Chapter 61

We were just finishing breakfast the next morning when the guinea hens announced that someone was coming up the drive. I went out to see who was coming, because the ladies from below had come up earlier to do chores and had eaten breakfast with us.

A Kentucky State Police car came up the drive and parked as close as possible. Spook and Witch were right there, almost tall enough to look into the driver's side window at the officer in the car who looking very uneasy.

When I got close, I told the dogs, "Go sit," and pointed away from the car. The two half wolves moved about fifteen feet away and sat, squirming around because they couldn't greet the newcomer. The dogs would never have minded me if the man had shown any kind of harmful or aggressive movement or attitude.

The man hesitantly got out of the car and offered his hand to shake, as he said, "I'm Trooper Dave Shelby of the Kentucky State Police, and I need to talk to you about the run-in you had on the highway yesterday. Is there a place we can talk?"

"Come in, we'll get a cup of coffee and I'll try to answer any questions you might have."

Inside, Millie refilled my mug and poured another for the Trooper as we sat at the little table. The day's activities had just begun, with the older girls helping Minya and Mato with their reading while the ladies were cleaning up the kitchen in preparation to begin preparing lunch and supper before working on butter and eggs.

The Trooper asked, "When did you first notice the car following you?"

I explained, "After finishing at the gun shop with the Lexington Police Department and County Sheriff's Deputies, I drove across the street to get something to eat to tide me over until I was able to get home. I had missed lunch and was very hungry. As I came out of the restaurant drive-through, I noticed a car with very dark tinted windows pull out from the parking lot right behind me. I might not have noticed except that they followed me very closely. You have to make a few turns to get to the highway, and I watched the car make the same turns and stay very close behind me."

The Trooper asked, "You stated in the report that you had been at the coin dealer in the same complex as the gun dealer. Did you see them when you left the coin dealer?" The Trooper was asking me the questions based on a report he had with him.

"No, I didn't see anyone. I usually carry a weapon, and have a permit to do so, but I had forgotten to bring my handgun with me. I was carrying a significant amount of cash when I left the coin dealer, so I went to the gun dealer to purchase something for personal protection. It's always better to be on the side of caution."

The Trooper made a couple of notes on his pad before asking, "When did you feel you were in danger from the men, ah, or rather, the people in the other car?"

I sighed and said, "The other car was still following me closely when I was up on the highway, but not on my back bumper any longer. When I reached the area of the divided highway that has dense trees on both sides of the road, I noticed the car accelerate and pull into the left lane. I became apprehensive then, but when the car paced me and the window on the passenger side rolled down, I became very worried when a man pointed what looked like a cutoff AK or Uzi with a huge magazine sticking out of it at me. The guy was waving it at me and hollering for me to pull over. You can guess that it was then that I felt as if I was in real danger."

The Trooper made some notes once again, but continued, "So just how did you get on the other side of the car carrying your attackers?"

I closed my eyes a second to visualize what had happened before answering. "I immediately began slowing and moving to the side of the road. The other car was crowding me to the right while I moved to the right. The man pointing the gun at me with it sticking out his window was motioning me to pull over. I jammed on the brakes and as soon as the car passed me, and before they could react, downshifted, and moved up alongside the driver's side of the car."

"Then what happened? The report said you began firing at the time."

"The report is correct because as soon as I was on the outside of the car, I used my pistol and began firing through the back windows and into the driver's side windows. I used up the entire fifteen round magazine hoping to stop their attack."

The Trooper asked, "Couldn't you have just stopped and waited to see what the car was going to do?"

I told the man, "First, I was outgunned, with just a pistol against what could have been a full auto weapon with an extended magazine. Second, I didn't know if there were others in the car equally armed. Third, the man in the front passenger seat had already threatened me, indicating he was going to shoot me. Thankfully, the passenger window in the Jeep shattered with the first round so I was being fairly accurate while firing through the windows of the Chrysler."

"So what happened after you fired on the car and what did you do next?"

