Memories on the Ozarks (Close)

[TabascoKV]

Her eyes narrowed and she cast him a glare, anger and irritation already plaguing her. When she closed the truck door, she slammed it a little harder than she had intended.

“I have every intention of pulling my weight around here and relearning this farm inside out, Mr. Collins.” Beth could not recall ever speaking with somebody who brought out such a natural affection for tightlipped conversation from her. “Don’t even begin to treat me like I’m ignorant about how much work it takes to make this place run.”

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she thought about his question.

“Are there any current projects right now?”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

The smile he held within escaped his lips, but he hid it with a quick turn and a sip of his coffee. He nearly scalded his mouth; he drank so it so quickly. He had composed himself fast enough to where he could start listing the projects they were presently working on.

"Well, I was diggin' a new fence when you arrived yesterday, Miss Rebecca. That will span another fifteen acres about five miles back." He paused a moment. "Maybe it'd be better if we rode out. That way I can show you whats goin on instead of just tellin' you 'bout it. What do you say? Want to saddle up?"

Dan watched eagerly until she nodded. "Good. Let's header"

They rode on out to the stables and saddled up their horses. Dan gave Ares a good pat and a cube of sugar before climbing up. He waited for Beth and then they rode out. Dan thought he'd take them out in a large circle.

They headed west to avoid riding into the morning sun. Dan pointed out the pens of animals kept there and the small garden that spanned only twenty acres. There were laborers working the fields and tending the pens. "The chicken coups were in need of repair, and the pens housing the goats and pigs needed to be rebuilt completely. The cows down yonder needed their barn repaired as well as their pond retrenched. We should be done with all this within the next month." He led her down to the garden to show her the various vegetables growing and listed down the seasons for each. "We are largely self-sufficient here, Miss Rebecca."

 

[TabascoKV]

Beth wasn’t afraid of hard work, and in fact, she craved it. So much had weighed down upon her heart and mind in the past few years that any distraction was welcome. Before she saddled Samson up, she ran out to the truck and grabbed her sunglasses, knowing she’d need them by the end of the day. There was a slight chill in the air from the rain, she habitually fidgeted with the bottom of her sleeve with her fingers as she returned to the stables. Samson was eager to ride, and when she mounted him, she had to make a conscious effort to keep him from taking off at a run.
“Please don’t call me Rebecca.” She tried to make her request sound as politely as possible. She had tried so hard to disassociate herself with that name, but that was hard to do around the older population around here. They had known her since she was a child, and she wouldn’t bother correcting them.

As they rode, she listened to the updates on the farm, a surge of excitement coursing through her as she observed how much the farm really had grown over the years. She was proud of her uncle. Her moment of positive emotions was brought back around to negativity when Daniel called her Rebecca. Again.

“Stop calling me that.” Her voice was a little less polite, and impatient when she spoke. Samson picked up on her agitation and decided he was going to pick up his pace. She immediately responded by pulling on his reign, bring him back down to a walk.

“No, sir. We don’t walk on your pace.” Reaching down, she patted him on the neck.

“Do y’all still participate in horse shows?” Her uncle had started entering her into horse shows as soon as she was old enough to participate. Her last three years she had taken away first place in the barrel racing.

 

[pa1ndru1d]

Dan and the ol' man had worked hard on expanding the farm over the past few years; since Joe had slowed down so much on what he had been able to do, he had relied heavily on Dan to do most of the legwork. Most of the improvements had begun based on Dan's suggestion, with Joe pushing and prodding him always forward to form (and reach) their dreams for the ranch.

For the past six months or so, Dan had even begun to stretch his horizons some. Joe was in full agreement. The ranch was making money, a good deal of money. Expansion was the key and the only way to ensure its survival in the future with the failing economy. Land prices were down and surrounding farms weren't doing near as well as the Little BetheL.

With Dan acting as the BetheL spokesman, Joe and Dan had been brokering deals with two other land owners in the area. The Baldwins held fifty acres to the north of decent farm land. They grew corn and soybeans and had made a decent living until poor spending led them down a sad road. Off to the east was the area that Dan had brought to Joe, this was (hopefully) to be the big payoff. The Pearson spread was a solid hundred and twenty acres of cattle country, over a hundred head; mostly bred for beef, but some for dairy as well.

