Chapter 28

The house was cold when I woke up and discovered the fireplace in the bedroom had burned out. I stuffed a log and some kindling in and restarted the fire. There were still embers in the living room fireplace, but it needed a couple of logs.

I quickly scooped the ashes into the ash bucket before wanting to go back to bed. The clock on the wall said it was almost five, so I decided to just stay up. The dogs usually wanted out right away, but they looked at me funny and stuck their heads back between their legs. I walked over to the big sliding glass door and pulled the curtain back.

Holy shit! I thought at first that it had snowed so much that a snowdrift had covered the door, but I then realized the white was moving. It was a true whiteout. You couldn't see anything.

I turned the TV on, but the satellite wasn't working, so I pushed a lot of buttons on the remote until I was able to get cable reception from Lexington. They were reporting on the heaviest snowstorm in the last forty years or something like that. No one was venturing a guess as to how much snow had fallen, but Lexington had received almost twenty-four inches.

I called the road trailer, Bernie answered, "Road Commissioner's Office, how can we serve you?"

"Hey, Bernie, I hope that the guys will stay in until the wind dies down. It's a whiteout up here right now."'

"They're already out, Mike. Most were in by eleven after eating, and thank you for thinking of us. They brought me a full meal in one of those takeout boxes. We were all up by four and got out fast. They said they will come by and pick me up for breakfast around six-thirty. The radios are working so far, and they are reporting that it is slow to get the snow off the roads as there is so much of it. Did you notice the temperature is climbing and already up to thirty? The snow will be melting like crazy all afternoon. Do you have trouble with run-off or overflowing creeks and rivers?"

Man, this guy was a motor mouth. "The creeks are deep enough to handle a pretty good runoff. There are some low areas that flood, but no homes, just farm land."

"That's good. Jimmy said he's going to be up your way before breakfast, so look for him. He said to tell you that he'll come up your drive and do the place below yours as well. What do you have up there, a couple of places and rent one out?"

I had to laugh as this guy could pass information around the county faster than the gossip channels in town. Wow, a mile a minute talker.

"I'll watch for Jimmy and just to let you know, I appreciate you working with us. I'm going to make you an employee if you want it. We'll work on getting another FEMA trailer for you guys. Ten men in two of those is too much. Be careful, Bernie, that snow might be tough to get through for you."

"No sweat, Mike. The guys made sure I had a clean shot to get in this morning. I'm fixed up in the office trailer so that all should be fine while the guys are out, and thanks, Mike, I need a job. If I'm not able to do what's needed, let me know and I'll look for another place. I want to be productive."

Mom had come from her bedroom in a heavy robe and fluffy slippers. She had a shadow as Karen followed her in a robe and slippers similar to Mom's. Both of them took coffee from the fresh pot I had made and were standing near the fireplace.

"Mom, look out the dining room windows."

"Wow, Mike, the snow is really drifted that high?"

I told her, "Go over to the door and look at the snow, you'll understand then."

"Oh my, Mike, the snow is blowing sideways. We're going to have some deep drifts. Is that why the dogs are hiding on the rug?"

"It probably is, Mom. I think we'll all have to wait for the wind to die down. I hope that the guy who is supposed to be plowing his way up the mountain turns around and goes back. This should pass soon, if you believe the radar on TV."

The three of us watched the radar display on the TV for a minute, until I felt an arm snuggle around me. Millie looked up at me, giving me some air kisses as encouragement to lean over and kiss her. While I did that, another arm encircled my waist and Marita smiled at me. "You were restless last night. You must have been having one of your war dreams. Millie and I snuggled up to you and that seemed to help. Are you okay?"

Mom looked at me sharply as I told the girls, "I'm fine. I don't remember dreaming, but I have been having a lot of dreams lately."

"You know, Mike," Mom said, concerned. "PTSD is a real thing and if this keeps up, you need to consider seeing someone from the VA. You might need someone to talk to."

I told Mom, "Call down to the other house and tell the women to stay home. I don't want them trying to come up the hill."

Mom was talking on the phone and said to me, "Look out the window, your taxi service is working this morning."

I quickly slipped my boots and parka on and went out to greet Jimmy and whoever was with him. It was Rosita and Anita this morning, all bundled up for the bad weather. I half carried them into the house with Jimmy's help.

Mom gave Jimmy a cup of coffee and asked him if he wanted breakfast. He answered, "No, I have to go by the yard and pick Bernie up to go to breakfast. Mike has a deal with the Kitchen for us when we're plowing snow. Thanks anyway."

