Allie Gets Her First Taste Of Well Water

 On the way to the next big town where there was an ATM Allie and Josh talked about the pros and cons of selling or staying on the ranch. It seemed like every time Josh mentioned selling the ranch he would get a shooting pain in the back of his head. He told Allie, "I think your Uncle Bill is out to get me. Every time I mention you selling the ranch I either get bonked on the head or a headache." Allie laughed then she sobered up. "You know Uncle Bill did mention in the video that my Great Grandmother made that silver and diamond necklace and earring set. Maybe I should stick it out as long as I can. Wouldn't you if the ranch had belonged to your ancestors?" Josh rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, since you put it that way .Oh look there's an ATM. Let's stop and get some money and then some things that we need. Lots of water for one thing. Let's hope that ranch has a good well, so that once we get the pump primed we don't have to worry about it. And let us not forget my hungry stomach I have to eat!"

Allie pulled over to the little convenience store where they saw the sign for an ATM. She quickly opened up the glove box where her new debit card was. She said, "Just wait a minute. I'll be right back and then we can feed you," she chuckled. But when she inserted her debit card it asked for a PIN. She knew that stood for a personal identification number, but what she didn't know was what her Uncle Bill's PIN was. "Oh brother, this is the longest nightmare of my life." She went back out to the Jeep and immediately Josh said, "Boy that was quick, let's look for someplace to eat. How much did you get? " Allie gave him her famous scowls and said, "I don't know Uncle Bill's PIN. Now what?" Josh said, "Well, lot's of people use their birthdays or even 1234 which you are never supposed to do, but why don't you try that?"

"Well, first of all I have no clue what his birthday was. I'll try the 1234. If that doesn't work you be working on it. You seem to have all the answers.  Maybe I'll get lucky first try." Allie soon came out with a sad face. "It didn't work, of course. Did you come up with any ideas?" 

"Yes use your birthday or if your uncle was really smart he would have used 0404."

" Why would he have used 0404?" Because it's the Double D Ranch. D is the fourth letter of the alphabet. Use your birthday day and month if that doesn't work use month and year, if that doesn't work just use the year you were born, then if all else fails use 0404. If that doesn't work I guess I'll starve to death or use my nest egg money."

Allie did as Josh had said. Nothing worked up until the 0404. It worked! She knew the rule that if you tried different PIN's more than three times the machine locked you out. She gave Josh's idea careful thought and skipped two of the ideas he had. The bad thing about it was that it would only give her three  hundred dollars at a time. She decided she needed to talk to Josh and see what he thought. She just might have to go back to the bank in town and open up a checking account. If she did that she wouldn't have any cash because the bank wanted three hundred dollars to open an account. She made up her mind not to open up an account at the little bank.

She went back out to the Jeep and said, "Okay, where do you want to eat and how much water do we need? I can only get three hundred dollars. Let's find some food and choose our best options."

The neighbors decided to call K.R. that afternoon. They needed to tell him that they had no idea where the girl and the young man went. They told him that they had been gone for several hours. They didn't know if they decided to leave or what. Yes the camper was still at the ranch.  What should they do? Not worry about it? What do you mean not worry about it? It's our money we are talking about. I don't want to calm down. You already talked to Maxine? She said that the ranch hands in town had given her a call. The bank wouldn't give the girl any money so they left. Well, land sakes, why didn't you say so in the first place? When do we get our money? Soon. Soon like this week? Next week? Wait wait just a minute! They are back. Yes they are and they are unloading supplies. I see them with my own eyes! You'd better do something and quick, now I mean it!"

Josh and Allie started unloading feed for the animals and jugs of water to prime the pump. Allie said, "Let's see if we have water before we do anything. Then after that we need to check to see if Uncle Bill has paid the electricity bill. We can't live out of my cooler for ever and we need to see what we are doing. If we have water, electricity and a refrigerator we can do anything."

They made their way to the side yard where the pump was. Josh poured some water in the pump. He waited a little bit, then he poured some more in. He started pumping and pumping. Allie was sure there wasn't any water when all at once some brown water spurted out onto the ground. Josh continued to pump. The water was clear as a bell. "Let me taste it. I've never had water out of a pump before." She ran to the camper and pulled out a paper cup and filled it. She smiled and said, "Wow! It's good and cold. We have water, Mr. Smartie Pants. How do you know so much stuff?"

Josh ignored her and said, "Okay Miss Heiress of a Dude Ranch let's get the animals fed and watered. Then we can start in on the house." When they walked into the barn she wondered if they ever would get it fixed to the point where it was even safe for the animals to live in. It actually looked like Uncle Bill had started to fix it up at one point, but for some reason stopped. It was a wreck at first glance.

Soon it was time to get busy on the house. When Allie told Josh to get a bucket of water and some other things to take to the house he groaned in protest, but she reminded him of how uncomfortable it was to sleep in the Jeep. He grabbed a bucket and a broom and some rags. He watched as Allie pumped water into her bucket then they started to walk up to the house. The chickens and the goats also wanted in, but they quickly shooed them away. When they walked in the house the first thing they did was knock down cobwebs or spider webs. At this point they didn't care. They were looking for a sink, a water heater, anything that would make life easier and of course, cheaper for Allie to refurbish the old place.

While Josh was working in the kitchen she went upstairs to see what kind of condition the bedrooms were in. She was surprised that there were so many. "Hmm, interesting. I sure do wish I had a washer and dryer to do laundry, but that's out of the question. I guess I'll have to take everything to town to the laundromat. Hopefully they have one. I wonder what this room is. As she opened the door a busy spider quickly made her way to the corner where she had started her beautiful masterpiece. She had been working on it for years. She did not appreciate a stranger interrupting her work. She watched as the young woman stared at the huge desk, shook her head and walked out the door. The spider quickly went back to work eager to get busy and not be disturbed. Allie muttered to herself, "Well, Uncle Bill, I guess you and that spider weren't friends. Another day, Allie another day. You can't do everything at once."

The packrat family was just as unhappy as the elderly spider. Things were just fine the way they were. They certainly didn't need strangers disturbing their comfortable home. After all their collections over the years were valuable as well as beautiful.