“And that is that,” Mironov said with a sigh of relief. “You are now owner of the Keldara farm and all it entails, including the caravanserai.”
“Thank you,” Mike said. “Mr. Tarasova, Captain Tyurin, I think we should go inform the Keldara that they have a new landowner.”
“You’ve bought the farm?” Otar asked, surprised. “I hadn’t known you were even interested.”
“It seemed like a good deal,” Mike said. “Could you perhaps drive ahead? I’d like to talk to the Keldara.”
As Otar left, Mike looked at Tyurin and shrugged.
“You’re ready?” he asked.
“And eager,” Tyurin said, grinning. “And thank you for the consulting fee. My wife appreciates it even more.”
“I’m sure I’m going to be doing plenty of consulting,” Mike said. He’d already arranged with Mr. Mironov to have five hundred euros a month drawn out and prepared for the police official. When in Rome…
They walked out to the parking lot and headed down the pass, Mike driving his Mercedes and Vadim his Rover.
By the time they got to the Keldara village, the people were streaming out of their houses and gathering in the open area at the center. Mike parked well to the rear and got out, leaving Genadi in the car.
“Keldara workers,” Otar said, standing on a stone dais that looked like a mounting stand. “I have important news. The valley has a new owner.” The overseer gestured grandly at Mike and raised his hand, getting a ragged and dispirited cheer. The day was clear and cold and nobody particularly wanted to be standing in the snow. But Mike sensed that they’d have been just as wary of cheering the overseer if he’d told them it was free beer and beef for the next year.
Mike stepped up on the dais next to him and looked around at the faces of the people. Most of them had put two and two together and knew he was the lost American that had picked up… whatshername in the snow. With the exception of the children they looked… wary.
“People of the Keldara,” Mike said in Russian, since he didn’t speak a word of Georgian yet. “I had merely intended to live in the caravanserai for a time. But with the caravanserai comes the valley. As you take your rights and duties seriously, I take mine seriously. And I will discharge one of them now.”
He turned to Otar and clapped him on the back.
“Otar Tarasova, you have run these farms well for many years,” Mike said, smiling. “You have done well by their owner and treated the Keldara with fair openhandedness.” The latter had been tough to translate into Russian, but Genadi had helped him, laughing the whole time. “The years have been heavy upon you and you are worn by toil. Which is why I think it’s time that you retire.”
“But, Mr. Jenkins…” Otar said, his face sliding from beaming smiles to ashen.
“Not with nothing,” Mike said, reaching into his jump bag. “In the United States, it is a custom that when you retire you are given a watch. This is the best watch I could find in Alerrso and I hope that when you look at it you always think of the good days in the valley of the Keldara.” He handed him the watch and then dipped into the jump bag again, pulling out an envelope. “And so that you can buy your own farm, here is a small token of my gratitude. Furthermore, you may keep the farm Range Rover in token of my esteem.”
He helped the shaken man down and into the arms of Captain Tyurin. who led him over to the old, battered Rover.
“People of the Keldara,” Mike said, loudly. “Three cheers for Otar Tarasova! Hip, hip, HOORAY! Hip, hip, HOORAY! Hip, hip, HOORAY!”
Mike kept the cheers up, dispirited as they were, until the former overseer, accompanied by Tyurin, drove out of the compound and towards town.
“Now that that jerk is gone, I have another overseer you might recognize,” Mike said, waving to the Mercedes.
There was a buzz of excited conversation as Genadi stepped out of the car and over to the stand.
“This is your new overseer,” Mike said, waving at Genadi. “I understand that there is some water under the bridge. It’s over as of now. Genadi, in matters related to the farm, speaks with my voice. I know nothing of farming. I was a warrior, a commando, for the American military. Then I was a maker of communications gadgets. When it comes to farming, I will trust in Genadi to make the decisions. If you seriously disagree, and can explain why, you may meet with both of us and lay out your reasoning. But it had better make sense to a five-year-old, or I’ll go with Genadi’s opinion.
“I spoke a moment ago of rights and responsibilities. I understand that you have your opinion of what those are. In general, we see eye to eye so far. But I will make a few statements. I am not a farmer, I am not a Keldara, I am not a Georgian. I am an American and I was an American fighting man. We have what we find to be our responsibilities. I can’t think like a Kildar, whatever that is. All I can do is think like an American fighting man. So I’ll lay down a few rules that are going to violate your customs as I know them.
“One: No women will be sent to town. I understand that sometimes there are too many women, that sons are needed to run the farms. Fine. We’ll figure something out. But sending women to town violates my honor. You touch that honor at your peril. I have worked very hard to save women on occasion. I will not see any of the women of the Keldara sold to town.
“Two: No person will go hungry. Not the old, not the young, not the men, not the women. You fear debt. I can understand that. I will tell you a story.
“I had a friend whose grandfather was the owner of a store in a small town like Alerrso. He died, as old men do, and my friend went to his funeral. After the funeral an old farmer, from a situation like your own, came up to him and told him that he was going to miss my friend’s grandfather. ‘Why once,’ the man said, ‘I was surely low on money. And I asked your grandfather for ten dollars as a loan. He told me he’d never ask for that ten dollars as long as I paid him a dollar a week. I’ve been paying him a dollar a week for the last few years and he never did ask for that ten dollars back.’ ”
Mike nodded as there were a few snorts. It appeared that not only was his Russian comprehensible but they had similar ideas of humor. Both were good signs. The faces of the people were beginning to thaw.
“The story was to show you that I understand your fear of being in debt,” Mike continued. “But I’m not a commissar or a Kildar, I’m an American fighting man. I can only think of you as my troops. And you do not let your troops go hungry if you can avoid it. This, too, touches my honor. You will violate it at your peril. If I find that people are going hungry and I have not been told, I will take the most severe action. One way or the other, we will work it out. If I say there is no debt, there is no debt. If Genadi makes a mistake and there is too little food, there is especially no debt. I think that you’ll find the changes we will make will ensure that no one will go hungry. But if we are wrong, I will assume the responsibility. And for that there is no debt.
“Third. Medical care. Right now there is none in this valley. I will see what can be done about that. But medical care, as of now, is my responsibility. For that, there is no debt. We will need to figure something out in the long term. But until we do, there is no debt. If anyone needs serious medical care, tell me and I will move heaven and earth to get it to them.
“A wise old general once said that you should never promise your troops anything you can’t guarantee. I think you’ll see some changes for the better but I promise nothing. You will have to see what I deliver and make your minds up about me on the basis of that. It’s cold and you’ve been standing out here too long. I’d like to meet with the senior members of the Six Families as soon as possible, preferably in one of the houses where it is warm. I thank you for listening to me and hope to get to know each of you as time goes by. Now let’s get inside!”