# Car 54

####
© 2005 / revised 2014
K Pelle

### Chapter 27:
Slow - Emergency Vehicle Access

Since there were four women and a telephone in the cabin, I should have expected what happened later, but I didn't. However, in a short time I was looking at a yard full of cars and people, all of them concerned about us in some way. The RCMP officers had packed up and left, but they must have met the incoming traffic on the road.

Mom, Dad and Wil were the first arrivals, but I'd rather expected them to be there. When John and Wilma Coulter showed up, I wasn't really surprised. Even having Frank Dolens and his son, Jerry show up with their tow truck to take the car back to town was reasonable, but having Sam and Ann McAdam show up and bring Sandy along, literally floored me. Of course, since her sisters had spent the night, I suppose it was something I should have expected.

Somehow, with Sandy, Carissa and Wil all in the same group, I expected that there would be fireworks of some sort, but in actual fact everyone seemed quite calm and even friendly. I think it was Beth who managed to keep the peace, but perhaps it was Jessica and Jean. Actually they probably weren't together that long before we broke into groups, the women going one way and the men another. And, to be honest, I wasn't able to spend enough time with the women to be able to judge if there was any animosity between them.

Actually, since it was the first time Frank and Jerry Dolens or Sam McAdam had ever been at the ranch, I felt that I had to give them the two-bit tour of the place. John Coulter, Dad and Wil all tagged along. Of course the first place we had to stop was the hog pen and I had to tell everyone about the sight of Ray and Sid sitting on the peak of the gable roof.

"Did the cops tell you that the nurses at the hospital had to take cedar slivers out of those two idiot's asses?" Sam McAdam laughed as he looked up at the old split cedar shakes on the roof. "Both of them must have slid around up there on their butts and didn't realise what the slivers would do."

Of course that drew laughter from everyone. All of us knew that a cedar sliver hurt like blazes and that the poisons in the wood would cause a wound made by a cedar sliver to fester quickly.

"Actually I was wondering more about the wound on Ray's leg," I said when I'd had a chuckle at the idea of the cedar slivers. "A wound of any sort from a pig's tusk can get infected pretty badly."

"Well, the hospital cleaned it up and gave him a couple of needles for it. The doctor didn't think it was a bite, more of a scratch. He gave Ray a tetanus shot in the wound and some sort of antibiotic though, just in case," Sam answered. "You can ask Sandy about it. She was on duty last night. She thought it was funny as hell, until she found out the two little bastards were out here. I'm not sure what she'd have done if she'd known her sisters were here at the time."

"Oh, did she think they were down at the farm?" Dad frowned.

"Yeah, it wasn't until she got home that she realised they were up here last night. When her mom told her that, she got all worried and insisted that we take the time off work to come out and see that they were okay," Sam shook his head, then looked at me strangely. "To be honest, I think she was a little worried about you as well."

"Me? I thought she was mad at me."

"Not so's you'd notice it," Sam shook his head. "Oh, I admit, she was pissed at you at one time. I'm fairly sure she's changed her mind though, but don't ask me what her reasons are. She's a woman and I don't think their heads work the same way yours or mine do."

There wasn't much I could say to that, all I could do was shrug and try to steer the conversation to safer ground. At that point I was feeling tired and not thinking too clearly, but that was because I'd only gotten a few hours sleep the night before. So right then, I didn't want to have to think about anything complicated. Instead of worrying about anything like that, I did my best to change the subject, but in actual fact, it did worry me. Even then I had a feeling that Sandy's continued interest in me might cause problems for Carissa and me at some time in the future.

Dad came to my rescue then, asking questions about the new cattle. That meant I could steer everyone's steps out toward the pasture, detouring past the barn so I could let the dogs out. For a short time, we wandered around as a group, everyone asking questions and getting filled in on the happenings up there at the ranch. Then, while we were standing at the gate to the pasture and looking out at the cattle, Mom called me, so I headed back to the cabin to find out what she wanted. Jerry Dolens and Wil walked along with me part of the way, then went to tow the stolen car out of the bush where it had been hidden. Meanwhile the older men walked out into the pasture to check on the Polled Shorthorn cattle that Dad had convinced me to buy.

As I approached the cabin, Mom, Wilma Coulter and Ann McAdam came toward me and Mom gestured toward the vegetable garden.

