Chapter 11

With David and Susan gone with Billy, Laura and Phillip headed outside. They started through the ocean of grass and went around to the back of the house, "You act like you know where you are going," Phillip said from behind.

"I think I saw the top of the tank through the window when we were in your room," Laura replied. "I'm just heading in the general direction and hope we run into it."

"Boy, this grass is really tall," Phillip said.

"Well, this area of the country was just prairie in the old days and this wasn't even the "Tall Grass Prairie". So, when it's not taken care of, the native grasses grow and take over again.

"How tall is the grass in the 'Tall grass prairie'?"

"Well over 6 feet," Laura said.

"How do you know so much about this area?" Phillip said.

"I grew up west of here and it's not much different there than it is here," Laura explained.

"So are there really Indians?" Phillip asked.

"Of course there are," Laura said. "And we really are living in the Chickasaw nation like I told you before, but this isn't a reservation they way you think of them. Everybody lives in the same communities side by side regardless of race. They go to school together; they play on the same baseball, football, soccer, volleyball and basketball teams together. It's really not any different here than it is back in Princeton. The only difference is that here, you have elbow room."

"Ouch," Phillip said from behind as he fell.

Laura stopped and turned around, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I tripped over something," Phillip said getting up and looking down, "Oh cool!" he said bending down. He came up with the cleaned skull of a goat, complete with horns. "I'm keeping this," he announced. "I'm going to hang it in my room."

"You might want to clean it first," Laura said, "or mom will have a cow."

"Have a cow?" Phillip asked.

"Throw a fit," Laura translated.

"Oh," Phillip said.

The two continued forward, "Here it is," Laura said as she approached the propane tank. "Wow, this is a big one." She walked around it and didn't see anything she could step up on to see the gauges. "Here, let me boost you up - straddle it like you would a horse." Phillip gave Laura the skull which she put on the ground and then bent over with her hands together so Phillip could put his foot in her hands. She boosted him up and he straddled the tank. "Now, take the top off and look at the gauge."

Phillip took the top off and a wasp flew out, "Whoa," he said as he shifted to avoid the wasp.

"What does the gauge say?" Laura asked.

"I don't know how to read it," Phillip said.

"Look at the needle, what number is it pointing to?"

"It's pointing at zero," Phillip said.

"Okay, put the lid back on and then jump off," she said pulling out her phone. She looked, "Oh, good we have reception here," she said as she dialed.

…..

David and Susan were perusing the shelves of the grocery store in town looking for the cleaning supplies. Billy was in his car seat which they had pulled off its base in the car and attached it to the grocery cart. David was pushing the cart and playing with Billy while Susan was filling it with all kinds of cleaning supplies when her phone rang. David listened to her end of the conversation and was able to determine that the kids had found the propane tank and that it was empty and that Phillip had found something else that he was all excited about. When she got off the phone, she filled him in telling them that Phillip had found the skull of a goat and he had decided he was going to decorate his room with it, "Sounds like he's already figuring out that this isn't going to be such a boring place."

"David, have all the inspections been done on the house and has the land survey been completed?" Susan asked.

"Yes," David said. "And the realtor gave me the numbers for the electric coop and the numbers for two propane companies as well as the number for the local guy that inspects septic systems. I'm going to call them all as soon as we get back to the house."

Susan nodded, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you. When we drove up and I saw everything that needed to be done, I started wondering if you realized everything as this is a little out of your comfort zone."

"I've no doubt, I have a lot to learn," David said. "It'll be fun figuring this stuff out together. I'm really looking forward to this." After a moment he added, "Actually, I'm sorry, I should have brought you out here when I interviewed, so you could see for yourself and pick out what you wanted instead of presuming."

"It would have been a little difficult with the baby," Susan said. "David, I'm not disappointed in your choice, and I'm flattered that you bought this for me, just understand it's not where I am that is important to me; it's who I'm with. However given the choice, I would have picked the same place. I do love the wide openness and when we're finally settled, we'll be eating breakfast while watching the deer and other wildlife out the window. Phillip will learn to grow his own fresh vegetables, and Billy will get to grow up outside of the city. Plus, I'm looking forward to being a little more self-sufficient."

