Geek to Farm

"Cider."

On the patio she pulled Grody to her and ruffled his neck. "I may say this the wrong way round but here goes. We need to buy a truck."

"Why?"

"An SUV is nice in the city but on a farm it is rather useless."

I nodded. "As soon as there is a farm with my name on it, the SUV goes."

"It will have to be a double cab," Melanie said with just a little too much glitter in those beautiful eyes and I put my glass down.

"What is going on here?"

"I found us a farm," she said and a deep blush crept over her face. "If you are prepared to move out of state."

It took seconds for me to process what she had said and I jumped up. "Where?"

She giggled and looked up into the leaves of the birch above her as if toying with me. "First, ask me why we need a double cab."

"Ok, so why do we need....." My tongue went lame and I just stared at her as a smile as wide as the horizon spread across my face. "Don't tell me...."

She nodded vigorously. "I missed my period long ago but thought nothing of it. This morning I got the results. We are expecting the patter of small feet, sleepless nights and dirty nappies."

I hugged her to me and we laughed while kissing as if there was no tomorrow. At long last we sat down again and she sat there looking at me with a smug expression.

"At the end of the harvest a beautiful farm will be on the market," she said softly. "We can go into a rental agreement or we can rent to own or even buy it outright but we definitely do not have the money for that. Not yet anyway. The current owners are moving to warmer climes and as neither of their kids have any interest in the farm, they want to sell it or rent it to someone who will appreciate it and not let it go to ruin. Someone with a passion."

Gooseflesh rode up my arms. "Where is it?"

She held up her hand. "Wait, let me finish. At the moment they are running a mixed set-up. A Simmental stud of around two hundred head. A small dairy with around fifty Jersey cows. Most of these cattle are kept on open grassland with added power feed supplied mostly from the fields on the farm. Currently about half of the arable soil is utilized. Main crops for commercial use include corn, sorghum, barley and a new venture of soy beans. There is a slightly arid slope of the mountain that runs into the farm and as it is protected from the cold winter winds a few plots of experimental plants have been introduced. Some in tunnels and others in the open air. On this venture the information is rather limited."

I just sat there. My head still trying to grasp what she had said. It was a trifle too much for someone as stupid as I was in the agricultural business but one thing was certain. This was too big. My knowledge was nil and keeping tabs on such a diverse operation would require skills I had none of. It was disappointing.

"You don't have anything to say?" she asked with a tinge of disappointment and I scratched my head.

"It is a little scary and too much or too big. I dunno," I mumbled. "Where is it?"

"You need some more information," she laughed. "There are four hands on the farm and have been there for many years. They know everything that needs to be known. A stipulation to the sale or rent is that they may not be fired or sent away unless they commit a serious crime. A trust fund for their monthly income is in place and should we not be able to make ends meet, the trust fund kicks in for their benefit. We, of course, do not share in that but we have to maintain the trust fund for as long as we make a profit. That is a non-negotiable."

I looked up at her. She was flushed with excitement. I was terrified. I had wanted a little farm to keep me happy. This was going to be a major thing for which I was not even almost ready and the more I thought of it, the scarier it felt. Having a little vegetable patch is one thing. Doing fifty or more acres of carrots or whatever is something completely different.

"Ok, where is it?" I asked nervously. "You don't seem to have the concerns I have."

She laughed with glee. "Sometimes the most hateful people can be so very helpful. Does Henshaw mean anything to you?"

I sat upright. "If it has anything to do with that sleaze ball or his family, you can count me out."

Once again she giggled and came around the table to hug me. "Mention the name Henshaw to the owners of this farm and you will hear language even a sailor will find a bit strong."

"Not friends?"

"A history going back to the Second World War when their Grandfather was captured and tortured by the Japanese because of the Henshaw Grandfather's cowardice. It continues to this day. A family feud like in the days of old. Making Tom crawl in his own shop made you a family hero."

"So where is this place of your fantasies?" I asked smiling even though I could swear I felt a trickle of sweat running down my back.

"About forty minutes from my parents. Against the Rockies. We drove past there on our way back from Nederland. Remember where we stopped at that lovely creek to watch the sunset?" I nodded. "That creek runs past the main house."

I gaped at her. "I called it God's garden."

She stood up, dropped her arms and held her hands out to me, palms open and a taunting smile playing on her face. "Yours for the taking Mr. Gough."

"So what's the catch?"

She giggled. "We have to be there this weekend. Daddy wants to show you something as well."

I snorted. "We are so not driving!" and her face became serious. "Can you take a day off on Friday?"

I chuckled. "Can be done. Henry does not hate me anymore."

