Chapter 5: Action At The Auction

Millicent had a puzzled look on her face when she met them at the door. "Martin, some man named Buck just called and said somebody had telephoned and was on his way over to pick up another cow. Do you know what that is about?"

Without answering, Martin strode to the telephone and rang for the operator. "Connect me to the sheriff, please." He waited until he got an answer. "This is Martin Summers. I have just learned there is truck is headed out to my number one dairy farm where your men were today. It appears the driver of that truck intends to pick up or purchase a stolen cow. I would appreciate it if you would apprehend the people involved and arrest them. Thank you." He hung up without waiting for an answer.

"Martin, what is going on here? I sent Billy to the guest room to bathe and don clean clothes. Colleen is doing the same and you look like a rag picker at the city dump. Please tell me what is going on." Her confusion had turned to fear.

He sighed, "Come into our room and I shall tell you while I clean up and change also." She nodded. Not a tall man, Martin Summers' five feet ten inches still seemed to fill the hallway as he led Millicent into their bedroom.

Millicent closed the door to the large room and hurried into their private bath to fill the bathtub. Martin began to remove his soiled clothes. "Ugh!" she exclaimed, "These shall be thrown away." she shuddered as she looked at the torn linen shirt Martin had been wearing.

Millicent asked again, "Martin, what is going on? We have been deluged with incidents of violence in these recent weeks. I am frightened."

"Dear, much of this is my own fault. Because of my own negligence, I have been almost stolen blind by the rascals at the dairy farm. Thanks to Billy's sharp eyes that problem has been solved."

Millicent averted her eyes as her nude husband turned around to face her. This was the first time she had ever seen her husband naked. "Please, Martin," she protested.

Martin did not notice his wife's discomfort. As he walked toward the bathroom, he continued, "Then I learned that damned hotel has been mismanaged. I believe I have rectified that matter as well. Millicent, I have neglected all else else and have concentrated my efforts mainly on the Bank and our oil interests in the fields southeast of here."

He stepped into the now filled tub, "No more. I intend to take a very close look at everything from now on."

Millicent was more comfortable in her husband's presence, now that his body was immersed in water. She asked, "What about the children? By our daughter's account you were all three in harm's way out there today. I will not have those children placed in jeopardy, Martin. I mean it."

He leaned forward in the tub, "Wash my back, please." Millicent remained silent as she began to wash his broad back and shoulders.

He sighed at the pleasure his wife's hands brought him as she washed his back. "Today was an exception. Those people were stealing from me right and left and I never had a clue. Thanks to Billy I learned of the scam. Thanks to Colleen and Billy you have a husband here. Those men would have killed me, perhaps all three of us without a second thought, except for the bravery of those two amazing children of ours."

Martin pulled the plug to start the water to drain. He stood and stepped out of the tub. As he reached for a towel, Millicent turned her head. He told her, "Dear wife, we have been much too formal all the days of our marriage. The next time I shall wash your back."

"Oh dear!" Millicent whispered and blushed at the daring thought.

Then she Marshalled her thoughts and returned to the subject of the children. "That is just what I mean." Millicent looked hard at her husband as he dressed. "There has been too much violence and danger."

She paused and added, "Mister Fotheringill is here and is now resting up from his trip back east. He is not too pleased at the addition of a second student."

"If he doesn't like it, send him packing. There are many teachers who would be thankful for the sinecure of the sort afforded by this family." Martin's tone left no room for dissent or further discussion.

By the time Martin dressed and they returned to the living room, Billy and Colleen had bathed and changed. Billy rushed up to Martin and hugged him. "Boy am I ever lucky I got you!" he exclaimed. His face seemed to almost glow as he looked up at his hero.

"Whoa there, what's this?" Martin was surprised at the demonstration of affection.

The smile left Billy's face and he asked, "Did I do something wrong? If I did, I'm real sorry and I won't do it again." He looked up at Martin.

Martin placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. In a soft voice he said, "Billy, you have done nothing wrong. In fact I feel so very honored you look to me as you do. I care for you more than I can tell you with words."

Colleen came up and stood next to them. She asked in a soft voice, "Do you care for Billy more than you do me, Father?" She had a sad look on her face.

Martin squatted down on his heels and hugged both children to him. "No, my dearest daughter. The feelings I have for Billy are more like a father would have for a son. They are different from the love I have for you. Believe me, there is room in my heart for you both. In fact, there's much room to spare." He stood and took his leave.

Billy hurried into his room and came out with his guitar. "I want to sit outside and play. I feel so good inside I got to let it out." He closed the front door behind him and sat in the chair swing on the veranda. Millicent watched Billy through the front window.

"Thank you Lord," Millicent whispered her prayer.