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"It's been a while since you been grocery shopping; the costs have skyrocketed. Out here, we can grow our own vegetables, raise chickens and rabbits and maybe even goats," Susan explained. "If there's a good place for it on the property, we could dig a pond and stock it with fish. It'll be nice to grow some of our own food. We won't be able to eliminate weekly trips to the grocery store, but at least we won't have to buy everything."

"I don't relish the thought of having to butcher our own meat," David said.

"Well, it isn't pleasant," Susan said, "If you actually enjoy it, there's probably something wrong with you. Dad used to butcher rabbits and chickens when we moved to the farm when I was in high school. The eggs from a free range chicken taste a lot better than store bought eggs and the meat tastes better too. I just have to remember how to do it. I wonder if the library here has those foxfire books?"

Susan and David finished their shopping which included a trip to the hardware store to purchase a shopvac since their vacuum cleaner was in the moving truck, and headed back to the property. On the way out of town, they stopped on to get a room at a small motel in town to sleep overnight. They wouldn't be able to stay in their new home until their furniture arrived the next day and there was a lot of work to be done before the movers got there.

The rest of the afternoon and evening, until it was so dark they couldn't see, was spent cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, killing spiders and crickets, and checking for signs of rodents and other 'visitors' to the house during its vacancy with each person taking turns babysitting Billy out on the porch because of all the dust being generated from the cleaning. Billy thought it was great fun because he got to play with everybody so he got lots of tickling and raspberries - which were his favorite, and especially enjoyed great games of tug of war and hair pulling.

At the end of the day, the family stumbled into their room taking turns in the shower and falling exhausted into bed. This particular night there was no bantering with each other, in fact there was no talking except where necessary and as soon as each exited the shower and crawled in bed, they were asleep, except Billy of course who had taken all the naps he had any interest in taking during the course of the day. This wasn't nearly as much fun as he was having earlier and so it wasn't long before he was expressing his displeasure at the entire situation. Susan groggily sat up and pulled Billy out of his portable crib. She fed him silently and then instead of putting him back in his crib, she laid him on the bed in between David and her so he couldn't roll out and promptly fell back asleep.

The next morning David was awaken with a start when he felt something wet on his nose followed by a sharp tug of his hair. "Hey," he said pulling away from Billy after removing his hair from his hands and wiped the baby slobber off of his nose. "Good morning to you too," he said kissing him on the head.

Susan moved to get up, "Oh," she said and flopped back down.

"Little sore?" David asked.

"Just a bit," Susan said meaning exactly the opposite.

"Me too," David replied getting up, "We need to get up and get dressed. We have that meeting at the abstract office this morning." He glanced over at the older kids who were both still asleep. "We'll leave them here and then come back and get them when we're done."

David and Susan got up, dressed and went out the door without waking Laura and Phillip.

…..

"Oh no!" Phillip cried from the bathroom.

Laura woke up with a start and sat up, "What?!" she replied.

"I've got something stuck under my arm. I think it's a tick!" Phillip yelled. Laura got up out of bed and went to the bathroom door and tried to open it, "Don't come in here! I'm naked," Phillip cried.

"Then wrap a towel around yourself and unlock the door," Laura said. "And quit hollering, you'll wake the folks in the room next door."

A few moments later the door unlocked and Laura walked inside. She looked under his arm, "Yep, that's a tick."

"Get it off!" Phillip said.

"Don't be such a girl," Laura said. "Is that the only one you have?"

"I think so," Phillip said.

"Are you sure?" Laura asked. "Ticks like to crawl and get in all the crevices and cracks." Phillip's eyes went wide, "Are you teasing me again?"

"Not this time, Phillip," Laura said, "You need to look everywhere."

"But I can't see everywhere," Phillip said.

"That's what mirrors are for," Laura explained leaving the bathroom for a minute. She came back with a compact mirror, "Use that, and if you find one in one of those everywhere places, then dad will help you with those. I can get that one for you after you get dressed. Leave your shirt off when you come out." Laura left again and shut the door behind her. She pulled her cosmetic bag out of her suitcase and rummaged around until she found her manicure set that had a really sharp and fine point pair of tweezers

Ten minutes later, Phillip came out of the bathroom dressed in everything except his shirt, "I didn't find anymore," he said.

