Chapter 5

I started my quest to fill the different jobs Gram and I felt were needed. Actually, I was out in the different companies looking for staff prospects. I used the cover that I was evaluating the different company structures and would be putting together a portfolio to present to prospective buyers. This was to indicate just how strong the total company was.

In reality I was mining for suitable people for our new venture. I was spending about a week in each location, of which there were seven, including the headquarters in Virginia. I played golf, I wined and dined and did everything to give each and everyone a fair shot at what I was looking for. None of these people knew they were being interviewed, but that is what it boiled down to.

I asked questions on how they ran their company and I asked for thoughts on a vision for the company that they were connected to. It took me well into the third company before I found just the one person I was hunting for to serve as director. He was the CEO of that particular company. I also thought I would bring along his secretary because they seemed to work so well together.

I was quite impressed with the CEO at the next mine I came to. That is until I took him out to dinner. I don't mind how much people drink because this is the norm when you are entertaining. However, after imbibing excessively he started slandering his wife, a woman I had never met. He didn't know, but I knew then that he had missed his chance.

My next stop was in Ohio. It was the smallest of Gram's holdings and all reports had been good on how well it was managed. I introduced myself to the receptionist and said I had an appointment with the CEO. She told me he was busy on the phone. I was led in and seated to wait for him to conclude his call. His nameplate was positioned on the desk. William Green, Jr. The name was familiar, I just couldn't place it. I was concentrating trying to think.

Suddenly I was to have my first vision! It was as if I was standing in a doorway looking into a hotel room. This man whom I was facing was sitting on a bed and with him was Bethanne, The Preacher's wife, who, of course, is my sister-in-law. What the hell. I must be going crazy. She was dressed in clothes that were meant to show off her body. He had on a suit and they just sat there conversing.

The CEO's voice brought me back to reality. "Jim Ryan, I'm glad to meet you. Sorry about the wait, but I had a detail that needed tending to. What can I do for you?" He came around his desk and shook my hand. He appeared to be a few years older than me. A little gray at the temples, otherwise, decidedly neat and trim.

I explained that I was here on the owner's behalf. He asked if the rumor about her selling was true. I confirmed that it was. I said that Gram wanted a concise couple of paragraphs about each major executive, including himself, to pass on to whoever purchased the company. He was to keep it as near the truth as possible so it wouldn't come back to haunt the subject. It didn't faze him one bit--just asking what details Gram wanted included. I took a liking to him right away.

Will, as he wanted to be called, took me on a tour of the company. It appeared to be the best organized and the friendliest. All of the employees we met on the tour were addressed by their first names and showed genuine pleasure in seeing him and meeting me. Before we finished I was wishing I owned this company and had Will for my CEO. I was that impressed!

Instead of my taking him out to dinner, he insisted that I meet his wife and children at home. He said his wife liked to entertain and this would give her a good excuse. Never adverse to a home-cooked meal, I quickly agreed.

We arrived at his home in a nice section of town. The house was nicely appointed, but not ostentatious. His wife greeted me at the door and his two kids introduced themselves while shaking my hand. Sarah, the oldest at eight, was destined to be a beauty like her mother. Jim, at six, would look like his father. We adjoined to his den for a drink. I was curious as to where he grew up and how he came to have the job he now held. As I suspected after my vision, he came from the same town as the Grubers. He passed on that his father was indeed a retired sheriff, and he himself, had been pretty wild as a youth.

That is where I had heard the name, Will Green. Billy Bob had mentioned it in telling me about his troubles. Will's wife, her name was Barbara, called us to dinner. The kids were well-behaved, not reserved really, because they participated in the conversation around the table. Sarah was into gymnastics and showed us a couple of cartwheels.

We had coffee in the living room after dessert. Jim said, "I have a question for you. When you came into my office this afternoon you appeared to be lost in space. It was nearly five minutes after I got off the phone before I could get your attention. Are you all right?"

