My RA Ch. 02

Sarah thought," Well, I could never have this farm if it was not for your congregation Jacob yet, I want to honor my parents at the same time. How about 'The Image of God' ranch? I can have a sign out front. 'Strangers may enter, only friends may leave.'"

Jacob said," Excellent that covers your Mom and Dad as well as everyone in my church."

Sarah remarked," Jacob, I was watching Molly the other day, she is eager. The kids are already asking religious questions that are prompted by her. You should think about a Sunday school that can answer those questions. You will need like five teachers seeing that there is fifty of them. God will accept their request of faith if they are informed and they make a sincere confession."

Jacob was shocked," I have not thought about that. They did ask about prayer and more questions will no doubt follow, some their parents may not be able to answer them. I will have to pray about it."

Sarah added," I thank all of you for your support, I think we should start with just the animals we have now, the planning and budget will be an eye-opening experience. I guess I will have to mortgage or get a loan for this place to get the startup capital."

Everyone looked at each other, they did not think about the money part. It would put Sarah behind the eight ball until she started to make money. It was a part of being a rancher though. Sarah would reject partnerships, this was a family farm and it will be 100% in the family. It will fail or rise in glory.

The best they could hope for is free labor. They will have to be creative to think of ways to help Sarah while making sure she does not consider it charity. There were five open stalls (four when April's foal grows up.)

The farmers used their contacts to see if anyone would want to transfer a horse to Sarah's stable and give them the same care for a cheaper price. Since you can get $700/month for good care Sarah could charge $500/month and use the free labor to make sure all the animals are well cared for. The farmers asked those who had four or five horses at one place and asked for one adult as the calves would have higher vet bills.

The stables were the first thing to get improvements, higher end equipment like automatic watering and feeding, they put an addition onto the stables. The owners appreciated that Sarah was making sure their horses were getting better care. They voluntarily raised their boarding fees accordingly.

News about Sarah was spreading like wildfire. She was a dedicated owner who cared deeply about every animal she had in her care. If one got sick and had to be watched she and Noel would take shifts. It was better care than many of the higher end boarding ranches.

Many decided to give Sarah a monthly bonus such as feed, hay, money for vet bills (they knew Aprils foal was coming.) She worked hard in order to give that service, it was long hours and it was all her unless she had to sleep and Noel took over. She was still behind on her budget.

Joy walked over to the club to talk to the kids. "Kids do you remember that special account at the bank we got you for Mr. Buck's medical bills?" They all nodded," Well he is gone now, what do you want to do with that money?"

One little boy said," Well Miss Sarah is Mr. Buck's daughter, could she use that money?" all the kids nodded in unison.

Joy said," Are you sure you want to do that? Let me see a show of hands. It is your money you have to all agree." Every hand shot into the air, no hesitation.

Joy and the kids went to the bank, there was more than $1,000 in the account. Joy said," The kids want this money to go to Miss Sarah, I want each child to give the same amount to Miss Sarah. Could you give me fifty twenty's and leave the rest in the account?"

All the kids piled into the bus, Miss Joy had that special envelope for everyone to help Miss Sarah and they all could see the animals again. Miss Joy knocked on the door and Miss Sarah answered the door.

Miss Joy said," Miss Sarah the children saved a lot of money for your Dad in a special account in the bank. Each one wants to give you their part." Miss Sarah saw the thick envelope and was stunned.

Children get in five rows of ten each and you can present your money to Miss Sarah. They all lined up orderly and waited for Miss Joy to call them. Joy called "First group." She handed each one a twenty dollar bill which they then presented to Miss Sarah. They all knew they were doing a good thing so smiles abounded. Miss Sarah accepted each gift with great appreciation. Joy called all the other groups who did the same thing.

Joy whispered to Sarah," That's $1,000 and there is more in the bank. Each penny comes from their heart, it was a unanimous decision to give you the money."

Sarah was rocked at the news. Sarah found a box to put the money in. "Who wants to see the horseys? All cheered. Each child got an apple and a carrot to feed the horses. They loved it.

Miss Joy," Why is 'Beauty' so shy?

