Thor's Child ©
by K Pelle
Chapter 16
Tor was squatted down, sitting on a single legged 'T' stool, quietly milking the last cow in the barn when Dori and Jax found him. Since he was working 'on automatic' and thinking about the coming day, he never noticed them walk up until Dori spoke to him, then he gave a start of surprise, almost losing his balance.
"Oops, sorry, Tor," Dori giggled, "but you should have a better stool than that, just for safety sake. How do you even balance on that thing, anyway?"
"Easy. I use my legs to steady myself," Tor turned and grinned at her, having caught himself, but hadn't even disturbed the cow since he was still milking, even while talking. "Good morning, Jax, and you too, Dori."
"Good Morning, Tor," they both said, almost in unison.
"Okay, how do you do that, keep milking that cow while balancing on that toothpick and talking all at the same time?" Dori frowned at him.
"Easy, I've balanced on a stool and milked cows since I was ten years old, so that part is automatic. Talking to you is the only function that takes thought. Actually milking cows is probably the best part of the day for me, as far as accomplishing the planning of things is concerned. You see I've done it so often it takes no conscious thought at all, so instead I can let my mind wander to consider any other tasks and problems I might have."
"I can understand that. I do the same thing while rough sanding a repair on a body panel of a car quite often. You're doing something so repetitious and so familiar that it becomes automatic," Jax grinned and nodded. "Actually I just stopped by to let you know that I'm abandoning the 'Mouse' to you for the day and I'm leaving the panel van parked by your new shop with the keys in it. It's almost full of gas, so use it for your move if you want to, and after we get things sorted out, we can use it to store the parts you won't need."
"Daddy, please don't call me 'Mouse' like that. I don't like that nickname any more," Dori protested. "And, you're not abandoning me either. I'm here of my own free will."
"Well, the 'Mouse' is developing teeth and she bites too! You must be good for her, Tor," Jax teased even more, making Tor grin. "Just don't go overboard and turn her into a grouchy bear, huh? Backbone is fine, but more fangs and claws aren't something we need around our house. I've got enough of those already."
"Are you talking about me behind my back again?" Keisha asked as she came in the door. "I'll have you know that the only time I get grouchy is when you do something stupid, but we'll discuss that on the way to town, I'm going to be late for work today if we don't get a move on."
"I wasn't talking about you, Love," Jax smiled at her. "I was talking about the bad mood I've been in lately because of that stupid banker. Why he can't see that I have a profitable business and he won't give me a loan to expand is beyond me."
"Probably because you have all the profits tied up in used cars, Jax," Keisha snapped. "Actually if you managed to sell half of those old cars, you wouldn't need a loan. Anyway, Tor doesn't need to hear us wash family laundry in public and I'm in a hurry, so let's go."
"Yes, Dear," Jax nodded, then winked at Tor. "I'll be back this evening, about six-thirty or seven, okay Dori?"
"Yes, Daddy. Have a good day. See you later, Mom, but would you drop by and tell Mr. Leonard that I won't be around to see him this week, but that I hope his operation goes well?"
"See you folks later," Tor called
"Well now, when do I get a Good Morning kiss?" Dori demanded, as soon as her parents were gone.
"When I'm finished milking this cow," Tor chortled. "You do not stop milking a cow in the midst of the job, otherwise she stops letting down her milk and that could cause problems, usually something like mastitis, which is quite serious. You only stop in case of emergency and kissing my gal pal is not classed as an emergency, not when the job is almost done. I'm just stripping the last milk out now."
"Well, since this is the first time I've ever seen a cow being milked, it's no surprise that I didn't know that," she sighed. "I was a little worried that you were having second thoughts about us or something."
"Nope, I'd have been up and holding you in my arms by now if I could," Tor snorted. "In fact I want to have a long chat with you when we're somewhere that I know we won't be disturbed. I might be a bit paranoid about it, but there is a possibility that our mental abilities might be a lot more dangerous for us than we'd considered."
"What? Really dangerous?"
"Yeah, but not from what we can do, instead those abilities are dangerous because of what other people might think or do. I'm more worried about government bodies and military minds than anything else, but can we hold off on it for now, please? I want to be able to feel comfortable and I want to be able to concentrate. Even though I can milk cows almost automatically, it does take some thought."
"Okay, I'll head for the house then and talk to your Mom and Alva. You can catch me when you're done."
"Whoa there, just take a break for a minute or two, please. Like I said, I'm almost done here, then I'll pay you all the attention you deserve."
So Dori decided to be patient and a few minutes later she admitted to herself that the wait had been well worthwhile. In fact the kiss went further than before, becoming a short mutual groping session that left her breathless and quite aroused. Somehow being held, touched and fondled by a man who could completely understand her deepest feelings and share his feelings with her as well was unbelievably stimulating.
Actually they both reached the point where they knew they had to stop - or things were going to go further than either of them really wanted right then. Reluctantly they broke it off and stared into each other's eyes.
"Wow!" Tor sent softly.
"Yeah, but at least I know you're very happy to see me," she teased, then sighed softly. "Unfortunately I think we'll have to be careful about that. I darn near decided to make Mom a very happy woman by finding a clean pile of straw, then ask you to do whatever came naturally."
"Yeah, both of us will have to watch that, because I don't feel that the two of us are ready for too much more right now. I know I'm not. I mean it would be wonderful, but I think we need to hold back for a while, even if I don't really want to wait."
"I agree, for now anyway," Dori pulled back slightly. "It's going to be darn difficult though, because if just a kiss and cuddle felt like that . . ."
"Yeah, but now I can officially say; Good Morning Dori," Tor pulled back as well, then grabbed her hand in his. "I think we'd best let the cows out and get the milk into the house, then we can eat breakfast and plan our day while we're sitting at the table."
Once they were inside and at the table with the rest of the family, Alva tried to tease the two of them a little, but both Dori and Tor shrugged off her teases quite easily. It was almost as if their budding relationship had already gone past the point where teasing bothered either of them. They had Alva at a disadvantage anyway, they could each support the other without her knowing it, and they did. Tor's mom soon developed a wide grin as she watched Alva grow more and more frustrated when neither Tor nor Dori was flustered by her attempts to embarrass them.
"Give it up, girl," she reached out and patted Alva's arm gently. "The two of them are quite comfortable with each other and you're starting to look as if you're jealous."
"Starting, hell!" Alva snapped. "I am jealous," then she snorted. "Less than twenty-four hours and they're acting like an old married couple. That just isn't normal."
"And since when did Tor ever do anything that was perfectly normal?" his mom chuckled. "Besides, I think he's met his match in Dori, so you're just plain outnumbered. After all they've gone to school together for two years and I think they knew each other a lot better than they've let on to us, but for some reason they want to hide that from everyone."