While the Baldwins were aching to sell; the Pearsons were still hemming and hawing. Joe wasn't sure they'd sell, but he still pushed Dan to work on them.

Dan waited a moment before he moved on, to see if she wanted to dismount. He had thought that she might actually do some work, but he really didn't think she would. "At any time you wanna hop on down there and pick up a hammer or somethin', you just let me know." With that, he turned Ares to the north and they rode up for a bit toward the fenceline.

"Yup, we sure do. In fact, Bella's foal, Killisti is a contender this year. Hey, did you know... for the past, oh hell... I guess it'd be goin' on six years now, the ol'.. your uncle started opening up the farm to kids? He started with a small children's shelter, they called him up one summer after seeing Bella in one of the shows. He said 'Why suuure, bring 'em down!' We made it a yearly thing after that." Dan took a sip of coffee from the thermos he brought along. "Two years later, I started calling around to other homes, orphanages, church groups. Now, we have 'bout three weeks in early June, and then again at the end of August when we have groups of kids come out for anywhere from three or four days to a week at a time. Don't cost 'em nothin', we love to have them here. They earn their keep and learn something about responsibility. Hell, last year I hired on one of the boys we had here that first summer. He just turned eighteen." Dan realized he was rambling on, it was so easy for him to do when he began talking about this farm he loved.

 

[TabascoKV]

"Who rides?" Her interest was peeked as he talked about the horse competition. Granted most of the women who competed in them had been doing so since they were children, but she had always been a natural when it came to horses. She may have failed at so many other areas in her life, even as a child, but she could remember the first time she ever brought a horse up to a full gallop. It had about given her uncle a heart attack, but once she had a taste for it, she wanted nothing but.

"I'll wait until we get to the fence you said you'd just started." Sliding her sunglasses down to drown out the growing glare, she tried not to cast him a dirty look. She would almost swear that he was goading her. The day was beginning to grow warmer, and a small sheen of sweat appeared glazed her body, but she kept her long sleeved shirt on. She made a mental note to make sure she wore a hat. Then again, she had planned on taking Dan to his truck and stopping back by the house before she'd gone off.

A genuine smile crossed her face as Daniel told her about the children that came. Her uncle had told her about it several times when she'd talked to him, and she was glad that Dan shared Joe's enthusiasm for it. She had no intention of changing that. She allowed silence to fill in after he finished speaking, but it was quickly interupted by her cell phone.

"Hello?" Looking puzzled at the unexpected phone call, Beth's left eyebrow quirked up quizzically. A look of recognition crossed her face as she spoke, nodding slightly. Once she hung up, she reattached the phone to the clip on her jeans. Swallowing a growing lump, she looked back over to Daniel.

"The viewing is tonight at six. Funeral's tomorrow at ten in the morning." Her voice had lost some of its edge, and she moved her gaze to look straight ahead.

"Where's that fence of yours?" She needed a distraction.

 

[pa1ndru1d]

"Sometimes we find hopefuls within the handfuls of children that come down," Dan said as he scratched his head, "and we give them special training, if they are allowed. We got one kid that has been workin' at it for the past couple years, Jonathon; he'll be down in a few weeks. There is one local girl, Kaelyn, she's about sixteen I think. She been ridin' for a few years now, comes in most days after school and on weekends."

Dan excused himself for a moment as a quick chirp came across his phone. He answered and spoke briefly, nodding and thanking the rough voice on the other end of the line before slipping the phone back into its holster on his hip. At her quizzical look, "That was Dave, we'll meet him shortly. Hell you might even remember him. He worked here off and on throughout the years. If it wasn't for a few family prollems, he might even have my job right now." Truth was, Dave had a heavy drink problem. Joe had been working with him on it and Dave was on his last chance at the BetheL. Dan sighed as he realized that that particular job had just fell solely on his shoulders as well.

