Better Days

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Jim saw the boy had a stick in his hand and was trying to brain him with it. He smiled to himself. It was so obvious the boy had no combat training. He was holding the stick over his head to bring it down onto Jim. Jim watched and waited, then when the arm came down he grabbed it twisted and began to dislocate it when he heard movement behind him. He twisted, still pulling the boy with him and threw him toward and into Pete.

The boy Jim had thrown screamed and crumpled, falling on top of Pete. By them Sam had ran up and was holding his gun on Pete. Jim stood and looked around then down at the boy he had thrown into Pete. He was lying in a pool of blood and holding his side where a knife was sticking from his body.

Sam was talking into his microphone as Jim looked on. Jim saw Calvin floundering in the mill pond trying to climb out. He ran to the pond and pulled him from it only to see him grabbed and hugged by the young girl. He said, "You two kids go over there and sit down a minute. I'm sure Sam will want to talk to you before we get you home."

Jim returned to Sam and helped him cuff Pete then, after Sam cuffed the man with the dislocated arm he helped with the injured young man. They had just done all the bandaging they could when first a sheriff's deputy, then a highway patrol car drove into the lot. Shortly thereafter an ambulance arrived.

By this time many of the nearby neighbors had began to drift over to see what the excitement was about. Needless to say Jim didn't get any more work done that day. As the officers were taking statements a very pretty woman in her mid to late thirties arrived and ran to Calvin and the young girl. Jim could see the tears running down her cheeks as she hugged the children.

After all the statements were taken the woman came up to Jim and said, "Thank you sir. You saved my son's life or at least saved him from a worse beating than he received. He's a good boy and was trying to protect his sister from that animal. Pete has been trying to...well, he's been after Sarah to go out with him. She's only 14 and I don't want her dating yet, especially with a 19 year old boy. OH! I'm sorry, I'm Cheryl Dotson and these are my children."

Cheryl smiled slightly and pushed her children toward the road and town before she continued speaking. She said, "I need to get the kids home now but...well, thank you again. If I can ever help you just call. I don't know how else I can thank you. I owe you so much but I don't have much money since their father died..."

Jim smiled at the young mother and said, "You don't owe me anything Cheryl. I just did what needed to be done. Hell, anyone would have helped if they'd been here."

Cheryl jerked her head back toward Jim and stared at him then she said heatedly, "NO! No, they wouldn't have. Pete and his friends have most of the people in town buffaloed and I'm pretty sure no one would have stepped in like you did. There have been a couple who crossed swords with Pete and they've been hurt pretty badly in accidents. No one can prove Pete had anything to do with it but they both blamed him for what happened. He pushes and bully's all the younger people in town and some of the older ones. I'm really scared when he gets back out of jail."

Jim continued to run on the roads around town. After they got over the surprise of seeing a grown man running down the street many of the townsfolk would wave and call a greeting when Jim ran by. On one of his runs he found where Calvin and his sister lived. He saw the little girl in the front window and Calvin was sitting on the front porch petting a midsized dog. They waved as Jim passed. From then on when he ran past their house he looked for the children and made a point of waving to them or speaking if they were close enough. They seemed like good kids. He was beginning to wonder what their and their mother's story was.

Over the weeks after the little altercation Jim was a small town celebrity but then things returned mostly to normal. People would now stop him from time to time to visit with him and he was becoming a recognized member of the community.

Throughout the days following his altercation with Pete and his friends the renovations to the millworks went on well. Jim climbed around, cleaned parts, greased parts, tightened bolts and reinforced the machinery as needed. He had to hire a little help with some welding and breaking loose some of the larger bolts but all in all he did the work himself. He made plans to do a test run of the grinding wheel on the third Saturday of October. During his visits with his neighbors Jim had told a few of the people, including Sam, who had stopped by to visit while he was finishing up the work, when he planned to test the mechanism in the mill.

Jim bought several bushels of corn and wheat from the Stevens farm to use as a test. He had read all he could on the internet about operating the old mill and had even taken a two day trip to visit an old grist mill that was still in operation. When the operators found out he was restoring Wilsons' Mill they gave him some instruction and demonstrated what he needed to do.