I couldn't believe the vision had lasted that long. I was quiet for awhile considering how to answer his question. Then I responded, "Do you know Bethanne Gruber?"

"Of course. We grew up together. What has that got to do with my question?" Barbara, who was standing next to Will, looked more startled than he did.

"She is my sister-in-law. I just remembered your name connected with hers. I haven't known her long. Only long enough to know that there is something strange about her transformation from a so-called 'wild one' to a person who doesn't blink without her husband's okay. Then again I haven't known the family but a few weeks. You probably know them all better than I do."

"Who did you marry? Miss Katie?"

"No, I married Hattie Mae."

There was silence as he pondered what I had said. Then, "Oh, I remember her a little bit. She was the youngest girl and was taken by the state."

"That's right. She was adopted and renamed. She lost sight of her birth family until a few weeks ago. We returned and she has rejoined the family. To me Bethanne is the only one that doesn't seem normal. Can you tell me anything about her that I should know?"

"I could tell you an awful lot. I don't know if I should, you being in her family. She was, and still is, one mixed-up woman. I told you that I was pretty wild growing up. I continued until I met Barbara." He glanced up to his wife. "After I met her I straightened up. I knew if I didn't I couldn't keep her love. I never want to lose her.

"It is hard to believe, but Bethanne was the ringleader in everything a bunch of us kids were involved in. She would do anything, try anything, or drink anything. She was the one behind the fiasco that eventually sent her old man to prison. He never knew it because she was never caught. Old man Gruber didn't know, but the lawyer he had was as crooked as they come. He screwed Gruber over big time. Even I felt sorry for him.

"Bethanne didn't care as long as she could go out and have a good time. A bunch of us thought we were going to be big time drug dealers. She and I and a couple of others planted a plantation of marijuana. After it got growing we spent a lot of time up there." He glanced again at his wife before he spoke again. "We had the time of our lives. Bethanne, of course, led us in the bacchanals we performed. Sometimes we never had our clothes on all day. We took a Polaroid camera with us. Bethanne was the main attraction and could outlast us all."

I made the comment that all of this was hard to believe.

"I know, but that's the way it was. I was out of town when everything hit the fan with old man Gruber. My old man sent me away until after Gruber got sent up. Bannock, the lawyer, ratted Gruber out because his grandson was almost as bad as Bethanne and he didn't want the light to shine on his kin. Nice, huh?

"My old man sent me off to school and I found that I liked it. Oh, I would let loose on weekends, but I generally kept my nose clean. Out of school I hooked up here in this company and have moved steadily up to where I am now. But that isn't the end of what I know about Bethanne. Before I met Barb, I used to go somewhere and get me a woman and have a few drinks.

"I was in a hotel relaxing and having a few drinks one time, when I spotted Bethanne and The Preacher eating in the dining room. I was about half loaded and kind of lonely, so I sauntered over and started a conversation. Now I had met The Preacher and had known of the so-called change in Bethanne. She was dressed kind of sexy like. He wasn't in his preacher get-up either. They looked like a couple out on the town for a good time.

"Well, I started flirting with her right in front of The Preacher. It never fazed him a bit. I got bolder and bolder with my comments, after all, at one time I had this woman every which way you could imagine. Then I mentioned the Polaroids. It did embarrass Bethanne. The Preacher wanted to know all about them and I, being the ass-hole I was, told him that I hadn't saved but a few of them. I wouldn't give them up for anything either.

"The Preacher then made me a proposition. 'If I let Bethanne go to a room with you to get reacquainted, will you give them to me?' I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm bad but I never took anyone's wife, so I told him I didn't have them with me. That was all right, I could send them. The guy was prostituting his wife." He paused.

I looked at Will and Barbara in disbelief. She nodded confirming that he was telling me the truth. "So, did you take Bethanne?"

