Thor's Child ©

by K Pelle

Chapter 22

As Tor walked toward the field he noticed that the tractor and baler he'd seen before was pulling out of the field, but another tractor pulling a wagon was taking its place.  One person drove the tractor, one walked beside the wagon lifting bales up to the wagon bed and a third person was positioning them to build a stable load.  He nodded to himself, willing to bet those folks wouldn't turn down his offer of help load bales, besides the idea of burning off his frustrations by doing some hard work suited him right then.

As  Tor was walking across the fields, he was rehashing what he'd said to Officer McDonald and he realized that he'd probably surprised and perhaps offended the man.  As well he was slightly uncomfortable about 'fudging' the truth with his comment about 'quantity coat' and about denigrating his own talents, by comparing them to the Roswell incident, but so what?  He'd had to get the detail about Quantico across, but in such a way that it seemed reasonable and not based on his ESP.  Besides, he doubted very much if McDonald would have reacted as favourably to being told that Tor had overheard someone else's thoughts, so that fib about a muttered comment was virtually essential.

Actually he felt more uncomfortable about trying to pretend to be annoyed by the police investigation.  Truthfully he wanted the police to find as many clues as possible concerning whatever Burns was doing, but he didn't want to be a key part in their investigation.  That was why he'd laid the seeds in McDonald's mind that he'd be cooperative, but somewhat leery of outside investigators, which wasn't really an exaggeration.  He knew the authorities couldn't take any legal action over the information he had anyway, so why endanger his future safety by admitting his conviction that Burns was involved with the US Marines.  Actually considering his situation he thought admitting anything would be sheer stupidity, so he'd felt he had to establish limits on how far his cooperation would go.  He was hoping to be standing on the outside looking in, but at the same time close enough that he might have a minor influence of where the investigation went.  At the same time, he felt strongly about protecting himself and this ranch, so he was willing to go as far as possible to safeguard both, but he didn't feel it was necessary to lay all his cards on the table.  In the near future he was going to have to do a balancing act of matching what he knew with what he could help others prove, but not today.

For the rest of the day he was going to be trying to make friends with people, getting to know the folks who worked on his ranch.  Hey, wait a minute, these people worked on the ranch, and this ranch belonged to him.  That meant he was their boss!  Aw, so what?  He'd seen the balance sheets and although the ranch wasn't a gold mine, it wasn't losing money either and that meant whoever was in charge here knew what he was doing.  He wasn't about to upset that applecart by being pushy.

As Tor got closer to the tractor and wagon, he was slightly surprised at the age of the people doing the work.  The tractor was being driven by a young woman who looked only a year or two older than himself, next the guy lifting the bales onto the wagon was about Tor's age and a still younger lad was stacking them.  All three of them showed signs of native heritage, but he doubted if they were full bloods.  Tor paused to pull on his gloves, then casually grabbed a bale and tossed it onto the wagon just as the gal on the tractor pulled to a halt.

"Hey folks. My name is Tor Eklund, and I'm visiting for a while, staying with my aunt and uncle in that fancy log house that Burns built.  But, right now, I'm bored and I need some exercise, so can I offer to give you guys a hand?"

"You want to help loading hay bales?  Are you nuts or something?" one of the boys asked.

"No, I'm not nuts," Tor laughed.  "I play hockey in the winter and I have to stay in shape, so daily exercise is part of my routine.  Besides, I've lived on a farm or a ranch all my life and if I wasn't tossing bales here, I'd probably be tossing bales at home."

"You say you're stayin' up at Burns' new house?" the other boy asked.

"I'm staying at the house that used to belong to Burns, but my uncle bought it, well, actually he traded for it.  Burns is long gone and the police asked permission to look over his house, so they've been here checking the place out all day.  I was moving rugs and furniture for them, but I got fed up with standing around so much, and I thought maybe you guys might be able to use a bit of extra muscle."

"Burns is gone?  Yay, Doggies!" the older boy yelled,

Tor couldn't help grinning and giving the kid a thumbs up sign.

"They aren't going to turn down your help, Tor, and I should tell you that I know who you are.  I've seen you play hockey for the Eagles Bluff Falcons," the gal on the tractor grinned at him.  "My name is Dawn McClure and these are my two brothers.  Jimmy is the one tossing the bales on the wagon and Tommy is stacking them."

"Hi again," Tor grinned at the three.  "That bale I grabbed felt quite light, so how about if Jimmy hops up onto the wagon to help Tommy stack and I'll toss the bales up to them.  I wonder if you might be able to go a bit faster than you were though, then I can get a bit of a workout and burn off my frustrations."

"I can do that, but before I do, tell us what's frustrating you.  Maybe we can help?" Dawn smiled.

"I doubt it, Burns brought this crud on and I can't change that in any way.  You see the cops found something in the house that has them all wound up, so although they were here all day today, they'll probably be back tomorrow and maybe even on the weekend.  Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against cops ordinarily and I'll cooperate when I can, but they can be a pain in the butt at times.  Today was just one of those days when things didn't go the way I wanted."

