Chapter 7
I woke up the next morning to feel Lisa-Marie crawling back into bed.
"Morning." I mumbled.
"There's nothing good about it." She grumbled. "It's snowing and I've got my period, so don't even touch me."
"Oops. Can I bring you a cup of tea after I get up and around?"
"I'll be up later." She mumbled, then sighed softly and actually tried to chuckle. "You're so good to me."
"Well, my body doesn't get all screwed up by strange hormones." I snorted. "I should have known this was coming, as wild as you were last night."
"Mmmmm." She moaned almost happily. "That was fun. The trouble is I'm not in the mood to tease Andy this morning and I was looking forward to that."
"You keep that up and she's gonna rape me."
"Hmmm, now that might be fun to watch." She snorted.
"The trouble is that you're liable to get pissed off if she even thinks about it."
"I know. Maybe it's just this stupid mood I get in when my period is coming on, but as it is, I don't even understand myself."
"I suppose." I sighed. "I sure don't."
"Well, for now I'm going to try to forget that. I'm going to try to go back to sleep. Wake me up about ten if I'm not up before that would you please?"
"Okay." With that, I grabbed my clothes and went to the bathroom to get dressed.
When I went downstairs, I was surprised to see Andrea already sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hi." She said quietly. "Is Lisa-Marie still recovering?"
"I wouldn't call it that, she has a rough time when her period comes and it just did." I answered as I poured a coffee.
"Oh, that explains stuff a bit." She nodded. "Some girls at school used to act crazy the day before their periods started. I just get PMS for a few days, then I feel like a lazy lump when the moon bites."
"Well, she gets all wound up and wants nothing but sex and thrills the day before. After it starts though she doesn't want to be touched or anything for three or four days."
"That long? Wow! It's only a couple of days for me." She looked at me and frowned. "Hey, how come you're so comfortable talking about periods and PMS and stuff?"
"You mean that isn't allowed?" I grinned.
"Oh, don't be silly. It's just that most guys get embarrassed and change the subject."
"I suppose I've had a different education than most. My family doesn't hide much from each other, so I just grew up knowing about that stuff."
"I can tell." She snorted. "You're something else. But then, so is Lisa-Marie."
"Well, she hasn't been acting exactly normal this weekend. She's been a bit over the top, even for her."
"Yeah, but I sure liked it." She grinned, then blushed. "You've learned to just go along for the ride huh?"
"Yes and no." I sighed. "Sometimes, like last night I get carried away by her enthusiasm. Then too, sometimes I have to apologise to people the next day."
"Well this time there's no apology needed. Not from you anyway." She sighed. "I should apologise though. You did know I was watching again, didn't you?"
"No apology needed there either. Lisa-Marie asked me to leave the door open and I agreed, so you had our implied permission. We thought you might want to watch."
"And you didn't mind?"
"No. Actually last night it was a turn on for both of us and we were acting up a bit for your benefit. We aren't usually as wild as that."
"That's good. Someone could get hurt." She giggled.
"Oh come now, we weren't that wild last night." I laughed.
"Jeez, I can hardly believe this, I'm talking to you about what you did in bed last night." She blushed again. "I didn't even want to talk to Fred about what we did afterward."
"That's probably because you didn't really enjoy sex with Fred."
"That's true. I didn't." She nodded. "He wasn't even a minute man, so just when I'd start to feel anything good at all, he was done. If I was to talk to him now, I think I'd walk away with sore knuckles."
"I think a lot of people are feeling that way." I nodded, getting up to get more coffee. "Want more?" I lifted the pot which was still partly-full.
"Please." She smiled. "I was wondering, since Lisa-Marie was acting a bit, well, a bit funny last night, does that mean that the hugs and stuff are done?"
"What?" I looked at her in surprise, then set the coffee pot on the table for a moment. "Please stand up."
"Huh, why?"
"Because I want to give my friend a good morning hug." I grinned, grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet, then into my arms. "Is that better?"
"Oh yeah." She sighed against my shoulder.
"I think maybe we should cool the kisses with the tongue though. A guy like me can only stand being teased so much by a sexy wench like you."
"Oh man." She giggled softly. "You say the darnedest things and make me feel so good."
"It's the truth. You are a sexy woman, a very good looking one too."
"Oh, if I didn't like you and Lisa-Marie so much as a couple, I'd be tempted to see if kissing you would really get you wound up." She laughed softly and pushed herself away. "As it is, we'd better put a time limit on our hugs too."