"Yes I took her to my room. I wanted to find out what was going on. When we got there Bethanne said that The Preacher had a fetish. He controlled it except for one three-day period every year. At that time they would go to some city, have a nice meal and then go separately into a bar where she was to pick up a stranger. She then went and spent the night with the stranger. The Preacher would go back to their room and wait for her to return. In the meantime he would sit and drink imagining what was happening to her, and what she was doing. God, how sick can a person get?

"Bethanne pleaded with me saying that The Preacher really was a wonderful man and she loved him. She told me that this was the fifth time that they had done this. She said that only once had she really had to have sex. The other times she had talked the stranger out of it. She always stayed away all night. When she got back to their room she made up stories to tell him about what the stranger made her do."

Will went on with what Bethanne told him. "She said when she got back to the room he was a wild man, wanting hot and heavy sex. She had to show him all the nasty things that he imagined her doing with me. This was easy because she had actually done all of these things before meeting The Preacher. This orgy continued for two days and stopped only when they got in their car to go home. By the time they settled at home again they were back to infrequent vanilla sex for a year.

"I couldn't touch Bethanne that night after what she told me. We did do some reminiscing and in the morning she returned to her husband. I don't know what she told him, but it must have been good. It was almost a year later that I got an unsigned note informing me where they would be staying on their three-day vacation. I didn't know if he sent it or she did.

"During that year I met Barb. I had been married only two months when the note arrived. After explaining everything to Barb, we booked a room at the same hotel. Barb stayed in my room while I went searching for The Preacher and Bethanne. I found them in the dining room again. He was surprised to see me, so I guess it was Bethanne who had sent the note.

"I complimented him on having such a beautiful wife, while letting my eyes roam over her body. Soon he was suggesting that maybe we would like to get acquainted again. On the way to my room I told Bethanne that my new wife Barbara was with me and in the room. She asked if I was going to be in trouble. I said no, and that Barb would like to meet her. It has been a yearly event since that second meeting."

Barbara smiled fondly at Will. Then she spoke herself. "As far as we know The Preacher doesn't know that I know what's going on. He knows Will is married, of course, but thinks he is running out on me to keep the yearly tryst with Bethanne. We all decided to keep him in the dark, for Bethanne claims that it enhances his fantasy."

At some later date I would have to decide whether to tell Kate what I had found out. Will and Barbara convinced me to stay over with them and continue my inspection of the mine and plant facilities in the morning. I made the decision before I went to sleep that I would recommend Will Green for a director's job.

Kate and I had been talking every night. She was ready to resume some of her duties with Gram. She wondered if when I left Ohio I would go by the Grubers and pick her up. Besides she missed me. She loved being with her family, but they had their own life to live and her life was with me. I wanted to spend a couple of days visiting before we headed to Virginia. While I was out looking for people to fill positions in the new trust, I used my spare time in learning the saga of Father Juan Carlos. I think I had the whole story down pat.

Kate had been giving a lot of care and attention to Miss Maudie. She wanted me to spend some time with her. When I reached the cabin and saw Miss Maudie, I was struck by the change in her appearance. She was so frail, I wondered that she was out of bed at all. Her voice, which had been deep and strong in the past, was barely audible. I wanted her to know that I had been diligent in learning the story so that I could recite it from memory.

I gave her a picture of the dolls and how they were lined up. When she pointed to one I gave the name and repeated what that Chosen One had contributed to the story. Miss Maudie was pleased--very pleased. As I was leaving that day she said, "I probably will not be speaking to you again, for my time is near. I am so glad to have known you. You have done in a short time what took me months and years to accomplish.

"The only thing left to be done is to protect the crypt and its contents until Father Juan Carlos is returned to his homeland. After that your duty is done. You will feel a sense of loss when that happens, but the gift of insight that has been laid upon you will benefit you always. When you have a vision, examine it closely because sometimes they have a meaning that is not clear and the wrong course can lead you astray. This is a caution only and not to be worried about."

