Story Up On Hartford Ridge
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Can I say, wonderful, wonderful 
. Thank you so much.
. Thank you so much.223shootersc
Veteran Member
Good stuff, as usual! Thanks Kathy!
Sammy55
Veteran Member
THANK YOU, Kathy!!! It was great to come here and see a posting...and waiting with bated breath to see if it was just a "Kathy, where are you?" kind of post or an actual real-live new chapter. I'm so excited I could dance!!! Actually, with my bad hip and back, I probably can't dance, but I'm dancing in my mind! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 
Chapter 118
“I told you you wouldn’t believe it,” Barbara said.
“That was in the tote?!”
“Nope. That was in the kid boxes. What was in the tote is sitting on the landing floor waiting to be taken down to the basement as soon as you get a look at it.”
I limped over to the bookcase and slid it to the side noticing we needed to wax the floor again so it wouldn't scratch and become noticeable. I winced, but it wasn’t because of that. The cold was making my hip ache enough to warn me going out tonight was going to be a misery if I wasn’t careful. I would have stayed in, but I needed to check the traps, bring back at least a bushel basket of acorns, and gather the same in ripe persimmons if nothing or no one else had gotten them. I took a breath and then wrenched open the hidden door and … just stood there with my mouth open, looking between the kitchen table and what was on the landing floor.
“Told you,” Barb said with a snicker at what was likely a crazy look on my face.
Not knowing quite what to say I was silent long enough to make Barb snicker some more. “About the only time I’ve ever seen you speechless.”
I cleared my throat and said, “Well, this is worth a speechless minute or three. And it sure explains the look on Burt’s face. Good grief, this is nearly a pirate’s treasure. Where is he by the way?”
“Downstairs waiting for the dumbwaiter. Jolene was ready for her nap and it is warmer down there because we had to open and close the doors so much today.”
“Well that candy isn’t going down there until I find something to put it in to keep it from temptation … for the kids and mice.”
“I hear that,” she agreed. “Burt is a good kid, but temptation is temptation. Let’s get these powdered and boxed drinks down first since they are so heavy. Although maybe we should leave the breakfast drinks up here, or some of the powder anyway. It says they are loaded with Vitamin C and the kids should be drinking it along with the Vitamin D in the powdered milk. Assuming Jolene can have a little bit.”
Wondering that myself and hoping the answer was in the baby books that Sawyer and I had pulled together when Jolene was born I told her, “They aren’t the only ones that need to drink this stuff. And don’t make that face. You know you need the nutrition too, and not just in those prenatal vitamins.”
“And you?” I was silent. “Kay-Lee.”
I shook my head. “I’m not a kid and I’m not in the midst of growing one either. And my bones are what they are. I drink rose hip tea for my extry.”
“What Sawyer is going to say I don’t want to know.”
“He and Huely both will be too happy to be home where they belong to throw off a bunch of lectures.”
She snorted. “At us. Don’t think the rest of the family is going to get off scott free though. And you better not be thinking of sending any of this over with anyone that stops by. Just because Uncle Mark suddenly thinks you’ve got more sense than some of the Aunts is no reason to let them off the hook.”
I made a face. “Don’t say that. I may not feel the same way I used to but … I don’t want a feud either. Weren’t you just reminding me of that not too long ago? They are Sawyer’s family – and yours and Huely’s – and you all are going to need them and them you come Spring when I reckon things are going to get really hard.”
“This isn’t hard?” she muttered under her voice. Louder she asked, “And you?”
I turned away. “It is what it is Barbara. I don’t need you and Uncle Ned both on me about it.”
Being a wise person Barbara let it go knowing I wasn’t ready to give in and we tried to bundle the “largesse” into groupings that made the most sense and would make it easier to put away belowstairs.
The candy I dumped into a laundry basket and scooted to the side until I could get to it. There were several bags of M-n-M’s and Skittles but there were also single serving size PayDay bars, as well as other full-size candy bars like Zeros, Heath, Abba Zabbas, Snickers, Three Muskateers, Whoseewhatzits, Crakels, and all the flavor of Hershey bars. There were a couple bags of hard candies like cinnamon discs, peppermint candies, and butterscotch. There were no few Hershey kisses but they were running loose so it took a while to corral them into a container of their own. That wasn’t the end of the candy however. At a quick glance I saw Charleston Chews, jelly beans, Sixlets, Sugar Babies, Lifesavers, Jaw Breakers, Gummy Worms and Bears, Bit-o-honeys, Maple Nut Goodies, Sweet Tarts, NECCO wafers, Circus Peanuts, Orange Slices, Red Hots, and several more I recognized but my stomach was turning sour from worry and I wasn’t sure I was all that happy about the junk. No wonder Burt looked like a wide-eyed zombie; there was enough sugar there to send you into a diabetic coma just through osmosis. I know all my foster families would have been horrified that’s for sure. They hated it when people gave us candy at the holidays. I guess they put candy in the “care packages” to keep kids from rioting at the loss of all the processed sugar they were used to getting. I know we had a time with Burt there for a while when all the soda pop and his normal junk food went away.
Some of what had been in the tote was powdered chocolate, strawberry, and banana flavoring that made plain powdered milk taste better. There was a large bag of banana chips and smaller bags of dried tropical fruit, including pineapple, papaya, and mango. Some apple cider vinegar powder. There were several packets of dried soup mixes, all of them name brands that I recognized. A large shaker of butter powder, heavy cream powder, coconut powder, some freeze dried butternut squash, a large shaker of dried diced onion and the same in garlic. Davy goosed me as I was bending over looking what all there was.
“I’m going to bob your tail if you don’t stop doing that and you know Harley would never let you live that down.”
Barbara started giggling. “The way you talk to those dogs they’re going to start thinking they are people.”
I shrugged and patted both dogs on the head and gave them permission to go down the stairs to be with the kids. Jolene wasn’t the only one in need of a nap. The dogs roam all night acting as guards. They had to sleep at some point and they preferred to stay close to Burt and Jolene while they did it. It didn’t bother me any that they stayed close as protectors.
The drink mixes are what we grouped to go down first. Packets of pre-sweetened Kool-Aid, CrystalLight, sports drink powders, lemonade mix, Wyler’s, Welch’s, Tang, pink lemonade, apple cider, and a few other things but none of them coffee or real tea leaves. There were also some boxed juices and drinks that I would sit aside for the children as well. But I nearly dropped my teeth when I saw a giant tub of hot cocoa and it even had mini marshmallows in it. Holy smokes! Barbara said that was in a box all by itself except for some peppermint candy stirring sticks filling space in the corners.
What also came out of the tote was cellophane packets of spices and seasoning mixes as well as things like the powdered mixes you could make spaghetti sauce with, powdered gravy mixes, and several other things that was the basis of sorta kinda made from scratch meals from a company called McCormick. I knew I’d need another large tin or pickle jar to keep those in and mice out. We hadn’t seen any rodents yet, but that’s because we were religious about keeping holes filled and shelves clean and stuff in containers the little beasties couldn’t gnaw through.
There were some feminine hygiene items that likely set Burt’s hair on fire if he noticed what they were. There were several bars of soap and a couple bottles of dry bleach tablets and some other odds and ends cleaning items like steel wool and dish soap. And a few really odd items like tubes of super glue, a tube of graphite, and a small can of Liquid Wrench.
