Chapter Thirty Five - Steep Grade - Slower Traffic Keep Right
As I stood there with Duke at my side, I had to wonder what would ever have possessed our families to throw the three of us together and isolate us in this way. At the same time, I knew that I was trying to think intelligently, but was being defeated because my brain was functioning on too little sleep. I made a conscious decision to try to think of something else for a moment.
With that in mind, I concentrated on those surrounding views, opening my eyes to the sights of the valley around me, looking around at the ranch buildings, then out toward the grassy range. We were in the late half of August, in other words, it was summertime. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining brightly in a classic blue sky marred by only a few fluffy white clouds and of course it was warm, very warm. From my position near the porch of the cabin, I was able to gaze down the center of the valley for nearly a mile and see most of the grassy areas of both pastures where we kept stock. Then my eyes swept toward the steep slopes that fenced our valley and I could compare the lush growth on the valley floor to the semi desert appearance of the upper slopes that bordered our valley.
At the same time as looking at the sights of our domain, I was listening to the quiet sounds around me. There were the clucking and squawking sounds of chickens, the singing of birds, the occasional grunts and squeals of the pigs and even the faint sounds of the cows and calves. However, as hard as I tried, the only sounds of human activity I could hear came from inside the cabin, where Carissa and Sandy were quietly talking.
That's when I realized once more just how isolated we were. Almost instantly my eyes were drawn to the car and the jeep. If they were disabled, we had no way to drive to get help. We were truly on our own, dependent on each other. Suddenly I felt apprehensive.
What if something went wrong? For a few moments my mind raced as I thought about several rather frightening scenarios that could easily happen to any one of us. Without a vehicle to use to get away from danger or go to get help, we were in more danger than we needed to be. On top of that, the scale of our risk rose even higher due to our isolation.
At the same time, I realized that the only fear I had of the situation was due to the fact that we had no easy way to escape from any danger. At that moment it was clear to me just how dependent we were on our cars. I had fleeting thoughts about riding away from danger on the horses, then it dawned on me that we had a telephone. All I had to do was call for help. Then I thought of the times when I had rung someone on the phone and they hadn't answered right away. On top of that was the fact that after we did reach someone, it would take time for help to arrive.
As I stood there, I couldn't think of one reason why my own family would consent to placing us in that sort of risk. Was it some sort of test? What would that accomplish? The longer I thought about the situation, the more apprehensive I became. Then I felt a tinge of fear, but even more than that, I felt a rush of annoyance, verging on anger.
Instantly I turned and headed toward the cabin. I wanted to get to the bottom of this idiocy and find what had been done to those vehicles. I wanted to repair them and have them ready for our use, just in case anything did go wrong.
As I stepped inside, Carissa was showing Sandy around the kitchen and I paused, wondering how Sandy would react if she knew I felt we were in any sort of danger. I didn't know her well enough to know if she would panic or not, but just then, she solved the problem for me; she asked where the bathroom was so she could 'clean up.'
"Sorry gal. All we have is the kitchen sink for washing up. If you need the bathroom for other reasons, you'll have to go to the outhouse." Carissa grinned at her.
"Oh yeah, this place is still in the dark ages, isn't it?" Sandy rolled her eyes as she headed toward the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
As soon as I heard her footsteps going down the steps of the porch, I walked over and picked up the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Carissa asked as she walked over to me.
"Home, I want to talk to Mom or Dad."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm upset about the cars being screwed up. What would happen if we had a problem of some sort? What if Sandy's run outside was a stomach problem of some sort and she got really sick or what if we had an accident and we couldn't get through on the phone or CB?" I said quietly.
Just then Mom picked up the phone.
"Hello. Crawford Farm."
"Hello Mom." I answered, taking a deep breath, trying not to let my annoyance come through on the phone.
"Chris? What's the matter? You don't sound like yourself. Are you upset about Sandy being there?"
"No, I'm not worried about Sandy. I probably sound this way because I'm extremely annoyed about the fact that someone was stupid enough to disable the cars and place the three of us in danger."
"Oh come now, Chris. Other than the fact that you can't run away from each other or go to town, what can happen to you?"
"Well, someone could be injured, or another idiot like Ray could come here. There are a thousand and one other emergencies that could crop up. What in hell would we do if a fire broke out or something?" I interrupted, unable to prevent the sound of my anger from creeping into my voice. "What were you thinking? You've left us dependent on this damn phone to get help. As it is, you've taken away the best chance we have of getting out of danger in a hurry."
"Oh, Chris. I know that, but . . ."