Chapter 16

Mary picked us up at Denver airport late afternoon and took us straight to 'Slopes of Caledonia'. There I met Jason and Linda McIlhenny. Both in their early seventies and although still very healthy they made it clear that they wanted to move further south soon where they had a house at some marina.

Mary left us and we spent the night on the farm. Over dinner we met the 'hands' and I was stunned. All four of them had some bodily or mental disorder but it was obvious that they had been very well trained in their various disciplines. The bits of the farm I had seen so far spoke of their dedication. Everything was in immaculate condition.

Early next morning I was up and was proud to find myself outside before Jason was. By the time he came out of the house I had already gone through the dairy and had a look at the hands getting things ready for the early morning milk. Harry touched my heart. He was deaf and spoke with difficulty. I knew nothing of sign language but we somehow got a conversation going. The dairy was his prime responsibility and he was immensely proud of it.

Jason smiled and took me into the house for a coffee. He asked a million questions but his big concern was; 'Are you a farmer Mr. Gough?' and my answer was simple.

"As you know, I am a city born computer geek Mr. McIlhenny but a few months ago I visited Bart and Mary. I had lost my heart to Melanie shortly before that and then I lost myself to farming. I have no idea how it works but I will learn."

As soon as Melanie was up we were bundled into a truck and taken around the farm. Unbridled excitement and depressing despair rode see saw in my mind. At one point we were standing on the banks of the creek overlooking a dam further downhill and Jason turned to me.

"You look like you had seen a ghost."

I took a deep breath and kicked at a tuft of grass. "Honestly, I am terrified."

"Of?"

"This," I said loudly and made an arc of my arms. "I have no intention of failing. I am scared of losing something again."

"Such as?"

I sighed heavily and told him about Tammy. He listened intently and then smiled.

"Melanie will do this with you. Between her and Bart you have mountains of knowledge at your call. You will not be alone."

Chapter 17

I had a piece of cardboard in my hand with the name 'Ben Ferreira' on it. I had not seen him in more than twenty years but at last he was coming to visit. While waiting I reflected on our history. Dad had been transferred to Cape Town to head a large civil project at the Docks and the two of us had found ourselves in the same room at the hostel in Stellenbosch. He was in his second year of Chemical Engineering with dreams of becoming a winemaker and I was there to finish my studies in computer science. We liked each other immediately and soon became very close. With his parents living in far-away Johannesburg, he spent most of his free time at our house. My parents took him into our home and treated him like a son. I smiled at the memory of the day we had to move back to the USA. Mom was inconsolable at the airport having to say farewell to her 'son' and was found to be crying softly for weeks after we arrived back home.

The passengers were starting to enter the arrivals hall and I hoisted Michelle onto my shoulders. "Hold that paper up high Princess. We need uncle Ben to see it."

She giggled and held the paper as high as she could until a loud 'Johnathan' reverberated through the building. The gigantic South African shouldered his way through the crowd and we grabbed each other in a bear hug. He reached up and much to her delight, kissed Michelle on her forehead. He introduced me to Rheta, his wife and in typical South African Afrikaans fashion, she kissed me on the lips in greeting and I laughed with glee. Some things just feel great!

"So where is this girl you still go on about as if you had just met?" Ben asked as we loaded their bags into the truck. "And there is a young man as well?"

I chuckled. "Melanie is with Donny at some school thing. We will meet them at home."

During the forty minute drive to the farm the two of us started catching up on what had transpired in our lives since the days we had last seen each other. In the back Michelle was regaling Rheta with her own stories of life on the farm.

"So Yankee boy," Ben said loudly. "Your wine is drinkable?"

I laughed. "You came all this way to taste it. It had better be."

Ben kept on shaking his head. "Who would ever have thought you would end up as a farmer?" He grabbed my hand and inspected it, nodding his head. "Not even a trace of those lily white puff balls you had for hands back then."

"Nope," I laughed and pointed to the house against the hill still some distance away. "Home."

"Bliksem!" Ben growled and then clamped his hand over his mouth. "Sorry Boet. I forgot about the little one."

"Nobody here knows what that means Ben but yes, it is something else isn't it?

Ben sat there shaking his head still more. "Waking up to this view must be the reason you are so happy."

Melanie was waiting outside our home as we rolled into the yard and to her total consternation she also received a full-on kiss on the mouth from Ben when I introduced them.

"Expressive people these," I laughed at her and took Ben by the arm. "Let's get you settled into your room. I need to show you a few things before dark."

"I want to know how you did this," Ben grumbled as he followed me down the passage.

