Hobson Bovine Research Center
I looked out under the brim of my hat into a clear blue sky that stretched as far as I could see in any direction. Charlie and I were on the road between Grass Range and Winnett. “Your dad keeps saying rain is coming, but I don’t see it.”
He looked up and shook his head. “It’s coming. The weather service around here is pretty good, but dad is even better. He says he can smell it when it’s gonna rain and he’s never wrong. That’s why he was short with you yesterday. He’s always short when bad rain’s coming.”
I squinted into the sky again but didn’t see anything different. “Where’s it going to come from? In Philly, if rain is coming, it’ll be grey and dreary all day. The sky looks just like it did yesterday and the day before.”
He shook his head again. “You only think it looks the same. The color is off and the air has a scent like I can’t even describe. It’s like a sweet dampness. Sometime right after lunch, the sky will turn black and it’ll rain buckets.”
“Will we be back by then?”
“Maybe. If we’re not, I’ll put the top up.”
I peered dubiously at the dusty roll of canvas and metal poles that he referred to. It wasn’t really a top, more of an awning. There were no doors on the Jeep, and the top had no sides. If it was going to rain ‘buckets,’ we’d get soaked. I checked my watch. It was almost ten. We’d gotten a late start because I had to wait for Charlie to finish double the normal chores and then we had to check on the old timers at the Krengel place.
Mad King George and his minions were doing well. They had nothing to report. We brought them more food, more beer, and more ice. I also handed over their pay for that day’s guard duty. Even George mentioned the storm that everyone knew about but me. “Feel bad takin yur money today, sonny. Won’t be nuthin ta watch, what with the rain comin.”
We were standing near the open loft door. I looked incredulously into the beautiful blue sky but didn’t bother to comment. “Stay vigilant either way.”
“You betcha!”
Some little time later, I still had my eyes on the sky but didn’t see the first sign of the coming buckets of rain. “What do I know?” I muttered and set the matter aside. I switched us to the topic of our pending visit to the research facility. “What kind of place are we going to? Have you been there before?”
“I’ve never been, but I learned about it in school. They came to do a presentation for career day. The place researches diseases and stuff for cattle. They also offer resources and testing to the local farmers and ranchers. They’ll pay if you’ll let them experiment on your stock. They always want to try new vaccines and stuff. A lot of people are happy to have the money, but some are suspicious of it.”
I remembered the massive dairy farmer from the previous day. “Like Sven with his crossing and spitting.”
“Sven is suspicious of everything. You remember that split-rail-fence between his barn and the house?”
I pictured the farmyard and remembered the fence. “What about it?”
“He came back from town one day and there was a turkey vulture on every post. There was maybe four of five of them in a row. He almost went crazy because he thought it was a harbinger…is that the word, harbinger?”
“Yup, harbinger; something that signals the approach of another thing.”
“Sven thought the vultures were a harbinger of doom, like his herd was going to be struck down or maybe he was gonna die. I half expected him to wear sackcloth and ashes and start telling folks to repent. He worried himself half to death until he saw a pair of rabbits in the yard. The Swedes think rabbits are good luck. According to Sven, the rabbits were a sign that the bad luck from the vultures was past, and everything would be ok.”
I chuckled at the absurdity of superstition, then I shook my head at the same absurdity. “People think all kinds of crazy stuff. It’s funny, but it’s a shame. Either way, it sounds like the research place depends on the locals for test subjects. That means they’ll want to make a good impression on us. I think we tell a version of the truth. We want to get Lars Krengel’s dairy back running and we’re worried about hoof-and-mouth happening again. We’ll see what they say and stay as long as we can. Maybe they’ll show us around. Keep your eyes open and pay attention. I don’t know what we’ll see, but anything could be important.”
We drove through Winnett. The town was the place the joke was written for when they say, ‘blink your eyes and you’ll miss it.’ There was literally nothing there, just a couple of wooden buildings, a couple pickup trucks, and a couple dusty houses. Charlie said there were ninety people who lived there. I guessed they counted the surrounding farms and ranches as well, because the town couldn’t have held more than a dozen or so.
Five miles outside of town, we came to an institutional campus of sorts. There was a brick office building with a flat roof at one end of the property and a modern barn at the other with a fenced yard in between. Charlie drove into the parking lot and brought the Jeep to an unexpected halt. He stopped so fast, I had to grab the metal dash to keep from kissing the windshield. “WHAT THE FUCK?”
He pointed across me. “LOOK!”
I looked but saw only parked cars and trucks. “Look at what?”
