good. A couple of eggs on the side would top it off.

First, I needed to do the chores. I did the milking and noticed the cow was just about dry. Another week and she would be completely dry. She was getting round in the belly. I'll bet she will want to be let in every morning the same as always to get some grain and her bag washed and massaged. I had some special bag balm for that.

The cow's milk was so rich in butterfat right now that you could almost smell the butter. I'm sure it would churn into butter within a couple of minutes.

Just as I finished all of the regular chores and was going to go down to Ben's to check on his mule, Ben came walking up the lane to the welcoming cacophony of the guinea hens. This was unusual, as he had been driving his pickup every day.

He sat down on the bench by the door to take off his boots and said to me, "The truck finally gave it up. I think it's done for but you might take a look at it before we bury it. Too bad as the body is still in really good shape and the transmission is near perfect. The clutch ain't that old either. You know what? I just put a new sealed beam on the right side. Just the luck."

"Are you thinking about another truck, Ben?" I asked, as I was still standing in the doorway.

The old man answered, "I was hoping the old truck would last me out. It's only an eighty-nine. I think I have enough for another truck, I just didn't want to spend the money on one."

I told Ben, "I'll look at it after breakfast. I'm going to run down to check on your mule right now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

The old man looked at me with some emotion. "No need, Mike. She's gone. She died last night. At least she died where it will be easy to get her out of the yard. I'd appreciate if you would help me bury her."

I sat next to Ben and gave him a one-armed man hug, "You know I'll take care of it, Ben. Just show me where and you stay up here while I fix her up."

Ben was nodding his head because he was too choked up to speak.

The girls had heard and knew the bond a man had with his animals.

After breakfast, Ben drew me a little map of where he thought would be a good place to bury his mule. I serviced the bulldozer, threw a bunch of tools into the cab of the tractor and went down to Ben's. I had to take down two areas of fence in order to get to where the mule was. I was able to gently scoop her up and carry her up an incline in the field behind Ben's place. On a little plateau, I dug a very deep hole before putting the mule in it and covering it up. I made sure the ground was well packed, and then went back down to repair Ben's fences.

A short while later I parked the bulldozer back where I was going to begin my road. I went inside to tell Ben the job was done and he thanked me. I told him that we should take my old truck, or one of the tractors, down to his truck to see what was needed to get it running.

We loaded tools into Bud's old pickup and drove down to Ben's. I didn't want to use my pickup as the electrics were too different to jump his truck if it needed it.

The first thing I did was to turn it over to see if the battery was good. The starter was working, so the battery was good. I opened the hood and pulled a plug wire. I had Ben turn the motor over and watched an arc from the plug wire end to the engine block. That part of the electrics worked. Ben told me, "I done did that, next thing to do is to check the gas but I don't know what to take loose to check."

I needed to check to see if it was getting gas. This was an old GMC that had a submerged electric fuel pump. I was going to pull a gas line open and see if it pumped gas, but before I did that, I laid down to get at the fuel tank and slipped my hand to the top of the fuel tank and put my hand on the top of the fuel pump. When I had Ben just turn on the key, I felt nothing. I really couldn't figure a way to check to see if voltage was getting to the fuel pump until I had better access.

"Hey, Ben, do you have something we can block this up with so I can get under it better? I'll run up and get my multi-meter and be right back. If you don't have anything, we can use some of the oak we cut up. That will prop the truck up about three feet and should be stable. I think my big screw jack should do the trick."

I drove up to the house, found my multi-meter and loaded the screw jack and a bunch of miscellaneous tools to do the job I was figuring on. Back down at Ben's, we got the truck up on big chunks of log so I could get under the truck easier. It took a while, but I finally was able to siphon the gas from the tank before loosening it to drop it down so I could get at the pump. When I pulled the connector loose from the pump and measured the voltage, there was a solid twelve volts. That told that story. Of course, this is a good reason not to let your tank get too empty before you refuel. Those submersible fuel pumps aren't spark-shielded in any way, and if the percentage of fuel vapor to air in the tank drops below 7%, the tank turns into a bomb.

I pulled the fuel pump out, being careful not to damage the float valve for the gas gauge. I announced, "Come, let's go into town and get us a fuel pump."

Tractor Supply didn't have a pump, but the little auto parts store in town had one. The only one they had was with the expensive float valve already attached, but that was all that was available. We bought the pump and drove home. It only took a half hour to put the new pump in, connect the wiring, and then lift the tank to strap it tight. As I took the truck off the small logs, Ben was putting gas back in the tank.

I opened the door of the truck and held my hand out as if to welcome Ben into his truck. The man was smiling broadly as he turned the key. We both heard the pump start and fill the line. Ben twisted the key and the truck started.

"Son-of-a-gun Mike, you fixed this thing and I thought it was done for. Where'd you learn to do cars and trucks?"

"Ben, when you grow up on a farm and you've been in the Army for twenty years, you get to fix a lot of things whether it's your job or not. If you're out in the field, there are no mechanics to help you, so you learn. I can't fix the new cars or trucks with the computerized fuel injection, but I suppose I could learn."

We both drove up to the house where I put the tools and Bud's old truck away. Summer came out and informed us, "It's past lunchtime, wash up and come eat. Mom and I are hungry."

When I was finished eating, I told the three that I was going to work on the road for a while to see how it would go so I would have an idea of how much time it was going to take.

I had to move a couple of big boulders and knock down a couple of trees to get to the other vineyard and orchard. One of the big boulders was a perfect fit for the hole where one of the tree root balls had been. The mountain was soft, although roots were grown under rock in a lot of places. I had pushed all the way around the mountain to the old vineyard, apple and pear orchard, as well as the small field that had not been used since mule days because you couldn't get a tractor back there. On my way back to the house, using the new road, I could see that this was a good road. This gave me one large orchard, an old one, and a vineyard that all needed some work, but would be producing in a short time. The orchard already produced fruit, and I had to haul the grapes and apples out by hand last year. Now I was going to do some farming.

Back at the house, Ben and the girls had already finished the chores, so I serviced the bulldozer and went inside for supper. I was happy with my day's work and figured it would take me two more days to get down to the main road, then it would take more than a week to cut up all of the trees I was going to push out or cut, and blow the stumps.

I thought of Pedro and Jesus, but I called Harold, the preacher, first. "Harold, Mike here, I need to know if you know anyone in town that might need a job. I could use a couple of men for a week, maybe two, to help me clear a road and do some repairs on a vineyard and orchard."

The preacher told me, "You already used two men that are known to be good workers. They don't go to our church, but they are supposed to be good men."

"I was thinking that I should hire locals first, not undocumented men," I told the preacher, trying to get my point across.

"Mike, I know of a couple of men who are not working, but you would have a tough time getting any work out of them before noon. The corn isn't out of their system until then, and they just fill it right back up. Hire Pedro and Jesus. They both have families and will give you a good day's work."

I guess that told me how the locals felt about using Latino labor.

The phone rang only once when I called the number for the two men. A female voice answered, "Hola, help you may I?"

I was about to laugh at the Yoda of Star wars phrasing, but held back. I spoke very slowly and distinctly, "My name is Mike Grayson. Pedro and Jesus worked for me a couple of days ago. May I talk to them?"

"Only one, you may talk. English, the other cannot speak, not yet, learn he will."

There was a long pause before I asked, "May I talk to the one who is there, who speaks English?"

The voice informed me, "Pedro, I will get."

Now that was strange. She must have learned to speak English from the little guy with the big ears.

When Pedro came to the phone, I explained what I had for him and Jesus to do. He was happy to get the work. I asked him if he had a way to get to my place, and he answered, "We walk, we walk good, fast."

"Pedro, how about I pick you up in the morning about six-thirty. If you will tell me where you live, I will do that. We can get a lot more done faster that way. I'll bring you home at night so you won't be so tired the next day."

The man sounded happy and gave me directions. They lived on my side of town, so that told me how far the two had walked to work for George.

I slept soundly, even without the special put to sleep help that Mildred usually gave me. Summer didn't want to watch TV in the living room that night.

The next morning, I had the chores done and had eaten breakfast by six, so I could pick up the two men. After picking them up, Ben drove the truck with the power saws, picks, shovels, and axes down to the old orchard. I drove the bulldozer to the orchard and shut it down so I could instruct Pedro on what to do. Their job would be to cut up the trees that I had knocked down into firewood width chunks, and keep the oak and hickory separate. He was also to look for long pieces of oak, ten to twelve feet long, and about six to ten inches thick to use as posts in all the vineyards. I told the men that I would probably need at least a dozen.

While they got started, I began making a road where the path led down to the little meadow by the old Jorgenson place. That didn't take long at all. There was only one big tree that had to come down, along with several smaller trees that looked like post material.

It was only ten, so I went back to the meadow where the men were working, and began removing trees and moving rocks to make a road out of the path that led toward the old wagon road that went down to the main road from the Jorgenson meadow. This wasn't difficult at all, and again, I didn't have to knock down any big trees and only a few small ones.

Now all I had to do was take some humps out and smooth out both roads.

When I pulled the bulldozer into the big meadow again, Mildred and Summer were there with a basket of sandwiches, some apples, a thermos of coffee, and a gallon jar of cool iced tea, without the ice.

It was a mini picnic that we enjoyed. Ben said he had been coating the posts the men had cut with the creosote I had purchased so that we could use them right away. This was moving along better than I had thought. Cutting the trees up wasn't going that fast, but that was reasonable because you needed the small chainsaw for most of the work. The big one was only for the big trees and to cut up firewood chunks, and those were few.

I told Ben, "On market day, I need to see if I can trade for another chainsaw. I can see that having more than one would be good. Keep your eyes and ears open."

Ben took the women back to the house and I began leveling and smoothing the roads out. I checked my watch and saw that it was already past five, so I went back to the meadow, where I was met by Ben who had my pickup waiting for me. We put our tools in the truck and went to the house. I put the saws at the door of the machine shed as they would need to be sharpened.

It took me a minute to go into the house to get the money for the two men. While I was taking them back to their house, Pedro said, "Jesus is learning the English very much. Ask him something."

"Hey, Jesus, how old are you?"

I could see the man was a little confused, but was thinking hard at what I had asked. He began using his fingers before telling me, "Twenty-twenty."

You could tell he was proud to have answered, but Pedro put his hand on Jesus's arm and said slowly, "Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two."

Jesus said, "Ah, si, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four." He kept on right up to "Three-thirty."

I asked, "Jesus do you like to work with trees?"

The man understood and replied, "I like work on all outdoors. I like work animals too."

The man was learning. That was going to make it easier for them to work for me when I needed them.

Back at home, Ben was finished with the chores at both places and ready to eat. After supper, I sharpened the chains on the saws, put the grease equipment into the truck, and drove down to the bulldozer. It was getting pretty dark by the time I got back to the cabin.

Once inside, I saw that Ben had gone home, so I told the girls that I was going to take a shower and get ready for bed.

I was scrubbing my head with my eyes closed when hands began washing my chest with soap. I thought it was Mildred at first, because the hands went down to my sex and gently touched it from the base to the tip, but very different from Mildred's more aggressive grasp.

That made my eyes pop open. Oh shit, this was Summer. She was fixated on my dick, but slid her hand below to my balls and gently squeezed them. She looked up at my face and smiled. She said, "Is this where the stuff comes from that makes babies?"

Tell me how you scold someone who asks such an innocent question. To give her the idea that bathing was what we were there for, I put her under the water and began shampooing her hair. She wouldn't stand under the water with her back to me. She faced me so she could keep hold of me. This was very disconcerting.

I used a washcloth and washed her thoroughly before handing her the cloth and soap. She didn't want to take her hands away, but finally took the cloth and soap to wash me.

As we were rinsing, Summer pressed her body to mine and looked up at me, "Can you do to me what you do to Momma?"

"What do I do to your momma?"

Summer didn't look embarrassed at all. She said, "You know, you do the sex thing. You push yourself into her and make her feel good."

"Oh, Summer, I thought we were going to talk about this before we did anything. Can we do that?"

The girl looked at me, "But I have that funny feeling in my stomach and I itch down there where you will fit. Momma says I can do this now and not have babies. Push into me, Mike; make me happy like Momma."

I was weakening as the slender young woman with the small tits pressed her bullet hard nipples into my chest. I suggested, "How about we do this lying down on the bed. If we are going to do this, we should do it so it is easy and gentle for you."

Summer screwed her mouth up, "I don't think I need gentle, I just need you inside me. Momma says that it will make me even more excited and will help my itch and stomach."

I shut the water off, "If we're going to do this, it will be in bed, and only after I make sure your mother approves."

Summer smiled now, but sounded disappointed when she said, "Momma sent me into the shower with you. She thought you would do it to me very quickly. She was wrong; you didn't do anything."

I dried her off and was going to put some clean shorts on, but Summer took hold of them, "You don't need those. Just ask Momma, then we can do it. Hurry, my stomach is very nervous and I itch a lot."

If I give in to this, it is a very big step, a huge step that I can't reverse. I need to have a longer talk with both of the women. If the only way to have this talk was with me naked, so be it. I was going to talk to them before I did anything with Summer.

I walked out to the chairs in front of the fireplace and took the remote from Mildred to turn the TV set off. I sat in one of the chairs and faced the two women. Summer got the idea and sat next to her mom. She told her mother, "Mike didn't do anything to me. He wouldn't touch me and wouldn't put his thing into me. He just wants to talk."

Mildred had an amused look on her face. She asked me, "Why wouldn't you make Summer a happy girl. She is a woman by many years, and would welcome you into her body. You heard the preacher; you should give yourself to her as she gives herself to you. It is in the Bible."

I wish the preacher was here to listen to this shit so he could get me out of what was happening.

"Summer, Mildred, you have come to live with me, share my home with me, share food with me, and share the work to make us happy. Mildred wanted to share her body with me and we did that. I have to be honest and tell you that lying with Mildred is very enjoyable."

Summer said, "You did more than lay with her. You put your sex into her and you gave her the stuff that makes babies. The only reason she isn't going to have your baby is it was not her time. It's her time now, but it's not mine. It's my turn to enjoy you inside me. I want your sex and your juice inside me. Momma says that it is making love. I love you, Mike. You have made us a home with you. You have made Momma and me happy again. We both love you and want to make love with you."

Oh man, this was difficult, "Summer, I am a lot older than you are. I think I'm near your mother's age. When you make love to a man, it should be one who you will live with for the rest of your life and who you will have babies with. You should have a young man of your own, your age, to make a life with."

Summer sat in her chair and thought about this for a long while. I got up and poured all three of us a glass of my good wine. This was my good stuff that was made from grapes that were turning a little sugary when I made the wine. The wine was still slightly bitter, but was a little sweet.

When I handed Summer her glass, in order to justify her position, she said to me, "The Bible has many men with more than one woman. Those men had babies with all of their wives, so you can be like those men."

She paused long enough to take another sip of wine, then added, "I think I want an older man who is kind and generous like you, and not someone who doesn't know how to treat a woman like me. You know how to treat a woman; I want you to treat me like one."

Mildred wanted to help Summer's cause. "It isn't bad that you would make love with Summer. I still don't think it was bad that I made love with my man, Summer's father. We were born together and if I had been with him that day, we would have died together. I was spared to raise Summer. If my union with my man was good and is in the Bible, why can't you have more than one woman?"

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself and try to think of a way out of this. "Mildred and Summer, I was raised differently than you. I had but one mother and father, and they had three children, which included me. I did not have what you call a union with any of them. I was taught to only have one woman."

Mildred was smiling sweetly, "Then this is easy, I have already had a baby and raised her. Summer should have that opportunity. Summer will be your woman."

"But, Momma, I know how you have enjoyed being with Mike. I can't take that from you."

I interrupted both of them, "Girls, or rather ladies, I am very tired this evening and I'm going to bed, alone if necessary. We will talk about this more, but right now, let's just do nothing that will harm our happy time together."

As I got up and was leaving the room, Mildred was comforting Summer by telling her they would enlist the aid of the preacher and his wife so I could understand my responsibilities to both ladies.

As I drifted off asleep, by myself, the thought crossed my mind that I was probably a little addled for my thinking, but I really didn't feel comfortable about fooling around with both of them.

Morning seemed to come fast, and I was in between the ladies of my life. I extracted myself from between them, let the dogs out, and used the toilet. While the stove heated up, I dressed for the chores, but was met by Ben who told me he would do them this morning. I helped anyway, so we were done in a short time so we could eat breakfast. I brushed my teeth and took off to retrieve my two Mexican laborers.

We were back at it by seven. The sharpened chains on the saws helped out, and I noticed that it looked like the men had cut close to eighteen of the posts I would need for the vineyards. As the two men worked their way down the new road to the logging road from our old orchard and meadow, I worked on the road between the Jorgenson orchard, vineyard, and meadow to the hard road. I was able to follow the historic wagon road all the way and only had to knock a few trees down, and dropped the blade a few times where the earth had closed in on the deep ruts the wagons had created so many years ago.

When everything was leveled and passable, I went down to the bottom at the hard road and looked for an easy access from that road to my roads. When you stood out on the blacktop, you really couldn't tell there were two roads going uphill. I could see the bulldozer track marks, but you would have to be looking for them to see them.

On the far side of the huge blackberry patch, there was an opening of more than fifteen feet. That would provide a truck or tractor with an avenue to go in and over to one of the roads that went up to their destinations. Just for fun, I knocked down a small tree and laid it across the road. It was small enough that I could cut it and use it for a gate. That should keep trucks from easily driving in. The problem would be this fall when hunters swarmed the area. I might have to put signs up and add a gate, although that didn't mean much to most of the men around these parts.

I made the trip up the mountain and came out at the meadow. Ben had both men over in the vineyard replacing posts. He was showing them how to use the big gas powered post-hole digger. While one was digging a hole, he was showing the other one how to prune the vines. This was going fast.

Lunch was a repeat of the day before, but Mildred cornered Ben to ask him something.

After lunch, the two men and I went down the two roads, cutting up the trees that I had knocked down, getting the wood ready to split for firewood and stove wood. All of the green chunks would have to cure or be split and stacked to cure for a year. We tried to make a few brush piles with the small limbs for rabbits to hide from predators. We kept the brush piles away from blackberry patches as bears were known to enjoy rabbit on occasion and would find it no problem to dig through a brush pile for a tasty treat.

We worked hard until six. I was dragging, and I think both men were also tired. I looked at them both and said, "Let's go home. It's time for supper."

The two men were very happy with the money I gave them. I was going to have to go to the bank to get more cash soon. Tomorrow was going to be the last day of the week for us, since I needed to go to market early Saturday morning. I had an idea and wanted to see if it was possible.

Supper was all leftovers and was barely warm. The biscuits were left over from breakfast, but were still delicious under more beef stew. The two women were quiet this evening, and even Ben was a little evasive. We talked about Saturday market, and I told Ben what I wanted to do.

"Ben, I want to see what I can do about trading for another cow. It will have to be giving milk now, or there would be no reason to buy her. I would think if the cow was ready to breed, that would be a good time. She would milk for another six months before going dry. I know I bred our cow late, but I didn't know I could get the vet up here to do artificial insemination. I thought I would have to take her somewhere to get bred."

Ben said, "There's a man that is going to sell out his place over on the other side of town. He wants to sell out his stock, and that includes a good Jersey cow. He has a couple of Holsteins too, but I think you only want the milk with heavy butterfat. If George is smart, he'll buy the Holsteins. You know, you might even be in the market for his pigs. I think they are all near shipping weight. Can you get a bunch of bacon and some more hams in the smoke house?"

"What do you think I'll have to give for the cow? If he's going to sell his farm, he won't need anything I could trade him."

Ben thought about it for a while, "Charlie likes his shine, and I know he used to come all the way over here to get some of Bud's wine. I'd say if you were to do some work for him, he'd make you a deal. He needs some things done around his place to make it right to sell. Make your deal by helping him fix up his place."

I explained what I wanted to finish up tomorrow, and how I was going to use the two men the following week. I also figured on making a trip into Pine Ridge to sell wine Saturday afternoon. I was getting fifteen dollars a gallon for the wine I didn't think was that good, and twenty-five for Bud's good wine and the good stuff I had made. If I could get a few hundred dollars for the wine, I would have the cash to pay the men.

After Ben left, I went to take a shower, not knowing if I was going to have company or not. Summer joined me and was sweet the way she handled me so gently. She really liked me washing her hair and leaned up against me with her small chest poking me with her diamond hard nipples. She didn't try to start anything, and didn't complain. She washed me as I washed her. When she began to get out of the shower, I was going to turn the water off, but she said, "Momma needs a shower too."

Hmm, why would momma need help?

Mildred got into the shower, and I gave her the shampoo treatment and a thorough body wash. She leaned into me with her slightly larger breasts, and held her face up to mine for kisses. She was stroking me as we kissed. Mildred said to me, "I am here to give myself to my man. Summer and I have been stingy with you. Let me do for you and we will talk."

There was no hesitation while she went to her knees and between her hands, lips, and tongue, I quickly basted her tonsils. Mildred rose to her feet and kissed me. "I enjoy doing that for you. It makes me feel important to you to be able to do that."

I'm no dummy, I won't tell her any different.

When we were dry, with them dressed in their gowns and me in my boxers and T-shirt, we sat in our chairs in front of the low fire. Summer had poured us all some wine and we sat in our chairs with the big TV off.

Mildred began telling me about their day, "Summer and I had Ben take us to see Martha, the preacher's wife. We had a long talk about how we live and what Summer wants to do with you. We thought she would know best how we should think about our happiness together."

Summer said, "Martha even had Pastor Harold come to talk to us. She said there were many places in the Bible where men had more than one woman, but today, in the time we now live, it is not common. The pastor showed us passages in the Bible about men with more than one wife, and who had children by many wives. Again, he said that later in the Bible, it says there should be only one man and one woman."

Mildred continued again, "But Martha told us that didn't mean that it would be wrong if we were all to be together. It would just be something that others wouldn't understand and shouldn't know about. He did say that if we were to get married, you could only be married to one of us. We talked about all of that for a long time. Both of them were very nice and wanted to make sure we came back to church Sunday. We told them we would be there and Ben was coming with us."

Summer was fidgeting around and finally said, "I want to be with you, but I don't know whether I want to marry you. I want to be with you, but I may want someone else later. Maybe I'll find someone my age. I told Martha that, and she said if I felt that way, I should probably not do anything with you. She said it would be important for the man I do that with the first time to be the one I will be married to or be with for the rest of my life. I think I understand and I will wait. I might still want to experiment with you, but I will save that special part for when I get married."

Whew, I got by that one. I was almost disappointed, but then not really, as this way there wasn't a situation of who to and who not to.

Mildred got up and kissed me before heading to bed. Summer followed her mother's example and kissed me on the way to bed. I made sure the fire was banked and followed.

I actually had one of the best night's sleep that I've had in a long time. There was no pressure and no groping that shouldn't be. Our situation was going to be fine.

That is until I woke up during the night with the blanket down below my hips, with Mildred holding my sex upright while Summer was being instructed on how to give oral sex. I'll bet if I called Harold or Martha, they would come screaming down the road at the thought of a mother teaching a daughter how to please a man with her hands and mouth.

The inevitable happened. I tried to warn Summer, but her mother encouraged her to continue so she could taste her reward.

When Summer finished sucking every last drop from me, she sat up and smacked her lips, almost like savoring fine wine. She looked deep in thought before leaning back down and gently sucking me some more. She looked at me, "Can you do that again right away, or do I have to wait a while?"

Mildred at least came to my rescue, "A man has to wait a while. If he's rested, he can do that again in a few minutes. Let's let our man rest. He works hard."

Summer moved up and planted a kiss on me that was very mature, but also very spermy. When she was on my shoulder, Mildred kissed me and told me, "You will have to make more so we both get our fill."

What, or how much, would be their fill?

Friday was all vineyard and orchard work. We finished with the old high vineyard and went down to the Jorgenson vineyard. It needed all new posts and wire, and it was going to take a lot of new shoots to plant and fill the vines out. The apple trees were in pretty good shape. We trimmed them and were back up at the house vineyard by noon. After lunch, I showed the men how to dig around the base of the grape vines and mix chicken manure into the dirt. While they were doing that, I put some more barnyard manure on the large area I wanted to use for our new bigger garden. I was careful to have the rows of asparagus and rhubarb marked so I wouldn't plow them up. It took me the rest of the day to prepare the soil on five acres for planting. To have more asparagus, I made a trough for another row of seeds. This wouldn't produce good vegetables for at least a year.

When the day was done, I told the two men, "You have worked hard for me, thank you. Tomorrow is market day and Sunday we go to church. I will pick you up at six-thirty Monday morning. Now let's get you home."

The two men were excited about something this weekend, but I couldn't understand Spanish.

Before going to supper, I cleaned up all the equipment to make sure it was ready for Monday. We still had to fertilize the other two vineyards, but those were not very big. We also had to do the same for the orchard trees. All in all though, we were where we should be. I hope I wasn't planting too big a garden.

Saturday began fast. The girls were up making breakfast early, while Ben and I did our chores. The girls were filling the truck with boxes of jars of our extra vegetables and preserves, along with two big chests filled with nothing but butter. There was no cream this week. We had close to thirty dozen eggs, along with six big slabs of bacon and ten hams, all fresh cooked from the smoke house.

I had to go help Ben load up his two goats, four llamas, and ten sheep. His truck was full. In addition to his stock trailer, he had some good stock racks for his pickup, with a solid rear gate that let down for the animals to unload.

I went back to get the girls and found them in homemade dresses and aprons. I had to ask, "Where did you get the material for those dresses?"

Mildred explained, "This is from all the clothes Eliza gave us that we didn't use. We were able to make dresses and aprons like the other farm ladies wear to market."

That was cute the way they were trying to blend in with the community. Little did they know that it would probably never happen.

Ben was smart and had his animals fresh-washed at the market in a portable stock pen that allowed people to check them out. The one thing Ben had in his favor was that the animals looked very healthy.

Ben had parked next to the man with a couple of cows that we were expecting. The guy's Holsteins were gone quickly, but a lot of people don't like Jerseys because they give less milk. I wasn't looking for quantity so much as butterfat content. I was surprised he had two Jersey cows and not only one, like Ben had said. The man had a gallon jar from both cows that showed the cream separated with large yellow curds in it. I really didn't want two more cows, so I was trying to deal on only one. We settled on four big hams, a slab of bacon, a couple of dozen of our big brown eggs, a couple of pounds of butter, and fifty bucks cash. I had figured I would be over at the guy's place doing repairs or something for the animal, so I was happy. Market day was fast and furious this week, with everyone trading and swapping faster than usual. It was a nice day and people probably wanted to get home to work on their garden, fields, or other outside work.

Ben had been successful in selling his stock for cash, and had our new cow by his truck to take home. The farmer with the cows and I had made a cash deal on his pigs, and all I had to do was go get them. The butcher would be happy to get them and would pay me as much as I paid for them, in addition to giving me most of the bacon and all of the hams to smoke. I also made a deal with the same man for a young steer that was only about eighteen months old to have the butcher cut up and market. He and I were doing some good business together.

We were loading the cow, while the girls were gloating over the cash and merchandise they had traded for, when the farmer came over to us. "Isn't there anyway I can get you to buy this other cow? No one around here wants a Jersey cow right now. You know your animals and what they'll do, so you really should buy her."

"I'm not a big farmer like you, and don't have big buildings. I can handle a couple of cows, but that's about it. The one I bought is to take us through until our regular cow calves in a couple of months. Three milking at once would almost be too much."

The man was scratching his chin, "I probably got in your pocket on the pigs and the steer, and you gave me a hell of lot of food for the cow, so I'll tell you what, give me another fifty bucks, and take this cow home too."

Ben was acting like a kid that needed the bathroom by the way he was dancing around so much. I was trying to be cool, "Well, I don't know, fifty dollars will buy a lot of seed and hay."

The farmer said, "Give me the fifty and come clean out my hayloft. I don't need any hay and there are a lot of bales that are busted up. I have some seed corn that's treated, but it's all sweet corn. I bought it fresh because hardly anyone had any sweet corn last year. I'll give you all of my garden seed too. We're getting ready to move. I could use the fifty dollars though."

I nodded and stuck out my hand. "I'll be over after church tomorrow with a wagon and begin cleaning the hayloft out. I'll bring a broom and sweep it out too."

I had seen George's truck down a ways, and walked down to see him. His wife was selling apple pies, so I told her I would buy one. I got George off to the side, "I need to borrow that big rubber tire wagon you have after church Sunday. I'll probably need it Sunday and Monday. What kind of deal can we make?"

George thought for a minute, then confirmed what wagon I meant, "You mean the one with the tall hayrack sides, right?"

"That's the one. I'm going to need it to haul a bunch of loose bales."

George leaned back against the big fender of his dually one ton pickup, and used his fingers, "I'll trade that wagon, a good three bottom plow with three sixteen inch shears, a good eight foot disk, and the cultivator that goes with the tractor you bought, and you straighten out that other wash area. Now that's a good deal. All of that equipment has a three point hitch. I just put tires on that wagon last year, so it's an even better deal."

I acted like I was going to have to think about it for a minute, before I countered, "I'll do the deal, but I have to get my small fields in first. I'll get your stuff done in a week or ten days, at the longest."

George stuck his hand out and we shook. He said, "Come by and pull it home today. We'll use my tractor with the lift to put the other equipment up on it. Now I can clean out that machine shed I have. See you in a few minutes."

I walked back to where Ben and the farmer were. To the farmer I said, "I have a wagon to do the job, but I need to take the cows home and move some equipment around to use the wagon first. How about tomorrow after church, the way I told you?"

I shook hands again to seal the deal, and then wished I had a beer to celebrate. I told Ben, "I can't go to Pine Ridge today unless we go late. I have to go over to George's and pick up his big hay wagon and some equipment he's getting rid of. He wants me to do his other wash outs and I made a trade. Let's get these cows home and in the yard. You're going to have to get the girls to help you do the milking. If we have three fresh at a time, we'll have to start using ten gallon cans."

As soon as we had both trucks empty, Ben and I took his truck home and he rode with me to get the wagon and equipment. When I pulled up into the yard at George's, he had the wagon out in his drive, turned around, and already loaded. A couple of his Mexican workers were standing by the wagon, smiling. They showed me how to take the side hay racks down and helped me hook the wagon up.

Ben and I drove home slowly, never hitting over forty and going slow over any rough road. A wagon like that doesn't have springs or shocks.

At home, I used the bulldozer like a lift and chained the equipment to the bucket to lift each piece off. I had parked back by the cave where I stored equipment and was able to push stuff around for the new equipment to fit, along with the John Deere.

I went into the house and suggested, "I don't know what you might want to trade, but we have enough time to get over to Pine Ridge."

While the girls scrambled around, getting some trading material together, Ben caught a couple of geese and half dozen guineas. I poured ten gallons of the so-so wine, and ten of the good stuff into plastic jugs. That would give me some cash for next week. When I loaded the truck, I was surprised to see another twelve dozen eggs. "Where did we get so many eggs?"

Summer said, "I saved these to go to the Pine Ridge market. We get a lot of eggs now, and we're getting more every day."

My thought was that we were going to have to have more fried chicken.

To save time, I demonstrated the new road down to the blacktop that started way back on the other side of Stanton. This saved at least twenty minutes or more.

The market at Pine Ridge must get a later start, since we were able to trade and sell most everything. The girls were able to get a lot of fabric and thread, and I was able to sell every drop of my wine. Some of the men would have paid a lot more than I asked for the good wine, but I told them all that I wanted a good rep before I started holding them up.

At five, we went by the dollar store for a couple of things, and to the liquor store for some beer, before hurrying home for chores. Ben was yawning and stretching. I told him, "Take it easy, I'll get the chores this evening and see how the new cows are."

Our cow wanted to be first, so I let her in, fed her grain and washed her bag. When I reached for a tit, she would step sideways. She gave a bawl once to let me know she didn't want to be milked. I rubbed bag balm over her and tested her teats to see if she had milk. She did, but only a drip.

While our cow was having grain, I brought the other two in. We only had two stanchions for milking, so I put a rope halter on the younger of the two and tied her up next to the older one. The older cow milked easily and gave a lot of milk. She was supposed to be about four months before going dry.

The younger cow loved the grain, and stood perfectly still as I washed her with warm water. She was a dripper and was letting down immediately. I didn't have to hustle to milk this one. At least both were gentle. The farmer thought this cow had just been bred and would be giving milk for at least six more months. The farmer wasn't sure of the dates, as he had a Jersey bull with the cows at that time.

The evening milking filled up one five gallon can and little bit more in another. Tomorrow morning's milking would be way over five gallons. We were probably going to have to take milk in daily to the early market, or at the longest, every other day.

Knowing Ben was beat, I ran down to his place and milked his goats and threw some hay out to them. He had a good spring house that kept his milk cold. There were a couple of notes on his mailbox, so I figured he would need to deliver milk tomorrow some time.

Ben was very happy that I had done his chores for him. I told him that I put the milk in the spring house and the eggs on the porch. I came back to my place and sprayed his pickup out so that the animal shit wouldn't stick. He had done me a big favor to haul those cows back, and another necessary chore was now taken care of.

Supper tonight was spaghetti with a sauce the girls had traded for. They had made some ground beef meatballs with some Italian seasoning. We had some fresh broccoli someone had brought from another market that went real well with the sauce.

While I was savoring the broccoli, I had an idea. The girls and I needed to go into Lexington to see the social security people. Since Summer was now nineteen, she probably wouldn't get anything from when her father died and the time before she was eighteen. There would be no harm in asking. My idea was to go by a wholesale produce market and buy several hundred pounds of potatoes. People were asking us for potatoes every week, so why not see how much we can buy them for wholesale and resell them at retail. It was worth a try. My hired labor habit was expensive, so I needed to figure out a way to stay ahead of what they cost.

Ben had gone home, and I was having a beer while we all watched the finish of a movie the girls had begun watching. Summer mentioned, "Martha came by at the market and brought a young man by who goes to the same church. He was very clean and looked nice. He also spoke well. I think he's twenty-one or twenty-two, but doesn't go anywhere because his dad needs him on the farm. He says he will see me in church and we might find a way to do something Sunday afternoon.

Now that was a nice surprise. I could see Mildred rocking in her chair with a little smile on her face. Summer wasn't my kid, but I felt protective of her. I'd have to meet this kid.

Because of our long day, we were asleep in minutes.

Sunday began as busy as Saturday.

Ben didn't come up for chores, but showed up before breakfast, freshly scrubbed and shaved, wearing his new duds. I told Ben about the nearly seven gallons the two cows gave, and even he was surprised. I told him I put our old cow by the wall and gave her grain out of a bucket so I would have room for the two cows giving milk. I was going to have to get used to having more than one cow.

Church was very nice today. The preacher talked about the commandments in Bible study and had a lot of other references that related to them. As I suspected, his sermon was similar to most of the Bible study class, but with even more references. Some, I made note of and thought I might even look up.

At the end of the service, Mervin cornered me and said, "I can use you to knock down a path for the new cable lines. I'm sure the cable company is used to paying top dollar, so if you just charge fair, they will pay fast."

I had to tell him, "Mervin, I'm going to be real busy for a couple of weeks. If you can wait ten days to two weeks, I'll begin with you. Make sure you have everyone's permission to go on their land and knock trees down. If I have to cut them up and haul them away too, that's extra."

"Oh wow!" Mervin exclaimed, "You can cut the timber too? That's even better. Shoot, they'll pay some big bucks for you to do the job. What do you have, a couple of Chili beans to help you?"

"I have a couple of Mexican guys that work hard. I don't use them all the time, but they are becoming pretty regular. You get the map ready and I'll quote you a price. Remember diesel fuel is expensive, along with the maintenance of that big rig."

"I know, Mike. The cable company is really pushing to get their equipment into town and out to a couple of distribution points. That's what I need you for. They are bringing it right to their new building, and I have to do the distribution points. I can begin installing cable out to homes and farms right away."

"Mervin, remember that I want broadband, and might even go for cable TV if the number is good. Call me when you have your map so I can give you a price and a start date."

Ben walked out the door after shaking the preacher's hand and went to visit with people he didn't see often.

The preacher stopped Mildred and me as we started out the door. Martha asked, "Mildred, Honey, did our talk help you? Summer seemed happy to meet the Conner boy. He's a real sweetheart and a great worker. His dad says that if he pairs up and marries, they will build him a house near their big one. Bradley has been studying agriculture all his life and really wants to be as good a farmer as his dad."

Mildred was smiling and answered Martha, "Both of you helped with what you told us. We want to do right and understand how others might see what we do as unacceptable. It's like I have to learn about people all over again. Mike is helping us and I think Mike is going to keep me."

I didn't mean to, but I laughed. To make sure I didn't hurt Mildred's feelings, I pulled her to me in a one-armed hug, "Yes, I'm going to keep Mildred. We've formed a good way to live, sort of a partnership. We're both learning how to live with each other."

That must have been the right thing to say, as Harold was pumping my hand as he reminded me, "Remember I can put you two together forever right here, or anywhere you want. Let me do that for you."

Martha gave us both hugs before we went to look for Summer.

We didn't have to look because they found us. Summer came to us with a long lean boy who was almost shuffling his feet from being shy. Mildred said, "Momma, you know Bradley from yesterday. Mike, this is Bradley Conner. He lives over east of town on the same river that's down by our road. He's a farmer like us, but I think they farm a lot of ground."

Bradley and I shook hands and I smiled at the boy to make him comfortable. He had a genuine look about him and I rarely made a mistake about a man.

Summer asked, "Bradley wants to come to the house this afternoon and walk with me. Is that all right? We'll just walk over the new road to the middle vineyard and orchard. We might take something for a little picnic."

Summer was happy and Mildred was ecstatic. She was seeing her little girl become a normal young lady with interests in men, especially men her age.

While we were standing there, an older version of Bradley came up with a lady about his same age. The man stuck his hand out and said, "I'm Stanley Conner, and this is obviously the Summer we've heard so much about since yesterday. Bradley asked me if he can visit your young lady this afternoon, and I've given him permission if you are agreeable. Bradley is a good boy, or man now, and knows how to respect others."

My smile must have told him that was good to hear. I told Stanley, "This is Mildred, Summer's mother, and I'm Mike Grayson."

Stanley looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry, this is my wife, Gracie. We've been married so long we just figure everyone knows us."

"Stanley, your son is welcome this afternoon. I have to help clean a barn this afternoon, so I need to get going. Mildred should be at home if the kids need something. I don't mean to rush off, but I need to get this done today."

We left with Summer waving at Bradley until they were out of sight. She was as happy as anyone could get about visiting with someone her age. Mildred and I were happy too.

I didn't wait, and quickly changed into work clothes and took a couple of sandwiches with me. I hooked the wagon up and drove toward Pedro's and Jesus' house. The two men were waiting for me.

We arrived at the farm and parked the wagon under the big door of the hayloft.

We separated the good bales from the busted ones first. After loading all of the good bales, we began forking out the broken bales and loose hay. It only took us three hours to finish, including sweeping. This was good alfalfa hay, and I was getting low. There was enough that I could give some to Ben and trade some. I think everything Ben and I would need was loose. I would store that up in my hayloft, but we would have to make sure the broken twine didn't get mixed in with the manure. It plays havoc with the manure spreader.

I told the farmer that the butcher would be by in the morning to take his pigs and that should clean him out. The barn was now clean and he was ready to move. I noticed several turkeys and a lot of chickens free ranging. I'd bet the wild critters around there enjoyed the easy meals. The man had me stop by the side door of the barn, where he loaded me up with about ten bushels of seed corn, five bushels of seed oats, and another three bushels of seed sweet potatoes. The truck was sagging when he brought out a big box full of vegetable, pumpkin, and melon seed. This was some major bucks.

I asked, "This is too much to give away. Let me give you something for this."

The man said, "I'm glad to get shut of it all. That's a lot of work you loaded into that truck that I don't have to do. The man who bought the place says he don't want anything I have, so the barn is now empty, and tomorrow the house will be empty. I'm having an equipment auction next Friday that will clean out the machine shed. The place will be totally empty and all his."

It sounded like the buyer was a little arrogant. That's not the way to win friends and influence people anywhere, especially down in the country around here.

Back home, we put the hay up in the barn, and stacked a little over a hundred bales near the door to sell or trade.

I took the two men home and paid them. Pedro said they would be ready at six-thirty in the morning.

At home, Mildred and Ben were watching television. I thought Ben had gone gentleman farmer on me. I did the cows and pigs, and checked to see if anyone had taken care of the chickens. The eggs had been gathered and fresh water and grain was out. Either Summer was home or Mildred had done it.

Summer was inside, and that's when I remembered the truck that had been out in the yard was gone.

We ate to the symphony of Summer and Mildred talking about Bradley. If they kept on, I'd have to check for the big "S" on his chest. That gave me a smile.

Ben was full and happy. He thanked us for taking him to church. He said he was looking forward to next Sunday.

I watched him as he walked out to his truck. He wasn't moving all that spry. I'll have to get up a little earlier to take care of his chores.

Mildred asked me if I was going to take a shower, since I was sweaty looking from working with the hay. I should have guessed that what she wanted had nothing to do with a shower. She had brought a little package with her and we used it appropriately. She was happy, I was happy, and when we went to bed, Summer was happy on my other shoulder.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 10

The week started fast as I had some big plans for what I wanted to accomplish. The garden ground was busted up and smoothed, ready for planting. With six of us working to plant the five acres, we moved along fast. Since tonight was the full moon nearest St. Patrick's Day, we cut up all of the potatoes to be planted.

The tractor could prepare the ground, even make a trench to plant potatoes and vegetables, but you still had to plant potatoes and seeds by hand. The six of us were able to finish the potatoes that first day. When I drove Pedro and Jesus home that evening, Pedro told me, "We have a truck now. If you don't mind, can you still pick us up? The others have to go to George's every day and that is a long walk."

"No problem, Pedro. You and Jesus have been good workers for me."

That evening Mildred asked, "Is our garden going to be too big? The garden is bigger than the meadow by our old place."

"Mildred, five acres is about six hundred sixty feet long by three hundred thirty feet wide. The way we are planting, we will have about a hundred sixty rows, four feet apart, and about three hundred and thirty feet long. The first five rows are rhubarb and asparagus, next are sweet potatoes, then regular potatoes, followed by sweet onions. We'll plant all of the pumpkins and melons before using up our vegetable seed. We'll plant sweet corn in any rows left. I plan on using up all of the seed I got from the man we got the cows from, so I'll plant one of my other fields in sweet corn and one in oats. I'll still have my big field in hay, and I think I'll plant Ben's acreage in hay. He says we can use his land as he's not working it any longer."

Summer held her arms out wide, "We'll be able to feed the whole county. Momma and I won't have to can much if we trade all of our vegetables."

It took two more days to finish the garden, and two more to finish up the vineyards and orchards. I was proud to have renewed those old vineyards, knowing that they would produce abundantly in a couple of years.

Saturday's market was busy this week, as we had a huge quantity of butter, buttermilk, and cream. I left the ladies with the pickup and walked over to the area where people had equipment to sell.

There was a hydraulic log splitter for sale with a sign, "Needs Major Repairs". I could really use one of these to bust up all of my wood to cure. I looked at the splitter for at least twenty minutes before a guy with bibbed overalls came up to me. "Think you can fix it? A couple of men said it would cost more to fix it than it's worth. I suppose I can sell it for scrap iron, but it just seems as if someone should be able to fix it."

"What is happening when you try to use it?"

The man pointed to the dual hydraulic pistons and said, "When it's splitting the wood, fluid squirts down the side of the tube. Those are sealed units and no one thinks you can get to the seals to replace them."

The guy could see my interest and asked, "What will you give me for it?"

I looked him in the eye. "Not much, considering you're going to sell it for scrap. What's the minimum you'll take?"

The man shuffled his feet digging a path in the gravel. "It's got to be worth twenty-five bucks. I have all of the books for it and a five gallon can of hydraulic fluid. That's twenty-five bucks worth."

I stuck my hand out and said, "It's a deal. Have you greased the wheel bearings recently, or do I need to load it into the back of my truck?"

"Tires and bearings are good. It'll follow you home just fine. Let me know if you ever fix the thing."

Sure hope I can fix the piece of equipment; something like this would save me days and days getting ready for the winter.

We were done early and went home. There was no desire to go to Pine Ridge, so we were home kicking back. Bradley Conner came up to the house about six and asked if he could take Summer to the theater in town. He apologized for the last minute plan, but said he didn't know what his dad might have had for him do.

It didn't take Summer but five minutes to get ready, then the two were driving down the lane. Mildred told me, "My little girl is growing up. The way those two look at each other, I'll bet they get together permanently one of these days."

I pulled the Ford tractor out of the machine shed and parked it in the cave with the other equipment. I pushed the splitter into the machine shed and began taking it apart. I could see seams where parts fit together, so I figured there had to be a pin or key holding it together. I couldn't find it so I cleaned up and went inside with the manual.

It took me all of three pages to find where the pin was that held everything together. It was difficult to see, as it was under the knuckle of the push shaft. Just to make sure, I took my flashlight out to find the pin for myself. It was right where it was supposed to be. I figured a couple of nights working on the splitter and I would have one of the two Latino guys splitting and stacking. We were going to have to hunt up some downed hickory trees to hold us through the year. We could use the dead apple trees, but hickory tasted and smelled better.

We went over to George's on Monday morning to straighten out his other washed out field. We repeated the process we used before, and with the help of explosives, we blew the stumps out and used them to fill in the washes. There wasn't a bluff to use to border the creek on the opposite side this time. There were a lot of trees on that side that required a lot more cutting than I anticipated. The second morning, we brought my wagon and loaded it up with pieces of hickory and black walnut logs. I was going to have to shop these logs to find out what they were worth. It took all three of us to load the longer logs suitable for use in cabinetmaking. I knew there were still some furniture makers in North Carolina, not all that far away, who would love to have all this black walnut. I hoped I could get some of them to come bid and take the logs away. Once again, George had his men bring a wagon down and haul all of the oak up to his place.

At the end of the second day, the creek was straight and we had built a sea wall, or a creek wall in this case, and flow dams so water wouldn't wash out the banks again. If anything, it would wash out in the other direction. George was happy, I was happy, and Pedro and Jesus were happy. I told them that I would pick them up at seven the next morning, so they could sleep in a half hour longer. My thought was to walk through the fields to see what had to be done to plant the oat seed we had. I figured it was all pretty well drained, plowed, disked twice, so broadcast sowing would be easy, and then a light disking should do the job. I was pleased that the seed was for hull-less oats, so I wouldn't have to worry about milling them to make them edible. I also wanted to go through the vineyards and orchards one more time to make sure they all were taken care of, especially the old vineyards on the other side of the mountain.

That night was the second one that I worked on the splitter. The seals on one side had dried out and rolled, opening up some gaps for fluid to squirt out. I measured the sizes of all of the seals on the machine, checking the sizes against the manual for the right seal material and nomenclature, and promised myself a quick trip to town in the morning.

I was cleaned up and thinking of going to bed early when my phone rang. It was Mervin. "Hey, Mike, I told you I wouldn't bug you, but the cable company has everything installed and is ready for me to take it out to the distribution points. I have the map you asked for. When can we get together to go over the work?"

"Tell you what, Mervin, I'll be in town in the morning and can meet you at the Kitchen around nine, if that's good for you?"

"That's good, Mike; I'll see you at nine at the Kitchen."

I told the ladies what I had planned, and they wanted to get a bunch of butter, cream, and eggs together for the Kitchen. Our commodities were always welcome.

The next morning, I set the two Latino men up to be busy until noon and possibly longer. I figured I should be back by then. Mildred and Summer rode into town with me and accompanied me into the Tractor Supply store. The parts guy didn't blink at the seal sizes and part numbers and began assembling the order for me. To save on my cash, I paid with my debit card this time.

The seals had cost forty-two bucks, so the total dollar outlay for the splitter was going to be sixty-seven dollars for something that would sell used for well over a thousand dollars.

At the Kitchen, I sat with Mervin as he showed me his maps. He also had copies of the landowners' agreements to allow him to run his feeds. The way it looked, one direction was going to be tough and one easy. I told Mervin I would begin walking the two paths in the morning. I thought the man was going to hug me. I advised Mervin, "Let me walk the two paths first to see what it is going to take to clear it. Why don't you come along so you can see what I will have to do? If you have any of your cable company engineers around, they may want to walk it with me."

Mervin didn't want to take the time from his other work, but said he could have a cable company man go with me. He told me, "Whatever you do, get me that bid right away so they can approve it and I can get started."

The next morning, I set-up Pedro and Jesus for the day and took off to meet the cable company engineer at the Kitchen. He was smart and was wearing heavy boots and clothes that would handle brush.

Using my handheld GPS, I logged numbers on the straight through path until we came to a ravine that was over fifty foot deep and a hundred foot across. I marked the locations and spray painted a marker tree before we made our way back to my truck and the base unit where the distributions were going to originate. It was lunch time, so we ate at the Kitchen before going back out. We drove around as near as possible to where the ravine was and climbed back up the hill. Using the GPS and a compass, we followed the path all the way to where the small building was going to be built that would house the equipment to distribute cable out to customers.

As we walked back to the truck, I asked Gene, the cable company engineer, "Are you going to have trouble spanning that ravine, or do we need to look for a way around?"

Gene was quick; "Our crews should be able to do that one all right, but it's going to take twice the men for that span. Too bad these old county maps don't show ravines like this."

I suggested, "I'll print out a satellite photo of the path tonight that we can look at tomorrow. I think that run is going to be really tough."

Before making my way home, we agreed to meet at the same time, and I went by the library and looked up the coordinates and let Google Earth find a reasonable satellite photo of the areas we were going to be clearing. I printed out a couple of dozen pages to use as a guide.

At home the men had accomplished everything I wanted from them and had begun putting stakes up to hold cord wood. Pedro said, "If you keep us, we will keep splitting wood to be busy and fill these up to dry. You have a mound of chunk that is almost higher than your machine shed."

The work needed to be done, so they would earn their keep if I let them continue. I hoped to finish the splitter tonight and if I did, they could use that tomorrow and make a big dent in the stack of blocks.

Knowing that we were going to be super busy, I rebuilt the splitter after supper. Once done, I hooked it up to the John Deere and split several of the two and half foot lengths for the fireplace. I could see how someone could wear out something like this. Once satisfied it could do the job, I put it and the John Deere away and planned tomorrow for my two Latino workers.

After picking up the men the next morning, I spent half an hour showing them how to use the splitter and cautioning them as to how dangerous it can be. I even was able to find a couple pairs of clear goggles for them to wear. When I was comfortable with their ability to use the equipment, I drove to the Kitchen to begin my second day with the engineer.

A mile from the origination point, we came to a bluff that was at least a hundred feet straight up. Gene said, "This will be a problem, since the top is going to be solid rock and we won't easily be able to plant a pole. Does your satellite photo show a way around?"

We took a few minutes to plot a new direction around the bluff, and ended up using a path just off the roadway to go up the small mountain we had to go over. Once over the top, it was a straight shot to where the new building was going to be. There was a small river and several creeks, but other than having to go around to the other side, this was something I could do. As we drove back to town, I called Mervin to meet us at the Kitchen so we could go over what we saw so I could make a bid.

As soon as Mervin came in and sat to have some coffee with us, he was asking for my bid. I think Gene, the engineer, thought Mervin was a little pushy, but he was used to distributors and their ways.

I had my pad with me and wrote out a long hand quote for the work. I priced it way up as I knew there were many areas where I would have to back out and go around because of ravines, stone bluffs, and rivers.

Mervin gasped when I showed the bid to him and the engineer, but the engineer didn't seem fazed. I spoke up, "Mervin, if you want a printed formal bid, I can do this on my PC at home tonight. How do you want it?"

Mervin was grinning. "This is perfect, they will think they're dealing with a local yokel and beating someone out of some big bucks. I know you're fair, but this is a little more than I anticipated."

"Fuel, Mervin, fuel is the problem. This job is easily going to be three or four hundred gallons of fuel. At what diesel costs, the job is going run at least twenty percent higher. My time isn't cheap, and we have a lot of timber to cut up. Let's hope there's a lot more hickory and walnut than oak."

"Don't worry, Mike; they will pay this without batting an eye. You're more than fair, but higher than what I thought. I don't have to do the work, so I don't really know what's involved in doing this."

The engineer told me, "Make sure you're being fair to yourself. What we just walked is a hell of a lot of difficult terrain to go through. I'll recommend you get the bid right away, because I doubt anyone else would look at the job right and would have had us in a mess in a couple of places."

The Kitchen had a PC and printer that could copy a piece of paper, so I made myself a copy of the bid and told Mervin, "We will be working from the road to the main hub first. Considering how many men it's going to take to clear the timber, this could take a while. When I have that done, I'll be able to give you an estimate on the time for the rest of the runs."

Back at home, I found my two men working hard splitting wood. They now had over twenty cords of split wood stacked to cure inside posts. The pile of logs yet to be split made me think there was probably another twenty cords. That was even before we began splitting hickory.

I spoke to my two workers before I took them home. "Pedro, Jesus, listen carefully. Tomorrow, we will begin a job that will probably take a month or even more. If I only use you two, it could take two or three months, but the company who wants this done wants it faster, so I want you to find me four more men who can work. They will be cutting up trees and hauling them off. We'll use the John Deere and the big wagon to haul the timber out. I want all the walnut in logs, the same as now. Keep it separated so I can sell it instead of using it for the fires."

Pedro asked, "Do the men have to speak the English?"

"No, but if they don't, you will be busy telling them what to do. So if you get others that have a problem speaking English, they must be able to take direction from you, Pedro. If they argue with you, I'll fire them. Do you understand?"

"I do, Mike Grayson, I do. I will explain that to them. You are a good man to work for. You help with us getting to the job and you always pay us fair. We like to work for you."

"Pedro, should we wait a day before starting this job, or do you think you will have people to help starting tomorrow?"

Pedro was all puffed up, "We will have four more good men tomorrow. They will work hard or we will send them home." You knew he was serious, as Jesus was nodding his head in agreement. I was satisfied.

I picked up all of the workers the next morning. Four of them had to ride in the back of the pickup, but they didn't seem to mind. I had Pedro connect the John Deere to the big wagon, but only with the low fencing on the bed to hold firewood.

Ben drove my truck with men in it, leading Pedro with the tractor and wagon. I drove the big truck with the bulldozer in front of all of them so I could position the truck and trailer where I could get the bulldozer off. We were all unloaded and ready to begin working by nine, which was at least an hour before I thought I could be ready.

Pedro knew how I wanted to do stuff, so he watched as I used the GPS and compass with a spray can of yellow paint to mark the path of where I was going. The straighter the path, the better it will be. After marking a mile, I went back to the group and told Pedro, "I'm going to knock these trees down I already marked. There's a mix of oak and hickory, but there are three nice black walnut trees that we need to keep separate. If we do this right, we might come out way ahead. As soon as I cut down an oak or hickory, cut it for how we use it and load it on the wagon. After a mile, I'll let you catch up and I'll mark the next mile. Keep an eye out for any hickory that has fallen and is dry. We can cut that up and use it for the smoke house now."

I could see Pedro's eyes glaze over at the task that lay ahead of us. Hopefully, I could push the trees over instead of having to cut them and blow the stumps.

I was able to finish the first mile just after lunchtime, but no one had stopped. Ben had vanished and reappeared with the two women carrying baskets of sandwiches with iced tea and coffee. The men were coming right along and were stacking the main walnut logs and big limbs together for me to sell separately. Ben had already made a trip back to the farm with a wagon load of cut pieces to unload there.

We were making good progress with both Jesus and Pedro using the saws. The second mile was miserable, since the trees didn't want to be pushed over, and I had to go around them, on to the next to await that tree being cut down by saw, blowing the stump, and pushing the root ball out.

When I figured on what we had completed at the end of the day, we had cleared a good mile and a half, although I was through two miles with the bulldozer. Behind me, the men had cut most of three quarters of a mile, but the cutting and hauling was more than I anticipated. Thank goodness I figured this job big enough to retire on. I laughed at that, but I did overprice the job just for these contingencies.

When I had all of the men back at their home, I told Pedro, "I can use as many as six more tomorrow so you can keep up with me. I will buy saws tonight so we have the equipment. Find out who can use a saw and what other skills each of the men have. I'll pay you an extra two dollars an hour to be a working foreman, and Jesus an extra dollar an hour to be your assistant while we have so many working. Can you do that for me?"

You would have thought I just awarded Pedro the Pulitzer Prize the way he puffed up. He shook my hand profusely and promised to be ready for the morning and have another six men.

I had to hustle as the stores close early. At the big Tractor Supply store, I wanted to buy at least two twenty-four inch and one thirty-six inch chain saw. I also wanted a long two man hand-drawn crosscut saw for cuts where we couldn't use the big chainsaw. I found out I should buy the biggest toughest chainsaw and buy longer bars and chain to use with it. I also got a big DeWalt drill with a set of two inch spade bits on three foot extenders, and a small generator to power it. Drilling into the tap roots, either from the side or straight down, would make blowing the stumps quicker and safer because we could drop a quarter stick of the blasting gelatin into the holes and not even tamp them.

I might be getting in over my head.

The fancy store didn't have anything but one twenty-four inch, but said they could have what I wanted within a week. I bought the one they had and went down the street to a shop that I knew repaired and sold new and used outdoor equipment.

I walked in as two older men were chatting. The man behind a counter asked, "What can I do you for, Neighbor?"

I introduced myself, "I'm Mike Grayson from up on Mystery Mountain. I'm in need of a couple of big chainsaws and probably a little instruction. I've been doing okay with an eighteen and a twenty-four inch, but we've been cutting up a lot of trees that are over four feet across."

The man behind the counter looked at the old man on my side. The man on my side stuck his hand out, "Ezra Walker. Are you in the timber business?"

"No Sir, I'm clearing a cable path, something like a logging road, for Mervin and the cable company, and to do this I have to cut up a lot of trees. I'm keeping the oak and hickory to bust up for fire and smoke house wood, and I'm saving the walnut to see if I can sell it in the city."

The man across the counter said, "Ezra, this man might be the answer to your problem. Mister, ah, Mike, you said, right? Ezra here was hurt bad about a year ago and has found out he's never going to cut timber again. He was one of the only dependable men around, and since then all that's left is a bunch of shine feeders that work a half day and drink or recover the other half. Ezra has a bunch of equipment he's trying to sell to help with his retirement, so you two need to talk."

Ezra was trying to see inside me, and asked, "How many men you have working?"

"Normally only two but I brought four more on today, and another six tomorrow for a dozen total. I'm going to use my two main men as working foremen. The way the job is going, it's going to be at least a month, perhaps two months."

Ezra asked, "Any of those men experienced with timber?"

"I'm not sure about any of the new men, but both of my original two men have some experience."

"You know what you need Mike Grayson? You need an old fart like me to show your men how to cut timber. Hire me to teach and I'll save you a lot of time and money. Buy my equipment at a fair price, and I'll work real cheap. Besides, I don't got nothing to do anyway."

Without really thinking about it I stuck my hand out and said, "You have yourself a deal, Ezra. How do we do this?"

Ezra grinned, "You tell me where to meet you and I'll show up tomorrow morning with a truck load of equipment. I'll show your men how to work, and watch them to make sure they don't kill themselves. I take it you're using that bulldozer to work ahead."

When the man behind the counter saw my confusion about someone knowing I was using a bulldozer, he said, "Everyone knows about Mike Grayson from up on Mystery Mountain. You've got quite a reputation for only being here a little over a year."

Ezra said, "I know you're using those Mexicans like George does. I knows some Spanish so I don't have no problem working with them. I used them to cut timber all the time. At least they usually don't spend all their time drinking shine."

Now I was beginning to feel as if I might have this project under control. "What else do I need, Ezra? Tell me so we're set for all day tomorrow at least."

"Just have plenty of fuel and oil for them saws, and a roll of extra chain wouldn't be bad. Get a box of keepers and you should be good to go. All my equipment is ready to go. Hell, I haven't had anything to do except rebuild my stuff and help Jimmy out here."

We made our plan to meet. He knew exactly where I was talking about, so I paid for my equipment before leaving for home.

Ben and the women surprised me. All of the chores were done, and food was on the stove waiting to go on the table. We discussed what all I was doing and how many new people there would be tomorrow. Ben was excited that Ezra was going to be working with me. He told me, "That man was one of the best timber men in the area. He could come on your land, cut out just the right amount of timber, and leave your place looking good and not like you raped it. The man knows his trees."

My eyes were drooping when it was bedtime. I took a quick shower and was sound asleep by ten.

I was wide awake at five, rushing through the chores and coming back in to shower, shave, and eat breakfast. The girls told me they knew how to do the chores and I shouldn't worry about them while I was doing this big job. That reminded me that I wouldn't have enough cash to pay everyone daily unless I went to the bank. That was something else to mess up my day.

I had Ben follow me when I went to pick the men up, since I couldn't bring ten men in the bed of my truck. Once at the site, we found Ezra already there in a big Ford F650 diesel with a long bed on it. The bed had a huge array of timbering tools on it.

I wondered whether or not I was expected to buy the truck, along with the tools. This is getting to be ridiculous. I now had more equipment than most contractors had. Ezra and I shook hands before he said, "I didn't know how much room you had out here, but I'll trailer the bobcat lift out here to drag the big stuff out. I have something for everything."

I was afraid of that.

I told everyone, "Let Ezra teach you and I'll be right back. I have to go into town for a minute."

The bank was surprised to see me waiting for them to open their doors. I wrote a check for cash to the tune of two thousand dollars and hoped that would carry me through the week. I really didn't put any numbers to paper, so it was just a guess. I made them give me all small bills to make it easier to pay each one individually.

Back at the site, I showed Ezra the trees I couldn't knock over, and said, "These are all walnut. Can you make sure they cut them as close to the ground as possible to save the good timber?"

"We'll do that for sure, Mike. Those big walnut trees will bring good money. I know the mills that pay the best. When we get a load, I'll haul them up to the mill and start you an account. Sometimes they'll come out to the job site to pick up what you have. It depends on whether you have enough for a load. You know, they'll take oak, too. They like some varieties over another, but I know which ones. We'll sell all of the black oak and haul it with the walnut. Everything else, we'll cut up the way you like in two or two and half foot lengths to split later."

I had made some good progress by lunch time, having pushed all the way to the first river that I would have to go around. On the way back, I could see the men were making headway cutting the trees I had left standing.

Everyone was crowded around Ben's truck, where my two women were handing out big tin cups of soup and fat sandwiches of roast beef. I'll bet these guys will be bragging to the other people they lived with about the good lunch they had.

I thanked Ben for doing all of this running. The old man smiled at me. "It's your gas and I get a free lunch out of it. This is better than fighting my goats for milk in the morning."

I told Ben, "You know what, I'm going to have to teach Mildred how to drive. I think she needs to be able to drive a pickup, so that if she needs something from in town, she can go get it instead of waiting for me. What do you think, Ben, think she can do it?"

"Probably, Mike. She already drives the tractor in the field and has made a couple of passes with the cultivator to make sure she can stay in the rows. She has been perfect so far. She hasn't dug anything up yet. I might begin teaching her a little. Your big truck is too big, but Bud's old truck would be the right size. You'll have to get her something with four wheel drive for the winter, but that will do for right now."

Ben and Ezra had a good time visiting. I could tell Ezra had a following of the Mexican laborers, since they all looked up to him as the boss.

After lunch, Ezra wanted me to blow all of the stumps he had ready and push the root balls out. He had found places for all of the root balls so far, so disposing of them would be easy. There are always washes to fill an area in with them. That pretty much killed the rest of the day, so we were loading equipment up around five thirty.

Ezra said, "Let me take all these saws home and sharpen them to make sure they are ready for tomorrow. We did a lot of work today and made good progress. We should be done with this side of the river by noon."

Paying twelve men was an adventure. I had to record every man's name, whether real or not, their social security number, real or not, and what their current address was. I was going to have to get someone to help me with this, since I was paying out too much money to not be able to take a tax deduction for labor.

The next morning was a different story. It was raining hard and didn't act like it was going to slow down soon. I had only been up five minutes or so when my cell phone rang. It was Ezra, "You're not planning on working in the rain, are you?"

"No, Ezra, no sense in being silly; we'll have to make sure it isn't too wet tomorrow. I'll call our laborers and tell them we'll take the day off. Say, Ezra, how did you handle your taxes using the Mexicans?"

"Mike, the easiest way to do it is to treat them all as subcontractors. Give them each a 1099 after each job and let them worry about taxes. The two men you had before this job are good men and you might want to see if you can get them straight with the law. Get them Social Security numbers and let them pay taxes like the rest of us. If they are serious about doing right, they will welcome the chance."

"All good ideas, Ezra, but who do I see to figure out how to do all of this?"

Ezra chuckled, "The only one in town, Mike. Go see Benson. He'll turn you on to a bookkeeper and help get the men you want some working papers. He seems to have some kind of direct link to immigration."

I called the house that Pedro lived in. He answered instead of Yoda's offspring. He said he understood and would advise the others. I told him I would call tonight about five.

After chores, I told everyone I was going to see Benson to set some things up. Ben wanted to come along, as he was planning on paying his property taxes early to get his discount. He also wanted to visit a couple of places at the courthouse.

Benson was happy to see me and was able to lay a plan out for me. With a single phone call, he had a lady come to his office that said she handled the books for several of the businesses in town. When I asked if she was the one I could use for taxes, she became a little huffy. "I am a Board Certified Public Accountant. I'll have you know I graduated fifth in my class from the University of Kentucky. I do taxes for most everyone in town, including Benson."

Benson was grinning. "Take it easy, Maude. Mike doesn't know everyone in town yet. He's only been here a year. You don't go to Church, so you don't know him from there, and he just doesn't know your background."

"Sorry, Maude," I apologized, "I'm not used to having so many professionals around me like there is here in Stanton."

That was the right thing to say as she was now sitting peacefully, smiling.

By noon, everything was arranged and I had directions on what kind of local paperwork I needed and when and how to turn it in to Maude. Benson took Pedro's and Jesus' information down and asked me to bring them in for photographs and an interview. We set it up for after lunch.

As a way to make my new accountant happy, I took her to lunch at the Kitchen. She was happy to accompany me, as she confided, "I am one of the more eligible spinsters in town. You bringing me to lunch will make the tongues wag. They won't look past their noses and just gossip. I already know you have the Jorgenson girl and her daughter at your place, so I'm not going to put the rush on you. If you had found me earlier, I might have been easy. I just love big strong men like you."

This town and the people in it are really classic.

I called Pedro and asked him to have Jesus ready with all of their documentation so we could make sure they were both legal. They were ready when I went to get them.

At Benson's office, he looked over both men's documents and announced, "Pedro, you are legal. You are probably eligible to apply for citizenship, but you need to pay taxes. I'll help you figure out what you owe and I'll bet we can get you caught up."

Benson switched to Jesus' paperwork. "Jesus, don't show this junk to anyone. Do you have your real Mexican documents so I can work with them? I'll get you work status, but you have to pay taxes too, especially if you want to stay. Do you?"

Jesus was nodding his head as he had understood everything so far. He was sitting with his cap in his hand and humbly, said, "I want to live and work here. I want to be American and live without fear of someone shooting me or my family at night. I will do what is necessary. I have a wife and two children that I need to have cards for too. Tell me what to do and I will do it. Mike Grayson told me to learn English, I have learned the English every night since then."

Benson looked at me and commented, "Do you see why I have to help these people? These two men are typical. One is legal, but doesn't know how to act, and the other is totally clueless, but wants to succeed so badly he does everything anyone suggests."

I told Benson, "I have ten more men that I may have to have you work on. I'll make my mind up on them soon. I really didn't want to be in the contracting business, but I can see that it is going to be more difficult to get out of than it was to get into."

Benson and I helped the two men fill in all of their federal tax forms, and we made up some numbers to go with the 1099s that I made out. We would be up to date now, so I would have to withhold some tax money from their checks, and would also have to contribute some for them. Both were surprised I was willing to do that for them.

I was home doing chores by five, enjoying not being soaked in sweat and grime. I was enjoying a cup of coffee and a great piece of pie with Mildred after supper.

Mildred was acting bashful. "Ben said you want me to learn to drive your truck. Do you really want me to do that? Do you trust me to not run off if I learn?"

I quickly looked up at Mildred. "Would you leave if you could? Do you think I'm keeping you here against what you want?"

Mildred was still looking down and answered, "I want us very much. I want to remain at your side for all of my time. I feel we have mated, but you haven't mentioned anything to the preacher about making us permanent. I just didn't know how you really felt."

I could feel Mildred's plea and went to her, gathered her in my arms, holding her to me. "Mildred, yes, we are mated. I wouldn't have believed it, but I have found a mate. We'll talk to Harold and Martha to see when we can have him make us permanent. I hope that will make it easier to realize that I do want you to stay, and that I really do care for you."

Mildred looked up at me with a little half grin. "In the books, the characters always hug and kiss at times like this and use those special words."

This almost made me laugh. "Yes, Mildred, I love you. I've never said that to another woman except my mother. I love you, Mildred."

That tripped her trigger as she was all over me, hugging, kissing, and asking me to take her to bed to help with her urge. I've always wondered where this urge stuff came from. While Summer watched TV, Mildred and I took care of her urge a couple of times. By the time Summer came to bed, the room smelled especially fragrant.

The next morning, it was as if there was a new Mildred. It was as if I had unlocked some unseen shackle that she felt she had been locked up in. She was outside helping with the chores to the point that we were done and in the house before Summer had breakfast halfway done. We both took a shower, and I assisted with Mildred's urge some more and dressed for the day.

It was still raining lightly, so there was no way to work. I had called Pedro last night to advise him we wouldn't work today, but I think he was happy about that as he was celebrating his new status as a taxpaying employee.

When we finished breakfast, I called Harold to ask him if Mildred and I could visit with him. He was happy to have us come over.

We left Ben and Summer watching morning game shows as we went toward town. Harold and Martha were happy to see us. Martha immediately asked me, "Is it time to put you two together?"

I smiled, "Yes, it is time. Mildred and I have agreed that we are intended for each other, and both agree that we are mated for life. We want to make that permanent in the eyes of all."

Harold talked to us for a long time about what marriage was and the trials we would have over the years. After he was assured this was what we really wanted, he asked, "How about if I marry you after church service Sunday? That way, everyone will be witnesses to the two of you getting together. I think they were wondering about you, Mike. You've let Summer be a steady visitor with Bradley, and you always show Mildred every respect in public. I think some might have thought you weren't interested in women."

Martha was grasping Mildred's hand, "That's not the way I hear it, Harold. Mildred and Mike enjoy each other as much as we do each other."

Harold was smiling, "That is good to hear. Is Sunday a good day? You'll have to go get a license at the courthouse. If you do that today, we'll be sure to have a full church this Sunday because Gert will tell everyone in the county. Martha will make sure there is a reception after the ceremony."

Mildred was bouncing around like a little girl. She said, "I've already made my dress. I will have to redo some of it to wear after the wedding, but it will be exactly what I have always wanted."

I wondered where I was when she had made the dress she was talking about.

We left the preacher's and went straight to the courthouse. Amos wasn't dusting the floor, so he must be done with his extra duty. When we entered the County Clerk's office, Gert looked up and grinned. "How are you, Mr. Grayson? Is this Miss Jorgenson with you? Do you want to look over the old land transactions?"

"No, Gert, we want to get a marriage license. Mildred and I want to get married. We want this so she can move into my bedroom and leave the other just for Summer."

Mildred gave me an 'Oh yeah' crooked grin. Gert was excited, "Sounds like a great way to have this story end, Mike. I'm happy to see this happen."

Gert was filling out the form and asked, "When are you going to tie the knot?"

"It will be after the church service on Sunday, Gert. I always see you in church, so I know you'll be there."

"Oh, I'll be there, and if I can tell enough people, half the town will be there. You know you've become a popular man in these parts. A lot of people think you're doing something right in the way you deal."

"That's good, Gert. I've always tried to be fair and honest."

She filled out the form, asked for thirty dollars, stamped the forms, and handed me an envelope. "Have Harold fill this out and drop it in the mail; he knows all about how to do it. You don't need a stamp; it's already marked for free postage. I'll see you Sunday."

Now I was getting excited.

Oops! Almost forgot. Before leaving town, I called mom. "Hey, Mom, what are you doing Sunday? I guess I should say Saturday and Sunday."

"Well, it's about time I heard from my youngest. Are you still squirreled away up on your mountain, Mike?"

"I love you too, Mom. Yes, I'm still squirreled away up in the mountains and you have to come up Saturday and stay over until Sunday. It's important."

Mom was almost laughing, "Now what's so important about Sunday. Are you planning on smashing all of a church's windows by showing up for the first time?"

"You know me better than that, Mom. I've been going to church regularly. This week is something more important. I'm getting married."

There was a much extended pause before I could hear mom choke back some tears. "Really, Mike. You're really getting married?"

"Yes, Ma'am. The ceremony is right after the church service. There will be a little reception after that, so it might be best to consider staying over until Monday."

"Oh my goodness, Michael, how about your brother and sister, can they come?"

"They could, Mom, but my place isn't big enough for them. They would have to stay in the only motel in town."

"Well, let me find out what they think. I know both of them will be excited to know you're really going to do it. I can't believe it myself. I wish you had Internet up there so I could send you e-mails, but you're too far back in the woods for that. You know I have seen your place from the Google satellite? It looks like you're near the top of the mountain."

"What do you think, Mom? One, can you come, and two, do you want to stay out at the house? It's pretty primitive still, but I'll modernize the place now that I have reason. We do have indoor plumbing and electricity."

"I'll come, Mike, and I'll stay with you. You know that your dad's and my first place was a one room farmhouse in the beginning. We had done a lot of building on to that place by the time you came along. I think we spent more time and money on the barn than the house. But that's how we made our living, wasn't it?"

Mom held back some sniffles before saying, "Let me call your sister and brother so you can make reservations for them if they want to come. I'll call you back in a few minutes."

I told Mildred about my mom coming and how my sister and brother might come. She became so excited that she hid her face in my shirt. "Mike, we are really going to be married, aren't we? Just like my mom and dad. I'm excited to meet your family too. This is as special to me as it is to you." Mildred pulled my head down to kiss her. When we came up for air she asked, "Can we have rings too?"

"Of course Mildred, we'll go get them now. It won't take but a few minutes I'm sure."

The small jewelry store had the plain bands Mildred wanted and accepted my debit card without a problem. Mildred clutched the little box with both rings to her chest in a protective manner all the way home.

We were home, having some coffee, by the time Mom called back. "Oh, Mike, not only are your sister and brother and their families coming, but your Uncle Sid and Aunt Mable want to come too. Sid was always so proud of you for being in the Army. Can you get reservations for all of them? If the rooms are doubles, the two families will only need one room each. Your uncle won't need but a regular room, and I do want to stay with you out on your mountain."

"Let me call the motel, Mom. I don't think they are that busy, so it should be fine. I'll call you back."

Without yellow pages or the Internet, I had to lean on the cell phone 411 to get hooked up with the Starlight Motel located across the street from the Kitchen. I introduced myself before asking about reservations. "This is Mike Grayson."

"Oh, oh, Mr. Grayson, it's so nice of you to call. We are all so excited. We just heard you were getting married after church Sunday. Are you calling about the honeymoon suite?"

There are no secrets in a town this size. Only half of a day, and this has to be the hottest gossip in the county.

"No Ma'am, but I do want to reserve some rooms for relatives who will be in town. Do you have double rooms or only singles?"

The motel attendant advised, "We have both, Mr. Grayson. What do you want to reserve?"

"I want two doubles and one single. The single will be for Sidney Grayson and his wife, my uncle and aunt. The doubles will be for Frank Grayson, his wife, and two kids. That would be my brother. The other double is for Bill Heinlich, his wife, and two kids. The rooms should be reserved from Friday through Sunday. I would doubt they will stay over any longer than Sunday afternoon."

"I have that down for you, Mr. Grayson. We can make sure there is a note for a very late checkout for those who leave on Sunday. Thank you for calling us and good luck Sunday. I'll see you there."

I love small towns. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name, and you didn't tell it to me when you answered the phone."

"Hee, hee, hee, I'm such a flibbertigibbet I forget my manners when I speak to someone well known like you. This is Selma Peterson. My husband Fred and I own the Starlight. Actually, it's my mom's and dad's, but we took over about fifteen years ago. I've seen you at the Kitchen a couple of times. It's hard to miss your yellow-orange truck. You always wear those Army man clothes just like you did the whole time you served. I think the whole community is happy you live here now."

Wow, who would have thought a simple guy could be the topic of that much gossip. I need to warn Mom to talk to my sister and sister-in-law. Those two could feed enough information for the town to mull over for a year.

"Hey, Mom, the reservations are all taken care of. If you think you might rather stay in town, I'm sure they have another room."

Mom was feeling good, "Nope, I'm staying with you. I want to experience farm life again. This will give me a chance to meet and get to know your new family."

"Mom, you need to caution Sissy and Frank's wife to not let their mouths get away from them. This community is a sieve when it comes to anything remotely newsworthy. They spread gossip faster than a special news alert on TV. I only bought the marriage license this morning and the motel owner already knew about the wedding. Make sure they don't offer any family dirt or the mud will fly before an hour passes."

"This sounds just like it did on the farm. We had party line phones though, and that made it easier. If you listened in, you could get all of the local news. Yes, Son, your mother was a gossip too. I still am, except it's with a bunch of other old biddy gossips. We do have fun."

"Okay, Mom; I'll go to town and use one of the library computers to send you a map. My address is just a state route for mail delivery, which means the mailman knows where everyone lives and puts it into their mailbox. There are no street or road signs, so I'll give you directions to town and come get you. The roads are clear, so you shouldn't have trouble driving up here. I have worked on the roads and my lane road to make them more passable."

We said goodbye and I went for some coffee that was staying warm on the back of the big stove. That's when I made up my mind. I was going to remodel as soon as I finished this job for Mervin. My new wife deserved something nicer to make our lives easier. I didn't think we will miss the wood stove, but I was going to put it outside in a summer kitchen. I'd enclose it so if Mildred wanted to use the wood stove for something, it would be available.

The rain had stopped, so I told Mildred and Summer, "I'm going to go check the condition of the ground we're working to see if it's going to be too soft to work. Hopefully, we can get back to work tomorrow."

Ben wanted to ride along, so we went to the area where we would be working and walked over the terrain to make sure I wouldn't bury the bulldozer in mud. There's so much rock in the area that we should be able to work without a problem.

I called Ezra to let him know we could work tomorrow and he actually sounded excited. I called Pedro while driving toward town, but the phone was answered by Yoda's spawn. "Pedro I will get." He was happy to come back to work as well. Missing two days' pay is not a good thing. I suppose I could have used both of them around the barn, but I needed to watch my cash and not use it foolishly.

The next stop was the library. While Ben looked through a bunch of new book releases, I made up a map from Mom's place to Stanton, and a small map that did show how to get to the house. Just for fun, I put the URL for the satellite photo of my place on the mountain. I sent Mom the note and told her to call me when she was nearing Stanton.

I ran into Martha as I stepped out of the library. She happily greeted me and made an offer. "Mike, I know how guys are, and I think I know how Mildred is. She won't ask for anything, but Sunday is a special day for her, Mike. I'd like to make it a little more special with some flowers in the church and some decorations in the meeting and reception room. Could you donate a little to help fix it up?"

"Sure, Martha, I have a couple of hundred on me, is that enough?"

"Mike, that would be wonderful and much more than I was thinking. I'll get the ladies working on it and the church will be beautiful for your bride. Has she thought about who is going to give her away?"

I was shaking my head. "Martha, I'm kind of clueless about these things. How about I have Ben drive her and Summer over to see you about any details that need to happen? If it's something I'm supposed to do, call me. I don't need to wear a tux or something like that, do I?"

"No, Mike, but if you still have your dress uniform, you could wear that. I think that would make you look very distinguished and would remind people that you gave over twenty years of your life for them. I know Mildred will be very proud."

This is getting to be a real production. I was thinking I would have to stop by the bank again but realized that I would only be able to work Thursday, as a lot of my family was coming on Friday.

It's a good thing home was peaceful. Mildred and Summer were excited, but were remaining calm. I asked Ben to take Mildred to see Martha tomorrow after we had the workers on site.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 11



Thursday morning went a lot better than I anticipated. Ezra took over directing the cutting crew and had the men going full out right away. I worked on the other side of the river and I was able to knock over trees for a mile straight.

During the lunch that magically appeared, not only with Mildred and Summer but with Martha as well, I was telling Ezra that I needed to be off tomorrow as I had a lot of family coming in for my wedding. The man scolded me, "You didn't tell me you were getting married Sunday. Hell, I have to be there and I don't know whether my Sunday church suit is clean. Since my Rachel passed, I don't have the ear that hears all the gossip."

When the man quit grousing about me not telling him, he said, "Tell you what; you handle what you have to handle tomorrow, and I'll work these men to the river and start on the other side. You're getting way ahead of us. We have all of those balls ready to push into washes, so you might bring your dozer back here and finish this side. The distance you have cleared on the other side is more than we're going to be able to do tomorrow. If you want, I can pass their money out for you. I'll only work them eight hours tomorrow."

"That's great, Ezra. That we won't lose a day is excellent. How are you holding up? You said you weren't in the best of shape, but you've been pushing pretty hard."

"I'm fine, Mike," Ezra smiled and gave my arm a manly squeeze. "You've given my life a little extra push now that I'm not responsible for anything except teaching men how to work. It's pretty easy to point and talk."

"Ezra, you've been keeping the equipment in top condition to keep us working. That's a lot of effort."

"Not really, Mike," Ezra looked a little sad. "Since my Rachel passed, I don't have anyone to talk to in the evening, so working on the equipment is really special to me. Do you know Pedro has come by a couple of nights and most of the day yesterday to learn how to take care of the equipment? The man is a good one."

I brought the bulldozer back to their working side of the river and pushed root balls into washes and finished leveling the ground. We weren't building a path; we were building a timber road. By having a twenty foot wide road through the woods, work trucks would easily be able to follow the cable to check it. The only bad places were rivers, ravines, and bluffs, but we were going around the problems where we could.

I gave Ezra money in separate envelopes for all of the workers. They had to sign a form to get their money, so I was going to be covered one way or another. Pedro and Jesus were having money held back along with my contribution for taxes. Hopefully, that was taken care of for a while.

At home that night, Mildred was sewing a white shirt that was too small for me. I didn't think about it much until she told me, "Ben is going to give the bride away. The bride is me, Mike. I'm so excited. We didn't want to go to Walmart, so I'm making him one along with a tie. Summer is going to be my maid of honor and has a nice gown. You'll get to see my gown on Sunday. Aren't you excited?"

Yep, I was excited, and a whole lot nervous. This is as bad as the anticipation of leaving one fire base to travel to another. You always thought about how this may be your last ride. You didn't dwell on it, but the thought did cross your mind.

Part of my excitement was the chance to see Mom, my siblings, and their kids. I was hoping to take all of them to the market on Saturday to let them see how country people have a social day bartering with each other.

I had a little wine to settle down tonight. Mildred was very loving, but said now that we were getting married, we should wait until we said our vows, then enjoy each other as a married couple. I didn't mind, but thought it funny the way women can put things in various categories, like little boxes.

Even the dogs were nervous Friday morning. They picked up on something in the air. I did the milking and feeding, as well as separating ten bales of hay to take to market Saturday. It was time to pull some bacon and hams, and hopefully have more from the butcher to put in the smoke house. I would pull the fresh smoked hams and bacon just before we left for market in the morning. The meat will still be warm. Mildred liked to tease customers by cutting a small thin slice of the ham and let them taste it. That was a sure way to get twenty bucks for only a fair sized ham. We always set up next to a man who sold various types of sausage. He was a valuable neighbor with his slicing machine. If someone wanted bacon, we would cut off the weight they wanted and let the sausage man run it through his slicer. We would give him a buck or two at the end of the day and we were all happy.

We had too much milk, so I told Ben I was going to run in with four five gallon cans. Hopefully, there will be buyers for that much on a Friday morning. We had not been to the daily market all week. As soon as I showed up, I was mobbed by people who had been waiting for my milk. I had made a mistake and already loaded the hay for tomorrow, and couldn't leave without selling it for a really good price. I ran some cream and butter by the Kitchen. The lady who owned the restaurant thanked me profusely, since she said she was dangerously low. I promised we would try to keep her better stocked. She asked if she could get at least twenty-four dozen eggs, as another farmer who she usually received eggs from had an animal get into his chickens and kill several. The chickens were now scared and upset and weren't laying.

I was still at the Kitchen drinking some coffee when my cell phone rang. "Well, Son, are you ready for your momma?"

"I sure am, Mom. How far out are you so I'll know when to look for you?"

"Well, Mr. Observant, check the doorway and check out your mom in jeans and a plaid shirt."

I turned to see Mom in some clothes I hadn't seen her wear since she left the farm. I went to her, and we had a great hug in front of everyone in the Kitchen at the time. After she went to the bathroom, we had a cup of coffee with the restaurant owner. She was telling Mom how she depended on us for her cream and butter, and was now needing to have us supply as many eggs as we could. Mom was amused, since she knew that chickens were not my favorite animal. They were good for eating and eggs for breakfast, but after that, I really didn't care for chickens.

"Are you ready to see my mansion, Mom?"

"I can't wait, Mike. I know how you are, but you already told me you had running water and indoor plumbing. Let's go up on your mountain and introduce me to Mildred and Summer."

Mom followed me out of town, turned off the highway with me, and followed me up the blacktop that became a gravel road on the way upward. When I went through the ford of the spring water runoff, I pulled forward and walked through the water back to her car to tell her not to worry as the ford was concrete. When she had pulled across, she got out of her car and went to the stream coming from the rocks and cupped her hands. She drank the water and smiled. "There's nothing like real water fresh from the ground."

The rest of the drive wasn't far or too bumpy, since I tried to run the bulldozer over the road about once a month.

Driving up my driveway, a person is treated to a beautiful sight. On the left is a tall rock bluff, seventy or eighty feet high. Nearer to the left, you can see the big garden, and then off in the distance around the mountain that way is the hay field. Nearer the bluff was the apple and pear orchard, and right up next to the bluff were the four long rows of vineyard. The way the buildings were placed, the chicken house was hidden by some bushes, but you could tell there was a building back there.

More to the right was an old privy that was still useable if there was plumbing problem. The house was another thirty feet to the right of that, behind a huge black walnut tree, with a wood picnic table in front of the porch. About fifty feet to the right was the machine shed and pump house, and directly behind that was the smoke house. There were stacks of split logs curing, as well as split logs waiting to be used in the smokehouse.

Farther to the right was the barn that was really a miniature of what picturesque barns looked like. My barn wouldn't hold a herd of stock, but it was just right for what I needed. I could use a bigger hayloft, but I would work on that. You could see the cows, the two steers, and calf grazing in the tall spring grass on that side of the barn. You could also see another field ready to be planted farther out from there.

Mom got out of her car and just stood, turning round and around, looking at everything. "Mike, this is beautiful. Everywhere I look I can see your dad. He taught you well, didn't he? If he was alive, he would be so proud. Now if you can keep these giant dogs off me, take me in to meet your family."

The dogs minded when I told them "down," so we walked to the house where Mildred and Summer were framed in the doorway. Mom stepped up on the porch that stretched the entire front of the house and walked right up to the girls. She held Mildred by her arms and said, "The way Mike has described you, I would know you anywhere. And you, Summer." Mom took hold of Summer and pulled her in for a hug. "I would know you too. Now show me your home."

The house isn't that big, but a lot larger than your first impression. The big room that held the kitchen, the big table, and the chairs in front of the fireplace with the giant TV was really very large and airy. There were windows that let the mountain air flow through the house, pulling the everyday aromas out. A coffee pot was sitting on the back of the big wood stove, staying warm, and there was also a big pot on the stove that smelled like some kind of beans. There was the smell of something baking, so I figured on some corn bread to go with the beans.

I showed Mom the small bathroom and the two bedrooms, indicating she would sleep in the small one. While Mildred showed Mom the side porch where the washer and dryer were, she showed her the enclosed pantry area, with the shelves now full of jars of vegetables, pickles, and jams.

Back in the kitchen, Mildred showed Mom that we had a full refrigerator, then opened the spring house door on the back wall. Inside was a gallon jug of milk sitting in the cold spring water, and hanging over that, was a partially cut up ham and a half side of bacon.

Mom was smiling at me as Mildred got her a cup of coffee saying, "Mike is a good provider. We have a lot of food."

To Mildred, wealth wasn't in what we had physically or owned but how much food we had and how we were prepared for the future. Mom recognized this and enjoyed experiencing my intended's simple attitude.

"Come on, Mom; let me show you around the outside. You'll get a kick out of how the farm is laid out. Do either of you girls want to come with us?"

They were both going to stay, but Summer finally relented and asked, "Can I come with you?"

We walked over to the chicken house to show Mom how large the yard and building were. She was surprised at how many young turkeys were running around in the yard. She laughed at the few geese that were in the yard, along with some big white ducks. The crazy thing was that all of the guinea hens were in the yard getting a free meal.

We walked around the side of the chicken house, back to the bluff where the machinery is stored.

"Mom, how do you like my built in machine shed? Dry, out of the weather, and a perfect place to keep the machinery. Surprisingly, the caves at this level don't have bats. I thought it might be because we start the tractors up in here, but the other caves here don't have bats either."

We walked over to the orchard that was filled with blooms. We were going to have a great harvest this year. We walked through the vineyard and came to the back where the bluff was. There was the huge oak door built into the wall of the bluff. I opened it and flipped the light switch. I had run power back to this cave this past year. It was very impressive to see over a hundred barrels on stands lining the walls of the cave. The cool fifty-two degree temperature of the cave was apparently perfect for aging the wine, as I didn't seem to lose any to vinegar unless we pulled a gallon out and left it open in the warm air.

"So you really are making wine. How much of this is yours from last fall?"

I pointed at the other side of the cave. "There are still about thirty barrels of both kinds of wine, ten of some good stuff, and twenty of some so-so wine. People like both, so what do I know. I have a license and everything. I have to keep a record of what's on hand and what I sell, but that's so I pay the state and federal taxes. These barrels on this side are from the previous owner. He made wine and let it age for a long time. Some is pretty good."

We walked out of the wine cellar and over to a cave nearby that housed all of the winemaking equipment. "Mom, you'll have to come out and stomp the grapes. It would be a lot more fun to have dancing girls crush the grapes for me. This hand crank juicer is a bear to turn."

From there we walked to the barn where I showed her the small milking parlor area. She thought the big closet sized milk house where I washed cans and utensils was almost humorous. She did note that I had plenty of five and ten gallon cans on a rack, clean and ready to use.

We looked at the cows and Mom said, "I always told your dad that we needed a Jersey cow for cream and butter, but he said it would be too hard to keep the milk separated. He felt if he was going to ship milk, he would raise cows that gave a lot of milk. That's why we had Holsteins. Of course, when you went off to the Army, he didn't like having to deal with the help to milk. You did all of that, so that was the end of our dairy business. That was all right, as it was about then your dad was beginning to feel his age."

I think Mom enjoyed leaning up against the board fence with the cows on the other side checking us out. They would always come up to the fence if you were out looking at them, then lose interest and go back to eating.

Mom made the observation, "Your cow is just about to calve, isn't she? Here's hoping you get a heifer to raise for another milk cow. If you keep this up, you'll need a bigger milking parlor. You might even want electric milkers."

"Hopefully, that won't happen, Mom. If the health department catches me selling dairy products, I might be in trouble. I don't sell any unpasteurized milk for drinking. Only butter, buttermilk, cream, and cheese. If people buy a gallon and drink some, that is up to them."

We were walking back to the cabin when Mom said, "I'm surprised your sister or brother haven't called yet. They said they were coming up early. I hope they used your map. I drove right to the Kitchen and saw the motel across the street."

Back in the house, Ben was there to get some sandwiches for the workers. Summer and Mildred were finishing putting a big basket together for them. I had to explain to Mom about some men working today so they didn't lose a day's wages. She said, "When we finish with lunch, will you show me where you are working right now? I want to see this bulldozer you bought. Is it a real big one or one of the mini-tractors?"

"It's a big one, Mom, big enough to have an eight foot blade. It's also heavy enough to push over a big oak or hickory. We'll ride that way after lunch. Ezra will get a kick out of meeting my mom, the farm girl."

We had some delicious navy beans, with big chunks of ham over the top of cornbread. One thing Mildred was getting really good at was making iced tea for me. I didn't care for the sugar, but Mom liked hers sweet. Summer saw Mom put sugar in her tea and tried some. Her eyes lit up and she said, "You should have told me that you can put sugar into the tea."

After we cleaned up after lunch, the four of us rode down to where we were working on the first run to a distribution building. I showed them how far back we had cleared, then gave all four a ride on the big bulldozer. We rode around to where I was going to begin working again on Monday. Mom wanted to see me knock a tree over, so I picked a small oak of about fifteen inches in diameter and pushed it over. She was impressed.

I shut the dozer down and we all walked back across the river to where the other vehicles were parked.

As we got ready to leave, Ezra got me off to the side, "I know you talk to Harold, and we both know he is an open minded man, but you might ask him if it's alright if all these men come to church on Sunday. They want to see you get married and know it's after church. Why don't you call Harold and give him a heads up. Hell, the next thing you know, these men will be going to church with us."

After loading the girls up, I took them toward town, thinking my brother and sister should be here any minute. I called Harold on the way and explained about my men. He was happy they wanted to share church with us. He asked if many spoke English, and I told him they understood pretty well, so it wouldn't be all over their heads. Harold just said, "We'll just have to bring all of the chairs up from the meeting room and put them wherever we can. Sounds like a great Sunday to me."

I pulled up to the Starlight hotel and could see three cars with Ohio tags parked there. As we got out, I could hear why they had not called yet. There were squeals of happy kids, along with a lot of splashing sounds, coming from behind a big wood-screened area.

We walked into the office, and there we met a lady. "Selma? I'm Mike Grayson."

"Hi, Mike, I recognize you from church. Your family is all here and as soon as they saw the sign for the heated pool, all of them were in, even your uncle and aunt. Go on out there while they wear those kids out."

I introduced Selma to my mom, Mildred, and Summer, before going out to the pool area.

My sister was in her smaller than usual swimsuit and came running up to give me a hug. She could hardly stand still long enough to be introduced to my ladies, but did stand there long enough that my sister-in-law came over to give me a hug. My brother and brother-in-law were in the water playing with the kids. Both gave me a wave, then it was time for Uncle Sid and Aunt Mabel. Uncle Sid wasn't that old, but acted about ninety. Aunt Mabel showed she was up there, but had a body to rival my sister's and showed it off. She came up to me and put a real lip lock on me, along with a full body press. "I'm so happy to know that you're finally getting married. Sid and I have worried about you for years. I always told Sid that I was going to have to teach you what this boy girl stuff was all about. Too bad; I guess you learned on your own."

Those two enjoyed meeting Mildred and Summer, and Mabel was trying to get Mom to put on one of her swimsuits. I would have liked to see that, as everything Mabel owned showed her top and butt off. For ladies their age, Mom and Mabel were pretty well built.

Mildred pulled my head down to ask me, "They are coming to supper tonight, aren't they?"

I had not thought of it, but Mildred had. I nodded and announced so all could hear, "Mildred has a wonderful supper cooking for you tonight, so if you guys can make it, I need to show you the way to get up to the house."

My brother asked, "I thought this was a tiny place. How are you going to feed all of us?"

"If Mildred says she can, she will. I don't know what's for supper, but I'd bet it is going to be good."

Mildred was standing next to me with a big smile. She had something planned. I think the right expression is 'something cooked up.'

With some extreme effort by Mom, the kids were encouraged to get out with the promise of more pool time tomorrow. When we finally had everyone in their cars, we made a parade getting out of town toward my mountain. A funny thing happened when I stopped on the other side of the spring ford. All three of the cars stopped and everyone was out of the cars, cupping their hands to get a drink of the cold water as it gushed from the rocks. I knew my sister and brother were remembering our youth.

I made sure we drove slowly up the road so they could take in the beauty of the place. Ben's truck was there, so I figured he was already doing chores. As soon as the four kids were out of the cars, they were running toward the animals. The only ones out were the two beef steers and the calf. The cows were inside being milked. Mom went after them, and led them into the milking area so they could see a cow being milked by hand instead of by the machines they saw at the state fairs.

My brother and sister were turning around, looking at the beauty of the place. You could look out in the direction of town and I told them you could see a glow at night. If you look out the back, you can see all the way to the next mountain, but also right down to the river. I promised them a tour the same as I had given Mom.

Mildred and Summer went inside, so I corralled the youngsters and gave everyone the nickel tour. The adults were fascinated by the orchard and vineyard, and even more surprised at the big wine cellar built into the bluff. The kids loved the cave with the equipment and the cave with the manual winemaking machinery. They were disappointed that I didn't have bats. We walked around the back of the bluff and to the old orchard and vineyard this time. I gave the family the story that I was putting it back in working order right then, so it wouldn't produce a lot until next year. I explained there was an older orchard and vineyard farther down the mountain that I was also restoring.

Just as we came around a big rock, we startled a doe with her fawn. They stood perfectly still for almost a minute before casually walking away. That they didn't run gave proof they had not been hunted around here for a long while.

My sister was lured toward a blackberry patch, but I told her they weren't ready yet, and if they were, we would need to make enough noise to scare the bears away. The kids loved the idea of bears. Of course, they were all making the 'do bears shit in the woods' jokes.

When we entered the house, I was surprised to see two long folding tables and a bunch of folding chairs. The tables already had tablecloths, and place settings were set for supper. Mildred had a smug look, so she had done some planning. I could see Martha's hand in this, as I'm sure the tables and chairs came from church.

Ben was in his rocker watching TV when everyone came in, and as was his custom, he didn't move. I made sure to introduce him as my neighbor and good friend to everyone. Ben was quick to tell everyone, "Mike helps me with everything, so I try to help him with everything. We're like brothers, only I'm a real old brother." He received a good laugh at that.

Close to six, Mildred had people begin sitting and had me pour milk for the kids, and wine and ice tea for the adults. Mildred pulled a giant standing rib roast from the wood stove. It looked delicious, and the smell was to die for. The girls had big bowls of mashed potatoes and green beans, with chunks of smoked bacon in it, and a basket of biscuits and rolls that also smelled great.

While I watched, Ben went to the sink, washed his hands, and Mildred put a bibbed apron on him.

Before Ben began, he said to me, "It's your place, Mike. You should offer a blessing. This meal deserves one."

I gave a blessing that my dad had given thousands of times. I'm sure my mom, sister, and brother recognized it, and were happy to join me in being thankful for being together to have this feast.

Ben rubbed a couple of big knives together to give them an edge and began cutting. Mildred and Summer asked each person how they wanted their meat, and Ben was professionally slicing it off. Where did he learn to do that?

With everyone served, he sliced up the rest of the roast, setting it all back on the stove to stay warm. I looked around and couldn't get over how I was actually hosting a dinner for my family. This was not only a first, it was remarkable. When I looked at Ben with an inquiring look about his meat cutting, he winked at me and continued eating the great supper.

When we finished eating, Mildred served coffee she had made in the huge stovetop percolator. She went to the table area where the kids were, and asked, "I have peach cobbler and apple pie. Who wants what?" Summer appeared at her mother's side and added, "We have some homemade ice cream to go with the pie."

Oh my, this was too much. These two had done an awful lot of work, or had a whole lot of help to get this ready. I think maybe both. Of course, Ben had been busy here all day, so he had helped as well.

I suggested, "For whoever wants to come, how about a short walk to work off some of this supper?"

All of the women were going to stay to clean up, but my brother, brother-in-law, and all of the kids went with me as I showed them the smoke house and the huge array of corded wood. My brother recognized how I had the dry and green hickory separated as we had to do that all of the time as kids. I'm sure he was having some nostalgic feelings, considering this was a great country setting, although nothing like what we grew up on.

When we came back to the house, I announced, "Tomorrow is a big day in this area. Every Saturday, there is a special market where people from the area get together to swap food, animal feed, clothing, equipment, tools, and just about anything you can imagine. I want you to see it to know how I've been able to accumulate so much over the last year and a half. I'll come by the motel in the morning after you have eaten at the Kitchen across the street. We have to make a delivery over there before we go to market, so we'll eat with you. You'll love it there in the morning. They pile all of the food on the tables and keep it coming. You come in, sit, eat, pay the going price for breakfast, and leave. Everyone talks to everyone, and you'll hear all the latest gossip and news. Is everyone okay with that?"

The kids were asking about the pool. I asked, "How about Summer, and whoever else wants to, stays with you kids to swim in the afternoon? I'll take the other adults that want to go to the Pine Ridge market that is always later in the day. I have wine that I can sell over there that I can't here. So if you guys want a beer tonight, you have to drive over to the county line gas station for beer. Make sure you don't open it on the road, as the Sheriff likes to take advantage of out of state tags."

It sounded like most of them wanted to go to Pine Ridge, so Summer was going to be busy chaperoning the kids. She asked me if she could do it, so it was good with her.

I told my brother and sister, "You two know how to dress for the country. Dress your mates that way so you don't look too much out of place. You can buy them a straw hat at the market if you think they need it. Most of the men just wear caps."

My sister said, "Except Mike, he wears his fatigues and boots all of the time, so you wear your fatigue hat. I'm surprised you haven't worn those out yet. They are getting worn. You'll have to find a place to sell you more."

I told her, "If I have to, I'll go up to where I bought these close to Mom's place. I think there's a place in Lexington that carries equipment, so I'll go there first. I do need some replacements."

All of the guests, except Mom and Ben, left. They had the tables down and put against the wall with the chairs. I asked Ben, "You were busy today weren't you?"

Ben looked up at me from his rocking chair. "A mite. Harold and Martha had just what we needed, so I used my truck to get it here. I made the ice cream earlier, because I knew the girls wouldn't have time. I have to tell you, though; those two did all that cooking, including the cobbler and pies. They really know how to do some fancy cooking. Martha may have given them some pointers, but Mildred and Summer did it all."

I had to give both girls a hug. I couldn't have asked for a better way to welcome my family.

I excused myself and went to try on my dress uniform. It was still in a zip up bag and was not wrinkled in the least. All of my medals were pinned on, while my rank and longevity stripes were sewn on, so I would be in my correct uniform.

The pants fit. That was a surprise. They even seemed a little looser than before. The jacket was tight across the shoulders, so I had redistributed some of the office fat to muscle since moving to the country. My shirt wasn't yellowed, and my tie looked good, so I was ready to show off. I brought my dress boots out and gave them a light polish, but they didn't need much as they reflected light as well as any parade boot. I checked my beret to make sure it had not been crushed. I could pass any inspection.

If nothing else, I was going to look pretty good with both sides of my blouse loaded with superfluous medals for everything, including language translation. In these later years, there was a group commendation medal for just about anything. I was with some really tough groups, but usually sitting on my ass waiting for something to happen. I was going to look good though.

Now I had to think about whether or not to wear the uniform to church, or put it on just before the ceremony. I'd figure it out tomorrow. I was exhausted right now, and I'm sure the girls were too.

Mom asked me, "Did you try your uniform on to make sure it fits?"

"Yes, Ma'am, it does. A little tight in the shoulders, but the pants fit perfectly. The shirt and tie were in the bag with the uniform, so I'm ready."

"I wish you would have shown me, Mike. You always look so elegant in your dress uniform."

"Make sure you take a picture, Mom. This may be the last time I wear the 'Class As.' There just isn't a reason to wear the uniform."

We were in bed by ten, and I know I was probably asleep by ten oh one. I think Mom went to bed at the same time, but Summer stayed up for a little while.

My body clock was working, so I woke up at five. By five thirty, the chores were done, and my pickup was loaded with hay and three five gallon milk cans. Summer had captured a goose, a turkey, and a pair of ducks. She also had five young guinea hens to give someone a start.

After breakfast, Ben and I loaded the hams and bacon into the big coolers, and the women filled the truck bed up with more eggs and a cooler filled with about twenty pounds of butter. They had the Kitchen's egg and cream order separated so we could unload there before we ate.

Mom couldn't get over how we left the house open. I told her it didn't have a lock on it when I bought the place, so I didn't think it needed one now. No one came up the mountain so far that wasn't a neighbor or friend, and our house was always open to them.

The lady at the Kitchen thanked me for the eggs, as she said she was going to run out real quick this morning. As she was watching me unload the eggs, she became the typical female and was nosing through the coolers. She wanted more butter since we had it, and took a whole five gallon can of milk. She said she would skim the cream off and still sell the milk.

I thought the lady was going to have a coronary when she opened the coolers full of bacon. "Mike, you're still smoking bacon and ham? Why didn't you tell me? I've been getting mine from the butcher."

"It's the same. I smoke his for him and some for myself. I'm going to have to buy some more hogs soon, as I'm running out of meat."

It took everything I had to not let her buy all of my market goods.

The family all enjoyed eating at the big country style tables. This was a great way for those not used to the country to get acquainted. My brother-in-law enjoyed how easily my sister became comfortable with the locals.

I took them to the market after breakfast. You would have thought we were the only family that was selling foodstuffs. People were buying up the ham and bacon so fast that I wished I had brought double. I made a good deal with the same man who sold me my first beehives. I traded him the hay I had for two more stack trays full of bees. As much as they were jostled around, I'm always amazed that if you leave them closed up, they don't bother you. I also bought an empty tray so my original bees could expand their hive. My plan was to one day have enough hives for my meat smoking. As it was, I was able to trade a ham for ten gallons of honey.

My brother and mother enjoyed the flurry of trading. They couldn't get over the delicate little doilies Mildred and Summer had made to sell. The market was a real eye opener to the family, including Uncle Sid, who had grown up in the country. Aunt Mabel always said she was a farm girl, but was only there to catch a husband and she caught Sid.

By ten o'clock, we had nothing left, including the birds Summer had brought. I told the family, "Go to the motel and leave Summer with the kids. I'll give her money for lunch at the Kitchen. I have to go to the house for the wine and the foods we want to sell at Pine Ridge, so take the highway from town in about half an hour. We'll come down the back way and meet you on the road."

I gave Summer a twenty dollar bill. She had handled a lot of money, but it wasn't hers. This was money I gave to her although to use for her and the kids, but it was hers.

Mildred, Ben, Mom, and I went home to gather the stuff for Pine Ridge. I put the fifty gallons of wine I wanted to sell together, along with the hams and bacon. Mildred said we only had six dozen eggs left, but that was better than nothing. She put a big box full of extra jars of canned vegetables to swap in, and off we went.

We had just parked by the big blackberry patch when my brother's big SUV came along. The six adults were all riding in one vehicle to be smart.

I got out and told the city folks, "Stand up in the truck bed and look down in the middle of that patch. Tell me what you see."

My sister was the first to scramble up to look. "Oh my God, there is a bear lying in there. What's he doing just lying there?"

I gave her the easy answer, "He's patiently waiting for the blackberries to ripen. In the meantime, he's waiting for a rabbit dinner to come his way. Everyone had to check out the bear. He really didn't care what we did, as long as we didn't bother him. Considering the area he had mashed down, I think the bear was a frequent visitor to this patch.

Pine Ridge was a repeat of the Stanton market. People swamped our truck and purchased everything again today, even the canned goods. We really didn't have a chance to do any trading.

I tried something different with the wine today. I sold the so-so wine for twenty a gallon, and the really good wine for forty to see if I could get it. I felt the wine was special, and I hoped others thought it was too.

The one comment was, "I was wondering when you were going to begin charging a little more fairly for your stuff. I think it has to be worth near fifty dollars a gallon. If you bottled that stuff and put it on the market, you would be getting twenty bucks a bottle."

If I get forty a gallon for the good stuff, I'll be encouraged to make more good stuff. It's all in the grapes and when you pick them. I just remember the flavor the grapes had last year when I made the good stuff. I hoped I could identify it this year.

We were all sitting at my pickup when a farmer came up to me. "You got any of that wine left?" I looked into the bed and was about to say no, when my sister said, "Yes Sir, still one gallon of his best."

The man counted out his forty dollars and asked, "I hear tell you buy hogs when they're ready to ship sometimes. Is that true?"

"I do. I smoke the hams and bacon and give the rest to the butcher. He sells the rest. Do you have some pigs for sale?"

The man had a hand behind his overall bib and pulled it out with a picture. "This is a picture of a couple of my hogs. I'm thinking you might give me more than I would get if I was to ship them. I'll help the deal by selling them to you two, three, four at a time so you're not covered up with them. I'll be raising more hogs, so we might be able to do some long term business. Think you might be interested?"

"Tell you what, if you have a stock trailer, put four in the trailer and haul them over to Stanton to the butcher down by the market. Let's make our deal today for cash and we'll go from there. I'll find out how many a week to bring, and I'll make sure you have your cash when you drop them."

"Sounds good, Grayson, I done got your name from some other men. They said you were fair. I'll have four of them over there today or Monday, what do you think?"

I used my cell phone to call the butcher. I told him the deal and he said he could use six this week and about four to six every week if they were available. He thought the price was outstanding.

I told the farmer, "Take six today. Here's the rest of your money and plan on four next week and unless he says different, four every week. How long do you think you can supply like that?"

"I'll supply you pork on the hoof until about the end of time. That's what I do; I raise hogs just like you make wine and smoke ham and bacon. This is a good deal."

We shook hands on the deal and just like that, I had twenty four more hams to smoke along with six more big slabs of bacon. I'd have to go get them Tuesday after the butcher slaughters and cuts them up.

This had been another successful market day. We were going home with an empty truck, except for several jars of good Italian tomato and meat sauce, and a basket of Italian bread. Mildred told everyone, "If you will go get Summer and the kids, by the time you get up to the house, I'll have spaghetti and meatballs with some great Italian rolls for supper. I pulled a bunch of romaine lettuce apart for a salad, so you have to come. There's too much food for just us."

There was a lot of enthusiastic agreement to go get the kids and Summer. While they went on to town, I went up the back way and found Ben just about done with chores. I helped finish up, then the two of us sat out on the porch with an ice cold beer, satisfied with another great market day.

The house soon was a buzz of people, as they all were back from town. The men, my mom, and sister all had a beer, but my sister-in-law wanted some wine before supper.

The meal was perfect. Everyone had more than enough to eat. The evening was full of a lot of joking and talking about the wedding tomorrow. When everyone left to go to the motel, it was a little sad to think that everyone would be going back to the city tomorrow. It had been fun to have them visit. I was already planning to have them back for a holiday weekend. Uncle Sid and Aunt Mabel got me off to the side and asked if they might come down to visit sometime. Uncle Sid said to me, "Mike, a place like this is just the place a man needs to give him some peace of mind."

Aunt Mabel gave me an envelope that I opened to find a check for an enormous amount of money. "I can't accept this. You're family, and I don't need wedding gifts to make my life any better. That you would give me this is wonderful, but I've asked everyone at church that no one should give presents. I'm getting the best present of all, a wife. Something I didn't think I would ever say."

It was a struggle, but they finally agreed. I had to tell them I loved them for being my favorite aunt and uncle. Actually, they were my only remaining aunt and uncle.

That night, my mom asked me, "Aren't you going to town for your bachelor party?"

"Mom, I don't know what all really goes on at those parties, but I've had to help a lot of guys find their quarters after them. I think I'm perfectly fine right here. Tomorrow is a big day, so I'm going to rest up for it."

Mildred and Summer were both overly excited at the prospect of the wedding. Mildred almost went back on her vow for us to not have sex until after the wedding. Summer kept saying that I wouldn't be nervous if she took care of me. Somehow that just didn't seem right.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 12


I was staring up at the ceiling knowing that it was time to get up. My mind was whirling, thinking about what today meant. Today was Mildred's and my public commitment to each other for something we already knew we had. Our relationship had grown together out of respect and working with each other. It really hadn't taken that long, but the more than 12 months since the two had come into my life had been special.

Somehow, I was envisioning our life up here on the mountain and what it would become. I was going to build onto the house as soon as I was finished with the project for Mervin. I had a rough idea of what I wanted, but nothing firm yet. When it was done, the house would be a great place and would have a real gas stove for us to use instead of wood. The one thing we would still have is the fireplace, as the big hole in the wall, logs blazing inside, was a great place to sit in front of during the winter.

My thoughts ran to the barn. Did I really want to make the barn bigger? One way to do it would be by just extending it. That would be the easiest way, the other would be tearing down what I have and rebuilding. The other building that needed expansion is the smoke house. It needs to be at least twice the size it is now. We've been able to produce a lot of smoked meat so far, but there was a larger market than we were able to provide for with the current size of smoke house.

I suppose I should just do one building at a time. First the house, followed by the barn, since I was going to have to be able to put three cows at a time in the stanchions to feed and milk. That's a lot of milking.

Wow, I'm really getting married today. I felt Mildred's head on my right shoulder, and gave her a gentle squeeze as I kissed the top of her head.

I felt a wet tear drip on my shoulder and kissed her again. "Are you okay, Millie?"

Mildred turned and pushed herself up so she could kiss me. "I'm so happy, Mike. This is really the happiest I've ever been, except having Summer. That we've found each other has been a long time coming, and a long way getting here, but we're here. I'm so happy."

She gave me a kiss and said, "We should get up and begin our day. It's going to be busy."

Summer rolled over and said, "I was very comfortable and you two woke me up. I suppose I need to do chores too."

In only minutes, I was walking toward the barn as Summer walked toward the chicken house. I had just let the cows in after putting their feed out, when I heard Ben pulling up. I had already washed the milk pail out and was just sitting down on the stool when a hand took my shoulder. "Get up, Son, this is woman's work. Go feed the stock while I do this. Check on me in a bit to make sure my hands are holding up."

My goodness, Mom is turning country on me. I'm sure she was remembering the years and years she and Dad did exactly this before our dairy herd became so big that we had to have electric milkers and the fancy pipeline system. It is neat to observe her enjoying the fresh country air and messing with the cows.

Ben had grabbed another pail and stool and was busily milking the other cow. Mom and Ben were having a conversation as they milked. After spreading feed out in the yard for the fowl I returned and stood and listened to the sounds of a great friend in Ben, and a great friend in my mom.

I made some noise, "How are you doing, Mom? Hands tired yet?"

"I'm just about done with this one Son. She gave a full bucket and almost another full one. She's a good producer. No wonder you have so much milk."

While milking the other cow, Ben said, "I think both of these Jerseys think they are Holsteins because they were kept together. It is surprising how much they give."

We quickly had the equipment washed up and the cans in the spring house. I scooped the cow poop up and put it out on the pile before washing and brushing down the area where we milked.

Mildred had breakfast just about ready for us and said to Mom, "You know, I should have been doing the milking and not you. You should have been in here cooking. When it is just Mike and me, we milk together, or I will milk while he does the other chores. I know how to be a farm wife. My mom always helped my dad when we lived in our old home."

After a great breakfast, I called Byron again to make sure he had told Eliza about the wedding. He told me, "I told her about it when you called Mike but she doesn't want to go anywhere. She says this is what she's wanted for so long, she doesn't want to take the chance it won't be here when she gets back."

"I'm glad to know Eliza is still okay and sorry she can't come visit but I do understand. Tell her the community still thinks of her often."

"I'll do that Mike but you know Eliza is getting up there. She's become a little less active over time but at her age that's to be expected."

I think I was disappointed Eliza wasn't coming. I wanted her to really meet and talk to the ghosts. I think she may have too many memories of the place to come see it with someone else living on it.

Ben took a quick shower at our place before he went home to shave and dress in his Sunday clothes. That's when Mildred surprised me, "Mike, take your uniform and boots and go ahead into bible class. Your mom is bringing me to church and will help me get ready afterward. We'll see each other in church, but the next time you hold my hand, it will be during our wedding."

Mildred was glowing, and Mom was about as bright. The two ladies each gave me a hug and a kiss before I walked out the door with my hanging bag.

As I walked out of the house, I fingered the box with the two wide gold bands I had bought in town. I hope Mildred is happy with my selection. Each band had a small diamond embedded in the center of the widest part.

I stopped at Ben's to ask if he wanted to ride with me, but he advised me that he was riding with Mom and Mildred. I gave Ben the little box with the two rings and asked that he give mine to Summer, and hand me Mildred's when it was time.

I was thinking of this major step and how it would affect the dynamics of my life, all the way to town. Surprisingly, I really wasn't nervous about the ceremony. I was more relieved that I had made the decision and was going to follow through. I had always been proud that I finished what I had started, and this was just another project to complete in my life.

Bible class this morning was all about marriage. Harold used references from the Bible, beginning with Genesis, Ephesians, and Peter. A great deal of the quotes he read made some of the women a little uncomfortable, but Harold told all of us that marriage had to be a cooperative effort although the man must be the head of his family.

When it was time for the church service, I saw Mildred, Mom, Ben, and all of my family sitting on the other side of the church. Toward the back of the church, Pedro and Jesus were sitting with the other men, and Ezra was also sitting with them. The church was so full; all of the extra chairs around the aisles were full, with a crowd standing down front and at the back doors. I was sandwiched between Gert, the County Clerk, and George's wife. I think they were trying to make sure I remained calm. I also think that they would have tackled me if I tried to get away.

Harold's short sermon followed what his Bible class had covered. He made sure the congregation knew the true meaning of the verses he quoted. When he closed the service before the last hymn, he said, "All are invited to remain in the chapel for the wedding ceremony of Mildred Jorgenson and Mike Grayson. You will honor the couple by enjoying the ceremony, and the reception afterward, with them."

As soon as the last hymn was sung, Harold went to the door to do his usual handshaking. George leaned in front of his wife, "I'm supposed to take you into the Pastor's office to change clothes. I'm told your hanging bag and boots are already there."

I think the whole town is involved in seeing me married. They are sure making it a big deal.

Harold came into his office and said, "It's time, Mike. Come stand with me to welcome your bride. You really dress up nice in your uniform. You have more medals and ribbons than I've ever seen."

There weren't any bridesmaids, only Summer as Maid of Honor. She was escorted down the aisle by Bradley, who helped her up the stairs at the front of the church before going to the other side and standing there.

The wedding march began. It was neat to look over at Martha playing the piano, watching her smile as she looked to the back of the church.

Mildred walked down the center aisle, holding onto Ben's arm. She had tried to walk in high heels, but had given up and wore some low white heels that showed beneath the beautiful white lacy dress she wore. I'm sure she was proud to be wearing the dress she had worked on for so many years.

Ben helped Mildred up the stairs, and then came to my side. As my best man, he was considerably more nervous than I was.

The actual ceremony didn't take but a few minutes. Ben handed me Mildred's ring, and she gasped as I slipped it on her finger. I think she was expecting something simpler. When it was time for her to put the ring on my finger, she was looking at my face as she slipped it on. Her eyes were very wet, but there were no tears running down her cheeks.

When Harold pronounced us man and wife, Mildred lunged at me, hugging me to her. She lifted her face to mine for a kiss that had the entire congregation applauding.

The rest of the afternoon was so busy that Mildred and I were both lost in the atmosphere of the celebration. There had been a reception line that took almost an hour and a half. There was no way all of those people could have fit into that church. I think I was most surprised by the fact that I recognized everyone that came up to us, and even more so that I remembered most of their names.

The refreshments were multiple tables full of dishes brought by the ladies of the congregation. There were ribs, roast beef, chicken, turkey, several different versions of potato salad, regular salad, lots of homemade bread, and pickles. Someone had brought giant paper plates that would hold a good sized meal.

There was a real large three-tier wedding cake that served everyone. Mildred and I fed each other, but we didn't smear the icing over each other's face.

The crowd began leaving around four o'clock. This was a farming community, and evening chore time was approaching. In minutes, the tables were cleared, washed, and all of the chairs that had been brought out were now neatly stacked in their racks. I noticed several of my Latino men helping with the chairs.

Mom came up to me and said, "Your family has reserved the honeymoon suite at the motel for you two tonight. The Kitchen has a special supper for you this evening. Ben, Summer, and I will take care of the chores this evening and in the morning. Ezra told me the men would have plenty to do tomorrow, so you two enjoy each other the way newlyweds should. Now give your mom a hug and take your new wife to the motel. You better say goodbye to your brother, sister, and their kids. Your aunt and uncle are staying a few more days."

One last handshake from my brother, a hug and a kiss from my sister, and lots of hugs from their kids, and they were gone. It was really nice they could come to the wedding.

Mildred and I took time to thank Harold and Martha for their help with the ceremony. Harold told me, "Mike, from the first time I met you and Mildred, I felt you two were meant for each other. We were very happy to help them with their questions, and really didn't know which direction you would take. I personally think you made the right decision with Summer, and I know your whole family will be better for it. I'm glad it has worked out for you."

Martha gave Mildred and me hugs before Harold said, "Go forth and multiply." He was laughing with Martha as I helped Mildred into the truck.

After checking in at the motel, we changed clothes to more normal attire, except I wore jeans and Mildred wore a dress. I wondered if the lady at the Kitchen would recognize me while not wearing fatigues.

We had a special supper tonight, with a shrimp cocktail appetizer, salad, and a small steak with a small lobster tail served with a small assortment of freshly cooked vegetables. We were served in a corner of the restaurant, on a table complete with a tablecloth, nice plates, and utensils. For dessert, we had a small bowl of homemade ice cream that was probably made using cream from our cows. When I asked for our bill, we were shooed out of the place with a lot of applause, wolf whistles, and calls for "What are you two going to be up to?"

A little later, we were doing exactly what everyone thought and intimated we would be doing. Mildred's passion peaked time after time, and I was barely being able to keep up with her. Thank goodness for foreplay and after play, since it gave me time to recover between athletic bouts with my new wife.

The next morning, we began where we had left off. Once again our lovemaking was passionate and consuming. When we were lying in our juices, cuddling from the exertion of the intensity, we kissed before Mildred wanted to talk. I could have used a nap, but it was not to be.

Mildred told me, "This is the first time we are able to be by ourselves and I don't have to feel bad for Summer. I love my daughter, but I want my man for my own. I have some plans for you and us."

A few minutes later, Mildred was perched on my middle, enveloping me in her magic sheath. She leaned down for a kiss, then sat up straight, "Mike, I had Summer when I was just fifteen. I am still young enough to have your baby. After last night, I may be able to give you our first. Would you be happy to be a father?"

Well, why don't you just smack me around a little, sweet thing? Those were my thoughts as I almost panicked. I had originally thought Mildred might have been older than I was, since Summer was nineteen. Who would have thought Mildred was only thirty-four or five. The more I thought of being a dad, the more I liked the idea. My mind flashed back to my youth with my own dad. I know I made him and my Mom happy and gave them pleasure and pride. I would be proud of my child or children.

I asked Mildred, "Are you sure you want to have a baby at your age? I thought it was dangerous for a woman to have a baby later in life?"

Mildred was now gently moving back and forth, keeping my male member interested in what she was doing, but answered, "I spoke with Martha and she told me that if I have babies before I'm forty, they would be fine. I want two, Mike. If we're lucky, I'll have a boy and a girl."

Mildred's intensity was building up again, as she began breathing heavy and spasming around me. She milked me into her as she shuddered and shook through an orgasm once again.

As we lay back catching our breath, Mildred said, "I'm hungry. It's already near six thirty. Let's get dressed, eat some breakfast, and go home to enjoy our first day as married folks. You should probably go to work, and I'll learn how to cook better and more dishes from your mother."

Breakfast was fun as the other folks at our table spent the time teasing us, asking if our first baby will be full term or an early delivery. Mildred told all that we did our first work on a baby last night. She wasn't embarrassed at all, just proud that she could say that to those that teased.

As I drove up to my place, I had a totally different feeling about it. Prior to yesterday, I had always felt as if the place might only be temporary. With Mildred's and my formal union, the place felt as if this is where I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I stopped the truck before we drove up to the house, back where we could just look at it and know that this was where we were going to live.

Mom greeted us with hugs and kisses. She told me, "Your aunt and uncle are staying in town for another week or so, but will be out here for meals. Summer and I have been making sandwiches for your men. Do you want to take them, or do you want me to drive down there? I just love your old pickup truck and am dying to drive it."

"I'll be going to work for the rest of the day. I need to stay in front of them so they'll have plenty to do."

When I drove up to where Ezra would have parked, there was a big tractor trailer being loaded with walnut and black oak. Who would have guessed there would be so many of the premium logs? Ezra saw me and came over. "The logs you wanted to sell were becoming too much to work around, so I called the mill and asked them if we could get the same price if they came to pick it up. They told me pickup was free if we had a full load. I think we have more than two loads right now, and from what the men are cutting, there will soon be a third load."

"This is great, Ezra, you are a real asset. I thought you needed to take it easy. You're moving around showing everyone what and how to do it."

The old man smiled at me. "Mike, this is the exact amount of work that I should be doing. I'm busy enough to not get bored and mean, but not physical enough to hurt me. You and I will be working together a long while, Mike."

I didn't know how true that would be, as I wasn't going into the logging or cutting business. I'd have to think on how to do something with Ezra and the other ten men.

I marked another mile with spray paint and began knocking trees down that afternoon. There were a couple that didn't want to come down easily, but I knew I was going to have to blow a lot of stumps soon anyway.

I was walking back to the bulldozer when I heard 'Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom.' Wow, three blasts all at once. Hope someone didn't get hurt.

I jogged down the road to where the men were working and found them working on some stumps. Ezra walked up to me. "I found your stash of explosives and loosened those stumps up. There's another group just a little ways down that I'll blow in a few minutes. I like to do two, three, or four at a time. Saves time getting people out of the way and back to work."

I pushed the stumps out and into nearby washes with the bulldozer. Ezra waved me to stop and get back, then he lit off four stumps this time. Now this was the way to do it. I pushed the stumps out and graded over the holes.

At the end of the day, I gathered the men. "I don't have the cash to pay you tonight, but I'll have it in the morning. I didn't go to the bank today because I didn't think I would be here."

Ezra said, "Here, you already gave me enough for today. You gave me enough for them for last Friday, Saturday, and today. That log truck should be back in a few minutes, and they will give you cash. Use that for the next few weeks."

I wondered how much the logs were going to bring.

Ben came driving up and told the men, "Crowd in, Men, I'll take you home. I'll see you at supper, Mike."

Ezra and I were putting tools into his truck when the big tractor trailer pulled up to get another load. A pickup pulled in behind him, making it four men to load logs.

One of the men came over to us and asked, "Which one of you is Mike Grayson?"

I nodded and stuck out my hand to shake. The man took my hand and smiled. "I have a wad of money for you. Ezra has us set up, but I'm going to need your Federal ID number or your social security number."

Federal ID number? "Oh boy," I thought, "let me call Maude; she would know what I'm supposed to do." "Hey, Maude, do I have a Federal ID number?"

"Yes, Honey, I had Benson set you up as a corporation because you're beginning to do a lot more than a couple of odd jobs. If you're with someone that needs the number, let me talk to them and I'll give it to them."

I handed my phone to the man who had been the spokesman and watched as he filled out what looked like some kind of tax form. When he told Maude a number, I wondered what the number was for.

After the man handed my phone back, I thanked Maude. She instructed me, "Keep enough out to pay your men this week, then come by to see me for your deposit slips. Benson set up a business bank account for you so you will have a place to put your money. Make sure you save the deposit slip and the receipt from the lumber people for me. You're doing good to have Ezra; he knows what to do about paying day workers."

The other three men had the big truck loaded and gave the man with me an estimate of board feet. He went to his pickup and rummaged around in the front seat and came back with two handfuls of money. "This is for both loads. The men say you have another load of the smaller stuff and limbs. You don't get as much for that, but a load of that is still worth some big bucks. We'll see you tomorrow."

I was standing there, holding two fists full of cash, not knowing what to do with it. I went to the truck and counted out a couple of hundred dollars. When I came back to Ezra, I told him, "We didn't really agree on how much I need to pay you. Have you told Maude what to give you or do we need to work on that some more?"

"I told Maude and she thought I might be working too cheap. I'll see, and if I think I should get more, I'll ask. Now that you have the cash, you and me should settle up on the equipment. If it's all the same to you, I'll keep driving your big truck and working on our tools for us."

"Ezra," I said to the man, wondering how much all this was going to be, "I don't think we talked about your truck."

"Yeah, we did. It's part of the whole deal. It's old, but still in decent shape. You're responsible for the upkeep now, and that will be a burden off me. Should I just have Maude cut me a check or do you want to pay cash?"

I was sitting on the front bumper of my truck. "Whatever you want, Ezra. Like you said, I have plenty to pay you with right now."

The old man grinned. "I'll just have Maude cut me a check. She knows what we agreed on and I'll send the truck title to her so she can get it registered. She'll do all that stuff for you if she likes you. I think she's a little sweet on you as it is."

I watched Ezra get into the big truck and drive off down the road. I should have invited him to supper. I'll bet he would really enjoy a meal at the house. I drove back to the house thinking about how everything was getting away from me. I was into something else that has the potential to mushroom into something even bigger. What was I going to do with Ezra and ten more men?

Ben was already home and sitting in his rocker watching television. There was a new addition in front of the fireplace. There was another rocker sitting with the other four. I didn't ask as I didn't think I wanted to know. I'm sure I would figure it out before the evening was over.

Mom made the comment, "It's chilly out tonight and is supposed to get down to the forties in the upper levels. I think it's already fifty out there. You need to start a fire, Mike."

That was strange, Mom knows how to start a fire, and Ben was right there. He started fires all of the time. There was a full wood box, so I put some wood down with some kindling and lit a stick in the stove before moving to the fireplace. The logs caught in minutes, and the room warmed up even more. It wasn't cold in the house with the wood stove and there was no wind tonight.

Summer told me, "Grandma Grayson showed me how to make good meatballs. We have plenty of sauce, and we made some good bread for garlic toast. She's going to teach us more tomorrow. We're going to the food locker for some more meats."

As we ate, Ben told me, "We stoked up the smoke house real good. I think you've been running too cool. With a little more heat, you might finish smoking bacon a lot faster. The butcher got his six pigs this morning and said he'll have hams and bacon for us in the morning. We need to go by the market for more honey and molasses. You'll probably have to buy it, since we don't have a lot to trade right now."

"We should have a lot of milk, shouldn't we?"

Mildred and Mom looked at each other, then Mom advised me, "The Kitchen told Ben they needed what milk we had this afternoon, so we took it to town. I had Mildred drive all the way to town and back. You'll have to schedule an appointment with the driver's license examiner. I think she can do it in the little truck."

Wow, things were moving right along around there.

Summer said, "If I'm going to be a farmer's wife, I need to learn how to drive a tractor and truck too. The other thing I have to learn is how to milk a cow. Grandma is going to teach me."

Mom was grinning at me and winked at the 'Grandma' term.

Ben said to me, "Summer helped me milk my goats this morning and evening. She's learning real well and the goats like her. I think we'll make a farm girl out of her yet."

As we finished supper, Mom asked me, "Mildred said you have some plans drawn for what you want to do with the house. Could you show me what all you want to do?"

I told her, "Let me walk off some of this supper and give the dogs one more run. I'll show you when I get back."

Ben walked out with me after saying goodnight to the family, since he said he was heading home. I thanked him for running around for me to keep the project going. He laughed, "Hell fire, Mike, it's your gas and you did resurrect my truck for me. The girls are coming along learning to drive. You'll have both of the ladies driving in no time."

I watched as Ben drove down the road. You just had to like the guy as he was always trying to be helpful and do things for you. The dogs had come back from running out into the field, so I brought them inside where they curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace.

I brought my stack of drawings out with what I thought I wanted to do with the house. The first thing Mom said when she looked at the first drawing of the proposed floor plan, "You're not changing anything for most of this room except to make the kitchen an "L" off the big room." She continued looking at the floor plan and commented, "I like the enlarged main bathroom and that you have included bathrooms in two of the bedrooms. I do wonder why you would have a four bedroom house, though?"

Mildred had come to sit with us and told Mom, "We're going to have at least one, and maybe two babies. We'll need rooms for them, and Mike needs an area he can call an office. There is more and more paperwork that he has to keep track of. I think he needs to build another bedroom so that if we have two kids, we can have a bedroom for each of them."

Mom pointed to an area that could easily be added onto. "Mike, how about making another bedroom about the size of the one you have now and keeping the bedroom I'm sleeping in for your office? The kids can use the new bigger bathroom, and you can keep the other big bedroom for me when I visit."

I smiled at Mom, "It's nice to know you'll visit more often now."

"Mike, Honey, I love this place. You may have a tough time getting me out of here. Helping out with the chores is a nice break, and from what I've seen of your garden, Mildred is going to need a lot of help cultivating, picking, and canning."

Mildred was sitting next to mom and hugged her; "I've missed my mom and dad and have enjoyed having you teach me how to do some things."

Mom asked, "So when do you think you're going to start on this addition?"

"As soon as I finish with this project for the cable company. I'm going to run wire all the way to here so I can have broadband internet, and they will give me telephone with it. I'll be out of the dark ages up here."

Summer came over to us. "Mike, Bradley is acting like he wants more than what we have so far. We've only been seeing each other a few weeks, but it seems like a lot longer time. If he asks me to live with him, should I?"

I sat back with Mom and Mildred looking at me. I advised, "Summer, only you know that answer. You said you were going to wait to give yourself to the man who was going to be your man for life. Do you want to marry before then, or will you be content to just be with him?"

Summer looked back at me and screwed her mouth up trying to come to a decision on how she felt. "Mike, I really want us to be like you and Momma. I want to marry, have babies, and be a farmer's wife. How do I tell Bradley what I want?"

Mom jumped in, "Summer, Honey, do it just like you just told us. If Bradley isn't willing to honor that, he may not be the right man for you."

Summer went back to her chair in front of the fireplace and stared into it. Mom looked at me and winked. "She'll make the right decision; Mildred raised a good kid."

Mildred glowed from Mom's praise.

I went back to the various drawings and asked Mom, "This is what I want to do to the barn. I think I can just about double the size of it without having to do a lot of tearing down. I want to continue the lean-to along the whole side for equipment and animals"

Mom was quick to comment, "You will need the enlarged milking area, but you are smart to only expand it by two more stanchions. I think like you do, that four cows will be more than enough. If you can stagger them, you can keep two or three fresh all of the time."

I told Mom, "If I sell too much milk, I'm eventually going to be caught by the health department. My milk isn't pasteurized. There is some kind of law about that, but I'm not sure what it is."

"Find out, Mike," Mom forcefully said, "Pasteurization equipment is cheap now, and I'll bet you can pick up some used equipment even cheaper. If you were to sell all of your milk legally, you could ask a little more for it and it would still be the same cream on top milk. Homogenization is how the milk becomes blended so that the cream doesn't separate."

"I know that, Mom, but I really didn't think it would be feasible to pasteurize what we have."

"Tell you what, Mike," Mom was wound up now, "I'll call around tomorrow and find out who has some equipment to sell. The small dairies always have new equipment, and I'll bet they would sell you their old equipment cheap."

"Okay, Mom, let's check it out. Considering we're selling over ten gallons a day, we should probably figure out how to do it right."

Mom was smiling. "See, you occasionally need me around to help you. Maybe I should spend more time here. If Mildred comes up pregnant, there will be a lot of things she won't be able to do. I can fill in for her."

Mildred sat up straight. "You can't fill in for me for everything. Summer wanted to do that, but Mike only wanted me."

Mom blushed but said, "Oh darn, Mildred, I thought I would be able to help you take care of Mike."

Now it was my turn to blush, but I saw the wink Mom gave to Mildred. She sure knew how to pull my leg.

Mom was pointing to an additional drawing and asked, "Is this a larger smoke house? Do you think you can keep it full enough to justify the size?"

"Mom, you heard the deal we have with that farmer over near Pine Ridge; he says he can deliver six or more hogs a week indefinitely. You know six hogs are twenty-four hams and a whole lot of bacon. We'll smoke some of the carcasses so the butcher can make sausage, but that would only be one a week unless he begins selling to tourists."

Mom asked, "Are you going to tear down the old smoke house?"

"No way, Mom, that will be the premium quality smoke house. What comes out of there will sell for more money than the new place, unless I can duplicate the taste. We'll see."

Mom hugged me, "Do you mind that I want to stay around? I do want to spend some more time with you and your new wife and little girl. They are both treats to be around. I love the way they are always so loving to everyone around them."

"Me too, Mom, me too."



-------

Chapter 13

The next morning after making sure Ezra was set up; I went to town to deposit the cash from yesterday. I kept out about fifteen hundred and deposited nearly six thousand. Who would believe that walnut and black oak would be worth that much?

With all of the receipts in hand, I called Maude to make sure it was okay to come by her house. She told me the side door was for her office and for me to just come in.

When I walked in the door, I was a little shocked. Maude was dressed in some tight shorts with a top that was far too loose for my comfort. When she stood to get something from a file cabinet, I noticed she was barefoot. This was a strange bookkeeper. When she put the file on her desk and opened it, she leaned over the desk, giving me a view all the way down her loose blouse. She wasn't real big chested, but it was enough to turn on any man checking her out.

Maude looked up at me, noting my interest down her blouse and winked. "See what you missed, Mike. You and I could have had some good play time. Now that you're married, I'll have to try to talk Mildred into sharing."

I must have been beet red by now, since I felt like my face was on fire. "Sorry, Mike. I didn't mean to embarrass you. That's not true; I did want to get to you a little. I don't get much chance to tease, as you can guess, and the good men around here are all taken. I'll have to be a little more aggressive toward potential partners when they show up here in town."

The cable company engineer came to mind. "Maude, since Mervin is one of your customers, talk to him about meeting the cable company engineer. He mentioned he was going to be staying around here to maintain the equipment. He seems to be a nice man and wasn't wearing a wedding ring."

Maude looked at me funny, "This is funny, I'm putting the make on a married guy, and he's telling me of another man opportunity. God, I love you, Mike. You're a real jewel. I'll talk to Mervin, but since you know the guy, invite me to have lunch with you and him. Trust me, Mike, if he is decent and I'm not talking about the looks department, I'll convince him to have some interest in this bookkeeper."

We went over what Ezra and I had agreed on for his equipment. I asked Maude, "Do you think this is fair? That seems like a lot of equipment, with his truck and that loader included, for the little amount of money he's asking?"

"I'm sure it's fair, Mike. Used equipment isn't worth much, and that old truck saw its better days fifteen years ago. The way Ezra takes care of his equipment makes it look newer than what it is. Just let him do his thing working with your crew, and you'll be making him a happy man. He thinks a lot of you and will teach you a lot. I know you weren't planning on being in the timber business, but there are worse things to do. If you don't want to be all out cutting, set Ezra up with a crew and teach one of the men how to operate that bulldozer of yours."

As I was getting ready to leave, Maude advised, "I do the oil distributor's books and have the names and numbers of the people he used for repairs to the bulldozer. When you need to have it worked on, call me."

Maude was an interesting lady. She sure gave me a thrill this morning.

I called Mervin to get the engineer's cell number. When he answered the phone, I asked, "Gene? This is Mike Grayson, the guy doing the cable path for you. If you want, how about joining me for lunch today? I'm going to be at the Kitchen with my bookkeeper, and thought you might want to join us so I can bring you up to date on the progress."

"Sounds good, Mike. I really haven't met many people here in town. Between the Starlight and the Kitchen, that's about it. I went to the Saturday market this last week, and had a great time looking at what people were selling or bartering for. I'll see you around noon."

I called Maude and when she answered, "How about putting on some less revealing clothes and some shoes. You have a lunch appointment with me and Gene, the cable company engineer. He sounds ripe for the picking too. He's been here two weeks and really hasn't found his way into the people flow yet. Right up your alley, Maude."

"You're so bad, Mike. I didn't put clothes on just for you when I got up this morning. I dress like this all of the time, but most of the people only walk into my office and walk out. Most don't stand there and look down my blouse to assess the size of my nipples."

"I'll be faster in and out next time, Maude, and I promise not to stare."

"Mike, you better check me out when you're here. Otherwise, I won't know I'm a woman worth being checked out. You can gawk all you want."

"Lunch, Maude, we're getting off track. I'll call Mildred to see if she might want to come to town for lunch. She can bring some eggs to the Kitchen."

Before calling Mildred, I called the Kitchen to see what they might need if Mildred was to come. They wanted as many eggs as we could spare, along with what butter and cream we had. The lady told me, "Just bring in two of the five gallon cans and we'll separate the cream. That way we can have the milk for drinking."

I was going to have to get Mildred a cell phone, since I needed to be able to talk to her sometimes. Instead, I called Mom's phone and hoped it was on. She answered and I told her I needed to talk to Mildred.

"Mildred, do you want to come to town to have lunch with me? I'm going to have lunch with the cable company engineer and Maude, the bookkeeper. I thought you might want to come in. I talked to the Kitchen and they want as many eggs as we can spare, and a couple of five gallon cans of milk."

"Oh, Mike," Mildred exclaimed, "I'm glad you called when you did. Your mom and I were just about to churn up everything we have for butter. We'll still have twenty gallons for that and that will make up a lot of butter. I'll get Summer to get all the eggs we have together and load a couple of cans in the little truck. We'll see you at the Kitchen."

Hmmm, she said, "We'll see you at the Kitchen." I supposed Mom might come along, but knowing them, it would be Summer, Mom, and Mildred. Oh well, I might as well enjoy the company.

I went by Tractor Supply to get more bulk grease for the dozer. I bought three twenty-five gallon cans of oil, as I needed to change the oil bath air filter, as well as the engine oil. They had the fuel filters I needed, so I bought those, along with some of the gear box fluid. So far, the hydraulics has been perfect, but I also haven't been trying to overload the bucket.

Just as I thought, Mildred showed up, driving with Mom and Summer. Mildred said they had dropped lunch off at the work site. They had brought two cases of twelve dozen eggs each. I heard Summer tell the lady from the Kitchen she could get her up to three more cases if she needed them. We dropped the milk cans off and tied her empties in the trunk bed.

Just like clockwork, the four of us were just about to find a table when Gene, the cable company engineer, and Mervin walked in the door. Coming in after them was Maude. I waved them all over to a big table where I introduced everyone and made sure Maude and Gene were sitting next to each other. If she was half as aggressive with Gene as she had been with me, I thought both of them would have a nice evening.

Mervin kept trying to talk business with Maude, but she was more interested in Gene. He was the typical guy, and just belched out personal information while being flattered that a good looking lady like Maude was interested in him.

Mervin told me, "I didn't think you were moving very fast at first, but you've almost finished the first path. You'll probably be done with it this week. The cable company is thinking they might want two more paths out from the central hub, and are thinking of a path all the way to Pine Ridge. That's going to be expensive.

It sounded like I'd never get done with this job to add on to my place. I might have to pause between projects to do what I need to do for me and not someone else. If we were to build the same path all the way to Pine Ridge, that could take most of six months, possibly as much as a year. I was sure they will want distribution paths for there as well. That would be another couple of months or so. We're talking long term and big money. Gene told me, "Mervin has just heard about this, but I've known for a while they were thinking of making that jump. I've already told them they would be stupid to do business with anyone else but you. The way you're making it easy for the line crews to move around, they will save a fortune in labor getting the total job done."

Mervin was excited, "See, Mike, I told you I would get you fixed up."

When I had finished eating, I asked Mom, "How about taking Mildred to the Sheriff's office? Today is the driver's license day there. She can take her exam, the eye test, and the driving test if you think she's ready. I'm going to get back out to the job site and make some more work for the men."

Everyone got up except Gene and Maude, who looked like they were going to have another cup of coffee together. I think I did a good thing for both of them. Maybe Maude would find her a man.

Before the ladies left, I checked the tied down empty milk cans so they wouldn't shift during the driving test. I thought it funny that Mildred had been able to learn to drive a manual transmission truck so easily. After having to use the clutch on the dozer, moving the feet and hands were not that difficult. I figured that if Mildred didn't do well that day, I would work with her to make sure she would pass the next time.

Back at the job site, the big logging truck was out again, loading up another big load of logs. The logs looked like almost all walnut on this load, and I could see another load of big logs, plus a load of limbs stacked, waiting. This job was going to pay.

Ezra waved me over to him and told me, "I have a pile of cash in the cab of my, or rather, your truck. They haven't given me the money for this load yet, but it should be as much as the other big load they took this morning. Their first load was all limbs and small trees, and this makes their third load. They gave pretty good on the limbs and small trees. The foreman said that the price for wood is way up lately. They told me if I could get kids to pick the walnuts when they are brown up they would pay good money for the outer shells to make dye and stain. I was thinking that we could get some church kids to pick up a few big loads. That would give the church a few extra dollars. What do you think?"

"Sounds good, Ezra. How much ahead am I, and do I need to push harder to get way up ahead?"

"You're more than a day ahead of us now. If you push, you'll be through to the distribution point today. When you get all the way through, you need to go back and walk what we've done to make sure the width is consistent all the way. When you finish with that, submit your bill for that half. The second path will be tougher, but you've already planned on following the road a lot of the way to avoid the ravines and bluffs."

It took twenty minutes or so to do the daily service on the bulldozer, before firing it up to begin for the day. I also did all the functional and safety checks like OSHA required, even though it was mostly just me with the dozer. They all made sense and could detect a defect before it caused an injury to a person or to the dozer. As I neared the distribution point, someone had put in grade stakes with orange ties on them showing me a wider path. There were also grade stakes all around the distribution point, along with some markings going out to the main road. The service road they had built was not very good, so I worked on that to smooth it out. If they were to haul rock in, it would make access and parking a lot better.

I was walking the cleared area around the distribution building when Gene drove up. When he got out, he waved at the cleared area and said, "I suppose you'll have to give me a bid on what you've already done. I should have known you would go ahead and finish this up while you were working it."

"Gene, you need to call and order several loads of rock to spread out for your access road and parking area up by the building."

The man nodded and said, "Include it with your bid, and I'll approve it on the spot. I want rock around the building out at least thirty feet. How many loads do you think that will take?"

"Who knows, Gene? I'll call for a couple of loads so I can grade the access road and have them give me an estimate. I should have a number for you in a couple of hours."

I called the trucking company in town to see if they could bring a couple of loads of gravel and give me an estimate of what else I would need. The man asked if this was for putting gravel over an old road or for a new road. He told me that new road gravel should be larger because it would work down into the soil and form a road bed. We could put smaller gravel on top to smooth it out later if we wanted. They promised two loads of large rock within an hour.

Sure enough, the two trucks showed up and started just off the main road and dumped their loads fairly evenly getting all the way to the area that would be used for parking. There were still a lot of trees knocked down that had to be cut up, but I told them I could have it cleared by tomorrow afternoon. They gave their estimate of fifteen more loads of big gravel, and were beginning to leave, when one of the men got me off to the side.

The guy stuck his hand out to shake, "Mike, I'm Ralph Cummings, the owner of the trucking company. I doubt if you would know this, but I'm the road commissioner for this part of the county, your township. I'm not running for that job this year, and I thought you might want to do it. It pays decent, but I'm just not into working on roads everyday. If you decide you want to run for the job, I'll help you get a better budget and I can sell you two big graders, a couple of rollers, a front loader, and a couple of salt trucks with snow blades. The black top for paving new and renewing over old is done by the state. You have to patch any holes between the resurfacings. Your main job is to keep the county roads smoothed out and graveled when needed. There are always holes and washes, but I see you know how to do that. Think about it, Mike, I'll be selling you enough rock to make you a deal on the equipment. You can store your road salt, snow trucks, and the other equipment in the big county road equipment lot next to my place. I'm adding a concrete plant as there is starting to be enough business to justify one if you include Pine Ridge. I'll be able to supply material up along the highway too. If you want big work up there, I'm sure I can get it for you."

I just stood and stared at Ralph Cummings. What the heck is this all about, me, road commissioner? Doing what, keeping roads graded and rocked? Plowing snow all winter? I don't think so, though I would think about it.

I told Gene, "Run down and bring Ezra back so he can see what needs to be done in the morning. I'll smooth this gravel out and push the extra up toward the building."

Too bad I didn't have one of those rollers to smooth this out a little. It would be good enough with the big tracks running back and forth.

I finished that and was pushing trees into a pile out of the way, so the gravel trucks could lay their rock down within the perimeter they wanted. When they got back, Ezra walked around and looked at what I had completed and told me, "We'll be able to cut this up and clear it in the morning. We'll have to pull the good wood out and trim it up first, before we cut up the other. You just push those root balls into the washes on the other side of the road and this will be done. We'll go back and work our way up again when we're done here."

By the time the day was nearly done, I had the area smoothed out good, ready for the rock. While I was finishing up, I did the quick air filter oil bath change and changed the engine oil. It's hard to believe how much oil these big motors hold. With the bulldozer taken care of, I walked back to my truck as all of the men were coming from the cable path. Ezra took a big drink of water, then poured himself some lukewarm coffee from his thermos, "A day and half, Mike. We'll have this one done. How soon do you want to start on the next run?"

"What do you think, Ezra? Should we give these guys a break, or move ahead? From what I was told today, they may add paths in two more directions, and might want a cable path all the way to Pine Ridge."

"Hot damn, I'll have something to do all the way through winter. This is getting better and better. You know, you're going to have to buy me some equipment. I'm running through a lot of chain and sharpening equipment. So far, I think all of the men can now handle a saw and they know what to do. You should hear them, Mike, they are all trying to only speak English out here. It's funny to listen to them, but they are trying. The ones who need green card help are going to bring their information in for you to take to Benson. If you keep this up, you'll have a legal crew here pretty soon."

"You know, Ezra, I hate the fact that I'm not hiring locals to work. I've posted notices all over and have found out the younger guys are working on their home farms, and the ones who are not, all want to grow funny tobacco and drink all day. It sure doesn't make sense."

"That's the way it's always been, Mike. There are slackers in life that never amount to anything. Around here, they don't turn into thieves, because they know someone will shoot them. Every once in a while, there'll be someone showing up on the side of the road with several extra holes. It's usually someone the Sheriff has been looking for and that no one cares about."

"Ezra, how about coming home with me to eat supper with us tonight? You'll enjoy the good cooking the women have been doing. What do you say?"

"You mean that?"

"I do, Ezra; you can leave your truck here or drive it up to the house. We can leave it there and you drive the little pickup home, or you can take the big truck home tonight."

"I'll take you up on supper, Mike. Sounds like something I've missed for a long while. I'll take the truck and drive it home. I'm so used to driving that big ole truck; I wouldn't know how to drive a little one."

I called Mom's cell phone to tell them I was bringing Ezra for supper. Mom laughed, "Just like it was when you were around, huh, Mike? You're always bringing someone home for supper. Well, bring him on."

We drove up to the house and Ezra got out and looked around. "Mike, the place looks really good. It was getting a little rundown, but it looks good now. You've really got the place looking lived in and successful. And look out there. Do I see three cows, two steers, and a calf? You're becoming a real farmer."

We went by the pump house to wash up there, so that we wouldn't track all of the big dirt in. When I sat to take my shoes off at the door, Ezra did the same and commented, "You know, I always did this at home, but when my Rachel passed, I became a bit of a slob. I'm going to get back into some better habits."

Ben and Ezra had a good time telling Mystery Mountain stories to us. I'm sure they embellished all of their tales, but it seems there have been mysterious things happening on Mystery Mountain long before the Revolutionary war. The local Indian tribes thought the mountain was haunted and kept away. Even then, they wouldn't hunt on the mountain and were always apprehensive because so many bears lived on and near the mountain. One of the reasons the mountain became mysterious was there were no bats in the caves on this mountain. That was enough to spook many Indians. Another was that hunting parties had come to the mountain and disappeared. How true that was is a matter of interpretation of the old stories.

When I told the two that I hadn't been up to the caves on top of the mountain yet, both of the men looked at me funny. Ben said, "Don't go up there. I don't know what the deal is, but that has always scared me to death. There's something spooky around that area. You know that's where the eagles' nests are. You should leave that area for the eagles and forget about exploring it."

That just made the mystery that much more inviting. I knew I'd check it out one day. It was going to be hunting season soon, and I wanted to clean out some of the extra deer around. They were already snacking in our garden at night. I might have to make the dogs stay out at night in order to keep the deer and other animals out.

After supper, Ezra told us thank you a dozen times before putting his boots on to go home. I walked out with Ben and Ezra as they went to their trucks. Ben said, "You'd better get back in there. Your Mildred is bursting to tell you the news. She is really proud."

"I figured on her passing that test, Ben. You and Mom have done a good job with her. I suppose it's Summer's turn to learn. If I keep this up, I'll have to make a deal on another pickup for Mildred. I suppose another four wheel drive would be a good addition around here."

Back inside, the ladies had the table cleared, but had poured glasses of wine sitting on the table. Mom came to the table and held a glass up; "This is a toast to your bride, Mildred, or Millie as she says I should call her. Congratulations for passing all the tests and becoming a licensed driver in the state of Kentucky."

We all took a drink of our wine. I took Mildred into my arms and hugged her before giving her a good husbandly kiss. "I'm proud of you, Mildred, or is it 'Millie' now. It is good that you can now get around when you need to. I need to set you up with a debit and credit card at the bank, and for you to have some money in your pocket, or is that your pocketbook or purse.

Mildred said, "I don't have a purse. They look like a good idea, but it's just something else to carry around. Your mother doesn't carry a purse. She has one that she usually leaves in the truck or her car."

Mom told Mildred, "I hate to carry a purse. I have this little wallet with a credit card, some cash, and my driver's license. I really don't need anything else. Around here, I'll probably be wearing jeans most of the time, just like you, Millie, so we'll find you a little case like mine, a little wallet."

Summer was checking Mom's wallet out and asked, "If you have change like pennies, dimes, and such, where do you carry that? Martha carries change in her purse."

Mom pushed her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small handful of change. "Don't wear your pants too tight and use the pockets. That's what they're for."

Mildred asked me, "Can you give me money to go to the store? Summer and I need more jeans. We are wearing out the ones we have. And, a, ah, our jeans are getting a little tight. We've grown since we've come here."

I went to my little satchel and counted out two hundred dollars. "Here is two hundred. Buy what you need and keep the rest in the wallet you will buy. That way, if you're in town, you can go to the Kitchen to eat or to one of the stores for something you need."

Mom wasn't any help, "Millie and Summer, that means you can get something that you don't necessarily need, just something that you want."

I held my finger up, "Wait here a minute. I have something in the truck for you, Millie. Let me get it."

I had forgotten that I had stopped by Walmart for a quick purchase. I brought in a small box that had a picture of a cell phone on the front of it. "Until we get a phone up here, this phone will work for you here and around town. You will be able to call me if you need me, and call Mom when you want to talk to her. Let's get this out and charge it up."

Mildred's eyes glowed with pride at having her own cell phone. As I watched Summer, I could see I needed to get her one too. She was fascinated with what she could do with the small piece of electronics. She went to the desk and found a small piece of paper. She asked, "Can I send a message to Bradley? He has a cell phone and told me to use yours to send him a message. I can call him too, right?"

Mom was laughing, "Son, you better put your shoes on and run to get Summer a phone. Come on, Girls, let's go to town and get another phone."

This was funny, as it was the first time Summer had asked for anything special. I suppose she really didn't ask for it, but made it clear she wanted something.

While I helped Summer pick out a cell phone, Mildred and Mom found a couple of wallets just for women and what they needed. They were looking pretty smug when they returned. Summer was fooling with the new cell phone and wanting to hurry home to charge the battery. The salesperson was able to help us set the phone up with its new number.

Back up on the mountain, Summer put her phone on the charger, and as soon as she could, she sent Bradley a message. A minute later, her phone chirped with Bradley's response and the two were off to the races.

I was getting tired, so I told all, "I'm going to bed. I've had a busy day and will have a busier one tomorrow. If we get done early, we'll go to town and look for another truck for you, Millie. I'm sure we need to keep it a manual transmission, since you've never driven an automatic. So, don't drive Mom's car or you'll get spoiled. We'll find you something you like."

As Mildred came into the bedroom with me, she said, "I want a truck, not a car. This way I can carry stuff from here to town and back without having to wait for you or Ben."

I stripped and was between the sheets in an instant. Mildred kissed me and...

Morning seemed to come fast, but it was as usual, since there were heads on each of my shoulders; Summer on my left, Millie on my right. I kissed Millie to see if she would wake and only received a grunt. I did the same with Summer and all she did was want to snuggle more.

Extracting yourself from those types of embraces is tough, but it can be done. I did it. Before doing my thing in the bathroom, I let the dogs out, stirred the ashes in the wood stove, and stuck a couple of pieces of wood in to warm up the coffee on the back of the stove. The fireplace was just about out, so I stirred it up and put a small log on, as well as a larger one so they would eventually catch to warm the morning mountain chill.

I did my bathroom stuff and came out to have some of the old coffee. As I was sipping the warmed coffee, Mom came from her room and gave me hug on the way to getting herself some coffee. She took a sip and looked over the top of the mug, "Ready for another day, Son? You know, I'm having the time of my life sharing all of this with you. You were always the dependable one at home, and you still are. Let me stir the two sleepyheads before we go out to the barn."

She went into the bedroom and obviously woke the two, as they came stumbling from the bedroom while rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Mom said, "The girls were so excited by their cell phones and that you are going to get Millie a truck that they couldn't wind down. I had to go to bed while the two of them were still gabbing."

Mom and I went out to the barn and found Ben already inside with the cows. Mom cleaned up a couple buckets while I put some hay out for the outside stock. There was an extra animal with the two steers and growing calf this morning. A young male deer with his first nubs was hanging out with the steers as if he was supposed to be there. The only animals that found this to be strange were the dogs. They were sitting near the fence staring at the young buck. When I walked in front of the steers, the deer didn't pay any attention to me and continued to feast on the hay.

After finishing with the pigs, I went into the milking parlor to tell Ben and Mom about the deer. They were finishing up, so I told them, "Take your milk inside and I'll clean up out here. Go check on that deer. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen."

Ben and Mom took their buckets into the milk house to pour through the filter, while I let the cows out before doing the super duper pooper scooper routine and cleaned up where the milking was done. Funny how I remembered doing this as a pre-teen and teen when I was growing up. Times never really change.

I went through the milk house and saw that the buckets had been washed and the milk cans were in the spring house. Mom and Ben were up at the tall wood fence, leaning on it and looking at the animals. The cows were their usual curious selves and were up at the fence licking the salt from the humans' pants before getting bored and going back to whatever it was they had been doing before milking.

The young buck was close to the fence and was almost up to where he could have stretched out and licked either Ben or Mom. He seemed very tame, considering humans were within a few feet of him. Mom told me, "Go get Millie and Summer. I'll bet Summer made a pet of this one. Go get them."

I told the two girls to pull the breakfast away from the hot spots and come out to the barnyard to see a visitor. They followed me out.

As soon as Millie and Summer came close to the fence, the young buck walked up to Summer and licked the hand she had stuck out. Summer said, "I know I shouldn't make a pet of an animal I may need to eat, but I found this one when he was little and didn't know what to do. I ground grass up into mulch and fed him until he could eat grass on his own. We've been friends since, but I haven't seen him for a long time."

Millie added to the story, "When we were trying to live closer to the cabin, the deer even tried to follow us up to the cave behind the chicken house. The dogs used to scare it away, but I suppose they know it now and don't chase it. What will you do with it, Mike?"

"I don't know, Millie. I suppose it's up to Summer since she was the one who tamed him. We'll have to keep him in the barn during deer season or he'll be someone's Sunday dinner.

All of us stared at the wild animal, wondering how to keep it from being the first deer killed during the season.

Inside, we had a good breakfast before Ben and I needed to take off to get the day workers. We met Ezra with the workers and everyone got to work. The men cleaned up around the distribution building before going back to where they had left off the day before. I stacked all the cut up logs that we would sell in one pile, and those to be cut for firewood in another.

The first two loads of gravel arrived, with one of the trucks pulling an equipment trailer with a sheep foot roller on it, one of those big ones with fist sized metal nubs all over it. They disconnected the roller out by the road and dumped their first two loads in the back of the building. I spread and leveled the rock until it was about four to six inches deep before starting the roller and pressing the rock that I just spread in. I was finishing up when four trucks showed up with more rock. They dumped rock on both sides of the building so I could spread that and took off for the last four loads. Once again, I was finishing rolling out the two areas when the last four loads were being dumped in front of the building. The truck hauler owner watched as I graded out the gravel, and began rolling out and leveling the area.

When I used the roller to finish up the driveway to the building, the man jumped on the roller to ride with me back to the trailer. "You seem to know how to use this equipment, Mike. Have you worked road equipment before?"

"Nope, I'm a farm boy, so I can probably run just about anything with some practice. The bulldozer is sort of like operating an APC (armored personnel carrier). I did a year in mechanized so I know a little."

The man riding with me wanted to talk, "You know, Mike, I really do want you to finish out my term as road commissioner to see how you like it. I'll damn near give you the equipment. I told you I have a couple of graders, two front loaders, two rollers, and another bulldozer, but it isn't in as good shape as yours. You do a good job taking care of your equipment."

The guy's name was Ralph Cummings, so I told him, "Ralph, I doubt that I would have the money to pay you for the equipment and I really don't have the time to take care of all of the roads in the township. You know what will happen, the next thing will be to take care of all of the roads in the county, and that's a huge responsibility. We're almost in summer, but what happens when I have to clean snow off a half a thousand miles of road?"

Ralph knew I had a point, "Well, the one thing you don't do is what I always tried. You don't try to do it all by yourself. You hire men to do a lot of the heavy stuff. Think about it, Mike. I will make you one of the best deals you'll ever find on the equipment, and I promise to give you the best deals on rock anywhere. If it gets bad this next winter, I'll even come out and help. Think about it, Mike, I really need to get out of this."

Damn, why do people want me to do more and more? Hell, the road commissioner job is an elected position. The winner of the election gets a fixed amount to keep the roads up and clear the snow in the winter, and gets to keep what he doesn't use on equipment and fuel as a salary. This didn't sound like a good deal to me. I'll talk to Mom about it as she probably knew more about something like this than I ever would.

With the distribution building finished, I drove the bulldozer back to where the men were working. They weren't working, but sitting down and eating the food the ladies had brought to us. As the dozer pulled up to the group, it sputtered, and although I had it out of gear and not moving, it died. Damn, now what?

Before getting down, I looked into the fuel tank to check and it was bone dry. I didn't have anything to siphon fuel from the dozer trailer rig, so I needed to go home, get fuel in a twenty-five gallon grease can and bring it out.

I was trying to figure out how to do this when I had a thought. I called the fuel distributor's cell phone. When he answered I told him, "This is Mike Grayson. I've run out of fuel on the bulldozer and could use a service call. Come out and fill the tanks. That's a two hundred gallon order. You can top off the dozer trailer tanks also, but I think they are only half empty. We need to talk about some way for me to have a mobile fuel supply."

The distributor told me, "Think about it, Mike. You are calling for over two hundred gallons and you know I go out and refill a couple of fifty-five gallon drums for customers all the time. I know where you're working as I've been out by there once today. I'll be out in twenty minutes."

While I ate, I kept thinking that I needed to have some kind of emergency fuel supply, but it had to be accessible as the dozer was often deep in the woods.

About the time Ezra and the men were going back to their tasks, the distributor showed up with his big fuel truck. He filled the bulldozer and the tractor, then pulled up a little. He called out to me, "Help me get this drum onto the back of the dozer. See these clamps; they are there to hold a drum. I'll give you one with a hand crank so that if you are getting close to being out of fuel, you can add some from the drum until I can get to you."

Three hundred and fifty gallons of diesel fuel later, the distributor was using his special WIFI or 4G credit card machine to take my money. It was an iPhone with a card swiper attached and an "app" to go with it. The distributor had a cup of coffee with me as the women looked at us. He said, "Ralph says he's trying to talk you into taking over the road commissioner's job for him. That would be right up your alley with the way you handle equipment and men. Ralph has four rock trucks on the road to make a good living, and he was trying to supplement it with the commissioner position. The problem was that he wouldn't hire the men to do the work, and he didn't keep the equipment up. If you take him up on the offer, don't give him much for the equipment, or tell him you'll give him the blue book, less twenty-percent and the cost of repairs required to bring the equipment up to being serviceable. He'll damn near give you the equipment."

"You know, I really don't want to do the road commissioner thing. I have a lot of things to do around my place and I'm looking at about a year or more of working for Mervin's cable company. I was thinking about advertising the equipment with a rider on the work to be done. Hell, I could get five percent of the work and come out fat and wouldn't have to bust my butt clearing out all that timber."

"Come on, Mike. You know how to handle people. The Army must have taught you that. You could teach people to do this job and find people to do the road commissioner's work too. Hell, you could probably get the entire county if you wanted it. The other three commissioners don't have the amount of roads you do, and they get the same amount as you. They bitch because they thought the job was going to be a get rich quick scheme, but found out they had to work for a change. Like I said, you could probably get the whole county if you wanted it."

"I'll think about it. Just think about how many men it would take to do all of that work. I'd bet it would take four to six full time men. One advantage would be they could work together on each project. I wouldn't need to duplicate equipment, so I would only need one or two good working sets. I'll think about it."

My mind was whirling, but I had an idea that might have merit. I had Ezra who could run the cable clearing crew from now until whenever. If I could find a couple of guys getting out of the Army that wanted to work, that could take care of the road commissioner thing, and all I had to do is organize everything and pop for the opening expenses. I might be able to do it. If I could get an exiting Army engineer with heavy equipment experience, he could do the bulldozer and teach others how to operate the road equipment.

When we were packing up to leave, I told Pedro and Jesus, "You guys need to consider another truck to haul all of you guys back and forth. We will be soon working pretty far out, and I'll need you to drive yourself. As much work as I've been giving you, another truck should be fairly easy for you to get."

Pedro asked, "Do you think you might need some more men? I have cousins that wanted to come, but they have heard there isn't any work. Those two are excellent carpenters and have been working in Arizona. They have green cards and know to pay taxes. Do you know of any work?"

"Let me think on it, Pedro. I might have something. It may not last long, but it would be a few months work."

Pedro then told me, "We have another truck now and will drive it from tomorrow on. You have been good to drive us every day. We will bring the others. They will pay us a little every day to ride in the bed."

Well, shoot, I could have been charging them for the ride every day. I wondered if Ben knew this.

I found Ezra finishing loading his equipment, "Hey, Ezra, come have supper with me again tonight. I have some things I want to talk to you about. I have a couple of ideas that may work out for both of us."

We were sitting at the table after supper when I began talking about the long-term prospects of doing the cable job and what we might do afterward. I suggested to Ezra, "If you think you want to continue working, how about running the crew for me? I'm going to find another bulldozer operator that will work with you at your direction. I think I should be able to find a guy getting out of the service with experience, probably better than mine."

Ezra was looking at me, "Do you mean that? Doing what I'm doing right now isn't hard on me and I'm doing what I know and do best. If you decide to do something like that, I'll do it and you shouldn't worry about after this job is done; the whole area has been looking for a cutter since I had to quit. People call me and leave messages on my answering machine every day. They want to clear land or thin out some woods. Some want to harvest the hardwood, but most don't know the value of it. Say the word, Mike, and I'm in."

"Ezra, Ben, Mom," I began, as I wanted to talk about the road commissioner job, "Ralph Cummings, the rock hauler has been the road commissioner for a while and doesn't want the job any longer. He wants me to finish out his term for him and is willing to make me a special deal on his equipment. Here are my thoughts on this. I would find at least one guy getting out of the Army Engineers, because he would know the equipment and have some road knowledge. I could hire enough men to help on the roads to do the job and figure out whether it would pay or not. If the job pays decently, Ralph and the fuel distributor said I could get the other four townships from the existing road commissioners. That would make having a decent sized crew reasonable. If I used this township as a guide, I would have an answer before next election in two years and could either not run, or try to take over the whole county."

Mom, Ben, and Ezra were totally silent. It was as if I had shocked them. Mom was the first to speak, "Son, I thought you were coming to Kentucky to be a hermit, a recluse, to get away from people. You're already doing more than I thought you would. Look at your farm, this is going to require a lot of work to keep up, and you're trying to rejuvenate the other orchards and vineyards. How are you planning on doing all of this?"

Ben was looking at me funny, "You really know how to get everyone after you, Mike. It seems that everyone wants you to do more every day. You've made me a happy man, and I think you're making Ezra a happy man again too. Do you want to take on that kind of responsibility?"

I looked at Ezra, as I had a lot of respect for the man. "Mike, Ben's right, you've given me life again. I'm not ready to retire and feel as if I still have a lot of years left. Before I met you, I was thinking that I was just waiting for the grim reaper to come get me. I thought my life was over. You've made me feel useful again, and I'm feeling better everyday. I'm getting stronger too and not hurting my back. I'm careful not to pick anything up, and watch the men so they work safely. I'm a better man because of you, Mike. Now, about the road commissioner thing; Ralph isn't the best manager around, and he also doesn't take care of his equipment very well. I've even told him to hire someone to look after his equipment for him as it would save him a lot of money in the long run.

"You have the right idea, Mike. Get one or two men who know roads and road equipment, then hire a few more Latinos who can be taught to run equipment and help the main men. I'll bet you could do a hell of lot better job with the roads than Ralph has done. I know the county is going to raise the amount this township gets to maintain the roads. That will help make your plan work, and maybe be profitable. The one thing you will do is to make a lot of people happy, because they know if you do it, it will be done right."

Mom told everyone, "Mike was always the one who would get a job done and wouldn't quit until it was right. When he went off to the service, we couldn't hire help that was as good as Mike had been. If you do this, Mike, I'm sure you'll do a good job. What can I do to help? I can run a big dozer, so I should be able to operate some of that road equipment."

"Oh, Mom, I don't want you to do that and besides, you'll want to go back to your lady parties at your over fifty-five community."

"We might have to talk about that, Mike. I'm really enjoying your place here, and your woman and daughter. We'll talk about this some more."

I needed to end this discussion as there were too many ideas running around in my head. "Come on, Ladies, let's go into town and talk to the Ford dealer for a few minutes to see what we might be able to afford. Ezra, you and Ben can stay and watch the big TV if you want. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Ezra."

We drove to Stanton and went to the Ford dealer, since I had been by there a couple of times and noticed that the side yard was full of new and used trucks. When we pulled into the lot and went inside, a man came up to us and introduced himself. "I'm Leo Toll, just like the sign says. Both of my sons are out this evening, so you've got me to contend with. You're Mike Grayson, right? I shook hands with you at church. I really enjoyed your wedding."

"Leo, I want a pickup for Millie to drive. We want a manual transmission and four wheel drive. I'm not sure about engine size, but I think I might want to use the truck to clear snow in the winter. You tell me what engine I need."

The older man said, "I have a couple of used trucks you might like, or do you want a new one?"

"Show me the used ones before we look at the high dollar new stuff, Leo."

We walked out to the lot and Leo showed us a four year old F-150 that was decent looking and clean. It was a bright blue and very eye appealing. The tires looked like they would need replacement soon and when I looked at the mileage, it was suspect as it only showed twenty-nine thousand miles. When I opened the hood, I instantly saw why, the whole front end had been replaced. This was a builder. Something put together from a couple of wrecks. I started the truck and listened to it and knew I would never buy this one.

"Let's look at the other used one you said you have, Leo."

He knew that I saw what the real condition of the blue truck was. He opened the driver's side door of a bright red F-250. An interesting feature was the front mounts for a snowplow, with the hydraulic lines clamped to keepers for the off season. In the bed was an eight foot plow. When I opened the hood, I immediately wanted this one as it was a diesel. I looked at the side and noticed the diesel insignia. Leo said, "This is five years old and has a little over eighty thousand miles. Not much call for diesel pickups around here. The man that owned this traded it for a gas engine truck and something smaller. He bought the truck from a friend up in northern Ohio, thinking he might do some snow plowing in the winter. He didn't like the noise the diesel made and didn't know how to take care of it. I see you already have a diesel, so you know them."

I needed to play hard ball to get it so I said, "Darn, I was thinking of a gas engine so it wouldn't be so hard to start in the winter. You have to plug a sump heater in to get them started in the winter, just something else to worry about."

Leo said, "Drive it; I'll make you a good deal if you like it. No one has even looked at it twice because of the color and because it's a diesel."

Funny, I thought having a red truck would be a good idea so it could be easily seen in the winter.

The truck fuel supply had all drained back to the tank as it hadn't been started for a while. The dealer cranked it far too long, instead of letting the fuel pump do its job. When it wouldn't start right away, the dealer became impatient and said, "I'll have to have a mechanic look at it. I know it ran good when I took it in."

The dealer was out of the truck standing with Mom and the girls. I could see Mom smirk as she knew what the guy did wrong.

In the truck, I turned the key on and let the fuel pickup work. I also noticed it had a glow plug switch I bet he didn't use, so I flipped it on and let them heat up. The way the guy was grinding on the starter, I didn't know whether it would have enough juice to wind up or not.

When I thought everything was ready, and the glow plugs had heated up the combustion chambers, I turned the key. The engine turned over a dozen times and caught. It had to warm up before it smoothed out to sound like a normal diesel that was swapping cylinders with the pistons on every cycle. I told Mildred, "Get in and let me see how it handles, then I'll let you drive it back."

Mom and Summer stayed with Leo while I drove from the lot. I asked Mildred, "Do you like red?"

She said, "It's really bright red, isn't it? I like that it is like your truck and is big like yours with the little seat in the back. The man said it was an extended cab, right? You know I don't know anything about cars or trucks. You're the one who knows about them, so you decide."

I stopped at the grocery store parking lot and let Millie take over. She had to put the seat up closer, but didn't have any trouble with the clutch and gear shift. She had driven the old truck and my truck enough to know how to drive this one.

When we pulled back into the used vehicle yard, Millie pulled forward and backed the truck into the space it had been. I was really proud of her. She had learned well, and I'm sure she was still learning.

When we got out, Leo looked concerned, "You put it back in place. Don't you like it?"

"Depends on what kind of deal we can make, Leo. Make me an offer I can't refuse and I'll take it off your hands."

Car people never learn, Leo whipped out a little book and thumbed through the pages and said, "See here, this is the low book value and this is the wholesale value of the truck. I'll take wholesale plus a hundred dollars. That's one hell of a deal."

"Come on, Leo, make me a deal. You and I both know you didn't give the guy who traded this in half that much. This is only mediocre at best, and you know it. If I can't make a good deal on this truck, I can always go into Lexington to hunt for one. Those big guys like to wheel and deal."

We went inside and dickered back and forth until he was down to about half of wholesale and that was where I figured he probably bought the truck. Mom, Mildred, and Summer crowded into the little sales room with the dealer and me, watching and listening to the negotiations. We made the deal on the basis that he would do the seventy-five thousand mile service, including an oil change, and I wanted both tanks topped off. The dealer vigorously shook my hand, making me think I could have gotten a better deal. Oh well. We agreed I would bring him a bank check and pick the truck up around noon tomorrow.

On the way home, Mildred was so excited that we had to stop at the Kitchen so she could run in and use the restroom. Mom told me, "Just like your father. You wheedled that man down to the last nickel. I think he was shaking your hand so hard because he didn't have to negotiate any more. I guess you did learn a lot from your old man."

We slept well after I was treated to some enjoyable fun while taking care of our urges. I'm sure Summer had an ear cocked so that she knew when to come to bed.

The next morning was Friday, and what I figured would be the end of one distribution leg and possibly the beginning of the next. I gave Gene the estimate for the distribution center that included all of the rock. The place looked good.

While Gene was on the phone with his office, the log truck came, loaded up the first load, and said he would be back in an hour or so. Two big cable trucks came up to the distribution building and a big crew got out. Gene introduced me to the supervisor of the crew and asked, "Can you walk him through the cable path so he can sign off on this leg? Use the two four wheelers in the back of my truck. It'll be a hell of lot faster."

I had never ridden one of these, so I had to take it easy in the beginning. I had to show the supervisor each of the creek and river crossings, and why I had veered from a steep rock outcropping. He was amazed that all of the stumps had been removed and graded over. I thought the path was done pretty well.

At the end, where I had a hundred foot square area cleared and leveled, he took his GPS out and stood in the center of the cleared area. I already knew the answer when he looked up, "Exactly on the numbers. Did you use GPS?"

I nodded, and he said, "This is the best work we've ever had. As level as you've made it, we should be done a lot faster than we figured. The poles will be coming tomorrow, and we've made a deal with your local telephone and electric companies so they can use our poles for their service as well. We should end up at almost better than breakeven on the path and poles."

He asked, "How soon will you start on one of the other three paths we want?"

I told him, "Monday, but we will probably take longer, as the next one is another mile longer and has tougher terrain. We have to use the road right of way for a lot of it, as there are too many rivers and steep bluffs for you to work on."

"However you do it, you do good work and the company will pay you well. Remember to bid high as they are used to being gouged by the big companies up near the city. Don't lose money on a job like this."

The man signed off on the path and pulled a check out from his folder. "This is for the first path. I'll get you a check for clearing and rocking the distribution center. This should help finance the next path."

Holy smokes; look at the size of the check in my hot little hands. I've fronted all of the labor, fuel, and material so far, and this was going to be all pure profit. The wood sales so far have paid all of my expenses, the equipment from Ezra, and I'm sure the tab he's run up at Dozer Supply and the outdoor equipment dealer, with a chunk left over. I sure hope that the next path was going to pay as well.

I went back to where the men had parked to find them all standing waiting for me. Ezra announced, "You saw, we're done. They hauled the last of the logs and limbs out of here a little bit ago. I think you should pay the men for a full day today, and send them home. We'll begin Monday and work out from the distribution building. You'll have a place to park your big truck, and your bulldozer is already there."

I had cash for all of the men, with payroll receipts and showed each of them the money that was being withheld for taxes. I explained that I would make sure they had help filling the forms out when it was time to file their taxes. Some were skeptical, but Pedro and Carlos kept the complainers from getting out of hand. I could tell they were advising the others that this was the way to stay in the States working. The only other choice was to go back to Mexico.

Pedro and Carlos were standing by my pickup, so I asked them, "Have your cousins who are carpenters come here from Arizona? You didn't say. I have some work for them that should keep them busy all summer and probably some of the fall. I want to build on to my cabin, enlarge my barn, and build another smoke house. When do you think they might be able to get here?"

Pedro became very excited, "They are already here. They thought you might put more men on for the cable path and wanted to be here if you were to do that."

I told Pedro, "If you wouldn't mind, tell them to come to the house this afternoon so I can show them what I want to do. They may have some good suggestions."

I turned to my cable path partner, "Ezra, I'll see you Monday unless you would like to go to church and have Sunday dinner with us. I'd bet we have a big roast or something like that. You're invited for supper tonight too, if you want to come out. Right now, I have to get home so I can take Millie to town to get her new used truck."

I was a little late getting back to the house, so I wasn't very popular for thirty seconds or so. You would think this was something of national importance by the way everyone wanted to go witness the truck delivery. Mildred, Summer, Mom, and Ben all crammed into my truck to go into town.

Before we picked the truck up, I needed to get money from my personal account to pay for it, and I wanted to make a business deposit of the cash and check I had.

At the dealership, Leo Toll was happy to see us and immediately took us to sign the various papers. The man showed us the company work-order for the work I requested on the pickup. He gave me a receipt for the truck, and had me sign the title transfer paperwork for the new tags he had on the truck.

Outside, Millie immediately sat in the driver's seat, with Summer in the middle and Mom riding shotgun. Ben actually looked disappointed that there really wasn't comfortable room for him in the extended cab area.

I suggested to Mildred, "Unless you ladies want to go home and fix lunch, why don't we stop for lunch at the Kitchen. We can get their order for tomorrow while we're at it."

That's what we did. Afterward, I followed Mildred to make sure she didn't have trouble driving the truck. Once we were home, I used the three point hitch and lift on the John Deere to move the snow blade from the back of the truck to a place in the equipment cave.

Knowing I would have a couple of visitors to talk about the house expansion in a little while, I got all of my drawings and floor plans out, and spread them on the table.

Mom knew something was up, but was working with Millie and Summer on what they wanted to take to market the next day.

About three, Pedro and Carlos came up in their new used truck with the two cousins who were carpenters. As soon as they were out of the truck, I was introduced to Raul and Jose, brothers who had most recently been working in northern Texas and Arizona. The two spoke very good English and said they had legally lived in the U.S. for over ten years. They had their documentation with them, but I told them that I wouldn't know what I was looking at. I did have someone who took care of that stuff for me.

We went inside the house where we sat at the table, drinking coffee, while I showed them the drawings I had made of the house. After the men had studied the drawings, we toured the house inside and out so that they would know what could be done.

Raul questioned whether the septic system would handle the increased load of multiple bathrooms and I assured him there weren't even any soft spots in the drain field, so it should be okay. Jose wanted me to think about heating for the winter, and I told him I thought I might want to have another fireplace on the other end of the house that would keep that area warm. I really didn't want to install a big gas or fuel oil furnace, but I told both men that we should make sure it could be installed later if I thought it necessary.

The two men had a large tape measure and paper pad on which they began listing measurements and writing comments in English. When they finished with that, we walked through the barn so they could see how I envisioned doing the addition there, then behind the smoke house to the area I wanted the new one to be.

Raul made the comment, "If we can do this the way you want, you will still have the same picture or see the same thing driving up as both the house and barn expansions will be behind the existing ones. The new smokehouse will also be hidden behind the old one. I like that idea. Can we work on some plans and come back tomorrow to show you what we have? We haven't worked for a few months and we need to earn some money. Our relatives here are good to us, and we thankfully do not have wives or children to have to take care of."

I asked, "Do you men have transportation?"

Jose said, "We own a good truck to work from. We have all of our tools and ladders on our truck. We will use that to come here tomorrow. What time is best?"

"We go to market on Saturday and usually don't get home until late. Come for supper around five thirty and we'll look over what you have. If we're not back from Pine Ridge yet when you get here, come in and have some coffee. We'll be home soon."

Well, that was done or started. I would do more than one thing at a time. I think they call that multi-tasking.

I was out looking at the RV and thinking I should load it up on the pickup and take it to market. I might be able to sell or trade it to someone. I really didn't need it and it was sitting out there doing nothing. It might begin to rot if I didn't do something with it.

With a bunch of cleaning supplies, I cleaned the inside up so that it looked and smelled good. I was checking to make sure I had not left anything in it when I pulled the cushions of the table seats up. There was that small lock box that I had forgotten about over a year and a half ago. I took it inside the machine shed where I had a little bench by all of my tools, and with a flip of a big screwdriver, the lid popped open.

Shit, damn, holy shit, money, cash money, a lot of cash money was in the box. Why would someone have that much cash in a dime store lock box in an RV.? There were rubber bands around big bundles of hundreds. There was a small note under a rubber band on one that said 'Alaska'. On another, the note said 'Mexico', and still another said 'Hawaii'. This money really belongs to the lady I bought the truck from. I shut the lid, and when I had finished cleaning the RV, I took the box into the house and put it in my closet.

I went up to Mom and said, "You remember the lady that I bought the truck from? Does she still live in your park?"

Mom looked sad for moment before telling me, "She passed away, Son. She was a sweetheart, wasn't she? Every time she saw me she would ask me how you were. The poor lady didn't have any other relatives that came for her, but had everything ready for when she passed. That was a sad time."

What could I do with the money? How much was there? Was it mine? Whose was it? If I reported it, who would I report it to? Then I felt really bad, because I didn't open the darned box earlier.

I went back outside and finished what I had set out to do. I backed the truck under the RV and locked the RV to the bed. I tested the generator and it started right away. If someone doesn't want the RV, I'm going to take the generator out and use it for emergencies here. I probably should see the guy at the outdoor equipment store for a big generator.

This would work, since I could drive my truck with the RV to market, and Millie could drive her new truck down with what we want to barter with.

My mind kept going back to all of that money. I wondered how much there was and whether I should just get rid of it by giving it to something worthy and be a happy person with what I already had. It's amazing how some inanimate object like a stack of money can cause so much mental strife. Well, I was sure I'd figure it out.

Mom easily convinced me to have a piece of rhubarb pie that was tart enough to make you pucker. She knows it's one of my favorites. I suggested to all, "Let's get to bed early. It's going to be a busy market day." I explained to Millie that she would drive her truck with our goods and I was going to try to trade the RV away.

Summer said she wanted to watch a late TV show, so Mildred and I used the privacy to enjoy each other for what seemed to be a long time. We were sleeping soundly when I felt Summer come to bed and snuggle to my back.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 14

No one really gave me any advice when I talked about the road commissioner's job. Ezra wanted me to do it. Ben didn't really know what was required, or what a road commissioner does. Millie and Summer were clueless when it's outside of food and home. They had lived so long thinking about their next meal and what they could do to have food the next day that they didn't, or couldn't, think about much more than that yet. Mildred easily took to buying, selling, and bartering, and recognized value received for value given, but she still didn't understand money all that well.

Summer had learned a lot from some of the television she watched, so she knows the items advertised require money to purchase them, but she still didn't understand quantities or amounts of money.

Mom somehow seemed to be getting through to both of them, teaching them a lot of basic knowledge that I would have thought people would naturally know. Mom recognized the holes in Mildred's knowledge. I wondered if Millie was slow, or if she just never learned. She and her brother lived in Lexington for a long while. He worked for the railroad and she took care of Summer until they ran because they thought they would be prosecuted for the railroad robbery or incest. They were young and realistically innocent-minded, as well as innocent of the robbery that they thought they were suspects for. I needed to find out more about Mildred's parents. What happened to them? Why were the kids alone so young?

This was going to be a busy day, so I knew I had better get up and get going.

I kissed Mildred on the forehead to wake her and moved over the top of her to get out of bed. She grabbed my hips and whispered, "I don't want to get up yet, I want more of what we had last night."

"Millie, Honey, we need to get going, today's market day."

"I know, Mike; I just love the way we cuddle and love."

From the other side of the bed, "Will you two get up? How am I supposed to get an extra minute's sleep with you two yakking."

Millie kissed me and let go so that I could slide from bed. Mildred sat up after whacking Summer on her butt. "I'll try to interrupt you when you're trying to get some good morning cuddles."

It only took me a minute to dress, visit the bathroom, and head for the bench to put my boots on. As I was finishing lacing up my boots, Mom came from her room and said, "Another great day on the farm, Mike. I just love it up here. I wonder what it's like with everything covered in snow. I'll bet it gets downright cold."

"It gets cold, Mom, but you get used to it. The one thing I worry about is the pipes freezing up. I've enclosed and insulated the pump and water tank better, and put in a small electric heater for that room. I made sure the water lines into the house and out to the barn are at least thirty-six inches deep now, so we will have water as long as we have electricity. I suppose I could have a back up coal oil heater for the pump house, but I could probably bring a gas line in and put a small gas heater in. If I do either, I'll have to remember to vent that room."

While we were doing the chores, Ben drove up with his goats' milk and the few eggs he had to sell. He was down to about fifteen chickens who collectively only laid about a dozen eggs a day. Mildred and Summer made sure enough hens were setting on eggs to keep hatching out more and more chicks so that we now had nearly two hundred hens laying, which means about twelve dozen or so a day. We didn't have any trouble selling all of them as people liked the idea that all of our eggs were brown and bigger than leghorn eggs.

Mildred was excited to be driving her new/used red truck to market. When it was time, Mom rode with Mildred and Summer, while Ben rode with me. On the way, Ben wanted to know, "If you were to be the road commissioner and take care of the roads around here, would you get paid enough to keep the road up here cleared in the winter? Would you have to clear the state roads?"

"The biggest problem in clearing the back roads like ours is the time it takes to clear the state roads. The state pays the counties and the county budgets that money to the road commissioners for clearing, salting, and minor repairs. I would think the state pays by road miles, and we have more state road miles than the other townships, so I'll have to look into that. If I was to do it right, there should be enough money to take care of all of the roads. Getting them into good shape will take the most effort, time, and money. I suppose the only thing to do is to look over all of the roads and figure out what it will take to do the job."

As soon as I parked the truck with the camper in the equipment sales area, people were coming over to the camper to check it out. It was a curiosity, so a lot of people wanted to look. I pulled the generator out on its slide and started it to show the lights and appliances inside. Just for fun, I went to the little café at the market and begged some coffee grounds so that I could have a fresh coffee smell inside the camper.

I had made a list of all the good features of the camper, like the generator, gas stove and heater, small air conditioner, 12 and 120 volt refrigerator, thirty pound,7 1/2 gallon horizontal propane tanks and most important a tiny bathroom with a shower head. The water tank was only forty-five gallons, the grey water tank was only a thirty-four, and eighteen gallon black water tank, but that should be enough for people traveling in a camper like this. A lot of truck bed campers didn't have a dinky bathroom at all.

Men would go inside, read the list, poke around, and come back out. When asked how much I was asking, I told each one that it would be the best offer at the end of the day. I had a little white board outside the door where I posted the amount of the highest bid and the name of the bidder.

Good ole' Leo Toll was always at the Saturday market with a couple of trucks to show off and came by the camper. He was quick to put a pretty good number of nineteen fifty on the board. He gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him if someone offered more. This was getting good, as I didn't think I would get much more than fifteen hundred, if that.

A young guy came by and wanted to know if I would give him the bed clamps and stands if he bought the unit. He said he was planning a two or three month vacation this summer. There were hand and foot bars on the back of the camper that were like a ladder to the top that I had never used. The young guy climbed up and said, "I can put a lot of stuff up here if I don't want to pull a trailer."

He asked about how warm it was in the winter, and I told him that I had been in it before when it snowed and was very comfortable. I did say if I was to have to stay in it very long, that I would probably get cabin fever or claustrophobia. He left and came back with his dad, who poked around for a long time, testing everything. He looked at the board and pulled me away from everyone, "I'll bet Toll wants you to call him if someone makes you a better offer. I think you have something my boy will be able to use, and it is in really nice condition. We've been looking and know how much these long bed campers cost. It might be worth more, but I'll tell the boy to give as much as seventy-five hundred, and I think that ought to be top dollar for him. Take this into the city and you might get up near nine. Will all the dishes, cups, pots, and pans go with it?"

"It's all a package. You know me and where I live; I don't need or have time to use something like this."

"Nope, you sure don't and the way Ralph was talking, if you take over the road commissioner's job, you will have less time. Call Toll and tell him you have a seven thousand dollar bid and see what he does."

I put my cell phone on speaker and called Leo Toll, "Hi, Leo, this is Mike Grayson about the camper. I have a bid for seven thousand, are you still interested?"

"Damn, I think I could still make money up there, but that's a lot. I'll go seventy-six hundred and that's tops. Any more than that and it could get to be too close."

"I'll write that down and call you back. The other man is near."

Leo said, "I'll bet it's that Wilson boy and his dad. The kid's been looking for something ever since he bought his big one ton. Well, good luck, Mike."

When I closed the phone, the man asked me, "How about seventy-six fifty and I bring you cash in an hour?"

I stuck my hand out for a shake and he waved his boy over. "You bought yourself a camper, Son. I helped you make a deal for seventy-six fifty. Let's go get the money and your truck"

As they left, I told them that I would take the camper off my truck so he could slide under it when he came back.

I shut everything down and dumped the now old coffee. A bunch of people were watching as I set the jack stands up and lifted the camper from the bed. When it was up and stable, I pulled out and parked next to it. Using tools in the truck, I removed the hold down clamps from the side rails. The clamps had a fat rubber bushing between the clamp and the bed, so there wasn't a mark or gouge where the holes were. I would have to fill the holes in with something to keep the bed rails from rusting.

The Wilsons came back with a big blue Ford F-350 dual rear wheel pickup. That was a very expensive truck. I showed them the hold down clamps and the young man instantly went into the back of his extended cab and brought out a battery powered drill and a half inch bit. They used the measurements of my truck as the beds were about the same size to drill the holes. They removed the tailgate and put it in the extended cab. The hardest part of the whole deal was inserting the spread molly with the rubber pad. When that was done, the dad said, "Okay, Jimmy, pay the man and get your title. I think you just saved yourself about three thousand dollars."

The young man counted out seventy-six hundreds and a fifty. I handed him the title and the deal was done. We directed the kid while he backed his truck under the slide in camper, and I showed him how to lower it so he would know how to jack it up too. With the clamps in place and the jack stands in the camper, they took off after one more handshake.

Mom surprised me, "You are some horse trader, Son. I listened to all of that and you were really straight with that man. I suppose you could buy your family lunch at the Kitchen with all that money in your pocket."

"Hang on; I have to call Leo Toll to tell him I got more than his final bid." Toll was disappointed, but he understood how bad the Wilsons wanted a camper.

I told Mom, "Let's go see how the girls are doing."

Mom said, "They're done. They sold everything they brought in the first hour we were here. A lot of people came to them for more, but they ran out fast. You have some of the most popular ham and bacon around. I think the guy next to them that slices the bacon is making as much as you are. He told me he was getting one of those circular slicers to do a ham like the fancy stores. He figures your hams will pay for it in a couple of months."

After a very early lunch at the Kitchen, we drove home happy to have had a successful day at the market. I didn't want to try for the Pine Ridge market, as I had not pulled any wine for that place, and Raul and Jose were coming by.

I began using the time to work on a few loose screws on barn doors, and to change the oil in the old Ford tractor. The women were using their time in the garden, and I would have to begin cultivating the corn soon. The John Deere may be better for the big fields, but we would see.

A little after noon, a strange car came up the driveway and parked by the other vehicles. I walked over to greet whoever they were. A couple of men got out and introduced themselves, "Mr. Grayson, this is George Dirk, and I'm Sam Green. We work for the Kroger grocery chain. We understand you have planted over forty acres in sweet corn, is that right?"

"I have. The only reason was that the price of the seed was right. I figured my animals would eat sweet corn as easily as any other." Sam Green laughed, "You're right, they would, but I might have a better deal for you. First though, I need to ask, what kind of fertilizer have you put on your land and the corn?"

I must have looked at them funny, as George said, "You know, did you treat the sweet corn seed with something or have you planted it with nitrogen?"

"No, no, I have only used manure on the fields. I figured it was good enough a long time ago, so it ought to be good enough for my little farm."

Sam said to me, "You know an acre of sweet corn should produce between a hundred and a hundred fifty bushels. If the corn is picked at the exact right time, it would be worth about three times what regular field corn is worth. Let us come in and pick your corn for you, and pay you the commodity rate for it at the time. We'll put a minimum price on it for you, but let me assure you that in season, sweet corn is bringing in a good dollar. I'll have the Farm Bureau surveyor come out and check your soil, and if you don't have any foreign substances, I think we can certify your corn as being organic and that will bring you even more money. Would you sell us your corn?"

I was curious, "How did you know I planted sweet corn? Who would have told you?"

"We contacted the man who just sold his place out about the sweet corn seed he had purchased and he told us you were planting it. We have a deal with all of the grain elevators and feed stores around to let us know of anyone purchasing a large quantity of sweet corn seed. That's how we get a lot of our supplies."

I needed some time to think about this a little, but told them, "It sounds like a good deal, but I have to think about it and do a little research. I was planning on having enough feed for my animals for the winter. I don't have a lot of open land, and what I can grow will just about make it for the year. If I have to buy it, I'll have to make sure the prices are good enough to justify not having my own."

George said, "Good idea, and we can have the Farm Bureau surveyor come out. They'll do a free soil test for you and can let you know where any deficiencies are. You probably don't overwork your land, so you are probably in good shape. Here's the information on how we will pick your corn. We do have to have inspectors who will check on the corn every day when it gets close to picking time. We'll come back to see you soon. Do you have a phone?"

We exchanged phone numbers and they left as Raul and Jose came up the driveway. This was the busiest this place had been in years, or maybe ever.

I took the two men inside for coffee and they showed me some very professional looking plans. I liked the way they had planned the house. Raul surprised me when he said, "You've been cutting a lot of oak lately, and I wonder if we could get some of the lumber from the trees for the exterior. If we had half logs, or just the surface, we could make the new exterior look like the original log cabin. We'll do the fireplace in the back by using local rock, and make it a duplicate of the front. I think we should use an insulated vent pipe to make sure there isn't a chance of fire. We can make the apron around the fireplace as big as the one in this room. If we include the heat activated fans like this one, the back of the house should be as warm as the front. If not, you can always add a gas furnace."

These two guys had been building some fancy homes, so they knew all of the neat things people wanted in a home. The place was going to be funny, as the new part of the house was going to be very modern, and the living part will still be roomy and homey the way it is now.

Mom had some questions about the kitchen, wanting to be sure that we would keep the spring house to cool things. It was amazing how, even on the hottest day, the temperature in the rock spring house stayed around forty to forty-five degrees. The water came from the ground about ten feet from the house and flowed through a pipe into the spring house. There was a very heavy water flow that made me wonder how all of that pressure was created.

Jose was the one to talk dollars and cents. "Mike Grayson, the work on the house will take more than a month if we hire some helpers. If we do it by ourselves, it could be over three months. Can you pay for helpers, too? We've asked around and know what a carpenter should get in this area, and know that no one pays Latinos that much. We'll work for a couple of dollars less an hour for non-union carpenters."

I told the two men, "Since we don't have a clue how much this will cost, how about I set up an account with the hardware store and we'll get Ezra to make a deal with the lumber yard for the log facings you want and all of the lumber. They have pine that is cheaper than the oak we cut."

I looked at the two men, "Now, about your wages, I'll pay you what the going rate is that you're comfortable with. You know what's fair and I want to pay fair. I will keep taxes out and pay my half of social security, so you or all of the men working are square with taxes. If you get someone who isn't legal, we'll take him in to see a man about getting legal. I can't take a chance having a problem with immigration."

Raul asked, "When can you set up the account at the hardware store? We'll get a lumber list to get started together and begin working on a foundation. Can a concrete truck get up here? Doing all of the concrete with a little one yard gas mixer will take a long time."

"I don't know, but I do know someone who would. I'll find out."

Jose said, "There is an old frame home being torn down near our place in town. We can get enough lumber for all of the forms we will need. We'll go by and make a deal to help them out and get what we need cheap."

"Well, men, I suppose you can start on Monday. Go get the lumber you need for forms and get me a starting list of lumber. I'll find out about the concrete. I'll put on as many helpers as you need so we can get the house and barn done before winter."

Another pickup had pulled up in the yard, making the dogs go nuts. I went out to settle them down and found a young guy standing by his pickup, with a dog on each side trying to lick him to death. Some watchdogs these two are. But I suppose they sense who is bad.

Raul and Jose came with me and waved as they got into their truck to leave.

The new arrival said, "Hi, you're Mike Grayson, right?"

"I am that guy. It seems I'm popular today."

The guy stuck his hand out and said, "I'm Jimmy, or rather Jim Sheraton, no relation to the hotel. I heard you might take over the road commissioner's job and wanted to talk to you about that."

I almost laughed, "Word sure does travel fast around here."

The young guy said, "I work for Ralph Cummings right now, and he was the one who told me. If he was to give his road commissioner job up, I could be out of work. I wanted to come by to possibly work for you if you take the deal."

"So why would I hire you, Jimmy?"

"First of all, I'm the only one who knows all of the equipment Ralph has. I can fix most of it, and I'm the only one who can run it all. I was an Army Engineer and built roads all over Iraq, and some roads in the mountains of Germany. I know mountainous terrain and I know how to handle rock. You know how to handle timber, so between us, we know how to do most of what the job requires."

"Jimmy, one man can't keep up with the roads in this township, and if I was to try to take over the whole county, I'm sure it would take more like six or eight. Do you know any other road building engineers who have gotten out recently or who may be getting out?"

"That's the other reason I wanted to see you, Mr. Grayson. You're known as a straight shooter and I suppose you would have had to be to have been a Master Sergeant in the Army. I have a couple of friends scattered around the country who are now civilians who can't find a job. There are Army Corps of Engineer civilian jobs, but they want to get away from government work. If you wanted to put a very professional crew together, I could help you. Ralph pays fair, and you would too, so if those guys don't want to work for what I make, too bad. A guy can live cheap here and this is a great area to live in. What do you think, Mr. Grayson, would you consider me and some of the other men?"

I said, "That was my biggest worry. I didn't know how tough it was going to be to get good men. How many can you get, and how many do I need to do the road work now?"

"Your budget is really tight, but you can do the job with two good men. There might be some projects that will take more, but this township takes two full time men. Ralph gives me some help every once in a while, but the help he sends is like his worst helpers. I need another man like me to do a good job."

"Tell you what, Jim, I'm going to get hold of Ralph and talk serious with him. Give me your telephone number, or how I can get hold of you, so I can tell you how it went."

Jim gave me his cell number and said as he prepared to leave, "You can tell Ralph I came to see you. I don't hide what I do, and I'm sure he'll understand. A guy needs a job."

As I watched Jimmy drive away, I looked up Ralph's number on my phone. When he answered, I said, "This is Mike Grayson. Can we get together for a few minutes to talk about this road job?"

Ralph sounded excited, "Damn right, we can. How about we meet at the Kitchen in fifteen minutes?"

I laughed, "Make it half an hour. I don't have a helicopter to get off this mountain that fast."

I went inside and told everyone what I was going to do. Mildred gave me a hug and said, "We're going to have real barbecued ribs tonight. We went to the butcher for a bunch of ribs, and we plan on cooking them over the fireplace fire. We'll want to eat around five."

It was already two thirty, so there wouldn't be a lot of time to talk to Ralph. I suppose we could talk more tomorrow, but I wanted to do some field work.

I made it to the Kitchen and met Ralph going inside. We sat at a small table by a window and discussed his deal. Ralph said, "I talked to the county board about you taking over. They want to know if you would take over the other townships too, as the current commissioners want out and are not taking care of the roads. Summer is coming on and it's the only time to really work on the roads."

Ralph looked at me, and thought that he had really scared me to the point of my forgetting the whole thing, "A couple of things, Mike. I'm one of the county commissioners, and if I'm not a road commissioner any more, I know I can get more money. They are not passing on all of the money they get from the state as it is. I'll make sure they pass that money down, and help you apply to the state and the feds for additional funds. This county could pay you enough to make it a good job. I'll help you do it."

He looked both ways, as if what he would tell me was a secret, "I have one really good employee that I'll let you have. He's ex-Army Engineer and knows his stuff. He's a hard worker and you never hear him bitch. I'll send him to you. His name is Jim Sheraton."

I smiled, "Jim came out to see me today. He's afraid of losing his job."

"There's no way I would let that guy get away. He's a good one."

"Ralph, how close are you to getting your concrete plant in operation?"

"If we have any orders, we'll be delivering by the end of next week. I have to do some sales work and tell all of the builders and the state I can deliver. It'll be slow in the beginning, but I really think the plant will do good delivering up on the highway."

That answered that, so the footings could be poured when the guys had the forms in place. That will save a week or so in the whole scheme of things.

"Ralph, I'll do this, or rather try to do this. Taking over the rest of the county is a big deal.

"If those guys, the other road commissioners, don't give me what it takes to do the job, it's a no deal. I think if they haven't done anything with the roads, they should give me all of their allocated funds. You know what's fair; I'll live with what you and the other county commissioners think."

"We either make them do that, or I agree with you," Ralph said, "Let them sink in their own cesspool. They thought it was a get rich quick scheme, but found out it can be work. I'll get with the commissioners and we'll get that done. Now let's talk about my equipment."

"Do I need to get an appraisal for the equipment, Ralph?"

"Probably not, the accountant has a hardware value of the equipment that is supposed to be book value. I said I would make you a deal. How about twenty-five percent of book value, and if something breaks down right away, like during the first three months, I'll split the repair costs with you?"

That seemed fair. "It's a deal, Ralph; we'll work out something for parking the equipment. I may need space to build an enclosure to repair equipment too."

"No sweat, Mike. The county owns most of that area where my plant is anyway, so the land is yours to use. If you build on it, the structure belongs to the county. It might be worth it though, if you were to build a pole barn to work on your equipment. You can spend the winter getting it ready for the spring and summer."

Standing and offering my hand, I advised Ralph, "I have to get home, so let me know about the money for the equipment, and I'll call Jimmy to let him know. I'm sure he has an idea of what to work on Monday, and I'll try to get with him so he can plan his week. I'll try to get him some help this weekend too."

We shook hands and I could see Ralph was visibly relieved that he didn't have to worry about the road commissioner position any longer. I wonder how he was elected to commissioner and road commissioner at the same time.

As I drove up to the farm, Ben, Summer, and Mildred were coming in from the barn. Between the dogs, Summer, and Mildred, I was given plenty of hugs and attention. At least the dogs would get down when I told them.

Mildred asked, "Well, are you now the road commissioner too? Your mom said you would probably do that. She says you are a good worker and would do a good job."

"Let's get inside and clean up; I'll tell everyone at supper."

When I walked into the house and sat on the bench to take my boots off, the barbecue smell was wonderful. Mom had used hickory to cook the ribs, and I saw what looked like a huge roast on the rack. Mom saw me eyeing the fireplace and said, "This is what your father should have built. The fireplace rack is perfect. Did you notice you can set it up at different levels? See that roast? That's for Sunday dinner tomorrow. We're going to have Harold and Martha out to eat with us."

That's when I noticed some extra chairs on the wall by the desk. When I looked at them, I asked, "Where did you find these chairs? They are handmade oak. They are beautiful."

Mom told me, "Your wife worked out a deal for eight of those and a new table. She said she had enough egg money, so she wanted a bigger table so that more people can eat with us."

"So where's the table?"

Mildred said, "We have to go get it. The lady who owned it is getting a new table on Monday, so Ben is going to help us women get it home. Mom thinks we should keep this table for the summer kitchen we're going to build."

Amazing how these women change things, but they do make life easier and nicer.

I told the family about the road commissioner deal, and said that I would be busy for a while getting everything set up. I told them I really wasn't planning on being gone from the farm all the time, since I wanted to work my own property.

Mom told me, "You'll have to keep watch of your grapes. You're going to have a big harvest this year if the blooms are any indication. Your bees are out there working their butts off for you. You've obviously done a good job getting the vineyard in fine condition."

I told Mom that I'm not that smart on grapes, but that the Farm Bureau had helped me with some grafts last year. I'll have four types of grapes this year. I'll have the dark and light, but I'll also have two other type of grapes that are a in-between colors. I didn't graft many vines, as I think the dark Italian wine is the most popular around here."

Ben told me, "If you keep this up, you're going to have to have a farm boss around here. You're busier than a one armed wallpaper hanger. Every time we blink, you're into something else."

"I'm not trying to do any of this. People keep coming to me, and I see how I might be able to do what they suggest or want, then hope I can get people to do the actual work. I'm making a lot of people happy so far, letting them do the work."

After another big mouthful of the delicious ribs, I told everyone about the Kroger people. Ben started laughing, "Well now, I guess you won't be the big supplier of corn at market, after all."

"I'll keep enough to make sure everyone who wants some will have plenty. We'll need to have plenty to trade so that Millie doesn't have to spend all fall canning. We'll sell the produce and trade for fresh canned."

Mildred said, "I don't mind canning. We did it all of the time when we had a garden. When I was young, my mother canned every summer. That meadow you planted in sweet corn was our big garden."

Mom asked what I had not, "What happened to your folks, Millie?"

Mildred looked very sad, "When I was pregnant with Summer, they said we had to move to the city because people down here might put my brother in jail. I wouldn't let that happen; I loved him. Before he was even sixteen, Mom and Dad were killed in the big fire they had in Lexington, when that factory burned down. A lot of people were killed that day, and it left my brother and me to make it on our own. He lied about his age to get the job on the railroad, and was able to support us until we ran. His job paid for Summer's birth because we told them we were married. They never asked for a marriage license, so that part worked out. It's too bad we ran away. He would never have been killed by that bear."

Mom asked, "Didn't the factory your mom and dad worked for pay you any money? There is usually a good sized settlement when people are killed on the job."

"I don't think so. I don't remember us having hardly any money until my brother got the job on the railroad. We had to beg a couple of times, and people will give you a little money or food if you are pregnant."

Mom told Millie, "Monday, you and I are going to do some investigating about that accident. I think you may still be entitled to something for losing your parents. Something isn't right about no settlement for an accident like that."

Good ole' Mom. If there's something wrong, she's going to find out what it is and correct it, even if it's fifteen years ago.

Ben stayed and watched TV with Millie and Summer. Mom sat with them, reading a book, and I called Jimmy to tell him the news and to make plans for tomorrow. I told him to begin getting in touch with his friends that were good workers and looking for a job. "I could use a bulldozer operator in the morning in addition to the men I'll need for the roads."

I called Ezra to advise him about what I was going to do. He was excited for me and told me, "Well, that about makes it for certain that you'll be keeping me around to run your cutting crew. I'm right happy for you and me, Mike. It looks like we're going to remain partners like you said."

The last person I called was Maude. I figured she would want to know.

"Hey, Maude, I wanted to tell you about something I'm going to do."

"If you mean about you taking over the road commissioner's job from Ralph, I've known that all evening. Benson heard about it because Ralph called for an emergency commissioners' meeting. They are having it right now, so if you're interested, get down to the county courthouse real quick."

"They'll work it out, Maude. I just wanted to tell you I was going to hire Jim Sheraton to work for me doing the road work."

"Jimmy is a good boy, and the Sheratons are nice people. You'll like them a lot. I've always been surprised that Jimmy came back here after the Army. A lot of young folks leave."

I added to the list, "Maude, I've hired a couple of men to work on my house. I'll get their stuff to you and any of their helpers. You can have Benson set me up as a construction company too, I guess. I think I should keep this separate. When you do the road commissioner stuff, make that a separate entity too, okay?"

"I'll have Benson make that a separate corporation. I'll think about the construction stuff, though. I'm Ralph's accountant anyway, so I know how his deal works. I do the work for the other three road commissioners too, so if you take over all of the townships, I know what they should give you."

"Wow, Maude, everyone knows what everyone else is doing all the time here, don't they?"

"Yes, Mike, there are no secrets, so don't be alarmed if you hear some of the church biddies talking about Gene staying over the other night. I think he may stay over often. Thanks for introducing us. We make a good couple. I'll have to see if it goes further than fuck buddies."

"Maude, such language."

"Oh, come on, don't be a prude. I was going to church tomorrow because of you, but maybe you are a prude."

"You just surprised me by saying what you did. I didn't expect it."

"Well, Mike, you didn't want to be, and you couldn't now that you're married, but I really wanted you to be my fuck buddy. We could have really messed up some sheets."

"Ha, ha, ha, Maude, you are something. Come to church, it'll make you feel good. Get Gene to come with you and I'll tell you what, come out to dinner with us after church tomorrow. Harold and Martha are coming, and from the size of the roast we have, there will be plenty for everyone."

"I'll call Gene, but I doubt he'll be able to come. He's up in Lexington today getting the rest of his clothes. He's rented the little apartment over the drugstore and may not be back tonight."

"Then how about you by yourself. You would be welcome."

"I'll be there. I think I know how to get there, as your driveway is just a little farther than old Ben's. I used to go get goats' milk from him for my dad. I'll follow you from church and that is a guaranteed way to get there."

When I disconnected from Maude, Mom turned in her new swivel rocker and asked, "So how many more, Mike, one or two or... ?"

I laughed as it was as if I was a teen again and was bringing friends home for lunch or supper. "Just one, Mom, my accountant; she's coming to church tomorrow and will follow us home. You know, I should have Jimmy out for dinner. I'll do that another time."

Mom was laughing as she went back to her book.

Millie came over and sat on my lap, "You can bring as many friends home as you want. I love meeting all of the people you meet. Summer is going to Bradley's for dinner tomorrow, so we'll have that extra place anyway."

Millie snuggled into my lap telling me, "I'm so happy. I have a wonderful life now, even better than the people on the television. I have a husband, a mother, many friends, and our own place that no one can take away from us. Now I need to give us a baby."

That got Mom's attention and she swiveled around and looked at me over the top of her glasses. "Goodnight, Son, you're probably very tired tonight. Take Millie with you, she'll help you go to sleep."

Good ole' Mom.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 15

Sunday morning should be one where people get to sleep a little later than other days. Not on a farm. The cow or cows still have to be milked, eggs laid overnight have to be gathered, and the other animals have to be fed. At my house, that includes the dogs. They had been staying out at night since they enjoy chasing the deer from the garden and patrolling around the chicken yard fence where critters look for a way inside to have chicken dinner.

The two dogs are always so excited when they see me or anyone who exits the house that you take a chance of being mauled. Both of them are so big that when you sit on the steps of the porch they can look you right in the eye, maybe even a little down on you. The female looked like she was going to have her puppies any day now, but I haven't noticed her making a bed yet. Millie had set a big box on the porch with some feed sacks in it to give her a special place, but she was ignoring it so far.

With the chores done and breakfast finished, we dressed for church. There were some last minute things to do for the dinner the ladies were going to serve later, but we were able to leave for church in Mom's car. We stopped by Ben's to pick him up and were a big extended family on the way to town.

Sunday school was interesting, as my extended family now included Ezra sitting with us, plus Maude had come early and sat on the other side of me, with Summer sitting next to her. Mom and Millie were now soul mates and always sat together. I'm sure our gathering was cause for some conversation, but who could gossip about people just being friends?

After church, we had a procession going back to the house, with Harold and Martha in their pickup truck, and Maude in her big Ford Expedition. We had a great dinner of hickory slow cooked top sirloin roast with all of the trimmings. I think Mom was the happiest person at the table. Since she had been here, she had glowed in the outdoor activity and the companionship she had with Millie and Summer. Although Summer was turning twenty, Mom treated her as one of her kids. Summer liked it as well.

After dinner, I led Harold and Maude on a tour of the front vineyard and orchard, then around to the back side to see the old vineyard and small orchard that I was restoring. Maude had changed into jeans and boots to do some walking, and actually wanted to go down to see the old Jorgenson homestead. I discouraged the trek, as Harold was still in his dress clothes and shoes.

Back at the house, Maude wanted to talk about the road commissioner project. "Mike, from what I know, your first order of business is to buy out the equipment Ralph has and rebuild all of it. He's going to split most of the repairs with you, so get all of it into the best condition you can. That shouldn't take all that long, and then you can begin going over all of the secondary roads in the county. You should be able to get Jimmy some help by then, plus you're going to need a bulldozer operator for your timber and path clearing. You will be too busy looking at roads and directing people to do all of the work required to try to do it by yourself."

"You see, Maude," I began trying to explain what I wanted; "I really want to work on my place by doing the field work, keeping up with the farm and garden. I feel like I'm letting some of my personal work go. That's why I was hesitating about the road job so much."

"Be smart, Mike. You know how to direct and give orders. See what needs to be done and direct those that will be doing it. Ezra knows what to do and can keep an equipment operator going in the right direction. Jimmy will keep you on track with the help of the men he's going to bring in. Now you need to think about some help here on the farm. From what your mom says, you are going to have a huge grape crop. From the looks of your garden, you are going to have enough vegetables to feed the county. You're also going to need a lot of help between the garden, vineyards, and orchards. Think about some of the Latino women to see if they might want to work some. You could easily keep the garden up with their help, and when it comes time to harvest, you're going to need the help anyway. My goodness, Mike; what were you thinking when you planted a five acre garden?"

"I'll ask the women to see what they think. I know the orchards need some landscaping between the trees, and the back vineyards need weeding. I'll need to look after that. That's why I need to be around here and not working for everyone else."

Maude told me, "Call Jimmy and tell him about fixing equipment first. I'll call Ralph from home and give you both the number the equipment is worth. I'll have Benson draw up an agreement for you to assume the road commissioner's job and buy the equipment. You be ready to come to town to sign and give Ralph some money. He'll be ecstatic. That concrete plant has been expensive to get built but that's all he's thinking about right now."

Maude took off to go and put the rest of the road deal together. I thought for a moment, then went to the bedroom and brought down the little box with all of the money in it. I kept thinking that I needed this for the road job, but I also felt like the money should be used for helping the community out.

I took Harold outside and sat at the picnic table. "Harold, when I bought my truck, the camper I had came with it. It was sort of an unexpected bonus. Inside the camper was this little box that I put aside and didn't open until I was getting the camper ready to sell. I found money when I opened it, a lot of money. I was going to give the money back to the lady who sold me the truck, but she has passed away. Harold, this isn't mine, so I want it to do some good in the community. I know the butcher and I already help out with food for a lot of families in need, but I'm sure there are other needs. How about using this money to help those families who need it?"

I opened the box, took out the three stacks of hundred dollar bills and a smaller pile that was unmarked. Harold picked one stack up and flipped through it like a bank teller, then put the stack down. "Mike, it is unbelievably generous of you to offer this. The church will use some for those in need, but we're doing well with our donations right now. I'm thinking your new jobs are going to require a lot of operating capital, and you may need this. Your hiring so many is going to help the community more than the donations."

Harold was sitting, staring at the stacks of bills, "The church will use one of these stacks to do its work, and you will use the rest to help the community by hiring more people. There are a couple of men who are recovering alcoholics and will work now. If I can send them to you, use them to do whatever you need, but make them work hard for their money. They need the satisfaction of hard work and the thrill of getting paid fairly for a fair day's labor. What do you think? Will that work?"

"Harold, there's a lot of money there. I don't know if I should really be entitled to so much, whether or not it will hire others. I will benefit from those that I hire, so it's like the money is coming back to me anyway."

"Oh, Mike, don't be silly. You and I both know it takes a lot of money to begin an operation like the road job. It's going to take a lot of cash to keep your timber business going, and just look at how many men you have working there now. I'm sure your bill with Benson is enough to choke over the way he's working on all of those men with bad credentials. Take the money, Mike, use it, make people happy."