"Oh I suppose, if you insist." I overemphasised a deep sigh, which made her laugh. "What are you up to today?"
"Well, I expect Willy will drop by this morning after he's done the chores and if he's going to church, I might go. Unless you need some help with something?"
"Oh I was just going to make a new hatch for the attic and then clean up around the plumbing stack in the basement. I plan to get a plumber in to do the changes I want in the next week or two and he'll have to get at things easily. There's not that much I need help with." I put the depleted coffee pot back on the counter.
"Well, would you at least like your cook to make you breakfast," She smiled. "What would you like?"
"On weekends I usually have eggs and bacon, but I can do that too." I laughed. "We weren't really serious about any of that stuff you know."
"I was, at least with the offer to help out when I could. I have to do something to pay you back for staying here."
"If it makes you feel better, go ahead and cook, but you know there's no need for you to feel obligated, don't you?"
"That's part of the reason that I want to do things." She laughed. "I don't want you to feel that I'm a burden and I don't like taking advantage of things."
"You can forget that idea right off the bat." I frowned. "You aren't a burden. And while I'm thinking of it, have you seen a doctor yet to talk about what you should and shouldn't do during a pregnancy? Like eating right and things like that?"
"Jeez, I'm not even two months pregnant for gosh sakes and it's not like I'm a high risk patient or anything."
"So have you, or haven't you seen a doctor?"
"I saw the doctor and he ran a test to make sure I was pregnant." She sighed loudly. "Why are you so uptight about my pregnancy anyway? I almost got an abortion you know."
"Well you didn't. Now, since you've decided to keep the baby and since I care about you, that means that I care about the health of your baby too. Or does that make sense to you."
"Don't let him worry you, Andy." Lisa-Marie's voice broke in, surprising us both. "He's like that with everyone and everything that gets pregnant. That's why he's such a good farmer."
"Hey, good morning, Lisa-Marie. I hear you aren't feeling so good." Andrea said solicitously. "Would you like coffee or tea or anything?"
"Hi, Andy. Is there any orange juice left?" Lisa-Marie sighed as she plopped into a kitchen chair. "Actually, I feel like hell warmed over and I hate my periods."
"I don't exactly love mine either. At least that's one thing about having a baby, no periods for nine months."
"Now there's an idea." Lisa-Marie snorted and looked at me. "Did you hear that buster? Guess what you can give me for a wedding gift."
"Hmm." Andrea grunted as she set a glass of juice down next to Lisa-Marie's hand. "Now is that gift for you, or for him?"
"Both of us." Lisa-Marie snorted, making me grin. "I feel like hell when I'm on the rag. Heck, I even hate to be touched and so all he gets is the flak from my mean moods. That way we both suffer."
"Well, considering the way he's been acting toward me already, I think if he does what you want, you can expect to be spoiled for about nine months." Andrea said as she walked back toward the stove. "I was just going to make some breakfast, would you like some too?"
"Oh, please no." Lisa-Marie grimaced. "The thought of food makes my stomach churn."
"Oh no. If that's true, pregnancy might not be such a good thing for you after all. What you're describing sounds almost like morning sickness and some women get that for months at a time when they're pregnant." Andrea looked concerned. "Will it bother you if I cook breakfast for Tom?"
"Oh God. Why wasn't I born a man?" Lisa-Marie groaned. "Go ahead with your fry-up. If I start to feel sick, I'll go back to bed."
"Oh, it's not fair that you feel too rough to stay and talk." Andrea sympathised.
"When is life ever fair?" Lisa-Marie sighed. "You know what? I'm going to grab another glass of orange juice and go back upstairs. I think I'll just soak in the tub for a while."
"If you want, I'll come talk to you in a while." I offered.
"If you do, you know I'll just get upset and you'll feel guilty." She sighed. "I'm going to take some pills and have a bath, then go to bed again. Give me three or four more hours, then I'll be safe to have near civilization."
After Lisa-Marie had gone upstairs and we heard the tub start to fill, Andrea finally started breakfast.
"Since Lisa-Marie goes through that crap every month, you must be a darn patient man."
"Not really, I just try to think of the other twenty-five days a month when things are great." I grinned. "I just wish I could make her feel better somehow."
"Well, if I were you, I'd take her down to visit Mrs. Lowther, the herb woman. Maybe she can help some."