"Ann wants to have a talk with the three of us," Mom said to me with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

I looked at her and frowned. "What's going on? Is this serious?"

"It might be," Mrs. Coulter smiled. "And then again, it might be no problem at all. This is more about personalities than anything else. It does involve you, somewhat heavily."

"Don't scare him, Wilma. Nothing has been decided yet," Ann McAdam frowned at her, then sighed softly. "Let's sit down over there in the shade and I'll explain things to everyone."

I felt a bit weird about this whole deal, but at that moment I was more curious than anything. At the same time I had a feeling that there was an almost palpable tension in the air and although it was between the women, they were getting me involved. For some reason, Mom and Mrs. Coulter seemed to be distancing themselves from Mrs. McAdam, yet something about their attitudes made me feel that I was under a microscope.

As I sat down on an old log, the whole scenario worried me, but I couldn't explain why. When Mom sat down on my right and Wilma Coulter sat on my left, my tensions increased because I realized that they were probably almost in the dark about what was going on as I was. Ann McAdam was facing the three of us and she looked slightly uncomfortable as her gaze wandered over our faces.

"First I should explain that this whole thing is Sam and his brother's idea. It's not mine, but I'm the one they've asked to talk to you about it," she sighed. "Chris, I understand you are planning to attend the Technical school in Calgary in the fall, is that right?"

"Yeah, that was the plan," I nodded.

"And I understand you don't have a place to stay yet, do you?"

"He might be able to stay with his cousins, but I doubt if he'd be happy there and it means a drive of at least ten or twelve miles to go to class each day," Mom answered. "We were looking for something closer, but it seems we should have started looking earlier, most of the closer places are either already taken or else far too expensive."

"Carissa has the same problem, and on top of that, I think the two of them really have their hearts set on living close to each other," Wilma Coulter offered. "What about Sandy? I thought she was going into nursing as well?"

"That's the whole thing in a nutshell," Mrs. McAdam nodded. "My brother-in-law is a real estate agent and he owns a duplex that he usually rents out to students from the Tech and the University. He keeps the place up himself and it's fully furnished, ready for students to move in. We were thinking of renting one side as a place for Sandy, but we need at least one more tenant for it to be practical. Actually two or three more students would be even better."

"Whoa," Mom said in astonishment. "You want Carissa and Chris to move into one side of a duplex with Sandy?"

"I'm surprised, but I think it would work," Wilma Coulter nodded her head, astonishing both Mom and me. "I certainly don't feel comfortable about the idea, but I can see how it might work out quite well."

"I don't see that," I disagreed. "First off, I dated Sandy, remember, and we didn't exactly hit it off. Secondly, I don't think Carissa and Sandy are exactly the best of friends. The tensions between the three of us are pretty high. I think throwing us together in one place would lead to a lot of arguments and maybe even fights."

"Hey, wait a minute," Ann McAdam laughed. "I wasn't suggesting that Chris move in with the girls. It's a duplex, remember. My brother-in-law, Bill, usually reserves one side for guys and the other side for girls. He doesn't often allow mixed couples because he's found that too many of the young couples split up under the pressures of going to University or technical school. He usually plans to accommodate four people on each side of the duplex, but he doesn't mind if there are fewer, just as long as the rent is paid. There is one bedroom free on the guys' side and I thought Chris might take that. Whether he looked for a roommate or not is up to him. The other side is completely open at the moment, so I thought Sandy and Carissa could take that. Since they're going into the nursing program, I thought they could each take one of the bedrooms and select a roommate."

"Well, that sounds better," Mom laughed softly. "However, I'm not even certain if I'm in favour of the idea of them living that close without any family nearby."

"Oh come now, Liz," Wilma Coulter chuckled. "As far as your son and my daughter are concerned, they're practically a couple as it is. After all, they've lived together all summer. Having them live in two separate homes is a lot less open to the gossip brigade."

"My arguments still hold true," I said, holding up my hand to stop Mom and Wilma from arguing. "I doubt if Carissa and Sandy would be the best roommates for each other."

"Actually, I think it would be best is they were both here and involved in this discussion," Mom suggested with a glance at me.

"Yeah, I'll go get them," I said hopping to my feet and hurrying off before anyone could stop me.

Carissa and Sandy were standing in the kitchen of the cabin when I got there.