I have really had to argue with my conscience sometimes, and this was one of those times. Harold saw my indecision and said, "I heard Maude suggest you hire a bunch of the Latino women to help on the farm. That would be a good idea, as those families are just barely making ends meet. What you pay is keeping them afloat and feeding them. If they were to work out here, you could give them some of your produce too. Hire the rest of that group and keep them in food and clothes. The guy who is renting to them is raping them on rent, and I'm sure he reminds them every month that they are subject to the INS if he wants to turn them in. Help get them out of that, Mike, help them to become independent."

I was smiling at Harold when he said, "Besides, we have about twenty new church members who barely speak English, but come to pray with us on Sundays. You see, good deeds make other good things happen."

"Harold, go put this in your car and deposit it tomorrow. I'll put the rest in the bank as if it was from the trees I've been selling. You get those men who want to work in touch with me and I'll have them working right away. I'll talk to my ladies to see what they think about the Latino women."

We shook hands and Harold took a big stack of bills to his car. I still didn't know how much there was. I took the box inside the house, and then went back out to call Jimmy.

"Hey, Jimmy, Mike here; I'm going to finish the deal with Ralph in the morning and I'm told the best thing for you to do is to begin getting the equipment in as perfect a condition as you can. Do you need a good mechanic?"

"I'm a pretty good wrench, Mike," Jimmy bragged. "I've been working on equipment all of my life. You know my Dad was a heavy equipment operator on the highways for years. I was sort of his apprentice. I would still be working for him if he hadn't sold all of his equipment. I could use a good hand, though. One of my buddies from Cincinnati is on the way down here now. If I can put him to work in the morning, we'll begin getting the big equipment ready."

"Jimmy, I need someone else while we're looking. I need someone to take over clearing the cable paths with the bulldozer for me. I should check the entire county for road problems, figure out what needs to be done, and set some kind of schedule and priorities. Do you know of someone I might be able to get?"

"Darn, Mike, I forgot to ask. I have another guy who got out about three months ago who is an artist with a bulldozer. I've seen the man fit an eight foot bucket blade through a six foot hole. I'm telling you, he is really good. He's a good worker, but people dismiss his abilities when they talk to him. The guy stutters so bad that it takes him five minutes to say good morning. If you just tell him what you need done, he'll do it. He writes a note when he needs something. He knows his stuttering is a hindrance, but works around it. Do you think you might be interested?"

"I'm interested, Jimmy, what's the guy's name and when can he come?"

"His name's Jet Peters. I really don't know what his real first name is, because even the NCOs called him Jet. That might be his name, who knows. I'll get in touch with him and he'll be here in the morning. My place is going to be full with all these guys coming. It's going to be a party."

"Where does this guy have to come from, Jimmy?"

"Lexington, if I call him right now, he'll be here about the same time as my bud from Cincinnati. Let me call him right now. The guy is going to be so excited he won't be able to say, tha, tha, tha, thank you. Ha, ha, ha, sorry about that, but I couldn't resist."

Now I needed to talk to Maude again. When she answered, I asked, "How are you doing with your figures, Maude?"

"They're done and I'm getting ready to entertain my engineer friend in an hour. He's already called and told me to have everything off but the stereo and have it down low, as he's ready for some play time."

"That's neat, Maude. Have a good time. Along with consummating this deal with Ralph, I'm putting a couple of guys on tomorrow that Jimmy has found. One will work with Jimmy on putting the equipment in shape, and the other is going to be working with Ezra. I'll need you to make sure they have all of their forms signed for us."

Maude's voice took on a more serious tone, "Mike, I hate to tell you this, but you need to see Blake Noonan about insurance. You need to insure all of your equipment, and you need to get workman's comp insurance. Since Benson is working on all of your immigration problems, all of those men are going to have to be covered, as well. Blake knows what to buy and how to buy it. I'll set an appointment up with him for you, and you can take care of that."

"Oh shit," I impulsively said. "Sorry, Maude, I didn't mean to cuss."

"Something like fuck buddy?"

"I suppose, but I really didn't think about the other things involved in having employees. Okay, set up an appointment and I'll work around it. Thanks for giving me a heads up so I don't run into roadblocks on the way to the poor house."

"You're doing great, Mike. I think you'll do fine with the roads. You know how to get men to work, so you'll do a good job. Give it a year and see. I doubt anyone will even want to run against you in the election. The other road commissioners will be out there campaigning for you."

"Enjoy your engineer, Maude."

"I will, Honey, I'll be thinking of what you missed. Ha, ha, ha."

Millie and Martha came out of the house carrying coffee mugs. Martha said, "We thought you two might want some coffee while talking about all of your big plans."

Harold waved his hand around, "I've been eavesdropping on Mike's calls as he finds people for tomorrow and talks to his accountant or bookkeeper. He's a really good businessman."

Millie sat next to me, "He's a good husband too. He takes care of Mom, Summer, and Ben, as well as our home. I'm so lucky."

Martha patted Millie on the back of her hand, "Don't be giving your man a big head. He'll forget how to act and won't get anything done."

That just gave me another good arm hug.

"Well, Mike," Harold began, as he started to stand, "It's been fun today and we had a great meal. It's time to get home for evening chores. Call me this week to see what we can do to put some of the things we discussed into action. I'll be busy on the farm this week, but I will still have time to work with you on what we talked about."

We walked them to their car and watched them drive away. We went inside so I could change clothes to do evening chores. Ben was snoring while leaning back in his chair in front of the fireplace and TV. There was still a spicy odor of hickory in the air, although the fire was out at the time. Now that the spring was bringing warmer air, the stove gave us about as much heat as necessary. Perhaps a little fire in the morning, but that is all that was needed up on Mystery Mountain.

After chores, we woke Ben so he could have a light supper with us before going home. He was a happy man having a place to be with people everyday. His health seemed to improve with each day he spent with us.

After Ben went home that evening, and the women were in their rockers watching TV, I put a list together of what I had to do in the morning. I knew I probably shouldn't, but I called Jimmy to find out about Jet Peters.

"He got in an hour ago, Mike. He's so excited that he won't be able to talk for a week. Where do you want him in the morning? Is the bulldozer still at the cable distribution building?"

"Good thinking, Jimmy; if you can give him directions to get there around seven, Ezra and I will meet him to get him started. From there, I'll go do the deal with Ralph, then swing by to see you and meet your bud. You're going to have to tell me what kind of account you'll need for parts and supplies so I can set them up."

"We'll do that when you finish with Ralph tomorrow. Bring the forms you need for us to be your employees. It's a W-4 or something like that."

"I have Maude, the bookkeeper getting that together for me. We'll take care of it."

Jimmy's voice dropped a little lower, "I've told the two guys their hourly wage. It's a dollar less than mine since I'm going to be acting as the foreman. They're OK with that, so we're good to go on wages. I'm excited to work for you, Mike."

Little did Jimmy know, but unless it was something special, Jet was going to be busy working on cable paths for the next year.

I called Ezra to tell him about the new man. When I tried to explain about Jet's stuttering, Ezra commented, "We have a couple of men who stutter pretty bad around here. Since they're farmers, it doesn't make a lot of difference, except they don't come to market to trade. If they realized no one really minded, I'd bet they would feel a lot better. I'm looking forward to working with the boy, Mike. See you in the morning."

After getting up early, doing chores, and having some breakfast, I was at the distribution center at six thirty. I was having a cup of coffee from my thermos, when a big black pickup parked next to my yellow-orange one. A fairly short guy came bouncing out of the truck with a smile so big it lit up the morning.

The man walked up to me, stuck his hand out, and with a confident smile said, "Jet, Pa, Pa, Pa, Pa, Peters."

"Great to meet you, Jet. Jimmy said you were the best there is on a bulldozer. Let me show you what I have." We walked over to the bulldozer next to the truck and trailer that hauls it. I pulled the big grease insertion tool off the trailer and carried it to the tractor.

"Look it over and I'll go over what has to be done each day."

Instead of walking around the tractor, he was up on the tractor, checking the fuel level, pulling the dipstick out, and checking the hydraulic fluid level. He went over all of the hydraulic lines for the bucket and checked all of the swivel joints before checking over the tracks very carefully. He was nodding his approval as I plugged the big greasing tool onto the first Zerk grease fitting. I didn't have a chance to begin turning the crank since Jet was already there. We went through all of the grease points and stood back looking at the bulldozer. I told Jet, "Go ahead, start it and I'll show you where we will be heading."

While the young man went through the steps to start the big diesel engine, I got the GPS, compass, spray paint cans, and the map from the truck. When I came back to the bulldozer, Jet had raised the bucket and turned the tractor to face the direction opposite of where the other path entrance came in to the distribution center. The kid could think.

He let the tractor idle and got out of the cab to talk to me and to meet Ezra, who had come up at that point. After they met, I told both of them, "First, mark your path and follow these points for turns to get around bluffs and rivers. Ezra will go with you to show you what trees we will want. If you can push them over, do it. If they won't go down without straining the tractor, leave them for the men to cut and we'll blow the stumps. Jet, listen to Ezra, and when you have a question, ask him. He's patient and doesn't have a problem when you have trouble getting something out. I'll be back about noon to see how you're doing. I'll make sure the women bring food for lunch today."

Ezra and Jet began walking down the path they were going to take with Ezra blazing each of the trees as he went. I noted he was following a path with the most black walnut trees to bring in that much more money.

I called Maude on the way to town to see where I needed to go. She said, "Come by and pick me up on the way to Benson's. Ralph is going to meet us there. I hope you brought a company check. When we're finished, we'll go out and sign up Jimmy and the other new man, then go over to sign up the guy you hired to work with Ezra. When we get back, we'll have lunch with Blake Noonan so you can give him the go ahead to cover you to get started. He'll put a binder on everything. I'll have an employee list for him for the two different companies."

As I drove, I called Millie to make sure they were going to feed lunch to the men. I told her where to go to meet them and what I had planned.

Maude was in a good mood, dressed in a conservative skirt, blouse, and sweater. She looked like the typical accountant. At Benson's, Ralph was being crazed over getting rid of the road commissioner responsibility. I can't imagine that it caused him that much trouble. He told us, "The big deal is that I'm a county commissioner, and I couldn't hardly be derelict in my duties as a road commissioner. I just couldn't do it all. I know it's my fault for biting off more than I can chew, but I didn't think I would go into the concrete business this fast. I really appreciate this, Mike, and the county is really happy you'll try to help us. Hopefully you can make this work for you so you will continue."

We signed, I paid, and a happy Ralph bounced out of Benson's office. Benson had me sign a couple sets of corporate papers for the timber and the road businesses. He told me, "I haven't made up my mind whether or not you'll really be in the construction business. If you end up contracting for more than just your place, we might, but right now, there's no reason. Just pay those guys what they need to pay their own taxes right now. I'll let you know."

Maude argued a little, "Mike wants to make sure they stay current with their taxes and wants them to be employees. Don't you think he should have something to indemnify him in case of an accident?"

"Maybe," Benson said, while thinking about it, "But does Mike really need to incorporate for something like this? It's his place. Why not handle it like a housekeeper or day worker?"

"Okay, Benson, you win," Maude sounded exasperated. "We need to get going as we have to get his new employees signed up and we have an appointment with Blake for insurance."

"Ah, good thinking, Maude. I forgot about that. It's a good thing Mike has you to look out for him."

We went to the equipment yard the road commissioner used and found Jimmy and a guy named Tommy Darmstadt. Tommy was a big guy, about six three, and at least two thirty. He was fit and my kind of guy. He was wearing fatigues, so he pointed at me, "Hey, it's my twin."

Nothing bashful about Tommy. Both Jimmy and Tommy flirted with Maude as she had them sign a W-4 and gave them a standard employment application. "Fill these out for the file. I need to have something like this in case we're questioned by the IRS."

As we left the two men working on what was now my equipment, Maude told me, "That really isn't true what I said about the IRS. I just want a copy so I can run all of the men to be sure they are not axe murders or escaped criminals. It's just something to help you to cover your ass."

We stopped by the distribution center and found Jet pushing trees over and the cutting crew trimming logs. Maude was really gentle with Jet, and was able to have a short conversation with him. I told Ezra that the women would be there for lunch soon.

We drove to town and went straight to the Kitchen. Maude hollered at a guy getting out of a pickup truck, "Hey, Noonan, how come you're so damned late?"

The guy waved at Maude as if she was a bother and wanted to brush her off. "I'm here to buy lunch for some babe and a prospective client. Come on; let's eat so I can sell something."

Inside, while we were eating, I found out that Blake, Benson, and Maude were in high school together, but not in the same graduating class. Benson was the oldest and Blake the youngest. Since the graduating class sizes were only thirty-five to forty people, everyone in the school knew everyone else. The local high school took students as far away as Pine Ridge in one direction, and an equal distance in the other. There just wasn't that big a population in the area.

After we finished eating, Maude and Blake worked out what Maude felt was adequate coverage for me, and I gave Blake a check for a binder. Oh boy, that is three pretty good sized checks I wrote so far today.

On the way to take Maude back to her office and home, I asked, "What do you think of me having some of the Latino women help out on the farm? As you saw, we have a huge garden, in addition to the vineyards and orchards. Harold thinks it would be a good idea, but I really don't know."

"You need to talk that over with your women, Big Boy. They are the ones who give the yea or nay to bringing other women to the place. You have to figure out how they will get there and all of the other things that are necessary to have someone working on your place. Go home, and ask your women."

I sat in Maude's driveway for a second to look at my list. I'd done everything on that list, so I supposed I should go back and check on Jimmy, then check on Ezra.

At the road equipment yard, Jimmy had a long list of parts. He told me that most of them would be stock items from the Tractor Supply store and the rest could be ordered from there. He told me that the outdoor equipment guy had a couple of the small parts he would need. I told Jimmy, "Let's go into Tractor Supply and set up an account for you. Give them the parts list and pick it up tomorrow when you give them a list of additional parts. I'm sure it will take a day or so to get some of the ordered parts. Just be sure to have the correct part numbers."

Jimmy told me, "I've been using Ralph's office and PC to look up part numbers. What I can't find on Tractor Supply's web page, I find from the manufacturer. I'll get what I need pretty fast. We can start work without some of it."

With the account set up, I went to see Ezra. They had worked better than a half mile back today. I was surprised, considering how dense the woods were in the beginning. Ezra said, "With the trees coming out of here, this run is going to pay you double and triple. You should get Harold to get some kids out to pick up old walnuts. I'll bet they can make a few bucks."

I sat in my truck while having a cup of coffee, and called Harold about the nuts. I explained what Ezra told me and Harold was in favor. He said, "You know, we used to do that a long time ago. You have to pick them up after the heavy freezes, usually the next spring. I'll organize the youth group. We'll have to get them some gloves and plastic bags, but they'll have a good time making money for their summer trip. This will give them an extra McDonald's stop on the way."

It was almost four, so I took off for home to talk to the women. No one was inside as they were all doing chores. I walked into the barn and saw Mom and Millie milking. I heard Ben moving around in the hayloft, and figured Summer was doing the chickens.

Mom hollered, "I hear you back there, Mike. What are you doing back home so early? Are you giving everything up to become that recluse guy you wanted to be?"

"No, Mom, I have some stuff I need to talk to the women of the house about. What can I do to help out?"

Millie said, "Carry this bucket to the filter. I filled it too full. Your mom does the same thing, and we end up spilling milk all the way to the milk house. Bring me a clean bucket so I can finish."

I emptied the bucket, washed it, and brought another bucket for Mom with me. I took her full bucket, carried it to the filter and can, and poured it through. I washed her bucket out using that harsh BK chemical soap and hung the bucket up. As I was doing that, Mom and Millie walked in with half full buckets proclaiming that they were finished. I let the cows out as Ben scooped up the poop and hosed the floor down. A little sweeping around the food troughs and the milking parlor was ready for the morning.

All of us went inside, and the women were instantly involved in washing up and changing clothes. Ben had not come in and had immediately taken off. Something was up, but what?

The women came out dressed in clean jeans. Mom said, "At church yesterday, I heard there was a new place in Pine Ridge that made pizza. Ben, Millie, and Summer have never had pizza, so we're on our way to get some. We'll pick Ben up on the way. Come, you drive, Mike. Do you think your shortcut is good enough for a car?"

"I think so, Mom. It is a lot smoother than you could actually ask for. We may not be able to come back this way in the dark, but we might."

We picked Ben up and went back up through our place to follow the road down to the hard road. We didn't see the bear, but we really didn't look very hard. We did notice that we needed to begin picking blackberries soon.

Pizza was a big hit with the three who had never had it before. To be safe, we ordered it with pepperoni and sausage, but no mushrooms. You never know whether people like those or not. We'll split a pizza with mushrooms on half next time. The five of us ate two large pizzas with Ben, Mom, and me enjoying a beer to wash it down. Summer and Millie loved Coke.

While we were there, I told Mom, "We need to order another to take with us for cold pizza snacks tomorrow."

Mom said, "Nope, if we wanted to do that, we would have to buy a dozen of them for the men we feed for lunch. I know you don't pay them that much, so it's good you feed them lunch. At least they drive themselves to work now."

On the way home, I tried to explain what Harold had suggested about hiring Latino women to help on the farm. Mom said, "Martha talked about that and I wondered what you thought. With three vineyards, three orchards, and that huge garden, I think we could use a few helpers. We need to be cultivating the corn now, and you need to be trimming up the weeds and grass in the orchards. If you don't keep them clean, it'll be a lot harder to pick."

I asked Millie, "What do you think about having some other women work with you?"

She was cute, "I don't have to share my man with them, so they could help with the other things I have to do. It could be a good idea."

"So, if we were to get a few of these women, how will we take them back and forth to their house?" I was curious of what kind of idea they had.

Mom said, "I've already made a verbal deal with Leo Toll for a four wheel drive Explorer. He's giving me a lot more than I thought for my car, so I don't have to spend a lot extra. Now I'll have a car, or rather a truck, to use during the winter up here. You know they don't make those in manual transmission, only automatics."

Surprised, I asked, "Do you want me to work on him for a better deal?"

"No, Son, the man is a pushover. We dickered just like farmers everywhere and he's happy to do business with me. Millie and Summer are going with me to get the car tomorrow. Now we need to finish teaching Summer how to drive."

Oh well, I supposed the women in the house knew what they were doing. I also had figured out that Mom wasn't going anywhere soon. She keeps talking about going up to her place to clean it out and maybe rent it for a while.

When we got home, Raul was sitting in the driveway. He told me, "My cell phone doesn't want to work lately, so I came to tell you we would be laying out and digging the footings. Did you find out about concrete?"

"There is a new concrete company that will deliver. Tell me how much and when. I'll even give you the number so you can call."

After saying that, I hit my forehead with my hand, "What am I thinking, your phone doesn't work. Could you guys use a couple dollars to tide you over? Would that help your cell phone?"

There was grin on the man's face that answered that question. I pulled out two hundreds and told Raul, '"You two will make a lot more than this during the week, so go get your cell phone turned back on. We'll work it out. I'll call the concrete company and tell them you will call."

The two men were really excited. Raul told me, "We stacked the used lumber on the side of the house where we'll build the first forms. I think we should pour the footings for the new smoke house at the same time as the house, since they are close. Can we do that?"

I gave the go ahead as they were the builders; I was the watcher.

Inside the house, I asked Millie when she wanted the women to come help them. She told me, "We will get your mother's truck tomorrow and go talk to the women. I think only four at first. You'll have to show them what to do in the vineyards. Mom is going to cultivate all of the cornfields, while Summer and I pull weeds around our garden plants.

Personally, I thought it was a little early for the plants since most wouldn't be more than small shoots, but the women knew best. My personal plan was to begin driving the roads to see what the conditions were and what we needed to work on first.

The next week was spent checking on Jimmy to see how he was coming, checking on Ezra to make sure everything was working out, driving the roads, and buying a lot of diesel fuel for my truck. By the weekend, I had been over every mile of road in the county and spoken with all three of the other commissioners. They didn't have as much equipment as Ralph, but they were not willing to let it go cheap. I advised them that I would just take care of my one township and they could figure out how to work their own roads.

Benson called me Saturday morning and told me, "Can you come into the County Commissioners' room for a meeting this afternoon. We need to have a showdown with the other commissioners. They are telling me you won't take over their areas because you wouldn't get enough money. They said they should get the additional money. Somehow that doesn't ring true. Come in and we can see what the deal is. They are already in default and won't receive this month's portion of their allotment. They're not even trying to maintain their areas, so the commission has to do something."

Shoot, I was going through the orchards with the pull mower and getting the weeds down. I now figured that I should prep the ground and grow alfalfa and clover in the orchards, and get double duty out of the land. The trees were far enough apart that I might even be able to graze a steer or two in the orchard. From the books I had read, I needed gravel to put around the base of the trees to keep down weeds and to also keep the trees warmer in the spring. The vineyards needed limestone gravel around bases as it was supposed to help the wine taste better. There was a lot of work to be done yet.

When I entered the County Commissioners' room, there was a tense feeling that was very uncomfortable. I sat and waited as the Commissioners were talking among themselves.

One of the Commissioners spoke up, "Mike, can you tell us why you won't take over the other townships' road areas?"

"Sure, the road commissioners want too much for their equipment. If I have to pay retail plus for their used equipment, I see no reason to try to make ends meet in those townships."

"We're told that you don't feel the allotment is enough money to do the job. What's that about?"

"It isn't enough money to buy the equipment at extraordinarily high prices, do the work, and be able to afford to do the job, much less a good job. I'm trying to figure out if I can do all four townships with the equipment I now have in my own area. I'm putting the equipment back into good shape now and have already begun a couple of minor road repairs. I just can't afford to buy the equipment they have, especially sight unseen."

The same commissioner asked, "If you can do the job with the equipment you have, will you take all four townships?"

"I can't answer that yet. I think I can, but I have to see if I will need to replace what equipment I have first."

One of the existing road commissioners spoke up, "You can't do that. I would be stuck with that equipment. I might consider reducing my price, but I'm not giving it away. I should make a profit for having bought it."

Ralph told the man, "That's not how it works, Zeke. You buy equipment, you use equipment, it depreciates, and you give it away. You get the benefit of using the equipment and the depreciation. If you bought a new car and wanted to sell it the next month, you wouldn't get a profit on it. You would hopefully get sixty or seventy percent of what you paid for it. Heavy equipment is the same, except it has to be in perfect condition to even get twenty-five percent of what you paid for it. We can take your townships away for non-performance. That's why I got rid of my area. I couldn't do a good job, so I found someone who would. So get real with your numbers, or sit on your equipment and see if it will hatch for you."

I chuckled over that and received some glares from the other road commissioners. They huddled together and talked for a few minutes. One of them stood and said to me, "We've decided to reduce our asking price. We'll collectively reduce our asking price ten percent. You have to believe that's the best you can expect."

I stood and addressed the room, "This isn't a very sane discussion. As far as I'm concerned, the most I'll give for all of the equipment that was listed to me in their proposal is exactly twenty percent of what they ask, not a cent more, and that will be after I've inspected all of the equipment offered. I'll try to take care of the roads without their equipment, but I won't do it with theirs at the present price. I'll check in Lexington. I'm sure road equipment is a drag on the market right now, with all of the highway funds being held up by the feds. If you gentlemen don't have anything else for me, I have work to do."

There was silence in the room until Ralph spoke up. "You've offered a fair amount, Mike. Go to Lexington and get what you need. I've seen their prices lately. As soon as you know if you can handle the other three townships, call me and I'll advise the commission and we'll get the allocations out to you."

The three existing road commissioners glared at me as I began to leave. I stopped by them and said, "Load your equipment up and take it up to the dealers in Lexington. See what they will give you for it. If my deal is higher, call me. I'll be going up to buy equipment this next week."

You could see the air being sucked out of them. I wondered how there are always some greedy jerks, even in a small community like this.

I was getting into my truck when Benson came out. He waved for me to hold up, "Geez, Mike, you were a little hard on those boys, weren't you?"

"Not really, Benson. I've been to the library and used their internet to check on equipment prices. I have a fairly good idea of what a fair price is. I can tell you it isn't much higher than what I just offered. I'm sure I can dicker with the dealers up in Lexington and come out real well."

"Okay, Mike, I'll work on them. I'll see if they will check their equipment on line to see what it will bring at retail. I know you aren't going to pay retail, and I'm sure they know that now. Perhaps they will come down to a reasonable amount."

"You know what, Benson, ask Maude. She knows equipment values better than anyone would believe. Get that list of the equipment and give it to her. I haven't even been given a look at the stuff, so I don't really know if it even runs. Let me know."

I could tell that wasn't what Benson wanted to hear. I somehow figured the other three men were devious enough to try to stick it to me. Hopefully, I was being smart enough to not be taken advantage of and fair-minded enough to make a straight deal.

Just for kicks, I went out to the yard where the road equipment was being kept. Just as I figured, all three guys were elbows deep in various equipment. Jimmy looked a little sheepish, "I didn't think you'd mind a little overtime to get this stuff on the road, road work that is. We're just about done. Ralph came over and told me you were having trouble with the other road commissioners, but they were losing their townships anyway."

To all three who were standing there attentively, I said; "Here's the problem. The other road commissioners want me to buy their equipment at more than new retail, and seem to not want me to see it before I commit to buy it. I offered them twenty percent of what they stated, but I still want to check it out before I pay any money. They don't want to deal, so if I need more equipment, I'll go to Lexington and make a deal up there."

Jimmy was nodding his head, "I know of a couple of dealers up there that will give you great deals on equipment. I don't think we have enough for all four townships right now, but we're close. We might need one or two more big graders for the gravel and dirt roads, and another medium sized one for the little roads. You'll need more salt trucks with plows for the winter. What we need are the guys who are coming. I have four guys on their way from all over that will be here next week. If you want, give us the bad spots and we'll begin working them right away."

I had a thought; "You know, you can save a lot of travel time on that big equipment if you use the big bulldozer hauler and haul the graders or other equipment to the job instead of driving ten miles an hour with a follow truck. What do you think?"

"Tha, tha, tha, tha, that will work, Ma, Ma, Ma, Mike. I, I, I'm a, a, ahead I, I, I, can do that."

"Okay, if you guys have phones, I'll help you out with the bills if you have to pay for time. Call each other as you need transportation. All of you can drive the big truck, so let's keep it where it can be gotten to real fast. Let's do some work. Now put this stuff back together and go home. You need a break."

Jimmy said, "We're going to Pine Ridge for pizza and beer tonight. We're told there are a lot of hot women over there."

I had to laugh. There were always more hot women in the next place over from wherever you were.

At home, I was content, even though my day wasn't spent as I wanted it to be. But I did have a plan and had three really good men to take me to the next step in taking care of what others didn't want to do.

I was able to finish cutting the grass in the main and middle orchards, but still needed to do it in the older, lower one. Maybe I could finish tomorrow.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 16

In church on Sunday, Harold gave a good sermon to an attentive gathering. The group I sat with had grown, since Gene, the cable engineer, was now sitting with us. It was funny to see Ben and Ezra sitting together, but something new was Mom sitting with Ezra, and acting like she liked being there. That would take some watching. Sitting around us had to be at least twenty various Latinos with all their kids, all sitting attentively and singing hymns with everyone else. Every time I heard a kid whisper something in Spanish to an adult, the adult would answer them in broken English, but it showed their desire to fit in.

We hosted Ezra for dinner after church that day. Ben and Ezra entertained us with the old stories and rumors about Mystery Mountain once again. Ben told us, "When I bought my property, everyone told me I was nuts to buy up on Mystery Mountain. They said I would probably have bad luck and wouldn't be able to do any farming or to raise any animals. My wife and I lived off game for the first couple of years, until the sheep and pigs became more plentiful. I began farming using a mule and did right well growing enough grain and cutting enough grass for hay. As you can see, the mountain has been good to me. The other two neighbors lower down, Teddy and the widow, haven't had any real problems, but they are almost on flat land. Teddy has some slopes to his fields, but the little fields the Widow Fletcher has are all fairly rolling and level."

I left the two older men watching TV while I finished cutting the high grass in the orchard at the old Jorgenson place. Weeds were already sprouting in the small field of sweet corn, so I came back up to the equipment shed, hooked the cultivator up, and went back down to cultivate that field. I noticed that the oats in the two small upper fields were making a good start and should do well this year.

The blackberries were ripening and would need picking throughout this coming week. Doing something repetitious, like cultivating, gives you time to daydream, and I was thinking that I could use one of those neat four wheel drive ATVs like the cable company had. I wondered what one cost. It could get around to all of my fields really fast, and I'm sure it would be easier than taking the truck. I would keep my eyes open. It seemed like there was always at least one for sale on market day.

I checked with Ezra on Monday morning to make sure he was doing well. He thought they should be at least halfway by week's end and would finish up the following week as the terrain would be easier on the second half of the path.

Gene was working at the distribution building directing a cable crew on the first path we cleared. They didn't seem to be moving very fast. When I told Gene about my interest in an ATV, he said he would check with his company to see if they had any they were taking out of service. He told me, "They only use them for two years and get rid of them. I don't think they put a hundred hours on any of them. I know that the one I bought to use for hunting only had about thirty hours. I'll check for you."

I noticed the big truck and trailer was gone and headed toward the equipment yard. I didn't need to go that far, since I saw the truck parked at one of the gravel county roads, and I could see one of the graders and the small backhoe working farther down. After parking and walking down to see what and how they were doing, I could see they were attempting to grade around a wash that had taken part of the road out.

The two men got down and asked if I had experience with washes and I explained about how I had actually started using the bulldozer on that type of problem. I told Jimmy, "If the other bulldozer is working OK, bring it, or else go get Jet and that dozer. We also need a couple of men with saws, so have Ezra bring a couple of men with his big truck. I'll stay with John and mark some trees that will have to come down."

I walked back to my truck and got another spray can of orange paint and came back to show John Howard, the other man that Jimmy had brought in, what they were going to do to fix the problem. We had to move the equipment because a couple of vehicles had to get by. It was neat the way everyone waved, touched their cap bill, or stopped to say good morning.

With all of the trees marked and enough rock to make a couple of little dams, I had John use the backhoe to begin making some wide holes or ponds that would be in front of the rock dams we would build. I marked enough tall slim trees to use as posts to hold the logs that would provide additional protection from future washing.

By noon, the trees had been cut, root balls relocated, the little dams constructed, and the log wall was in place. Jet and John were able to come up with enough dirt and rock to use with the root balls to pack the road and widen it at that point. This road bordered a very swift stream for a couple of miles, but this was the only place that washed out because of a curve in the road and stream.

We sent the tree cutting crew back to Ezra, with his or actually, my big truck, taking with them a few big black walnut trees and a black oak. Not bad payment for doing road work.

Jimmy said they were going to finish grading this road, as there were a few big rocks that had moved onto the road during the winter and thaw, and that would get this almost twenty mile long road back in shape.

I went back to the house to see if Raul and Jose needed anything. They had dug the footings and were now constructing the forms to pour. Raul advised, "I ordered concrete for tomorrow morning. Mr. Cummings thanked you and me for his first order and said a truck would be here about nine. He was very excited that you were using him for your buildings."

The rest of the roads in the district still needed looking at, but I also needed to run into Lexington to look at equipment. I was concerned that I might not have enough money and might have to go to the bank for a loan. Thinking of having to borrow money to take over the whole county, made me think some very angry thoughts at the former road commissioners who were at that meeting.

I called Benson, "I'm going to be on my way to Lexington to buy equipment. Is there any reason to talk to the other men about theirs before I go?"

Benson told me, "You gotta do what you gotta do. I haven't heard from them since yesterday. I talked to them again, but they were not very agreeable and thought they could get big bucks at the equipment auction in Lexington. I guess they will have to learn the hard way."

There was a pause before Benson said, "I heard that you took care of that big washout over on Gulch Road. That was one Ralph said was going to take a month or more to do. Are you sure you've never done this before?"

I laughed, "I'm a farm boy, Benson. My daddy taught me all this stuff from the time I was about eight. He was a good teacher, but the real reason is the two men I had working on the problem. I think I'm going to be able to handle this. Sure would like to take over the whole county. Seems that would be the way to make a buck and keep men working."

"Hope the rest of the bad road conditions you have are as easy to fix. Call me if you need help up in Lexington."

Millie, Summer, or Mom didn't want to ride up to Lexington with me, so I broke a few speed laws and used some extra fuel getting up to the heavy equipment dealers. There were four of them all next to each other, and each one seemed to specialize in a single type of equipment.

I pulled into the big lot where there were rows of graders, rollers, and salt trucks with blades. A tall man with heavy sideburns, but an almost bald head, came out to show me around. We looked at graders first and I was impressed with the condition they were in. I really didn't need another roller, but I would need another blade and bucket vehicle like a backhoe, however I thought this one should be rubber tired instead of tracked.

We started a lot of vehicles and operated the hydraulics on them. I checked all of the lines and fittings after each of the tests to make sure they weren't leaking anywhere.

The tough problem was going to be the salt trucks with blades. What he had were all rusty from not being cleaned. The dealer even apologized for the condition the equipment was in. He told me, "If you can weld, you could put these back in sort of a decent shape, but it will cost over a thousand in steel and paint for each of them. I'll give you a real deal on them if you want at least two."

It was tempting, but I held up a carrot, "Depends on what kind of deal I can make on the two graders I liked and that combination backhoe and front loader over there."

The man waved me toward the office building in the middle of the lot. When we were at his desk he asked, "You picked all Caterpillar, any reason why not John Deere or Komatsu?"

"I figured it would be easier to get parts on the Caterpillars, and I really didn't see any John Deere or that other brand. The two I liked are older but both seemed to run well, although the air doesn't work on any of the three pieces. The heat seemed to want to work though."

The man looked at me a while before he asked, "Are you a small time road commissioner out in the boonies? What kind of budget do you have?"

"I'm taking over for a guy, and it looks like I can have the whole county if I can buy equipment cheap enough. The two graders seem like they are in decent condition; old, but not worn out yet. Both started easily and neither showed a ton of hours. That backhoe with the front loader would be very handy for a lot of jobs, so I'm interested there too. Make me an offer I can't refuse, then we'll dicker."

The man laughed, "You're going to get in my jeans, aren't you?"

"Gonna try, but you aren't wearing jeans. Give me a number to work with."

The guy was scribbling on a yellow pad and looked up some information in his log book. I thought it would be a good time to make him think about his offer. "I don't see a lot of customers on your lot today, and it doesn't look like any of this equipment has moved an inch the last month or so. Let me get you making deals and you'll be overrun with business. Come on; sharpen that pencil for a little guy."

He asked, "Are you some kind of live off the land guy wearing those fatigues?"

"No Sir, I'm just used to them after wearing them for twenty years. They are tough clothes and wear well. These are getting worn, so I'll have to start replacing them soon. I just prefer to not have to worry about choosing what I'm going to wear for the day."

"Darn, that's the best explanation why a guy wears fatigues or camouflage clothes I've ever heard. It's usually some guy who thinks he's Rambo or a big woodsman. You wear them to work in because you're used to them."

"Look," I said, "I need to get back to Stanton this evening, so let's get on with dealing or I'll have to come back, maybe even go all the way to Cincinnati to check out what they have available. Let's talk some numbers."

The man flipped his yellow pad around and said as he wrote, "The two graders are older models, but in good condition. I should be able to get around twenty-five for each of them. I'm thinking you might buy if I was to sell them for around seventeen each."

The man had written seventeen thousand on two lines one under the other.

"The Caterpillar backhoe/front loader combo is an expensive piece of equipment, and isn't that old. You saw the hours on it, so you know it has a lot of life left. Retail on that has got to be near a hundred or more, but as a package deal, I'll sell that to you for seventy-seven."

He wrote that number below the two lines of seventeen thousand.

"We can do business today for a hundred eleven thousand total. You have to believe that's a good deal."

When I didn't jump up and dance around real quick, he moved around in his seat. "I'll make you an offer of cost on parts and tires for the next year. That would also be for all of any other equipment that you must have now. That should help you make up your mind."

I was tapping my right forefinger on the hundred and eleven thousand and finally said, "Sounds like a reasonable deal. I would like another concession that isn't a deal buster, but it would be a bonus to me. How about throwing in a couple of those rusty salt trucks in on the deal, and delivering everything to me down in Stanton?"

A smile appeared across the man's face. "How are you going to pay me?"

It was my turn to laugh, "I didn't dicker hard enough, did I? You're too willing. Well, I think it's a decent deal, so I'll write you a business check that you can clear before you deliver."

The man whipped out a sales order form and began writing up the equipment. When he listed the salt trucks, he put down four and looked at me. "I'll send four down there and you can use a couple for parts. They all run decent, but the beds won't last another winter. I'll give you the number of a sheet metal dealer up here where you can buy what you need. You should be able to get three or four years out of those trucks if you put them in any kind of condition." I was thinking that if I covered the salt hoppers with RhinoLiner after I replaced the sheet metal they might last even longer than that.

When he finished writing up the order, he put one hundred and eleven thousand down on the bottom line, after sales tax. "I'll figure out the regular retail price so that you don't have to pay more to the state. Is Wednesday a good day for us to deliver?"

"Well, since this is for the county, isn't this a tax free sale anyway, even though I'm fronting the purchase? Wednesday will be a good day. Now I need to go tell the county I'll take all of the roads. I think I know where to get more equipment if I need it. I might need a tire or two for some of the other equipment, but my guys are putting the rest back together very nicely."

The man said, "Hey! You're right about the tax. More profit for me, then. Thanks for your business. If you need more equipment, you know where to come. Funny you should be from Stanton. A couple of men came by with some equipment that isn't in as good of a condition as what you bought, and wanted some ridiculous prices for it. I sent them on their way. I'm glad you didn't do business with them instead of me."

That made me smile with happy thoughts on my trip back home. I drove up to the house at six and was greeted by the dogs, but no humans came out to meet me. Both Ezra's and Ben's trucks were in the yard, so I figured on a full house.

When I walked into the house, Mom, Millie, Summer, and Ezra were all sitting at the table with long faces. Mom looked up at me, "Ben had a major heart attack, and they don't think he'll make it. He's hanging on, and they might move him to Lexington. The doc doesn't think he's going to make it either. Ben comes and goes, but he wants to talk to you. We should have called you, but I wanted to tell you in person."

"Well, let's go see our friend. We all know he's old and hasn't been in the best health."

All of us drove to the clinic and hospital in town. The doc met us at the door and told me, "Ben's still with us, but he wants to talk to you. I'm coming in with you, as he's acting like talking to you is going to be the last thing he does."

The female physician looked at the women, "You can come along, but Ben may not want to talk in front of you. Try to act in good spirits; he doesn't want a bunch of crying going on."

The three women looked at each other and all nodded their understanding. Ezra said he would stay in the waiting room.

We walked into a room where Ben was lying on a bed, hooked up to a bunch of machines and tubes. When I lay my hand on his shoulder, Ben's eyes opened and he smiled at me. He glanced at the women at the foot of the bed and softly said in a raspy voice, "I see you've brought my fan club, Mike. You folks have given me the best family a man could want since you've come, Mike. But now I think I'm like my old mule. I'm so tired."

Ben shifted his glance to the doctor and said in a fairly strong but still raspy voice, "You listen to what I say okay? It's important."

He looked back at me, and in almost a whisper, said, "Mike, you know I don't write and really can't read, so I never wrote down how to deal with what I have. I want you to have everything of mine from the goats to the mailbox. I done paid the taxes for this year with the butter and egg money you gave me. All of my stuff is yours, Mike. Take care of your family with it. I really care for all of you."

Ben was smiling as he closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Don't all you folks have other things to do rather than stand in a room with an old guy?"

"I'll be staying with you, Ben. You need me with you." I had taken his hand and felt him squeeze it.

Summer came to his other side and hugged the man before leaning over and kissing his forehead. "I'm with you too, Ben. You've been a good teacher to me for learning how to be a farmer's wife one of these days. You have a lot more to teach me."

Ben grinned and looked at me. "Give this girl my old truck. You saved that truck and brought it back to life. I guess you did it just so Summer will have something to drive."

Ben's eyes got big all of a sudden, then he relaxed. He whispered, "I'm going to join my woman and all those ghosts on our mountain, and watch over all of you."

The smile on Ben's face broadened as he said, "She's calling me." His last words were, "I'm coming, Honey."

I had tears in my eyes as the tone of the beeper Ben was hooked to went steady. The doctor said, "Let him be in peace. He couldn't make it much longer, anyway. This is better than the pain he would have had from the cancer he had."

The doctor was shutting equipment off as a nurse rushed in and saw what the doctor was doing. The doc walked out of the room with us and told me, "Ben told me he wanted me to witness him willing you what was his. I wrote it all down for him and he put his 'x' on it. He said he didn't remember how to write his name. I'll give the note to Gert to file. I'm sure the judge will honor it. I witnessed his 'x' and wrote his name next to it the way it's always done up here. Your friend died in peace, Mike. You were good for him, and gave him a year of happiness that he wouldn't have had if you didn't befriend him and bring him in before."

Trying to be organized, I asked, "Do I call the undertaker or does the clinic?"

"We'll do it for you. I'm an assistant coroner for the county and in this case I'll sign off on everything for you. If I were you though, I would go out to his place and clean it out before some of the local shine boys hear of his death. A lot of people thought old Ben had a lot of money salted away. I would doubt that, but you know how greedy people think."

Mom took me by the arm, "Come on, let's get some coffee at the Kitchen and decide what we need to do."

When we sat down at the Kitchen, Millie said, "Ben came in the house and said he was really tired. He sat in his chair and wouldn't wake up. Mom, Summer, and me carried Ben out to Mom's car and we brought him in. They sent us away as they didn't think he was going to make it. The doctor called me a little later and said that Ben was awake and wanted to see you."

Mom said, "I called Ezra since we needed a man around until you came home."

"I know Matt Miller, the undertaker," Ezra said. "The man is easy to deal with and handles the cemetery for the city and county. I'll give him a call to let him know to expect Ben. He won't broadcast Ben's death, but you do need to listen to what the doc told you. You would never have to worry about someone breaking in, but if someone who is by himself dies, the bad people think what was there is now free for the taking."

We went home and I took the dogs and walked down to Ben's. His place was the same as mine, without any locks on the doors. I walked through the inside of the house real quick and made sure there wasn't anything obvious lying around. Ben's shotgun and old rifle were above the door, and I didn't mess with them at this time.

Before leaving, I looked at my big male dog, "You stay here tonight. I put a bowl of water out for you. Stay, guard, I'll be here early in the morning."

He acted like he wanted to come with me and the female, but he sat looking at me with a question in his eyes. Dogs feel things, and I'm sure he recognized that this was something I felt was important.

I didn't sleep all that well and was up by five. The women and I went out to do chores, and when I was finished with the heavy stuff, I took the truck down to Ben's with the female dog.

The male was happy to see me and ran out fast to relieve himself. The male and pregnant female romped and sniffed, while I began hauling things from the house to the truck.

There were very few things that people would take, but I took those things that people might think have value. When I checked Ben's bedroom and closet one last time, I thought to look at the place that was obvious and people always joked about, under the mattress. There was Ben's nest egg. There was a lot of money in an old leather satchel, but I didn't have the heart to count it. This was all going to the church Ben had gone to for his last days. I was happy to have found what so many would have torn his house down to find.

I used a piece of notebook paper from the truck, and wrote in large letters, "Nothing left" and pinned it to the door. There was no sense in nailing it shut, as whoever wanted to go in would just break a window or tear the door down.

By the time I was back at the house, the women had already eaten breakfast, but fixed me some eggs to have with the sausage, biscuits, and gravy they had cooked. I told them what I had taken from Ben's, including his old family Bible and a box full of old photos of Ben and his deceased wife. Mom said, "That's who Ben spoke to when he said he was coming. He talked about her a lot since I've been here. He says I reminded him of her in the way I enjoy the farm."

I called the funeral parlor to find out what I needed to do. Matt Miller said that he had Ben and could have him ready for viewing that evening, and we could have the funeral when we wanted. He also said that Ben had a burial plot next to his deceased wife, but did not have any kind of burial plan. I advised him Ben had thought of a way to handle it.

Work still had to be done, so I drove down and checked with Ezra before looking for and finding Jimmy out on a road repair with John. I told Jimmy what I had bought, and he said four graders would be perfect. "We can build a road anywhere with the equipment we have now. All we have to do is keep it running good."

I described the trucks and what would need to be done and he smiled. "How about some Saturday overtime to fix those trucks up? I know a couple of Mexicans who are car body guys and can probably help do the job for us. The rest of us will make sure the trucks run perfectly, and we'll be ready for winter. Do you know that Ralph bought enough salt for the whole county for two years last year? I don't think he could figure it right or he wouldn't have overstocked like that. He said it was because of some state deal that he wanted to take advantage of. Anyway, you don't have to order salt this year."

I went over to Ralph's office and asked him, "Do you want me to prepay you for the concrete for the house? I can do that if you need."

"I'll bill you. I have something for you, if you want it. The state has a couple of these office trailers, and I know they have a couple of big FEMA residential trailers that you can get. If you're bringing in guys from out of state, you're going to need housing for them. Put the two FEMA trailers in the back of the county property, and I'll sell you the lots cheap. If you pay for the slabs, I'll just deed over that little clearing. What do you think?"

I had to laugh, "Ralph, you're giving me more than I might deserve. I'm thankful for your help, but what can I do for you?"

"Tell you what, Mike. Get Ezra and your men to cut and clear that area behind the main building of the concrete bins so that I will have more open space for rock, and we'll call it even. That's about a two grand job, so it'll be pretty even. And oh yeah, I just heard George is tearing down a big metal pole barn now that he's thinking of retiring. I'll bet he'll sell it cheap, or maybe even give it to you. Go see him, he likes you anyway."

Using the telephone number Ralph gave me, I called the state office in Lexington to ask about the FEMA and office trailers. The man I spoke with wanted to know what I would use the office trailer for, and I told him I was the road commissioner and the office trailer would be on county property where I was going to build a pole barn. The man agreed it would be good to have the trailer. He said the state would only allow twenty-five hundred for a slab and utility hookups. I figured it would cost a little more than that for the septic system, but I could use the same system for the two FEMA trailers if I could get them.

The man asked why I needed the FEMA trailers and if they would be on state or county property. "No Sir, they will be on private property adjoining state property and be used to house road workers. It will be a private residence with private power and utilities."

The guy was really weird, "Perfect, my man, I can't put those damn trailers on public land because of a half a thousand rules and regulations. You have to sign a release that you are solely responsible for the trailers. We won't help you with the cost of parking and setting them up either. Still want them?"

I could only ask, "When will they be here?"

"We will bring them about Wednesday of next week. Will that give you enough time for slabs and utilities?"

"You bet, we'll make it enough time."

I gave him my telephone number and the registered state and county road commissioner identification number. I walked back over to Ralph. "I need a slab for the office trailer and one big or two individual slabs for two FEMA trailers back there. I'm thinking I can dig one septic system for all three trailers; what do you think?"

"You can do that, but why not hook into the county gas, water, and sewer system? It comes all the way out here because this is county property. The hook up won't be horribly expensive either. Remember when you hook up the trailers to make sure you have your pipes covered for the winter. If you don't, you'll have leaks everywhere."

This was going to get expensive, and I knew that I didn't have a lot of money left. Hopefully we're making some good bucks from special woods. I'm going to need it to cover all of the setups and that pole barn, if I can get it.

It only took a few minutes to drive to the funeral home and meet with Matt Miller. I used some of Ben's money to pay for his funeral expenses and agreed tomorrow was a good day to bury him. I should have asked Matt's opinion and called home to get theirs.

Next was to run by the church, but no one was there. I went by Harold's and Martha's place and found both outside working on one of their buildings.

"Harold, Ben passed away and we're going to have his funeral tomorrow. I know that's fast, but I don't believe in letting things go for long. If you want to say something tomorrow, you are welcome to. Ben did enjoy your services. Take this satchel that I found under his mattress. I paid the funeral expenses out of what was there, but the rest should go to the church where Ben found peace."

Harold was about to object, but Martha saw how determined I was and put her hand on Harold's arm. Harold smiled, "We'll be happy to use Ben's donation to help some families. We still haven't used much of the other you gave us. I hope what you kept is helping you with the county road project."

"Darn, I forgot about that money. I'll deposit it and use it for all the equipment, the equipment lot, and the road workers. That should cover most of it."

I drove up to the house and saw a concrete truck pouring footings. Raul and Jose had a couple of other men smoothing concrete, so I knew they were doing their thing. I got Raul and Jose off to the side.

"Have you heard that George was going to tear a pole barn down?"

Raul was nodding his head. "It was talked about, and Pedro even suggested you, but you want to add on to your barn and you have a big cave for equipment."

I decided to change some plans, "Okay, how about stopping this for a few days and move that pole barn out to the county road property. I'm having an office trailer and two FEMA trailers moved out there, and I need slabs, and electric and sewer hookups. Bring on as many men as you need and get that done. You can have the road guys help you with the digging, and if you need someone else who knows how to do something, get them. I want this done quick."

Raul elbowed Jose. "See, I told you Mike was going to find many things for us and many others to do." To me, he asked, "Have you talked to the farmer yet? Do that first and we'll go look at the county property when we finish here."

I know it's rude to call and beg a deal from someone, but today was busy.

"Hey, George, Mike Grayson here."

I heard the man chuckle. "Why did I know you would be calling me? Somehow, I just knew you would hear about my pole barn. You know that it's big enough to hold a couple of graders and bulldozers, or any of your equipment to take care of roads. The next time you're out this way with a grader, level out my lane. I'll order rock and you can level the rock out as well. When can you tear my machine shed, or rather pole barn, down?"

"George, are you really going to retire? You'll still need a building for the equipment you keep."

"I ain't retiring; I'm going to put up a bigger machine shed. I want one tall enough for the new combine that also has a corn picking head. The building I have isn't tall enough. So when is this thing going to be gone?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. "I'll have men take it down in the morning, George. They should be able to do it in two days with enough men."

"Good deal, Mike, I'll have the company that's putting the new building and the two new silos up come to start next Monday. They are anxious to get started. Everyone needs the work."

When I finished talking to George, Raul was smiling and said they would start tomorrow. He asked, "Do you want to pay these men day labor money, or pay them once a week with us? I told them they would probably be paid weekly and have taxes taken out. I think they all have Social Security cards."

"Make sure, Raul. If they don't, let's get their information to Benson to get them straight. I think I'm going to help that man retire with all of his immigration business."

Jose nodded and said, "A good lawyer who helps men gets a reputation, and everyone wants to pay him for his help. That man can make good money from Latinos."

I had to fill the truck with fuel before leaving home again to go check on Ezra. He said that the other road guys had come for Jet to clear some land and run the old front loader we now had. Ezra said Jet was at least two days ahead of his crew, so it was no big deal.

I told Ezra about the visitation tonight and funeral tomorrow. He said he would think about whether or not to take off. I told him it was up to him. Ezra said, "I don't think Ben would want people to stop working for him. That was why most funerals are held on Saturday around here."

I quickly called Matt, "Is it true you usually have funerals on Saturdays, instead of during the week?"

"Yes, Mike. I just thought you were doing this tomorrow because you thought there wouldn't be a lot of people attending. Do you want to change the funeral and have visitation for a couple of nights?"

I told Matt, "We probably should. You pass the word around town, and I'll do some calling. It would even be better for some of my guys. I didn't think about how it affected working folks."

The first person I called was Harold. He commented, "I wondered why you chose a day during the week. I'll be glad to help with the service and offer a prayer." He thanked me again for Ben's donation and I told him again that I knew Ben wanted that.

I checked on the road crew at the equipment yard and had a discussion with the five men now there. Jimmy introduced me around and I explained about the office trailer, the pole barn, and the two FEMA trailers. Jimmy let out a whoop. "See, Guys, I told you this was going to work out. The man is even getting us a cheap place to rent. We know how to set those up, so let's get the slabs stubbed and poured."

I told Jimmy, "I have a couple of men and a crew who will come help with the office and house trailers. You could help with the digging for sewer connections and see if Ezra needs any help clearing the property for Ralph. Also make sure we set the FEMA trailers on the land outside the county property that Ralph is trading me."

Five men took off to do things. There was a lot of enthusiasm.

My thoughts were interrupted by four big trucks pulling into the yard. Both graders, the backhoe, and four salt trucks were being delivered. The five men all ran back and stared at the equipment.

With the men's help, the equipment was off the truck in minutes. I was given a mound of paperwork for the equipment as the new stuff was being parked in a line on the side of the yard. The place was beginning to look like an orderly business.

Jimmy walked up to me and said, "That backhoe is perfect and would have been great for the wash job we just did. The little one we have just isn't big enough for stuff like that. Mike, those graders look to be in great shape. We'll check them out and let you know. Oh yeah, we'll have those trucks ready by the first snow."

I drove home to tell the family that Ben's visitation would be tonight and Friday night, with the funeral on Saturday. We could re-affirm that with everyone that came for the visitation tonight.

Mom told me she had taken Ben's good clothes to the funeral parlor when they picked up her new Explorer. She told me, "Country people are different about these things, Mike. Everyone in the area wants to pay their respects, so it will be crowded tonight. You were his best friend, so you will need to be there to greet people. Put your good clothes on, then let's eat and leave early. We'll be there from seven to ten tonight and Friday."

Standing near Ben's coffin was an extremely trying time. I was trying not to look at the lifeless body, but I would accidentally often see his peaceful face while talking to so many people. Memories of the times we had together came rushing back, from our first meeting to go see Eliza, doing the chores with each other, and just enjoying each other's company. Ben had been a good friend.

That reminded me to look up the telephone number for the campground where Eliza lived, as she might want me to come get her for the funeral. She needed to be given the choice.

The next morning, Summer helped milking Ben's goat in the barn. Millie and Summer had gone down and brought Ben's last two goats to our place. After we were through milking, it appeared the deer was trying to act like one of the goats, as the three were standing together. That deer could be a problem. He'll probably vanish as soon as he goes through his first rut.

When Mom had returned with the four women who were helping with the garden and vineyards, she came to me, "Mike, you know you should probably have the Mexican families use Ben's place. I'd bet with a little help, they would expand it so there would be enough room for all of them. They would be able to keep the place up and you might want to help improve the property a little."

"I'll have to think on it, Mom. Ben's not even buried yet, and we're thinking of others moving into his place. It seems a little cold to me."

"It isn't, Son. Life goes on, and in the country, people resettle to live in available places. I realize the Mexican families are not part of the natural group here, but they appear to be working hard to be a part of the community. You know, I've seen some signs where people have been nosing around Ben's place. You need to have someone there to look after it. Think about it, Mike."

When I checked with Ezra this morning, I saw two taller men with light skin. Ezra came over near me and lowered his voice. "The preacher, Harold, sent a couple of men who want to become decent citizens. Both men told me they promised to work as hard or harder than any of the Latinos we have. Did Harold give you an idea of how many of these guys he has?"

"He didn't, Ezra, but told me there were a few. Let's see how they work out, and we can hopefully find work for all who need it. You might let Pedro and Jesus watch over these guys, and go check on the tree clearing that needs to be done for Ralph. It looked like there was a nice stand of walnut where he wants to dump more rock. Check on that for me, will you? If Ralph is there, have him show you where we will put the two house trailers for the road workers. There may be a tree or two to cut."

Ezra suggested to me, "The path we're running right now doesn't have a lot of washes for us to put root balls. Do you want to continue blowing the roots and leveling the path, or should we leave the short stumps? We really need to do something with the mound of root balls we now have piled up."

"What do you suggest, Ezra?"

"The sawmill folks suggested that they sell some root balls to wood carvers. They also said they can bring a grinder and a fork truck front loader down, with a man to run the whole thing. They use the ground wood in their pressboard operations. He says that they will pay us for approximate weights or by the truckload of ground wood. This is new for them, so it is a bit of an experiment. We can also run all of the limb trimmings through the grinder and save some time. The other thing is that you're going to have to find another area to store your timber we've cut for firewood splitting. The way we're moving, we'll have so much firewood that no one in the area will have to cut wood for next year."

"Let's begin a couple of mounds at Ben's place for right now, Ezra. Put the two piles of cut wood on the north side of his driveway. That will be out of sight and give us enough space to put a hell of lot of wood. I suppose I'll have to begin advertising for firewood deliveries. We'll have to convert one of those salt trucks to a flat bed with a frame to haul split wood."

Ezra said, "Let me tell Pedro I'm leaving, and I'll run over to see what needs to be done at the yard now."

"Let me tell Pedro and Jesus. I have something I need to talk to them about."

I walked back to where the men were working and got Pedro and Jesus off to the side. "You men know that my friend, Ben, passed away right?"

They both nodded their head. Death means something different to each person and to each culture. "Ben has left me his place, and I have an offer for you and your family. The place isn't big enough yet, but it could be. If you were to build onto the house, I would help with the materials for both the house and the barn to make it bigger. You would be in a place that I could let you have nearly rent free. You would have to pay your electricity, but that would be about all. If you want you and your family to come look at it, come up to my place after work and we'll go take a look."

Pedro spoke of a current problem, "The man who owns the house we live in right now says he is raising the amount of money we have to pay. He says since we are working now, he should get more money too. If we keep paying him more and more, we'll never have money saved for our own place."

"This might be the answer for you and your family. There is plenty of space for a garden and animals, so you can feed everyone. Come over after work. You can see if this might work."

At the equipment yard, Ezra was directing Jet as to what area to clear. It looked like Ezra was going a little deeper than requested to bring out several really nice walnut and various oak trees. Of course, there was also a couple of hickory mixed in. Ezra said, "I called a charcoal supplier that has a side business packaging wood chips for flavoring barbecue, and he'll haul away all our hickory at a nice price to turn into chips." Even with the hickory I held back for my own smokehouse, this wood cutting business was turning into a real profit center.

Ezra left and came back with a couple of men with saws and made quick work of the timber. He had the road men load the logs on his big truck, and also had them stack the limbs in an orderly pile so they could easily be hauled away. This job was going to go quickly. It needed to, so that the road men could get back to working on the roads.

I went home early in order to help with chores, and also to talk to the women of the family. I explained what I was going to offer the Mexican families and heard positive responses about that. Mom even mentioned that during good weather, the women who worked on the garden could easily walk the short distance to our place instead of Mom having to pick them up and take them home.

Millie told me, "I took fifteen gallons of milk, about ten pounds of butter, and thirty-six dozen eggs to the Kitchen. You need to pull the meat from the smoker and go to the butcher for new meat. Since we're not going to market on Saturday, you need to go in that morning or have the butcher sell it for you. The Kitchen will take six hams and eight slabs of bacon, so deliver that when you pick up more meat to cook. I think everything in the smokehouse is ready."

I went out to check the meat and found it all ready to deliver or sell. When I called the butcher, he was happy that I needed to refill the smoke house, since he had purchased a few hogs, in addition to the six hogs we had delivered every week. He even offered to have one of his sons come out with the fresh meat and pick up the fresh smoked.

We had just finished the chores when four pickups full of people showed up. Raul and Jose were among the group, reminding me that there were a lot of people who lived together.

I took them to Ben's and we looked around the place thoroughly so they would have an idea of what it would take to live there. After over an hour of looking the place over, Pedro and Raul came to Mom, Millie, and me.

Pedro spoke first, "This can be a good thing for our family depending on what kind of deal we can make. Raul is an important part of what we need to do."

"With all of us working on the place each night and all of the weekends, we should be able to have a big enough place for us to move into within two weeks. In another couple of months, we should be able to have either one very big home or a couple of homes for all of us. Now that we are becoming legal workers, it will be good to have a real address. My question to you, Mike, is whether you are really willing to buy all of the materials it will take to build what we need?"

I nodded and told them, "I am, for a couple of reasons. The place needs to be improved and lived in. If you make the place livable and the barn useful, the place will have value. I'm still going to use the land for the one big field and to stack the extra wood for splitting. I think we can continue to buy lumber from the sawmill where we sell our fine wood. We're going to make more money from selling our wood than it will cost for the wood needed to build onto the place and to build more, if you do that."

Pedro told me, "If you will accept the same amount of money for rent as we now pay the landlord, we want to do this. We will still happily work for you, and this way we will be able to live happily and cheap."

"I might not need as much as you're paying now, but we'll see. How about you don't pay rent while you're getting the living quarters built the way you want. I'll foot the bill for the materials and you guys do the work. The men will still work for me, George, and whoever else you all work for right now, and some of the women will still work with the women in the garden, vineyards, and orchards."

All of the men and women were crowded together listening. I think their excitement level was becoming unbearable as they were all shifting around. We shook hands and my family left as the group of Latinos huddled deciding what to do first.

Pedro stopped me as I was getting into my truck, "Thank you, Mike. You have become a good friend, as well as our boss. We will be good neighbors to you here. Let us help you when we can."

I could tell the man was sincere as he stood watching when we drove away.

Mom asked, "Are you going to run out of money? You know that I have some you can use if you need it."

"We should be fine, Mom, Ezra is cutting enough salable timber that we're covering a lot of costs that way. I have more county money coming in for the monthly allocation for the roads, and I'll have the money from the second path by the end of next week. The meat, milk, and egg money is more than enough to cover our expenses here, plus I still get my retirement check every month."

"You're just like your father. You always seem to find a way to come up with more money every time you need some. Well, don't be too proud to let me help."

"Mom, you're a wonderful help here on the place. You're teaching Millie and Summer how to do so much. It is really nice of you to stay and help."

"Ha, I'm not staying to be nice. I'm staying because this is the best I've felt since your father passed. Living and working here is wonderful. I'm the one who needs to thank you for allowing me to stay with you."

Right then a horn honked out in the yard. The dogs were standing at the truck's door, expectantly waiting for the butcher's son to get out of his truck. I had to tell him they wouldn't hurt him, since they would know if he meant anyone harm.

We hauled fresh hams, bacon, and carcasses for sausage into the smoke house and pulled smoked hams, bacon, and four big sides for sausage. The man helped me salt the bags down and spread honey over the meat before closing the building up and stoking the hickory wood under the building. I checked the temperature and noted the heat was slowly rising back to the needed hundred and sixty to seventy degrees.

That would be worth a couple of hundred bucks, so we were doing okay. This was beginning to look like a very busy summer.

Ezra ate supper with us once again, and shortly after we finished, Bradley showed up to take a walk with Summer. Ezra and Mom took a walk too, but I think they made sure to go in a different direction.

The four returned before long, and the men left to go home. I think the rest of us were worn out today as we were in bed and asleep by ten.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 17

Morning seemed to come very early, as I was a little groggy when I rolled from bed. The dogs were spending their nights outside during the summer, which helped keep visiting animals out of our garden. I was going to have to get rid of some deer this year since there was an actual herd of deer that I've now seen a couple of times. There was one big buck, and a younger one that was usually hanging out in the outer part of the group. There had to be over a dozen does and all had fawns. Wish I could just catch them and take them to a zoo. It wasn't realistic, but an idea.

Before doing anything else, I called the RV park where Eliza lived. Her nephew answered and we had a nice conversation. His wife went to get Eliza while I was talking to him.

When she came to the phone I told her, "Eliza, old Ben passed away. I'm calling to see if you want to come for his funeral tomorrow. If you want to and need a ride, I can come get you."

"Oh, Mike, that is so nice of you, but I hate funerals. It reminds me that I might have one of my own before too long. I'll think about that old coot and know he's probably a ghost up on that mountain now. I'll bet he was talking to Connie the whole time he was passing. That man worshipped the ground she walked on. What are you going to do with his farm?"

I almost felt guilty in telling her, "Ben gave me his place. He told me in front of the doctor and had the doctor write out a will. He said he had forgotten how to sign his name. Do you know if he could write at all?"

"The man only went to the second grade. He never could read or write. When his wife was alive, she did all of that for them. I read and wrote for him after she passed. Thanks for calling me, Mike. I think I need to go cry a little because I won't get to see that old critter again. Then again, maybe I'll be able to help him haunt you up on that mountain of ours."

When Eliza hung up, I also had some tears in my eyes. These folks had lived a hard but enjoyable life up this mountain. I liked the way she called it 'that mountain of ours.'

After breakfast, I checked on Ezra's progress and found his men in a happy mood. Ezra said, "We finished over at Ralph's and the clearing where you're putting the FEMA trailers. That is going to be a real nice place. There are enough big trees to give them shade, plus that little spring fed stream behind them will be nice for spring water if they want it."

Ezra got me off to the side and told me, "You're doing a good thing for these men. They are really excited about having their own place that they can work with, instead of renting from a guy who is bitching all of the time. I hope you understand that this bunch is a growing family. Not just with kids, but others of the families that are coming and will migrate here. They should be good neighbors, and if not, just give them something for their work and shoo them away."

This evening was the same as before, with me standing beside Ben's casket while a lot of the same people came to pay their respects again. I love the way a community like this is, as some of the men were in their Sunday best and the women wearing hats and fine dresses. On the other extreme, farmers were coming in still in their bibbed overalls and work boots. Men gathered in groups, mostly outside, while the women formed various groups and traveled between conversations. I was bushed by the time ten o'clock came. We thought about a late night snack at the Kitchen, but we didn't have the energy. Besides, this being a country town, the Kitchen usually turned their lights off about nine pm anyway. We would have to be back here by noon for the funeral. The ceremony started at one o'clock, to allow the people who needed to attend the market in the morning to do so, have lunch, and show up at the funeral afterward.

We slept soundly and were able to get the chores done early, and then we decided to make a quick trip into the market to sell some eggs and butter. Mom had made five gallons of buttermilk and was prepared with ten half-gallon mason jars. We charged for the cost of the mason jars, which was higher than the price of the buttermilk, but let people know we would buy the jars back for the same price. Summer had two days of eggs, about twenty-four dozen, and Millie had cut up a side of bacon that she had sliced into five pound parcels. It didn't take long for them to sell out.

I made a trip around the equipment area to look at a couple of ATVs that were for sale, but neither one looked like what I wanted. To be honest, I really didn't know what I wanted in an ATV, but I figured that I would know it when I saw it.

As we drove by Ben's on the way home, we saw what looked like the entire Latino group working on something at the house. I'd bet some of the lumber for the house was being delivered to Ben's, and that wasn't a big deal, since they only had to advise the sawmill and they would make a delivery when they picked up some logs.

The funeral was a little sad, as it was a final goodbye to a friend. As we watched the casket being lowered into the ground next to his wife, I mentally thought that I'd bet Ben and his woman were frolicking up on the mountain together. I liked the idea of Ben's ghost up there with us.

I thanked Harold for the nice prayers he offered at the funeral and gravesite. I was really surprised at the hundreds of people that showed up on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Mom and Millie waited for the crowd to leave before they began putting the potted plants from the funeral into the Explorer. Mom said, "We'll plant these around the porch to make our place that much prettier. I've planted some flower seeds there too, so we'll have a colorful porch.

I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon walking the orchards and vineyards, checking on their condition. There needed to be some weeding work in the vineyards, but the place generally looked cared for. I had brought a plastic Walmart bag and filled it with blackberries. We needed to bring some buckets and load up while we could before the bears come up high to eat them all. It was later agreed that we would gather blackberries after Sunday dinner.

Church was nice on Sunday, as Harold made mention of Ben both in Bible class and during the service. I felt good to have so many sitting with my family, as it showed how close we all are. I'm sure it was something for some to talk about because there were so many Latinos worshipping with us. A nice surprise was that Jimmy and the five men hired for the roads all showed up together. They were friendly to the Latino men as they had worked with most of them.

The extras for Sunday dinner were Bradley, Bradley's folks, and Ezra. I was able to give them a tour of our place and explain the expansion being built, without having to make any excuses about where the money was coming from. Stanley Conner understood what farming was about, and how you had a buck one day, and the next you were in front of the bank loan officer with your hat in hand. Thankfully, I didn't need the bank so far.

When Mr. & Mrs. Conner and Ezra left, Mom, Millie, and I went to the blackberry patch next to our big vineyard. I made sure we didn't have to share the patch with any big black fuzzy critters while we filled six big buckets full of blackberries. Our fingers were purple, as were our lips, from picking and eating so many of the delicious berries.

Back home, Mom told us that a couple more good picking trips like this and we'd have enough for blackberry jam. That made us eager to get back out to pick more. Millie made a small vanilla cake, while I turned the crank to make ice cream. When Summer and Bradley got back from their walk, we enjoyed some ice cream and blackberries over the cake, and it was delicious.

Bradley had to go home to do evening chores, which meant that Summer had to change from her dress into jeans. We easily finished chores and watched the one young goat and young deer play. The older goat didn't want any part of the playful animals and hung out with the cows. I suppose she was special since she also gave milk.

Monday came with a torrential vengeance. It was raining so hard that you almost couldn't see the barn. We put ponchos on to stay a little dry as we did our chores. I stoked the smoke house and wet the meat sacks down after putting more honey on the hams and bacon. I decided to use sorghum on the sausage meat for a change in flavor this time around. I left a side of bacon without any honey or sorghum for only a natural hickory flavor. When I had the bigger smokehouse, I would put meat in three specific areas to get the special flavors.

The rain was making it cool enough that Mom started a fire before breakfast. While we were eating, my cell phone began ringing.

The caller was Jimmy. "Hi, Mike, hate to bother you while you're probably trying to get some extra sleep, but we have a problem. The rain was so heavy over on Jackson Bottom road that the creek water shifted the bridge on the supports. Do you think you can come help get this fixed?"

"I'll be at the yard in less than thirty minutes. Get the two bulldozers and the big backhoe on the truck if they will all fit, and get all of the big chains and u-bolts you can find. We might be able to do this without having to hire a crane."

I called Ezra, "Hey there, I need you to bring some saws either to the equipment yard or down to the Jackson Bottom bridge. The rain has moved the bridge on the supports and I'm going to try to rig it back in place using logs as a cantilever and the bulldozers."

"That will be a sight, Mike. I'll meet you at the bridge. You know you might want to pull from the far side, because there is that rock cliff with big boulders there to hold logs in place. You're going to need the heaviest block and tackle you can find."

I wasn't dry from chores yet, but I grabbed my poncho and went to the yard. These men knew how to maneuver heavy objects and had the big bulldozers and a big backhoe on the big truck's trailer.

By this time, the rain was only coming down at a normal late spring rate. When we got to the bridge, we found that one side had lifted up and was sitting on the huge bolts and concrete posts that held the cast concrete bridge in place. The whole thing was only twenty feet across, with each side lipped over about four feet.

All of us could see that most of us would need to be on the other side, so we unloaded the backhoe and were about ready to send the trailer with both bulldozers to the other side. Jet was tugging at my arm and pulled me to the end of the concrete bridge that was cocked to the side.

"Le, le, le, le, let me, me, me, me show you. It will work, It wa, wa, will be easy."

Jet moved the older bulldozer off the trailer and put the bucket under the lip of the concrete bridge. He didn't try to lift it but used the hydraulics to swivel the bucket, lifting the bridge. Then with a deft touch, he pulled the brake back on one track and swiveled the tractor, lining the bridge up.

Jet got down and pointed to the other side, "Do, do, do, do, tha, tha, tha, sa, sa, same on tha, tha, the other sa, sa, sa, side."

Jimmy drove the truck around county roads until he was able to get to the other side about an hour later. There, Jet pulled the other bulldozer off the trailer and performed just about the same thing. Jimmy began hollering for people to line the concrete bridge up with the bolts and move the tractors together to make it fit.

John jumped up on the bulldozer on this side and was directed by one of the guys, while Jimmy directed Jet. Fifteen minutes later, we gently swiveled the two buckets to lower the bridge to fit on the bolts and concrete posts. I was amazed at how easy it ended up being. All I could think of was the cost of hiring a huge crane or building another bridge.

One of the new men told me, "We need to build a couple of buffer dams this summer to slow the water down and make it spill over the dams and flow under the bridge instead of over it. Let's put that down on our to do list."

Eight men were standing in the rain, soaked to the skin, but high fiving each other for Jet's good thinking that saved the day.

We loaded the equipment back up and had a procession back to the yard. After we unloaded that equipment, the guys said they were going to knock off for the day, even though it wasn't even close to noon yet. They really couldn't work effectively in the rain, and they did need to get dry.

I went home, showered, and changed into dry clothes. Mom announced, "How about a trip to Lexington so you can get some new fatigues and we girls can get some new jeans and shirts? I need some new boots, and both of these girls need good work boots."

On the way through Stanton, we stopped at the library to use the Internet to locate the Army surplus store and where the malls were. I stopped at the bank for a wad of cash, and we were on our way before lunch with our stomachs growling.

We stopped at a McDonalds on the highway for a taste treat that Millie and Summer had not had in years. We laughed and talked all the way to Lexington in Mom's new Explorer. It was a nice vehicle to drive.

Mom was my navigator and took us straight to the Army surplus store. The place did have a good selection of fatigues at fair prices, and boots that fit. I bought eight sets of cammie fatigues, six caps, and four more ponchos for the house, so that we wouldn't run out. Summer wanted a white sailor's hat, while Mom and Millie picked out six cammie slouch hats. Mom told Millie that they needed to hunt for some good straw hats for the summer, but they should be able to get them at Walmart when they were needed.

From there, we went to the first mall and found that it didn't have many stores. We went to the second mall and walked the mile, or it seemed to be, end to end, looking in store after store. We took a break for another snack, and when it got to be about four o'clock, we all agreed that we needed to get home to do evening chores.

On the way home, Mom said that she was going to teach some of the Latino women how to do our chores so if we went to Lexington or somewhere else, we wouldn't have to rush back to take care of them.

The rain was still steadily coming down all the way home, but seemed to let up as we drove up the mountain. By the time we were through milking and doing the other chores, the rain had stopped. Hopefully, the cable path wouldn't be too soggy in the morning so that the men could work.

Millie and Mom went into overdrive while washing the new clothes so they could be worn right away. I spent the rest of the evening listing the projects that were underway and which one to check on first in the morning.

The road crew was going to be attempting to get their new trailer spots ready, along with the office trailer. I hadn't noticed, but I'd bet the guys poured the slabs Saturday afternoon. Ezra and his crew would be busy continuing the path. I suppose the rain would keep them from finishing this week, but we were ahead of the cable crew by at least three weeks. Then there was Raul and Jose. Hopefully, they could finish the removal of the pole barn and begin getting it rebuilt at the equipment yard. That really was it, except that I needed to do some work in the vineyards on the other side of the mountain. I wonder if the women the girls had working could do that work? I would find out.

Tuesday morning was nice and dry, making life easier with less mud being tracked in by the cows. It was funny how Mom and Millie wouldn't let me do any milking. Mom kept telling everyone that milking was women's work. After Summer finished the chickens, she milked the goat and kept the milk in a separate five gallon can.

This morning, Ezra needed me to set up an account for him to buy the explosives and detonators he needed. He said he would only buy to the next higher price break so that he would have enough to finish this path and begin the next.

The sawmill truck was picking logs up after having delivered a large quantity of lumber that I was sure included material for Ben's place. The man in charge asked if I was ready to begin selling ground up root balls and the miscellaneous limbs and stubs.

"If it will bring some income in right now, I'm all for it. We'll get Ezra to advise where the best place for easy access would be. You need to know that when there is erosion nearby, we're going to use the root balls for that first. I'm sure there will be plenty, especially on this run."

The sawmill supervisor got together with Ezra for the location of the grinder and that was taken care of. Ezra had told me that we were shipping a lot of logs to the sawmill and that they were now direct depositing payments from the actual weights delivered to their yard. He said he had asked Maude to set it up. Ezra didn't think that was a problem, so I was good with it.

Jimmy and John were working on a couple of stretches of roads that the other commissioners had neglected for a long time. With two of them on big graders at the same time, they could do better than thirty miles of road a day.

Mom called me on my cell phone, and sounding more serious than usual, asked me to come home as they had a serious bear problem.

Not knowing how serious the bear problem was, I drove fairly fast over the still not wonderful roads up the mountain. They would need to be smoothed out by the road commissioner, heh, heh, heh.

There was no one in the yard, so just to be safe, I went to the gun closet and was going to take the 30-30 Winchester, but it was gone, so I took the .308 and a handgun. I noticed one of the big revolvers was also missing.

Thinking the problem should be around the blackberry patch near the big vineyard, I began walking that way fast.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

That was coming from around the other side of the mountain. I ran as fast as I could on the new road to the back vineyard and orchard area. The first thing I saw was all of the Latino women huddling against the rock bluff, then I saw Mom, Millie, and Summer standing together, looking down at a large black critter.

As I walked up to them, Mom turned and looked at me. "You know, you're going to have to clean the damn bears out from this area. The ladies were working on the vineyard and that bear came from the blackberry patch over there and challenged them. Thank goodness I'm a good runner and was able to get the rifle and this big pistol. It took four shots to bring that brute down."

Millie said, "We can't let all of that meat go to waste. We need to skin him and stretch that hide. Help me, Mom and Summer and I'll show you how to do it."

Mom looked at me and smiled before turning back to Millie. Millie sent Summer to the house for knives, then turned to the Latino women and directed them to get back to work on the vineyard weeds.

"Just like I thought, Mom. There's no need for a man around here when you have women as capable as you are."

Mom told me, "Get your truck and make a pass down to the hard road. Hopefully, this is the same bear that was spending his time in that lower blackberry patch. I'm going to keep this rifle with me out here from now on. No sense in not being prepared."

I was thinking that I should get her a holster with a web harness for her pistol. If she's going to carry a .357 magnum around, she might as well be comfortable.

The path down to the hard road and back didn't scare up any more of the black furry critters, and by the time I was back at the clearing where the women were, the bear was skinned and the meat quartered to be hauled up to the house.

Mom suggested, "How about we slow cook this meat over an open fire to get rid of the fat and grease. If we get lucky we might have some decent roasts, and the way the rib meat looked, I'll bet there is bacon in that there bear." That brought a laugh from all of us.

I took the bear meat and skin behind the smoke house. I built some wire racks that would be about four feet over a fire so the grease would drip out of the meat. Hopefully the meat would taste decent so the critter would have a value other than a rug. After getting a small pit fire going, I stretched the skin out with wood strips and willow to give the strips some stretch. I had to take a shovel down to the clearing to bury the bear's offal. We weren't saving much of the fat when Millie observed, "We don't have to worry about making candles now."

I'd bet the Latino women enjoyed telling of their bear experience today as another exciting day up on Mystery Mountain.

To be on the safe side, I called Ezra to see if he knew a local game warden. He gave me a name, but didn't know the number. He suggested I call the farm bureau. Those people are always a wealth of information and had the number to call for the local Kentucky game warden.

A man answered the call with a gruff, "Fred Jones, Kentucky wildlife."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jones. My name is Mike Grayson from up on..."

"Yeah, I know you from the market and church. You live up on Mystery Mountain. What can I do for you? Do you need a deer hunt?"

"I might later this year, but I need to report that I killed a black bear that looked to be about three to three hundred fifty pounds. He was threatening some field workers but was shot before he hurt anyone. We've salvaged the meat and hide. If you need it, I have the meat in my smoke house and the hide is stretched."

Fred asked, "Was the kill on your property?"

"It was on the back side of the mountain where the old Finnerty property is."

"Thanks for telling me, Mike. I'm surprised this is the first bear you've killed up there. There is an abundance of black bears in your area. They don't scare off easily and they become a little spooky when they are feeding on berries. When the berries are just past ripe, they have a little alcohol content and the bears can actually get drunk on them."

Fred had paused and said, "That was today, right?"

"Yes, it happened just a couple of hours ago. While the bear was being skinned and butchered, I made a trip down the mountain to make sure there weren't any more lurking around."

"What sex was the bear?"

"It was male. I haven't seen any females with cubs, so far. I somehow think they stay in the valley more than up the mountain."

Fred laughed, "Don't bet on it. That mountain has caves all over it and I'm sure there are bears who use some of them in the winter. I'm glad you let me know about the bear. We try to track them in this area, but a lot of farmers just shoot them and bury them. Not many would skin and butcher them. It's good you're going to try to get some use from the meat. You know, bear meat isn't all that good. You can slow cook it over a pit and see how that goes. If you don't like the meat or have more than you can use, we have a program for the hungry to get meat. If you do business with the butcher, he knows all about it."

"I do that now, Fred. So tell me about getting rid of some of the deer I have. I've even seen an actual herd of them together. They are nibbling on the low apples now."

"I'd really like to wait until late fall to lean your deer out," Fred told me. "There are a lot of fawns up there, and we should let enough remain to balance the area. I'll call the university to see if they want to attempt to capture some. They did that over around Corn Valley and caught a couple of dozen that I think they gave to zoos."

"Take my number, Fred, and let me know if the university has any interest. Otherwise, I might have a lot of deer meat for the hungry this fall."

"Mike, you have to take care of your property, but remember to report what game you harvest. We like to keep track. There are too many poachers around, but none want to come up to your place. Mystery Mountain has too many ghost stories."

At the end of the day, Mom took the Latino women down to Ben's where all of that big extended family was working on the house each night. She was always giving them some extra foodstuffs that she felt we had extra of. She told me, "What we really need is to find a good deal on corn meal for them to make the little tortillas they eat. They use them to wrap food in and to eat a dozen other staples in their diet. Ask the man at the grain elevator and feed store if you can get sacks of corn meal. I'll bet he can get them in those fancy flower print sacks people use to sew with."

"What's wrong with grocery store corn meal, Mom?"

"Not a thing, Mike, but it's expensive in small quantities. You have to go by that place everyday at least once. Next time you go to the county lot, see if they will get if for you. You need some cracked corn for the chickens anyway, so get a couple of sacks of chicken feed and some corn meal."

The day had been busy and we were all tired. The women had prepared supper to be put into the oven before going out to do chores. We were going to have meatloaf, which was always a treat. I'm sure there was going to be enough to feed everyone sandwiches tomorrow.

After supper, I spoke to Mom while Millie and Summer were watching TV. "Mom, I really enjoy having you here with us. Are you okay staying here? Are we making you work too hard? Do you need to go back to Cincinnati to do anything with your place?"

She became alarmed when I first began talking to her, but she relaxed as I asked more questions. "Mike, your place here is the best thing that could have happened to me. I was withering away up there in that over fifty-five place. I'm trying to make my mind up whether to rent it or sell it. Having Millie and Summer is just like having a couple more kids. You're so easy to get along with; I can never get over how you stayed single so long. If Millie hadn't come along, you'd still be single and I'd still be up there gossiping, playing cards, and getting fat. Look at me Mike, I'm happy, I feel healthy, and I have a wealth of new friends. You're going to have a difficult time getting rid of me, and I don't think Millie will allow me to leave."

I was smiling at the enthusiasm Mom displayed about staying here. I still felt like she was my bud, although we weren't corresponding over the Internet or the phone. "Mom, make sure you let me know what I can do to keep you happy here and what you need me to do about your place up north."

"I'll tell you when I know, Son. Now go figure out how you're going to handle all of that wine, fruit, and vegetables this year. I think you'll need a lot more women and men workers to harvest your crops than you think."

Mom was probably right, but I was hoping for some rehabilitated men from the preacher's program who could help with the orchard. I suppose it wouldn't be good to have them tempted by the winemaking, but I was going to need some men to help when the time came.

I kept trying to figure out how there was going to be so much more than usual, when I realized that the orchard and vineyard on the other side of the mountain were in good condition and were producing this year. Even the orchard and vineyard nearer the house were producing more since I had done the trimming and fertilizing two years in a row. After only the minimal care it received this spring, even the little vineyard and orchard down at the Jorgenson place was looking like it was going to produce well.

I was getting ready to leave after chores the next morning, when Raul drove up. "I think I saw that you have a powered post hole digger," he stated. "How about bringing it down to the county yard so we can plant the poles for the barn we're building? We'll make the holes big and set them in concrete. We are going to need some extra men for that in order to get them all level. Bring the post hole digger and I'll run by the house and get as many as I can get together."

Before I could unload the post hole digger, Jimmy was taking it from me and had markers for each of the holes that were needed. He had written the depth in chalk that it needed to be on each pole so that leveling would be easier.

Jet surprised me as he had a surveyor's transit set up so he could sight the top of each pole to get the height correct and make sure they were in the correct position. These men worked together to put all of the poles in the exact position and height. They had a concrete truck right there filling the holes as the men placed upright two by fours to brace the poles in the proper place as the concrete dried.

When Raul returned with a truckload of men, he was surprised that the job was done. He walked around the poles, and even had a difficult conversation with Jet as he looked at the location and height of each pole. Jet showed him how to sight through the transit to check on position and height.

Raul said, "I'll use these men to do some of the other work. If we use the heavy equipment, we should be able to hook up all of the utilities to the trailers while we wait for the poles to set. We will build the barn tomorrow.

I went to check on Ezra and found he was moving right along. He said he would need Jet back by the day after tomorrow. Ezra bragged about the road crew, "You'll have to stop by to see everything those road men have done. While they have been doing everything to get the office and two FEMA trailers set up, they've run out and done several road repairs that were called in. They not only did the repairs, but also graded up and down the roads to make sure the work didn't only feel like a spot repair. Jimmy is doing a fine job directing traffic over there."

"Thanks Ezra. I just left there and have seen how well they work at everything they do. I have a good road crew."

The next day, Raul and men put the frame of the pole barn up and got the roof on. It would be another day after that before they finished about noon, and tested the big doors on the tracks. The entire front and back of the big building could open a half at a time. I could see that this building was going to be extremely useful, especially in the heavy rains and the winter.

I had to see Maude on Friday to help me get checks together for all the men. I had time sheets for each of the groups, including some overtime for the road repairmen. Their additional work the previous weekend put the new residential trailers way ahead of schedule. They were planning on moving in this weekend.

When I passed checks out to the Latinos, I told all of them that I had included a few extra dollars for each of them to cash their checks. I had spoken to the Kroger store manager, and he had agreed to cash my checks for the men. He knew that the women would be with them and spend money for a week's worth of groceries.

The weather was nice enough that we all wanted to eat supper on the picnic table. Ezra joined us, as usual, along with one of the recovering alcoholics. The man the preacher had sent was Ezra's nephew and had been working hard on the cable paths. When supper was over, Oliver, Ezra's nephew said, "This is what I've missed for a lot of years. What do you think, Uncle Ezra? Do you think Judy will talk to me? I have to get her the child support money now that I'm working, but I really would enjoy seeing her and the kids."

Ezra said, "Let me call Judy and tell her what you just said. Something tells me she might enjoy having you visit with the kids. Go by the Kroger store and cash your check so that you have money to give her. See if you can give her some cash each week instead of the whole month at a time. You still have to live and eat. I don't think you can eat out here every day."

Oliver got a laugh out of that.

Ezra called Oliver's wife and Ezra was soon taking the young man into town. It was good to see the preacher's work having success.

While we were still at the picnic table, Millie came and sat on my lap. She hugged me and said, "I have some good news, Mike; I'm going to have a baby. I'm really going to have another baby. Mom took me to the doctor who did a lot of tests. The doctor says I'm healthy and will grow and I'll give birth to a strong baby. I think it's going to be a boy, but I don't really know. I just think that."

Mom was sitting across from me with tears in her eyes. Summer smiled so big that her face had to hurt. All of this was emotional enough that my eyes were watering too. Wow, I was going to be a dad. I began trying to count when the baby would get here, and Mom said, "Don't be silly. You know we women know exactly when the baby is going to get here. You will be a dad right around Thanksgiving. You're getting the house done just in time."

After we settled down, all of us took the dishes and bowls back inside. As I passed by the box Summer had made for the bitch that was going to have puppies, she was lying on her side in the box, looking up at me. I think she was showing me what Millie was going to go through.

Mom spent a few minutes hugging me, telling me how wonderful it was that her baby boy was finally going to be a father. She said she couldn't wait to tell my sister and brother.

We had six new puppies before bedtime. The male was around the box on the porch, constantly looking in to give a lick to the female and to nudge a puppy every once in a while. My goodness, I wonder if the cow was going to calve for us now too. One of the other cows was going dry, so we were within two to three months of her giving a calf. This was life on the farm. New life coming to sustain the caretakers. This is something as old as mankind.

That evening, Summer stayed up to watch TV as Millie rewarded me for my pleasurable part in helping create the baby within her. As we cuddled afterward, Millie kissed me so sweetly. When I leaned over and said, "I love you, Millie" I thought she was going to maul me. Instead, she said the same before coaxing seconds from me. I couldn't refuse.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 18


The weekend was very pleasant. Saturday's market wasn't as much fun since I didn't have my sidekick hanging around with me almost everywhere I went. It's funny how close Ben and I had become in the little over a year that I had known him.

Mom and the girls were busy bartering for and with material, thread, staples, and canned fruits and vegetables. This was like having a garage sale, but with items that were needed by both buyers and sellers. I spent some time negotiating for several bushels of cracked corn and some mixed cow feed. Other farmers often had extra that they traded out of at the weekly market. I was trying to keep the farm away from harmful supplements and had to double check every trade or purchase.

While I was poking around, I received a call from Gene. "Hey, Mike. I might have some good news for you. The company is dumping a bunch of ATVs. I talked to them about your need and that you were important to us because you are building the cable paths in our area. They will let you have a John Deere XUV just like the little truck ATV I have for about half of market value. Can you handle five grand?"

My answer was guarded, "I can, but that's a lot of money. If I bought the one, could I get a couple more for the road and path cutting crews? I might be able to swing three at that price, but it will be close."

"I'll ask the management for you, Mike, and because they are trying to help you out while we're building the paths, they might go with what you want. While I was at headquarters, they gave me the prints and map for the path they want to follow for the run to Pine Ridge. It runs along the river side of the road below your place, then when the river turns west, the path will continue with the road all the way. You should be able to make decent time, but it's still a long enough run to take you through the winter. They are adding three additional runs from this location out to distribution points before we begin the run to Pine Ridge."

I was surprised, "Gene, that's a hell of an investment in this area. Is your company going to be able to make that profitable?"

"Hey, Mike, that's what they want as they figure the area is almost going to become a suburb of Lexington in days to come. They want to be prepared."

"That's good for me anyway, Gene. Ezra and the guys are going to be very happy about the prospect of a few years of work ahead of them. Find out about the ATVs, Gene. I'm really looking forward to roaming around my mountain on one."

Gene chuckled. "It's a hell of lot easier to haul a deer or bear back to the house with one of those things too. I'll get hold of someone up at headquarters and have an answer for you Monday, maybe even later today. I'll tell you at church tomorrow."

After having delivered to the Kitchen, the butcher, and trading at both markets, we were ready to relax. Mom, Millie, and I were sitting out at the picnic table with glasses of our good wine, when a couple of pickups came up the driveway. Ezra was first, driving a new four wheel drive Ford 150. Following him was Bradley driving his farm's pickup.

Summer ran out to Bradley, passing Ezra as he came directly to the table and sat next to Mom. Ezra asked, "What's the chance of getting some of that wine you're drinking?"

I had to ask, "Ezra, what's with the new pickup out there. Is that big truck too much to drive?"

"You know, it's far past time that I buy myself something comfortable to drive and something I can park in a parking lot. Besides, I've never had a new vehicle and it seemed high time to treat myself."

While Mom got up to get another glass and bring the big carafe out to the table, Bradley and Summer came up to us. Bradley asked, "Can Summer come into town to watch a movie this evening? Mom and Dad said to ask her for supper, then I want to take her out for the evening."

Millie told them it was fine, but Summer might want to freshen up a little as she had been busy today.

Summer and Millie went into the house as Bradley joined us at the table, having a glass of iced tea. He told me, "Dad hired a couple of those Mexicans to help out on the farm. We're buying the Hobson place next to us, and we'll need a lot of help to run both big places."

Ezra offered, "The Hobson place is almost twice the size of yours, at least it has almost twice the tillable land. Monty Hobson never did raise much stock and was primarily a grain farmer. Are you going to continue doing that?"

Bradley shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what Dad has in mind yet. He's all excited about the deal and told me we have the money, and that the Hobson house would be a great place for me if I was to get married. It isn't real big like our place, but plenty big for a small family and it is in good shape just like his barn and the four big silos he has."

I commented, "Sounds like a big step for your dad, Bradley. I'm sure your whole family is excited. When will you know when or if the deal will go through?"

"I think it's near done, Mike. Dad has already given him something called earnest money. I think it's to guarantee the price the two agreed on."

"So you'll be working Hobson's fields soon. You'll be busy."

Bradley smiled. "That's why I'm so busy and can't come see Summer often. We've been working Hobson's fields all spring. We're done with the planting, but there is a lot of cultivating and other work to be done."

Ezra made the observation, "So you'll be taking total possession of the farm pretty soon, won't you?"

"We won't get the house until June or July. When that happens, Mom wants to clean it up real good and paint the inside. Dad said he wants to check all of the wiring and plumbing before winter. Hobson put a new roof on last year, so that's done. Personally, I think the house is ready to move into." Bradley was nodding his head while thinking about his future.

With his voice lowered several octaves, Bradley addressed me, "Mike, I'm thinking of asking Summer to marry me. Do you have a problem with that?"

It was my turn to smile. "That would be great, Bradley. Have you two known each other long enough to make that kind of decision?"

"Yes Sir. We've talked a lot and since she has her new phone, we talk every day and often when I'm out on the tractor, working the fields. I think we know each other real well. She has had some rough times growing up the way she did, but she is a happy person that spreads her happiness wherever she goes. I want that in my family."

"Well, Bradley," I answered, "You can ask her any time you want, but be prepared to protect yourself. I'd bet she's going to be all over you when you do ask."

With a grin and a little more confidence, Bradley said, "I'm going to ask her after church tomorrow. My mom and dad know and approve. I have a ring and want her to know we are intended."

My mom was sitting teary eyed, listening to the young man. We were witnessing the boy, now a man, baring his soul to ask for the hand of the one he wanted as a wife. This was a big deal to all of us.

Mom patted Bradley on the back of his hand. "You're acting as an honorable man by asking Mike. That type of respect isn't shown much anymore."

Summer came from the house in one of her new dresses, with her hair around her face instead of being pulled back in a ponytail. She didn't walk, but bounced up to Bradley and hugged his arm. "I'm ready, Bradley. I'm a little scared about having supper with your folks, but I meet them at church every week."

Millie told the young couple, "You two enjoy yourself, and Bradley, drive carefully. We'll see you later, Summer."

When they walked out to Bradley's pickup, Mom asked Millie, "You didn't give her a time to be home. Don't you think you should do that?"

Millie looked deep in thought before she answered. "I think Summer is smart enough to know a farm boy has to get up for chores early in the morning, so she'll encourage him to bring her home at a reasonable time. I didn't have a chance to date like she is doing, so I don't know how parents should act, but I trust Summer to do what's right."

I told Ezra the news I had heard from Gene. "Ezra, the cable company is having us cut three more paths from the distribution center. They are preparing for what they think will be a large migration from Lexington. They are betting that the Stanton area becomes a rural suburb of Lexington."

"My goodness, Mike, how soon do they want that done? If we build a path to Pine Ridge, it will be almost a year before we can get to that."

"I think that's the good part, Ezra," I informed him, "They want the local paths from the distribution center before the long one to Pine Ridge. What do you figure? I think it will probably take you the rest of the summer to finish three more paths."

"Darn, Mike, that is something. You're really making all the equipment you bought pay. You having kept me busy teaching those men has given me a new life, or at least an extended one. I was sitting in front of the TV, rotting. Now I'm ram-rodding a crew of men that is turning out some fine work. The way we're moving, you might be surprised at how fast we might be working on the path to Pine Ridge."

Mom suggested, "How about us loading up into my new SUV and going over to Pine Ridge for some pizza and beer. We can do the evening chores real quick and be out of here in an hour."

It was unanimous; we were having pizza for supper. Mom and I headed for the barn, while Millie retrieved her big egg basket from the porch. Mom didn't object this time when I milked one cow while she did the other. Ezra watched us as we went through the ritual of cleaning the cows' udders before filling the milk buckets. The cow I was milking didn't give much milk and didn't act as if she wanted to give milk this evening. She was getting big and bulging at her sides, so she might be getting ready to go dry.

I did the super duper pooper scooper routine, while Mom washed the milk buckets and put the cans in the spring house. I fed the outside animals and we were walking to the house to clean up in less than forty-five minutes.

We all did a quick clean up and put some fresh clothes on that didn't smell like cows or milk. I actually put jeans on instead of fatigues. We used the new road to the highway at the bottom of the mountain, through the old Jorgenson place. Halfway down the farm road, a big black bear was moving across the open area. Mom reached over and honked the horn, making the bear stop and look at us. I'm no fool and stopped a good distance from it. I figured if he came after Mom's SUV, I would have to try to hit him hard enough to disable him. The horn only bothered him for a second before he went on his way.

As we descended to the hard road, we had a view into the middle of the blackberry patch there. Son of gun, there was another bear in it, but lying down. Mom said, "I guess you're going to have to clean out some of these critters on Monday before we can work the two vineyards on this side. Maybe you should call the state wildlife guy and ask him if he wants to try to relocate them."

We were on the way to Pine Ridge as I answered, "I'll do that, or else our smoke house will be filled with nothing but bear meat. I'm not real fond of the bear meat that I cooked before, so I need to get rid of them one way or another."

Millie suggested, "Give some to Raul and his people. I know the women who were working when we killed the bear talked about all of the good meat a bear must have. We can feed a lot of people with a couple of more bears. I'll keep the fat and make candles this time. I can sell them at the market."

Ezra spoke up, "You folks be careful with those bears. Many a hunter has thought he killed a bear to have it get up and go after him."

Mom said, "I know what you mean, I had to shoot that bear four times before it went down and once more right in the eye to make sure."

"You shot the bear?" Ezra was surprised. "You didn't tell me you shot it. You just told me you guys killed a bear and Millie showed you how to skin and butcher it."

Mom grinned. "You better treat me nice, Ezra, I'm one mean old lady with an itchy trigger finger."

"Sounds like the woman who used to own Mike's place. Eliza was a tough old bird. The area lost a piece of history when she moved away."

We went through two large pizzas and a pitcher of beer. Millie even tried some beer and liked it. On the way back, I stopped at a convenience store and bought a case of beer in cans. I would have rather had bottles, but cans are easier to squash and turn in.

Once home, Ezra left for his place and we started preparing to go to bed. Summer came home and stayed in Bradley's pickup in the yard for a while before coming in. When she came in the house, she told us, "Bradley told me that tomorrow was going to be important to all of us. I wonder what that could be about. It must be about the new place they are buying. His dad and mom are really excited about it."

Mom, Millie, and I all knew what tomorrow would bring, and we hoped that it made Summer as happy as we thought it would.

Sunday morning became busier than we expected. We had a new baby calf that we put in the barn with the mother. A day or two in a pen so the calf can get a good start is all that is needed. This gives the baby the new milk and gets the cow ready to begin giving milk. One of the cows that I had bought, the one I milked last night, didn't want anyone to touch her udder. I was afraid she might have a bag problem, but when I washed her off, she kept moving away from me.

Mom said, "I think she's trying to dry up. It's less than three months before she's due to calve. She didn't give but a little less than a gallon for you last night. We'll let her out and see what she feels like tonight."

I observed, "I suppose it's fitting. We have one dry up and another calves at the same time."

The only dog doing any dog duties was the male, who we called Spook. He was busy trying to keep the garden free of deer. Hopefully none of the bears would come up to the house. The female's name was Witch, appropriate for a bitch dog. The six puppies all looked healthy snuggled up to Witch's tits. After seeing the new calf and the new puppies, all I could think of was that a new baby would be here around Thanksgiving.

As we passed Ben's place on the way to town, we missed picking the man up to join us. I suppose there would be a lot to remind us of him for a long while. His place was busy, though, as we could see people working on the big addition to the house. It looked nearly done from the outside.

Bible study and the church service were interesting as usual, with Harold's focus being good Samaritans and good neighbors. Actually, he was more than complimentary to his congregation, as I believe the community did their best to offer a helping hand to those that needed it.

We met with Bradley and his parents after church. The young couple, Summer and Bradley, left for a meal up in Mt. Sterling before coming back so Bradley could show Summer around the new farm they were purchasing.

Our guests today were Gene, Maude, and Ezra. It seemed as if Gene and Maude had become more than casual friends.

We had a special dinner of roast bear with all the trimmings. Mom and Millie had packed the big roast with onions, apples, and some lemon, along with a lot of spices. We all enjoyed the wild flavor of the surprisingly tender meat. The meat was greasy but cooked the way it was, it was pretty good. While Millie, Mom, and Ezra stayed in the house and watched TV, I took Maude and Gene on a tour of the farm. Both of them couldn't get over the size of our garden, but it looked perfectly tended to. I told them that it might be too far to walk around the other side of the mountain to the old Finnerty high vineyard and orchard.

That's when Gene spoke up, "I forgot to tell you. Management said you can have the three ATVs we talked about. Mike, this is a real deal. The units don't have many hours at all, and when you see them, you'll wonder when they were ever used. Each one comes with a good utility trailer to haul it around. You're going to really get some use from these. They should be at the distribution center tomorrow morning. The company said they would just deduct the amount from the path you are working on now. Hope that doesn't screw up your finances."

"That will be a good way to handle it, Gene. I'm good for operating expenses for both the path crew and the road crew right now. We've had a lot of startup expenses, but not nearly as much as I would have thought."

Maude laughed. "You amaze me, Mike. You pulled in that big check from that first path and clearing around the distribution center and didn't have to instantly use it up to pay debts. Your expenses for that group have been minimal so far, and you are getting some revenue from the logs. Your road deal was expensive at the start, since you had to buy the equipment from Ralph, but that was a really good deal. The equipment you bought up in Lexington was a decent deal, as well. You're doing fine right now and should continue to be until the county begins giving you your monthly road allowances. Make sure your road crew keeps track of the work they are doing on the roads so that the county will pay you for the whole county."

"They are keeping a record now so that we can track what roads may need work, Maude. We have been running around repairing the worst places. We've graded over a hundred miles of gravel road so far, in addition to setting up the office trailer and the new pole barn. The county would have had to pay over twenty grand for that pole barn. Maybe I can bill them for the labor and materials to get everything put up."

"I hadn't thought of that, Mike," Maude exclaimed. "I've been to a bunch of the commission meetings and I know a lot of county expenses are paid to people who do things as a benefit to the county. That pole barn and office trailer would qualify for a special payment. Get the receipts together for me and I'll help you present it at the next meeting."

As our visitors were leaving, Mom asked Ezra, "What do you think about roast bear sandwiches tomorrow. Do you think the men will like those?"

"Those men will eat just about anything that's free," Ezra answered. "You all treat those men almost too well. I'd love to have more of that bear meat for sandwiches tomorrow."

Chores were easy with the cow trying to dry up continuing to refuse milking. Her udder didn't seem swollen, so I figured she would be alright. Mom mentioned that she had seen the steer trying to ride the one cow that was milking. She said that I should call the vet to have her bred as the demonstration by the other stock usually indicated she was in heat and ready.

We all enjoyed watching the mother nursing her young calf. As the calf grew up, we would have to make up our minds whether to keep it, sell it, or eat it. A female that was a potential milk producer should have a decent value, especially to a small farm family.

When Summer came in the door, she was bursting to tell us what happened. She hugged her mother. "Momma, Bradley asked me to marry him. I said yes. He has a house for us and everything. We'll be living on the new farm they are buying. Bradley and his parents didn't know that the people who used to live there have already moved into town and we were able to walk through the house. It is really nice."

It took Summer and Millie over an hour to settle down before we could have a piece of cake and glass of milk before bed. I'm not sure Summer ever got to sleep.

On Monday began a period of time that life became a little more predictable. After checking on the road crew and Ezra, I stopped by the distribution center. There were four trailers with the John Deere ATVs on them. Someone else must be getting a deal.

I found Gene inside, working with a group who were setting equipment up inside the building. After he finished with those men, he passed by his office to scoop up a handful of keys and papers, and walked out the door. Outside, he handed me a pile of papers and a handful of keys. He began showing me the paperwork.

"Mike, here are the units you asked for. These are the titles and this is the receipt for fifteen thousand from the path you are working on right now. You'll still have a little left when you finish this one, but will make out OK on the other three you're going to build from here. Just to let you know, one path is going up to Sterling to give us what we call an OC-48 network. If something happens in one direction, we can still feed our area from another. The other two paths will be local about the same length you are doing now. I'll get the maps for you this week."

I was puzzled as I had four sets of paperwork but the receipt was for only fifteen thousand. "Gene, you gave me one too many titles and key sets. The deal is only for three."

Gene smiled and slapped me on the back. "The big guys in Lexington thought we might reward you with a fourth unit. You're building paths for us way under our projections, so they threw in an extra with the comment that you might enjoy using one for hunting. Little did they know you were going to do that anyway. Enjoy your toys."

I commented, "I'll take one over to Ezra right now, then take another over to the road crew. I'll make up my mind whether the road or path crew gets a second unit."

When I went back to where Ezra's truck was parked, I drove the ATV off the trailer, then pulled the trailer around to hook it up to Ezra's truck. The light plug fit right into his receptacle. After checking the gas in the ATV, I drove out to where the crew was working. Ezra came over to me and asked, "Getting lazy on me, Mike? That thing is fancy and looks like it can haul equipment too. This path will soon be smooth enough for us to drive back into it with a truck so that we won't have to walk. The walk is a little far, but we don't lose that much time."

"Ezra, this is yours to use out here. I'll let you drive me back to the trucks so I can show you the trailer that comes with it. This will save your legs so I can get an extra year or two out of you."

"You are some slave driver, Mike. This will help haul the equipment back to the work site too. We're putting the saws, oil, and fuel on the Caterpillar right now, but that isn't very stable. This will help a lot."

"Ezra, do you think another one would be a help or would it cause too much trouble about who would get to ride and who would walk?"

"Another would be great if you can afford it. You can let Jet haul it back and forth to the job. Something like this unit would not be good to leave on site at night. That is too much temptation to someone coming along from out of town."

"Do this, Ezra; I'll run get the other unit for you guys, while you go get Jet and bring him back here so he can make sure the trailer is hooked up to his truck correctly. There is plenty of room at the road construction yard for his truck and the trailer."

It didn't take but half an hour for me to go for the other ATV and trailer. Jet thought this was an excellent idea, as he wouldn't have to bring the bulldozer all the way back to the equipment parking area every day. He thought that would save at least a couple gallons of fuel every day. I reminded him that he still needed to service the tractor every day. He told me, "I have welded a basket on the back of the cab. I carry the grease unit and some extra oil with me." Dang! No stuttering! I wondered if something was changing for Jet.

I watched as Jet and Ezra drove the ATVs back to where they were working. This was a good deal for us. It was expensive, but worth the money. If another was needed, I could always give up the one I wanted to use.

The third unit went to the road crew. No one was there, so I drove to where the board in the office trailer showed that Jimmy was working. When I found him, he was grading one side of the road while John was grading the other. I was surprised at how far they had gone today.

When both graders stopped and the guys got down, Jimmy said, "Did you notice? I don't think we'll need any rock on this entire run. The fork in front of the blade is perfect for this work. We're pulling up the gravel and leveling it all in one pass. These roads aren't used very much and might be good until next spring, except for snow."

The two men thought the ATV would come in handy, but not today. Jimmy told me, "Take it back to the pole barn and leave the keys on the back desk of the office trailer. I'd bet everyone will want to ride it this evening. You know that Jet needs one of these so he can leave the bulldozer where he stops for the day?"

It was my turn to smile, "It's done. I gave him one of these a little while ago and the last I saw of it was the back of the unit going back to the work site."

John said, "Good, now we'll have two of those things to hunt with this year. We were talking about deer season as we moved into the new trailers this last weekend. Those two units are really plush compared to a lot of the places we have lived. You did us a real favor, Mike. They are plenty big enough for four in each one. I suppose there's not a lot of privacy if we were to get lucky, but that's what the Starlight is for."

As I made the trip back to the road yard and pole barn, I called the state wildlife man, Fred Jones, again. "Fred, I might have to trap and kill a couple of more bears. One was up pretty high, near the house last night. I was thinking they stayed down in the valley."

"Those bears know that you have apples and grapes, Mike. They will be stripping your trees and vines soon. Do what you have to do, Mike, but keep track of the animal, sex, and approximate weight. Make sure you share or give away the meat. I already heard you had Maude and that cable engineer out for a bear dinner yesterday. I think I'm envious. Put me down for some of the smoked bear meat."

I further informed Fred, "I think there may only be two right now, but if you're right, I might have a lot more. For a state that reported only four bears taken during the season, you sure have a lot of them."

With a concern in his voice, Fred answered, "That's the problem, Mike. The season is only good for a short time in a very small area. There are a lot more bears in the state than the so called experts say. I've documented over a hundred cubs from this past spring in just the four county areas I work. That means there are probably seventy to a hundred mama bears out there, plus the males that bred them. This is one species that are often killed by property owners because the animals become a nuisance. It's also a species a lot of people don't report when they dispose of them."

"I hope I don't have many more, as that is no animal to mess with. I'd bet the ladies aren't working the remote vineyards and orchards because we saw a bear on the way down the back road last night. There was another lying down in a berry patch by the road, as well."

"Do what you have to do, Mike. I would appreciate it if you would report what you dispose of."

I hooked up the last ATV and pulled it home. I didn't have enough room in the machine shed because Mom's SUV was in there. I needed a place for Millie's truck and should consider some cover for my truck during the winter. Maybe Raul and Jose will get that far. It seemed as if there was more noise coming from the house where the men were working than for just two. I walked around to the side and was surprised to see eight men, including Raul, finishing the framing on the new addition. While four were working on the level and plumb of the frame, two men were on the other end of the build-out, putting insulation boarding up before they put up the log facing.

I didn't want to disturb them, so I went inside and realized that the ladies were probably feeding the road crew. I was about to fix something to eat when four Mexican women came in the house and stopped when they saw me. One stepped forward and offered, "We fix lunch now for us and house workers. Mrs. and Millie say to make sandwiches from bear meat. We fix for you too?"

Okay, I suppose that would work. I asked, "Were you working near the house or on the vineyard around the mountain?"

"We work in garden. Lots of weeds. We no work on other side until bear gone. If you go with us, we go, but not alone. We afraid."

I nodded in agreement and resolved to go on a bear hunt. After lunch, I put the ATV trailer into the equipment cave, filled the ATV's fuel tank, and took off to look for a cable path to the nearest telephone poles down by Teddy's and the widow's place. The terrain was not nice, but it looked like a path could be done without cutting a lot of timber. I did get to see a lot of downed trees that could be cut up for firewood. The woods were dense enough that it was difficult to get the ATV through a lot of areas. I saw two additional small cave openings as I drove along the natural path close to where the road was.

I had used my GPS to draw a little map with markers and figured it would only be about seven miles to Teddy's place where a pole was located. That reminded me, how did the power get up to the house?

Back at the house, I followed the lines from the pole near the house to the pole by the barn, then down the drive, or lane road, toward Ben's. There the lines cut cross country toward Teddy's place. Instead of going to the road first, the electric line ran to a pole at Teddy's where there was a transformer, then headed cross country again, down toward the widow's. I wonder why the REA and the telephone company didn't share poles. That was something to find out. Since this was REA area, the subscribers actually owned the poles and had to pay to have them replaced or repaired, so this would be the easy way to get cable up to the house.

The ATV had already been an asset. Back at the house, Mom and Millie were out in the garden with the Latino women. When I rode up, my two women came up to the new ATV to ooh and aah over it. After explaining how I came about getting it, Mom told me she wanted to drive it. Millie got in the passenger seat and the two were gone.

I heard their progress as they went one way around the mountain, then turned around and came back to where the road went around to the other side where the Finnerty vineyard and orchard were. When they came back, they parked the ATV near the porch and came in. Mom said, "If you want to have that orchard produce anything, you better go get rid of our competition. There are two bears out there feasting on the low pears, even though they are nowhere near ripe. I didn't see any cubs, but you may have to look for them if you kill a female with her nipples appearing to have been recently used. You'll know though, as mama bears are touchy about anything coming close to them or their cubs."

I took the thirty-thirty from the cabinet, along with a couple dozen rounds. After thinking about it, I took my Beretta and put the web vest on, with my Kbar and holster on it. I went out to the machine shed to get a small block and tackle and some rope that I had stored there.

As soon as I went around the last rock wall to where the vineyard and orchard were, I was astounded. There were four bears trying to get at the fruit on the trees, as well as two cubs following their mothers.

I called Fred Jones again. "Fred, this is serious. I'm looking at four adult bears and two cubs in one of my orchards right now. I don't want to kill the adults and cubs. Isn't there a zoo that might come for them?"

"Tell you what, Mike. See if you can identify the male or males and kill them. You should try to leave the others. If they don't leave so you can salvage the meat, you'll have to kill them too. I'll make some calls to see if the little zoo in Lexington or the one in Cincinnati will come help."

After moving up to as close to the bears as I was comfortable, I was finally able to be sure of two males. I knew that when I shot the one, it was possible the other three adults may want to attack, or they may decide to leave. I started the ATV and pulled it sideways, headed toward the road. Using the frame of the ATV, I rested the rifle fore stock on it and took careful aim. I probably should have brought the .308 with the scope.

It wasn't a long shot, only about a hundred and fifty foot. I was undecided whether to do a head shot or a body mass hit. The head shot won out, as it would be good if I could initially down the bear that way, but if I didn't, I could make several more body shots.

Crack!

I watched the bear I had shot at to see what it would do. I could tell I hit it in the head, as his paw went to his head. It didn't howl or growl, only grunted as it lay over on its side and remained motionless. The other bears didn't seem to notice or pay attention to what had happened.

"Should I or shouldn't I do the other male?" I asked myself. The bear was about the same distance and was shaking a pear tree, but the green fruit wasn't falling, probably further pissing off the bear. I leveled off on it and waited until he was still.

Crack!

The bear let out a loud angry howl, but didn't move to stand. I shot again.

Crack!

I could see the head flinch back from the hit, but the bear was now attempting to stand while making an awful noise. I watched the two mama bears become alarmed, quickly look around, then lead their cubs downward, away from the two dead or injured males.

The second male was sitting with his head on his chest, hopefully dead. I needed to be cautious. Just because I shot the bear and it was still didn't mean it couldn't still be alive and strike out when approached. I needed to get close enough to shoot both in the eye to make sure I killed them.

I was just about twenty feet from the first bear when I saw it move a little. I could see his head and eyes, so I sighted in on an eye and fired three straight rounds messing up the eye socket I was firing at. If that bear isn't dead, it was a zombie.

The other bear wasn't moving and had its eyes closed. To make sure I fired two rounds into the eye socket of that bear.

These two bears were healthy. One probably weighed close to five hundred pounds and the other had to be near four to four fifty.

I used the rope on the bigger of the two bears and dragged it over under a big oak tree. Using the block and tackle, I hoisted the bear up into the ATV bed. This is probably more weight than the little utility unit was meant for. I could see that I was going to have to look up the specs on the ATV to find its load capacity.

When I reached the house, Mom, Millie, and the Latino women were all standing by the porch, waiting for me.

Mom said, "I'm glad you're alright, Mike. That was a lot of shooting. I was worried."

It took me a couple of minutes to explain and to tell them that I had not killed a couple of females with cubs. Millie took charge and wanted us to go out behind the barn to skin and butcher them. She sent me after the other bear while she sent Summer after knives and the big plastic containers they used for market.

I brought the second bear back and was able to put it near where the women were working. When I had the second bear off the ATV, I was instructed to get some big plastic bags for the offal of the bears so I could bury it all. Too bad I didn't have one of the backhoes to dig the hole.

While the women diligently worked cutting up the bear, I took a shovel and pick out to the pasture and began digging a hole. The always curious animals all had to come up close to see what I was doing. As soon as they discovered they weren't getting anything good to eat, they went back to foraging. The young goat thought the hole and pile of dirt was a new playground and bound back and forth, jumping and running as if it was crazy.

When the women were finished, they had ten huge plastic containers full of meat, along with four slabs of bear bacon to take to the butcher to give away. Mom suggested, "The women workers are going to take a couple of containers of meat, and you can take the rest into the butcher to either freeze or give away. Finish burying the offal, then run into town. We'll stretch the hides real quick, then spray us and everything off before we do chores with the women. We need to teach them how to do them anyway."

I thought it funny, but the men working on the house hadn't come out to see what all of the commotion was. I suppose they were focused on their work.

The butcher couldn't believe the amount of bear meat I had. I told him I had kept a small piece of the bacon and had given about forty pound away. He was happy to be able to have some meat to give to some locals down on their luck.

It was nearly six when I got back home, but I still heard hammering and sawing going on. When I went around to the back for a look at what they were doing, I was amazed that the new addition was totally enclosed with log facings, and men were on the roof putting the last shingles down.

Raul and Jose came over to me. "We used some extra men who are also carpenters and builders to get ahead of what you want. We will work on the interior tomorrow. There is a lot of plumbing and electrical to do, and that is slow. If we can keep the pace up, we'll have this and the side porch and pantry done in two weeks."

The little cabin was growing to more than three times its original size.

The men began putting their tools away to prepare to go home. Raul came to me and said, "We don't have to go far any longer. We have Ben's house in shape for all of us to live in now. We've all moved away from that bad man and are now your neighbors. If you need us, we're right down the road."

Inside the house, Mom was exclaiming over the progress on the house and had the drawings and diagrams out to look at them.

Millie and Summer were busy making supper while rapidly talking, with the only topic being Summer getting married to Bradley. The two were like high school girls talking and speculating, making plans and wondering what Summer's future would be.

Mom waved me over to her and said, "When your sister got married, we were the same way. This is something special between a girl and her mother. Be patient with them, Mike, as this will probably be the only time they do this. I hope so, anyway."

I wondered about the extent of the girls' excitement. If Millie and I were married in a simple manner, why did I have the feeling this coming wedding was going to be a production of some magnitude? Well, this was one time I was going to sit in the corner, observe, and not get involved.

I called Fred Jones again while waiting for supper, and left a message on his answering machine about the two bears, one near five hundred pounds and one around four to four fifty. That reminded me that I didn't help to stretch the hide, so I asked mom, "What did you guys do with the bearskins? You mounted and stretched them, right?"

Mom looked at me a little funny and said, "Yes, I told you we would and we stretched them, but the girls pulled every tooth in those bears' skulls this time. They said that Indians used to do that and also cut the claws out to trade at the market, but the claws are still part of the hide. Millie said she was going to go to the library to see how to preserve the head if we kill any in the future. She thought that would make the hide worth even more."

I mentioned to Mom about how special Millie was. "Your daughter-in-law is a little different around the edges, but she is a genuine person always looking out for those around her. I'm glad she is now able to have a good life for herself and her daughter. She's settled down a lot since we've been together, and now she's pregnant. I hope she has an easy pregnancy, since she doesn't need any more problems in her life."

Mom said, "Don't be a worry wart, Mike. Your wife is a healthy specimen of womanhood, enjoy her."

"What about you, Mom? Are you and Ezra getting close?"

"You know, Mike. Ezra is a good man, and I really enjoy his company. We might take our relationship a little farther, but I was married to my life mate and that will be the only man I ever marry. We'll see what I may or may not do with Ezra. Like I said, he's a good man, and I do enjoy his company. I hope we can do a few things together."

Supper was a continuation of the conversation about the proposed marriage. If they went on about this too much, the whole thing would become a massive headache. Mom jumped in and had them listening as she told them they needed to talk to Gracie, Bradley's mom, so they would know what kind and how big the wedding should be. Millie and Summer thought that was a good idea and the subject was tabled for the time being.

This night was peaceful, and we were all in bed and sleeping soundly before ten.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 19

The rest of that week and the next were pretty much the same, except that the bears decided to abandon the mountain, at least the part that I worked over for the upper and lower orchards and vineyards. Mom was taking a rifle with her every day as they worked the two sets of vineyards and orchards on the other side. The new road made it easy to take Millie's truck up and down the mountain and around the side. The ladies had been left alone enough that they picked nearly twenty gallons of blackberries. Some were made into jam, some were canned for the winter, some went into a delicious pie, and several gallons were sold at the market.

After killing the two male bears, our black furry critter problem disappeared. We had not seen a bear since. Fred Jones suspected that the females all went back toward Bear Hollow. They knew that was a protected area and some supplemental food was available for them and their cubs. Hopefully, the mother bears wouldn't come back to hibernate in our caves and have more cubs during the late fall and early winter.

The house was rapidly coming along, and some carpenters were enlarging the machine shed. We had modified those plans to accommodate at least four vehicles, but the end result housed five vehicles and an extra slot to work on things. We put up an extra stout beam in that area and hung a chain hoist from it, just in case. That was where the tools were going to be kept. When men couldn't work inside the house, they worked on the machine shed.

The concrete blocks for the smoke house were delivered and that was started. I would soon have a smokehouse that was twenty feet deep and thirty feet wide. There were to be six ten by ten rooms where we could smoke for individual tastes or items. I would be able to light fires in each of the fireboxes in one, or any number of rooms, in order to fulfill any orders I may have. The old smoke house was ten by twelve feet and everything was jammed together. I wanted to be able to have enough room to smoke enough meat for us, the butcher, and to trade. Mom has even been experimenting with making some special spicy jerky. We had oak and hickory smoked jerky so far, and we will now have a spicy hickory variety for the market. The butcher has been good about getting us huge chunks of meat to slice up in strips and place on a wire rack. I had raided the landfill where old gas barbeque grills were lined up on one side. Any square grill racks that had been there were now in my little smoke house, and I would soon be hunting for more for the new one, especially since the butcher told me that there was an outfit in Colorado that was buying jerky made from game meat, including venison and bear, and paying a premium price for it.

The garden was producing enough vegetables for us, the Latinos, and a very large amount for the market. The way the garden was planted, we would have fresh vegetables all the way through the first frost. We were impatient for the tomatoes to be ready, since we all enjoyed various tomato dishes.

The house was finished in the middle of June. It was amazing when you walked through the place, as you went from the rustic big room that was now expanded to be even larger, and was in an "L" shape, to the new modern area that appeared surprisingly rustic, but wasn't. The big bedroom had a fireplace at one end that had the same fan mechanism to push heat out. This one had an electric fan to help the natural heat fan. The one thing that would be necessary was to leave the bedroom door open so the heat could flow from the room. The bedroom had one additional feature. It had a door that led out to a new porch on the back of the house. A door from the "L" shaped big room also led out to this porch. This would be a great place to peacefully sit and read, or to just look at the beauty of nature.

The machine shed was now expanded and the new smoke house was nearly finished. Raul and Jose were already busy working on making the barn longer. I had to relocate the few pigs we had, as their pen was behind the barn. I used the small bulldozer from the road yard to clean up and fill in the area where the hog pen had been. The new area for the hogs was a little farther away from the barn, and the new hog houses were built sturdier so that the animals would be a little warmer during the winter. We also paved the hog pen with concrete, since, contrary to public opinion, pigs don't really enjoy wallowing in mud. Fortunately, we didn't keep enough hogs to cause a serious sanitation problem with the runoff. I was able to capture it and spread it on the fields instead.

A man from Kroger had been in our corn fields daily, checking the ripeness of the corn. George Dirk, the buyer, and the inspector came to me on a Monday, and said, "It's time to pick the big field up here. The one across the road isn't ready yet, and the one around the side of mountain is nearly ready. We'll bring the crew in to pick the big field tomorrow, and we'll probably go straight to the upper field on the other side of the mountain. By the time we're done with that, the field across the road should be ready.

I asked, "Do you need any special help or water? We can help if you do."

"Nope, we'll use our labor force and bring our equipment to haul the produce. Your crop looks really good, and since it is organically grown without chemicals, you're going to get top dollar for it."

I was happy and the man made me even happier, "If you want to grow corn like that again next year, we will furnish the seed to you. We will still pay you market price for the crop, but there are varieties of sweet corn we prefer. Is that something you might be interested in?"

"Hell yes, seed is expensive. What else can I sell you?"

The man waved toward the garden area where four Latino women were working. "We would be interested in your organic fresh vegetables. Will you have much to spare? There are more and more farmers trying to raise organic crops, but the folks in the lowlands have to fight bugs more than you do up here. We have horticulturists that can show you how to keep bugs off your plants, but it's a lot of work. If you're interested in talking to them, I'll advise them that you would like to meet them."

My goodness, this was becoming bigger and bigger. I told the man, "I'll ask the women to see what they think, and I'll let you know while you're picking corn tomorrow."

I immediately talked to Mom and Millie. "How many extra vegetables do you think you'll have? I'm asking because the man from Kroger is interested in our produce because it's organic. We don't use any chemicals on them."

Mom said, "Our trading slowed way down last week, so other than what the Latinos and we need, we could just about sell the rest of the crop. We have one more group of beans, peas, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes to go yet. By the time that is ready to sell, we might sell some at the market, but if Kroger wants what we have now, we'll pick it for them. I was almost going to suggest plowing some under. This is better and we'll still have enough for all of us."

The Kroger man was still out by his pickup, so I went to him and brought him over to Mom and Millie. "They said they have beans, peas, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes now, and will have more coming in the next couple of weeks. How do you want us to get it to you?"

The man was all smiles. "I'll have plastic crates and containers out here in the morning. Just fill them up and keep a record of what you deliver. If you keep a record and we do the same, the quantities shouldn't get mixed up."

The man was looking out at the garden, "I see a lot of melons out there. We'll take all you can sell. I see watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydews. I'm sure you have far more than you can use and that you can sell at your market, so let us help you make a buck."

That's when I suggested, "How about potatoes and onions. We'll have white, red, and sweet potatoes this fall, along with onions that are probably getting ready to be dug now. We sell a lot of potatoes at the market, but we will have about ten times as much this year as last. I went a little overboard, but maybe not."

The man said, "I'll take all you can spare. Use the same containers and fill them up. You don't have to worry about washing them. We have machinery to quickly do that before we distribute them to the stores. I'm really impressed with your operation. When it's time to pick your apples and pears, I'm a buyer. I know the town people might depend on you for some of your produce, but I want you to know that we will buy all we can get."

The man looked a little sheepish. "You wouldn't know it, but my wife buys her eggs and butter from you. She says she has to be at your truck when you pull in or you run out. I love your bacon, and we just had a ham that came from you. It was delicious. I wish you could produce in quantity."

I bragged a little, "I know my hams are good and I will be smoking more now, but not enough to supply your stores. That would take a huge building for that job."

The path crew was about halfway to Sterling and moving at a steady pace. There was no way to work faster and do a good job, so we moved at our own pace. The path to Sterling was producing a hell of lot of good wood. I was going to make as much from the special wood logs as I was making on clearing the path. That was a good thing, as Jet said the big bulldozer was due for some expensive maintenance. He suggested I get another one just like it so we wouldn't have any down time. He said that having an extra one for the road work could also come in handy.

I made the trip to Lexington, with Jimmy standing by to come up with the big truck and haul what I bought home. I danced with the salesman, who I think was the company owner, once again. We dickered and bargained for a couple of hours, and I almost left before we made a deal on the bulldozer I wanted. By the way he cried, you would have thought I rustled every cow on his ranch. I figured he made a buck and I felt like I got a good deal. Jimmy was there with the big truck within an hour, and we hauled our new piece of equipment back home.

Summer and Millie had worked with Bradley's mom, Gracie, on plans for the coming wedding. This began as a small wedding, but became bigger by the week. It was soon decided to have an outdoor wedding under a big tent and hope for no rain. While doing all the planning, Millie and Summer made the dress, but bought the head piece and some extra lace for the gown. They diligently worked on the dress with help from Mom and Martha.

The wedding was planned for the Saturday after July 4th, as it would be a good time for a community party. Stanley Conner and I got together to make sure all of the expenses were being taken care of, and that some adult beverages would be available. Although the big tent was going to be on church property, Harold said he would look the other way as long as we controlled quantities and the crowd.

The rental company that supplied the tent was going to supply a large wooden platform for people to dance. We contracted a top forty country band from Mount Sterling to provide music and entertainment. The food was being coordinated by Mom and Martha, along with a bunch of other ladies from the community.

Stanley put the arm on me to help buy the couple a new pickup with a crew cab. He said the kids would need it to carry their future babies. Good old Stanley had some high hopes for multiple grandsons to help with the farm in the future.

Jimmy was handling the road crew better than I could have ever expected. All of the men had spread out, making a tour of every mile of road in the county and charting it with what had been done, what needed to be done, and any unusual types of repair required. They were working through everything in the entire county and were almost prepared for winter.

The project of getting the big salt trucks in shape to use was nearing completion. The Latino body men Jimmy had used sandblasted and replaced all of the rusted panels, then painted the entire trucks. Jimmy even had the trucks lettered. On bright international orange truck bodies were the words 'Road Commissioner' over the top of 'Powell County'. Jimmy chose the bright color so the trucks would be more visible, even though there was am amber strobe light on the top of the truck.

About that same time, Maude told me, "Mike, did you know that you are actually coming out ahead as a road commissioner for the county? You, personally, are going to realize very little money, but considering that you began this project thinking it was going to be a cost-cost situation, you're doing great. The cost of your men and your expenses for equipment and repair are taken care of. I'm shocked that you were able to buy all that you did, hire good men, and get the roads in shape within the allowances the county and state have given you. It should be even better next year, as Ralph and Benson are planning to make sure the county distributes all of the state road money. You'll be able to replace or add equipment if you need to. I suppose I'll need to charge you more for doing your bookkeeping now."

When I began laughing, she said, "Jimmy is doing such a good job of record keeping, you might have to give him a little more. If the fuel prices go down, you could be rolling in dough."

The projections I had made about the logging matching the path build-out revenue were close to being real. The logging was paying all of the current expenses, including fuel, and still leaving some extra. We should reach the Mount Sterling distribution center by the first of August, then spend the fall and early winter doing the last two paths around Stanton. Hopefully, I could squeeze in getting broadband up to my house during that time.

As soon as the enclosed summer kitchen was built, we acquired a huge gas stove and oven. I loved the way you could turn a burner on and quickly perk coffee. The coffeemaker was faster, but fresh perked is always the best. The oven was producing baked goods, such as bread, cakes, and muffins, along with a controlled and timed oven for roasts and oven baked chicken and turkey.

Mom, Millie, Summer, and their help made short work of decorating the new living area. We installed a new larger table around to the side of the big room where the "L" extension was made, as that part had lots of glass to look out at the big covered porch and down the back of the mountain. The main part of the living room now had a couch, along with the four rockers, in front of the fireplace. The little bedroom where Mom had been staying was now an office. There even was a phone on the new desk, but no phone line. The computer I had bought was often busy keeping records and writing estimates, so it didn't go to waste. Mom was a solitaire addict, so she would go into the little room in the evening for marathon sessions with the mouse.

Mom's bedroom and adjoining bath had a new bedroom set with a double bed and a nice reading chair next to a table and lamp. There was another bedroom like that with a similar bedroom set and double bed, chair, table, and lamp. Our new bedroom was almost too big. Millie elected to only have a double bed, which gave us even more room. Instead of a single reading chair, there were two with a table and lamp in between. The master bathroom and closet area was Raul's idea, as he said that was how it was in some of the fancy homes. I'm not sure how much extra we paid, but the closets in our room and the other two new rooms were cedar lined.

Our old bedroom had been expanded and was next to the big bedroom, and it was intended to be the baby's room. The room had a door to enter the now expanded old bathroom, so as the boy or girl grew, he or she would have easy bathroom access.

The big day arrived with the women's nerves totally on edge. Mom, ever the voice of reason, made Millie and Summer settle down and do chores as usual, before Mom and I made a run into the market to trade out what we couldn't sell to the Kitchen and the butcher. We were even able to quickly get rid of the goat milk this week. An Amish family had been recently coming to market and enjoyed trading with us. One man was interested in goats, so I tentatively made an offer to trade him the two goats I had for whatever he might have that I could use. We would settle on the details next week.

Mom and I stopped in at the motel to briefly visit with my sister and brother as the kids played in the pool. It was nice that the family showed up for Summer's wedding. They felt as if Summer was like a sister to them and a daughter to me. She was actually my stepchild.

Back home, Millie and Summer were in underwear, waiting for the time to dress and leave for the wedding. Mom and I cleaned up, and I wore my "Class A's" once again. I was going to have to buy a civilian suit one of these days, but right now, this is what Summer wanted me to wear to give her away. The Army had started phasing out the green Class A uniform shortly before I retired in favor of a uniform that was basically identical to the old "Dress Blues". Since I was a senior enlisted man, I already had a set, and they would look sharp as horseradish at the wedding.

I sat with Summer in our new living room area and asked, "Are you ready for this? From this point on, you'll be making your own home and sharing your life and bed with Bradley."

Summer hugged me and said, "I'm going to miss you, but I can always come visit, and I will probably have to help Momma with the garden. If I help with the garden here, then Bradley and I won't have to have one there. We talked about it, and he thinks that's a great idea so that he can spend more time working on the two farms."

Millie was now dressed and showing a little. She had the glow of an expectant mother who was looking forward to giving birth. She offered to Summer, "You can visit anytime you want, and I will be visiting with you a lot too. The hardest part about this is that you and I have been dependent on each other through so much for so long. We both now have Mike and Mom, and now you will have Bradley and his folks. I'm so excited for you, Honey. I know you will be a happy woman and mother when the time comes."

Millie and Mom helped Summer put her dress on before we loaded up Mom's SUV. We put two sliced hams on platters in the truck for our donation toward the food. I was sure that by the time everyone attending puts their platters on the tables, we would have a feast for hundreds. Actually, there would be hundreds there today, but the feast would easily feed everyone.

When we pulled up to the church, Millie walked Summer in through the back door so she could hide in the pastor's office until the ceremony. Mom and I parked the car and walked around, greeting the many people who were there. Stanley Conner pulled me aside, "The kid is so nervous that I went looking for Doc Rivers to give him a Valium or something. For a bit there this morning, I thought he was going to run. Gracie has been soothing and mothering him since he got up. You look pretty military in that get up, Mike. I can't get over that you have ribbons and medals on both sides of your uniform. My goodness but you must have been a hero."

"No, Stan, they almost give you a ribbon for pizza eating nowadays. Most of these are unit ribbons for being different places, nothing special."

My sister and brother spent a few minutes visiting, until their kids surrounded us and asked when the wedding would start. I pointed to where the chairs were set up.

We looked out at how some of the church ushers were getting people into the folding chairs that faced a flower filled altar at the end of a white rug runner that stretched to the church stairs.

Harold motioned me to the church door and said, "Bradley will step up on the altar as soon as Martha begins playing a little pre-wedding march theme on the band's keyboard. Ezra is going to walk your mother to her seat, and Bradley's buddy and best man is going to walk Bradley's sister down the aisle as maid of honor. When they reach the altar, Martha is going to play the wedding march. Count five seconds, then begin slowly walking Summer to the altar, but not too slow. When you get Summer to the altar, just put her hand into Bradley's, lift up her veil, and go stand beside the best man. I'll do the rest, and after the ceremony, the couple will walk back up the aisle and stand in a reception line to greet the guests. Easy as pie, don't you think?"

"Sure, Harold, hopefully Bradley won't faint dead away when the music starts. I'll get her to the altar and let you join them up for life. This is a good day."

The music started and Ezra and Mom walked from the church stairs to be seated. Next were the best man and Bradley's sister. When the wedding march began, I counted to five and we went out the church door.

As we started up the white runway, Summer said, "I'm so excited, Mike. After the day you came to the mountain, this is the best day of my life. Thank you for being like a papa to me and making me behave for the man that's waiting for me."

That will choke you up while walking the bride down the aisle. I made it all the way to the altar without tears streaming down my face. I'm sure it will look funny for an Army man to have a tear-streaked face.

If you had a stopwatch on the wedding ceremony, I doubt it took longer than four minutes flat before Harold announced, "I now pronounce you man and wife. Go ahead, Bradley, kiss your bride."

The crowd erupted in applause, hollering, and whistling. Thank goodness none of them were carrying guns, at least I didn't think so, or they would have been firing into the air.

The young couple almost skipped back down the aisle and stood next to Stanley and Gracie Conner on one side, with Millie and Mom on the other. I joined them, getting between Millie and Mom, to shake hands with an endless string of people.

The people would get through the reception line and head for the tables with the food. People were wandering back to the chairs and arranging them into conversation groups.

I found it funny that Ezra and Mom were among what looked like thirty to forty Latinos dressed in their Sunday best, eating and chatting. My brother and sister had joined them, as well as their kids, who were making new friends with the Latino kids.

This became a real party as soon as the band began playing, and couples, young and old, started dancing to the country music. The band played slow tunes about every other piece. This gave the more youthful an opportunity to dance, as well as a lot of the older folks, and those who didn't know how to dance, the opportunity to try.

The afternoon festivities finished a little while after the bridal bouquet and garter toss, followed by a few more dances. There was no one who acted as if he might have had too much of the beer kept in the coolers at the edge of the crowd. I suspect there was some local brew out there as well, but no one acted up.

The bride and groom changed clothes in the church and left in their new pickup, headed to their secret destination. They were going to spend their first night in one of the best hotels in the big city of Cincinnati, then drive to Niagara Falls for a traditional honeymoon. They had plans to visit the falls before going to Chicago to see a really big city. Bradley had visited these places with his family before, so he wasn't unaware of the precautions he needed to take with his very innocent wife.

As the crowd was thinning, Harold said to me, "Mike, this is the biggest wedding this church and town has ever had. Not the fanciest, but there were more people here for this than any ever before. That shows the respect these people have for you. They all know you because you're friendly and have helped many of them. You're popular, because for the first time in years, our roads are all passable, with most all of the bad spots already repaired. Everyone knows you're working a cable path crew and have hired the men I've sent to you. That's been a good thing as of the nine men I've sent you, only two have gone back to drinking or drugs. The program has been a success."

"That's nice of you to say, but don't you think that since Stan Conner is one of the biggest farmers in the area, that he might have brought a lot of people?"

"Yes Sir, Mike, that did bring more people, but the two of you together sure were a draw. I'm happy to have you both as my parishioners. That's a big word for a country church, isn't it?"

We both chuckled at the comment and looked around for a second, before joining all the people cleaning up the mess. We were done by seven and on the way home to do the evening chores much later than usual. When we arrived, a couple of the Latino women were just leaving. They told us, "The chores are all done. We thought we would do them for you since we knew you would be late coming home."

The lady speaking was named Rosita, and she hardly ever spoke. I commented, "Rosita, you speak very good English. You should be the person who answers the phone for your group."

"Oh no, Mr. Mike, I couldn't talk on the phone. You are easy to talk to because you are like we are. Good people who work hard. I don't know the people on the phone and would be afraid."

"Well, Rosita, you'll have to work with Yoda's daughter to help her speak better English."

I thought Rosita was going to keel over from laughing so hard. "That's what she sounds like, isn't it? I couldn't think of whom it was that spoke like that, but I've seen all of the Star Wars movies, and yes, she does talk like Yoda. I will help her, Mr. Mike. She is also one of the women who help with the garden."

When they left, Mom said to me, "My goodness, Rosita spoke to you. Not only spoke, but spoke a lot and had a conversation with you. Rosita hardly ever says anything to anyone, but the little girl who speaks so funny talks a lot. She never shuts up and is either speaking her backwards English or Spanish to someone. Maybe Rosita doesn't get a chance to speak."

At church on Sunday, Harold was short and sweet, giving a quick, meaningful sermon that had everyone smiling. We had my brother and sister, with all of their kids, and Ezra out to the house to use the new table Millie and Mom had made. They couldn't believe how big the house was now. When you looked at it from the front, it looked exactly as it had for probably about fifty years. Go around to the side and you realize that some of the log facing is new, but it all looks the same and really big. The back porch area was a perfect place for us men to sit, have a beer, and catch up on what had been happening.

Mom was busy convincing everyone that they should come down and stay with us for a week or so to enjoy the farm. I think my sister and sister-in-law were more eager to come than either my brother or brother-in-law. My brother remembered that a farm means work, lots of hard, dirty, outdoor work. My sister and the kids loved the animals and couldn't get over the beautiful buck that lived with the cows.

My brother asked, "How are you going to keep him from being on someone's table after deer season starts?"

"I think I'm going to get him in the barn and keep him in there during the season. He won't like it, but he'll still be alive. When Summer leaves, I may try to get a zoo to take him. He'll feed out of your hand if you hold some ground corn feed mix out to him. He eats with the two steers and the little heifer. I'm sure he thinks he's a cow or steer, but his antlers give him away.

When I showed off the main vineyard and orchard, all of the visitors couldn't get over how heavy the trees and vines were with fruit. I showed them the barrels and wine press that I had ready to make wine. It wouldn't be long before I would be harvesting.

The kids all wanted to go back to the motel to get an hour or two of swimming in, so we said we would come in after chores. My sister directed her husband, "Take the kids swimming and I'll stay and help with chores. I'll borrow some of Mom's clothes. I want to help out a little. I never did mind doing farm work."

As we did the chores, Millie and Sis did the chickens and eggs, but quickly went out to the barn to help Mom milk the two cows. The chores were done soon and we prepared to go into town for supper. Mom announced, "There's a new restaurant up in Mount Sterling that I'd like to take everyone to."

I asked, "If we all go up there, we need to call ahead and make reservations. What kind of restaurant is it?"

Mom told us, "It is a new place called 'Melini Cusina Italian' and I just called for reservations in an hour and a half. I also called your brother to get everyone out of the pool and begin getting ready. Martha told me about the place. She and Harold ate there the last time they went up to Walmart."

I was glad that I had put on some khakis and a nice shirt. I was dressed like everyone else that we would be around for a change. We drove into town, had the others load up in Mom's car and my brother's big Expedition, and drove north to the metropolis of Mount Sterling. The town showed that it had a population of 6,895 deliriously happy people on its welcome sign. They were happy because they had more than one good restaurant and a Walmart. What more could you want?

The meal was something special. For a small town restaurant, the food was unbelievably delicious. This was a wet county, so we had wine with the meal. Mom, my brother, and sister-in-law all proclaimed my wine was much better than the house wine we were served.

A middle-aged man came to the table and introduced himself. "Good evening, Folks. I am Rodrigo Donatello, the owner of the restaurant. Thank you all for praising our food, but you mentioned that your wine is much better than our house wine. We purchase wine for our house wine locally when we can, and I would be interested in tasting yours. Do you have much volume?"

"I'm not that heavy with wine right now. I think I only have about twenty barrels of all varieties remaining. Some is older, and I'm sort of saving some of it for myself."

Rodico looked excited, "You have more than one kind of wine?"

"Right now, I only have two types of red, and one of white, that I made last year. I should have four types of grapes for various wines this year. I'll be heaviest in reds. One wine is like a Merlot and the other popular red wine is a Zinfandel. This next year, I should be able to add what would be like Tuscan Sangiovese and more Barbera. I only have one barrel of the Barbera I made last year, and it is really popular. That was an experiment, since it is similar to a Merlot, but a little fruitier tasting. I considered it one of my better wines." My siblings were sitting with their mouths open. My brother exclaimed, "Holy smokes, Mike, where did you learn how to make all of these wines. I barely know the names, and you're making them. The Army didn't teach you how to do that."

Rodrigo was now insistent, "You must bring me some of your wine to taste. I would be most interested in your Zinfandel. The others would be good too, but I would need it in quantity. Hopefully, you will make enough this year to be able to supply us with several barrels. Please, bring me a sample of what you have that you can sell me now, along with a proposal for this year's wine. If it makes well, I will want as much as I can get."

I had to say, "From what I've learned, you don't always get great wine. I try to pick the grapes when the taste is just right. I think that's the key to good wine and the different tastes. The ripeness of the grape is important. Various stages of ripeness of the grapes are important to observe and taste. The taste also depends on the amount of rain you get and if the vines are healthy. All of my produce is organic, so my grapes are as well. One of my secrets is that I have my own beehives, so my grape blossoms are pollinated at the optimum time."

The restaurateur was nearly salivating at the opportunity to serve some special wine. Mom and Millie sat with big smiles of pride, while my siblings and their mates were still amazed. Sis said, "All of this from a retired Army guy that lives on a mountain."

I promised Rodrigo I would bring him samples and an estimate of what I could spare. He made sure I would bring my license with me so that he would be selling legal wine.

The family and I made arrangements to meet for breakfast at the Kitchen in the morning before they traveled back to the city. It was nice that they took an extra day off to be spent with us.

Each time I drive up the hill to the cabin, or now a house, I am amazed that I actually have my own place. A real working farm, complete with a wife expecting our first, and possibly only, baby.

Life was good.

Breakfast at the Kitchen was a lot of fun as it gave me a chance to show my family off to the locals. We had seen nearly everyone that came in the restaurant at the wedding Saturday, but they didn't get a chance to really shake hands with my family. Some of the really crusty old farmers were the friendliest, and all asked how Millie and my new family addition was coming along.

We said goodbye to the family with promises that they would come to stay with us soon. I thought they might, now that the house would hold a lot more people. If the kids had their way, though, they would choose the motel with the heated pool.

When they left, we drove by the road equipment yard to see if anything needed to be attended to, then out to see Ezra and his crew. All was well, so we went home where the Latino women were busy in the garden and the carpenters were busy working on the new smokehouse and barn. It looked like all of my improvements would be complete before the first frost.

I checked with Maude to confirm all was well after last week's payroll to make sure that our cash would be enough for the coming week's payday. She advised me that she had paid the quarterly taxes and was also in possession of the first check from Kroger for our sweet corn. She mentioned that she was going to have to do some figuring as to how to handle farm income.

We had talked about it before, and she had said what we were bringing home wouldn't make that much difference. Since we were bringing in some big bucks from the garden and corn fields, it would be necessary to list all of the income, then deduct labor and materials that it took to get the garden to produce. The same would be true of the orchards and winemaking.

But first, I needed to get ready to give Rodrigo a taste of my wines.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 20


Taking some wine samples to Rodrigo in Mount Sterling was going to be very important for me and my family. If he liked the wine that we made, it would give us an outlet for it and a reason to continue rebuilding and expanding our vineyards to make more wine. I decided to use some of the bottles we had collected to display the wine.

I had almost begged for wine bottles at the market. To do this, I had put a sign up that asked for empty wine bottles and received a large variety. I was able to get several that were the same type, but in different colors, and scrubbed the labels off of them.

I used a different color for each of the wines I had. I didn't load a barrel or multiple gallons of wine as Rodrigo could be blowing smoke up my rear end. If he liked what we offered, I could then deliver it in either gallon jugs or barrels. This reminded me that I needed to order more barrels and to build more barrel racks in the storage cave. After looking at the volume of grapes I was going to have, I figured I might be able to fill as many as fifty barrels of wine. This was going to be a lot of work, but I figured that I could enlist the help of the Latino women and some of the extra men that always seemed to be around, eagerly looking for work. The big problem was that the "optimum time" to pick one bunch of grapes on a vine might be a few days different from the optimum time to pick another a few inches away. Also, pruning in the late spring to reduce the total number of bunches of grapes so that the ones that were left would be as juicy and flavorful as possible would be time consuming.

I siphoned some wine from the barrels I was interested in selling, sealed the bottles with corks that I had purchased in large quantities, inventoried the quantities of each wine I had, and took off for Mount Sterling. I had made a neat little carrier that held four bottles, so I looked pretty professional except that I was dressed in my usual getup of fatigues and boots. It was something I didn't even think about. When I arrived at the restaurant, the workers warily looked at me. I suppose the larger the community, the less tolerant people are.

Rodrigo welcomed me and we went to a table near the kitchen door. There he had glasses brought to him. I poured what I thought was the so-so Zinfandel, and let him taste it. His eyes lit up. I had him put the glass next to that bottle. Next, I gave him a glass of the Merlot and he liked that as well. The next one was my experiment with a white Chardonnay that he really liked. The last one was my special Barbera that I really liked, and would probably not sell much more of what I had left.

"This is exquisite. All of your wines are excellent, and I would be proud to serve them here. I understand you don't have much of the Barbera and Chardonnay, but how much of the Zinfandel and Merlot could you sell me and at what price?"

I showed him my inventory and said that I should keep at least one barrel for local customers and one barrel for aging. He agreed and said, "That leaves six barrels of Zinfandel and three of Merlot. What size barrels do you have? Are they the old style 59 or 60 gallon, or the new 79 gallon style?"

"Mine are all sixty gallon barrels. It's easier to get that size oak barrel around here, as that is how whiskey is stored. All of my barrels are nearly full and each has at least fifty-five gallons. I've tasted each of the barrels every month to make sure the wine remains good. Are you sure you can use over three hundred gallons of Zinfandel and a hundred and sixty-five gallons of Merlot. That's a lot of wine and a hell of lot of money."

I quoted him a price per gallon that was about thirty percent higher than I had been selling the wine for at the market. I knew my wine was superior to what he had served the night before. "Oh," I added, "that price is based on your returning the barrels to me. They are extremely expensive and can be reused. I'll have to charge you for any barrels that are not returned."

"You're right, Mike, that's a lot of wine and a lot of money, but we are doing a good business right now and it looks like it will continue. We will be back into the restaurant season again soon. When it turns cold, our business flourishes. Let me figure this out."

Rodrigo scribbled numbers on a pad for a couple of minutes, picked up the glass of Zinfandel, took a sip, and then tried the Merlot again. He smiled and shook his head as if in disbelief before speaking.

"Mike, your price is more than fair and considering I use about seventy gallons a week right now, you only have about five weeks of Zinfandel remaining. If I combine the Merlot with that you have seven weeks supply. That will give me enough time to hunt for another good wine. A California vineyard is coming next week to show me what they have. My problem is being able to make large quantity purchases at wholesale prices. I don't think they can sell it to me much cheaper than you, but I need about," he looked down at his notes, "Nearly seventy barrels a year. I wouldn't buy it all at once and would prefer to have delivery weekly, or at the most, monthly. Another problem is that space is at a premium and a barrel is big. Of course, I will return your barrels to you."

I rubbed my chin, thinking about a regular income for the next seven weeks. It would be a pain in the ass to make a weekly trip up here with a couple of barrels of wine, but I could do it if I combined the trip with a meal and the Walmart shopping that is always needed.

"Okay, Rodrigo, I'll deliver one barrel this first week to see how fast you go through it. If you run out, call me and I can quickly deliver another barrel. We'll figure that each barrel has fifty-five gallons and you get to taste test each barrel before I unload it from the truck. You pay upon delivery. Does that work for you?"

He looked up at me with a twinkle in his eye, "And?"

"And you feed me and two women when I deliver. We'll obviously come during the day so that we don't disrupt your evening trade, and you can experiment with new dishes with us. How about I deliver all of the Zinfandel first, then use the Merlot up afterward?"

"No, I want a barrel of the Merlot and barrel of the Zinfandel when you deliver the first time. The Merlot will be for those who want to sit around and sip wine for a while, and the Zinfandel will be to serve with meals. Plan on making a lot of wine this year, Mike; you make some good wine."

We wrote down each other's telephone numbers and shook hands over the price per barrel. I had a big smile on my face as I drove back home to load the barrels. I was making the farm pay in many ways. My being a recluse was shot to hell, but I was actually enjoying the enterprise. There would be time for solitude during the winter.

As I drove, I was trying to think how I was going to get a full sixty gallon barrel from the rack to the pickup truck. That's when I remembered the overhead track in the cave that can be used with a block and tackle to lift the barrels onto the racks. There was the funny looking hand truck that I used to haul the barrels full of wine from the pressing area to the storage cave. That was going to work, except I had to lift the barrel up and later take it off the truck. I was going to need a sling that I could use to hoist barrels up on a rack, plus a rack to put the barrel on. I figured out that I could chain hoist the barrel onto the hand truck in the cave, then haul it to the shop bay in the machine shed and chain hoist it into the back of my pickup. That would do as long as we were only transporting a couple of barrels a week.

At home, I went to the wine storage cave with my big flashlight, since I needed to look at the racks, and also to see how much room there was farther back in the cave for the extra space I would need for more barrels.

I could build a rack to hold two barrels easily enough, but I still needed mechanical help to lift the barrel onto the rack, as a full barrel would weigh nearly five hundred pounds. I figured it at eight pounds a gallon, plus the weight of the barrel. This was going to be tough. No wonder wineries bottled their wine.

Rodrigo may have the solution. I called him on the phone. "This is Mike Grayson, Rodrigo. I'm having a difficult time figuring on how to manipulate a five hundred pound barrel of wine at your restaurant. Four guys could lift it, but I didn't see a bunch of men hanging around there, and none of the women looked like weightlifters. My question is, what do you do with all of the big wine bottles you now have?"

Rodrigo laughed, "I was planning on having the cook, the dishwasher, a bus boy, and me pick the barrel up. I've seen it done with ropes. Four men lift together and easily set it on a rack. The tough part is tipping the barrel over without damaging it or making it leak." He paused for a second, "But to answer your question, I probably have a couple of hundred empty gallon wine bottles in cartons in the basement. Do you want to use them? You should probably rinse them out before putting your wine in to make sure there isn't any vinegar wine in there. Come get them and bring me some of your special wine just for me. You are making me envious of your talent."

I drove back to Mount Sterling and filled my pickup bed full of cases of gallon wine bottles. Each case or carton held four bottles, so they were not going to be horribly heavy, about thirty-five pounds each. It would take fifteen cases for each type of wine for the first delivery, and then fifteen to twenty cases a week after that, depending on how fast he uses up the Merlot.

Rodrigo was ecstatic that I had brought him a small bottle of my premium wine.

It took me the rest of the day to wash the wine bottles out and begin filling them. When it came to chore time, I marked the carton I was working on and went to take care of the animals. I explained what I had been doing and the deal I made during supper. Millie and Mom were ecstatic, as this was a major win for us. Mom said, "You know, Mike, the Kroger people picked corn again today and hauled off about thirty big containers of vegetables. I think you're making this farm pay the second year you live here. You already sell milk, butter, cream, bacon, hams, lots of vegetables, and now wine. I hope you're keeping track, since you have a profitable farm without selling the first cord of wood."

"Son of a gun, I forgot about all that wood down at Ben's. I'll have to hire a couple of more men to use the splitter so I can sell that oak by the cord. I'll bet the stack of wood is huge. Thank goodness it's my land, so they can't bitch too much. It will get another two men working too."

Mom said, "We had eight ladies working today. I'm told they can't spare any more right now, as the women they left at home have to tend to the babies and kids. There are a lot more men than women down there, and the single men have built themselves a bunkhouse in the barn addition they made. Rosita said one of their cousins from southern Mexico is coming with her sister. She told me that they were Mayan and looked a little different, but were good workers. She said they had a lot of superstitions and would be interested in the stories of ghosts around the mountains. She also said that both girls spoke English fluently."

"Eight women, do we have that much to do out in the garden?"

"Listen, Mike, when you begin making wine, you're going to need everyone you can get. You are going to be making more than three or four times the amount of wine this year over last year. You need to be prepared with enough people, because this isn't going to be the one man operation you had last year. You used Ben a little last year, but probably only to watch things while you did something else and, my busy son, you will need all of the women, and probably six to eight men,, to pick your pears and apples. At least you won't have to worry about selling it all at the market. Have you looked at those trees? They are loaded. Two years of good fertilizing with manure, trimming, and digging up around the trees and you have a bumper crop. Get ready, Mike, you are really going to be surprised."

Millie wanted to add something; "Next year I'll have our baby to take care of and I won't be able to do as much. I'm going to make one of those carrying things the Indians used, a papoose carrier. The Mexican women also use those for their babies when they are outside. You can carry the baby on your back, or in front so that you can nurse while you work."

Mom rolled her eyes at what Millie was proposing. Was she going to try to do more than she should? Time will tell about what we will do.

The next morning, I had fifteen cases, each with four gallon bottles of my Zinfandel, and fifteen cases of my Merlot, loaded into my truck ready to go to Mount Sterling. To additionally cushion the bottles, I used some of the old blankets I had bought for the ghosts to pad the truck bed. The trip went well without my breaking any of the bottles, as the road crew had made a pass up our road, and even up my driveway, making the drive a lot smoother.

I pulled up to the back of the restaurant right at ten thirty, thinking there may not be much activity at that time. Rodrigo warmly greeted me, and had the busboy and one of the waiters begin to carry the wine to the basement, or as Rodrigo called it, his wine cellar. For each case they took down, they brought up another case of empties. When the delivery was complete and Rodrigo had tasted random bottles of each type of wine, he asked, "Where are your ladies that you were going to bring for me to feed?"

"They are busy in the garden today. Maybe they can come next week. I wanted to tell you that if you begin running out of Zinfandel, call me and I'll bring another load. This will only give you sixty gallons of Zinfandel, so watch your inventory so I can be sure to get it to you in time."

I was loading the empties into the truck when Rodrigo came out with three foam cartons and said, "Here is some of my new recipe for veal Marsala. It will still be good later. Just warm it up in the microwave, but don't cook it for too long. Call me and tell me how you like it."

The trip back was uneventful, and I stopped by where Ezra was working to see how it was going. Jet was using the new Caterpillar bulldozer I had bought and said it was considerably more powerful, but a lot heavier. In his stutter, he told me how he had to watch for the wet spots so he didn't mire down in mud.

Back home, I emptied the cases of empty bottles by the milk house so that I could wash them out. I figured that if Rodrigo was correct, I would need to deliver more wine on Saturday. If I did, I was going to deliver at least thirty cartons, or about a hundred twenty gallons. I would also figure out a way to take the girls up there for a special meal.

I needed to check in with the road crew to see how they were doing, but on the way out of my drive, I went down Ben's driveway to check on the pile of oak and hickory I had stored.

After saying hi to the ladies who stayed at home, and a couple of men who were not working, I looked at the pile of log chunks ready to be split, and was astounded. The oak pile was twenty feet tall, thirty feet deep, and over a hundred feet long. The hickory pile was about a third that size. Splitting this much wood will take a month or more. I needed to train someone soon to get the wood split and stacked in cords to dry.

As I walked back to the truck, I saw the two men who were not working and called to them. They understood English, so I asked if either of them had ever worked with wood and wood cutting equipment. They both said they did that in Mexico, and knew how to use an ax to split with and had used a hydraulic splitter before. I told them to get into the truck and come up to the house to look at my splitter.

They knew how to use what I had, so we hooked it up to the John Deere and I had one of them drive it back to their place. I loaded a couple of axes, files to sharpen them, a sledge hammer, and a couple of wedges. I found some protective glasses and extra gloves, and brought them along.

We discussed how to stack the wood in cords so it would be easy to load up a single cord at a time, and wouldn't have to count it out before loading. They also understood that I wanted the chunks of dead dry wood split and stacked separately. I left them with two five gallon gas cans for the tractor and let them begin. What I needed is a separate motor to drive the splitter instead of having to tie up a tractor. I knew just the guy, so I called the outdoor equipment man. I explained what I wanted and he told me to bring him the splitter and he would install a motor for the machine.

The men were disappointed that I wasn't going to use them today, so I told them, "Set your stakes up for cords. Use those long straight limbs that are piled up. They are for vineyard poles, but I can get more. Let me see if we can get this done without using a tractor. Take the tractor up to the house and put it in the machine cave. I'll talk to both of you later. If you want to split some by hand, go ahead. You might want to split some small dead pieces for stove wood. We still use ours and you folks depend on yours."

I couldn't drive fast pulling the splitter, but I got it to the outdoor equipment man and he looked the unit over and advised me that it would be a piece of cake, but it would cost nearly six hundred dollars. Considering that I had less than a hundred in the whole thing, the five to six hundred would work. He told me, "Mike, I should have this done by Wednesday or Thursday. I have a new motor that I can use, so all I have to do is weld a mount on and put a pulley where the power take off would normally attach. I'll make the belt size something easily available and give you a couple of extra. This will be a great tool for you."

After checking at the Road Commissioner's office trailer to see where people were working, I found Jimmy building a form, while John was welding rebar. A car had recently damaged a concrete safety culvert and they were preparing to have concrete poured for the repair. I needed to ask Benson if I could collect from the person who had the accident for the labor and materials. It seemed to me that a person's property damage insurance should cover it.

Jimmy told me where the other men were working nearby, and he thought it would be nice if I stopped by there and said hi. Before I went to see the other four men, I stopped at the nearby gas station and bought four big bottles of ice cold water.

When I pulled up to where they were working with the graders and the small backhoe, they all stopped and came to greet me. I passed the water out and talked with them a while. They told me they were using the backhoe to scoop out where a grader had to stop and move to the next spot. They were following the road grader, using one of the smaller graders for the ditch by slanting the blade at a radical angle and cutting a deep wedge, almost like a plow but not turning the ground over, just pushing it out of the ditch away from the road. With the road graders working the road bed at a slant toward the ditch, the roads should drain quickly so pot holes wouldn't form so fast. These men were experts and had obviously been well trained and had the experience needed. I made sure they were all happy and would feel comfortable coming to me with any needs.

It was getting to be close to five and I needed to get home for the chores. By the time I pulled into the yard, I could tell the chores were already underway. Mom, Millie, and four ladies were in the milking parlor area, where Mom was watching the women demonstrate that they knew how to milk. While they were tending to the milking, I put hay out for the other cattle, gave some grain and hay to the mother cow and calf in the barn, and fed the hogs. I had traded for some unshelled corn still on the cob, and had it ground up for the hogs. The cobs would give the hungry animals more filler so that the quantity of pure corn required was cut down, but they still received all of the grain they needed.

I was going to check the chickens to make sure the eggs had been gathered, but I was shocked to find that the main roosting area and chicken house floor had been freshly cleaned. That was a happy discovery, but I felt a little guilty.

I saw the four Latino ladies outside, walking down the lane toward their home, as Mom and Mille walked to the house. When I met up with them, I asked, "Who was the great person who cleaned the chicken house out today? That's a nasty job for a woman."

Mom looked at me with her 'I've put something over on you' look. "Two of the men that were helping Raul were standing around waiting to begin moving the lumber for the barn, so I had them clean the chicken house while they had the time. Raul still wasn't ready for them when they finished, so I had them move the bags of ground up corn for the hogs to one of the walled in areas, and the cracked corn separated into another. You won't have to check from which bag you're getting food for the chickens and the one for the pigs. The cow food you bought must be good, as all three of the cows love it. It's probably the molasses mixed in with the combination of oats and corn that makes it good."

As we pulled our boots off while sitting on the bench by the door, Millie said, "We need a couple of cats to help with the mice in the barn. They are getting thick out there. The other predators aren't limiting the population, so we should get some cats. If the dogs will leave them alone, the cats will get fat from eating mice."

Mom said, "Do you remember all the cats we had? They were for barn mice, so that is a good idea. I'll bet there are always free kittens if we looked at the market. We can always go to the animal shelter in Mount Sterling and pick up one or two adult cats to get started. If they have some feral cats, that would be the kind to get. They are used to foraging and would be good hunters. They wouldn't be lap cats, but darned good barn cats."

Tonight's dinner was a small roast that had been in the slow cooker all day. Millie warmed up some home canned peas to go with the carrots and potatoes, and we feasted. The evening's discussion was on planning exactly how we were going to handle the grape harvest, winemaking, and the apple and pear harvest.

It was Mom that had a handle on a lot of what we had to do and commented, "We don't have that many more weeks of vegetables from the garden, and our pantry is full of everything we'll need for at least a year. We've separated a large group of canned goods for the kids' new home so they don't have to scramble to get ready for winter. We should be able to continue to ship about two hundred containers of produce a week for four more weeks, but we'll be shipping watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydew melons this week all the way through August."

Millie then added, "The red potatoes look ready to dig anytime. The little white ones are ready, but the big Idahos need a couple more weeks. The onions are ready and the turnips are real nice and also ready. We have some small horseradish roots, but we'll only cut off a little for this year and have a lot bigger roots next year."

"How about the sweet potatoes," I asked? "Those are so good, and I know they are popular at the market."

"From what Martha told me," Mom stated, "All our potatoes and onions are popular at the market. We need to make sure we store potatoes and onions in the wine storage cave so we'll have some all winter. You should build a couple of small bins in that cave for what we will need, Mike."

"I'll take care of it, Mom. It will be ready. I do think I might run to Lexington to look at some powered wine presses so I don't kill myself or any of the help I get for turning that monster press. I also need to stop by the library to see if there are any new wine recipes that I could try."

Ezra was our supper guest, as usual, and suggested, "I happen to know where you can pick up a commercial still to make some grappa if you're interested."

"That's interesting, Ezra, but I think that might be biting off more than I can handle."

The older gentleman told me, "You know that's where some of the best brandy comes from. If you were to concentrate just on excellent brandy, I'd bet every good restaurant near here, in Lexington, and even beyond, would be a buyer. You could just about give your wine away for what you would make on grappa brandy."

That was interesting, so I said, "I'll read up on it and let you know about the equipment. Where did the equipment come from?"

"A guy north of us, toward Mount Sterling, had just bought it to expand his production. Trouble is that the man was selling several hundred gallons a month and didn't have a license. He's not going to have to think about his business for the next ten to fifteen years. Meanwhile, his family needs the money and wants to dump the equipment. The feds didn't confiscate that equipment because it was still in the original shipping containers and not with his other stills."

I thought about it for a second, "It does seem that someone who is into commercial whiskey would want good still equipment."

"That's a problem around these parts, Mike. There are very few who brew liquor that have a license, and the big guys want bigger equipment. The stuff is too big for a little guy, and too small for a big producer. It should be just right to make a fine brandy that you could sell as premium liquor."

"I'd love to do it, but I don't know whether I would have the time. Something like that would take some kind of structure to house the equipment. A cave wouldn't work because you have to cook it, or rather, distill it. I suppose that I might try one season if the equipment isn't too expensive. Before I commit though, I need to go to the library and see how you make brandy or grappa brandy."

Mom got up from the table and went to the bookshelves on the far left side of the fireplace and looked through the books, until she pulled an old gray hardbound book and brought it to the table. When she handed me the book, I read the print on the cover, 'Distilling Brandy, Cognac, and Grappa'. The author had a French name that I didn't recognize, and when I opened the book, there were penciled notations on many of the pages.

Mom instructed, "Now, go read that for a while and see if you want to get into that kind of liquor."

Ezra nodded and gave Mom a wink before going back to stuffing his face. Every time someone begins eating at the house, the future gets more crowded with things I may want to try.

After supper, I began reading the book from page one. I learned a lot about the different kinds of wine and liquor made from grapes. After skimming through the book, I came to the conclusion that I would want to make what was called pomace grappa. I would need some sort of vat or open barrels for the pomace to ferment. Sugar is used in quantity, so I would have to buy the appropriate amount to mix for fermenting. You can use yeast if you want to rush the process, but I thought I should attempt to make it as pure as possible this first time. It was plain that the distillation is best done by using steam instead of an open flame. I suppose there would be no harm in trying as there are a lot of seeds, skins, and stems left over after pressing the grapes.

When Ezra got up and stretched, thanking us for the fine supper, I asked him, "Can you get me in touch with the folks with the equipment. I want to see what kind it is, and maybe I can help them out with some cash and even some food."

"You know, Mike, that's probably what those folks need more than money," Ezra evaluated the situation. "Put together a few hundred jars of canned goods and I'll bet you can trade almost even. The womenfolk there are all hard workers, but it's tough for a woman to find work around here. It's just like you. You have hired the Mexican women to help in the garden, while there are other women who would love to work for you."

Mom jumped on Ezra, "If you know folks that need work, why didn't you tell us about them. Mike has put flyers all over the area trying to get locals to work for him, but the only ones he's gotten are some of Harold's men who are getting over addictions. Shame on you, Ezra; tell me about these people and we'll put them to work. Some of the Latino women would prefer not to work, but we have needed them. Let's get the women you are talking about out here while there's work to do."

There was almost a dust cloud from the exit Ezra made. I'll bet he has a list for Mom in the morning.

Mom was amused at Ezra's quick exit and was smiling. As a youth, I can remember when she would jump on us kids, and even Dad, about something. We did the same as Ezra, 'exit, stage left.'

Although it was the middle of July, there was a chilly breeze on the mountain that was probably being brought on by the low rain clouds hovering over us. I started a small fire in the fireplace and the three of us sat in our respective rockers, watching evening television.

Mom asked, "It's almost time for hunting season. Do you have your license and deer tags? Do you have to have special permission to thin the deer herd you have?"

"I need to pick up my new license for this year, and see what I'll need to have to thin our deer herd out. Since they are a nuisance and are eating our crops, I'm sure it would be legal to thin them out. I'll just have to get the particulars. I'm thinking of organizing a couple of coon hunts for some of the dog breeders around here and all the way up to Lexington. We have far too many raccoons and possums. A couple of night hunts and we should be able to reduce the population quite a bit."

Millie told Mom, "Mike brought a lot of rabbit to us to eat last year. It is such good eating that I hope he will do it again this winter."

Mom told Millie, "I talked to Martha and Harold and was told there are a lot of dove in the valleys. I'll bet you could get a few dozen at their place and at the Conners'. I just love dove with a piece of bacon wrapped around the meat. I'll make some wild rice dressing to go with them and we'll have a feast.

"You know, Millie, Mike was the hunter in our family. His dad taught him how to hunt at an early age, and he was always bringing food home. He's really good at getting quail too, but not nearly as many as dove. I'm surprised he didn't trap last winter. He used to do that for furs when he was a boy. That's how he got spending money."

"I don't have time to run trap lines now, Mom. I could have last year, but I really haven't seen any weasels or mink. There are quite a few foxes and a lot of wolves, but the wolf population leaves us alone. There is enough food on the mountain so that we're not competition."

"You know, Mike," Millie told us in a low voice, as if it was a secret, "The wolves have always come near me. I've seen them out in the orchard and vineyard. One pair has a couple of pups and they look healthy. I know of two or three wolf dens on the other side of the mountain, but we haven't been around there for a while. When we had extra food, we would leave it out for them in the winter but we didn't have enough to share since my first man was killed. Summer used to have them come up and actually lie down near her."

Mom told us, "Some people have that special touch that animals sense. I'm sure Summer was able to calm many animals that came around her. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of animals from up here follow her to the new farm in the valley."

It was getting late, so I stood and stretched. "I'm heading to bed, Ladies. I'd sure enjoy some company, Millie. Want to tuck me in?"

Mom took the hint and headed to bed, while Millie stood, hugged me, and walked down the hallway.

In bed, Millie said, "Are you lonely now that you don't have a woman on both sides of you? If we get cold when winter comes, we can invite your mother to sleep with us."

I softly laughed, "Millie, somehow I don't think Mom would think sleeping with me would be a good idea. You know how I have often awakened holding you, and even Summer, in an intimate way. That wouldn't be good with my mother."

"It's no different than my brother waking up with me that way, Mike. I'll bet your mother would love to sleep on your shoulder, hugging you. We'll see how she feels when it's really cold outside."

My lovely pregnant wife had the urge, in spite of her swelling belly. She didn't seem any different and seemed to enjoy our lovemaking as much now as ever. As we kissed after exhausting ourselves, Millie said, "She may not have the urge, but I'll bet she would like to be held."

I gave Millie an extra hug and drifted off.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 21

I received a call from Mervin while eating breakfast. "Mike, at your suggestion, I went to the REA people and asked about pole rental and why the telephone company didn't cooperate with them. From what they know, it is some long ago dispute that no one knows what the root cause is or why that has not been revisited. Just about the time you get cable, you might get a phone line too, but I might have something for you. The cable company has begun offering telephone service through the cable. You can now get a single bill for cable, internet, and telephone service. What do you think about that?"

"Sounds good, Mervin, but the first thing I need is to get is broadband up here on the mountain. If the cable company can work with the REA for pole use, how soon can I get internet service?"

"Funny you should ask that. I talked to Gene this morning and his men have run cable to the first leg that goes up the mountain. You might have what you want by the end of the week. I attended a short class up in Lexington that showed me how to install and test the telephone and broadband service. For your cable TV, I'll give you a switch so you can keep the satellite as well as cable. I'll understand if you decide not to renew the satellite service. I'll still get a residual for you being a multi-use subscriber to cable."

This was good news. Not only would we have the Internet, but we would have a regular telephone now. I was sure there was a reason to have regular telephone company service, but if I found I needed it in the future, I'd have the telephone company install a line.

That reminded me; Jimmy wanted a telephone put in the office trailer. His idea was to use an answering machine so that if people had a road problem, they could leave it on the answering machine and one of the men would get back to them. After thinking about the needs of the road crew, I thought I should put phones in their residential trailers, as well as TV and the Internet in all three locations. The cable company feeder passes by the county lot, so it shouldn't be a big deal to get service.

I called Mervin back, "Mervin, I'm going to make your day. How about putting the multi-use service in the office trailer out at the county road commissioner's lot and in the two residential trailers that are on private land in back? We had to install a pole for the power to get back there, so it shouldn't be a big deal."

"Now that I can do myself, Mike. Do you really need TV cable in the office trailer?"

After thinking about it for a second, I said, "Sure, that way the guys can watch the weather in the morning before they go out. If it's a rainy day, like today is going to be, they will have the TV to occupy their time."

"Mike, how about I run a telephone line from the trailer to the pole barn? That way they can answer the phone if they are out there working."

"Sounds good, Mervin, I'll pick up some telephones and TVs for the guys today. When will you have time for that order?"

"Ha, ha, ha, you jest, of course. For you, my man, I will have you up and working by this afternoon."

I turned to Mom and Millie, "Can the women working in the garden do it without supervision? I need to make a run up to Walmart, and if I do that, I might as well take another week's worth of wine to Rodrigo. We might be able to get a special early lunch there."

When you say shopping or Walmart to a country lady, be prepared for a stampede. Mom said, "The ladies came while we were still eating breakfast and started right in. They know what to do for the next week. Since it's probably going to rain today, they should be fine with what they can get picked. Kroger is coming to get their corn that is being picked this afternoon, so they can pick up the other vegetable containers then too. How long will we be up there?"

"I'll fill the bottles I've washed out and we can be on our way. That will take an hour and we can leave after that. What I need at Walmart won't take long. I want to get three TVs, a PC with a couple of pieces of software, and four telephones. I'll get more surge protectors for everything, as well. Let me call Rodrigo and let him know we want to come for an early lunch and a delivery."

Rodrigo said he would be happy to serve us lunch and would have the chef make one of his new experimental creations for us. He also advised me that he may not be using the wine as fast as he expected, but would welcome having next week's delivery early.

I called Jimmy to let him know about the broadband and telephone service at the office trailer, but thought I might let the phone, broadband, and TV service be a surprise when they come in today.

Filling the bottles only took about thirty minutes, since I knew what I was doing now. The barrel I was filling from tasted especially good, so I knew Rodrigo would be pleased.

We were in Mount Sterling by ten thirty, and delivered the wine before the Walmart trip. Rodrigo said he would have my check for the first delivery and this one when we came for lunch.

At Walmart, the women took a cart toward household goods and I took a cart toward electronics. I selected two cordless phone sets that had an answering machine and two extra handsets. For the office I bought a regular type phone with an answering machine and a cordless handset. For the pole barn, I thought a standard wall phone would be best.

The PC was easy to decide on, as they had a package that included the PC with a monitor, surge protector, operating system, virus protection, and Microsoft Office. That should get them started. If they needed some form of CAD software, we would look for it. The TV selection also was easy to pick out since they were so cheap. I bought three 25 inch flat screens, along with wall mounts. That should make all of them happy. They can run cable if they want a TV in their personal bedrooms. I figured Mervin's internet was going to include a wireless router that the guys could use with their laptops. I think every military guy has a laptop.

When I found Mom and Millie, they were pushing their cart toward the checkouts. I let them put their purchases on one receipt, and I put all of mine on another so Maude could separate what I could deduct.

At the restaurant, Rodrigo personally served us, letting us taste his chef's latest experiment. We might not have had the most distinguished tastes, but all three of us thought the experiment was good enough to be added to the menu.

On the way back home, Mom and Millie asked that I take them home before going to the road commissioner's lot. They felt they should be around for at least some of the day's picking activity since it didn't rain today.

I headed to the road yard and found Mervin busily installing jacks in the two residential trailers. While he did that, I set the PC up and was immediately able to get on the Internet. I plugged in the cordless phone and let it begin charging. Out in the pole barn, I found the extension jack for the office phone and hung the wall phone. I called my cell from that phone so I would have a record of the number and made a note of it in my cell phone contacts, as that number would go out to all of the property owners in the county.

Back in the office trailer, I quickly mounted the wall bracket for the TV and hung it over the activity counter along the wall. It was a place where it could be seen throughout the main area of the office trailer.

While Mervin worked on the last trailer, I hung the other residential trailer's TV and followed Mervin to the last one. Together, we had the second residential trailer TV hung and working. Mervin had his laptop and connected to the wireless network telling us that the two connections were working. The man left notes in both trailers to advise how to do their setup, and also left his telephone number in case they had trouble.

As we walked out to our vehicles, Mervin told me, "You know the cable crew is pushing your connection through fast. They should be hung right up to your electrical pole by sometime tomorrow. Decide where you want cable drops so they can install everything you want at one time. Your cable path crew has been so good that the company wants to reward you with a fast installation of your account. The other thing is they wouldn't have tried to pair up with REA if it wasn't for you. We're way ahead of the telephone operating company because of you. This big cable company rewards those who help them."

I checked on Ezra and the men on the way home and found they were doing better than even they expected. Ezra gave me receipts that showed I had been shipping at least two loads of specialty wood logs a day. Ezra was smart and had three of the salt trucks hauling chunks of oak and hickory to the storage area on Ben's place.

At home, I cornered Raul and asked if he could build the bins Mom had talked about for the potatoes and onions. He said he would have them built the next day and not to worry about it. He was acting a little strange before he finally got out what he wanted to say, "Mr. Mike, there is a farmer on the other side of town near farmer George who has sold his land to a company that is going to tear down all of the buildings. Would you agree to us taking the buildings down and relocating them at your and our place? You will be able to build on to your barn with used seasoned barn oak and we could have an additional house and a big machine shed to house our trucks. We could use the extra wood to build a bigger chicken house for both of us. Would you allow us to do this? We would not want to be paid for work we do on our place, so you would come out ahead if we had to move."

"Raul, Jose, you can do all of that, but I do need the barn finished by the middle of October. The first freeze should have come and gone by then, so if you're going to do that, get going on it so you can finish the barn."

"Mr. Mike, we want to put another pole barn behind your expanded barn. The property we are tearing down has two pole barns and a silo that can be used for corn or whatever you grow enough to store."

"Sounds good, Guys, but please don't bring in too many more of your relatives. If there are too many new faces, you will draw attention to your home."

Jose came close and lowered his voice, "Mr. Mike, we have one cousin that must come here to escape the cartel. You will want him to help you, as he is a winemaker. He is not young enough to work the fields, but he can work a vineyard and knows how to make wine. You will be able to use him and he will be ever grateful for a place to live. The cartel has killed all of his family, so he is alone in this world. We feel we should help him and we think he will help you."

What do you say to men who have been fair and good to you? The only answer to give was a yes, and we would help him if he was as advertised.

Inside the house, Mom was talking on the phone on the desk in the little bedroom. How could she be doing that? I watched her and could tell she was really having a conversation, so I looked to see where it was plugged in and found that there was a jack down behind the desk. Next to it was another jack that led to a router that was connected to the PC on the desk.

While Mom talked on the phone, I booted the PC and when it was up, attempted to connect to the internet. Ta dah! It worked. Because I was curious, I went outside and saw the line from the electric pole to the house. The little cabin on the mountain was coming into the twenty-first century.

My cell phone rang as I was walking out to the barn to begin the evening chores. Jimmy excitedly told me, "You did it again. You surprised us all with the Internet and the phone line in the office and in the machine barn. You are a mind reader, Mike. This is exactly what we needed. Thanks for anticipating our needs."

We chatted for a minute before he hung up to finish his end of day reports.

Not five minutes later, my cell rang again, "Mike, what the fuck did you do? There is a phone line in each of our manufactured homes and two extra cordless units. Not only that, but I'm told there are TVs in the trailers, and I just noticed the TV here in the office. Holy shit, Mike, you didn't have to do that. This is unbelievable, guy; I hope we justify your generosity."

Jimmy hung up instead of letting me tell him I was very happy with everything the group had done so far. I was very happy to have provided a little comfort to their lives by streamlining or enhancing our communication abilities.

This was something good that I had done for the men. They were taking care of years of neglect by the former commissioners in the county's townships, and now, six men had put the roads in decent condition in just a couple of months. We might not be making a big profit, but we were up to date and prepared for winter.

I could sit back with a glass of wine and feel good about the progress we had made in all the areas we worked in.

Mom asked me, "You know, Mike, with all of the extra people you need to feed, you should get an extra steer. In addition to the widow and Teddy, you are going to need to help feed those men, as well as the families living at Ben's. It wouldn't be that big a deal to have another steer, and a younger one to join the other, as next on the grill. The kids will need beef, and if I know people right, Stanley and Gracie will want some too. You already have half of what you need, see if you can come up with the other half."

I thought that I would worry about that on market day, as I really didn't have time to go hunt up a deal on another couple of steers.

The next day, I used the ATV to tour each of the vineyards and to taste grapes. Some of the grapes were mighty close, and some were a long way from ripening. I wrote down where the maturing grapes were on my pad before heading around the mountain to the second vineyard.

What do you know? I ran into a furry black critter right away. He acted like he knew he shouldn't be there, but he was, and he lumbered down the hill before he almost became the fourth hide tacked up on the wall of the pump house.

The grapes here were the same as the other grapes in our big vineyard. When I drove down the mountain to get to the Jorgenson vineyard and orchard, I could immediately see the bear and deer population had done a number on the lower branches. There were no bears present, or I probably would have killed them, instead of evaluating what was needed. I supposed I would have to put fences up to keep bear and deer away from the orchards and vineyards so we would have good crops.

Teddy said for me to cut hay again as it was tall enough to give us over a hundred wire bales of hay for winter storage. I was figuring on the last cutting being string bales in order to have the lighter bales in the front of the hayloft.

The grass I had planted in the three orchards was another problem; I could cut it, but couldn't get a rake or the baler between the rows of trees. I had been loading the hay by hand and hauling it out to where the baler was this year, but next year was going to be different. I was going to put that grass to use. The cost would be fencing, but that would have a two-fold purpose. It would keep deer and bear out, and also contain the animals I was going to get to graze and fatten up for the summer. By the time the hay growing season was over in the fall, I should have some fat animals that I could easily sell as butcher ready stock.

To be sure my thinking was right, I made a trip to the butcher. After describing how I would house and graze the beef, I asked him his opinion. He had a happy reply, "Mike, that should be almost as good as giving them grain for the last ninety days before you bring them in. If you want to put that extra bit of fat around the good rib meats, feed them some grain during the last ninety days. That should bring them into condition for even the best tables."

Now that I knew what it would take, I needed to work on getting the areas fenced.

I had a lot of baled and loose hay from the orchards, so the new addition to the barn was welcome. Instead of loading from the back, where the carpenters were still building, I loaded from the front, putting the baled hay in stacks on both sides of the loft, with an aisle down the middle. We forked the loose hay in the middle nearest the doors to use up first.

I personally needed a breather, so early one morning after determining that Ezra was doing fine and the road crew were taken care of, I packed a lunch, loaded the 30-30 Winchester, and began a tour on the ATV. My main objective was to check the markers on the land that was included in the two parcels I had purchased with Eliza's place. I wanted to go from there to see if I should try to buy everything higher, all the way to the top of the mountain.

The ATV was fun to drive, and I was easily able to find the old logging road. Knowing that I would probably want to cut a road eventually, I marked the trees that would need to come out of the old rutted wagon trail. The higher I went, the more cedar and pine I encountered, until I found the highest marker of the land I owned.

From what I had been able to determine, the land higher up was owned by the county and was undocumented and possibly unexplored. There was supposed to be a surveyor's bench mark on top of the mountain from which all of the lands below were measured. The spot was marked as BM+ on the USGS topographical maps I had gotten in for the whole county to help with the road work and cable path clearing. Those maps indicate the general type of vegetation as well as the positions of streams and the contours of slopes. The scale is odd, 1:24,000, but they're incredibly detailed.

The road around the mountain was normal, except for the fact that the higher I got, the less dense the trees and brush were. When I came out on a level area that almost looked like a platform on the way up, I realized I was now halfway around the mountain and within a half mile of the peak.

There was something eerie about where I had stopped. It was almost as if something was telling me to go back, but another voice was telling to keep looking. The underlying voice to explore was ever present in my mind. The road finally ended at another level area. There were huge boulders that were between the plateau and the mountain, so I parked the ATV and walked between the boulders.

Holy smokes! In front of me were two huge cave openings. The openings must have been over thirty feet high and fifty feet across. I wondered about this, as it almost looked as if the boulders had been placed where they were to defend from a wagon approach.

I walked between the boulders and found a few pieces of metal that I recognized as rifle and pistol parts. That the parts were lying on the ground near the boulders was unusual, but I'm sure an archeologist or historian would know the reason.

Approaching the cave on the left, I had a weird feeling that someone was watching me. The natural light from outside lit the area back into the cave for more than fifty feet. It was about there that I found a row of small chests. They looked like small pirate chests from movies that I watched years ago.

The nearest chest to the entrance of the cave didn't have a lock on the hasp so I pushed it open. I didn't know what it was, but it looked like bars of something, and a lot of old coins that I had no idea about what they were worth.

I took a single coin and closed the chest. The next chest's lock was not closed and when I opened it I found it was equally as full of coins as were chests three, four, five, and six. It was amazing that all of the locks that were through the loop for the hasp were open but in a position to look as if locked. The seventh chest had a strange metal in it that I didn't recognize, but was all in small bars. The metal must have been valuable although I didn't know what it was. It looked like there were three types of metal bars. One type, the most quantity was probably gold. There were a couple that were probably silver but at least a half dozen bars of the strange metal I didn't recognize.

The eighth chest contained the same, but the ninth was something to marvel at. The inside was filled to the brim with some kind of an assortment of stones. They mostly were various sizes of smooth stones that you would find in jewelry. They were not diamonds, more like rubies and emeralds, but I don't know anything about stones. The top of the chest had large necklaces made of the different metals, with the stones inset within them. I didn't know the value of what I had found, but I did know it was valuable.

Outside, I walked up to the top of the mountain and looked out over the lower mountains near me and wondered about the people who had left the treasures behind. You would have thought someone would have come back for the treasure. Could everyone who knew about the treasure have died? Even the commanders who must have ordered the treasure to be stored up here couldn't have all died. But then that was a very vicious war and many people were killed including high ranking officers.

It was while I was on the top of the mountain that I felt a presence. I sat on the concrete marker left almost two hundred years ago and looked around to see if I could see who, or what, was watching me.

I didn't see anything, but still felt there was someone or something.

After recording the post at the top of the mountain, I went back to the two cave entrances and looked in the cave to the right. As soon as I entered that cave, I felt as if something was pulling me in and something else was pushing me away from the cave. This was a cave with some heavy secrets. Just past the entrance, and behind a couple of big rocks, were bones and what was left of Civil War Confederate Army uniforms. There were hats near the skulls, and leaning up against the rocks were a couple of Civil War era rifles that didn't look weathered or rusty.

This cave didn't let light in as well as the other one did, and I would need an alternate light source to see to the back.

Knowing what was on this side, I moved around the top of the mountain and found another cave entrance. I was thinking that this would probably connect with the two around the other side, and I looked in the cave as far as I could see. There was nothing except a couple of barrels fairly close to the entrance, and a small stack of cannonballs even closer to the front. There were no cannon, so I didn't know what the balls were far.

I traced my steps back to the flat area where the ATV was and looked at my watch. I was easily what might be an hour and a half from the house, and it was already four, so I needed to head back. Just for a record, I used my cell phone to take pictures of what I considered to be important. I didn't take pictures of the chests, as I needed to find out what the local laws on found property might be.

There was nothing to be concerned about at home, as the women had completed the chores and were preparing supper. Ezra showed up shortly after I came in the house, took his boots off, and sighed as he sat in one of the rocking chairs.

"Mike, we're going to reach Mount Sterling by the end of next month. I think the men may need at least a week's break before we start the other two short local runs and begin the run to Pine Ridge. I think I'd like to take your mom to Chicago for a couple of days to see the sights, if that's all right with you."

Mom was looking straight at me and winked at me when he said that. I took it that I should agree, and told Ezra, "Sounds like a good idea, Ezra. I'm going to be busy with winemaking and harvesting from the orchards, so it's probably a good time to get out of here. Make your plans and think about us while you're having a great time up there."

In my mind, I was mulling over what to do about the caves and the chests I found up there. This wasn't a good time to be messing with something like that, since worrying about it would take up all my time. The best I could come up with was to let what had been there for the last hundred to a hundred fifty years alone, and tend to it later. If everything got taken, stolen, or just disappeared, well, I didn't have it before, so did I need it now? The whole top of the mountain was really intriguing to me and I still felt a call to keep exploring.

The next week, the grapes in the main vineyard tasted like the ones that made the better wine from last year, so I had the women begin picking all of the bunches that had that exact taste. Those that were still a little green were left on the vine.

I had the new equipment working, and was able to press the grapes even faster than I had thought. The one difference was that the new press wasn't pressing all of the juice from the grapes. The pomace still had a lot of juice in it, but that should just make the grappa that much better. What we were going to have will be called pomace brandy as Italy has declared it is the sole country to produce grappa.

The fourth day of pressing was amazing, as I was already filling the third huge circular fermenting vat. I was surprised when someone walked into the outer area where I was working.

A smiling man, who was obviously around fifty or sixty, walked in and sniffed the air. He reached into the nearest vat and tasted the juice, smiled, and looked around. When he spied me, he walked up and, with only a slight accent asked, "Are you Mike Grayson?"

I nodded, and he came to me with his hand out to shake mine. "I am Doroteo Jimenez. My cousins have said you were informed I would be coming. May I tell you my abilities or qualifications?"

Well, my goodness, this guy can 'speak-a-da English'. He's given me a smile so far. I'm going to have to watch the way my mind makes inside jokes so that I don't start blabbing what I'm thinking and offend people.

"Mr. Grayson, I have worked in wineries since I was an apprentice as a young boy. An advantage to working in one of the better wineries is that I learned to read, write, and speak English, French, and Italian better than my native language. Considering that, I can be useful to translate for you and you will be able to easily speak with me."

"It's nice to meet you, Doroteo. As you can see, I am in the middle of pressing grapes and need to quickly transfer the juice to the open barrels since I have a great deal more grapes that are ready."

"Mr. Grayson, can you take a minute to give me an idea of your plan. I have seen another type of grape ready to be pressed, and I'm sure you don't want to mix them."

I went through my plan and how I had accomplished what I had the year before. Doroteo thought of my plan for a few minutes, and then began making suggestions.

"Since you don't have a huge vat, or enough of these big vats to ferment your wine in, continue to fill your open barrels until we can change to the white grapes. You can show me what you do with those and how you create the taste you are looking for. Do you have any of the previous year's wine? I would like to taste it to see if I can help you improve it."

I pulled a wine glass from the holder in front of the casks and siphoned some of the common wine first. He looked pleased, and when I gave him a glass of the barbera, he glowed. The Merlot was only so-so if you took his gestures correctly. I siphoned off a glass of my special white wine and his grin told it all. "We will make more of your wine just like this, Mike. This is special."

Before I could begin pressing grapes again, Doroteo asked, "Can you have more of the big vats quickly made? You are going to have far more wine than you have considered. By letting the vats ferment, you will have opportunity to buy more barrels."

I protested, "I have more than a hundred empty barrels, do you really think I will need more than that?"

"Mike, my friend and master, from the view of the upper vineyards, and the estimates of your people of the other vineyards, you may need more than two hundred fifty barrels to contain your product. Then, if you propose to make grappa as I have heard, Mike, you could probably use another hundred barrels for that. We will work on the grappa later, as it will not hurt to let it sit and ferment. We do need more vats as soon as we can get them though. Remember when you begin to sell your grappa, it must be called pomace brandy."

I walked from the vineyard caves to where Raul and Jose were working with another ten men. "Raul, I hope you don't get angry with me, but Doroteo, the new man you sent me says I need several more big vats to hold my wine while it ferments. Can you build those for me? Can you please go see Doroteo to find out the specifications?"

Knowing Doroteo would be busy with Raul and Jose for a little while, I used the ATV to run down to the Jorgenson orchard to see how those grapes were. They tasted perfect for the wine I liked to make. I would need to pick this orchard tomorrow.

The higher Finnerty vineyard was mostly white grapes, and they were not quite ready. The regular grapes were ready and should be picked soon.

Just to see if the big vineyard was getting emptied, I ran down the rows of vines to find two complete rows had not even begun being picked. They needed picking now, not later, and the wine needed to be pressed as soon as possible for the taste I wanted.

Before everyone went home that night, I told them that I needed everyone I could get to pick grapes and help press them. Raul and Jose promised that they could build enough vats to hold everything I could possible produce. I sure hoped so.

I didn't sleep well that night, and was up long before daybreak. The chores were done, and I was in the lower vineyard picking grapes and stacking containers into my ATV, when Millie showed up in her truck with her ladies and a stack of containers, and told me to go help Doroteo press grapes.

Because of the large quantity of grapes to press, I pulled the hand press out and pushed the two big multi-wheeled vats out. One was for juice and the other for the pomace. Going back to the house, I drove down to Ben's to see if there were any more men down there. Three men were almost hiding when I drove up. I went to the house door and was going to find out about them when an older robust Latino woman came to the door. "Mr. Mike, it is good for you to come. What do you need?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, we haven't met and I don't know your name."

Being courteous always helps, and the lady smiled warmly when I addressed her as 'Ma'am'.

"I am Consuelo, mother of Raul and Jose. I think they hide me although I am a citizen. Now what can I help you with?"

"I need more men to help make my wine. I saw three men trying to hide, but I don't care if they need documentation; I need the help. If they will come to work, I will help them with documentation. How many do you have that can work?"

Consuelo looked down almost embarrassed, "More men have just arrived. They were not invited, but we cannot turn them away. There are six, but they do not speak English. Could you still use them?"

"I can, and they need to come with me right now for the rest of the day, and possibly for part of the evening. I will feed them as necessary, but I need the help."

"Mr. Mike, I will tell them to go with you. Have one of the other men tell them what to do. If they don't work, send them home and I will send them away. All must work if there is opportunity. We all must contribute."

"Thank you, Consuelo; this is a very busy time for my grapes and winemaking."

The six men got into the truck bed and rode up to the house. I took them back to where Doroteo was and explained that I wanted to use the hand press to speed up the process. He needed to tell the new men how to use it. If he didn't know how to use the old press, I would show him and he could tell the new men. The man grinned and said, "This press is a piece of winemaking history. It will be a pleasure to show these men how to use it. Is this what you made all of your delicious wine with last year?"

Those men were soon sweating hard, pressing the grapes with the primitive equipment. The extra pressing equipment worked and helped speed up the process.

We actually finished pressing all of the standard and barbera grapes in two days' time. Raul was building vats of oak planks from the sawmill and treating the seams with beeswax, but was barely keeping ahead of Doroteo and me. The extra vats and the vats for the pomace brandy equipment were going to require some form of shelter. That's when Raul offered, "We have a small pole barn that we tore down that we don't have a use for. We will assemble it here and it should contain all of the vats, as well as the distilling equipment.

When it was lunchtime each day, all of the men and women sat on the ground and ate the sandwiches Millie and Mom prepared. Summer showed up with big containers of iced tea for everyone. She confiscated six sandwiches and took off to feed her men.

At bedtime of the second intense day, I figured we had about three more days of hard work before all the grapes were picked. The big cave that contained the old wine pressing equipment was full of vats with fermenting wine, and the primary storage cave already full of wine, had more vats all the way to the farthest area. In the far back were the bins of potatoes and onions.

The next morning, I was looking at the small entrance to a cave next to the wine storage area. With a big LED light, I looked inside and decided that I needed to use this area for more wine storage. The opening had to be made bigger first, so I inspected that area and discovered there were only two large boulders that obstructed the entrance. This area would work until the pole barn was erected.

I had the road crew bring the big backhoe up to the house and showed them the two boulders I wanted moved. Jimmy was concerned that half the mountain would come down on whoever was using the backhoe, but I showed him how the boulders fit, and that the wall would remain intact when we opened the entrance.

It was finally decided that I would do the boulder moving and see what happened. I wasn't worried about it, since I had inspected the way the boulders were in place until I was confident that the wall of the bluff was intact. I would need someplace to put the boulders after I moved them, but that would be something I could worry about later.

The first boulder easily came out, and it almost made the entrance big enough for our purpose. I wanted the whole front open so I could build a big overhead door as an entrance, so the rest of the boulders needed to be moved.

Using the big bucket, I moved each of the smaller rocks away from the big boulder until the big rock was not supporting anything. Moving the big boulder was difficult, but I was able to roll it out to the far side of the chicken yard, and to a place where it almost looked decorative. The new entrance was ready to be framed in with supporting beams and a big overhead door.

I began running electrical wire for lighting while the carpenters went to work first setting up supporting beams then framing the front entrance. Raul and Jose were busy building more vats and barrel racks. The materials were ready for them, and Doroteo told me, "You have impressed me with the way you have pushed ahead and not wasted one grape. Your harvest is very impressive, and this year's wines will be very good, even better than the wines you produced last year."

That's when I asked him, "Doroteo, have you ever made grappa or pomace brandy? I have some equipment that is supposed to be the best for distilling, and I thought it would be good to distill our pomace too."

I took the man to look through the cartons and books for the equipment and he had a bigger smile every time I looked at him. He told me, "Mike, can you have a cooking or distilling house built? If we have a separate building for this, we can probably make something close to a cognac, and definitely a good brandy. We can do this together and be very popular with your customers."

I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't know anything about distilling spirits.

While we were busy working on the winemaking, Mom was busy making sure we were covered for the extra production. She found out what we needed for the feds, as well as the state, and who we needed to pay taxes to. I think Mom's proactive approach probably kept the revenuers from our door. As it was, state people visited our farm, the feds came and inspected the wine barrels, and even tasted several of them. Some of the barrels they insisted on tasting were not anywhere near done, but they said they liked those too. I recommended the Italian restaurant in Mount Sterling for them to have a great meal.

It's funny how things were working out with so much going on at once. The garden was done, except for pumpkins, melons, and potatoes, and it was now time to harvest pears and apples. The pears were first, and popular at the market, but they were also popular with the Kroger buyers. Our apples were some of the better tasting apples I've ever tasted, and were snapped up at the market and by Kroger. We stripped the trees in the three orchards faster than I would have believed, and then were hauling and shipping pumpkins and the last of the melons.

Digging potatoes, onions, and turnips was an education of its own. The Latinos wanted to pull all of the horseradish, and it was everything Mom could do to only have them cut the roots in half and let the rest stay in the ground. Only every other one of the turnips were pulled, so that the ones left could grow to a huge size by next year.

I plowed under some fresh cow manure in the garden area so that we could plant the fall items before the first freeze.

The intensity was settling down, but Doroteo was keeping some of the women busy raking the bottoms of the wine vats. He was a good chemist, and was constantly testing the wine vats after having added yeast and sugar to some.

The pomace, which contains the grape skins, stems, and seeds, was ready to be distilled. It was fermenting very nicely. We had separated a lot of the various seeds so that we could start new vines in the vineyards the next year.

With the new distilling building or small pole barn ready, and the new equipment set up, Doroteo and I, with the help of four women, began distilling the pomace. Doroteo had some wood barrels set aside for one kind, and some steel barrels set aside for plain grappa or unaged pomace brandy. He had added various melon rinds during the fermenting process, telling me this would give the end result a special taste. Considering how many barrels of wine we had, I didn't think a few strange barrels of brandy or cognac would make a difference. I now had the main wine storage cave packed, the old equipment cave full, and the new wine storage area almost full, as well. Half of that cave was going to be devoted to grappa, or for the aging of special brandies or cognac, whatever we were making.

The first freeze came along with about eight inches of snow. Ezra let his men stay home that day, but the road crew was out in force. We only had six big salt trucks with blades, so we made sure the main roads were cleared. The town of Stanton used us to clear their streets, so we were Johnny on the spot for them. It took twenty-four hours to get all of the roads cleared, but more than anything else, it gave us a chance to figure out the order in which we had to plow each road. Jimmy thought we could use two more salt trucks with plows and asked me to look for them.

Instead of driving up to Lexington, I called the dealer there and asked him if he had any of the dilapidated rusted out trucks that he gave away before. The man laughed and asked, "If you have something to haul three of them away with, come and get them. They are an eyesore, and I'd bet I'll sell my other trucks when these are gone."

Jimmy was immediately on the way up to Lexington, but he also picked out another small grader he thought we needed. He called me from the dealer and asked if he could get it. I told him to barter the socks off the guy before he gave him the debit card and let him make the deal. I went by the road yard that evening to find out how he did. The three salt trucks were not in that bad a shape, and should last the season before we had to rebuild them. The small grader turned out to be a hell of a bargain by the way Jimmy dealt with the dealer.

At home, Millie was getting bigger by the day, or so it seemed. Mom was about to pop her buttons over being a grandmother again. The way she made over Millie was almost comical. As we lay cuddling one night, Millie even told me, "Your mom is making me feel like some kind of prima donna. I'm just a lady that's going to have a baby. The way she loves me and what's happening is so special. I think it is even more that it's your baby. She is really excited about this."

Mom had made a lot of friends in town, since we now had a telephone and the Internet. She visited with her group of book club cronies every week, and enjoyed the gossip that traveled through the women before the men ever heard it.

That's how I heard that the county was putting some land up for sale. It seems that there had been several pieces of property that had fallen delinquent for taxes or had been abandoned, and no one was even protesting the tax sale. This was an annual tax sale, and was often ignored by most of the residents.

Considering that I might be able to work some land in the bottoms to raise corn or hay, I thought it would be good to see what I could do.

The first parcel on the block was property that bordered the Conners', but Stanley or Bradley were not there. Only one other man bid, so I raised him a hundred and he waved me down like I was crazy to pay more for the land. The amount was almost criminally cheap, not much more than free.

The next piece was near George's place, and he was gung ho to get it. A couple of other farmers bid, but George won the bid.

Another piece near the Conners' that was supposed to have a lot of workable land came up, but it could also be flood prone. No one bid, so I offered the minimum and no one bid against me. I kept thinking the land could produce one year and be underwater for two, and whoever owned it could still come out ahead.

The men all began milling around, getting ready to leave, when Steve, the county tax assessor, hollered at me, "Hey, Mike, want to bid on the rest of your mountain. We put it up for sale every year and no one bids for it. How about it? Want to buy the rest of your mountain and own the whole thing except the two little pieces that Teddy and the widow Fletcher own at the base."

"Okay, Steve, I'll bid a hundred. Is that a legal bid?"

"Damn right it's a legal bid. Hey, everybody, does anyone want to bid for the rest of the mountain? That includes the peak, you know. Who knows what's up there. The north side has a couple of fields that are sloped and are probably workable, that is if you build a road to them. Come on, are you going to let Grayson get the rest of Mystery Mountain for a 'C' note?"

The men were all waving their hands for Steve to just get rid of the land. He banged his gavel and hollered, "Sold to our unsuspecting mountain property owner. I hope you can afford the taxes of seventy-five dollars a year, Mike. I'd hate to see that property up for a tax sale again." The man laughed as he wrote on several pieces of paper before handing me a stack of paperwork.

"Take all of this to the clerk on Monday. She'll register everything for you. Now, let's go see what's new at the market."

I found Stanley Conner at the market and hauled him to the coffee trailer so that I could talk to him. We sat at the small tables and folding chairs provided, and relaxed. "Stanley, I bought the Carmen place for you, and also thought you might be interested in the old Downy place. Here's what I paid for each."

"Holy smokes, Mike, I would have gone to that auction if I thought that land would have been sold that cheaply. Even the Downy property is a good deal. Hell, if we get a good crop once every four years, it's a good deal for that much money. How much profit are you going to stick me with? You're a pretty shrewd businessman."

"It's yours for what I paid, Stan. Come with me to the clerk's office on Monday so we can get the land transferred. Are you good for what I paid?"

"Damn right I am, Mike. Bradley and I could use a little more tillable land. Tell you what. I'll fill that silo you have for a few years as a bonus. You've really made my year, Mike. Wait till Bradley hears what you're doing for us. He keeps telling me how great a guy you are, I guess he's right. Don't let it go to your head, Mike. Just bring me some of your good wine."

I felt pretty smug. I now owned the whole mountain, except for the small place that Teddy had and the bottom land the widow lived on. Teddy said he didn't want to work the widow's land any longer than next year, as he was getting a mite old, and thought I might want to work it. The shares for the land were very equitable for the area, and it could be paid with crop rather than cash. If Ted decided to have me work his fields, then I would be working the whole mountain except for the uncharted fields on the north side. I would definitely explore the rest of the mountain to be sure I knew what was really there.

Market day was fun, as Mom and Millie were able to visit with Summer the entire time they had product to sell or trade. Bradley usually visited with some of the other young men his age, who were true farmers and discussed equipment or farming techniques. Market day was sometimes more of a social event than a market. It brought several vendors a decent income, as well as the town's stores and the Kitchen.

On the way home to pick up the items we wanted to take to Pine Ridge, Mom asked, "It's too bad Mount Sterling doesn't have a farmer's market or a flea market like they have in Cincinnati. We could combine our market day with some Walmart shopping and stop in somewhere for a good meal."

Millie thought that was a good idea and suggested, "How about after we sell what we have in Pine Ridge, instead of going to Mount Sterling, we go to the malls in Lexington. We can even go to that fancy movie theater in the big mall."

This was getting complicated and involved. I asked, "What about evening chores?"

Mom said, "We'll stop by and ask Carmen if the ladies will take care of them for us. We'll make an evening of it."

On the way up the mountain, I checked in with Jimmy to make sure there weren't any emergencies I needed to worry about. He reported that all was quiet and he was planning on working on equipment during the coming week as he felt the roads were still good for the winter.

For us, Monday meant we would finish stripping the orchards for the men who were looking to use damaged fruit. Doroteo and I would finish with the last of the grappa distilling. What we had tasted was pretty good, but I'm not a judge of fancy liquors. The man who I wanted to taste our product was Rodrigo. I really wanted to take him our finished product. The new wine was becoming ready, so I was going to take him some of this year's product and the grappa or what would be called Mystery Mountain Pomace Brandy.

The trip to Lexington was a lot of fun. I was able to witness the close relationship Mom and Millie had. The two were sincere buddies. They didn't come from the same backgrounds, but they had lived somewhat similar lives with some of the same hardships. Watching Millie waddle around the mall reminded me that I was going to be a daddy any day.

Life was definitely good.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 22

Winter was upon us and everyone else in the area. This time of year is spent doing the minimum outdoors, while making plans for the coming spring. I had discussions with Mom and Millie to get a handle on what they felt we could realistically do during the coming growing season. Our harvests last year were what I considered unusually productive, and we could hardly expect a repeat, although we were going to try.

Millie was worried that her absence was going to be too much of a burden for Mom, but Mom assured her that new leaders among the Latino women were emerging who would be able to do both Millie's and Mom's work. Mom said she was only planning on supervising the coming year, and would try to stay away from the backbreaking work of planting, cultivating, and picking.

I had men trim all of the grapevines in preparation for the new growing season, and also pack straw around the vine stalks, taking special care to pack the new vines planted the past year. It would take a couple of years before we would see the new vines produce much fruit.

The orchards were also part of our preparation for winter. We cut down any dying apple trees and planted new ones. We trimmed our existing trees so that the branches wouldn't hang so low that they were targets for bear and deer. I wanted to work on putting fencing around the orchards and vineyards to let beef stock graze. If my plan worked, I would find yearling beef stock and graze them all spring and summer, then after feeding them some corn to fatten them in the last month to six weeks, they would be off to the butcher and we wouldn't have to carry them over the winter. The price of yearlings might be at breakeven, profit or loss in my thinking. It was worth a try. I needed to begin bargaining for yearlings early in order to have them on the mountain a few weeks after the spring thaw. One of my instructions to Ezra was to begin saving post sized trunks and limbs. We settled on nine foot long, as we thought the deer wouldn't jump more than six feet and we planned on the top strand of barbed wire to be seven feet. Little did we know.

The day was cold, but bearable, as the temp hovered around thirty degrees. I was determined to lower the deer population on the mountain so they didn't strip all the bark off the apple and pear trees. I wouldn't mind if they would stick with the sycamore, hickory, and oak, but they didn't, as the fruit trees must have a special taste.

To be on the heavy side, I took the .308 with the scope with me, and headed for the Jorgenson place, as that was where the deer herd most often hung out. There were patches of grass still visible where snow didn't cover everything. Since the ATV was fairly quiet, I rode it down close to the area where I wanted to be. After shutting it down, I stayed still and listened for close to ten minutes to determine if there were other hunters on the mountain. Most of the locals didn't like to hunt up on the mountain, but a lot of out of town hunters would drive to the area and invade if there were no signs posted.

I didn't hear any sounds of hunters, and I had gone all the way to the road to see if there were any human tracks. I saw a lot of deer tracks, along with numerous rabbit, and several turkey tracks. I would have to consider a wild turkey for a Sunday meal. I did hear some nearby soft shuffling of hooves, but what I heard mostly was the clack, clack of antlers banging on each other. This meant bucks fighting for territory.

I had tags for six deer, which included three does and three bucks. I had Mom and Millie get licenses for more tags so that I could remain sort of legal. I could use the landholder crop damage excuse, but I wanted to stay within the law as much as possible.

Quietly making my way through the snow was easy, but I had to be careful as I had my military parka on and wasn't visible to other hunters. I kept a constant scan for tree stands to make sure I wasn't sneaking up on someone. I came upon the doe herd that had some young deer, but there were also four good sized bucks taking turns on an older buck. The guy wasn't that old, as his rack wasn't that big. I figured him to be about five years old and the younger bucks were all two and three years. The way they were tag teaming the older deer, he would soon wear out, and then they would have to compete among themselves. I decided that if I could get two shots off fast enough, I should use up a couple of my buck tags.

Sitting in a comfortable position with the rifle barrel resting on the limb of a fallen tree, I had a perfect field of fire on all four of the bucks. My intent was to take two of the younger bucks, and try for some doe and another buck another day.

The two resting bucks were standing close to each other, and I practiced quickly going from one to the other to see if I might have a chance at a double. It was nearly perfect, as they were showing me their sides and only about ten feet from each other. From my position of only fifty to sixty yards from them, with nothing between us, I lined up on the buck to my left, thinking that my natural pull to the right while putting a new round in the chamber would put me on the second buck.

Crack!

I cycled the bolt and kept my eye on the scope as I came up on the second buck. He had his head up and hadn't moved, so I sighted in and shot.

Crack!

I watched it fall before swinging back to the first deer. He was down, but thrashing around. He didn't look like he was going to get up, so I swung around to where the last of the three young bucks was still going after the older buck. This was too good to be true, and I sighted in, wanting a clean shot at the younger buck while trying to make sure I wouldn't hit the older one.

When the young buck leaned back on his haunches before charging once again, I fired.

Crack!

The buck didn't go down right away; he stood to stagger and made a mournful howl before tilting over and falling. The old buck was moving back, bellowing at his herd. He vanished and the does disappeared almost as quickly.

Now came the hard part. I thought I might haul the deer up to the house, but decided to field dress them here before hauling them home.

I tagged each of the bucks, then walked to the ATV and drove it closer. Using rope and a small block and tackle, I hoisted each deer up to do the nasty work. Most people pick deer up by the back legs, but I usually did it backwards for two reasons. I like to cut the male scent glands out quickly, and if they are lower, you make it more difficult for a bad cut to taint the meat. The insides naturally fall out easier, and they also bleed out quicker that way.

My skinning knives got a quick workout as I made a big mess below where I dressed the deer. After doing each deer, I loaded it on a tarp in the back of the ATV. I used a shovel to dig up some frozen ground, leaves, and snow to cover the offal, knowing that scavengers would dig it up almost as soon as I left. I made a note of the location with GPS numbers, so I would be sure to get the dead tree I used as a prop pulled out during the coming summer.

At the house, I transferred the three deer from the ATV to the back of my pickup and headed to town. The butcher happily took the deer and took the tags off for the game warden. I was back home in time for me to wash up for lunch. Mom kept telling Millie that I was probably the best hunter in the family and always brought game home. I didn't disagree with her, but she was forgetting the many times I came back empty-handed when I went out for rabbit or quail.

When I told Mom about the wild turkey, she thought that would be a great Sunday meal, but also reminded me that we were going to have a feast of dove breast this coming Sunday, when Summer and Bradley would come by with Stanley and Gracie. Ezra was now a fixture at most of our evening and Sunday meals, and Mom tried to include him on most of our trips to Mount Sterling and Pine Ridge.

We were sitting in the living room, with a fire keeping the house warm, when Mom caught my attention. She nodded toward Millie who was standing at the sink leaning on her hands and breathing heavily. I went to her and asked, "Millie, are you okay? Why are you breathing that way?"

"The doc said I should do that when I get these false contractions. They have been coming pretty hard all morning. I wish they would just go away until the baby is due next week."

Mom was rolling her eyes and told me, "Go warm the truck up. We're taking Millie to let the doc have a look. Come on, Millie, let's get you in a heavy coat and get your bag."

Oh shit, this is the real thing. This is what it's like to become a father. I was so nervous and excited I was fumbling. I kept thinking that I wasn't this nervous when I had gone on patrols where people were going to shoot at me. Of course, I was trained for that. There isn't any training to become a father other than how your father acted, and I don't remember that.

I drove cautiously all the way to the clinic. The doc was expecting us as Mom had called ahead. Mom helped Millie get comfortable while the doc checked her out. The good doctor came out to me and said, "You're obviously on time, but you wouldn't have been in another fifteen minutes. Come on; watch your baby being born.

Mom and I were holding onto a grinning Millie's hands as she pushed her son out into the world. Mom was the first to remark, "You have a son, Mike. Millie, you said you were going to give Mike a boy and you did." Human delivery is similar to animal delivery, except that the baby doesn't try to stand right away. Humans take a long time to grow up while most animals are nearly full grown in a year. I watched as Millie held her new baby, while the doc did all of the follow-up stuff to Millie before turning her attention to the new addition. A nurse was helping the doctor as the two weighed and measured the infant before taking a foot print to make sure he could be identified. When they were done, Millie and the new baby were moved to a room with a couple of other women with new babies.

We watched as the nurse coaxed the baby into nursing on Millie by squeezing out some milk and rubbing it on the infant's mouth. Mom asked Millie, "Did you decide on a name? I know we talked about a lot of them."

"I want to name our baby after a Civil War General. Mike your mom told me you had a great, great, great uncle that was a Confederate General down in Florida. His name was John B. Grayson. This little baby is John B. Grayson."

I didn't have to ask what the 'B' was for. I was sure the birth certificate would read John Bernard Grayson.

Mom was so excited that she was a wreck. She kept saying how wonderful it was that her youngest was now a father. She also kept telling Millie that she felt like her mother now, so this was especially exciting.

I stepped out of the room and called Summer. I think Millie heard the squeal from the phone. Summer said Bradley and she would be at the clinic in fifteen minutes. She hung up so quickly that I didn't realize the connection was broken. Mom knew who I called, but Millie was still too fascinated by the infant who was still nursing slowly. Mom commented, "When Mike was a baby, he would lay on my stomach and nurse for the longest time. I swear he was a titty baby by the way it took him so long to get his fill."

Summer and Bradley came into the room and were surprised to find the infant still nursing. Mom repeated the story about my slow eating as an infant, and Bradley said, "Well, I can't blame him on keeping it in his mouth for as long as possible."

Summer elbowed Bradley, and then after giving her mom a kiss, she said, "Momma, Bradley and I are going to have a baby too. We'll have babies that can be friends. I hope I have a boy. Bradley says he needs a lot of boys to help on the farm."

My goodness, I was absolutely delirious to become a dad and maybe become a grandfather in such a short period of time. Mom looked on at us, and smiled with tears in her eyes, as she hugged me close to her. She said, "I'll go call your sister and brother. They told me to be sure to call them as soon as I could.

I could tell Millie was falling asleep, so I suggested that we let the nurse put the infant in the bassinette next to the bed and let Millie have a nap. It was only about five in the afternoon, but all of our stomachs were growling. Mom called Rosita to get the chores taken care of, and later told me the women were all as excited as we were.

We went to the Kitchen for a meal and announced to the world that Mike Grayson was now a dad. There were a lot of slaps on the back and handshaking that Mike was the father of a boy. All of the clichés about growing my own labor and how cheap can a guy get were said. Even the pushy Deputy Sheriff that worked the desk all of the time commented that I might want to read up on child labor laws.

Mom said, "By the time little John gets big enough to work on the farm, it will probably be illegal to use one of your kids under eighteen to help out. I heard a man can't let his kids work on the farm, even chores, before they are sixteen. Heck, my kids helped with chores from the time they were five or six. Picking eggs up was first, then putting hay out, followed by helping with milking until they were big enough to handle the stock. Farm kids need to be a part of the family."

I wasn't going to worry about it. I'm sure the way the family works, John would want to be a part of the farm as soon as he was big enough to help. My immediate concern was the snow that had begun while we were driving in. The way it was coming down was going to make a lot of roads quickly impassable.

I called the trailer and the answering machine picked up. The announcement said, "This is the county road commissioner's help line. All of our trucks are out right now and we will be working to keep our roads passable throughout the night. We will be salting the roads, but watch for ice patches. If we miss someone, leave your name and the road you're having a problem with. Thank you for calling the county road commissioner."

Hoping Jimmy was in a place where he could answer, I called his cell. "Hey, Mike. We have all nine trucks out right now. We should be able to keep up with it. We'll knock off about midnight and begin again about four or five."

"Who's driving the other three trucks?"

