Once Upon a Time Pt. 01

I decided not to go there. Just for shits and grins I make a mental note of all three of their names Roger Walker, Jess Wilson, and Joe Walker. I tie their legs together and drag them to the truck and trailer. I load their sorry lifeless bodies onto the trailer with the hogs (my apologies to the hogs). I cover the entire death pile with a tarp and secure the tarp to the trailer.

Back at the clearing, I use a cedar limb and brush the entire opening. I build the bonfire back up again and park their truck over it. I help her mount the four-wheeler. She scoots back so that I can get on and we travel back to my truck. She wraps her arms around my waist and leans on my back. When we get to the truck, I help her off the four-wheeler and get her settled in the truck. I load the four-wheeler onto the trailer and get into the cab.

I looked over at her and say, "I don't even know your name."

She smiles and says, "My name is Melissa."

I ask, "Do you mind if we sit here a minute and listen to the music?"

She asks, "What music?"

I say, "Mother nature's concert. Just lean you head back onto the head rest and close your eyes. Let the symphony of sounds melt your troubles away."

We lean our heads back against the head rests and just listen.

After a few minutes she says, "It really is kind of nice isn't it."

I just nod and start the truck. We talk a little and then she asks if the ham sandwich offer was still good.

"Sure is. It's in the cooler in the back seat. Let me get it. I forget that you are only wearing the emergency blanket."

I stop the truck and open the back door. I retrieve both sandwiches out of the cooler along with fresh bottles of water. I grab the knapsack that has some chips and cookies. She starts eating her sandwich. She winces in pain as her mouth is sore from the attack.

After a few minutes she says, "I feel extremely fortunate that you came by when you did. I am grateful for what you did, and I will take our secret to my grave. I can tell by what you have done tonight that you are a good man. I trust you. I feel safe with you. I don't have any family or friends in this part of the country. I really do not want to be alone tonight. Would it be possible for me to impose on you a little more and stay at your place?"

"It won't be an imposition. Me and Roscoe and Red would love for you to stay over."

We drive the rest of the way in silence. When I got close to the house, Red barks the alert and Roscoe gets up and stands at the end of the porch. I drive around the shop and park out in front leaving enough room to drag the bodies into the walk-in. Roscoe and Red are all over me and smell the hogs and the other death all over me. Their tails are wagging furiously, and the noses are going ninety miles an hour. After they settle down some, I make them sit. I open the door to the truck and help Melissa out of the truck. Red and Roscoe are whining wanting me to release them from the command and greet Melissa.

I ask Melissa, "Are you ready to be introduced to these knuckleheads?" She nods. I tell her, "For the first time I need to hug you and then let them smell you".

She asks, "Are you sure that is how you have to introduce me and it's not just a ploy to get me to hug you?"

I tell her "This is how I trained them to know that you are a friend and to be protective of you. Honest."

She smiles again and nods. WOW. After the night that she has been through, I had made this woman smile twice. I hug her and then let Roscoe and Red smell her. Roscoe lays at her feet and Red sits beside her.

I tell her, "You will have protection from now on when they are around."

She smiles and says, "Roscoe looks like he can handle about anything."

"How about a nice long hot bath. While you are soaking, I'm going to finish out here."

I lead her into the house and give her the nickel tour. I show her the spare bathroom. I gather towels and washcloths and show her what shampoo and soap I had.

She laughs and says, "Not many lady visitors I take it."

I blush and say, "No. Now that I think about it, you are the first. I don't have many clothes that will fit you. I have a t shirt that you can wear and some tighty whities that maybe we can make do. I can go to town, or we can go to town tomorrow and get some things that will fit."

"That will be nice." she says.

"I will announce myself when I come in from outside and I will help dress your wounds and help you however you need when I come back. How does that sound?" I asked.

She said, "That sounds good."

She walks into the bathroom; Red follows her. She closes the door. Roscoe lays down just outside the door and grunts as he lays down. 'Melissa should have no fear about being protected' I thought.

