Acquiring Trouble (15 page)

"Miles!"

Miles turned around to see his fath
er galloping toward him, his jacket
flapping in the wind. The gray in his hair was hidden under the soot that covered them all. "
We're clear in the back. You boys need to close in. We're not too far apart now. I'm going to the lead and find Rocky to lead them out of here."

Miles nodded and knew the old bull would be eager to get the cows and their calves out of the
rectangular shaped pasture. The hard part was done, finding all the cows, now it was all about timing and leading. He went to yell a command to Bill, but Bill had heard Justin and was already
pushing the cows toward his
barks.

"
Y
eehaw
!
" Miles yelled as he used the rope to deter a cow from turning back. Through the haze he saw Pierce closing up the back of the herd and his father at the head. Rocky's big horns led the way follow
ing
his dad
toward the gate.

Pierce, Cade
,
and Miles
curved along the back of the he
rd and waited for them to fall into line as Rocky lumbered forward. Pierce looked the worse for wear of the brothers, having spent the most time closest to the fire.

"How you holding up, Pierce?" Miles shouted.

"
Fine.
That's one
helluva
fire. I saw Marshall and Annie working to coordinate the fire trucks from all the surrounding counties and to keep the gawkers at bay," Pierce yelled
,
wip
ing
some sweat from his face as the morning light brought a new perspective to the situation.

A quick whistle bl
o
w from Jake
brought
the dogs
to
their feet
. Justin led the way
,
barking to get the cows to move forward in line. His pink bow was now stained black and was close to falling out as he ran from right to left barking at the cows. Bill worked with him to keep the cows in line. As Justin ran to the right, Bill ran to the left. Miles and Cade took their positions about halfway up in line on each side of the herd.
It took another forty minutes, but finally they we
re out of the pasture and a good way down the
dirt r
oad leading to Marshall's land.

At the sound of rumbling, Miles turned to see his mom and Katelyn in the pickup truck. "Here you go," Katelyn said as she leaned out the window with a bottle of water. Marshall drank from it thirstily and then toss
ed it in the back of the truck.

"Thanks. I needed that. Maybe you should take Bill with you in the truck."

"It looks like y
ou got yourself a true farmhand,” Katelyn replied.
“
He may be old, but he's in great shape. After
the cattle
get moved, make sure you give
Bill
small amounts of water over an hour. He may be sore, but he's not doing anything that will hurt him. He's doing what comes naturally to him. It's amazing to watch hi
m
and Justin working this herd."

Miles nodded and then they were off
to give his father some water.
Once on the road and away from
the smoke, the cattle moved at
a steady pace to the far pasture. They knew the way since they were rotated between the pastures a couple times a year.
The dogs worked to push the
herd through the gate. Once the cows were in the pasture
they instinctually went forward to the pond to drink.

Miles dismounted and led Mach over to where Katelyn was filling up water buckets for the horses. Bill and Justin were laying side by side in the shade of a large maple tree and Miles
would’ve
sworn they were both smiling.

"Those two were unbelievable
. We've never moved a herd so fast before." Cade said as he took off his shirt and used it to wipe the sweat and soot from his face.

"Here you two go." Their mother handed the
m wet bandana to clean
themselves
.

"Thanks, Ma." Pierce grabbed one and sat down with his brothers. "I wonder what
happened. Trees just do
n’t go up like that. Especially
when
we've had rain recently."

"
I'm sure Marshall is already looking into it," Jake said as he took a seat next to his sons. "After this break,
let’s
ride back up and make sure we don't have any damage. Then we'll get cleaned up
.
Y
our Mother said she has a big dinner for us."

Miles looked up at t
he sky. The
early
afternoon sun was shining
and Claire was
undoubtedly
wondering where he was. He'd get home, shower, an
d get some work in before dinner
. The Likens were part of Family Farms, so he'd make sure to check on them. Hopeful
ly it was only the
front part of the
ir
orchard
and they had saved the
other three fields. It would still be a huge hit to them
,
though.

*
    
*
    
*

"But if you'd only listen to me Mr. Joh
nson. The offer is up to twenty
-three
million dollars.
You’d
still own your
farm,
you'd just
become part of the Top Producer
s family. You'd have their power and their brand behind you."

"Look little lady. I don't know
nuttin
' about Top Producers, but I've known Miles Davies since he was knee high to a cricket and I trust him with my life and my family's. I also know about you. I remember that time you and your little criminal friends went cow tipping on my property. It was only because of your fa
ther, G
od rest
h
is soul,
that
I didn't call
O
l
' Red on y
ou and have you tossed in jail." Mr. Johnson tugged up his jeans and took a step forward, pushing her out of the doorway and onto the
small wooden porch. "And if you don't ge
t off my land right now, I'll call Sheriff Davies and have you arrested for
trespassin
'."

