Montana Morning (11 page)

Scotty paused at
the bottom of the stairs and looked at Adrianna as if she’d lost her mind.

“I can’t go up
there on crutches.”  She had to be kidding!  He was lucky to remain
upright on the level floor.

“Sure you can,”
she laughed.  “I’ll show you how it’s done.  My son, Chad, did it
this way for a couple of weeks, until he got good on his crutches.”  She
sat down on the second step from the bottom and patted the spot next to her,
signaling for him to join her.   Scotty looked slowly up the stairs
and planted his heels.  This time he would out wait her.  Minutes
passed, she said nothing.  He started back to the couch.  She said
nothing.  When he got to the couch, he turned to see what she was
doing.  Adrianna was still sitting silently on the step waiting for
him. 

“Gee whiz, this is
so stupid,” he said under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear, and
came back to the foot of the stairway.  He handed her his crutches and
after a small struggle sat down rather hard.

“Ouch.” He rubbed
his backside, giving her a dirty look.

 Adrianna
laughed softly.  “If you insist on sitting down that way, you’d better
grow some more padding on your butt.”

“I didn’t do it on
purpose,” he growled, but he soon realized she was teasing, and began to
giggle.  By the time they had backed up the stairs, one at a time, all the
way to the top, they both were laughing so hard they had tears running down
their cheeks.  Suddenly their eyes met, and they cried for real. 

“It’s been a tough
day, so far, hasn’t it?” Adrianna wiped his tears with her shirtsleeve.

Scotty was a
little embarrassed.  “I’m not usually a crybaby,” he said, looking back
down the stairs.

“A lot has
happened to you, to all of us, in a very short time.”  She smoothed the
hair back out of his eyes.  “It’s going to take a while for everyone,
including your grandpa, to adjust to this new family. We’ll do just fine, as
long as we remember God is in charge.”

Scotty was very
quiet.  He looked at Adrianna in wonder.  “My dad said there was no
God.”

“It’s too bad your
dad didn’t get to know him.  God makes a wonderful friend,” she said,
gently squeezing his shoulder.  “You ready to see your new room?”

“I get a room all
to myself?” he asked, groaning as Adrianna helped him onto the crutches once
more.

“Follow me, sir.”
Adrianna curtsied formally and then started down the hall.

The room was much
bigger than his old room at home.  He sat in the window seat while
Adrianna showed him his closet and drawers and explained that the door on his
left led to the bathroom he would share with his grandpa.  She was about
to go back downstairs, when she saw the tears welling up in his eyes again.

“Don’t you like
the room?” She sat down next to him and looked into his freckled face.

“Yeah, it’s
nice.”  He swallowed hard.  “What if they don’t come back?” 
Scotty was trying so hard not to be afraid, but fear was taking over and he
began to shake.

“Scotty, honey,
they will be back,” she promised him, praying it was a promise she could
keep.  “What we need to do is keep busy and remember to pray now and
then.  It will make the time go faster.” She started for the door, and
then looking back at the young boy she had already grown to love, added, “Jack
said he’d be back, and he will be . . . soon.   I’m going to check
the cake then bring up some of your things, okay?”

He made a feeble
attempt at a smile.  “Okay.”

They spent the
next hour arranging and rearranging the room, until it suited them both
perfectly.  Adrianna was prepared to start him in on the classroom, if
need be, to keep his mind occupied, but could see he was growing weary. 
When she suggested he lie down and try out the new bed for a bit while she
read, he didn’t hesitate.  He was asleep in a matter of minutes.

***

It was getting
dark and the roast was simmering on the back of the stove.  The cake was
frosted and a fresh pot of coffee was perked.  The bread was cooling on
the counter and the table was set. Adrianna had spent the afternoon rushing
around unpacking supplies, tidying and baking, trying to make the time pass
more quickly.  She had told herself over and over the men would be coming
in any minute, but now she was really worried.  Even if they could, by
some miracle, find their way back in this storm, surely they would be in
trouble if it grew darker.  She was about to check on Scotty for the fifth
or sixth time when she heard a noise outside the back door. 

Adrianna ran to
the door, throwing it open.  “Sparky, where are they?” she reached down
and rubbed the snow off of his back as he came into the kitchen. 

