Chapter 8

Sometime during the night, Summer came to bed and backed into my stomach. I was lying with my arm around her, my hand covering her small breast. The girl did feel as if she was putting on weight, but I was sure it'd take a while for her to fill out.

The problem with the position was that Mildred was holding my very rigid sex with an almost stranglehold. Considering my sex was being held straight out, and that there was a girl in front of me with her gown up around her waist, this was not a good position. I needed to extricate myself.

As I slipped from bed, both of the girls moaned in displeasure. I was happy to use the bathroom after letting the dogs out. I tossed a log on the fire before scooping out the ashes from the fireplace and stove. I made some coffee in the electric pot, and also made up a big pot for the stove. Percolated coffee is really good in my opinion. It just doesn't stay fresh long.

Today should be interesting. Church should be unusual considering that after a year, I was becoming a part of the community, instead of a newcomer. To now show up with two women, one who some may remember, was going to be something for people to talk about.

Mildred and Summer came from the bedroom to begin breakfast. It doesn't take long to make our small cabin smell delicious in the morning. By the time Ben came in from doing the morning chores, the food was ready for the table.

Ben was a pretty smart old guy, and he asked me, "How are you planning on introducing your two women to those people? Some are going to be happy for you, some won't care, but you can believe there will be several that will carry on all week about you having a couple of women up here at your place. You have a good reputation around the area, and it is becoming better all the time, but your having a couple of women visitors is going to make some tongues wag and telephones ring."

I considered an alternative, "I expect so, Ben, but I'll tell the truth in a way they might just buy. These women were sick, and I took them to a doctor. They were hungry, and I fed them. They had little to wear, and I clothed them. They lacked shelter, and I housed them. It's not settled yet whether or not they will go back down to their place when the weather breaks. We'll have to see. What they will do next is up to them. If those gossips don't recognize this as Christian, they're not reading their bibles."

Old Ben was grinning. "It's still gonna make tongues wag. By this afternoon, anyone who wasn't in church will have been told. That will get the women who traded with them yesterday to talk about how well you did, too. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised."

Ben was pushing his fork around on his plate and, almost under his breath, said, "You might be, too."

Our eyes met as he gave me a little grin and I raised an eyebrow.

The ladies wanted to go early for the Bible study or Sunday school. I had been to the early part of the Sunday service a couple of times and had enjoyed it, but I was feeling a little guilty right then, considering how Mildred and I had been carrying on. We were dressed and at the church by nine fifteen.

When you come in to go to Bible study, the first thing they want a new person to do is fill out an information card. Mildred was really smart. She used her old address in Lexington, with another address under it that said, "Star Route, Jackson River Road, Stanton, Kentucky." Summer filled hers out, with excellent penmanship, using the same information she copied from her mother's. When Summer put her date of birth down, I confirmed she was nineteen. Too bad I didn't pay attention to what Mildred wrote on her card. Still, I kept thinking of how smart the lady was and that she sure was a fine person.

The church had free hardcover Bibles for people who didn't have one or couldn't afford one. I made sure all three of us had one of the larger hardcover books and put three twenties into the donation jar next to the stacks of good books. That was probably way too much, but it was for a good cause today.

The class for adults was held in the church where services were held. The preacher was in charge of the adult class today and spent the entire class discussing the Old Testament Song of Solomon. The class bordered on the risqué, but the preacher kept it clean while reminding the adults that each partner had a sexual responsibility to their mate. He did use Corinthians to establish the marriage bond, but would go right back to Solomon with many quotes about physical love within a relationship.

This was just what I needed to hear at church, sitting among many who were dying of curiosity about my two companions. I'd bet their information cards had already been read by several dozen nosy women.

Between Bible class and the regular church service, there is always some visiting between those attending. Many of the people I knew from the market, George, the farmer I was doing work for, Mervin and family, and the distributor all welcomed the ladies as new friends in the area.

