Gray Wolf Ranch

Chapter 11 - Not a Child

KITCHI

My head is killing me. The cold porcelain of the toilet isn't enough to soothe me. I woke up feeling dizzy. It's all too much; the stress of the scan, the new kids, Chris and Nadine. In all honesty, I rather see Nadine with Chris than with anyone else, but I thought I had a chance. She's always so nice to me. I have little to offer her, but I could have made her happy.

After getting dressed, I head to the kitchen. One of the drawers is full of medicines and I look for the one Huritt has labeled 'headaches'. The pill feels rough as it goes down my already sore throat. Those kids better not cause any trouble today. I'm really not in the mood to deal with any of their shit.

When I reach my workplace, I find Chris talking outside with the boy with the swollen lip, and who wears the same glasses as Istu.

"Morning, Kit," Chris says when he sees me.

"Morning."

"Sebastian, this is Kitchi Marshall. With everything that happened yesterday, you didn't get to meet each other properly. He's our boss."

The boy looks shy and is lanky.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"Almost eighteen, sir," he mumbles.

"Have you ever worked on a farm? Or at all? Show me your hands."

Sebastian shakes his head in negative and shows me his hands. Just as I thought, there is no sign of farm work in them.

"City boy, what are you doing in the valley?"

"My parents came here to work things out. We didn't know we moved back to his hometown so he could be closer to his mistress."

"The other kid is the mistress' son," Chris adds and I nod in understanding.

"We'll keep you away from each other for the time being. Chris, you can supervise the other boy. I'm bringing this one to the..."

"The barn, gotcha," he gives me a small nod. Chris can now tell when I'm about to get stuck on a word.

I stop first by my office, check the notes on the whiteboard and see Chris already crossed out some of the smaller tasks. I grab an extra pair of gloves and motion for Sebastian to follow me. At the barn, I click my tongue, and the cows walk towards the milking area. Sebastian looks at everything with wide eyes.

"Tell me you have seen a cow before," I tease him.

"Not a real one. Will they bite me?"

"They can, but a kick is more likely to happen. That is why we have fences," I grab a towel with the disinfecting solution and clean the teats of a cow. "Can you do what I did?" I ask, and he nods.

We work efficiently. Sebastian makes the preparation work while I attach the vacuum cups to the cows. We then move to the goat pen, and while they are feeding, I teach Sebastian how to milk them by hand. After that, we gather the eggs in the chicken coop.

"Can you drive?" I ask, and he looks hesitantly at me.

"Yeah, I have a license, but haven't done it often," he says.

"Good enough for me. The milk from the cows goes to the cooler behind here and will be picked up by a truck in the afternoon, but we need to bring the eggs and the cans with goat milk to the restaurant. Driving is more efficient than walking all the way there with the heavy cans."

Until Chris came, I would make several trips with the cans on a wheelbarrow. Sebastian and I place our goods on the bed of the small service pickup, and together we make the short trip to the back door of the restaurant. I ring the bell and Nadine opens the door. I feel like an idiot when I get all flustered and nervous at her sight.