The sun was low when the two of us sat down on a piece of flat rock on the mountainside overlooking the valley. To the right of us was the house with the dams in the creek a little closer to us glinting orange in the afternoon sun. All around were planted fields of various crops at different stages of growth. Right below us was my personal pride and joy. My small vineyard of Pinotage grapes. Getting cuttings here was a mission. Red tape as wide as the Mississippi was thrown at me. I kept at it and eventually got the permission needed. Getting it to grow was even worse. The climate was completely wrong but between Bart and I we solved most problems and after years of failure, I had my first harvest of small red grapes.

"How did you learn to make wine?" Ben asked and I chuckled.

"YouTube."

His laughter roared over the valley. He had tears in his eyes when he eventually gathered himself. "I had to study for years to do that!"

I looked at him sheepishly. "Dick, my step brother has a vineyard in California but he flatly refused to come and help me. He considers me mad."

"That you are Yankee boy. That you are," Ben laughed. "You wanted me to send you cuttings and as you know, I don't do Pinotage. Get it right and God himself will come from heaven to partake in a glass. Get it wrong and you cannot even throw it on the ground for fear of an earthquake. Dangerous stuff."

"I needed to do something extraordinary," I said while chewing on a blade of grass. "We started on the farm with no idea of what, who, when, where or how. Bart and Mary were angels at that time and of course, the fact that Melanie grew up on a farm made it doable. The farm hands were a godsend. They knew everything we did not and together the lot of us worked our fingers to the bone. We ran into some serious financial problems and between a bank loan and Mom's husband who decided to invest quite heavily, we pulled through. It took four years to break even and I could start paying back on the loans. Two years ago I paid the last installment to the previous owners and at last the farm was ours."

Ben nodded. "I always admired you for your guts Yankee boy. Remember that night we were attacked by that crowd of doped-up criminals in Cape Town?"

I nodded and felt the memory of naked fear. How we got out of that alive remains a mystery. "Can it ever be forgotten?"

"Brothers fighting back to back are an unstoppable force Johnathan. A family standing together is the same."

"Ja Boet," I grinned and felt his huge arm go around my shoulders.

"So, speaking of family. How far does Ma stay from here?"

I grinned. "About two days' drive. Wanna see her?"

Bart's arm squeezed tighter. "If I have to walk, yes. You know that."

I pointed towards Bart's truck that had arrived at the house while we had been exploring. "That is my in-laws that have arrived. With them is someone who is dying to see you again."

Ben swung on me. "Don't tell me...."

I grinned. "Flew in yesterday."

My truck's wheels were still turning when Ben jettisoned himself from the cab and nearly took the front door with him. I ran to keep up and heard him roar "Ma!" in the corridor and my mom's shriek of joy. A chair clattered as it toppled and the two ran into one another just inside the kitchen. Ben always was and always will be an expressive giant who wears his heart on his sleeve but his meeting with my mom was almost embarrassing to watch. Her feet were dangling in the air as he hugged and kissed her all over with tears in his eyes.

At last he put her down, stared at her and then, as was his way, gave her a lingering kiss, full on the mouth before enveloping her in his arms again. He put her down but kept her under his huge arm as he moved towards the others in the room.

Wallace laughed as he shook hands "I hope I don't get a kiss," and Ben smilingly shook his head. "You are too big Sir, you will fight back."

Mary was still seated when he went to his knees before her. "Mary, the mother of the beautiful Melanie," he said softly, took her hand and carefully placed a kiss on the back of it before getting up. Donny watched him approach and I could see my shy and reserved son mentally trying to melt into thin air but Ben simply knelt down in front of him too, held out his hand and as Donny shyly reached out, Ben smacked his lips. "I have been told that there is a young engineer living on this farm. One that assembled a heap of scrap and turned it into a tractor. Would that be you?"

Donny nodded vigorously and a proud smile crept over his face.

"May I see it?" More nodding.

"Now?"

Donny nodded again and started to turn towards the door but Melanie interrupted. "Donny, it is almost dinner. Show him tom...."

Ben's scowl made her falter and she smiled apologetically as the two left the room. Minutes later we heard the little tractor start up and from the sound I could make out that it was being driven around the yard. After a few minutes it went quiet and Ben returned with his arm around my son's shoulders. Donny was glowing.

My life was complete. I had gone from a keyboard punching, paunch growing nine-to-fiver to a farmer, hard muscled and anxious to get up in the morning to see growth. My family was together most of the time and my brother from another mother had come to visit.

After dinner Ben sampled my wine. He did me the favor of going through the entire show of swirling, smelling and sipping it before laughingly putting it down. "It will cause drunken behavior and even lead to a hang over but I suggest you do not try to sell it. I have had a worse Pinotage but I fail to remember when."

The thing is; I agreed with him. It was awful but as much as we need a common enemy in life to keep us together, we also need something that fails according to plan to keep us humble.