I drag the hogs and the bodies off the trailer. I hang the hogs into the shop and cut their throats allowing then to bleed out. I set out a large piece of plastic on the floor and gut them. By the time I had finished with all three hogs, I had about 180-pound gut pile. I drag all three of the POS bodies into the walk-in freezer. I will put the hogs in there tomorrow. I use the front-end loader on the tractor to corral the gut pile. I will take it out and dump it tomorrow. I wash up the shop floor and scrub it with a shop broom to remove most of tonight's carnage. I turn off the lights and go to the house.

I open the door and shout "Melissa, I am back."

I hear her cry out, "I am still soaking in the tub."

I walk over the door and knock, "Is everything alright? Do you need any help?" I ask.

"No, thank you. I'll be out in a minute," she replies.

"I will leave a T shirt and some tighty whities outside the door for you. I am going to take a shower and I'll see you in a few minutes. Then I will dress your wounds," I say.

I walk into the master suite and use the shower in the ensuite bath. I finish and dry off. I gather some peroxide, some cotton balls, a few band aids, my field first aid kit and some antibiotic ointment. That should finish cleaning up the wounds. She is coming out of the bathroom. After all that she had been through, she looks battered but beautiful. Her hair is still a mess. Her face is battered and bruised but she has a glow about her.

"Come on back here to the master bedroom," I call out. I hear her feet slapping on the wood floor. Roscoe and Red follow close behind. "Sit here on the bed and let me look over your injuries," I said.

I have a huge king- sized bed. The corner posts are made from debarked cedar tree trunks about 8-10 inched in diameter. The foot board is another smaller trunk that is just below mattress height running between the corner posts. The headboard is a huge piece of wood that spans the corner posts. It has a mountain scene mural carved in it.

Melissa has several abrasions; the bath has cleaned them out nicely. The peroxide hardly bubbles when applied. She has a couple of splinters than need to be removed. I tell her that I am going to examine her and to let me know when something hurts. I explain what I am doing with each exam point. I start with her head and feel for lumps and bumps. I feel around her eyes for broken eye socket. Her cheeks are sore and tender, but I didn't feel anything move. Her nose was also sore, but nothing broken.

The black eye is damn near closed; she needs an ice bag on that. Her lip has a nasty cut and will take a few days to get better. Her neck has some bruising where someone grabbed her tightly about the throat. None of the bites have broken the skin. I ask her to turn around on the bed and take a couple of deep breaths and hold them. I press on her rib cage to feel for movement and to have her tell me how bad they hurt. She smiles and says they didn't hurt that bad. There is no pain caused from breathing so I tell her a stupid joke to try and make her laugh and see if they hurt from laughing. She laughs and doesn't complain of hurting.

I complete my examination looking and feeling for anything that moves different than it should. I ask if she had any blood in her urine and she indicated that she didn't. All good signs of no internal injuries and no broken bones. I walk into the kitchen and prepare an ice bag and a towel for her eye. The biggest injuries will just take time to heal. I am more worried about her psyche than the physical injuries. She seems to be holding up better than what I would have thought considering.

She asks, "Do you have a brush around here?"

I nod and get up to retrieve my brush. I start to brush her hair. I start near the ends and work my way slowly up to her scalp. I take my time and try to be as gentle as I can. There are a few tangles that are tough to remove. She takes over a few times and works out a tough tangle here and there. She leans back against me and lets out a big sigh. The next sound I hear is a small snore.

I lay her down on the bed and tell Roscoe to stay. I need to get some sleep. I walk to the spare bedroom and crash. I usually struggle with falling asleep because of how my mind keeps working. What do I need to do? How do I need to do it? When does it need to get done? And the millions of details that accompany those questions. Tonight, was no different. I need to dispose of three bodies. I need to help this woman back to her normal. I need to take three hogs to the processor. Finally, all the mental issues were addressed enough to allow me to fall asleep. And I did.

Sunday June 9, 2019 0800 hrs

I am awakened by a cold wet nose on my cheek followed quickly by a warm wet tongue. Startled, I open my eyes to see Roscoe's ugly mug way too close to my face. I look up and see Melissa standing in the doorway smiling. With the light coming in around her she looks like an angel.

"Good morning, hero," she said.

I nod and move to get up out of the bed. I throw back the covers and am immediately reminded that I sleep nude. I instantly apologize and explain that I sleep nude and that I forgot. I quickly cover back up.