"'Beauty' is about to have a baby, Miss April is going to take care of it. When it has grown it will be hers. Taking care of a baby is a big responsibility. Miss April will stay up all night if it is sick. The animal doctor will have to come often.

Let's have a contest, get in your same groups you were in before and think of a name for the baby, a girl baby and a boy baby name. Try to make them horsey names. I am sure Miss April will have a hard time choosing. Ask your parents for help.

The name of things is very important, your name has a meaning that God thought you should have. Maybe you can think of what you want it to mean and Mommy or Daddy you can figure out the horsey names for that."

On the way home all the children were chattering back and forth. Names were important so they had to get good ones for Miss April.

Joy was talking to April," April, the kids are going to name your foal, you are going to get five boy names and five girl names, good luck on figuring out how to put all the names together."

"Joy I will get you for that, how am I going to do that without having favorites. I mean three would be easy but five is impossible."

"April ask them to give you the meanings also"

April walked down to the club," Hi kids, Miss Joy said you were going to name my baby horse for me. I am glad because a name is very important, I do not know if I could come up with the right one. Do you think your Daddy's can give me the meaning of each name?

I am sure you will give me excellent names so the meanings would help a lot. Remember, 'Beauty' is a pretty black horse and Daddy is a big brown horse. They call that color chestnut on horses. Maybe that can help.

Maybe a few days after it is born we can let you see it. It will depend on what the animal doctor tells me. 'Beauty' may need some alone time with the baby."

Joy's 101 finals had come and gone, she surprised herself by getting an A- in the class. Mistress said it was OK to get a good grade like that. Now she was doing the audit and testing in the 201 classes. Joy was really nervous, the classes were much harder than she thought.

One day the kids all came up to Miss April, a little girl was the spokesperson," Miss April, Miss Joy said you did not want to hurt anyone's feeling by not including their name for the horsey. We did not know any horsey names so we asked Daddy if he could show us some horsey names with his computer on the big TV."

Daddy said," Since 'Beauty' was Miss Sarah's Mommy's horsey and she is in heaven maybe we could think of names like heaven or angel. "

We all think it is going to be a girl horsey. If it is a boy horsey we can get names when 'Beauty' has alone time with the baby."

"A lot of the names Daddy showed us were just silly. Daddy wrote down all the names that we came up with and you will not hurt anyone's feelings."

The little girl handed the list to Miss April, it read:" Angel's Glory, Amazing Grace, American Beauty, Grace like an angel, Heavenly Dream."

April could not respond for a moment," Wow kids, all five are really good names. They show you were thinking about Miss Sarah's Mommy when you did it. I am sure Miss Sarah would be honored to hear it. I think I would have to pick between Grace like an Angel or Heavenly Dream. Then I could just call her Grace or Heaven."

The children were all excited that they picked good names for Miss April. They were glad they picked out one for Miss Sarah's Mommy also.

That night April showed the list to Sarah," I thought I could name it Grace or Heaven, but I could name it Angel also. They know 'Beauty' was you Mom's horse so they were thinking of that as well."

Sarah started to cry, each name reminded her of her Mom. "These names are perfect, I could not have come up with better names."

Fall semester was coming to a close. David disapproved greatly, but Joy kicked her testing section in overdrive to finish a few weeks before the audit classes were finished. This gave her time to tie things together with both classes if she needed to.

The religion dean asked Joy," When in the winter term semester do you want to take your tests?

Joy said," Two weeks in, I feel this will be twice as hard as the normal final.

The Dean just shook his head and walked over to see the teacher Joy had been learning from. He reviewed her tests for Joys 201. "She is an exemplary student."

The teacher said," I had to give her an 'A-'for her 101 classes, now she has a chip on her shoulder. An 'A-'is not acceptable in her eyes. Her Mistress, Miss Dawn, told her she expected very high grades from Joy. She still shows Dawn her tests for her approval.

"Disappointing her Mistress, in anything, is not an option. In order to understand Joy, you need to go to the Lodge to see her 'rule boards' no one had the heart to take them down. Talk to Dawn and Mei, two of her Mistresses, Alkaia is her other one they each have different roles."