Mildred and Summer were very pleased at their reception, but I noticed a lot of women bringing their hands up to their face as they said something to someone next to them, while glancing our way.

The Church service was tame in comparison to the Bible class, but was a good one with some good songs for the congregation to sing. They did the collection a little different here. When the service concluded people, men, mostly, filed past an open wooden box and dropped in what they could. There was a note over the top that welcomed donations of food and clothing to help those in need. I would have to remember to drop off some food each Saturday. We were trading for more food than we could ever eat, so this would be a good way to help the church and community.

After the service, the preacher stood at the door, as most preachers do, and spoke to each of the congregation as they left. As we came up to the preacher and his wife, he asked, "Mike, would you and your ladies wait just a minute? Martha and I want to speak with you."

Mildred, Summer, and I moved to the side, and a couple of minutes later, the preacher shook the last hand and thanked the last person for coming. The preacher turned to us. "Mike, you always call me preacher but I have a name. I'm Harold, and I think you know my wife, Martha."

I was quick to introduce the ladies as Mildred and Summer Jorgenson, who were trying to live on the old homestead on the mountain.

Martha, the preacher's wife, asked, "Didn't Bud buy that land from the Jorgensons a long time ago?"

"He did, Ma'am, but Mildred and Summer ran into some bad times and the only place she could think of to go to try to make it was at their old place. They were having a hard time, and I discovered them when I was needed to take Mildred to the doctor. They have stayed with me in my spare bedroom since. It's nice to have company, but they may not stay long. We'll have to see what the future brings."

The preacher was cagey. "I hope you enjoyed Bible class this morning. Remember if you want to follow up on the words from Corinthians, you know I can do that right here." He looked at the two ladies. "I hope you both come back while you are living on the mountain."

Martha was as smooth as the preacher, as she easily moved Mildred and Summer to the side by talking to them. When they were moved away, the preacher asked me, "I heard you traded the fuel man out of his big bulldozer. I've also heard that you're trading George for his John Deere for some work that includes cutting some timber. Martha and I have a place in your direction from Stanton and our driveway could use some grading. It isn't a long one, but it sure can get nasty. We have to ford a small spring runoff that is always muddy. What we need is a culvert. The highway department has some surplus pipe that I can buy cheap. If you could dig a trench for the pipe and put it in for me, our driveway would be perfect, or at least a lot more passable. When you finish with George, come by my place to see what I mean and we might be able to do some trading."

"Harold, you probably know my phone number. You know you could have called me instead of putting the arm on me at church."

The man laughed. "Oh, but I can make much better deals if I ask for help here. It's more difficult for people to turn me down. We'll do some business, Mike. I'll make sure you're taken care of. Oh, when you come by, bring me some of the extra guinea hens you have. A lot of mine have been killed off by hawks lately. I'm going to have to start shooting those chicken hawks again. Oh, my wife will give you some of her special canned tomatoes, and if you're lucky, she might even make you a pie for the guinea hens."

Pretty slick guy, this preacher. I could probably do what he needs in a half a day, so it wouldn't be a big deal. The problem was that I'm working for everyone else and not working on my own driveway or making the field roads I needed.

When we walked in the cabin, there was a wonderful smell coming from the stove. Mildred used a pot holder to open the oven and forked a big roast she had in there. Mildred told me, "Dinner will be ready by the time we get changed into farm clothes. Why don't you run down and get Ben so he can eat with us?"

I quickly changed and drove down to Ben's. He was working on fixing a chair leg when I came in. "Come on, Ben, Mildred has a giant beef roast for us to eat."

"You know, Mike, I've been eatin' at your house almost every meal, almost every day, for a good while now. You either gotta stop askin' or you'll have to start chargin'. You're still givin' me about a third of your eggs to trade and about that much of the milk, even though you're doing the chores more than me. You know I can't be gettin' charity; I gotta earn my keep. You're gonna have to figure out what I can do."

