Joel: Book Eight ~ The New Patriarch

Characters appearing in this chapter who have continuing parts in the story.

Crane Johnson - narrator of the story, father of six adopted boys, millionaire property owner and philanthropist.

Joel Johnson - oldest adopted son, currently attending Rice University in Houston, TX.

Chris Johnson - next oldest adopted son by a few months over the twins.

Larry Johnson - one of the adopted twins.

Lenny Johnson - the other adopted twin.

TJ Johnson - biological brother to Joel, Larry and Lenny.

Peter Johnson - youngest of Crane's adopted sons.

Donald Baker - millionaire business owner and philanthropist, adopted the children of his deceased sister, friend and partner of Crane Johnson.

William Baker - adopted son of Donald Baker.

Lenore Baker - adopted daughter of Donald Baker

Gilda Berger - cook and household manager for the Johnson/Baker home.

Cary Granville - the boys' and Lenore's after school "babysitter" and school van driver.

Christian Granville - Cary's older brother and intern at Donald's company.

Hildy Strasser - former cook and household manager, has two adopted daughters and two foster children.

Manfred Strasser - retired from the Air Force and his own business, married to Hildy.

Jeannie Strasser - adopted daughter of Hildy and Manfred.

Ginny Strasser - adopted daughter of Hildy and Manfred.

Luke Fredrick - foster son of Hildy and Manfred.

Penelope (Penny) Frederick - two-year-old foster daughter of Hildy and Manfred.

Tracy Smith - veterinarian who lives on one of Crane's farm properties.

Rosie Smith - married to Tracy, manages the care and feeding of the stable of horses.

Bert Smith - Tracy's younger brother, helps with the farming and caring for the horses

Charlie Wood - Tracy's boyhood friend, farms the land of several of Crane's properties, takes care of the Quarter horses

Jessica Wood - married to Charlie and mother to their daughter Elizabeth Jane.

Jason Wood - Charlie's younger brother, helps with the farming.

Ian O'Leary - Charlie's friend, farmer, lives on one of Cranes' farms across the road from the others with his partner.

Lionel Madison - Ian's partner and farmer

---

Chapter 20

"Congratulations, guys," I said, giving my three, sweaty sons hugs and handed each of them a bottle of water. "You did great."

"I almost had that guy," Chris said, taking a long swig from his bottle. "He was good. I'm going to go congratulate him ... and maybe give him a hard time."

"Yeah, us too," Lenny said. Larry agreed and the three of them took off to find the first place runner.

I watched as the three of them in turn shook the black kid's hand and talked to him. There was a lot of laughing and kidding around before they started making the rounds of the other runners. As they approached the last boy who was away from the other runners, I saw, whom I assumed to be, his father shaking his finger in the boy's face and raising his voice. I realized that the boy was the one who had come in last. Evidently his father didn't appreciate, in his opinion, being humiliated by the last place finish. The man stopped when he saw my sons approaching. I walked closer to get within hearing range.

Larry reached out to shake the boy's hand. "You were really going strong until you stepped on that rock and twisted your ankle. I just knew you were going to beat me out. That's a real bummer. I don't know how you were able to even finish the race."

"Yeah, it must have been tough to even walk, let alone run the rest of the way," Lenny piped up.

"You got guts, man," Chris said. "I don't know if I could have done what you did."

The man's face changed from one of anger to one of pride. "Why didn't you say you hurt your ankle?"

"You never gave me a chance," the boy said almost angrily, turned and headed for what must have been their car.

The man turned and saw me standing there. He gave a shrug and a sheepish grin before following his son. I thought to myself that I hoped he learned a lesson.

"You did a good thing," I said, patting all three of them on the back. "Let's go see if your brothers left you any snacks."

"They better have," Larry said, as the three of them took off at a run for the picnic table where the rest of the boys were.

They were in luck. Gilda had packed a second cooler with snacks so there would be enough for everybody. As they were enjoying the snacks, the black kid came over to the picnic table.

"You all gonna run in the real race in two weeks?" he asked.

"Sure thing, if the coach thinks we can do it," Lenny answered. "Wanta snack?"

"That'd be great," he said. "My mom is running late. She said she'd bring some."

"We have plenty," I said. "Have some water too."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," he said, sitting down beside Chris.