“At the hailed-out blue Dodge that’s between five and ten years old.”
I looked right at the back of a light blue pickup truck with DODGE painted across the rear gate. There was a Farm Use license plate wired to the frame where the back bumper should have been. The truck was beat to death. The bodywork was mangled and dented, and the gate was held closed with a twist of barbed wire. The vehicle was exactly like the one Mitch described in front of the Krengel place the day I confronted the cowboy in the farmyard. It had to be the same truck. I patted Charlie’s shoulder with appreciation. “How the hell did you pick that thing out? You never even saw it.”
“I’ve been lookin’ for a blue truck since Mitch told us about what he saw. Blue Dodges aren’t exactly hen’s teeth, but there can’t be many like this one.”
“You’ve got a good eye. We’re on the right track. Park down the end and let’s see what we can see.”
We parked and went into the main entrance of the office building. There was a tiny lobby where a receptionist sat at a desk. She was a perky little brunette that Charlie knew from school. She was happy to see him. “Charlie! What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Em. How ‘bout you? You workin?”
“Yeah, I’m going to Hobson in the fall, but it’s expensive. They’ve got a program where you can work to help pay for school. How about you?”
He lifted one shoulder and dropped it like what he was doing was no big deal. “I’m helpin’ dad on the farm.”
Emily’s face fell with disappointment. I reframed Charlie’s news to make it sound as impressive as it really was. “He’s too modest, young lady. His father is taking him into partnership to help manage the whole four-thousand-acre operation. He’s not merely helping. Before long, he’s going to be making decisions that influence the whole place.”
Her face brightened and she popped up from her seat to run around the desk and hug Charlie. “Congrats!”
He was stunned by her forwardness. “THANKS! Uh…thanks, Em.”
She was a pretty girl with an apple-cheeked face, full lips, and a nice figure. Her brown paisley top concealed smallish breasts, but her black, bell-bottom slacks had a lot of hip stuffed in them. She looked like she was wearing riding pants. She broke away from Charlie and slid her ample ass onto the edge of the desk. “What’s up?”
Charlie’s voice didn’t seem to be working, so I spoke for both of us. “Charlie’s father bought Lars Krengel’s dairy. He asked Charlie to look into getting it running again, but we’re worried about the hoof-and-mouth coming back. We heard they had resources here. Maybe there’s someone we could talk to.”
Her pretty dark eyes were curious and amused. I realized too late that I still had my wide-brimmed hat on. I was also dressed the same way I’d been the day David gave me the hat, in a white button shirt and black pants. The girl must’ve thought I looked ridiculous and she was right.
I took my hat down from my grey head and introduced myself. “I’m Law Edwards, a friend of the family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Charlie is chaperoning me around to keep me out of his father’s hair. David doesn’t have time to entertain guests with the rain coming.”
Emily dipped her chin. “There’s a big storm on the way. I hope it holds out until I get home, but I don’t think it will.” She got up and swiveled her wide hips around the other side of the desk to check her appointment book. “You’re in luck! Mister Thomason has an opening. He’s one of our research directors. I’ll see if he can talk to you.”
She disappeared through a door and closed it behind. I elbowed Charlie. “Is that enough ass for you?”
“WHAT?”
“You said you liked tits and ass. She’s a little lacking on tits, but there’s enough ass there to make up.”
He turned red and hissed. “Stop it!”
The door opened and Emily came back. She was concerned by Charlie’s color. “You alright, Char?”
I slapped his back as hard as I could. “Just some dust from the road. We drove out in Charlie’s Jeep, and he must have swallowed some dust. Had a little coughing fit when you were gone.”
She bounded back through the door and returned a second later with a paper cup of water. He drank it to maintain the charade and thanked her. With the crisis over, Emily led us into the private section of the office.
“Roy Thomason,” the researcher said as we shook hands. “Welcome to the Hobson Bovine Research Center.”
We introduced ourselves and remained on our feet. Thomason lit a cigarette and offered his pack to us. They were Shamrock filter cigarettes in a red pack. Charlie lit one of his unfiltered T-Squares and offered the pack my way. I didn’t accept either offer. The two men smoked while I explained what we were doing there.
Thomason knocked some ash from his cigarette into a big glass tray on his desk. “You’ve got good reason to be concerned. Hoof-and-mouth is basically eradicated in the US and Canada, but Mexico is rife with it. There are regular outbreaks down by the border because the virus can have a long incubation period, up to twelve days. A rancher can buy stock that looks perfectly healthy, then over a week later they come up sick and infect the whole herd. It can also be carried by wild animals like deer. It’s possible for pastured cattle to catch the disease from an encounter with a sick deer, or a dead one, or maybe a carrier with no symptoms.
