Loman by Kathi S. Barton
Chapter 4
Loman had hated to leave home this time. He thought it was the first time in all his adult life that he felt that way. He had a family now, and they were the most important thing to him. Just as he was about to get up and get his butt home, he saw the American bison coming over the crest of the hill. Christ, they were a lot of them.
“I have a question for you.” He told Parker he was slightly busy but could answer a simple question for her. “Good. I was wondering if you’ve given any thought to having a studio for your work? I don’t mean a gallery. You have access to one. I was thinking more along the lines of a place where you could develop your pictures and do whatever it is you do to them to make them beautiful.”
“First of all, they’re beautiful when I take them.” They both laughed as he took several shots of the herd moving in his direction. “I have a dark room set up at the house. I guess it’s not really large enough for what I wanted, but I have—why? Do you have an idea where I can have a place all to myself?”
“I do. Remember me telling you about the daycare center that went belly up a few months ago? Because the basket company no longer employing hundreds of people with children, they couldn’t make a go of it. Anyway, it’s coming on the market in the next few days. While we do have the need for a daycare center, it would be cheaper to tear that one down and start over. But you could use it for your work.” He asked her where it was located. “You see, that’s the issue I’m having with it too. It’s smack dab in the middle of town. I mean, right across the street from the courthouse. Brook was telling me that when it was finished being built, it was already out of date. But they had a need for it, and they sort of looked the other way when it came to codes. It would need to have a few walls taken down. Bathrooms updated. Unless you like having toilets about three inches from the floor. Also, the office needs to be enlarged. If you have a need for one. Brook also suggested that you put in a loading dock. The building is big enough right now that you could actually divide it in half and rent out the other side.”
“I’d rather not.” Parker said that she thought he’d say that. “All right. I’ll give this some thought. If there isn’t anything else pressing, I have a herd of very large American bison coming at me, and I’d like to not get crushed.”
“They won’t touch you if you want to stay where you are.” He asked her if she’d done something to keep him safe. “Forever, Loman. Just stay there, and you’ll get the shots that you want. I’ll talk to you later.”
True to her word, he was never stepped on. Not even close. However, he was able to get some of the best shots of a herd that he’d ever been able to get before. Close-ups of them eating the spring grass as it sprouted. Mothers nursing their young being watched over by the herd. He was even able to capture a goodly amount of pictures of a pack of wolves moving along with them, keeping pace.
After they passed over him, Loman got up, collected his equipment and moved to the top of the ridge where the herd had come from. He’d been meaning to make his way there for the last few days, but now that he’d gotten so many shots down below, he felt better about heading to the spring lake that had appeared overnight during the rainstorm.
Making his way there slowly, he could see that there was a mother bear and her two cubs. Even as a lion, Loman was terrified of grizzly bears. They were meaner than the black bears he’d heard. But once again, Parker reminded him that he’d be safe.
As the afternoon turned into evening, Loman was surprised at the different animals that came to graze at the water hole. He knew it was a popular place to view some of the animals. A tour drive in the summer months would drive by this area in hopes of seeing some of the animals.
Bighorn sheep and elk in smaller groups wandered by but didn’t come to the waterhole to drink. With his camera, he was able to get some good pictures of them, even with the distance they were from him. Loman had been able to get a good shot of a moose and her calf. Christ, it was as if they’d been just waiting for him to come around to get some candid pictures of them today. Something occurred to him, and he reached out to Parker.
“No. I had nothing to do with you being able to see all of the animals at once. However, you might want to ask Jasper about it. When you were down this time, he gave you a bit more of himself. Being fae, or at least having a bit of it in your bloodline, could be what is attracting them to you.” He asked how much he’d given him. “I don’t know. But I know he had to rest for several days before he could come and check on you. Also, he was able to find the person that poisoned you.”
He paused in his work to think about what she said. “Was it a man by the name of Winston Greene?” She asked him how he’d known. “He sent me a nice parting gift a few weeks ago. He wanted to be my agent—he was actually kind of aggressive about it. But in the end—anyway, it was tea, the loose-leaf kind. While I’m not a big fan of hot tea normally, I had the first cup and enjoyed it very much. After it was all gone, it was like I no longer had an addictive drug to take. It took me a month to get to the point where I didn’t crave it.”