"Who's Bernie?" Mom asked.

Jimmy looked at me, so I answered, "Bernie is Jet's brother. He is a funny guy to talk to, but I think he might be a little lonely. He talks a mile a minute."

Jimmy added, "And only shuts up when you tell him. Jet just about has to gag him at night with the way the guy talks."

I had an idea, "You know, with his knowledge and the way he likes to talk, I'll bet he would be a good guy for the radio station in town. He could be a disc jockey and newsman rolled into one. I think I've even heard that the guy who owns the station wants someone to run it for him."

Jimmy nodded, "That's a perfect fit. Bernie could talk non-stop for twelve hours every day and maybe even be talked out by the time he gets home. Great idea, Mike; I'll bring it up at breakfast to see what he thinks."

Jimmy thanked everyone and said, "I've got to get. The guys are going to be waiting on me as it is. I might have someone else go by and pick Bernie up because these roads are horrible."

I had pulled my boots off and went back to the bedroom to put some long johns on under my winter weight BDUs. The temperature might be warming up, but that might be just in the lower areas. It was cold up here.

Just about the time I was reaching for the door, Raul and Doroteo came in. They had stomped their boots off on the porch and stood on the rug by the boot bench. The two men sat and began taking their shoes off.

Raul said, "Today will be a good day to plan what you want to do to the house. Mrs. Grayson said she wanted more bedrooms. Doroteo wants to make up a schedule on how to handle the vineyards."

"We can do that, Guys, but I need to help do chores and shovel some snow first. I'll be back in about an hour or so."

Raul put his boots back on, "You do chores, I'll shovel snow. Come, Doro, you can help shovel snow or cow manure, which one do you want?"

Rosita and Anita were grinning as they laced their boots. Mom was ready to go with us and directed Millie, Marita, and Karen to make a big breakfast. "This morning is cold enough for some of everything. Make a lot of biscuits."

The four of us were able to finish milking in record time. The fires for all of the smoke house rooms needed stoking, so I loaded them up for most of the day. I carried the two big milk cans to the house to make butter and buttermilk before Mom and I grabbed egg baskets and a bucket of water to take care of the feathered critters. The water in the chicken house was frozen, so I might have to fire up the coal oil heater. The frozen water indicated it was getting to the edge of the chickens' ability to cope. I used the pole to move the vent cap off the hole in the roof that vented the heater. The big coal oil – that's kerosene, to you city folk – heater sat on a wash tub full of rock to help heat the room, but to also prevent the surrounding ever-present straw and chicken feathers from catching fire. As soon as I lit the heater and adjusted the burner, the temperature in the building began warming. That would keep the chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys from freezing.

We were surprised at how many eggs there were, even with the cold. I suppose it was warmer to sit in the nesting box and lay an egg than to walk around on the cold floor or sit on a cold roost. All of the fowl seemed to eat more during the cold weather. It was probably to build up their fat to contend with the conditions.

When the chores were complete and everyone was back in the house, the small table was the place where Doroteo and Raul sat with me with some papers and pads to do some planning.

Raul and I agreed on where the two additional houses were to be rebuilt next to the original house down on Ben's place. He had only a small list of materials that he would need to do the job. He said he was planning on replacing the septic tank and changing the leach field to accommodate the heavier flow.

I had Mom talk to him for a minute before breakfast was ready on the big table.

The house was full of people and smiling faces as we heartily ate. While we ate, it sounded like the wind was calming and you could see that the snow had slowed, with only scattered flakes drifting down to settle on the high snow behind the house.

After breakfast, Doroteo and I made our plans for the vineyards, while Mom and Raul made plans for the expansion of the house. There was still sufficient flat ground to expand the house one more time, but after that, we would have to build a second floor or tear everything down and rebuild with a different floor plan. Raul wanted to eliminate the summer kitchen, but Mom was quick to point out that the wonderful biscuits had come from the woodstove out there.

My only input was to tell Raul, "I want a real furnace now. With the baby, we need to have a furnace for the outer rooms. We can continue to use the fireplaces, but after having the fires go completely out last night, I think we need to have a furnace."

Mom nodded her head in agreement. The only problem with forced air heat is that you have to have electricity. When the power went out, we would just have to depend on the fireplaces. That shouldn't be a problem.

