Chapter 33

I had a great night's sleep while stretched out in the big bed. That's when I realized that it was Millie who had awakened me this morning as she silently wept while snuggled to my other side. I wiggled around to hug Millie to me, and kissed her. She hugged me back and whispered, "I dreamed of Bernard and Momma and Daddy. I even think I saw Ben with his old mule, but he had a woman with him. Eliza was there, and I'll bet the man with her was Bud. Bernard seemed so real. I wanted to hug him, but he just smiled and told me to love the man I have now. Why would I have a dream like that?"

Millie sniffled a couple of times before telling me, "I had to hold back when Bernard died, because Summer needed me to be strong. I had to feed us and take care of us. I cried almost every night for a year, until worrying about food became more important than missing him. Now I have food, I have you, I have our baby, and I now remember Bernard. Don't be mad at me for thinking of him."

With a hug and kiss on the forehead, I said, "How could I be mad at you, Millie? You are my wife, my mate, the mother of our baby. I love you, Millie, and we'll take care of each other for the rest of our lives. You should sometimes think of Bernard, he was important to you and Summer. You can cry on my shoulder any time."

Millie sat up. "Thank you, Mike. I'm so lucky to have you. Let's get up and get started on the day."

As I went through the morning ritual to be presentable, while having to share the big bedroom bathroom with Millie, Marita, and Karen, I wondered at the resurgence of memories for Mom and Millie. I had even seen Dad in a dream. It was just a quick look, but it was Dad, and he had been gone a long time. Could his spirit be up here with the others since Mom's here? If we dream of those who are gone, are they spirits or are they ghosts?

I helped with the barn chores by breaking hay up for the steers and the deer this morning. While I did that, I made myself a mental note to call about the thirty head of stock I had traded for. It was time to get them delivered.

Breakfast required the big table as the two road guys were there to enjoy breakfast with us, along with D and his six young ladies. Rosita, Anita, and Carla were also with us and filled up the table. The biscuits and sausage gravy with scrambled eggs was a treat for all of us.

While we ate, Rosita told us, "All of us that live in the houses below want to make you a special meal. If you will come after chores tonight, there will be a big feast with many of our native dishes. The ladies that are at home are making it special to show our appreciation for what you do. Will you come?"

Mom was grinning and nodding her head. "Yes, we will come. I'm proud to be asked to come to your home for a meal."

Anita said, "Really yours the buildings are, but our homes they are. Given us much, you have, and share we want to.", After breakfast, I took the guys down to show them the little fields that were the meadows at the Finnerty and Jorgenson places and would now become large gardens. I asked them to put those two fields on their schedule and get to them when they could. When I mentioned that we had sufficient chicken manure to spread on those fields, the guys said they would bring the backhoe and steamer back out.

Back at the house, Mom suggested that I make a trip into Lexington to get started on this next phase of our treasure. When I told her that I wanted to check with Bert about a chest of coins, she suggested, "Let's wait until we find out the value of the foreign coins. What I think would be good is to make up a chest of double eagles, along with an assortment of the foreign coins, to give to the University. I want to have an exact count of what we give to see if any find their way into someone else's pocket. I'll work on a chest for them while you go to the coin dealer today. Remember to come right home because we are eating with our friends at the bottom of our drive."

I called the coin dealer and asked him if he was able to look at some coins. He told me, "You can bring all you want, but you should keep it under a hundred. An attorney from down your way has just offered a large quantity of coins similar to what you brought before, but a lot more. That area down there must have a lot of treasure stored, or a couple of big collectors. The lawyer said he represents a trust and wants to make sure any funds are direct deposited. He didn't want any cash. How about you?"

I chuckled and told him, "Pocket money would be good. That's up to you, though. If you're short, I can come back another day."

"No way, Mr. Grayson, you've already made my year since I've sold all of the coins you brought previously, and I'm excited to be able to have enough to really do some dealing. Come on, come see me."

Before I left the house, I called the farmer that I had made a deal with for the thirty head of beef. He told me that since I had been able to supply hay and grain, the steers were looking real good. I told him that I could take them anytime now, since I thought we had seen the last of the bad weather. He agreed and asked if Monday would be good. I told the man that it was a plan. I instructed him that fifteen would come here and fifteen were going to the Conners'. Stanley and I had already made a cash deal on him getting fifteen head.

The trip up to Lexington was uneventful and fast. When I was buzzed into the coin dealer's locked door, I could see that he was busy with another customer, but there were three other men with him, looking something over. The dealer waved me over and said, "Look at this. It's one of the counterfeit double eagles that's so rare. Let us finish here and we'll look over what you've brought."

