equal to a male at any time. Not only females’ physical strengths, but their minds don’t work the same as a man’s.
Men are generally just tolerant and ready to salvage whatever the female louses up. That is done silently by the male with great endurance that is allowed to show—somewhat.
Cliff considered what he’d heard of the parents and knew they had been indulgent. The crew even yet just shook their heads over Chancy how many times?
But it was obvious to Cliff that her parents had never lifted a finger or a voice to Chancy. They’d just observed her with interest...and rescued her if necessary.
In exasperation, the crew told Cliff that the rescue part was just about always. Practically from birth, she had defied the limits.
Interestingly, none of her curiosity was mean or flippant She just thought she could do anything a male could do. She kept on trying. She was an irritating woman.
Probably the main thing about the changes was that now Cliff was in charge. It was to him that questions came. It was his directions they sought. Before his arrival, they had discussed their problems when they were in Chancy’s presence. They hadn’t really inquired if she agreed, but she had known what was being done.
With Cliff in charge, things had changed. It was odd for Chancy not to know what all was happening.
Two
Around the main house, the trees had been selectively removed. The trees had been cut down and the wood used in the fireplaces when the temperature plummeted clear down to fifty degrees. Once it had gone down further and there had been ice!
There was air-conditioning. It was unTEXAN to use it. When the temperature got up to eighty degrees, it was turned on and left there as the outside temperature went on up over a hundred. They were all spoiled rotten. Especially the cats and dogs.
The high temperatures were seldom miserable because the heat was dry and, if you didn’t run around and do a whole lot of things, you didn’t even sweat. Men tend to run around after things and to see things and heaven only knows what all distracts them. Well, what all else.
At the main house, there was Tolly, who was the cook. He did the shopping and organizing and made up the menus. He’d been doing that as long as Chancy remembered.
The meals were always superb. He would listen if something else was wanted.
In that first week, Cliff said, “This pie is great. How about an apricot pie?”
And it was on the table the next day. There was exactly enough of the fruit. The crust was crisp. It was perfect. But then all of Tolly’s foods were done just right.
The people who cared for the crew ate at the house, together, as a family. All were at the round table on the enclosed side porch including Tolly, the cook, and Jim, who did the yard and kept the fruit trees and the flowers just right. And there was Tom, who did the barn and took care of the horses and of course the chickens.
The chickens were allowed their freedom, and they lay eggs just about anywhere. Egg hunting was a challenge and entertained Tom in just finding the nests.
When Cliff questioned the freedom of the chickens, they all replied in a babble that with the chickens ruling their own lives, the eggs were better.
That was probably so. Cliff had never eaten such well-presented foods.
And Cliff found Chancy was a serious distraction. He thought of her at odd times. She apparently didn’t see him as a potent male. That was very different. He wondered if she was flawed.
She never wore a dress. Why not? She’d cut her hair into such a short bunch that she could pass for a teenage boy. Naw. Her chest was female. Even trying her darnedest, she couldn’t ever get past that. But she looked like she was trying to be male.
How would she look in a soft gown that went along her body?
She distracted him from his work.
He began to have trouble sleeping at night.
He found reasons to take her along in his plane. That nubile woman was thrilled scary, like being in a roller coaster, when she was in the plane. And he didn’t even swoop or show off. They just went up so that she could see the overall picture of the place.
She was fascinated. She found things from a dif ferent angle, and she never oohed or aahed over his ability to fly. She accepted that he could and she just went along and was awed—by the sights. Not by him.
Once he told her in order to save himself from concentrating on her presence, “If you didn’t hang around at lunch, the guys could talk.”
And she replied patiently, “My being around keeps them aware of ladies. It’s good for them to watch their language. Then they aren’t tongue-tied when they see a woman they want to talk with.”
He nodded slowly a number of times as he considered. “How’d you know that?”
“My daddy told me.”
“Oh.”
But knowing why she was around didn’t help Cliff any in his intense awareness of her. If she wasn’t there, he could think better. More aligned. With her around, his thinking scattered away and just left his mind on—her.
Actually, it was very strange for Chancy to share the house with Cliff. And she was very conscious of his presence. She accepted the crew, the household and yard and barn people Without a tremor. Why should her radar be so aware of Cliff?
She was such an innocent.
Chancy found the occasion and seriously warmed Cliff about the cleanup crew. She told him, “Once a month, a team comes from the closest town, Uvalde, to turn the house upside down and clean everything. And I do mean everything. They never miss a thing.”
She went on, “One gets all the dogs and cats out of the house, and one learns quickly to be sure anything one cares about is tidy and put away...first. Otherwise, single socks or perfect, uh, underwear could be washed in—boiling lye? Whatever they use, it’s something horrific.”
Then Cliff found out that even everything in the kitchen was scrubbed by the cleanup crew. Tolly told Cliff, “I’ve tried to form limits with that cleanup crew, but that hasn’t entirely worked. It’s as if the crew was a swarm of grasshoppers. The entire place is blighted when pounced upon by the crew.” He moved his face as he frowned. “It’s really pretty scary.”
Chancy said thoughtfully, “That’s probably because the crew never talks. They’re sober-faced, efficient... and relentless! But they’re the best and most reliable around these parts.”
When the day came, the cleaning crew descended upon them, and it was exactly as Cliff had been warned. It was Cliffs first experience and, with the-day past and the crew gone, he was carrying around a drastically shrunken web belt. He appeared in shock.
Chancy told him gently, “You’ll quickly realize that you have to keep everything in the places you want them to be. Anything left on a chair or forgotten on the floor is in jeopardy.”
“Look at my belt.” Just his manner of speech proved that it had been precious.
So she did look. It was a belt. Getting emotional over a belt was a challenge. She put it around her own waist and commented, “It was stretched.”
Cliff frowned at her and snarled, “It’s shrunk.”
She grinned. “I’ll find you a new one and keep this one. It’s almost my size.” And she went on off as if she’d solved the whole problem.
Tolly’s food was so rich and involved that Cliff’s stomach complained. Tolly was startled when Cliff mentioned that he’d