"Sorta," Dori answered instantly. "I knew a lot about Tor, but mostly because of his hockey stuff and his clashes with the Carruthers boys. I knew he liked me, because he kept asking me for dates, but I was shy about him, at least until I learned more from Alva and from coming out here yesterday. So, this is your fault, Alva, you've talked about him so much that I feel like I know everything I need to know to be comfy around him."
Tor's dad interrupted at that point, asking Tor what he was going to do that day and mentioning that he was heading for town that morning with a couple of pigs to be butchered.
"Mostly we'll be building a few shelves and moving that work bench today, Dad," Tor shrugged. "I'll get to see what sort of carpenter's helper Dori is, I guess."
"Well, it's going to be hot today and that little garage isn't too well ventilated, so don't work too hard or stay at it too long. Take a break this afternoon and have a swim."
"I planned on it, Dad, but thanks for suggesting it," Tor grinned and winked at him.
"Umm, I didn't bring my swim suit along," Dori said quietly.
"Dori, we warned you already that this family isn't skin shy, skinny dipping is allowed," Alva grinned and winked at her.
"Oh, being nude doesn't bother me at all, but I did sort of imply to Mrs. Eklund that I wasn't going to be nude around Tor, or at least not very often," Dori said quietly.
"Hmmph, I don't recall that," Tor's mom snorted, but smiled too. "If you did say something like that, I didn't take it very seriously and knowing Tor, he'll eventually find a way to get you out of your clothes anyway, just so he can see if there's truth in the advertisement. So if you want to skinny dip, it won't bother me at all, however that doesn't mean I'm encouraging you two to get carried away either.
"Around this family, if you act responsibly, your responsibility is appreciated and to some extents is increased, but the opposite is also true. For instance at the age of thirteen, Tor took on the burdens of a grown man and has been given a lot of leeway ever since that time. Now that isn't to say that he is overloaded with duties and obligations, but he is rewarded for the way he reacts and for the thought he puts into his actions. But, it also means that his opinions carry a lot of weight in this family.
"Now it appears that he's accepted you as a very close friend and we have a tendency to treat our close friends the same way we do family. So for now, unless you prove differently, you'll be treated as if you are a family member," Tor's mom paused for a second and grinned before continuing. "I think you've already been warned that this family doesn't always worry about wearing clothing. Skin is just skin, so if you want to run around in your birthday suit that's your business."
"Oh boy, my life just got more complicated," Tor sighed softly, but turned and winked at his mom.
"Oh yeah, you are just so hard done by," Alva snorted.
"Yeah, I know," Tor sighed again, but this time he winked at Alva quite openly.
Meanwhile Dori became quite quiet and appeared very thoughtful.
"Problems?" Tor sent as he reached for a piece of toast.
"Hmm . . . Oh no, not at all, but I think I really like your family. It's certainly different from mine," Dori smiled. "I'm going to want to talk to your mom about us, I mean about you and me, and quite soon too."
"That sounds serious."
"Yes and no, it just means that I want to know where I stand. Now quit 'think/talking' to me for the time being, please. I'm trying to wrap my head around what I just heard and I want to consider what your mom really said and exactly what she meant."
"Right, I'll butt out, just as long as you're okay."
"Thanks, and expect to receive a kiss for thinking of me."
Just then Tor's dad spoke up, "Tor, I'll need a hand right after breakfast to load those two pigs that I'm taking to town to be butchered. Oh yeah, I was thinking that while I'm in town I'd get you some shelf brackets to make it a little easier to get your new shop ready, but is there anything else you need?"
"Well, I did want to add a couple of more lights so I can brighten the whole place a little more and I want a decent light over the workbench, but on a separate switch."
Tor went on to explain what he planned to do to the shop, but his dad made a few additional suggestions, both while they were in the house and while they were loading the pigs. Then when the truck was loaded, Tor's dad paused at the house for a few minutes before driving away.
Tor headed straight for the machine shed though. He hopped into Jax's old van and shifted it near his workbench so he could load the parts stored under it into the van so the bench would be easier to move. He was still involved with that when Dori came out to work with him after having had a long talk with Alva and Tor's mom. Tor was surprised when they both hopped into their cars and drove off.
"What the heck, Mom went off too?" Tor frowned.
"Yep, we're all alone," Dori grinned, "but, like I told your mom, I don't feel I have one thing to worry about from you and you know what she said to me?"
"No what?"
"She asked if you were just as safe from me," Dori giggled. "I knew she was teasing, but there was an actual question behind her tease that I had to answer as best I could."
"Well, what did you tell her?"
"That you were safe . . . for now, but that I wasn't making any guarantees about the more distant future."
"And what did she say to that?"
"Not a darn thing, but she gave me a great big hug, which is something I didn't expect. Actually she took me by surprise and it felt so darn good that I darn near broke into tears. I really like your whole family, or all the ones I've met anyway. I'm not so sure about the brother that got Daddy into trouble, but I can even understand that because your mom explained it as a mistake which was brought on by drinking too much. She said you didn't like people drinking."
"Oh, I don't mind people having a beer or two, but I really don't like to see people getting drunk. I don't like drugs much either. In fact I try to eat and drink healthy foods and drinks and stay away from as many pills as I can. I think half of my problems in the hospital when I got my leg screwed up were brought on by the drugs I'd been given."
As they'd been talking, they had cleared the last of the small parts off the workbench. Tor shifted the van out of the way and had Dori stand clear while he got out the little tractor with the front end loader and the manure tines. He drove up to the workbench and careful steered the tines of the manure bucket between the legs of the workbench and under the top frame, but above the lower shelf, then carefully lifted the whole unit in one piece. With the legs just clear of the floor, he hopped off the tractor and tied the workbench to the bucket so it wouldn't shift, then drove down to his new shop with it. After the bench was sitting where he wanted it in the new shop, he came back to get the van and all the parts they'd shifted into it and they temporarily stacked those on the bench.
"Now I wish I had the shelf brackets and shelving material," Tor sighed softly. "I want to put the shelves up before I get too much junk on the floor that I have to work around."
"In this big space? You could easily get two full sized pickup trucks in here, with room left over to work at the workbench."
"Unh huh, and you can see how big the pile of junk parts is, those piles of bits and pieces that's still scattered around on the floor up in the machine shed," Tor snorted. "My problem starts with deciding which parts are keepers and which ones I'm going to part with, then I have to make up my mind how and where to move them and stack them. I want to use the best parts I can, which still match the style of the body of the coupe, not the style that matches the two pickups. My problem is lack of knowledge. I simply don't know which part goes with which body."
"I got ya. That's where Daddy comes in, right?"
"Right in one, and looking at my watch, it's only nine, but I think it's coffee time already. Let's go have a coffee and a think or two on the next problem before we get ahead of ourselves."
"Wow, so we've been at this for over an hour already?"