Both of them were standing straight and as tall as they could with their shoulders thrown back and their hands at their sides. Both of their faces wore an expression of determination, but not real anger. From the looks on their faces and the tension in their bodies, I thought a war was about to break out. Yet, I'd never seen either one of them look sexier.

"Hey guys," I said, deciding in an instant to try to ease the tension. "Where are Beth and the others?"

"Gone to see the horses," Carissa snapped. "But, before you run off, we need to talk to you. Did Sandy's mom explain the lame brain scheme that Sam and his brother have come up with?"

"About renting the duplex? That's why I'm here, our mom's want to have us involved in this discussion."

"What discussion?" Sandy snapped. "You mean she was already talking to your moms about that? Dammit, she's gone too far this time. I was supposed to get it settled with you guys first."

She spun on her heel and ran out the door, leaving Carissa and I staring at each other. Both of us were left with our mouths wide open, then we both started to laugh as we thought about the situation.

"Parents!" Carissa snorted.

"Yeah!" I laughed. "As if we need this today when neither of us got much sleep last night."

"Well, they did get things part way right," she grinned and hugged me. "At least we'd be living next door to each other instead of miles apart."

"I'd rather have an apartment where I could live with you, thanks," I grinned. "But, I doubt if that will happen."

"I don't know," she got a crafty look in her eye. "I just thought of a way this might work out okay, but the two of us would have to put up with Sandy being around all the time and sleeping in the next bedroom."

"What?" I stared at her.

"Look at it this way, what if we did agree to their plan at first, but when we got to Calgary, we shuffled things around a bit."

"Maybe I'm slow this morning, but I don't understand. You'll have to explain."

"Okay, there are several ways this could work," she grinned. "The most likely way would be to move in the way they suggested, then look for roommates. However, instead of looking for one guy, you just happen to find two and instead of two girls, Sandy and I find only one. That way you could move in with us and share a bedroom with me, then things would still work out."

"You want me to live in a two-bedroom duplex with you and two other women? You've got to be kidding! I'd go nuts in a week," I shook my head.

"Oh, you're tougher than that," she grinned at me. "Besides, we'd be together and that would balance out a lot of other things."

"Huh, I'd never be able to use the bathroom. And on top of that, we'd still be living in the same house with Sandy."

"Oh Sandy isn't all that bad," she laughed. "In fact, I think the two of you still have a bit of a crush on each other, so I'm happy she wasn't more experienced when you guys were together. If she had been, I doubt if we'd have ended up as a couple."

"So, even though you think we have a crush on each other, you'd be willing to have the three of us live together?" I stared at her in astonishment.

"Well, yes. I'd rather have that than have you living miles away from me," she smiled. "I happen to like sleeping in the same bed with you almost every night."

"Yeah, but ..."

"Oh, I can't see it happening, not really," she sighed. "I don't think even Sandy would go along with it, let alone your mom and mine. I think Sam McAdam has talked his brother Bill into the idea somehow, probably because he likes you so much."

"Sam likes me?" I asked in astonishment.

"Oh yeah!" she laughed. "He idolizes your dad. Well actually, I think he idolizes both of your parents for some reason, but mostly your dad, and I'm fairly certain he thinks you're a chip off the old block."

"Yeah, well that's neither here nor there," I sighed, waving a hand in dismissal. "I'm also the guy who told him that he was raising his daughter in a way that was almost guaranteed to turn her into a slut."

"I think he respects you all the more for that," she giggled. "Actually, I'd have loved to have been hiding in the bushes so I could have seen that. You hobbling around in your casts and him charging out to beat you up for bringing his daughter home in tears, then having you chew him out for poor parenting."

"Well, it wasn't exactly fun for me," I snapped.

"Hey, it was needed," she grabbed me and kissed the tip of my nose, then pulled back to stare into my eyes. "Sandy was just telling me that she wishes she could turn back the clock and have that night all over. She's changed a lot since she's had some good advice about guys and dating."

"Now that scares me," I sighed.

"Why?"

"Because I think that means she still wants to have sex with me," I answered honestly.

"Oh yeah, I'm almost certain it does. So, you and I will either have to convince her that she had her chance and blew it or else give in to the inevitable," she sighed, then grinned. "It might be easier to just find a way to get rid of that cherry she's so worried about losing. However, I think that means we'd have to find her a boyfriend, since I'd rather you were no longer in the picture."

