Danny Ray (Ray Trilogy) (5 page)

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. You must be the young man who bought the farm up the road,” she said.

Danny opened his mouth to say hello but before he could form any words she continued, “You look just like Angela said. My! It’s nice to meet a fellow that Angela has to look up to. Danny Ray’s the name, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Danny got it out this time. He wanted to say I just bought twenty calves but thought it might sound silly so he just smiled and waited.

“Here I am talking when I need to mind my manners. Would you like a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea?” she asked.

“No. Thank you, Ma’am, anyway,” Danny crossed his legs wondering what he should do next while she stood looking down at him.

“Oh, I forgot.” She said, “My name’s Aimee Dodd. I named every one of my girls with a name that starts with an A. I wanted them to know they were always first in line. That’s what a girl should think of herself. She’s first and special,” she continued nodding her head in agreement.

“That’s a good idea. I think you’re right,” Danny agreed, too.

“Greg, what do you think about taking Danny, here to the barn? I expect that’s where Angela is,” Aimee Dodd turned expectantly toward her husband who had quietly stood by while she talked.

He dipped his head and motioned for Danny to follow him as he turned to go out the kitchen door in the back of the house. As they walked through the kitchen Danny noticed that the place looked worn but it was spotlessly clean.

Greg smiled at Danny as they walked down a worn path from the kitchen door toward the gate in the fence that surrounded the barn about two hundred feet behind the house. He pointed back toward the house with his thumb, “My wife there can be a talker. I’ve learned just to wait her out. She’s good, though. As good as gold.”

“I can see that,” Danny admitted
, then repeated. “As good as gold.”

They found Angela currying an old horse
, “That horse there that Angela is talking to we call her Tammy. She’s at least fifteen years old. We bought her when Angela was a teenager wanting to barrel race in the rodeo.”

When Angela stopped to talk to them, Tammy nudged her in the back with her nozzle to get her to continue.
Angela rubbed Tammy on the forehead and apologized for stopping. She turned to Danny with a smile, “So you finally got around to returning my visit?”

Danny grinned, “Yes, finally I did, but I repaired my perimeter fences in the meantime.”

“He bought him twenty Hereford calves yesterday,” Gregory Dodd said stealing Danny’s thunder.

Now that his surprise was out, Danny continued, “You should come over and see them.
”

She turned her expressive hazel eyes his way and replied, “I’d love to, once I get my greenhouse built.” She cocked her head to one side hoping he realized she was teasing.

He mirrored her expression and cocked his head to the side, too. “How about you jog back to my place with me to see them?” he asked.

She relented with a smile, “I might just do that.”

Greg had enjoyed their banter back and forth and spoke up, “Hey, Sis, since he has those calves, what do you think about sharing a couple of those kittens that are just weaned?”

“Great idea!
Come with me, Danny. You can have your pick of the litter. We have six little kittens we need to find a home for.” She gave Tammy a final pat on the rump and closed the door to the stall.

Danny and Greg nodded good bye to each other as Danny followed Angela to the loft where the kittens were. He didn’t know that he was getting into all of
this when he came over. Maybe kittens wouldn’t be a bad idea. They can be a lot of fun to play with including being useful to kill mice and rats around the place.

As soon as Angela sat down by them, they crawled all over her legs. He could tell that they were used to her playing with them. “Come on and sit down by them,” Angela invited.

He sat down on the other side of them and two of the little kittens crawled on his lap and rubbed their faces on his arm. Both of them were little boys. That’s a good thing he thought. At least they wouldn’t bless him with a litter of kittens every three months. One of them was solid gray and purred happily on his leg. The other one was gray with white paws and a white bib under his chin. Danny said, “I think I’ll take these two. This one with the bib I’m going to call Kibble and the solid one I’m going to call Bit.”

“That’s
cute,” Angela grinned. “Kibble and Bit.”

“That’s right,” Danny said standing up and snuggling them into his arms. “This is Kibble and Bit.”

“Come see my greenhouse,” Angela suggested enthusiastically. “It’s over this way.”

He followed her carrying the kittens in his arms. He could see the structure that they had started. It looked to be about twenty feet wide by forty feet long. They had poured a concrete slab and now had most of the frame up. “What are your plans for the covering on it?” he asked.

“This year I think we will drape it with visqueen but give it a more permanent finish next spring with screen and large windows of some kind to prop open for ventilation. Our plans are still in the preliminary stages.

Danny determined that he would come over and be neighborly enough to help out in the construction when he had a chance. He did know a bit about handling a hammer.

While she oohed and aahed over the calves, Danny took the kittens to the feed room which wasn’t really a feed room but a sectioned end of the hay barn where he had nailed up some boards for a divider to keep the calves out. He had several barrels which he had filled with feed for the calves. Shelves lined the end of the barn where he stored bottles of salve, ointment, etc. for the calves.

There was a wooden box he found among other clutter in the milk barn that he had brought out to the hay barn for some undesignated use. Now it had a designated use. He tossed in some old rags in the bottom and placed the little kittens in it. They immediately jumped out but he thought maybe they would eventually get the hint that it was their bed.
He found a couple of tin bowls that he also brought from the milk barn and filled one of them with water from the hydrant just outside of the barn. When he placed it down on the hay strewn floor of the barn near their bed, both of the kittens lapped the water hungrily.

By this time Angela came up and watched the kittens. “I didn’t think.” She said remorsefully. “I should have given you enough kitten food to last until you could go get some.”

Danny shook his head, “No. They will be just fine. I can find something in the house for them.”

“
On second thought, thinking about food, would you join me for lunch? I have bread and lunch meat and some more cola,” he offered.

