Chapter Fifty Eight - Slow - Fresh Oil On Road
From the very first hour, 1969 turned out to be a strange year for me, and in many ways, it was a year that was to hold many events that I would gladly have forgotten. However, 1969 was also a year of very memorable events, which made forgetting anything that happened during its passage impossible.
Everything started shortly after all the New Year's kisses, hugs and handshakes were over as people began to disappear from the living room, headed for bed, or at least somewhere to sleep. Many simply fell asleep where they happened to be, so we let them lie where they were, draping spare blankets over their slumbering forms. Inside of an hour, the only people still up and around were Lucille, Sandy and I, but all we were doing was cleaning up all the dirty dishes and salvaging what food was left out after the party. We were in the kitchen, putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher, when Matt staggered out of his bedroom, then rushed outside to be sick as he leaned over the porch railing.
"It looks like Wil's addition to the punch didn't sit well with Matt." Sandy sighed. "I wonder how many of the others are going to get sick."
"I'd better check that Matt's okay before I go to bed." Lucille sighed. "Maybe I'll stay up a while to see if anyone else gets sick as well, but right now, I'm not happy with Wil."
"Wil should be the one looking after Matt." I growled.
"Matt will be okay." Lucille sighed. "I'm the nurse here and I've had more rest that you two guys. You two look wasted, so go to bed. I'll take care of Matt and get to bed later. If I need help, I'll call you."
Since I knew that someone had to get up in the morning to do the chores, I didn't argue with her, but Sandy tried. She lost the argument though, and shortly after I got to bed, she joined me. Neither of us was feeling particularly amorous, so after a quick kiss and cuddle we both rolled over, then it wasn't long before I fell asleep.
I was feeling rather lazy and really didn't want to get out of bed the next morning, but I knew I had to get up. Someone had to get mobile to do the chores and I knew that no one else was going to be in shape to work early that morning. It was while I was in the bathroom that I realized Lucille hadn't joined us in bed. I didn't think much of it, other than that she wasn't there. I thought she'd probably decided not to disturb us, then I wondered how she'd found somewhere to sleep, since we had so many guests. Every bed, sofa and comfortable chair in the house must have been put to use after the party. Splashing cold water on my face didn't seem to make me feel any better, so I downed an aspirin to help with my minor headache, then went back to the bedroom to get dressed.
When I walked out of the bathroom, Sandy was awake and smiled weakly in my direction.
"Morning, Chris." She yawned, rolling out of bed and grabbing her bathrobe as she spoke. "Lucille must have had a rough night. I wonder how many of the boys got sick."
"I dunno, but if she doesn't kick Wil's butt, I'm gonna." I growled.
"Hmmph, the line for that job forms right behind me." Sandy growled, her pleasant mood snapping instantly. "Spiking the punch with a bunch of nondrinkers in the crowd was a damn dumb stunt, and I intend to let him know what I think about it too. I doubt if we'll be the only ones to tell him off either."
"Well, at least Tom had the presence of mind to collect all the car keys, so no one tried to drive and got into trouble that way." I sighed. "It isn't like we're anywhere that folks could get into fights with the neighbours or anything."
Sandy snorted at that, then disappeared into the bathroom, so I finished dressing and decided that I might as well face the world. I paused outside the door to the bathroom to tell Sandy I was off to grab a coffee, then do the chores, before I started down the stairs. As soon as I opened the bedroom door, I smelled the coffee and sighed in relief since I wouldn't have to wait long to jump start my morning. I had a brief thought then that, perhaps the day wasn't going to be so bad after all.
Of course, when I neared the bottom of the stairs and saw several somnolent bodies lying scattered on chairs and sofas around the room, I had second thoughts about that idea. Having had a hangover from Grampa Bender's hooch before, and knowing what my head had felt like when I awoke, I tiptoed to the kitchen. As soon as I could see the kitchen table, I realized that Lucille was sitting there, staring out the window with a coffee mug in her hands.
"Morning, Lucille. Haven't you gone to bed yet?"
"Huh, oh, are you up already? I couldn't sleep." She mumbled, as she glanced at me.
I was surprised that her face was very sober and her eyes looked bloodshot. In fact, she looked like she'd been crying.
"Is something wrong?" I asked as I turned to pour a cup of coffee for myself.
"You could say that." She snapped, then to my astonishment, she leapt to her feet and turned away.
As I stared after her, she raced away, then I could hear her run up the stairs. Hearing a moan from the living room, I knew that the noise of her footsteps had disturbed someone. Sighing, I sat down at the table to have my coffee.
"I guess I shouldn't have asked that question." I sighed quietly, wondering who had been wakened as Lucille ran upstairs.
That's when I heard a thud, and wondered what was going to go wrong next. It didn't seem to me that the first day of the year was starting out with a great morning.
"Damn, I hate morning after crap and the minor catastrophes stirred up by party pranks and misunderstandings." I muttered, just as Sandy came into the room.
"Don't worry about the thud." She chuckled. "That was just Wil, tripping over his own coat when he tried to stand up. He's okay and it looks like everyone else in the room is still dead to the world."
"Well, if Wil is up, he can help me with chores."
"I don't think he'd be much help to you this morning." She sighed. "He must have had more of Grampa Bender's fixins. He's in the can, barking at the white throne."
"You know, there are times that I think he's got an alcohol problem." I grouched as I finished my coffee in one swallow, then stood up. "I've got animals to care for though. Will you be okay? This place may be a bit of a mad house for a while."
"I'll be fine." She slipped to my side and gave me a quick hug. "Just so I know, what did you say to upset Lucille."
"All I did was ask if she had gone to bed at all last night. Oh, and then I asked if she was okay. That's when she ran off." I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't remember saying anything else."
"I'll talk to her." Sandy sighed. "Something must have happened after we went upstairs last night."
I just shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. After pulling on my coat and boots, then grabbing my hat and gloves, I went outside to find that we'd had six inches of fresh snow overnight.
"Oh great, more problems. Just what I need." I grouched, stomping off toward the barn.
