Chapter 31
I was thoroughly enjoying the cuddle with Lisa-Marie and thought she had fallen asleep, but then she wriggled her hips and snuggled closer. A few seconds later her eyes opened and she gazed into mine.
"So tell me everything that you did since I last saw you." She grinned and winked. "I need to catch up. I want to hear what you said to Mr. Pip-Squeak, the hospital administrator, before you left the hospital. Then I really want to know more about this partnership deal that Fran was rambling on about. Oh, and I especially want to know how Mai-Lin and Fran have been treating you and what they've done while I was away."
So I spent a while talking about the last few days. She was listening closely, only interrupting me when she wanted more details. In fact she wouldn't allow me to gloss over anything, so it took me well over an hour to go over what had happened to me. Then I went on to talk about details of what had happened on the farm, but I'd just started to mention Triple Dub and Willy's ideas when she interrupted me.
"So from what you're saying, Willy and Jean will have pretty well enough equipment to run that farm, even without our help, won't they?"
"Well, it's all old equipment, even older than ours, so it would take them longer than most farmers, but I think they could do it. That depends on them being able to fix it all though, because I don't know what shape it's in. After all, it's been stored for years. Then too, some of Willy's ideas are rather old fashioned. On top of that though, I think they might be worried about funding. I'm not sure just what's happening on that score."
"I think we should find out before much longer, don't you?"
"Oh, absolutely, but remember, I haven't actually committed us to anything yet." I smiled at her. "As far as financing their farm goes, I can't see how we can help out. After all, we need funds too and while we're not hurting, we aren't exactly well off. From what I have figured out, we have the money to last until next year at this time, IF we don't have any major problems, and that's a huge if too. Although if there was a lack of rain, a big hailstorm, or an early frost during the growing season, we could be slightly in debt by this time next year. Who knows?"
"So, don't you feel that you've been sort of stringing them along?"
"Nope, I've been listening to them, but I haven't said I was happy with the idea yet. After talking to you the other day, I didn't tell them that you left it up to me, so since you're home, I imagine that they'll be back today to see what you think. Since you and I are just starting out, I think this farm should be our first consideration anyway. I consider you to be my partner in the farm and I wasn't about to commit us to anything without you hearing their ideas. After that, I think you should ask your own questions and make your own comments."
"Thank you." She smiled, then leaned forward and kissed me quickly. "I'll be honest. I agree with you. I don't think we should jump into this too fast either. I think both of us should ask our folks what they think and maybe Fran as well."
"Fran?"
"Yes, Fran, she's one smart cookie and I think she and her sons might be better at backing them than we would be."
"You know. That's not a bad idea. I'd like to help out, but I'm a bit worried about getting overextended. That could easily happen if we become full partners in the enterprise."
"I agree. Let's tell them that, flat out, and see what they say."
"Okay, Fran and the boys should be in for lunch soon and since Triple Dub was here when you came in, he might be bringing Willy and Jean back too. Mai-Lin would know, I think. Since I need to get up anyway, lets go ask her."
"Why do you need to get up? I'm comfy here." She complained slightly.
"Plumbing problem." I grinned. "Too much coffee earlier and I don't want to make anyone change the bedding because I was too lazy to walk to the bathroom."
"Oh you!" She broke into a giggle, rolled off of the bed and got to her feet. "Do you need a hand to get up?"
"Nope. I do fine. I just take it slow and easy. Why don't you go see if Mai-Lin needs help in the kitchen? I'll join the two of you in a few minutes."
"Okay. Hey, talking about the kitchen, who ripped out the old lino and put in tiles?"
"Mom and Dad bought them, but Mai-Lin, David, and Samson installed them. Fran probably helped too. They even did the new bathroom."
"Oh, I knew about the bathroom. The guys did that the same day they put in the plumbing, then the next day they put in the toilet and other fixtures. I'll tell you right now, that bathroom on the main floor is darn handy."
"It sure has been for me. Now move, Woman! Nature is calling me, quite loudly." I grumbled as I stood slowly and carefully so as not to strain my incision.
"I see you're still being darn careful. That's good. I don't want you back in that damn hospital."
"Me either." I said, then turned and shuffled off quickly. "Sorry to run, but I gotta go."
She just giggled, then followed me out of the office, but turned and headed for the kitchen. By the time I was done in the bathroom and got out to the kitchen, Fran and the boys were in the back porch, taking off their outdoor clothes. After they'd cleaned up, and Lisa-Marie had hugged them all for all the work they'd done in the kitchen and bathroom, we all sat down at the kitchen table. That's when things got interesting.