"Well, those days happen, but I'm curious.  What did Burns do to bring the cops here in the first place?" Dawn asked.

"I'm sorry, Dawn, but I've been told not to say much.  I think the RCMP will want to talk to you and they won't like it if anything I happen to say influences your comments," Tor frowned slightly.  "I'm trying to stay as neutral as I can, but I did talk to the S.O.B. recently and I saw the way he reacted to one or two things, so I'm sort of a prime target for the cop's questions.  Now we're burning sunlight, and I'm getting cooled down from my walk, which ain't good.  Let's get a load on this wagon now, and talk later.  I'll be around here for a few weeks, so we'll have lots of time to talk."

"Okay, Tor.  You set the pace and I'll adjust my speed to keep up," Dawn nodded and as soon as Jimmy had scampered up onto the bale wagon, they set off.

Tor set a comfortable walking pace and anyone watching could see he'd handled bales many times before.  As he approached each bale he'd bend down and flex his knees slightly, then grasp a bale string in each hand while still moving forward.  Next he straightened his legs and back, letting the inertia of the bale start a swing around to his right and behind him. Using the length of his arms to control and reverse the swing, he'd pivot slightly, then heave, easily tossing the bale onto the wagon before pivoting back to walk toward the next bale.  It was a practised motion and seemed to use very little effort, but he was able to load enough bales to fill the wagon five bales high in only half an hour.

"Enough, Tor!" Dawn shouted as she pulled to a stop, then grinned at him.  "You're like a bloody machine, but I don't think we should load any more bales on the wagon though.  The tires aren't all that great and if we blow one by overloading the wagon, Dad will have a fit."

"Okay then," Tor grinned.  "Do you guys need a hand to unload?"

"Sure, we could use one.  Hop on the wagon and we'll head for the hay barn.  Sit at the front though, so I can hear you talk,"  Dawn said as she changed gears on the tractor while Tor climbed on the wagon-load of bales.  "So how did your family end up trading for this place?"

"Oh, we had a lease on a valley over on Vancouver Island which is even harder to get to than this place and my uncle and aunt owned a log cabin just above the lease.  They sold the cabin and the acreage it was on to Burns, then swapped the lease for Burns' fancy log house and the ranch, that way he'll have a bigger buffer of wild country around him for more privacy."

"Sounds like Happy Harry all right," Jimmy commented.  "He was a total nutcase."

"You should have seen him go ape when a photographer from some scandal magazine showed up here a few weeks ago,"  Tommy laughed.  "He wanted to borrow Dad's hounds and a rifle to find and shoot the guy, but Dad just laughed at him."

"I think that photographer was the main reason he was willing to trade this place away," Tor grinned.  "At least that's the reason he gave Uncle Nils and Aunt Hanna."

"Well, if the cops are here checking over his place, you can bet there was another reason," Dawn called back from the tractor, so she'd obviously heard what they'd said.

"I know they have a suspicion about some sort of wrong doing, but I can't tell you anything about that right now,"  Tor shrugged.  "I just don't want to say anything or speculate about it too much because of the chance that it might influence what you tell them.  Maybe after you've had your interviews with the cops we can discuss what we think it might be all about."

"Well, I can understand why you feel that talking about it beforehand isn't a good idea," Dawn nodded.

The talk changed then as Tor asked about the ranch and the three young McClures filled him in on what went on and how they handled the various chores around the place.  As Tor had suspected, they were still sticking to the system set up by the old professor who had owned the place for so long.  When the old man had died, their dad had wanted to make some changes, but Burns had told them to just carry on doing things the same way as when the professor was alive.

At least Burns was smart enough to realize that while the ranch wasn't making much profit, it wasn't losing money either.  In other words he must have known that he wasn't a farmer and didn't want to make any decisions that might be costly, so like a timid politician, he'd voted for the status quo.  The problem with that decision was that indicated a lack of trust in those working on the ranch, as if Burns doubted that they'd make decent choices or real improvements.  Tor didn't know much about the older McClure yet, but he knew that had it been him, he'd have been resentful of that implication.

It was while they were unloading the bales that he learned his suspicions had been correct.  Only seconds after Dawn had introduced Tor to Donald McClure young Jimmy had told the older man that Burns had sold out to the Eklunds and that Tor definitely knew something about farming.

"Well then, I'll be wantin' to meet yer parents an' be talkin' to them about makin' a few changes round here," Donald said as he smiled and shook Tor's hand.

"I don't think there's any reason you won't be able to talk to them," Tor grinned,  "And, I know darn well your ideas will be considered, but Mom and Dad won't be making the final decisions about any changes that are made on the ranch."

"Oh, then I suppose I'll have to convince your uncle, will I?"