"Mrs. Lowther?" I looked at her questioningly.
"Yeah, she lives down by the river in an old house with a barn full of dried herbs that she ships around the country. She sells stuff to big companies, but she likes to help neighbours if they're feeling poorly. Won't take money for anything from us, so most of us take her a gift when we visit. You know, eggs, a loaf of home made bread, stuff like that." Andrea smiled.
"I see, a naturopathic doctor, sort of."
"Umm, I don't know about that? Years ago, she'd have been called a witch or maybe a witch doctor, but she's an herbalist. She gives you samples of herbs to try so you can see if they help you. Then when she finds the right combination, she gives you a small supply of them, but shows you how to collect them on your own. Sometimes she even gives away plants for people to grow themselves."
"So she's a little old lady, living off in the boonies, who helps people out of the goodness of her heart?"
"Oh no! She's not that old. I went to school with her sons." Andrea laughed. "She's a university professor who quit teaching to grow herbs and sell them. That's her real business now, selling herbs. The reason she lives by the river is because that's where her herbs grow best and because she can get water right out of the river to irrigate the herbs that need it."
"So why does she give the herbs away to her neighbours?"
"Well, I think she's still teaching, only this time she's teaching in a more practical way. Besides, it's good advertising for her." She smiled as she set plates of food on the table and sat down to join me at breakfast.
"Yeah, I suppose it would be. She sounds like a character." I carried on the conversation.
"She is, The story that I heard from the two Granger Grannies was that she had a bad marriage and she wanted out, so she left her hubby. She moved out here years ago when her boys were young, bought the place down by the river and set up her business. Did you know that she tried to buy this place from Silas when she first came here?"
"No, I hadn't heard that."
"She did. He turned her down, but there are rumours that they used to visit each other. One of them was that if he went to see her, she'd make sure her boys were out collecting herbs on the far end of her place that day."
"Hmmph." I snorted, then I laughed softly. "It could be I guess. Maybe they weren't lovers though, maybe they had a business deal of some sort."
"Then why would she make sure the boys were out of the house? I used to go to school with her youngest and even though he was shy, he and I would talk. He wanted to know about Silas and since I lived so close, I told him what I could. In return he told me in strictest secrecy that his Mom and Silas were really close friends."
"Well, so you're saying that Uncle Silas had a secret lover." I paused and thought for a moment. "I wonder why it would have to be so secret?"
"I wouldn't know." She wiped up the last of her egg with a piece of toast. "You know, I was thinking, do you suppose Lisa-Marie would feel up to going for a short ride in the car? I could skip church and go with you guys to introduce you to Mrs. Lowther."
"Well, I could ask I guess, but I doubt if she'll want to. She really gets uncomfortable for the first while when this thing hits her. Besides, she's seen so many doctors and specialists that I don't hold out much hope for anything. I doubt if she will either."
"Well, if you know her symptoms, maybe she wouldn't even have to be there. I could talk to her about it, if you want? Maybe I could convince her?"
"You can try. I'll get these dishes washed."
"Damn, you're going make that lucky lady a fine husband." She chuckled, then hurried upstairs before I could answer.
She was back in a few minutes
"You were right, Lisa-Marie doesn't want to go out, but she said if we think we could get something that would help her feel better, she'd love to have us go see her. Then she asked me to have you come talk to her for a minute. She wants you to take down some notes about what she feels like and what medications she's taking. In fact she said she wanted you to bring along a pencil and paper."
I thought I knew what pills she was taking and most of her symptoms already, but I wasn't going to argue. Instead, I got a pencil and paper, then went in and sat on the seat of the toilet so that I could take notes as Lisa-Marie dictated to me. As I suspected, there were no surprises, either in her medications or in her symptoms.
"You know I don't hold out much hope that this will help me, don't you?" She said quietly.
"I suspected that, so why did you agree to send me off on what you think is a wild goose chase?"
"It will get you out of the house and give me a chance to recover in peace and quiet. If you're here, you're going to be building stuff and making noise. That would drive me nuts." She admitted. "Besides, Andy says that this woman has helped lots of other people that doctors thought were tough problems, so there is an outside chance."
"Well, if she can come up with something natural that will take the place of all these bloody chemicals and mood altering drugs that the doctors are feeding you, I'll be ecstatic." I said flatly. "I know you need something and I'm not trying to discourage you from using any help you can get, but I think you realise that I hate the idea of you putting artificial crap in your body to do it."
