Chapter 35

When I woke up and went into the living area to let the dogs out and throw a log on the fire, I realized that it was a little warmer than it had been. As the dogs ran out to relieve themselves, I saw that the rain had finally stopped. I looked up at the still dark morning sky and saw stars. It was amazing that we had a house full of prospective garden workers for the weekend and now that they had gone home, the rain had stopped.

It would take at least a day before the freshly tilled garden area would be ready to begin planting, so there would be plenty for the city folks to do if they came back next weekend.

After putting the coffee on, I shaved and brushed my teeth, thinking that I would shower after the chores. Mom and Marita came from the bedrooms and were followed by Karen. Marita was very bubbly this morning and told all of us, "I will miss being on the farm, but I will be with a wonderful man. I knew he was going to ask me, but the way he did it surprised me. I don't think he realizes how much of a family you all are to him. He feels it, but after being alone and only having Bernie for family, it's tough for him to accept people who love him the way you guys do. You are my family as well as his."

Now that was something special to hear.

Two ladies from below came up as we began doing chores. It was nice to be able to carry grain to the hogs without getting soaked from the rain. I had to use a shovel to clear the drainage ditch so the hogs didn't have a pond to wade in if they stepped off their concrete platform. The piglets were rapidly growing and would soon need to be put in a separate area. The other brood sow was acting funny, so I figured her to have her litter today or tomorrow.

The area outside the pigpens is part of the pasture area near the barn, so I had an audience while clearing the ditch. The crazy goat bounced around the ditch as the deer kept putting his nose next to the nasty water and shaking his head. The steers just stood and stared, curious, but not curious enough to come very close.

As soon as I was done, all of the animals went back under the lean-to for more hay. Each one would stick its head into the grain trough and lick the wood and see if something had been missed. The cows would do the same thing by checking the trough first when they were let out.

When I went into the house, Millie told me, "You had a phone call. The man who is bringing your steers wants to know if he can come this morning."

I called the farmer and he said he would be here in about an hour. Wanting to make sure Raul and crew would be here this morning, I called down below and spoke with Anita. "He is gone, Raul is. Talk to him you can, there he went." I can usually make out what Anita is saying, but not this morning. Another voice came on the phone. It was Pedro, "Raul left to go up to your place a minute ago. He should be almost there by now. Anita is talking confused this morning."

The guineas were making a fuss, so it must be Raul coming now. I went out to talk to him and the three men with him about helping to herd the beef stock when they arrived. I told Raul that Mom wanted to make another addition. That made the man grin and tell me, "I know what she wants. She wants to make your deck more dining room or big room area. I figured on that when we built on the first time. She loves to keep adding on, doesn't she?"

We agreed the men would all come in for coffee and a snack after we put the steers up.

I still had to finish running the water into the troughs, but the hard work was done. I planned to run two inch plastic pipe from a rock collection pool near each stock pen and let gravity feed the water down to the troughs. I was lucky to have springs nearby for all of them, and a unique water flow up by the house. The trough was put against the rock bluff where water poured out and flowed back into the mountain right there. I put the trough there with holes in the bottom to keep the water naturally flowing back into the mountain. The other two areas were a fairly short distance from springs, but I needed to bury some of the pipe so tractors or steers wouldn't crush it.

I threw a pick, a couple of shovels, several ten foot lengths of pipe, and the pipe dope into the ATV, and asked Mom to call me when the farmer came with the stock.

I went around to the side where the longest ditch had to be. I had to dig through the vineyard to the orchard fence. It was only about thirty feet, but that's a long ditch in rocky ground. After marking the path of the ditch, I was able to begin digging out about four feet out from the rock wall. I probably didn't have to worry about the pipe freezing, but I still wanted it down at least two feet. It would be my luck; I would forget and plow the pipe up.