Considering what had happened in the cabin that morning, looking after the stock was a breeze, but then I'd taken care to leave out extra hay and bedding for them the night before. As soon as everything was taken care of, I checked out the tractor and front end loader, planning to have breakfast, then plow the road to the top of the hill. After that was checked over, I headed back to the house, expecting to find myself in a war zone.
Instead, I found the kitchen table surrounded by a bunch of zombies. Will and Matt looked the worst for wear, but Mark, Luke and John didn't look too spry either. Even Tom and George looked tired and worn. Jess, Jean, Jasmine, Beth, and Jackie weren't looking much better than the guys. Only Carissa, Corinna and Sandy looked ready for the day. Sandy told me that Lucille was sleeping, and that everyone had been warned to let her sleep until a couple of hours before she was due to be at work.
I just grinned at the exodus from the kitchen when I mentioned breakfast. I knew that there were a few delicate stomachs that morning. For some reason several of those that looked the worst for wear that morning didn't want to watch me eat fried eggs and bacon. I winked at Sandy and her sly grin. She had to hurriedly smother a giggle, then Carissa said something about fried bread. Matt groaned as he dove for the door to the bathroom.
Surprisingly, when I finished breakfast only half an hour later, Matt was one of the first to offer to help plow the road and shovel snow to enable everyone to leave later in the day. In truth, there were enough guys there that we had the road cleared, with the cars and trucks shovelled out by noon. Our overnight guests started leaving us soon after that. Actually, Matt and his brothers had hardly finished shovelling snow before they left in their huge pickup. George, Beth and Jasmine followed them, with Will and Corinna right behind.
Jackie and Carissa planned to stay with Sandy and me for a few days, so they helped clean up any of the mess left from the party. By early afternoon, the cabin was spotless. Luckily, no more snow fell before Lucille left to go to the hospital, but since I was out doing the evening chores, I never even had a chance to talk to her. When I got back inside, Jackie and Sandy were already cooking up a storm.
The two of them went all out. Our New Years Day dinner featured baked ham, sweet potatoes, several different vegetables and a marvellous chocolate-cream pie for dessert. I was very glad that I had done the chores earlier, since I wasn't sure if I could have walked as far as the barn after that meal. I was stuffed and it wasn't long before the heavy meal had my eyelids drooping, so I excused myself and went to bed, even though it was still early in the evening.
As it turns out, it was early enough that Carissa and Jackie got their heads together with Sandy to make plans for the future. At first they were discussing the fact that Carissa and Jackie were planning to share a house with Jackie's brothers, but that soon went by the wayside. They decided that instead, they wanted a house of their own. Then Carissa got excited about the idea of having a couple of horses. That's when they came up with the idea that they should lease a few acres of land from my family for themselves. Of course the first thing Carissa did was to call her dad. She got her father's agreement to help her out with a lease, as long as she agreed to try to lease enough land so he could keep a couple of horses there as well. He even suggested that he'd help out with financing a cabin and a small barn.
That's when she decided that before she went any further, she had best ask me if I'd agree with the plan. Carissa had spent enough time with me in the past that she knew my sleep habits, among them, the fact that I sleep in the nude. I understand that she warned Sandy and Jackie of what she wanted to do, then came upstairs to talk to me.
Now you have to understand, I was sound asleep. I certainly didn't realize that Carissa was removing her clothing and slipping under the covers, but I since I was used to Sandy coming to bed at odd hours that didn't wake me. What did waken me was either her hand, gently manipulating a 'gender specific appendage,' or her voice whispering in my ear in a very sultry tone.
"Chris? Are you awake? I want to ask you a question, please."
"Umm, what's up?"
"Jackie and I were thinking that we'd like to lease a few acres from you, somewhere close to where Matt and his brothers are going to be. Do you think that might be possible?"
It was only after I'd listened to her request, and agreed that I couldn't see a problem with the idea of leasing her a few acres, that she escalated her physical attentions. Seconds later she managed to elevate my level of physical response, succeeding prior to any reaction from my conscious mind. Of course certain methods of oral stimulation tend to do that to my body, but it still takes a moment for me to awaken fully. By the time I recognised her full intentions, they'd become fact. However, I'll admit that once she had managed the initial coupling, I really didn't struggle very hard to try to prevent her very physical method of saying thank you. In fact, once her desires became clear, desire took control, then I was eagerly cooperative and physically responsive.
Of course, once she squealed loudly while her body spasmed in orgasm, I realized that she hadn't fully adapted to a lesbian lifestyle. At that point I also realized that Sandy would know exactly what had happened, just from the sound Carissa had made. Unfortunately, at that point, I had about as much chance of stopping my actions as a rabbit had of stopping a herd of stampeding buffalo. Seconds later, both of us collapsed in exhaustion.
Although that session had taken me by surprise, it was energetic enough that it tired me out. Not surprisingly, I fell asleep again. When I awoke in the morning, and saw Sandy lying beside me, I instantly felt guilty since I didn't know she'd been warned of Carissa's intentions. I slipped out of bed, heading to the bathroom to clean up, as well as drain the bilges. I expected that when she awoke we'd have a confrontation, but worried about what I could say and how I could apologise. However, when I walked back into the bedroom, she was awake and didn't let me suffer for long.
"Good Morning, Stud." She grinned. "Carissa said you agreed to lease her and Jackie a few acres of land. She also made sure that I knew she'd thanked you properly."
"Umm, yeah." I managed to mumble, wondering what was coming next.
"She even claims that your technique has improved, so she'd like to visit more often." She chuckled.
"You're not P'd off about it?" I stared at her.
"Nope, it's strange, but in a way it turns me on." Sandy mused. "I don't know about Jackie though. I couldn't tell if she was turned on or annoyed. When Carissa came back downstairs, Jackie dragged her off to bed as quickly as she could."
"Jeez, I hope it doesn't cause them problems."
"If it does, it's not your fault. If anything, I suppose it's mine for agreeing with the idea, but Carissa warned both of us what she wanted to do if you said yes, even before she came upstairs. Jackie never complained then, so if she bitched afterward, it's stupid."
"Carissa told you what she was going to do?"
"Yep, weren't you listening? That's what I just told you."
"Hearing what you said, and believing it are two different things." I sighed. "I guess I just don't understand you, or even women in general."
