Chapter 12

Paul and Tom had seen the wagon coming slowly down the road.

They were both excited that Trae was home. The two lads had been very busy in Trae’s absence. When Mark had asked Tom if he wanted to move out to the valley with Paul, he had jumped at the chance. His mother was driving him nuts to get a better job and living in town just wasn’t fun without Paul being with him.

Marika had also moved onto a new conquest and Tom was wondering why he and Paul had even fallen for her charms when she was just a tease. He had been a bit worried how Paul would react when he turned up but Paul had hugged him hard and said, “Great, I might get half of what Trae wants to be done, with you here to help me.”

Heartened, he promised to do whatever Paul wanted him to. He was a bit dubious about Kitty but she soon grew on him and the lads took turns doing her late night feed. She had only stopped demanding it a week before, so they had both gotten more sleep since.

As for work, he and Paul had found plenty to keep them occupied. Trae had told Paul he was to take Sixthday off, once the minimum chores he must do were done. For both lads this was par-of-the-course, and they’d had a lot of fun hunting, fishing and exploring the valley on their day off.

Now Trae was coming down the mountain and they knew he wasn’t alone. “Skat,” groaned Paul when he saw the cub.

Tom chuckled, “Hey, it might keep Kitty out of our hair if she has a playmate other than us.”

Kitty had grown big enough to be into everything the boys were doing. She had an insatiable curiosity that went with her appetite. She had started to get her baby teeth so the lads had added ground meat to her diet and she was more than happy to eat it.

When Trae introduced his wife, both boys fell in love. “Does she have a sister?” Paul asked hopefully.

Trae chuckled, “No.”

“I do have a couple of Aunts,” Kat offered.

“Yeah but we have only just turned nineteen,” Tom replied.

“So have they,” Kat answered and grinned at their shocked looks.

Trae looked at Kat and frowned as he tried to remember her or Jim mentioning any younger aunts.

Kat said, “The letter I had been reading when that man tried feeling me up was from my grandfather, Raymond. He fell in love with a shifter not long after he moved to Hilton and she had twins. His wife, Vera, believed the girls had potential and she had sent them to the University.”

“Apparently, they got into a bad crowd and flunked out this year. They were told not to bother reapplying. Raymond had asked Jim if he would take them for a while and straighten them out for him. Vera is pregnant and she is finding the girls stressful. Legally they are still responsible for them.”

“Why did Jim give you the letter?” Trae asked.

“Well you did mention going to Hilton and he asked me if you would check into the situation. Something in the letter seemed off to him and I agree. I think they got into more trouble than Granddad was letting on. You have to do more than flunk-out of a couple of subjects to get asked not to come back,” Kat told him.

Trae sighed, “Fine, do you think it can wait a couple of weeks? I do have some things I need to do here first and I’ll have to ride to Hilton, as I’ve never been there before.”

Kat grinned at him, “I have.”

Trae huffed out another sigh, “Fine, give us a couple of weeks at least.”

“Yes dear,” she said, and the lads snickered.

The lads pitched in with the unloading and were very curious of the boxes they found.

Trae explained that the machines were one reason he needed a bit of time on the farm. He explained one of the machines could be sat on and it was called a Puller. One of the attachments would plough the fields ready for the next machine, which would drop the seeds in place and cover the seeds. The third machine was a Reaper.

He had brought the little Puller and the attachments, boxed in pieces and they had to assemble them first. The lads were fascinated. Paul grinned at Tom, “See, I told you. He comes up with some ultra-ideas.”

Trae showed Kat around his house. He was quite proud of it and he did blush a little when Kat giggled upon seeing his bed. He wasn’t sure why he had made it so big. She did love his bathing room and the hot tub.

Paul and Tom had cooked a big pot of stew so dinner was easy and they loved hearing all about what Trae had gotten up to on his holiday. Kitty and Sampson had been fed and they were cuddled up together in Kitty’s basket, near them.

The cuttails had amused everyone when Kitty pranced up to Sampson and licked his face. She rubbed herself along his body and then she had pranced off with Sampson following. Female cuttails rule the family, and the boys all agreed that poor Sampson had just been claimed by his smaller friend.

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Trae and Kat retired to his big bed. Kat was more than happy to help him bless it. They had both used a lot of magic that day and both knew the first time was going to be fast and furious.

They had placed the sacks of crystals in Trae’s room and they did their level best, to pump as much magic into them as they could. By the third time that they made love, they had slowed down a little to enjoy each other, having gotten the need they had both felt dealt with.

When they woke the next morning at sunrise, they both grinned at each other. The last time they had both come, it had been so powerful they had both collapsed into a deep sated sleep. “I love your bed,” Kat said to Trae.

Trae smiled, caressed her cheek and replied, “Not as much as I love having you in it. I hope you can be happy being here with me Kat. I’ve been a loner for a long time and you may find I need a bit of space. It took me a little while to get used to Paul being here.”

“Mind you, it did make it a bit easier for me when I was with you and Jim. Jim had always respected my need for some time alone and I did notice that you did too. Even Nala seemed to know when not to bother me.”