"Yep, and you haven't tried to 'think/talk' to me once in that time," Tor wrapped his arms around her and hugged her gently. "The hug is for helping, by the way."
"I want another kiss for that," she snuggled tight, then turned her head up so their lips met, but after a few seconds she broke the kiss and pulled back. "Whoa, take it easy there, Buster, or this could get really hot and heavy, then your mom might have something to worry about. Where did you learn to kiss like that?"
"I guess I cheated a little and listened in a bit, but mostly I just responded to the way your body reacted. Didn't you like it?"
"Like is not the word," she whispered softly. "More along the lines of became absorbed, or maybe snowed under is something even closer. I sort of felt you in my head and between that and your kiss, it just felt too darn good. I had to get you to stop or we'd have been ripping off our clothing and rolling on the floor."
She slipped out of his arms and grabbed his hand, then smiled up at him. "I think we're going to need to be careful about that sort of thing, but I can tell you right now, YOU are MINE! I'll fight if necessary to prove that, because if you kiss like that, making love with you is going to be utterly fantastic."
She grabbed his hand then and pulled him toward the door. "Now, let's go get that coffee."
While they were sitting on the porch, having coffee, they had a long mental conversation and Tor explained his fears of the various government agencies, especially the Yanks.
"Why are you so afraid of the American military?" Dori asked at one point.
"Because I doubt if you or I can trust anyone who has anything to do with the Yankee military, or even the US government," he sighed heavily. "Since World War two most branches of the US military have been taught that their forces are superior to anyone else in the world. Part of that is truth and part of that is unadulterated fiction just because of the way wars happen and situations change. The US military is superbly equipped with wonderful weaponry, but in many cases, those wonderful weapons mean little or nothing because they can't be used in every situation. For instance, in guerilla warfare, like the war in Vietnam, superior weapons can often be quite ineffective and because of Vietnam the whole world knows that the US military can be stymied. So if another really rough war comes along, I would expect the antagonist would try his best to use guerilla warfare or else a war of suicide attacks. The US has no weaponry to fight that sort of war effectively, not unless they can get their hands on people like you and me, who can do things no normal person can do."
"What, talk to each other without speaking aloud and hear what some other people are thinking, if we touch them? Exactly why is that such a big deal?"
"Well, I can do a few more things than that, and I think you will have those abilities too, in time. I just haven't shown you any of those abilities because you have to learn to do things in stages and building up to the more difficult activities takes time and effort. It takes a lot of energy to do the various things I do and as far as I can figure out, that energy seems to come from the amount of muscle mass in your body. Actually, at times I've worn myself out to the point of simply falling asleep while my body recovered from the excessive amounts of energy I used while trying to do things mentally. By stressing my body I've gradually built up muscle mass and learned control, so I've slowly learned how to do more and more, but it takes time and effort. For some reason I don't think that development process can be hurried. It helped a lot that I was athletic to start with, and it helped that I learned new things relatively slowly, then had time to work out methods of control.
"No, that's a lie, the very first time I used my talents, I passed out, but before I zonked out I had saved Uncle Nils' life, as well as mine. Only I was so scared of what had happened that I was terrified of it happening again, then it worried me almost continuously, until I worked out what had happened and how to control it. I had to find a way to control something that my body had done involuntarily so it wouldn't happen in front of others. You see I knew I couldn't show or tell anyone about what I could do, or even ask anyone about it, because I was sure they'd think I'd gone nuts and put me in the looney bin."
"Well, what did you do that frightened you so much?"
"I teleported both Uncle Nils and myself about twenty or twenty-five feet, just to get away from a chain which broke when we were pulling a stump out of the ground with a tractor. One instant we were both on the tractor and the next we were on the ground, twenty feet away. Only at that time I didn't have a clue how I had done it."
"You're joking, aren't you?" she sounded as if she didn't believe him at all.
"No, I'm not," he sighed. "Teleporting your own body really isn't much different from picking and moving that dandelion flower was, but it takes much more energy and a lot more effort."
"Well, I tried to flip off the light in my room last night, the way you mentioned doing it, but our house is old and still has old style, hard to move switches. Needless to say, it didn't work," she sighed softly. "I'm not sure just how to do it either, so that might be part of the problem. I tried several times and finally I just fell asleep, but with the light still on. It was still on this morning when Mom came into my bedroom to wake me."
"Well, were you tired when you first tried to do it?"
"Yeah, real tired," she nodded her head and frowned. "Does that make a big difference?"
"Well, yeah!" he grinned. "Actually at one point that was the way I would use up the last dredges of energy in my body, so I would be completely exhausted when I fell asleep. About that time I was living here on my own and if I didn't fall asleep out of exhaustion I'd have a hard time getting to sleep, because I was so darn homesick and lonely."
"Oh, well I guess I might have been just too tired then," she giggled slightly. "I did find out something before that though, when we were driving home. I found out that I had to block out Mom and Daddy when we were in the car, or else their thoughts just swamped me. I guess it was because we were sitting so close to each other and being with you had changed my . . . I guess you'd call it thought reception, or something. I managed to block them out before we even reached the end of your driveway. Only then I was astonished to realize that I seemed to know where you were and what you were doing, at least for a short while. That faded away as we drove further down the road though. I think it had faded away by the time we got to Sunny's folk's farm - only I kept trying and I even tried to 'talk' to you, but that didn't work."
"Well, I consider that 'tracking ability' to be a sort of secondary effect of being able to hear people's thoughts. It seems to work for anyone you know well or have had close contact with, but it isn't constant, at least not for me. I have to consciously try to use it."
"Well, like I said, I was trying to 'talk' to you, so that might have been what caused me to learn about it," she paused and Tor saw a frown creep across her brow. "Do all of these 'talents,' or 'abilities,' or whatever you want to call them, sneak up on you like that?"
"No, at least not for me. Some did and some didn't," Tor sighed then and frowned himself, then sighed deeply. "I know I said I wasn't going to tell you about what I could do and what I couldn't do, because I was worried about it frustrating you. Unfortunately, I think I have to mention some things, just to explain part of what I envision that you will be going through in the near future. Do me a favour and try to have patience, because some of the things I do now take a huge amount of effort and I think you have to build up your ability to handle them. Let's take a short walk over to the hay storage barn, then I can show you a few things I can do that I don't like to do in the open, where I might be seen by others. Okay?"
"Not just, yeah, but hell yeah! Let's get a move on!" Dori was on her feet in an instant, wearing a wide grin on her face, then grabbed his hand and practically towed him to the big barn that was used to store bales of hay in the fall and winter. Once they were inside with the big doors closed, she dropped his hand, stepped away, then turned to face him.
"Okay, show me all this fantastic stuff you can do," she demanded.