"Triple Dub and Willy approached me about financing this morning." Fran stated bluntly, looking right at me. "Was that your suggestion?"
"No." I grinned. "But, I'll admit it was something I was going to talk to you and your boys about. From the way Triple Dub described the property, I was thinking that you might want to check out his grazing land for natural herbs. Heck, you might even be able to lease, part of it for your own use."
"Smart." David grinned and Samson nodded.
"Well, I haven't seen it, so I don't know much about it, but I thought I'd suggest it anyway. I'd like to work with them, but I just can't see how we could dig up enough funding to be able to help them out much. As it , we have a bit of a cushion, but not enough to be able to double our expenses and backing them would do that, quite easily. After all, we're running an established farm and they'd be starting literally from scratch."
"Well, actually it might be somewhat less than double." Fran said quietly. "From what Willy said, I think there's a lawsuit brewing and Fred may be losing his farm, if what Triple Dub said is right. He may be bankrupt."
"Oh shit!" I stared at her in surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Well, from what Willy said while Triple Dub was in talking to you, Fred owes several others besides Triple Dub's mom, Arietta." Samson spoke quietly. "Luckily Emily Jean, that's Jean's mom, has kept her finances completely separate from Fred's for years. Heck, he even owes Emily Jean money since she owns the half section of land that their home and farm buildings are on. Arietta is willing to pay off all of Fred's debts, even his tax bill, but only if he walks away from the farm. She said otherwise she's going to burn him badly in court."
"So no matter what Fred does, he'll lose everything?"
"That's about the size of it. The man has drunk and lazed his way into debt until he's over his head." David growled. "Sammy and I are gonna back the kids when Arietta slaps him with the lawsuit."
"And I plan to back Arietta, if she needs help." Fran smiled like a shark. "If you haven't guessed yet, all three of us have a bit of an attitude toward drunken bullies and Fred is a perfect example if there ever was one. He's a drunk, a scum-bag, a sleaze, and quite possibly, a thief."
"Come on, Mom, tell him how you really feel about the slimy SOB." David grinned and winked at me.
"That's enough out of you." Fran snapped, then she grinned for a second to show that she really wasn't angry with him. "But, I do admit Fred has pissed me off. Of course nowhere near as much as he's pissed off his wife, his daughter and his cousin. He drinks like a fish and wastes money on stupid things, but doesn't pay his debts first. When you owe money to family, while they watch you blow money on booze and toys, they have a tendency to be unforgiving."
"Yep, that would do it." I nodded.
"Well, Fred's a perfect example of that type of scum-bag. He bought a new pickup truck last year, but there was nothing wrong with the old one he had been driving. He has two or three snowmobiles and a dozen or so rifles, but he hardly uses any of the snowmobiles and never goes hunting. And that's just a few of the things he buys, and hardly uses. He's a fool though and has to own the very best that he can get. I think that's just so he can brag to his drinking buddies."
Fran was steamed and she literally ranted for half an hour or so as we sat around the lunch table. I was actually relieved when she and the boys went back outside. After lunch, Mai-Lin wanted to go to town and see her folks for a while, so Lisa-Marie and I went back to the office. As we lay on the bed for a short time I had a chance to ask her about her trip to Edmonton and why she was so upset about Andy not coming home.
"The trip was okay, but I am a bit pissed off with Andy. She screwed up."
"Oh, what did she do wrong?"
"Well, you know she's taking that EMR course and she got the information from the office at OSA?"
"Yeah, I drove her there, remember?"
"Okay, so you know she said that she only had a few sessions to go to, right?"
"Unh huh."
"Wrong, she has a couple of study sessions or courses every week for eight weeks, but in between those days she has to work with EMTs and ambulance attendants. Somehow she didn't hear about that part of the training, or else she conveniently forgot to mention it." Lisa-Marie sniffed. "She's going to be gone for eight weeks."
"Ahh, I thought the course sounded like it was extremely simple. I don't know why you're so upset though. It's only a couple of months, so she'll be back by the end of May."
"But I miss her already." Lisa-Marie snuggled tightly against me.
"Well, you'll just have to snuggle with me and get closer to Mai-Lin."
"Are you suggesting that I seduce your little China Doll?"
"Not really, but if you want someone else to snuggle, besides me, you could snuggle up to her."