It didn't take long for the customer to walk out of the store with his hand stuffed down in his pocket, holding what was probably a lot more money than he had expected.

The dealer said to me, "It was almost funny as the man said he knew the coin wasn't real, but didn't know whether or not it had any value other than the gold. When we offered him the standard value, he instantly had his hand out. I think we could have gone up another couple of thousand for a prize like that."

The other three men were introduced as the backers and collectors the dealer represented. He described their worldwide contacts of other collectors and dealers to me. The dealer spread a large felt pad on his glass countertop and pointed. "Spread 'em out and let us drool."

I had each type of coin separated and put a stack of fifty mixed double eagles on one side. Next, I put a variety of Spanish coins, the doubloons and Escudos, in little stacks of each kind, then a variety of French coins with the largest quantity being the Napoleon III gold coins.

The three collectors began separating the double eagles into types and grades, with a slip of paper under each stack listing the quantity and price. They did the same for the Spanish coins, but debated over some until the dealer went for his big book and used a laptop to check prices. The French coins took a while, as they were rarer than the Spanish coins that were mostly made in Mexico. Some of the French coins were minted in England and Germany, with each having a different value.

The dealer looked at me and asked, "Is the fifteen percent still good? I know you have contacts in Cincinnati and they are a big dealer. I hope you continue to use me."

The three collectors debated on a couple of the coins and even had the dealer get his testing kit out. When they finally reached agreement, they presented me with the total. I was startled, "Oh my."

One collector defended the number by saying, "The foreign coins are not as rare as the double eagles, and Spanish coins are all over South America. I don't think most are in as good condition as these, but they are common."

The dealer looked at the three men and told them, "I think you misread Mr. Grayson. I think he was startled to find out it was so much. Now, do you want this in cash, a check, or direct deposit?"

The shortest of the three collectors almost giggled, "Cash is the only way to deal with this. You need to take cash so we can easily move these coins. How about it?"

"Sure, cash is fine today." I was about to jump out of my skin. Maybe I should go back to a cash payroll. It's not good to even think that way. The dealer brought out a nice leather-looking document folder and stuffed five fat bundles of hundreds into the folder before counting out more hundreds into a separate stack almost the size of one of the bundles. The final figure was ninety-six, so he just put a hundred on the stack instead of giving me small bills. I was choking.

When the dealer handed me the folder, he asked, "Do you know if the coins the attorney has are similar?"

Before I could answer, one of the other collectors asked, "Can you tell us whether we can expect a great deal more of these? If so, we need to make arrangements to spread them around so they don't lose their value."

I looked at the men and said, "I am aware of the coins the lawyer has, and yes, they are similar."

The dealer smiled and said, "You didn't say whether you had more, do you?"

I thought about how to answer, and then said, "I don't know yet. It depends on whether or not I can find them. If I do, I'll be back."

A collector said, "I sure hope so. Bring more of those foreign coins. They are becoming popular and can be sold in their native countries as well."

Now I was naked. I mean, I was carrying well over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and had no protection. What a dummy I was to leave home without it. As I backed the pickup out of the slot and headed toward the strip center exit, I saw a sign at the end of the center that simply said 'Guns'.

I parked the truck and pulled a wad of bills from the partial bundle and folded them into my pants pocket. After sliding the folder under the seat, I got out, locked the door, and headed to the shop. I had to be buzzed into this door, too. An older, chubby guy with a white shirt and suspenders had what looked like some kind of automatic disassembled in the process of cleaning it.

"What can I do for you, young man?"

I smiled. "I'm looking for a reasonable pistol, something in an automatic of some kind, maybe a Beretta or a Glock. A used one is okay if you have one."

The man moved down his counter and pointed at two cases, one with each hand. "This one is new, and that one is used. I have a really nice late issue Beretta, a model 92 that is as clean as a new one. I doubt it has been fired more than ten to twenty times. I know it was fired because it had residue in the barrel when I bought it."

He pulled the pistol from the case, dropped the magazine, ratcheted the slide, and handed me the piece. I knew this weapon as well as any and smiled. The man asked, "You wear those fatigues or rather BDUs comfortably, so have you been out long?"

I had to smile as I told him, "Yeah, I've been out a couple of years, but after wearing them for twenty, they feel good to me."

"So what do you think? Did you like the Beretta while you were in?"

I told the dealer, "Of course, what's not to like." I pointed at the price sticker on the display box the gun had been in, and said, "I'll buy this, but I think you can give me twenty percent off that price. I'll buy a couple of boxes of rounds for it, too, and won't bust you on the price if you're fair."