The morning he was to actually operate the mill for the first time he was surprised to find a large crowd gathering to watch. There was a festive atmosphere and many of the townsfolk had brought coolers and yard chairs. Almost everyone politely asked if they could stay and watch. Jim was surprised but gracefully allowed them to stay with the understanding they stayed out of the area where the mill machinery was. Traffic and attendance got so heavy that Sam actually called for a deputy sheriff to help with controlling the crowd.

Finally Jim decided everything was ready for his test. He loaded wheat into the hopper on the second floor then returned to the first floor to begin grinding. He moved to the levers and controls. He engaged the waterwheel then opened the water gates to allow water to race down the flume and begin turning the water wheel. Slowly the weight of the water caused the wheel to turn. As it began turning there was a groan, then a grinding sound and the great stone grinding wheels began moving. When they were at speed Jim opened the chute and allowed the wheat to begin flowing down to the grinding wheels.

Those who could see let out a cheer when the wheels started turning then once again they cheered when the first flour poured down the exit chute and fell into a collection container.

After Jim ground two bushels of wheat he stopped the mill, reset the equipment, loaded corn into the hopper and then restarted the machinery to grind some corn meal. Once again the crowd cheered as they watched the freshly ground cornmeal flow into its collection container.

After the two bushels of corn were ground Jim closed the flume, waited for the mill to stop turning then unhitched the waterwheel from the grinding machinery so it could not start up accidentally. He walked outside onto the covered porch to see the crowd. When he exited the building they let out a roar and surged toward him. Jim walked down onto the gravel lot and accepted the congratulations and handshakes of his neighbors, many of whom had already became his friends.

It was almost 4 p.m. before the last person left and Jim could relax. He was so pumped he didn't know what to do and his face almost hurt from the constant smile he had all day. One of the last persons who had been there had been an older man and he invited Jim to go to the Steelville Senior Center for supper and the weekly Senior Center dance. He said, "Jim we all have been talking and seeing as how you're new and don't have a wife...Awww Shit! Jim I'm sorry. I know you lost your wife a while back. What I meant to say was that there's a lot more single women around here than men and we all would like to have ya come over and eat and visit with us."

Jim hadn't promised one way or another but the more he thought about it the more he wanted to go. Mostly he wanted to meet more of the people who lived around his new home but he also didn't feel like cooking that night and the thought of eating there won him over.

When Jim walked into the room at the Senior Center he stopped to look around. He noticed the rapid lessening of the noise as everyone saw a new face enter. Jim immediately felt out of place. He was obviously the youngest person there at 45. Most of the other people looked like they were in their late 50's or older. Jim was looking for some place to sit when he saw a familiar face. Jim and Ann Fielding were at a table to the side of the room. He walked up to say hello then he planned to find another seat. He was still operating on the old, Active Duty Military social rules. You made your manners to the Brass then found another table to sit at as was proper.

As he approached the table Jim Fielding stood and smiled. He reached his hand out to shake and they stood visiting for a moment. Jim began to make his excuses to leave when Jim Fielding looked surprised and said, "Whoa there Hoss. Where the heck do you think you're off to? Ann and I have a couple of empty chairs here. Unless you have someone else waiting on you why don't you just sit with us?"

Jim stood a moment then said, "Yes Sir." He then moved toward one of the free chairs.

After SGM Ross took his seat Jim Fielding sat and leaned on the table. He looked over at Jim and pursed his lips. Finally he said, "Jim I don't want to embarrass you but I think we need to clear the air here. I know what you were trying to do there when you were going to leave. That would have been the proper thing to do if we were still on active duty. We're both retired now and I would like to think we're friends. I'm not a Colonel any longer and you're not a Sergeant Major. Oh, I know we would carry those ranks if we were both called back onto active duty. If we were recalled we would have to observe the proprieties but here and now we're both Jim and this is Ann. I know the boys don't expect you to call them by their rank or to defer to them and I don't either. We all live and work together in the community and are just home folks now. Now if you really don't want to eat with us that's one thing but if you were worried about rank, just drop it. We're both old soldiers. We're neighbors more or less, and I would appreciate it if we could just hang together here."