Everything else in the boxes fell into the commodities style of goods or maybe a charity food pantry. All in bags rather than boxes there were mixed dried vegetable flakes, instant mashed potatoes, hash brown potato shreds, powdered cheese, powdered milk, powdered peanut butter, dried corn and other individual vegetables, dried beans of various types, packages of ramen, some pasta though not a lot of that. There were packages of a basic ingredients like flour and cornmeal and instructions on how to use them which both Barbara and I thought strange, though I suppose there are some people that have had to learn to cook from staple ingredients. In the boxes for babies and very young children there was Cream of Wheat, Rice Cereal, some baby food but not a lot but there were instructions on how to mash up table-food to make it palatable for babies ready for it. There were also leaflets reminding parents that babies really didn’t need anything nutritionally except formula and breast milk prior to six months of age. Anything else was just “filler” their digestive track wasn’t mature enough to absorb properly.
In some of the boxes were leaflets on how to sterilize water for drinking and cooking. It made me realize how lucky we were to have the hand pump by the porch as well as the one hidden in the lean to that we used to feed the chickens with. If we had pigs … but never mind. I have enough to take care of without adding more mouths to feed.
Barbara got my attention by asking, “Notice what isn’t here?
“Coffee and real tea,” I answered.
“That too. But there’s no meat unless you count that soy crap that is supposed to be like ground beef. The leaflets mention Meatless Mondays or Monday being the only day to eat meat. That tells me people could be starving Kay-Lee. I never thought to really see such a thing in my own area. This country has gone insane.”
I didn’t want to upset her but being honest I said, “That’s been happening for a long time. Food was always a big deal in the foster care situations I grew up in. Only time I wasn’t in danger of being hungry was when I was in the hospital.”
She shuddered and trying to reassure her I said, “I won’t let that happen to you or the kids.”
“Shouldn’t that be my line? I’m older than you.”
“You focus on making that baby and staying healthy.”
“Kay-Lee.”
“Don’t fuss Barbara. I’ve learned that the things life has thrown at me and taught me make me strong in ways a lot of people aren’t. You aren’t weak but you’ve got a different focus right now. Foraging and preserving and stuff seem to have become my calling, or at least part of it. I may not be physically capable of running and fighting but I can do this … fight for our family in other ways … and I’ll keep us fed; and when Sawyer and Huely come home I’ll keep them fed too so they can do whatever they are called to do. Now let’s get this stuff put away. I need to work out the best use of my time tonight. It feels like a cold front is heading this way and if it hits as hard and as mean as it feels, I might wind up laid up for a bit.”
“Oh Kay-Lee.”
I know she wanted to say more but there really isn’t much to say. It is what it is. We have needs. I seem to have a kind of luck about finding forage. We need to take advantage of that while we can and before everything dies back. Today we might feel like we’re living on Treasure Island or in Ali Babba’s cave, but that won’t last and the promises to bring more might not happen. Too many things out there willing to eat us to make their own lot in life easier, even if momentarily. Not to mention I have a lot to think about. And I have a couple of letters to write. I need to let Uncle Mark know we’ve heard directly from Sawyer and Huely though I won’t mention their pay. That he can share with the rest of the Hartfords. And privately I need to share with him the strange incident of the other boxes though I won’t go into details of what all was in there except what wasn’t … coffee, tea, and meat … and tell him that there was enough “scarcity” that we weren’t getting what was gotten in the beginning. The rest I’ll assume he can work out based on what folks have been getting all along. I’ll add my concerns and suspicions that the local CI may be under investigation and why I think so. I’m having to trust that he will share any additional clues from his end.
I also need to do what I said I would and keep the lines of communication open with Sawyer’s family. I’m not ready to just go all in as I did before, but I’m willing to be realistic enough to know that not all of them are against me. And if both Uncle Ned and Uncle Mark are to be believed, and I’ll do so cautiously, some of them regret the direction their thoughts took their actions. I’m not perfect. Kinda hypocritical to expect Sawyer’s family to all be that way.
My last thought before I stop this fool doodling is that if something happens to me I need someone that will step in until Sawyer can come home, even after he comes home. None of us are promised tomorrow. Life has taught me that if nothing else. Bad things happen. Messes are made. Things – and people – get broken and can’t be put back together. I might never be able to stomach the idea of being close to anyone other than the few under this roof, but that doesn’t mean I can hide from the fact that the others under this roof might need the people I can’t stomach much of.
“I told you you wouldn’t believe it,” Barbara said.
“That was in the tote?!”
“Nope. That was in the kid boxes. What was in the tote is sitting on the landing floor waiting to be taken down to the basement as soon as you get a look at it.”
I limped over to the bookcase and slid it to the side noticing we needed to wax the floor again so it wouldn't scratch and become noticeable. I winced, but it wasn’t because of that. The cold was making my hip ache enough to warn me going out tonight was going to be a misery if I wasn’t careful. I would have stayed in, but I needed to check the traps, bring back at least a bushel basket of acorns, and gather the same in ripe persimmons if nothing or no one else had gotten them. I took a breath and then wrenched open the hidden door and … just stood there with my mouth open, looking between the kitchen table and what was on the landing floor.
“Told you,” Barb said with a snicker at what was likely a crazy look on my face.
Not knowing quite what to say I was silent long enough to make Barb snicker some more. “About the only time I’ve ever seen you speechless.”
I cleared my throat and said, “Well, this is worth a speechless minute or three. And it sure explains the look on Burt’s face. Good grief, this is nearly a pirate’s treasure. Where is he by the way?”
“Downstairs waiting for the dumbwaiter. Jolene was ready for her nap and it is warmer down there because we had to open and close the doors so much today.”
“Well that candy isn’t going down there until I find something to put it in to keep it from temptation … for the kids and mice.”
“I hear that,” she agreed. “Burt is a good kid, but temptation is temptation. Let’s get these powdered and boxed drinks down first since they are so heavy. Although maybe we should leave the breakfast drinks up here, or some of the powder anyway. It says they are loaded with Vitamin C and the kids should be drinking it along with the Vitamin D in the powdered milk. Assuming Jolene can have a little bit.”
Wondering that myself and hoping the answer was in the baby books that Sawyer and I had pulled together when Jolene was born I told her, “They aren’t the only ones that need to drink this stuff. And don’t make that face. You know you need the nutrition too, and not just in those prenatal vitamins.”
“And you?” I was silent. “Kay-Lee.”
I shook my head. “I’m not a kid and I’m not in the midst of growing one either. And my bones are what they are. I drink rose hip tea for my extry.”
“What Sawyer is going to say I don’t want to know.”
“He and Huely both will be too happy to be home where they belong to throw off a bunch of lectures.”
She snorted. “At us. Don’t think the rest of the family is going to get off scott free though. And you better not be thinking of sending any of this over with anyone that stops by. Just because Uncle Mark suddenly thinks you’ve got more sense than some of the Aunts is no reason to let them off the hook.”
I made a face. “Don’t say that. I may not feel the same way I used to but … I don’t want a feud either. Weren’t you just reminding me of that not too long ago? They are Sawyer’s family – and yours and Huely’s – and you all are going to need them and them you come Spring when I reckon things are going to get really hard.”
