Chapter 59

We were having supper with all the road guys two weeks later, and this time it included John's younger brother, Calvin. Following his brother, this young man was only twenty-two and had joined the Army on his 18^th birthday. He had not fared well in the infantry, since he had twice suffered minor wounds on the front lines, so Calvin felt he was going to be better off as a civilian.

Calvin had arrived here just hours before. He had visited with his folks after his separation from the Army before coming straight to Kentucky to see about the opportunity that John had said was waiting for him. After a talk, John, Calvin, and I were going to look over the land that needed farming to see what the best way to use him would be.

John had been talking to me, describing Calvin, and trying to advise me on his brother. He told me, "Calvin is very intense. He is loyal to a fault, and will give you his all when he knows you're supporting him. He took all the high school agriculture classes that were offered, and I know he learned as much, if not more, than I did from our dad. Considering how much land we now have to work, we need to get a plan together on how to work all of it to get the grain and hay you need, and any other cash crops that will help the profitability of the farms."

It's really something to have your men always thinking how to make your projects profitable. I wasn't going to have to spend any time worrying about the new farms if Calvin turned out to be as intense and hardworking as John says he is.

The other road men welcomed Calvin to the ranks and gave him a rundown on what they did and what he might be doing in their support. John told him that it's always necessary to have extra men available for snowplowing during the winter. I think Calvin actually looked forward to participating.

All the road crew, plus John, Esteban, and Calvin, sat around one of the big tables to talk after supper. I told Calvin, "We have just picked up two more farms that cumulatively have over five hundred acres in cultivation. John seems to think you might be the most knowledgeable about what to plant where. I'll let you work that out, if you decide to stay with us, with the only exception being the sixty acres of bottom land near the road. I want to use that as an additional big truck garden. We'll work in more manure and natural fertilizers to build the land up, and I'm looking for a man who can manage that, as well as the garden acreage we have here. This garden usually has all the produce that we normally need to feed ourselves, while the other property will all be for sale."

Calvin told all who were there, "I don't know much about growing large quantities of vegetables, but it can't be much different than what a family would need, just doing more of it. The Ag classes taught us how to have good gardens, but not much more than a quarter to half acre in size. John said you have nearly six or seven acres here that's turning out a lot of produce, plus all the sweet corn fields. We'll chart out all of the available land to grow enough grain and hay for the livestock, and then devote the rest of the fields to money crops. I want in on this deal. Hire me and let me work with John."

John took Calvin home with him to stay at his place that first evening. I knew that someone as focused as Calvin would need his own living quarters, so I proposed to him and John that we look at the Hampton place to see what it might need to make it habitable.

Calvin showed up and wanted to help while I was doing the early chores the next morning. The buck deer and his two does that ate with the livestock fascinated him. He was impressed when he saw that we pasteurized the milk. I had him carry a five gallon milk can to the summer kitchen, while I carried another one, so that he could observe the women making butter and buttermilk.

I thought the young man would cry when we sat down for our usual breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. As he stuffed the food into his mouth, between swallows he said, "This is great. It's better than my mom's and hers is the best."

Mom whispered to me to watch Camille. I hadn't noticed, but she was almost hovering around Calvin, who was a typical guy and totally ignorant of the interest an attractive girl had in him.

I had Calvin follow me back to John's after breakfast, and the three of us got together at John's kitchen table to list and draw out the available land that we wanted to work. All the fields were listed as to size and what we knew had been planted in them as far back as we could find out. John said he would get with the older guys, Pete and Bert, to find out what they had planted, and thought that he should soon be able to get Willard's information as well.

John and Calvin began making up which fields should be planted in what crop from what we knew. If a field was going to be put into alfalfa, it would remain in that for approximately five years. Fields that had been planted in soy beans the past year didn't need additional build up with alfalfa for the nitrogen.

The two men had a decent plan by noon. I left the two to go over all the available equipment to see what needed work, and what needed replacing. I stopped by the widow Fletcher's place on the way home, and asked if she would like to come to lunch with me. She was ready in an instant and said that Teddy hadn't been down to visit for a couple of days.

