Chapter Seventeen
- Caution - Heavy Cross Traffic Ahead . . .
When we had been making our plans for the afternoon, the one thing we hadn't taken into account was the possibility of a change in the weather. As we walked out toward the jeep, I glanced at the sky to the west of us, then came to a sudden halt.
"What's the matter?" Carissa asked.
I didn't speak aloud, instead I simply raised a hand and pointed at the roiling black line of clouds coming our way from the direction of the mountains.
"Is that a storm?"
"Unh huh, that's a hum dinger." I nodded. "I think there's wind and rain in those clouds, maybe even some hail so we'd better forget that drive. In fact, I think we should batten down the hatches for some weather. For one thing we'd better try to get the chickens inside the henhouse if we can, we don't want the wind and rain to get the chicks."
"Oh great and the jeep has no roof." Carissa moaned. "Uncle Frank will kick my butt if I let the upholstery get all wet."
"Well, you could always park it under the shed roof by the barn, the one with the tractor parked at the other end, that would keep off a lot of the rain." I pointed it out to her. "If you look around the corner inside the barn, you might even find a tarp you can cover it with, but be sure you tie it down and close the barn door. If the wind does come up really strong, it'll tear the tarp right off the jeep if it's not tied down well and if the barn door is open, it could blow the roof off."
So she went to move the jeep and I headed for the chicken run.
Thank goodness Grampa Bender only had a couple of dozen chickens because Carissa had time to park the jeep and tie a tarp over it, then come down and help me get the last few hens inside. By that time the wind was rising and we had to hurry to the cabin to beat the rain.
Once we were in the shelter of the front porch, we paused to watch the oncoming storm. One of the things I was watching in particular was the wind turbine; I wanted to see if the self-feathering blades were still working automatically. Luckily everything seemed to be okay, but I still worried slightly about that. It was one of the things I'd have checked if Carissa hadn't talked me out of climbing the tower.
Of course I was also worried about the other animals. Luckily there was just enough height from the front porch to see the big corral where I had my horses. I could see that they'd both moved into the shelter of the open fronted shed that was built in one corner of the corral. Further down the valley I was able to make out the cattle through the driving rain; they were making a beeline for the shelter of the Quaking Aspen trees that lined either side of the upper pasture. Since the old sow was a coward about high wind, I knew she'd be inside. Because we'd gotten the chickens in their coop and the dog was under our feet on the porch, all the animals seemed to be okay so I could breathe a sigh of relief.
As the wind gusts rose and the rain started coming down harder, we were soon getting splattered with raindrops which meant it wasn't long before we retreated into the cabin. Then because the temperature was dropping so fast from the storm, I lit a small fire in the wood burning heater in the kitchen of the cabin.
"Are there often storms like this up here?" Carissa asked, as she watched the storm through a kitchen window.
"Not really, no more than down home." I chuckled as I walked up behind her and slid my arms around her waist. "It just seems worse here because we're a bit isolated, but we're really less than thirty miles from town. The weather is about the same here as it is there. Of course since this place is right at the entrance to the pass, the winds are a bit stronger than they are down below on the flatland."
"It feels colder." She snuggled back against me.
"Well, we are a couple of thousand feet higher than your house in town and quite a bit closer to the mountains." I gesture out the window in the direction of the pasture. "I think Grampa Bender told me that the surveyors had said that the flats out there were about a mile above sea level. That's why he uses 'MHR' as his brand; it stands for 'Mile High Ranch'. The place has been registered as that for years."
"Oh, I thought it was an 'M' and an 'R' with a bar between them." She snickered. "That's what I get for not asking about things."
"Actually, the letters are just close together and run into each other." I nibbled on her ear
"Umm." She lifted one of my hands to a breast and wriggled her bottom against my growing hard-on. "I can see you like to be close together too. Are you having ideas about keeping us warm?"
"Maybe."
"Well, I'm a bit tender, but . . ." She turned in my arms.