"Maybe later, but right now I've got you." She mumbled as she wriggled next to me. "Darn those old witches at the hospital, I'm in the mood for sex and you're not available."
"Sorry, but it's impossible right now." I managed a sardonic chuckle. "Just talking about it makes me tighten my gut muscles, and that hurts."
"Okay, let's talk about something else then. Mai-Lin asked me about a cold frame and I suggested a hot bed instead, using some of the manure from the barn. You don't mind, do you?"
"Nope." I chuckled, for real this time.
Talking about her plans for a cold frame or hotbed lead to further talk about what we each wanted to do before spring, then to talk about our long term plans and schemes. We went out to the kitchen in the midafternoon and threw on the coffee pot, then Lisa-Marie called Fran and the boys to come in for a break. When they came in, Fran told us that she was going to go home with her boys that night since she felt that Lisa-Marie was quite capable of looking after my needs. After they were finished their coffee and had left, I found that I was feeling sleepy, so I lay down for another snooze and didn't get up until Lisa-Marie came in to get me to eat that evening. That's when I found out that Mai-Lin was spending the night with her folks as well, so Lisa-Marie and I would be alone for the evening. Willy popped in to drop off the fresh milk when he'd finished the chores, but he was only there for a minute or so and left just before we sat down to a quiet meal.
After we had eaten, then we'd each relaxed and chatted while drinking a cup of Fran's tea. Lisa-Marie washed up the dishes and the bits and pieces from the milk separator, but afterward we went back to the office and she lit a fire in the fireplace.
That night I fell asleep quickly and slept solidly all night long, perhaps because I had Lisa-Marie snuggled at my side. I even slept in the next morning. Well, I slept in compared to my normal habit, not waking until eight, but when I did awaken I really had to rush to the bathroom before I had an accident.
Once I was dressed and went out to the kitchen, I found that Lisa-Marie had breakfast cooking. Afterward we had another chat, but we didn't see anyone else until almost coffee time when Mai-Lin came in with another suitcase of clothes. As well she brought in a basket of fresh vegetables, telling us that she was going to cook us a real Chinese supper that night.
Once she'd put the vegetables in the fridge, she and Lisa-Marie went upstairs, so I went to the office and cracked my school books again. I was there until I was called for lunch. Not more than a moment or two after I got seated, Fran and her boys came in and Fran was grinning like a Cheshire cat. She'd hardly gotten seated before she began to talk.
"Well, the Fred situation came to a head yesterday afternoon." She crowed with a big grin. "Arietta, Triple Dub's mom, saw him going into the hotel bar, so she called Emily Jean and talked to her about the mortgage and about the other debts Fred has run up around town. As a result of that talk, Emily Jean is suing for divorce and has kicked him out of the house. Jean won't talk to him or let him talk to her, and, Arietta is going to sue his ass off. The lying bastard has been telling Emily Jean that he was making payments of those loans he got from Matilda, but instead he was blowing the money, probably on booze, or drugs, or something. Arietta has copies of sixteen separate letters that her mother wrote over the last four years, trying to get money out of him. When she found out about it, Emily Jean went hunting through the house and found the originals of almost all of them, stuffed in a shoe box in the bedroom closet. Not only that, but she found the deposit slips, cheques and withdrawal stubs from his bank, so she has him by the short and curlies."
"Holy shit." I stared at her. "All this happened yesterday?"
"Not just yesterday, but most of it's been in the last couple of days. All of it happened after Triple Dub went ballistic over the fact that Fred wanted you to pay him five thousand bucks for a worn out manure spreader that he didn't even own. Yesterday Arietta and her lawyer went before a magistrate, then to the bank, and she had his bank accounts frozen. He can't even write a check." She grinned like a shark.
"Of course Emily Jean was originally pissed off with him about not wanting her to go into the hospital to see Nettie after her accident. Then he made it worse because he was drunk when he went to his own mother's funeral. The final straw was yesterday morning though, when she talked to Arietta, and she found out what the hell was going on with Nettie's farm. Of course after Arietta told her about those three mortgages, the shit really hit the fan. The two of them went down to the lawyer's office and before they left, Emily Jean had filed for divorce and Arietta had registered her claim for overdue debts. The lawyer moved fast then, because he was afraid Fred would clean out his bank accounts and run off. He got hold of the magistrate, who called the bank and the sheriff's office. The county sheriff went along with Emily Jean when she went back out to the farm to get enough clothes for a few weeks. He posted all of the buildings, then put all of them, but the barn, under lock and key. He was short one lock, so Triple Dub lent him that lock he'd borrowed from you. That was slapped onto Emily Jean's house. After that the sheriff went to the bar and notified Fred that all of his assets were under seizure for nonpayment of debt. Emily Jean was along with the sheriff and told Fred she didn't want to see him until they went to court over the divorce, then she and Jean spent the night with Arietta. All of them came out with Triple Dub this morning and they're looking over the furniture in Nettie's house to see what they want to keep."
