Silver Arrow Ch. 20-22

"You aren't saying much, Doug," Rose said with a slight smile. "I expected you to be excited about the new vehicle. It's 'one of a kind.'"

I turned to her and returned the smile. We had been sitting in the living area of my home, waiting to take Harlan down to Sierra to pick up the new coach.

"It's that all right," I agreed. "And yes, I am excited. It's something completely different and I can't wait to get it on the road for the first time."

"Debbie is really a nice young girl," she said.

It was a complete non sequitur and caught me wondering what she was thinking. My confusion must have shown in my expression.

"Uhhhm, yes, thank you. I'm very proud of her."

"Has she told you what she wants to study when she goes to college?"

"No ... not yet. I got the impression she hadn't made up her mind."

"She asked me my opinion on teaching. She wondered if I thought she would be happy with a career in education."

"Huh! So ... what did you tell her?"

"I told her she should do whatever she felt strongly about. Forget what anyone else thinks and consider what might make her happy."

I thought about her comment and then nodded.

"That sounds like good advice. I don't recall anyone trying to convince her to pick any particular career, but perhaps her school counselor or someone else might have suggested something."

"You're a pretty smart guy, Doug. I wasn't so sure when Harlan hired you, but after meeting your family and seeing you interact with them, I think I underestimated you."

"You mean, how could a lowly bus driver raise three smart kids like I did?" I said, not without some attitude."

"Don't get bent out of shape, Doug. It was a compliment, and from what I can see, you aren't lowly, or just a bus driver. You've had some hard things happen to you in your life and you've handled them very well. I've been there, so I know what I'm talking about. What I'm wondering is what you want out of this job besides just driving that fancy big rig up and down the state?"

"You know, I've been thinking about that very thing. What am I supposed to do when Harlan isn't on the road? I've been toying with the idea of going to school."

"Good plan," she grinned. "But Harlan isn't going to be here forever. Their sons aren't going to take over the business and his daughter is married and has her own life. My plan is to find a way to take over at least some of his holdings, but I can't do that alone. I've learned a lot being with him as he manages the properties and lobbies the state. I'm watching and learning how he operates. He knows that and he encourages it. You could learn too, Doug. You could earn yourself a piece of the empire too."

I was astonished at her comments. I had no plan to work myself into a position of ownership of Harlan's ranches. But here was his closest business confidant suggesting that it was a possibility.

"I think it's a little too soon to be thinking like that, Rose. I know nothing about the ranches or the business. I'm not sure Harlan would be too pleased if I started to get nosy about how he conducted his business. I've been hired to drive the coach and do some chauffeuring, that's all."

"Harlan never does anything without a longer term plan. Why do you think that house was made available to you and your family? Why do you think he chose you over at least a hundred other guys who could drive that coach? Your old boss, Grant Depassie, thought you were the cream of the crop. I did the background check on you and it came up clean. It also told us that you weren't just an ordinary guy. I wasn't so sure, to be honest, but I was willing to wait and see. I'm still waiting and seeing, but so far, you seem to be 'as advertised.'"

"It's a pretty big leap to go from driver to rancher, don't you think?" I said with a health portion of skepticism.

"Doug, what you need to do is watch and learn. At some point you'll find which part of management you feel more comfortable with. If it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen and you continue on as the driver. I have a feeling that you will find something that interests you that you can grab onto."

I was listening carefully to her comments.

"There are three elements to this business. The first is management of the ranch properties. That is, the trees themselves and their care and culture. The second is people management. The people we've hired to run the ranches. The third is the political side. Keeping in touch with the people who set the rules, provide the financial and regulatory assistance to the growers in this state, and who are prepared to listen to our concerns and needs."

"How long have you been here, Rose?"

"Seven years."

"And of those three things you mentioned, how would you rate yourself on each of them?"

