“So, you’re going to help them?” she smirked.
“Yeah, babe. We’re definitely going to help them.”
Ernie and Pat walked back through the door, their caps in their hands, both twisting them, wringing the dirt and sweat from them.
“We’re sorry, sirs. It’s just we don’t want to be gone too long. We’ve both got families back home,” said Ernie.
“Listen, it’s not safe for you to drive all the way back to Nebraska tonight. It’s too much.”
“Sir, all due respect, we have to,” said Pat.
“We have a better plan. Let’s have dinner, you boys get some sleep on our Osprey,” said Ham.
“I can’t leave my truck,” said Pat.
“We’ll load the truck. No need to worry about that,” said Gator. The two men stared at one another in disbelief, then looked back at the group.
“Sirs, we told you, we don’t have money,” said Ernie.
“We don’t want your money,” said Ham. “If we handle this issue for you, we want to set up a legal farming cooperative under our corporation that wouldn’t allow anyone to touch your land without our approval.”
The two men stared at them suspiciously.
“Before you take my head off,” grinned Ham. “The land would be yours. Not ours. But the corporation it would be run under, is ours. You would never need to worry about having capital to run your farms again. We’ll buy new equipment for you, seed, anything you need.
“In return, you send us a few bushels of corn every year. That’s all we ask. You can have your own attorneys review everything. What this will provide is protection for you all. Anyone who wants to get to you and your land, has to come through us.”
“How soon can that be done?” asked Pat.
“For the two of you, as quickly as you read the documents. For the others, when they are able to speak to us, understand what we’re offering, and sign on the dotted lines. If someone comes after you, they’ll have a very big surprise coming their way,” said Gator.
“Why would you do this for us?” asked Pat.
“Without you, we don’t feed our families,” said Ham. “It’s pretty simple. Nebraska doesn’t need more subdivisions, it needs farms and farmers who care. Let’s go get some supper. You two can talk about all of this with our attorneys and we’ll get you on the plane after that. You’ll be home before midnight.”
They looked at the group of men suspiciously then nodded.
“I swear I thought y’all were all rumors, smoke and mirrors. I can’t believe you’re the real damn thing. Do you understand how many stories we’ve heard? All the hoopla and mystery around who you guys are and whether or not you’re genuine. We just didn’t allow ourselves to believe it.”
“We’re as real as it gets and it appears that your antagonists are about to see just how real we are,” said Patrick.
CHAPTER FOUR
“We’re sending enough people to manage this, but not look too out of place,” said Ham. “Trevon, Chief, Rachel, Sniff, Lucy, Patrick, Bone, Christian, East, Major, and Sebastian. If we need to send more, we will. Pack everything you need. Weapons, explosives, all of it.”
“Explosives? For farms?” cringed Trevon.
“Listen, brother. These people mean business and if we have to get ugly, we will. According to Ernie, they’ve built a ‘model’ home outside of the county lines to show people how they could be living. A crock of shit if you ask me, but no one did. It’s where the two of them are staying.
“Anyway, we need to find out what they have in that house, if there are others in the area, and what the ultimate goal is.” Trevon nodded, understanding what his purpose with Rachel would be.
“We’ve ordered a soil analysis as well as a geological survey,” said Rachel.
“Is that necessary?” frowned Ernie.
“I’m afraid so. We want to find out if there’s something else there besides rich farming soil. It could be gas, it could be oil, it might be valuable minerals,” said Rachel.
“Oh. I never thought about any of that,” frowned Pat. “I mean, two counties over a bunch of fellas were drilling for stuff, fracking I think they call it, and it caused minor earthquakes in the area. Everyone kinda got scared off and stopped allowing it on their properties.”
