Behind The Curve-The Farm | Book 3 | The Farm Craven Boyd (the reading list book .txt) 📖

“All of the water that comes in here,” Luis explained, “and is pumped through little lines that drip water into the buckets. It collects oxygen from the air and drains back into the pond. All that extra oxygen is good for the fish, and removing the sediment is good for keeping bad algae from growing. It makes the pond cleaner, and the fish happier.”

“I guess…” Harry’s words trailed off for a second. “Okay, I guess. As long as I can still catch catfish!”

“I do not think that’ll be any sort of problem. In fact, soon, we may be able to breed our own worms to finish cleaning up things here,” Luis told him.

Harry looked interested. “Breeding our own worms? Like growing our own cows and pigs and stuff?”

“I think that’s exactly what he means,” Angelica told him. “When do you want to get started on the project? I know Anna wanted to run to the farm store later on…?”

“Tomorrow, day after, something like that,” Luis told her.

“Do you need anything from the farm store?” Angelica asked. “For the greenhouses?”

“Actually, I think so. Do you think they would mind if I tried two bags of catfish food, some more buckets, and some plumbing supplies for this project?”

“Luis, you’re keeping us all fed in fresh greens, tomatoes and cucumbers. It looks like you’re going to be adding spinach and all kinds of things. This is on top of selling out every time you go to the farm market at the end of the driveway. You’ve already paid off your expenses, Goldie told me.”

“Well… I did start out with some equipment from home, but—”

“But you said yourself, buckets and pipe aren’t expensive!” Harry told him excitedly.

“Si, you are correct little man. It won’t be much, and all of it including the plastic is very cheap compared to what we’re seeing on the news.”

“You’ve got that right.” Angel said. “I’m not sure I want to make another trip to the grocery store unless I have a fully armed escort.”

Andrea was almost shaking with anticipation as Leah reluctantly cut the rest of the casts off. The smell of the cut material and the hot fiber wheel smelled like freedom to her. Leah, working with safety glasses on, just kept going. She’d literally cut hundreds, if not thousands, of casts off. She knew it would be time for Lyle’s son-in-law’s cast soon as well.

“Hold still,” Leah said.

“I’m trying,” Andrea said, her nose scrunching up, “but I have an itch and I can’t move.”

“Nose?” Leah asked, looking at her friend out of one eye.

“No, under the cast,” she said, almost gasping as the last of the cast was cut away.

She wanted to move and scratch, but waited as Leah looked over her arm, feeling where the break had been. X-rays had shown the set bones had healed. What it hadn’t shown was the pale skin under the cast, the flaking dead skin, like her arm had athlete’s foot.

“I’m headed straight to the sink, if you don’t let me, I’m going to make you eat dirt,” Andrea said after a minute.

“That still wouldn’t be fair on you.” Leah said chuckling. “I’m pregnant and you still need to work on regaining your strength. Come on, I’ll help you.”

Leah helped Andrea to the big sink, though she was steady on her feet. The cane was nearby, but Andrea was using it less and less as she regained the strength and balance in her left leg. Leah didn’t want her to fall and re-injure herself, and the patient didn’t complain, except for every other step.

“I’m not a baby, you know,” Andrea said. “I will get stronger.”

“Then you can beat my ass, or do the monkey stomping thing. Until then if you fall bad right now and use your arm to brace yourself… You’d end up in casts again. You know that. We still have to wrap your wrist though, that cast can’t come off yet.”

“I… you’re right.” Andrea wasn’t happy about it. “Do you have any Goop?”

“At a surgical scrub up?” Leah raised an eyebrow.

“Lava soap?”

A grunt was her answer. Andrea grunted back and gently hip checked her friend, and started running the water. If she needed to use her fingernails to scratch and wash her arm up, she would do that.

“I’ve got some in the bathroom, you turd,” Leah said. “And a razor.”

“Thank you. If Curt saw what color my arm hair was right now, he might freak.”

“He saw it when the cast came off your leg, did he freak then?”

“Um… it wasn’t this long,” Andrea said with a giggle, holding her arm up.

“Oh wow, yeah, I guess compared to the rest of your body, your arm looks like it was swapped out with a sasquatch.”

“Some friend you are,” she snapped back, watching Leah head to the bathroom. A moment later she was back with the supplies. The water steamed up around them as she scrubbed, rinsed, scrubbed, rinsed, and repeated until she was ready for the razor. Andrea made quick work of the dark hairs that had grown under the cast. She herself knew this would happen; but it was one thing to know it, another to experience it.

“I’m your best friend,” Leah told her after a few moments.

“Yes, you are,” Andrea said, turning the water off. “Now, is it time for your checkup?”

“Next week. Dante said he’d do it but…”

“No problem,” Andrea told her, giving her a wet hug.

“Thank you. I love my husband, but sometimes—”

“He’s such a guy,” Andrea finished the sentence for her.

Leah nodded in thanks, then they wrapped each other up in another hug.

Steven had a stopwatch in his hand. At the signal, Anna drew her custom made .45 and started banging steel plates with hot lead. Steven hit the stopwatch to end the time and showed it to her. Anna cursed herself, then exchanged magazines. Holstering her gun, she shook her arms out, then took off her hearing protection.

“I think you’ve topped