“The biggest problem is the disease exists in the wild and can be carried by animals with no symptoms. These animals serve as a reservoir for the virus. They don’t die because they’re not sick, but they carry and transmit the disease. Because of the ease and speed of transmission, one encounter with one carrier is often enough to transmit the virus to an entire domestic herd. We think that’s what happened to Lars Krengel.
“The virus can also spread in contaminated feed, or even by a human who handles an infected animal. Up in Canada back in ’52, an infected herd was culled and buried. Wild dogs dug up the corpses and carried the bones off. The bones spread the disease and there was a big outbreak up there. I’ve heard wolves do the same thing over in the Soviet Union. That’s why we burn the culled animals here in the states.”
The news wasn’t good. If the cows could get sick by one run-in with a wild animal, maybe the outbreak was just a coincidence. I remembered the blue truck in the parking lot and dismissed the idea. There were no coincidences. I asked questions like a concerned dairy farmer might. “How can we protect ourselves? New cows are expensive. I don’t want to lose them over a deer with a virus.”
Thomason stubbed out his cigarette. “We’re working on a vaccine, but we haven’t been successful yet. If you establish a new herd, we’d like you to participate in the testing program. We’ll pay you, of course, but you’d also be at the forefront of new technology. We’d also insure you against loss on the slim chance your herd gets sick from the testing.”
“That sounds like a good deal.”
“It is!” He gestured toward the office door. “Do you have some time for me to show you our work?”
I said that I did. Charlie stubbed out his cigarette, and we followed Thomason through the office, across the yard, and into the barn. The barn was like an ultra-modern hospital for animals. There was no exposed wood anywhere. Everything was plastic or stainless steel or glass. Each test subject animal was isolated in its own sealed stall which was accessed through a vestibule that served as an air lock. Sunlight entered through windows in the outside wall behind the stalls. Ventilation fans hummed to bring fresh air in and exhaust the spent air.
A pair of men were working with bales of hay and a scale. One looked like a scientist and the other was a cowboy dressed all in blue. The pair were weighing portions to feed the cows. Thomason called out to the men by name. The scientist was Mark and the cowboy was named Keith. “Got some visitors for you gents!”
Both men rose from their work to greet us. Mark shook hands like he was pleased to meet anyone interested in his work. Keith’s face drooped when he saw me. I greeted him like we were old friends. “How’s the pickup? I guess you were right the other day, she just needed a rest.”
“Yeah…yeah, that was all. She’s been fine ever since.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Cowboy Keith excused himself and hurried off. Mark went back to his work with the scale. Charlie poked me in the ribs to ask a whispered question. “Was that the guy with the truck?”
I nodded and gave my attention back to Thomason. He showed us around the facility and explained the experiments. They didn’t just work on hoof-and-mouth disease. They worked on all kinds of cow illnesses and parasites.
The research facility didn’t develop the medicines. That was done at the college. They administered the medicines to sick cows, or administered vaccines to healthy cows, then exposed them to the pathogen to see if they would get sick. When a vaccine showed promise, they’d administer it to herds owned by farmers and ranchers they had agreements with. They’d carefully monitor the animals to look for side effects and to find out if the drugs offered any protection against whatever it was designed to treat or prevent.
The tour was good even without there being a mystery to solve. It was interesting to see how the technology of modern medicine was being applied to farming and ranching. Thomason was a devout believer in science and an advocate of the work they were doing. He pushed Charlie and me to sign up our new herd for the program. I remained uncommitted. “Let us build the herd first, then we’ll talk.”
Thomason thanked us for our time and escorted us to the lobby. I didn’t see Cowboy Keith again. Emily greeted us like she’d been pining for our return. “Did he give you the whole tour? Did you see the barn? Isn’t it fascinating?”
I agreed that it was. Charlie nodded and lit a cigarette. I asked about the young lady’s upcoming classes. She was happy to explain. “I’m taking Agricultural Sciences. It’s a degree in modern farming methods. There’s a new idea a lot of folks are trying, called ‘no till.’ You don’t plow the soil every year. I want to learn about that. It could lead to a big labor savings and to using less input to achieve the same results.”
Charlie wasn’t sold on the idea. “Sounds like a fairy tale.”
She wasn’t discouraged by his nay saying. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not. That’s why I want to learn.”