"Okay, Ben, we'll figure something out, but I'd rather be feeding you than having to bury you and take care of your critters. That old mule of yours likes to nibble on my butt the way it is. If you weren't around, she might really take a bite."

"Oh hush, let's go eat your good food," Ben said, as we walked to the truck.

While we were eating, I asked Ben about the Latino men I saw at George's place. Ben said, "George has been hiring Mexicans for over fifteen years. He mostly has one family that he hires, but I think they tell George every new man is their cousin or something, since no one has as many cousins as these people. What are you thinking, Mike?"

"I could use a strong helper when I cut the trees at George's place. I'll need to haul the wood up to his house, and I want to bring the hickory back here for the smoke house. I'm continuously keeping that place full of meat now. Between the butcher and me, we're doing a pretty good business."

Ben looked at me. "When you first came here, you said you wanted to be a recluse. You wanted to hide out and not see much of people. You sure did change your mind. You're a regular on Saturday at the market and do some tradin' during the week as well. Now you're going to church and doing call out work for people. That ain't bein' a recluse."

"You're right, Ben, it isn't. I think I want to just do a little work for others, but do more here on this place. I am going to build on to the cabin, but nothing huge. I also think I'm going to enclose the back porch and move the wood stove out there, then buy me one of those gas stoves. If the addition I make on the place is too big for the fireplace, I'll have to get a furnace, too. I'll have to see what kind of plans I make."

After pausing a bit, I went back to what I wanted to know, "Ben, you got off track on me. I wanted to know if people around here get upset by folks using Mexicans like George does?"

The man thought for a few minutes. "I don't think so, but you might check around in town to see if there is someone that would want to work with you for a while. Considering all of the things you want to do, you might need several men."

"I can't hire too many, Ben, I won't be able to pay them. Everything I'm doing right now isn't for money, so I'm going to get skinny real quick."

"That's why George has them Mexicans. He don't pay them much and is able to have a lot of them work. You're probably too generous, and you would go broke hiring people. Ask George what he pays, and pay them or someone from town the same. If that's the going rate, then they have to accept it."

When we were finished with dinner, I told the family I was going to cut up some of the trees on George's place to get a head start on tomorrow. I would be back for chores. Ben heard me and said, "I'll stay and watch your big TV and do chores this evening. I did mine late this morning, so I wouldn't have to do them again until tomorrow morning. I'll milk the goats when I get home."

I went to town at George's, cutting the trees that needed to be cleared. I made sure I cut the trunks right at the base in order to make it easier. I was figuring on buying some dynamite from the Farm Bureau so I could blow the stumps. I doubted the bulldozer could push the stumps out. I was planning on using the stumps to stop the washes on the creek. It should make it easier to hold the bank up, and they would hold back the spare dirt I was pushing into the gully washes as well as any new erosion. There were a lot of heavy rocks around, too, but those would mostly go into the low dams I was building.

When it was almost six, I had brought down and cut up ten big trees. I put a bunch of the hickory into the truck and went home. After unloading the hickory and cleaning and sharpening my saws, I washed up and went inside.

More good smells welcomed me, and there was a cake on the counter next to the stove. Mildred had a big smile on her face as she bustled around the kitchen. Something had been added: Summer and Mildred had full aprons on. The two really looked like homebodies dressed in their farmer jeans and aprons. My, oh my, just look at those two.

After more of the great roast, we had a piece of cake before I took Ben home. I needed a bath, so I stripped down to take a shower and was joined by Mildred. She said, "You heard what the preacher said today; you need to make your partner happy and I need to make you happy. He said we should be married, but I think of us as being together. That's something like being married. We should talk about us soon."

For a woman of few words, she was saying a lot with her body. She didn't want to wait to go to bed, and she might have been apprehensive that she might have to share. Of course, our activity was creating heightened curiosity by Summer.

We did the deed very thoroughly and finished washing while there was still hot water remaining. I knew one thing an addition to the house would need, and that would be a bigger shower. I was tired tonight and quickly went to sleep.