Martin came up beside her and gave her a gentle hug. "With simple eloquence you have stated what I feel inside me right now. I have a wonderful ache inside as I count the blessings brought to this house by our not so angelic little miracle worker."

He laughed and asked, "How is Matilda's bite?"

Millicent smiled and then told him, "She almost considers his teeth marks a badge of honor."

They watched Colleen go outside to join Billy on the front porch. They saw her lips move, but could not hear her voice through the closed window. Billy nodded and began to play a new tune. "I bet our vain daughter has requested "their song" again." Millicent laughed.

Martin smiled as he slipped the window open a couple of inches, in time to hear Billy's voice sing, "Play with me, come play with me."

Mister Fotheringill joined them by the living room window. "My word, who is that singing?"

Millicent smiled at the tutor and told him, "That is your new pupil."

Suddenly Billy began to play basic progressive chords and sing the melody of "Ave Maria." His pure soprano, violin pure tones carried his listeners along as he worked the whole range of the music, singing a continuous "Aahhh in perfect pitch."

They heard him tell Colleen, "The words to that song are in some foreign tongue so I don't know them." He laughed and added, "But I sure know the words to this song." He played a two chord intro and sang, "Out on the plains, while riding the range one day, I met a cowboy, dressed in the strangest way..." It was a shock to the adults' ears when "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" followed "Ave Maria." To Fotheringill it seemed almost sacrilegious. To Colleen it was great entertainment.

"Oh my," the tutor said and left to return to his room. Moments later he returned with the sheet music and words to "Ave Maria." He showed the small folio to Martin. "Does he read music well enough to work from a finished score?"

Millicent laughed. "I truly doubt Billy has ever read a note of music in his life. Our new son has a sense for the way music should be performed. He has an unconscious grasp of the mathematics of music."

Martin seemed to read the tutor's mind. "Teach the children the same. You are not pressure the boy. If he asks for added instruction in music, oblige him. But that is it. I went to college with a couple of men who had been pushed into the performing arts. I shall not permit my boy to endure what they went through. He is a boy with great talent. Remember though, he is still only a young boy. He is the one to decide where that talent shall lead him, if it leads anywhere at all.

Dreams of mentoring the next great musical prodigy evaporated. Fotheringill knew better than to cross Martin Summers. "Yes sir," he agreed with reluctance. He sighed, returned to his room and replaced the folio of sheet music.

"Supper is on the table," Sissy called from the kitchen.

Through most of the meal Martin was quiet. Suddenly he told Millicent, "The hard times we have around here bring out the worst in people. I have been remiss in our social obligations to the community

"Raw charity will only make things worse in the long run. We must devise a way to somehow help people to help themselves and at the same time permit them to keep their self respect."

"What do you plan to do, Dear?" Millicent asked him. She had no idea what he was talking about.

He gave a half laugh, "I don't know at this point. However, I feel something must be done though to help people. We must help them through these bad financial times that are gripping the country." He looked down at the floor, "We must do something."

"Are we still going to the auction this Friday?" Billy asked. He looked at Martin expectantly. "Remember you told Buck we was going?"

"We were going, Billy," Colleen corrected him.

Billy made a brushing gesture as if at an insect. "Yeah, that's what I just said."

"Father, you are the only person in this household Billy will listen to. Please ask him to speak in a correct and proper manner." Head tilted back, Colleen looked down her nose at Billy. Billy frowned back at her.

Millicent stepped in to avert another argument between her daughter and Billy. "Dear, Mister Fotheringill is back. Perhaps we should permit him to teach Billy proper grammar. After all, it is his job."

Colleen glared at Billy, "I don't like you any more." Eyes brimming with tears she rushed away from the table.

"Did I do something wrong?" Billy asked, worried he had done something he shouldn't.

Martin looked in the direction his daughter had gone. He shook his head. "It beats me." He shook his head.

Millicent went to Colleen's room. "What is it, dear? What is the matter? You're not really angry with Billy are you?" She stroked her daughters shoulder.

"Mother, Father likes Billy more than he does me. I see the way he brags on Billy more than he does me. It's not right. Billy is my friend and Father has taken him away from me."

Billy's voice came from the doorway. "Princess, I don't belong to you or nobody else. Nobody owns nobody. I am still your friend, if you want me to be, but that's all." He stopped and thought. "No, I'm still also your brother if you want me to be."

He got a plaintive look on his face as he added, "I never had nobody to love me before you give me that chicken. Then all at once I got three people who love me. Well, unless you don't love me no more. But I would feel real bad if you didn't, because I sure love you, even when you get so dad blamed bossy."

Indignant, Colleen told him, "I am not bossy. You need me to correct you and..." Her voice trailed off. "I guess I am just a little bit bossy, aren't I? But Billy I want you to be..."