"Oh yeah, we have some buddies down for the hunting season, and they have lots of experience plowing snow. I thought it would be neat to have nine trucks on the road at the same time. You don't mind paying three extra men do you?"

"Not in the least, Jimmy. I'm glad to hear you have this weather under control. Did you hear what kind of snowfall is expected?"

Jimmy laughed, "Only that the lowlands could receive as much as six to eight inches, with higher elevations near doubling that. A lot of our roads are at those higher elevations. We'll keep the roads cleared, so don't worry about it. If I get in a panic, I'll call you. The only problem we might have is that this is really wet snow, and a lot of branches may fall. We might need your tree cutting crew. I'll let you know."

Well, that was taken care of. I called Ezra to make sure he had quit for the day and had sent his men home. He reported he had and also had received a call from Mom, letting him know about Millie and my new son. He said he would stop in at the Kitchen in about five minutes since he had not eaten yet.

Mom told me, "Eat, Mike. You'll need your strength if you end up working all night in this snow. The only thing you should do is go get Millie's truck with the plow and keep the drive cleared. Do Ben's while you're at it. Aren't you glad you just bought those special winter tires with the studs for all our trucks? I knew it was almost past time for that."

"I'll take off and get Millie's truck and clear the drive. I'll come back to town to see Millie and to bring you home so that Ezra doesn't have to drive up the mountain in this weather."

Ezra said, "The boys have the big truck so you can send them on wood deliveries if you want. That big truck has a good four wheel drive transaxle and you put new tires on it as well. They can earn their keep delivering wood to anyone who is panicking. You should probably charge an extra ten bucks a cord. I'm sure the men will get good tips with what you charge."

Going up the mountain wasn't bad yet. There wasn't but about four inches on the roads, but it was going to get deep fast by the way it was coming down. The women were finishing the evening chores when I swapped trucks. I told Rosita and Carmen that they should keep the cell phone close, as there might be a lot of wood calls. She was smiling at that, as it meant some extra money to the families.

I plowed what snow was on our drive and Ben's. As I headed back down the mountain, I dropped the blade on the areas that drifted so that if the big trucks didn't hit our area, we shouldn't have any problem getting home.

At the hospital, Doc told me, "Millie says she wants to take the baby home. She's already been up and the baby is healthy. It's you who has to decide if you want to take the baby home in this weather. I would rather you kept them here tonight and pick them up in the morning. Your Mom agrees with me on this. Go talk to Millie."

I sat on one side of the bed with Millie, while the bassinet was on the other. I talked to Millie, but I doubt she heard much. I finally kissed her and turned her head so she would pay attention. "Millie, Honey, the weather is really bad. Mom and I don't want to risk taking you back up the mountain in the dark. Please, Honey, stay here with John tonight and we will bring you home in the morning. I'll have the road crew make a special trip up the mountain to make sure we get home okay. I'm driving your truck with the plow to knock down drifts but we'll bring Mom's SUV tomorrow. Please Honey, I want you and our baby safe."

Millie smiled at me and told me, "I know you want your new son and me to be safe. I'll stay tonight, but our son needs to be on our mountain tomorrow. I feel it pulling me, Mike. That place is so strange, but it's so much a part of me and us. I think your mom has even become a part of it."

I told Millie how much I loved her and how happy she had made me by having our baby. She almost sat up in bed, puffing her chest out, "And I brought us a boy, a boy to keep the mountain."

Mystery Mountain was a place for some, but not for everyone. The Latinos were happy there. Teddy was contented, and the widow Fletcher was as laid back as an elderly lady could be, but almost all the locals looked at the mountain as if it was tainted. I knew some of the mountain's secrets, but I also knew there were more.

On the way home, I thought we should stop in to see the widow, and almost did 'coitus interuptus' of a Teddy and widow tryst. We were quiet and gently turned around in the widow's drive to head home. Mom said, "You know, Son, that could be Ezra and me if I had another place."

I asked, "Mom, do you want another place so you can entertain Ezra?"

Mom sighed as she answered, "Sometimes, Son. Ezra is a good man and we seem to work, but I don't want to lose what I have. He's the kind of man who might demand a homebound woman. I ain't that, as you well know. I wasn't a house mouse with your dad, and I won't be with any other man. If we ever address it, I'll tell him, but right now, I'd rather live with my son even if it does reek of something strange. Ha, ha, ha, ha."

"Mom, how could you say something like that? I love you, but I wouldn't think of you that way."

"Oh, yeah? You mean that for all those years we wrote each other you never thought we might have a good time in bed? After I got over your father passing away, you were the character in my imagination and dreams, Mike. That may sound sick to you, but it's true. I wanted to lie in your arms and feel you as a man. Ezra is fine, but no substitute for my fantasies."

I was climbing the mountain using the blade when necessary, while we talked. "Mom, you embarrass me. How could I think of you that way? You're my mom."

I almost giggled at the images that raced through my mind.

"Oh, come on, Mike, you know you used to sneak peeks at me when you were a young teen. I use to catch you all of the time, and your underwear told the story when I checked them the next day. See, we're no different, just in a different age and era.

"You have me there, Mom. I did think of you in that way when I was an early teen, then I later wanted a woman that would compare to you. Yes, I fantasized about you from afar and embarrassed myself because I did think of you that way."

"I said it was a fantasy, Mike, not something I want to become a reality. I'm sure you feel the same. When Millie and I talked about fantasies, she wanted to watch you make love to Summer. She said she wanted to watch you impregnate her daughter, but that never happened, of course. Mine was a fantasy too, but Millie told me that if I wanted it, she would make sure it happened. You see, Mike; your women love you more than you'll ever know. Don't worry, Son, I won't put the moves on you."

There was another nervous laugh before Mom patted me on the arm.

"Thanks, Mom. I always worried about those fantasies, but they only existed while I was far away."

We finally made it home, and I had to knock two feet of snow from the entrance to the machine shed before I could park Millie's truck. While Mom went inside, I made the tour of the property to make sure the water supplies were turned off, except for the feed to the milking parlor that was buried more then four feet underground. Since the milk house was heated by a burner on low, the water in there wouldn't freeze. I did a double check of the propane tank level and picked up an armload of logs before going into the house.

The fire had almost gone out, but still had enough embers to catch another log. Mom had built the fire up in the bedroom, so the house was soon toasty. Spook and Witch were content to lie by the fire on the big woven rug snoozing. We could hear the wolves trying to beg a warm place to sleep, but they had their own dens to hole up in.

The next morning, Mom and I were up doing chores shortly after five, and were almost done when the ladies from down the hill came in. Rosita apologized for not coming earlier, as she thought we might be sleeping late. I told her that we were used to doing chores, so they shouldn't feel bad. I let one of the Latino ladies finish milking the cow I was working on, and another lady did the third cow. We were easily filling ten gallon cans in the morning, and often almost one and a half of the big cans.

When we were finished and washed up, Mom invited the ladies into the house for breakfast. You could see them look at each other. Rosita told us, "We had to fix breakfast for our men before we came, but we didn't have time to eat. We should probably go home as the men will have to stay inside and won't have anything to do."

Mom laughed, "So do you want to do something constructive, or do you want to go home and be a toy?"

Rosita hung her head, "We are good wives and women. We want to do right by our men, but would love to stay to work with you. What will we do?"

"I'll set you up and let you churn butter with the milk we have. We'll skim the cream off the five gallon can and use the milk for drinking. I'll send you home with some. You ladies can make some butter while Mike and I go get Millie and the baby."

We were getting ready to go when my cell went off. Jimmy told me he thought the roads were mostly clear. He said he had been up my road and thought it was safe to bring my new son home. I asked him, "Jimmy, do you need any help or equipment?"

"We're fine, Mike. We're going to dump the salt in the trucks and wash them out. That's how we'll keep these trucks in good condition for the next ten years. You know that we are really lucky to have the men we do, Mike. Most are good mechanics, and they are working on the equipment this winter to put everything in top condition for our work next spring. I'll bet we're not nearly as busy next year as we were this past summer since we did a good job on the roads. You won't spend nearly as much on fuel, and you're going to have six of the laziest road men anywhere. Oh, I might have to correct that to nine of the laziest. The three guys who came don't want to leave. I'll beg if I think we need them. Meanwhile, we'll get ready for the next snowstorm that should be here day after tomorrow."

I used my truck, since it had a longer wheelbase and should be a smoother ride although the springs were a little stiffer. Checking out of the clinic was different this time, as we came in with just Millie, and were leaving with Millie and John. They had the birth certificate and a big sheet of parchment that declared the day and date on which John Bernard Grayson was born in the town of Stanton, in the great state of Kentucky, with the attending physician's and nurse's signatures. The way they treated a birth was almost ceremonial, but a true celebration of life.

We were able to make the trip home without incident, so John's first trip up the mountain was uneventful. As we pulled up the drive and viewed the cabin, there appeared to be a glow around the house. Mom was staring, and Millie was smiling, while her hand was on the baby in the car seat. Today was something special.

As soon as we parked the truck, the ladies in the house making butter poured out the door. Someone had shoveled the walk to the house for us. The women all crowded around to get their first peek of the baby. Mom had to act as traffic cop to clear the way to get Millie and John inside. Millie was walking pretty good, considering she had just given birth, but I knew that she was from hardy stock.

The baby soon was in his bassinet in the living area between the fireplace and the fancy new kitchen area. Mom had shown the women the churning equipment, and I'm sure she assumed that they would use the electric churn, but they were using both the electric and the hand churns. They were using the electric churn for the salted butter. They would measure out the exact quantity of salt and add it in before the churning began.

I could tell Millie quickly tired, as she sat on the couch at first, then she was shortly laying down, her eyes closed, breathing evenly.

I was startled when my cell phone rang, since the scene I was observing was so serene. Not wanting to make too much noise while Millie was resting, I went into my office.

"This is Mike Grayson."

"Mike, this is Byron, Eliza's nephew. I have some sad news, Mike. Eliza passed away last night. She wasn't sick, and was talkative and happy last night at supper. She went to bed in a new gown and passed in the night."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Byron. She was a special lady."

"Mike, Eliza gave me an envelope when she came here, and told me to open it if and when she passed. In the letter, she said she wanted to be buried up on the mountain next to Bud. She has directions to where the gravesite is, if you haven't seen it. Let me read the directions to you."

"It says to go to the big rock at the edge of the bluff at the far end of the vineyard. Just beyond the big rock is the tombstone. She has a check here for five hundred dollars to update the tombstone and for the burial. That isn't going to cover it, Mike, but she's left a good bunch of money that I can use to take care of this. Will you do this for Eliza?"

"Of course, Byron, I don't know whether we can find out about whether Bud was buried in a casket and vault, but I suppose if we were to dig down, we should be able to find out. I'll ask Harold, the local church pastor if he will help with this. Do you want to use the funeral home down here? These folks make a big deal out of a funeral, as I suppose they should."

My mind was racing, so I suggested, "Have Eliza prepared up there and I'll get some help digging to find out about the vault. I'll need to find out what the laws are about burying someone on private land. I'm sure it will be okay, though."

When we hung up, I sat back in my chair and thought of Eliza and how spunky and full of life she was. It was fitting that she died in her sleep without sickness or pain. I've missed the old girl, but I suppose now she was going to be with me up here on Mystery Mountain.

I called Benson to ask if he would find out about burial on private land. I called the funeral home next, and talked to the owner and director there. He told me to let him know when Eliza would be here and he would set everything up. He was also able to give me the name of the man he uses to letter tombstones. He said if I called the man, he would come get the tombstone and quickly cut it so it would be ready for the burial. Harold said he would certainly help out with the funeral, since he had known Eliza for many years, although they had disagreed on a few things. He laughed and said, "Eliza said she would never marry again and she didn't. I always felt that she was so full of life she should share it with a man. Like I said, we disagreed."

I called Jimmy, "Can you bring the little backhoe up to the house. I think that is the only way we're going to be able to dig a hole up here. You remember Eliza, who used to own this place, right? She passed away and wants to be buried up here next to her husband."

"Sure, Mike, we'll load it on the little trailer and bring it up in a little while. A couple of guys are out clearing a tree that fell on the edge of town. Ezra left an eighteen inch chain saw for us, so we should be able to take care of it. I'll get the backhoe loaded right away."

When I walked out of the office, Millie and Mom were looking at me with a concerned look. Millie wanted to know, "I heard you talking to the funeral man and to Harold. Who died?"

"Eliza passed away in her sleep last night. She wants to be buried next to Bud, who is buried near the far end of the vineyard. I'm going to walk out there and see if I can find it."

Millie said, "It's easy to see when you go around the big rock that fell off the bluff. There's a marker there that tells you when he was born and when he died. It's easy to find."

I began putting my boots on and with my heavy coat zipped up, I was about to go out the door when Mom said, "Why don't you take a shotgun and get a couple of rabbits for supper. If you were to get real lucky, we could send the girls home with rabbit too."

Now that was a tall order. How many people lived down there? Would it take two, four, six, or even more rabbits to feed all of them? One or two is more than enough for us, but who knows for them?

I took the Mossberg, dumped most of box of number six shells in my coat pocket, and picked up the rubber lined game bag that I threw over my shoulder. The dogs wanted to go with me, but they would scare the rabbits off long before I could get close. They were good dogs and minded me when I told them to stay.

The rabbits had been really thick all summer and I had seen signs where eagles and hawks had killed a rabbit and feasted on the spot. Unusual, but not unheard of, for an eagle when they didn't think there were any other predators around. Before I made it past the equipment cave, a bunny jumped from his cover and ran toward the vineyard. Duh, I was not prepared and hadn't loaded the shotgun yet. I put five shells in the gun, chambered a round and put another in. The law says you should only have three in a gun, but I always thought that was silly to have a hunting piece that would hold six rounds and only load three.

I began walking once again, and hadn't gone fifteen feet before another bunny took off from a tuft of grass.

Bang; one rabbit for the skillet.

There was a small pile of cut vines and apple limbs that I had not picked up yet near the end of the orchard and vineyard. Rabbits love a pile of brush, so I went up to it and stomped on the middle of it and waited. There was a bunch of scurrying inside the brush, so I stood back and watched. When nothing came out, I stomped again, this time two rabbits came out at once heading in the same direction.

Bang, bang; two more rabbits for the skillet.

I could see rabbit tracks everywhere as I walked between the rows of grape vines. This was ridiculous and they badly needed to be thinned out. I could import a bunch of foxes, but they would go after the chickens. We already had some of those around, as well as bobcats, and I've seen several wolves. Thank goodness there didn't seem to be any coyotes around, but it was plain that the mountain was a feast for all predators.

At the end of the row of grape vines, I kicked up another rabbit and nailed it. It was really close when I shot, so I tore it up pretty bad. There will hopefully be enough meat left to justify cleaning it. While I was picking that rabbit up and putting it into the bag, another got up and ran about fifteen feet and stopped. It was strange to have a rabbit stop and freeze out in the open like that.

A furry gray animal lunged from behind a rock and grabbed the rabbit. It stopped while holding the rabbit in its mouth and looked at me. I watched as it lifted the rabbit, slowly turning but trying to keep an eye on me and trotted back behind the rock. Now that was interesting. I had never been that close to a wolf, at least that I knew of.

Realizing that I had been shooting a lot, I refilled the shotgun with more shells. Just ahead was the big rock that Byron told me the letter talked about and that Millie has described. When I went around the large slab of rock that had fallen from the rock bluff, there was the tombstone. There were several cedar trees framing the area where the tombstone was. It was almost as if someone had planted them to make the gravesite nicer looking. I'd bet Eliza did that.

I stood there a few minutes thinking of her and wondering if her spirit was already here on the mountain, joined with her husband and life mate. I could almost hear Eliza joking with me about the rabbit and deer problem I had. I'd bet she ate a lot of rabbit in the fall and winter.

I was about to leave when I saw a movement beyond the cedars. I stood perfectly still, wondering what it might have been. Bears would already be hibernating, but deer may be close.

When I didn't want to stay still any longer, I slowly moved to the outer edge of the cedars and looked beyond. There was a herd of deer rooting in the snow for any grass shoots underneath. Two young bucks and six full grown does, but no young ones with this group. Of course, by this time of year, the fawns should already have lost their baby fur and were as big as most adults. Any young bucks would be growing little nubbins.

One of the does saw me and looked like she was going to bolt for an instant, but she shook her head and snorted before going back to foraging. How did she know I wasn't going to try to shoot her? They knew I was shooting, but they somehow knew today wasn't their turn.

I took another long circular route back to the house and was able to get seven more rabbits. That hopefully put a dent in the local population, but I doubted it.

There was a game cleaning table under the lean-to behind the heated pump house. Rabbits are easy to clean, but leave a big mess, especially if you don't save the hides. We had a big feed bucket with a lid and I put the leftovers in it to bury later.

We kept some super-sized plastic bags in the pump house, so I put all of the rabbits in one, and after washing off my hands and rinsing the game bag out, I went to the house. I cleared the shotgun at the door and went inside.

Mom saw the big bag of rabbits and came over for them. "Figuring on feeding all of Stanton? The great white hunter brings food."

Millie was nursing John, and it fascinated me to see her with a smile on her face while gazing at her baby. It was a special sight. Even the other women, who probably were mothers themselves, were as interested in the special sight.

Mom was busily doing something with the rabbits, until she said, "You really messed this one up. My goodness, did you stick your gun down a rabbit hole and pull the trigger, or were you too fast again, like you used to be?"

"Shot a little quick, Mom. I could have let him run a little, but you don't think about that. I saw the other herd of deer today. They were behind a group of cedars. It's strange the way this plateau the house is built on goes on around the mountain as far as it does. I wonder how far around it goes. There might be more tillable areas over that way, but it looks like there are more big rocks than where we are. I'm going to do some more exploring now that we own the whole thing. I haven't seen the far side yet and wonder what might be over there."

I called the man the funeral director gave me about the marker. He was as friendly as everyone else I seemed to meet in the area. When I described the stone he said, "I remember Bud. He and Eliza were always good people. I made that stone for her a long time ago. I can sure add her to it for you."

When I asked what I needed to do, he said, "I'll come out tomorrow and you can show me how to get at the stone. I'll bring my compressor and mini sandblaster. That's how I cut letters in the marble. If the other letters need to be dressed up, I'll do that while I'm at it."

I called Byron to tell him I found the grave and to tell him that Bud had just Bud as his name under their surname. Did he think Eliza would want her middle name on the stone? He told me, "I'm sure if the right side says Bud, and the left should say only Eliza with the dates. You know Bud and Eliza were the same age, so just use the year like it is on Bud's side. Thank you for going to the trouble for her. She spoke well of you, although she didn't know you all that good. You did help her to find her way here so that I could enjoy her for a while. Remember that she left some money, so don't worry about what this is going to cost. Call me when you have it set up so we can send her to the funeral home."

I called Benson about the private burial, and he said, "I can't find anything, and the funeral parlor owner and director said he didn't know of any law that says you can't. The cemetery custodian says that he didn't think there would be a problem, especially up on your mountain."

Gert, the lady at the county clerk's office answered the phone with a curt 'Records'.

"Hi, Gert, this is Mike Grayson, do you remember me?"

"How can I forget the man who now owns almost all of Mystery Mountain? What can I do for you, Mike?"

"Eliza passed away and wanted to be buried next to her husband, Bud, up on the mountain. Benson couldn't find a reason for not being able to do it, but I thought I should call you in case I needed a permit like we did for Ben."

"No need, Mike, but if you want to bring a copy of the death certificate by, we'll enter it in the book and make a note on the back of Bud's. That's nice of you to do that for her. Not many would consider doing something like that."

"Eliza was a sweet lady, and did help me to get my own place."

"Well, you got your own place all right, and now except for Ted Anderson, you own the whole thing. I don't even think you can call Mrs. Fletcher's place as being on the mountain. Hers, and Ted's place, are both like Ben's, only a hundred sixty acres that was homesteaded way back."

"Mike, when is the viewing at the funeral home?"

"I think we can do it Friday and have the funeral on Saturday. I don't think it will be a big service."

"You might be surprised, Mike. Eliza knew everyone around here, and everyone knew Eliza. There are so many tales about the woman that no one would believe them all. You'll hear a lot of them at the wake. I'll spread the word for Friday."

A knock on the door brought me out of my daze. It was Jimmy, "Come in, take your boots off, and have a cup of coffee."

"I brought the backhoe and I have Jet out in the truck. I can't leave him out there."

Mom spoke up, "Go get the other young man. You're Jimmy, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I'll go get him."

The two men came back and sat on the bench by the door and took their boots off. I waved at them to sit in the rockers in front of the fire to warm up and they were heading that way when they both stopped dead in their tracks to look at the baby. Little John was sleeping peacefully, not minding the noise that was going on.

Jet was smiling, "My, my, my, my sis, sis, sis, sister ha, ha, ha, has a ba, ba, ba, baby. Ca, ca, cute."

Millie was standing by the table and told Jet, "Thank you, his name is John."

"Ja, ja, ja, ja, John, I like tha, tha, tha, that."

I told the two what we needed to do and they said it shouldn't be a big deal. They would dig down to find out whether there was a vault. Jimmy said he used to help dig graves at the county cemetery, as it was one of things that Ralph was into. "You know what, Mike? I'll bet the cemetery doesn't have anyone to do that now. You can sub us out to do that and we'll get the money for the grave and fill-in and we'll give you some for the backhoe. Sound good?"

"Sure, go ahead. If you can make an extra buck, do it. You all will probably soon need a weekend in the city to blow off some steam."

Jimmy laughed, "I think there are enough unattached ladies who are looking for company right around here. I'm surprised you stayed single as long as you did."

The guys and I put our boots and coats on and I led them while they drove the backhoe between the orchard and the vineyard to the far end. We went around the big slab of rock and I pointed to the tombstone.

Jimmy got off and said, "Watch this. You won't believe the touch this man has. You've seen him do some awesome stuff, but every time I see him do something, I marvel at what he can do."

The ground was frozen solid, but Jet was able to begin stripping off layers of frozen ground. He would make a pass about six or seven feet long with the bucket. When he was down about eighteen inches, the earth began coming out of the hole like normal dirt.

It was then that I realized he was digging the hole to the side of the marker that Eliza would be buried on. With a gentle touch, Jet was scooping up layers of dirt until he saw the top of something. We were down about five feet, and it looked like what we were seeing was a metal casket.

I jumped into the hole with a shovel and dug down around the metal box to find handles on the side. That's what it was, a metal casket.

After climbing out of the hole, I called the funeral home and asked the director about the metal casket. He said he still used them and he thought they might be as good as a vault. "Do you have any of those in stock?"

"No, Mike, but I can have one here in the morning. When are we going to do this?"

"We'll have the wake or visitation Friday evening, and the funeral Saturday. There shouldn't be too many people."

"I don't know, Mike. The word's out, as people have been calling. Everyone around here knew Eliza. Everyone who has called says how nice it is that you're doing what you're doing."

"Okay, Rich, we're digging the hole now and will leave it squared for the cradle to lower the casket. We'll make it the exact same depth as the other."

"Perfect, I'll have the guys from the cemetery bring their equipment out there."

I left Jet and Jimmy finish the hole and walked back toward the house. I kept having that eerie feeling that someone was watching me. The feeling would come and go, but it was mostly when I was out away from the house. Very strange.

Byron answered his phone on the first ring, and I told him what we were doing. He said he would have Eliza sent down to the funeral home in Stanton to be put into a casket here. He said again that he would take care of all of the expenses. I was wondering how much the lady had saved up. I don't think Byron ever charged her for her manufactured home, so she probably had every cent I gave her, plus all of the Social Security money she had saved over the years.

Back in the house, I found out Mom was baking all the rabbits so that the ladies could take some meat home for supper. Mom thought that if we kept two, the rest might feed most of them down there. She did tell me not to invite Jet and Jimmy, as I didn't get enough rabbits for everyone.

As chance would have it, Ezra pulled up to the house as I was watching Jimmy and Jet load the backhoe. I had to tell him the whole story and watch him nod in his usual quiet manner.

I think the guys thought they might be invited for supper, but I knew that Mom would be mad at me if I did, and there really wasn't going to be enough for everyone.

The guys were going to be invited up very soon. Mom would have a good time cooking for nine more young men.

Ezra said that they might be able to work tomorrow, as the snow wasn't deep where they were working. He did say that in all likelihood, they would still be working on the local paths when spring came, then would start work on the path to Pine Ridge.

After the evening chores, Mom drove the ladies home so they didn't have to walk in the cold wind with their oven cooked rabbits. The ladies were excited to have rabbit for supper.

When we sat down at the table, in a short prayer, Ezra said, "Lord, you take one of us and you give us another. Take care of that fine lady and let her be at her man's right hand and watch over this young'un while he grows to be a good man. Thank you for this food."

When I opened my eyes it seemed as if the room was brighter and I felt that presence once again.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 23


Once again, I was surprised at the attendance to the visitation and funeral. What was even more surprising was that even with the snow coming down, at least thirty cars and trucks full of people came out to the mountain gravesite. In the blowing snow and freezing cold, Harold quickly said his prayer and the cemetery people lowered the casket.

Mom made the mistake of telling the women they could come in to use the bathroom, and I think there easily were fifty people visiting in the house at the same time. The longer people stayed to warm up in front of the fire the more coffee Mom made, and she even whipped up a huge batch of cookies in the new stove.

All of the women were all over little John, with Millie full of pride showing off our baby. The men were offered and sampled some of our wine. It was too bad that I didn't have some of the new wine out, since the stuff they drank was some of my private stock.

Byron was able to settle up with the funeral home and cemetery men, and wanted to know how much he owed me for everything else. I shook his hand and thanked him for taking care of Eliza during the past couple of years.

Thank goodness this was farm country, as people began leaving to do evening chores. When the only people remaining were Harold, Martha, Ezra, Byron and his wife, along with Jimmy and Jet, who came with the backhoe to fill the grave, Mom pulled a ham from the spring house. She then warmed up some sweet potatoes and home canned peas to go along with it. Everyone ate while thinking of the lady who was now back on the mountain. Actually, it was more her mountain than mine. At that thought, I felt her presence. There were a lot of souls up here.

After eating, Byron said, "I'm not going to try to make it back to Lexington tonight. We made reservations at the Starlight Motel. Can you believe that lady was telling us to come have a swim in their heated pool? It's got to be twenty degrees in town, and it's snowing there too. Sure, we'll go swimming. Riiiight."

Harold was moving toward the pile of coats on the boot bench, "We need to go, as I have to make sure I'm ready for you in the morning. Just because you have an infant doesn't mean that you don't still need to visit with me on Sunday."

Martha informed us, "Bring the baby and sit in the back. If he gets fussy, take him into the baby room. It has a big window so you can see, and speakers so that you can listen to Harold go on, and on, and on, and on."

"Enough from you, you preacher's wife. I expect better obedience and reverence, my sweet."

"Sure, Harold," Martha said, rolling her eyes, "As soon as you get your sermon down to fifteen minutes max, I'll be applauding and revering all right. Come on, smoking tongue; let's go home to give it a rest."

We all had to laugh at the banter between the preacher and his wife.

The snow was coming down really hard while we did our chores. By the time we finished milking and feeding the outside animals, we decided to get them under the lean-to on the barn. The snow was getting really deep. We let the young buck into the lean-to area to share the warmth of the other animals. That deer was smart and constantly stayed near the steer.

Inside the house, we watched as the weather became more intense. The television channels all said that the higher elevations might receive up to eight inches, but we already had over a foot.

I called Jimmy, "You might want to get out early tonight. We're over a foot of snow now, and who knows what has fallen on the north side of the county. Call me if you need a driver."

Jimmy said, "With nine of us here, if we need a driver, I'm going to get rid of a bunch of men."

"Don't be hard on the guys, Jimmy. They have been Johnny on the spot so far, so let them show you what they can do. The snow is supposed to continue through tonight and all day tomorrow. Do as much as you can, but see if you can keep the hard roads clear. We'll work on the secondary roads tomorrow."

Knowing that I might be needed to help tomorrow, I turned in as early as possible. Little John woke us up once, and I was able to watch as the little man sucked and sucked until he finally fell asleep. His mother smiled the entire time. As we snuggled down after putting John in his bed, Millie said, "Thank you, Mike. These are the most precious moments of my life. When I had Summer, I was too young to know how important it is to have a baby. Little John means so much to me and to us. I love you, Mike, and if I'm able, I want another. Please humor me, Mike. This baby is really special to me."

What do you say to your wife when she tells you these things? You don't say a word. You kiss her neck and hug her to you as you both drift off to sleep.

Chores the next morning were done by wading through over a foot and a half of snow. Mom and I were able to get the cows milked and the others fed before the ladies from below were able to come up the hill. Mom hurried them inside and gave them coffee, then began preparing breakfast as I finished by picking up the eggs and feeding the chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. Ah yes, turkeys, and it is getting closer to Thanksgiving.

The ladies ate with us and Mom told them to wait a minute and she would run them home in her SUV.

I asked Millie and Mom if they thought we should try for church with almost two feet of snow. "You know there is going to be some big drifts out there. What do you think?"

Millie said, "I want to take our baby to church his first Sunday, regardless of the weather. This is too important to worry about how deep the snow is. We'll take my truck, it has the big blade in front and you can push the snow out of the way if there is a bad drift."

We quickly dressed and decided to get an early start. The extra snow wasn't that much of a problem, and Mom suggested that I plow the snow off the drive to Ben's place so the Latinos could get to church if they wanted.

Going down the mountain was tricky, and when we reached the widow Fletcher's, Mom called her. I couldn't hear the whole conversation, but it sounded like she said "Teddy and I won't be going to church this morning."

Mom chuckled as she hung up on the call.

At the church, I let the ladies out, and then used the plow on Millie's truck to clear the parking lot. It was getting close to time for the bible class when I finished, so I parked and went in, stomping the snow off my shoes.

There weren't very many people in the adult bible class. Harold sat with us and said, "We don't know what kind of weather they had in the days Jesus was learning from the elders, but some of them had to be like this. That you are here to learn is important, as I have the calling to teach. I'm not supposed to be a preacher; I'm supposed to be a teacher. I'm supposed to help you interpret the Bible as it is understood by the scholars that care. Help me; pray with me."

There was perfect quiet. "Heavenly Father, help us to learn what is right and what is wrong from your book and teachings. You have given us many conflicting thoughts and ideas of what you want, but you keep letting us interpret them for ourselves. Help us to understand what you want to tell us."

Harold didn't say anything else, but waited until almost everyone raised their head and looked at him. He smiled and said a simple, "Amen".

The man stood in front of us and said, "I always want to teach you what I am supposed to. Sometimes, I don't understand everything that I'm supposed to teach. I don't have a phone I can pick up and say, "God, what do you mean when you had those men write this? I mean I wonder what he really meant. Of course, God doesn't answer in words that are spoken directly to me, but often when I'm preparing a sermon, my fingers are taken over by someone else. I'm sure I'm being directed to tell you something. This morning, I'm telling you that I'm told to tell you, 'Thank you for coming to our house of worship to hear his word through me.' You see, that is what I hear and what I bring to you today. I'm going to say the exact same thing in my quick sermon today. Please help those who need your and our help. Please take care of our elderly and needy. Let's have some coffee and attend the service in fifteen minutes."

True to his word, Harold's sermon was about the same as his class. He kept appealing to us to keep reading the Bible and to keep giving our interpretations as all of them were important to mix together to get the real answer. He emphasized to everyone present that being a good person, thinking good thoughts for others, and helping those in need were what make mankind good.

The whole service wasn't more than thirty minutes, but it did ring home.

Little John was quiet the entire service and remained that way most of the way home. Harold and Martha joined us for dinner, and brought a lot of laughter with them. They needed us to lighten them up, and we needed them for our balance. Ezra was the strange one. He had attended church with us, but was always just sitting, listening, and watching to see what we did and said.

He joined in the conversation and spoke to Harold. "You know that I lost my faith in God when my Rachel passed. There was no good reason for her to be taken by that horrible disease. I wondered at the compassion of God if he could let a good woman like that suffer as much as she did. I still don't understand why, Harold, but between these people and you, I'm understanding how important what you told us today is to all who listen and follow those ideals. I do think good thoughts for those that are needy. When I can, I help out as much as possible. I've always tried to live my life as a friend, a good neighbor, and man who cares for his fellow man or woman. Life has given me Mike and his family to give my life a new meaning. Before Mike, I was waiting to die. Now, I can't wait for the next day. Harold, I may not be the Bible thumper you'd like, but I'm there with you in the way you taught today."

"Thank you, Ezra. I don't believe you absolutely have to read the Bible or be a Bible thumper, as you say, to be a good person. Those good thoughts are what make you a good person. Thanks for coming to be with us on Sunday. I know Bea has a lot to do with you coming, but you are there and listening. That's the important part."

Martha elbowed Harold in a way to lighten the conversation, "See, motor mouth, a short sermon has meant more than one of your long winded tirades that has most of the older men snoring. Keep it up, Preach, you'll get a lot of praise for that."

All of us had a laugh at that.

I asked the ladies, "Can you make up a couple dozen sandwiches and a couple thermoses of coffee. I want to go find the guys and give them something to eat. I'm sure they are smart enough to get something, but they are going to keep going and going while trying to get the roads clear, and won't stop like they should."

The ladies made sandwiches from the huge roast we had enjoyed. With a basket full of sandwiches and three thermoses full of coffee, I took Millie's truck to hunt Jimmy down first, then to be directed where the other eight were.

I called Jimmy and he was on the main road to Pine Ridge. He told me to meet him at the county line turnaround, as he was almost there. Although the snow was still coming down hard, the pass Jimmy just made while spreading salt on the road, had the one lane clear.

The big truck with the flashing strobe was sitting in the cleared area the men used for a turnaround. What was bad was that where our responsibility ended going toward Pine Ridge, there had to be two feet of snow on the road. There was no way a car could get through that. A high pickup with four wheel drive might, but even that would be risky.

Jimmy was happy to see me and offered, "I'd bet you could run for road commissioner over there and get it, Mike. This is our second trip through the state roads to make sure we keep them clear. We have Stanton pretty clean, except where people have left their cars on the street. We've tried to keep from burying them, but the people are going to have to dig them out to move them."

Jimmy wolfed down two sandwiches and enjoyed a hot cup of coffee. He told me that he and the men had knocked off around midnight last night and began again at five. He said he thought most everyone in the county was staying in, except the few who wanted to go to church and a few who needed something at the store. I told him that I wanted to find the other men to give them a break too. Jimmy wrote down a list of the other eight cell numbers, as he said that the radio doesn't always work well enough to depend on. He also marked where each of the guys was working on my county map. I told him I would head for the farthest and work backward.

It took over two hours to hook up with the other eight guys. Thank goodness the county isn't that big, and that all of the men had cell phones. I decided to ask Maude if I should pick up some of the cost for them. When I had given the last man something to eat and drink, the snow appeared to be slowing down.

On the way up the mountain, half the road was very clear and I met a big truck plowing snow off the road about halfway up. I cleared Ben's drive but found mine clear all the way to the house with the parking area cleared as well. The only vehicle out was Ezra's and it was shoveled out around it. The walk to the house and to the barn had been shoveled.

I brought the basket and thermoses to the house and stood on the door rug to tell the ladies I would do chores. Mom smiled at me and said, "Rosita and Carmen already came up and helped us do them. They really appreciated that you cleared their drive for them. It could use another pass now though."

"I just made a pass up and down, Mom. I pushed the snow off to the side in their parking area. Now who was the good Samaritan that shoveled the snow off the walks?"

Millie was holding John and told me, "Doroteo came up to check on the wine and shoveled snow for an hour or so. I think he used that as an excuse to have a couple of more glasses of wine. He brought in some of the new wine for you to taste. He said that he had promoted fermentation of some so you could sell it early. He also brought some of what he called grappa brandy. He said that it is really good, but a little strong."

I hung my coat and sat to take my boots off. Mom said, "Ezra helped me clean the floors after all of the people were here yesterday. I think that's the first time the floors have really been so dirty. I'm glad you learned from the time you could walk to take your shoes off when you come in the house. It sure helps the floors and keeps the house clean."

"You know, Mike," Ezra said, from a rocking chair, "The weather this winter is going to keep us from finishing the two local paths. The wire crew isn't working at all, as they say it's too cold. I'd like to take a week off before Thanksgiving and take Bea to Chicago. She says that it's dumb to go up there in this cold, and wants to go to either New Orleans or Key West, Florida. I'm not sure about flying on no airplane. She says it's no big deal, but..." Ezra left what he was saying hanging a minute.

"Hell, I'll tell it like it is. I'm damned afraid to fly. That is scary to even think about, but Bea says it's no big deal. She told me she'll get me half plowed before we go and I'll be fine. I'm not sure though. You've flown all over the world, aren't you afraid?"

"I was terrified for the first fifteen minutes the first time I flew, but I kept seeing all of those people reading and drinking coffee or a drink and realized that the men flying the airplane didn't want anything bad to happen either. The hostesses were very kind and I kind of enjoyed looking out the window after changing seats with another man. I got a little funny feeling when I flew over the Atlantic or the Pacific, as we're flying about seven or eight miles high over all of that water. It made me practice swimming a lot more whenever I could."

"Put like that, Mike, it might not be that bad, but I think I'll have a little something before I get on the airplane just to settle the nerves."

Mom told me, "While I'm gone, little Marita is going to stay up here to help Millie with the baby. She's not married and isn't interested in the men at the place down there. I really like her and she does speak English very well. She's the little Mayan girl that I told you was coming. Her sister took off for Cincinnati for a nanny position, but Marita would rather live in the country. She loves it up here on the mountain."

Millie was rocking the baby and said, "I really don't need help. I can take care of the house and my men without help. I'll have to watch Marita with my handsome husband though. She is a little cutie, so she might be a temptation for Mike."

I laughed, "My goodness, this little girl that I haven't met yet has gone from a sweet little Mayan princess to a cute little temptress in thirty seconds flat. I suppose I'd better lock our bedroom door at night."

Mom giggled and said, "Don't do that, or it'll get too cold in that end of the house. She'll be coming into your room to share the bed to keep warm."

Ezra was looking back and forth between Mom and Millie, trying to get a feel for whether they were just teasing or saying something else. I winked at the man to let him know the ladies were just teasing. At least I hoped so.

Mom told us, "She has a really strange Mayan or Aztec name that means 'little woman' but I can't pronounce it. I'm sure she'll tell us a lot about the Mayan culture."

"So, Mom, when are you guys going to go to wherever it is you and Ezra want to go?" I wondered if she had already made reservations.

She looked at Ezra, "Will you agree to go south for a week? I think Key West would be beautiful this time of year. Wouldn't you like to sit under the palm trees out on a sandy beach, and look at the sexy young ladies in T-back swimsuits?"

Ezra grunted, meaning he didn't know how to answer, so he grunted to stay safe. The women could take his answer as anything they wanted, without him risking the wrong answer. He was going to have to lighten up around Mom. She was always the prankster, the one who would tease you into doing things against your nature.

Mom said, "Well, I guess that means we're going to Key West. Let me use the Internet and check on flights and hotels. They probably have a package from around here or Cincinnati, maybe even Lexington, since there will probably have to be a connection anyway. It sure was easier and cheaper before Delta pulled out of Cincinnati and left that big airport mostly empty."

Mom wiggled her finger for Ezra to follow her into the office and the two disappeared.

I sat with Millie, and when she said it was time to feed John, I asked, "Okay, you need to show me how to change his diaper so I can help you out. I may not do it all the time, but I should know how."

Millie showed me how to do it, wiping him off to get him clean, then picking his feet up and sliding the diaper under him. She said, "These paper diapers are really good because you don't have to use safety pins. They have these tabs that have glue on them. It makes them easy to put on."

I asked, "What are you doing with the diapers you are taking off, the dirty ones?"

Your mom has a big garbage can on the porch outside that we will have to burn when you burn trash. I know you take the cans and bottles to town, but burn the trash that you can. Your mom says these will burn with the other trash."

"I need a deeper hole to burn trash in. I think I'll dig a deeper hole and put some of those concrete blocks around it. If I make it deep enough, I can put a piece of wide rat wire over it keep the sparks from flying off. This will give me a reason to do that." Thinking about it, I realized that if I was careful putting in the concrete blocks and knocked some holes in their sides near the bottom they would act as flues to get air to the bottom of the pit for complete combustion, so I wouldn't have to scoop out unburned trash along with the ashes.

I was holding my son and said, "Good going, Son, you already have me doing things for the family."

Turning to Millie, I said, "I really do want to be a good dad. I want to be to John what my dad was to me. He taught us kids to be good people and to work hard. I'm going to work on doing that with my kid."

Millie hugged me as I held the smiling infant who was making lip smacking noises. She took John and sat down, unbuttoned her blouse and held the little guy to her breast. He began nursing hungrily.

Mom came in and asked, "Would you mind if we left tomorrow? There is a package that isn't sold out yet, that leaves from Lexington at nine tomorrow morning. Ezra and I can drive up and leave the car or his truck in the long term parking lot. We would get back next Monday, but they have an option for another two days that is cheap if we want it. Is it all right to be gone that long?"

"Sure, Mom, we'll be fine. We need you around, but you can take a break every once in a while."

Mom almost looked guilty when she said, "I know, Son, but it's going to be tough to leave you two for that long. This is home now, and I'm a homebody." She turned to Ezra and firmly said, "But I am not a house mouse. I'm not the kind to be locked up in the house all the time. I'm a farm woman."

Ezra rolled his eyes, "Hey, at least I can get you off to a remote spot so we can enjoy each other's company. I better get home and pack. I have a suitcase, so I don't have to make a flying trip to Walmart in Mount Sterling. What all should I bring?"

Mom told him, "Bring some dressy slacks and shirts, but you don't have to bring a dress coat. You'll want some jeans and shorts, if you have them. If you have a swimsuit, bring it or we'll pick up some shorts and a swimsuit down there. As for shoes, bring some shower flip flops to walk around in. If you want, we can pick up some sandals for you. You won't need much as you don't have to wear a lot of fancy clothes down there. Now get going and pick me up at five thirty. That should give us plenty of time. Do you know how to get to the airport in Lexington?"

Ezra nodded and told us, "I've picked my kid up there several times. He hasn't been home in several years. It's about time he visits. He's a little strange and isn't comfortable down here. He's been out in San Francisco for fifteen years or so now. He has what he calls a partner, but won't bring him. I don't care how he lives, as long as he's happy. Maybe we'll go out there and visit him one of these days."

When Ezra left, Mom said, "That's the first he's told me his son might be gay. I suppose the boy must be if Ezra used the term 'partner'. I'm sure glad you're straight, Mike. I just love my grandbaby."

It didn't take Mom long to pack, as she's pretty efficient and I'll bet her bag is lighter than Ezra's. She probably has a couple of cotton dresses, two or three pairs of shorts and tops, her swimsuit, shoes, toiletries, and she's packed.

The next morning, Mom was up and dressed, waiting for Ezra while I worked on the chores. The Latino ladies came up to help, and brought Marita with them. I went into the house to be introduced before going back out. The little girl was cute, but was darker than her cousins from farther north. Her facial features were a little flatter, but not unattractive. I liked her smile and her willingness to work. She wanted to come out to help with the chores, but Mom told her to stay inside so she could give her a list of instructions.

We were finishing the chores when Ezra drove up. Mom was out the door with her bag before he could shut the truck off. She gave me a hug and kiss, "Take care of our family, Mike. I'll be back in a week, all rested up. Bye, bye."

Mom got in the truck while Ezra was still trying to figure out what to do. I waved at him and grinned. He rolled the window down and said, "I told the men that they could work if the weather was good, but to call Jet first. See you next week, Mike."

I bet they will both be in shock when they get off the plane in Key West. The heat and humidity will hit them like a brick wall, but they'll love it. I was almost envious; it was 'almost' because I had Millie and John right here with me.

I gave Millie and John a kiss and said I was going to take a couple of small cans of milk to the market as we had more than enough for butter and buttermilk. My intent was to see if there were any other farmers around that might have a lead on cheap fencing, and possibly some yearlings I could pick up in the spring. I also wanted to stop by the road yard to check in with the men. They would probably be resting up from the non-stop road clearing.

I was able to quickly sell my milk at the dairy tent. The tent wasn't really a tent, but a shack that they called a tent. The shack had a big pot-bellied coal burning stove in the middle of the building that a lot of men sat around and told impossible stories while waiting for someone to bring what they needed.

While I had a cup of the very dark strong coffee, I talked about my plan to buy some yearlings in the spring. A couple of men said they would sell me a few from their herds. Both were dairy farmers and were selling the steers that hadn't been sold yet. I would prefer to buy Angus or Herefords, but no one there had any. One man said that there was a beef farmer farther north that he thought was trying to thin his herd. He would check around and give me a call.

All of them were happy with the way the roads had been kept passable through the heavy storm. One farmer said, "I was really surprised to see your trucks come by at least twice during the storm, and they made a last trip by to finish clearing the snow down to the stone. You're doing a hell of a job, Mike."

I kept thinking that with nine guys and buying equipment and fuel, being a road commissioner may be costing more than it paid. I would be sure to talk to Maude about that.

At the road yard, I went into the office trailer and found Jimmy busily filling out a state road report. When he looked up, he said, "Hey, Mike, I've found a couple of ways to get a little more money for the county. The state has funds that aren't used every year because the county road commissioners don't apply for them. I'd bet they don't even realize what's available. The counties with cities probably apply for and get the max allowed, but the little counties don't ever apply. Look here, it asks how many people are employed by the county. This means all of us, including you, as you're employed as road commissioner. That might even include a percentage for Maude. They ask if subcontractors are used in addition to, or in place of, regular employees. You sometimes use Ezra's crew, but not in place of employees. Mike, you're golden on this, and we should be getting whatever the max is that the state has to give."

"That's great, Jimmy. I was just thinking that I needed to look at the books for the operation to see how it's doing."

Jimmy sat back in his chair, "So far, Mike, this group is keeping up with the roads and not using up the money allocated to us by the county. I'm told that we will be allowed about fifteen percent more this coming year than this past year. If that's a fact, you will personally be knocking down some big bucks. Give me a budget to work with, Mike, and I'll show you what we can do."

"Great news, Jimmy. I think what we should do with the money that we think is a windfall, is to watch fuel prices and buy a lot when it is low. We use the same diesel in all of the equipment and there's no reason why we can't store it here at the yard. We can do that with gasoline, but we'll have to put stabilizer in both fuels so it doesn't get stale on us. The other thing we need to do with gasoline is to see if we can buy some without ethanol. That stuff eats carburetors and fuel systems."

"I'll look into that, Mike."

The phone on Jimmy's desk rang, and he answered "Road Commissioner's office."

Jimmy listened for a few minutes smiling before saying, "Thank you, Ma'am. I'm glad we were able to clear your road. If you are on a county road, we will clear it for you. Stay warm now."

"Mike, that is about the twentieth call we've gotten this morning to compliment the guys on keeping the roads clear. Having nine trucks out is the trick, and we don't have to kill ourselves. This is going well. Let me get back to submitting for this grant and work on the federal one. The guys are fooling with equipment today. I think that by the time spring comes, all of our equipment will be like new. Do either of your farm tractors need work? We can do them too if you want."

These guys were too good to be true. I stopped in the big pole barn and found two groups of men working on two different graders. They had the engines torn down and working on them. They were smart enough to have some electric heaters blowing warm air on them. I chatted with them for a few minutes before leaving for Maude's.

I called my bookkeeper/accountant to see if she had a few minutes and she told me to come on by. She joked, "I won't even go put decent clothes on either. You can come by and ogle my luscious body. Gene just left, so there may be something running down my leg, but you're used to that."

That woman was a nasty tease.

Maude was in her usual shorts, half open blouse, and no shoes. She kept her house warm enough so she didn't have to wear much, enjoying not being encumbered by a lot of clothes.

"Maude, I know you've been closely watching the road crew income and expenses, but I 'm concerned about whether or not we are really under the allotments right now. How is that business doing?"

"Oh, Mike, you don't have a thing to worry about. I would worry if you were taking a big chunk for salary, but you haven't taken a dollar from the county payments so far. That you are supporting nine men and have even added to your equipment is amazing. You've added an office trailer and a pole barn at the county yard, and from the gossip this morning, you are some kind of super hero for keeping the roads cleared. People were able to drive all the way to Mount Sterling without a problem, even during the heaviest snowfall. I'm told our roads were better than those north of us, and forget about going toward Pine Ridge. They have the same kind of good old boys we had here. They need a Mike Grayson to straighten them out."

"Maude, Jimmy is filling out some forms for state grants for road maintenance. Are those worth the effort?"

"Ha, ha, ha, Jimmy listened to me. I found out about the grants from my sister up in Frankfort. She works for a few state congressmen and a couple of state senators. We had talked about you and she called me when she heard about these unused funds. I found the forms on line and had Jimmy print them out to submit them. I'll put them through my sister to make sure they are read and processed. Mike, between the additional money the county is going to give you and the grants, your road maintenance company is going to make a nice profit. Quit worrying about money. Your tree clearing group is so fat that you should be ashamed about what you're paying for labor. I've been able to get you reimbursed for a lot of the costs of hiring the rehab guys, since the state has a fund for that. The subsidy ends at the end of six months; but by that time the guy should be cured and continue to be a good worker. Ezra has made you enough money on specialty woods for you to retire on, and once again, you've bought and replaced a lot of equipment over the last six months."

"That's good, Maude, I was afraid there were too many men working and not enough to pay them all. Jimmy has three extra men that were a surprise to me, but he said we can afford them. The question is, do we really need them?"

Maude smiled as she answered, "If Jimmy said you can use them, keep them. He'll have them doing something for the good of the county and you'll benefit from it by keeping the budget at a decent amount. The better the roads are, the happier the people are."

"Mike," Maude sounded serious, "We have to work on the amount of money you have brought in for the produce on your farm. We're probably going to need to figure out how much you're selling in butter, milk, and eggs. I think we should probably put the wine into a separate company and try to keep it separate from everything else. I know that will be tough for the upkeep of the vineyards, but you're bringing in some heavy money from that restaurant in Mount Sterling. Here's where the record keeping is going to be important. I need you to figure the hours your family has spent on labor on the farm. You have good records on your outside labor. You're not going to be able to use the men who built on to your house as a cost, but you can use their cost for the new smokehouse and barn additions. You need to begin collecting everything so I can put it up on a spreadsheet and look at it. You don't spend a lot of money on yourself, and your family doesn't spend a lot of money. You're living on less than what your military pension is and banking the difference, so what you need to do is to figure out everything you earn and spend by category."

"I suppose that answered my question as to whether I can afford to fence in the orchards and vineyards to keep the deer and bear out this coming year. If I have the money, I might have some pros do it to make sure I'm bear proof."

"Mike, the money you brought in from the restaurant in Mount Sterling will pay for a concrete block wall if you want one. Go out and find a fencing company to do the job you want. Either that, or have your construction men do the work. Are you going to try to find them work when the weather breaks? They did a nice job on your house and buildings, so you might want to keep them and sub them out to people who are building. They would probably prefer a wage from someone who is keeping track of their taxes for them. Talk to them, Mike, and if they want to continue, find some contractors in Mount Sterling, or around the highways north of here to see if you can pick up work."

Wow, I didn't know how bad I needed to talk to Maude, but I'm glad I did.

It was about eleven, so I thought I might run home for lunch. As I turned off the hard road to go up the mountain, snow began falling again. The weather guy this morning said that we could get some snow in the higher elevations, so I suppose this was it. I hoped it wouldn't be so much that the guys would be out late.

Millie and Marita greeted me, as the other women who were churning butter and separating cream smiled. Millie gave me a kiss and said, "We have plenty of roast beef for sandwiches today. How about we fix some for you? Are you going to eat with us?"

I looked at all of the Latino women's grinning faces and nodded. "John and I will eat with you. I'm going to begin getting some things together in the office. Call me when it's ready."

I heard the scurrying around out there, and then the little Mayan girl came to the door. "Mike, Millie asked me to have you come to lunch."

"Thanks, Marita, I'll be right there."

The roast beef sandwiches were served with a small bowl of juice to dip the sandwich in. There was a spirited conversation going on, debating what would be planted the coming year. The women were all excited to have that to look forward to.

After lunch, I began separating receipts and started listings for the farm, the smokehouse, the garden, the orchard, the vineyard, winemaking, and the eggs.

I had payment receipts for the eggs when I sold them to the kitchen or for cash at the market dairy tent, but no record of the bartering. I could come up with a quantity of hams I had cured and smoked, but not many receipts for payment. Again, only the butcher and the Kitchen.

While separating receipts, I found a couple dozen checks that I had never deposited. I made up a deposit slip and ran them all through the scanner so I would have a record if one or more didn't go through. The bad group was a small stack of checks from the Kitchen. I would have to begin paying attention to this stuff, as I couldn't pay a bunch of taxes without the cash.

I found a bunch of deposit slips that Kroger had sent for the produce, but I couldn't make them balance in the checkbook or my business account. I called Maude, "I have deposit slips for money deposited by Kroger into my account, but the account isn't one that I know. Can you help me on this?"

"Sure, Mike, that account is a separate one I set up to handle the heavy amount of money you were collecting from Kroger. You have to have some accounting for it, as it is produce sold. You haven't used any of that money, so it will be available for paying taxes and next year's planting and care."

I explained about the extra checks I had, and she told me to put them into the new account and send her a copy of the deposit slip. The money in the new account was really staggering. That was payment for the corn, all of the spare produce we had, and the pears and apples from the orchards. Considering we had a pantry that was stuffed with canned vegetables and crocks of pickles and pickled foods, plus bins of potatoes, carrots, and onions, we had made out well with the big garden. From what Mom and Millie had told me, Summer and Bradley, as well as the Latinos living at Ben's, had enough canned foods to last them through the winter, too, so the garden had been a real success.

I stared at the figure from that account, trying to imagine how lucky I was to have been able to sell so much. The wine will bring in a good amount of money once it's ready and the grappa will probably be very popular. I needed to take some to Mount Sterling.

Stanley had come by and filled my silo with corn. I tried to tell him I didn't need that much, but he told me that whatever was leftover through next spring, we could grind up and we could both use it for our stock.

I spent the rest of the day listing labor for the various processes. The only labor that I had paid for that couldn't be attributed to the farm was on the house, and I was sitting in a room of the house doing farm work. I'll ask Maude to deduct for the farm office and equipment.

After the evening chores, all the women except Marita went home. The two women, Millie and Marita, wouldn't let me help with the kitchen cleanup, so I spent the time playing with John who didn't do anything but gurgle and wave his arms. He could grab hold of my nose or an ear and hold on pretty tight. I had to keep pulling his hand from an ear and kissing it. He would go right back to grabbing for whatever he had that I pulled him off of.

He eventually became hungry and was taken from me by Marita, who changed him and gave him to Millie who nursed the little man.

Before bed, I put wood on the two fires, and made sure the dogs had their last run before they curled up on the rug in front of the fire.

As Millie and I kissed before getting into position to sleep, with me behind her holding onto her full breast, Millie whispered, "Marita will come to sleep with us to keep warm. Do not be alarmed, as she said she trusts you to not hurt her."

Now what did that mean? A young lady trusted me to not hurt her. Doing what? What would I be doing in bed that could hurt her? Was Millie fantasizing again? I'll fix her; I'll put her in the middle. I told her that I wanted to sleep on the outside on her other side, and we switched. Now I could relax and doze off.



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Chapter 24

While Millie and I were alone, except for Marita, I used the Internet to check out various types of fences for strength, and what could be used to keep grazing beef in and bears and deer out. The deer could jump really high, but a call to the University of Kentucky told me that six feet should be adequate and a call to the zoo at Lexington said that an eleven gauge wire mesh fence would fend off the most aggressive black bear. I had a plan and used the ATV to go out and measure the areas to be fenced. I also needed gates to put the beef into the orchards, but also keep them out of the vineyards.

I selected woven wire fencing to keep the beef from the vineyards, which was a lot cheaper than the mesh wire. Now, I would be set if I can get it installed before spring.

The choice of fencing companies was limited, and they all wanted to install expensive chain link with the tilted barbed wire on top. I hopefully wasn't chasing a bad solution, since I figured that if the University Agriculture department and the Lexington zoo both suggested the same thing, it should be correct.

With the knowledge that I was not getting bids on what I wanted, I decided to do it my self. I even took the powered posthole digger out and tried to dig a hole in the frozen ground. No sweat, the digger worked fine – at least if you liked bear wrestling. It got the holes dug, even spitting out rocks the size of my fist, but it was quite a double handful. I decided that I would be on the lookout for an auger attachment for one of my tractors the next few times I hit the markets, but it wasn't so bad I couldn't press ahead. All I needed now were the posts and wire. I placed an enormous order for the wire necessary, and bargained with a fencing company to build the gates I needed to complete the projects.

I had the guys from the road crew come out and showed them what I wanted and left them with a pile of posts and the posthole digger to begin the project.

It was amazing how short Mom's and Ezra's vacation seemed to have been when they walked in the door the morning after they got back from the Keys.

As soon as they arrived, I could see that Mom had had all she could handle of an outsider for a few days. She was calm and friendly on the outside, but I could tell she was on the verge of a catastrophic explosion on the inside. She really liked Ezra, but needed a break from him.

I grabbed a brochure from the desk and handed it to Ezra. "How about going up to Cincinnati to check out the new equipment that's available at the convention up there? We're going to be doing a lot more than the run up to Pine Ridge, so let's be sure we have the right equipment."

Ezra must have been ready to have a week or so off from the relationship with Mom too, as he was excited about washing his clothes and leaving for Cincinnati as soon as possible. I handed him five hundreds and told him to keep his receipts. Hopefully, that would be enough.

It took Mom an hour to smother the baby with her love. She loved on Millie more than she would have her own daughter, then surprisingly turned to Marita and gave her the warm hugs only a mother can give.

After supper and a description of the fun Ezra and Mom had down in the Keys, she interrogated the two women in the house and found out that I had been the perfect gentleman and husband. I had no intention of adventuring into uncharted territory when I was happy with my own playground. These women are very sneaky and scary.

The day Mom returned was Wednesday, and the day Ezra needed to be in Cincinnati was Thursday night or Friday morning, so the man was out of Mom's hair for a few days. She told me privately that Ezra was a neat guy, and although he tried every way possible to please and satisfy her, he still wasn't my dad. That was sweet, but probably frustrating for Mom. She did say that she had a great time on the trip.

The first night Mom was home, Marita came to our bed as she had been for the last week, with the little woman sleeping next to Millie. This night was strange, as Mom snuggled into me on the outside of the bed, making me push back on all of the small bed's occupants. I didn't realize it right away, but when she snuggled back into me, she put my big hand over her left breast to hold. That's the way I woke up. More embarrassing was the fact that I was sticking out of my shorts and under her gown. I don't think she realized the situation when I extracted myself from our positions. It took a few moments to relax enough to finally pee. Damn, that's not the way I want to wake up.

Today, I wanted to take a sample of our basic grappa up to Rodrigo. Every time I thought of the unique names of the winemaker and the wine seller, I got a little laugh. These two were from different continents, but their names sounded similar. I suppose it was the influence of the men who came to explore the Americas first.

The plan was to bring a sample bottle of the wine that we had forced to mature and a bottle of the grappa along with a small bottle of the grappa we were aging for cognac. This should give Rodrigo an idea of our progress.

Our five-person party arrived at the restaurant about two in the afternoon. Rodrigo had been told that I had brought on a master winemaker to help me, so he was very interested in what I had to sell.

First was a delicious meal that had a sizzling tomato sauce to die for. While we ate, Doroteo poured our hurry up wine for Rodrigo to taste. He was very impressed and wanted us to compare the California wine he had been using since he had run out of ours. Ours was much better.

When we were having very delicious cannelloni, Doroteo poured each of us some of the special grappa he thought was the best. My man was a really smart salesman, as he handed Rodrigo a cigar that smelled delicious. I didn't know it at the time, but it had been soaked with my grappa before drying in the smoke house then kept in a humidifier. I smoked my first cigar ever and had it taken from me by Mom, who sampled it.

If Rodrigo could have knighted Doroteo, he would have. The exuberance the Italian showed was unbelievable. He was very enthusiastic to get as much of everything we had. Doroteo quoted Rodrigo a price for the grappa, and when the buyer sat back with his mouth agape, I thought he was shocked at how high the price was. Instead, Rodrigo stood up and said, "I will buy at your quoted price right now, but I will sell at a premium price and share the wealth with you, Mike. You have dealt with me as no one has ever dealt with me. Your product is deserving of the finest restaurants in New York City. If I may, I want to send a bottle of your grappa to a friend. He will probably come here to beg for more."

I didn't laugh, but agreed that he could do that. Doroteo had that extra bottle and left it to be sent.

On the way home, Doroteo said, "When I tasted the first distilled juice you made, I was amazed that you were able to pick your grapes at that special time to get the true flavor. Your wine is exquisite, Mike. I'm proud to work with you. You are teaching me as I teach you."

How about that, I had impressed a real winemaker.

Thanksgiving was fun as all of my family came for the weekend. Mom slept with us and gave up her room. Little John slept in his bassinet next to the bed so the kids could have a pj party in sleeping bags in his room. We had genuine wild turkey for the Thanksgiving feast, along with as many other dishes as we could cook.

Later in the evening, all of the Latinos from down at Ben's came to eat supper with us. There were not as many as I had thought there would be, but all of them enjoyed being with us for our holiday of thanks. It was during that time that we learned that the family down the road wanted us to adopt Marita. They all said we were the right people for her and since her family had all been killed by cartels, she needed a family. They wanted us to be her family.

Mom and Millie were ecstatic and wanted me to agree instantly. My head was spinning at what this might really mean. Marita and Millie came and sat on my lap to hug me. Millie whispered in my ear, "Just think, you can have us both pregnant with more boys."

I pinched her on the butt hard enough to make her jump and glare at me. "Millie, my love, you are the only mommy of my children. I enjoy having Marita here, and if she becomes part of our family it will be as our child and not another wife. You do understand that, don't you?" With that I gave a gentler pinch on the butt. I added, "Maybe Mom should adopt her so she can be our sister."

Millie looked confused, but said to me in a whisper, "But I thought men wanted as many women as possible. Are you different?"

I hugged Millie and kissed her, then hugged Marita and kissed her as well. With Millie hugged to me, I said, "Marita, you have been a pleasure to have around, and it would be wonderful if we can be your family, but I have a wife and only want one wife. We will help you find a good man to be your husband and father to your children."

Marita's face went from shock, to sadness, to loving, and to excitement. I really enjoyed having her as our friend and helper with John, but I didn't want another wife. Mom gave me an extra hug later and said, "You are so special, Michael. Thank you for being my straitlaced son."

One of these days I was going to convince my wife that I only wanted one wife, not several to have babies and to take care of me.

My brother and brother-in-law were not unaware of the interplay within my family, and they both later asked me if I wanted to swap. They thought that having a cute little Mayan princess as a houseguest and second wife might be fun. Both men received serious rebukes and sore shoulders from their wives, who hung on me and asked Millie if they could share me.

Mom spent most of Thanksgiving evening laughing her butt off.

Friday after Thanksgiving was supposed to be Black Friday shopping. Instead, the women made buttermilk and butter and I went exploring with my brother and brother-in-law.

We went around the mountain in the opposite direction than we usually went. The ATV helped to keep the two from complaining that I was leading them too fast. We found another cave at the same level the house was, and I marked it with my GPS. I used a gradual incline to go up to the next terrace level and found the fields the tax collector talked about. There was about seventy sloping acres that could be farmed and the path to it wasn't all that tough. I was going to try to get equipment up here.

I didn't want to take them up to the big caves, but I traveled upward until I found what the big cannon balls had been for. There were two cannons that had been pushed down the mountain. The cannon ball had rolled out of one, and in the other the ball was still packed. I told the other two men to be careful as black powder didn't lose its punch. I marked the spot with my GPS and told the two men that I would have the University come out to help me preserve the cannon.

When I looked up from there, I could see the lip of land that was in front of the cave with the balls and barrels. I'd bet those barrels were black powder and still very sensitive.

At home, the two guys were all excited at what we had discovered. I showed everyone that I had recorded the GPS locations of the cannon so people could check it out in the future. That kept the discovery within a normal roar.

On Monday after Thanksgiving, the path crew was out working. This time, Jet had enlisted another ex-Army engineer to help make a deeper cut to get far ahead of the other workers. The two men were almost uncanny in the way they could work the big bulldozers. They were pushing so far ahead that Ezra had to go get them for lunch with his ATV.

I had joined them and found out the logging company had two trucks standing by to load logs as soon as they were available. Since the trunks and root balls didn't need to be used as fill, they were being pushed to the grinder and ground up for the pressboard plant. Some of the best walnut tree root balls were being put aside to be sold to a major gun manufacturer as the wood from the roots made the most beautiful stocks. Just as Ezra had predicted, the logging was bringing more income than the actual work.

Saturday Market was the usual, except that a farmer came up to me, "Mike Grayson, right?"

"I'm him."

"My name is Sam Simons. My farm is to the west of where your place is but on the other side of the ridge. I have a problem that I hear you might be able to help with."

I nodded to the man and shook his hand.

"I'm doing pretty good as a farmer, but I'm not raising enough hay or grain to feed my stock all winter. I hear you want to buy yearlings come spring, but I have yearlings that I can't feed enough through the winter. Instead of me selling you scrawny beef in the spring, how about helping me keep the beef in good shape until spring and buying them at a very reduced price. If you don't know the value of what I'm talking about, you should go get Stanley to help you figure a deal. I want a fair deal, but I need your help to keep my stock fed and healthy through the winter."

"How many head are you talking about, Sam?"

"The stock I'll be selling this spring is about thirty head. The other stock I need to feed is about another thirty head. If you can give me hay and grain for the sixty head, I'll damn near give you the thirty I'm talking about."

Stanley was nearby, so I called him over and had a short conversation with him. He told me, "Sam is a good farmer, but a terrible businessman. He underestimates everything, then turns around and overestimates everything else. Go see his stock and check his numbers, and you should be okay."

I spent the rest of Saturday checking Sam's stock and confirming his hayloft was empty and he needed grain. I went home and loaded two dozen bales of hay and a couple of hundred pounds of bagged ground corn. We would figure out some kind of delivery schedule to keep his stock fed through the winter.

Sam's stock went nuts over the fresh hay, and when Sam spread the grain in the troughs, it was gone right away. I hoped that thirty was the right amount to feed out in the orchards. Now I needed to finish the fence.

Christmas was like Thanksgiving with the entire family joining us on the mountain. The snow made the holiday something special. Although the road guys worked most of the holiday, they took a break to eat with us and receive some hokey presents. I made sure every one of the guys received a genuine military wool sweater. I knew how warm they were and used one whenever I was out at this time of year.

Christmas dinner was a turkey, a big roast, and a big deer roast for those who wanted something gamier. So many people kept showing up throughout the afternoon that we finished off all of the food making sandwiches, as well as plates, for those who wanted supper.

The kids were having fun directing people to take their shoes off at the door. They were raised by parents who were very specific about removing shoes at the door. Mom had spread newspaper across the floor by the door to put shoes on.

For a late supper, Mom, Millie, and Marita, with the direction of Doroteo, made some unbelievable meat cannelloni that were so delicious that I ate four myself. Later, we actually spent some time singing Christmas carols with Martha directing us.

It takes a few days to get over a big holiday like Christmas. For the guys that didn't go home for the holiday, we had supplied them with the love they needed. There appeared to be three of the guys who looked at Marita as fair game. I did go by and told all of them that I was like her dad, and I expected them to show her the respect they would expect a suitor to show their sister or mother. I think they got the hint, but one of the young men said, "The guy who really wants to see more of your Marita is Jet. The guy has it bad over her, but is afraid to talk to her."

I told them, "I'll have you guys up for supper and make sure Marita and Jet get a chance to talk. How about coming up about five to five thirty tomorrow evening? The weather looks like we'll be clear for a week or so."

That evening, when I told the three ladies that I wanted to have the men up for supper the next night, Mom gave me a wink. "At least you didn't spring them on us tonight. We'll get a big roast out and have it. I'll bet that if you asked nice, Millie would make some of her great rolls." Mom swiveled around and looked directly at Marita, "And you, Marita, what do you want to make for dessert, other than to make you more desirable to that young man that stutters. What's his name, Jet?"

I was surprised and asked, "When did this happen? Has he been out enough to know Marita?"

Mom laughed, "You know we still take lunch to the crew, and Marita makes eyes at the man daily. She wants to talk to him, but is bashful and doesn't want to hurt his feelings if he can't get his words out. I think he wants to talk to her and is bursting to try. I keep expecting the two to spontaneously combust. I think I'll make sure he goes to church with us on Sunday and make him sit next to Marita."

Oh my, the matchmakers were working overtime.

The next day, after making sure that everything was working and the road guys all knew to come for supper, I spent the day on the Internet and phone talking to various departments of Universities. The one group that showed the most interest was from the Atlanta Civil War Museum. The University of Kentucky said that they would like to come inspect the find as soon as the weather broke. When I asked when that would be, they advised that it was best if they didn't try to go out in weather under fifty degrees. I kept trying to tell the professor that it didn't stay above fifty degrees on the mountain until late May or early June. The days were warm, but the nights were usually around forty-five degrees. His only comment was, "We'll wait."

I found a coin and precious metals dealer in Lexington to whom I thought that I might take some of the items for appraisal. That should get me a start, as I was going to have to get those treasure chests out of the caves before an archeology group came. My thinking was to empty the chests and leave a few coins and a couple of bars of the metals for the historians to fantasize over.

The ATV was just about as stable as anything around, so I loaded a bunch of big buckets into the bed and made my way up to the pair of caves. I brought a couple of heavy duty flashlights and a battery lantern that was really bright.

Parking the ATV on the outside of the rocks, out from the second cave with the chests, I grabbed the eight heavy fiberglass buckets and went to the cave. I thought I might take all of the coins first, then come back for the metals.

I didn't get any spooky feelings today and didn't feel unwelcome. I would definitely like to figure out what I felt before. Maybe it was too cold for spooks and ghosts.

Each chest was about a foot deep, a foot tall, and two feet wide. One of the big five gallon buckets could hold all of the coins in one chest. My concern was whether I could pick the bucket up after I emptied the chest into it.

After emptying the first chest, I was barely able to lift and carry the bucket to the ATV. I strained to lift it and put it into the ATV. I filled three more and decided that each of the buckets weighted near or over a hundred pounds, that might be the most weight I could expect to haul in the ATV. It was early, so I left the other buckets and headed down the mountain. As I neared where I should be at about the terrace level of the Finnerty place, I stopped and looked around for what might be a game trail to that area. It had to be there, but I didn't know where.

Back at the house, I didn't have a good place to hide the coins, so I put them into one of the unused smoke house rooms. Each of the outside doors had a lock, so I went to the machine shed and took the keys to the locks from the peg and found the right key for that metal door.

I noticed that Mom's SUV was gone, so I went inside for a quick cup of coffee and as I was about to leave, I thought I might want my rifle today. I took the Winchester and headed back up the mountain. Just for fun, I stopped at the far edge of the Finnerty terrace area and gathered a bunch of cedar boughs and put them into an area of dug out snow. I figured the cedar boughs would make smoke, so if I was around on the other side of this dense wooded area, I would be able to spot smoke and maybe guess where a trail would be. The game would almost surely have a trail directly to the orchard and vineyard.

On the old wagon road, while on my way up the mountain, I could see the spiral of smoke, and when I was on the same level as the smoke, I was just below a level that was a little more terraced than where I was. As soon as I was at the higher terraced level, I could see the deer and animal tracks in the snow that followed a fairly open path. I didn't have time to explore, but I took my ever-present trusty can of spray paint to mark a tree on both sides of the trail.

When I was down to the bottom of the fifth chest, there were four handguns arranged on the bottom. I didn't know what any of them were, but went to the ATV to get a blanket and thoroughly wrapped them. Those four guns had to be worth something.

I filled the buckets, but had trouble getting all the bars in one chest into one bucket. While transferring them from the chests to the buckets, there were a couple of bars that had to be silver and others that had to be gold. The only way to know would be to have them tested. It was going to be difficult to find someone who would do it without blabbing all over.

I managed, but I still had one chest full of stones that I needed to take back to the house. I figured a bucket of stones wouldn't be as much weight as coins or bars, so I filled another bucket with the stones and jewelry. After carefully leaving a couple of bars, a few stones, and a handful of coins in each chest, I closed them.

Getting a cedar bough, I brushed over my footprints, and after moving the ATV to a rocky plateau, I brushed those tracks out too. I still wanted to come back and look around more, but I had accomplished what I thought was necessary. I could hide the valuable coins, bars or whatever, and stones from the historians that would surely be all over the mountain as soon as they saw what treasure was left.

I made up a pouch with a dozen coins, a bar of the strange metal, one of the necklaces, and a handful of assorted stones. While the women were still gone, I searched through the Internet for coin dealers in Lexington. One was also a jeweler, so I figured he would be a good person to see.

What should I do about all of the treasure? Should I ask Benson? Maybe Maude? I decided to see what kind of value I had before I took that next step. I did know that I needed to keep the find quiet until it was off the mountain. Once the historians were done, there shouldn't be anything left and the world would know it. I suppose that if things got weird, I could move off the mountain for a while. I didn't want to do that, but I wouldn't take the chance of my family getting hurt.

Supper with the road crew was a lot of fun. I found out that the ladies had gone to town to get Marita something special to wear for tonight. They didn't want it to be something too dressy, but something that flattered her. They did a good job, as Marita looked very nice without looking too sexy or too frumpy.

Seating was arranged with Marita and Jet next to each other. I was a little apprehensive that this would cause them both to be too uncomfortable to eat, but it wasn't a problem. Marita spoke to Jet and Jet answered without much of a stutter. He was able to talk to her better than I've heard him speak before. Jimmy saw my surprise and winked at me.

Watching nine healthy young men eat reminded me of the torment I must have put my mother through. I would often bring four or five guys home and never really thought about how much we all ate. Somehow, Mom was always able to feed everyone and we all left the table with full bellies. One of the hazards of bringing buddies home for supper was that we would usually be shanghaied into doing dishes. All my buddies knew the price, but eating Mom's cooking was worth it.

I thought we had escaped the duty when supper was over, but Mom waved at the table full of dishes, "All right, Guys, Mike will tell you that when he brings home a passel of his buddies for supper, all of you have to do the dishes. Get to it."

There was a lot of laughter at being treated like family instead of specially invited guests. It didn't take long at all to have all of the dishes washed, dried, and put away. Almost immediately, Mom asked, "Who wants some apple pie?"

Two pies quickly vanished. Mom scratched her head and quietly told me, "I forgot how much you guys can go through. It will be four pies next time. Bring them back often, Michael, they need the warmth of a home."

Thinking about what she said reminded me that all I gave them was money and a place to live. I satisfied their basic needs, but not their emotional ones. I was going to do as Mom asked.

The next day, I asked the ladies if they might like to take a quick trip to Lexington with me, but they didn't want to make the trip on a Friday, since they were getting ready for tomorrow's market. After checking with the road guys and the path men, I drove to Lexington and went straight to the jeweler who also was a coin dealer.

After introducing myself and explaining how I had discovered a few items that had been squirreled away on a piece of property I had bought, I took out the coins first. There had been five different types of coins, and I had brought one of each. The jeweler looked at each of them and put each coin on a small piece of paper with the name of the coin on it and its approximate value. The coins were worth from thirty-five hundred to over twenty thousand each.

I took the stones out and spread them out to find that there were two types of the stones that were very valuable. The most valuable stones were rubies. There was some jade the man appeared interested in too. The rest he said had some value, but were often sold in bulk for rings and other jewelry in today's market.

When the jeweler examined the one necklace and matching bracelet I had brought, he seemed almost excited. He asked, "Do you know what this metal is?"

"No Sir, but I'm curious. It must be valuable or it wouldn't be made into the type of jewelry it is."

"This is platinum, a very hard metal with many desirable qualities to it. A lot of old jewelry was made with platinum, and at one time it was considered a good metal, but inferior to even silver. Today the value of platinum is almost as high as gold."

"In that case, look at this bar. I think it's the same metal."

The jeweler did some scratching on the bar, then brought out a small kit with some chemicals. After a few minutes, he went for his scale and weighed the bar. The man left and brought back a small case and took out another form of scale. He weighed the bar once again and said, "Exactly one hundred ounces. Platinum is probably worth around thirteen or fourteen hundred dollars per once. If this bar was gold, it would be worth around fifteen hundred, but silver is only around twenty-seven dollars an ounce. What do you want to do with all of this?"

I didn't hesitate to answer and told him, "If you can give me an idea of what everything is really worth, maybe I can sell them to a collector. The man's face dropped, but he wrote a number on the paper under each coin. He then put the necklace and bracelet on a piece of paper and wrote a number and finished by gathering the stones and counting each variety and putting a number on more pieces of paper under each type of stone.

I asked the man, "Other than taxes, do I have to report that I found this stuff on my own land? I wouldn't mind telling the Sheriff, but I wouldn't want half the state down on my farm digging around."

"As far as your ownership, if you found it on your property, it's finder's keepers. You might want to advise the Sheriff as what you have right here is a sizable amount of money. If you want to sell it, I will give you exactly what is on each of those pieces of paper, less fifteen percent. For the platinum bar, deduct only ten percent. What are you going to do?"

"I'll sell it, but I would rather have a check. I'll deposit it tomorrow, and I'm sure you're not going to run off with what you bought."

The man looked up at me and said, "Considering you're wearing fatigues very comfortably, I don't think that would be a smart idea. Let me make out a check for what you have, but I want to assure you that if you come up with anymore of those coins, I would be very interested. The same with the other items, if you find more, please let me bid on them."

I left the store with a pretty big check. The man had taken down my driver's license information, and I had let my old military ID fall out so he would know that I was ex-military and would be protective of my home.

I was in some turmoil all the way home. I wanted the family to get the benefit of the treasure, but I didn't want it to become an albatross for us. When I entered Stanton, I drove straight to Benson's.

The young high school girl, Denise, was there, and I was immediately led in to see the man I needed.

"Hey, Mike, you have a worried look on your face. That's unusual for you. What's up? Is the Road Commissioner job too much for you? You know you have everyone in the county singing your praises. Our neighboring county wants you to run for their Commissioner too, ha, ha, ha."

After we glad-handed and were brought some fresh coffee, I began to tell Benson my dilemma. The jeweler was correct by saying finder's keepers, but I might want to report the find to the state for evaluation. It wasn't a law, but the state might want some of the treasure for their archives. I told Benson, "That sounds like they may confiscate some of the items. Would they do that?"

"Naw, not Kentucky. They have a historical fund from which they will pay market value, or at least near market value, for special items. So what's in your treasure?"

I pulled my notes from the jeweler and read off the five different types of coins. While I did this, I gave Benson the prices I had received. I described the stones, the jewelry, and told him of the bar of platinum.

Benson looked at me sideways, "And you have more of this?"

I nodded and said, "It's in a safe place, but I should put it in a bank vault. I'll make arrangement to have that done."

"No shit, Sherlock. Christ, Mike, you've found a fortune. What are you going to do with all of that money?"

"I don't know, Benson, I'm trying to make up my mind who to help first. I'm pretty well taken care of living up on my mountain. I have two businesses and the farm that are all paying off nicely. I don't spend much, and can live off my retirement and the farm. Benson, I'm doing fine and that's why I'm having problems with this."

The man looked up at me and softly said, "Adopt me, adopt my wife and two kids and my adopted kids. Hell, adopt the whole damn county. Jesus, Mike, you're wealthy beyond anything you can conceive. I'm going to get rich defending you from all of the women that are going to accuse you of promising to marry them." The man laughed an evil laugh, "He, he, he, he, I'll tie the widow up to the railroad tracks and make you pay me money."

"See, this is what I mean, Benson. The thought of that much money makes people nuts. Remember that I was in Iraq when they found billions in hundred dollar bills. I had multiple opportunities to ship back a couple of million in hundreds, but I didn't. Hopefully, no one else did either. I really don't think it was all counted until it was in the Secret Service's offices back here in the States. That was some scary times. But what I'm saying is, that much money makes people do stupid things, and I don't want people doing stupid things on my place."

"You're right, Mike. You need to put that stuff in a bank somewhere other than here. You could take it to Mount Sterling, but the bank here is a branch of the one there. You can take it to Lexington, but that's a long way off, and just a little scary to get there."

We both sat and thought about it for a minute. Benson sat up and said, "I have an idea. How about putting the stuff in your truck and meeting an armored car somewhere to have them take it to a bank anywhere you want. Hell, you could even have it brought here and we'll put it into a trust name that I can be a co-trustee for. That's a good idea, because then I can get some of the small change out of you. I'll work on the trust papers and file them. I'll have the judge seal the papers for us so Gert won't tell the world you're a billionaire or something like that. You can have me dispense funds from the trust to whomever you deem deserving or worthy, and that of course, would include me, and your name wouldn't be a part of it to the public. The big shot University folks can inspect it in the bank, but they can't take it away unless they pay money. I'll handle that part for you too. You're going to have to sign the trust papers and a bank card, but I'll handle the rest."

Benson was smiling and told me, "Don't worry, I won't charge you that much. Just the norm like always, but it's some business for a change. It's been pretty quiet around here. You've kept the roads cleaned this year, so there aren't as many accidents. There haven't been many land transactions lately, so you'll spice things up around here."

I nodded and asked, "So the plan is that you set up a trust and open an account at the bank. Rent their vault or safe deposit boxes in the vault. I'll meet an armored car somewhere, give them the booty, and you'll have it all checked in at the bank."

"That's the plan. Now, give me some money to open an account."

I laughed and told him, "Keep this up and I'll worry about you and begin calling you that 'B' word for your name."

"Then we'll have to duel in the street at high noon. Just give me a hundred to open the account."

I pulled the check from the jeweler and handed it to him. "Use that to open the account. You deposit it in your account, take out all of the fees for you, the armored car, and the bank to begin with, and use the balance to rent the boxes and open the account."

Benson had me endorse the check to him and went from there. His deposit would be as if I owed him for professional services. As I was leaving, I told him, "Get together with Maude to make sure I'm going to keep enough for taxes. Thanks for the help. I do feel better."

On the way home, I contemplated as to when to tell the family. That decision was being made for me as I made the drive.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 25

It was late enough that by the time I arrived home, the chores were done and the working women had been taken home. I parked the truck in the big garage, or rather, machine shed, and thought about checking the treasure in the smoke house, but just left it alone. The more I messed with it, the more attention I would draw to it.

I was warmly greeted by the ladies in the house. Millie gave me a sweet kiss and hug, Marita gave me a hug, and Mom kissed me on the cheek. I played couchie-coo with John for a couple of minutes before Mom handed me a beer and said, "Come into the office for a minute. I need to show you something and ask you a couple of questions."

I took a swig of beer and sat in the big desk chair as Mom sat in the nice upholstered chair by the side of the desk. She looked at me funny, and then dug into her jeans' pocket. She tossed a couple of things onto the middle of the desk in front of me and asked, "What in the world is this?"

Oops.

"Ah, I didn't want you to see that stuff yet. I figured that if I could get it to a safe place first, that would lessen the chance for problems. I went to Lexington today to find out what some of it was worth and to find out whether or not it was mine to keep. On the way home, I stopped by Benson's to have him start a trust so I can get it into a bank. I think that I'll meet an armored car somewhere and transfer all of it to that truck and let them take it to a bank where Benson will put it all into safety deposit boxes."

Mom was still looking at me sideways, and asked, "What's all that stuff worth? Do you know?"

"The bars are all worth around a hundred forty thousand each. I'm not sure what the stones and old jewelry is worth, but it is desired by a jeweler who can market all of it. The coins are all of different values, but they are worth a lot. Mom, how did you get into that room? I took the key from the ring after I found out which one opened the door. What did you want to go in there for?"

"I was checking the rooms because the butcher says he's got enough pork coming to fill up all of our rooms. He also is bringing a state food inspector by to see the smoke house and certify it so the butcher can retail the hams, bacon, and sausage from his shop legally. That won't happen until next week, but I wanted to see if the unused rooms were clean and what needed to be done. Did you notice how many keys are on that ring? I think every door has three or four keys. I just went through the keys until I found one that would open the door. I thought it was funny that one door was locked. Even the rooms that have meat smoking aren't locked. Anyway, Michael, I have all of the keys for that door in my pocket except for the one you have. Why didn't you tell me about that stuff? I could have paid more attention and watched it."

"That's the problem with stuff like that, Mom, it causes too much trouble. Do you remember me telling you about all of that money that I had to watch? It makes people crazy, and I don't want our home turned into a zoo."

Mom sighed, "I understand, Michael, but you still should have taken me into your confidence. Where did it come from?"

After almost finishing the beer, I motioned toward the top of the mountain and said, "There are some caves high up on the mountain that I think were used by the Civil War military. In one of the caves was a row of chests that had all of that stuff in it. I emptied the chests but let them remain in the caves so historians could see what I found the way I found it. Around the other side is a cave with cannon balls and barrels of what is probably black powder. It is above where the guys and I found the two cannons we talked about. I knew about where we were, so I didn't take them up to the caves that day."

"What are you going to do with all of that money? Don't tell me, I already know. You're going to keep right on living right here the way you are now and do things for people as you find ways to do it. I'm right, aren't I?"

I had to grin at Mom, as she knew me so well. "I'd like to do it that way, but I don't know whether the rest of the world will let me. I left some of the coins, stones, and a couple of the bars up there in the chests, but if I let people see that stuff, they will know I probably kept other stuff. Now I think I should go get the chests and sell them as antiques. I can erase that anything was ever sitting there so that no one will know. The reason I would do that is that if people heard there had been treasure up there, our property will be overrun by people who will do just about anything to get at it."

"You need to do that, Michael, move that stuff before someone else discovers those caves and those chests. Do that as soon as possible, and get rid of that stuff in the smoke house."

"I will, Mom; I'll get that stuff out of here."

Mom shifted around and said, "You know, if you wanted, you could help your sister and brother a little. They are doing okay, but I know both of those families are struggling a lot lately. Both of the women have lost their jobs during this economy downturn, and I know they are scrimping. You could help them out a little."

I smiled, "I'll do that, Mom. You'll have to be the one to give it to them, as I'm not going to do it. They will think that you don't need the money now that you're staying up here with me."

Mom laughed, "That'll work, Mike. You do have a devious mind."

"Where's Ezra? Does he have a date with another woman for supper?"

"No, Mike, I sent him home with a ready made supper. I told him I needed to talk to you in private for a while. He understood and left early. Come on, let's eat, I'm hungry."

Millie and Marita didn't know anything about the treasure and were the loving ladies that they were. It was surprising how well the little Mayan had become a part of our household and had picked up on our customs and speech patterns. It was as if she had been raised by and with us. It was at the end of the first week that she spent at the house that we found out she was the same age as Millie. We had all thought she was young like Summer and were surprised. Millie even whispered in my ear, "See, she is old enough to give you another son. Think about that." That warranted a smack on Millie's now rounded bottom. I enjoyed seeing her filled out and about the same size as Mom. Not fat at all, but not skinny any longer. The lady was still firm and solid, but she now was more rounded and smooth without showing bones all over.

That night, after putting another log on the fire in the big room, I came to bed to find two smiling faces peeking out over the blanket. Millie said, "Marita has been cold in her room and wanted to sleep in here with us like Summer did. She thinks it will be a lot warmer."

I sat on the side of the bed as I began unbuttoning my fatigue shirt. "Just to be clear, this is for both of you. Millie is my wife and my lover. The only fooling around in this bed is done by only Millie and me. We don't need help, and I don't want another wife. Marita, it may be acceptable where you came from, but it isn't here, at least with me. You may enjoy snuggling with us, but there will be no fooling around, do you both understand?"

Millie and Marita looked at each other. They hugged and kissed each other on the cheeks before separating and patting the open space between them. I didn't need a shower, so I finished undressing and slid into bed between the ladies. They both kissed my cheek, and then Millie kissed me on the lips. As I lay back, they both snuggled to my sides with one of their legs over mine. Millie told me "I love you, Mike. Thank you for not being mad at me about Marita. I just wanted her to be as happy as me."

I pulled her to me tighter and kissed her forehead.

Marita also spoke softly, "I am not a virgin. Many soldiers took turns with me on two different occasions. That I am alive only means that they thought they might come back to use me again. I know what sex is, and Millie has made me want to try it the way she enjoys it with you. I understand, Mike, and will honor what you ask, but I would enjoy you making love to me. That would be good."

I thought to myself, no; that would not be good, that would be bad. The temptation was there, but I really didn't want anyone but Millie. She had become my special lady, my mate.

As I drifted off to sleep, I thought of Eliza and Ben, and couldn't help but imagine the two of them roaming the mountain with their spouses. They made me think of the soldiers who had died up in the caves. Of course, there was the family that died in a fire, along with the boy and then the girl who had been murdered, and Bernard also. It was as if all of them were talking to me and I couldn't understand any of them. I did dream of Ben walking his mule with a woman riding it. When Ben saw me he smiled and nodded to me. It had been a strange dream.

We were just finishing breakfast when my cell phone rang. It was Benson. "I have an armored car company from Lexington that will be down here around ten. Where do you want to meet?"

"Hang on a second and let me make a call."

I used the new telephone on the desk and dialed Gene, the cable engineer. "Hey, Gene, where are you working today?"

"Nowhere, I'm in Lexington to do reports for a couple of days. Do you need me?"

"I was just going to go over where the guys were on the work we're doing."

"No need, Mike. The company knows everything is going to be in slow motion because of the weather."

"Okay, Gene, I'll talk to you when you get back."

On my cell phone I asked Benson, "Do you know where the cable company distribution building is at the edge of town? It's sort of back off the highway in the woods."

"Yeah, I know where it's at. Do you want to meet there?"

"Correct, I'll be there from ten until you get there."

Benson sighed, "You know, this is more excitement than I've had in this town since my last kid was born. See you around ten."

I asked Mom, "Can you keep the girls in here this morning. I'm going to take that stuff and get rid of it this morning. When I get back, we'll take the ATV up the mountain to get those chests. You'll get a surprise out of what I found."

Millie and Marita were busy doing kitchen stuff and didn't pay any attention to us. I went out and pulled the truck up to the back of the smoke house. It didn't take long to load the buckets into the truck. I threw a tarp over them and put the truck where I could see it from the house. After having coffee and watching the women making buttermilk and washing eggs, I got my kisses and hugs and took off, but I put my Beretta in my belt just for fun.

I had only been at the distribution building for a few minutes when Benson arrived in his car with the armored car following him. Five minutes later, Benson led the armored car away and I followed them, just to make myself feel better about the whole thing.

The armored car pulled to the side of the bank, and using hand trucks, carried the treasure into the bank under Benson's watchful eye. I felt better when the armored truck people closed their doors and drove away. My cell phone rang. It was Benson, "If you're close like I think you might be, come to the bank to sign the trustee card for the account. You can help me count the coins and bars. We'll just leave the jewel stuff in a bucket."

"Is that going to cause a stir, Benson? Won't they know that it was me that found the treasure?"

"They don't know what's in the buckets. They all had covers on them when they were brought into the vault. We will have total privacy while we count the stuff."

It took until noon to count everything. There was a lot, even more than I thought. Benson and I then finished up the trustee paperwork with the bank. Benson had two different trusts set up for this. He said that when I wanted to donate money, I would transfer funds to the second account and pay it out of there, since that account wouldn't show a safe deposit box.

We ate lunch at the Kitchen before I left for home. I stopped at the road yard on the way and found the guys working on the equipment, as usual. They had painted the last of the salt trucks and had finished lining the beds to keep the rust down. The fleet looked good, all lined up and ready to go. It was that time of year that it could snow again anytime, but it just as easily might not.

At home, I picked up my Winchester and asked Mom if she might want to use up a doe stamp. She asked if she could use the Winchester, so I took the .308. Mom picked up the Mossberg and a box of shells and told me, "You might as well bring a rabbit or two home while you're at it."

I made her dress extra warmly and we took off around the mountain. As we eased around the corner where the old wagon road intersected my new road, we saw movement off to the side. I shut the ATV off and we watched. There were two deer, both does, rooting in the snow for what they could find.

Mom said, "Let's go see your caves first, then we might think about some game. I thought this would be a good ruse to use for us to get out."

We drove up the logging road until we were in front of the boulders at the front of the caves. I brought my big lights with me and showed Mom where the chests were lined up against the wall. She looked through some and said, "Think about this, Michael, you probably have over half a million up here right now. Let's get this stuff out of here and back home. Let's put the coins, bars, and jewels in your game bag and stack the chests in the back of the ATV."

Mom couldn't get over the skeletons and how they were arranged with the old rifles. We looked all the way to the back of both caves and only found old leather saddle bags, bedrolls, and cooking gear that we left where they were. I followed the cave where the chests had been to the back and found a tall tunnel that turned back and forth until it came out in the cave where the barrels and cannon balls were. I took Mom to the lip of the bluff and had her look over the side to see the two cannons down there.

"This is all so wild, Mike. Walking around up here was spooky for a while, but I feel very comfortable up here now. There are probably those soldiers' ghosts up here and who knows how many others, but I think they like us. Isn't it strange that I should think there are such things as real ghosts?"

I answered by telling her, "I dreamed about that last night, Mom. I dreamt that I saw Eliza and someone who must have been her husband, some soldiers, and a whole family that must have included the girl that was killed up here. There was a guy that looked a lot like Millie, and I saw Ben leading a mule with a woman on it. He smiled at me as he passed. That was a strange dream, Mom."

Mom was smiling, "Sounds like one of your childhood dreams, Mike. Let's get that stuff back to the house. How about seeing if you can sell what you had left up here and we'll go shopping in Lexington. Marita needs clothes, and you could stand another pair of boots and some more fatigues. You also need some more regular civilian clothes."

We didn't look for the deer on the way back, but I stopped at one of the brush piles and used the shotgun to get three rabbits real fast. Mom was shaking her head when I brought the dead bunnies to the ATV. "You don't mess around, do you, Mike? You walked up, kicked that pile of brush and bang, bang, bang, three dead rabbits. You could keep people fed with that skill. Come on, now you have to clean them."

When we got back home, I took the game bag in the house before Mom and I carried the chests in. Millie and Marita couldn't get over how neat the old chests were. Considering their age, they were in remarkable condition. We set them along the wall so we could clean them and maybe sell some at the market.

Mom put the bag of coins, bars, and jewels in the office, and I went out to the cleaning table and dressed the rabbits for supper. I think the attending ladies might have been disappointed I didn't bring enough for them, but I told them I would make an effort to get them some soon.

Mom and I counted the coins so I could call the jeweler. When I made the call, I told him that I had seven of the bars to sell, but one looked like it might be gold and one silver. When he asked about coins I told him I had sixty-seven, but that he didn't have to buy them all at once.

"Tell you what, Mr. Grayson," the jeweler began, "Bring everything with you and I'll make sure I can cover what you have. I have a couple of backers that were very happy with the transaction we made before, so I'll make sure they will back me on what you have. If you have what you say, you know it's going to be almost a million, right?"

"Whew, I didn't think about that. Okay, I suppose I better warn the accountant to make sure I'm clean with the feds for the taxes."

"Do that, Mr. Grayson, but I can also give you some of the payment in cash if you want. How about if I give you a hundred thousand in cash, and a check for the rest? You can bet that I'll be straight with you since I know you have more. You're going to make me a lot of money passing that metal, coins, and the jewels through here. You know, you might save some of those coins and take them into Cincinnati to see if a collector up there might give you more. I'd do that if I was you."

"Good idea. I need to go up that way soon anyway. Is tomorrow good to come up to Lexington?"

"Come ahead, like I said, I'll get my backers to fill up the bank account for me. If you have a bank account to transfer funds, we can do that instead of using a check."

"Another good idea, we'll do that. That's a hell of lot more secure too. I'll see you tomorrow."

I told Mom about the coins, and she thought I should sell half and keep half to take to Cincinnati. She asked me when we were going up there.

"This weekend, Mom, you said the folks up there were struggling, so we're going to take some cash up there. How much were you thinking and I'll tell you what I can do right away."

Mom thought for a second, "I was thinking that an extra twenty-five thousand each would get them caught up. Hopefully, the girls will be able to get jobs soon."

"You know, Mom, I was thinking about twice that. How about we give them each around fifty so they won't worry for a while?"

"No, Mike, that's too much. Twenty-five is perfect. Put the other in my account and I'll give them more if they need it later. They need to be just like you. You're able to live cheap, even though you don't have to. I know they both have kids, but I've been regular about helping them all along. They need to be thrifty and make do where they can. They'll call me if they get into money trouble."

Whew, I was glad that stuff was off the mountain and the smoke house was empty. If we could get the rest of this stuff up to Lexington the next day, and take some coins to Cincinnati this weekend, we'll have taken all the risky stuff away from the house.

I told Millie, "Mom and I are going into Lexington in the morning. If you want to go with us that would be nice. We can try to do some shopping for some clothes while we're there."

The two women were excited about going and made plans as to what the other ladies could do. Millie called their place and talked to Carmen. The plan was for only Carmen and Rosita to come up to do chores, clean eggs, and make butter.

Mom called the Kitchen to see if they wanted any of the milk, butter, and eggs we had. They wanted everything we had, along with three sides of bacon if I had them ready. The ladies could make more butter from tonight's and tomorrow's milk, and we could take more to the market tomorrow before going to Cincinnati if we felt the need to sell more.

After chores the next morning, I showered and put khakis and a sweater on, but it was too cold to not use my heavy coat. Mom asked me, "Are you really my son, Mike? I have hardly seen you dressed in civilian clothes since I've been here. You look good, Mike."

The trip to Lexington was fun. Millie, pushing John in a stroller and Marita looked at everything the jeweler had, while Mom and I worked with the dealer evaluating the coins.

The jeweler separated seven of the coins that were different from the others before putting the rest in stacks of ten. The man tested each of the bars and told me one of the bars was indeed silver and one was gold. I was a little nervous as I mentally calculated what he had said everything was worth.

The stones and pieces of jewelry took him a little longer to appraise, as he had to inspect each piece with his little eyepiece that Mom called a jeweler's loupe. When he was done with everything, he looked up and smiled. First, he pointed to the seven coins he had separated. "If these were in perfect mint condition, they would probably be worth around thirty-five thousand each. As they are, I can probably get somewhere around twenty-two to twenty-eight. I'm going to figure them at twenty-six thousand, four hundred. The others are all in the nine to ten thousand range, so I'll give you ninety-five hundred for each of those.

"Platinum is a little over fourteen hundred a ounce, and gold is about fifteen-fifty right now. The silver is only worth about twenty-seven an ounce. I still want fifteen percent for the coins, jewelry, and stones, but only ten percent for the bars. You can see the number I have on the jewelry and stones, so how do you want the money?"

I didn't need to think about this as I had already made up my mind. "The hundred thousand in cash you suggested yesterday will be fine. We'll do the rest as we discussed and do a direct deposit, if that's good for you?"

While the man made out the form for the direct deposit and used his computer to make the transaction, he told me, "I want to thank you, Mr. Grayson. Your business is very profitable to me as you can imagine. The coins will make me money, but I'll sell a lot of other coins while people are drooling over these. I sure hope you have more as some of these are very valuable."

The man had the hundred thousand already bundled. Mom counted the whole stack and stuffed the bundle into my coat pocket. The jeweler said, "You're not as imposing as you were the last time, when you were dressed in those fatigues. Are you planning on doing some shopping today?"

Mom was quick to say, "Yeah, Mike needs more fatigues, so we have to go to the Army-Navy surplus store for him. He spent so many years wearing them he feels more comfortable in those than anything else."

The jeweler smiled and said, "I figured something like that. He was wearing them as clothes, not to show off in. Thank you folks and have a great day. Come back with more."

The girls didn't find anything they had to have, but the jeweler gave each of them a small gold chain to wear. By the way they carried on; you would have thought he had given them diamonds. This must have been the first necklace either of them had ever had.

We went straight to the surplus store and were able to get the boots I wanted, along with six more sets of desert BDUs what everyone thought of as fatigues. From there, we went to our favorite mall. I gave mom ten hundreds and told her to enjoy shopping. I was going to wander around Sears. They would call me when they wanted to eat lunch.

I found a wrench I needed and a screwdriver set that I also wanted. On the way through the store, I spent some time in the men's department and bought more khakis, a couple pairs of nice dress pants, a couple of shirts, some socks, dress shoes that were not military looking, along with a belt. It was a chance to fill up on socks and underwear, so I made sure I had enough.

While strolling toward the center of the mall where the food court was, I saw the three women with John in the stroller, giggling in front of Victoria's Secret. When they went into the store, I sat on a bench where I could see the door and do some people watching at the same time.

An older gentleman sat down on the other end of the bench and said, "You're a might young to be worn out already, aren't you?"

I had to laugh a little as I told him, "The ladies went into a store and I'm waiting for them to come out so we can go eat. Are you waiting for your wife?"

"No, Son, I'm waiting for my daughter and granddaughter. They'll be out in just a minute. It is nice that you'll talk to an old guy like me. What do you do for a living?"

I smiled at the old guy's curiosity, "I'm a farmer and do some work with heavy equipment too. Just a guy making ends meet."

The man pointed to my hands and said, "That explains those hands. A farmer's life can be rough. Hope you're doing okay in this economy."

I had to tell the man, "You know, I think I'm doing better than the city folks with their office jobs. I have food and know where my next meal is coming from. I have a nice warm home and have the fun of being a family man."

The man nodded his understanding. "Well, Son, I'm glad to hear you know what life really is about. Being a farmer is just about the best thing a man can do. I was a farmer for fifty years until my wife passed. I just didn't have the heart to stay there any longer."

A mother and young girl came from a store and the old guy patted my arm, "Well there's my ride and family. Thanks for talking. Good luck to you."

The old guy gave me something to think about. With all the riches in the world, the important stuff was my home and family. We knew where our food was coming from and we were even helping a lot of others with food for their table. I contemplated about the men who were working for me and vowed to give all of them an increase in wages. It shouldn't be extravagant, but another dollar an hour for some and two an hour for others, would be good. Ezra is probably due a raise as well. I've been giving him a percentage of the log money so he's pretty happy with that. The path cutting crew get extra by delivering wood to people who call. I suppose I'm doing the right thing so far.

The three women, along with little John, came from the store laughing and clutching Victoria's Secret bags. I walked up to them and suggested, "How about lunch? I'm starved."

As we ate, I was queried about what I had purchased. They were happy that I had bought dressier clothes. Mom said, "These girls are like me. We found what we wanted and have everything we want, including more clothes for John. He's growing so fast that he outgrows everything by the time we get the new stuff home. I don't know about you, Mike, but I think the rest of us are ready to go home."

Not what I expected, but I was all for it. "I'm ready too, Ladies. Let's hit the road."

We were home a little while later, planning our trip to Cincinnati. Millie was really excited as she had never been out of Kentucky in her life. That convinced me I needed to do something about that.

While at home, I called Benson to make sure there weren't any rumors coming from the bank. He assured me that we were in the clear. I told him about the over a million dollars that had been deposited and I thought he was going to choke to death. "It was the stuff I had left up in the cave. I figured that if the University people found it, there would be treasure hunters all over the mountain. I don't need that."

"You're probably right, but is what you sold very much?" I could tell Benson was curious.

"No Sir, only thirty-seven coins and seven bars, but one of them was silver. Seven of the coins were special and the dealer gave us more for them."

Benson said softly, "Just think how much you must have in the bank. There are over a thousand coins and all of those bars of metal. The bags of stones are amazing with those pieces of jewelry. Wow, I hope you get to keep it all."

"Other than taxes, I should be able to. I'm sure Maude is working on that. I'll know more when the University comes out to look at the caves."

"Well, my friend, you are indeed blessed. That you're not making a big deal out of it is even better. You know, you're a better man than I would be. I would be crowing all over the place buying fancy cars and a big house. You know, I don't need those either, I'm really happy with what I have, and it's taken you to show me that. Thanks, Buddy."

I reminded him, "Just because I got lucky doesn't mean I still don't need the road money. Make sure we get the right distribution as I have nine men to pay and feed. We're planning on doing some nice work on the roads this summer."

"I got it, Mike. I'll be sure to get that done. It is separate from everything, isn't it?"

That evening was peaceful with all of us anticipating the trip to see my brother and sister.

I heard Mom calling both of them and heard that we were staying in a hotel. Mom told me later that although both of them probably had room for us, we would be more comfortable in a hotel. She also said that when she gave each of them the money, she wanted to be able to get out of town quickly so that they couldn't ask too many questions.

I had to call Benson back. "Please put a hundred thousand in my mother's bank account. We'll have Maude figure the tax stuff out later, but this is to help my brother and sister up in Cincinnati. Let me get Mom to give you her bank account number."

Mom gave Benson the number and gave me a hug. "Funny, isn't it, that you're the one who struck it rich and can now dole out some bucks to help your siblings. I like it. You were the stable one. You were the one who didn't go chasing dreams, but kept focused on what you wanted. If we hadn't sold the place, you would have stayed and farmed, wouldn't you?"

"Probably, but you guys acted like you didn't really want to do that. You actually kept the farm a lot longer than I would have thought. If Dad had said something, I would still be working that land."

"True, true, Son, but there would have been the 'who gets what' when your dad died, and it would have been worse when I'm gone. Now they can think anything they want, and you can help them if and when they need it. I think it has worked out perfectly."

Mom gave me a hug and left me in the office to check over some of the fencing companies. I was still going to need someone to build some professional gates.

We packed a big suitcase for all of us and went to bed for a good night's sleep before our trip.

I was up and doing chores, with the dogs acting a little crazy this morning. I had let the deer out of the barn and he was running and jumping before wagging his tiny antlers at the steers and dogs. I really needed to take him down to Bradley's and Summer's. I would be to blame if something was to happen with that crazy deer. I was surprised he hadn't decided to go look for a herd of his own. If deer could talk to each other, he could probably have told a dozen does to come to the barn with him for the easy pickings. Free food would be a good bargaining point.

As I finished with the chores, the Latino women came up the road. Carmen scolded me for doing chores as she said now the women didn't have as much to do while we were gone. Mom assured them that she had left plenty for them to do.

Loading up became a task in order to take all of the necessary clothes, supplies, and equipment for John. It's a good thing Mom's SUV was big or everything wouldn't have fit. In addition to John's stuff and our clothes, Mom wanted to take along two hams per family and had even had the butcher slice up a side of bacon to divide between the families. I kept telling her that the sizes of the hams might be too big for their freezer and the meat would spoil before they could eat it all. Her comment was, "They will just have to cut them to fit. The city folks need to have a taste of the country for a while."

The drive to Cincinnati didn't take all that long and we arrived in the outskirts near where both my brother and sister lived. Mom directed me to an area that she called Fruit Hill in southern Cincinnati. She had me drive by both of my siblings' homes to make sure I remembered where they were before directing me to a Holiday Inn Suites a little farther north.

We checked in, hung our clothes up, changed John, and took off for a mall where there was supposed to be an important coin dealer.

I knew what my dealer and jeweler in Lexington would pay me, but I thought it might be smart to check with another one like the Lexington jeweler had recommended.

While Mom and I were going to check with the coin dealer, Millie, John, and Marita were going to wander around the mall. We would call them on Millie's cell phone when we were through.

The first man to wait on us was a little snooty and said he would have to get the buyer. His exact words were, "I hope you have more than some Morgan silver dollars to unload. You people seem to have so many of those."

Mom and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Another man came and was much friendlier. "How may I help you folks today?"

I placed one of the coins on the counter and asked the man, "I'm interested in getting a value and possibly selling some coins today."

The man had been looking me in the eye as I spoke before dropping his gaze to the old double eagle. His mouth dropped open. "Oh my, you had the right man the first time. I should go get him."

Mom softly said, "If I have to deal with that inconsiderate person, we'll find another dealer."

"No, oh no, don't do that. Let me get Mr. Chapman, he'll love to talk to you."

As the man almost ran from us, Mom said, "Well, this is 'Chapman Coins' so we may get some respect."

The original clerk was looking over at us with interest but still had that arrogant sneer on his face.

The second clerk brought an older gentleman to the glass case counter who stuck his hand out. "My name is Gary Chapman, this is my store. Carl tells me you have a very old Double Eagle. May I see it?"

I handed him the coin and he inspected it a minute before reaching for a magnifying glass. He looked it over carefully and laid it on the counter and used a pencil to point out a small mark on the coin. He looked up and smiled, "And where have you been keeping such a beautiful coin? This is indeed rare."

I told the man, "It's part of our heritage and we've decided to sell some of what we have."

Mr. Chapman looked at us closer and asked, "You have more of these?"

Mom told him, "We have thirty of these and one very special coin that we may or may not sell."

"May I see the coin you consider special?"

Mom pulled the coin she had taken from the buckets in the smoke house and laid it on the counter. I thought good old Gary Chapman was going to have a coronary on the spot. He lost his reserve as he snatched up his magnifying glass and looked at the coin. He whispered something to the clerk who went to a shelf and brought a book back.

Mr. Chapman flipped through some pages until he came to a display of the coin we were showing him and began going over our coin at each point the book identified. Once again he had the clerk run for something. The clerk brought back a scale and kit like the Lexington jeweler used.

Gary Chapman brought out a kit that he said was an ancient but extremely accurate method that would compare the weight of the coin and its gold content. He explained that it was the Archimedean method, in which you place the coin and an identical weight of similar purity gold in water and measure the displacement. Alloy metals, like copper or silver, have a different specific gravity and will displace a different volume for a given weight. Archimedes used this method to identify a cheating goldsmith who had adulterated a crown to keep some of the gold for himself. He repeated the process on the original coin we showed him.

"I'm sorry; I introduced myself and didn't get your names."

I told him, "This is my mother, Bea Grayson, and I'm Mike Grayson."

"Are you two from here in Cincinnati; do you live here?"

I knew he was doing some investigative work now. "Mom has a home here that she may sell soon, and I live near Stanton, Kentucky."

Mom was quick to say, "Two of my other children live near here. Mike is up here to visit them and help with these coins."

The man was still being cautious, "Have you had these appraised before?"

I told him, "Yes, we've been to a jeweler and coin dealer in Lexington. He was very nice to us."

"Hmm, no doubt, no doubt, umm, I want all of the coins you have if I they are in as good a condition as this one. The special coin I must have and I will outbid anyone for it. It is a very special coin."

"Well, Sir," I told Mr. Chapman, "Make your offers and we'll see if you are equal to the man in Lexington."

I saw the man's eyes narrow as he thought of the way I had put it. He wanted to know what I had been offered, but I thought it best to let him make his offer.

He picked up the lesser coin and flipped it back and forth looking at it. "You know that I'm a dealer and need to buy this at a price that I can make money when I sell it. I will quote you a value of the coin, but will only give you eighty percent of that value." It must be something that coin dealers do, but he took a small pad and tore off a piece of paper, placed the coin on it, then wrote a number on the paper. He repeated the process on the special coin and looked up at me as he spun the papers so the numbers were facing me.

I told him, "The Lexington dealer is about the exact same amount of money, but he is only deducting fifteen percent. Five percent of almost ten thousand is a lot. I may have to do business down there."

"If you want to think about this other coin for a minute, I'll tell you what he is willing to give me. You have only offered eighty percent of twenty thousand, five hundred. The Lexington dealer has offered twenty-six thousand four hundred less fifteen percent. That's a big difference."

"Well," Mr. Chapman flustered, "I can give you cash, right here, right now."

"So can the other dealer. I sold him some other heirlooms and he immediately paid cash for them the first time, and he transferred money directly into my bank account the second time. Are you firm on your offers?"

Mr. Chapman let out a big sigh, "I really want your coins, but I'm just not sure of the value and I must own them at a price I can make a profit. Would you mind if I called that dealer to verify your prices? That could make me think about a higher value."

I scratched my head and looked at Mom, who just shrugged her shoulders. I told Mr. Chapman, "Here's the telephone number. Call him, or I can call him for you and you can talk to him. I'm sure you will agree that this is a little unusual."

When I pulled my cell phone out, the man nodded. "Go ahead. Does your phone have a speaker?"

I nodded as the Lexington dealer answered. "Hi, Gus, this is Mike Grayson. I'm sure you remember me. I'm at Chapman Coin in Cincinnati doing what you suggested. Mr. Gary Chapman wants to confirm something with you. Will you speak with him?"

The Lexington dealer asked, "What have you discussed with him, Mike?"

I answered, "Just about coins, that's all we're talking about."

Gus asked, "What can I help you with, Mr. Chapman?"

"I just wanted to confirm the numbers you quoted Mike on the one special Double Eagle and the other 1865 Double Eagles he has. Please tell me, if you would."

I was actually surprised, but the Lexington dealer quoted Gary Chapman the exact numbers I had given and added that his resale fee was fifteen percent. He told Mr. Chapman, "If you have some rare coins, I would be interested. We should get together."

"Thank you, Sir, I will get with you soon. Let me finish with Mr. Grayson. Have a good day."

Mom told the two store people, "I have a daughter and a grandson waiting for us. Are we going to do business?"

Gary Chapman looked at Mom, looked at me, looked at the coins and finally said, "I will match the resale percentage and give you a five percent premium over his price for the thirty coins. I really want this other coin and will give you a ten percent premium without any resale charge. That coin will go into my personal collection. Will you sell me your coins?"

Mom brought out the little cloth bag of twenty-nine more coins and stacked them neatly on the glass counter. Mr. Chapman was busily tallying up the numbers and stated, "I may not have enough cash for the whole transaction, but I can give you a check or transfer funds. What would you like?"

I looked at Mom and asked, "How about I put it in the bank. No sense carrying around that kind of cash."

Mom nodded and Mr. Chapman smiled. "You two are tough negotiators and called my bluff with the Lexington dealer. I should have recognized that you were on the up and up, but I do get a lot of weirdoes that come through. I thank you and this young man assisting me thanks you, as he will receive a commission on each coin of this collection that we sell."

The clerk was busily testing each coin for its gold content. Mr. Chapman said, "Be on the lookout for some coins that were made to look exactly like the special one, but is made from platinum and silver with gold plating. There were only about five hundred made, and they are now more valuable than the original. I think the counterfeit coin goes for over forty-five thousand each. Most of them were found and turned in during the 1870s but about fifty are still unaccounted for. If you have more of what you call your heritage, look through them and see if you spot any. The coin will have four slight scores on the edge from the counterfeit die."

We helped make the transfer to the special trust account at the bank and happily left Chapman Coins. That ended up being a lot more hassle than I thought it would be. I was happy the second clerk was going to be rewarded for being friendly. I'd bet the other man will be kicking himself for days to come.

We didn't have to call the girls as they were sitting on a bench in the middle of the aisle. Millie had John snuggled to her and from the serene look on her face, I could tell she was nursing. We sat down with them and told them we were through, but we could do some shopping if they wanted.

Millie smiled and nodded to Marita who said, "We've already decided that people in Lexington are friendlier than they are in this mall. We were just in a mall shopping yesterday, and I don't think we need anything else right now."

Can you imagine, women who turn down shopping? Mom slapped me on the thigh and said, "See, Son, they are just like me, we don't want to shop all the time. If there's something I need, great; but just to look at things is not my cup of tea."

Millie was straightening her top after handing the sleeping John to Marita. "Let's go see my in-laws. I want to see what a fancy house looks like."

Mom winked at me as she said, "Hope she isn't disappointed, as you know, the kids aren't in the real high rent district."

"Hey," I said, as we walked out to the parking lot, "A nice house in a subdivision will impress a country girl who probably has never seen a newer home. Just about everything is new to Millie."

Mom added, "Marita too. You and I are the sophisticates." As she said that, she stumbled and almost fell from laughing so hard.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 26


The excitement was building when we were in the car. I was anxious to see my sister and brother and their kids, as I'm sure Mom was too. The difference this time was we were bringing another Grayson to the party. Little John was the featured attraction, and I know that I was proud and all you had to do is look at Millie and you could tell how proud she was.

Mom was kind of nuts over my getting married and now becoming a dad. I think she had written me off a long time ago, so her motherly instincts took over when I got married. Millie didn't have a mom and needed one. When we brought Marita into the family, we had a young lady who needed to have some mothering once again. Mom was right there, so she became the defacto mom to the two ladies.

Thinking about this was almost amusing, as Mom had become the matriarchal figure for the Latinos and more recently, to all of the road guys. Mom was the lady, the queen, the one to listen to and who took the time to listen to everyone, and the one to receive some mothering from.

It had been decided that we would have dinner at Sissy's house the first night. Since the weather was still frigid, everything would happen indoors.

My sister's home was really good sized, but it was big because she had finished her full basement into another living room. She was smart as it let the kids have a king-size romper room with TV, video games, game tables, and even their own mini-fridge for drinks. My brother's house was about the same, so when we arrived, all four of the kids were in Sissy's basement doing what kids do.

Sissy and my sister-in-law gave us a very warm welcome and couldn't get over how much John had grown. He was all smiles and giggles as he received all of the attention. The activity, of course, stimulated him into giving us a diaper full of smelly excrement. I wasn't paying attention when he was being handed around until he was in my hands and Millie sweetly asked if I would mind changing him. What a scam.

I found the diaper bag and laid John on the floor. The ladies were aghast that I would put our kid on the floor to change his diaper. Well, no one pointed out a changing table or somewhere I didn't think my mini-rug rat would roll off of. I had my kid cleaned and diapered in a minute. It's good thing I did it right as I had five women standing over me to give directions. I had to choke the laughter back.

When I picked John up, I whispered in his ear loud enough for all to hear, "You and me, Bud; we're going to show these babes who's boss." Little John actually giggled. I must have tickled his ear.

Now that the baby was clean, he once again became the focal point. I slid around the group into the kitchen, and found a beer in the fridge. I also saw a Hooter's box that had some left over chicken wings, so I heated them up. At least they were a little spicy.

Knowing the kids were all downstairs having fun, I figured I might go join them for a while.

Four kids under twelve hit me full force as soon as I reached the floor of the basement. They were getting big, so it was everything I could do to hold four of them up at the same time. We wrestled and hugged for a minute until they decided to get me involved in a game that was like a futuristic war. The kids were much better at it than I was, and I soon had to give my console up to another so that all four kids were now blasting each other with special ray guns and blast grenades.

I watched until I almost fell asleep, then I advised the busy kids that I was going up to get something to eat and drink.

It was still only four, so it would be an hour and a half to two hours before the guys would get here, so I told the ladies, "I think I'll go down to the sporting goods store and see what kind of hunting stuff they have."

Their only acknowledgement was an air kiss from Millie and Marita.

My first objective was a snack, so I stopped by a Taco Bell for a couple of crunchy tacos. That would tide me over.

The sporting goods store was a big chain located in a separate building in the mall complex, and had just about anything you could want as far as sports is concerned. I spent some time going through their hunting clothes, but didn't find anything that impressed me. Their boots were good, but the ones I was buying at the surplus store were better. What I wanted was a rubberized boot similar to my desert boot. They didn't have any.

Their gun counter was interesting, since they had just about every type of shotgun, rifle, and pistol made. The Mossberg we had at home was a good working gun and handled well. If I was to buy another pump, it would be a Remington, but did I need one? The Browning semi-autos were really interesting. I loved the fact that you could have six rounds in the gun at the same time.

The salesman behind the counter knew his guns and showed me how this Browning could handle the three and half inch shells all the way up to a slug with no problem. He did offer a barrel especially made for slugs to shoot more accurately at a longer distance. The rifled barrel would be an asset with a magnum slug at a hundred yards. I sort of grinned as I indulged myself and bought a very expensive shotgun with an extra barrel.

None of the rifles turned me on, and the pistols I already owned were more than enough to keep me happy. I checked out a .357 revolver with a six inch barrel that would chamber and fire the standard .38 special. I figured that I should teach Millie and Marita how to shoot. That led me to look at another Winchester. Should I get another 30-30, or should I up the bore to a 30.06? There wasn't much difference other than the carrying distance. We didn't use scopes, so a 30-30 with iron sights was probably a better buy and more useful to us. I bought that and a few boxes of shells for the 30-30 as we were low on those. I bought some slugs and a variety of game shells for the shotgun, and then bought five boxes of .38 special rounds for the revolver I decided to get. I had a couple of boxes of .357 rounds at home, so I didn't need any of those.

As I paid for the toys with my debit card, I contemplated whether I should buy a lock for our house door now that I had a baby at home. That was going to take some consideration. Would a locked door invite someone to think there was valuable stuff inside? Of course, as time went on, people would know I wasn't poor and might think I had something worth stealing. Like I said, that was going to take some consideration.

My brother and brother-in-law were just getting home when I got back to the house. After shaking hands and hugging, the guys pulled me into the kitchen where we each had a beer and talked about their jobs for a while. I really wanted to tell them about the treasure, but thought I should just forget it and let that stuff be there for when we needed it.

Their world was made up of offices in high rises, negotiating with other men in high rises next door, across the city, state, or country. Or even across the ocean, since in my brother's case he had a lot of dealings with companies in Europe. My brother-in-law was a numbers guy for an investment fund. He said his job was boring, but he was being bombarded with federal people lately, making sure the books were accurate.

My claim to fame was the new wine and grappa. I had brought a couple bottles of each. We each had a taste of the grappa and promised ourselves more after supper.

Bill, my brother-in-law, said that he was originally almost upset because we didn't want to stay in either Frank's or his house. After the two couples had discussed it, they agreed that we would probably be more comfortable in a hotel with the baby.

When the women kicked us out of the kitchen so they could put supper together, we went into the living room and continued our bullshitting there. I told the guys that I had bought a new Browning semi-automatic shotgun. They were fascinated and both wished that they could take time to hunt. Bill admitted that he had been a city boy and had never been hunting. Frank immediately told him that he was going to have to learn and he would teach him. Plans were immediately begun to get Bill down to the farm for some rabbit hunting. You could tell Bill was anxious to try, but apprehensive about using a gun. That was something else that Frank picked up on, and an excursion to a shooting range was planned.

That's when I almost rolled over on the floor, because Bill admitted that Sissy went to the range about once a month with her girlfriends and Frank's wife. Sissy had tried to get him to take some shooting lessons, but he didn't think he would ever need a gun or to know how to shoot.

Frank told him, "The way things are out there today, I'm even thinking of applying for a concealed carry permit. A couple of people have been robbed right in our parking garage. A woman was raped there when she left work late just last week. I'll bet she's taking gun lessons now."

I told the two men, "Mom and I applied for our concealed permits, but it's legal to have a piece in the car glove compartment. It's also legal to have a rifle or shotgun in a gun rack in your truck. I'm not sure if they are allowed to be loaded, but they probably are, since in Kentucky we are allowed to wear a loaded pistol without a permit as long as it's not concealed. Mom keeps the Beretta I got her in her car, and Frank will tell you, she can shoot."

Bill said, "I suppose you two are right and I do need to learn to defend my family and myself. Take me to the range, Frank, and I'll start learning. I'll take that gun owner safety course, then go buy a gun and learn how to use it. If I can shoot pool and play golf, I should be able to learn how to shoot a gun."

Frank began laughing, "Yeah, you shoot pool, all right. I slaughter you every time we play. We can show Mike how good we are tomorrow. He always used to beat me, but I doubt he's played much for a long time. Sissy can probably still beat him. Hell, I always have trouble beating her."

When supper was called, we sat at a fancy table in the dining room. Sissy told Mom, "If it wasn't for Bill thinking that we need to have a formal dining room, this room would house a very nice pool table. I heard you guys talking pool and have been thinking of getting one for the basement like Frank has. There's enough room down there and the kids would enjoy it as well."

There were some remarks like, "Yeah, get a pool table. We know how to use it now. Come on, Dad, get one so you can beat Uncle Frank."

Frank softly said, "And his wife."

Mom glowed, having all of her kids and grandkids together. She made an announcement. "Sissy and Frank, I want you guys to know that I'm going to adopt Marita. Mike and Millie were going to do that, but Marita has become like one of you. I'm having a great time teaching both Millie and Marita how to cook and do various things women do. Millie really sews well and crochets and knits up a storm. She's been crocheting a lot lately and sells fancy little doilies at the market for five and ten dollars each."

Millie interrupted, "I brought each of you ladies a few. I thought you might like them."

"See," Mom continued, "Millie is just like or is one of us. It's almost like Mike married his sister. I have another surprise for the two families, but we'll talk about that after supper. The one thing I want to know though, is that if Mike built a couple of more rooms onto his house, would you all come at once? I'd love to have you down so you could enjoy helping with the planting and during harvest in the fall. It's really busy in the fall, but a lot of fun."

Sissy was first to talk, "You don't need more room; there's enough room for all of us there now. The kids can sleep on the floor with the dogs in front of the fireplace. They would love that."

Bill looked sideways at his wife. "Don't those dogs have fleas and such?"

I laughed, "They might, Bill; but I put Advantage on them every month and give them a flea bath about once a month as well. The vet comes by and they get heartworm shots so that I don't have to worry about those. You might be surprised how clean the dogs are unless they find something dead and roll around on it. I think they are getting smart though, since they seem to know that they get a bath when they show up smelling like that."

Mom said, "Spook came back smelling really bad, and when I went out he went right to the hose by the pump house. He's a smart dog."

After a delicious meal, and a quick cleanup, the adults sat in the living room. Mom took her purse, then sat with Sissy on one side, and Frank on the other.

Mom sat between her two oldest kids and held their hands. She began, "I know you kids have been struggling a little this last couple of years since the girls lost their jobs. I understand Shirley is making a couple of dollars doing something on the computer at home."

Sissy said, "I'm starting the same thing, Mom. It won't make us rich, but it should replace most of what we were making before. At least we get to be home for the kids."

Mom continued, "That's good that you two have something that will bring in some extra money. That's what I want to talk to you about. Since I've moved out to Mike's, I haven't spent the first dollar of my pension money. I've rented the place out in the over fifty-five community here and that's bringing in some money too. Mike, Millie, and Marita want me to stay up on the mountain, and right now I want to do that. I really love it up there and it has made me feel young again. That means that I don't need some of the cash I have right now. I'm giving each of the families some money so you can catch up on the bills you talk about and hope you stop using the credit cards to make ends meet. Talk to me privately another day if you think you should, but enjoy what I give as something to make your life easier."

Frank immediately said, "We can't take money from you, Mom. That's money from the farm and what you and dad worked for all your life. That's your money to enjoy your life wherever you live. That you're staying up at Mike's right now is nice, but you may get tired of the cold in the winter and the backbreaking work in the summer. We can't take money from you, Mom."

Mom smiled, "You can and you will. Listen once again, this is money that I haven't needed because I've been living with Mike and I've been renting out my place up here. If you don't use it to clear up bills, put it in the kid's college fund. This is to make your lives more enjoyable."

With a slick move, Mom pulled the two checks from her purse and laid one in each of their hands. Sissy's eyes got real wide and her mouth opened, "Oh, Mom, this is so much. You're right, though; it will pay off what we went short before we learned how to live on less." Sissy just held the check out to Bill and told him, "Look at that; isn't that almost exactly what we were talking about?"

Bill was as surprised as Sissy when he looked at the check. He looked at Mom and smiled, mouthing "Thank you."

Frank looked at the check, then at Shirley. She was smiling at Frank and said, "Are you too proud to admit we have the same kind of problems? Since I lost my job, it took us a year to figure out how to live on just your salary. Thank God you have been able to keep your job. Thanks, Mom, you've always treated me like I was one of yours to the point that I've accused Frank of incest with his sister – which would be me."

Mom smiled and told all of us, "Doing things like this makes me so happy. Always remember that your dad and I built and worked that farm for you kids. Sure, we always thought it would take care of us in our old age, but I ain't old yet. I'm still enjoying life and enjoying it on the farm."

Mom received hugs and kisses from all four of the adults.

Sissy looked at me and said, "Mom didn't give you anything, did she?"

I shook my head no.

"You were always the one that had an extra nickel or quarter when we went to town. You would give Frank or me what we needed to get that something special we wanted. Is this from you or Mom?"

"It's from Mom. I should probably be paying her a salary, but she does get a bed and breakfast."

Mom laughed, "That's breakfast after milking the cows and gathering eggs."

That lightened the mood as the checks disappeared into pockets. I could see some strain leave Sissy's face as she pocketed her check.

I decided to make an offer, "You know that I'm going to have another big garden this next year and will be raising a lot of beef. How about you guys help a little during the summer? The guys will have to work up here, but the rest of you can help with the garden and vineyards and stay with us on the farm. For that, we'll make sure your pantry is full of canned vegetables and your freezers are full of beef. I'll bet that will help the budgets for six to nine months."

There was a cloud that passed over Bill's face at first, but he thought of it a minute and said, "You know what? The kids would probably enjoy the summer on the farm a hell of lot more than going to a park day camp up here. None of the kids are into summer sports, so why not? I know what you want, Sissy; how about you, Shirley?"

"I'm a city girl, but I will try a summer on your mountain, Mike." Shirley said this almost as if she was still thinking it through. "If this helps the kids understand they have to work for a living, then it's the best thing Frank and I can give them. For food for the winter and spring, I'm good with that. That's a lot of money. Count me in. I may not be a good farm girl, but I can learn."

I think my brother was going to get on his knees and propose to Shirley all over again. It was easy to see how watery his eyes were. He had finally seen the recognition in his wife for the life of his youth.

Bill asked of Frank, "What do you say we schedule our vacations when it's final harvest time for the grapes and apples? I think that's when Mike needs the most help. We might not be much help, but we can be a part of it. Want to try?"

Frank was all smiles, "You bet, Bro, we're going to be an asset to baby brother. Damn, I'm already excited about it."

The happiest person in the room was Mom. We talked about what each of the adults could do this coming season. I did mention that it was not all work and no play, as I'm sure the folks at the Starlight would let the kids come down to play in the pool. I was sure I could make that deal.

It was soon time to get the kids home for bed on a school night, and for the adults to get a good night's sleep for the men to go to work in the morning. Millie had been nursing the lazy sucking John, but received a lot of attention from the two adults and two children leaving.

Mom told Sissy, "It's time to let you guys get to bed. Thank you for the great supper. We'll call and meet you two ladies of leisure at the mall. I'm sure we can find something for my grandkids. Come on, Mike, Millie, and Marita -- oh my God, we are the '3M company', ha, ha, ha, ha -- it's time to let these folks relax after having company."

Sissy was all over Mom for her saying that she was company. After hugs, kisses, and handshakes, we went to the hotel.

Our palatial suite was two bedrooms and a sitting room. The only addition was the bassinet in the bedroom. John was cool with a cuddle before bed as we all crashed.

You can take a farmer out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the farmer. I was up at five, pacing. I couldn't go do any chores. I didn't have to scoop ashes from the fireplaces or cow poop in the milking parlor. The dogs didn't need to be let out. Shit, what was I supposed to do?

I looked in on Mom and she was restless. In the other bedroom, Millie was stirring and Marita was on her back, doing some fine snoring. Might as well shave and shower. This was nuts, how do people live without having things to do?

I was in the shower when Millie came in to hug and get wet with me. That didn't stop Marita, who came in and hugged both of us, and ignored my morning interest in nude women. Millie looked at me and shrugged, mouthing, "Sorry," as we washed. I spent some time giving both of the women a thorough head cleaning. I would have made a chimpanzee proud the way I picked through Millie's and Marita's hair.

We were drying off in the room when Mom walked in with a towel around her body and one on her hair. "Do you mean that you get to shower naked with my son? Damn, that's one of my fantasies and this interloper is already doing it. Did he do anything else?"

Marita told Mom in a totally innocent manner, "No, Ma'am, he doesn't show that kind of interest in me. It is disappointing, but since his wife is with him, I doubt if a girl like me is competition."

If I wouldn't have embarrassed Marita, I would have been rolling on the floor. Mom gave me silly grin and quickly turned her back, as I was still standing there trying to hide my front while drying off.

Millie gave me a quick hug and tugged at my appendage, "Maybe I should send you back in the shower with your mother and Marita?"

I pinched the wicked mother of my child on the butt. She jumped and went to change and feed John.

Mom found the complimentary coffee and fixed us some. As we had coffee and John had titty milk, we talked about how last night had been a success all around. Mom thanked me for having given the kids the money. I told her it was her fault that it wasn't more. All of our stomachs were growling, so with John sort of satisfied, we went to the hotel breakfast area.

It's funny how spoiled you get at home. We ate scrambled eggs, bacon, tough sausage, cold toast, with more milk and coffee. The coffee was weak, the milk wasn't very rich, and the bacon sucked, just plain sucked. We were used to homegrown, home-smoked thick bacon that had a flavor without all of the greasy taste.

On the other hand, they had a waffle maker that made a fresh waffle from batter in 2½ minutes, so we tried those – not bad – and finished with some slices of melon and grapes. Mom said, "That's what city folks think a breakfast is. See, Son, you were raised to know the difference."

The problem was it was now only seven thirty and what should we do now. Mom said, "Let's run out to my place to see if it's still standing. The couple who rented it will probably be up and will be glad to have us visit for a minute."

Sure enough, the couple was outside when we pulled up. You would have thought we were their close relatives the way they welcomed us. It was then that I recognized why Mom wanted to live with us instead of the cold over fifty-five park. Their kids were nearby, but strangers. Their only friends were others who were as lonely as they were.

We left about nine-thirty and drove toward the area where my siblings lived. Sissy answered when Mom called and said she and Shirley would meet us at the food court at ten.

I don't know about Mom, Millie, and Marita, but I was about to be malled out. The other two young moms wanted a breakfast sandwich before they began, so we sat and had another cup of coffee. The ladies wanted to roam the department stores, and I said I would wander down to Sears and the sporting goods store at the other end of the mall. They would call me when they wanted to meet.

I didn't make it to Sears. I sat on a bench among some real plants and smelled nature for a few minutes. It's amazing how you miss the smell of real plants in such a short period of time. I was able to watch people hurry and scurry along in a rush to buy ... what? Would it be a pair of shoes, a tablecloth for tonight's festivities, something really important?

Finally tired of watching the same expressions on people, I walked into the sporting goods store. They had the same selection of boots, and their gun case was anemic. My gun closet had a better selection.

I went into Sears and looked at their work boots, but didn't find anything I wanted. The tool area was right around the corner, so I looked through their selection. Nothing grabbed me, as they had tools for city people and not necessarily for farmers and working men. They had a deal on combination boxed and open end wenches as a buy one get one free, so I could get two full sets of wrenches up to an inch for half price, or was it that I bought a set and they gave me another one? Nothing else really grabbed me, so I walked back to the mall.

As I was strolling down the mall, a young lady accosted me, "Hi, Mister. My name's Connie. Are you lonely? I can help with that. Want to come home with me for an hour or so?"

I almost dropped the tools I was carrying. "You can't be serious, can you? You are propositioning me right here in the mall? What time is it, not even noon and you're already working?"

The girl looked frightened, then sad, then indignant, but finally had a look of shame. She began to turn to leave, but a young guy came rushing up and backhanded her hard enough to almost knock her off her feet. "You stupid fucking whore, don't you know how to proposition a john? What the fuck's the matter with you?"

The guy raised his hand to slap her again and I grabbed his hand and bent it around his back. "Hold it right there. If you want to slap her around, you're going to have to do it somewhere else."

The kid struggled, "Who the fuck are you, old man? I'll cut you from your balls to your nose, now let me go."

When the kid's free hand reached for his back pocket, I did a simple leg sweep take down, planting his face into the tile floor of the mall. His forehead hit the tile hard and knocked him silly for long enough that I was able to remove a Buck knife from his rear pocket.

I grabbed his wrist again and was raising him from the floor when I noticed that his nose was bleeding profusely.

Sissy, Shirley, Mom, Millie, and Marita had been close and were rushing to me. Mom could tell the girl that had propositioned me was terrified and took her up the walkway to another bench behind some foliage. Sissy, Shirley, Marita, and Millie with John, were standing there watching when a mall security guard walked up holding his hand on the handle of his sidearm.

"What's going on?" the security guard demanded.

Holding the kid's arm behind him, I gestured toward the knife on the floor and said, "This kid tried to pull that knife on me after he promised to slice me from my balls to my nose. I didn't want that to happen, so you have a kid with his nose on the floor."

The guard didn't know what to do but asked, "Do you want to file charges?"

"Of course I do, call the local cops and get them here before I decide to just break this kid's arm and maybe his neck."

Sissy couldn't stand to be quiet and said, "You better move it or he will. He just got out of the Army after twenty years and is a badass."

That was almost embarrassing. I had been out over a year.

The guard was now really flustered and used his radio to call the office. The kid kept struggling and telling everyone around him he was going to kill them all for sure, and that cunt was going to suffer like no one has ever suffered.

The guard asked, "What cunt, ah, l mean person, are you talking about?"

"Find the cunt that I sent to whore out to this guy. She'll tell you she's mine and does what I tell her to do."

The guard said, "I don't see another girl except these four right here, and I don't think they would have anything to do with you."

Millie said, "I am this man's wife and the mother of our child. This is my adopted sister, his sister, and sister-in-law. That man has a bad mouth."

The security guard finally took his cuffs out and was just looking at them, so I took them from him and cuffed the punk with the foul mouth. About that time a couple of mall executives and two local police showed up. I had the kid sitting on a bench and the security guard had a wet paper towel wiping his nose.

The lead cop asked, "What's the trouble here?"

I didn't have to answer; the kid did all the talking. "I was bitch slapping my whore and this guy stopped me. I told him I was going to cut him from his balls to his nose and he knocked me down and he may have busted my nose. He wouldn't let me up until this comic keystoner gave him some cuffs. I'm gonna sue everyone one of you, then gut this son of a bitch."

The lead cop asked the kid, "Is that all you want to say? Do you maybe want to harm anyone else?"

"You slimy pig motherfucker, get these cuffs off me and I'll show you what a Red Shirt will do. Get out of my turf."

"Aha," the cop said, "A genuine Red Shirt. At least I now understand a little more about what's going on." The police officer looked at me and continued, "Ah, Sir, do you know that you've actually assaulted a real live punk that says he's a Red Shirt? Aren't you afraid?"

I didn't understand and asked, "Is this something I should go into that sporting goods store and get a shotgun for?"

The policeman laughed, "Only if you're afraid of the kindergarten of the kiddy street gangs. Can you tell me what happened?"

I thought to tell a little of the truth, "A young lady was talking to me when this guy comes up and slaps her hard enough that she almost fell. He was about to do it again, but I caught his wrist and pulled it behind him. When he told me he was going to kill me with his knife and reached for his back pocket, I took him down and took his knife away from him. That's the knife by the security guard's feet. You've heard the rest of what this guy has been saying."

The cop was going through the kid's pockets and came out with a couple of IDs. He looked up at me and said, "This kid has papers that say he is sixteen, eighteen, and twenty-two, along with a couple of rocks to smoke or deal. Tell you what, take this one that says he's sixteen and do something with it. He has to be at least eighteen as I've had him in before. He threatened me, but that is not necessarily attempted murder, but intended and threatened murder. We should be able to hold him on that. Now where's the little girl he was bitch slapping?"

I looked around and saw Millie give her head a slight wave back and forth. "I'm not sure, Officer. She probably ran when I grabbed this guy after he hit her."

The whole time we were talking, the kid kept trying to kick the other officer and telling him how he was going to cut his throat, but before that, he was going to make him watch while he fucked his wife and killed her too. This kid was vile.

The cop smiled at me and said, "You're in luck. I really don't need you for anything after what this kid has spieled the last few minutes. We'll give him a ride downtown and hopefully he'll make it without falling a few more times."

The man actually winked at me as he re-cuffed the punk and handed the other cuffs back to the security guard.

The mall executives began apologizing to me until I could finally pacify them that we were fine. They finally insisted that our entire group have coffee or a soft drink at the food court before we left.

Millie with John, Marita, and I walked past Mom, who stood, and holding the girl's hand, pulled her with us. You could see the fear and confusion in the girl's eyes. Sissy and Shirley followed.

Marita went to the girl's other side and held her hand. She said in her almost perfect English, "Stay with these people for as long as you can. You will be taken care of. Wait and later tell me all about why you were with that boy."

This did give us a chance to feed the little girl a breakfast sandwich. The way she wolfed it down, you could tell she was starved. The rest of us had coffee and fountain Cokes before gathering our purchases and leaving by the front entrance. While we were heading to our car, we saw a group of young guys in red T-shirts off in a corner of the parking lot. They couldn't have known exactly what happened as I didn't see them in the mall. I suppose they might have seen one of their fellow gang members being stuffed into a police cruiser, but that was all.

I walked my sister and sister-in-law to their car and walked back to the mall entrance area to get the ladies and take them to our car.

Marita and the new girl got into the back seat, Millie was in the middle with the baby in a car seat, and Mom was in the front with me. The girl had been terrified when we saw the guys with the red T-shirts, but had been able to huddle with us so that she wasn't seen getting into our car. Mom reminded me as we began pulling away, "You know to use the glove box if you need it, right Mike?"

I nodded and focused on driving out of the parking lot without attracting attention. As we pulled out into traffic, my cell rang. Sissy asked, "Where should we go? It's almost lunch time. Do you want to go to lunch?"

Mom directed, "How about my favorite. We'll go to the Olive Garden for their lunch special and Mike will treat us all."

Sissy asked, "Is that all right with you, Mike?"

"Lead on, Sis, I'll follow you to the Olive Garden."

Now my sister was being her usual tease, "Would you follow me to a local no-tell motel, big guy? I'll bet Shirley and I could make you walk funny."

I heard Shirley in the background saying, "If he's like his brother, he might make us both walk funny."

"Goodbye, Sis, you are making me blush."

I hung up the phone.

Lunch was fun with the little girl finally coming out of her shell. Mom was able to get her to talk. She had been kicked out of her house by her father when he caught her experimenting with smoking. Not dope, just a cigarette. He had heard coughing and choking, and went to find out what was the matter. He had called her a floozy and said she probably already was a whore. The first person that she saw when she was carrying a shopping bag of clothes was the punk who slapped her.

She was alone and terrified, so she welcomed someone who took her to an abandoned house that had running water and gave her a place to sleep. The guy did what she expected, and had forced her to be her first. After using her for a night, he gave her to his club brothers who used her for a couple days. She said that they kept promising her food but never brought her any. When she had been begging this morning, the guy brought her to the mall so she could pick someone up and give them a blowjob for twenty bucks. She was lucky or unlucky enough to find me for her first john.

You could see the pain that Mom, Sis, and Shirley felt for the girl. Millie didn't really understand, but Marita kept getting an angry look on her face. I think she wanted to go clean out the Red Shirts.

After we finished lunch and were still sitting at the table, Shirley said, "How about just coming to my place early. Mike and Sissy can shoot some pool downstairs and the rest of us can make a cake or something."

Mom said, "We're going to take this girl to the doctor first to make sure she's okay. Those characters could have all kinds of diseases. Honey, will you go to a doctor with us?"

The girl was teary-eyed and asked, "Why are you doing this? Aren't you afraid I'll try to steal from you or hurt you?"

It was Marita that said, "You are like me, little one. I was alone with nothing, but they kept me and now I am whole and healthy. You will be too and will love these people. Come and stay with us. They will make sure you are healthy. Tell me your name."

The girl looked hesitant, but finally said, "My name is Karen Cooper. I live near here, but I can't go home. My mother will only do what my father says, and he wanted me out of the house. Can I really stay with you people?"

Mom said to Karen, "You may stay with us for as long as you want. We are farm people, so there are chores to do. You will need to help."

I could see the acceptance in Karen's eyes. "That sounds nice. Can I try to live with you to see how I make out?"

Millie immediately said, "Yes, you can help me with John too."

Shirley said her gynecologist was nearby and told us to follow her. I would guess we looked a little strange trooping into a doctor's office with a young girl, and we were asked what we wanted. The receptionist wanted some special identification, but Karen said her purse was still at the Red Shirt house. I vowed to go get it and the few things she had as soon as the ladies were planted.

The female doctor took her time and apparently queried the girl in depth during the exam. When she came out she said, "You folks are doing an act of kindness. She is battered, but thankfully still healthy and I'm pretty sure she is disease free. I'll have other results later and will call Shirley with them. Take care of this fragile little girl. Help her stay a good person."

We drove to Frank's and Shirley's home and took everyone in. I sat with Karen for a minute and found out exactly what the address was where her purse and shopping bag full of clothes were. Sissy was insistent about knowing exactly what was in the shopping bag and purse, and equally insistent that she was coming with me. I didn't like this, but you would understand if you knew my sister.

We drove to the street where there were several abandoned homes that were obviously in foreclosure. The one we wanted had a junk car on blocks in the driveway, and a couple of bicycles against the side of the house. I pulled Mom's Beretta from the glove box, jacked a round into the chamber and had to catch the one that ejected. I should have known Mom would have a round chambered. As I got out of the car, Sissy worked the slide on her gun and held it behind her skirt. Annie Oakley rides again.

Instead of knocking, I grabbed the doorknob thinking it might be locked and I was going to use my weight to go right on through. Instead, the door easily swung open and we startled four kids, three boys and a naked girl, sitting in a circle, smoking from a bong. They also had lighters in their hand as they cooked something in the bowl of the bong.

One of three boys looked up and began reaching for something. I pointed the gun at his head and said, "Be nice and live. I'm here to collect a purse and shopping bag."

All of them froze until Sissy reached down and pulled the girl up by the arm, holding her gun to the girl's head. "Find me the purse and clothes of the little girl these guys were gangbanging the last couple of days."

The girl was frightened enough that she pointed toward a side room and led Sissy toward it. Sissy later told me the girl pointed to a purse and a stuffed shopping bag. There was a pair of panties that had been washed out and draped over the purse. Sissy said she figured the panties were Karen's and took them too. When the girl was asked if there was anything else, she shook her head, still terrified, but also very high.

When they were back in the room, I said, "Do yourselves a favor and find help. You'll end up dead if you keep this up."

Sissy handed me the bag and purse before telling me, "Go get the car running, I might want to rid the world of some of this trash."

The kids sat up straight with terror on their faces. This was possibly as close as they had come to someone who challenged and threatened them. I knew Sis wouldn't kill them, but I was sure she wanted to scare them.

I had the car started and the door open facing the house when my nutty sister walked out like she was taking a stroll and got into the car. "I think they all peed in their pants. That was fun. Let's look inside this little girl's purse to find out a little more about her."

Sissy rummaged through the purse and found a driver's license. "Mike, she's seventeen. In Ohio, she can legally run at sixteen. Down in Kentucky you can do anything you want to with her after sixteen. She's legal, big guy, and no one can mess with you over it."

I shook my head back and forth, "I guess I'm happy about that. So that means that what those kids did to her wasn't against the law?"

"Rape is still rape, Mike. You can't make someone do something they don't want to do. I'm sure she was so scared that she would do about anything to keep off the streets and you already know what she was willing to do for something to eat."

We drove home in relative silence, until Sissy said, "I'm going to call her home number tonight and ask her father if he really wants her to be gone. I can't imagine turning my own kid out, regardless of what he might be trying. I'd send my kid to jail myself before I would turn him out or kick him out."

Sissy rummaged in the purse and shopping bag before raising her head to ask, "What's the matter with this picture?"

"What do you mean, Sis?"

"There's no cell phone in here. I wonder if those kids stole it? I better ask her about it right away."

When we walked into Shirley's and Frank's house, Marita and Millie met us and told us that Mom and Shirley were helping Karen get cleaned up. They were supposed to take Karen's stuff up to her.

Sissy told Millie, "Lead the way. I have to ask Karen a couple of questions."

A few minutes later, Sissy came back downstairs and said to me, "Can you imagine? Karen didn't have a cell phone. I wonder what kind of home she lived in?"

Sissy went into the kitchen and put some fresh coffee on before she sat at the kitchen table and using her cell phone, dialed a number she had on a slip of paper.

"Hello, Mrs. Cooper, is your husband home?" Sissy paused for an answer and continued, "May I speak to him." After another pause, she spoke into the phone, "It is very important and he must speak to me. It could be a legal matter."

Sissy said to me, "He's home. I'm going to put this on speakerphone so you can hear it."

"Hello, Mr. Cooper, my name is Sissy Grayson and I live here in Cincinnati too. We have found your daughter who was frightened and hungry and has been physically abused. Would you like me to bring her home to you?"

An angry voice almost yelled, "I don't want that harlot in my house corrupting her brother and sisters. Throw her out and let her starve. She has no value to me or anyone else now. Don't call me about that person again. She no longer is my daughter."

Sissy said, "That's pretty drastic for experimenting with a cigarette, isn't it? Didn't you ever experiment with stuff like that when you were her age?"

"I'll have you know that my wife and I were married at her age and lived an exemplary life then and still do now. Go away and get rid of that girl before she corrupts you." There was the crash of a phone being slammed in the cradle. It didn't hang up, and we heard, "That harlot is trying to talk people into bringing her home. You heard me; I want to make sure the other kids know the consequences of experimenting with the devil's vices." Someone must have noticed the phone was not hung up and the connection was cut.

"No wonder the little girl is so convinced that she can't go home and welcomes the opportunity to find another home life. Mike, do you have room for another kid? Mom told me Marita is a lot older than we thought, but this kid is only seventeen and has a lot to learn and a lot of life to live. Do you think the farm will be too constricting for her?"

I smiled at Sissy and gave her a hug. "I don't know, Sissy, but you and Mom are from the same mold. What will Mom do with a little girl like this? She's going to smother the kid with attention and help her learn how to be a productive citizen. I guess at her age, Karen's probably still in high school. That will be a little bit of problem transferring schools, but I'll bet we can work it out."

Mom, Shirley, and Karen Cooper came into the kitchen with a scrubbed Karen, with freshly brushed hair in a nice dress. The girl was actually smiling and went to Sissy and hugged her. Karen said, "I love the way the whole family has hugged me and shown me respect and caring. I think I'm drunk with the wonderful feelings it gives me. Thank you for getting my things."

Marita came in the kitchen and sat with Karen. Marita asked, "So tell us about leaving home. You said you were caught smoking a cigarette, do you smoke?"

"No, Ma'am, I don't smoke. One of the men who were working on the house had some cigarettes and I asked for one. I kept it until they were gone and tried to smoke it. I made so much noise that my dad heard me. He went nuts demanding to know who I had whored myself out to for a cigarette. Honest, I've never done anything like that, you know sinful, until I stayed with those kids."

Mom asked, "What year of school are you in, Karen?"

"I finished high school this last semester. I finished second in my class because my father kept me out of school for some church functions. I was offered a scholarship to a good university, but my father felt that a husband should be found for me as soon as possible. He feels women don't need education past high school. My mother didn't finish school and works at being a good wife to him."

Mom patted the girl on the arm and told her, "We go to church too, but it isn't restrictive and men don't keep their children from going to school. We'll work on finding you a way to go to a college or university. What do you think you would like to do?"

"Oh, Mrs. Grayson, I want to be a teacher. I think I would like to begin teaching younger children and work my way up to high school students. I know I would be a good teacher. I teach, or rather I taught a Sunday school class for the last four years and enjoyed that a lot. I made sure to teach children that being a good person was fun and had a lot of benefits. Not all of the families were like my dad."

The kids from both families came in the door in a rush, talking a mile a minute about how they confuse the bus driver because they get off at different houses all the time. They did stop and do a triple take of the new person, so Mom introduced Karen, "This young lady needed a family to live with for a while. She is going to come with me and I'm going to be like her pretend mom or grandmother. You might have to teach her how to play your video games. I doubt she has ever played any."

Karen was shaking her head no, but you could tell she was interested in trying to play one of the games.

Shirley asked the kids, "How about taking Karen downstairs and teaching her how to play one of the animal games? Don't do those war games. That may be too gory for her."

The two girls were pulling Karen with them. Karen looked around at us with some indecision, and then smiled before letting the girls lead her away.

Sissy opened the fridge and took out a couple beers. She offered one to Shirley, Marita, and Millie, who all turned her down. She twisted the cap off one and handed it to me, then twisted her cap off and tilted it up, swallowing half the beer in the bottle at one time. Mom reached over and took my beer and nodded toward the fridge. She used the bottle to point at Sissy and said, "Did you see the respect I get from my own daughter?" I pulled another beer out and opened it to join the two women as they were making short work of their beers.

"Ah, just what I needed," Sissy said, as she put the empty bottle in the recycle basket. "I better watch it, or after our day, I'll drink a half a dozen and Bill will have to carry me home."

Shirley said, "Yeah, sure. You drink the guys under the table every time we go out. If it's only beer, you have a hollow leg or something. You'll have five or six beers and never hit the head. The guys already have a well-traveled path before you go the first time."

Sissy was grinning, "See what I'm surrounded by, Mike, a bunch of lightweights. Even Frank gets funny after three. Bill gets sick if he drinks too much, so I cut him off at three, then space them. You have to watch Mom, though. When she's in the mood, I can't keep up with her."

"Now, Sissy, you make me sound like a lush. I only go out with you girls once a year or so. Now that I've been staying up on Mike's mountain, I really don't have a chance to let my hair down like we sometimes did. I'll have to drive up and stay with you girls a couple of days. I'll bet we can get into some mischief."

Millie giggled, "If I drink two glasses of Mike's wine, I feel funny and want to cuddle. I don't think I could drink that much beer. I really don't care for it so much."

"I'm with you, Millie," Marita told Millie, as she hugged her.

Watching how well Marita was accepted and intertwined with Mom and Millie made me happy. I hoped this new little girl would be able to mix in as well.

Sissy told Shirley, "We better call the guys so they bring more beer. I think tonight is a beer night."

While Shirley called Frank, Sissy elbowed me, "Well, Stud, let's see: You have your lovely wife, this foxy Mexican beauty, and now a cute little brunette that is budding very nicely. Are you going to be able to keep up?"

Millie still doesn't understand the concept of teasing very well, and said, "I tell him all of the time that he needs to love Marita like he does me, but he won't do anything. It was the same with Summer, but that turned out to be the right thing. She has her own man now and is expecting their first baby. Poor Marita and I am sure Karen too. They will be lonely and Mike will only help me with my urge."

At the "urge" word, Sissy and Shirley looked at Mom and me with a question. Mom looked at both women, and gave a slight shake of the head and said in a near whisper, "Later."

The funny one was Marita, who had been on the other side of Mom. She moved around her and snuggled up to me, pulling my hand and arm around her. The Latino beauty was grinning. "And to think I cannot interest this big man in my hot Latin appetite. Oh, woe is me."

That had the women breaking up. Millie wasn't fazed by Marita's teasing, and I was betting she was pulling for Marita to break down my resolve. I just grinned and said, "I'm a one woman man."

Sissy, Shirley, and even Mom all said at the same time, "We'll see." It was Sissy that said, "Tell us in another three to six months."

The women were making motions to begin making supper, so I took my beer into the living room and turned on the TV to wait for Frank and Bill to get here.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 27

When Frank came in from the garage, carrying a couple of bottles of beer, he said, "I put two cases in the garage fridge along with some Coke and Mountain Dew. There is both regular of each kind of soda and diet decaf of each. That ought to take care of it. Bill said he was picking up some bottles of tea mixes and some snacks."

Frank gave me a fresh beer as he went into the kitchen, where I then heard Shirley squeal because he came back in with only two beers. He put one of them on the table by a big chair. "See, Mike, if you were around more, I would get another man's chair so we could watch the games together. Bill comes over on Sundays and Monday nights during the seasons and we watch the games on my big TV. You could do that at your place with the big TV you have."

Bill came in the house, waved at us, and went into the kitchen. He came back into the living room blushing, which means that Sissy is being a tease again. She loves to put a show on for visitors, especially family.

Mom came in and began telling the two guys the story about Karen Cooper and how she was going to take her in for a while. Frank looked at me and asked, "Do you have a vote in this, or do you just get the benefit of a bed full of babes?"

Mom whacked Frank with a stuffed pillow. "Get your mind out of the gutter. Remember that you're going to have a little girl of that age in just a few years. With two ten year old girls around, you men better be on your toes. The boys are only a year younger, but boys are easier. Just get ready for it."

Bill wanted to know if I thought I should go to the police to make sure the Red Shirt kid was prosecuted.

"Since that kid couldn't find me with a guide dog and GPS, I'm not going to worry about it. If he was to show up on my doorstep, I might just feed him to the bears. I doubt we will ever even hear of the Red Shirts again. You might, because you live here, but I won't. If you are ever confronted, just make sure you keep them in front of you, and shoot 'em if they make a move. You'll have hell to pay with the law, but I'd bet you skate. Those punks run their mouths as if they are the baddest men in town, but they're just punks. Like I said though, they won't show up since they don't have a clue where Karen took off for and there is no record of who we are. I think the policeman did that on purpose to keep idiot punks like that from trying for some revenge."

Frank agreed, "The cops are pretty smart about street kids and gangs like that. They know how to handle them and what they are capable of. You're right though, never give them a chance to be stupid with you or yours. Being proactive is being protective."

Sissy brought Karen in and introduced her to Frank and Bill. Karen was all smiles and almost curtsied to them as she was introduced. I don't think she had ever met other men outside of her church and school. I could tell she was enjoying the warmth and excitement of the house full of people.

During supper, everyone discussed how the women and kids would spend the summer on the farm, with the men coming down on weekends. I could see the gleam in Mom's eyes knowing that we were going to be building onto the house some more. I hope we can keep the place looking small, although it is getting huge.

By the time we were ready to go to the hotel, there was a lot of kisses and hugs, since we were going back home in the morning. The two couples profusely thanked Mom for her 'redistribution of wealth' to use a popular term in the news right now as well as for the ham and bacon. The kids and women hugged Karen and promised to be seeing her soon. The kids told her that when they came, they could all go swimming together. Somehow, I doubt that Karen had ever been swimming unless it was in full body armor.

At the hotel, we divided up easier than I thought. Mom had Karen sleep in her bed, while Marita joined Millie and me. Amazing how extra women keep sleeping with me. That's all they do too, just sleep.

The next morning, when no one was close, Mom quietly told me, "The little girl is so hungry for love and family that she clung to me all night. I hope we can give her what she has been missing. It's funny how you keep picking up these people who need us and the way we are. I'm glad I loved you kids up all the time. It made the three of you better people. It made your sister a little kooky, but better people."

Mom paused for a second before adding, "Speaking of your sister, she called the child abuse hotline after talking to Karen's dad yesterday. They may not do anything about the way he is because of the religion thing, but she said they may make him moderate his attitude toward the kids under sixteen."

When we went down to breakfast who should be there but Sissy and Shirley with the four kids. I asked, "Don't the kids have school?"

One of them immediately told me, "Not today. It's a teacher's meeting Friday. Sometimes it's a day to prepare or something like that, but it's mostly a teacher's meeting. I'll bet they say hi and goodbye and are gone by nine."

It was fun to have breakfast with the women and kids. The way the kids surrounded Karen made me happy and it thrilled her to be with the kids like they were her family. Actually, they were her family now. I hoped this would work out for Karen and the rest of us.

Once again there were lots of hugs, kisses, teases, and promises of getting together again right away. I assured the kids that we would be able to swim in the motel pool when they came, and that guaranteed the kids would be bugging the parents to come visit on a weekend.

As we were getting ready to use the bypass around Lexington, Mom told me, "Head over to our favorite mall so that we can get Karen fixed up for the farm. Let's go straight to Sears. They will probably have everything we need."

Millie told Karen, "If we forget something, we can drive up to the Walmart in Mount Sterling. It's a really big store with just about everything."

We spent almost two hours outfitting Karen. I think she was totally shocked that we would take care of her the way we did. We had plenty of cash with us, so it wasn't a big deal. When we had her outfitted with boots, work shoes, jeans, various weights of shirts, a heavy coat, and plenty of underwear, we took off for the final leg home.

Driving up the mountain is always exciting to me. I think Mom has the same feeling, and I know that Marita strains to see the cabin come into view. When we come up the hill toward the house, there is a glow that pulls us to our home. Karen exclaimed, "Is this your home? Do you really live in this beautiful place? Is it big enough for all of you?"

While advising the rest of us, Mom told her, "It is big enough for us and it will be a lot bigger so that the rest of the family can come this summer. This place is going to be jumping."

We arrived around the time for chores, but the women were still inside. As soon as we came in the door, the wonderful smell of tortillas and bread baking filled our nostrils. There was a large stack of already prepared tortillas sitting on the counter.

Rosita and Carmen hugged Mom and Millie before telling them, "We have a big meal for you. This is going to be both Mexican and American food. We have bread, tortillas, frijoles, and we even found some avocados to make guacamole. We have shredded pork, chicken, and beef. We have many good things for you to eat. Come, put your things away and join us making the supper. We want us all to eat together."

I told the ladies that I would do chores, but they held their hands up. "There are ladies doing the chores right now. Don't stop them; they are happy to do this for you. You are so good for us; we want to be good for you."

Karen had almost been hiding behind Mom, but Rosita saw her and went to her, "Are you a sister to Mr. Mike?"

Karen didn't know how to answer, so Mom told Carmen and Rosita, "We found Karen in Cincinnati. She was without a home and hungry. Her parents don't want her, so we are going to keep her and teach her about the farm. When she is content, she will probably go away to school somewhere."

Rosita, the previously bashful one, gathered Karen to her and hugged her, patted her back, and told her, "Now you are family with all of us. Mr. Mike, Millie, Marita, and Bea are all family with us and us with them. It is a good thing."

Carmen was smiling when she said, "Anita would say, 'Good thing this is. Family we are all'."

Karen said, "Sounds like Yoda from Star Wars."

There was laughter in the cabin on Mystery Mountain.

Our homecoming became something special. We ended up with six of the Mexican women, nine men, and six children. There was no need to worry, as the kids used the small table to eat and there was just enough table space to squeeze everyone in by using folding chairs. There was surprisingly more food than we could all eat. When supper was over, the men were served some of the grappa Doroteo said was special. This liquor was exceptionally smooth, but I could tell you wouldn't want to drink much of it. I suppose that is why it was served in the small glasses.

Pedro stood in front of everyone and announced, "It is because of Mike that we all are enjoying a good life. He is helping us to have work that supports our families, and is even helping us with food. When we've asked anything of him, he has never turned us down. I want to make sure Mike knows we all appreciate him and what he has done for us."

Raul stood and looked around, "Jose and I came here because there was no work in California or in Colorado. Our cousin, Jesus, told us we might find work here and we did. Now that I think we have finished all that Mike has needed built, we will look for more work near here so we can continue to live here or nearby. I think Jose and I have found a home."

Mom interrupted, "Don't think you're through here, Raul. We have to build at least two more big bedrooms onto the house for more of our relatives when they come this spring. You might not get done until summer, but you have work for a while, and Mike still has to get the fences up around the orchards and vineyards."

Raul was smiling. "I didn't get to finish, Mrs. Grayson. I want to ask Mike if he will make a company that builds things. Jose and I can do any kind of building for businesses such as building out stores in malls or inside a building for an office. We have done that many times and can do an excellent job. We would need Mike to be the head of the company so people will hire us. He has taught us to work and pay taxes like we should. I think all of us here are now legal, and we are all paying taxes like we should. We are becoming good citizens."

Doroteo stood, "When I came here, I was running from people who killed all of my family. That I am still alive is amazing because I wanted to die and be with my family. But I have lived and found my way here. Mike, you have given me my new life and I will make you a happy man. I think I have even found a woman who might be a part of my life here in America. I hope you keep making wine and letting me learn from you."

I had to say something to our neighbors and friends. "My goodness, everyone, this sounds more like a testimonial than a good family dinner. I appreciate what you men have done and the other men who are your friends. They have all shown they are willing to work and abide by our laws. I'm glad to have helped them. I need to tell everyone that this next year will be busy, because Mom wants to bring family to help with the garden. I've cleared some more of the edges of the fields so we can have at least another full acre of garden this year. This will feed all of us and make the farm some money. As long as people are willing to work, we will eat and eat well. Spring will be here soon, so we'll get prepared."

When it was getting late, they all left except Raul and Jose. When we were alone, Raul said, "We want to build two more houses on your land. Both houses will be in back of the ones we have built and we can get the houses where they are being torn down in Mount Sterling. If you agree and can let us use the big logging truck on weekends, we will begin as soon as possible. We may need some extra lumber from the new rooms you are building here, but I think you will like what we build. You are still the owner and we are your tenants, although I think we don't give you enough rent. Thank you for that."

My goodness, that group has a lot of plans. If they continue to build houses, they will have a village over there. I suppose it won't hurt to have more buildings, as the ones they have now all look well built.

Millie and Mom were talking in the living area when I came from the office. Millie asked Mom about a bigger bed. She said, "I like it when Marita sleeps with us, and I liked it when you came in when it was cold. Karen is going to want to come too, so we need a bigger bed. You know about such things, so tell me what kind of bed will fit in our bedroom and which one would be the best for us?"

Mom educated Millie on beds, "The next size up is a queen-size bed. That's probably good for another person, but if you think five of us will want to sleep in that one bed sometimes, it will take the bigger type of bed called a king-size." Mom saw me walking in and asked, "What size bed do you think you should have, Mike?"

"You know I'm not the person to ask. I'm happy with the bed we have except that it can get crowded. Perhaps the easier plan would be to get more beds."

"Oh no, Mike," Marita said, as she came in with Karen and sat on the living room couch. "I like being with you and Millie at night. You are warm and snuggly. I know Karen will want to feel you against her sometimes. It is very, what you say, ah, intimate to be snuggled with you."

Mom helped out, "You know that Mike is never going to get John a brother or sister if there are all of these people in the bed."

Before she could continue, Marita volunteered, "Oh, I will help with that. I know what is done and it is very sweet when they do it now. I want Mike to give me a baby so much." She looked at me before adding, "But I understand how he feels. One man, one woman."

Mom helped Marita out, "You have a young man that is going to want to help you have babies. Jet may be younger than you by a year or so, but he really wants to know you better."

Marita smiled, "It would be nice to have a man of my own and not share."

It was Millie who brought us back to her question, "So does that mean everyone will sleep in their own bed or should we get a bigger bed?"

"I'll break the impasse here, I vote for a king-size bed so that there will be room if more women want to snuggle with Mike." Mom was grinning when she added, "I may want to get warm some of those nights too, and if Mike's sister is here, she'll demand some time snuggled to her little brother. She used to sneak him into her bed all the time, telling me that it made her sleep better. Do you remember that, Mike?"

I nodded, "Yes, Mom, I remember. Sissy did that a lot. She did get me in trouble a lot when I was little."

This night was not a problem, as Millie and I went to bed alone. Marita and Karen went to one bedroom, and Mom went to hers. Imagine that, I get to snuggle with my wife all alone.

There was an ulterior motive. As soon as we were snuggled, Millie was demonstrating how much she needed her urge fulfilled. I did the absolute best I could and took care of her urge several times until I couldn't take care of it anymore. The mind was willing, but the body gave out.

We were snuggled in the sweet spot when a warm body in a gown snuggled to my back. The top was too big for Marita or Karen. Mom had joined us.

I had those dreams again. I was sitting on the rocks up by the cave, and Eliza was sitting on another rock with a man that must have been Bud. We talked for a long time about what I had found and what I would do with it. It was almost as if I was awake and thinking about what I should do with the treasure. Eliza kept telling me to do what I thought was right with it. Bud was staring at me the whole time but as I began waking up, he said, "Do what is right and I'll show you more of our mountain."

The bathroom called, so I slid from bed, peed, and snuggled back behind the satisfied Millie. Mom was pressed to my back again and it put me right back to sleep. I was dreaming again and once again saw Ben leading his mule with a woman riding on it. He smiled and nodded and kept leading his mule. I watched until he walked past where Bud and Eliza were buried before disappearing. It was then that I heard a "ruff" next to the bed. Spook and Witch wanted out.

When I opened the door to let the dogs out, I saw that it was snowing hard. The house was cold, so I put a log on the fire in the living room and another in the bedroom fireplace. It must have been cold out, because the dogs were quickly back and scratching at the door. It took them only seconds to walk around in circles and curl up in front of the fire.

I knew it was time to get my day started, so I put some coffee on and went for a shower and shave. It didn't take me long before I was dressed and sitting at the original little table in front of the TV. This table was close to the kitchen island that Mom wanted, but behind the couch which was behind the rockers. The table was located close to where it been before. It actually was a perfect place to sit and have a cup of coffee instead of using the big table in the "L" of the big room.

The early morning weather lady said that the northern part of the state was covered with at least six inches and some of the higher elevations had as much as a foot of snow. The snow here wasn't that deep, so other areas must be getting it worse.

When I called the office trailer, Jimmy answered, "Road Commissioner's office, can I help you? What area are you reporting?"

"It isn't bad up on Mystery Mountain, Jimmy. Is it bad down by you?"

"Not really, Mike. We're putting salt on the trucks now and will begin doing the state roads. There isn't but three or four inches on the roads so far, but it is slick. I think it must have rained and frozen under the snow. That always causes problems. We'll get this cleaned up pretty quickly. It isn't snowing hard here at all; as if it almost quit."

I supposed I better get at the chores, since it was so cold. I needed to check the water to make sure the unheated faucets were still shut off.

Mom came out of her room and said, "I was going to shower with you but thought you might freak on me. I know you shower with Marita sometimes, but I might be too much."

"Mom, you can make me blush and think funny thoughts without much help. I'm still thinking of you coming in with that towel wrapped around you. You do know that it didn't cover up everything in back, don't you? I got a good shot at what Dad used to pat all of the time."

With a grin Mom smiled, "And I miss those pats."

"I'm going to check the water and begin chores. There's some snow, so the girls may not come up."

Mom left and came back, "I woke Millie and the two girls. Millie and Karen can make breakfast while Marita and I help with the chores. Let's get it done."

Mom and I milked the three cows, and I fed the other animals while she was cleaning up. The stupid deer was up by where I was spreading straw bedding, kept goosing me with his head. If he keeps that up, he's either going to be food or eating at Bradley's and Summer's.

As Mom and I walked out of the milk house, Rosita was walking up the driveway. She came to us and said, "Carmen is sick this morning, and Pedro has taken her to the hospital. One of the other ladies is with her and the others are fixing breakfast for the men." She joked a little, "We need more women. Too many men for us to wash, cook, and clean for. I'm going to write for some of my female cousins to come help out here." She laughed at how silly that sounded.

Marita was coming in from the chicken house with two big baskets of eggs. As we went into the house, Marita said, "There's at least this many more out there. Every time it snows, the chickens lay more eggs than any other time."

Rosita grabbed a couple of more baskets and went off with Marita to finish gathering the eggs and feeding the chickens.

Mom and I took our boots off and collected cups of coffee. Millie smiled from the stove, "Almost ready. Karen is helping me. She knows what to do in a kitchen."

Karen gave everyone a smile.

I told Millie about Carmen and she instantly wanted to run into the clinic to see how she was. I told her that we would call after Rosita told us a little more. Knowing that the older lady, Consuelo, would know something, I called their cell phone. "Hello, firewood we sell. Deliver you want?"

It is always amazing to hear the way that woman spoke. I had learned her name was Anita and asked, "Anita, this is Mike. I want to speak to Consuelo."

"With Carmen she is. Worried we are. Wrong is what we don't know."

"Okay, thank you, Anita."

I called the Clinic and spoke with the lady at the desk. When she told me that Carmen was in the waiting room as there were paying customers and patients that were in front of them, I wanted to crawl through the phone. I told her, "This is Mike Grayson and I guarantee payment for any work the lady needs done. I'm coming there right now and you better have her being looked at. Now get her in to see the doctor right this minute."

She got a little huffy, but when I told her, "If she is worse because you are denying her care, I'll have you arrested, that clinic shut down, and build one of my own."

"Okay, okay, I don't really know you that well, but I'll get her looked at. No need for you to come in."

I hung up and went for my shoes and coat. I told the others what I was told and said I was on my way to make sure. Mom said, "I'll go with you to make sure you don't get put in jail."

When we walked in the clinic entrance, I saw Consuelo and Pedro standing in the waiting room. The place was jammed to the point of a real problem. When I went to the reception desk, the lady looked up at me and said with rancor, "You're Mike Grayson, aren't you?"

"I am, and I take it that Carmen is being attended to?"

"Yes Sir, she is. The doctor got mad at me for putting others in front of someone who needed help. I hope your friend is going to be okay."

I didn't want to tear into her in front of the world, so I asked, "Is there some kind of epidemic going on? What are all these people here for?"

The lady looked stressed and said, "The doctor gives free exams once a month and today's the day. This just happened to fall on a full moon, so we are packed. Doc Rivers works fast and even has an intern and a resident helping out today. She does that on her exam day. I'm sorry, Mr. Grayson, I thought Carmen was just another person that wanted a freebie. I passed judgment without finding out what I should. I do hope she will be okay."

I pointed to Pedro, "You should be concerned about that man. He is a citizen, as is Carmen, and you know what? I'll bet he has enough money to pay his bill. I'll take care of it for him, but don't judge people by what you think they might be."

The lady almost looked sick as she knew the doctor would really blast her later.

When I went to Pedro, he told me, "Thank you, thank you for calling when you did. Carmen was almost passed out when I carried her to the exam room. Three doctors went right to work on her and told me to come out here and they would come see me when they could."

"We'll wait with you, Pedro and Consuelo. I want to know how Carmen is too. She is special to us, as all of you are."

The older, short, stocky lady, Consuelo, hugged me and laid her head on my chest. I could tell she was frightened for her friend or daughter, and needed some assurance. Mom saw some chairs become empty and pulled her toward them. Pedro and I stood, waiting for word.

Benson walked in the door with a worried look on his face. He saw me and came over, "Did you hear? Denise slid off the road and wrecked her car. She was probably going too fast like most kids and didn't realize there was ice under the snow. She was up near the county line, on her way to Mount Sterling. The ambulance brought her here, since it was closer. Have you heard how she is?"

"No, Benson, go ask the lady at the desk. This place is a madhouse, but I'd bet she's okay."

I went up to the desk with Benson as he asked. The lady smiled at him and told him, "She's fine. No cuts or broken bones. She was lucky and the only thing hurt is her car and pride. Is she your daughter?"

Benson shook his head, "No, she's my sister's kid. My sister's husband was the one who was killed up in the big truck crash in Lexington a couple of years ago, and you know my sister. She has pancreas problems and has been in here often."

"Oh yes, I know your sister. I saw that this little girl has a last name of Benson."

"My sister wanted her maiden name back, and that required changing Denise's name as well. It's a long story; what I need to know is where Denise is."

"Let me go get her, Mr. Benson. I think she's ready to go home."

When the lady brought Denise out, the young girl ran to Benson and hugged him while saying, "I'm sorry, Daddy, I put the brakes on because a car was sliding around in front of me and my car went right off the road down into the creek. The big snow truck was right there at the turnaround. The driver called the ambulance and helped me out of the car after he checked me over."

Denise looked at me, "It was one of your trucks, Mr. Grayson. Your man helped me a lot and said he would stay until the tow truck got the car." She looked back up at Benson, "I'm okay, Daddy, I'm sorry about the car."

Benson looked up at me each time Denise said 'Daddy' but it wasn't any of my business. I knew he had a wife and kids, so whatever his deal was, it was his. If there was something off the wall, I'd eventually hear it from one of the gossips. But in a small town, something really strange is usually overlooked and swept under the rug.

It was then that Benson realized where we were and that I had not been waiting on Denise. He asked, "What are you doing here, Mike. Is there something wrong? Is someone sick, hurt?"

"My neighbor, one of the ladies that help Millie and Mom with the garden and animals is sick. I'm not sure what it is or how bad yet."

"Do you want me to stay with you, Mike?" Benson was genuinely concerned and fine now that he knew Denise was okay.

"Go home, Benson. Take Denise home and give her some warm soup to relax her. She's had a good scare and needs to get over it."

He had Denise under his arm and said, "I'll do that, Mike. Hope your neighbor is okay."

We waited about another twenty minutes before the doctor came out. She looked around and spotted me next to the only Latinos in the waiting room. "Hello, Mr. Grayson. Are you here about Carmen?"

"I am and this is Carmen's husband, Pedro. How is she?" I hoped to convey my concern.

"She's resting, or more accurately recovering. I didn't come out and ask, but immediately operated. Carmen's appendix had burst. Thank goodness it must have burst while she was here waiting. I'll talk to you more about that, Mike. Um, we were able to completely clean her out, and she is resting right now. I'm going to put her in a room and keep her overnight, Pedro. She is going to have to take it easy for a few days to a week. I'll see her again in a week, then again in a month. Are you able to come in?"

Pedro immediately replied, "Oh yes, we have three trucks. We live next to Mr. Grayson and always have a way to come in if we need too."

The doctor cocked her head, "Are you the folks living in Ben's old place? The mailman says you have done a lot of work out there."

Nothing goes un-noticed or un-reported around here.

The doctor took me by the arm and said, "I need to talk to you for a second, Mike. Can you come to the office?"

She didn't give me a choice, as she was pulling me along.

When we were in her office, she looked at me with a worried look. I asked, "What's the problem, Dr. Rivers?"

"What's this Dr. Rivers shit. You know my name is Sheryl, use it."

"Okay, Sheryl, what's the problem?"

The doctor looked around and finally looked me in the eye, "Mike, I don't have a ton of liability insurance and Carmen has a real lawsuit. She could take everything here at the clinic and send me up to Lexington to practice in a hospital or clinic. Do you think she'll sue me, Mike?"

"I don't know, Sheryl. They don't appear to be people that would do that. Pedro and her are citizens and both work for me, but there are others they live with that may know something about the law and try something. The only thing to do is to wait and see."

The doc was sitting on the corner of her desk, "That stupid bigoted bitch out there is my cousin, and firing her would be disastrous. She knows me and some of my habits too well. People would run me out of town on a rail. I'm going to bitch her out when we close today and tell her to stay home a week without pay, but I can't fire her. She knows she was wrong. Displaying contempt for the Latino woman was about as low as she can get. I'm sorry, Mike. You know me well enough to know I wouldn't allow that. Its times like this that I wish I wasn't on that damn county commission. I'd like to take that bitch out to the parking lot and slap her silly."

"Relax, Sheryl, you took care of Carmen. We are all lucky that her family brought her in and that you recognized what the problem was."

"Thanks, Mike, you are a friend. I know we don't know each other well, but that's both of our faults. Invite me out to supper one of these days. Rumor has it that you put on a good feed."

I laughed and said, "Harold and Martha have been talking too much."

"And Ezra, too. He was just in for his annual. How about you, big guy? Isn't it about time I give you a thorough physical and check out your pecker? Hell, I might even want to help Millie take care of you."

There was more laughter, until I finally said, "I have enough trouble with women without falling for the wiles of the doc. Let's get Pedro and Consuelo in to see Carmen so they can relax. Have a nurse do it for you. You have too many in the waiting room to spend all this time in here with me."

"No sweat, Mike. I have a resident from Mount Sterling and an intern down from Lexington today. They are doing the physicals for me. I just wanted to help the rumor mill here in town. It's always good advertising to have a guy leaving my office adjusting his zipper."

We were leaving her office and I unconsciously checked that my zipper tab was all the way up. One of the nurses grinned and winked at me. Oh shit, now what will be going around? Sheryl poked me in the back and said, "Hey, I'll give you good reviews."

These women were too much and funny too. I watched and listened as Pedro and Consuelo were led to Carmen. The doc waved at me to follow them in, and I brought Mom along. As soon as Pedro and Consuelo had made over Carmen a minute, the recovering lady said, "Thank you for coming, Mike. I'll bet it was you that made that lady get me to the doctor. Thank you, Mike."

Doc Sheryl rolled her eyes and the nurse looked worried. I told Pedro, "You take care of your wife, Pedro. The crew isn't working today anyway. Be careful coming back up the mountain." I patted Carmen on the back of her hand and was hugged again by Consuelo before one last handshake with Pedro.

As Mom and I left, the doc hung onto my arm. "Thanks, Mike, just you being in there made things alright with them. I appreciate what you've done. Oh, and don't even think about paying for anything. This one is a freebie. Thank God I was in time."

With Mom on my other side, I needed to introduce her to the doctor. "Doc, I want to introduce you to my mother. Doctor Sheryl Rivers, Bea Grayson."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Grayson. Everyone just loves your son. He is an asset to our community."

"Thank you, Dr. Rivers, it is nice to meet you too, and I'm like you; I like Mike."

"I'm Sheryl, and answer to that except to my slaves here at the clinic. Here I'm the Great Doctor Rivers."

Mom picked up on the sarcasm and laughed with the doctor.

This doctor was perfect for her town. She was full of energy, full of caring, and fought over the way she had to use who should work for her, and how much she can do. I thought I might talk to Benson about the clinic and what we might do there. That would be a great place to spend a lot of money. If the community grows the way it is expected to, we were going to need a larger facility. I could help with that.

I called the house to tell them what I knew and told them I would be coming home. Millie told me it was snowing very hard up on the mountain. It was the time of year to get that last big storm.

When we got home, while I put some heavier clothes on, I had the ladies fill the thermoses with coffee, and make up as many sandwiches as they could.

I called the road trailer and was surprised to have someone answer. I didn't recognize the voice, so I asked who it was.

"This is Bernie, I'm Jet's brother. I just got out of the Army and don't have anything to do for a little bit. Jet was complaining about your radios, so I've been working on them. I've got 'em working pretty good, but they would work better with a real antenna. I ordered a surplus hundred footer from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. It should be here tomorrow, and I'll have it up in a day. Then you're going to see some radio action. I've put good units in all of the trucks. There were two whole cases of radios for the trucks that the concrete guy had. He brought them over when he heard the guys were working on them. He said they came from the state."

Wow, this guy was a motor mouth. I wonder what this was going to cost me. "I have to come down that way, so I'll meet you then. What's your name again?"

"I'm Bernie. Mom already had a 'Jet' so I became the 'Bern', you know, the afterburner." He laughed pretty loud at his own joke and made me laugh with him. I wonder what the other kids were named? "Come on down. I want to meet the guy Jet likes so much."

The ladies handed me a basket full of sandwiches, along with a bunch of apples and four big thermoses of coffee. I figured I might go to the yard first to meet Bernie, and if he has the radios working, I could pick up a handheld and find the guys.

I was almost to the bottom of the mountain when I recognized a big orange truck with a strobe on top. I stopped the truck and fed the driver a sandwich and some coffee. I told him I was going by the yard and he had a funny look on his face.

"What's up, Charlie, shouldn't I go by the yard?"

Charlie smiled and asked, "Do you know about Bernie?"

"I talked to him on the phone. What's to know?"

"Ha, ha, ha, you'll know if you go by. You should know that Bernie is a game changer, that's for sure. See for yourself, Mike. I'll be looking forward to what you have to say."

Uh oh, what could be the problem with Bernie? I had only been out of touch for a couple of days. What in the world could the guys have gotten into in just two or three days? Maybe I didn't want to know the answer to that.

When I pulled up to the road yard office trailer, it was hard to miss the handicap ramp that went to the door of the trailer. I kind of figured that the guys were being proactive about taking care of a fed requirement; that is, until I got out of Millie's truck with the snowplow blade on it and also noticed a handicap ramp on one of the house trailers. Hmm, I think that might tell me what's going on.

When I walked into the office trailer, a guy in a wheelchair was hunched over a desk with equipment spread out on it. He looked up with a grin and asked, "Are you the magnificent Mike?"

How do you throw a guy like that out, especially during a snowstorm?

"I'm Mike, but I'm not sure of the magnificent part."

"I'm Bernie, Jet's brother." The guy spun the wheelchair around and stuck his hand out.

"So, Bernie, what exactly are you doing?"

"Ha, ha, ha, you got me. I'm not actually sure, but the guys told me to see what I could do about their radios without any money. I've called in some favors and have some decent transmission equipment on the way, like that antenna I told you about. I already have you in contact with your nine trucks, so it isn't a total loss."

I was looking at the guy like he was some kind of outer space person. He smiled and said, "I think I know what's on your mind. First is probably, who is paying this person? Simple answer: no one. Second is who the hell are you anyway, and how did you get here? Another simple answer: I am Bernard Macon, Jet's brother, and I'm here because I don't have anywhere else to go. Jet's and my mother was killed in an auto accident a few years back. I was trashed and lost this leg in Iraq two years ago, and I don't have anywhere to go. I didn't have anywhere to go when the Army cut me loose, so Jet told me to come here. I didn't have anything to do, and since I'm a 94, I started working on your radios."

"What's a 94?"

"Actually that is what I was in the beginning, a 94E, which is a radio tech. The next thing I went into was a 94F, which was all computers, but that was a boring bummer, so I managed to get into another school and became a 94L, an avionics radio tech. That's when I was hurt. Actually, that's when I lost the leg almost up to my balls. The jewels are still intact, but there isn't much leg next to them. I try to use the prosthesis, but that sucker often hurts, so I use the chair. I'll keep trying, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to walk on it regularly."

I was standing there, looking at the guy, when he said, "And that brings us to why I am here. I already told you I didn't have anything to do, so the guys have helped me figure out how to help your organization. When the antenna comes in, I'll have it erected and be able to hit all of the trucks and equipment anywhere they are. The mobiles will be able to talk to the base, any hand held, or from their mobiles to mobiles anywhere in the county. Pretty good, huh?"

"Really good, Bernie. Aren't you guys a little crowded with nine guys in a couple of three man trailers?"

"He, he, ha, ha, you have to be a little more than good friends, Mike. You were in the Army over there. Did you have private quarters, or did you often have to share everything, including your bed?"

"You're right, Bernie, it is different over there, but I left as an E-8, so I was pretty well taken care of."

"That's cool, Mike. Go feed the guys and I'll keep working on this mess you have. I think I can get all of your equipment in a condition where you can actually communicate."

I gave Bernie a couple of sandwiches and left the office trailer about as confused as when I entered. I did know that the kid was Jet's brother, and that Jet was someone that I wanted to keep around. All of the guys wanted to help this guy enough that they built handicapped ramps at the office trailer and a residential trailer. The guys were telling me they wanted Bernie, even the defective Bernie, without me even asking.

I called out and told all of the men who were listening to their radios where I was and that I had food.

The channel was jammed for a few seconds, until I had a clear picture of who was closest. I didn't visit with the guys, but went on to the next as fast as possible. When I had them all fed, I thought I should call home and start this route over again as it was snowing heavier now.

Millie answered and understood what I wanted. She said more sandwiches and coffee would be ready by the time I got home.

The roads were becoming covered faster than I could believe. I had to use the plow to move the snow off the drive, and would widen the path on the way back out. When I pulled up into the yard, I realized there must already be eighteen inches of snow up on the mountain.

Inside, Rosita, with the help of another young lady, were finishing sandwiches. Mom told me, "We'll get the chores and shovel the snow. Rosita wants to go get the guy she calls her 'lazy cousin' to shovel snow, but they don't need to be out in this. Hopefully, my truck will be able to get them home."

"Tell you what, Mom, you guys finish the lunches and I'll do some shoveling real quick. You know I know the trick to get it done quickly."

The trick wasn't any trick. It was using an oversized grain scoop and moving fast. I was sweating heavily by the time I had a path all the way to the garage and barn. When I turned around, there was Mom standing and watching me with her arms folded. "Trick, huh? Looks like a back, leg, and arm trick to me. Get the lunches and get out of here. We'll be fine."

On the way out, I pushed the snow off to the sides of Ben's drive and all the way to the stacks of logs. One of the pickups was gone, so they must be out delivering wood. I hope the old dried wood lasts through the winter. We'll have enough seasoned wood for a couple of counties by next year.

It didn't take me as long to get to everyone this time, and I took the time to spend a few minutes with Jimmy. "So, how do you want me to work this with Bernie? The way things have been working out with the county giving us most of the state money and the grants you've applied for, we are going to have a surplus."

Jimmy was quick to say, "That surplus is supposed to be your salary. This is a pretty big operation for you to not take anything from it. Figure out a salary that would equal what a big city guy in charge of roads gets, and take that."

"Jimmy, I'm doing this road commissioner thing for more than me. It's for you guys and the county. It all started because one guy didn't want to do it any longer and the others were too lazy to do what needed to be done. Maude is taking money out to pay me back for the equipment I initially bought, so I'm pretty well taken care of there. If we can afford Bernie, maybe he could put radios in everything we have with wheels, and he could man the office, especially during times like this. With nine guys plowing roads, we're way ahead of even this heavy storm. Be sure to tell the guys to knock off about midnight and start again early tomorrow. If you need help, I can run a truck or grader if that's what it takes."

"Mike, we are fine and the roads are all passable. We've pulled out a couple of cars that slid off the road, and you probably know about Denise, Benson's kid. I'll bet that driver gets a date for rescuing her. She's a looker, but a little young."

"Well, I hope he's respectful of her. Benson's a friend, in addition to being my law guy. Denise is special to him."

"Yeah," Jimmy said, "I heard there was a story there."

"Well, call me and tell me how you're doing. I'll check on you guys in the morning. I'm going by the Kitchen to make sure you guys get all you can eat whenever they are open. Before you come in, make sure that whoever is working the town streets cleans off the Kitchen parking lot, the school, and the church."

The folks at the Kitchen were actually busy. With the streets and roads being kept clear, a lot of folks wanted to visit during the big snowstorm. The lady who owned and operated the restaurant said she would begin an account for the guys and assured me they would be well fed.

One of the things she had in her little shop around her register was an array of Thermos bottles. "How about making sure each of the guys have one of the good Thermos bottles and fill it with coffee. You might even want to make them lunches or snacks to take with them. I've been running around feeding them, and this way they would have something with them."

The lady was very agreeable and made a note to stick on the register. I suppose she will just deduct whatever it is from what she sends to Maude for the butter and eggs we bring in.

Driving home was slower, and when I went up the mountain, the snow was almost a foot deep again. I made a pass up and down Ben's place and a pass up my drive, all the way to the machine shed or garage. When I got the truck backed in, I slogged around to all of the faucets to make sure the water feeds had been turned off and the faucets were open for expansion.

As I waded into the house with two large dogs wanting to play, I realized that over a foot had fallen since I shoveled earlier. Tomorrow was going to be a back breaker.

It was late, but the ladies had saved supper for me. I ate, drank a beer with supper, and had some wine with some pie afterward. We talked about how intense the storm was, and Mom said she had moved the stock, including our adopted deer, into the side lean-to on the barn to stay out of the snow. She assured me she had filled the water trough.

As I sat there watching Millie give John his last feeding of the night, Mom said, "You know you could help out that clinic in town with some of what you have. I'll bet this area is soon going to need a bigger place and more doctors. Your doctor friend seems to know how to take care of these people, but she needs help. Think about it, Mike that would be a good place to put that gift."

It was a gift, but from whom, and why? That was a good way to look at the treasure. It was a gift.

After a quick shower, the family was soon snuggled in bed. I didn't immediately fall asleep, but lay thinking about the dreams I've been having. I doubt I thought about them for very long.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 28

The house was cold when I woke up and discovered the fireplace in the bedroom had burned out. I stuffed a log and some kindling in and restarted the fire. There were still embers in the living room fireplace, but it needed a couple of logs.

I quickly scooped the ashes into the ash bucket before wanting to go back to bed. The clock on the wall said it was almost five, so I decided to just stay up. The dogs usually wanted out right away, but they looked at me funny and stuck their heads back between their legs. I walked over to the big sliding glass door and pulled the curtain back.

Holy shit! I thought at first that it had snowed so much that a snowdrift had covered the door, but I then realized the white was moving. It was a true whiteout. You couldn't see anything.

I turned the TV on, but the satellite wasn't working, so I pushed a lot of buttons on the remote until I was able to get cable reception from Lexington. They were reporting on the heaviest snowstorm in the last forty years or something like that. No one was venturing a guess as to how much snow had fallen, but Lexington had received almost twenty-four inches.

I called the road trailer, Bernie answered, "Road Commissioners Office, how can we serve you?"

"Hey, Bernie, I hope that the guys will stay in until the wind dies down. It's a whiteout up here right now."'

"They're already out, Mike. Most were in by eleven after eating, and thank you for thinking of us. They brought me a full meal in one of those takeout boxes. We were all up by four and got out fast. They said they will come by and pick me up for breakfast around six-thirty. The radios are working so far, and they are reporting that it is slow to get the snow off the roads as there is so much of it. Did you notice the temperature is climbing and already up to thirty? The snow will be melting like crazy all afternoon. Do you have trouble with run-off or overflowing creeks and rivers?"

Man, this guy was a motor mouth. "The creeks are deep enough to handle a pretty good runoff. There are some low areas that flood, but no homes, just farm land."

"That's good. Jimmy said he's going to be up your way before breakfast, so look for him. He said to tell you that he'll come up your drive and do the place below yours as well. What do you have up there, a couple of places and rent one out?"

I had to laugh as this guy could pass information around the county faster than the gossip channels in town. Wow, a mile a minute talker.

"I'll watch for Jimmy and just to let you know, I appreciate you working with us. I'm going to make you an employee if you want it. We'll work on getting another FEMA trailer for you guys. Ten men in two of those is too much. Be careful, Bernie, that snow might be tough to get through for you."

"No sweat, Mike. The guys made sure I had a clean shot to get in this morning. I'm fixed up in the office trailer so that all should be fine while the guys are out, and thanks, Mike, I need a job. If I'm not able to do what's needed, let me know and I'll look for another place. I want to be productive."

Mom had come from her bedroom in a heavy robe and fluffy slippers. She had a shadow as Karen followed her in a robe and slippers similar to Mom's. Both of them took coffee from the fresh pot I had made and were standing near the fireplace.

"Mom, look out the dining room windows."

"Wow, Mike, the snow is really drifted that high?"

I told her, "Go over to the door and look at the snow, you'll understand then."

"Oh my, Mike, the snow is blowing sideways. We're going to have some deep drifts. Is that why the dogs are hiding on the rug?"

"It probably is, Mom. I think we'll all have to wait for the wind to die down. I hope that the guy who is supposed to be plowing his way up the mountain turns around and goes back. This should pass soon if you believe the radar on TV."

The three of us watched the radar display on the TV for a minute, until I felt an arm snuggle around me. Millie looked up at me, giving me some air kisses as encouragement to lean over and kiss her. While I did that, another arm encircled my waist and Marita smiled at me. "You were restless last night. You must have been having one of your war dreams. Millie and I snuggled up to you and that seemed to help. Are you okay?"

Mom looked at me sharply as I told the girls, "I'm fine. I don't remember dreaming, but I have been having a lot of dreams lately."

"You know, Mike," Mom said, concerned. "PTSD is a real thing and if this keeps up, you need to consider seeing someone from the VA. You might need someone to talk to."

I told Mom, "Call down to the other house and tell the women to stay home. I don't want them trying to come up the hill."

Mom was talking on the phone and said to me, "Look out the window, your taxi service is working this morning."

I quickly slipped my boots and parka on and went out to greet Jimmy and whoever was with him. It was Rosita and Anita this morning, all bundled up for the bad weather. I half carried them into the house with Jimmy's help.

Mom gave Jimmy a cup of coffee and asked him if he wanted breakfast. He answered, "No, I have to go by the yard and pick Bernie up to go to breakfast. Mike has a deal with the Kitchen for us when we're plowing snow. Thanks anyway."

"Who's Bernie?" Mom asked.

Jimmy looked at me, so I answered, "Bernie is Jet's brother. He is a funny guy to talk to, but I think he might be a little lonely. He talks a mile a minute."

Jimmy added, "And only shuts up when you tell him. Jet just about has to gag him at night with the way the guy talks."

I had an idea, "You know, with his knowledge and the way he likes to talk, I'll bet he would be a good guy for the radio station in town. He could be a disc jockey and newsman rolled into one. I think I've even heard that the guy who owns the station wants someone to run it for him."

Jimmy nodded, "That's a perfect fit. Bernie could talk non-stop for twelve hours every day and maybe even be talked out by the time he gets home. Great idea, Mike; I'll bring it up at breakfast to see what he thinks."

Jimmy thanked everyone and said, "I've got to get. The guys are going to be waiting on me as it is. I might have someone else go by and pick Bernie up because these roads are horrible."

I had pulled my boots off and went back to the bedroom to put some long johns on under my winter weight BDU's. The temperature might be warming up, but that might be just in the lower areas. It was cold up here.

Just about the time I was reaching for the door, Raul and Doroteo came in. They had stomped their boots off on the porch and stood on the rug by the boot bench. The two men sat and began taking their shoes off.

Raul said, "Today will be a good day to plan what you want to do to the house. Mrs. Grayson said she wanted more bedrooms. Doroteo wants to make up a schedule on how to handle the vineyards."

"We can do that, Guys, but I need to help do chores and shovel some snow first. I'll be back in about an hour or so."

Raul put his boots back on, "You do chores, I'll shovel snow. Come, Doro, you can help shovel snow or cow manure, which one do you want?"

Rosita and Anita were grinning as they laced their boots. Mom was ready to go with us and directed Millie, Marita, and Karen, to make a big breakfast. "This morning is cold enough for some of everything. Make a lot of biscuits."

The four of us were able to finish milking in record time. The fires for all of the smoke house rooms needed stoking, so I loaded them up for most of the day. I carried the two big milk cans to the house to make butter and buttermilk before Mom and I grabbed egg baskets and a bucket of water to take care of the feathered critters. The water in the chicken house was frozen, so I might have to fire up the coal oil heater. The frozen water indicated it was getting to the edge of the chickens' ability to cope. I used the pole to move the vent cap off the hole in the roof that vented the heater. The big coal oil – that's kerosene, to you city folk – heater sat on a wash tub full of rock to help heat the room, but to also prevent the surrounding ever-present straw and chicken feathers from catching fire. As soon as I lit the heater and adjusted the burner, the temperature in the building began warming. That would keep the chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys from freezing.

We were surprised at how many eggs there were, even with the cold. I suppose it was warmer to sit in the nesting box and lay an egg than to walk around on the cold floor or sit on a cold roost. All of the fowl seemed to eat more during the cold weather. It was probably to build up their fat to contend with the conditions.

When the chores were complete and everyone was back in the house, the small table was the place where Doroteo and Raul sat with me with some papers and pads to do some planning.

Raul and I agreed on where the two additional houses were to be rebuilt next to the original house down on Ben's place. He had only a small list of materials that he would need to do the job. He said he was planning on replacing the septic tank and changing the leach field to accommodate the heavier flow.

I had Mom talk to him for a minute before breakfast was ready on the big table.

The house was full of people and smiling faces as we heartily ate. While we ate, it sounded like the wind was calming and you could see that the snow had slowed, with only scattered flakes drifting down to settle on the high snow behind the house.

After breakfast, Doroteo and I made our plans for the vineyards, while Mom and Raul made plans for the expansion of the house. There was still sufficient flat ground to expand the house one more time, but after that, we would have to build a second floor or tear everything down and rebuild with a different floor plan. Raul wanted to eliminate the summer kitchen, but Mom was quick to point out that the wonderful biscuits had come from the woodstove out there.

My only input was to tell Raul, "I want a real furnace now. With the baby, we need to have a furnace for the outer rooms. We can continue to use the fireplaces, but after having the fires go completely out last night, I think we need to have a furnace."

Mom nodded her head in agreement. The only problem with forced air heat is that you have to have electricity. When the power went out, we would just have to depend on the fireplaces. That shouldn't be a problem.

I heard from Jimmy about two thirty in the afternoon. He told me, "We have everything plowed and the city is cleaned up pretty good. We're using a front loader and a couple of trucks to haul snow out to the edge of town. I think we'll have a fast melt, but there was too much snow to leave on the side of the roads in town. Over at the Starlight and the Kitchen, the snow was more than eight feet high where it was pushed off the lot. We moved that snow as well. I think we have it under control, Boss. Bernie said there haven't been any calls for missed areas, so we are caught up."

"Go home and get some sleep. You never know if more of this stuff will dump on us again. It probably won't, but you may have to contend with washouts from the runoff tomorrow. Make sure you check the areas that you marked as being suspect in the morning. If you run out of things to do and the weather is nice enough, unload the salt trucks and wash them out real good. Oh yeah, Jimmy, I thought of this before and never mentioned it. See if you can find one of those pressure washers. That would clean the trucks up and would also keep all of our equipment clean. You might try the equipment dealer in Lexington or just get on the net. I'm sure there is something available around."

"That would be great, Mike. I'll find one right away. That would really spruce the equipment up. That's a great idea."

I was outside cleaning the walking paths one last time when I heard a truck struggling to get up the drive. Ezra's truck was light on the rear tires and spinning the wheels as he slid back and forth. He finally got traction and came up the drive.

When Ezra got out of his truck, he said, "These little pickups don't have any traction. How do you get around so easily in Millie's truck? You even push snow with Millie's truck and don't have a problem."

I laughed, "There's four hundred pounds of dead weight in the bed, and we have studded snow tires on all four wheels. They'll come off in the spring, but are really good for getting around in the snow."

"You know what, Mike, that might work. I'll put some of the chunks of wood you have behind the well house in the bed and I'll bet that'll help. I'm not going to go to the expense of buying wheels and studded tires for what's left of the winter. Let me put some wood in there now so I don't have to do it when I go home."

I didn't want the man to do that kind of lifting, so I told him I would do it for him. He should go in and have some coffee. I told him I suspected that a pile of cookies had appeared in the kitchen.

I found the heaviest green oak and put four big chunks in the bed of Ezra's truck. That should be close to four hundred pounds. After finishing the shoveling, I checked on the stock that was restless from having to remain in the barn lean-to. I opened the door to let them wade in the snow and the only one of the critters that was smart was the deer. He walked out, put his nose in the deep snow and walked back in the barn. Before I went in to warm up, all the stock had come back in.

I noticed the thermometer on the porch read almost forty degrees, so it was quickly warming up. I hope it wasn't too fast, as the runoff can be really bad, especially off the mountain.

The house was nice and toasty warm with the two fireplaces blazing and the stove putting heat out while producing some great baked goods. It's funny how a cold snowy day brings cakes, breads, pies, and cookies. I could also smell a roast, so that meant all of the baked goods were coming from the woodstove.

Karen was cute the way Mom had an apron on her. She was obviously learning some baking secrets, since she had smudges of flour on her arms and face. Marita was making some tortillas and salsa. She said she would make very thin tortillas on the griddle and then bake them firm like chips so we could dip them into salsa for a snack.

The evening chores were complete and the world seemed at peace when I came back into the house.

Before I could remove my boots and coat, Mom asked me to run the two women home with their cakes, bread, and tortillas so they didn't have to walk. It was good that I had plowed both of the houses' drives, since I could now see the bare road in a couple of places with ragged edges of snow where it was melting. Two of their pickups were backed up to the stacks of wood. The big tarp they used to keep the wood dry was pulled back while they were loading, revealing the many cords stacked there ready to sell.

Pedro and Jose came up with a small sheet of paper, "These are the deliveries we have made and here is the cash and two checks we collected today. Mrs. Wilson on the edge of town asked if she could pay at the end of the month. You're okay with that, right? We have deliveries for all day tomorrow. We are going to run out of seasoned wood soon."

I advised, "If we run out, we can probably begin using some of the wood we cut at the beginning of summer. It should be dry enough for a good fire without a lot of soot."

I separated the money and noted his totals. I gave him the agreed on thirty percent for splitting and delivery, and added a hundred for the family. It was amazing how much money was coming from the wood.

Before supper tonight, Ezra asked to give the blessing. He said we should be especially thankful for a full table and a warm home. He was right, as we were blessed.

Karen voiced her gratitude, "I know I have just come here and haven't been able to help much, but I've learned how much fun a family can really be. The ladies from down the road are also like family and they all taught me how to do things today. Just today I learned how to churn butter, started some buttermilk, washed and stacked eggs, made tortillas, and learned a lot about baking. My home didn't have many baked things. If we had a cake, it was from the store. I like what we make better. It's funny how you have all of the modern things in the kitchen, then go out to the summer kitchen to use the woodstove for baking."

Mom told Karen, "The biggest reason is that we don't have enough ovens to bake in here. I used that little TV oven Mike has for the cake and cookies, but the bread needed the woodstove. You learned how to control the temperature for it too. It takes time to get that touch. You'll do fine, Karen."

Mom looked a little sheepish. "We're going to have a bunch of guys come for cake and coffee any minute now. I invited them all out. They sounded eager."

When the ten guys showed up, the house became a merry place once again. The guys were all sneaking glances at Karen, and Jet was having a grinning duel with Marita. It was amazing how his stuttering almost disappeared when he was talking with her. The guys only stayed an hour before they physically picked Bernie up in his wheelchair and carried him out. He promised he would work on using his prosthesis.

Before going to bed, I went out with the dogs and walked back to the wine caves and big machine storage cave. I expected to find some critters seeking refuge, but there were enough other caves in the area where animals wanting shelter found some.

I felt like something was calling me and slogged through the snow to Eliza's and Bud's graves. Standing there, knowing that their spirits were all around the mountain, gave me a good feeling. I had somehow been blessed by the mountain and rewarded for wanting to own and work all of it. I walked back to the house, with a dog on each side of me, with a feeling of contentment.

Before bed, we were in the living room talking together. Mom and I were sipping a small glass of wine. Millie said, "I want that bigger bed. We need one. I have a big husband and he has to warm everyone up and there is not enough room. Mom, will you help me get one?"

Mom grinned because Millie called her 'Mom.' I recognized that my mother was now taking care of the emotional needs of all of us. She was the mother of the mountain.

Mom did agree to help get some bigger beds. She thought that since we were going to build on two more bedrooms, we could move two of the doubles into them and Mom would get a new queen-size and Millie would have her king-size. It's too bad, as I kind of liked being snuggled up with Millie in our smaller bed.

When I took a shower before bed, Millie helped me wash, and I helped her with her urge. She said we needed to try to find more time for just the two of us, as we didn't have much privacy. She was right. She told me that if I was to accept Marita more, it wouldn't matter then, and we could take care of all of our urges together. She doesn't give up.

I went to sleep with Millie on one shoulder and Marita on the other. Both had a leg thrown over mine with a hand up under my T-shirt, caressing my stomach and chest.

My dreams were even more bizarre. I was sitting on rocks eating from a tin plate with over a dozen Confederate soldiers lounging and eating with me. The talk was about what they wanted to do after the war. One said he wanted to be like the family on the mountain and live a simple life. Another said he thought he might go into the big city of Lexington and see if he could find work on the railroad.

It was like any group of soldiers sitting around eating and discussing what they were going to do when everything was over. Just as we were rubbing our plates out with loose dirt before washing, a couple of men that must have been sentries ran up to us, "They're coming, get ready."

I awoke and sat up. That was too real. I sat there and realized that I needed to use the toilet, so I slid from bed and went to the john. I walked out to the living room area and put another log on the fire. The fire was still good, so it wasn't very late. Checking the clock, I found it was only two.

That was really strange. The vision of the soldiers and their voices were still fresh in my mind. I resolved to get some people up here that knew what might have happened. There were too many spirits or ghosts wandering around with untold stories. It sent a shiver up my back for a second. It seemed one of the rocking chairs moved. A dog must have hit old Ben's chair. I chuckled to myself for thinking the ghosts were talking to me.

I went back to bed and was soon snuggled up behind Millie with Marita behind me.

When I woke up again, I had this eerie feeling I was going to know more Mystery Mountain history soon. There were so many unanswered questions. Would someone be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together? As I got ready for the day, my mind was flooded with anticipation of what lay ahead.

After chores and breakfast, I used the Internet to begin searching for help to find the answers to the mountain. There had to be someone who would be interested in taking a look. The University of Kentucky didn't have a department that was devoted to Kentucky history, but one of the professors told me he personally was a historian and collector of Civil War history. When I told him I thought I had found a very significant historical location, he was instantly interested. He asked me for my telephone number and wanted to call me back after he had checked his schedule and discussed the situation with another enthusiast.

After a cup of coffee and looking over the reports Maude had given me, the phone finally rang. It was Professor Bertrand Hannibal. He told me, "Mr. Grayson, there are two others here that are equally enthusiastic to see what you've found. You mention that you're on a mountain. Is the area you want to show us accessible with the snow on the ground?"

"The snow is rapidly melting, and I have an ATV that will get us to where we want to go." The John Deere 550 S4 had already proved useful around the farm and having a four seater with room for equipment in the back was perfect for this situation. "There is actually an old wagon road that goes to the site, so it must have been used extensively at one time. My guess it was before and during the Civil War. I haven't disturbed some bones that you will find interesting, nor the apparel and knapsacks that are there. I have not thoroughly investigated some of the area. Besides warm clothing, you will need artificial light sources. I know you'll like what you'll find."

"I know we will, Mr. Grayson. The area where you live isn't that full of Civil War confrontations, but there was a lot of activity that was cloak and dagger stuff around there. We'll tell you all about it. We can come tomorrow and remain at least through the weekend. My colleague has already made reservations at the local motel that boasts of a heated swimming pool. I doubt anyone will want to swim in freezing weather. Can you give me directions to your place?"

"Professor Hannibal, I'll send a detailed map to your email address. My place is easy to find."

Phew, glad that's taken care of. These people will hopefully know the history of the area well enough to decipher the puzzle of the caves.

I used the map and directions I had made for Mom almost a year ago and sent it, along with the pictures I had taken with my cell phone.

Just to be sure I would be able to get up to the caves, I took the ATV through the snow and down to the old wagon road. I was able to get up to the plateau where the caves were easily enough. I was always surprised there were never any animal tracks in the snow around the caves. If you went down about thirty to fifty feet, there was a lot of animal tracks and paths. I didn't walk into the caves, thinking it would be more fun for the archeologists to find everything more or less virgin without human tracks all over.

On the way back down the mountain, I saw the markers on the trees where I had marked the path that should take me across to the Finnerty property. Just for fun, I cautiously moved through the woods as the snow could hide a deep hole. The path was fairly straight, as most game trails are, and I came out almost exactly at the edge of the orchard there. I drove through the orchard and around the mountain, saving almost thirty minutes of slow travel through the heavy snow.

When I got into the house, Millie said, "The University man has been calling and calling. He has a question for you."

I called the number he left and Professor Hannibal answered almost breathless. "Mike Grayson, is this you?"

This was almost laughable. "Yes Sir, it's me, Professor."

"Cut the professor stuff, just call me Bert. I have to know. Are the photos you sent real? You didn't stage them or anything, did you?"

"No Sir, you'll see it all for yourself when you get here. I've left everything exactly like I found it."

"That's unbelievable. The uniforms look intact in the photos, and the hat on the side of a skull is amazing. Are there many skeletons?"

I had to think a minute, "I really didn't count them, but I think there might be as many as ten to fifteen. There are some bones in some rocks outside the cave that I'm sure are other soldiers, but you can't tell as the bones are scattered and the uniforms are mostly gone."

"Believe me, Mr. Grayson, we will be at your place early tomorrow. Is eight in the morning okay?"

"That will be fine, Bert. Remember to wear warm clothes and boots to keep your feet warm and dry."

"Um, Mike, if I may call you 'Mike, ' how much room do you have in your ATV? Should we bring another? We will want to bring back as much as we can after we photograph and document everything exactly."

"There should be enough room, and if we need another ATV, I can quickly have another up here. We'll want to come back to the house to warm up and eat lunch. Oh, if you want to get here earlier than eight, we eat breakfast around six to six-thirty. Would you like that?"

"Can we? You don't mind three strangers for breakfast?"

"Come ahead, we never know how many are going to be here for a meal anyway."

"Then we will see you at six in the morning, Mike. We are getting ready to leave right now and will get into Stanton this evening. This is really exciting."

When I hung up, there was an "Uh hum," behind me. I turned to see Mom leaning against the doorjamb with her arms folded. "So when were you going to tell me we would have extra people for breakfast, and how many extras are coming?"

"Oh, Mom, there are only three of them, and they are all university professors, or at least I think so. Just give them a glass of orange juice and a stale donut and they will think they've had a feast at a major hotel."

Mom laughed and said, "That's fine, Son. You just always invite a bunch of people and never remember to tell me until they are walking in the door. We'll have a good country breakfast for them, just like we have almost every day."

I was stoked over getting some answers. If I know what happened up there, perhaps I won't be getting all of the visitors in my sleep.

When we went to bed, I didn't think that I would be bothered by any dreams, as the answers were coming. A dream took over my mind instead.

It was as if I was sitting away from the caves, watching a movie. It was almost twilight as I saw soldiers moving around the caves, then I heard mules and wagons coming up the mountain. There were calls made between men below and the men at the caves. There wasn't fear this time; it was almost as if there was a sense of compassion among the soldiers at the caves.





The two wagons came up to the flat rocky area and the tarps were pulled back to reveal they were both packed with men, women, and children. They were all black.

The men brought the passengers into the cave on the left side and were directing them. Large pots of food were brought over and the soldiers began passing out platefuls. You could tell the passengers were thankful for the food, as they kept bowing and thanking the men. The harness was removed from the mules and they were hobbled so they remained nearby. I noticed a soldier coming from where the mules had headed, carrying a bucket with a big dipper in it. He left it in front of the cave where the blacks were. It really looked like the soldiers were getting ready to go to bed for the night.

I heard a couple of soldiers talking. One said, "We'll get these on their way to Chicago in the morning. They will find work if they can get out of Kentucky and into the Illinois territory. Hope we're not found out. The Union will shoot us for being Rebs, and the Rebs will shoot us for helping slaves run. I sure hope this works out. The reward we were told about will keep all of us for the rest of our lives."

The other young soldier said, "My daddy done worked hard like a slave all his life. He's even been whipped when a horse stuck his foot into a hole and broke his leg. Daddy wasn't even close when it happened, but the man wanted to whup somebody and Daddy was close. I done was a runner for everyone for a penny. You want somebody to know somethin', just tell me and I'll run tell them. Give me a letter, and I'll run it to wherever. I ran all the way to Ohio with a letter one time. My Daddy said I was doing slave work, but I don't care; I was getting fed. Do you know I had good shoes because they wanted me to run faster? I did, that's a fact."

The other asked, "Why did you join up, Jody?"

"Easy, free food, free clothes, a gun that I can use to hunt with when this is over. I just didn't know I was going to get a chance to help them slaves to run away. This is the best a body could expect. Bein' up here on the mountain is about the safest place you can be."

The other said, "It's safe as long as no one finds out. It's still scary not knowing."





Marita turned her back to me, and Millie snuggled closer, jostling me and waking me up. I woke up remembering the dream and tried to think of what it could mean. I knew that Kentucky was a heavy slave state and that southern Ohio also had a lot of slaves in industry. Who were those men in Confederate uniforms that were hiding and traveling with slaves?

What was even crazier was that I usually didn't dream. I did when I was a kid, but I don't dream or ever remembered dreaming for the last thirty years. I needed the toilet, so I slipped out of bed, pee'd, and slipped back in. I fell asleep almost instantly.





I was out on the mountain once again, but with Ben and Eliza this time. They were showing me the scraps of the Finnerty place. There was the burned out structure that had fallen over, and three crosses toward the edge of the meadow that I hadn't seen before. That must have been the parents and the brother. I wonder why the girl wasn't buried up here.

This was a dream and I knew it was a dream. Why was I dreaming of this? Ben pointed up and Eliza said, "No one knows what happened up there, but the story goes that Finnerty told the Reb soldiers about the slaves up there. They found out what happens for telling."

The next thing I dreamed was Ben leading his mule away with a woman riding on it. Eliza was skipping away on a game trail, with Bud following behind.





I don't remember anything else until Millie shook me, "Come on, Sleepyhead. Were you busy all night and didn't wake me? You have to get up, you have people coming."

Yep, I was indeed busy all night.

I was in and out of the bathroom, dressed, and instructed to make sure the woodstove was still hot from last night, and to stoke it up some. We were going to be using it that morning.

It only took me a few minutes to take care of giving the few hogs that we had some grain and to pitch some hay down for the cows and steers. That deer is pretty insistent about getting right at the door, waiting to get his share. His antler ridge can be dangerous as the nubs are getting bigger. I noticed the calf was getting pretty big as well and would be a candidate to put out in the orchards. Boing! That's when it hit me. The beef would have plenty to eat and be protected from other animals, but they wouldn't have any water. Damn, I needed to route some water through there so the stock would be taken care of. That is three separate areas I would have to think about how to get water to.

I gassed the ATV and pulled it out so it would be ready for later. Rosita and Anita were coming in from the milk house and asked me to bring the two small milk cans in for them to make butter. I was carrying the second small can to the porch when an SUV came up the drive, sending the silly gray guinea hens into a cackling frenzy. This made the dogs go into a barking dance, probably scaring the people in the SUV bad enough to turn around and leave.

I calmed the dogs and had them sit. A slight man about five foot five, maybe a hundred thirty pounds, got out of the SUV, smiling. "It's a good thing you control those dogs so well. Are they part wolf or just all shepherd?"

"I'm Mike Grayson, and yes, they are part wolf. Are you Bert?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. I'm Bert Hannibal, and these two are Marjorie and Marsha Jennings, two of the foremost Civil War historians in this area. Marjorie and Marsha, Mike Grayson."

The two women were both bigger than Bert was by a few inches and at least thirty pounds.

"Come in, meet the family, and have breakfast before we go up the mountain."

When I began introducing my family, I realized how strange it probably looked. Mom and I were of rugged country stock. Millie and Karen were a little slighter, but obviously of a different heritage. Then there was Marita, who more resembled Rosita and Anita. It took a while to explain the relationships.

We had thick bacon, real sausage gravy over real biscuits, and a lot of scrambled eggs. The university people were eager eaters, smiling with every mouthful. When we were having some coffee, Mom said, "I have coffee in a thermos for you. Mike says you will come back for lunch. We'll have something that will warm you up."