"Chris, you know how I was raised. You've got to realize that it's just not in my nature to complain about that sort of thing. What I have here with you is a thousand times better than what I was brought up to expect."
"I'm sorry, but I wasn't raised that way. I always expect you to be jealous."
"I know, and I try to understand, but it's hard for me to see your perspective. I wish you could see things from my viewpoint." She sighed. "Mom raised me to expect to only have sex when I was in my most fertile period of the month. Once I was pregnant, I wouldn't have sex with a man again until after I had the baby. Any other kind of sex is considered a major sin and if anyone found out, I'd be punished. You and I have sex all the time instead of only for a short time each month. Besides that, in an LDS community, I'd only see my man once in a while. Since I'm young that wouldn't be often, because I'd probably be married to an older man who would have a senior wife, or even several senior wives. Instead, I live in the same house with you and see you all the time."
"Yes, but . . . "
"No buts." She interrupted. "Heck, I even had sex with Carissa when she was your girl. If you could share her with me then, why can't I share her with you now?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to argue about it either. It just seems wrong to me in some way. This whole thing with so many women involved with me in so many ways just seems weird." I sighed.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't know why Carissa acts the way she does, either. After all, she wasn't raised as if she was going to become a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints."
"I don't either, but right now, I need a coffee, then I'd better get the chores done. On top of that, I'd better spend some time today getting clothes and stuff ready to go to Olds on Sunday. As well, sometime tomorrow, I want to go to town and visit Grampa Bender."
I grabbed my clothes and hurried downstairs, but found that Jackie was already in the kitchen and had put the coffee on.
"Hi, Chris." She smiled at me. "You slept in a bit."
"Morning, Jackie. You're up bright and early. Didn't you sleep well?"
"Oh no, once I got to sleep, I slept like a log. It just took a while getting to sleep. I had to put out the fire you started." She giggled. "By the way, can I come out and help you look after the animals? If Carissa and I are going to have an acreage, I want to have animals. So I'd better find out a little about looking after them whenever I have a chance."
"Oh, sure, but do you have the clothes to do it. The barn is a bit mucky."
"Oh, I guess I don't, but maybe I could see if I can borrow something from Sandy." She dashed off to run upstairs.
I was left shaking my head, thinking that everyone around me had gone nuts ever since Wil had spiked the punch on New Years Eve. As the day passed, things didn't improve either. All three girls spent the day teasing me in one way or another. Then when I went to bed that night, Jackie crawled into bed too, insisting that she had even more reason to thank me than Carissa did. It seemed that she felt I was more or less responsible not only for her happiness, but for her brothers' happiness as well. I was astonished to find that she was even wilder than Carissa in bed. While she wasn't as skilled, she was far more enthusiastic.
In fact, she wore me out so badly and kept me up so late that the next morning, Sandy and Carissa did the chores before I even wakened. All I had to do was plow a couple of inches of snow from the road up the hill before we all left for town.
Once we were in town, Sandy and I popped in to see Grampa Bender and talked with him for a while. I happened to mention that the McAdam boys wanted to lease ten acres of land along the municipal road and that Carissa and Jackie wanted to lease another ten acres.
"Why'd they want to lease that dried out dirt? Ain't 'nuf water there ta make a mud pie." He shook his head. "Dig down a couple o' inches 'n all yer gonna get is hardpan clay."
"Well, they want to live a ways outside of town and they want to have somewhere they can build homes. They trust us to treat them decently and they want to be quite near the ranch, but without breathing down my neck either. Matt works for me in the summer and John works for the family, so leasing that land gives those two a place to live that's close to work. The other boys will only be there in the winter, I guess, since they work for Clarence in the summer."
"How 'bout Carissa and her gal friend?"
"Well, don't tell anyone, but in that case, there's a bit of friction at home, so the girls would like to move out before a fight starts."
"I see." He reached up and scratched his nose. "Ya do realize that the half section along the road, 'n' the hunk back o' it, ain't part of the main lease, doncha?"
"It isn't?"
"That's right, it ain't. I bought that first piece o' dirt years back, off'n th' two guys who went broke tryin' ta farm it. Wal, actually, they was sick 'n' tired 'n' fed up with those two soddies they'd been livin' in 'n' how bad trthe crops was. They wanted out, but didn't have the wherewithal ta go nowhere, so I traded fer that land. I got it fer a pistol, two work horses, the harness ta go on 'em 'n' a wagon that I'd got fer trading off a buggy 'n' a Morgan mare. O' course cause they had two wives 'n' some kids thet was nigh onta starving, I threw in 'bout a week's worth o' groceries, a sack o' flour, some salt 'n' molasses, on top o' a few other things. That's how I got involved with Wil's great Gramma too, but that's another story." He cackled and slapped the bed with his hand. "Anyhow, I figure the whole place probably cost me less'n a buck an acre when I got it, but it must be worth a bit more now, just cause of the taxes I paid on it over the years."
He paused for a moment and frown, then smiled slightly as if he'd thought something over, then made a decision to fill us in some more. "Now, the thing about it is, that if them folks had done any thinkin' they'd ha knowed they had me over a barrel, cause I needed a decent trail inta my new homestead. Them two quarter-sections o' dry dirt was the only place along thet road allowance what was flat 'nuf ta cross with a wagon, 'n even then ya had t' swing around a few hills 'n coulees. Instead o' thinkin' though, them folks just wanted a way to git outta there. Now when I went to get the lease, I also got an easement acrost to the valley, but by the time I mapped it out n' showed the gov'ment fellas where I had t' go, they ended up jes leasin' me all o' the land between the two. Since then I been payin' taxes on 'bout two thousand acres that mostly grows scrub willow 'n jackrabbits, 'n not too many o' them neither. I sure ain't made no killin' by ownin' it."
Sandy and I just grinned and didn't comment, but it was only a few seconds before Grampa Bender looked at me seriously.
"Now you tell me thet after bein' there fer six months, you've found a way to make money off'n it? I figure that's perty dang clever 'n' oughta be rewarded." Then he broke into a grin. "Tell ya what, I'll sell ya that half section of desert fer twenty bucks an acre, which is 'bout what undeveloped prairie land is goin' fer right now. That way ya can lease any part of it ya want to whoever ya want an' the family don't have no say in it at all. On top of that, y'll have control over the easies' way into Mile High Ranch, 'cause thet land is the base fer the easement fer the road ya been usin' all this time."