She giggles and says, "Well now we are equal. You have seen me naked and now I have seen you naked. We shouldn't need to worry about that anymore. I am going to the kitchen and make some coffee. Roscoe wanted to say Hi. I'll let you get dressed."

She turns and walks into the kitchen. Well, I thought 'That's a hell of a way to start the day. Impressing your first house guest with a full-on view of your morning wood. I hope she was impressed.' I get dressed and make my way to the kitchen. She has the coffee brewing and bacon and eggs sitting out on the counter. I send Roscoe and Red outside. I walk over to get the oven heating up and start to make biscuits. By the time I had the dough ready, and the biscuits cut, the oven was at temp.

I start cooking the bacon and ask Melissa, "How do you like your eggs?"

"I am not picky about my eggs. Anyway, except raw, is fine with me. I'll have mine the same way you have yours," she said.

"Alright scrambled it is," I replied.

She drinks her coffee in silence, staring out the living room window. Her thoughts seem to be a million miles away. I finish cooking the breakfast and announce, "Let's eat." It startles her back from her reflective journey. She walks into the kitchen.

"The food smells yummy and looks delicious. I hope it tastes as good as it looks." she comments.

"Well, I am no gourmet, but it will pass to get the day started." We serve up our own plates and I butter up the biscuits. "I have a choice of apple butter, strawberry jam, or grape jelly to put on the biscuits," I said.

We sit down and start to enjoy the meal. The first few bites are in silence except for moans expressing how good the food is.

I ask Melissa, "How are you feeling?"

"I am a little sore and stiff. Not too bad."

"What are your plans?"

"I really don't have any plans, either for today or in the near future. I recently graduated college and I am beginning my life experiences before I need to decide what to do with the rest of my life. I was going to travel around this summer and then get serious about a direction for my life in the fall. Somehow, now that our paths have crossed, I feel like it is fate for me to be here," she replies.

"Well," I said, "You are welcome to stay here as long as you like. I believe in fate as well. First thing is I think we need to go get your car from Friendly's. I don't want to arouse questions or suspicions with your car being seen there any longer than necessary. I assume your belongings are in your car, if not then we need to go get you outfitted with some clothes. I need to take care of the attacker's bodies. I need to take the hogs that I killed to the processor. I am thinking since you are a recent college graduate, then you probably don't have many clothes that are farm appropriate. We may need to get you outfitted in some clothes that are more suitable for working around here. First thing first, after breakfast, let's go get your car."

We finished eating and clean up the kitchen. I give her a flannel shirt and some shorts outfitted with a piece of rope for a belt. She looks like a battered Daisy Mae. Maybe not quite as voluptuous as the character in the Dogpatch cartoon strip, but not far from it.

The hogs had bled out after hanging overnight. I put them into the freezer. They will keep until I get them to the processor. We drive to Friendly's to retrieve the car. On the way to town, I call my buddy Rick who is a longtime friend. He is an arborist and owns his business. I call his business number and put the phone on speaker.

After a couple of rings someone answers the phone and says, "This is the Tree Doctor how can I help you today?"

I start out, "Rick?"

"Yes. This is Rick."

"Hey man, this is JJ. I got a little problem and I need your help."

"Look JJ, as many times as you have helped me over the years, anything, you want, all you have to do is ask."

I ask, "Do you still have one of those Big John tree spade machines?"

"Yes, you looking to plant something or move something big?"

"Yes." I said, "Can you bring that machine out to my place?"

"I can. I can bring it out there tomorrow. How long are you going to need it?" he asked.

"It will only take me a day or two at most to do what I need," I reply.

"Excellent, then I will see you tomorrow," Rick said.

"Alight then, thanks, see you tomorrow. Goodbye Rick" and I hung up

Fortunately, when we get to Friendly's, there are no other cars around and the place is closed. Melissa gets out of the truck and her car starts right up. We travel to a local Atwood's Ranch and Home Goods store. Melissa needs some clothes that she can work around a farm and not worry about dirt or wear. I also ask about shampoo and other woman's toiletries.

We will need to make another stop to get that stuff taken care of. We get a lot of looks from people gawking at Melissa, then cutting their eyes towards me. Her bruising is more prominent today. Her eye is black and has swollen significantly. It is closed to just a slit. The eye itself is bruised and has blood in it. She ignores the staring people for the most part.