Suddenly the storm was nowhere near as interesting as it had been. That afternoon we discovered the joys of making love while listening to a storm roar outside. Somehow it added a sense of danger that in some way increased the enjoyment we shared.
Later that evening, after that the worst of the storm had passed, we sat out on the front porch and watched the drizzling rain. We'd had time to check for problems and no major damage seemed to have been done, so we were celebrating with a cup of coffee as we snuggled together on the old porch swing. Suddenly Carissa drew a deep breath, then sighed softly.
"Just smell that." She spoke softly. "It smells so fresh and clean up here."
"Um hmm, wait until the sun comes out again." I nodded. "That's when the odours really show up and they always seem stronger after it's rained."
"Mmm, I'd like that, but then I already like this place, a lot." She sighed and grabbed one of my hands in hers.
"So do I. That's why I wanted to be sure everything was okay while Grampa Bender was in the hospital. I'd hate to have anything happen to this place."
"I can understand that." She drew a deep breath and sat up, then turned to face me, her forehead furrowed by a frown. "Have you any idea what will happen if he's incapacitated enough that it would be unsafe for him to come back here?"
"Well, I'm hoping that won't happen for a few years." I sighed as I shrugged my shoulders. "Someone would have to be here to look after the place and for now, I've sort of stepped up to the plate. I'm hoping that this isn't permanent because I've got a lot of things I want to do first. I'd love to live here in the long run though. "
"Besides moving to the city and studying electronics, what else do you want to do?"
"Well, for one thing, I'd like to try racing that old stock car your uncle Frank gave me, but if I'm living up here, I won't even have time to work on it to get it ready." I sighed.
"I thought Uncle Frank said it was ready to go?" She questioned. "Can't you just jump into it and race it?"
"I wouldn't feel safe, not until Tom and I have a chance to go over it from top to bottom. There are some things that I just don't trust others to do; I like to check them myself."
She chuckled and snuggled close. "I kind of like having you check things out myself."
"I think that's a slightly different kettle of fish." I laughed. "That's more along the lines of exploration of totally new territory, at least for me."
"For me too, buster, and don't you ever forget it." She poked me in the ribs none too gently.
I'd just started to tickle her in retaliation when I heard Grampa Bender's call sign on the CB.
"Oh damn, that'll be Wil checking in to see if we're okay after the storm. I'd better answer him or he'll worry." I hurriedly disentangled myself from her arms and leaped to my feet.
Inside I grabbed the mic. and answered the call."Mile High here. How goes it, Bro? Over."
"Well, we had some hail, but we're okay. How are you doing? Over."
"Everything is okay. Over."
"Everything? No surprises? Over." Wil was chuckling.
"One, but it was a pleasant one." I grinned and wrapped an arm around Carissa, who'd come inside to stand beside me. "Nothing I can talk about on the radio, though. Over."
"I understand. Do you need any help or any supplies up there? Tom's car is insured and he has his learners permit. He was talking to me earlier about coming up to see you. Over."
"Nope, everything is fine, but if you want to visit that'd be fine too. The roads will be a bit slippery from the storm though, it might be a good idea to wait for them to dry a bit. Over."
"Maybe tomorrow afternoon? Over."
"Sounds good. Over."
"Right, see you then." I could hear Corinna say something in the background, but Wil just chuckled and then I could hear Corinna squeal.
"Over and out." He said and his radio shut down.
"It sounds like you aren't the only explorer in your family." Carissa laughed.
"Well, with weather like this, some indoor exploration seems like a great idea." I laughed, reaching for her.
"Unh uh." She danced away. "I want to explore too and we have clean bed sheets. Shall we go mess them up? That way I'll have a decent sized wash tomorrow because I want to try it out that old gas powered washing machine of your Grampa's."
"Only if it's sunny." I laughed. "Otherwise there's no way to dry things."
"Lets gamble." She laughed as she moved toward the bedroom, delighting me with an impromptu strip tease on the way.
