Two weeks before the Great Panic
On any typical day Ginny was up with the first light, early enough to work with the field hands to bring in the free-roaming cattle for morning count, get them fed, and then back to the house to make breakfast for her kids and the men who worked for her. A long standing tradition for Ginny, she knew they worked hard to help her earn her keep and, while funds were often tight -she paid them well enough, she knew little simple things were always the most rewarding. She made certain her workers were well fed, breakfast at the house every morning, lunch brought to them wherever they were in the fields; it was a long tough day and doing this made the work just a little easier.
Today was an exception to the typical day; today was transport day. The heifers had all season to roam, eat and get fat in the wild fields behind the Wallace Farm. Ginny and Joe had long since believed that free-roaming cattle yielded the best beef and their belief had been rewarded over the years; they were known across the country for their superior quality beef over competitors. She had been happy when Matthew Wallace, Joe's father, had taken her suggestion to heart. It had only been a few months after Joe had passed and she was looking for something, anything to focus on besides the absence of her husband. She could only assume Mathew had known and complied for this reason. He gave her a small breeding stock of thirty bows and two bulls and told her to do as she pleased. She had devoted her heart and soul into making it work and at the end of the first season she had success. The cows had cost less to maintain than the typical barn-yard, grain fed brethren, and suffered far less in medical costs. The following year Mathew doubled Ginny's breeding stock and the rest was history. Now the Wallace Farm was known for it's free-roam, valley fed, high-quality beef.
Already the transport trucks were lined up down the dirt and gravel road that lead to the farm yard, where the cattle was being herded within, counted and separated. This was the time of year that Ginny picked her new breeders for the following season, always choosing the best of stock; it was the only way to ensure the following yield would be that much better. She stood in her stirrups looking over the cows are they passed, signaling ahead to the farm hands which to detour back into the fields and which to let move onto the trucks.
This process had started near two am and now, with the sun rising, Ginny could feel the exhaustion started to ware her down, eyes started to feel grainy with lack of sleep; she had yet to go to bed. There would be plenty of time for rest soon enough. She thought to herself, once the cattle was gone and only breeders left her work load would be cut to a fifth of what it had been, and in the next week the fields would be harvested; her corn, wheat and soybeans off to market as well.
Sitting back in her saddle she looked back over the segregated farm yard, they were nearly done the process and she was satisfied with the stock she had selected. She was about to return to the barn, give her horse a rub down before heading into the house when she heard the bass of her sisters truck thumping down the road. She waited, shaking her head, as Katie roared into the lane way, spewing gravel behind her. It only disturbed the cattle slightly; they were far from skittish; known for trampling down wolves and coyotes that wandered too close to the herd.
Kaite, without missing a beat, swung the door open on her truck and sang, 'Hey mama, this that shit that make you grove, mama. Get on the floor and move your booty, mama!" and danced provocatively while holding onto the side of the truck, earning the stares and good natured whistles of the farm hands. Her sister had always been a wildcat, known for her crazy antics. Married life certainly had not settled down her wild ways, if anything it only made her worse. Katie was older than Ginny by three years, but she still act like she was still in college. The woman married young to a rich older man who spent a great deal of time away from home, leaving Katie to her own devices.
"Katie!" Ginny hissed, spurring her horse closer to the truck, despite its dislike for the noise assaulting its ears. Ears pinned back the horse nodded his head at Katie and the noise, chomping his teeth. At least his displeasure was enough to prompt the older woman to turn down the music.
***
Ginny sat with Katie at the kitchen table as Marta, her beloved assistant, housekeeper and nanny was cooking up breakfast. Ginny sipped her hot coffee with mild satisfaction as she eyed her older sister.
"Common, Gin!" Katie whined, grabbing the pant leg to Ginny's jeans and shaking them. "It's tradition, you know everyone else is going to be there!"
Ginny rolled her eyes and set her cup down. "I don't know." She started, which lead to Katie giving an exasperated sigh.
"Everyone is turning in their stock today, and you know everyone is out to party tonight. The McKennon's even hired a DJ, it'll be fun. And it's only a drunken stumble down the road from here." Of course Katie was trying to tempt her younger sister out for a night of fun. "Charlie will be there." She said slyly, this comment even getting Marta to turn from her work with a smirk.
Ginny's eyes widened. "So?" Despite the want to deny, her cheeks still flushed.
"You know you like him." Katie said with a smirk.
"Yea, and he's only interested in my breeding stock." Ginny countered, but this comment made Katie cackle.
"Oh! Is he ever!" Ginny smacked her sister's arm, embarrassed.
