Percy's Mission Read Online Free PDF

“Of course not, Mr. Jackson. I would never do that.”

“Just see that you don’t,” Percy said, rather gruffly. “I don’t need any help with… anything.”

Both women were chuckling when Percy headed out the door.

“Are you okay, Boss?” Susie asked when Percy came in a little after noon. “You look a little funny.”

Percy did look a bit dazed, Mattie decided.

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just… Well, they asked me to put together some more comprehensive recommendations for the Agency with some other people. They want it within two months. Shouldn’t take us that long.”

The two women saw a bit of red come to Percy’s cheeks.

“And… well… Sara’s office was closed because of the rolling blackout so she came to the meeting, too. She volunteered to be on the committee.”

“Won’t that be a conflict of interest since she’s Equalization Agent for this district?” asked Susie.

“Not since she is an official state member of the committee. There are a couple more state employees.” Percy sighed then. “A couple more local citizens. Jeb Canada and Abigail Landro.”
    “Ooh,” responded Mattie.

Susie looked at her mother. “What?”

“Jeb’s the one that tried to foreclose on the farm right after Mr. and Mrs. Jackson died. And Abigail… just sort of… doesn’t like Mr. Jackson.”

“That’s enough, Mattie. That’s all in the past. We’re all just citizens, trying to do what’s best for the majority without hurting anyone. Now, I need to change and check the fields. It’s shaping up to rain.”

“Don’t you want some lunch?” Mattie asked, not bothered in the least by Percy’s minor admonishment.

“Sara and I grabbed a burger after the meeting.”

When Mattie and Susie grinned at him, he harrumphed and left the kitchen.

Rain it did, but no snow. Springtime storms, but a notch or two more extreme than what used to be considered normal. Percy was glad he had gone ahead and prepped the fields. Even with the severity of the weather at the moment, the rain was good. There was some runoff into the collection canal that ran along three sides of the property, with each field being graded to drainage ditches that emptied into the canal. There wasn’t much water in the irrigation holding pond the canal fed. The fields had soaked up the rain like sponges. It had been a very dry winter.

The severity of the drought had been worse the last few years, interspersed with some of these downpours. Percy didn’t waste water. That was the reason for the canal around the property. To capture excess rainwater and hold it in a pond. The irrigation wells were only to supplement rain during the driest times.

Of course, the canal served another purpose, which Percy didn’t talk about much. With the pipe fence around three sides of the estate that had blackberry brambles growing along it, just inside the canal, and the thick stand of trees that also bordered the estate inside the brambles, getting onto Percy’s property was very difficult. A gated drive on each of the sides and back of the estate cut the triple barrier.

The front of the estate, along the highway, also had a fence, but it was an earth berm, faced with a concrete block and brick wall. Two sets of gates served the expansive circle driveway and parking area. The road ditch substituted for the canal around the other three sides of the estate. The front also had a stand of trees, though no blackberries. Instead, the berm was terraced and planted with strawberries, another cash crop for Percy.

Each of the front entries had heavy rolling gates that closed the driveway. They were on automatic openers, but Percy kept them open most of the time anyway. It would take a concerted effort to enter the property by destroying a gate. To get through the barriers would take heavy equipment, such as a bulldozer, and quite a bit of time. And all it looked like was good farm management. The trees were windbreaks and