"Oh, I know Tom and I don't like using it either." She said quietly. "But at the same time, I know you realise how much my body screws up and how hard it is on me. One reason that I love you is because you let me get help, even if you hate the way I have to do it. To be honest, I really do hope this herb woman can help, I really, really do."
"Yeah, so do I." I bent over and touched her lips with mine. "Now, Andrea said it's only about ten miles away, so it shouldn't take long. I'll see you on a while."
"Okay. Drive carefully now." She ordered and waved one hand as I went out.
The earlier snow had almost stopped falling, so after starting the car and brushing an inch or so of fresh fallen snow from the hood and roof, then talking to Willy for a moment, Andrea and I started on our way. Andrea gave me general directions, then we drove in silence for a while.
"I hope your herb lady friend is home." I said quietly, just wanting to break the silence.
"Oh, they never go out on the weekends." She answered. "I'm sure that they'll be home."
After that brief sally, we fell into silence for a few miles. Once we started on the trip down toward the river-bottom and were on the steep, winding, snow-and-ice-covered roads, I was concentrating too hard to pay much attention, but I did notice that Andrea tensed up too. Then we were down in the river valley itself and since it was fairly flat I was able to relax somewhat.
"We head left on the road that turns off just this side of the bridge." Andrea directed. " Mrs Lowther's place is back almost a mile and on a small hill."
"Okay." I nodded, turning when she indicated I should.
"We're actually on her lease now."
"Oh, she has a home and a business established on leased land?"
"Well, it is a long term lease and she did buy out the person who was here before. He was trying to raise cattle and it didn't work. Her place runs back into a Provincial Park further upstream and I know it doesn't go beyond the bridge because that's a Municipal Park."
"So she has what, maybe a hundred acres here between the river banks?"
"It seems to be enough." Andrea shrugged, just as we passed through a pole-arched gateway.
I could see a low rambling ranch style house and several low outbuildings ahead, then I noticed several huge black shapes bounding our direction.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, she and her boys raise Bouviers." Andrea added. "They're big and noisy, but if you don't act like you're out to break in or something, all they'll do is bark."
"Damn, they sure are big enough." I stared at the huge black dogs coming our way.
"Well, I understand the police train Bouviers for police work, supposedly they knock the bad guys down and then stand over them. But I understand that they're really very gentle unless you annoy them."
"Jeez, I think I'd rather be knocked down by a horse." I laughed. "Look at this guy running beside the car now. His eyes are darn near level with mine."
"Well you are sitting down." She giggled. "You know, I'll bet Mrs. Lowther doesn't need a burglar alarm."
"To sleep through these guys, you'd need a sound proof room and ear plugs." I snorted with laughter. "I'm betting you're right and that they've never had a break-in here."
Both of us were laughing almost hysterically by the time we pulled to a stop in front of the house, surrounded by the milling pack of animals. A middle-aged woman with silver hair stepped out onto the front porch, clapped her hands once and shouted the word "Down!"
Suddenly there was quiet. All the dogs were sitting quietly, panting softly. I didn't wait, I opened the door and started to get out, only to find that one huge dog was sitting right in front of me. A look that I could only read as intense curiosity filled his eyes as he stared at me. Without thinking, I slowly raised my hand and held it near his nose. He took one short sniff, then surprised me into chuckling as he lapped his huge wet tongue across my fingers. I reached out to scratch him behind an ear and his tail thumped the frozen ground as if he was beating a drum
"Well!" The woman on the porch said sharply. "I don't need an introduction to know who you are. Only one other man I know of could handle almost any animal like that and Silas isn't with us any longer."
"He was my uncle. I'm Tom."
"I figured that out. I'd heard you inherited Silas' farm." She nodded and I thought I saw tears in her eyes. "Come inside, both of you. We'll have coffee. Don't take off your boots. The young dogs sleep in the great room, so the floor is messy already."
We walked inside and I stared. Great room was about the only word you could possibly use to describe it. It must have been built for show because it was so huge. There were several beat-up old couches and chairs spread around the floor and one or two tables near them, but other than that, the main lower section was empty of furniture.
The whole room smelled like dogs and that wasn't surprising, I think there were as many of the huge dogs inside as there were outside. Dogs on chairs, dogs on couches, dogs on rugs. I looked around and chuckled softly.
