The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon when I stood at the side of the field we had plowed the previous day. I estimated that we still had another twenty acres to do and I was anxious to start. The smell of newly turned soil was still heavy in the air and I stood there, reflecting on a number of things. The conversation with my mother the previous night had been long. Wallace had been with her and the lot of us went on speaker and eventually on video. A lot of laughing and at one time even a long moment of deep emotion from my mother when Melanie called her Mom. I was also informed that when Mom and Wallace got married, I would gain two brothers and a sister. One ‘brother’ being a property broker in Colorado Springs and the other a lawyer somewhere in Denver. My ‘sister’ was married to an aspiring wine maker in California. It seemed I had potential family close by in Colorado.
Wallace’s honest and heartfelt public request during the call for my blessing on his proposal to my mother left me bursting with pride and just a little choked up.
Gazing over the upturned soil I decided to do something very important. I paged through the photo’s I had taken of Melanie since we got together. I settled on one where she was laughing at me through a hole in an old adobe wall down at the creek with the sun hitting her astonishing eyes at the perfect angle. I sent it to Tammy with the message. ‘You can stop worrying about me. Please know that I love you as you love me and always will. Melanie fills my soul. As you love Devon, so I love Melanie. At last there is someone I can pour my love onto. I solemnly promise that I will never do to her what I did to you. I never want to see or feel that pain again. We will meet as soon as we get back home. Greetings from Colorado.”
Pretty soon a message came through; ‘I will always love you Johnathan. Let me know when you return. I want to meet her and hear this story. We still have to spread Justin’s ashes. Make it a day?‘
I sent a thumbs up emoji and dropped the phone into my pocket. With joy in my heart I walked through a part of the plowed field and often picked up clumps of soil, just to feel the life in it. Some I crumpled to fine earth. Others I dropped and watched it roll until it reached a place of rest.
I sensed Melanie’s presence and glanced up. About halfway between the house and the field she stood looking my way. I waved and she started hurrying towards me. I broke into a run and when we got together I grabbed hold of her and swung her around me a couple of times. She laughed sweetly and then threw her arms heavenward almost singing; “I love you!”
I put her down and we started walking home with her leaning into me as close as she could get.
“I sent Tammy a message,” I said softly and she looked up at me.
“What did you say?”
“That I love her.”
“Really?” The faltering of her step was almost imperceptible but I felt it.
I fished the phone from my pocket and gave it to her. “Read it.”
It took her a few seconds to find the message and I could see her hands trembling as she read. She must have read it numerous times because it took a long while before she stepped out in front of me forcing me to stop. She put her hands against my chest and I could sense her fast breathing. Her eyes were cloudy when she looked up at me. “That day in the park I said that there was a mountain of trust between you, Tammy and Devon. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
“Do you trust..”
“Till I die,” she said before brutally pulling my head to her and kissing me so hard that I tasted blood.
As we approached the house I remembered something and pulled her to a stop. “The day I had the run-in with Tom whatsisname you said there was a reason why he upset you so much. I also noticed that your father has anger in his eyes when his name is mentioned. What happened there?”
She fidgeted for a while and then looked up with almost the same expression she had when she told me how Peter had died. “He tried to rape me.”
A cold wave washed down my back. “Tried?”
She nodded. “I disliked him for as long as I knew him. One night I went to a community festival in town and joined a group of friends. He was also there but I ignored him as much as possible. He tried to strike up a conversation more than once but I cold-shouldered him. Twice he ‘accidentally’ touched my breasts and I lost my temper. I yelled at him and left. Halfway home he overtook my little car in his truck and forced me to stop.”
I could feel her tremble and gently folded her into my arms. “And then?”
“I was furious and got out of my car to give him a piece of my mind. I never thought he would do what he did. He simply grabbed me and ripped my blouse open and then ripped my bra off my body. Like a fool I covered my breasts and that’s when he lifted my skirt to yank my panty down. Somewhere around there I got to my senses and kicked at him. I was lucky to hit him solidly in his solar plexus as he bent down and in the time it took him to recover I got into my car and sped away.”
“Did he give chase?” I asked softly and she shrugged.