I had only gone about ten feet when Mom called to tell me the farmer was here. Back at the house, I had the farmer back his truck up to the big gate to the orchard by the house. The animals got off the truck without much trouble, but keeping the others on was somewhat of a problem. Just like lemmings, one wanted to follow the other.

I had Raul drive another ATV with his three men down to the orchard around the side where I was digging. We got those steers off and drove down to the bottom orchard and put that stock in the fenced area.

Raul told me, "I'll put two men on digging that ditch for you. You should have told us about that. You have to dig a little like that down here too. I'll go get some more shovels and we'll have your water trough full in no time. Are you going to let the water run off, or is there a natural hole for it to flow into?"

In answering him, I said, "I think there is natural water flow on the outside of the orchard, so the water flows down the side of the fence to the watershed area. The orchard down here has a rocky area that the water disappears into."

As I left, I added, "Raul, I need you and Jose to visit with Mom for a second before you come back down. Drop the other two men off and we'll bring them a roll and coffee."

I invited the farmer into the house to meet the family and for coffee. I knew Mom was making sweet rolls, so Raul and Jose sat with Mom while I talked to the farmer. The man quickly spoke up, "Grayson, you have a goat," he almost accusingly stated. "What are you doing with it? Do you have any nannies?"

Laughing, I told him, "I had to take the goat in a trade. Do you want him? A neighbor lady wants a pet, but she would really like a couple of nannies. Do you know who might have a couple for sale?"

"For sale, hell no; but I know where there are two nannies with a female kid that need a home. We had an old man who rented our little house move to Lexington to live with his son. He left me the goats and told me to take them as a gift for being so fair with him for the years he lived there. The question is, can I go get those goats and give them to you?"

Since the men from the place below didn't have a fenced area, the goats were going to have to stay here for right now. These were nannies and would have to be milked and cared for until the guys below can get their fence back up. Consuela would be upset if I passed on the opportunity. Shoot, not a hard decision. "Sure, bring them. They can live with the cows and steers for the time being. I'll help the men get a fence up down below. I don't think they tore the pasture fence down where the mule used to be. They only tore down the fencing for the pens around the barn."

"You would be doing me a big favor if I can get rid of those goats. I'm milking the nannies and throwing the milk out. There's no sense in me having them if that's what I'm going to do with them. I'll owe you for doing this, Mike. I really thank you."

This was going to make Consuela happy, but I would have to help get the fence up down below.

The farmer couldn't wait to get home and bring the three goats back. He left, and I sat in with Mom as she made sure Raul and Jose knew what she wanted. Raul asked her, "Do you think you will add on more? You may have to start over with a new house. This one is about all that will fit up here."

Mom was grinning as she answered, "This will be all. When you finish this, I think Mike has a big project for you to begin. You'll need a lot of help for what he's thinking."

Raul was a believer when it came to Mom, and said, "That will be nice, Bea. I think Jose and I want to be regular family men soon. We might even know some women who want to be our wives."

All these people getting married around here are going to cause the area to have a population explosion just from having kids. It must be in the mountain water.

Raul, Jose, and I grabbed some more shovels and rode around to the vineyard where the ditch was being dug. It was going rapidly with two men digging. With five of us working, we were quickly done digging, the pipe was connected, the ditch was backfilled, and water was flowing through the troughs. The runoff only went about fifteen feet down the fence line before it disappeared into a pile of rocks.

We drove to the lower orchard and completed that job in an hour. The steers now had plenty of grass to eat and all the water they needed. If I needed any one thing, it would be some small shelters on the outside perimeter of the orchards for the animals during heavy rains. I would think about that.

Our timing was perfect, as it was lunch time and the farmer was back with the goats. When I told Raul and the men that the goats were for Consuela, they immediately huddled before turning to look at me. Raul, ever the spokesman, said, "Mike, you have some fence wire leftover from putting it between the vineyards and orchards. I think it would be enough to fence in behind the barn so the goats could use the pasture between the barn, the woods, and the cornfield. Can we use that fence wire?"