"Good, lay down on your side with your arm up," Laura told him.

Laura had just settled in with the tweezers and a bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls when David, Susan and Billy walked in the door, "What's up?" David asked.

"Phillip has a tick," Laura said.

"I hate those things," Susan said.

"Mom, do you want to do this?" Laura asked.

"Nah, go ahead. You've got it under control," Susan said. Laura started to grab the tick with the tweezers, "Make sure you get all the way to the base of the tick right next to the skin and pull straight up."

"I heard that you could get the tick to back out on its own if you put a hot match on it," David said.

"And usually end up burning the skin while you're at it; I've tried that one as well as painting it with fingernail polish, soaking it with bleach, and about every other wives tale you've ever heard. The best way is just to pull the stupid thing out. If you get really close to the base of it, then you're more successful in getting the head out. Either way, with the head in or out, it's going to itch for a while," Susan said.

"Am I going to get Lyme disease now?" Phillip asked.

Susan smiled, "No, for two reasons. First, you got the tick off before it had been 24 hours and second, this one looks like a lone star tick and they don't really carry Lyme. They do carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but like I said you're getting it off in plenty of time. Don't worry about it, ok? This may be the first tick you've ever had, but it won't be your last. Once we get the grass mowed on the property, there won't be as many ticks," She looked over at David, "That's another reason to have Chickens, they love the nasty things."

"Chickens eat ticks?" Phillip asked as Laura finished.

"Yep, and all kinds of bugs. In fact, I've even seen them chase and fight over a mouse. They're not really just grain eaters," Susan explained.

The family finished getting their things together and headed to their new home. There was still a bit of work to do on the house before the movers arrived with their furniture.

Phillip was inspecting the fireplace when he heard the truck pull up outside, "Mom, they're here!"

Susan came out of the master bedroom carrying Billy in one arm. She handed him to Phillip and went outside where David was already meeting with the driver. They opened the back of the truck to start unloading. The first items they unloaded were the lawn equipment. David hollered at Phillip who came out with Billy hanging over his shoulder and laughing while seeing the world nearly upside down. David took Billy from Phillip and told him to use the weed eater to cut down the grass closest to the house. After David spoke with the moving crew, he handed Billy to Susan. Billy, who was getting tired of being handed from person to person, expressed his displeasure and started to wail, "No," Susan told him, "You hush." Billy just cried out louder obviously upset and it wasn't long before he was hysterical. Susan turned around and went back in the house and to her bedroom where his portable crib was set up and put him in it. "Time out time for you little man," she said. "Being a baby doesn't give you an excuse to act out." Susan walked out the door and Billy cried louder in anger. Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath and headed back out. She hated disciplining at such a young age, but she knew from experience that you had to get a handle on things right from the start. There was a difference between the crying because he needed something and the crying of a temper tantrum and Susan had already learned to detect the difference with Billy.

David was explaining to the crew that Susan would direct them where to put things and then turned to Susan, "Will you be OK? I have to go check in at the University and the University President wants to meet with me later this afternoon."

"We'll be fine," Susan replied, "Just bring back some dinner with you."

"Will do," David said. He leaned over to kiss her goodbye and headed to the car.

Susan looked in the truck and could see that the items closest to the door were the kitchen items, "Well it looks like we're starting in the kitchen," she said. "If you guys will get started with that, I need to go check on my youngest. It should be intuitively obvious where the refrigerator and the table should go. I'll be back shortly." The men started unloading the truck while Susan went back into her bedroom. Billy was lying down in the crib sucking his thumb. His eyes were still full of tears, but he wasn't crying anymore. "Are you ready to be good?" Susan asked. Billy held his arms toward his mother and Susan bent over and picked him up, "I love you little man," she said and kissed him on the cheek. Billy laid his head down on her shoulder and fell asleep.

Outside Phillip was weed-eating a path around the house. Laura suddenly showed up in front of him out of nowhere, "Hey!" she said getting his attention. He shut down the weed eater so he could hear her, "Come check this out."

