The Richest Woman in the World Read online

The Richest Woman in the World

  Timothy Paterson

  Copyright 2012

  The cover image for this bock has been provided royalty free by ©Denisenko at Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

  Chapter 1

  Samantha McDonald was a princess. No, she was not born of royal blood, and she did not live in a castle. She was the only daughter of Alex and Diana McDonald, who treated her like a princess, her entire life.

  Samantha had been spoiled since she was born. She and her parents lived in the most exclusive part of Beverly Hills, California. Her father was a tax attorney whose client list read like a who’s who list of Hollywood. Her mother did not work, unless one considers shopping, a profession. When she was not spending money, she was attending social gatherings with the other wealthy wives of Beverly Hills.

  Because Samantha’s mother was not the motherly type, she hired an entire staff to take care of her daughter. The staff consisted of a cook, a housekeeper and a nanny. Samantha was waited on, hand and foot. She never had to do household chores, and she even had a personal collection of tutors to help her with her schoolwork.

  Yes, Samantha had everything that she could possibly want, but she was about to lose everything, unless she could prove that she could handle the responsibility of being wealthy.

  Samantha was the last McDonald in her family line. Her father was an only child; as was his father; Henry McDonald. It was Jim McDonald; Henry’s father and Samantha’s great grandfather who had made the family fortune that supported the entire family.

  Jim purchased thousands of acres of land in Oklahoma in the early 1940’s when land was very cheap. He made a lot of money raising cattle. In the 1960’s, he discovered that there was an enormous supply of oil under the land. Jim became a multimillionaire overnight. Later, he moved his family to Northern California, and invested in vineyards. Everything that Jim touched seemed to turn into gold. He soon became the richest man in California.

  Now, at the age of ninety, Jim was very disappointed at how materialistic and how spoiled his family had become. He knew that there was no hope of changing his son or grandson, but he hoped that it was not too late to show his great granddaughter Samantha, that there were more important things than money.

  Jim set up a private meeting with Samantha, on her sixteenth birthday. Jim made her a business proposition. If she could survive as a normal teenager, and give up her lavish lifestyle for one year, he would give her fifty million dollars on her seventeenth birthday. Before Samantha could answer, Jim told her that there were certain conditions that she must obey.

  Samantha could not tell anyone that she came from a wealthy family. She could not receive any financial assistance from her family of friends. Jim told his great granddaughter that she would be living in another part of the country, as an exchange student. All correspondence with her parents or grandparents would go through Jim, so that only he and Samantha would know where she was living.

  Samantha did not take long to reach a decision. She felt certain that she could survive one year without her money and luxuries, if it meant that she would receive fifty million dollars at the end of the year. Samantha and Jim both signed the contract. Jim told Samantha that she would fly to the secret location as the school year ended in May. She would spend one year in her new environment, and return to California the following May. Only Jim would know where she was living.

  Samantha’s parents and grandparents were not too thrilled with the arrangement, but since Jim was in control of the family fortune, they did not want to argue with him.

  One week before school let out for the summer, Jim took Samantha on a shopping trip. She was thrilled with the idea of going shopping, until she discovered that they were going to thrift shops to purchase her new wardrobe. Samantha almost became ill at the prospect of wearing clothing, that others had already worn, and then discarded, but when she thought of the fifty million dollars at the end of the rainbow, the feelings subsided.

  Before Samantha boarded the private plane, she said goodbye to her family. Then, Jim checked her purse, her pockets and her luggage, to make sure that she had no money, cell phones or other techno devices. Besides her used clothing, the only things that Samantha was allowed to take with her were a diary and stationery.

  The private plane took Samantha to Phoenix, where she boarded a commercial plane. After switching planes again in Atlanta, Samantha headed for her final destination; Fairmont, West Virginia. Until the plane landed in Fairmont, Samantha had no idea where she would be living for the next year.