We were moving around the mountain a few minutes later. I told them there was a shorter way to the caves, but I wanted to show them the old wagon road. We went all the way down to the highway where I could show them how the road continued on the other side.

Going back up the mountain on the old wagon road must have been an interesting journey, as the three were fascinated by how deep the ruts were. The road was over two-foot deeper than the other area around it, letting you know it had been traveled extensively and often through inclement weather.

As we neared the high plateau, I pointed out landmarks as I had seen them, and without thinking how I knew, I pointed to the left of the left cave, "There's water over there." I wonder if there really is?

I parked the ATV and told them, "As the snow melts today, you'll see bones and some fabric fragments out in the rocks here. The interesting skeletons and artifacts are deeper in the cave."

I had them walk around the edges and took them into the left side cave. This is one I had not been into much, and never to the back. All three of us had electric lanterns and flashlights. We looked at several small piles of clothes along the side of the cave. The farther back we went, the more clothes that were in small stacks or scattered around. There was a discovery at the back of the cave. There were several skeletons lying together, still in some old ragged clothes. In a nearby pile was a small mound of chains and ankle cuffs used to keep slaves together back in the early eighteen hundreds.

There were gasps and exclamations, followed by a flurry of picture taking, at each discovery. Almost from the first pieces of clothing, the three kept saying that this is a major find, that we needed the state up here to see this.

I told them about talking to the other university and told them that the department that handled this kind of information didn't go into the field until it was over fifty degrees. They looked at each other and shrugged. Bert said, "That's why we'll never learn what all happened."

We went back out of the cave, scanning the opposite wall to find out about what we found on the other side. There was only about ten to fifteen feet between the cave entrances. I pointed out the guns leaning up against the rocks outside the cave and the skeletons lying nearby.

When I pointed to the rocks just inside the mouth of the cave, the three were shocked to see two skeletons still in uniforms, with hats lying near the skulls. That's when I told them, "There are several skeletons between here and the back of the cave, along with little side rooms of saddle bags, rucksacks, cooking utensils, and other personal items. When I looked closely at one of the skeletons at the front, there is a hole in the front of the skull. He was probably shot. You'll have to look through the bones of each of the skeletons to determine if there are rifle balls in each of them."

Marjorie was using a collapsible probe to move around in the pants pocket of one of the skeletons. She moved an object out of the pocket and used what looked like a forceps to pickup what was obviously a double eagle.

She continued to fish around and found a couple more coins of lesser value. Marsha had been opening plastic bags and let Marjorie drop the coins in. Bert observed, "Just the value of that coin is going to pay for this trip. Mike, you have found some valuable treasure out here today."

Marsha advised, "We're going to have to go through the clothing of every skeleton here and document what they have. You wouldn't think a soldier of those times would have had a twenty-dollar gold piece, but he had that, an eagle, and some miscellaneous coins. He doesn't have officer's rank, so he was a regular soldier with a lot of money."

Bert said, "I wonder. I wonder if these were some of the Confederate soldiers that were smuggling slaves north. They would have been targets for everyone. Well, let's keep looking to see if we find some answers."

I thought of the dream from last night and wondered how close that dream was to the truth. The trio had briefly looked at everything, so I showed them through the passageway at the back of the cave to the opening on the other side that had cannonballs and barrels.

I thought Bert was going to be apoplectic over the cannonballs. I led him over the edge of the rocks and told him to carefully look below. It's a good thing I held on to him, or he would have jumped down to where the cannons were. I told him, "Those cannons have been there for a hundred and fifty years. They're not going anywhere until we move them ourselves."

"Do you know how big a discovery this is, Mike? That these troops had cannons up here is an astounding discovery."

The trio took so many pictures that the batteries on their cameras were getting low. Bert asked, "What are the odds that someone could find this and mess this up?"

"Think of it this way, Bert: No one has messed with it for a hundred and fifty years; why now? Are you going to hurry up and advertise it on channel seven? Are you going to blab that you found a valuable coin out here?"

"Of course not, Mike. I'm just saying that it could happen. We need some security for this."

"Let's go home for lunch so you can charge your batteries. We'll make up a plan as to how you will document and remove the findings, then begin. You can estimate whether you can do it by Sunday or if you will need more time. Come on, let's ride back to the house. It's lunch time."

Marjorie commented, "I hope you really know a shortcut because it's a long way back around to get to your place."

I took them through the game trail, orchard, and vineyard. The weather had warmed considerably, making the snow slushy and leaving deep ruts. They were amazed at the distance we cut off.

While we were eating lunch, I began telling the three archeologists the stories of Mystery Mountain. The more I told them, the more they understood how and why people have left the upper parts of the mountain alone. When I told them that people had thought they had been seeing ghosts on the mountain for the last hundred or so years, they all three looked at each other.

Mom told them, "When Mike took me up there the first time; I had a most eerie feeling that I was being watched. I almost felt like someone wanted me to leave, but something else wanted me to stay. The longer we stayed up there looking around and thinking about what might have happened, the more I felt like I was welcome."

Bert was checking his notes and commented, "Amazing. That's almost exactly how I felt this morning. I was very uncomfortable at first, but by the time we left, it was almost as if something, or someone, wanted me to stay."

Our lunch was some great soup and sliced chicken sandwiches. Mom told us that we were going to have some spaghetti and meatballs this evening so we were to be hungry. She said that Karen had made her first rolls, and they had come out great so far.

We used the little table and made a plan as to what we would do today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and if need be, Sunday. The team had a stack of bags to collect bones and uniforms in. They had various sizes of bags for weapons. I called the road yard and spoke to Bernie. He told me, "You need to stop by and pick up your new handheld radio. With the new tower, you should be able to hit us from just about anywhere in the county."

I told Bernie to see if Jimmy could bring the ATV up to the mountain for me to use for a couple of days. He said he would get right on it. I sure hoped Bernie would stay with us for a while.

We loaded the ATV up and made the trip back up the mountain. While we were working through the cave on the left side, Bert made an observation. "You know, what is strange is that there are no bats up here. I wonder if it's because of the altitude; probably not, as there are bats all over Denver."

We were able to finish the left cave and lay bags out for the right one. Bert was excited to have several very well preserved rifles and pistols. The entire time that we were bagging skeletons and searching pockets, the three of them kept trying to surmise what might have happened that caused all these men to be killed. I told the three, "You know, when the weather clears, you will have to come with a metal detector. I'd bet there are remnants of skeletons, clothing, and weapons all around below here. The way these men are, it looks like this was a battle to the end, and it's likely that both sides all died right here."

Marsha said, "That's possible, but not likely; how did those men inside the cave die? We'll see where the rifle balls are as we bag them. Many of them have head wounds, with only one having three rifle balls in it so far. The three holes were in the uniform jacket."

Bert commented, "The skeletons huddled together in slave clothing were obviously killed by someone. I hope we can piece this together."

"You know what, Bert?" Marjorie said, as she worked, "This is going to be the paper for my thesis. Just think of a research paper with this much proof."

I looked at my watch, then out the cave entrance. "Hey, Guys, we have to get back while I can still see. It's dark out there and we're going to miss supper."

We picked up the bags we had filled and put them in the ATV. I had to go slow all the way back so the headlights could pick up the previous tracks. The snow was almost gone already, except in the areas where it had drifted.

Supper was all it could have been. Tonight was special; since we had the three university people and Ezra and Mom had talked Teddy and Mrs. Fletcher into coming to dinner. I know Mom had an ulterior motive as those two knew the history of the area and also figured that those two would have heard most of the tales that had been passed down through generations.

Teddy told us what he knew of the stories, but said he came here when he was twenty and had only lived at the bottom of the mountain since the end of the Second World War. He told us how everyone in the area had warned him off the mountain. He had never gone higher than the terrace level that Eliza and Bud lived on. He had known the Finnertys, and had attended their funerals, but didn't know the family history very well. He did say that he had heard that two separate generations had been burnt out on the mountain.

As we finished supper, I gave everyone a glass of my grappa to help digestion. It helped more than the stomach. It helped loosen lips.

Mrs. Fletcher was a wealth of information. "You know, my family has lived here since the Revolution. My great great great grandfather fought in the Revolution as a young boy. He was born in 1760 and used a shotgun on the redcoats when he was only fifteen. He moved here as soon as he could after the war, and lived in the little log cabin down by the creek. I've kept it up all these years because since the rest of the family did so, I thought I needed to. If you college people want to see what a cabin looked like in the seventeen hundreds, come down to see me. I still have the original bed, tables, and chairs. The rock on the fireplace needs tuck pointing, and I need to fill the logs again. Sweet Teddy did the roof for me a few years back, so the cabin looks like it did way back when."

Mrs. Fletcher was on a roll, "My granddaddy told me all about what happened up on Mystery Mountain. He told me that during the Civil War, some people wanted slaves and some people didn't think it was right. He said he didn't care one way or another, but kind of leaned toward no slaves, but to hire the people instead of owning them.

"He told me that Kentucky was mixed about how they felt and some people felt like they were better than others. Apparently a group of Confederate soldiers split off from their main unit in Atlanta and found the caves up on Mystery Mountain to live in. They worked with some of the rich people around to move escaped slaves from down here up to Chicago, and even up to Canada.

"What happened was that during the war, the Finnertys came here from Atlanta to get away from the Union and built a house up on the mountain. They saw these Reb soldiers smuggling slaves and reported them to the closest Confederate troops.

"Nobody really knows for sure, but my family heard there was a fight up on the mountain that killed everyone up there. Right after that happened, three Finnerty men were killed by sympathizers and the Finnerty family began having bad luck. That generation died in a fire, and the next generation eventually all died, including the daughter who I found on the road near the creek. There was talk that some rebels robbed some rich people up north during the Civil War, and they also robbed bank wagons from Washington, but no one ever thought much about it. I always wondered what was up on the mountain, but didn't have the guts to go up there. Everyone else was just as afraid to go up there as anyone else is. Even when you go here to Eliza's, you sometimes get the willies. There are ghost and spirits up here for sure."

Bert leaned over to Mrs. Fletcher, "I hope you don't mind, but I recorded our conversation. You are so full of history, I'd love to come back and talk to you for days."

"Oh, that would be nice, but Teddy likes some of my time near every day. You know he isn't as young as he used to be, but he still wants to visit almost every day."

Now that would make great gossip on the Stanton gossip channel. I thought Mom would choke to death over the comment, and Teddy turned four shades of red. Hell, he should have been proud that at his age he is still being talked about as being an extremely horny old man.

The university visitors caught on, but were the perfect example of decorum. Damn, I love people.

Mrs. Fletcher told Teddy, "You had better take me home, Teddy. That wine thing, that grappa Mike calls it, is a mite strong for me. I might get a little wild, you know."

Teddy rolled his eyes as he led the sweet Mrs. Fletcher out the door.

Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha acted as if it was time to go. When I asked them when they would be here in the morning, Bert said around eight, Marjorie corrected him and asked, "If we can get a good breakfast like this morning, we'll be here at six."

Mom told them they were always welcome and she would look for them around six.

When it was just our household, I felt contented as I looked around at Millie, smiling as she nursed our son, with Marita lovingly watching. Karen was comfortably rocking in a chair in front of the fire with the dogs at her feet, and Mom was sitting at the table smiling at me. I nodded as I said, "Well, Folks, today has been a very special day. Our mountain is now known as a special place in history. Let's hope it doesn't affect our happiness."

I showered, with Millie's help, until Marita wanted to join us. She didn't take the hint that Millie's urge was more important than her getting her hair washed by me. When she finally got out, the hot water was about gone. No urge fixing tonight. I slept well this night and only remember dreaming of a lot of people, blacks, whites, soldiers, Ben, and Eliza all smiling at me. When I awoke to use the toilet, I had to remind myself that I did live on Mystery Mountain.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000


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Chapter 29



The other ATV from the road crew was going to help carry artifacts down from the caves and should help speed the recovery up. The Civil War historians and I began the morning by going around the mountain the other way to get a look at the cannons from another direction. Bert was amazed that the wood was still solid and the big hunk of cast metal wasn't rusted closed. It was almost as if they were protected from the weather, but they really weren't. They had fallen off the upper level when an overhang had collapsed. The cannons fell back under the new overhang, but were still exposed.

Bert made the comment, "It's going to require some heavy equipment to get those from up here. I'll have to think about how to do it."

I thought of my ingenious road crew. "I'll bet I have a couple of guys that can get those down from here without damaging them. I'll call at lunch and discuss it with them. They can come up and look at them and give you an idea of what they can do. If they can get them on a truck, where do you want us to take them?"

Marsha had a big smile on her face. "We'll take them to our research area that the university is allowing us to use. When we begin disclosing this find, they might even allow more studies in American history archaeology."

We looked to see if continuing around the mountain in the direction we were going could get us to the old wagon road, but we discovered there was a very wide, deep ravine that restricted passage. We had to turn and go all the way back around.

As we reached the house, I suggested that we get a cup of coffee and that maybe there were some leftover biscuits to enjoy with some honey. The three loved that idea.

Once inside, I called the road shop and found Jimmy in the office. I discussed what we wanted to do, and he said he would talk to the other guys about it and let me know. My next question was just an idea. "Jimmy, is there anyone in town here that has one of those metal detectors that people use to dig up coins and things?"

"I have a nutty cousin that does that and he might know some others who do that too. Do you want me to call him?"

"Do that Jimmy; call him and give him my number and ask him to call me after dark this evening. I have some university people collecting Civil War artifacts up on the mountain, and there is an area that I'll bet has a lot of items of interest that are now underground."

Jimmy was excited, "You know that Mystery Mountain has been something scary for this community all my life. The stories of the family who died from a fire, the girl who was murdered, and who knows what else scare a lot of people. That place is haunted and even my cousin might hesitate to come up there."

"Have him call me anyway. I can assure him there will be others with him and anyone else he can find to help scour the area."

On the way back up the mountain, Marsha was riding with me and I told her of my phone call. She was excited about the possibility of searching below the cave for more potential evidence of what happened up there.

We started where we had left off and completely cleared the second cave. We opened one of the barrels and I took a small amount of the obvious black powder out and put it on rock outside the cave. I spread it out and lit it with a match. There was a quick flash as the powder burned. Bert stood there with his mouth open before saying, "Who would believe a hundred and fifty year old barrel of black powder would still be explosive. We'll have to be careful getting it off the mountain."

I told him, "I'll contact the Army about sending an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team from Fort Campbell over here, or maybe a National Guard team if Kentucky has one, to take care of that. They have the equipment and the expertise, and it would make a good training exercise for them."

We worked on the skeletons that were scattered around the mouth of the caves, picking up every piece we could and attempting to keep each skeleton together for future examination. Marjorie was moving down the mountain from the plateau the caves were on, a couple of feet at a time. She was using tiny flags that she stuck in the ground everywhere she found something. She was picking up a rusted piece of metal and exclaimed, "I've found a Union hat. It was under what was probably a piece of a military wagon. It's in really good shape. Someone bring me a bag."

We all went to look at the hat as Marjorie was standing and photographing it on the ground. She said she photographed each location where she put a marker down to give them reference later. Near the hat were the remnants of a rifle and some scattered bones.

At lunch time, we rode back in both of the ATVs, since we had collected a lot of items. Bert had been insistent that we carry the cannon balls off the mountain as he said they were so well preserved that they would be perfect examples of war armament. We transferred everything into their Expedition and I noted the slight sag in the suspension with the addition of the eight big balls.

As we sat down to eat, Bert opened his shoulder bag and spread out several bags that had coins in them. He told me, "Mike, we've found a total of nineteen of those double eagles so far. They are not all the same, but I can tell you that they are all valuable. Even if you only get a thousand each, that is nineteen thousand. I'll give you a receipt for everything we collect, and the state historical fund will reimburse you for the artifacts so that we can keep them. If you would, you could donate the weapons and other items as a gift to the university and the state. We'll also give you an estimated value on all the items you donate so that you can deduct that amount from your state and federal income taxes. You're entitled to deduct the fair market value of these items, and since there is quite a market for Civil War memorabilia, it should come to a significant amount."

"I'll do that, but we somehow need to keep this a little quiet so that people aren't coming onto the property for more scavenging. I'm sure it will take you months to go through what you've found. During that time, I can post the property and put a fence up if necessary. The advent of a lot of strangers running around on the property is scary, and you know how us country people are. We all have itchy trigger fingers."

Marjorie and Marsha were alarmed, but Bert said, "That is a drawback of helping historians gather information. We might be able to just allude to the area and not release the exact locations. We can probably keep the exact spots to ourselves indefinitely. If you wanted to have a tourist attraction, I'm sure a lot of people would pay to see those caves."

"I think I'll vote for keeping the location private for right now." I was really apprehensive about my decision to show the world what was up there, but it felt like a story that needed to be told.

Mom was serving us soup, with a stack of sandwiches sitting on the table. She told me, "Jimmy called, and he wanted you to call him when you came in."

I called his cell phone. "Hey, Jimmy, I heard you called."

"Mike, I'm glad you called. My cousin Tommy is about to come unglued. He wants to come out today with three of his buddies who are all real Civil War buffs. They said that if they can help, they will photograph and bag everything they find. I'm with him and his three partners in crime right now and they are chomping at the bit."

"Hang on, Jimmy."

"Bert, I have some guys with metal detection gear that want to help out. They are Civil War buffs and said they know how to handle artifacts. Do you want them to come?"

"That would be great, but we're going to have a space problem even with two ATVs. Tell them to come on, and maybe we can ferry everyone up and back. We can get everyone up, but we're going to be full coming back."

Who would believe a bag of bones would take so much room? The extra bags of each garment took space.

"Jimmy, have them come out. Ask them if they have ATVs to get around in the woods with."

"Ha, ha, ha, these guys are really prepared. My cousin showed up at the road yard with his three cronies, pulling his ATV packed with equipment. Can they come out now?"

"Sure, Jimmy, if you come out, I'll take you over to look at the cannons to get an idea of how to retrieve them."

"I'll come, Mike; you're going to cause a stir with our guys playing with some Civil War stuff."

I was concerned about how many people would know about the find, but I suppose I can control the property if I have to.

We were finishing lunch when Jimmy's cousin and friends showed up. Leading them were Jimmy and Jet. After introductions all around, I suggested to the three historians, "Have these guys follow you up to the caves and show them how you want the area searched. Today is Friday, so you'll have between now and Sunday to totally clear the area of any artifacts. Be thorough so that no one can come along later and discover something of value. I'm going to take Jimmy and Jet out to look at the cannons, and then I'll bring the ATV up to you."

We took off in two different directions. The four treasure hunters followed Bert in my ATV while I drove the Road Commission ATV around the mountain to look at the cannons.

The two men looked at the area and the cannons for just a few minutes. Jimmy said, "I think we can do this with the big backhoe. Maybe we can use chain and a sling to keep the wood intact. With all of us doing it, we should be able to get them up on one of the big salt trucks and out of here. We can store them in the pole barn for a while, if necessary."

"Sounds good. How's your schedule looking?"

Jimmy grinned, "If it doesn't snow, we'll do it in the morning. I'll bet the guys will go nuts playing with this. We'll have to make a road getting back there, but that will also get you to that nice field that is there. If we were feds or something, we could use one of those big helicopters to lift them out. We'll do it easily, though. Take us back to the truck. Jet is going to have to say hi to Marita before we go, so let me get that out of the way."

Jet smacked Jimmy on the shoulder while blushing.

When I arrived at the caves, the guys with the metal detectors were covering each inch of ground in a wide swath around the edge of the rock plateau. Just about everywhere you looked was a little flag sticking out of the ground marking a spot where the metal detectors had sounded. Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha were on their hands and knees, carefully digging up what lay beneath the surface. It looked like metal buttons were going to be popular, and there were several belt buckles.

I took the time to finally go off to the left side of the left cave to see about the water that may or may not be there.

Son of a gun, there was water bubbling out of the rock and falling into a small pool. The pool must have had a hole in the bottom, as there wasn't a stream coming from the area. I suppose the water traveled down through the mountain to other outlets. To one side was a small alcove that had several rifles lined up on the wall. They were in almost too good of a condition, so I walked out and looked up, the spring and pool were under a large rock overhang, making the area where the rifles were completely dry and out of the weather.

Knowing there might be other items to be found, I began looking for other small caves behind brush and bushes. About fifty feet to the far left was a cave, tucked in behind bushes and a heavy stand of stunted cedar. I used my small LED light to look around and was astounded to find some wooden crates that were open, all containing rifles, shot, and small leather bags of powder and shot. The leather was stiff, but in surprisingly good condition. The cave was small and shallow, without a lot of extra room in it.

This was too good to keep from Bert, so I walked over to him and said, "Come with me, I have something neat to show you. Get the girls; they need to see this too."

I walked over to the ATV and picked up a couple of lanterns and led the trio past the pool that I said we would look at later and straight to the bushes that hid the cave.

I went in and turned the lanterns on. Each of the three gasped as they stepped into the cave. There were two mostly full crates of rifles. Bert exclaimed, "These are Springfield rifles, and these others are Enfields. Look, there are original leather and pewter powder and ball flasks. This is amazing. Look at the condition of everything."

I told him, "You need to photograph this, and then we'll carry it out. Come back a ways and look at the water supply I found."

When we looked at the spring and pool, they were as fascinated with it as I was. They photographed the rifles standing against the wall and said they would bag them in a few minutes.

I found out Bert was a strong little guy. We were able to carry the crates of rifles and ammunition from the cave back to the ATVs without much effort. He told me, "There isn't enough room to carry everything in the Expedition. We're going to have to make a couple of trips. I think the University will give us permission to sub out our classes, since what you're giving us is worth far too much to let it lay up here waiting to be recovered. I know it's been here all these years, but I feel I must get it off the mountain into a safe place."

By the time it was getting dark, we had documented and bagged everything inside and in the near proximity of the caves, leaving only the barrels of gunpowder. There were dozens, possibly hundreds, of tiny flags sticking out of the ground where items had been detected, but not photographed and dug up yet.

Back at the house, I was surprised to see Jimmy, Jet, and the other eight men including Bernie. As I walked in, Jimmy told me, "We came to mooch supper and for the guys to take a look at the cannon. Jet was so excited that he went back for some equipment and a truck. That's why the other guys are out here."

Mom winked at me as she was piling food on the big table. "This is one time you're excused, Michael. You didn't invite these clowns, but I'm happy they are here to eat with us. So, are you three university types having fun?"

Jimmy's cousin was standing in the doorway with his three buddies when Mom saw him acting funny. "I don't know you yet, but get those shoes off and come eat. You're going to miss out if you don't get your fork into something good to eat around here."

Mom was in her glory to be able to feed fourteen young guys and the university people. Somehow, just like when I was a kid, she was able to have enough food to feed everyone until they almost were too full to get up. Millie, Marita, and Karen were just as happy as Mom to be able to feed everyone.

Jet was sitting beside Marita and looked up at me, "I, I, I, kno, kno, I said to, to, tomorrow." Marita laid her hand on Jet's arm. "I know I said tomorrow, but I couldn't wait. We hurried and brought both backhoes out and have those two cannon in the big truck. You, you, you, ha, ha, have a road to get back to that field now, too. You, you, will ha, ha, have to cut some trees, but na, na, not many." Whenever Jet began stuttering, Marita would lay her hand on his arm and he would talk without a stutter. It was amazing.

Bert looked up at the young man. "You were really already able to get those cannons?"

It was Jimmy that spoke, "We pulled them both out and have them in the back of the truck. They look really good. We did clear the barrels of both guns and picked up both of the cannon balls. All of the old powder is out of the cannon now. We found a stick with a bunch of leather wrapped around one end that must have been used to tamp the powder and ball. We brought that back."

Bert looked at the girls and said, "We will take what we have so far back to the university Saturday night and come back Sunday evening. I'll get hold of the department chairman to make sure they will let us sub out our classes for a week. I think when he sees the artifacts that we collected, he will be excited too. You men with the metal detectors can continue on down the hill, expanding the width of your search until you run out of targets. You probably don't have to go down very far. A small fire fight back then wouldn't have been over a long range, since you can't see past the trees and boulders. If the metal search continues, maybe we can pay you for the work you miss."

I asked, "What do you want to do with the cannons? They are bulky and will take up some room, and it will take some room for the equipment to move them off the truck." The man questioningly looked at me, and asked, "I know you've donated a lot of man hours so far, but I need to impose upon you to take the cannons back to the university. I'll arrange for a location. If you can do this for me, I'll do whatever I can to reward you."

"You might be able to do that, Bert." I turned to Jimmy. "Get the location for the cannons from the professor and drag a trailer with the backhoe. Take one or two other men of your choice and deliver the cannons. The sooner we get all of this stuff off the mountain, the sooner no one will be snooping around."

I looked around at the ten men from the road crew and the four metal detector guys. "Remember, you need to keep your lips closed on this one. I'll make sure you're compensated in some way that you will be happy with, but you have to keep quiet about the location of this stuff. I'd hate to have to begin shooting and burying more people up on that mountain."

Everyone laughed, except Jimmy and the other four locals. They knew the history of the mountain and the rumors of the ghosts and spirits.

After some dessert, everyone left to give the house a little peace and quiet. Ezra looked at me funny and said, "You know that you have sure stirred up the ghosts up there. I swear my woman has been visiting me in my dreams almost every night. I just know it's because you've disturbed all of those ghosts. It's nice that I dream of her, but she's acting a little funny like I should be doing something. I really don't know what it would be. It makes me think that all the spirits from around here end up on this mountain. When she was younger, she told me her family visited some people that lived up where Ben's place was and always had a good time. Maybe that's her link."

Ezra began moving around as if he was going to leave, and advised me, "Well, Mike, I think we'll be back on the path Monday. That will keep my mind off the wife."

When Ezra left, Mom gave him a warm hug and sent him home smiling.

Everyone was tired tonight, and after I showered with the intimate help of only Millie, we were in bed quickly.

Ben and Eliza were sitting on one of the big boulders just around the bend leading toward the Finnerty orchard. They both pointed toward the top of the mountain and the caves. I quickly moved through the game trail path and up the mountain until I was on the side of the caves where the pool was. It was strange how light my feet felt and how fast I moved in the soggy terrain.



Soldiers in Confederate uniforms were running back and forth to the small cave that held the crates of rifles, powder, and balls. Others were loading rifles and stacking them against rocks. I saw a man run into the cave on the left and heard him yell some orders to whoever was in there. The state of apprehension there was way up.

Men would run right by me and not take notice that a man was standing there. It was as if I was invisible. There was yelling and gunfire from below, making the men up by the caves take positions that gave them cover. A couple of soldiers, each carrying two rifles, ran to the sides of the approach, maybe to act as snipers.

I watched as a man, dressed in what appeared to be an officer's uniform and holding a pistol in each hand, began telling the troopers, "Men, these people depend on you; a lot of families depend on you. This is for the country, not just the Confederacy. Wait; wait until they are almost upon us so we can make every shot count."

Each of the soldiers was down behind cover and really couldn't be seen. There was a hat brim here, a boot there, but no full view of a soldier.

Men in gray uniforms were running up the hill, looking behind them and yelling, "They're coming, they're coming, we couldn't hold them, they're coming."

As four men ran toward the caves, all four were hit in the back by weapons fire coming from downhill. Right after that, at least a dozen soldiers in Union blue were running up the hill, reloading as they ran. A young officer was reloading a pistol as he ran in front of the group. I could see another two soldiers in what looked like officer's uniforms behind him.

Just as the Union soldiers came within a few feet of the boulders, the gray clad soldiers behind the rocks stood and fired. The Union soldiers fired at the same time. It was amazing as it appeared every one of the two opposing groups fell at once. There was one of the Union soldiers that appeared to still be alive and he sat up, reloaded his rifle, and began moving around the boulders. He picked up two more rifles of his fallen comrades and loaded them too.

The two officers trailing the men had now broken into a run as they came up the hill, realizing their unit may have been annihilated. Shots rang out from both sides of the trail and one of the officers fell. The other kept running upward.

The wounded soldier with the three loaded rifles disappeared into the cave to the left as the Union officer reached the bloody mess of the troops of both sides that had been killed. All of a sudden, a shot was heard in the left cave, and then another. The officer was about to run in there when one of the snipers ran up on him. They both saw each other and fired at the exact same time. They both fell. The other sniper was heading toward the left cave entrance when the wounded soldier came to the entrance, leaned against the wall, and fired at the approaching sniper. He fell, but rolled over, pointed his rifle at the man leaning against the rock at the entrance, and fired. The Union soldier fell, and the Confederate sniper slumped over his spent rifle.



I was out of breath from watching this display of ... what? Did this happen and was never reported by anyone? Wouldn't there have been more people come to what had happened? Wouldn't there be more slaves who traveled through the area?

Millie moved against me and kissed my neck, giving a soft "hmmmm."

I lay there sweating from the intensity of what I had just been through. Did I really go through something? It was just a dream, right? Damn, that was too real. I only had a couple of dreams about actions in the sand; why so many now about something that happened a hundred and fifty years ago? How could I have seen so much as vividly as I did?

I needed to pee, so I slid from bed, visited the john, and checked the time. It was only three, but I felt like it should be ten in the evening. I was worn out, exhausted from the crazy emotions of the dream. Much more of this and I was going to find a shrink to talk to.

I was almost afraid to go back to sleep when I got back between the two ladies. Feeling them snuggle and cover me relaxed me, and I was soon sleeping again.

I did dream some more, but it was me walking back toward the house, with Eliza and Bud walking with me. Following us was Ben leading his mule, with a woman riding it while wearing a contented smile. When we approached the house, Ben led his mule down the drive, and Bud and Eliza went back around the mountain toward the vineyard, on the way toward their graves.

It was funny how, in my dream, I turned and looked back toward the top of the mountain and saw a golden halo surrounding it. I felt at peace when I walked toward the cabin.

"Honey, Honey, it's time to get up. Those people are all going to be here soon. You should get up."

Millie was grinning at me with her loving smile. Little John was lying in bed with me where Millie had put him to wake me. I reached up and gave Millie a kiss, then hugged the little guy and also gave him a kiss as he gurgled in recognition of being jostled.

It only took me a few minutes to get through the bathroom and dress. I put jeans and shirt on instead of BDU's this morning. It felt right to go back up there in civilian clothes. The place had given me some intense dream memories that I couldn't verify, but I wanted to draw a diagram of the locations of the caves, the rocks in front of the caves, and the wagon road. I was going to take the graph paper and see if I could sketch a replica of what was there. I borrowed Mom's camera to take a bunch of pictures to work with as well.

Bert came in the door, excited to be able to continue work on the project. He reported that when he sent pictures of the expedition to the department chair, the head of the department immediately granted permission to continue, and also requested updates and more pictures of the discoveries. Bert chuckled, "I didn't send him everything, as I wanted to have something new to send him every day to justify our absence."

Bert asked me, "If your men are willing to do this, I have a location to deposit the cannon. I've been given a corner of the field house to store them. The delivery truck can pull right into the field house and it will be easy to do the job. If they can go today, I'll have someone meet them. Tell them to use this phone number when they get to the university so that they can be directed to the big truck entrance."

I called the road office and was surprised to hear a smiling Bernie answer at six thirty in the morning. "What are you doing there so early, Bernie?"

"This is market day, and I figured anyone with road problems would be calling today. If they see something or have trouble getting out, we can go help them."

"Good idea, but I'm sure the rest of the county doesn't feel as if we should be available like that. Is Jimmy there, or should I call his cell?"

"Right here, Boss," a second voice said.

"Jimmy, you guys are amazing. The professor says we can deliver the cannon to the university field house. He says we can drive straight to the building with the truck and trailer with the backhoe on a trailer. Take a couple guys with you and put those things in place for the man. He says that we can bill the university for delivery, so make sure you get the billing information from the man who meets you. I'll be up on the mountain if you need me. If my phone doesn't work up there, leave a message at the house and I'll pick it up at lunch."

"Is my cousin still helping out there?" Jimmy asked, then added, "He usually gets blitzed on Friday nights over in Pine Ridge and stays there."

"He's here, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, eating breakfast. The four guys have been a big help, and I think they are going to be compensated to work through the weekend and some of next week."

"Wow, that's great," Jimmy exclaimed. "All of them have jobs that will let them off, but this is something right up their alley. It's a hell of a lot more fun than regular work."

"Well, let me know if you need me for anything, Jimmy."

"Will do, Boss."

Jimmy's cousin and friends were eager to sweep the area all the way down to the road, if need be. The group was going to be busy collecting small bits now, since they were going to try to recover every artifact laying up there. Bert asked me, "How about you just look around? You seem to be good at finding places where caves are. It's your property, and you might want to have a better idea of what's here. If you find something, come get us, and we'll be right there to check it out."

The ladies were not about to miss a Saturday market day. They had prepared for this most of the week and wanted to show Karen a real country flea market. While I wandered the mountain, they were going to have fun visiting with friends.

When we reached the site again, I took my photographs and did a quick sketch of what the place looked like. I was going to ask for copies of the photos the historians already had so that I could compare my dream to what was found.

I spent the next couple of hours walking the edge of the bluff, checking for holes and caves. I found another small cave, but there was nothing in it. When I could look down at the ruins of the Finnerty place, I decided it was time to go back.

I kept watching above me to see if there was another terrace above me that could house caves. I had not seen any when I went to the top, but it is difficult to see much in downward direction except from out over the steep bluffs.

We all went to the house for a lunch that I quickly made up, using some ham that was in the springhouse. While we were there, I checked the professor's Expedition. He had a receiver for a hitch, so I suggested that he load my enclosed trailer with stuff and take it with him when he leaves. He could bring the trailer back Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on when they made the trip.

As we drove back to the site, Marjorie told me, or actually almost begged me, "Marsha and I are beat. If you want to, you could suggest to Bert that we get out of here early tonight so we can get a good night's sleep in our own beds. We're both out of clothes and need to get some clean ones. Who would know we would be crawling around in the dirt the way we have been? I think this is the hardest work any of us have done in cataloging artifacts. There are just so many of them."

Later, I did mention to Bert that I'd bet his girls would be happy to get back to the university early tonight. He agreed and said it would take an hour or so to get everything unloaded and stored, even with some extra help from students, if they could get it. At three, Bert gave instructions to the four guys with the metal detectors, took their personal information so the university could pay them, and went back to the house to pack the trailer up and leave.

We packed the trailer, but it was decided that it would take too long to unload, so they would leave it for now and make another trip with less in the SUV to make hauling the trailer easier. I waved at them as they went down the road.

No one was home yet, so that meant the family went to the Pine Ridge market too. I was about to start chores when Rosita, Anita, and Consuela came up the road in an ATV. Rosita got out of the older model four-wheel drive utility truck and announced, "I bought this with the money the ladies make. Now we have an easier way to do chores every day. We don't mind walking, but it is faster when it is still cold."

I wondered how much that thing set them back, but knowing their family, I'm sure they bartered their way into it by starting to trade a log and working up. They truly loved to trade.

I did the heavy barn stuff and played with the stupid deer. It was times like this that I was constantly looking around to see where the goat was, until I remembered it was gone. I'd bet the deer would enjoy having the goat around to play with. Maybe I could get a couple of billy goats to raise for food. Goat meat is delicious when prepared right. Then again, maybe I'm raising the deer for future food. Fat chance of that with the way Millie and Mom mess with it.

After chores, I kicked back with a beer and looked over the pictures I had and the diagram I had made. I began making notes on the big graph paper drawing of what I had seen where, and the order in which I had seen it in my dream. The dream was still vivid in my memory; I could play it back over and over in my mind, seeing each of the soldiers in each group as the quick fight happened. Thinking about it, I had a feeling that it was the way it must have happened. But in truth, only the spirits of the mountain knew what had really occurred.

A sudden commotion caused by four women with an infant aroused me from my thoughts. They came in with boxes of jars and a couple of nice lamps. Karen was carrying a really nice bed throw that had a picture of Kentucky stitched in it. The state was white and the rest was blue. Mom put a big bundle down on the table in front of me, and said, "Go help get the rest of the stuff from the truck, then you can unwrap your present."

I had my boots on in a flash and helped empty the truck. All of the big dairy product cases, egg crates, and meat containers were empty, as well as four big wine cartons. I wonder how Mom got them siphoned from the barrels to take to Pine Ridge?

As I carried the last container toward the porch, the answer came from the wine cave area. Doroteo waved as he carried three bottles of wine toward the house. I followed the man inside and we both took our boots off. We had begun calling the man "D" as Doroteo was a lot to say quickly. He liked having a nickname.

"What do you have there, D?"

"My wonderful winemaker, Mike, this is some of the best wine I've tasted. The grapes were harvested at the exact right time and everything worked out perfectly. When you taste it, you will wonder how it could come from your own vineyard and presses. When I tasted it to get some for Bea to carry to the Pine Ridge market, I couldn't believe it. After giving a small sample taste, I sold each bottle for ten dollars."

My wine has gone from giveaway prices of ten or less a gallon, to ten dollars for a small bottle. I'll have to figure on a way to make wine for the masses, or maybe I already had that and was overcharging.

The women scurried around putting things away, while D told me about his first trip to both markets. Although he has a definite dark Latino appearance, his speech and elocution is so good that he was able to meet several of the farmers and had spent a great deal of the day with Stanley Conner, listening to him as he spoke with other farmers and negotiated some grain deals with them. This time of year, Stanley was usually the only place to go for grain, other than the grain mill and elevator where prices were fixed by the market and only cash was used.

By the time the family had made it to Pine Ridge, D knew how to conduct himself and how the local barter worked if necessary. He had only brought twenty bottles and was able to sell all for cash, but wished he had brought more.

Mom was smiling as the women were getting supper ready for the table. While pointing to a bundle on the small table, Mom told me, "Open that to see something that you can do for a few evenings."

The bundle was interesting, but the smells coming from the stove were more so. Millie announced, "We traded for some barbequed ribs. They are so good, and I know you will love them. They had coleslaw and a big pot of baked beans. It's a good thing we always bring clean containers for something just like that."

Mom said, "Go on, unwrap that thing."

The bundle was what looked like an old olive army blanket. There were great big horse blanket safety pins holding it together, and when I moved the bundle around, I couldn't believe how heavy it was.

Beneath the blankets were several boxes of various sizes. I opened the largest box and it was filled with old maps, documents, and tintype photographs from the eighteen hundreds. There were pictures of both Confederate and Union soldiers, what looked to be dignitaries, and families. Some had writing on the back that gave a year and name. Many had no notations. I told Mom, "Wait until Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha see this. They will immediately want to steal it."

Another large box was full of books that recorded the Civil War and many or most of the battles that had occurred. There were a couple of handwritten books that were not diaries, but books that appeared to be about events that occurred within Kentucky. One book was a ledger that held numbers of costs and receipts for a large horse farm. I noted several entries for the cost of slaves at auction. These books were going to take months to go through.

The next biggest box had old rolled up maps of all of Kentucky, sectioned off in older divisions and some of the neighboring area. These were all hand drawn in ink. I knew these were from the original surveys of the state.

Another box I opened had an assortment of military buttons, belt buckles, rank insignia, pocketknives, an almost Bowie sized big hunting knife, along with leather items that had been kept oiled over the years. Some of the buttons and insignia were obviously from the First and Second World War as there was something in the box from the Army Air Corps.

Mom pushed the last box to me and said, "You're not going to believe what's in this box. The lady who traded with me said it had been her great-uncle's, and she didn't want any of it anymore. She doesn't have any men in the family that want it, even without looking at it, so she was happy to get a couple of hams for all of this. I really don't think she realized what was in here."

I was already amazed at what I had looked at and opened the next box and just stared at what was there. There was a picture of an Army officer from the Second World War era. Another picture of him with his family, and finally a picture of him waving as he was in a long line of men boarding a ship. In this box were a multitude of ribbons and medals. I was not surprised to find a Purple Heart, but I was in awe of two Distinguished Service Crosses. These medals are second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor.

There were two heavy items that appeared to be handguns wrapped in oil cloths. The first one I unwrapped was an almost in new condition original Colt M1911 forty-five, in a military issue leather holster. I gently dropped the magazine and checked the chamber to make sure there were no rounds in the gun. This was a beauty. Looking at the weapon, I wondered what experiences it had been through.

The other oil-wrapped item was a real shock. This was an absolutely pristine P08 Luger, also in an original holster. I didn't know a lot about the Luger, so I had to look it over carefully until I was able to release the magazine, then pull on the knobs to make sure there were no rounds in the weapon. The man who brought these back probably intended for these to be souvenirs in his family for many generations. I actually felt a little guilty looking at what he had retained from his military career. I wondered if any of the Civil War items were from his ancestors.

While pointing to the Luger, Mom asked, "Is that one of those German guns? That thing looks brand new."

It did look brand new, as if the soldier who had possessed it had not had time to ever use it before being captured or killed in action. I had to handle each item, but wiped it clean of finger oil as I went back through all of the items in the bundle. I looked up at Mom, "This stuff is priceless. The items from the Civil War era are going to take months to go through and verify. This is amazing. If you remember the lady's name, I'll call her to tell her there may be pictures of her ancestors in this."

Mom smiled. "I knew you would want to do that, and I do have her name and phone number. She's an older lady that goes to church with us, so you can tell her tomorrow. I think she is going to want you to keep everything, since you are interested and her kin is not. Maybe we can have her up for Sunday dinner."

Supper was delicious, but I was so preoccupied with the bundle Mom had brought home, that I hardly tasted how good it was. I had a book in one hand and a rib in the other. At least I didn't smear the books.

This reminded me of the four handguns that had been in the bottom of one of the chests. I would have to get them out and study them to find out what they were. Between the new toys and the diagram of caves, I was so preoccupied that when Millie snuggled up to me and said, "Come to bed, Mike, your harem needs your warmth," I had to sit up and realize how late it was. I stripped down and hugged Millie's back as either Mom or Karen hugged mine. I was going to sleep and didn't need any distractions.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 30


I woke early Sunday morning and felt refreshed. I didn't dream, or at least I don't remember dreaming. This was a different feeling after having had dreams for almost a week. To an extent, I missed learning more about what happened up there and what happened afterward. I suppose the historians will have to figure it out.

After using the bathroom, warming some coffee in the microwave, and starting a fresh pot, I was ready to begin the morning chores when Mom walked into the room dressed and ready for the day. A minute later, Marita and Karen came from the bedroom, also dressed. The next person to emerge from the other end of the house was Millie, hugging John to her as he gurgled and smacked his lips to let the world know he was hungry.

Mom made the observation, "Your kid is so much like you were that it's uncanny. You very seldom ever cried, even when you had reason. You would let me know that you needed attention, but never raised a big fuss."

Millie sat in a rocking chair and let the hungry baby begin nursing. She said, "I'm going to give him some mixed baby food this morning. I think he needs more than just my milk now. He's growing fast and isn't very heavy."

Mom told her, "Spoon feed him some of the baby cereal to see how he likes it. I used to mix a little honey in all of my kids' cereal. It was just a few drops, but I think they all liked it."

I was putting my boots on when Marita said she was going to help Mom milk this morning, and Karen should do the chickens. The fresh morning air up on the mountain is always something to bring a smile to your heart. Watching the dogs running around, sniffing where animals had visited during the night is always interesting.

As the three of us, Mom, Marita, and I, walked to the barn, a sleek beige and brown critter came prancing up to us waggling its head, then ducking it in front of us to get a scratch behind the antler ridge where new antlers were trying to sprout. Mom laughed, "It looks like your wild animal has figured out it can jump higher than your stock fences. Let's see if it jumps back in to get food or if he is ready to be out on his own."

The problem with the deer is that he wanted to follow us into the barn. When we wouldn't allow that, he banged his head on the door a few times before going off to do something else.

One of our big sows had produced a bunch of piglets during the night. You never know whether to separate them or let the piglets stay with the mother. They seemed to be content with her lying on her side as the little piglets nursed.

There was another sow that looked ready to give birth, but was still waddling around with a big belly and swollen nipples. The other hogs were in a separate pen. This pig breeding had been one of Mom's experiments, saying that we should be raising pigs from our own stock. Personally, I was never hot for raising pigs, but I do like pork so there is value there somewhere.

As I put hay and grain out for the steers, the deer was back in the stock area getting his share of the goodies. I wondered when he would go out to find a doe or two to form his own herd.

Going back into the house, Mom told me they had gotten more than three quarters of a ten gallon can from the three cows this morning. She told me, "With three cows fresh at the same time, we're getting twelve to fourteen gallons of milk a day. I think that's an unusually high quantity from three Jersey cows. You must be feeding them right, but it is spring and the new grass is nourishing to them."

I asked, "Mom, have you noticed something different up here?" When she just looked at me with a puzzled expression, I explained, "No wild onions; remember the war we always had with the cows because they would eat all of the wild onions and the milk would smell bad. That's when we had to sell the milk as grade C for cheeses."

"You're right, Mike; you must not have any up here. I'm surprised, as I thought those things were weeds that grew everywhere in the spring."

Karen had quickly finished with the chickens and had begun breakfast under Millie's direction. We didn't have biscuits and gravy this morning, but we did have some great sausage and eggs with pancakes.

As we ate, Millie said, "We're having the road guys for dinner today. Mom and I cleaned six hens yesterday for fried chicken today. That should be enough for them, as well as the university people if they get back early. Martha told me they were eating dinner at another church member's house today. She said some people thought we might be monopolizing them."

Mom advised, "Ezra is going up to Mount Sterling for a gun show, so he won't be with us. I'm surprised that you didn't want to go up there, Mike."

"No need, Mom. I just bought that really nice auto-loading shotgun and another Winchester lever action. The two new guns you found for me yesterday would sell for a bunch up at a show, but I don't think I want to sell them. I think I'll just stick with what I have. In a few years, when John is old enough, I'll get him something like I had and teach him how to use a gun and hunt. We're going to be on a rabbit diet for a while when that happens. I'm sure you remember that, Mom."

Mom giggled, "How could I forget having to cook rabbit every day for almost two weeks. Thank goodness you ran out of shells. That's when you found out there was something else good to eat around the house. Your dad had to have a talk with you about how the rest of the family got tired of rabbit. The good news is that I have since learned that you can use rabbit to make spaghetti sauce and other Italian meat dishes, meat loaf, and other dishes that disguise the flavor and texture. Ground up rabbit is a lot like using ground turkey."

I put all of the historical material away in my office, and the two handguns into the wall area. It still looked like a section of wall, and not the container for all of the firearms in the house. I might devise a hidden lock on the door so that when little John began getting curious, he doesn't stumble onto it.

We dressed and went to church. We sat with our growing group of friends. It's funny to see the road crew dressed in dressier clothes. They did clean up nice. Marita was sitting next to Jet, hugging his arm, and I noticed that Karen had sat next to Marita, and Jimmy somehow found an empty space to sit next to her. I was bookended by Mom and Millie, holding John, who was on the end of a pew so she could get out if John became disruptive.

After the service, there were the usual gatherings of people visiting inside and outside the church. Mom introduced me to Eloise Sanders as the lady who had traded all of the Civil War stuff to her. It was during my chat with her that I saw Maude and Mom talking, and shortly afterward, I noticed a larger gathering of Gene and four other men talking to her. I wonder.

Eloise and I spoke for a few minutes. "Ma'am, I think I should tell you about what was in those boxes and how it may mean a lot to some of your family."

"No need, Mike. I've been trying to give them to one of my kids and to any of my nieces and nephews, but none of them want to have to store anything. I know very well what's in those boxes. I've read every word in those books, looked through each of the items, and thought about the person they must have belonged to. You're an Army man, Mike; everyone around respects you and I want you to have those items. I brought them to the market yesterday hoping to see you, your mom, or Millie, and I found your mom first. She wouldn't just take the bundle; she insisted I take something for it."

"Thank you, Eloise; I'm going to treasure those items. Some may end up in a display up at the university in Lexington, but I'll make sure your name is listed as the donor." I paused a second before asking, "How about coming up for dinner today? We're having some people come and I'm sure you would enjoy them."

"That's so nice of you to ask, Mike, but I'm supposed to drive to my son's in Mount Sterling for dinner. Ask me another time, since I've never been up on Mystery Mountain. Now that you're up there, I'm sure it's a safe place to visit."

As I spoke with Stanley Conner a little later, Mom came up to me and asked, "Can you stop by Kroger and pick up some more fryers? We're having more people up than I had planned." She looked at Stanley. "Want to come for a chicken dinner? We have a, let me count, Summer and Bradley, the ten road guys, Maude, Gene, and four cable men, the metal detector guys, and I saw the university truck go by, so that's three more. You would be just two more, Stan, come on out. Let me find Gracie, she'll want to come. Oh, Mike, make that a dozen more, cut up, okay?"

Why would she tell me to go if she is riding with us? I found out very shortly, as Mom handed me a set of keys and pointed to a very ragged looking Jeep. "I traded for that yesterday too. Drive it home for me, and pick up another big bottle of cooking oil when you go by the store."

Jeep? Why would Mom want a Jeep, especially one that is as ratty as this one? It used to be yellow, but now it was mud and rust. I'd bet if you pushed hard on the hood, your finger would go right through the rusty metal. Hope this thing makes it home.

The old 70s stock CJ-5 didn't have any side curtains, but the top was still all there. The floor wasn't rusted through and looked like it might be sturdy. I'd find out soon enough. The tires on the vehicle looked reasonable, along with the spare mounted on the back. They should last for what Mom wanted to do with it.

The Jeep ran smoothly when I started it, and upon shifting it into gear, the clutch felt tight and the tranny seemed to be okay. I went through the gears smoothly, thinking that I would probably make it home if I stopped for gas. Actually, if the gas gauge was accurate, I hoped to make it to the gas station.

The tank wasn't bone dry because it held only fourteen and three quarter gallons. Considering it only has a fifteen gallon tank, the little 4X4 was close to empty. I checked the oil and water to make sure they were okay. I figured the old Jeep should make it home.

I went by Kroger and bought a dozen cut up fryers and the biggest bottle of vegetable oil they had. I knew that if I brought anything else home, I would be in danger of hearing about it from the women who provided very well from our well-stocked pantry.

The little Jeep felt like it had a decent engine, but I didn't push it as it didn't look like it could stand to be pushed. When I got home, I parked the Jeep in the end slot of the garage, as this thing was going to require some work.

It's a wonder all of the visiting cars and trucks fit in the parking area. Ever since the funeral it seemed that we were having more and more people visit at one time. When I walked in the door, I saw rows of shoes by the bench and a mass of humanity congregated throughout the big living room and dining area, with some outside on the back porch.

I think all the women were in the kitchen at once, attempting to make dinner. I also knew that at any second, there would be a shrill whistle and Mom would get all of their attention and begin delegating jobs so each woman would have something to do, and she could proceed to do the cooking.

The whistle came, and I watched as she gave directions before looking around for me. She wriggled her finger and said, "Go light the woodstove. We're going to need that for dinner. I guess I did go overboard on people this time."

I started the woodstove and reached out the door for a few handfuls of stove wood. When I got it going, I decided to use the big pot out here for some good coffee. I had missed the good percolated coffee that came from the stove.

Back inside, I visited with Bradley and Summer, telling them of the deer and his new ability to jump the stock fence. Summer wanted to take the deer to their place, but Bradley was probably correct in thinking that the deer would just show up back here and could get shot or hit by a car getting here.

I told Bert that I had some items that he would be interested in, but I would prefer to wait until the masses were gone to discuss them. It was then that Jimmy commented, "My cousin said that he and his buddies are searching again today. They are having so much fun that they may stay out here all week."

Bert sincerely said, "I hope they don't have that many targets. They were almost halfway down the mountain before we left."

Bert continued, "I brought a university trailer back with us so we don't have to use yours. That will be one less round trip."

I was watching out the window when the treasure hunters' ATV came up the road. It was lunchtime and they were used to being fed. A couple of more mouths wouldn't be a big deal. I went to Mom and hugged her. "The metal detector guys just rolled up. Want to fix them some bologna sandwiches?"

"No, Michael, they'll eat with us. If we run out of chicken, we have most of a ham in the spring house. Go tell them to wash up out in the barn and come in."

I put my shoes on and walked out to talk to the guys. They were ecstatic, since you could smell the fried chicken from outside. I smelled something baking too, so the woodstove was doing its part.

Watching the road crew interact with the cable guys, and the metal detector guys talking to the university people was fun. Stanley came over to me and said, "This is like it is at our place at Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are so many people that I can't even call all of them by name. People watching can be fun in a group like this."

Stan said he thought that the lowlands I had bought for him were going to dry out enough to plant this year. He figured on some late corn or soy beans. He wanted me to show him how I could get such a good stand of alfalfa in my field. He said he always had to reseed the second year. I told him my dad always planted clover and lespedeza grass at the same time. It seemed to help the alfalfa roots spread better and made the hay very appealing to the animals.

We talked about the cost of mixing the grasses instead of the cost of reseeding, and he said he would try a small field that way this year. He didn't raise much hay since he was primarily a grain farmer and only raised a few head of beef for the family's use.

There weren't enough chairs or table space, but it seemed that everyone had a plate and a place to sit. Since the fireplace wasn't lit, several guys sat on the hearth stone. The boot bench was full, as was every chair in the house. I had to make a trip to the barn spring house to get more milk, as most of the young men wanted milk to drink.

We were in the midst of eating when D came through the door. Seeing all of the people, his eyes lit up and he pushed his shoes off and came to shake my hand. "Oh, Mike, you have so many friends and you bring them to your home. You are such a wonderful man. I won't stay, but I brought in some of the new wine that is making very well. I brought a big bottle of grappa too. You'll need that."

Mom came over and grabbed D's arm and pulled him to the kitchen area. D soon had a plate of food and was hunting for a place to sit. I wonder where Mom found more food as the guys kept getting up and going after more pieces of fried chicken.

There were delicious rolls to sop up the cream gravy that leaked from the mashed potato lake next to the green beans on my plate. This was some good eating.

Mom waved for me to follow her to the summer kitchen and had me open the push out windows and prop them open. She began taking pies from the oven and putting them on the wide window sill. She refilled the woodstove oven with another six pies, and I noticed that there were six more ready to bake sitting on the work counter. She had me carry the massive coffee pot into the kitchen for those who wanted coffee.

The metal detector guys were soon ready to go back to searching, and the university people wanted to go see how far they had searched. That took seven away. Maude and Gene wanted to go to the movies in Mount Sterling, so the cable crew left with them. Mom sent a pie home with them. It left only my road crew and the Conners. Marita and Jet had gone out to take a walk, while Jimmy asked Karen to go walk with him.

We enjoyed some pie, followed by small glasses of grappa. D was telling stories of how wonderful life had been before the cartels began demanding everyone grow poppies and making the people let the grape vineyards go. Those farmers who didn't comply disappeared. D explained that he had grown poppies on the flat lands, but also kept his vineyards up. The men who were demanding the poppies thought he was shorting them, and that's how his family had also disappeared. Those listening felt his loss and wondered why the populace didn't rise against those people.

I knew the answer was the superior weapons of those who placed demands on the farmers. If they thought a farmer might be dangerous, he disappeared. It was as simple as that.

The road guys were all very grateful to Mom and Millie for the great food. The eight remaining men got Bernie out to their cars and trucks, leaving Jet and Jimmy to get home in Jet's truck when they returned. When it got late, Stanley and Gracie said that they needed to go, so Bradley and Summer decided it was time for them to leave as well. D shook my hand and thanked us for including him for the day's festivities before he left.

And just like that, we were back to my house only full of two women and John. I played with John a while before the two couples returned, then it was time to do chores. Mom and I ended up doing the milking, as Marita, assisted by Jet, did the chickens, and then she had to help inside the house along with Millie and Karen.

As Mom and I were washing the milking utensils, she said, "We have one more surprise for you from yesterday. Come on; let's go see what we can find for supper and what your surprise is."

Now what? The bundle of artifacts from the Civil War and the Second World War was a real surprise, and Mom coming up with a rusty old Jeep also is a strange surprise, but what else could there be?

When I opened the cabin door, the place had filled back up. The metal detector crew was inside, along with the university people. They were all drinking a beer, and as soon as I came in, Millie handed one to me. Mom announced to everyone, "Michael needs to show you folks what he got yesterday, but before that, I want you to see what we found for him, or maybe for you folks from the university."

Mom went to her room and came back with a very long coat box. She set the box on the big table, opened it, and then folded some tissue paper back.

There was a hat on top of a Confederate officer's jacket. Mom pulled them both out of the box and gently laid them on the table. Under the jacket was a pair of wool trousers that matched the jacket. Lying across the pants was a leather belt and a couple of scarves. The condition of the pants was the same as the jacket, like new.

When Mom picked the trousers up to lay them aside, the rest of us gasped at what lay on the bottom of the box. There was a very ornate sword in a scabbard, with an ivory handle sticking out the end. There was also a pistol similar to one that had been in the chest from the cave.

Bert exclaimed, "That's a LeMat, and it looks brand new. This is a wonderful find."

Mom folded a leg of the pants over, showing a sheet of heavy yellowed paper filled with writing in an ornate script. She handed the paper to me.

I began reading out loud: "Henry Jefferson Gibson, born July first, eighteen thirty-five, to Judith and Edward Gibson, in Beaver Pond, Kentucky. Henry was a scholar from a young age, and when there became a division between the North and their beliefs, and the South; Henry proclaimed his intent to lead local like-minded men to engage the Union enemy in 1862. Henry believed that all men should be free, but those slave owners should be reimbursed for the cost of the slaves that were set free. He proposed that those men in the area free the slaves, but let them work out their cost to their former owners. Henry felt this would give the former slaves employment, along with freedom. Henry also believed that sovereign states had the right to leave the Union. This uniform was made for him by his mother, and the weapons given to him by his father.



"Before his contingent was to leave Beaver Pond, he practiced firing weapons with his men, taking directions from old men who had fought in the Revolution.

"The week before Henry was to leave for Atlanta to join other Confederate forces, he was harnessing a mule and died when he was kicked in the head. Henry died without ever wearing this uniform or using the weapons his father had given him. He died May 18, 1862.

"This uniform and the weapons were given to me by Judith Gibson before she passed away in 1891.

Marilyn Gibson Finnerty"



I looked at Mom. "What happened between 1891 and now? Who did Marilyn Finnerty give this to, and do we know whether she might be one of the Finnertys that formerly lived on the mountain?"

Mom smiled and handed me another piece of paper, but it was the old thin onion skin paper this time. There were only a couple of handwritten lines.

The paper read: "I, Marilyn Gibson Finnerty, bequeath all of my worldly possessions to Wilma Stockholm. Signed: Marilyn Gibson Finnerty, Witnessed, George Cantor, Witnessed, Marcus Rivers, M.D. Dated, January 3, 1948."

Mom said, "According to Agnes Johansson, who is now in her eighties, her Aunt Wilma was only twenty when she received this after Marilyn Finnerty died of the flu. She was the last person in her family to die, or so she thought. Did you note the doctor's name is Rivers? I wonder if Sheryl Rivers is a descendant."

Marjorie from the University said, "That uniform needs to be in a museum. You have documentation of how this was handed down. That is the way we can preserve our history."

I told Mom, "Put it all back into the box just the way we found it, and maybe it should all go to a museum. How about it, Bert, where should it go?"

The man sat staring at what lay in front of him before saying, "I don't know, Mike. I just don't know."

That made me ask, "Mom, did the lady who you traded for the other stuff, also trade that to you?"

"No, it was her sister. We were talking and I was telling them how passionate you were at finding local Civil War items. Eloise's and Agnes' sister, Frances, told me that she had a box of old Confederate stuff that might be valuable and should go to someone really interested in that history. She had me run her to her house where she brought the box out. I briefly looked in the box and she told me that I could have this for you, but I had to remove her deceased son-in-law's old Jeep for her. She said it ran, but she couldn't drive it and didn't want to. So you see, Mike, this is all for you to do with as you think you should."

Mom put the garments back into the box. I asked Bert, "Where would you put these if the university had them?"

"I don't know that either, Mike, but I have an idea that might work for the regents. Marjorie, Marsha, and I have a very large collection of items. From what we have found on the mountain, and what we already have, we could have a display worthy of any university museum. There is a large area in the east end of the Library that is unused. It was going to be a classroom, but another building was erected and the class now is held there. I'll bet they will let us use that space, especially if it will bring the university more notice."

I told the trio, "Get that space and I'll give this box to you. I have a couple of more weapons from that era I will donate as well."

Bert asked, "Your mom said you have some items to show us, can you do that now?"

I smiled as I checked my watch. "How about we do that tomorrow sometime? I'm tired and will probably have a busy day tomorrow. How about it, can you wait until tomorrow?"

"Sure, Mike," Bert said, "I'm just excited about all of the fantastic artifacts we've found."

Jimmy's cousin spoke up, "You know there are over two hundred targets for us to dig up and document. I've made a chart of the entire mountainside, so I know exactly where each of the targets are located. We've numbered everything so you're going to have the best historic site in the state. I wish I could tell others about it, but I understand, Mike. Besides, with all of those dead soldiers' souls up there, I think I would rather keep my mouth shut. Mystery Mountain may not be so mysterious anymore, but I somehow think that those spirits are still up there and around here."

I agree with that.

When everyone had left, Mom asked me, "Do you really want to give that awesome sword and pistol away? Those two items are really something."

"Mom, ole' Henry never made it to battle, and I think the guy was a little mixed up about how to handle slaves. Who knows how I would have felt back then, but later in the war, Kentucky had a lot of black troops that fought with the Union. They were soldiers like everyone else. Just think, from what we've seen on the mountain, it looks like Union troops attacked a Confederate group of troops that were smuggling slaves to Chicago. Both were trying to achieve the same goal, and ended up annihilating each other. That was a terrible war for everyone back then."

I was tired and wanted to go to bed. Today had been emotional because of so many people in the house. I hope we settle down and only have a few at a time, but Mom loves people to come so she can feed them. She's happier than I remember for a long time.

We went to bed and snuggled up, with Marita's head on one shoulder and Millie's on the other. Karen and Mom stayed in their own beds for a change. As we were snuggling, ready for sleep to find us, Millie whispered, "Your mom is taking us to get new beds tomorrow. Isn't that exciting?"

All I could think was that I was not sure. Did a bigger bed mean more women in it? Pretty soon, all of those women could sleep together, and I'll find a cot or couch and sleep there. I don't need all of these women to tempt me. I know that Mom thinks I might try Marita, but I wouldn't do that to Jet. Then there is Karen, who tries to act casual, but sure spends a lot of time brushing up against me. And there is the biggest taboo, Mom. She constantly shows herself to me as if by accident, but she always has that teasing look on her face. She surely can't think of me that way. It is too bad if she does, because I am going to remain a one woman man.



Ben and Bud were sitting in front of me, with Eliza and Ben's wife sitting behind them. Ben looked at me and told me, "Mike, you almost know it all, but there is still more. You have to keep looking and we will tell you what happened after the soldiers killed each other. You're freeing many spirits from here, but you've attracted many more from the area."

Another man was there who resembled Millie; that must have been Bernard, "You are a good man for my Mildred. We shouldn't have been meant for each other, but our parents put us together and it just happened. That you helped Summer makes you as important to me as you are to these others. Watch over my Mildred."

From behind Bud, Eliza said, "Will you just continue doing what you're doing so that you'll find out about the mountain? We always knew the place was special, but no one had the guts to go up top like you did. You aren't afraid of the mountain, and it is already giving back to you in crops and riches. There's more, Mike, go find it."

In my dream, we sat there for what seemed hours. We didn't talk, just sat with each other.



A cold moist nose touched my nose. I opened my eyes to see Spook with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. Witch was pacing back and forth between the bed and the door, wanting the same thing Spook wanted.

I slid from the side of the bed, not even thinking about how I had gotten there. I looked back at Millie, Marita, and Karen. Four in a double bed is a little crowded.

When I opened the door to let the dogs out, they both gave a little growl and shot out of the door toward the orchard area. Thinking that it was time to get up, I was reaching for the coffee pot when I saw the clock. It was only two-thirty.

Hmm, now maybe I should be worried about the dogs. I went back and opened the door to listen if there was a dog scuffle or something else happening. I didn't hear anything, but there was a scratch at the door a few minutes later. Both dogs had a drink from their pan and were ready to go back to bed. Whatever the crisis was, it was over.

As I slid into bed, I thought of the last vivid dream, talking to Eliza, Bud, Ben, and Bernard, and was almost afraid to go to sleep again. Enough with these dreams! Do I really feel the presence of all of these spirits? Why me? I really didn't do anything for Eliza. She wanted out and I wanted in. As for Ben, he helped me as much as I helped him. It always made me happy that I had made some of his later years fun. But Eliza didn't get anything from me but money and a ride to her new place. She did kind of make me want to help her ghosts that weren't ghosts, but she never told me there were those other spirits up here. I drifted off.

I was searching. I was walking along the edge of a steep ravine to the right of the caves. It didn't look like anything from above, but I was right there looking at a hole in the rock wall. It was a big hole and not really easy to get to. There was a ledge about three feet wide that wrapped around the mountain to the hole, but the ledge started from the other side, over where the cannon had been. It's funny that I didn't see anything when I was looking down at the cannon. It was then that I realized I was looking over a cliff similar to the rock ledge that had fallen, dropping the cannon. I sat down and just looked at the hole and ledge. I kept hearing wagons below, but didn't go looking for them.

I sat straight up and looked around. Millie, Marita, and Karen were snuggled together and everything seemed to be alright. The clock said five fifteen, so it was time to get up soon anyway. These dreams are keeping me awake or are wearing me out. How much more is there? Is that hole what Eliza, Bud, and Ben were telling me about? That hole couldn't hold more treasure, since what I found had to be most of the riches from many wealthy supporters. There just couldn't be that much in that hole.

Why am I calling it a hole? Why not a cave, like the others? I suppose I'm going to have to go find out.

My movement disturbed Millie, who smiled before reaching up and pulling my face to hers. After the sweet kiss, she sat up, swung her feet around, and headed for the bathroom.

I looked at the little face above the covers in the crib next to the bed. The little man was sleeping peacefully. Looking at what was a part of me made me swell with pride. I was staring at him when a movement at the door caught my eye. Mom was standing there, smiling at me. "Come, have some coffee, Michael, it's just finishing."

It took me less than five minutes to shave, brush my teeth, and dress. I sat at the little table where Mom had put a fresh cup of coffee and stretched. I told Mom, "I think the metal detector guys will finish today, but will probably stay on to help dig up and catalog what they have discovered. The whole area is littered with pieces of metal. If the university people work hard, they should be done tomorrow or Wednesday."

Mom asked, "Are you going to work with them all day again? Can you take that much time away from the cable path and road crews?"

As I sipped my coffee, I answered, "The road crew is going to be starting their road improvements and doing any major repairs that need to be done. The ground is thawing and will make some of the area and roads soggy and might need gravel. I think the guys are going to have a relaxing spring as they worked hard this past winter getting the equipment ready. They might have to work on one or two of the salt and plow trucks so they can use them as rock haulers, but that whole group of equipment that's in operation is in good shape."

After another sip, I continued, "Depending on how fast Ezra wants to move, he can use one or two bulldozers to work ahead of his crew. I think he will probably get back to work by going a little slower and build his speed up over a week or so. He's going to have some new people from the rehab group that have to be trained, and that will slow him down a little, but that operation is like turning a light switch on. I flip the switch and Ezra has the men begin. He's taking it easy on himself by doing more directing and teaching, rather than trying to do things himself."

I finished my cup and stood up, "I'm going to get started on the chores. Are the women coming up today?"

Mom didn't get to answer, since we heard footsteps on the porch, along with some chatter and giggles. The door opened with Anita, Rosita, and a girl I didn't know, standing there. Rosita took the girl by the hand and said, "This is Carla, a cousin who just came here from Texas. She has a real green card because she used to work in a laundry."

Carla, the new girl, looked very apprehensive at everyone, until Mom told her, "Relax, we are all family here. Have you worked on a farm before?"

The girl smiled. "Yes Ma'am, I grew up on a farm, and when I first crossed to Texas, I worked in the fields and a dairy barn. I like the outside better than the laundry."

Marita had come out carrying John, as Millie came behind her, still buttoning her shirt. Marita said, "I heard you just came from Texas; did you come with your husband?"

Carla shook her head no. "I came by myself. Many want to take advantage of a girl, and I heard the people here were good. You have more men than women, but not too many and they are nice."

Marita told the young girl, "You will enjoy working here. Are you ladies ready to do chores?"

Mom, Marita, Karen, and the three women went out the door, leaving me with Millie and John. Millie put John in his crib in the living room area and asked me, "Will you light the stove in the summer kitchen? I want biscuits this morning."

I suggested, "Why don't you use the new stove? I'll bet it makes biscuits as good as the woodstove."

Millie smiled and said, "Maybe, but it won't warm up the summer kitchen so we can work out there. If I use it to make breakfast that area will then be warm enough to make butter and clean eggs."

I was going to tell her that I could light the stove and she could still bake in the new oven, but she had her mind made up. There was no sense in trying to change her mind. I had just pulled out my diagram and drawings of the caves when I saw the university SUV come up the drive. Well, I guessed the day had started.

Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha came in and took off their shoes. Millie happily poured them coffee and set a small pitcher of fresh cream and a bowl of sugar out. She had learned that a lot of city people used cream and sugar in their coffee.

Bert repeated to me what I had told Mom earlier. "I think we will try to clean up all of the targets today and tomorrow, and maybe have the guys use the detectors to make another pass down the mountain. They seemed to have covered the area well, but all of them have said it's easy to miss something. They were talking about doing a second pass to make sure."

Marjorie asked, "Are you going to work with us today and this week?"

I sipped a fresh cup of coffee and answered, "I might come up to have another look around again, but I need to check on my businesses this morning."

The lady looked up, almost pleading, "When can you show us the other items Bea said you had? It might be important to what we're doing."

"How about I show it to you after breakfast before you guys go up? I haven't had time to study it all yet, but you can look at it here. I don't want to let it go until I have had the opportunity to look it over thoroughly. You guys will get it, but I want to see it before it's gone forever."

Bert laughed, "Ha, ha. Since you will be the donor of the items, you will have access to them in the future. It is our policy to work with our donors. You're too important to snub after you've been so generous."

"I still want to look at everything before you take it. I know you'll want it right away, but you're going to be busy with what you have from up there for a long time. This stuff will wait."

Marsha asked, "You will let us look at it here though? That will give us an idea of what to look forward to and what we may need to study before we get it. There is still so much to learn about what happened back then. There were many who wrote of their trials during the war, but there are so many incidents that have never been documented, just like the caves. That was such a clandestine operation that it was kept secret, without any documentation, so that it couldn't be divulged. Somewhere in a Union log is a notation assigning a group of troopers to follow up on a rumor or some intelligence about the loss of a patrol."

I asked Bert, "One thing that bothers me a great deal is why the obvious slaves in the cave on the left were killed. The Confederates who were transporting them wouldn't have shot them, and the Union soldiers should have been trying to save and free them. That's a big question I'd like an answer in all of this."

Bert was nodding his head in agreement. "It's tough to figure out. We talked about that and wondered if the Confederate men committed the murders to keep the slaves from talking. The other thought was that the Union soldiers might have thought the slaves would attack them for killing the Confederates who were freeing them. Very confusing, isn't it?"

Karen came in and immediately began helping Millie. A couple of minutes later, Mom and Marita came in and the tempo of food preparation rapidly picked up. Mom asked me, "Are the detector guys going to eat breakfast with us?"

Bert answered, "We saw their truck at the Kitchen when we left this morning. They might have to check in at their jobs before coming out."

When the three Latino women came in and took their shoes off, Millie began putting food on the big table. Marjorie and Marsha helped carry the bowls and platters.

We were finished with breakfast by seven. I brought the box with books out for the people to look at first. It was fun to watch the historians trying to absorb everything they were seeing as fast as possible.

Bert said, "Look at this one, it is a handwritten observation of the war and exercises in this area. There were so many different small units that were formed to keep some semblance of order in the area. There doesn't appear to be more of one group or the other."

Each of the boxes was gone through with a lot of comments. When they saw that the objects obviously were from the First and Second World Wars, their interest cooled a little, but it was just as fascinating to them that we were being given a peek at some small bits of history.

The uniform box was again extremely interesting. I made sure that it was gently removed from the box, piece by piece. Bert said, "This is so magnificent, an exact uniform, handmade by family. This letter gives all of the information I could want for validation. This will make a great display."

Marjorie said, "We'll look at these some more after lunch, and maybe after supper. We need to get going to get that mountain cleared while we have good weather." The others agreed.

As the university people were preparing to go up to the site, the metal detector crew drove up, trailering their ATV. In minutes, Bert had given directions of how he wanted today to go, and they were all ready to get started. I watched as the two ATVs went around the big boulder on the road that led around the mountain.

I spent a few minutes looking at the Jeep before I went in, trying to determine what the best way to rebuild or restore it would be. For it to be useful in the winter, it would need a cab that was weather tight. First though, it needed a lot of metal. I had seen catalogs that had fiberglass body parts and wondered how good those were. I'd bet the road guys had an answer to that.

I went inside to tell the women that I was leaving and would see them at lunch. Mom reminded me that they needed to still take lunch to the cable path crew. She said it was something that we started and couldn't stop now, as the men depended on a delivered lunch.

Mom was right, and I didn't pay all that well in reality. The free lunch was also for my benefit as the guys didn't take off to go find a sandwich somewhere. The goodwill we received from the lunches made the giving all that much better.

My first stop was the road yard. Since the temperature was in the forties and was forecast to reach sixty that day, the men were giving the salt trucks a final steam wash to get any remaining salt off of them. While a couple of guys washed, others were going over the mechanical parts to make sure they would be in good condition if we had a freak snowstorm or for next year.

When I came into the yard, all the men stopped what they were doing to come and greet me. Even Bernie came out on the porch in his wheelchair. After they told me what they were all up to today, I suggested they begin thoroughly going over the roads to find areas that might need repair and set up a grading and rocking schedule.

Before I let them go, I asked, "Mom bought an old CJ-5 Jeep for me to fix up. Have any of you guys used any of the fiberglass parts that are available?"

One of the men pointed toward where the guys' personal vehicles were. The man pointed out the red jeep, "That whole CJ-7 is fiberglass now. I think I could have saved the dash, but I didn't even try. The monster came from Minnesota and was rusted everywhere, even the frame. It really didn't take long to put back together, and if you want, bring it down here and we'll begin stripping it down. I'll make an order up for you, and it'll give us something to play with. How's it run?"

I told him, "It seems to run real well, and the tranny feels good, but I'll go through it. I think those Jeeps were the ones that you needed to reverse the wheels to give it a wider track, weren't they?"

Jimmy said, "We'll raise it up a couple of inches and find you some fancy wheels. We'll order your body parts with the wide fender attachments so you won't be kicking rocks up. You'll love having a Jeep to run around in. You just have to remember that the speedometer and odometer aren't accurate any more when you change the size of the wheels. You can get a speedometer shop to fix it."

Before I was able to leave, Bernie wanted to talk to me for a minute. "Mike, could you talk to the guy who owns the newspaper and radio station? Ask him if he will give me a few minutes to talk about a plan I've been thinking about. If we do it right, we can share some equipment and give him a longer reach on his station. He might have to apply for a license for more power, but I'd bet he easily gets it. Could you do that?"

"Do you know his name?"

"He's the lawyer's cousin, Ames Benson. You know where the newspaper and station is, right?"

"Sure, I have to go through town, so I'll stop in."

Bernie smiled and waved. I wonder why he was hesitant about seeing the guy himself. He doesn't lack the ability or the self-confidence.

I called Benson on the way to town to see if he was busy. "Hey, Mike, what can I do for you? Need some cash?"

"No, Benson, I wanted to ask you about your cousin, Ames. Is he tough to deal with? One of my men wants to make him an offer having to do with the radio station."

"Ha, ha, ha, oh man that is a good one. Want to buy a radio station cheap? I think he'll damn near give it away if you begged. He doesn't want to run the radio station the way he has to. He would like to print his newspaper and forget the radio business. He says it takes too much time because he can't keep announcers, and he doesn't want to subscribe to one of those program services. Do you know what your man wants to do?"

"Not a clue, Benson, but knowing the guy, it would be fun to watch and listen to what he does."

"Go see Ames, but I have to warn you. He has the attention span of a two year old. He'll just walk away from you, sometimes leaving you cold, while you're still talking to him. Make him sit and don't let him up until you're done. Tell me how it goes."

I pulled up in front of the newspaper and radio station office. You could see the radio console and equipment in the front window, so you always knew when it was manned. The station was a six AM to ten PM station, but I found out later it was licensed to run twenty-four hours. There was a speaker outside that had music playing so that you could hear what was being broadcast on the radio.

As soon as I stood inside the open area by the door, I could see chaos throughout the big work area. There was a printing press running toward the rear of the building, with an older man wearing one of those leather visors watching it. Two ladies were hovering over a computer, pointing at the screen, and a guy was using a hand truck to move a roll of paper toward the press.

As I let the door close, there was a loud gong that made the four people all look up. The man at the press only glanced my way, while the two women must have looked at me for thirty seconds before turning back to the computer screen. The man parked the hand truck near the press and came toward me, wiping his hands on his smock.

As he approached me, he began talking, "I know you; you're Mike Grayson from church. Follow me; I have to make sure the farm report is patched in."

We walked to the radio console where he pushed some buttons, picked up a headset and listened for a second, then watched the console clock until it clicked, and pushed another button. He then set up another set of advertising carts that resembled eight track cartridges and a big cart that said 'morning music two' on the front.

He looked up and said, "What can I do for you? I'm told you have some great wine you could advertise in the newspaper and on the radio, but you can't sell it in this county. What's going on, Mike?"

I motioned toward the chair at the console and said, "Sit for a second. Your cousin says if you don't sit down, I'll never keep your attention."

The man actually blushed, "He's right; I'm constantly running off. Okay, I'm sitting, what's up?"

"One of my road crew men, or rather a relative of one of my men, wants to talk to you about your radio station. I think he wants to run it for you, or with you, but he has an idea that would be good for both of us. He wants to talk to you, but he wanted me to set up an appointment."

Ames waved his hand, "Hell, tell him to get his butt in here. I'd love for someone to take over this albatross. I think I make ten bucks a month after the bills are paid, and I know I put a ton of hours in on it. I can't keep interns, and even the high school kids want big bucks. Does he know anything about radio?"

"I don't know about the talking and broadcast stuff, but he's an ace radio technician. He was hurt in the service and has just gotten out. He has a dynamite personality and makes constant jokes, so he should be good for the station."

"Mike, tell him to come and talk to me. I promise to sit down and talk to him seriously. Have him come about five and we'll talk straight through until we're done. I don't have anyone for tonight, so I'll be here until ten. Call him, tell him to come."

"One more thing, Ames, he lost a leg way up high and uses a wheelchair. He has a fake leg, but he doesn't use it much. Is that a problem?"

"Hell no, Mike, there are a couple of foot switches, but there are console controls for them as well. Get him in here and I'll listen to his idea and we'll make a deal."

I stuck my hand out and Ames stood. As soon as we had a single shake, he was walking rapidly toward the back of the building. I supposed I was dismissed.

On my way out to see Ezra, I called the road yard. When Bernie answered, I gave him the scoop. You could hear the excitement in his voice, so I asked him, "What do you have up your sleeve, Bernie? Anything I need to know about?"

"Not really, Mike. I think I can do the road phones and the radio stuff at the same time. I can set up another transmitter for the road radios there and still do both. I know small town radio doesn't bring in a lot of money, so I'm going to work on some advertising and I'll work on training some interns. I've heard that the station can't keep interns, but if they don't learn anything, why would they do it? I'm going to change that and help the format of the radio station."

"Good luck, Bernie. The way you've helped with the phones has been great, and I know you've received your paycheck with the others. You're doing a good job, and the coordination really helps."

"That's the deal, Mike. You really don't need to be paying for a full time guy. I'll figure out a way to make the radio station pay me a salary, and between that and part time pay from the road stuff, I'll be making out real well."

I was almost to where the crew was cutting the path. "Okay, Bernie, but if you don't make it work at the station, I'll keep you on full time pay for the road crew. Like I said, since you've been there, the office has run like clockwork. Call me after you talk to Ames."

Ezra was sitting on the tailgate of his pickup, having a cup of coffee, as he watched his men. We shook hands and he said, "Even with the three new men, we're moving right along. Both of the bulldozers are pushing ahead right now, so we're working out well."

"Good deal, Ezra, I just wanted to check and see how you're doing. When you finish this last path, you still have to do the one to Pine Ridge, and I think there is another long one that could take you all summer. I'll have to begin looking for work."

Ezra stood up and said, "Don't worry about work, Mike. I have several dozen jobs lined up when we're done with the cable people. We might even take a break from the cable stuff and do some in between. We're probably six months to a year ahead of the cable crew, and there doesn't seem to be any big hurry to move faster. I thought they wanted to move faster, but their men crawl along like caterpillars; steady, but not fast."

We shook hands and I took off for home. I needed to buy another pickup truck for D to take wine to Mount Sterling. If I was to fix the Jeep up, he could use my truck. As a matter of fact, since I needed to go up to the cave site, he could use my truck to make the delivery that afternoon.

As soon as I got home, I found D and told him that he should use my truck to take the wine to Mount Sterling since I had some work to do on the mountain. He said he would load the wine now and leave after lunch.

There was a lot of noise on the side of the house, so I went to see what was going on. Raul and crew were busily setting forms up for the foundation for the addition that Mom had been talking about. Raul came to me and said, "We use most of the same wood for concrete forms. We are only adding two of the big rooms with bathrooms for Bea. She says it's for your sister and brother to visit more often. If they have a lot of children, will this be enough room?"

"It should be more than enough, Raul. My goodness, kids can sleep a half dozen per bed. They have more fun that way, because it's like a big pajama party every night. But whatever Mom wants is fine with me."

That reminded me of what I needed to make sure was completed. "Raul, I know Mom wants this done before spring planting, but I really need for you or your guys to work on the fencing around the orchards and vineyards. If you need more people, maybe we can find them, but that job is the most important to me."

"No problem, Mike. We have all of the posts set and the lower orchard and vineyard complete, including the gate you bought. We should be able to finish the high orchard and vineyard tomorrow while the concrete cures here, and we'll finish the work on the fence up here before we go back to working on the house. If you are going to plant more grasses in the orchards, it will soon be time while the ground is still thawing."

Inside the house, Rosita, Carla, and Anita were finishing getting the local lunch ready. Mom, Millie, Karen, and Marita were gone to take food to the path crew. Rosita told me, "The ladies have gone to Mount Sterling to get the new bed. They asked that we make lunch for you and the people working up on the mountain. We are fixing Raul and the workers' lunch too. We will probably be ready when the people on the mountain get here."

I went into my office and took the boxes out for the university people to study some more, hoping they wouldn't get angry because I wouldn't let them take it right away.

ATV motor noises indicated they were coming, so I went out to the main room to wait for the crowd.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 31


A crowd was becoming a regular event around the cabin at meal times, and the big table was almost full this time. The three Latino women, Raul and five carpenters, the three university people, and the four metal detector guys joined me for lunch. The seventeen of us ate heartily, and thanked the ladies for preparing lunch for us. We had bean soup with chunks of ham that I know Mom had put on the stove yesterday evening. Sandwiches were made of warm ham on thick, homemade, bread. The women around here were learning to make some great bread. Mom is teaching everyone she can.

After lunch, the university trio read books from the historic package for an hour before heading back up the mountain. I followed in the road crew's ATV to do some more exploring. There were flags in the old wagon road, so I had to slowly drive up the trail. I could see the four men listening in their headsets while slowly sweeping the surface with their detectors, occasionally stopping to stick a little flag in the ground.

The university people were taking pictures of each marked site, making a number notation on a diagram, and then digging for the treasure. It was mostly buttons, a buckle, or a rifle ball, but it sometimes was a rifle or pistol barrel, or components.

I parked with the other ATVs and took my LED flashlight into the cave on the right side, making my way through the cave to the other side. I slowly looked over the side until I came to the ravine that I had encountered coming from the cabin side of the mountain, past the vineyard and Eliza's and Bud's graves. From above, the ravine looked really deep and I couldn't see the side of the rock directly under me. I followed the narrow path around the mountain until I reached the mouths of the two caves again.

I studied the areas that led from the cave to the right, looking for some kind of path or walkway that would lead me around the mountain. About thirty feet from the cave was a small group of what looked like stunted cedar bushes. When I walked between them and looked along the wall, I saw the ledge I had seen in my dream. What I didn't see was the hole.

The more I looked, the more confused I became until I realized that I really couldn't see around the mountain, or to the other side of the ravine next to the mountain. The curvature of the mountain hid some of the rock wall.

The ledge going around the rock didn't look very wide, and a lot of the wall leaned out, giving anyone on the ledge the feeling that he would fall off. Knowing I could easily fall, I looked for a way to secure a rope and toss it over the side for a hand hold. Before doing that, I decided to try to climb down the ravine on this side, since the wall wasn't as steep as on the other side. The trip down was slow due to the many smaller rocks that didn't want to give me a good foothold as I angled down the valley wall of the ravine.

I was almost to the bottom of the ravine when I realized that there was a small trickle of water flowing down in the bottom of the rock ravine. My eyes traveled toward the mountain searching for the source, when I saw a small opening at the base, and above that, the hole from my dream. I was excited that these two openings might give me some more answers.

I stumbled through the rocks while getting to the small opening where the water was trickling from. If I bent over and duck walked, I could get through the opening without crawling in the water, so I used my flashlight and went inside. The first thing that I saw was that this hole went all the way up to where the opening above was. As I swept the beam around the cave, there was a rock shelf about waist high that had more of the chests that I had found in one of the upper caves.

I actually staggered at the sight and had to sit on a rock in the cave to get my composure. I slowly used my flashlight to count the chests that were lined up in a row sideways on the rock shelf. Twenty-four, twenty-four chests full of something or nothing. If these chests contained the same treasures I had found earlier, it would be more than three times what I had found before. Should I give it to the university or even show it to the university people? I sure wasn't going to show it to the metal detector guys. One look inside one of the chests, and anything could happen. How could so much be hoarded in an area where slaves were being smuggled? Where could it have come from?

Now I was curious to see if there really could be so many chests full of bullion and coins. This much would almost have to have been the results of raiding Union banks in large cities and Union paymaster wagons.

I began inspecting the chests and found each one had a hasp over the ring for a lock, but there were no locks. The outside of the chests were rusted from the constant exposure to the moisture in the cave. I pulled the first chest on the left out to face me and slowly opened it, finding it full of coins.

If this was booty from raids of Union monies by Confederate troops, it could still belong to the federal government. That could be a problem. Would the feds claim it? Should I even worry about it or just attempt to get it out of here to somewhere secure?

My, oh my, this is exactly the same dilemma I had before. But this time, I had three historians that might know some answers. Realizing the magnitude of this, I began looking into each chest. There were no jewels, jewelry, or bullion. A lot of the coins were similar to the ones I had already taken from the upper chambers, but several of the chests looked to be full of coins with French and Spanish markings. That was really strange. I took a couple that looked to be French and a couple of coins that looked to be Spanish and closed all of the chests, sliding each one back into the slot where it had been stored for the last hundred and fifty years.

Using the flashlight, I checked the cave over thoroughly, looking for any other shelves or additional holes. Not finding any, I turned to leave the cave.

I saw a flash; an almost audible moment of what I thought was a flash of light. I thought I saw Ben, then Eliza, but all I saw was the opening to the cave. I felt the presence of many as I exited the cave opening, being careful not to get my boots wet. I looked around and didn't see anyone or anything out of place.

When I looked up the side of the ravine, close to the rock wall, I saw a perfectly sculpted stairway leading up the side of the bluff where the ATVs were parked. Thinking this was too good to be true, I followed it up the side and stepped out from behind more dense stunted cedar trees that grew from the crevices in the rock. I went back and forth a couple of times, and then, when on the outside, I looked at the natural path that led to the way I had gone down the side of the ravine. I wonder if there were steps on the other side.

That was too much of a question for me to not follow up on. I went down the steep steps and moved across the rocky bottom of the ravine to the other side. There, next to the rock wall, were more roughly hewn steps that went up that side as well. I followed the steps up to an area that was covered by the overhang that had fallen. I wonder if the weight of the cannon had made that overhang fall.

I went back down and up again, trying to figure out what to do about my find. I knew I didn't need the money, but I also knew the problems that much treasure could cause. I thought I could trust the university people, but I really didn't know Jimmy's cousin, or the men with him. If I used law enforcement to guard the treasure and help get it out, it would quickly be all over the local, regional, and possibly even the national news. My whole mountain would by invaded by treasure hunters. No quantity of fences would keep them out. I would wait and talk to Bert privately. If he was difficult to deal with, I just wouldn't show him where the treasure was.

I had another idea and checked my watch to make sure I had enough time to look.

I drove my ATV back down the old wagon road until I reached what was realistically the bottom of the mountain. Using some dead reckoning, I followed the state road until it turned away from the base of the mountain. The woods were not so thick I couldn't use the ATV, so I moved through the brush, constantly moving upward and around until I came to a small creek. This had to be about where that water would come from the ravine. Following the creek upward, I discovered there were other small springs in small outcroppings of rocks along the way. I was almost two miles in, when I came to what appeared to be the lower end of the ravine.

The area was much broader, but just as rocky. I very slowly went up the rocky ravine until I had the hole in sight. There it was, a way to get the treasure off the mountain. It would take some effort, but it could be done without having to carry it up those steps. I kept debating on how to handle this as I traveled back down the bottom of the ravine, back through the woods to the main road, then back up the wagon road to get to the path leading to the Jorgenson place. This was going to take some serious consideration. I wonder how Mom is going to take this?

I stopped in front of the area where Millie's old cabin was built in front of a cave and looked inside. Considering the time that had passed, the place was in remarkable condition. A little work, the addition of electricity, and maybe the place would be livable. Actually, in this modern day and time, hot water and indoor facilities would be a requirement and maybe easy to install. It could be done if someone wanted to live down here. With the roads that led either down to the highway or up to my place, this homestead wasn't that remote any longer.

It took only a few minutes to get up to the Finnerty homestead, and I stopped to see if there was anything left besides growth in the ashes of the original home.

There was a chimney and fireplace still standing, along with the stone footings of the former walls. Almost all of the old charred wood had rotted away, with the only remaining evidence of the fire being a few large logs that might have been rafters. The outhouse was still standing, but one door hinge was broken. There was a good flow of water from the rock wall behind where the structure had been, that now flowed around the outer part of the foundation, then toward a pool that obviously let the water travel into the mountain and on down to come out again lower. This mountain must almost have a lake inside it. I'd bet there is a large spring of water under pressure in the mountain that lets so much out.

Back up at the house, I encountered four of the road guys loading the Jeep onto one of the equipment trailers. Jimmy walked over and told me, "Your mom asked me to take this and fix it up before you get involved with it. She said you were going to be too busy with the spring planting to become preoccupied with it. Anything you want us to do to it? She said you would probably be the one to drive it."

I didn't laugh, but came close. I said, "Nothing yellow or red. How about doing the body in camo, and if that's disagreeable with Mom, make it white or blue. I want one of those fiberglass cabs that cover the whole seating area and a heater. I suppose a radio would be nice, but not necessary. This thing needs to have some bigger tires and a wider track, but it doesn't need chrome wheels. As a matter of fact, I would prefer no chrome. That's it for me. I'll use it with or without the rag top in the summer, but it needs the heater and defroster to work inside the fiberglass cab during the winter."

"That's about what I thought, Mike," Jimmy said as the guys were tying the axles down. "Your mom already got with me and we ordered all of the fiberglass body parts and some of the new waterproof Wrangler seats. She already told me you were going to want it painted in camo. I'll do it in the mountain colors. It won't match your fatigues or BDU's, so you're going to have to hunt for some new ones."

Smart ass; just what I needed, more people ribbing me about wearing BDU's. It's funny though that all of the road crew also wore BDU's most of the time.

The guys didn't leave, so I knew that we were going to have the road guys eat supper with us. I wonder what they would think if they knew there were millions of dollars up on the mountain waiting to be taken?

Inside the house, Mom had all of the Civil War stuff out on the little table and was reading one of the books. She looked up and said, "Hope you don't mind, but I had the guys come for the Jeep to begin working on it. I doubt you're going to have time to do anything on it for a while and the guys said they weren't busy."

She waved at the table, "I got this stuff out to show the guys. Get the two pistols out as they will love those too. I'm going to have to read all of this before I'll let the university people have it. This is all too valuable. They can have the uniform, but not this stuff yet."

I heard ATVs and other traffic coming up the drive. The guinea hens were making a racket, so I knew it was a stranger.

After putting my shoes back on, I walked out and saw the university people and the metal detector guys pulling up. Jimmy was talking to his cousin, and I heard that the four men were heading up to Mount Sterling for the evening.

The strange vehicle coming up the lane was the other road guys, followed by a car with a Kroger emblem painted on the door.

After greeting the rest of the road crew, I went to the two men in the white Ford Explorer. It was George Dirk and Sam Green, who both immediately stuck their hands out to greet me.

"How are you two doing? You're a little early for planting, aren't you?"

George took the lead, "We're not that early. The long range forecast is for continued warming, so you'll be planting in a week or less. We just wanted to be early to get you what we promised and to know if you will plant as much sweet corn as you did last year, and whether we can influence you as to what else you might plant in your garden. Is it going to be as big as last year?"

I nodded and motioned for them to follow me to the house. "I'll plant as much sweet corn as you want, but I need a little more hay this year over last. I have a plan for some extra, but I have yet to see how that works out. Let's get some coffee and I'll fill you in. You're probably in time for supper, if you'll stay."

The two men looked at each other and grinned. "Sounds good to us. We're staying in town tonight before heading farther east. You were important to us last year, and we wanted to follow up on our promise of seed."

I introduced the two men to Mom, Millie, Marita, Karen, the university people, and the road guys. I asked the Kroger men, "Coffee, or would you like a beer, or maybe even a glass of our wine?"

The two looked at each other again, and Sam said, "Let's have some coffee now. I would like to taste your wine. Some of the local wines are really good."

Ezra was standing in the doorway and told the two men, "You have no idea how good some of Mike's stuff is. Wait until you have tasted some."

I had to introduce Ezra, and once again marveled at how many people were in the house. The four women in the kitchen were buzzing around, with Mom giving directions and doing her magic with food.

I sat the two guys at the big table and had some coffee with them. "The garden is going to be a little bigger than last year because I cleared some brush from the outer edges. I've already fertilized and plowed it under last fall, but will do it again before we prepare to plant. I think I'll have enough manure for all the fields, including the new field I now have. It's about seventy acres, so my crop size potential is a lot higher. If this weather continues to warm up, we're going to begin planting early, possibly starting next week."

We began figuring on how much sweet corn seed it was going to require, along with the acreage we would plant, and in what order, so it all wouldn't be ripe at the same time. Next we made up a diagram to figure what it would take for vegetable seed, and the order we wanted to plant it. I knew Mom would want to be a part of this, so I asked them to wait until after supper so we could include her.

I poured the two men and myself a small glass of wine for them to taste. They really enjoyed the wine and said it was an excellent quality. Sam said, "It tastes like the wine we had up in Mount Sterling at that Italian restaurant."

"Glad you recognized the taste. I supply their wine. I'm happy to hear you ate there, as it is a great place, with excellent food."

Mom had a huge roast and had me slice it up for tonight and in smaller slices for tomorrow's sandwiches. There was a second roast out in the summer kitchen that Mom said would also be for tomorrow's lunches and for stew tomorrow night. Oh boy, I loved Mom's stew.

After a great supper and a piece of pie, I poured some grappa for the two men. They sipped the liquor and George commented, "You sell this to that restaurant too, don't you? The man up there couldn't sing your praises any better, but also told us that he had a secret vintner who made him some exclusive product."

"Thanks, that's a hell of compliment. Hopefully, I'll have more grapes this year and the wine will be just as good. I hope so."

The road guys knew the deal, so the dishes were quickly bussed from the tables, and the guys were having a good time getting everything washed, dried, and put away. It was a small price to pay for the good food. The university people even helped out, as it became evident that it was a ritual for visitors who eat with us to also help clean up.

Mom and Millie joined me with the two Kroger men and we made up a more exact diagram of what we were going to plant where and when. She told the men that her almanac said we were not going to have any more freezes, so we would be planting this next week if I could get the ground ready. She did say that she and Millie would be helping with the tractor work, since I might be busy with my other responsibilities.

Jimmy overheard Mom and came over, "You know, Mrs. Grayson, we're not real busy yet, so if we can help, we want to. I think only two of us didn't come from a farm, so we all know what to do. You tell us where and we'll do it."

Mom grinned and told the guys, "You boys can call me Bea like all of my friends. You'll still be my boys, but I'm only Mrs. Grayson to the kids Mike drags home." She was grinning, "He used to bring his friends home for supper all the time. Nothing has changed."

George told me, "We'll have all of your seed out here by Thursday, day after tomorrow. We'll include some seed potatoes so you won't have to go buy them either. If we can get about half to two thirds of your garden produce, this is going to be a good year for us. I know you folks barter a lot at the market, and I think you should continue, but try to save us at least half."

Mom was smiling when she said, "If we can get the same quantities as last year, you'll get plenty. We barter for canned goods so that we don't have to can as much. We supply the vegetables and they do the canning. It works out." Millie nodded her head in agreement.

Sam asked, "How do your orchards look? You supplied a great deal of our organic demand last year. We're adding some other varieties this year, but we will still need as much as you will let us have. Maybe we can help with some more of the harvesting this year. Labor is usually the highest cost."

Mom told the two men, "We're lucky that we have a group of men who are willing to work at just about anything we have for them to do. We help them and they help us. It's a good relationship."

I noticed Marita and Jet get back from outside, and that Jet was wearing a crooked smile and Marita's hair was a little messed. No stains on Jet's knees or straw stuck in Marita's hair, so they must have just been smooching. Mom saw it and winked at me.

Karen was sitting with Jimmy, but they weren't being overly friendly. The guy in the wheelchair on the other side of Karen had her interest. If Bernie kept getting that kind of attention, I reckoned he would start wearing his prosthesis.

George and Sam left, shaking hands all around with Mom, Millie, and me. The road guys all received hugs from the women and left smiling. I figured those ten men would do just about anything for the women of this house.

When they left, I told Mom, "You know, you should have Raul and Jose expand the dining room for a bigger table or maybe two tables. We're having a lot of people here at one time lately."

Mom grinned. "You know, I just might. We could have the dinning room go all the way out to where the deck is now and have a big back porch across the whole back of the house. That would be good."

Me and my big mouth.

Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha were still here, and Bert said, "You folks are the most accommodating people I've ever run into. That you feed us supper is nice, but breakfast and lunch too? That is amazing, but very welcomed. I hate to leave these artifacts, but we need to go to the motel for some rest. I think we will eat at the Kitchen in the morning. The detector guys have us convinced that it's a great treat. We'll see you on the way to the caves in the morning."

Whew, we were alone, or at least as alone as you can be with four women. That reminded me, "So when is the bed going to be delivered? Did you guys get everything you wanted up there?"

Millie hugged me and said, "Come look, you'll be surprised."

I hadn't gone into the bedroom yet this evening, so I was amazed when I looked into the doorway. There was a big bed in place of the double. It fit well, and really didn't take up much more room. There was still plenty of room for the reading chairs and lamp, and also for John's crib. Millie said, "It's almost big enough that if we feel the urge, the others won't even know we are taking care of it."

I laughed, "I don't think it works like that, Honey. The amount of movement we make will wake anyone up, and I don't want to have an audience with a bunch of women taking numbers."

Millie looked at me funny, "Taking numbers? Why would people who are watching us take a number? Where would the number come from?"

I had to hug the innocence of my sweet wife. It took a while to explain to Millie what I meant, but the attempted explanation continued while we were going back into the living room area, and when asked by Marita and Karen, Millie willingly explained what she didn't understand how the comment came up. Marita smiled and said, "I want a number. Jet hasn't asked anything of me, or for a number, yet."

Karen slyly smiled and said, "How about me? I'm legal, you know; how about a number for me?"

I had closed my eyes at the teasing and when I opened them, Mom was about to join in, but I raised my finger and shook it at her. She grinned while not say anything. That's just what I needed; my mother wanting a number to take care of her urges. She should go see Ezra.

I told Mom, "I have something to talk to you about. How about we talk a minute before bed? Let's have some wine at the big table."

Karen and Marita got the idea and left us to get ready for bed. Millie fed John one last time before putting him in his bed for the night.

"Mom, you're not going to believe this, but I found twenty-four more chests in another cave. The cave is well hidden and not easy to get to. You'll understand when you see it. I know how to get to it with an ATV, but it isn't easy."

Mom was sitting with her mouth open and her glass almost to her mouth. She put the glass down and stared at it. Mom picked the glass up, took a healthy gulp, and said, "Holy shit, Mike. That's what, three times more than you found in the first place?"

I answered her, "It is, but these chests all appear to only have coins. Here, look at these. There are more of these two types of coins than double eagles. They are about the same size as the double eagles, maybe a fraction larger, but about the same. This one looks like it may be Spanish, and this one looks French."

Mom looked at the coins then up at me. "What are you going to do, Mike?"

"That's why we're talking, Mom. We have all we need and all that in the bank. We'll be giving a lot away, but what do we do with this? If we tell anyone about this, the farm and mountain will be overrun. A lot of people will come, and a lot of them won't be nice. We have to keep this quiet. Here's what I was thinking."

I was still not sure of my plan, but I told her, "I thought I might tell Bert, but not where. I would make some plan to get the coins from where they are to an armored car and they could go into safekeeping with the university. Bert has already said the state will give me cash for the value of the coins, but they might hesitate with this quantity. Another problem is that the quantity might devalue the coins we have except for the actual gold value. If I can get them off the mountain and into the state's possession, we should be paid the value of the coins without divulging exactly where they came from. An authorized historian can be taken there, but even that person would be sworn to secrecy."

Mom said, "That's a tall order, Son. That much money is more than most people can imagine, and is the ultimate temptation to many. I'd almost say to put it into another bank, or a couple of banks, and convert it as you need it. I know you think you want to give it to the state, but can you trust them? I'm with you about keeping this private. We could buy another mountain with the money you have, but it wouldn't be the same, would it? This has become your, and our, mountain. I'm glad you're letting me stay here on your mountain."

"I want you here for as long as you want and for the rest of our lives, Mom. You're family. Millie loves you as much as I do and I know Marita and Karen already do. You're 'Mom' to all of us."

Mom hugged me and said, "Go to bed. Forget about the treasure. You can show me early in the morning, if we have time. We'll come up with a plan."

I needed a shower and had just stepped in, when I was joined by Millie. She was smiling and hugging me, trying to pull my face down to hers for kisses. It was a great shower that had us both clean and relaxed. As we dried off, Millie said, "One day we won't have so many sharing the bed and we will be lonely. That's why I want you to have more than just me. I understand how you feel and am proud you want me, but I do think about us being lonely."

"As long as we have each other, we won't be lonely, Millie. Mom's going to be around a long, long time as well."

As she uncovered her face with the towel, Millie said, "I think Marita will take Jet as a husband soon. Karen may stay for a while, but she is young, and I think she will want to go to a big school."

"Well, my Love, I suppose we'll have to work on more babies so that you won't be lonely."

Millie hugged her naked body to me and whispered, "But you could have more of me and more babies if you would have more wives. Don't be mad at me, but I like the idea of you having more than just me. I also know you won't do it, so you'll just have to find me more babies to raise."

Did I skate on that one, or open another big can of worms somewhere? Life sure can be complicated.

I was between Millie and Marita when I felt someone else getting into bed. It smelled like the soap Karen used, so I didn't think much about it. I drifted off to sleep, wondering what Millie really wanted, more women or more babies.

Sitting on big rocks in front of the caves were Eliza, Bud, Ben, and his wife. Behind them was a large group of Confederate and Union soldiers with a small group of blacks standing with them. Ben told me, "They come, watch them, you'll understand. Go, watch them."

Ben was pointing down the wagon road and I walked around the bodies of the soldiers that were laying there. I wanted to turn and look at the soldiers that were behind my friends, but I felt the need to hurry down the mountain. As I neared where the highway should have been, I heard wagons and men. A couple of Confederate soldiers held their hands up to stop the wagons and told the others, "Two of you go up to make sure everything is okay. We should have met the perimeter guards by now. Be careful and don't show yourself."

The two men the leader had pointed to took off up the hill as I followed. They didn't notice me, though I kept right behind them. When we encountered the first dead Union soldier, the two men were startled, but walked around the body and kept going up. They came to two Confederate soldiers who were laying there with their rifles sprawled across them, and choked up a little.

When they reached the top of the plateau where the caves were and saw the carnage, both men were having trouble breathing. The smell of death was everywhere. One of the men went toward the caves. He looked at the one where the chests were, but wouldn't step over the bodies of his comrades. He passed the Union soldier who was slumped against the side of the wall and went into the cave on the left. In seconds, he ran out and stood on the side of the cave, heaving.



The other soldier said, "They're all dead, all of them. It even looks like all of the Union soldiers who came here died. Let's get out of here. There is too much for us to clean up. We should leave this place forever. There's no need to ever come back here."

The two men looked at each other for a minute before they both started back down the wagon trail. They began trying to describe what they had seen to their officer when they reached the bottom. The leader saw the one man almost in tears, and said, "If it's as bad as that, maybe we should leave it. This has not been a lucky place for us to transfer these slaves. Let's try to take these on through to Chicago. We are all that's left of our group. We might just stay there until this crazy war is over."

One of the men said, "Shouldn't we bury those men? Shouldn't we get the weapons that are up there?"

The leader said, "Do you want to go back up there? Do you know where they kept their cache of weapons? None of those men have anything of value, just like you and me. We each have two double eagles for food, but that's all we have. Let's get these runaways out of here before another Union patrol finds us."

All of the men were uneasy, looking back up the mountain and shaking their heads. A few of the dark men and women were on their knees in the wagon and looked to be praying while looking up at the mountain. I'm sure they felt the air of death and disappointment that was becoming a mystery. The wagons slowly turned, and the blacks in the back of the two wagons turned to continue looking up at the mountain.

The group didn't move very fast for a hundred yards or so, then began picking up speed. I watched until the woods swallowed them before turning and going back up the hill to where I had seen Ben and the group.



They were all still there, but there were no bodies on the ground now. Ben said, "Now you know. There is one more chapter to this story for you to hear, but not now."

Eliza smiled at me while holding Bud's hand, "You know what to do for those around you. I hope there is enough for you to do all that you want."

I wanted to ask them more questions, but it was as if they dematerialized like on Star Trek. They all vanished.

That's when I felt the bed jostle and Millie moved over on top of me and Mom slid in next to me. She pulled me tight to her back and placed my hand over her breast. I don't remember anything else.

I felt Mom moving out of bed, and I swung my legs over the side to follow her. Millie reached up and pulled me back for a good morning kiss that was joined by Marita kissing my cheek. After a deep breath and a smile, I went to the bathroom to wash my face, shave, and brush my teeth.

The bathroom is not a sacred place around this house. Millie came in to use the throne and splash water over her face. Marita followed her and stepped into the tub to shower. The next person had another bathroom, but Karen walked in, sat on the throne before stepping into the shower with Marita. I finished my shave and turned to see Mom standing at the bathroom door, dressed. She said, "You do have a bunch of tempting women around here, don't you?"

"No, Mom, I have a bunch of teasing women around here. At least they give me a smile. If I was twenty years younger, I'd line 'em up and do 'em all."

Mom laughed as I passed her while still in my boxers and T-shirt, on my way to the bedroom to dress.

As soon as I was dressed and out in the main room, Mom stuck a cup of coffee in my hand and told Millie, "As soon as I can get slowpoke out of here, he has to show me something. If the women from below don't come up for chores, we'll do them when we get back."

I finished my coffee and kissed Millie and John as he continued to slowly nurse.

It took a minute to fill the gas tank and check the oil in the ATV. We took off and made great time going down the mountain to the state road. I found the place where I had entered the woods the day before and followed the trail I had made going in and out. When we came to the base of the rocky ravine, it was so rough that Mom had to hold on to me. I tried to just roll along as I did yesterday, but it seemed rougher this time.

Mom kept watching ahead, and soon saw the hole and the other entrance where the water came trickling out at the base. There appeared to be a heavier flow today, but not bad. I had brought an LED lantern as well as a bigger LED flashlight with me and showed Mom how to bend over to enter the cave.

When we were in, I pointed up to the light coming from the opening of the hole above. I swept the flashlight around the cave in both directions to give her an idea of the size, then settled the beam on the chests lined up on the natural shelf. Mom gasped at the sight. The chests were slid in sideways and not facing out, so you had to pull one out and set it so you could open it. I opened the same one I had opened first yesterday. It was still full of coins. Mom took a couple and looked at them in the lantern light. She pocketed them instead of putting them back in the chest. I went to another chest I had opened and slid it out and opened it. These were the French coins. Mom took a couple and also pocketed them. I pulled the third chest out that I had originally opened and showed her the Spanish coins. Mom took a few and pocketed them once again.

"You opened them all, right?" Mom asked. When I nodded my head in the affirmative, she reached over to the chest with the double eagles, took a handful, and put them in her pocket. "I'm going to have these appraised by the guy you went to first in Lexington. I want to know what we really may be dealing with, or about how much these other coins are worth."

"What do you think, Mom? Should we carry a couple of chests back with us now? We can put them in my or your bedroom if we want to. The closet in the office will hold these as well."

Mom stood there and said, "Okay, let's load six if you think the ATV will carry them. That will be four trips to get them all down. We can put them in my car for right now, if necessary. If we can, we'll carry them to my room and put them in my closet. It's really big and I don't use much of it."

The chests were really heavy, and it was a strain to get them out of the cave by carrying them while bent over. Mom tried to help me, but there wasn't a handhold on the chests to help with. I was bushed and a little sore by the time I had six of them out and in the ATV.

We slowly went back down the ravine since we had so much weight on the back. It's a good thing that these ATVs were so strong. Going back up the mountain on the smoother roads wasn't much of a problem, and we reached the cabin before there were any visitors.

Mom went into the house, then came back out. "Everyone except Millie is out in the barn. I'll keep them out there until you get the chests inside."

It was easier getting the chests inside, and into Mom's closet, than out of the cave. I didn't have to try to carry that much weight bent over. As soon as I parked the ATV by the barn, Mom came from the milk house with Marita, Karen, and two of the women from down the road.

I knew breakfast was almost ready, since I had given and received a kiss from Millie as I passed her on the way back out to get another chest. Millie is so good; she knows not to pry and also knows that I'll tell her things when it's time.

The six of us happily ate, with the two Latino women excitedly talking to us about some women that were coming. They apparently had escaped from some kind of place like a brothel that was selling them for sex. D had heard about them and made arrangements for them to come here. The scary part was that Rosita said that four of the six had been abducted from their neighborhoods in California. This was going to be a story to hear. I wondered why D didn't tell me about this.

The university folks and the metal detector crew arrived a few minutes later, expounding the benefits of the family style breakfasts at the Kitchen. They were able to visit with a lot of people and only disclosed that they were all trying to find some artifacts around the base area of Mystery Mountain. Hopefully, that's all they disclosed.

After a quick cup of coffee and a bathroom break, the seven headed back up the mountain. Mom waved me over to her and softly asked, "If we were to go up there for more of those chests, could they hear your ATV?"

"I don't know, Mom. Even if they hear it, the ravine will deflect the sound to make it seem as if we're on the other side. Do you really want to try to get more?"

"I think so, but we would have to get the women out of the house while carrying the chests in. The carpenters are doing the fence today, so they won't be around, but D might come up. What do you think?"

"If we make one load every morning, we'll have it all done in three more days. We still have to find a place to safely store this stuff. Something else is that I need to spread manure on all of the fields and garden, then on the fields we're going to plant, either plow them up or disc the manure in. I plowed the other cornfields last fall, so all I should have to do is disk the manure in and plant. The new field will have to be plowed."

Mom nodded. "Call your road crew and get a couple of guys up here to do some of this. Tell them to trailer the small backhoe up to load the spreader, and tell them to bring that steam sprayer with them. That'll clean the backhoe and the manure spreader up when they're done. If the weather holds, we'll chase those chests for the next three mornings."

After calling the road office and talking to Jimmy, I went out to the big machine cave and pulled both tractors out and arranged the equipment so that I could pull the brightly painted manure spreader. I'd bet I had the only chartreuse and international orange manure spreader in the country. It looked good spreading shit.

When the guys arrived with the backhoe, I had the spreader parked by the big pile of cow manure mixed with the left over hay and straw that was always in cow pens. The backhoe made loading fast and was a good way to keep the pile from spreading.

One of the guys went with me on the John Deere tractor to see how to do what I did. He was an obvious farm boy, since cow shit didn't bother him and he understood the need for constant speed while spreading the manure. While they did that, I hooked the disk up to the three point hitch on the small Ford-Ferguson and went to the orchard and ran the disk between the trees for the ground to accept more alfalfa, lespedeza, and clover seed. The spring grass was already greening with the warmer weather, so it was time to get some stock grazing in there.

It was lunch time when I finished spreading the mixed seed. Even though the guys didn't have to walk in the manure, we were all stinky, so we washed up in the barn and took our shoes off on the porch. The metal detector guys were joking with us about hauling shit all day, but the university people recognized it was just another job on an organic farm.

After lunch, I did the lower orchard real quick and found the fencing all built, with the gate in place. All I was going to need was the stock.

I went by the high orchard on the way back up and ran the disk between the rows while seeing Raul and the men stretching fence. After spreading the mixed seed, I went back to the house to find two of the road guys steaming out the manure spreader. The backhoe was already cleaned and put on the trailer.

The two were John Howard and Tom Dunn, and they both told me, "We're not busy yet, so if you want, we can come and help out the rest of this week. Plowing is time consuming, and I know that you want to get that garden in perfect condition. Let us help out this week. If next week is as slow, we can do that too."

Actually, it was all out of my pocket, just a different pocket. "Good idea, Guys. One of you can work on the garden, and the other can break up the new field you guys built the road to. I still have to cut up the timber you knocked down, but I'll do that shortly. Want to eat supper with us?"

"Thanks, Mike, but we're all going to Pine Ridge for pizza. We'll see you in the morning. Is around seven-thirty good?"

"Thanks, Guys, see you then. Have a good night and be safe."

A lot of work was knocked out today. I should have the fields in condition to plant and be way ahead. I might have to re-disk to plant the corn in stages the way Kroger wants, but it should be a lot easier than last year.

I was going to put the spreader away when I remembered that I wanted to spread manure in the orchards. After checking the formerly big pile, I found I was out of barn manure. I checked the giant pile of chicken manure and decided I had enough to fertilize the vineyards, as well as the orchards. I suppose I should get D a couple of men and begin working on the vineyards early.

The answer to that was inside the house. D was sitting with Mom as she went over some numbers with him. She looked up at me and said, "I think we're going to have enough wine for the restaurant all the way through next season. You'll never have much aged wine this way, and I'm sure you're going to run out of grappa, but you're going to be in good shape to expand your vineyards, if you want."

Expand my vineyards? Why in the world would I want to do that?

After thinking about it for a minute, I observed, "I suppose we could add another row in each of the vineyards, but I don't think we need much more. All we might need is some extra to age. We're going to run out of storage room for barrels anyway. I really think part of the good taste of the wine is the constant temperature of the caves."

D agreed, "You're right, Mike. That has helped in all of the processes. I was thinking a few more of the other types of grapes would be good, just something for variety. A row in each vineyard would be perfect. We'll begin working with cuttings as soon as possible. You should see the great shoots I have from last year's seeds. They will become great vines one day."

"Where do you keep your shoots or seedlings D?"

"In the greenhouse, of course. You know the little greenhouse we built for the distillery on the side of the pole barn."

I actually didn't know that, but I would check it out soon. No wonder D spends so much time messing around over there. I'd bet he's experimenting with some grafting.

Supper was good as usual, but everyone was tired tonight. The university folks said they should wrap up tomorrow since the metal detector crew had made two complete passes up and down the mountain. They had even sounded the other side of the state road and not found anything.

Bert said, "I'll have to make a couple of trips to get all of this stuff back to the university. We should be done by two or three tomorrow with the metal crew helping us dig and catalog. We'll load up what we can in the university trailer. It will take a day to unload, then I'll come back on Friday or Saturday and bring the trailer and get everything that remains. If you want to ensure the silence of the metal detector crew, have a talk with them tomorrow. I think they will understand. We didn't find but three more coins, so it isn't as if there is a mountain of gold up there, though the coins we found will give you a nice bonus when the state pays you for them. I'll have a master sheet of everything we've taken from the mountain tomorrow so that you can sign off as the donor. You gave me the name of the lady who you want to be named as the donor of the uniform and the other items you'll let us have. Call me when you can let them out of your sight, and I'll be right down to pick those books up. The tintypes and other items are priceless."

I sat in a rocker, contemplating a glass of wine, while the family giggled over a sitcom on TV. Mom was pensive tonight, and I'm sure she was thinking of how her family had been when we were younger.

A shower felt great and, wonder of wonders, I didn't have company tonight. As I finished, a steady stream of women shared the bathroom with me. There is no such thing as privacy around here. Karen wasn't raised like that; I wonder why she is so casual?

I settled in bed with Millie on one shoulder and Marita on the other. I was hoping for a dream free night. Before we could even snuggle, Karen came in, crawled over Marita, kissed Millie and me, and settled back down while hugging Marita. It made me smile the way this little girl had adapted to our family so well.

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Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 32




Ben and Eliza were sitting on small boulders with their mates once again, but this time just around the bend from the Finnerty place. The four were watching me with a couple of Confederate soldiers standing next to them.

I know that I was nervously shifting my weight back and forth between my left and right feet while waiting for whatever was going to happen. There couldn't be much else, as I've seen the battle and the aftermath, along with the discovery.

Ben said, "You know almost everything now, Mike. There's a little more, but it won't be nice. Go over to the Finnerty place and watch that. Listen first; it's not exactly what everyone thinks."

I walked to where I had seen the burnt out foundation. I saw a nice home built next to a sheer bluff instead. A man was sitting on the porch, rocking back and forth, with a shotgun across his legs. Two younger men or grown boys were sitting on the steps, holding rifles. One said, "Pa, you really think those slave lovin' bastards are gonna come lookin' fer us? Jus cause we tole them soldiers in town they was movin' dem slaves in and out of the mountain don't mean we're bad. Them people stealin' dem slaves and shipping them off are bad. Somebody owned dem slaves and now some of our own men are sneaking dem around."

The older man continued rocking and commented, "I don't think those Grays are who we need to worry about. Dem Union boys who heard you the other day are the ones that would be hard on us for telling the story to the Rebs. They are the ones that could come at us."

"Let 'em come, Pa; I got my rifle and know how to shoot."

A woman walked out the door of the house and stood by the man. "I'm taking the girls and young Lester around to the side cave that we had to use when we first come here. The entrance is small, so nobody can see it. I think we'll just stay there for a couple of days until the fight up on the mountain is done. You three be careful. You ain't no match for real soldiers."

The man scoffed and grunted, but the lady led two girls and a young boy out the door and away from the house, all of them carrying bundles and baskets.

The older boy on the steps said, "Maybe we should go with them. Mom's right about us being no match for a bunch of black and whites. They're real trained men."

"Stay, Boy, the three of us have to protect our home, and we have to show dem slave lovin' bastards whether they be gray or blue who's boss down here. We be way far from all dem people in the east. I can't understand why they have to come here anyway. We ran from them in Atlanta and now we are going to stand our ground."

There was a sudden flash of light and the picture and my surroundings completely changed. All three of the men were lying on the ground in front of the house that was totally engulfed in fire. Two men not in uniform were standing near and one said, "Jeddah, we can't allow anyone to take sides like that. I heerd they caused a battle up here on the mountain and got a lot of men killed. We can't have that, and these men started it."

"I know, Paul, but killing ain't the right thing either. At least the woman and little boy ain't here to see this. Would you have killed them too?"

"No; I won't shoot at a woman unless she has a rifle pointed at me. I'd have to take the kids in myself. I want you and some boys to come up and see if you can find the lady and kids. If they want to stay, we'll build them a little house. If they want to come to town, we'll do something for them there. Now let's bury this riff raff. No sense in poisoning the game up here."

There was another flash, and I was now standing in front of a lot smaller house. A lady came from the house and had a young lady with her. The older lady said, "Go get your brothers and step-daddy and tell them to come to supper. We have dumplings tonight and I know they like them."

The girl said, "He is good to us, Ma. I'm glad Daddy's brother found us when the war was over, he even brought me a brother with him and gave us another baby."

The lady said, "Yeah, we have another baby, but he isn't right somehow. I hope he'll grow out of being slow."

I heard people coming and stepped back, afraid of being seen. There was no need to worry, as they walked right past me. I watched all the people go into the house.

There was another flash, and I was now standing in snow as a young girl, with the help of a young boy, was dragging a body from the same little house. The girl was telling the boy, "We have to get them out of the house so that we don't get sick too. We have to boil everything and wash all of our clothes like we were told in town. Don't touch your mouth or eyes. Help me, Danny; help me pull them out of the house."

I watched and wanted to help, but I was rooted to the spot I was in, as the young people brought the woman, both older brothers, and a sister out to lie next to the dead man in the snow. The girl came out in a coat, split some wood, and carried it inside.

Flash, and the picture changed again. I watched a girl kneeling on the ground crying, as the little house went up in flames. You could feel her anguish as she kept moaning, "Oh, Danny, Oh, Danny, what have you done?" Tears came to my eyes as I watched this scene.

I was too shaken to stay there and walked back toward the house, I thought that I now have an idea of what happened, but only like an outline. That's probably enough, since this whole thing is like snippets of history. I came back to the boulder where the four were still sitting, but the soldiers were gone. It was Eliza that said, "It's no wonder that there are ghosts on this mountain after all that. Bud says you should see what happened to the girl, but it is too much even for me. I can't let you see that. It's too awful. Let it be said that the men responsible for that girl's death have been punished in ways I'm sure you would approve of. You may not know it, but you'll know by the happy face on the little girl that plays in the mountain flowers."

Ben said to me, "Come see us again soon. It's good to know how you are and how you're using what the mountain has given you."

Bud, Eliza's mate, smiled at me and said, "Still using my old truck, are you? Take care of it and it will take care of you, you'll see."



I sat up in bed because I thought I was about to cramp up. Whew, what a dream. That was a terrible dream and what could really be considered as a totally bad dream. I suppose I know more about this mountain than just about anyone now, if I was to believe my dreams.

Nature was calling, so I got up and went to the bathroom. I thought I heard crying and followed the sound to Mom's room. The bedside light was on low and she was curled up with a Kleenex on her eyes.

I went to her and pulled her into a hug, "What's the matter, Mom? Anything that I can help with?"

"No, Michael, I'm just having a spell missing your father. I've thought of him a lot since I've been up here with you. There are so many things you do that remind me of him. But really, Mike, I think you are helping me say goodbye better than anyone has. A lot of folks have tried, but none have had me relive what your dad and I did for so many years. You've given it to me, right along with building on the house just like your dad did. You have become a good farmer and are making this little farm pay. I'm just missing him, Son, and its saying goodbye too."

What could I say? I hugged her tighter and tried to project my love for her. "Loosen up a bit, Son. You're still a might strong. Come on, let's get in the big bed of yours and go back to sleep."

She had me hug Millie's back this time, as she hugged mine. I went to sleep with mental flashes of Eliza and Ben, then from out of nowhere, Dad was standing there for a second, smiling at me.

It was surprising, but I was very refreshed when I woke just after five. As soon as I moved, Mom whispered, "Come on; let's try to make two runs up there this morning."

I slipped from bed and dressed before going into the bathroom to shave and brush my teeth. I looked at my hair and thought that I needed to stop in to see Martha or go to the barber shop.

Mom had coffee warming for me in the microwave as we stood by the stove. I had let the dogs out to do some running as soon as I got up, and they were already back at the door ready to do something exciting.

I always hated to tell them to stay, so this morning, Mom suggested, "Let them come with us. They'll have fun running around."

The trip to the cavern was fast, but I had a small hand-truck with balloon tires this time that I was able to use to haul six chests out of the cavern. The only problem was the dogs. They wanted to keep running in and out of the opening as I pulled the hand-truck through the water.

The whole trip took about forty minutes, so we decided to make another. I told the dogs to stay this time.

This trip was as easy, and it was only six forty-five when I had all twelve of the newly rescued chests in Mom's closet. Six more and we would be done. I asked Mom about another trip and she told me we might do it later, but others would be coming in now.

The Latino ladies came from the barn and two younger ones came from the chicken house. They were dressed a little fancy and I didn't recognize them. D was coming from the wine caves and waved to me.

The girls giggled as they passed me, joining Anita and Rosita as they went in the house. D came up and said, "Those are two of the ladies that got away from the brothel they were in. If you look at their wrists, you can see the marks from the handcuffs and shackles they had on them."

Mom was standing beside me and asked, "How did they escape if they were cuffed and shackled?"

"The girls will have to tell you themselves," D said. "They could go to jail if some people were to find out. They are my responsibility, and I will watch them closely. They come from a variety of homes, but mostly from poor families who were documented migrant workers. These two girls lost their families over the years and had no one looking for them."

D pulled me to the side, "I need to take all of the girls to the doctor to make sure they are healthy and not badly injured. Can you help me get them there? You know I have no car yet."

"Of course, D, but the person who will help you even more is Mom. We'll ask her to help and you'll see how good she will treat them. Do they have their documentation, or do they need Benson to request duplicates?"

D shrugged and said, "If you will help me, you and I can go through that with each of them. I was told most are citizens, but from poor families. I promise to watch them and to make sure they act appropriately. I've made the same promise to the people who live in the houses below. It is my responsibility."

After breakfast, Mom and D had their discussion, with me listening in. I could see Mom close her eyes while thinking of the cruelty of the men who had held the girls. After listening, she told D, "Let me call the doctor and have a private word with her. She might want to treat these women out here instead of at her office. That will give her a chance to visit with us as well."

Mom has to be one of the best salespeople around. She had Dr. Rivers planning to spend the entire afternoon examining the girls and have supper with us. We planned to have the doc use the little table with a couple of blankets for the exams. We put the leaf extension in the table, covered it with a couple of blankets for comfort, then placed a sheet over those. Mom and Millie came up with six twin bed sheets so that each of the women would have a fresh exam area.

As soon as lunch was over, the university people took off for Lexington, and the metal detection guys sadly left after a talk from me. I made them swear they would not disclose what they saw and what they knew. When we were done, I handed each of them an envelope with five hundred dollars and one of the gold coins. I told them that if they were ever broke and needed money, the coin would help them out. I think they were sincere in telling me that they would never tell anyone.

Doctor Rivers showed up shortly after Mom had gone to get the six women from below. None of them had other clothes, so what they were wearing was what they had escaped in. I could sense a shopping trip coming. One thing about the women was they were all clean and freshly bathed and their clothes had been washed.

I told D, "How about taking a ride with me to see how Ezra is doing? We might even run up to the Walmart in Mount Sterling for some starter clothes for the women. Let me get Mom to give me some sizes for them. Actually, they all look to be the same size, skinny."

Mom hugged me and said, "That is so sweet of you to do. Just get them each a couple of pair of jeans and four tops. There are just two sizes, three and five, with three girls in each size. The tops can be T-shirts in small, or any other top you think that they can work in. We'll get them some Sunday clothes later. If you want to use cash, remember that I have a lot of cash from our trip to Cincinnati."

"No, let me use my debit card because D is going with me. He doesn't need to know I carry that kind of cash around."

Mom thought I should trust D more, but to me, he was still what I would call 'un-vetted'. I know what he told me, but there is no way to verify anything other than the word of the others. I'll have to try to check him out, along with these girls, to make sure we're not aiding criminals.

D and I made the trip to Mount Sterling and visited with Ezra for fifteen minutes on the way. We quickly did the shopping at the Walmart, and I was surprised that D remembered to get a couple dozen pairs of panties, then looked at some inexpensive sandals. I called Mom, "What about shoes and socks to work in. We've picked up some sandals, but they will need work shoes. Let me get them some tennis shoes for right now. Find out the sizes and I'll pick them up."

Mom got the sizes and D and I were able to find six pair exactly alike so that the girls had twenty four tops they could swap around and three pair of jeans each to wear. I'm sure that if they stay, Mom will take them on a real shopping trip to Lexington. We found some lightweight jackets that should do them through this spring and fall, but then we would have to find them heavier coats and boots.

We remembered to get some big boxes of feminine products, as six of them would go through a lot every month. When our shopping cart looked to be overflowing, we stopped and tried to think of anything else they would need right away. D was happy, so I was happy and we headed for the checkout.

After checking out, D told me, "I will pay you back for all of this. I have had to use my money to bring the girls here. You may ask me why and my answer is simple. Two of the girls, the two you first met, are my brother's girls. After they legally immigrated here, they worked hard in the fields, but my brother was a drinker and a mean drunk. I had heard that he was wanted by the law after he beat his wife, my sister-in-law, to death. The girls tried to run, but he sold them to a brothel for more money to drink. Now I hear he died trying to escape the police. The girls have social security numbers and legal American birth certificates. I think they went to school through the second year of high school, but that's all. The youngest is sixteen, and the older girl is also sixteen, almost seventeen. I had to try to save them, and they made me bring the other four girls with them. Even bus fare from California is expensive for six people. I'm happy that they made it, so I can take care of my family. The other girls will have to be my family as well."

"So these girls all speak decent English?"

"Better English than Spanish," D informed me. "All went to American schools, but lived in a Latino environment. We'll have to see how they adjust. Hopefully, they are all healthy. It would be terrible for one of them to have any horrible diseases."

I called home as we neared the mountain. Millie answered and told me, "All of the girls have been examined and there are no terrible diseases. Just a couple of things the doctor was going to treat, plus they needed a lot of vaccinations. Mom and the doctor have taken down all of their personal information, and Mom sent it to Benson on the computer. I watched her and it was really neat the way she just typed everything up and sent it with the push of a button. Are you coming home soon?"

"We'll be home in about twenty minutes. We have clothes for the girls."

"Hurry, Mike, we are all waiting for you."

When D and I walked in, each carrying several big bags, we were mobbed by women taking the bags and putting them on the table. The next event surprised me even more. Six very young Latino girls rushed up to me and began kissing and hugging me. They almost knocked me to the floor before I could finally hold them all off. With a red face, I told them, "Don't thank me, thank D and that lady over there."

When I pointed to Mom, I knew I had been set up. The six young girls all began giggling and crowded around D. He said, "Overwhelming, isn't it?"

Now I received my kisses from Millie, as well as a hug and cheek kiss from Marita. Karen gave me a hug, and Mom was right there to get one too. When I let her go, Sheryl Rivers took me into a full body embrace, and laid a kiss on me that shook me down to the toenails. She pulled back and smiled before asking, "How's that to get the blood flowing, Mike? I've wanted to do that to you since we met. It was as good as I thought it would be. Millie is lucky to have you."

Mom told the girls, "The jeans are three pair each, and you can swap the tops around right now. I see the men bought you some sandals, sneakers, socks, and even panties. None of you look big enough for bras, but if you want some, we'll get some next time we go. Karen and Marita, take them out to the summer kitchen so you can begin washing all of these clothes. Let's get them some fresh farm clothes to wear."

Rosita and Anita gave Mom and Millie hugs for taking care of everyone. They said they would be over early tomorrow to do the chores again. The two left with a few covered dishes for their supper. Now that they had their own car, we didn't worry that they had to walk home.

Supper and the evening was like a party. Before the evening was over, all of the girls dressed in jeans and sneakers with various T-shirts. They were all able to sit around and talk with Karen and Marita, while Mom, Millie, Doc Rivers, and I chatted.

It was Mom that brought up what I wanted to know. "Sheryl, what would it take for you to be able to get another doctor down here?"

"Ha, ha, what's needed is the same as everywhere, money. The clinic is finally making a profit, but it is because more people are paying their bills in cash. Two of my nurses take goods to the market every Saturday and sell what we've taken in, but it never really matches the bill. I know what we received had a great value to the giver, but I can't pay for bandages with eggs or chickens."

Mom said, "If you were to be able to have a private donor help you build on to your clinic and help you hire that extra doctor or two, could you keep it quiet as to who provided the money?"

"In a heartbeat; just the idea of having another couple of doctors, about six more real nurses, plus about twice the amount of overnight and exam rooms, and I would be on top of the world. The only problem with someone doing something like that would be the way I would want to show my appreciation. I would be groveling at their feet."

Mom leaned over and quietly said, "We have recently come into some money and want to help the community. I'm going to tell Benson to begin helping you build the expansion onto your hospital and to help you hire the doctors you need. Search for some with your small town attitude so that they will fit in. Do the same with the nurses. Do it all starting tomorrow. Mike will call Benson and tell him to begin."

Sheryl was sitting up straight, with her eyes wide and an almost hesitant look on her face. "How much are you talking about here? Building on to a clinic is expensive, because I have to have the state come and inspect, as well as approve the plans and all the construction. I think I can lay my hands on a couple of doctors, one male and one female that are both hicks that want to practice medicine in a small community. As far as nurses, I'll begin hunting for them fresh out of school if I have to. With some help from the two doctors, we might find some they already know."

The doc looked at me and asked, "You haven't said a word, and I'm sure you have a great deal to do with this. What do you want to have happen, Mike?"

I smiled and said, "Probably the same as you. I want your clinic to be well-stocked, well-manned, and ready to help people all the time. With a couple more doctors, you can split up responsibilities. Like right now, you've been able to stay here while you have a couple of visiting interns sleeping in one of your patient rooms."

"How do you know that, Mike?"

"Easy, you don't have the money to put them up in the motel, and interns are used to sleeping wherever and whenever they get the chance. I'd say a patient bed would be better than a hospital cot."

That gave me an idea. "Say, Doc, if you don't have to be back in tonight, how about a glass of wine?"

"I thought you would never ask, Mike. You didn't break out the booze because of the kids, right? Those girls may be kids, but they've lived through a hell of a lot. I wish we could go put those bastards out of business, but I think the girls may have done some damage to some of the brothel owners. I will say one good thing about the bad guys is that they were making sure the girls weren't catching diseases. All of them look clean, not even showing any signs of herpes. I've told them all what to watch for, and they have promised they will tell me. I've made them promise not to have sexual contact without protection, and they understand. Like I said, they are young, but anything but babes in the woods."

I had poured Mom, Sheryl, and myself a big glass of our good wine. It wasn't very strong, but tasted great. Sheryl said, "You have some good stuff, Mike. Is this still from Bud's stock, or yours?"

"All mine with the help of D, over there. He has brought me into the new century as far as equipment and its use. We still use the old, but not as much. We've been lucky with what we've made."

Sheryl had drained her glass, and I told her, "I'm going to give you some very strong grappa. Don't gulp it down if you like it, or you're going to be down for the count. Just sip and enjoy it. Don't gulp it like shine."

I watched as Sheryl took a sip and almost gulped. She looked at me and I raised an eyebrow. She lowered the glass and said, "It sure is tempting, but I can taste that it is strong."

While we sat and chatted, Mom asked, "Sheryl, are you any relation to a Dr. Marcus Rivers?"

"That was my grandpa. He was the only doctor around here for miles and miles until my dad finished medical school. I was raised around the little clinic and office Grandpa and Dad used. What else could I be but a doctor, just like them?"

Mom asked D, "How about I run you back to your place? Do you have enough room for these girls?"

D nodded. "One of the families moved and I now have one of the houses. There is room if the girls sleep together. They are comfortable and happy there."

Mom ran them home while I entertained Sheryl. We both watched as Millie nursed John for his last feeding. He was funny the way he was so slow sucking. He would suck a little, smile, giggle, and then go back to sucking. He really enjoyed nursing and the closeness to his mother. Millie had a dreamy look on her face the whole time she nursed him.

Marita and Karen were getting ready for bed, when the doc said, "Hey, it's late. I better be getting home."

Mom had walked back in the door and said, "You're not going anywhere, young lady. You've had too much wine and grappa and will sleep right here and have breakfast with us in the morning. Come with me and I'll get you a gown. Mike just loves to see us in all of the sexy see-through stuff."

Millie stood up with the sleeping John and came for me to kiss him and her. As she left, Mom and Sheryl came from Mom's room in some gowns I had not seen Mom wear. There was little left to the imagination, except that they both still had panties on. I must have blushed as Mom said, "Mike just loves titties of all sizes. He was just like John and took forever to nurse."

"Good night, Ladies. You've done enough teasing for tonight. I'm going to bed with my harem."

"What harem do you have? I haven't heard a thing about you taking all of these girls." The doc was instantly alert and wanted to know what I was doing with multiple women.

Mom said, "He's teasing now. He won't touch any of the other girls and never has. He's true blue to Millie."

"Damn, I thought I was being left out of something good for a second. Get out of here before I try to convince you to spread your love, Mike." She turned to Mom, "I need to find a good man that understands how much time a doc has to spend with others."

"When you hire your nurses, look for a male just out of the military, and he might be old enough. He'll also understand all about what hours you have to keep."

"You're pretty smart for a farm lady. You've got this figured out. Go to bed, Mike; give us a kiss and hug and go to bed."

I gave each a kiss and received a couple of good hugs, feeling what was under the sheer nighties. I didn't need a shower tonight as I really didn't do much, and I didn't want to take a chance of getting company in there. I had been teased into being tempted. Maybe Millie wants a shower.

The three heads in the bed were all shown in the soft light and all looked to be already sleeping. I stripped and snuggled into bed on the end and was hugged by Millie. I was asleep in seconds.

Mom woke me and said, "It's almost five, let's go get the last load real quick and have it over with. If we hurry, we'll be back in time to clean up for the day. I doubt Sheryl is going to get up early as she's sleeping soundly right now."

I was dressed in five minutes, and we were on our way down the mountain in ten. Getting the last six chests didn't take long, and we were back at the house and had them in Mom's closet by ten to six. Mom and I headed for our showers, where I was joined by Millie, and by Marita shortly after. I could have used a little fun with Millie, but I willed myself to remain docile.

As soon as I was dressed in my usual apparel, Sheryl came from the bedroom with wet hair. She said, "You people are bad for me. I'm always at the clinic by seven, and I'm just getting going. I need coffee; hurry before I go into convulsions."

Millie put some bacon and eggs in front of Sheryl, and we watched as she devoured the meal with some toast and jelly before standing. "Now I have to run. Invite me again soon. I haven't had that much fun in years."

She pulled Mom out of the house with her as she went to her car. I later heard that she asked Mom if the offer of clinic expansion and helping to hire more doctors was real.

When the chores were done, we were about to have our breakfast when D showed up with his six girls, all clad in their work clothes and jackets. He said, "We're ready to work in the vineyards today and for the next few weeks. We'll get the vines all trimmed and fertilized and the new ones planted. The support wire is all in good shape, so we are ready for growing season. I'm going to teach the girls about vineyards, and when the garden is ready, I'm sure they will be happy to help there."

Mom said to D, "One more thing we need to explore with these girls. They may need to be back in school. If they need tutoring, we'll get that for them. They can work right now, but I want us all to remember that they are kids, not workhorses. Let's sit them down for a good breakfast, since I'd bet all you fed them are a couple of tortillas. Let's eat."

As usual, the food we had went far enough to feed another seven mouths. The pride Rosita and Anita showed us was worth the effort, as they could see the little girls were happy now, and not the hardened brothel women that had arrived a couple of days earlier.

I called Benson after breakfast and discussed the clinic and my desire to support it and its expansion. When he asked, "How much do you want to put into this?"

My immediate response was, "Whatever it takes. Let's make sure everything goes smoothly. I think the community will really benefit from this. If Sheryl gives exams away now, what will she do when she has funds? I also want you to get Maude to find another medical money person to see what kind of Medicare and Medicaid payments the clinic is missing out on. I'm sure there are grants from the state and federal grants that can be had. We need an administrator that will pursue those. Work on this for me, Benson. Get in my pockets for some of the gold."

"I will, I will. I figured you might start with the clinic and have had an architect use the original plans and make a preliminary plan for an expansion, using all of the new state guidelines for his design. I'll try to get by to see Sheryl and let her look at the plans. I'll ask her about the doctors and nurses she needs and help her get started advertising for them. I was thinking that you might want to try hiring existing military nurses if you can get them. I'll call the employment office in Lexington and see what people they may have on their rolls. I got it in the bag, Mike, just waiting for you to say go."

"Thanks, Benson, you have the word. Go to it."

After a pause, I said, "One more thing, Mom sent you list of names, with social security numbers and their last known address for you to get duplicate identification. I'd like you to have a private investigator do some research on them. At the same time, the P.I. you hire needs to find out about my little old winemaker. Maude has his info, and I think you originally ran him. I want to get some history on the man. I think he's for real, but I want to make sure."

Benson said, "I suppose you do need to do that. Considering how close you are to all of those people, its good that you are being cautious."

"Thanks, Benson; it's something I have wanted to do."

That felt good. My first action to help the community was in progress. I wonder if Benson knows of any other projects that need some attention. I would make sure to find out.

The two road guys showed up, and one took the John Deere and the big plow to the new field, while the other took the old Ford and its two share plow to the small field that had been plowed before winter. The idea was to begin getting these plots ready for corn. With the fresh manure already spread, we wanted to test to see if the previously plowed field needed plowing again, or whether just using the disk would be enough. I had him plow four passes, then had him switch to the disk. He made a couple of passes before we looked at the soil. We both thought that the ground could use plowing again to get the field in perfect planting condition.

Those two would be busy for the day, so I called Harold to see if Martha could cut my hair. They weren't home and a message on their answering machine said they would be out of town until Saturday. I really didn't want to go to the barber, as I hate to wait while five or six other men get their haircut. The guy did business by appointment, but would work you in between other cuts.

I told Mom that she needed clippers like she used to have again. She said, "You know, I gave those to your sister not that long ago. I know she uses them on her boy and your other nephew. Let me call the lady I met last Saturday. She might have a set since she said she raised four boys."

Mom had an address for me in minutes. She told me, "Go see Eloise and let her cut your hair. She loves the company, so stop at Kroger's and get her some flowers and a little muffin or cupcake. You'll be her hero."

I figured I could combine this with a visit to the road yard, so I took off to visit a little old lady. I knocked on her door with flowers in one hand and a couple of cupcakes in the other. When the little white-haired lady opened the door, I thought she would burst out crying. "Oh, Mr. Grayson, you didn't have to bring me flowers. I would cut your hair for you any time. Come into the kitchen. I have my chair all ready."

The little lady talked non-stop for the entire fifteen to twenty minutes that it took for her to cut my hair as perfectly as any barber ever did. She stood back with her hands on her hips. "That's a perfect flat top, one of my best. Now, let's get the loose hair off you, then have some coffee and one of those cupcakes."

We drank coffee and ate a cupcake, making the lady happy to have invited me for a haircut. She said, "If Bea wants to use my clippers, tell her to come get them when she needs them. I'm not always up to standing long enough to cut a head, but I'll try for you. Tell your mom to get a set from the dollar store. I've seen them there."

Before I left, I asked Eloise, "Do you listen to the local radio station?"

The lady smiled and answered, "I do listen most days, and I've heard you're involved in getting a new man to talk on the station. Will he be doing all of the announcing now?"

"I doubt he'll try to do it all, but I think he's going to head up the station to make it better. I should probably stop by to see how he's coming."

With that segue, I was out of there. The newspaper office was close by, as is everything in town, so I stopped there, and what do you know? Bernie was sitting at the window console, talking into the microphone. He was telling the world, or at least the local listening area, that he wanted to be sure to hear all of the local gossip so he could pass it on to all of those who hadn't heard it yet. The gossip had to be true, and if not meant to hurt someone else, he would put it on the air.

He saw me and waved just as he said, "As you know, my buddies all work for the road commissioner, Mike Grayson. From now on, when you call the road commissioner, the call will come right here while I'm on duty and you can hear where the problem is and hear me getting the men out to fix it. How's that for a responsive road commissioner."

I was shaking my head at the chatter Bernie was putting out. I hope the community likes him as much as he likes to talk to them.

I waved and drove out to the yard. It was abandoned, so I checked the board in the office. The guys were working on the approach on one of the bridges. There was some erosion and they wanted to stop it before it became a problem. How about that for the guys being responsive?

Maude was next on my list. When I called her, she said, "Stop by while you're in town. I need to talk to you about some things."

The door was locked when I went to it. That's unusual for Maude, but I knocked and waited. She came to the door in her usual shorts and unbuttoned shirt. She waved me to a chair and pulled a heavy file out. "Mike, this thing you're doing with Benson is so far out that I'm going to have to kill you for all of your money. I've already told Benson that you're the father of my kid and I want support."

Maude brought out a little teddy bear. "Meet my kid, Anthony. Say something nice to Daddy, Anthony.

"All kidding aside, you have me running in circles. You will owe taxes on anything you personally spend. Benson has set up a non-profit to dispense the money as necessary, and I think I have all the forms submitted for that. From what I know right now, you've deposited all, or at least, most of the money you've received for what you have recovered, is that right?"

"Most of it, Maude, I think I know the exact amount for what we have kept out, but all of that is undocumented as it was cash without record."

"Shit, don't tell me that. I have to swear about things. Okay, are you going to be taking money out of this non-profit account? You know there will be admin fees like mine and Benson's. It's legal, and besides, that stuff in the bank is really all yours. What I'm telling you is that you'll have to pay taxes on anything you take from that account. It is property of the non-profit right now, but if you receive a salary or bonus, then you have to pay taxes."

The lady was flustered. "Jesus, Mike, you've been making money hand over fist and making a name for yourself all over the area. The next thing you know, you are bringing in several million in gold coins and bullion like it's nothing. You don't spend any of it and begin trying to give it away. Come on, Mike, don't you need another old lady?"

I told her with a straight face, "Benson wants me to adopt him. Would that make you and Benson brother and sister, or would you be his mother?"

Maude burst out laughing. "At least you can make me laugh and relax over this. I think your non-profit corporation is going to be my best customer, especially if you begin siphoning off a little spending money."

"I don't need it right now, do I? If it looks like I'm going to need money for payroll or something, let me know. I'll worry about it then. Spring planting is starting, so I'm going to be putting out money for a while before any income from the garden starts coming in. Watch that for me, please."

"Mike, you have so much money in your cable path account that you need to take some and use it for something else. You're paying taxes on it, so take some and I'll record it. I heard you're buying heavy from the lumber yard. Are you building on to the house for your larger harem?"

"What's with the harem stuff? And Mom is adding to the house again for relatives that are coming down to help plant the garden."

Maude sat back with her top falling away to her sides, showing her small breasts. "You're too amazing for words sometimes. I'll watch the farm account, and if it gets low, I'll put some wood money into it. Oh, by the way, you did pretty well on firewood over the winter. Hell, I even bought some from you. The guys who brought it also did a nice job stacking it for me. I tipped them pretty good. Like I said, your firewood account can be put into your personal account if you want. Are you going to use that money for anything?"

"I might buy some more equipment for splitting firewood. The one splitter I have is being overworked as it is. I think I'll look for a heavy duty one. I'll use some money for whatever we need as we need it. Is there anything else, Maude?"

"No, there's nothing else. I wish all of my customers could turn a profit like you. You've made a lot of people happy and are trying to do even more. I have something for you to consider. The school is in need of some improvements. The county doesn't have a heavy tax for the school, so the building is in disrepair. We've had to give our teachers a raise and they could use another one, but that causes improvements and repairs to be put off. If your non-profit could make a donation to the school for repairs and the improvements, it would be a great help."

I nodded and said, "Tell Benson to set that up. You know the need, so you govern the amount. Get 'er done, Maude."

I left hearing her lock her door. Perhaps she is afraid of being surprised in her half-dressed outfit.

So far so good; at least we've helped a little around the community. The problem is that I now had even more to use. What else could we do that would have a global effect?

Back at home, I was in time for lunch. It was fun to have all of the people excited about planting. Mom told me, "Your sister and sister-in-law will be here Friday evening and can stay through Monday. The kids have an off day on Monday, so they can all do a little planting for a couple of days. This is going to be fun. We won't plant much this weekend, so we can let the soil warm a little more."

I told Mom, "That will be good. I'm going to be putting the beef stock I was talking about into the orchards to let them keep the grass down now. I have fifteen to use and fatten up. There was another fifteen that the Conners wanted. I think I'll put three down in the little Jorgenson orchard this year. I'll put four in the Finnerty orchard, and the last eight in the orchard up here. I think I can get them here either this weekend or early next week."

Millie said, "It's like the man on TV said, 'that it's great to have a plan come together.'"

That it was.

I told Mom that I was thinking of taking a chest full of coins up to Bert at the university to see what he does with it. "Maybe he can use it to build a facility to house all of their Civil War information. I'd bet the university would fall all over themselves for that kind of money."

Mom thought that was a good idea and said I could do that next week to see how it went. Things were looking up, except that I needed to get rid of another twenty-three chests of coins. Mom also said, "How about taking a few handfuls of these French and Spanish coins to the coin dealer to see what they are worth? You should probably take some regular double eagles too, so it will make up a nice pot. Have him pay you in cash so you can do some cash buying if you need to. You know that guy will deal. I have a fist full of those coins I thought I might save for a rainy day. If we're to need something quick, I'll have a way to get it."

The rest of the day was spent running down to check the fence and gates at the lower orchard and vineyard, going back up to the higher Finnerty area, then checking the new fence in the upper orchard. The new areas were ready. I was reminded that there were two small meadows at both places that I should turn into either sweet corn fields or some kind of melon or pumpkin patches. I'll ask Millie to see what she thinks.

At the end of the day, the two road guys said, "We'll be back tomorrow and work to finish getting the fields ready to be planted. If you want, we'll work through the weekend to plant if need be. The guys really aren't that busy yet."

"Okay, Guys, come back tomorrow and we'll see how far we get. Are the tractors holding up?"

I was told both pieces of equipment ran perfectly.

This day was slowing down and I needed it. I think the dreams and pressure from the dreams were making me a little nutty. Being able to spend the evening with the family and D's young ladies helped relax me. Millie helped me with a shower, and I was in bed early, looking for that good night's sleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 33

I had a great night's sleep while stretched out in the big bed. That's when I realized that it was Millie who had awakened me this morning as she silently wept while snuggled to my other side. I wiggled around to hug Millie to me, and kissed her. She hugged me back and whispered, "I dreamed of Bernard and Momma and Daddy. I even think I saw Ben with his old mule, but he had a woman with him. Eliza was there, and I'll bet the man with her was Bud. Bernard seemed so real. I wanted to hug him, but he just smiled and told me to love the man I have now. Why would I have a dream like that?"

Millie sniffled a couple of times before telling me, "I had to hold back when Bernard died, because Summer needed me to be strong. I had to feed us and take care of us. I cried almost every night for a year, until worrying about food became more important than missing him. Now I have food, I have you, I have our baby, and I now remember Bernard. Don't be mad at me for thinking of him."

With a hug and kiss on the forehead, I said, "How could I be mad at you, Millie? You are my wife, my mate, the mother of our baby. I love you, Millie, and we'll take care of each other for the rest of our lives. You should sometimes think of Bernard; he was important to you and Summer. You can cry on my shoulder anytime."

Millie sat up. "Thank you, Mike. I'm so lucky to have you. Let's get up and get started on the day."

As I went through the morning ritual to be presentable, while having to share the big bedroom bathroom with Millie, Marita, and Karen, I wondered at the resurgence of memories for Mom and Millie. I had even seen Dad in a dream. It was just a quick look, but it was Dad, and he had been gone a long time. Could his spirit be up here with the others since Mom's here? If we dream of those who are gone, are they spirits or are they ghosts?

I helped with the barn chores by breaking hay up for the steers and the deer this morning. While I did that, I made myself a mental note to call about the thirty head of stock I had traded for. It was time to get them delivered.

Breakfast required the big table as the two road guys were there to enjoy breakfast with us, along with D and his six young ladies. Rosita, Anita, and Carla were also with us and filled up the table. The biscuits and sausage gravy with scrambled eggs was a treat for all of us.

While we ate, Rosita told us, "All of us that live in the houses below you want to make you a special meal. If you will come after chores tonight, there will be a big feast with many of our native dishes. The ladies that are at home are making it special to show our appreciation for what you do. Will you come?"

Mom was grinning and nodding her head. "Yes, we will come. I'm proud to be asked to come to your home for a meal."

Anita said, "The buildings are really yours, but they are our homes. You have given us much and we want to share."

After breakfast, I took the guys down to show them the little fields that were the meadows at the Finnerty and Jorgenson places and would now become large gardens. I asked them to put those two fields on their schedule and get to them when they could. When I mentioned that we had sufficient chicken manure to spread on those fields, the guys said they would bring the backhoe and steamer back out.

Back at the house, Mom suggested that I make a trip into Lexington to get started on this next phase of our treasure. When I told her that I wanted to check with Bert about a chest of coins, she suggested, "Let's wait until we find out the value of the foreign coins. What I think would be good is to make up a chest of double eagles, along with an assortment of the foreign coins, to give to the University. I want to have an exact count of what we give to see if any find their way into someone else's pocket. I'll work on a chest for them while you go to the coin dealer today. Remember to come right home because we are eating with our friends at the bottom of our drive."

I called the coin dealer and asked him if he was able to look at some coins. He told me, "You can bring all you want, but you should keep it under a hundred. An attorney from down your way has just offered a large quantity of coins similar to what you brought before, but a lot more. That area down there must have some treasure stored in the area, or a couple of big collectors. The lawyer said he represents a trust and wants to make sure any funds are direct deposited. He didn't want any cash. How about you?"

I chuckled and told him, "Pocket money would be good. That's up to you, though. If you're short, I can come back another day."

"No way, Mr. Grayson, you've already made my year since I've sold all of the coins you brought previously, and I'm excited to be able to have enough to really do some dealing. Come on, come see me."

Before I left the house, I called the farmer that I had made a deal with for the thirty head of beef. He told me that since I had been able to supply hay and grain, the steers were looking real good. I told him that I could take them anytime now, since I thought we had seen the last of the bad weather. He agreed and asked if Monday would be good. I told the man that it was a plan. I instructed him that fifteen would come here and fifteen were going to the Conners'. Stanley and I had already made a cash deal on him getting fifteen head.

The trip up to Lexington was uneventful and fast. When I was buzzed into the coin dealer's locked door, I could see that he was busy with another customer, but there were three other men with him, looking something over. The dealer waved me over and said, "Look at this. It's one of the counterfeit double eagles that's so rare. Let us finish here and we'll look over what you've brought."

It didn't take long for the customer to walk out of the store with his hand stuffed down in his pocket, holding what was probably a lot more money than he had expected.

The dealer said to me, "It was almost funny as the man said he knew the coin wasn't real, but didn't know whether or not it had any value other than the gold. When we offered him the standard value, he instantly had his hand out. I think we could have gone up another couple of thousand for a prize like that."

The other three men were introduced as the backers and collectors the dealer represented. He described their worldwide contacts of other collectors and dealers to me. The dealer spread a large felt pad on his glass countertop and pointed. "Spread 'em out and let us drool."

I had each type of coin separated and put a stack of fifty mixed double eagles on one side. Next, I put a variety of Spanish coins, the doubloons and Escudos, in little stacks of each kind, then a variety of French coins with the largest quantity being the Napoleon III gold coins.

The three collectors began separating the double eagles into types and grades, with a slip of paper under each stack listing the quantity and price. They did the same for the Spanish coins, but debated over some until the dealer went for his big book and used a laptop to check prices. The French coins took a while, as they were rarer than the Spanish coins that were mostly made in Mexico. Some of the French coins were minted in England and Germany, with each having a different value.

The dealer looked at me and asked, "Is the fifteen percent still good? I know you have contacts in Cincinnati and they are a big dealer. I hope you continue to use me."

The three collectors debated on a couple of the coins and even had the dealer get his testing kit out. When they finally reached agreement, they presented me with the total. I was startled, "Oh my."

One collector defended the number by saying, "The foreign coins are not as rare as the double eagles, and Spanish coins are all over South America. I don't think most are in as good condition as these, but they are common."

The dealer looked at the three men and told them, "I think you misread Mr. Grayson. I think he was startled to find out it was so much. Now, do you want this in cash, a check, or direct deposit?"

The shortest of the three collectors almost giggled, "Cash is the only way to deal with this. You need to take cash so we can easily move these coins. How about it?"

"Sure, cash is fine today." I was about to jump out of my skin. Maybe I should go back to a cash payroll. It's not good to even think that way. The dealer brought out a nice leather-looking document folder and stuffed five fat bundles of hundreds into the folder before counting out more hundreds into a separate stack almost the size of one of the bundles. The final figure was ninety-six, so he just put a hundred on the stack instead of giving me small bills. I was choking.

When the dealer handed me the folder, he asked, "Do you know if the coins the attorney has are similar?"

Before I could answer, one of the other collectors asked, "Can you tell us whether we can expect a great deal more of these? If so; we need to make arrangements to spread them around so they don't lose their value."

I looked at the men and said, "I am aware of the coins the lawyer has, and yes, they are similar."

The dealer smiled and said, "You didn't say whether you had more, do you?"

I thought about how to answer, and then said, "I don't know yet. It depends on whether or not I can find them. If I do, I'll be back."

A collector said, "I sure hope so. Bring more of those foreign coins. They are becoming popular and can be sold in their native countries as well."

Now I was naked. I mean, I was carrying well over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and had no protection. What a dummy I was to leave home without it. As I backed the pickup out of the slot and headed toward the strip center exit, I saw a sign at the end of the center that simply said 'Guns'.

I parked the truck and pulled a wad of bills from the partial bundle and folded them into my pants pocket. After sliding the folder under the seat, I got out, locked the door, and headed to the shop. I had to be buzzed into this door too. An older, chubby guy with a white shirt and suspenders had what looked like some kind of automatic disassembled in the process of cleaning it.

"What can I do for you, young man?"

I smiled. "I'm looking for a reasonable pistol, something in an automatic of some kind, maybe a Beretta or a Glock. A used one is okay if you have one."

The man moved down his counter and pointed at two cases, one with each hand. "This one is new, and that one is used. I have a really nice late issue Beretta, a model 92 that is as clean as a new one. I doubt it has been fired more than ten to twenty times. I know it was fired because it had residue in the barrel when I bought it."

He pulled the pistol from the case, dropped the magazine, ratcheted the slide, and handed me the piece. I knew this weapon as well as any and smiled. The man asked, "You wear those fatigues or rather BDU's comfortably, so have you been out long?"

I had to smile as I told him, "Yeah, I've been out a couple of years, but after wearing them for twenty, they feel good to me."

"So what do you think? Did you like the Beretta while you were in?"

I told the dealer, "Of course, what's not to like." I pointed at the price sticker on the display box the gun had been in, and said, "I'll buy this, but I think you can give me twenty percent off that price. I'll buy a couple of boxes of rounds for it too, and won't bust you on the price if you're fair."

The man smiled, "Know your guns, huh? That's fair. Got some ID for me?"

The man wrote me up, gave me two boxes of the 9 mm rounds with an extra magazine, and did his best to sell me a holster. I told him I already had one. The gun came with its original display box, so I walked out of the store with an inconspicuous bag.

After getting in my truck, I checked the folder under the seat before filling the magazine and putting a round in the chamber of the Beretta. I took a deep breath and felt a lot better. I made sure that the hammer wasn't cocked and the safety was on before tucking it under my thigh and heading home.

The Army surplus store was nearby, and I hesitated going there, but they had a parking place directly in front of the store, so I stopped to check on some BDU's.

The man recognized me, and when I asked if he had any mountain cammies, he asked my size and went for them. I was about to tell him to bring six pairs, but he was ahead of me. He threw a couple of new web belts and a couple of caps on the stack, and said, "I have a new shipment of mountain boots that are heavier than the desert boots you have on. Want to try on a pair?"

I tried them on and they did feel good, so I bought a pair, thinking that I should buy two pair if they were a fair price. The price was right, so I bought two pair, and just for kicks, I bought another issue holster for the Beretta. I was going to teach Millie to use the Beretta, so I bought another equipment harness vest.

I suppose it pays to be a good customer, as he only charged me for the BDU's and boots. The store owner said the rest was a bonus.

Back in the truck, I decided I was ready to go home. This was a strange day and I was looking forward to a great Mexican dinner. I hoped it wasn't the lame Tex-Mex stuff that seemed to be popular.

As I neared Stanton, I hunted for the radio station and easily found it. Bernie came through loud and clear with the local news and weather. The news consisted of the school being offered a donation for the repairs and improvements it needs. He also said that Dr. Rivers' clinic was scheduled for expansion over the next couple of months.

The next thing that Bernie did surprised me. He gave a telephone number and asked for listeners' comments on all that he had reported today. A man talked about the farmer's market and a news item about what was going to be offered out there. I was fascinated by how neat Bernie sounded and how interested the callers were. I decided that Bernie had a winner.

I called Jimmy to make sure everything was OK, followed by a similar call to Ezra. He said that he was excited about the Mexican dinner and looked forward to it.

As I drove up to the house, the two road guys were parking the tractors in the equipment cave. When they came out, one of them pointed to the sky and said, "See that? I'll bet it rains tonight. The weather report, according to Bernie, said it was supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Do you have something inside for us to do?"

"Take it easy and enjoy yourself tomorrow. I think that the only thing going on is the corn seed delivery, and I can handle that."

The two went toward the milk house to wash up for what I thought was before going home, but when I went into the house, Millie smiled and said, "The family at the bottom of the hill has invited all of the road men. Even Bernie is coming. We're going to have a real party."

The Latino women were not inside, and because of the time, I figured the chores were done. Mom told me that she and Millie had done the milking, and Marita and Karen had done the heavy barn stuff and the chickens. Mom said that she had already stoked the smokehouses, so I didn't need to do that.

My goodness, these were a bunch of independent women. They can take care of themselves.

I had been holding the folder and headed to the office, with Mom following me. As soon as she entered, she asked, "How was it? Did you take enough to make the trip worthwhile?"

I showed her the fancy folder, and as I pulled out the six bundles, I said, "Do you know what each of these bundles are worth? There are five full bundles and another almost full. I used some cash to buy some protection and a quick trip to the Army Surplus store. I figured that I should have something with me that I forgot this morning, and I needed some new cammies to go with the jeep."

Mom laughed, "You are so funny. You could drive a luxury Bentley around, but you're planning on driving an old rebuilt Jeep. I guess that is a step up from that orange monster you've been driving."

"Give me a break, Mom. My truck is in good condition, doesn't have a lot of miles, and is paid for. I think I'm going to let D use it for deliveries until I can get him a truck and charge it to the winery. I was going to get him just a plain pickup, but now I suppose I should get him a four wheel drive crew cab. We'll have to get the road guys to put an extra seat belt in the back seat so that four people can ride back there."

Mom pointed to the bundles of cash, "What are you going to do with that?"

I answered by telling her, "It'll be for when we need to buy something. I might go back to Lexington and look for a bigger log splitter, but I probably should buy that with wood money. Well, you never know when we might need something, and now we'll have the cash. I'll put it in the bottom drawer. It has a lock."

I fished in the center drawer for the keys and locked the money in the drawer. I put a key on my ring and handed the other to Mom. Mom looked at me and said, "Next time you go to Lexington, buy a little safe and put it in the floor or wall. Between what I still have and all that you have, we need a place to put it."

I pulled the Beretta out, put it on the desk, and began to walk out of the room. Mom said, "Are you going to leave a loaded gun lying around the house?"

"They sure wouldn't do anyone any good if they weren't loaded. That one is going to be Millie's. We're going to have some sidearm practice soon; maybe after the seed is delivered tomorrow."

Mom shook her head as she observed, "Michael, you know that I already have mine, and I know how to use it. I'll take Millie up to the gun range in Mount Sterling and give her some lessons. You need to teach her to hunt with a shotgun this fall. Your dad taught me the first year we were married. I probably went through twenty dollars in shotgun shells trying to get us a quail dinner. We've kicked up a lot of quail in the meadows here, so you should be able to get us a dinner this fall."

I had a strange mother. What guy wouldn't be proud to have a mother who can hunt and shoot a gun with the best of them? Knowing Mom, she was probably still carrying her pistol in her purse.

Mom suggested that I put regular clothes on for the party the families down the hill were giving us. I kind of thought they wouldn't recognize me unless I was wearing fatigues. I changed into jeans, a nice shirt, and a pair of engineer boots because I liked to keep peace, and we were ready to go.

I was holding John when I lined the women up. "You four are something, my mother, my wife, Marita, and Karen. I'm lucky to have this family. Did you think about this? This is the first time we're representing ourselves as a group, a family. We didn't adopt Marita yet, and we don't even know if we can adopt Karen, but we are a family. I'm proud to be the man of this family."

Mom clapped in applause. Millie hugged me, as did Marita and Karen. Mom came over and whispered, "You are your father through and through. You make me so proud."

I did remember my dad doing stuff like that. I guess I did get it from him.

When we arrived down the hill, all of the road guys were already there. Jet was standing in the yard waiting for Marita, and I noticed that a couple of the girls D had imported were being friendly to the other guys. I hope that no one clued the guys in on what the girls had been required to do in their previous life.

Pedro and Jesus actually hugged me as I entered their home. All the kids were interested in me and asked me why I didn't have my Army uniform on. Ya see? That's how they recognize me.

Raul and Jose were all smiles and introduced me to a couple of women they said were visiting.

Consuela gave me a warm hug and kiss by pulling me down to her level. She whispered, "You better be careful of those six girls. They all want to join Millie in your bed. You are their hero."

I hugged the lady and told her, "D is the hero. He spent his last dollar to get them here and didn't think a thing of it."

I met a couple of the men who worked with Pedro and Jesus on Ezra's crew. Pedro explained that some of the families were living in houses in town now that they had a steady income. He told me, "See, Mike Grayson, you've given us independence and honor to live the way it is intended. You give us pride."

No one would have believed that so many could be seated, but all of the adults were seated at a big table and the kids were at another large table. The food kept coming until I was so full that I was bloated. It was so very good. Mom made the comment, "You folks shouldn't have made the dishes so mild. Mike loves very spicy food when he can get it. When you want to have something very exciting sometime, call Mike and he'll make you some of his dip. It burns your tongue."

Juan was laughing and said, "Some of us can't eat very spicy food, but others want it to almost burn. I'm one who doesn't care for real hot food, but Jose loves to be burned in the mouth by spicy food. Mike and Jose should eat together."

When we had eaten our fill, D brought the grappa out for all of the adults that wanted some help digesting. When the road guys began helping to clean the table, Rosita and Anita laughed, telling them that they could not help here as the other men would be jealous of how close they would be to them. There was laughter all around.

As we sat enjoying a cup of strong coffee, Raul began, "Mike Grayson, you have given us a place to live that is the best we can have. But, it is not our own. We want to own our own property and have begun looking, but for all of us to buy homes will be almost impossible. How can we do it? We love living here, but we want to own where we live."

"I understand how you feel. It is only natural that you want to be the master of your destiny. I have to tell you that I promised Ben I would keep and look after his property. I felt you folks deserved something more than the way you were living, and that's the reason I offered Ben's place. You have improved it by almost building a village, and I'm proud of you for doing that. You have provided food and shelter for many who have come here to find a new life. But still, I have promised to keep this property as part of the whole mountain that we live on."

You could see some disappointment in their faces, but I added, "That doesn't mean that you can't put roots down here. I'll be glad to give you a long term lease on the property, but I still need the storage for the firewood. You probably won't care since that's a source of income in the winter. I'll bet if we advertised on the radio and newspaper, we would be able to sell out our wood before winter. How about you working with me on a long term lease to stay here. You don't have to pay me for the improvements you've made. It was your labor and my materials. It's an even deal. Think about it. I'll see if I can live with whatever decision you make."

Raul had a long face, but Pedro grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside. After several minutes, the half dozen men who had left came back inside, and Raul said, "That is a fair offer, Mike Grayson. We accept it. We do want to use a little of the ground around the barn for a garden. Can we do that?"

"Of course you can. I'm doing the big field with sweet corn and using the outer area for firewood. That's about it. If you want to put some animals in the barn, do it. If you want to raise sheep, goats, pigs, or a steer, you're welcome to. If you want your own garden, plant it. I'll even help you get the ground ready. Use the property the way you want, but I need the two areas I just mentioned."

Pedro winked at me as he continued to keep Raul pacified that I wouldn't sell the land. As everyone began leaving, D came to me, "Mike, you are so good to me and my young charges. I see a couple of your men are interested in my girls. Do you think they will be gentlemen? Will they be respectful even if they find out what the girls had to do?"

"I don't know, Doroteo. It depends on the way the girls respond to the guys. They are young men with raging hormones, the same as the out of control hormones the girls have. You talk to the girls, I'll talk to the guys, and we'll let them figure out how to treat each other with respect."

"Good thinking, Mike. I'll see you tomorrow."

I watched all the road guys leave, and when we went back to the house, I watched Ezra leave. Once again, I was left alone with my wife, my mom, and two other women that I didn't know what to do with.

Bed was something I did know about, and I stripped down and quickly crawled into bed next to Millie, who was feeding our son. He is getting big, and as John slowly nursed, Millie told me, "Our son is going to have a sister. For some reason, I know that it's a girl. Oh, Mike, I'm so happy to give us another baby. I want to be like your mom and be the mother of many. Just think, you'll have a little girl to love and spoil."

Now that's a way to keep a guy awake. How do you fall asleep next to your wife who just told you she was going to give you another child? That's way too exciting to let me sleep.

It did take a while for John to fall asleep. When he did, I picked him up, kissed his forehead, and laid him in his bed. Every time you put your child in bed, you get that choked up feeling that this is the most important thing in life that you can do. This is the number one of all your priorities.

Millie and I snuggled and were instantly asleep.

Eliza, Bud, Ben, his wife, Bernard, and my dad were sitting on the rocks near the upper vineyard. Eliza told me, "You're doing a good job with the people, Mike."

Ben smiled at me and told me, "It's so much fun to have the people enjoying life at my place. It has been years since there has been that much laughter there."

Bernard just smiled at me, and Dad; well, he smiled and gave me his nod for a good job. I couldn't have been prouder.

I stood in front of them for a long time until Millie moved in my arms. Laying there with Millie in my arms was enough to pacify my mind and give me the peace necessary to fall back to sleep. The longer I thought I was standing in front of them, the more I knew I was sleeping peacefully in my home. It was almost as if I was hovering over myself snuggled with Millie, watching the two of us in sleep.

Mom and I were up early, together enjoying a cup of coffee while the dogs ran wild investigating any night visitors. She told me, "I put a chest together, but it isn't overflowing like most of the chests were. I think we should see how the contents are treated, and if the university uses them the way Bert thinks they should be, we can control the amount it gets and how much goes to the coin dealers over future years. I think we need to keep working in that direction, and not just give it all away to an organization that might not be honorable about how they use the gift."

I nodded in agreement and suggested, "How about some kind of college fund for the kids in Stanton and the county. We could sponsor scholarships for the local kids and use some of the gift to send Karen to school. What does she want to learn to be? Do you know?"

Karen was standing in the hallway and interrupted us, "I want to be either a schoolteacher or a nurse. I know I could be a good teacher, but there is a need for nurses. I want to do either or both. If you want to send me to school, I want to go somewhere close so that I can still come here, to my new home, and to enjoy the love you all have shown me. Is that too much to ask?"

Mom went to the girl and hugged her. "Oh, Karen, you are our little girl. We want you to learn to be the best you can be in either education or nursing. Why don't you start school and intern with the clinic to see how you handle it? Some of the negative experiences may convince you not to select that career path."

"I understand life, Misses uh, ah, Mom, is that okay?"

I thought Mom would burst out crying. She hugged the young girl to her instead.

"I understand about life and know there are bad times as well as good. People get sick, people die, but people also recover, have babies, and have happy lives. Carmen almost died from appendicitis, but she lived because the clinic was there. That is why I would want to be a nurse."

Mom was surprised at how maturely Karen considered her choices. Karen had been hidden from society, but was not naïve. She had researched and learned about life outside of the narrow lifestyle her parents subscribed too.

Karen sealed her relationship by hugging Mom and telling her, "What I need is a school that teaches me to be a farmer's wife like you; to be generous and a mother to all like you are. I want to give that kind of comfort to those I work with."

I sure hope Karen wasn't blowing smoke up Mom's butt, since what she said was not only beautiful, but so true.

Mom smiled at us and said, "Mike, go begin doing the chores; I'll be out to milk in a minute. Karen, wake Millie and Marita, then go do the chickens. Tell Mike if you need him to bring you another bag of crushed shells."

The fresh mountain air cleared my head and had me thinking of what I could do to insulate us from the rest of the world. The recluse thing keeps popping up in my mind. There really wasn't much, as the base of the mountain covered several miles. There would be no way to keep people out of the place if there was a hint of treasure to be found. There has to be some way to prevent a mob scene around the place.

When I went back through the barn, Mom asked me to haul a ten gallon and five gallon can of milk to the summer kitchen for the women to churn into butter. When I put the two cans in the room, I saw multiple baskets of eggs, and knew there already were several cases of eggs that we needed to sell. The wood stove was giving out heat, so someone planned to use it or already was.

As I exited the summer kitchen, I was punched in the butt by the deer with growing small antlers. He followed me around to the house door and acted as if he should be allowed in.

The rain had begun, and Mom said, "Why don't you take about ten pounds of butter and two five gallon cans of milk to the market? I'll call the Kitchen before you leave to see what they need. We have to keep a few gallons of milk for the girls' kids. You know, your nephews and nieces. They will get here this evening and stay for the weekend. The guys should be here Friday night or Saturday morning. If the seed delivery comes while you're gone, I'll give them my special smile and get them to unload it into the bin in the barn."

That should just about cover it, so I headed for town. As I passed the cable distribution building, I noticed a crowd and turned around and went back to see what was going on. As soon as I showed up, Gene walked out to greet me. "You are exactly the right person to show up, Mike. We're being delivered new ATVs, and there is an argument about what to do with the four ATVs they are replacing. How about buying them from us and using them for whatever you want? Then these Neanderthals who brought the new ones don't have to argue with anyone about what to do with our old ones."

Did I need four ATVs? I could see having another at the house for Mom or the ladies. I could also see D having one to run back and forth to the vineyards. Of course, if he did that he needed two when he had the six girls with him. Okay, I guess I could figure out how to use four.

"Okay, Gene, do me a good deal. I'll call and get a truck to come pick them up."

Gene turned around and yelled, "See, you guys overspend by buying trailers for every ATV you buy. Take all but one of those trailers back with you, and credit us and Mike with them. Come on, Mike, let me show you what you bought."

The ATVs were the same make and model as I already had, only a year newer. Gene pointed to the hours on each to show me how little they had been used. We put one in the back of the truck and loaded one up on the trailer that went with it so I could get two to the house. Instead of going to the house, I went to the road yard and unloaded both ATVs for the guys. I was sure they would figure a reason to use them. I went back to the distribution center and loaded the other two ATVs and headed to town to get rid of the milk and eggs. The Kitchen wanted most of what I had, so I made that delivery before I went to the market a little later than I should have in order to sell the rest of the stuff.

As soon as I pulled in, one of the men came from the dairy tent, building, or shack, whatever you want to call it, and told me, "Damn, I'm sure glad you showed up. My lady wants a can of milk for butter and buttermilk. Let me get a five gallon can to trade you. Do you have any eggs left?"

I laughed as I had to two cases of forty-eight dozen each. Others wanted eggs, so I was able to get rid of what I had quickly. Some of the men in the shack were sipping corn, but I declined as I had work to do. They all knew I wouldn't sip with them this early in the morning.

Driving back through town, I stopped at the newspaper and went in to visit with Bernie. "Hey, Mike; you're just in time to be interviewed on our local morning 'Meet the People' program. How about telling everyone how you've been such a success around here?"

I looked to make sure there wasn't a red broadcast light on the microphone plugs and told him, "Bernie, I'm supposed to be a recluse up on Mystery Mountain, and I'm so busy with people that no one would ever believe me."

"Oh come on, Mike, how about five minutes. I promise not to get personal and to give you some promos on your road commissioner position. I think you will need some ads for your tree cutting company soon, and I think you have a group of carpenters that you're fronting for, too. Come on, Mike, get some free advertising and be the subject of the town gossip today."

Damn, I like Bernie, but, but, but I really don't want to be on the radio. Looking at his puppy dog face is tough to reject, so I said, "Five minutes, okay? I have work to go do."

Bernie did a very professional interview with me and concluded by making me promise to come back and talk with the community again another time soon. He sealed the deal by taking a call from a farmer on the edge of the county. The man praised the men working for me by saying, "I've been on the edge of the county since I built my place forty years ago and have always had holes big enough to swallow my pickup. Since you, Mike, have been commissioner, you recognized that I was within the county lines and have smoothed out my road as if it was a superhighway and you kept it free of snow all winter. I just wanted to thank you, Mike. You've done a good job."

Bernie was grinning at me as I left the radio station that was set up in the window of the newspaper.

I turned on the radio in the truck to listen to Bernie's broadcast. Funny how the station stayed interesting by being on the air giving out town gossip, news, weather, farm reports, and some mixed music. There were a lot of call-ins that Bernie took, from people who just wanted to talk, but he always made the caller sound interesting.

On the way up the mountain, I thought of how life had changed for me, Mom, and Millie. If I thought about it, life had changed for everyone in the household, and for Summer, who was now married and expecting her first child.

At home, I put the two ATVs in the machine cave until I could assign them to be used.

Mom was getting nervous and antsy while expecting my sister, sister-in-law, and the four kids. Since it was still raining, she was concerned that the kids wouldn't have enough to do. I promised to take them to do something, whether it was swimming in the sixty-degree weather, or to wander around the mountain.

Millie was happily content being a mother and homemaker, but she was excited for Marita as she prepared for her first formal date with Jet. Mom had taken Karen into town, and while there, had gone by Benson's office in the afternoon when she knew Denise would be there. Mom manipulated the conversation around to having Denise invite Karen out with a bunch of local girls for an evening of cruising and whatever young girls do.

The household was about to be raided by the two women and four kids. The excitement level was escalating, while the earlier frenzy of preparations was slowing, as the family waited for the expected Expedition full of family.

An SUV came up the hill about six, setting off the guinea hen alarm. I slipped my engineer boots on and walked out to greet Sissy and Shirley. It wasn't raining hard, but drizzling steadily, and you would still get soaked if you stood around in it. I helped bring in two suitcases for the two families.

Inside, the kids wanted to warm up by the fireplace that Millie was sitting in front of, petting the dogs. The two adult ladies wanted coffee right after shedding their damp outerwear, and sat at the little table with Mom to discuss what had been happening.

Millie came over and whispered to me, "How about grilling hamburgers, or if you want, we can go to either Mount Sterling Pizza Hut or to the Pizza place in Pine Ridge?"

I told her, "Ask the moms, since they may be tired of being in a car."

Hamburgers sounded good to the ladies.

I hung the grill on the fireplace post so that it would swing in and out, and made up a mixture of crushed onion, garlic, and some cereal crumbs. As I used four pounds of ground beef, Mom brought me another ten pounds and told me, "All the road guys are coming out, so you'll need all fourteen pounds to make enough hamburgers. Don't make them too thick, because the guys are going to want at least three each. I have baked beans warming in the summer kitchen, and coleslaw in the spring house. You better get crackin', because those boys are going to be here any minute and you know how rowdy hungry boys are."

Now I had to hustle. I filled the whole grill with hamburgers and swung it over the low fire. I hustled to mix the rest of the meat up into the same recipe and squished out patties that looked the same to me.

I was on the third grill full of hamburgers when the dogs began dancing around and we heard the guineas telling us someone was coming. Mom and Millie had set the big table and already put the coleslaw on it. The only things missing were the baked beans and a lot more hamburgers.

The guys came in with two of the older Latino girls that D had rescued. The guys were very formal in making sure that we knew the names of the girls, and explained that they were going to be going with Jet and Marita. You would have thought Mom was the mother of the girls the way she made over them, and all the while was quietly warning the boys to be respectful.

Bernie actually struggled in on his prosthesis, using only a cane. He was proud of himself for taking the steps to move more confidently within groups. He talked about my interview and how he was planning on trying to interview everyone in town over time. He said it was important to have all of the businessmen talk about their businesses to inform the public of what they do. Actually, it was good business for Bernie to do that, as people wanted to know about their town and the people in it.

As soon as the kids, including Karen, had eaten, Denise showed up with two of her girlfriends. The plan was to go to the movies in Mount Sterling. Mom made sure Karen had some money for the movie and some snacks, and cautioned the girls to drive safely. Knowing Denise's recent scare, I was sure she would drive reasonably.

After everyone had eaten, the guys with dates took off for Mount Sterling to go to the movies, and the remaining guys began doing the dishes. Bernie even helped as he balanced on his good and fake legs.

While I was cleaning the grill, Mom brought out a huge platter of cookies and told me to get the ice cream from the freezer in the spring house. Sure enough, there was a whole canister of fresh made ice cream. I wonder who did the turning. All of us enjoyed the treat, and the guys assured us they would rub it in on the guys who weren't here.

When the road guys went home, the kids were getting sleepy, so we put them into a bedroom and let them sort out who would sleep next to whom. Since the other bedrooms were not completed yet, Mom told Sissy and Shirley that they could sleep in her room, and she would share the king with Millie and me.

Sissy was no dummy, she said, "Hold on a minute here. Karen has a bedroom, and I suppose you're telling me it's Marita's and Karen's? I don't think so. I think bubba here is bunking with a bunch of women, and you're trying to sneak in to see what he's doing. If anyone is going to check up on brother dear, it's going to be me."

Mom chuckled, "Your brother is grown now, Sissy; you can't hide him under the covers the way you used to. You know he does have a wife, and the other young lady is like their daughter, sister, or something."

"Yeah, 'Or something' alright; I want to check this out for myself. How about it, Millie, can I snuggle up to my brother for a night?"

That was the wrong thing to ask, since Millie was all for Sissy joining us in bed. She even said, "You can sleep on one of his shoulders and Marita can sleep on the other when she gets home. Mike will enjoy having two new heads on his shoulders."

Millie leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Just like Bernard and me; Marita and I will help."

Oh no, you don't, I thought. I'll find a jock or something. There will be no hanky panky with my sister that I lusted after for years and years. I was almost thankful she got married so that I wouldn't want to fool around with her any longer. I patted Millie on the bottom firmly enough to let her know that she needed to think differently.

Mom finally relented and said, "I'm going to stay up to wait for Karen and Marita. I probably don't need to wait for Marita, but Karen is like my little girl now and still needs to be looked after.

I sat with Mom out in the living area to watch the ten o'clock news for a change. I was really interested in the weather forecast, but I also wanted the women to settle down and think sleep. Mom came out and poured us both a small glass of wine. We sat in rocking chairs while watching the big screen. The forecast was for rain all day Saturday and Sunday. This sucked, as the kids were going to need to run to use up their energy.

Mom told me, "You can always take them swimming in the rain, or take them up to Mount Sterling or Lexington to use the batting cages. They are all in Little League and can always use extra batting practice. I'll take Sissy, Shirley, Millie, Marita, and Karen to Mount Sterling to the gun range, and you go to the batting cages. That will use up most of a day and give the kids something constructive to do."

It sounded good to me. We probably did need a gentle rain, but it was going to cause more erosion on road areas already prone to eroding.

I slid into bed to hug who I thought was Millie. When my hand was taken and placed over a full breast, and a pooky butt pushed into me, I knew it had to be Sis. At least she didn't wiggle. It did bring memories of our youth. I suppose we could have ended up like Millie and Bernard without much pushing. I gave the breast a gentle squeeze and kissed her neck as she pushed back into me before we both went to sleep.

Sometime during the night I had turned to face outward from the bed, and a cold nose was trying to get my attention. Witch was nosing and licking me, as Spook sat watching.

I slid from bed and let the dogs out. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was already five thirty. I suppose that with the rain and all, it wouldn't hurt to let the others sleep. I went in the bedroom and dressed, stopping in the bathroom to brush my teeth.

After I washed the milk buckets, a couple of five gallon cans, and the filter, I let the three cows into the barn and gave them some grain and a small amount of hay. I was surprised at how fast I milked the three cows. I had to do some poop scooping when I let them out, but it was warm enough to spray the floor with water and quickly scrub it down.

I fed hay to the outside stock and gave the two steers and calf some grain. The deer managed to get his head in there and get some grain, as well. The pigs received their grain mix and I counted piglets to make sure there were still ten.

Surprisingly, no one was up yet, so I did the chickens and brought in enough eggs to know we had to make a trip to the Saturday market.

The place was still stone quiet when I came back into the house, so I put another log on the fire to keep the chill out of the house and went into the bedroom to do the same. The bed was now filled with Sissy, Millie, Marita, Karen, and on the outside, Mom. My goodness, a king size bed and it's full. All of them looked peaceful, as did John snoozing in his crib.

I grabbed some clean clothes and went into the bathroom. I shaved then stepped into the shower. I had my face full of suds when someone stepped in behind me. I was hoping it was Millie or Marita as Millie was fair game and Marita knew to keep her distance. A body with a larger top snuggled to me. The person was the size of Mom or Sissy, so it was anyone's guess at that point.

A hand sneaked around me and stroked me as I was getting the suds from my face. The person I found out was Sissy, as she rose on her toes and whispered, "I always wanted to do that. I'll let you go, but I know you wanted to do stuff the same as me. You just don't know how close I was to taking our virginities so many times. I still love to tease you, Mike."

Sissy let me go as I turned and pushed her head under the water. I washed her hair the way I used to do it when we were young teens. While I washed, she did as she used to do and pushed her cute round butt into me, and I had to grit my teeth to stay calm. I wonder how we resisted.

We were finishing when Marita stepped in and pulled my face to hers for a kiss. She smiled at Sissy and said, "He won't do me either."

I had to laugh at that, as I was about to do both of them right there in the shower. Instead, I got out and dried off as Sissy and Marita finished washing and gossiping. Millie was sitting up in bed, nursing John, and smiled at me. She said, "Did you like sleeping next to your sister? She said you used to do that all the time. Your mother even said that it was a waste of space for you two to have your own beds. Were you like Bernard and me?"

"We were close, Millie, but we never did anything like helping with urges, if that's what you're asking. I suppose we were just best buddies."

"Mike, it is nice to see you with your family. They make me feel like I'm part of it, like a sister, but I like being your wife."

I leaned over and kissed Millie, "Me too, Millie. That way we can have more babies."

By the time I made it to the kitchen, Mom had coffee made and was preparing breakfast. I wondered where the girls from the bottom of the drive were and if D was bringing his charges this morning. When I mentioned it to Mom, she said, "The women are going to be busy getting stuff ready for market. D felt guilty that we were feeding his girls instead of him doing it. I tried to tell him it wasn't a problem and that we enjoyed having the girls eat with us, but he's as stubborn as I am."

Mom told me, "Get the smoked meat for the butcher, the Kitchen, and what we want to take to the market. You can load Millie's truck with the meat containers and eggs, and I also want to take all of our extra milk, as the springhouse is full."

It was amazing how much butter, along with several gallons of buttermilk, the women had made. I ended up putting four five-gallon cans of milk in the truck as well. When it was time for us to leave, Millie wanted to ride with Mom as it was easier to put the car seat in her Explorer, so I ended up with Karen and Sissy.

Karen thought it was sweet that Sissy and I were still good friends and the way we joked with each other. Sissy told her that we used to squabble a lot when we were younger, but we were still buddies even back then.

The market was packed, probably because the snow was now melted, giving everyone thoughts of the growing season. I had to make a stop at the Kitchen to drop off six hams, four sides of bacon, a big case of eggs, fifteen pounds of butter, and two five gallon cans of milk. It always seemed as if the more I brought, the more they would take.

The butcher got ten hams and four sides of bacon and told me he had thirty hams and sixty sides of bacon for me to take back. He was doing the presoak curing now so I didn't have to do anything but smoke the meat and keep the honey on it.

As soon as I pulled into the market, Millie and Mom began filling the orders of people who had already come by when they saw them. The guy in the dairy tent took the other two cans of milk and told me he'd take whatever butter and buttermilk I had left.

In less than an hour, we didn't have anything left except the un-smoked hams and bacon from the butcher. Millie and Marita sold or traded some of their crocheted items while Mom, Karen, Sissy, and Shirley wandered around the market to see what they could find. The only thing I had to trade was fifty pounds of grape seeds in little two pound bags. I ended up with a cage full of leghorn fryers, a big hand scythe, and after being begged to take it, a young male goat. Hopefully the ladies wouldn't make it into a pet as I didn't need another pet animal. I hung a sign around the goat's neck that said, "For Sale – Cheap," but no one even asked about it. I suppose the deer would have company.

I looked over the equipment and didn't see anything that turned me on. What I didn't see was anyone selling any stock, grain, or hay. When I mentioned it to Stanley, he told me, "They are just like me. The prices are up so high, that anything I had is sold to the elevator. I might need to get twenty-bushel or so of the corn I brought you if you still have it. My silos are empty."

"I'm going to put both of the steers in the pen for a month to six weeks to fatten them up. Are you going to need beef? You and I will have the fifteen head to deal with late this spring that we might be able to ship this fall. I'll probably take all but one to market. Between now and then, mine are going to keep the grass cut in the orchards."

Stanley asked, "There's about thirty acres of the flatland you got me that is solid woods. I looked at it, and most is oak, but there is some hickory and some walnut. How about we make a deal for you to clear that for me and level it out so I can plant it. I'm not sure how long it's going to take, but if you could do that, it will sure make a difference at the end of the year. Have Ezra come by and give me a number so I can figure out whether or not it's worth it."

I was about to call Ezra, but I saw him talking to the small outdoor equipment dealer who had originally introduced me to him. Stan and I walked over to him and I explained what Stan wanted. Once that was done, Stanley walked off. Ezra told me, "See what I'm talking about? You could just about have two crews out working right now. I have enough requests to cut for an entire summer, and we have cable work for the rest of the year. What do you think about Pedro and Jesus starting up another crew? I'll let them keep the path crew working, and I'll go over to Stanley's and do that one. I know the property, and there is some good wood there. You're going to need another truck to haul equipment and firewood, but you can get something used cheap. How about it, Mike, let me get another crew going?"

Looking at Ezra and how eager he was, I told him, "We'll do it, but it's going to be something that is probably temporary. How am I going to feed lunches to two separate groups like that? You're talking about doubling a lot of equipment too."

Ezra said, "Oh come on, Mike. I don't think you've spent any of the money from the cable company yet, and according to Maude, you're not taking anything out of the log money. What are you doing, hoarding it for something big? Are you going to buy another mountain?"

Ezra was rubbing the stubble on his jaw. "You know those Mexican women have a truck of their own now. How about hiring them to make lunches and bring them out to the two worksites? I'll bet all of us would enjoy some burritos or something else the girls might fix. Pay a couple of them out of the path account. There are at least four women at their place, in addition to Consuela, who only works with Bea in the garden, or for D in the vineyards. I'll bet that will work."

"Okay, okay, Ezra. Tell this guy with the big ears standing next to us to give you what you need and where to send the bill. Look for another big truck that we can buy, and I'll get Jimmy to have Jet and the other man split up for a while."

Ezra said, "You're not going to believe how much wood you're going to have when we finish cleaning out thirty acres. You're going to have to advertise to get rid of all the wood you have from last year, much less what you're going to have this year. You can let Bernie shill for you on the radio. That'll spend a few bucks for you. You might even need more than two full time men splitting and delivering wood."

That gave me pause. I did have two full time men who worked the wood yard at Ben's place. I know I started them splitting and never told them to stop. I remember Ezra saying that he had bought them a couple of chainsaws, and the outdoor equipment guy had done some work on the splitter, but I just realized that I had a separate thing going just with firewood. No wonder Maude was making a big deal out of it.

I saw Leo Toll, so I went over to see him. "Hey, Leo, how about a big truck with a flatbed, or something I can put a bed on. Something like a 650 or 750. I'd rather buy used."

"Don't have anything like that, but I know where there is a couple up in Lexington. There's also about a ten year old F-750 diesel with not that many miles that you can probably deal on in Mount Sterling. That guy is selling instead of trading. I offered him a good deal, but he thinks I'm getting in his jeans. What he wants for it is reasonable, and knowing you, you'll get him down. I'll call you with his number."

I was going to move on, but paused. "Oh yeah, Leo, do you have a pickup with a crew cab? Probably a late model 150 or 250, with four-wheel drive. What else it has isn't important, as it will be a wine delivery truck for my winemaker to use."

"I have a couple, Mike. Come in and pick one out. We could even run down to the dealership right now if you want."

"You're too eager, Leo. Tell you what, let me check with the family and maybe we can get this done real quick."

I found Mom and Millie, and told them what I needed to do. Millie said that John was being fussy and needed a nap. Mom said she would take them all home and I could take care of the truck business. She asked if she needed to bring D in when she got everyone home. I was about to say no, but said, "Do that. Bring all of the girls in with him so he gets something they all like. I think a little treat might be in order."

I watched as the kids were happily jamming into Grandma's Explorer to go home. I later heard that they had talked Mom into a used Xbox with four game controllers and a shoebox full of games.

Sissy and Shirley kept looking around, until Shirley came to me, "Didn't you say you want a bigger wood splitter? There's one over in the back of the junk everyone has today, that might be what you want. Come, take a look."

We walked to the back of the area where farmers had equipment displayed and saw a very large log splitter. It had two splitting slots and obviously had enough hydraulic power to do the job. The big motor on the unit told the story, as it was a big hundred fifty horse diesel.

I was looking the unit over when an old guy came up, "Hey, look who it is. Hey, Grayson, want to buy my splitter? I'm going to Florida and don't need this anymore. You did well last year filling in when I couldn't supply firewood any longer. What do you think of this piece of equipment? It's only two years old and works perfect. Let me show you."

The guy introduced himself as Jeff Jeffery before starting the motor. He slid a couple of big chunks of wood into the slots and smiled as he pushed a button. Both pieces of wood were easily split. Jeff worked on the drive head and put a splitter on with a star wedge head. He put a large piece in one side and pushed the button. The chunk of oak split into four smaller pieces of burnable logs. That was a nice option.

Jeff said, "It'll split both sides into four pieces if you put chunks into both slots at once. If you want a demo, I can do that."

We began dickering, and I knew this was going to be a dollar deal. We went back and forth for a while, with both of us pausing to consider whether we wanted to move off our number. We finally found an agreeable number and shook hands. I always wondered if one or the other of the dickering men just gave up and agreed on a price, or if they really reached a number everyone liked. Strange stuff this bargaining is.

I had a wad of hundreds in my pocket and gave him the even number he had gone down to. I knew I only had hundreds and worked him that way down to an even number. He told me to back my truck up to the trailer holding the splitter, and I would be out of there.

When we had the splitter hooked up and were leaving the market area, Sissy was trying to snuggle up to me. "Damn, you're one hell of a dickering fool. Are we really going to the Ford dealership for a truck?"

"It's for D, so it needs to get done. Mom should have him and the girls back up here by now. That took a lot longer than I thought."

We drove into the parking area with the trailer behind my truck and found Mom just getting there with D and the six young ladies. After a short explanation to Mom and D about the splitter on the trailer, we went to find Mr. Toll.

Finding the truck D and six young ladies could agree on took a lot longer than I would have thought. D kept trying to move them toward what he considered less expensive with fewer options, until they all finally agreed on a nice looking white four-wheel drive crew cab that had enough options to rival a Ford showroom convention truck. Leo took all of my information, and I wrote him a check on a blank in my wallet. Maude would have to take it from the wine account. I made a call to the insurance guy, Blake Noonan, and gave him the VIN number of the truck. It's funny how things were working out so easily. The holdup is usually me putting something off that I'm unsure of.

I handed D the keys and a hundred, telling him, "Go fill it with fuel and take the girls for pizza. I'll see you Monday."

"No, Mike, you'll see us at church tomorrow morning. I want these girls to know there has to be a balance in life, and that good people live that balance."

I watched as D left the lot with the six girls in the truck. I wondered for a second at how easily I just spent three times more money for a truck for someone who worked for me than I spent for the truck I used personally. It was strange.

Mom and I discussed what we wanted to do this evening. I told her that I was going to drop the splitter and trailer off at the wood yard before coming home. I figured the wood splitting and delivery guys would want to talk about it for a minute, so I told her I would be home in an hour.

Shirley and Sissy rode with Mom, while I hauled the trailer up the mountain. The two men came out as I pulled into the yard and were almost giddy about the new splitter. One told me they were going to be able to split twice as fast as they had been, but that they would need it to keep up with the way Ezra was bringing in chunks to split. I told them to think about a couple of more good men to help them.

When I stepped into the house, Millie hugged me and asked, "Can we go to Melini Cusine tonight? I called and he told me we would be welcome. Please, I would enjoy that."

I called Rodrigo to make sure he could accommodate us. He assured me he could, as we represented part of his success. I laughed as I told him, "You flatter us all too much, Rodrigo. You do know we are a group of twelve tonight? Are we going to mess up your tables?"

The man told me to come and enjoy the best Italian food anywhere in Kentucky. I believed him as I don't remember seeing a great Italian place in Lexington.

The slow drizzle that had slowed the trade at the market also made the trip up to Mount Sterling slow, but we all jammed into Sissy's Expedition. The car was overfull, but John had a place with a seatbelt, and the rest of us were sitting on top of each other. It's amazing how many kids can sit in one seat.

The dinner was something special, served by the restaurant owner and his wife. The kids ate simple items, while the adults sampled special dishes Rodrigo had his chef prepare. As he served, he told me, "You have not taken advantage of our agreement to have a special meal with me for a long time. It is important that I fulfill my part of our bargain. You must come more often so I can experiment with your palate."

Going home was gentler with everyone having full bellies. Even John was happy, and he giggled most of the way home. He really enjoyed being jostled around in his car seat.

While on the way home, Karen kept questioning Marita about her ancient name. Marita had told her she had a name that meant "Little Woman" and Karen was curious. Marita finally told us, "My native name is Cihauton, which does mean 'Little Woman.' The Mayan were very good and gentle people and were often taken advantage of by the Spaniards and other castes in the area. We were similar to the way you and your family are. I wish I could bring all my people to your mountain."

Millie patted her arm and told her, "We love you to be with us, but I think Jet will take you away soon."

"Yes, he will take me away, but I will never forget the love and gentleness you have shown me. Your man, Mike, is a man all of us want, but you have him to yourself, Millie. I would bear his child."

Oh boy, that's just what I need. Jet would really like to hear that.

Millie hugged Marita. "I try, but Mike won't have anyone but me. Even on the TV, it says men want many women, but not Mike. He only wants me. I am happy for that, but sad for him not having many babies."

From the front seat, Mom said, "You know, Millie, I talked to Martha this afternoon and asked about how the county handled abandoned children. She told me there isn't a good program for that, and most of those children are sent off to Lexington. She wants to talk to you about what you're asking."

Yep, that's what I thought about when Millie talked about a lot of babies without me knocking up the local population. Me and my big mouth got me in trouble once again.

The rest of the evening was pleasant and gentle. Mom, Sissy, Shirley, Marita, and I had some wine after a piece of pie. The whole family was in good spirits as we began getting ready for bed. I told the visitors that they didn't have to go to church with us, but I was assured that they all would accompany us in the morning.

I was a little nasty from sweating over several situations during the day, so I took a shower. Only Millie joined me and we enjoyed a very nice urge. Considering Millie felt she was already carrying another baby, I was happy to give her pleasure that we shared.

As I slipped off to sleep, someone else pushed me over and crawled in with me. They hugged me, but I didn't think anything of it at the time.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 34

Who is this in my bed? A hand was maneuvering my maleness into a position that was definitely more than sleeping next to each other. My hand was over a full breast, but it traveled over a rounded belly as I almost slipped into a warm moist cavern.

Something stopped me before I completed the stab into a welcoming place. I somehow resisted, and turned over to hug Millie. It was as if she knew my need, and I was instantly inside her without thrusting, but just gently lying there with her as we went back to sleep. The person behind me hugged me close and I hope went back to sleep.

I needed to get up and was between two warm female bodies. Sliding from between the girls was difficult, but not impossible. As I stood and looked down at Millie on the inside, there was my sister-in-law, Shirley, on the outside. I'd bet my brother wouldn't be very forgiving about something like that. Nothing happened, but it was close.

After letting the dogs out and using the bathroom, I made coffee before quickly dressing to do the chores. I was met in the big room by Mom, Sissy, and Marita as I prepared to go out to the barn.

Mom said, "The girls from below won't be up this morning since they all want to get the six new girls looking good for their first Sunday at church. D is proud to help them back into society and really wants them to make a good impression."

I almost forgot about the stupid goat that I had brought home yesterday. I hadn't thought much about him and just let him out with the steers and younger calf, now a half-grown steer. The goat was a typical crazed critter, dancing around the deer and other stock, and butting his head against almost anything. The deer would butt heads with the goat, and I thought about how surprised the goat would be when the deer grew horns that would give him the advantage as time passed.

Sissy and Mom were kidding each other about who milked faster, just like it had been when we were younger. There wasn't a winner as they were mostly trying to fill the second five gallon milk can. The two had a good time washing the utensils and filter, laughing and cutting up the whole time. Shirley watched and listened, wanting to be a part of the fun.

I came in the milk house where they were cleaning up and hugged Shirley, who was standing near them. She said, "I wanted you to do something last night, but you didn't. I think I'm glad you didn't, but I really wanted to be close to you. There is something so natural about being here."

Sissy picked up on what Shirley said and commented, "So you wanted to give poor Frank some horns. I wonder how he would feel." There was a pause before she continued, "Don't feel bad, I tried my best to get him to do me, but he wouldn't. Our mother raised a real straight dude and I think we're all proud of him for it."

Mom was grinning, "Too bad, huh? I think he could take care of all of our urges, as Millie calls them."

Shirley exclaimed, "That's what it is or they are. They're urges. I need to take care of an urge. Come on, Mike, bend me over the milk can rack and fix my urge."

"I'm leaving, Ladies; you are offering too much temptation," I said, adjusting my zipper. "I love you all, but I won't do what you're talking about."

Sissy came to me and hugged me, "I'm sorry, Mike. I just love to tease you, and Shirley feels the same, as you can tell. We'll be good, I promise."

As Mom walked by, in a low voice she said, "I didn't promise anything, Stud."

I broke out laughing because of the absurdity of the way Mom was acting. What a bunch of teases. I loved it.

We all cleaned up and had to take the Expedition to church. The kids were put into a class of their age group and the adults were congregated in the main auditorium. Harold did a good job talking about the giving of your time being as important as monetary gifts this morning. I wondered what I could do to give the church community labor time. This was something I was going to have to discuss with Harold. I'm sure there is something I could do or sponsor to help the church and the community at the same time.

D and the six girls quietly sat during the class and listened attentively. I hoped that they didn't feel life in a small community and on the farm would be too dull. I also hoped that associating with all of the regular folks would heal some of their mental wounds.

After the service today, the church ladies had coffee and snacks in the recreation room in the basement. It was then that Harold announced his intention to either expand the sanctuary or to build a new, larger church. He told everyone there that he wanted us to begin thinking of ways to raise money for the expansion. He was excited as he disclosed, "I have no idea what either expansion or a new church would cost, but I thought we might as well begin working toward making this happen. Our community is growing, and as Lexington expands, our sleepy little community will become larger. We are in easy commute distance of Lexington and for the many people who want to escape the intensity of the city, Stanton offers a small community where people know each other. I want our church to be able to welcome all who may want to worship with us. Let's make this happen."

Benson had edged over to me and said softly, "Well, Dude, I suppose you can guess what good deed number three will be."

I smiled at him and noticed Maude coming toward us, leaving Gene to visit with someone. Maude immediately told us, "I might have disclosed too much about the school finding funds for repairs and improvements, but I'm really excited about it. Just like Harold said, this community is going to grow rapidly when a developer decides to build a housing subdivision. A lot will change as the town grows."

Maude hardly took a breath before she launched into another subject, "I've been thinking about what you can do for people, Mike, and if there is enough money, would you consider putting up a fund or a trust that could earn money and use the earnings for scholarships?"

Benson jumped right in, "I was thinking the same thing, Maude. If we could begin sending more kids to get a higher education, we might be able to grow our community in other ways. I would sure like to keep the kids here instead of seeing them move off to the cities. We have to establish other businesses to accomplish that. But the first goal is to get more kids in the university. We can work with the high school and target the exceptional students. We should look to help the students with no ability to pay for a higher education first and work from there. The class sizes are small here and the best students need to be given the opportunity."

Maude was smiling. "I'm going to need some help, or there needs to be another accountant in the area. We're going to need another lawyer too when the population expands. We know we need medical help, so we can go right down the list of professionals along with good business people to create the small businesses the town needs to have in order to grow."

I told both of them, "Work on those ideas and let's get something going so we can offer some scholarships to this year's graduating class. The opportunity might stimulate more kids to work toward the grades necessary to work toward a scholarship. We should let the big school scholarships that are available out there go first, then we can pick up those kids who are bright but without enough funds to get through school. We'll pick up whatever it takes for housing, books, and living expenses for a full ride. I'll bet we can get several full tuition scholarships from Lexington, and even from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond or from the private colleges, Transylvania University and Centre College, if they knew the prospective student would have the financial assistance for their other costs."

Benson looked at me strangely, "How do you know about stuff like that? You are a twenty year Army man."

It was Maude who knew that answer, "This guy has a degree in Business Management, Benson. He graduated from the University of Maryland via several years of correspondence courses. I'm sure he learned all about how universities work."

"No shit, Mike. I would have never guessed. It does explain the way you seem to be able to manage so many activities, though. I suppose between that and all those years as a non-commissioned officer you got experience a lot of us will never have."

"Watch your mouth, Benson, we're still in a church room," Maude said, as we all noticed people coming toward us.

Mom was first to reach us with Millie behind her. "Let's get everyone home and fed, then we can think of some things the kids can do on a rainy day."

Maude suggested, "You know that the school gym is open to kids on weekends, don't you? They have all sorts of things going on in there. There is always half of the basketball court open for two separate basketball games. The other half has volley ball, badminton, and several tables for card and board games. With the rain, the place will be full of kids. Bring your bunch to my place and I'll have the neighbor kids take them. They'll have a ball."

Benson looked puzzled, "I didn't know the school did that. Who watches the kids while the gym is open?"

Maude advised him, "Volunteer parents and older kids who are out of school. A couple of teachers are often there because they like kids and enjoy them having fun. If you think about it, Benson, this community has very few problems with kids. Like Hillary said, 'it takes a village to raise a child, ' and we've got one. Everyone helps take care of them, so we raise some good ones. Now, if we can educate them, we're really going to be ahead."

Benson elbowed Maude to let her know she might be saying more than she should.

Mom said, "Sounds good. Do you want to come out for dinner, Maude? We're not having anything special. I have a couple of roasts in the oven."

"Not today, Bea. Gene is taking me to the Kitchen for the fried chicken dinner they have on Sundays. I've been thinking about it all morning."

It was funny about Mom inviting people to dinner this week, since everyone had someplace to go or had other plans. D and the girls had made plans for a meal they would make themselves and had invited some of the road crew. The other road guys were heading toward Lexington to do some shopping. Martha and Harold were eating at another church member's home. All of our regulars had plans. Mom wouldn't be disappointed though, as she had her daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandkids along with our full group. Marita had invited Jet, and Karen had met and become friends with Carla from down the hill and invited her. The house was going to be full anyway.

It was while eating dinner that Mom asked me, "What do you think about expanding this area out where the porch is now? I think we could sometimes use room for another table, and we could build a big deck out from there. I'll bet Raul could do that without a lot of disruption. If we don't use the space for another table, we can use it as an area for the little ones to play in as they grow."

Sissy was laughing and I was smiling. Sissy said, "You haven't changed a bit, Mom. You used to have Dad building on to the house almost every year. I think you thought the house was an erector set and that Dad could just put another room or build another room over something as easy as taking out the trash. Our little place became enormous by the time all of us left home."

"Oh, Sissy, you know I like to have people visit and eat with us. I'm at my happiest when the house is full of people with full bellies. Mike has been good about it, just like your dad. That's what makes you kids so friendly and good with others. You're even giving that same trait to your kids, and that is definitely a good thing."

After dinner, Mom, Karen, Sissy, and Shirley took the kids to town so they could go to the school gym with Maude's neighbors. That group decided to drive up to the Walmart in Mount Sterling while the kids were occupied.

Marita and Jet took off to do something that was undisclosed, but not intentionally. This left Millie and me to finish cleaning up the kitchen before playing with John. This was some unexpected private time to be with each other and we took advantage of it to just be close and chat. Millie told me she was already feeling what she believed just had to be a girl moving inside her. We talked about a concern I had that Millie probably shouldn't have any more than the two kids.

When John was rolling on the floor, pushing himself up on his arms and crawling, Millie snuggled up to me. She talked softly, "Mike, I know this may sound really strange, but Mom and I talked to the people who are supposed to help kids that are orphans or the ones whose parents are gone and don't want them. I want them, Mike. I know I can't help all of them, but I know I can help some. The very tiny ones get adopted right away, but some are left behind. If they are mixed with Latino or black, they don't have a chance. I want to be their mother, or at least give some of them some attention to let them know the whole world isn't against them. I wasn't able to give Summer anything as she grew up, except to teach her to read, write, and the subjects kids learn in school. She's taking Internet classes at home now and plans to keep doing that. Do you know that she took her GED test and passed it? I need to do that. I think I could do that now, but I don't want to take Internet classes unless it's how to be a better mother. I want to be just like your mom, Bea. She is really special."

I didn't say anything in response to what Millie was talking about, feeling that she had more to say.

We silently sat for a minute, watching John, before she continued, "I know it might be difficult sometimes, but I want to do this, Mike. Can I start with just one little one and work up? I know I'm going to be busy with two babies, but another little one shouldn't be a problem. Please, Mike, let me try to be a foster mother for a while and see how we do."

Knowing that my mother wanted this as well made it easier to agree to try it. At least Millie recognized that she needed to try this on a non-permanent basis at first. We all need to find out if we are capable of taking care of a child who had a different beginning in life. This was a big step, especially with a little boy who is only months from walking and a little girl or another boy growing in her womb. It's nice that money wasn't a problem, but I was becoming farther and farther removed from being a recluse.

When it was time to do the chores, I figured I could do them by myself easily and had just moved the cows into the milking positions to munch on some grain when Rosita, Carmen, and Consuela came into the barn. Carmen gave me a hug and assured me she was completely healed and had been so for a long while. Consuela said she wanted to see my animals and came with the girls.

Rosita shooed me out of the milking area so that they could milk while I did the heavy feeding of the pigs and steers. I brought Consuela out to see the deer and the goat, and I thought she was going to have a fit by the way she wanted to hug and play with the goat. She told me, "I had a pet goat when I was little girl. I shouldn't have become attached to it, since it was gone one day; but we had good meat that night. It took me years to realize that we had eaten my pet. Why do you have the goat, Mike?"

I explained about the bartering at the market and how I was suckered into taking it. Thinking she might be a sucker too, I asked, "Say, Consuela, would you like to have a goat for the kids to play with? You could make it a pet and you would be able to convince the others that you didn't want to eat it."

She was all smiles and said, "I think it would be easier if I had a female or two so we could have goat's milk. José sometimes has stomach problems and I've told him that goat's milk would help it. He tried some he found from a farmer on the other side of town and it did seem to help. Do you know of anyone with some nanny goats they might sell?"

"I just might, Consuela. I'll check and see. If José needs goat's milk, we'll get him some."

The little round lady said, "This is so good. The kids can learn about goats and learn how to milk a goat. I've heard that the man who used to live at our place, Ben, had goats and sold goat's milk and it helped to support him. This would be like bringing back something that used to be there. The men will have to put back up the fence they took down. See if you can find a nanny goat or two."

Consuela thought the deer was very unusual and delighted in scratching it on the antler ridge. For a wild deer, it sure didn't act like it.

The ladies from below had just left when Mom, Sissy, Shirley, and the kids came home for supper. The kids were really hyped up from the fun they had at the school. All four of them had met and played with a great many other children their age.

After supper, we were watching the news to hear the forecast of another day or two of rain. Sissy said, "I think we should go home and take care of our hubbies. If we do this in short periods of time now, they won't be upset with us over the summer. It's only six thirty, so let's get out of here and we can be home by eleven. I'll bet they will be happy we came home early."

Mom didn't want them to leave early, but knew that it would be easier on the kids if they were home. The country is fun, but not when it's raining nonstop for a few days in a row.

The bunch was gone by seven, once again leaving the family by ourselves. Marita was out with Jet again, which Mom commented on. "I think those two are about to make some decisions about their future. One of the guys said Jet was looking around town for an apartment to rent. I'll bet we'll be hosting another wedding very soon."

We all went to bed early, with Karen going to her room to sleep. This was different, since Millie and I were alone in our bed. We took full advantage of our time alone and were sound asleep before Marita came home and joined us in bed.



Dad and I were sitting on rocks near the vineyard up by the house. Ben, his wife, Eliza, and Bud were sitting with us as Dad was telling me. "Your mom is a happy woman, Mike. She's still young and healthy, and she needs a companion. You need to encourage her to find that person."

It was Eliza who corrected Dad, "You know your woman might be like me and only had that one man who she will revere all of her life. She has a friend in Ezra. He is a good man."

"He won't be with her that much longer, so she needs to find another special friend. Mike knows a lot of people, and I'm sure he knows someone that will enjoy knowing Bea."

I wanted to ask Dad what he meant about Ezra not being with her much longer, but my mouth wouldn't work.

"You're doing right by growing your family and finding other children for your wife and mother to nurture, Son. Those two women want to be mothers to many."

Ben told me, "I'm proud of you, Mike. You're helping people around here and are looking to find more ways to help them. Keep doing that, Mike."

It was Bud who was moving around, not pacing, but moving back and forth behind the others. "We want you to know that all of us will be with you, Mike. When you need us, we'll be right here for you."

Eliza smiled at me and winked at me. She told me, "There's more for you to do, Mike. We'll all help."



It was Marita getting into bed that took me from the dream. I lay with my eyes open, for what seemed like a long time, trying to make sense of how people who were gone could be talking to me. I didn't ever meet Ben's wife or Bud, but even Bud talks to me. That Dad is in my dreams makes it tough to dismiss them as bad dreams. What am I supposed to do and for whom? What did Eliza mean? What did Dad mean about Ezra?

Monday morning came with a damp chill in the house. I lit a fire in the bedroom fireplace and put a log in the big fireplace in the living area. After a quick shave and tooth cleaning, I was out in the barn getting ready to do the milking.

Rosita and Anita shooed me out of the milk house and asked me to bring the cows in to be milked. I put the grain out and put the cows in their stanchions. I fed the hogs and put hay out for the steers, deer, and goat. I have to go see the Amish farmer to see if he might have a nanny goat or two to trade.

I thought I should do the chickens, but Marita was coming from the chicken house with two large baskets of eggs. When I saw her finishing there, I went back to the barn to make sure the ladies knew to come in for breakfast when they were done.

The house was warm now, and Mom was at the stove creating our breakfast. I advised Mom I had told the two women to come in for breakfast and she said that she thought there wasn't much for the women to do today since it was still raining.

After breakfast, Bernie answered the phone when I called the road office. He was bubbly and talking strangely, until I realized the conversation was on the air. He had the phones forwarded to the radio station. I finally got the answer I was looking for. The guys were working on two areas where the heavy rain was causing some erosion. Bernie told me he would have them call me if they needed me. He did everything possible to get me to continue talking, but I told him I had to get going.

Mom told me, "Why don't you call Bert at the university to see if he can talk to you around noon. Take the chest up there and make sure you get some photographs of you giving it to him and the university. You could tell them that you want to barter with them. You want to trade the value of the chest for future scholarships. That really won't cost them anything out of pocket, and they'll own some real valuable history."

I was surprisingly able to get ahold of Bert. I told him I had something special to give the university and he should see if the president and academic head of the university could meet with us. Bert told me, "Hang on a minute. I'm going to put you on hold and call their offices. I think they personally want to thank you for your gifts to the university."

A minute later, Bert came back to the line and said, "How about getting here about eleven if you can make it by then? You can make your presentation and the bigwigs can give you a formal luncheon. They have a check for you for the coins we found. They were surprised at the values, but are not unhappy about paying you for them."

Thank goodness Mom had made sure I had some dressier clothes. I put some slacks and a nice shirt on. I had a corduroy sport coat, but that probably wasn't necessary. The chest mom had made up was only about half full, so not terribly heavy to carry. I didn't know how long and far I would have to carry it, so I put the hand truck in the back of my truck. I remembered to bring some protection along this time. I even made sure that I had my Kentucky concealed weapon permit in my wallet.

As I neared the university, I called Bert's cell phone and asked for directions on where to park and where to meet him. He directed me to the administration building and had me park my ugly pickup in a named parking slot next to the door. I used the hand truck to take the chest up the handicap ramp and was greeted by Bert who had been watching for me.

"What's that you're hauling, Mike? That looks like an old treasury money chest, is it?"

"I don't know what kind of rusty old chest it is, but you're going to like what's in it. It's something I found in a cave around the side of the mountain."

