Martha arrived with two technicians, records obtained from the county, modern survey equipment, and a notebook filled with questions. She examined historical deeds, located monuments, and compared current measurements with the record. For three days they worked through the trees, pasture edges, drainage features, and road access. James accompanied them when requested and left them alone when he wasn't needed. He appreciated the quiet competence of people who knew exactly which uncertainties required further work.
On the final afternoon, Martha stood near the pond and pointed to a pin set where the true line met the eastern field. The boundary was consistent with Whitfield's historical description. The preliminary HOA diagram had pushed it approximately forty feet west at the disputed section, enough to claim a strip of pasture and part of the approach to the pond. Martha prepared a certified report and plat for James to use with the county and his attorney. She also identified a point in the older deed where the descriptive language could have confused a careless reader, then explained why the controlling monuments and later surveys resolved the apparent ambiguity.
"A crooked reading doesn't become correct because someone prints it on letterhead," she told James.
He smiled. "I might put that over my desk."
After reviewing the survey, Harlan recommended a durable fence inside the confirmed boundary, with a slight setback where appropriate to avoid any argument over construction encroachment. James hired Buddy Phelps, a Walterboro contractor who had been building agricultural fencing for more than forty years. Buddy drove a truck that sounded as if every component had its own complaint, but his crews worked carefully and his finished fences stayed standing through storms. He examined Martha's markers before ordering steel and refused to begin until he had the signed plat in hand.
The final installation ran about eight hundred linear feet along the most disputed stretch. Six-foot welded-steel sections, painted flat black, stood on concrete-set posts. The design left natural drainage open where necessary and included access points for maintenance within James's property. Buddy and his crew spent four days digging, setting, checking alignment, and cleaning the work area. James brought them iced tea each afternoon and paid the balance promptly after a walk-through.
Patricia appeared on the HOA trail during the second day of construction. She carried her leather-bound planner and stood far enough away that she could claim not to be interfering. James saw her from the pasture and kept walking. Buddy's foreman later reported that she had asked whether the fence had been approved by Palmetto Crest's architectural committee. He told her the contract was with the Whitfield owner and that questions about approval should be addressed to him. She had stared at the half-finished fence as if it were a personal insult.