Mrs. Lowther spun to stare at me, then sighed. "Dammit, you look like your uncle, you sound like him, and you've got every damn dog in this room wagging its tail."
"Well, I'm just me." I said quietly. "I am sorry if that bothers you."
"Who said it bothered me?" She snapped again. "It's just that you look like he did almost twenty years ago and you came driving up in that damn car that he had then."
As she was talking, she led us up a few steps and into an alcove beside the huge fireplace that dominated the room, then pointed to seats around a table, indicating we should sit. Andrea and I quietly took seats and nodded when Mrs. Lowther raised a coffee pot in a questioning gesture. After pouring us each a cup, she sat down and stared directly at Andrea for several seconds, then she frowned.
"I thought you were engaged to that Fred Granger kid?" She said directly. "What are you doing with this galoot?"
Andrea coloured and seemed tongue tied.
"She's staying with my fiancée and me." I said flatly. "Actually it's because she thought that you might be able to help my fiancée that we came to see you."
Mrs. Lowther stared me into silence, then turned back to Andrea. "I heard rumour that young Granger tricked you into getting pregnant, then dropped you like a hot potato, is that right?"
"Sort of." Andrea blushed.
"Well, you didn't plan on getting pregnant did you?"
"No!"
"Then he tricked you."
"Well . . . Yeah, I guess if you put it that way."
"And your family is mad at you, right?"
"Daddy was, but it's okay now."
"Hmmph." The silver haired woman spun her head to stare into my eyes. "And you, engaged and all, you just took her into your house, did you?"
"Yeah!" I was getting annoyed with her brusque manner. "Just what business is it of yours?"
"Not a damn bit." She laughed. "I was just thinking that I'd check to be sure I had all the facts straight. You see my two sons are in town right now, putting young Fred on a plane to Toronto."
"What?" Andrea sat up straight. "Why would Fred go to Toronto?"
"Probably because he thinks he'll be a lot safer there than if he sticks around here." Mrs. Lowther laughed without a trace of humour in her voice. "He came down here to ask if he could stay a while, then was stupid enough to tell the boys what had happened with you. He even bragged about it, trying to make it into a joke. I don't think the boys appreciated his humour."
"Willy is not going to be happy." I grinned. "I think he was looking forward to running into Fred one day."
"It's probably better that Fred just left town." She smiled back. "I can see by the look in your eye that you had a few ideas of your own."
"Now, do I look like the sort who would I do something that would hurt the poor boy?" I grinned at her.
"Perhaps not physically." She snorted softly. "However, I could imagine you instilling the fear of God in his smarmy little hide. However, I think my sons and a few of Andrea's other friends beat you to it. You see, they bought Fred's ticket out of town with donations that they collected in the bar in town. They were a bit upset that they didn't get enough to send him further, but they explained to Fred that if he ever came back, they were going to collect all the donations from his hide and he seemed quite excited to leave."
She paused, then her face changed, mellowing somehow. "Now, about your girlfriend? How can I help you?"
"I was telling him about your herbs." Andrea jumped in. "You see Lisa-Marie, that's his girl, has a terrible time with her periods. First off, before they start she goes all hyper and a bit strange for a day or two, then when they hit she gets symptoms like morning sickness and headaches, things like that."
"Is she on any medications?" Mrs. Lowther asked me.
I reached in my pocket and handed her the notes I had written down.
"You write this, or her?"
"I wrote it. She dictated."
"You've noticed most of these things yourself?"
"Yeah, the only things I wasn't sure of was the spelling of some of the drugs."
"Mmm hm, mm hm, mm hm." She grunted as she read my notes
"What does this say?" She demanded, pointing to my scrawled words.
"Uh, I think it's 'Diazepam' or something like that. It's supposed to calm her down."
"Hmmph." She grunted. "Pill pushers! Her doctor is using a ten-pound sledgehammer to drive a tack. Too damn busy making money to take the time to really listen to her explain the problem."
"Hey, I'm not happy about her taking all these pills and neither is she, but if she doesn't do anything, she gets really ill."
She looked at me and sighed.
"I can imagine. I had morning sickness with my boys. In fact, it was while I was pregnant with the first one that I really got into herbs. Do you think she'd follow a fairly strict regimen of treatment?"
"Heck, she does that already with those darn pills." I threw my hands up in exasperation. "What difference would it make if she was doing it using herbs."