"If this has been going on for days, why didn't you tell me all about this stuff before?" I asked, in astonishment.
"Well, we knew how much like Silas you were and knew how riled up you'd be, so we thought it best not to say much, considering the condition that you're in." David grinned. "Right now the RCMP is looking for Fred, because he broke into the house last night, then took off in his pickup. That had to have happened after six last night last night when Triple Dub and Willy checked the animals, but before eight this morning when Willy and I went over there. The stupid ass trashed the kitchen and master bedroom of the house, then tried to burn the place down, but he even screwed that up. He piled paper and stuff on the floor with a can of gas beside it, then lit a candle and put it on the paper on the floor. The problem is that he'd busted the window on the door when he was forcing it open. We think a gust of wind blew the candle flame out. We went over there to check the animals this morning, so I was the one who called the cops about the house. I didn't go inside though, I called them on the CB."
Samson grinned at that, then lifted a hand and looked at me. "Oh, and Mom didn't tell you, Fred had a separate personal bank account that Emily Jean didn't know about, The banker did though, so it was frozen as well. Which means that if he tries to cash any cheques on any of his accounts, the bank can trace his whereabouts and tell the cops where to look for him. Of course since he's been warned that his assets are frozen, that will give the police another charge to lay against him."
"Another charge?"
"Well, yeah. He broke into the house when it was locked and posted by a sheriff, so that's breaking and entry. I think smashing up the kitchen and bedroom would be classed as willful damage. Then he tried to set fire to the house, so that's attempted arson. When he took the pickup, since that's an asset, driving it off the property could be classed as theft. If he tries to cash a cheque on any of his accounts, that means he's passing a bad cheque and knows it. That one I don't know the name of, but it doesn't matter, but I do know it's another illegal action and the cops can charge him for it. As far as I can see, he's digging a huge hole for himself."
"Yeah, I'd say so, but where does that leave Willy and Jean? Over and above that, what are Triple Dub and his Mom gonna do?" Lisa-Marie asked quietly. "In other words, where does that leave us in all of this shamozel?"
"Shamozel? Are you Jewish?" Fran asked quietly.
"No. Does the name Carruthers sound Jewish to you?" Lisa-Marie grinned and shook her head. "Actually, my mother had grandparents who came to Canada from Scotland and my father's great grandparents came from both England and France. I was born in Nova Scotia. No matter how you look at it, since I'm one of the third or fourth generation to be born here, I consider myself to be a Canadian through and through. But, you haven't answered my question about Triple Dub and his mom's farm?"
"Dogged and strong willed ain't she?" Samson muttered as he winked at me.
"Not quite as much as I am." I frowned, wondering if they were putting us off for a reason. "Both of us are wondering where we stand in relation to this mess."
"Actually, I'd say you two are sitting in the catbird seat." Fran said quietly. "I know Willy, Jean and even Triple Dub respect both of you for your knowledge and training, so I know they're going to want to have you involved in some way. On top of that, you have an established farm, one that they know is doing well, while they're going to have to haul a farm out of the hole that Fred dug for himself. I really wouldn't hazzard a guess as to what extent they'll want you to be involved right now though. Actually, we don't have a clue what debt that prick has forced them to assume, so that's going to be the first problem. On top of that, there's practical knowledge to consider, and while Willy and Jean are a bit short on modern farming methods, Triple Dub is quite skimpy. He knows a lot about horses, but I'll wager you know more. And as far as the three of us are concerned, we can hold our own about herbs, dogs, cats and goats, but not much else. I'm not familiar with wheat or barley and I'm lost about any other crops. For instance, all I know about alfalfa and clover is how to make tea out of the leaves."
"Why would Willy and Jean be short on modern methods of doing things? They've lived on farms all their lives, so they've had lots of experience." Lisa-Marie frowned at Fran's words.
