“Nice kid,” Forrest said after Dick left. “Not real smart, but my daughter isn’t exactly the sharpest girl to ever graduate from Pendersburg South High School, either. He’s too honest to be a car salesman, though. I’d think he could sell a lot of those things if he had some idea of how to market them outside the local area. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who could help him with that, would you?”

“Not off the top of my head, but I could ask around.”

It was just a casual line tossed off by Forrest, but Steve thought about it that evening as he was getting set to go to bed. He had no idea what kind of market there might be for an expensive hand-made nearly everything-proof bird feeder, but presumably someone might be interested in buying them. There was no point in trying to do anything about it tonight, and maybe it would be a good idea to see how long it took Rocky to defeat it – but it might be worth more thought and investigation at a future date.

Things were definitely slowing down for Steve around the place; it didn’t look like there was going to be much left for him to do in Pendersburg.

The auditors were still busy at Baldwynn Buick-Cadillac the next morning – they probably would be for days – but Forrest was busy getting a revised sales operation set up. The ads in the Democrat and elsewhere were going to be offering some big discounts and a lot of traffic was expected. Out of curiosity, Steve looked at the ad proofs Pete had brought in and Forrest had approved, and discovered that Baldwynn was throwing around some incredibly good prices, just for the sake of getting acquainted.

That set him to thinking. The Caliber was starting to get a little elderly; there was no denying that. He’d had it since before he’d gone to work for RELI, and it had proved to be a dependable daily driver. But it wasn’t the most comfortable vehicle for long road trips, and he could see more of them in the near future the way things were going. The thought crossed his mind that with those kinds of prices, Forrest might even be willing to be a little lenient in a trade-in on the Caliber. During a spot when things seemed quieter than normal, he broached the idea with him.

“Steve, I owe you a huge one,” Forrest said. “Pick out any car on the lot and I’ll give you a deal that will knock your socks off.”

Since Steve really didn’t have much to do, he got together with a salesman who also wasn’t very busy – the place was still technically closed. The salesman trolled several Cadillacs past him, but Steve thought that they were a little ostentatious, and the salesman reluctantly agreed. Before long he was looking at a brand-new gray Buick LaCrosse with just about every gadget known to man. It was way out of his price range, until he remembered that he still hadn’t done anything with the $140,000 from the Hardin deal. It was still riding on the books since as far as he knew the Macomber-Calligan funding had come from some deep, dark recesses in Uncle Homer’s (and probably Ann’s) accounts.

Well, all right, he thought. Let’s just see what kind of deal Forrest is willing to cut.

They hemmed and hawed around for a while, throwing some numbers around without anything really sticking, until Forrest went and talked to the temporary sales manager – the guy who owned Affordable Auto, who was filling in. A couple other issues came up, and both Steve and Forrest had to go deal with them. Forrest was more tied up than Steve was, and after a while Steve had run out of things to do.

It was clear that it was time to be heading back to Uncle Homer’s, he thought. Maybe tomorrow. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized he was a lot closer to home – if he could think of it that way anymore – than he was to Wychbold. If Phil needed some assistance, it would be easier to go by that way.

It didn’t take long for the call to go through. “Just checking in, Phil,” he said. “How’s it going?”

“Coming right along. I got the letter of intent a couple days ago and I’m going to be meeting about the contracts tomorrow. From what was said on the phone we’re good to go, but we need to do a face-to-face and get some ink used. I’m having to give a little to get the contracts, but not enough to kill the deal, not by a long shot.”

“That’s good to hear. I was a little afraid you’d have to give away the ranch.”

“Not with the bullshit Shawtex has been handing them. This is one of those China deals, the quality control is bad and the shipments are all screwed up. They actually had to have some parts flown in air cargo from China, and then they had to pitch twenty percent of the ones they got. They want back with us so bad it isn’t funny, but I had to shave a touch to make it look like they’re getting a deal. I’m even picking up some sniffing on a third contract, but at this point it’s only a sniff.”