The next day neither of us was moving as quickly as we could have been since we were both a bit tender. We'd found out the hard way that there are consequences to overdoing certain physical activities that we weren't used to performing. Of course we did feel slightly better when Corinna and Wil showed up in the early afternoon; they were moving even more slowly and carefully than we were which gave Carissa and me a small private chuckle.
Tom had decided not to come up after all, but he'd lent his car to Wil who had used the excuse of bringing us some milk as a reason for visiting. Since Grampa Bender didn't have any milk cows and only an ice box to keep things from spoiling, we actually did need it. The milk I had brought up with me would only last that day anyway, mostly because I hadn't counted on having two people to use it.
While Wil and I carried the extra supply of milk to the ice house to store it safely, the twins went inside in order to make everyone some coffee. We could hear them giggling and Wil looked slightly embarrassed as he glanced at me.
"I'll bet they're comparing notes." He sighed.
"Well, I expect they are." I had to grin. "First off, they're women, secondly, they're twins. Are you worried that Corinna might let out a secret or something?"
"No, I guess not." He sighed again. "It's just that, well, some things should be private."
"Maybe, who knows." I had to chuckle. "I'll be honest, I'm not worried since I'm a complete neophyte at the sort of thing that we've been doing. Carissa and I are learning about each other as we spend time together."
"Well, I'm not exactly and old hand at this either." He snorted. "Corinna is really only the second woman I've ever done anything with. On top of that I never expected this and it took me by surprise when she showed up. I can't believe Mom went along with the idea."
"I agree." I nodded. "In fact I think I probably question it more than you do. Carissa has made it plain that she's not pressuring me to make it permanent."
"Wow." He paused and looked at me strangely. "How do you feel about that?"
I thought for a moment, then sighed. "Uneasy I guess."
"Oh, why?"
"Well, there are just too many changing factors in my life right now." I sighed even deeper than before. "Hell, I'm only sixteen and there are just too damn many things going on in my life. I'm having a hard time with all of the crap that's affecting me."
"I think that's why Carissa said what she did about you two." Wil clapped a hand on my shoulder. "She's smart enough to know that you're putting yourself under pressure and she's trying not to add to it."
All I could do was stare at him questioningly.
"Look, you've stepped in here like a full-grown man." He waved his hand as if taking in the whole of Grampa Bender's homestead. "I know you can handle anything that might happen and deep down I think you know you can handle it, but it's not surprising that you're a bit worried. You're young and you can't help looking around you at other guys your age, knowing damn well that they'd never do anything like this. Hell, I'm not sure I would, but you've always been the guy who grabbed responsibility. Seeing you leap into this wasn't a big surprise to me or to anyone who knows you. That's always been the way you do things."
"Yeah, but what if I fuck up?"
"You won't because if you find something you can't handle, you'll call for help. That's when you'll find that the whole family and all your friends will back you up and help you handle the problem."
There wasn't much I could say to that, all I could do was smile in gratitude.
Actually that visit with Corinna and Wil left me feeling a lot more at ease than I had been for weeks. It also convinced me that I had to talk to Carissa about her dreams and desires. Somehow I knew that if I understood what she really wanted to do in the long run, I'd have a better handle on what she wanted from me.
I was surprised to find out that she wasn't sure what she wanted. Well no. That's not quite truthful. She was sure she wanted to be involved with young children, either as a pediatric nurse or a kindergarten teacher and one day she wanted children of her own. She paid me a very high compliment then, admitting that she wanted to have a husband who was like me in many ways, but she also said she wasn't in a hurry to get married.
When I asked her why she had worked so hard to arrange for us to have the weekend together, she had laughed and admitted that for some reason I fascinated her. To her I was an enigma, a quiet and shy 'Mr. Nobody' who hung back most of the time letting others take the lead, but a guy who seemed to know when to step in and take charge when he was needed. She also thought I was a true, died in the wool, romantic and that I'd make a great husband for some woman one day, but she thought it might not be her. Finally she asserted that I was the one guy she felt completely comfortable to be around, so I was a natural to be her first lover. In a nutshell, that was why she was with me.