The man smiled, "Know your guns, huh? That's fair. Got some ID for me?"

The man wrote me up, gave me two boxes of the 9 mm rounds with an extra magazine, and did his best to sell me a holster. I told him I already had one. The gun came with its original display box, so I walked out of the store with an inconspicuous bag.

After getting in my truck, I checked the folder under the seat before filling the magazine and putting a round in the chamber of the Beretta. I took a deep breath and felt a lot better. I made sure that the hammer wasn't cocked and the safety was on before tucking it under my thigh and heading home.

The Army surplus store was nearby, and I hesitated going there, but they had a parking place directly in front of the store, so I stopped to check on some BDUs.

The man recognized me, and when I asked if he had any mountain cammies, he asked my size and went for them. I was about to tell him to bring six pairs, but he was ahead of me. He threw a couple of new web belts and a couple of caps on the stack, and said, "I have a new shipment of mountain boots that are heavier than the desert boots you have on. Want to try on a pair?"

I tried them on and they did feel good, so I bought a pair, thinking that I should buy two pair if they were a fair price. The price was right, so I bought two pair, and just for kicks, I bought another issue holster for the Beretta. I was going to teach Millie to use the Beretta, so I bought another equipment harness vest.

I suppose it pays to be a good customer, as he only charged me for the BDUs and boots. The store owner said the rest was a bonus.

Back in the truck, I decided I was ready to go home. This was a strange day and I was looking forward to a great Mexican dinner. I hoped it wasn't the lame Tex-Mex stuff that seemed to be popular.

As I neared Stanton, I hunted for the radio station and easily found it. Bernie came through loud and clear with the local news and weather. The news consisted of the school being offered a donation for the repairs and improvements it needs. He also said that Dr. Rivers' clinic was scheduled for expansion over the next couple of months.

The next thing that Bernie did surprised me. He gave a telephone number and asked for listeners' comments on all that he had reported today. A man talked about the farmer's market and a news item about what was going to be offered out there. I was fascinated by how neat Bernie sounded and how interested the callers were. I decided that Bernie had a winner.

I called Jimmy to make sure everything was OK, followed by a similar call to Ezra. He said that he was excited about the Mexican dinner and looked forward to it.

As I drove up to the house, the two road guys were parking the tractors in the equipment cave. When they came out, one of them pointed to the sky and said, "See that? I'll bet it rains tonight. The weather report, according to Bernie, said it was supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Do you have something inside for us to do?"

"Take it easy and enjoy yourself tomorrow. I think that the only thing going on is the seed corn delivery, and I can handle that."

The two went toward the milk house to wash up for what I thought was before going home, but when I went into the house, Millie smiled and said, "The family at the bottom of the hill has invited all of the road men. Even Bernie is coming. We're going to have a real party."

The Latino women were not inside, and because of the time, I figured the chores were done. Mom told me that she and Millie had done the milking, and Marita and Karen had done the heavy barn stuff and the chickens. Mom said that she had already stoked the smokehouses, so I didn't need to do that.

My goodness, these were a bunch of independent women. They can take care of themselves.

I had been holding the folder and headed to the office, with Mom following me. As soon as she entered, she asked, "How was it? Did you take enough to make the trip worthwhile?"

I showed her the fancy folder, and as I pulled out the six bundles, I said, "Do you know what each of these bundles is worth? There are five full bundles and another almost full. I used some cash to buy some protection and a quick trip to the Army Surplus store. I figured that I should have something with me that I forgot this morning, and I needed some new cammies to go with the jeep."

Mom laughed, "You are so funny. You could drive a luxury Bentley around, but you're planning on driving an old rebuilt Jeep. I guess that is a step up from that orange monster you've been driving."

"Give me a break, Mom. My truck is in good condition, doesn't have a lot of miles, and is paid for. I think I'm going to let D use it for deliveries until I can get him a truck and charge it to the winery. I was going to get him just a plain pickup, but now I suppose I should get him a four wheel drive crew cab. We'll have to get the road guys to put an extra seat belt in the back seat so that four people can ride back there."

Mom pointed to the bundles of cash, "What are you going to do with that?"

I answered by telling her, "It'll be for when we need to buy something. I might go back to Lexington and look for a bigger log splitter, but I probably should buy that with wood money. Well, you never know when we might need something, and now we'll have the cash. I'll put it in the bottom drawer. It has a lock."

I fished in the center drawer for the keys and locked the money in the drawer. I put a key on my ring and handed the other to Mom. Mom looked at me and said, "Next time you go to Lexington, buy a little safe and put it in the floor or wall. Between what I still have and all that you have, we need a place to put it."