"I saw the car weave before heading into the trees, so I pulled over and stopped. I changed magazines on my weapon and called 911 for help when I got out of the Jeep. I ran back to the vehicle that had now gone into the trees, keeping cover between me and the car, until I saw it had hit head on into a big tree. All of the glass was broken out and the airbags were deflating. I could see the driver was done for, so I ran around to the passenger side and saw that the front passenger was badly hurt. He still had the rifle in his lap, so I threw it toward a tree about fifteen feet away. I looked at the two people in the back seat and knew they were both dead. I took two more automatic rifles from them and threw them with the other one. Not thinking that the badly injured man in the front passenger seat would move, I went back to the road and moved my Jeep back to where the car had entered the woods."

After making some more notes, the Trooper asked, "So how did the paramedic get shot?"

I described to the Trooper what had happened, "I directed them toward the car when they arrived so they could help the man with the messed up face. Automatic weapon fire started as they were approaching the car, and it caught one man while the other dropped flat on the ground. The shooter had fired the entire magazine at the paramedics, so I ran toward the scene and saw the man with the injured face trying to put a round in the chamber of another rifle. As he was bringing the gun up toward me, I fired until he lay still. I checked on the paramedics after I moved the weapons away from the man, and helped the one bandage up the other. The place was full of police, both Sheriff's Deputies and State Troopers, shortly after that."

Feeling like we were going over something for no reason, I said, "You know you could get a copy of the video that was made on scene from the TV station in Lexington. They showed up and the Sheriff actually had them tape him questioning me and the paramedics. I'm sure you'll hear almost exactly what I just told you."

"I watched a copy of the video made at the scene that was given to us. The commander looked you up and found you've been involved in quite a few shootings recently. You are becoming a suspicious character who might be safer if he wasn't armed, or at least that was what the commander suggested. I don't know everything that's gone on, but from the reports, you've just had a real run of bad guys lately."

The Trooper asked, "Can I take a picture of your Jeep? Are there any bullet holes in it?"

"Sure, take all the pictures you want but the only thing you'll find is glass on the floor and no passenger window. I'll have to take the Jeep up to Mount Sterling to get new glass for it."

The man surprised me by asking, "The report states you used a Glock handgun yesterday. Why weren't you using a Beretta since you're a retired Army guy?"

"I was going to buy a Beretta, but the gun dealer wanted me to try out the Glock. I like it."

The man was looking around at our family trying to put together all of the kids, especially the young girls, with the Latino women and two obviously Native American kids. Hopefully, he'll call the Children and Family people to find out that we already have a relationship there.

The Trooper got into his car and drove away after he took his pictures, with the two dogs watching the car all the way down the drive.

Back inside the house, I told the ladies, "I need to take a couple of Angus to the butcher and while I'm out, I'm going to run over to see how the guys are doing at the Hampton place. Do you need me to take anything to the market?"

Millie told me, "No, we're going to get everything ready for market tomorrow and split it into two groups for here and over at Pine Ridge. D's girls are getting the wine that he wants to sell ready, so we should be fine. It's funny to have a bunch of smaller white eggs now, instead of all of them being our bigger brown ones. I think we're going to have a few more chicken dinners until we cull the leghorns from ours."

I suppose that's one way to keep from having to separate eggs.

The men were almost finished with the pole barn and they had found and installed a heater in the center of the building. There were lights and outlets throughout so this was going to be a very useful building. It didn't have a concrete floor, but that could be poured later if we felt we had to have it.

The guys gave me a rundown as to what equipment was going to be moved where, and what would be used as replacement equipment for the other farms.

Raul came up to me and told me that he had stopped by the widow's and checked the old homestead. He said it would need some patching, and the fireplace and chimney would need some tuck-pointing, but he thought the work could easily wait until summer. He also said that the widow was very happy that he had stopped by. Raul leaned near me and said, "Both Bert and Pete were over there visiting. What do you want to bet those two old codgers are going to try to make some moves on her?"

That gave us both a laugh. Raul gave me a progress report on the Hampton house, telling me that it would be finished and ready to move in tomorrow, while the Temple place was coming right along. He said that Teddy's place only needed cleaning out and painting, as he had electricity and running water. The other men had already told me that they had gone over Teddy's equipment and were preparing to take some of it to market.