Morning was here. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already five thirty. I needed to hustle, since I wanted to be at the Farm Bureau when it opened this morning, so I could buy dynamite, blasting caps, and fuse cord. It would have been so much easier to be able to buy C-4 with detonators that had timers. It's amazing how you have to work with very primitive explosives, when I'd bet C-4 was cheaper to make, and I know that it is a hell of a lot more stable. Hot weather could sweat the nitroglycerine right out of dynamite, so that you could wipe the drops off with your hand and snap them off onto pavement, or rocks, with the droplets exploding with little snaps as they struck.

I was halfway through chores when Ben showed up. I told him I needed to run and appreciated him finishing for me. Without breakfast, I jumped into the truck and went to town.

I had to fill out several forms in order to buy some kind of gel that was supposed to be the equivalent of ten sticks of dynamite. They were pretty loose about the transaction, after I showed them my military ID card, even though I knew I probably shouldn't be allowed to buy the stuff. Each tube of gel was in a plastic tube and cushioned in a foam box. What a waste of materials. The detonators or caps were as dangerous, but they were loose in a box. I bought ten of those, assuming they would work, and thirty minutes of fuse cord. That was probably more than I needed, but it should be enough.

The crazy thing is that I could go to the gun store and buy quart jars of black powder to do the same job, and all you had to show is a driver's license. That stuff is a hell of lot less stable than most explosives.

From there, I went to the new Tractor Supply store and bought two hundred feet of very heavy nylon rope to pull some of the big trees away and possibly to help pull stumps from the ground. It was only 7:45, so I took fifteen minutes to eat breakfast at the community banquet style table at the Kitchen restaurant. For two-fifty, you ate from a variety of foods and poured yourself coffee. This was perfect for the working man. Customers were responsible for bringing their plate and used utensils to a big tub near the real kitchen door.

I arrived at George's place at eight thirty and was waved down by George. "Mike, if you want to use an extra man or two, there are a couple of new men that I can't use. One of them speaks enough English so that you should be able to work with them. If they do a good job, pay them good."

Two Latin men that I suspected were probably "undocumented" came up with expectant smiles. One said, "I am Pedro, and this is Jesus. We are good with work. You show what you want, we do good work."

Both men were dressed for heavy work and both had work gloves stuck in their back pockets. They looked like they could do the job. I put them in the truck and went to the field where I was working. The first thing I did was to have them load the truck with the cut pieces of oak for George. While they were doing that, I took down another tree and began cutting it up as well.

I had to stop to make a trip up to George's place to unload the wood. George came out again and said he was sending two men down with a tractor and big trailer we could load the wood in, since it would be faster than a pickup truck load at a time.

By noon, I had all of the trees down and cut up, except for the smaller branches that you couldn't use for firewood. I needed to test the explosive, so I used a shovel I brought to dig a hole under a hickory tree stump. After carefully separating the gel in half, I put a cap on one piece, fit the fuse cord to the cap, and cut off five minutes of cord. The cord was marked in one minute increments.

I packed the explosive with dirt, laid the fuse cord out, and then turned to my helpers. "Go over to the bulldozer and stand on the other side of it." When they were where I wanted them, I pulled my little waterproof case with strike anywhere matches out, and lit one. The cord easily lit, and I could see it was going to be the full five minutes.

I walked back to the men behind the bulldozer and pointed to an outcropping of rocks on a mound at that end of the field. Water was bubbling from the ground flowing into the creek. We each cupped our hands several times to drink our fill. We were walking back to the bulldozer when the blast surprised us. I checked my watch and saw that it was right on the five minute mark.

