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T imber and his two new helpers were still outside working, when dusk started to fall. He looked over at Dwight and Toby, the two men Badger had left behind, and said, “Sorry, but Badger didn’t exactly make it clear. Are you guys staying here, or are you heading back somewhere else?”

“We’re staying here for the duration,” Dwight stated calmly.

“Okay, thanks for the help.” Timber thought about it for a minute and then added, “Good thing I got some burgers thawing for dinner.”

Toby nodded. “Yeah, that sounds great. We’ll be here until we sort out what’s happening with Max Killerman. That guy needs to be found.”

Hearing something in his tone, Timber faced him and asked, “Do you know Max Killerman?”

“I do,” interjected Dwight, the older of the two, in a hard tone. “And there’s nothing good about him.”

“That bad?”

“Yes,… that bad, the worst.”

Timber didn’t need to hear any more because that basically told him everything he needed to know.

Anybody who’d been on missions with somebody like Max knew what that would mean.

As the trio trouped inside, Timber announced, “I’ll get started with dinner in a minute, but I’ve got to go deal with the animals first.”

“No,” Dwight stopped him. “We’ll all go deal with the animals.”

Wondering whether that was a deliberate act to keep them together or something completely different, Timber followed Dwight’s lead, and they headed over and quickly fed Sparky.

He checked out the donkey, who was doing just fine now, the cuts mostly superficial, which also made Timber wonder if it was more for show than anything.

Even at that, it wasn’t a good combination.

Toby stopped at the sight of the donkey, his jaw working as he examined the cuts. He grabbed a brush and started to curry the donkey’s back, staying well away from the injuries.

Timber watched him for a moment and shared, “He’ll be just fine in no time.”

Toby nodded. “Damn good thing.” Toby didn’t say anything else.

Yet it had been enough. Timber was of the same opinion as the rest of them—that it was a really crappy deal.

As he headed inside, he quickly got the burgers started, wondering just how much he would need to feed everybody and whether he had enough groceries on hand for the duration, however long that would be.

He hadn’t planned on feeding extra people, but then he hadn’t known a couple extra hands would be staying around.

He needed to talk to Badger about that too.

Was somebody paying these guys their wages, or what was the deal?

Timber knew a certain number of men in Badger’s world would come just because help was needed, no payment expected, except for room and board.

Timber definitely appreciated that, but he also needed to get up to speed on the details, and he hadn’t had a chance to ask Badger while he was here.

After dinner that night, the other two men took their bedrolls and went upstairs, grabbing rooms. The upstairs had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. While the men were upstairs, cleaning up and getting ready for the night, Timber called Badger.

“How did it go?” Badger asked.

“We certainly got a hell of a lot more done than I can do by myself in one day. We’ve still got a way to go, but obviously we’re getting somewhere now.”

“Good.”

“These men,” Timber asked, “am I paying their wages?”

“No,” Badger said. “Dwight and Toby both volunteered, and neither wants wages, but, if you can feed them, put a roof over their heads, that’s fine.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Timber agreed. “I’ll talk to them about it. I just wanted to check in to find out what the deal was before I did.”

“Sorry, I should have filled you in before I took off,” Badger noted. “Any trouble?”

“No, not yet, but you know it’s coming.”

“I do, and so do Dwight and Toby.”

“What’s the story on Dwight?”

Badger sighed. “I probably shouldn’t be talking out of turn, but Max took out Dwight’s pregnant wife on a whim.”

“On a whim?” Timber repeated in shock.

“Yeah, more or less because the woman chose Dwight over Max,” he explained “and Max decided that, if she didn’t pick him, nobody would get to live.

Dwight had been attacked too but survived.

Understandably he’s never been quite the same.

Toby is also military, went to war, survived some pretty rough duty.

He’s a good man to have in your corner.”

“Yeah, I got that message already,” Timber stated, with a chuckle. “They’re both workers, that’s for sure.”

“Of course. If there’s one thing about the men who are here, and you and I both know it, is that they all know how to work.

If you need another hand immediately, let me know.

Otherwise I’m getting together a large group, who can come move your projects forward, enough so that, when they leave, you’re capable of carrying on. ”

Timber snorted. “You know I’m not incapable of doing what needs to be done here.”

“Jesus, I know you are very capable,” Badger grumbled.