“I’ll take care of him.” He wasn’t sure what that meant and decided he didn’t want to know what she did. “Loman, you can ask me. I’ll tell you what my plans are for him. I don’t think you’ll like it. However, I will tell you that you’re not the first nor the last person that he’s done this to. His plan is, now that I have seen his mind was to poison you enough where you’d come to him for more tea. You’d be, he hoped, desperate enough to give him what he wanted to get more of the drugs that he put in the tea. Greene has killed a lot of people with this method.”
“Then you have at him. But I’d like for you to make him understand that he’s not just someone you’re out to take care of randomly. He needs to know the reason that you’re there.” She said that he would, she promised. “Thank you. If you need it, I have the tin that he gave the tea in with me. I haven’t any idea why I kept it. I suppose to remind me not to be so easy next time someone gives me a gift.”
When he was finished, the darkness making it so that the larger predators came out, he made his way back to his hut. It was nothing more than a tent that was covered in brush, but it was warmer than sleeping out in the open. As soon as the sun went down in the mountains where he was, the temperature would drop as much as thirty degrees at night. Just as he was pulling his sleeping bag up and over his body, he felt the death of King.
“He’s gone.” He told Billy that he’d felt it too. “He’s gone, Uncle Loman. He told me that he loved what we’d done for him and that he was at peace. What am I going to do now?”
“Nothing, honey.” Loman rubbed his heart, the pain there for the death of someone that he only just realized was a friend. “You made it so that he got a last wish. King got to die on his own terms, and that is the best thing that any of us could hope for. I’m so very sorry for your loss, but honey, you did such a wonderful thing in what you did for him. And for me. You fulfilled something in me that I would never have gotten without your gift. Thank you for that.”
“I’m to let him lay where he died. I feel so horrible about promising him that. The animals will—they’ll get to him.” He told her that was the way that he wanted it. “I can’t stand it. I wish that I’d not promised him that.”
“You’ll do that for him, correct? You’ll let him stay where he died?” She said that she’d promised. “Good for you. In a few months, we’ll put a marker there that tells all who pass by that a great lion had died there. It will be fitting for him.”
“I love that idea.” He was glad. “Thank you so much for being there for me. You’ve been a good friend to him and to me. Even though we’re not really related, I think of all the Fosters as my true family.”
She couldn’t have said anything else to make him happier than he was at this moment. Wiping away the tears as he settled into his bed, he thought of all the things that he wanted to do now. Lindsley had been right. He needed the outdoors like he needed his next breath.
Stopping by the office on his way out, he told the Park Rangers that he’d seen a couple of newborn bison that were struggling. They’d go and check it out, but they’d not interfere. It was the way that it worked in the big park.
It took him less time to get home than it had to get to the park. Yellowstone was a beautiful place to go and get the kind of pictures that he wanted and that his clients wanted. Since he had about five hours to kill before he met with one of the people that wanted some of his work, he decided to go and have dinner at one of his favorite places to eat. He was thrilled beyond words when not only Parker and Don joined him but also Ronan and Brook.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, how do you keep anonymity when you go and talk to clients that want to feature your work in their magazines? I mean, you’ve so far kept the world from knowing who you are. I’m just curious how that works.” He told Ronan that they thought they were talking to his representative. Ronan laughed long and hard about that. “They have no idea that the very artist is the one they’re working with? Oh, Loman, I knew you were good before this, but you’re better than I thought. I’m betting you can keep your work the way you want it too.”
“I do. This guy I’m seeing this afternoon is a first-time buyer. I’ve sent him the price ranges for how many pictures he might want. But so far, all I’ve heard back from him is that he wants all I took.” Brook asked if he’d sell them all to him. “Yes, for a price. These are the picture that I took about three months ago. I have a contact sheet that he can look at. Also, they’re on a thumb drive as well. He can look at them either way.”
“Aren’t you worried about him just printing them and using them without paying? That would be something I’d be worried about.” He told him what he’d been able to do. “So if he tries to print them in any way but the contact sheet that is on the thumb drive, or even if he tries to enlarge them, it’ll lock up his computer? That’s good but aren’t you worried about him suing you for that? I mean, shutting down a computer seems like that would be a good way to get your ass handed to you.”
“He has to sign off on the rules and regulations before he can have the drive. Once he does that, he can look at the photos at his leisure for thirty days. After that, the drive will be blank.” He looked over at Parker when she smiled. “I don’t know what I’d do without having a bit of magic in the family. I thank Parker every time someone calls me and says that their computer is no longer working or, better yet, they can’t print off the photos.”
“You think this guy is going to try and do that, don’t you?” Loman nodded at Don. “Want me to go with you? I can do a little extra to his computers if you want. It would be my pleasure.”