“This isn’t hard?” she muttered under her voice. Louder she asked, “And you?”
I turned away. “It is what it is Barbara. I don’t need you and Uncle Ned both on me about it.”
Being a wise person Barbara let it go knowing I wasn’t ready to give in and we tried to bundle the “largesse” into groupings that made the most sense and would make it easier to put away belowstairs.
The candy I dumped into a laundry basket and scooted to the side until I could get to it. There were several bags of M-n-M’s and Skittles but there were also single serving size PayDay bars, as well as other full-size candy bars like Zeros, Heath, Abba Zabbas, Snickers, Three Muskateers, Whoseewhatzits, Crakels, and all the flavor of Hershey bars. There were a couple bags of hard candies like cinnamon discs, peppermint candies, and butterscotch. There were no few Hershey kisses but they were running loose so it took a while to corral them into a container of their own. That wasn’t the end of the candy however. At a quick glance I saw Charleston Chews, jelly beans, Sixlets, Sugar Babies, Lifesavers, Jaw Breakers, Gummy Worms and Bears, Bit-o-honeys, Maple Nut Goodies, Sweet Tarts, NECCO wafers, Circus Peanuts, Orange Slices, Red Hots, and several more I recognized but my stomach was turning sour from worry and I wasn’t sure I was all that happy about the junk. No wonder Burt looked like a wide-eyed zombie; there was enough sugar there to send you into a diabetic coma just through osmosis. I know all my foster families would have been horrified that’s for sure. They hated it when people gave us candy at the holidays. I guess they put candy in the “care packages” to keep kids from rioting at the loss of all the processed sugar they were used to getting. I know we had a time with Burt there for a while when all the soda pop and his normal junk food went away.
Some of what had been in the tote was powdered chocolate, strawberry, and banana flavoring that made plain powdered milk taste better. There was a large bag of banana chips and smaller bags of dried tropical fruit, including pineapple, papaya, and mango. Some apple cider vinegar powder. There were several packets of dried soup mixes, all of them name brands that I recognized. A large shaker of butter powder, heavy cream powder, coconut powder, some freeze dried butternut squash, a large shaker of dried diced onion and the same in garlic. Davy goosed me as I was bending over looking what all there was.
“I’m going to bob your tail if you don’t stop doing that and you know Harley would never let you live that down.”
Barbara started giggling. “The way you talk to those dogs they’re going to start thinking they are people.”
I shrugged and patted both dogs on the head and gave them permission to go down the stairs to be with the kids. Jolene wasn’t the only one in need of a nap. The dogs roam all night acting as guards. They had to sleep at some point and they preferred to stay close to Burt and Jolene while they did it. It didn’t bother me any that they stayed close as protectors.
The drink mixes are what we grouped to go down first. Packets of pre-sweetened Kool-Aid, CrystalLight, sports drink powders, lemonade mix, Wyler’s, Welch’s, Tang, pink lemonade, apple cider, and a few other things but none of them coffee or real tea leaves. There were also some boxed juices and drinks that I would sit aside for the children as well. But I nearly dropped my teeth when I saw a giant tub of hot cocoa and it even had mini marshmallows in it. Holy smokes! Barbara said that was in a box all by itself except for some peppermint candy stirring sticks filling space in the corners.
What also came out of the tote was cellophane packets of spices and seasoning mixes as well as things like the powdered mixes you could make spaghetti sauce with, powdered gravy mixes, and several other things that was the basis of sorta kinda made from scratch meals from a company called McCormick. I knew I’d need another large tin or pickle jar to keep those in and mice out. We hadn’t seen any rodents yet, but that’s because we were religious about keeping holes filled and shelves clean and stuff in containers the little beasties couldn’t gnaw through.
There were some feminine hygiene items that likely set Burt’s hair on fire if he noticed what they were. There were several bars of soap and a couple bottles of dry bleach tablets and some other odds and ends cleaning items like steel wool and dish soap. And a few really odd items like tubes of super glue, a tube of graphite, and a small can of Liquid Wrench.
Everything else in the boxes fell into the commodities style of goods or maybe a charity food pantry. All in bags rather than boxes there were mixed dried vegetable flakes, instant mashed potatoes, hash brown potato shreds, powdered cheese, powdered milk, powdered peanut butter, dried corn and other individual vegetables, dried beans of various types, packages of ramen, some pasta though not a lot of that. There were packages of a basic ingredients like flour and cornmeal and instructions on how to use them which both Barbara and I thought strange, though I suppose there are some people that have had to learn to cook from staple ingredients. In the boxes for babies and very young children there was Cream of Wheat, Rice Cereal, some baby food but not a lot but there were instructions on how to mash up table-food to make it palatable for babies ready for it. There were also leaflets reminding parents that babies really didn’t need anything nutritionally except formula and breast milk prior to six months of age. Anything else was just “filler” their digestive track wasn’t mature enough to absorb properly.
In some of the boxes were leaflets on how to sterilize water for drinking and cooking. It made me realize how lucky we were to have the hand pump by the porch as well as the one hidden in the lean to that we used to feed the chickens with. If we had pigs … but never mind. I have enough to take care of without adding more mouths to feed.
Barbara got my attention by asking, “Notice what isn’t here?
“Coffee and real tea,” I answered.
“That too. But there’s no meat unless you count that soy crap that is supposed to be like ground beef. The leaflets mention Meatless Mondays or Monday being the only day to eat meat. That tells me people could be starving Kay-Lee. I never thought to really see such a thing in my own area. This country has gone insane.”
I didn’t want to upset her but being honest I said, “That’s been happening for a long time. Food was always a big deal in the foster care situations I grew up in. Only time I wasn’t in danger of being hungry was when I was in the hospital.”
She shuddered and trying to reassure her I said, “I won’t let that happen to you or the kids.”
“Shouldn’t that be my line? I’m older than you.”
“You focus on making that baby and staying healthy.”
“Kay-Lee.”
“Don’t fuss Barbara. I’ve learned that the things life has thrown at me and taught me make me strong in ways a lot of people aren’t. You aren’t weak but you’ve got a different focus right now. Foraging and preserving and stuff seem to have become my calling, or at least part of it. I may not be physically capable of running and fighting but I can do this … fight for our family in other ways … and I’ll keep us fed; and when Sawyer and Huely come home I’ll keep them fed too so they can do whatever they are called to do. Now let’s get this stuff put away. I need to work out the best use of my time tonight. It feels like a cold front is heading this way and if it hits as hard and as mean as it feels, I might wind up laid up for a bit.”
“Oh Kay-Lee.”
I know she wanted to say more but there really isn’t much to say. It is what it is. We have needs. I seem to have a kind of luck about finding forage. We need to take advantage of that while we can and before everything dies back. Today we might feel like we’re living on Treasure Island or in Ali Babba’s cave, but that won’t last and the promises to bring more might not happen. Too many things out there willing to eat us to make their own lot in life easier, even if momentarily. Not to mention I have a lot to think about. And I have a couple of letters to write. I need to let Uncle Mark know we’ve heard directly from Sawyer and Huely though I won’t mention their pay. That he can share with the rest of the Hartfords. And privately I need to share with him the strange incident of the other boxes though I won’t go into details of what all was in there except what wasn’t … coffee, tea, and meat … and tell him that there was enough “scarcity” that we weren’t getting what was gotten in the beginning. The rest I’ll assume he can work out based on what folks have been getting all along. I’ll add my concerns and suspicions that the local CI may be under investigation and why I think so. I’m having to trust that he will share any additional clues from his end.
