Page 29 of Pete and His Precious

“We’re looking forward to the tour. The children are excited.”

While Verity talks to Arley about the tour schedule, Jan and I work on getting the children herded into a semblance of order. I listen, so I can be proactive if I need to take the kids somewhere besides here.

“My nephew will be coming soon,” Arley says. “He got held up with a calf this morning. We’ll have a new baby to show you, but in the meantime, he wanted to get it checked before everything got crazy.”

“Totally understandable,” Verity says. “How many animals do you have on the farm?”

I shush the kids, and tell them that Arley is going to tell us about the animals on the farm.

They get quiet, because they’re curious. But I can tell they’re anxious to run around a little bit. Maybe I’ll suggest to Verity that we let them do something that has a lot of action, before we make them try to walk sedately around.

“We have twenty-five head of beef cattle. Not nearly the number that my husband and I had ten years ago, which was closer to four hundred. It was a lot of work, and once he passed away, I just couldn’t handle it anymore. My nephew comes and helps me, and we still make and sell hay, and we have some corn as well. Plus, we have a small herd of goats, which the children will love, some horses, geese and ducks on the ponds, and we have a small chicken coop with about twenty laying hens. I should have a just-laid-today egg for everybody.”

That sounded pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind having an egg that was just laid today. Maybe that’s just me. But the idea of eating something that fresh, really speaks to me. Plus, I love eggs, but as crazy expensive as what they are, I have to stick to my beans and rice.

Arley keeps talking, and the kids actually listen. I am impressed with them and a little bit proud too.

I bend over to say something to Kathleen, who stands beside me, poking my leg.

As I am talking to her, I think about how much Bexley would love this. But she is just a little too old.

Regardless, I stand up, and immediately my eyes are drawn to the man who now stands beside Arley. She is introducing him as her nephew.

I guess I’m not sure who I thought her nephew was going to be, some young kid who looked like a farmhand, I guess. But, I almost fall over when I realize I am staring into the eyes of my neighbor. The cop who arrested me. Pete McKinzie.

Chapter 9

Pete

I was not expecting to see Zoe here today. It throws me for a loop at first, because, while I was prepared to lead a group of kids around and be uncomfortable for a couple of hours, just to make Aunt Arley feel good, since this is something she and my uncle did every year, and she hated to give it up, even though she’s slowed down a lot over the last couple of years. But, I wasn’t prepared to be uncomfortable because Zoe is in the group.

I have to say, I’m not as uncomfortable as I might have thought I would have been. Especially since we talked last night.

In fact, she smiles at me, and I find myself giving her a little grin back. I think again about talking to her last night while she was in her booth, and learning a little bit about her. Finding out that she had always been able to do voices, and that other people found her voice just as appealing as I did.

That was kind of nice.

Then the kids start moving around, and I start to feel the way I usually do when there are children close to me. Like, I have no idea what to do. I’m the kind of person who likes to be in control of situations. And, with children, there is no control. You might be able to corral them for a while, but you can’t depend on them listening to you or obeying. At least in my estimation you can’t.

“And, we don’t have Holsteins, the black and white cows that are in most picture books and toys, anymore. Those are dairy cows, and we sold them.” Aunt Arley has finished with her explanation of everything that goes on at the farm, and she looks around the group. “Are there any questions?”

The kids who were starting to wander off got herded back into the group by the librarian, Verity. She and Zoe seem to be friends.

I’m not sure who the other lady is, but I assume that the kid who’s plastered to her side is hers. And that’s how she got roped into this.

“Are we going to get a tractor ride?” One of the kids says, and Verity smiles benignly and looks at Aunt Arley.

“I believe Pete has the tractor and wagon hooked up, and he’s got some haybales in it. And he’s going to take you on a ride around the farm.”

That’s true, I plan to, but I don’t say anything, because what is there to say to that, and just stand there. I feel dumb, but I know this is making my aunt feel good, so I try to convince myself that I’m having fun. Unsuccessfully.

“All right then, kids, if you don’t have any other questions, what should we do first?” Verity says to Aunt Arley.

“Pete has not fed the goats yet today, and I thought the children might enjoy doing that. They can all stick their hand in that bucket.”

She points to the bucket I’m holding. She asked me to bring it out first, so we could do the goats before we left for the ride.

“You can get a handful of feet. Try not to drop it on the ground, because whenever you drop they can’t eat today.”

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