Bert led me into a conference room and wanted me to put the chest on the mahogany table. I made him find a pad to put down first, to keep from scratching the beautiful wood. Bert wanted to immediately open the chest, but I informed him that it is for the university, and everyone interested in it should see it at the same time.

"Damn, Mike, I'll hunt them up so we can do this. The girls will be here any second." The man was like a kid needing to go to the bathroom by the way he almost danced out of the conference room. Almost as soon as he left, a distinguished looking woman came in and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Lydia Bancroft, Assistant to the Dean. You are the generous Michael Grayson that Doctor Hannibal has told me so much about." The lady stuck out her hand for a gentle shake. "The Dean should be here by now, unless Bert has already begun talking to him. I think the discovery on your mountain is one of the biggest events in Bert's career."

An older gentleman in shirt sleeves, tie, and suspenders came into the room. His smile was infectious as he led Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha. "Hello, hello; let's get the formalities out of the way, or Bert here is going to go mad in anticipation. I'm the Dean of Students and a bunch of other non-essential titles. The name is Lionel Jackson, and you can only be Mike Grayson. It is nice to meet you." The man's sincere tone put me at ease as he vigorously shook my hand. "Do you want to make a presentation before you open this old chest and tantalize these three historians, or just open it up and let them drool?"

Everyone was standing at the end of the table with me as I stood in front of the chest. "I think I should tell everyone that I was doing some additional exploring in a deep ravine near where the other artifacts were found, and I discovered a cave that is hidden from sight unless you are directly in front of it. I think you all will be surprised at what I found."

I opened the chest and heard the five people standing with me gasp. Bert was the first to exclaim, "Look, it's full of gold; and there is a fortune in double eagles." Bert ran his hand through the coins and picked a couple up. "This is a Spanish Doubloon, and look at this, it's a French coin, a Napoleon."

Bert looked up at me and told me honestly, "Mike, the university is never going to be able to pay you what these coins are worth. You're going to have to market and sell them yourself. If we can, I'd love to study all of the coins before you do sell them."

Each of the five took coins from the chest and looked at them as most had probably never seen a real Spanish Doubloon or French Napoleon.

When the excitement waned, but while the shock remained at seeing something like this up close, it was time to close the deal. "Bert, you know I'm doing well up on my mountain and will continue to be for probably the rest of my life. To be honest, I already took some coins and sold them so as to have some future security should I need it. I also needed a reserve for what else I plan." There were nods of understanding from each of the people. I continued, "What I propose now is to make this chest and all it contains a gift to the university."

There were more gasps, and Dean Jackson looked up at my face, trying to understand why I was doing this. I smiled at him and said, "Yes, there are some strings. One of my goals in my community is to educate as many people as I can. I used some of this money to set up a trust fund for future students who might be eligible for scholarships, but won't be able to go to school because of the cost of books and living expenses. The trust is going to do that. What I want to work out with the university is for students to be granted full tuition scholarships and possibly some discounts for housing and food. I believe most of the prospective students would be willing to have a part time job to assist in the cost of their books and supplies, but if they can't, that is where the trust will step in. Do you think you could trade this chest full of gold for say ten full tuition scholarships a year?"

Lionel Jackson was smiling at me. "I don't have the final word for an agreement like that, but I believe Lydia and I can influence those who do to give you what you want. Looking at what you've brought, which I believe is probably worth way over a million dollars, if that gift was invested, I'd bet it would easily support ten scholarships a year at our actual cost. And we do have a program for those students who need assistance for reduced cost housing and cafeteria privileges."

I shook Lionel's hand again and asked, "Can you give me a receipt for this and I'll have my attorney, a B. Benson in Stanton, call you to work out the agreement?"

Bert said, "Let me begin counting and documenting what's here. This will take some time."

I pulled a folded sheet of paper from my pocket and handed it to Bert. "Here's an inventory of what's in the chest. You can confirm it, but it has been counted multiple times."

Lydia advised, "I'll have my secretary type up a receipt for this right now. Mike, please bring that sheet so that we can make copies and add one as a part of the receipt.

When we left the room, Lydia said, "You are a wise man. By documenting exactly what's in the chest, you guarantee it will all go into the proper pockets. This is an extraordinary gift, Mr. Grayson. Your barter request is very generous to those in your community, and I hope it will bring Stanton and Powell County the benefits you want."

Remembering something, I told Lydia, "One item that needs to be included in the receipt is a non-disclosure agreement regarding who gave this gift, or where it came from. I know you have to have this for your records, but when the attorney calls, he will give you the name of the trust. That should satisfy everyone who inquires."

"We can do that, Mr. Grayson. Let me write it in."

When we went back to the conference room, the four people there had the coins separated by type. Their count matched the one on the sheet Mom had given me, so the Dean signed the receipt, along with Lydia and me.

Bert took a minute and said, "Mike, I can't tell you how much you've influenced our department. We teach the history of our country, but we also teach separate modules about Kentucky and the Civil War. Our findings up on your mountain have given us some new information about what happened in our state."

Dean Lionel Jackson told me, "We all will honor your request for privacy. Thank you for the gift. We probably will sell some of this to help the department, but the majority will be put on display in the museum we are creating. We will invite you to its grand opening when it is complete."

That was done. I wheeled the hand truck out to my pickup and headed home. As I drove, I called Benson and told him about the gift and what he needed to do with the university. He told me, "I've been speaking to the county superintendent of schools, which is actually only the Stanton school, and he is enthusiastic about the possibility of some scholarships dedicated to only Powell County. We will be setting up the criteria for the scholarships so one or two can be awarded this year. This is great, Mike. Denise will academically qualify for a scholarship, and already has for one from the state, but she isn't our target student. I can afford to send her to school, while there are many kids who cannot afford the cost of books, housing, and food. Having set this up for that purpose was our goal, and I think you have achieved it."

I found Bernie's voice on the radio and listened to his local news broadcast and an interview with the lady owner of the Kitchen. She is such a down home type of lady with her country upbringing oozing from her accent. Her very successful restaurant started out as a small house with the meals prepared in her own kitchen and served on her dining room table. The many years of serving the community has brought her success.

No one was there when I got home, so I went to check on the wine storage areas. I really wanted to see how the brandy was coming along. I somehow thought that this might become part of our production that could be very profitable. It was common for large distillers to buy some local vintages, therefore creating some easy profits for the vineyard owner. Since brandy is typically blended from multiple distillation sources to achieve a consistent flavor, some of the larger brands pull in barrel stock brandies from a wide area.

The new storage area was busy with D and the six girls dusting and cleaning around all of the barrel racks. D took me to a group of barrels and had me taste what he thought was our best. It was good, very strong, but good. He told me, "This is a quality seldom found, and only in the smallest vineyard distillers. You've proven your ability to pick your grapes at the exact right time. Let me get you a taste of some of what I call the 'novelty brandies' with fruit mixed in."

The two I tasted were very good, and you could identify the melon taste within the liquor. I asked the girls if they would eat with us tonight, since I wanted to discuss their schooling. D looked worried, but I told him, "Nothing to be concerned about, D. I want the girls to either finish high school or get their GEDs, even if we have to have a tutor work with all of them. I'll bet we can find a retired schoolteacher to help us."

D said, "I think three of the girls may be headed toward relationships and marriage to some of your road workers. They are going places together and acting the way youths do everywhere. The talk you had with the boys has been effective, and the girls have heeded my warnings and pleas. I think we will have some good couples from these relationships."

I looked at D's greenhouse to discover that he was growing a variety of herbs that he used for cooking and for blending with small amounts of brandy to experiment with developing a liqueur or cordial of our own, like Drambuie or Benedictine. He told me he had also been supplying Bea with herbs. Each time he referred to Bea, he said it with a lot of respect, but with some desire in his voice. I wonder if he might be able to convince Mom to see him as a viable candidate to enjoy some good times with. D was more than he appeared to be, and I hope the investigation of his background brings out only good things.

The family came home with the two ladies from below still with them. They had all been to Mount Sterling and to the local Kroger on a shopping binge. I told the ladies to stay inside and I would do the chores tonight. I said to Mom, "I asked D to bring his six charges to dinner so that we could talk about the girls' schooling. They don't eat much, so you won't have to fix a lot."

Millie gave me a hug, "But we will have to make a lot for the road guys that are coming for supper. We stopped by the road yard and caught them all as they came back from doing a repair. They'll be here about six."

I was done with all of the evening chores and milking by five thirty, so I came in and quickly used the shower. I was dressed in clean dry clothing and that made having a beer in my office that much better.

I had begun writing an outline for a short story about the military happenings that I had seen in my dreams. I was attempting to put the story together with the positions of the skeletons and artifacts we found. There was a lot of supposition as to what happened when, so the essay type story might not be factual or accurate, but it would be from my dream perspective that had seemed so real.

The story had only developed into less than a thousand words when the guys began showing up. They were all laughing at the deer that had jumped the fence to greet them, the same way the dogs do.

Bernie joked that the deer couldn't make up its mind whether it was a deer, steer, goat, or dog. When I asked how they knew a goat had been added to the menagerie, Jimmy said that the goat was there with the deer to see who was coming to visit.

That was a good reason to get hold of the Amish farmer to see if he had a couple of nannies for Consuela.

Tonight, we had some of Mom's special meatballs in some spaghetti sauce that the women had traded for at the market. When served with a salad, some broccoli, and fresh Italian bread with our homemade butter, the meal was fit for a king.

D made sure that everyone had wine, including his girls. He had a special bottle for them that he said was a special barrel that had almost no alcohol. I really have no idea how he did that, but the idea that he had done that was unique. I wondered if there was a market for non-alcoholic wine?

When I asked D how he had made the non-alcoholic wine, he explained, "It is regular wine to start with, but by putting batches of the wine in a vacuum chamber, the alcohol boils off before the water and other liquids do, so I am able to extract most of the alcohol without damaging the wine. There is about 0.5% of alcohol left in the wine, so it is safe even for children. There is a market for such wine, but most vintners only do this with their least enjoyable wines, so non-alcoholic wine has a bad reputation among connoisseurs."

When we were eating a sweet Italian dessert, Jet stood at the table and had Marita stand with him. He said to all of us, "Please, you a, a, are my family na, na, now and I wa, want you to be with me when I do this." Jet turned to Marita and went to one knee while still holding her hand. "Marita, my sweet Marita, tha, that makes me, me speak so well. Will ya, ya, you marry me?"

Marita must have been expecting this, since she smiled down at Jet with tears in her eyes. She pulled him to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. After a gentle kiss, she replied, "Yes, oh yes, Jet. I will marry you."

Jet was grinning as he pulled a box from his pants pocket. He took a ring from the box and slipped it on Marita's hand. They kissed once again, but this time to all of us standing and applauding. Jet said to all of us, "Will ya, ya, you a, a, all come to our wedding? I will ta, ta, talk to the pastor to make sure he, he will da, da, do this for us. Now my brother has something ta, ta, to ta, ta, talk about on the ra, radio."

Bernie was standing next to his brother with watery eyes, nodding in agreement. You could tell the two shared a lot between them.

Because it was raining, the three guys who were sweet on three of D's girls and Jet decided they didn't want to go anywhere this evening. They did stay and play with the kids' video games that had been left behind. It was fun to watch how they divided up into teams and played each other for a couple of hours. This was done after the kitchen cleanup, leaving Mom to grin at all of the young people.

We did interrupt the game to have a discussion of the benefits of the girls going back to some form of school. It was finally agreed that a tutor would be hunted to help the girls finish their GEDs. They knew it could become important, but didn't realize just how important yet.

Around seven thirty, a visitor was announced by the guinea hens. A young lady came running to the porch to keep from getting too wet. It was Denise, here to visit with Karen. The two disappeared into Karen's room to talk about what two teenaged girls talk about.

Mom and I chatted about the trip I had made into Lexington, and how easily the Dean had agreed to help me with the scholarships. I felt like that would be a major help to the community. Mom joked with me about what I should do next. I told her I didn't have any ideas, except for what Harold had talked about after church Sunday. Mom asked me, "Would you consider donating the money for the new church? You could do that so that Harold would be way ahead of the curve if he thinks the community is going to grow that fast."

D sat down with us at the little table and asked, "Raul is going to be done with your place soon. I know you are going to help him find work, but I have an idea about what our pastor said Sunday after church. I've heard others say this, but he said the city or county would be growing rapidly because of people wanting to live out here in the country. I think that if Mike could clear home sites and build roads on the slopes of hills that are not available for agriculture, Raul and all of his men could be busy for years to come, building homes for the proposed commuters. I think the homes could be upscale properties that would attract people who might consider opening businesses locally, further employing those in the community. There are hundreds of acres that could accommodate homes and that would help the city and county with the tax base."

Mom was listening attentively and appraising D a little differently than she usually does. Since Ezra wasn't with us tonight because he was attending a function in Lexington, Mom was fair game to D. I was impressed with how D had presented his idea, and asked, "How big should the lots for these homes be?"

D thought for a minute, "You could have various sizes. There could be lower priced homes on large lots, medium priced with an acre, and some estates with five acres each. I think that if you were to develop and subdivide some land, build roads, and provide the utilities, you would have an instant winner. You could do this in three separate areas by lot size so that homebuyers wouldn't feel encroached upon by lesser or greater value homeowners. I'll bet your lawyer and accountant friends know the area well enough to know exactly where land is that can be bought for a project like this."

Mom said, "Michael, this is a good idea. You could easily build these developments with the available labor force in the area, along with Raul and his friends and family. Just think of the additional people for Harold's, or rather 'our' church."

"Mom, D, I'll talk to Benson and Maude, but I'm not going to ramrod something like that. We'll look for someone who is a strong organizer and wants to do it. We'll look here first before we go outside the area. You never know what or who we'll find under our noses."

"Tell you what, Mike," D said, "I'm glad you will stay out of it, since I need you to help me make wine. I think we will have more than ever this year. Together, we will be even more successful."

"You know what's funny, D? I'm not trying to be successful. Everything I do here is so I can provide for my family. I did this road thing because it would be a help to Ralph who owns the concrete plant and rock quarry. He couldn't do what he needed to do to take care of the roads and still grow his business, so he convinced me to take the roads over from him. The county gave me the rest of the townships to take care of, so I was in business almost overnight. I originally bought the bulldozer to help the fuel distributor out, and that mushroomed into what Ezra's been doing for over a year. Last year's sweet corn planting was an opportunity that I wasn't going to take advantage of, but Kroger helped me out. I overestimated the size of the garden I wanted, and ended up having several people help me with that. We're lucky in that we have been able to feed ourselves and all of the folks who live below us. What I'm saying, D, is that everything that has happened so far has been accidental, unintentional, and unplanned, as if some supernatural force is helping to make this mountain and me forever comfortable."

D nodded his head with a smile on his face. "I often feel that force when I'm working in the vineyards. Each vineyard has its own feel and makes me feel differently about the way we handle it. That you agreed to expand each vineyard an additional row of vines is a major bonus to us and should max out our capacity to store wine and the grappa we will distill."

Mom patted my arm. "Son, you've done a good job and worked hard to grow your farm. You are the impetus for the community to grow, but we all still want to keep its original values. Just keep doing what you're doing and you might want to develop the housing D has suggested."

I was glad when all of the road guys decided they needed to go home. Some took the girls down to their place, while the others took D and the other girls home. Mom gave me a hug and went to bed, while Millie began giving John a late feeding before putting him down for the night.

A little wine and sitting in front of the low fire was what I needed to settle down from the intense planning of more and more activities. It was apparent that I would have to make my mind up to be or not to be a recluse. Damn, I wanted to be hidden away and not a part of everyone else's life. If I continue to help the community, it was a foregone conclusion that I would be a part of everyone in the community's life. Rats; being a recluse is not working out at all.

If I weighed it between good and bad, helping the community was a good thing. Everything I did that helped those around me and the town brought happiness to many. I liked the idea of everything I was going to sponsor, but I didn't want the notoriety of having sponsored it. The clinic was easily blown off as a donation from a rich person who didn't want to be recognized. The school repairs and mods could be another rich person who wanted anonymity. How would I stay out of the limelight by building new homes to attract the wealth that would bring the community some financial well-being?

I didn't know that answer, so I put my water glass, turned wine glass, in the sink to be washed before going in and stripping for bed. After looking at my son in his crib, I snuggled behind Millie in our big bed and drifted to sleep.

Ben told me, "You know what, young fella? You're doing exactly right, and if you help the county build homes that bring more people, this will be a great place for kids to grow up in and stay to raise their own families."

Eliza told me, "You're the man I thought you were, Mike. I'm so happy that you came to this mountain."

Dad nodded, so I knew I was doing right. We spent the rest of the night smiling at each other.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000


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Chapter 35

When I woke up and went into the living area to let the dogs out and throw a log on the fire, I realized that it was a little warmer than it had been. As the dogs ran out to relieve themselves, I saw that the rain had finally stopped. I looked up at the still dark morning sky and saw stars. It was amazing that we had a house full of prospective garden workers for the weekend and now that they had gone home, the rain had stopped.

It would take at least a day before the freshly tilled garden area would be ready to begin planting, so there would be plenty for the city folks to do if they came back next weekend.

After putting the coffee on, I shaved and brushed my teeth, thinking that I would shower after the chores. Mom and Marita came from the bedrooms and were followed by Karen. Marita was very bubbly this morning and told all of us, "I will miss being on the farm, but I will be with a wonderful man. I knew he was going to ask me, but the way he did it surprised me. I don't think he realizes how much of a family you all are to him. He feels it, but after being alone and only having Bernie for family, it's tough for him to accept people who love him the way you guys do. You are my family as well as his."

Now that was something special to hear.

Two ladies from below came up as we began doing chores. It was nice to be able to carry grain to the hogs without getting soaked from the rain. I had to use a shovel to clear the drainage ditch so the hogs didn't have a pond to wade in if they stepped off their concrete platform. The piglets were rapidly growing and would soon need to be put in a separate area. The other brood sow was acting funny, so I figured her to have her litter today or tomorrow.

The area outside the pigpens is part of the pasture area near the barn, so I had an audience while clearing the ditch. The crazy goat bounced around the ditch as the deer kept putting his nose next to the nasty water and shaking his head. The steers just stood and stared, curious, but not curious enough to come very close.

As soon as I was done, all of the animals went back under the lean-to for more hay. Each one would stick its head into the grain trough and lick the wood and see if something had been missed. The cows would do the same thing by checking the trough first when they were let out.

When I went into the house, Millie told me, "You had a phone call. The man who is bringing your steers wants to know if he can come this morning."

I called the farmer and he said he would be here in about an hour. Wanting to make sure Raul and crew would be here this morning, I called down below and spoke with Anita. "He is gone, Raul is. Talk to him you can, there he went." I can usually make out what Anita is saying, but not this morning. Another voice came on the phone. It was Pedro, "Raul left to go up to your place a minute ago. He should be almost there by now. Anita is talking confused this morning."

The guineas were making a fuss, so it must be Raul coming now. I went out to talk to him and the three men with him about helping to herd the beef stock when they arrived. I told Raul that Mom wanted to make another addition. That made the man grin and tell me, "I know what she wants. She wants to make your deck more dining room or big room area. I figured on that when we built on the first time. She loves to keep adding on, doesn't she?"

We agreed the men would all come in for coffee and a snack after we put the steers up.

I still had to finish running the water into the troughs, but the hard work was done. I planned to run two inch plastic pipe from a rock collection pool near each stock pen and let gravity feed the water down to the troughs. I was lucky to have springs nearby for all of them, and a unique water flow up by the house. The trough was put against the rock bluff where water poured out and flowed back into the mountain right there. I put the trough there with holes in the bottom to keep the water naturally flowing back into the mountain. The other two areas were a fairly short distance from springs, but I needed to bury some of the pipe so tractors or steers wouldn't crush it.

I threw a pick, a couple of shovels, several ten foot lengths of pipe, and the pipe dope into the ATV, and asked Mom to call me when the farmer came with the stock.

I went around to the side where the longest ditch had to be. I had to dig through the vineyard to the orchard fence. It was only about thirty feet, but that's a long ditch in rocky ground. After marking the path of the ditch, I was able to begin digging out about four feet out from the rock wall. I probably didn't have to worry about the pipe freezing, but I still wanted it down at least two feet. It would be my luck; I would forget and plow the pipe up.

I had only gone about ten feet when Mom called to tell me the farmer was here. Back at the house, I had the farmer back his truck up to the big gate to the orchard by the house. The animals got off the truck without much trouble, but keeping the others on was somewhat of a problem. Just like lemmings, one wanted to follow the other.

I had Raul drive another ATV with his three men down to the orchard around the side where I was digging. We got those steers off and drove down to the bottom orchard and put that stock in the fenced area.

Raul told me, "I'll put two men on digging that ditch for you. You should have told us about that. You have to dig a little like that down here too. I'll go get some more shovels and we'll have your water trough full in no time. Are you going to let the water run off, or is there a natural hole for it to flow into?"

In answering him, I said, "I think there is natural water flow on the outside of the orchard, so the water flows down the side of the fence to the watershed area. The orchard down here has a rocky area that the water disappears into."

As I left, I added, "Raul, I need you and Jose to visit with Mom for a second before you come back down. Drop the other two men off and we'll bring them a roll and coffee."

I invited the farmer into the house to meet the family and for coffee. I knew Mom was making sweet rolls, so Raul and Jose sat with Mom while I talked to the farmer. The man quickly spoke up, "Grayson, you have a goat," he almost accusingly said. "What are you doing with it? Do you have any nannies?"

Laughing, I told him, "I had to take the goat in a trade. Do you want him? A neighbor lady wants a pet, but she would really like a couple of nannies. Do you know who might have a couple for sale?"

"For sale, hell no; but I know where there are two nannies with a female kid that need a home. We had an old man who rented our little house move to Lexington to live with his son. He left me the goats and told me to take them as a gift for being so fair with him for the years he lived there. The question is, can I go get those goats and give them to you?"

Since the men from the place below didn't have a fenced area, the goats were going to have to stay here for right now. These were nannies and would have to be milked and cared for until the guys below can get their fence back up. Consuela would be upset if I passed on the opportunity. Shoot, not a hard decision. "Sure, bring them. They can live with the cows and steers for the time being. I'll help the men get a fence up down below. I don't think they tore the pasture fence down where the mule used to be. They only tore down the fencing for the pens around the barn."

"You would be doing me a big favor if I can get rid of those goats. I'm milking the nannies and throwing the milk out. There's no sense in me having them if that's what I'm going to do with them. I'll owe you for doing this, Mike. I really thank you."

This was going to make Consuela happy, but I would have to help get the fence up down below.

The farmer couldn't wait to get home and bring the three goats back. He left, and I sat in with Mom as she made sure Raul and Jose knew what she wanted. Raul asked her, "Do you think you will add on more? You may have to start over with a new house. This one is about all that will fit up here."

Mom was grinning as she answered, "This will be all. When you finish this, I think Mike has a big project for you to begin. You'll need a lot of help for what he's thinking."

Raul was a believer when it came to Mom, and said, "That will be nice, Bea. I think Jose and I want to be regular family men soon. We might even know some women who want to be our wives."

All these people getting married around here are going to cause the area to have a population explosion just from having kids. It must be in the mountain water.

Raul, Jose, and I grabbed some more shovels and rode around to the vineyard where the ditch was being dug. It was going rapidly with two men digging. With five of us working, we were quickly done digging, the pipe was connected, the ditch was backfilled, and water was flowing through the troughs. The runoff only went about fifteen feet down the fence line before it disappeared into a pile of rocks.

We drove to the lower orchard and completed that job in an hour. The steers now had plenty of grass to eat and all the water they needed. If I needed any one thing, it would be some small shelters on the outside perimeter of the orchards for the animals during heavy rains. I would think about that.

Our timing was perfect, as it was lunch time and the farmer was back with the goats. When I told Raul and the men that the goats were for Consuela, they immediately huddled before turning to look at me. Raul, ever the spokesman, said, "Mike, you have some fence wire leftover from putting it between the vineyards and orchards. I think it would be enough to fence in behind the barn so the goats could use the pasture between the barn, the woods, and the cornfield. Can we use that fence wire?"

I told them all, "Use it as a gift to Consuela with my blessing. You'll need my posthole digger, and you know where the posts Ezra cut for me are. Use the ones that have been creosoted."

You would have thought they had just won the lottery by the way they were excited. Consuela was like a mom to them, and I'm sure she took care of the men and didn't ask much in return. I made the suggestion, "Go home and build the fence now so that we can bring the goats down to Consuela this evening. I'll get a sack of the cow feed that will be good for the goats as well."

Jose said, "Thank you, Mike. This is going to be good for Consuela and we will now have goat milk. We will soon have goat cheese. We will work especially hard tomorrow to make up for today."

"Don't worry about it, Guys. You helped me with the stock and water pipes. That was important."

As soon as they left, Mom, Millie, Marita, and Karen wanted to look at the nannies and the kid. The young male goat and the kid were playing as only goats can, jumping, running, and butting heads. The kid was short enough that it would run under a steer, while the older male had to run around it. With the goats entertaining and exercising the beef stock, I figured I'd have to give them some extra grain.

All of us walked out beyond the yard to the vineyard and orchard area. The new Hereford steers were very interested in the grass that was growing so lushly between the trees. I think there was enough grass and few enough steers that the stock should have plenty to eat for the summer. Just before the weather should be turning cold, I'll grain them heavy for about sixty to ninety days and take some great beef stock to market or to the butcher.

When we walked back to the house, Consuela and Carmen were standing with Rosita and Anita, waiting for us. As we approached, Consuela came to me and hugged me. I find it cute the way the top of her black hair only reaches below my chin. "Raul and Jose told me you have nanny goats for us. Can I see them?"

We walked around to the pasture area that the stock wanders around in. The four goats were all lying in the sun. The two nannies were chewing their cud while the young male and female kid had temporarily worn themselves out and were recharging. Consuela went to each of the goats and stroked and talked to them. To me, she said, "Will these be a lot of dinero? How much for me to have them?"

"Consuela, the man I traded for the new steers didn't want these goats, so I now have two nannies and a future nanny, along with a good looking male to breed them with. I accepted these goats for you, knowing how you and your family could use the milk. I hope this works out for you."

Consuela had watery eyes as she looked at the goats. "I will come tonight and in the morning to milk them. You will not have to take care of them. The men say they will be done with the fence maybe late tonight. I will make them a good supper for working so hard for me."

The two ladies began walking down the driveway before Mom realized they were going home. She quickly put them into her Explorer and took them home.

While I was walking toward the house, my cell rang. "Grayson."

"Hey, Army man, come into town for a few minutes; I have some reports for you to look at."

"Yeah, okay. I should stop by the road guys and Ezra today too. I'll see you in an hour."

I was a little dirty from digging and messing with the stock, but what the heh, I was a farmer and it was the middle of the day. Ezra was doing great and told me he was going to split the crews up starting tomorrow so he could begin on Stanley's place. The road guys were easy to find as half of them were finishing up the bridge abutment and taking the forms down. Jimmy said the other men were at the yard, working on some equipment.

As I walked into Benson's office, Denise greeted me with a big smile. "Hi, Mr. Grayson; did you know that I helped Karen apply to UK in Lexington so that we could go together? We might even be able to room together."

Wow, a lot was going on in the family. I supposed I'd have to sit still for a few minutes and listen.

Benson was standing at his office door and said, "Come in, you're going to like what I have."

As I walked into Benson's office, he leaned out and asked, "Denise, can you get us some fresh coffee? I think Mike takes his black, so black for both of us."

Benson sat at his small round conference table and opened a folder that had a good picture of D on the top. Printed underneath was his full name of Doroteo Pedro Jimenez. It had his birthplace, date, and the names of his parents and his siblings. Benson pulled a copy of a diploma from the folder that read 'Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey' across the top, with D's name in the middle of the document. He said this is from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, a very impressive university.

Benson next showed me a bunch of papers that looked like government documents. Since they were all in Spanish, I didn't know what they meant. Benson pointed to the first document. "Your man was raised in a wealthy family. His father was an ambassador to France for several years, followed by being the ambassador to Spain. Young Doroteo learned winemaking as a teenager in Spain. When he returned to Mexico to attend the university, he majored in agriculture.

"There isn't too much about his activities between graduating and when he became the chief vintner and winemaker for a large winery in southern Mexico. He was very successful and was slowly beginning his own vineyards. It was at this time the cartels began forcing the people to grow marijuana and poppies. The vineyard Doroteo worked for was burnt to the ground and all of the owners executed for rebelling against the cartel in their area.

"Your D became important to them since his knowledge helped the cartels grow big crops of the two plants they were most interested in. D made the mistake of keeping his vineyard up, not making wine, but providing fruit for the people around him. An argument began and his family disappeared. He was promised their return when the vineyard lands were growing the crops they wanted.

"While Doroteo was planting marijuana where his vineyard had been, news reached him his family had been executed with other nearby villagers who resisted. He went to the village where he had heard his family had been killed and confirmed their death by digging up their bodies. I can't imagine how he must have felt at that moment.

"Doroteo took a few belongings, his money, and prepared to leave. It is said he died in the fire of his home. There is also a report of one of the key cartel enforcers disappearing about the same time. I think your man exacted a little revenge."

I looked up and asked, "How do we know if this is really Doroteo?"

"For one, the photograph is one from the regional newspaper only three years ago. Two, his death certificate was never filed. Three, and most important, we have a DNA analysis from a sample taken when he was suspected to have a local disease transmitted by mosquitoes. We were able to get a sample here by asking one of your men to get his toothbrush. Your man is genuine, but could be mentally crippled because of his losses. Everything we found out about him has to lead you to believe he is a good person. The investigator down in Mexico said he had to be careful so as not to alert the cartel that Doroteo could still be alive."

"That is really thorough, Benson. I'm glad I did this, but almost sad that I didn't trust him. He just seemed to be too good to be true. He is a very humble man."

Benson nodded, "I would be too if I had gone through what he did."

Denise brought our coffee and we sipped it while thinking of Doroteo.

Benson sat up again and said, "The six girls are very interesting. There isn't a lot of documentation on the girls' activities in the brothel, but as you can imagine, they were not treated very well. Apparently kidnapping young women and forcing them to work in brothels is very common out in California and even in several other areas."

"First, I've had all of their identities checked and duplicate drivers' licenses and state IDs, as well as copies of birth certificates issued. They are all citizens, although two are children of undocumented immigrants, so-called wetbacks, if you really want to know. Anyway, the kids mostly came from migrant farm worker families and were kidnapped, and in the case of the two girls related to Doroteo, sold to the brothel owners.

"Here's where it gets interesting. It seems these six girls were being transported to a party. According to one of the other girls just freed from the brothel, the story is that the men who were taking the girls bragged they were going to use the merchandise before delivering it.

"A California Highway Patrol report states that four armed illegal immigrants were found dead in an SUV hidden in a wooded area near Sacramento. All four had their throats cut and had been stabbed multiple times. There wasn't much evidence to find, as the car had been burned, although not completely. None of the four men was dressed from the waist down.

"There is a report of several young ladies changing clothes at a nearby gas station and convenience store about the estimated time of the car burning, but no one got a good look at the girls other than they were all young and well dressed. The Highway Patrol investigators believe this was a drug gang killing and are not that interested in working the file. It's in the dead file cabinet in Sacramento."

"Wow, Benson, whoever your investigator is, he's a good one. That is a very thorough report. It's amazing that the girls are not more damaged from their experiences, since they seem to be in good spirits and enjoy being around all of us. Considering the life they had before and after being kidnapped, being around D and my family is probably as close to wonderful as they have had."

He told me, "It might be a good idea to watch how the girls interact with men. They seem to be fine with those around them now, but I'll bet that none of the men have been aggressive or have attempted intimacy with them. Just keep an eye on them. Are you going to tell Doroteo about what you found out about him and the girls?"

"I'll think about that," I said, trying to figure out what would be the best. "He probably should know about the girls, but something tells me they have disclosed all of that to him."

As I stood, I told Benson, "I'm going to let you keep this information here, but I want you to go through this with Mom, too. I think it might be important for her to see and hear all of this. How much have you been able to accomplish in getting documents for D?"

"I have his green card, so he can legally work here. He will have to renew the card in a year, but if he's lucky, we might be able to get him naturalized by then, if that's what he wants. Doroteo is an educated man with some political influence. I don't think we want to use that influence, but I think his name and family's past activities will get him quickly passed through the bureaucracy."

"Good deal, Benson. Thank you for doing this. Since D is working so closely with me, I wanted to have a better feel for where he came from. The story is terrible, but it's good that I heard it. Thank all of the investigators for me. I'm sure they charged a bundle, but the trust can afford it. If the farm should pay for it, have Maude figure it out."

As we shook hands, Benson mentioned, "It looks like Denise and Karen might be going to school together. I love the way they get along, and both seem to be very responsible. This will be a good thing."

I was about to leave, when I remembered something; "Benson, can you investigate available properties around Stanton that are not tillable. You know, property that has too much of a slope, but could be leveled in spots for homes? Mom suggested that I look at getting in on the population boom you all expect and build some upscale subdivisions. The low-end houses on a half-acre, medium size homes with about an acre, and the high end around five acres. I want to keep the subdivisions apart, so I'm looking for three distinct areas."

"Oh boy, Mike; you're going to help the county with its tax base. We need some high-priced non-agriculture properties that we can soak with taxes for the schools and everything else. Not only that, but this means I'm going to be busy for a long time. More people, means more problems, and more need for an attorney. I'll go talk to Steve at the county tax office and should have information for you later today."

"Well, in that case, Benson, bring the family out to supper tonight. I'll call Mom to make sure there is plenty. Don't be surprised if you aren't the only guests."

The man grinned. "I've heard how you and your mom are always inviting people to come out. I'll call to make sure the family can do it."

I drove by the newspaper office and radio station on the way home. Bernie was in the window and waved when I honked. I didn't even slow down as I didn't want to get hooked into another interview.

I was feeling pretty good about the day, since I had the steers I traded for settled in the orchards, the water piped to the troughs, and as a bonus, Consuela was getting the nanny goats that she wanted.

Oops, I forgot to ask Mom about Benson and family coming. After hitting the speed dial on the cell, I asked, "Hey, Mom, can we feed Benson and his wife, along with Denise?"

"Isn't the rest of his family coming?" Mom asked me, startling me that I didn't know he had more kids in his family.

"I'm sure all will come, how many kids does he have?" I knew I had stretched things a little.

I heard Mom giggle, so I knew I wasn't in deep shit like I used to get because I had invited too many buddies to dinner. "He's pretty prolific, Mike. The man has three of his own and two of his sister's, which includes Denise."

"Mom, how do you know so much about everyone in such a short time, and I don't know hardly any of this?"

More giggles. "You men gossip, but not about the important stuff. Women get into details where you men only fantasize about what would be fun."

She had me there. I didn't listen to stuff from the gossips around the stove too much, so I didn't hear the gory details. Thinking about the extra people, I asked, "Do you need anything from town before I come home?"

"We're fine, Son. I have everything we need for tonight. We did up all of those leghorn fryers you traded for, so we'll have plenty for the Bensons, the road crew, and D with his girls. The road guys have been calling almost everyday to see if we were inviting D and his girls to supper. I think it's cute, so I invited them all."

"Playing Cupid, huh, Mom?"

"A little, but I'm being a good Cupid. Look how happy Jet is, and Bernie even seems to have a girl interested in him. He's been up on his prosthesis every time he's been out for the last few days." Mom has to be glowing from doing well for the young people in her life.

"Okay, Mom, tell Millie I'll be home soon. I'm on my way."

When you leave Stanton, there is a really bad curve in the road that was probably made because the road went between two groups of trees around natural ponds. At the apex of the corner, a farmer had his stockyard in front of his big barn and house. When I had slowed down to the twenty-five to thirty miles an hour for the curve, I saw a car crumpled up in the stockyard in front of the barn.

I slid to a stop just off the road and turned on my four way flashers. I called the yard number before leaving my car. When Bernie answered, I told him to call the sheriff and rescue for the accident at the Norman curve. "I'll get it out, Boss. Keep us posted."

After jumping the fence, I ran to the crumpled up car and found three unconscious people. The person in the back seat was moving and moaning, so I reached through the overturned car and patted what looked like a female. "Stay still until I figure out how bad you're hurt. Let me check on the people in the front."

The person replied with a moan that let me know they understood.

The passenger wasn't dead, but was only semi-conscious. I had to push the air bag away from what looked like a female, then looked to see if there was any blood showing. After checking this one, I went around to the driver and saw that the airbag was still almost fully inflated, so I used my pocketknife to stab and cut it to let the air escape from it. I checked the driver's pulse and it was there, but not very strong.

Knowing what an IED could do to troops kept me from dragging the three from the car, but I removed each one from their seatbelts so they wouldn't be so cramped. I tried to pull the doors open, but couldn't budge them. I knew the first responders would have the equipment to do the job.

I heard sirens and knew help was on the way. Just to be safe, I called the clinic and was able to get through to Dr. Rivers. She told me, "Mike, I heard you were at an accident out by the Norman curve, how many are there and what's their condition?"

"All three are alive, but I'm not sure of their condition. I don't see any blood, I don't see any protruding bones or extremities at odd angles, and I can't get them out of the car, so I'll let the rescue guys do that. I hear the rescue guys coming now."

"Okay, Mike, are they all conscious?"

"Only two are, Doc. One of the two is not very lucid, but the back seat passenger appears to be aware."

"Watch them until the paramedics get there, Mike. If I can take care of them, they will bring them here or they will try to get them to Lexington. We could use an airlift, but that's big bucks. With the expansion of the clinic, maybe we can get that too."

"Maybe, Sheryl, but they hopefully aren't hurt so bad they need to be transported to Lexington. Doesn't Mount Sterling have a hospital?"

"They do, Mike, but they don't have a decent trauma center. They really don't even have a decent emergency room. They take care of their doctors' patients and those admitted by their doctors, but if it's an emergency, the doctors tell them to have the ambulance take them to University or Central Baptist hospitals in Lexington. If I had a decent trauma center, we would get people from Mount Sterling and all of the surrounding communities."

I had to close my eyes and think of what to say, "Then maybe you should have set your wish list a little higher, Sheryl. If you need to be bigger and better, then we'll have to find a way to get that for your clinic. You should probably get more doctors and nurses than you were planning for your expansion."

"Yeah sure, Mike. What you're talking about is several million bucks, and this place doesn't do that much dollar volume. You know it takes some big bucks to keep a clinic going, much less a hospital. This place is unusual because that's the way Grandpa set it up, Mike. He created the clinic so he didn't have to make so many house calls. People came to see him twenty-four hours a day, the same way we're available to people now. A hospital has to have people in all of their departments twenty-four seven. You're talking labs, nursing, residents, admin, everything."

"Then I guess we're going to have to get you a sugar daddy, Sheryl."

"Yeah, sure, and I have some land to sell you on a rocky mountainside. Listen, we're doing pretty well for a community this size, and with the expansion of the clinic, I'll be able to help that many more. Send me those people to patch up, Mike."

"Okay, okay, ah, we're having the Bensons out for supper. If you want to come, consider yourself invited."

"If I'm done with these folks, I might take you up on that. Tomorrow's list of problems doesn't seem too extensive. I'll try to get there."

A volunteer fire truck, a paramedic ambulance, and two sheriff's cars were now parked on the apex of the corner. The firemen and paramedics were carrying backboards and bags of supplies as they made it through the yard full of cow pies.

I pointed at the driver first since he was still unconscious and might need the most help. The firefighters had the necessary equipment with them, and began pulling the car apart to extract the three people.

The first out was the rear seat passenger, who was almost immediately on her feet. She was standing, stretching; trying to see if there were other problems, but she gradually grew a smile on her face. "I think I'm okay. Jesus, that was horrible, but I think I'm okay."

The firemen had pulled the front passenger side door off and were extracting the passenger onto a backboard. When they had her out of the car and on the board, a paramedic was working on her, but not frantically. The front passenger was coming around and answering the paramedic's questions. He put a couple of splints on the woman and told her she should remain still until she was x-rayed.

Watching the men work on the driver's side door was a lesson on how to use the Jaws of Life. They were able to pull the door completely off the car and were still having trouble getting at the lady driver. When the seat's back was broken away and the steering wheel was removed, they were finally able to slide her out of the car.

They were working her over pretty fast, but didn't seem to be concerned about her being unconscious. I watched as each of two who were on backboards were loaded into the ambulance.

One of the sheriff's deputies came up to me, "Are you who called this in?"

I nodded.

"Why did you stop?"

This I couldn't believe, "There was a car crumpled up and obviously just crashed in the yard here. Who wouldn't stop to help out?"

The officer shrugged and said, "It wouldn't happen in the city."

"This ain't the city, Buddy, this is down in the country where we care about others."

The man looked at me as if I had leprosy or something. "Yeah, yeah, you just want the lawyer money out of anything that may come up."

I was heading toward the man with my fists clenched when two other deputies caught me and held me with one saying, "Don't do it; he doesn't understand us country bumpkins and the way we look out for each other."

As I shook off the two intervening men, I said, "He'd best hope he never needs my help. I'll let him sink."

"No you wouldn't, Mike. You would do the same thing all of us would do. You'd help him, but cuss him out the whole time. Just don't do anything we can see and have to be witnesses to. His time will come."

I relaxed and the two deputies let me go. The city deputy was still sneering when one of the deputies who had been restraining me gave the man a sharp shove and told him to go back to his duty area.

This was country and country people. You helped others without thinking of how you could profit. Amazing how jaundiced people had become.

I called home to tell them that Sheryl might come for supper and to remind them I had invited the Bensons. Millie said, "It's no problem, Mike. We're having fried chicken and your mom is fixing enough for half the county. I hope you like cold fried chicken, because you will be having a lot of it for lunch."

Bernie was eager for information, so I gave him the best report I could. All three people in the car were alive, one was walking wounded, one was alert on a stretcher, and the third didn't seem broken, but was still unconscious. Bernie obviously was on the air when he said, "Tell the listeners how you think the accident happened and how bad the car is beat up."

I almost laughed, but didn't, since it would have been a slam on the folks who were involved in the horrible crash. I told him and the rest of the county listening, "It looks as if the driver didn't believe the bad corner warning sign and didn't slow down enough. Everyone around here knows it's a bad place, but people from out of town may not believe the signs."

"There it is, Listeners; a first hand report from your county road commissioner, Mike Grayson. He was there to help the victims of the serious accident, and now is reporting what is going on to all of us. What do you think, Listeners, should we hire Mike Grayson to be our roving reporter?"

There was no way I was going to respond to Bernie on that one. I did tell him, "I'll see you later for supper, Bernie. It looks like everyone is leaving here and will be back in town any minute."

Over the phone, I heard, "Thanks, Mike. We're not on the air; there is a commercial break. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Bye, Bernie."

I made it to the house about four and was instantly surrounded by the ladies who had been listening to the radio. I repeated everything that I had told Bernie earlier, and everything I knew to be true. The women wanted more details, so I was interrogated by four of the best until they were satisfied they had squeezed all of the information possible from me.

This day deserved something special, so I took a beer from the fridge and settled down to watch the TV over the fireplace.

A tongue was sticking into my ear, jerking me awake. I turned and found Marita with a shit-eating grin on her face. "I couldn't resist, Mike, we ladies wanted you to wake up, so I helped."

I smiled and stretched, then found the house full of strangers; maybe not strangers, but full of people who don't live here. Benson was there with his family, the road guys were all hanging out with a beer in their hands, and D with his six charges were with Mom and Millie, watching me being forcibly drawn out of a deep sleep.

All of the people watching laughed a little as I stood and stretched. I left the main living area long enough to use the bathroom in the big bedroom and splash cold water on my face. When I came back in the living area, Benson handed me a beer before saying, "You really have a neat place up here on this mountain. I saw the folks down at Ben's place, thinking that it was yours. Those folks are as friendly as can be and sent me up here. Now I know why it takes so long for you to get to my office if you're coming straight in. Heck, Mike, you should have invited me up here a long time ago."

Mom hollered, "Everyone find a seat, food is on the table."

As usual, some people had to find empty places to sit with their plates on their laps. The fact that everyone got along is worth mentioning, and when everyone had a full plate, the place settled down to people busily filling their bellies.

When everyone had finished eating Mom's and Millie's wonderful fried chicken, the guys immediately began cleaning up and doing dishes. Benson, Doroteo, and I helped, making the area in the kitchen crowded. Bernie told the three older guys, which included me, "Get out of here, go drink some of your brandy or something. We have this under control."

The three of us were smart enough to go to the little table where I opened up the conversation by telling D, "I hope you don't mind, but I had some people looking into your past and found you finished a degree in Monterrey."

D smiled and looked up at me. "That you did that means that you want me to stay. I'm relieved to know you have an idea of my past."

"Your story isn't nice, and I understand your willingness to abandon all that you had down there. I'm always amazed at how cruel people can be to each other."

"Mike," D softly said, "You and your family have kept me sane during this time when I've had to attempt to accept the loss of my family. Without the attention you and the others here showed me, I could have been a real mess."

"D, I wish I could help you go back there and dispose of everyone of those who took your family."

D smiled a little. "My family would have enjoyed you. I think my own family was as much of a problem to the cartel as I was. They were very vocal and constantly attempting to bring the authorities in. That won't happen in some areas, as there are more soldiers loyal to the cartels than to Mexico."

"Anyway, D; I'm glad that you found us and happy we can make your life better. That you are able to take care of your two young ladies, along with the other four, is commendable and we will help you do what you need."

The man broadly smiled as he confirmed, "Yes, we are very content to live here with you. All of us recognize that your country is still the place for those who are willing to work hard. Keep us and we will make you a happy man."

I saw heads nodding in agreement from all six women who were watching and listening to us.

Benson had been in my office, talking to Mom for quite a while when he came out. "Can I sit and tell Mike what I found out for him today?"

When D was sitting with a glass of wine for each of us, provided by Mom and Millie, he began. "I talked to Steve Bennett today. You know Steve, the county tax appraiser and collector. He told me today that there were several parcels that were abandoned and available for back taxes. How about I set up an appointment with him and we can look at what's available?"

"Sounds good to me, Benson, that's what we need to do. Make sure Steve understands that I need to get this started so that we're in front of inquiries around the area. This is something D suggested, Mom agreed with, and I think will be an easy success."

Benson was all grins, "It's a done deal, Mike. I'll call you tomorrow. Just the locations Steve told me about has me thinking you have the right idea as to how to expand the Stanton community, or all of Powell County, in a gentle way."

I had been watching the road guys and D's girls throughout the evening, to make sure either group wasn't being overly aggressive or suggestive. So far they all seemed to be having fun with each other.

Bernie had showed up wearing his prosthesis and appeared to easily be walking on it. He came to the small table and pulled up a chair. "Mike, I need to tell you something that you might have already guessed. When I came on board at the radio station, the man there didn't advertise outside of the local area. You and I both know that there isn't enough money in the community to support that kind of activity right now.

"I went to Mount Sterling and talked with every business I could. I've already more than quadrupled the station's advertising revenues. We even have an ad for the restaurant that you sell your wine to. Ralph, next door to the road yard, is advertising his concrete and concrete blocks to the area. I think I've found the way to make this a self-supporting job. I can sell ads in Mount Sterling. I have a couple of ads from Pine Ridge, and I'm going to Lexington to see if I can get some newspaper and radio ads from there. I'm making a commission on the newspaper ads right now, and I hope it continues."

"Great, Bernie, this is better than I thought you could do. What else can I help you with?"

"Well, Mike, you aren't running for road commissioner yet, but when you do, let me know so I can promo you. Your garden won't be producing for a while, so I'm not into market ads yet. Remember, though, Mike; if you want to sell something, call me and I'll get it sold."

This had been a great evening and was missed only by Sheryl.

Thinking about her was exactly when she called, "Mike, is it too late to come out to join you for dessert?"

Mom's voice came from the other phone, "Dessert, hell, Girl, get your butt out here for some fried chicken. I'll have you a plate ready in twenty minutes, and Mike will get you some of his special wine."

Sheryl said, "I'm on my way, Mom, see you as soon as I can get there. It might take more than twenty minutes though."

Mom walked from my office with the sweetest grin on her face. She said with a smirk, "I'm having more kids by the minute. Did you hear her? She called me Mom."

Mom was able to get an overly full plate ready for the eager Dr. Rivers before she walked through the door. She almost walked straight into the room, but would have tripped over the line of shoes and boots by the door. She sat on the bench by the door and removed her shoes before coming in and embracing and shaking hands with everyone. The aloof doctor wasn't.

The men and some of the women had migrated to the big table where we could chat with Sheryl while she ate. Benson was running his mouth tonight, when he said, "Mike thinks that you need a trauma center hospital complete with helicopter pad for the community. What's your thought on that, Doc?"

Sheryl looked up at Benson, then at me, with somewhat of a blank look on her face. "I'm not sure I could run a place like that. If you know someone who wants that big of a place, ask them to be sure to keep me around as a doctor. Just the thought of a place that big with that kind of responsibility is scary. Actually, unless the population of the county grows substantially, a little more emergency equipment, a helicopter landing pad by the clinic, and a contract with a helicopter ambulance service should be enough for now. If you get a bunch more people moving into the area, though, it'll be time to revisit the idea of the trauma center." Benson and I looked at each other and nodded when she said that.

Bernie was quick with, "But you took the folks from the paramedics and took care of them. They are all resting at your place for the night. You're really something, Doc; I need to interview you for the community."

"Cool it, Bernie," Dr. Sheryl Rivers said. "I'm not into a personal expose. I have too many skeletons in my closet to reveal all."

"Oh, come on, Doc," Bernie begged, "You are the perfect person for our community and everyone knows it. Just tell everyone how you came to be here and what you want them all to do to stay healthy. You know, we could get up a half-hour or hour program every week that would feature what you think the locals could do to help them be healthier. Let's talk about it."

Sheryl was looking at Bernie with a somewhat awed look. I don't think she had ever met anyone with his direct approach. It was getting him somewhere with Sheryl as she was listening and falling under the spell of Bernie's banter.

It wasn't long before D and his girls went home, with the road guys leaving shortly after. Benson and family thanked us for the great dinner and left with him telling me that he would talk to me in the morning. That meant Marita and Karen left for bed. Millie began nursing John for the last time tonight, giving the doc and me a view of one of nature's sweetest sights.

Mom poured the three of us some of the special pomace brandy D had distilled. We sat and chatted for a few minutes, sipping the strong flavored brandy. Mom told Sheryl, "You're staying the night, so relax. I'll get you a nighty in a minute. You know that you're always welcome out here, Sheryl. Come out here anytime you need us. I know your folks have all passed away, so you should know that we are your family now. Relax with us and come be with us as often as possible."

Sheryl's eyes were watery as she raised her glass to Mom before taking another sip. The glass must have been dry, because she looked into it and smiled. "Come on, Mom, get me that nighty."

Mom was grinning as she led Sheryl toward her bedroom.

I let the dogs out one last time and spent a minute on the back porch, smelling the mountain. This mountain was the gentlest place on earth to me, and I planned on enjoying it for the rest of my life.

No one was in sight when I came back in, so I stirred the fire which was already low and added a log, turned the lights off, and went into the bedroom to get into bed. I didn't pay any attention to the bed until I turned and saw Millie holding her arms up to me. She was between Sheryl and Mom, so I got down next to her with Sheryl at my back. I was holding Millie's tummy when Mom took my hand and put it over her breast. I didn't resist, but as always questioned her motive.



Ben was smiling at me. "You've been busy lately, Bud. I know we talk often, but, my goodness, you're stirring up the community."

Eliza motioned that she wanted to talk. "Mike, you are going to confuse the whole place. A new hospital, a bigger school, better roads, and more kids going off to school. Keep this up and people won't know where they live."

It was Ben who said, "You're thinking of three places where you're planning on building houses. That's a lot of work for a town that can't get most of the young men capable of doing any building back to work and off the shine."

Eliza once again said, "Just keep doing what you're doing, Mike, and know that we're here for you. Your Dad says you don't need much help, but we want you to know we are here to help you when you need it."

I looked at Dad; he smiled and nodded. I had always wished that he were more verbal.



Flipping over to be on my other side, I encountered a nice butt that pushed back into me. A hand took mine and put it around a slim belly. I slipped off once again.

The next morning was as usual. I let the dogs out and did my bathroom activities. After dressing, I was met by Mom and Millie who were ready to help me with the chores. I kissed Millie and told her to stay in and make breakfast, but to wake the others up early so that they wouldn't be embarrassed by the ladies coming from below to help out.

It's too bad that I didn't want to milk the goats, as goats are an entertainment on their own. I think they are the one animal that plays 24/7 unless they have crashed and are rejuvenating for the next three to six hours.

I had a bucket of chicken feed in hand on the way to the chicken house when Anita showed up at my side and smiled. She didn't say anything that would confuse anyone nearby, and preceded me inside. I helped to gather eggs and was about to take eggs from under the geese when Anita told me, "Goose eggs we don't take. Lots of big eggs we have next year. Turkey and duck is the same. Eggs of chicken we have plenty, goose eggs we leave."

You really have to let her get it all out or you have no clue as to what she's trying to say. We went inside with four big baskets full of eggs to be washed and put into crates.

Mom came to me while breakfast was being finished; "I'm having dreams, a lot of dreams that have your dad in them. That isn't so bad, but there are other people I don't know. I know Ben, and he's there with a woman always sitting on a mule. The other two are an older lady, at least a lot older than I am, and a man who I think said that his name is Bud. What's going on, Mike? Do I need to go home and see a shrink?"

"Mom, these are the same dreams I've been having for a couple of months now. I see Dad all the time, but he doesn't talk. He just smiles and nods as if to tell me I'm doing right. You know how he used to do that all the time."

My mother had wet eyes; "Yeah, I know. I've seen your dad almost every night, but he doesn't talk to me either. He smiles and nods to tell I'm doing right. God, Mike, he was my whole life for so long, and it's hard to think of anyone taking his place."

"The only thing we can do is wait and see what life gives us, Mom. We'll do what's necessary to keep all of us going and happy."

Mom hugged me. "You're so much like your dad. He always knew how to make me feel better and here you're doing it. All of us need you, Mike, and we all follow what you feel is the best way to go."

"Let's eat, Mom, I'm starved."

Breakfast was filling and massive. A smiling Sheryl ate early with us and motioned for me to follow her to the bedroom. "Mike, I know you aren't going to love me up the way I need, but I want to assure you that if you get horny while your lady is pregnant, I'm ready and willing to stand in for a quickie to settle your hormones."

If the Doc had not been so serious I would have keeled over laughing. It was funny, but I think I loved her just like I loved my Sissy. I gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead as she went to her big Expedition to head for her clinic in town.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000


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Chapter 36


The entire day was dry again, but the fields were still too soggy to work in. The women from below assisted Doroteo and his six helpers in working on vines in the big vineyard. The long fourth row of vines had been planted and was already looking promising. The ladies worked on adding the extra row in each of the other two vineyards. D had made enough small plants from cuttings to begin growing a hell of lot more grapes.

Benson called me in the morning and asked, "Can you come in and ride around with Steve and me to look at some land parcels? Steve said these parcels are all tax forfeitures and have not been bid on for over five years, so he can work deals on them."

"I'll be in within the hour. Set it up and I'll take a look."

The three of us rode around in Steve's county owned four-wheel drive Explorer to look at five locations that could be developed. The common issue about all the properties was how far away from county utilities for water and sewage they were. There would probably be an investment in expanding that facility. Steve told us that the county could easily supply water to a minimum of a thousand more homes, and if we were putting in utilities, we could pipe gas in as well.

Steve had picked out what he thought would be properties where homes could be built in rustic forested areas. None were straight up and down, but in a couple of the areas, the roads would have some steep sections, or they would have to be built with switchbacks.

On the way back into town, I suggested to Benson, "Why don't we have the trust buy the properties, and if they don't work out for housing development, we'll think of some other use for the land."

Benson was in agreement, "I think that can be done if Steve doesn't want an arm or a leg for the properties."

Steve protested, "I don't know what trust you guys represent, but if I can get those five properties on the tax rolls with the anticipation of some higher future taxes, I'll make the county darn near give you the plots. I'll work on some numbers and put them to the county council. I'm sure they will go along with it."

I asked the two men, "The next thing we'll need is an engineer to design roads and utilities to the areas, so who do you know that we can use or where should I go to find one?"

We were all stumped. There had to be a couple of engineers and architects in the area we could use. I thought about calling Maude to see if she knew anyone.

I called Maude on the way home. "Hey, Lady, I need your community and regional knowledge."

"What kind of gossip do you want to hear, Mike?"

I asked straight away, "Where can I find an engineer and land development architect? I'm involved with Benson and the trust to possibly build some housing developments to take advantage of the population growth everyone seems to be anticipating."

"Oh boy, Mike, I may know the right guy for you, but I need to ask him first. If this works out, you may be in for a big surprise. I'll call you after I talk to him."

I was pulling into the parking area at the house when my cell rang, "Hey, Mike, Maude. I have just the man for the job. Invite me out to one of your suppers and I'll bring him with me."

"Come out this evening. I'll tell Mom, and I'm sure she'll be excited that you're coming. Don't be surprised if she's invited others. She loves to have people for supper."

Mom was walking around the edges of the garden, checking the ground and looking at the asparagus and rhubarb stalks already growing. I told her about Maude and she said, "I haven't invited anyone for this evening, but I want D and his girls to eat with us. I'll walk around to the upper vineyard and ask them."

"Take an ATV, Mom. They might be all the way down to the lower vineyard by now."

She agreed and walked to the equipment cave to use one of the neat little go fast ATVs.

That afternoon, Consuela, Rosita, Anita, Carmen, and a half dozen men came to the house to take the goats down to their final housing. It was Jesus that told me, "I must not be a good Mexican, since I can't always eat the spicy foods. The milk of the goat often helps, so this is good for me. Thank you, Mike. You have made Consuela and my stomach happy."

D and the girls went home to clean up before supper, but were back to help Mom and Millie in the kitchen. I think Mom was giving some cooking instruction while visiting with the girls.

I went out to greet Maude when I heard the guineas. What I expected to be Maude was Gene in a cable company pickup instead, and then I saw that he had Maude with him. Gene got out of the truck and stuck his hand out, "Let me introduce myself, Mr. Grayson. My name is Gene Crammer and I'm a land and development engineer, as well as an environmental architect. An environmental architect designs developments to blend with the land it is being built on. Can we talk?"

Maude came around the truck and hooked her arm around Gene's elbow. "See, I told you I knew someone who might be perfect for the job."

We went inside where I asked them if they would like a beer or a glass of wine. Maude said, "We want wine. Can we have some of your new wine that I'm told is delicious?"

I poured her some of the latest batch and Maude took her glass of wine and joined the throng of women in the kitchen making supper, while Gene and I sat at the small table to chat. "Gene, you surprised me, but I'm not surprised the cable company has someone with your skills to run the operation here."

"I think my job here is going to end soon, Mike. I was in charge of getting the cable paths built and pushing the installation of the actual cable. I've done a good job, except for being able to move the cable installation crews as fast as they should be. I think they're dragging the job out to make sure they have work for a while."

After a sip of wine, "You're kind of over-qualified for cable path jobs, aren't you?"

"Probably, Mike, but it's a job. The company I worked for didn't survive the housing shutdown, so I was out of a job and the cable company was offering a fair wage. I jumped on it. Now that the need for my services is coming to an end, I could be out of a job, or possibly transferred to Kansas or Idaho. I'm not hot about moving away from here. I've begun to put roots down." He looked over at Maude before adding, "If you know what I mean."

Wow, this was fast. I figured Benson and I would be looking for a long while to come up with someone to do the designs we were going to need for the raw development. "How soon will you have to know, Gene?"

"This job could last for probably another year unless they feel it can be handled remotely," Gene said, as he explained. "I can stay on this job until it goes away if you're concerned about how fast you need to hire me. I want you to hire me, but I know a project like you must be talking about takes a while to organize before the land is even purchased."

It was my turn to grin, "I think we made a deal on the land today. Your input would have been good, but the price is right, and it looks like the areas can be developed and linked to the other county utilities. If the land isn't suitable for housing, I'll turn it into a tree farm. I'll figure out how to make it payoff some other way."

"But just so you know, Gene. If you get laid off or you're asked to move or leave, I'm prepared to hire you immediately if you are the person for the job. Now I have to find out how to evaluate a person for the job."

Gene laughed, "That is classic. I will bring you a bunch of the past plans and work I did for the other company. I'm good at what I do, and I'm sure I can help you do what you're looking to do. I can help you get some model homes together that would be good with the environment such as you have here. I'm sure I can help you be successful."

Mom called us all to supper and this gave me a chance to introduce Gene to D. When D found out Gene's background, he went into his ideas about what he thought would appeal to potential city people who would commute to work.

I could have taken a walk as the two were totally into what D's ideas were and what Gene knew of the area. The more I listened to D, the more I thought he might be one of the people to run the project. He probably had some experience with development in Mexico and the trust could use his knowledge from there for here.

At the end of the evening, it was agreed that Gene would come to work for our yet un-named project and would start working with us while he still worked with the cable company. He would resign that position when we needed to have him full time. D was equally happy to know I had taken him seriously and was going forward with his idea.

As they left, Maude gave me a hug and whispered, "You might have missed your chance at some of my good lovin'. This guy might be the one. We'll have to just fantasize how it could have been, but thanks for helping to keep him around."

Before bed, Mom sat with me and told me, "Are we doing too much with too many people? How are we going to operate a farm while you do roads, run a tree cutting company, and now want to build a development or three? How are you going to do it all?"

My answer flowed from me easier than it probably was going to happen. "Pedro and Jesus are both capable of running crews for the cable paths and any land clearing that we need to do. If Ezra can't work, we are still going to have two crews that only need support and more work."

I had to take a breath. "The road commissioner job is really for the men who are doing it. They could have one of them step up, run for the office, and easily win. I might encourage that either this election or next, but they only needed me for the investment and cash flow. The group is now keeping the equipment up; paying all of the wages, which includes the new raises I gave them, plus all of the operating expenses, and still has a reserve. That company has a decent value in the equipment, plus the housing it owns. I'm really not needed for that group except for moral support. As those guys begin getting together with wives, partners, or girlfriends, they will move from the housing, although a couple may not want to get married and remain in the trailers."

Another breath and I continued. "The farm is the demanding part. We made money on the place last year, but we had a lot of wage expenses."

Mom interrupted me, "Some of those expenses you counted had nothing to do with the actual operation of the farm. You spent a bunch on the house. The outbuildings are part of the farm, but the house isn't."

"I'm not arguing about it, Mom; what I'm saying is that this place is more than a little one horse farm. We are farming a lot of tillable land with the widow's place, and Teddy is getting up there. We could be in trouble without his small equipment to harvest some of our crops. The new big equipment just won't fit in the fields. Hell, they can't even get to the fields.

"D has the vineyard looking good, and I didn't have to be the one putting chicken shit around each of the plants this year. Now we have to rake the gravel away from the stalk, break up the ground, put fertilizer down, and rake the gravel back over the area. It's not an easy job.

"The orchards are in good shape and we trimmed them up last fall. We'll go through them again now, but we will have another bumper crop of apples and pears. The new trees we planted last year won't produce for a couple of more years, but the orchards are filling in nicely."

Mom asked, "Are you forgetting about the smoke houses?"

"No, Mom, but I needed to comment on the garden. I'll bet we have one of the biggest produce growing operations in the north part of Kentucky. You're now looking at almost seven acres of garden. That's a hell of a big truck farm. I haven't researched it, but I'll bet we're doing a garden this size with the minimum of labor. One of the reasons is because of the way we can cultivate. Another is because we have labor who shares in the fruits of the garden."

"What I was trying to say, Mom, is that most all of the things that I think I'm responsible for can run on their own. Even the farm can darn near run on its own. Sure, I stoke the smokers a couple of times a day, but the ladies can also check them to make sure the fires are going. And I think I'm close to completing an automatic stoker for all of the rooms. This is a working farm. A real, live, genuine we can live off of it, working farm. Not only can we live off it, but we can support the folks from below, and my siblings and their kids as well. Mom, we are a producing, self-sufficient farm. Dad taught us how and we're doing it. Not necessarily with the same products, but we're making our farm profitable without any of the money we've been given."

Mom sipped her wine, "Speaking of which, Mike, we need to get all of that gold out of my closet. Think about how to do that and let's get it done. Ask your coin dealer friends how to dump that much so we can put it in the trust for all of the things you want to do."

"That is what takes a lot of the time, Mom. Benson is working hard to get the money up for the hospital, the church, and the schools, and now I've begun the scholarship program. I don't know how the guy has time for his clients."

"That's what he does, Mike. The man is good at what he does just like you're good at what you do. Come on, Farmer Mike, let's go to bed."

I slipped into bed next to Millie and she gave me a soft kiss that put me to sleep.

Dad was smiling at me. Ben gave me a wink as he scratched his whiskered chin. Eliza sat up and gave me a nod like Dad always does. The others were there, but it was as if we were gathered to talk or discuss something. Nothing was said, but I think a lot was relayed. They faded away to a mental picture of me with Millie, Mom, and two little kids. We were watching a young girl playing in the mountain flowers. She happily picked some and put one in her hair before skipping around the side of the mountain.

I heard Eliza say, "We're here for you, Mike."

The rest of the week was busy getting the land ready to plant again and making sure the outer fields were ready for the corn seed.

We planted four long rows of corn seed to begin the garden. We ran the empty corn planter up and down the field to give us a plowed out place to put our vegetable seeds. Kroger had given us a lot of seed, but it looked like it wasn't going to be enough for the entire garden. The ladies made up a list of veggies that would be good to grow some extra of and sent me to buy the seed. They mostly wanted tomato, green bean, and cucumber seeds so they could pick various sizes throughout the season for different types of pickles. I was fine with that, but I knew that we were going to have enough pickles for all of Kentucky with the way they were planting them. We had added two long rows of various hot peppers this year. My mouth watered thinking of the fresh jalapenos and serranos that would be grown. I'd also been introduced to something called "Sweet Fire Pickles", with thin sliced bread & butter pickles mixed with sliced jalapenos that gave you sweet, sour, hot, and mild flavors at the same time, with just enough crunch to be really satisfying.

The city folks came down the next weekend and helped with the hand planting of small seeds and onions. The sweet potatoes were planted, and we were ready when St. Patrick's Day came to plant all of the rest of the potatoes.

We were into the last of April when Benson wanted me to come to town early one morning. I cleaned up and wore khakis and a nice shirt for a look different than fatigues or BDU's. Denise wasn't in the office, so Benson looked out and said, "Come in here and talk to me, Mike."

Benson scrambled around and poured me a cup of old coffee, but it was hot so wasn't totally undrinkable. "Mike, you need to think about this fall and the coming election for Road Commissioner. It is an elected position, so you have to do some campaigning to go with it. Everyone in the county knows you've done the job, but some voters might listen to someone else who is campaigning for the position in one of the townships, and you could lose a piece of your action. I'm telling you, Mike, you can't let that happen. The county roads are in the best shape they have ever been, and it's because of you. Your men fix a problem before anyone can complain about it. They are out there running the roads, constantly making sure there are no huge potholes, washes, or erosion that threaten the roadways. This past winter, we were able to drive around town anywhere we wanted because the roads were all cleared. I think you need to consider doing some campaigning. Maybe just handbills and cards to pass out and a few signs will work. Most everyone knows that you are taking care of the roads now, so let's remind them."

"Benson, did you call me in for just this? The Doc has already been on my case over the coming election. I've heard from a lot of people out at the market. They are telling me the same thing, so someone must want the job back."

The man let out a big sigh. "One of the men who lost his township to you is planning on blitzing his area to attempt to get his position back. He didn't sell his equipment, and I suppose he now knows that he has to perform to keep his job. The problem is, he won't have to do anything to the roads for a year except some minor snow clearing because you have the roads in shape. By the time he decides to work on the roads, they are going to be back the way you found them. It could be a vicious cycle. You fix them up and another guy lets them slide. They are not going to spend the money. They are going to keep it for themselves."

"Okay, okay, give me a hint, Benson. What do I do? Who should I see? I have nine or ten guys that depend on me and a hell of an investment in equipment, so tell me what steps I need to take."

The man smiled. "Now you're talkin'. The guy to keep you in office, or at least as road commissioner for the county, is your man, Bernie. Work a deal with him and the newspaper to keep your name in front of the people to let them know you are the man that has gotten the roads back in shape and you are the man to keep them that way."

"Okay, I'll go do that. What else, Benson, where's the permit info on the three building areas I need?"

Benson doesn't usually laugh out loud, but he did then. "I didn't want to bring it up while I made sure you understood the importance of the coming election. We have permits for all of the areas, but you will have to submit development plans before the initial infrastructure construction begins. The county is concerned about the ability for the current sewage plant to handle a big increase in housing."

It was my turn to chuckle. "Got it, Benson. I'll go see Bernie and see if he'll give me a path toward campaign success for the coming election."

As soon as I walked in the door to the newspaper office, Bernie saw me and came to grab my arm and drag me to the console. He put a headset on me and immediately said over the airwaves, "I told you I just saw Mike Grayson walk in the newspaper office door, so I went to get him. I have Mike in front of me right now so if you'd like to make a comment, call me.

"Hey, Mike, the guys tell me the roads are in the best shape they have ever been in. I also hear from the grapevine, or in this case the local gossip, that a former township road commissioner wants his township back. Considering he lost the job because of lack of performance, what do you think about this?"

I looked squarely at Bernie. "You know that I don't like to talk bad about others, but if I had to clean up what this guy left before, why should he be given the chance to let the roads go back into ruin with him again? I didn't want to be road commissioner in the first place, and definitely didn't want to be road commissioner for the whole county. Because the other road commissioners didn't do what they were being paid to do, I ended up as the road commissioner for the whole county. There was some outside help, as Ralph did help me buy the basic equipment I needed at a reasonable price. I tried to buy the other road commissioners' equipment, but they wanted more, a lot more, than it was worth. The best break was my being able to find some good men. I think the crew is doing a good job and they are planning on another summer of making sure the roads are all graded properly and ready for the winter. So far, the position of road commissioner hasn't paid me one thin dime, and I'm not looking to make a lot of money this coming summer. I'm not complaining, but I'm not driving a Cadillac Escalade the way the voters know the ex-road commissioner that is challenging me does."

Bernie laughed, "I can see your yellow monster of a pickup out there in front of the studio where you parked it, Mike."

Bernie announced some music and let it begin.

"So, Mike, do you want some help with your campaign? I think the newspaper will support you, and I know the radio station will. What else do you need?"'

"Benson told me that I needed business cards to hand out to everyone and to include a piece of candy with each of them. He said I needed some handbills to hand out and to stick up as signs. Let me call Maude and find out how much money I have to campaign with."

I called the accountant and asked, "Hi, Maude, can you give me a hint as to how much is in the road commissioner account that isn't committed now or in the future?"

When she told me, my comment was, "Wow, it's that much, huh? I'm with Bernie at the radio station and trying to figure out what I have to spend for re-election."

"No, no, we can't do that. Let me win this fair and square. If I don't win all of the townships, I'll have to find another place for the men out of a job. Okay, Maude, thanks for the info."

I turned to Bernie. "If you think I need an agent or manager, find me one. I think the budget to print stuff and for radio advertising is sufficient to do this county. I think we should do two mailings, one soon and one a couple of weeks before the election. I'm doing this for the guys out there that deserve their jobs and have made the roads in the county some of the best. I drive on the same roads as everyone in the county does, and I like to be able to go where I want even when we're having a blizzard like we did twice last year. It's not that I want to be road commissioner for the whole county, it's because I want the guys who make it possible for us to get around to keep their jobs."

Bernie casually said to me, "I hear some of the guys have found potential marriage partners lately. Does that influence you?"

"Heck yes, it does, Bernie. Every one of those men is like my kids or brothers to me. I brought them here and they have performed miracles on the roads here. Do you know that they just finished surveying Norman's curve to see if it could be straightened out so we won't have an accident like the one that just happened? The state gave us permission and a small grant to do a study. As far as I'm concerned, this is something that needs to be done now, not later, and I'll make sure it happens now. The guys who work for my road commissioner company are special; they get the job done, rain, snow, or shine."

Bernie pushed a button and said, "Every person with their radio on heard that, and I recorded it so that I can use it for sound bites for the ads. Come in every week after you've been with the road guys and talk to me. You'll get some free air time, and I'll be able to plug you without putting the station in jeopardy by not giving equal time. I have to let the other guy come in, but trust me when I tell you, I'm going to be brutal with the questions. We'll see what he gives us."

If someone outside the area heard about Bernie and his ability to convince people to do things, they would steal him away very fast. He was really special.

As I began to leave the newspaper office, the publisher ran up front to talk to me. "Did Bernie convince you to run some ads?"

I had to laugh. "Everyone has convinced me to run some ads. Do this for me; I think a good ad would be my road commissioner company's P&L statement. Call Maude and have her fax it to you. You'll see that I haven't taken any money from the elected position. I swear that if the other guy can show the same thing, I'll give him the township. You know what to do with newspaper ads. Do whatever you think and let the reserves in the company pay you. When they run out of money, I'm done advertising."

The guy was almost giggling, "Mike, you take the cake. We've heard from Bernie and Jimmy about how you don't take money from the road commissioner's position, and it was hard to believe. I want you back, elected this time, so I'll give you twice the ad size of anything this other yahoo buys. We can't afford to have our roads go bad again. You know that I write the editorials, don't you? I'll make sure that you are featured, but not obnoxiously."

Now I laughed a little, "Do it fair, Gus, I want my guys to be employed, but not by doing it unfairly."

Bernie was behind me with one of those mini-recorders. "I have that on tape. Now that's what I call a good sound bite for an ad."

"See you later, Guys, I'm getting in deeper by the second."

As I got into the truck, I was asking myself, 'Why does keeping a job that those men have done well have to be so difficult? We fixed roads that needed to be fixed and corrected problems that have been around for years. The men I have doing it all deserve their jobs, and even if they leave, they know others who might want to join us here. This is a great place to live and if women were such a problem, how come I'm about to lose half of them to marriage?' This made me chuckle as Mom is the reason why half of them have found potential mates.

I drove by the cable distribution building to see if Gene's truck was there. It was, so I drove into the parking area and went into the building.

"Hey, Mike, I was just about to call you. Considering you are about to begin multiple construction projects, I wanted to advise you the company is dumping another bunch of the same ATVs. I'm sure they will give you the same deal on them. If you go to Lexington to get them, you'll get them that much cheaper. What do you think?"

I knew the little trucks would be an asset to the engineers, architects, and supervisors, so I asked, "How many do they have available?"

"Probably a dozen, since they are trading out a couple of other groups that do about what we're doing here."

"Okay, tell whomever it is that I'll pick them up. Get me the address and I'll send my big equipment truck. The guys told me they need a piece of equipment that a Lexington dealer has, and they can pick it up at the same time."

That reminded me that I needed to find out what the guys needed. If the election was getting close, I might not want to buy more equipment. The investment would cost me money that could be used for advertising. I might have to explain that to the guys.

I needed to have Gene work on the plans for at least the first project we were going to do. "Gene, we are going to need the finished plans for the first project. I think we should start with our five acre estates first. This will have the least impact on the county facilities and give the area a name for quality. Do the development plans and include all of the impact items. We will need to estimate what the impact items will be for the other two projects and figure out how to increase the county's capability to handle it. The water department is easy, as they tell me they only have to add pumping stations and that will be included in the per customer cost of the original construction. The biggest impact will be sewage, so we will have to work with the county on that. Okay, my friend; it's time to earn all that money you've been getting from the project."

Gene's mouth dropped. "What money? You haven't given me any money. I haven't done anything but drawn up a rough plan of the three projects, and you didn't pay for those."

I grinned. "I know. You wouldn't take any money before, so now do some of your professional engineer and architect stuff, and either bill me time and materials, or let me know what kind of salary you should be getting so that you can double dip for a while."

"That's going to take my accountant to figure out for me, Mike." We both laughed at that, as a guy like Gene wouldn't need an accountant, but he did have Maude to help him out.

"Well, figure it out so that you are being treated fairly while we get this thing started, Gene. Let me know when we can present it to the county council."

Now I needed to talk to Jimmy, so I drove by the yard. All of the guys were in the office trailer having coffee. Several had just returned from doing some limb trimming on a road that had a heavy canopy of oak.

Jimmy said, "We just ran a couple of truck loads by the path work location and gave the chipper the limbs we cut. I don't think we get any money from that, but we don't have to pay to dispose of it."

"Good thinking, Guys. No sense in paying to dispose of something others can use," I told them. Now I needed to find out what Jimmy wanted to buy. "Um, the main reason I came by is to ask you what kind of equipment you need from the Lexington dealer."

Jimmy perked up and told me, "We want to experiment with a couple of products that will take our gravel roads and turn them into a real solid surface. There are several companies out there that are willing to sample us product for us to test on our roads. Common pieces of equipment we don't have are a road grade rototiller and a sprayer truck. The way this stuff works is that you usually break the ground up, or in this case, the rock road with the rototiller, spray the top, use the rototiller to mix it in, grade it, spray it again, and roll it out. It's basically a cement slurry, and it turns the gravel and dirt into low grade concrete. With proper grading for drainage, that holds up real well on a low traffic road. If what we're being told works, we can turn a lot of our roads into near highway quality. The advantage will be no grading required for at least four to five years. There might be some patching that has to be done, but we can have some great roads with very little maintenance. The lesser traveled roads might last up to ten years. It's an experiment right now, and we can pick up a big rototiller and water truck for close to twenty."

"You're talking twenty-thousand, right?"

Jimmy nodded. "It's a great deal because we can use the rototiller for roads that are really beat up. You bust the road up with it, grade it, spread some rock, roll it out, and you're done for a year, possibly two, depending on traffic. If you add in the synthetic material to harden the road, you're now talking five to ten years minimum."

"Should we do this with this election coming up? If I'm not re-elected, I'll have to find a home for a lot of equipment."

Jimmy stood up and stretched. "Right now, Mike, you have a yard full of equipment and trucks that are in pristine condition. Go look at it. Our equipment is better looking than the stuff you see up on the equipment lot in Lexington. All of it runs perfectly, all of it is freshly painted, and we could go out and be a road building company with what we have right now. Come with me; let me show you what you have."

Jimmy and the others all walked out the door with me following. We walked down to the row of big dump trucks with snowplow blades. Two of the trucks were not as clean as the others since they had just come back from a day's work. It was impressive to see the row of trucks all brightly painted with the lined beds. The pressure washer and steamer were getting a workout keeping everything clean.

We walked past the graders, two big regular rollers, a roller with nobs, the backhoes on trailers, and a front loader they used for salt and sand. Jimmy stopped and turned around to me, "There's your stuff, except for your two bulldozers that are out working. The big truck and trailer are out at the Conner's place, but we're going to pick it up this afternoon. We can build and repair just about any road you want. The City has a street department, but only does patching. Anything else they sub out. We've already gotten some work from them. So, how about experimenting a little?"

I looked at the expectant faces. "Guys, it's your jobs that could be on the line. I just want to make sure they are still there."

"You're a worrywart, Mike. No one is going to vote for anyone but you. The guy who wants to get his township back will vote for himself, but that will be about it. What's funny is that we had to repair the road past his place almost the first thing when you hired us, as it was almost impassable with all of the potholes. We watched him drive down the road in his fancy Cadillac. He was doing about five miles an hour because of all the holes. You would think he would have taken care of his own road, wouldn't you?"

"Alright, get the equipment and experiment. I needed to ask you to pick up about a dozen more of the ATVs the cable company is selling. We'll be using them for the developments that will hopefully begin soon. You guys will be able to build some roads for that project. You might even need some big trenching equipment for utilities too. I think the project will be fun."

Jimmy was patting me on the back as I started for the pole barn to see what was going on in there. He said, "Come look at the reports for the month. They are very interesting."

He steered me away from the pole barn toward the office trailer. The phone was ringing as we entered, and when answered, it was Gene for Jimmy. They talked for a few minutes before Jimmy hung up. He turned to me and said, "I'll bring the report out to you when I come for supper this evening. Gene gave me the address in Lexington for the ATVs, and I want to pick the equipment up." Turning to the other men, he continued, "Come on, Guys, let's go get some equipment."

I watched the excited men head out almost as if they were on a new adventure.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 37

I had been talking to the guys at the yard before they were to take off to get the ATVs from the cable company and some equipment from the dealer in Lexington. They were excited because the equipment would allow them to experiment with a product that might magically turn dirt and rock into almost highway conditions.

It seems that they could talk me into almost anything. I was going to look in the pole barn, but decided to go home and check to make sure the cattle were okay in their new orchard pastures. I had just started out of the road yard when a pickup truck full of beehives went by. That reminded me that I needed to have more hives for the other two orchards and vineyard, as well as expanding the one up by the house. The pickup full of hives had its directional light blinking to turn into the market area, so I drove that way and turned in. The truck parked up by the dairy barn, so I parked next to it and followed the farmer in.

The guy announced for everyone to hear, "Hey, everyone, I have three dozen good hives to sell today. If I don't sell them now, I'll try Saturday. Anyone interested?"

You could see several of the men in the building considering it, so I spoke up, "You want to sell them outright, or are you open to barter?"

"You're Grayson from Mystery Mountain, right?" The man stuck his hand out.

"That's me. So what's the deal with the hives?"

"I busted up the big hives over the winter and need to get these placed before the bees all wander off to pollinate everything in sight. Not a bad thing, but I'd like to give these hives a new home. I'm up to almost five hundred now and don't need more, so I'm building new shelves and letting them expand naturally and selling some throughout the year."

I asked again, "So what do you want? Cash or trade?"

The guy said, "I could use the cash, but if you have any hams, I could trade for a couple of those, and I would love to have some of the famous Grayson wine. How about fifty-fifty, you buy half of these and I'll trade you out the other half? Where do you want them?"

"Follow me and we'll drop them off where they need to be, then get you your ham, wine, and cash. I'm going to go toward Pine Ridge and into my secret back entrance. It looks rough, but it isn't."

We drove out the highway toward Pine Ridge, turned off the hard road next to the blackberry patch, and drove up to the lower orchard, vineyard, and small field. I wanted the bees to be between the field and the vineyard and orchard, so we put six shelves there.

The guy pulled the top open to show me the bees working on the hive. He slid a middle drawer out, and it was full of bees doing the same thing. He explained, "The strain of bees I have are very docile. They work like crazy pollinating everything in sight, then create enough honey to make you wonder how they do it. The queens in these hives are very prolific and lay a lot of worker eggs, and not many drones. That means you have a fast growing hive."

After placing those hives, we drove up to the Finnerty vineyard and orchard. We did the same thing and placed the hives between the two small fields, the vineyard, and the orchard.

From there we drove up to the big garden where the vineyard and orchard were. We put the new hive by the existing hives. The guy wanted to check the stock in the orchard out and commented, "You're getting double duty out of that orchard, aren't you? But why did you fence the vineyards?"

I smiled and said two words, "The bears."

"Oh yeah, you guys out this way do have a lot of bears, don't you? Glad you have them and not me. I saw a lot of blackberry patches, so you probably have a lot of them when the berries get ripe."

I nodded and motioned him to drive up to the parking area so I could get him his hams and wine.

Before going into the smoke house, we dickered a little while in order to come up with what was fair to both of us. We figured out a dollar amount for the hives, and I ended up paying cash for two dozen hives along with two big hams, a side of bacon, and two gallons of good wine. It took us a while to find the wine he liked best as we siphoned a taste from several barrels. He ended up with some Merlot that was what I considered ordinary.

The man was fascinated by the wine caves, the equipment, and the distillery. He asked, "Do you make any shine too?"

"Nope, no shine. I'm licensed to make grappa that also becomes cognac and brandy. This year we may make some apple and pear brandy if we have the time. We were still distilling the grappa while picking the apples and pears last year."

"You're a hell of lot more farmer than anyone around here realizes. I was up here ten or so years ago to bring Eliza a hive and honey, and this was not much of a working farm. It doesn't look like you've done much to the cabin, but I see the barn is bigger, the machine shed is bigger, and you added a bigger smoker. You're really making this place work, Mike. Glad to see it."

I needed to tell him, "Don't broadcast the back way in, okay? It's kind of my private road to get to the lower vineyard and orchards."

"No problem, I have my own private drives too. I like my privacy the same as you do, but I don't have ghosts to scare people off. I swear that I felt like we were being watched when were at that middle area."

I told him, "You were being watched. The steers were watching, as well as the rabbits and other animals. Maybe even a bear."

The guy chuckled. "I have to get. Give me a call if you want more hives. Here's my card if you need more honey. Bea buys honey from me almost every Saturday. Of course, we're usually trading for eggs and such. I'd like to get more of the jerky she was making. I love the spicy jerky she had. She said it was an experiment. It was good, a good experiment."

"I'll tell her and see you Saturday."

That was expensive, but with an additional three dozen hives, the mountain would easily be pollinated this year. I wondered if it would increase the harvest of grapes, apples, and pears.

This had been a busy day. It seemed as if I had been running since I got up. As I walked to the house, I wondered why I hadn't seen D, or any of the women, in any of the vineyards. I found out when I opened the door to the house, Raul had torn down the old outside wall in the dining room area and was finishing putting drywall up where the old wall had been. The only difference I could see was a heavy beam that protruded about two inches from the ceiling. Raul saw me looking at it and said, "The former partition or outside wall was load bearing, so I put the beam in to extend the room. Do you think this additional eighteen feet will be enough for your mom?"

I just stared at the expanded area. The first expansion was fifteen feet, and now it was eighteen feet longer. There was a door that was obviously a door into the master bedroom. It had been a sliding glass door, but was just a door now. The end of the room was the original glass wall, so you could see the distant mountains and the valley below. Men were building a deck out there, using long supports to go down to where they were embedded in a concrete foundation. The end of the deck was going to be dangerous for little ones, as this was the part of the mountain that went straight down for fifty to sixty feet. I would just screen it when the time came. Raul had put a roof over the deck so that it would be easy to screen in.

Mom, Millie, and Marita were putting together what looked like a table that matched the big one we already had. There were two stacks of chairs in the existing dining room, so they weren't in the way. Rosita, Carmen, Anita, D, and his six girls were painting. It looked like the only thing that wouldn't be painted or stained was going to be the area that Raul was putting drywall up on. Jose was standing there with a putty knife, spackle, and tape to finish it as soon as Raul was done. The odor of wet plaster filled the room.

Mom looked up. "You aren't supposed to be home yet. With all of the things you were going to do, I thought you were going to be gone until about six this evening."

Thinking back on my day, it had been busy, but not that bad. I said, "Maybe I didn't get to everything, but I think I did."

Millie, who was beginning to bulge in the middle, came to me and gave me a sweet kiss and hug. She said, "You're going to have to listen to your son. John is calling you, and he is going to walk any second. He pulls himself up and starts to walk, but still falls down. Mom says we need to get him shoes so it will be easier, but I didn't do that with Summer and she walked about this same age."

Oh my, a walking, talking kid. Now this is what's important. All of the bull that went on earlier was just that, bull. Nothing matters but what I have on the mountain right now. Millie told me, "Go help Mom with the table while I mess with supper and check on John."

I asked Mom, "What can I do to help?"

She smiled. "Lift one end, and Marita and I will lift the other. We'll flip it over and stand it up." We did that and Mom stood back and smiled. She looked around at all the people who were painting and quickly put a tablecloth on the pretty new wood table. "Mike, this will seat ten if it's closed, but it will hold fourteen if we put the leaf in, just like the other one. As a matter of fact, they are the same table. Just think, we can have twenty-eight people eating dinner with us at the same time. This is great."

One by one, the people were finished painting the areas they were working on. Also one by one, they were taking their brushes and paint trays outside to clean. As Rosita and Carmen came by, they said, "We are going to do chores early today. It is Anita's birthday and we want to take her to Lexington to see a movie."

I was about to ask her if it was a Star Wars movie when she told me, "This is Star Wars month at the mall theater and Anita wants to go. I know she has video of all of the series and watches them all the time, but she still wants to go see the movie on a big screen in 3D. The kids are very excited about going."

"Take off then. I'll do the chores tonight."

"Oh no, you can't. Bea told me we have to do them all tonight. You stay here. Let me get you a beer. Go into your office, because Bea will be angry if you go out to the barn."

You can't argue with a woman who is doing as instructed, even if it was a little heavy-handed of Mom.

Instead of a beer, I got a cup of old coffee, warmed it up, and took it to the office. I looked through the mail while the PC booted. I was in the habit of checking the price of gold at least once a week and went to the bookmarked site. Gold was up, so I thought I should check with the coin dealer to tease him a little.

"Hi, this is Mike Grayson."

"Ah, Mr. Grayson, do you have more coins for us?"

"That's what I was calling about. If I told you I had over a thousand coins to get rid of, could that be done?"

There was a long pause. "Are you being serious or just joking?"

"Very serious, I'm not sure of the exact quantity, but I'm very serious. This should be the last that I personally have, and I know that because of the quantity, they will have to be handled differently. I was going to dribble them out a little at a time, but there are too many and I would feel better if they were gone and money was in the bank."

"Could you get me a more accurate count? If you have multiple types of coins, a count of each type and their dates would be good. How soon could you count them, and how soon do you want to dispose of them?"

"If I make a concentrated effort, I can get a count to you by tomorrow afternoon, and then you can give me your plan on whether or not you can handle them."

"Mr. Grayson, let me assure you I will gladly take all that you have, but the quantity you are talking about is extraordinary and must be cautiously handled to keep the values up. My partners and sponsors will possibly need to spread them out all over the world, although the last large quantity your trust brought to us was very easy to resell at the prices we thought we would get. Let me make sure of what you said. You desire a bank transfer instead of cash, is that correct?"

"Right, the money is actually going to be deposited into that trust and another one in order to use it for various projects."

The man's voice indicated a smile, "Count them quickly, Mr. Grayson, and I'll get my end ready. I'm pretty sure they will be able to have the kind of capital needed to buy that many more coins. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I suppose Mom and I are going to be busy. I think I can use Millie and Marita for this too. This isn't for us, it's for the community.

When I walked out of the office with my coffee cup, all of the workmen, as well as D and the girls, were gone. Mom and Marita were hanging the drapes on the sliding rod that covered the end of the room by the deck. I went to look out at the deck that looked finished except for staining. Mom said, "When I want something finished, it gets finished. There's only that little strip on both walls that still needs to be painted, but it's done. The new bedrooms are done, the beds are in them, and now I have a big enough dining room to have a big Sunday dinner. I hope I can cook enough food for that many."

I had to laugh. "Mom, you're nuts. Why would you want to try to feed twenty-eight or more people?"

"We've already had more than that a couple of times, Mike. Just think about tonight. D and his six will be here. There will be ten guys from the road crew, including Bernie. Ezra will be here along with Sheryl. Harold and Martha are coming, and Benson, his wife, and his four kids, Summer and Bradley, plus us. Let's see that is sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-six, twenty-eight and five of us. That's thirty-three, oops, not enough room. I'll have to call Raul to add another eighteen feet."

Now I was laughing. "Call Benson and tell him to stay home."

Mom put her hands on her hips. "I will not. The kids can sit at the little table and that will take five of them away. Everyone I invited needs to be here. We all have to watch John take his first steps."

I was rolling my eyes and thinking, 'Yeah sure, ' but I knew I'd best keep the mouth shut.

Mom pulled a beer from the fridge and handed it to me. "Sit, relax, all of us are going to clean up a little and don't worry about supper, it's made and is being made."

I flipped the TV on and watched a news channel to get an idea of how the world was getting along. Oil was up a little, so that meant another ten cents to the price of gas and diesel. The Middle East was still arguing over who was going to nuke who first. I wish they would just push the buttons and leave everyone else alone. That would be horrible, but it would solve a lot of problems. The Americas would be the new oil capital of the world, and everyone would kiss our ass for oil. Build several huge refineries and we could ship gas to the rest of the world at our prices. Hey, China; you want us to buy your plastic junk? Here, buy our oil for this ridiculously inflated price. We could tell the rest of the world that if you want our fuel, buy our exports. This was really some off the wall wishful thinking.

Someone knocked on the door. No one knocks on my door. They just open it, come in, take off their shoes, and demand coffee or wine. I smiled as I went to the door and, "Hey, Rodrigo, what are you doing out in the country? Good to see you. Were you afraid I wouldn't bring your wine?"

After a good handshake and man hug, he was going to come in, but I said, "Take a walk with me and let me show you the wines and vineyard."

"Ah, Mike, is Bea here? I need to talk to her first."

"Wait here, Rod, I'll get her."

I went to Mom's door and knocked. "It's me, Mom; Rodrigo is here and wants to talk to you."

The door opened and Mom came out dressed up for hanging out with friends, hair fixed, a little makeup with smell goods and everything. "Wow, Mom, you look great."

She winked at me and kissed my cheek. She was walking into the big room where Rodrigo was as she said to me, "The man is early."

I hung back; since she was fixed up like that, she might be trying to make time with the Italian. I laughed at myself thinking of him as the more mature Italian stallion. Mom and Rodrigo had a few words before Mom said, "Take him to see the vineyard area. Too bad D isn't here; he would love to give a tour."

The door opened and D with six well-dressed young ladies stepped into the room. Rodrigo and Doroteo happily embraced in a traditional continental fashion. D immediately said, "Let me show you where we make our special wines. You won't believe the natural wine cellars we have."

I had to hustle while slipping my boots on as Mom shooed us out the door. As I walked out, I saw Millie and Marita coming from the bedroom with John. Millie waved and gave me an air kiss. She was dressed up too. My goodness, what's the occasion?

D took Rodrigo through the vineyard and showed him the great condition the vines were in and the early leaves. We went into the wine pressing cave with the old and new equipment and also still a couple of vats of fermenting pomace that D had been nurturing before distilling. The wine storage caves were impressive with barrels stacked three high on both sides of the cave. It took a little longer as D pulled three wine glasses from the holder near the door and siphoned wine from a barrel marked special.

This was a special white wine that I had separated the grapes for. It was the first taste of it that I had, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out if it really was special. D explained how this wine and some other barrels were experiments of mine, and we tasted the result. Rodrigo exclaimed, "Oh, if you could make many barrels of this, you would be a millionaire as soon as the world tasted this. Beautiful, Mike, you made an exquisite wine."

I winked at D. "We did good, D, we'll have to try that again."

D told Rodrigo, "Mike has a few other experimental wines that all came out wonderfully. If we were able to bottle these and give out some sample of the experiments, we could command almost any price we wanted."

"You're being pretty generous with the praise, D."

My Latino winemaker was smiling. "I tell you the truth, Mike. Whether you are just lucky, or whether it was the taste of the grape that told you what to do, these special wines you created are wonderful. Come, Rodrigo; come see the mansion made from a mountain cabin. Mike's mother has a building itch and keeps adding on to what was a very nice cabin on a mountain."

As we walked back to the house, Rodrigo commented on the field near us. "That looks like a giant garden. What do you have planted there?"

"That is our garden. This year we will have enough for us, those folks that help out here who live below us, some to sell at the market, and a lot for Kroger."

Rodrigo said, "What about Melini Cuisine Italian, none for us?"

"Tell you what, you get with Mom, and she'll tell you what she has when it's ready, and you can tell her how much. You can have our produce at the same wholesale price as Kroger, fair enough?" I smiled at the man as we were reaching the house.

"That is very generous of you, Mike," Rodrigo said. "You mentioned before that your crops are all organic, are the steers I saw all fed natural food as well?"

"Yes Sir, everything is organic. I was able to get organic corn from my son-in-law that was organically grown. They do a good business growing grain feeds naturally for people just like me who market organic stock and animal products."

"Mike," Rodrigo sighed, "When you sell your beef stock, please call me. I want to purchase at least one of your steers for my customers. You are so meticulous with your farm, I'd bet your beef is just as special."

We walked into a menagerie. The house was full of people. Everyone Mom had said was coming was here. Jimmy came up and said, "We got a great deal on the equipment today. When we picked up the ATVs, we found out they had seventeen in total, so we brought them all back, including a couple of trailers. Do you know they didn't charge us for the trailers or the other five ATVs? Man, you have everyone thinking we're special down here."

It took a while, but I took Rodrigo around to introduce him to everyone. I still wasn't sure why he was here, but I didn't care as this was becoming an event. Mom, Marita, Millie, and Karen had served everyone a glass of wine. They handed Rodrigo and me a glass and were standing together with us.

Mom stood in front of me and said, "I'm sure you're curious as to what is going on, aren't you?"

I nodded. "This is quite a gathering, Mom."

"That it is, Michael, happy birthday, Son."

The crowd erupted, all saying, "Happy birthday, Mike." Wow, it was my birthday, and I didn't even remember it. When I was in the service, Mom would send me a card so I would know when it was. Sissy did too, but she must have forgotten this year.

Mom held her hand up. "I want to toast my youngest by saying that he is a chip off the old block, a true representation of what and who his father was and still is. Mike is a real farmer, and a man who takes care of his family, his friends, and those he works with. To you, Mike; thank you for being the son you are." When Mom raised her glass and took a drink, everyone took a drink with her, including Harold and Martha.

Mom then said, "Everyone find a place to sit at the two tables. The five kids will eat at the little table."

When we were all seated, Mom dimmed the lights and I finally noticed there were candles on the three tables. There was also a lot of my wine in different color bottles. I knew it was my wine because the labels had all been scrubbed off. Rodrigo had mysteriously put a tux coat on and was standing next to the kitchen.

Rodrigo announced, "We are not going to be extremely formal and will serve a little out of what is considered the continental order for some people, but more in the order Americans eat. For your appetizer you will be served one of my special Gamberetti giganti ripieni di aragosta, which is giant shrimp stuffed with lobster. That will tease your taste buds.

"For your first course, there is a Caesar salad with my special dressing. Please use the small wine glass and the blue bottles for these two items."

Four people, two men and two women, came from the direction of the hallway with trays of small plates and bowls. Mom and Rodrigo assisted serving all of us. Those two sat with us as everyone ate a small salad and delicious shrimp. The four servers were pouring wine in the small glasses. They only poured a small quantity in each glass. This was my special white wine. It did compliment the salad.

I took a bite of a piece of the shrimp and almost swooned. It was almost a scampi taste, but you could taste the parsley and sherry, along with the butter and garlic. This was really good. I hated to finish it, but the salad looked really good with the grated parmesan on top.

As the plates and bowls were being cleared, Rodrigo announced, "We're a little out of order as some Europeans insist that the salad should be served almost after the meal. Most of us here in America desire to eat our salad before the entree. But we will now have the soup after the salad instead of before. This is a real treat. It is a crab bisque that is delicious. It is made with real cream, mushrooms, asparagus, parsley, some Oloroso sherry, and of course, fresh crab meat."

They were not very generous with the soup as the bowls seemed to be only half full. After the introduction, I think all of us could have eaten a quart or more. The soup was better than advertised. It was out of this world. The sherry added a nut-like flavor to the other flavors in the dish.

When the bowls were being pulled from the table, Rodrigo told us, "The next treat is something that is almost too good to share. You will be served a specially prepared artichoke in a delicious sauce, with a piece of charcoal broiled filet to complement the taste. The artichoke has been repeatedly dipped in a mixture of egg, garlic, and parsley, rolled in flour, then deep fried in olive oil to a golden brown. The artichoke is next steeped in a mixture of sherry, chicken broth, and butter until tender and to reduce and thicken the sauce. Be sure to use a piece of our delicious bread to soak up the sauce. This should be consumed with the slightly pink wine in the green bottles. Enjoy."

The servers did a great job of quickly getting a plate and bowl in front of everyone. I dunked a piece of the still-warm bread, itself fragrant with olive oil and rosemary, into the sauce and tasted it. Oh boy, this was rich and oh so good. I sliced off a small piece of meat and it was a perfect complement. I had to slow down, since the artichoke was totally awesome.

The servers were busy making sure the small wine glass had been removed, along with the blue bottles, and our other glass had been filled with the pink wine. This was another of my specials that no one was supposed to know about. D did, of course, so that is how it was being shared with Rodrigo.

When people were looking at empty plates and bowls, Rodrigo stood up as the servers quickly removed the plates and bowls. He told everyone, "I'm going to cram three courses into one. We'll have some of my homemade sherbet, and platters of an assortment of crackers, breads, and cheeses will be placed on your tables at the same time. Coffee will also be served for those who want it. As an advertisement, I am Rodrigo Donatello, and my restaurant in Mount Sterling is Melini Cuisine Italian. Please join me there anytime for lunch through supper. We do feature some unique dishes such as those you have had this evening, as well as many others. We also feature Mike Grayson's wonderful wines. Happy birthday, Mike."

Wow, this was some kind of special dinner served to us in Mom's new double table dining room. How in the world did these people get this food served to us, still warm, all the way from Mount Sterling? I'd have to ask about that.

When the tables had been cleared, except for the cheese platters and coffee, Mom and Rodrigo went toward the summer kitchen with the servers. Mom wasn't gone long before Rodrigo came out with trays of cannoli for each table. Rodrigo came to say goodbye to me and said, "This was special for me, Mike. I have enjoyed you and your family, and that includes Doroteo, a great deal. Happy birthday, Mike, and I hope this year will be even better than last. Come see me often, my friend."

I followed him out to see that he was in a large van with the restaurant's name on it. Melini Cuisine Italian obviously catered.

When I came back inside, Mom took my arm as we walked to where Millie had John on the floor. As soon as you sat him down, he wouldn't stay sitting but immediately pulled himself up, using the coffee table. I was kneeling next to him when he giggled, grinned, and began saying, "Dadadadada," and what do you know, he took three steps to me with his arms out wide. I hugged him as everyone around us began applauding.

Millie exclaimed, "I knew he was going to do it any minute! See if he will do it again."

I let John hold my fingers as he took some unsteady steps back to the coffee table. He held on to the table as he turned to look at me. He looked around at everyone, before looking at me as I backed up another foot or so. With the same giggle and grin, John took about five steps to reach me before falling into my arms. How proud can you get? My own kid, my son, just walked. Oh yeah, he did the dadada thing too while walking; my goodness that is amazing.

Millie scooped him up and Mom said, "One more present, Mike. You'll have to come outside for this one." Everyone slipped boots and shoes on as we went outside in the cool mountain air.

There it was, the Jeep. A Jeep painted in a mountain camouflage pattern. It had the painted canvas top and doors on now, but sitting on the ground next to it was a camouflage painted and insulated fiberglass body with doors and roll down windows for the winter. I walked around the Jeep, looking it over. The front bumper was all out of order. Across the olive drab front bumper in white letters it said 'Road Commissioner'. I had to laugh a little as the guys couldn't resist, could they? The wheels were also painted in the camouflage pattern and were reversed to stand out and widen the track on the jeep under extended fenders. The spare was covered with a painted canvas cover, with the back bumper also proudly displaying the white 'Road Commissioner' logo. When you opened the door, I could see the inside was also freshly painted with a full set of gauges and a very nice radio. The Jeep looked new, or rather, better than new. This was some vehicle.

I turned and saw everyone watching me. "This is a special present. That it was done by all of you guys and commissioned by Mom makes it very special."

Bernie said, "Raise the hood."

I released the hold downs on both sides and lifted the hood. They had put hydraulic cylinders on the hood to hold it up, but what caught your eye was all the chrome on a motor that looked a hell of lot bigger than the four cylinder that came stock on this. John Howard, the reputed best mechanic in the bunch, said, "That's a three fifty small block detuned so that you won't kill yourself. The drive train has all been rebuilt, making this a brand new toy. If this engine proves to be too big for you, I'll get you a V-6, or even an original four cylinder. I gave the tranny two more gears so that you now have a six speed. Sixth gear is only for the highway, and you shouldn't get into it unless you're doing fifty-five or better. I had so much fun test driving it, the guys almost had to tie me down to keep me out of it long enough to paint it. You're going to have a lot of fun with this thing. Don't take it into the woods though. If you park it somewhere, you'll never find it again."

Mom took John and told me, "Take Millie for a short ride in your new toy."

We went down the hill and on down the mountain until we hit the highway, listening to the rumble of the powerful V-8 resonating through the dual tuned Flowmaster mufflers. I checked to be sure Millie had the seatbelt on and headed in the direction of Pine Ridge. As I stepped on it, I felt the tremendous amount of power the vehicle had for its size; probably way too much power. I looked down to see we were doing eighty and immediately slowed down to sixty. When we came to the county line, I turned around and went back toward the house. As we neared our blackberry patch, I turned on the overhead off-road driving lights and went up the hill toward the house. The little Jeep wasn't that smooth of a ride, but it sure was fun.

When I shutdown, Jet was standing with Marita. "Yu yu you wa wa won't sneak a a up on anyone with that. Ta ta too na, na noisy."

I got out, hugged both him and Marita before going around and getting Millie out of her seat. She couldn't figure out how to open the door. I noticed the fiberglass body was gone, so the guys must be taking it back to the yard to store in their pole barn.

Only Sheryl, Harold, and Martha were still inside. Mom told me that everyone else needed to get home as it was getting late. "The guys took the body back to the yard with them. They said you would need help putting it on anyway."

I was given another handshake by Harold and a hug by Martha as they got ready to leave. This was a very nice evening, and I told everyone there how great it was.

Millie was nursing John in a rocking chair, smiling at the world, as Mom and Sheryl disappeared to change for bed. John quickly fell asleep, so Millie gave me a kiss and told me to snuggle with her soon.

There were three glasses of wine on the little table. Mom handed me one, then took another one, as Sheryl picked up the last. Mom said, "Happy birthday, Son," and raised her glass before taking a drink. Sheryl winked, raised her glass, and took a drink too.

As we were standing there, Mom said, "Raul told me he will finish the extension of the garage/machine shed tomorrow, so you'll have a place to keep your new toy. I know you won't drive it all the time, but it was fun to do for you. Did you know Millie, Marita, Karen, and me all did some work on it? We even helped paint it, if you call painting by numbers painting. Your guys down there loved doing this and might have gotten a little carried away. They had to rebuild the frame in order to keep the center of gravity low. The Jeep is high enough to go off-road a little, but low enough that you won't flip on the first corner you turn too fast."

Doc Rivers said, "That's what I had when I was in college and med school. As a matter of fact, it is still in my parents' garage. I should give it to your guys and have them make it into one of those ambulance looking jeeps. That would be fun to drive around in. Instead of having the clinic name on it, I can put Doc Rivers on the front and back bumpers. That would do the trick all right."

When I finished my drink, I told the two women, "I'm going to bed. Thank you for a great birthday and birthday present. This was special."

I was snuggled up to Millie when a long lean body snuggled up behind me. An arm wrapped around my middle as I received a gentle kiss on my neck.

There was Dad, but this time with Grandpa and Grandma, his folks, and my other grandma and grandpa, Mom's folks, sitting with him. They were all smiling at me, but not saying anything. It was good to see them, but I knew it was a dream. It couldn't be anything else. I wanted to say something to them, but couldn't get anything out. I wanted to tell them that I loved them and how much I missed them. I think they felt what I was thinking, as their smiles seemed to warm even more.

Ben came walking up, leading his mule with who had to be his wife riding on it. He nodded and stopped next to Dad. Eliza and Bud walked up and looked at me for a minute. That's when I saw the little girl playing in the mountain flowers. Eliza told me, "You're doing good, Mike. Keep right on doing what you're doing and remember that we're here for you. You'll know we're around."

The scene in front of me was so clear, then suddenly began to fade. I was sleeping peacefully when Mom got into bed on the other side of Marita. She reached across and took my hand, holding it as we both fell back asleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 38

I knew I was still sleeping next to Millie, holding Mom's hand in my bed, but I was also walking behind Dad, Ben, and Eliza, just those three. I couldn't figure out where we were until I recognized that we were near Eliza's and Bud's tombstone. We went behind the cedars, up near the sheer rock bluff, and stopped. Eliza looked at me and it seemed like she walked into the rock and disappeared. Ben smiled at me and followed Eliza. Dad looked at me, smiled, and walked into the rock, as well. Now I was confused. What could that mean?

A dog must have been nosing Sheryl, because she softly said, "Go away, I don't want to get up yet."

I crawled over Sheryl as gently as possible to get out of bed. After letting the dogs out, I hit the head, john, bathroom, that place where relief comes with a sigh and a long splashing sound. Deciding that I should go ahead and do what was necessary, I shaved and showered. I was under the water spray, getting suds from my head and eyes, when a female form came behind me. Whoever it belonged to hugged and stroked my morning little Mike with gentle touches. I could tell it wasn't Millie, since there was no baby tummy. It wasn't Mom, as the boobs weren't big enough. It wasn't Marita, as the invader was too tall, and it wasn't Karen, as this one had big hands. It could only be...

"Sheryl," was whispered in my ear.

I turned in her arms and held her as I kissed her. "It had to be you because you are taller, with a flat tummy, not heavy on top, and you have big hands."

Sheryl giggled as she pressed her body to mine. "Think you might want to help rub an itch this morning, Champ?"

"Oh Baby, you know how to tease, don't you? I love ya, Sheryl, but you aren't the woman I do that kind of stuff with."

The wonderful lady said, "I knew you were going to say something like that. I love to sleep with you, but it's frustrating as hell. All ya gotta do is bend me over and fuck me good. You don't even have to fill me up with a load of that wonderful man stuff you're packing."

This caused me to begin laughing. "Oh, Doc, you are something. If I so much as got close to the welcome wagon tunnel you have, I would be squirting it so full of grade 'triple A' baby makers, that your little squigglies would be swinging to get one."

"Oh, be still my heart, Mikey. We should see if that is what would really happen."

Thank goodness that I was done in the shower. I pulled the curtain and stepped out. Mom was leaning against the door jamb, and as she checked out my almost fully erect injector, told me, "You are so cruel, Michael. That poor girl is going to be in agony with a case of purple pussy lips all day."

It was my turn to laugh. "Purple pussy lips? That's kind of extreme, isn't it?"

"No different than guys complaining about blue balls." The answer had come from the illustrious Doctor Sheryl Rivers behind me.

Mom was giggling as I passed her to go get some different clothes to put on.

This day was a good one, as Gene called me to tell me he had the plans done for the presentation to the county council. I think I was ready to do the show and tell when I could get the appointed time, and called Benson. "I have the plans for the development. When can I get to see the council?"

"Don't be in such a hurry, Mike. I'll make the calls and see when they want to meet. It might not be until next week. You know they don't see any urgency for tomorrow, much less what you see for next year."

When Mom was done with her morning stuff, I pulled her into the office. "I didn't get to talk to you about this last night, but we need to count and list the coins in the chests. The coin dealer wants a list by type and date. I'll bring the chests in here one at a time, and we'll stack and record them by type, then by date. I think Marita can help without running her mouth off, and I think we both feel Karen can handle it."

Mom sighed. "They might as well be co-conspirators with us. I know there isn't anything wrong with what we're doing, but it sometimes feels like it. Let's get started as soon as Sheryl gets on her way."

After morning chores were done, we ate a hearty breakfast and sent the good doctor back to her clinic. It was raining, so after the ladies from below had breakfast, Mom gave them the day off and told them to come this evening for chores since it was possible that we might have to go into Lexington later.

Mom and I sat at the little table with Marita and Karen, while Millie fed a hungry John some cereal and fruit. Mom told the two girls, "We need your help with a special project. When Mike was looking through the caves on top of the mountain, he found some old chests that were filled with gold coins. We've checked with our lawyer and know that anything we find on our land is ours. The problem is that we don't want others to know we found something here so that crowds don't show up poking through the property looking for treasure."

I took over, "We're going to use this money for the new hospital, the school, the church, scholarships for as many kids as we can send to school, and to begin building developments that will bring good people to our community."

"Enough with the commercials, Mike," Mom said with a smile pointing at me. "That man will try to put every man, woman, and child to work if he could. What we're going to do today is count all of the coins and put them in stacks by type and date. The European coins will be just by Spain and France. The American coins will be by type and date. Here's the important part, we need you to promise to never tell anyone about this. We'll be selling them now and putting the money into the trust that is helping the community. We have enough money from the farm and the other things that Mike does, so this money isn't for us, it's for others."

Marita was grinning. "That's why I love you guys so much. You don't live high, but you share everything you have with others. You could live in a mansion with servants and fancy cars, but you're just regular folks. I won't tell. I want this mountain to be a place I can come to for the rest of my life for the peace it brings."

Karen was weeping, and Mom hugged her. "What's the matter, Honey, what's the problem?"

"That you trust me to help you do something as important as this is more than I can believe. I want to be a good person, and you all have given me a home, clothes, fed me, and most importantly, loved me. I know I should go to college, but I would give it up to just stay here if it was not important for the rest of my life, and it could also be important to all of you, my real family. I'm going to go to school and come back here and be the best teacher this town has ever seen. But then, I might be a nurse for Doctor Rivers. I'll have to decide."

When Karen was settled down, Mom gave the go ahead, "Okay, Mike, bring the first couple of chests into the office and we'll get started. We'll stack them up on the floor because there are too many for the table. That way, if someone comes by, we can shut the office door and just act like it's any other day around here."

Millie put John in a playpen near the office door, and the five of us began separating and stacking. The first chest had a mixture of coins, and the next three all had only double eagles. The next couple had all French or all Spanish coins, so we were moving right along. By noon, we were through fourteen chests and picking up speed because we had developed a system. Three separated coins, one stacked, and one counted and recorded.

We had pulled up the throw rug that had been on the floor, and were all on our knees, working fast. Millie had to stop every once in a while to change John or give him a little attention, but she had been steadily separating coins. Mom had Millie fix us some sandwiches so that we could quickly eat and try to finish up.

Nearing four o'clock, we had emptied, separated, and counted the last coin. Mom totaled them up and gave me a sheet to call into the coin dealer.

"Hi, this is Mike Grayson."

"Glad to hear from you, Mr. Grayson. Are you getting close to knowing exactly what you have?"

"Yes, I have a list. Do you want to take it over the phone, or should I e-mail it to you?"

"Give it to me over the phone now; that will be best and fastest."

There was a rather extensive list of coins, with a couple that were a different type of gold eagle that they would have to identify after some research. I heard other voices and realized that the investors must be in the shop with the dealer. There was a lot of excitement in their voices, and the dealer finally talked into the phone again. "How accurate is your count, Mr. Grayson?"

"Everything was counted twice by the way we did it, so it should be within one or two."

"Can you bring it in this evening, or are you going to make us wait until the morning?"

"Hang on, let me ask."

"Mom, they want them now, but will wait for morning if we want. What do you think?"

"We'll have to take your truck to haul all of this, so we can't take everyone. How about just you and I go? We'll put everything into separate containers so a recount should be fast. Tell them we'll be about an hour and a half, considering the time of day and that the roads are wet."

I spoke into the telephone handset, "We'll be there in about an hour and a half. We'll have everything separated for you so we can quickly recount. Is that going to be too late for you?"

"No, no," the dealer exclaimed, "We'll get something to eat before you get here and be ready to count. We're very excited to be able to do a deal this big. I've been instructed to tell you we are reducing our fee to ten percent because of the quantity. This is going to be a major purchase and trade. Drive carefully."

We used all of the chests, some pickle crocks, some Tupperware, and some small felt bags that Mom had. Each container was numbered and had a slip of paper with the count of what was in it.

I pulled the truck up to the back door and carried the twenty-three chests and the other containers to it. I had put a tarp down and pulled it over the coins to keep them dry. I had to tie the tarp down so that it wouldn't blow off while driving. I put my Berretta in a holster, an extra magazine in a pocket, and checked to make sure Mom had hers. There was no sense in being stupid.

On the way to Lexington at that time of day, we realized how many people must live in our direction and commute every day. There was a steady stream of traffic coming from the city.

We backed up to the door of the dealer at six fifteen. The rain had stopped up there, so we didn't get wet unloading the truck. They were setup to count everything with special machinery and scales that wouldn't mar the coins. The investors worked on all of the foreign coins first, while the dealer, Mom, and I worked on the chests with double eagles. We did have almost a full chest of regular ten dollar eagles, but they were proportionately worth as much, or more in some cases, as the double eagles.

We finished counting right at nine fifteen. It had taken an extra fifteen minutes to figure out the odd coins and their exotic value. We all had a cup of fresh coffee while the dealer totaled everything. He showed the two adding machine tapes with the same number to the investors, then to Mom and me. Oh shit, that was a hell of lot more than I had thought. It was like four times more than the maximum amount that I had figured on.

Banking today is strange, as you don't do anything normal any longer. You don't go to the bank and smile at the tellers while you hand them cash or checks with your deposit slip. You get on a computer and enter information, then press enter, go, or whatever site you want to say to 'get'r done'. The dealer handed me a printout of the transaction that we checked to make sure all the numbers were correct. Mom and I sighed with relief that we were rid of those coins.

Amazingly, we now had all of that money in the trust accounts and Benson didn't have to swap coins to make things happen. He and Maude were going to shit when they saw the account balance.

The dealer said to me, "We want to thank you for trading with us and want to assure you that we will welcome any more business we can do with you. This has been extraordinary, but very lucrative to us, as well as to you, I'm sure. I've discovered how you are giving these monies away to your community and investing in the future of the youth with scholarships. I went to the University of Kentucky and am on their scholarship board. When your name came up as part of the trust, I knew where the money was coming from."

One of the investors or coin traders was holding one of the fancy leather satchels or folders like the one I had been given before. He held it out to us and said, "We thought that you should have some of the proceeds of the coins to use for your family. Take this, and use it over the years as you need it. Please use us again."

Mom was going to look inside, but I kept it shut. She didn't need to know these guys put a bunch of bucks in there. She could count it one bill at a time on the way home.

We shook hands all around and left the coin dealer's at ten o'clock. From the front of the store, I called home to tell them we were done and coming home now. I could hear Marita and Karen behind Millie as I talked to her. My sweet wife told me to drive carefully, but to hurry home.

As we exited the strip mall where the coin dealer was, Mom pointed at a Burger King across the street and said, "Please feed me, Michael. I want a Whopper, fries, and Coke; I am so starved."

Mom got her Whopper and I got a couple of double cheeseburgers with all the trimmings, fries, and a Coke. We wheeled out of there, proceeded to the highway, and headed home. After Mom finished her Whopper, she opened the leather folder and began pulling out bundles of cash. "Michael, you won't believe this. Michael, this is, ah, this is, oh shit; this is like a half a million dollars. Mike, they gave us five hundred thousand in cash. We can't keep all of this."

"Mom, I bought that safe and put it in the floor under the desk. It's pretty big and you really can't tell where it's at because of the desk chair pad. Whatever you have in the folder will fit there right now. Just leave it in there for when we need something. There are always reasons to have cash handy."

"Michael, I know how you are about extra money, and I haven't spent hardly any of it. I even used farm money for your Jeep. I know you'll do something good with what we have, so go ahead, put it in the safe and use what you need when you need it."

As we topped the hill to the house, Mom gasped as the house had a glow around it. I told Mom, "The moon is behind the house right now. It is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Mike, I've had the most pleasant dreams of your dad lately. It's like he's telling me to go on with life, to do more as a woman. It's funny how I enjoyed Ezra, but he just didn't ring my bell. I don't think I rang his either, as he hasn't been that interested in being with me lately. I asked him if he was feeling okay, and he said he was fine, just not into doing anything. I wonder if there is someone else who will be interesting to me."

The house was quiet when we went in. I checked on the girls and they were asleep. Mom and I put the cash into the safe, washed up, and after I put a log on the fire, went to bed.

There was Dad again. He was standing by the end of the vineyard with Eliza and Ben. All three were smiling at me and waved for me to follow them. We did it again by going to where Eliza's and Bud's graves were and a little behind the cedars framing the area.

All three looked at me and waved for me to follow as Ben disappeared into the bluff, Eliza did the same thing, then Dad headed toward the bluff, stopped, smiled, nodded, winked, then turned and walked right into the rock bluff. I was going to walk to the bluff, but something was keeping me from moving. That's when I heard something ringing.

My cell phone was ringing, so I scooted out and answered it. "This is Mike."

"Mr. Grayson, this is the coin dealer in Lexington. I need to advise you that three of the coins you gave us are extremely rare. The other collector investors insisted I call you to advise we are going to deposit an additional two hundred fifty thousand, three hundred dollars into one of your accounts. Tell me which one, and I will make the deposit."

"Geez, don't you sleep?" I looked at the bedside clock and it was two-thirty in the morning.

"This is too important to sleep right away. We are all working to arrange for shipments of coins to dealers all over the world. It took a while to correctly identify these coins for us to sell them, and we have been offered premium amounts for them. Into which account do you want this to be deposited?"

"Put it in the newest account, if you would. That one will be supporting a lot more activities."

"Thank you, Mr. Grayson, and forgive me for waking you, but this was too important to let go until morning."

I went to the bathroom, then to the kitchen area for a drink of water. The dogs decided they wanted to go out, so I let them run for a few minutes. It was a little chilly, and there were still embers in the fireplace, so I nursed a log to get a fire restarted. While I sat in one of the rocking chairs staring at the fire, I felt as if I was with others. I looked to my left and saw Ben, and back to my right sat Eliza. Both were rocking back and forth, looking at the fire. I wasn't asleep; I was awake, wasn't I?

The dogs scratched at the door, so I got up and let them in. Both dogs went to Eliza and Ben to get their ears scratched, then curled up on their rug and went to sleep. I was nervous with the two of them in the living room, rocking in chairs. That can't be.

Eliza said, "We're with you, Mike. We're all with you all the time. We'll take care of you."

Ben smiled, then I saw Dad standing by the fireplace, smiling at me. He nodded just before all three of them disappeared. Both dogs raised their heads and looked around, then went back to sleep. I was too shaken to do anything more than go back to bed and snuggle up to Millie. On the other side of Millie, Marita and Karen were spooned. That gave me a smile as I drifted off.

When I got up in the morning, I was wide awake and not feeling drugged from less sleep or the experience in front of the fire. For some reason, I was feeling really good as I put my boots on and went out to do the heavy barn stuff and stoke the smokehouses.

I had been working on an automatic stoker for the small pieces of wood I used for smoking and how to keep the draft moving the way it should. I had a small conveyor belt that held the pieces of wood. It was a wide flat chain that carried pieces of wood from a hopper to the firebox. It dropped a small piece of wood about every five minutes. The draft was assisted by a fan that was operated by a thermal relay that kept the fan turning at a very low rpm to pull the smoke into the individual rooms.

I built one and modified it until it seemed to work consistently, then built the others to match. Even the old smoke house now had its own stoker. I kept thinking that I was being lazy, but I still had to remove the ash and refill the hopper. Now that I had a chipper to run the hickory through, it was easy to get the right size for the hopper.

Back inside, I was met by Mom going a hundred miles an hour. Smiling, she confided, "I'm so glad we got that done. I really feel good about the whole thing. I think I'm going to get Sheryl's Jeep and fix it up like she wants. I'll bet the guys will have a blast making her an old Army medical Jeep."

Give mom a mission in life and look out, or should I say, duck. She is going to influence a hell of a lot of people and events within a hell of a short time.

As we ate breakfast with the ladies from below, Mom stated, "You know, we talked about finding out about Millie's folks as far as when they were killed in the fire at the factory they worked in. I want to follow up on that. I'll bet the person to handle something like that is Benson. He can represent Millie, and Summer too, if she was born before the fire occurred."

Millie said, "It was terrible, because Summer was just a little over a year old and Bernard and I were very young. We didn't know what to do or how to live. We were country people and didn't know how city people treated others. The company our folks worked for paid for the funeral. Our folks were buried in a big cemetery there. I don't think I could even find the grave. Can we find it and put some flowers there?"

Mom hugged Millie. "Of course you can. I'll bet we can get everything we need to know by this afternoon."

I didn't think anything about what their project was at the time, because I was researching apple farming techniques on the Internet. What I came across was startling. Somewhere up in the northwest, someone had cattle grazing in their orchards and some of the apples or pears had gotten cow shit on them. The fruit wasn't washed sufficiently, so a person who bought the produce contracted e-coli. No sick people died, but it did cause a problem. I had to think as to how I was going to handle this information.

Knowing the way to find answers with agriculture, I went to the farm bureau in town and talked to the agriculturalist or farm agent they had available. I explained what I was doing and what I expected to get from the orchards before I showed him the article and what had been found.

"Tell you what, Mike. If you keep the cattle in the orchards, you will have to wash all of your apples and pears before you can sell them. If you were to pull the cattle out now, the grounds should be free of any influence of their excrement by the time you harvest. I know you were planning to sell the cattle this fall and this was a way to get them fat before you grained them heavy for slaughter. But since you will be marketing your fruit, you should make it as safe as possible for the buyers."

Once again, the pasture behind the barn had become too small if I have to put another fifteen head there. I didn't like putting fifteen head in with the two older steers, the younger one, the heifer calf, and the three cows, but I needed to do something like that. I had to consider all of the area on the mountain in finding a place to graze the cattle until late summer or fall.

I went exploring while thinking of all of the areas on the farm. I walked a little past where Eliza's and Bud's graves were, thinking there might be a way to use this area, I turned and walked down the gentle slope about a mile before I came to a rocky outcropping.

I followed the edge of the rocks that seemed fairly straight across the side of the mountain for about another three quarters of a mile until I ran into the edge, where rocks were protruding from the earth 'en masse', forming a natural boundary.

I went back up the mountain, following the rocky border until I was at the lower edge of the new field in the area that had just been planted in sweet corn. I piled some stones up where I thought a corner fence post might go and went back toward the end of that field. After marking another corner, I walked back up to the bluff wall.

If I didn't miss my guess, I would have between three and four hundred acres for the animals to graze in. I went back through the grassy sparse woods with small meadow openings until I reached the lower corner. I piled rocks there to mark the corner, then I went back to where I had broken over a small sapling to mark the spot where I turned and made a rock pile there.

I would need the GPS to get the exact locations, but I could figure a fairly accurate acreage to be used for stock. I walked back up to the bluff, zigzagging across the grounds, and found over a dozen small meadows that could be heavily over-seeded for the stock.

It was funny how this area didn't appear to have even one spring to provide water. I wondered if there might be some along the bluff, similar to the water that flowed down the side of the rock where the main orchard is now. I could pipe water from that area to here, but that would be a lot of work and money. Then again, building a fence to make this into a usable pasture was going to be expensive, too.

I followed the bluff all the way to the ravine where the cave that I had found the last chests in was, then closely inspected the bluff as I went back toward where the graves were. All along the bluff were a lot of scrub cedars that hid the edge of the bluff. I saw a couple of small openings in the rock that were ideal for small animals, but no water. As I neared the area where I had seen Dad, Eliza, and Ben go into the rock, I thought I heard what sounded like running water. The sound was faint, and if you were fifteen feet or so from the bluff, you wouldn't hear it at all.

I peered around the scrub cedars, and there was a cave with the height of the opening right at six to seven feet, with a width of maybe six feet. The sound of running water was now much more prevalent. The cave was not deep or wide, but right in the center on the back of the cave, water gushed down a wall, pooled at the bottom, and looked like it disappeared through a natural drain at the bottom of the pool. Well, there was water. All I needed to do was to get it to where the stock could easily reach it.



I sat on one of the many small boulders that lay at the base of the bluff and thought about how to go about getting this done. As if just being out here near Eliza and Bud, I felt as if Dad, Ben, and Eliza were all talking at once. I didn't understand them until I closed my eyes in an attempt to clear my head.

It was Dad that first made sense, "Keep the fence at least twenty-five feet from the edge of your crop field so you don't tempt the stock to try to jump it. You know how they are."

That made sense. It was Eliza that reminded me saying, "Remember that you have to leave a road to the new field. You will need two gates if you fence up to the bluff."

Ben was nodding this time. He smiled and suggested, "You know, you might use some town people to do the fence for you this time. What you want is pretty easy, so they should be able to do the job. You need to use them when you can."



Now all three of them were smiling and seemed to vanish as I opened my eyes. Did I need that conference? Actually, the answers were all what I would have done or found out. I'm just having too many dreams for me to see ghosts during the day. I felt as if I should go screaming down the hill for experiencing ghosts during the day.

It was getting to be the middle of the afternoon and I had not eaten lunch yet, so as I walked back to the house, I was thinking of what I was going to have for lunch. As I passed by the garden, the ladies from below were pulling weeds and hoeing around some shoots of new vegetables. I noticed the corn was already peeking out of the ground, so the season was upon us.

Neither Mom, Millie, Marita, nor Karen was in the house. They must have gone to town for something they needed. After making myself a sandwich from some leftover roast beef, I went into my office to see who might be good for a fence.

There in the middle of the desk was a note from Mom. "We all went to Lexington to find out about Millie's parents."

Millie and Summer had moved from Lexington probably twelve to fifteen years ago, so Millie's parents were probably killed near twenty years back. That was going to be difficult to track down, but knowing Mom and how relentless she is, I'm sure she would quickly have some information on whoever or whatever.

Once again I called the farm bureau and asked the local agent if there was a fence company they could recommend. The agent quickly informed me, "Some local men have opened a fencing company instead of drinking shine all day. They have been receiving good recommendations and seem to be dependable. There are six of them, so they can do a lot of work. Let me get you their telephone number."

I called the fencing company number and it answered, "Stanton Fence, how may I help you?"

After introducing myself, I told them what I needed and that I did need it to be completed fairly soon.

"No problem, Mr. Grayson, two of us will come up in the morning and measure for you so we can give you a price. We're finishing up a couple of small jobs right now and can be on your place in a day."

There was a clamor from the guineas, letting me know that someone was coming up the lane. I put my boots on and went out to find my sister, sister-in-law, and the four kids getting out of their big Expedition. Sissy gave me a hug and said, "I need to use the facilities soon, or I'm going to wet my pants. Let me do that while you go and hug your sister-in-law."

While I gave Shirley a hug, the kids raced out toward the garden where the women were working. I hauled the two big bags in and set them on the floor while I slipped my boots off. Sissy came back to the living area where she joined Shirley in looking at the expanded dining area.

I took the bags to the two new bedroom areas and called the girls. They were both excited to have rooms and private bathrooms created just for them. When Sissy asked about Mom, I had to give both of them the rundown on Millie's parents and Mom's quest to find justice.

Sissy groaned, "Oh no, she won't rest until she knows Millie's been taken care of. That was pretty crude of a company to not at least help those two kids out when their parents were killed. It's hard to believe they were just turned loose and forgotten, especially with a baby. That was cruel."

Rosita, Carmen, and Anita came to the door to tell me the chores were done and all of the women were going to be going home early as tomorrow was market day. Anita, always wanting to talk in her strange sentence structure, "Salsa, we are making. Market tomorrow, we are selling. See us you should for tacos you eat. Good, we make them."

Rosita rolled her eyes. "We are going to try to sell hot tacos tomorrow, along with our special salsa. It's very spicy and very good. We will make the tacos with or without the salsa. We will also be selling jars of our salsa. Try some tomorrow."

I loved these people. They were hard workers and as friendly as puppies. A lot of the things around the place would not have happened if they had not come along. Of course, their fortunes also went up with their relationship with me. They are good people.

That was something else I had forgotten. Tomorrow is market day, and I had just committed to have the fence people here to look the area to be fenced over. I'll figure it out, but I did need to be seen at the market as often as possible because of the stupid election.

Sissy and Shirley began rummaging around in the kitchen, looking for things they could make for supper, when Mom burst through the door. Slipping off her shoes, she gave me a smile and a peck on the cheek as she headed toward Sissy. Millie with John, Marita, and Karen came in next with the four kids on their heels.

It was a typical mad scramble for a few minutes as people removed their shoes and greeting hugs were in progress. When I asked Mom and Millie how it went, Mom replied, "I'll tell you after supper. Right now, let me finish the veggies and you go get the ribs from the cooker over the firebox."

Cooker over the firebox? I didn't know we had a cooker over the firebox, and which firebox would that be?

While the other women were busily doing as Mom had directed, she pulled me by the arm to the bench where I pulled my boots on and she put her shoes on, before taking me to see the cooker. Mom had a barrel cooker over the firebox of several of the smoke house rooms. The barrels had been opened on the bottom so that the heat could get to a grill that held four racks of ribs. Also on the grill was a chunk of meat that looked to be nicely done. We were going to eat well tonight.

I carried the big container full of ribs and roast back to the kitchen, noticing that both tables were now set, which meant that more people were expected. Mom put the big metal container in the oven and set it on 'warm' as the rest of the dinner was prepared.

The quick preparation of a big meal is always fascinating, as it is the culmination of a lot of effort beforehand to get food ready all at the same time. D and his girls showed up, and then the guys from the road yard began arriving. This was obviously another matchmaker dinner that Mom had set up. As soon as Sheryl came in the door, Mom waved everyone to be seated at the table. All complied except D, who was pouring wine for everyone. I think my guys would have preferred beer, but what the hell, this was good stuff too.

Ezra gave a quick prayer and we sat to eat. The ribs were super, as was the coleslaw and baked beans. Everyone used paper towels right from the roll that was set up on end between each pair of two diners. When we were all sitting back, rubbing our tummies, Ezra made an announcement.

"We finished the Conner's new field today and did a hell of a job on it. Now that Pedro can handle the crew, I'm going to retire and do some traveling. I've been corresponding with some people up in Oregon that I want to go meet. This doesn't mean I won't be back, because I will. I'm not selling my place, just taking a long vacation. I'll be seeing you guys in six months or so."

With that, Ezra got up, gave Mom a kiss on the cheek, shook my hand, Jet's, and the other road guy's who operated the other bulldozer, put his shoes on, and walked out the door. I looked at Mom to see if she was shocked, but she winked at me. I guess everything is fine.

There were a total of ten road guys, when you counted Bernie. From what I had guessed, a few of them might have been hard core gays, but they got along with everyone else. If you watched, you knew that Jet and Marita were a couple, and Bernie and one of D's girls were close. The five other girls had chosen men from the road crew, leaving four without a girl. It didn't seem to be a problem.

I watched D and Mom as they surveyed the men's developing relationships. That they had all fallen for some dark Latino beauties was good, as the girls would remain close. D's nieces were leaders in getting their young men to propose. We were going to have a lot of weddings, or a mass wedding, if we could get it done.

There was another problem; where would these guys live? I would have to address that soon.

While D's girls helped the road guys do dishes, Mom, Sheryl, and I sat at the little table. Mom showed me a copy of the fire report and the death certificates for Millie's parents. She also had some copies of records from lawsuits that had been filed against the company that had the fire. They had attempted to settle the claims as a class action, but it had not been allowed as the workers had been in different areas of the plant when the fire swept through it.

The first thing said to me was when Mom leaned over and told me, "The 'friends' Ezra has up in Oregon is an old girlfriend from his childhood. He told me that he thinks they might get together, so I wasn't supposed to get my hopes up." Mom chuckled. "Sure saves me from letting him down easy, doesn't it?"

Mom then told me, "I had a conversation with Benson and dropped everything I had off with him. I made him make me some copies of this stuff so I could look at it again. He says he thinks the company will probably settle quickly, although the fire was a long time ago. They won't want the bad publicity that they could experience for letting two young people be abandoned without any monetary help. It helps that Summer is past her 18th birthday, because the statute of limitations was lifted – Benson says 'tolled' – while she was still a minor, so unlike Millie, she could actually still file a lawsuit for the original loss, while Millie's claim would be for the fraudulent concealment of their liability to her."

I asked, "What does Millie think? Will she be content with a settlement?"

"She's content now, Mike. She doesn't really have a great grasp of big money, but she understands value and about how much something should cost. She knows from TV that big companies who treat their employees bad and cause injury or death have to pay big money. That she knows where her parents are buried now is important to her, and I think she is ready to let that part of her life go. She might want something, but we'll let it happen when she says what she wants."

"Thanks for doing this, Mom. I thought I should go up there, but since Millie and Summer were doing so well, I didn't want to stir up their emotions."

Later, as all of the road men had taken the young women home and Jet was parting with Marita for the night, Mom and D were sitting at the little table as Mom waved at me to come sit with them. D poured me some of his fruity brandy and said, "Mike, you have given me so much of my life back by having me be a part of yours here. You've helped me with the girls that showed up in my life, and now I think I will lose all of them to your men. That is wonderful.

"I need to tell you, Mike. I'm not ready to go into the night and disappear. What you have on this mountain is special to me, and I want to remain a part of it. Something else that has happened is that I have fallen in love with your mother. I didn't see it coming or happening, but I woke up one day knowing that I would ask her to join me in sharing the rest of our lives. Mike, what do you think of me being your stepfather?"

Shocked, I looked at Mom, at D, back to Mom, then I said, "I don't know, D. I really enjoy you being around, but doesn't that answer have to come from Mom?"

"Son," Mom began, "I didn't know it was coming either, but it did. While D and I talked many times, I somehow knew he was someone I needed to know more about. You found out a lot about him, and I found out more. I really enjoy being around D and hope you will embrace him the same way. I'm not running off to get married right away, but I do want D and me to go off by ourselves for a couple of weeks to get used to one another. Do you mind?"

I laughed. "Not hardly, Mom. You know I want you to be happy, and I'm ecstatic that you've chosen someone I really want to maintain a friendship and business connection with. Enjoy each other; this place and all of us will be here when you return."

D shook my hand with watery eyes, then went out with Mom as he prepared to go home. My sister and sister-in-law were sitting, stunned at the conversation that had just taken place. Sissy said, "You're letting your mother run off with a Mexican?"

"Oh, Sissy, he is a good man, and look at what he was willing to sacrifice for his family. I like D, and I think you need to get to know him better before you form an opinion, Mexican or not."

Mom came back into the house and kissed my cheek. She looked at Sheryl, "Okay, tell me who is pro and who is con?"

Sheryl had a sly look on her face as she looked at me. "Mike always surprises me, and he's openly said that he's happy for you to be with D. However, this other babe says she doesn't know about you moving in with this other man, a Mexican even, regardless of his nationality."

"Amazing, isn't it?" Mom said with a sigh. "Out of all the people I love, and it comes down to a couple of siblings that have their different opinions. Mike, let Sissy be around D for a few days and weeks, and we'll let her see how D has helped me through some bad time."

Sissy was sitting back in her chair, thinking of the situation and how she should accept it.

"Let's go to bed," Sissy said as she stood. "I know this will still be the six hundred pound bear in the room when we get up, but it will be a little tamer then."

"Along with tomorrow's market day, I have a meeting with some fence people in the morning. Can you guys do without me for a while?" I asked.

Millie said, "No problem, Honey, we'll be busy with our own stuff and helping the neighbors with their taco stand."

That was the end of that. People began disappearing into bedrooms, probably still thinking of how the family dynamics were changing.

When I slipped between Millie and Marita, I was kissed on both cheeks, then Millie pulled me to her and kissed me on the lips. I happily drifted off.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 39

I woke holding Millie's growing belly, but had a hand holding Little Mike. That's when I remembered Sheryl. She sure was persistent. I wondered how I managed to be between Millie and Sheryl after going to sleep between Millie and Marita. Who knows?

Sliding from bed is easy when you are getting up from between two women who want to stay asleep. I let the dogs out and quickly dressed to get the chores done. I couldn't remember whether the girls from down the hill were going to be able to come up or not, but thought it would be easy for me to do them.

As if I was in a time warp, my sister sleepily came from her room, dressed in work clothes, and sat next to me to put her boots on. "Move over, Bro, give my spreading ass some room."

"You don't have to get up for this. Sleep a little later; I can handle it."

"Not a chance, Champ. I'm here to do something other than sit on my thumbs for a whole weekend. What I really want is for the kids to get used to getting up and doing chores in the morning. I want them to know how people really live in this world instead of being coddled every second of the day. God, Mike, I want my kids to experience what we lived. We learned to work and live from Mom and Dad. All three of us have been successful in our lives, and I want my kids to have that same chance. I'm not sure how to go about it, but I want it to happen."

As we were finishing putting our boots on, Mom came from her bedroom. "Hey, you can't go out there without me. The girls from below asked me if we would do the chores this morning. I see that I have all the help we need. Let's get'r done."

"You can't go out there without me. I can help." Shirley announced as she came from the bedroom with her farm clothes on and went straight to the shoe bench.

Mom suggested, "Why don't you take the big baskets out to the chicken house and gather eggs? The other ladies don't want us to take the goose, duck, and turkey eggs, as they say they are all setting, you know, trying to hatch babies. If you see a guinea hen sitting on eggs, leave her alone too, because we sell guinea hens at the market as watch dogs, or I guess they would be watch birds. Any eggs with a big 'X' on them should be left as well. I think the ladies from below are growing their population of fowl too."

It didn't take long to do the chores, and when we were back in the house, Millie, Marita, and Karen had breakfast just about ready. Sheryl was helping by shuttling things between the summer kitchen wood stove and the main kitchen area.

As soon as we came in, Millie came to me for a kiss, followed by Marita and Karen. Sheryl noticed this and came over to me. "Do I get a good morning kiss too? You've already kissed everyone but the barn cats."

It's tough to keep a straight face around someone like Sheryl. She's tall, thin, gangly, and full of energy. You have to love her enthusiasm about life. She said to all of us, "Mrs. Carlyle is going to have her baby this morning, so I need to get going. She chose this morning for her caesarian so her husband wouldn't miss work. This is her third, and last, I hope. I might just tie some tubes while I'm in there this time."

Mom punched Sheryl on the arm. "You wouldn't do that, and you know it. You love having every baby in the community come through your doors. Janie Carlyle wants a lot of kids, but her hips are way too narrow for childbirth. Her body will let her know when it's time to quit."

"I know, Mom. It's just that she is such a complainer. We plan this thing darn near nine months in advance, then when it comes down to it, she will be in there moaning and groaning to her husband about having to go through this again and again. She just needs to stop having kids and it will be all right, especially with me."

It's neat to get an idea of how doctors feel about their patients, but it's difficult to sympathize since we don't have to deal with emotional women giving birth.

I told the ladies that I would clean the kitchen up and help them load the truck. I would come in as soon as the fence people were gone.

The women had multiple cans of milk, a five gallon can of pure cream, ten pounds of butter, ten gallons of buttermilk in one gallon bottles, almost a hundred dozen eggs, and a stack of crochet dollies that Millie and Karen had made. Mom had eight big containers of hams and bacon that she would deliver to the butcher and offer to the Kitchen first, but I figured she would have plenty for the market. I knew that when they returned, the containers would be full of hams and bacon that had been presoaked in pear and pineapple juice as well as brine by the butcher and were ready to be smoked.

What the women would get for their goods would be more than enough for our utilities and expenses, along with some trips to Kroger and Walmart for what else they needed. I loved the way the farm took care of itself and kept the family fed.

The fence men showed up, and I walked them around the fence path that I envisioned. While they used one of those wheels to get distances, I recorded the locations with my GPS. When we were done walking the area, one of the men used a hand calculator and notepad to figure a price. I wanted a four-foot high woven wire fence with two strands of barbed wire eight inches apart on top. I wanted all creosoted posts, with braced corner posts. The men said they would brace them and that all corner posts were set in Sakrete.

One of the men said, "You know your mountain is haunted with ghosts, don't you? I can feel them around me right now. This is going to be a very fast job since it's so creepy up here. I hope the other guys are willing to work on the mountain. Aren't you scared of the ghosts up here?"

I had to tell them, "Not really. I think the ghosts from the past may still be around, but they are settled now. The more recent ghosts like Ben and Eliza are happy to be on the mountain."

"That's right, you did let them bury Eliza up here with Bud. Where is that grave?"

I walked them over to where the headstone was and pointed while I told them, "Eliza was a good ole lady. She sold me this place and gave me somewhere to be for the rest of my life."

The guy afraid of ghosts said, "I hope all you have are nice ghosts. I have this feeling as if there are a lot of them around here."

I was promised men would show up to begin on Monday morning. They would set posts first and laser a straight path to each corner so they could cut down any trees necessary. I promised to have a couple of men to cut the trees up for them so they wouldn't be slowed by having to cut trees down. That meant I needed to see Pedro this weekend.

I cleaned up and put some of my new BDUs on that match the Jeep. I thought it would be fun to take the Jeep into the market, as it is a novelty.

Almost as soon as I parked next to Millie's red pickup, people came over to say hi and to pass the time of day. I think they all knew the time to vote for the position of road commissioner was coming up and also knew that if I didn't come back for another term, they might have to dodge potholes and might not be able to get out during the snows. I handed out cards and pieces of candy as I went from group to group. I figured that if I kept this up for the whole time between now and the election, I should get some kind of kickback deal from the dentist.

Hmm, dentist, I wondered if Stanton has a dentist. I saw Stanley Conner and joined him at the coffee tent. "Hey, Stanley, is there a dentist in town?"

"Naw, we don't have one here. You have to go to Mount Sterling if you have a tooth problem. Are you hurting?"

"No, I was thinking about all this candy I'm handing out and wondered about a dentist."

Stanley laughed, "Yep, you've been giving away a lot of candy to get re-elected, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. Everyone knows you've been taking care of the roads and not worrying about getting rich on their tax dollars. You were smart by finding men who knew how to do the job and letting them do what they know how to do. Just keep doing that and you'll be old and gray before you get voted out."

I slapped Stanley on the back. "Thanks, the guys at the road yard will love to hear that. I worry about their jobs, not what I make from the position."

"That's what I mean, Mike. You don't drive around in a big fancy Cadillac. You drive that beat up ugly yellow pickup and I see you're in a neat older Jeep today. You're a regular guy, a common man. That's who people want to take care of their roads."

I changed the subject, "How's your planting coming along? Are you pretty much done?"

Stanley said, "All but the bottom land that you bought. I'm letting it dry another week, then planting ninety day corn there. I think I'll be in good shape for another year. Say, did you get the check for clearing the land? Your guys did a hell of a job and the ground is being planted this next week. Bradley is going to have a great year if the rains keep up the way they have been."

"I don't know about a check, Stan. I let the bookkeeper handle that."

"Yeah, Maude takes care of all of us, doesn't she? As this place grows, she's going to need help. Can you imagine Maude putting up with someone helping her? That's going to be something for the ages."

Back at Millie's truck, I found out they were sold out of everything except a few dozen eggs and a few doilies. Marita was standing with Jet and told me, "Go get some of Rosita's and Carmen's tacos. They are really good. Their salsa is delicious, and they have it both mild and hot." Jet was grinning and nodding vigorously in agreement.

I walked to where the family from below was, and before I could ask for a taco, Consuela put one in my hand and pulled my head down by my ear to give my cheek a kiss. "Eat this, Mike. You will love our tacos. Next week we will bring double."

As I ate the taco, Anita was almost bouncing with excitement. "Selling tacos we are or is that tacos we are selling. Trying I am to speak right, I am."

Pedro bumped into me, smiling as he said, "She messes up Spanish the same way. I think it's something between the ears."

"Just the man I needed to see, Pedro," I said as I finished crunching the taco. "I'm having a fence installed Monday and the fence people will need some trees cut that are in the way. Can you give me a couple of men to cut down and cut up some trees for me?"

"We finished the Conner place and have people available," Pedro said as we stepped away from the busy taco stand. "I was going to use all of them on the cable job, but we don't really need everyone. I'll have Jesus and a few men come Monday morning. They should be able to do most of what you want by Tuesday. I'll have them haul the wood down to the wood lot at our place. The two men down there are still over a month behind in splitting and stacking all of the wood we're cutting. The Conner place ended up yielding three truckloads of special woods, and at least ten truckloads of firewood. The men doing the splitting are doing a good job keeping last year's cuttings separate."

I needed to find out how he and Jesus felt about Ezra. "Are you guys concerned that Ezra left? He had told me he had several jobs lined up for you guys to do when the cable paths are done."

"Mike, he gave me a list of people to call to schedule work. If everyone on the list uses us, we'll be until next summer finishing everything. Ezra gave all of those people my telephone number so they can call if they need to have something done right away. We have a job that needs to start Wednesday, and Jesus and his crew will do that one. It's a lot like the first job we did with you, so we know exactly what to do. We'll use the small bulldozer. There isn't much good wood that will come from the job, but there will be some."

"That's good to know, Pedro," I said, relieved that the men didn't lose out on future work. "If you or Jesus need anything to help you work, let me know."

Pedro smiled at me and said, "We need your name, Mike. You pay all of us more than fair, provide transportation, and even pay to have our women bring lunches to the job. We are pampered workers. Do you know that every man working for you right now is legal? Pastor Harold sends us a couple of men a month, and we work with them so they can be good people. I'll bet the fence people you hired are from our work crews. A couple of the men said they used to work for a fencing company and were going to start their own. You're doing good for us and for others, Mike."

"That's great, Pedro. It makes me feel good to know your crews are all happy men."

"They will be happier when they will be allowed to apply for citizenship. You will come to Jesus and my swearing in, won't you? We will be citizens next month."

"Wow, Pedro, I didn't know you two had been able to get this done so fast."

"It is Benson that has made this possible for our wives and us. Now my whole house will be citizens, and one day, everyone at our farm will be citizens, too. Oh, you need to see Raul. He needs you to talk to someone about a job he's found. You need to be the man to talk to the contractors for him."

"I'll stop by your place and see him today. I have something for him in the future, but it is still a ways off. We do need to keep him and his men working."

I went to the Mexican ladies at their little table that had a gas camping stove cooking some ground beef. "Rosita, should I order a few dozen tacos for us to take home?"

The Latino lady was all smiles and couldn't answer fast enough. Anita jumped in and said, "Lots of tacos Bea has. Lunch for you and the others soon."

Rosita said, "Your mom already bought four dozen. We're just about out of everything, so we'll be going home soon. It's too late to make more tortillas to go to Pine Ridge, but we'll be ready next week."

I asked, "Did Mom get some of your salsa? I want to get some of the good hot stuff. I'm not sure what the others will want."

Carmen was holding her hand over Anita's mouth while telling me, "Bea bought a couple of jars of each kind. I promised her some of our own very hot salsa. She said that you and your sister love hot foods."

"Good deal, Ladies. I need to go see how D is doing at Pine Ridge. He took some wine over there for me. I'll see you at church tomorrow."

"Oh no, Mr. Mike," Rosita corrected. "We will see you for chores this evening. We only needed extra time this morning."

Another taco would have been good, but if Mom bought a bunch, I'll wait for later. But then, with four kids and all of us adults, four dozen tacos won't go far.

When I turned, I ran smack into my brother. "Hey, Shrimp, you need to watch where you're going," Frank said as he gave me a man hug. Brother-in-law Bill was standing next to him and vigorously shook my hand.

"I didn't know you guys were coming down. The ladies didn't say whether you were coming or not," I told them while we headed back to where the rest of the family was.

It was Bill who said, "Frank and I didn't really want to spend the weekend without the family, so we drove in after our early golf game. We're here to pull a couple of weeds, at least. The kids need to see us get dirty so that they will join in."

It was decided that we would head back to the house when a tall lanky woman in jeans and a flannel plaid shirt walked up to us. She was overdoing it a little, as she was wearing a western style straw hat and had a long piece of straw hanging out of her mouth.

I busted out laughing, and she took a swing at me. I had to say something so that the guys would understand. "Sheryl, this is my brother, Frank, and my brother-in-law, Bill Heinlick. Frank and Bill, meet Doctor Sheryl Rivers, the town, community, and county doctor."

After they had shaken hands and greeted each other, Sheryl said, "I'm done being a doc today and plan on spending the rest of the weekend with my adopted family. Where's Mom so that I can ask if I should pick up anything we might need on the way home?"

I pointed to where Mom, Sissy, Millie, Karen, and Shirley were. I told Sheryl, "Tell Mom that we might need more tacos."

Sheryl stepped over and whispered in my ear, "I've got a taco I'd like you to sample, big boy." She stepped back with a chuckle while I blushed, and she said aloud, "Sure, Mike. I'll take care of that right now."

I said to the guys, "I have to go over to Pine Ridge for a few minutes so that I can pick up some beer."

"You don't need any, Mike," Frank said. "We have three cases in coolers in the back of Bill's Suburban. I know you don't keep that much on hand, so we brought extra so you'll have some for later."

Mom and Millie walked past us in the direction of the taco stand, with Mom rolling her eyes, but smiling.

I motioned for the guys to go over to the other women, and I followed Mom and Millie. When I caught up with her, I softly said, "Your newly adopted daughter said she was going to be home, that's home at our place, all weekend. How did you like her get up?"

Mom ordered another four dozen tacos if they still had that many, and turned to me. "I know she's already been calling me Mom and keeps referring to our place as home. I guess you have a new sister. We do seem to gather and adopt people."

I casually said, "Just about the time you adopt a few people, you might be moving out with D."

That brought a very severe look from Mom. "I'm not planning on going anywhere. If D and I were to work out, I might invite him to share my bed if you're agreeable, but I'm not leaving my family, period. Get used to it."

Whew, I didn't mean to piss her off, but the way D and she were talking last night, it sounded like they may set up housekeeping somewhere other than my house. I was going to have to think on this one. D seems to be easy enough to get along with, but can I live with him in the house? Dad always said, 'Time will tell.'

There was a convoy going back up the mountain. Millie was leading with Sheryl, Sissy, Bill followed her with the rest of the group, and I brought up the rear in the jeep. I had Frank's son with me and we chatted all the way home. The best thing he said to me was that all of the kids loved coming up to the mountain since they could run as far and fast as they could, and still be near home. He wanted to know if they could go down and play with the Latino kids. I advised him to ask his mother, but to choose the right moment. He gave me a thumbs up.

At home, I explained that I needed to go to Pine Ridge to check on D. Millie said, "We have eggs, a couple of hams, a sliced up side of bacon in packages, and six pounds of butter for the Pine Ridge market. Can we take my pickup?"

It took me twenty minutes to unload and hang the new meat from the butcher in the smokehouses and check the fires. Sissy was going to stay home with Shirley, the men, and kids to work in the garden a little. Millie, Mom, Karen, Sheryl, and I reloaded Millie's truck and were off.

We took the shortcut down the hill and made the short drive to Pine Ridge. It was easy to find D, since he had my truck backed into a slot with an open space beside him. I figured the spot was for us, so I backed in next to him.

As I waved at D, he motioned me over. "These people know your truck. There was a rush of people wanting butter, eggs, bacon, and ham. I told them to come back right about now, as you would be here with what they wanted."

Millie no sooner let the tailgate of her truck down than women began coming to the truck. Pine Ridge was a little different than Stanton. These people didn't barter all that much for food. The farmers with stock or equipment dickered, but would just as soon work a cash deal. I think a lot of it came from half the area and county depending on the liquor industry, both legal and bootleg.

I asked D how he was doing, and he told me, "I'm just about out of wine, but still have six bottles of brandy and two of the cheap grappa. I've been using these tiny paper cups for samples and sold a lot as soon as I came. A couple of men wanted to swap me their corn liquor for our brandy, but while they get ten bucks for theirs, I can get thirty to forty for ours. We do have some fine product. It might be a little too special for here."

"What do you think, D? Should we consider making a deal with one of the liquor bottlers and bottle our wine and brandy?"

"Tell you what, Mike, I've been thinking on how to work this out, but we do need to bottle some to sell. The restaurant trade will take most of our regular wine and some of our specialty products, but if this next year is as good as last year and we are more efficient, I can see that we could have enough wine to supply another restaurant or to begin marketing our product. Let me work on it, as I understand how to get our product in front of people. We'll figure out how to do it."

That was fine with me. I would let D do all of the glad hand stuff and I'll just make sure the farm operates nice and smoothly. I know that I still have one loose end, and that is Raul, but his time is coming soon. When we get the developments started, Raul will be busy for the next ten to fifteen years. A development like that will require the road guys, the woodsmen, and all the construction guys. That would just about take care of my outside activities. I will be able to focus on the farm and how to take care of a growing family.

When I turned around, I saw Karen bouncing up and down, waving money in her hand. When she saw me looking at her, she ran to show me her money. "Look, Mike, I sold four of the doilies that I made. The woman said I should charge at least ten dollars for them, but I thought five was enough. Millie thought so too. And look, Mike, twenty dollars of cold hard cash that I made with my own hands. I'm so excited."

This from a young lady planning to go off to a major university in a couple of months.

Millie and Mom were standing there with an almost dejected look. I had to ask, "What's up, Ladies? Why the long faces?"

Millie said, "Everything is already gone and no one wanted to trade anything. All we got is money. That's no fun. We like when people bring what they have to trade. It's good that everything is gone, but bad that we ran out. I think we're ready to go home whenever you want. It isn't any fun to just walk around and have to ask how much they want for something. It's more fun to offer what you have to trade. Besides, I miss John. Mom said for me to leave him there with Sissy since we would be busy."

I wondered if what I had said earlier was on Mom's mind and she wanted Sissy to spend as much time as possible with her newest nephew, the same as she wants to do. Well, there would be another coming along soon. I'm glad Mom wants to stay, but I'm sure Millie would be able to handle it.

I turned back around and saw D talking to a couple of men in what could almost be uniforms and that were wearing law enforcement style equipment belts. D looked flustered, so I stepped over to them. "What can I help you gentlemen with?"

The one guy was being a little pushy. "You don't want any part of this, Buster. Take a hike."

"Excuse me, Gentlemen, anything concerning this man and the stock in the back of this truck is my concern. I own the vineyard where these products came from and hold the license to sell these."

"Oh yeah? Show me, Buddy. Show me this special license you have."

Now I was getting pissed. "Before I show you anything, I want both of you to show me proper identification." I held out my hand as if waiting to take what they would show me.

The man closest to me reached for a holder on his equipment belt and whipped out a set of cuffs and made a swipe at my wrist with one bracelet. I moved my hand away and he missed cleanly. I stepped back, pushing D with me. "Okay, both of you. If you are some form of federal authority, you will show me your identification right now, or you will run away as quickly as you can."

I probably should have rephrased that a little as it pissed the other guy off enough for him to begin pulling a flap on a holster that had to be from the sixties. That did it. I grabbed his arm and spun him, pushing him into the man with cuffs, thinking I needed to be carrying something as these guys were armed and obviously a problem.

"Hold on right there," Mom said in her 'you're in trouble' voice. "Don't move a muscle and you'll be all right. If either of you have identification as this man asked for, get it out very slowly. If not, be very careful. The Sheriff is on his way."

Mom was standing there with her Beretta pointed at the two. I noted the hammer back as she held the pistol steadily with both hands pointed at the men.

Neither man moved to show his ID, and in less than a minute, Millie came running up with a uniformed Sheriff's Deputy. The Deputy looked around and said, "Say, Mike, what do you have for me today?"

I didn't recognize the Deputy, but he knew my name. "These men threatened us and attempted to cuff me after I asked for ID. Mom held them while I gave them a chance to show their ID again, but neither one has shown us anything."

"Gimme those cuffs, Buddy." The Deputy grabbed the cuffs that the first guy had displayed and cuffed him, took his pistol from his holster, then took the second man's cuffs and cuffed him before taking his pistol. Both guns were well used older model M1911 forty-fives. The Deputy used his remote microphone to call for backup, then began searching the two men.

"Mike, I don't know who these yahoos are, but I think they might be the ones who are pushing some of our independent distillers around, if you know what I mean. It looks like they met the wrong guy this time. Ah, Ma'am, you can put that very nice pistol away now. I don't think these two will cause a problem."

Mom blushed and let the hammer down to a safety position, then put the pistol back in her purse. Hey, just what every guy needs, 'a pistol packing momma.'

The Deputy was standing, holding the two men's IDs and said, "These yahoos are fakes all the way. Look at those equipment belts. They must have been on sale at an old Army surplus store somewhere. When's the last time you saw a restraint like that on a handgun, Mike?"

"I don't know, but it did seem suspicious. Don't be upset, but I'm sorry, Deputy; I don't know your name."

"Hey, no big deal. I checked you out when you first started selling wine here. I'm Hank Jennings. My family has the smaller mountain just to the south of you." The man stuck his hand out in greeting, and I shook it, of course.

I pointed to Mom. "Hank, this is Bea Grayson, my mom. She lives with me up at my place."

The Deputy actually tipped his hat at Mom, sending her into swoon mode. I continued, "These ladies here are my wife, Mildred Grayson, Mom's adopted daughter, Marita, and Doc Rivers from Stanton."

Deputy Jennings said, "I see you here almost every Saturday, Mike. It's nice you come to Pine Ridge to sell your wine and produce. Our market needs more people like you and your family." The Deputy was a credit to the County Sheriff and if I had the opportunity, I would praise him to his superiors.

Another Deputy showed up, but along with him was a guy with ATF letters on his cap and on the back of his vest. The man wearing the ATF logos said, "What do we have here, a couple of guys trying to do my job? We have enough trouble trying to keep people within the law when they make their own liquor without a couple of jerks trying to confiscate what they have. I'll bet these two are responsible for all of the confrontations and break-ins we've had lately. Good going, Hank. You'll get an attaboy for this one."

"I didn't do it, it was Grayson and his mother that caught them and held them for me. I just came up in time to keep the two from becoming coroner's problems."

The ATF guy chuckled, "That happens around here, doesn't it. Well, I'm glad there's no extra paperwork. Let me get these guys up to Lexington for impersonating federal officers. You can have them back for whatever you have on them in about ten years."

As they all left and the crowd was dispersing, D grabbed my arm, "You didn't hesitate, and you weren't at all afraid. If I was at home, I would be dead if I did that."

I looked at the man. "You're not in Mexico, and the law says we can do what we do. You have a copy of the license to make and sell our wine and my note as permission to act for me. When you're in the right, you can defend yourself however you need. That's our way, D; learn it, use it."

Mom said, "Let's go home. I think we've caused enough turmoil and fodder for gossip for today. Let's get out of here."

D put his bottles back into his carrying case and left for home. The ladies had nothing but cash left, so we drove home our way instead of all the way around the mountain. Millie hugged my arm tight as we drove and said, "Please be careful of people like that. You didn't have a gun and those men did. They could have hurt you."

"Yes, they could have hurt me, but I would have had a chance to do more if they had tried. Millie, I learned how to take care of myself and know when to act and when to just watch. Those two were not experienced, and all I had to do was watch. Mom sort of took over and made sure the men didn't do anything stupid."

I received a stronger hug on my arm. I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Millie."

I felt a tear fall on my arm as her grip tightened.

At home, we took the meat carriers out from the pickup and put them into the milk house to clean. The empty egg crates went into the summer kitchen where the eggs were washed before being put into cartons.

The family was all inside now, but there was also all of the road guys, D's six girls, and my family. Mom said, "We only have eight dozen tacos, and two jars of hot and one jar of mild salsa. Eat this all up and we'll try to make some more."

D's six girls went into overdrive, asking Mom for what they needed to make tortillas. In minutes, the girls had trays of tortillas on the griddle and had sent one of the road men who spoke Spanish below to get more salsa and any extra tortillas they could get.

That would have been fine, but he also brought back Pedro, Jesus, Rosita, Carmen, Anita, Consuela, Raul, and Jose. It became a party with all of the women making tortillas and the men eating them almost as fast as the tortillas were prepared. The extra beer Frank and Bill brought came in handy, and of course, D was being generous with our wine. It was definitely a party.

This gave me a chance to talk to Raul and Jose about the job they wanted to get. After learning the details, I told them I would go with them to Mount Sterling to talk to the contractor for the job. If we needed a business license for construction, I would apply for it in Powell County, and that should take care of us up there too.

Raul said it was for build-outs on two stores in a new strip mall. The contractor had not asked for bids yet, and Raul wanted to be sure he was given the chance to bid.

Surprisingly, it was the road guys who helped take everyone home to the farm below, with the exception of those men who had women staked out among D's girls, and of course, there was Marita and Jet. Those two were set in stone and nothing was going to mess that up.

The fun person the whole night was Sheryl. She mingled with all of them, and I learned she could speak Spanish as easily as she spoke English. D supplied Sheryl with some wine first, then gave her some of our distilled spirits. It was all downhill from there, as our doctor sister, or whatever she is now, became a casualty of drink. Mom was cute by the way she cradled Sheryl's head in the bathroom, telling her she would be all right just before Sheryl hurled one more time. We all learned that brandy and grappa could hurt you. Mom fed Sheryl some Alka Seltzer and put her to bed. Hopefully, she wouldn't hurt too badly in the morning.

When everyone was in their respective rooms and those not normally under our roof gone home or to bed, I sat in a rocking chair in front of the fire. The dogs had been sleeping with their faces curled up.

Witch raised her head, followed shortly by Spook looking at me. I was drowsy and ready for bed, but Dad, Ben, and Eliza were suddenly in front of the fireplace with me, rocking in the other chairs. Eliza turned to me, smiled, and kept on rocking. Ben did almost exactly the same. Dad was nearest to me and smiled before he said in a soft voice, "I expect you to help your mother to have a good life with this man. He is a good man and will honor her."

I looked at Dad and internally questioned his acknowledgement of D.

"It's okay, Mike. When it's time, he will have his woman come to him, and I will have Bea come to me. Until then, they need each other to live the life they should live. Help me help them, Mike."

It was as if I woke up in front of the fire when I sat up straight, looking at the dying embers.

After a few seconds letting my heart rate calm down, I put another log on the fire and went to bed. There was a space between Millie and Sheryl, so I slid into that space and was held by Millie and spooned by Sheryl. I felt Millie tuck me between her legs as we both fell asleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 40


I woke with a start, thinking that I heard a noise. It took a second to realize it was the clanking of a pot being put on the stove. Looking at the clock told me that it was five thirty, so I slid from between Sheryl and Millie and used the bathroom before going into the kitchen.

Mom was in her bathrobe, getting coffee started in the big percolator. She smiled and came to hug me, laying her head on my chest. She almost whispered, "Michael, I know I'm not crazy, but I keep dreaming of your father and some of the others who must have lived here. I know Ben, but not Eliza and Bud. Last night I saw an old woman in farmer's bib-overalls, I suppose that it must have been Eliza, with Ben dressed about the same, and your father. They didn't talk, but I felt as if your father was giving me permission to live my life. I almost feel like he was giving me permission to be with D. I love the dreams, but they do confuse me."

Mom didn't need to know about my hallucinations and mental conversations. I could be dreaming all of these encounters, and the dialog could be what I wanted to hear. "I've had dreams too, Mom. This place has become a new beginning for a lot of people. Think about it; I was first, then I found Millie and Summer. Ben sort of got a new beginning, as he felt more alive for a while, became my sidekick, and helped me do a lot. Ezra was able to come back to work. You came down and started all over with me, and maybe now with D. Just think of Marita and Karen. They are starting over again, along with D. The families below all have a new start in life, so our family has given many a new start. Mystery Mountain has been good for us."

Mom was still hugging me, "You're right, Michael, this place has given us a new start. I hope it gives your brother and sister that same boost. They are two happy families, but living in the city doesn't give their kids the opportunities that you kids had. I hope coming here on weekends and during the summer will be good for them."

When we separated, I said, "Let me dress and go do the chores real quick. You'll have to coerce some of the visitors into going to church; that is, if we're going this morning."

"We're going, because we need to have Sunday as the new beginning of another week. I know your sis and Shirley will go, so the kids will go, but the men may not. We'll see."

I was putting my boots on when Sissy came out, already dressed for chores. "Did you think I was going to let you do everything by yourself? I'll be right with you."

Marita came out and told Sissy and me, "It's my turn to milk this morning. I've been scamming you lately, and not doing much. The ladies from below take care of everything for us, so I'm getting lazy."

It didn't take long to do the chores. By the time we finished milking and feeding, Karen had gotten up and taken care of the chickens. The dogs had had a shadow lately, as the deer would hop over the fence and try to follow them around. I think that having a deer at their heels has spooked them a little, but the deer was always ready to run and play.

Back in the house, the table was being filled with breakfast. The two men, my brother and brother-in-law, were drinking coffee, waiting for everyone else to sit. When all fourteen of us were seated, Mom said, "It is so much fun to have all of my family for breakfast. You know that I want us to do this as often as possible. You city kids need to come and help with the garden on weekends, if you can. If it's raining, I suppose you should stay home and do some extra homework, or maybe help your mom do some house cleaning. But come down when the weather allows, and when school is out, you kids need to plan on staying with me for the summer. Mike will show you around the mountain and you can explore for miles and miles."

Sissy said, "If you ask nice, Mike will take you hunting this fall and winter. You need to learn to be as good a hunter as my brothers, but Mike was always the best at bringing game home."

The kids were elbowing each other and smiling at the prospect of running all over the mountain during the summer. I was thinking that I would probably have to give the kids some lessons on how to detect bears and what to do if they saw one.

As we finished off the huge breakfast, Mom said, "Most of us are going to church. Those not wanting to go to church can begin on the fourth row in from the right, and pull the weeds around the plants. If you're unsure of what is a plant and what is a weed, pull the weeds in the asparagus and rhubarb. Those are easy."

My brother and brother-in-law looked at each other, and my brother said, "We thought we would go to church with you all this morning. We need to get in that habit, as it does help start the week. I like the way everyone seems to really want to be there and I enjoy the feeling I get when we've attended."

It was Mom who announced to everyone, "Begin to get ready now so that we can go to the Bible class before church. There's always something to be learned and Harold is a good teacher."

The Bible study and service were interesting. Sheryl surprised all of us, and nearly floored Harold, with her presence. I think she was enjoying being part of a big family and our acceptance among the other people at church. I found it funny that I had to keep introducing her to people. They didn't recognize her and she had clued me to not introduce her as Doctor Rivers, but as Sheryl Rivers. She was out of uniform. No white coat or scrubs with the ever present stethoscope around her neck.

We didn't have any new guests for lunch today, just our usual. D, his girls, and the road guys came home with us at Mom's insistence to have one of her signature roasts. The two tables were pretty well filled, so the kids ate at the little table and enjoyed their own conversation. When it was time to clean up the dishes, the road guys were going to start in, but Mom told them to grab their gals and go do something fun for the afternoon. There was a rush to get out of the door, with the exception of a couple of the men and Bernie. They assisted with the dishes along with Sheryl. Funny how Sheryl and Bernie began getting acquainted. The two joked and laughed throughout the process, and upon completion, Bernie and Sheryl took a slow walk out toward the garden.

The rest of the family put work clothes on and went to the garden. We worked for four hours pulling weeds, but enjoyed a couple of short breaks. It was funny to have Sissy and Shirley instructing their husbands on what and what not to pull. The kids were good at choosing the weeds over the plants, and quickly worked down a long row. When it was nearing five, Mom sent all of the city people inside to shower and get ready for their trip back to the city.

Mom packed a bunch of sandwiches and filled two small coolers with soft drinks. There were a lot of hugs and kisses with the promise of returning next weekend. When the group departed, the departing women were in one car with the girls, and the men were in the other with the boys. It brought a smile to our faces to see how they decided to go back to the city.

Mom came to me and said, "I think D and I will go into Mount Sterling to see a movie tonight. We'll eat at our favorite restaurant, so you folks pick what you want to eat."

Those left were Millie, John, Karen, Sheryl, Bernie, and three road guys. I made up our minds and told them to help select what kind of pizza we wanted and I would go to Pine Ridge to get it. When the order was made up, I called it in and took off in the Jeep. By going down the back way, it was twenty minutes to get there, and twenty to get back. The pizzas were still warm and the movie was ready to start. I noticed that two road men sat together and were not really interested in our cute little foxy Karen. The third guy flirted with her a little, but was respectful, as Karen was a lot younger. Oh well, to each his own.

When Millie sat on one side of me on one of the couches, and Sheryl got on the other, with Bernie on her other side, Karen stood in front of us with her hands on her hips, "Mike, you need to be three-sided." Instead of squeezing in on the other side of Millie, she plopped down on my lap and stuck her tongue out at Sheryl. This caused Sheryl, Millie, and me to laugh it up. Karen is small and didn't take up much room on my lap.

When the movie was over, the three road guys stretched and said they were heading back to the yard. We made up a box of leftover pizza for them to take home, shook hands, and sent them on their way. Karen said to those still there, "I guess I'm just not a choice enough morsel to taste. Oh well."

Bernie was going to attempt to explain, but Sheryl put her finger to her lips for him to keep it to himself. He didn't have to say anything since Karen said, "I know those types. They are pretty straight acting and good guys, but I'll bet they are all over each other as soon as they get into their room. John was nice, but I think he thinks he's too old for me."

Sheryl and Bernie laughed hard over Karen's observations. Millie was a little confused, and I didn't want to indicate how I felt.

It was Sheryl's turn to stretch as she said, "I think I'm going to head home so I can get an early start tomorrow. It should only be a normal day, but I should get in early to relieve the help from Lexington."

Bernie was moving around, also getting ready to leave. As the two left, I stepped outside and watched as they approached their cars. Bernie stopped with Sheryl at her car and they spoke for a second, then shared a very long tender kiss with them standing in front of each other. When they pulled apart, they spoke again before Sheryl got in her car and began slowly driving down the lane, as if waiting for Bernie. He moved behind her and the two cars sped down the hill. I thought it would be nice if the two found some way to enjoy each other. Bernie has gained a lot of confidence since he's been walking on his prosthesis and Sheryl needs someone with the emotional strength Bernie has. They were a good match.

Inside, Millie was sitting in a rocking chair dreamily nursing John. Karen was sort of watching TV, but paying more attention to Millie. She observed, "Millie gets so much pleasure from nursing John that she won't want to stop. How long can a woman nurse a baby?"

It was Millie who responded, "As long as I want. If I let John nurse, my breasts will continue to produce milk for him. If I slow down, I will dry up and that will be all. I'll let him nurse at least until he is two or maybe longer. We'll see."

Karen was sitting there feeling her own breasts, "I'll bet that feels so good. That was one thing I liked when those boys used me. The girls would suck on my nipples to get me wet enough for their boyfriends to do me. It did the trick and they would continue the whole time their guys would do me. I think they enjoyed nursing me."

It was Millie who said, "You should never be forced to do things, even if it feels good, or at least some parts of it feel good. I hope you get to have loving from someone like Mike so you can know how it feels to be loved by someone special."

Karen sighed, "I've often thought of how good I would feel with Mike making love to me. I know he won't, so it is even more attractive to me. I love Mike for his respect for you and me. I'll have my time and my own guy one of these days. Until then, I have my fingers and fantasies of Mike."

Now that is embarrassing. I've never heard a girl say anything like that before, but there it was. Was that what someone recently called purple pussy lips? That got a snicker from me, and a quick glance by the two women wondering why I was chuckling.

We went to bed and snuggled, with me in the middle of Millie and Karen. It was much later that Marita came in to slip in next to Karen. Shortly after that, I heard Mom come in and go to bed. I hope she enjoyed her date, or whatever it was.

I dreamed of being in a large circle with all of those that I knew were gone, along with the men in Confederate and Union uniforms. There wasn't any conversation that I recognized, but there was a feeling of happiness. All of those souls were at peace.

The dogs woke me early with their paws on Millie. She kept pushing them off, and they must have thought she was playing, as they kept getting back up on the bed to lick our faces. I slid from bed and let them out. It didn't take me long to use the bathroom and dress for morning chores. Before I could warm up a cup of coffee, Mom came from the bedroom with a happy smile. She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, "Mike, I think this is going to work out just fine."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but knew that she would tell me later. We drank our coffee before heading to the barn where we were met by Rosita and Carmen. I did the heavy stuff and the hogs while the women did the milking and chickens. I had to move some of the hogs around to get the little pigs that weren't suckling any longer separated into another pen. Between the two sows, we had twenty-one piglets to begin raising. We needed one more sow so we would have about thirty piglets at a time. We might need four to get a good average of that many, but I would build another two brood houses and find the sows for our stock. I didn't like pigs, but we went through too much pork in those smokehouses for me to get too picky. If the farmer that the butcher and I were using could up his quantity a minimum of about five or six hogs a week, I could sell him my hogs and forget about trying to raise my own.

When we were done with the chores, the two women came into the house and were soon joined by two more of the women from below. They helped get breakfast ready as I showered, shaved, and dressed to go to town. Today was the presentation of the first development.

I was wearing a very nice pair of slacks, a nice shirt, and shined shoes. I asked Mom, "Do you think I should put a tie and coat on, or is an open collared shirt good enough?"

"That should be good enough for the county council. You're the road commissioner, so they know you to be a guy who normally wears work clothes. This is a change for you, so don't get too radical."

I called Benson after breakfast and asked him what time the council meeting was. "Be at the courthouse at ten. You and I will have a short talk and the council meeting starts at ten thirty. Be sure to include the increase in capacity of the sewage system for the next two developments. That will make the acceptance and permits go much faster the next time."

I met Benson at nine fifty and showed him what I had. There was a packet for each council member that I had made up using the color printer at home. I think this thoroughly explained how we would handle all of our demand on the water system and our waste. Benson warned, "Don't get too fancy with these guys. They are common folk, and want to know how it will affect the county and how it will help all of us."

"I got it, Benson. This is just like the briefings I would give the brass. Don't baffle them with bullshit and get to the point."

Benson shook his head, "You put it so elegantly. Come on, let's go in there and get seated."

Inside the council room, there was a large desk in a semi-circle, with a podium in the middle of it facing the big desk where the council men and women sat. Mrs. Jessica Lambs, the elected voice of the council, was in the center. She was a nice person, but didn't like outsiders and wasn't that interested in welcoming new people. She knew that new people and developments would create a higher tax base, but she wanted those people to come to town, and not necessarily be a part of it. I think this development would pacify her to that extent, but she would learn in time that there was no stopping urban sprawl, or in this case 'suburban' sprawl.

The meeting was called to order and Mrs. Lamb immediately called upon me. I handed out my packets of information and directed them to go to the description page first. The way it was written, it sounded like the new homes built on the five acre plots wouldn't even be a part of the county, but would contribute to our tax base. It had taken me hours and hours of writing and rewriting this statement to get it to read just right.

I went through the demands placed on the infrastructure, and what we were willing to contribute to expand county and city facilities if we added more developments. When questioned as to how I was going to pay for these upgrades, I said, "There is a rather large trust that is backing our developments. There is enough money to expand any of the county's and city's facilities for any new properties developed.

There was a financial statement of the trust included in the packet, so that negated any objection the council could have.

Bernie and the newspaper owner were there to report on what happened. Their presence didn't go unnoticed, and all of the council was being wary of what they said.

Benson asked for a vote.

They polled each member and they all voted for granting the permits to build the first development. Son of gun, I had thought this would be a problem, and it went through as slick as can be.

After the council adjourned, one of the councilmen asked me, "If we didn't accept your proposal, would our roads have suffered?"

I laughed, "No Sir, they are two different operations. I may use some of the men who work on the roads in the development, but the county roads are first. I gave my word and I will stand by that."

The man left with a smile on his face.

Bernie was the reporter on the spot and recorded that short conversation so he could replay it on the radio station later. Benson took my arm and almost forcibly took me from the council room. "You need to vanish now, Mike. Get out of Dodge, as they say."

I left, driving the Jeep and went to the road yard. Everyone was out, so I walked through the yard and the pole barn. The place was military neat. Everything was in its place. I needed to appoint one of the men as leader and let them all follow that one person instead of me giving a little leverage to one or the other for each project. Jimmy was the man. Now, how do I get a consensus that he is the leader? Could it be as simple as just appointing him the foreman?

After checking on the cable path crew and taking another look at the property we going to develop, I drove back home where I found the women from below finishing up for the day and doing the evening chores with the animals. I quickly changed clothes and did the heavy work. When I came back to the milk house, the girls were cleaning the milking equipment preparing to do the milking. Carmen said, "We like this job, but there is a family that has just arrived that knows how to work a dairy farm very well. Would you consider giving them a chance to show you they can do a good job?"

"Carmen, you know I have to have good paperwork on each of the people who work for me. Have them come to me with their papers and let me have Benson help them. We are not a big dairy farm, but we do have a few dairy cows. Why would we be interested in more experienced people?"

Carmen was looking down trying to come up with a reasonable response, "Because they are my family Mike Grayson. They are good people and they don't need to lose more of their people to those who grow illegal crops to smuggle into the USA. Help them, Mike, and we will show you even more loyalty than is possible."

How do you respond to a plea like that? "Carmen, I will help your people as I have helped everyone you have brought through here. Have them come to me with their papers and I will take them to Benson. It may take a while, but I will get it done."

That was when she said, "They are here legally or with good papers. There should only be the reporting that they are employed."

It was hard to believe that I was constantly being asked to help more and more people who had escaped from a bad situation.

That was it. These people were not just illegal immigrants from across the border. There were also families escaping from the gangster oppression they had been subjected to. They are human beings and people willing to work their way into our culture for the safety of their family.

For the evening chores, I let some new people milk my cows and finish feeding the stock. It didn't take a lot of direction to show the new people how to feed the hogs and what to feed the young pigs. They knew stock and knew what to do if they knew where the feed was.

I took Rosita and Carmen aside, "Are you going to give these people your jobs?"

Carmen said, "They will do the morning and evening chores in the barn and the hogs. We will do the chickens and eggs. You can have more cows now if you want, but it is not necessary as these people don't need a lot. What we have will feed them and keep them right now. We might have the men do more as summer comes, but we will be fine for right now."

The person I wanted to hear from concerning the new people is Doroteo. I'm sure he knew all about them and would have an opinion, but he wasn't around right now so I was going to have to snag him at supper.

Millie and Marita had prepared a pile of pork chops. I'm not sure where Mom found it, but she had a giant frying pan sitting on an entire side of the stove. When I commented on the size, Mom told me, "This is for the wood stove, but it will work on this one. I can cook a dozen pork chops at the same time with it, so cooking the meal will be faster.

I knew D and his girls would be here tonight as the table was set for seven extra. It was obvious that the road guys weren't going to be here since there were no additional place settings. After we ate, I was able to get D off to the side. "What do you think of the new people that showed up? Is it a good thing to have them work with us?"

D and I were sitting in rocking chairs in front of the fireplace. While rocking, D said, "I like them and I know what they have been through. From what I heard, the family had a nice dairy farm with many cows. They were forced to grow other products and were not able to grow feed grains for their stock. The cows were slaughtered for food, and the family was soon desperate as the demands to grow more and more drug crops were accompanied by threats that were carried out on neighbors. I know what happens down there, Mike, and that they ran is only reasonable. I worry that all of Mexico will want to come here to escape those men. If all of the workers come up here, the bad people will come up here and threaten us here too."

"D, you don't have to worry about a bunch of bullies coming up here and attempting to force people to grow their illegal products. The people here will fight back and probably be arrested for defending themselves, but they will fight back anyway. Country people here are protective of their family, their farm, and their neighbors. If there is a problem, they will band together and get rid of the problem."

With a nod of his head, "I see that in the people here and wish we could have been strong enough to repulse those who took advantage of us. I can see the American spirit in the girls that I brought here. They were not going to be taken advantage of for long, and when they had an opportunity, they rid themselves of their captors. I want to join with those people who will defend themselves."

That night, I dreamed I went into the big living room and watched as the ghosts that had been shown to me lately all rocking in chairs before the fire. Others were standing around the fireplace, but none talked to me. It was a dream.

I was up early as usual the next morning, and had just gone out to the barn when I was greeted by a man who appeared to be in his fifties. He held his hand out and said, "I am Esteban. My sister, Carmen, has said you are my benefactor. Thank you for allowing us to attend to your stock."

Well, knock me off of my feet, will you. This guy spoke better English than I did, or at least used better grammar.

"Nice to meet you, Esteban. My name is Mike Grayson, but please call me Mike. I'm told you had a large dairy farm where you were, and what I have is only a family farm."

"Family farms are very important, Mike Grayson. They are how a nation is built. From what I am told, you are very diversified with your farm and other activities."

I was about to burst out laughing, so I had to ask, "Esteban, you speak English so well, with hardly any accent, and your grammar and diction seem perfect, where did you learn English?"

"That is a great compliment, Mike Grayson. Where our home was has a monastery that taught English to all that came. They only spoke English to students and taught all to speak well. All of my family attended the monastery and learned to read, write, and speak English."

"Esteban, you probably speak English with better grammar than most of the local people in the area. I would recommend speaking softly and slowly, as if you are composing the words as you go. Some of the locals may feel you are making fun of them by your proper speech."

"Ha, ha, ha, I have heard many speak and know they do not use the words in the way priests used to teach us. We will learn the local grammar and speak with others in that manner."

I smiled at the man, "That's a shame, as you speak so eloquently."

"Mike Grayson, I want to ask you what I consider to be an important question. I see you are selling most of your milk from the cows you have. Do you not know that you should pasteurize your milk before you market it?"

"I've heard that, Esteban, Mom and I talked about that before I became the road commissioner, but other things got in the way and we never followed up on it. I grew up on unpasteurized milk and don't see why I should pasteurize the milk if the people don't ask me for it."

Esteban spoke with what seemed sound knowledge, "I have found out the state of Kentucky requires pasteurization of milk and most milk products sold to consumers. Although those who buy your milk and milk products are not concerned, there is always a danger of salmonella, tuberculosis, typhoid, and other problems from unpasteurized milk. I know you and your family are careful to clean your cows' udders and to filter the milk, but there are always germs that can be transmitted through milk. For the quantity of milk that you produce and sell, pasteurization equipment is inexpensive and easy to operate. If you will obtain the equipment, we will make sure the milk you sell is safe."

That had me back on my heels. This refugee from Mexico just quoted Kentucky law and told me how to come up to standard. I guess I should look into it.

"Tell you what, Esteban, I'll take some eggs and milk into the market this morning and ask around about equipment. The men there will know if any used equipment is available. Thank you for advising me on this."

"Mike Grayson," Esteban began.

"It's Mike, Esteban. Let's use first names between us."

"All right, Mike. I am glad to advise you and want to tell you to bring more cows. You could easily handle another four or five cows. Do you have a market for that much more milk or milk products? You know we could make cheese too, don't you? And for the cheese we may be able to get a waiver on the pasteurization. There is a lucrative gourmet market for raw milk cheeses."

It was my turn to laugh, "Esteban, you are like all of my friends down the hill. All of you want me to have a much larger everything, while I only want to be a small farmer. I'll keep an open mind and we'll see."

I was starting toward the barn, when Esteban said, "Oh no, my family will do your morning and evening work for you. We want to earn a living working for you. All of us are willing to do whatever you need for us to do."

Damn, these people need the help, so I suppose I can let them do this. I hate to give away all of my farm jobs, but this can be done.

Carmen and Rosita had the chickens taken care of and were preparing breakfast. It seemed as if the breakfast was going to be larger than usual, but instead of questioning what was happening, I showered and shaved before breakfast so I could go to market early.

Breakfast was big, but it also was shared with Esteban, his wife, two sons, and a daughter. An extra five people were welcomed around our table, as usual, and contributed to the conversation with precise grammar that was far superior to what our ears were accustomed too.

Raul called during breakfast and asked me to make sure that I talked to the contractor in Mount Sterling for the work there. I asked Raul, "How about coming with me to market this morning and we'll drive up to Mount Sterling and talk to the contractor together afterward. That way the guy will know me and you. I have another project for you. It's the one I hinted at, and it is going to be big."

After breakfast, I loaded two five gallon cans of milk, a case of eggs, and a sliced up side of bacon. I drove down the hill and picked Raul up. He was dressed in nice jeans and a good shirt, and looked better than I did.

The market seemed busy for the middle of the week, but it was becoming late spring and people were already selling any excess they had from the winter. In the diary tent, I was quickly able to sell what I had and pick up a couple of five gallon cans to replace what was sold. I began asking the men congregated there about pasteurizing equipment they might know was for sale. Several said they knew people who had the equipment and didn't use it any longer. My first bulldozer customer, George, was there and said, "Come to my place later today and look at what I have. I ship all of my milk now, and the dairy who buys my milk processes it. We can probably make a deal on what I have."

Knowing how big an operation George had, I wondered if I needed equipment big enough to handle what he used to process. I suppose I could get Esteban to appraise it for me.

Raul and I went north to Mount Sterling, straight to a strip shopping center that was in the process of being built. It was easy to find the contractor pouring over plans in his trailer.

When we entered the trailer, the man looked at us with a questioning look. I smiled, "Hi, I'm Mike Grayson, and this is Raul Mendoza. We're here to see if we can bid on your build-outs."

"Okay, I'm Coup Dun, and will need to see some of your work. If you're any good, you have a chance at this one. I haven't found anyone worth a shit around here lately."

Raul stepped forward with what looked like a large photo album. He opened it to the contractor and pointed to a picture of a strip mall, then multiple pictures of the interiors of the stores before and after build-out. I was surprised when he skipped several pages and showed the picture of my cabin, smoke house, garage, and barn. He had scale drawings of each floor plan. From there he showed the finished floor plans, expansion, and pages of pictures of the finished product.

Coup Dun asked, "How do I know you did this? I might need to see work like this first hand."

Raul looked at me for help, "That would be easy, Coup. I live just outside Stanton and the house and outbuildings are mine. Raul has done that, plus built a couple of pole barns, a large hog area, and a couple of small houses on my property. You're welcome for lunch today, or supper this evening, and you can look at all of it first hand."

The man looked at me closely, "I might do that, but you seem like you are honest. What's with the BDUs? Didn't you get enough of that, or are you one of those guys who is a wanna be?"

"I spent twenty years in the Army and became comfortable in these clothes. They wear well, almost always cost the same, and I know my size will fit. I could wear jeans and a regular shirt, but I would be afraid that I would be tearing them up all the time. BDU type of fatigues can be mended and not look out of place."

The guy smiled and stuck his hand out. "Tell you what; see that stack of plans on the long table? Look at the top set and give me a number. You won't have to live with it yet, but be close so I know what I'm dealing with. I'll be right back; I have to tell the plumbers something."

We pulled the plans and Raul began going through each page and making notes on a small spiral pad. When he got to the last page, he was checking the notes on the plan when the contractor came back in. Raul asked, "Do you want a bid on the entire build-out, including the plumbing and electrical, or just the interior carpentry and ceiling. If you have other crafts on the project, that means it will take longer and I will have to wait to price certain items."

Coup looked at Raul, "You can do all of that? Do you have licenses for the other crafts, such as HVAC, too?"

Raul said, "I have licenses for everything except HVAC, but one of my men just passed the Kentucky state exam for that area of expertise. Most of our licenses were transferred from out of state, but they are valid here. If I have to pull permits, I charge one and half times the cost of the permit, plus a flat rate of a hundred to stand in line."

"Ha, ha, ha, you know the drill, don't you? I have an office staff that will pull the permits for us. Get me a number that I can count on, including materials according to plan, and you can have the job. I need that top plan, which is the end building, complete by the end of the month. Can you do that?"

Raul said, "I will bring you a completed bid on the unit in the morning. We can begin as soon as you give us a contract. There should be no problem to complete the unit on your schedule."

Coup was smiling, "I hope you do a good job. You talk a good game and appear to know what you're talking about. Get me that bid. If you finish the bid early, I'll be here until at least seven tonight."

We all shook hands and left. As soon as we got in the truck, I could see Raul was grinning so broadly that it might split his brown face. He said, "This is perfect, I will show him what we can do. See, I need you to be my front man, because most of the big contractors don't want to deal with a Latino or, to be truthful, a Mexican. That you would hire a bunch of Mexicans wasn't a problem with the guy. I'll make you some money, Mike."

I had to chuckle, "No, you are making you some money. I only help you get the job."

"No, Mike, you have to have the company to pay us. I don't want to be in charge of all of that office stuff. Another problem would be the materials. I don't have the cash or the credit to front what it will cost to get business. Contractors are notoriously slow to pay, so I really need what you can provide. Please, Mike, you do all of the office and owner work, and take a nice salary. I'll make sure there is plenty of profit in the job or we won't take it. I – we – need you, Mike."

Well shit, that is another endeavor I wanted to stay clear of. I suggested, "Let me call Benson and Maude and have them set up a separate corporation for your construction company. You're going to need it since I have several hundred houses for you to build."

"What? Several hundred houses for me to build? What are you talking about, Mike?"

"Let me call Benson, we'll get the corporation stuff underway, and then I'll tell you."

I dialed the number while driving. "Hey, Benson, I need you to set up that other corporation we were talking about. The one for the construction company. I need it fast, as Raul is going to bid a job today."

"Why don't you give me less lead time, Mike? Shoot, I'm going to waste my time getting a package together for this. Hell, I could have taken a week like it's supposed to take, and charged you up the ying yang for fast work. Now it's going to cost you a meal or something like that."

"Good idea, Benson; bring your family and come for supper tonight. I'll tell Mom and she'll do something special."

"Oh boy, home cooking. No burnt microwaved dinner tonight. I love my wife, but she has never learned to cook." There was a pause, "I know what I'll do; I'll ship her out to your place and you can have Bea and Millie teach her to cook. The whole family would benefit from that."

"You're too much, Benson. You can do that if you're serious, but I doubt she needs that much training. Just get me a name so we can use it for the construction company."

I called Maude to advise her that Benson was setting up a construction company. Maude said, "I should have figured it would come to this. You don't ever just do one little thing, do you? You begin and continue until you're nose deep in another business. I'll talk to Benson, Mike. Go get 'em."

Next was Mom, "Mom, I invited Benson and his family out for supper tonight. Can we handle it, or should I ask Rodrigo to cater?"

"No, Michael, I can do that. Millie, Marita, and I will have something special. Let me work it out."

"Oh, Mom," I said, in a voice that I tried to make sound like I was not begging, "Benson wants you to teach his wife how to cook. If you can sort of sound her out on that and if she's agreeable, teach her, okay?"

"I would love to do that for them. They are such a sweet family. Where are you, Michael?"

"On the way home from Mount Sterling."

Mom excitedly said, "I hope you're not too far from there. Turn around and go back to the restaurant. Rodrigo will give you a bucket of something special for us. We'll have a special supper and it will be fast."

We were almost to the highway, so I turned around and drove to the restaurant. When Raul and I walked in the back door, Rodrigo was in a white apron, standing over a stove with a large pan. He saw us and yelled, "Ah, our new busboys and dishwashers. We will need you for the day."

"Look, Rod, I can't hang out. Mom sent me to pick something up. Did she talk to you?"

"He, he; yeah, she talked to me about ten minutes ago, and asked a huge favor. There would be no way for anyone else, but for Bea, we can do anything. Go out to the waitress station and have a cup of coffee. This will be done in about fifteen minutes."

Raul and I poured some coffee in kitchen mugs and sat with the headwaiter and the bartender. The waiter said that since the weather looked like rain, the restaurant should be busy and he should probably call in an additional waitress. We chatted about the area a little, and found out that the headwaiter had moved from New York with Rodrigo because he had suffered some nerve and heart problems from the tension and bedlam of the big city. He said, "Rodrigo tells of your beautiful mountain and how peaceful it is there. He said there were many rumors of ghosts on the mountain, are they true?"

I smiled at the man before answering, "There are spirits there, as there are everywhere. The difference is we know who the spirits are up there, and I think that makes them more real. The local people have seen some things and embellished them to build up the mystery. Are we haunted? I don't know, but there are spirits and ghosts all over the mountain."

Rodrigo came out with a large plastic bucket that he obviously used for catering. He had a second bucket and said, "Tell Bea to use these cutlets, as they are superb and I can spare these for her. Now tell me, did Doroteo tell you about my friends in New York?"

I shook my head, "No, Rod, he didn't say anything. Is it something I should worry about?"

"Yes, worry about it, since your wine is very much in demand, and if you were to begin bottling it, who knows what you would or could get for it. I'm going to be stingy though, as I want all I need first, then you can sell to those vultures in the Big Apple. I'll make sure they pay a premium and I'll include my commission as well. Mike, you and Doroteo are about to become famous among winemakers. Now get; Bea said you should bring this stuff home right away."

We drove home talking about the strip center deal and the first development. The idea of building only premium homes was attractive to Raul, who said all of the men would enjoy making a work of art for people to live in. He promised his and his men's best efforts.

As we neared the house, I asked Raul, "Do you need my PC to make your bid?"

"I have a PC and printer just for these bids. I'll have a package ready by five and take it up to Coup. I have his card, so I can do an appropriate cover letter, and I have the Internet so I will have all of the correct wholesale prices for the materials. We'll get this bid and all of the others for that center. If we can get a good reputation, we will be busy and have to train more men to be as good as we are now. You'll have a very big construction company, Mike."

Just what I needed, I thought: a big construction company.

I let Raul out at his place and arrived home to give Mom the buckets of whatever Rodrigo sent. She kissed me on the cheek, "This is perfect, Mike. We will have this, some rice, asparagus, and a nice dessert. Benson will be very pleased, as will D, his girls, and the road men. I think Sheryl is coming too."

"Are you going to have enough food, Mom? That bucket isn't that big."

My mother smiled her confident smile, "We'll be fine, Mike. Are there others you want to invite?"

I hadn't taken my boots off, so I walked back outside to the picnic table. I had just sat down and pulled my cell phone out when Millie came out, carrying a mug of coffee. She sat with me and said, "I don't get to see you often enough, Husband. This thing in my tummy is tumbling and turning, letting me know it may be another boy. I suppose that will be all right, but I did want a little girl."

Millie said, "Mom and I talked to the Family Services people and we have been told that we might be getting a child or two to help raise for a while. They made a big deal out of the money we would get for keeping them, but I don't want their money, Mike. I just want to raise children. Mom wants the same thing, and she has been talking a lot about us being foster parents."

"When it's time for us to do this, we'll know. I'll bet Harold and Martha will know too. You should call them to find out who we might be sent." I kissed Millie on the forehead and gave her a hug before telling her, "I need to call George about some equipment. I may need to run Esteban over to his place real quick."

Millie said, "Hurry if you're going to do it, as Esteban will want to be doing chores soon."

I called George, "Hey, George, can I look at that equipment this afternoon. I could be over there in about twenty-five to thirty minutes."

"Come on ahead, Mike. We'll make a deal on that stuff and you can get it out of here. I'll see you in a bit."

I told Millie bye and said I would catch Esteban down below. I stopped at the Latino complex and went to Consuela's door to find out where Esteban might be. After a big hug, she called the man to the door for me. "Esteban, I want you to look at some pasteurization equipment with me so that you can tell me if this is what I need or too much."

"Let me get my hat and I will accompany you. I do need to return to assist with our evening duties. Will that be a problem?"

The man's diction without the Spanish accent was astounding. I assured him, "We'll be back in plenty of time."

Esteban told me some more of the circumstances of his move from Mexico to the States, telling of the huge amount of bureaucracy they had gone through, and how he had ended up giving away much of his land holdings to get papers for his family to get here. He had been considered nearly aristocracy in his region, but that just made him and his family a bigger target of the criminals and then the bureaucrats. He made a statement that was some serious food for thought.

"The United States should be sending their soldiers to Mexico to fight the drug cartels. These people are as detrimental to your country as the terrorists. They are killing your people with drugs, and turning large groups of your inner city people into gangsters and murderers. Your country could do this, but my homeland is too proud or stupid to ask for that help. Your country could bring those men from so far away and fight a war in my country that would benefit many. I pray that something like that could happen."

Without saying so, I agreed that either doing that or just legalizing marijuana was probably what it would take to stop those gangs, but given that the US had taken over half their country away from them back in the 1840s and then invaded them again in 1916 under Black Jack Pershing, there was just no chance politically of ever getting the Mexicans to accept our "help"; too bad, too.

George met us as I drove up. He led us to his modern milking operation where he had men milking twenty four hours a day now. He said that now that he had enough cows, he was shipping two tankers a day to the big dairy in Lexington. There was a tanker being filled as we walked to the milk house operation area.

There was a large room on the other side of the milk house that had a lot of equipment in it. Esteban knew what it was and looked it over carefully; double checking a few things as he followed pipes to various areas. He came back and said to George and me, "This isn't the newest, but it is very well made equipment. You have made many modifications from the original, but it shouldn't hurt the operation. It would be good to talk to the person who modified the equipment so that I would know why he did what was done."

George said, "He still works for me and I can have him talk to you as necessary. Mike, you brought in a ringer on me. Where'd you get a Mex that knows so much about this kind of equipment?"

"Let me introduce you to Esteban, an accomplished dairyman, who is going to help me become legal as I sell milk, cream, butter, and buttermilk."

"Well, son-of-a-bitch. Someone is actually going to be legal in this county to do things. I heard you had a license and paid taxes on your wine, but this is going a step beyond, Mike."

"It's something that I need to do, George. What can I steal this stuff for?"

George smiled, "This stuff has value, but it's taking up space. I need to put a bigger bulk tank in here so this stuff needs to be gone. Give me five hundred, get it out of here, and we're even. Do it by Friday and forget the five hundred. I've made a good deal on a tank and it will be here Saturday. What do you say, can you do it?"

Esteban pulled on my sleeve, and cupped his hand to whisper, "We can do this, but it will take several men. Can you get them?"

"It's a deal, George. We'll be here in the morning and yank this stuff out of here without tearing your floor up too much. We'll be done so fast that you can have that tank delivered here by Thursday."

"Damn, that's the way to do business. I don't think they can get the tank and refrigeration equipment here before Friday, but I'll call them right now. Come get this shit, Mike. You constantly get the best of me every time we deal. Remember though, you have to come get the other bulk tank and do what you will with it Monday."

I waved George to get closer, "Keep your ears open for some more Jersey cows. If I'm going to spring for the expansion of my milk house; I might as well have enough cows to supply the milk for the equipment."

"Now you're talking like a farmer, Mike. One thing leads to another. That's what we do."

I left George's big time dairy farm with Esteban salivating over the operation. He said, "If you had that kind of operation in Mexico, the state would want to tax you so much you would never be able to pay. You have to be just half that big to remain unobserved."

On the way home, I called Raul's cell phone. When he answered, I said, "You're not going to believe me, but I need the milk house expanded like yesterday. I know you're going to be full bore on the strip center, but find me some men to build me a room for some equipment."

"No problem, Mike," Raul said. "We won't be able to start the build-out immediately, but if I can get plans together, we can get the addition finished before we start up in Mount Sterling. Isn't it great? When it rains it pours."

"Tell you what, Raul, have Esteban take you to look at the area the equipment is in now and try to copy it. Esteban will be able to suggest how to put the buildings together. He's also going to need a crew to help remove the equipment and bring it here. Help him find the men, okay?"

When I hung up, I told Esteban, "When you look at the whole operation, I want you to think that if we were to expand our dairy herd, you would want a modern milking parlor with the appropriate equipment. Take that into consideration when you plan this addition."

I thought Esteban's face was going to split.

We arrived home before Esteban's family came up the hill for the evening chores. Esteban took off for the barn, almost at a run.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Thorsten Thoroughly Thrusts Thru
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 41

So far today has been amazing. Raul and I had found him work, I had made a deal on pasteurization equipment, committed to expand the milking operation, and we were now going to have dinner or supper with Benson and family. Today had been so busy that I really could have used a walk around the mountain for a while. Mom collared me instead; "Michael, can you fire up the wood stove real quick? We could use it to warm things and bake some rolls."

After kissing Millie and tickling John, I went to the summer kitchen and fired up the wood stove. I took the time to wash everything off real quick, since this had become such a busy room. The eggs were washed, buttermilk made, and butter was churned here, and lots of traffic went in and out as this was where access to the pantry was.

When I was finished with the summer kitchen, I went back outside to check on the smoke houses. I ran the chipper to chop up a bunch of hickory and filled all of the hoppers. I slathered more honey on the meat as I checked the room temperatures. This had become a very easy operation. You had to make sure the fires stayed lit and the hoppers were full, but you didn't have to do much other than to empty the ashes.

That made me think of what a guy had told me about using a compost pit. If I needed a way to dispose of sawdust, that would take care of it. When we finished distilling the pomace, we could feed that to the hogs or put it on the compost pile. We could probably build up the small fields on the other side of the mountain. I would talk to Doroteo about it. The other thing we could do is to mix the ashes from the smokehouse with the compost, or just lightly dust it on the fields, since its alkalinity would help balance the generally acidic soil and water in these mountains.

D said he was going to investigate bottling our wine. He seems to think there might be a portable bottler in the area. That would be neat if someone could bring equipment here and bottle our product for us so we wouldn't have to haul the barrels to a bottler, or worse yet, have to invest in the equipment and the housing it would require to bottle it ourselves. I sure hoped that would work out; it would be just what we needed to be able to sell bottles of our product to those people in New York.

My mind was wandering as I walked around to the back of the barn and was rubbed on by the strange deer who insisted on staying around. I really expected to come back here any day and to find he has a couple of does grazing in the pasture. Speaking of pastures; I wondered how far the fencing people have gotten on the new pasture area. I would need to check on that in the morning, and to take some seed out to the little meadows to overseed them. If I did that a couple of times a year, those meadows would feed a lot of stock. There needs to be some water troughs; probably one near the top and at least one near the bottom. I'd have to look where water was available to figure out where to put another trough. I was going to have to make up my mind if I was going to try to graze cattle in the area all year or just during the spring and summer, or if I really want to become involved in yet another endeavor. If I kept cattle there all year, I would have to build some form of shelter for them. The winter can be too severe to make them stay out all the time. If I have gates on both sides where the road is, I could easily get hay back there for them. That's a lot of extra hay. I'd have to work on that. The idea of making cattle another profit center for the farm was a little daunting. I could buy organic feeds, but a large quantity of hay could be a problem. Raising stock from calves or getting some of my own breeding stock was the way to do it, but I didn't think I had enough acreage to do that right. I needed to talk to the men down at the market and get their opinions.

I was walking back to the house, when D came towards me with one of the sweet Latina girls. It was Carla, the little girl who wanted to live in the area. D said, "Carla wants to ask you a question, and she feels that your answer will be good information." D waved his hand in front of her to go ahead and ask.

"Mr. Grayson, you have often been a good adviser for all of us. My question may not be easy to answer, as it is difficult to ask. The man who drives the other bulldozer with Jet, do you know him well?"

"You're talking about John Howard, aren't you?"

Carla blushed, but said 'Yes' as she nodded her head.

"I don't know him really well, Carla. He was in the Army before coming to work here. Jimmy probably knows him as well as anyone. You should ask him what he thinks of the man. Do you know him very well?"

The girl said, "I go with Consuela and Anita to give the workers lunch everyday. I talk to him while he eats his lunch and he has come to dinner at our house a couple of times. He speaks Spanish very well, so he is easy to have with us. I think he likes me and I like him a lot. I know he doesn't see any of the new girls that are with D, and he goes home alone with a couple of the others. He says the other two men prefer each other's company and do not look for girls."

"Well, Carla, eat supper with us tonight. First, though, go tell Bea that I want you to eat with us and to figure out how to seat you next to John. Run do that right now."

The girl was really flustered now, but ran off toward the house. D said to me, "You just made that girl's day. I think she anticipated that you would ask her to supper since she is wearing a nice dress instead of work clothes."

I smiled at D before saying, "Well, good. We'll get all of these young men and women together and probably have to build an apartment building down there instead of houses. We might even think of something like that down near the road yard."

D said, "It is good for these girls to find men to trust and love. I hope they all work out. I know the girls all want stability, and the men are not kids any longer. The fact that they have experience in the world is good and should help them be stable."

The two of us walked back toward the house, "I think you're right, D. These couples might work out and that would be very nice."

Sheryl was already at the house, helping with the meal and talking to Bernie at the same time. I wonder if those two got together. They would make an interesting couple.

The road men and D's girls were chatting as they all set the table. I noticed Carla close to John as they helped with the tables. Bottles of wine were being put on the tables.

The only people who had not arrived yet were Benson and his family. Exactly at that moment, I heard the guinea hens make a racket. Karen and I slipped our boots on and went out to greet them. Benson was in his usual good mood. Mrs. Benson gave me a hug and told me, "You are so good for my B. Since you came to town, he's had a friend, and of course, a business partner. I can't tell you what a different person he's been since you came."

Benson was smiling at what his wife said. He told me, "Don't let it give you a big head, but this community now has some life in it, and your contribution is helping everyone take some pride in it."

The guineas were making noise again, so I was surprised to see Gene driving up in the cable company truck. He got out and ran around to other side of the truck to open the door for Maude. When they got out, he said, "When I heard Benson was coming, I called Bea and asked if I could bring Maude. Your mom never turns anyone down for a meal."

The expanded dining room was going to become too small if we kept having more people in. I wondered how long it would be until Mom decided to get some kitchen help. I suppose she already did that with the food she ordered from the Mount Sterling restaurant for the last big dinner.

We all went into the house and followed protocol by everyone removing their shoes. The newcomers mixed with the others in the house, and Mom came to me while we watched all the people. In a low tone, she said, "Isn't this wonderful, Michael? We have so many friends, and look at all of the people we've gotten together. Even little Carla has chosen one of the men. She told me you told her to come tell me. John seems to be a nice boy, and I hope they make a couple. Do you see the interaction between Bernie and Sheryl? I think they may have gotten together by the way they are rubbing on each other. It makes me want to rub on D."

I chuckled, "You had better plan a vacation soon so that you can test those waters."

Mom slyly looked at me, "How do you know we haven't already tested those waters?"

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled at Mom, saying, "It's none of my business, Mom, other than I hope it was and will be good."

She elbowed me with a laugh and went to join everyone as they began to be seated. Millie and I were the last to sit as she had just put the now very active John into his playpen.

As we ate, the conversation became fixed around Benson announcing that the county had approved Gene's plans to begin the new upscale development. Jimmy already knew a little about the project and told the men, "We're going to be busy handling the road maintenance and building the new roads for the development. We're actually going to be able to try out all of our new technology. We may have to get a few more guys to help us out."

I saw Mom look up at me and grin. My immediate thought was, 'Just what I need, a bigger road crew.'

Gene announced to all of us, "This lady sitting next to me and I have an announcement. Maude has agreed to become my wife." At that announcement, Maude held up her hand to display a nice ring on her finger, which resulted in some cheering and a lot of applause.

Gene continued, "I also want to tell the cheap sponsors of this new development that you won't have to worry about me soaking you guys for big wages for a while. The cable company asked me to stay on here and run this operation that will include Pine Ridge and Mount Sterling. I'll be double dipping with the development company while I do my regular job."

Benson looked at Maude, "You're going to have to come up with some tricks to keep Gene from paying way too much in taxes. He'll be making good money from both of his employers. No wonder you wanted to hook up with him."

That brought a small fresh baked roll to sail across the table and hit Benson on the forehead. Maude exclaimed, "I'll have you know that our combined income is going to put us into Obama's targeted small business families, which is great! I'd rather make the money and pay the tax than not make the money. I think I will have to hire a helper very soon. Mike, I'm going to need your construction guys to build me an addition to my office. Gene might need one too, but we're going to stay right where we are because I own the place. It was my folks', my grandparents', and my great-grandparents' home, so I'm staying."

As D stood to serve some dessert wine, Mom, Marita, Millie, and Karen began serving some special cannoli that Rodrigo had taught her how to make over the phone. D said to us, "I will be gone for a couple of weeks. I plan to spend some time on the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest. It's still cool up there, and we want to experience viewing the whales in their natural habitat."

Mom was putting plates with a chocolate syrup covered cannoli on them in front of people. She announced, "So that you don't wonder who the we is, D is taking me to see something I've always wanted to see. I understand he's instructed his girls about what to do for a couple of weeks, and I know the ladies in this household will take care of Mike, as well. He really doesn't need his mother around except to show him the way."

Everyone had a laugh at that. My goodness, Mom was really going to see if she and D were compatible. She is an adventurous soul and knows how to take care of herself. I hoped D was aware of how headstrong a woman he was messing with.

With Mom gone for a week or two, maybe the house might get back to some form of reclusiveness. There would always be a multitude of visitors whenever Mom is around. The family is still coming on weekends, so that kills some peace and quiet while they are here. Oh well, who needs solitude? The answer to that is easy, me. I still fantasize about being somewhat of a recluse.

It was almost funny to see how all the young men rushed through clearing and cleaning the tables and washing the dishes. Gene even became embroiled in the activity, as the road guys knew what to do and directed him on how to help. D, Benson, and I had some of the special grappa that D told us would bring a premium in New York. He bragged as to how he would make our small vineyard an almost national monument with people trying to obtain some of our product.

Benson said, "Stick with Mike, D. The man brings good things to all those who stick with him. He came to me for a simple job with the lady who sold him this property, and look what I fell into. Look at Gene, he's now the architect for our development and is going to make untold thousands to get this thing on the map. Mike's road guys are all assured of work beyond the scope of working on the local roads. They will be road construction men, not just repairmen. This is a big deal, D. The wine is also a big deal, but I'll bet you almost get frustrated that Mike doesn't spend enough time learning the business from you. But in the end, he's made another season of great wine."

D just nodded, "Yes, you're right. He has surprised me, but a lot of it has to be dumb luck. This is his third season coming up, and we'll see how he does this year."

When the guys finished the dishes, Gene migrated toward us as the guys began spiriting their women out of the house to either go for a drive, a walk, or to some unknown place. Carla and John sat on one of the couches talking, while the women remained at one of the tables, drinking coffee and talking about whatever women talk about.

As we sat together, Gene said, "I've kind of figured out that you're the influence or money behind all of the development, Mike. How did you save up so much while you were in the military?"

"I didn't, Gene. The money I represent is in a trust of which I was named as one of the administrators. Benson and I are the two who have to make sure the trust is used correctly and the way the originators want it to be used. We're attempting to do a lot of good for the community, as well as many of the residents. I think that, in time, everyone within the county will have felt the benefit of what the trust is doing."

Gene looked up at me, and then at Benson, "Okay, but I just feel like you're the key person for a lot of things that are happening around the county. I think it's a good thing, and I know Maude is totally fascinated with the workings of the trust, but she won't even let me in on the how everything works. She tells me that it's just a trust that is using money for the good of the community."

"Gene," Benson said, "I can tell you that Mike and I look at everything before we sign off on what the trust will do. The supply of cash isn't endless, so increasing it is what the development company is supposed to do. If done correctly, we can add to the trust deposits to ensure there is money for projects in the future. Think of it another way. The developments will require increased sewage disposal, so the trust will rebuild the city's and county's sewage facility to more than double its present size. That will benefit the community for years to come. I think the trust's donations toward the community's infrastructure will have a long term effect."

"It will do that, you guys. I'm just terribly curious as how this trust came about. Oh well, if it makes everyone, including Maude, happy, I'm happy too."

I told Gene, "I have benefited from all of this because you have been able to help me get more paths to clear and get the John Deere ATVs that we have. I think with the advent of the developments, we will be able to use any ATVs we can get our hands on in the future. Being able to buy them at half price is a definite benefit. Paying for ATVs directly out of the path work proceeds has been an easy way to pay for them. These last ones are a mix of two and four seat models. The two seat models have a hell of a cargo capacity. I can see where they will have a big benefit for a lot of our activities."

Gene responded to me, "I watch and listen for the sales and rotation of those, Mike. You have to remember how big the cable company is. They supply cable to customers in twelve states and are trying to move into more. The last couple of years I only told you about a tenth of the ATVs that were being rotated out of service. I'll let you know when the next bunch is being traded out." Gene sat back, thinking he was going to continue to contribute to the new company he was going to be involved with.

D had gone over to speak with Mom, and the two had gone into the office together. I figured they were working out the itinerary for their trip. Their voices came from the office and you could tell the two were not happy about something. The level of their voices increased until both walked out of the office. Mom pulled D over to where Benson, Gene, and I were sitting, and said to me, "Will you tell this man that your father left me with more than enough money to finance this trip and many more. He just doesn't understand that I want to spend some of my money instead of letting it just sit there waiting for a bunch of kids to fight over it."

D sort of huffed and puffed, "Mike would never fight over a deceased relative's money. Don't include him in that."

"D," Mom pleaded, "I don't think the other two will fight over it either, but they all want me to enjoy the money that their father and I made working our farm. They know how hard we worked to make the farm successful, and to raise and teach them to be independent. All three of my kids turned out to be something special, and you can see how Mike turned out. Let me use the money that is supposed to be for my happiness to pay for our pleasure."

D shook his head before commenting, "It is difficult to reason with a woman who states her case so eloquently. I feel as if I should be the one to sponsor the trip and bear the costs. Mike has paid me well from last year's harvest, so I feel I should do this. I will concede, but you will have to let me subsidize our next trip."

The two went back into the office. Benson smiled at me before saying, "You resolved that squabble without a word. You let them speak out in front of people so they would know you were supporting both of them. That's a hell of a negotiating technique, Mike."

Gene commented, "He does display a lot of ability to just listen. I suppose I need to learn from that."

Benson stood before announcing to those in the cabin, "Okay, Family, it's time to head home. I still have to act like a lawyer in the morning, and I have a couple of things to take before Judge Rooks. Let's get ready."

Denise and Karen came to us, and Denise asked her dad, "Can Karen come home with us for the night? We want to talk about school next fall and do some planning."

Karen was right there at the same time, "Is that okay, Mike? I asked Mom and she said it was okay with her."

Benson looked at me, "You're already getting the, 'I asked the other, so you will be the jerk if you say no'." He turned to Denise, "I'm fine with that. You have work and school tomorrow, so you will need to find out who is going to pick Karen up."

I didn't get a chance to say anything before Mom said, "I'll come get her. Millie and I have to take some things into The Kitchen and the market in the morning. We need to get rid of the skim milk for cash instead of feeding it to the hogs."

Karen looked at me for approval. All I did was smile and wink. She gave me a hug before running to her room to get some clothes.

The Bensons and Karen left, as did Maude and Gene. John and Carla said goodnight to each other before D escorted Carla back down the hill in his truck. Sheryl and Bernie decided to head back toward Stanton and I had a feeling that Bernie wouldn't be spending the night in his trailer.

Little John had been busy with all of the attention given him tonight. Millie held him to her breast for only a couple of sucks before he was sound asleep. Millie said, "He had a good supper of baby food tonight, so he shouldn't be hungry during the night. You're going to have to help me with all of the extra milk I have." Millie was smiling as she instructed me while hefting her small, but full, breasts at me.