An older lady walks up to Melissa and asks her, "Did he do that to you?"

Melissa replied, "No Ma'am. If he had, I would not be with him today. I was in a car wreck yesterday. JJ is helping me run errands today. Thank you for asking."

"Alright dear, just checking, A man has no right putting hands on a woman. You have a good day," the old woman said and left.

"That was good thinking," I told Melissa, "I am sure that in a town this small your story will be widespread in no time. The car wreck needs to be out of the jurisdiction of the locals both town and county. Just in case a po- po wants to know more."

We finish our shopping, and she gets a pair of work boots, a pair of tennis shoes, a pair of crocs, a pair of muck boots and a couple of pairs of overalls and a few pairs of shorts and T shirts and a couple of flannel shirts and some socks. After paying for her new wardrobe, we travel to the world's largest retailer to purchase her toiletries. While we are shopping, I ask about her eating habits. What foods she likes and dislikes, her favorite snacks, what she likes to drink, etc. Again, there is a lot of people staring at us. No one comes up to talk to either of us, but there is pointing and hushed whispers and talk among the gossips. We get what we need and leave unscathed. She follows me in her car back to my place.

I point for her park behind the shop. When we arrive Roscoe and Red give the customary greeting. They ignore me for the most part and sniff and follow Melissa like they are her dogs. Damn traitors. Not even a full 24 hours and they leave me like yesterday's fish. We unload the vehicles, and I show her where to put her stuff. We laugh and joke about the attention that she had received and how I was the threat to her well-being. I wouldn't be surprised if the sheriff came out to pay a visit. Just to investigate the tales from the gossips.

I tell her I need to get rid of the gut pile from the hogs. She wants to go with. She gets dressed in some work clothes. We walk out to the tractor and fires right up. I set the throttle and let it run for a couple of minutes to warm it up. She asks, "Where is the gut pile?" I point up at the bucket of the front-end loader.

"It is up in the bucket," I reply.

"Cool," she said, "I have never been on a tractor before."

"Well then, I'll let you drive on the way back," I said.

She claps and bounces up and down on the fender in excitement. I smile and think maybe she is going to have some fun around here. We travel to the edge of my property near the national forest and dump the gut pile. I dig a hole with the front-end loader and scrape the gut pile into the hole and cover it up. I bury it deep enough so that varmints will not be interested.

We switch places and I show her where the clutch and the throttle are. I put the tractor in 2L and tell her to ease out on the clutch. We take off. She did good for a first time and didn't dump the clutch too bad. She is having a big time. I guide her around the place showing her some different points of interest. We visited various ponds, an old homestead, pecan trees, apple trees, the woods where I harvest firewood, and a couple of hunting spots.

I show her where the cows hang out and did a count. The horses are in the next pasture over. I tell her we need to ride the horses in the next couple of days. Horses need human contact, so they don't go feral. We can load up the tack in a side by side and go to them and saddled them up. Red and Roscoe catch up with us and escort us back to the shop. We shut down the tractor. I rinse out the bucket.

I explain to her what a typical day around this farm looks like. I get up early and eat breakfast, I feed the chickens in the morning, then work in the garden. The garden work takes 1-2 hours between picking the vegetables and weeding or water if necessary. Sometimes it is a lot more time depending on what needs to be harvested. The harvest needs to be washed and put away.

I then work my consultant job for a few hours, or I preserve the harvest if there is enough to preserve. When I have enough for my needs, then I get it ready to sell at the farmer's market. I gather the eggs in the evening. I have my hay cut a couple of times during the summer. The man that cuts it does so for halves on the hay harvest. He gets half the hay for cutting and baling it.

I want to show her the garden. Just outside maybe 50 feet from the walk out basement is the garden. It is a spot 80' X 100'. I have 5 forty-foot rows of corn. 3 forty-foot rows of tomatoes, 4 rows of green beans, 4 rows of green peas, four rows of black eyed peas, four rows of pinto beans, two rows of onions, two rows of okra, a row of leaf lettuce, a row of cabbage, a row of cucumbers, and a row of squash. I have four rows of potatoes. This garden will produce about 90 percent of my vegetable needs for a year.