  After the plane landed, Samantha went into the terminal to collect her luggage, and then waited out on the street for her ride to her new home.

  Chapter 2

  Samantha was not expecting a limousine, but she was also not expecting the method of transportation that did pick her up. An old beat up pickup truck pulled up and a man stuck his head out of the window and asked; “Are you, Miss McDonald?”

  “Yes “replied Samantha, “I’m Sam McDonald.” Samantha decided that she would just go by the name Sam, while she is in her temporary home.

  “Well, throw your gear in the back of the truck, and hop in. My name is Jack Wilkerson.”

  As Sam climbed into the cab of the truck, she hesitated. The seat was not the cleanest that that she had seen, but she kept telling herself; “I can do this.”

  As they drove towards the Wilkerson home, Jack told Sam about his family. Jack worked in the coalmines, and his wife Helen took care of the home, and ran their small farm.

  “Do you have any children?” asked Sam. She almost choked when Jack told her that he and his wife had nine children; six boys and three girls. Sam as an only child had always had the house to herself, now she had to share a house with nine other children.

  As they drove further away from the big city, Sam saw fewer and fewer buildings. The houses that she did see, were somewhat rundown, and in need of repairs. An hour later, they arrived at the Wilkerson farm. As the truck pulled into the yard, Sam got her first good look at her new home. She was not at all impressed. She could not believe that eleven people lived in such a small house. It was about one-fourth the size of her Beverly Hills home.

  When Mr. Wilkerson honked the horn, the front door of the house opened and his children started spilling out of the house. When Sam saw all of them, she felt like crying, but she kept thinking of the money. As she was introduced to the rest of the Wilkerson family, Sam tried to memorize their names. Billy was the oldest. He was seventeen. Vicky was sixteen and Charlie was thirteen. Gary and Larry, the only twins in the bunch, were ten. Patty was eight, John was five and Brian, the youngest was three.

  Mrs. Wilkerson told Vicky to help Sam take her luggage up to their room. When Sam walked into the bedroom, she saw two sets of bunk beds. She was very upset that she had to share a room with three other girls. Sam had never had to share a bedroom before.

  Vicky told Sam that she would be sleeping in the empty top bunk. Then, she showed her two empty drawers where she could put her clothes. She also told Sam that she would get one fourth of the closet space.

  Before Vicky left the room, she told Sam that dinner would be ready in an hour. Sam unpacked her suitcase, and after she had put away her things, she decided to take a tour of the house, where she would be living for the next twelve months. On the second floor, there were four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The six boys shared two bedrooms and one bathroom, the girls shared the third bedroom and one bathroom, and the parents shared the last bedroom and bathroom.

  On the firs
t floor, there was a large kitchen, a dining room, a half bath, laundry room and one large room that was used as an office and as a sewing room.

  The farm also had a barn with six horses and three cows. There was also a large chicken coop with four dozen chickens. The Wilkerson family raised their own vegetables, and there were several fruit trees as well

  When Mrs. Wilkerson called the family to dinner, they came running from all directions. All twelve of them fit around a large dining room table. Sam, who was not used to eating with her family, reached for the platter of chicken.

  “Sam” said Mrs. Wilkerson, “in this house, we give thanks to God before we begin eating.” Mr. Wilkerson said a prayer, and then everybody began passing the dishes of food around the table. Sam felt a little bit uncomfortable, because her family was not a church going family.

  Throughout the meal, Sam just picked at her food. She was used to eating richer food. At her first meal in her new home, the only foods were roast chicken and plain vegetables. In addition, Sam was a little disappointed because there was no dessert.

  After dinner was over, everyone began clearing the tables and cleaning up, everyone; that is, except for Sam, who just sat at the table watching everyone else. Sam could hear Billy and Vicky whispering and looking towards her. Sam knew that they were talking about her and complaining because she was not helping, but Sam did not care. She was not too thrilled to be there in the first place.