They made good time and soon crossed the creek that cut through this part of the ranch. Dan pointed off to the east, following the creek, "Leads down to our ponds, the kids love to fish and swim down there. Covers a few acres." Off to the west, the creek flowed from one of Dan's favorite thinking spots, the small series of waterfalls, but he neglected to mention that, preferring to keep it to himself.

Dan fell his spirits drop a bit at the mention of the viewing and funeral. He decided not to allow it. They arrived at the fence line to see an older man, grizzled and unshaven, unhooking a trailer from the quad it was attached to. Because Dan could never be sure where Dave's mind was at, or what memories he retained, he stepped right up with introductions. "Dave, this here is Miss Rebecc.. ermn... Landers. She's our new boss. Miss Landers, this is Dave. He's a good man." Dan hoped, not that Dan didn't trust his character, but Dave had done things in the past that had never quite injured anyone on the ranch - but could have. "I asked Dave to bring up this stuff for us when you expressed an interest in workin' the fence line with me this mornin."

Dave nodded to Beth with a "Mornin' ma'am." A faint recollection in his tired eyes, "I think I remember you, back when you was, oh, about yay high." His hand came out just over his slightly pudged belly. Dave mentioned something about having things to do over at the stables and puttered off on the quad.

Dan went right over and took a look at the work he had started the yesterday and immediately felt like he had wasted the entire day. Only two new holes dug, about a hundred left to go. He rolled the sleeves of his button down shirt and pulled on his gloves. "There's a spare pair of gloves in the trailer if you have none." Dan pointed to the flag markers, "That's where the new holes are to be dug, holes gotta be a couple feet deep. After that, we set the post, fill the hole, tamp it down, and string the wire. That's barbed so don't cut yerself. You up to date on your tetanus shots?" The question was added on as if he didn't really think about it when he said it. Dan had been working with new people on the ranch for so long, most of it had become second nature.

"You want to dig or plant?" Both jobs were equally difficult as far as actual work went, but the digging required less thought for someone that had never run a fence line.

 

[TabascoKV]

Beth listened to him talk, her posture relaxed and natural atop Samson. The sun continued to warm her skin as her eyes took in all the acreage. It still amazed her that all of this now belonged to her. When they met with Dave, she tried to think back. She vaguely remembered him. He always seemed to be in and out, from what came to her mind.

“It was nice seeing you again.” Waving as he left, Beth hopped down from Samson. The muscles in her thighs were beginning to ache lightly. It had been so long since she’d ridden, her body would have to readjust to it.

Grabbing the extra set of gloves, she fought the urge to glare at him. His condescending attitude towards her was beginning to wear down her patience, but she bit her tongue. She stared at him for a long minute, surveying him.

“I can dig for awhile and then we can switch it up.”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

Dan handed over the post-hole digger and paused only briefly, watching her as she began to shove the blades deep into the earth, before he started hauling the new posts out and stringing the wire. Normally, Dan preferred to be out here alone. He would use this time to reflect on his day and plan the schedules of the workers ahead of him.

“Uhhh. I was serious about the tetanus. Nasty thing that. Causes lockjaw, later on, muscles in the rest of the body catch on the same way. If you ain’t had yer shots, I’ll stick to stringin’ the wire.”

 

[TabascoKV]

Rolling her eyes, Beth stepped onto the hole digger and used her weight to drive the shovel into the ground. It cut easily through the mud, which she’d had to balance herself the first time to keep from falling quickly. She looked at him, feeling slightly exasperated.

“My shots are current, I assure you.” She went back to work, the heat almost too much in her long sleeve shirt. Finally, she conceded and pulled it off, opting to work in her tank top. She usually chose to wear long sleeves because she hated the long scar on her arm. It had grown tiring when she continuously caught peope staring at it.

After she had dug a few holes, she laid the shovel on the ground and walked over to him. She was wishing she would have brought water with her. She reminded herself that she hadn’t planned on coming out when she did.

“Want some help?” Reaching up, she wiped her forehead with her arm, ignoring the burning in her eye from a bead of sweat.

 

[pa1ndru1d]

“Hey, don’t take it personal. That’s one of the first things I gotta ask when someone starts workin’ the farm.” When she stripped her shirt off, Dan stopped and went to the back of the trailer. He pulled the little chest from the back and set it down next to the stack of posts he was working from.