Calvin came up to me before I left, and asked, "You don't know me very well yet, Mike, but I'd like to ask your permission to spend a little more time with Camille. I'm sure you can tell she's interested in me, and I have to tell you that I'm interested in her. We've been doing a lot of visiting at your place and seem to be pretty compatible so far. I know she's young, but she acts a heck of a lot more mature than her age. I've convinced her to work on her high school GED and to learn as much as she can as it will come in handy as she goes on in life."

"Sounds good, Calvin. Just do me a favor and don't get too friendly with her. By that I mean to not get fresh with her. Everything that should happen will happen when the time's right. Be patient with her."

Calvin had been looking down, but now raised his head, "She told me she had some things to tell me one of these days, so I'm guessing she might have had some problems. It hopefully isn't anything that will prevent us from getting close. Do I have your permission to see and date her?"

"Sure, Calvin, just be gentle like I asked."

Wow! Young love sprouts everywhere. Camille is only eighteen and Calvin can't be but about twenty-one or two. They are really young, but Calvin comes from the country, where kids get married young. Camille will probably make a good farmer's wife. She isn't afraid of work, and is always willing to do anything asked.

My cell phone rang as I pulled away from the Hampton place. Sheryl was on the phone. "Why don't you come in to the clinic real quick, Mike? I have Rosita and Millie here, and we need to talk."

"What's up, Sheryl?"

The doc said, "Just come in and I'll talk to you before we all talk together."

I wonder what was up. Sheryl sounded pretty 'doctor like' without the usual smile in her voice.

The drive to the clinic was only about twenty minutes, and I was ushered straight into Sheryl's office as soon as I walked in the door. The door opened within less than five minutes and Sheryl came in with a very grim face.

"Mike, it's about Rosita. I gave her a very thorough physical and took some blood for tests. There were a couple of things that concerned me, so we used the new MRI and thoroughly checked her out. Let me show you."

Doctor Rivers turned her huge computer monitor on and pulled up a file. She manipulated the mouse to begin showing me someone's insides. She showed me multiple spots and one large mass as she focused on one area. Sheryl said, "These spots are growths, tumors, Mike, probably cancer, and if you look at how much is in her, there's too much to operate on. Now let me show you more."

She moved the picture to view the head, or cranium, as the doc called it. "This is another area of concern. See these spots? They are consistent with a form of cancer that grows downward the way the dark spots show until it attacks the spine."

I was sick to my stomach as I asked, "What can I do, Sheryl? I have to do something."

Sheryl patted me on the hand and told me, "You can't do a lot, but we can get her a bed at one of the cancer centers where they can work on her. She doesn't know yet, Mike, so I'm going to tell her while you're with her. I hate to say this, Mike, but she is very likely terminal. I promise to do everything possible for her, Mike, so work with me and help Rosita accept what will have to be done."

Man, I was almost in tears as she stood to lead me to where Rosita and Millie were. The two women looked at me with concerned expressions when we entered the room. Millie asked, "Why are you here, Mike?"

I hugged both women and kept them under an arm. I looked at the Doc, who asked, "Do you want me to say it?"

I nodded my head and Sheryl began. She very delicately explained to Rosita that she had several very severe clusters of what could be cancer, and wanted her to go to a special hospital in Lexington. She told her, "The people there know how to help people with the problems your body is giving you, Rosita. Will you go there for me?"

Rosita buried her face in my chest and cried. "Oh, Mike, I didn't want to complain around you, but I've hurt inside for a while. My head hurts so badly lately, and aspirin doesn't help any more. I'm sorry I haven't given you a baby, Mike. Please forgive me and still love me."

Knowing the severity of Rosita's condition, I hugged her, kissing her forehead. "I'll always love you, Rosita. You're my very special second wife."

I turned to Sheryl and asked, "Can you see where I can take Rosita? Please help us to take care of her."

Sheryl told us, "Take Rosita home and I'll be by later to tell you what I've found. I think the research center in Lexington will be the place for her, but I'll get some opinions from other doctors. Go on, take her home."

We left my truck at the clinic and drove home in Millie's red SUV. The two women sat in the middle seat holding each other. They spoke softly so that I couldn't hear them, but I could see that Rosita was relaxing in Millie's arms. Millie had a tear-stained face when she looked at me in the rear view mirror. "We need to call Mom, Mike. She'll be here day after tomorrow if she comes back when she planned, but we need to call her. Will you do that?"

