Montana Morning (10 page)

“I understand Doc
gave you a shot to relax you when they put on the new cast.”  Jack glanced
into the rearview mirror at his grandson.  “Why don’t you try to catch
some shut-eye while you can? You can’t see much right now anyway.”

“Will you wake me
up when we get to the mountain top?”  Scotty asked.  He wanted to see
where they were taking him, but his eyelids were getting heavier by the minute.

“I’ll wake you up
the minute we can see anything but snow,” Jack promised.  An hour later,
Scotty was asleep and they were out of the valley and just starting up the west
side of Pineridge Mountain.  The snowflakes were bigger and the snow
deeper, but the wind was not as severe and Jack could see the road much better.

Slowly but surely,
they wound their way up the snow-packed, mountain road.  Jack was thankful
the truck was a four-wheel drive, and hoped he wouldn’t have to stop and put
the chains on before they got home.

“How’s he doing?”

She looked over
her shoulder, “Sleeping like a baby, right now.”

“It would have
been a lot better, if this storm had waited a few more hours to arrive.”

Adrianna glanced
at the boy in the back seat.  “I’m not so sure.  He needs to learn
that you’ll take care of him no matter what’s happening.  What better
first lesson than a raging blizzard?” she laughed softly.

Jack
grinned.  “Are you sure your name isn’t Pollyanna instead of Adrianna?”

“You might as well
look on the bright side of things, as long as you can find one.”

“Speaking of
bright sides,” Jack nodded towards the turnout at the top of the hill, “I do
believe the snow is letting up a bit.”

Adrianna could
read his mind.  “Do you suppose we can get a glimpse of the ranch house
even with this snow?” she asked hopefully.

“We can give it a
try.  Besides I’d like to stretch my legs a bit and try a cup of that
coffee you brought along.”  He pulled the truck into the turnout at the
top of the ridge.

Adrianna looked at
him in surprise.  “How did you know I packed a thermos of coffee, did you
see it?”

“Nope, just
figured you for a smart woman,” he said smugly.

***

The snow let up
just long enough for them to stop and rest several minutes. Scotty woke up and
Jack lifted him out of the back seat with the covers still wrapped around him;
he strolled through the snow to where Adrianna was standing overlooking the
valley below.

She pointed down
into the valley and asked Scotty if he could see the buildings below
them.            He shook his
head and mumbled, “No.”

“No, not that
way,” she gently turned his head.  “Down there!  See what looks like
tiny buildings and corrals?”

Scotty stared into
the valley below and his eyes followed the road to a clearing in the
trees.  “I see them, I see them!”  His voice was filled with
excitement.  “Where are all the other houses?” he asked, turning to look
at his grandpa.

“There aren’t any
others, just ours.” Jack said proudly.  “This basin is known as Kilbourne
Cattle Company or Kilbourne Ranch.”

Scotty looked at
Adrianna, as if unable to believe his ears. “All of it?”

“Isn’t it
beautiful?” Adrianna said as she gazed into the valley below.  “I’ll bet
in the summer it will be even prettier.”

Scotty was
starting to shiver and Jack headed back to the truck.  “Don’t suppose you
brought something hot for this young man to drink?” he asked Adrianna over his
shoulder.

She dashed past
him to open the door of the truck.  “Think I might have a small thermos of
hot chocolate here somewhere.”  She jumped into the front seat and dug
through the pile of sacks on the floor at her feet. 

Jack propped
Scotty up and tucked the covers in around him.  They sat looking over the
valley and surrounding mountains, while munching on the cookies Adrianna had
put in at the last minute to go with their drinks.  Jack pointed out the
wilderness area beyond the ranch and explained they would be able to see the
cattle and horses when they got down to the edge of the meadows. 

Scotty was quiet
as they headed down the mountain.  Finally, clearing his throat, he asked,
“Don’t you get lonesome with no one else around?” 

Jack glanced at
Adrianna who was still admiring the view out the side window of the truck. He
was used to this life and had never thought of it as lonely.  She and
Scotty weren’t; would they feel lonely and shut off from the world?  He
looked into the rearview mirror at his grandson, realizing once again all the monumental
changes taking place in his young life.

