Chapter 3

Kate and I freshened up and went over to the diner for breakfast. I guess Kate's daddy had gone back to the farm and of course Miss Daisy was at the diner. She hugged us when we came in and introduced us to all of the wait staff and those in the kitchen. She was so-o-o-o-o happy. I found out why the diner was so successful. The food was pure ambrosia. Kate was off to see Bethanne and I had directions to Tom's place of business.

The town seemed a real nice small town. I hadn't seen any figures, but I would guess it was a town of ten thousand residents or so. The streets were paved, but with many potholes and the sidewalks were all cracked and uneven. To me this meant that the town fathers were not on top of the upkeep in town.

Kate had our car so I just ambled around by foot, generally heading to where the town equipment sheds were. Tom had told me he had rented space from the town to garage his truck. When I got there Tom was just pulling in. His truck was a few years old, but he kept it looking like new.

He asked me if I knew anything about that type of equipment. I said I didn't, but I had been a fleet dispatcher for one of the smaller companies my grandmother was involved in. I said I knew that if equipment wasn't kept tip top that it was a dispatcher's nightmare. In a fleet the loads were time sensitive so when there were breakdowns, another truck had to be dispersed immediately. Tom agreed with my assessment, saying that with only one truck, a breakdown was a deal breaker. Nobody wanted their trash out on the street longer than necessary to be picked up.

"Let me show you something. This is my answer to that kind of trouble," he said as he opened up the shed next door. In it was parked a 1946 two-and-a-half ton army vehicle. He said it was an ammo carrier that hadn't made it to the Korean conflict. He bought it a few years ago when the army was scrapping a lot of stuff at a nearby armory. It had been used mostly for parades and he was tickled to get it. "I only use it when I have to, but she's ready to go."

Tom was easy to talk to. He went down the street to a hero shop and got us a couple long ones and a six pack. We sat around his desk and I asked him about him and his family. He admitted that his wife got on his case sometimes, especially about his kids. He said he had never been into sports. Guess he never wanted to make the effort. His wife Mary had excelled in basketball in high school. She couldn't see why he couldn't take more interest in sports as it was a major part of the kids' development.

I asked him if he was happy in what he was doing. Well no, not really. He said he made enough for necessities but any luxuries were beyond him. "What would you want to do if you had your choice?" He said that he really wanted to head up the maintenance at the town yard. He knew he could do better than what was being done and save a lot of money too. It never would happen though, as the old boy network had somebody in line for years to come.

I finally asked him what I really wanted to know. "What's with your mama and papa? Things looked pretty strained between them last night. Kate, I mean Hattie Mae, is really hurt by that."

Tom didn't want to answer me at first. Then he started to tell me about what went on so many years ago as he remembered it. "I remember that Papa and Mama were fighting all the time. She blamed Papa for Hattie being taken away. Papa was being charged with growing drugs on the farm. He said he had it all under control and wouldn't serve any jail time. Mama warned him that he was too trusting.

"I know that he was meeting with the banker and the county sheriff. The old lawyer was involved too. Papa trusted them all to do something for him. At that time they wanted him to cover for something their kids were up to. They convinced him to plead guilty to growing marijuana, and get probation. It didn't work out that way. We had a hot shot county prosecutor that wanted to be state's attorney. He wanted a significant drug bust to further his political ambitions. By the time the trial came up, most of the evidence pointing to everyone but Papa had been destroyed. Papa was left holding the bag. He finally accepted a plea of three to seven years. Fighting it was a possible seven to ten.

"The trial and the Hattie Mae hearing were the same week. I don't know why, but he still had some faith in that old lawyer because he asked him to go to Hattie Mae's hearing. When he came back and told Papa that Hattie Mae was going to be institutionalized, Papa gave up fighting and took the plea deal.

"Mama lost her youngest and her husband all in the same week. She called a family meeting and said she was going to work out to keep the family together. All this didn't bother me too much. I just wanted to work on fixing junk cars to sell. Joe, he looked around and not seeing any future here, bailed out and joined the air force.

"This left Mama with Katie, who didn't care what went on as long as she could sing, and Bethanne. Bethanne was wild before Papa left, but now she really went bad. Out of control totally. Dinky Jones finally gave Mama a job as a waitress after she had been turned down by almost everyone else in town. Dinky was a distant relative of Mama's.

"Mama really worked at learning the diner business. Dinky was getting old and was going to make her his manager when he retired. Instead he died and left the business and his estate to her. Mama always worried about being considered trash, but right now she is one of the town's most upstanding citizens.

"My folks still love each other I think. Papa stays out at the farm and out of her life here in town. He says he doesn't want to taint her for being married to a felon.

