Yeah, I agree with ya' there. Link responded to her first remark. My ancestors had to make sure their briefcases were also full when it came to them looking the other way. Though, I guess in one way they gotta look like the hero in the public's eye. All of their business is open for everyone to see. One scandal and it is done for some of em'. That's why we always a step ahead. 

He stopped speaking for a brief moment to caught his breathe. Since he grew up mostly within the outdoors he had a certain accent to him. Certain words he spoke almost sounded as if he was from the south. He looked over to the ranch house as they were getting closer to the door. He continued on.

..Well I gotta say'. You definitely sound well qualified for this project of ours.. To tell ya the truth, speaking with you now, I feel more confident we can succeed in our endeavor. When it comes to the little details, we could all get those hammered out shortly.

JohnWalton got to the door of the ranch house first. He opened the door long enough for Link and Harlow to catch up. Link grabbed the door from John and all three of them made their way inside. Link immediately looked for a spot to place his gear, his sword still in his hand. He placed his shield by the front door again. Before settling down and getting some coffee, Link looked around the ranch house. He thought to himself how much better it is living out here then within the inner cities. All so crowded and with rent to damn high. 

John led them into the house. He was silent, but listened carefully to what they were saying. A good interaction between those two would be crucial to the success of the operation.

The interior of the house was very simple and very cozy. They passed a small living room and headed straight for the kitchen. As Link, Harlow, and his sons settled around the kitchen, John grabbed some glasses in the small wooden cabinet and distributed it to them. Then, he took the thermos over the sink. It was full, his sons would never left him without coffee, knowing him as well as they knew him.

John poured himself a cup and passed the thermos to his son, Wade, signaling him to serve the others. The old Walton stood, leaning against the sink.

"I must say, I have a very good feeling about all this" he said, staring at them, especially at Link and Harlow. "So, we have good land for cultivation and we have the necessary capital. Link, what else do we need to start planting? And how soon will we have a harvest, roughly?"

To answer Harlow's questions, John needed Link to answer his. John had done some research, but he was no expert like Link.The old man finally took a sip of the bitter coffee while waiting for an answer.

Link had grabbed his cup of coffee from Wade after it was poured. He gave it a small taste before looking around the table to check if there was any sugar.

Hey Wade, sorry to bother ya' but you guys have any sugar? I'd appreciate it. Link said while setting his coffee on the table. Upon hearing JohnWalton he decided to answer before Wade got back from the cabinet.

Perfect you'd ask, John. Well, we have the land now so we can check that off. The first building block would be seeds. Now normally, some of the best buds have the seeds picked from them. Makes sense, don't want any new competition. Though I have a source who I think would do great. He's in Cali. Los Angeles to be exact. A small time guy, he doesn't much handle the sales end. Mostly just loves tinkering with different batches to see what sticks.

While Link was talking, Wade made his way back with a tin can of sugar. He places it on the table next to him. 

Ahh.. Thank you Wade. What a gent. Link stops speaking for a moment. He didn't mind if his coffee was black, but he couldn't stand the normal bitter taste. He picked up the tin can and open the lid. He carefully shook the can as to not allow a ton of sugar to just tumble down onto the table. He kept shaking the can until he was satisfied. He then closed the lid and placed it in the middle of the table for anyone else to take advantage. Afterwards he looked back over to John and continued the conversation.

Where was I? Oh yeah.. So I'll able to make a call. Maybe even see if he could meet me half way, and pick up the seeds. Once that is done I'll stop by a local store and grab a pot. We'll need to germinate the seeds first. Some people just plop them right into soil. My ancestors liked having them pre-soaked before hand..

This process could take up to 48 hours and needs warm conditions.. After this is done, we can began to plant them in the fields. 

He quickly took another sip of coffee, this time with a much sweeter taste. He gave a small smile as coffee was his second favorite drug. 

Then we wait for them to bud. I'd say about 8 weeks? Or at least once we see the hairs on the weed change color from it's usual white. That would signal its readiness for harvest. 

He took a bigger sip of his coffee this time. The caffeine was starting to kick in and his eyes were not as droopy.

John nodded while listening to Link. Wayne was right, he thought to himself. Link was the perfect man for the job. An expert. He took another sip of coffee before talking again.

"8 weeks sounds good to me. We must start as soon as possible."

Walton turned his attention Harlow, was just listening.

"Miss Harlow, ma'am, as you could see, this is a big property. We are gonna plant the weed in every inch of land we can, so get ready for a lot of load. I still have some details to settle, but I can tell you that we will be moving it to Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana...at the beginning."

John scratched the back of his neck, running his finger through the strands of gray hair.

"I am still negotiating. I will have more exact locations in...two weeks, at the most. Now, ma'am, I'm just curious, but how do you plan to move the product, if, of course, you decide to do it? It is a risky transport."

He stared at the young woman with his penetrating gaze. He was still evaluating her. After all, the part of the job she was likely to be responsible for was the riskiest part and he wanted to make sure she was capable.

Harlow narrowed her eyes, deep in thought for a moment.

"Hemp is still used for certain items despite the changes to the law.  I hear Levi Strauss has an exception to make their jeans with it.  Seems to me the trick isn't to smuggle our product it's to make the paperwork dance a fine jig for us.  I think I'll have to look over the laws, see what sort of loopholes we can exploit.  Bend some bureaucrats to seeing things my way and stamp off on the paperwork for us.  It'll take work, but it's not impossible.  We go that route and we can move product faster and with fewer questions."

She shrugged, "It might mean doing some legitimate business with a portion of the product so the books look good and we're giving Uncle Sam his cut ... but we get an accountant worth their salt on that job and it's nothing.  If we have to, we could set up shell companies and sell the hemp to ourselves if only to mask the movement of it.  Granted I'm not really familiar with the growing and manufacturing of products using this stuff so... again, I probably have a little homework to do.  However, I'd much rather have us set up to move mass quantities without police putting their noses into our business than hiring dozens of people to help ferry product and have a lot more chances for loss."

"Granted, I'm not scared of a little footwork.  I can hit the streets and hire people to move the product.  Follow up with them and if anyone pulls any funny business - well, I'm capable of handling that too.  My skill set isn't just bureaucratic manipulation."  She smiled, "I'm also capable of administration and disciplinary actions when necessary to keep the wheels of commerce spinning." 

John smiled.

"Well, seems like I could not ask for a better team."

Duke and Rodney nodded, smiling with their father in agreement.

"We all have a lot of work to do, friends. Is there anything I may have forgotten?" His eyes slowly moved from Harlow to Link. "Anything you feel that need to be discussed now?"