I also need to do what I said I would and keep the lines of communication open with Sawyer’s family. I’m not ready to just go all in as I did before, but I’m willing to be realistic enough to know that not all of them are against me. And if both Uncle Ned and Uncle Mark are to be believed, and I’ll do so cautiously, some of them regret the direction their thoughts took their actions. I’m not perfect. Kinda hypocritical to expect Sawyer’s family to all be that way.
My last thought before I stop this fool doodling is that if something happens to me I need someone that will step in until Sawyer can come home, even after he comes home. None of us are promised tomorrow. Life has taught me that if nothing else. Bad things happen. Messes are made. Things – and people – get broken and can’t be put back together. I might never be able to stomach the idea of being close to anyone other than the few under this roof, but that doesn’t mean I can hide from the fact that the others under this roof might need the people I can’t stomach much of.
Jeepcats27
Senior Member
this is a little scary, Kay-Lee trying to make sure everyone will be taken care of except her!
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
She's on a roll!
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you, nice to get up to
As Sawyer wrote, they are working their way home. *wink*
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Moar???
Hey y'all. I'm going to get another chapter up before I hit the sack but you'll also see that I'm going to start migrating some of my other stories here to keep them from suddenly disappearing. I've had multiple problems with FictionPress and FanFiction and I just feel better bringing them here, at least in duplicate. One of the first I am going to start bringing over I think is MJOTZY's. It will take a bit between one thing and another including editing which is not exactly my strong suit to begin with. I am trying to bring Hartford to a conclusion but the dingity dang plot keeps getting away from me so it is turning longer than I expected. Anywho, I've got one on the burner for this story and maybe one for Gus. Have to see how much energy I have remaining after finishing putting the granite gravel down for the drip line on the carport. Finish the barn in time last night to test it out with a gullywasher but that meant using the bucket on the Kubota to fix the grading around the other project before we could even start laying the gravel. Gosh darn if it isn't one thing it is another.
Did get the concrete form built yesterday where the greenhouse is going to sit. The guy who hired the concrete poured for us did a really pretty step to help with potential run off and to keep junk from being tracked inside. I'm not too worried about it because the floor in the greenhouse is made of composite "wood." This morning we finished the form for the front porch to be extended and that has just finished being poured and is being smoothed off. Luckily no rain is forecasted for a couple of days. At some point I'll start a Chat thread and post some pictures of our projects. For now things are too busy and "in progress." LOL
Did get the concrete form built yesterday where the greenhouse is going to sit. The guy who hired the concrete poured for us did a really pretty step to help with potential run off and to keep junk from being tracked inside. I'm not too worried about it because the floor in the greenhouse is made of composite "wood." This morning we finished the form for the front porch to be extended and that has just finished being poured and is being smoothed off. Luckily no rain is forecasted for a couple of days. At some point I'll start a Chat thread and post some pictures of our projects. For now things are too busy and "in progress." LOL
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Oh sweet on the green house, sure wish we could get ours finished.
Gonna be 12'x16' prefab unit ... our anniversary present to each other.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Ours is like 16x10. But better than nothing. Hubby had it going up before they found he had cancer in 2019 and its been one thing and another since. He just had his cataracts removed this month the right eye yesterday. Luckily we had bought the things we needed already and are using windows for the sides.
Chapter 119
“Enough Burt, you aren’t going.”
“Aunt Kay-Lee …”
I looked at him and said, “I need you here. Barbara needs to rest. She did too much today and is hurting in a place she shouldn’t be hurting. Do I need to explain that to you?”
Burt made a face. “No ma’am. Please don’t.”
“I didn’t think so. Uncle Sawyer had the talk with you.”
Making an even worse face he muttered, “Yes’m.”
“Then understand this … I need to be able to trust you. I know it is a lot to ask of a guy your age. I wouldn’t be going out tonight if I didn’t think it was necessary. A cold front is coming …”
“How do you know though?!”
“Settle down Burt. You know how Gramps’ arthritis acts up? Well, my hip and leg are giving me a clue what is on the way.” He sighed, finally capitulating. “Barbara won’t rest if you are going to make a fuss. I’m hoping she just gives in and sleeps whether she means to or not. And I’m hoping that Jolene has a warm belly full and will sleep as well.”
Still worried he said, “Take Harley or Davy.”
“No. Not this time. I want them here helping you do your job. Keep them in the house, okay?”
# # # # #
It isn’t like I relish doing this, but the moon is full and bright tonight, and it needs to be done before the weather loses us the little bit of gain we can get for ourselves.
The cold is coming but I hope it holds off until I can get tonight’s work finished. I’ll leave raking the acorns for last even though they are going to be the heaviest. I need to see if those persimmons are ready and that someone hasn’t gotten to them before me. I’ve got some other that I’ve added to tonight’s to-do list as well … roots. By roots I mean sunchokes, burdock root, dandelion root, and sassafras root though the last is a selfish pleasure of my own since Barbara can’t drink it in her current condition.
If I still have the time or energy and the weather cooperates, I want more chickweed. And if I really just plain get lucky, I hope to get some black walnuts, sumac drupes, prickly pears from that spreading patch in the woodlot, and maybe even some wintergreen. Lord knows I’ll probably have the time for it since every trap I’ve passed has been empty. They are still set so I don’t think they’ve been burglar’d or rustle’d or whatever you call when your traps are stolen from.
I do have a concern, or should I say another one. In places the ground is damp and I’ve seen some tracks of the porcine type. What I mean is that I’ve seen pig feet tracks. Someone might ask how I can be sure, but I’ve learned to tell the difference. Deer tracks are pointed and somewhat heart-shaped. Pig tracks are rounder and not as dainty. I know that sounds a little silly, but deer prance a bit so are lighter on their feet. Pigs just kinda step and don’t care if they make a mess while doing it. The ones I’ve been seeing are definitely pigs. I just don’t understand why I’m seeing so many all going the same direction. I didn’t know animals …
Okay, Sawyer, I need you here. I’d even take some of your crazy cousins. What … or maybe who is better … is using our land to corral up and bunch of pigs?!
“Dang you are getting hard to track Kay-Lee.”
I jumped a mile and then nearly beaned Cutter in the head with a bucket. I hissed quietly, “That mess over there better not be your idea of joke Cutter Hartford.”
Cutter looked where I was slinging the bucket and then did a doubletake. Very seriously he said, “Stay here.”
He edged forward taking the safety off his shotgun which told me more than I wanted to know at that moment. He wasn’t long but the serious look hadn’t left his face. He led me back into a deeper stand of trees and then moved the metal skiff with its load of bushel baskets and the rake off the path and out of the wind that had sprung up to keep from making noise or reflecting in the bright moonlight. “If I wasn’t still getting over a cold, I would have smelled them sooner even with the wind blowing away from us. When’s the last time you been out this way?”
