The Pride of Howard County

by Kevin Bachman

  Chapter 22

  Summer was slipping away much to Lucky and Muncie’s relief. The scorching dog days of August are not particularly fun times for a couple of dogs who live to run and play. They sought relief from the heat under Gus’s porch. The flies and gnats that constantly buzzed about Lucky’s head drove her crazy. But what really drove her crazy was that damn ground hog. Lucky had managed to ambush a couple of the younger ground hogs lived about the farm and they paid the ultimate price for living on her farm. The coyotes had a whole new respect for her now that she’d teamed up with the big brown dog. Muncie was really not much of a fighter like Lucky but he was big and the coyotes found him intimidating. Lucky heard the wild dogs yipping in the night and tried to get at them but they didn’t seem to come around like they used to.

  Early in the mornings Lucky and Muncie got let out of their respective homes and teamed up to make their rounds about the farm. They were without doubt royalty in the animal kingdom. They got to live with the humans and enjoy the good life of food and shelter. While the other animals were in constant survival mode, Lucky and Muncie had the luxury of play time and hours upon hours of napping throughout the day. Thanks to monthly medicine given to them, they didn’t have the problem of ticks, fleas and other parasites that plagued the other creatures in the kingdom. They rode around in the back of the truck, swam in the Piney , slept under the porch, chased rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs, got fed a bowl of Ol Roy twice a day, begged for treats, snacks and beer and then sprawled out on dog beds in the air conditioned comfort of the farmers houses.

  Although it was still warm in the afternoons, autumn was definitely in the air. The two farmers were making the preparations to begin the harvest. With nearly eight hundred acres of milo, soybeans, and corn in the ground and winter wheat to plant Gus and John’s days were planned.

  John had planted most of this and with amazement watched it grow throughout the summer. He had watched it sprout after the spring rains, emerging from Mother Earth and magically turn brown dirt into green fields of lush life. Despite the deer feasting on the tender shoots, the summer storms and periods of no rain the plants continued to grow. The winds blew through the fields causing great tides of waves and still they grew. The sun burned down on them from above along with one hundred degree days causing their leaves to whither and yet they clung to life. Despite it all these plants produced the substance that would feed cattle and man alike. Now it was this young farmer’s privilege to harvest this miracle and share it with the world. It was long days of driving the combine up and down the seemingly endless fields of row crops, emptying the hopper full of grain into the back of semi-tractor trailer trucks which would take the grain to market. It was hot, heavy, dirty work but John wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

  Gus and John were sitting on the porch one Saturday evening watching the waves of Canadian geese honking their way through Howard County on the way to their winter home. Lucky and Muncie were lazily wrestling out on the lawn. The leaves of the Poison Ivy and Sumac had turned blood red and some of the trees had begun to show their colors as well. They had yet to talk about John’s sexual orientation and the silence was beginning to feel to John as if it were still a secret. He had no intention of dwelling on the matter but had learned that just one conversation about such things seemed to clean things up.

  It was Gus who brought it up by asking about Terry. John took this as an acknowledgment of his relationship. Gus asked a couple of questions about Terry such as what he did for a living and where he lived. The old farmer suggested that he join them for dinner sometime. John was once again in awe of his boss and from that day forward Terry was a regular visitor to the farm. Gus was a little uncomfortable at first but that went away after Terry spent a few Saturdays helping out on the farm. Once they got to know each other they became friends. Gus never could really grasp the whole gay thing but calculated it wasn’t something he was going to spend any time trying to figure out.

  John tried to explain it by asking Gus what his favorite color was. Gus replied, “Well, I guess it’s blue.” John said, “No it’s not, its orange.

  The old man looked at John levelly. John continued, “From now on your favorite color is Orange whether you like it or not.

  After a few seconds of easy calculation Gus said, “Okay fella, I get it.”

  The one thing Gus knew for sure was when he was in his darkest hour it was John who stood by his side. It was John who kept the farm going and stood a vigil by his hospital bed. Abigail was now back in his life and it was John who had helped to make that happen. He had come to believe that this young man was a blessing in his life and it brought about a certain amount of shame when he thought back to how he had reacted.

  Every few weeks Gus found himself sitting at the dining room table with his lovely daughter, the best farm hand he’d ever had, his friend Terry and Terry’s two children. The sound of children running about the farm was music to the ears of the old farmer. He taught them how to collect eggs from the chickens, let them bottle feed the calves and of course they loved playing with Lucky and Muncie. They would say, “Do it again Uncle Gus,” after he’d pull a quarter out of their ear. They sat one on each knee and rubbed the whiskers on the old farmer’s face as they swung on the porch swing, they played alongside the Piney with Lucky and Muncie and explored Gus’s big spooky attic. They’d lie in bed as Gus told them the story about the pet wolf he’d had as a child and then he’d tuck them in after they’d fallen asleep.

  After dinner, they all pitched in to clear the table and wash the dishes. Gus, Abby, John and Terry shared stories past and present as they played cards in the formal dining room around the cherry wood table Gus had given Grace for their fortieth anniversary. Either John or Terry would build a fire in the fireplace and Abby would make a big to do out of her latest creative dessert.

  Before the roaring fire on those cool evenings they’d play a few hands of Gin Rummy as the kids roasted marsh mellows. After a while the conversation usually turned to Grace. Abby, John and Terry pretended to stare at their hand of cards but really they focused more on the memories Gus would share with them about his beloved wife. Sometimes the old mans voice would crack a little as he shared with them the mental images of the most beautiful woman in all of Howard County. Silence would fall onto the card game as the younger threesome swallowed hard and fought back tears as Gus talked of his wife. The love he had had for her was larger than any love any of them had ever known.

  Once, John was about to go out onto the porch when he happen to overhear Gus talking to Lucky. He had just poured her some beer and she drank it even though the bubbles tickled her nose. As she gazed into Gus’s eyes he would softly talk to her and rub her ears. “Yeah I know old girl, I miss her too.”

  John stood just inside the screen door and listened, obviously he was talking about Grace. Lucky and the old man had had this conversation many times. The depth of this love always touched John deeply. Sometimes it made him feel broken; but sometimes it made him feel there was hope he could be repaired. Gus’s ability to love someone so deeply inspired the young farmer. Maybe someday he would be able to love like that.

  Gus would sometimes tell Grace of his aches and pains and how he was now walking with a damn cane. Lucky would always want more beer but Gus would cut her off. The old farmer found himself torn between the life he had now and looking forward to the day when he joined Grace wherever it is old farmers and their wives go after farming.

  Gus and his lovely daughter, John, Terry and the kids had become something that felt like a family. After Gus lost Luke and then Abby and finally Grace he never imagined he’d ever have the chance for such a thing. He felt he was indeed a blessed man and he would sometimes look up at the gloriously starry night of Howard County and ponder why it was he who had been given this miracle.