Kat chuckled, “That was easy to work out. You sort of space out and the first time you did it, Pater said, to just leave you alone, so we did.”

“Thank you, it will probably still happen. Even Paul seemed to pick up when I just needed some quiet time,” Trae replied. “So how about a shower? I have a lot I need to do today.”

“What do you want me to do today?” she replied as she crawled off the bed.

Trae was distracted watching the beautiful, naked woman walking on knees and hand to the end of the bed with her sexy arse pointed in his direction. Kat looked back over her shoulder at him and then suddenly scrambled for the end of the bed.

“Oh no you don’t, you randy Mage,” she squealed as Trae lunged for her. She squealed again, launched off the end of the bed to her feet and ran to his bathroom.

Trae caught her at the shower. He soon had his arms under her’s and his hands on her lovely titties as he nibbled on her neck. Kat giggled and squirmed, which just made him even harder. She did get the water turned on before he followed her into the shower.

By the time they got to breakfast, the lads had already eaten. The pot of porridge was on the side of the stove keeping warm for them. The cats’ basket was empty, and they could see from the empty dishes that the cuttails had eaten and left with the lads.

The couple ate quickly and washed up. They headed to the shed and found the lads opening the crates to see what was in them. Paul looked up and grinned when they walked in, “We might have to go hunting later, Boss.”

“Why?” Trae asked.

“I’m sure a whole pride of cuttails must have moved into the valley, with all the roaring and screaming we heard last night,” he replied cheekily.

Trae chuckled when Kat blushed. Personally, he loved it when she screamed when she came for him. He might have to put a shield that let noise in but not out. He looked at the lads. They hadn’t been to town since Tom came to the Valley and Trae had been planning on letting them have a couple of days off.

“I tell you what, how about tomorrow, you two head to town for a couple of days. I have to get these machines put together and I can show Kat her new home. We have a few days before we need to get the fields ready,” he said.

Tom looked at Paul and they both nodded. Paul said, “We’d like to help, so we know what to do if they break down. How about we go after they are put together?”

Trae agreed and started directing them to open certain boxes first. Tom and Paul had already grabbed some tools they thought Trae might need and the four of them soon happily sorted out the jigsaw puzzles. They were delighted by how much fun they were having together.

It wasn’t until Kitty grabbed Paul’s shoe, shook it to get his attention and then growled at him, that they realised they hadn’t eaten. The cuttails had investigated everything that came out of the boxes and the boxes too.

Tom had tipped one over for Kitty so she could see it was empty and then she and Sampson had a game of hiding and mock attacks, using the box as their cave. Some of the parts had been wrapped in paper, and the cuttails had a lot of fun sliding across the floor on it, crawling under or pouncing on it before playing tug-a-war with it and finally, shredding it.

The humans may not have appreciated them ripping up the paper but Sampson and Kitty sure did have a whole lot of fun. After lunch, they both decided they needed a nap. The humans were happy to leave them in their basket.

Paul told Kat that Kitty would find them when she wanted them. She always seemed to know just where they were. Kat told him that Sampson did the same to them. They both chuckled and Tom added that they didn’t own cuttails, they were owned by them. The others had to agree.

Trae added several of his older crystals to the terminals on the big batteries and the sun collector panel that made up the roof of the little Puller. He then pressed the button to start the Puller. He was happy as it purred into life.

Trae had explained to them that the Puller didn’t go much faster than 30km/hr. It even had a special dial so that when you were operating with one of the attachments, you could set the speed to where you wanted it and you basically just steered it.

Neither of the lads had ever driven an auto, so they were fascinated with the idea of driving the Puller. Trae had a feeling after a couple of days of ploughing the appeal would wear off but he did enjoy their enthusiasm.

With four of them and a little magic tossed in, they had the plough assembled quickly. Trae explained how it operated. He showed the lads how to attach it, lift the plough clear of the field and when to drop it. He showed them it could be adjusted to three different depths depending on what you wanted to do.

You could adjust the spacing between the tines and even swap them for row spacing for different plants. The heavy ones were for new ground and the lighter ones for furrows. The plough was only 2m wide but for what Trae wanted to do, it was perfect for his farm and the Puller he had purchased to pull it. He wasn’t planning on planting hundreds of acres of grain.

The Seeder was designed to be adjustable for the furrows the plough created. The Reaper was only a metre wide and the cutting part was mounted so it sat to the side of the Puller. It bundled the stalks, so they fit into the Seed Thresher he had ordered and then it spat the bundles out the other side so they could collect them.

The Thresher was to be delivered to Mark for him. Mark could use a cart to bring it out to the valley for him when it turned up. He didn’t need it for a while. He had been tempted to wait for it but he felt it was time to go home.

Trae got the plough setup, they took it out to one of the fields that he had done a lot of work on and he let Paul take it for a spin. Trae inspected the results and was delighted that they could use the heavy tines to break new dirt. It was a very fertile valley with deep loamy soil.