  After everything was cleaned up, Sam joined the family in the living room, where they began watching television. Sam was shocked that they did not have cable TV. They received a handful of channels, which the antenna on the top of the roof was able to connect with. In California, Sam was allowed to watch anything that she wanted to watch on TV. She had her own TV in her bedroom, which received over 200 channels, including premium channels.

  Sam soon learned that the Wilkerson family did not watch any television programs that were inappropriate for the younger children.

  At nine o’clock, Mrs. Wilkerson turned the television off and announced that it was bedtime for everyone.

  “Are you kidding?” asked Sam. It’s only nine o’clock.”

  “We get up very early around here,” said Mrs. Wilkerson. There is a lot of work to do on a farm.”

  “”Well, I’m not a farmer,” said Sam, “and I sleep in till noon on Sundays.”

  The room became very quiet, and Mrs. Wilkerson asked Billy and Vicky to take the other children upstairs and get them ready for bed.

  When Sam was alone with Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson, Mrs. Wilkerson began speaking in a calm but stern voice. “Sam, we agreed to take you into our home for a year under certain conditions. Your great grandfather told us that he wanted you to see what it was like living in the real world. I do not know what your life was like in California, and frankly, I do not care. But, while you live under our roof, we will treat you like one of our own children.”

  “We raise most of our own food, and we also sell some of our crops to pay for the necessities of life. We make a lot of our own clothing, and we buy many items on sale, or at thrift shops. Our children may not have many material things, but we see that they get a good education, and we know that they will be able to make it on their own when they leave home some day.”

  “Just how early do you get up on Sundays?” asked Sam rather sarcastically.

  “We get up at 4 o’clock in the morning,” said Mr. Wilkerson. “The cows have to be milked, the chickens need to be fed, the eggs need to be collected, and the horses have to be fed and brushed. When all that is finished, everyone gets showered and dressed, and then we have breakfast before we go to church.”

  “Excuse me,” said Sam, “but I do not go to church.”

  “Let me correct you,” said Mrs. Wilkerson. “You may not have attended church in California, but you will attend our church with us every Sunday, while you are living with us. Your great grandfather informed us that both of your parents were raised as Lutherans and that you were baptized into the Lutheran faith as well. Well, we are also Lutherans, and you will attend church with us.”

  “What if I don’t want to conform to your lifestyle?” asked Sam. You cannot force me to do anything that I do not want to do. You are not my parents.”

  “Your great grandfather sent us a one way airline ticket back to California,” said Mr. Wilkerson. He said that it is valid for one year, and that if you wanted to go home, or if you caused us too much grief, then we were to put you on a plane and send you home.”

  Mrs. Wilkerson looked at Sam’s hands and said, “You may want to remove those artificial fingernails. Your hands will get very dirty, and those nails will not last long.”

  Sam just sat there, not saying anything. She wanted to cry, but she refused to show the Wilkersons that they had won.

  Mrs. Wilkerson sat down on the couch next to Sam and put her arm around her. “It’s really not that bad here,” she said. “I won’t expect anything from you that I wouldn’t ask of my own daughters. I know that deep inside of you, is a young lady who cares about more, than just yourself. We are going to help you find that young lady.”

  Sam told Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson that she would try to fit in, and then she went upstairs to get ready for bed.

  Mrs. Wilkerson called Billy and Vicky downstairs and after she talked to them for a while, they agreed to be patient with Sam and to help her adjust to her new life.

  After Sam put on her pajamas, she climbed up to the top bunk and lay awake a long time, just thinking. She thought about all that happened that day. Just a few hours earlier, she was determined to rebel against all of new rules that were thrust upon her. Then, something happened that confused her. When Mrs. Wilkerson put her arm around her, she felt emotions stirring within her that she had not felt before. She sensed that Mrs. Wilkerson genuinely cared for her. She could not remember a time when her mother had made her feel that way.

