And The Horse You Rode In On

That answered all of Gerald's questions but one. He would have to wait for the formal document to see if theirs was land only or something else. In fact, it didn't really matter because he had no intention of taking any of the buildings. He just wanted to know all of the details.

Two weeks later, two things happened on the same day. The first was the receipt of the registered letter that confirmed the purchase of their land only for $25,000 per acre at mid-night on May 31. Now Gerald knew that it was a land only deal in case he changed his mind about the buildings. The other was a letter from the attorneys for the gentleman in Washington confirming their impending arrangement. The deal was exactly as they had agreed upon. When Gwen got home, she was just as excited as he was at the news. Gerald e-mailed the attorney that he would be in their office in one week to finalize and sign the papers. They acknowledged his message the next morning.

By then, Gerald was already busy loading his trailer with tools and things that he wouldn't need for awhile. Two days later, he kissed Gwen goodbye and began the drive to Washington. He arrived on the morning of the appointment and checked into a motel for the night and to clean up. He arrived at the appointment on time and greeted the elderly gentleman, who thanked him for working with him on this arrangement. The papers were quickly signed and the cashier's check for $10,000 was signed over to the man. The agreement included a clause that Gerald would make another $50,000 payment after the closing of the eminent domain process. They set a tentative date for that transaction during the first part of June the following year. At that time, they would also set the final sales price and final closing date. Gerald made arrangements with the man to drop his things off in the morning. Then he went to eat an early dinner and fell asleep before the 10:00 news.

The next day he drove to the elderly gentleman's place and unloaded his material in the area that the man had cleared for him. Then he turned back onto the highway and started the long drive home. He drove steadily and arrived in the area around noon on Thursday. Twenty miles from home, he decided to stop for lunch. He needed something to eat and he was tired. He sat at a table in the corner and had coffee while he waited for the waitress to bring his order.

There were two men sitting in the booth next to him talking. As tired as he was Gerald ignored them until he heard something that perked up his ears.

"Why does the boss want us to keep track of this guy?"

"Because he doesn't want the bastard to do something stupid like burn the place down."

"Why would he want to do that? That would be stupid."

"People have done stupid things before and if this dude finds out that the boss is the one who wants his property, he might just burn it down."

"That don't make sense."

"Listen, here is the way it is and if word leaks out about this, we will both be fired if we are lucky or dead in we aren't. So don't breathe a word of this to anyone. Understand?"

"Yeah, I got the message."

"The boss used to be the boss of this dude. The boss took his old lady and kids away from him. Don't ask me about that, I don't know or care. Anyway now the boss wants to run for governor of this screwed up state; but his old lady won't come unless he buys her this farm. I think it so she can have a place to hide out and screw her boy friend or something."

"She's a looker and I wouldn't mind doing her myself."

"Fat chance. She only fucks guys with money or power, preferably both. So anyway, the boss tried to buy this farm and the dude said no. So he pulled some strings and got the property put on the list for the highway they are going to build. So the deal is this, the state takes control of this farm at midnight and thirty minutes later it is declared surplus and the boss buys it twenty minutes later. He gets the farm for his wife; she moves here with her boy friend; and bang he is the next governor of the state."

"What about her kids? I know she has a couple."

"The boss doesn't give a shit about those two brats. The younger one stays stoned most of the time and the girl goes out every night and finds someone to fuck her. As long as they don't make any headlines, he doesn't care what they do."

"So we come down here every week and make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid with the property?"

"Yup, that's the gig. In the spring, we will probably stay down here and keep an eye on him right up until mid-night of that day. That's why no one can find out what's going on."

"Gottcha. Let's get out of here. I'm getting tired already."

"Me too. But a job is a job and money is money. He is paying us well, so let's go earn it."

The two men left a big bill on the table and left. Gerald was left with a plate of food in front of him getting cold. Nothing mattered anymore except to get home to Gwen and to get on the road in June. He had to get to June. He thought for a few minutes and made several decisions. He would work out the details later.

