TO FIND PEACE 6

later that morning cleve rolled his dodge to a stop in the banks parking lot. he sat there for a few minutes until katey arrived. together they walked into the bank and up to mr. brownings desk. browning looked up and smiled he pointed to a couple of leather bound chairs and asked them to set down when everyone was sated he smiled and said" i hope your here to accept the banks proposition on the kj cattle." " cleve put a super sad face on"no, i think we will pass on your proposition. we went annd looked at the ranch and the cattle its in the worst shape imaginable/ the quality of the cattle is poor, the condition is horrible. before marketing those cattle they would need feeding for a couple of months. ime not intrested in spending that kind of time and money on someone elses cattle. besides that the DEA will need to give us enough time to accomplish what needs doing and ime sure they will want to sell the ranch as soon as possible." cleve glanced at katey who had her hands folded in her lap and was gently shakeing. "well just what will you do with that mess. the bank is holding a note for ninetey thousand aginst those cattle at 5 percent. we need it cleaned up. we need a return on that note. we have nothing to do with the DEA. is there anything you will do?"browning was almost in a panic. cleve thought possibly browning had tried this deal on other ranchers and gotten turned down flat he may have been the last hope of the bank. " well, if i can get the DEA to give me enough time i may take on the note your holding. but those cattle are so bad they will need feeding right there before shipping. you try to ship them in that condition half will die. ill go talk to DEA and then come back. but ill tell you right now ill need money for possibly three truck loads of hay."with that cleve stood up.browning almost jumped out of his chair. " can we add the cost of the hay to the existing note? he blurted. " ill think on it. but if i take on the note, the cattle are MINE. no ifs ands or buts. you better consider that. ill be back in a day or so." cleve reached out and took brownings hand and shook it. all through the conversation katey hadnt said a word. she turned and followed cleve out the door of the bank, down at her car she leaned on it visably shaken. " can you really pull this off?" she asked. "WE can ill take on the debt but you gotta help. its a partnership deal. but first we need to go see DEA and tie that ground up. get in ."cleve pointed to the dodge. a the local DEA office they found the man they needed to talk to a mr. watson wasnt there but would return the next day, " i dont think i can wait until tomorrow! " katey said as they drove away. " can you go back out to the kj and take a bunch of pictures and make sure they are of the worse stuff ok?" cleve asked as he parked next to kateys car." stop at my place on the way back. ime going to get a bill of groceries. ill cook super."cleve was smiling at katey " dont worry, this bird in the bank will do something, we just need that ranch." cleve backed out of the parking spot and let katey pull out. he sat there a moment , he realized he was perked up optomistic even. was it this young woman or the project.?what ever it was he had a different view of life today.