We inspected to see if the big tap root on the hickory stump was broken, and it looked like it might be. I was about to start the bulldozer when I remembered I had to grease it. After doing the appropriate servicing, I put the big teeth on the bucket and then tried to pull up the stump. I tried to just raise the stump, but it wasn't going to do that. I leveled off and began pushing. The stump finally broke loose and came out of the ground. I just kept pushing until I put the stump into the corner of the bend of the creek where it was washed out. When I parked the bulldozer, Jesus was already digging a hole under another tree trunk. This time it was a Black Oak about the same size as the biggest hickory I had cut down which was the one I blasted. I prepared the other half stick of the explosive and only put two minutes of cord on it. As I packed it in, the two men retreated to the other side of the bulldozer. This one was also a surprise, even though I was waiting for it.

I was able to lift the stump from the ground, tearing the roots loose. I dropped this stump on top of the other one.

It was getting to be lunchtime and I know I was hungry. I was considering taking the two men home for lunch, when George came down to the field with a basket full of sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. He asked if I was starting my own war down here. I laughed and told him that I knew how to handle explosives, but didn't care for them much. The two men were extremely grateful for the lunch. Both men ate three sandwiches, the same as me. We finished off with an apple and a cup of coffee.

George wanted to watch me blow a couple of stumps, so he stayed for a few. It's really no big deal, since you hear the noise, the ground shakes a little, and the stump and earth around it rise a little, then settle back down, but not as far. The smaller stumps break loose and sort of cock to one side.

We broke the other sixteen stumps loose, and I placed them at the bends of the creek. I had to smooth out where I pulled the stumps, but the ground is rolling enough dirt to be able to do that and pack it down with the bulldozer.

Pedro knew how to use a chainsaw, so I had him cut eight foot poles from the longer branches I had saved. Jesus was to sharpen one end with an axe.

Next was finishing the cuts to straighten the creek. I really hoped the old creek bed had as much rock as it appeared. I started at one end and made a deep cut all the way through to the other end. I might have gone deeper than I needed, but I wanted the creek to stay in its banks during the spring runoff so that it wouldn't wash out so easily. Too much flow, and it could wash around the little dams I was building.

We then began driving the poles across the washed out area so that we could stack logs behind them like a seawall, and fill it in with rocks and dirt on top of the tree root balls.

We were moving right along, when I realized that it was getting late, already past six. We loaded the pickup with more hickory before I took the two men up to the house with me where I had to think about what I should pay them. They had given me a little over eight hours of labor, so I figured eight an hour would be fair. I gave each man seventy dollars and they just stood there and stared at the money. I got it across that they had worked hard for me, and I wanted to use them again tomorrow. I would be here about seven thirty to eight. They left almost running, clutching their money while happily smiling.

George came out and asked me how much I paid them. When I explained what I paid and that they had worked hard, George said, "That's a mite heavy for farm work, but you had them humping down there. You're a fair man. Do you want to eat supper with us or go home?"

"I'll go home, George, I would stink up the place if I came in. I'll see you in the morning. I should be able to finish up tomorrow."

At home, I unloaded the hickory on my stack of logs by the smokehouse before going into the barn to wash up a little. When I went inside the house, Ben was watching TV from a rocking chair that had magically appeared. He turned to me, "Sure glad you finally quit for the day. I'm gettin' a mite hungry."

I felt a lot better with my outer shirt and boots off. That roast from yesterday was being used well. Tonight, we had a stew filled with potatoes, carrots, green beans, small onions, and big chunks of meat. Something special had been added; we had real homemade rolls. I looked at Mildred. "These are really good. I didn't know we had any yeast."

Mildred was smiling and said Summer had gone through all of the cabinets and canned goods in the spring pantry, so we would know exactly what we had. "When Summer found the yeast, she was excited and wanted us to make bread. I made two loaves of bread and all of these rolls. I will make you a lunch to take with you tomorrow."

I explained that I had used a couple of men to help me and had completed a lot of the work. "I hope to be able to finish up tomorrow."

I was thinking that if I can get enough dirt and rock from the hillside, I'd be able to fill in behind my pseudo seawall, and then pack it in. This should work. I cut the creek at sort of a circle so that if it was going to wash out again, it would wash the other way, toward the rocky bluffs on that side.