Mom told us, "You should go take care of that problem right now, before Marita gets back. Jet and Marita have been taking some extra time getting home lately. Use that time wisely."

Millie was a very enthusiastic lover this night, keeping a breast in my mouth as she moaned while riding me to orgasm after orgasm. When we were both totally wiped out and snuggling in a big wet spot, Millie said, "I hope we still want to take care of our urges even after I have your next son. I might be getting to the time when I shouldn't have more babies, but I do love to be loved by you."

We kissed and hugged until we were both asleep.

Dad said, "That's just exactly how all three of you kids came along. Your mother and I enjoyed each other so very much. Take care of Bea, Mike; you are the son I'm so proud of. You are the father, the farmer, the hunter, and the caregiver. Be the man."

There was only Dad with me as we sat on big rocks together.

Morning was fast and furious because I had a full agenda to follow through with. After chores and breakfast, I met the men working on the fence as they went to the area they were working. They were busy digging postholes and setting treated posts at regular measured intervals. The large corner posts were braced from the inside, as well as set in Sakrete. The men assured me the fence would stand up to people attempting to climb through the barbed wire. I asked them if they could provide a stile, some steps at the corners for potential trespassers to go over the fence instead of twisting the wire together. They said they would do that and add it to the construction cost. This was stupid for me to provide a method for people to bridge my fence, but it was better to do that than to have outsiders compromise the fence.

When I walked back up the hill, I found a small spring that had water coming out of some rocks and back into more rocks a little farther down. This was probably water from the cave at the higher level, but it was a way to give the animals more water. I mentally marked the spot and promised myself I would come back and spray paint a couple of trees around the area. I could build a trough here and provide the animals that much more water.

At the top of the area next to the bluff where the small cave was, I made sure I would be able to get water to the cattle there as well. It shouldn't be a problem. On the way back to the house, I stopped at Eliza's and Bud's gravesite. I smiled at the two graves and said aloud, "Thank you, both of you, for helping me to know the mountain. I will always wonder why you didn't find what I found and why you two didn't enjoy the fruits of that find. You'll have to tell me one of these days."

As I had expected, Raul was sitting with Mom at the little table when I walked in the door. Millie gave me a hug and kiss before I bent over to grab little John and cuddle him for a second. Mom had poured me a hot cup of coffee and set it on the little table with Raul.

Raul began, "Mike, you need to give me what we can do in order to get ready for the new development. I have a good crew working on the Mount Sterling job, but I want to get ready to begin on what will really be important."

"Raul, the job you are on in Mount Sterling is important, since it will include all the stores in that strip center. I have to have the engineer and surveyors work on the property sites, then I will call you in to supervise the digging of the basements and foundations. Don't worry, my friend; you are going to be in on every nail in this new project. Get ready as we will be doing this and other projects at the same time. If we are going to be a construction company, we are going to be building wherever we can in the area. Are you ready?"

You would have thought I stuck a hot poker up Raul's butt. He jumped up and yelled, "Yeah"
and then blushed at his enthusiasm.

I told him, "I feel the same, Raul. Let's make this a way for you and your men to make a living for a long time to come. You know my rules for workers, so you be the boss man. Make it happen. I'll get Gene to work with you and the surveyors to begin the first model house. I want it to be the one at the lowest point at the entry into the property. All of the others will be at terraces above the first. That way we can be building the model house while the roadways are still being prepared for the rest of the development. Gene will design the roads and terraces, and the guys will grade it to suit us. Will that work?"

"Perfect, Mike. I am so excited that we came here to Kentucky. You are special to all of us down the hill. Please give Gene my cell phone number so he can use me to work up his plan."

"I'll do that, Raul. Gene's already working on the location. I'll give him a call to have him take you to look at the property." I paused a second, then told Raul, "There is one last thing that we need to do. Make sure you are paying a fair wage, and if you can, hire as many local carpenters and tradesmen as you can."

"I'm already doing that, Mike. I have six new men who are local residents. They are doing a good job and are working well with all of the others." Raul was proud that he had anticipated me.

Mom was grinning at me as I stood to go into town. I knew Benson had some court time this morning, but I wanted to talk to him as soon as he was done kissing the judge's butt.

Mom, Millie, and Marita had everything in Millie's truck, ready to go to the market. They would get there at the ideal time to unload their booty. Those women always finagled the men into buying everything they had. When the guys were being stubborn, Millie would walk around, holding little John, and telling the men that poor old Mike needed the help. They knew better, but were all suckers. I think a lot of them drank far too much skim milk.

I got to his office just as Benson came back from the courthouse. He walked up to me with a crooked grin.

"The judge is in a shit mood today," he said. "When he bitched me out over nothing, I continued everything else I had. I need to send his wife something special to get him over whatever he's pissed about. I'll call her tomorrow to find out what will grease the situation."

"Benson, you may not be a sneak, but you are one hell of a good negotiator. I'll bet you have an inside line on how to sweet talk every one of the judges' wives."

"How did you know, Mike? Some like steaks, some like a good breakfast. Get me some of your wine and I'll fix this guy up with a snort of your good stuff. That'll smooth everything out."

I laughed at this and asked, "How did the the girls do last night?".

Benson said, "Denise and Karen decided they were going to share a room at school the first year. If they can't be guaranteed to be roomies, the girls are going to rent an apartment. I told them they could." Benson looked at me sheepishly, "I told her it was more important for them to be comfortable at school than to have to worry about their roommates. I can get them a studio apartment for nearly nothing that'll work for their freshman year. If they do good, as in all "As" and such, you and I will get them a first-class two-bedroom apartment. You okay with that, big guy?"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, you are too much, Benson. If we spoil these kids like this, how are we going to show them how to economize?"

"Get off it, Mike. These are our kids. We don't economize with our kids. We encourage them and let them flourish. Give it a rest, Drill Sergeant, let them be kids."

Benson was always good for a smile. "I'm not here just to talk about the kids, Benson. I came to see how you're doing about getting the clinic work started and what's happening with the school project."

Benson looked at me with half-closed eyes, "You're way too early for the school stuff, but I do have some information on the clinic. The Lexington contractor who bid on the clinic says he will be able to break ground this week if we agree on a contract. He estimates the initial expansion should be done by October first. The secondary expansion should be complete by April of next year and the third phase should be complete by this time next year."

"Jesus, Benson, what are they going to do, sit on the project to see if it hatches? Can't they do better than that? Who decided they should get the bid if they dragged their feet that bad? Don't I get a say in it?"

"Mike, that is a good schedule. You're talking about a complete makeover of the existing clinic."

"Yeah, Benson, but it isn't going to do this community any good for over a year. I'm for looking for someone who wants to get the job done and not sit on it. Talk to the contractor and see what he can do. If his time line is set in stone, tell him thank you and see you later. You haven't signed any contracts have you?"

"No, Mike, I was just making them up. I'll talk to the man and see what he can do. You might be a little unreasonable, you know. This kind of work takes time."

"Bullshit, Benson, I've seen four floor hospitals put up in six months. When something needs to be done, it gets done."

"Okay, okay, I'll call the contractor and set up a meet. Be here with me and see what you can do."

"Let me know, Benson, now what about the school?"

"It's the same contractor, Mike. He says he will be on it right away and should have it done by this fall. I have a penalty clause that reduces our payment if he doesn't get it done on time."

"How many bids did you get, Benson?"

"Only his, Mike. For some reason, no other contractors bid on the job."

"That's not acceptable. I'll shop the bid in Lexington and Cincinnati, and I'll bet I'll get a contractor that wants the work. Forget about my meeting with the man, reject that bid and let's start over. I'm not enthralled over the way this guy has you under his thumb. You are way too easy, my friend."

Benson looked dejected. "Mike, I thought I was doing it right. I put the bid out in our paper and no one responded. I didn't put it out in the Lexington papers since I thought they would be too high."

"It's the other way around, Benson. Guys like that prey on us little guys out away from the city, and are the ones who take advantage of us. The city boys want our business as much, or more, than the local hawk. Let's get these jobs done quickly by some contractors who really want the work."

Benson had a straight-lipped look that showed his embarrassment. "Okay, Mike, I see what you mean. Lexington and Cincinnati have small legal newspapers where big bids are posted. I'll publish our bid in both cities and see what kind of response we get. I'll call and fax an announcement right away."

"Thank you, Benson. I really want us to get these projects underway. The developments will sell better if we have the facilities for the homes. We both need to think of other areas where the trust can enhance the community. The county is going to become an area where willing commuters come to escape the city, so let's help them choose here."

The next stop was to see Bernie at the radio station. When I parked, I could see that he was busy talking and pushing buttons on his console.

As soon as I walked into the newspaper office, Ames Benson rapidly walked up to the front counter and stuck his hand out to shake. I smiled at the guy, "Hey, Ames, how are you doing?"

Ames was smiling, "Since you sent me Bernie, I'm doing a thousand percent better. Mike, I have to tell you what a great find Bernie is. He's been selling newspaper and radio advertising over three counties. I swear he's going to make my little newspaper and radio station the most profitable in the state. He's doing promotions that are showing the advertisers that people listen to us. We're really doing well, Mike. Thank you for sending the man to me."

"Now, what can I do for you, Mike?" Ames was standing behind his counter with both hands flat on the counter surface.

"I need to talk to Bernie for a few minutes when he's off the air."

"Well you know Bernie, Mike. If he's on a roll, it may be a while. Go over and sit down and he may take the hint."

I didn't want to be on the radio, so walked up and sat in his extra chair and put my finger to my lips to tell him not to announce my presence. He must have been just about finished with his commercial, as he announced the farm market program and pushed some buttons.

"Hey, Mike, what's shaking? I've been running your re-election spots and talking you up when we have our call in shows. I had the other guy on our interview show and he couldn't give me a reason why he should be a road commissioner again, other than he lives in that township. That's pretty weak, but we'll let the voters decide. What can I do for you?"

"You talked about putting an antenna on top of the mountain a while back and I didn't see how it would be of much value, but I now think that it might be a good idea if we could use the same tower for multiple purposes. In addition to our road crew radios, we could assist the Sheriff's Department, this radio station, all the cell phone vendors, and who knows who else. I was thinking that wind turbines could primarily provide power. We could put any equipment and the storage batteries in one of the caves below the summit. There is plenty of room, and if we need to close it off, we can frame it in. Do you think we could do this without having to run cable up the mountain?"

Bernie sat back in his chair, twirling a pencil while deep in thought. "I'm not sure about the cell phone stuff, but everything else could be done using the antenna up there as a repeater. Your mountain is the highest in the area, so it would give the best coverage. Your place is far enough away that your personal entertainment reception shouldn't be interrupted. If you could get a fiber optic line up there, it would be ideal since we could run everything through a couple of fibers so that weather wouldn't screw up the repeaters."

Still thinking, Bernie kept twirling the pencil. "You know that the turbine idea is good, but it would be good to have local power up there too. The other thing is that with all of the various technologies you want to use a single tower for, it is going to have to be taller than ten feet. We might be able to do it at twenty-five feet, but it probably is going to have to be forty feet. You have to have some separation between transmitting antennas."

Bernie swung around and said, "Do you think you could get me up there to look at it? If I can look at the whole picture, I could give you a better answer."

"I'll get you up there even if I have to carry you. Now that you're using your prosthesis, you might be able to climb up there on your own."

"Good deal, Mike. Take me up there this afternoon. I have an intern coming in at three-thirty who handles everything until seven, then another intern works the board until ten. I'm getting kids to come in because I let them work out their own programs. They have been excellent so far, and have improved the listening audience in their age group. This means more advertising to sell to that market. I'm letting them sell some of their time and get a commission on it so that they have something to show for their efforts. I have a waiting list for interns now."

"Okay, we can go up then. I'll see you at the house about four, but be prepared; it isn't that easy of a climb."

"No sweat Mike. Remember I crawled all over the rocks in Afghanistan."

Now there was only one more place to go.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



-------

Chapter 42

Today had been busy with my seeing Benson, Ames, and Bernie, and I now had one more place to go.

It didn't take that long to get up to the shopping center in Mount Sterling that Raul had began working on. I went to the construction trailer hoping to catch the general contractor. The man was checking items from a notebook and comparing them to his blueprints.

"Hey, Coup, how are you doing?"

"Mike Grayson, what brings you up here? Your men started and are really buzzing through that build out. I should be able to give them most of the build outs for the rest of the units if this first one turns out well."

"It will, Coup, but that's not why I'm here. How about going to lunch with me? Can you spare the time?"

The man squinted at me, tossed his notebook onto the blueprint, and said, "If you're buying, I have the time. Are you going to feed me Mickey D's?"

I laughed, "No way, we're eating some of the best Italian in the state."

When we walked into the busy restaurant, Rodrigo saw us and immediately came to us. "Mike, it's so good to see you. You don't have a delivery, do you? We just had one."

"Rod, this is Coup Dun, a local contractor. I'm bringing him to have an honest to goodness business lunch. Fix us up, okay?"

"Right this way, Gentlemen. As you can see, I may be looking to expand the restaurant soon. I think we could handle a third more people if we had the room. The radio advertising from Stanton reaches up here and it has proven to be very beneficial."

Coup and I ordered and were sipping iced tea, when I began; "You do more than strip shopping centers, don't you, Coup?"

The man looked at me with a frown, "Before the economic downturn in anything resembling construction, my company built two of the biggest buildings in Lexington, and another in Cincinnati. We did the new hospital addition in Lexington a couple of years ago and also built the new library at the university. When the funding dried up, so did the rest of the building industry. I was quick enough to bid on a bunch of these little jobs to keep as many men working as I could. It's worked out so far."

I took a drink of my tea and advised the man, "There are a couple of good-sized jobs in Stanton that needs a company that is willing to pull out all the stops to get a job done and done right. The local medical clinic is going to have a very large expansion, and our local school is also having a major addition. The trust fund that is paying for both of these projects didn't put the bid out in Lexington or Cincinnati, so the only contractor to bid on the projects was a guy that I don't believe is capable of doing the work in a timely manner. We're going to be putting the bid out in the two big cities, but if you want an inside track, I can help you with that."

Coup Dun was looking me straight in the eyes, took a sip of tea, and said, "You're not kidding, are you? You're not looking for a kickback either, are you? Hell yes, I'd like some of that work. You're no farther than here and I use men from the local area as much as possible. My key guys are always on site, but that's how I can ensure good work. How do I get the bid specs and plans for these jobs?"

We were served our lunches at that point, but as we began eating, I told him, "Let me call real quick, and I'll have a set of specs and plans brought up to you this afternoon."

I called Benson, who answered instead of Denise. He explained that Denise had no classes at school this morning, but she had to go back this afternoon.

"Benson, can you get a package of the bid specs and a set of blueprints together and have them delivered to the new strip center construction site up here in Mount Sterling. It's the new place across the street from Walmart. The man to deliver them to is Coup Dun."

"I can do that, Mike. I have several packages of both projects made up. Which one do you want?"

"Both of them. They should be hand delivered to Coup Dun at the construction trailer."

"I'm on it, Mike. I made arrangements for the bids to be published this Friday. We should be hearing from any respondents Monday and Tuesday."

I went back to eating my delicious linguine. The sauce was a gentle balance of garlic and basil that made you want to stuff yourself.

Coup was finishing, when he said, "What kind of time frame are you looking to do this work in?"

"When we let the bid out, I want the clinic begun immediately, with an attempt at finishing it in six months. I think it can be done, but I do understand all of the inspections you have to have. The school should be done right away also, and I also understand that building on to existing structures can be difficult. Both are big jobs, but again, I think they can be done in a timely manner."

"That's my kind of work, Mike. Give me a job that I can move right through and I'm in heaven. When the owners keep trying to pre-sell space, constantly holding up a job like this one, makes it tough. They needed to have set everything up into sections, build the building, then divide it up as they lease it. I tried to tell them that tenants will come and go, but with an existing building, he can vary the sizes of the individual stores."

I nodded in understanding, "Well, the two jobs you will see are straightforward. Since you have experience with medical facilities, if you have any suggestions, I'm sure the doctor is interested. Let's get back to work."

Coup was very pleased with lunch and complimented Rodrigo on the excellent food. I delivered Coup back to his construction trailer and told him I'd check with him later to make sure he had received the specs and plans.

I was now ready to check in with the path crew. When I walked to where the men were cutting timber up, it seemed as if there were a lot of men. Pedro and Jesus came over to me, and when I asked about all of the men, Pedro reminded me, "We have two crews out here right now. We finished the Conner place and can't get to the next job yet. We'll be working another project by the end of the week and be back to one crew here."

"Pedro, how do you feed all of these men? Are your ladies able to do it?"

"They have no problem, Mike. They bring a lot of food to us and we eat what we want. They take what is left back with them and use it for another meal. By you feeding us, we don't have to wait for men to get back from lunch, so it works out very well."

I was going to have to check with Maude to make sure this venture was still making money, as there had to be over twenty men working clearing the path.

I stopped by the road yard on the way home, but no one was there. The big board told the story about where men were working, and also where they would be working for the rest of the week. This place was working like a clock.

When I got home, I had a cup of coffee with Mom. She said, "The garden planting is just about finished, and it will now be just upkeep for a few weeks. D has made his delivery to the restaurant and has given his girls instructions on how to handle the vineyards. Millie and Marita will be able to keep track of the milk, butter, and eggs, so you are going to be on your own for a couple of weeks. D and I are leaving Wednesday morning. I'm leaving my car in the long-term lot in Cincinnati so you don't have to haul us around. We'll stay in Cincinnati Tuesday night so that we won't have to get up in the middle of the night to catch an early morning flight. I'll call you during the week to see how you're doing, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Wow, Mom, we're going to miss you, but I'll bet you have a good time. I'll have to do something like that with Millie. As soon as John gets a little bigger, we'll take a vacation and see some of the country."

Mom smiled at me, "Sure you will, but it will probably be after this next little one that's on the way. You're just like your dad the way you stay focused on the farm and work."

"I'm slowing down, Mom. I'm working toward having all of these other businesses work on their own so that I can focus only on the farm. I want to be sure to be around for John and Millie. Of course, Millie's working on critter number two, and that will make both of us busier."

"You know that when Marita gets married to Jet, and Karen takes off for school, this place is going to be very quiet," Mom said with a loving smile. "I had thought Carla would want to live with us, but Consuela has been a real mother to her, and she's now making a play for one your road men. You and Millie may want to find another helper, or what could be considered an intern."

"Do we need more people, Mom?"

"Not really, Mike, but there has been someone around to help with everything since John came along. I might be traveling a lot, so you can't depend on me except during harvest, or like now when we're planting. D's girls are all going to be gone one of these days, and you will need vineyard workers. Your orchards are big enough that you could have a full time man working those. Talk to D and Esteban; they might know of someone who needs to be sponsored."

Oh yeah, Esteban. I told Mom, "I need to check on Esteban to see how he's doing in getting the equipment from George. Raul didn't say anything about the milk house expansion. I wonder if he forgot."

Mom chuckled, "Raul had Jose and a couple of men go with Esteban, so they should be fine. Raul said Jose would begin on the milk house expansion right away, since Raul says he's working on the Mount Sterling job. See, you have too much going on at the same time. Rely on your help, but get some more help for Millie; she's going to need it."

It was at that moment that Rosita came through the door. She smiled and asked, "May I talk with you, both of you, and Millie too?"

Now what? When a lady talks like that, there is a problem.

Millie was working at the stove and came over and hugged Rosita. She asked, "What's the matter, Rosita?"

Millie brought a cup of coffee to Rosita and refilled Mom's and my cups. She told all of us, "I have something on the stove, but I will listen."

Rosita was not a young lady. She seemed to be in her late twenties, about the same age as Millie. She had the light brown skin of southern Mexico, with the dark hair and eyes. She almost always had a smile on her face, and I knew she was a hard worker. Was she attractive? Pretty much so, but she has a slight build that could use a few more pounds.

Rosita nervously squirmed in her chair, but finally sat up straight and said, "I will speak plainly of what of this thing. I am an unmarried lady among some married couples who want me to get together with one of the unmarried men who live down the hill. I am not interested in any of them, but the men are very insistent that I choose one of them. I can't stay there any longer, because I do not want their hands on me or the constant reminder that I am not getting any younger."

Mom was quick to ask, "What do you want us to do to help you, Rosita?"

Rosita now squirmed around even more. She looked at me, then at Millie, and directed her question to Millie, "I want to be like Millie. I want to be Mike's wife too."

Holy shit!

Mom covered her face with her hand, but I think she was biting it to keep from laughing. Millie had a grin on her face that spread from ear to ear. When none of us said anything, Rosita added, "Marita will be leaving you, so you will need another wife, yes?"

I reached across the table and took Rosita's hand, "Marita is our friend and not a wife."

"But she sleeps with you at night. She tells us how nice it is to sleep on your shoulder and to hug you at night. Surely you do more than hug."

Mom was still biting her hand, or at least covering her face, but Millie came around the counter to hug Rosita again. "That is so sweet, Rosita. Mike won't do any husband duties with Marita because he says he only wants one wife, me. You'll have to find another man."

Rosita's eyes watered a little, but no tears came down her face. "If not a wife, can I be a friend like Marita so I don't have to wear work pants to bed?"

Millie told her, "Of course, Rosita, you can stay with us to see how you like it. Your group down the hill really needs to find some more women for the other men. I'm sure there are many women who would want the men that are here."

"Maybe women can be found for them, but not me. I am only a distant cousin to Pedro, but I am indebted to him for helping me get a work permit. I know I must work for a living and will work as always, but I don't want to have to defend myself all the time."

Millie had gone back to the stove and told us, "See, Mike, you need to accept another wife. We could have more babies and you would have more women to love at night."

It was Mom who told Rosita, "We have room. Marita and Karen both have rooms, but Marita almost always sleeps with Millie and Mike. Karen and I will often go in to be with them, but Mike only acts like a husband with Millie. You can come up to stay with us, but I don't want to cause Pedro or the other women to be hurt by this."

"Anita and Carmen know how the men are," Rosita explained. "The men won't touch those two as they are married, but I'm not. They even say some of those things to Consuela, but she will not put up with it. She tells them to behave or leave. I cannot do that."

Carmen came into the house to get a drink of water, and asked, "Rosita, will Mike take you as another wife? We know Millie would like that."

Millie said, "Mike doesn't want more than one wife, but Rosita can stay with us if she wants. We have room."

"Poor Rosita," Carmen lamented, "She has wanted to be a wife to Mike since she met him. Millie and Bea will have to find her another man."

Carmen got her drink, hugged Rosita, and went back out the door. Mom said, "I guess I don't have to worry about who will help Millie if she needs it. It's a good thing there are more women coming, because harvest will be busy. Rosita, do you want to get your clothes now or later?"

"Now please, while the men are not there. The men working on the wood will have their wives here this week, so there will be more to help in the garden. There will be enough people to do the work."

Mom added, "Esteban's wife is now working in the garden too, so we will have plenty."

The door opened and Doc Rivers walked in, sat at the boot bench to take her shoes off and said, "My guy says he's coming out here today, so I decided it would be a good day to get out of the clinic. With your help, Mike, I now have a new doctor that just finished her residency. She's a tough little farm girl who will be a good addition."

Mom asked, "Where's she from, Sheryl?"

"Up the road in Mount Sterling, but doesn't want to work in that clinic. She says it's too unfriendly."

After Sheryl gave everyone a hug, including the surprised Rosita, she got a mug of coffee from Millie and sat in the fourth chair at the little table.

Rosita said, "Can we go get my clothes now? It would be good if I could do that."

Mom told her, "Let's do it." She said to Sheryl, "We'll be right back; we have a chore to do."

As soon as Mom and Rosita left, Marita came in and gave me a hug, "I'm so happy you will let Rosita stay here. I know she wants more than you will give, but she needs to get away from down there."

The doc looked at me with a smirk, "With all these women throwing themselves at your feet, including me not that long ago, how are you planning to stay a one woman man?"

"What in the world would I do with another woman, and what woman could compare to my Millie?"

That brought Millie over to give me a hug. She patted her belly and told Sheryl, Marita, and me, "I have the proof right here and over in the playpen."

Sheryl took a drink of her coffee before commenting, "And that's why we all love you, Mike. You're one true blue dude."

The guinea hen alarm was making a racket, so I stood up to look outside. Bernie was coming up the lane right on time. I told Sheryl, "If you want to come along with us, you might be okay in your sneakers and pants. We're going to do some climbing on top of the mountain."

"That's why I'm dressed for it, Mike. Let me get my shoes on and I'll be right out."

I met Bernie as he got out of his truck and told him we would take an ATV up as high as we could go, but we needed to wait a second for Sheryl first. I told him to wait right there while I brought the ATV around.

The four passenger ATV was under the barn lean-to, ready to go. I pulled it around to Bernie about the time Sheryl came out. We went toward the other side of the mountain, then followed the shortcut through the woods to the old road that led up to the caves. You don't realize that the two big cave openings are behind the boulders in front of them, so after we stopped, I walked them around to see them. I gave them a little information about the artifacts that had been found up here and how they were going to be displayed at the university in Lexington. I had my high-intensity flashlight, so I led them through the rear of the cave to get to the other side where the path to the mountain peak was.

It was fairly steep, but not so bad as to be a big problem. I led, with Sheryl following Bernie in case he needed steadying. We climbed the last hundred plus yards to where we then stood on the top of the mountain, looking out over the rest of the county in all directions.

Bernie said, "There's barely enough room for a tower and the guy cables up here, but I think you can get it done. You might have to have some pros put it up because of how the guy wires will have to be anchored. You'll be able to use the cave below here for your equipment and battery storage. There isn't enough room for a wind turbine up here, so you will have to figure a way to get power up here. Look down here." Bernie was pointing down toward where the cannon had been found. I think you could bury an electrical cable from the house up to here without too many problems. If you look, you can skirt the outside of the stand of cedars and on the outside of the orchard, past your big field that looks like a big garden, and right to the electrical pole behind the house. If you were to do that, you could run a fiber optic cable up here at the same time. I'll bet the cable guys could run a multi-fiber cable up to the house and up here for you. You might even want to think about hauling the tower material up from here as well. It would be easier to bring the materials up this way than hauling it all up from the other side. There are too many loose rocks over there."

I pointed down at a terrace level that was about twenty feet below us and said, "That area is larger than here by more than double. If we put the tower there but perhaps make it fifty feet, we could put a wind turbine up here. The turbine blades have to swing clear of the antennas or they will interfere with the signals. Bringing power up here is a good idea, and I know you can't do everything we're thinking as a repeater, but it will be a major project to get power and fiber up here."

"Not as much as you think, Mike. I know a bunch of guys that have started their own cable company, and I'll bet they can get power and fiber up here in less than a week, and put it all in conduit while they're doing it."

"Sounds expensive, Bernie."

"Okay, I agree, it is expensive, but if you rent out your tower to two, three, or four cell companies, you'll pay for all of it within six months. You can probably sell the state on also using your tower for a repeater site, as well as all of the first responders in the area. You can just about figure on making money on the site within a year, depending on how much you give away."

I looked around and used my cell phone to take some pictures before we went back down. I led again, in case I needed to catch Bernie, but he took his time and came down carefully. We walked around the outside of the mountain this time to give him an idea of what the big rock ravine looked like from above.

When we were starting back to the house, I told them, "I want to follow this old wagon road all the way down to show you how it intersects with the state road, then keeps going on the other side of the highway."

The trip down the mountain was fun, as we were able to look down into the blackberry patch next to the highway. There was a large black furry creature lying in the middle that wasn't disturbed by the ATV. I stopped so both Sheryl and Bernie could take cell phone pictures of the bear. My thought was that I hoped I could convince the bear to leave so I didn't have to do any bear hunting and skinning this year.

On the way back up, we were able to see stock in the lower and upper orchards. I explained that I was now going to put all the stock into the area I was fencing on the other side of the mountain, since I found out that the animal waste could cause a problem with any fruit that hit the ground.

Driving back up to the house, I saw Harold's pickup in the parking area at the house, and wondered what he was up to.

I let Bernie and Sheryl out at the house before parking the ATV under the lean-to again.

When I walked into the house and sat on the boot bench, I saw Mom, Marita, Rosita, and Millie sitting on one couch, facing the other couch and talking to someone I couldn't see. Harold and Martha, along with someone I didn't know, were sitting at the little table. Sheryl and Bernie were over at the nearest big table. I stood and walked over to the couch.

Two heads turned to me, showing four black eyes looking at me with apprehension.

Millie was holding John, while Mom was trying to hold a hand of each of the two kids sitting on the couch. She said, "This is Mike. He makes sure we have everything we need to eat and will teach you about the mountain."

I looked around, bewildered, and saw Harold with his gentle smile. He spoke with confidence, "You, Sir, are the perfect person for these two."

Still confused, I looked back at Mom. She smiled, "These are two little ones who need a home. Ours will be perfect for them."

Still not connecting, I looked at Harold again who smiled before saying, "Their parents were killed in a traffic accident, and we are still hunting for relatives. We know the parents were Lakota Sioux, but they apparently don't have any other living relatives. None of the people from their reservation are willing to take them in so far. I thought you might be just the right person to raise a couple of little Indians."

Jesus H. Christ, what in the world was I going to do with a couple of little kids? They could have been from anywhere and it wouldn't make any difference, but I'm going to have another baby very soon. Do I really want two more kids right now?

Mom took the little girl into her arms and hugged her. "We're your family now, Minya. Let me be your grandmother."

The little boy was trying to get on Millie's lap and she scooped him up to sit on her lap with John. She said in a soft voice, "Takoda Mato, you are my son now, the same as little John. Mike and I will take care of you."

Mom looked up at me and said, "This little beauty's name is Minya Nahimana, which means 'the oldest daughter who is mystic'. She is four, almost five. I think that would be appropriate for Mystery Mountain. The little boy's name is Takoda Mato which means 'friend to everyone bear'. He has just had his fourth birthday. Don't you think they fit perfectly?"

How do you agree or disagree? I turned to Harold and Martha for some kind of explanation. Harold told me, "The accident was almost a month ago, and the two have been in and out of the hospital and were languishing in the care of a temporary foster home. I heard of them and thought you two would be the perfect people for them. Millie and Bea indicated before you would be interested, so here you are, two very sweet little ones to raise."

I must have looked lost, as Millie holding Takado Mato and John, looked up at me with the most loving look a woman can have. The little dark-eyed boy was holding onto Millie with his head laying on her breast as John was reaching across to touch him. Mom was holding the little girl, talking softly to her. That's when I knew how lucky I was to have been raised by a mom and dad who really cared. The question came to mind, "Can I do this?" It didn't take much introspection to know I could and would.

Martha told us, "Both of them were only slightly injured in the accident, and are fully recovered except for losing their parents. They both understand their parents cannot be with them any longer, and know they need someone like you guys to take care of them. How about it? Will you keep these two?"

There was no way I was going to say anything. Millie looked up, smiling as she held her own son and the new little boy who shared her lap. Mom was grinning as she held the little girl to her and nodded her head toward Harold and Martha.

Harold said, "Let me go get their clothes and the few things we were able to find that they had. I have no idea of their background, but I can give you copies of some shot records we found, the reservation they were born on, and some of the parents' history. They have no living relatives that we can find, so if you take these two in, they are yours."

It was Mom who was glowing, "Yes, Harold, they are mine. That is Millie's, Mike's, and mine."

The strange thought I had was wondering if I needed Raul to come out and build on to the house. Probably not, but this was going to be a shock to Sissy and my brother.

The person at the table with Harold and Martha opened a file folder and said to me, "The state will send you a monthly stipend to support the two children, and will pay for any medical bills they may incur while you are hosting them."

Mom instantly asked, "What do you mean 'while' we are hosting them?"

"Easy, Madam, if we find any of the children's relatives who want to raise them, we will be obligated to take them to those relatives. I don't think you have anything to be concerned about, as the family they came from has all apparently perished from various causes."

Mom's and Millie's faces both showed relief with that statement. The childcare worker was oblivious to our concern and continued on, "The children are also eligible for a monthly and annual stipend from the federal government as full-blooded Native Americans. In addition, the reservation where they were born has a monetary benefit from their tribal money that was previously sent to their parents. This money will now be forwarded to you for them. If you need that money to feed and care for the children, you may use it for that, but if not, I suggest you set up a trust account that will be available to them when it's time for them to go to a university."

I told everyone in the room, "If Millie and Mom want to help raise these kids, I don't need anything from anyone, other than the assurance they will be my children throughout their lives and you won't mess with us."

The welfare worker closed her eyes, slowly opened them again, before saying, "Mr. Grayson, we don't think you will mistreat the two children and we think you will be the ideal parents, but we still have to look out for them. I promise not to interrupt your peace and quiet, but I do have to come to visit. When you have had them for six months, you will be offered the opportunity to adopt them. After that, you would only see me if I had another child to place."

"I can accept that. With the women in this house, I can assure you the two children will be taken care of and given love no one could ever believe. I give you my word to keep these kids happy and healthy until they go out on their own."

What else can a guy say about a couple of kids he's being given to raise? I sure hoped I could give them what my dad gave me. Between Mom and Millie, I knew the two would have all of the love and mothering they could stand. With the arrival of these two kids, I wondered if Mom would still take off tomorrow.

Harold, Martha, and the welfare lady stood up to leave. The state lady came to me as Martha hugged me. "I somehow knew you would be good for these kids. I wish I could find homes like this for all of the kids I run into. I'll be by and hope to have a cup of coffee with you soon."

Harold winked at me and shook my hand. They were leaving the kids with us. I now had two more little ones in the house. Oh me, oh my, what to do, what to do?

D came in the door, and Mom waved him to her. "Don't bother to take your shoes off yet unless you have animal crap on them."

The man kicked his shoes off at the door and went to Mom who was still holding the little girl. She said, "Meet Minya, which means 'the oldest daughter'. She's the reason we have to postpone our trip. Millie and Mike have just been brought these two darling little ones to raise. This little man is the 'Bear or Mato' in Sioux."

D sat down heavily on the couch. He exclaimed, "My, oh my, what an important event. I hope Mike will let me help him teach his young bear the world of vineyards."

How about that? The two were willingly and easily giving up their adventure out west. I hoped they would get to do it soon, as that would be a great adventure.

Mom told Harold and Martha, "You three can't leave until after supper. You know how I feel about people who come around at meal time. I can't let you go without a full belly."

Marita announced to all, "Go wash your hands and get ready for supper. I think everything is ready."

The welfare worker was trying to leave, but Harold was holding her back as he told her, "These folks will be upset if you left before enjoying supper with them. You'll again see why this is the perfect place for these little ones."

While we ate, Marita explained her Mayan heritage and why she could relate to the two little Native Americans. Bea, Mom, spoke of her great-grandmother also being Lakota Sioux. She jested that the two little ones could be distant relatives.

The two children ate well, with the help of Mom on one side, and Millie on the other. I hoped this situation wasn't just a novelty and that the two women recognized the responsibility they had accepted. I watched each of the people around the table to get a feel for their emotions and outlook at what had been presented. I could feel warmth and love radiating from those at the table.

I was sitting with my back to the patio window, facing the rest of table, and looking into the living room. One of the rockers seemed to be moving back and forth. I looked closely to see if one of the ghosts from my dreams was there, but it must have been the dogs leaning on the chair. The thought of all of those who watched over us and the mountain let me know that the two little ones would be happy here.

After supper, Martha, Harold, and the state welfare worker left, leaving me holding a large folder of documentation. I had to sign a few forms, but those had been just formalities. As the trio left, I felt as this was going to be another chapter in our lives up here.

The rest of the evening was letting the two kids explore the house to find out what was in each room. This reminded me that I needed to put some form of lock on the gun cabinet so the curious kids couldn't accidentally open it. Perhaps I should put one of those gun display safes in the office. Some had unbreakable glass on the front so that the safe would be attractive. I would look for one on my next trip into Lexington.

When it was bedtime, the two children were fascinated by Millie nursing John. They felt this was something special and crawled up on the bed next to Millie to watch, and in seconds, there were two sleeping little Indians.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 43



The two new little ones were sound asleep in bed together. They were in the room next to Mom so that she would hear them if they woke up. Millie and Marita instantly went to sleep, but I was wide-awake, thinking about how to raise two kids who had lost their parents.

The major trauma of losing their mom and dad must have passed, but they still had to have those intense feelings of loss. Mom and Millie were so full of love that the two little ones felt it and were comforted.

We now had Rosita sleeping in the room with Karen, but neither seemed to mind. You can't turn someone away who was being pressured by egotistical men who felt that she should succumb to their desires. That she was single made her a target. The men didn't mess with D's girls, and I think they felt that he was not someone to be trifled with. He was considerably stronger in will and mind than the others. Well, Marita will soon be leaving, so that will keep the population of the house at a reasonable level. Karen will be leaving for school, so we'll miss her around the house as well.

I was too restless to just lie in bed, so I got up and went into the big room. There had been a little bit of a chill in the air so I had lit a fire that was now down to embers. I put a log on, knowing that it would probably keep the big room warm for the rest of the night.

Sitting in one of the rockers, I wondered why I didn't have a couple of ghosties sitting with me or appearing in front of me. Maybe they only came to me when I was asleep. The only one who could really give me advice was Dad. He raised us kids and taught all of us to be good people. Frank's and Sissy's kids were growing up to be respectful and fun to be around. I hoped they would enjoy taking care of the garden. I knew they would be excited to begin eating what they helped plant and take care of.

I heard a noise behind me, and turned to see Mom come into the room. She smiled at me as she passed by the sink for a drink of water. She came and sat in a rocker next to me, and said, "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Just thinking about Minya and Mato, and what else the strange mountain may have in store for us."

Mom rocked and looked at the fire, "You and Millie have been given a special task to raise those two. I somehow feel that they have found a loving home and feel good here. Millie is such a loving mother to John that the other two felt it and want to share in that love. If you let him, Mato is going to be your shadow. The way he was watching you was in total adoration."

"Mom, I was just thinking that I need to be the father that Dad was to me. He taught me from the time that I was Mato's age on. If he was doing something, he would take time to explain it to me and have me attempt to help him. I'm sure we took twice as long to do many things because I was being his helper, but he was not a yeller nor was he pushy. He patiently taught me how to do things. I hope I can be that way with Mato and John. Just think, Mom, we have another baby coming very soon. I'm not scared, but I sometimes doubt my ability to be the man I need to be."

Mom was smiling, "You sound just like your dad when your brother and sister were still toddlers and you were on the way. He would tell me how his father had taught him about the farm and how to take care of his family. You see how history repeats itself; now you get to pass that down to your little ones."

"Come on, Mom, let's go to bed. There is more and more to do every day, and we need our rest to handle it. I want you to consider when you and D will take your trip. I really do want you to go."

Turning to me, Mom said, "I called your sister and she'll be here in the morning. I also called D and told him to be ready to leave in the morning as we planned. I think we need to do this. D and I need to see if we are compatible. I promise to call every night to see how you're doing. With the girls here, along with your sister and kids, the new ones will be happy and have kids to play with."

That was disturbing. I really didn't think Mom would leave right now, but she seemed to want to find out whether or not D was a keeper. Mom needed someone to keep her warm at night, and D is a good man. If he married all of his girls off, he will be very lonely. Mom would be the right tonic for him. I was hoping they could find some happiness with each other.

I gave Mom a hug, and kissed her on the forehead, as I sent her to bed. I looked in on the two little Indians and saw that they were sleeping peacefully.

Snuggling up to Millie's back, and holding her swelling tummy as I drifted off, probably had me smiling in my sleep.

"You know what to do, Son. Just do exactly what I did with you and Frank. You were the one most interested in the farm and the outdoors, but do what you and I used to do. By the time John is ready to follow you, Mato will be a big help. Just wait until you have three little boys following you around. You'll have so much fun."

I looked straight at Dad and asked, "Three?"

Dad was standing with me, looking out over the big garden. The sun was at our backs, shining on the plants, making them glow. He smiled at me, nodded, winked, and disappeared. I drifted into a very deep sleep.

Witch was licking my face. That was unusual for her, as it usually was Spook who woke me with a cold nose. I reached out to give her an ear scratch, but she shook her head and backed away looking toward the door of the bedroom. Thinking she really needed to go out badly, I got out of bed and followed the two dogs out of the bedroom.

Instead of turning toward the big room, Witch turned toward the other bedrooms. The sun wasn't up yet, but a nightlight by the bed where Minya and Mato were, lit up the area enough for me to see two little ones sitting up. They didn't appear afraid, and were quietly talking with each other.

Witch went to the bed and put her front feet up on the bed, sticking her head toward the two kids. Minya giggled and reached out to touch the giant dog. Witch gave the tentative hand a lick, then nosed Mato who was staring in surprise at the huge dog.

Minya looked up at me; "You have big dogs. We couldn't have a dog because we moved a lot. Can these dogs be ours too?"

I smiled as I answered, "Of course. This one is Witch, and the one wanting some petting is Spook. They are really very gentle."

Mato said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

I stuck out my hand, "Come with me and I'll show you where the bathroom is. You have one right here attached to your room, so it is easy to get to."

Minya watched closely as I led Mato to the bathroom. He knew what to do, so I only watched to make sure he hit the toilet and properly shook off when he was done. When he pulled his pajamas up, I pointed to the sink. He was smart enough to put the toilet seat down and stand on it to wash his hands. I pulled a hand towel down for him as he finished.

We walked back into the bedroom and were met by Minya, who immediately went into the bathroom. She turned and looked at me before almost completely closing the door, but she left it open a little.

Mato was looking at the two dogs that were sitting beside each other, observing the two kids. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I felt it was probably time for the house to wake up.

That question was answered as Marita came into the bedroom and gave Mato a hug. Minya came from the bathroom and received a hug as well. Marita said to the kids, "Let's get your clothes on as the morning chores are going to be getting done. Maybe Mike will show you the cows being milked."

Marita told me, "Go put some coffee on while I help them dress."

I didn't have to put coffee on as Mom was sitting at the little table with a fresh cup. I saw a suitcase by the door and she saw me looking at it. "D will be here any minute. I'm going to go say goodbye to Millie and John. I let the dogs out earlier, and they may have woken up your little Indians. The two of them are really interested in the kids."

Mom went to the back bedroom where, in all likelihood, Millie was feeding John his early breakfast.

Marita came into the big room with the two kids. She told me, "You stay in with your Mom for right now; I'll take Minya and Mato to meet our dairy people."

Karen came bouncing into the big room and gave hugs to the two little ones. "How are you two this morning? Did you sleep well?"

Minya nodded, "The big dogs woke us up. I could hear their toenails on the floor. They were walking all around us, and I think they wanted us to get up."

The door opened and D walked in, followed by his six girls. He was all smiles as he shook my hand. The six girls all gave hugs to the two little ones.

D shook my hand and assured me he would take care of Mom on the trip. "You know, Mike, this will be the fulfillment of a desire to see something that I've had since I was a little kid. In school, we always mentioned Puget Sound in geography, and I could name the islands scattered throughout the area. I'm really excited."

Mom came back and smiled at everyone. "You folks enjoy yourselves and take care of each other while I'm gone. I'll give you a call most evenings." She gave me one last hug, along with the two little ones who were waiting to go out to watch the milking. D scooped her bag up and they were gone.

While the girls began fooling around in the kitchen, I went to bedroom to dress. I did a quick shave and shower, noting it was getting to be time for a haircut again. As I finished dressing, Millie had finished giving John some time at her breast. She said, "He's still hungry, but he always likes to nurse a little first thing in the morning. I like it too, as it makes me feel like a real mommy. This little one inside me is really moving around lately. Somehow, I don't think he's going to wait for his whole time to be born."

I took John from her and gave her a hand to get up. John instantly began squirming and was looking down at the floor. He grunted a couple of times, but Millie said, "John, you know the word. What do you want?"

John stopped squirming and looked right at Millie, screwed his mouth up, and very distinctly said, "Down."

Millie gave him a kiss, then pointed at me and told him, "You need to ask your dad to get down."

John looked up at me with a big smile, and repeated his one word request, "Down."

As soon as I put him down, he very quickly walked toward the big room. After walking all around the big room, he went back down the hallway to the back bedrooms. He came out a minute later and sat on the floor with the dogs. He looked up at me, and you could tell it was a question as he said, "Min, Min, Min." He was still looking around, working his mouth to try and say "Ma, oh, Ma, oh."

Millie said, "Listen to him, Mike. Our son is talking. He's asking where Minya and Mato are. Where are they?"

"Marita took them out to see the cows being milked." After advising her of that, I asked her if she knew when Sissy was going to be here and if we should wait breakfast for them.

Millie said, "They probably won't be here before noon, so we'll get breakfast ready for when the rest of the girls from below, and Esteban and his family get done." She turned to me and asked, "Will you light a fire in the stove in the summer kitchen? I think we'll need it for more biscuits."

I was a pro at pulling the ashes from the stove and getting a fire going. I stoked the stove heavily, so that it would heat up quickly. From there, I went back to the big room and put my boots on to go tend to the smokehouses. Marita came in with Minya and Mato excitedly talking about seeing the cows being milked, and looking at the chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese. They thought the guinea hens were funny looking.

The smokehouses don't take a lot of time. All I had to do was to empty the ashtrays from beneath the fire grill and make sure the stokers were full. I didn't have to start the chipper since I already had a big enough pile of chips. I made a pass through the rooms to put honey on the meat that was to be treated, then headed toward the barn.

The guineas began making noise, so I turned to watch down the lane. The women from below were coming, but Sissy's Expedition was right behind them. She was really early. She was barely stopped before kids almost flew from the car, ran over to say hi to me, before running to Carmen, Anita, and Carla for hugs. Sissy gave me a hug before Shirley gave me one as well. Shirley whispered to me, "I get embarrassed for the stunt I pulled every time I see you. I promise not to do that ever again. You are a good guy to not have taken advantage of that."

I gave her a kiss on the cheek, and a pat on the bottom, to send her to the house. After pulling their two suitcases from the car, I hauled them into the house and into the rooms Mom had built for the two families. The kids were going to have to figure out how to use the two rooms between the six of them in total now. My thought was to store the double beds and get some bunk beds. If we put two sets of bunk beds in each room, we would even have an extra bed for another kid of either sex to visit. I thought I would bring that up with the women. That would give them something to do if it was going to rain.

Back in the big room, people were gathering at the tables. This is a really nutty place because of all of the people. There were sufficient women there to get the food on the table, but they didn't have Mom to act as a traffic cop. Sissy jumped in and was doing a good job of directing. I could see Millie watching and listening so that she could take over giving directions when she needed to be in charge.

I was sitting next to Esteban, and asked him, "How about coming with me to talk to some of the farmers in town this morning? I'll check the internet for market prices of Jersey cows at the local auction house before we go. There is an auction this afternoon, so we could pick up a few more cows right away, if you want?"

Esteban was excited, "That would be great to do. I think we could handle about ten more if we don't have milking equipment. If you were to build the milk house large enough for both the pasteurization equipment and a bulk tank, we could work out putting milking equipment in for as many cows as you want. We can still keep back some milk from pasteurization to make raw milk cheese for the gourmet trade, but we have to be really careful handling and testing that to avoid the bacteria that are killed by pasteurization, like tuberculosis. We vaccinate for tuberculosis in Mexico, but it's not done here, so no one has any immunity to it."

"We'll check on some milking equipment too. The farm made good money last year, so we have some capital to play with. The pasteurization equipment didn't cost anything except labor to get it, and the extension of the building isn't going to be much. Raul is supposed to stop by this morning to go over the final plans with you. He should be here any minute. He loves our biscuits."

We had just had our coffee warmed up when Raul and Pedro came in. The two men sniffed the air for the telltale fragrance of fresh baked biscuits. As soon as they had their boots off, they were handed coffee.

Raul unrolled a blueprint and showed Esteban what he figured. The plan looked huge compared to what I had thought. Raul pointed at the drawing, and said, "This is what I figured. Knowing Mike, I planned to make his milk house area the same size as George's. It would be difficult to make a milking parlor area as large as his, but we can expand the area where you milk cows now and raise that area so that you can have five cows in stanchions being milked at the same time. I measured how George had his and how all of the steel and bars were arranged. Each stanchion will have a grain feeder for the cows to munch on while being milked. This should be a first class dairy operation when we get it built."

I was shocked at the size of this thing. Looking at Esteban and Raul I asked, "Are we really going to have that big of an operation? Is something like this necessary for less than ten cows?"

Esteban was about to shake his head 'no', but stopped and said, "Actually, Mike, it is necessary. If we were to let our herd grow just through our own stock, we could be milking twenty cows within five years. From there our growth would be faster and it would depend on how large we wanted the herd to be. This will decrease the time it requires to milk the cows and we could become certified as a graded milking operation. You will still be able to make all of the butter and separate all of the cream you need, but you would be able to increase your income in order to afford the hay you're going to require for your beef stock, as well as the dairy stock. You have the grain part taken care of, so now we need to work on paying for the hay. Also, the more we feed with grass and hay instead of grain, the less need we will have of antibiotics for the animals, since most of their health problems are aggravated by grain feeding."

I sat back in my chair, and looked at the drawing while sipping my coffee. Looking at Raul and Pedro, I asked, "This is a big job. How long will it take to do all of this?"

Raul winked at me and said, "The stanchions could be here by next week. Esteban can order the lines and equipment for the bulk system, and we should be able to finish this in ten days. This will give us another set of pictures to put in our bragging book so we can sell other dairy farmers on our work. We can do this." Raul winked once again, and said, "And it won't be near the amount of money you think it will be. We're bringing the smaller bulk tank from George's place, so you won't have to pay for one of those. He's happy to have it out of there when the new one goes in. Even if we replace all the refrigeration equipment, you will still be way ahead."

I shrugged, "Okay, do it. Come on, Esteban; let's go find some cows."

While I checked for sales and auctions in the area and in Lexington on the internet, I called Maude to get an idea of how much money I could spend for the barn addition and cows. Her comment was, "You couldn't get enough cows to hurt your pocket. You haven't spent your money from last year's crops and your wine money is really piling up. Your firewood guys are shipping a hell of a lot of wood, and the cost of that fence you're putting in isn't close to what I thought it would be, Mike. Those guys are cutting you a decent deal so they have work for their guys, just like you do. You need to keep them in mind when you begin your developments."

I needed to tell Maude how much this could be so I told her, "This can be around ten to twelve thousand for ten cows, Maude. Good milking Jerseys are expensive."

Maude giggled, "Just keep your purchase under two hundred cows and you'll be fine. You know the butcher is sending me a fat check every week for the business you're doing with him, and the Kitchen is like a broken slot machine. It's paying out very well. Go ahead, make my day and make me busier."

I knew there was no way the farm could be in that good of shape, but we didn't have to buy seed for the garden and the sweet corn. I was planting everything possible in sweet corn because Kroger wants more and more. I didn't think I could work a garden much bigger than what we already had, but I suppose we would see.

There was an auction at the sale barn on the other side of Stanton, on the way to Lexington, and another later today in Lexington. I advised Esteban, "Tell your family that you may not be back in time for evening chores. I'll tell Sissy to help out with the milking and chores if they need her. Let's get up to the sale barn to see if they have anything for us there."

The conversation during the drive to the sale barn was full of Esteban describing how to milk a large volume of cows. He said he knew that Jerseys would produce a very high butterfat content, but he had always owned and milked Holstein cows.

There were several stock trailers parked near the auction pens waiting to be checked in. We were going to walk into the office area to see what they had, but I stopped and looked in one of the trailers. There were three trailers full of Jerseys. I couldn't tell how many were fresh and how many were dry, but that many animals had me looking around to see if anyone could satisfy my curiosity. There was an old man sitting on the top rail of the fence near the lead truck, so I asked him, "Do you know who I could ask to find out about these Jerseys?"

The old guy nodded at me and said, "What you want to know? Maybe I can tell you."

I looked at Esteban and he motioned toward the old man, "Go ahead, ask him. You know what you want to know."

Looking up at the old guy in bib overalls, I asked, "How many of those Jersey cows are fresh, dry, and bred? That's about it, but I'm sure there will be some follow up questions."

The old guy chuckled, "Yep, there will be some follow up questions. I got three trailers full of stock here. I got me thirty-five milking, fifteen dry, bred, and ready to drop, fifteen first calf heifers ready to calve, and two bulls that love to fix you up. I have some more calves back at the barn, but they can be had later."

"So these are yours?" I asked, as cautiously as I could.

"Yep, they be mine."

"Why are you selling?" I felt this was a valid question.

"My barn burned down night before last. I can't milk all these by hand any longer. My helper died a few months ago, and I been thinkin' 'bout selling the animals anyway. The fire did it. I can't see pouring out the milk I take from the animals, and I don't have another way to do it without a barn."

Esteban asked, "Couldn't you find another helper and maybe save the milk in cans?"

"I could do some of that, but I can't find another wife like I had that fast. We was married more'n forty years, so I don't think I can replace her that easy like. Besides, she was the best and I don't think I'll ever find another to replace her."

That'll choke you up. It would be easy to take advantage of a guy like this, but I asked, "I don't need all that you have, but what kind of deal could we make?"

"Pretty damn good if you're serious. The cows that are fresh were milked this morning, and will need to be milked again this evening. I can't abide mistreating animals, so I will deal on all three trailers for a good number. How about seventy percent of yesterday's market prices for all of them, plus you pay all the freight to here and to your place. I'll use utility numbers, but you have to guarantee they will be milked tonight."

If someone had been watching Esteban, they might have thought he was having some kind of convulsions. The man definitely couldn't play poker.

I looked at the old man and asked, "You've thought about this a lot, and I'd bet you know what they are worth almost to the pound. What's the number I need to come up with?"

The old man smiled and told me the number he had already figured. I listened and thought about it a bit before asking. "How many heifer calves do you have at your place?"

"Twelve heifers and six bull calves that are already cut," the old guy said, knowing where I was going.

"Throw the calves in and I'll take all of them. If you need beef for your freezer, I'll give you back a white face Angus cross that is ready for the butcher."

"I don't need the meat right now, but if you'll honor that this fall, I'll take the deal." The old guy stuck his hand out for a shake.

"Deal," I said, as I smiled at the man, "My name's Mike Grayson. I farm the land on Mystery Mountain."

"I knows who you are. You are the road commissioner around here, and everyone knows you do what you say. If the roads had not been in the shape they were, I wouldn't be talking to you at all. The fire people saved my house and some of my out buildings. It's time for me to say quit, so I'll be selling soon. If you think you can handle a place away from where you are now, talk to me. I'd love to sell to someone like you that will keep farming the land instead of one of those ugly subdivisions. I hear you're going to build houses on a mountain. That's the way to do it. Keep those developments on the slopes and let the farms feed the people."

We walked to the lead truck and spoke to the driver. The old man said, "Lester, this here's Mike Grayson, the road commissioner. He's agreed to buy all of my stock, so let's get them over to his place. Do you know how to get to Mystery Mountain?"

The man named Lester said, "Yeah, I know where his place is. He bought Eliza out, and I used to do some hauling for Bud when he was alive." Lester looked at me; "Do you have enough room for this many animals?"

"No, but I will by next week," I answered. "I'll put up as many pole barns as I need, but right now I need to get the cows that are fresh in my lot to milk tonight."

Lester said, "Pete has them marked. The ones with the blue stripe on their backs are fresh. The yellow stripe is ones that are bred. Note some of the blue stripes have yellow stripes. The purples are the first calf heifers, and the two with the big red X are the bulls. We'll help you get them separated if you need."

My mind buzzed as I said, "Let's get them home and I'll think about it on the way."

You would have thought I had just bought Esteban his first ice cream cone. Here we were, before noon, hauling three truckloads of animals back to the house. I figured we would all be needed to milk this many cows. Well, I guess I'm now in the dairy business in a much bigger way than a little guy is. It almost made me laugh, but I didn't want to embarrass Esteban.

On the way home Esteban said, "Mike, I want to assure you that this is going to be good for you. The way everyone has accepted us, you gave us a home to live in, and a way to make a living, is wonderful. My family is so happy to be tending a real garden rather than row after row of poppies and marijuana. This is utopia in comparison. Thank you."

We divided all of the cows that were milking into our small group of animals. The rest of them were temporarily put into the orchard area until I could divide up areas for the other animals. As we finished putting the animals up, the old man who had accompanied us said, "I see you are putting up forms for a larger milking operation. I'll bet you didn't plan on a buying a big herd like this right away, did you?"

"No Sir, I didn't. We were looking for as many as ten maybe, but not an entire herd."

The old guy said, "I'm glad you were able to take them. I can see you're going to take care of them. Just look at that family going through the animals. I'll get you all of their papers and shot records. Every one of them is a good registered animal. I've always had some of the best in the state."

The man looked around and said, "I'll bring the calves over so they can play with your pet deer. I got one of those at home, but he's old enough that he'll probably leave now that the wife is gone. They are fun to have around."

It was about that time that six kids burst from the house and ran toward me. I was inundated with hugs from Sissy's and Shirley's kids, in addition to my two new ones. They excitedly asked, "Did you get more cows?"

As I answered yes, the old guy knelt down and looked at all of the little ones. Minya and Mato hugged the man as he said, "My name is Bert. Those were my cows that your daddy has now. Will you help him take care of them?"

Mato stood in front of his sister, even though he was the youngest, "Yes, we will take care of them. My new daddy is a farmer and we will be farmers too."

Bert looked up at me, "I'll bet there is a story here. You'll have to tell me about it."

Millie came out of the house, carrying John. When she came up to me, she asked, "Did you get three truck loads of cows? How are we going to milk them all?"

Before I could answer, Bert said, "I think your man, Esteban, will be able to take care of them until the new milking area is done. He might need some help, but your little one and the one you're carrying won't be much help yet."

Millie said, "You can send those others away, but you have to stay for a meal. If you haven't had lunch, we'll fix that, and if you will, we would enjoy having you for supper."

Bert grinned, "Well, I'll tell ya. If you all want to be my new family, I'm open for that. Let me help Mike get rid of these big trucks and I'll welcome a cup of coffee."

I paid the truckers off and made arrangements for them to bring the young calves over to me. As soon as we went into the house, I took Bert into the office and wrote him a check for what we agreed on. He smiled as he put the check in his shirt pocket inside his bib overalls.

Back in the big room, we had some coffee and were joined by Esteban. Marita made us some sandwiches and dished out some of the leftover soup they had for lunch. While we ate, I explained what all I had been doing with the farm so far. Bert said, "You know, you need to buy me out. My place doesn't have a lot of wooded area that so many of my neighbors think is important. I've always figured that the more workable land, the better. All of my place is out of the flood plain and is good black dirt. I'd say that if you need a lot of hay and grain, you need my place. I have most of it in alfalfa and clover right now, with only about fifty acres in regular corn and oats. I don't bother with wheat because I need the other grains more. How about coming to look at it, Mike? If you'll let me live out my days on the place, I'll make you a hell of deal of the farm."

I went into the office and brought the county map out. When I showed him the map, he took a marker that was on the table and drew the boundaries of his property. Bert said, "I used to have one of the biggest farms in the county, but Conner passed me with the land he got from tax sales. If you buy me out, then you'll be the big guy around here."

"Bert, Bradley Conner is sort of my son-in-law. My wife is Bradley's wife's mom. I think those two will help me out if I need help farming the extra land."

Bert grinned, "I might have to make a provision that you farm the ground on your own and not let them Conners in. I'll make you a deal on the place that will include all of the equipment and I'll even help out a little if you need. Come clear off that burnt out barn and buildings, and we'll make a deal. I really want you to work my place and not give it away. I think you understand."

I asked, "So Stanley sometimes rubs you the wrong way, huh?"

Bert smiled.

The door opened and Bernie came in, grinning. Tall, lanky Sheryl waved at everyone as she followed him. They took their shoes off and came over to shake hands and be introduced. Sheryl knew Bert and gave the man a hug. "How are you doing, Bert? I heard your barn burned down the other night. How are you going to take care of your animals now?"

Bert smiled at Sheryl, and pointed at me, "I found me a sucker to buy all my four legged problems. They're his problem now. This other guy, Esteban, says he can handle it, so I suppose we'll see. You better keep a stress bed open for him."

Sheryl looked at me with a very severe squint; "You didn't take advantage of Bert, did you? It's not like you'd do that, but you didn't do that, did you?"

Bert answered for me, "No, Ma'am Doc, the man paid me exactly what I asked. He did want some boot, but I figured on that. What brings you up to Mystery Mountain?"

Sheryl pointed at Bernie, "This radio guy says he needed to talk to Mike, and I wanted to spend some time with him today. You see, Mike is kind of like my brother now. His mom adopted me, along with half the county. If you're staying for supper, it's going to be a party. You'll love it. They have a lot of people here for their evening meal."

I told Sheryl, "You know Mom took off for the Pacific Northwest this morning, so she isn't here."

"That shouldn't be a problem, should it, Mike? I see your sis and sister-in-law are here, along with Rosita who Mom just adopted. So where are those two little Indian kids you just brought into the family?"

I told her, "I think they are all out in the big garden. We'll go get them soon. I'm sure all the kids will need scrubbing before supper."

Bert asked, "How many people do you have here anyway? I thought you just had your Millie and son, your mom, and one of the ladies from Mexico living here. The rest of them live down at Ben's old place, don't they?"

"Bert, my family has Millie, John, Mom, Marita, Karen, Rosita, and now two little ones who are Sioux by birth. Harold and Martha just brought them to us, so they are now ours. My sister and sister-in-law, with a total of four kids, are here to help out while Mom is traveling. We often have a bunch of women from Ben's place here, especially in the morning. Esteban has a wife and three kids. Then there is D, my vineyard man, who knows all about wine. My road crew guys, as well as six young ladies that D takes care of, will be here later. If you think about it, the place will be jumping."

"Do you feed all of these people?"

"I sure do, Bert. I sort of thought a lot of them wouldn't come, but Millie called everyone to make sure they came. Stay with us and enjoy the family. You're welcome to come any time you want."

Bert was squinting at me in disbelief, but didn't say anything. He sat back and sipped what had to be cold coffee by now.

Bernie was trying to get my attention, "Mike, I need to talk to you. Can we go into your office a minute?"

"Sure, Bernie, come on and let's powwow."

When I had Bernie in the chair at the desk, he said, "I've made the deal to get power and fiber up to your tower and cave. The guys I was telling you about are ecstatic to have the business. They will be here next Monday to run everything. If we have to, they will run cable all the way to telco so you can interface with the cell networks. They are also going to erect your towers, and I hope you won't mind, but they will build your battery farm as well as your turbines. I sent them a hand-drawn diagram and they suggest two turbines. You probably won't need local power, but it will be available if the weather is calm for too long. You'll be using a lot of current to broadcast everything you want. I made deals with the County Sheriff and with the Kentucky Highway Patrol. You'll be supporting all of the volunteer fire departments and ambulance services in the area. You can give away as much as you want, but I won't let you give the cell service away. I have four cell companies that want in, and those four will pay for everything you will spend, plus give you some long-term income. You will have to put some cash out up front, but not as much as you'd think, because I have deposits from the cell companies. The State wants to pay for the Highway Patrol but you can do that however you want."

I smiled at Bernie, "How did you put this all together so fast?"

"It was a no sweat deal, Mike. A few phone calls and the cell guys were burning up the lines trying to buy in. When they heard there would be a fiber link up to the towers, they were hollering to buy in. Just leave it to me, good buddy, and I'll take care of you."

"Ah, Bernie, you didn't mention the radio station?"

"It'll be there, Mike. I have the new license that will put us on the air 24/7, with more horsepower than the San Antonio station. I'm going to sell advertising to everyone almost from St. Louis to Philadelphia. My little station is going to be killer, all because of you, my friend."

The man was certifiable, but you had to love him. He was so full of energy and bullshit that you knew if you just watched him go by you, that you would pick some bucks up from his wind wash. For a guy who was hesitant to meet girls and get out in public not that long ago, you would never recognize him now. "Come on out to the big room. I think we're going to have some pie or something good for dessert."

We ended up with some fresh rhubarb pie that was absolutely delicious. I don't think we should sell the first stalk of rhubarb. If we kept it all for ourselves, we could have this delicious delicacy all year long. Rhubarb freezes pretty well, too, and mixes with all sorts of berries to vary up the flavors.

Bert came to me and said, "Thank you for inviting me to have supper with you. This has been some of the best time that I've had. Invite me again and I'll be sure to come by. Remember, Mike, you need to come see me tomorrow about working a deal for my place. I'm sure we can work something out." I watched the old man leave and hoped he had enjoyed himself. It was his fault if he didn't.

D's girls gave me a rundown of what they had done today. They had primarily worked on the upper vineyard and would move on to the other two during the week. I received six hugs from six cute girls, plus a hug from Carla. Carmen and Anita had gone home earlier to fix supper for their people. The road guys made sure the girls all reached home okay, and Bernie and Sheryl thought it was time for them to leave.

When they were all gone, Sissy said, "Mom is really something, isn't she? She has all of these people calling her Mom' and is trying to help them all. I thought you were the giver of life up here, but I think Mom is about as bad."

Millie and Shirley had a pile of kids surrounding them, as Millie gave John his put to sleep feeding and the other kids crowded around her to see the sweetness of a mother nursing her baby. It was a good thing the womenfolk gave all of the little ones baths early, as Minya and Mato fell asleep leaning up against Millie. Sissy's and Shirley's kids were almost snoozing from listening to the story Shirley was reading.

I did the 'dad' thing and carried the two little ones to their bed. I tucked them in and kissed their foreheads. Minya woke up and looked at me with a look that melted my heart. She smiled and went back to sleep.

The bigger kids all wanted to be carried to bed just for the novelty of it. I tucked each of them in and gave them a kiss the same as the little ones. When I came back into the big room after depositing the last of the critters, Karen put her arms up and asked, "Can you put Marita and me into bed too? We want to be tucked in just like the other kids."

Neither of those girls was big, so I put one over my shoulder and snatched up the other and took them to bed giggling all the way. I did put them under the covers and gave them a forehead kiss that brought big smiles.

Millie and Shirley were going to bed, so I let the dogs out for one last run, and turned to find Sissy ready to surround me with her arms. "Mike, you are such a good guy. You waited twenty years to settle down, then did it like no one would ever believe. Just look at what you're doing for your family. This is so good for the kids. They think they are all going to spend the entire summer here, so get ready for them. You're going to have to be the bad guy if you can't handle them. Shirley and I will be here as much as possible, but our men are going to want us to be around home some of the time."

I told Sissy, "The kids should be fine here. They mind well, and I'll do my best to include them in as much as I can. I'm sure I can get Esteban and D to use the kids to do some of the work. I'll have the road guys use them when they work on the equipment, so they will get a chance to experience that. I need to practice on your kids for my own that will soon want to be my shadows."

As she migrated to one of the rocking chairs, Sissy said, "You need to spend as much time as you can with Mato. He really wants to be a part of you and get to bond with you. The little guy is starved for male affection. You're just the guy for it, so try to make time for him."

"I will, Sis. Thanks for reminding me. Keep doing it so that I remember to spend more time with him. Your and Shirley's boys need some of my time, as well. I will try to lighten up on all of the other stuff that I'm involved with, or at least take them all with me to do check-ins with some of the men."

The dogs were scratching at the door, so I let them in. It was still chilly out, so I put a log on the fire and Sissy and I went to bed.

I was snuggled behind Millie, holding her bulging belly, when a person who had to be Sissy, slid into bed and spooned behind me. She kissed my neck and hugged me to her. I instantly drifted off to a deep sleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 44



I woke up with a start, but didn't know what woke me. I couldn't hear dogs moving around and everyone in the big bed was soundly sleeping.

A whimper, almost a moan, came from down the hall. I moved out of the bed and followed my sense of hearing toward the origination of the noise. Minya was sitting up in bed, looking around as if afraid of something around her.

She raised her arms for me to pick her up when she saw me, so I did, holding her to me. She whispered, "I think my mommy and daddy came to see me. I saw them and felt them, but they wouldn't talk to me. I wanted them to talk to me, but they just stared at me. Why wouldn't they talk to me? I know they went away in the car wreck, but I saw them and felt them. Hold me and make me feel like I belong."

I lay down in the two little ones' bed and held Minya as she snuggled up to my chest. She told me, "Daddy didn't do this with me, and Mommy didn't hold us much either. You make me feel so good. Millie and the other girls call you 'Mike' but I want to call you 'Daddy'. Can I?"

"You can if you want, Minya. I'll try to be the best daddy you could ever have. I promise to take care of you."

In her soft voice, the little girl asked, "Why could I see them, but not talk to them?"

How do you answer a little one about this? "Minya, the spirits of your people sometimes come to you. It usually happens at night, like in a dream, but they come to you to let you know you are being taken care of. I think the spirits of your mom and dad are making sure you and Mato are safe and taken care of."

"I feel good in your arms, Daddy. Stay with us tonight."

I had to remember why I was sleeping with my two little Indians when morning came. I suppose I should think of them as my two little 'Native Americans', but it was more fun to think of them as two little Indians.

After letting the dogs out and cleaning up, I started some coffee so that anyone who wanted a cup when they woke up would have some.

Knowing that I didn't have to be concerned with the morning chores, I contemplated all that was going on and what I needed to do today. I knew that Esteban could probably use some help milking so many cows and cleaning the extra milk cans that were now needed to hold the milk. This is going to become a lot to handle unless we can very quickly get the milking equipment, along with the bulk tank, and the pasteurization equipment installed.

I went out and helped Esteban, his wife Eve, his oldest son, Cisco, and the oldest daughter, Karri, to milk the cows. We were able to get the job done quickly, and Esteban thanked me for helping since he said it took a lot longer last night. I apologized for not helping, and he told me that I didn't need to worry about it.

When we were all having breakfast, I asked Esteban, "Do you think you could work an entire farm? Not just the dairy part, but also handle the grain, hay farming, and harvest?"

Esteban looked at me funny, and asked, "Where would this be? How would we do this?"

I finished my biscuit and had a sip of coffee before answering him. "Bert wants to sell me his place, but we would have to build a milking parlor and house to accommodate the equipment, bulk tank, and pasteurization equipment. If you and your family were to take care of the farm, I would build you folks your own place there. How about taking a ride with me this morning and we'll go see Bert and his place? I'm going to call Raul and ask him to come along. If we do this, it is going to be up to you to take care of that farm. I can get help if you need it, but with the size of that place, you might be able to handle it with only your family."

Esteban was nodding in agreement, but I could see apprehension in his eyes. We really didn't know each other well yet, and I was about to put a lot of responsibility on him. This was another situation of 'we'll see what happens'.

Raul was his usual agreeable self, and was ready to go see what I had now dreamed up. He was all ears when I told him there may be another way that I wanted to handle the dairy barn,

I called Bert before we left, and he said he would meet us when we drove up.

Sure enough, the old guy was standing there in his bib overalls, with his thumbs hooked on the suspenders. After we shook and I introduced him to Raul, we walked around the burned out barn. You could see where the milking equipment had been and where the grain had been stored, but there was nothing much left worth salvaging; maybe a few hundred pounds of grain, but that would be it.

Raul surprised me and began taking pictures of the area. He and Esteban paced the area off to get a rough idea of the space we could build on, and what would be required to clear the area. Both of them were taking notes as they walked.

When they came back to Bert and me, Esteban pointed to a stand of trees on the other side of the barn. He asked, "If Mike buys your place, would that be a good place for me to have a house?"

Bert thought about it a second, and answered, "That would be a great place for a home. Would you have a trailer house or a regular house?"

Raul told the man, "I am finding many homes that are being demolished, and we use the materials to build good homes. I have a big home I've just torn down and already have all the material. I can build a home there very quickly."

I asked Raul, "Are you going to need a bulldozer and front loader to clean this up?"

"Yes, Mike. If we can get this cleared quickly, we can set the forms up for the dairy buildings. Esteban and I will design them this evening and figure out the cost. Do you want to go ahead with this project?"

I turned to Bert, "I suppose it's time for you and me to talk turkey on this deal. Do you want to go see Benson so he can do the paperwork?"

Bert looked at me and smiled, "You're going to farm the place yourself, or at least with some of your people and not give it to the Conners, so take these two men home, then meet me at Benson's in an hour and we'll haggle a little."

This was going to require some extra money. I was going to have to dig into one of the accounts, but I would let Benson and Maude decide on which one. On the way home, Raul and Esteban were busy talking about options they had on how to build a big barn or a pole barn.

I made the suggestion, "How about building the dairy buildings first, and a good sized pole barn next to it to keep the animals out of the bad weather. When we have the manpower, we can build a real barn next to the pole barn. That should work for the animals and any special breeding efforts we might undertake."

Esteban commented, "That you should consider special animal husbandry is important. If we can expand our herd by using a progression of good bulls, we will have the best Jersey dairy business around."

When I let the men out at the house, I went inside to have a quick cup of coffee. Millie told me my sister, sister-in-law, and all of the kids were in the garden this morning. I told her that we might be buying another farm for the dairy business.

Millie looked alarmed, "What will we do with our customers that want butter, buttermilk, and milk? Can we have a couple of cows here, or can we get milk to process from this other farm?"

I assured Millie, "We'll figure something out. We do need milk here and we should continue to produce butter and cream for the Kitchen. We'll work it out."

Bert was already in Benson's office, talking to him when I arrived. After finding out that Bert had already told Benson what kind of deal he wanted to make, and that he had some papers from an appraiser from Mount Sterling, I spent some time looking over the appraisal that included the barn and milking equipment, but not the farm implements.

When I was through looking at the appraisal, I was a little apprehensive about the price. It seemed to be almost twenty-five percent higher than I had estimated.

I asked Bert, "How set are you with the numbers on these papers? They include the barn, but don't include the implements."

Bert said, "Remember what I said, Mike. I told you that I'd make you a good deal if you will let me live out my days in the house I've lived in for the last fifty plus years."

He handed me a piece of folded paper and said, "This is what I think I should get for the place with the option of me staying in the house. You'll own the house, but I'll be like a renter for a while. You know that I'm already seventy-nine, but you should also know that my pappy died last year at a hundred and one." Bert giggled a little, "I'm looking forward to twenty plus years of telling you how to farm the place, Mike."

I unfolded the paper and just about choked. "Bert, you have to get more than this for your farm. I can't accept this or I would be stealing from you."

Benson stretched his hand out for me to give him the paper. I gave it to him; he looked at it, opened the appraisal file, then looked at it again. He offered, "Bert, let Mike give you what he thinks you should get. What you're offering him is way out of line, and people could think that Mike is taking advantage of you."

Bert sat there and asked Benson, "What the hell am I going to do with the money, Benson. Both of my kids have already passed, and I don't have any living relatives that are worth a hoot to leave it to. Hell, I'll have enough money to live high on the hog, do some traveling, and still have a home base in the place I've lived in most of my life. Mike has already said I can come eat with him and his family anytime I want. Hell, I might make a nuisance of myself over there. Let me do what I want, Benson, and you take the deal, Mike. I like you and your man, Esteban. I'll enjoy having neighbors I can visit with close by."

Bert stuck out his hand and said, "Just tell the legal eagle here to put the money in my bank. I already gave him my bank number. Now, let's meet back at your place for lunch. I'm going to start being a regular there."

Benson told us, "I'll have some papers for you two to sign later today or in the morning. I'll call to see where to meet you."

I told Benson, "Take the money from whatever account it needs to come from. You might as well make the farm a separate business. I'm sure you'll think of a name."

That's when Bert turned and looked at us; "Name it the "B&B Dairy Farm' for Bonnie and Bert. I think she would like that."

I gave Benson a nod and he smiled. I suppose I now own the 'B&B Dairy Farm'.

At home, Bert and I had soup and sandwiches with the rest of the family. The kids excitedly told us of how they had been helping in the field this morning. Sis told me the fencing guys had been looking for me, and would be up after lunch.

The women did a quick cleanup when we were through eating, then headed back to the garden. Bert wanted to tag along, so he left with them while I walked back to where the fencing crew was working.

The main man was watching a gate swing out and back into place. After testing it a few more times, he turned to where I was approaching. "Just the man I needed to see. We're done. There is another gate just like this on the other side so that you can get to the field over there. Just pull the line when you come up, and the gate will open. Pull on the other side when you're through and it will close. The spring opener will work from either rope. The cows can't accidentally trip the opener since you have to reach up and give it a good pull. Do you want to walk the fence to check it out?"

I told him, "I've checked your work every night, so I know you and your men did a first class job. Come up to the house and I'll get you a check."

The man was standing with his men, "How about we help you herd your animals from the orchard area into the new pasture? You're a might heavy on stock for the area, but rumor has it Bert is going to sell you his place for your cows. It's funny that you bought them, brought them here, and will now take them back home. Call us if you need fence while you're building over there. I'd love to do some more work for you."

I told the man and his men, "We're going to be building some homes on the mountain west of town. I'll make sure we use you for fencing and suggest your company to any of the homeowners who want fencing." I began walking toward the orchard gate, "Let's get these critters in the new pasture."

It took a lot longer than I would have thought to get the animals from one area to the other. They were reluctant to leave the orchard and didn't care for the rocky area they had to traverse to get to the gate for the new pasture.

When all of the animals were moved, I checked on the new upper and lower water troughs to make sure that water was traveling through them. I would still need some shelter for the winter, but that could be done with an easy to build open pole barn.

Up at the house, Millie gave all of the men working on the fence coffee and cookies, while I wrote a check for the price the man had quoted. He had five men with him, so I found five twenties and gave one to each man as a special thank you.

As they drove down the lane road, Raul startled me when he announced his presence by asking, "Do I build here or over at Bert's?"

I laughed and told him, "Let's build over there. Do you need to import some help from Lexington or Mount Sterling? You're going to be busy doing the job up there and the dairy barn at the same time."

Raul smiled at me and said, "I'll have half the crew work on the buildout in Mount Sterling and still beat the deadline. The other half will be working on the dairy barn. Can you have Jimmy work with me to clear the debris from the old barn and help level the area for the new or rebuilt house? We're going to be busy for a while, and I'll have every good man I can find busy. I sure hope your housing development works out. I can keep a hell of lot of men working with that. We'll have about half Latino and the other half locals right now. People have been hearing that you're hiring and have been coming to us for work. I tell all of them that I'll only keep those who are the best workers and who do the best work. I think I'm on to something around here."

Raul left to find Esteban, and I sat at the picnic table to call Jimmy. I told him, "How about making sure all the guys come for supper tonight. I want to have a few words with them, and also ask about scheduling some work with Raul."

Jimmy asked, "Are you going to begin on the roads for the new housing development? All of us are anxious to test the new road materials. We're going to apply some on your lane road this coming week, so be ready to be inconvenienced for a couple of days. We need to test the material on all types of conditions."

Millie brought me a cup of coffee as I hung up with him. She told me, "You need to go out and tell the kids what a good job they're doing. Sissy is directing all of them and is moving right along. She seems to have a system down that is working out. She's a lot like your mom, isn't she?"

I hugged Millie and asked, "Are you going to be able to keep up with the big suppers that you'll be serving? Do you have enough help?"

Millie said, "Rosita and Marita stayed in to help get ready for this evening. We should be full at all the tables tonight, but that will be okay. Benson's wife is inside helping out too, because she wants to learn to cook like Mom. I also want that, but she's already taught me a lot."

We stood to go inside and I said, "I need to work on some things in the office for a few minutes. I'll get that done, then go out to the garden."

I started for the house, and then decided to go to the garden first. "You know what? I think the kids in the garden are more important. I'll do the office stuff later."

Minya and Mato were getting dirty pulling weeds around the plants. Sissy had them working on the asparagus so it would be easy to tell what a weed was and what a plant was. Some of the women were using hoes, and others were thinning vegetables out and replanting them in the adjacent row. It looked like it was going to be a good garden this year.

Carmen pointed at the sky and said, "We should probably go in soon. It looks like it will begin raining any minute. I can smell it."

Anita was happily hoeing, and said, "Down will it come. Rain will wet get us. Stop we should."

Shirley looked at Anita with a smile, and waved for her kids to bring their baskets of weeds and head for the house. I helped Minya and Mato brush the excess dirt off from the clothes and took them toward the house. I pointed out the way the chickens and guineas were heading toward their houses, telling them that they knew the rain was coming and were going inside too.

Most of us went to the barn to wash off first. There I talked to Esteban as he was getting ready to do the evening milking. He said, "I have enough cans for tonight and the morning, but we have to get rid of milk in the morning. We can probably separate twenty gallons or so of cream, but we may not be able to sell that much skim milk."

"What skim milk we can't sell, we'll give to the hogs." I figured that it wouldn't go to waste that way. Carmen was standing with me and said, "We should make butter tonight so we have plenty for this weekend. We always run out of butter, so let's make some extra while we have the extra milk."

She told me, "We'll come up after supper this evening and make butter. We can do a lot at one time with the big electric churner. This way we can see how good the new cows are."

The ladies took a gallon jar of milk with them for their cooking and drinking, and headed home in the SUV.

I made sure the kids were inside the house, taking baths and getting cleaned up while I began helping Esteban and family. Sissy came out to the barn, and with all of us milking, we quickly milked the herd. Sissy said this was like it had been at home when we were kids and had a lot of cows to milk. She said she wasn't crazy about milking by hand, but it was something that she was glad she learned to do.

After chores, Esteban and family went to clean up, while Sissy and I went to the house to shower and get ready for supper. I had just stepped into the shower when Sissy opened the curtain and stepped in. "Move over and give a girl some room, Mike. I'll wash your back if you'll wash mine."

Sissy surprised me by not doing much fooling around. We were in and out in near record time. Minya came in while we were drying off, and said, "You are just like Mato and me. We take a bath together all the time. It's fun to take a bath with your brother, isn't it, Aunt Sissy?"

That brought some smiles, but we choked the laugh back. Thank goodness it was all innocent. Sissy told me, "The kids are using the shower in our room, so this was the easiest. I'm glad you didn't mind."

It is always funny how many people can fit in the expanded big room. There isn't enough room on couches and rocking chairs for everyone to have a seat, other than at the tables. D's girls and the road crew friends coupled up to talk at the table. Denise and Karen were helping in the kitchen area, as were Mrs. Benson, Millie, Shirley, Marita, Rosita, and even Sheryl was helping. Benson was standing at the counter, slicing roasts as the ladies were carrying bowls to the table.

The one thing we always seemed to have is an unlimited supply of good beef for roasts. When we had this, it would mean good sandwiches for lunch, and probably some stew the next night. The kids began sitting at the smaller table that even had the extender leaf added. Benson's, three, Sissy's and Shirley's four, Esteban's three, and my two little ones made a full table.

After everyone had finished eating and the coffee had been served, I stood up and told everyone I had an announcement. This was unusual enough that there was perfect quiet in the room.

I looked around at everyone and began: "The first item I want to touch on is to give our road crew a leader. You need someone to blame when things don't go right, but to also look to for quick decisions instead of waiting for me. Jimmy has assumed that role from the beginning, and has done a great job, but he has never been officially recognized as the leader, foreman, or supervisor. Well, you now know; from here on out, I will let Jimmy do all of the people and work planning.

"I made a deal with Bert, here, to buy his farm today. The reason that this is such a big deal is that we are going to build a new dairy building and barn there to take care of all the new stock we just purchased from Bert. The idea is to move all of the cows to a new dairy operation there, but we'll probably keep a cow here for our own milk. Esteban says he can bring us all the milk we want for butter and cream. We'll also become legal by pasteurizing all our milk. Raul and Jose are also going to build a house for Esteban and his family on the property. Jimmy, Raul will be getting with you for help with clearing the burned down barn and preparing the land where the house is going to be built.

"The reason this is such a big deal is that it is an expansion of our farm and will give us the additional acreage to grow enough hay and grain to supply the dairy operation, and for the beef livestock we have here.

"I think most of you know of our plans to build homes on the lesser mountain to the west. Gene hired surveyors to stake out the roads, utility accesses, and individual plots. We can now begin building the roads necessary to start building the utility infrastructure and model homes. You road guys may need to bring help in. If we run out of housing, we'll buy another trailer or maybe we should build a small apartment building close to where the trailers are now. We could put a different road entrance into it that would look nice, and still have easy access to the yard, just a little farther away. Think about it, Guys. I know several of you are thinking of creating a family, so this might be a place to start."

I looked at Maude and Benson to see if I needed to add anything. They were just smiling back, so I told everyone, "If we're lucky, the ladies may have made us some dessert. Let's beg."

Millie was proudly standing by the kitchen area and said, "Who wants some blackberry cobbler, with some fresh homemade ice cream."

After a great meal and dessert, the youth all pitched in to clean the dishes and kitchen. It took Millie, Marita, and Rosita to put the leftover meat and vegetables away so they could make a stew tomorrow. They soon were out of the kitchen to give the others room to work.

The women of the house were done with their kitchen duties about the time the ladies from below showed up to separate cream, make butter, and buttermilk. A couple of the guys carried milk cans from the barn to the summer kitchen for the women to begin. The excess skim milk was going to be a treat for the hogs.

I stepped out on the porch to see how hard it was raining. Benson, Gene, Esteban, Raul, and Jimmy followed me. I looked at Jimmy and told him, "My sister and sister-in-law are going to be here through the summer. When you guys are stuck inside working on equipment, would you mind taking the two boys to the yard shop to learn and help out on rainy days?"

Jimmy smiled, "No problem at all, Mike. That's how I started out. I helped my dad with equipment and handed him tools from the time I was about four or five. Since you grew up in the country, you probably did the same."

I nodded and said I did. Esteban made an offer by saying, "The boys and girls could work with my three to learn about the dairy business. It is something good to learn. They can also learn a lot about stock and how to care for them. They need some of the dirty jobs as well as the fun ones."

Gene laughed, "Oh yeah. The dirty jobs, like cleaning up cow crap."

"That reminds me, Esteban," I said, when I remembered we had not spoken about it. "I need you and your family to make sure you keep the hay bale twine and wire out of the cow manure. I spread the manure on our fields and the twine can bind the spreader or break the chains."

Esteban nodded, "We do that anyway, as it is a good practice to save the waste the way you do. It gives you the chance to fertilize your fields naturally. I see that you have a separate area where you store your chicken manure. Do you use it differently?"

I answered, "We use the chicken manure in the orchards, vineyards, and lightly in the garden area. We mix it with cow manure for the garden, and plow it in to make the soil richer."

Gene asked, "Maude said that you sold a lot of produce to Kroger last year, in addition to all the produce you sold at the markets. Are you going to sell that much this year too?"

"More than last year, Gene, because we are planting as much as possible in sweet corn this year. We'll have plenty of other produce, since we have expanded the garden. The folks down below are growing a big garden too, so they will have produce to trade at the market this year. I'm sure there will be more than enough buyers for all of our product."

We watched the rain come down a little slower, but Jimmy said, "According to the forecast, the rain will continue through most of tomorrow. It was time for some rain. Your garden will really flourish now, especially with weeds."

That brought some laughs before we migrated back into the house. Bert, Esteban, and Benson said it was time for them to be heading home. Karen and Denise had a new list of what they were going to need for school this fall, so they were excited to plan a shopping trip into Lexington. Jimmy had talked to Sissy's and Shirley's boys to ask if they wanted to help him work on equipment in the morning. He said he would come out for breakfast and take them back to the yard shop.

The guys took D's girls home, while John took Carla home. It was good to see how well they seem to be getting along. I think the apartment house idea may be the way to go. It would be a lot more comfortable than a trailer, and it would mean individual housing for each couple. The trailers could still be used by the single guys, especially if we have to make several additions to the crew.

When the houseful had diminished a little, I sat with Minya and Mato next to me on one couch, with Gene, Maude, Bernie, and Sheryl on the other. Sheryl told me, "I met your man from up in Mount Sterling today. A guy named Coup. He said he was bidding on the addition to the hospital and that he could begin right away if he gets the bid. I asked Benson about it, and he said that Coup's bid was way under the other guy who had previously bid on the job."

Maude exclaimed, "That's what Benson told me about the school bid. He said this same guy has bid very reasonably and was way below the other bid. Benson said he would wait this week out to see if any other bids came in."

Sheryl said, "I don't think there are going to be more bids because no one wants to do hospitals and schools. There are too many inspections and rules to follow. Coup said that it was easy to do it right if you knew what to do. I'm for giving him the bid and letting the man get to work."

I nodded, "I'll talk to Benson about it. If there's no reason to hold things up, I'll have him give Coup a contract."

"You know," I began a new topic. "I may have him build the apartment building I want to have for the road yard guys. Coup knows how to do it right and fast. After talking to Jimmy and the guys tonight, I'll bet they come up with a design, floor plan, or something like that right away. We are about to get real busy, and I know some of them are thinking about marriage. We need to get the families started and settled before everything hits at once."

Bernie added, "Sounds like you may have some more work from the cable company for my buddies. You know, you could use them to build wind towers where you need them. Right here would be a good place. One or two wind towers would provide you with all of the power you would need. Since you're planning on moving the dairy part of your farm to Bert's place, I'll have them check out Bert's farm to see if wind towers would be feasible there. There does seem to be a good wind flow through the valleys, as well as up on the mountains. I know you're going to have regular power available up there, but the long term savings for the power you'll be using up there will be significant. No sense in giving the power companies money when they will buy back what you can't use."

Maude then commented; "It's about time you began using the profits from the path crew and firewood businesses. I don't think you've hardly spent half of your produce income from last year, and you know your wine money is now quite sizable. Build those wind towers because you can get a hell of tax deduction on them. If you were to put two up on the mountain for Bernie's radios, two here, and two at the new farm, you can pay for them out of what you have, and receive a federal green investment rebate for almost a third, plus the tax deduction. That would be a good business decision."

Millie was feeding John, so this caused Minya and Mato to go sit with Millie and the other kids as they gathered around the nursing mother. Shirley found the book she had yesterday evening and began reading the story to the kids.

Sheryl looked at me, "This place is so serene and peaceful. With Millie nursing your little boy, the other kids sitting with her, and Shirley reading, this is just about the gentlest place on earth right now. For all of the high energy stuff you're involved in, Mike, you know how to relax."

Bernie, Sheryl, Gene, and Maude said they needed to go home, and made the rounds to say goodnight and thank everyone for the hospitality. Gene told me he would have the surveyor's plat map for me tomorrow and would give a copy to Jimmy. Bernie nudged me off to the side, and said, "You know what, why don't you talk to the guys who are building the wind towers to see if they have something you could use at your high end development? If you were to sell homes with working wind turbines, you might sell out even faster than you think. Heck, you might even decide to only sell the upscale stuff instead of to the masses."

That was food for thought, but I didn't think I would have to consider that very soon.

When all of the kids were in bed, I sat with my two little Indians and told them that "If you dream of your mom and dad, it is their spirit that is visiting you to let you know everything is okay. Spirits can't usually talk, so don't be unhappy about that. Just smile at them to let them know you are okay."

Minya hugged me and said, "I won't be upset and I'll smile at them next time. It's nice to know they look on us from their next life."

Mato gave me a hug then snuggled down with his sister. He was snuggling at her back in a way that told me they slept like that most of the time anyway. They sought comfort from each other.

I leaned over and kissed them both on the forehead. They both smiled as I softly told them goodnight and left the room.

Millie was by herself in our big bed, and I found out why when I snuggled up. My happily pregnant wife wanted some special attention. We gave each other some attention for over an hour, satisfying the urges we had for each other. As we lay facing and kissing each other, Millie softly said, "I'm so happy to be giving us another baby. You know, if we hurry, we could have a little girl before I'm too old to have more babies."

Holy shit, where did that come from? "You might need to let your body rest a little, Millie. It is good that you can have healthy babies, but I don't want you to hurt yourself." As I held her, I remembered what Sheryl had said. "Sheryl told me you have never been in for a prenatal exam. You've been taking the vitamins, but haven't been examined by her since you've been pregnant. Don't you think you should be looked at? She needs to listen to the baby's heartbeat and check you over too. I want to keep you, Millie, so let's go see her and have you examined."

Millie snuggled into me and said, "Okay, I just hate to go there when all of those sick people are there. I always think they will give me or John something. Find out when the best time for us to just go straight in to see her instead of sitting out in the waiting room with a lot of sick people."

How about that? Millie gave me the reason why she hasn't wanted to take John in for a checkup and why she hadn't been in to see Sheryl. I suppose that a clinic waiting room is pretty scary to someone who had not been around a lot of other people except in social gatherings such as the market or church.

As we drifted off to sleep, Rosita came in and got in on my other side of me. Marita and Karen joined us before sleep overcame me. I went to sleep with a smile thinking of the four women with me.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 45



I was busily milking a cow along with Esteban, his wife and kids, and Sissy the next morning, when Bert tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "Which one of you guys can I relieve to do other chores? I've been milking these critters all of their lives."

Esteban's oldest son stood up and said, "Take my place, Sir, so that I may finish feeding the outdoor stock and hogs. There should only be one more group after these."

In order to milk so many at one time, we had rigged some rope halters to keep the cows facing in one direction and put buckets with grain in front of them. They didn't care about the strange conditions since they were being fed the good grain and getting their udders emptied.

While milking, Bert chatted, "What time did you folks begin milking this morning? My goodness, it isn't even six yet and you're almost done."

Esteban told Bert, "When we got here a little after five, Mike had already washed the milk buckets and cans, and let in the first batch of cows. The man sure doesn't waste any time."

Bert chuckled, "Just the man to take my farm over. I hope you don't mind if I help out some, Esteban. I don't think I can give up getting up and doing some morning chores."

When we finished, I noticed the springhouse we used to cool the milk was totally filled with cans. I would make a run to the market to sell as much as possible this morning. When I mentioned this, Bert said, "Just haul what you have up to Mount Sterling. The dairy up there will buy your milk in cans. They don't dock you unless the temperature is too high. With the butterfat content you have, they will pay you a fair price. You might even talk to them about buying your bulk milk if you want. I know you're planning on pasteurizing a lot of what you produce, but you're not going to be able to sell that much milk at the market."

We cleaned behind the cows and washed all the equipment before going to the house for breakfast. There was a pretty good crowd for breakfast, but there was more than enough ham, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy for everyone.

When we finished breakfast, Esteban said he needed to go to Bert's to meet Raul and help finish the forms to pour the foundations for the dairy barn, pole barn, and house. He advised me that John, the other bulldozer operator, and some of the other men were going to show up with equipment and salt trucks to clear the burned out barn area. Knowing how eager Esteban was to get the new buildings up, I knew he would be pushing hard.

I headed to town with my pickup full of milk cans. Before I left, Bert asked if he could ride along to direct me to the dairy. I knew he would be fun company.

The Kitchen wanted a ten gallon can of milk and said they would skim the cream. I was able to sell a couple of more cans at the market and pick up some clean empties before heading to Mount Sterling.

The dairy there tested the milk for temperature, cleanliness, and butterfat, before buying all I had. They told me that if what I brought was always like it was today, they would give me grade A prices for premium milk. Instead of waiting for a daily check, I elected to have them pay me electronically to make it easier. I would have to tell Maude about where the new money was coming from. I also made arrangements to have milk picked up when the new dairy operation was built. They had several contract drivers that hauled in our area.

I stopped by to see Coop when we left the dairy. He was bent over blue prints as usual, but he was looking at the floor plans for the clinic addition this time. He looked up at me and said, "Just the man I need to see. Come here and let me show you a few things."

After I introduced Bert, Coop showed me a couple of areas where the architect didn't include some state mandated items. He next showed me an area where he thought the space could be better used in another way. I told him, "You know a lot more about this stuff than I do, so take it to Doc Rivers and show it to her. Give Benson a call so that he can meet you when you can see the Doc. Do a handwritten addendum to whatever contract you have so that you don't waste a lot of time."

Coop was smiling as he said, "Your man, Jose, told me that he only has half of his crew working here and they're already more than half done. I think he's waiting for material to finish. I like his work and the way he follows the plans precisely. I think you and I are going to have a long term relationship."

It was my turn to smile. Raul and Jose were more than capable of handling their own business, but neither felt confident being the front man. Coop took us on a ten minute tour of the strip center building before we left. There's not much to look at for someone like me who isn't involved in construction.

Since it was raining, I stopped by to see Pedro and Jesus at Ben's old place on the way home. They were in good spirits and told me they had a couple of other big clearing jobs coming up next month. I mentioned about building at the new farm, and Jesus said, "Why don't you use half of us to help Raul with the construction? Some of the men have some construction experience and it might give them a chance to impress Raul and Jose. Harold has some more men who want work, so we could have a third crew if we get another good leader."

I told them, "Talk to Raul and Jose to see how many they can use. Just make sure you send them men who want to work and who are not drunks. He's not very nice to men who goof off."

Pedro smiled, "We aren't either. This is good honest work and the men are well paid. Many may want to work with us, but only those who show that they will work hard every day are allowed to stay. The regular workers tell the rules to the new men, so they know them very quickly."

As Bert and I got back into the truck, he asked, "How many men do you have working on logging now?"

"I don't know for sure, Bert, but it's at least thirty right now. That group is paying for themselves and their equipment. Ezra taught Pedro and Jesus, and I now have two complete crews. You heard him about the bulldozers. They are more than five miles ahead of the cutting group, so both Jet and John are going over to clear your new place. If they decided to work in the rain, I'll bet your place is cleared, graded, and formed by the end of the day. They will pour concrete tomorrow and start building on Monday. I imagine Raul will be starting on the house after church on Sunday."

Bert looked at me, "How do you keep track of everything you have going on, Mike? You have so many fires burning that you have to be going nuts sometimes."

I pulled out my little spiral notebook and said, "I make a list of everything I need to check on everyday, and add to it as the day progresses. What I have to do is easy because there is someone who leads everywhere that something is going on.

We pulled up to the milk house so that I could unload the milk cans from the truck. I saw that the Jeep was gone, so assumed Esteban was using it. We needed one other vehicle, at least.

Inside, Bert and I had a cup of coffee while I was given an update of what was going on. Sissy told me that Mom called and they were having a great time. She said, "Mom didn't believe me that everything was moving right along. She also didn't believe that you bought another farm. She told me to tell you that she would paddle you good for telling fibs when she gets home."

We all got a laugh out of that.

Esteban's wife came from the summer kitchen and told me, "We've been making more butter, and we've separated some milk to begin the cheese process. I hope this works so that we can have even more products to market."

"You should wait until we get the pasteurization equipment in so we don't have a problem with the cheese," I said. "The state could get on us for selling raw milk. Unless, that is, they'll issue us a special permit to make raw milk cheeses for the gourmet trade."

Shirley told me, "Jimmy took the kids to his shop this morning. The girls insisted on going and Sissy said that she used to work on equipment with your dad. I hope they don't get hurt. They are just little girls."

Sissy and I exchanged looks, as we both knew how hardy the little girls were when they were in the fields or helping with equipment. Sissy said, "You can bet the sweet little girls will get as greasy as the boys."

When my cell phone rang, I saw that it was Bernie, so I pushed the speakerphone button, "Hey, Bernie, what can I do for you?"

Bernie told me, "The guys who will build your tower and bring power and fiber up to your tower are here. How about I bring them out for lunch so we can talk about what needs to be done? They advised me of a few things that are important."

"Bernie," I talked back into my phone, "It's raining outside and they won't be able to go up to see the place. They might want to wait for a better day."

"Mike, oh Mike, how soon you forget and get soft. These are guys who haven't been out of the Army for six months yet and are used to building anything in any kind of weather. Get your raingear out, because you're going to be giving a mountain tour. We'll be out there in about thirty minutes; can we get lunch there?"

I looked up at Millie who smiled and vigorously nodded. As a group, all of the women standing there turned toward the kitchen and began pulling pans out.

I told Bernie, "Come on out. How many are you bringing and are you going up on the mountain too? Those rocks might be a little slick for you up there."

"I'll stay down and dry, Dude. You take the four guys I'm bringing up there. Get a couple of go carts out and ready."

By the time Bernie and the cable men showed up, the ladies had a huge pot of vegetable beef soup and lots of sliced roast beef, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and homemade bread to fill their tummies.

Sissy was standing there with her hand out when I pulled my rain suit out. "I want to go. You have to take two carts, so there's enough room for me."

I shook my head and grimaced, "It's a tough climb to get up there and the wet rocks are going to make it more difficult."

"I'm going with you, Bro; live with it. I want to see what's up there."

The group walked out to the equipment cave and I checked the fuel on two of the four-passenger carts. I led the other cart around the mountain, but down the hill and back up, since I didn't know whether or not the high game trail would be too soft.

We parked at the boulders in front of the caves. I had brought a couple of lanterns along to get us through to the other side. I explained to the guys; "There is a ledge that leads around, but it might be too slick on a day like today. You need to see this cave anyway, since this is where the equipment and batteries are going to be."

The men were fascinated with the caves and the story I told. I promised them a look through the picture scrapbook when we finished. I led everyone up the steep path to the top of the mountain in the slow drizzle. It felt like you could reach out and touch the bottom of the clouds when we got to the peak.

I showed the men the lower terrace and told them that was where I thought a tower should be built to allow more room and space for guy wires.

One of the men had carried a surveyor's transit up with him, and he setup to begin getting dimensions. He directed another man to go to one side of the far end of the lower terrace, and then waved him over to the other side. The man came forward to put his sighting pole on one near end side, then the other.

The four men huddled together, and then the surveyor began looking down the mountain and toward the house through binoculars. He turned toward the main road we had passed and scanned that area. All four were taking notes from time to time, and when they all seemed to be done, the one who appeared to be the leader said, "You will need a tower about a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty feet high. You should be able to accommodate everyone in the area with that height, including a TV station if you want to. You know, you might be able to get your signals up here via microwave instead of fiber. The only disadvantage could be that heavy weather can disrupt microwave. We have pictures and dimensions; let's go back to the house where it's dry and figure this out."

The guys had to check the other cave out as we left. I told them there were other caves on the mountain, and that there was even a cabin built into a cave at a lower level. They were very curious about the Civil War history, and I promised them we would look at the album.

Back at the house, the leader brought out some large graph paper and sketched a diagram using the dimensions they had taken. Bernie was there with a couple of big manuals that he said contained all the federal requirements for everything that we wanted to do.

Two of the men asked if they could use one of the carts to follow the electrical, telephone, and cable wires down to the where they met the road. I told them they knew where they were, so the guys put their boots and raingear back on and left.

Bernie and the other two men discussed and debated for almost two hours while I played with John, Mato, and Minya. The two older kids were playing with crayons and coloring books that had appeared, while John wanted to taste the colorful sticks and attempt to imitate the older kids by scribbling on pieces of paper. The woven rug where the kids were didn't have many crayon marks on it so far. It was fun to play with the kids.

Bernie had me come back to the table so that they could lay everything out for me and give me a schedule. They described the equipment that would be installed, and how they would enclose the two cave openings to secure the equipment. Their schedule would be to begin bringing the fiber from where both the cable company and the telephone company had junction boxes. I could use either one for transmission that way. While that was being completed, they would work on proper grounding, as it could be expected to have some lightning problems from time to time.

By the time the tower arrived and its construction began, they should have the two wind turbine generators built and online. It was expected to take between a month to six weeks to complete the job and connect all of the broadcast and two-way equipment. Each item had a backup, and the law enforcement equipment would have two redundant units to be safe.

Bernie sat back and asked, "You see the number there, Mike. Are you willing to put that kind of cash up to do this?"

I was staring at a number that was probably fair, but it sure was a hell of lot higher than what I had running around in my head.

Bernie slid a piece of paper in front of me and said, "This is the P & L outlook for the tower and equipment you will provide. Please note the nine month payback on investment. This is with you giving the Sheriff's radio stuff and local ambulance service away. You're going to make your money from the state agencies, radio station, and cellular companies. You can probably sell tower space to some companies that need a microwave link. Now what do you think?"

I looked up at Bernie and had a question. "Bernie, I thought AM station towers had to be on a flat ground. Is this going to work for your station?"

The man grinned as he vigorously nodded his head and answered, "Remember that I told you I had a new license for twenty-four hours and the ability to have enough power to get to Philly? That's all FM, Baby. I have the new license for more power to the AM side, but the FM station will be hot. It means I can sell advertising to Lexington companies as soon as I can prove listeners. We won't be all simulcast, but we'll have the FM station be more mainstream music for the middle crowd. The AM station will remain the down home place where the locals can get all of their news and gossip. This is going to work, Mike. The station is going to be big."

When I smiled at the men and said, "Do it", there was a sigh and the expelling of breath throughout the cabin. The women were all listening to see what I was going to answer.

Bernie said, "Go get your Civil War photo albums to show these guys. The other two should be back any minute. I need to go pick Sheryl up so that she can come out to eat tonight. The guys can stay for supper, can't they?"

I saw Sissy grinning at Millie and knew this was going to be another night with both tables full.

Sissy said, "Let's go out and help with the evening milking now that you've made these men's day."

Jimmy and the road guys were back with the four kids by the time we finished milking. The kids were covered in grease and oil, so they had to be scrubbed before dinner. Jet and John showed up with Raul to tell me of their progress. The barn area was cleared and graded, as well as where the house was to be built. They had already dug the hole for the septic system, as well as the ditches for the leach field and a retention pond for the waste from the barn and milking station. The pasture waste would not be a problem, but we could harvest the manure from the buildings for sale to local farmers and gardeners, or our own use. Raul said they would be pouring the foundations tomorrow. The rain had not slowed them down at all.

When supper was over, the kitchen clean, and all were sitting around chatting, I noticed Millie having a talk with Sheryl. Sheryl waved me over and said, "Millie says she hasn't been examined while she's been carrying this baby. She already is a little larger than she was before, but she is eating more regularly and has gained some weight. She doesn't want to sit in the waiting room, so bring her in at seven tomorrow morning and I'll give her a going over. I'll use the ultrasound to see if her thinking she has a boy is correct. Can you do that?"

When I nodded, Sheryl said, "Bring your little Indians in and I'll check them out too. If you were given their shot records, let me record them at the clinic so we can keep them up. You might as well bring John in too, since it's time for one of his booster shots."

Tomorrow morning was going to be busy.

When Bert got ready to leave, he grabbed my hand and said, "I promise to not make a nuisance of myself, but being around you folks is exciting. You're all busy, but happy. I'll stay home and bother the construction men tomorrow. I might come out for supper; I'll see how I feel."

I tried to assure Bert that he wasn't a problem and that we enjoyed having him. He just smiled and went out to his truck.

Before Bernie took Sheryl home, he said, "Thanks for going along with me on the tower, Mike. This is going to mean a great deal to the area and me. We'll be known as the home of Bernie's Broadcast Nation. I think I'll even begin a broadcast school so that kids can get an idea of what commercial radio is really all about. Come in soon and see some of the new equipment that we have now. We're out of the Stone Age and already working toward the future."

Esteban and family met me and Sissy as we were walking to the barn the next morning. While some of us cleaned cans and equipment, the rest moved the cows to an area where they could be brought in a group at a time. We finished quickly once again, and I told Esteban this time, "Take my truck and the milk we have to Mount Sterling. Call Bert, or look it up on the internet, if you need directions before you leave. I have to take Millie and the kids to see the doc this morning."

Sissy insisted that we take her car as she had two youth seats, as well as room for John's baby seat. The big reason was that Sissy is so nosey about anything going on. She wants to be in on everything.

Sheryl met us at the door when we drove up at six fifty-five. She moved us through the lobby and into a big exam room. The first thing she did was check the three kids, and then she tickled John while the nurse gave him a shot. He frowned at the nurse and almost cried, but then decided it wasn't worth it and wanted more attention from Sheryl. Smart boy!

Sheryl began examining Millie next. She thoroughly checked her exterior, then had Millie lay back. I saw some concern on Sheryl's face as she listened to Millie's stomach with her stethoscope. A nurse had brought the ultrasound equipment in, so Sheryl put some goop on Millie before placing the paddles on her and slowly began rubbing them on the swollen belly.

I was watching the screen that displayed what the paddle was seeing. Oops, there were two things in there, not one. Sheryl looked at me with a grin before she told Millie to look at the screen.

It took Millie several seconds to comprehend what she was seeing before she exclaimed, "Twins, I have twins inside me. I'm going to have twin babies!"

Sheryl manipulated Millie's belly and tried to get a clear view between the two babies' legs, but she couldn't determine what their sex was. She said, "I'll review the video to see if I missed anything, but I'm not sure. If you want, we can find out what they are going to be when you come in for Millie's next checkup, and we should be able to see then."

As the nurse cleaned the equipment and rolled it out, Sheryl said, "Well, Mike, I guess you're going to be the father of five very soon. I'm excited for you. Do you know there is only one other set of twins in the county that I know of? Your kids are going to be as famous as their dad."

My poor kids. They will be subjected to being my kids, plus being spotlighted for having a twin.

Sheryl told me to open my BDU blouse, or fatigue shirt, if you want to call it that. She listened to my heart then took my blood pressure. She looked in my ears, eyes, and mouth before handing me a cup and telling me, "Go get me some pee, then I'll take some blood. We might as well do everyone at the same time."

This was sneaky. I didn't remember saying anything about me getting a physical.

I had to stand to be measured for height, then weighed, after the nurse took some blood. I was the same weight as I was when I had my discharge physical. I was wearing about the same clothes then, too.

Sheryl told me, "Now get out of here; your family is taking up too much room."

I grinned and said, "You forgot one. I'll step out of the room while you check Sissy. She needs a good poke and prod."

"Oh no you don't, Mike. I don't need the doc to look at me."

"Do it, Sissy; I need to know you're going to be around to raise those kids of yours."

She looked at me crossly and folded her arms in front of her. I stepped out and knew that Sheryl wouldn't let her get out of it. Sheryl would do the whole thing, including the Pap smear. I stood in the hall and smiled as nurses and aides passed by.

As some people were being put into exam rooms, the door to the one Sissy was in opened and Sheryl waved me in. She said, "Everything looks good on the outside, but she needs to come in for a mammogram soon. She can get that in Cincinnati or here, but she needs to get it done. Let me know."

Our group left the doctor's office and I made the suggestion. "How about we stop by the Ford dealer and see of he wants to sell us an Expedition like this one. Considering that we're soon going to have five kids, it's time for a family vehicle."

Millie looked sad, "I like my red pickup truck. I can carry the kids in the back seat with booster seats and have room for John now. Karen and Marita can sit up front with me, so there is enough room."

I said, "Not if I want to come along, or if Mom wants to go with you. How about Rosita? Marita will soon have a family of her own, but I don't think Rosita is leaving anytime soon. You will need the room with two more babies. You can keep your truck, but we still need a bigger family car."

Millie didn't pout, as she was still too excited about the news of twins in the tummy.

Leo Tolls' oldest son, Don, came out to greet me when I pulled up. I didn't have to even tell him what I wanted as Millie, Sissy, Minya, and Mato went straight to a fancy red Expedition parked in front of the dealership.

Don leaned over to me and said, "If you want that red thing, it's yours cheap. Dad had me start driving it because I was the one who ordered a red one. No one wants what has now been dubbed as the 'fire truck'."

I smiled and said, "The women will decide. Have you driven it much?"

"I just started, Mike. It has less than two hundred miles on it so far, because I only live about a half mile from here."

"Let's see what they think, Don. Since they are all inside the truck now, it must be something they like."

When I went to the driver's side front door, the window slid down and Millie said, "I like this one. I love red cars. You can get this one."

I looked at Don and he shrugged his shoulders. He asked, "Do you want to take it for a test drive?"

Millie said, "I know how they drive. I drive Sissy's sometimes. That you have all three seats makes it perfect. It will work for us."

Don said, "Come in and do a deal with me before Dad gets here, or you two will be dickering all morning. I know what I have to have for it, and I'm willing to take the minimum to get Dad off my back. My brother, Bob, has been laughing at me since they unloaded it from the truck. That'll be the last red Expedition I order. We've sold a couple of red Escapes and lots of red cars, but no Expeditions or Explorers."

The deal he showed me seemed almost too good to be true, but he said he was using all of the current rebates and the demonstration discount to get the number down. I was happy, so I called Maude and told her how much was needed. She told me to give the phone to Don, and he transferred her to the business office after he talked to her. He said he would be right back, then took the deal sheet with him and vanished to the inner area.

A few minutes later he came back out carrying some papers and two more sets of keys. He told me, "Take this bill of sale and certificate of origin to the tax office and get your tags. I already called your insurance agent, Noonan. Enjoy your new Expedition. I'm glad it's yours and not on the lot any longer."

I think he wanted me and the car off the lot before his Dad got there. Don may have cut a few corners to offer that big of a discount. I know I was happy with the deal.

Outside, I told everyone that they had a choice between moving the child seats and driving the new truck, or drive home in Sissy's car. "We have to go to the tax office to get tags first, so what will it be?"

Millie said, "I want to drive my new red truck. How about moving the kid's seats, and we'll go home while you get the license plates using Sissy's car. I'm sure no will mind if we drive it home without the tags."

The County Sheriff or a state trooper might disagree, but I wasn't going to rain on Millie's parade today. I didn't argue and moved the two youth seats and John's baby seat. That was something else we would need to get soon. We would need our own youth seats for Minya and Mato.

Millie gave me a kiss as she climbed up into the driver's seat. She already had the electric seat adjusted for her and it was then that I looked up to see that there was a sunroof in the car. The glass was shut, but the interior panel was slid back to give people a view up to the sky. This was a fancy thing, but it didn't cost much more than Mom's truck. I guess Don did do me a good deal.

I watched as my family drove away from the dealership. I adjusted Sissy's driver's seat to fit me and went for the tags. I decided to go see Maude after I left the state and county office. I called her and she was happy that I would stop by.

She met me in her usual garb of open shirt, tiny shorts, and no shoes. As soon as she had me seated in front of her desk, she said, "It's about time you stopped by. You've been calling about buying things lately, but you haven't stopped by. I was just updating your listing of accounts so you could see how you're doing. Let me print a copy out and I'll tell you about it."

She handed me a printed sheet of paper filled with numbers. Maude told me, "I don't have headings on everything yet, but you'll be able to follow me."

She had copy of what I was looking at, and said, "You can see that the top grouping of numbers represent your firewood business. The top is gross revenue, the middle number is your equipment, fuel, and labor, and the profit is shown on the bottom line. That number is for the entire year to date."

"The next grouping says it's for the logging group. There are actually two groups of numbers; the first group that shows a heck of lot of revenue, a lot of equipment, and a whole lot of profit. You are bringing in a lot of revenue now that you have two crews working.

"The next group numbers represents what you're getting for the specialty wood, stumps, and trimmings. That profit number is obscene because you really can't put any cost figures into the mix. The costs are all in the logging and clearing group.

"Next is your road commissioner's situation. You've bought a hell of lot of equipment, but check out the bottom line. You're running a hell of a profit out there right now. Gene said something about you thinking of hiring some additional men to help with the development roads. I'd tell you to do it if you're not going to take a salary. You probably won't have anywhere near this year's equipment and operating costs next year, so you'll be even better off after the election.

I interjected, "No wonder that one guy wants to fight over being a road commissioner. There are some big bucks in that deal if you don't spend any money to keep your equipment up to date."

With a frown, Maude said, "That's how that guy drove a Cadillac all the time."

She then said, "Now, let's talk about the farm. The top number says it's for orchard products, like your pears and apples. The next number is the total amount you received from Kroger for produce, and it doesn't include what your family bartered at the market. Hell, you did better than most of the farmers in the area just with the sweet corn that you sold. Your buddy, Conner, would shit if he saw your numbers.

"The next line says it's for the milk and milk products from your reported market income and the Kitchen. Not bad for a mom and pop organization. Of course, I would have no idea how much more it really is due to the bartered goods, or what you've taken cash for and don't remember.

"Now for some fun. Your vineyard and wine operation lines show the grape revenue first; the next line is the wine revenue, and the third line is the distilled products revenue, giving a total that you will choke on. You've bought a lot of equipment, fenced a lot of area, and all of that cost has been brought into the vineyard account. I really have to put it there, since I don't know what percentage to dump into the orchard. The net is still wonderful, and as you can see, you are probably not paying D as much profit as you thought you were."

I sat up straight while looking at the total numbers. I was about to say that I needed to pay him more when Maude said, "Nope, you're paying him just right; actually more than many would pay for the same position. Keep him there and I'll tell you when to pay more or when to give him a bonus.

"Now, Mike, for the last couple of items. You haven't sold any of your beef stock or hogs yet, but you'll make some good bucks from that. Your smoke house operation has some strong income. The first number is the Kitchen money. The next is the reported market money, and the last is the cash the butcher has paid you, in addition to giving you all of those prepared hams and pork sides.

"At the bottom of the page are your gross revenues, your gross costs, and your net profit before taxes. The next line has your taxes, for which I'm just now filing your quarterly return with a check, the second to last line is your net profit, and the last line is how much you have in the bank. You have a personal account where you receive your retirement check and have some of the money you had when you first came down here but you haven't used anything from it for almost a year except for some groceries."

I immediately said, "There is something wrong with your numbers. I've spent a lot, but it doesn't seem to be reflected in all of these numbers."

"Mike, the only thing not included in this report is the farm you just bought, or rather stole, from Bert. If Benson hadn't told me about how Bert was, I would probably have thrown you out. Benson even said Bert has been out to your place almost continuously since you bought his place.

"What I'm going to do about that is to set up a loan from the trust, and pay it back over as few years as possible. If need be, I'll make it a grant that you'll pay taxes on. You're about to spend a small fortune building out at Bert's, so do what you need to out there, and have Raul send the bills here. I'll pay them from your accounts and we'll put that into that farm's investment account. I think the new farm will be showing a fair profit by the end of the year."

Maude leaned back in her tilt-back chair, letting her shirt slide from her tiny nipples, "So, what do you think, Mike? I think you are an amazing businessman that will do even better next year. Just about everything you buy is for the farm, and very little goes to you or your family personally. You don't even spend half of your retirement check for groceries and utilities each month. I wonder how much Raul is going to bring in for you this coming year. He's already told me to put a salary aside for you that compares to other business owner's salaries. I tried to tell him you didn't want to take it, but he insisted. What do you think?"

I pointed at the number at the bottom of the page, "So that's how much money is available for me to spend, after taxes and everything?"

Maude smiled and was nodding her head, still showing off her points of interest.

I softly said, "I think I'll use some of that to put the radio tower up so that I don't have to dip into the trust. I'll have the builders deal with you to pay their invoices, wages, and expenses. That way, the money that will come in from the cellular companies will begin showing profit from day one. There's enough there for me to erect another wind turbine for the house. I'll do one at home and two for the dairy operation at the new farm. We'll probably make some money reselling our excess to the grid. This is going to work out."

"There you are, Mike. I'm glad you took the time to let me show you how well you're doing. As you can see, you didn't have to worry about paying for Millie's new car or truck, whatever it is. I'll send you an updated one of these in an e-mail and try to keep you updated monthly. You're going to do fine, Mike. With Millie pregnant and your two new kids, you'll soon be busy being a dad."

"You don't know yet, do you, Maude?" I grinned real big, "Millie just found out she has two in the oven. She's going to have twins."

"Oh my goodness, Mike, that's wonderful, I think. What do you think?"

"I can probably handle that if they are two more boys, but I won't know how to treat them if they are two girls."

Maude had a soft look come over her as she sat up, causing her shirt to cover her chest, "I'd bet that you'll love them just the same and spoil them silly. I'm really happy for you, Mike."

"Thanks, Maude, you answered the question that was on my mind when I called. Thanks for the info, and I'll look forward to a monthly report like that. It will help me figure out where I am with each of the businesses."

Maude was smiling as she told me, "That's what I get all of your big bucks for Amigo."

I left for home; driving almost in a daze while thinking 'how in the world did I get all of that money and still spend so darned much on the farm?' There had been some good deals and a lot of luck. George gave me the pasteurization equipment and the used bulk tank. Bert sold me his place for less than half of its value. I had been lucky, and I'm sure I could continue for a while, but I want to get all of the businesses running so that I don't have to be on top of all of them, all of the time. I loved the farm and farming, but I was doing a lot more than just farming. There was a lot more to do than just put crops in, cultivate, and harvest them.

The parking area was full of various trucks when I pulled up at home. I recognized the truck belonging to the girls from down the hill. I also recognized the truck or SUV from Bernie's buddies, the cable or fiber optic guys. There was a white Ford car with Kroger on the side, and there was a black pickup with 'Kentucky Agriculture Department' on it. To one side of the barn was a Kentucky Wild Life truck. I supposed that was the game warden, Fred Jones. Ah, shit, this was not what I needed.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 46



I walked inside the cabin and sat at the bench to take off my boots. Several expectant heads turned my way. Fred Jones, the Kentucky Wild Life agent said, "Howdy, Mike. I haven't heard from you yet this spring, so I thought I'd come out and check to see if you have any bears nearby."

He paused for a second, "I brought this other guy along with me and told him that you were a good farmer with orchards and vineyards. He wanted to meet you. Shake hands with Barton Mench."

I shook hands with Barton as he said, "The local Farm Bureau tells me that you are a hundred percent organic up here. Your farm will make a good case study. I hope you'll help us get a white paper together on how to develop an organic farm so we can help others get in on the craze. You would be a great speaker if we could get a symposium together."

I smiled through a frown and turned to the Kroger guys saying, "Hey, George, Sam, good to see you. Hope you introduced yourself to the others."

Looking at the nearest big table, the leader of the cable crew stood and said, "Mike, if we can have a quick word, we'll get out of your hair."

When I joined the four fiber men, the leader said, "If you have a way to advance us equipment money, we can get started right away. We have enough for living expenses, but we can't front the equipment and materials."

As I wrote on a page from my notebook, I smiled and told them, "Call Maude at this number. She's expecting you to call and will make arrangements for all of the materials and equipment to be paid for as you need it. If you need heavy equipment, call Jimmy. I'll write his number down, too. Sorry it took me so long to get back home today, but I was talking to Maude to get you guys set up. Keep in mind that I want one of the turbines for this farm and two for the dairy farm. If the mountain turbines can support the buildings down here, that's fine, but go get 'er done."

The cable crew leader, whose name was Kris, asked, "Can we use one of those carts to run back and forth with? That would save us from renting one."

"No problem, use what I have, but take care of them and keep up on the maintenance."

The four got up and left. Millie was watching them, almost disappointed that they weren't staying for lunch.

Karen said she was going to call the others in from the garden for lunch now, so she put her shoes on, and left.

Millie brought me a cup of coffee as I finally sat down, putting her new license plates on the table. Being men, we had to talk about cars and trucks for a couple of minutes, before I had to ask, "Are you four guys here at the same time for a purpose, or is this a coincidence?"

George looked at me and said, "Both, Mike. I heard you just bought a farm across the way. Do you know what kind of place it is, and how much and what kind of fertilizer he was using?"

I truthfully answered, "You know, I really don't. I need to go over and check the fields out to see if they are all planted and if he has treated them. If he has treated the hay fields, I'll sell that hay and buy organic. I can get all of the organic grain I need, but I'd like to be growing my own for my beef stock."

Sam said, "If you can bring that place up to organic standards, Kroger is interested in the milk you will produce. We'll pay twenty-five percent over grade A premium, and include free shipping as well as flushing your bulk tank after each pickup."

"Holy smokes, Guys. Maybe I need to get rid of the pasteurization equipment I just received."

Sam sat forward, "You're going to pasteurize your milk, too? Our dairy will buy your pasteurized milk and pay you a fee per hundredweight. That saves an entire step for us. Do you know how much milk you'll be producing?"

I scratched my head before saying, "Esteban would tell you exactly, but we're milking right at forty head right now, and most Jerseys will easily produce forty pounds a day, so that would be a minimum of sixteen hundred pounds a day."

George and Sam nodded before Sam asked, "Are you going to expand that operation?"

"I might buy more cows, but I'd rather build the herd with new bulls every couple of years. The herd will hopefully grow naturally. I doubt that I want to be milking more than a hundred head. With the prices you're giving me, I might be able to be a semi-successful dairy farmer. You guys know that the industry isn't working out for most dairy men right now."

George said, "Well, Mike, we want your milk as soon as we can get it. What are you doing with it now?"

"We're making as much butter, and buttermilk as we can sell, and taking the rest up to the dairy in Mount Sterling. We shipped fourteen ten-gallon cans this morning, so we're shipping about 1200 pounds a day and feeding the hogs a hell of a lot of skim milk."

Sam stood up and went to the end of the dinning area with his cell phone. He had a long conversation, and then came back. When he sat down, Sam offered, "We'll give you market price for raw milk, and come to get it from you daily. We'll bring clean cans to replace what you ship."

I told him, "I know milk is not bringing any money right now, but we're getting a decent price from Mount Sterling. You're going to have to be close to their numbers so that it's profitable to continue milking. A friend of mine is milking several hundred head. He's shipping to Mount Sterling because they are paying better than Lexington, or even Cincinnati."

George offered, "For organic milk, we'll pay fifteen percent above market or Mount Sterling prices, and twenty-five percent over when you can ship pasteurized bulk. Good enough?"

I nodded, "That will work. It is kind of a nutty time to get into the dairy business, but it is just happening and there are families that will depend on what we do."

Sam was busily writing the terms of our agreement down, then he signed it and handed it to me. We shook hands.

Millie was trying to get my attention, so I smiled at her before she told everyone, "The big table is set for lunch for everyone. Go wash your hands and get ready."

I told the four men, "We've been told; let's eat."

All of the women and kids that had been in the garden came through the door with clean hands. They had stopped to wash up at the barn. After taking their shoes off, everyone found a chair. Today was some homemade lentil soup and ham sandwiches. Everything tasted great, as always.

We had just begun to eat when Bert walked in the door. "Oh boy, just in time for lunch. I left the men with a bunch of sandwiches and knew you'd have something good, so I came right over."

As Bert took his shoes off, George spoke up, "What brings you over here, Bert?"

"Mike here bought my herd after my barn fire, and I've just sold him my farm."

George held his head up with an interest at what he heard. He looked at me and said, "That's the farm you bought? That's where the cows you're milking now came from?"

I nodded without saying anything. George and Sam looked at each other and smiled before George said, "Bert's been an organic farmer for nearly fifteen years. Everything on his place is perfect for what we want. Shoot, Mike, we might talk you into a bigger truck farm down there than what you have here."

Sam said to Bert, "How did you meet up with Mike. Did you find him or did he find you?"

Bert told the story of our meeting at the auction yard and how we quickly put a deal together if I would guarantee that the cows would be milked that day.

George said, "It only makes sense that you two would get together. We've been buying Bert's milk for as long as we've been marketing organic milk." He turned to Bert saying, "We just made a deal with Mike to come for his milk in cans until he gets your place up and running."

"That's good to hear, George. Mike is fair to deal with, but he's no dummy when it comes to what he has to get to make ends meet. He's sort of adopted me, and I willingly come to him and his family. They are really special. I think I've even adopted me some grandkids, too."

Bert turned to me and said, "Your men were getting ready to pour concrete when I left. There are four concrete trucks lined up over there, along with a truck loaded with a septic tank and a bunch of field pipe. That Raul doesn't mess around, does he? He has men running everywhere to get things done."

Fred Jones, the Wildlife Agent, asked Bert, "How is your bear population over there this year. I know you had some trouble about four years ago."

Bert said, "I think most of the bear have gone back to the valley or up into the other mountains. I haven't seen any at all this year. How about you, Mike?"

"I saw one down in the blackberry patch by the road, but that was the only bear, and I only saw him once. He might have moved off now that I fenced the orchards and vineyards in."

Fred said, "I remember you calling and asking about the type of fence you would need. I'll be interested to know how it works out. A big old eight hundred pound bear could just push up against a fence like that and tear it down, so unless it's a braced fence, it may be more for looks than a way to keep big critters out."

Burton, the State Agriculture man said, "You're the one who asked the Farm Bureau about grazing animals within an orchard, aren't you? Did you get them separated?"

"We just did, Burton. I created a decent pasture that has several small meadows on the other side of the orchard up here. The stock looks good in the new area so far. I'm going to go through the orchards and shovel the manure to make sure I don't have a problem. It's good that I found out about a potential problem before it happened."

When lunch was finished, George and Sam said they had to hit the road but would be back within a month to check on our produce. They assured me that a milk pickup would be made daily beginning in the morning.

Burton and George wanted to check the fences on the orchards and vineyards out, so we walked out to the equipment cave and took a four-passenger cart around the big vineyard and orchard to where the stock now grazed. The beef stock was scattered around, but the dry dairy stock and bulls were grouped fairly close. They were probably still getting used to their new surroundings. I didn't see any need to wander around the pasture, so we went back via through the orchard looking at blooms and the heavy buzzing of bees. Burton even commented on how many bees the orchard and vineyard attracted and how that would be good for our garden.

I drove by where the hives were stacked, and pointed. He nodded in understanding.

We went around to the other side of the mountain and down the road to the lower orchard and vineyard. D's girls were all working in that vineyard and waved as we rode up. Burton looked at the fence and the condition of the orchard before saying, "This is an old orchard that you're rejuvenating. I like what you're doing and look forward to see how big you will make this. You will become a big producer if you continue to expand." He liked the vineyard too but wasn't that interested in it, as it didn't mean a big cash crop to him. I made a pass toward the bottom of the hill and what do you know. There was a big black furry critter asleep in my big blackberry patch.

"Well, Mike," Fred said, "I guess you'll be supplying meat again this year."

I told him, "I'm going to attempt to spook him back to the valley. He or she may be alone here. I'd bet it's a he and he's roaming trying to find a mate."

As we drove back up the hill, I stopped to tell the girls about the bear. One of the girls pointed at a Winchester 30-30 leaning against the end of the vine row. She said, "Mom told us not to come to this side of the mountain unless we brought that with us. She even showed us how to shoot it. I hope we don't have to."

Fred knew a little of the girls' history and chuckled, as he knew they were very self-sufficient and all knew how to take care of themselves.

Back up at the house, the two men decided to head back to town, so I said goodbye and watched them leave. That's when I saw the old Ford tractor moving up the rows with the cultivator on it. I know I didn't flip the big rear tires, and I doubted Sissy could do it. When my sis got back to this end, I asked her who widened the front and flipped the wheels. She smiled, "Esteban did it for me a couple of days ago. He said he knew this tractor well. I'm only doing a few rows a day before we pull the weeds. We'll be done weeding in a week or so. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we begin homeschooling the kids so that they can work in the garden, we won't need them."

I told her, "Well, you know the deal. We could run wild when we didn't have things to do. Are you going to let them do some exploring?"

"Damn, Mike. I want to, but I'm just a pansy about them running around out here. Something could happen to them and they could need us."

With a smile, I told Sissy, "I'm sure Mom and Dad worried about us too, but they let us run. Let 'em go; let them do some exploring. They have to learn. Go walking with them a couple of times and help them look for snakes so they will know where to look. Come on, Sis, let them be kids."

I knew Mato and Minya would want to go with them, but I figured I might have to hold my two back a while until they are older. Sissy's and Shirley's kids were just on the edge of being old enough to have good judgment and make good decisions. I'm sure the additional responsibility of the smaller two would be too much. While it's true that good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that experience comes from bad judgment, you still have to be ready to survive the experience and learn from it.

I hollered at the kids and told them, "Come on, let's go exploring a little and maybe we can find a snake, bear, or mountain lion." Six kids came running as fast as they could. I suggested that the girls go to the bathroom before we walked out. I directed the boys to water some weeds on the side of the road away from the others.

I thought I might go to our side of the mountain first when we started out, so we walked around the back where the big vineyard and orchard was. We cut through there and walked along the side of the rocky mountain, looking for any sign of animals. We found some fox tracks, and then saw some raccoon tracks near the end of the vineyard row. I made sure the kids looked at them and understood that those little holes in the tracks were claws that went into the soft earth.

We walked past Eliza's and Bud's graves on the other side. The kids all wanted to know about the two people, so I told them as much as I could. They understood that Eliza and Bud had lived here many years and it was Eliza who sold me the farm.

We next walked through the high end of the pasture, where the stock all bunched up to look at us, wondering what we were doing. I showed the kids the small cave that had water pouring down the back wall, running into a small pool, and sinking into the earth. They saw how I collected water and funneled it outside to the big trough for the stock. The water that ran over the sides of the trough quickly seeped into the rocky soil and disappeared.

Further on, we went through the far gate and looked at the fair-sized sweet corn field there. We walked around the edge to see if we could see any tracks, but we only saw some more raccoon or opossum tracks.

We went back up and followed the rocky side of the hill until we came to the area where the cannon had fallen from the ledge above. I pointed up and told the kids, "There is a big cave up there that you probably shouldn't go to unless your Mom or I are with you. One of us will take you there soon. You can't easily get to it from here, but there are better and easier ways to get up there. Let me show you a big ravine that's interesting." I knew that if I told them about the cave and didn't show it to them under safe conditions soon that they would show it to themselves under unsafe conditions.

We walked another quarter mile until we came to the huge rocky ravine. Just as we came around a cedar bush, a deer jumped out and ran away. The kids all became excited to see game. I thought about showing them the steps down to the cave at the bottom, but decided against it. I knew the boys would be checking this place out soon enough, and would probably find the cave with the stream at the bottom.

I figured that we had walked a few miles, so we headed back toward the house. We jumped a couple of rabbits and a nice covey of quail, but didn't see any other game. I knew they would see plenty of wildlife if I took them exploring more. I definitely needed to walk the bluffs and upper blackberry patches to make sure there were no bears up high. I decided I would do that the next day.

Mato and Minya were worn out when we got home. The older kids were tired too, but not so much that they were drooping. I helped the little ones get a bath, and then went out to help with the evening milking. While milking, I told Esteban that we wouldn't have to haul our milk to Mount Sterling, but that a Kroger contractor would be picking it up daily, including weekends. This was welcome news, instead of having to make the hour-plus roundtrip.

He told me how the septic tank and leach field at the new place was now covered, and the foundation was poured with the various pipes sticking out of the concrete. He said that Raul wanted to ask me about a well for the house, so I needed to talk to him.

Before supper tonight, Sissy insisted that Esteban and family eat with us. The road guys showed up, but they were there to see the girls, not necessarily us. I think they would have skipped supper for the chance to be with their girls.

Today had been busy, but a lot had been agreed on, and a lot had been accomplished. Sissy told me that since the garden was looking good, she and Shirley were going back to Cincinnati for the weekend. They would be back Monday or Tuesday. Sissy apologized for not being around for milking, but I assured her it would be fine.

Mom called and told us about having gone out on a boat to watch whales swimming and playing. She said that she was just about done with her urge to travel. When I had a chance to speak to just her and knew that she wasn't on speakerphone, I asked, "How are you doing with having a man around."

Her voice brightened up and said, "It's wonderful, Mike. It's supposed to be. I'll talk to you about it soon, as we are both homesick and ready to come home. We'll have to take another vacation like this soon, but we're ready to come home now. We'll call."

Well, I guess there is a new guy coming to the house. That should prove interesting. I hope it works.

When we went to bed, I had Millie on one side and Rosita on the other. Millie giggled, "I didn't tell Mom about the twins. She's going to have a fit when she finds out.

Rosita told Millie, "It's almost unfair that you didn't tell her. I wish Mike would put twins in me. I would smile then too."

Millie giggled again, "The twins are busy, Rosita. My stomach is moving around all the time. It's like the two are playing tag or something. They must both be boys." She was still for a second before she said, "Maybe Mike will do that with you one day. I would really like for you to have babies with us. I think that Mike giving you babies would be like me giving them to you at the same time. Maybe we can talk him into it. I would love for you to be his wife too."

I kept my mouth shut, with my eyes closed, hoping that they would think I was asleep. Millie's hand found my interest and held the firmness in her hand. She gave it a squeeze and kissed me on the cheek. She whispered, "See, it isn't all bad, is it?"

As soon as I was out of bed and had the fresh coffee started, Rosita came from the bedroom and hugged me. She smiled up at me and left to go get dressed.

My heart tugged as I watched the Mexican woman go back to change clothes. I walked back into our bedroom and looked at Millie sleeping so peacefully with John still sleeping in his cradle right next to her. Women sure do confuse a guy sometimes.

I quickly was in and out of the bathroom and ready to go to the barn. Rosita came with me and clasped my hand in hers as we walked out. It somehow made my steps lighter, and I wondered where this train of thought was going to lead. My head told me that it was time to go have a talk with Harold. If anyone could talk sense into me, it would be Harold and/or Martha.

Today was market day, so I needed to load both trucks with pound chunks of butter, five gallons of cream, about ten gallons of buttermilk, twenty gallons of regular milk, and any hams and meat that were ready. The Kitchen would get some, but their milk and milk products were separated. We would trade some of the hams and bacon, but the rest would go to the butcher. He would stock us up with more fresh hams that he had been soaking.

Without Mom and Sissy today, I figured I needed to stick around the trucks. Esteban drove mine, I drove Millie's, and Millie drove her new Expedition. As soon as we were parked, Millie took off with Rosita and the kids looking for something, they seemed to know where to go. They came back not long afterward, carrying new looking children's booster seats for Mato and Minya. The girls had the three seats arranged in the middle seating area of the Expedition within minutes. John's baby seat was between Mato's and Minya's youth seats. Millie was already getting the older children to watch out for John. It could be a trial with his exuberance.

The trading was fast and furious while our supplies lasted. I had to constantly stir the milk in the big ten-gallon cans before dipping a gallon out through a funnel into gallon jugs. I was amazed at how fast the butter and cream disappeared. Bacon went faster than ham today, and the man parked next to us enjoyed a good business slicing the bacon and spiral slicing the hams. I was almost amused at how he fed off of our meat.

While I was having a spicy taco from the folks from down the hill, an obvious farmer in his bib overalls came over to me and said, "Good job you're doing on my roads, Mike. I think this is the first full year I've been able to get in and out of my place. I really didn't think it would ever happen."

When I shook hands with the man, he said his name was Pete Samson. "I have the farm next door to Bert, but on the far side at the end of that road. You've rebuilt the old bridge that was out for over a year, and leveled out the road nicely. The way you were pouring gravel on the road, I thought you might be going to try to continue the road on through to the state route."

"I'm happy you're happy, Pete. That's what the taxes pay me to do."

Pete smiled, "That's not why we're talking. I heard you bought Bert out. Did you?"

Bert happened to be nearby, enjoying being with my family, and came over. "Damn right, Pete, I made the man buy me out. Do you know that I'm going to live on that place for the rest of my days, and I now even have a close by neighbor to look in on me? Mike's man, Esteban, is going to be working the farm while I sit back and watch."

Pete frowned, "You know, I hated the thought of losing Bert as a neighbor, Mike, but you've solved that problem for him pretty well. You and me gotta talk a bit about how you might like to do something like that with my place. None of my kids want the place, but they want the money I can get out of it. I'd love to see my place continue to be a working farm. I don't milk dairy stock like Bert does, but I raise some good beef stock and grow some of the best corn, beans, wheat, and oats in the area. I rotate crops like I should, and use Bert's cow manure for fertilizer. I'm getting good money for my grains. Do you think you might be interested in my place?"

That was a little off the wall. I was a little shaken, but answered the man, "I don't know whether I can really afford to take on debt to try to farm more land, but I do want to come check out what you're offering."

"When you come, you have to look at a deal like Bert's, so that I know I'm going to stay in that house for the rest of my days. I got no wife anymore, done worked her into the cemetery twenty years ago. Never found another woman worth bringing in again. It's time for me to let a younger man take my farm over. Come take a look, Mike, and see if you like what I have."

Pete and I shook hands as he began walking away. He turned around and said, "I don't know whether Bert told you this, but I don't want you giving the place to Conner or his kid to work."

I just nodded, wondering what Conner had done to make these two men act the way they did. Next time Bradley was over, I'd corner him and I bet he'll tell me. He seemed like a real straight levelheaded guy.

As I watched Pete walk away, Bert nudged me; "You can pick up about three hundred acres cheap if you treat him right. The man is working his place right now because he has to. He wants to do what I'm doing. Invite him to supper, and take him with you for some of your running around. You know you can give both of us something new in life to do."

Mom will be proud at the way I'm picking strays up. She'll love the idea of a couple old codgers hanging out with her for coffee in the morning. They'd better watch out though, or she'll have them rolling out biscuits. That brought a smile to my lips.

I made a quick trip around the equipment area, but there was nothing I was interested in. Pedro and Jose were there and said they had looked at everything, but there weren't any deals.

When it was time to head home, the others drove straight there, while I stopped by the butcher for the fresh pork that he had already soaked.

I didn't want to make the trip to Pine Ridge, but I knew there were several people who looked forward to what we brought. I loaded the truck with more milk, butter, eggs, ham, and bacon, along with about fifty bottles of wine. Rosita and Bert joined me for the ride.

As soon as I pulled in, a crowd formed around the truck's tailgate. Bert was stirring the rich creamy milk, while Rosita dipped it out and funneled it into gallon jugs. I cut and wrapped chunks of bacon, while the six hams I brought were gone in the first ten minutes.

I hadn't noticed that D's girls had put stickers on the wine bottles advising that each bottle was ten dollars. I had opened a bottle and gave tiny cup samples of what I had to sell. So many people gave me twenties that I didn't realize the twenties were for two bottles of wine. A man asked, "Do you have more of that wine? I'd really like to get some more."

I looked around and everything was gone, all of the milk, butter, eggs, hams, bacon, and now the wine. I had to tell him, "No more today. I'll see if I can bring more of everything next week. I'm surprised it's all gone."

The man smiled and said, "I'll wait, it's worth it."

Rosita said that she had traded for some good salsa that was made by a local family. She asked if we could go by a store to get corn chips and cheese.

I wanted some beer, so we made a run to the store for the items we all wanted. Our trip home was full of the excitement of having sold out twice in one day.

Mom's Explorer was sitting in front of the garage as we pulled up to the house. I told Bert and Rosita, "Wait for me to get this milk can into the milk house so it can get washed this evening. I want to introduce Mom to Bert."

Mom and D hadn't been home long, since their bags were still near the door. Mom was sitting on the couch with Mato and Minya, talking about what they had been doing and about her trip. D was sitting at the counter divider to the kitchen, sipping on what was probably some of his distilled product. His five girls were near him as he told them about what they had seen.

Mom stopped talking long enough for me to introduce Bert. I simply said, "This is Bert. He sold me some cows, then his whole farm. We're building a new milk house and parlor on his place, along with a home for Esteban and his family."

Mom had a crooked grin that usually indicated she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She said, "Welcome, Bert. I hope you enjoy hanging around a crazy family. This is a very crazy group." She still had that 'I'm waiting' look on her face.

Bert smiled at her and gave her a farmer's salute by touching the bill of a cap that wasn't on his head. "Nice to meet you, Mizzus Grayson. You got a right good boy who's a good farmer and businessman."

That pleased Mom, but didn't answer the questions she had.

As soon as we had entered the house, Rosita got busy making something in the kitchen. She made a couple of trips to the pantry in the summer kitchen, and was arranging things on a big platter.

Rosita was smiling broadly as she brought a small platter to our little table and another one to the coffee table by the couches. She took a huge platter to the nearest big table and announced, "There was some good salsa at the market, so we stopped to get the rest of the makings for nachos. I think you will all like them. There is crunchy tortilla chips covered with refried beans, ground beef, warm nacho cheese, hot salsa, lots of jalapeños, and sour cream on top."

D and his girls swarmed the big platter at the table. I watched Mom take a big tortilla chip out of the plate with some of all the goodies on it and smile as she tasted it. The two little ones didn't hesitate, and surprisingly scooped some of jalapenos up with the refried beans and ground beef, before stuffing their mouths.

While those in the cabin were swooning over how good the treat was, the door burst open for the road crew, Bernie, and Doc Rivers. The guys instantly spied the huge platter and joined the girls as they all dug into the spicy treat.

Rosita was almost bouncing around the kitchen as she was preparing another huge platter. I walked back to join her and asked, "How much salsa did you barter for?"

The girl, who had lost her shyness around me, said, "I traded one pound of bacon for three gallons. I got the better deal, but the lady said most people don't like spicy food around here."

Rosita turned into a dynamo, producing two more huge platters of the snacks.

While the group on the couches was snacking, Sheryl asked Mom, "So what do you think of Millie's exam and scan?"

Mom's head came up at attention, "How did you get her to go in?"

"Easy, Mom," Sheryl said, "I had them come in before we opened and got them started. I gave them all physicals, including your daughter. I need her to come in for a mammogram, but I think she's fine."

Mom was pretty quick and needed Sheryl to back up. "What do I need to know about the sonogram you gave Millie?"

Millie giggled as Sheryl said, "Mikey gave his babe a double dose. Millie is carrying two."

"Oh my God, what in the world will we do with twins? What do you think about this, Mike?"

Just to piss Mom off because we didn't tell her while she was on the West Coast, I said, "Isn't it great, Mom? Not only do I get a second baby, I get twins, along with my two little Indians."

Mom looked at me with half closed eyes before looking up at D, "Can you get me a glass of some of that kick ass stuff you like. I think I need to clear my head a bit."

I could tell Mom had begun evaluating everything as she said, "Where in the hell is Sissy, and why isn't she here? Someone needs to be watching over Millie while she's carrying twins.'

Millie snuggled up to Mom; "I'm okay, Mom. This is just like any other baby, but there's two of them. I think they are playing tag or some other game most of the time, because they keep busy. I'll be fine, Mom, and besides, I have Rosita trying to be wife number two to Mike."'

Mom looked at me in shock, but I moved my head back and forth negatively. I actually saw my mother mouth, "Too bad."

Rosita was enjoying being the kitchen leader, and asked everyone, "What good things would you enjoy for supper. Market day was busy, so we didn't plan for tonight."

Bernie said, "How about we try to make some tacos tonight? I'll run in and get what we need if Rosita will put a list together. We can have some tacos, burritos, and anything else we want."

Rosita developed a list, but she insisted that she go along. She was having a great time being in charge for a change. Bernie, Sheryl, Rosita, and Marita took off for Kroger's.

Mom went into my office and I could hear her calling Sissy. It took Sissy a while, but she finally pacified Mom. My goodness, the household wasn't dependent on others to keep us going.



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Chapter 47

Jimmy called a week later, and asked if I could come down to the road yard today. I told him I had planned to make it my first stop on that fine Monday morning.

There were four new faces sitting in chairs and looking at the plans Jimmy had up on the wall when I arrived at the yard and went into the office trailer. Jimmy turned to me and pointed, "Okay, Guys, this is the man. This is Mike Grayson, the Road Commissioner and the guy fronting this development."

Jimmy looked at me and waved at the men, "Mike, these four just left the Army Engineers and everything it represented in Afghanistan. When I heard that they were leaving, I snatched them up as fast as I could. They are road builders, Mike. These four know how to go straight up mountains or how to blast a tunnel all the way through if that's what is needed. We have to hire them since the development is going to need their expertise."

I went to each man and looked him in the eye as I shook hands with him. Real men have always looked me in the eye, and I can usually tell whether or not they are going to be good. After stepping back, I said, "I'm good with this, but we're going to be a little short on housing."

Jimmy spoke up at that, "Ah, I bought another FEMA trailer that was available and it should be delivered this afternoon, Mike. We'll get it hooked up and running today. I called our local cable guru for the same deal we have in the other trailers, and since you gave me decent petty cash, I've already bought the phones and TV for the new trailer."

"Hmmm," I murmured, as I contemplated what Jimmy said. "You're the man, Jimmy, so you've done well to get the new men comfortable. Will you have enough work for them in the short term?"

Jimmy was laughing so hard that I thought he was going to fall over, "Let's see, I have men knocking trees over for your cable path. I have men putting septic tanks in and helping with a barn. I have men helping your cable crew hoist equipment up a mountain, and I have men working on the roads. Ten men ain't enough, Mike. I hope these four will take up the slack, but they may not be enough. Just an FYI, Mike, but you need to find us some more women because these four are all going to be looking for dates."

I smiled at the men and told them, "Mount Sterling is right up the road and I'm told there are a lot of spare women up there. I know that there are more moonshiners than residents right down the road in Pine Ridge, and there are a lot of women there who are looking for men who aren't drunks. Go out in the community and check it out, Guys. Act like gentlemen and I guarantee that the women will flock to you. Plan on going to church on Sundays, and you might be surprised at the number of young lovelies who come dressed up just to meet Mr. Right."

Jimmy said, "And he didn't mention Saturday, market day, where there are hundreds of sweet young things just begging to be asked out on Saturday night. Now some of them could be jailbait, so you have to be discreet, but all of them are fun if you know what I mean."

These guys were way ahead of me as I had been behind the door when they handed out dating brains and strategies in my youth.

Jimmy followed me out when I walked out of the office trailer. He told me, "Mike, these four are the best of the bunch that just got out. I know these men and figured four would be enough, but there are at least another six good men if we need more. These are the cream of the crop."

"Thanks, Jimmy; I know that I'm stretching what we do, but I had figured that it would slow down instead of becoming more demanding. Do you have enough equipment, or do we need to make another trip up to Lexington?"

Jimmy patted me on the back and said, "We're fine right now, Mike, but we might need some specialized equipment when we begin the development. I'm still shooting to put in the experimental roads and curbing. We'll be big bucks ahead on the infrastructure if we do it right."

When we reached my Jeep, Jimmy said, "We just about have Doc Rivers' ambulance done. Wait until it's finished; you're going to love it. We found plans for the interiors of the trucks from Korea, and have duplicated them. Doc may change it around over time, but it will be a show piece for her as it stands."

"Good work, Jimmy. You guys are far more valuable than anyone could imagine. Thanks for helping Mom put this together for Sheryl."

"Hell, Mike," Jimmy blustered, "Bernie and Sheryl are just shy of getting hitched. This is as much for Bernie as for the Doc. We even put an automatic transmission in it for him. We're all family, Mike. That's what makes us tick."

As I was getting into the Jeep, Jimmy asked, "Can I bring the four new guys out for supper tonight? I want them to meet the rest of the family and all of the girls from down the hill."

"I'll tell Millie and Mom, and I'll bet they will be happy to have you. Just plan on coming out."

I left the yard while dialing my cell phone. Millie answered the home phone, so I asked to speak to Mom. Millie told me that she was in the garden with all the other women. I drove to town to see Bernie after telling her to make sure that four more roadmen wouldn't be a problem.

Inside the newspaper, I spoke to Bernie while he was on the radio console and asked him, "How do you think it's going for this election coming up? I think that I should figure out whether or not I'll get the job again before I hire too many people for the development."

Bernie turned to me and said, "Mike, you need to start listening to the talk portions of the radio station. Everyone is saying there is no one else who begins to be able to do as good a job as you. They hear me taking calls, and I think a lot of them wait until I'm on the air live before calling in with a road problem. Their call is then broadcast, and the audience gets to hear me calling Jimmy to advise him of the problem. I have a deal with Jimmy and the guys where they call in when the repair is complete and the audience gets to hear that too. I record the call if I'm not on the air when the guys call in, and play it for the customers later. You walk on water, Man. Don't sweat it, and plan on plowing snow for four more years."

I sat back thinking of Bernie's value to the community, as well as to the entire surrounding area. He has made a difference in the town and county by pulling them together and keeping everyone informed of what's real and what's only good gossip.

Bernie sat forward and told me, "It was you that made me get out of that wheelchair and stand on my own two feet, or rather foot, Mike. You brought Sheryl and me together, and that is going to be something that will affect us for their rest of our lives. It was also because of you that all of the County Council came to me for advertising. You've helped me expand my advertising all the way up to Mount Sterling, and we'll be into Lexington with the new FM station. All I have to do is sell the advertising, or hire a bunch of sales people and let them do it. We're going to put our little station on the map."

"That's super, Bernie. I've worried over you and the road men making it here since you guys came along, but I also know that you guys look out for each other. I'm here to ask a couple of questions."

"Shoot!"

"You and Sheryl will end up in Sheryl's family's house. I know she'll never leave the house where her father, grandfather, and great grandfather began practicing medicine in this area. You and Sheryl already have a home to go to. I put Gene into your group, and he and Maude are set. Seven of the other guys are moving toward permanent relationships, and will want a better place to live than the trailers you're in now. Do you think they would want to build their own places now, or do you think that a small apartment building would work for a while? I was thinking of building a small apartment building closer to the side road at the yard, but it would still be just behind it."

Bernie looked at me funny, "I'm not the guy to ask. You need to go back out to the yard and talk to Jimmy and the guys. The guys will go along with whatever Jimmy decides, so Jimmy is the guy to ask."

"Okay," I agreed with Bernie, "I'll go back and talk to Jimmy, but I do value your opinion because you pal with those guys daily."

"Thanks, Mike, but I'm kind of in another ballpark with this. Once I was injured and couldn't work with the rest of them any longer, I haven't been able to be with them much, other than on the radio and telephone. We're all still buds, but I'm not part of that intimate working group. I'm Jet's brother and an ex-engineer, but I'm just not part of them any more."

I could see and feel Bernie's regret, but I could also see his resolve to enjoy the new life that he was creating and living. He told me, "Go see Jimmy. I know he talked to you at the yard earlier, and he's going to be there familiarizing the new guys with all the equipment. Go see him."

There was more that I wanted to talk to Bernie about, but it could wait. I really did need to resolve the housing issue before it becomes a problem.

Jimmy had the guys looking at the huge road graders when I drove back into the road yard. The four men were crawling around like snakes on the big pieces of equipment. They were really into the heavy machinery.

Jimmy walked over to the Jeep as soon as I stopped and as I got out he asked; "What's up, Boss, did you forget something?"

"Yes, I did, Jimmy, I need to talk to you and the men about housing. I just talked to Bernie about it and he sent me back to talk to you. Bernie is hooking up with Sheryl and will probably be making that permanent soon. I feel that seven of you guys are working toward marriage and will want something better than a shared trailer for a place with new mates. What do you think that you guys will want? Do you think you would want to build your own places now, or would you think that a small apartment building would work better for a while? My thought was to build a small apartment building closer to the side road that would still be just behind the road yard.

Jimmy was thinking about what I had just said, when I added, "You do know that if I was to decide to not continue as road commissioner, that I would have to put a fence up between your trailers and the yard, and add a pole barn for some of our equipment, don't you? While you're considering this, think of the future and what you and the others might prefer."

Jimmy said, "That's a lot to think about, Mike," as we leaned against the Jeep. "Right now, I think the guys would want to try to remain as close together as possible. We're still thinking as a unit, although we weren't all in the same units before. We come from the same mold, the same type of activities, and working with you is like we've built our own unit. Considering that the women seem to all be compatible with each other, I think an apartment type building would be a good idea. And if you use some of the land behind the apartment building, it would be the right size for a big pole barn, it could also be a perfect commonly shared garage for us. Would it be financially reasonable to do all of that?"

I smiled at Jimmy and said, "Get together with the guys and design a floor plan for an apartment complex. I originally thought about ten to twelve units, but I'm now thinking that we should build at least twenty, so that we will have room for more families if we continue to expand. We may or may not keep the trailers, but that's going to be up to the single guys. We'll keep the trailers if they like them, but I think we should sell them if they are empty."

Jimmy quietly said, "You know that a couple of the guys are going to want to stay in the trailers. They prefer each other's company, if you know what I mean. We'll let them make their minds up and go from there."

As I opened the Jeep door, Jimmy said, "You know, you might want to keep the trailers for temporary quarters for men that come in to work on your developments. It would be a good way for them to have a decent place while they look for something more permanent."

"Good idea, Jim. Work on that floor plan and get Gene to do some architectural stuff for us. I think we need to build the apartment building as soon this summer as possible."

Jimmy was smiling, "Me too, Boss. There are a bunch of us who are ready to tie the knot. Thanks for thinking of us. That's why we're all so gung ho for everything you're doing."

I called Benson as I left the road yard. "Hey, Mr. B, do you want to have lunch together or would you prefer to come to dinner?"

There wasn't even a pause when he asked, "How about both? Maude and I are supposed to have lunch with Jeff Stevens from the County Council. Is that good, or do you need to talk about something private?"

"Part of it is private, but I can ask you that now. I'm thinking of building an apartment building near the road yard for the men and their future wives. You know how those relationships have blossomed, right?"

Benson said, "Yeah, D's girls have mesmerized those men. I think those men are all goners; hook, line, and sinker."

"I don't have the money to do everything, but I could probably borrow it considering that I could use what I have as collateral. Do you think I should borrow the money to build the apartments, use money directly from the funds, or borrow what I need from the funds and pay interest to them?"

"Tell you what," Benson said, "I'll talk to Maude real quick and give you an answer. I'm leaning toward either giving it to you directly, or having you borrow it from the trust. We could list it as an investment that way. Of course, the trust could buy the land from you, build the building, and it would become the owner of an apartment complex. Like I said, I'll ask Maude. It's almost time for you to head to the Kitchen to meet us for lunch. Head over there now and I'll pick Maude up on the way."

After hanging up from Benson, I called home to tell them I wouldn't be there for lunch. Mom answered and after I told her about lunch, she said, "Michael, D's girls and Carla are all talking about a summer wedding. If you're going to build the apartment building that you mentioned, you better get started. Those kids are planning on setting up housekeeping soon, very soon."

"Okay, Mom, I'll make sure something gets started on it today. I'll see you this afternoon."

I really needed to go see how Raul was working at Bert's, because that's a huge project with a tight time line. Esteban's house doesn't have to be done right away, but the milking area has to get done quickly.

A man I didn't know came up to me with his hand sticking out as soon as I parked at the Kitchen, "Mike Grayson?"

Since the guy was in a suit and tie, he was immediately suspect in my eyes. No one around here dressed like that; even Benson didn't wear a tie most of the time. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm Mort Dimmert, from the University in Lexington. I'm supposed to meet a lawyer, Mr. Benson, the trust fund accountant, and one of the County Council members for lunch. Benson said you might come by and I recognized you from the front bumper on the Jeep. Let's get a table and have some coffee."

If this was supposed to be a private lunch, the Kitchen wasn't the place to have it. Everyone met and shared gossip here, so a gathering of Benson, Maude, Jeff, and me, with a man in a suit, was going to fire the gossip mongers up. I'd bet it was on the radio right after or even before we finished lunch.

Benson pulled in as we were getting ready to go up the steps into the diner. Jeff parked right next to Benson, got out, and headed toward me. We all shook hands and walked in.

We were a strange mix of people. I was in my BDUs, as usual; Benson in his usual dress slacks, dress shirt, sweater vest, but no tie; Maude was actually wearing a skirt, but it was a little short for a lady of her age, especially considering that she was the town accountant. Then there was Jeff Stevens, a good farmer and grain elevator operator. He was in dusty bib overalls and a cap. Our group, accompanied by Mort in an expensive suit, stood out like a strobe light on a dark night.

There was a table big enough for us in the corner, so we went straight to it. As we sat, Maude said, "Benson and I agree that you should borrow the money from the fund. That will work best."

Jeff and Mort quizzically looked at us, but I said, "Just the answer to a question I had on a building for some employees."

Jeff said, "It's good that you're also here, Mike. Benson and Maude said that they would meet with me and Mort, but you should be a part of this since you're the other trustee."

We ordered and were quickly served coffee and iced tea. Mort began, "Jeff is a member of the group that is working with us for the scholarship students that will be coming to the university next fall. I have to tell you that a private scholarship fund that is going to sponsor ten full scholarships a year is unusual, but more importantly, it's wonderful. Maude and Benson have put a lot of time in on this, and Jeff has been instrumental in getting the high school on board with the program. I'm here to just get a look at the folks who are responsible for this."

Benson answered, "It isn't us. Maude, Mike, and I are following the trust's directions to help our community as much as possible."

Jeff interrupted, "The scholarship program is not the only thing that the trust fund is doing. The fund is expanding the school and enlarging our medical clinic. Now that the trust is going to create a new housing development, it will be expanding and improving our waste and sewage disposal system. The scholarship program will be important as we want to keep some of our smartest kids right here to work in our schools, medical areas, and in business. I have a kid that will be one of the scholarship kids, and I want him to take the grain elevator business over, so his agriculture and business degree will be very important."

Mort said, "I don't know how this trust came about, but it's obviously benefiting the community. You three trustees are working hard for the trust. I hope you are being well paid for your activities."

Jeff was startled, "Are you guys employees of the trust? Are you paid a lot?"

Mort quickly jumped in, "They should be, trusts always have a few well-paid representatives that make it work." Mort was smiling as if he knew something that no one else did.

Maude set Jeff and Mort straight. "The three of us are volunteer trustees. Benson only gets paid for any legal work that he does for the trust. I get paid bookkeeping and accountant fees, and Mike gets nothing. He will get to borrow money at the current interest rates, but he could do that at the bank. That's why this private trust is working. The trustees are doing what they do for the community, not themselves. Every dime the trust spends is accounted for, and no money goes toward salaries."

Jeff softly said, "That's what I thought. It's like the area's own big brother or benefactor."

Mort said, "I can't believe that a trust as valuable as this one must be, has no salaried employees. I'll have to look the trust up online. I'm sure the details are registered with the State."

Benson told Mort, "This is a private trust. There is no public disclosure, since the trust is a taxpayer when it makes money, you can see that, but that's all. Think about this trust as being a gift to the area from someone. That's actually what it is."

Mort was really getting aggravated, "So you're telling me that the trust can't give me a stipend to help manage your students at the university?"

It was Jeff who began turning red in the face as he asked, "Do you mean that you want to milk the trust? Who in the world would pay you to do what the university is supposed to do anyway?"

"It's a common practice for donors to sponsor a university official with a stipend to make sure the donations go to the right place." Mort was getting wound up. "A large donor like you has to have someone like me, or one of the others who are going to approach you, to manage the students you send. How are you going to keep track of the students and their activities?"

Benson leaned across the table toward Mort, "It will be easy because every parent of every kid who goes to school sponsored by the fund will know how the kid is doing. The high school will be tracking the kids' progress, and believe me, this trust will be watching as well. We will be paying bills directly, so the university is only selling classes and housing. We don't need an on campus manager, and you should alert your cohorts to that."

We ate in silence while thinking about the short discussion. When Benson wiped his mouth with his napkin, he asked Mort, "So tell me, Mort, what donors and trusts do you currently manage?"

Mort puffed up a little and said, "I manage almost two dozen major donors and five major trusts that sponsor students. I have a list right here on my resume for you. You'll need to know them, so that you'll know that I will be the best person to handle your students."

This guy didn't get it. Benson was doing some investigative stuff, and will probably go on a crusade to burn good old Mort. Benson thanked Mort and said, "We'll be getting back to you right away. I'm sure you're busy, considering your responsibilities to the university."

"You do know I'm the head of the sociology department, don't you?" Mort asked, with a straight face. "It does give me some latitude to handle some of these outside obligations."

Jeff said, "I have to get back to the elevator. We're doing some good business in seed sales, even though it's late. There are always farmers who are late putting their crops in. I'm getting all of the farms toward Pine Ridge and beyond since the old elevator over there closed. I'm getting some business from up toward Mount Sterling too, since I've been running ads on the radio. My prices are better, and that's bringing in more business." Jeff stood and said, "I'll talk to you later, Benson, Maude, and you stop by, Mike. I have some special flour for your folks next door. Good to meet you, Mort." I think I heard Jeff mutter something that sounded derogatory as he made his way out of the restaurant.

Mort was digging for his wallet. I said, "I have it today. I'm sure you will be hearing from us soon."

Maude didn't get up, but remained sitting as she waved a waitress over and asked for three coffees.

We watched Mort go out and get into his Mercedes and leave; what else would he have? Benson opened up with, "That guy wants a kickback, a bribe, for doing what?"

"No, Benson," Maude said, with some rancor in her voice, "He wants a stipend to manage our students."

"Stipend my ass; excuse me, Maude, but that guy thinks he can milk the trust to do what would probably equal nothing. I'm going to call every one of these donors and ask them what Mort's value really is. There must be something we're missing."

I told the two; "I don't know enough about universities to comment. My only major contact was with the archeology people, and they were truly appreciative of everything we did. My thinking is that we take care of the kids for the cost of tuition, food, and housing, and they take it from there. We should definitely stay in touch with them to make sure they're getting along and progressing, but we don't need a manager. If we do; I think one of the local high school teachers could interface with the university. I'd rather give them a stipend than some guy in an expensive suit and a Mercedes."

Benson said, "Well said, Mike. I'll do some digging and let you two know what I find. Maude, you might be able to check on some of these trusts to find out how upfront they are."

It was Maude who made my day. "You know why Benson and I are doing what we're doing with you on this deal, Mike? It's because you came to us not wanting the money and glory for yourself. You immediately wanted to help the community instead of yourself. If you can give a fortune away, Benson and I can give some time away. Besides, you insisted we be paid for professional services, so we have no reason to be upset. Thank you for helping me to be a better person, Mike."

"You're choking me up," Benson told Maude, holding his throat. "Okay, Mike, you've had your daily praise. Go do something important. I'll see you tonight."

"You invited this slimeball lawyer for supper and didn't invite me?" Maude acted upset.

I was shaking my head and said, "Come out, Maude. Make Gene come with you so that you can both meet some new road guys."

I left as Benson drove off with Maude. The sight gave me a smile, as those two were special friends.

I called home again on the way out to Bert's, and was able to talk to Mom. "Ah, besides the four new road guys, Benson is coming, so I would imagine that would include his wife and kids, and Maude and Gene. I'm sure you expect Bert, as he has been somewhat of a fixture at the table since we got together."

Mom told me, "I've sent D to the church to pick up a couple of tables and some folding chairs. You need to buy some folding tables and chairs just for this the next time you go to Lexington. We're having stew from all the roasts we made yesterday, with some biscuits to go with it. That will feed a lot of people and fill them up. Just to give you a heads up; we'll be having meatloaf tomorrow, so you can invite as many as you want. Just let me know so that we have enough room."

How in the world can Mom and Millie just come up with enough food for twenty-five to thirty people? We're feeding as many people as a lot of small restaurants. Oh well, it's fun to be around our house.

I thought there must be a convention going on when I drove up to Bert's. There were at least forty cars and pickups sitting around. There was also a barn being built. Not just a pole barn; but a real two story, complete with hayloft, barn. There were men on the roof setting metal panels in place. There were men on the roof of a large concrete block building attached to the front of the barn. There were people working everywhere. There was a man standing at a folding table with plans in front of him.

I could see it was Raul as I got out of the Jeep and walked toward him. He looked up at me and smiled, "Hey, Mike, did you come to see how we are doing? Come see what the milking parlor is going to look like."

We walked into the left side of the concrete block building, and a raised area that already had stanchions built, with feeder bins in the front of each stall, confronted me. There were six of these stanchions that had clear plastic pipe and air lines run across the areas with each milking station having an air hose nozzle and spigot for the milk transfer.

"This is a huge milking parlor, Raul. Is this what Esteban designed?"

"Esteban and George got together and decided this would be the most modern for what you want to do. We're making good progress, as you can see. Come see the rest."

We went through a door into a little hallway area with a closet that I suppose would be for supplies and cleaning chemical storage. We opened a door on the other side of the hallway and entered a stark white room with a huge bulk milk tank, the pasteurization equipment, a milk can cooler, a milk can rack, and a big double stainless steel utility sink.

I exclaimed, "This looks like it's done; like it's ready to start."

Raul said, "The hot water tank isn't installed yet, and the compressor is just now being put in. Esteban says he needs to do a couple of wash cycles through all of the pipes, bulk tank, and pasteurization equipment, but he says he can begin milking here by this weekend."

"Raul, this is unbelievable. How did you do this so fast?"

"You noticed a few extra workers? I put a notice up in Lexington and Cincinnati for carpenters, electricians, and plumbers for a spot job that would pay ten percent over scale. I'm going to have the house and barn built by this weekend. If you want something done fast, you find the best and give them the materials. Come on; let's go see Esteban's house. His wife is over there right now doing some measuring for curtains."

There were another two dozen pickups and cars near Esteban's new house. The only thing I could think of was that it was a swarm of people. As we walked up, I asked, "You said you were putting up a house you tore down. How did you tear down a two story house?"

"It was easy, Mike. A bunch of Mexicans, who are used to not having anything but someone's leftovers, know how to do it. Use them and some good craftsmen from the USA, and you get work like this. This is one hell of a house, and is now going to be better than it was since it has a good foundation and all new wiring and plumbing. I think Esteban and family are going to need some help furnishing the place. You might want to help him with that."

The house was amazing. There were three big bedrooms with a big bathroom upstairs, a master bedroom and bath downstairs, along with a living room, dining room, and giant country kitchen. This was a nice home for anyone.

Esteban was painting trim in the living room when I walked in, and carefully put his brush down. He came to me and took my hand while looking at me. I thought he was going to cry. "Thank you, thank you, Mike. This is all more than anyone could ask. We will be forever indebted to you for what you have done. The milking operation and barn are first class. I've told Raul that I can finish building out the inside of the barn, since that isn't as important as getting the milking in the new area started. I'll have everything clean and ready by Wednesday or Thursday. We need to plan how to get the animals back here. Raul has some men rebuilding the fence now."

Raul said, "I used the same fence guys you used before. That should do it."

I told Esteban, "I'll call Maude and have her work with you to get the furniture you need. I suppose I'll see you at home for the evening milking."

As Raul and I were walking back to the barn, I told him, "You've done the unbelievable, Raul. Are you shorting the build out on the strip center?"

"They are almost done, Mike," Raul bragged. "Coup has already given us two more that can be done even faster. With the extra men I have here, I could shift them up there and really do a number on Coup's head. As it is, when I told him what I was doing with men here, he told me to get all of their telephone numbers and information, so that he can use the best for the school and clinic. It's all working out."

I decided to tell Raul, "Do you think you could build an apartment building? Something with about twenty units?"

"No problem, Mike. I've done one before, but it was fifty units. There are so many regulations in LA that it took forever to get it done. Down here I can build a twenty unit place in a month if I wanted to."

"You may get to show me, Raul. I think we're going to build one behind where the road yard is to take care of the families there. There is a good area that should work for the building."

"Just point and shoot, Mike. We'll get right on it. All these guys were dying for work, and jumped right on this. Make it happen, Mike, and we'll keep them working."

I finally found Bert sitting on a lawn chair on his porch, watching the activity. He began to stand when I came up to him, but I waved him to stay seated. "Just stopped by to make sure you come to supper tonight. We're having a slug of people over and you can meet some new folks that will be working with us."

Bert nodded and said, "I can do that. Been a little off kilter lately, and even went to see Doc Rivers' kid. She said I'm just old and mean, but that I was doing okay. That made me feel better. I miss her dad and granddad, but she seems to be a good doctor. She always has a smile for us oldies but goodies."

"I'll see you at supper, Bert. Come stay with us whenever you're feeling poorly. We'll watch out for you."

The old man gave me a smile, "You would tell me that, wouldn't you, Mike? Your family is special."

I couldn't help but wonder on the way home how Bert's kids could leave him to be alone instead of taking him in. I guess they weren't given the same attention Mom and Dad gave us kids, or they have become immune to feelings. It is a cold world out there.

Our driveway was getting crowded as Millie now had a pickup and the Expedition, Mom's Explorer, Sissy's Expedition, and my truck that was gone, as the slot where it should be was empty. I backed the Jeep into that slot, thinking that I wanted to take the top off now that the weather was getting nice.

I walked out to the garden area and was immediately surrounded by kids. In addition to Minya and Mato, Sissy's and Shirley's kids came running over. Esteban's kids came to join the others in welcoming me home. Sissy was nearby and said, "Just in time to begin cleaning kids and getting ready for evening milking. I hear that we may be milking over at the new place by this weekend."

"I was just there, Sis. The place looks like it could do the job now, but Raul said there is some more to do. The house is almost ready to move into, and Esteban and his wife are going to need help furnishing and decorating. Talk with them during milking or at supper this evening. I think they are staying."

Shirley had come to join the group and said, "I think Mom must be getting nuts. There are going to be so many people here this evening that we won't be able to get them all in the house. Do you know that she even called Harold and Martha to come?"

This was becoming a laughing matter, and I did laugh. "I suppose this is a celebration then. I'm glad Harold is coming so he can say the blessing."

Because of the time, all the people working in the garden began gathering their tools to take them in and clean. I told the women, "I need to check on the stock in the big pasture. The kids can walk with me, and I'll help get them cleaned up when we get back.

All the kids, including Esteban's, came and all of them talked at once all the way to the new pasture. They all told me about what they had done today.

The dairy stock came up to see what the humans were doing, so we were able to see all of them. The beef stock steers weren't interested in anything other than grazing. I suppose that's about all I'd want to do if I lost my balls too.

We went through the gates to check that the water troughs up by the bluffs and in the middle of the pasture were flowing. We were surprised to see two deer standing with the beef stock watching us, but keeping a steer between them and us. I wondered if these were the result of having a pet deer up by the house.

We walked through the orchard on the way back to the house, and I saw that all of the cow manure had been scooped up so falling fruit wouldn't later be contaminated. I wondered if that had been done at the other two orchards. I would check tomorrow.

Sissy's and Shirley's kids took Minya and Mato inside to get cleaned up when we got back. Esteban's kids followed Sissy, Shirley, and me out to the barn to get ready for the evening milking. We did get the equipment washed and prepared the grain for the cows to eat while they were being milked.

Just as we let the first group of cows in, Esteban and wife showed up so that we now had a full staff for milking. It went fast and we soon were cleaning up the parlor and equipment that we used.

Esteban commented, "I sometimes think that I will miss milking by hand, the way we are doing it now. It is a very personal experience and all of us working together like this gives me a good feeling. The new equipment will be welcome, but it isn't as much of a warm experience as hand milking."

I knew what he meant, and that we would probably want to have a cow here for our own milk and butter. There would be some adjustment for all of us.

We all washed up after we cleaned the equipment up. Esteban said that he and his family would eat with us, but they wanted to change into some clean clothes first. I understood, as I was sweaty from today and hadn't really done anything difficult.

The house was filling up, so I greeted everyone and said I would be right back. I went back into the bedroom after taking a quick shower and shave, and found Millie and Rosita there waiting for me. Both of their eyes went to my middle, but they shifted back to my face when they saw that I wasn't aroused. Millie said, "We have some different clothes for you to wear. We thought you might like to dress differently tonight for a change."

I answered them as I went to get some underwear from the bureau drawer, "Sounds good, but does it take both of you to dress me?"

Millie giggled, "Rosita wanted to see you naked. I knew you would be coming from the shower that way, so we waited." She gave me a kiss on the cheek as the two ladies left the room giggling.

I was slipping my pants on when Sissy came in, "Damn, I missed the skivy show. Thought I might catch your bare ass and ogle you a little."

"Get off it, Sis, what's up?"

"Your brother and brother-in-law want some loving, so they are coming out this weekend. Considering how busy they usually are during the week, that's about all the loving we get in anyway. I just wanted to let you know that you won't be the only cock on the walk this weekend."

"Good deal. I'll enjoy having them around. I'm sure the kids will be happy to see their dads."

Sissy said, "Probably, but they're having too good a time out here. I have to struggle to get them to do their schoolwork. All they want to do is to run the countryside now that they have been given some freedom."

I was dressed in a nice knit shirt and slacks, ready to go out, when Sissy hugged me, "You really need to consider letting Rosita into your marriage. Millie really wants it, and Rosita is crazy for you. Think about it, Mike. You wouldn't be abandoning Millie or turning from John and the twins that are coming."

"You know how I feel about that, Sissy. The rules are one man and one woman makes a marriage. I don't see you running out and gathering another babe for Bill."

My dear sister said, "Shirley and I have talked about it, and if something was to happen to Bill or Frank, the spouse would join the other couple. We never did decide how it would work if one of us girls passed, but it would probably be the same. If we had someone close to us like Marita or Rosita, I would probably want to make them a part of our family."

"Well, Sis, Rosita is part of our family, just not a wife part. I'm happy having one wife, Millie. Perhaps you would like to take Rosita home for Bill?"

"She's yours, Mike. If I find someone for Bill, I will bring her home and I'd bet he wouldn't be as picky as you are." She stuck her tongue out at me as she left the room.

The house was now packed. The new road guys were in awe at how many people there were moving around in the house. The aroma of the perfume that D's six and Carla were wearing was a nice greeting. Sheryl, Maude, and Martha had some smell good stuff on too. D was roaming around the room, handing out glasses of some of our Merlot that I thought tasted good.

The kids were lined up on couches, talking and watching the TV that had the sound muted. Raul, Gene, Jimmy, and the other road guys were huddled together with a notebook. Esteban was talking to D, and who should show up but Ezra. He was given a hug and cheek kiss by Mom and Millie, and D gave him a hearty handshake. It took a while to get him acquainted with some of the people he didn't know, but it went smoothly for a guy who had once been number one on Mom's shortlist of potential suitors.

Mom winked at me and said, "What's one more for supper, right?"

Ezra talked about working with the crews some, and I told him that Jesus and Pedro would probably enjoy his company if he wanted to work with them. He found out where they were working and said he would stop by tomorrow.

When we were all at tables, I asked Harold to give the blessing. The man said all of the right things and prayed for the success of the new farm and the health of all. Everyone sat to eat after a communal 'Amen'.

Stew probably wouldn't be that much of celebration dinner, but it was perfect for the assembled people. It was Esteban who stood before dessert and said, "I need to thank all of you here tonight for welcoming my family into yours. We have become a part of a family that has become everything to us since we escaped from the tyranny of the cartels. Each of you has welcomed us and we hope to be a productive part of the family. Now that we will be beginning our new adventure at the new dairy farm, I need to remind you all that our home is open to you anytime. Thank you again for welcoming us to the family."

Harold stood and said, "Everyone knows that Mike and his family now take up half of even the new sanctuary. The church has grown to the point that our expansion may need expanding. It's great to have good friends and good church friends like this. Thank you all. To the new men here tonight, come join us on Sunday. You'll meet a lot of nice people and hopefully enjoy the service."

D pointed at me and said, "Say something, Mike."

I stood, "There's not much for me to say. To you four new men, welcome to our group. Feel free to visit when you need or want to. The folks you see here are many of the people we work with daily, so know that you're welcome. I have to tell all of you that Mom doesn't know how to make a small supper. So those of you that enjoy a sense of family, come eat with us."

I looked at Bert as I was about to sit; "The man sitting here next to me is responsible for me getting into the dairy business much deeper than is probably prudent. Bert here had the misfortune of losing his barn and as he was selling me his stock, he started insisting that I buy his farm too. That started this whole mess, and you know what? We gained a granddad for the kids. Minya and Mato think he's special. Thank you, Bert."

The old man was smiling while dabbing his eyes. He leaned to me when I sat down, "I sure wish my lady could have been a part of this family too. This is the way a family should be."

We had some apple pie for dessert, and then there were different opinions on who had something from D's stock or coffee.

Folks began leaving early, as there were just too many at the house to be comfortable. Ezra, Benson, and family, Maude and Gene, Bernie and Sheryl, Harold and Martha, and Esteban and family, all left early. The road guys and D's girls made short work of the kitchen cleanup, while the kids were being entertained and read to by Shirley.

When the road guys began leaving with the girls, the four new men came to me as I was sitting with Millie and Rosita. One said, "Thank you for having us here for supper. We hear that this is not unusual, so I hope we get to visit again. All of us want to thank you for bringing us here to work. This is like a new start for all of us. Thanks."

We were now down to a small peaceful herd. I saw Mom stretch and yawn as she took D's hand and pulled him toward her bedroom. She smiled and winked at me as they went down the hall. Sissy noticed and grinned a little.

Karen and Marita said goodnight to everyone, as Sissy and Shirley shooed their kids to bed. I had to carry Minya and Mato into bed, but that was a joy knowing that they were happy children. Shirley was gone when I came back in the living room, but Sissy and Rosita were there with Millie, who was still holding John.

I sat down in a rocker that was turned toward one of the couches, and Sissy handed me a glass of wine. She said to us, "I tried, Rosita, but Mike doesn't want to budge. I even talked to Harold tonight, but he said it isn't something he should be involved with. He said that Mike could have more women, but it was up to him and that he, Harold, shouldn't be the deciding person. He did say that other than the laws of the state, there was no reason why Mike couldn't have more than one wife."

Rosita smiled as she said, "It's silly to want a man who already has a wife, isn't it? But the wife wants me to be a wife to the same man with her. Mike is enough man for both of us, but if he says no, he is the master of this family, and I can love him just the same. I just can't love him the same as a wife."

As she rubbed her swelling belly, Millie spoke, "I think I will have given Mike all the babies that I can when I have these twins. Ever since meeting and falling in love with Mike, I've wanted us to have more wives to make Mike more than he is. It's like he would be more important in the community if he had more wives. That isn't silly to me. I will honor what my man thinks, but it doesn't mean I can't dream of my man having more wives."

I didn't want to say anything, since it wouldn't be welcome by three ladies who have their minds made up. I did stand and hold my hand out to Millie, "Come, let me put John to bed. You and Rosita should also go to bed. Sissy, are you coming or sleeping with your kids?"

The three women stood as one and followed me into the bedroom. There was a flurry of clothes as they changed and were in bed waiting for me. There was a space between Millie and Rosita that I figured was for me. I slid between them; received kisses from each side, and had heads on each shoulder. With my arms under both women, Sissy took advantage of my empty hand and put a breast in it as she lay on her side. All of them are strange. None of them listen.

I fell asleep thinking about having multiple wives, and the problems it could create.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 48

The next morning after half the county ate supper with us, I wanted to take a walk around the side of the mountain and check out all the orchards, vineyards, and the blackberry patches. D had told me how well the vineyards were looking and he said that this year's apple and pear crops were going to be big enough that we should consider some hard cider. I'll let him convince me of that when the time comes.

I gathered the kids and told them that we needed to take a long walk to look at the orchards. We walked around the side of the mountain and checked the old Finnerty orchard and vineyard. The grapes looked like they were going to be too thick and would have to be thinned so that bunches didn't break the vines. It looked as if D and the girls were retying the heavy vines so they wouldn't snap under the weight. When I asked him about it later, he told me that many vineyard owners went through their vines pruning out all but the richest looking grapes to make those that remained even more intense and strong in flavor and sugar. He told me that the combination of soil, light, air, water, and fertilizer – especially the chicken manure made that unnecessary in our vineyards, so we grew a bigger crop of better grapes for less work, a real "trifecta".

The orchards were beautiful and it appeared that we would have another great harvest. The high blackberry patches were bear free and needed to be picked, so I made a mental note. After walking down to Millie's old place, we looked at that orchard and vineyard and found it in the same condition as the higher ones. We went into the orchard area and enjoyed a cool drink of water from the spring water piped into the flowing troughs. The huge blackberry patch near Millie's old home was also bear free, but I thought we should walk down the hill to look down into the patch by the highway. We were surprised to find that where the bear had been before was pretty much filled in now, so the bear wasn't living around here any more.

We made our way back up the mountain and scared up several rabbits, but didn't see any deer. As we neared the top of the hill, some of the men working on the tower and wind turbines came from the upper area through the high road in a four wheeler. They stopped to chat a minute, telling me that they were meeting a truck that was delivering materials and a large crane they were going to use. That was going to be interesting.

We made it home for lunch, and you could tell that the little ones were ready for a nap after they finished eating. Sissy and Shirley directed their four to do some reading and studying, as they usually did that during the morning.

I discussed how full the berry patches were with Mom. She immediately started organizing everyone to be ready to go berry picking in the morning. She said they would take lunch with them and have a picnic in the vineyard. Millie said she would use one of the carts so that she could go too, as she didn't want to miss out. She figured John would enjoy playing in the fenced in areas of the orchards, and she wouldn't have to worry about him that way.

Shortly after lunch, Pete, the farmer whose place was next to Bert's called and asked me when I was planning on looking at his place. I guessed he wasn't blowing smoke about selling his place, but I had no idea how I could work another farm. I was thinking that Bert's place was going to be all Esteban could handle, but I should get him and let him look at the place with me.

"Pete, I'll be over within the hour and you can show me around. I'm going to stop and pick up Esteban, the man working the dairy farm, so that he can give me his idea of what it might take to work yours too."

Pete was happy to hear that I could come right away. He said, "I'll be watching for you. I bought me one of those carts that you can drive all over the place. It's nice to use to run out to look at your fields, as well as for hunting."

Esteban was coming from his house after he had finished lunch when I pulled up, so I was able to Shanghai him to look at Pete's place.

Pete was sitting in his four-person cart when I pulled up. He said, "Let's go look at the tillable fields before we look at the buildings and equipment. I want you to see how I'm set up." While we rode along, Pete explained that what he owned was three hundred and twenty acres, but had only cultivated two hundred seventy. The rest was some wooded area and a large pond or small lake that had been shaped from a big creek that flowed through the edge of his property. You could tell that the bottom land where the lake was didn't flood, and I wondered how that was possible. This area must be a lot higher than it seemed.

Something unusual that I saw was the quantity of white barnyard geese and ducks that were in and around the small lake. Pete told me, "You won't believe this, but those geese and ducks walk all the way down here from the house every day. They begin walking home about three, and stay inside my poultry houses. I have some strange fowl, I'll tell ya."

We rode to where he said the edge of his property was, and he advised me, "That there you see on the other side of this creek is Bert's. We've sort of been at odds over the years, since the deeds state that the river or creek is the boundary between the properties, but the river moved toward his land before either one of us bought our places. There are some survey posts, and if you use them, Bert's right; if you use the river, I'm right. That's why you need to buy me out. Then and only then will that dispute go away."

The two men were obviously not too worried about the boundary, as they appeared to be close friends. The fields we were being shown were all in great shape. There was some corn, about fifty acres of wheat, another sixty of soy beans, sixty acres of oats, with the rest in alfalfa. Pete said he often sold corn to George, the dairy farmer, so his corn and soy beans were usually fertilized with nitrogen. He told me the oats and wheat were both organically pure, as was the hay.

Up at the house, he showed us through a nice barn that had a couple of milking stalls that were unused. The barn was fairly empty, except for a couple of bins with ground corn and oats for an old mule Pete had, and a couple of white face steers. The one thing Pete had was a lot of poultry. He had chickens running loose everywhere, along with regular and white turkeys. I wondered how he collected eggs as it looked like a lot of his chickens were sitting on nests in the high grass.

Pete walked us over to a large metal building that was really a pole barn. He slid one of the big doors to the side and waved his hand at his equipment. "I have everything you need to work the place, and it's all in perfect shape. I sort of play at keeping everything mechanically right, washed, and painted. I take some teasing from some of the other guys sometimes, but my equipment always treats me right."

Esteban looked over each piece of equipment, and commented that it all looked brand new. You could see how meticulous Pete was, as each piece of equipment sat centered within painted lines on the concrete floor.

We pushed the door shut and walked with Pete toward his house. He pointed to a picnic table under a walnut tree and said, "Let me get us some tea, and I'll be right back."

Esteban said, "I should be getting back. Can I take the Jeep to the new place and you can get Pete to take you there?"

"Go ahead, Esteban. What do you think of this place before you go?"

"It is a good farm. Pete has kept it nice and is proud of it. I'm not sure I could do it justice if you wanted me to work both places. A dairy farm is a busy place, and we are going to be busy. I have an idea, though. You know the boy who Carla picked out? He is a good farm boy and Carla came from a farm family. Granted that she comes from a Mexican farm, but farmers are farmers. I'd bet that boy would love to farm this ground and have a place for him and Carla to raise some kids."

That was food for thought. If we lost John to this farm, we would need another heavy equipment operator. John was just about as good as Jet with the bulldozer, and I'd heard he handled all of the big equipment very well. He might be able to work the farm and do some work on the roads.

Pete came out with only two glasses of tea. He said, "I saw your man leave in your Jeep. I'll run you over to Bert's when we're done dickerin'."

After taking a drink of his tea, Pete said, "You heard me tell you that I wanted the same deal as Bert. I want to live my life out right here on this property, and in that house. I might want to take a trip or two with Bert, but I would want to know the house would be here when I get back."

The old guy was smiling at me as he began again, "Now I have a better deal here than at Bert's. You don't have to build a place for another family to come live here and work the place. This here house is really two houses put together. It's almost what you call a duplex. I built the second half of this house for my wife's folks, but they never lived a day in it. It has been empty for over twenty years. My in-laws died in the same car wreck that my wife did up in Mount Sterling. I kept thinking I would rent it out, but never got around to buying furniture. But a man, or small family, can live in that half and have total privacy. There isn't even a door between the two sides. The only thing shared is the big porch."

Pete was looking at me, wanting me to say something. I had to be honest with him, "Pete, you know I'm getting stretched out buying Bert's place and working on all of the stuff at home. This year's harvest is going to be good and I should have more money then, but I'm going to be a little tight for a while. I'd bet what you should get for this place is lot more than I should commit to."

"I figured you would be talking like that. Bert said he almost had to whip you to get you to take what he wanted for his place. Here's the way it is, Mike. I want you to give me exactly what you gave Bert, with the same deal. He has more land than me, but mine is all crops and planted. My equipment is in better shape, and I can promise you I'll be puttering around with it the same as I do now, so it will stay in shape. The difference in how I want you to pay me, is to go in and make old man Toll give you a deal on one of them Explorers for me. You know, four-wheel drive like your mom has. I can't stand talking to that guy, because I always feel like he's looking into my wallet to see if he left anything in there."

Pete sat there staring at me as I sipped my tea. I knew he wanted an instant answer, but how was I supposed to go to Benson and Maude and tell them I wanted to borrow more money for another farm. I told Pete, "Go see Benson, explain the deal to him, so that he can look up all of the property stuff at the court house. Meanwhile, I'll go see about a man that might want to work your farm. Are you in a hurry to make this deal?"

The man looked down and around a little bit before saying, "I am, actually, Mike. I want this done and finished right away so that Bert and I can take a vacation. You know, two old guys going through their bucket list. We been friends for a long time, and it's time that we do something like that."

"Come on," Pete said as he stood, "Let me take you back to Bert's. I really want you to buy me out, Mike. This is a good deal for you and I know you and your man, whoever he is, will take care of it."

That's just what I need, another farm to try to work. I can't take care of what I have at home, much less two farms away from the mountain. They are only about twenty minutes or so from the house, but still away from where I am...

Pete waved goodbye as soon as we arrived and went to find his old friend, Bert. Raul was standing outside the milk house holding my keys up. When I went to get them, he asked, "Do I need to find another house for that place?"

I laughed, "No, Raul, it has what is really a brand new addition that Pete built and has never been lived in. I didn't look at it, but I saw the way he keeps his out buildings and equipment, so I know it's in good condition."

Raul tugged my sleeve toward the door and said, "Come inside and see the finished product first. Everything is ready for the cows to be brought over. Esteban's wife is with Bea and one of your sisters getting furniture as we speak. They took some trucks so that they could bring most of it home with them. They were going to the Goodwill store up in Mount Sterling first, then on to a retail store."

After a tour of the milking area and barn, without pausing, Raul motioned for me to follow him back toward his work table, "Come look at what the men and I put together last night. Gene is supposed to have some good drawings to use this evening."

I looked through Raul's notebook and saw several drawings and sketches of what was going to be the new apartment building. "That looks good, Raul. What do we have to do to get permits?"

"Because your land is already zoned as multi-unit residential or light industrial, all I have to do is to drop our plans off and schedule some inspections. The County men here like me and will come when I call them."

"Good deal, Raul. When do you think we should start?"

"Jet and the cutting crew are clearing the land right now. Jimmy said he would have a couple of men begin putting in sewer, water, and underground utilities. He called to have construction power installed today."

"Holy smokes, Raul, how did you get the land ready to grade?"

"Easy, Mike; Gene has his survey equipment and Jimmy helped him stake it out this morning. You know that your guys don't mess around. All you have to do is ask when you want something done, and we all jump right on it."

I was smiling as I told Raul, "At least I won't have to have you build anything on the new place if I get it."

"You will, Mike. You'll think of something."

I got into my Jeep, but before starting it, I used my cell phone to call Benson. Denise answered and told me that her dad was with a couple of men. She said she thought that she could interrupt, so she put me on hold.

Benson picked up a minute later and asked, "What can I do for you, Mike?"

I took a deep breath and told him, "I was talking to Pete about his place today and thought you might give me some insight as to whether I should work something out with him."

Benson sounded cagey when he asked, "And what do you think, Mike?"

"The deal's almost too good to be true, just like Bert's place is, but I'm going to be stretching really far to do something like this. You know farming isn't the most lucrative business around."

"I see, Mike. So you're saying that you might need some assistance to make another deal of a lifetime?"

"Huh?" I asked, "How do you know what kind of deal I can make."

"Pete and Bert are sitting in front of me, enjoying some coffee. Pete said he wants the exact same deal Bert got, but he wants you to use some of the money and buy him an Explorer. My instructions to you are to come to my office and take Pete to pick out a truck. Buy it for him, and I'll make sure that Maude has your bank account covered."

"How did they get there? Pete's cart is still setting right here in front of me."

"Just come in and get Pete. Come back by when you two finish at Toll Ford. I'll have the papers ready, since Pete had already talked to me about this before he called you, and he had me get all of the information together for him. See you in fifteen."

The man hung up on me. I was a little nuts, because this was not only too fast, but I didn't have a commitment for anyone to start working the property. Benson didn't even tell me how I was going to finance the place.

Instead of only taking Pete to the Ford dealership, I had both Pete and Bert. The two men poked around the Explorers for a while, but Pete kept going over to look at a big four-door four-wheel drive pickup. The truck was painted in a bright metallic blue. He came back to me and said, "I want that one. I'm a farmer, not a city boy. I need a pickup."

Leo Toll had been standing off to the side where we were talking while the two older men looked through the vehicles. Leo said to me, "Tell you what, I'll take the discounted invoice and five hundred on the truck if we don't have to dicker for the next hour. Let me show you the invoices and notices."

Pete told me to go make a deal while he and Bert took a test drive. This was crazy, as I had been in and out of this dealership a lot lately. It took Leo fifteen minutes to go over all of the invoices and discount notices before he came up with a number. He added five hundred to it, and it looked good to me.

I had to round Pete up to sign the title paperwork for the truck fifteen minutes later. When we were done, I made sure that Pete would go straight to the gas station because the fuel gauge needle on the truck was on empty. Pete told me, "I'll go back to Bert's and let him drive my cart home, after that we'll both be over to your place for supper, okay?"

"That'll be great, Pete. My family is going to have a fit about your place, but I think a certain young couple will be pleased. We have to swing by Benson's and finish this first."

I called home and spoke to Millie on the way to Benson's. I told her to make sure that Carla came to supper with John Howard tonight, as I wanted to talk to them. I also told her that Pete and Bert were coming, and I was sure that Benson would probably want to come too."

Millie was happy as she said, "All of the road men will be here tonight because they said something about you beginning their apartment building. You'll have to tell me about that. Come home soon as it's getting close to milking time."

I was surprised that Benson had all of the paperwork ready to be signed. Pete and I signed everything, and Benson handed Pete a copy of the deposit slip for the balance of his money. Benson said, "I was able to get the final amount from Toll Ford and subtracted that the way you wanted, Pete. Did you get something good?"

"It's perfect, Benson. Thank you for putting this together for me. You really made me happy when you called me to tell me that Bert was selling to Mike, and that Mike would be a good man for my place. This has all worked out great."

As we shook hands all around, Benson asked, "Will I see you two for supper out at Mike's?"

The two farmers were nodding their heads 'yes' as they were smiling their way out the door.

Benson said, "I sort of set you up for that one, but Pete said he wanted to do business with you the same way Bert did. He even wanted the exact same money."

"How did I pay for it, Benson?"

"Don't worry about it; let Maude and me figure it out. Just keep doing everything you're doing and let us worry about money. I think that you could buy every farm in the county and not run out of money. Now go."

I called Jimmy to make sure that he was coming tonight, since he was going to have to replace John quickly. As soon as Jimmy answered he said, "Hey, Boss, I heard a rumor that you bought another farm. I might be mad if you're thinking about stealing one of my men, but I can't be mad for long if you're going to give John the chance of a lifetime so that he can marry Carla." He said there were more men available, but whether they could operate all of our heavy equipment was another thing.

"How did you find everything out so fast? This family is like a sieve. Everything runs through everyone as soon as it's said."

"It was easy; Esteban sort of let the cat out of the bag. I think Carla floated around and ended up in your kitchen to keep her from hurting herself. I've already called the perfect man for us. He's another strange one like Jet, but he doesn't stutter. He has a grin on his face that is the most disconcerting thing you've ever seen. He has a permanent grin. It's almost disgusting, since the guy acts as happy as he looks. Wait until he gets here and you'll see. I thought that he was going to offer to have my babies when I asked him if he wanted a job. You'll like him, Mike, and he is a good worker."

"It's your call, Jimmy. I told you that you hire who you think will work. You know the direction I want us to go in, so just move that way with me."

"See you at supper, Boss."

It didn't take long to do the chores, but when I was done, I needed to clean up just like yesterday. My shower and in the bedroom afterward didn't include Rosita, but it did include Millie, John, Minya, and Mato. The little ones had a lot to talk about, but their big news was that Sissy and Shirley had begun teaching them their ABCs and how to read.

I found Carla and John with the people who were gathering, and asked them to come outside with me for a few minutes. We sat at the picnic table and I began; "John, Carla, you both already heard part of what is happening, so I'll let this become official. I bought a farm today that I can't work myself, and although it's next door to the farm Esteban is going to work, Esteban can't do justice to both. He did recommend that you two might be the perfect people to run the place, since you are a Midwest farm boy, John, and you, Carla, are a farm girl. I know that you've made a commitment to marry each other, so the farm might be a perfect place to begin your married life."

Carla grinned really big. John smiled at me and said, "My dad sharecropped and lived on the land he tilled. He raised four of us kids on that land, and he still lives on it and works it. I'm willing to do the same thing with you, Mike. We're going to need a place to live, though."

"That's the good part, John. Pete built a second home onto his place that's like a duplex, and is actually totally separate. I didn't get a chance to look at it, but from what he said, it will be plenty big enough for you two and a couple of kids. If not, we'll build you a nice place."

I looked at Carla, "What do you think, Carla?"

She got up, ran around the picnic table, and hugged me. "Thank you, Mike. You've been a perfect friend from the minute I came here. Everyone in your family has treated me like I'm another member, and this is very special."

I reached across the table to shake hands with John. "You might be called on to help on the roads sometimes, and you'll still earn extra by doing that. Carla can still work with the other ladies, but I'll bet she'll want to begin her own garden so that you'll have your own food. You would have your own food either way."

I smiled at the couple and told them, "You've already met Pete, so go in and tell him that you're the man who's going to be working the farm. Make friends with him now, because he'll be around to help and advise you if you do."

The two young people kissed and rushed back into the house. I was sitting there, looking at them as they disappeared, when Mom sat down beside me. "You don't let any grass grow under your feet, do you? Benson told me about how those two old goats worked you to take over their places. Well, you did buy them, but you, in actuality, stole them. Your father would have a fit. I'll bet he's watching all of this with a big smile."

Mom gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. She said, "I haven't been alone with you since D and I returned, but I have to tell you that D is a good man, Mike. I hope we remain compatible as we get along very well together. He has some plans about the vineyard and all of the distilling that he wants to talk to you about, and it's still going to leave the two of us plenty of time to go wandering around the country doing some fun things. Do you mind him staying here with us?"

"Not at all, Mom; I like D and the way he looks at you. It is easy to see that he cares for you. Your new relationship makes me very happy." We hugged again and went inside this time.

Gene and Raul were going over some plans he had, while the road guys were hanging over their shoulders. John and Carla were sitting on a couch with Pete, excitedly talking about their new adventure on Pete's farm. Esteban and Bert were talking about the new dairy operation, and I heard Bert say, "I've already called the haulers, and they will move the cows tomorrow."

Sissy came to me and said, "We were able to get almost everything Esteban and his family needs at Goodwill. It's hard to believe how much good furniture they and the Salvation Army have. We'll make another trip tomorrow to get the rest of what we bought, after that we'll go up to Walmart to finish off what's needed. You did a good thing with Esteban, Mike. That is going to be a real good operation over there."

When I asked about the blackberry picking, Sissy said, "Mom has all the women heading to the patches in the morning. She thinks that they can strip them of the ripe berries in two days if they work at it, then we can do it again every few days until they stop producing. We'll be back to help day after tomorrow, but we need to get Esteban moved in tomorrow. They'll be living and working there from then on."

I mentioned to Sissy, "You're going to have to do the same thing with John and Carla. John can stay with the other road guys until they get married, but they are going to want to quickly tie the knot now that they have a future planned out."

It was Jimmy who came up to me and said, "Raul said that our apartment building would be livable in a month. As soon as he says that it's ready, all of us guys are going to want to be planning our weddings. Can you help us?"

"No, but I know someone who can. Let me give him a call." I looked at Jimmy as I dialed Harold.

When Harold answered, I asked, "Why aren't you here? I'm being asked for help and I don't know how to do what they want. How about coming over for dessert and coffee?"

Harold laughed, "We thought about just showing up so that Martha didn't have to fix anything, but that would be rude."

"Never, Harold. You know how Mom is. The more the merrier."

With a chuckle, Harold said, "We'll be over in about fifteen minutes and you can tell me more about the rumor of you buying Pete out."

This town had a better news network than CNN.

Supper had been good, as we had the meatloaf Mom promised. This is always a favorite for a bunch of guys. The anticipation of meatloaf sandwiches the next day always sits well with me. Today's dessert was rhubarb cobbler with homemade ice cream. It was while I was thinking about the ice cream that Esteban sat down next to me. He said, "Your family will need a lot of milk for butter, cream, and for the kids. Do you want to keep a cow here, or how about I bring you, let's say, five gallons a day? I can always bring more if the women want to make more butter or buttermilk. You always have a lot of people here, so five gallons may not be enough. Let's see how much you need and let the machinery do the work. You'll have pasteurized milk and cream for your butter and even your ice cream."

Esteban's wife was sitting with me, Mom, and Millie, when she asked, "Can we still come to eat with the family sometimes? This is the high point of our day. It's like a reward for everything we do. I know you pay us to work, and you pay us very fairly, but having supper here with all of these people is special."

Mom hugged her, "Anytime that you want to eat with us, just come over. You might call first, but you don't have to. You are family and family is always welcome. I think I'm going to have to have Raul build me a bigger dining room."

Harold and Martha walked in the door, and were instantly hugged by Minya and Mato. The two thought a lot of the couple as they had brought them to their new mother and father.

I took Harold into my office, where I noticed that there was a new gun safe against the wall. I wondered if the glass was break-proof, but it did look nice. I wonder who brought that. You could see all of the rifles and shotguns standing up, and I supposed that the pistols were all on the bottom. A lot happens around here every day, but no one tells me anything. I laughed at my own unspoken joke.

"Harold, I'm going to let you work it out with the men, but several of them want to get married right away; that is within a month or less. John and Carla are going to be working Pete's place that you've already heard I bought today. Bernie and Sheryl are ready to tie the knot, so you have to tell them to do it. They are both headstrong about everything, but they are meant for each other."

"It is nice to see our community growing with responsible people, Harold said as he sat back. "So far, Mike, you've doubled the membership of our church with all the new people you've brought in. The great thing is that so many others have been coming since then as well. I'm not saying that a church service will change someone's life, but it doesn't hurt to hear the word once a week. I want to be a preacher, or rather a teacher, to the masses, not someone who tries to tell everyone what is right or wrong. Even your dilemma of more than one wife is your call, Mike, because there are words for both sides. Actually, Jon Stewart on the Daily Show got it right when he was interviewing Mike Huckabee and said, 'The biblical standard for marriage is polygamy.' Ha! That shut Huckabee up pretty quick. Martha and I cannot begin to tell you it would be wrong when your Millie wants it so much. I'd tell you to get a couple of dozen wives if you could produce more Mikes like you, but you are the only person who can answer that question."

"Okay, Preach, you know what's up, you know the guys and what they want; you and Martha make it happen. You know that I'll help with anything you need, so please organize these kids getting married so they can begin the next part of their lives."

"Got it, Mike, let me gather them all together and talk to them, but how about the promised dessert first?"

Mom came to sit by me as I watched Millie and Sissy with Minya, Mato, and John. John was big for his age, and constantly wanted to try getting Mato's attention. Minya acted like she wanted to cuddle John, but he wanted to be busy. They were sweet to watch.

Mom said, "So you're playing matchmaker, or would that be 'homemaker' by getting Harold and Martha together with the couples. You're too much, Mike. You were so fast at making your relationship with Millie permanent, and have been adamant about no more women, while Millie has constantly tried to provide you with additional entertainment."

"That's the problem, Mom. I don't want additional entertainment. I think that I might consider it if Rosita told me that she wanted to be my wife, and Millie's sister wife, but everyone thinks an additional woman would be just a good fuck. Sorry, Mom; I didn't mean to be crude. They think I should be ecstatic to have that. I love Millie. I love Rosita too, but not necessarily as a wife. Rosita is a beautiful young woman that can find many good suitors in the future. I'm flattered that she loves me, but she needs to direct her love to that man who deserves all of her love instead of someone like me that she would only share my love for her with Millie."

Mom leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Mike, that was so beautiful. That is exactly the way a man should feel about his wife. You are so much your father every time that you open your mouth. Your dad would be so proud."

I hugged the woman who I respected so much. "Thanks, Mom."

A lot of people left, but Harold and Martha held the attention of all of the road people, plus Sheryl and Bernie, as well as Gene and Maude. I think they were holding a class and they were all enjoying what it would lead to.

While Mom was sitting with me, I had to ask, "What's with the gun safe?"

"Well, young man, you didn't do anything about the little cabinet, so I bought you a nice gun safe. I thought it was going to be too big, but it turned out to be just barely large enough. It looks nice, doesn't it?"

"Very nice, Mom," I said, as I stood with her. "You are so sneaky doing stuff like that while I'm not around. So tell me, where's the key?"

"Where one would think, Michael, in the center desk drawer with a tag that says 'safe'. The other keys for it are in the box of keys in your side drawer."

I needed one of those Staples buttons, "That was Easy".

All were soon gone, and I was in bed between Millie and Rosita. Rosita said, "Mike, I do love you and would love to be a wife to you and something special to Millie, and the way that you talked to Preacher Harold tonight made me realize how much you respect and love Millie and me. I think I could be someone special to you, but I don't know whether I could always be someone special to Millie. I love you both so much and will be with you until someone or something takes us apart. I love you Mike, and I love you too, Millie. Please keep me."

I almost wanted to cry after hearing that. I knew a marriage was one guy, one gal, because that was what I had always been told, but so much was being said that questions that. All I could see to do was to continue to live the way I thought I should live.

My mind wandered as I began to drift into sleep.



"You are thinking right and doing right, Son. Many tell you that you can do what you want, but only you can decide what's right for you."

Dad was standing in front of me as I stood there. I could see behind him and saw so many others who were listening and nodding their agreement.

I looked at Dad and told him, "I really think there should be one man and one woman who make a marriage. If I'm supposed to produce more babies, then I'll have to do it outside of my marriage, but my wife is but one person."

Dad was still smiling as he said, "Quit worrying about it, Mike. You've settled it and now you have to worry about taking care of so many others. I'm proud of you, Son; you are as special as I always said you would be."



I watched as Dad and all of the others faded from my thoughts, dreams, vision, or whatever it was.

I was snuggled between Millie and Rosita, hugging Millie, while Rosita was hugging me. I somehow felt as if the multiple wife thing had been resolved.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 49

I was holding the two women to me when I woke, as they lay with their heads on my shoulders and their arms touching each other across my stomach. It's funny how I felt my love for Millie, but also felt that same warmth for Rosita. With them lying next to me touching each other, I realized that the two had a special relationship as well. That was good, as Millie will probably need help with twins, while still tending to John, Minya, and Mato. I had to smile as I already had the same kid mix that Mom and Dad had, but I was now waiting for two more to come into my life.

I didn't know what time it was, but the dogs were getting restless, telling me that it was time to get up. I slipped from the arms of the two women and watched as they moved together, hugging each other. Damn, I almost wished that I could really have two wives with the way they were lying there.

After letting the dogs out, I did the bathroom stuff and dressed, ready for another day. My mind was racing as I was trying to think of everything that needed to be done. Well, the first thing to do was make coffee, so I set the Mr. Coffee up, and also warmed some old coffee in the microwave. I wanted to get an early start getting the stock ready for milking. This was going to be the last morning of the heavy-duty hand milking here. I still hadn't figured out whether or not to keep a cow for the family.

I was taking some gulps of coffee when Sissy came into the kitchen area. She hugged me and put her head on my chest. She said, "I get some loving tonight too. You know that you should be taking care of Shirley and me while we're here. It's your responsibility to take care of us."

"Ah, Sissy, you said that you only were able to get some loving on weekends anyway, because your guys were always so busy, so you aren't deprived any more than usual."

"Hee, hee, hee, Mike, you have to know that women often want a whole lot more than what they get, but life sometimes takes the juices out of them. We don't get to think about a fling with our men until the weekend and trust me, Brother; I do take care of business then."

Mom walked in and said, "It's so nice to have my own personal dildo sleeping with me."

"Oh shit, Mom." I groaned, "That's too much information."

Sissy hissed at her and said, "Keep it to yourself, you hussy. I heard you doing all of that huffing and puffing last night. All of that, and I can't even get my own brother to help me out."

"Naughty, naughty, Daughter," Mom said, with a smile. "You know how straight-laced your brother is. He can't even accept that he is supposed to take on a second wife, much less take care of his sister or mother. I was just as needy as you before D came along."

Oh shit, these women are going to drive me nuts.

"I'm leaving. I know you two put this show on just to mess with my head, but I'm not falling for it. I'm out of here."

I walked out the door, listening to both of them laughing.

I had the cows up to the barn and had put some hay out to keep their attention before milking.

Anyone who's not familiar with cows, wouldn't know that they figure out a pecking or milking order on their own. The dominant come in to be milked first, and each less dominant comes in after. If a cow tries to get in front of another in order to get the small amount of grain they get, they get punched by the cow whose turn it really is.

Think about getting a head butt from an eighteen hundred pound cow. I think you would yield the same as the other cows.

After breakfast, Esteban said, "The haulers are supposed to already be here, so there must have been a problem. Call their cell phone for me, Mike."

That's when I realized that Esteban didn't have a cell phone or landline phone in his new house. That also meant that he didn't have cable or internet. I would have to fix that.

I called the trucker and was told that someone had slashed a couple of tires on his trailer. He would be here as soon as he put good rubber on his trailer.

We were all sitting at the picnic table in the yard when a strange truck and trailer came up the lane. The truck stopped, a guy got out, and hollered, "Where do we load the stock?"'

I got up and went over to him asking, "Where's Charlie, the owner?"

The man said, "He couldn't come this morning, so just show us where to load."

Something was wrong, so I told him to hang on for a second so I could get the key to the gate. He wasn't too smart, since farmers don't usually have locks on their gates.

Inside the house, I called Charlie and told him about someone showing up to pick up the stock. He told me the guy was a thief who would try to take the cows and disappear. I told him to call the Sheriff for me and hung up. I used the key in the drawer to get my Beretta. I slid a magazine into it and jacked a round into the chamber.

I called Mom, and when she came into the office, I told her to get her pistol and come out with me. She nodded, not asking any questions, and came back while tucking the pistol into her pants under her shirt.

I went to the man waiting for me to open the gate and asked, "How come I don't know you? I've never seen you with Charlie before?"

"What the fuck, Grayson. Do you want your animals moved or what?"

"Maybe not, at least maybe not by you. I'm not comfortable with who you are, and what I hear from Charlie."

At the mention of Charlie's name, the man reached behind him, and by the time he pulled out an old 1911 forty-five he was staring into the barrel of my Beretta.

Another of the men who had gotten out of the truck was making some movements, but Mom was standing beside him with her Beretta resting against his head.

"How about both of you get down and lie flat on the ground. There is a third lady here that is a little pissed that you might want to steal from us."

I said that as Sissy came running from the house, jacking a round into the chamber of a pistol as she ran to stand over the two.

Mom told her, "Don't get excited, Sissy. It's under control. Don't shoot them while they are on the ground like that. If you want to shoot them, make them get up and run first."

"What kind of people are you to talk about shooting us?" The main man asked, as he lay sprawled out.

Sissy said, "We're people who know how to protect what little we have. How about it, Asshole, want to try to run? You know women can't shoot worth a shit. Come on, why don't you test that theory?"

I was laughing as I sure wouldn't test that theory with Sissy or Mom.

A Sheriff's car came roaring up the lane or drive and slid to a stop near where we had the men on the ground. The Sheriff, not a Deputy walked over to where we were holding the two men and said, "Do you mean that I don't get to call the Coroner? Damn, Mike, the least you could do is to give him some business."

The two men were quickly searched, cuffed, and put into the back of the Sheriff's car. He began going through the truck to see if he could further identify the men. He came to me with some papers and said, "This here truck and trailer was just bought up Lexington way and ain't even registered yet. I'll bet Gert could figure a way to get your name on the titles of this here equipment. These two are going to be gone for twenty years or so. I'll bet they will make a deal for that rather than life, considering they attempted to draw a gun on you. Be ready to testify, just in case you have to, Mike."

Mom gave the Sheriff a hug as he left to get the bad guys to the County lockup.

What do I need a tractor and stock trailer for? My answer came up the lane. The regular truckers were coming up and stopped next to the new looking truck.

It took a few minutes for them to be told the story and that there was now a tractor and trailer that needed to be used. I told Charlie, "How about using this to help you out getting the stock over to the new place? It will take three loads if you do it the same as before."

We went for the stock in the new pasture first. It did take a while, but we were able to get the dairy herd that included cows that were ready to drop, the calves, and the bulls, into the big trailer. We loaded half the cows that were fresh into the new truck next. I sent them off to Bert's with Esteban following.

Mom told me, "Take those papers into the Town Clerk and see if she can put that truck and trailer into your name, or someone else's that you might want the truck to go to. Now get, we have some berry picking to do."

At the County Courthouse, Gert held her hand out for the papers I as soon as I walked into the clerk's office, and said, "Go across the street to Benson's and I'll call you when I'm ready. You're going to have to pay for title transfers, but the truck and trailer will be yours. Good, quick thinking this morning, Mike."

This town was so funny, but also like most rural towns, it's not too smart to come to an area like this and attempt to steal from people. I later heard that the Sheriff confiscated enough money to buy tires for Charlie, the hauler who had his tires slashed. That was fair, not necessarily the way the law might see it, but fair.

Benson fed me some coffee as he was cackling over my getting an almost new truck and trailer. He said, "Your luck is holding, Mike. You get a couple of farms, and now a truck and trailer. How are going to use that new truck?"

I looked at Benson and told him, "How about I make a once in a lifetime deal with the real trucker. He'll be able to haul that much more at the same time, and everyone will be happy."

"You don't want anything for it?" Benson was probing, asking his usual fifty questions.

"Naw; I don't need the truck, and I sure don't want to have to insure it too. I don't move a lot of stock around, so someone else can use it better than me."

Benson was smiling. "You keep doing exactly what I consider is the absolute right thing to do. You'll make that man, and just about everyone else in the county, happy when they hear the full story. Go back to Gert; she should have your titles finished."

The fees for the truck and trailer were a little higher than I would have thought, but the man who would have to cover all the fees would think they were nothing. Gert had looked up Charlie's other vehicles and transferred the vehicle and trailer to him.

When I got back home, I found out that all the stock had been hauled away, except there was a lonely looking deer out in the middle of the parking area. The buck was going to be lonely, but he could always go over to where the beef stock was grazing and find the other deer hiding among them.

After lunch, I drove to town to find the trucker's office. He had a pole barn where he worked on his tractors. The new tractor and trailer were off to the side when I drove up. I'm sure the man didn't think that I would do what I did next.

After a handshake inside the man's office, I said, "Here are the titles for the truck and trailer out there. Let me know if you think that I owe you something more than the value of the equipment. I know it takes cash to keep a business running."

The man looked at me funny and asked, "Are you giving me that truck and trailer?"

"That's what I'm telling you. You had to go through some bullshit to get new tires and have them installed this morning. I don't have anything but aggravation invested in the truck and trailer, so they are yours. Use them and help those that need the help. Pass it along."

The man looked at me, squinting a little, "You take the cake, Mike. I'll send you a check for the title transfer money, and you can forget about owing anything for this morning's activities. I really needed another truck and trailer, and you've found it for me. Thank you, Man, thank you very much. Next haul is on me as well, okay?"

I smiled at the man as I drove the Jeep from his yard.

Without really thinking about it, I stopped by the newspaper and radio station office. Bernie was on his console, talking to listeners, when I sat down. He said, "Well, Folks, the Road Commissioner just sat down with me, so I may have to do some business with him. If you want, I'll hurry him through what he has on his mind, after that we'll welcome a couple of calls."

Bernie grinned at me, "The news has it that you and Mom were holding a couple of potential thieves at gunpoint when the Sheriff drove up. Tell me about that, Mike."

I couldn't see any light on the panel, so I told Bernie the story right down to the transfer of ownership of the truck and trailer. Bernie was nodding in understanding while I was telling the story, and wasn't playing with any buttons.

When I finished, Bernie said, "You heard it right here, Folks. Mike Grayson captures a couple of thieves and gives the spoils away to our local trucker. How's that for a great Kentucky good morning, right here in Stanton?"

The sucker had me on the air and I couldn't tell. The man is sneaky.

Bernie said, "Do you know that the new antennas are erected and our new FM station is being broadcast all over Kentucky, southern Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, Mike? We'll have to do a survey to find out how far the station reaches, but let me tell you, Mystery Mountain has unlocked our station."

Bernie made me stay to answer a few callers that were only calling to tell me 'good job'. He pointed to his phone that had a bank of lines blinking, so I knew he was being good to me. I left the man to calm his audience.