Miss Maudie pressed me to take possession of the Story Box, which I did. I didn't want to have it floating around during my travels, so when I got down to the farm I asked Billy Bob if he had a safe place to store it. He had a spare gun safe with a combination lock he wasn't using. It should be safe enough there among the other safes he owned. The last thing I did before leaving was to go over what to do when Miss Maudie passed away. Billy Bob said he had cared for her so long, he knew her last wishes.

When we were alone, Kate informed me that she had missed her period and the doctor only that day had indeed confirmed that she was pregnant. Miss Daisy was happy that she was going to be a grandmother one more time. Miss Katie was the only one of her children who had not produced offspring so far. Joe, who was stationed in England, had two kids. Miss Daisy hadn't seen them yet, but she kept a large photo album of all her grandchildren.

Kate and I were on the road early after extended good-byes. It seemed so good to be together again after three weeks apart. Kate told me all about going on the road with Miss Katie. She said Miss Katie was changing booking agents, because the one she had wasn't getting her into the long road trips with other performers. Kate said, "I never would make it on the road like my sister. You have these long boring trips between dates and then it is Rush! Rush! Rush! to get set up. You have to find and rehearse new material. She also has to deal with friction within her group. No way! Not for me!"

I asked how she got along with Tom and Mary. She replied that they were a lot of fun, and she enjoyed being around them. When I asked about The Preacher and Bethanne, Kate just said that they didn't act like anyone she ever knew.

"How do you mean?"

"I don't know. They are very quiet around the family. You just can't get close to either one. I understand that he gets fired up when he preaches. He also teaches, and everyone says he is great at that. Mama says that Bethanne is great with the kids in her class. It seems as though it is her home life that is screwed up. They apparently love each other. She acts like she has done something wrong and wants him to forgive her. He acts like he has been caught screwing the baby-sitter and wants her to forgive him. It is weird because there isn't the hint of any impropriety attached to either one. I can't figure it out. Anyway, I couldn't live like that.

"I'll tell you one thing, Papa and Mama think you're the best. I've spent a lot of time with both. Papa spends most every night in town now. He has moved out of his bedroom and into bed with Mama. It is like they just got married. Katie makes a big joke of it, but I think it's wonderful. Anyway you get the credit for that, and also, bringing me back to them."

Kate leaned over and kissed me. "I think the man that gave me a baby is pretty wonderful too."

Gram met us at our home in Virginia. She wanted to know what my impressions were of the different people I had interviewed. I gave her the full run down of those I thought were acceptable. I had also made a list of those who were marginally qualified. Kate came in while Gram and I were discussing these different prospects. "I have a statement to make. I am resigning my position as director, even before beginning." I looked at her and then at Gram before asking, "Why?"

"Well I'm going to have a baby. I want that as a full-time job. I don't mean to shirk any help I can give Jim. There'll be some grunt work I can do. I will do that. I've thought that if Jim is a director and I'm a director, there can be a conflict. What happens if I come down on a different side of a proposal and feel strongly one way and he another way. I know boards of directors can be contentious. To avoid something like that carrying over into our home life, I think it better if I'm out of it."

"You're sure about this?" Kate nodded. "Well Gram it's back to the drawing board." I stood and hugged my sensible wife.

Before Gram and I got back to work, I asked Kate to do some things for me. "Kate would you sit down and make a list of how to find the descendants of Father Juan. Also eventually we are going to have to make this public. We need a list of whom to contact. We need safeguards to keep this as small and respectable as possible. We'll get together and work on it this afternoon after Gram and I finish. I want to get started because very soon I am going to have to fly out to North Dakota for Gram."

Gram and I went back to work. "You know we never have set forth the mission that our trust is going to do. I know this was my idea to start with, but we still haven't come up with what we want to accomplish. We can make it complicated or simple. To keep it simple we could make scholastic grants to qualified students to further their education. A more complicated agenda would be to provide seed money to fund some projects, or we could do both. What are your thoughts?"