"Well, that sounds like an awful good deal to me and I can come up with the money, but what about the family? Shouldn't they have a say in this?"
"Ain't none o' their business. I kept that chunk o' land out o' the main lease and all the sub leases an' agreements I ever had the lawyer fella write. That's cause all the place was ever good fer was a place t' run a trail ta drive across t' the valley. It's mentioned is in my will and it was willed to yu personal anyhow, cause yer livin in the valley n' ya need a road ta git in n' out o' there. O' course it would'a cost ya about as much in taxes t' inherit it, as I'm askin' fer it now, but this way, the money goes into my bank account and that'll git split up when I'm dead. So, I guess in a way, it's sorta a bit better all aroun' fer ever'body. You git control of the land now, 'stead o' later, you can he'p out yer friends 'n the family gets somethin' outta the deal too. Thet sounds dang good ta me, 'cause I won't hafta pay no more taxes on it neither." He held out his hand. "So, is it a deal?"
"You're on. I reached out to shake his hand. "Let me go get my cheque book from the truck and I'll give you the money."
"Aw ferget that fer now. Ain't no sense in gettin' yer gaunch in a twist. I'll just get the lawyer fella to write up the papers and transfer the deed. Next time yer in the bank, ya can transfer the money from yer account ta mine. No rush." Then he stared at the ceiling and smiled. "So yer gonna have neighbours, huh? Thet means yer young lady here ain't gonna feel so all alone out there, when yer outa the cabin er off the ranch. Thet usta bother Tilly a lot, so thet's a good thing too, a dang good thing. Ya done good on thet deal, boy. Ya done real good and ever'body comes out on top. I'm proud o' ya."
"Thanks, I guess."
"No guessin' about it. Dang if I'm not envious o' ya in a way. I've owned that patch of dust for sixty years and all I've ever done with it is pay taxes." He laughed. "Yu come along and insida a year, ya not only figure a way ta get yerself some friendly neighbours, but on top a that, ya can easily make enuf ta pay those dang taxes off'n what they pay ya fer a lease."
Grampa Bender was in a great mood when we left him, but by then I was deep in thought. Since I was going to be buying the land from him and then leasing out part of it, I had quite a few things that I'd need to do. Before long, I had to explain to my family that the half section along the road wasn't in the lease. Soon, I needed to transfer the money from my personal account into Grampa Bender's account and I had to talk to ask the lawyer if he could handle both sides of the sale or if I'd have to get another lawyer. As well I had to contact my friend, the surveyor. I should warn him that we'd need to have those two ten-acre parcels surveyed as soon as Matt and Carissa decided where they wanted the leases to go.
The idea that the leases could pay the taxes on the property wasn't something I'd thought about before Grampa Bender mentioned it. However, I decided that it was a reasonable method of deciding a minimum charge for the leases. After all, I didn't want to overcharge anyone, but I didn't want to lose money on the deal either. Still, it wasn't as if that half section of land was making any money before. It had just been an assured access to the ranch and gave Grampa Bender an excuse for the rest of the upland lease. That's when I realized that the taxes were certain to be higher on improved land, so when our friends started to build on the land, the taxes would go up. That meant I'd have to make a trip to the municipal office as well. I'd have to ask a tax assessor about what increases would be made to taxes on land that had been improved by building houses and making other improvements.
"You look like you're thinking deeply." Sandy commented suddenly, breaking my train of thought.
"I was, owning that property just complicated a few things a whole lot for me." I laughed. "I was trying to think of all the various people I now need to try to see today. Since I'm going to be at school in Olds on weekdays for the next few months, getting in to see some people is going to be impossible for a while."
"But, Matt and the guys won't be doing anything on the place for months either. Won't there be lots of time to get things done?"
"Not really, I have to understand costs and liabilities before I make a deal with anyone." I sighed, then explained all the things I'd thought of. "I haven't had long to think about this either, so I've probably missed a few things on my to-do list that are going to jump up and bite me in the butt over the long run."
"Well, the municipal office will be closed for lunch soon, and so will the lawyer's office, but they're both just down from the café. Why don't we go have lunch, then you can walk to both of those places, since they're close to the café. That will give you some time to think about what you need to do and I'll be there if you want to talk out your ideas."
So that's what we did. As I sat down in the café, I felt different in some way. I suppose part of that stemmed from the fact that I was going to become a land owner as an individual, not as part of my family. Suddenly I was going to own a half-section of land, all of it scrub brush and native grass, virtually a chunk of near desert land, but still, that land was going to be mine. As far as farm land went, it really wasn't worth much more than I'd be paying for it. However, I could at least defray the taxes and perhaps turn a small profit from that barren land, just by leasing part of it as hobby farms.
However, although I'd driven across that property hundreds of times, I really knew nothing about what was there or anything else about it. One of the things I was going to have to find out was who had owned it before Grampa Bender bought it, but the municipal hall would have that info. I'd just ask them for a history of the legal owners when I was in their office asking about taxes. That's when it dawned on me that I'd need a legal description of the half section for them to find any details for me. All I knew at the present time was it's position on the municipal road. Come to think of it, Cyrus Ambrose, the family lawyer would know the legal land description. I could ask him for that while I was there to discuss the purchase. I'd talk to Cyrus about the money transfer too. I hoped that if I handed him a check for the full amount, made out to Grampa Bender's account, he could handle the whole deal. That way, the title transfer would be completely legal. After a few moments of concentrated thought, I was feeling a lot better and was able to talk to Sandy without my mind wandering.
Once Sandy and I had eaten lunch, we walked down the street to the lawyers' office and talked to his secretary/receptionist. For some reason, I wasn't surprised to find that he'd been called to the hospital to see Grampa Bender just before lunch, but Sandy laughed when she heard that.
"You take after Grampa Bender and think the same way. If either of you has a job to do, you wanted to get on with it and get it done, so it's out of the way." She snorted.
