# Car 54

####
© 2005 / revised 2014
K Pelle

### Chapter 37:
Caution - Watch for Wildlife

Only a few minutes after Mom had left, I decided that I had time to run to town and see Grampa Bender. If I did it soon, I'd still have lots of time to do the chores before it got dark that evening.

When I arrived at the hospital, I went immediately to his room and found him wide awake and attentive. Not only that, but he wasn't in bed. Instead he was sitting in a wheelchair and looking out the window.

"Hello, Chris," he smiled, as soon as he saw me. "How're ya doin' t'day, boy?"

"Just fine, Grampa. How are you doing?"

"Not bad, but missin' the fresh air 'n' sunshine a lot. At least I'm out o' that bed most o' the day, but I'm not able to walk much 'n' m'left hand don't work so good no more."

I had to hide a frown at that; no one had warned me that he'd lost either mobility or dexterity since he'd been hospitalized.

"I didn't know about that, but at least you're not in bed all the time. Is there any way I could wheel you outside?"

"Dunno about goin' outside, I think the nurses might throw a fit at that," he sighed, then smiled weakly. "Say, why'n't you wheel me down t' the lounge? At least it's got windows what face west 'n' I'll be able t' see the mountains. At this time o' day there won't be too many folks there 'n' we kin talk a bit. O' course we'll have t' tell that busty broad at the desk where we was goin' 'n' get her okay ta do it."

So I wheeled Grampa Bender down to the nurse's station to get permission, then down to the lounge as the end of the hall. Of course, since there was a 'smoking deck' off the lounge and the draught from it might have cooled off the lounge, the nurse insisted that I take along a blanket to tuck around Grampa Bender, just in case he got chilly.

The lounge was almost empty. There were only a couple of people there. I found a clear space near the windows and parked the wheelchair, then pulled up a chair to sit beside the old man.

"Dang, then mountains is purdy today," Grampa Bender sighed, gazing off to the west. "I miss seein' 'em ever' day."

"I can't blame you there. The view of them here is darn near better than at the ranch."

"Yeah, I s'pose. Oh 'n' I s'pose you heard that I'm goin' to be moved, ain't ya? Mebee I'll get a better view then, right from m' room."

"No, I hadn't heard. Are you moving to a different ward?"

"Well, no, not exac'ly. They wanna put me over inta thet extended care wing. Seems they figure I'm gonna be a while recoverin' the use of ma pins. At least I'll have some folks close to m'own age ta talk ta over there 'n' I'll get a room ta m'self too," Then he looked at me and grinned. "They tell me there's nigh onto three women ta ever' man over there. Maybe I'll do like you 'n' round me up a couple of 'em to keep my bed warm this winter."

"Well actually, my bed might be a lot colder this winter," I sighed, looking around to see who could overhear us. "It seems that the gals who have been warming mine decided they'd rather do things for each other, more than for me."

"Well, I allus thought ya was dang smart, but I wondered if'n ya hadn't outsmarted yerself with two of 'em 'round all the time. I had nuf troubles keepin' your Gran happy, 'n' she were all by her lonesome. I dunno how eny man ud be able to handle two women folks."

"Huh, I guess you were right," I shook my head slowly, then frowned. "Hey, how did you know about what was going on with me? Did Mom and Dad say something?"

"No, but Beth did," he chuckled. "Her'n that boyfriend of her's was in here this mornin' 'n' they was kinda hintin' that ya might just be hittin' some rough weather on t' home front fair ta middlin' soon."

I just shrugged and he leaned forward. "Don't you worry none, you got lotsa years left to find a good woman, though I kinda liked that little red headed nurse o' yers. Lotsa fire in that'n 'n' a ton o' common dog too, even if her folks is crazy as bed bugs. I din't see her fer a few days 'n' thought she'd gone off to school er sumpin.' Sorta made me wonder whut was goin' on, cause I missed her smile. Then Beth told me she was stayin' with ya out to the ranch," he shook his head. "Dunno 'bout t'other'n ya was squirin' 'round though, thet twin with the big knockers. T'other twin that Wil's with seems awful quiet now she's back home, but the one ya ended up with has got herself a wild streak 'bout a mile wide. Is she t'one as started that woman to woman stuff?"