"I have some small knowledge of the horticultural side. I've never been strong in biology. I have a very good knowledge of the men and women who manage the individual ranches. I think I'm pretty good at reading people and assessing them. That's also Harlan's strength. As far as the lobbying goes, I'm learning from a pro. Harlan is very good at getting his point across without sounding like he's lecturing the state and county people. I have an advantage, of course. As a handicapped person, they tend to be a little more generous with their time. I'm getting known around the capitol by being with Harlan, so after a while, I can operate on my own in certain circumstances."

I sat back and listened as Rose talked about her strengths. Her weakness was likely my weakness too.

"I don't see myself learning a lot about pruning, disease control, or that kind of thing," I said. "Is Harlan really good at that?"

"Up to a point. When he's in doubt, he calls in experts and gets their opinion. He relies a lot on our suppliers. Some of our ranch managers are tree fruit professionals as well, and that helps. Harlan's always tried to surround himself with good people and then trust them. He's had pretty good luck up to this point."

"I guess I won't know what to think until I have some time under my belt, watching you two operate. I'll keep my ears open and my mouth shut unless I'm trying to learn something by asking a question."

"Good plan, Doug. That's how I did it. You'll be surprised at how quickly you'll pick up on what's going on. You won't be involved in the lobbying just yet. That would be the last thing on your plate."

I nodded. "Good. That's a whole other challenge."

Watching Harlan, I could see that he was just as excited as I was about the new coach. It had been rolled out of the shop and sat in the brilliant sunshine of a July morning. It was spotless and with its distinctive paint scheme it looked very handsome. A number of the mechanics and staff were outside to watch when the head man walked to Harlan.

"Here's the keys, Mr. Cummings. She's all ready to go. Fuel and water are all topped up, all the electrical systems have been tested and are in proper working order. It's all yours," he grinned.

"It looks better than I imagined," Harlan smiled. "Doug, why don't we take it out on the road for a test drive?"

"Let's go," I grinned as he handed me the keys.

We had Rose on board and secured in her observation spot. Harlan was seated in the right hand captain's chair while I adjusted the driver's seat and mirrors.

"Where to, Boss?" I asked.

"Let's head up 99 to Yuba City. That will give us a pretty good idea of how it will ride on the old highway. We'll come back on the back roads to Roseville before we head home. We'll be putting a lot of miles on old 99, so let's see how this big baby rolls."

"Got it," I said, dialing in Yuba City on the GPS and looking back at Rose. She was smiling and just as anxious to see what our new traveling life was going to be like.

The construction of the interior of the coach was so completely different from a regular tour bus that it made a big difference in sound transmission. While modern highway buses were quiet, this unit was even more so. Harlan guided me to the entrance to Highway 99 and we were on our way. Almost right away I knew I would have to get accustomed to a different feel and sound. After a while, I learned to control my speed in the tour buses by feel and sound. I couldn't do that yet in this vehicle. I found I was constantly watching the speedometer to make sure I wasn't speeding or going too slowly.

We made the fifty mile drive to Yuba City in slightly less than an hour. We stopped for a morning coffee, and I had a bran muffin as well. The coach attracted a lot of attention since we parked it on the street directly in front of the restaurant. I had a hard time taking my eyes off it, worrying a bit about something unexpected happening to it. As we left the restaurant, I did a walk around to see if everything was in good order. Aside from some dead bugs on the front, everything was in good order.

We took the side road to Highway 65 at Olivehurst and drove south to Roseville before turning onto I 80 and the run to Davis. It didn't seem to matter what kind of road we were on, the ride was silky smooth. The smile on Harlan's face told me he was happy with his purchase and proud of the attention it got. I saw quite a few people cruising along side to get a better look at our coach.

When we pulled into the Cummings Ranch, we were welcomed by the whole gang. Harlan had called ahead when we got to Davis and let them know we were only a few minutes out.

"Wow, Dad, that is so cool," Bill said, wide-eyed.

"Go ahead and have a look around inside," Harlan suggested.

My three didn't waste any time stepping up into the coach and looking at all the fittings and gadgets. I didn't see them again for almost fifteen minutes.

"You've got everything you need in there, don't you," Debbie said to Rose.