I told them all, "Use it as a gift to Consuela with my blessing. You'll need my posthole digger, and you know where the posts Ezra cut for me are. Use the ones that have been creosoted."

You would have thought they had just won the lottery by the way they were excited. Consuela was like a mom to them, and I'm sure she took care of the men and didn't ask much in return. I made the suggestion, "Go home and build the fence now so that we can bring the goats down to Consuela this evening. I'll get a sack of the cow feed that will be good for the goats as well."

Jose said, "Thank you, Mike. This is going to be good for Consuela and we will now have goat milk. We will soon have goat cheese. We will work especially hard tomorrow to make up for today."

"Don't worry about it, Guys. You helped me with the stock and water pipes. That was important."

As soon as they left, Mom, Millie, Marita, and Karen wanted to look at the nannies and the kid. The young male goat and the kid were playing as only goats can, jumping, running, and butting heads. The kid was short enough that it would run under a steer, while the older male had to run around it. With the goats entertaining and exercising the beef stock, I figured I'd have to give them some extra grain.

All of us walked out beyond the yard to the vineyard and orchard area. The new Hereford steers were very interested in the grass that was growing so lushly between the trees. I think there was enough grass and few enough steers that the stock should have plenty to eat for the summer. Just before the weather should be turning cold, I'll grain them heavy for about sixty to ninety days and take some great beef stock to market or to the butcher.

When we walked back to the house, Consuela and Carmen were standing with Rosita and Anita, waiting for us. As we approached, Consuela came to me and hugged me. I find it cute the way the top of her black hair only reaches below my chin. "Raul and Jose told me you have nanny goats for us. Can I see them?"

We walked around to the pasture area that the stock wanders around in. The four goats were all lying in the sun. The two nannies were chewing their cud while the young male and female kid had temporarily worn themselves out and were recharging. Consuela went to each of the goats and stroked and talked to them. To me, she said, "Will these be a lot of dinero? How much for me to have them?"

"Consuela, the man I traded for the new steers didn't want these goats, so I now have two nannies and a future nanny, along with a good looking male to breed them with. I accepted these goats for you, knowing how you and your family could use the milk. I hope this works out for you."

Consuela had watery eyes as she looked at the goats. "I will come tonight and in the morning to milk them. You will not have to take care of them. The men say they will be done with the fence maybe late tonight. I will make them a good supper for working so hard for me."

The two ladies began walking down the driveway before Mom realized they were going home. She quickly put them into her Explorer and took them home.

While I was walking toward the house, my cell rang. "Grayson."

"Hey, Army man, come into town for a few minutes; I have some reports for you to look at."

"Yeah, okay. I should stop by the road guys and Ezra today too. I'll see you in an hour."

I was a little dirty from digging and messing with the stock, but what the heh, I was a farmer and it was the middle of the day. Ezra was doing great and told me he was going to split the crews up starting tomorrow so he could begin on Stanley's place. The road guys were easy to find as half of them were finishing up the bridge abutment and taking the forms down. Jimmy said the other men were at the yard, working on some equipment.

As I walked into Benson's office, Denise greeted me with a big smile. "Hi, Mr. Grayson; did you know that I helped Karen apply to UK in Lexington so that we could go together? We might even be able to room together."

Wow, a lot was going on in the family. I supposed I'd have to sit still for a few minutes and listen.

Benson was standing at his office door and said, "Come in, you're going to like what I have."

As I walked into Benson's office, he leaned out and asked, "Denise, can you get us some fresh coffee? I think Mike takes his black, so black for both of us."

Benson sat at his small round conference table and opened a folder that had a good picture of D on the top. Printed underneath was his full name of Doroteo Pedro Jimenez. It had his birthplace, date, and the names of his parents and his siblings. Benson pulled a copy of a diploma from the folder that read 'Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey' across the top, with D's name in the middle of the document. He said this is from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, a very impressive university.