He also left a bill on the table and went to his truck and drove home. He spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on his sofa thinking. Gwen found him that way when she got home.

"Gerald, what happened? Did something go wrong in Washington? Tell me."

"Sit down Gwen. Nothing went wrong in Washington but everything went wrong this afternoon down here."

He told her about the conversation he had overheard. He left out no detail. When he finished, she took him in her arms and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry honey. That must have really hit you hard. What are you going to do?"

"Gwen, I have been called Mr. Boy Scout all of my life. Mostly it was said to make fun of me. Honestly, that was the way I was raised. That is the way I am and I hope I will always be that way especially for you and Cheri. But this is more than I can take; I just can't turn the other cheek this time. All I can think of is that smirk on his face as he walked out of the courtroom with my ex-wife and kids after literally ruining me. Gwen, for the first time in my life I want revenge. I want to hurt that bastard so bad I can taste it. I will do nothing that hurts you or Cheri or myself, but he is not going to get another ten years of my life this way. I will not let that happen. I will burn it to the ground if I have to; but I promise you one thing, when we leave here for the last time, it will all be behind me and all I will think about is our future together."

"Honey, you do what you feel you have to. I will support you and so will Cheri. All I ask is don't do anything that will get you arrested. I can't go through that again. Anything else is fine with me."

"Thank you, honey. You are the first person in my life since my parents were alive that supported me this way. "

"I will always support you in what you want or need to do."

They were still hugging each other when Cheri came rolling in with her latest news. She had received her SAT scores and she had made an average of 750 on each test. Gerald put his thoughts away and celebrated with his wife and daughter. Then he took them to dinner at the Mexican restaurant. He teased Cherilyn that Seattle probably didn't have any good Mexican food. She just smiled.

Gerald made one more trip to Washington with a fully loaded trailer in early November. After that the snow would make the trip prohibitive. He and Gwen had taken a real hard look at their things and decided what should go and what should stay. During the winter, he sold what he could and gave away a lot of things to local charities. He also shipped several boxes to the Washington address. The elderly man agreed to accept them and put them with their things. He never took big loads to the charities or to the shipping office that might attract attention but dropped off things frequently over the winter.

Year Ten

In late March, he made one more trip north and delivered a partial load to join their other things and the rest went to Pam's sister's house for safe keeping until the girls got there in June. Cherilyn and Jennifer decided to go up in June and start classes during the summer. They were talking about trying to graduate in three years. Gerald neither encouraged them nor discouraged them. Rather he reminded them that thing might change once they were in college and they should take the time to do it right.

As April turned into May, Gwen and Gerald were down to the bare basics left in the house. So far, he had made sure that his movements and actions happened when the two shadows weren't around but now they were in the area every day. He had been aware of their presence for some time and assumed that they were the two men he had overheard. Through Jim, he arranged for the men to be stopped away from the farm one morning long enough for a 20 foot shipping container to be dropped off in his barn. He and Gwen loaded the last of their big things in the container and all that remained was their clothes and things they would take in his truck. They had quietly sold her car. A week later, he had the container was picked up early in the morning and it was on the road before the black car appeared for the day. He wasn't concerned that they would see a container leaving; but he was suspicious enough to not want them to be able to trace anything leaving the property.

Jim and Pam knew of their plans and Gerald had confided a little more about some of the things he had learned to Jim. He didn't tell Jim everything, however. If Jim had asked, he would have said, "It is better you don't know." Jim never asked and supported him with whatever he asked. He had announced that spring that he was running for Congress for the vacant seat and there was little doubt that he would be elected. Pam was already planning their move to Washington, the east coast Washington. They would keep the house locally to retain their permanent residence. Gerald and Gwen had given them some furniture to use in their local home.

Graduation was during the last week if May and the girls still didn't know who was going to be number one and number two but it really didn't matter, they had their speeches prepared and were ready. They each packed their Jeep and were going to leave two days after graduation. They expected to party all night after graduation and have a day to sleep before they left.

