Chapter 24

While Millie and I were alone, except for Marita, I used the Internet to check out various types of fences for strength, and what could be used to keep grazing beef in and bears and deer out. The deer could jump really high, but a call to the University of Kentucky told me that six feet should be adequate and a call to the zoo at Lexington said that an eleven gauge wire mesh fence would fend off the most aggressive black bear. I had a plan and used the ATV to go out and measure the areas to be fenced. I also needed gates to put the beef into the orchards, but also keep them out of the vineyards.

I selected woven wire fencing to keep the beef from the vineyards, which was a lot cheaper than the mesh wire. Now, I would be set if I can get it installed before spring.

The choice of fencing companies was limited, and they all wanted to install expensive chain link with the tilted barbed wire on top. I hopefully wasn't chasing a bad solution, since I figured that if the University Agriculture department and the Lexington zoo both suggested the same thing, it should be correct.

With the knowledge that I was not getting bids on what I wanted, I decided to do it myself. I even took the powered posthole digger out and tried to dig a hole in the frozen ground. No sweat, the digger worked fine – at least if you liked bear wrestling. It got the holes dug, even spitting out rocks the size of my fist, but it was quite a double handful. I decided that I would be on the lookout for an auger attachment for one of my tractors the next few times I hit the markets, but it wasn't so bad I couldn't press ahead. All I needed now were the posts and wire. I placed an enormous order for the wire necessary, and bargained with a fencing company to build the gates I needed to complete the projects.

I had the guys from the road crew come out and showed them what I wanted and left them with a pile of posts and the posthole digger to begin the project.

It was amazing how short Mom's and Ezra's vacation seemed to have been when they walked in the door the morning after they got back from the Keys.

As soon as they arrived, I could see that Mom had had all she could handle of an outsider for a few days. She was calm and friendly on the outside, but I could tell she was on the verge of a catastrophic explosion on the inside. She really liked Ezra, but needed a break from him.

I grabbed a brochure from the desk and handed it to Ezra. "How about going up to Cincinnati to check out the new equipment that's available at the convention up there? We're going to be doing a lot more than the run up to Pine Ridge, so let's be sure we have the right equipment."

Ezra must have been ready to have a week or so off from the relationship with Mom too, as he was excited about washing his clothes and leaving for Cincinnati as soon as possible. I handed him five hundreds and told him to keep his receipts. Hopefully, that would be enough.

It took Mom an hour to smother the baby with her love. She loved on Millie more than she would have her own daughter, then surprisingly turned to Marita and gave her the warm hugs only a mother can give.

After supper and a description of the fun Ezra and Mom had down in the Keys, she interrogated the two women in the house and found out that I had been the perfect gentleman and husband. I had no intention of adventuring into uncharted territory when I was happy with my own playground. These women are very sneaky and scary.

The day Mom returned was Wednesday, and the day Ezra needed to be in Cincinnati was Thursday night or Friday morning, so the man was out of Mom's hair for a few days. She told me privately that Ezra was a neat guy, and although he tried every way possible to please and satisfy her, he still wasn't my dad. That was sweet, but probably frustrating for Mom. She did say that she had a great time on the trip.

The first night Mom was home, Marita came to our bed as she had been for the last week, with the little woman sleeping next to Millie. This night was strange, as Mom snuggled into me on the outside of the bed, making me push back on all of the small bed's occupants. I didn't realize it right away, but when she snuggled back into me, she put my big hand over her left breast to hold. That's the way I woke up. More embarrassing was the fact that I was sticking out of my shorts and under her gown. I don't think she realized the situation when I extracted myself from our positions. It took a few moments to relax enough to finally pee. Damn, that's not the way I want to wake up.

Today, I wanted to take a sample of our basic grappa up to Rodrigo. Every time I thought of the unique names of the winemaker and the wine seller, I got a little laugh. These two were from different continents, but their names sounded similar. I suppose it was the influence of the men who came to explore the Americas first.

The plan was to bring a sample bottle of the wine that we had forced to mature and a bottle of the grappa along with a small bottle of the grappa we were aging for cognac. This should give Rodrigo an idea of our progress.

Our five-person party arrived at the restaurant about two in the afternoon. Rodrigo had been told that I had brought on a master winemaker to help me, so he was very interested in what I had to sell.

First was a delicious meal that had a sizzling tomato sauce to die for. While we ate, Doroteo poured our hurry up wine for Rodrigo to taste. He was very impressed and wanted us to compare the California wine he had been using since he had run out of ours. Ours was much better.

When we were having very delicious cannelloni, Doroteo poured each of us some of the special grappa he thought was the best. My man was a really smart salesman, as he handed Rodrigo a cigar that smelled delicious. I didn't know it at the time, but it had been soaked with my grappa before drying in the smoke house then kept in a humidifier. I smoked my first cigar ever and had it taken from me by Mom, who sampled it.