"Mama had serious problems with Bethanne and her running around. That is until The Preacher came on the scene. One day we had a tent revival meeting here in town. Katie Mae was going to sing, all excited and all that. I guess Bethanne showed up there and was making the usual nuisance of herself. Katie asked The Preacher to see if he could get Bethanne to leave.

The next day Bethanne asked Mama if she could have a young man to Sunday dinner. That had never happened before, but Mama agreed and we met The Preacher. Bethanne changed overnight. The Preacher stayed around and finally got a calling here in a little church and married Bethanne. It doesn't pay enough, so he teaches school. Bethanne got her teaching certificate and she teaches kindergarten."

"What is the preacher's name? You all refer to him as The Preacher."

Tom thought a minute and then laughed. "Well I have heard his name. It is Claude or maybe Clyde. No one in town calls him anything but The Preacher. Even the kids in school call him The Preacher. Funny isn't it?" The more we thought about it the harder we laughed.

I thought I would find out as much as I could about all the family, so I continued to question Tom. "What does your daddy do on the farm you speak about?"

"He breeds, raises and trains hunting dogs. Coon, possum, bear, pointers, and setters. He is good at it too. The only trouble he has is when it is time to shoot over them." I looked puzzled at this.

He saw my expression. "You know when a dog is out in the field, they have to be familiar with guns going off. If a dog is gun shy they are no damned good. Papa has to find out when they are pups so he doesn't spend too much time with them. Papa being a felon isn't allowed to handle guns, so he has to hire someone to do the shooting. I help a lot and it is kind of fun. The only thing is that I'm not always available, then he has to find somebody else.

"I guess his one love in life is going hunting. He didn't realize what a drawback it was going to be after he had spent his time in jail. He'd give almost anything to handle a shotgun or rifle on the hunt again."

"Tell me about an old woman named Maudie. Kate has mentioned remembering her. Not with any affection either. How is she connected with the family? A relative or something?"

"No she isn't a relative. However, she and Papa have an arrangement. He leases the farm from her, as she holds the land. The farm doesn't cost him anything, but he is obligated to see to her wants and needs. She actually holds hundreds of acres. I don't know what the deal is, but we call it Glebe land. It isn't really like what they have up in New England but it is tied into an Indian grant somehow. She doesn't even have to pay taxes.

"The land isn't worth too much. It has been leased out to some timber companies over the years. They pay her a stipend, enough to keep body and soul together. A company will come in and reforest a few hundred acres and then after fifty years or so, about the time they get ready to cut, there will be a lightning strike up on the mountain and pouf, it is all gone. It then grows up to brush. It does make for all kinds of fabulous hunting though. That's why Papa has his kennels out there."

"Kate and I will see it tomorrow," I said. "He invited us out before he went home last night. I think he is anxious to have his little girl with him again. I know she was very fond of him. She spoke to me about him and your sister Katie more than any of the rest of the family."

"Yeah, I can understand that. We were all older and didn't pay much attention to her. We did miss her for awhile after she was gone. I always wondered what happened to her. Guess she had it pretty rough. Lucky it didn't scramble her head."

"Well I can tell you that it did leave some scars. That's why I tried to get her here, back to her family. It has caused some problems in our marriage, but I think she'll be all right now."

That evening I asked Miss Daisy if I could make a phone call to my grandmother. "Sure, fine, call anyone you want and talk as long as you want," was her answer.

I called Gram about eight that evening. After the usual platitudes and answering questions about Kate's family, I asked for a favor. "Gram could I have the use of the company plane on Saturday? I want to have Kate see Miss Katie in her natural element. I hear she is something. She is performing in Biloxi at a benefit. I thought that I would use the plane to take Katie and her parents to see her.

"I'd like to convince Miss Daisy and Billy Bob to go out for dinner in the city. There is a county airport only six miles from here. I would get them on the plane, and head for Biloxi. Hopefully it would be a treat." Gram assured me she would take care of everything. I gave her all the information I had collected about the airport and our destination. She said the pilot would meet us.

"One other question, do you know anyone on the Kentucky Governor's staff? What I want is a full pardon for my father-in-law. He needs to be able to handle guns while training hunting dogs. I know he is a felon but he got out of jail early on good behavior. That was twelve years ago. He has been a model citizen ever since. It would be nice if his whole record could be expunged. Can you do anything?"

"Jim, I not only know somebody on his staff, but I know him personally. He has had me at the Governor's mansion several times to socialize and meet with his advisors on energy issues. I'll see what I can do. It sounds as though you are sucking up to Kate's family. You're not coming on too strong are you?"