“Never have been
lonely, I guess,” he answered.  “Been too busy, and besides Pops and Andy
are always around, and the Baker place is just on the other side of the
mountain.”

“But you didn’t
have anyone to play with when you were my age, did you?” Scotty asked.

“Nope, but I had a
dog or two, horses to ride, fish to catch, birds to hunt . . . ”

“You had a dog?”
Scotty sat up and saw Jack grinning back at him in the mirror.

“Several.” 
Jack hadn’t thought about it before, but coming from the city Scotty probably
hadn’t had many pets.  “You ever owned a dog or cat, Son?”

“No way, we
couldn’t have anything but fish tanks in our apartment complex.” Scotty
couldn’t conceal the excitement in his voice. “Do you have a dog now?”

“Yeah, two as a
matter of fact, if you can call that mutt of Adrianna’s a dog!” he laughed and
waited for her reaction. 

Adrianna gave him
a mock glare and attempted to sound furious.  “Now listen here, Cowboy,
don’t you go picking on my dog,” then added, “You, who owns a wolf.”  She
turned to look at Scotty and seeing his eyes as big as saucers, nudged Jack.

“Is he . . . is he
mean?” Scotty’s voice cracked.

“Nope, gentle as a
new born lamb,” Jack chuckled.  “Only ones known to bite around here are
Pops and Adrianna,” he grinned adding her to the list of ferocious beasts.

The snow was
falling harder by the mile, and the wind was picking up as they neared the
valley.  Jack was using all his concentration now just to see the
road.  Adrianna jabbered with Scotty about anything and everything under
the sun, just to keep his mind occupied.  Soon however, he couldn’t help
but notice the fierceness of the storm that now completely surrounded them.

Attempting to
sound real brave, he yelled above the roar of the wind, “Boy, Grandpa, it sure
is a good thing you could drive this road blindfolded.”

Jack knew both of
his passengers were getting edgy; they had a right to be.  He hadn’t been
able to see more than two feet in front of the bumper for the last mile or
so.  He was just trying to keep the truck between the berms on the side of
the road.

“Truth be known,
Son,” Jack figured they should know now, “if this wind doesn’t die down a bit,
we just might have to sit this out before we get home. If that happens, are you
willing to share a few of Adrianna’s blankets with us?”  Jack yelled above
the wind.

Scotty didn’t
hesitate.  “You bet!”  Feeling like he could help out made him less
afraid. “If Adrianna will share her hot chocolate,” he teased.

“Not a chance,”
she growled.  “It’s every man for himself and I keep the cookies too.”

Everyone,
including Jack, was relaxing a little now.  “You forget, Woman, I’m bigger
than you.” Jack growled back fiercely.

“Yeah!” Scotty
chimed in. “Grandpa, I think I can see some buildings on my side!”

Relief washed over
him.  Jack had been praying silently for the past hour that he would
arrive home with his precious cargo, and glancing across the cab his eyes met
Adrianna’s.  He knew she had been praying too. 

Minutes later, as
they pulled up to the back door Jack announced, “May it be ever so humble,
there’s no place like home.”   He told Adrianna to wait in the truck,
while he carried Scotty into the house.  A short time later, he and Andy
were back at the truck unloading supplies.  The wind was blowing so hard
it was almost impossible to stand up. 

“Do you want me to
go back out with you to help unload?” she asked Jack as he came in with two big
boxes.

“No thanks,” he
replied above the howling wind.  “You stay here with Scotty,” he nodded towards
the living room couch, and then added, “You could get the door for us, if you
would.”  Many trips later the truck was unloaded and Andy drove it into
the shed next to the house.  When he returned to the kitchen, Adrianna
finally realized she hadn’t seen Will yet.

“Andy,” she asked,
handing him a hot cup of coffee as he joined Jack at the table, “Where’s Will?”

Jack’s eyebrows
went up instantly.  “Isn’t he down at the barn?”

Andy looked
towards the couch where Scotty was resting now.  He looked at Adrianna and
then turned to Jack quietly.  “He should have been back an hour ago. 
I didn’t want to worry the boy none,” he explained. 

“Where the hell is
he?”  Jack was getting really concerned.  He lowered his voice, not
wanting to upset Adrianna. 