I drove by the road yard just for fun, to see what was happening with the apartment building. Pipe was being laid out to the road to tie into the sewer system. Water and gas piping were being put in, as well as conduit for electricity. This was all happening before the foundation of the building was poured. Four men were building forms for the foundation, and several plumbers were fitting pipes that would feed water to the building and take the sewage away.

It was amazing what can be done by someone who plans and supervises. Raul was one of the best.

I wanted to check with Esteban on the stock, so I drove there. The cows were out grazing in the lush field. They were all together, except for the two bulls that were in a separate fenced enclosure.

Esteban came out of the barn to greet me. He said, "The cows are all comfortable, and I'm sure they will give a good quantity of milk this evening. We are very excited to be milking them all and pasteurizing the milk now. We will soon separate some milk for cheeses. The cheese cooling rooms were built along with the milk house area. We will have plenty of room for cheese to age."

Without even thinking, Esteban said, "Now that we have a real operation, a real dairy farm, you could probably get us another thirty to forty head. We should be many dollars ahead of the other dairy farmers if we sell specialty milk. You now have the purest organic milk and milk products in the county, and possibly in the state, Mike. I'll help keep it that way."

While I was there, I called and made arrangements for phone service, as well as cable and Internet access to Esteban's new house. I would make sure I found him a PC the next trip up to Mount Sterling.

I drove back to Mystery Mountain thinking of everything that we had accomplished to date, and what needed to be done in the future. I needed to sit down and analyze everything we were doing to make sure we were on target.

I kissed Millie and John at the house before going into my office. I used a large spiral notebook and began writing my operations down.

First was the farm. I had three orchards and three vineyards, along with enough sweet corn to feed what I thought should be half of North America. We were going to have another bumper crop of veggies, but that was a given with the way the fields were being treated.

Then there were the orchards. I had worked at getting the stock out and cleaning up any manure on the ground. The fruit that became over-ripe or that hit the ground early or too hard could become cider. We could also distill it and that would purify it further.

The vineyards are going to produce far beyond what they should, but I think D and I are ready. We would make as much wine as we could, and distill as much grappa and brandy as possible. The bottlers would come by and bottle what we wanted to sell out of state, but we would be selling a lot of our product locally. Did we have enough to do that, or did we have so much that we needed to bottle even more? Only time would tell.

The smokehouses were producing exactly what we wanted them to produce. The butcher was happy, the Kitchen was happy, and we had enough to sell at the markets in Stanton and Pine Ridge. We really couldn't handle many more hogs, and our supplier was raising hogs at the perfect rate. We were doing well. It also meant that I could get out of the hog business on the farm.

The path clearing crew was nearing the end of our contracted work, but the cable company was already dickering over yet more cable paths. Who knew how long that endeavor would last?

The other wood cutting crew was busy working various properties, clearing land to cultivate, and clearing trees that would bring extra money to the land owner's operation.

That brought me to the firewood business. The two men working there were stocking firewood in cord sections all along the back of the property. As new logs came in, they would cut it and split it to fill the bins for each cord. The corded wood from the previous year was there; ready to be distributed to those who wanted to prepare for the coming winter.

I made sure there was enough wood stored at my place to take care of both fireplaces for the coming winter.

The other important wood was the hickory for the smokehouses. The stack of firewood ready to use for the smokehouses was important and neatly stacked. I now kept all of the firewood under a tarp to keep it dry and ready to use.

That should do it. Harvest was a couple months away, except for the small veggies that we pulled from the ground on a continuing basis. Romaine and iceberg lettuce was ready often, and green beans began appearing rapidly along with tomatoes. This was a living, breathing, producing farm.

Sissy's and Shirley's husbands were visiting every weekend, giving the families some time together out in the country. Their rooms were big, and nice enough that they were harassed by the kids less than they were at home. The couples had the privacy necessary for some intimate times.

There was little to do in the morning with the cows gone. I think the hogs missed the skim milk we had been feeding them, but I had a feeling that this group of hogs that were near ready to butcher was going to be the last we would raise. The farmer supplying the butcher and me with hogs raised enough for us, and I didn't need the extra. I might consider more beef stock, but I needed to develop a breeding system for our stock like Esteban had for the dairy animals.

The garden produced more and more as summer progressed, until the day the Kroger inspector told me, "We're going to begin harvesting corn. You have two fields that are ready, so we'll be bringing our people in to pull ears."

Mom and some of the Mexican women wanted the corn in our garden area to ripen a little more, but they also wanted at least fifty feet of one row of corn to become seed for the next year in case Kroger didn't sponsor us.

D was getting excited, but also prepared, as fall came closer. The girls were all a heartbeat from their weddings, but were ready to remain and help D through the wine pressing. They would still need jobs after they married, and D's work was what they knew.

Raul called me one morning in early August. "Come down to the road yard, Mike. You need to see how we're doing."

He had to be almost done, since the building was up and Raul's men were working on the interior, the last time I looked.

Sure enough, I was very impressed when Raul took me into an entrance and there was a large common area where all of the tenants could congregate. The back of the common area was all glass and looked out over a concrete patio that had grills placed about every twenty feet in front of a dense forest.

We looked at two of the apartments to see how well they were put together. Jimmy came in while we were looking at them, and said, "Mike, this place is really nice, and the apartments are much larger than any of us expected. This is great, and all of us appreciate what you've done, Mike. Now all of us need to get married and moved in."

The weddings on Saturday became one of the biggest events the church and possibly the town had ever had. There was a huge outdoor tent on church property, where everyone gathered for the mass wedding. I had figured that each couple would marry separately, but they had Harold do all of them at once.

Families from all over came to town to see their kid, nephew, or cousin get married. The whole town responded and helped man the tables of food for all of the guests. A special time was when D led the group of ladies down the aisle to the men. He was dressed in a tux, smiling as only he could. This was the culmination of his efforts to rescue and take care of his kin.

Bernie actually broadcast the wedding on the AM station so that those who couldn't come could hear the service. I think the couples getting married almost became famous because they were married on the radio. Bernie had even talked some of his advertisers among the local merchants into sponsoring wedding gifts in the form of small kitchen electrics like coffeemakers and crock pots or stocking the happy couples' larders with staples and frozen food.

Bernie and Sheryl joined the others in tying the knot. Sheryl was a happy blushing bride, looking like this was the most special moment in her life.

The music had stopped by late night, and the cleanup was almost done when Harold came to me, "This has been something for the church to remember forever. That you helped make this happen was special, and it helps the community to know our people live what I talk about every Sunday. Thanks, Mike. You help me lead the people."

All of the guys and D's girls vanished for over a week. It took a couple of days for them to settle into their new homes when they returned. All of them were bouncing around, ready for married life.

On a Sunday afternoon, D announced, "We need to begin harvesting grapes tomorrow. Mike will begin tasting and tell us which grapes are ready. I don't think I'm over anxious, but I don't want to get behind.

I walked to the big orchard nearest the house after D made his announcement, and tasted a grape on each vine all the way to the end. None of them tasted ready yet.

I brought a cart out and took D with me as I first went to the high orchard or the other side of mountain and did the same. I tasted a grape on the bunches from one end to the other. None were ready that I could taste.

Down on the lower vineyard, the back half of the vineyard had grapes that were very near and I told D, "If we harvest any grapes, those on this half are ready, but nothing else. These are just about there and should be ready in the morning. Taste what I taste here, and we'll take some with us so you can compare them to the other vineyards."

D grudgingly agreed that the grapes I designated to be picked were the only ones ripe enough. I told him, "Let's get the equipment running and press as much as we can. We'll watch all of the vineyards daily to make sure we pick everything at the exact right time. When we get everybody trained on what to look for, we'll probably make two or even three passes through each vineyard to make sure each bunch of grapes is harvested at its peak."

The orchards were ready, meanwhile. Consuela had over twenty men come to help with the apple and pear harvest. We were hauling wagon loads of apples and pears from the orchards, separating those that would make good cider, and those that could be pressed and distilled into a wine/brandy.

The Kroger team was hauling sweet corn from all of our fields, as well as all of our remote fields. I kept thinking that I was probably overloading the market with sweet corn, but Kroger kept hauling it away and almost crying over how much we were keeping to barter with at the local market.

This time of year requires women all through the area to work hard at canning the vegetables and fruit to last through the winter. My ladies had been canning tomatoes, peas, and green beans as they were ready. As the cucumbers got to the correct size, small barrels and crocks of pickles were put in the pantry to ferment for later consumption. We also had various peppers for pickling as well as drying this year, and we put up a few cases of sweet bread and butter pickle slices mixed with sliced jalopeños for some real "sweet fire". When I went into the pantry to grab a quart of tomatoes, I was surprised to see almost every square inch of shelf space packed with quart jars of canned goods. When I asked about it, Mom said, "We feed a lot of people all winter. I want to keep doing that."

We needed the barrel space for wine and brandy, so we had the mobile bottlers come to bottle all of our remaining previous year's product, except the special distilled product that we were letting age. There was still a problem in that our grape harvest was so big that we were filling everything available until D had barrels delivered and said he would store them in the barn for the winter. How could we have so much more than the year before? I know we planted more vines, but it takes a couple of years for them to produce. Is our maintaining of the vines so good that they produce more than expected? Fortunately, he had talked me into getting in some large stainless steel vats in place of barrels, to give us some wines with more fruit taste and less of the tannins, oak, and vanilla taste that comes from wooden barrels.

I had to argue with D over using the space at the back of the caves to store potatoes and onions. We had run out of potatoes for over a month before the new ones were ready. Our onion cache was gone by April. We needed to store more, but there just wasn't room.

The family was sitting in the living area, playing with John, when Mom said, "Why don't you move the equipment out of that cave, and devote it to more space for wine and produce? You know that we can store carrots in a cool climate and keep them for almost a year as well. Build a huge pole barn for your equipment like all of the other farmers, and use those caves for what we need."

I called Raul that night and asked if some of his men could come and build me a nice machine pole barn. He said he would stop by in the morning and see what would be needed.

Raul looked at the huge size of the cave the next morning before walking with me to the area I thought would be good. Raul looked in all directions and suggested, "How about tearing the fuel barrels you have down and put your pole barn right there? Do yourself a favor and bury some tanks. You have power all of the time, even when everyone else is out because of your wind turbines. Put some underground tanks in, and put the pole barn right here."

It did make sense, but I had never thought of a farmer with underground fuel storage. I told Raul, "Make it happen but put the fuel tanks above ground under separate cover and at a higher level so we can gravity feed fuel. The faster the better for all of it, as we are about to overfill everything here with wine and distilled spirits." We can store distilled product in the barn or another pole barn if needed and keep the caves for only wine and aging for the special distilled spirits.

Raul had about twenty men putting up forms after tearing down the fuel rack the next morning. I saw one of the road men setting forms for the concrete frame that would hold the fiberglass fuel tanks. They were just finished pouring the concrete as a truck pulled up with two large tanks to be installed. The tanks were huge, and were going to cost a fortune to fill.

I was moving equipment from the cave into a pole barn with a concrete floor four days later. I was reminded of Pete's and the way he had areas painted for each piece of equipment. Maybe I would do that later, but I needed the cave space right now.

D had advised Raul that a covering was going to be necessary for the opening of the equipment cave. An overhead door, with a regular entrance door, was soon in place,. Electricity had been added so that you could also see inside the cave.

Raul had built more containers for potatoes, onions, and now carrots, to place along the back of the cave. He also built stands to hold barrels complete with the railings to be able to hoist and move them around and to place them on the racks. I had to wonder how this was being done as I watched the cave fill. I didn't fill everything the first year and now my storage area was quadrupled and appeared to be almost full.

I was about to make a tour of the various areas to make sure everyone and everything was doing well after breakfast one morning, when Millie came and sat on my lap. She hugged me and said, "Take me to the hospital, Mike. Our twins are coming."

Holy shit, that was from left field.

I called out, "Rosita, please come here."

Rosita came in and I said, "Millie wants to go to the hospital. She feels her babies are coming. Could you get her bag and find Mom? I'll take Millie to her car."

Millie was acting as if she couldn't walk, so I scooped her up as I grabbed her Expedition keys from the hook by the door. Mom came running up as I slid her into the seat while saying, "Millie, you didn't act like you were in labor this morning."

When Rosita came with Millie's bag, Mom said, "Go ahead and take her to the clinic, Mike. I'll call ahead so they are ready. Rosita, you go with them and keep Mike from freaking out."

Mom looked at me and said, "Relax, Mike. Just drive slowly and get all three of you there safely. I'll join you in a few minutes.

Thank goodness that I'm the road commissioner and my roads are so smooth you could skateboard on them. Not really, but close. When I pulled up to the back emergency entrance to the clinic, a nurse came out with a gurney and told me, "Put Millie on the gurney and I'll push her in. Park by the fence and come in this door. We'll be straight ahead."

By the time I made it to where they had Millie, she was in a birthing bed with her legs up in stirrups. I recognized Sheryl between Millie's legs and remained quiet as she examined my wife.

Sheryl rose and said, "No panic, but Millie is having her baby or rather babies. We're about an hour from the blessed event, although I can see you were in a hurry getting here.'

Sheryl was looking at my feet that were still in socks. I had forgotten to put my boots on in my excitement.

I stepped out of the room and called the house. Sissy answered and I asked her, "Please have Mom bring my boots. I was so excited I left home without shoes."

"How's Millie, Mike? Is she having the baby or just close?"

"Sheryl says the babies will come in the next hour, so there's no panic right now."

Sissy said, "We're going to be on our way. We'll bring your boots."

Sheryl looked pretty busy for there being an hour before the babies would come when I stepped back into the maternity room. A nurse grabbed me and shoved me toward a sink to wash my hands. As soon as I had scrubbed my hands, the nurse slid a gown over me and held gloves for me to stick my hands in.

Back by the bed, I leaned down and kissed Millie who looked distressed. She whispered, "Oh, Mike, that last little bit of giving birth is tough, but I think the first baby is here."

I looked down and saw Sheryl holding an infant with the umbilical cord still attached. She laid the baby on Millie's tummy and inspected her vagina. A head was trying to come out. I didn't know what to do, but Sheryl looked at me and smiled, "You have a boy on her belly, but what do you want to bet this next one is a girl. The head looks like a girl."

How could an infant's head look female or male? The infant was sliding from Millie within a minute, and I could easily see that it was a little girl. Sheryl was busy and told the assisting nurse, "Put Mike to work and have him cut those cords. Clamp them off while I get her cleaned out."

I cut both cords and another two nurses took the two babies to begin cleaning them. They put ankle bands on them and took a footprint.

The babies were measured and weighed, while Millie was lying back, smiling. She said, "I wanted two boys, but one of each is good. You still have more boys than girls."

Sheryl stood up and said, "No tears, no incision, just all Millie." Sheryl went around to the head of the bed and hugged Millie, "Congratulations, Millie, you have a fine looking boy and girl. Now you can blame it all on Mike for a fraternal set."

Millie was put on a gurney and pushed to a room. Mom and Sissy showed up almost as soon as we arrived. They were all over Millie as she lay there. The two babies were brought in with a couple of bassinets. The senior nurse told Millie, "You need to try to nurse these two as soon as you can. You have a little one now, so you know how to do it."

I helped Millie sit up by raising the bed. A nurse handed her the first baby and Millie tucked her to her breast. She expressed a little milk and spread some on the infant's lips. The little girl gave a couple of sucking motions and Millie stuffed a nipple into her mouth. Millie nodded at me, looked at the other baby, and to her other exposed breast. The nurse just stood there, so I picked the baby up and laid it on Millie's other side. I helped to put some of Millie's milk on the infant's lips then put his mouth over Millie's nipple. Both babies were gently nursing.

Sissy nudged me and pointed to my boots on the floor. I sat and pulled my boots on. Mom smiled at me because she appreciated how excited I had been.

Rosita found a couple of more chairs so that we could sit with Millie as the babies nursed and fell asleep. Millie said to me, "You remember how you burped John when he was first born. Just rub their back and they should burp."

I did one and Rosita did the other. Both little ones burped, so we lay them in the bassinets. I gave Millie a hug and said, "How are you doing, Millie. Are you feeling okay?"

The woman said, "I feel empty. Those two have been playing and wiggling since they were a couple of months old. I will miss feeling them inside me, but I feel good right now, a little sore but good."

We were sitting there when I asked, "Have you thought of what you want to name them?"

Millie smiled and said, "When I thought of having one each, I kept thinking I wanted to name them Kevin and Karen. What do you think? Would that work for you?"

They were my kids, and I didn't care if they were named boo and beau. I just wanted Millie to be alright and for the two little ones to be happy and healthy. We were still talking about the names when Sheryl came in. "Hey, you're famous in these here parts now, Millie. You have a set of twins that everyone will know. So what are going to call them?"

After telling her, she said that she would have the duty nurse come in with the birth certificates so we could fill them out. Sheryl said, "You are a healthy lady and can go home if everyone will take care of you, Millie. Mike, if she goes home, you need to carry her to the car and into the house. The babies look healthy and I saw that they both began nursing. Millie, you need to watch to make sure you have enough milk. I know you still nurse John a little, so you might have to cut him back. Make sure you eat well and drink plenty of fluids. If you want to stay a night, you can or you can leave any time."

Millie said, "Mike will carry me out. We don't have any car seats for the babies yet."

Sheryl held her hand up and said, "Wait a second."

She left and came back with two infant car seats. She said, "Bring me a couple to replace these and get your family home, Mike. I'll be by to check on all of you for supper."

As we left the clinic, it was easy to see the progress on the new clinic or hospital addition that was going to be almost twice the size of what Sheryl now had. Coop was moving right along building the expansion. He was planning on completion by the first of December.

I relaxed a few minutes with a cup of coffee when Millie was finally on the couch with the two little ones in bassinets that had been bought for them. Raul had waved at me as I drove up as if he needed to talk to me, so I went out to find out what was happening.

Raul said, "I had to come back to expand the small distilling building. D found enough equipment to fill a building three times the size he has now. I expanded the pole barn and put a concrete floor in. What account do you want to bill this to?"

"Tell Maude to bill it to the winemaking account. I suppose it will be for the same company if we're distilling more now."

I didn't think we had more pomace to distill, but when I went back to where the expanded distilling building was, there were four big trucks filled with grapes, waiting to be emptied.

D was scrambling around, so I asked, "Are we buying outside grapes too?"

"Too good a deal to pass up. The man with the distilling equipment went to jail for using the equipment to distill the wrong stuff. He has a vineyard full of grapes, and a wife who will almost pay us to clean the vineyard out. Help me get the press going, as I think I'm going to distill almost all of what we get from the other vineyard. The grapes are not your quality, but we can still get money for either cheap wine or the distilled product. The cost is really only the building and a buck a bushel for the grapes. Help me so that we can get this done quick, Mike."

I told D while we worked that he needed to go get another man, as I should be inside with Millie. His mouth fell open, and he began apologizing when I told him she had just had twins. "I'm sorry, Mike, I didn't know she had her babies. Let me run get a couple of the timber men to help."

I ran the press while D was gone and was putting everything through twice to get all the juice out. The pomace was almost dry by the time I scooped it from the hopper. D needed to get back as the large vat was damn near full, and I didn't know where barrels to hold the wine were.

D had six men when he came back, who he directed to fill some large stainless steel vats with wheels that magically appeared and to take over the pressing. D thanked me continuing to work and said, "This will be very profitable, Mike. I think we can probably work the lady's vineyards if we want. We might have to come up with more area to store our wine, but we can be big producers."

D was back to using the barn for wine storage. The only problem could be freezing, so it might have to have some light heat.

Back inside, Millie was doing well, especially with everyone trying to take care of her.

With the garden just about finished for the year, all of the potatoes and onions dug, Sissy and Shirley were about to head back to the city. They were going to leave with an Expedition overflowing with canned goods, potatoes, onions, and meat. I promised to bring them a butchered steer for the two families when it became closer to winter.

It was almost too quiet in the house when all of the children left. Minya and Mato were lonely for a couple of days, but I tried to spend more time with them and do a lot of work around the house and out buildings. Mato had become my shadow whenever I was doing anything at home. He worked with me on the equipment and when I was working in the field. He often sat on my lap and helped me drive the tractor.

I spent a lot of time making sure the equipment was clean, greased, and ready to work in the spring. There was still a lot of plowing and manure spreading to do before the snow fell, but we had done a good job.

After making a plan as to what fields to do what in and in what order, I began disking the cornfields to get the corn stalks underground. I used manure from our place, as well as the dairy farm, to cover the fields before disking them in even more.

We were able to get one last hay cutting from our two fields, and that would be sufficient hay for the winter. My grain silos were full from the Conner deal for the land, so I had grain for the dairy operation and my beef stock. All in all, I was ready for winter.

The path clearing and timber cutting crews were working every day they could, and would work until the snow kept them home.

Raul and his group were primarily working helping Coup complete the school and clinic. The school was almost completed, and the clinic was probably a month from being done. You would think I would be satisfied, but I was watching the construction of the roads and infrastructure for the development. One new luxury sample home had been built at the base of the mountain, but there was insufficient wind in that area to operate a wind tower. This kept us from including wind turbines for most of the homes we would sell in the future. We did put solar panels on the roof that received sufficient sunlight to not only keep the batteries charged, but allowed us to sell some power back to the grid. The wind turbines would have been a better deal, but you get what you get.

Life in the area and on Mystery Mountain was becoming a lot more peaceful.



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Chapter 50

As late fall asserted itself with cold brisk air on the mountain, our lifestyle had taken on a peaceful, enjoyable, existence.

Karen was off at school in Lexington, but called almost daily. Denise and Karen had become bosom buddies, able to ward off the wolves that preyed on young college girls. Both were savvier than most other girls their age, and both had education goals they wanted to meet. Their next trip home was going to be Thanksgiving and that was coming up in less than two weeks.

It was Friday evening, the forecast was for snow, and I had just returned from helping the guys get the salt trucks ready. John beat Mato and Minya to me for that first hug when I came through the door. I had to hold all three of them and explain what I had been doing while sitting on the boot bench. They went back to what they had been doing when they were satisfied with my report.

Mom was on the phone with a grim look on her face. I heard her say "Shirley" a couple of times, which made me wonder if there was something wrong with my brother. The phone in my office rang almost as soon as I had my boots off and was about to get a beer.

"Hello, this is Mike."

"Oh Mike, oh Mike, it couldn't be any worse."

I recognized my sister's voice and said, "Slow down, Sissy, what's the matter, what's happened?"

"Oh, Mike, Bill's been let go. His company is now down to only one accountant and actuary. Bill thought that he would be safe, but the company is cutting everywhere they can. He's not even getting paid for any of his unused vacation or sick leave. Mike, this is bad because I still don't have a job and we are always just a paycheck away from being behind on everything."

"Don't worry, Sis, if worse comes to worse, you guys are welcome here for as long as you want. As a matter of fact, you guys should pack up your car and drive down here right now for some good country food and love. John, Minya, and Mato will love having their cousins here."

Sissy was quiet for a minute then said, "You know, that might be exactly what we need. It will give us a chance to talk things out."

"Good, just pack up what you need for a few days to a week, bring any perishables along, and get here. I'll have a beer or glass of wine waiting for you. Drive safely."

I was sitting back in my desk chair when Mom came in and heavily sat in the chair beside my desk. She said, "That was Shirley on the phone. Your brother's company just went bankrupt and has laid off their entire marketing group."

"That's pretty radical for a reorganization, Mom. Usually it's just a way to put all of the regular bills on hold. So what's Frank thinking or going to do?"

Mom told me, "I told them to pack up and get down here as fast as they could. They need to be with us and be a part of our family so that they can relax and be around some warm loving people."

"Mom, you're not going to believe this, but I just got off the phone with Sissy. She called to tell me that Bill was just terminated. His company let all of their numbers people but one go. I told her the same thing and they are going to be on their way. Should we call them back to tell them to talk to each other?"

Mom looked at me and smiled, "Naw, just let them get here and they can cry on each other's shoulders. Meanwhile, you should get on the phone with Benson and Maude to see what opportunities they might have around here."

Mom left the office, so I called Benson and was surprised to find him at his office. "Hey, Benson, what are you doing in your office so late?"

"Your buddy, Bernie, has me researching what a radio and television station in Lexington is worth. I'm not sure what he's thinking, but they are two different companies, even though they share the same call letters and building. There are all kinds of laws about dual ownership of both radio and TV. I don't know the laws, but I'm learning."

I asked my friend, "That's a little out of your realm, isn't it, big guy?"

"That's north of my knowledge, Bubba. But Bernie asked, so I'll do the learning. Hey, that's what a small town lawyer does. Of course, lawyers tend to learn at the client's expense, one way or another, but the expense is not nearly as great as when the lawyer doesn't learn."

"Tell you what, call your wife, tell her that you're going to eat with us tonight, and come on up. I want to talk to you, and you'll get to meet who I want to talk to you about."

"I can't, Mike, because we're supposed to meet Maude and Gene at the Kitchen tonight. They want to talk about some stuff and thought that might be good."

"Tell you what, Benson. Just come out to my place and I'll call Maude and have her come out too. You three can talk that way, because I need to talk to Maude as well."

"Okay, Mike, your Mom makes a better supper anyway. We'll be out soon. Do you have enough beer? I'm thirsty tonight."

"I just bought a couple cases over in Pine Ridge last week. I'll make sure it's all just short of freezing. Get here, and just to make your client happy, call Bernie and tell him to bring Sheryl out for supper too."

Maude was happy when I called, since she could pass on the Kitchen for a chance to come out to the house. Our gatherings had not been as large lately. We still had Pete and Bert almost every night and many mornings, but they were down in Florida enjoying getting some more of their bucket list done. The road guys who were not married came out most evenings, but they also went to Mount Sterling fairly often. The married road guys usually wanted to stay home and enjoy their new mates.

I went out to tell Mom about the surge of visitors and she told me, "You might have to get the folding tables out, because Esteban and family are on their way, along with Raul, Jose, and their families, and I think all the road guys are coming with their wives. We might as well call Martha and Harold. They are always ready to come."

I asked, "What do you have for supper? Do we have that much that you can get ready?"

"Oh yeah, Mike. I was going to have this for a big Sunday dinner, but we have enough chicken to feed everyone, so we'll begin frying it up as soon as you light the stove in the summer kitchen."

That old stove always seemed to have a fire in it. We often needed it for morning biscuits or rolls, and it often was a place to keep food warm until supper. I was able to get the stove fire going without much effort. It was chilly out on the porch, so I figured that I should make sure there was enough wood in the wood boxes next to the fireplaces.

The bedroom fireplace was going and the wood box was full. I was surprised to see that the wood box was almost overflowing when I looked at the living room fireplace. Millie saw me looking and said, "Mato said it was his job to bring in enough wood for us. You should have seen him picking out all of the little pieces for the wood stove. He really tries to help. Minya goes out to help with the chickens in the evening. One of these mornings, she'll be getting up to do the chores out there too."

Mom said, "We should get a cow because that would be good lessons for the kids. They need to know that animals feed us and give us milk, but we have to work for it and care for the animals."

I told Mom and Millie, "I think that's what Esteban wants to talk to me about. I heard there was a farmer up near Mount Sterling who's selling his Jersey herd. I'd bet he's heard that too and wants me to bring them in. We would be needing hay before spring if I was to do that. I think we could last with enough grain, but not hay."

Mom was quick to say, "Just tell Esteban and John to look around for some deals on hay and see what might be available. You have those men to do that stuff for you, so use them. John brought in a good crop this year and he has a couple of fields planted for next year's oats. He's probably ahead and I know he and Bert have been working on equipment."

I told her, "Do you know that John and Carla have decided that she needs to work in the big garden over here and not have a big garden at home? They have a small one ready for the spring, but they have built a new chicken house and rounded up a pretty big bunch of chickens. You'll probably see them selling some chickens and eggs at the market. They have ducks and geese that they let use the old chicken house to roost in at night and for some scratch food. The ducks and geese go back and forth to his small lake in the bottom."

Mom looked at me with a warm smile, "Your farm is ready for the winter too, isn't it? I've seen you working on your equipment, and Mato says it's fun to paint the big plows and discs. Are you trying to emulate Pete?"

"There could be worse men to learn from. I did get the floors sealed and have painted lines for each piece of equipment. When I put equipment into the pole barn, Mato guides me to make sure that I get it centered. We make a good team."

Millie hugged my arm and told me, "Minya is trying to learn to cook with us and has been helping to make soup for lunches. She would like to do more outside, so you might want to let her help Mato out there sometime."

"I'll do that. Now, though, I'm going to have a beer."

After opening a beer, I noticed D sitting in a rocker reading one of his winemaking books. When I sat down in another rocker, he said, "You know our hard cider and pear brandy is ready to sell. Most of the wine is close to being ready to bottle, so we might be busy this coming week. If it doesn't snow, maybe you can get your road men up here to help out. We'll be moving barrels around for most of a week."

"How much are you planning to bottle, D?"

D put his book down on the coffee table and picked up his glass of wine. He rolled the wine around in the goblet, took a drink, and then said, "I want to put the restaurant's wine in new large bottles this year so they can have them for the tables. They are also going to have some of our special wines in smaller bottles, along with our grappa and brandies. We already have a commitment from a New York wholesaler for a hundred cases of twelve bottles each of our grappa and brandy. We're not going to have much left for around here after fulfilling that order. We also have an order for a hundred cases of twelve of various wines. We should have enough for them, as well as for selling to the locals at the markets. I want to sell most of our wine locally in bottles instead of gallon jugs this year. You can still sell some of our lesser wines by the gallon, but all of our good stuff should be sold by the bottle."

"Do we have enough wine to do everything you're talking about? I know it seemed like we filled every nook and cranny with wine in barrels and vats, but you're talking about a lot of wine."

"We have plenty of the cheap wine and brandy, Mike. Remember that we bought the grapes from the lady who sold us the distilling equipment. We're going to work her vineyard next year, and we're going to pay her about sixty cents a bushel for the grapes. After we tend to them the way we do ours, her grapes will be almost as good as ours next year. I've already done the pruning and worked the ground around the vines over there. I'm having gravel brought in now, and will have it in a row to put around the plants after we fertilize next year. The vineyard should produce well since we cleaned it up, and she does have some of the white grapes we need for our special Merlot."

I looked straight at D and asked, "You're taking Mom on a good vacation this year, aren't you?"

"I sure am. We're going to southern Italy and Sicily to look at some vineyards there. I want to compare our wine to theirs and we both want to see all of ancient Rome."

"That sounds like fun, D. Now that you and Mom are taken care of, I'm going to have to find a place for my brother and sister. Both men have lost their jobs, and times are tough up in Cincinnati. Both men are office guys with little manual labor experience. My brother was raised on a farm, but wasn't that interested in farming. If you hear of someone that might need a good field salesman, my brother is the man. Keep your ears open."

D nodded his head as he told me, "I might have a lead for him. He didn't appear to be a heavy drinker when I met him before. The position that I hear is open might be a problem if he drinks a lot."

"We'll watch him while he's here. He's under some stress, so we'll quickly get a good idea of how he reacts."

D nodded as he sipped his wine, set his goblet back on the coffee table, and picked his book back up. I had the distinct impression our conversation had ended.

I went back to the kitchen, finished my beer, and was about to reach for another. Mom said, "Have some of the special white Merlot that D brought in for me. This is very nice. Remember to sip it, Mike. Don't gulp like a bubba."

My lovelies are always good entertainment. I was just entering my office when the door burst open, and Benson and family, followed by Bernie, Sheryl, Gene, and Maude all walked in. They all took turns to get out of their shoes, and all gave me either a handshake or a hug. The seven of us went to one of the tables where I asked who wanted a beer, drink, or wine. I sat with the three couples and listened when everyone was served.

Benson announced, "I think you might have struck a nerve, Bernie. The management at WHIP told me to talk to their home office, which turned out to be the same group for the TV station. From what I could put together, they are cash poor and can't seem to come up with an advertising program that will pull them out. They may even be near bankruptcy. I think you could work a deal to either buy them out, or become their primary shareholder and direct their operations the way you want. You're going to need Mike to co-sign for you if you buy them out, but that shouldn't be a problem."

I was sitting there with my mouth open, but Benson and Bernie were in a deep discussion. Bernie said, "If I could gain control of their marketing, I'll bet I could turn a profit by selling advertising all over our area, as well as Lexington. We could bring a lot of dollar traffic down here from up there if we do it right. Places like Mount Sterling could really benefit from the vehicle traffic to their locations. We can get some, and even all the way to Pine Ridge should benefit. All I'd have to do is find the right guy to head up our marketing."

"Ding!" My brother is a marketing guru according to my sister-in-law and his former employers. Maybe he would be the man to do what Bernie wants.

Bernie went on to say, "I don't know what you've heard, Benson, but I've heard their accounting department sucks. They don't collect what they should and are always late with numbers to be used for planning the next month and quarter. You really need good numbers when you're planning the next month. We might have to upend that group and redo it with new people."

"Ah, Guys; my brother-in-law is an accountant that has been running an investment firm for the last five years. I'd bet he has the ability to run a first rate accounting department, and I'm sure he knows to collect what is owed."

Bernie looked up at me, "You talkin' true? You really know someone like that?"

"Not only that, Bernie, but I might have the marketing guy you need. My brother is out of a job as of today, and has been an international marketing manager for the Strong Corporation. They just declared bankruptcy. We'll need to find out why they did that, and query him as to how he could help you, Bernie, but I might have the two men you need to make this thing work."

Bernie stared at me and broke into a smile. "Why didn't I just ask you how to get this thing done? Christ, Mike, you might have the answer to what we need. I know we can make this work, but we need the right men to do it right now."

It was Gene who brought something to the forefront, "The development isn't going to sell without the right kind of marketing. You have two models built, and the third and fourth models are underway and almost done. What we need is someone living in homes up there, which would entice more people to commit to a new home within driving distance of Lexington. How about putting your brother and brother-in-law in new homes somewhere in the subdivision so that we can use their testimonials to sell more? This could be a good deal for Bernie and the "Mountain Homes" development."

Mom walked over to our group and told us, "These kids coming are going to be down. If you guys give them the same hype you've been talking, they're going to be bouncing off the ceiling. Do it for me and watch how these two families respond. You'll be doing me a favor, because then I will have all my kids and grandkids around me."

All seven of us sat back and looked at each other to focus on what was going to happen this evening.

The house quickly filled as the road guys and their new wives, "D's" girls, came in. The girls immediately began helping with supper, while the guys had a beer or a glass of wine. The new road guys were mixed with all the others, so they were a crew of men who enjoyed each other's company.

Esteban and family came in to join the throng already here. They blended into their various groups as everyone became aware that we were waiting on the two families who were on their way.

Sissy and Bill showed up with their two kids about six thirty. We welcomed them inside as if they were family, which they are, but as if it was a celebration that they were here.

Frank and Shirley arrived less than five minutes later, and came in with their two kids. The celebration was complete. Mom began seating them all after everyone had a chance to take a breath. With a few extra chairs pushed up to the tables, there was just enough room for everyone. Even the kid's table was full, but that's half the fun.

John wanted to sit with the other kids, but Millie had him in his high chair next to her to make sure he ate. There was so much excitement that he might not have eaten if he was allowed to sit with all of the other kids. Our twins were still too small to be a part of the crowd, so they spent dinner in their playpen waiting for their evening feeding and playtime.

After Harold delivered a happy blessing for the meal, we all stuffed ourselves with some prime Kentucky fried chicken that didn't come from the Colonel. Our fried chicken was done to Mom's specifications, and that meant mouthwatering good.

The guys all banded together after supper to wash the dishes and pans so that the women could enjoy some coffee or wine, and in Millie's and Rosita's case, feed our twins.

I maneuvered Bill and Frank to a table, and had both of them sit with the other interested parties, along with D. I let Bernie begin. "You two may be the perfect people to rescue a small TV and radio station up in Lexington. The radio station will be easy, since I already have a successful radio station operating right here in Stanton. The TV station is what will need some good direction, as well as management. Their sales and accounting are abysmal. The station is not collecting their receivables or even their co-op fees. Mike thinks that Frank is the answer to our marketing problem, and that Bill could easily be our guru to get the finances back in shape. Both jobs will not be easy, and they will demand all the expertise and experience that you two have. This is an opportunity for you two, with Mike's backing, to make a real dent in the broadcast market between Lexington and southeast Kentucky."

Both Frank and Bill sat there with their mouths open. Frank said, "Houston, we have a problem."

"What's the problem Frank," I asked?

"Both of us live in Cincinnati and have homes there."

I answered him with a smile, "So what. Those can be sold and you can have homes here. You can live here at the farm at first, and you can be residents in our development in a short while. The idea is for you to commute from here to there."

Bill asked, "Do you really need someone with my background to run a radio and TV station?"

It was Bernie who fielded this one, "Of course we do. There are so many different ways for us to make a buck from our advertisers. You will give marketing ways to do that, then count the beans as they roll in. We need to have a heavy hand over all of the accounting practices, and you have been with one of the strictest companies there is. You know how to find the hidden beans and get them into the bank."

Bill turned to Frank, "Do you think we could turn our houses over very fast? We didn't refinance them, so we should be in decent shape to sell. How about giving this a chance?"

Frank looked at Bernie, "How fast do you need us, Bernie. I think we're ready to do just about anything to keep our families afloat."

Bernie looked at Benson, "How about we try to make a deal on Monday? They seem to be in a desperate situation, so let's see what we can do. To do it this fast, it will either have to be contingent on what a financial audit shows, or they'll basically have to give it to us, but they seem eager to get their problems off their hands."

Benson was smiling as he said, "We'll probably have to get Bubba here to dress up for a change. He's going to have to be a part of the deal."

I told the masses, "I'll even buy a suit for my brother and sister. Let's make this happen."

D spoke up, "I have something that needs to be spoken about. One of the major liquor distributors recently lost a salesman that covered this area. The money is excellent, but the downfall is that most of the salesmen become drunks. They need a salesperson that can keep from drinking all day and doesn't become a drunk. I was thinking Frank could be that man."

Frank was fast, "I'm not the guy, but Shirley's brother might be. He hardly drinks and I know he's a hell of a good salesman, because he's been a part of my marketing group for the last five years. Let me give him a call and get him down here. He also lost his job today."

D nodded that he was encouraged by what Frank said. I was excited to be able to help so many and that it was exactly the right time for all of this to happen.

Some of the guys who had been outside smoking came back in. Jimmy said, "Well, Guys, we need to get our women home and check the trucks out. Our first good snow is coming down hard, so we need to get out there. Come on, let's git."

I told Jimmie, "Let me know if you need another driver. I'll come out."

"Hell, Mike, we have four more than last year, so we have to be on top of just about anything. We have to help on the northern route to Mount Sterling, and we also have the highway from here to Pine Ridge under contract this year. Let's go make some money, Guys."

Fourteen folks cleared out real fast.

Harold looked concerned and asked, "Do you think we should be heading home to stay safe?"

I looked out the window, witnessed an almost whiteout, and told him, "You probably should, but if you get cold feet when you look out, you're welcome to stay here."

It was then that Bernie and Sheryl, along with the Bensons, decided to make a convoy back to town. Harold followed them and they all promised to call when they got home.

D poured some special brandy for Frank and Bill, and sat with them. He said, "I want you two to know that we will need your backs to help move barrels around for the bottlers next week. Mike is about to become a legend for his special wines and brandies up in New York. His grappa is already making a name for him. Mystery Mountain Wines is now a much sought after product."

Frank was being silly when he said, "Maybe I should become the sales manager for the wine company instead of a TV station."

I told him, "You'd only be able to work a few months a year and we wouldn't have anything to sell if we had a bad year. The TV station job is twelve months a year."

Bill was the practical one and asked, "So tell me about your development. Is it real? Do you really have some houses built? Are the prices reasonable? Do you think we could quickly get homes built?"

I had to smile as I told him, "Yes to all of your questions, Bill. If I told Raul that I needed two homes built fast, he would have them up in a month or less even in this weather, but I may be able to make you a good deal on the models that are already built. Let's see what transpires during the next week, and you'll be having open houses at your places in Cincinnati by this time next week."

Sissy came over and sat in Bill's lap. "See, Husband, I told you that Mike would help us out of this mess and what would be even better, is that we will be out of that cesspool of Cincinnati and out here in the country. The kids can be around their cousins and grandmother too. I promise that this is going to be a good thing."

Shirley had about the same discussion with Frank, and was winning the argument when little John came walking up to them and grabbed hold of Shirley's arm. He was smiling as he said in a very clear voice, "Frank stay."

The two adults scooped him up and hugged him. He wanted to get back down, and went to do the same routine with Bill and Sissy. After his hugs, he went back to sit by Minya who was always looking out for him.

When all of the kids and some of the adults were in bed, Mom, Sissy, Frank, and I were the only ones sitting around the little table, sipping glasses of wine. Sissy said, "It's just like old times. Frank and I screw up and Mike sticks up for us. Thanks, Mike. You're really something to be able to help all of us."

Mom told us, "That's the way your father and I raised you. We take care of each other, and it was Mike's turn to take care of you two. The two men will have to take care of Mike and Bernie now. How much is this going to cost you, Mike?"

"I have no idea, but I'm sure Benson and Maude have it worked out. What will need to be determined is how to handle the new homes in the development. I'm really excited to have Sissy and Frank so close. This is the way it's supposed to be, isn't it?"

Frank hugged me in my chair and said, "Yes, this is the way it's supposed to be. I promise you, Mike, I'll do everything possible to make this work for you. Bill feels the same way, and he'll have everyone in his group toeing the line within minutes after he takes charge. I'm sure we can be a force and we'll prove it."

Mom smiled at us and said, "Okay, everyone go to bed. You city folks enjoy a quiet room by yourself and give your partners some pleasure. Mike, you go play with your women. Hee, hee, hee. You'll only do one of them, but you know that you should do them both."

I hugged and shook hands with my brother, and kissed and hugged my sister and mother.

I hugged Millie to me when I slid into bed. She kissed me softly and said, "My urge is coming. You better be ready."

Dad was standing by the fireplace watching us kids with Mom as we slid into sleep. He caught my eye, nodded, and winked at me. He disappeared with a smile.

The weekend was fun, as I was able to take the kids deer hunting around the mountain. The only thing we brought home was enough rabbits to feed the family. As soon as Mom saw the six rabbits I brought in, she sent me back out for at least six more. She wouldn't allow anyone to go with me this time; she said I had much better luck by myself.

The kids did make noise, but that wasn't the reason I couldn't get more. The reason was that the kids had a tendency to get in the way of where I needed to point the gun. I had fifteen more rabbits two hours later, and saw where I could get another fifteen to twenty. It took a long while to clean them, but I did it and had them soaking in the house before long. The hides were stripped and stretched on the little circular frames to be given to the folks down below. They made things from small animal hides to trade at the market.

Mom and Millie had saved me some soup and sandwiches from lunch so that I wouldn't go hungry. Mom knew that I would go out and get more than enough to feed a horde of people should a horde show up. The important part of today's hunt was the sighting of a couple of bucks that would be perfect for our table. I figured on getting them before church early in the morning.

Supper time included all the road guys and their wives, along with Bernie and Sheryl. Esteban and family stayed home because they wanted to stay near their stock during the snow.

Jimmy told me that they were ahead of the snow at this point, and they would be back at it as soon as we finished supper. They divided up into three groups so that they could work the roads twenty-four hours a day without wearing everyone out. I volunteered to work a shift, but was told that it was being handled. The one thing I wanted to do was to go to the church early in the morning and clear the parking area. I figured I would have enough time for that and still get a couple of bucks to hang in the smokehouse.

Four AM on Sunday morning found me on the way to the church. I drank coffee from my travel mug as the lights filtered through the slowly falling snow. Someone had made a pass through the church parking lot, but it had filled again and they had not cleared the unpaved area that was needed for all of the cars. I was going back up the mountain, pushing drifts off to the side forty-five minutes later.

When I got home, I put on my heavy snow boots and parka, grabbed my Winchester, made sure our stupid deer was in the barn, and walked out toward where the new pasture was. I could see three bucks huddled together down the hill, just outside the fence. They were probably discussing jumping the fence and joining the females and young deer herd inside.

They didn't hear, see, or smell me, since the wind was blowing up the hill. I sat in the snow and rested the barrel on a branch to make sure of my shot. I should be fast enough to jack another round in the chamber, and go from one buck to the next, to get that second shot off.

I waited until two of them were in the perfect position and fired. The first one dropped, and the second buck's head came up sharply as I jacked a shell into the chamber, but he didn't bolt. I shot him and watched him fall, and then saw the third buck bolt from the area.

I checked both deer to make sure they were dead, before going back to the big barn to get a four wheeler. I used the vehicle to help hoist the two animals, hung them in the air, and quickly field dressed them and let them bleed out. I put them in the cart when they finished dripping, and hauled them up to the pump house where I could store them until after church.

My clothes were a little bloody, so I tried to keep the city folks from seeing them. As soon as I walked in and sat down to take my shoes off, Sissy turned and said, "You brought us a deer, didn't you?"

I smiled as she came over to claim my parka and told me to go get out of my clothes so that she could soak them. Mom took my rifle and headed to the office to give it a thorough cleaning before putting it away. Farm women are worth their weight in gold for the way they take care of their men.

I quickly showered and dressed for church before returning to the living area to get some breakfast. I ate fast because it was close to the time to leave. The other two families were ready to go with us, and were all able to get into two vehicles to go to bible class before church.

The new snow that was still falling didn't cover the parking area too deep, so no one had a problem getting in and back out. Harold came by and thanked me, saying he saw me out in the parking lot early this morning. He and Martha had stayed at the church last night to be sure they could make it in this morning.

After church, Mom invited everyone who wanted to come up to Mystery Mountain to have lunch with us. We were celebrating my sister and brother moving here. Only the usual people showed up, but that was a lot. The snow had stopped, so all of the road guys were there. Some still were driving the big trucks, but others were in their own vehicles.

I skinned the deer and split them to put carcasses into the curing rooms of the smoke house while the visitors were inside with Mom and family. The deer were going to taste good, if nothing else. Mom, Millie, and Sissy had to come out to inspect the meat. All three were surprised that there were two deer instead of just one. Millie and Sissy even helped me stretch the hides on frames.

We had some great pork roasts for dinner, with all of the trimmings that everyone enjoyed. The rest of the afternoon was spent with some of the men watching football games and the kids playing various games that could include Minya and Mato. John wanted to play, but he was good to just watch. Sissy's little girl said she would bring her cherry game and she was sure that John would enjoy that. The interaction between Sissy's and Frank's kids with Mato and Minya was special. The older kids even kept using opportunities to teach the little ones letters and numbers. I think the big beneficiary was John, as he was constantly right there listening and looking at what they were doing.

Monday began busy, as I was going to have to go to Lexington with Benson and Bernie. I wanted Frank and Bill to come with us, if for nothing else but to be observers. If we looked to be a force, then we would be treated as one, instead of just a couple of small timers trying to break into broadcasting.

Bernie was the mouth for the day, as he was constantly in the fray. He was the one who argued over the numbers, but was smart enough to call Bill over to look at what was being shown. Bill quickly grasped that there were many numbers and areas not revealed, so we were constantly in a wait mode to get the necessary information.

While this was going on, Frank wandered through the offices, looking for the marketing staff. He found them all in the break room and lounge. None were making calls; none were in front of customers. He later told me that he would rid the entire department of sales personnel and start fresh, unless any of them could prove to him that they added value. He also said that he knew people who might work out selling advertising.

We had placed our final offer on the table by four thirty Monday afternoon. Bernie and Benson had called the stations' corporate lenders to discuss terms if we bought the station. We had corporate attorneys for the station, the lenders, and the creditors present by five. Benson later told me he was dealing in areas where he had no knowledge, but continued to shoot from the hip the whole time.

Bernie nodded at Benson that he felt the agreement we made was workable just before six-thirty. Bernie stood up and said, "Okay, this is the deal, these are the terms. We all agree, and I will take these stations over as of eight in the morning. There will be no broadcast scheduling changes at this time, but we will assume all liabilities agreed upon and all costs from that time forward. I will have Bill here to unravel your accounting, and Frank will begin rebuilding the advertising sales department. The net purchase price will be the one we agreed upon, minus any discrepancies an audit shows from your nominal figures for assets and liabilities. I will review your programming and see how we might be able to integrate some local programming into the mix. We will connect to the Mystery Mountain tower, broadcast over all of eastern Kentucky, and see what new markets we might develop."

I was watching Bill's and Frank's faces to see if they went along with what Bernie was saying. They were ready.

We left the station very frazzled, or would that be 'wrung out'. Frank said, "There was some intense bargaining going on. You are one hell of a negotiator, Benson, and Bernie, my God man, you drive a hell of a bargain."

Bill was smiling as he said, "And to think I believed my brother-in-law was somewhat of a 'bubba'. How wrong could I be? Every time one of those big heads began pushing us, you spoke up and put them in their place. I didn't know you had it in you, Mike. You're one hell of businessman."

Frank nudged Bill and said, "See, Partner, I told you that Mike was the cagiest of us all. You thought your old lady was fast; well, now you know. Mike bests Sissy all the time, but together, they do make a dangerous pair."

We dropped Benson and Bernie off in town, with the promise of meeting them both back up in Lexington at seven-thirty. Tomorrow would be as much of a push as today was, but we were in the home stretch.

At home, we three were fed and relaxed by ten. We told everyone everything that we could, but said we had to be on the road by six thirty in the morning.

Sissy came to me before going to bed and shoved a glass of wine in my hand. She said, "So tell me, Bro, did my old man do everything you wanted him to?"

"Everything, Sissy. He was quick to ask for clarity where we needed it, and demanded to see figures that they didn't want to show us. Bill was exactly what we needed from a numbers guy. If he later performs as well as he did today, the company will always know where they are."

"That's good, Mike. Bill sometimes acts a little weak around the edges. I only have you and Dad as examples. Frank was never the man up front, so it was you and Dad who I judged men by. I know my guy is smart, but you never know whether he has any balls. Thanks, thanks for telling me straight, Bro."

We finished our wine and hugged before going to our respective bedrooms. I slid between Millie and Rosita. Rosita demanded some kisses, and then Millie giggled and demanded some as well. I was smiling as I drifted to sleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 51


The dogs wanting to go out woke me up in the morning. As I let them out the door, I could see the pet deer pawing the ground near the chicken house, attempting to find some grass under the snow. The dogs and the deer ignored each other's presence since they were familiar with each other. I realized then that I was going to have to fix up some kind of area for the stupid deer or even I might mistake him for a future meal. I wondered why he didn't go join the other deer that shared the hay for the beef stock.

Now that the hogs were gone, the only chores left were to feed the one steer in the barn we were fattening up for the freezer, and there was always feeding and watering the chickens. It wouldn't be safe to let the chickens out in their big yard with the snow on the ground. Visiting hawks and eagles would be too tempted to swoop down looking for a meal. The chickens had to stay in the smaller covered yard.

I hurried through feeding the steer in the barn, and avoided the pet deer's antlers as he followed me around the barn area. I finally put some grain and hay under the lean-to where the cows used to wait for milking to give the buck an area to come to.

Esteban drove up the lane as I walked to the house. I waved at him as soon as he stopped and asked him to come inside and have some coffee with me.

Once inside, I asked, "Shouldn't you be home milking right now?"

"The family has it taken care of, Mike. We don't have that many cows and that's what I'm here for." Esteban took a drink of his coffee and said, "How about letting me see if I can make a deal with the dairy farmer up near Mount Sterling who's retiring. No one else in this area is really interested in a Jersey herd, so he's probably going to end up taking them to the auction in Lexington. How about letting me see if he'll let us buy them for a number that's just a little better than what he can get at auction?"

"How many are in his herd, Esteban?" I asked, as he hadn't mentioned the size of the herd. The only thing I knew was that they were all Jersey cows.

"I don't know exactly, Mike, but I'm told by our milk driver that he's milking about thirty to forty right now, and has quite a few ready to calve and come fresh."

"Do you think milk prices are strong enough for us to justify increasing the herd?"

"Remember, Mike, that we get premium prices for our milk because we sell organic and it's already pasteurized. We have a dozen or so families who bring their gallon jars over for milk almost daily, as it is. We could use more milk for cheese, because our cheese room is only about a third full. I think the profits from the farm so far might already pay for the new herd, but only Maude knows that answer."

I rubbed my unshaved chin and thought about it for a second. "Go ahead and see what you can do. I'll call Maude to tell her to move money if she needs to. Call the truckers if you make a deal, and get them moved to your place so you can begin working them and shipping their milk."

Esteban said, "I won't be able to ship their milk with ours for the first month, because that farmer isn't organic. I found out we'll have to feed them for a month before we can mix the milk. We'll keep the milk separate and bring it over in cans so your people can make butter, buttermilk, and separate the cream. Instead of us selling to the Kitchen, you guys take it to them for the month. If any inspectors come, they'll see how we are keeping it all separate that way."

Mom heard that and said, "Good, it will give the women down the hill something to do. They'll be busy churning now. It will be like it used to be."

I told Esteban, "If you have a gentle cow that we can milk here, I think we need to begin milking one here again. The kids need to learn, and the only way to do it is to have a cow for us to teach them with."

"I have just the cow. She's more of a pet than anything, but she gives a lot of milk. She wants to be around us all the time and hates to leave the milking parlor. I'll bring her and another that's the same, but just went dry. Those two will be perfect for you. Your deer will enjoy having company again."

We had been served breakfast while we talked. Bill and Frank came out for coffee before getting ready to head to Lexington. I excused myself to go get ready after telling Esteban to make us a deal.

Bill, Frank, and I were rolling into Lexington a little later. We met Bernie and Benson at seven-thirty, and made a plan before going into the building.

The station's attorneys were not there yet, and the CEO was late, apparently as usual. I could see that Bill and Frank were used to getting started early so they could have a fully productive day.

We were finally able to review the completed documents somewhere near nine. It seems that Mystery Mountain Broadcasting was purchasing WHIP, and the proceeds of the sale were to be used to pay the station's debts. The former primary owner was going to leave with some money, but it wasn't much. I think he was relieved to get out of the business, because he just wasn't able to manage what needed to be done.

The former owner began cleaning out the desk in his office when all of the papers had been signed. Frank was smart and had the delinquent marketing people help carry everything out to the man's car.

Bernie stood in the office doorway and pointed at the now clean office and said, "Have a seat in your new office, Mike. You're the man now."

I laughed, "Sorry, Charlie, no deal. You wanted this, so you run it. Need help? Call someone who knows how to help you."

Bernie smiled, "I think I have a dual station manager for the place. I'm going to let Frank and Bill run what they know how to do, and find someone who can be put in charge of programming. I'm going to link some of our farm reports into the station, but I think I'll let the radio station be Country & Western, and try to mix some local flavor in. A gossip call in might work here, but the city is too big for it to be as effective as it is at home."

Bill and Frank found us, and Frank said, "They have a real nice break room. How about a meeting of everyone currently on staff when we switch to network broadcast at noon? I need to announce individual one on one meetings that I'll be holding, and I'm sure Bill has to do some of the same. We might need a few days to cull the place, but I've seen enough to make my mind up on several people. I've called a couple of the guys who used to work for me up in Cincinnati, and they're interested even at the lower wages I'm offering. I think we need to move to a heavy commission income structure instead of salary. Good salesmen always seem to do well that way."

Bernie agreed and told us, "That's how I treat the kids who are selling for our station at home. They get good commissions for their sales, and I know they'll gladly sell some TV spots as well. Has anyone seen anything of a production department where we can make commercials? I saw four news vans with satellite equipment on them outside. I suppose we need to talk to the news department."

Benson and I huddled, then I told Frank, Bill, and Bernie, "Okay, you guys. This is your baby. Make it work and do what you think is right. I know it's going to take some time to find everything out about the station, and this is going to be a short week because of Thanksgiving, but get started anyway. I'm going home with Benson so that I can take care of some other things."

Bernie kidded me, "You just don't want to get caught by a camera as the new head of WHIP TV and Radio."

"Bernie," I told him, "You're the new head of WHIP. Organize it, manage it, and get some management help with broadcast experience. I'm just a backer."

Frank and Bill grinned at me when I told them, "Make sure you guys are out of here early enough so that we don't have to wait supper for you. You know how Mom likes to eat around six at the latest."

I suddenly remembered to call Maude on the way home. "Hi, Maude, Mike here."

"You're a little late calling me about buying cows, Mike. Esteban called and gave me an amount that he was buying cows for and wanted me to transfer funds to a farmer's bank account. I would have denied him if this deal didn't have Mike written all over it, but it sounded like you. Anyway, you now own a hell of lot more cows and they're being hauled to Bert's place as we speak. Actually that's your place now, isn't it?"

"Sorry about that, Maude. I had to be up in Lexington before eight this morning and didn't want to call you too early. I know how you like to sleep in."

"Thanks for that, Mike. How did it go with your takeover? Benson told me last night that Bernie made a hell of deal for you."

"The deal's for him, not me. Actually, the deal is for him, my brother, Frank, and brother-in-law, Bill. All I am is the guy who helps get it done."

Maude laughed, then told me, "Gene's out making sure the grade stakes are in place for the two places he wants to build for your brother and sister. He says these will almost be models, but that the development could get some real testimonials from residents. He's really excited about having people he knows moving in."

I told her, "We're excited to have them move in too. Mom loves to have her family nearby."

"Hell, Mike, Mom is mother to what seems is half the county. She likes having all of us nearby. I find myself giving her a call a couple of times a week just to say hi. I know Sheryl does the same, as do all those girls who married the road guys."

"Thanks for taking care of Esteban, Maude. He really thinks the dairy business is viable. He must be doing something right if we had the money to buy the stock."

Maude advised, "There was enough money between the two farms. Esteban said he had a line on the right kind of hay, so he's going to be spending more cash. It should work out with the increased milk production. The only thing you need to do is to work out next year's deal with Kroger. Them and your Mystery Mountain Wines are the cash cows."

She paused for a second, "Speaking of cows; isn't the beef stock you bought about ready to butcher? It seems about the right time."

"Probably, Maude, and it should be about time to pick up a bunch of calves. Between now and March is when most stock is born. The bull calves from the dairy stock can be mixed in as well, but they won't bring the same money or meat as the Herefords and Angus."

"Well, you better get out there and replenish your beef stock, Mike. I think I already forecast some big bucks coming from that."

"What are you doing, specifically forecasting income from the farm and beef stock?"

Maude laughed, "Mike, Honey, I'm just trying to be ready to handle your taxes on an ongoing basis. You have no idea how much of a mess you could be in if I didn't keep track of everything you have your hands in. My goodness, Mike, you're involved in so many different projects, that it would be impossible to keep up with you if I didn't watch you almost daily."

"Well, it's winter, Maude, so almost everything should slow down now."

"Sure, Mike. Like the cows will quit giving milk. Like your deliveries to the Kitchen will slow down. Like your deliveries of wine will slow down. Like your smoke houses will smoke less meat. You know, et cetera, et cetera."

"Okay, okay, I get the point."

Maude asked, "Are you going to be in town this afternoon? We're supposed to have a review of the ten kids we have up at the university. You might be interested to hear how they are doing."

"Where and when? I'll tell Benson, who is doing the driving right now."

Maude advised, "We are to meet at the high school teachers' break room at two. Can you be there?"

I asked Benson and he just grinned. "We'll go there as soon as we have something for lunch. The timing should be about right."

After I hung up, Benson and I talked about how we thought Karen and Denise were doing. We both thought it had been a lucky break for our two girls to get together and be good friends.

Lunch at the Kitchen was fun, as Benson and I ate at a communal table. The conversation was all about how the radio had been telling about Bernie getting a TV station, and that it would have some local broadcasts for Stanton. One of the guys said, "Bernie's a smart one. He's planning on having segments for all of the small communities so all of the towns get reported on. I'll bet everyone around will be tuned in to watch local news."

Benson winked at me as we were both all smiles.

The meeting at the high school included the Principal, Jeff Stevens from the County Council in his bib overalls, Maude, Benson, and me. There were four teachers who had volunteered to monitor and work with our students. They had the report we wanted to hear.

Rosemary Stevens, a teacher and Jeff's wife, said, "We've all tried to visit with each of the students to let them know we would be happy to help them, even with tutoring if they needed it. The kids are all doing above average work through this first semester. They are all going to ace all of their courses."

Janet Benet, another teacher, wanted to inform us, "We did forget about the cost of books. We were able to save the day by calling Maude who said that Mike would pay for the books this year. We need to make that part of the package, because books are a major expense. The small stipend you're providing the kids on a weekly basis is about right for them to have a couple of bucks for spending money, but it won't cover books. I think we've covered everything with them, and we're going to graduate some great kids. Hopefully, we'll get some teachers out of this as we're going to need several by the time these begin graduating."

John King, a math teacher, told us, "This project also gives us a chance to see what we need to emphasize in our lessons. The kids haven't been overwhelmed with the math so far, but they have come up with some good questions. The cell phones you provided have come in handy for them to call me for help. Next year's students should be better prepared."

The last teacher was a much older lady. Michelle Camp told us, "It's so much fun to visit with the students up there. It takes twenty years off me every time I go. Like John said, it does give us an idea of what we need to emphasize. This will help other kids who are going on to school as well."

Jeff ended the meeting by thanking everyone for coming and for their volunteer work. He said, "This shows the true interest we have in our community's children. Educators and business people are working together for a better future. Thank you for being here; we will meet again in January to review the first semester's grades. Maude and Benson have put together a separate fund for books. The kids have already registered for next semester's classes, and will be buying books soon. It will be easier for them this time."

Outside, Benson said, "I'll run you home before I go back to the office. As a matter of fact, I think I'll just check with my new secretary and maybe not even go in. Mind if I pick up the wife and kids and we all eat at your place?"

I laughed, "I think I heard that your wife was going to be out at the house today to make something special for tonight. Why don't you call out there before swinging by to pick your kids up?"

We picked up Benson's kids and drove out to the house. Benson's youngest daughter had a cherry game box with her, and told us that it was a game John might be able to play. All the kids at the house loved the idea of even more kids coming. Little John was having the time of his life.

I was playing with Karen and Kevin while the other adults were talking at the kitchen counter and the kids were all playing games in front of the fireplace. The little ones weren't all that mobile yet, but were raising themselves, rolling over, and trying to get on their knees. It wouldn't be long before they would be crawling.

They enjoyed me being on the floor with them. It was a chance for them to touch me and pull an ear and nose as they became more familiar with their dad. I loved the attention.

A knock on the door got everyone in the house up and tense for a second. No one knocked on our door. Everyone came in and announced that they were here. I went to the door and opened it to someone I thought I recognized, "Hey, Mike, I'm Stan, Shirley's brother. Frank told me to come out and gave me directions. Man, this place is beautiful."

Shirley came from the kitchen and gave her brother a hug. "Take your shoes off, Stan. No one wears shoes in the house. It's kind of a farmer thing."

Stan was soon seated on the couch as I sat on the floor with the twins. Frank's and Shirley's kids came over to give their uncle a hug, but went right back to their games. I asked Mom where D was, and she said that he was out at the main wine cave talking to the bottlers who were setting up. He should be back any minute.

I asked Stan, "Want a beer, glass of wine, anything?"

"I'd kill for a cup of coffee. If none is ready, some iced tea, or even some water would be good."

Mom had heard and sent Rosita with a mug of coffee. From the kitchen, Mom said, "Stan, the one thing this house always has is coffee and iced tea. We drink a lot of wine too, since we make it, but not so much as to be too much."

Stan nodded and said, "I'm not into beer, but a glass of wine now and then is good with a meal." The man was a little uncomfortable and was squirming a little, "Ah, Mike, Frank said that he had a lead on a job. Do you know much about it?"

I told him, "A little, Stan, but how about I let D tell you about it when he gets back in. D is my little old winemaker."

The two little ones were acting hungry, so I gathered them into my arms and went to the kitchen. I said, "I think these two are ready for supper. Is it time yet?"

Millie said, "For them, yes. We have to wait for Bill and Frank. They should be here soon. Help me, Rosita; let's feed Kevin and Karen and they'll be set for a while."

Mom went over to the other children and had the oldest boy run to get D. He didn't hesitate and quickly put his boots and coat on. D and the boy came in the door ten minutes later. D was soon setting in one of the rocking chairs, facing the couch where Stan sat. He had a goblet of his wine and was swirling it. He asked Stan, "Did you try some of our wine? It's some of the best, possibly in North America."

Stan smiled and said, "Maybe with supper. I'm not much of a drinker. I think I've tasted most spirits and know what they taste like, and have even tasted the different qualities, but I'm not a drinker."

D smiled and said, "Would you have any trouble representing a liquor distributor? In that position, you would be working with bar, club, and restaurant owners selling all forms of spirits. By that, I mean everything necessary to make all drinks."

"Sounds interesting," Stan commented. "At least I know what the different liquors are. I thought I wanted to be a bartender a long time ago, and went to one of those night schools to learn. It was fun to learn, but I didn't care for tending bar late at night when there were a lot of drunks. I tried working at some restaurants, but that was so slow that it was boring. I loved to sell, so I began working for Frank, marketing their equipment."

D said, "I need to call someone. I think they would like to meet you." D got up and went into my office to use the phone. The office phone line was separate from the house and always seemed to get a lot of use.

D came out a few minutes later and asked, "Do you have a résumé? This could be an important meeting for you. The distributor lives just north of town and is coming out. I think he's coming to taste more of our wines. He's anxious to taste this year's new wines."

Mom came to ask me, "Did you remind those two who you went to work with this morning that they needed to come home for supper? I don't want them working late every night. There might be times they will have to work late, but they need to get in the habit of going in early and coming home early. I know how a lot of businesses seem to work late at night, but I think the two of them should set an example for their office and work early and hard, but also get home to be with their families."

I saw lights coming up the lane and hoped it was Frank and Bill.

It was, and they happily came in to be greeted by their wives, all of the kids, and also by Stan. Frank asked, "Hey, Stan; did D tell you about the opportunity?"

"He did," Stan said, "And it sounds like something I could do. You know that I know some of the business because I was a bartender, so I think I have a grasp of the business, just not this part of it." Stan stood and said, "Let me go out to the car and get a copy of my résumé."

Frank told D, "Stan's a good salesman. If you don't take him, I'm going to move him into a sales position and possibly a manager position at WHIP. He could make good money with us."

D smiled, "It's up to the distributor, but I've already recommended Stan for the position. This will be a very lucrative job with a lot of benefits. I like Stan, and knowing how you like him, makes me know he's the right man."

Bill came over and sat down before telling me, "I think I've taken the dollars and cents stuff apart with the help of a couple of very honest employees you now have. They showed me through all of the accounting and where the stations have been losing money. You know that you own all of their receivables, so I'm having a collection company collect everything over ninety days old for us. That will cost us a little, but it'll be worth it. Those two girls are going to be working on billing all of the co-op advertising that we're due. If Frank's group can bring some bucks in, we'll have that place producing some profit right away."

Frank was grinning at me while listening to what Bill was telling me. I made the observation, "It seems that the world was just out there waiting for the duo of Frank and Bill, or Bill and Frank, to join together to go in business. I'm just lucky to be here witnessing it."

I saw lights come up the drive and put my shoes on to go out and greet the new arrival.

A big man, about six four, maybe three hundred pounds, got out of a big Cadillac and stretched. I approached him and he stuck his hand out. "I'm Paul Stanos, and I've been invited by Doroteo to meet a possible candidate for an open sales position."

"I'm Mike Grayson, and this is my place. Come inside. Doroteo, or who we just call 'D', is inside, as well as your candidate."

The man was big enough for everyone there to look at him with wonder. He didn't look that fat, but he looked big, very big.

Frank, Bill, and I went to be with the kids as D, Paul, and Stan talked. Mom said, "I'm putting food on the table. If they need to talk more, they can do it after supper."

You gotta love the way that Mom puts priorities in their place.

When Mom announced supper, Paul was first to get up and head for the table. D made a trip around the table to give those who wanted some, some of our wine. We were having some baked chicken breasts, smothered with a cheese and mushroom sauce, today. I'd bet it was something Rodrigo taught Mom to make.

Dessert tonight was a pumpkin spice pudding over some kind of sweet pie crust. I watched John stuff the pudding with both hands; a sure sign that he liked it.

Frank, Bill, and I did most of the dishwashing tonight as Paul, D, and Stan continued talking. We sat with them and enjoyed some of our best brandy when we were finished. Stan was still drinking iced tea.

Paul announced, "If your references are as good as our conversation and your résumé, you have a job, Stan. I'll know by nine in the morning, so give me a call. If you're the man, I'll make arrangements for you to pick your car out and take delivery. You'll need to go to work next Monday, right after Thanksgiving. You'll need to go into Lexington to sign all the forms, but get prepared to move your family closer. Your territory will be from Lexington to the eastern border of Kentucky. You'll be selling in all of the wet counties, into West Virginia, and all the way to Charleston and the west end of Virginia."

Stan almost sadly said, "I don't have anyone to move. I don't have a family. I can be out of my apartment in Cincinnati over the weekend. I'm sure I can find somewhere in Lexington."

Paul patted Stan on the shoulder, "This job will help you find a lot of opportunities to make a family. Call me after nine tomorrow."

Paul thanked everyone for the great meal and hospitality. He nodded at me to come out to his car with him. I followed him out to his big Cadillac, where he stuck out his hand. "You and D have brought me a good man. I don't even need references because I just know he's a good man. I think you know that too. Do you think the guy might be, ah, gay?"

"I don't know, Paul, and you know what? I don't care. He seems to be a good guy, so I'll let him be who he is. Run those references and you might get the answer, but don't let it keep you from hiring a good man."

Paul nodded, "You're right, Mike, and I won't. I hope to see you soon."

I watched the big car roll down the lane, thinking that the guy must have to be on his toes all the time to run a business like he has.

Back inside, Stan was standing, saying he had a room at the motel in town. He was joking at how the motel owners were talking about their heated pool. He said, "You know it must be about thirty degrees out there, and they think I'm going swimming in a heated pool. Not a chance; I could freeze up between the pool and my room."

I was smiling while thinking how much the kids would love to be swimming in that heated pool.

The house was slowly becoming quiet again as we sat around and talked of our day. I sat on the couch, holding a sleepy John, with Millie on one side of me, and Rosita on the other. Each of the ladies had a twin as they played with them, before putting them to bed with one last feeding at Millie's breasts.

Frank and Bill said they were going to bed since they wanted to be in Lexington no later than seven thirty to begin their day. They were both excited to be promoting their new business.

When the only ones left were Sissy, Shirley, Mom, and I, Sissy said, "Shirley and I are going to go back to Cincinnati Friday after Thanksgiving to work on clearing the houses out so that we can sell them. Mom told Raul today that we needed two houses ASAP, and he said it would take maybe two to three weeks, if the weather cooperates. That might be too fast, but we'll see."

Shirley said, "We just finished painting everything at our house, so all we'll have to do is touch up where the walls get marked up from moving, but we should be good to go otherwise. What do you think, Mike, will you help us with the new house, or do we have to look for financing?"

I smiled, "Just get your places sold. Hire some help to move, and we'll put your stuff in storage if we have to. We can probably just pay rent on a moving van for the time you're going to be in transit. Get those places sold and don't worry about the new place. We'll work something out when everything has settled down."

Mom told me, "You know that I still have a good chunk of money. I'll donate all I have if you need it to get the kids moved."

"No need, Mom. I think we're in good shape with the produce payments from Kroger. I'll let Benson and Maude figure it out. We've finished paying for the new sewage plant and the piping infrastructure, and we're still under our estimates, so we're fine. The hospital or clinic, as well as the school, are paid for, so the only thing that we don't know about is the church. The new addition isn't going to be started until spring."

Sissy came and sat on my lap. She hugged me and laid her head on my shoulder. "Brother, you are so special to me and Bill. My little family is really in great shape since you retired from the Army. It's like we were waiting for you to come home for us all to be together again. Now we're all going to be close by. Best of all, Bill and Frank will be working together. They became friends when they first met, and I just know they will complement each other and be successful together."

Mom said it all to us, "Yeah, it's Mike, but it also has to do with right here on Mystery Mountain."

I had to agree. "Eliza said it would be good for me when she sold me the place. It has been, and is continuing to be. I think we're all blessed to be together."

That's when I told my sister and Mom, "Esteban is bringing a couple of cows over tomorrow,. One is fresh and the other just went dry. We'll be getting up to milk in the mornings again, as well as milking in the evenings. Esteban will bring more milk if we need it." I paused before telling them, "But to make our lives a little more interesting, we'll be getting about forty to fifty gallons of milk a day to churn, make buttermilk, and to skim cream from. The new stock Esteban bought today will have to have their milk separated for a month before we can sell it as organic. I think we could try to make some cheese this time. We'll be busy, and will probably have to sell butter at the weekday market."

Mom was almost giggling, "Just about the time we're all going soft, you bring a couple of cows and more milk than we had before. I was wondering why Esteban was setting up the little pasteurization equipment. I think he wants us to use it on our own milk. I guess we should, even though you three kids don't seem any worse for wear for drinking raw milk."

Shirley told us, "This is great. I learned to milk and you almost immediately got that family to do the chores. I want to use what I learned. I can do more than collect eggs."

Sissy was still on my lap, and giggled, "That's okay, I'll get stud brother here to help me in the hayloft in the mornings. I'll bet I can give him a good roll in the hay."

Mom gave us a squinted eye, "You didn't do that as kids, did you?"

I shook my head, "No, Ma'am, never."

"It wasn't my fault that we didn't," Sissy said, still wiggling on my lap. "I wanted to experiment, but Mr. Goodie here wouldn't even try. He could have been the most experienced stud in school if he had gone along with me."

Mom was laughing so hard that she almost fell from her rocking chair. She said, "He's still a stick in the mud. He wouldn't do Shirley or me either, and has resisted Summer, Marita, Karen, and now Rosita. Don't give Bill or Frank that opportunity, or we'll all be fucked."

"Mom," I exclaimed, "That's no way to talk about your son and son-in-law."

Shirley said, "No, it isn't, but give Bill the chance to bang the population of this house, and he would be rutting his way through all the women in seconds."

"Jesus, you women are too much. Quit wiggling on me, Sissy, you're giving me a h..."

Sissy was grinning, "I know. If I keep wiggling, you might break through those pants and give me what I used to dream of."

I stood, nearly dumping Sissy on the floor. "Sorry, sweet cheeks, I'm going to bed with my wife. She said something about urges, so I should head to bed."

Sissy said, "Lucky bitch. I'll go get Bill going so that he can take care of my urge."

Shirley was laughing. "I guess Frank is sort of like Mike. He loves to love me, but he sometime needs some stimulation."

"Oh well," Mom said, as she stood, "D will be sound asleep without any possibility of my waking him. He does, at least, wake up in the morning ready and very willing to accommodate me."

As I slipped into bed after stoking the fires, I marveled at how horny my mom and sister were, or was it that they just acted that way to tease me? I must have grown up with blinders on, because I didn't sense any of that. It's just as well, or I would have had the ultimate guilt from my teen years.

I kissed Millie who threw her leg over me and used her hand to make sure I was ready to help satisfy her urge. She passionately kissed me as she worked herself down on me. I slowed her down and made soft, passionate love to my wife. She moaned through multiple orgasms, and whispered in my ear that she wished she could give me another baby. Sheryl had fixed that, but Millie was still hot to try for more. When we were cuddled in our juices, Millie passionately kissed me as if we were still beginning. Her hand had me at attention, while bare breasts rubbed on my other shoulder.

Rosita's lips met mine in soft, passionate kisses. The hand on me seemed to change, but felt the same. Millie and Rosita were both kissing me while I was on my back, with a lot of legs spread out over me. It felt as if Millie was getting back onto me, but there was a lot of moving around with all of the kisses.

I was suddenly enclosed in something very tight and very warm that was thrusting hard onto me, bursting through into the warm female depths.

Meanwhile, lips were kissing me from both sides as the warmth surrounded me and began moving on me. Millie whispered, "I love you, Mike. I love you so much."

It was then that I realized that Millie was beside me and not on me. Rosita was impaled on me. She was thrusting down on me, moaning and whimpering, as she thrust over and over. I felt Millie's hand on my balls, caressing me, encouraging me to let loose inside Rosita. I closed my eyes, unable to resist and pumped into this sweet, loving woman.

I felt her stiffen as my juices shot into her. We were mating in the biblical sense and in every other sense. We were mating, breeding, making love.

Rosita began kissing me over and over again as she calmed down. "Oh, Mike, I love you, and I love Millie so much. This is what I have wanted for so long. Oh, Mike, I love you, thank you for loving me too."

Millie was kissing me and told me, "Thank you, Mike, my husband. I'm so happy that you have taken Rosita to be your wife too. Love her the way I love her, Mike. Make love to her Mike because she will give us more babies."

I don't think I needed more babies, but the tight enclosure on me was keeping me hard and had my interest up again. I rolled Rosita onto her back and began kissing her from her face to her nipples. As I continued to kiss her lower, I pulled from her and was finally face to pussy, with a messy place to kiss. I did. I intimately kissed Rosita and felt her spiral into another orgasm before she pulled me up to impale her again. I thrust into her, with her legs locked around my butt, until I released another portion of sperm into her. We held each other tightly as we relaxed.

I pulled from Rosita and lay on my back, thinking I'd just drift off. Not a chance, as Millie was worked up again. She was fondling me, and soon started kissing and sucking me to get my attention. She had my renewed attention as I was ready once again, and was soon mounted on my wife. I whispered to her, "I love you, Millie, and you know that I only needed you."

"I love you, Mike," Millie whispered back, "But I really want you to love Rosita as much as me. Give us both all your love, Mike. We both need you."

Who would have believed it, but I was able to get off one more time with my wife. We were snuggled together, but I had another woman snuggled to my back whispering in my ear. I did what a guy is supposed to do; I fell asleep.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



-------

Chapter 52

Two women's heads were on my chest as my eyes opened. It took a few seconds for the total replay of the previous night to come.

All I could think was 'oh shit'; I've screwed the pooch now. How in the hell did I let that happen? Millie knows how much I love her and only want her.

I looked at the other sweet face and almost cried. Rosita is so sweet, and yes, I love her too, but we shouldn't have been making love. Harold said there was justification, but it wasn't something I had thought should be. Would there be a difference of how Millie feels about me, now that it's done? Rosita even said she didn't know whether she could love me and share me with Millie forever.

How do you put this into perspective? How is a guy supposed to know whether he has done the right thing, or committed a terrible mistake?

I kissed the tops of both heads and began wiggling out from between them. Both reached up for a kiss the way they always did, and I gave each a soft kiss. Both even whispered a soft, "I love you."

Damn, thinking about all of this is going to make for a tough day.

Not knowing what the day would bring since it was the day before Thanksgiving, I dressed and went to the barn to feed the steer that was getting ready for the table. The only thing moving out there was the deer. He happily romped around trying to get me to play with him. Stupid deer; he needs to go visit the deer herd in the stock pasture.

I went back inside to have some coffee after making sure that the stokers for the smoke houses were full and the meat was moist. Millie and Rosita were both up and dressed, with the coffee ready. They both came to sit on a knee when I sat in a chair at the little table.

With a smile, Millie said, "Thank you for taking Rosita to be with us, Mike. I love her and want her to be my sister, and a wife to you."

Jesus, how do you reply to that?

Rosita told me, "You have taken me for my first time, and I enjoyed it. That is supposed to be what only a true husband can do. You made me so happy last night, and I want you to make both Millie and me happy every night for as long you can. I pray that our union gave me our first baby."

Whew, that was another thought: a baby.

The two rested their heads on my shoulders, preventing me from reaching for my coffee.

Mom walked into the kitchen area and observed the two women hugging me. She looked at me and cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as she poured herself a mug of coffee.

Millie and Rosita both sat up straight on my lap, facing Mom. Millie said, "Mike has taken Rosita to be his wife with me. Isn't that wonderful?"

I thought Mom was going to spit coffee across the room, but she was able to get her hand in front of her mouth in time. She looked at me with an arched eyebrow again.

"So, um, Mike. Does this mean you have agreed to what Millie wanted?"

I took a deep breath and almost whispered, "I guess it does. They sort of snuck up on me, but I do realize that I love and want Rosita with Millie. Millie is my first wife, and always will be. She's the mother of my son and the twins. Rosita wants to be my wife and Millie's sister, so I suppose she is now. I promise to try to be a good man to both."

Mom came to me and hugged me to her full breast. "You're going to be a great husband to both of them, Mike. I'm proud of you for recognizing the love both of these women have for you. This is a big step for you, Mike, but you're man enough for it."

How could my mom think that having another wife is a good thing? I'm not ashamed that I took Rosita, but I wonder how the rest of the world will look at it.

Frank and Bill got up early, and left for work in time to be in Lexington by seven-thirty. They wanted to make sure all of their people knew they were serious about getting an early start every day.

I wanted to check with Esteban to be sure he gets the two cows to our barn. That shouldn't have been a worry, as a truck pulled up about eight. The local trucker got out of the cab and shook my hand when I went to meet him. "I have a couple of cows from Esteban. He told me to tell you that the one that's fresh was milked this morning."

I put the two cows in the pasture next to the barn and watched the simpleton deer bounce around the two of them until they had made friends. There was a surprise though, as a young doe was hiding nearby as the buck showed his stuff around the cows. I would have to watch this new deer development.

The trucker laughed at the deer with me, and as he was ready to leave, "I want to thank you again for giving me that new truck. That happened at the exact right time. Thanks again, Mike."

Mom was excited since Karen was coming home today. You would have thought that Karen was one of her own by the way she was so anxious. I'm sure Karen felt that too, and couldn't wait to get home to Mom's warm arms and the rest of us.

I drove over to Esteban's place to see the new cows. Boy, howdy, were there a lot of new cows! Esteban was milking nearly forty head prior to buying the new herd. With a smile, he told me, "We're milking almost ninety head now. All of them are giving great weight at each milking. What has me excited is how many cows are close to coming fresh. Hopefully, we'll get mostly heifers."

"Tell me, Esteban, how many will you be milking when you're at what you would consider the max?"

The man excitedly told me, I think we might get up to about a hundred twenty."

Holy smokes! One hundred twenty cows per milking? That's a hell of a lot of cows.

Esteban told me, "Don't worry, Mike. We won't have a problem now that we have the new milking area and barn. It will take some time to pasteurize that much milk, but we will be money ahead on everything. I've even found a whole barn full of good hay. John and I are going after it later today."

John had been a part of the visit, and had been standing with Esteban throughout my discussion. He knew my concerns, but he also wanted Esteban to know that he was with him, and would help find the answer to anything.

I was in a state of shock over how many cows Esteban had now. You're talking about a major production to milk that many head. I did get him off to the side and told him, "Esteban, you have to find at least one helper. Two might be better, but you and your kids can't do it all. Get a couple of men and we'll work out how to handle them. The most important thing for you to do, though, is to keep the herd healthy."

It was a pleasure to see all of the salt trucks washed and parked back in a row as I drove into the road yard. The one thing that had become obvious was the need to clean the salt trucks between uses. You'd soon have giant holes in the beds if you left them sit without washing them. Even though we'd cleaned, patched, primered, and "Rhino-Hided" the beds, they would rust through without continuing preventive maintenance, and a thorough cleaning out of all the salt was just the beginning of that.

I was home in time Wednesday evening to help make sure the cow was milked. Mom and Sissy argued over milking the cow, but they agreed to bring the cow that was dry in to have something to eat while the other cow was milked. Both animals loved humans and were relaxed around us. Mom was impressed with how much milk the cow gave. We had to go back to filtering the milk into a small five gallon can. I had to show them how to use the small pasteurization equipment that Esteban had set up and sent it through that process into another small clean can. From there the can went into the spring house.

Wednesday evening Mom was busy making pies and some other Thanksgiving specialties. I wondered about the turkeys as Mom was already baking two in the kitchen oven and in the summer kitchen wood stove. Mom told me that she had already cooked two turkeys and they were in one of the smoking rooms staying warm the same place the two that were in the oven would go. In addition, we were smoking some wild geese that someone had traded us at the market, and would see what we thought of those by and by.

Frank and Bill were home early and told me that everyone at the stations was ready for a change and welcomed the new leadership. Frank felt that atmosphere was much better now than when we had made our agreement.

Bert and Pete came home that evening. They came early enough to eat with us and told stories of their experiences in Florida and down in the Caribbean. Their most pleasurable place had been in Nassau as they said they felt free to do just about anything that was fun.

Bert got me off to the side, "Your man, Esteban, is doing you a right good job, Mike. He's up to over a hundred fresh, and that ain't no easy chore. He's a good'un, so hang onto him, hear?"

Nodding, I said, "I sure do hear, Bert. Esteban is a good man and wanted to have that big herd. We'll see how he handles it."

Going to bed was almost scary. Mom had not mentioned anything to Sissy or Shirley, so I was a little apprehensive when I slid between Millie and Rosita.

Millie kissed me as she nearly crawled on top of me. Rosita's lips demanded mine at the same time and as much as Millie's, who was now on top of me. Their kisses and wiggling had the desired effect on my lower part, and both women soon noticed.

Rosita kissed me and said, "Make love to your wife, Mike. Millie is the mother of your children and will always be first."

Millie nearly launched herself over me to hold and kiss Rosita. I marveled at the loving embrace and kiss the two shared.

I made love to Millie as if it was during our early mating days. When she was sprawled out smiling, I made love to Rosita the same way. My two lovelies were soon sleeping next to each other as I snuggled up to Millie. I was very content and felt both women were equally satisfied.

As I lay there, I thought of all of the reasons I had resisted, then of the justifications that Harold had given for poly relationships and marriages. I didn't feel as if I had abandoned Millie as much as I felt that I might be shortchanging Rosita. She had willingly given me her virtue. Millie thought it was very special, and I had to agree. The fact that the two were loving toward each other was comforting.

I couldn't sleep and got up to go into the kitchen to have some wine. I had put a robe on and was sitting in front of the fire with my glass of wine.

Sissy came in and sat with me, clutching a goblet of wine. She said, "I heard you tonight. You made love to both of them. Rosita was moaning and squealing in her excitement, so you gave in. Are you okay with it now?"

I looked at my sister who was staring at the fire. "I'm okay with it because it was something that Millie wanted. They did it last night, and I didn't know it was happening until it was too late. Millie is very happy and Rosita says it was what she deeply wanted. I hope it all works out. Those two are close and they will have to remain close for this to work."

Sissy got up and sat on my lap. "You know, Mike. You could make love to me too, if only you would. I've always wanted you, and I wanted it even when we were kids. We didn't, but I wanted to. I know that I'm married now and shouldn't think this way, but I would screw your brains out if I had half the chance. I just know we would make some great loving."

I hugged my sister, recognizing that she did love me more than just casual sisterly love. "I know the feeling, Sissy. I used to have wet dreams of you almost every night. That's why I always got up first in the morning. I didn't want you to find out that I had come in my shorts."

"Oh God, Mike. It's a good thing I didn't find that out then or I would have been licking your shorts."

"Jesus, Sissy, you are so gross. I only told you to let you know that I felt the same back then."

"I know, Mike, and I would have been crazy about your wet dreams. I would have fucked you senseless every morning of our lives. I would no doubt have been pregnant the first month. I guess it was good we never revealed how we felt."

We slowly rocked in front of the fire. We were almost dozing when Mom came in and kissed both of us on the forehead. "Okay, both of you. Go back to your beds. Enough of this snuggling in front of the fire. You two might decide to do what I was always afraid that you were going to do when you were younger."

I had to laugh a little. Mom knew how much our hormones were raging back then, but didn't do anything but let us make the right decisions. Sissy kissed me and went to her room. Mom hugged me and said, "You were making a lot of noise with your women tonight. That probably got Sissy all worked up. Go to bed."

I was up before five o'clock Thanksgiving morning, dressed, and out in the milk house, getting the equipment ready. I scooped some feed up and put it in the two stanchions for the cows before going out to let them in. I had to fight off the deer to keep him out of the milking parlor.

Sissy walked in just as I finished washing the cow's udder. She directed, "Get off that stool, Bro. That's women's work. Go feed the steer to make sure he's getting fat."

Instead of feeding the steer, I made sure there was enough room in the milk can for the morning's milk, and that the filter, funnel, and pasteurization equipment were clean. I went to the back of the barn and fed the steer after that. I fed the deer too, and was surprised to see the young doe hesitantly move up to where the grain was. I stood still as the buck rubbed against me and made sure I rubbed behind the horns on his head. The doe kept watching me to make sure I wasn't going to make a sudden move.

As I moved away, I thought the buck was almost winking at me, proud of his new doe.

When I let the cows out and had scooped the cow poop up, Sissy finished putting the milk through the pasteurization equipment, so I put the milk can into the spring house while Sissy washed the funnel and filter. She said that we would need to wash another can for the evening milking.

Millie and Rosita had coffee ready inside and were working on breakfast. I had to go out and light the wood stove, but that was an almost everyday ritual.

Mom came out and told me, "We need to get all of our extra tables and chairs out. Everyone we know will be here to share dinner with us. All of the families below will be here with us today too, and they will be a joy to have."

I was directed on to how to set the tables up. It was crowded, but we were going to have between fifty to sixty people, and we needed to have the table settings.

The ladies from below showed up about eleven to help with the meal. The road guys and their wives arrived next. Bert and Pete came and helped keep the coffee flowing. Sheryl and Bernie, Maude and Gene, Harold and Martha, Benson and family, Esteban and family, and even Shirley's brother, Stan, came. The house was jammed by two in the afternoon.

Mom was smooth with the way she began manipulating people to sit. As we ran out of spaces, I opened more folding chairs and had to get another table out. Not a problem though, as there was just enough room. Raul even joked that Mom needed another addition.

Men at each of the tables had the honor of carving the turkeys. There was a lot of turkey, but there were a lot a people. The meal was something special and had to go down as one of the better Thanksgiving meals ever. I think I liked the turkeys that had been cooked, then smoked, the best. They were delicious.

Desserts were pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies. There was a promise of ice cream later, but we were all stuffed and no one could have held any more.

Mom supervised the road guys and all the rest of us men while we worked to clean up. Frank and I were given the job of cleaning all of the meat off the turkeys so that we could have sandwiches, turkey soup, and turkey salad. We would have at least one more big turkey dinner out of the leftovers.

A lot of people left as the day progressed; there were just too many people for comfort. Harold wanted me to show him our wine storage areas as we were getting down to a workable number of people.

As we walked to the original wine storage cave, Harold asked, "I could see a difference in Rosita and Millie today. Did they finally win?"

I looked at Harold, "Is it that obvious?"

"Pretty much, Millie is very happy, and Rosita keeps hugging her. How are you about this?"

"They sort of sneaked up on me, Harold. The deed was done by the time I was aware of what was up. I've thought about it a lot, and I do love Rosita, but Millie is still my first love."

"You've said that well, Mike. Are the two women happy together when others are not around?"

"Harold, the one thing that happened that made me feel good was after lunch yesterday. They had gone into the bedroom to lay the twins down when I came in. They were snuggled together, hugging each other, sound asleep. They looked very loving to me."

"That's good, Mike. I've told you that the Bible talks about poly relationships, but that you and only you, are the ruler of how you feel and it is your home. If you need to talk about this, don't hesitate to come see me or call me over. You've made the first step, now you have to control your future. I wish you luck and pray for your family."

We looked at the wine storage and I even siphoned a small cup of wine out from one of special barrels. The wine was ready, but it was so good that I really didn't want to sell it.

Sissy and Shirley announced that they were going to go home to work on the houses and get them ready to sell. Bill and Frank said they would go with them, but would have to be back Monday morning since Bernie was going to meet them to work out programming at the new station.

Mom talked to the two families, and convinced them to let the kids stay so the adults would be free to work without worrying about the kids.

That's when Raul came up to me. He had been watching and listening. "Mike, how about giving your brother and sister the two new models we're almost done with, and we'll build two more? We have two models near the entrance that are great for what we want to display, and it would work out perfect if we put two models on the other side of the two that are almost complete. What do you think?"

Benson was still with us, so I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "You know, those two families are actually more important than the development. Let's get them moved."

Benson turned to Raul, "When are those houses going to be livable?"

"They are right now, but we should finish them," Rail said proudly. "I'll get everything done this weekend and they can move in any time next week."

I went to find Bill and Sissy, as well as Frank and Shirley. When I had them back with Raul and Benson, I told them, "Go with Raul right now and you four decide who is going to move to which house. Let's get that out of the way and get movers to get your household stuff down here next week, as in on Monday. You guys can stay here until you get the places set up the way you want. Let's get you moved in."

Raul and the two couples took off for the development. Gene walked over to me and said, "The two models Raul is taking them to have both solar panels and wind turbines. They are our premium places and will be selling power back to the grid. Those two places are very special."

This was even better, as my family would have great housing.

It was Benson who cornered me and said, "I have an idea of how to recover some of the money for the models. How about trading the models for their houses up in Cincinnati? I know it isn't a great deal, but we can market their homes and bring in at least half of the cost of the models. We can set up a mortgage plan similar to what they have now and recover that much more. I'll bet they will jump on it."

I had to think about it for a minute, before I responded. "That's probably a good idea and also fair. Let's approach them on it right now before they leave. They will know what their obligations will be that way. I need to talk to Bernie to see what kind of money the two will be making. We might have to modify what we do If they both take big cuts in income."

Bernie and Sheryl were still with us, and I had the chance to talk to him. "Bernie, I don't want to get into your business, but what kind of salaries are we going to be paying Frank and Bill?"

Bernie said, "You're not prying. You're the primary investor in this deal. I discussed money with them individually, and from what I know about the broadcast business, we should be good at what they were making before they were let go. Frank makes a little more than Bill, but that's the way the sales business is. He has a shot at making more, whereas Bill is fairly locked in, except when the station's profitability goes way up. I think they were both happy to be employed so fast, especially at what they were making before."

Benson and I looked at each other. He winked at me and I knew we were going to have a deal.

My brother and sister, along with their mates, were all grins when they came back. Sissy said, "Frank wanted the house I didn't, so it worked out perfectly. Now we have to figure out how to pay for them."

I had them come to one of the big tables with Benson and me. When we were settled, I said, "The development is going to make you a deal. We will trade houses with you so you don't have to worry about selling what you have. We'll put a mortgage on the houses for the same amount, time, and terms you have now. In essence, you will move in and have exactly the same mortgage that you had before, but probably different taxes and insurance. The only stipulation is that you would be obligated to sell the house back to the development, for the same amount that you bought it for, if you should move away within ten years."

Bill was quick. "That's more than fair. Hell, that house we just picked out is worth four times the one we have now. I'm ready and willing, Mike."

Frank said, "I'm in if Bill thinks it's a good deal. He's the dollars and cents man."

"I'll have all of the papers worked out in a couple of days," Benson told them.

I directed them, "You guys go up there and get movers under contract to move you Monday or Tuesday. The women can handle the movers while you guys meet Bernie at the station. Let's get this done and you back to work."

Bill and Frank looked at each other and grinned. They both jumped up and high fived each other. Bill said, "Sissy said that things were going to work out, and I guess she was right. That is about a thousand pounds off my back."

I gave out a deep sigh of relief that everyone was happy.

Benson told the two families, "You know that we're going to get our money out of you in advertising, don't you? Part of this whole deal is going to be having you two families on our advertising brochures and in our TV advertising. Heck, we might even have an infomercial about the development."

Sissy looked at me sideways, giving me the evil eye. I just smiled and gave her the family arched eyebrow.

When Benson and I moved away from the two couples, they huddled together to plan on how they were going to get this done. Mom went over to them, and I could hear her ask, "If you want, I can get all of the women that help us in the garden to come up and help you guys get cleaned out. I'll bet we could get it done this weekend."

All of them huddled some more until they came to Mom. Shirley said, "Get them; we could get both places cleaned out by Sunday if we could get two helpers for each house. We can make one more cleaning pass through the house after the movers leave and be done. Benson can have realtors come by over the weekend to get keys and begin the sales process. We'll need to be back here to help unload on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm sure it'll take us a few days to get everything arranged and put away. We might have to get some more furniture, but we know where to get that cheap."

Mom took Rosita with her to go down the hill to get help. I figured Rosita might go with all of them, but as it turned out, Mom and Marita were going to be one team, and Carmen and Anita the other. I'll bet this was going to be one hell of a party.

When I asked Mom why she didn't take Rosita, she told me, "Millie needs help with all the kids. I've asked the newly married girls to come up and help with the kids while we're gone. Seven kids and two babies is a lot of work. I know the kids will be okay and will be helpful, but another adult or two won't hurt."

Karen heard that and said, "I'll be here until Sunday when Denise and I have to go back. We could even go back Monday morning since we don't have classes until ten."

Mom hugged her and said, "Help out until Sunday, but you should go back and have a chance to settle down and get a good night's sleep. You can review what you need to do for Monday because you're preparing for finals."

It was set; the two couples, and their help, would take off early in the morning and be back Monday night.

In bed that night was just sleep. I lay between the two ladies and thought of our new relationship. I somehow felt like it was going to work. At least I hoped it would.

Sissy wanted to help when I got up to do chores Friday morning, but I made her get ready to go. Breakfast was on the table for the eight people ready to eat and go by the time I was finished doing the milking and brought the can to the house to begin making butter.

We watched them drive down the lane, knowing that today wasn't a black Friday shopping trip for them. They were going to be busy, but it would be a good busy.

A couple of D's girls showed up to help with the kids, but they really weren't necessary. The group of women did do something that I didn't expect. They got busy making butter and getting eggs ready for market. The new cow gave quite a bit of milk, so we didn't need to use any of the milk Esteban brought from the new cows. The women said they would make all of the milk Esteban brought into butter and immediately refilled the electric churn.

I needed to check on Raul at the new model houses to see if they were going to finish. There must have been fifteen men in each house when I arrived. Along with the men, there were at least five women cleaning in each house. Raul said, "We should be complete this afternoon, and the cleaning will be done by tomorrow. I'm having the women come back after the movers leave to help clean again. That should just about do it. The women are going to have to get window treatments, but there are a couple of places up in Mount Sterling where they can get those. They really don't have to worry about it right now, as there aren't any neighbors yet."

Having my brother and sister settled was a lot off my 'to do' list. They weren't here yet, but would soon be. The idea that they would be twenty minutes, instead of several hours away was a nice thought. The kids could now be at the house more often. Mato, Minya, and John would enjoy that.

Back home, D had most of the men from one of the wood crews moving barrels for the bottlers. The mobile bottling truck had equipment that was pouring exact amounts into each bottle, corking, and sealing it. I got a kick out of the Mystery Mountain label. It was a picture of a mountain with what almost looked like a ghost. Mystery was on the top, and Mountain below the logo, then the type of wine was below that.

As the bottles were moved from the sealing process, they were put into cartons for shipping, which were then hauled to the barn to be put on pallets.

A man drove up to the bottler's truck while I was watching, and stepped out of a plain white small Ford with blackwalls. He came to me and asked for Mike Grayson. I told him I was him and he showed me his ID as being a Federal Revenue Agent. I walked him over to the distilling building and showed him my licenses and the big ledger that showed the quantities of wine we had shipped to date this year and the fees we had paid. The man made notes the whole time we talked, then wanted to see our storage areas. The original storage cave was right there, so we went in as men were taking barrels from the high shelf on the racks to wheel out to the bottler.

The man was thorough, if anything, as he inspected the big vats of distilled grappa and vats of pear brandy that smelled so good. He made note of our test equipment near each vat to see that we cleaned and sterilized the testing equipment after each use. D was extremely thorough with each procedure.

I asked the agent if he wanted to come in for coffee. He came in the house and we sat at the little table. He said, "I've heard of your operation and sampled some of your wine in a restaurant in Mount Sterling. I'm impressed that you're following all of the professional winemaking practices. You should be looking at a nice year. My job is to make sure you're paying the taxes due. It looks like you have a good record of your production and what you've sold. Just keep that kind of accounting and you won't have a problem. You know you're in the heart of a moonshine production area here. I have to watch to make sure these farmers aren't out selling what they make. More power to them if they want to drink it all at home and have folks over to help them drink it, but they can't be selling it."

I told the Agent, "I don't make any corn. My entire production is either grape, apple, or pear. I don't want, or really have time for anything else."

The agent gave me a copy of his report to post with the license and left. I had been uneasy while he was here, but it looked like everything was on the up and up.

D had watched the interaction with the Revenue Agent and came out to talk to me. "That's the guy I was expecting. I've been told that he's pretty picky and gigs everyone for something. What did he write us up on?"

"Nothing, D, he said everything was the way it was supposed to be. I put the report up by our license."

D was grinning as he told me, "We almost have the first order for hundred cases of 12 bottles each ready to ship. I called the certified and bonded hauler to come for the wine. He's going to take it all the way to New York. He'll have another man with him, so they should be safe."

"How come you don't have the same guy take your grappa? Wouldn't that save on shipping?"

D said, "The folks buying our grappa and brandy are bringing their own truck down. They will pay us when they pick their shipment up. I think they're planning to make some big bucks on our product."

Barrel after barrel was trucked out to the bottling van. The barrel was put into a sling, and then hydraulically lifted into position to begin emptying the sixty gallons of wine. The bottlers used a forced air syphon to move the wine from the barrel to the bottling vat. They would load four barrels into the vat, and then make a run. The barrels were not completely empty, so D was putting them on another rack to completely drain all the contents into a big glass lined vat that he said would strain all of the sediment and give me more wine to be put into gallon jugs. He told me that I could sell those at the market or keep it for our own use.

We went to market on Saturday with Millie's truck full of milk, butter, buttermilk, and eggs. My truck was full of bacon and hams, along with all of the older kids. We made the deliveries to the Kitchen and the butcher before parking at the market. I'm always amazed at how many people wait for our products. When people now asked if the milk we made butter from was pasteurized, we could answer yes, and that we charged a little extra for that. We were empty, sold out, an hour and a half after arriving. Millie had three baby seats in the back seat of her truck, with Karen and Rosita in the front seat to tend to the kids if necessary.

I went back by the butcher's to pick up the fresh hams, bacon, and slabs of pork to be ground up for sausage. He was going to fill the smoke houses up again this week.

I put the meat up in the smoke rooms and made sure the heat was going to be OK for the day. I loaded the smoked meat stock we wanted to sell at Pine Ridge, along with fifty one-gallon jugs of the so-so wine. Even the gallon jugs had our Mystery Mountain label. Millie and Rosita took the kids inside to feed and change them, and brought them back out to her truck. I had loaded her up with more eggs, milk, butter, buttermilk, and quart jars of cream. It didn't take but an hour to completely sell out this time, and that included fifty gallons of wine. We were busy, and it was all cash, no trades. I thought it was funny that a lot of the business in Stanton was trade, but it was all cash just down the road. I saw at least one state guy wandering around, so I kept a good ledger of what we took in. I knew we would have to pay some form of sales tax, but I would let Maude figure that out.

Back home, the girls cleaned up the little ones and fed everyone a snack. Next was some fun watching D's girls and Rosita begin making a more traditional Mexican dinner. They made heaping platters of various items in no time at all. I didn't see when they made them, but there was at least six dozen tamales that looked delicious wrapped up in real corn husks.

The usual Saturday evening group began to show up. They all migrated out to the farm even though they knew that Mom wasn't here. I had picked up a few cases of cold beer while in the other county, so everyone who wanted beer with the meal had it. Jet even brought a case of Mexican beer to share with everyone.

Benson, his wife, and kids were funny about the Mexican food. He kept asking, "Is it hot? Is it spicy?" I finally asked him why he asked about each item. He said, "I think I get heartburn when I eat spicy food. I just don't want to get heartburn."

Rosita looked at me and winked. She told Benson, "You'll never get heartburn if you drink buttermilk before you eat spicy food. You need to see a doctor if you still get sick, and we have one right here."

Benson had a glass of buttermilk, and then chowed down on everything on the platters. He never said anything about having heartburn the whole evening. I think he's just a worry wart.

The day was finally done and people left. Mom called to tell us they were going to be finished tomorrow without a problem. She said that the houses should be on the market as multiple listings tomorrow and that the realtor who listed them thought they were priced below market. Mom talked to Millie and found out that we had served Mexican food to all of the usual Saturday folks.

When we went to bed later, Millie was all over me in the shower, and led me straight to bed, naked, where we entertained each other for a long while. It was different tonight as Rosita was kissing me while Millie was being loved, and Millie was later doing the same to me as I made love to Rosita. The two women wanted to share in the love that I was giving the other. I was apprehensive about this at first, but the more it happened, the more turned on I became. I was finally on my back with Rosita perched on my hips. Millie said to Rosita, "Doesn't that feel so good to have all of him in you? I love that feeling."

Rosita shivered and panted as she went through more spasms before she fell to the side. Millie quickly moved to assume the same position, as Rosita crawled up to lay next to me, kissing me on the neck as Millie enjoyed her ride. Millie soon had all the orgasms she could stand and laid down on me.

Millie kissed me and asked, "You didn't finish your urge with us this last time, Mike. Are you okay? Can I make you feel good now?"

I hugged Millie to me and said, "I'm fine. How much do you want from me? I did it with each of you and I'm very content."

It was Millie who told Rosita, "I know how to make him do it one more time. Let me show you."

Millie was holding my pride and joy once again, teaching Rosita how to pleasure me with her mouth. Millie was right; I was going to give another donation. Rosita insisted having a turn and tasted what I had been leaking. Millie took over when I was ready to blow my stack, and drained me dry. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Rosita grabbed Millie and the two kissed, passing my seed between them. That almost got me going again.

I wonder what Harold would say about that. I don't think I'll ask his opinion.

We finally pulled the covers over us and went to sleep, naked under the sheet and blanket.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



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Chapter 53

I was out of the house and in the barn early Sunday morning, but Karen came into the parlor about the time I was going to wash the cows and begin milking. She said, "Let me do that. You do the heavy stuff in the milk house while I do this. You can show me how to run the pasteurization equipment when I finish."

When I went into the milk house to give the equipment a pre-use wash, I found Rosita busily washing a milk can, with the equipment already washed and waiting. The beautiful Latina told me, "Mom and Sissy taught me how to do everything out here. Go do the heavy feeding; Karen and I will take care of things in here."

This was unexpected, since Rosita had not been out to help with barn chores very often. That Mom and Sissy had worked with her told me that she had convinced them to teach her. A farmer's wife was being groomed. I finished putting hay out and fed the steer in the pen. He looked to be ready to send to the butcher. Lastly, I scooped up some fresh cow poop from where they had been standing in the milking parlor and washed the floor down.

Rosita and Karen were finished running the milk through the pasteurization equipment and had the processed milk in the can. Karen asked, "Can you be our hero and put the can in the spring house? It's full and it takes both of us to haul it, while you can do it with one hand."

Not really with one hand, but it was easier for me than a couple of women who were half my size. They cleaned the equipment while I stored the can.

I was surprised to see Summer and Bradley pulling up as we came out of the milk house. Summer got out, gave me a hug, and said, "We came for breakfast before church. We've been so busy this past summer that we just haven't been very social. Little Bradley is growing up fast like John, and I want them to get to know each other. Mom told us to come for breakfast and for lunch after church."

Breakfast was our usual Sunday morning treat, with pancakes as well as sausage, eggs, biscuits, and gravy. All of the kids enjoyed the pancakes, especially John and Bradley Jr., who both smeared their faces with butter and some light syrup while jamming a pancake into their mouths.

We were glad that Bradley and Summer were going to church with us, as we wouldn't all fit into one Expedition. Two of the kids rode with Summer, while the rest of us packed into Millie's bright red SUV. It was funny how the absence of Mom, the three other women, and my siblings and spouses affected our group. We definitely felt that we were missing people and the others in the church felt it as well.

Martha told me that Harold and she were having dinner at another parishioner's home after church. I didn't know what Millie had planned, considering that we were without Mom. I'm sure she had planned something, but without her mentor, you just had to wait and see.

The road men and wives began showing up at home after church, as did Bernie and Sheryl, as well as Maude and Gene. Maude told me, "We can't get out of the habit since you and Mom have us going to church and coming out here on Sundays, even when she isn't home. It has become a tradition."

Today's lunch was two huge roasts that were done just right. They had been cooked the day before and put into a warm smoke room to keep until lunch. The additional smoking of the roasts made them even tastier.

The road guys and I talked about their plans for the curbing at the development while we cleaned up the dishes and kitchen ... The roads were complete, but they needed to add curbing to make the development look even more professional. Jimmy told me that the concrete company had a subcontractor who did that kind of work. He said that they were able to pour and form at the same time with their equipment, using concrete that was drier and had already begun setting up. He recommended that we use them.

Gene offered, "As we get higher on the slope, I'd like to build a couple of houses with the house at grade level, but with the garage being a rear entrance that is below grade as if it was underground. I think we could do a few that way and actually shrink the lot sizes an acre or so."

My comment was, "Making some homesteads smaller in lot size might lessen the value of the other homes. We should vary our models as much as possible, but I think six to eight model homes should be enough. Gene has several different faces to put on each floor plan and can mirror image a floor plan for variety, so with eight model homes we have more than fifty variations available. We're only going to have about a hundred homes total. We should build out the common area and recreation building first this next summer, so they can become a focal point in our advertising and a sales office. We'll need to have a homeowner's association with some form of taxing authority to maintain the common areas, but it shouldn't cost that much to keep everything up unless they want to have the building manned daily."

Gene talked about how we might design the common area, but I became more interested in playing with John and Bradley Jr. This was the first time I had opportunity to play with the boy who was now my grandchild. The two boys were having a good time rolling around playing. Both were fighting off sleep, as it was past their afternoon nap time. They both eventually fell asleep in front of the fireplace. Millie and Summer put a light blanket over each and let them sleep on the big soft rug.

Bradley wanted to take a look at the wine operation and see the beef stock I was raising. We took a walk in the brisk weather to look at everything. The bottlers were shut down for today, but you could see how everything was ready to begin in the morning. Bradley asked me how difficult it would be for him to build and plant a vineyard. He told me that he had a couple of low hillsides that weren't tillable and he was thinking of copying my orchards and vineyards. I advised him to get information from the farm bureau and to have D begin teaching him how to get started. I made sure he knew that it would take a few years to go from initial setup to a producing vineyard. Bradley also wanted to make sure that I would be a buyer for his grapes if he was to start a vineyard. I told him that D would be the one to talk to, but I was sure that he would be interested.

As we walked down to see the beef stock, Bradley told me that he had an idea of how to keep the low bottom land from flooding and wanted me to take a look at it with him. I told him that I would get Gene to come over with me, as Gene was really sharp when it came to drainage. Bradley told me, "Your man, Jet, is super smart about stuff like that too. I've talked to John at your new place that you bought from Pete, and he told me that Jet could just about figure out how to drain anything."

Bradley said, "Our places would really become a lot more profitable if we could guarantee that ground could produce a crop or two every year. That deal you made and gave to Dad has really put us over the top and helped us to have two households. Of course, the food you've been supplying us with has been a big factor in our budget as well. Summer had a good time working with her Mom in the garden this past year. She goes to your place to work with the butter and cream at least once a week. I have to tell you, Mike, I never ate this well before I married Summer."

Bradley thought the beef stock was ready for market, so I made a mental note to get the butcher out here to see what he thought. I would also put another steer in the barn to fatten up. All of this meant that I would need to begin searching for more beef stock, but I wanted some heifer calves this time so that I could begin breeding my own stock. I figured the big pasture on the mountainside could probably handle nearly twice as much stock, so I was going to try to load up for the coming year to a year and a half.

Bradley bumped into me with his shoulder on the way back to the house, and said, "Summer is pregnant again, but I don't think she's going to have twins. She just had it confirmed by the doc. I think that might be all for us. I'd love to have another boy, but Summer says she wants a little girl this time. Do you think I should encourage her to have another boy if she does have a girl?"

I had to laugh, "You don't get to choose in advance, Bradley. What you get is what you get. Why would you restrict yourself to only two boys?"

"Heck, Mike, I know that I was more than a handful for my parents, and I don't know whether I can be as patient as Mom and Dad were. I just figured that two boys would be a big help on the farm the way I finally became for Dad."

"Well, you know that Summer may be like her mother and enjoy little ones. Millie's upset that she's only given me John and the twins, but we also have Minya and Mato to raise now. I think she should be content."

Bradley almost giggled, "Summer said that you've finally taken Rosita for a wife. She said that Rosita has talked about becoming a wife for over a year. Now Summer thinks we should consider a second wife for me so that we could have more kids. I don't think so, since I don't know how we would ever be able to handle a bunch of kids."

"I'll tell you, Bradley. You better watch Summer, and don't let her be inviting one of these young women over all the time, or she'll have become a part of the household the first thing you know. Women are sneaky, Bradley, so be aware."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Summer will bring things up while we're playing and expect me to have an intelligent answer. I've been able to put off giving her an answer so far, so at least she isn't mad at me."

"Don't worry, Bradley. She won't be mad; disappointed, yes, but not mad. But don't think that she will stop looking or thinking about it. I'd suggest just making sure you keep her content at home and pay attention when she's working in the garden next summer."

"You're right, Mike. That's when she could be shopping for that second woman. I'll call Bea to make sure she keeps an eye on Summer for me. I know Summer has fun helping in the garden, and it has paid off to give both us and my folks all of the canned vegetables we could want. It's worth it to do it with you guys, as I don't have to mess with a garden now and can focus on the fields and equipment."

Back inside, we talked with everyone until it was time for Bradley and Summer to head home. The other couples also began getting ready to go. Bernie and Sheryl stayed to have supper and evening dessert. Karen had talked to Mom and was ready to get picked up by Denise to go back to school.

I excused myself to go out to do the milking. Rosita followed me out and said, "I'll do the equipment and pasteurization, while you get the cows in and milk the one. I'll bring the bucket in."

The cows were accommodating as usual, and came in to put their heads in the stanchions to stand and be milked. The cow gave a bucket and a half of milk. This is much more than most Jerseys give, and you could see that her milk was rich because of the little yellow curds floating on the top of the milk can.

I was lucky tonight as there was no cow pee or poop to clean up. They wanted to be around me when I put them out, and competed with the deer to be up next to me for scratches behind the horn ridge. The deer's girlfriend was still hanging around and enjoying the extra food, as well as a place out of the weather.

Sheryl told me that evening, "I have two doctors coming to be part of the clinic. We've also been able to find several more nurses. We can now become a closer alternative for a lot of the small towns near us that have been going up to Mount Sterling. The area is growing with people, and with the additional growth due to your developments, the clinic could become an important small community hospital. This expansion is really an important event for this area, Mike."

Bernie was nodding his head as he said, "Hopefully, one of the men I have contacted will be good for a station and program manager. I think that we'll be a lot better off if we can keep ourselves from being top heavy in management, and hold conferences together to make programming and other decisions. I'm already working on some advertising, and I'll share it with Frank tomorrow. The stations are going to work, Mike."

"I never doubted that they would," I told Bernie. "How has the acceptance of substitute hosts at your station in town been this past week?"

"Well, it's Thanksgiving week, so there were only four days to be concerned about. The new guys and the girl we have are all having a good time, and the listeners are enjoying them. We really don't have to worry about the gossip times here, but the hosts still have to keep their fingers on the dump button in case someone gets a little crude. We do preface the gossip stuff that their call will be dumped if the caller is crude or abusive. It's all been good so far."

I asked Bernie, "How soon do you think you will be able to begin integrating some of the local news into the TV station?"

"Right away, Mike. I've discussed what I wanted to do, and how I thought we might begin, with the news department. Putting some trucks in the field to get interviews about what's happening in our area, with people from the small towns surrounding the station, should increase advertising revenue and our ratings. I'm already going to have the radio station give our farm market report and begin doing a call of the various law enforcement agencies in the small communities to hear what has been going on. That should give us some more listeners and also give the TV people leads as to where to go for interviews."

"All good ideas, Bernie; I hope you can get it all to work."

"It will, Mike. We're covering a hell of an area with the repeater on your tower."

Sheryl told Bernie, "Tell Mike what you talked to Harold about."

Bernie smiled as he told me his plan. "The local station has a lot of shut-ins, or near shut-ins, that can't get out and go to church. Since our church is non-denominational and Harold is not a thumper, I thought we could broadcast his service on Sunday mornings and increase the listener base during that time. We would also be providing a service to those who can't get to church. Harold is in agreement, but doesn't want a bunch of microphones on his podium. He says that detracts from what he's saying. He has agreed to wear a wireless microphone and to have a couple of overhead microphones for the singing and choir. Harold even suggested that we broadcast the Bible study class, since he said that no one would ever object to lessons on the Bible. I think that we could have a few ad spots between Bible study and the church service, if we did that. I'll work on getting it hooked up to transmit back to the station. We should be able to do it over a telephone line so that we wouldn't have any delays. I'm working on it."

A lot of amazing things are coming from Bernie. I was happy that the trust could help him and the community, as it made all of us stronger.

We were finally down to only our family. I watched as John sat on Rosita's lap and was surprised when he called her 'Momma' right after calling Millie 'Momma' when he had wanted something. That was probably correct for the time being. John was cute by the way he was attempting to learn to say 'Kevin', but 'Karen' was easier as he already had played with her.

The older kids were having fun playing Candyland with Minya and Mato. They played that and the Cherry game until it was time to go to bed.

As we cuddled that night, I told the two women, "I'm happy and proud of the way you two handle the kids. They will grow up loving you both as mothers. You both know how I resisted us going farther in our relationship, but it's easy to see how much we love each other. I am happy we took that extra step after all."

Both women tenderly kissed me. It was funny that Millie leaned over and kissed Rosita on the lips at that moment, then back to me. She whispered to me, "We both want you tonight, but our woman stuff came to both of us today. I guess that Rosita isn't pregnant yet."

As we lay in each other's arms, Millie asked, "Did you know that Summer is pregnant again? She said that she found out that it was true last week. She is already over two months along and very happy. She wants a girl, and Bradley wants another boy. She said it was too bad that she couldn't have twins like I did."

I told the two, "Bradley told me the same story, and he admitted that he didn't want more than two kids, but I think I convinced him how much fun it is to have a larger family if Summer can have more."

Rosita told me, "I want your baby in me and for us to have more children. Millie and I talked about it, and we think it will be good to have a big family. We have plenty of food and know how to grow it, so we can have many without worrying about food."

Millie told Rosita, "I didn't understand about money for a long time, but I now know how we get money for those things we grow and do. Our eggs, meat, milk, and garden give us money for those other things we need. It's almost like we should be trading with Walmart to get those other things, like clothes, but they don't trade. They only take money."

Rosita said, "I understand money because you don't eat if you don't have money in Mexico. That is why Mexican farmers will do what the cartels want. They have to eat, and that's the only way to get money now that the cartels have taken the land. This is a better country because there is no cartel to tell us what to grow. I think you would get your big gun and make them go away if they came, Mike. I wish you could go down there and shoot all of them, but there are too many and you would die. I'll keep you here, and Millie and I will love you and have babies instead."

I was all for that rather than dying. I'm glad I wasn't a farmer in Mexico, because I would have resisted and attempted to organize against the cartels, and that would have probably caused me and my family to disappear.

We slowly drifted off to sleep.

I was sitting on a stump, watching a young girl playing in the mountain flowers. Those flowers only blossomed in the late spring, so this must be a dream. A voice came from my side, "Isn't that the gentlest person you've ever seen?"

I jerked and looked around, but didn't see anyone.



The voice spoke again, "Don't look for me, I'll tell you where to look. Just watch the little girl playing in the flowers."

I continued to watch until the voice said, "Look toward the bluff; see the shadow that moves along the rock wall? Watch me as I travel in and out of the rock. You see, Mike, I'm the ghost of Mystery Mountain."

"What? A ghost? How would I know you're a ghost? I'm asleep and dreaming this."

"Are you, Mike? Everyone knows there are ghosts on Mystery Mountain. There are more than just those that you have seen. There are ghosts that you can barely see. You will see me if you watch while you are on the mountain."

"I'm dreaming as it's warm outside now and must be spring to have the flowers."

"Ah, you are too smart. But are you smart enough to go back and look again? Are you smart enough to listen to me, a ghost? You've followed me before, Mike. Follow me again. I will come to you and you will follow me. There will be a time when you should follow where I lead and go to where I point."



I wasn't talking back, as I felt this was just a dream and couldn't be real.

"I will come to you again soon, Mike. Remember that I will guide you. Until then, enjoy the girl who plays in the mountain flowers."

I felt a cold draft over my face and quickly sat up. The women on each side of me stayed asleep, but I quickly looked around trying to determine what had caused that cool breeze across my face. Something caused me to become very drowsy, so I lay back down and was asleep in seconds.

Morning had me up dressed and out the door to get the chores done as quickly as possible. I didn't even get the equipment prepped before Rosita came into to the milk house. "I will do the milking, Mike. You do the heavy feeding."

As I finished what I was doing while getting the funnel and filter ready, Rosita asked, "Did you see the other deer back where the buck stays? It looks like there are two or three does back there with him and one of the does has a fawn that only looks a few months old."

"I guess I'll see when I let the cows in, in a few minutes. Let me get some grain for the cows and I'll let them in."

I slowly opened the door that led out to the lean-to where the cows waited to be let in a few minutes later. The deer wasn't trying to push his way in, but waited until I let the cows in. He stood in front of me as I looked past him to see three does and one fawn. Could this be his baby? I'd bet it was and he was finally convincing the does to come under the lean-to where they would be out of the weather. It also had grain and hay. I closed the door to close the stanchions where the cows were now standing and eating.

I watched as Rosita sat on the stool, washed the cow, and began milking. I went back to the side of the barn and brought some ground up corn and oats to spread in the long feeder where the animals were.

Even the small fawn was able to get its head over the side of the trough to get at the grain. I watched as the buck watched his herd eat. He waited until they were all eating before he began eating near me.

I busted some hay for the cows and the deer too, but didn't bust more than I normally did as the cows never finished theirs. This would possibly keep down the hay waste. There never was grain left over, but there was always hay pulled from the hay bin and trampled into the ground.

Rosita was finished hand milking as I went to begin cleaning behind the cows. They had finished their grain, so I let them out to their area and watched them nudge the deer aside to get at the additional grain. They were bigger and were able to convince the smaller does that they were first for grain. I would have to consider that and possibly have two different feeding areas. The cows didn't push the fawn away and allowed it to get his head into the trough between them.

When I was finished cleaning the milking parlor floor, Rosita was finished processing the milk and washing the equipment. As I went to put the can in the spring house, Rosita asked me to bring the other two cans into the house for her to begin making butter. She said she wanted to get a head start before Esteban showed up with the whole weekend's milk from the new cows.

I was thinking that we might need to just haul it to Mount Sterling and sell it as processed non-organic milk. There is no way for us to make that much butter and buttermilk.

We were eating breakfast when Esteban called on the house phone and told me, "I'm shipping the other milk in cans, because I know you can't really make that much butter. You would be making two trips a day into the market to sell so much. I'm going to use some for non-organic cheese, but I'm going to ship the rest. If you guys need more for market, let me know and I'll bring ten gallons over at a time."

"Thanks, Esteban. You can bring ten gallons tomorrow as the girls from below will be back from Cincinnati and will want something to do. We'll figure something out when we know what the women really want to do."

"Smart man, Mike; wait for the women to tell us so that we don't make them mad or do something they don't want. I'll talk to you later."

The next call came on the office phone, and it was Mom. "Hi, Mike. We're done and the movers are already here and loading now. The real estate woman was here Saturday, and actually showed both houses yesterday while we were still packing and cleaning. She thinks she will have an offer on Sissy's house later today."

"Wow, that's fast work, Mom. When will you guys be able to start back?"

Mom told me, "Both houses should be loaded by noon to one o'clock, so we'll start back as soon as we give the places a final sweeping and mopping. They look really good for just being emptied. The real estate lady said there is no reason for us to paint Shirley's, because she said the place was in better shape than many that had just been painted."

"Good deal, Mom, we all miss you guys and look forward to you being home."

"I miss you guys too, and will miss having Sissy underfoot. She needs her own place, but I plan on having the kids as much as possible though. Maybe we can convince Shirley and Sissy to go to work. Think about it, Mike, and think of where they might get a part time job."

"Mom, they have a full time job raising their kids and homeschooling them. Are you going to begin doing all of the homeschooling?"

Mom excitedly answered, "Millie and I already talked about it, and we have already bought the material to begin working with Minya. Mato might be too young, but I'll bet he learns right along with Minya."

"Okay, but teaching six of them in different grade levels could be a lot more work than you think. You might want to try that while the kids' mothers are setting the houses up. That will give you an idea of what you have to do."

"Good idea, Son. I'll do that. Let me talk to Millie, if you would."

Millie spoke to Mom for a minute before calling me back into the office.

"What else, Mom?"

"We're just about out of beef in the freezer so you need to get the steer butchered and begin fattening up another one. I think it is going to take three of them to fill all of our freezers. Summer will need some and probably her in-laws. The folks down below will need some so four steers might be needed to fill us up until we have more ready."

I told her, "I'll get on that today. Ben's stock trailer is near the door, so it won't be a big deal if the butcher can take a steer now."

When Mom hung up, I dialed the butcher and asked him if he could take a steer. He told me, "I wondered when you would start. I'm empty today, so bring me two and I'll do your fat one and one for me to sell. Get another ready to fatten up because I know you'll need at least two."

With a laugh, I told him, "Mom thinks it might take four or five. We have plenty though so you tell me how many you want at a time. I can haul two at a time."

"I'll take two today but I'll be getting all of the hogs in this afternoon. That will take a full day to get them cut up and some meat soaking for you for Saturday. Think about two more steers for Wednesday unless I call you. There seems to be a heavy population of deer this year so I'm getting a lot of business butchering deer. Speaking of deer, I haven't seen any from you."

"I got two bucks a few days back, but I skinned and butchered them at home. I'll bring you the hides. I saved the antlers, do you want those too?"

The man said, "Doing my work now are you? Bring the antlers and if you have your tags, bring those too as the game warden comes around to check all the time. You can kill the deer on your property, but I know you buy tags."

"I'll do that and see you in an hour or so."

I told Millie what I was going to do and went out to hitch the trailer up and make sure the lights were working. I backed it up to the rear barn door and put the ramp down. From there I took a rope out to the new pasture and banged on the hay bin. The steers quickly came up for some fresh hay, so I put some out. I put a loop around one of the steers and made a quick rope hackamore out of it. The steer didn't want to leave the hay, but the loop around his neck and the pulling on his snout convinced him I was to be followed.

I tied him in the trailer and was able to do the same with the steer in the barn. The stall would have to be cleaned out and fresh straw put down before I could house another steer in there.

I could tell that I had a lot of weight in the trailer as the truck groaned on the steep grades. The butcher came out and looked over the two steers when I got there. He said, "Both look really good. The fat one obviously is the one you've had penned up and feeding grain. Bring me two more from the pasture day after tomorrow, and I'll cut up one for your daughter, Summer, and Stanley. I hope he's filling up your silos, because good beef isn't cheap. This is good beef and will bring a good price in my display case. Bring two more, okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you day after tomorrow. You know you filled the smoke houses again last Saturday. Are you going to be that heavy again?"

"Probably, as I've been having a lot of requests for ham and my sausage and bacon. I think I'm even pushing our pig supplier a little. It'll slow down in January like always, but I want to have the stock while I can sell it."

I drove back home, washed out, and unhitched the trailer, leaving it just outside the equipment pole barn since I would be using it again so soon. It took me until noon to clean the pen out where the steer had been, and I prepared two pens to fatten up two at a time. I kept thinking about all of the mouths that we feed and figured that I should get ready. We almost needed a bigger summer kitchen in order to put another chest freezer out there. That was a thought and something that Raul and his men could do if they ran out of work. A larger pantry would work too.

I was able to make a couple of trips to get steers up to the barn after lunch. One trip was almost a disaster, as the steer wanted to assert his power over me. I had to smack him on the nose hard enough to make him go to his knees, but he got up, shook his head, then followed me. If he had shaken his head one more time, the rope hackamore would have fallen off and all I would have had would have been the loop around his neck.

Minya and Mato had followed me out to the pasture and back to the barn that last time. They witnessed me smacking the steer but didn't say anything until we were finished getting him into his pen and giving him some grain. Mato asked, "Was he bad that you had to do that? He was trying to pull away."

Minya tried to answer, and told Mato, "Farm animals are supposed to mind the farmer. That one didn't mind and was being mean. Daddy treats the good animals nice, but he makes the bad ones mind him."

I tried to tell them the reason why I had smacked the steer on the nose so hard. "The steer is much bigger than I am, and unless I do something that gets his attention, he could have gotten loose and tried to run away. I wouldn't have been able to stop him, so I hit him where he would feel it the most. My dad taught us to do what I did to get him to do what we needed him to. I would never hit a steer or cow unless they might hurt me, you, or even themselves. It isn't good to hurt an animal."

Mato asked, "Wouldn't Spook and Witch chase him?"

"That's the problem; they would chase him, and he would have run all over the place and possibly hurt himself. So you see, I did what I had to do for us and for him. No one really got hurt, and you saw that he is happy and began eating the grain right away."

I think the two understood, but I would have to listen to how they described what happened to Millie, Rosita, and the other kids. The others had stayed inside because Millie had been directed to give them their schoolwork. Millie enjoyed being the teacher for the day.

While I thought of it, I got on the internet and looked up the local stock auction houses and any auction listings that included beef stock. There were a few private auctions and I wrote down where and when they would be, and what they had to sell.

The Lexington auction house was selling a lot of beef stock, but all at premium prices. Surprisingly, though, was that the calves were not bringing a very big dollar. Some of the cows bred four to nine months were bringing around a thousand. A calf was bringing about a hundred fifty to hundred and seventy. A beef stock cow that weighed about a thousand pounds would be at least twelve hundred dollars, and the calf would be another hundred and half, so if I could buy enough bred cows, that might do the trick. I would have the cows to keep breeding for a while, and the calves to raise. I would need another ten to fifteen head of yearling steers, but I think we could begin breeding our stock. Now to decide whether to raise and breed Herefords or Angus.

Herefords were hardier, but Angus seemed to put on better beef weight. I still thought that I would be better off raising Herefords, and if I wanted some Angus for my own beef, I could buy some yearlings and feed them out for us.

There was an auction on a farm just past Pine Ridge tomorrow where I could look at the stock and equipment today. I told everyone where I was going and drove down the mountain the fast way and was soon at the farm where the auction was to be held.

The man had a lot of equipment, but I wasn't that interested in what equipment he had. I was greeted by the auctioneer and the farmer. I told him that I was mostly interested in his livestock. The guy had sheep, goats, hogs, an old Holstein cow, and he had a holding pen full of Herefords. I saw one bull, several cows, but also a couple dozen steers all around nine months to a little over a year. I did a quick tally to figure out what I would bid on them and stood there long enough to see the condition of all of them.

I asked the farmer and auctioneer, "Are you going to sell them one at a time or in groups?"

The auctioneer said, "I'll sell the females with calves as one group, and the unbred females as another. I haven't decided on the steers yet, but the bull will go by himself. He's a registered bull that has good lines."

I made the comment that he wouldn't be much good to the guy who bought the unbred cows as he was probably sire to them. A guy would need another bull to keep good blood lines in the stock.

The farmer and auctioneer looked at each other and nodded. I told them, "You've let that bull with those steers too long. He's gouging some of them and that's going to reduce the value. The ones that are banged up won't be worth butchering until they heal up. That could take a few months."

The two looked at each other again and had a few comments.

As it looked like I was going to leave, the auctioneer asked, "Will you be here tomorrow? Most everyone has been looking at the equipment so far. Are you interested in the sheep or goats?"

I didn't laugh, but I wanted to. "I'll ask my neighbors if they might want another goat or some sheep. You never know."

I called the trucker when I got home and told him where the auction was going to be and asked him if he had a job tomorrow, or if he could be ready to haul some stock if I called. He said, "Anytime for you, but I don't have anything tomorrow anyway. I might send a small flat bed up there to see if I can pick up a couple of loads. It's going to be a cold day up there though, because it's supposed to rain. The TV forecast said it would be about 35 to 40 with a steady rain all day."

I thought 'aw shit', but then also thought that if there hadn't been many looking at the stock yet, there would be even fewer in the rain. The stock wouldn't look as good, so the prices would be down. Big auction buyers would often come to small farm auctions and try to steal cattle, but they were lazy and wouldn't be out on a cold rainy day. I'd just dress warmly and get my poncho out.

Rosita and I did the milking and feeding. We smelled the rain coming. I was glad it wasn't any colder or the rain would be snow. It still could be at our higher elevation, but probably not.

The Cincinnati folks all showed up about six, just in time for supper. We had waited on them as we knew they would be close. Frank and Bill pulled in right after the women. I ran Marita home after she had been paid and took the other two women home on the way. Marita was happy to be home with Jet.

Back home, we ate while we heard about getting the households ready to move. The ladies had performed miracles to get the houses packed up and cleaned. Sissy said that she would have a lot of things that she would throw away when she unpacked, but had packed everything quickly to get out of there. Shirley said the same.

I told the two couples that Raul was going to stop by with the keys tonight, and they could go make sure the heat was on and learn what to do with the solar panels and wind turbine.

Mom wanted to hear about what I had done about the beef, so I gave her the scoop. As I spoke, Mato was bouncing around, wanting to tell Grandma what had happened when a steer tried to get loose. When he got to the part where the steer was trying to jerk away from me as he told the story, both Mom and Sissy together said, "And he smacked that steer right on the nose. Did he make it fall?"

Mato and Minya were surprised that they knew what I had done. Mom and Sissy had seen Dad do it many times.

Minya said, "The cow didn't fall all the way down, just to his knees."

Mato corrected his sister, "It was a steer, not a cow. He doesn't have milk stuff, and he doesn't have balls."

Mom rolled her eyes trying to figure out where Mato had heard all of that. The answer was sitting at the table in the form of four older kids.

"So, Mike," Mom asked, "What are you going to do about replacing your stock?"

I smiled, since I knew it would come up. "Well, I'm going to a farm auction on the other side of Pine Ridge tomorrow, and see if I can get some steers they have that are close to yearlings. The auction has a few bred and un-bred cows, and a dozen or so calves. I can get some mutton and some goat meat if you want."

Mom asked, "Did you ask Anita if they think Consuela might want more goats? She might want some sheep too."

"I'll call and ask, Mom. I did call the butcher to see if he was interested in any mutton, but he said not right now."

Mom advised me, "You know it's going to rain and to be cold tomorrow. Who's going with you?" Mom sure was interested in the beef stock.

"Just me, no sense in anyone else getting cold."

Mom looked at me, "I'll go with you. We'll take a couple of thermoses, one with soup, and one with coffee. We can get in the truck and warm up if we get too cold. I know how to stay warm at these crazy auctions. Hopefully, they won't postpone it."

"I don't think they can, Mom." I had seen a notice of property takeover by the County, so the guy had to get rid of his equipment or lose it all at a tax auction. He might be able to save himself, but he won't have a way to farm. He can only rent his ground out.

When I told Mom what I had seen, she said that the guy was probably moving somewhere else and just wanted some cash.

I called John to ask him if he might need any equipment. He said he was fine right now, and thought that Esteban was also good. I asked if he wanted to raise a steer, and he said, "Not yet. My wife thinks she might be pregnant, so I'm going to wait to see if it's true. We'll figure it out soon, because this farm is going to be profitable as it is, and we can help work your garden for produce. We can swap grain for meat, since I'm not going to use anything other than natural fertilizers. I hope to have your and Esteban's hay problems cured next year. I'm going to put a couple of my other neighbor's fields in alfalfa. I like to mix in a little clover with that and reseed in the fall of every year."

"Good thinking, John. That's exactly what I do. We're thinking alike."

He asked, "It's going to be a terrible day for an auction. Do you want some company? I could go with you if you want."

"I'm fine, John. We might get our bidding done early and get out of there. Mom wants to go with me, so I'll have company."

John laughed, "Bea is a farmer's wife through and through. My goodness but that woman surprises me every time she does something."

"She is something, I agree."

Everyone who needed to be called was called, so I sat back with D and had some wine. Frank and Bill came to sit with me, and Frank said, "I hired four new salesmen today, but I let seven who were there go. I only kept one after talking to all of them. None of the others liked the idea of a low base and high commission. They all thought they deserved a larger salary than what they were already getting. I let them go to find that big salary. The one man I kept has been a big producer right along, and thinks he's going to clean up now on commission. That's the way I like it. He was salivating to get out of the office after I told him how far we were going to be broadcasting, and that I wanted to include some news interviews in the small communities. I think he'll do well."

Bill told me, "I made a bunch of calls, and think I'm going to be caught up on everything from sixty to ninety days. A lot of customers just let it go because they could get away with it. A simple telephone call, and I had two customers bring checks by the station. While they were there, Frank's ace sold them some advertising based on the information of our broader broadcast area. That same guy put out a pricing sheet that is higher than the old pricing, and said that we had been too cheap. He said he thought customers felt like we were a second rate station because our prices were so low. At least that guy uses our Nielsen numbers that are not that far off the top station in town."

Frank told me, "Bernie was working on programming this afternoon. He has a lead on a good man to run the station and programming. The guy has a strong background in news, so Bernie thinks we can build up our viewers by using local news to our advantage. He also said we were paying for network packages that we were not fully using. He was working on that at the close of the day. We made him pack up and get out too."

I told them, "Good for you. That's the way it needs to be. Clear the offices out so that people will be fresh tomorrow. The only people who should be on site are the news people and technicians. You guys switch to network news at six, so even the news people can go home then. I know I saw where one team was on call all night, but Lexington doesn't have that much going on."

Frank said, "We'll see. The news crews said that they like to beat the bushes to find some spot news at night. They called themselves a bunch of ambulance chasers, since they try to get video of all of the wrecks and arrests if they can get there in time. They also said that our station was the only one to video overnight activities, and often sold some of our footage to other stations. I suppose that a night crew can be profitable."

I was worn out by the time I put Mato and Minya to bed. They were happy with me because I had probably kept them from being hurt. They said Sissy and Grandma told them that was what I was doing. I was keeping them from getting hurt. I would have to thank both for their comments.

Mom had some soup out of the freezer sitting near the fireplace to thaw for tomorrow. I also noticed two big thermos bottles on the counter. We were going to be at that auction at the opening bell. It was already beginning to rain when I let the dogs out for one last run around the buildings.

I heard it begin to rain harder while in bed later, and hoped it slowed down by morning.

The girls were a little restless because of no loving, so I hugged and kissed them until they settled down and fell asleep in my arms.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead
Last one through - Deenara2000



-------

Chapter 54

I was up dressed and sipping coffee when Mom and Sissy came from the hall. Rosita came out too and said to the two other women, "I do the milking now. If you want to help, you can."

Mom was about to break up as Rosita poured herself some coffee and sat next to me. Sissy said, "How about all of us doing it this morning so that Mom and Mike can get out of here early. One of us should stay inside to get breakfast ready?"

Mom said, "I'll stay in. I'm not that interested in getting cold and wet until I have to."

Shirley came from the bedroom, still in her gown and rubbing her eyes. She said, "Do you need help with the chores this morning?"

Mom laughed and told her, "Go put some clothes on so that we can make breakfast. Light the wood stove for me before you go out, Mike."

The wheels of our world had begun to turn. I lit the stove, worked my way past the stokers for the smoke houses, and into the barn where I put grain in the buckets for the cows in the milking parlor. I fed the deer after letting in the cows, and pulled a section of gate around to give the deer their own area to get grain. I was impressed that the fawn was playfully bumping into me like the original deer had done as a little one.

The does closely watched me while I played with the fawn. They had no comparison to know how I would react. I didn't know how I would react either. Who ever heard of raising wild deer?

The new steers in the barn were happy to get more grain and hay. There was no competition for food, so they could eat at their leisure. The steer that had given me trouble the day before gave me a head shake and snort to let me know he hadn't forgotten the way I treated him. Well, he wasn't getting out of his pen until it was time to be table fare.

Back inside after finishing the chores, Mom told me not to shower, but to go shave so that I looked reasonable. She told me a shower might make me colder later. I didn't think so, since I'd been in cold climates before and knew what to do to stay warm.

I made sure that Mom was wearing sufficient clothing and outerwear. We both wore warm waterproof boots so we wouldn't suffer the 'cold tootsie' syndrome. We left home with our soup and coffee early enough to get to the auction first.

There were exactly six pickup trucks in the parking area at eight o'clock. The farmer and auctioneer were watching the clock, and finally said that it was time to begin. They began selling the equipment first, as expected. Item after item was selling for half of what I thought it should sell for. When a twine and wire combination square baler came up for sale and the high bid was three hundred, I bid on it since that was too cheap. I ran the bid up to all of five fifty before it was awarded to me. I didn't mind as I felt that I could sell it if John had one that was better. A fairly new John Deere 7600 series tractor was put up a few minutes later, and only bid at a thousand dollars. I hollered, "And twenty-five" and waited to see if the other bidder was serious. He wasn't. I bought a twenty-thousand dollar tractor for a thousand twenty-five dollars.

Another five to ten pickups had arrived and registered during this time. Nothing else sold for next to nothing, so I didn't bid. There was no reason for me to buy anything, since I was fine as far as equipment was concerned.

Mom and I had some vegetable beef soup and more coffee when the auctioneer broke for lunch. You could almost see the farmer crying at his losses so far. We talked about how depressing this must be for the farmer and we both wondered what was behind him selling out completely. There are always so many reasons for someone willing to take a loss like this that it is difficult to speculate.

After lunch, I was surprised to hear lively activity for the sheep when the stock auction began. The goats appeared to be popular next, as they sold for more than I would have thought.

The ancient Holstein was next and brought better than utility beef.

The bull caused some ridiculous bidding that ended with the bull going for more than double what it should have been worth.

What happened next really surprised me. I thought there would be all of those same people bidding on the calves that were next.

I bid an opening of twenty-five each and was bid up to forty, where I bought them. Next were the un-bred cows that I stole, then the bred cows that went even lower, which was stupid.

We were finally down to the steers and bidding for each instead of per hundredweight for all. The opening bid was a hundred and all I did was holler "And twenty-five" to keep the bid steps lower. There were only four of us left bidding, and one of the others bid three hundred which I thought might be his way to scare me off, but I again said, "And twenty-five".

I figured to go all the way up to seven fifty, but when the guy said, "Three fifty" and I said "Three seventy-five" a few seconds later, the other bidder hung his head and turned away, heading for his pickup truck. Mom elbowed me and smiled, "You are even worse than your dad. You stole those steers too. We are set, plus we have some breeding stock."

I had called the trucker to tell him we needed a big flatbed truck and a big stock trailer, so he showed up with his big tractor trailer and a flatbed. I settled up with the finance people and received the bill of sale so we could transport. We loaded the tractor and baler on the little truck, then loaded all of the stock into the big stock trailer.

It was still raining when we arrived at the house. I had the stock truck back into the big pasture and unloaded everything except the calves. We pulled around to the barn pasture, unloaded them, and let them into the other lean-to shed where we fed them some hay. They were very content to be fed and out of the weather.

We unloaded the tractor and baler, keeping the tarps over each. I figured that I might sell either or both at Saturday market, but held out that I might want to use them. I went out to the new pasture after settling up with the hauler, and made sure the new cattle had access to the hay and overhead shelter. The stock was getting along fine, so everything was okay.

Mom was inside, coming out from a warm shower and drying her hair when I came in the door. I thanked her for coming with me, and she said, "You were so much like your father today that I thought it was him who was there bidding. You bid a few men on equipment up and bought a couple of implements that I'm sure you don't think you needed, but were being sold for too little. The stock you bought was a great deal, and you'll be able to build a herd with them."

I went into the office to tally what I had spent and was pleased that it wasn't close to half of what I had expected. I reviewed the notes I had on other coming auctions to look for more Herefords for sale. There was one, but it was way north of Mount Sterling. They had both mid-feeding steers which would be about yearlings, calves, and a couple of breeding bulls that were listed as being older. The sale was on Friday, but we could look at them as early as tomorrow or all day Thursday.

They didn't say the quantities in any category, but intimated that this was a very large herd. This was probably going to be an auction where the big city auction buyers were the most visible.

I told Mom, "We should go look at what they have and see if we might want to bid. If we could pick up a few more heifers with calves, and about ten more steers, we would be good to go for next season. A bull would be nice, but we can always use artificial insemination. That's expensive, but maybe not as expensive as buying a bull."

Mom said, "Pray for rain, Son. We've seen that it pays to bid in the rain. Let's go look at what's available and decide."

The day before the auction we found the stock to be beautiful and very well fed when we arrived at the sale site. This stock was premium and would sell for big bucks. We looked at the different stock pens and tried to put a number on each group. We both agreed that this guy should be taking his stock to a city stock auction where he'd bring top dollar on every one of his animals.

Mom almost told me to forget it on the way home, because the stock was too nice and would be out of our reach. We were watching the news that night, and saw that there was going to be heavy rain and snow mixed in the area of the sale. Better yet, the rain and snow would be covering all of that area of the state.

I looked for a sale postponement, but there was none. I figured to check before we left in the morning, and hoped that we would be one of the few who braved bad weather.

Mom and I left after chores and breakfast, slowly going north in the heavy rain with snow flakes mixed in. We kept waiting for the roads to ice up, but no problem so far. We arrived at seven forty-five for the eight o'clock start time, and there was only one other pickup. A tent was over the auctioneer's platform that was outside the stock pens. The plan was to run the stock through the pens for bidding.

Mom and I were under the tent at eight, along with another guy holding a clipboard, and the auctioneer. He called for the first group of stock to be brought out.

These were bred heifers, not cows, but heifers. This meant that the heifers had several more calves to bear in building up a herd.

The auctioneer was begging for a bid, so I finally bid a hundred to get it started. The other bidder looked at me funny and bid one fifty. I bid one seventy-five, and it stayed there until the auctioneer finally awarded me twelve bred heifers for one seventy-five each.

I should have called the trucker and gotten out of there right then, but I had to see if there was another good deal.

Un-bred heifers were next. I bought those for ninety dollars each. That's better than calf price.

Next were older bred cows within four to nine months. I figured them anywhere over the calf price, but watched as the bid only went to a hundred-twenty-five. I bought those too.

Mom asked me, "Where are you going to put all of these animals?"

I told her, "I don't know yet, but we can't pass up good beef that cheap."

The steers that were all around yearling figured to be the big deal. I held up my sign for a hundred when no one bid. Mom and I looked around for the other buyer and saw him huddled under another building, talking on the phone. I hollered at the auctioneer, "Hold on until the other guy comes back. It isn't much of an auction unless someone else bids."

The rain was coming down harder, as was the snow, when we watched the other buyer run for his pickup, get in, and drive away.

The auctioneer said, "Do you want these steers at that price?"

I nodded, and he said "Sold".

The last of the day was a nice looking bull complete with horns. Mom told me, "Cut his horns if you get that bastard. You'll have stock that's beat up if you don't, so buy him for beef, or cut his horns so he can breed. He is good looking."

The auctioneer said he was going to bid on the bull against me and went all the way up to four hundred until I bid four twenty-five. Mom was giving directions to the stock hauler, and telling him to bring two trucks to where the auction was, while I was paying for the stock.

The auctioneer wanted some beef, so we picked out a very fat, very prime yearling, and sold it to him for five hundred. He was at least five hundred ahead, and Mom and I were dancing in the rain and snow.

While dealing with the auctioneer, we found out what caused this auction. The farmer was in the hospital and none of his children were willing to come take care of stock. The man's wife had just recently passed so he was not only alone but unable to take care of his animals.

It took a long time to load all the stock. No matter how many times we counted, we kept coming up with more steers than we had bought, and more bred cows than we thought. The calves were off by five in our favor, so we weren't unhappy there either.

We finally finished putting the new calves in with the other calves, and the older bred cows in with them. I put the bull in a pen in the barn until I could rid him of his horns, while the rest of the stock went into the new pasture. We were going to need a larger covered area to shelter the beef stock.

The hauler said that he had a lead on a lot of hay if I was interested. I told him it needed to be fertilizer free, and he thought it might be. He said he would go see the farmer and I could make a deal from there. I would need the hauler because the hay was in big round wrapped bales. I would have to have it hauled and put in an area where I could get at it.

That's when I remembered a piece of equipment that was still lying on the ground when we loaded the big John Deere at the earlier auction. I called the auctioneer, but he said he didn't care what was left up there. He did give me the farmer's number, but I got a "This number has been disconnected" when I called.

I jumped into my truck and drove to the farm at the far side of Pine Ridge. Laying there was a perfectly good round bale hydraulic fork and lift. I loaded it up and looked around. There were dozens of hand tools that were never sold, so I tossed them into the truck as well. That's when I got the idea to look in the barn. A very thirsty Angus steer was standing there next to a female that looked like she was going to drop a calf any second. Damn, taking someone's stock is rustling. I gave both of them water first, then found some grain and hay to put out.

I went out to my truck and called the County Sheriff. I told him what I found and asked him if he could call animal control. The man laughed and said, "We don't have one of those, Animal Control, I mean. Christ, we're a one-horse county that barely exists. Take them out of there if you want, or let them die otherwise."

Shit, that wasn't the right thing to tell me. I called my hauler friend and told him what I had. He said he would be up in an hour or so, but to look around to make sure that I wasn't leaving any other animals.

As it turned out, I found two more calves and a six month old Angus steer. How do you forget to take care of animals? I was almost ashamed to admit that I hadn't looked around to make sure the handlers were getting all of the stock into the display pen. This was another thousand dollars plus of animals that I had found. As I looked around, I found a front loader lift kit that would be good to clean out the manure from the lean-tos that I struggled to load into my pickup. There were more hand tools and a half dozen milk cans. My pickup was riding low by the time the trucker arrived. We loaded the livestock and I told him to go straight home. I would follow, but would be driving very slowly.

We didn't finish unloading the stock until after eight, but he didn't mind as I made sure he ate well. Mom made some of her outstanding stew with biscuits.

I threw a tarp over the back of my truck and left it for tomorrow. The equipment had been out in the weather, so another day shouldn't make any difference.

The way I had come about the stock and equipment wasn't right, and I figured to find a way to fix it. After breakfast the next morning, I called the auctioneer's office again and explained what I had found. He asked if I had fed and watered the animals, and I told him I had taken them home to care for them. He said, "Then I guess they're yours. You were a good man to care for them."

That was a stupid thing to say as the livestock had a great value.

I talked to the man about the round bale fork and the loader. He said he remembered them as not being bid upon. When I said I wanted to buy them, the guy asked me, "Will you bid a dollar?"

"That's ridiculous; they're worth far more than that."

Again the man asked, "Will you open the bidding for a dollar?"

"Okay, I'll bid a dollar."

The auctioneer went into his patter of asking for two dollars, a hundred dollars, a dollar and a quarter, and finally said, "Sold to the caller for a dollar."

When I didn't say anything, he said, "I expect you to send me a dollar for that equipment. I'll send you a bill of sale. Be sure to write down what you just bought so that I have a record."

I was laughing when he said, "Hey, you were the dummy to be out in the rain. You were smart enough to be there and keep bidding to make a deal. I admit you were a thief, but it was a legal theft. I'm glad you found those animals before they died."

I sat there after I hung up, thinking of how lucky those critters had been that I went to see if I could find a hay fork for the tractor. I went back out to the barn to make sure the big Angus steer was okay. He was lying down chewing his cud. He looked up at me and didn't realize he was probably a day away from dying. Well, he was going to be on our table in a few months, so enjoy your pleasant life of food and water, I thought.

All of the critters I had brought home were fine and I was happy to have salvaged them instead of someone having to scoop up their dried out bones and hide.

I was sitting there, drinking some grappa, when Mom came and sat by me. "You look like your dad when he found animals that had been mistreated. You found them in time, and no one else cared, Mike. It's funny how a farmer can feel compassion for a mistreated animal, then have him for supper shortly after. The idea that someone would do that to a dumb animal is what bothers you, but it also makes you a good farmer."

I smiled at Mom and said, "You know that I was stealing that equipment because they were going to just let it rust away. I was stealing a hay fork and a front loader lift to fit the new tractor. I put a bunch of hand tools in the truck too, but they aren't worth more than a quarter apiece. The auctioneer made me bid a dollar when I told him, and he acted like I had made a good bid. I faxed him what I had bought and he faxed me back a bill of sale. The Sheriff said for me to either take the animals or let them die. I can't believe someone would do that. We're going to have that big fat Angus for dinner one of these days soon, and it is ours fair and square."

Mom patted me on the arm, "That's the way life is, Mike. Doing the right thing keeps coming back to you. Just keep doing things that way and life for us, your family, will always be good."

Sissy and Frank were working at their house, but the kids were still with us. I played with their kids, along with Minya, Mato, and John, while Millie fed the twins some delicious breast milk. It must have been good, since Karen and Kevin were soon sound asleep.

I began shooing the others off to bed when Millie began putting the twins to bed. Minya and Mato were happy to snuggle under the covers and give me hugs and kisses. I softly spoke to them for a few minutes until I could see they were asleep.

I was sitting in a rocking chair with a glass of wine when Sissy, Shirley, Frank, and Bill came in, obviously very tired. I offered them a glass of wine that they accepted, and let them relax for a minute.

Sissy said, "We're nearly done at our house, but we need curtains, drapes, and more furniture."

"Same at our place," said Shirley, as she sipped her wine. She turned to Sissy and asked her, "Will you go with me to the Salvation Army store up in Mount Sterling tomorrow? I saw a couch and a couple of tables that would work for us when we were there before."

"Sounds good, Shirl, I can look for that desk and chair I need. We need some more chairs, but I'll wait on those. I want to check out the drape and curtain store while we are up there too."

Mom smiled at me and them, "You guys are getting it all done. You know there is no rush since the houses are yours, and will continue to be, while you're working on them. Leave the kids here and just get it done. Don't kill yourselves; just take your time until you're satisfied."

I loaded two more steers into the trailer after breakfast the next morning, and took them to town. The butcher was pleased with the way these looked. He said, "The steer that wasn't penned up is just about as marbled as the one you were feeding out. You may not need to be feeding them as they are some good looking beef. Since you want to sell them, I can sell the sides for a premium just the way they are. We'll both make money."

It was while I was talking to the butcher that I remembered the old Holstein cow that had been bought, but I didn't see anyone load her. Damn, another critter that will be left to die. I drove all the way to where the auction had been held and looked around the barn and out in the pasture.

I heard a mournful moo as I went back by the barn, and went in to find the old cow with no water and no food. I led her out of the barn to a nearby water trough. I found some hay and let her eat a little before I put her into the trailer.

I drove straight to the butcher and explained that the cow had been left to die. He said, "This old cow may be tough, but she'll feed a lot of people. That was good of you to bring her in, Mike. Get out of here so you don't feel bad about a critter you rescued.

There were no hard feelings, since it was better for the animal to be humanely butchered than to be left to die a horrible death. God put those animals on earth for us to eat. He asked us to raise them and feed them, but they were for our food. I didn't feel bad except for the fact that the animal had been left without water and food.

I was sitting at home that night, thinking that I was through with auctions for a while. Then I thought that I should always keep track of auctions like those I had just attended. I wanted to be there when there was bad weather, but I also promised myself to make sure all the animals had been picked up.

It was getting close to Christmas, so Sissy's and Frank's kids were becoming crazed. Minya and Mato didn't understand Santa Claus, as they had not celebrated Christmas before. The older kids tried to instruct them, but the idea was pretty abstract. The ladies attempted to explain a few times until Sissy said, "We're taking all of them to see Santa in Lexington. Let's load up and go."

This was during the middle of the week, so the ladies were off to Lexington with all of the kids. Mom had recently gone to Toll Ford to buy one of the fifteen passenger vans. She said that it would be better to have everyone together rather than riding in two separate SUVs. I didn't have anything to do with the purchase, but Leo Toll even looked me up afterward to assure me that he gave Mom a decent deal.

Some of his concern could have been that one of his grandkids was up for a scholarship. His kids were not whom we intended to help, but his grand-daughter would win it if she deserved it.

I spent the day getting the horns off the bull we had bought while they were away. He was a nice looking specimen and was known to be both gentle and effective. When it would be time to sell him, I thought of the semen bank, and figured he would be a good candidate for that rather than the table.

I did notice that as soon as we mixed him in the with unbred heifers and cows he appeared to be trying to breed the un-bred stock we had purchased. The big guy was good for two years, or two complete breeding cycles, before he had to go. We needed new blood after that for the next batch of calves, whether male or female. Male calves became steers for the table or cash, while female calves became breeding stock. If we ended up with too much breeding stock, I would breed them then sell them at a premium as heifers with calves.

Mom went a little nuts getting presents for the kids when Christmas came. Sissy's and Frank's kids got all of the neat electronic toys, while Minya and Mato had games and normal toys for kids. I didn't want to swamp them with electronics now, as they would find out about them soon enough. I felt that it was important for them to enjoy normal games and enjoy being with family.

The older kids figured it out, and had as much fun at our house as they did at their homes. The difference was that we didn't have any video games yet. Minya discovered reading, and Mato found out shortly after that he could also read most of the books that Minya read.

The two enjoyed any of the adults reading to them, especially enjoying various stories about animals, pirates, and the old west. Millie loved the Zane Grey novels that Eliza had stored on the bookshelves. She read to the kids as they sat listening to the stories, spellbound. John was beginning to understand and sat to listen with the other two kids. The twins listened, but most often fell asleep.

We had the TV on one evening when all of a sudden Bernie was on the TV talking to someone at the Kitchen. There had been an accident in town, and the man who Bernie was talking to had witnessed it. The whole interview was interlaced with still photos of the mangled cars. As soon as that was complete, Bernie went right into a brief commercial for our local grain elevator that included a look at the feed grinding area, the stacks of animal foods, and a shot of Jeff loading sacks of feed into a farmer's truck. Bernie next reported on the grand opening of the new wing at the high school. There were pictures and video of the new area, along with students walking in the halls. This was followed by an advertisement for Leo Toll Ford. 'A great place to get a down home deal on your next car or truck'.

That was that. Brief news reports and local ads were put together. The next news report happened to be about a moonshiner getting caught in Pine Ridge. There was a brief interview with the moonshiner who admitted that he just didn't get around to buying a license. He said that he would go get one right away the next time. I have a bridge to sell you if you believe that.

Following that interview there was an ad from the big 'Dollar Store' in both Stanton and Pine Ridge.

The small town news spots continued until there was a ten-minute newscast from Lexington, followed by the syndicated network news broadcast.

That had been really good, and I'll bet there were phone lines burning up between all of the gossips talking about the local news on the big city TV station.

I sat back thinking about how this was going to affect our peaceful community. There was a chance city people would look up where Stanton is and maybe try to relocate here for some of our peace and quiet. Others would sneer, thinking they would shrivel up and die living in a low-key area like ours. I think we wanted those who could afford a home like those we were building in the development, and wanted a quiet place to live and raise a family.

Mom was sitting near me and asked, "Now that you're the road commissioner for the next four years, do you have any plans for the roads?"

With some positive nods, I told her, "The guys want to connect a couple of areas through to other roads. We'll have to get the County to give us a right of way if the landowners are agreeable. These would be roads that go through to access shorter routes and highways to benefit a lot of people. Other than that, we don't need to do anything except keep the roads up. That means spring and summer grading and leveling, bridge and culvert repairs, as well as lane entrances. The guys have identified those bad spots, so they'll be busy taking care of them in the spring. We need to be prepared for the snow and rain right now. We have a plan that we're going to spread the salt and sand compound to keep glare ice at a minimum when it begins to rain and the temperature falls below freezing. We have to watch the bridges and intersections in town since they freeze up faster than the outer roads."

Mom asked, "Where did you learn about roads? How do you know this stuff? Did the guys teach you?"

"Actually, I read everything I could when I was first awarded the road commissioner job, Mom. I wrote the State and they sent stacks of books and procedures that taught me what to look for and what to do."

D came over and gave us glasses of wine, and as he joined us, he said, "This is from the grapes you grafted in the middle vineyard around the mountain. It has a very unique taste. Tell me what you both think."

I tasted the wine and was surprised at the light, almost sweet, taste. It was a white wine that could be considered a table wine, but would probably sell best as an aperitif. I told D, "This is good. Did you do anything special to it or is it fermented the same as the other wines?"

"It's exactly the same, Mike. I wanted to find out how it tasted before we began doing anything special to it. Isn't that delicate taste fantastic? What do you think, Bea?"

Mom was smiling and said, "You shouldn't have given me that. I'll want it all the time now. It's really good."

D was smiling as he said, "And another great Mystery Mountain wine is born. I'll have to graft some more vines with that same vine. We could ship it as a special wine if we can get a couple of rows of grapes with that flavor. I know the restaurant will want some if we have enough."

I asked D, "How many different special wines or brandies can we have before it becomes silly? Don't you think we should focus on a couple of wines and one or two different brandies?"

D agreed with a nod. "Probably, but we need to continue to experiment right now and almost forever. You never know when we might hit upon a winner that demands big dollars. I'll just depend on you tasting the grapes, and me pressing the wine and distilling the brandy."

The babies and older kids had been put to bed. Sissy and Shirley are attempting to move into their new homes tomorrow. I was excited to have them in their new homes, but would miss having them around. I'm sure they would be with us often for supper, but I would miss our late night chats.

I did have two women who would entertain me into sleep, but I also needed conversation. Mom would always be here, but she probably had to make sure she kept D happy, and that meant fewer late night chats with her.

I went over my livestock counts in my office, and worked out what I needed to do to give each stock group the pasture it would need. The stock in the new pasture needed more cover for as many animals as were there now. The cover that we had would need to be doubled in size and there needed to be another two walled buildings about midway in the pasture. I thought to myself that it would be easy to get hay to their covered areas where they ate, now that I had a lift fork for the round bales, and a tractor big enough to handle them. I wrote myself a note to call Raul in the morning about expanding the pasture buildings.

The farm bureau taught to mark the female with different colors of paint or ear tags to represent what month they would calve when you breed stock. You could separate the future month's bred animals this way, and put them into a more controlled environment when they were near calving. If we closely watched those that were segregated, we'd know when they were going to drop a calf and be prepared to help if necessary.

I liked the idea of having a barn big enough to allow the cows about to calve to be in a sheltered area where they might be able to hide from the weather to have their calf if we weren't around or didn't recognize that they were close.

Mom had always been good at figuring out when cows were going to calve, but those were just a couple of dairy cows, not several dozen beef stock.

Another note I made was to make sure that we searched for the hay we'd need so that I wouldn't have to worry about it at the last minute. I'd check with Esteban so make sure he had plenty of stock in his barn for his cows, but I now also needed to be concerned with the extra beef stock, and be sure to have enough food for them to last the winter.

I actually needed to get the steers that I had been raising to the butcher, and I was already a day late in getting two more to him. I'm sure that he understood after I brought him that old cow. I'd take a couple of steers to him first thing in the morning, but I would call him first.

It wasn't that late, but I let the dogs out for a quick run and made sure the living room fire had a good log and shut all of the lights off. I did the same for our bedroom fireplace, then brushed my teeth and slipped in between the two women.

Both turned to me with smiles. Millie told me, "We are both over our woman thing. You do know what that means, don't you?"

I didn't laugh, but almost did.

In a coquettish voice, Rosita said, "It means you get to make love to both of your women, but you won't be making any babies yet. You have to wait for us to be in the middle of our woman time, then you can give us babies."

It was Millie who corrected her, "I won't be giving us a baby, but you will this time. Maybe you'll have two like I did. That's an easy way to make our family grow."

Both ladies enjoyed the loving that I enjoyed giving them. Knowing that we were practicing for later breeding was sort of exciting, but it also was scary, as I would know when I was doing it for real.

The girls were asleep a little later, and I remained quiet holding both, thinking of our future.



"You've decided to have a very big family, haven't you, Son?"

My eyes were closed, but I knew Dad was looking at me. I tried to open my eyes, but Dad said, "Think of us sitting on that great big rock just around the side of mountain. I like that as a place for us to meet."

Since I really didn't know what to say, I didn't say anything.

"It was good that you helped those animals and remembered that last old cow. The one thing I always wanted you to learn was to treat animals with care and love. You did that, Mike. I'm proud."

I was lying in my bed, with my ladies smiling at what may have been a fantasy, or maybe even a dream.

"There are more who need your comfort, Mike. Millie and Rosita will bring her to you and you need to be a man for her. You won't have to keep her as a wife, but you will love her just the same. Do this and be rewarded by the ghost of your mountain who told you that it would happen, Mike."



I was so startled at what he said that I sat up straight and was going to ask Dad what he meant, but it was almost like a snap in the air. Dad was gone.

I was really confused now. Why did I start having these crazy dreams again? Was I fantasizing? Are these voices something I imagine? Are there really ghosts?

I was drifting off when I heard the same voice as before, but softer. It seemed to be coming from near the fireplace.

"Don't be afraid. Those that need your help will present themselves to your family. You'll know when the time comes, and you'll know what to do. Many will be saved by what you do."

The voice had lulled me into a peaceful drowsiness. I fell asleep wondering what the voice was talking about.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead


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Chapter 55

Morning always seems to come just when a dream is really getting good. My dream had me sitting with my two women and all of our kids. There were a lot more than the five I now had, so some of them must have been Sissy's and Shirley's. We were sitting by some water, enjoying the sun's warmth, watching the kids.

A dog licked my face, taking me from my dream, so I crawled out of bed and stumbled toward the outside door. I suppose they mustn't have gotten their evening run completed as they shot out of the door like a rocket.

I went back to the bedroom and dressed to go do the chores. The clock said four fifty-five, so the dogs were a little early this morning. I went to the kitchen and warmed up some old coffee, poured more of the old to warm up into a couple of mugs, and made a fresh pot.

Mom came out to join me, as did Sissy and Rosita. Sissy said, "This might be the last time that I get to help for a while. We're moving into our new places today. We'll be here for supper, but we might not be here every night from now on."

Mom told her, "Don't talk like that, or I'll have Mike take those houses back and make you stay here. I need my grandkids with me as much as possible."

Sissy laughed and said, "I knew you'd say that and I think my family would rather eat here and eat your cooking anyway. You know, we do have to have our own lives, Mom. Shirley and I live closer together now than ever before, so we might have to come here to have you referee. Who knows whether we'll get along being next door neighbors?"

Rosita and I went out to the barn, while the other women were discussing the move. We had the cow milked, the other stock fed, and were in the process of pasteurizing the milk by the time they came out to help.

We let them take care of the chickens and collect the eggs.

I was instructed to bring a can of milk in for butter, so I lugged the can into the summer kitchen. Someone had built a fire in the wood stove and I could smell biscuits baking in it.

Frank and Bill ate breakfast and took off for Lexington. They both said that they would be home early since they had a meeting up in Mount Sterling later today, and would just come home from there.

When they were gone, Sissy and Shirley packed their family's clothes and miscellaneous items that they wanted at their new homes. Mom even helped them by loading her Explorer and had Millie load her bright red Expedition.

It was obvious that this was going to be a 'women' thing today, so I went out to hook the trailer up and took it to the new pasture to load a couple of steers.

The butcher told me he had heard how much stock I had bought at the two auctions when I dropped them off. He asked, "Do you have the land to raise that many? That's a lot of stock and the herd will be growing as soon as those that are bred begin dropping calves."

"We should be okay. I'll use the barn pasture for the calves I bought and the new stock that's born. I'll let the heifers mix with the cut bull calves until they get to be about nine months to a year. When the heifer calves get to be about nine months we'll put them in with the bulls and older females. If we're lucky, we'll have at least sixty percent bull calves but about eighty percent bulls would be ideal. We should be able to get about six to ten years of calves out of the female breeding stock we have now. They become utility grade stock when they get too old. We should be able to keep anywhere between thirty-five to fifty head of beef stock to butcher and ship each year if we do this right. That should give us a decent income for the foreseeable future."

I had some extra milk to sell and went by the market. There were people there who wanted milk and took my two five gallon cans from me and gave me two empty ones. It seemed that one of the other farmers who had been bringing milk in everyday for years had decided to retire. I was asked if I might increase my activity at the dairy tent during the week. I told them that I would have Esteban begin coming daily with at least ten gallons.

I asked about the farmer who was going to retire. They pointed to an old guy rocking in a chair near the pot-bellied stove. He grinned at me and said, "Want to buy me out, Grayson? I know you bought Bert and Pete out. I ain't going to give my place away like they did, but I'll sell out to you."

"How big a place do you have and how much of it is cultivated?" I asked, thinking that I might need more ground for hay and grain.

"A total of two hundred acres, but only a hundred seventy are cultivated."

I smiled at the man and asked of him, "Give me directions and I'll go look at it, but that's all I can promise."

"Good enough, Grayson. I might have to make you a deal like those other two, because I may have to keep the house."

This guy's name was Paul Swan, and he had been a resident of the county since birth. I had to ask, "So, where are you going to go if you do sell out, Paul? Do you really want to leave the area?"

"I'm thinking Florida. Somewhere around Naples would be good. There is a place north of there called Sun City Center that is all older folks. That might be good. The Villages, a major golfing community is farther north, but I don't play golf that well. I think I might want to live on the beach around Naples and dodge hurricanes when they come."

"Why would you need your farm house if you do that, Paul?"

"Got a daughter whose marriage didn't work out, and she's having to hide out right now. Her ex is some kind of asshole who is threatening her, but he can't find her right now. I'll make sure she's a widow if he comes to our place. I can't understand men who want to beat on their women. Hell, my woman would take a rolling pin to my head or a butcher knife to my balls if I treated her the way our daughter was treated."

I was getting ready to leave when Paul said, "How about coming out and looking at our place right now? You'll need some time to figure out whether or not you want it."

Paul Swan led me out to his place which wasn't far from Bert's and Pete's. I parked my pickup and rode in his as he showed me all of his fields. Everything but a few acres up by his small barn was in cultivation. He had already sold his milk cows and didn't have any animals except for a steer he was about ready to butcher, so he didn't need a lot of pasture.

All the land would be good for raising hay. I could rotate some crops through it, but the land would mostly be good as continuous hay fields. What hay I didn't need would be easy to sell.

Paul asked me to come in to meet his wife and have some coffee.

Inside, I recognized Paul's wife from church and wasn't surprised to hear our local radio station broadcasting the gossip call-in hour. The woman was a typical farm wife, wearing a dress with a big apron. She made us coffee and put some cookies out for us to snack on.

Paul told me, "We been saving for a lot of years and we should have just about enough to get a place in Florida and live out our lives. The money we get for this place will just make our retirement that much better."

Mrs. Swan came and sat with us. She said, "I hear you took that Latino girl as a wife now. I ain't saying that's bad, and everyone knows how much Millie wanted her to be a second wife. Are you going to keep her, or are you just trying her out?"

I was shocked, "Wow, Mrs. Swan. If you knew me, you'd know that I don't take my obligations and commitments lightly. Rosita is now a major part of my family. Millie is my wife, and will always be my wife. Rosita is who Millie wanted to share our marriage with."

Mrs. Swan grumbled, saying, "You should have waited for Savannah. She's been running from her ex for six months now while finishing her divorce. She would make a man a good farmer's wife. She has two young boys that could grow up to be good help on a farm, but you wouldn't believe how she has to hide if you saw her. She is a very good looking lady."

Paul told me, "Savannah is the one who may be staying here and I would need her to be allowed to stay in the house. I'll keep the land, keep the house for her and her boys, and share the fields out if I have to."

I told them both, "It depends on the deal we'd make whether I would own the land or just rent it to grow hay."

Paul nodded his head and agreed, "Yep, we could do that too. The only thing is I would still have to keep insurance and pay taxes on the place. I'm not sure the income for just hay would cover that and still give us some extra money."

It was then an attractive younger woman, about five foot five or six, came in the kitchen. Mrs. Swan was surprised and said, "Savannah, you shouldn't be showing yourself to strangers."

The younger woman said, "If he's going to buy the farm, he needs to know who I am and what kind of trouble I may be."

I remained quiet as I figured there was more to learn.

Paul advised, "Savannah has been here for three months, but she and the kids haven't even been able to go out of the house. I think her ex has had someone watching the place, but I haven't been able to catch him. I found a place over in the woods where someone had spent a lot of time. The grass and weeds were all matted down and there were dozens of cigarette butts. I check it with my binoculars a few times a day now, but I haven't seen who it is."

Mrs. Swan told me, "I made Paul go up to Mount Sterling to that big gun fair they have once a year and get us a pistol and a big rifle with a long distance scope on it. He's practiced with it and if someone shows up out there, I'm going to have him use that rifle. This is our land and no one should be out there watching us."

I asked, "If you move to Florida, what would keep you from taking Savannah and her kids with you?"

It was Savannah who spoke up, "I want to live in a small community like this and not in a big city. My ex is some kind of criminal or gangster in Chicago, and that isn't a good way to live or to bring my two boys up."

The three of them looked at each other, and Paul said, "The man has called dozens of times and said if he found out that we were hiding Savannah and the boys, he'd make sure that we never did anything like that again. He really doesn't want Savannah, he just wants the boys. So you see, we have to be careful since he's trying to get at us, but knows that he can't just barge in here."

"So what's the status of your divorce and how did you petition to handle the kids?" I asked, as I gained interest in the family's situation.

Savannah said that her attorney told her that the divorce has been granted, but she has to allow visitation to the father. She said, "I don't have the papers yet, but there's no way that I'll let him near the kids. If I do, he'll hide the boys and I'll be out of the picture. I just can't let that happen."

I told the three of them, "I'm going to send my mom over to talk to you folks. She's a tough farm lady and may have some suggestions. I'd help you clear anyone out who's spying on you, but if the ex is really some kind of gangster, it probably isn't him that's watching you. He probably sends one of his men out to check on the house every few days. Let me bring a shotgun and I'll do some rabbit hunting near the spot you've seen him, on down to the road to see if I can find out where whoever it is parks. It might be easier to see the guy that way than to keep trying to see him through the binoculars."

Paul nodded in agreement and Savannah went back into the part of the house where she had been before. Mrs. Swan told me, "Anything you can do would help, Mike. I'm afraid of that man. We don't know enough about him, but Savannah seems to think that he has a lot of power up in Chicago. The way they have to hide is no way for a couple of boys to be living."

I told them that I would be back later, and I would have Mom come over to see if she had any ideas.

I slowly drove along the road when I left to see if I could find where a car might have been parking. I saw some tracks leading into the woods, but they weren't fresh. I needed to go see Mom and see if she was willing to talk with the Swans. The Sheriff was actually the person to have take care of this, but the problem with that is that everyone knows what's going on in a small town, and it could get back to wrong people.

The two girls had unloaded everything from the cars, were putting clothes away, and preparing to do loads of laundry in their new laundry rooms. Millie and Rosita were getting ready to go home and were going to take all of the kids back to the house, as the older kids wanted to play with Minya and Mato instead of being at the new houses. All four of Sissy's and Shirley's kids said that if they stayed there, their moms wouldn't let them get together the way they liked as much. You could see that was going to be a problem when it was confronted.

I took Mom off to the side and talked to her about the Swans. She looked at me funny and asked, "Why do you want to get involved in a family problem like that? It seems like you have enough to keep you busy."

"I know, Mom, but something tells me that we should help them. At least listen to them and maybe you can make some suggestions. You know how I hate to see or hear that someone is taking advantage of another. It isn't our problem, but Paul and Mrs. Swan are afraid, and that shouldn't happen."

Mom didn't grumble, but she thought that we were meddling. I told her that I was going to do some hunting on their property and was going home for a shotgun. She told me, "If you get a shotgun, get yourself a pistol to carry too. You don't want to be caught without protection if there is really some kind of bad guy hanging around."

It took me a little over a half hour to run home to get a shotgun and a pistol. I brought my game bag as I figured I would at least get one rabbit. There was enough high grass at the tree line that should guarantee a couple of bunnies.

I parked in the driveway area next to Mom's Explorer, but didn't go in. I walked out toward the tree line at an angle away from where the suspected watcher had been. I thought I could just walk the edge of the woods and maybe scare up a rabbit or two, or even some quail.

I was just about to the tree line when I thought I saw movement back over where the watcher was supposed to be. I didn't stop and stare, but went into the trees. As luck would have it, a rabbit jumped and ran out into the field. I rolled him with a shot, then went over and picked it up and put it in the game bag before going back to the tree line.

After going about twenty feet into the trees, I stopped behind an old oak and turned to peek around it to see if I could spot what had caught my eye. A man who obviously wasn't from around here was standing on the edge of the trees with binoculars. You knew that he wasn't from around here from the suit and overcoat he had on. The guy was easy to spot with his white shirt and bright colored tie flashing when he moved. He would glance my way, but kept focused on the house. I saw smoke rising from his face, so he must have had a cigarette in his mouth.

I wanted to see where the guy parked, so I walked through the woods away from him and toward the road. I saw a big black Buick in a heavy growth of saplings, about halfway to the road, which hid the car pretty well. I made a circle around it to make sure there was no one else in the car and noted that the path the car had traveled was an old field road coming up from the main road, but not close to where I had seen the tracks before.

Curiosity made me go close to the car and peer into the windows. There was a flashing red light on the dash that told me the car had an alarm, and I couldn't take a chance of setting it off. I could have disabled the car if I could have gotten into it, and easily been able to stop the man. He was trespassing and acting suspicious as it was.

I went back up to the tree line and jumped another rabbit. When I put this one in my game bag, I saw the man crouch down and attempt to hide behind a tree. As I stood and began walking slowly along the tree line again, I saw the watcher move toward where his car was. There was no way that I could catch up with him in time to keep him from driving away, and that was further complicated by having two rabbits jump at once. Bang, bang, and two more rabbits doubled my take in the game bag.

I heard the car start and drive away. I walked back down to where the car had been parked and could tell the spot had been used extensively as the grass was mashed down across the area from parking at different angles. There was something on the ground near where the driver's door would have been when it was parked today. It was a cell phone that was still on. I used my gloves to pick it up and put it in my coat pocket. I might want to have someone take fingerprints from it.

I bet that whoever had dropped it would soon be back to look for it. I looked around to be sure I hadn't left any boot prints, as I was able to see that the guy had regular street shoes. I took a parallel route up to the guy's watching place and found where he stood back in the trees, although he had been right at the tree line when I saw him today. There was a big tree that had been cut back in the tree line and there was a place by a large limb where it was obvious that someone had been sitting today. It was back far enough that you wouldn't easily be able to spot anyone from the house.

Once again something behind the limb caught my eye. I carefully went around the limb making sure I didn't leave any footprints or mess the leaves up. There was a wallet behind the limb. It was a catchall wallet that was fat from every kind of card imaginable. I used a stick to fish it out from the sticks and limb so that I wouldn't leave any sign. I'd bet the wallet worked itself out of his pocket as he sat on the limb and scooted back and forth watching the house. Now I knew the guy would be back for sure.

I walked out of the tree line near where I had originally entered. If someone was watching, they would have seen me carrying my now fairly full game bag back toward the house.

Paul came out as I approached the house to ask how I did. I didn't tell him about finding anything, but told him that I had seen a watcher and found out where he parked his car. I described the old farm road and Paul said, "That was used to get a combine and truck in and out of that field before I cleared it out all the way to the house. The field is easy to get to now as you can see.

I told Paul that I had some things to do, but I told him to watch, as I was sure the guy would be back today. Mom had left while I had been hunting, so I drove off without asking Paul what they had talked about.

As soon as I left, I slowly went up the road to make sure that I didn't pass the Buick parked somewhere else. It was easy to get to the state road that led up to the big highway from Paul's place. I had to figure the guy would miss his cell phone before his wallet, so I had to do whatever I was going to do quickly.

I had the Revenue Agent's name and telephone number in my notebook, so I called him.

"Hi, this is Mike Grayson. You were out at my place when the bottlers were there not long ago."

"I remember you, Mike; what can I do for you?"

"Do you know any FBI agents or even a U.S. Deputy Marshal who might be in the area? I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask."

"What kind of questions, Mike. Maybe I can answer them for you."

"Probably not, as it has to do with someone that is coming into the area who they might be interested in."

The Agent said, "I might be if the guy is buying and transporting untaxed liquor."

"I don't think he's doing that, but he might be doing something illegal. That's why I wanted to talk to the FBI."

"Why don't you talk to your Sheriff? He's a good lawman."

"He's a gossip, and I don't want to start rumors. Do you know someone?"

"Sure, Mike, let me get my list out. There are offices in Lexington for both the FBI and a U.S. Marshal station. Here are the numbers and the names of the Agent and Deputy Marshal in charge."

I had to pull over and park to write the numbers down. I was sitting on the side of an old farm building by the road when the Buick went by me going very fast. At the same time, the cell phone in my coat pocket was going off. I just let it be, but went back toward the Swan place just to be safe.

Paul met me outside the house, and I asked if we could go in. I went to the kitchen window and picked the binoculars up and looked toward the tree line. I could see the man looking all around where he had been. He walked back and forth for several minutes before looking toward the house, then going back toward where he parked his car.

I told Paul why I had come back and we briefly talked. Mrs. Swan didn't come out, but Paul offered me a cup of coffee. I had just turned him down when the big black Buick roared up the drive and stopped in the parking area. The guy that I had seen in the trees briskly came toward the house and was holding his hand inside his coat.

I told Paul, "Let him in and move back so that he'll follow you. I'll be right here on the other side of the doorway."

Paul met the guy at the door and invited him in. The man instantly began to accuse Paul of finding his cell phone and told him that he wanted it back. Paul had backed up as I had instructed him and the man followed Paul. I stepped up to the man with my Beretta at his head. "I wouldn't make any moves at all, Buddy. Please raise your arms and put your hands behind your head. Do it very slowly and be sure not to make any stupid moves."

Paul was standing there with his mouth open as the man was watching him. Paul went to a drawer at the end of the counter and pulled out an ancient 1911 forty-five and pulled the slide back to check on a round before leveling it at the man. "Why have you been spying on me? I seen you out there a lot of times over the last couple of months. What are you doing?"

While Paul was talking to the guy, I took a cheap nine-millimeter from a shoulder holster, and continued to search him. He had a real set of brass knuckles in his coat pocket, and I figured him for a backup gun, but all he had was an ankle holster. He had probably taken the gun out in his car.

The man said, "You're going to be really sorry for this. My boss will be all over you. If I don't report back to him soon, he'll know something is up and send someone for me."

He began to turn and I told him, "Don't move. Don't turn around. Paul, get me something to blindfold this guy with, then find some rope to tie him up. It's either that or we shoot him and clean the mess up."

Paul grinned and asked, "Can I do it? He's caused me enough sleepless nights."

We got the guy blindfolded and tied up. I didn't want him to get a look at my face so that he wouldn't recognize me. The guy didn't talk, and kept quiet as I thought about what to do. We were going to have to tell the Sheriff because we couldn't keep a prisoner. This complicated the whole thing.

I went outside to call so the guy wouldn't hear the conversation. The Sheriff's number was on my cell, so I called his station. He wasn't there but the Deputy on duty gave me the Sheriff's cell number. I called the Sheriff and asked him to come out to Paul Swan's place. I told him that it was important, but I didn't want to talk about it on the phone. He told me he wasn't far and would be out in a few minutes.

I called the number of the FBI office in Lexington. I had to go through a bunch of talking in circles, so I didn't give anything away that I shouldn't. The important thing for them to know was we had a person from Chicago who might be trying to commit an interstate crime by taking someone from here to there. I told them that I didn't know the man's name yet, but I had his wallet and cell phone in my pocket, but I didn't want to touch them until I had gloves on.

The man finally agreed to come to Stanton and talk to the Sheriff and me. He said he would be here in a little over an hour.

Back inside, I told Paul that the Sheriff was on his way and that the FBI would meet us in town.

The prisoner immediately began talking, offering money and promises that he would leave and never be back. The man kept right on talking until Paul put the barrel of his forty-five into his mouth and said, "Shut up. You do go on, don't you? Save it for the Sheriff and the FBI. You must not want to see them for some reason."

He couldn't answer with the forty-five in his mouth. Paul had the safety on so that the gun wouldn't accidentally go off.

When the Sheriff came in the door, he said, "That's the car we've had a couple of reports of suspiciously driving around. Now just who is this guy?"

Before Paul could tell him, I told the Sheriff, "I called the Agent in Charge for the FBI, and he's going to meet us at your office. I called him because the reason this guy is hanging around is to kidnap Paul's grandkids and take them back to Chicago."

"Where are your grandkids, Paul?"

"Not here, Sheriff. I'll tell you what I know later, but I don't want to talk in front of this guy." Paul hesitated a second and said, "My daughter's hiding out from her ex and this guy has been watching me from across the field there. This man here that helped me came over today, and just happened to be here to help me when this bad guy came roaring up and demanded his cell phone back. I don't have it, and when he reached for the gun that's on the table there, my hero put his pistol to the man's head and we captured us a trespasser and attempted kidnapper."

The Sheriff said, "How about I cuff him so you can keep your rope? Why do you have him blindfolded?"

I told the Sheriff, "I would prefer the man doesn't see my face. It might give me an advantage another day."

He nodded in agreement. "I won't call you by name either, then. I was wondering why Paul was talking that way."

The Sheriff moved toward the man saying, "Let me search him good then we'll get him in the patrol car. I'll call in and have a wrecker come haul that Buick away."

The Sheriff found a neck chain with a handcuff key on it. Using surgical gloves, he took everything from the guy's pockets to be sure there wasn't anything else, and put it all into ziplock plastic bags Paul got for him. The Sheriff was thorough, as he even took the shoelaces from the guy's shoes, as well as his belt and necktie. I think he went through all of the guy's pockets at least three times. When he found the ankle holster he asked, "So where's the peashooter that goes with this holster?"

The guy wouldn't answer, so the Sheriff said, "We'll search his car before it's towed. Let's get him in the back of the patrol car."

A little thirty-two-caliber revolver was sitting on the seat of the Buick, so that wasn't a problem to find. The Sheriff found a three fifty-seven in the glove box, but the scary thing was the high quality .308 with the scope in the trunk. This guy was loaded for something, and it wasn't for bear.

The Sheriff gave the tow truck driver directions to the county yard when the flatbed arrived, and we got ready to follow. Paul locked up and asked, "Can I ride with you? I think I'm too shaky to drive right now."

My personal cell phone rang while we were driving, so I answered. Mom asked, "Where are you? Is everything okay?"

I told her, "Paul and I are headed to the Sheriff's office right now and everything is okay at the moment. I'll tell you later, but I might be late for supper."

"Well, you be careful. I think you might be poking at a hornet's nest. We need to talk."

The prisoner was put into an interrogation room that had a camera so we could watch him. The man wanted to call his lawyer as soon as we were in the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff told him, "You haven't been arrested yet. You're just being held on suspicion right now. You can call your lawyer later, when we arrest you."

The FBI Agent came in and I used the same kind of surgical gloves to give him the cell phone and wallet that I had found. There were three different driver's licenses with the man's picture on them. The Agent found what he thought was a fake carry permit and private detective license. Those and one of the driver's licenses were in one name, but several other documents in the wallet were in different names. The Sheriff displayed the guns that had been found in the car and on the prisoner. He said, "How about we print the guy and see if we can find him on any lists."

The man kept trying to smear the prints, but the Sheriff was stronger than he was and was able to press the man's fingers to the glass scanner to take the prints. I'm surprised that the lawman didn't break a couple of fingers by the way the man was pulling away.

The prints were sent to the FBI office and the Sheriff began running them through his computer. They had a match on all fingers of a guy wanted for parole violations within a minute. He was a convicted felon wanted by the Feds, as well as Illinois and Indiana. It seems that he was suspected of a couple of murders and was connected to several underworld people with bad reputations who were involved in many illegal activities.

The man shut up and wouldn't talk any longer until the FBI agent told him, "You know, we could work out some kind of deal if you talked about who hired you and why. The easy way to handle this is to let that old farmer take you out back and carry out a little country justice. I think he might enjoy it too."

Paul and I watched the interrogation until a U.S. Marshal's van arrived from Cincinnati. It was to take him to the federal lockup there. The guy finally began talking about who had hired him and what he was supposed to do. He did tell us that the man who hired him would be looking for him as he had one of his cars and he was supposed to call every evening.

Paul told me, "That's my ex son-in-law who hired him. I sure hope they get him quick or he'll hide out. The guy has too many connections to easily get caught. I'm concerned not only for my daughter and grandsons, but also for my wife and me. The man is dangerous."

The Sheriff told us, "This guy isn't going to give you any more grief. Let's hope the FBI gets to your ex son-in-law before he finds out they're looking for him. You two should go home and get some supper."

We watched the U.S. Marshal truck leave with the FBI agent following. To my knowledge, the bad guy still hadn't been able to make a call, so there still might be time to catch the ex son-in-law.

As I was about to make the turn to take Paul home, he said, "I didn't tell you but your mom, Bea, took my wife, daughter, and my two grandsons home with her. She told me she didn't want them there while there was any danger. She told us that you had some extra room because her kids were moving into homes in that new development."

"That sounds like her. Let me call and tell her we'll be home in twenty minutes."

I could hear a lot of voices in the background when I called, but I was able to tell Mom that I was on my way home with Paul. I also told her that we would talk when we got there. I didn't give her a chance to talk by hanging up. We didn't need to be yakking over the phone.

Paul and I stepped into the house and were immediately set upon by Sissy and Frank. They wanted to know what was going on and whom Paul was really dealing with. I was being watched by the road guys who wanted to hear what was happening.

Mom wasn't fooling around and had Paul and me sit at one of the big tables and began serving us plates of food that had been saved for us. I was going to ask for a beer, but it magically appeared in Rosita's hand. Paul had some iced tea as we both began shoveling the food in. I was hungry before I came into the house, but the great smells made me hungrier.

Mom had Savannah sitting next to her, and the two boys were playing a game with the other kids. John was interested in the new boys, and was right there with them.

As I ate, Mom said, "Savannah told me her ex's name and I Googled him. His real name is Heinrich Stemler, but is known around Chicago as 'Sonny the gun'. He's been arrested and charged with murder seven times and has gotten off every time. He's involved with a lot of drugs and stolen automobiles in that part of the country. He's supposed to have contacts in several other major cities, including New York. Mike, this man is a threat if he isn't caught."

"I know, Mom, and the FBI is going to keep me posted on whether or not they get him tonight. The man is a professional, so he'll run and hide at the first sign of a problem. He won't come down here if we're lucky."

Savannah said, "He'll come here because he wants to snatch the boys and run with them. They are afraid of him, too, because he would sometimes hit them for no reason when he was slapping me around."

Jimmy spoke up from down the table; "You don't have to worry, Mike. We'll set up as guards. We know how to do that."

"That's not necessary, Jim. The guineas will give a warning and the dogs will get at anyone faster than you could. You know that I can handle myself from there."

The other men still wanted to do something, but I told them that we would be fine. It was John who told me, "You know, someone can drive here from Chicago in not that many hours. How about we do something to make sure you're okay?"

"No one knows that I'm involved. The man who was taken in didn't hear my name and didn't see my face. It would take a few days to figure out that I was the one there, unless the Sheriff's office begins to talk. I don't think he will, though. Everyone will just think it was Paul's problem. This Sonny guy doesn't know for sure if Savannah and the boys are even in this area. He just suspects it."

Jimmy said, "We're going to have a camera down at the beginning of the mountain road set up tomorrow. We'll put another near the ford for the spring, and one by the entrance to your drive. I'll rig them to make a tone when a car passes by any of them. I still don't like it, but we'll do that so you have some warning."

"How are you going to make all of that work? You can't really make something like that work at that distance, can you?"

All of the guys looked at each other and said, "You have no idea what Bernie can do. We'll make sure he gets this done first thing in the morning."

Sissy and Frank asked me if I wanted them to stay. I told them to go home and enjoy their new house. They rounded their kids up and were gone in minutes. I sent the road guys home and had to make sure Pete and Bert would not gossip to anyone about what was going on. They promised to keep quiet.

Mom put Paul and Mrs. Swan in one of the rooms, and Savannah in another. The boys went to the kids' room and they all were soon tucked in.

Mom and I were about to talk, when Paul came back out. He said, "You folks shouldn't have gotten involved, but I'm grateful you did. Bea, I think we'll take you up on your offer and get some more clothes tomorrow."

Mom nodded in agreement and told Paul good night.

When we were alone, she had D pour us a glass of the new wine and sent him to bed. When she knew we were alone, she said, "I was mad at you for getting involved in something that wasn't your business, but these people need our help. I want you to take Paul and Jan home in the morning and pack up what you can and get out of there. John was right about someone being able to drive down here overnight. We'll know when a strange car comes this way if the boys put those cameras up."

That's when I suddenly had a personal scare. I went to Paul's room and knocked on the door. I could see neither of them had undressed yet when he opened it. I told them, "Come with me back to your place and let's get any clothes your daughter and grandsons have there. I want you to gather any important papers you might have too. I'm going to have one of my men stay there overnight to watch the place. Let's go now and we should get Savannah so that we're sure we take everything."

Mom had been listening and was pacing back and forth, telling me that she should be going but couldn't leave the family. I told her that we would be fine. I called the yard trailer where the two guys who didn't have wives stayed, and asked if they would be okay staying out at Paul's farmhouse. They said they would meet me there in about a half-hour.

I went into the office and pulled two Winchesters and two pistols from the gun safe. I took enough ammo to resist even a large group, and loaded the three folks in my truck to go to the house.

They were quick to pull all of Savannah's and the kids' clothes and traces that they had been there. While Jan, Mrs. Swan, packed some clothes, Paul gathered up a bunch of papers and told me, "We have a good fireproof safe that's safely under the house, so our jewelry is protected. We don't have much but there are a few things in there that we value."

I discussed what I wanted with the two men, and gave them the direct line to Sheriff's office so they wouldn't have to go through the 911 mess. I gave them each a rifle and pistol, that they both loaded right away, and told them to take turns sleeping.

Paul didn't have a guinea hen alarm, so the men would have to stay alert. They had parked their truck in the barn, so the place didn't look like there was anything out of the ordinary.

We hauled the stuff into the house when we got back home, but didn't put anything away. It was after midnight and way past a good farmer's bedtime. I put my pistol on the bedside table and cell phone on its charger.

As I snuggled on the outside of Millie, she kissed me and asked, "Did you bring us another woman?"

I didn't laugh and pinched her on the butt. She softly laughed as she snuggled into me.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



-------

Chapter 56

My cell phone rang waking me. I sat up and answered. Steve, one of the roadmen I had left at Paul's said, "Whoever you're worried about is here, and is thinking about trying to burn us out. I've called the Sheriff's office and a car is on the way. Whoever it is has already shot out one of the windows. He's yelling for Savannah."

I quickly told Steve, "Find a door away from where that guy is and get out of there. If you can flank him, try but if you think there's more than one person, just stay hidden until the Sheriff's Deputy gets there. Help him if he needs it. I'll be there as soon as I can."

I was up, dressed, and on the way out of the door when Mom came out dressed. She said, "I woke D up and he will guard here until we get back. Let's go."

It wasn't that far to Paul's place. We could see the lights from the Sheriff's car flashing as we drove up his lane, and we also saw what looked like the side of the house was on fire.

Just as we were stopping, the side window glass of the truck burst as we heard a shot ring out. I looked at Mom and she said she was okay, but Ray Charles could see she was scared and pissed. We both jumped out of the truck and headed toward the Sheriff's car that was up behind a big black Buick. What I saw wasn't good as the Deputy was slumped over the seat in the open doorway. He had a good pulse, but I took a minute to use the car's radio to advise whoever was listening that a Deputy was down and we needed an ambulance and the fire department at the Swan place.

Mom moved up beside me and said, "I'll take care of the Deputy. Find that son-of-a-bitch and shoot him. Better yet, bring him to me and I'll shoot him."

The shots had come from the barn area, so now I needed to know where Steve and his partner were.

I called Steve's cell phone and when he answered, he said, "Mike, Don's been hit. I think I can see you by the Sheriff's car. Is the Deputy okay, I saw him get hit? I think there are three or four of them. I've called the Sheriff's office again and they are trying to get more men out here."

"Where are you?"

We're by the machine shed across from the barn. I think all of those men are in the barn, but I can't be sure. I saw your truck window get hit. I'm glad you and whoever is with you is okay."

"That would be Mom. She insisted on coming."

Steve said, "Oh shit, these guys are in trouble."

I told him, "Stay where you are, but watch for me. I'll try to get close enough to the barn for a shot."

I touched Mom, "Watch me, and shoot at the barn when I get over by that pile of wood so that they will shoot back. I need to see how many and where they are."

Now I wish I had a rifle, as it would be a lot easier to hit exact spots.

I stayed out of the glow of the fire that was eating the side of the house. I rested my Beretta on top of the stack of wood as soon as I was behind the woodpile and waited. Mom shot four times at various windows of the barn. There were shots fired from three windows and a doorway almost immediately. There were four people to contend with. I focused on one window and waited until I saw a movement and fired. I could see an object jerk in the dark. No one shot back at me as Mom fired four more times.

Flashes of gunfire came from two windows and the door again. I could see the shape of a man going back and forth from side to side of the door in the light of the fire. I waited until he had most of his body almost out of the door, trying to look at the Sheriff's car and the house. Mom and I must have had the same idea, as we both fired at the same time. Whoever was in the door jerked from both rounds and fell out the door.

A voice hollered, "Sonny, you all right?" A few seconds later the same voice loudly said, "I'm out of here, Pete and Jack. I'm shooting my way out. Follow me if you want." A figure came out from the side of the barn, but a rifle shot from the machine shed dropped him. Another guy ran toward the Buick and Mom put one into him just as I was going to yell for him to halt.

Sirens were coming up the drive. There were two Sheriff's cars, an ambulance, and the volunteer fire truck. Mom hollered at me, "Watch it, Mike, we don't know whether any of them that are down can still shoot."

The paramedics took over working on the Deputy and the Sheriff and a Deputy were checking the three exposed men who were on the ground. I told the Sheriff that one of the shooters had been in the barn firing out of the lower window. He sent a Deputy in to see about the shooter and the Deputy soon hung out the window and said, "He has a hole in his forehead. He isn't going anywhere."

The fire department had the fire out on the side of the house very quickly. At least the roof didn't catch on fire, but the house was severely damaged. It wasn't going to be livable for a long while.

Mom went into the house and made some coffee for everyone. She didn't have a key but just pushed the old door in. The Sheriff was on the phone with the FBI, telling them he had four dead and one was definitely 'Sonny the gun'.

None of the shooters lived to tell of their adventure, but Mom said she was going to write a story about it so that people didn't take farmers so lightly in the future. The Sheriff said, "I don't think any bad guys would ever want to run into you Graysons."

The Sheriff took our statements, then Steve's, while Don was being treated for a minor wound. It was while we were waiting to leave that the other Deputy said, "That car has about a half million in cash in the trunk. I guess that was running money. What should I do with it, Sheriff?"

I told the Sheriff, "It's money lost on Paul's place. He ought to get some. The County could take the rest, but he should get a chunk of it."

The Sheriff smiled and asked, "Don't you want any?"

"No, I'm fine, and I'm not retiring. Give some to Paul and Jan so that they can have that life in Florida they're dreaming of."

We would later learn that the Sheriff gave Paul half and put the other half into the County treasury. It wasn't the legal way maybe, but it worked for me.

It was sunrise by the time the firemen were cleaned up. The ambulance had taken the Deputy to the clinic, but the man wasn't too badly hurt. Don was going to be sore, but okay. Now we had to go tell Paul that his house caught fire, but didn't burn down.

At home, Mom and I went into the house and found everyone waiting breakfast for us. We sat and talked about what had happened. I took Savannah into that room the she had slept in and told her, "Your ex died last night. Is that going to cause a problem for you or your kids?"

She shook her head, "They might be sad, but they knew their father was a mean man and was hunted by the law. They knew it could be this way. Just don't make a big deal out of it and wait for me to tell them later.

I was hungry and enjoyed our traditional breakfast. Paul, Jan, Savannah, and the two boys enjoyed eating one of our big breakfasts with biscuits and gravy.

I gave Paul a tour of the stock in the new pasture after breakfast, then walked him back to look at the all of the calves that we had. He gave me a compliment by saying, "You really are diversified. I saw your vineyard and orchard, along with what looked like a distilling building. Everyone knows about how huge your produce garden is, and how Kroger spends nearly a month picking sweet corn. You're really running a farm here, Mike, plus you've taken over both Pete's and Bert's place."

It is amazing to hear old farmers giving me compliments. I had to think of my dad, and what he had taught me as I grew up, whenever someone told me something like that.

I told Paul, "We should go over and see what kind of damage the fire and the water to put it out made."

The two boys stayed at the house, but Paul, Jan, and Savannah went with me to see about the house. I called Raul on the way to see if he could look at it and give us an idea of what it would take to put it back together.

Jan and Savannah cried, but they both agreed that it could have been worse. Paul went to where his hidden safe was and emptied it into a box for them to keep with them. Savannah asked for her parents' forgiveness for getting involved with the man who had sired her boys. She said that the man had been wonderfully gentle and kind before they married, but he became violent later, after they married.

Jan said, "I think I'm ready to move now. Sell the place and let's go south, Paul. Savannah, if you and the boys want to come with us, you know that you're welcome for as long as you want to stay with us."

Savannah hung her head and told them, "I need to find out if I can be a productive citizen. I've been to nursing school, but I've never been a nurse. That I passed the State boards only means I knew what I was taught. I need to find out if I can be a nurse."

We drove back home, where I let them settle in the living room to watch the kids play with each other. I took Savannah's boys and Mato out for a walk to the far side of the mountain to see how the vineyard and orchards were doing. The boys enjoyed the walk, as I'm sure Minya would have enjoyed it, but she wanted to be around the new lady in our home. Minya was always watching the other females in our home to learn how she should act. I hoped she would take after Mom, Sissy, and Millie rather than others who might pass through.

Paul wanted to go see Benson about selling his place, so I called to see if he was busy. His secretary was making excuses as to why I couldn't talk to him. She continued until I told her, "Look, if Benson isn't in, say so. If he's in the office, but fooling around with some babe, tell me that too. I need to talk to him, and if you don't come clean, I'll just call his cell phone."

I heard the gasp each time I told her something ridiculous, but I wanted her to know that I wanted a straight answer. She finally said, "Mr. Benson went home early because he said his wife wanted him for something personal. I am not at liberty to tell you what she wanted him to do."

I laughed at her, but gave her a compliment, "You did good, Lady. You are protecting Benson very well. I'll give him a call on his cell so he comes for supper tonight."

The woman said, "Oh, you're that Mike Grayson. I'm very impressed with everything you've been doing in the community."

"Thank you, Ma'am, now I need to call your boss. It's important."

Benson immediately answered when I called his cell, so I knew he either wasn't doing anything, or he was already done with the fun.

"Benson, this is Mike. Come for supper tonight because I have something that you can help me with. I'm calling Maude to get her out here too. Can you come or do I need to come to you?"

There was a pause while I heard him talking to his wife. "We'll be there for supper, Mike. I'll try to come a little early to talk to you about whatever you want to fund or talk about."

That took care of the business side. I sat down on the couch with Millie while she nursed the twins. I am always amazed at her motherly ability to nurse both twins at once. She sat with her top exposed as she fed both babies. Savannah even remarked at the ease Millie showed while nursing the two together.

As she held our babies to her breasts, Millie asked me, "Now that Savannah's independent, will you let her stay with us while she finds her way?"

I assured Millie, "Of course, I will. They can stay with us while Savannah learns how to be a nurse. I'm sure that Sheryl will let her do some on the job training so that she can become more than a bed changer."

Millie told me, "I like her, Mike, but I don't think she would be a good wife for us. We will take care of her and her boys, but I think she will be independent and not want to learn to live with us."

That was very observant of Millie. I wondered if Mom had something to do with her assessment, or was it Millie's intuition that made her feel this way. Savannah came to sit on the other side of Millie, and because she could see the babies just mouthing Millie's nipple she picked Karen up to burp her. Millie burped Kevin while giving him a kiss.

Rosita took each baby one at a time and put it into its crib. When Rosita took Kevin, Savannah said, "Your family is so peaceful and loving. I've never been around another family as gentle as you people are. Even Mom and Dad were not as calm as you."

Rosita had come back and sat on my lap. She leaned over and kissed Millie on the lips, then said to me, "It's very nice to have another woman here to be with us. Are you interested in her?"

I wanted to laugh, but thought better of it, and did reach over to pat Savannah on the arm. I told Rosita, "You know that you wouldn't want someone to tell you that you should be interested in someone. I want Savannah to stay with us as long as she wants to, but she won't be another wife."

I caught Savannah's eye and winked at her before she became upset or overly involved in the conversation. I told her, "Millie wants me to have many wives and many children. I think I'm fine right now."

Savannah sat up straight, sticking her small chest out for me to appraise. She said, "I don't think I should be considered someone to throw back. I might be the perfect woman to help you raise many children."

Just what I needed, someone to encourage Rosita to become even more aggressive.

Paul and Jan had been huddled with Benson for over an hour. They finally sat back as Benson reviewed what he had written on his long legal pad. He was obviously confirming each item with Paul.

Mom had been sitting with them, so I knew that she would be looking out for my interests, but that she was always fair.

Benson called me over and began going over each item. Everything sounded normal until he said, "If you agree to help Savannah until she can become independent, Paul is willing to give you his property as it stands, in the condition that it's in, for the price of one dollar. If you feel you can't abide by this agreement, now or during the execution of the agreement, the land is to be appraised and you will pay the appraised value less twenty-percent."

Mom said, "That's more than a fair deal if we can keep Savannah for a year or so. She needs the stability of our home and the boys need someone like you to teach them to be farm boys, Mike."

I looked at Paul, "That's not a very good deal for you, Paul. Let me give you a fair price for the land."

He said, "Mike, if you hadn't come along and helped us, you would be in town visiting Jan and me at the funeral home. You saved us and Savannah, but more importantly, you saved the boys. For that, there is no price. Take it and farm the land, Mike. Teach the boys to be good men and farmers. We'll be back often enough to see how you're doing, so take the property and grow what you need."

I told Savannah, "I can have the house rebuilt so that you can live there without interruption."

She told me, "No, don't do that. Tear the place down, and if you want a farmhouse, build another. Dad did have a good storm cellar that they haven't used for a while. I think the place needs a new beginning. Let the insurance give you some cash. That will make the land worth that much more."

Mom said, "We'll go round up the chickens that they have and bring them here. You do what you want with the house, Mike, but you should probably rebuild out there so you have a place for someone to live in and to work the land."

Benson and Maude appeared next to me, and Maude said, "We'll work out the dollars and cents for you, but I'm not sure I can find a dollar in what you have in the bank. Do your thing and work the farm, Mike."

Benson privately told me, "You have worked your magic again, and have bought another place for nothing. One of these days, someone will ask you what you were blackmailing them with. You paid them with someone else's blood this time." Benson looked both ways and told me, "I called that FBI Agent you gave me the number for, and he told me that the four men were the whole of Sonny and his men. He was about to rip off one of the cartels, but it never happened because he was obsessed with getting the boys. He would have died ripping the cartels off. It's just as well he died out here instead of in Chicago."

Bernie called to ask if he could get an interview with me about the gun battle at Paul's. I begged him, "Bernie, see if you can get a generic interview with the Sheriff or the Deputy who was hurt. Please do us a favor and don't mention anything about Mom or me being out there. We have to stay out of the picture in case some other bad guys decide to get in on what they might think this Sonny guy was trying to do."

Bernie thought about it for a few seconds before agreeing. "You're right, Mike. This type of news isn't good news. I'll report on what happened in the Lexington news, but leave ours open."

"Thanks, Bernie, I owe you. Let me know when you want an interview. I'll come on and talk, plus answer callers' questions for you. They did re-elect me, so I should be accessible."

"Hell, Mike, I can easily keep you out of the news for a deal like that. Come in from noon to four all week while I'm on the air."

Mom smiled at me, knowing how I hated to be in the news, especially a newscast that could reach Chicago. If we were lucky, no one would miss Sonny and the three derelicts he brought with him until long after they were buried in county plots.

Benson and Maude left for home. Paul shook our hands, and Jan gave us all hugs. I watched as the two hugged each other as they walked to their room, knowing they were relieved to be free of their obligations here and that their daughter was taken care of.

We were sleeping soundly when the dogs began licking me and growling. They had never done that before, so I knew something was up. I quickly dressed and was putting my boots on when Mom came from her room dressed. She asked me, "What's with the dogs. They are having a fit over something."

That's when we heard the guineas begin making noise. Something, or someone, was coming up the lane. I told Mom, "Call the Sheriff and tell them we have an intruder. You stay inside and be a last line of defense for the family."

She didn't like that, "I need to back you up, Mike."

"No, Mom, you need to stay right here and keep the family safe. I'll holler when I want to come back in."

I made sure there would be no lights behind me as I slipped out of the door with the dogs. I had a Winchester and my pistol, with plenty of ammunition for both. The dogs ran toward the road, but I slipped around the house to get behind the smokehouses so that I could observe what was going on.

The dogs hurt someone as I heard a scream of pain. There was more growling, but no shots were fired at the dogs. As I came around the side of the new smokehouse, I saw a shadow move toward the pump house near me, but it only stood on the side of it. I watched as another shadow went toward the barn, but a four-legged shadow was following it and leaped at what was in front of him or her. There was a lot of yelling until there was no sound. The shadow that stood beside the pump house was watching for movement. I waited because I wanted to see what he would do. I so much wanted to have a silencer for the Beretta at that moment.

As I watched and waited, another shadow came up to the pump house, and I could hear them talking.

"I think Curt was taken out by the dogs. I saw Fred with his throat torn out, so we're alone. Is this job worth it, or has Sonny promised a big bonus?"

"All of the above, Man; Sonny promised us a hundred grand apiece to kill all of them but the boys. Let's watch a minute or so, then we'll bust in, do all of them, and grab the boys. Remember, no witnesses."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I would have never left that guy alive, but he was torn up everywhere. I figured him for dead."

The other shadow said, "He wasn't dead, and he gave the cops our descriptions right down to the little scar by your eye. Let's finish this deal. Do you know where those dogs are?"

"I haven't seen them, so they are probably eating Fred and Curt. Let's get this done and get paid."

That's when I said, loud enough for them to hear and understand, "You will live if you stay still. If you move, I'll kill you, or my dogs will do it for me. What do you want to do?"

The one man almost got his gun out of his side holster before the Winchester took him out of action, and put him out of his misery. The two dogs had come up on the other man, and were growling as I leveled at the guy. I told him, "It's your choice. Live and go to prison, or die where you are. Stand and raise your arms straight over your head. Do it now or I will shoot you."

The man's hands went into the air, but I saw something in his right hand. "Drop whatever is in your right hand, or you won't have a hand to hold it any longer."

The man turned toward me, trying to see me behind the woodpile and threw something that stuck in a log in front of me. I put two rounds into him as he reached for his handgun, one in the chest and one in the face. It was like target shooting.

I stayed still down behind the woodpile, watching and listening. The dogs came up to me and sat beside me as we heard a siren coming toward us. I waited until the Sheriff's patrol car was stopped before I walked around to where the Deputy was. I told him, "The dogs got two, and I shot two. Call the coroner so he can check them out. I don't see a car, did you see one on the way in?"

The Deputy said, "There's a big Cadillac down by the road. I'll check it out as soon as I determine if all of the men up here are dead or are in need of receiving treatment."

One of the men the dogs had attacked was indeed still alive. The guy had acted dead, but had been severely bitten by the dogs while they were trying to subdue him. He was bad enough off that he couldn't get to his pistol. The other man the dogs captured had his throat torn out, and I could see that both dogs and not just one had finished him...

The Sheriff and coroner were loading up the bodies to take them to the county cooler an hour later. The Sheriff said, "It looks like the same story. Someone found out you were keeping the Swans and came for you. This is getting old, Mike. I'm going to leave a car out here for a few days to make sure you don't contribute to our dead guy count around here. I know you were in the war, but this is the States, and we don't have body counts."

Mom made us all come in for coffee and fed us all some of her apple crisp. Paul, Jan, and Savannah were awake because of the rifle shots. Millie and Rosita were huddled on the couch, watching to make sure everything was all right.

The Sheriff saw everyone's concern, and told us to go to bed, get some more rest, and he would get our statements tomorrow. He said to his men, "Let's all go home."

I watched everyone leave except one patrol car. It sat across by the shed to watch the lane road. That car made the dogs uneasy, but I calmed them and lay down with the ladies for another hour of so of sleep.

I was still a little groggy when the dogs woke me for their regular five o'clock run. The dogs growled as I reached for the door. Oh shit, now what. I slid my boots and parka on that had my pistol in the pocket. I checked to be sure the magazine was full and a round was in the chamber. I checked the Winchester to make sure I couldn't put another round in it and stood on the house side of the door. As I opened the door, it burst in with two men crazily looking around. They had tripped over my boot and I was standing over them with my rifle pointed at them. "Don't do anything stupid. Move and I will shoot you just like I shot the other two. Of the four, one is alive, but I don't know for how long."

The dogs had gone right by the two who stumbled in and were doing something to someone outside. This was getting old, and we didn't need this kind of attention. As I started to pull the trigger, Mom came in with her pistol pointed at the men. "Don't shoot them yet, Mike. You'll get blood all over the floor."

How dumb could I get? My goodness, I would get blood on the floor from a couple of idiots who are chasing something that they can't collect on any longer anyway. As Mom held her pistol on the two, I went through their pockets, jackets, waist, and ankles. One had a knife and one had a backup. Both had necklaces with cuff keys. I shook them down, piling their possessions on the table. I told Mom, "We need to check on the dogs to see if they have someone they need help with."

Mom said, "Use that cord on the porch to tie their wrists, and then go check on the dogs."

As soon as the two men were tied, Mom called the Sheriff's office. They asked where their guy was, but Mom told them that she didn't know yet. They promised to be out here in minutes.

The dogs were sitting over two men who were pretty badly torn up. One had a wrist dangling by skin. The other had his face and neck torn up pretty badly and might not make it. I left the downed men and dogs to go check on the Deputy. I found him cuffed to his steering wheel, but still alive. He directed me to a spare cuff key so I could unlock him. He told me that he had a story to tell me when we talked later, but he had to call in first to advise the staff that he was okay.

The Sheriff came again, but he had to watch Rosita go and come from the barn to milk the cow this time. She asked me to bring the can in when I came. Mom told me, "I'm bushed, Michael. I need some more sleep and I know you do too. Come on, Sheriff, get out of here so we can get some sleep."

The Sheriff left us with a Deputy once again, but that wasn't very comforting after what happened to the last one. The Sheriff had made sure to warn his man that we could get other visitors, so to be on his toes.

I took the milk can into the summer kitchen before having a light breakfast. The kids were having a good time when Sissy and Shirley showed up with their kids. I lay down to nap while Mom tried to fill Sissy in on what had happened overnight. Everything was more than was believable. At least the kids were able to play with each other.

I was out of it, sleeping soundly until close to noon. Millie woke me and said, "The Sheriff wants you to come in and give statements. I don't want you to leave, Mike. Can't they come out here?"

That sounded more reasonable, so I called the Sheriff and told him how my family was afraid for me to be gone. He understood and said he would send a Deputy out to take statements for both incidents. He told me the FBI was going to come down to look at the vehicles and question those that were still alive. I told the Sheriff, "I'll bet there are men in the motel in town or up in Mount Sterling waiting for the others to come back. You need to catch those men, as they probably will be able to identify others that may be trying to harm us."

The Sheriff agreed, and told me to give good statements so that the coroner could write the deaths up as defensive killings.

The whole thing was too much for me.

I held and played with John while waiting for the Deputy to come for my statement. Mom and I each had a Winchester and our pistols loaded and sitting beside the desk for immediate action. I was apprehensive, and Mom was purely pissed. I now also had a sister with me who loved to target shoot and was angry that people kept trying to get at us and into the house.

A comforting thing was the way the dogs stayed with the family all day. Instead of their usual hunting and running around the property, both dogs stayed either in the house or made fast runs for relief and came back in. It was as if they knew something was different than usual.

The guineas made a racket when another Deputy showed up to take our statements. It took almost two hours to interview both of us, get statements written up in long hand, and signed. The Deputy was leaving the house with me following, as I walked him back to his car, when the corner of the house I was nearest to exploded, followed by the crack of a high powered rifle in the distance.

We were both instantly on our knees and getting behind cover. I watched as the Deputy in the car that was our protection jumped out of his vehicle while pulling his sidearm. As the man stood to look at where he thought the round came from, he was spun around and fell. I didn't wait but duck walked or duck ran to where the Deputy lay. His shirt was torn, so I pulled it back and saw a large caliber round flattened on his vest.

I heard another round go off, but the other Deputy came to where I was a few seconds later. He reached into the car and began calling for assistance with an 'Officer Down' call. He related to the dispatcher that the officer was likely just out cold, but that a very good sniper had us pinned down.

I turned and looked toward the house to make sure that no one else decided to come out. As I looked, the kitchen window over the sink opened and I saw a rifle barrel poke out. It was pointing over us toward the outer area of where our pasture tree line began.

I told the Deputy that had taken the statements, "Stay with your man. I'm going to go get a better weapon for what we're involved with."

The Deputy asked, "Are you any good with a rifle? Something like an HK417? I have one in my trunk. It's loaded and has a swing away scope. It's sighted in at two hundred, but if you know that rifle, just use a click for each 25 yards. Do you know how to use the sighting scope?"