"You may not realise it, but that's quite a compliment." The receptionist smiled at Sandy. "Tobias Bender is one of Mr. Ambrose's oldest clients and I've never heard him say one angry word about that man. To be compared to Mr. Bender is an outstanding honour around this office."
"Well, speaking for my family, all I can do is to say, thank you. Knowing Grampa Bender, he won't keep Cyrus long, so if you don't mind, we'll wait." I smiled as I sat down to wait.
She offered us a coffee, but we explained that we'd just eaten. Then we all got talking about the weather and local happenings, so we weren't bored as we waited. Actually, we'd only been there a short while when Cyrus returned and as soon as he saw me, he grinned.
"Well, hello, Chris. Why am I not surprised to find you here?"
"Probably because you're bright enough to be our family lawyer." I threw back at him.
"Yep, you're a chip off the old block." He laughed. "Come into my office and we'll chat."
"You don't mind if Sandy comes along, do you? I think she'll possibly end up being involved in this deal to a certain extent too, since I'm going to be away during the week until sometime in June."
"Now why in the world would I turn down having a beautiful young woman in my office?" He laughed, leading the way and holding the door for us. "I'll be with you in just one second. I need to ask Claire to get some details from the file on that property before we go too far."
Cyrus Ambrose proceeded to impress me that afternoon. Since Grampa Bender had told him why he was calling to have him come for a visit, Cyrus had already made out a bill of sale for the property. Grampa Bender had even signed it, so all he needed was my signature and a check from me in order to make it legal. Cyrus was also willing to handle the transfer of my cheque into Grampa Bender's bank account. Of course the title still needed to be registered, but the land legally became mine that day. He saved me a trip to the municipal office as well, having his secretary duplicate the tax and land registry records from the file. I was able to take the copies so I could study them at my convenience.
We talked about the leasing of the ten acre parcels after that as well. He suggested that with some input from me, he could have a form made up that would only need final details filled in about each lease. Using that information for a basis, he could draw up the legal documents I'd need. He even gave me a copy of a schedule for the probable tax increases that would be levied if various improvements were made. Within an hour, he had saved me almost four hours of running around and finding out details. Needless to say, I was impressed.
Having saved a lot of time, Sandy and I were able to shop for some groceries, as well as drop by Frank Dolens place to get gas and to talk to Matt and the boys. We even had time to visit Carissa and Jackie for a few minutes and I used the phone there to call the surveyor, but we didn't get a chance to see Lucille before we had to head home to do chores.
After doing the chores and having a light meal, I went to my office to look over the files and other information that I'd gotten from Cyrus earlier in the day. Before I started on those though, I called home and talked to Dad about the error we'd made when we'd been talking about leasing some of the land to Matt and his brothers. He broke into laughter at that, telling me that Mom had found out that the land we had talked about wasn't part of the new sublease. In fact when she'd looked at a copy the old main lease, she'd found that the whole upper area was classed as a completely separate lease, just for access to Mile High Valley. Now that I was looking after the management of Mile High Ranch, that lease was under my control. When I told him that I'd bought the half-section, he was astonished, but I think he felt I was wasting my money, since the family would have eventually inherited it anyway. I just laughed and suggested that he should ask Grampa Bender about that.
Then I changed the subject to a discussion about the fact that Matt and Sandy would be looking after the ranch until I was back from school. Of course he told me that he'd be keeping them in mind if the weather got really bad, and insisted that I let them know they should call him if they had any problems or questions. Then before he let me go, he asked if Sandy and I would be able to drop down for dinner on Saturday or lunch on Sunday. I preferred lunch on Sunday. That way Wil and I could leave for Olds after we'd eaten, so that's where we left it.
After hanging up the phone, I opened the files that I'd gotten from the lawyer's office. Not only were the files for the half section in it, but there were several that related to Mile High Ranch. It seemed that two brothers, Francois and Andre LeClerc, had each filed on a standard quarter section homestead in 1899. Grampa Bender had bought them out in 1907, the year that he'd filed for the homestead we lived on now. It was no surprise to me that 1907 was also the year that he'd negotiated the lease for the whole valley.
I chuckled at Grampa Bender's brilliance. Since that half-section of land was the only relatively flat, semi-arable land for several miles along the municipal road, he'd had the control of both access and water rights to a huge area. All the rest of the land near that portion of the municipal road was marred by steep gullies and rugged slopes. That half-section wasn't much good for farming, unless the farmer raised sheep or goats, but even then, the land was dry and the grass sparse. I think the government agents must have felt that Grampa Bender was a fool for wanting it under lease and gladly turned it over to him, at least that way they could collect taxes on it. In Grampa Bender's case, that land was his buffer against intrusion into his valley. It was worth the investment of a few dollars paid to the government as taxes on undeveloped land in order to protect his little slice of heaven from outside intrusion. I was still chuckling about the situation when Sandy wandered into the office.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
"Oh, I was just reviewing the history of the half-section of land that I bought today and mentally tying that history in with what I knew of the history of the ranch and the main lease. What Grampa Bender did was brilliant. First, he studied the access routes to the valley, then the water sources. It was only after he had control of both of those that he applied for the lease. Of course the government quickly realized that he could keep people off the land and could even refuse them water. They pretty well had to give him the lease. He even set the darn thing up so his family could gain from the deal, cutting them in on the benefits, by subleasing all the lower end of the valley to them."
"That was darn smart." She grinned. "You knew all that before though, didn't you?"
"Not really. Certainly not all of it." I sighed as the implications of the lease agreement registered. "I knew he controlled the water rights in the valley, but I never thought about access, but then neither I nor my family really thought about that. Up until now I thought Grampa Bender only had an easement across crown land to get to the ranch. We all know the truth now though. Mom just checked the fine print on the last lease that the family signed. Until today, I never even realized that the extended family only controlled the floor of the lower valley. Since I'm managing the main lease and now own that half section, I'm the one who has the right to make the final decisions concerning not only Mile High Ranch, but also all the area up on the plateau too."
"Is that so bad?" Sandy frowned. "I thought you pretty well did that already, or have I been missing something?"