I pulled the Beretta out, put it on the desk, and began to walk out of the room. Mom said, "Are you going to leave a loaded gun lying around the house?"

"They sure wouldn't do anyone any good if they weren't loaded. That one is going to be Millie's. We're going to have some sidearm practice soon; maybe after the seed is delivered tomorrow."

Mom shook her head as she observed, "Michael, you know that I already have mine, and I know how to use it. I'll take Millie up to the gun range in Mount Sterling and give her some lessons. You need to teach her to hunt with a shotgun this fall. Your dad taught me the first year we were married. I probably went through twenty dollars in shotgun shells trying to get us a quail dinner. We've kicked up a lot of quail in the meadows here, so you should be able to get us a dinner this fall."

I had a strange mother. What guy wouldn't be proud to have a mother who can hunt and shoot a gun with the best of them? Knowing Mom, she was probably still carrying her pistol in her purse.

Mom suggested that I put regular clothes on for the party the families down the hill were giving us. I kind of thought they wouldn't recognize me unless I was wearing BDUs. I changed into jeans, a nice shirt, and a pair of engineer boots because I liked to keep peace, and we were ready to go.

I was holding John when I lined the women up. "You four are something, my mother, my wife, Marita, and Karen. I'm lucky to have this family. Did you think about this? This is the first time we're representing ourselves as a group, a family. We didn't adopt Marita yet, and we don't even know if we can adopt Karen, but we are a family. I'm proud to be the man of this family."

Mom clapped in applause. Millie hugged me, as did Marita and Karen. Mom came over and whispered, "You are your father through and through. You make me so proud."

I did remember my dad doing stuff like that. I guess I did get it from him.

When we arrived down the hill, all of the road guys were already there. Jet was standing in the yard waiting for Marita, and I noticed that a couple of the girls D had imported were being friendly to the other guys. I hoped that no one clued the guys in on what the girls had been required to do in their previous life.

Pedro and Jesus actually hugged me as I entered their home. All the kids were interested in me and asked me why I didn't have my Army uniform on. Ya see? That's how they recognize me.

Raul and Jose were all smiles and introduced me to a couple of women they said were visiting.

Consuela gave me a warm hug and kiss by pulling me down to her level. She whispered, "You better be careful of those six girls. They all want to join Millie in your bed. You are their hero."

I hugged the lady and told her, "D is the hero. He spent his last dollar to get them here and didn't think a thing of it."

I met a couple of the men who worked with Pedro and Jesus on Ezra's crew. Pedro explained that some of the families were living in houses in town now that they had a steady income. He told me, "See, Mike Grayson, you've given us independence and honor to live the way it is intended. You give us pride."

No one would have believed that so many could be seated, but all of the adults were seated at a big table and the kids were at another large table. The food kept coming until I was so full that I was bloated. It was so very good. Mom made the comment, "You folks shouldn't have made the dishes so mild. Mike loves very spicy food when he can get it. When you want to have something very exciting sometime, call Mike and he'll make you some of his dip. It burns your tongue."

Juan was laughing and said, "Some of us can't eat very spicy food, but others want it to almost burn. I'm one who doesn't care for real hot food, but Jose loves to be burned in the mouth by spicy food. Mike and Jose should eat together."

When we had eaten our fill, D brought the grappa out for all of the adults that wanted some help digesting. When the road guys began helping to clean the table, Rosita and Anita laughed, telling them that they could not help here as the other men would be jealous of how close they would be to them. There was laughter all around.

As we sat enjoying a cup of strong coffee, Raul began, "Mike Grayson, you have given us a place to live that is the best we can have. But, it is not our own. We want to own our own property and have begun looking, but for all of us to buy homes will be almost impossible. How can we do it? We love living here, but we want to own where we live."

"I understand how you feel. It is only natural that you want to be the master of your destiny. I have to tell you that I promised Ben I would keep and look after his property. I felt you folks deserved something more than the way you were living, and that's the reason I offered Ben's place. You have improved it by almost building a village, and I'm proud of you for doing that. You have provided food and shelter for many who have come here to find a new life. But still, I have promised to keep this property as part of the whole mountain that we live on."

You could see some disappointment in their faces, but I added, "That doesn't mean that you can't put roots down here. I'll be glad to give you a long term lease on the property, but I still need the storage for the firewood. You probably won't care since that's a source of income in the winter. I'll bet if we advertised on the radio and newspaper, we would be able to sell out our wood before winter. How about you working with me on a long term lease to stay here? You don't have to pay me for the improvements you've made. It was your labor and my materials. It's an even deal. Think about it. I'll see if I can live with whatever decision you make."

