Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoy it.
***
Amy read the letter for the fourth time. It seemed she was now the proud owner of 51.5 acres in a place called Bullhead Missouri. It seemed her uncle Roger on her father's side had suddenly passed away from a heart attack. Enclosed were several photos showing a pretty medium size house with a pretty yard.
The letter stated that the property was free of any liabilities and that there was a small pond located behind the house that there were no photos of. All she had to do was to stop by the office and sign the papers that she had taken possession of. The keys would be given to her at that time.
At 29 years of age her dream life in the big city of Chicago had pretty much turned to dog crap. Her 2 -year business degree had not helped her at all and she had not met a man that swept her off her feet. Her job as a receptionist at the power company was pretty much a dead end.
She had a couple of thousand dollars in the bank and two weeks of vacation coming. "Might as well go down and take a look at it," she thought to herself.
She should be able to drive it in about 10 hours. And her little Toyota got good gas mileage.
She called human resources and asked if it would be okay if she took her vacation next week. This being Wednesday she hoped they would have no problem finding someone to fill in for her for a couple of weeks. At 4 o'clock they called and told her that they had found someone to fill in for her.
The next morning she called the attorney office listed at the top of the letter. The man that answered said that he would be happy to come in on Saturday. That way she could sign the papers and get the keys to the property. He gave her directions to Bullhead and to his office.
She was on the road by 5:00 Saturday morning. Stopping once to put gas in her car she pulled into Bullhead at 2:30. The older gentleman that greeted her at the attorney's office was very pleasant and assured her that everything was in order. He handed her a ring of keys with small pieces of tape on them. He explained each one. GT was for the gate across the drive. GR was for the garage. HS was for the house and LB was for the lockbox at the small bank down the road.
He explained that there was the small matter of the electric bill and phone bill that she needed to take care of as neither one had been disconnected. After paying the unexpected bill with her debit card he took out an old map and showed her where the property was located.
She took a picture of the map with her phone and typed the address in. Twenty minutes later she was sitting in front of a wheeled gate. The numbers on the large black mailbox that sat to the side confirmed that she was indeed at the right place. Flipping through the keys she found the one marked GT. Unlocking the gate she pushed it to the side.
Driving her car through, she locked the gate again and started down a steep driveway. It had deep ruts from heavy rains and she had to straddle most of them. But a couple of places she bottomed her little car and she cringed when she heard the scraping. But finally, she made it down.
The house was very pretty. White with red trim and she could tell right away that it had been well cared for. The grass in the yard was long not having been mowed for the last couple of weeks.
Finding the key with HS on it she unlocked the front door. Stepping into the kitchen she hit the light switch. She had power and that made her smile. It was after 6 o'clock now and her stomach growled. Shit, She had forgotten to get something for dinner.
Making her way through the house she found it had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Not bad she thought to herself. The house was clean and tidy but had the smell of being closed up for a long time. She opened a couple of windows and walked back out to her car to get her suitcase. Dinner was a can of cream of mushroom soup she found in the cupboard.
She was tired and she made her way to the master bedroom. Stripping herself naked she walked into the master bathroom and started the shower. When she was done drying herself she stretched out on the big bed. Closing her eyes she drifted off to sleep.
Amy was up fairly early the next morning. Finding some coffee in the cupboard she brewed a pot in the coffee maker on the counter. She was starting to feel a dull ache down low in her belly. When she had relieved herself earlier her bowels didn't seem to want to move. She thought nothing of it figuring a couple of cups of coffee would solve that problem.
She found some instant oatmeal and made herself a bowl. she noticed a couple of sets of keys hanging by the door as she ate. When she finished she washed her bowl and cup and walked to the door. The keys were marked Ford and one set had an emblem of a running deer on it. Putting the keys in her pocket she went outside.
The garage was the next thing on her list to look in. Fishing the keyring out of her pocket she found the one marked GR. Opening the door she pushed it inwards. The building was hot inside and the smell of old gasoline-filled her nose. But there in the middle of the room sat a fairly new Ford F250 pickup. She pushed the green button that was glowing next to the door and jumped when the large overhead door started up.
Walking around the front of the truck she found a John Deer riding lawn mower sitting next to it. "Okay," she said to herself. "All we have to do is figure out how to make you work and the lawn problem can go away". She studied the machine for a couple of minutes. Walking around it she found the black cap of the gas tank and looked inside. Almost full. Twenty minutes later she was mowing.
Following the edge of the large yard she made her way around to the back of the house. For the first time she saw the pond. It covered almost 5 acres and the far side was edged by a sheer rock wall sloping down to a large earthen dam. A large steel culvert was several feet from the top and a steady stream of water splashed into the creek bed below.
She liked the redwood deck to which the dock was attached to. A large round table with a folded umbrella in the center was surrounded by several chairs and a couple of lounge chairs. A hand made brick grill stood in one corner and tall poles with small baskets on top were in every corner.