"Mom, just what was done to the car and the jeep? You ought to know by now that of all the things you could do to me, screwing around with my car would piss me off the worst. I don't know who's stupid idea it was to disable our vehicles, but you'd better tell me how to straighten up the problem."
"Calm down Chris, I think . . ."
"No, I am not calming down! Not until I know how to fix this damn mess." I interrupted her again, almost shouting, my anger now blazing through me. "I am pissed off at this whole screw up. I want to know what's been done to the cars and I need to know how to repair the damage. It simply isn't safe for the three of us to be isolated without a means of getting help if we need it."
"But Wil didn't mean to . . ."
"Oh, this is Wil's stupid fucking idea is it? I might have known." I interrupted once more. "I want to talk to Dad."
"But we . . ."
"I - want - to - talk - to - Dad." I said loudly, spacing my words as if they were sentences.
I could hear the rustling sound of her hand sliding over the receiver of the phone, then a hollow buzzing sound came through the phone for a few seconds.
"Chris, what can I do?" Dad came on the phone.
"You can tell your oldest son that if he ever fucks with one of my vehicles again, I'll kick his ass. Then maybe you can find out from him exactly what in hell that stupid prick has done to screw up my car and the jeep." I demanded, my voice so emotional that he must have been able to hear my anger. "After last night I do not feel at all safe being here without some method of leaving quickly in an emergency. We're far enough away from anyone else that if an emergency happened, someone could be dead before you could get here to help. That's providing that we were fortunate enough to even get through to you on the phone."
I don't think I'd ever spoken to either Mom or Dad the way I was talking then, but at the moment I didn't care. Carissa was staring at me as if I was from another planet, so I knew she was astonished by my actions. At the moment I didn't care about that either.
"What are you talking about, Chris?" I could hear the calming tone in Dad's voice, but I chose to disregard it.
"Wil disabled both the car and the jeep and he or Mom left a note telling me that it was done. I don't know what he did, but I want to find out. I want to repair it, now, not after we have a possible emergency. As far as I'm concerned the stupid ass has put us in danger. I want to fix it as best I can, just as soon as I can."
"Wil, what in hell did you do now?" I heard him bark, then his hand must have covered the phone's receiver again.
I was astonished. Dad very seldom swore, so for a few seconds I couldn't believe my ears, but then I thought of the circumstances. I realized that like me, he recognized that our situation was fraught with possible danger. It really wasn't all that long before Dad was back on the line.
"He just pulled the rotors from the distributors and says he put them in the glove box of the car. I think I need to have a talk to Wil and your mother, Chris. Call me back if there is any problem starting either one of them. Right now though, I think I need to explain a few things around here." He was trying to sound calm, but I could hear the underlying anger in his voice too.
"Thanks Dad, could I talk to Mom for a few moments? I want to know what the idea of isolating us is all about, especially with Sandy here."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now, Chris. Why don't you call back after you've had a chance to calm down and everyone else down here has had a chance to realize why you're so upset?"
"Okay." I sighed, feeling the letdown from my anger already. "Just let them know that I hate being forced into things and even worse, I hate being put into an unsafe position for no reason."
"Yeah! I know exactly what you mean." He snorted. "Now calm down, son. Oh, I'm sure I don't have to ask, but you aren't going to take your anger out on Carissa and Sandy in any way, are you?"
"No, absolutely not, this isn't their fault" I sighed again. "Look, I'm going to go fix the cars, then I'll make sure they start and run okay. If I get them running well, I'm going to try to have a nap after that, because I didn't get much sleep last night. Hopefully, I won't be calling for help, so you might not hear from me until this evening. You'd better let Wil know that I don't want to be disturbed by him calling to apologise either, not until I've had a chance to cool off. I'm just not in the mood."
"I can't say I blame you, Chris. We'll talk later."
"Yeah, see you, Dad." I hung up the phone.
"Jeez, I've never heard you so angry." Carissa spoke quietly, looking at me askance.
"Well, you heard my reasons." I shrugged my shoulders. "I simply can't stand childish stupidity that puts people like you and Sandy in danger. Wil was being immature again."
"What's going on?" Sandy asked, coming back from outside as I was speaking.
I sighed deeply, and opened my mouth to explain, but Carissa stepped forward and lifted a finger to my lips.
"You go look after the cars, Chris. I'll explain to Sandy." She smiled, then slipped her arms under mine and hugged me gently. "You're not annoyed with either of us, are you?"
"Hell, no. I'm not annoyed with either one of you two." I managed a weak chuckle as I hugged her back. "I'm just pissed off at my dumb brother. He pulls the most childish pranks at times and that always manages to get under my skin."
"Especially when it concerns your car, huh?" Carissa grinned up at me.