"What's your name, son?" I asked.

"Pardon my bad manners," he said. "My name's Jordon, Jordon Frazer."

"It's good to meet you Jordon," I said. "My name is Crane. These five are my sons. You've met Chris, Larry and Lenny. The other two are TJ and Peter. The spare one is William. He's my friend Donald's son. The big kid is Cary. He helps to corral the boys." I had pointed to each one as I said their names.

"Aren't there any girls in your family?" Jordon asked.

"Donald has a daughter, but she stayed home to play with the neighbor's girls."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Lenny asked.

"I have a sister, but she's in college."

"No brothers?" Chris asked.

"No."

"Bummer," Larry added to the conversation.

"There's my mom's car," Jordon said. "Gotta run. Thanks for the snacks. See ya."

"In two weeks and I'm going to beat you," Chris laughed.

"In your dreams," Jordon laughed in return. He waved and took off running for his mom's car.

"Let's get things cleaned up and get you guys home and into the showers. You're a little ripe." We rode home in the Lincoln with the windows rolled down. Teenage boy sweat is particularly fragrant.

"I hope you haven't fixed a big lunch," I said to Gilda as I walked into the kitchen when we got home. "The boys just finished their snacks."

"No, just some sandwiches, vegetable sticks and milk. I'll bet they'll be hungry. They are, after all, growing boys," she said with a giggle.

"You're probably right," I said. "When have they ever been not hungry?"

"Dad, can we go swimming?" TJ asked as he and the others entered the house from the garage.

"Sure, but why don't you wait a while until after you've eaten and taken care of your dogs? Now, go wash your hands."

Gilda was right when she said the boys would want something to eat. Cary just shook his head, but he sat down at the table and ate with the rest of us.

Later, Donald and I were sitting in lounge chairs overlooking the pool. TJ was showing Lenore how to float on her back and do a back stroke of sorts. He was very protective of her. Cary climbed out of the water and took an adjacent chair.

"How in the world do those three have so much energy?" Cary asked. "They ran something over three and a half miles this morning and now they're racing each other in the pool. I don't think I ever had that much energy when I was their age."

"They've always been physically active," I said. "I guess that's why they never seem to gain an ounce of fat. If I ate half as much as they do, I would weigh a ton."

"You aren't the only one," Donald agreed.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Cary started. "I got a call from my brother after you left this morning and he asked me to see if it was alright for him to come visit me tomorrow."

"Christian is always welcome to visit," I said. "If he'd like to ride the horses with us tomorrow, he's welcome to join us."

"I think he'd like that," Cary said. "I told him we went most Sundays. He laughed when I told him I hadn't gotten bucked off a horse ... yet. I'll go give him a call."

"Donald, I thought Luke might have come with the other boys this morning."

"I called over there and talked to Manfred. He said he was taking Luke into San Antonio clothes shopping this morning. Luke is outgrowing everything he owns, including his school uniforms. That kid is really thriving with them."

"A lot of love, good food and a wholesome environment can do wonders for a child," I said.

"Your boys are proof of that," Donald said. "In fact all of the kids are."

"We heard there was a swim party and we weren't invited," Manfred said from behind our chairs. Jeannie, Ginny and Luke jumped into the pool with the other kids.

"Yeah, we like to keep the riffraff away," I chuckled. "Pull up a chair and make yourself at home. Did you get all of your shopping done?"

"Yes, but it put a serious dent in my wallet," Manfred answered. "I may have to go back to work to earn some money. Clothing a growing boy is an expensive proposition."

"And you love every minute," Donald said.

"You're right," Manfred said. "I love that boy. I love the girls and Penny, but that boy needs lots of love."

"I see your girls are getting to be better swimmers, as is Luke," I commented.

"I thought about putting in our own swimming pool, but I've about had enough construction going on at our place."

"I suppose that would be nice, but you all can use this one anytime," I said. "When is the addition going to be ready?"

"The contractor says it should be completely finished in two weeks. Hildy has already been window shopping for furniture. So far, I have convinced her to wait a little longer to buy anything. Before the paint's dry, she'll have furniture being delivered."

Later the three of us joined the kids and Cary in the pool.