Graduation night found Gerald, Gwen, Pam, and Jim sitting together as the graduates marched in to the familiar sounds of "Pomp and Circumstance." They settled in as the program began with the required statements by the school board and principal. Then the superintendent of schools stepped forward and began.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Parents, and Friends. I am honored to present this year's graduating class." The graduates cheered and parents applauded. When the din died down, he continued, "One of the pleasures of my job is to introduce each year's valedictorian and salutatorian; the two students who stand out as the top ranked students in the class. This year I have a special treat because we have a tie. After reviewing their records back to elementary school, our top students are exactly the same. We have no tie breaker. Therefore, I present to you our co-valedictorians Ms. Cherilyn Lambert and Jennifer Sanders." He stepped back and clapped as the audience stood when Jenny and Cherilyn came forward and took their bow and received their recognition.

Jenny stepped forward to the mike and started, "As most of you know Cheri and I have been friends since elementary school. We are more like sisters than friends. So instead of making two speeches today, we are going to make a joint one." She stepped back and Cherilyn stepped forward.

"We understand that there is at least one person in the audience who expects each of us to make an hour long speech. We decided to disappoint him and make this short." Three sets of eyes turned to see a very red Gerald sitting very still.

Jenny stepped forward again, "To my fellow graduates but especially to future graduates, we want to say to you that you will not get to this stage alone. It takes teachers, administrators, friends and most of all parents to make you successful. I want to say to my parents, Jim "the Lawman" and Pam Sanders, thank you for your support and help from the day I was born until today. I love you and appreciate you more than I can say." She stepped back.

Cherilyn stepped forward, "I want to say a special thanks to my mother who nurtured me and supported me from day one until today. We have disagreed on things but we have never had a fight. I love you Mom." The Jenny stepped forward and joined Cherilyn at the mike. "There is one more person that we must make a special joint thank you to." Then they began alternating phrases as they spoke. "He has been our friend, our mentor, our tutor, our supporter, our knight in shining armor, our ray of sunshine when the clouds are thick, our go-to guy when we have questions, and the man who always had our backs."

Jennifer said, "He is my uncle." Cheirlyn said, "He is my daddy." Jointly, they said, "He is our Gerald." The applause erupted spontaneously and lasted for several minutes. All Gerald could do was sit in stunned silence. Gwen hand found his and held it tightly.

That was the end of their speech and the rest of the program continued. Gerald had never experienced such recognition before. He didn't know how to feel or respond. So he did the safe thing and never let go of Gwen's hand. Before they knew it, the graduates were turning their tassels and then tossing their hats high in the air. Then they marched out of the auditorium as the choir sang "You Will Never Walk Alone." Gerald was still shaking as he stood and Gwen walked him out into the lobby to wait for the girls to join them.

As he stood there and gathered his wits, he felt a tug on his shirt, he turned and looked at beautiful young woman. "Mr. Murphy, you probably don't remember me, but I am Suzy, Suzy Mendleton. You helped me in the third grade."

"Of course I remember you Suzy. I just didn't recognize you. You are all grown up."

She smiled the same smile she had as a young girl. "I want to thank you for helping me then. Because of your help, I have gotten a lot of help and my mind keeps things straighter now. They saw that sometimes soon, things will all straighten out for me. But I want you to know that I will graduate next year. I won't be like Cherilyn or Jennifer but I will graduate."

"Suzy, I am just as proud of you as I am of Cherilyn. She did her best and you are doing your best. That is all anyone can ask of someone else. Do you remember Ms Lambert, she is now my wife. Gwen, this is Suzy."

"I heard. And Gerald is right. You are achieving at your best level and we are all proud of you for that."

"Thank you Miss. I always liked reading the best because when I read a story, I got an image in my mind. It never got mixed up like other things did. I am making A's in reading and writing in high school. I still struggle with math and science but I still use your notebook, Mr. Murphy." Gerald beamed.

He became aware that Cherilyn was standing next to them. He held out his hand and took hers.

