4 Glade 4622,
Samoset stood in the empty field considering all the information that Swift had provided and that he himself had collected. Samoset surmised that the rabbits would probably be back this year, there was no reason as to why they wouldn’t. There was water, food, and farmers kept a lot of predators away. If he could get the rabbits to move out of the ditch and back towards the meadow and forest, it would be best for them and the farmers. He knew that Caleb would ask why Sam didn’t just kill the whole lot of them and be done with it? Sam knew that was just not feasible for one person, with or without a bird to assist. Sam was also not so sure that would ever really solve the problem. Cull the population one year and get a year or two of peace just to be back at it again as the reasons the rabbits are coming here will always be here.
Sam and Swift finished the walkabout the Sutherland’s land. The rathor was happy to see that there was no sign of gopher or other subterranean rodents or pests. Indeed, this year was shaping out to be pretty standard if he could get the rabbit problem from last year under control early on. The pair headed towards Miss Winsor’s estate.
Miss Winsor’s family had been working the land around Amoren for generations, slowly acquiring more land here and there to own a large swath of farming land that they once worked themselves. But due to bad luck or as Miss Winsor would put it, poor timing, the Winsor’s never took off into grand wealth. Expensive land purchases here and there, poor rainfall or cheaply sold land, all causes stymied the finances of the Winsor’s. Miss Winsor was the last living child of her father when she inherited the ailing property empire. Her grandfather had tried to buy and sell land to make his fortune and had ended up with less land and no new money to show for it. Her father had spent his life working hard on the fields and bringing some of the land lost back into the family name but he never accomplished all he wanted. Miss Winsor had taken a different approach. She had but one remaining daughter, but her grandchildren were many from her late sons and daughters. Miss Winsor focused on cash crops, and knowing that she could not tend the land herself, leased out large portions of the land her family owned which was proving to be a wise investment for her. The land immediately around her humble estate was still directly hers though and she was proud of it. In her age she no longer took a personal role in the hard farm work anymore, leaving that instead to her favored grandchild, Anne.
Both of the Winsor’s were on the porch in the middle of a discussion when Sam arrived, Swift once again perched atop his antlers. He waved to them when they took notice as he approached, “Good afternoon ladies, what a beautiful day to bring in the new season!” He praised and took a deep breath.
“Why yes, it is a wonderful day and what good timing you have Sam! Come sit and have some tea, we were just discussing the year ahead!” Miss Winsor exclaimed. Anne beside her turned and motioned towards a vacant chair and started pouring another glass.
Knowing better than to argue with the elder woman, Sam nodded and commanded Swift to take flight. Sam stepped up, ducking down pretty far to fit into the 6-7 ft roof. Being 8ft tall was hard enough without the extra 2ft of antlers on top of it. He managed however, much to the amusement of Anne, Miss Winsor did seem a little oblivious to the stuggle. “Thank you for the tea.”
With a smile and a nod, Miss Winsor began, “Sam, I am not sure what you do, but you and your bird save me a lot of money on wasted seeds and crops. We are glad to have you on again this year. I wish the other lease owners of mine would take up your business.” She took a drink and then started again, “We are planting several varieties this year so we’ll have a staggered planting season. The fields are already plowed and ready once we get the seeds in.”
“Thank you, that is very kind. I am still working on getting more fields into the fold around here but we’ll see. Your plan sounds really good! I think you’ll have a good year. I already talked with the Sutherlands today and walked their lands. I am working on a plan to get the rabbit problem under control around the irrigation ditch.” Sam responded as both the Winsor’s sat back and thought on the problem.
“What do you think you’ll be doing to solve that problem this year?” Anne asked.
Miss Winsor cut in with a soft chuckle and waved away the question, “It doesn’t matter, Sam will have it covered I’m sure.”
Sam offered Anne a wink and an all too familiar smile between the two, “You are again too kind Miss Winsor. Do you mind if Anne and I take a walk around the fields?”
The elderly woman waved them off with a smile and got up to head inside. Sam extracted himself carefully from the porch and walked out to the fields with Anne.
“She sure does like you, Sam. Don’t get me wrong, your work is easy to spot. Fields around us get pillaged by all sorts of pests that you keep out of our fields. But she sees the numbers and that really brings back the twinkle in her eyes.” Anne stated with a nostalgic look and smile on her face.
“Hey, you do a lot of the hard work and I know she could do it without you, Anne. You keep the workers in line and motivated, you make the day-to-day decisions to keep this estate afloat.” Sam countered, knowing he couldn’t take all the praise.
Anne smiled up at him and nodded, “What is your plan this year for that rabbit situation that erupted last year?”
Sam sighed and looked out to that section of the field, “I’ve taken a look and I don’t see any reason as to why the rabbits won’t return. Many of their burrows are still intact and they just need a good food source to draw them in. I think if I can get after them fast and keep on them, I can encourage them to move on and stay out. I believe there is a fox up in the meadow and that could either force the rabbits to stay or it might keep them away. I might mess around with encouraging the fox to hunt closer to the irrigation ditch to help keep the rabbit population under control and provide another reason to not live there.”
They arrived at the ditch and Sam pointed out some of the features and Anne agreed with the assessment, “I hope it works out. Sounds like a lot of work and a lot of hoping.”
Sam nodded and looked along the ditch. “It might help if you guys do an extra burn along the irrigation ditch. That should help cut down on the amount of coverage they have to hide from my eagle.” Sam offered.
Anne nodded, deep in thought. “Yes, that could certainly be arranged and it would clean up a lot of the junk that builds up over the year.” She shook her head and chuckled, looking at the rathor with a smile. “I am glad that you have some ideas on how to tackle that. It really helps take a lot of brain-power off my full plate. We’ll talk to the Sutherlands to coordinate those extra burns.
Sam smiled down and laughed, “You do more in a day than most, Anne. I think you’ll go far with so much of your life ahead of you.”
They continued their walk about, not finding any other issues on the property. Sam and Anne often got along very well. She was young, just getting into her 20’s and already had so much responsibility. She found Samoset as an outlet, a friend that she didn’t have to boss around. Sam found that she was a charming young lady. Someone who he could share thoughts and opinions and find that she either agreed or wanted to grapple with it and explore. She marveled at his tales of travel and he was intrigued by family drama he never knew growing up. They finished their walk about with smiles and laughs, it was always the client Sam enjoyed ending his day on.
By late afternoon, Sam had finished his walks around the fields. He had ideas and leads to investigate in the coming days and weeks after he and Swift established contact with the few other fields they patrolled. He whistled on the whistle and Swift dove down and perked atop the elk's outstretched, gloved hand for her.
