by J. D. Oliver
“No, we don’t. But I bet we could raise it. You just keep drilling and bringing in the wells. I bet we could sell gas for half of what the oil company’s are getting and still make a big profit.”
“Beyond a doubt, but where would you build it?”
“Right here on the ranch. There’s a spot that’s all alkali, that would be a good place to build. It wouldn’t hurt anything. We’d just have to get the proper permits from the state. At the price of gas closing in on five dollars a gallon, I bet they would be easy to work with.” I left him thinking about it. Not that I needed his approval, I didn’t, he worked for me.
When I got back to the house, Faith was sound asleep. Alita was still over at Daisy’s. I looked into Rosie room, she was sound asleep also, they must have had some night.
I called Dad in New Mexico, and told him my idea. He said he would talk to all of the Spanish Land Grant people down there. Then I called Charles Hester, he was all for it. He would start rounding up support in Montana. The game was afoot….
Later that afternoon when the women woke up. I told them my idea, they were all agog over it. Faith said, “Uh, honey, there’s only one thing. I don’t like saying it, but you’re not the man to see this through to the end. You’ve not fully recovered, there’s times that you blank out, did you know that?”
“I suspected as much. Sometimes I have to play catch up to know what’s going on. These visions just show up, I don’t know when they’re coming.” I said.
Rosie said, “I don’t have anything to do right now, I can help to organize the whole thing, that is if you want me to?”
“Why I think that would be a great idea. I’ve got the ball rolling. Maybe you could just keep it going. Things like this tend to snowball, all you have to do is direct it.”
“Alright, would you mind if Tiff helped me, she’s pretty smart and good with people? Are we still going to call it the ‘Spanish Bit Oil Company?” Rosie said, then added, “I’m going to call Tiffany right now.”
I looked at Faith and winked, “I think we just turned a Tasmanian Devil loose on the world, what do you think?”……
I never did hear her answer, cause I woke up in bed. It was dark, Faith was sleeping with her one arm over me. I turned to face her, I kissed her gently on the lips, her eyes opened. “Oh, so there you are, where have you been this time?”
“Been? Right here beside you.” I said.
“I know your body has been, but you haven’t. Clay, it’s been three days. You blanked out, three days ago, I walked you to bed, like a zombie.”
“Aiieee, I remember now. You don’t want to know where I’ve been, it wasn’t pretty. Oh, the land was pretty, everything nice and green, that was after the tribulation was over. The blood was bridle deep, it was terrible.”’
“What do you mean the tribulation?” Faith asked.
“Do you remember what I said about Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion? And how she fell. Well it was right after that, the tribulation started. People were killing each other, for no reason. I heard a voice calling the birds of heaven to the great feast of the almighty God, Jehovah. All the scavengers of the earth were to feed upon the dead.”
“When is this supposed to take place?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know, they didn’t tell me. I was scared shitless. I didn’t see all of it. What I did see was enough, I woke up just as the four Angels were coming to finish it. Why are they tormenting me with these visions?”
“I don’t know sweetheart, all I know is, that I’m glad to have you back.” Faith said, as she helped me up, I had to go pee. As I did, Faith turned on the shower. We got in together….
While I was incognito for three days, Rosie had been busy. She had called Dad again, they were all aboard. She had also been in contact with Charles Hester, they were solidly in place also.
Rosie had filed articles of incorporation for the Spanish Bit Oil Co. With each of the family members as officers of the corp. I really wasn’t too interested. Faith was though. She told me not to worry, that she would keep track of everything.
Hank and Poppy drove one of the old pickups to the school bus stop. Hank was a very conservative driver. I don’t believe he broke over 20 miles an hour all the way there.
That’s the way the next two weeks went. Slow and no inconsistency. I spent the time working with the horses.
I took one of the stock trucks to town, to the horse sale. I bought ten more head. When I got back, Red met me. “Just what are you going to do with all of these horses? He asked me.