“I’d love for you to go, but you don’t have to. I think this guy is going to try and shaft me in some way. Much like Allen did. Getting something for nothing.” Don nodded and said he’d go. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that. By the way, what brings you guys here? I’m sure that it’s more than having lunch with me.”
“I’m here to take care of some Pride business. There is a pride close to here that wishes to move to California. They want to go where the jobs are, and they think that it will be a good move for them. I’m not so sure, but I’m going to allow it. There are eight brothers and two sisters. The sisters are married with cubs of their own. Once they’re able to get things set up on the other end, they’ll follow with their parents. Two of the men, I don’t remember their names right now, but they’re going to be—Tucker. That’s their name. Those two will stay here to help the pride they’re leaving be prepared for their exit. I don’t know that the pride that they’re leaving will survive after they lose a dozen of the members. But that’s something the pride leader will have to deal with on his own. They wish to be known as the Tucker Pride.” Brook said that they’re setting up their own group. A family affair much like the one they have. “I’m sort of glad that they’re going out there. I have a few small prides out there but nothing that is doing all that well. I’m excited for them to get a start fresh. I just hope that they can. It will be nice for all of them.”
After they were finished with their lunch, he and Don made their way over to the office of the Short Becker Magazine office. Don made fun of the name, and they were still laughing about it when they were told they could have a seat and that Mr. Becker would be with them soon as he was running behind.
“I have an appointment for four o’clock. I want to return home as soon as this meeting is over to talk to my client. Could you tell him that I don’t have all day?” She said that he’d be with them as soon as he could. He was running behind. “So you said. Twice now. If we’re not in his office by four, we’re leaving. My client, as you are aware, is a busy person. I won’t wait around if I don’t need to.”
“Hard ass, are you?” He told Don that he was like that with all his appointments. “Another side of you that I’m surprised by. Good job. But will you really leave at four if you’re not where you’re supposed to be?”
“I have before.” When it was two minutes until four, the secretary looked at them. She didn’t say anything as she answered her phone, but she looked very uncomfortable. “I have a feeling she doesn’t like this any more than I do.”
At one minute after four, they stood up and left without a word. He was in the lobby when the security guard told them that Mr. Becker could see them now if they were to return to the office. Loman handed him his badge that he and Don needed to get into the building and left. It was a refreshing feeling to be in charge of his life.
~*~
Denver stood up when the king entered the room. He had to fight hard not to lie on the floor and submit to him. But it was a public setting, and humans wouldn’t understand the way that someone treated a man like the new king was.
“Mr. Foster, I’m very glad that you were able to come and speak to me.” He sat down when asked. But he couldn’t until his king and Queen did. Once they were both seated, he did the same. “My family is working with our pride leader and are making sure that we’re not going to devastate him too terribly bad when we leave.”
“I’ve spoken to him. He told me that there isn’t a better family around than your family. He also said that if anyone could make it out there, it would but the Tuckers. Why don’t you tell me what you’re plans are once you’re out on your own.” Denver pulled out his notes. He was forever keeping up with himself but making notes. “Good. If you don’t have something to make notes on or to read from, you’ll fail. My wife taught me that.”
“Good for you, my ladyship. My mom. She’s a great note-taker. She usually has about five lists going at any given time. All of them are labeled as to what they’re for and a timeline on when she wants to get them finished.” He smiled at the memory of his first notebook. “When we were headed to school, she handed each of us a nice notebook to take with us. You’ve no idea how many times it saved me from being late on an assignment, your lordship.”
“You’re a potter. I’ve seen your work. It’s lovely. I have a brother that is an artist as well.” He told his queen that two of his brothers were artists in different fields. He called her his ladyship again. “If you call me my queen once more, I’m going to bash your head in. I’m Brook. This is Ronan. If we’re going to make this work, we have to be on the same page. If I have to keep looking around for who you’re talking to, it’s not going to work.”
He wasn’t entirely sure if she was really going to hit him but didn’t call her anything more. When asked if he’d start on his list, Denver was very careful of what he said. The more time he spent with the couple, the more he thought she really would hurt him.
By the time he got his list taken care of, he was on the road to making a more extensive list. Not only did they both have suggestions on how they could make things work, but they also offered them some of the Pride money to get them started. His family was worried about housing, and Brook told him that they owned a house there and would let them use it so long as they were careful of the upkeep.
“I have contacts all over the world, Denver. If you need anything at all once you’re out there, you just pick up the phone.” Denver thanked them both. “If you’re struggling and don’t ask for help, then we can’t help you. We can’t fix what we don’t know about. All right?”