"Well, I suppose I did, but somehow, now that it's become plain to me it seems to be more real to me. On top of that I control a lease that I didn't even realize existed, so I feel as if I have much more responsibility somehow. I suppose I'm just realizing that if I screw up something important, it can have extremely serious consequences, so the ramifications of that have just set in. I know I can get advice from Grampa Bender, or Dad, or Mom, or Uncle Tom, and everyone else, but the final decision is now mine. It's an awesome challenge in some ways, and right at the moment I'm feeling very young and inexperienced."
"I can understand that, but I've got faith in you. You can handle all that. Just to change the subject slightly, I was wondering how old Grampa Bender is now?"
"He's eighty-one, almost eighty-two, why? What does that have to do with how I feel?"
"Oh, I was just doing some math and working out some details to try to make you feel better, so cooperate with me for a minute, okay?"
"Alright, I guess."
"Okay, if Grampa Bender is that old, that means he was born in . . . 1888, right?"
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"Okay, so the original lease was signed in what year?"
"It was 1907, but it took effect on the first of January, 1908. Why do you ask?"
"How old was Grampa Bender, when he signed that lease?"
"Umm, let's see, he'd have been . . . nineteen when it was signed."
"Unh huh, and how old will you be this spring?"
"You know that I'll be seventeen."
"Right, so you're a couple of years younger than he was at that time. You have far more education that he had. You've got more backing than he ever had, and so much more of everything in the way of buildings, equipment and supplies. In the last six months, you've made more money on this ranch than it's ever made before. You've more than tripled the size of this house. You've brought in a telephone and electricity. You've bought horses, cattle, vehicles, and so much more." Sandy shook her head then and smiled slightly. "I was talking to your mom on Christmas Day, and she was telling me that everything is paid for, even the taxes for last year. For the first time in years, this place is solidly in the black. The only outstanding debts the whole family have are a few outstanding bills on this house and the mortgages on the farms. Even those mortgages are left over from the lean years and the payments on those are almost completely deferred by the tax savings they earn. She said it's not worth paying them off early. She took the time to explain to me that the money it would take to pay them off is the equivalent of a low interest loan, so she's used it to pay for next year's lease payment to the government."
"Well, Dad said that we did so well this year because we made a bit more money than usual on the hay crop that we sold. That wouldn't have happened if I hadn't had a lot of free help along the way."
"The only reason you had free help is because all the people have felt that they owe it to you in one way or another. You always treat people well, but more than that, you go out of your way to help others, so when people can, they return the favour."
"Well, I suppose it seems that way, but we can't count on high yields and high prices on the hay crops every year and we certainly can't count on low cost help all the time either. No two years are the same, so next year will probably be a lot different story."
"Ah, but now you've started to make improvements and build up the assets of the ranch. Every time you do that, your productivity is going to climb. Just look at your livestock for instance. You have more than twice as much stock as Grampa Bender kept. Not only that, but everything you have is better quality and your ranch improvements have made them easier to care for. I think you've done tremendously, considering that you've only been looking after things for six months."
"I think you're wearing rose tinted glasses." I snorted. "But, I suppose I'm being pessimistic and waiting for the other shoe to drop. The last few months have gone so smoothly that I keep waiting for another big problem to crop up."
"Huh, considering all the problems you've helped others with since June, I can't see that things could be much worse, and you persevered." Then she stretched and yawned. "By the way, are there any records of what all Grampa Bender started out with when he went homesteading?"
"Yeah, there is an old journal somewhere, but it's hand written and faded pretty badly. I'm not sure if it's here or not though. Why did you want it anyway?"
"Oh I was just going to compare it to what's here now." She chuckled. "I was just thinking about what you've got to start out with now and I'd like to compare it to what he had when he tackled this place."
Just then Duke started to bark, so we had to go check and see what was nipping at his tail. There was a bit of a moon, so rather than turn on the yard-light right away, I had a look around and saw a figure crossing the bridge. Since it was darn cold out, I grabbed a coat and boots, then ran out to my truck. Starting it up, I turned around and drove to meet whoever it was.
It was Lucille and she looked angry as a wet hen, but I'd hardly gotten to her before she was grabbing for the door handle.
"Hi." She barked as she jumped in the truck.
"I'm froze and feeling pissed right off." She growled before she even got seated. "I swerved to miss a damn deer that was standing right in the middle of your bloody road. I ran off into the snowbank, just at the top of the hill, so I've had to walk all the way from there. Take me home and warm me up, would ya. The rest of me feels okay, but I think my feet are frozen solid."
"If we'd known you were coming, we'd have kept an eye out for you. Is the car stuck very badly, or can it be pulled out easily?"
"It's not that bad. I just couldn't quite get enough traction under the wheels to get it moving again."
"Well, is there anything in it that you need tonight?" I asked, as I put the truck into reverse, but before I backed up to turn around.
"Yeah, there is." She sighed. "There's a surprise for you in the back seat and we'll have to get it tonight or it'll freeze. If you turn on the heater and run it on my feet, I'll be okay to go get it."
"I think it would be better if I took you to the house to warm up, then got Sandy to give me a hand to get your car."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, but my feet still feel cold, so I don't think they're too bad. If they were frozen, I wouldn't feel the cold."
"Okay. Whatever you say, but do me a favour and warm them up slowly. Chilblains are no fun."
"And just who is the nurse here, cowboy?" She grumped.
"You are, but in this case, you're also the patient." I chuckled, pulling up close to the cabin. "Want me to carry you in?"
"No!" She snapped, slamming the door as she got out.
I followed her inside, then stood waiting as Sandy got a dishpan and filled it with barely warm water. She made Lucille sit in a kitchen chair with a cup tea while she soaked her feet, then warned her not to move until we were back. Only after that was done, would Sandy come with me to go get Lucille's car.
The car was actually high-centred, but with Sandy behind the wheel of the car, the truck pulled it back onto the road easily. Then Sandy drove it down to the ranch. By the time I'd picked up the tow chain, turned around and driven home myself, she was already inside. The back seat of Lucille's car was empty when I looked in the window.
When I followed her inside, I found out that the gift was a little kitten. Lucille had decided that the house was lacking a cat. Thankfully the cat was litter-box trained, so Lucille had bought a plastic litter-box and a big bag of litter. Inside of ten minutes, I knew that cat wasn't for me or for the house. It was really for Sandy and Lucille. When they'd played with the kitten for a while, then it had eaten, they put it in a cardboard box with an old cloth and it fell asleep.