“Good deal. Maybe we can screw those jokers a little more.”

“I’m keeping my ear to the ground on other contracts we might be able to steal back. Look, if some of this shit turns real, we may need a little more cash for machines and such.”

“I can’t promise right out that you’ll get it, because it would depend on the deal, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something can be worked out.”

“That’s good to know. Hey, you want to know something sweet?”

“What?”

“I found out where they sold our CNC machines, just to a dealer. They’re giving me a good price on three of them,” he chuckled. “A real good price, well under market value, and I get to pick the newest and best machines. Shawtex lost a bundle on them going for a quick sale.”

“That is sweet, all right. It’s good to know those jokers don’t actually know anything about manufacturing. Maybe someday we can really yank their chain, but right now doesn’t look like a good time to try. If you need me, call me, and I’d like to know if the contracts get pinned down, but I’d rather Ms. Rutledge finds out about that directly from you.”

“I can do that. Hey, once again, thanks Steve. You’ve been a lifesaver on this one.”

That took care of that; there didn’t seem to be any need to go out of the way on the way back to Wychbold. With any kind of luck he’d be back before the new bird feeders showed up; it would be nice to see how surprised Ann would be when she saw them. And, as far as that went, it would be even more fun to see the look on Rocky’s face, although it seemed likely that Ann would be the only one to able to do that the way the coon operated in the dark.

It was an hour or two later before Steve and Forrest got back together. “So what did you think of the deal I cut you on that LaCrosse?” Forrest asked.

“I haven’t had a chance to look at it,” Steve replied honestly.

“You’d owe $7200 on it,” Forrest told him. “That gets it out the door, tax and all. I can finance that for you, unless you have some other cash source.”

“Seventy-two hundred?” Steve replied, his eyes wide open in shock.

“I told you we were offering some pretty good deals, but I’m not exactly going to give it away, either.”

“Forrest, I haven’t looked at the sticker but that LaCrosse is worth forty thousand if it’s worth a cent.”

“Well, I gave you a good break on the trade-in.”

Steve glanced at the paperwork. “Forrest, I paid less for the Caliber new than you’re offering on trade-in.”

“Must have been a typo. New secretary, you know. Maybe you’d better sign it before someone discovers her mistake.”

“Forrest . . .”

“Look, Steve, I owe you a hell of a big one, I told you that. This isn’t all the way fixed yet, but it’s on the way. It would never have happened at all if you hadn’t gotten involved and backed me up every inch of the way. Now just sign the papers and you get the first car to roll out of the new and much improved Baldwynn Buick-Cadillac.”

Steve got on the road for Wychbold in the LaCrosse early the next morning. It seemed strange to not be driving the familiar old Caliber after all these years, but there was no doubt that this was a much more comfortable road car. It wasn’t quite as good on gas as the Caliber and possessed every gadget known to man and a few probably only known to Martians. It obviously was going to take some getting used to, but he figured he’d have enough time with his butt in the seat to manage that.

He actually felt a little uncomfortable over what he’d paid for the car – Forrest really had given him a little too good of a deal, but he’d felt he was returning a favor and it had been hard to say no. There really wasn’t anything that was downright wrong about the deal, but it pushed things a little bit. When he stopped and thought about it, Steve realized that overall it had worked out pretty well. There wasn’t going to be any big profit on it from Uncle Homer’s viewpoint – it was really more of a stop-loss deal to him, one to reduce complications. But Macomber-Calligan Ventures was going to see some profit on the breakage out of the deal. Like the deal with Phil, it wouldn’t be big money, but when you add small pieces of money together it sooner or later becomes big money.

It still felt a little strange to be playing with Uncle Homer’s money, although both Uncle Homer and Ann had approved things every step of the way, and it made business sense all the way around. But still it felt a little strange. At the same time, he thought he’d better get used to it since it probably wasn’t going to be the last time that he’d be doing it.

