Behind The Curve-The Farm | Book 1 | The Farm

by Craven III, Boyd

  “Then you can speak with our attorney when he gets here. Might have to wait for a couple of hours.”

  “The fuck I will, I’m taking you all into custody then.” He pulled his gun out of the holster.

  “Ed, ED!” Officer Parker screamed.

  He turned his head for a second to see she had drawn her gun and it was pointing at him.

  “You’re escalating a situation that doesn’t need any more escalation. Holster your gun. You guys, you do it too.”

  Edward Buckley, the town bully who had gone into criminal justice after college, had grown up to be a bigger bully. Although he was nearly six inches shorter and forty pounds lighter than Rob, he was still trying to intimidate him. He looked at Officer Parker, who still had her gun drawn on him, then back to the group. Almost every adult except for Andrea and Goldie had pistols out, at their sides.

  Rob addressed Sherry. “We’ll wait for Officer Do-Good to exit the house first before we put down our guns. He came into the residence without a warrant. My son did open the door to see who was knocking, but he came in here himself.”

  “I had every right to do that, I was in active pursuit of suspects who caused the burns on victims. The ambulances are working on getting them out of here.”

  “Who let you onto the property?” Officer Parker asked.

  “The Sheriff—”

  “Are they the ones who have the warrant, sugar?” Anna asked, stepping in front of Rob. “I think that they have jurisdiction and all, unless it’s the state police.”

  She was not as tiny as Angelica, but she was almost a half of a head shorter than Officer Buckley’s six foot. “Officer Buckley, we’ve done asked you once. You have no place here, and when our attorney arrives, we will gladly talk to you. Since we are already cooperating with the state police, your continued presence here feels sort of… intimidating.”

  The words made Ed smile and turn to look at the woman. She had on twin pistols, one on each thigh, now holstered. “But if you don’t put your gun up… I am going to really feel threatened and I might have to defend myself. Officer Parker is a witness in this harassment, but if you don’t put your gun up, you’re going to find yourself on the wrong end of mine, and I’m faster than any of you motherfuckers.”

  “Grandma, she swore,” Harry told Grandma Goldie.

  “Hush your mouth, this is getting good,” Goldie scolded.

  “You can’t threaten an officer. That is another law broken,” Ed blustered, finding the steel in his voice again, “but for now…” He made a move to holster his gun, then stepped back, trying to pull it back up quickly.

  “Put your—”

  Officer Buckley gulped. He had never seen a human move as fast as Anna had. She drew left-handed, jamming the pistol into Officer Buckley’s stomach, just under the vest, the other hand had quite literally…

  “She’s got you by the balls Buckley,” Officer Parker said simply. “Let your gun drop, two fingers.”

  Ed looked at Officer Parker, who still had her gun pointed at his head. Swallowing hard, and with as little movement as possible, he let the gun dangle from his fingers before dropping it.

  “These belong to me,” Anna said hissing, giving his scrotum a savage squeeze before letting go and backing up, “you’re my bitch now.”

  Officer Buckley fell down to his knees, retching. He wanted to scream and threaten more, but he had just been bested by a woman who was barely a buck thirty, give or take what boots she was wearing and how much was on her vest. He was debating not even mentioning he had come inside of the house now.

  “Officer Buckley,” Sherry said, “you’re under arrest.” She pulled her cuffs out.

  “For what?” he croaked.

  Rob stepped forward, gently pushing Anna back. “Because you’re an asshole we just let live. In your whole ignorant fucking life, you want to bust in here? Where you were outnumbered thirteen to one? And you still thought you could bully us around?”

  “Thirteen?” Buckley asked, tears running down his cheeks as he tried to get to his feet.

  “I could have sicced the dogs on you,” Rob pointed out.

  Buckley turned and saw both large dogs had taken up position behind him, on either side of the doorway. Ranger was showing teeth in a silent snarl. Roscoe looked like he was ready… for a nap. When Buckley looked right at him though, Roscoe showed his own teeth and let out a growl that sounded a lot like the John Deere combine, when it was fired up for the first time after it had sat all season without being used.