"Maybe that's all you've seen, but other things he does get me annoyed as well. Sometimes he acts about ten years old. He just doesn't bother thinking about how his actions will affect others."
"Oh, I don't know about that. I think he's just impulsive at times. I was really quite impressed with him in Edmonton."
"Yeah, he shows that he cares for people quite openly , but then I think he cares for Corinna quite a lot." I sighed. "It's just that his practical jokes are so damn stupid and even harmful at times."
Carissa smiled at that, then pushed away from me and grabbed Sandy in a brief hug. That astonished me, but looking at the two of them I knew she'd done it to reassure Sandy that I wasn't dangerous when I was angry.
"Go fix the cars while we make some lunch, then I think both you and I need to get some rest." Carissa said as she stepped away from Sandy again.
I found the rotors for the distributors and put them back, then started both vehicles and made sure they ran well. After that I went inside to wash off and have some lunch. The girls had made sandwiches and soup, then as we ate, they were talking about the cabin and the ranch. I wasn't really paying much attention until both of them broke into laughter about something. I suppose it was at that point that I managed to come out of the funk I'd been in as Sandy was speaking.
"What? For gosh sakes, Carissa, how do you let him get away with that. Haven't you threatened to cut him off until he takes the time to build on a proper bathroom?" Sandy grinned and winked broadly at Carissa.
"She's tried to convince me and I'm willing, but we'd need to put in a septic system to do that. Until last month, that looked like it was just too expensive for us to tackle. Previously, that wasn't something Grampa Bender wanted to spend money on." I offered with a weak smile.
"What happened last month? I know that he's still okay. I was in to look after him the other day and he seems to be doing as well as can be expected." Sandy looked at me seriously. "I don't think he'll be coming home for a while though."
"In all honesty, I doubt if he's going to come back at all, except for visits, even if he does get out of the hospital fairly soon." I sighed, finally admitting that to myself. "He's probably going to need constant care for the rest of his life and that means someone would have to be here looking after him. The way he talks, I think he's realized that too."
"Well, the nurses sure like caring for him." Sandy smiled. "When he's feeling up to it, he has a great sense of humour, but I think you're right. The people I've spoken to think he's going to have to be moved to extended care. It wouldn't be safe for him to live up here all alone any more."
"Yeah, that's what we expect too." I nodded. "When he set up his will and changed the terms of the lease agreement, it was obvious to all of us that he wasn't expecting to come back here for any length of time."
"Since he changed things, they've been making a lot of improvements, like bringing in electricity and telephone." Carissa offered. "This ranch is practically Chris and Beth's now. That's why they've been buying horses and cows to try to make it profitable."
"Hey, we don't own it. It's still Grampa Bender's." I frowned at her. "As long as Grampa Bender is alive, this is his place. We're just caretakers for the time being."
"Well, considering that he's probably not going to be able to live here and care for it himself, I'd say it was yours. Especially since he's set up the lease agreement the way he has." She smiled at me. "I know you're not willing to admit that you have control of the place, but I'm sure your family does."
"Jeez, you mean Beth is a half owner in the place and she hasn't raised heck about a bathroom either?" Sandy asked.
"Oh, she's mentioned it, but since neither one of us will be living here during the fall or winter, we decided that we'd postpone that expense for a year or so."
"Well, I know you're going to Calgary, but where is Beth going?"
"Just to highschool in town, but she won't be able to live up here by herself. The road becomes impassable if there's either a heavy snow storm or a blizzard. It can be blocked for a week or more at a time and that would screw up her schooling."
"Ah, gotcha." Sandy nodded, then glanced around. "Looking at this place, I guess it would be a bit hard to make space for a bathroom anyway, wouldn't it."
"Yep, it would mean building onto the place." I grinned at her. "By the way, do you have a bathroom fetish or something? You keep steering the conversation around to that all the time."
"No, not really." She giggled. "It's just that I've always been able to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night if I have to. While I'm staying up here that midnight run would be a little more involved. At least it's warm when you have to run outside right now in the summer months. What did Mr. Bender do in the wintertime?"
"Oh, he had a pail." Carissa broke into laughter. "Chris rinsed it out, then hung it out back on a fence post just in case Grampa Bender came back and wanted it."
"A pail?"
"Unh huh, a five-gallon bucket with a lid made from a plastic toilet seat." Carissa chuckled. "He had it sitting in the back porch where Sandy has her bed set up and where you'll be sleeping."
"You're kidding, aren't you?" Sandy wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"No, that's what he did." I grinned at the two of them "I'd forgotten about the pail. If you want, I could bring it in and put it right beside your bed for the night."
