Josh Teaches Allie A Lesson Then Learns One!

 The next morning Josh helped Allie get a halfway decent breakfast together. They had gone outside and looked for eggs. Josh convinced Allie that where there are chickens there should be eggs somewhere. He had heard a rooster crow so he was hoping they would have fresh eggs to eat. He also told her that it would be difficult to determine if they were too old to eat just by looking at them. He found a wire basket and the two of them started their hunt for eggs. They found a little chicken house that some of the chickens had been staying in at night. The nests were dirty and really needed fresh straw, but they decided to take the eggs to the house against Allie's better judgement. "These eggs are really dirty. I'm not sure if I want to eat these or not."

 Josh said, "Now we can't eat any of the eggs unless we test them first. The bad eggs will float or maybe tilt to the top.  This is because as an egg ages the small air pocket inside grows larger as water is released and replaced by air. The good eggs will go to the bottom of the pan. See if you can find a pan or bowl  big enough for some cold water and a few eggs. First we have to wash them in the sink then put them in the bowl.  Let's see what happens."

Allie looked at Josh and frowned. "You know what? Sometimes you just make my head hurt. What's wrong with you? Why can't you just be normal once in awhile? How'd you get so smart anyway.?" It seemed Josh wasn't in the mood for conversation. He winked at her and said, "Come on. Let's get to cookin' girlie." He ducked and missed the dirty rag aimed at his head and started helping her by finding clean dishes and silverware.

 Allie did say that the eggs were not bad. They just needed salt and pepper. "Boy you just seem to know so much stuff. Are you a country boy?" Instead of answering her,  Josh said, "Is it okay if I take the Jeep to town? I can pick up some food and chicken feed. What is a house without salt and pepper? I really need to get a new phone so I may be awhile."

Allie quickly agreed. They had had a fairly good night's sleep the night before so she was ready to tackle more cleaning. She was kind of interested in the room with the big old desk. She wondered why it had not been used for so long. She told Josh, "You know what? I don't even know my address out here. Did you see a mailbox yet on your walk? No? Well, I'm going to do some cleaning, then I think I might take a walk myself. I need to make myself familiar with my new home."

A long ways away in Missouri there was a trash truck headed to a dump. Marlee and Kyler's mama had cleaned their rooms that day. She had seen  the odd looking cell phone. "I don't think this will be missed. It's not a cell phone, but this is. It's completely ruined." She smiled and thought that the children's "treasures" could be replaced with new ones when they went to town that day to get their pictures taken. She threw the broken toys in the trash. 

Marlee and Kyler were having so much fun getting their pictures taken. It was kind of hard to sit still, but the pictures turned out great because their mama held them nice and tight. When they were finished they were going to go to the store and get a toy. They were so excited.

Josh drove to the bigger town about thirty miles from the ranch. He had some very important things to do. The first thing he did was to look for a store that sold cell phones. He didn't want a cheap one. He had some important research to do and he had not brought his laptop with him. He finally found a small mall. He drove the lot until he found just the store that he wanted. He walked in and looked at the phones and read the labels. After almost half an hour he found a phone that would suit his purposes. He went to the counter and told the clerk which phone he wanted. She went to the back to get the phone. When she opened it up she said, "Is this the correct one?" He assured her that it was. The bill was over two thousand dollars which he expected. He got in his billfold to take out his credit card and stopped short and thought to himself, "I am so foolish. He knows where I am." He told the clerk he needed to run an errand and he would be back as soon as he could to buy the phone.

Josh went back to the parking lot and got in the Jeep. He had to find a back road out of this town and fast. He found a little dirt road and pulled over. He got out and got under the passenger seat. He found what he wanted. He had put an envelope full of cash for just this kind of emergency. The only thing is he never thought he would have to use it. After he put the bills in his wallet he made a complete search of the Jeep. Nothing he had hidden in it was missing. "Oh oh. The old boy isn't as sharp as he used to be or he is too cheap to hire good goons. Okay I'm back to the store and then to call my good friend, the senator. I really need some help here. My degree in hydrology and environmental services is coming in mighty handy, but I'm thinking there is more here than meets the eye. The senator can get me in places that I can't. He didn't need to cheat on his college entrance exams. He's smart and probably knows some ins and outs that I don't. Oh how I wish I hadn't told my dad."

Allie decided to make a list of things that she needed for the house and the animals. They had just the barebones at this point. She was glad that Josh was gone for a few hours. She needed some "me" time. She also needed to go to the post office and get her address changed. "But first I need to know what my address is, " she chuckled. She walked out towards the gate and found just what she wanted to see; a mailbox. "Yes! So I'm a farmer/rancher now. I have a rural route number."" I wonder if Uncle Bill has gotten any mail in the last few months. Probably junk mail or bills. Oh dear. I hope not too many bills. I don't have that much money. I have to pay the help too. Hmm, where are those ranch hands? I haven't seen hide nor hair of them." Then she really laughed. "I'm starting to sound like a farmer now." When she opened the mailbox she was really surprised. There wasn't a single piece of mail, junk, bills, letters, or newspapers, nothing. "This thing should be full unless the hands or Maxine have taken the mail into the house and I didn't see it. I'm going back to the house to look. Come on little one. We have to go back to the house. We also need to find a good name for you. Doggie just doesn't cut it. Hey! Wait a minute little girl. What have you got in your mouth? Did Josh get you a new toy? What is that?"