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“Oh, Mr Cody’s I see,” the guy said, the tension in his voice ione

He tipped back his hat and s he was He was just a cute sixteen- or seventeen-year-old kid

“I didn’t , Mr Cody’s neighbor You did wander onto our property, but don’t worry about it The property lines are tricky There actually is a shortcut back to Mr Cody’s ranch, through our farm I’ll show it to you if you want”

Mary Catherine paused for a beat, then took a breath

“OK,” she said “Thanks”

She followed the kid off the path She stared at the gun It looked like a deer rifle Was he out hunting? Spike hesitated once as the dirt trail descended through a gap in an outcropping of rocks, but she finally encouraged hih

When they came out on the other side, Mary Catherine sahat at first she thought was a grove of tightly grown baby evergreen trees But as she got closer, she could see that the long, neat rows of green weren’t trees at all but plants Plants about nine feet high, with leaves that had long, thin light-green fingers and purplish buds with a strong, sweet smell, almost fruity

It was marijuana, Mary Catherine realized when she took a breath Acres upon acres of pungent marijuana

She remembered then what Brian had told her about the encounter at the food bank The kids there claiest crop She looked out at the green sea of pot they were skirting She knew that California’s Central Valley grew a huge a the valley was supplying to the nation, apparently

Is it actually legal? she wondered A medical-marijuana farm?

Kevin, leading the way ahead of her, certainly didn’t act like his fa to hide He couldn’t have been calh Central Park Or was that because of the rifle on his back?

Mary Catherine decided to keep her questions to herself

“You sit that horse well, h the forest of cannabis “Are you working for Mr Cody?”

“No, just, u,” Mary Catherine said as calmly as she could

“From where? Scotland?”