Later that night the dean found himself knocking on the door of the Lodge. Miss Anne answered the door and graciously let the dean in.

The dean proclaimed," Miss Anne, Miss Dawn and Miss Mei, I want to understand Joy better than I do now. I am told she has rule boards and two of you are her Mistresses. Is that true?"

Mei spoke up," Dean, I was her roommate and as such I was her Mistress who held the confidant role. Miss Dawn is her true Mistress. Alkaia has an overseer role so she covers a wide assortment of problems.

As I organized her rule boards I will show you and explain them to you. It all started with the flood, she had to retrograde to a ten year old to find a center. We had to use these rules to organize her mind, what was expected of her, how to act and how to have fun with friends."

The dean was shocked when he saw the boards. "They are so detailed, how could she keep up with all of them?"

Mei said," Some are relaxed and some are enforced. That said, even if she violates a relaxed rule she might need to have a podium in the back of the class, she may not have any wish to sit down for a week.

Right now of course, David can overrule all of us being her husband. He also has that role of protector as you saw in our meeting. He watches her like a hawk and she does not even know it. We have to call him if we see any red flags. Remember she has 35,000 people who signed petitions to adopt her and to protect her, they take that promise very seriously.

I was assaulted by two guys after Bible Study, Joy got there late because of her homework. Before I knew it one guy had a broken jaw and another guy was so beat up he had no wish to get up. Now she has 'Buddy', so they make a lethal combination."

Dawn said," Dean, she wanted to be a very good sub, we dishonored her because we wanted to be selfish and make her more than she wanted to be. As a result, she dropped out of school and went home and got a job at the nursing home. After the shootout she prayed with those who were gravely wounded and would succumb to their wounds in the near future.

That was the point when she realized she wanted to be involved in religion. Her adopted Mistress that happened to be David's 'Gran,' who pronounced the two to be soulmates. Both would come here to study. She would study religion and David medicine.

They had a bedside wedding and soon after, David's Gran passed away with look of contentment on her face. I think Joy's drive has a bit of 'Gran' in it, she wants to be worthy to David."

The dean just broke down in tears. He did not know most of her Joy's good times, but he started to connect the dots as to what he just learned. Flood, hurting people when Mei was assaulted, that would be abhorrent to her, but she was loyal to Mei so she did what she had to do.

Having her Mistresses and her friends dishonor her wishes which led her into a tumult about leaving school. Going home just to be in shootout where she lost many friends including her Mistress. Then the bank robbery. One by one all of her anchors were gone.

"Do any of you see what has happened to this child? She has rule boards that tell her what is expected of her. She had to leave school because all three of her Mistresses betrayed her, even though she was doing what she was supposed to do. I bet her behavior changed radically before she left to try to fix the problem.

Then she got a new anchor at the nursing home who was shot and finally died because of it. Now she lost four anchors and only has David is left. She does not know if he will leave her.

She is living in true fear so she is burying herself in schoolwork just like many others do while going through grief. Having her friends and her husband going through grief also did not help."

All four were weeping deeply, self-introspection will be on everyone's mind by nights end. Dawn called Alkaia," Alkaia, we need to have a mass meeting about and including Joy, we have failed her."

When all were assembled for the meeting. Mei, Anne and Dawn were crying. Dawn took the floor," Joy, it happened over time so we did not see it. That is no excuse. Before you left you did exactly what we expected of you to do. You even talked to us and changed your behavior to help with the situation.

We not only ignored your wishes, but we betrayed you. We pushed you away and we broke our commitment to you. I no longer have the right to be your Mistress. If you feel you are going through the motions just because you are expected to do it, then that rule is null and void. We did not realize until recently that all your anchors were gone."

Mei was next," Joy, I now realize that at the end we became somewhat distant. You mainly talked to your Mom, did Bible studies and schoolwork. I was too wrapped up into myself, that I did not see your desperate need. I also broke my commitment to you and I have no right to be called your Mistress. I still want to be your friend."

Alkaia was next," Joy, even though I am more of a hands off Mistress I should have spotted the problem before the others. I too was insensitive and I pushed you away and you had to drop out of school.