  “Are you really arresting me?” he asked Officer Parker.

  “Place your hands behind your back, or I’ll have somebody assist you.”

  “Oh, pick me, pick me?” Leah said, jumping up and down, her hand raised in the air.

  “No, my turn,” Curt said, walking to Rob’s side. “Our families have had enough of those sworn to protect us abusing their power.” Curt sneered at the panicked and pained look on Buckley’s face.

  “I think once we cuff him, I can walk him outside myself,” Officer Parker said.

  “Are you sure? Like, without help, er… I mean witnesses, he might fall down and go boom,” Steven offered.

  “Fall down, go boom?” Sherry asked, an eyebrow raised, a smirk on her face.

  “FDGB. It’s what my momma and papa call it,” Harry told her helpfully.

  “I think I’m in the twilight zone,” Parker complained, pushing Ed past the two dogs, who followed them out.

  “Ranger, Roscoe, HEEL UP,” Rob thundered, making Officer Parker startle.

  The dogs went to the big man's side and sat. Roscoe looked longingly at Andrea, who patted her good leg. Roscoe looked up at the biggest alpha, silently asking permission.

  “Go protect her, boy,” Rob said, patting the dog on top of his head.

  Roscoe went to the recliner and carefully sniffed Andrea, checking her for any new injuries. She started giggling when he tried to push her good arm up and his nose hit her in the side ribs, her tickle spot. Then he sat down next to her, putting his head on the arm rest of the reclined chair.

  WOOF.

  “See, even Roscoe is tired of this shit. Let’s get washed up and go to bed,” Curt said.

  He jumped when Goldie popped him in the ass. “No swearing!”

  “I thought you threw away the spoon,” Curt said to Dante, terror in his voice.

  “Hell no, nobody touches Grandma Goldie’s spoon!”

  Twenty-Nine

  Andrea looked at the x-rays, hating the results. The cast on her leg and wrist was still there, but the rest of her was mostly healed from the injuries caused by the attack on her. Everything except the scars and the memories. She was looking at the fracture x-ray on her femur, shaking her head.

  “You know these things can take three to six months,” Dante said.

  “I know, but it’s been a while now, and I want to walk on my own leg,” she whined, sounding like a pouty little girl.

  “At least now you can get around on crutches,” Leah encouraged. “Drive yourself. Get into… shenanigans.”

  “Heh,” Andrea said with a smirk. “I hear that. By the way, who is taking a pregnancy test?” she asked, pointing at the trash can.

  Dante had been holding her folder and suddenly his hands went numb and he dropped it, scattering their own version of a hospital chart on the floor.

  “I am,” Leah said.

  “You’re taking the test, or you’re pregnant?” Dante asked. “Because the way you said that it could go both ways.”

  “Why don’t you look at the test for yourself,” Andrea suggested, poking around in the garbage, and using a tissue to pull out a drug store test.

  “You know these things aren’t 100% and even then, we don’t know how far along…”

  “You’re pregnant?” Dante shouted. “How did this happen?”

  “Come here and I’ll show you,” Leah purred.

  Andrea took that as her cue and got her crutch and hobbled out of the medic
al center. Roscoe was miffed he had to wait outside, but as soon as he saw her get into the side by side, he joined her. He put his head on her shoulder a minute, then let the weight off. She drove away from their little doctor's office they had started calling the medical building or the ‘baby ER’. She could still hear them yelling in happiness.

  It had been a random circumstance that she had seen the pregnancy test on the top of the garbage they had not taken out yet. She knew what a positive result looked like on those because she never herself had one. She was happy her friend was hopefully pregnant and would carry to term with zero complications and deliver a happy and healthy baby. But she did admit to herself, she was a little jealous.

  As they neared the main house, Roscoe jumped off and started towards the trees, his loud booming hunting bark joined a moment later by Ranger’s higher pitched yelp, who had been following Harry and Rob around. They’d been working on separating out some of the female piglets to replace some of the older sows and getting a pen of baby boars up so Rob could band them, a more humane way of neutering them than what he’d learned how to do as a kid. When Ranger took off after Roscoe, the menfolk looked at each other, then followed.