I shrugged again and he reached out his hand to touch mine.

"Good thinkin' not sayin' much," he winked at me. "There's times I swear the nurses hear ever'thin' goes on in these here rooms. But, there aint nobody out on the deck 'n' I don' think as they c'n hear anythin' there. Whyn't you wheel me out there, so's we c'n talk, private like? Better wrap me in that dang blanket though, sure as shooting some nurse'll come along 'n' give us hell if'n we don't."

So we moved out onto the open deck and settled down out there.

After a moment, he looked at me quizzically and sighed. "Okay, do I hafta ask whut's botherin' ya?"

"No, I guess if I should talk to anyone, it should be you," I sighed, then launched into the full tale of what had happened to me during my summer.

He listened attentively, nodding at times and shaking his head at others, but he never said a word while I verbalized my summer's trials and tribulations as well as my triumphs. The only thing I left out was what Beth had said about not wanting to live on the ranch in the future. When I finally paused, he reached out his hand and gently squeezed my arm.

"Afore I comment, there's a coupla other things ya should know," he said firmly. "First off, I don't think I'll be movin' back up ta the ranch, at least not permanent like, 'stead o' that I might visit fer a few days in the summer or such. Atop o' that Beth 'n' her guy aint all that taken with livin' that fur from town 'n' down a bad road to boot. Then too, I got ta thinkin' the other day 'bout young Tom 'n' his sister, Jasmine, as well as your half brother, Wil. Then I got ta thinkin' 'bout the way I'd writ out m' will afore. Now Wil plans on stayin' on the farm 'n' so does young Tom, but Jasmine don't. So I bin thinkin' 'bout that dang will ag'in, 'n' decided it weren't too fair to ever'body. I even had m' lawyer drop by 'n' talked to him 'bout it."

"You're changing your will?" I asked.

"Yup, seems the only thin' I can do 'n' be fair. Yer the last one of the bunch I'm talkin' to, so now's the time to tell me if'n there's any way your changin your mind 'bout anythin' important."

"You mean about staying on the ranch?"

"That's exac'ly whut I mean," Grampa Bender nodded, frowning slightly.

"Grampa Bender, if you tell me I have to leave, I will, but it will be under protest," I said emphatically. "I love that ranch!"

"I thought so," he grinned and squeezed my arm again. "That bein' the case, the lawyer'll have my new will all writ out in a couple o' days 'n' I can sign the changes ta thet by Friday."

"So, are you going to let me in on what you're changing in it?"

"Yer an impatient whelp, ain'tcha?" he laughed thinly, his voice sounding old. "Yea, I'll tell ya, but keep it quiet from the rest o' ta family fer now, 'cept yer Mom 'n' Dad, least 'til it's signed. I'm still gonna split up the ownership o' the upper ranch, but I'm changin' the split up a lot. You'll get more'n fifty percent o' Mile High Ranch, so's ya keep control jes as long as ya make the ranch yer permanent home. The other youngsters that live 'n work on t' farm 'n t' ranch'll split the rest of the control 'tween em, 'cept fer Jasmine, I guess. She plans t' move t' the city, but since she's worked on the farm all her life, I had t' take her inta account too. With that idear in mind, I decided that my personal bank account 'n' other assets might be the answer. Right now I'm thinkin' she'll get twenty percent o' that, whilst your Mom 'n' your Uncle Tom'll get ten percent each. The rest o' it'll be split equally 'mongst all the rest o' the family, includin' you other kids 'n' all the relatives that has already left the farm. o' course I may change m' mind on thet part later if'n things change."

"Jeez, won''t that open a huge kettle of fish with the folks who've left the farm?" I sighed. "Heck, this spring I thought there was going to be a riot when they found out about your other will."