Mrs. Fletcher had a great time with the children and seemed to have a special attraction to Minya and Mato. She enjoyed reading to them after lunch, until they fell asleep for a nap on the couch.

I asked Mrs. Fletcher if I should check on Teddy. She told me, "He isn't feeling poorly, but has been sort of lazy or not having energy lately. We probably should go see how he is."

It was obvious that something was wrong as soon as we drove up to Teddy's house. His two dogs were at the door and all of his animals were standing at the fence. Mrs. Fletcher said, "I haven't heard from him since day before yesterday, and he didn't answer his phone yesterday. Maybe I should have come up here then."

I told the widow, "Stay here and let me check inside. If something's wrong, you don't need to see it."

I could almost smell Teddy's sickness upon entering the house. The house was warm so he was able to keep himself heated. I called out several times, but continued walking in until I opened his bedroom door.

Teddy wasn't dead, but almost. I called the Sheriff and asked if he could get an ambulance up to Teddy's.

I went out to tell the widow, but she met me at the door. She said, "I can smell him. He's got the flu or something. He's too damned stubborn to take a free flu shot. How bad is he?"

The widow worked on him until the ambulance came. When they left, I fed his animals while the widow cleaned his house. She made sure we both washed our hands real good before we left and told me that I should go home and change clothes since Teddy didn't look good at all.

I went home and changed clothes after taking the widow home, putting my dirty clothes outside until they were washed. I told the ladies to make sure they washed their hands after touching my dirty clothes.

Mom wanted to go to town with me to check on Teddy, and as we were passing the widow's, she asked, "Can we take Mrs. Fletcher with us? I'd bet she'd like to come with us."

Mrs. Fletcher was quickly ready to go, and had a good chat with Mom on the way in. The two of them made some kind of deal of how I would take her place over and pay her monthly so she would have an income.

Mom, Maude, and Benson need to make a partnership to run my life for me. They seemed to want to make deals, then let me figure out how to fulfill them.

Sheryl immediately came out when we got to the clinic, and told us, "I'm sorry, but Teddy didn't make it. I think he was mostly gone yesterday or the day before. When the coroner looks, I think Teddy had some bad stuff inside. Cancer doesn't show up on the outside, but causes all its trouble unseen."

The widow cried, Mom wept, and Sheryl tried to comfort them both. It's funny how an old man that lived down the road had become part of the family. When Mrs. Fletcher calmed down, she said, "Teddy left everything to me, and of course, everything I have is yours, Mike. You'll need to get his animals over to your place and find someone to live in his place. He liked the Mexicans that live in Ben's place, so if you know of more of them, they would be good for Teddy's. Let me go through his stuff before you do. The man was a first rate skinflint and packrat, and probably has the first dime he ever made stuffed in his mattress."

We spent some time making funeral arrangements for Teddy before heading home. Mom turned the truck radio on while on our way, and we heard on the local station talk about how a lifelong resident of the area had passed away. Mrs. Fletcher said, "Let's go straight back to Teddy's and let me hunt his stuff up. He showed me a couple of times, so I should be able to find it all."

I let Mom and Mrs. Fletcher go inside to search for Teddy's stash, while I surveyed the animals Teddy had. One steer, one pig past time to be butchered, a handful of chickens, some guineas, a couple of turkeys, and a very old horse. The old horse had to be over twenty years old and looked to be on his last legs. Teddy probably had a grave dug for him if I looked around. He seemed to get around all right, and was recently shod. I put a hackamore on him and walked him around the yard a few times. I supposed he was more than dog food, so I walked him up into the truck and tied him to the cab.

I told Mom and Mrs. Fletcher I was going for my stock trailer and drove home slowly. Chloe and Colette came out and saw the old animal as I was putting the ancient horse into the pasture. Chloe asked if I had a curry comb and brush so she could make the animal feel good. I did and found them. Chloe instantly gained a friend in the old animal.