"Well, whatever you say, but I think we should go talk to our mothers about this duplex thing right now," I frowned at her because of some of the implications of what she'd said.

"I'd like to talk to Sandy first, just the three of us."

"Why?"

"Because if it seemed that all of us went along with the idea, but did it rather begrudgingly, our folks might just go for it," she sighed, frowning at me. "If we did it right, Sandra's folks would think that she'd be close by and might have a chance to get back together with you. Meanwhile, our folks would look on her as a chaperone of sorts, someone who would keep us from getting too wildly involved."

"Oh come on," I snorted. "Your mom just told mine that she already thought of us as a couple."

"That's encouraging," she kissed me lightly. "By the way, how do you think of us?"

"Most of the time I just accept you as my gal," I admitted, then wrapped my arms around her. "So in a way, I guess that means I think of us as a couple, but then I think about the idea that you're older than I am and I get a bit worried about us being together."

"Don't worry about that," she grinned, hugging me tightly. "Most of the time you make me feel like I'm the kid. You have to be the most grown up sixteen year old there ever was."

"Yeah, but I still make mistakes, big ones," I hugged her back.

"Since when did age make a difference about making mistakes?" she broke into laughter.

"Well, as a person gets more experience ..."

"Do you know what Grampa Bender said about experience when I was talking to him the other day? He said experience is gained by making mistakes and learning from them, nothing else. Oh, he did add to that though, saying that some people only had experience at making the same mistakes over and over all their lives, but you sure don't fit in that class," she pushed away from me, then grabbing my hand and heading for the door. "Let's go see if we can get Sandy away from all of our mothers before she completely blows off the idea of renting that duplex."

We hurried outside, but Sandy wasn't with our mothers.

"Where's Sandy?" Carissa asked.

"She's being a little bitch," her mother frowned at us. "I don't think she wants to live with the two of you being all that close."

"The problem is the fact that we're together," Carissa sighed. "I think it's really me that she's annoyed with. We should talk to her I guess."

"She went off toward the creek," her mother waved that direction, then bowed her head. "Right now she seems angry about everything, but mostly me."

"Okay, I guess we'd better go look for her," I shrugged my shoulders. "I take it then that the duplex idea is out the window?"

"We're still discussing it, but I think it might be up to the three of you," Mrs. Coulter smiled and managed a bit of a wink at Carissa and me. "It's too bad that Sandy doesn't have a boyfriend too. Then the four of you could rent a two-bedroom place together."

"Wilma, what are you thinking?" Ann McAdam lifted her head and stared at her. "Are you suggesting that my daughter live in sin like ..."

Mrs. McAdam paused at that as if she realized what she was about to say and I could feel Carissa tense up to respond, so I grabbed her hand in mine, dragging her away.

"Don't you dare say a thing," I growled in a whisper only Carissa could hear. "Let our mothers handle that one."

Carissa marched at my side for a moment until we were forced to dodge through the trees on our way toward the creek so that we were out of sight of our mothers. Then she came to a halt and turned to me.

"Oh man," she sighed deeply. "I guess I should thank you for pulling me away, but right then I wanted to slap that silly woman's face."

"Why? She didn't actually say a thing about us," I grinned, trying to calm her down. "Does what people say about us really bother you that much?"

"Yeah, it does," Carissa sighed deeply. "I know I'm the one who came to you and started this, but Mom was telling me that the rumours flying around town have been wicked. Don't they bother you at all?"

"No, not really," I smiled at her. "I don't mind the rumours that are based strongly on the truth. Actually, I'm sort of proud about some of those. Of course I assume the false ones are coming from people who are jealous or just plain vindictive about what we have going for us, so they don't bother me either. Neither type means a darn thing to me. In fact, I find some of them quite humorous."

Carissa's face went from anger, to a grin in a few seconds, then she giggled. "I guess if you look at it that way, it is sort of funny, isn't it?"

"Yep," I grinned. "Most rumours come from liars and two faced idiots, so I just do my best to ignore them, unless they're outright lies. Then I stand up and sound off. Like that time with the pictures. That was a twisted fact and a lie that would have become a horrible rumour, but in a way it's sort of funny now."

That made her grin and giggle again.

"What's so damn funny?" Sandy said as she stepped out from behind a bush.