Andy looked up at
him and shook his head.  “He headed for the southeast pasture about noon;
he decided those pregnant heifers needed to be in closer during the storm.”

“Damnation!” Jack
swore under his breath. 

Andy was clearly
worried.  “I tried to convince him to let me go with him, but he wanted me
to stay here and help you get settled in and unloaded.  Said he’d be back
here around one o’clock.”

Jack sat silently,
watching the storm roaring outside the kitchen window.  He looked at
Adrianna and then towards the living room.

She knew he was
weighing his responsibilities.  “You need to go help Will. Scotty and I
will be fine.”

“Are you
sure?”  He didn’t want to leave them here alone already, especially in
this storm.  They both had acted brave on the trip home, but he knew how
frightened they’d been.

“We’ll be
fine.  I have lots of unpacking to do, and I’ll bet you fellows will be
hungry when you get back.”  Knowing Jack hadn’t eaten since breakfast, she
offered to fix him a sandwich.

“I’ll saddle the
horses, while you grab a bite.”  Andy offered, as he put on his coat,
heading for the door.

“I’ll explain
things to Scotty while you whip up that sandwich.”  Jack walked slowly
into the other room.

“Do you have to
go?”  Scotty had been listening to the grownups in the kitchen.

Jack patted the
boy’s leg as he settled into the chair next to the couch.  “Yes, I have to
go find your great-grandpa and help him get those critters closer in so we can
feed them.”  He looked into Scotty’s eyes, searching for a sign he understood
what was really happening.

“Is he going to be
all right . . . can you find him?”  Scotty asked quietly, afraid of the
answer.

“We’ll find
him.”  Jack glanced towards the kitchen.  “Can you take care of
Adrianna until we get back?  I think she got pretty scared on the way down
the mountain.”  He watched the boy’s reaction carefully.

“I’ll take care of
her ‘till you get back,” Scotty assured him.

Jack messed up his
grandson’s hair and gave him a hug.  “You’re all right, Son.  You’re
all right.”   He got up and headed for the kitchen once more.

“Grandpa?”

Jack stopped, not
looking back. “Yes?”

“Hurry back,
okay?”

Jack nodded and
went to the table to gulp down his sandwich and hot coffee.  After
explaining to Adrianna they might be gone several hours, he went out into the
storm.

“Scotty, do you
want to join me in the kitchen?”  Adrianna called from in front of the
cook stove.  “I’m stirring up some soup for us.  It’s been a long
time since breakfast, and we’ve got a lot of work to do this afternoon.”

Scotty looked
anxiously over at the crutches leaning against the end table. He still felt
uneasy using them.

“Could you bring
the soup in here?” he asked, leaning over the edge of the couch so he could see
her face.

“There is no way,
Mister.”  She was going to make sure he learned to take care of himself,
and he might as well start now.  “No room service in this house.  
Come and get it.”

Ten minutes passed
and she made no effort to wait on him.  She just went back to putting the
groceries away and rearranging cupboards.  After giving it considerable
thought, Scotty decided it was in his best interest to cooperate; besides he
was getting bored as well as hungry.

“Would you mind
helping me up off the couch, so I can work my crutches?” he asked
cautiously.   Much to his relief, she came into the room with a big
smile.  She helped him up, balanced him until he had his crutches
adjusted, and stepped back.  He was on his own.  Slowly but surely,
he managed to get to the kitchen table; it was worth the trip.

“Boy, that soup
smells good.” He inhaled deeply as he struggled to rid himself of the crutches
and sit in the chair.

Adrianna sat the
bowls of soup on the table.  “Hope you like peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches.”

Scotty nodded
approval as he hurriedly dipped the spoon into his soup.  He hadn’t
realized how hungry he was.  Soon he was working on his second bowl of soup
and getting full.  Now his mind went to other concerns.

“Am I going to
sleep on the couch all the time?” he asked, looking over at Adrianna, who was
stirring up a chocolate cake at the counter and staring into the storm.

She turned with a
smile.  “If you give me a second to get this cake in the oven, I’ll show
you your room.”  She glanced back at the window.  The men had been
gone over an hour now, and the storm was no better than before.