I helped a little on the cleanup as I wanted to watch how Ben was doing. He seemed fit, so I vowed to quit worrying. He had driven his truck up to the house, and when he was ready to go home, he said, "Now that my drive and your road are better, I'll just drive back and forth. It'll save on my energy. Mike, I might have to have you dig a hole for my mule. She's acting real poorly and had a hard time standing this morning. I hate to see the old girl go, but we all get old."

I knew he was also referring to himself. It's tough to grow old. I'm glad the girls and him have become such good friends.

That night in bed, while Summer was still watching TV, Mildred wanted kisses and hugs, but wouldn't let me go after her. She kept pushing me back to lie flat. When she was finally satisfied with my position, she surprised me and used her mouth to bring me to a quick climax. When she sat up, smiling and licking her lips, she said, "It is my time. I have to put off the urge. In a week and a half, ten days, we can scratch my itch again. I can do this though, it is fun to do."

"Mildred, you know I can do that for you too. I've done it before."

The lady hugged me. "If you do that, I will forget it is my time, and we will have babies. Let me do this and remember to keep my legs closed."

She was sort of humorous in the way she talked about it. I didn't wait around to think about it. I did the man thing and quickly went to sleep.

Tuesday was a good day. I was able to start working by seven and while the two men were stacking logs behind the poles we had driven in with the bucket, I parked the bulldozer in the creek and washed the tracks off with a big heavy bristle push broom I brought. After pulling back out, I greased the bulldozer and began moving more earth from the side of the hill to the filled in washes.

Mildred had made a dozen roast beef sandwiches that could have used some mayonnaise or something. Along with that, I had a thermos of coffee and a couple of extra cups. We ate that along with some apples and went right back at it. By four, we were picking up any loose limbs that were left over. I loaded up the last of the hickory and told the two men how happy I was to have them help me. I found out about twenty of them lived in a house on the edge of town. They had one cell phone that one of the women who spoke English answered. I promised to call them if I needed help. Pedro got me off to the side and confided, "I have to be honest with you. I do not pay the taxes like I should. I have this green card, but Jesus does not. If you know of a job that is regular, I could pay the taxes that way. I think Jesus may get his card soon."

That didn't sound exactly right, but it was what I figured about the two. I probably wasn't going to need any help anytime soon, but I told them I would call them if the need came up.

I drove home and found Ben involved with chores. As I helped finish them up, I told him that I would need him to drive the pickup from George's over to the preacher's place so I could get that little job done. That reminded me to call the preacher so he could get the pipe for the culvert.

I called the preacher, "Hey, Harold, I will be by your place about mid-morning to do your driveway, so if you can, have that pipe delivered in the morning."

The man happily said, "The pipe is already by the road. I had it brought out yesterday when George told me you were about done with his place. He sure thinks you're Superman by the way you were able to fix him up so fast. He says he has another place he might have you do. I think he has more equipment to trade."

We agreed to see each other in the morning, and I went inside to enjoy supper. I wasn't so tired and beat up tonight, as most of the work I had done was on the bulldozer. As I ate, I thought about what I had accomplished, and was pretty happy with myself. If Dad were still alive, he would have been proud of me. He had taught me a lot.

That reminded me that I should call Mom. I went outside in the cool mountain air and called her. I asked her if she was busy with a man sitting next to her, and she scoffed at me, "Oh you, you know I'm as bad as you about meeting someone. What's with the call? Do you feel guilty about neglecting your old mom?"

Mom's always good for a laugh. "I just wanted to touch base with you. I've become somewhat of a busy person. I needed a bigger tractor, and in the process of making a deal for it, I've bought a bulldozer along with the tractor and trailer that hauls it. I'll hopefully be able to make it pay. So far, everyone wants to trade out the work."

"You watch it, Mike. Fuel is too expensive for you to be trading out much work. Listen to your mom and make sure you only trade for half the job. Collect cash for the other half. If you have to take more than half in trade, make it about a three to one trade. You deserve the extra for the fuel."