"Eww, gross." Sandy's face twisted into an expression of disgust.
"Well, I think a bucket is better than a bedpan." I chortled.
Of course Carissa hooted with laughter and Sandy blushed fire engine red as she looked daggers at me.
"Did you tell Carissa all about that?" She squawked.
"Well, secrets between lovers aren't a good thing." I grinned.
"It's okay Sandy." Carissa said with a chuckle. "Actually I think it was a darn good idea and a lot smarter than the way Corinna and I managed to get to see his wienie."
"Wienie?!?" I griped, making both of them laugh, then I grinned. "I'll have you know it's at least a sausage."
"Yeah, we both know." Sandy giggled. "Although I'm still envious of the fact that she knows so much more than I do."
"Oho, so I'm 'she' now am I?" Carissa stuck her tongue out at Sandy.
"Of course you're 'she,' can't you tell that I'm jealous." Sandy grinned.
"I think it's about time to change the subject before you two get all riled and come to blows." I chuckled as I pushed back from the table. "Should I offer to do the dishes."
"No, you and Carissa go lay down." Sandy hopped to her feet, then began to pick up the empty bowls and plates on the table. "I slept well last night while you two were getting rid of that damn menace to society. Just for that, I think you two deserve a break, so you guys have a rest while I wash up. After that, I'll go out and look around outside so I don't bother your sleep. Oh, and don't worry, I promise I'll be careful so I don't get into trouble."
Neither Carissa nor I had any real arguments with that idea, and it was only moments before we'd flopped onto the bed. Since the bedroom was so warm that afternoon, we stripped down to our underwear and lay on top of the bedding, not cuddling, just touching each other gently.
I don't think I'd slept for more than an hour and when I awakened and found that I was feeling much more relaxed. Carissa was still sleeping, so I slipped out of bed slowly and quietly, then pulled on my clothes and went out into the kitchen. I quickly checked the back porch to see is by any chance Sandy was lying down, but she wasn't there. After sleeping in the heat, I was a bit thirsty and after I'd gotten a drink of water, I stepped out onto the front porch. Glancing around, I saw Sandy sitting on the railing of the corral watching the horses, so I walked down to see how she was doing.
"Hey, gal. How ya doin'." I called quietly when I was several yards away, intending to let her know I was up and around.
"Oh, hi." She turned to look at me and blushed. "You caught me."
"I caught you?"
"Yeah, I was being naughty and watching your horses when they were having fun." She giggled. "The stud is doing his best to make another colt, but the mare is being a tease."
"Oh, is that all." I laughed. "Don't worry about my catching you watching that. It's just part of farm life. I've been watching that sort of thing since I was a little shaver."
"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "The thing is town kids like me just never see that sort of thing. Well, maybe we see a couple of dogs, humping away or stuck together, but even then our parents try to make us look the other way as if it's dirty or something. Did you know your sister taught me more about sex than my mother or even the nurses at the hospital did?"
"Oh, I can imagine. Beth has been a rather astonishing person from the time she was a little kid. I can just imagine her asking Mom questions about sex when she was five or six years old." I grinned, then tried to speak in a high squeaky voice. "Mommy, what are those horses doing and what's that big long thing hanging out of the daddy horse's tummy?"
Of course Sandy looked shocked for an instant and then she started laughing so hard that she almost fell off the pole fence of the corral. She managed to hang on, but I moved closer so I could catch her if she did fall.
"You almost made me fall and I think you did it intentionally." She giggled.
"Now would I do that?" I chuckled. "It's a good thing Beth wasn't here though, she'd have killed me for trying to imply that she ever sounded like that."
"Well, it wasn't a very good imitation of her voice." Sandy slipped down off the fence, turning toward the house and changing the subject. "You didn't sleep long, did you?"
"No, all I needed was a nap. Carissa was still asleep when I got up though."
"Do you think she's going to sleep for long?"
"I don't know, why?"
"Oh, I was just thinking that since you had your jeep running, you could maybe take us for a drive around the ranch a bit. I didn't realize it was so big until I was sitting here a while ago and I'd like to see some of it. If you do though, I think Carissa should be along so . . ." She paused and blushed.
"What, are you afraid that I'd hit on you if she wasn't there?" I frowned at her. "You ought to know by now that I'm not like that."
"Of the two of us, it wasn't you that I was worried about." She laughed uneasily.
"You're worried about yourself?" I turned my head and stared at her as we walked side by side.
"Yeah, in a way." She sighed. "I know that you and Carissa are heavily involved, but I still have feelings for you."