"Well, to start with, there are some things that I've done once that I can't really repeat. That day, when I teleported off the tractor and took Uncle Nils along it seemed as if I 'had a vision' of what was going to happen a few seconds before it did. I haven't been able to do that again, but perhaps that's because I haven't needed to do it, I don't know. Besides that, for a short time I seemed to be able to see 'inside' things, but one of those things was the inside of Uncle Nils' head. I'll admit that I'm not very good with blood and things of that sort, so I suppose I've sort of steered away from that particular 'talent' or, what was your word, 'skill?' So although those were early evidence that I was different from others in astonishing ways, I've never used them. There are others I can show you though."
He paused then and held out his hand toward her. "Try to touch my hand," he smiled slightly, then grinned when her finger hit the spongy surface of his 'hardened' shield and her face expressed astonishment. "That's my shield and it showed up on it's own, acting as an overblown raincoat of sorts, probably because I hate being wet and cold when I'm working in the rain. I supposed I 'wished' it into being."
"Holy Hanna! Is that why you are so good at playing hockey and why no one seems to be able to get near you?" she asked instantly.
"No, and I'm almost insulted that you'd think I'd cheat like that. When I play hockey, what you see is just skill and ability, with no 'superman' tricks thrown in. That simply wouldn't be fair and when I can, I always try to play fair," he sighed heavily. "In fact if anyone found out about any of my extra abilities it would be the end of my hockey career, and probably my freedom, because you see what you saw isn't all that my shield can do."
"It isn't?"
"Nope, quickly moving objects don't bounce off the shield, at least not usually. Objects with speed and momentum are often allowed to enter the shield on one side, then reappear on the other with their speed and momentum virtually unaffected. For instance Tommy Carruthers is a very good shot with a rifle. I know that for a fact, because I felt the initial blow of two different bullets striking my shield when he shot at me, one on my chest, and one on my head, but this shield protected me. Now there is one other thing that this shield can do, but to show it to you means that I'm virtually trusting you with my life and freedom."
"Well, I hope you're kidding, but I'm honoured that you feel you can trust me that much."
"Honey, the reason I can trust you, is that you are just like me, 'talented,' and by turning me over to the authorities, you would also fall under their thumb and lose your freedom. You and I are two of a kind and there are a lot of opportunistic and ambitious people in this world who could make our lives hell if they ever learned what we can do. Now, watch me and you'll see what I mean," Tor willed his shield to be transparent to light and watched Dori's eyes suddenly open wide and heard her gasp as he 'spoke' quietly. "Imagine all the dirty stunts the CIA or FBI would insist that I do for them, if they found out that I could disappear and reappear at will, all the while functioning normally."
Then he allowed himself to reappear and reached out to hug her tightly, only to find that she was shaking.
"That was scary!" she announced, staring up into his eyes and snuggling extremely close to him. "I could 'feel' you - right there in front of me - but I couldn't see you. Not only that, but when you did that I sort of 'joined' you, inside your head, and I think I know just what you did and just how you did it. I think I could do that too, but maybe later, not right now."
"Aha, that's a talent I don't have, getting inside someone's head and learning things like that," he grinned at her. "Show me, please. It's only fair, after all. I showed you something, so now it's your turn."
"Okay, but the first time was an accident and I can't be certain it will work again, so show me how to move something - something small - so I can try to do what you do. Then I'll tell you what I do and how I do it."
Tor glanced around the empty barn, then saw a strand of baling twine and scooped it up, wrapping and tying it into a large multi strand knot, then tossing it on the floor.
"Okay, I'm going to pick up the knot, but I'll let the trailing ends dangle, then I'll try to lift the ends as well. That means I'm really showing you two different techniques to lift something of that sort, okay?"
"Sure!"
So Tor showed her how to lift the compactly tied knot, then lifted each of the two dangling ends, but dropped the whole thing after a few seconds and broke into a laugh. " I goofed. I was going to try to tie the ends together, but forgot to hold the whole string up at the same time."
"That's okay. I'll forgive you for that," she grinned. "Now let me try,"
The biggest knot didn't lift, but one of the dangling ends quivered and lifted an inch or two, then fell back as Dori gasped in surprise.
"Damn, that's hard to do, and you were right, it's a lot easier to just do the darn job by hand!" she scooped up the knotted hunk of twine and tossed it into a pile of rubbish that had been swept into a pile off to one side of the empty floor. "Now I'm not sure how to show you what I did when I was watching you, but you gave me a clue before and I sort of looked into your head to see what was happening. I can't explain it, but it was like there was a soft, barely glowing light coming from one part of your brain and inside that I could see little glowing dots shifting around. Oh wow! Now I can feel your thoughts, or something, inside my head, which is kind of creepy."
"Tell me about it," Tor laughed weakly, then shook his head. "Here I am, trying to look into your head ,while you're trying to look into mine. Not only is it confusing, but it's not a feeling I enjoy. I'm not happy about looking inside a person's brain, not yours, and certainly not my own, so I'm feeling a little bit woozy. From now on I think I'll just let you describe things like that to me."
"You're a wuss," Dori laughed softly, but hugged him tight. " You just wouldn't make it as a doctor or a nurse, would you?"
"Nope!" Tor shook his head emphatically. "That is not something I plan to do, and after that little session I want another cup of coffee to settle my stomach."
"Okay, but first could you show me that shield thing again and maybe even show me how you teleport?"
"That depends, can I have a hug?" He teased.
She nodded and smiled, then she wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back, then willed his shield to envelope them, turned both of them invisible, then teleported the full length of the big hay barn.
"OHHH SHEEEEIIIIT!" Dori squealed in astonishment when she realized what had happened. "I'm gonna get you for that."
"But I did just what you wanted," Tor teased.
"Yeah, but I was supposed to be able to watch, not get hauled along," she protested.
"Oh, okay, but it's almost ten in the morning and I need another coffee," and Tor teleported to the other end of the barn again, then he disappeared again.
"Dammit! Wait for me!" she squawked as ran to catch him, but he reappeared, leaning against the wall near the door, wearing a grin on his face.
"You didn't really think I'd run off on you, did you?" he teased again. "After all, I just did what you wanted me to do, once again."
"You're still cruisin' for a bruisin,' mister," she grinned and grabbed his hand, then squeezed it tightly and sighed heavily.
"We'll worry about that later though," she added quietly.
They just grinned at each other and headed back to the house, then each got another cup of coffee and once more sat in the shade on the back porch. It was a few minutes before anything was said between them, either mentally or aloud and it was Dori who broke the 'silence.'
"Those two talents, in combination are absolutely astonishing, and you are right - the FBI, the CIA, or any of the special forces in America would kill to get their hands on someone who could use them. The corollary of that is that if they knew of anyone who could use those talents against them, but couldn't control him, they would do their best to capture or kill that person."