Cary's brother arrived Sunday morning just as we were loading the van getting ready to go to the ranch. Lenore hadn't wanted to go riding with us, so she stayed with Hilda and the other girls. I think it was Penny who was the real reason for her staying home. Luke and Manfred decided to ride with us. Five adults and seven boys along with a couple of coolers pretty much filled up the van.

I had called and talked with Rosie earlier. I told her we would be on our way shortly and how many of us there would be to ride. She said she would have Bert start saddling horses so they would be ready for the boys when we arrived. She also said that Tracy and the others wanted to have a meeting with me. I wondered what was up, but decided to wait before asking what it was about.

There were almost enough horses saddled and tied to the fence when we got there for all the boys to start riding immediately. As the boys scrambled out of the van and took off for the saddled horses, Tracy and Bert emerged from the stables leading two more horses, ready to be ridden. Manfred and Donald said they would go with the boys while I went to talk with Rosie and Tracy, when he finished saddling the rest of the horses. Charlie and Jessica arrived on horseback, leading two more saddled Quarter horses. Their infant daughter was in a backpack-looking carrier on Charlie's chest. It looked as if there were going to be plenty of horses so everybody would be able to ride. Ian and Lionel galloped up on their horses just then.

"Where's Jason?" I asked Charlie.

"A couple of his high school buddies are in town. They decided they wanted to go to Fiesta Texas. They're just like big kids. One of his friends had some free passes," Charlie said.

"I'm sure he'll enjoy himself," I said as we all headed for the Smith's house.

"Here, give me Elizabeth Jane," Jessica said to Charlie. "I'll put her in the playpen."

Tracy was the last to enter the house.

"Okay," I said, "you wanted a meeting. What's on the agenda?"

Charlie spoke up, "We heard that the Schlather ranch is going to be sold and we were wondering if you would be interested in bidding on it."

"Where is the ranch?" I asked.

"It's the next place a half a mile down the road," Ian answered. "Actually, the property is on both sides of the road."

"How many acres are there and have you seen it? Is it all tillable farm land?"

"Total acreage is a little over 2500. From the looks of it, about 80% is tillable, but it has some nice pasture, great for raising cattle," Charlie said.

"Would the four of you be able to handle it along with what you have now?"

"The Schlather's have a hired hand that we would probably need to keep on, but that's about all," Ian said, "especially if we went into the cattle raising business. They run a couple hundred head now."

"Have you talked to him?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's stopped by a couple of time to talk. He's the one we learned from that the owners are planning on selling the place," Ian said.

"Do you know why they want to sell?"

"Mr. Schlather is having health problems and isn't able to do as much work as he used to. I guess they want to retire and enjoy the rest of their lives," Ian said.

"Lionel, you haven't said anything. What do you think of the idea?" I asked.

"I'm in favor of it. It would mean more work, but I don't think it's anything we can't handle," he said. "Not if we keep Collin on. That's their hired man."

"Okay, bring me a proposal and I'll run some numbers by my accountant to see if it makes financial sense," I said. "When do you think that the ranch will be sold?"

"I don't think they want to sell until after the crops are in and they send the beeves to market, which should be the October, November timeframe," Charlie said.

Charlie reached into the baby carrier that Elizabeth Jane arrived in and handed me a folder.

"What are you? Some kind of Boy Scout, always prepared," I chuckled as I accepted the folder.

"That's me," Charlie said, giving the Boy Scout salute.

The meeting broke up and we all went riding. Later, when the boys got hungry, we retrieved the coolers from the van and unpacked them onto the picnic tables.

"Dad, are you going to buy the ranch down the road?" Larry asked.

"I don't know, son. I just learned that it was going to be sold earlier today," I said. "How did you find out about it?"

"I heard Ian and Bert talking about it. Can we ride down the road to see it?"

"I suppose so, as long as there are some adults along with you," I answered.

"Great, Ian and Lionel said they would show it to us," Larry said.

I shook my head. "I guess I'd better ride along, just to keep you guys out of trouble."

"We never get in trouble," Chris protested with a grin.

I chose to ignore that statement.

The boys hurried through lunch and quickly cleaned up paper plates and napkins. What little food that was left was packed in the coolers and stashed in the van, except the one with the snacks for later.