As a matter of fact, when she'd admitted that she didn't know if we'd be together for long, it was a relief to me. Up until then I think I was still harbouring thoughts about Corinna and Wil who seemed to think that they were meant to spend a lifetime with each other. Somehow, I didn't want to follow that model. I wasn't excited about being tied down to any one woman at my age. In fact I was positive that I needed more freedom than that, at least right then.
That evening we found out that we were really good at something else besides making love; we could talk intelligently with each other, even when we disagreed on a subject. As a matter of fact, we spent most of that Saturday evening talking and discussing whatever subject happened to come up.
That night as we lay in bed and I held her in my arms, I felt closer to her than I ever had with any other person.
Sunday morning was gorgeous with the sun shining in a clear blue sky. So, after we'd had breakfast and looked after the animals, we took the jeep for a run up to the heights of the slopes that ringed three sides of the valley. By choosing the western slope and knowing where a great viewpoint was, I could literally point out all the main features of the whole area.
What we were talking about was an 'L' shaped valley that started at a little lake near the base of a steep slope and ran east and south from there. The lake was in the northwest corner of Grampa Bender's original homestead and was surrounded on the north, east and west by fairly steep slopes that had all been fenced to stop cattle from climbing them. The valley stretched toward the east, but as it ran downhill, it gradually swung southward, As it made the turn to the south, the slopes steepened into nearly impassable cliffs that grew further and further apart. Finally, almost seven miles downhill from the lake, there was a steep drop off in the valley floor. In fact at that point the creek went over some falls and then into a stretch of rapids because it dropped over a fifty-foot cliff. That whole upper valley, enclosed by cliffs and slopes, was the upper five thousand acres of Grampa Bender's lease, otherwise known as Mile High Ranch.
As I pointed out the features to Carissa, I could see the comprehension growing in her mind that it was a wonderful ranch. Before long she was staring off into the distance with a dreamy look in her eyes that I recognised easily. I'd often had that same look in my eyes as I stood on that hill and gazed out over that range. What we were looking at was a 'natural' ranch, with feed, water, shelter and a large proportion of the area fenced with natural barriers. It was big enough to support a family, but small enough to be easily maintained.
"Now I understand why you're so enthusiastic about this place." She spoke quietly. "I'm not a farmer or a rancher, but even I can understand what I can see from here."
"Yeah, it's something else, isn't it."
"Why hasn't it ever been developed into a real working ranch?"
"Because Grampa Bender was never that energetic and he didn't have anyone to help him. He and his wife only had a daughter and she wasn't interested in ranching. Besides he's always been satisfied to just make enough to live on, with a little extra to put away for a rainy day." I sighed.
"It's a shame that he never developed it." She sighed softly in a match to my mood.
"Hey, it's his place." I managed a weak chuckle. "There's over a thousand acres down there that's never been grazed for as long as I can remember. We come up every August and cut the native grasses for hay, then bale it, truck it out and sell it to the rancher who rents the bottom section of the main lease. The money from the hay goes to pay the taxes, the lease, and most of Grampa Bender's yearly expenses. His only other income is from the few cattle he sells, but even at that he seems to make out okay."
"I see, and if you were ranching this, what would you do?"
"Well, a fellow would have to build up gradually, but I think in only a few years you could triple the income from the place and in twenty years, you could be sitting pretty." I shrugged. "The first few years would be tough slogging, but after that it would be easier."
"I see." She nodded at me, then smiled. "The problem is that it's not yours."
"You're right." I chuckled. "In fact there are about twenty relatives who are senior to me as far as any chance of inheriting the place is concerned, so I'm just dreaming. Besides, I like Grampa Bender too much to want anyone to inherit the place."
"I can understand that." She smiled and grabbed my hand. "In fact, I think we should go to town and visit him, after all you haven't seen him for a couple of days."
That idea earned her a kiss.