"Yep, and that describes me to a 'T' - someone they could not keep under their control. I will not be controlled by Yankee warmongers who seem to feel they should regulate the destiny of the world. The bothersome thing about it all is that the recent record of US activity is virtually a repetition of history, almost as if the rise and fall of the Roman empire is repeating itself. It isn't identical, but there are so many similarities that it's unbelievable. The prime example is that the US military is stretching itself thin by fighting hither, thither and yon, but on top of that, equipping that military is the largest expenditure in the US budget. The Romans did exactly the same thing, just in a far simpler manner. Now I'm not saying that there is a perfect match between the two situations, or the two societies. There are major differences between them, such as slavery and things of that sort, but the same essential factors are there.
"Now I'm just a fifteen-year-old kid and if I can see through the smoke and mirrors, then you'd think normal people could see the same thing, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Instead it looks to me as if the guy on the street fully believes that John Wayne is just waiting in the wings to rescue the whole country if a major problem ever develops. At the same time the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. The poor guy caught in the middle doesn't know what to do, but pay his ever increasing taxes and hope for a better tomorrow. Everybody seems to want a better house, a newer TV, a bigger car and a larger paycheck. Meanwhile the average joe is being fed a string of malarkey, wrapped in a shell of patriotism, and delivered daily by the government, the journalists, the TV producers and even Hollywood. Hell, we even get inundated with that Yankee 'Rah, Rah' patriotic crap every time we turn on the TV set and see a program that was made in the US.
"Patriotism and pride are great things, at least until the concepts get carried too far. Once it gets to the point where it becomes a major philosophy or almost a religion, like it has in some parts of the US military, then it becomes dangerous because of the backlash it can cause. Common foot soldiers are being taught that they are superior to anyone else in the world. That's true of most branches of the military, because they get it drilled into them day and night, until they actually believe it. Since the military believes that, the government agents are affected and have begun to think the same way, so many of those sort are now acting overbearing and obnoxious in public situations. Of course that attitude eventually dribbles down to the common man, to the point where many Yankee tourists are starting to be considered to be some of the most obnoxious people in the world.
"Did you know that Canadian tourists often wear our flag sewn into our outer clothing so we won't be taken for Yanks when we visit other countries? It's not just out of pride or excess patriotism on our parts either, but for our own protection during those tourist trips. Canadian tourists have a reputation of tolerance and acceptance of conditions as they are. Meanwhile Yankee tourists have almost the exact opposite reputation, demanding special treatment and openly criticizing the service."
Tor sighed quite heavily, then continued. "The unfortunate thing about that is all Yanks are being treated the same way as those who display a superior attitude, and that's a dangerous situation. Eventually it will come back and bite the Yankee government, their military and the people of the country on the ass. Someone, somewhere is going to develop a true hatred for all Yankees and take it out on some tourists, or some other innocent group, and I can't see that leading to anywhere else but war. That's really scary, because Canada will be drawn into that war and it will be a totally unnecessary war, fought for totally unsound reasons.
"As I see it, all of that overblown patriotism crap is another form of intolerance that the world just doesn't need. Luckily if you get a single Yank off to himself and dig your way under that superior attitude, then you usually find a damn fine person hidden beneath all the bullshit. You and your dad are perfect examples of what I mean, real people, who have both strengths and weaknesses - normal people, who have real personalities. I don't hate Yankees as individuals, just the attitude they're brought up to believe in, which is so broadly spread that it has to be a government promotion. The strange thing is that it seems as if it's being done intentionally. It's almost as if Yankee officials are acting like kids caught with something they shouldn't have, and are scared that someone will take it away from them, so they're promoting patriotism to protect it. I don't understand it and I'm not about to do anything about it, but what I foresee coming because of that policy scares me and I plan to take steps to protect myself and my family from the results, if necessary."
"Do you actually believe that American attitudes are going to cause a war?"
"Unfortunately, yes, I do, along with other factors though!" Tor nodded and sent strongly. "You see somewhere in the world there is probably someone right now who feels he and his way of life are being threatened by the USA and he wants to retaliate. Now if he is a leader of some sort, and if he can gather enough power and the support to do something about it, he will. If he can promote his cause strongly enough, then all hell will break loose. The thing is, it might be an ideological war, or an economical war, or a shooting war, or it might be all of those things in combination. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that it's inevitable. I'm almost positive that some form of war is coming and it will be aimed at the US.
"It may not even be a country that starts the trouble. Perhaps it will be a small group at first, but eventually several countries are going to be drawn into the fray, then armies will march, weapons will be shot and innocent people will die. I simply can't see any other result."
"You mentioned other factors, what do you mean by that?"
"In one word, economics. The world is divided into rich countries and poor countries, but the rich countries are taking advantage of the poorer countries. The rich countries are buying up material and resources that the poorer countries are selling because it's all they have to sell, and as a result they are losing out. They are losing resources that they'll need in the future and they're losing the hours of work that go into harvesting those resources, because their labour is really being exported with the outgoing resources. And, it's all happening at bargain basement prices, and the crappy thing is that much of it is being wasted on disposable junk. Now the USA isn't the only guilty party taking advantage of the situation, but they're at the top of the heap and the most visible, so they get a lot of the blame. As a result the US is also on the receiving end of a lot of the resentment which is slowly building in a lot of places around the world."
"I just realized something, you use the terms US, Yank or Yankee, but you never say America or Americans. Why is that?" Dori frowned.
"Because I refuse to honour the theft of that name by one country out of dozens," Tor shrugged. "There are two large continents and three large territories in the Americas, but the Yankees have appropriated the name, effectively stolen the right of anyone else in those areas to use the word. I could say that I'm Tor Eklund, who lives in Canada, part of North America, but other Canadians might be insulted by my using the term, and people might think I envied the Yankees, which is a long way from the truth."
"Do you think others feel just as strongly about the word, American?"
"Hell, yeah! The term 'American' is considered a derogatory term and even a swear word in many parts of the world. I already mentioned that Canadian tourists are very careful to make sure their nationality is known so they won't be thought to be Yanks. Just ask Björn, he went to Europe on a school tour when he was fifteen and the difference in the way he was treated once people knew he was Canadian, not a Yankee, was astonishing. Yanks are barely tolerated in many places, but Canadians are befriended or even honoured in those same areas. I've noticed that Yanks who live in Canada learn a phrase that Yankee tourists almost never use, just the simple words 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake.' "
"And you think that feeling of alienation is all because of the attitude of American tourists?"
"Mostly, but not completely, part of it is prejudice which has carried over from the actions of another generation. For instance in England the saying 'Oversexed, overpaid and over here.' was a common description of the Yankee GIs during the second world war. That saying is still being used today, but now it's all over Europe, only now it's being applied to the Yankee tourists, movie stars, or politicians, even some lawyers and bankers, not just the military personnel."