"I think to start with let's keep it simple. I have been rethinking who and how many directors we need. When Kate said that a board could be contentious and bailed out, it started me thinking. Why do we need more than me, you, the one you've put forward, and two more. I have two retired managers that I think would be ideal. We could put our money toward hiring staff with the expertise to set this up. When that is done, we can figure out how to find the applicants for the grants."

"Let's go with that. It sounds sensible to me. This definitely is a work in progress."

I invited Gram to sit down with Kate and me after lunch to discuss Father Juan Carlos. Gram was fully aware of what was going on. I thought that maybe she would have some ideas. Kate had a short list. It wasn't much more than thoughts because she hadn't had too much time. It did give us a good starting point.

We came to the consensus that we would have to start with the church archives to find out anything about Father Juan Carlos Domingo. Also the Spanish government had always kept meticulous records of those people that traveled to the New World. Both should be a good source of what we were looking for. The problem would be to find a descendant that would be interested in bringing Father Juan home to rest. I had no doubt the church would, but that seemed so cold and uncaring. I had developed a fondness for Father Juan and wanted to see him home with love and dignity. Only family could do that.

Records and Statistics. I would look there. Father Juan's home town was written on a tile held by Miss Maudie. This had been the only tile that she kept in her cabin and had shown me to convince me to become a Chosen One. I had placed it with the other items in the gun safe at Billy Bob's. Kate and I "googled" the town office in that Spanish town and sent off an e-mail to the records section. Gram asked me how I knew if there was anyone there that could read English. I said the e-mail would arrive automatically in the language of destination.

To Records and Statistics from J&K@Virg.org Inquiry Re: Father Juan Carlos Domingo

Found recently: Document pertaining to a Father Juan Carlos Domingo. Have reason to believe it authentic. Subject purported to be born 1520-1521. Sailed for New World 1545-47. Domingo surname prolific in Spain. Need to contact direct descendant of Juan Carlos Domingo. Any charges pertaining to this records search will be prepaid by James Ryan via Visa card. E-mail estimate.

Thank You, James Ryan J&K@Virg.org

Kate was excited to think we were actually moving this quest forward. "How soon do you think we will get an answer?"

"I guess it depends on the records clerk and if they even want to bother in that office. We may have to travel directly there and look ourselves. I was hoping not as that would involve a translator. I don't want this story to get out before we even begin."

Kate kept checking the computer for a return e-mail before we went to bed. Nothing, it was too soon. We were having a late breakfast in the morning when Miss Daisy called to tell us that Miss Maudie passed away during the night. Billy Bob had been there in the evening and had gone up to the cabin early this morning and found her.

Billy Bob cared for her in life and he cared for her in death by arranging for her transportation to the funeral home. He took care of the various things that have to be seen to when a person dies. Miss Daisy would inform us as to her funeral and interment in the Gruber family plot. It was not necessary for us to be present. I felt otherwise.

Again I borrowed Gram's plane and flew in on Friday, the day of the funeral. Miss Maudie had lived every day of her 93 years in this same town. The various people she knew growing up had preceded her in death. She had practically been a recluse for many years, so wasn't known by anyone but Billy Bob and family.

The Preacher presided at the ceremony. There were no townspeople present, just Billy Bob's family. I guess that would include me as I was married to the former Hattie Mae. The will was read by lawyer Dale Evens. It contained nothing that I didn't know about. Both deeds, one to Billy Bob and one to me, had been recorded. The lawyer would be working on getting the Grant deeded to the Kentucky Forest and Parks service. The only thing that was a surprise was that I was named executor. I knew I wouldn't be around much and the duties would be light, so I engaged the lawyer to do all of the work. He could mail me anything that needed my signature, before and after probate.

The Preacher and Bethanne had been casting several uneasy glances my way during and after the ceremony. Standing at the graveside while Miss Maudie was being lowered and prayers were being intoned, I had the second vision of my life. In my mind I saw a preteen boy crouching in a corner of a bedroom. A woman, an obvious prostitute, was having sex on a near-by bed with a brute of a man. This, then, was The Preacher's mother, and the boy had suffered all of his young years.