I encouraged her. “Good for you, young lady. It’s good to be curious. It’s good to ask questions. You and Charlie should get together sometime to discuss the matter. He seems to have some definite opinions. Maybe you could open each other’s minds.”
She wrote something on a pad of paper, tore the sheet off and offered it to Charlie. “Call me when you want your mind opened.”
Charlie tried to play it cool, but both of us could tell he was excited to have Emily’s number. He pocketed the paper and flicked some cigarette ash in a nearby smoking stand. “Sounds good; I will.”
We said our goodbyes and left. When we got into the parking lot, I detoured to see if Cowboy Keith’s pickup was still there or if he’d fled. It was still in the lot. He hadn’t left the building, just my presence. Charlie and I headed for the Jeep. I teased him along the way.
“She wants you.”
“Who?”
“Are you kidding? Emily, that’s who! She’s wanted you for a while. She was excited to see you when we walked in. She hugged you. She brought you water when I lied about you coughing. She wants to get together to talk about farming.” I laughed. “HA! More like she wants to talk about some animal husbandry!”
He blushed and flicked what was left of his cigarette across the gravel lot. “I’ve known Em forever. We’re just friends.”
“Bullshit. You were friends when you were eight. Since you became a man and she became a woman, you’re potential mates. She obviously looks at you that way. You should at least consider looking at her that way. Get together and talk about stuff. See if you’re compatible. Find out what kind of woman she’s grown into. You probably still see her like just another kid you’ve known your whole life. She’s a lot more than that now. Take her out and do whatever young people do now-a-days. Worst case, you find out you can’t get along and you part as friends. Best case, you’ll marry her and have a bunch of kids with big asses.”
He broke up laughing. “That’s fucked up!”
I laughed with him. “Maybe a little. She’s pretty and she seems kind. You could do a hell-of-a-lot worse.”
We climbed into the Jeep. “I’ll call her. I’ll call once all this is over.”
“Call her the day after tomorrow, just to check in. That way she’ll know you’re interested. You don’t have to get together right away but make sure she knows she’s got your attention.”
He started the motor and drove us out of the parking lot. “What do you know about dating?”
“I’ve got a bunch of nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews. They tell me their troubles because I’m their uncle and not their dad. I can be cool, whatever the hell that means.”
“I think you’re cool. You’re not hard on me. You mess around. I like that. Your nieces and nephews probably do too.”
“Is that what it means to be cool?”
“Kinda, yeah. It means fun with no pressure. Dad and me mess around, but it’s different. I don’t have to keep proving myself to you like I do with him.”
“I’m glad I’m cool, I guess.”
We were on the road when Charlie directed my attention into the sky. “Look at the thunderhead!”
I looked where he pointed. The sky to my right was still bright blue. Far off to the left was a gigantic wall of black that was coming fast. He pulled over. “I’m gonna put the top up.”
I didn’t understand why he wanted to waste the time stopping. “Can’t we outrun it?”
“No chance. We’re fifteen miles from home and the storm is gonna be on us in five minutes or less.”
I got out so I wouldn’t be in the way. Charlie pulled at the dusty canvas and started to haul the top up. A car came toward us from the direction of the research center. As it got closer, I saw it had lights on the roof. It was a police car. It pulled up and stopped behind the Jeep. Sheriff Andy was at the wheel.
I told Charlie what to do before the sheriff got out of his car. “Keep your temper. Stick with yes sir, no sir, I don’t know sir and keep your hand away from your sidearm. Don’t give him a reason to fuck with us.”
Andy got out and started in on his act right away. He didn’t bluster like he had with David. He kept his tone even and angry as he reeled off infractions. “Standing in a no standing zone, reckless endangerment of traffic, operating a farm vehicle on a public highway, failure to signal. This vehicle is hereby impounded. I’ll have your traffic citations ready at the station later.”
Charlie started to argue. “Impounded? How are we gonna get home?”
I yelled at him. “SHUT UP!” He quieted. I directed my next words to Andy. “Yes, officer. Thank you, officer. May we be on our way on foot?”
He sneered. “Enjoy your walk.”
“Thank you, officer.” We started to walk. I kept my head down for about a hundred yards because I didn’t want to start talking until we were out of Andy’s earshot. I looked up and saw the thunderhead was just about on top of us. I reached out for a cigarette. “May I? You better have one too. They’re going to be ruined in another minute or so.”
We lit up and trudged along the road. I asked the obvious question. “How far to Winnett?”
“About two miles.”
“How far back to the research center?”
“About three miles.”
“Shit.”
“Can you make it to town?”
“I have to, don’t I?”