I heard from Jimmy about two thirty in the afternoon. He told me, "We have everything plowed and the city is cleaned up pretty good. We're using a front loader and a couple of trucks to haul snow out to the edge of town. I think we'll have a fast melt, but there was too much snow to leave on the side of the roads in town. Over at the Starlight and the Kitchen, the snow was more than eight feet high where it was pushed off the lot. We moved that snow as well. I think we have it under control, Boss. Bernie said there haven't been any calls for missed areas, so we are caught up."

"Go home and get some sleep. You never know if more of this stuff will dump on us again. It probably won't, but you may have to contend with washouts from the runoff tomorrow. Make sure you check the areas that you marked as being suspect in the morning. If you run out of things to do and the weather is nice enough, unload the salt trucks and wash them out real good. Oh yeah, Jimmy, I thought of this before and never mentioned it. See if you can find one of those pressure washers. That would clean the trucks up and would also keep all of our equipment clean. You might try the equipment dealer in Lexington or just get on the net. I'm sure there is something available around."

"That would be great, Mike. I'll find one right away. That would really spruce the equipment up. That's a great idea."

I was outside cleaning the walking paths one last time when I heard a truck struggling to get up the drive. Ezra's truck was light on the rear tires and spinning the wheels as he slid back and forth. He finally got traction and came up the drive.

When Ezra got out of his truck, he said, "These little pickups don't have any traction. How do you get around so easily in Millie's truck? You even push snow with Millie's truck and don't have a problem."

I laughed, "There's four hundred pounds of dead weight in the bed, and we have studded snow tires on all four wheels. They'll come off in the spring, but are really good for getting around in the snow."

"You know what, Mike, that might work. I'll put some of the chunks of wood you have behind the well house in the bed and I'll bet that'll help. I'm not going to go to the expense of buying wheels and studded tires for what's left of the winter. Let me put some wood in there now so I don't have to do it when I go home."

I didn't want the man to do that kind of lifting, so I told him I would do it for him. He should go in and have some coffee. I told him I suspected that a pile of cookies had appeared in the kitchen.

I found the heaviest green oak and put four big chunks in the bed of Ezra's truck. That should be close to four hundred pounds. After finishing the shoveling, I checked on the stock that was restless from having to remain in the barn lean-to. I opened the door to let them wade in the snow and the only one of the critters that was smart was the deer. He walked out, put his nose in the deep snow and walked back in the barn. Before I went in to warm up, all the stock had come back in.

I noticed the thermometer on the porch read almost forty degrees, so it was quickly warming up. I hoped it wasn't too fast, as the runoff can be really bad, especially off the mountain.

The house was nice and toasty warm with the two fireplaces blazing and the stove putting heat out while producing some great baked goods. It's funny how a cold snowy day brings cakes, breads, pies, and cookies. I could also smell a roast, so that meant all of the baked goods were coming from the woodstove.

Karen was cute the way Mom had an apron on her. She was obviously learning some baking secrets, since she had smudges of flour on her arms and face. Marita was making some tortillas and salsa. She said she would make very thin tortillas on the griddle and then bake them firm like chips so we could dip them into salsa for a snack.

The evening chores were complete and the world seemed at peace when I came back into the house.

Before I could remove my boots and coat, Mom asked me to run the two women home with their cakes, bread, and tortillas so they didn't have to walk. It was good that I had plowed both of the houses' drives, since I could now see the bare road in a couple of places with ragged edges of snow where it was melting. Two of their pickups were backed up to the stacks of wood. The big tarp they used to keep the wood dry was pulled back while they were loading, revealing the many cords stacked there ready to sell.

Pedro and Jose came up with a small sheet of paper, "These are the deliveries we have made and here is the cash and two checks we collected today. Mrs. Wilson on the edge of town asked if she could pay at the end of the month. You're okay with that, right? We have deliveries for all day tomorrow. We are going to run out of seasoned wood soon."

I advised, "If we run out, we can probably begin using some of the wood we cut at the beginning of summer. It should be dry enough for a good fire without a lot of soot."

I separated the money and noted his totals. I gave him the agreed on thirty percent for splitting and delivery, and added a hundred for the family. It was amazing how much money was coming from the wood.

Before supper that night, Ezra asked to give the blessing. He said we should be especially thankful for a full table and a warm home. He was right, as we were blessed.

Karen voiced her gratitude, "I know I have just come here and haven't been able to help much, but I've learned how much fun a family can really be. The ladies from down the road are also like family and they all taught me how to do things today. Just today I learned how to churn butter, started some buttermilk, washed and stacked eggs, made tortillas, and learned a lot about baking. My home didn't have many baked things. If we had a cake, it was from the store. I like what we make better. It's funny how you have all of the modern things in the kitchen, then go out to the summer kitchen to use the woodstove for baking."