“A couple of weeks. Three at the most. The persimmons over here were the last ones to ripen last year so I was foraging other areas and given them time this year to finish up. I take it those pigs don’t belong to the Hartfords.”
“Naw. None of them have our notch in their ears. The few I got a good look aren’t notched at all.”
“They aren’t feral?”
“A few are mixed breeds but that’s about it. Kay-Lee, I need you to head back to the house. I don’t know what is going on, but I need to bring Uncle Mark in on this. Lucky for me he’s waiting back at the fence where Dad’s land and this acreage meet.”
I was having none of it. “Don’t think you can tell me what to do Cutter Hartford.”
He sighed in irritation. “This ain’t no game Kay-Lee. I know you’ve got reason to …”
“You want me to bang you in the head with this bucket? There’s no time for stupid games because I don’t plan on winning any stupid prizes. Go get Uncle Mark and I’ll keep a look out and if anyone shows up, I’ll work my way down the trail and meet you so you aren’t walking in blind.”
A voice in the night whispered, “Uncle Mark is already on his way.”
Shocked but trying not to show it I identified the speaker. “Jamison.”
“If you don’t want me around Kay-Lee I’ll …”
“Don’t you start either. You’re what I have, and we might as well see what is up if we can. This is not a mess I want Sawyer to come home to and you owe him.”
I hear what turns out to be three more sets of boots on the trail.
“Don’t pull that cannon like you almost did on me,” Cutter says putting his arm in front of me like Sawyer did a few times when the truck was still running and someone pulled out in front of us. “And I’m pretty doggone sure Sawyer don’t know you’re carrying it either. That’s Dad, Uncle Mark, and Davis. Uncle Ned shouldn’t be far behind them.” I wanted to tell him that oh yes Sawyer does too know but didn’t think it was time for an argument or anything else of that nature.
It didn’t take long for all six men to get a good eyeful of what was a hastily thrown up hog pen holding about three dozen porkers with rings through their noses.
Davis was the one that said, “Looks like the holding pen for the slaughterhouse. Not near so big but still …”
Uncle Ned said, “Looks like what the old folks used to throw up when they was gathering the wild hogs sure ‘nuff. And I’m gonna say this pen set up ain’t no more than a week old given that not all the grass has been trampled exceptes on that one end where it looks like they’re bein’ fed.” They turned to me but didn’t seem like they knew how to speak which isn’t normal for a Hartford male at all.
I wanted to roll my eyes but decided it wouldn’t be a fruitful endeavor. “Stop wondering and just ask. Did I give anyone permission to do this? Absolutely not. And if you need to ask more then no, I’m not in cahoots with any townies much less anyone in the CI’s office.” I looked at Uncle Mark and said, “I wrote a letter just in case I ran into anyone tonight, might as well just tell you. Got a note from Sawyer and Huely. They’ve been drafted by what sounds like civilian contractors though I’m unlikely to get the entire story any time soon since there are restrictions on what can go through the mail including location and just about anything else helpful. Shuddup Cutter. Yes, I’m over the moon happy. I still feel like laughing like a loon but I’m not sure if I want anyone knowing outside the immediate family or not so keep it behind your teeth until Uncle Mark has time to discuss is with the Uncles. And I have some more news that is as strange and potentially worrisome as hearing from my husband was welcome.”
“Well spit it out Hellcat,” Cutter shot back at me drawing a disapproving look from the others but I could tell Cutter meant it as a weird kind of compliment.
Ignoring the temptation to smart off right back at him I simply told the tale. “Something is going on in town. Inspectors … but not the kind we’ve been dealing with … came out to the house asking strange questions. Like when we got any assistance boxes and how many. All I could tell them was the one delivery of three boxes and they didn’t seem real happy. They also said that there were a couple of other families up here on the Ridge that have been what they were calling ‘overlooked’ as well though that didn’t seem to be what they really meant. And Cutter, you remember that teacher that all the girls were in love with … long blonde hair, mustache that barely rated the title, real slim and strange taste in clothes for a teacher? He taught in the AP program … though he’d probably have preferred the boys to take notice of him instead of the girls.”
Cutter got a blank look on his face before saying, “You ain’t talking about the one the Coach got bent out of shape at for keeping Melbourne Davis from playing are you?”
“I don’t know about any particulars but if you don’t, ask Linda or Tommy about it. I think his name was Mr. Erics or Erickson or something like that. I never had anything to do with him. Just had to listen to the girls act stupid silly when he came over to our side of the school.”
Uncle Mark asked, “This going anywhere?”
I snorted. “Yes Sir, but I’m not sure where. That man I was talking about was in the truck and didn’t want to be there and especially didn’t want to be bookended by the two guards in the truck with him. And he had a scared and worried look on his face he was trying to hide, especially when the man in charge started asking me and Barbara about how often the CI had come out to the farm and a few other weird questions.”
Jamison was the one that took things off track by muttering, “Then Bud lied about that too.”
“I don’t know what you are referring to, but I’m beginning to think that Bud lies so much he don’t know what the truth is anymore so y’all be careful in your dealings with him.” I passed off a note to Uncle Mark by saying, “There’s a note for Gramps in there. If you don’t think he is up to us asking how he is doing, then don’t bother him with it.” I handed a similar folded piece of paper to Uncle Ned and said, “That one is to Uncle Forrester. Tell him Barbara wants to know if there is anything we can do to ease his mind and stop his worrying which isn’t good for him. Now we have all the how-dee-do’s and questions out of the way, what in the blue blazes are we going to do about those pigs that are stinking up Sawyer’s land? I have a long list of chores tonight and I didn’t need another one added to it.”
“Enough Burt, you aren’t going.”
“Aunt Kay-Lee …”
I looked at him and said, “I need you here. Barbara needs to rest. She did too much today and is hurting in a place she shouldn’t be hurting. Do I need to explain that to you?”
Burt made a face. “No ma’am. Please don’t.”
“I didn’t think so. Uncle Sawyer had the talk with you.”
Making an even worse face he muttered, “Yes’m.”
“Then understand this … I need to be able to trust you. I know it is a lot to ask of a guy your age. I wouldn’t be going out tonight if I didn’t think it was necessary. A cold front is coming …”
“How do you know though?!”
“Settle down Burt. You know how Gramps’ arthritis acts up? Well, my hip and leg are giving me a clue what is on the way.” He sighed, finally capitulating. “Barbara won’t rest if you are going to make a fuss. I’m hoping she just gives in and sleeps whether she means to or not. And I’m hoping that Jolene has a warm belly full and will sleep as well.”
Still worried he said, “Take Harley or Davy.”
“No. Not this time. I want them here helping you do your job. Keep them in the house, okay?”
# # # # #
It isn’t like I relish doing this, but the moon is full and bright tonight, and it needs to be done before the weather loses us the little bit of gain we can get for ourselves.
The cold is coming but I hope it holds off until I can get tonight’s work finished. I’ll leave raking the acorns for last even though they are going to be the heaviest. I need to see if those persimmons are ready and that someone hasn’t gotten to them before me. I’ve got some other that I’ve added to tonight’s to-do list as well … roots. By roots I mean sunchokes, burdock root, dandelion root, and sassafras root though the last is a selfish pleasure of my own since Barbara can’t drink it in her current condition.