"Hi, Suzy. I am glad you came. By the way, that was a great story you wrote for the newspaper. I laughed and I cried over it. Keep up the good work." Cherilyn said.

"Thank you ,Cherilyn. You and Jenny have been very supportive of me. I hope that you do well in college next year."

"If we can, we will come to graduation next year and watch you get your diploma too."

"I would like that but will understand if you can't come. Have fun tonight."

"We will."

Suzy walked away toward her parents. Both Gwen and Gerald felt a lump in their throat as they watched her go. There was a success regardless of grades or anything else.

"Hey, you two; we are going to go to the party. Don't wait up."

Gerald said, "Hey, I want to meet you and Jenny outside so I can paddle your little asses for putting me on the spot like that."

"Daddy, you have never paddled either of our asses before and you aren't going to start tonight. Besides, if you tried with Jenny's cute ass, mom would probably get jealous. Go home and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's what I am afraid of." Both Gwen and Gerald spoke in unison.

"OK, old man, take me home. There are only two things we can do at home and one of them is sleep. Which one do you want to do?"

"What do you think?"

"I think that we are on the same page of the hymnal."

"Let's go." They headed for the exit. As they walked, Gerald asked, "By the way, when are you going to start your book?"

"What book?'

"The one all people who love to read are going to write one of these days."

Gwen turned a light red and replied, "Gerald Murphy, I can't keep anything secret from you. But for your information, I think I will start when we get settled again."

"I am going to hold you to it."

"All I care about is that you hold me, period."

"That will happen anyway."

They walked out of the auditorium into a nice late spring night hand-in-hand and were one step closer to their future.

For the rest of the week, Gerald was up before dawn and busy. He was usually back in the house before the minders showed up. He hated to do some of the things he was doing, but he had to do them. Shortly after 8:00, he and Gwen would get in his truck and drive into town for breakfast and run whatever errands they needed to run. They were usually back at home by 2:00. One day, Gwen took the truck and drove to talk to her parents. She left them an envelope with an address and phone number for emergencies but otherwise, if any one at all asked, they did not know where she was for sure. She was traveling and if the person wanted to leave a number, they would have her call when she called in.

They saw Cherilyn off after the graduation party. She and Jenny were going to drive in convoy to Seattle and promised to call each night along the way. At last, they began to pack up the few things that remained. Gerald went through every cubby hole in the house and barn and Gwen's house. They were totally bare. They went to breakfast on the 31st and made several stops to say good bye and then went to the house for the last time. Two hours later, they got in the truck and drove out of the gate and left it open. The minders followed them until they were fifty miles out of town. There they turned back and Gwen and Gerald were off on the next phase of their life together.

They finally stopped at 10:00 that night. They were almost 500 miles toward their new home. The motel was small and cheap but neither of them cared. It had a bed and a shower. That was all they needed. At 11:00, Gerald told Gwen that he was going for a walk. He was only gone for fifteen minutes. As soon as he left, he took a cheap cell phone from his pocket and looked at it for a moment. Then he opened it and punched a phone number into it. He had no way of knowing what happened but he had done all he could do. He walked to the dumpster of the next door café and threw the cheap phone into it and went back to their room. Gwen was waiting for him as he undressed and crawled in bed. Their lovemaking that night was a tender and loving experience with lots of promise and lots of love.

They got up early and put their things in the truck. Then they had a quick breakfast at the diner and were on the road before 7:00. There was no talk about the past only about where they were going.

At the hotel in town, the boss woke his wife. "It's time to get up so you can see your new farm."

"Are you for real? It is 8:00 in the morning. Can't this wait until later?"

"No, you wanted this; I got it for you. We go now or not at all."

She struggled out of bed and slipped on her clothes. Then she woke her daughter and told her to get dressed. The young girl was barely able to move as she rose and dressed. There were a couple of fresh bruises on her neck and one on her breast. On the way to the limo, they each picked up a cup of coffee. The two minders were in the front seat.