“I think so. I vaguely remember that the ambient light in my car changed at some stage and I think that may have been when he turned around as I was near the farm. I was too terrified to even look in the mirror while I was racing for home.”
“What came of it?”
“We laid charges but he had a whole bunch of friends who maintained that he never left the venue and I was left as……”
“…the girl he snubbed and tried to get back at him,” I finished for her and she nodded.
Still hugging her I softly said; “I promise I will not go and look for trouble with him but if we accidentally meet in a dark alley, will you forgive me if I turn him into a eunuch?
She giggled and hugged me tighter. “As long as you do not give me his dried testicles as a wedding gift.”
***
We finished plowing the field that day and then Bart made us be tourists for a day or two. Pikes Peak literally took my breath away. Having grown up and still living at almost sea level, I breathed with difficulty and my feet felt as if they were the size of Charlie Chaplin’s and made of lead. With a mischievous grin Melanie directed me to Cripple Creek. We had time to take a quick walk down the main drag and play with a few burros before cold, hunger and impending night forced us into our hotel for the night. Dinner was something dreams are made of and pretty soon after a hot shower we were cuddling for warmth in bed. Making love at that altitude was difficult and afterward we lay in bed giggling, trying to answer a very real question; why were there so many venues advertising chapels and romantic get-aways when the exertions of sex almost kills you?
Two days later we got back to the farm and I got into the farm work as soon as I could. I loved the hard work and spent as much time on the tractor as I could. I loved being on that thing. At night I would return to the house after a day of work tired, dirty and completely happy. I learnt how to wrangle and milk cows and even slaughtered a pig much to the delight of Bart who intentionally did a few things to make me queasy. I held it together mainly because Melanie seemed completely unfazed and there was no way on this world that I was going to be a weakling in her eyes. Before we had to return home I finished planting half of that field with corn and another half with grain sorghum. Callouses on my hands bore testament to hard labor. The start of a typical city slicker’s body with a paunch and flabby muscles had started to disappear. I felt strong again and my face and arms had a healthy tan to it. In a corner of a barn was a box containing a bewildering array of bits and pieces which, I was told, would be an ancient engine used to pump water once it was reassembled. I did not touch it. That was to be a project for somewhere in the future, but I was curious to see it done.
Chapter 15
Jenny nearly fell off her chair when I walked into the offices that Monday morning. She had the same ‘wow’ reaction to how I looked as Tammy had had on Sunday when Melanie and I arrived at their house with the little box containing Justin’s ashes.
“You have changed,” she almost stuttered before kissing me on the cheek. “I want to know what happened to you in two weeks to turn you into such a desirable hunk.”
I gave her a hug, waved Derek over and was given a grand tour of the new installations in the offices. Having a new, very wealthy, absent partner was obvious in what was available in the offices. Derek was motor-mouthing while I tried to take everything in. He could barely contain himself when he presented me with my new laptop and I stood watching as he sang the praises of this new gadget, representing the latest of the greatest of the biggest in computer technology. It was fast. Blindingly so. It was over the top as well but I kept that to myself as I started paging through files on the drive. The program for Joice was already on disk and I sat there looking at it for quite some time before I realized that it had been changed. Dramatically.
I phoned Reese and soon had fun going from command to command with him. I marveled at what they had done in two weeks.
“It helps if you don’t have a little bug that rewrites your best coding every now and then,” he chuckled.
During lunch I was ambushed by Jenny and Derek. It took more than just our lunch break to go over the past two weeks but I got the grist of it across before we had to break up to put our nose to the grinder again. Henry waddled into my office during the afternoon and very carefully wanted to know how long the Joice project was going to take. He nearly danced when I told him that all that was left to do was matching it up with their current system and provided there was no strange glitch, it should be running within the week.
“You wanted to speak to me when I came in to fill out my leave,” I prodded and watched him flush slightly.
“I uhm….Oh yeah! I wanted to thank you for what you had done. And also…” His eyes started flitting across the room. Obviously, he was embarrassed.
“Part of my job I guess,” I joked and he smiled self consciously.
“Not really but yeah, I guess you were in the right place with the right knowledge. I’m sorry for being such a dork to you before. I disliked you for some stupid reason and allowed that to spill over into the department. I realize I caused a lot of conflict.”