"Hey, you've taken a small business course and Tom is finishing what would pass for a degree in agriculture." David answered instantly. "Willy and Jean are just out of high school and their parents learned to farm from their folks, so their methods are extremely old fashioned. Neither Bill nor Fred even finished grade nine and I don't think either Emily Jean or Janet finished grade twelve. You two are probably the best educated farmers around here, so you're going to have a lot of folks asking you questions, not just the three of them. You're going to have several of your neighbours trying to pick your brain about various things, especially once they all know about your education. I can't see it as a problem either. Heck, I've seen Tom astound Will and Triple Dub a dozen times in the last few days. Ask Mom about what an advantage education is for people."
"Well, why didn't you two get more then?" Fran snapped instantly.
"School was boring and I wanted to get out as soon as I could." Samson admitted sheepishly.
"The same here and now I'm too old and set in my ways to go back to school." David added.
"Bullshit!" I barked, bringing a grin to Fran's face. "There were thirty year old men taking the course I was taking and I know you aren't thirty yet."
"How do you know that?"
"Elementary, my dear Watson." I grinned at him, then emptied the last sip from my coffee cup before continuing. "You are approximately twenty-four, because you're almost four years older than Samson, who is about the same age as Mai-Lin."
"Very good." Mai-Lin clapped her hands and grinned at me. "I did not know you knew my age."
"I didn't, I deduced that too." I laughed. "You told me you were in the same grade as Samson in high school and since neither one of you lacks intelligence, I thought your ages would be close."
"Okay, you must have known my age then. I suppose Silas must have told you when I was born." Samson frowned.
"Nope, he never told me one word about you and neither did any of the neighbours who live nearby."
"So how did you know?" Fran asked quietly.
"You told me." I grinned at her.
"I did not. I never said one word about the boys ages."
"Oh, but you did. I think it was the first day I met you, when you came up here and started all of us on your fancy herbal teas."
"I did?"
"Yes, we were discussing Silas and you wandered off topic a bit."
"Oh my, you remembered that conversation?"
"Fran, never argue with him about anything you've said in the past. He's got a damn tape recorder for a brain." Lisa-Marie advised her. "You could mention something today and twenty years from now he'll repeat the conversation, pretty well word for word."
"Just the facts, Ma'am, just the facts." I grinned as I quoted from an old TV show.
Fran and Lisa-Marie just shook their heads, but nobody had a chance to say anything because just then there was a knock on the door. Willy peeked inside just after I hollered to "Come on in."
"Oh, so this is where the mechanics are hiding." He grinned. "Can we join you for a few minutes?"
"Come on in Willy. We were just having lunch, but we got to talking a bit afterward. What can we do you for?" I intentionally mangled the sentence.
"Actually, we should get back to work." Fran added instantly. "David and I have been installing mobile CB units in the tractor and your pickup, Tom. You bought a third unit though, and we aren't sure where you want it to be."
"Oh, well eventually, I'd like one in each of the vehicles on the farm. So, my thoughts are that for this spring we need a unit in the two-ton as well, but Lisa-Marie bought those three, maybe she had other ideas." I told her as Willy, Jean and Triple Dub filed inside.
"You need to use something better than what you've got if you want to put them in your cars." David frowned at me as he stood to leave. "The sunspot activity is climbing right now and that plays havoc with CB frequencies, causing skip. When it gets worse next year you'll hear folks from all over and they'll literally jam your local traffic at times."
"Oh great. So what do we do about that?"
"We're working on it." Triple Dub grinned at me as he took David's seat, after saying 'Hi' to everyone. "I think it will come and go like it did in '81. I got around it somewhat by trimming my antenna on the receiver, but that was far from perfect. The problem is all across the 27 meg band, so it affects all the CB channels too."
As Fran and her sons went out to the machine shed again, Triple Dub tried to educate Willy and me about CB frequencies and 'skip.' Meanwhile Lisa-Marie, Mai-Lin and Jean brought us coffees, then proceeded to move away and catch up with each other on what had happened in their lives. That lasted for a few moments, then Lisa-Marie came over and nuzzled my ear.
"I think you might want to ask about Fred and the farm, dear." She whispered. "If you did, Triple Dub might be steered away from radios for a while. Other wise you'll be discussing them all day and we won't learn what's going on."
I nodded to her, then broke into Triple Dub's soliloquy on the 27 meg radio band. "So basically, you're saying that the reliability of the CB units is going to drop into the toilet, but right now that's just an upcoming problem. I'll worry about that when it gets closer. For now I'm more interested in the latest news about Fred and the farm."
