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CHAPTER 4

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, WE were rolling up the road toward our landlord’s farm

Seamus, Brian, Eddie, and the twins took our new Jeep, while Mary Catherine and I piled the rest of the kids into the vintage station wagon that Cody insisted on loaning us Cody’s awesoon was an old Pontiac Tempest muscle car that reminded me of my childhood in the seventies, when seat belts were optional, the cigarette lighter was for firing up Marlboro reds, and even station wagons could haul it off the line

I was truly impressed with Mary Cather

ine when I saw all the teens up and about so early The kids were even talking and joking with each other instead of fighting Which was saying so, since no one had eaten breakfast yet

“What’s up with everybody? They seem excited,” I said to Mary Catherine as we rolled up the half mile of dirt road for Cody’s farives?”

“They don’t seem excited They are excited,” Mary Catherine said “They love this, Mike So will you Watch”

Cody was already outside his huge reen Ford tractor Behind the tractor was a hay-bale-littered trailer that the kids i into after we parked

“Howdy, Mike I see you decided to join us thisas he shook my hand

I liked Cody His son was the special agent in charge at the FBI’s Chicago office, so he knew and respected our whole situation with Perrine He had actually offered his secluded ranch as a witness protection sanctuary a few times before We really couldn’t have asked for someone better to hide us and watch our backs than the friendly foreant and decorated Vietnam vet

“We can always use another cowpoke in the gang, isn’t that right, kids?” Cody said, squaring his Colorado Rockies baseball cap “But, of course, we’ll have to see how you do We like to take on hands on a day-by-day basis around these here parts How does that suit you?”

“Sounds fair, Aaron,” I said, as everyone laughed at Daddy “I’ll try not to let you down”

“Enough yappin’ to the greenhorn, Cody,” Sea the hood of the old tractor “Time to saddle ’em up and move ’em out”

We all piled into the trailer, along with Cody’s three black-and-white border collies I watched as h of each other Mary Catherine was right The kids really couldn’t have been happier as we rolled out over the fields, bouncing around like a bunch of ju beans

We saw the cattle tenalong an irrigation ditch