“But you need to get things dried in, you know, the roofs and barns. You need to get shit done and not just be sitting on the sidelines, knowing it needs to be done, plus distracted by this other bullshit going on. So… we’ll be there with a bigger crew.

I just don’t know how quickly or how many total. ” And, with that, he rang off.

Not a whole lot Timber could say to that, but it was a hell of a deal when your friends stepped up in this way, just to help out. As soon as he had the place tucked down for the night, he walked upstairs to the bedrooms and saw the men both still had lights on.

He stopped at Dwight’s door, knocked, opened it a tad, and asked, “Do you need anything before I turn in?”

“I’m good,” he said, looking over at him, “just some sleep.”

“Let’s hope we get that too.”

Dwight patted the rifle he had beside him.

Timber nodded and didn’t say anything. He didn’t even ask about it because really that would just insult the other man. Timber also trusted Badger. If he’d sent these men, it was because they expected trouble, and Timber knew it himself.

As he headed to his room, his phone rang. He looked down to see it was Tiffany. “Hey,” he answered, a smile in his tone. “You’re checking up on me now?”

“Yeah,” she snapped. “You’ve been on my mind all day.”

“Hopefully in a good way,” he teased.

She sighed. “I just can’t stop thinking about how messed up everything is over there.”

“Oh, it’s definitely messed up, but we’re hoping that we’ll get past that point soon.”

“Yeah, you might be, but, if Max Killerman is around, that doesn’t mean shit. Everything I hear about him is,… well, he’s just plain bad news.”

“Yeah, and that’s the trouble. When these guys get those reputations, then they have to stick to it in order to keep others in their little corners,” he murmured.

“And you don’t think he deserves his reputation?”

“Oh no, not that. He probably does,” Timber admitted, “but people like that, they just shoot first and ask questions later. In his case, I don’t think he’s too bothered about asking questions. I think he just likes the shooting part, probably way too much.”

“I guess the military does breed that to some degree, don’t they?” she asked.

“We can’t blame the military for all of them because, in many cases, it’s not the military as much as the work that attracts men such as Max.”

“I hadn’t considered that, but I guess you’re right. For anybody who’s drawn to violence, that would be a good place for them, or at least they think so.”

“Exactly,” he agreed, “and that’s what ends up happening. It seems to be a good place for them, so they show up. Next thing you know, there’s all kinds of chaos.”

She sighed. “I just hate to even think of you being alone out there.”

“I’m not alone anymore,” he shared, and then he laughed. “What? Kat didn’t update you?”

“No,” Tiffany declared crossly, “and I’ve been hassling her so much already that I didn’t want to call her again.”

“You can rest easy. Nothing to worry about,” Timber replied. “I have two men here to help me.”

“Really?” she cried out in delight. “Oh my, that’s much better.”

He laughed. “I should be insulted over that.”

“No, don’t be insulted,” she stated, with a groan. “Somebody like Max would shoot you in the back. He won’t stop and talk to you or give you a chance. He’ll just kill you.”

“I know that,” Timber admitted. “I do understand the kind of person who I’m about to tangle with.”

“I just keep having horrible visions of the two of you ending up in a gunfight.”

“Yeah, then I better be the one who comes out the other end,” he stated, “because an awful lot of animals need me.”

“There is that,” she muttered. “There absolutely is, but it’s never really clear in my dreams who wins,” she noted. “So, I suspect it’s just my fear talking.”

“That’s absolutely what it is. On the other hand, it’s nice to know you care,” he said.

She sighed. “I don’t know why I do. I hardly even know you.”

He laughed. “We’re well on the way to getting to know each other,” he stated. “So, anytime you want to come out and check up on me, you’re welcome.”

“Seriously?” she asked. “I figured you wanted me to stay well away.”

“From a safety point of view that’s true, although I can’t really see Max shooting up anybody else, since I’m the one he’s after. And now that I’ll be buying another big chunk of land off Andy, that’ll really piss off Max.”

“Do you need that land though?”

“No, not now, but, if Andy sells it to somebody else, I won’t get it or won’t have any control over who my neighbors are. This will give me a good buffer.”

“Oh, that’s true,” she added grudgingly. “I hadn’t really considered that.”

“That’s the problem. When life gives you that opportunity, you take it,” he stated, “even if it bites into the budget a little sooner than I’d hoped.”

“Of course you were looking to get a lot of work done on the place first.”

“With these two men here to help out,” he noted, “I’ll get a lot accomplished, so don’t you worry about that.”