"Rules," I said, as the boys started to mount their horses. "Ride two abreast with two adults in the first group and two adults in the last group. Stay in line and pay attention to your surroundings. Although there is very little traffic on this road, be aware of any traffic coming from either direction."

Ian and Lionel took the lead with Charlie and Bert as the last riders. Donald and I were in the second to last group. Manfred rode beside Luke and Cary and his brother rode as a group. The rest of the boys paired up and we headed out onto the road. We rode at a quick walk for the half a mile to the ranch. I was impressed when we got there. The yard was well kept and the house and outbuildings were all in good shape from what I could see from the road. We passed the buildings and rode on down the road. I did not know that the road ended just beyond the Schlather ranch. We turned around and went back to our ranch.

"What's that property at the end of the road?" I asked Charlie.

"That belongs to the state," he said. "It's some kind of preserve. Don't know what they intend to do with it."

"Okay, guys, you have another hour of riding then we need to get back home," I said.

They took off toward the pasture. I wasn't sure if they were going to stop to open the gate, but they did. If they thought their horses could have jumped it, they probably would have tried. I was glad they didn't.

Donald and I sat and talked with Rosie, Jessica and Tracy while the boys and the other men went for their final ride of the day. "How's the vet business?" I asked Tracy.

"Great. It couldn't be better. The new vet I hired is working out well and I've had to hire three techs to help out. As you know, I have taken over the adjoining space. I never thought that the business would take off as quickly as it has," Tracy said. "I owe you a lot for all you've done for me, helping me get started and all."

"Tracy, I'm a pretty good judge of character and I had confidence in you from the very start," I said. I think I made a pretty good investment."

I looked at my watch after we had chatted for a while longer and saw that it was almost time to call in the boys from their ride. I was going to ride my horse to the back of the pasture where I knew the races were going on, but decided instead to ring the bell that Rosie had discovered and had hanging from the live oak tree. I rang it for a few seconds until I saw the horses coming over the hill toward the stables.

Arriving at the stables, they dismounted and set up an assembly line for the horses to have their saddles removed and then get groomed. It didn't take all that long to get all the horses through the assembly line and into their stalls. Ian and Lionel rode their horses across the road to their house. Charlie took the Quarter horses through the gate to their house and took care of them there. He came back shortly on an ATV to get Jessica and Elizabeth Jane.

"When do you think you will know about the Schlather property," Charlie asked.

"It will probably be a week or so," I said. "I'm a working stiff these days and I have a slave driver for a boss."

"Who's your boss?" Charlie asked.

I pointed at Donald, which evoked a laugh from the assembled company.

"Let's load up," I said. We gathered up all our stuff and started for home.

"That was fun," Christian said. "I know my thighs and behind will be aching tomorrow, but it's been a nice outing. Thanks for letting me impose on your weekend."

"Hardly an imposition," Donald said. "You and your brother need to get together more often. You know we do this every Sunday that the weather permits. You have a standing invitation any time you want to come."

"Thanks, every weekend might be a bit too much, but once in a while would be a nice change."

"As soon as we get home, everybody hit the showers. It won't be long before it will be supper time," I said. "Gilda's not going to be fixing our supper, so who wants pizza?"

Seven boys responded with, "Me!"

"I don't know that you were invited, Luke," Manfred said. "Hildy will probably have our supper in the works."

"Call her," Donald said. "If she hasn't started anything yet, tell her to bring the girls and come over and we'll have a pizza party."

"Please, dad," Luke pleaded.

"Okay," Manfred said, smiling as he heard Luke call him dad. He took out his cell phone to make the call. Luke listened closely to the conversation that was taking place. "Hilda said that what she had started would hold until tomorrow."

"Yes!" Luke exclaimed, giving a fist-pump.

"You're invited, as well, Christian," Donald said.

"I didn't bring any extra clothes and I don't want to be the only one smelling like a horse," he said.

"You and Cary are near enough the same size that you could probably wear some of his," Donald said.

"Only if you don't split the seat of the pants," Cary said, and dodged the fist his brother aimed at his arm.

"Crane, you think five large pizzas will be enough?" Donald asked.

"For sixteen people, oh and Penny, that should be enough considering that the three girls probably won't eat as much as the seven bottomless pits in this van," I said. "Maybe we should get some bread sticks, too. Penny won't eat much either."