  Andrea saw the guys headed after Roscoe and Ranger, so she drove the side by side up to them.

  “Follow those dogs,” Harry said pointing, laughing as Rob climbed into the back.

  “What are they chasing?” Andrea asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Rob said from behind her.

  They accelerated and caught up with Ranger, who was sniffing the tall bushes next to what they called their ‘woodlot’, the rocky, treed area where Angelica and Harry had found themselves after their cave episode. Roscoe let out a loud series of hunting barks again and Ranger took off like a shot. Soon, Roscoe was baying and the three of them were having a hard time keeping up with Ranger, even with the Kawasaki's motor wide open.

  “Over there,” Rob pointed over Andrea's shoulder.

  They had been driving around the outside of the rocky area, but as Rob pointed, they caught a glimpse of Roscoe, just as he tore off into the woods.

  “We’ll bring them back,” Rob said as they came to a stop.

  “You don’t think I can chase them down?” Andrea asked Harry.

  “No ma’am not till you get that cast off at least. Come on,” Rob urged Harry, anxious to go.

  “Got it,” Harry said, finding the release to his seat belt.

  They took off. Andrea was content to sit there, listening to the dogs and boys crash through the woods. The heat had not been horrible, neither had the bugs. The sunlight seemed to relax her shoulders. She closed her eyes a moment, waiting to hear them calling the dogs off from running a wild pig, or maybe a deer. It happened from time to time. The farm was good for Andrea’s soul. She was feeling, for the first time of her life, relaxed.

  That all shattered when a lady screamed bloody murder.

  Rob heard the scream just as a panting Harry and Ranger found Roscoe. Rob was three steps behind them and slid to a stop, his hand automatically going to the pistol he wore everywhere now.

  “Easy Roscoe,” Rob said, seeing the big dog’s mouth close to the woman’s throat.

  He would never have believed that Roscoe would ever hurt somebody, but he could not call Anna a liar after the telling, and the great big dog had been bloody. He had felt his family had been threatened and had used appropriate force to end the threat. Was this appropriate?

  Roscoe was sitting on a woman who struggled against his weight. He had put a paw on her neck and was trying to lick her face. She tried rolling, making the big dog think she wanted to play rough housing. He chuffed at her, as if to tell her no, and then licked the side of her head some more.

  “Can’t… breathe…” the woman said, her voice coming out in gasps.

  “Roscoe, heel,” Rob said loudly.

  Roscoe turned to see him and the boy standing there, then got off slowly, walking to Rob’s side. The woman rolled over, gasping for breath as she got on her hands and knees, and pushing herself up.

  “Who is it?” Harry asked.

  “Don’t know yet,” Rob said, pulling his gun, but he kept it aimed at the ground. “Ranger, protect,” he commanded, pointing to Harry with his free hand. Ranger sat beside Harry, who put his arms around the big dog, hugging him.

  Roscoe followed Rob.

  “Get up,” Rob said to the woman.

  “The dog, what is he?” the girl asked, her hair in her face.

  “The vet says he’s half Great Dane, half Mastiff. I think he looks like a mutated hound dog. What he is though, is a couple hundred pounds of ‘why the fuck are you on our property?’”

  The last bit came out in a snarl, making the woman flinch. She flipped her hair out of her face and turned to Rob.

  “Jennifer,” he said, surprised, putting the gun back in the holster. “Are you ok?” He held a hand out, steadying her.

  “Yeah, it’s just… that dog tackled me and sat on me.”

  “What are you doing here, Jennifer?”

  “I’m… I was taking a walk and got turned around,” she said, though Rob had his doubts as to her truthfulness.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No. Are they safe?” She asked looking at the dogs as she brushed herself off.

  “Ranger is,” Harry told her, “unless you’re a bad guy, or a goat humper. Papa says that Ranger would tear the--”

  “Harry,” Rob admonished, “stop it, or I’m telling your Nana.”

  Harry slid one hand over his backside, in fear of the wooden spoon he had never had used on him before.

  “Roscoe is probably ok, but he’s had about two years less training than Ranger. He mostly sits on people and waits on us slow pokes.”