That's when Lucille heaved a heavy sigh and started to cry. In only a second, Sandy and I were on either side of her, holding her gently and wondering what was wrong. Once she'd had a short cry, she managed to tell us that she'd had a very rough day, then explained why she felt worn out.
She'd been on duty about five that morning, when the ambulance had brought Ray Smithies and Sid Parker into the emergency room. They'd both been shot in the butt and thighs by a twelve-gauge shotgun, loaded with ground rock salt. She didn't know who had done it, but the police said that a farmer on the east side of town had seen them sneaking around his barns. Since he'd been losing stock rather mysteriously for the last while, he'd shot first and asked questions afterward. What bothered Lucille was the fact that the hospital had to deal with the result.
It had taken the doctor, an intern, and two nurses almost four hours to remove all the pellets of salt they could find, then wash out each wound with saline solution. However the doctor was going to have to x-ray the pair's butts again in the morning to be sure they got all of the salt and bits of cloth that had been driven into the wounds. Since Lucille had been on duty as a trauma nurse, she'd been one of the nurses in the operating room, working with the intern and staring at Sid Parker's ugly butt for four hours.
Then, only a few minutes after they'd finished and wheeled the Smithies/Parker duo to recovery, one of the women who'd been in the maternity room had gone into labour. She had a rough delivery that took another three and a half hours, but the doctors and nurses had saved both the mother and the baby.
Lucille should have been off shift and gone by then, but just as she was taking off her scrubs, the ambulance came back with another emergency patient. They had a five-year-old girl who had been scalded badly on the lower half of her body. There was no burn ward at the local hospital, so they needed someone to ride in the ambulance as the little girl was rushed off to another hospital. Although Lucille wanted to go, she was so tired that she was afraid she'd make mistakes. Since the hospital was short staffed because of the holidays, she subbed for the nurse who did go, and had put in another six hours, doling out pills and soothing distraught patients.
Needless to say, when she finished that second shift, she'd booked out, and, at the matron's insistence, she was on a forty-eight-hour break. Then Lucille had gone home, only to find that a friend was waiting for her with a kitten that Lucille had talked about wanting to get for the cabin. She was so tired that she'd called Carissa and asked her to come over and look after it, so she'd be able to take a two hour long nap. When she woke from her nap, she had something to eat, then had driven out to deliver the cat, only to end up in the snow bank.
It was no wonder she was crying. Sandy and I decided she needed to be pampered, so Sandy ran upstairs to fill the tub and I followed, carrying Lucille. As soon as the tub was full, we eased her into a hot bubble bath. Then Sandy stayed with Lucille to keep her company, while I went back to the kitchen and made a cup of hot chocolate. Once Lucille had been bathed and had drunk the hot chocolate, I carried her to the bed, tucking her in the middle. Sandy and I slid in to cuddle her from either side and she was asleep in minutes.
Sandy and I weren't as lucky.
Just about then, the kitten awoke from its nap and decided that since no one was around, it was positive that it had been abandoned. Instantly, it began to complain about that situation. I'm not sure if there is anything in the world that sounds more pitiful, or has a more plaintive lament than an eight-week-old kitten that feels lonely. On top of that, kittens have been graced with a wail meant to carry for miles, in order to alert the kitten's mother of its plight. In this case, the kitten was trying to wake mama cat, who was probably still in town, about thirty miles away.
Either Sandy or I had to go find some way to shut down that caterwauling little monster's screams of anguish, and I drew the short straw. Okay, I'll be honest, I was dumb enough to volunteer so Sandy could be there in case Lucille needed more comfort. By now, you may have guessed that I am not really a cat person and if I'd been given a choice, I would have chosen any of several other small animals for a house pet. However, I'm a softhearted fool when it comes to the wishes of the women in my life, so I drowsily went downstairs to attempt to calm the little intruder.
Now, I've never had much to do with cats. To me, cats are beasts of prey that you allow to live in the barn in hopes that they will help control mice and other small vermin. I had no idea what would calm the kitten, but in a short while, that skinny bodied, ball of fluff taught me what it wanted. I soon discovered that it demanded complete attention and nothing but, insisting that it had to be cuddled and petted until it fell asleep. However, if I attempted to put the sleeping kitten back in its bed, in order to try to get some sleep myself, it awakened instantly. Then, as the night wore on, I discovered that the kitten hadn't been well cared for previously, so it had some more serious problems.
When Sandy and Lucille came downstairs in the morning, they found me dozing in my recliner, with that animated dust bunny lying on my lap. I awakened to hear one of them saying something like "Ohhhh, isn't that cute? Don't they look just darling like that?"
That was the wrong thing to say, since I hadn't really slept all night. Instead, I'd spent most of the night, just caring for and cleaning up after that annoying animal. The shortage of sleep hadn't left me in a good mood either. I sat up and handed the cat to Lucille with a growl.
"This beast has shit on the floor in the kitchen. It has pissed on the rug in my office. It has thrown up in my lap. It has fleas. There are worms in its stool that are so big they can damn near carry away an elephant. In other words, it needs veterinary care. Needless to say, it's not welcome in this house, or on this ranch. It wore out that welcome several hours ago.
"You'll notice that I feel strongly about this, but that's because this is a ranch. On this ranch there are thousands of dollars worth of animals that are the whole point of being here. In other words, they are what makes the money that pays the bills. Before we bring an animal here, we have it thoroughly checked by a veterinarian to be certain that it is healthy. We have enough problems with wild animals bringing in sickness. We do not need to import sick animals ourselves.
"I intend to wash and change my clothes, just in case that beast is carrying some sickness that could infect the other animals. Only after I make sure that I'm clean, will I dare to go out to the barns. Otherwise, I might inadvertently carry some illness to my costly livestock; illness that may have been brought here on that mewling sack of festering pestilence. Please dispose of that thing, somewhere off the ranch, but preferably at the veterinarians. If it was my choice, I'd have it put out of its misery and have the corpse tested for pathogens. Once that beast is gone, we can clean and disinfect the house."