“Well,” she said
smiling, “How could I turn down an offer like that?”

Togeth
er they prepared their sandwiches. Danny placed a bottle of cola for each of them on the table. They had just taken their first bite when a scratching noise came from the front screen door.

“The kittens,
” Angela said.

Danny peeked around the corner of the dining room into the living room. There hanging from the screen with his little claws hung little Bits. “Meow,” he uttered. “Meow
,” Kibble echoed from the porch below.

Angela laughed
standing behind him, “Did you want barn cats?”

Danny shook his head and said, “I think they’ve bonded.” He opened the door and brought them in. He poured a bowl of milk for them and returned to his sandwich.

They finished their sandwiches and Danny picked up the cola bottles and placed them on the cabinet.

They heard a
car horn in the driveway.

Aaron stepped out of his car holding a puppy on his arm. He had felt so bad
ly yesterday because he could feel Danny’s sorrow when he mentioned Lisa that he wanted to do something for him. This morning he remembered that one of their neighbors had some puppies ready to be weaned. He picked out one of them for Danny as a gift. Not only would a puppy be a companion for him but it would help him on the farm, now ranch. He was very surprised to see Danny and an Amazon woman come out of the house together.

As casually as if nothing was different, Danny asked, “What do you have there? Did you get you a puppy?”

“Uh, actually, I got him for you,” Aaron answered never taking his eyes off the woman.

Danny realized that Aaron was staring at Angela, he gave a half laugh and said, “Aaron, I would like you to meet Angela Dodd.
She is my next door neighbor.”

Angela said, “Hi, Aaron. Do you remember me from high school?”

“Sure. Gosh, Angela, you’ve turned into a looker.”

Angela smiled her thanks.

“Okay, Aaron pull your chin back up and tell me about this puppy,” Danny said reaching for the puppy. It was a tiny thing he could put in the palm of his hand with golden brown fur. It stuck its tiny tongue out and licked his thumb.

“Did you say that you got this puppy for me?” Danny asked trying to orient Aaron back to him.

“Uh, yes. Our neighbor’s dog had a whole litter of little puppies. Now they are old enough for a new home. I thought you would enjoy having a dog around the place.

Danny sat the dog on the living room floor. The puppy immediately started bouncing around checking out the place.

Angela said, “He sure is a frisky thing.”

“I’ll call him Frisker,” Danny stated.

Angela wanted to give Danny and Aaron some time to visit so she soon left, much to Aaron’s dismay.

The kittens came into the living room where they sat watching the puppy. As soon as the puppy saw them he started going in circles chasing his tail. Danny and Aaron both laughed at him.

Danny said in awe, “Do you know that within twenty four hours, I have acquired twenty calves, two kittens, and a puppy. I’m beginning to feel like the woman who lived in the shoe.”

Aaron countered with, “At least, you won’t be so lonely.”

The sun beat down on Angela’s back as she slowly walked back home. After seeing Danny’s calves and his progress that he was making getting his farm running, Angela thought about her greenhouse that she had been trying to get built for a year since she left college.

When she returned home after college her parents wanted her to stay home and help them work the farm. She had been willing to help them. She knew that her father and mother both were at retirement age and if the farm continued to support them they did need help. In return her father agreed to build her greenhouse for her. Granted, it was almost complete
, but there was a lot still needed in order for her to get her business started.

For one thing, she needed capital. Under present circumstances, she saw no way that this farm could support her needs plus provide for the family. She felt torn between helping provide for her aging parents and meeting her needs for her own business. Procuring a big loan to start her business was chancy. Should, God forbid, her business not succeed, she would have that loan to pay off for years ahead.

She bent over and wiped the sweat from her face with the tail of her tee shirt, one of the perks of living in the country where nobody sees you she thought. She wished she had put on a cap to shade her eyes from the bright sun. As she walked into the yard, she noticed that her mom’s rose bush looked wilted by the hot sun. She made a mental note to water the day lilies that bloomed by the front porch and the bushes in front of the house at sunset. The Rose of Sharon and Crepe Myrtles should start blooming soon.

She walke
d on back to the greenhouse her dad was building for her. He was getting close to completing the frame. Considering midsummer was upon them, she figured her best option would be to wait until next spring before she should start planting. Once she got some plants she could photograph, she could start making her brochures. Judging by her financial status she reasoned, it could be a few years before she could turn any substantial profit.

She stood in the middle of the concrete slab. In her mind’s eye, she already envisioned rows of tables of healthy potted plants from one end of the greenhouse to the other ready for delivery.  On the far side of the greenhouse she planned to build a large garden for outdoor perennials
which would reproduce themselves and give her cuttings year after year.

A decision needed to be made. Unfortunately she sus
pected she already knew what it should be. Even though her parents were retirement age, she knew they still were in fairly good physical health. She would love to lift their load in caring for the farm, but at what cost to her?

There were other brothers and sisters, but for some reason
her parents seemed to look to her. Her youngest brother Ted still lived at home. He helped with a lot of the pasture work, such as brush hogging, and hay baling. This summer though, he had wanted to get a job to earn money for a car and if possible save a little for college coming up in another year. Therefore, he spent a lot of weekends and evenings trying to keep up his share of the farm chores.

Angela enjoyed caring for the animals and working in the vegetable garden. She had helped her mother all summer canning and freezing the fresh produce from the garden. With the beef, pork, and chickens they put in the freezer when they butchered along with their garden produce
, they needed very little from the grocery store during the long months until garden time the next year. With the sale of their yearlings in the fall, they could support themselves. It was a meager living by some standards, but that was the way of most farmers.