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"They're here! They're here! The bees are here!" Jesse yelled, racing to the kitchen door and out to the farmyard; the screen door banging loudly in his wake. His mother and father came out to greet the visitors followed by three yapping dogs.
A 1942 Chevy pickup turned into the farmyard. Once bright and shiny it was now an old, rusty red flatbed. As it crawled noisily along, a cloud of dust swirled around it. The gears of the truck ground painfully as it slowly came to rest. A big man in jeans and wrinkled plaid shirt hopped down. He took off his battered hat and slapped it against his thigh.
Bees and their honey were his business. He contracted with farmers all across Central Florida for places to keep his hives. He logged a lot of miles traveling from farm to farm placing them and later going back to check on them and collect the honey.
"Hi, folks. Sure hope you are the Sullivans. We got turned around a couple of times. I'm Jim Hailey," he said, shaking hands with Doris and Ted Sullivan.
Ted introduced his wife and their thirteen-year-old son, Jesse, a tall, dark-haired boy with a slim athletic build from working on the farm.
"If you have a load of beehives, you have the right place." Ted grinned eagerly. "I'll show you where you can place them. The grove is just out back." He pointed to a couple of acres of orange trees ready to burst into bloom.
"It's been a long trip. Mind if my daughter and I wash up first? It's been a while since we stopped. These hives have come from a blueberry farm in Lakeland,” said Hailey.
"Sure. No problem. Didn't realize you had anyone with you. Come on in and have a cold drink. Then you can tell me all about these bees of yours," Ted said.
"I'll get Katy." Jim returned to the truck. He walked to the passenger side and coaxed his reluctant daughter out of the truck. She was incredibly shy with strangers, and it took all her courage to meet new people. She might have stayed in the car, but she was desperate to use the bathroom.
Jesse marched up and jumped on the running board of the truck next to her. "Hi. My name is Jesse. Come on, I'll show you where to go."
Katy turned to look at him. It was something about his eyes that comforted her, and when he turned toward the house, she fell in step behind him, not unlike a little puppy with a new friend. She was twelve and small for her age; most took her for much younger. Her long hair was the color of summer bleached wheat and plaited in two neat braids. Her pale blue eyes seemed grayer when the light diminished. She wore bib overalls over a pink plaid shirt.
“Well, aren’t you the cutest thing?” Doris gushed, following the newcomers into the house. Unused to compliments, Katy blushed crimson and felt the heat in her cheeks.
“Don’t mind me, Sweetheart. I hoped at one time to give Jesse a little sister, but it wasn’t in the cards.” Doris confided. “If you stick around long enough I promise I’ll spoil you rotten.”
Jim and Katy freshened up. Then Jesse took Katy under his wing while the men unload the bees besides the barn along the perimeter of the orchid. The sun was hot and after several hours of hard work and a few bee stings later, Jim and Ted were ready for a break. The grownups sat in the shade on the porch cooling off with sweet iced tea so cold that the glasses sweat even more than the men. Doris brought out sandwiches and cookies for everyone. The adults chatted about the bee business while Jesse and Katy rested on the steps.
After lunch, Jim and Ted went back to work again setting out the remaining hives beside the orange grove. They finished as the shadows grew long.
Jesse and Katy were in the yard playing with the dogs. They were throwing a ball for the dogs to fetch and return. Katy laughed as the dogs tumbled and ran, pushing one another to get the ball. It seemed like the children had been friends forever.
"Daddy! Daddy, watch Barker. He's the black and white one. He's the fastest. Watch." Katy threw the ball again, laughing as Barker raced the other dogs. "Midge is old and slow, so we throw it closer for her. She’s the brown one. Toby likes it high in the air; he can jump really high."
Jim spoke softly. "I am amazed. She has never taken to anyone like she has to your Jesse. She's usually shy, especially with other kids. I’m on the road a lot, so I home school her. She doesn’t get to play with other kids her age. She is actually playing like a twelve-year-old should.”
They watched a few more minutes while everyone finished their drinks.
"I wish we didn't have to rush, but we have to be on our way. I'll come to see you again in a few weeks." He called to the children. "Come on, Katy, it's time to hit the road. Thanks, folks."
Katy ran to the truck.
"Say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, Katy," her father reminded her.
Her head dropped, and they barely heard a soft "Thank you for the nice lunch and letting me play with your dogs,"
They watched the truck laboriously make the turn around the yard and grind its way up the drive. Katy turned in her seat and waved to Jesse. He runs behind them as far as the entrance to the farm, where he waved until the truck disappeared down the road.
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It was three weeks before Jim came back to the Sullivan farm to check on the hives. Katy was with him, and in no time she and Jesse were off into the orchard to play while Jim worked with the colonies.
"You simply have to stay for supper. It will refresh you for the drive." Jim knew Doris was right, but the aroma of the stew simmering on the stove is what really persuaded him."
Katy was a different person with Jesse, and Jim saw it clearly, but what Ted and Doris noticed was the change in Jesse. He played with his other friends but always check the calendar on the kitchen wall for when Katy would return.
A few weeks later, the old truck came rumbling up the drive and into the farmyard again. The orange blossoms had finished blooming, and the bees had done their pollinating job.
“Ted," Jim began. "I’m thinking of leaving a few hives here to finish your orange trees. I need to take some over to Plant City. There is a farmer with some sweet clover. I’d like to set the bees on.”
The men walked down the path toward the grove. “I need to check the hives and the queens. I can make up some splits with the new queens and add some supers to keep your bees from swarming.”
“Fine with me,” Ted replied. “I’ve been reading a few books on beekeeping. I was hoping you could leave a couple of hives. I'd like to try my hand, you know, learn to work with them. Jesse seems quite keen to work with them as well.”
“Don’t great minds think alike?” Jim asked, and the two men laughed together.