"Oh, we were just talking about rumours," I grinned at her. "It seems the rumour mill in town is chewing on Carissa and me again."

"Not just you."Sandy's eyes showed tears. "There are a few floating around about me as well."

"Actually, I like Chris's idea about that," Carissa grinned. "He considers the rumours on merit. He likes the ones that are close to the truth because it's like people were bragging for us. He laughs at the others because he thinks they come from people who are jealous of the truth and they're just showing their envy."

"Well, I'm not so sure I like the ones that I've heard about me that come close to the truth," Sandy complained. "I did some pretty stupid things."

"Like what?" I asked bluntly.

"Huh, I told someone I thought was a friend about that night when I came onto you so strongly and she blabbed the story all over town."

"Ahhh, I wondered where that came from, because I didn't say anything to anyone but family and they'd never talk," I reached out and grabbed her hand. "All that tells me is the fact that your friend really wasn't a friend at all. I'm not ashamed of what either one of us did."

"You aren't?" she stared at me.

"No. We almost got carried away, but we caught ourselves in time."

"You mean I put my big fat ass on the horn and you came to your senses in time to push me away," she managed a weak smile.

"Whoa now, there's nothing either big or fat about that ass," I leaned to one side and made a point of looking at her butt. "I am glad your nice round bubble butt hit the horn though or I might have gotten carried away, not that it would have been the end of the world. I just wouldn't have felt very good about it later."

"I'm glad you sat on his car's horn and not the 'horn' he keeps hidden in his pants," Carissa grinned, teasing Sandy a bit, but grabbing her other hand. "If you'd have sat on that one, Chris and I might not be a couple now."

"You do know that if I got the chance to do that again, I'd aim better," Sandy managed an anaemic grin.

"We figured that out," Carissa laughed aloud, then surprised both Sandy and me by hugging her.

"You aren't pissed off about it?" Sandy stared at me over Carissa's shoulder.

"No, but if you do move in together with us, I may make him wear a chastity belt," Carissa giggled.

Almost instantly both of them were laughing and even I had to grin. Then I tried my best to make a pouting face as Carissa turned to look at me.

"You don't trust me," I managed to imitate a whimpering whine.

"Hah, she trusts you as much as a woman can trust any man," Sandy snorted. "It's me that she's worried about."

"So, are you saying I can trust you not to seduce him then?" Carissa was still smiling.

"In all honesty? No," Sandy giggled.

"Well, maybe we should buy you a chastity belt and let Carissa keep the key?" I laughed.

"I don't think I like that either," Sandy was still giggling, then suddenly she got a serious look on her face. "Hey, are you guys actually thinking of taking up Uncle Bill's offer?"

"Yeah, but we might do a bit of modifying to our parents' ideas," Carissa grinned and told her about her thoughts on the roommate situation.

"You mean Chris would be the only guy? I don't think much of that idea," Sandy said shortly. "That would be awful hard on everyone. With three women in the house, he'd be walking around with a boner all the time. I don't know about you, but that would surely tempt me."

"Actually, I might consider that as a bonus," Carissa chuckled. "The only other way would be to find you a boyfriend in a hurry."

"Huh, fat chance of that," Sandy sighed. "After having gone out with Chris that time and then seeing what you've got, I've gotten darn fussy."

"Well, although that sounds like quite an ego boost for him, he's not perfect, you know," Carissa grabbed Sandy's hand again. "One time when he's not around to listen, I'll give you a rundown of his faults. I'm sure we can find you someone just as good."

"Hey, how about telling me these faults that you're complaining about?" I protested.

"I'll tell you later," she grinned and winked at me. "For now I think we should go talk to our folks about renting a duplex."

With that she led Sandy away through the trees and bushes, moving so quickly and talking so quietly that it was impossible for me to understand her words. Suddenly Sandy came to an abrupt stop and stared at Carissa in astonishment. At that point I was able to get close enough to hear her say a few words.

"You have got to be shitting me. Aren't you?" Sandy's voice barely registered.

Then Carissa was dragging her away and whispering again. Suddenly Sandy squealed and started giggling and I could see that Carissa was moving a bit slower, so I tried to catch up again. I didn't manage to catch them while we were in the brush and trees, but as soon as we were out in the open, I hurried up to them.

"Okay, what secrets are you two hiding from me?" I asked, pressing between them and wrapping an arm around each one's waist.