Dan had been placing posts into the holes, refilling the dirt, and then tamping the mounds down as she went. He figured that when she got tired of making holes; the extra hand would come in handy when it came to stringing wire. He opened the chest and tossed her a bottle of water. “Mebbe we should take a breather for a bit. We got a lot done, Miss Rebec… Beth.” Dan was trying to make an effort to stop calling her by her name.

As he took a swig of chilled water, he nodded to the scar on her arm. “Nice. How’d that happen?”

 

[TabascoKV]

She took the water gratefully, quickly downing half the bottle in one gulp. When she finished, her chest was heaving after having held it so long. Her muscles were beginning to burn from the exertion. It had been too long since she’d done anything that required a serious amount of physical work.

“Beer bottle. And no, it wasn’t so nice.” Case and point as to why she usually stayed covered up. The scar was a daily reminder of the part of her life she was trying so desperately to forget.

 

[pa1ndru1d]

“Hmmmm…” Dan began, “Most beer bottles I’ve seen don’t quite do that bit of work unless someone with a nasty disposition is holding on to the other end.” He took another swig of his water. “’Course if you don’t wanna talk about it, just say so.”

Dan shrugged and finished his bottle of water as he watched her chest heave from the corner of his eye.

“We still got us a lot of land to cover before we can call it a day.”

 

[TabascoKV]

She cast him a dangerous look when he continued to discuss it, going further into the conversation she wished to avoid. Of course, her eyes were hidden beneath her sunglasses, shielding him from her narrowed stare.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her tone came out much sharper than she had anticipated before she took another drink water. Finishing up, she tossed the bottle next to the cooler.

“Then let’s get busy.”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

Dan grinned a bit, he could tell it was a touchy subject for her, but he really couldn’t help himself. “No prollem, darlin’, you don’t wanna tell me what happened, you ain’t gotta. ‘Tain’t no prollem to me, either way.”

He scooped up her garbage and placed it in the back of the trailer with his own, as well as the cooler. The tools were put up and he hopped up onto Ares. He glanced up to the sun and noticed it was getting to be lunchtime. Not a problem. He thought as they headed out.

“My place is just over the next ridge northeast of here. We can break there for lunch if you like.” The path led them through fields of green alfalfa and golden hay. Thrashers were running down in the valley. “This is still BetheL land, but those thrashers aren’t ours. We allow farmers to come and take care of the crop, so long as we get our cut. It’s an easy solution, and we don’t have the machinery to upkeep.”

Dan kept them going north to the fencerow, where he paused. “This is our… your… property line. On the other side is the Baldwin land.” He went on to cover the deal that he and Joe had been brokering, touching base lightly with the Pearson property as well.

His stomach began to grumble as his cottage came in to view. He stopped outside to light a small fire pit he had set up off his back porch. He tossed a grill over the fire and went inside while the coals grew hot.

 

[TabascoKV]

“Drop it.” Her voice was low when she spoke, and Beth silently coached herself to calm down. Daniel had such a natural ability to cause her blood pressure to rise. She had known him for twenty four hours and he was already driving her to an early grave. Grabbing her discarded shirt, she mounted Samson. Followin Daniel, her eyes were narrowed beneath her sunglasses as they rode. She didn’t like the constant state of hostility she seemed to live in around this man.

“I don’t know. Am I going to run into anymore of your girlfriends?” Lifting her eyebrow,she dismounted from Samson. Walking inside,she used his restroom and washed her hands. Her body was beginning to grow exhausted from the lack of sleep and the hard work. Her sunglasses were pushed up on top of her head, pulling her hair back from her face. Beth’s exposed skin was beginning to turn pink from the sun. Stepping out into the kitche, she leaned against the counter.

“Anything I can do?”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

Daniel allowed his jaw to drop in mock surprise. “My God.” He held his hat in his hand and shook his head, his hair flailing a bit. “I sincerely hope not. And, for the record, Jasmine is hardly a girlfriend.” A laugh escaped him as they went inside.