"You know, now that I think about it, I've gotten a lot of that shit myself, right here in Eagles Bluff," Dori answered thoughtfully as she reached out to touch Tor's hand gently. "Not from you though and not from your close friends either, but others have called me a snotty Yankee bitch, only usually it's said behind my back. I know the Carruthers boys said something like that when they tried to rape me, but I expected it from those assholes. And you're right, Americans are taught to think of ourselves as better than others in some ways, but it never really sank in that resentment could be so pervasive that it would affect Canadians too. Heck, a lot of Americans virtually think of Canada as our second home."
"Yep, and that attitude is annoying to many Canadians as well," Tor snorted. "We are a separate country, and the US is a distinctly different country. All we really share is a border and a language, but even the language is somewhat different, at least when you spell the words or listen closely to the way people pronounce them. Oh, we share the same continent, some of the same antecedents, a few of our attitudes and ambitions, but little else. The US is NOT Canada's big brother or anything else. The US is just a neighbour - a friendly neighbour, but still just a neighbour, and definitely, a totally separate country."
"You know what? I just came to a decision. My family is living and working here as landed immigrants, but we've sat on the fence for long enough, at least as far as I'm concerned. It's time I got off my fat ass and became a citizen of the country that I now call home, isn't it?"
"Well, that would please me, but I disagree with part of your statement, you don't have a fat ass, just a nicely rounded butt," Tor grinned at her, then stood. "Anyway, we have work to do, so it's time to take our empty cups inside and get back to doing some of it."
"Well, you can speak after all and haven't totally lost the ability," Tor's mom said, while standing at the screen door behind them. "I was starting to wonder about both of you, sitting there staring off into the wild blue and saying nothing at all. I've watched for several minutes and other than touching hands once in a while, I never saw either of you acknowledge that the other one existed, you didn't even say anything to each other. Talk about a pair that suits each other, you two sure seem to have really hit it off!"
"She might not say much out loud, Mom, but she can still make me happy, just by being nearby," Tor wrapped an arm around Dori's waist and drew her close. "I like her a lot, especially since she seems to think the same way I do and accepts that I don't say much out loud."
"Yep, I agree, and I think he's a keeper. Thanks, for doing such a good job of raising a great guy, but one of these days I'm going to steal him from you and keep him for my own. Only since I like you and the rest of your family almost as much as I do him, I'll let you share, okay?" Dori grinned.
"Wow, that sounds serious!" Tor's mom frowned slightly. "Aren't you rushing things a bit?"
"Well, Tor hasn't told me about it, but I have to ask, how long after meeting him did it take for you to decide you wanted to marry Mr. Eklund?"
"Touché!" Tor's mom broke into a wide grin. "Someday when you have lots of time I'll tell you the story, but not now, because to do it properly it would take me a couple of hours and Tor would grow impatient with the two of us."
Tor and Dori headed out to the machine shop right away, but Tor now had an idea of how to move the custom-built frame without damaging it. He lifted it with the front end loader by hooking onto it with chains to three places, one toward the front and two at the rear. He wanted the frame to have the front end facing the door of his new shop and since that part of the frame was heaviest because of the motor and transmission, it had to be nearest the tractor. It took a bit of fiddling to get the frame hooked up just right and blocked from swinging, but they managed it. Then even with the whole frame hanging far out in front of the tractor they were able to carefully move it to the new workshop and have it set it up on blocks before lunch. They were backing the tractor out again just in time to greet Alva as she arrived home for lunch. She came over to them immediately, glanced around to see if anyone else was watching, then handed Tor a small plastic bag rather furtively.
"Those are just in case you two get carried away, but I'm not trying to encourage you or anything. I just don't want to see an accident happen," Alva said softly.
Both Tor and Dori glanced into the bag when he opened the top, but Dori's reaction took Alva completely by surprise as she broke into a giggle.
"Sorry Alva, but Tor won't need those and can't use them anyway. First off, I'm on the pill and secondly, I'm allergic to latex, so using those might prove to be darn uncomfortable. Third of all, neither of us is quite ready for that phase of our affair. On top of that I think your mom, would skin us both alive if we went that far just yet, so you'd better hang onto them yourself, or pass them on to one of Tor's brothers."
"Huh, who do you think suggested that I pick them up?" Alva snorted, then barked a short laugh before growing serious again. "She just thought you'd be less likely to take action if they came from me, I guess, but at the same time she doesn't want to see you get pregnant. Neither do I and I can tell you from experience that emotions sometimes interfere with common sense when it comes to sex. A situation can develop and you just get carried away, so there are times when things do happen that shouldn't have ever taken place."
Alva paused, then grinned and reached out to take the bag back. "Let me have those. I'll give them to Mom and tell her what happened, then we'll see what she does with them."
"You go ahead. We'll wait a few minutes before coming inside, because I don't want to be there when you do that," Tor shook his head. "I just don't want to be involved in the question and answer period that will follow, since Mom hates to have one of her plans go out of kilter. Anyway, there's Dad, just driving in, hopefully he has the shelf brackets and material, then we can get on with the job of fixing this workshop the way I want it to be."
"I'll go in with Alva," Dori said quickly. "There's an explanation that your mom needs to hear and it will be better coming from me than from you. I doubt if you'd be comfortable while trying to explain my near rape by those Carruthers assholes, or talking about Mom's overreaction to the whole episode. She damn near bought a pistol the next time we were in California and Dad had to explain to her that unregistered handguns aren't legal up here in Canada."
Just as the two young women headed for the house Tor's dad pulled in and backed his pickup near the door to the little shop, then got out.
"We can unload all your goodies after lunch," he said as he turned to face Tor. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."
"Me too, Dad, but we might want to wait for a few minutes. Alva and Dori want to talk to Mom for a bit, and I'm not about to interfere."
"Ah, one of those subjects, huh? You're probably right, so let's give them five or ten minutes and hope Olga's not too upset by whatever they have to talk about," his dad nodded his head. "I've got shelf brackets, shelving material and lights, as well as a few bits and pieces that used to be stored in the old Carruthers barn, which I think you can use."
"Oh, I thought we cleaned that barn out. What was left in there that was worth anything?"
"Tools and such," Tor's dad grinned. "Nils had his boys clean out all the tools long before you were there, then he had the police check to see if any of the tools were marked or could be traced to any local thefts. Since the police said they couldn't trace any of it to any thefts or break-ins and turned everything back over to him, Nils thought you could use the lot. According to the police, it all belongs to our family anyway, since it was all abandoned when we bought the property and the Carruthers family moved out."
"Holy crow!" Tor exclaimed as he opened the canopy and looked in the back of the truck.
The first thing he noticed was a tool storage unit on castors, then an air compressor and an acetylene welding outfit. As well as those, there was a bench vice and an anvil, but also a lot of other tools, enough that they were taking up over half of the space under the canopy covering the box of the pickup. The rest of the floor space was taken up by a large stack of precut plywood shelves, shelf brackets and five flourescent light fixtures.