“Right behind
him,” Jack’s voice rang out above the roar of the wind.  He and Andy
walked slowly into the kitchen, supporting Will between them. 
“Hypothermia,” Jack answered her question before she had a chance to ask.

“I’ll warm some
blankets in the oven.” She ran for the stairs.  “Get his clothes off and
put him in his bed.”

“I’m all right,
dag nab it!”  Will insisted, as they wrapped him in the warm blankets and
Adrianna gave him a glass of hot fruit juice. “Yuck, this doesn’t taste like
coffee to me.”

“Shut up and drink
it, Pops,” Jack chided.  “The lady here says it’s good for what ails you.”

“Nothin’ ails me!”
Will snapped.  “Quit your dang fussin’!”

Adrianna checked
for frostbite and took his temperature.  It was low, but not low enough to
be fatal.  “I’ll make you a bargain,” she stood with her hands on her hips
looking down her nose at him, “I’ll quit fussing, if you promise me on a stack
of Bibles ten feet tall you’ll never pull a fool stunt like this again.”

“I knew what I was
doing,” Will growled, looking at Jack.  “Didn’t I?”

“No!”  Jack
winked at Adrianna.  “Think I’ll go check on Scotty.”

“I need to finish
dinner.  It will be ready in about half an hour,” she headed into the
hallway, saying over her shoulder. “If you stay in bed, covered up, I might
feed you.”

Jack was coming
back from the living room.  “Where’s Scotty?”

“He’s upstairs in
his room asleep.” She pointed to the rooms above the kitchen.

“How did you get
him up there?” He raised his eyebrow in suspicion.  “You better not tell
me you carried him!”

“We managed
nicely,” she smiled, as she handed him some coffee, “on our fannies.”

“I can’t believe
you talked him into trying that.” Jack sipped the hot liquid.  Andy was on
his third cup.

“I didn’t give him
a choice,” she admitted, chuckling. “When it comes to a war of wills with me,
he doesn’t have much of a chance.”

She studied Jack
and Andy closely for the first time since they had arrived back at the ranch
house.  “Will isn’t the only one chilled to the bone around here; both of
you need to take a hot shower and change into some warm dry clothes before
supper.”

Andy looked at
Jack and shook his head.  Things were going to be different around here
from now on, he was sure of it. A shower sounded inviting though, so he didn’t
argue.  He just smiled shyly up at Adrianna and said, “Yes, ma’am,” as he
gulped down the rest of his coffee.

Jack grinned as he
watched Andy leave the kitchen. “I’ll look in on Scotty on my way by,” he said,
heading upstairs.

He tucked the
covers around his grandson and watched as he slept. 
‘How Scotty’s life
has changed . . . so has mine.’
  He noticed the room for the first
time; this was Scotty’s room now.  There were toys in the corner, and his
folks pictures were on his dresser.  Jack walked to the window seat and
sat down.  There, sitting beside him, was Jeff’s skateboard. A huge lump
formed in his throat.  He picked up the board and looked back to
Scotty. 
‘How on earth am I ever going to be all he needs me to be?’
 
He sat there clutching the skateboard and staring out the
window.   “Lord, I need your help real bad.  I’m not real sure
how to ask, but help me if you can.”

***

Adrianna was just
putting the finishing touches on dinner, when she heard the scream coming from
Scotty’s room.  She hit the stairs running.  She, Jack and Chester
arrived at the same moment.   Scotty was sitting up in bed, white as
a sheet.  The sweat was running down his face and he was trembling.

Adrianna sat on
the edge of the bed and put her arms around him, rocking him back and
forth.  She whispered over and over, “It’s okay now, we’re here. 
It’s okay now.”

Jack sat on the
other side of the bed, brushing the hair out of Scotty’s face as Chester licked
his tears away.

“Son, tell me
what’s wrong.”

Scotty realized
for the first time his grandpa was really in the room.  “Grandpa!” He threw
himself into Jack’s arms as tears ran down his cheeks.  “You came back!”

Jack hugged his
grandson to his chest gently and then held him at arm’s length.  “Didn’t I
tell you I would?” He lowered his head so he could look into Scotty’s eyes.

“Yeah, but I had
this dream . . .” Scotty started to shake again and Jack pulled him into his
shoulder.  “I dreamt about the plane crash, but it was different.”