Everybody piled out of the van when we got home and took off for the showers. With that many people running water for showers, the pressure was hardly enough for a decent spray. It wasn't long before the boys came down the stairs freshly scrubbed and wearing clean shorts. Cary and Christian soon came out of Cary's room. Cary's shorts that his brother was wearing were a little tight across the seat. I decided not to make a comment.

Donald picked up the phone and dialed the pizza place. He ordered several with different toppings and the garlic bread sticks with parmesan cheese. "Who's going with me to hold the pizzas?" he asked as he hung up the phone.

Cary and Christian volunteered, seeing that the boys had all gone outside to check on their dogs.

I went to the wet bar to check to see if we had any wine and was opening a bottle when the phone rang. I looked at the clock and wondered who could be calling at this time of day. I answered it and was surprised when it was Joel.

"I didn't expect your call until later," I said.

"Jimmy and I are going to a concert at U of H after while. I figured you'd be back from the ranch by now."

"How are things going with you and your studies?" I asked.

"Everything's great. I had another test on Thursday in Western Civ."

"How did it go?"

"I got an A on it. It was really easy. We had covered most of the material in high school, but there's gonna be a lot of new stuff coming up. It's really interesting. I like all my classes and I've met a lot of really great people. There are people from all over the world going to school here. It's fascinating to talk to them. They make me want to travel all over the world to see the places they talk about."

"When you finish school, you can do that," I said. "I had a friend that studied at Christ Church in Oxford, England. One summer, he and a friend back-packed all over Europe. They hitched rides or hiked all the way to Greece. They spent the whole summer, stopping at youth hostels or just camping out. I'm not encouraging you to do that nowadays. Things have changed."

"Sounds like fun, but I don't think I would want to do that. Maybe spending a year over there studying. If my German gets to be reasonably fluent, maybe I could study at Heidelberg."

"That's something you could start investigating, but I want you to finish, at least, your undergraduate degree before you do something like that."

"I know, but it's something to think about," Joel said. "I'm still planning on coming home next weekend. I'll be leaving after my last class on Friday. It'll be in the middle of rush-hour traffic, so it will take me around three hours, maybe more."

"Drive safely, take all the time you need," I said. "Your brothers are eager to see you again."

"I miss them. It's sort of strange being in a house with only one other person rather than half a dozen or more people. I miss the hubbub at times. Well, I had better start getting ready to go to the concert. Tell everybody I miss them and looking forward to next weekend."

"I will, son," I said. "I love you."

"I love you too, dad. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, son."

"Is the pizza here?" Chris asked, as the six boys rushed in through the patio door.

"Soon," I said. "Donald, Cary and Christian went to pick it up."

"We're here," Manfred called out as he and his family came in the back door. "I hope you haven't eaten all the pizza. I'm hungry."

"How did you get all of you in the golf cart?" I asked.

"We didn't," Hildy said. "We had to bring our van. I got a call from Gilda. She said she would be here in thirty minutes or so."

"I'm sure there will be enough pizza when she gets here," I said.

Donald and his helpers arrived loaded down with the pizzas. Instead of trying to get the pizzas placed on the dining room table, we decided to set them up on the kitchen counter and let everybody go by and pick out the slices that they wanted. I put one caveat on the boys that they had to eat whatever they put on their plates. The breadsticks were placed on the table along with the dipping sauce that came with them. By the time Gilda arrived, the remaining pizzas consisted of three or four slices.

"I'm sure that's more than I'll eat," Gilda said when I showed her the leftovers.

The adults were sitting around the table while Gilda ate, enjoying a glass of wine when Christian spoke up, "I hate to eat and run, but I have some things I need to do before I go to bed tonight. Thanks for the great time I had today. I envy my little brother for his being able to live in such an environment. You've all been most kind to me. Thanks again."

"Remember you have a standing invitation to come visit your brother and ride the horses with us," I said. "It's not a requirement that you go riding with us. Cary is free to do whatever he pleases on the weekend."

"Where else could he swim, play tennis, play with multiple dogs and go horseback riding and still get paid for it? If I weren't as happy working for Mr. Baker as I am, I'd have applied for the job myself. Come on, little brother, walk me to my car."