Colette wanted to go help me get the animals into the trailer. We were easily able to get the steer up in the trailer, but the pig was another matter. Since I really didn't have a place for it, I decided to take it straight to the butcher. We looked all through Teddy's buildings to make sure he didn't have any other animals. I needed to take his two dogs, but they didn't want to leave. I filled their food bowls and made sure they had fresh water in a bowl where it wouldn't get too cold.

I went inside to tell the ladies that I was going to take the steer to the house, but was waylaid by Mom, who said to me, "This man has money stuffed inside everything in this house. He has new tens, twenties and some hundreds that are gold certificates. Was he that much of a miser?"

"Ask the widow, she knows him better than anyone else. Just gather everything in a pile and we'll take it to the bank. It belongs to the widow."

Mom elbowed me, "She says it's all yours because you're going to take care of her for the rest of her life. You could take care of a dozen of her for the rest of their lives, Mike."

"No never mind, Mom. Just help her get it all together and I'll be back. We're going to grab the chickens and take them all home."

Just what I don't need, more fucking money that doesn't belong to me. I'll bet Harold will know what to do with it. I'll give him a shot at it first thing. The gold certificates were something else, and probably worth something to collectors. The coin dealer in Lexington would give us a fair price for them.

We were able to get the steer in with our stock, the chickens and turkeys into the chicken yard, and I was left with the pig to take to the butcher. I checked with the women and told them to take a car over to Teddy's for the ladies, while I went to town with the pig.

The butcher was happy to get the business as he said it had been slow recently. He wanted to know if I might have a beef or two or three that were ready, as he could use the stock. I told him I would come up with a couple for him, but my stock really wasn't ready yet.

Chole was leading the old horse around with a hackamore when I arrived back home, while Minya and Mato rode on his back. The old animal seemed to be enjoying his usefulness with the little ones and slowly plodded along, gently giving the two kids a nice ride. Mom had the widow Fletcher in the kitchen with her as they prepared supper. She told me she had put all of the money into the safe under the desk when she had a chance. She told me that she hadn't counted the bills, but from the dates on them, Teddy had obviously been saving for nearly sixty years. I suppose he was a smart man to have done that. The fact that he enjoyed hoarding his savings is probably why he never married.

John and Calvin talked at supper about what they had done so far to get the farms ready. They had made a map and made sure all the farms were linked, with roads through the properties that didn't tear down any fences or interrupt pastures. John told me that he had contacted the fence company I had used for our pasture on the mountain and the development, and they had begun getting the fence back up. Calvin told me, "I walked every foot of the fence line to make sure I knew how much needed to be done. I tried to tell John that the two of us could take care of it, but he said that you like the fence people. I'll check on them to make sure their work is up to our standards." I could see John behind Calvin rolling his eyes at his perfectionist brother.

I told the two, "Make sure we have a way to get water to any stock we will have and let's make sure we have cover with a dry haymow for them. We should probably put the cover and water together, and if possible, put the hay feeder there, too. Raul and his men will take care of any construction we need."

Calvin asked, "Do you have stock you want to bring over? John said you are active at auctions, but have mostly built your herd with stock that will reproduce." The young man hardly stopped to take a breath and continued, "Will you get some Angus to go with those white face, or do you plan to stick with one breed?"

I smiled at the young man, "I might do that if we run into an auction where I can buy some Angus at the right price. The problem with Angus is that you have to have more cover for them and the winters are harder on them. If you come up with an easy way to keep them healthy through the winter, I'll fill you up with Angus. The butcher is always asking for more of them."

It was Mom who told the two men, "Never fear, Boys. If Mike smells a deal, he'll be diving into it with both feet. He'll find some Angus and you'll be happy with what he brings home. Get ready for them, because he won't let too much grass grow under his feet to get them."

Who knows whether or not the youngest of the brothers believed her, but John already knew that you should already be moving to get done what needed to get done when Mom spoke.

Teddy's funeral was on Saturday afternoon. The market was busy the morning of his funeral, since everyone in town wanted to finish and be ready for Teddy's internment and wake. It wasn't necessary, but all the locals felt they needed to pay their last respects.