If I still have the time or energy and the weather cooperates, I want more chickweed. And if I really just plain get lucky, I hope to get some black walnuts, sumac drupes, prickly pears from that spreading patch in the woodlot, and maybe even some wintergreen. Lord knows I’ll probably have the time for it since every trap I’ve passed has been empty. They are still set so I don’t think they’ve been burglar’d or rustle’d or whatever you call when your traps are stolen from.
I do have a concern, or should I say another one. In places the ground is damp and I’ve seen some tracks of the porcine type. What I mean is that I’ve seen pig feet tracks. Someone might ask how I can be sure, but I’ve learned to tell the difference. Deer tracks are pointed and somewhat heart-shaped. Pig tracks are rounder and not as dainty. I know that sounds a little silly, but deer prance a bit so are lighter on their feet. Pigs just kinda step and don’t care if they make a mess while doing it. The ones I’ve been seeing are definitely pigs. I just don’t understand why I’m seeing so many all going the same direction. I didn’t know animals …
Okay, Sawyer, I need you here. I’d even take some of your crazy cousins. What … or maybe who is better … is using our land to corral up and bunch of pigs?!
“Dang you are getting hard to track Kay-Lee.”
I jumped a mile and then nearly beaned Cutter in the head with a bucket. I hissed quietly, “That mess over there better not be your idea of joke Cutter Hartford.”
Cutter looked where I was slinging the bucket and then did a doubletake. Very seriously he said, “Stay here.”
He edged forward taking the safety off his shotgun which told me more than I wanted to know at that moment. He wasn’t long but the serious look hadn’t left his face. He led me back into a deeper stand of trees and then moved the metal skiff with its load of bushel baskets and the rake off the path and out of the wind that had sprung up to keep from making noise or reflecting in the bright moonlight. “If I wasn’t still getting over a cold, I would have smelled them sooner even with the wind blowing away from us. When’s the last time you been out this way?”
“A couple of weeks. Three at the most. The persimmons over here were the last ones to ripen last year so I was foraging other areas and given them time this year to finish up. I take it those pigs don’t belong to the Hartfords.”
“Naw. None of them have our notch in their ears. The few I got a good look aren’t notched at all.”
“They aren’t feral?”
“A few are mixed breeds but that’s about it. Kay-Lee, I need you to head back to the house. I don’t know what is going on, but I need to bring Uncle Mark in on this. Lucky for me he’s waiting back at the fence where Dad’s land and this acreage meet.”
I was having none of it. “Don’t think you can tell me what to do Cutter Hartford.”
He sighed in irritation. “This ain’t no game Kay-Lee. I know you’ve got reason to …”
“You want me to bang you in the head with this bucket? There’s no time for stupid games because I don’t plan on winning any stupid prizes. Go get Uncle Mark and I’ll keep a look out and if anyone shows up, I’ll work my way down the trail and meet you so you aren’t walking in blind.”
A voice in the night whispered, “Uncle Mark is already on his way.”
Shocked but trying not to show it I identified the speaker. “Jamison.”
“If you don’t want me around Kay-Lee I’ll …”
“Don’t you start either. You’re what I have, and we might as well see what is up if we can. This is not a mess I want Sawyer to come home to and you owe him.”
I hear what turns out to be three more sets of boots on the trail.
“Don’t pull that cannon like you almost did on me,” Cutter says putting his arm in front of me like Sawyer did a few times when the truck was still running and someone pulled out in front of us. “And I’m pretty doggone sure Sawyer don’t know you’re carrying it either. That’s Dad, Uncle Mark, and Davis. Uncle Ned shouldn’t be far behind them.” I wanted to tell him that oh yes Sawyer does too know but didn’t think it was time for an argument or anything else of that nature.
It didn’t take long for all six men to get a good eyeful of what was a hastily thrown up hog pen holding about three dozen porkers with rings through their noses.
Davis was the one that said, “Looks like the holding pen for the slaughterhouse. Not near so big but still …”
Uncle Ned said, “Looks like what the old folks used to throw up when they was gathering the wild hogs sure ‘nuff. And I’m gonna say this pen set up ain’t no more than a week old given that not all the grass has been trampled exceptes on that one end where it looks like they’re bein’ fed.” They turned to me but didn’t seem like they knew how to speak which isn’t normal for a Hartford male at all.
I wanted to roll my eyes but decided it wouldn’t be a fruitful endeavor. “Stop wondering and just ask. Did I give anyone permission to do this? Absolutely not. And if you need to ask more then no, I’m not in cahoots with any townies much less anyone in the CI’s office.” I looked at Uncle Mark and said, “I wrote a letter just in case I ran into anyone tonight, might as well just tell you. Got a note from Sawyer and Huely. They’ve been drafted by what sounds like civilian contractors though I’m unlikely to get the entire story any time soon since there are restrictions on what can go through the mail including location and just about anything else helpful. Shuddup Cutter. Yes, I’m over the moon happy. I still feel like laughing like a loon but I’m not sure if I want anyone knowing outside the immediate family or not so keep it behind your teeth until Uncle Mark has time to discuss is with the Uncles. And I have some more news that is as strange and potentially worrisome as hearing from my husband was welcome.”
“Well spit it out Hellcat,” Cutter shot back at me drawing a disapproving look from the others but I could tell Cutter meant it as a weird kind of compliment.
Ignoring the temptation to smart off right back at him I simply told the tale. “Something is going on in town. Inspectors … but not the kind we’ve been dealing with … came out to the house asking strange questions. Like when we got any assistance boxes and how many. All I could tell them was the one delivery of three boxes and they didn’t seem real happy. They also said that there were a couple of other families up here on the Ridge that have been what they were calling ‘overlooked’ as well though that didn’t seem to be what they really meant. And Cutter, you remember that teacher that all the girls were in love with … long blonde hair, mustache that barely rated the title, real slim and strange taste in clothes for a teacher? He taught in the AP program … though he’d probably have preferred the boys to take notice of him instead of the girls.”
Cutter got a blank look on his face before saying, “You ain’t talking about the one the Coach got bent out of shape at for keeping Melbourne Davis from playing are you?”
“I don’t know about any particulars but if you don’t, ask Linda or Tommy about it. I think his name was Mr. Erics or Erickson or something like that. I never had anything to do with him. Just had to listen to the girls act stupid silly when he came over to our side of the school.”
Uncle Mark asked, “This going anywhere?”
I snorted. “Yes Sir, but I’m not sure where. That man I was talking about was in the truck and didn’t want to be there and especially didn’t want to be bookended by the two guards in the truck with him. And he had a scared and worried look on his face he was trying to hide, especially when the man in charge started asking me and Barbara about how often the CI had come out to the farm and a few other weird questions.”
Jamison was the one that took things off track by muttering, “Then Bud lied about that too.”