Inside of an hour we were in Grampa Bender's room at the hospital and I was introducing the two of them to each other again. He didn't remember her, even though she'd been along when we'd found him in trouble and rushed him to the hospital, but then he was having trouble remembering anything that happened only a few days before.
Of course he was happy to see us and to hear about how everything was going on the homestead, so we talked to him for almost an hour.
After the hospital visit I decided to splurge and take Carissa out to lunch at a local restaurant. We got a surprise as we walked in though, Carissa's uncle, Frank Dolens, and her Aunt Jenny were already there and invited us to join them.
Naturally Frank Dolens was up to date on the latest rumours, so he knew all about Carissa staying with me up at Grampa Bender's and about Corinna staying with Wil. I don't think his wife approved, but I was quite sure he did, at least he managed to wink and grin at me several times during the meal.
"So how are the arm and leg doing." He asked.
"Oh, okay I guess. Carissa wanted to have the wind in her hair on the way into town, so she wanted to take your jeep. She had to drive it though; I don't trust my leg on the clutch of a standard transmission yet." I shrugged my shoulders.
"I guess that means you won't be driving the stock car for a while then."
"Probably not." I agreed. "In fact I'm a little tied up at Grampa Bender's place for now. In fact, I haven't had time to do any work on the stock car at all."
"That's too bad, I was hoping you'd have time to get into a few races this year."
"Well, since the car was a freebie, why don't you bring it back into town and have your sons fix it up and race it?" I offered.
"There is no way my sons are driving a race car." Mrs. Dolens said sharply.
"Actually I wanted you to drive it and the three of you boys to work on it. I was really impressed with the way you guys fixed up those model 'A's." Mr Dolens smiled.
"I guess we'd better all hope Grampa Bender gets better fairly quickly then." I smiled. "Otherwise my time for that sort of thing will be fairly limited for the foreseeable future."
"I don't suppose you'd let the other boys work on it, then you could drive it in the races on the weekends?" He suggested.
"Well, to be honest, I haven't even mentioned it to the guys yet. I didn't feel it would be fair for them to work on it without my being able to pull my weight."
"Somehow I doubt if they'd mind." He grinned.
"Maybe, but I wouldn't feel right about it." I shrugged.
"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to feel any differently." He chuckled and shook his head.
I just smiled and the topic drifted off onto other subjects. However Carissa raised the subject again once we were finished lunch and driving back toward the ranch.
"I really think you should show Tom and George that stock car." She put it bluntly. "In a way, I don't think it's fair for you to hide something like that away and spring it on them."
"Well, I'm not even sure I want to race the darn thing." I sighed. "Besides, I've got my hands full now, what with Grampa Bender's ranch and you."
"So now I'm a chore?" She teased.
"Oh no, but you do take a lot of my time." I laughed.
"Lets take an hour right now and show the boys your stock car, then you can tell them about your concerns about time and let them judge what to do. We can spend that long can't we?"
I argued and protested, but she talked me into the idea in the long run. Instead of driving straight back to the homestead, we headed out to the family farm. We decided that we were going to stop and pick up Tom as we drove past his home and pulled into the yard, hardly getting stopped before Uncle Tom was coming out of the house.
"Hello Chris, Hi Carissa, How are you two?" He called.
"Just great, Uncle Tom. Is Tom Junior around? I have something to show him?"
"Hah, on a Sunday, you've got to be kidding." He grinned at me. "He's over at your Dad's place."
"Oh, has Wil got a problem they're working on?"
"Not that I've heard of." His grin widened. "Why don't you head home and see what he's up to for yourself?"
Somehow I knew that I wasn't going to get any further information from him, so after going inside for long enough to say 'Hi' to Aunt Alice, we left them to have some time alone. Only a few minutes later we were driving into the yard at home. There wasn't anyone around the house or the barn and I didn't see Tom's car either, then it dawned on me; Tom and George must have heard about the stock car somehow and they'd gotten it into their heads to try to get it all tuned up as a surprise for me. I had Carissa drive down toward the old shed at the back of the farmyard where we'd stashed the darn stock car.