Benson next showed me a bunch of papers that looked like government documents. Since they were all in Spanish, I didn't know what they meant. Benson pointed to the first document. "Your man was raised in a wealthy family. His father was an ambassador to France for several years, followed by being the ambassador to Spain. Young Doroteo learned winemaking as a teenager in Spain. When he returned to Mexico to attend the university, he majored in agriculture.

"There isn't too much about his activities between graduating and when he became the chief vintner and winemaker for a large winery in southern Mexico. He was very successful and was slowly beginning his own vineyards. It was at this time the cartels began forcing the people to grow marijuana, coca, and poppies. The vineyard Doroteo worked for was burnt to the ground and all of the owners executed for rebelling against the cartel in their area.

"Your D became important to them since his knowledge helped the cartels grow big crops of the plants they were most interested in. D made the mistake of keeping his vineyard up, not making wine, but providing fruit for the people around him. An argument began and his family disappeared. He was promised their return when the vineyard lands were growing the crops they wanted.

"While Doroteo was planting marijuana where his vineyard had been, news reached him his family had been executed with other nearby villagers who resisted. He went to the village where he had heard his family had been killed and confirmed their death by digging up their bodies. I can't imagine how he must have felt at that moment.

"Doroteo took a few belongings, his money, and prepared to leave. It is said he died in the fire of his home. There is also a report of one of the key cartel enforcers disappearing about the same time. I think your man exacted a little revenge."

I looked up and asked, "How do we know if this is really Doroteo?"

"For one, the photograph is one from the regional newspaper only three years ago. Two, his death certificate was never filed. Three, and most important, we have a DNA analysis from a sample taken when he was suspected to have a local disease transmitted by mosquitoes. We were able to get a sample here by asking one of your men to get his toothbrush. Your man is genuine, but could be mentally crippled because of his losses. Everything we found out about him has to lead you to believe he is a good person. The investigator down in Mexico said he had to be careful so as not to alert the cartel that Doroteo could still be alive."

"That is really thorough, Benson. I'm glad I did this, but almost sad that I didn't trust him. He just seemed to be too good to be true. He is a very humble man."

Benson nodded, "I would be too if I had gone through what he did."

Denise brought our coffee and we sipped it while thinking of Doroteo.

Benson sat up again and said, "The six girls are very interesting. There isn't a lot of documentation on the girls' activities in the brothel, but as you can imagine, they were not treated very well. Apparently kidnapping young women and forcing them to work in brothels is very common out in California and even in several other areas."

"First, I've had all of their identities checked and duplicate drivers' licenses and state IDs, as well as copies of birth certificates issued. They are all citizens, although two are children of undocumented immigrants, so-called wetbacks, if you really want to know. Anyway, the kids mostly came from migrant farm worker families and were kidnapped, and in the case of the two girls related to Doroteo, sold to the brothel owners.

"Here's where it gets interesting. It seems these six girls were being transported to a party. According to one of the other girls just freed from the brothel, the story is that the men who were taking the girls bragged they were going to use the merchandise before delivering it.

"A California Highway Patrol report states that four armed illegal immigrants were found dead in an SUV hidden in a wooded area near Sacramento. All four had their throats cut and had been stabbed multiple times. There wasn't much evidence to find, as the car had been burned, although not completely. None of the four men was dressed from the waist down.

"There is a report of several young ladies changing clothes at a nearby gas station and convenience store about the estimated time of the car burning, but no one got a good look at the girls other than they were all young and well dressed. The Highway Patrol investigators believe this was a drug gang killing and are not that interested in working the file. It's in the dead file cabinet in Sacramento."

"Wow, Benson, whoever your investigator is, he's a good one. That is a very thorough report. It's amazing that the girls are not more damaged from their experiences, since they seem to be in good spirits and enjoy being around all of us. Considering the life they had before and after being kidnapped, being around D and my family is probably as close to wonderful as they have had."