I nodded. “That you did.” For a split second I saw anger flash across his complexion but he gathered himself and smiled lopsidedly.
“Can we put that behind us?”
I shrugged with a smile. “We need a common enemy. If it is not you, who will it be?”
To my surprise he laughed merrily and held out his hand. We shook and he left my office with a happy smile and a spring to his step.
I arrived home and found Melanie’s road pimple parked in my garage. I smiled and wondered if I had lost my cupboard space as well. The thought made me happy and I almost bounced through the front door where I was met by two wonderful things. First, the smell of cooking that had my mouth watering and secondly as I rounded the corner from the great room to the kitchen, the sight of a flustered but oh, so beautiful Melanie almost running in the kitchen from stove to oven to fridge to hand basin to stove.
“lost something?” I called and she almost tripped over her own feet. She ran to me, gave me a very quick but forceful kiss before pulling away.
“Wallace and Mom are coming for dinner Johnathan!”
“Who invited them?”
“We did.”
“We?”
Melanie looked up with a smile. “Not you and I. Tammy phoned and between us it seemed like a good idea. I have not met…”
“Yeah. I know. Maybe you should have invited..”
“They are coming.”
“Tammy?”
Melanie grinned. “I need a mother in law buffer and I have to admit, Tammy is out of this world.”
“You like her?”
“You know I love her!”
I groaned loudly. “I hope my mom dislikes you intensely.”
“Why?”
I pulled a tuft of Melanie’s hair to make her look at me. “Three women who agree with one another can be a little too much. Men need a break.”
I got two glittering eyes and a tongue stuck out through smiling lips. “Go clean up before I give you some domestic chore.”
I had a long and leisurely shower and by the time I came downstairs again, Mom and Wallace were already there. I had time to shake Wallace’s hand before my mom pulled me into a hug so forceful that I grunted.
“Glad to see me or happy with my choice of women?” I chuckled and my mom gave me a peck on the cheek.
“Both.”
I poured them each a glass of wine and shortly afterward Tammy and Devon arrived. Three women in the kitchen were too much and I pulled the two men outside to the patio.
Most of the conversation went about my time on the farm and I found myself telling a number of exciting stories to a rapt audience. Devon had grown up on a farm down Tennessee way and even Wallace had spent a few happy years on a ranch before his parents moved to the city.
It was a warm evening and we had dinner outside on the patio. We were about halfway through when Tammy leaned back and looked at me with a knowing smile.
“I guess you have been given a new laptop?”
I chuckled and made a circle with my fingers. “The bestest, fastest, biggest and baddest in the whole US of A.”
“May I see it?”
I sat there looking at her as realization dawned. “It is in my office.”
Tammy almost choked. “You left your computer at work?” I nodded and she laughed. “I don’t believe it!”
All I could do was shrug. “I promised not to do to Melanie what I did to you. Maybe my sub conscious kicked in.” I felt Melanie gently take my hand under the table.
“It will be ok if you worked here,” she said softly and I turned on her.
“Like hell” I shouted. “I’d rather spend a full day ploughing in the sun or have a steer kick me. Never again!”
My mom gasped and I looked up into shocked faces around the table. I took a couple of deep breaths and kissed Melanie gently. “Sorry Love. I did not mean to yell but it is how I feel.”
“Do you miss the farm?” Tammy asked with devils dancing in her eyes.
I sat there looking at her. Memories flashed. How I loved her and still do. How it fell apart. The pain. The pressure of Corporate life and deadlines. The joy of Melanie. And the satisfaction of looking at upturned soil, waiting for germination. Seeing something grow. Smelling the earth we are born from.
“Yeah, I do Tammy.” I sighed. “I think I miss it more than I realize. At the farm I was ALIVE.”
Wallace winked at me. “Why don’t you find yourself a smallholding and do a little scratching around in the soil? In time you will learn the finer tricks and even find yourself farming full time?”
I chuckled. “I will have to spend a long time in Colorado to learn the finer tricks but yeah, it sounds like a great idea.”