I thought for a second, then said, “Damned if I know, I just figured we needed more horses.” Red shook his head and walked off talking to himself. I turned the new horses into the corral. I leaned on the corral rails looking at them.
I was racking my brain, trying to figure out why I bought them, then it came to me…in the last vision I had, someone or something told me how many horses we would need. I couldn’t pull up who it was that told me that though.
Faith came up and gave me a kiss. “So, you bought more horses, Red thinks your crazy, literally. I don’t though, eccentric, but not crazy.”
“He may be closer to the truth than you. At times I think I’m not quite right myself.” Faith pulled me close and said, “Hey, you’re not crazy, anybody would act a little weird, if it was them that got a bullet to the head.”
“Maybe, but I think it’s more than that. Why would they; whoever they are, tell me these things, I’m nobody special?”
“To me you are, very special. You’re my whole world, aren’t I to you?” Faith said.
“Well of course you are, you know that, why else do I tell you I love you about a million times a day?” I said.
“I know you do, I was just being facetious. I also know that those visions you are getting are visions and not hallucinations. I didn’t tell you this, but the last one you had you talked in your so called sleep. It scared me to death. And I know why you bought those horses, even if you don’t.”
“Why?” I said.
“Because we will need them, when all of the mechanical things don’t work anymore. Anyway that’s what you said.”
“Did I say when we would need these horses?”
“No, you didn’t. But it is always good to be prepared, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sweetheart, it is.” I said, “Do you have panties on?”
“Why do you ask? Don’t answer, I know of course. But really my wearing panties or not, would that make a difference to what you have in mind?”
“I reckon not, but it’s just the idea. You know how anticipation is half of the pleasure.” I said, holding her close.
“Yes, I certainly do, so you can just anticipate till bedtime. And by the way, I’m not!” She said as she danced easily out of my arms. My eyes followed her all of the way to the house. Damn, but she was fine…
I turned my attention back to the new horses that I had just purchased. Most of the time I would have never purchased any mares for ranch work. But these weren’t for just ranch work. In the ten of them, eight were three year old mares. The other two were Morgan Stallions. Breeding stock, for the future.
But now, what I needed was some pack animals, Mules. Where would I get them?
Where could I buy good pack Mules? Why from some outfitter, for sure. Cause right now with the economy the way it was, there were less and less people able to afford to hire an outfitter to go hunting.
Where was there an abundance of outfitters that were down on their luck? Where else but Gardiner, Montana. Why? Not only the economy, but also due to the depredations of the Wolves on the Elk herds that used to come out of the Yellowstone National Park in the winter time.
I went to the barn and crawled up the ladder to the loft, and tossed some hay out of the loft door into the corral for my new brood horses. When I got back to the house, Faith called out as she heard the screen door slam, “Don’t slam the screen door, wash up, then you can set the table, supper is almos
t ready.”
I set eight places at the table. The whole family helped with all of the chores. That is all except Alita, but she wanted to, she just couldn’t quite get the job done yet. I put Alita in her high chair and took the tray off, then slid her up to the table, she would set between Faith and I.
Hank and Poppy had just got home from school. Faith and Hope were bringing the food to the table, Rosie and Tiff, came down from their upstairs office and sat down.
I waited till everyone was settled, then I said the prayer, after all, I was the head of the family, my wife told me I was…
After everyone was eating I asked Rosie how things were going. “Fine, but I think we should just have one refinery, not two. I was thinking that it would be better in New Mexico. We could just truck our crude down there. What do you think?”
“What do I think? I think the better question is, what does the family in New Mexico think? But to answer, I think we should have two refineries.”
“Grandpa and Grandma are all for it, they have the sight all ready picked out. In fact I think they are due to break ground tomorrow.” Rosie said.
“Then what did you bother asking me for?”
“Well, Tiff and I didn’t want you to feel left out, and all…” Rosie said, her face getting red.
“Are you going to have to go down there?” I asked
“Well, not right away. It turns out that Jake and Alona are more than a little interested in this oil business. Along with Grandpa and Grandma, they’re going to handle that end of the business. But of course Tiff and I are going to keep a handle on things.”