He told me, "It might be a good idea to watch how the girls interact with men. They seem to be fine with those around them now, but I'll bet that none of the men have been aggressive or have attempted intimacy with them. Just keep an eye on them. Are you going to tell Doroteo about what you found out about him and the girls?"

"I'll think about that," I said, trying to figure out what would be the best. "He probably should know about the girls, but something tells me they have disclosed all of that to him."

As I stood, I told Benson, "I'm going to let you keep this information here, but I want you to go through this with Mom, too. I think it might be important for her to see and hear all of this. How much have you been able to accomplish in getting documents for D?"

"I have his green card, so he can legally work here. He will have to renew the card in a year, but if he's lucky, we might be able to get him naturalized by then, if that's what he wants. Doroteo is an educated man with some political influence. I don't think we want to use that influence, but I think his name and family's past activities will get him quickly passed through the bureaucracy."

"Good deal, Benson. Thank you for doing this. Since D is working so closely with me, I wanted to have a better feel for where he came from. The story is terrible, but it's good that I heard it. Thank all of the investigators for me. I'm sure they charged a bundle, but the trust can afford it. If the farm should pay for it, have Maude figure it out."

As we shook hands, Benson mentioned, "It looks like Denise and Karen might be going to school together. I love the way they get along, and both seem to be very responsible. This will be a good thing."

I was about to leave, when I remembered something; "Benson, can you investigate available properties around Stanton that are not tillable. You know, property that has too much of a slope, but could be leveled in spots for homes? Mom suggested that I look at getting in on the population boom you all expect and build some upscale subdivisions. The low-end houses on a half-acre, medium size homes with about an acre, and the high end around five acres. I want to keep the subdivisions apart, so I'm looking for three distinct areas."

"Oh boy, Mike; you're going to help the county with its tax base. We need some high-priced non-agriculture properties that we can soak with taxes for the schools and everything else. Not only that, but this means I'm going to be busy for a long time. More people, means more problems, and more need for an attorney. I'll go talk to Steve at the county tax office and should have information for you later today."

"Well, in that case, Benson, bring the family out to supper tonight. I'll call Mom to make sure there is plenty. Don't be surprised if you aren't the only guests."

The man grinned. "I've heard how you and your mom are always inviting people to come out. I'll call to make sure the family can do it."

I drove by the newspaper office and radio station on the way home. Bernie was in the window and waved when I honked. I didn't even slow down as I didn't want to get hooked into another interview.

I was feeling pretty good about the day, since I had the steers I traded for settled in the orchards, the water piped to the troughs, and as a bonus, Consuela was getting the nanny goats that she wanted.

Oops, I forgot to ask Mom about Benson and family coming. After hitting the speed dial on the cell, I asked, "Hey, Mom, can we feed Benson and his wife, along with Denise?"

"Isn't the rest of his family coming?" Mom asked me, startling me that I didn't know he had more kids in his family.

"I'm sure all will come, how many kids does he have?" I knew I had stretched things a little.

I heard Mom giggle, so I knew I wasn't in deep shit like I used to get because I had invited too many buddies to dinner. "He's pretty prolific, Mike. The man has three of his own and two of his sister's, which includes Denise."

"Mom, how do you know so much about everyone in such a short time, and I don't know hardly any of this?"

More giggles. "You men gossip, but not about the important stuff. Women get into details where you men only fantasize about what would be fun."

She had me there. I didn't listen to stuff from the gossips around the stove too much, so I didn't hear the gory details. Thinking about the extra people, I asked, "Do you need anything from town before I come home?"

"We're fine, Son. I have everything we need for tonight. We did up all of those leghorn fryers you traded for, so we'll have plenty for the Bensons, the road crew, and D with his girls. The road guys have been calling almost everyday to see if we were inviting D and his girls to supper. I think it's cute, so I invited them all."

"Playing Cupid, huh, Mom?"