He was only a couple hours out of Pendersburg when the phone buzzed – he had to do something about that ring tone, he thought. It would take some fumbling to get the hands-free setup in the LaCrosse working, but he could see how it could be a big help once he learned how to do it.

Not surprisingly, the call proved to be from Ann. “Sir, are you on your way back?

“I just got on the road,” he reported. “I ought to be back tonight sometime.”

“I’m afraid something has come up, sir. The trouble is with a real estate transfer in Columbus. The problem does not appear to be anything difficult, but there are some parties who need to be pushed along a little. Hopefully everything will be under control in a few days, but Mr. Taylor wants you to go there to do the pushing.”

“Ann, you really want to stick it to me, don’t you? I mean, sending a Michigan graduate to Buckeye town?”

“I’m afraid that part of it can’t be helped sir,” she replied. Steve thought he could detect a hint of a giggle in her voice. “I will e-mail you the details and the contact information.”

“All right, Ann. I guess there’s not any choice. I’ll just have to put up with those Buckeye nuts.”

“Sir?”

“You’re not into college football, are you?”

“No, sir. I’m aware they play football at colleges but I have no interest in it. I have no idea what you’re talking about. My education did not include attending college, so I’m aware there are some gaps in my knowledge.”

They talked back and forth for a few minutes, mostly with him trying to land a tease on her, and with her deflecting them almost without trying. It was good to talk to her, though – she was starting to seem familiar despite her cold, impassive attitude.

There wasn’t much he could do but to reprogram the voice-activated GPS system to route him to Columbus, and that was another thing that took him some time learning before he accomplished it. Modern technology may have its uses, he thought, but sometimes it was a pain in the neck to figure out, too.

It was just about as much driving to get to Columbus as it was to get to Wychbold. He’d already been gone from Uncle Homer’s longer than he thought he would, and he was essentially out of clean clothes. Now, it seemed likely that he was going to be gone at least several days longer. It was clear that he was going to have to find a coin laundry or a big box store to buy new underwear.

The job in Columbus proved to be maddening, just what could be expected from a bunch of Ohio State Buckeyes. It was, as Ann had told him, a routine real estate transfer but the buyers were being very careful and picky about the minor things that no one could comprehend and could not have been of any use anyway. It took a couple of hours a day, and left him with a lot of free time, which was frustrating.

That lasted until some messing around on the Internet turned up a guy right there in Columbus who did hand engraving and even taught classes in the subject. When Steve hunted him up he proved to be both a friendly and skillful guy. He’d never heard of hobo nickels but thought it was an interesting if different topic. Most of his work was on knives and guns, and he did some excellent craftsmanship and was willing to show Steve some of the basics of metal engraving. It looked to Steve like it would be a sufficient time-waster of a hobby, and soon he acquired a number of useful tools, and a tool box he could carry them in. It would probably be difficult to take them with him if he had to travel on an airliner, but since he planned on using the LaCrosse whenever possible that didn’t seem to be an issue.

In the process of learning to use the gravers, the traditional tools used to etch metal, Steve found that he had a lot to learn, but that was what he’d been hoping to find out. It was a skill that would take years if not a lifetime to get really good at, but he had the basics to build on. It would at least give him something to do in the evenings when he was out on the road like this.

Steve didn’t actually start carving hobo nickels, other than to have a little hack at a recent nickel to see how hard it was going to be. It looked like it was going to be easier than working in steel, but harder than working in copper. When he had some free time, he spent it hunting around on the web for examples of hobo nickels and began to get some ideas of what he wanted to do. It wouldn’t be the perfect hobby, he thought, but at least the tools wouldn’t take up much space and the nickels hardly any at all.

Finally the messing around in Columbus was over with. It hadn’t been very productive in a business sense; he only worked about two hours a day and half of that was on the phone with Ann or Uncle Homer trying to iron out the details of what ought to have been a routine real estate transaction. Working for Uncle Homer obviously wasn’t going to consist only of lightning strikes like the Hardin business, or coming into town shooting silver bullets like the Lone Ranger as he’d done with the car dealership mess. But at least this dull project was over with and he could get back in the LaCrosse and get away from all the depressing Ohio State stuff.