Phillip followed her around the house to the detached garage and opened the door; only it wasn't a detached garage, it was a small house. It had a small living room with a kitchenette, one bathroom and one bedroom. It matched the decor of the main house only smaller, "Wow," he said. "Why are there two houses?"

"It's a guest house," Laura said, "or it could have been that one of the previous owners had their parents living here so they could make sure they were ok, but still let them have their independence. I had a friend when I was in high school whose parents did that with her grandmother instead of putting her in an assisted living facility." Laura walked back to the bedroom with Phillip following not far behind, "I wonder if mom and dad would let me stay in here. That way you wouldn't have to share a room with Billy," Laura mused. Phillip started to reply when Laura continued, "though, this would make a great place for Uncle Greg to stay."

"Uncle Greg?" Phillip said. "You do know he's dead, right?"

"No, he's not," Laura said. "Mom says that he's still alive."

"I went to his funeral," Phillip said, "I know."

"Did you see his body?" Laura asked.

"No, just a picture; they cremated his body; there was one of those flower pot things," Phillip said.

"It's called an urn, dork head," Laura said.

"Looks like a flower pot, but that's not the point. They wouldn't have had a funeral for him if he wasn't dead and dad told me that doctor said it was him because of his teeth even though he was burned so badly," Phillip explained. "Dad says that mom is having a hard time accepting it and for me not to talk about it with her because it just upsets her."

"Mom doesn't have a problem accepting death, Phillip. Everybody she ever cared about has died except me," Laura said.

"She cares about me," Phillip argued. "She adopted me and she cares about dad and Billy too."

"That's not what I meant," Laura said. "Of course she cares about you; I'm talking about in her past. Her mom and dad died and then my dad died. She didn't pretend they were still alive. Mom has a reason to believe that Uncle Greg is still alive and you should believe her." Phillip didn't say anything. "Look, you haven't known mom as long as I have. She is really smart and very analytical and if she believes that he is alive it's because she has evidence that proves it. She wouldn't believe it without some kind of proof."

…

Susan finished telling the movers where to put the living room furniture and then went in her bedroom to start organizing the boxes and furniture they had just brought in for her. She put sleeping Billy in his portable crib and had just opened a box of sheets when one of the movers poked his head in the bedroom, "Ma'am, where do you want us to put the piano?"

"Oh ok, put it next to the northern wall behind the sofa," she instructed. The mover's head disappeared and she went back to pulling sheets out of the box. Having found a matching set, she went over to the bed to start making it up. It would feel good to sleep in her own bed tonight. Her cell phone rang and she reached in her pocket to answer it, "Hello?" she asked not recognizing the number.

"I'm in my new office, it's pretty nice," David said. "Anyway, this is the number for my office. I have my own admin in the outer office and the phone rings out there first and she answers it first unless she's not there."

"What's her name?" Susan asked.

"Diane," David said. "She's an older lady and seems to be the one to run this place."

"A good admin does," Susan said, "and a good boss will let her. She'll be a lot more efficient if you stay out of her way and let her do her job."

"It's going to take some getting used to having help to get everything done," David said, "but I'm looking forward to having her help. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what the number here was. I have an appointment with the president in about 15 minutes."

"Okay, what time do you think you'll be home?" Susan asked.

"Probably around 6 or 7, I'm not sure what traffic is like around here at rush hour," David replied. "Oh, I almost forgot, the electric coop called me and they'll be there at 4:00 to hook up the electricity and the propane guy will be there tomorrow morning to fill the propane tank."

"Have you heard from the septic people yet?" Susan asked.

"Not yet, but I'll let you know when I do. I gotta go," David said.

"Okay, bye," Susan said. "Love you"

"Love you too."

Susan hung up the phone and continued working on the bed when one of the other movers poked his head in the door, "Ma'am, where do you want the piano?"

Susan looked up at him a bit confused, hadn't the other guy just asked her that? "Next to the northern wall behind the sofa," she said. The man left and she continued working.

…..

"She wants it right next to the other one?" The driver asked.

"That's what she said," the younger mover replied.

"Why does anybody have two pianos?" the driver asked rhetorically.