"A little, but I'm being a good Cupid. Look how happy Jet is, and Bernie even seems to have a girl interested in him. He's been up on his prosthesis every time he's been out for the last few days." Mom has to be glowing from doing well for the young people in her life.

"Okay, Mom, tell Millie I'll be home soon. I'm on my way."

When you leave Stanton, there is a really bad curve in the road that was probably made because the road went between two groups of trees around natural ponds. At the apex of the corner, a farmer had his stockyard in front of his big barn and house. When I had slowed down to the twenty-five to thirty miles an hour for the curve, I saw a car crumpled up in the stockyard in front of the barn.

I slid to a stop just off the road and turned on my four way flashers. I called the yard number before leaving my car. When Bernie answered, I told him to call the sheriff and rescue for the accident at the Norman curve. "I'll get it out, Boss. Keep us posted."

After jumping the fence, I ran to the crumpled up car and found three unconscious people. The person in the back seat was moving and moaning, so I reached through the overturned car and patted what looked like a female. "Stay still until I figure out how bad you're hurt. Let me check on the people in the front."

The person replied with a moan that let me know they understood.

The passenger wasn't dead, but was only semi-conscious. I had to push the air bag away from what looked like a female, then looked to see if there was any blood showing. After checking this one, I went around to the driver and saw that the airbag was still almost fully inflated, so I used my pocketknife to stab and cut it to let the air escape from it. I checked the driver's pulse and it was there, but not very strong.

Knowing what an IED could do to troops kept me from dragging the three from the car, but I removed each one from their seatbelts so they wouldn't be so cramped. I tried to pull the doors open, but couldn't budge them. I knew the first responders would have the equipment to do the job.

I heard sirens and knew help was on the way. Just to be safe, I called the clinic and was able to get through to Dr. Rivers. She told me, "Mike, I heard you were at an accident out by the Norman curve, how many are there and what's their condition?"

"All three are alive, but I'm not sure of their condition. I don't see any blood, I don't see any protruding bones or extremities at odd angles, and I can't get them out of the car, so I'll let the rescue guys do that. I hear the rescue guys coming now."

"Okay, Mike, are they all conscious?"

"Only two are, Doc. One of the two is not very lucid, but the back seat passenger appears to be aware."

"Watch them until the paramedics get there, Mike. If I can take care of them, they will bring them here or they will try to get them to Lexington. We could use an airlift, but that's big bucks. With the expansion of the clinic, maybe we can get that too."

"Maybe, Sheryl, but they hopefully aren't hurt so bad they need to be transported to Lexington. Doesn't Mount Sterling have a hospital?"

"They do, Mike, but they don't have a decent trauma center. They really don't even have a decent emergency room. They take care of their doctors' patients and those admitted by their doctors, but if it's an emergency, the doctors tell them to have the ambulance take them to University or Central Baptist hospitals in Lexington. If I had a decent trauma center, we would get people from Mount Sterling and all of the surrounding communities."

I had to close my eyes and think of what to say, "Then maybe you should have set your wish list a little higher, Sheryl. If you need to be bigger and better, then we'll have to find a way to get that for your clinic. You should probably get more doctors and nurses than you were planning for your expansion."

"Yeah sure, Mike. What you're talking about is several million bucks, and this place doesn't do that much dollar volume. You know it takes some big bucks to keep a clinic going, much less a hospital. This place is unusual because that's the way Grandpa set it up, Mike. He created the clinic so he didn't have to make so many house calls. People came to see him twenty-four hours a day, the same way we're available to help people now. A hospital has to have people in all of their departments twenty-four seven. You're talking labs, nursing, residents, admin, everything."

"Then I guess we're going to have to get you a sugar daddy, Sheryl."

"Yeah, sure, and I have some land to sell you on a rocky mountainside. Listen, we're doing pretty well for a community this size, and with the expansion of the clinic, I'll be able to help that many more. Send me those people to patch up, Mike."