If Rodrigo could have knighted Doroteo, he would have. The exuberance the Italian showed was unbelievable. He was very enthusiastic to get as much of everything we had. Doroteo quoted Rodrigo a price for the grappa, and when the buyer sat back with his mouth agape, I thought he was shocked at how high the price was. Instead, Rodrigo stood up and said, "I will buy at your quoted price right now, but I will sell at a premium price and share the wealth with you, Mike. You have dealt with me as no one has ever dealt with me. Your product is deserving of the finest restaurants in New York City. If I may, I want to send a bottle of your grappa to a friend. He will probably come here to beg for more."

I didn't laugh, but agreed that he could do that. Doroteo had that extra bottle and left it to be sent.

On the way home, Doroteo said, "When I tasted the first distilled juice you made, I was amazed that you were able to pick your grapes at that special time to get the true flavor. Your wine is exquisite, Mike. I'm proud to work with you. You are teaching me as I teach you."

How about that, I had impressed a real winemaker.

Thanksgiving was fun as all of my family came for the weekend. Mom slept with us and gave up her room. Little John slept in his bassinet next to the bed so the kids could have a pj party in sleeping bags in his room. We had genuine wild turkey for the Thanksgiving feast, along with as many other dishes as we could cook.

Later in the evening, all of the Latinos from down at Ben's came to eat supper with us. There were not as many as I had thought there would be, but all of them enjoyed being with us for our holiday of thanks. It was during that time that we learned that the family down the road wanted us to adopt Marita. They all said we were the right people for her and since her family had all been killed by cartels, she needed a family. They wanted us to be her family.

Mom and Millie were ecstatic and wanted me to agree instantly. My head was spinning at what this might really mean. Marita and Millie came and sat on my lap to hug me. Millie whispered in my ear, "Just think, you can have us both pregnant with more boys."

I pinched her on the butt hard enough to make her jump and glare at me. "Millie, my love, you are the only mommy of my children. I enjoy having Marita here, and if she becomes part of our family it will be as our child and not another wife. You do understand that, don't you?" With that I gave a gentler pinch on the butt. I added, "Maybe Mom should adopt her so she can be our sister."

Millie looked confused, but said to me in a whisper, "But I thought men wanted as many women as possible. Are you different?"

I hugged Millie and kissed her, then hugged Marita and kissed her as well. With Millie hugged to me, I said, "Marita, you have been a pleasure to have around, and it would be wonderful if we can be your family, but I have a wife and only want one wife. We will help you find a good man to be your husband and father to your children."

Marita's face went from shock, to sadness, to loving, and to excitement. I really enjoyed having her as our friend and helper with John, but I didn't want another wife. Mom gave me an extra hug later and said, "You are so special, Michael. Thank you for being my straitlaced son."

One of these days I was going to convince my wife that I only wanted one wife, not several to have babies and to take care of me.

My brother and brother-in-law were not unaware of the interplay within my family, and they both later asked me if I wanted to swap. They thought that having a cute little Mayan princess as a houseguest and second wife might be fun. Both men received serious rebukes and sore shoulders from their wives, who hung on me and asked Millie if they could share me.

Mom spent most of Thanksgiving evening laughing her butt off.

Friday after Thanksgiving was supposed to be Black Friday shopping. Instead, the women made buttermilk and butter and I went exploring with my brother and brother-in-law.

We went around the mountain in the opposite direction than we usually went. The ATV helped to keep the two from complaining that I was leading them too fast. We found another cave at the same level the house was, and I marked it with my GPS. I used a gradual incline to go up to the next terrace level and found the fields the tax collector talked about. There was about seventy sloping acres that could be farmed and the path to it wasn't all that tough. I was going to try to get equipment up here.

I didn't want to take them up to the big caves, but I traveled upward until I found what the big cannon balls had been for. There were two cannons that had been pushed down the mountain. The cannon ball had rolled out of one, and in the other the ball was still packed. I told the other two men to be careful as black powder didn't lose its punch. I marked the spot with my GPS and told the two men that I would have the University come out to help me preserve the cannon.

When I looked up from there, I could see the lip of land that was in front of the cave with the balls and barrels. I'd bet those barrels were black powder and still very sensitive.

At home, the two guys were all excited at what we had discovered. I showed everyone that I had recorded the GPS locations of the cannon so people could check it out in the future. That kept the discovery within a normal roar.

On Monday after Thanksgiving, the path crew was out working. This time, Jet had enlisted another ex-Army engineer to help make a deeper cut to get far ahead of the other workers. The two men were almost uncanny in the way they could work the big bulldozers. They were pushing so far ahead that Ezra had to go get them for lunch with his ATV.