"Sandy, if just wouldn't work between us." I said quietly. "You see, Carissa and I have gone through a bunch of things together that have drawn us closer to each other. On top of that, we've lived with each other for the last couple of months and each day has added to our care for the other. It's almost as if we were in a trial marriage or something. I don't want to lose that."
"I know that in my head, I'm just not so sure about it in my heart." She sighed as we got to the porch.
"Would you like a coffee? I think I can be quiet enough to make one without waking Carissa." I suggested as I reached for the screen door.
"I don't think you can." Carissa laughed from inside. "You woke me when you got up and went outside."
"Oh, sorry." I grinned at her. "I guess I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was."
"Oh, you were quiet, I was just waking up myself." She smiled at me and held out her arms for a hug. "I was thinking of rolling over and waking you up, then you left."
"I guess I missed something, did I?" I grinned as I hugged her tightly.
"Not really, I was just going to suggest that we make some coffee and take the jeep for a drive up to that hill you showed me when I first came to see you. I think Sandy would love to see the whole ranch spread out below her."
"Hmm, she suggested something like that earlier. Since it doesn't look like we're going to get much work done today, that might be an idea."
"Well, it's either that or since it's so warm, we could go for a swim." Carissa chuckled.
"Oh, but I don't have a swim suit." Sandy said quietly.
"Well, I was going to warn you about that. We don't use those things." Carissa giggled. "I thought you might like to show off that gorgeous bod of yours to this big brute."
"Carissa!" Sandy squawked, blushing bright red.
"Oh come on now, be honest. Wouldn't you like to tease him a bit?"
"I don't think that's a good idea myself." I sighed quietly.
"I do." Carissa answered just as quietly. "If we do decide to rent that duplex together, you two are almost bound to see each other in various stages of undress anyway. This would just get it over with sooner."
"Dammit, Carissa." Sandy snapped. "Don't you realize I've still got a crush on Chris?"
"Yes, I do and Chris probably has a small one for you too, but I'd sooner face any problems head on, rather than hide from them and have them sneak up on me." Carissa slipped out of my arms and grasped Sandy's shoulders, staring her in the face. "I also know that I have to be able to trust the two of you to be together without my being nearby, because that's bound to happen if we live in the same house. I want you to know how I feel about Chris and how he feels about me too. You also need to know that we aren't skin shy, but at the same time we know that bare skin makes us react. It's natural."
Carissa pulled back and grinned at Sandy then. "Actually, I can see that you're reacting just having me talk about it."
"What do you mean?" Sandy's voice was a whisper.
"You have little tents on your chest." Carissa grinned. "But, so do I and I'll bet Chris is growing right now, unless he's already grown to full size."
"Dammit Carissa, what are you up to?" I asked as my face grew red.
"I'm facing the biological reality of our situation head on." She said flatly, her humour now gone. "You're a male of the species while Sandy and I are females. All of us are just entering the prime of our reproductive years. The hormones in our bodies are attempting to induce us to bear young. Both Sandy's body and mine have decided that you are the best example of male flesh around. Since you're male, you're naturally polygamous, being female, Sandy and I would prefer just one mate, but we want the best mate possible to protect and provide for each of us as well as our children. On top of that, society has ingrained into our psyches that we should be monogamous. Right now you seem to both of us to be the best potential mate around, in short, since only one of us can have you, Sandy and I are in competition for your genes."
With that she walked over and flopped down on a kitchen chair. "For some stupid reason it seems that our mothers have gotten it into their heads to throw us together and let us fight it out. The problem is that the fight is mostly between Sandy and me, but I really don't want to fight. I like Sandy and I love you. Now, just what the hell are we going to do?"
I stared at her in astonishment, not knowing what to say or do. Somehow I had the idea that even though she said she loved me, at the moment she was angry with me for some reason. I was still standing there with my mouth open in astonishment when Sandy cleared her throat.
"Well, spit it out. What do you have to say?" Carissa snapped at her with a glare in her eyes.
"I was just going to suggest that perhaps you were right before. Maybe we should go swimming." Sandy blushed, then seemed like she was going to start to giggle. "I think both of you are a lot smarter and stronger than I am, so if it came down to a fight, I'd lose, but before I lose out completely, I'd like to see what I was losing and what I was losing to."
"Huh?" I managed to grunt, wondering just what she meant for a second.
Then to my astonishment, Carissa started to laugh and jumped to her feet, rushing to Sandy and wrapping her in a hug. All I could do was look on in surprise because I wasn't sure what was happening. Somehow, this situation seemed as if it was leading up to a repetition of the night when Corinna had climbed into bed with us.
At that moment, the major question in my head revolved around the apprehension of what sort of trouble we were getting ourselves into, but I didn't have any answers.