"Maybe they have home concerts," the younger mover replied.

"Wow, this one is a lot heavier."

"Yeah, well it's a lot bigger too."

The men continued to work and were finally able to put the piano in place then went back to the truck.

….

Susan had moved on to another box, this one contained clothes, and started putting them away when the younger mover poked his head back in the room, "Ma'am?"

"Yes?" Susan asked.

"Where do you want us to put this other couch?"

"What other couch? I thought you already brought in all of the furniture," Susan said.

"No, we still have a couch, a chair, coffee table, butcher block table, several guitars...," he replied.

Susan looked perplexed and interrupted, "I don't have a butcher block table and the only guitar we have is already in Phillip's room," she said as she glanced over at Billy who was still asleep and went into the living room. Just as she stepped into the living room, she skidded to a stop. Greg's baby grand was sitting just in front of her spinet which was against the northern wall. Her mouth dropped open, "Where did you guys get this?" she asked.

"Ma'am, we only deliver the truck. The movers that came to your house picked up the furniture and delivered it to our facility to store until it was time to deliver it to this house. You'll have to call the main office," the driver said.

Susan asked him for the number and she called the main office. Nobody answered the phone, so she left a voice mail asking for somebody to call her back. After hanging up the phone, she followed the movers out to the truck. She peered in the back where she saw all of Greg's furniture neatly arranged in the front third of the truck leaving as much room as possible for their furniture. Susan looked back toward her house, there wasn't any room for any of this in the house and she didn't want to leave it outside. She couldn't ask them to take it back and they were on a timetable. Every minute they were here past their appointment, cost more money. She heard the bang of a door slam and turned toward the noise. Laura and Phillip were coming out of the detached garage. Susan looked back at the drivers, "let's put this stuff in the garage for now and I'll figure out what to do later." The movers hopped up into the truck to start unloading.

"Hey mom, have you looked in there yet?" Laura said pointing at the building she and Phillip had just exited.

"No, I hadn't had a chance," Susan confirmed.

"It's not a garage, it's a guest house," Phillip said.

"I wondered," Susan said. "I figured it was a garage and the doors were just on the other side where I couldn't see them, but it does look a bit like a guest house. Well, at least we have a place for Greg's furniture to go," she stated.

"We have Uncle Greg's furniture?" Phillip asked.

"Apparently," Susan confirmed pointing in the truck.

Phillip poked his head in the truck, "Mom, dad's going to be mad that you did that."

"He has no reason to be mad at me," Susan said. "I didn't do it."

"Why would dad have done it?" Phillip asked.

Before Susan could reply, her phone rang. She answered and it was the main office of the moving company, "Is everything okay Mrs. James?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes, except it seems we have two sets of furniture," Susan replied.

"Well, yes you would," the receptionist said.

"Why?" Susan asked.

"Because the work order says specifically to pick up the furniture at 221B Baker Street, Princeton, NJ, then to 765 N. 6th Street to pick up the furniture there all to be delivered to your acreage today," she said.

"Does it say who placed the order?" Susan asked.

"The only signature we have is David James," she answered.

"Interesting," Susan said. "Thank you." Susan hung up. "Well, apparently your dad had them do it; odd that he didn't say anything." Susan started toward the guest house, "Laura, go check on Billy please." She walked inside the guest house and looked around. There was plenty of dust and cobwebs that needed cleaned but she didn't really have time to deal with it now. The movers brought the furniture in the basic rooms and then left.

"Everything is here except his piano," Phillip said.

"It's in the house," Laura said carrying Billy. "Somebody woke up hungry," she said handing Billy to Susan.