He had noticed the pink on her shoulders and left some sunscreen on the table for her if she wanted it. He had pulled some trout filets from the fridge, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and a small pinch of saffron. “There’s some lettuce in the fridge if you wanna do us up a salad. These’ll be ready in just a couple minutes.”

Dan kicked open the screen door and slapped the trout on the grill. He stood watch over the flame until they were ready then flipped them and brought them in. Sheer perfection. He thought; he only hoped they tasted as good as they smelled.

 

[TabascoKV]

“Girlfriend…friend with benefits. What have you. I really don’t want details on your sex life.” Waving off the conversation, Beth was appreciative of the air conditioning. His cottage was quaint and homey, and almost seemed wasted on cheap tramps.

“No problem.” Opening the fridge, she pulled out the lettuce and washed it off. After some diligent searching, she located a cutting board and a large butcher knife. One thing Beth had learned to do in her adult life was cook, and cook well. Not that she considered salad cooking. By the time he brought the fish inside, she’d chopped the lettuce and had located a tomato and cucumber and added them to.

“I don’t remember the last time I had fresh fish.”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

Dan had the fish laid out on an apple wood plank when he brought them back in. An old trick Joe had taught him… What didn’t that man teach me? He had a smile as he came in the door. The wood had been soaking in water prior to the grilling, so it hadn’t completely caught fire. Still, Dan placed the wood between Beth and himself on a pot holder so the wood wouldn’t stain the table.

Dan was proud of his table, in fact, he was proud of most of the things he owned. He and Joe had crafted most of them by hand. As Dan would come by and tell Joe that he needed to buy something, Joe would say “C’mon boy, lets see what we can find.” Then they’d go ‘shopping’. Of course, that was just to find what it was Dan was looking for, then they’d come home and fashion something similar from wood cut from the farm.

He found he was famished. Dan hadn’t thought he had worked up that much of an appetite; in fact, he hadn’t been very hungry at all since Joe’s passing. There was something about Beth that drove him… Hell, she kinda drives me nuts.

“So,” he said, between alternating mouthfuls of salad and fish, “You didn’t say anything about the land deals your uncle and I were working on. What do you think about expanding the ranch?”

 

[TabascoKV]

“Thank you for cooking.” Using her fork, she gently pried apart the fish. Her stomach grumbled so loudly her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She ate a little faster than she normally would have.

“I think expanding is great. I’m surprised the Pearsons are willing to talk about selling. Their family has been on that land for over a hundred years.” Taking a drink of tea, she sat back in her chair, pulling one of her legs up underneath her. “The Baldwins, from my understanding, haven’t been around for very long.”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

He nodded to her thanks and thanked her in return for her salad creation. He didn’t recognize the dressing as one of his stock, “What did you use for dressing?” He asked, genuinely curious.

Dan was thrilled that she wanted to expand the farm as well. “The Baldwins are relatively new. They tried to start up at the wrong time, simple as that; moved in about five years back but the economy was already headin’ south at that time. The Pearsons, well the fact that they have been there for generations is both a drawback and a leap forward for us. There’s three kids that now hold claim to the farm, only one of them is living on and working the land. The other two see dollar signs.” Dan finished his fish and actually licked his fingers. “I feel for Matt, he’s the one trying to do it on his own, but without the consent of the other two, he can’t get financial help. What I was thinking was something along the lines of buying the farm out, letting him keep his house and allow him to manage the operation.”

"You ready to finish the run of the land?" He asked and made his way back out to Ares. They headed due east for a bit then back to the north. Soon, they approached a small group of trailers set up not too close to each other.

 

[TabascoKV]

Smiling coyly, she shrugged almost playfully as she took a bite of the fish.
“It’s an old family recipe. I’ll never spill.” Offering him a small wink, Beth almost felt like her old self. Almost. She couldn’t remember the last time she had truly felt like herself. At this juncture in her life, Beth wasn’t even sure if she knew who she was. She had lost herself years ago when her father had driven her down the dirt driveway that last time.