I looked at the man and smiled, "I had a lot of extra time a few years ago, and learned just about every weapon there is. How do I get at it?"

The other car was fifteen feet away and was facing toward where the known shooter was. My fear was that other shooters were positioning to shoot from other angles. My other concern was why were they so intent on getting us if they realized Sonny was either captured or dead. Maybe they're trying to get a hostage to trade for Sonny? I didn't know, but would like to find out.

Knowing the shooter was probably sighted in on our location and ready to pull the trigger, I asked the Deputy, "Do you have a remote trunk release?"

"Yeah, the car is like any regular car with the remotes, but it is supposed to be a special code."

"Can you honk the horn?" I was getting an idea.

"Yeah, I can do that." The Deputy had a puzzled look.

I instructed him on what to do, "When I tell you, honk the horn three times, wait a second, then pop the trunk of your car. The shooter will be watching the trunk open and won't be able to react fast enough to get back to me to shoot. I'll run when you pop the trunk."It worked. The Deputy honked the horn three times, then pressed the trunk button. I ran when I heard the trunk release and saw it begin to open.

There was a shot, but it kicked rocks up in front of the car. It still scared me to have exposed myself like that. I was able to get into the trunk for the fancy HK417. There were several magazines for it loaded with 7.62 ammo that I knew was almost always dependable. I sat on the ground going over the rifle, making sure everything was in working order. After putting a round in the chamber, I moved to the side of the patrol car and began scanning the tree line with the scope.

I missed the shooter on the first pass, but I saw a reflection off either the uncovered scope or glasses on the way back. The man was a pro, as he was lying behind a log with the rifle steadied on the log. There was about two inches of head sticking out over the scope. He was scanning the house and the cars, but kept swinging back to my right, his left to look at something. I realized that more men might be coming from that direction.

I hollered at the house, "Hey, watch for activity coming from the where the garden is. Get someone to watch that area. Do it fast, I think someone is trying to come in that way."

It was Sissy who hollered back, "Mom is over there watching. I think I might have a shot at the sniper but it's a long way."

I yelled back, "Let me do it. You watch and if you get a full body shot, take it. I'm going to try to make him jump."

When the sniper checked on whoever interested him to the far side of the house, he rose another inch or so to give me a bigger target. I adjusted the scope for the three hundred fifty yards the spotter scope indicator read, and made sure that I was perfectly braced for the shot. As he swung to check toward the garden area, he rose more than an extra couple inches. He must have been trying to get comfortable for a shot because I almost had a full view of his head.

Bang!

I was about to fire another round to be sure that I was shooting in the right area, when I realized that the first round had knocked the shooter back. What I was looking at was the bottom of a boot and it wasn't moving.

Sissy hollered, "You got him. I saw him take the round. Half his head is gone"

"Go check on, Mom, I'll work around that way to make sure no one gets close."

I was at the back of the chicken house, finding a position that would give me a wide field of fire at anyone coming from the garden, vineyard, or orchard area, when there seemed to be enough sirens to justify a small army. It was then that I saw some men rise up in the tall grass on the edge of the garden and look around. There were six of them and they were looking at each other to figure out what to do. It looked like they were going to run for it for a second, but they then all lay back in the grass out of sight. I marked the location and watched.

Four Sheriff's cars, two black SUVs, and an ambulance came up and parked around the car with the downed Deputy. I wasn't very impressed with the way the Deputies and men in the SUVs came out of their vehicles while drawing their side arms. None of them had a rifle. I heard Sissy yell at them, "Come to the door so we can tell you what we saw."

I wondered if Sissy and Mom had seen the men in the grass the way I did. I picked up a rock when the men from the SUVs came toward the house, and threw it at them. They all dropped to their knees and pointed their pistols at me. I waved at them, and pointed two spread fingers at my eyes, then at the spot where the men were lying in the tall grass.

The guy who apparently was the lead man with FBI on the back of his jacket came out to me. I was motioning for him to get down as he walked out. He finally bent over at the waist and came the rest of the way.

I told him, "There might be only six in the tall grass, but these people have been surprising me. Have some men go find where they left their vehicle to make sure there are no others hanging back. There's a dead sniper in the tree line on the other side of the pasture, but unless he has a backup, we can forget him."

The man asked, "Are you Grayson? I'm told that you haven't been out of the Army or the Middle East that long."

"That's me, but I don't want to rely on my abilities. Have some men go find those vehicles, and when you have them, get two SUVs and slowly go toward the men in the grass. I'm watching to make sure they don't try to crawl the other way. The grass hasn't moved so far."

The man was hesitant to do what I said, until I firmly said, "Get, find those vehicles."

He didn't attempt to stay down, and slowly walked upright back to where the Sheriff's Deputies were. Two cars went down the driveway and two SUVs moved toward the garden and stopped.

I felt a presence at my side, and my sister knelt beside me with my good .308 that had a scope. She softly said, "I want one of those bastards. This is about all I can take, and all because you helped someone. We're not talking drugs or money, but trying to help a woman and two kids. What the hell is this all for?"

I saw the FBI guy who had come up to me wave and give the forward indication to the two SUVs. This was crazy. No one had come out to contain the men in the grass when they jumped to run or fight. Sissy and I were the only ones who could contain them. As the SUVs began moving forward, a Deputy ran up behind one of them, using it for cover with what looked like an MP5 as a weapon. I saw a window roll down on the passenger side of one SUV and an arm came out holding a semi-auto handgun.

"Sissy, sight in on the area where those guys are and be ready. They may come up shooting. Be ready, and make sure the safety is off."

"Give me a break, little brother. I know how to shoot."

The SUVs were closing in and one of them began honking. I saw the grass move, and six men all of sudden rose with their weapons pointing at the SUVs. Sissy and I saw the flash of rounds leaving the barrels and immediately began firing. I know I knocked four down, and Sissy probably helped me with one, and she knocked two down. I swung back to check the SUVs out when the men in the grass were all down. Both of their windshields were trashed, and I could see one of the men in one obviously was hit. I couldn't see the Deputy who had been following the SUVs, then saw him holding his leg behind the vehicle. These men were unlucky.

Sissy said, "Let's make sure of the kills before helping the others."

"Don't say kills, Sissy, say downed enemy. If they're still alive, leave them that way."

As we ran crouched low, she said, "Yeah, sure, we'll let them all live to come here again another day."

Two of the six were still alive, but out of action. These men were dressed in camouflage and carrying some awesome equipment. They looked like professionals. I left the two wounded with Sissy and went to the SUV to check on the obviously wounded man. The driver was moaning and told me he was hit in the shoulder. He told me to go check on the other SUV driver because he thought that he might be hit too. I was waving at the Sheriff to get the ambulance and paramedics. He was still behind his car with his sidearm drawn.

The other driver looked pissed as he held his torn shirt on a long scratch on the side of his arm. He said he'd be all right, and thanked me for taking the bad guys out.

The ambulance had come by the time I reached the Deputy with the leg wound. I told the paramedic to work on the passenger in the SUV first. He said he wanted to check the men we had shot, but I told him that law enforcement was first. I told him, "I'm triage, get the passenger, the driver next, this man, then the driver of the other SUV. You can check on the downed men to see if they're still alive after that." I knew they would be, but I could still hope.

A Deputy came up to where Sissy was and began acting like the big man on the scene. Sissy told him to pay attention and watch the two wounded mercenaries as she said they had shot and wounded other law enforcement officers. The guy still acted like he was the stud of the walk and strutted around the downed men.

People do make fools of themselves.

The FBI lead Agent came to me and said, "That plan wasn't a good one. Three of my men are casualties."

I looked at the guy and said, "Haven't your men ever been trained on how to become less of a target? All of those wounds could easily have been prevented. None of your men had rifles, and no one was covering them as they approached the enemies' position."

The guy looked aggravated, "Don't talk like this is a war zone. This isn't Iraq or someplace."

I looked at the guy and wanted to slap him. "This may not be Afghanistan or Iraq, but it was a war zone for the few minutes that it lasted. You have to think that the enemy can easily kill you if you don't outthink him. My goodness, you're supposed to be the crisis leader. Act like it."

The guy gave a "Harumpf", disgusted with my admonition before he turned and walked back to the men who were standing around the cars. He didn't even check on his men's injuries.

Sissy was helping the paramedic who was working as fast as possible, while the ambulance driver was taping up the Deputy with the leg wound before coming over to help.

When they got to the wounded mercenaries, Sissy asked them, "Do you really want to help them, or could we just plow them under as fertilizer."

The paramedic laughed and said, "Well this one might be a die hard and dig himself out. He isn't badly hurt, but isn't going to be able to use this right hand and arm for the next few months or maybe his lifetime. His leg wound is good. Looks like his body armor saved his ass by the way it has two rounds plastered to it, pardon my language, Ma'am."

Sissy laughed, "Those were mine. My brother hasn't taught me about body armor yet. Is that why those other guys are all head shot?"

The driver came up and said, "That's the reason. If you're in combat, you don't have time to keep shooting until you find a soft spot. The head is free and clear."

The Coroner's van came up the drive, setting the guineas off and alerting the dogs, who were having a difficult time keeping up with all the people movement. I sent the Coroner across the field with a Deputy to get the sniper. I was interested in seeing what he was shooting, because it couldn't even have been a .308 to only have knocked the first Deputy down. A heavier round should have penetrated or torn a vest.

Mom came out of the house with a stack of Styrofoam cups and the big pot of coffee. She hollered that there was fresh coffee for anyone who wanted some. The officers all moved together toward the picnic table.

The one mercenary with the least injuries was brought over and seated in a wooden lawn chair. I went over and asked him, "Why is this such a big deal? Do you know why you're here?"

The man looked at me with pain still in his eyes and only said, "Da kids."

"What about the kids, their father is dead? Why still come for them?"

The man looked at me funny again and said, "It's da kids, gotta bring the kids and their stuff."

"What do they have? What do the kids have?"

"Julio knows. He says to get the kids and their stuff."

"Where is Julio? I need to talk to him."

The guy tried to chuckle as he said, "Julio is in Juarez; you can't touch him. His other house is in Laredo. You can't touch him there either."

This was going to be important so I asked, "How many more are there going to be coming?"

The guy was getting drowsy from a drug he had been given. He said with a sleepy voice, "As many as it takes until he has the kids and their stuff."

Mom was standing there when she said, "They have to take them somewhere else. There is obviously a leak inside the FBI somewhere who told someone where they are. I'll go get that FBI guy; I want to talk to him to see if he's real. Meanwhile, go in and search through the kids stuff and see if you can find anything, Mike. Look at everything. There has to be something small that they're looking for."

Savannah was working with Millie to make supper, and I could see the kids playing with Sissy's and Shirley's kids. I went into the bedroom the kids were using and began looking through their duffel bags. I ran my hands over every seam, and closely looked at every toy and the couple of stuffed animals they had. After looking at everything, I checked the duffel bags to see if there was something there, but nothing. The usual hiding place is a stuffed animal, so I felt each one thoroughly by squeezing the ears, nose, legs, and arms, still nothing. The one boy had a ball glove that I had checked, but I went back to it and tried to get it on my hand. As I slid my thumb in the thumbhole, I felt a hole in the side of the main hole. As I pushed the glove thumb to attempt to turn in inside out, I heard something like a paper crinkle.

I took the glove into the office and took a pair of forceps that I use to hold small parts together, to reach in and pull out a small rolled up piece of paper.

Son of gun, it was a small map with some numbers. The first number was an eight-digit number. The second set of numbers looked like a combination, but there were only three sets of two numbers. The only writing on it was 'bbtss'. I didn't know what to do with what I had found, but hesitated to give it to the FBI as the leader really seemed weird about this deal.

Using some old paper in my drawer, I drew a pencil map of something sort of close to what was on the paper. I wrote some numbers in the same order, then thinking the bbt stood for a bank, wrote only FNB.

I rolled it tight and squashed it back and forth several times before using the forceps to squeeze it into the thumbhole. After putting the glove back in the duffel, I went back outside where the head FBI guy was all for taking the woman and kids to a safe house immediately. I felt that he was too eager, and Mom felt the same way.

I made the suggestion that he let them stay overnight and we could even let one of his men stay with us, along with a Deputy. The lead FBI guy said he would leave two men and that we really didn't need a Deputy. I winked at Mom and told her, "That will be great. You can come for the family tomorrow and move them somewhere safe. We'll watch them tonight."

The Sheriff was a nervous mess, and I couldn't get him alone to talk to him. I wanted him to do some checking, but I couldn't get a word with him. The FBI leader wanted the Sheriff to hold the men still alive in his jail until they could be picked up. That was another something that made me wonder even more.

When everyone except two FBI men was gone, I told everyone that Sissy and I would do chores. Outside, out of view and hearing of the two FBI men I told Sissy my plan while we were doing the milking, then went out in the barn and called the FBI office in Lexington. The man that answered directed my question to the Regional Agent in Cincinnati. After a long talk with him and a plan, I knew what needed to be done.

This was going to be delicate.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



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Chapter 57

Sissy and I had a plan, but it might be a little tricky. I considered what needed to be done, but also weighed what dangers there were. I figured that we had a fifty-fifty chance of everything working out and no one would be hurt and everyone would eventually be safe.

Supper was great, although it was without Bert and Pete for a change, as Mom had called everyone and suggested they not come tonight. The two FBI agents ate like little pigs, but what could you expect from a couple of men used to eating at restaurants all the time.

We all had a pleasant evening with Savannah and the kids planning to get a fresh start somewhere. Paul and Jan Swan thought our family was wonderful because we were trying to get their daughter taken care of, as well as buying their farm so they could relocate to Florida.

As it came close to bedtime, I suggested to Savannah and the kids; "Keep the clothes you will wear tomorrow out, pack everything else, and bring your bags out here so you guys can just grab your stuff and get in the car when they come for you in the morning."

The FBI guys said they would take turns napping on the couch and would awaken us if there was a problem. Sissy had spoken to Mom, giving her our plan and what she needed to do. Bill didn't think they should stay, but Sissy insisted to make sure that we were all fine.

The boys' two duffel bags were sitting next to their mom's big one that was stuffed with clothes. Savannah was an attractive lady, and didn't wear makeup. She really didn't need it and fit in with the other women in our house.

Sissy and I went to our bedrooms, leaving the FBI men in the outer rooms. I brought the dogs into the bedroom with me so they wouldn't give our plan away.

I kissed Millie and Rosita and told them to go to sleep, and that I was going to sit up for a while. When I was sure the two women were asleep, I flipped the little short-range close-circuit child-video unit on that we use to keep watch over the twins when they're napping. The difference was that I had relocated the camera to the kitchen, facing the area where the duffel bags were sitting.

It was funny to watch the two men walk to our door and listening every few minutes. They would walk over to the duffel bags and look at them as if what they were looking at was something wonderful that they should investigate.

One man finally sat facing our bedroom door, with a view down the hall to where Sissy and Mom were. The other man began going through the two bags. He wasn't cautious, but just pulled item after item out to look at it. They were not as thorough as I had been about running their fingers over the seams of each item. The ball glove only received a cursory look and a feel of the glove by sliding it on when they found it.

When they didn't find anything obvious in the boys' bags, they began searching Savannah's. They found a small zippered case the size of a wallet and opened it. The guy pulled out a wad of bills. He didn't try to put them back, but stood and stuffed them into his pocket. That told me these two were nothing but small-timers taking orders.

The men had a conversation that I couldn't hear as they were too far away, but they were soon stuffing everything back into the bags. They put their shoes on and slipped out of the house when they were done. The dogs knew something was happening and nervously walked back and forth by the door. I walked out of the bedroom and watched as their car quietly rolled down the driveway.

My next move was to hold my hand up to quiet Sissy and Mom while I called the FBI number that had been given to me by the office in Cincinnati. The man said, "I'm at the entrance to your mountain road waiting. We have units placed along the way to follow them and to see where they're going. There will be three units at your place to take the family to a safe place in the morning. I will come up in the morning and you can tell me what you know if you want. Be safe and be sure. Always ask for ID and don't be afraid to call the eight hundred number to verify any Agent."

That made me feel better. I let the dogs out and shooed Mom and Sissy back to their rooms. I thought I might just sit up in the living room to be sure that everything stayed good after I let the dogs back in. I didn't last long and fell asleep with the dogs lying beside me.

Mom kissed my forehead as Sissy walked into the living room in only a pair of panties. Her motherly breasts were swaying back and forth as she groped for coffee. Mom scolded her, "Go get some clothes on and quit showing your tits off to your brother."

"It isn't like he hasn't seen them before. Besides, he might need to play with them to get him started this morning."

I threw a small couch cushion at her as she ducked while sipping her coffee.

"Will you children quit? Get dressed, Sissy. Mike, go take a shower so that you're ready for whatever's going to happen today."

Mom, our mother, had spoken. I had that deja vu feeling Sissy and I were young teens again being directed by the matriarch.

Millie and Rosita were up and dressed by the time I was showered, shaved, and ready. Savannah immediately noticed that the duffel bags were gone when she came into the big room. She stamped her foot and said, "Now even the few clothes I had are gone. I had some money stashed in there too. Damn, where are those bags?"

Mom had called the real FBI Agent and he came in when she opened the door. He told Savannah that the two men who had been here the night before were imposters, and the people who might have come for them today would not have kept them safe. I asked the agent to show me his ID.

He handed me his ID case and pointed to the eight hundred number. I called the number on my office phone that had a speakerphone and was walked through how to identify the Agent. The man asked the Agent for an ID number, then told me to turn the speakerphone off. I was told what the password was, then the caller asked the Agent for his password. That worked, so I figured it was a good identification.

I took the Agent outside and showed him the note I had found in the ball glove and explained what I had done. He told me they had followed the men who had been here to a Mount Sterling motel, but he had heard they were already on their way back to Chicago. The motel rooms had been checked and they took the duffel bags with them. He told me, "You should be bad guy free for a while, but we need to get these folks out of here and into protective custody. The man your attacker spoke of as Julio is Julio Garcia, the main smuggler for the Lionel Cartel. He reports directly to the head man and is responsible for getting the drugs into the US, as well as getting money out. 'Sonny the gun' must have ripped the cartel off and hidden the money somewhere. This note will probably lead us to what he ripped off. Meanwhile, we'll get these folks out of the limelight."

After a pause, the agent told me, "The shooter across the pasture and the men in the garden were mercenaries from another cartel trying to intercept the money. Apparently they had the information of Sonny's rip off and were trying to get the money for their own. Since that group lost men up here and since it will be known the Lionel cartel men took all of the family's possessions, they won't be back. You and your family are not a part of any of this."

The Agent continued, "We'll make a big deal out of it, and make sure the TV stations get to show the mother and boys getting clothes at Walmart or somewhere, and we'll make a big deal out of how much money we found. We'll make sure your name isn't brought in, although I'm sure they know who you are now and would prefer to stay out of your hair. According to your Sheriff, you and your family were responsible for several of the perpetrators meeting their demise."

My only comment was, "We tried."

I sure hoped this was done, but I was apprehensive knowing how persistent those guys were. We really were not a threat to the drug smuggling cartel way up here in Kentucky, but they had lost a lot of men up here. If they wanted revenge, were they willing to lose that many more to get it?"

Mom didn't want to let Savannah or her boys go. She kept telling me, "You should keep these people and help them. The boys need the normal life you can give them, Mike."

Savannah finally convinced Mom that they would be better off away from us for the time being.

Shirley had been watching the local news channels non-stop all morning to make sure the incidents from the day before had not been reported on. That the Sheriff's department or Coroner didn't let the cat out of the bag was exactly what was needed. The Sheriff even called to tell me that the statements and reports from the problems I had been involved in were in his safe and he might just decide to burn them after a while. He told me, "I know you don't want the publicity, Mike, and I don't either. The less said about this mess, the better. I couldn't ask for better people to be Sheriff for. My men appreciate your support for them, and they will keep your secret.

Frank and Bill had gone to work, so the two girls were left with one SUV to take them and the four kids home. The kids wanted to stay and play outside with Mato and Minya. Sissy and Shirley agreed and said they would be back for supper with their husbands.

Sissy pulled small children's books from the bookshelves in the house and told each of the kids, "Read this and report on it. That means you tell me what it's about and a little about the main characters. You can give it to me orally, but you will have had to read it first. No book cover reports."

I really loved my sister and the way she asserted herself over everything, including the kids' studies. It was too bad that she couldn't help us with Minya and Mato.

I didn't feel as if I could run around the countryside with our situation still unstable. We didn't know what those people were going to do, but we did know that it would be difficult to get rid of all of their people if they decided to come again.

Sissy came back in the afternoon, but it was to get Rosita and Millie and take them to Mount Sterling. The women had Anita come up to babysit with Mom, as they thought the kids might be too much for one adult. Anita loved John and the twins, so she was happy to help. Sissy told me that she had something to teach my two women.

Mom smiled and said, "I'll bet those two come back with guns and experience at the firing range. I know you don't want to have to have your women fight your battles, but they are your farmer wives now, and should help defend everyone. You and I taught them to shoot rifles and shotguns, but not pistols. Sissy knows how to teach and make them safe gun users."

The FBI agent from Cincinnati called the next day to tell me, "Several First National Banks in Chicago have been held up and nothing taken, but they have tried to access bank account numbers. We've heard of some branches that were held up, and there has been a cyber attack on their records this past week. They are searching using the numbers that you put in the glove."

The man said, "We have located the account and the real safe deposit box. The account has about twenty million in it, and the safe deposit box is full of banded stacks of hundreds. There was also another map that goes with the map you found, and it leads us to a very high profile, or rather an important underworld person up there. We might get a warrant and see if the safe is where it's supposed to be, and if that's the right combination."

I told the FBI agent, "Send me some of that green stuff, and be sure to give some to the woman and her kids. They'll need it. You guys have everything you need. Give some where it will do the most good."

The guy laughed, "Well, you do get a 10% reward. That's at least $2 million, and it's up to you what's done with it. They will be okay, and may even be able to come back to visit with you. I just wanted to let you know that we're still working this case and not letting it go."

"Thanks, I really need to keep up with the status so that I'll know if there are other new people in the area who may be looking to visit me. I can relocate my family if I need to do it, but this is my mountain and I would prefer to stay."

Trying to assure me, the Agent said, "You're alright, Mike. I think that you should be clear since the family left. That the fake agents took everything the three of them had should tell the bad guys that they were not conspirators with Sonny."

The butcher called to ask me about the two steers that I was supposed to have brought. I told him I would bring them this morning and went out to do that. That no one knew the trouble we had just gone through was good and bad. It was good, since we didn't need to let people know what we had done, and the extent of the killing. It was bad because we looked like we had become reclusive from the rest of the world. Becoming a recluse had been my original intention a long time ago.

I took the steers to the butcher and took a five-gallon can of milk by the market. One of the farmers sitting around the stove asked me, "I heard you bought Swan out. You lookin' to own the whole County?"

I told him, "Paul came to me, I didn't go to him. I doubt that I can borrow much more to buy anything else. If any of you want to sell out to me, it had better be one hell of a deal."

Another old boy said, "How much better can it get than if you let me live my time out on my own place, while I watch you or your people work my farm? I might be next on your list, Mike."

I answered quickly, "Find a young guy who wants a homestead and sell to him. I'd bet that a young guy would build you or him a place, and keep right on farming, if the numbers were right. All anyone has to do is ask the same as Bert and Pete did and go from there. Paul was unlucky to have his place almost burn down, but it worked out for him. He's down in Naples, Florida now." I could see the older men around the stove thinking about what I said.

The guys and Bernie still wanted to put a video system in, but I didn't think that it was worth it. I told Bernie, "You might put some guinea hen activated cameras in if you have any. That way, we can see who's coming when the hens begin making noise. The men all laughed, but didn't win their point.

The FBI guy in Cincinnati called me again about a week later to inform me, "Mike, we were able to catch Julio Garcia on our side of the river, and we have him in custody. There have already been a couple attempts on his life, so he won't last long when we put him in prison. He's been telling us a lot of what we know so far, but we're just letting him tell us whatever he wants. When we finish part of the story he's trying to tell, he knows we're not stupid and blind. Anyway, Mike, Julio is telling us that our infamous Sonny stole about fifty million from the cartel, and Julio was supposed to get it back. He said that he had lost at least twenty men trying to recover the money so far, but he now thinks that the feds have it, and we do, or at least most of it. Oh, Mike, look for a mail package. It's an unintended gift from Julio."

The Agent added, "Julio told us your place wasn't suspected of knowing anything any longer, and he was glad because Kentucky had not been good for them."

That made me happy and I would be glad to pass that down to the long list of folks who had helped us. The Sheriff's office was a group I wanted to thank, and to ask what the citizens could do to make the Deputies safer. When we talked, the Sheriff promised to get back to me.

The mail carrier came up to the house with a package that Millie had to sign for a couple of days later. She didn't open it since it was addressed to me. She told me, "Mom wanted to open it right away and really tried to convince Rosita and me to do it. We didn't, but I think we want to know what's in there."'

I pulled my half-sized lock back Buck knife out and slit the package open. I sort of figured on what might be there, and when I slit the last piece of tape, the top burst open and stacks of hundreds almost exploded into view. How they were able to cram all that cash into the small box and to get it mailed was one hell of a feat. Millie and Rosita wanted to know how much it was, so I told them, "It's enough for you to go to Walmart and get all of those little things you've been wanting to get. Let's get the kids in the car and go do it."

While they vanished to get ready to go, I took a couple of thousand from the bundle and put the rest in the floor safe in the office. Mom told me that she wanted to count it, but I made her come with us.

We had a great time shopping for all the little things the girls had been wanting. We had a couple of full shopping carts, and didn't even spend a thousand for everything. Rosita was smart and asked if they could have another shopping day like this one later on.

"Of course, we can. Make a list of all the big and little things you want to get, and we'll be sure to get them next time." That made Rosita happy enough to hug and kiss both Millie and me.

I continued to worry whether the crazies would come back again over the next few days, but we were left alone and the world began to turn on its regular axis. All of our regulars came back to eat supper with us and our happy evening became as happy as before. I didn't let my guard down and I know Mom didn't either. Sis strangely was at our house more often than normal, using the excuse that she needed to help get supper ready if the families were going to eat together.

The next two new model houses were completed and were even landscaped with winter grass that was brown now. Bernie had his video crews come down to go through the homes and neighborhood, taking hours of tape to be condensed into one minute commercials. The man finally decided to do an infomercial that had my sister and sister-in-law showing their homes off, and displaying their checks from the power company, rather than being charged for power.

Shirley even said, "With our no cost electricity, I no longer mind taking a long hot shower. I'm able to wash and dry clothes without worrying about how much it's going to cost. Our home is actually going to make us money sometime in the future."

That was a seller, and people began flocking to the development on weekends to estimate the time it would take them to drive to work in the morning and get home at night. The area where the homes were being built would accommodate over a hundred in the first phase, and we were surveying for the second phase shortly after our grand opening.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first Christmas with Minya and Mato, John, and the twins, had all of us wanting to do something special. Not stacks and stacks of presents, but a way to make it special for all of us.

We were able to put a reasonably sized tree on the porch side of the fireplace so that the table area was open, and we could add more tables if necessary. The house was decorated and I was sent out to buy and put lights up on the outside of the house to celebrate Christmas.

Sissy's and Shirley's kids began telling the Santa Claus stories, and that was followed by having to go to Lexington to sit on Santa's knee. Minya and Mato didn't know about the guy with the real white beard, while the older kids thought they knew that Santa was imaginary.

John learned to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, even if he didn't get all the words in the right place.

I had made a couple of trips to town and to Lexington to find all of the right things for each of those that I wanted to give presents to.

All of the road men were given matching watches that they could synchronize and be on the same page at the same time. All of their women were given crock-pots so that they could be gone during the day, and still have dinner on the table when they returned. Of course, that wasn't necessary if they ate at our house.

I gave special presents to John and Carmen, as well as to Esteban and family. I think Raul enjoyed his new special table saw as he said it was going to be easier to do a lot of the finish work.

Sissy, Shirley, and Mom received a Victoria's Secret gift certificate, and some Godiva chocolates.

My two ladies received the same, and also received special lockets on a necklace that proclaimed my love. Rosita was disappointed that she still wasn't pregnant with our first baby. She convinced Sheryl to examine her to find out why she wasn't pregnant yet.

The kids received plenty of presents, but they were all non-electronic and all were educational and family enjoyable. We spent hours and hours playing games with John, Minya, and Mato as they learned to have fun with each other. The twins added their enjoyment by trashing game boards while in the midst of a move. It's difficult to teach little kids patience, but this was a great way for them to recognize that little ones were often rambunctious in order to gain attention.

Christmas morning was fun. Rosita and I did the chores early so that we would be there when the kids came in to discover the presents under the tree. Snow had fallen during the night, so we had a real white Christmas. That was perfect, as one of the presents was a sled that I ended up pulling the three kids around the area on for literally hours.

The snow was now over six inches by dinner time, but there were no road panics as the men had been out since the beginning. All of our roads were remaining clear and accessible through town, and all the way up to near Mount Sterling and to Pine Ridge. The guys switched off about every three hours so that all of us could enjoy at least part of the day with each other.

Harold and Martha came to have dinner with us, and I enjoyed having Harold give the blessing. He reminded all of us of the true meaning of Christmas. He even spent a few minutes telling the Christmas story to all the kids. The nice thing was that so many of the adults were listening to him as he spun the story.

I was sitting with Mom, Millie, Rosita, and D, drinking a little wine before going to bed that night. D said, "I've asked your mother to marry me many times, and she tells me that she was married one time and will be my woman, but not my legal wife. I worried about that as it might be a way to keep me on edge and to tell me to get lost one day. But Bea told me the most important thing in my life these last many years this evening. She told me that she loved me. She also told me that although she wouldn't marry me in a church, she considered us the same as married. I'm satisfied with that, and feel content in our relationship. Mike, I already look upon you as a son, even knowing the special relationship you had with your dad, Mike. I want all of you to know that I will honor and cherish Bea's and my relationship for the rest of my life."

That was heartfelt and special. Mom was smiling as she held onto D's arm. I felt their closeness and gathered my two women to me.

There is life after Christmas. Most of it is mundane, but life is sometimes like that. Chores must be done daily, and usually twice daily on a farm. Animals need to be fed and they must have water. All of the usual activities continue whether it snows, rains, or the sun shines. That was happening as we went through January and into the cold, dreary, February weather.

Valentine's Day is always fun. Minya and Mato had their first taste of Valentine's Day, but were on a level with Millie, who was still getting used to the fun of lovers' day. All of them made Valentines to give to each other, but most of the fun was making a cake and cookies. Everyone enjoyed the sweets, but everyone also enjoyed the hugs and kisses that went around.

It was March when Mom surprised all of us. She came from shopping up in Mount Sterling and with her was a girl or young woman whose clothes were ragged and rain-soaked. Her face was gaunt and thin with hunger when you looked at her. She had scared eyes and shaky hands.

I was later told that Mom brought her into the house and into her room. She stripped her down and put her in a warm bath. While the stranger was bathing, Mom found clothes from Rosita's and Millie's closet that would reasonably fit her.

When Mom had her bathed, dried, hair brushed, and dressed, she brought her into the living room where the young woman immediately was on the floor playing with the twins. John felt a kinship with her and played with her as she played with the twins. Mato and Minya enjoyed trying to talk to her. She didn't talk that much, and only answered the kids with one or two word answers.

When I got home that day, Mom had the girl on the couch, trying to find out more of her history. As I was introduced, I saw panic in her eyes and that they darted from side to side, looking for a way to escape. I stayed back from her and didn't say anything other than I was happy that she was with us. I could tell Mom was concerned for the girl and wanted to help her even more than she had.

After supper with many of our friends, the girl finally told us that her name was Camille. She didn't tell us her last name, but told us she had traveled from Philadelphia to here to get away from ... That was where she would stop talking. She wouldn't tell us what or who she was running from, or why. I told Mom, "You need to get her fingerprints and have the Sheriff run them to make sure we're not harboring a criminal. We need this right away so that we'll know. We can't take that chance within our home."

Sissy agreed with me and said she would help take her to town to get that done. I was watching the next morning when they told Camille that they needed to go to the Sheriff's to check her fingerprints. The girl didn't think that was horrible, so off they went. The idea that she willingly went was some comfort to me.

I had several things to do that day, so I didn't get home until after four. I came in for a cup of coffee after doing my chores, and was greeted by Camille. She smiled at me and stuck her hand out. She said, "I am Camille Basset. I used to live in Philadelphia, but I now live with you. Thank you for letting me stay here."

This was surprising, and I let Mom lead me into my office. Mom said, "We found out that Camille ran away from a group home. She was seventeen when she ran, and has just turned eighteen, so she is no longer within child custody laws. She told us that she has two sisters who are still there, that are thirteen and fifteen. She asked if we could find out if they could be released to her or our custody. Mom then said, "Sit down because you have to hear the rest of this, Mike."

I sat in my desk chair and waited. Mom was getting ready to tell me when Millie came in with coffee. My wife gave me a kiss and left.

Mom said, "Camille told me she left because she didn't like being made to have sex three and four times a day with the men who came there. Mike, she told me that she was made to have sex with old men three and four times a day. What in the hell is that about?"

I was sitting forward in my chair as I asked, "What about her sisters?"

Mom looked disgusted. "She told me they had to do most of the same, except they were only allowed to be used twice a day until they were sixteen. She told me they had to take pills daily to keep from getting pregnant, and were told that they would be put to pasture if they were to get a disease from the sex. I can't imagine what that means."

"Where is this place, Mom?"

"Camille says it's on the southwest side of Philadelphia, and is known as the Maguire Sisters' Home for Girls. I've located the address and telephone number, but there is no information on the Internet about it. The State of Pennsylvania has it listed as a non-profit custody living arrangement for orphan girls. They act as a foster parent in a group environment."

I was dizzy with what that meant, but also crazed at how Mom had become involved in yet another of society's problems. This could be as dangerous as the drug people and their money.

Mom said, "I have talked to Benson, and he's hunting for someone we can talk to that won't let our investigation get back to the people running the home. He told me the head of the Pennsylvania State Police was an old friend of his, and was interested in pursuing what was going on. Benson said we would know more tomorrow."

When I didn't say anything, Mom said, "Camille was on the phone with the State Policeman that Benson knows for nearly an hour. She told them names, dates, and where within the group home these things took place. Mike, this little girl has been horribly abused for almost six years, and has had to watch her sisters be abused the same way. We have to do something."

Oh shit, what am I supposed to do? This place is hundreds of miles away, and I don't have authority to do squat. I took a deep breath and asked, "What can I do, and what do you want to do?"

"We're going there and getting Camille's sisters, Mike. We'll shoot our way in and out of there if they give me any shit."

"You can't do that, Mom. That's Pennsylvania, and we don't have a right to go there with guns. We don't have a right to bust in there and try to get the girls. No one will support or help us. We have to do this within the law. Let Benson help us get this done. He knows the laws and he knows the State Police."

Mom wanted to go to rescue Camille's sisters that instant. The idea that she couldn't was foreign to her. She felt she should be able to do good anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.

I called Benson, "So what can immediately be done, Benson? Mom is about to crawl the walls wanting to go clean out the entire Maguire home for girls."

"You're telling me, Mike. I've been on the phone with her several times and after talking to my college roommate, he's working to make a raid on the place, but has to do it by the law. He also has to make sure no one tips the home off. I'm supposed to hear how it comes out tomorrow."

"So he's going to make this raid right away?"

Benson said, "That's what he said. The way he talked, he was going to immediately apply for a warrant and make a raid this evening."

"Okay, Benson, that's good enough. Keep me posted and use my cellphone, okay?"

When I hung up, I told Mom; "Put some clothes in a bag and I'll do the same. We're on our way with Camille to get her sisters right now. We'll take Millie's Expedition, so we might get past a few people thinking we're the fire department. We should be there in about ten hours. Let's go."

I gave Millie and Rosita kisses and told them we would be back as soon as possible. We were on our way within minutes. Camille kept saying how thankful she was that Mom helped her and that we were going to help her sisters.

Mom told me, "I'm going to nap and you will wake me up when you start getting tired. We'll swap back and forth to drive straight through. Drive as fast as you can, but don't be ridiculous and get us stopped."

Mom got into the back seat while Camille came into the front. She was sitting as close to me as she could with the console in the way, and put her hand on my arm. She told me, "You are a good man to do this, and you didn't even ask me to do anything for you."

"I have a wife, or rather two wives. I love them and don't want any other woman, Camille."

"Don't you find me attractive enough for me to thank you?"

For someone who had been taken advantage of, she was shocking me. "Camille, you are a lovely young woman. I'm proud to know you and to be able to think we're friends. We don't need to be intimate to be friends, and that isn't why I want to help you."

Camille sat back in seat and looked at me. "Then what do you want for doing this?"

"I want you and your sisters to be happy and healthy, away from having to do those things that made you feel dirty and used. What you had to do is supposed to be done with love and caring between two people who really like each other. They should actually love each other. I want you to never do that again unless it's with someone that you love and want to do it with."

The girl sat, thinking of what I said for almost an hour, before she asked, "What if I decide that I love you for what you are doing for me and my sisters."

"Well, Camille, if you talk my women into having me love you the same, then we might do something. That's a lot of talk though, and my women are not that willing to share, or at least I don't think so." I paused before saying, "Your sisters are too young to be doing this at all, and it is against the law for them to have to do any of it."

Camille softly said, "I know, that's why they tell us that if we tell or run, we will be known as prostitutes and won't ever be able to get a job doing anything but what they wanted us to do. I'm going to learn to be something besides being a prostitute. Mom said I could."

Mom had adopted another human who needed her and us, and now Camille even called her 'Mom'.

I stopped to get gas again after six hours. Mom said, "Let me drive a while and you sleep for a few hours. I'm actually pretty rested."

When I got into the back seat, Camille came with me, and as I reclined the seat back to sleep, she crawled up next to me and hugged me. We fell asleep together.

Mom said, "We're in Philly, and I think we're close. How about calling Benson to find out the status of the cops?"

It was six in the morning when I dialed Benson. "Hey, have you heard from the cops yet?"

"Hell no, Mike. I was asleep and I assume he was too. Why are you asking this early in the morning?"

"I'm in Philly, almost to the girls' home and wanted to know so I don't interrupt a bust."

"Oh shit, Mike. You can't just run up there and think you can rescue the world. Let me give George a call and find out what the status is. Stop and have coffee while I find out. I'll call you right back."

I told Mom, "Find the girls' home first then back track and we'll find a gas station for coffee and some other needs."

Mom was listening to the Garmin built into the dash as it gave us the last turns to the street where the home was located.

There were police cars everywhere. State, City, and County cars were there, parked in a jumbled mess as they had parked where they stopped. The other thing was that there was three different TV stations' news trucks set up with their satellite dishes up in the air.

Camille was out of the car and running toward the building as soon as we stopped. She ran inside while several people were surprised as she ran past them. Mom and I walked up toward the front and were stopped by a State Patrolman. I said, "My name is Mike Grayson and I'm here to help free a couple of girls. The girl that just ran in has two sisters here. I'm here to help her take them home."

The State Policeman said, "Let me find out how that will work. We're trying to identify the girls in here right now. What was the girl's name who just ran in?"

Mom told him, "Camille Basset. She just turned eighteen, so she's legal to be out and can legally get custody of her sisters."

The officer looked through a list of names and found Camille's, but her name was crossed out. He went down the list to find two other Bassets. He asked us, "Please wait right here while I go see what I can do."

A news reporter came up to us and began shooting questions at us. I pulled him aside and told him, "Please let us do what we need to do to help a couple of these girls. If you'll let us do that now and keep the others away from us, I promise to give you something before I leave."

The guy didn't like it, but I promised to give him a short interview if he would let us do what we were there to do.

Mom isn't good at following directions from people who may or may not be in authority. She wandered off to find what she thought might be a form of administration office. She found a locked door that had "Office" on the glass panel of the door. She knocked as she saw movement within the room to indicate there was someone in there. She told me later that she heard a whirr a couple of times, then realized what it was. She ran back to me as the State Policeman came. She grabbed him and said, "Come quick, someone is in the door marked 'Office' shredding things."

The officer banged on the door to be let in, but we heard another whirr of the shredder. The man was not hesitant in grabbing a fire extinguisher from a wall rack next to the door and smashing the glass.

A man and woman were surprised by the action and froze as the officer reached in through the broken window and opened the door. His next movement told me he had seen and heard enough from the children to pull his sidearm and point it at the pair. "Stop what you're doing and drop what's in your hands. You both are under arrest for suspicion of destroying evidence of crimes against juveniles."

The officer had the man and woman cuffed and prostrate over a desk, as he thoroughly searched the man and patted the woman down.

Mom was standing there and said, "That's no way to search her. Let me; there can't be any kind of problem with that."

Mom was equally as thorough with the woman as the officer was with the man. The next thing he told me was that the two Basset girls were being interviewed and would be able to be released to Camille if we could prove who she was and her age.

Mom went to the file cabinets that were along the wall. She found the 'Bs' and leafed through the files before pulling three of them out. She opened the one marked 'Camille' and found her records, including photos and a birth certificate. She looked through the other two and found the same. She showed the officer something surprising. All three files had multiple nude photos of the girls. Some of the photos showed the girls being held down and intimate parts of their bodies spread for display. The officer shivered at the implication.

He told Mom, "Go down the main hall to the dining room. The State people are there. Show them these files. Tell the State Policeman with the stars on his shirt to send me help and to have someone come to check these files."

Mom hurried off with the files to see if she could hurry the activities of the interviewers.

The officer told me that he had been summoned from off duty to join the raid, and was one of the first officers in the door. He said he went into a room off the lobby that was marked 'Playroom' and found several older men committing various acts with young girls. He told me that some of the staff was holding down girls who resisted, while the other men were raping and sodomizing them. He got a little pale when he told me, "I almost threw up, but I began swinging my baton at heads instead. I have a daughter about the age of the one being held down, and almost lost it. A couple of the staff made an attempt to overpower me as it was, but two more officers sort of helped them fall down unconscious. We arrested seven men in that room doing things to those girls that you would never believe."

Benson called me while we were waiting. "Mike, the police have raided the home and are investigating what was happening in it right now."

"Thanks, Benson. Mom and I are inside the home with the police as we speak. Mom is trying to help Camille get custody of her sisters."

Benson instructed, "You couldn't wait huh? Call me if I can help. Call me to let me know what's happening anyway."

Mom came back, but without Camille. She told me, "A couple of investigators are coming up to go through the office, but there may be something really wrong here. There are no girls here much past sixteen. The other girls say that the staff always tells them the older girls have run away, or they aged out of the home. There is a question as to what really happened to those girls."

The officer said, "God, this is horrible. I hope we can find all of the principals and participants who have been harming these girls."

Some Latino women came in the front door and stopped, shocked at seeing the police outside and inside. One of the officers spoke fluent Spanish and found out that they were kitchen workers and had come to begin their day fixing food for the girls and staff.

The officer asked me, "I need to take these women back to the dining hall and find out why investigators aren't coming up here to check the files. I also want someone to take these two and put them in the jail van outside. Watch them for me and break them with something if they try to escape."

Mom was fishing through the files the man and woman had been shredding. She noted that all of them were files of older girls and still had pictures and birth certificates in them. She opened the shredder and said, "I don't think they were able to shred but a few files. The shredder is a cheap one and won't take but a sheet or two at a time, and it won't handle the thickness of the file cover. They will at least have names of the girls in the files they destroyed. The names should be able to be traced."

The man and woman were sitting side by side on a small wooden bench outside the door. Mom was inside and I was in the hall watching the two when two women in business suits with badges showing at their waists and cards hanging from lanyards around their necks walked up to me. As she held her card on the lanyard out for me to read, one of the women said, "We're from Child Protection Division of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. We want to look at those files."

Mom yelled, "Come in here and look at what may be something you should look into."

I couldn't hear the conversations, but there were a lot of "Oh shits" and "Damn" and "No way" until one of the women came out looking a little green. She said, "I have to get a breath of fresh air even if it's freezing outside. This is horrible."

She walked over to the two still sitting on the wooden bench and said, "It's a good thing our group doesn't carry guns, or I would shoot you where you sit." The woman glared at the two, then swung hard, slapping the woman hard enough to bloody her lip. She then used her fist and slammed the guy. She hurt her hand doing it, but smiled at me as she shook the pain from her hand, "Look at that. At least I bloodied his nose."

The woman went to a nearby restroom and brought a couple of paper towels back to wipe his face. She stuck a couple of pieces of paper towel up his nose and walked toward the front door, laughing.

I went closer to the door and heard Mom lobbying the woman for us to take the two girls and go. She said she would sign custody papers and that Camille should be able to become their custodian. By the time the other woman came back, the woman Mom had been with took her down the hall to get some paperwork. Good ole' Mom; she's persistent and often wears someone down until she gets what she wants.

Another trooper finally came and told me, "I'm supposed to take two prisoners to the van. Do they need a medic? We have a couple of nurses checking the girls out now. This one looks like he bled from the nose pretty bad. What did he do, fall down?"

I just said, "Something like that. Do you need help getting them out?"

"No, I'll just walk them out. It would be good if they try to run. There are a bunch of very cold troopers and local police out there that would love to take some of their anger out on someone."

I went into the office where the one woman was working to see her lining up rows of files of what she told me were older girls. She said to me, "We are going to have to find out what happened to these girls. Children are given all of their records when they age out of the system, and the homes never keep much other than admission and discharge papers. This many files are scary. Some of these girls could be in their mid-twenties by now. Where are they; what happened to them?"

She looked at me and whispered, "I'm afraid to even think of what might have happened to them."

I heard footsteps in the hall and looked out. The other Child Services lady, Mom, Camille, and the two other girls were coming down the hall. Mom said to me, "Come on, Mike. We have all of their clothes and their records now. Camille has signed as custodian, and I signed as co-custodian guaranteeing supervision. Let's get out of here and get them some breakfast."

We said goodbye to the Child Services women and headed for the door. As we went for the bright red Expedition, Camille told us, "They took all of my things, so I have to start over again. I can work and earn money for clothes and things."

When we settled the girls in the car, Mom told her, "We'll get you three all of the clothes you need. You'll help us on our farm and learn how to enjoy life the way a girl should."

One of them asked, "Can we wear clothes all the time and not have to be with men?"

"Definitely," Mom said. "You girls are going to try to get some of your childhood back." Mom looked at me and said, "We saw a Pancake House next to all of those motels on the way here. Let's eat, then get a room to get some rest. I think all of us could use a nap."

I saw the girls stiffen in the rear view mirror, so I told Mom, "We'll get a room for you and the girls and I'll get a separate room. You guys need some privacy."

I watched as their faces relaxed, as did their body language.

The TV reporter came up before I could get out of there and asked if he could get that interview now. I moved from the car and stood in front of a police car so ours wouldn't be in the video. I gave the man a brief non-disclosing generic summary of what we did. When asked what all had been going on in the home, I told him that I honestly didn't really know, but I was sure the police would let us know within a short period of time.

The reporter realized that I wasn't going to be a fountain of information, so he ended the interview, thanking me for taking the time. Playing dumb works.

We checked into a Motel Six after breakfast, and agreed to sleep about four hours before heading home. We had some extra clothes with us, so I showered and shaved before calling Mom's room to see if they were up. Mom answered and said, "Okay, Sleepyhead. We're showered and dressed. Let's get on the road. We'll stop for something to eat, but I want to go home."

Mom and I switched off driving about every two hours. We stopped for gas and bought food and snacks while we were gassing up. The girls were full of questions, and Camille was telling her sisters about all the people and kids that were at our house.

The girls asked me what I did, and I told them that I was a farmer and also did some other things. Mom laughed and told them, "Mike is a busy man. He's the road commissioner for our county, and also is in charge of building a new housing development. He is helping with a TV and radio station, and all of that, along with three other farms that others run for him. Our farm is on a mountain and has a couple of cows, lots of beef stock, a lot of chickens and turkeys, and..."

Camille interrupted, "And two giant dogs that are very friendly. They have a wonderful home."

We arrived at home to the open arms of Millie and Rosita close to eleven o'clock, and what do you know, Sissy and Shirley were there with their families. The girls were shown into the room where Camille had stayed, with the promise that we would work out better arrangements tomorrow.

We were all still hyper from the second long drive in two days, and it took us a while to settle down. Mom and Millie were able to get the girls settled and in bed. Mom told me that the two younger girls had tears in their eyes when she kissed the three on the forehead.

Millie and Rosita went to bed, while Mom, Sissy, Shirley, and I sat up with a glass of wine. We talked about the trip, but mostly discussed how things were going in the new homes and what we were looking forward to in the spring.

When I went to bed, I realized I would be getting back up in just a few hours, but I was sure I would catch up on some rest soon. Millie snuggled to me and Rosita reached across Millie to touch me as she slept.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



-------

Chapter 58

I was hovering between sleep and waking, but was suddenly overcome with the vision of several girls playing in mountain flowers. I was standing in the little meadow around the side of the mountain watching, as Minya moved in the lush mountain growth, while tiny Karen was sitting on the ground holding blooms. The other three girls in the field of blooms were older, just teens, but one looked to be almost a woman.

The girls were all near each other, with Minya dancing among the flowers. A shadow passed by each as I watched, causing the nearest one to smile and giggle. Were these the little girls that played in the mountain flowers? The shadow seemed to approach, and was almost to me, when... 

A dog's tongue licked my hand, while a nose nudged my face. I opened my eyes and saw Spook and Witch looking at me, urging me to let them go outside.

I let the dogs out after slipping on my pants and a T-shirt, noting that it was already after five AM. I put on a full pot in the coffee maker while I warmed a couple of cups of old coffee in the microwave. Knowing that I needed to get moving, I went to the bathroom before dressing to go do morning chores. Rosita sat up and smiled at me, then leaned over to kiss Millie awake. The love the two showed each other was very warm and inspiring to me.

Mom was waiting for me out in the kitchen area, sipping from one of the coffee mugs. She told me, "You know you could use the women from below to do the morning chores. The little ones are probably too young to be going out to do milking and barn chores in the morning."

"I really don't remember when I began helping with the morning chores, Mom. Dad didn't make us start early, but I know I always wanted to be a part of whatever he was doing. I think that's why Sissy and I were always under Dad's feet wherever he was. It won't be long before Mato will be doing the same, and I think Minya will be doing them too."

Mom smiled at me, "You know you have three more to help with the chores now. Camille, Colette, and Chloe will want to do their part here. I feel good about all three of them. We will hopefully be able to give them a new start and help them forget what they've been through. I'm going to ask Sheryl what we should do for them. I know that all the attention and love we can show them won't erase some of the experiences they've had."

"You're going to have to help all of us know what to do, and when, with the three girls Mom. I get the feeling that the schooling they were being given wasn't very good since I don't think they were expected to be around long enough to need an education."

Mom's grim look made me know she had that same feeling.

Mom milked while I did the prep work in the milk house and fed the other animals. I carried a five gallon milk can into the summer kitchen, and then went back for another full can, as we were getting too much milk in the spring house. It is amazing how much milk the one cow was giving, but Esteban had said that the cow was a heavy producer.

Millie and Rosita were busy in the kitchen with three young women sitting at the counter watching as the older women explained what they were doing. Rosita told them, "After breakfast, I'll show you how to take care of the chickens and our other feathered friends we have. We'll collect eggs, put feed out, and fill the water containers."

Millie was doing her best to have the three sisters tell her about themselves as we ate. They remembered their life before they were orphaned, but the time between then and now was traumatic, causing them to stop talking. Both Millie and Rosita would start on another topic to keep the three talking.

Mom was smiling as she knew the girls needed to talk of their experiences with another woman. It needed to be with someone who would understand their physical feelings.

After breakfast I called Benson to find out what he had heard. His first words when he knew it was me calling were, "My old roomie said you and Mom took over his raid and were sending people all over the place to get things done. He did say that you directed them on where to find some irregularities in the records there. He's already found some of the older girls who have left the home. It seems they were sold to some big city whorehouse slavers. Most of them have been able to find a way out so far, but many are still in their trade, but now as independents. Sadly, many are drug addicts, but a few have found a new life outside that environment."

"That's good to know, Benson. Mom and I were really concerned with some of the warnings Camille was told if she was to get sick or attempted to run. She was lucky to have gotten away."

Benson softly said, "Yes, she was very lucky, because the roomie said they have found a small graveyard on the property that has some of the missing girls buried there. No one knows how they died, but autopsies will be done on all of them. The three girls were all very lucky."

"Damn, Benson, how do the police handle something like that and still allow those people to live? I'm afraid I'd pray a little then ask God to send the soul that I sent him to wherever they should go. I'm glad I don't have to be around them."

"I know, Mike. I've spent some time observing my two while this has been going on, and I realize how easy it could be for them to be in a position like that. I know you would take care of them if something happened to me and my wife, and you know I'd take care of your kids. That's something that gives me peace of mind."

"That it does, Benson." I paused a second before continuing, "Aside from that, am I straight with having bought all of this property lately? Do we still have a cash surplus for the other projects we're involved in?"

"You're fine, Mike. All of your projects are in good shape financially. The development is going to be a good moneymaker. You have enough land to build at least two more areas of the same style, or create a less expensive group of homes. Maude says that all of the farmers in the area should have the same problems you have. You're doing fine, and Maude tells me all of your farms will be making money for you this next year."

As I sat at my desk talking to Benson, I was content knowing that this was the winter pause, allowing us to make plans for the coming growing season. I would go see Esteban and John to make sure they knew what they wanted to do during the spring. The cutting crews needed to have a plan for when they could begin cutting again in the spring. I'm sure they were more than ready to go back to work as well.

I asked Benson, "We met a state child care worker who seemed to be a good person when we took Minya and Mato in. Do you think I should contact her to help me with the girls?"

Benson told me, "It might be a good strategy, Mike. She'll have to do some investigation with Pennsylvania, but the legal side will go easier if you have all of the paperwork taken care of and the woman knows you to be reputable."

"Then I'll call her, Benson. She said she was going to come by and check on my little Indians, but she hasn't been by yet. This will give her an excuse to visit and see how well the two are doing."

I searched my desk when we were off the phone, and found the Child Protection worker's card. I called Sylvia Porter at the number listed. A secretary answered and advised that Ms. Porter was out of the office, but she would be happy to take a message and have her call me."

My message was that I wanted to talk to her about a new development. Hopefully, that wasn't too vague or scary.

I made a list of my operations and what I needed to know and be aware of for each entity. I listed the leaders of each operation, and left a space for Maude's evaluation. There was a loose end, since I did have a farm without a leader, but I wasn't sure the farm would support a family if I kept it mostly in hay.

The development and radio/TV stations were both primarily owned by the trust, but I was still the person who everyone looked to for final decisions. Both of those entities needed to have a board of industry professionals to make those decisions instead of relying solely on my judgment. I needed to rely on others since I don't know enough about housing and communications. I was going to talk to Frank, Bill, and Bernie about some of this at supper. Maude needed to be here, and I might as well have Benson with us if I did that.

I walked out into the main room to see Mom, Millie, Rosita, and the three girls sitting together talking. They were so intent that they didn't notice me as I poured myself a cup of coffee. The six were all sitting close together speaking in hushed tones so I couldn't make out what they were talking about.

Back in my office, I called Maude to make sure she could come this evening. I told her about my list and that she needed to tell me if there was an area that needed special attention. She told me she had Profit and Loss statements for all of my endeavors and would bring them with her so that I would have some numbers to look at.

Next was Bernie, who could sometimes be difficult to track down. This was a TV station day, so he was in Lexington. He told me that he would really enjoy coming to supper, and he would make sure that Sheryl planned to accompany him.

I slipped out of the house and drove over to see John and Esteban. I figured on seeing John first, since he might to be able to work Paul's farm. I also needed him to make sure the farmhouse was torn down and maybe plan for another to be built.

John was in his machine shed working on equipment when I arrived. He walked out to greet me and had me follow him back in to see what he was doing with his machinery. John had put one of the big coal oil heaters in the middle of the machine shed to keep warm, and added a chimney through the metal roof. The place wasn't toasty warm, but over sixty degrees. I might want to do the same on my building.

The equipment John was working on was in the process of being painted. Almost every piece of equipment looked freshly painted when you looked around the shed. John told me, "Its fun to get this equipment in even better condition than it was in. The way this place is makes me take pride in everything here."

I got down to why I was there by asking, "What do you think about the additional hundred and seventy acres on Paul's place? I think we'll need it mostly for hay but I want to make sure it isn't too much work for you and Esteban, or too little for a man with a family."

John stood and asked me to come into the house for some coffee. As we walked in, he said, "You know that I had so much free time this past year that Carla is pregnant. I think we spent half our time in bed. Now that isn't a bad thing, but I could have farmed three times the ground I did last year. I've already worked out to do most of Esteban's farming so that he can focus on his dairy stock and equipment. Just taking care of that will keep him busy."

Carla was beginning to show enough to see that she was pregnant, and was excited to see me. She served us some coffee and cookies. John continued, "You know there is only one place between mine and Paul's, and it isn't all that big. The people who own it live up in Lexington now and have sharecropped it these last three years. The fields are in terrible condition and the man using the land has let brush creep into the fields. He's probably lost five acres or so to brush. There used to be decent fences, but Willard Hampton, the tenant, has decided to push the fence down wherever he wanted to make a new field road. The place now couldn't support any grazing stock unless some major work is done. How about letting me get in touch with the owner and see if he might want to sell you the property. If I have that, plus Paul's, I'll be able to produce all the hay we need, plus bring in some cash crops. I can take that sixty acres of good bottomland and maybe have another big garden. That's always a good moneymaker. We could graze a few of your Herefords over here in the hillside pastures if I fix the fences."

"You've done some homework on this, John. Are you sure you want me to buy the land, or would you rather want to buy the property and have something of your own?"

"Thanks, Mike, but how about I do the tenant farming thing with you for now. You treat me really well, and I don't have to worry about anything except taking care of the equipment and the crops. You and Maude take care of the fuel for the equipment and house, all of the property insurance, and even provide us with transportation. We have it made right now, and we have to be saving up for the birth of our baby."

I needed to think about what he just said. There are several new couples fooling around and probably thinking about making babies. I haven't thought about dependent health insurance. The road guys have a health plan, but I don't think it was that comprehensive. I was going to have to find out how to take care of these couples.

"Okay, John, call Benson and see if he can help you with the owners. Be sure to tell the owner how the land is becoming less valuable by the year. He might be ready to sell."

John said, "The owner is an older child of the man who farmed the land. I've heard he's not in great health, so he might be willing to sell. I'll get right on it."

I called Maude as I drove away from John's place. "You have to guide me on something, Maude."

"What is it, Mike? You sound upset."

"Maude, I have all of these young couples that work for me and I haven't provided them with good health insurance. John was just telling me about having to save up for the birth of their baby."

"That's not true, Mike. Your policy for the road crew, and John is still part of the group, covers dependents, and does have maternity benefits. I don't know what the co-pay is, but it shouldn't be too bad. You have Esteban under that same plan, as well as all of the full-time cutting crews. I put your construction people on the plan, but the hourly workers there have to pay fifty percent. That's fair, and they would pay that much if they were in a union. We've gone over this before, but I'm sure you weren't paying any attention. Don't worry, Mike. I'll call John and explain his insurance plan with him. He probably figures that he isn't covered now that he doesn't work much with that crew any longer."

I had stopped on the side of the road so that I wouldn't be distracted while driving. A tractor pulling a big disc was coming up the road toward the driveway area for the farm between John's and Paul's. The tractor seemed to swerve back and forth as it neared the driveway, then drove straight into the ditch on the far side of the drive and stalled.

That's when I realized the operator of the tractor was slumped over the wheel. I got out of my truck and ran to the tractor to help the man. He was a big heavy guy, and was almost more than I could move, but I was able to get him off the tractor and on the ground. He had a pulse but it was weak.

I called the Sheriff's office and asked if they could get an ambulance out to help someone who may have had a heart attack. I called John next to ask him to come help me with the man and to move his tractor.

John showed up with Carla in less than five minutes, and moved the tractor to the driveway. Carla monitored the man's pulse while we both wondered why the man was still unconscious.

The ambulance and paramedics showed up within twenty-five minutes. They immediately began doing tests and hooked him up to a heart monitor. The one paramedic said, "This man has a pacemaker that should have shocked him. Did it pulse while he was out? His whole body would have jerked if it did."

I told them I hadn't seen it happen since he was out.

We watched as the ambulance took off for the clinic.

John and I figured that we should get the tractor back to the man's place, so John drove the tractor while Carla and I followed in our trucks. John unhooked the disc when we arrived at the man's place on the other side of Paul's, and put the tractor under a lean-to on his barn. I was going to go to the house to tell the man's wife, but John told me, "He's been divorced for nearly fifteen years, or so I've heard. He doesn't have any kids, and I think he only has about a hundred fifty acres here. That's why he works other peoples' ground."

There didn't appear to be any stock to worry about, but John and I looked through the barn and did check the house to make sure there wasn't a dog or pet inside. The man didn't even have any chickens, so we left the place locked up. John went back to work and I drove to town. I was listening to the radio when they announced that Willard Hampton had been rushed to the clinic after suffering an apparent heart attack. The radio announcer went on to talk about how Willard had suffered several heart attacks since he had split up with his wife of thirty years.

The one thing about a small community is that everyone knows everyone else's business. There are no real secrets.

At the clinic, Sheryl noticed me at the main desk and waved for me to come back with her. She walked with me to the staff's break room and poured us two Styrofoam cups of coffee. She looked at me and asked, "You here to see about Willard?"

When I nodded, she said, "He's awake and alert now, but he's not going to recover to work his farm again this time. He's going to have to be put in a home to be taken care of. I doubt he's going to walk much any more either."

When I acted like I didn't understand, Sheryl said, "He had one hell of stroke, not a heart attack, this time. He'd be pushing up daisies if you hadn't been there to help him. His mind is working, but his motor skills took a real beating. I'm going to send him up to the University Hospital in Lexington to have him evaluated, but he's already said he wants to come back to town to stay in the home here. He also asked me to see if I could find you. He wants to talk to you."

"Tell me when I can talk to him and I'll visit with him then." I figured he wouldn't be able to talk with me for a while.

"Talk to him now, he's awake, and nervous enough that I doubt he'll sleep much until we sedate him. He can't use his left hand or arm right now, but he can talk. Just talk slowly and watch to make sure he understands. Come on, I'll stay with you."

Willard looked at me hard as soon as Sheryl and I walked into the room, before softly and slowly saying, "Thanks, Grayson. I'd be a goner if you weren't there to help me. You know me from the dairy tent at the market. I'm usually there when you show up in the mornings."

I had gone over to him and grasped his right hand. He had a grip in that hand and squeezed mine. He looked over at the doc and said, "It's good you're here, Doc. We may need a witness and you can be one. I want Grayson to buy my place, but I can't do like Bert did and stay there. Doc says I have to go to a nursing home. I guess I can do that, and it won't be near as lonely as my place has been. I done made up some numbers and gave them to Benson a while back, but told him to hold on to them until I decided. I done decided now, so see what you can do for me, Grayson. If you get my place, you can probably get the Temple place on the other side of Swan's. They been talking about selling to me, but I just didn't want to buy something and have to worry about taxes and such. Benson knows all about my place and Temple's, so see him. You two are close anyway."

I smiled at the old guy, "You never know, Willard, you might be able to get back to your place. Shouldn't you wait to make a decision to sell?"

"No, Grayson, I'm done. My body doesn't feel like it's going to work for me anymore, so let's get the property dealt with. I won't need money in that old folks' home, or nursing home as they call it, but it might be nice to have a few dollars for things I might need. I'll still get my Social money that will probably all go to the home, so I'll need a few bucks for little things. Anyway, go see Benson; he has all of the papers, and tell him to get the papers over here for me to sign so this thing gets done. You might have to go through all kinds of court stuff to get this done otherwise."

Sheryl was checking him over as he talked and told me, "Go see Benson and let Willard have some quiet time. I'll be sending him up to Lexington this afternoon. Bernie told me we're eating with you tonight, so I'll see you then."

Sheryl pulled one of those tiny digital recorders from her pocket and handed it to me when we walked out of the room. "Take this and give it to Benson. He knows how to listen to it, so he'll know what to do." She looked both ways up and down the hallway and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Now go, Willard may not hang on long."

Benson hollered at me to come into his office as soon as I came through his outer door. The secretary looked flustered, so you knew that Benson was busy. He waved at his desk and said, "Sheryl called me while you were coming to the office and told me what was happening."

He moved a file to the center of the desk before saying, "I don't think I can get both properties done that fast, or rather today. I have the Hampton place ready and all I have to do is have you guys sign some papers and transfer some funds. I just talked to Maude about this and we're going to put mortgages with the trust on both pieces of property for now, and work something else out later. You might be just about done buying up the county now, though. There isn't going to be much land left."

I looked at Benson and said, "You know, I didn't even get a chance to say whether or not I would consider buying any more property. John was talking about the Temple place, but not about Hampton's."

"Yeah, Mike, but you were there when Willard needed help and he was already going to approach you about buying him out. He was thinking about doing like Bert, stay in his house, and let you do all the work. Here, sign this power of attorney for this transaction, and I'll go get with Willard and have Maude transfer some funds. I'll bring everything back to have it all recorded. Do this for Willard, Mike. He needs to have this off his mind."

I signed a bunch of documents and watched Benson gather a stack of files and papers and put them into his beat up briefcase. "I gotta go, Mike. I'll see you tonight, and let you know about the Temple place."

Benson walked right out of the office with only an 'I'll be back' to his secretary. She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and asked, "Since the crazy man's gone, do you want some coffee?"

I laughed and told her, "No, It's almost lunchtime, so I'm going to go home and see if the world is settled down there."

As I put my hand in my pocket to get my keys, I felt the recorder and pulled it out. "Put this in an envelope and give it to Benson. It's a recording of Willard wanting to sell me his place. Sheryl said Benson should have it."

I thought about going back out to see John as I sat in my truck, but figured I could call him in a while. He was now going to have all he could handle, and he might even need another man to farm the four places with him. This was going to take some planning. The longer I pondered the situation, the more I thought I'd rather go home and eat.

My sister's Expedition was in the gravel parking area, so I figured the house would be full. It was. Shirley was there too, as were the four kids. The five adult women were all in the kitchen with Camille. Colette and Chloe were at one of the big tables with the older kids. Mato and Minya were there listening to them. John was walking around the table, trying to reach up for anything that was within reach on top of the table. After a couple of minutes, I realized Sissy's and Shirley's kids were helping the two girls with some math.

Lucky me received hugs from all the women, including Camille. Mom said, "Sissy and Shirley are going to work with the new girls to see how far they are in school. The girls are all good readers, but they aren't up to speed beyond that."

Millie was still in front of me and told me, "The state lady, Ms. Porter called and said she would stop by this afternoon. She told me that she had already heard that you took in some kids from Pennsylvania and that you would fill her in on their condition."

Rosita said, "Camille and I have lunch just about ready. Do you want to eat with us?"

"That's why I'm home, Ladies. I need my food to keep going."

As we sat, Mom said to me, "Sheryl called and told me about you helping out Willard Hampton over by the Swan place. She also told me you might have bought another farm or two. Want to tell me about all of that?"

Nothing gets by Mom. With all of her spies around town and the county, you couldn't do anything out of the ordinary without it getting back to her.

While we ate, I described my conversation with John, how I helped Willard shortly after that, and the conversations I had at the clinic and with Benson. I summed up the morning by saying, "I guess we now own, or will own and work, all of the farms down Hickory Road. It's nice that they are all together and border each other. John suggested, and I'm thinking that we might put the sixty acres of good bottom land into another big truck garden. If we do it right, we should find ourselves a man who has vegetable management experience, and let him run both of the big gardens and the sweet corn production. I'll bet that if we told Consuela we had work for another dozen or so people, they would magically show up. Raul has a lot of men coming in to work, and they have wives and family that may be willing and want to do field work. I'm thinking that we work the farms and they would pay enough to feed a lot of people."

"There you go, Mike," Sissy said, "You're trying to put a bunch of people to work instead of figuring out how to make the places bring in the maximum dollar once again. Is that being a good businessman farmer?"

"It is, Sis," I told her, as I sipped my coffee. "Sure, I could just work the land and do a few things with it and make a bigger personal profit, but another sixty acres of vegetables will bring in good money, plus put a lot of people to work for the season. I'll run it all by Maude and see what she thinks."

Mom smiled at me and D was grinning. He said, "You know that the Temple place borders on the steep hill at the back of the property. That would be a great place for a vineyard. You could have your wood cutting crew clear out about thirty acres there, and I could have a nice vineyard there in three to five years. Heck, you could even have more apple and pear trees."

I was smiling when Mom said, "You have, or will have, the property, so you might as well use it. How many more head of beef could you raise over at those places, Mike? You could have a pretty big herd if you wanted, and beef is always profitable if you have the ground to graze them on."

"Okay, okay, we'll do all of that, but I need to go see John again about a plan first."

"No you don't, Mike," Millie said, "You have to be here when Ms. Porter comes. That's more important."

Sissy elbowed me, "See, big guy, we'll tell you when to do what. Just listen to us women and you'll be fine."

The kids were all getting a kick out of everyone giving me advice. Mato came up to me and asked, "Will you do something outside? I want to go outside for a while. I'm tired of books."

Sissy's son said, "Let's get our coats and boots on and go out for a while. We'll go exploring to see if we can see the deer herd that's staying with the steers."

Six kids were instantly putting coats and boots on, with mothers telling them not to go too far as the State worker would want to see them. Sissy pulled a whistle out, and said, "Come back to the house when you hear the whistle. You should be able to hear it a long way off."

D said, "You need one of those big dinner bells. You should watch for one of those at the auctions you go to."

The kids were just about to run out the door when I saw Ms. Porter at the door. I told the kids to hold on a minute, and opened the door before she could knock.

"Hi, Ms. Porter, glad you could stop by." I turned to the kids and said, "Minya, Mato, how about taking off your coats to show Ms. Porter how much you've grown?"

They were a bit confused, but did as I asked and stood in front of the lady. Mrs. Porter was grinning at the two little ones and said, "If you were going out, go ahead. It has warmed up a bit, so you might enjoy being outside."

The two had their coats and hats on in a flash, and were out the door with the other four kids.

I had the lady sit at the little table and began, "You already know a little about why you're here. I would prefer that you talk to the Pennsylvania people about the details, but suffice it to say, the three girls I have taken in need a home. Only two are at the age of needing guidance and care, but we have welcomed all three into our home. We've found that all three are behind in their schooling and you'll find out why when you investigate more."

That's when Camille came to the table and stood in front of Ms. Porter. In a soft voice, she told her, "You should hear it from us rather than someone else. All three of us have been required to sexually service men and women while we were at the orphanage. It became obvious to me that the people of the orphanage planned to get rid of me on my birthday. I escaped and ran as far as I could. Mrs. Grayson found me and brought me here, and I told her where I came from, and that my two sisters were still required to be sexual servants where we lived. These people alerted the police of the activities there, and we drove there to rescue my sisters. I'm going to stay with them and learn to be something other than the prostitute those people said I was destined to be, and I'm now the custodian for my sisters. They want to stay here and learn to be more than the common street women the orphanage said we would become."

Sylvia Porter had a tear run down her face as she listened to Camille. Her two sisters were now standing next to Millie and Mom as she finished her story. Sylvia looked at me and asked, "Are you willing to take these girls? Do you think you can provide what they need to become good productive citizens?"

I told her, "I hope so, and I think we can do it. My sister and sister-in-law are willing to help with their education. We have a long way to go to get them equal to other kids their age in general knowledge. They seem willing to be a part of the farm, and the activities and chores we have. We may need you to help us through adopting them, or to just get them through their pre-adult lives."

Ms. Porter sat up straight and said, "I will petition the State of Pennsylvania to assist with the cost of raising the children. More importantly, I will assist by providing you with books, materials, and the curriculum for the girls, as well as your two little ones to progress through school if you plan to home school them."

Sissy immediately said, "We're willing to stand the cost of all of that, but we might need some professional help in teaching. It would be a great benefit if you can help Shirley and me become better parent teachers."

Wow, my sis knew how to address a problem very well.

Ms. Porter said, "I can do that too. The university in Lexington has some outreach programs that you will fit into. They even have some distance learning programs in which you can take high school courses in sciences and languages over a live satellite hookup. I'll have them talk to you tomorrow."

Mom stood and said, "How about staying for supper with us, and if you don't want to drive back to Lexington, you're welcome to stay with us tonight?"

This flustered Ms. Porter enough to make her look startled. She looked at her watch, then around at all of us, and said, "You know, that would be a wonderful experience. Let me make some calls, and if you have a computer with the Internet, I can finish out the day without having to stay late at the office."

I showed Sylvia my office and told her to relax and be comfortable. She was startled when she spied my see-through gun safe, until I went over to it and smacked my hand against the glass. She smiled and said, "Okay, I believe you. I know you and your family are special, but it's easy to forget out here in the country."

Three young girls were hanging on me as soon as I came from the office. Camille told me, "We are so happy to have found you and your family. I feel like I have a new life, and I know my sisters do too. I promise we're going to be good for all of you." After a moment's pause, she asked, "Do you really think you might want to adopt us? Do you want to be our parents? You know, like real Mom and Dad parents?"

Mom was almost crying when she heard the plea. Millie came over to them, and tried to hug all three at once. She told them, "You are as much our children as John and the twins. You will become good farm girls with us."

This was Friday, and who should walk in the door but Karen, our college girl. She hugged all of us and loved up John, carrying him around as she met Camille, Colette, and Chloe. Mom gave her a quick review of how they came to be here, and Karen took it in stride by telling the girls, "I was a runaway when Mike and Sissy found and kept me. Now look at me. I'm a college girl who's going to learn to be a nurse.

Benson's daughter had come in and sat at the kitchen counter. She told Mom, "The family is coming here for supper, so I might as well just stay instead of driving back and forth. Is that okay?"

Sylvia came from the office and smiled, "All set. Pennsylvania has you set up as supervising custodian for the girls, with Camille acting as the primary. They will extend the stipend they previously allowed the orphanage to you, but stipulated that you would have to be visited at least once a month. I hope you don't mind that I stop in once a month. I promise to not make it a habit to stay overnight."

Mom gave Sylvia a hug and told her, "Our home is always open to those who need some family. You act like you might miss your family, so enjoy us."

Sylvia clung to Mom, choked up and almost sobbing, "My folks are all gone, and I really don't have anyone. Thank you for showing me that someone cares."

Mom patted the woman on the back and told her, "Just consider us your family from now on, and I'll expect you to go to market, church, and enjoy our big Sunday dinner on weekends."

Sylvia stood back from Mom and quickly looked around, "Really? You want me to be a part of your life? You want to share your private time with me?"

Shirley laughed and told her, "You're welcome as long as you don't try to steal the man away. If you're looking for a guy, Mike will find one for you, but leave him free to handle his women."

"Women?" Sylvia was startled, and quickly turned to look at me. "Women?"

Millie was in front of her in a second. She told Sylvia, "I made Mike take Rosita as a wife. I cannot have more babies and Rosita is young enough to give him more. This family needs a lot of babies and you need more women to have babies. Rosita wants to be Mike's woman and wants his babies."

Sylvia was near gasping at this disclosure.

Mom steered Sylvia back into the office, as the rest of the family migrated toward the kitchen area to continue preparing for a large supper crowd.

The road guys and wives began showing up early. The wives crowded around D to tell him of their day, while the road guys raided the fridge in the summer kitchen where the beer was kept. Frank and Bill were home early, as they had met some people at a nearby town. Next came Maude and Gene, who were laughing and joking about how Gene had been promoted again, and now was over the entire region, but actually had less to do now than before.

Benson and family showed up next, and Benson and Maude huddled at a table to talk about the day. Bernie was bouncing around as if he was high when he came in with Sheryl. He announced, "We've been picked up by all of the cable networks that serve the area. We actually have a Nielsen rating for our local community news coverage. Can you believe that we beat out the big three in Lexington? Our commercial time has just become more desirable and expensive."

The extra tables were being put up, and chairs were being brought out. Harold and Martha came in the door and had a hard time finding a place for their shoes. We were going to have to build on to the entryway.

John and Carla came in, and both came over and hugged me. John said, "You are something, Mike. Maude called and told us you were covering everything for the birth of our baby. I'm not sure how or why, but thank you, Man. We would have been able to afford it, but this is just a wonderful surprise. The way you repay me for my efforts is special."

The last group to come, or so I thought, was Esteban and his family. Raul and Jose came in the room right after him, escorting two fine looking Latino women. The two men were quick to bring their women to introduce them to Mom and me. You could see the pride in all their eyes as they joined the groups of people.

Sylvia came out and held onto my arm. She told me, "Your mother just told me how much you resisted taking Rosita as another wife. It's easy to see how much you love and care for Millie and your children, and now for Mato and Minya. I just didn't understand Millie's background."

The lady came in front of me, looked up into my face, and said, "I wish I had been here to be in Rosita's place and become your woman too."

She was so serious that all I could do was smile and lean down to kiss her forehead. She lunged at me and hugged me tightly. She had watery eyes when she let go and stood back, then said, "This whole family is something special, isn't it, Mike? It is a great opportunity for me to learn about people."

While the masses were consuming pre-supper beer or wine and visiting, I was able to get John, Maude, and Benson off to the side. Benson told us, "I finished with the Hampton property, and it's registered. The Temple property won't be done until next Tuesday or Wednesday. There's no livestock involved, and it doesn't have any equipment. The house there is about to fall down, but the barn and out buildings are in good shape. Hampton's place is rough all around, but you're not taking it for the buildings. He has some equipment that has value. I suggest that you take it to the market or hold an auction if you don't need it."

Maude told me, "Both properties are current on taxes, with no outstanding debts. Willard didn't file for any land bank subsidies, so you're clear to use the land for whatever you want. Don't fret too much as far as how you're going to take care of these two notes, as I think I can shift the incomes of some of the other areas around to take care of the notes until we do something with them. You should be rolling in cash with the sales of your development as soon as spring gets here."

I looked at John, "You said you previously had too much free time, but now you're going to be so busy that you'll be lucky to get a full night's sleep. How about we get another good man to work the land with you? Working four places plus Esteban's like that might be too much for one guy unless he had some older boys."

John answered, "Just adding the Temple farm would have stretched me after taking over Esteban's land. I'll need some help with Hampton's thrown in. I found out that Hampton has over three hundred acres in cultivation. The Temple place only has about two twenty, but that's over five hundred acres between them. I think I know a guy who might be interested in this deal. My brother is coming home from Afghanistan next week, and isn't going to re-up. If they don't keep him at their convenience, I know he would love to work a farm, especially if we were to be able to work together."

"Talk to him and see if he's interested, John. I'm also going to look into finding a good produce manager who can manage that bottom land. I think we can expand our production by sixty acres, and just about corner the market for produce around here. We can keep the out of state shippers out, at least when our crops are in season, and maybe increase the seasonal labor force here. We'll work with Kroger to see what they need and grow accordingly. I also want to get a crew in to fix all the fences on both the Temple and Hampton properties so we can graze more beef. We can make the new farms profitable if we manage the property correctly."

While everyone was nodding in agreement, I added, "D says that the hillside land on the Temple property and your place John would be great for vineyards and orchards. I'll let him begin clearing and planting right away so that we can produce even more of his great wine."

Benson sat back with half closed eyes, "Where do I buy stock in this operation?"

I laughed and said, "How about we all just eat real good, and know where our food is going to come from for years to come."

Maude was looking at me funny when she told me, "I've been talking to the widow and Teddy lately, and they both want to begin getting their estates in order. The widow said she talked to you about her place once before, and that she wants to keep the old homestead buildings up. She said that since you're now working the land, you need to help out with the upkeep of her old buildings. Go down to see her and see what she needs. And Teddy, well since you've been feeding him and paying all of his fuel bills, he said he thought you might want to make a deal with him. Neither one of them has a lot of good land, but the widow does have some bottom land that you've been planting in corn. Go see both of them and work out something with them, Mike."

I was sitting back almost laughing, "You know, the rest of the county is going to turn against me like they did Stanley Conner. I would prefer to be just another farmer, so make sure I don't piss the others off."

Benson chuckled, "Go get Bert over here, and let him explain the rift with the Conners. You'll be surprised."

I got up and found Bert and Pete, and asked the pair to come into the office with the others. I grabbed a couple of folding chairs and set them up. "Bert, Pete, I have to ask, what's the rift with Stanley Conner all about? What did he do to piss everyone off?"

Pete laughed and said, "Bert is probably closer to the situation, but Stanley is a blowhard and always beating his chest over something. Hell, when he married his old lady, Gracie, he told everyone how he had snatched her right out from under all the other men's noses. He's been doing that since we were all in high school."

Bert was frowning and told me, "That man pisses me off just by breathing. He comes into the market and tells everyone what piss poor farmers we are, and how great he is. He's constantly telling everyone about how poor a farmer everyone else is, and how much he's producing per acre et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. You know the kind, Mike. I know he's your kid's father-in-law, but by Christ, that guy can crawl under your skin without making an effort."

"His kid is a decent boy and doesn't let his mouth overload his ass the way his dad does, but it's still family," Pete said, trying to further explain. "The boy is a hard worker and will be a good farmer for years to come. They do come to church every Sunday and don't blow hard there. He's held his tongue for a change when they've been here for a Sunday meal. He doesn't think too much of the dairy business, but Mike is proving it can make a living. It seems that Mike is changing a lot of things around here, and Conner is one of them."

Bert was smiling, "Stanley even came in the dairy tent the other day and actually sat and chatted with everyone for a change. He's a proud granddad, and says there's another on the way. Meanwhile, Mike, you're having babies and taking kids in faster than MacDonald's."

Mom stood at the door and announced, "End this meeting in here and come eat. Supper is ready and everyone is at the table except you folks."

Harold stood when we were all seated, and said, "We give thanks tonight for this gathering of friends and family. That we have this chance to share this time together is special and we thank you, Lord, for this opportunity. Amen."

Bert gave his usual after amen comment and said "Pass the possum." This brought giggles from all of the little ones and many of the adults.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



-------

Chapter 59

We were having supper with all the road guys two weeks later, and this time it included John's younger brother, Calvin. Following his brother, this young man was only twenty-two and had joined the Army on his 18th birthday. He had not fared well in the infantry, since he had twice suffered minor wounds on the front lines, so Calvin felt he was going to be better off as a civilian.

Calvin had arrived here just hours before. He had visited with his folks after his separation from the Army before coming straight to Kentucky to see about the opportunity that John had said was waiting for him. After a talk, John, Calvin, and I were going to look over the land that needed farming to see what the best way to use him would be.

John had been talking to me, describing Calvin, and trying to advise me on his brother. He told me, "Calvin is very intense. He is loyal to a fault, and will give you his all when he knows you're supporting him. He took all the high school agriculture classes that were offered, and I know he learned as much, if not more, than I did from our dad. Considering how much land we now have to work, we need to get a plan together on how to work all of it to get the grain and hay you need, and any other cash crops that will help the profitability of the farms."

It's really something to have your men always thinking how to make your projects profitable. I wasn't going to have to spend any time worrying about the new farms if Calvin turned out to be as intense and hardworking as John says he is.

The other road men welcomed Calvin to the ranks and gave him a rundown on what they did and what he might be doing in their support. John told him that it's always necessary to have extra men available for snowplowing during the winter. I think Calvin actually looked forward to participating.

All the road crew, plus John, Esteban, and Calvin, sat around one of the big tables to talk after supper. I told Calvin, "We have just picked up two more farms that cumulatively have over five hundred acres in cultivation. John seems to think you might be the most knowledgeable about what to plant where. I'll let you work that out, if you decide to stay with us, with the only exception being the sixty acres of bottomland near the road. I want to use that as an additional big truck garden. We'll work in more manure and natural fertilizers to build the land up, and I'm looking for a man who can manage that, as well as the garden acreage we have here. This garden usually has all the produce that we normally need to feed ourselves, while the other property will all be for sale."

Calvin told all who were there, "I don't know much about growing large quantities of vegetables, but it can't be much different than what a family would need, just doing more of it. The Ag classes taught us how to have good gardens, but not much more than a quarter to half acre in size. John said you have nearly six of seven acres here that's turning out a lot of produce, plus all the sweet corn fields. We'll chart out all of the available land to grow enough grain and hay for the livestock, and then devote the rest of the fields to money crops. I want in on this deal. Hire me and let me work with John."

John took Calvin home with him to stay at his place that first evening. I knew that someone as focused as Calvin would need his own living quarters, so I proposed to him and John that we look at the Hampton place to see what it might need to make it habitable.

Calvin showed up and wanted to help while I was doing the early chores the next morning. The buck deer and his two does that ate with the livestock fascinated him. He was impressed when he saw that we pasteurized the milk. I had him carry a five gallon milk can to the summer kitchen, while I carried another one, so that he could observe the women making butter and buttermilk.

I thought the young man would cry when we sat down for our usual breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. As he stuffed the food into his mouth, between swallows he said, "This is great. It's better than my mom's and hers is the best."

Mom whispered to me to watch Camille. I hadn't noticed, but she was almost hovering around Calvin, who was a typical guy and totally ignorant of the interest an attractive girl had in him.

I had Calvin follow me back to John's after breakfast, and the three of us got together at John's kitchen table to list and draw out the available land that we wanted to work. All the fields were listed as to size and what we knew had been planted in them as far back as we could find out. John said he would get with the older guys, Pete and Bert, to find out what they had planted, and thought that he should soon be able to get Willard's information as well.

John and Calvin began making up which fields should be planted in what crop from what we knew. If a field was going to be put into alfalfa, it would remain in that for approximately five years. Fields that had been planted in soy beans the past year didn't need additional build up with alfalfa for the nitrogen.

The two men had a decent plan by noon. I left the two to go over all the available equipment to see what needed work, and what needed replacing. I stopped by the widow Fletcher's place on the way home, and asked if she would like to come to lunch with me. She was ready in an instant and said that Teddy hadn't been down to visit for a couple of days.

Mrs. Fletcher had a great time with the children and seemed to have a special attraction to Minya and Mato. She enjoyed reading to them after lunch, until they fell asleep for a nap on the couch.

I asked Mrs. Fletcher if I should check on Teddy. She told me, "He isn't feeling poorly, but has been sort of lazy or not having energy lately. We probably should go see how he is."

It was obvious that something was wrong as soon as we drove up to Teddy's house. His two dogs were at the door and all of his animals were standing at the fence. Mrs. Fletcher said, "I haven't heard from him since day before yesterday, and he didn't answer his phone yesterday. Maybe I should have come up here then."

I told the widow, "Stay here and let me check inside. If something's wrong, you don't need to see it."

I could almost smell Teddy's sickness upon entering the house. The house was warm so he was able to keep himself heated. I called out several times, but continued walking in until I opened his bedroom door.

Teddy wasn't dead, but almost. I called the Sheriff and asked if he could get an ambulance up to Teddy's.

I went out to tell the widow, but she met me at the door. She said, "I can smell him. He's got the flu or something. He's too damned stubborn to take a free flu shot. How bad is he?"

The widow worked on him until the ambulance came. When they left, I fed his animals while the widow cleaned his house. She made sure we both washed our hands real good before we left and told me that I should go home and change clothes since Teddy didn't look good at all.

I went home and changed clothes after taking the widow home, putting my dirty clothes outside until they were washed. I told the ladies to make sure they washed their hands after touching my dirty clothes.

Mom wanted to go to town with me to check on Teddy, and as we were passing the widow's, she asked, "Can we take Mrs. Fletcher with us? I'd bet she'd like to come with us."

Mrs. Fletcher was quickly ready to go, and had a good chat with Mom on the way in. The two of them made some kind of deal of how I would take her place over and pay her monthly so she would have an income.

Mom, Maude, and Benson need to make a partnership to run my life for me. They seemed to want to make deals, then let me figure out how to fulfill them.

Sheryl immediately came out when we got to the clinic, and told us, "I'm sorry, but Teddy didn't make it. I think he was mostly gone yesterday or the day before. When the coroner looks, I think Teddy had some bad stuff inside. Cancer doesn't show up on the outside, but causes all its trouble unseen."

The widow cried, Mom wept, and Sheryl tried to comfort them both. It's funny how an old man that lived down the road had become part of the family. When Mrs. Fletcher calmed down, she said, "Teddy left everything to me, and of course, everything I have is yours, Mike. You'll need to get his animals over to your place and find someone to live in his place. He liked the Mexicans that live in Ben's place, so if you know of more of them, they would be good for Teddy's. Let me go through his stuff before you do. The man was a first rate skinflint and packrat, and probably has the first dime he ever made stuffed in his mattress."

We spent some time making funeral arrangements for Teddy before heading home. Mom turned the truck radio on while on our way, and we heard on the local station talk about how a lifelong resident of the area had passed away. Mrs. Fletcher said, "Let's go straight back to Teddy's and let me hunt his stuff up. He showed me a couple of times, so I should be able to find it all."

I let Mom and Mrs. Fletcher go inside to search for Teddy's stash, while I surveyed the animals Teddy had. One steer, one pig past time to be butchered, a handful of chickens, some guineas, a couple of turkeys, and a very old horse. The old horse had to be over twenty years old and looked to be on his last legs. Teddy probably had a grave dug for him if I looked around. He seemed to get around all right, and was recently shod. I put a hackamore on him and walked him around the yard a few times. I suppose he's more than dog food, so I walked him up into the truck and tied him to the cab.

I told Mom and Mrs. Fletcher I was going for my stock trailer and drove home slowly. Chloe and Colette came out and saw the old animal as I was putting the ancient horse into the pasture. Chloe asked if I had a curry comb and brush so she could make the animal feel good. I did and found them. Chloe instantly gained a friend in the old animal.

Colette wanted to go help me get the animals into the trailer. We were easily able to get the steer up in the trailer, but the pig was another matter. Since I really didn't have a place for it, I decided to take it straight to the butcher. We looked all through Teddy's buildings to make sure he didn't have any other animals. I needed to take his two dogs, but they didn't want to leave. I filled their food bowls and made sure they had fresh water in a bowl where it wouldn't get too cold.

I went inside to tell the ladies that I was going to take the steer to the house, but was waylaid by Mom, who said to me, "This man has money stuffed inside everything in this house. He has new tens, twenties and some hundreds that are gold certificates. Was he that much of a miser?"

"Ask the widow, she knows him better than anyone else. Just gather everything in a pile and we'll take it to the bank. It belongs to the widow."

Mom elbowed me, "She says it's all yours because you're going to take care of her for the rest of her life. You could take care of a dozen of her for the rest of their lives, Mike."

"No never mind, Mom. Just help her get it all together and I'll be back. We're going to grab the chickens and take them all home."

Just what I don't need, more fucking money that doesn't belong to me. I'll bet Harold will know what to do with it. I'll give him a shot at it first thing. The gold certificates were something else, and probably worth something to collectors. The coin dealer in Lexington would give us a fair price for them.

We were able to get the steer in with our stock, the chickens and turkeys into the chicken yard, and I was left with the pig to take to the butcher. I checked with the women and told them to take a car over to Teddy's for the ladies, while I went to town with the pig.

The butcher was happy to get the business as he said it had been slow recently. He wanted to know if I might have a beef or two or three that were ready, as he could use the stock. I told him I would come up with a couple for him, but my stock really wasn't ready yet.

Chole was leading the old horse around with a hackamore when I arrived back home, while Minya and Mato rode on his back. The old animal seemed to be enjoying his usefulness with the little ones and slowly plodded along, gently giving the two kids a nice ride. Mom had the widow Fletcher in the kitchen with her as they prepared supper. She told me she had put all of the money into the safe under the desk when she had a chance. She told me that she hadn't counted the bills, but from the dates on them, Teddy had obviously been saving for nearly sixty years. I suppose he was a smart man to have done that. The fact that he enjoyed hoarding his savings is probably why he never married.

John and Calvin talked at supper about what they had done so far to get the farms in the order. They had made a map and made sure all the farms were linked, with roads through the properties that didn't tear down any fences or interrupt pastures. John told me that he had contacted the fence company I had used for our pasture on the mountain and the development, and they had begun getting the fence back up. Calvin told me, "I walked every foot of the fence line to make sure I knew how much needed to be done. I tried to tell John that the two of us could take care of it, but he said that you like the fence people. I'll check on them to make sure their work is up to our standards." I could see John behind Calvin rolling his eyes at his perfectionist brother.

I told the two, "Make sure we have a way to get water to any stock we will have and let's make sure we have cover with a dry haymow for them. We should probably put the cover and water together, and if possible, put the hay feeder there too. Raul and his men will take care of any construction we need."

Calvin asked, "Do you have stock you want to bring over? John said you are active at auctions, but have mostly built your herd with stock that will reproduce." The young man hardly stopped to take a breath and continued, "Will you get some Angus to go with those white face, or do you plan to stick with one breed?"

I smiled at the young man, "I might do that if we run into an auction where I can buy some Angus at the right price. The problem with Angus is that you have to have more cover for them and the winters are harder on them. If you come up with an easy way to keep them healthy through the winter, I'll fill you up with Angus. The butcher is always asking for more of them."

It was Mom who told the two men, "Never fear, Boys. If Mike smells a deal, he'll be diving into it with both feet. He'll find some Angus and you'll be happy with what he brings home. Get ready for them, because he won't let too much grass grow under his feet to get them."

Who knows whether or not the youngest of the brothers believed her, but John already knew that you should already be moving to get done what needed to get done when Mom spoke.

Teddy's funeral was on Saturday afternoon. The market was busy the morning of his funeral, since everyone in town wanted to finish and be ready for Teddy's internment and wake. It wasn't necessary, but all the locals felt they needed to pay their last respects.

The widow was Teddy's known best friend, if not his consort. No one objected or ever looked at the widow as a loose person. The two were far past the ages of whispered suspicions. While the widow and Mom wept in the front of the chapel, many of the area's people had wet eyes for someone like Teddy who had been a good friend and neighbor to all.

Back home, Raul surprised me by coming by to just visit. I found him a beer and we sat in the office to shoot the bull. Raul asked, "I have a couple of men with families who could use a place. I know you need to get the Hampton place ready for Calvin, but there is also the Temple place that could be easily replaced or repaired. I propose this, Mike, let me get the Hampton place fixed up first. I'll work on Teddy's too, and decide what to do with the Temple place. The women that are coming are willing to work in your gardens, and if I know them well enough, they will soon have relatives here to also help. How do you feel about more of us wetbacks on your place?"

I laughed at Raul's description of his relatives. "You and yours are welcome here, Raul; but you know how I feel. If they aren't legal, they have to work with Benson to get that way. If they were criminals in Mexico or have been in trouble here, they need to forget about coming and go back to Mexico to clear up their problem. You know my rules, so just have those who want to come do the right thing. Don't let any of them buffalo you into letting them see if they can scam us."

Raul took a long drink from his beer and told me, "You said exactly what I expected, and I'll pass it along. I'm with you, Mike. Now that I'm an American citizen, I don't want someone here who will hurt our country either."

This was Thursday evening, and Mom came to me with a couple of sale bulletins she had printed out. She showed me one north of Mount Sterling that was to be held Friday morning. There was some stock, but it was mostly equipment. She said, "There shouldn't be any big stock buyers present since the sale is mostly equipment. Maybe you can make some deals."

She showed me a couple of sale bulletins for Saturday and qualified both of them, "It's supposed to rain all day Saturday. It's cold out, and any rain will drive most of the buyers away. One has all Herefords, and the other all Angus. Most of the Herefords are mature, so they are ready for market, but the Angus are mostly pre-market. The big buyers won't be at that location and you might be able to pick up some stock if you want to get into Angus."

I smiled at Mom and told her, "Let's run up to the Mount Sterling auction in the morning and see what they have. We'll stay and bid if it looks promising. We'll go to the Angus auction Saturday morning and see if the rain drives the others away. I'll get John and Calvin to go up to the Hereford auction and see if the big buyers show up in the rain. We'll give them some parameters and a letter from the bank."

The new girls became more and more interested as Mom and I talked about going to the auction Friday morning. Colette, Chloe, and Camille all wanted to come with us to see what a real auction was all about. Mom thought it would be good for them and made sure I agreed. The day would be fun explaining things to the girls, if nothing else.

Friday morning was busy as I did the chores, including the milking and pasteurizing. The weather wasn't bad yet, but it looked like it might rain any minute. Mom made sure we all had ponchos and warm clothing. The outside temp was in the high thirties, so it wasn't freezing but cold enough that it would be very uncomfortable if it was to rain.

We took Mom's SUV as my truck may not have been comfortable with five of us. The trip was fun, as Mom had packed a dozen biscuits that were pre-buttered, and she put a dab of honey on each half as she handed them to me. It took me back to my youth when Dad and I used to go to auctions. There were always some extra snacks for along the way when Mom came with us.

There was a large turnout for the auction as there was an abundance of near new equipment. I didn't pay much attention to the equipment, since I figured that what I had would work this year without replacing anything. The five of us spent our time looking the stock over. The man had a decent herd of Angus. He had eight cows that he bred for stock. From them, he had four animals that looked ready to ship or butcher. He had another six that were only yearlings, and six young steers that were recent cuts. He also had five bred heifers, and two young heifers too young to breed. Mom and I agreed on prices for each category, thinking they would sell each group one at a time.

The equipment auction was taking far more time than would be expected. Although the bidding was continuous, the final numbers were not that big of a deal. We had decided to stay and had some of the barbecue beef sandwiches they offered.

The rains came almost as soon as the auctioneer began the afternoon bidding. We were smart and were inside a big machine shed watching the outcome of the auction. They were down to some of the last few pieces of equipment when it really began pouring. The bidders attempted to crowd under the auctioneer's tent, but many were still getting wet.

The prices of equipment kept getting lower and lower until all of it was gone. I almost bid on a couple of pieces, but held back since I wasn't there for equipment.

When the auctioneer announced the first group of livestock, we had run up under his tent and were standing, waiting for what he announced.

He looked at me, "Are you the only person here to offer on the stock?"

I shrugged my shoulders, as I didn't know. Mom however hollered, "Make us a deal, and you can go get dry."

The auctioneer laughed and looked around to find that the owner and two of his assistants had vanished. He gave me the finger wave to come up close. "If you want this stock, give me a bid that I can accept. I'll announce that I'll sell all as a group and you make a decent bid. Don't embarrass me."

Hell, I didn't think I should pay a dollar more than I had to, but knew I needed to cover the auctioneer.

The man announced over the loudspeaker that he wanted to sell all of the livestock in a single lot due to the weather. I looked around and we were the only people there. The auctioneer had the bid recorder standing with him, but all the rest of his people had gone to his motorhome.

I finally gave the auctioneer a bid of a thousand dollars when he begged. I thought the man would begin choking, but he hollered out for another bid, begging for another ten thousand, five thousand, thousand, and down to another hundred. When the recorder pointed to me, he finally announced, "Sold for a thousand to this terrible man in Army clothes."

Mom was already on the phone to the hauler to have him come get the animals. I was happy to get the stock, as it would use the grazing land at one place and immediately provide some extra beef for the butcher.

It was four in the afternoon by the time we were able to unload the Angus into our pasture behind the barn. I mixed them all together for now, but figured I could separate them as needed later.

Inside the house, after all of us had changed and dried off, Mom asked me, "Do you still want to go to the auction tomorrow?"

"We should, but only to make sure we didn't pass up an opportunity. If there are no major buyers there, we might pickup a category that will help our herd. How about we don't send the guys to another auction and ask if they want to come with us?"

The rest of the evening was spent getting everything ready for market day. The girls wanted to come with Mom and me, but we convinced them that they would be needed to help at the market. It's tough to convince youth that some people will become very aggressive to buy a few items they feel are a better deal than somewhere else.

I did call John and Calvin to tell them that I thought one more auction would be sufficient, and to ask them if they wanted to come with us. They were both excited about adding to the herd and using their properties for grazing more beef. Esteban called a little later to ask if he could come as he heard this group had some Jersey cows that they used for milk and cheese as well. The animals would need fattening and more care, according to Esteban, but he said his place was where that could happen.

The next morning was busy as I did the chores once again, while Mom helped get the rest of the family ready for market. Since it was raining and almost freezing, everyone was apprehensive and not very enthusiastic about the day. John and Calvin came to the house and rode with Mom and me. We talked about our goals at the auction, and what we thought we could come out at with what price.

By the time we arrived, it was near freezing, and the rain was beginning to freeze on the windshields. We all thought the auctioneer would call the auction and postpone it for the next week. The man called out for all of the bidders to assemble in the auctioneer's tent so that he could announce the procedure. I began to realize as we gathered under the tent, that there were a lot of auctioneer's people, the existing and future property owners, us, and maybe one or two others.

The man began his instructions by announcing, "We will sell the existing equipment first, and then attempt to get right into the livestock. Be ready to bid on the items you're interested in and we'll do the same with the livestock as soon as the equipment's gone."

The auctioneer announced, "Okay, everyone, the equipment and livestock sold today must be removed from the property no later than five this afternoon. The ownership of any livestock and equipment remaining will revert to the new property owner after that time. Do you all understand?"

I looked around and noted only one other man standing there in his bib overalls, listening. The usual equipment and livestock buyers weren't there, and the few equipment buyers that had been there earlier had left because of the weather.

Mom went over to the farmer, chatted with him for a minute, then returned to our group. "The man needs the big tractor on the end, Mike. He says he doesn't have enough to buy anything else and really doesn't need anything else. He might change his mind if no one bids, but I'd say for you to buy everything and get it out of here,"

The auction surprisingly started with the tractor the farmer wanted. He bid way too high for an opening bid. The auctioneer kept pointing at me and asking for more, but I wasn't interested. As soon as the farmer was awarded the bid, we watched as he paid his money at the window and began loading the tractor on his truck.

Another tractor that wasn't that old came up for bid. I was the only one there and I saw Calvin hide behind me and holler, "Five hundred."

Ha, no way they would do that. The auctioneer kept hammering and hammering, but no one offered more. I was awarded the tractor. Piece after piece of equipment was offered, and I was the only one to bid. This kept on until I was bidding next to nothing for each piece.

When the equipment was done and rain continued to come, the auctioneer asked, "Do you want to break for lunch, or can we get on with the livestock?"

I nodded at the man. He said, "Okay, everyone, as I said before, this livestock needs to be sold today and removed from the property no later than five this afternoon. The ownership of any livestock remaining will revert to the new property owner after that time. Do you understand? My stock handlers are all in the barn, so if you know what I'm offering, you know what to bid on. This is for every animal on the farm. There is a minimum of the stock listed, but there might be more. What do I have for an opening bid?"

John hollered, "I'll give you a hundred for the works, all of them."

The auctioneer's mouth dropped, but he straightened when Calvin hollered, "I'll give you two hundred."

The auctioneer asked, "You two do know that this is for all the livestock in all categories. Now what am I bid over the two hundred. Give me thirty thousand, twenty-five thousand, and that's a steal at twenty thousand. Give me ten thousand, but if you can't, let's try seven thousand.

After the man was exhausting himself, I raised my hand, "I'll give you five hundred, and I'm not staying around all afternoon."

It was at that point two large truck-tractors pulling stock trailers and three flat bed trucks came into the parking area.

The auctioneer said, "Let's wait for the new bidders to get up here. There has to be more money for this stock."

When the drivers came up to stand with me, the auctioneer didn't beg any longer, he simply pointed at me and said, "Sold to the cheap guy stealing everything. Come pay the lady and get your stock out of here."

We had the stock in the big trailers in a short time, then the man supervising the cleanout said, "What are you going to do with the dozen hogs he has? And don't forget his chickens. This place is supposed to be stripped today. Get the feed from the barn and make sure you take any equipment from the barn or sheds."

John and Calvin looked at each other and told me, "Call the yard to see if you can get some of the men to bring the snow trucks up. We can haul everything else away in them. Have them bring everything they can, all the tarps they have, and we'll begin getting it all out here ready to load.

This was, or had been, a big farm and had an enormous amount of equipment. Thank goodness we were able to put a lift on one big tractor to get equipment up on trucks. I was hauling out bushel feed sacks to be loaded while they were doing that. There had to be nearly a hundred-fifty bushels of ground feed. It hopefully wasn't full of supplement.

My heart sank when I checked the hayloft. It was cram packed full. I called the house and was able to talk to Rosita. "Get all of the men from below to come to where the auction is today. There is a lot of hay and we need to get it home. This is important, Rosita. You can bring the older girls if you want, and they can help too.

The hauler was able to get another couple of flat beds out to help carry equipment. I made sure we emptied every building of every hand tool there was, as that was part of the agreement. I'm sure they would all find a home.

There were enough people on site by three to get the hay from the barn loaded onto another big flatbed tractor-trailer. All of the equipment sheds were empty, as was the barn and all the sheds. The hay and feed was able to be covered by tarps and stay dry.

I sent everyone there in all directions to make sure that we didn't miss any stock or tools. They all came back cold and wet, but happy that we had completed the task.

Now I needed to find a place for everything.

We took all of the hay to Esteban's, as he would possibly need it. The feed was sent to my place, as I didn't know if it had been mixed with supplement, but I was willing to segregate some stock and sell them as not being organic.

We put all the equipment in rows at the Hampton place in order to sort it and figure out what to keep and what to sell. A lot of the equipment from the auction was nearly new, and it was tough to understand why they would sell it, until we found out that the farm had been owned by a restaurant chain that was going out of business. Too bad it was so far away, as it was a nice looking place.

At supper that evening, all of those who had been out working in the rain were almost asleep at the table. Everyone was worn out, but happy for the day's work they had put in. Calvin, John, and Marita talked about how they were being set up with some great equipment, but now they would have to clean the new equipment they just bought and decide what to sell.

Camille had been showing her increasing interest in Calvin and as he sat back sipping coffee, the young lady was sitting on the edge of a chair facing him. She wasn't goggle-eyed over him, but her interest was keen enough to make Calvin blush. That house needed to be fixed up pronto.

Church was interesting on Sunday, as I don't think the three girls had ever been to church. We had let it slide a couple of weeks while they became used to the farm, but it was now time they attended with the family.

We entered the church with the three girls and sat where we always sat. Our group made room for us, and we sat intermingled with the others for Bible study. The church service was enjoyable for the girls, and they joined in singing hymns even though they didn't know the songs we sang.

Mom had anticipated that we might have a large group joining us for dinner, and had several roasts warming. It took all of our folding tables and chairs to fit everyone, as we had our family, the Bensons, Harold and Martha, the Conners, with the senior Stanley and Gracie along with Bradley, Summer, and their little one. Also coming were Bernie and Sheryl, Gene and Maude, all the road crew with their wives if they had one, Esteban and family, and of course John, Marita, and Calvin. Bert and Pete were there along with the widow Fletcher. Those three were already acquaintances and began an immediate conversation.

Harold gave thanks for us and told of how we would miss Teddy being with us. This struck home with the older folks, as they knew that time didn't wait on anyone.

The road guys, John, and Calvin gathered together after dinner, and made plans to go over the equipment and to assemble the proper equipment for each of the farms. Our farm was even a part of the equation, as they wanted to make sure this one also had the most modern equipment in the best condition.

John, Calvin, Bert, Pete, and Esteban began estimating the amount of feed we would need for next winter if we expanded the herd even more, and what would be the hay demand. Stanley and Bradley had joined us, and Stanley reminded me that he would fulfill his part of our bargain and continue to fill our silo with corn. He recommended we get an additional silo for oats and soybeans to mix in, as they would add nutrition to the cows as well as the beef stock. Bradley was the one who wanted D to be a part of the discussion, and we were able to get him away from his girls and Mom.

Bradley asked, "We talked about making the hillside on the other side of the house into a vineyard and orchard. Tell us what we need to do to get it ready to plant the sprouts for the vines."

D was all smiles as he told the group, "My little greenhouse so far has about a thousand shoots maturing for this spring. I'll use up at least a hundred of them; I was planning on two vineyards on Esteban's land, and one on John's. I'm told there is another perfect place for a vineyard on the Temple place, so we may have to import some plants, but we can graft them with our grapes later. Think of the volume we can have in a very short period of time. In addition to Mike's, we have the vineyard of the woman who sold us the distilling equipment. We may be able to produce enough wine to really make a dent in the market if we cultivate and expand into another two or three big vineyards. Be aware that the vineyards do take some attention, though. You can do it, or you can sub it out to me and my crews."

Bradley laughed, "The only person not working your land is me, Mike, and even I'm beholden to you for the land where Summer and I are raising our family."

It was Stanley who let everyone know he had turned the leaf over by saying, "I've learned a lot about how to get along with other farmers since I've been associated with Mike. I'm trying to mend those fences, mostly for Bradley and his kids. He's active at the market on Saturdays, and is always helping a neighbor with something or other. It's amazing how much more enjoyable it is to sit with the men at the dairy tent now. I don't say much, and I think they like that. They are even asking my opinion on some farming questions now. Bradley is the equipment guy, and I think I might be the crop advisor. I just suggest and never tell them they should follow my advice."

Bradley told us all, "Dad is really trying to become one of the good ole' guys who sits around the stove in the winter. It's working too, as all those guys are warming up to him."

We now had a general plan for what to plant where, and what to do between now and spring thaw and planting. All of us had a direction for at least several weeks.

D brought out a bottle and had his girls bring glasses so we could enjoy some of his special wines. Even Harold and Martha joined us sipping some wine.

The next group I joined was Bernie, Frank, and Bill. They were in an intense discussion about some of the TV programming. Bernie kept telling the other two that there was no CBS affiliate in Lexington, and the nearest CBS station was from Cincinnati. Bernie felt that he could wrap up a deal with CBS and be able to carry all of the evening programming at a very reasonable rate. His argument was their programming and what it might mean to viewership. Bernie told everyone, "If we can keep the viewers watching right up till the end of evening network programming, we can keep them through our newscasts. If we keep them through our local news, we'll be pulling a Nielsen rating strong enough to demand the advertising dollar in both Lexington and the surrounding marketing areas."

The members of the group all looked dumb except for Bernie, who added, "And if we have them when they turn their TV off, we'll have them for the morning news where we can give more local news along with the outer areas."

I told the others, "Figure out how to help Bernie get the association with CBS unless we find something better. From what I understand, we have to share our ad revenue with the network during prime time, but from the ratings and our profits, we're already ahead from last year. I think our future is a solid Lexington base, along with a strong cable base in the surrounding markets."

Bernie was sitting next to me and gave me an elbow, "Who would believe a die-hard NCO would learn what it takes to make a TV marketing area work. I'm in favor of doing what Mike suggests."

The others were all grins while agreeing with Bernie. As the group broke up, I told Bernie, "You've accomplished an enormous amount of progress in a short time. Keep those good suggestions coming and I'll work with you to get us working them."

Now that business was taken care of, the farming community was ready to leave. Bernie was trying to separate the Doc from Mom and the women so that Sheryl and he could go home. The farmers were putting their shoes on, with Millie attempting to hug and kiss Summer and the grandbaby before they left.

It's always surprising how as each group is leaving, the next group begins to leave, and the next group prepares to leave. Only our family remained in just a few minutes. Sissy began getting her and Shirley's kids together to leave. Colette and Chloe were begging Sissy and Shirley to come for their classes tomorrow.

Sissy had me follow them outside where she said, "Brother, you need to go buy some more PCs for the girls. They will progress faster if we can have them attend the classes on the Internet. Go to Walmart and buy what you need. Get Mervin to come out and fix you up so that the girls can keep progressing."

The house only had our home family together by ten. Millie and Rosita had the twins and John in bed, while Mom and I put Minya and Mato to bed. I was waiting for the dogs to finally come back in when Mom came in and told me, "I want you to think about D and me heading down to Florida for a week or so. Would that be okay?"

I told her, "Have you thought about Hawaii? Why don't the two of you go over there for a couple of weeks or so? All of us would love to have you enjoy a couple weeks of leisure."

Mom appraisingly looked at me before answering. "That might be fun. We would be far enough away that neither one of us could get too worked up over something happening here; good idea, Mike. I'll talk to D about it and we'll discuss it in the morning."

I watched Mom go to her room before I put a log on the living room fire. With the dogs back inside, I put a log on the fire in the bedroom then stripped down and snuggled with two women who wanted attention that I lovingly gave.

When the girls were asleep, I lay thinking about how our family had come to be close once again. Mom was trying to be a retired lady with a commitment to D, but was still committed to her family. D recognized it, and had become supportive of her commitment.

Dad was standing at the big boulder around the side of the mountain, pointing or more like waving at the mountain flowers and the little girl playing there. He looked at me and smiled as the shadow passed along the rock wall. As he finally turned away, he turned back, "You've done well, Son, but there's more. The little girl in the mountain flowers will lead you."

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



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Chapter 60

I called the butcher Monday morning to see how many of the Angus he wanted at a time. I told him that I had at least a dozen that were ready and looked good. He told me to bring in two a day this week, but that it would be okay if I couldn't make it on Friday since that was his second heaviest retail day. He made the comment that he was able to handle a lot more stock than he had previously now that both of his sons were working with him.

We had placed the mature Angus that were ready to ship in the pasture area with our two cows and the old horse. There were fifteen that we had felt were ready to butcher, which represented enough money to pay for all our purchases at the two auctions, and still have cash left over to donate to Mom's trip to Hawaii.

D was like a little kid, almost dancing around the house in his excitement to go on what he considered his dream vacation. He gathered his girls and instructed them as to what needed to be done in his greenhouse while he was gone. He asked me to check on the fuel for his heaters daily so he could ensure the sprouts' success this spring.

When I had delivered two of the Angus to the butcher and washed the trailer out, I went over to the Hampton place to look at the equipment we bought. There were still eight of the snow trucks full of small equipment and hand tools that needed to be separated and divided for the various locations.

Jimmy had assumed his usual leadership role and came to me, "We have enough room here to build a quick pole barn so we can work on this equipment, Mike. We can haul some down to the road yard, but all of your other equipment storage areas are full. We need to cull this machinery, along with what we have, so we can get it to the market before planting season. Do you think Raul could do that?"

I told him, "Well, there's no time like the present. He's working in the house right now, but doesn't have a big crew here. Let's find out."

Raul only had two other men working on the house. He immediately began apologizing when I came in. "I'm sorry I can't get a big crew over here right away, Mike. Coup needed to finish up a U.S. Steel building that was left unfinished. He told me the previous builder went out of business and Coup wasn't able to find the former workers. We should be done by Friday, but we're really going to get behind."

I asked, "What happened to all of those men you had working? I know you had about thirty men there for a while."

Raul frowned, "They all work for Coup now. He has so much work that I could even have all of my men work for him full time. He's even willing to pay me subcontractor fees for us to help."

I had an idea, "Let me talk to Bernie and see if he can advertise for some men for you. I need a pole barn built and we need to get this place completed, along with Teddy's and the Temple places. How many men and what trades do you need?"

Raul thought for a second and said, "Most good carpenters are good handymen, so they would work on the houses, but I could use just about all trades because as soon as I bring a dozen in, Coup is going to steal most of them. I'll make a deal with Coup to let me keep a good-sized crew."

Thinking that the pole barn was going to have to wait I was surprised by what Raul said next, "If you let me use your road crew, I think we can get that pole barn up in a couple of days if it doesn't rain. Do you want to do that and let the house wait?"

Jimmy was with me and said, "All the guys will help. You tell us what to do and we'll do it, Raul."

Raul took Jimmy by the arm and said, "Show me where you want this building and let's figure out what size."

I called the local radio station to see if Bernie was there. They told me he was in Lexington, so I called the main operator in Lexinton who said she needed a leash on Bernie because it was always tough to find him.

The hard to find Bernie finally answered, and I asked, "I need you to tell me how to advertise for some construction workers. If you have any agreements with Cincinnati stations, we might be able to list the jobs there too. Raul mostly needs carpenters, but he also needs most other trades. What should I do?"

Bernie almost laughed, "You're too much, Mike. The country is nose deep in a depression or recession, and you can't get enough people to work. Tell you what, I'll put something together and begin advertising on the TV channel and radio stations here and down there. We will cover a lot of area quickly. I'll try to do a reciprocal deal with a couple of Cincinnati stations and we'll get this going. You have to set up somewhere for people to call. Get a couple of bored housewives and a small office with phones. Call me as soon as you get the phone numbers."

I called Benson and told him what I needed. He told me, "There's a little one room office next to mine that will work. I'll call the telephone company and get some lines in there and see if Benny over at the office store has some junk desks or tables we could use. I'll get my girl to call some of her buddies to see if they want to work for a couple of weeks. That should just about do it. I'll call you with the telephone numbers, and you need Raul to tell us what the women answering the phones should tell the callers and what they should ask them."

I walked out to the area where the equipment was and listened as Raul was giving directions on how he wanted the space graded where the machine shed or pole barn was going to be built. You could see the men getting excited to have a project to work on.

I snagged Raul when he turned; "I need you to come home for lunch with me. We have to make up what you want to ask the applicants and what you want the people answering the phone to tell them."

"What people answering the phone?" Raul asked, suspiciously looking at me.

"Oh yeah, Bernie is going to advertise on the TV and radio stations here, Lexington, and up in Cincinnati. Benson is getting us an office with a couple of phones, and his secretary is finding a couple of women to work the phones for a couple of weeks. I'll bet we only need to advertise for a week before you're swamped. Do you really have enough work for a lot of men?"

Raul told me, "Let me get my guys and we'll take you up on the lunch. Let's get to your place so we can get those questions down on paper."

I called home before I left the Hampton place. When I asked Millie if there was enough to feed Raul and his men, she said, "We have a big pot of stew cooking that will feed all the road men too. Jimmy told me they would probably be here for lunch."

Going over to the guys, I told them, "Millie just told me she had stew for lunch. Those of you eating on the mountain, saddle up. I'm on my way there now."

My house, which used to be a tiny cabin, was full of activity again. My sister and sister-in-law were there with their kids, three of the women from below, as well as my family, who were trying to help Mom get ready for her Hawaiian vacation.

I gave them a warning that Raul and a couple of his men were coming, as well as most of the road guys. They're going to fill more than one table.

Rosita always made a big deal out of greeting me with some very intimate hugs and kisses when the ladies from below were at the house. Sissy thought it was funny, and often followed Rosita giving me a very un-sisterly kiss. She would always turn to the women, who were covering their mouths with their hands, and wink. She's such a tease.

There was a surprise as Camille was waiting expectantly at the door, but Calvin didn't come in right away. John didn't come in either, so you had to figure the two were discussing something outside. Camille was wilting when the door opened and John, followed by Calvin, came in. Camille grabbed Calvin's hand and smiled, "I'm glad you came for lunch. Can I help you with your boots?"

Calvin was blushing as Camille pushed him back to sit next to John on the bench. John said, "Carla does that for me all of the time. It really shows you how important you are to them."

That was probably the wrong thing to say, as Calvin blushed even deeper. He would have really blushed if he knew what Camille would have been willing to do for or with him to gain his interest.

Everyone sat and ate the delicious beef stew over the top of biscuits.

The kids, my nieces and nephews, and Minya, Mato, and John, began telling me of their morning and what they were learning. Sissy leaned over to me and said, "I have a bill for you that will choke you up. I bought them all laptops for school. Mervin gave us a WIFI hotspot so that the kids' laptops will all work at the same time and the older girls' high school classes will be accessible."

John came over to me and wanted up. He did his usual of pulling on one of my ears or just touching my face when I picked him up. What he did next startled me, "Want puter like Mato."

After digesting what he asked, I asked in return, "What will you do with a computer?"

John smiled and said, "I learn. Mato and Minya will help me."

Sissy looked at me sideways and said, "Your firstborn wants to be the same as his adopted siblings. What ya gonna do about it?"

The only thing I could do was laugh. John, who could barely talk, and my adopted kids were setting me up. I'd bet Sissy's and Shirley's kids had a part in this as well.

Raul saved me by asking, "We need to get the questions for the phone people down on paper."

We went to my office and worked on what to tell the callers and what questions to ask. Appointments were to begin Wednesday morning at the latest. Everything depended on how fast Benson was able to put the office together and how fast the advertising would begin.

My cell phone rang and the ID showed that it was Benson. "What's happening, Benson?"

"This is going to cost you one first class supper tonight. Your new construction employment office has two desks and chairs, along with two phones. There are two ladies who actually begged for the temporary jobs. Heck, I might be able to market their availability when this is over. Let me give you the numbers so you can get this show on the road."

I called Bernie as soon as I hung up on Benson. He was in his office and I was able to give him the numbers. He asked me, "Are you ready to take callers now? I can have the first ad on the TV and radio stations in fifteen minutes or so, if you are. We made up a bunch of ads of different lengths, from ten to thirty seconds. I'll flash this through the network and we'll be up and running. Are you ready?"

"Do it, Bernie. I love the way a plan comes together. Let me e-mail you what we'll tell the callers and our questions. You might be able to use them."

Bernie was obviously smiling, "That'll work. Send 'em."

I also sent Benson a copy of the information and questions, while telling him what hours to begin interviews. He said he would pass it on to the ladies working the phones so they could practice.

It was about two o'clock when Benson called me, "What tha, ah, ah, heck did you do? The two phones in the little office are constantly ringing. This is unbelievable, Mike. They have already made appointments for later this afternoon, and all day Tuesday through Thursday. Someone probably needs to come to look over the questionnaires, as there can't be that many men out of work."

"I don't know, Benson. Most of the country is in pretty bad shape. The ads reached up into Ohio, so we're going to get a lot of calls from men who haven't had any opportunities for a while. I'll get Raul to go down to the office and see what he's getting into."

Driving over to the Hampton place gave me a chance to think this through a little more. I wondered if some builders would be willing to trade dollars for work. A builder could just make enough to keep his family fed, but he would also be keeping many other families fed by giving the men work. That was a far out concept, but it might be necessary to keep so many eating.

Once I was at the Hampton place, I noticed the roadmen with John and Calvin working with the equipment we had bought. Dismissing them, I looked Raul up and told him, "You are going to begin interviewing in about an hour. Let's get your men home unless they have their own transportation and get you to town. We have appointments set up through seven tonight, and I've called Coup to ask him if he would agree to pay you a buck an hour for those who went to work for him. He's willing to pay you the spiff for a month. It's not a lot, but it could make a difference."

I called home and asked Millie, "Can you go get Raul's new wife so she can eat with us later? Raul and I will have to talk to people until at least seven-thirty."

Millie was happy to do what I needed, so we were ready for those first people who came to interview. The road men said they would make sure Raul's men got home so that they could continue working in the house.

Raul and I spent a couple of hours talking to men desperate for work. Of the six we talked to, only three were really qualified. Two weren't citizens and one wouldn't answer questions about police warrants and illegal activities.

As we got ready to leave, Raul said, "You've given me three new men so far. That's going to help build the pole barn and work on the Hampton house. Jose is working on the Temple place with one other man. He says the place is a trash heap, but it shouldn't be that big of a problem once it's cleaned out. I do have some relatives coming who are good carpenters, or in actuality, good handymen, who can do just about anything. I promise to get them to Benson before I let them hammer the first nail. Can I do that with my family men, Mike?"

I really trusted Raul and said, "Do it exactly as you just said. That'll make the whole community happy."

Our peaceful home on the mountain wasn't. Mom was going ballistic over not finding everything she wanted to take with her. Multiple trips to Sissy's and Shirley's were required to collect those items they had borrowed, until Mom was sitting in a small table chair looking at her closed bags.

After supper, and most of the people had left, she said, "I'm ready. I hope D is almost ready too. Come into the office for a second, Mike."

Mom and I went into the office and she told me, "Let's separate the gold certificates that were in Teddy's stuff and give a list to the coin dealer and see what he can get from collectors. We'll make a list of the bills and their serial numbers so that it will be easy to make sure we get what we should."

Mom and I spent over an hour going through the bills before we were satisfied that we had them all separated. It took another hour to list them all, so we were done with the bills properly separated, listed, and in various stacks somewhere around eleven o'clock. I e-mailed the list to the coin dealer.

Before we went to bed, Mom told me, "D and I will take my car to the airport in Cincinnati in the morning. Our plane doesn't leave until one, but we have to stop at the travel agency in Lexington on the way to pick up our tickets and itinerary. This trip is very exciting, Mike. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, so this is really special."

Tuesday morning began a little strange. I was on my way to the barn when a car with two of the ladies from below drove up. When they got out, they told me that Mom wanted them to do morning chores. They said that they would take care of the milking after I showed them how to operate the pasteurizing equipment, if I would do the heavy feeding.

I might have been a little pissed at Mom for getting outside help without talking to me, but I figured it would be fine as the ladies came up from below daily to work on making cream, butter, buttermilk, as well as egg cleaning and packing anyway.

Anita and Carmen had the milking completed by the time I had made the rounds to dole hay out to the various groups of animals. The mature Angus steers that I had in the main pasture area were doing well, but they were typical Angus and wanted to stay inside the covered area and out of the cold at night. The bad thing was all the extra manure that would have to be scooped out of the barn, but the good thing was that we were going to need the extra as fertilizer for our increased acreage.

That's when I had an idea. I chuckled to myself, thinking that it was a pretty shitty idea. I could make a tour to the farmers in the area and maybe make a deal to clean their barns out and dispose of their manure. I'll dispose of it all right; I'll spread it over sixty acres of bottom land. I would need a couple of pieces of equipment though. I would need a dump truck that could pull a trailer, and a small tractor or front loader to clean loafing sheds and open barn areas. Two men could probably be kept busy by cleaning stalls in barns as well as the general grazing areas. It wouldn't be a problem to haul it to our fields and pile it up until we needed it if the farmers were careful with their baling twine and wire. Another manure spreader would also be good. Oh yeah, Bert has a decent John Deere spreader that isn't that old, and it would be like new with the way he maintains his equipment. There also was one in the equipment we picked up at the auction last weekend that the guys were going to be working on.

Breakfast became a 'Bon Voyage' party for Mom and D. Sissy and Shirley showed up with their kids so that everyone could say goodbye to Mom or Grandma depending on who she was hugging. D and Mom were both nervous wrecks, but they were able to finish eating, load up in Mom's car, and drive off.

I called Jimmy after breakfast to find out where he would be so I could talk to him about my idea. He said he had just sent four men out on road problems, but the rest of the men were on the way back to the Hampton place to help Raul with the pole barn and to work on equipment. I told him I would meet him there after I made a trip to town with a couple of Angus.

It didn't take long to load the two Angus into the trailer and haul them to the butcher. I hurried home and luckily didn't have to wash out the trailer. Since I was going to need it again tomorrow, I left my pickup with the stock trailer in the yard and took the Jeep to go see Raul.

The Jeep was good transportation and warm with the heavy fiberglass cab mounted. It was fun to drive the smaller vehicle since I didn't need my pickup truck. I could get in and out of tight places easier and usually go into fields without worrying about getting stuck. I still had to watch out to make sure I didn't sink in soft mud up to the axles.

I found John and Calvin, and got them together with Jimmy. I described what I thought could be a way for us to get sufficient natural fertilizer, along with the equipment I felt we would need. Jimmy offered, "About half of our snow trucks are dump trucks. Mounting a trailer hitch wouldn't be a big deal and I think one of them already has a hitch. We have a couple of extra trailers we've picked up with equipment we've bought, but we don't have a small front loader. All our equipment is larger so it can handle big rocks, trees, and even equipment sometimes. How about making a trip to Lexington to see what's available? If you find something, we can run up and get it later."

John and Calvin thought farmers might be willing to pay to get their barns cleaned, and they both felt that I shouldn't have too much trouble getting a couple of men for that operation. They advised that we collectively owned three decent manure spreaders besides the ancient one on the mountain.

John and Calvin laughed when I asked for their opinion on how difficult it might be to get a couple of men to work at that operation. John was the one who said, "There should be enough farm boys around here that want work, so you should find all you need. Clothes and bodies are both easily washed at the end of the day. You're going to have to have a place where they can frequently clean the trucks and loader, and for that, the road yard wash station should work. Get them a half dozen sets of coveralls and some good boots, and they'll be able to slip those on while they're handling manure and strip them all off when they're moving around."

A big flatbed tractor-trailer was pulling up into the yard carrying what must be the materials for the pole barn. The men already had the poles set in concrete, ready for the rest of the easy construction. Someone had already run an electric line to a new power pole near the new building, so they were ready to put light and power in as they built it

I told them all that I was on my way to Lexington and to call if they needed anything. I called home on the way to advise them I wouldn't be home for lunch, and that I was on my way to look at some equipment. That's when I realized that I could kill two birds with one stone and turned toward the mountain instead.

I pulled all of the gold and silver certificates from the safe at home, putting them into one of the leather bags the coin dealer had given me before. The bags weren't normally very useful for me, but they worked perfectly for what I needed right that minute.

I drove straight to the coin dealer in Lexington after some hugs from the women and kids. The man was happy that I had brought the certificates in and said that he had talked to several collectors about them. He had the list I had sent him and he now could see how I had graded the various conditions.

The dealer was surprised at the great condition the bills were in, and said the only thing that could have been better would have been to have the bills in individual protective covers. He replied that it would take a couple of hours to grade them when I asked how long he was going to be, so I told him that I was going to check on some equipment and be back.

The equipment yard had the usual big inventory of just about anything someone would need for construction, especially road construction. I noticed what farm equipment the yard next door had but it appeared to be nearly empty, and very low on inventory.

The same man that I had dealt with way back when I came here the first time discussed what I was looking for with me. I told him we were going to use one of the snow trucks that had a dump bed and hitch, along with an existing trailer.

"Come look at something. I can probably get you a deal on it, but you'll be buying it direct from the bank. It's been sitting here for over six months and I've been charging them storage. It might be just right for what you want."

We went to a back corner of his lot and looked at a Ford F800 single axle dump truck hooked up to a trailer holding a Bobcat S100 loader. The truck, trailer, and front loader were all dusty, but the equipment under the dust didn't look like it had been used much.

The front loader had a regular bucket and a fork that could be attached to the bucket. That would be good for manure. The trailer looked good, but it had obviously been setting a while as the tires could use some air. There was an air hose connected between the truck and trailer telling me the trailer had air brakes. The truck looked as nearly perfect as a used work truck could. It had a white cab and black dump body. When I climbed up on the side of the truck to look into the back, the paint wasn't even worn off the inside of the bed. The sides weren't nicked up or scratched very much, as if the toughest load the truck had carried was topsoil.

The dealer opened the truck up and turned the key on to heat the glow plugs, explaining that the truck came with a Cummins diesel engine. Surprising me, the truck started with only a few turns. We let it idle while we went back to the Bobcat where the dealer went through the same procedure. That small diesel engine started easily as well.

We heard the brake air compressor on the truck shut off, so I looked at the air gauge on the trailer and saw the available air was over forty pounds. This was a nice rig, but it might be out of my price range. It did give me an idea of what size front loader I would need. This one was low enough to get in and out of seven foot overhead entryways and had a bucket wide enough to very quickly move some manure. The small wheel loader would actually be a great machine handling small jobs on a farm. I'd bet there was a round bale hay fork available for this model that would be very handy for a lot of farmers.

We shut everything down, then I did the normal thing and asked, "Okay, how much?"

The dealer said, "Depends on how the bank feels today. I just sent them their storage invoice, so they are going to be interested in not incurring any more storage charges. I can tell you what the rig is worth, what I would give for it, and what I think they'll take for it. This is a case where I'm going to make a buck on commission rather than on profit over what I bought it for. Let's go in and call the bank. Are you going to pay cash as usual? You usually just transfer funds."

I nodded and followed the man into his trailer office.

We had a cup of coffee while he played with the bank. He was telling them the equipment was taking up valuable lot space and he had a hot cash customer for the rig if the price was low enough. He had to let the bank rep talk someone above him, so he hung up and waited for a call back.

I mentioned to the salesman, "Isn't that your farm equipment lot next door?"

"Yeah, that's mine too, but I have my cousin over there working it. We're really short on equipment right now, and we've missed some good sales because the weather has been so bad on sale days; neither one of us wants to stand in the cold rain to bid on equipment."

My smile warmed the man when I said, "I've bought a couple of farms lately, and right now I'm culling equipment between the farms and some I've picked up at auctions. I just bought a bunch of equipment because no one was around to bid it up. I'll have some good tractors and lots of every type of implement you could name. You should come down to look at it at your leisure before I put it up for sale at our market."

The man said, "We often go to those Saturday markets looking for equipment, but lately there hasn't been a lot and the used equipment is bringing a good price. I'll definitely come down to look at what you have."

The phone rang and he put the call on speakerphone as he answered. The banker gave the dealer a number, and the dealer told him to go back and tighten it up a little. He gave the banker what he felt was going to be the top dollar they were going to get. I was choking over the number that was less than half of what I expected. The dealer told him to go find out and we would only be available for another five minutes. This guy was brutal to someone whose butt he should normally be kissing.

He told me, "Their interest rates suck most of the time and their customer service is even worse. They came to me because the dealer who worked the deal with them before refused to deal with them any longer. I'm making out renting space to them but I'd rather move the rig before it falls apart on me from lack of use."

The call came back and the dealer once again put the call on speakerphone. A different voice was on the phone who almost pleaded to get more out of the rig but the dealer told them that if they continued to store the truck on his place it was going to depreciate to junk value before long. That must have motivated the man as he asked if the dealer's customer agreed on the price did they still have to pay the current storage bill. The dealer grinned and acted compassionate and told the banker that he could tear up the current bill but they still had to pay the commission. The dealer was bad as I was sure the open invoice was to be paid for the next month instead of past storage.

The dealer told the banker to give him their transfer number and a transaction number for the amount. They should also e-mail him a letter of agreement that should include the non-payment of the current invoice. He gave the bank my name, address, and phone number from his records and told them a transfer would occur as soon as the letter arrived by fax or e-mail.

The man sat back and smiled, "Nice deal. I'll make my flat rate on the rig and I've been paid to keep it here. Of course we did have to wash it a time or two, but I'm making out other than that. Are you going to load your jeep in the back now, or how about we haul it down to you tomorrow or the next day along with your tags and titles? We can load up any equipment you have that you want to get rid of that way. We could use a few tractors and some implements. Spring will soon be upon us and farmers are going to want to buy equipment."

The fax machine answered a call and began spitting out sheets of paper a minute later. He handed me the transaction sheet so I could call the bank for a transfer. I called Maude and asked what account I should use before I did that. She directed me to the produce account and gave me the number.

I called the bank, gave them the instructions along with a password, and sat back. My bank said the transfer should be complete within five minutes. The dealer and I had another cup of coffee that required that I take a trip to the bathroom to make room. He was just about to call the bank when the fax whirred again and spitting out more paper, advising the dealer that funds had been received.

The man stood up and stuck his hand out, "Another done deal. Hope you need some more road equipment soon. I always enjoy doing business with you. I know that when your man comes here, he's here to buy and isn't going to leave until we make a deal. He's tough, but that's what makes the world and this equipment lot go around."

I went back to the truck, trailer, and Bobcat, and took a bunch of pictures with my phone. The guys would now see what was coming. I also needed to make sure that they had decided what equipment to keep and what to sell.

It only took about ten minutes to go from the equipment lot to the coin dealer. The man handed me a copy of the inventory sheet I had originally provided as soon as I arrived. There were notations all over the sheet, with numbers for quantities in each category. He asked me, "Look this over and see if it's what you think it should be."

I told him, "I have to trust you on this one, just like before. What I know about gold and silver certificates couldn't fill a thimble. If you're happy, I'm happy."

"Thank you, Mr. Grayson. I've always enjoyed doing business with you. How do you want this, cash, check, or transfer?"

It was my turn to chuckle. "I don't know, what would be better? I have no idea what account to put it in, so I'll do cash today if that's all right. I'm probably going to donate most of this anyway."

The coin dealer said, "No problem, Mr. Grayson. Let me get it from the safe and I'll have it for you in a minute."

I realized I was hungry while I waited for him to count the cash in front of me, and planned to stop for lunch as soon as possible. It was then that I realized I was going to have a very large amount of cash, that I wasn't in my pickup, and I didn't have my piece with me. Duh, I must be getting soft or something. It just didn't seem necessary to carry it around where we lived most of the time. Not a problem, though as I knew the gun store at the other end of the strip mall would have something for me. Another Beretta can always be used."

I took the small satchel full of cash after shaking hands with the coin dealer and promising to bring him anything special I came upon, then drove the Jeep to the other end of the strip mall and parked in front of the gun store/pawn shop.

The man at the counter recognized me with a nod when he buzzed me in. While he worked with another customer, he pointed at the area where I had seen the last Beretta I had purchased. I wandered down the counter until I came to the area where he kept his used handguns and saw he had several M9s, the civilian model of the Beretta 92. The dealer came down the counter and greeted me while reaching down into the case and handing me a used M9, a magazine, then reached to the counter behind him and handed me a box of 9MM rounds. He smiled at me, but kept moving his eyes toward the customer he had just left. He pushed the magazine and rounds to me and said loud enough to be heard by the other customer, "Let me take care of this other customer while you make sure this is what you want."

I glanced toward the other guy and noticed that he had a ball cap pulled low and his coat collar pulled up. He was nervous by the way he was shakily handling what looked like a Mossberg pistol grip shotgun.

Without showing anyone what I was doing, I quickly filled the magazine, locked it, and chambered a round. I let it lay on the counter facing the end where the customer was with my hand over it. I acted like I was checking the pistol for the many imperfections that were on it as the piece had seen a lot of use. I knew that it worked if the dealer had it in his case, so I felt good about having the gun in hand, facing who knows what.

Everything seemed to be cool when I saw the guy reach into his coat pocket and come out with a single shotgun shell. As he began putting it into chamber of the shotgun, the dealer backed away and yelled, don't do that, you can't load that in here.

I didn't wait and yelled, "Stop, this is a loaded weapon and I will shoot."

The man looked at the dealer, then at me, and still hadn't been able to get the shell into the shotgun chamber ejection hole instead of into the magazine. He swung the shotgun around to me with wild eyes yelling, "I'll blow a hole in you big enough to watch television through. You better put that gun down."

I smiled as he kept attempting to do what was nearly impossible. I walked up to him as he was jamming the shell into the chamber exit slot. As he raised the gun to use it as a club, I swung the butt of the pistol at the guy's head and held up my hand to block the shotgun in case he wanted to swing it.

His eyes and mouth opened wide just before he slid to the floor when the pistol hit him on the side of the head,. I pulled the shotgun from his hands, handed it to the dealer, then picked up the shotgun shell. That almost made me laugh even more. The guy had a 16 gauge birdshot shell trying to jam it into a 12 gauge shotgun. I suppose he'd learn about guns where he'll stay for a year or so. The good news was that I didn't shoot him.

The dealer reached toward me with a pair of handcuffs and asked me if I would mind cuffing him. I clasped the cuffs behind the guy's back, and asked the dealer for another pair to put on his ankles. The dealer then called 911 to report an attempted robbery. He told me to wait with him until the cops got there to complete the report.

The dumb or ignorant robber was coming around, complaining that he thought he might have a concussion. I leaned over him and said, "Be thankful you don't have a 9MM round between your eyes. Do you think that I wear these clothes to be a want to be? I haven't been out long enough to forget why I was in the Army. It was to protect this country from assholes like you. Now be quiet; you'll soon be in a nice warm jail."

The man groaned as he rolled to his side.

The cops came and took their merry time taking statements and going through the man's pockets. I had to keep showing identification to each new policeman who came in. I had to repeat what I had done four separate times, and when paramedics were called to check on the guy who only had a goose egg, I had to demonstrate how I'd hit him. One of the cops asked me why I didn't just take the gun away from the guy. How do you explain to someone who is supposed to be smart, that you were about to be hit by a shotgun being used as a club, and thought that a gun butt to the head might slow it down? The only one who understood was the paramedic who announced that the man was fine and would only suffer a headache for a few hours.

It had to happen, of course. A TV truck showed up while the paramedic was still there and the police were still milling around. Son of a gun if it wasn't the station that we just took over. The reporter was persistent, and kept on until I stepped outside to give him a short statement that a man attempted to rob the store, and that the storeowner and I subdued him.

The storeowner went outside and must have really told a tall story, because the reporter wanted to talk to me again when the dealer came back in. I walked over to him and told him, "Go tell Bernie that he might not get dinner for a while if I have to be on TV."

The reporter looked at me funny; "You know Bernie?"

"Very well, so go tell him what you have and tell him what I said. Use the dealer, you don't need me."

The reporter asked, "Are you in the reserves, or are you one of those guys who pretends to always be in the Army?"

I had to smile once again as I explained, "I wear these clothes because they're comfortable, I can always buy the right size, and they are always available. I was used to wearing them before I retired from the Army, and I still enjoy wearing them."

The reporter nodded with understanding as he and the cameraman packed up to leave.

I had been in the gun dealer's for almost two hours by the time the police left. The gun dealer walked behind his counter and went to the shotgun, wiped it down, put it on the rack, then walked down to where the pistol was still lying on the glass counter. The dealer looked up at me and asked, "What were you looking for today? Anything special?"

I pointed at the pistol and told him, "How much can I get that for? That's exactly what I'm looking for. The dealer reached into the case and pulled out a clean looking Glock 22, dropped the magazine from the M9 and set it aside. He reached down into the counter, pulled two magazines out, and quietly filled them with rounds from a box he pulled from a shelf behind him. He turned when he was done, and pulled a web belt and military surplus holster from his shelf, slipped the pistol into it, and handed it all to me. "Here, thank you for doing what you did. This isn't enough for saving my life and whatever else that guy might have stolen. That you took care of it was more than I could ask. I want you to use this instead of that heavyweight Beretta. This is almost a pound lighter than the Beretta, is easy to shoot, and is very accurate. Play with it, enjoy it, and you'll come back for another. Thank you."

"No, I'll pay you fair for the piece because I forgot to bring mine along today and should have had it."

The dealer said, "I noticed you haven't taken that shoulder satchel off since you walked in. I suppose it might have to do with that."

I laughed, "Yeah, something like that. I don't normally carry a purse."

The dealer laughed as he told me, "I knew who you were when I buzzed you in and felt like you would understand. That guy was being nervous and fumbling all over that simple Mossberg. I suppose it's a good thing he didn't figure out how to get the shell into the chamber, or it would have probably blown up if he had got it to fire. We would have all been hurt. Anyway, Grayson, isn't it? Take that Glock with my blessing. Come see me when you want another gun, and I'll do you right."

"Thanks for the offer, or rather gift. I really don't feel right about accepting this, but I'll take it. The Beretta is more comfortable to me, but I'll try this. I've shot a Glock a few times and know they are light and easy to operate. I might have a couple of pieces I could bring in to trade, maybe for another good hunting rifle with optics." I put the belt on and made sure the Glock easily slid in and out. I remembered and put a round into the chamber, checked the safety and realized there wasn't a visible safety on the Glock, and re-seated the pistol in the holster.

We shook hands and I left the store looking on each side and behind the Jeep before opening the door.

I realized I was really hungry as I slid under the wheel. My watch said it was now almost four in the afternoon, so food would be on the table by the time I got home. All well and good, but I was really hungry now.

I went to the hamburger joint across the street and bought a burger and small Coke to tide me over. I sure hope supper wasn't going to be late tonight.

As I pulled out from the burger place, I noticed one of those neat, low-slung Chrysler 300s follow me closely from the street near the drive thru or the parking lot of the burger place. There were just a few turns before I would be on the highway, and I watched the car follow me. Up on the highway, I let the Jeep find its most comfortable speed, which wasn't but about sixty-five and steadily drove at that speed. The Chrysler was still less than a hundred yards behind me, so I watched to make sure of what it was doing. We were nearing an area of the divided highway that had dense woods or forest on each side of the road, when I saw the Chrysler start gaining on me and getting into the left lane.

The window on the Chrysler rolled down as they came abreast of me in the other lane, and as the car came close to me, a guy with a short rifle of some kind, with what looked like a big magazine, pointed it at me and was hollering.

I manually rolled down the window and he yelled for me to pull over or he would shoot.

Okay, for whatever value it was, I nodded and began slowing down. The Chrysler kept abreast of me, and I pulled the new Glock out when we were down to about fifteen miles an hour, heading for the shoulder, I jammed on the brakes.

Shit, I've never fired a Glock in combat and I didn't know how it would feel one handed or know where the round was going to go, but everything else hopefully was going to be the same. This was a forty caliber, so it had a little more knockdown power than a nine mil, but not that much more. Well, it's now or never.

As soon as I jammed on the brakes, the Chrysler shot ahead of me. I swerved to the left and began going around them, but began firing into the back seat through my own passenger window while I was next to the Chrysler's rear window, and kept firing as I passed the driver's window. I used all fifteen rounds as I drove by the car that was now weaving around, and finally headed into the woods. I pulled to the side of the road as I dropped the magazine and reached for the other.

I slid from the Jeep, leaving the satchel under the seat, and wishing I had more magazines. Thinking I would be a harder target, I ran for the woods while pulling my cell phone. 911 got me a link to the Sheriff's department. I described where I was and what was happening. The operator kept saying not to shoot anyone. She was yelling that you can't shoot people from a moving car like that.

Bullshit. I'm going to shoot at them if they intend to shoot at me. Besides, I would now have to get another side glass for my Jeep, and it was going to be cold on the way home.

I moved toward where the car had crashed into the woods and found it up against a tree with all of its airbags deployed. I could see the driver through his broken window and knew he wasn't going to bother anyone with a round in the head. I ran to the other side where the guy with a small Uzi looking piece had been. He was moaning with a jaw that was going to need reconstruction. I opened his door and pulled the little automatic rifle out of the car and threw it without touching any main parts. When I opened the back door, I was almost sick when I saw that the guy on the far side no longer had a face. The passenger on my side, who had been a pretty lady at one time, was now very dead still clutching one of those Uzi looking rifles.

Three dead and one sort of alive isn't bad, so I pulled any weapons I could see and threw them where I had thrown the others. There was nothing I could do to help the guy with the blown off jaw, so I went to the road and waited for the cops.

How in the fuck could this happen twice in the same day. Whoever these people were must have watched me get money from the coin dealer and were determined to hold me up. They had more firepower than necessary, and had waited until I had the space advantage. Had they made the same attempt in the city I probably would have hoped for the best and handed them the satchel, which was still under the front seat of the Jeep. I was going to have to watch that. I walked up the road and locked the Jeep doors although the passenger window was now totally gone.

I backed the Jeep up to where the car was smashed against a tree and waited. I called Bernie, without giving it much thought, to see where he was. He told me, "I'm about to leave Lexington, are you still here?"

"Nope, but if you hurry, you can cover some instant news out on the highway by the pines area. Some people tried to stop me and there are now three dead and another that probably wishes he was."

Bernie softly said, "Can I bring a camera or is this another quiet thing?"

"Bring 'em, Bernie. This is ridiculous and I would enjoy having another witness."

He excitedly answered, "On my way. We're fifteen minutes away."

I heard sirens coming pretty soon, and stood by the side of the road, waving. The ambulance arrived first and I directed the paramedics to the passenger side of the car. Two paramedics went toward the car and an automatic weapon fired as they approached; tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, for what sounded like an entire magazine full of rounds. I ran toward the two men as they lay flat on the ground, hopefully not hit. The guy with the trashed face and jaw was attempting to get a round into another of the automatic weapons I had thrown against a tree. He had chambered a round and pulled the barrel up toward me, as bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, I fired five rounds into his body.

I turned to the paramedics when the man lay still. One was holding his arm and the other was looking at his pants where he had peed on himself. I yelled at the guy who was observing his public water sports to get me something to compress his partner's wound.

We were finished patching up a wound that went completely through when the first State Police and a Sheriff's cars arrived. The TV truck and Bernie were right behind them. There was a lot of yelling and running around until an older Sheriff's Deputy came to me and asked, "Did you do all of this? You know you might want to give me that weapon you have in your holster, and get me some ID."

The state trooper was walking around and around the car with the three dead people in it then, walked over to the guy who was now dead, and still holding a loaded and firing enabled automatic weapon.

As I dropped the magazine and jacked the round out, catching it and putting it back into the magazine, I told the older Deputy, "Someone needs to secure those automatic weapons. That guy was just about to shoot the second one when I shot him. The paramedic over there will tell you what and when. They were trying to pull me over, when I faked them out, and I fired through the window of my Jeep as I pulled up next to them. I knew they had the one automatic weapon they had aimed at me, but not the other two who were in the back seat. I fired through both the back and front side windows to cover myself. That's when the car veered off the road into the tree."

The guy looked at me funny and commented, "You could have left at least one alive to tell their side of the story."

Bernie had his cameraman get in as close as possible without being seen while this was going on, and walked up, wearing his suit and tie. He told the Deputy, "I know this man and he just assisted with the arrest of a robber at a gun store in Lexington. You can call the LPD to confirm that so you know that the man might have been a bit edgy when someone tried to pull him over by showing weapons."

Bernie waved his cameraman to get shots of the dead driver and the couple in the back seat, along with the dead guy lying with three automatic weapons around him. Bernie was describing the scene as I watched, not understanding until I saw a small lapel microphone on his suit coat. He was documenting everything so any future question of my actions could be easily answered.

More police cars came until there was a guy with a lot of silver on his collar. The man looked at Bernie funny, then continued around the site, trying to listen to all of the Deputies at once. He came over to me and asked, "Mike Grayson, right?"

I nodded and took his hand as he stuck it out.

"You've had a busy day. You subdue an armed robber without a shot, then get out here on the highway and have a massacre. Tell me what happened one more time. Let's do this. Get that camera guy over here and I'll let him record the interview. That will take care of it, if you agree."

He asked me the basic questions about who, what, where I was, and wanted a description of what happened after I left the gun shop.

I gave a detailed account right up to the point when the Sheriff's Deputy and the trooper arrived. The Sheriff took the cameraman by the arm and led him over to the two paramedics. He interviewed them the same way, and heard exactly what had transpired. It was clear that I had acted appropriately, other than I could have waited to let the other folks shoot at me before shooting back. That just didn't seem to be prudent at the time, so I think it was going to be let go.

Bernie came over to me and said, "My guy is making a copy of everything we've shot for the Sheriff who says we can use everything any way we want. Damn, you'd be a shoe-in if you want to be governor next term, Mike. I know you aren't into politics, but we need someone with balls to lead us for a while."

I begged, "Please don't talk like that, Bernie. You know that I'm just not that guy. I'll get behind anyone you like, but not me, okay? I really want to have a nice, gentle, happy life on my mountain."

Bernie looked up at me, "I know, Mike." He was smiling, almost laughing as he said, "You're just so pure, so clean, that you would be the ideal candidate for just about any post you'd want to run for. What are you anyway, a Democrat or Republican?"

It was my turn to laugh. "Bernie, I don't and haven't ever chosen a party. I like some parts of both, and it would be shame to side with just one." Bernie walked away from me shaking his head.

A Deputy came back over to me and handed me my pistol. "The Sheriff told me to give this back to you. He said the forensic guys would be able to match all the rounds, and since they're all from your weapon, we know where to come if we need it. Even the Sheriff says that you did everything you could to prevent what happened. Get out of here, Mr. Grayson, and I hope the rest of your day is a good one."

As I was going to walk away the Deputy spun me around by asking, "What the hell were those people after anyway? They obviously wanted something to chase you out here on the highway."

I told the Deputy, "Before the gun store I had been in the coin dealer to sell some old bills. Someone who knows coin dealers, knows most of the transactions are made in cash. They probably saw me coming out of there with a satchel and figured I had either money or coins worth stealing. All four of these people are kids under twenty-five so they were looking for a big score."

The Deputy said, "They're probably the ones who robbed the coin dealer up in Cincinnati this past weekend. It was three people, two men and a woman with machine guns so these are probably the ones."

That made me feel a little better about the whole thing as I was thinking it could have been something left over from the Texas and Chicago people. Either way I was not going to let anyone else try to take advantage of me or my family.

Bernie was saying goodbye to his men, giving them instructions as to what to tell their newsroom. The video and interviews were already in the newsroom, but hadn't been edited or broadcast yet. Bernie wanted it all on the evening news and repeated on the news at ten.

I called home as it was now getting close to six. Millie told me that people had been calling the house for the last two hours to tell her about what was happening. She said that all the road guys were there, as well as all of the folks from below. Sheryl was being antsy waiting to hear from Bernie and, of course, the widow, Bert, and Paul were there waiting for me.

"Bernie and I will be home in about thirty minutes. We're going to drive faster than the speed of sound to get home. If you haven't already eaten, get it ready. If you have already eaten, heat some up for the two of us. We're on our way."

Millie told me to drive correctly and not to drive faster than what I knew to be safe.

We got home about twenty-five minutes later, after breaking every speed law in Kentucky. I pulled the satchel from the Jeep as I exited, and went into the house. I was surrounded by women and kids as I attempted to rid myself of my boots. Consuela was at my feet, taking my boots off and looking up at me. The sweet older woman smiled at me and said, "We need you, Mike. Don't put yourself in danger like that. You are our Patron and we need you to lead us." The sweet older lady stood with the top of her head to my chin and hugged me. It gave me a smile that must have lasted a week when she pulled back from me and pulled my head down for a very sweet kiss. That she was up here at the house away from her castle made an impression on me.

Everyone sat down to eat as the evening meal had been held up until Bernie and I arrived. We had to tell everyone what had happened, with Bernie filling in what I tried to leave out, and also embellishing what had actually happened. He told everyone to watch the ten o'clock news for a full report. I was able to discuss with the roadmen, John, and Calvin, what I had done today. They told me that when supper was finished they would tell me the equipment we wanted to sell. There was a lot of equipment that needed to be sold, and a select group that we needed to keep. Bert and Pete agreed with the men, and told them they would assist in getting the equipment ready.

John said, "I want to replace some of the equipment you have up here with better stuff. I'll leave all of the small equipment that goes with your old Ford-Ferguson since that's an ideal garden tractor. We'll leave your manure spreader here and keep the other three where we can use them on the fields in our area."

Millie asked, "What about Teddy Anderson's fields? Have you figured on what to do with those yet? I'd bet he would be upset if you didn't use his land for animal food or sweet corn, at the minimum. You need to talk to Kroger to see what they're going to need this year."

As usual, a woman brought us back to ground zero by advising us of something we were about to forget. The widow looked over at me and raised her eyebrow. With a smile, I told her, "How could I forget one of the most eligible women around my mountain? Raul said he was going to look at your old homestead building this week. We want to make sure it stays watertight."

That gave me some points with the sweet old lady. She was happily eating with the family and had Minya next to her, talking about everything a little one could talk about.

Frank spoke up as we were having some apple pie, "Bill and I were able to complete the deal with CBS today. Our contract officially begins the first of March, but we're able to begin using their primetime programming as soon as we have a link established. The techs have it in place, complete with redundancy, and fully tested. Any favorite CBS program you like is on our channel as of right now."

Bernie was actually surprised, sitting with his mouth open, and a fork full of food on its way to his mouth. He put his fork down and asked, "How in the hell did you get them to give you free time?"

Bill answered by telling Bernie, "We said we would fill all of our local news slots with network trailers and commit to a full off season of re-runs. The salesmen are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to sell every spare second of available time. I think they've sold more ten and fifteen second spots in the last week than they thought possible."

Bernie told the two men, "You guys have sure done some magic in a short time. Between your efforts and the programming manager, we're doing more than expected on ratings. The Lexington radio station is really producing as well. Did you guys get a CBS radio feed along with the TV programming?"

Frank told Bernie, "We have full access to their news network, and access to all of the standard network programming. Some of their stuff is off limits to us, as other stations in the area carry it. Programs like Rush Limbaugh are on their feed, but it's already on another local station."

"That's okay," Bernie answered, while continuing to eat. "Rush would interrupt our gossip hour and the state farm report. I think we have most every radio in a couple of counties tuned in during those times. Our advertising is strongest during those times, so it must be good."

Benson called almost as soon as we had finished supper. He said, "While you've been wandering around the country saving us from despicable bad guys, a hell of lot of people have been calling about jobs. There's been so many that I called the TV and radio stations to tell them to stop the ads for the time being. Raul, Jose, and Coup have been interviewing all the men coming in the door and have chosen several, but you're going to shit when I tell you how many you need to keep working."

Uh oh. "Okay, how many?"

Benson said, "The three have found sixteen men they want to hire so far. Where in the hell are you going to use sixteen men?"

"Tell you what, Benson. If Raul, Jose, and Coup think they are worthy, I'll go out and solicit work for them. Those are the three most critical men I can think of, so like I said, if they like the people, I want them to work for us."

The road guys knew what they needed to decide on the next day, and I knew what we were going to need to decide on for all of the farms and the development. Could it all get done? Sure, right down to the last little nail or nut to tighten down.

Millie came to me and sat on my lap when everyone had left, while Rosita attempted to sit on my lap with her. They both hugged me, trying to get closer than possible.

We sat on a couch hugging together for a while, until Millie asked, "Will we always feel this way or does it stop as we grow older?"

I hugged her to me, gave her a kiss, then repeated the hug and kiss with Rosita.

It was then that Rosita said, "Doctor Sheryl wants me to come to the clinic soon for her to check me. I told her I was worried because we have not made a baby and haven't been trying to keep something from happening. She said she would check me to make sure everything was okay inside me, but she might have to check you too. Will you do that?"

I told Rosita with a smile, "Of course, I will. If you want a baby I want to help you have one. I'm sure you will agree that it's been fun practicing though."

Millie said, "I still like to practice even though I can't have babies any longer. I still have the urge."

A little later, after some energetic urge satisfaction, the two ladies lay sleeping in my arms.

I felt a presence as I drifted off, but in my dream saw the little girl playing in the mountain flowers.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



-------

Chapter 61

We were just finishing breakfast the next morning when the guinea hens announced that someone was coming up the drive. I went out to see who was coming, because the ladies from below had come up earlier to do chores and had eaten breakfast with us.

A Kentucky State Police car came up the drive and parked as close as possible. Spook and Witch were right there, almost tall enough to look into the driver's side window at the officer in the car who looking very uneasy.

When I got close, I told the dogs, "Go sit" and pointed away from the car. The two half wolves moved about fifteen feet away and sat, squirming around because they couldn't greet the newcomer. The dogs would never have minded me if the man had shown any kind of harmful or aggressive movement or attitude.

The man hesitantly got out of the car and offered his hand to shake, as he said, "I'm Trooper Dave Shelby of the Kentucky State Police, and I need to talk to you about the run-in you had on the highway yesterday. Is there a place we can talk?"

"Come in, we'll get a cup of coffee and I'll try to answer any questions you might have."

Inside, Millie refilled my mug and poured another for the Trooper as we sat at the little table. The day's activities had just begun, with the older girls helping Minya and Mato with their reading while the ladies were cleaning up the kitchen in preparation to begin preparing lunch and supper before working on butter and eggs.

The Trooper asked, "When did you first notice the car following you?"

I explained, "After finishing at the gun shop with the Lexington Police Department and County Sheriff's Deputies, I drove across the street to get something to eat to tide me over until I was able to get home. I had missed lunch and was very hungry. As I came out of the restaurant drive-through, I noticed a car with very dark tinted windows pull out from the parking lot right behind me. I might not have noticed except that they followed me very closely. You have to make a few turns to get to the highway, and I watched the car make the same turns and stay very close behind me."

The Trooper asked, "You stated in the report that you had been at the coin dealer in the same complex as the gun dealer. Did you see them when you left the coin dealer?" The Trooper was asking me the questions based on a report he had with him.

"No, I didn't see anyone. I usually carry a weapon, and have a permit to do so, but I had forgotten to bring my handgun with me. I was carrying a significant amount of cash when I left the coin dealer, so I went to the gun dealer to purchase something for personal protection. It's always better to be on the side of caution."

The Trooper made a couple of notes on his pad before asking, "When did you feel you were in danger from the men, ah, or rather, the people in the other car?"

I sighed and said, "The other car was still following me closely when I was up on the highway, but not on my back bumper any longer. When I reached the area of the divided highway that has dense trees on both sides of the road, I noticed the car accelerate and pull into the left lane,. I became apprehensive then, but when the car paced me and the window on the passenger side rolled down, I became very worried when a man pointed what looked like a cutoff AK or Uzi with a huge magazine sticking out of it at me. The guy was waving it at me and hollering for me to pull over. You can guess that it was then that I felt as if I was in real danger."

The Trooper made some notes once again, but continued, "So just how did you get on the other side of the car carrying your attackers?"

I closed my eyes a second to visualize what had happened before answering. "I immediately began slowing and moving to the side of the road. The other car was crowding me to the right while I moved to the right. The man pointing the gun at me with it sticking out his window was motioning me to pull over. I jammed on the brakes and as soon as the car passed me, and before they could react, downshifted, and moved up alongside the driver's side of the car."

"Then what happened? The report said you began firing at the time."

"The report is correct because as soon as I was on the outside of the car, I used my pistol and began firing through the back windows and into the driver's side windows. I used up the entire fifteen round magazine hoping to stop their attack."

The Trooper asked, "Couldn't you have just stopped and waited to see what the car was going to do?"

I told the man, "First, I was outgunned, with just a pistol against what could have been a full auto weapon with an extended magazine. Second, I didn't know if there were others in the car equally armed. Third, the man in the front passenger seat had already threatened me, indicating he was going to shoot me. Thankfully, the passenger window in the Jeep shattered with the first round so I was being fairly accurate while firing through the windows of the Chrysler."

"So what happened after you fired on the car and what did you do next?"

"I saw the car weave before heading into the trees, so I pulled over and stopped. I changed magazines on my weapon and called 911 for help when I got out of the Jeep. I ran back to the vehicle that had now gone into the trees, keeping cover between me and the car, until I saw it had hit head on into a big tree. All of the glass was broken out and the airbags were deflating. I could see the driver was done for, so I ran around to the passenger side and saw that the front passenger was badly hurt. He still had the rifle in his lap, so I threw it toward a tree about fifteen feet away. I looked at the two people in the back seat and knew they were both dead. I took two more automatic rifles from them and threw them with the other one. Not thinking that the badly injured man in the front passenger seat would move, I went back to the road and moved my Jeep back to where the car had entered the woods."

After making some more notes, the Trooper asked, "So how did the paramedic get shot?"

I described what had happened to the Trooper, "I directed them toward the car when they arrived so they could help the man with the messed up face. Automatic weapon fire started as they were approaching the car, and it caught one man while the other dropped flat on the ground. The shooter had fired the entire magazine at the paramedics, so I ran toward the scene and saw the man with the injured face trying to put a round in the chamber of another rifle. As he was bringing the gun up toward me, I fired until he lay still. I checked on the paramedics after I moved the weapons away from the man, and helped the one bandage up the other. The place was full of police, both Sheriff's Deputies and State Troopers, shortly after that."

Feeling like we were going over something for no reason, I said, "You know you could get a copy of the video that was made on scene from the TV station in Lexington. They showed up and the Sheriff actually had them tape him questioning me and the paramedics. I'm sure you'll hear almost exactly what I just told you."

"I watched a copy of the video made at the scene that was given to us. The commander looked you up and found you've been involved in quite a few shootings recently. You are becoming a suspicious character who might be safer if he wasn't armed, or at least that was what the commander suggested. I don't know everything that's gone on, but from the reports, you've just had a real run of bad guys lately."

The Trooper asked, "Can I take a picture of your Jeep? Are there any bullet holes in it?"

"Sure, take all the pictures you want but the only thing you'll find is glass on the floor and no passenger window. I'll have to take the Jeep up to Mount Sterling to get new glass for it."

The man surprised me by asking, "The report states you used a Glock handgun yesterday. Why weren't you using a Beretta since you're a retired Army guy?"

"I was going to buy a Beretta, but the gun dealer wanted me to try out the Glock. I like it."

The man was looking around at our family trying to put together all of the kids, especially the young girls, with the Latino women and two obviously Native American kids. Hopefully, he'll call the Children and Family people to find out that we already have a relationship there.

The Trooper got into his car and drove away after he took his pictures, with the two dogs watching the car all the way down the drive.

Back inside the house, I told the ladies, "I need to take a couple of Angus to the butcher and while I'm out, I'm going to run over to see how the guys are doing at the Hampton place. Do you need me to take anything to the market?"

Millie told me, "No, we're going to get everything ready for market tomorrow and split it into two groups for here and over at Pine Ridge. D's girls are getting the wine that he wants to sell ready, so we should be fine. It's funny to have a bunch of smaller white eggs now, instead of all of them being our bigger brown ones. I think we're going to have a few more chicken dinners until we cull the leghorns from ours."

I suppose that's one way to keep from having to separate eggs.

The men were almost finished with the pole barn and they had found and installed a heater in the center of the building. There were lights and outlets throughout so this was going to be a very useful building. It didn't have a concrete floor, but that could be poured later if we felt we had to have it.

The guys gave me a rundown as to what equipment was going to be moved where, and what would be used as replacement equipment for the other farms.

Raul came up to me and told me that he had stopped by the widow's and checked the old homestead. He said it would need some patching, and the fireplace and chimney would need some tuck-pointing, but he thought the work could easily wait until summer. He also said that the widow was very happy that he had stopped by. Raul leaned near me and said, "Both Bert and Pete were over there visiting. What do you want to bet those two old codgers are going to try to make some moves on her?"

That gave us both a laugh. Raul gave me a progress report on the Hampton house, telling me that it would be finished and ready to move in tomorrow, while the Temple place was coming right along. He said that Teddy's place only needed cleaning out and painting, as he had electricity and running water. The other men had already told me that they had gone over Teddy's equipment and were preparing to take some of it to market.

Calvin came up to me before I left, and asked, "You don't know me very well yet, Mike, but I'd like to ask your permission to spend a little more time with Camille. I'm sure you can tell she's interested in me, and I have to tell you that I'm interested in her. We've been doing a lot of visiting at your place and seem to be pretty compatible so far. I know she's young, but she acts a heck of lot more mature than her age. I've convinced her to work on her high school GED and to learn as much as she can as it will come in handy as she goes on in life."

"Sounds good, Calvin. Just do me a favor and don't get too friendly with her. By that I mean to not get fresh with her. Everything that should happen will happen when the time's right. Be patient with her."

Calvin had been looking down, but now raised his head, "She told me she had some things to tell me one of these days, so I'm guessing she might have had some problems. It hopefully isn't anything that will prevent us from getting close. Do I have your permission to see and date her?"

"Sure, Calvin, just be gentle like I asked."

Wow! Young love sprouts everywhere. Camille is only eighteen and Calvin can't be but about twenty-one or two. They are really young, but Calvin comes from the country where kids get married young. Camille will probably make a good farmer's wife. She isn't afraid of work, and is always willing to do anything asked.

My cell phone rang as I pulled away from the Hampton place. Sheryl was on the phone. "Why don't you come in to the clinic real quick, Mike. I have Rosita and Millie here, and we need to talk."

"What's up, Sheryl?"

The doc said, "Just come in and I'll talk to you before we all talk together."

I wonder what was up. Sheryl sounded pretty 'doctor like' without the usual smile in her voice.

The drive to the clinic was only about twenty minutes, and I was ushered straight into Sheryl's office as soon as I walked in the door. The door opened within less than five minutes and Sheryl came in with a very grim face.

"Mike, it's about Rosita. I gave her a very thorough physical and took some blood for tests. There were a couple of things that concerned me, so we used the new MRI and thoroughly checked her out. Let me show you."

Doctor Rivers turned her huge computer monitor on and pulled up a file. She manipulated the mouse to begin showing me someone's insides. She showed me multiple spots and one large mass as she focused on one area. Sheryl said, "These spots are growths, tumors, Mike, probably cancer, and if you look at how much is in her, there's too much to operate on. Now let me show you more."

She moved the picture to view the head, or cranium, as the doc called it. "This is another area of concern. See these spots? They are consistent with a form of cancer that grows downward the way the dark spots show until it attacks the spine."

I was sick to my stomach as I asked, "What can I do, Sheryl? I have to do something."

Sheryl patted me on the hand and told me, "You can't do a lot, but we can get her a bed at one of the cancer centers where they can work on her. She doesn't know yet, Mike, so I'm going to tell her while you're with her. I hate to say this, Mike, but she is very likely terminal. I promise to do everything possible for her, Mike, so work with me and help Rosita accept what will have to be done."

Man, I was almost in tears as she stood to lead me to where Rosita and Millie were. The two women looked at me with concerned expressions when we entered the room. Millie asked, "Why are you here, Mike?"

I hugged both women and kept them under an arm. I looked at the Doc, who asked, "Do you want me to say it?"

I nodded my head and Sheryl began. She very delicately explained to Rosita that she had several very severe clusters of what could be cancer, and wanted her to go to a special hospital in Lexington. She told her, "The people there know how to help people with the problems your body is giving you, Rosita. Will you go there for me?"

Rosita buried her face in my chest and cried. "Oh, Mike, I didn't want to complain around you, but I've hurt inside for a while. My head hurts so badly lately, and aspirin doesn't help any more. I'm sorry I haven't given you a baby, Mike. Please forgive me and still love me."

Knowing the severity of Rosita's condition, I hugged her, kissing her forehead. "I'll always love you, Rosita. You're my very special second wife."

I turned to Sheryl and asked, "Can you see where I can take Rosita? Please help us to take care of her."

Sheryl told us, "Take Rosita home and I'll be by later to tell you what I've found. I think the research center in Lexington will be the place for her, but I'll get some opinions from other doctors. Go on, take her home."

We left my truck at the clinic and drove home in Millie's red SUV. The two women sat in the middle seat holding each other. They spoke softly so that I couldn't hear them, but I could see that Rosita was relaxing in Millie's arms. Millie had a tear-stained face when she looked at me in the rear view mirror. "We need to call Mom, Mike. She'll be here day after tomorrow if she comes back when she planned, but we need to call her. Will you do that?"

Damn, this is just about the worse thing that could happen. How do you explain this to Minya, Mato, or to John? Karen and Kevin were as much Rosita's as Millie's. Sheryl didn't actually say so, but there may not be much time left from the way she was talking.

Sissy and Shirley were there when we got home, and immediately came to Rosita and hugged her. Sissy looked at me and told me, "Sheryl called me, so we came over. Why don't you try to get hold of Mom and let her know? She's probably getting ready to fly back anyway."

My phone rang before I could get to my office. It was Mom. "What's wrong, Mike? I've had the most horrible feelings the last few hours and just had to call. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mom. It's Rosita. She went to see Sheryl about not getting pregnant and Doc gave her a thorough physical. Because she suspected something, she gave Rosita a complete MRI and discovered masses that she said were probably cancerous throughout her body and in her brain. Sheryl is trying to get her into the Cancer Research Center in Lexington right now. We've just brought her home and Sheryl will be coming by later."

"Oh, God, Mike. The children all look at her as another mother. Do you think there's a chance?"

Between near sobs, I had to tell her, "I don't know, Mom. Sheryl didn't sound very positive about Rosita's prognosis."

"We'll be on our way as soon as we can get a flight. We're scheduled to leave tomorrow but I'l try to get us out of here sooner if I can. I'll be home as soon as possible, Son, and tell Millie that I'll be there to help her. Stay strong, Son, I know you love that little girl, and it will work out."

I had to work at my composure, as I didn't know what to do. It seemed that I could easily overcome obstacles and people, but now, now, I couldn't protect someone I loved from something attacking her. I felt helpless.

Rosita was sitting and talking with Minya, Mato, and John, telling them that she was sick inside and had to go away for a while to see if doctors could help her. She answered questions the kids asked, but John did his thing by hugging Rosita and lying against her.

I heard Minya ask Sissy a little later, "Will Rosita go away like Mommy and Daddy?"

Colette and Chloe were sitting with Shirley and Millie, while Millie simultaneously nursed Kevin and Karen in her master mother position. Rosita and the others were in the kitchen working on supper.

I called John around three thirty and asked, "If you and Calvin are coming for supper, could you stop by the clinic and bring my truck home? The keys are in it if you can."

John scolded me, "Don't leave your keys in your truck. What if someone saw them in there and stole the truck?"

I laughed, "It's a dependable old truck, but it isn't worth much. I've always left them in there and have never had a problem. I don't leave the keys in the Jeep, so I must think no one will bother an ugly old truck."

John told me, "Calvin, Carla, and I will pick it up. I heard Calvin had a talk with you about Camille. The guy has it bad over her. I think he's worse than Carla and I were, and you know how crazy we were."

I told John, "It might be good for both of them. If it's the right thing to happen, then I'm all for it. Raul says the house will be ready so that Calvin can move in. He can get Camille to help him pick out the stuff he needs to set up housekeeping."

"You know, Mike, Calvin went to church with you guys the last two Sundays and he's acted like he enjoyed himself. He was never like that when he was younger. This place is good for him and I think Camille will be good for him too. You've made him feel important by the way you're having him plan out all of our cultivatable fields. You know what you're doing, Mike, as he's feeling very special the same way the rest of us feel."

"Thanks, John; I'm glad you feel that way. I feel privileged to have all of you. Every one of you contributes something to the whole. We can't be anything except successful." I told him and after a pause, "If you feel like there is an undercurrent tonight, it's because Rosita has had some bad health news and needs to go get some help at the hospital in Lexington. She really needs everyone's support, so pass it on."

"What's the matter, Mike?"

"Doc Rivers doesn't know everything yet, but knows Rosita needs more help than she can give her. Just be Rosita's friend. She needs that."

I took Mato and Minya with me to the milk house to get the equipment ready when it was chore time. I let them help me get the two cows in their stanchions, and showed them how to milk. The Jersey was gentle and patient, allowing the tiny hands to try and try until they had milk from her teats squirting into the bucket. It took over thirty minutes to milk the cow who usually only took about fifteen. Being so patient earned her an extra scoop of grain. The kids loved to watch the cow's big long tongue pull the grain around for her to munch on.

We filtered and processed the milk, fed a steer in the barn, and gave some hay to the rest of the steers. When we put hay out for the cows, horse, and deer, the two loved the idea that they could actually pet a buck and doe as the deer ate in the lean to.

People had been arriving while we had been doing chores. Every one of them gave Rosita a hug and told her they loved her and wished her well up in Lexington. As I looked around and saw Harold and Martha, Harold walked over to me and said, "We'll all do a lot of praying for Rosita, Mike. She has become a very special person to all of us. Stop by or call me If you need to talk."

It was nice to have so many friends.

The tables were full tonight, with a lot of attention still being paid to the three Basset girls from Pennsylvania, and Rosita, of course. Our home had become a focal point for many, and I was glad to have them all come to be with us.

Sheryl took me to my office and told me, "You need to take Rosita up to Lexington tomorrow. They're going to be doing tests on her for the first twenty-four hours, so you should take her up there and leave. She's going to be busy and won't know you're not there. Leave a cell phone for her so that she can call you and Millie, but you do need to leave. Come home because you're not that far in time and distance to be able to quickly get there if she needs you." The doc hugged me and kept me in her arms, "I'm so sorry, Mike. I know how you feel about her. Please know that I'll do everything I can for her."

Sheryl was as choked up as me. I told her, "Life isn't always fair, Sheryl. Let's hope they can help her to live or at least be comfortable. Thank you, Doc."

Every person at the tables made a heartfelt prayer for Rosita when Harold said grace. That we had so many thinking those positive thoughts for her had to be heard by the big ears in our heaven. At least everyone there hoped that was the case.

As I hugged the two women to me that night, Rosita begged, "Make love to me Mike. I love you and Millie so much and wanted to have your babies, but now I only want to be with you for all of my days. Love me, Mike, make me your woman."

Something or someone gave me the power to love Rosita and to breed her the same way I had for so many nights before. We loved and hugged, hoping this wasn't our last loving. I worried that she was hurting inside, but she clung to me and continuously kissed me as we loved.

As we lay together afterwards, Rosita asked, "Please love Millie too, Mike. The two of us are sisters, and what I feel she feels, and the same the other way. Love her, Mike."

Loving my first love wasn't difficult. The thought came to mind that Millie could be Rosita this very moment brought me down, but I focused on loving the woman I was with.

I felt the presence of those ghosts of the mountain with me as we went to sleep. A little girl playing in the mountain flowers came up to me and said, "She'll always be with you." That she vanished in the bluffs didn't help, but I slept.

Sissy and Shirley showed up early the next morning. After chores and breakfast were complete, Millie, Rosita, and I drove off in the red Expedition to get Rosita the attention she needed.

The hospital was expecting Rosita and had her give us a hug and kiss before they pulled her into their laboratory area for exams and prodding. It took a while to convince Millie that we should leave, but she came around. She used my cell phone on the way home to call into the radio station gossip recorder to tell the listeners what was happening with Rosita. Everyone now knew her condition, and if they didn't believe she had been my wife also, they just heard it from my wife, Millie.

Mom called from California a little while after we got home. She said she and D were waiting for the flight to leave from San Francisco and they should be home by nine or ten tonight. We talked about what had happened so far today, and that we were waiting to hear from the hospital.

Sissy and Shirley had come to the cabin to make sure Minya, Mato, John, Karen, Kevin, and the three girls were all okay. The three girls actually were perfect with the little ones, as they already felt as if they were their brothers and sisters. All of the children had a great time together when my sister's and brother's additional four kids were there.

I told Millie that I thought I should go to the hospital to be with Rosita after her tests. Millie said she should be there too, but she felt she should be home for Kevin, Karen, and John. She felt that Minya and Mato would be okay, but the little ones needed for her to stay.

The drive to Lexington isn't stressful, and I was on my way to help console and comfort Rosita, my wife, although a second wife. I kept having the feeling while on the way that I could somehow help Rosita live. I somehow had something that could provide a longer life for her.

I was taken to a conference room upon arriving and checking in at the hospital. It looked like it was out of the 23rd century. It was like an IMAX theater with video displays totally surrounding everyone within the theater.

A white clad man came into the room and began talking to me, "Mr. Grayson, Rosita has spawned several areas of concern."

He highlighted areas on a video display that he questioned and they were the same ones that Sheryl had shown me at her clinic. The doctor continued, "Your lady not only has these problems, but look here," the man said, as he showed me an image of her head. "This is Rosita's cranium."

Damn, I could see the area in much more detail than at the clinic. This mass seemed more sinister than it had before and I felt that it was probably more lethal than the tumors in her body.

"We can treat Rosita with massive doses of radiation and attempt to heal everything at once," the doctor said, "but in my opinion these lesions in the cranium require separate treatment. If we don't control them first, we won't have a chance to work on the other masses. I don't want you to hold out hope for a cure, but we may be able to extend her life somewhat as long as these lesions respond to treatment. Are you willing to try, Mr. Grayson?"

How can someone ask such a stupid question? There is nothing you wouldn't do for someone you love. I had to sign several hospital waivers, but I did get to be with Rosita for a few minutes. I told her, "Rosita, Honey, just go along with them and get the treatment they think is right. I love you, Baby, and want you to come home to us."

Rosita whispered back at me, "I love you, Mike. My body has given up on me, but my mind is still with me. I love you, Honey, and know we are meant to be. Take care of Millie and the kids. I love you."

Those were the last words I heard from Rosita. She became a casualty of a terrible disease while receiving treatment sometime during the night. I let them have the body to help with whatever research they needed, but they released her a few days later so the mortuary could pick her up to be placed in a casket later during that day.

When the doctors informed me of Rosita's passing, I was just a blob in the waiting room, thinking of how I had taken Rosita to be a part of my family and wondering if it had anything to do with her physical being. I was pondering this when someone sat beside me and took one of my hands. It was Mom. She said, "You didn't and couldn't have known, Mike. You gave her your love. Millie and you shared your babies with her. It isn't your fault."

Mom continued telling me, "I've called the family and told them. Millie said she knew something like this was happening since you didn't call. You know, Mike, you have a wonderful family that loves you and that will help each other get through this."

"I know, Mom. I was so against bringing another woman into our life, but Millie insisted and I finally agreed. I'm wondering if God took her from me because she wasn't my only wife."

"Stop!" Mom almost yelled at me. "Stop thinking that way, Mike. It was destined. Rosita was a love that will last more than her lifetime. Love her, and don't stop your love of life with those who also make you happy and need you, Mike."

Mom told me, "Come, let's go home. There are a lot of people we need to comfort. You can call to have Rosita picked up later.

As we walked out of the hospital, I told Mom, "I have to take Millie's car home. Will you be okay driving?"

My mother hugged my arm as we walked toward the red Expedition and told me, "I sent D home with my car. Do you want me to drive or are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Mom. I can drive. A lot has happened since you've been gone, so we can use the ride for me to fill you in on everything that's happened."

The ride home went by so fast that I didn't have a chance to ponder losing Rosita. I felt a glow within me that lit up the cabin when we drove up the hill and saw the farm. Somehow, Rosita's spirit had already joined the others on Mystery Mountain.

It took most of the day for everyone to settle down and stop grieving so heavily. Millie was probably the best as she cuddled the twins to her. John really didn't understand, but Minya and Mato understood as they had lost their parents and knew Rosita was gone forever.

I had called the funeral home and made arrangements for Rich to bring Rosita to his place for a funeral. He asked about where burial would be, and I had to tell him that I hadn't made those arrangements yet, but I would do so and call him back.

Later that night when Mom, Millie, and I were sitting in rockers in front of the fire, Millie asked me, "Could we bury Rosita where Bud and Eliza are buried? I want to have her close to us if we can."

Mom looked at me with the question in her eyes. I looked over at Millie, "Yes, we can do that." Millie's next question really surprised me, "Can we move Bernard so he is buried there too? I think of him often, and it would be nice to have him near Rosita."

The mountain had been home to Millie almost all of her life. That she wanted to have her brother and former lover, as well as Rosita, nearby on the mountain was reasonable. I wondered if Rosita would join the cast of those who visited my dreams. I told Millie, "Yes, we will move Bernard there too."

Mom told us, "You two need to get to bed. Tomorrow is another day and everyone will need both of you to guide them. Come, let's go to bed."

Shortly after Millie and I went to bed, John came into the room and was standing beside our big bed. When he knew I saw him, he asked, "Want sleep with you, peas." I picked him up and Millie made room for him between us. The little man was smiling as he almost instantly went to sleep. Millie and I held hands as we drifted off to sleep, thinking of our lost mate.

Morning brought a light snow, just a ground cover with no depth. Jimmy called around seven to say the men had broadcast sand on the roads to help with any slick spots. They had paid attention to bridges and known icy areas. The state had shipped us a large quantity of chemically treated sand that was not supposed to be as hard on road surfaces as the salt mixture that we had used before. The piece of test metal that we used to check for corrosion damage by the chemical survived several soakings in water and chemical mixes so far.

A little later I called Rich, the funeral home owner, to ask about burying Rosita and how to move Bernard. He told me that Rosita would be easy, but moving Bernard might be tricky. He asked me, "Can we wait until this spring or summer to move Bernard? You told me that he had been buried up on the mountain without embalming or a casket, so all there will be now are only bones and any cloth he was wearing at the time. Even the cloth could have disintegrated by now. Bernard doesn't even have a death certificate, so he's going to have to be treated as an archeological find even though you know who it is and when he died. I can rebury the remains without a problem, but because he died after the state laws were in place, I'll need a death certificate if I record it. You'll have to have an autopsy performed along with statements from Millie and maybe Summer. Why don't you get Benson to work on that as it wouldn't hurt to have Bernard recorded as legally dead? It will be spring soon and a little easier to exhume the bones by the time Benson gets everything put together."

I told Rich that we could wait for Bernard, but it was something that Millie wanted. Rich made the comment, "It's only fitting for you to have a small family cemetery on your mountain, Mike. You've become such an important part of our community that your family probably needs a special place."

I noticed Mom leaning against the doorway when I hung up the phone. She softly said, "You know, I might even want your father moved up here. It's as if this has been our family home all of our lives, even though I know others have lived here. You've made this more than a home, more like a family homestead or castle, Mike. This is our mountain."

When I told Millie what Rich had said earlier, she understood that it would be reasonable to wait until spring to move Bernard. She also recognized that it might be important to do the legal stuff to confirm his death.

Harold came to the cabin while I was going over what needed to be discussed about the farms. He told me, "Martha or I didn't call because we felt you needed to be alone and have time to work out your feelings before we offered to help. Several people have called wanting to bring food and to help with your chores, but I've kept them away for right now. You know that you're going to have to let folks stop by to give you dishes and say something to you. It's their way to grieve with you, Mike, so you need to welcome them."

"Okay, Harold, you can tell them it's okay. I'll call Bernie and he can talk about it on the radio if he wants. I suppose I can handle the traffic. We have a crowd out here every night anyway."

When I called Bernie at the radio station, he said that he would tell people that we were accepting visitors, but there would be a visitation at the funeral home. That was going to be difficult. I made my mind up that the kids would not go there and wouldn't look at Rosita's body. It's a corpse, not the person. Her spirit was inside of us and lived all around us, not in a box. I think I'll just have Rich keep the casket closed and put a photo of her on the casket. Mom and Millie had taken many photos of her. The one I like the most was of Millie holding Kevin and Karen, Rosita holding John, Minya and Mato sitting in front, with Mom and I behind them. We took that at Christmas time and had all been excited to have a family picture like that.

I called Rich and told him of my decision. He asked if any of us wanted to view Rosita before he sealed the casket. I had to think about it for a second, but I really didn't want anyone seeing her now. "Go ahead and seal it, Rich. I'm sure Rosita would prefer that people aren't gawking at her body now that she's passed."

I told Mom and Millie my decision after talking to Rich. They both agreed. Rich had asked me when I wanted the funeral and burial. I told him that I wanted it during the week so there wouldn't be a crowd. He immediately advised me, "It isn't going to happen that way, Mike. Everyone knows you, and everyone knew Rosita. You forget that she has been representing you at the market for a long time now. She was the one who organized the Saturday market for your butter and eggs while Millie was out having the twins. Rosita was well-known and admired. It will be a full house wherever you have the funeral. How about having it at the church? There is more room now with the additions, and it would be easy to handle everyone there."

Darn, I hadn't wanted this to become a circus, so I asked Rich, "Is it okay to ask those attending the service not to come to the burial since it's going to be on the mountain?"

"You can probably get away with that, Mike. I think the people will understand your desire for some privacy. Folks are still going to be coming by with dishes for you and your family for a while. You have to remember, this is a county thing, and they all want you to know they have feelings for you all."

Whew, I know how people here are, as I've seen it for all of those who have passed on. Heck, even a bad sickness brought loads of food and offers of help from everyone in the county.

I called Bernie back and told him my decision on not inviting everyone out to the grave. He told me that he would make that announcement so no one would get their feelings hurt. He asked if it would be okay for the road guys and him to come to the burial.

"You guys are family; the same with Esteban and his people. All of the folks from below are family, too, so yes, you can be there."

The funeral was held in the church the following Wednesday morning. The place was over full to the point that people were standing along the walls and in all of the doorways. Harold had asked me to say something, but I begged off as I didn't want the whole county to see me cry in front of them. I did write something from Millie and me for Harold to read.

It was a note to Rosita.

'Rosita,

We will miss you and your happy loving smile. You blessed our family with love and care each day. John, Karen, Kevin, Minya, Mato, our older Karen, Mom, Millie, and I have all depended on you as a part of our home and family. You will always be in our hearts.

You came to us seeking a family, and we became yours. You fit in with us and became a wonderful addition to our home. We will miss you.

We love you, Rosita.'

There were not many dry eyes, including mine, after Harold read that. He offered a prayer and thanked everyone for coming to say goodbye to Rosita.

I felt that we weren't saying goodbye, but just closing out her physical presence. She was going to be on our mountain where we could visit her.

Millie was having a really tough time and needed my help to walk out of church. Rosita had become more to her than any of us. The two were closer than siblings, and constantly expressed their love for each other.

We had left the kids at home with Camille, Chloe, and Colette. The three girls knew the value of being good babysitters, but took care of the little ones like big sisters would. I loved the way the three girls were becoming such an integral part of our family, although it did appear that we might be losing Camille a lot faster than I would have expected.

The hearse came with the casket around noon. The hole had been dug next to Eliza and Bud, and the cemetery man had set up the device to lower the casket. Minya and Mato wanted to be there for this part, so I brought them out and held each of them in my arms as Harold said another prayer and we watched as the casket was lowered. Minya said, "I love you, Rosita. I will miss you."

Mato had tears streaming down his face as he said, "We will think of you often, Mama Rosita. I love you."

I think everyone there had tears on their face.

We didn't have a stone yet, but Millie had ordered one using the Internet. She told me I would like what she had put on it. Mato insisted that we put up a wooden cross for now, because that was how his parents' graves were marked. My two little Indians had some horrific memories they had to deal with.

Mom, Shirley, Sissy, and Millie made a huge supper of fried chicken with all of the special vegetables that go with it, while we were all in the house sitting in front of the big fire. The mood became merrier as time passed and more of our wine was consumed. I stood when it was time to eat and said, "Thank you for coming tonight. We'll all miss Rosita, but we honor her by remembering her and the contribution she made to the whole family. She's forever with us up here on the mountain now." I ended my talk by saying, "Thank you for this food, Lord, and for allowing us each other's company one more time. Amen."

Yep, my family was all here, having supper together, knowing we would have to go help Esteban do his evening milking. Another event we could attend together.

John asked me to put him to bed that night, so I took him to the children's room and tucked him in. After I gave Minya and Mato a goodnight hug, they rose up to listen as my little man asked, "Will we get another mama, Daddy?"

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead



-------

Chapter 62

While I snuggled with Millie, I could hear John's question repeat over and over in my head as if on a recorder. He had asked, "Daddy, will we get another mama?"

Only Millie could answer that question, and I wasn't going to tell her what John had asked. That Minya and Mato were both up and listening told me the three must have discussed the situation. Little ones do talk and can have serious conversations. I wish I could have heard that one.

I could understand that Minya and Mato might feel that way as their parents had been killed and replaced, then they had two mothers plus a grandmother here, so why not another replacement mother?

John knew Millie was his mother, but he had also known Rosita as another mother. He had fallen asleep with Rosita as often as he had with Millie. I suppose he might have expected that he could get another mother. It was worth a chuckle to think that my son was probably on his mother's side on that subject. I doubt that Millie would be shopping for another woman for me right away. I figured that my mom, Sissy, and sister-in-law were going to be all of the help necessary to keep the home and kids happy. I liked that my nieces and nephews were here most everyday and being schooled by their mothers.

I lay snuggled with Millie, listening to her breathe evenly while sleeping. I was spooned against her back, hugging her while her hand was holding mine in place over her motherly breasts. The twins were more than old enough to be weaned, but Millie didn't want them to stop nursing. John was still crawling into her lap and unbuttoning her blouse to get at a breast. I think it was now more for comfort than the milk, but he still wanted that closeness. He was healthy, as were the twins, so it must be good for them.

I think I was asleep when I had the feeling of a presence.



Dad was standing by the bedroom fireplace, with the poker in his hand as he nudged the logs. He smiled at me and nodded toward the other side of the fireplace. Rosita stood there smiling at me. She was dressed in a flowing gown that looked as if it was being blown about by unseen breezes.

Dad nodded at me again, then I saw Grandmother. Was I going mad by seeing my grandmother? She was sitting in the rocker Millie uses to nurse the babies. She looked at Dad, then over at Rosita, before she said to me, "You need to listen to them, Mike. You need to listen to all of them, especially the little girl who plays in the mountain flowers."

My grandmother was sitting in the rocking chair looking at me with the smile that always made me think she was just barely putting up with me, since I had been a rambunctious boy always going off exploring. Grandma had been special to me as she had often cared for me when the rest of the family needed to go to town. The way that she used to cuddle me in her arms as I went to sleep is still embedded in my mind. Now she was watching me while I hugged my wife.

The three of them faded as I drifted off back to sleep.



The dogs were anxiously licking me, trying to wake me so they could go out. I crawled from bed and let them out, noting that the clock on the stove said five fifteen. At least the dog clock still worked.

I was warming some old coffee when Mom walked in and sat at the little table. I gave her the first mug and made another for myself as I assembled a full pot to brew.

Mom smiled at me when I sat down across from her and asked me, "Well, did your Rosita visit you?"

I was stunned. How could she know or even ask?

"She did, but didn't say anything. I saw Dad and Grandma, and she spoke to me."

Mom looked startled as she asked, "What did Mom say?"

I didn't really want to tell her, but I described how Dad and Rosita were standing on each side of the fireplace and Grandma was sitting in the rocker. I told Mom that Grandma said, "You need to listen to them, Mike. You need to listen to all of them, especially the little girl who plays in the mountain flowers."

Mom asked, "What does that mean, Mike?"

"I don't know, Mom. All of them have told me to watch for and listen to the little girl who plays in the mountain flowers, and I have. You'd think that little girl would be tired of talking to me by now."

Mom laughed, "You're so funny, Mike. You're having dreams of your father, Rosita, and now your grandmother, and are worried about a little girl who plays in the mountain flowers. You're too much. Let's wait until spring when the mountain will be covered with those beautiful flowers, then do what the little girl tells you."

"You know that it must be more than just following a path, Mom. Up to now, I've been told where to find untold riches and also that I will be needed to help someone. The whispers have all been right on the button so far, Mom. I think I need to listen to what my ghosts have to say."

"You're right, Mike. You do need to listen, but remember you are mortal, and have to listen for clues that will keep you that way."

I heard the gurgle of the coffee pot telling me the pot was finished brewing, so I got up, hugged my mother, picked her cup up, and moved toward the coffee maker.

After pouring Mom a fresh mug of coffee, I dressed and went to do the outside chores. The ladies from below were busy milking the cow and processing the milk. I fed the outside critters and the steers that would be going to the butcher.

Back inside the cabin, Millie was feeding the twins, who were no longer falling asleep after breakfast, but wanting to get down and continue trying to walk. John was always around them, trying to help them stand as they kept experimenting. Watching the older child coach the younger ones is fascinating, as the learning experience must still be fresh in the older child's mind. The kids were very perceptive of each other and knew what each other needed.

It was time for me to review our status with all the leaders of the various groups today. The weather forecast was for heavy snow, so the trucks needed to be loaded with the sand chemical mixture, ready to go. Although all the farms needed to be ready for the snow, the most important one would be Esteban's so that his stock would be well fed, under cover, and have plenty of water.

Cows were funny. They are happy if they have plenty to eat and drink, and a fairly clean, dry area to lie down to chew their cud. You knew the cow would give a lot more milk during the bad weather, as she will have been lying down chewing her cud all day when she wasn't drinking water and eating hay.

The snow was coming down hard by six in the evening. That our trucks were all out working gave me some peace of mind, but I also knew how treacherous it was for those trucks and the men driving them. The men would push the trucks hard to clear the snow from the roads as fast as they could, but they could end up in a ditch if they hit a high or a really slick spot. They all had radios and their cell phones, so they could call for help if they weren't knocked unconscious. Hmm. I'd heard that some cars were being delivered with systems that would automatically call for help in the event of a crash. I decided to ask Bernie if there was anything like that available to retrofit the sand trucks.

I monitored the radio all evening to be sure the men didn't have any problems. They switched off after four hours so some of them could rest. Their own plan was working as the snow fell heavily on the mountainous terrain.

I took my truck out around three AM and cleared the snow from our lane, Ben's place, and down to the main road. I cleared the widow's drive on the way back, then the other side of the road all the way to the house. I knew the men would have done it, but there's no sense in making them do more than they have to. Besides, this was my mountain and I need to keep the roads cleared when I can.

The folks from below were coming up to do morning chores by the time I came back to our driveway. I parked my truck, did the heavy outside work, then carried milk cans to the summer kitchen. The house was busy with the older girls helping Millie make breakfast. I loved how they had taken up the slack that would have normally been Rosita's efforts.

It's funny how a dozen huge trucks were in our parking area as it neared six thirty, and all of the roadmen were having breakfast with us. What was even more surprising was that their wives were with them.

Jimmy told me, "This is what makes us a family, Mike. We know we can come here, get warm in front of your fire, eat well, and be safe from all that awaits us." The fact that Calvin and John were there made Camille's day, as she sat next to the man she was so interested in.

It was typical that Mom had taken them both into my office for a while, and all three were smiling when they came out. A little later, after the men had left, Mom took me into the office and said, "I talked to the two of them and cautioned them about doing anything more than they should. Both agreed and it was so sweet when Camille kissed Calvin and told him that he wouldn't regret waiting. You know, Mike, we did something special when we took those girls in."

I saw the girl dancing in the flowers when I was drifting off to sleep that night, but she danced to right in front of me and said, "I need to teach, I need to instruct, and I need to help them know where they came from."

That was it. She left me a cryptic message as she played in the flowers and flitted away. I had no idea what she meant.

This was Friday, the day we prepared for market. We were all busy and I had to talk to the butcher to make sure of what I would be bringing him and what he was sending me. I had to reduce the temperature and keep the meat smoking if he didn't need all that I had ready in the smoke houses.

My next concern was that it was time for Sylvia Porter to visit. To keep this on a level where I felt I had the upper hand, I called her.

"Sylvia, this is Mike Grayson. How are you?"

The woman answered, "I'm fine, Mike. You know it's time for an unannounced visit, don't you?"

"I do, Sylvia, but I have to advise you that we've had an unexpected problem. Rosita has passed away. She was stricken with cancer, and she succumbed to the disease while the cancer center at the university in Lexington was trying to save her."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mike. I should have been told, but your county only tells the state what they want. It's like you're all on another planet or something."

"Don't feel that way, Sylvia, we're just a bunch of folks who try to do the right thing, but screw up some of the time. The folks here have a tendency to want to keep our business here.

"I know, Mike, but it seems as if you all do what you like, then advise us of what you've done later."

"Well, we're telling you early this time, Sylvia. Rosita has passed and we're continuing without any outside help."

Sylvia became serious, "I might have someone to send you that is in need of the help you can give her, but she can provide something special to your children, Mike."

"What could someone do for the kids, Sylvia?"

The state worker told me, "I have a lady who is an Ogalala Sioux, needs a temporary home, and who could possibly teach your two some of their tribal history. Could you take her in while she finds her way in life? She needs some time with a family such as yours to get her thoughts together."

"I don't want someone who is going to want to stay on, Sylvia. Right now, at this moment, we don't need anyone attempting to take on any additional responsibilities by trying to mess with our Minya and Mato."

"I've not steered you wrong so far, Mike. This woman needs the type of atmosphere your family has and the closeness you share with all the people there. Help me on this one, Mike, and I promise to help you on something in the future."

"What kind of situation could this woman have been in that she needs a home? Was she ejected from her reservation or have some run in with the law? We couldn't possibly keep her around our kids if she's had a booze or drug problem, especially the young Basset girls."

"It's not like that, Mike," Sylvia said. "Her parents passed away and she couldn't keep her family home. She was living with some relatives. The men in the home where she lived were very domineering and decided to use her as a toy. She went along with what was happening to her because she was alone and felt there was no other way for her to survive, but she became pregnant. The men sold her to a mobster who was going to sell the baby, then put her into his group of prostitutes. She was found during a raid and had to be hospitalized with a miscarriage. She's like the girls you just took in, and is just as much in need as they are. This girl or actually woman could use the love and peace you have in your home, Mike. You could help her become more confident in herself. The state really doesn't have a place to put someone like this to help them. I don't feel that I can just put her out on the street. Help me, Mike?"

I had to think about the situation and take a closer look at what she was talking about. I told her, "Come visit us and talk to Mom and Millie, Sylvia. You may have to convince my sister and sister-in-law, as well as the three girls from Pennsylvania. I'm not saying we'll do it or not do it; I'm saying that the women need to make that decision. It's not like we're a rehab center, you know."

Sylvia wanted me to think about something. "You know, this girl was raised on a reservation with some very traditional Native Americans. She knows the culture and traditions, and even speaks the tribal language. She could teach Minya and Mato about their culture. They could give her new hope for herself in turn."

"Like I said, Sylvia, come talk to the women of the house and see what they say. Another outsider scares me a little."

"I know, Mike; I saw that terrible incident on TV. You were lucky to have survived, but you helped rid us of those people. They had already killed and would have killed again. You took care of that problem just as you are the warrior to protect this little Indian girl."

Was Sylvia laying it on thick or being serious with me?

I talked to Mom about what Sylvia wanted when I got off the phone, and she looked as skeptical as I felt. She only offered, "We'll see what this is all about before we make a decision, but like you just said, we're not a rehabilitation center."

My day didn't require me to do anything around the house, but D asked me to help distill some of his special wine. The man had too many special wines now, and was constantly doing something different with them. It was odd, though, since it was usually the poorer wines that we distilled. Funny how mediocre wines often make great brandies.

Sylvia Porter walked up and tapped me on the shoulder while D was observing the distilling temperatures.

After my heart rate came down to under a hundred, she introduced me to another lady who appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She wasn't anything to write home about, but she wasn't bad looking, almost like a Native American, but you never know as the different cultures brought different people to us.

Sylvia said, "This is Winona Wolfcry. Winona means the first born daughter."

We all shook hands before Sylvia continued, "Winona is special as she comes from one of the oldest families in her tribal group. The family has almost all died off, and you know some of her history. I just wanted you to meet her."

I couldn't believe this was who Sylvia had talked about, who I had thought was a young girl. She didn't look like a young girl who had been forced into being used by relatives and sold to a slaver. She was dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans, with a heavy inexpensive coat keeping her warm. Her face had the high cheek bones and forehead of a Native American, but her gentle smile full of bright white teeth gave her a very pleasant, gentle appearance.

I liked her long black hair that was in a thick French braid down to the middle of her back. Her big black, or actually dark brown, eyes made her appear as if she was interested in everything around her.

Winona looked around at the equipment and made an observation, "You make whiskey. That isn't good."

I looked at her a second before answering, "This isn't whiskey. This is a special brandy that people from the big cities pay a lot of money for. We don't make any whiskey, just wine and wine products."

The girl or lady looked confused when she said, "I don't know what you say, brandy. I know wine, but only cheap wine they sell on the reservation. When men can't afford whiskey, they buy the cheap wine and it makes them just as mean and just as sick."

I told her, "I doubt anyone on your reservation will ever have anything such as this to drink. Not everyone likes this kind of spirit."

Sylvia said, "I must take her inside to meet your family. I saw you here by the distilling shed when we drove up and wanted her to meet you, and you to meet Winona."

I wanted to talk to Sylvia but not in front of the girl or woman, whichever she was. I had the impression from the conversation I had with Sylvia that this person was young, like a late teen or something like that. How are we going to take in someone like this with a houseful already? I'd bet Mom would probably be thinking the same thing. I'll let her and Millie tell Sylvia to take her back where she came from.

D came back and told me, "This batch is going to be so expensive that I think I'll skip keeping a bottle for us to sample. It's going to be special."

I told the man, "Keep some anyway. I have to know what fifty dollar a bottle stuff tastes like. I'm sure you'll enjoy having a sip from time to time."

D grinned as he jokingly said, "You da boss." After a pause, he said, "You should probably go to the house. That lady with the big braid has all of the other ladies gathered around her right now. You better make sure she isn't a snake oil salesman, or a salesperson in this case, and by the way everyone in there is listening to her."

I could see all of the adult women and the girls from the orphanage huddled together when I quietly entered the house and took my boots off. I could hear a melodic voice telling the ladies of how life on a reservation was now compared to what life had been before reservations.

I poured myself the last of the coffee and made another pot. I leaned up against the low wall on that end of the kitchen so I could listen in. Winona told of how women had once been the head of households, they were the ones growing and gathering all the food except for game. Even small game was captured and trapped by women. Women were highly respected and treated with dignity in the old days. It was after they put all the people into reservations, and gave them money, that women lost their place. Many kept the traditions, but just as many became slaves of liquor and idleness. She told how the family structure was torn down over the years, and how criminal behaviors began developing as the older families died off. That had happened to her family, and the tribal elders put her in a home with distant relatives when she was the last of her family, so that she wouldn't have to be given a separate stipend. It was the same there as everywhere; a group of greedy people wanted to live off others.

Winona had been a community schoolteacher who had gone to the university in South Dakota, and had taught at the reservation tribal school for several years. The men in the relative's home made her quit teaching when she was placed there, and kept her confined inside the house. That led to how she was now sitting in our mountain cabin, telling her story.

All the women were spellbound by the tale Winona told. Mom got up and came to the kitchen for coffee and was startled to see me. "When did you sneak in?"

"I didn't sneak in, Mom. I just didn't make a lot of noise when I took my boots off. I had some coffee and have been listening to Winona for the last few minutes."

Mom looked at me and blushed. "What's wrong Mom? You're blushing."

My mother looked up at me and said, "I want to keep her, at least for a little while. She isn't going to be a Rosita replacement, but she is going to become a teacher for all of the kids. This is a very special person, and she's going to be fine as soon as she regains her self-confidence. Right now she needs a place to gain back the dignity she lost. Her spirit has been broken and she has no self-confidence after having been in what has to be considered captivity for a few years. She can't go back to the reservation because she will now be considered a traitor for having told outsiders about how some groups take all of the federal money, and have been using and selling the young girls. I'm sure she can get a position with the local school district when she gets back on her feet."

When I didn't immediately jump in agreement, Mom said, "I think Minya and Mato need to be taught of their heritage. Winona told me that the kids' parents probably became disgusted with what some of the men in their part of reservation were doing, so they left to be away from that influence."

I advised Mom, "I told Sylvia earlier that it was going to be up to you, Millie, and all of the others if we keep her here for a while. It's good that she is older in a way, so she won't be in the running for a Rosita replacement position. I'm happy to have only one wife. I don't need any more."

Mom hugged me and said, "Good. I think I'll offer our Indian maiden a home for a while in exchange for helping teach our little Indians about their culture."

I didn't need to be around, so I went into my office to look over some numbers Maude had brought for me. These were projections on what sixty acres could bring in if we used the numbers we received off the five acre garden up here as a basis. The dollar amount was staggering, but Maude also listed the expenses, and I was floored by the amount of labor dollars it would require to keep sixty acres in the same condition that we kept the five. I wonder where we can get that many people.

I felt a presence behind me, so I turned to see Sylvia. She was smiling as I nodded for her to sit in the chair by the desk. As she sat, she said, "Millie asked Winona to come live with you. Winona made it clear that she would leave if there were drunks, but thought we might be a nice family to live with and help. She asked if the family could afford to feed another person and the young girls laughed, Mike. They told Winona that you would make sure there was plenty of food for everyone. They're showing her your big pantry right now."

"Like I told you, Sylvia, it's the women's decision. If they feel good about this lady, I'm fine with it. I take it you have run her through all of the states and federal law enforcement computers to make sure we don't have a problem person?"

Sylvia told me, "We had to do that when she disclosed to the FBI what the men on her reservation were doing. The FBI got in touch with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and found out Winona had been reported as being suspected of dying in the forest. How about that for a way to write someone off? The feds are all over that place now, so she can't go back or someone would kill her. I was asked to help relocate her, and after talking to her, I thought of you folks and how your Mom will always help someone. Thank you for allowing me to have Winona meet your family. I knew that it would result in something like this."

I observed, "Minya and Mato were staying close to their cousins, but I saw how Minya kept staring at Winona. She always notices other women, and tries to learn how to be a woman from them. She will crawl up on Millie's lap and hug her, and also does it to Mom, Sissy, and Shirley, but she really tries to imitate Millie. Winona can be a good influence too."

"That's what I hoped for, Mike," Sylvia said. "I'm sorry for your loss of Rosita, as I know you cared for her a great deal. I hope bringing Winona here so soon after losing Rosita won't upset the house."

"It shouldn't, Sylvia. This place will continue as all farm homes must. Life goes on even when you lose someone. A farm is full of life. It feeds all who live there and many, many more. Just think of all of the people we feed and you'll know how proud I am of what we do."

Thinking that if tomorrow was market day, where were the women from below? Were they still in the summer kitchen? "I need to check on something. Go have a cookie and ruin your lunch."

I shouldn't have been concerned as two ladies from below came from the summer kitchen with a large chunk of butter for the refrigerator. Anita announced, "For the market you are ready. Now our special food for market we must make. To sell, Consuela has many tamales. Have lots of tortillas we do. In the morning we will see you."

Anita's speech was getting a lot better, but she still spoke so cryptically that you always had to smile.

Mom told me, "The butcher called while you were out with D, and asked if you could bring a couple of steers in. He said that he's low on meat and needs them for tomorrow. You're telling Maude what you take him, aren't you?"

"I trust him to send Maude what he owes, Mom. We've been doing business with him for a long time and he's always been fair. He's been giving me whatever the market price for choice beef is. Our stock has always been good and these Angus we're shipping are very choice."

Mom didn't grimace, but almost frowned as she said, "I'm just suggesting that you should ask Maude since you've taken him close to forty head over the last couple of months. That's a hell of lot of money that you're going to need for seed."

"Speaking of seed, I need to talk to George Dirk and Sam Green about seed for next year. I'm curious to see if they're going to be buyers for all of the produce we get out of the bottom land."

I called the Kroger office and was transferred to George. After I identified myself, he asked, "What can I do for you, Mike? It's too early for us to deliver seed yet, and we haven't talked about corn acreage yet either."

I went right into my biggest question without hesitation. "I've recently bought some great bottom land that would be perfect for another big truck farm. Considering what you now get from us off of probably six acres, could you handle all of the produce produced off of sixty acres?"

There was a long pause before he said, "Are you really thinking of having another sixty acres of produce?"

"That's my thought, since the land is too good for just regular crops. We're going to be spreading manure on it shortly, or as soon as the snow is melted and we can get into the field. I'm going to try to find a field manager to take care of both big gardens so that we can stay on top of caring for the crop."

"We can handle that much, Mike, but I would want to advise you on what quantities of what to plant."

Now was the time to put the arm on him. "Does that mean you would supply the seed again this year?"

"It does, as we were able to gain a lot of information from your produce last year, and if we were to do it on ten times the size we did before, we should get ten times last year's results. The question for you, though, is can you produce about twice the sweet corn this year. It was such a good seller that all of the stores wanted more. We ran out far too quickly. Your manure must be better than others, as your corn is delicious. My wife canned a lot of it last year and we've been eating it all winter."

"Tell you what, Mike, how about we come out next week and we can discuss allocations and what to expect? I have a counterpart down in Texas who may know of someone who can be a field manager for you. I know the way you are, and I know you won't tolerate someone who's heavy-handed. Let me give my friend a call."

I advised George, "Be sure to tell me what day you're coming so that you can meet my farmers who are working the land. They are good farmers and are in the planning stage for the coming season right now. I'll have them bring our diagram of the cultivatable land and we'll work on what you can use."

George seemed happy to get ready for the season. I was happy to get a commitment from my major buyer. Spring was going to be busy.

I found out that Sylvia had planned her visit so she could join us for market day and church on Sunday. She used my office computer for a while to finish up her reports for the week, and was sitting out by the fire as all the evening people began coming. Winona was having a good time getting acquainted with all of the children and the Basset girls. She couldn't get over the fact that all the children and the girls had laptops so they could better continue their education.

Pete and Bert came in, and both were fascinated by the small woman with a head full of braided hair. Bert even said, "She looks like an Indian. Are you shopping for another woman, or is she a teacher?"

I wanted to whack the old man, but instead I advised, "It's a woman Mom wants to help for a while. She is a teacher and will be teaching my kids about their heritage."

Pete said, "Good idea. Your young'uns' gonna need to learn to hunt and trap." Pete thought about that for a second before adding, "But I guess you're about as a good a teacher for that as anyone around here. Your kids are lucky to have a dad like you."

I sure hoped so; being a dad has its responsibilities.

Winona was astounded at how many people kept coming until all our family was there, and that included the Bensons, Bernie and Sheryl, John, Calvin, all the road men and their wives, and Raul came with his wife.

Calvin told us he had moved into the rebuilt home on the Hampton place and Raul told me that Jose had already rebuilt the Temple place and was moving into it this weekend with his new wife. Raul told me, "I'm going to do Teddy's next, and I think that would be a good place for us. That will free up the homes and apartments below for all of the new people who are coming. I've been able to apply for work permits for a lot of our relatives. We've been able to just ask and almost immediately be granted the permits so far. The person's documentation is handled quickly if there is no criminal record. I'm going to get you your workers for that bottom land. I promise these people will be good workers or I'll send them back. They will do your work, and they will work our garden for our own food. You've taught all of us how to take better care of ourselves. We're proud to be a part of your family group."

Winona was trying to put what person did what together. Esteban and his family told her she must come to see their dairy operation, as they were very proud of it. Each of the people told her what they did until she finally asked, "And Mike owns all of this? You all work for him?"

Bernie corrected her, "No, we all work with him and for ourselves. Every one of us has become better off by knowing Mike and taking his direction. He keeps finding people to help and puts the right people into the right places. Just look at Gene. Gene's found Maude and is now the head of an entire region for the cable company construction division. In addition to that, he's the main architect for the housing development. Each of us has abilities that Mike has used to make us all better. Sure it helps him, but it has also made the rest of us better. He feeds all of us, not just here almost every day, but he also gives us meat and produce so that we always have plenty to eat. He pays us very generously, too; we have a great place to live cheaply with our wives; plus we're all a part of this great big family. Heck, we've even adopted those two old reprobates, Pete and Bert."

Winona said, "I will learn what all of you do and become better acquainted with you. I want to be a part of this family too."

Karen had come home for the weekend and was sitting next to Winona. She said, "I was thrown out of my house, became a runaway, and was almost lost in a group that would have addicted me to drugs and a bad lifestyle, but Mike, Millie, and Mom rescued me. They brought me here and kept me as their own. Now I'm in college, and I will come back to teach right here in Stanton. I suppose I'm going to have to eventually move out of the house, but this is my home. These are all my family. If you stay, you will be too."

Mom was smiling so big that I thought she might split a lip.

Sissy, Shirley, and Mom did some room re-arrangements. She took the four rooms and kept John, Mato, and Minya together. She already had two twin beds in Karen's room, so she put Winona with Karen. The three Basset girls were in another room, leaving one big bedroom open in case Sissy, Shirley, or their kids needed to stay over.

Raul noticed the activity and went into my office for some printer paper. He sketched out a plan on how to build an upstairs over the back half of the house to give us four more bedrooms, but only two bathrooms. He did a quick sketch of what he thought it might look like from the front so we could see that it wouldn't take away from the general appearance of a small cabin at the top of the hill.

Gene got involved, and the two of them were talking about how they could reinforce the foundation to support the second floor. Since the second floor would be over what was the new structure of the existing house, the two men felt the structure would be sound. Raul went right on drawing an addition to the side of where the dining area was. He thought that he could easily expand that area and the back porch area without it showing from the front. As he was drawing, he mentioned, "We need to use some of the front porch for a larger entryway and let me build a place for us to put our shoes when we come in."

Mom was excited that we might add more rooms. She said, "We need to keep the big bedrooms open and the girls could sleep upstairs. Mato and Minya can too when they get bigger, but John loves to be in the same room with them right now. The twins are still in your room, but it won't be long until they will need their own room."

Raul said, "I'll figure out what it will take, and we'll build on the upstairs as soon as we can get the logs for the siding. I want to expand the dining room, meanwhile. We need more tables and we need to have room for more couches and big chairs. I think if I was to make the room twice as big, we could use the side where we expand for additional living room and two more big tables. That should just about take care of it. I really want to work on the entryway so that the shoes and boots have a place. Our family is just getting to be too big and we need to expand."

I thought Mom would crack up over Raul talking about our huge family. I suppose it was, with the variety of people who we had brought in. I sat back, thinking that I wished Rosita could be with us to enjoy the excitement of adding on once again. Knowing Mom, she would use the additional space by inviting even more people, but I think her ability to cook for so many was just about to her limit. It took a concentrated effort of all of the women to get supper ready even now.

Later, when it was just Mom and me having a glass of wine, she said, "It's good that we're so busy with people here right now. I know that we all miss Rosita, and I'm sure Millie misses her the most, but we're so busy she doesn't have time to think about it right now."

Mom had sat back, looking at me, when she said, "Well, you have just one woman again, Mike. Are you going to be open if Millie wants another?"

I sipped my wine and told Mom, "If it's what Millie wants, yes, but I'd rather not do that again. I'm not getting any younger, Mom, and I really don't need more than one woman. You and I both know Winona might not be someone Millie will choose, but she may like Sylvia. You need to caution both of them about what something like that would mean. Sylvia would lose her job with the state, and I know she's proud of her position. Besides, I really don't want another woman, not that it wouldn't be fun." Mom punched me on the arm for that remark.

"Well, just keep it in your pants Son. I think you have at least one extra bedmate tonight. You know how Millie enjoys snuggling with another woman. It's a good thing that your sister is happily married or Millie would be chaining her to the bed. I doubt it would take any coercion to get her under you, and you know how Millie really does enjoy being around Sissy. Sissy likes Millie too."

"So who's in my bed? Maybe I should snooze out here on the couch."

"I think she has Sylvia in there, but Sylvia, Winona, and Millie were huddled together a little while ago. Like I told you; just keep it in your pants."

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go in and just look at them and go Eenie, meenie, minee, moe." Mom whacked me on the shoulder once again as I put another log on the fire.

In the bedroom, I gave the little ones a kiss on the head, put another log on the fire, stirred the coals, and undressed for bed. I left my shorts on, and curled up on the outside against Millie, who was hugging Sylvia, who was up against Winona. Amazing; three women in my bed again. Poor Karen; there wasn't any room if she wanted to come in and snuggle.

I pictured the little girl playing in the mountain flowers as I slipped into sleep. I thought she was taking on some Native American facial characteristics.

Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
Helicopter and Legal Guru, Rotorhead

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To Be Continued...
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Posted:  2012-05-12
Last Modified: 2013-03-16 / 01:10:37 pm
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