I had joined them and found out the logging company had two trucks standing by to load logs as soon as they were available. Since the trunks and root balls didn't need to be used as fill, they were being pushed to the grinder and ground up for the pressboard plant. Some of the best walnut tree root balls were being put aside to be sold to a major gun manufacturer as the wood from the roots made the most beautiful stocks. Just as Ezra had predicted, the logging was bringing more income than the actual work.

Saturday Market was the usual, except that a farmer came up to me, "Mike Grayson, right?"

"I'm him."

"My name is Sam Simons. My farm is to the west of where your place is but on the other side of the ridge. I have a problem that I hear you might be able to help with."

I nodded to the man and shook his hand.

"I'm doing pretty good as a farmer, but I'm not raising enough hay or grain to feed my stock all winter. I hear you want to buy yearlings come spring, but I have yearlings that I can't feed enough through the winter. Instead of me selling you scrawny beef in the spring, how about helping me keep the beef in good shape until spring and buying them at a very reduced price. If you don't know the value of what I'm talking about, you should go get Stanley to help you figure a deal. I want a fair deal, but I need your help to keep my stock fed and healthy through the winter."

"How many head are you talking about, Sam?"

"The stock I'll be selling this spring is about thirty head. The other stock I need to feed is about another thirty head. If you can give me hay and grain for the sixty head, I'll damn near give you the thirty I'm talking about."

Stanley was nearby, so I called him over and had a short conversation with him. He told me, "Sam is a good farmer, but a terrible businessman. He underestimates everything, then turns around and overestimates everything else. Go see his stock and check his numbers, and you should be okay."

I spent the rest of Saturday checking Sam's stock and confirming his hayloft was empty and he needed grain. I went home and loaded two dozen bales of hay and a couple of hundred pounds of bagged ground corn. We would figure out some kind of delivery schedule to keep his stock fed through the winter.

Sam's stock went nuts over the fresh hay, and when Sam spread the grain in the troughs, it was gone right away. I hoped that thirty was the right amount to feed out in the orchards. Now I needed to finish the fence.

Christmas was like Thanksgiving with the entire family joining us on the mountain. The snow made the holiday something special. Although the road guys worked most of the holiday, they took a break to eat with us and receive some hokey presents. I made sure every one of the guys received a genuine military wool sweater. I knew how warm they were and used one whenever I was out at this time of year.

Christmas dinner was a turkey, a big roast, and a big deer roast for those who wanted something gamier. So many people kept showing up throughout the afternoon that we finished off all of the food making sandwiches, as well as plates, for those who wanted supper.

The kids were having fun directing people to take their shoes off at the door. They were raised by parents who were very specific about removing shoes at the door. Mom had spread newspaper across the floor by the door to put shoes on.

For a late supper, Mom, Millie, and Marita, with the direction of Doroteo, made some unbelievable meat cannelloni that were so delicious that I ate four myself. Later, we actually spent some time singing Christmas carols with Martha directing us.

It takes a few days to get over a big holiday like Christmas. For the guys that didn't go home for the holiday, we had supplied them with the love they needed. There appeared to be three of the guys who looked at Marita as fair game. I did go by and told all of them that I was like her dad, and I expected them to show her the respect they would expect a suitor to show their sister or mother. I think they got the hint, but one of the young men said, "The guy who really wants to see more of your Marita is Jet. The guy has it bad over her, but is afraid to talk to her."

I told them, "I'll have you guys up for supper and make sure Marita and Jet get a chance to talk. How about coming up about five to five thirty tomorrow evening? The weather looks like we'll be clear for a week or so."

That evening, when I told the three ladies that I wanted to have the men up for supper the next night, Mom gave me a wink. "At least you didn't spring them on us tonight. We'll get a big roast out and have it. I'll bet that if you asked nice, Millie would make some of her great rolls." Mom swiveled around and looked directly at Marita, "And you, Marita, what do you want to make for dessert, other than to make you more desirable to that young man that stutters. What's his name, Jet?"

I was surprised and asked, "When did this happen? Has he been out enough to know Marita?"

Mom laughed, "You know we still take lunch to the crew, and Marita makes eyes at the man daily. She wants to talk to him, but is bashful and doesn't want to hurt his feelings if he can't get his words out. I think he wants to talk to her and is bursting to try. I keep expecting the two to spontaneously combust. I think I'll make sure he goes to church with us on Sunday and make him sit next to Marita."

Oh my, the matchmakers were working overtime.

The next day, after making sure that everything was working and the road guys all knew to come for supper, I spent the day on the Internet and phone talking to various departments of Universities. The one group that showed the most interest was from the Atlanta Civil War Museum. The University of Kentucky said that they would like to come inspect the find as soon as the weather broke. When I asked when that would be, they advised that it was best if they didn't try to go out in weather under fifty degrees. I kept trying to tell the professor that it didn't stay above fifty degrees on the mountain until late May or early June. The days were warm, but the nights were usually around forty-five degrees. His only comment was, "We'll wait."