"Then I can help her." She smiled at me. "It won't be an overnight miracle, but I can help her in less than a month."
"Fuck." I snapped unthinkingly. "She's hurting now and . . ."
"Oh, I can do some things for her today, but I'll need to make up some supplies and I should actually talk to her before we start her on these herbs. That means I'll have to come up to your house, if you don't mind?"
"If you can help her, I'll carry you back." I grinned. "And I am sorry that I swore, I try not to do that, but I was quite disappointed and it just slipped out."
"I've heard a lot worse." She snorted. "Don't worry about it."
She leaned back then and looked me straight in the face, studying me closely. I returned the favour, then couldn't help grinning.
"Is there something about me that you find amusing?"
"Nope, I was just thinking that Uncle Silas had great taste." I laughed softly.
Mrs. Lowther's eye snapped wide open and Andrea actually gasped. Then to my surprise, Mrs. Lowther slowly smiled.
"How did you expect me to react to that statement?" She almost whispered. "Did you expect me to deny it, to you of all people?"
"Nope." I grinned. "I doubt if you ever lied to Uncle Silas, so I doubt if you'd lie to me."
She slowly shook her head, then reached out her right hand and grabbed mine. "I think you and I are going to be good friends. Silas and I were good friends as well as occasional lovers, which it seems all the neighbours suspected."
She smiled at Andrea. "When you gasped, I knew you'd heard the rumours. The only one that I've heard about Silas and me that is untrue is that Silas fathered my youngest son. I have no idea why Silas wanted to keep our affair a secret, but since it was his wish, I abided by it."
She leaned back and laughed softly then. "When I heard about your plight Andrea, then about where you went and how Tom took you in, I thought I was hearing history repeat itself."
"Pardon me?" I stared at her in surprise.
"I had bought this place and was trying to swing a deal with Silas to buy or lease a small portion of his land. Unfortunately, I was still finalising the divorce with my exhusband and he found out where I was living. He came here completely surprising me. He said was supposedly here just to sign the final papers, but he had been drinking and after he signed the papers, he beat me, then raped me."
Her face showed the pain even from that long ago and I wanted to hug her, but felt uncertain how she'd accept that. Andrea wasn't as squeamish. There were tears in Mrs. Lowther's eyes as she hugged Andrea and spoke over her shoulder.
"I'd had an appointment to meet with Silas that morning and when I didn't show up, he drove down here. My ex had fallen asleep, probably from a combination of his exertions and the drink. I was laying near him in terrible shape when Silas arrived. He found us in the middle of that big floor, right over there, with my oldest son looking on from his crib and screaming his head off. Silas picked my exhusband up and carried him outside, stuffing him into the trunk of my ex's own car. He came back inside, picked up and put me in the back seat and brought me my baby. Then he drove us all to town, me and my son to the hospital, then my ex and his car to the police station."
Mrs Lowther was crying, Andrea was crying, and I was quite misty eyed myself. No one spoke for several minutes, then to my surprise, Mrs Lowther laughed softly.
"I was only in the hospital overnight and Silas was there to get me in the morning, driving me back here. He came here every day and he waited on me hand and foot for two weeks. Then one day he calmly announced that he had work to do and if I wanted to see him any more I'd have to come to his house. I was there by nightfall." Her soft laugh pealed out again. "Do you know it took me over a year to get him into bed with me? It was worth it though. I loved that man."
"Why didn't you marry him?" Andrea demanded, sitting back down again.
"Oh, Silas and I were great together for a few hours, perhaps a day at the outside, but marriage? No, never! There was some part of Silas that was locked away, some sort of secret that I wasn't allowed to know and it was enough to keep us apart."
I slowly nodded my head and she jerked like she'd been stung.
"You know what the secret was, don't you?" She accused.
"I'm not sure." I said softly. "But, it's not my secret and I'm not about to guess one way or another, so I can't help you."
"You are so much like Silas in some ways and so much different in others." She sighed, then sat bolt upright. "Now we're wasting time. You two should hurry back and be there to look after that young lady. I'll be there about an hour behind you."
She was all business then, almost rushing us out of the house.
Inside of ten minutes, Andrea and I were on our way back home, sent on our way by a chorus of barking dogs. The snow had started falling heavier again and as we came up the slope and over the edge of the river bank, we found that the wind was climbing as well.
I was glad to pull into the yard at home, in fact I was wondering if we might be in for a blizzard.