"Yes," she agreed. "It's a traveling office with some extra features. A small kitchen for when we get hungry and three beds if we need to camp out overnight. It's even got two bathrooms."

"You have computer stations and TVs and everything," Bill mentioned.

"We have satellite reception for when we are out of cell range, and for the TV and internet too," I said.

"When are you going on your first trip?" Sandy asked.

"Monday morning next week," Harlan said. "We've got some catching up to do. It's summer and we need to make sure all the ranches are ready for harvest time. It will be a busy week."

Harlan called a meeting on Friday with Rose and me to discuss our agenda for the following week. We would start in the north and work our way south, hitting each property as we went. We wouldn't be able to visit every ranch, so some would be left for the next trip, two weeks later.

We went over the map with Harlan indicating the ranches he wanted to see during the first week. It would take us from just north of Chico, south to Madera. The second trip would begin in Tracy and work our way south on I 5 to Los Banos, then following some of the state highways further south toward Visalia. It was a lot of miles to cover with two stops each day except on Friday when we would head back in the afternoon.

At eight o'clock on Monday morning, I kissed Sandy and Debbie and hugged Bill as I set off on my first day of driving Harlan and Rose to the ranches. It was a typical California day, sunny with the promise of it being hot before noon. I watched as Harlan and Rose met with the ranch manager and went over the status of the crop. There were walnut trees as far as I could see and Rose told me this ranch had a hundred-and-twenty acres of them. I was introduced to the manager, Antonio Vargas, and then just listened to the questions and answers between him and Harlan. Rose was taking notes which I learned would be transcribed onto her laptop as we moved to the next ranch. Harlan had told me she kept meticulous notes and could call up any meeting from any ranch she had attended within a minute.

I learned that the more mature trees had an English Walnut root grafted to an American Walnut trunk. It was a way to prevent something called black line disease. Lately, there was a new hybrid tree that didn't require grafting and was more productive. When older trees were culled out of the orchard, they were replaced with the new variety. That was the other thing I didn't realize. There were almost a dozen different varieties of walnuts, with six different kinds being the most common. I'd been on the job for a few hours and already I was learning.

We visited two ranches that first day and stayed in a hotel in Yuba City that first night. The driving was easy. I merely had to punch in the address of the ranch on the GPS and it would lead me to the location. As the week wore on, I was getting accustomed to the routine and picked up quite a bit of knowledge along the way. Not all of the ranches produced walnuts. Some were pecan or almond producers, and I was told we would be visiting two pistachio producers later in the week. I also learned that pecans were the highest value crop, but improving the yields was a major target. It was a joint effort in conjunction with the University of California in Davis.

By the end of the week I had seen nine of the fifteen ranches that Harlan owned or was part owner of. We spent more time where there were problems, and most of those were either equipment or people issues. California was a huge breadbasket for the country, and the demands for seasonal labor were always high. Harlan's management people had a good reputation because Harlan insisted upon it, but problems did crop up from time to time, the biggest of which was getting enough people at harvest time. The competition for manpower was highest in the late summer and fall, when almost all the major crops were ready.

When the bus pulled into the Cummings ranch on Friday afternoon, I realized I was tired and ready for a couple of days off. I would wash the coach ... no easy task ... to get the dust and bug kill off, then make sure it was fueled and ready to go at a moment's notice. In fact, we had nothing planned until the week following next. However, for a first week in a brand new unit, it came through in fine style. It was a comfortable ride with predictable handling and all the necessary features a driver or passenger would want.

By Thanksgiving, I was comfortable in my new job and enjoying it. There was less driving involved than with Silver Arrow, and that meant I was home with my family more often. I was also learning a lot about nut farming and management. I have to credit both Harlan and Rose for that. Harlan was giving me insights about political issues involved in agriculture as well as thumbnail sketches of the employees we met. Rose was working on the more technical details.

Part of her job was to try and forecast crop yields for each ranch. It was something she had developed a knack for based on weather, previous performance, quality of ranch management and some intangibles she couldn't quite explain.