"I'd say you have enough tools and material here to equip your shop quite well," Tor's dad grinned at him. "I thought it was darn nice of Nils and the boys to think of you, so I passed on a thank you for their thoughtfulness, but you might want to add to that the next time you see them."
"Oh, I will," Tor said enthusiastically. "Only as far as I'm concerned they're family tools, not just my tools, since it was family money that bought the property. Oh, wait a minute, wasn't that land bought by the new development company?"
"Nope, the family bought it outright, but the new company is going to take over the family's debt and the management of the property as soon as we start to do any actual development there. Of course the family owns almost all of the shares in the company anyway, probably more than nine shares out of ten, so who gets what doesn't make much never mind. Anyway, lets go eat. I don't feel like emptying this load on an empty stomach."
Tor didn't argue, but then he didn't think he could remember any length of time during the last two years when he hadn't had a raging appetite. Of course he had two good reasons for that, first he was a growing boy and second he was burning a lot of energy using his various 'talents' to do things mentally. Considering those 'talents' reminded him to do a cursory check on the mental activity amongst the three women so he wouldn't embarrass Dori. As a result he intentionally 'stumbled' when he and his dad reached the back step. He knew the sound of his boots loudly hitting the wooden steps would be heard in the kitchen and provide a warning, just in case anything embarrassing was being said.
"Sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to surprise you. I just wasn't paying enough attention to where I was putting my feet, and I guess I missed that step. I was thinking about that old Carruthers property and how much it had changed, then looked around at this place and decided our family does a darn good job of cleaning up run-down farms."
"Well, we have been doing a good job, but I think you need to watch your step more closely," his dad grinned and teased slightly as he held open the kitchen door. "We don't need you to get hurt, so we have to rush you off to the hospital again. I was startled though, you don't often stumble at any time."
Tor was surprised when he stepped inside, because his mom was hugging Dori, who looked as if she had been crying. Tor wasn't sure what was going on, but he decided to keep his mouth shut, but did look over at them with a concerned expression on his face.
"Before you get all wound up and defensive, there isn't anything to worry about, Tor!" his mom said softly. "Dori was just dumping some troubling memories from the distant past and we were sympathizing with her. It's nothing you need to worry about."
"I'm okay, now," Dori lifted her head and sniffed slightly. "Tor and the rest of this family are just what I needed. Thank you!"
Tor and his dad both looked a bit concerned, but neither of them said anything. Instead they went to wash up before coming back to find the table set and their lunch all ready to eat.
"Are you really okay?" Tor sent quickly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just telling your mom about the Carruthers boys and what they did. Then I started crying. I don't know why talking about it upset me so much this time, but I feel a lot better now," Dori managed a weak smile. "Having your mom hear the story, and getting a hug from her, was just what I needed."
Probably because of that incident lunch was quick and quite quiet, at least if you considered what meals were normally like for the Eklund family. Actually Tor and his dad were only inside the house for about half an hour, which was an extremely short time for them, since meals were normally a time for discussions of one sort or the other. That day though they ate and then carried on with their day's tasks.
Actually, the whole family came out to Tor's little shop after lunch was done and the five of them had the shelving unloaded from the pickup in short order. As soon as they had the material at hand, Tor and his dad began putting up shelf brackets and shelving. Meanwhile Dori, Alva and Tor's mom began shifting the tools inside and stacking them along one side of the shop, but Tor and his dad did have to help with the heavier and bulkier items. Once the shelving was mounted, a lot of the tools and most of the spare parts which had been temporarily stored on the workbench were stacked on those shelves. By shortly after two in the afternoon things looked much neater. The pickup truck was unloaded, the shelves were all hung on the walls and even the big drawing of the frame and the coupe's body was mounted on the wall.
Tor's mom and Alva had returned to the house by then, Alva to get ready for work and Tor's mom to start afternoon coffee. Tor, Dori and Tor's dad had just finished mounting the bench vice on the workbench and were sweeping up the floor when Jax drove up to be greeted by a friendly hello from all of them.
"Holy jumpin' catfish! Would you look at this place?" Jax said as he climbed out of his car and looked around at the changes they'd made. "Cripes, if I had a crew like you working at my shop in town, we could put out twice as much work as we do."
"Well, Alva and Mrs. Eklund were helping too, Daddy," Dori giggled. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Ah, I'm here early because of you," Jax grinned and opened the back door of the car to pull out a small suitcase. "Your mom sent you some clothing, just in case you got a bit dirty and needed to change, but she sent out your swimsuit too, since she wasn't sure about the nudity thing."
"Oh, thank you, Daddy. About now I feel like I could use a swim, but we'd better finish up what we were doing first."
"Actually there isn't much more to do here," Tor's dad spoke up quietly. "You and Tor have worked like little beavers today and I think you both deserve a break, especially since it's getting a little warm today. Besides, your father and I need to talk business."
Jax looked at him in surprise. "We do?"
"Yeah, Tor was mentioning this morning that you and the banker didn't see eye to eye about some financing you seem to feel you need. Do you want to explain what the problem is, since the bank manager listens to me fairly well?"
"If you guys is talkin' money, I'm outta here," Tor snorted. "Come on, Dori. This high finance crap ain't none of our truck. Let's hit the swimmin' hole."
"Smart ass, you don't do a southern accent worth a hoot," she giggled and winked at her dad as she grabbed her suitcase from him.
"Let's go with them and sit out on the back porch to have a coffee while we talk," Tor's dad actually put a hand on Jax' shoulder and steered him toward the house. "Olga is the financial wizard of this family anyway, so she needs to be there when you explain what you want to do."
"What is this talk of money really all about?" Dori sent as she and Tor walked ahead, hand in hand.
"Oh I overheard your dad saying that he wanted to expand or something, and he made a comment about the banker being uncooperative. I just mentioned it to Dad and now it sounds to me like he's putting his oar in the water," Tor squeezed her hand gently. "For the last little while anything Dad or Uncle Nils have touched has turned into a bonanza. So if your dad's plan makes sense to my dad, I'd say the banker might just have a change of heart in the near future."
"And if Daddy's ideas don't make sense, what then?"
"Then Mom and Dad have a habit of seeing slight changes that make huge differences in plans and final results. I wouldn't worry about it at all. I've never known them to make a bad mistake when it comes to money."
"What, are you moving in?" Tor's mom teased Dori as she came inside, still carrying the little suitcase.
"I wasn't planning on it, but am I invited?" Dori teased right back. "Actually Mom thought I might get dirty and grubby while helping Tor, so she sent me a change of clothes and my swim suit."
"Smart of your mom and we'll talk about the other subject later," Tor's mom actually grinned at her, then wrapped her in a quick hug. "I'm glad you're here and I'm also glad you're feeling chirpy enough to tease again. If you hurry, you might catch Alva before she finishes her swim and rushes off to work."