"Well, this time the will is a lil bit different. In case one o' the townees has any idea o' tryin' t' bust the will; there'll be a clause in there that'll cut them out completely as soon as they raise a fuss with a lawyer," Grampa Bender laughed, but his laughter had a bitter tone to it. "I ain't gonna ever forget all them years when everyone on the farm worked their butts off 'n' we'd only see them folks from the city when they drove out to show off their new cars. I figure 'bout the same day as I kick the bucket they'll be tryin' t' bust my will. In fact I 'spect it'll happen afore the will's even read. I can imagine the scream that's gonna come when one o' them smart alecks do, 'n' finds he's shot hisself in the foot."

I couldn't help grinning about that myself because I knew exactly how he felt. After all, I remembered when one of my city uncles had driven out just to show off his brand-new Cadillac. He had found us all at work, trying to carry enough water to the barns to keep the pigs alive because it was extremely hot and the barnyard well had gone dry. He had offered to help us out though. In order to save us the work of having to preserve them for the winter, he wanted to buy all of Mom's vegetables. I remember hearing Dad ask him just what the hell he expected us to eat that winter instead. My fancy pants city uncle had gotten mad and left then, throwing up a cloud of dust from the spinning back wheels of his new car, but not before telling Dad that he'd tried his best to help and that Dad was an ungrateful fool.

So I knew how Grampa Bender felt and I didn't have one ounce of sympathy for anyone that tried to break his will.

"Kinda the thing that would serve the slimey boogers right, don'tcha think?" Grampa Bender cackled almost viciously.

"Yeah, I guess it is, but I hope that's a long time in the future," I said after we'd shared a rather sardonic laugh. "I like having you around."

"Well, I'm ain't in no rush to take that last trip t' the graveyard m'self," Grampa Bender sighed. "How some ever, the sawbones tells me that ma heart aint so good no more 'n' warned me t' get my papers all in order jus' in case. He said it could be years 'n' years, or it could happen tomorra. He sez I et a bunch o' the wrong foods 'n' drank too much likker. So I got something called coal-ester-awl buildin' up fat in m' veins 'n' 'round my heart, makin' it work too hard for years 'n years. But, don't you go worryin' yerself none, I plan on bein' 'round fer a goodly while yet."

"That's good, if I'm going to be looking after the ranch, I want to be able to talk to you and pick your brain when I have problems," I managed a grin.

"Well, I dunno 'bout that, you been doin' right well this summer from all I heard. Have you found somebody t' look after the place this fall, when you go off to learn about radios 'n' TVs 'n' such like?"

"I'm not sure I'm going there, Grampa. If I'm going to be taking over the ranch eventually, I was thinking I'd be better off taking a course about farming and ranching, rather than electronics. Besides, after this last week and the screw up with the women who are moving into that duplex, I'd have to find another place to stay if I went to Calgary."

"Hmm, there's that, aint there, but I thought ya had a real drive to learn 'bout all thet radio stuff?"

"I did, but then my Grampa got sick, so I offered to look after his place while he was recovering because I'd always loved his place and didn't want it to become run down," I grinned and winked at him. "Of course just living up there for a couple of months spoiled me. I learned to love the place even more than I had before. It snuck up on me and sort of pushed my passion for electronics aside, so now the ranch has top place in my heart."

"Well, I sure cain't blame ya fer that," he looked thoughtful for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind and nod his head slightly. "I'll tell ya whut, if'n ya promise ta take a farm school course or two 'n' plan on workin' the ranch fer certain sure, ya kin take over control o' the ranch right away. I'll even get ya ta vote my shares o' stock fer that land leasin' company we formed. Ya kin still come 'n' get ma opinion, but I'll be givin' ya control o' th' ranch 'n' th' shares too. That way, yu'll be the guy whut's got th' whole ball o' wax in his hands."

I just stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"Well, whutta you say?" he grinned slyly. "Did I discombobulate your brain er somethin'?"

"I think you've done a really good job of it, or at least you rattled me some," I said flatly. "Are you sure this is really what you want? I mean, heck, I'm only sixteen and ..."