Charlie blew smoke into the darkening sky. “I’m sorry, but the rain is going to hurt. I don’t know what the storms are like back east, but here, they’re unforgiving. There isn’t anywhere to hide. There’s no trees; not even an outbuilding where we could wait it out.”
The land around us was barren of cover. The left side of the road was nothing but crops and the right side was grazing land for cattle. The cows seemed to know the rain was coming. They were huddled in a knot at the far end of the field. I touched my hat brim. “Good thing your dad gave me this ridiculous hat. I wish I understood what Andy’s game is. He can’t think he’ll get away with this. What was that nonsense about the farm vehicle?”
Charlie shrugged. “He’s not wrong about that. Vehicles for the road are supposed to be licensed for the road and have a regular tag. The farm use tags are supposed to only be for vehicles operated on the farm. They can run on the road but only when going from one field to the next. You’re not supposed to drive them like a regular car. It’s bullshit though, because everyone around here does.”
“Andy is sloppy. He just showed his hand even more than he did before. We went to the research center where the hoof-and-mouth that infected Krengel’s herd definitely came from. We saw the sabotaging cowboy, and he ran away. He must’ve telephoned the sheriff who came out to hassle us. Notice Andy came from the direction of the center. He didn’t come from town. He drove out to get behind us and nailed us on the road coming back. It’s a cinch he’s involved in this thing with Krengel’s farm and the sapphires.”
Charlie commented on the discovery of Cowboy Keith. “I can’t believe we walked in there and found the guy with truck trouble. When you started talkin’ about his pickup, I almost shat! I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something.”
“I’m glad you kept it together.”
A fat drop of rain slapped my hat brim. Another fell right behind it. Charlie hurried to finish his cigarette and swore. “Fuckin’ Andy! This is gonna suck.”
I finished my cigarette and flicked it away. I turned my shirt collar up and pulled my hat down. Charlie did the same. I apologized for being old and slow and told him to leave me behind if he wanted to run ahead. He refused. “We’re in this together. We’ll stay together.”
I patted his shoulder in gratitude. “You’re a fine man, Charlie. You deserve every bit of Emily’s gigantic ass.”
He laughed and the sky opened up. It poured. It poured like I’ve never experienced in my life. It was like being blasted with a fire hose. The rain was so heavy, it was impossible to feel individual drops. I felt like I was drowning. The weight of water hammered me down. It was physically painful. The only blessing was there was no wind on the ground. There must have been plenty up high, because the clouds came on fast, but there wasn’t a whisper of air down low. I couldn’t see in front of me. I cried out for Charlie over the roar of the rain. “CAN YOU SEE?”
“A LITTLE!”
I flailed my arm out until I found him. He grabbed my arm and guided me forward through the pouring rain. Minutes went by that felt like hours. The rain didn’t taper or slow. I didn’t think it would ever stop. My feet sloshed in my shoes. My hat got so heavy it hurt my neck, but I didn’t dare take it off. I struggled forward. I looked down to make sure I didn’t stumble and fall. A big black snake was swept against my feet. It slithered frantically against the sheets of water that pushed it along the road. I shouted and jumped over it. “SNAKE!”
“WHAT COLOR?”
“BLACK!”
“NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!”
I wasn’t convinced. “FUCK THIS PLACE! I’M GOING BACK TO THE CITY WHERE IT’S SAFE!”
Charlie shook with what I took to be laughter. I couldn’t laugh, but I did see some humor in the absurdity of the situation. I also resolved to see Andy with his face in the dirt if it was the last thing I ever did.
Eventually, the rain lessened. It still came down in buckets, but I could see enough to walk without Charlie’s guidance. A horn sounded behind us. A man in an ancient, rusty station wagon stopped and pushed his passenger door open to let us in. We accepted his invitation and sat three across the front of his car. He pulled the column-mounted manual shifter into low and set off. “I’m Gary!” He yelled over the noise of the rain on the roof and the slap of his wipers.
We introduced ourselves.
“Car trouble?”
I explained. “The sheriff impounded my friend’s Jeep for running farm tags. He didn’t give a damn about the weather.”
“Not very neighborly of him.”
I agreed. “Thanks for picking us up. How far are you going?”
“Into the hardware store. That do?”
“It’ll have to. We’ll telephone for a ride from there.”
Charlie interjected. “Actually, can you drop us at the market? Mom is probably there now doing her shopping.”
Gary agreed. “Sure thing.”
We rode the rest of the way through Winnett into Grass Range.
To get in touch with the author, send them an email.
