Chapter 12: Madison's Meteor, Part 12

Half way through squeezing her hand again Frank fell asleep.

The next time he woke the room was dark and Jennita was curled up sleeping in the chair. He managed to reach the water and take a sip. That wore him out so he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

The nurse woke him in the morning taking his pulse and blood pressure. She helped him to the washroom and back.

"You're doing great," the nurse said. "You will be heading home in no time."

Frank poked at the huge bandage that covered his shoulder. He felt a dull ache.

"The bullet went right through, but it nicked an artery. The surgeon did some neat work to get it all sewn up. I doubt you will have any permanent problems with the shoulder." She cranked up the bed so he was mostly sitting.

Jennita came in carrying two steaming cups.

"I remember that you like coffee first in the morning. Alixxa sent you her best." Frank reached for the cup.

"Go ahead and enjoy it." the nurse said.

He peeled back the lid and sipped at the coffee. Warmth and strength flowed through him.

"Thanks," he said.

"Hey," Jennita said, "You talk."

"Never mind modern medicine, coffee is the real miracle drug." Not as powerful as you.

"Mmm." Jennita sipped at her cup. "It is robust, but I still like my tea."

"Good, because I like the tea too. Everything in its place." He contented himself with drinking in Jennita's presence. There'd be time for words later.

"Hey folks," Jim said as he carried in a couple of steaming cups. "Alice figured I'd be here in time to bring a refill." He handed one to Frank, Jennita waved the second cup off.

"I think I should take this coffee thing slowly," she said.

Jim chuckled, pulled over a chair and sat down.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm told that I'm doing just fine," Frank said. "I'm inclined to believe it."

"Good, good." Jim took a long sip of the coffee and sighed. "The guys are taking turns doing chores at your place, so don't you worry about the animals. Herb's got a crew cleaning up the shed and fixing the glass." He looked at Frank over his cup. "Everyone is curious about that rock you have sitting there."

"It's a meteor," Frank tried to sit up straighter and winced. Jennita adjusted the bed for him. "Actually a meteorite."

"You mean that chunk fell out of the sky?"

"Yup," Frank said and told him the story of how he found it. "I did some research on those rocks. One of the things I learned was that they are valuable."

"That rock?"

"A fellow found one in his field, weighed about fifteen pounds. They figured it was worth almost half a million."

Jim choked on his coffee. Jennita thumped his back until he could talk.

"How much does that thing weigh?"

"I don't really know. A lot," Frank said with a shrug. "It doesn't matter. I don't figure on selling it. It wouldn't be right."

Jim shook his head.

"I have some other news for you," he said. "Herb's boy and I were trying to pitch the numbers to the board of the bank. Jenkins was sympathetic, but his bosses were inclined to sell to this offshore group that DeLorne was pushing. Every time we said something he had some number that was bigger or smaller than ours. He sat there smug as anything and watched us drown. No, worse, he was pushing our heads under. I knew that we were all going to lose our shirts and that the bastard was going to end up owning all of us.

"The bank folks were about going to kick us out and sign with DeLorne's group when the Sheriff busted in and damned if he didn't arrest DeLorne right there for conspiracy to commit murder. John just casually laid the idea on them that if that was the kind of person these offshore people hired to represent them, what would they do the bank? They couldn't sign that offer fast enough.

"So now we own the plant. Bruce already has been feeling out the markets, and we can supply parts for windmills without having to completely retool the plant." Jim shrugged, "Who knew? Windmills. We have a crew over there getting the place in shape. We'll be up and running by the end of the month."

"So DeLorne's boy did us a favour."

"What?"

"If he hadn't gone after me, it might have worked out different. Just goes to show, everyone has a place. We may not like it, but that's the way it works."

"Are you sure that rock didn't land on your head?" Jim laughed. "You never talked like that before."

Frank lay back again.

"Oops, I've got to move," Jim said. "I'm meeting Herb and John to sign more papers. It's a good thing that punk didn't shoot your right shoulder 'cause you have your share to sign too."

He waved at Jennita and left.

Frank closed his eyes for a few moments and felt Jennita's hand in his just before he fell asleep again.

He woke up when he heard the Sheriff's voice in the room.

"...yes, but he's out on bail. His kid is still in the cells. He was making threats all over the place. When he told the judge he would hunt her down she decided that he could wait in jail for trial. Funny thing, I'd expect a guy like DeLorne to be crying harassment and false arrest. Instead he's almost humble. His wife's the one who owns that new wool shop in town. She just stood behind him and never said a word, but I'm thinking she has something to do with his new attitude."

"DeLorne isn't bad," Frank said. "He's just short sighted. I think his eyes got opened to the cost of the way he does business."