So Tor and Dori hurried. They were just leaving the house when Tor snorted loudly though.
"Damn, we've got company coming down the driveway, and not only company, but it happens to be our friendly local gossip."
Dori looked up and chuckled as she saw Sami peddling her bike toward them. "Oh quit being so pessimistic, our being close was bound to get around quickly anyway. I'm definitely not going to hide it, are you?"
"No," Tor laughed, then spun her into his arms in order to kiss her, just a short kiss, but still with feeling. "There, now Sami has something to talk about."
"Unh, hi guys," Sami pulled up to them. "Since it's so hot today I was coming over to see if I could go swimming this afternoon, Tor. Alva told the other day that it wouldn't disturb anyone, but . . ."
"Oh quit being so polite, Sami. You know my girlfriend, Dori, don't you?" Tor grinned and winked at her.
"Unh, sure. Hi Dori. When did you two guys get together? The last I heard Tor was up to his ears in old car parts and I didn't think . . . I mean he was so busy that . . . Oh heck, I don't know what's going on, but if you don't want to tell me, it's okay."
"Tor has parts for more than one car, and my dad made a deal with him for some of those spare parts . . ." Dori started to explain.
"Are you saying that your dad traded you to Tor for a bunch of junky old car parts?" Sami teased as she rudely broke into Dori's explanation.
"Nope, but I think he would have," Dori giggled. "Actually Tor's dad invited my family out here for a picnic and a swim just yesterday, then while we were here Tor impressed me a lot. You might say that I discovered he had hidden talents that I didn't know about before. It's almost as if we were meant to be together, because we think the same way."
"Oh my goodness, you guys just got together the other day. That's wild. I guess I should say congratulations. Only . . . well, I should warn you that Sunny and Em are on their way over in a little while, and I think they might be a little bit surprised too. I mean Sunny was sorta . . . I mean she, unh . . ."
"Don't bother going there," Tor chuckled. "You and I both know Sunny is on the rebound and hunting for a new guy, but I'm afraid I was never about to agree with her plans for us to get back together. Sunny and I have each changed a lot since we moved out here. I had already decided it was best not to become involved again, and was considering the idea of playing the field by dating several different girls, just to let her know I wasn't interested. Then I discovered that Dori wasn't as shy as I thought she was, which solved the problem for me."
"I tried to tell Sunny that you had changed and that she had too, but she doesn't listen to me much," Sami shrugged, then broke into a grin. "Now to change the subject, I've gotta ask, Dori, where did you get that bikini? As I was riding up, I thought you were naked, then I got close and saw that your suit was almost the same colour as your skin. It's just fabulous!"
"I got it in California," Dori giggled. "My cousin, Tyeshia, took me to a little store down there that sells all sorts of erotic clothing and talked me into buying this thing. Only you have to be there to buy one though, because you have to match the bikini to your skin colour, if you want it to look right."
As the girls were talking about clothing, the three of them managed to shift their direction so they were walking toward the swimming hole. Alva met them on the way, then as the three gals were chatting together, Tor's dad called him back over to the porch where he and Jax were having coffee. Jax wanted to ask some questions about the cars that Tor had seen down at the scrap yard and Tor got involved in a conversation with them, so he didn't see Sunny and Em arrive. He didn't see Sunny leave either, but it wasn't long before he 'heard' about it.
"Tor, you should know, Sunny is pissed at us, well mostly at me, I guess," Dori sent. "She just stomped off in a huff, right after Alva told her that you and I were a couple."
"Oh my! I didn't even see her come in. What happened?"
"Well, one minute she was raving about how nice it was to see me joining in out here, then Alva said something about the two of us and Sunny lost her cool. She drew a deep breath as if she wanted to scream at me, but then she just wheeled around and stomped off."
"Oh great!" Tor sighed softly. "That's all we need. Did someone go after her?"
"Yeah, Alva did, and she said you should stay out of it."
"I will, don't worry. That's one situation I don't want anything to do with, so if she can, I'll let Alva handle it."
"Good!"
Tor was involved with his dad and Jax for several minutes, so he was still there when Alva came stomping back up the back steps. She looked at Tor with a heavy frown on her face, but waited for a break in the conversation before speaking.
"Tor, did you say anything to Sunny about you two getting back together?" she demanded.
"Hell, no!" he snapped back. "As far as I'm concerned she still has a boyfriend. At least I don't think she and Kevin have actually broken up and I'm not about to be a party to causing any problems between her and my best buddy. What the hell do you think I am. I've got my hands full with Dori anyway, and as far as Sunny is concerned, she's last years news - no actually, that news is two years old now."
"Well, I guess she'd just bought a new bikini and had come over here to impress you," Alva snorted. "That spoiled little whelp even tried to blame me for introducing you to Dori, which isn't all that far from the truth as of yesterday, but you already knew Dori from school, didn't you?"
"Sure, and Sunny was even standing there several different times when I asked Dori for a date, so she's screwed that up too. It's almost seems like she's developing a selective memory about who did what, when they did it and where it happened. I'm not sure, but I think some of the medications her doctors are giving her are making her act crazy, either that or her hormones are so out of balance that she's gone completely squirrelly."
"You know, I think I'm going to ask about that, because she used to be such a level-headed kid," Alva frowned. "I know she's had problems with PMS, but . . ."
"That's more than I need to know, and more than you need to be discussing in front of Jax and Tor, thank you, Alva!" her dad said sharply. "Discuss it with your mother, or her mother, or her doctor, but I've heard enough speculation from you, and from you too for that matter, Tor. She is a friend and a neighbour and I will not have you speculating about the mental or physical health of either, not when she isn't here to defend herself, and especially not in front of a guest."
"Okay, Dad, I'm sorry," Alva apologised.
"I'm sorry, Dad, sorry, Jax," Tor nodded. "I'm afraid it's a rather emotional situation for me right now, and I got carried away, but that's not much of an excuse. I know better and shouldn't have let that happen."
"Alright, but the situation is serious enough that you might want to talk to your mother about it. Especially you, Alva, since you do seem to be the better judge of the health and medication situation, besides you aren't directly involved. Tor, when you talk to your mother about it, I think you should try to keep your emotions in hand. We all know she hurt you a lot when she broke up with you, but try not to let that colour the discussion with your mom, okay?"
"Dad, we didn't really break up, but that's because we weren't really together," Tor sighed. "We were really just close friends, or so I thought, but suddenly she didn't want to be around me any longer. I didn't understand that situation then and I don't understand this one now. Only at the moment I have two guests and a gal friend out at the swimming hole, so can I be excused, please?"
"Yes, Tor, you're right, you'd best go join them, but please try to keep the speculation amongst them to a minimum too, if you can."
"I'll try, Dad," Tor nodded, but knew it was a hopeless task even as he walked away.