That opened a floodgate. Willy didn't say much, but Triple Dub and Jean took turns, filling me in on the past happenings, confirming what Fran and her boys had told us earlier.
Then Triple Dub grinned. "Mom was in the bank when it opened this morning, and while she was there, talking to the manager, a credit check came in about Fred. He paid for a motel room at a Best Western on 16th avenue in Calgary last night and he used a check to do it. The RCMP were notified, so they'll be checking that out. We figure he might be heading east on the Trans-Canada, perhaps to see young Fred."
"Jeez that was fast, in fact all this stuff is unbelievably fast." I shook my head.
"Well, Jean's mom and my Mom are furious, so they're stirring things up. Mom's taken several days off from work and Jean's mom is out at the farm right now. She's with a couple of the women who are close neighbours, trying to get into the house to clean up part of the mess. They can't do much though, because the cops are still investigating the smashed door and the attempted arson. We were there, looking after the animals and Willy overheard the cops talking about fingerprints, which means that they're taking this seriously."
"Okay, all of this is interesting, but where does this leave you guys, especially concerning the farm?"
" Granny's farm is free and clear. Well, except to clear up some minor misunderstandings with Charlie Wright about the feed and seed bill that Fred has with him. Jean's quarter section and Emily Jean's half section are farmable. For now we can't legally use Fred's equipment or farm his land, not without clearance from the magistrate and the sheriff. I don't know about young Freddie's land, but since Jean paid the taxes on her Gram's quarter section last year, the lawyer thinks that should be clear too. As for Mom's and my land, we only have part of last year's back taxes to pay and that'll be clear as well. All and all, it looks like Emily Jean, Mom, Jean, Willy and I are farmers now, neighbour." He finished with a silly grin.
"Um hmm." I nodded. "What about Mai-Lin, Lisa-Marie, Andy and I? Does this affect us in an way?"
"Well, when Mai-Lin or her folks pay Mom for the house, it's all hers. We'll even be leaving most of the furniture in it for her. As for the rest of you, with Andy away on that EMR course, there might not be much else affecting you. We're probably going to be just asking advice from you and Lisa-Marie anyway, so that simplifies things some. The Lowthers have said they're willing to help us with financing, but there are limits to that as well. What we're short of is modern farming knowledge and practise, as well as modern equipment. Since we're talking about farming as much as three sections of land, that could be a problem."
"Dad has a section of land to farm, but most of his equipment is fairly new and he's offered to help as much as he can, so that takes some load off of us." Willy spoke up then. "I know this appendix thing has screwed you up some and you won't be able to work as hard as before, but I'd like to pick your brains a lot about farming practises. Jean has some idea of what her dad did the last few years and I know a bit, but we're not certain about what to do, like what to plant or which fields the planting should be done in."
"Well the first thing to do is to lay out a map of your property, every damn acre, marking out fields and fences, just like we did for this place. Then you want to work out a grid of your fields and get the soil tested so you know what you really need for fertilizer. At the same time, you might want to talk to Charlie Wright about what seed and fertilizer Fred had already ordered from him. All of that gives us some idea of where we're starting from. After we know that, we can plan for the future." I spoke directly to Willy, then glanced at Lisa-Marie and nodded my head slightly in her direction.
"When it comes to financial considerations, you need to find out your rock bottom minimum costs and expenses. After that, you know where you're starting from. Work out the amount of every debt, the amount of interest on the accounts, all the possible problems, then plan for unaccounted extras to crop up as well. In other words, give yourself as much leeway as possible and ALWAYS triple check your work. I'll try to help as much as I can, but I do have a lot to do here. I still haven't gotten our books set up the way I want, but I'll get there, soon I hope." Lisa-Marie jumped in right away. "I'm willing to help as well."
"Mama and Papa would like to buy the house very quick, so we can move it to my new place, maybe soon." Mai-Lin spoke up as soon as Lisa-Marie had paused for a few seconds. "We would like to move the house very quick, fast, before the frosty grounds melt. Only thing is, if you give furniture, where do I put it so it is not in house mover's way if they need to work inside house? I not want to have it broken or scratched."
"You can store that furniture here if you want to do that. There's room down the basement. After all, you don't want it stored in an unheated area where it can be damaged by cold or moisture." I shrugged. "Before you move your house onto that lot though, we need to do up a lease between us. With that in hand, you can get hydro and a phone brought in under your name." I smiled at her, then turned back toward Willy, Jean and Triple Dub. "I'd like to suggest that instead of a partnership, we form a cooperative, including all of us, including not only Emily Jean and Arietta, but Bill and Janet Martin, as well as Fran, David, and Samson."