***
Breakfast served and the men fed, Ginny woke her kids and hustled them to the table to eat while she packed them a lunch for school. They were quiet and she knew why they were so sleepy, the two probably spent most of their morning at the window watching the cattle drive and transport load. Every years Liza-May begged to be part of the drive, and while Ginny wanted nothing more than to let her daughter join her, she still felt the girl was too young to be out in the field in the middle of the night driving ornery cows.
It was short work to get the two packed into the truck and headed into town. Ginny turned on her stereo playing from her iPod. Finding a song she linked she turned it up. This immediately warranted a groan of displeasure from her daughter in the passenger seat next to her.
"Lame, mom." Liza-May said, with a roll of her eyes, looking out the window and shaking her head.
Ginny laughed and turned down the music slightly to inquire. "How am I lame?" She certainly was not prepared for the torrent of replies she received from Liza-May.
"Well, to start, you music sucks." This earned a tisk from Ginny, but the girl continued. "You're old. You wear weird things, and you don't do what the other moms do."
Ginny frowned, "Wait, what?" she looked to her daughter in disbelief, glancing in the rear-view to see her son nodding away in agreement. "Okay, music aside, I am not that old." In fact she was younger than most of the parents of Liza-May and Jackson's friends. "and how is what I'm wearing weird?" She had to look down to see that she was wearing a pair of miss-matched rubber boots, one green one black. Jeans and Joe's old red-flannel shirt.
"Just don't get out of the truck, okay mom?" Liza-May pleaded as they drew closer to the drop off line for their school.
Ginny huffed, but she wouldn't do anything to embarrass her kids. "I'm not weird." She grumbled as they pulled up the side walk.
"Yea, sure mom." Liza-May said with another eye roll, but despite this she leaned over and planted a kiss on her mother's cheek. "See you later!" She jumped from the truck and dashed across the play ground to find her friends. Jackson was slower to exit, leaning between the front seats to wrap his arms around her shoulders and hug her.
"I still love you even though you're weird." He said before he too gave her a kiss goodbye.
***
Evening rolled around and Katie finally managed to convince Ginny to go to the party at the McKennon's. It was far better than Ginny had expected, though really she wasn't sure why else to expect from a bunch of farmers that were turning down the end of a very long year of work.
Drunk and happy Ginny and Katie started their drunken stumble the few miles from the McKennon's farm to Ginny's. It was a quiet walk that was interrupted only by Ginny and Katie's off tune singing and laughter. Both drank far more than they likely should have, but given neither of them had much to do the following day, they didn't seem to care.
A mile and a half from the McKennon's there was yelp that broke the night air, a woman's voice from the bush, followed by the subsequent noise of grunting. Ginny looked to Katie and the two burst into laughter; clearly someone was having far more fun than they should. The two hurried past the point where the buses were moving erotically, the noise of the two together, moaning and grunting.
"Get a room!" Katie called as they stumbled past, her call was answered by a guttural moan.
The Great Panic
Ginny started her day in the typical fashion, up with the sun, ready to go out and start another day, except, there was nothing to start. The cattle had been taken, the fields harvested. All that remained was the small orchard; the four apple trees, one of which had yielded nothing this season, the green house and the garden. Anything that needed to be harvested had been, re-seeding had already begun int he green house to provide fresh produce for her and her family all winter long. There was nothing to do.Glancing at the clock it read 4:32 AM, it would be hours before the kids were up and when she would need to make them breakfast. The farm hands were gone for the season, hell, even Marta wasn't coming in as early as she sued to. She knew she would never fall back asleep and so she sat at the edge of her bed. It was times like this that she thought of Joe. She missed him. She saw him every day in the faces of their children. In the love and dedication he put into this farm. Her memory lived on, but it killed Ginny to remember him.
As much as they had been able to say their goodbyes; he hadn't been taken from her suddenly, it was still far too soon. They were supposed to be together forever; that had been his promise. They were supposed to grow old together, watch their kids grow old, grow up. He was supposed to threaten Liza-May's first boyfriend with his rifle, teach Jackson to play football.
Feeling tears start to well up, she knew the only way she would feel better was a long standing tradition. Fishing out her iPod, she put on her earbuds turning the display wheel to the song Joe had played their first time and, coincidentally, the conception of their first child. The first notes rang out and she slipped the iPod into her cotton pants pocket.
