"You say you have a farm in upstate New York, but you don't know if you dare go back there. Why is that?" Lex asked Hope, while the others were off elsewhere. "There are people who want to know what I've been doing for the last four years and I'm afraid they're going to kidnap me and try to interrogate me. Merlinus is concerned for this as well. What I was doing is not supposed to be known to much of anyone here. They don't know all of that is out there, or what goes on out there. And, they don't need to know. I am concerned for our safety, mostly." Arman sat down at the table with them. He heard Hope's last statement. "Going back home, you mean?" "Yes." "We have a real estate company in our corporation. We could either buy it from you or try to sell it, but I wouldn't recommend putting it on the market. How many acres?" "Twenty," Hope answered. "It's got water too. If I did that, do you know of any farms here perhaps that might be for sale. I really want a farm, but I also want to stay alive to enjoy it." "As a matter of fact, I do know of a farm that is for sale," Lex said, "the one next to mine down south. It's north and west a bit of Toulouse. The old man died and his wife's been looking for a buyer. We're handling it for her. Sweet old girl but nearly blind and she's got arthritis. She wants to go and live with her daughter, but she needs the money. Doesn't want to be a burden. Twenty-five acres and it's a lot cheaper than in New York. You'll have money left over for your grains, seeds and any animals you want to buy. You'd probably want to modernize it a bit. It's got water too - a nice little stream runs through it. Alfonse diverted part of it. We share it for the crops." "You have a farm?" "I do. I'm only here when I'm on business or for pleasure, like this trip." Lex cast a glance at Arman. "You think Martyn would be up for that?" "I'm sure he would. One more thing out of the way. Nick might be interested in Hope's farm. He's been looking for one." "But what about those people?" Arman laughed abruptly. "Nick and company can take care of themselves very well - against anyone." Hope considered it all for a few minutes. "Okay then. See what you can do. If you want I can draw you a map of where it is and someone can go look at it. I don't know what sort of shape it's in. My brother was supposed to be taking care of it, but I've not heard from him in probably two months now. I'm concerned." Arman frowned. "That's not good. I'll call Ezza and have him and Raq go check it out." ***** Thanks so much for dropping by and your comments, dear friends! Hope your coming week is wonderful and brings good things to you :) Cheers! Ray