  “He nearly smothered me to death.”

  “So, what are you really doing out here, Miss Jennifer?” Harry asked, earning a sharp look from Rob.

  “I’m just lost, that’s all. Can I go?” she asked.

  “Follow us,” Rob said and repeated the path they took in the woods. They came out next to the side by side with Andrea waiting anxiously.

  “Andrea, you remember our neighbor Jennifer?”

  “She’s the one whose ass got monkey stomped by Angelica?” Andrea asked, recognizing the woman.

  Harry giggled and got on the back of the side by side behind Andrea.

  “Yes,” Jennifer said. “I got turned around while taking a walk and—”

  “There’s new fencing, all around the farm,” Rob said, shaking his head as if to show her he knew she was lying.

  “And we’ve got fences all over the place too. I duck or climb some, go around others. It’s easy to get turned around and not know whose fence you just dodged.”

  “But our fence is brand new,” Rob reiterated.

  “And Big Red is a goddamned jackass,” she snapped back. “Half our fencing has been replaced as well.”

  That made sense to Rob.

  “I… I’m sorry,” Rob said. “It’s just that with everything that’s gone on with the docs and here at the farm… I thought somebody had broken in and was going to attack us again.”

  “Y'all been in the national news, for a good six weeks already. Maybe more,” Jennifer said. “Honestly, we’ve all been walking fences. If it isn’t Big Red pushing down fences, then we’re worried about the yahoos trying to go through our farm to get at yours from the sides.”

  Rob had not thought about that either.

  “That makes perfect sense. Andrea, Roscoe pushed her down and was pinning her in place. Can you take a quick peek at her? Make sure she isn’t hurt worse than she’s letting on?”

  “Sure, come here, monkey ass,” she said sweetly.

  “Forget about it,” Jennifer said darkly, anger in her voice.

  “Ok, I’m sorry,” Andrea said. “That wasn’t fair, but those words always make me giggle.”

  “You know, they did to me too, when I wasn’t getting my monkey ass stomped,�
�� Jennifer admitted. “You boys turn around now.”

  Rob and Harry shot her a quizzical look.

  “If I’m hurt, it’s somewhere under my shirt,” she said, then made a twirling motion with her fingers.

  Both turned to face away from her. Jennifer lifted her shirt over her head, showing Andrea.

  “No sharp pains?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “You’re going to have a bruise on your side and one on your back. It looks like you fell on something.”

  “Stupid rocks,” Jennifer told her. “That’s about what I figured, some bumps and a couple of bruises.” She pulled her shirt back down. “You boys are safe now to look.”

  They both turned back around.

  “Want a lift home?” Andrea asked.

  “Sure,” Jennifer said.

  “We’ve got our radios if you need us,” Rob told Andrea. “Roscoe, go with.”

  The Kawasaki side by side shifted as the big dog climbed in the back.

  “Come on sport,” Rob said mussing Harry’s hair. “Ranger, heel up.”

  “Do you think it was your bull that stretched the fence?” Andrea asked when they were driving down a set of old trails that led between the farms.

  “I have no idea. That bull… all he likes to do is sleep, fight and fuck. I guess it depends on which two of the three he was trying to do.”

  “Sounds like my man,” Andrea said with a giggle.

  “What?” Jennifer said, shocked.

  “Curt. He’s the Real Estate guy.”

  “I thought he was the doctor?”

  “You’re probably thinking of Dante,” she said with a smile. “My Curt wants to do so much more around here. What he doesn’t realize is he’s like the ooey gooey stuff that keeps our herd together.”

  “Really, an Ice Age reference there, Sid?”

  Andrea burst into giggles. “Yeah, sorry. Harry loves that movie… Just found out my best friend is pregnant. I’m happy for her because she’s always wanted a baby and it’s just never happened.”

  “It’s never happened until now,” Jennifer said, “and you’ve suddenly got baby fever?”

  “It’s hard enough with little Harry around. I’m just happy that Little Rob doesn’t mind his son having a ton of extra aunts and uncles, because none of us have experience with kids.”