  Sam’s parents and grandparents were never the emotional, touchy-feely type of people. When Sam was younger, and she needed comforting, her nanny took care of it, because she was paid to do it. Sam knew that her parents loved her, because of all the things that they bought her, and all of the money that they gave her, but with Mrs. Wilkerson, it somehow felt different.

  Chapter 3

  Four o’clock a.m. came much earlier than Sam realized. She felt Vicky shaking her awake. Sam had only slept a few hours, because of all the thoughts that raced through her mind as she lay in bed. She also was used to sleeping between silk and satin sheets on a feather bed. She found the cotton sheets on her new bed to be scratchy, and the ordinary mattress to be uncomfortable. She had tossed and turned all night long.

  Though only half awake, Sam got dressed and followed Vicky and her two sisters down stairs and out to the barn. Vicky began to show Sam how to milk a cow. After a few minutes, Sam decided to try it. When she first grabbed the cow’s udders, the cow turned around and stared at Sam, as if to ask if she knew what she was doing. It took Sam a little while to get the hang of it, but soon she became quite proficient at it.

  After the girls had finished milking the cows, they had five buckets full of milk, which they carried into the kitchen, to Mrs. Wilkerson. Then, Vicky and Sam went upstairs to take showers and get dressed for church.

  As Sam looked though her collection of thrift store clothing, she became upset. When Vicky asked her what was wrong, Sam confided that she did not have any clothes nice enough for church.

  “You can wear one of my dresses,” said Vicky. “I think we are about the same size, just pick out one that you want to wear.”

  Sam looked through all the dresses in Vicky’s part of the closet. She picked out a dress and asked; “Can I borrow this one? It’s so beautiful”

  “Yes you may” said Vicky, “and thank you for the compliment. I made that dress last year.”
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  Sam stood there with her mouth open. “You made this?” she asked Vicky. “I wish that I could learn how to sew, so I could make something this beautiful.”

  “I can teach you, if you want,” said Vicky. “But, right now, we have to take showers before all of the hot water is gone.”

  Sam was used to taking long showers, and she was startled when Vicky pounded on the door and told her to hurry up.

  After Sam was dressed, she went downstairs to the kitchen, where she found Mrs. Wilkerson starting to make breakfast. When she saw Sam, she said; “Since you are the first one here, how about helping with breakfast?”

  “I don’t know how to cook,” said Sam, feeling embarrassed.

  “It’s easy,” said Mrs. Wilkerson, “I’ll teach you.” Then she handed Sam an apron so that she would not get anything on her dress.

  Under Mrs. Wilkerson’s supervision, Sam began making the pancakes. When she was finished with them, she finished cooking the bacon and scrambled eggs, so that Mrs. Wilkerson could get ready for church. When Vicky came into the kitchen, she showed Sam how to make the coffee. Then, Sam helped Lisa and Patty set the table.

  Sam had just finished pouring the milk for everyone, when the rest of the family began to sit down at the table. Vicky and Sam placed the platters of food on the table. Before she sat down, Sam took off her apron and hung it up. She noticed Billy staring at her, and she became self-conscious and blushed.

  Sam remembered that they would give thanks, before they began passing the food around the table. As Sam ate her breakfast, she noticed that the pancakes were a little bit lumpy, and the eggs were a little runny, and the bacon was a bit too crisp, but if anybody else noticed, they did not say anything. To Sam, it was the best meal she had ever eaten, because she had helped cook it. She felt proud of what she had accomplished that morning.

  Chapter 4

  The Wilkerson family was too large to fit into one vehicle, so the family piled into a van and a station wagon. Both of them were at least seven years old, but they ran great.

  Sam felt uncomfortable as she walked into church with the Wilkerson family, but by the end of the church service, she was feeling more relaxed. After the service concluded, the younger children attended Sunday school, while the adults drank coffee and visited with one another. Sam joined Billy and Vicky in a high school study group, with other teens. They were discussing ideas to raise money to help an elderly couple fix up their house, which was falling apart.