"Oh piddle," Grampa Bender snapped and frowned at me. "Yer so much like I were at sixteen thet I figger yer dang near m' younger double. Jehosaphat boy, I were only eighteen when I filed on thet dang homestead in the first place. Heck, by that time I'd been punchin' cows or ridin' herd on a remuda 'n' breakin' broncs fer nigh onta four years. I know'd you c'n do the job, ya just gotta buckle down 'n' work at it, 'n'en yu'll be fine. So whutta ya say? Yes or no?"

"Oh heck yes," I grinned weakly, still worried about the responsibility.

"Good!" he said firmly with a big smile and held out his right hand for me to shake. "I figgered ya would, so when the lawyer was here afore, I set thet up too. I'll jes call him 'n have him put it in writin'. 'Course I didn't count on ya not going to your radio school thing, but thet don't make no never mind. It jus means that ya won't have to pay out wages t' hire somebody ta look after th' place this winter."

"Hmm, I wasn't thinking of that; hiring someone to live up there could get costly," I frowned.

"Oh, you'll be able t' afford it," he chuckled. "Since yer gonna be doin' both the thinkin' 'n' the doin' at the ranch, yu'll be gettin' a pay raise too, ya know. On top o' that, ya get a tad more money fer handlin' th' big share o' decisions o' the lease management company too. Yu'll be doin' okay, money-wise."

I was staring at him again, trying to wrap my thoughts around the things he was saying, when one of the older and gruffer nurses marched into the room.

"So, Mr. Bender, this is where you hide out when you want to avoid me, is it? It's time for your bath. You'll have to tell your visitor goodbye or else miss out on your bath today."

"Okay, Cora. Jus as long as it's you who's helpin' me have a bath, I aint about t' argee with ya," Grampa Bender grinned and winked at her, then turned to me. "Chris, you take care, 'n' figger ta be here 'bout ten o'clock nex Friday, 'long with ever'body else."

"Okay, Grampa. I'll see you then," I managed to say, my mind still whirling over the idea that he was literally giving me control of the ranch.

When I left the hospital I wasn't in the mood to run into anyone I knew, knowing that I'd probably have to answer questions about things that I felt were none of anyone else's business. So instead of stopping anywhere else in town I drove straight home, but even that short trip seemed to take forever.

Once I crested the hill on the road to the ranch, I could see Dad's pickup truck parked beside the old Jeep. So I wasn't surprised to see Mom and Dad were sitting on the front porch having a cup of coffee as I got closer. That suited me just fine, since I wanted to talk to them about what Grampa Bender was planning to do and get their opinions.

"Hi Chris, where have you been hiding?" Dad smiled as I got out of my car.

"I went in to talk to Grampa Bender," I answered with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Mom smiled, wrapping me in a tight hug. "Do you want a coffee? I just made it a moment or two before you showed up."

"Sure," I answered, then looked at her closely. "Your mood has certainly changed in the last while."

"Well as your father said, so has yours," she said quickly, then pulled away and headed inside.

"Have a seat, Chris. You don't want to go inside right now," Dad warned me.

"I don't?"

"No you don't. Wilma Coulter and Ann McAdam are in there cleaning out Carissa and Sandy's things. I can't say that either of them is happy with you, or with their daughters. So it might be best to let your mother get things from inside."

"But, you and I are sitting right here in their way, so if they carry anything out ..."

"Wilma has her car parked near the back of the cabin," Dad interrupted. "They're using the back door to take things out."

"Oh okay, I guess," I sighed. "Did Mom go to town and lay down the law?"

"Nope," Dad shook his head. "She was still at home talking to me when Wilma called. Wilma and Ann are both a little upset about the happenings of the last week or so."

"Oh boy," I sighed again. "I guess I should talk to them about things, huh?"

"I really don't think this is a good time," he said quietly. "From what I heard the girls came home long enough to tell their mother's they were off to Calgary and that you were avoiding them, then disappeared. So their mothers blame you for upsetting the girls."

"Oh great!"

"Now don't you get to worrying," Dad chuckled. "Your mother let Wilma have both barrels over the phone, defending you and explaining what she understood really happened. She was a bit unhappy about the way you'd been treated. I think your mother's argument really sank in when Corinna grabbed the phone out of Liz's hands and ripped into her mother too. Corinna is so mad at Carissa right now that she's seeing red."