“Good,” I said, “are they okay with that?”
“Yes, we have discussed everything.” Tiff said. I looked at her, she glanced down at the table, embarrassed.
The only thing I could say was, “Good, keep up the good work. Seemed like when it came to my family, I was using the word good a lot…
I had another thought, “Are you getting legal counsel on all of this?”
“Sure, that’s the first thing we did, was hire a legal firm, one out of Cheyenne. Don’t worry, we’re following all of the laws.” Rosie said, with just a hint of chagrin in her voice.
“Don’t pay any attention to Dad, he’s a day late and a dollar short, but he’s trying.” Faith said.
I thought to myself, yes, I probably was not keeping up with what they were doing when it came to material possessions. Because to me, that was not the most important thing. What was?
Survival, that was…the most important. Why was I in favor of what they were doing? Because, it would help the environment and lower gas prices. We had to live till the end came, since no man will know the day or the hour, we had to keep, keeping on.
“One more question, if you girls don’t mind?” I said, they nodded. “What impact is this refinery going to have on the land and air?”
“We have been doing an environmental impact survey, plus all of the latest pollution abatement devices will be incorporated into the building of the refinery.” Tiff said.
“Well, I guess I can put my mind at ease then. I’m sorry to question you, it’s just my stupidity, I guess.” I said.
“Dad!, you’re not stupid! Don’t you ever say anything like that again.” Rosie said.
Faith spoke up, “Yes Honey, you’re not stupid, and you have my permission to tell people that, also.” She said, with a giggle.
Hank cleared his throat, “Uh, we get out of school at the end of the week, what am I going to do then?”
“You can help me, we need to not only help with cattle, but I’ve just bought ten new horses. Plus, I’m going to buy some pack Mules, you can help with that. In fact you can go to Gardiner with me. I think we can pick up a pack string pretty cheap.”
“This is the first I’ve heard about buying mules, what for?” Faith said.
“I thought we would take some pack trips this summer, don’t you want to?”
“Sure, I guess so, who? All of us?”
“Anybody that wants to go, that’s up to them.” I said.
Alita gurgled and pointing to herself, said, “Me, me want to go.” We all looked at her, this was her first sentence, beside Mom and DaDa. Faith said to her, “The proper word is ‘I’ want to go, not ‘me’ want to go.” Alita nodded then said, “I want to go.” I sat there dumb founded. From that time on, we couldn’t shut her up.
Rosie said, “I don’t know whether Tiff and I will have time, we might be pretty busy.”
“I’m sure you’ll have time to take a break, all work and no play makes Jane, uh, makes Jane, I forgot the rest. Sometimes, the most common saying escapes me.” I said.
“That’s Okay Dad, we know what you mean, Tiff and I will make it a point to go with you.” Rosie said.
“This Pack Trip, have you picked out where to go?” Faith asked.
“Yeah, I think so. When I was a youngster, I went on vision quest. I went east into the Big Horn Mountains. There was a stream, with a waterfall, where I camped. It’s still located on our land. But it gets pretty rough going, nobody has been there, as far as I know, since I was. But just the other day, I had a dream about it. It wasn’t a vision, at least I don’t think it was.”
“So just how far is it?” Hope asked.
“About twenty or thirty miles, as I remember, a good days ride, with a pack string. Now when I said it was on our land, I might have misled you. It’s on our Forest Service grazing lease land. In fact as soon as we get all the branding done, we’ll be moving the cattle that way. Not as far as the waterfall, but within two miles of it, we’ll just kick them on lease land and let them wander.”
“Do the cattle go as far as the waterfall?” Hank asked.
“Not usually, it’s pretty steep and rough there.” I said. “Besides, there is no reason for them to, the grazing is better down stream from the waterfall.”
“Then why do we want to go there?” Faith asked, “If the grazing isn’t good, what will our horses and mules eat?”