The widow was Teddy's known best friend, if not his consort. No one objected or ever looked at the widow as a loose person. The two were far past the ages of whispered suspicions. While the widow and Mom wept in the front of the chapel, many of the area's people had wet eyes for someone like Teddy who had been a good friend and neighbor to all.

Back home, Raul surprised me by coming by to just visit. I found him a beer and we sat in the office to shoot the bull. Raul asked, "I have a couple of men with families who could use a place. I know you need to get the Hampton place ready for Calvin, but there is also the Temple place that could be easily replaced or repaired. I propose this, Mike, let me get the Hampton place fixed up first. I'll work on Teddy's, too, and decide what to do with the Temple place. The women that are coming are willing to work in your gardens, and if I know them well enough, they will soon have relatives here to also help. How do you feel about more of us wetbacks on your place?"

I laughed at Raul's description of his relatives. "You and yours are welcome here, Raul; but you know how I feel. If they aren't legal, they have to work with Benson to get that way. If they were criminals in Mexico or have been in trouble here, they need to forget about coming and go back to Mexico to clear up their problem. You know my rules, so just have those who want to come do the right thing. Don't let any of them buffalo you into letting them see if they can scam us."

Raul took a long drink from his beer and told me, "You said exactly what I expected, and I'll pass it along. I'm with you, Mike. Now that I'm an American citizen, I don't want someone here who will hurt our country either."

This was Thursday evening, and Mom came to me with a couple of sale bulletins she had printed out. She showed me one north of Mount Sterling that was to be held Friday morning. There was some stock, but it was mostly equipment. She said, "There shouldn't be any big stock buyers present since the sale is mostly equipment. Maybe you can make some deals."

She showed me a couple of sale bulletins for Saturday and qualified both of them, "It's supposed to rain all day Saturday. It's cold out, and any rain will drive most of the buyers away. One has all Herefords, and the other all Angus. Most of the Herefords are mature, so they are ready for market, but the Angus are mostly pre-market. The big buyers won't be at that location and you might be able to pick up some stock if you want to get into Angus."

I smiled at Mom and told her, "Let's run up to the Mount Sterling auction in the morning and see what they have. We'll stay and bid if it looks promising. We'll go to the Angus auction Saturday morning and see if the rain drives the others away. I'll get John and Calvin to go up to the Hereford auction and see if the big buyers show up in the rain. We'll give them some parameters and a letter from the bank."

The new girls became more and more interested as Mom and I talked about going to the auction Friday morning. Colette, Chloe, and Camille all wanted to come with us to see what a real auction was all about. Mom thought it would be good for them and made sure I agreed. The day would be fun explaining things to the girls, if nothing else.

Friday morning was busy as I did the chores, including the milking and pasteurizing. The weather wasn't bad yet, but it looked like it might rain any minute. Mom made sure we all had ponchos and warm clothing. The outside temp was in the high thirties, so it wasn't freezing but cold enough that it would be very uncomfortable if it was to rain.

We took Mom's SUV as my truck may not have been comfortable with five of us. The trip was fun, as Mom had packed a dozen biscuits that were pre-buttered, and she put a dab of honey on each half as she handed them to me. It took me back to my youth when Dad and I used to go to auctions. There were always some extra snacks for along the way when Mom came with us.

There was a large turnout for the auction as there was an abundance of near new equipment. I didn't pay much attention to the equipment, since I figured that what I had would work this year without replacing anything. The five of us spent our time looking the stock over. The man had a decent herd of Angus. He had eight cows that he bred for stock. From them, he had four animals that looked ready to ship or butcher. He had another six that were only yearlings, and six young steers that were recent cuts. He also had five bred heifers, and two young heifers too young to breed. Mom and I agreed on prices for each category, thinking they would sell each group one at a time.

The equipment auction was taking far more time than would be expected. Although the bidding was continuous, the final numbers were not that big of a deal. We had decided to stay and had some of the barbecue beef sandwiches they offered.

The rains came almost as soon as the auctioneer began the afternoon bidding. We were smart and were inside a big machine shed watching the outcome of the auction. They were down to some of the last few pieces of equipment when it really began pouring. The bidders attempted to crowd under the auctioneer's tent, but many were still getting wet.