Jim smiled and said, "Sure Colonel, uh Jim. I knew that things were more relaxed after you retired. I just wasn't thinking on several levels. I just assumed you had someone coming to join you and I just fell back on old habits. I would be pleased to share your table sir."

"Jim around here, whether we are in the café, the Senior Center or wherever we just sit in an empty chair if we want to visit with or eat with whoever is already at the table. If they have someone coming to join them they let you know or their guest pulls up another table or chair if need be."

After the meal, served buffet style, each person took their plates back to the scullery. A small band walked onto the stage where their instruments were already set up and began to play. Slowly the dance floor filled with couples. Jim sat and watched as Jim and Ann Fielding danced. When they returned to the table Ann smiled at Jim and held out her hand. She pulled him to his feet and let him lead her to the dance floor.

Jim didn't even get to sit down when he took Ann back to the table. A short plump blue haired woman walked up to Jim and took his hand. She tugged him toward the dance floor and as he followed she looked over her shoulder and said, "Hi. I'm Doris. I've seen ya at the café over here in town a time or two haven't I? Joe said he'd invited a new man to come tonight. I wanted to get my claws into you first but I see Ann beat me. A bunch of us here like to dance and these old men get tired out too easily. I hope you can keep it up longer than some of them." She gave Jim a wicked grin when she said that.

Doris pulled Jim up near the stage and turned moving into his arms. As the dance progressed she moved closer and closer to him until she was rubbing her breasts and abdomen against him. When that dance ended Jim started to return to his seat and another woman grabbed him and pulled him onto the dance floor. He had to dance three more dances before the band took a break and he staggered back to his chair.

Jim Fielding and Ann were smiling at him when he returned. He collapsed into his chair and took a large drink from his glass. He leaned back and Jim broke out into a big guffaw. Ann's smile just got larger. Jim Fielding leaned toward Jim and said, "I don't want to be lecturing an old soldier like you Jim but a word to the wise might be in order. Some of the unattached and even a few of the attached ones call this the Meat Market. A lot of these 'Ladies' are piranhas. They latch onto any man they can, especially a new visitor to the dances and won't let him go. "

"From time to time the women here almost come to blows over a particularly good catch in a man. If you are looking to sleep around and don't mind an older woman this is the place to find one. Take Doris for example. She was the first one you danced with in case you forgot. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't try to get you to go home with her or to come home with you." Jim Fielding blushed and gave a sick smile. He looked over at Ann and she nodded her head yes. He continued talking, "Doris there has even been known to take a man outside in the parking lot and have relations with him. Back when I was divorced I came to a couple of these dances and made the mistake of going home with her. We had sex and I figured out within a couple of weeks that had been a serious error. She showed up at my home one day wanting to move in some of her clothes. We had quite a row when I refused to let her. Additionally, she isn't too particular who she has sex with and never requires protection. She has been known to pass on a disease or two so a word to the wise my friend. A word to the wise."

Jim felt himself becoming more and more shocked as Jim Fielding talked. Hell the women here acted like the sluts in some of the bars outside military posts, they were just older. He leaned back in his chair and stared across the table at the couple. Finally he found his voice and said, "Damn. I never would have believed...Man, that's a lot to think about. They don't care that I would be several years younger than they are? I mean I can see I am probably the youngest man, hell, the youngest person in here by several years. Whooo Hooo."

He was still sitting in shock when Doris trotted up to his side again. She smiled and reached for his hand to pull him back onto the dance floor. Jim looked up at her and resisted her attempts. She frowned and said, "What's the matter Honey? Come on. I want to dance more now."

Jim looked over at the Fieldings and pulled back on Doris. As she stepped toward him he said, "Doris, I'm pretty tired right now. I worked all day and just need to sit and relax a little; would you just sit here with me a moment please?"