"Nothing much, just warning our new roommate about what to expect you to act like when we move in together," Carissa leaned against me and slipped her arm under mine, then around my waist as well.

"Yeah, and we decided to insist that there are just the three of us in one side of the duplex," Sandy said insistantly. "We don't want to share you with anyone else."

"Huh?" I stared at one and then the other in surprise. "What's this about sharing me?"

"Oh, Carissa is being very nice to me," Sandy giggled. "With only three of us living in a two-bedroom place, she thinks I might have a bedroom to myself most of the time."

"Most of the time?" I said in surprise. "Don't you mean all of the time?"

"Nope," Carissa volunteered. "When I'm having PMS or my periods, I like to sleep in a bed by myself, you know that."

"Oh, sorry," I sighed and frowned.

"Now what's wrong?" Carissa asked.

"Oh, it's just that I find I sleep better when I have company in bed with me so I can cuddle up to a warm body."

"Aww, poor fellow," Sandy giggled.

"Yeah, he's so hard done by," Carissa turned to her and grinned. "Perhaps I will buy you that chastity belt, Sandy, just so he can have a warm body to cuddle when I'm not sleeping at his side."

"Well, I'm on the pill now, just in case he finds the key," Sandy giggled again.

"If you two tease me like this all the time, maybe I should live in the other side of the duplex," I laughed and briefly tightened my grip around their waists.

"If you do, you may find yourself sleeping alone a lot more than a few nights a month," Carissa laughed.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Sandy rubbed her hands together and grinned impishly. "That might just give me a chance to cuddle without that darn chastity belt."

"All right you two, that's enough teasing," I growled, then looked over where our moms had been. "I wonder where everyone went?"

"Well, it's almost lunch and Dad only took half a day off, so they might be getting ready to leave," Sandy shrugged as if it wasn't important.

Then we walked around the cabin and all of us stared out into an empty yard. The only vehicles left were Carissa's Jeep and my car.

"What the heck goes on?" I asked. "Did everyone leave?"

"There's a note on the door," Carissa ran up the porch steps and opened the folded sheet, then read it aloud.

> Dear Chris, (Carissa and Sandy too);
> Ann, Wilma and I talked it over and decided you three needed to talk things out fairly soon. We decided the best way was to throw you together for a couple of days. Beth and the twins are going back to town with the McAdams for a day or two. The rest of us are all going home.
> Don't forget that you have to go into town and speak to the police in order to sign a complaint against those two young hoodlums inside of a day or two. When you're ready to do that and have made up your mind what you want to do about the duplex, give us a call. Then Wil can explain what he did and where he hid the parts so you can fix the cars.
> Mom.
> PS, Tell Sandy that you need some sleep, Beth told us how little you got last night.

Carissa lifted her eyes from the note and stared at us. "Do either of you have any idea what this is about?"

"I'll bet this was Mom's idea," Sandy sighed.

"Oh, I don't know about that," I shook my head in disagreement. "Mom is pretty darn good at putting pressure on people too. I just don't understand why they'd isolate us like this."

"Who cares whose idea it was or why they did it," Carissa snorted, then broke into laughter. "All it means is that we get a chance to talk together without being disturbed. As well as that it gives us a chance to see what we're like around the house and stuff. I like the idea, in fact I like the idea a lot."

"But, I don't have anything to wear, except what I've got on," Sandy complained.

"Oh, I'm sure that between my clothes and Beth's, we can find you something to wear," Carissa waved off Sandy's concerns. "Do you have to take a shift at the hospital or anything?"

"No, I don't have to go to work today or tomorrow," she shook her head.

"Good, then let's get something for lunch, then Chris and I need to have a siesta. We only got a couple of hour's sleep last night," Carissa said firmly and turned to go inside.

Sandy turned to look at me and when I just shrugged my shoulders, she grinned and winked, then ran up the steps to go in the door. Just then old Duke came around the corner of the cabin looking for some attention.

"Old feller, life is getting to be very interesting," I said softly as I petted the old dog, who wagged his tail as if he agreed with me.

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 snapped.

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 for you?" 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 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 corners 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 to put up with any further bullshit of any kind!"

"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 sounded surprised.

"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 like he's about ten years old and has no judgement at all. He just doesn't bother considering how his actions might 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 at times they go badly wrong, then they hurt people."

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.

### Chapter 28