Mom told Karen, "The biggest reason is that we don't have enough ovens to bake in here. I used that little TV oven Mike has for the cake and cookies, but the bread needed the woodstove. You learned how to control the temperature for it too. It takes time to get that touch. You'll do fine, Karen."

Mom looked a little sheepish. "We're going to have a bunch of guys come for cake and coffee any minute now. I invited them all out. They sounded eager."

When the ten guys showed up, the house became a merry place once again. The guys were all sneaking glances at Karen, and Jet was having a grinning duel with Marita. It was amazing how his stuttering almost disappeared when he was talking with her. The guys only stayed an hour before they physically picked Bernie up in his wheelchair and carried him out. He promised he would work on using his prosthesis.

Before going to bed, I went out with the dogs and walked back to the wine caves and big machine storage cave. I expected to find some critters seeking refuge, but there were enough other caves in the area where animals wanting shelter found some.

I felt like something was calling me and slogged through the snow to Eliza's and Bud's graves. Standing there, knowing that their spirits were all around the mountain, gave me a good feeling. I had somehow been blessed by the mountain and rewarded for wanting to own and work all of it. I walked back to the house, with a dog on each side of me, with a feeling of contentment.

Before bed, we were in the living room talking together. Mom and I were sipping a small glass of wine. Millie said, "I want that bigger bed. We need one. I have a big husband and he has to warm everyone up and there is not enough room. Mom, will you help me get one?"

Mom grinned because Millie called her 'Mom.' I recognized that my mother was now taking care of the emotional needs of all of us. She was the mother of the mountain.

Mom did agree to help get some bigger beds. She thought that since we were going to build on two more bedrooms, we could move two of the doubles into them and Mom would get a new queen-size and Millie would have her king-size. It's too bad, as I kind of liked being snuggled up with Millie in our smaller bed.

When I took a shower before bed, Millie helped me wash, and I helped her with her urge. She said we needed to try to find more time for just the two of us, as we didn't have much privacy. She was right. She told me that if I was to accept Marita more, it wouldn't matter then, and we could take care of all of our urges together. She doesn't give up.

I went to sleep with Millie on one shoulder and Marita on the other. Both had a leg thrown over mine with a hand up under my T-shirt, caressing my stomach and chest.

My dreams were even more bizarre. I was sitting on rocks eating from a tin plate with over a dozen Confederate soldiers lounging and eating with me. The talk was about what they wanted to do after the war. One said he wanted to be like the family on the mountain and live a simple life. Another said he thought he might go into the big city of Lexington and see if he could find work on the railroad.

It was like any group of soldiers sitting around eating and discussing what they were going to do when everything was over. Just as we were rubbing our plates out with loose dirt before washing, a couple of men that must have been sentries ran up to us, "They're coming, get ready."

I awoke and sat up. That was too real. I sat there and realized that I needed to use the toilet, so I slid from bed and went to the john. I walked out to the living room area and put another log on the fire. The fire was still good, so it wasn't very late. Checking the clock, I found it was only two.

That was really strange. The vision of the soldiers and their voices were still fresh in my mind. I resolved to get some people up here that knew what might have happened. There were too many spirits or ghosts wandering around with untold stories. It sent a shiver up my back for a second. It seemed one of the rocking chairs moved. A dog must have hit old Ben's chair. I chuckled to myself for thinking the ghosts were talking to me.

I went back to bed and was soon snuggled up behind Millie with Marita behind me.

When I woke up again, I had this eerie feeling I was going to know more Mystery Mountain history soon. There were so many unanswered questions. Would someone be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together? As I got ready for the day, my mind was flooded with anticipation of what lay ahead.

After chores and breakfast, I used the Internet to begin searching for help to find the answers to the mountain. There had to be someone who would be interested in taking a look. The University of Kentucky didn't have a department that was devoted to Kentucky history, but one of the professors told me he personally was a historian and collector of Civil War history. When I told him I thought I had found a very significant historical location, he was instantly interested. He asked me for my telephone number and wanted to call me back after he had checked his schedule and discussed the situation with another enthusiast.

After a cup of coffee and looking over the reports Maude had given me, the phone finally rang. It was Professor Bertrand Hannibal. He told me, "Mr. Grayson, there are two others here that are equally enthusiastic to see what you've found. You mention that you're on a mountain. Is the area you want to show us accessible with the snow on the ground?"

