Chapter 15: Change In Plans

On the way back up to Denver, Monday, we stopped to talk with Gary. We agreed to his cost estimates and his suggestion of the general contractor. The next two weeks we spent in Denver then returned to the ranch for a week. On Monday we were able to watch them start work on the house.

Tuesday we went to Bayfield and ordered 3 TRX 650 4wd (Honda) and 3 - 2 twin axle 1 ton ATV wagons with hand operated dump bed. One of the trailers was for Mike Keys. Two of the ATV's were available but the rest would be ordered and delivered with in two weeks.

Using our ATV's and an ATV trailer the Keys owned we went to the cabin and spent four days working on it. The dirt floor was removed and the ravine filled and packed to form a nice trail. Several loads of rock, sand, and gravel had been hauled up to complete the trail and provide building material for the cabin.

During our stay at the ranch we spent half a day with Brenda and David Cooper. Linda said that there was something diffidently different about their marriage. Virginia commented that Brenda was really friendly and watched Linda like a hawk. Later she added that David seemed to have no interest in women. I agreed that they seemed more like brother and sister than husband and wife but they did run a good ranch with excellent results.

Pop was like a little kid and checked on our house daily using the ATV. All of us had asked Pop to take it a little easier at one time or another. It wasn't that he drove fast; Pop just felt it was designed to go where he wanted and I do mean as the bird flies regardless of the incline and we were scared he would roll it.

When we returned to Denver this time Linda introduced us to Mark Wallace whom she had hired to help run her business. At the end of 10 years he would own 50% of the business. Linda and Mark had figured some way that for the first two years he only received 1% of the business each year and on the tenth year he received the final 5%. Mark was young in his late twenties but had already built up a good reputation and was eager to start his own business so both were extremely happy with the deal.

Virginia and I spent the next 10 days at the Lab. We approved a total of 6 new projects one of which would start immediately and consisted of three proposals which had been rolled into one. To the best of my knowledge there were no complaints about the selection procedures. In fact the number of useful comments added to proposals as they were reviewed demonstrated the reverse. Of the original ten proposals I picked up eight ended up being reworked and five of them were selected. The selection process seemed to take longer but the end results were far better and had the backing of everyone. It was agreed that I would only review proposals that had been through the primary screening process after this.

On the find-me-a-wife front, Teresa had completed all of the tests and was found to be very compatible with us. We had obtained our passports and had plans to fly out the next week on Wednesday when Pop called and said there had been an accident on the farm and David Cooper had died when the tractor he was using rolled over on him. We change the tickets to a week later and headed for the ranch that night planning to spend a week.

The funeral was held two days after we arrived on Thursday. Both Virginia and Linda had spent some time with Brenda and dug the whole story out of her. David and she had met in college and both wanted to ranch. Brenda was a lesbian, David was homosexual, and their marriage was one of connivance. The reason for the marriage was to satisfy both sets of parents who got together and bought part of the ranch for them as a wedding gift. Brenda's main concern right now was that she was going to lose the ranch because she would not be able to work it without help and she could not afford help nor meet the lease requirement with us.

The evening after the funeral Virginia and Linda told Pop and me that they told Brenda not to worry about meeting the lease agreement with us and if she need a hand from us to let us know. Later when we were in bed, Linda asked if we could connect mentally to talk about the ranch and Brenda. I was a little unsure about it but made the connections and it was Virginia who started the ball rolling. "George I think that Brenda would make a good wife for us. She has all the qualifications and Linda and I would like to approach her and get her to take the tests."

"I agree with Virginia and I do not think Brenda is a true lesbian. I think she is afraid of men because she was almost raped in college and doesn't trust men anymore." explained Linda.

"How do you know this?" I queried.

"It slipped out when I told her about our marriage and the fact I had been raped by my uncle. If nothing else I think we need to help her with her fears!" stated Linda.

I could not help but agree to help but was unsure about accepting her as a wife. Both Linda and Virginia had good reasons to and so I agreed to let them talk to her and give her the tests. This decision made them both happy and I questioned why they even talked to me about it and they said that although they were the ones who felt I need more wives they also felt I should have a greater say in who is selected. Linda summed it up this way "You get three votes; that way we cannot gang up on you. Your happiness is more important to us than our getting our own way."

I wanted to ask why then it was so important for me to have additional wives but held on to that thought rather than upset them. Let me put it this way: on one hand, who in their right mind would turn down another wife. On the other hand I was perfectly happy with Linda and Virginia and could see no good reason to increase the number of wives other than they deemed it necessary.

As soon as breakfast was completed Linda and Virginia headed to talk to Brenda. Pop grabbed a thermos of coffee and headed to inspect the new house. I had to laugh at the whole situation. To really appreciate this you have to know there was a large coffee urn available in the small mobile canteen. The foreman would only talk about the house after Pop had provided him with a cup of coffee from Pop's house. Once they both had finished their coffee they would walk from one end of the house to the other discussing what had been accomplished and what was being done today. The whole deal had become quite a ritual between the two men.

I had just finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes when Linda and Virginia returned with Brenda in tow. Linda stayed and talked to Brenda in the living room while Virginia told me they had found her staring at a pistol on the table when they arrived. Virginia wanted me to perform a little mind altering now even if she did not become one of our wives.

I walked into the living room and stood before Brenda and Linda. "Brenda I can help you with your problems but you must agree to it and never reveal what I am about to do! Do you accept my help under these conditions?" I asked.

A hesitant and weak "Yes." was the response.

I then asked Linda and Virginia to have a cup of coffee in the kitchen while Brenda and I talked. After they had left I turned to Brenda and sent, "You will never reveal to anyone what is about to happen."

Brenda gasped and I continued, "I want to look at your memories about college, your marriage and the ranch. Will you allow me to do this?"

"Yes!"

I started and it took me two hours just to look at the important memories. Brenda knew who tried to rape her, not once but twice during her junior year of college. The first came very near to happening except someone disturbed them and her attacker ran. The second attempt was very clumsy and took place at the same place two weeks later while Brenda was still on guard. This resulted in the attacker being beaten with a small bag filled with two rolls of nickels. Again the attacker made his escape. Searching through her memories I could find no record of his approaching her again while she was at college or since then.