I betrayed you, all three of your anchors abandoned you and 'Gran' was shot down before her time and you lost that anchor as well. I have no right to be your Mistress. Could you please give your collar to your dean as I do not feel I have the right to receive it?

All eyes turned to David. "Joy, I am not your master in any sense of the word. We are equal partners, soulmates, which I have proclaimed before God. I want to keep you from harm. My words are not written in stone. I will not allow rule boards in our house. You have a first class brain, able to take bits and pieces you hear from friends to form your own opinion."

"I must insist you do have a rule book with you whenever you go out. The Holy Bible. It is non- negotiable. As equals we need to be accountable to each other in reading it.

Tomorrow, I want you to buy a dry erase board eraser. I want you to go to the Lodge and look at your rule boards. Pray about everyone. Ask God if this rule is still useful to you. If it is not then erase it. Then on the next pass ask God and say this rule is still useful to me. Am I already doing it so no one needs to tell me to do that? Erase all of those that apply. Write down on a piece of paper all the remaining ones and we will pray over them together as a team. Once we have brought them to God you will burn the list.

It is your decision and it does not have to be made today. You may be in too much of an emotional state now. You decide when or if you wish to talk to each one of them to convey your wishes."

It was almost a solemn occasion as Joy took off her collar to give it to her dean. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she first needing to sit down to compose herself before she went to the dean. Thank you dean, for all you have done for me. It is obvious, that you being here means you had some part in discussing this problem. I hated keeping things from my friends. I saw no way I could express my feelings without them feeling anger against me."

"Joy, what do you want me to do with this collar? Would you want me to keep it in my desk or would you want me to incinerate it? I will do as you wish."

"Dean I just don't know yet, this is a lot to take in. I need some good sleep and get some comfort from David."

"Very well, I will hold off any action until you tell me what action to take."

It all was a huge relief for Joy, she did not like to deceive or hurt people. She only hurt people as a last resort. At the nursing home and bank robbery there were multiple gunman. With Mei she was being actively attacked, being loyal she had to do what she could.

When she got home she just said two words. "'Buddy Love'" She opened her arms wide. 'Buddy' was there at a wag of a tail. Joy just hugged 'Buddy.' The more she hugged, the more she felt at peace.

She didn't have to keep secrets from her friends, she knew David would be with her and he wanted accountability from her and God to do it. She wanted to open her heart to him in the same way. With those weights lifted from her she was more settled and saw her classwork in a whole different light.

When the dean greeted Joy for her first test out class, he saw a whole new Joy he never met before. This was the fun, light-hearted Joy. This was not the dreary, downcast and overworked Joy the dean first met.

After every test was scored the dean would personally walk and give the test and results to Joy. After he handed her the final test, Joy just could not contain her excitement, she hugged the dean. She did not tell David what the scores were, she wanted to surprise him.

The dean was dumbfounded. They had to be the hardest tests he ever created, Joy had to know even the most insignificant piece of information. Joy said jokingly while hold up one of her tests," I must have been tired when I took this one, I only got an 'A', and I demand a recount!" The dean doubled over with laughter. Yes, the real Joy was back.

A party was called for, Joy asked," Dean, can you stay for dinner? We would be honored if you stayed and celebrated with us."

David had been saving for this very event, he bought the highest grade meat he could find, and bought a few extra pieces for the dean and friends, and lots vegetables he could grill up also. "Please, stay dean, I have all this food I am going to grill up and you look like you have not eaten dinner yet."

The dean loved grilled food and it was true he missed lunch and did not have dinner yet. "I accept under the condition if you would give me the honor of saying grace at table tonight."

David saw Joy was just beaming, this was the Joy he fell in love with, this was the Joy he married, and this was the Joy he went on honeymoon with and wanted to grow old with.

April had a new "spring in her step" She and Sarah had been getting all the medical tests the farmers suggested they get for 'Beauty'. Everyone was sworn to secrecy. April even knew what sex it was, but was forbidden to tell. If everything went as expected, 'Beauty' would foal soon after Joy and David got back from France.