"That's not good," I shook my head.

"Well from what Corinna said to me after she gave the phone back to Liz, it's happened several times before. For twins that I thought were so similar when I met them, those two have sure changed a lot in a few months; either that or they weren't that similar to start with."

"Wilma told me that the girls have always had little tiffs," Mom startled us as she spoke. "Here's your coffee, Chris."

She handed me the coffee, then sat down at my side and rested an arm across my shoulders.

"Just how are you doing?" she asked quite caringly.

"Kinda numb," I sighed. "It's funny, but I'm not that upset. The strange thing is that while I'm not happy with what the girls did, I can almost understand why they did it. Then too it's strange, but I still like each one of them a lot. Right now I've tucked all that in a corner of my mind though. I've got other things to worry about."

I paused and sipped my coffee, then sighed once more. "Has Grampa Bender talked to either of you about changing his will again?"

"Beth mentioned something about that this morning," Dad frowned. "Did Toby say something to you too?"

"She had a lot more to say than just that," Mom sighed. "Did you know that Beth and George are very serious about each other?"

"Yeah, she told me about that," I nodded. "She even told Grampa Bender. That's one of the reasons why he's changing his will, or at least I suppose it is."

"Well, it very well could be. Beth and George don't like it up here as much as they thought they did. They both think it's too isolated. I can't blame them; even with that new road, you're still living miles away from anyone else," Mom pointed to the road up to the top of the bluff. "I know from stories that your grandfather told us that there are times in some winters when that cut drifts right over and it's several feet deep. Anyone living here would be totally isolated if that happened. That's one of the reasons Beth is having second thoughts about living up here."

"Yeah, I know about that, Mom," I nodded. "The idea of being isolated doesn't bother me much. First off, I was thinking of getting a top for the Jeep and building a shed up on the bluff so I could park it inside for the winter. Then I was thinking of buying one of those little snowmobiles. If I want to go out then, I'd take the snowmobile up the snowed-in road, then use the Jeep once I was on the top of the bluff. Besides that, the cabin is easy to keep warm and storing a month or so of food in case I get snowed in is no problem."

"Well, Beth doesn't like the idea," Mom sighed heavily. "Now, what was this about your grandfather and his will?"

So I explained about Grampa Bender being told by his doctors that he would have to live in the extended care wing of the hospital and about his heart problem. I wasn't surprised when both of them simply nodded, since I expected that they'd have talked to the doctor. Then I told them about the general idea of what he'd said to me about taking over the ranch and the changes he wanted to make to his will for the future. I was surprised when both of them nodded again, as if they expected that to happen too. When I mentioned the idea Grampa Bender had about adding a clause to stop the extended family from trying to break his will, Dad laughed aloud and Mom snickered.

"I'd support his ideas just for that clause and the changes he's made to give Jasmine a bigger say for now, but still giving her the loophole so she can move on in the future," Mom grinned. "Sometimes Uncle Toby is crazy like a fox."

"That's for sure," Dad chuckled, then grew serious. "But what about your course in electronics, Chris? After all the work you did to get such good grades and everything, are you willing to just give that up?"

"I'll be honest Dad, it doesn't have the fascination for me that it once had, and you know how I've always felt about this place," I sighed. "I wish I'd come to the conclusion sooner, then I'd have applied at Olds to take their herdsman and equipment maintenance courses this year."

"Actually you're in for a surprise," Mom smiled at that. "Wil knows one of the girls who works in the office at OSA in the summer. He called her as soon as he heard me talking about your idea of going there instead of to Calgary. There was nothing open for this semester, but they had a few openings left in two new courses, one for animal husbandry and the other for farm mechanics. Those don't start until after the Christmas break. Once she had explained them to him, he thought they'd be just what you wanted. Just in case, he asked her to put your name in one of those spaces. You'll have to go to Olds and make official application if you want to take them though."

"Holy cow! That was fast."

"Well yes, it is, but it works out well for Wil too. He's losing his roommate after the winter break. If you take those courses it means he won't have to hunt for anyone else to share his rent, but as well as that the two of you can travel together and be home most weekends."