"No I don't think so. Kate is so pleased that I like her family. She thought for so long that I would look down on them. Actually I really do like them. They have a lot of problems and are pretty mixed up in some ways. Looking from the outside in, I think I can make their life a little smoother. That will make me look good in Kate's eyes and that is my ultimate goal. Of course they don't know much about me except that I love Kate and that makes me shine in their eyes."

Miss Daisy has to rise early. She was the only one but us in the house, so Kate and I went up to our room early. She and I swapped stories about what we had done and learned about her family. She took right away to Mary, Tom's wife. Also she was amazed by the change in Bethanne. Admittedly, Bethanne was one of the major reasons that she originally didn't want me to know about her family.

She remembered her sister as acting like a slut so long ago. Now she came across as such a sweet person. Kate giggled and then said, "Us Grubers can sure act sluttish can't we? You do remember how you dragged me out of The Red Lion only three weeks ago, don't you?"

She knew I had forgiven her, so she felt that she could joke about it. I laughed and proceeded to kiss her.

Miss Daisy was again gone in the morning, but we were up early as we wanted to go out to Billy Bob's farm. Actually it was where Kate grew up as "Hattie Mae," so again we had a breakfast at Daisy's Diner. Kate approached Mama about maybe going out to dinner tomorrow night. Miss Daisy said she'd think about it. "Can I ask Papa to go with us?"

Miss Daisy said we could ask him but doubted he would consider it. He is kind of antisocial she said with a sad look on her face.

We left town and were soon on a dirt road. I guess we went about five miles when Kate said that we were now on Papa's farm. We topped a little rise in the terrain and before us a mile or so in the distance was a ramshackle old house. Kate watched me to see what my reaction was to the house where she grew up.

I had seen hundreds of places like this while traveling around on business for my grandmother. I came from a small mining town. The people that lived there were typical of small towns everywhere, some neat and kept up repairs on their property. I had discovered early on that it was the people who lived inside that counted. I knew that Kate's daddy lived here alone, so the condition didn't surprise me at all.

We drove up. I expected that there would be dogs all over the place because of what Tom had told me. There wasn't a dog in sight, but you could hear them. Behind the house there was a large, neat cement block building. Radiating out from that were fenced dog runs. I was pleased to see a large AC mounted on top of the building. Evidently the dogs were well cared for with all the comforts of home.

Papa Gruber came out to meet us. He hesitantly hugged Kate and shook my hand. He kept looking at his daughter and you could tell that he felt love for her. "I'm so glad you came out. I've let the house kind of go down as I have been putting all of my time in building up my dog breeding and training business." He led us around the house and into the new building.

I was impressed by the operation he had built up. I could see where he could make some improvements though. His breed journal was all in long hand. If he had a computer and someone to enter that and other records, he could save a lot of time. It was not for me to make that suggestion at this time--maybe later after I got to know him better.

After showing us the dogs, he took us into the house. He was very interested in what had happened to Hattie Mae in the last fourteen years. Kate gave him an abbreviated version of her life. He then asked me about my life and work. I gave him a rundown on my life. I told him that I became an orphan when I was an infant and was raised by my grandmother. I was still very close to Gram and worked for her in the company she owns.

I assured him that although I wasn't rich, I felt that I could provide very well for his daughter.

I asked how long he had been training hunting dogs. He said that when he got out of jail he had to find something to do to keep him from remembering how life had treated him. Dogs were a joy to be around and he needed something to forget the previous two years. "When I got home, the world had changed as I knew it. My youngest daughter was gone--God knew where. My wife had grown into a person I didn't know. She became a strong, competent person that didn't need me anymore to survive.

"I was saddled with the stink of prison. Even the daughter that I had thought there was no hope for was a settled happily married person. Here I am alone most of the time with my dogs. I know I brought a lot of this down on myself by thinking I knew it all. There were rumors about some of the people I thought I could trust. More fool me for believing in their promises. They were out to not only hide their misdeeds, but to escape their crimes altogether." Billy Bob sat there totally dejected while telling us this.

I said, "So tell us exactly what did happen."

"Okay, but it isn't going to change anything. It started along about April, fourteen years ago. I was out with a couple of dogs, just looking for tracks to see what game had made it through the winter. It was three miles up on that ridge." Billy Bob pointed to the nearby hills. "I spotted three of the town kids planting some plants. It was quite a sizable garden. I didn't make myself known. That was my first mistake. I decided that I would keep track of it through the summer. I kept watch and finally identified the kids.

