The 'Cousins'

Chapter 102(F) -Part Three

This chapter is dedicated to @Mizzbliz who has been with this story since Chapter One was published all those months ago and is still here with it. Bless You Yolanda!

Chapter 102 (Foxtrot) Part Three

Wayne Spills the Beans.

"And he already owns this land on the north side?"

Walt shifted uneasily in his seat and looked aside. "Not yet he don't, but he soon will. I found out about this from Trish only this week. She didn't know too much because Mitt hasn't run the paperwork of this deal through the office, however, she's picked up enough for us to piece the rest of the picture together."

Walt paused to take a deep breath.

"Mitt Fawley also does stock rearing deals. He supplies the stock and feed to farmers who supply the premises and husbandry. When the stock's sold at the end of the rearing cycle he deducts the costs of the stock, feed and ancillaries and they share the profits. ...Most of the farms on the north side of town have been sold to ranchers in the last year or two who've put them back to range. Ross Noble is the most active of these ranchers. One small farm on the north side has held out. Noble wants it for his sheep operation, but the owners won't sell. They say it's their heritage. Now this family is plumb down on its luck and theirs is the only farm existing now in what was the small community of Consort.

...The Drubackers didn't have money to stock or work the place and two years back they went in for one of Mitt's sheep deals. Fawley had his eye on their property for his hatchery, but knew the owners wouldn't sell. He sent them a contract heavily tipped in his favor along with a bunch of full-mouth ewes long past useful breeding age and many of 'em sick with signs of liver fluke. Mitt's stock rearing contracts are arranged so that all shortcomings are the fault of the farmer's husbandry and any losses comes off the farmer's share. He put together a particularly onerous contract for the Drubackers, knowing they couldn't refuse to sign." Walt paused to sip his drink.

"...Fawley sent up 200 tupped ewes from which he expected 300 lambs along with the 200 ewes to go to the slaughterhouse at the end of the contract. He supplied the feed, mineral licks and ancillaries at a premium price plus a small, weekly living allowance for the family during the contract period. To keep his part of the contract Drubacker had to send five hundred finished animals to slaughter and from the outset they were costed into the contract at the then current top prices for lamb and mutton as published in the agricultural press the day they signed the contract. This produced a projected gross return from which Fawley deducted his dues leaving what was left to share between them.

Wayne intervened. "That's a common enough practice where I come from."

Walt grunted. "Wait for it. There were no allowances for failure to deliver the stipulated number of animals in this deal. It looked good on paper but it did not take into account the actual price received from the abattoir for the finished animals based on their condition at slaughter, or the penalties imposed by the contract for any ewes or lambs that died on the farm.

...To Mitt that was the farmer's fault and he should pay for them out of his share. Quite a few got sick and died, but they remained costed into the deal at the full, finished contract price with no allowances made for any losses whatsoever. There was no way Mitt Fawley could lose or fail to profit on the deal; from day one he knew exactly how much was due to him. He would get his full return no matter what happened. All the risk was on Lou Drubacker.

When the sheep come to be sold, there were fewer animals than the contract required to be delivered. The bad situation was made worse for Drubacker because the stock was not in prime condition and did not make the prime contract prices. The shortfall was huge, and there was not enough in total to pay Mitt his full dues based on the contract prices. Mitt demanded payment in full, leaving nothing for the Drubackers except a debt to pay him the balance of what was left owing. To clear the debt they had to sign into another, similar deal with him the next year; this time raising broilers.

The same thing happened and the debt increased to a level Fawley claimed was the value of the farm.

He supplied a load of hatchery reject chicks, each one costed into the deal as a three-dollar finished bird. Many died during the sixty-day rearing period that Fawley extended to ten weeks to improve the finished weights. At the end of that deal there was even less return than under the previous sheep deal."

"What happened?" Wayne asked

"Mitt wanted full payment and called it in. The Drubackers can't pay so he'll take their farm as recompense and get the land he wants to build his hatchery and the homes for his workers. He also gets to put one over on Ross Noble who's keen to buy the farm. ...Trish heard Mitt bragging in the office about getting one over on Noble and that's how she got to know what was going on. She sat on his knee for a couple of minutes and he couldn't resist tooting his horn about how he planned to take the Drubacker farm right out from under Ross Noble's nose. 'It's a private deal, nothing to do with Fawley Grain and Feed,' he told her when she asked for the paperwork and accounts."

Wayne's jaw hung open in shocked dismay, he was unable to speak for a moment. "The man's a monster. He has to be stopped. Do you mean he's putting another family out onto the streets just to fuel his swollen ambition and jaundiced pride?"

"That's Mitt Fawley for you. He's been chasing after Trish Conalty for months. She's played up to him, but so far has held him off. He's promised her anything to get her into his bed, even my job. She's now the GM at Fawley's, as of noon today. She's really worried because he'll expect her to charm him with her favors in return."

Wayne was speechless and reached across to grasp Walt's forearm in a token gesture of support. "I'm sorry to hear that Walt. Thank you for being so candid, it couldn't have been easy for you to tell me all of this. I appreciate it. It's hard to believe things like that are still going on in the twenty-first century. The way you tell it is like turning the clock back a hundred years or more."

Walt shrugged and smiled. "Water under the bridge. It helps me to talk about it. I need to get myself to Larksville tomorrow and buy some wheels. If you can pull off that propane customer list for me it will let me sound 'em out to see if there's a business opportunity for me in there."

Wayne stood and strolled across the room, holding his forehead between his finger and thumb in deep thought. He turned swiftly towards Walt as an idea struck him. "I have to go to Larksville tomorrow Walt. Once I get our truck unloaded and Greg and his boys started on the oil plant I'll be able to get away a bit before noontime. Greg has a long meeting scheduled with Bill Elbury here and he won't need his truck. I'll borrow it and be happy to take you along. We can talk some more."

Wayne grinned broadly, "If it's no trouble Wayne, I'd be mighty obliged to you."

Wayne clapped his hands together. "That's settled then and maybe you can tell me about this other place Ma mentioned tonight. What did she call it?" Wayne stood clicking his fingers.

"Pisa," Walt offered, "It's almost on our way."

"Perhaps we can go see it if there's time."

It was the early hours of the morning when the men shook hands and said their good nights at the door to the room. Wayne was past sleep, his head alive with thoughts arising from Walt's discourse and causing a heavy lump of concern to form in his stomach. He sat at his computer, rubbing his fingers together.

"Now then Mr. Fawley, let's see what else you have been up to recently?"

He opened the Fawley file, becoming instantly engrossed in what it revealed, making short notes in his reporter pad as he clicked through the screens.