It was only about three hours of easy driving back to Wychbold and Uncle Homer’s, and he arrived about the time Uncle Homer ought to be getting up. Ann knew he was coming and had been waiting for him. “So how was your trip, sir?” she asked him when he walked into the house.

“Not bad today, but it’s nice to have it over with. What’s on the schedule next?”

“We’re ready to sign the paperwork with your friend Mr. Crocker, sir.” she announced. “I have set up a meeting for tomorrow afternoon in a conference room at a motel near the airport in Detroit.”

“That must be rolling along pretty nicely. I haven’t talked to him for a week, and he hadn’t gotten the contracts nailed down yet.”

“It’s all arranged for now, sir. I’ve had several phone exchanges with him, and had to assure his potential customers that the funding is in place. I was hoping you’d be back in time to be able to meet with him along with me.”

“Sure, I can do that, unless you have something else on the list for me.”

“There are some things that the three of us need to talk about before the meeting tomorrow, sir.” she replied. “Mostly they are items we need to decide if we want to bring to Mr. Crocker’s attention or not, but we don’t need to get into them right now.”

“Good, I’d just as soon not go right from the road into a meeting. Anything else?”

“Sir, there are some packages for you in the minivan, from a Dick Travis. I had to pick them up yesterday but they were a little too heavy for me to unload. Could you please deal with them before I have to get groceries?

“Oh, good, they got here. Why don’t you come with me and take a look? They’re actually a present for you.”

“A present, sir? For me?” she replied, clearly a little surprised. “What brought this on, sir?”

“Mostly I thought you’d appreciate them,” he grinned. “You’ve been very helpful to me on a lot of things, and I thought you deserved a little reward.”

She followed him out to the garage. The packages were heavy, but it wasn’t much trouble to get them out of the minivan and set them on the floor of the garage. It was a lot more trouble to hunt around to find something to open them with, since there weren’t a lot of tools out there, but soon the first of raccoon-proof bird feeders was sitting on the floor.

Ann immediately figured out what they were. “That might do the job quite nicely, sir,” she smiled, fingering the heavy steel bars. “That coon has been a real pest since you’ve been gone. Where did you come up with these things?”

“Forrest Baldwynn’s son-in-law has a garage business making them,” he said. “As soon as I saw one, I was pretty sure you’d like these, and I was pretty sure Rocky wouldn’t. They mount on a wood four-by-four post. I’ll have to get some posts and get them in the ground before you can use them.”

“Perhaps you could go to town and get them before we leave for the airport tomorrow, sir,” she suggested. “Bob and Ray will be here to work on the lawn, and they could probably get them set up while you were looking for tools. But I agree, sir, these may end some of the problems with the bird feeders, and I’m grateful. Neither Mr. Taylor nor I take much interest in them but we both feel that maintaining them is something we have to do.”

“If you’re not all that interested in the bird feeders, why go to the trouble?”

“Mrs. Cooper liked them, sir,” she replied slowly. “She would often lie next to the window for hours looking at the birds. Mr. Taylor and I decided to keep the bird feeders in order to remember her a little.”

“Ann, maybe I missed it, but I never heard you mention this Mrs. Cooper before.”

“She died several years ago, sir,” Ann sighed. “Mr. Taylor and I still miss her. She was my teacher and, well, nanny might be the right word, after Mr. Taylor brought me here. I don’t know what relation to Mr. Taylor she was, if any, but they were long-time friends. They may even have been lovers when they were young, although if so I’m not sure of it. I learned a great deal from her, sir. Among other things, she tutored me through my home-schooling and taught me a great deal besides.” She paused for a moment, then went on in a distant voice, “She was the first real friend I ever had.”

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