She inadvertently felt her face burn red at the mention of Matt. He was three years older than she was, and she had the biggest crush on him when she was young. He and his brother and sister used to go trail riding with her. It made her sad to know that the other two had run as far from the farm as they possibly could.

“I don’t want Matt to lose his family’s farm. I would rather find a way to help him than buy him out.” Even though to the naked eye it would not appear so, Beth had a strong sense of family loyalty. That included the land that his family had poured their blood and tears into.

“Let’s do it. But if I don’t allow Samson to let loose soon, he’s going to go crazy.” Hopping up on the old stallion, she rode beside him as they covered the land. “Is this were some of the other farm hands live?”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

Dan thought for a moment, “Because of the way the will was when the family passed on, there isn’t anything any one of them can do. They have to be in agreement. Now, if you want… we could buy them out and then allow him to make payments back on it, that way everyone is happy. The problem would be finding a price that would make the other two happy. Fortunately, the economy is in our favor on this one too. Their farm hasn’t turned a profit since their old man died ten years back.”

He didn’t lead them down into the trailer housing community. Instead he turned them east again, spurring Ares into a gallop. The wind rushed past him and nearly blew his hat off his head. They rode for about an hour through some gorgeous forested land and Dan explained the select cut process they used with a local lumber company. It was designed so the forest remained beautiful and full, but anything older than a few years was taken down, as well as anything that hit the forest floor due to storms. Select cutting brought in about a hundred grand a year. “Joe called it God’s charity program, because it paid for almost everything the BetheL did for the kids around Missouri and the Ozarks.”

The emerged from one section of the forested sections. “Speaking of them kids…” Dan pointed into a valley at some low rectangular buildings. “We call them the bunkhouses. There’s a matching set a few miles south on the other side of the lake.”

 

[TabascoKV]

“I’ll go over sometime and talk to Matt. See if I can’t get up with Sarah and John. We’ll work something out.” Shrugging, she wasn’t sure how she felt about Matt having to buy back his Daddy’s land. It wouldn’t be paid off in any of their lifetimes.

When Dan took off, she immediately picked up speed. Samson tossed his gratefully once before he bent his head low. It didn’t take long for the two of them to catch up to Dan and Are, and then to pass them. Samson may have had some years on Ares, but he could still move. And Rebecca Elizabeth Landers could still ride.

When they finally slowed down, Beth felt…alive. Her chest was pounding with excitement, and every nerve in her body was tingling. She smiled as they looked down at the camp her uncle had set up.

“It’s wonderful. I am so proud of him.”

 

[pa1ndru1d]

“Me too.” He said thoughtfully. “Can’t wait til you can see it when its full to the gills with chitlins runnin around.”

They rode off to the east for a bit longer, another few hours and they hit the eastern border. From there it was a meandering three hour ride back to the main house over some hills and rocky terrain. Dan glanced at his phone to check the time. “Shit. Ermn. Sorry. Uhh.. We ain’t got too much time. It’s almost 2:30 now. You can make it to the main house in time to get cleaned up if you head do west from here. I won’t have time to run you back and make it to my cabin to be ready to make viewing on time, so we gotta split here. You can find your way back?”

 

[TabascoKV]

“Crap.” Checking her own watch, she exhaled. She wasn’t ready to face tonight, but not wanting it wouldn’t change the fact that it was soon upon her. “Yeah, I’ll find it.” It may have been a long time since she’d been here, but she still knew her way around.

“I guess I’ll see you at the funeral home.” With a nod, she took off with Samson, riding hard for about half an hour before she forced him to slow down. He wasn’t as young as he liked to think he was. Finally she reached the stables, and luckily, there was a stable hand ready to take care of Samson. After thanking him, she hopped in her truck and drove up to the house.

She showered quickly and dried her hair. Digging through her suitcase she pulled out a black, pinstriped pencil skirt and a long sleeved white button up shirt. Getting dressed, she threw on a little bit of make-up before grabbing her purse and keys. The drive to the funeral home seemed to take forever, but she finally arrived. It took a few deep breaths before she could gain the courage to get out and walk inside.

Rupert met her at the door step and hugged her.

“I know this won’t be easy for you.’”

The understatement of a century.