“I don’t know what you are referring to, but I’m beginning to think that Bud lies so much he don’t know what the truth is anymore so y’all be careful in your dealings with him.” I passed off a note to Uncle Mark by saying, “There’s a note for Gramps in there. If you don’t think he is up to us asking how he is doing, then don’t bother him with it.” I handed a similar folded piece of paper to Uncle Ned and said, “That one is to Uncle Forrester. Tell him Barbara wants to know if there is anything we can do to ease his mind and stop his worrying which isn’t good for him. Now we have all the how-dee-do’s and questions out of the way, what in the blue blazes are we going to do about those pigs that are stinking up Sawyer’s land? I have a long list of chores tonight and I didn’t need another one added to it.”
Jeepcats27
Senior Member
Wow what a chapter. Cliff is holding out! What new will happen! Thanks so much for the chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I'm so excitable, I tend to get wrapped up in your stories!!!!!!!!!!!
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Big high five girl . Thank you.
. Thank you.
Chapter 120
I still don’t know whether to cry or sit down and have a female case of the hysterics. I’m sure the men expected me to do something along that order but were thankful that I didn’t. Or at least they kept their mouths shut on some of the snark they could have thrown my direction. The mess we wound up with proved to be worse than anticipated.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it plenty, especially lately. I want Sawyer home. I need him home. It’s not that I just want to be the little wifey who stays at home and doesn’t have to deal with life’s craziness. I think I’ve proven that I’m not weak and I’ve got the stomach to do what is necessary. I’m just getting tired of doing what is necessary and getting distrustful looks if not outright hostility for it without him around to see it and back me up.
Refusing to go home and get “out of the way” was the start of it but I told them, “Stop wasting everyone’s time by trying to persuade me to do something I’m just plain not going to do. It is bound to create an argument I guarantee you are not going to win.”
Cutter had been forced to call in a few more of the cousins who were out walking the fence lines and doing I don’t want to know what all … probably coon hunting because someone mentioned that the dogs had been leashed and taken back to the kennels … and it was they more than the Uncles with them that wanted to have more than their fair say.
With a bit to my tone I added, “Sawyer isn’t here. That means if you need a representative for what should and should not be taking place on this land then I’m it. Now enough. If I can’t count on you to help then just get gone and do whatever you were doing. More trouble I don’t need.”
Someone muttered, “Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?”
“I’m partial owner of this land that’s who. And if you want to hunt across this land, I suggest you remember that. Especially considering some of the stupidity I understand several of you have been exhibiting.”
Quietly Jamison said, “That was my fault.”
I snorted. “Jamison, don’t take this the wrong way, but only take responsibility for what is really your fault. I don’t appreciate what Bud has been saying and doing and I won’t ever trust him again for putting Sawyer and Huely in danger of not having a home to come back to … or possibly being part of why they’ve been taken away and forced to stay away a lot more and longer than any of you other cousins, but none of you had a gun held to your heads and you made your own choice based on his say-so rather than coming to have a conversation with those of us at the house in person. Bud already proved himself to be a donkey’s backend on more than one occasion. He just gave you all scope to follow his lead and mimic him, but he sure didn’t make you, any of you, from cousins to uncles to wives to aunts. Stop taking on more of that responsibility than you should. It gives everyone else a scapegoat so they don’t have to accept responsibility for their own choices. Now enough, Sawyer will sort all of it out when he and Huely get home.”
That caused some muttering but I was done. I turned to go down the hill to see those pigs for myself.
“Girl, what do you think you’re doing? You’re gonna fall if nothing else,” one of the uncles muttered.
“I’ll try and not be disrespectful when I remind everyone I haven’t exactly had any help for months now. I’m gonna do what is my responsibility to do, and that is see to things while Sawyer is not here and seeing if there is anything down there that will give me a clue to work with is the start of it.”
I carefully made my way down and just got angrier as I did it. They’d built the pen amongst the persimmon trees as a way to at least in part keep the pigs fed and give them shade and to hide them. I’d been counting on those trees and the fruit they’d produced. Now I was going to have less this season and less next season as well since the pigs had already girdled more than a few of them which means the trees are going to die.
I was fair boiling by the time Uncle Ned and Cutter caught up with me. “Look at this mess,” I hissed. “They’ve destroyed nearly half the entire grove. How am I going to explain this to Sawyer? We needed this food.”
Suddenly Uncle Ned and Cutter grabbed either side of me and pulled me into a stand of overgrown forsythia bushes all but dragging my heels in the process. I jerked my arm away from Cutter, but Uncle Ned had already turned loose and was pointing where two other men were coming from the opposite direction and not exactly bothering to be quiet about it.
The first one that made any sense said, “Damn Erics anyway. Messing around and getting pulled in for questioning. I knew him getting involved with that kid from the high school was trouble waiting to happen.”
“The ‘kid’ is eighteen and legal.”
“Yeah, well Erics isn’t eighteen; he’s a lot older than he looks. The kid’s mother is some PTA witch-on-wheels with friends on the town council and she doesn’t appreciate her son who is still living under her roof being kept out overnight without permission and violating curfew.”
“Erics will keep his mouth shut. He’s got practice at wiggling out of things and covering his tracks.”
The first guy snorted. “Oh you think so do you?” He made a sound that said he thought the other man was being stupid. “Got news for you, just because he and the CI … work together occasionally … doesn’t mean that Erics won’t get thrown under the bus at the CI’s orders.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. The CI has a wife.”
The man scoffed and said, “The CI has a beard.”
“Huh? I thought the CI makes everyone keep a clean-shaven face in his office.”
You could here the disbelief in the guy when he said, “Dude. Never mind. Go back to sleep, wouldn’t want to strain your brain. Help me toss this bag of feed over. The animals are losing too much weight and won’t be worth what the CI hopes to get for them.”
“Did you ever hear why we had to put ‘em out here instead of taking them to the truck depot like we have been doing?”
There was a momentary silence then the answer. “I’m thinking we might need to be covering our tracks or even getting outta Dodge.”
“I’m telling you Erics won’t talk.”
“And I’m saying he doesn’t have to give us all up to save his own bacon. You see what people look like when they come out of interrogation … assuming we see them. Usually they ship them out before anyone can figure out what has been said and about who. And I’ll tell you something else too. The CI is nervous. Did you hear what happened this morning?”
“Uh uh.”
“He was going around screaming, wanting to know why the shredder bins weren’t taken directly to the incinerator like he ordered. Then when he found out they were but the incinerators were down due to lack of fuel. Then he wanted to know why they weren’t burned in the dumpster out back instead.”
“Er … that’s against fire regulations since the sprinklers and fire hydrants don’t work.”
“Yeah. Exactly. I mean they are right up next to the freakin’ building for gawd sake and you know that is one of the Mayor’s big complaints.” There was a grunt as they hefted a large bag over the makeshift fence. “Then I heard the CI sent someone to retrieve the bags of shreds only, get this, they weren’t there, and no one knows where they’ve gone but that bunch from the State have been nosing around all over, including the incinerator.”
With more worry than he had been showing the second man asked, “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking it might be a good time to take the kids to their grandparents and then join my brother on his fishing boat. I’ve done my stint on a ship and it won’t kill me. Might even be healthier for me. My ex might even appreciate it since it will mean a steady paycheck she can make a claim on. It’ll give her reason to keep her mouth shut so long as I pay up and my parents been wanting my kids to come live with ‘em and help them out anyway. Yeah, now I’m thinking about it more serious, I’m gonna pack up as soon as we get back. Just seems the smart thing to do.”