"Mr. Johnson, I'm sorry for my
past
childish behavior. I'm not that person anymore."

"Bless your soul, I hope
not. Now, ge
t!" Mr. Johnson slammed the door and Morgan was left, for the second day in a row, with a door slammed in her face. Yesterday
evening
Mr.
Likens had done the same thing.

Morgan looked at her cell phone and saw a missed call from David Washington. It was seven in the morning and her boss was already calling to check on her. And, what did she have to report?
Nuttin
'.
Yesterday s
he'd spent
the day in southern Kentucky. She hit up farmers in Corbin, London
,
and Somerset. She'd come back to Keeneston and got rejected, rather rudely if she may say so, from Mr. Likens
and his son
.
David had called her on his way home from work and she'd delivered the bad news. Out of the eight farmers she'd visited, onl
y one had agreed to the merger and two
previous signees
had called her to tell her they had changed
their
mind
s
and decided they were sticking with Family Farms.

"Hi David, it's Morgan."

"Did you get the Johnson farm this morning?" David asked, cutting to the chase.

Morgan slumped her shoulders, "No, sir.
He’s
an old family friend of Miles and refuses to agree, no matter the price."

"I hate these small town imbeciles. So stuck into their old ways. We'll just have to do more to shake them out of it.
Time to get tough
,
Morgan.
No more asking. It's time to force their hand." David disconnected and Morgan w
as left wondering what other ways she
could try to force their hands.

"I'm too tired for this," Morgan mumbled to herself as she drove back to her hotel. She
hadn’t
slept much recently and this new "get tough" initiative called for more than she was willing to do so early in the morning.
Last night with the Likens was tiring enough and now all she wanted was to
go back
to the hotel, take a shower,
crawl into bed, order room service, and watch a movie. She'd tackle the remaining list starting tomorrow.

Miles slipped on his dress shirt and had just started to button it when he heard the doorbell ring. He jogged down the stair
s as he tossed his tie around his neck. Looking out the window he saw Mr.
Likens'
s
Dodge Ram. Miles had actually been planning on going over to see how he was doing after he finished getting dressed.

Miles dis
armed the alarm and unlocked the door, "Mr. Likens, how are you? I was just on my way to see you."

"You're a good boy. Thank you. I was actually coming to check on you
. I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday, but we were tied up all day with the police and then the insurance adjustor
. I saw you all herding the cattle
yesterday morning during the fire.
I hope none of them were injured
,
"
t
he older farmer
said
. His blue jeans were covered in mud from all the water the firemen used to put out the fire. His gray hair looked disheveled and Miles was relieved to see
his
son standing a few steps behind him. Farmin
g tended to be family business
and as Mr. Likens got older, his son had
taken a more active role.

"Hi Garra
r
d."

The younger man nodded his hello.
Garrard
was about ten years older than Miles and had been
a great neighbor so far. He,
his wife
,
and teenage daughters were regular
visitors to his parents' farms.

"The cattle are fine. We didn't have any property damage.
Come on in." Miles held the door open and waited for the
Likens
es
to come in. "
How is your
orchard
?"

"Luckily it only took out half of the front field.
Garrard
was milking the cows when he smelled the smoke.
He and the farmhands were able to get hoses on it pretty quickly to prevent it from spreading further. They were able to slow it down long enough for the Keene
ston Fire Department to arrive."

"Do they know what caused it?" Miles asked as he sat down across from the men.

"It was arson. They found an empty gas can nearby,"
Garrard
told him as he shook his head.

"Who would do such a thing?
" Miles asked more to himself than to the
Likens
es
.

"I don't know, but I do know that Morgan Hamilton was the last person we saw before the fire
,
"
Garrard
said not too convincingly. It was clear by the way he said her name that he thought she was responsible.

"And you think Morgan did this?"

"I know you went on a date with her and all, but what you don't know is that I saw her last night when she came to our farm. She started talking to
D
ad about selling and
M
om called me to come over. When I arrived, she and
D
ad were arguing. I told her under no uncertain terms that we were going to agree to a merger when it was really nothing but a fancy word for a takeover.
Dad told her we'd been friends and business partners in one way or another with your family for fifty years. We weren't going to agree period and then he slammed the door in her face."

"I'm not making any judgments, Garrard. I promise to look into everything and everyone. My top priority isn't my love life
—i
t's the farms and families of those members in Family Farms.
"

"I know it is, son. We just thought you should know all the facts. We also wanted to make sure everyone was
alright
. Tell your father and m
other we'll see them at the
wedding
if not sooner."