The conversation dwindled to generalities but in the back of my mind a seed had been planted. Late that night with Melanie cuddled into me I lay awake and had different visions of different farms flitting through my mind. Somewhere I drifted off to sleep and woke early, almost expecting Mary’s voice from the kitchen.
At work I was in a hurry to finish the Joice program and hammered away. Around lunch time I sidled up to Jenny.
“Is the company researcher too busy to do me a favor?”
She smiled up at me. “Whatcha need mister?”
“A farm.”
She looked me up and down, got up and pushed me on my shoulders into a seat. “You just sit down there young man. I will go fetch some coffee. I think you have a bug.”
With a fresh coffee in my hand she leaned back in her chair and smiled. “Spill it.”
“I’m thinking of selling my house,” I started. “With the money I may be able to put a down payment on a smallholding or maybe even a rental deposit on something bigger. With the remaining bits I can finance a start-up crop. I don’t know yet.”
Two puppy-dog eyes looked at me. “You gonna resign?”
“No. Not yet.”
“So your farm has to be close by.”
“Yip.”
Jenny chuckled. “You realize that decent arable land is a long way from this city?”
I nodded and left to carry on with my work. I felt dejected. My sudden dream was being shattered even before it had a chance to start. But maybe….
By the time I left for home Jenny had found four smallholdings of varying size but the closest was a two hour commute from work. The nearest farm for sale or rent was nearly three hours away. My dejection grew.
Melanie cheered me up a little but I sat outside on the patio, nursing my disappointment like a naughty child. Just before dinner my phone rang. It was Mark.
“We found your neighbor,” he said after the formalities.
“Oh.”
“His car was spotted near Traverse City and they traced him to a hospital in town. It seems he was found wandering around the woods in a dazed condition with no ID and not knowing who he was or where he was from.”
I sighed loudly. “Thanks Mark. I appreciate it. What about his house? Should we go and have a look? See if it is still ok?”
“His sister and some friend are on their way there. Can I give them your details for assistance should they need some?”
“Sure. They can pop in any time. Melanie will be here if I am not.” I could hear him draw a hard breath and chuckled. “We are engaged.”
He guffawed. “She there?”
“Speak to her?”
“You bet!”
I went on speaker and Melanie barely had time to say hello before he yelled; “Way to go partner! I knew there were sparks between you two that night the dog was killed. Just tell me, who proposed to who?”
Melanie laughed merrily. “Actually, he abducted me to my parents in Colorado and I had no choice other than accepting his proposal as I was threatened with having to stay at home again if I refused.”
Ten minutes later he was up to speed about what had happened and with a promise to come visit, we ended the call.
“Still upset because you need a farm and cannot find one?” Melanie quizzed while we ate and I shrugged.
“Quite honestly, I think I am just at odds with myself at the moment. The job I have been doing until now was what I had known almost all my life. It gave me a living but also robbed me of precious bits of life.” Melanie nodded. “Tammy?” and I shrugged with a nod. “While I studied in Stellenbosch I visited numerous farms and even though it was diverse, I never WORKED on any of them. The two weeks in Colorado woke something in me that I never knew was there. As I said last night, I was ALIVE.”
Melanie smiled. “Can you imagine how difficult it was for me to adjust to the city when I came here?”
Realization flashed through me and I gaped at her. “You know what? I have gone off half-cocked here wanting to scratch dirt on some little farm and I never asked how you felt about it.”
Melanie smiled and held out her hands to me. “I grew up with dirt mixed with manure under my finger nails.”
“And?”
“I miss it.”
I hugged that astonishing woman to me and we got carried away from there. Well, actually, I carried her. To bed.
Two months later I was still no nearer to my little farm as I had been when I started looking but the tendency to feel dejected due to no success was softened by the knowledge of Melanie sharing it with me. I arrived home one afternoon to find my SUV parked outside. Washed and polished. I crooked my eye at it and walked inside.
“What did you break?” I laughingly called from the door and watched Melanie come around the corner from the study, still in her clothes from working at the dog training centre. She had a mischievous smile with maybe just a little tinge of insecurity in her eyes.
She clung to me after kissing me with the abandon I was so fond of. “I have a lot to say. Do you want coffee first?”
“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.