Doris frowned and looked at the Fieldings then she sat beside Jim. Jim Fielding turned to Ann and held out his hand. "Honey would you like one more dance before we leave?" Ann smiled and rose to follow her husband onto the dance floor.

After the Fieldings had left Jim turned to Doris. They visited about the town and his mill for a few moments then he said, "Thanks for the dance Doris and for wanting to dance more but I think I need to clear the air with you and some of the other ladies here. I lost my wife less than a year ago and I'm still not comfortable thinking of other women. I enjoyed our dances and if I ever come back here I would be pleased to dance with you again. I am not ready for a relationship though and I don't want you or any of the other ladies to think I am leading them on. I plan to limit myself to one dance an evening with any one lady so nothing can be assumed about my intentions."

Doris sat and looked at him a moment then said, "Well you sanctimonious prick. I heard ya was a retired Army Man. Hell, one of my husbands was in the army and I know how you all are. You'd fuck anything ya could talk into holding still long enough to get your cock into it. What's the matter. You too good for all us old women? Or did that bastard Jim Fielding fill your head full of his crap about me?"

Doris jumped from her chair and turned to walk off. As she was leaving she said vehemently, "Well you can just go to hell Mr. High and Mighty. You'll come crawling back here one of these days and beg us to go with you when you find out there's no young stuff like you're used to."

Jim and Ann returned as Doris was flouncing off. They sat down once more and Jim said, "Well old friend. Sounds like you got about the same speech I got when I told her I didn't want to date her either. She is right about one thing though. There aren't many women your age around here. When you get ready to look again though you will have a couple to choose from or you can go to one of the larger towns. We mostly have very young divorcees or older widows like you see here."

About midnight Jim decided to return to his home and go to bed. When Jim arrived at his truck he started to walk between it and the car parked next to it. He noticed the car was rocking and he heard moaning coming from within. Jim looked into the back seat and saw Doris under one of the men she had been dancing with earlier. She had one leg over the back of the seat and the other over the front seat back. Her hips were thrusting upward as her lovers thrust downward. She was moaning and screaming out her pleasure. Jim stood and watched in surprise as she hit her peak. She strained against her lover and screamed. In the dim light he could see each of the lovers crotches throbbing and pulsating as Doris accepted the spend of her lover. Jim smiled to himself and thought, yep, just like the sluts in the bars around military bases. Sure glad Jim warned me about her.

Jim continued his journey between the vehicles, entered his truck and drove off heading for home and his soft, warm but lonely bed. He slept late the next morning and decided to take the day off.

Around dusk Jim took his fishing line and decided to see if he could catch some trout from around his mill wheel. He was deeply engrossed in his endeavor when he once again heard young voices nearby. As the voices began to rise he could tell they were taunting someone.

Jim crawled from the machinery supports and walked around the corner to see Pete's two uninjured friends taunting Calvin once again. Jim yelled at them and told them to get off his property. After they had left Calvin walked up to Jim and thanked him once again for helping him. He stood looking at Jim for a minute then in a trembling voice he asked, "Sir, I been seeing you run around town and I see you here doing exercises some days too. I heard you used to be a soldier and I was wondering...Could you maybe help me. I'm tired of those guys picking on me and Sarah and I thought maybe you could show me how you kept them from hurting you the other day?"

Jim stood looking at the earnest expression on the boys face. He was a well developed lad but he looked soft. Finally he asked, "Why me son? Why don't you ask your Father to do help you with that?"

"I can't do that sir. My Daddy died from Cancer a couple years ago and now it's only Mother and Sarah and me. I could pay if you didn't want too much if that's the problem."

"No, Son. I don't need or want your money. Tell ya what. You get your mother to come down here so we can talk about it and if she says its ok maybe I'll help you a little. I would expect you to work hard and do everything I said though. I wouldn't take any excuses and there might be times you would hate me before we got done. Now why don't you go home and think about this. Talk it over with your mother then if you still want to do that you all need to come down here and we'll see what happens."

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