Don't let me down
Nobody ever love me like she does,
Oh, she does. Yea, she does
And if somebody love me like she does
Oh, she does. Yea, she does
Nobody ever love me like she does,
Oh, she does. Yea, she does
And if somebody love me like she does
Oh, she does. Yea, she does
Ginny traveled the short distance to the walk in closet to find Joe's old coat. His senior football Letterman jacket had been his prized possession and the first gift he'd ever given her. He had wanted to give her a promise ring, but given neither of them had money beyond what their parents gave them; it was the next best thing. She pulled it from the hanger and hugged it close, surprised even to this day how much it still smelt like him.
Don't let me down
I'm in love for the first time
Don't cha know it's gonna last
It's a love that lasts forever
It's a love that has no past
I'm in love for the first time
Don't cha know it's gonna last
It's a love that lasts forever
It's a love that has no past
She pulled the coat over her shoulders, far too large for her slim frame, but she wrapped it tightly around her, turning off the closet light and closing the door. She returned to the bed, crawling into Joe's side to curl up and wait until the kids needed her.
Don't let me down
An from the first time that she really done me
Oh, she done me. She done me good.
I guess nobody ever really done me
Oh, she done me. She done me good.
An from the first time that she really done me
Oh, she done me. She done me good.
I guess nobody ever really done me
Oh, she done me. She done me good.
***
"Oh my god, mom. Why do you have to be so weird?" Liza-May once more chastising Ginny on her choice of clothing. At least this morning her rubber boots matched, but she still wore Joe's Letterman jacket. She couldn't bring herself to take it off when she finally pulled herself out of bed. Something about today was gnawing at her. It was like she was forgetting something important but she couldn't think of what.
"I think it's cool." Jackson defended from the back seat. It made her smile and she playfully stuck her tongue out a Liza-May. "Is it daddy's?"
She looked up in the rear-view and nodded. "Yea baby, it's daddy's jacket." From the corner of her eye she could see Liza-May's expression changing, clearly accepting her mother's weirdness today.
***
Kids at school, Ginny returned home to get some work done. By the afternoon she had run out of work. Gardens had been tended to, house cleared twice. She couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting back to Joe, and how much he would love to see how well the farm and his family was doing now. She had even called Katie to try and distract herself, but her sister was at some day spa, unable to answer her phone, or so the message said.
Sitting in the kitchen drinking her third up of coffee for the day her phone rang. She glanced at the display, expecting to see Katie's face but it was Liza-May. She frowned and answered. "Hey baby, you okay?"
"Mommy? Mommy where are you?" Her daughter sounded desperate, terrified. "There are men here, with guns. They said we can't stay. Mommy, please come and get us."
Ginny was already running for the truck, phone still in hand. "I'm coming baby, hold tight." Climbing in she put the phone to Bluetooth and turned on the speakers. "Keep talking, love-bugs. Tell me what they said."
Ginny had never driven as fast as she ha that day in her entire life. Half way into town there was a road bloc, Deputy Cross standing on the side of the road, flagging her down. She certainly was not going to stop. Seeing she had not slowed, the Deputy had stepped out into the roadway. Ginny veered swerving onto the other side of the road and by passing the man, leaving him to catch his hand in the wind.
She pulled into the parking lot of the school minutes later and was shocked to see the local reserves there, directing traffic. She pulled into where they told her to park and climbed out of the truck. Already Liza-May was running for her, dragging her brother by the hand behind her. She knelt down and hugged each of them, as one of the army reserves approached. Looking up it was none other than Charlie Martin. Ginny ushered her kids into the back of the truck before closing the door. "What's going on?" She asked Charlie, then cursed quietly as Deputy Cross pulled into the lot behind her truck, lights on.
She certainly wasn't about to excuse herself for running from his stop; but she would do it over again and again if need be. The Deputy stepped out of his cruiser, replacing his had, before approaching. However before he could speak Charlie was stepping in. "Officer Cross." He said stepped between Ginny and the Deputy. "Hope we didn't cause you any trouble. We called Ginny down here to pick up her kids, but kinda failed to tell her it wasn't an emergency."
She was surprised that Charlie lied so easily, and she bit her lip hoping this wouldn't cause more trouble for him. Deputy Cross looked between her and the Reserve before nodding and addressing her. "I'll let you off this time, Gin. But don't you make this a habit." He tipped his had before returning to his cruiser to leave.
Once he was gone, Charlie turned back to Ginny. "Thank you so much." She said with honestly. "You didn't need to do that, I mean, I appreciate it and all. But don't get yourself into trouble for me."
Charlie laughed, reaching out to pat her shoulder. "Ginny, everyone in this town knows you're the least of anyone's worries." He was reaching past her to open the door to her truck. "Now get home safe and slow, I'll come by later to make sure you and the kids are alright." She smiled, and thank him again, before doing as he suggested, returning her and her kids to the safety of their home.
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