"But will two courses be worth my time?" I asked.

"Actually, Wil said the reason they were open was because they're new and they're literally cram courses, so they'll be tough. Each of them is half a day long for four days of the week, then on alternate weeks, you have a full day of one course or the other. From what he said, I understood that they cover the same materials as a regular full year course. You'll have to ask him about more details because he didn't explain everything to me, but I think it might be a trial run of a new format or something. After he'd hung up the phone he sounded almost envious of you."

"Envious of me, but why?"

"Well, he said those are two of the pivotal courses of the whole curriculum. In other words you would be cramming into five months what will have taken him two years."

"But, he's taking a lot of other courses as well," I protested.

"Yes, but those are two of the courses that he really wants to do well in," Dad laughed softly.

I was frowning as I wondered about that, but I frowned even harder when I heard a car engine start behind the cabin. None of us had even risen to our feet before Mrs. Coulter's car zipped past the side of the cabin and the two women drove away without looking back.

"Damn," Mom snapped, causing me to stare at her.

I was staring over the fact that she'd used a swear word more than anything else. Mom very seldom swore in any way no matter what went wrong.

"What's wrong?" Dad asked before I could.

"They didn't say goodbye or even wave," Mom sighed. "I'm not sure, but if they're acting this way I don't think either of them believed me. I wouldn't worry if it was just Ann, but it's Wilma too. Unfortunately I think Corinna is going to be having a rough time with her mother, at least until Carissa gets caught in some way by her lies."

"Well I don't know what else she told her mom, but if it was that I rode away and avoided them, that was the truth. I just didn't think it would be wise to talk to them right then," I snorted. "At that moment I felt like I'd been set up, so I was annoyed. I suppose I was being a bit childish, but I wanted to avoid a confrontation until I was in a better mood."

"That's just it. You had a reason for your annoyance. Carissa knew that or she'd have waited for you to come back and would have listened to your side of the issue. I think she was worried about talking to you and ran away rather than facing the music," Mom snapped. "Willard, it's time for us to go home and do the chores."

"Mom, don't be angry with me over this. It's not like I'm protecting Carissa, but if I'd felt like dealing with a confrontation I'd have ridden back and spoken to her. As things stand I'm just as guilty of walking away as she is. That doesn't mean that I'm any happier about her previous actions though. I think those were manipulative and sneaky, and I don't like that a bit more than you do."

Mom had stood up and was walking toward the truck, but she stopped and sighed heavily, then turned to look at me.

"I understand, Chris. I'm not really angry with you. I'm angry at the situation and I'm very annoyed with Carissa. I can understand where you're coming from and I suppose I can even sympathise with Carissa to a point, but I was building a friendship with Wilma. I'm afraid this whole deal will upset that for a while," she explained quietly, then turned to walk toward Dad's pickup.

Dad just looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and headed toward the truck himself. Neither of them said anything, but at least they both waved before they left. As for me, I had chores to do.

I decided that evening that doing the chores by myself, then having to cook something to eat for a single person afterward was a real pain in the butt. I'd been spoiled, but at the same time I wasn't about to go overboard to try to find another live-in girlfriend. As I sat down on the porch to have my evening coffee, I vowed that the next woman to live with me was going to be someone that I knew exceptionally well and planned to marry.

Of course that thought put me into a reflective mood and for a while I dwelt on thoughts of what might have been, dreaming of what life could have been like if things had been slightly different. Of course thoughts of Carissa flooded my mind first, only to be displaced by thoughts of Sandy. Realizing that I was being melancholy I tried to force them out of my mind, only to find that thoughts of Jackie took their place.

"Fuck!" I swore emphatically, sitting up straight. "Face it, dummy. Those three are gone and it wasn't your decision, it was theirs. Since they're gone, you need to get on with your life."

The dogs had collected around me when I sat down and as I spoke aloud, they perked up. In fact, Duke shuffled over and rested his head on my knee as if he was being sympathetic, so I patted his back and scratched him behind the ear. Of course petting Duke was taken as an invitation by both of the other dogs to crowd close and expect some attention too. That led me to remember the night we had found that Duke had been doing his best to protect the other two, which in turn led me to thoughts about wolves.