Susan headed out the door back to the house to see to Billy's needs then work on the rest of the unpacking. There was still a lot to do and she was nowhere near finished. As she nursed, she made a mental list. She needed to find the well and treat it. It was probably fine, but it didn't hurt to treat it and she would be done before she could get a coliform kit from the DEQ. She also needed to check out the water system to see which if any softening devices were hooked up. She was fairly confident that there was some kind of system because she didn't see lime deposits on the faucets. She needed to determine the type because some systems pump sodium into the water as they removed the hardness and this would not be good for her with her hypertension. Suddenly she felt and heard the air conditioner kick on, she glanced out the window and saw a truck from the electric coop pulling off the property. She hadn't even known when they arrived and now they were gone. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to David so she wouldn't disturb him in his meeting power is on then put her phone back in her pocket. Billy finished, so she changed him into another diaper and an outfit she pulled out of one of the boxes, "Ok Billy, how about we do some exploring?" she asked him as she kissed his nose. She rummaged around the boxes and found the one that contained his baby carrier and hooked it up and arranged it so he would rest on her hip. She went outside and hollered at Laura and Phillip who came out of the guest house. She had Laura help her get Billy situated and told Phillip to get the weed eater, "Cut us a path Sir Phillip; go that way," She said pointing in a northerly direction.

Phillip grinned at her and started the weed eater. He cleared the path in front of them as they made their way in a northerly direction. Billy reached out for the grass that was passing by as his mother walked. Susan obligingly walked a little closer so it would brush against his hands as they passed. He kicked out his feet and felt the grass tickle and laughed as a result, "You like that little man?" Susan said to him pulling a piece of grass and using it to tickle under his chin. The four of them worked their way through the grass when they came to a small clearing that held a pole barn and a small shed, "Oh wow," Susan said when she walked out into the clearing not believing what she was seeing. "Why would they leave this here?" she asked herself, "They could have sold it if they weren't going to use it anymore."

"How do you know it works?" asked Phillip.

"We'll turn it on and see," Susan replied. Phillip reached for the key, "No, wait," Susan said. She opened the cap on the top and looked inside; there was a little diesel in the tank. She pushed the forward and reverse pedal with her hand and they didn't stick in place. She opened the top and checked the oil and the coolant levels, both of which were fine. "Ok, Phillip hop on," she said. She showed him which pedal was the clutch and had him press it all the way to the floor and told him to turn the key, like any good diesel, it started right up. "This is awesome," the told the kids. "This will save us a lot and it looks like it was well maintained. Go ahead and turn it off Phillip."

Phillip turned it off and hopped down, "What is that thing over there?" he asked.

"That's a brush hog which is basically a giant mower," Laura explained. "I'm sure you'll become well acquainted with it."

Susan turned around and walked out of the pole barn and headed over to the shed. It had a key hole in the handle, but it wasn't locked. Susan opened the door and found what she was looking for, and stepped inside. Laura and Phillip walked in behind her, "What is the tank thing?" Phillip asked.

"That's called a pressure tank," Susan explained. "This is the well," she said moving over to the well head and pulling off of the cap. "The pump is down in the well and it is plugged into the wall behind the pressure tank. When the tank reaches a certain low pressure, it turns on the pump to the well until it fills up to…..," she paused while she looked at the gauge, "70 pounds of pressure and then turns the pump off. As we use the water in the tank, the pressure goes down and then it will turn the pump back on." Susan put the lid back on the well head and continued her teaching moment. "See this line?" she asked Phillip who nodded, "The water from the tank goes into this other tank - this is actually a water softening system to remove the metal ions out of the water. This is a salt based system so it basically trades the metal ions in the water with sodium ions which decreases the hardness. I'll have to put an RO system in the house for the water we use to cook and drink to get rid of the sodium."

"Why?" Phillip asked.

"Because mom has high blood pressure and the sodium aggravates it," Laura said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. But you take medicine for it," Phillip said.

"Yes, but I don't want to have to take more, so I'm careful about things like that." Susan went back to the pressure tank and looked at the power lines. She saw they traveled toward the top of the shed and branched in two directions. One branch went over to the main circuit breaker box on the wall and the other went to a small circuit breaker box and continued up to the roof. "Phillip, climb that tree outside the shed and look on the roof please."

Phillip went outside and started climbing, "There's a solar panel up here," Phillip exclaimed when he reached the top.

"That's great," Susan said. "That's why we had water in the house even though we didn't have electricity. That means that when the power is out, we can still use the toilets, take a bath etc. Ok, climb back down."

Phillip took a moment to look around from his vantage point; he saw a car turning into the driveway, "Dad's home," he said and then clamored down from the tree.