I would like to thank my editing team for all their hours of hard work making my stories worth reading, Both Maria and Andy Inoz without them no one could read my work.
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A Simple Farmer
Chapter 1: Growing up on the farm
All Rory knew was farming and ranching. Being born and raised on a farm, he hadn't learned anything else. He went to a small rural school in the Colorado. The nearest town was four miles to the west and had a population of fifteen people. The next town was about five miles to the east and had thirteen inhabitants. His nearest neighbor lived two miles up the road.
Obviously, there weren't many eligible girls to pick from in the community and, with his shortcomings, Rory wasn't a great prospect anyway. Although good looking, he was rather shy and kind of a loner, usually avoiding parties and events. When he did attend social gatherings, Rory would generally sit way in the back and hope that no one noticed him.
In addition to being shy, Rory did not have a good command of the English language. His writing was adequate, but his speech suffered from an occasional stutter and, often, poor choice of words to express his meaning. Sometimes he would try to compliment someone and unintentionally insult them, a problem that persisted into adulthood. He didn't go to college.
Sadly, his parents were killed in an automobile accident, and although nothing could make up for the pain of their loss, at least the insurance was some consolation.
Fortunately, Rory was good with his hands and became a respected community mechanic, and farmer. Not having a woman or children to support allowed him to save a lot of money, which he was able to use to buy a piece of land, support himself, and run his new ranch.
Rory's relatives all lived nearby. Not only did they care for each other, but they also helped and looked after others in the family. For example, Rory kept generators and other farm equipment in his barn, and almost twenty acres of stacked alfalfa hay, which family members were welcome to use whenever the need arose, as he was free to use their equipment.
The previous four winters had been mild, and additional feed hadn't been required so, besides the alfalfa, Rory also had several ensilage pits completely full, and had to dig two more that year.
The days were lonely, running a ranch on your own, so Rory would go to Denver once or twice a month. He'd found a motel that had an abundance of 'working girls' who would supplement their annual income by performing favors for needy men. One of these lovely ladies removed Rory's virginity at twenty years old, others made sure it didn't return.
Despite his liking for Denver, Rory didn't spend much time there, because his ranch was home, even if he had no one to share it with.
Well that wasn't exactly true. For a time, Rory did have company. He thought himself quite fortunate to meet a lovely girl called Tina.
Tina was originally from Kansas. They met at a livestock auction and fell in love. She was quite principled and strong-willed, refusing to stay at the ranch until Rory had built a nice house for her. Being in love, he hired an architect who developed ideas for a range of ranch houses from simple to huge. Rory would have been happy with something plain and functional, but Tina had her heart set on an embarrassing monstrosity, so that's what they built, of course.
She was an old-fashioned girl, initially wanting to wait for marriage before 'going all the way', but things got heated a couple of times and went farther than either of them intended. Tina came to Rory one day and told him that she might be pregnant. Rory was happy and wanted to take her to the nearest church and get married straight away.
Before 'tying the knot', they went to the local doctor seeking tests to confirm the pregnancy. They became confused and concerned when he directed them to the nearest hospital for more tests. When the test results came back, it was really bad news. Not only was Tina not pregnant, she had a mass in her uterus. Tina had stage four uterine cancer, and died in Rory's arms less than three weeks after the diagnosis.
Rory was devastated at losing his mate, and could not contemplate risking his heart by getting involved with someone new, and allowing himself to become vulnerable again.
Life went on, before fate intervened.
Chapter 2: The storm
He was twenty-eight years old when the first major storm in decades hit eastern Colorado. He'd never experienced as much snow, or the problems caused by such a storm. Rory woke to no power, but he was well-prepared with a diesel generator to supply his household needs. After firing up the generator, Rory had light and heat, so he was able to fix breakfast and complete his normal morning routines.
After eating, he headed outside to prepare the tractor for the day ahead. In expectation of the storm, he'd fitted a blade to the tractor two days previously, so he was able to grade a path through the snow to the cattle which had to be fed and watered.
After feeding the cattle, he began clearing snow from the dirt road running past his farm, which was really a state responsibility. However, after taking care of the main roads, there was little time left for the needs of country folk.
Rory was making good progress when he noticed a bump ahead in the snow, which was about to change his life. He maneuvered the blade as close to the bump as possible, not knowing whether it was a cow or something else. As his blade passed close to the bump, snow fell from the side of a small white car. He saw the face of a little girl, with her eyes closed, through the window glass. Taking a deep breath, he stopped the tractor and climbed out. He ran back to the car and quickly cleared the rest of the snow off the side windows. With trepidation, he saw two people inside the car. Rory realized that, if the car was running while covered in snow, then the two inhabitants might be dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Rory opened the car door and exhaled with relief when he saw the little girl open her eyes. He dropped his head and just started saying, "Thank god... Thank god... Thank god..."
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked the little girl.
"I am Rory... Is this your mom?"
She didn't answer. He waited a few breaths before asking, "What's your name?"
She held up four fingers.
He smiled at her and asked, "You are Four?"
She nodded her head.
With a big smile he said, "Glad to meet you Four. I'm Rory."
He held out his hand to her, but she didn't take it.
"Four, I have to get you and your mom out of the car and into the tractor. From there I'm going to take you somewhere so you can get some food and rest. I will come back and get your car after I have you two settled in. Is that ok?"
Four stared at him for what seemed like a long time.
Rory was about to try again when she finally spoke, "Mommy's very tired. She needs to sleep."
Rory smiled and said, "I have a nice soft bed for her to rest on, but we need to get her somewhere warm and safe. Ok?"
She nodded.
It took some effort to move the little girl and her unconscious mother out of the car and into the tractor. Somehow, Rory managed to get them both onboard, then slowly turned the tractor around and headed back to the house.
Once at home, he carried each person from the tractor and into the house.
The huge house, that he had built for Tina, essentially contained two master bedrooms. He had never lived in the house, but had it furnished and kept it stocked with groceries and supplies 'just in case' he needed to use it someday.
Rory carried the unconscious woman, with the four-year-old following behind, and went directly to the second master bedroom, which contained a king-size bed already made up for guests, not that he was expecting any.
Four and her mother were his first guests ever. Rory stripped the mother to her underwear, thinking that she would sleep more comfortably that way, positioned her between the sheets and tucked her in, turning on the electric blanket.
The girl kissed her sleeping mother, then Rory led her to the dining area and offered to fix her something. He cooked a couple of pancakes and some bacon, then served her at the table with juice. Four started eating like she hadn't been fed for a week.
Rory told Four that he would give her mother something to drink to avoid dehydration. He took some juice and water to the woman, who was only half-awake and, with some effort, got her to drink about a half glass of each. He called it a success and returned to the daughter.
"Hey Four, your mom is doing well. She drank some of the water and juice."