Everyone was there. Well, at least Tom and George were there, along with Corinna and Wil, and all of them were showing signs of grease and grime.
"What in Hell is going on?" I demanded with a grin on my face as I got out of the jeep.
"Well, it's about time you showed up." George hollered back, grinning just as widely as I was.
"Yeah, at least you showed up in time to save us the trip to come get you." Tom winked at me, his hands still busy as he continued to work on bolting something to the engine.
"Typical driver." George added. "All the mechanics slave away for weeks and he shows up just in time to get behind the wheel for a test drive."
"You mean it's ready to drive?" I stared at him.
"Pretty well." Tom laughed at me. "At least as much as we can tell. We won't know for sure until you get behind the wheel and tell us if there are any problems."
"Is it safe?" Carissa demanded.
"Yes, dear sister, at least they tell me it's as safe as they can make it." Corinna answered. "That's been my job, quality control. It's got new tires all around, new seat belts, new steering parts, all the welds have been checked, everything's been gone over. This car is as safe as we could make it."
"Yeah, that's the one thing we're positive about." Tom said as he leaned back, wiping his hands on a grimy rag. "As far as reliability is concerned, that might be a bit iffy."
"Oh? What's wrong?"
"That's just it; we don't know." He sighed. "Everything in here is rebuilt, but everything is used, so who knows how long anything will last."
"The only thing that's new on it is the paint." Wil spoke up for the first time. "Frank Dolens gave us that."
"But it's green!" I frowned at him.
"Yeah, well, he's Irish and that's the colour of all his cars and trucks, Kelly Green. Since he's our sponsor and that's what he wants, we went with it. Is there something wrong with green?" George asked.
"Yeah, race car drivers have a superstition about green cars." I sighed. "It's considered bad luck."
"Since when are you superstitious?" Wil laughed. "If the other drivers are leery of it; that's to your advantage because they'll give you room."
"Well, it certainly looks Irish." I sighed. "In fact with the body in green and the door and roof in white with that darn green shamrock painted in the middle, it looks almost like a cop car."
"That Shamrock is for good luck." George laughed. "We thought we'd paint the car number in that nice green blob."
"Oh great, I'm going to be driving a car that might be unreliable, painted to resemble a darn cop car and I've got a bunch of clowns for mechanics. This is going to be a comedy. Have you decided on a number yet?"
"Nope. The only thing we have decided is that we don't want to have a number that looks the same either way up. You know, like '88' or '00', that's considered really bad luck."
"Well, if we follow Wil's logic, we could paint the number '69' in that darn green shamrock and have everyone give us lots of room." I laughed.
"NO WAY!" Both Carissa and Corinna screamed in unison.
"Not while I'm going with you, you aren't!" Carissa added vehemently.
Of course all of the guys thought that was a great way to tease them and for the next few minutes we did. Then Tom grew impatient and decided that we'd wasted enough time. He suggested that I should try a short drive.
"And where would I drive the darn thing?" I asked. "The way it's set up, it will want to turn to the left, so the road is out and there isn't enough room here in the yard to do anything."
"Well, I have to cultivate the stubble from last years barley crop tomorrow. Why not take it out in the field?" Will suggested. "We could take a few empty gas barrels out with the tractor and set up an oval track for you to drive around."
"You mean the car is ready to go?" I stared at Tom.
"Yep." He nodded. "It just needs warming up."
"But what about these?" I gestured with my casts.
"Well, the clutch peddle has a plate fastened on it that's a match to that stirrup I made for your saddle and you seem to be using your hand darn well. Besides, this is just a tryout to see if everything works." He grinned. "To be honest, I think we all want to see just what you can do."
Somehow I let them talk me into going for a drive. To be honest the idea of actually racing that car was quite a thrill for me, so they really didn't have to try very hard to talk me into getting behind the wheel.