“My parents are mostly worried about what sort of jobs we can get while out there. I know that being an artist isn’t really a huge income sort of job for us right now, but we’re going to find jobs that can sustain our family first and foremost.” Brook asked what the others did. “Mostly manual labor. That’s why we wanted to do this. One of my brothers has a law degree, and two of them are doctors. They all work in their field, but it doesn’t really pay all that much because they’re fresh out of college. Taking on jobs that put food on the table is the only thing we’re doing right now.”
After making a few phone calls, not only did his brothers have a job, but his parents—really, his grandparents had help in the home as well. Denver was shocked by the amount of help they were getting from the king and queen. He was still making notes when Ronan asked him if he had plans for his sisters’ children.
“You mean in ways of getting them into a good school? If so, then yes. Margo, my older sister, is a teacher. She was actually a headmistress at one of the schools around here until it closed down. Lack of funding. She has been applying online to teach at a couple of private schools.” Again they were helpful in getting Margo a good job in one of the private schools that she’d not applied for because you needed references that she didn’t think she had. “I don’t know how to thank you for this. I think that everyone in my family will be grateful to you both for decades to come. This is much more than I could have hoped for when—I actually expected you to tell me that it wasn’t going to work and that we had to stay where we were.”
“I’d never do that. Even if you were taking the entire pride apart with this move, I’d want you to succeed. There is a need for people like your family. Branching out is difficult enough without having support and funds to make it work.” Brook told him how she’d torn her house apart nearly daily to learn how to do some of the jobs that are on a construction site. “So you see, we know what it’s like to want something bad enough to take a chance that you might normally never do. I hope your parents are very proud of all of you.”
“They are. Well, grannie is. Grandda, he’s a little…grumpy about having to move. He’ll do what grannie tells him, but he won’t show anyone he’s happy about it. Then once it’s all setup and working, he’ll take some of the credit.” Denver laughed. “He’s a wonderful man, and I’ve loved him with all my heart since they took us all in when our parents left us. He’ll do what is necessary, but he doesn’t have to be quiet about how much we’re putting him out to do it.”
“I have my grandda too. And my mom. My father passed away some time ago, and I miss him so much. But having my mom and grandda, I know what you mean about them being grumpy. My grandda can be that way as well.” Brook didn’t add anything to the conversation this time, and he decided that was all right too. He really liked the two of them and hoped that someday he’d be able to invite them to his home and show them what all their help had done for them. “You have your family make a list of things that they’re going to need to travel, and we’ll make the arrangements for you all when it’s time. Just don’t forget to call when you need something, Denver. All right?”
Shaking hands with the two of them, he felt something akin to an electrical shock move up his arm and over him. It was stronger from the king, but it was no less painful from the queen herself. Once they were finished with all the notes that they both had brought to the table, he was invited to have dinner with them. Once the food was ordered, two of Ronan’s brothers showed up, and he got another shock from them. Christ, he wondered what it meant but didn’t mention it to anyone there.
On his way home, he reached out to his family. He had to calm himself several times before he was able to speak about the things that were said. Grannie was the most excited about her and Grandda having help in their home. But his sisters were happy that they were going to be able to start working almost as soon as they arrived.
After he got home, he talked to his grandparents. When Grannie heard that the queen’s name was Brook and that she owned a construction company, she paled a little. After asking if she was all right several times, she told him what she knew about Brook Garret and her family. He’d not had a clue.
“That’s why she didn’t mention her own family when I was talking to them about you guys. I did wonder about that. Even if the newspaper told only half of what she had to endure, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. And she made something of herself too.” He also understood a little more as to why they wanted to help people when they were starting out. The Fosters, now that he knew about the others in the family, were about the richest people around. Not to mention a lion pride. His respect for the king and queen went up a great deal. He was excited about this next phase of his life working with someone so generous as they were.
“She mentioned paying it forward once we’re set up. I really like that idea. I don’t know that we’ll be able to do it on the scale they do, but hiring people that need a hand-up is something I can get behind. I’m to understand that she mostly hires ex-cons to get them trained to be able to work for something else. And she pays all her people a fair wage too.” His brothers, like him, were taking notes on the information he was sharing. “They’re going to set us up when we start this move. I’ll do whatever they want to make this work for all of us.”
And he would too. Denver and his family had been talking about this move for a while now, and they were ready to go. But having support was going to make it much easier than he thought when he first approached Ronan and Brook.