Both Sandy and Lucille were staring at me as I marched upstairs to the shower, then changed clothes before going to do the morning chores. I didn't talk to them before I went out, nor did I take the time to have a coffee like I normally would have done. I didn't dare. I was still furious.
I felt I had a good reason. When I was about eight or nine years old, Dad had gone to an auction and had brought home a small female weaner pig to add to our small herd. Inside of a week, all the pigs and chickens we had on the farm were sick and we had to destroy them. Since the buildings they'd been in were old and couldn't really be disinfected, we had to destroy those too. From that time on, my family had always had newly purchased animals checked over by the veterinarian, before we brought them home.
While I was doing the chores, I made up my mind that if Lucille wouldn't take that kitten to the vet, I would, but before I got back to the house, her car was gone. She'd left, taking the kitten with her. When I walked into the kitchen, Sandy was scrubbing the floor with a pine scented cleaner and crying softly. She looked up at me, her face woebegone, then got to her feet and poured me a coffee, setting it at the kitchen table, then sitting down to face me.
"Lucille didn't know the cat should have been taken to the vet before bringing it here. I wouldn't have thought of it either though. Actually, since neither Lucille nor I had ever thought of anything like that, we thought you'd overreacted so I called your mom. She told me that when you were young, your family had lost all the pigs and chickens on the farm because of one sick animal. When Lucille heard about that, she grabbed that damn kitten and all the junk she'd bought for it, phoned the vet to see if he was going to be there for a while, then got in her car and left. All the time she was packing up, she was cursing about the woman that gave her the cat. I think someone is going to get an earful, and I won't blame Lucille one bit if she chews the woman's ear right off."
"Oh my. I guess I should have gone easier on her." I sighed.
"I wouldn't worry about that. It was a shock for both of us, but we know how you feel about your animals. So since that cat had something wrong that might have infected them, it needed to go, at least it needs a veterinarian's care. A contagious disease can spread the same way in people, so I wouldn't worry about having gotten upset about that. Lucille is a nurse and she understands contagion. If Lucille hadn't been so tired last night, I doubt if that cat would have ever shown up here, at least not in the condition it was in. Even I should have seen that it was sick and flea ridden."
"Maybe, but I should have had more patience with Lucille this morning." I sighed.
"Chris, you had just sat up all night with that animal, trying to care for it. You were probably as tired as Lucille had been the night before, so don't feel bad about being curt when you saw us. If you think you were rough, you should try talking to a doctor after he's been operating on a patient for eight hours or more. When you're tired, I don't know anyone that has much patience with stupidity." Sandy argued. "Now, talking about tired, if the chores are done, why don't I make you some breakfast, then you can go to bed for a few hours?"
I was extremely tired, so that's what I did. When I awoke several hours later, Lucille was sleeping beside me, but she awakened as I got out of bed to go to the bathroom. After I came back into the bedroom to put on my clothes, both of us tried to apologise, but in the long run it was obvious that we'd each blundered and we agreed to try to put it behind us.
Since we were both hungry, we headed downstairs to find that the house was spotless. Sandy hadn't done the cleaning all on her own though, Mom, and Beth were there too. It only took a few minutes before we were all sitting at the kitchen table though. Then while Lucille and I ate lunch, the three women who'd been up and around made sure that we were caught up on the local gossip.
The farmer who had shot Sid and Ray was one of the Hungarian immigrants who had come to Canada after the Hungarian revolution in 1956 and was a bit touchy about his property. He had used a double-barrelled twelve-gauge shotgun to do the deed, and had emptied one barrel at each of the intruders as they were trying to scale an eight-foot fence. The police estimated that he was at just the right distance to do the most damage to the two of them, but were astounded that so much salt had penetrated both their clothes and their skin. They had to charge the farmer for shooting the pair, but our lawyer, Cyrus Ambrose, had posted bail and was going to defend the guy in court. Since the dolts were on private property that had been posted with no trespassing signs, I didn't think he'd have that much work to get the old fellow off the hook.
We all felt that Sid and Ray were in a lot worse trouble than the farmer was, and if they weren't, they should be. Since their trial hadn't come to court yet over the time they'd been trapped on the top of my pig sty, I wondered if both charges might be levied at the same time. If they were, that would be a very interesting trial, and I definitely wanted to be there.
From talk about the shooting, the gossip drifted to a discussion about the little girl who had been scalded. It seemed that her mother had been cooking and the little girl had tried to help, but had pulled the pot over, accidentally spilling the boiling water on herself. Luckily it had only splashed on her legs. Then her mother had done the right thing by scooping up the girl, stripping off her clothes and running outside to dunk her in a snow bank. Not only was the little girl going to survive, but she probably would have a minimum of scarring on her legs.
I was having a second cup of coffee and probably looking bored by then. I really wasn't into sticking my nose in other peoples business. Mom saw the look on my face and obviously recognised it for what it was. She suggested that she and I should go over the ranch's books, since we both had some time on our hands. I think I surprised her when I jumped on the idea. Although I liked going over the books almost as little as I liked going to the dentist, even that was a good excuse to get away from a gossip session.
Besides, I thought I'd been doing a fair job of keeping the books and records for the ranch, but Mom soon disabused that notion. In the next couple of hours, she pointed out many small problems and discrepancies that a tax audit would find. Needless to say, she decided that I needed a few lessons in accounting and bookkeeping. She said she had better records of what I'd done than I did, and she called herself the second line of defence for the tax man. Her main argument was the cardboard box of bills that I called miscellaneous expenses. She came close to screaming when she saw that pile.
I was actually relieved when Mom had to go home to make supper for Dad and Wil, but then, I had to go do chores as well. However, I spent the whole evening going through the ranch's small miscellaneous bills for the last six months. At least Sandy, Lucille and I were on good terms that night at bedtime.
After chores the next morning, I packed up the clothes and personal gear I'd need for the next few weeks, then hit the ranch's books again until lunch. Just a short time later, Matt arrived with his brothers and I walked around the place, showing him the things that had changed and what he'd have to do to care for the place.
As we were walking back toward the house, I realized that all in all, it had been a strenuous week, and I felt I needed a break. I hoped that going to Olds to study would be a relief from the pressure I'd been under.