I realized then that I'd seen almost no sign of wolves all year and very little sign of coyotes or foxes either. Since game was plentiful, with oodles of rabbits, gophers and other small game around, predators had been skittish about being seen by humans. At the same time, a lot of small varmints meant their predators had lots of food, so they would have raised more young than usual. Since I hadn't seen much of any of them I thought they'd probably been hunting the higher ranges, but if we had a tough winter that large population of predators could be a problem. I was going to need to be ready just in case. That meant I'd better check the shotgun and rifles. As well as that, I'd better get some fresh ammo.

Thinking about that, I realized that if I wasn't going to school in Calgary, but was going to be gone to Olds after New Year's Day, I had several months to make some preparations. I was still thinking along those lines when I went to bed.

By the time I woke the next morning, I found that my subconscious must have worked overtime as I slept. Many of my previous questions and problems seemed to have clear solutions. Since I'd made up my mind on several different subjects, I lay there reviewing my decisions before getting up and tackling my day. That didn't last long, as usual my internal plumbing dictated that I had to get out of bed. After a quick trip outside in the semidarkness I went back inside, then made and ate my breakfast, Since I still had a few minutes before full light, I decided to make myself some notes about my decisions before tackling the chores.

> It made sense to me not to move to Calgary and not to study Electronics that fall, simply because I'd have no immediate way to use the training I'd get there. That meant I'd better call them and cancel out.

> Instead, I was going to apply to OSA (Olds School of Agriculture) for the new animal husbandry and farm mechanics courses that were starting in January. That meant another phone call and probably a trip to Olds.

> I could use the four months prior to starting at Olds to make improvements around the ranch. At the same time I had four months to find someone I could trust who would be willing to stay on the ranch and care for my animals while I was away studying. That might be a tough job.

> I was not planning to get involved with another young woman for a while. When I did, I wanted to be friends first and take my time to know the gal before becoming more deeply involved.

> Along those lines I thought I should try to talk to Carissa and Sandy's parents. I wanted to try to explain at least part of my side of things. I didn't know if that was wise, but I still felt I had to try.

> I wanted to talk to both Grampa Bender and his lawyer about the limits of what I could do and what I could change on the ranch. I felt I needed to plan improvements and develop a budget so that I had a target to aim for.

> Somehow I was going to work toward finding a way to get in and out of the valley more easily in bad weather. For now the short time before the coming winter meant I'd need to enclose and winterize the Jeep, build a (heated?) shed up on the upper plateau and buy a snowmobile.

> Other than those points, I resolved that I was going to ask a lot of people for advice before I took any actions of any kind.

By then it was light enough to go outside, so I did the chores. However, shortly after eight in the morning I was back inside, cleaned up and ready to tackle the rest of my day.

The first order of business was to set up my education for the year. I grabbed the phone and called the registrar at the technical school in Calgary to let them know that I wasn't going to be taking the electronics course that year. That way if they had a waiting list of people who wanted to take the course the next person in line had a chance. Even withdrawing from the course was a bit of a hassle though. I had to explain that my circumstances had changed, then was surprised that the woman on the other end of the phone line gave me a short argument about withdrawing, but I stuck to my guns.

Since I didn't have the phone number for the school at Olds, I decided my next step was to go talk to Wil. Expecting that he and Dad would still be outside doing the morning chores around the farm, I grabbed the quick list I'd written, then hopped into my car to drive down to the farm.

For some reason I stopped at the crest of the road up the hill, got out of the car and looked back at the ranch. While I stood there, my mind flashed back over the days since I'd first brought Carissa here and had found Grampa Bender collapsed and ill. Many things had changed since then and as I looked down and across the valley I could see the effects of my summer's work, which was a darn satisfying feeling. Of course that was balanced by a sense of regret that other things hadn't gone as well, but I certainly wasn't unhappy that I'd spent my summer there.