"The snow is rapidly melting, and I have an ATV that will get us to where we want to go." The John Deere 550 S4 had already proved useful around the farm and having a four seater with room for equipment in the back was perfect for this situation. "There is actually an old wagon road that goes to the site, so it must have been used extensively at one time. My guess it was before and during the Civil War. I haven't disturbed some bones that you will find interesting, nor the apparel and knapsacks that are there. I have not thoroughly investigated some of the area. Besides warm clothing, you will need artificial light sources. I know you'll like what you'll find."

"I know we will, Mr. Grayson. The area where you live isn't that full of Civil War confrontations, but there was a lot of activity that was cloak and dagger stuff around there. We'll tell you all about it. We can come tomorrow and remain at least through the weekend. My colleague has already made reservations at the local motel that boasts of a heated swimming pool. I doubt anyone will want to swim in freezing weather. Can you give me directions to your place?"

"Professor Hannibal, I'll send a detailed map to your email address. My place is easy to find."

Phew, glad that's taken care of. These people will hopefully know the history of the area well enough to decipher the puzzle of the caves.

I used the map and directions I had made for Mom almost a year ago and sent it, along with the pictures I had taken with my cell phone.

Just to be sure I would be able to get up to the caves, I took the ATV through the snow and down to the old wagon road. I was able to get up to the plateau where the caves were easily enough. I was always surprised there were never any animal tracks in the snow around the caves. If you went down about thirty to fifty feet, there were a lot of animal tracks and paths. I didn't walk into the caves, thinking it would be more fun for the archeologists to find everything more or less virgin without human tracks all over.

On the way back down the mountain, I saw the markers on the trees where I had marked the path that should take me across to the Finnerty property. Just for fun, I cautiously moved through the woods as the snow could hide a deep hole. The path was fairly straight, as most game trails are, and I came out almost exactly at the edge of the orchard there. I drove through the orchard and around the mountain, saving almost thirty minutes of slow travel through the heavy snow.

When I got into the house, Millie said, "The University man has been calling and calling. He has a question for you."

I called the number he left and Professor Hannibal answered almost breathless. "Mike Grayson, is this you?"

This was almost laughable. "Yes Sir, it's me, Professor."

"Cut the professor stuff, just call me Bert. I have to know. Are the photos you sent real? You didn't stage them or anything, did you?"

"No Sir, you'll see it all for yourself when you get here. I've left everything exactly like I found it."

"That's unbelievable. The uniforms look intact in the photos, and the hat on the side of a skull is amazing. Are there many skeletons?"

I had to think a minute, "I really didn't count them, but I think there might be as many as ten to fifteen. There are some bones in some rocks outside the cave that I'm sure are other soldiers, but you can't tell as the bones are scattered and the uniforms are mostly gone."

"Believe me, Mr. Grayson, we will be at your place early tomorrow. Is eight in the morning okay?"

"That will be fine, Bert. Remember to wear warm clothes and boots to keep your feet warm and dry."

"Um, Mike, if I may call you 'Mike, ' how much room do you have in your ATV? Should we bring another? We will want to bring back as much as we can after we photograph and document everything exactly."

"There should be enough room, and if we need another ATV, I can quickly have another up here. We'll want to come back to the house to warm up and eat lunch. Oh, if you want to get here earlier than eight, we eat breakfast around six to six-thirty. Would you like that?"

"Can we? You don't mind three strangers for breakfast?"

"Come ahead, we never know how many are going to be here for a meal anyway."

"Then we will see you at six in the morning, Mike. We are getting ready to leave right now and will get into Stanton this evening. This is really exciting."

When I hung up, there was an "Uh hum," behind me. I turned to see Mom leaning against the doorjamb with her arms folded. "So when were you going to tell me we would have extra people for breakfast, and how many extras are coming?"

"Oh, Mom, there are only three of them, and they are all university professors, or at least I think so. Just give them a glass of orange juice and a stale donut and they will think they've had a feast at a major hotel."

Mom laughed and said, "That's fine, Son. You just always invite a bunch of people and never remember to tell me until they are walking in the door. We'll have a good country breakfast for them, just like we have almost every day."

I was stoked over getting some answers. If I know what happened up there, perhaps I won't be getting all of the visitors in my sleep.

When we went to bed, I didn't think that I would be bothered by any dreams, as the answers were coming. A dream took over my mind instead.