It was clear to me that this was the home life of a boy who was to grow up and become "The Preacher." It was evident that it had scarred him for normal relationships. Obviously Will Green had in some way let Bethanne know that he was associated with me. They must be worried that I knew something that would cause them grief. This would be one more burden on top of the others for which they felt they had to do penance.

Fear traveled across their faces when I complimented The Preacher on his fine sermon. "Would you and Bethanne be my guests at dinner tonight? I would like to thank you for such a fine ceremony."

"Don't you have to return to Virginia tonight?"

"No, I have decided to stay over and take you both out." I looked them in the eye and said, "Ease your minds. I would never cause anyone grief. Let's go out and have a nice dinner. Kate will stay at her Mama's to look after your children. Please do say you will come."

Bethanne sensed that I wanted to talk with them. "I wouldn't be comfortable going out. It is something we never do."

"Okay, how about getting some take-out and we could go out to the farm or up to the cabin of Miss Maudie, or we could sit at your home."

"Let's make it our home."

I talked to Kate and asked her to take Bethanne's children to Miss Daisy's for the night. I was going to talk to The Preacher and Bethanne. Kate had been applying pressure for me to find out what was wrong with her sister and brother-in-law. She thought that I was taking her wishes to heart, so quickly agreed.

They went home with Kate and transferred the two kids into her care. I stopped at the pizza parlor and waited for a large combination pizza to be made. Arriving at Bethanne's, she met me at the door with a concerned look on her face. While eating I told them a little about what Gram and I had planned and had been working on. I purposely kept the conversation light until we were having coffee.

Looking at The Preacher I asked, "You belong to a church and are near God, do you ever have visions? Before you answer that, have you ever heard Billy Bob say that Miss Maudie had 'Insight?' To clarify a little, that has been said about her and I never believed it. I've changed my mind. After Kate and I made love a short time ago, within 15 hours Miss Maudie told my grandmother that Kate was pregnant. It turned out to be true.

"In my last conversation with Miss Maudie she told me that I was going to have 'Insight.' It is a gift and wanted or not, I seem to have acquired it. Bethanne, I have had one that involved you. Preacher, this afternoon I had one about your early childhood while you were praying at the gravesite."

The Preacher and Bethanne stared at me. I went on, "You both act like you have committed some horrible crime and are doing penance for it. Am I right? I think if you could talk to each other and listen to me, or someone else, your burden could eventually go away. Am I making sense?

"Before you answer any of those questions, let me tell you that Kate and I were near a divorce less than four months ago. We woke up due to the intervention of a friend. We talked our problems out and now that rough spot is way behind us. Would you like to talk to me?"

Bethanne spoke. "I would like to be happy again. I'm not now. Can you help us?" She looked at her husband.

He said, "Please, it can't get much worse than it has been lately. I don't know my own self anymore. I'm even losing my faith in God."

"Bethanne, I'm assuming that Will Green has been in touch with you recently." She nodded. "I am guessing that he told you that he and I were associated in my grandmother's business. We did discuss you when he found out that I was married to a sister of his childhood friend. He felt that you were still doing penance for your lifestyle 13 or 14 years ago. He spoke with the utmost respect about you. He said that knowing you in the last few years has even helped him." I didn't go into as much detail as I could have, feeling it not necessary.

"You have become a most respected member of the community. It is time you started respecting yourself as others see you. Put your past behind you. Others have."

I turned to The Preacher. "I guess I should spell out my vision that I had this afternoon. I think you are going to have more of a hard time resolving your past. The vision I had was of a little boy watching his mother having sex. Sometimes she was loving it and sometimes she hated it. It is bad enough to accidentally see the sex act at a young age, but to have it always happen where you can't get away from it, has to be traumatic."

Bethanne looked at The Preacher. "Is that what happened? You never told me. Oh, dear, my poor love." She rushed over and hugged him. "Why didn't you tell me?"