Damn, this is just about the worst thing that could happen. How do you explain this to Minya, Mato, or to John? Karen and Kevin were as much Rosita's as Millie's. Sheryl didn't actually say so, but there may not be much time left from the way she was talking.

Sissy and Shirley were there when we got home, and immediately came to Rosita and hugged her. Sissy looked at me and told me, "Sheryl called me, so we came over. Why don't you try to get hold of Mom and let her know? She's probably getting ready to fly back anyway."

My phone rang before I could get to my office. It was Mom. "What's wrong, Mike? I've had the most horrible feelings the last few hours and just had to call. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mom. It's Rosita. She went to see Sheryl about not getting pregnant and Doc gave her a thorough physical. Because she suspected something, she gave Rosita a complete MRI and discovered masses that she said were probably cancerous throughout her body and in her brain. Sheryl is trying to get her into the Cancer Research Center in Lexington right now. We've just brought her home and Sheryl will be coming by later."

"Oh, God, Mike. The children all look at her as another mother. Do you think there's a chance?"

Between near sobs, I had to tell her, "I don't know, Mom. Sheryl didn't sound very positive about Rosita's prognosis."

"We'll be on our way as soon as we can get a flight. We're scheduled to leave tomorrow but I'll try to get us out of here sooner if I can. I'll be home as soon as possible, Son, and tell Millie that I'll be there to help her. Stay strong, Son, I know you love that little girl, and it will work out."

I had to work at my composure, as I didn't know what to do. It seemed that I could easily overcome obstacles and people, but now, now, I couldn't protect someone I loved from something attacking her. I felt helpless.

Rosita was sitting and talking with Minya, Mato, and John, telling them that she was sick inside and had to go away for a while to see if doctors could help her. She answered questions the kids asked, but John did his thing by hugging Rosita and laying against her.

I heard Minya ask Sissy a little later, "Will Rosita go away like Mommy and Daddy?"

Colette and Chloe were sitting with Shirley and Millie, while Millie simultaneously nursed Kevin and Karen in her master mother position. Rosita and the others were in the kitchen working on supper.

I called John around three thirty and asked, "If you and Calvin are coming for supper, could you stop by the clinic and bring my truck home? The keys are in it if you can."

John scolded me, "Don't leave your keys in your truck. What if someone saw them in there and stole the truck?"

I laughed, "It's a dependable old truck, but it isn't worth much. I've always left them in there and have never had a problem. I don't leave the keys in the Jeep, so I must think no one will bother an ugly old truck."

John told me, "Calvin, Carla, and I will pick it up. I heard Calvin had a talk with you about Camille. The guy has it bad over her. I think he's worse than Carla and I were, and you know how crazy we were."

I told John, "It might be good for both of them. If it's the right thing to happen, then I'm all for it. Raul says the house will be ready so that Calvin can move in. He can get Camille to help him pick out the stuff he needs to set up housekeeping."

"You know, Mike, Calvin went to church with you guys the last two Sundays and he's acted like he enjoyed himself. He was never like that when he was younger. This place is good for him and I think Camille will be good for him, too. You've made him feel important by the way you're having him plan out all of our cultivatable fields. You know what you're doing, Mike, as he's feeling very special the same way the rest of us feel."

"Thanks, John; I'm glad you feel that way. I feel privileged to have all of you. Every one of you contributes something to the whole. We can't be anything except successful." I told him and after a pause, "If you feel like there is an undercurrent tonight, it's because Rosita has had some bad health news and needs to go get some help at a hospital in Lexington. She really needs everyone's support, so pass it on."

"What's the matter, Mike?"

"Doc Rivers doesn't know everything yet, but knows Rosita needs more help than she can give her. Just be Rosita's friend. She needs that."

I took Mato and Minya with me to the milk house to get the equipment ready when it was chore time. I let them help me get the two cows in their stanchions, and showed them how to milk. The Jersey was gentle and patient, allowing the tiny hands to try and try until they had milk from her teats squirting into the bucket. It took over thirty minutes to milk the cow who usually only took about ten to fifteen. Being so patient earned her an extra scoop of grain. The kids loved to watch the cow's big long tongue pull the grain around for her to munch on.