“Different?” 
Jack asked, as he wiped the tears from Scotty’s face.

“This time you
went back in the plane after me, and,” he sobbed, “ and you burned up.”

Adrianna took his
hand.  “Scotty, what you had was a bad dream, only a dream.”

“That’s right,
Son.”  Jack remembered how real his nightmares seemed when he was
small.  “You okay now?”

Scotty glanced up
at Adrianna.  She had gone into the next room and returned with a cool
washcloth. “I’m all right,” he replied shakily.

“Let’s wipe away
all those tears, fears, and dog kisses.” Adrianna smiled at him.  “It’s
time for supper.  Do you want Jack to carry you down the stairs, or are we
going to bump our way down?”

Scotty grinned
shyly.  “I’ll take a ride, thanks!”

Will was fully
recovered in a few days’ time and the household fell into a pleasant
routine.  He was back to fixing breakfast, and Scotty was developing a
huge appetite.  Adrianna had learned from his former teacher that Scotty,
although apparently very bright, had not been exactly flourishing in
school. 
‘He was bored and restless in a traditional classroom
setting.  He did well in arts and sciences, where he could let his
imagination flow,’
she had explained.    Adrianna had
decided rather than sit at a desk learning facts from a book; she would try
teaching him practical things, sneaking in reading, writing and arithmetic on
the sly.  They baked cookies and doubled the recipe.  Scotty did the
math.  Adrianna mixed bread dough and Scotty read her a Zane Grey novel to
‘keep her from being bored’.  During his daily therapy session, they
learned the names of the bones in his legs and arms; next they would learn feet
and hands, then joints.

Scotty’s only
classroom time was in the afternoon after lunch.   Adrianna was
reading him a book about the history of the Civil War.  In the evening he
and Jack spent their time painting the toy soldiers of Jack’s youth, blue for
the North and gray for the South.  The history book had pictures of the
battlegrounds and he and Adrianna made mountains and valleys, rivers and
streams out of papier-mâché`. Scotty spent all his spare time painting the
scenery and building bridges and farms. 

***

The weather hadn’t
let up for the last ten days; the strong wind blew huge drifts blocking the
road.   Feeding the animals and hauling water took all three men the
entire day, every day. 

“I’m sure glad
Jack spirited you away to our valley,” Will said one day as he finished his
noonday meal.  “It frees me up to help with the chores, and he needs me
real bad right now.” He was looking out at the unending blizzard.  Jack
and Andy had already returned to the barn but he had lagged behind on
purpose.  “Where’s Scotty off to?” he asked, as he watched his great
grandson bump his way up the stairs.

“He’s working on
his ‘secret’ project.” Adrianna smiled and filled his cup once more. 
“Think I’ll join you,” she said sitting down across the table and looking out
the window at the unending blizzard.  “Does it always last this long?”

“This is only
second time in all the years I can remember.”  He sipped his coffee and
studied her over the rim of his cup.  “How are you doing, Gal?”

She smiled the
smile he now knew so well.  “I’m doing just fine, I think . . . how are
you doing?”

He took a second
cookie from the jar in the middle of the table.  “Having another woman in
Em’s house, you mean?” he asked, glancing around the room.

“Yes, that’s what
I mean.”  She knew by now that, like Jack, Will was an honest man. 
‘Don’t
ask unless you want the truth.’

“Funny . . . just
how long have you been here, you and Scotty?  Two weeks?” he asked, as he
sipped his coffee.

“Two weeks and two
days,” she responded happily.

“I can’t seem to
remember a time you weren’t here,” he said matter-of-factly.  “Adrianna,
you belong here.  You fit like a comfortable slipper, you and Scotty
both.  Do you feel it?”

“I’m very
content,” she said, as she started to clean the lunch dishes off the table.

“It shows,” Will
said warmly and when she gave him a questioning look explained.  “You sing
in the kitchen, you sing in the living room, you sing in the shower . . . need I
go on,” he was laughing now. “I honestly don’t know where you find the energy
to do all you do around here.  I’m going to have a talk with that son of
mine.”

“Why?” she asked,
as she dried her hands and added wood to the kitchen stove.

“The way I remember
the war you and Scotty are studying, the north won.”