"Why would you suggest that?" Triple Dub demanded, frowning at me.
"Well, in the first place, it prevents any of us from being held responsible for either Fred senior or junior's debts. In a way it does leave Emily Jean implicated, but since she is suing Fred for divorce over the issue, that should let her off the hook to some extent."
"What about me? He's my Dad, so I must be implicated too."
"Are you eighteen?" I smiled.
"I will be in a week."
"But right now, you're under age and therefore not responsible for your father's debts or indiscretions. Since the lawsuit over debt was filed while you were still a minor, you'll more than likely be free and clear."
"Besides, most of your Dad's debts are the mortgages, which are held by Mom and me." Triple Dub smiled at her. "I'm not that vindictive. Heck, I couldn't care if we get any money out of this. Having Fred out of our hair is reason enough for me to be satisfied. On top of that, neither Mom nor I are farmers, so although I'll help you as much as I can, you and Willy are going to have to carry the ball. I'll just be an untrained labourer."
"Now my idea is just a suggestion, but you know as well as I do that Lisa-Marie and I are just starting out ourselves, so we have limited time and resources at our disposal. Advice and assistance are free, but I do feel that we need to keep our physical assets separate from yours, at least for now. That's the real reason I want to stay out of a partnership at this time." I sighed, suddenly feeling tired. "Now, I might be wrong about all of this and everything I said may be hogwash, but I'd talk to everyone involved. Then, I'd consult a lawyer before doing much more. Right now though I think I've sat here and swilled coffee for too long. My gut is starting to bother me and I want to go lie down."
"No problem, man. You've given us a whole lot to think about and a lot to do. It's time we got out of your hair and accomplished something. Mai-Lin, Jean and I are going to help Willy with the chores tonight, so there's no reason for you to come outside and get cold." Triple Dub grinned at her. "Willy tells me that it's time I learned how real bull-shit is handled."
"Jean, you will look after Little Bunter for me, please." Mai-Lin smiled. "Then I can stay here in the house and be a help to Lisa-Marie and Big Tom, without worrying about the little calf."
That worked perfectly for me, since I wanted to talk to Lisa-Marie and Mai-Lin, but I could do that in the office and lying in bed. For some reason Willy and triple Dub wanted to shake my hand and Jean insisted on a hug, Then they all hugged Lisa-Marie and Mai-Lin, but it was only minutes before I was lying in my bed with both women near me.
"You should be more careful, Big Tom. You do not heal well if you are tired so much."
"Yes, little boss." I grinned at her. "I'm really not as tired as I made out, but I'm starting to get tired. When I noticed that, I knew that if I didn't say something, the discussion would carry on until I really was tired. Instead, I now have two pretty women that I can watch as I relax and discuss other things with them."
"What do you want to talk to us about, Tom?" Lisa-Marie grinned at me, as she guided Mai-Lin over so both of them could sit on the edge of the bed.
"Well, I'm going to need some files from the file cabinet because we're going to talk about Mai-Lin's lease. I need an idea of what the land taxes are on the farm, so I'll know how much taxes we pay per acre, then I need to see the file that has Fran's lease with Uncle Silas. I think what they had might have just been a simple agreement, but that won't be enough for a legal lease for Mai-Lin. In her case it will have to be a legal document, because she'll be dealing with the hydro and phone companies and they've both got offices full of nitpickers. In fact we have to work out a lease agreement with Fran as well, even though we have a verbal agreement. Having it on paper will provide us with a bit of protection in the off chance that Fran or one of her helpers has an accident on the property."
"You don't think Fran would sue you, do you?" Lisa-Marie had moved to the file cabinet and opened it, but turned to stare at him in surprise.
"No, I don't. But hypothetically, what happens if some kid manages to sneak into the property and slashes his leg as he climbs through the wire of her fence? What if he bleeds to death from it, or even just get's an infection in the wound and needs hospital treatment?"
"Hey, the property is posted with no trespassing signs. What else do we need to do? We can't be there watching all the time, just to protect dumb fools from doing something stupid."
"No, but we can cover our butts as much as possible and that includes legal documents, especially since I insist that Fran maintains her fence as part of the agreement. That also means that whatever insurance she has on the lease on her herb farm is probably applicable to the one here, so her ass would be covered as well."
"Oh, I never thought of that."