With a deep sigh I climbed back into the car and drove away. I arrived at the farm in time to hold the door of the house open in order to let Wil and Dad carry the fresh milk inside.

"Hi, Chris," Corinna smiled at me as I walked into the house. "Did you come to join us for breakfast?"

"Hi Corinna. Actually I've had mine, about an hour or more ago," I grinned, noticing that Beth had just added another place at the table. "Hi, Mom, Hi, Beth."

"Well, hello stranger," Beth grinned, coming over and wrapping me in a quick hug. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Although it seems like everyone is abandoning me. I'm starting to feel like a hermit," I teased. "Are you ready for school?"

"Well at least Beth told you to your face, not like that crazy sister of mine," Corinna snapped, her mood changing instantly.

"Hey, all of the blame isn't hers," I sighed. "She can't change her personality any more than pigs can fly and I can't change mine either. If you want to know the truth I'm guilty by complicity."

"Okay, enough of that," Mom added and tried to change the subject. "Just what brings you down here this morning, Chris?"

"I just wanted to talk," I smiled at her, then walked over and hugged her. "Mostly I wanted to talk to Wil about Olds, but I thought the rest of you should know that I've phoned Calgary and withdrawn my application to start that electronics course this year."

"I think that's a wise decision considering the way things are going," Dad joined the conversation. "You do plan on taking those courses that Will mentioned instead, don't you?"

"Yes that's why I wanted to talk to everyone, especially Will."

"Well it's really quite straight forward," Will piped up as he joined everyone else at the table. "I talked to Jeannie in the registrar's office and she's added your name to the list, so you're preregistered. All you have to do is show up with your school transcripts and the cash to pay for the course. You'll be able to live with me in my apartment since my present roommate is planning to leave just before the winter break. There's not much else to say about it."

Just then the phone rang and Mom grabbed it.

"Hello," she said crisply

I could see from the frown on her face that she wasn't happy to have breakfast interrupted, but that frown disappeared in an instant. Then for some reason she stared at Corinna for a few seconds and even glanced over at me.

"Oh my," Mom's voice became quiet and caring, while her face looked concerned.

All of us simply stared at her, wondering what could be wrong.

"Yes she's here and Chris just arrived too. We were just sitting down to breakfast."

She turned away from us at that point and somehow I knew that she was talking about Carissa. I also leaped to the conclusion that it wasn't good news. I glanced at Corinna and from the look on her face, I guessed that she'd made the same leap in logic. All of us sitting at the table had grown quiet. When Corinna leaned his way slightly, Will reached out one hand to rest it on hers as his other arm slipped out across her shoulders in a gentle hug.

The phone call didn't last long.

"That was your father Corinna, and I'm sorry, but there's no way to sugar coat this," Mom's voice was tightly controlled. "Carissa and the other two girls went to Calgary sometime yesterday, but they were involved in an accident early this morning. They were crossing through an intersection when a large delivery truck ran a red light, hitting the Jeep broadside. Jackie was thrown out of the Jeep and is in extremely serious condition. The other two are in the hospital as well. John didn't know much about Sandy and of course the hospital wouldn't tell him anything since he wasn't a relative."

"And Carissa?" Corinna asked.

"She's in emergency, but the prognosis looks good," Mom said flatly.

"Where are they at, Mom? Which hospital?" Will asked as Corinna leaned against him heavily, her face now pale.

"Calgary General," Mom answered instantly. "Carissa is in the emergency room right now, but she's being moved to the operating room soon. John and Wilma were leaving as soon as he hung up from calling here since they want to be there as quickly as possible. I imagine the other two girls are at the same hospital as well, but I'm not positive of that. John didn't know for certain."

"We'd better go too," Will said instantly, abandoning his breakfast and getting to his feet. "Corinna can pack a few clothes, so will I. We might have to get a motel room and stay in Calgary for a few days."

"I think I want to be there too, so if you want I can give you a ride down there in my car," I offered. "Dad, could you talk to Tom and George about doing my chores? I might be back by tonight, but I don't know that for certain. If I do get back soon enough I'll stop here first."

### Chapter 38