"After a while," she said one morning as we sat near the pool, "I thought there might be a way to predict performance based on what I saw and heard. I put a computer program together that gathered data and then I tried to analyze it. I went back to Harlan's records for ten years to fill the database and then looked for trends. At first, it was just a jumble of numbers, but after a while I could see some patterns evolving.

"For instance, I began to notice a difference in yields for different varieties. Not too surprising, really. Then I noticed a difference in yields in the same varieties. So with a lot of help from UC Davis, and the Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento, I could begin to see why the differences were happening. Sometimes it was soil, sometimes it was weather, but sometimes it was management. A grower who hesitated when replacing older trees because it reduced his harvest usually paid the penalty a few years down the road when he finally did replace them."

"That sounds like it was a huge amount of work," I suggested.

"It was, but I didn't have anything else to do, so it kept me occupied. Now, I can give Harlan some useful information ahead of time instead of after the fact."

"What do you do with your spare time?" I asked.

"I have a couple of projects that I'm working on. That keeps me busy."

"No boyfriends or girlfriends to socialize with?"

"No. We're out here in the country and I don't go into the city very often. I need someone to drive me, so it's an inconvenience for Harlan or Margaret."

"Have you thought about getting a car with hand controls?" I asked. "That would give you a lot of freedom."

"I have, but ... I've just haven't bothered. I'm okay with my life, Doug. I know it doesn't sound exciting to most people, but I'm used to it."

I sat there for a few minutes without saying anything to her while I thought about something I had seen in the local paper.

"I'll tell you what, Rose," I said at length. "I'll be your chauffeur for now if you agree to take lessons and become independent as a driver."

She looked at me strangely. "Why would you do that?"

"You're still a young woman, Rose, with a long life ahead of you. There is so much more you could do if you were more able to get around on your own. I didn't just pull this idea out of a hat. I saw an ad for a van with hand controls and a lift for sale in the County News last week. It was used, but supposedly in good condition. I'm sure you could afford that, and it would give you some freedom from being dependent on me or anyone else. If you're interested, I can take you to have a look at it."

She stared at me for the longest time before she spoke.

"Why are you doing this, Doug?"

"As I said, you've got a long life to live yet. You need more in it than just work and study. A lot of handicapped people live amazing lives despite their problems. I've had a taste of what it was like and I know how relieved I was when I was able to get back to something resembling normal. You deserve better than being a captive to it. You're too smart and too good looking to remain hidden. Besides, I think Harlan, and particularly Margaret, would be happy to see you expand your horizon."

"You're getting awfully personal for someone I hardly know." She was showing signs of becoming irritated with the conversation.

"Rose, I've been here for five months. You've been good to me, helping me understand the business and teaching me what I need to know. I want to repay that with something, even if it's just making myself available to drive you where you want to go, or maybe even taking you out to dinner some night, just the two of us."

Again, an extended silence, but this time she wasn't looking at me.

"Is that van still for sale?" she asked, still not looking at me.

"Don't know, but I kept the ad, so one phone call will tell me. Shall I call the number?"

"Okay, but I'm not promising anything. Besides, who will teach me how to drive it?"

"Don't know, but I'll bet the person who owns it does."

She nodded. "Call them, then."

It was only good luck that the person who owned and drove the van was a woman. I thought when I talked to her that she would give Rose more confidence and would connect better than a man might. That turned out to be the case.

"Mrs. Calder is very nice, Doug. She told me who I could get as an approved instructor that would allow me to take the driver's test. She said it wasn't hard and that the only reason she was selling it was because she had bought a newer, bigger one. But her van is plenty big enough for me."

"I think so too," I agreed. "And the price is right. She's asking about half of what a new one would cost."

"How do you know that?" Rose looked at me suspiciously.

"I looked it up. There aren't many people who convert vans like this, so it wasn't hard to get a ballpark price. Beside, her van is spotless and very low mileage. I think it's a good deal."