"I will have to have insurance as well, will I not, Big Tom?"
"I'm afraid you will, but in your case it will mostly be house and public liability insurance, as well as coverage against vandalism to both your house and garden."
"I understand." Mai-Lin nodded. "I believe I must talk to Samson about a very big protective dog to have, but I will still wish to have a kitten from your mouser cat. I have become one of her friends. She even comes to greet me when I help Willy to do the chores, so I would very much like one of her small kittens when they come to be born. The big lady horse likes me too. At first I was very much afraid of her, just because she is so large, but she is nice."
"Oh, the mare, what about the gelding? Does he like you too?"
"Not so much, except when I give him food. He does like that."
I was chuckling at that when I heard Lisa-Marie break into laughter. "What's so funny?"
"I was reading Fran's lease with Uncle Silas. 'I hereby lease approximately 17 acres of useless grass, weeds and scrub brush to Fran Lowther for $1.00 per year and services rendered' and it's signed, Silas F. Williams. I was laughing about the 'services rendered' part."
I grinned and chuckled softly, then looked at Mai-Lin who was giggling and blushing bright red. Then she suddenly stopped and her eyes got huge as she lifted her eyes to stare into mine.
"It is not my business to ask, but I do wish to know. Are David and Samson, the sons of your Uncle Silas?" She whispered softly.
"No definitely not, but one time when you're alone with her, why don't you ask Fran about her and Uncle Silas?"
"Do you think she'd tell us?" Lisa-Marie asked.
"Well, in your case, she literally has, and I'm saying no more on the subject, because it's not my business."
"Okay, Mai-Lin and I will ask her sometime. Anyway, here are the completed tax forms from last year. Do you want anything else?"
"All I need are a pencil, some paper and my calculator."
So we sat there and did a calculation on how much the taxes would be on the five acres that Mai-Lin was planning to lease from us. Since there would be a liveable house on the property, and since the county charged more for tenanted acreages than for untenanted acreage, I took a guess and doubled that amount. Then I added to that by the amount we would make per acre if we farmed the land, carefully subtracting what our costs would be. Even with all that, I showed Mai-Lin that all we had to charge her was about forty dollars an acre and we'd make a profit. Her total cost for the lease would only be twenty-four-hundred dollars a year. I think that astounded her.
"I'm not sure if the tax amount is right." I sighed. "After all, that figure is one I took out of my head, but we can find that out from the county office. Besides, since you'll be acting as something of a guard for Fran's herbs and my swimming hole, Fran and I should subsidize that cost anyway."
"But my family pays much more than that on tax, just for the house we live in. The restaurant is much more tax, and both of them are so small pieces of land." Mai-Lin protested.
"Oh, but the difference is in the services provided by the government agencies." I grinned at her. "Out here there are no paved roads, no sidewalks, no sewer service, no water main and so on. We get infrequent road service and instead of pavement, we have gravel roads. We seldom see a police officer. Fire or ambulance service takes a long time, so they're almost useless to us. We're pretty well on our own in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to safety issues. That alone explains the lower taxes."
"I think I need to call Mama. May I please use your telephone?" Mai-Lin said quietly.
"Of course you can, either use the office phone here or the other phone in the kitchen." Lisa-Marie hugged her for a second as Mai-Lin rose to her feet.
"Perhaps I will use this one. Mama maybe has a question that I must need to ask you about for answers." Mai-Lin said quietly, sounding very much like she was an immigrant with a lack of understanding of English.
I looked at her as she crossed the room and sat down at my desk, then she dialled the phone and began speaking in Chinese. Swinging my feet to the floor and sitting up, I gestured at Lisa-Marie to sit beside me.
"Have you noticed that Mai-Lin uses poor grammar and gains an accent when she gets excited or is around her family?" I asked very quietly as I pulled her close to my side with one arm.
"Well, English is a second language to her." Lisa-Marie laughed. "Now, I sorta have something else that I want to mention."
"Okay, so talk."
"First, when is your next doctor's appointment?"
"Wednesday at three, why?"
"Well, I'm late, just a few days, but you know how regular my periods are and how screwed up I get before they come. I've been fine all week."
"Fran's tea, huh?"
"It might be more than that." She grinned. "We may have to plan on moving the wedding date, so we can get married a little earlier."
I stared at her in befuddlement for several seconds, wondering just what she was talking about. Then just like in the cartoons I'd watched as a kid, the light bulb went off. All I could do was stare at her in astonishment.