Chapter 181

John Banister was a little too straight to be a good kisser. Still it was interesting to be kissed that way. Interesting in that I needed a small bandage to cover a scrape on my knuckle when it was over.

"So do I spend the night, or move on to the next largest town?" Banister asked.

"For that you should call the president's men to ask where they made your reservation, because they didn't make it here. Since it isn't here, I'm headed for bed." I informed him.

"You don't mind sleeping alone," Banister asked.

"I hate sleeping alone, the only thing I hate worse, is sleeping with spooks," I said.

"That was cold," Banister said with a smile.

"I'll make a note to try the sensitivity training." I said.

"Surely you will give me a ride to town," Banister asked.

"No, but I will call for a ride for you into town," I offered.

"Never mind, I have a number," Banister said.

After he left I showered and dressed for bed. I wore a light weight sweat shirt to bed. The fall was starting, well not really deep fall, but the evenings were getting cool. I had to start thinking about a real heating system.

I was laying in my bed winding down when the phone rang. I changed phone numbers so many times I was surprised that anyone could make my phone ring. "Sylvia, you gave me this number recently. I wasn't sure it would still be good, you change phones a lot." Jerry said.

"Yes I will probably change it again soon. So what can I do for you hon?" I asked.

"This time I might can do something for you. There is a guy here who has a storage unit for sale. I delivered him a piece of farm machinery and he wants to give it to me for the delivery. I was wondering if you wanted another one?" Jerry asked.

"How much Jerry?" I asked him. He decided he wanted to gee and haw around, but I didn't, so I added, "Jerry, if you want to take a chance bringing it down here without a firm commitment, bring it on. I have planned to buy a second unit, but I had also planned to wait. I will however buy it, if it is a deal. So if you are going to make me a deal come on with it." I said.

"I'll be there in a couple of days. Get that piece of dirt ready for it," He said.

"Right, I'll make some calls," I agreed. Before I went to sleep I placed a called to The Brit. The plan was to see if Tomas would be at the pub. The Brit and I agreed that I would swing by and pick up Tomas. I needed for him to decide, what prep work we needed to do in order to make an addition to my cabin possible.

So after I hung up the phone I went to bed. Too bad Banister was such a jerk, I was almost ready to sleep with a Government man. It Banister had been just a little nicer, we might have worked out something.

The first morning back I went to Hardee's for a biscuit filled with animal fat. I finished it and then headed off to the pub. The pub had been open the night before so Tomas was working around the mess waiting for the cleaning lady to show up. Judging by the size of the mess there had been a real celebration for the Brit's safe return.

Tomas was hanging a mirror, when I walked in the back door. "Hey Tomas how's the family?" I asked.

"My family is fine, thank you for asking." he said.

"Good, in the next couple of days Jerry is going to bring another storage building for me. I need you to come by today and tell me what we need to do for it."

"Mr Allen told me to expect you today. He said I should go with you and get the plans made. We are pretty much through here. Well at least the pub is open. There is no rush to complete it." he informed me.

"So you can leave now to look at the place and make a list of things I need to get?" I asked.

"Yes, I can do that," He said putting his tools away. Then he went out and got into my cruiser/van.

"You know, if we do this pretty much like before, we should be able to get it set to the ground pretty quick." I suggested.

"Yes I will give you a list of things to buy. You will finally have a back door when this section is complete." he explained.

That's how Tomas and I started on the 40x8 storage unit. It turned out to be as good as Jerry said. Which of course surprised me. Two weeks later when Tomas, I, and all the friends, I could get to work on it finished, it was great except for the need of painting.

I had the painters put an epoxy paint on it, when we had all finished. Tomas built a roof over the whole sprawling thing to cut down on the damage from the weathering effect of the elements on the metal. It was a fairly hard job, but I felt better with it done. Even the 4x6 posts that supported the roof were attached to the walls making them part of the design. It was really pretty attractive.

A month after our Central American cruise I had the house ready for winter. Included in that was a large gas furnace. The furnace in addition to the other work made the house better prepared for winter. For that I was happy, since the harvest season was on us.

The house had been complete a week when I got the call from the Swamp. "Sylvia it me Karl." he said.

"After that last little trip it has to take lot of nerve to call me again." I said angrily.