"One was the son of John Barber, the banker, another the son of Will Green, the sheriff, and the last one was grandson to old Timothy Bannock. He was my lawyer. He was the one I trusted the most. He's dead now, thank God! The boys were all eighteen or nineteen. It looked to me that they were planning on going into business. Well I watched them for a couple of months. God how that stuff grew. Those boys really worked at it, cultivating and watering, etc.

"I didn't know what to do. This land belongs to Miss Maudie and I watch over it for her. Christ, they were going to have a crop worth thousands of dollars. Then one night I saw Bethanne out on the town with the three of them. I knew that I didn't want her mixed up in anything like that. The next day I went to see Tim Bannock. I told him what I knew. He said he would take care of it and for me not to say anything. As I say, I trusted him and I kept on trusting him.

"Two days later he came to me and asked if I would go up and destroy the marijuana plants. He said he spoke to his grandson and reamed him out right good. His grandson said his two buddies were out of town. Tim wanted all the plants gone before the three boys got together again. I told Tim I guessed I could do that.

"The next morning I took a grub hoe and headed up the mountain. I got up there and started to cut down those plants. There were a lot of them. I figured I better burn them to get rid of them. I was making a pile and was about half done cutting, when someone said, Put your hands in the air and turn around. When I turned around there was Sheriff Green and three deputies and someone with a video camera. I knew then that I had been set up and was in deep trouble.

"Well they cuffed me and took me into town. I called Lawyer Bannock and he told me not to worry. He knew it looked bad for me, but he would get me off. I might have to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, but he would see that I would not have to go to jail--and I believed him.

"The next day Miss Daisy came to me while I was in jail and said that the Social Services came and took Hattie Mae away. I sent Tim Bannock to the hearing." Billy Bob looked at Kate and said, "He came back and told me you said that I touched you and did bad things to you. The judge said he was taking you away so you couldn't be hurt anymore." With tears in his eyes Billy Bob asked Kate again, "You never said that, did you? Please say you didn't?

"I guess Bannock was straight with me on only having probation. Then things went wrong when the prosecutor got papers on me. He wanted to move into politics. He figured to make a high profile case against me and moved the date for my trial right along. By this time I think my lawyer was working more for himself than for me. He came to me and said that I probably would get seven to ten years if the trial went forward as scheduled. If I would plead guilty I would be sentenced to three to seven.

"I took it and spent two years in jail before I was released. It changed my whole world and my outlook on life. Now I just want to live without trouble. I spend just about all of my time here with my dogs. I do look after Miss Maudie, but she isn't much company. She won't be alive much longer, anyway. She will soon be ninety-three and her life is just about over.

"It is kind of curious though, she keeps asking if Hattie Mae has come home yet. When I ask her what she means, she just says soon. This was only in the last few weeks she's been asking. That was why when I saw you at Mama's I wasn't too surprised that you were there. She has made me promise to bring you for a visit. She tells me that your visit is very important to many people. I try to humor her and I am of a mind that she is insightful sometimes."

Kate looked at me and said, "I guess I could go and see her if Jim will go with me. I don't really want to though."

"Sure I'll go with you. I can't wait to see her. I am intrigued."

Kate looked at her daddy and spoke. "Papa, will you go out to dinner tomorrow with Mama and us? We really would love to have you."

Billy Bob answered emphatically, "No! I don't appear in public with your mother."

"But Papa, Jim and I want you to so much. We aren't going to stay here in town. We are going to the city. It'll be just the four of us. Please?"

"I don't think your mama would want me to."

"Mama already said to ask you. Please don't turn us down. Jim has big plans and has made some of them already. We'll have a great time. Please?"

"What about my dogs? I can't go off and leave them."

I spoke up and said I had already asked Tom. He said he'd bring the kids and camp out overnight. So there is nothing to worry about.

"I wouldn't know how to act. I have never been out with your mama to eat. I've shamed her enough in this lifetime. She doesn't need more."

"Papa, Jim has traveled a lot. He will take care of you and Mama. Won't you say to yourself, I'm going out and do something I have never done before. I'm going with the woman I love and I'm going to have fun. I'm going with my little girl who has missed me. Please, can't you do this for us?"

"Yes, by God I will do it!"

"Good, come into town after your chores are done in the morning. Jim has great plans to make a day for you and Mama that will bring us all together again." We spent the rest of the day getting Kate and her daddy reacquainted. When we got back to the house in town, I called Tom to make sure that he would do chores for his father. He said his whole family was going out to the farm and spend the day and night there. I said good, because I didn't think that Billy Bob would be back to take over before Sunday noon. He couldn't believe that Kate and I had talked his parents into going out and making a day of it.