“I said it wasn’t as good, they’ll have plenty to eat. So don’t worry, they won’t starve.” I said, “Trust me.”
“Haven’t we always,” Faith said. “And I plan on continuing to do so.”
Alita banged her spoon on her plate and said, “Me done.” Faith turned to her, “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s ‘I am done’. Not ‘me done’. Alita looked at her, “I am sorry Mother, I will try to do better next time.”
Rosie started laughing like mad, “I taught her that, I knew it would drive you crazy, when she said ‘me’ instead of ‘I’.”
“What? Do you mean to say that she can talk like that all of the time?” Faith said.
“Sure, she’s been able to talk for a month now.” Rosie said. “Haven’t you noticed?”
“I guess not, I’ve been sort of busy, with everything. You know….” Faith said.
“Yes Mother, we know and we don’t blame you for not noticing. It was something we thought we would surprise you with. I think Alita is some kind of prodigy or something.” Rosie said.
Alita held her arms out to me and said, “Daddy, will you read me a story?”
“Yeah, sure, that is unless Mommy wants to?” I said, looking at Faith. Faith said, while taking Alita out of her high chair, “Yes, Mommy wants to read to you, Daddy can clear the dishes from the table.” Faith leaned toward my ear and said, “It appears I have been neglecting one child while taking care of another one.” Then she nipped my ear with her teeth. Ahhh, Mommy lion is pissed.
After the dishes were done, I went into the den and sat down next to Faith and Alita. Faith said, “I’m sorry, it wasn’t your fault. I guess I had to take it out on someone, and deep down I knew you wouldn’t get mad at me.”
“That’s alright, I knew you weren’t mad at me. We have been under a lot of pressure lately. I have an idea, let’s just let Rosie and Tiff handle all of this oil stuff. You concentrate on the family for awhile.”
“Maybe just for a lit
tle while, till I catch up. You say that you are going after mules, can Alita and I go with you?”
“Sure, I’ll have Hank work with the horses that I just bought, that’ll keep him busy, while we go to Gardiner.” Just then, Rosie came in the room,
“Mom, are you mad at me? I didn’t mean to make you mad, I’m sorry.” Rosie stood there, sort of wringing her hands. Faith stood up and took Rosie into her arms,
“Rosie, Honey, I’m not mad, well maybe just a little bit- mad at me, not you. My inattention was all my fault, not yours. Dad and I and Alita are going to go to Montana to buy some mules. Can you and Tiff handle everything here?”
“Sure, no problem. But you both be careful, I heard that they let that Dipper Tick out on bail; while waiting for his trial.” Rosie said…
Chapter Eleven
The next morning I took Hank and Poppy out to the corrals and introduced them to the ten new horses. The two Morgan stallions danced around some, just to show who was in charge. But the lead mare nipped them and they settled down.
The lead mare took a ‘like’ to Poppy. The feeling, I could tell was mutual. I left them to get acquainted and went and seen to the 12 horse gooseneck trailer that we would take to Gardiner. The ranch had just bought a new Diesel 4 door, 1 ton pickup to pull it with. I filled it with fuel from our storage tank. Red seen me, and came over.
“So where are you going now?” He said, a bit truculently.
“Whoa, there old pard,” I said, “by the tone of your voice, you’re getting just a bit out of line. Would you like to tone it down a little?” I said…He swallowed, I could see the gears turning over in his head, he said.
“I’m sorry Clay, it’s just that we have been working our butts off, I guess I’m tired.”
“Right, I understand, if you need more hands, feel free to hire them. How are the Hoeffer boys working out?”
“Good, but I have to keep them separate, they argue so much with each other, that when they work together, it upsets the other hands.” Red said.
“Well, you know how sibling rivalry is. Anyway to answer your question, Faith and I are going to Gardiner, I’m going to buy some pack mules.” I said as I looked at Red, I could see those gears turning over again, he started to say something, but shut his mouth and walked away. I made a mental note to talk to Daisy. You see Daisy was my mother’s cousin, Red was just her husband. Blood is as blood does though….