“Want some company? Think your brother will give me a job? I ain’t got a woman and kids but I gotta eat.”
“Sure. Why not?”
About that time two more men came from that direction. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted. You think you going to skip out you better think again.” And the tone the man was using was not at all friendly.
I still don’t know whether to cry or sit down and have a female case of the hysterics. I’m sure the men expected me to do something along that order but were thankful that I didn’t. Or at least they kept their mouths shut on some of the snark they could have thrown my direction. The mess we wound up with proved to be worse than anticipated.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it plenty, especially lately. I want Sawyer home. I need him home. It’s not that I just want to be the little wifey who stays at home and doesn’t have to deal with life’s craziness. I think I’ve proven that I’m not weak and I’ve got the stomach to do what is necessary. I’m just getting tired of doing what is necessary and getting distrustful looks if not outright hostility for it without him around to see it and back me up.
Refusing to go home and get “out of the way” was the start of it but I told them, “Stop wasting everyone’s time by trying to persuade me to do something I’m just plain not going to do. It is bound to create an argument I guarantee you are not going to win.”
Cutter had been forced to call in a few more of the cousins who were out walking the fence lines and doing I don’t want to know what all … probably coon hunting because someone mentioned that the dogs had been leashed and taken back to the kennels … and it was they more than the Uncles with them that wanted to have more than their fair say.
With a bit to my tone I added, “Sawyer isn’t here. That means if you need a representative for what should and should not be taking place on this land then I’m it. Now enough. If I can’t count on you to help then just get gone and do whatever you were doing. More trouble I don’t need.”
Someone muttered, “Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?”
“I’m partial owner of this land that’s who. And if you want to hunt across this land, I suggest you remember that. Especially considering some of the stupidity I understand several of you have been exhibiting.”
Quietly Jamison said, “That was my fault.”
I snorted. “Jamison, don’t take this the wrong way, but only take responsibility for what is really your fault. I don’t appreciate what Bud has been saying and doing and I won’t ever trust him again for putting Sawyer and Huely in danger of not having a home to come back to … or possibly being part of why they’ve been taken away and forced to stay away a lot more and longer than any of you other cousins, but none of you had a gun held to your heads and you made your own choice based on his say-so rather than coming to have a conversation with those of us at the house in person. Bud already proved himself to be a donkey’s backend on more than one occasion. He just gave you all scope to follow his lead and mimic him, but he sure didn’t make you, any of you, from cousins to uncles to wives to aunts. Stop taking on more of that responsibility than you should. It gives everyone else a scapegoat so they don’t have to accept responsibility for their own choices. Now enough, Sawyer will sort all of it out when he and Huely get home.”
That caused some muttering but I was done. I turned to go down the hill to see those pigs for myself.
“Girl, what do you think you’re doing? You’re gonna fall if nothing else,” one of the uncles muttered.
“I’ll try and not be disrespectful when I remind everyone I haven’t exactly had any help for months now. I’m gonna do what is my responsibility to do, and that is see to things while Sawyer is not here and seeing if there is anything down there that will give me a clue to work with is the start of it.”
I carefully made my way down and just got angrier as I did it. They’d built the pen amongst the persimmon trees as a way to at least in part keep the pigs fed and give them shade and to hide them. I’d been counting on those trees and the fruit they’d produced. Now I was going to have less this season and less next season as well since the pigs had already girdled more than a few of them which means the trees are going to die.
I was fair boiling by the time Uncle Ned and Cutter caught up with me. “Look at this mess,” I hissed. “They’ve destroyed nearly half the entire grove. How am I going to explain this to Sawyer? We needed this food.”
Suddenly Uncle Ned and Cutter grabbed either side of me and pulled me into a stand of overgrown forsythia bushes all but dragging my heels in the process. I jerked my arm away from Cutter, but Uncle Ned had already turned loose and was pointing where two other men were coming from the opposite direction and not exactly bothering to be quiet about it.
The first one that made any sense said, “Damn Erics anyway. Messing around and getting pulled in for questioning. I knew him getting involved with that kid from the high school was trouble waiting to happen.”
“The ‘kid’ is eighteen and legal.”
“Yeah, well Erics isn’t eighteen; he’s a lot older than he looks. The kid’s mother is some PTA witch-on-wheels with friends on the town council and she doesn’t appreciate her son who is still living under her roof being kept out overnight without permission and violating curfew.”
“Erics will keep his mouth shut. He’s got practice at wiggling out of things and covering his tracks.”
The first guy snorted. “Oh you think so do you?” He made a sound that said he thought the other man was being stupid. “Got news for you, just because he and the CI … work together occasionally … doesn’t mean that Erics won’t get thrown under the bus at the CI’s orders.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. The CI has a wife.”
The man scoffed and said, “The CI has a beard.”
“Huh? I thought the CI makes everyone keep a clean-shaven face in his office.”
You could here the disbelief in the guy when he said, “Dude. Never mind. Go back to sleep, wouldn’t want to strain your brain. Help me toss this bag of feed over. The animals are losing too much weight and won’t be worth what the CI hopes to get for them.”
“Did you ever hear why we had to put ‘em out here instead of taking them to the truck depot like we have been doing?”
There was a momentary silence then the answer. “I’m thinking we might need to be covering our tracks or even getting outta Dodge.”
“I’m telling you Erics won’t talk.”
“And I’m saying he doesn’t have to give us all up to save his own bacon. You see what people look like when they come out of interrogation … assuming we see them. Usually they ship them out before anyone can figure out what has been said and about who. And I’ll tell you something else too. The CI is nervous. Did you hear what happened this morning?”
“Uh uh.”
“He was going around screaming, wanting to know why the shredder bins weren’t taken directly to the incinerator like he ordered. Then when he found out they were but the incinerators were down due to lack of fuel. Then he wanted to know why they weren’t burned in the dumpster out back instead.”
“Er … that’s against fire regulations since the sprinklers and fire hydrants don’t work.”
“Yeah. Exactly. I mean they are right up next to the freakin’ building for gawd sake and you know that is one of the Mayor’s big complaints.” There was a grunt as they hefted a large bag over the makeshift fence. “Then I heard the CI sent someone to retrieve the bags of shreds only, get this, they weren’t there, and no one knows where they’ve gone but that bunch from the State have been nosing around all over, including the incinerator.”
With more worry than he had been showing the second man asked, “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking it might be a good time to take the kids to their grandparents and then join my brother on his fishing boat. I’ve done my stint on a ship and it won’t kill me. Might even be healthier for me. My ex might even appreciate it since it will mean a steady paycheck she can make a claim on. It’ll give her reason to keep her mouth shut so long as I pay up and my parents been wanting my kids to come live with ‘em and help them out anyway. Yeah, now I’m thinking about it more serious, I’m gonna pack up as soon as we get back. Just seems the smart thing to do.”
“Want some company? Think your brother will give me a job? I ain’t got a woman and kids but I gotta eat.”
“Sure. Why not?”
About that time two more men came from that direction. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted. You think you going to skip out you better think again.” And the tone the man was using was not at all friendly.
Jeepcats27
Senior Member
Wow, the plot thickens!!! Thanks for the new chapter!!What a nice surprise!!!
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Big wow, thank you.