Raul had a long face, but Pedro grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside. After several minutes, the half dozen men who had left came back inside, and Raul said, "That is a fair offer, Mike Grayson. We accept it. We do want to use a little of the ground around the barn for a garden. Can we do that?"

"Of course you can. I'm doing the big field with sweet corn and using the outer area for firewood. That's about it. If you want to put some animals in the barn, do it. If you want to raise sheep, goats, pigs, or a steer, you're welcome to. If you want your own garden, plant it. I'll even help you get the ground ready. Use the property the way you want, but I need the two areas I just mentioned."

Pedro winked at me as he continued to keep Raul pacified that I wouldn't sell the land. As everyone began leaving, D came to me, "Mike, you are so good to me and my young charges. I see a couple of your men are interested in my girls. Do you think they will be gentlemen? Will they be respectful even if they find out what the girls had to do?"

"I don't know, Doroteo. It depends on the way the girls respond to the guys. They are young men with raging hormones, the same as the out of control hormones the girls have. You talk to the girls, I'll talk to the guys, and we'll let them figure out how to treat each other with respect."

"Good thinking, Mike. I'll see you tomorrow."

I watched all the road guys leave, and when we went back to the house, I watched Ezra leave. Once again, I was left alone with my wife, my mom, and two other women that I didn't know what to do with.

Bed was something I did know about, and I stripped down and quickly crawled into bed next to Millie, who was feeding our son. He is getting big, and as John slowly nursed, Millie told me, "Our son is going to have a sister. For some reason, I know that it's a girl. Oh, Mike, I'm so happy to give us another baby. I want to be like your mom and be the mother of many. Just think, you'll have a little girl to love and spoil."

Now that's a way to keep a guy awake. How do you fall asleep next to your wife who just told you she was going to give you another child? That's way too exciting to let me sleep.

It did take a while for John to fall asleep. When he did, I picked him up, kissed his forehead, and laid him in his bed. Every time you put your child in bed, you get that choked up feeling that this is the most important thing in life that you can do. This is the number one of all your priorities.

Millie and I snuggled and were instantly asleep.

Mom and I were up early, together enjoying a cup of coffee while the dogs ran wild investigating any night visitors. She told me, "I put a chest together, but it isn't overflowing like most of the chests were. I think we should see how the contents are treated, and if the university uses them the way Bert thinks they should be, we can control the amount it gets and how much goes to the coin dealers over future years. I think we need to keep working in that direction, and not just give it all away to an organization that might not be honorable about how they use the gift."

I nodded in agreement and suggested, "How about some kind of college fund for the kids in Stanton and the county? We could sponsor scholarships for the local kids and use some of the gift to send Karen to school. What does she want to learn to be? Do you know?"

Karen was standing in the hallway and interrupted us, "I want to be either a schoolteacher or a nurse. I know I could be a good teacher, but there is a need for nurses. I want to do either or both. If you want to send me to school, I want to go somewhere close so that I can still come here, to my new home, and to enjoy the love you all have shown me. Is that too much to ask?"

Mom went to the girl and hugged her. "Oh, Karen, you are our little girl. We want you to learn to be the best you can be in either education or nursing. Why don't you start school and intern with the clinic to see how you handle it? Some of the negative experiences may convince you not to select that career path."

"I understand life, Misses uh, ah, Mom, is that okay?"

I thought Mom would burst out crying. She hugged the young girl to her instead.

"I understand about life and know there are bad times as well as good. People get sick, people die, but people also recover, have babies, and have happy lives. Carmen almost died from appendicitis, but she lived because the clinic was there. That is why I would want to be a nurse."

Mom was surprised at how maturely Karen considered her choices. Karen had been hidden from society, but was not naïve. She had researched and learned about life outside of the narrow lifestyle her parents subscribed to.

Karen sealed her relationship by hugging Mom and telling her, "What I need is a school that teaches me to be a farmer's wife like you; to be generous and a mother to all like you are. I want to give that kind of comfort to those I work with."

I sure hope Karen wasn't blowing smoke up Mom's butt, since what she said was not only beautiful, but so true.

Mom smiled at us and said, "Mike, go begin doing the chores; I'll be out to milk in a minute. Karen, wake Millie and Marita, then go do the chickens. Tell Mike if you need him to bring you another bag of crushed shells."

The fresh mountain air cleared my head and had me thinking of what I could do to insulate us from the rest of the world. The recluse thing keeps popping up in my mind. There really wasn't much, as the base of the mountain covered several miles. There would be no way to keep people out of the place if there was a hint of treasure to be found. There has to be some way to prevent a mob scene around the place.