"Nope, not him either," Tor's grin was even wider.  "Although he'll definitely be consulted about any changes and might give advice about whatever decisions are made.  You see Uncle Nils and Aunt Hanna only held a third of the lease that was traded to Harold Burns for both the fancy house and the ranch.  Aunt Hanna fell in love with that log house, so they took that and the acreage it sits on in trade for  their third of the lease."

"Well, don't stop there, lad.  Who owned the other two thirds of the lease?"

"Well, it's a long story.  You see, almost everyone else in the family was leery of paying lease fees on a valley out in the wilderness, since it was overgrown by scrub brush and useless for anything much, except a home for a herd of wild horses," Tor chuckled and paused, then winked at the older man.  "Did I mention that I love horses?"

The older man's eyes grew wide and a slow grin grew on his face, then he chuckled loudly.

"Oh, wait until I tell Eric and Mary about this," Donald chortled through his laughter.

"Dad, I don't get it.  What's so funny?"  Dawn demanded.  "And who the heck owns the ranch now?"

"Dawn, me darlin' daughter,  meet yer new landlord, Tor Eklund," he chuckled.  "It seems he's wantin' to convince us that he's a workin' owner, so he introduced himself by helpin' out with the job you were doin' at the time."

"Well he sure ain't nothin' like Harpin' Harry was,"  Jimmy commented with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, Dad.  Tor was tellin' us that the cops are after Burns for somethin' or other," Tommy added.  "He says they've been goin' over that fancy log house with a fine tooth comb all day long."

"Is that right?" Donald spun and stared at Tor.

"Yeah, I can't tell you much more, because the cops told me not to stir things up or pass on my opinions.  As the owner of the ranch I'm asking you to cooperate with them, but I understand that as well as the RCMP, there might be a government outfit coming to ask questions.  Now if either bunch starts to give you a real rough time or anything, tell me about it right away and I'll have a lawyer here as fast as I can get one to stir his stumps."

"You'd do that for us?" the older man asked instantly.

"Absolutely!  No doubt about it,"  Tor said firmly.  "Over the last few years I've had some run-ins with a few crooks, so I've seen a fair bit of the RCMP.  Now usually I've found them easy to get along with, but once in a while they annoy me.  For instance a guy took a few pot shots at me and my family, so I shot back and scared him off.  That got me into trouble because the RCMP deals with the letter of the law, not just the protection of law-abiding citizens.  I broke the law by shooting back at the guy and while I got away with it, it was only because they knew I shot to scare him.  Well, besides that they couldn't prove I was the person who shot at the bushwhacker."

"You shot back at a guy who was shooting at you?" Donald McClure frowned at Tor.

"Yep, at the time there was a cop visiting us, but even he was pinned down.  My family was in danger and since I could see where the shots were coming from, I decided to shoot back, intending to scare him off.  My first shot was aimed at a branch in a pine tree and above the guys head, which dumped a bunch of pine needles on him, then the dogs went after the intruder.  He ran off in such a hurry that he dropped his gun, but one dog got a chunk of his pant leg and nipped the guy's leg a bit.  The cops were able to catch him when he went to the doctor to get his leg looked at.  Since they had his finger prints off the rifle and a hunk of cloth from his pants, they were able to prove it was him.  They couldn't find any of the bullets I'd shot, but they found several the sniper shot at us, so the court case was a slam dunk.  I got reamed out for shooting back at the guy, but if it happened again - well, it would depend on the circumstances I suppose.  Right now I'm not sure what I'd do."

"You're not braggin', are ye?" the old Scot smiled.  "Yer just tellin' it like it happened."

"Yeah, but I figure I'll be involved with this place for quite a few years and you're bound to hear rumours about my past, so I thought I might as well tell you the truth right off the bat.  If you hear any other rumours about me, just ask and I'll tell you the truth behind the rumour."

"Why would we be hearin' rumours about ye?"

"Because he's the star center for the Eagles Bluff  Falcons, Dad," Jimmy spoke up.  "I heard that he's real tough on drug dealers too.  He ran off a whole gang because they were dealing in steroids and stuff of that sort."

"No, I didn't do that, but my family did and they did it legally," Tor grinned.  "My aunt and uncle's company bought the property the crooks were squatting on, then got the sheriff to serve them with an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent.  While our family was doing that a complete outsider got involved by calling the SPCA because the family was mistreating their livestock.  The SPCA went out, looked things over and confiscated every animal the crooks had on the place.  That riled the squatters so much that when the sheriff went out to evict them, they ran him off at gunpoint.  Of course the sheriff called in the RCMP, and because they'd heard of all the problems that others had gone through, they went in there in force.  While the cops were there, they found drugs, stolen property and a huge stash of outdated explosives that were so dangerous they couldn't be moved.  They had to call in the army to dispose of the explosives.  Of course the army took the safest method of handling that problem and blew up all the shacks the squatters had been living in, so the crooks had to move away."

"And you're sayin' that you had nothin' to do with all of that then?"

"Not really, I was going to school at the time." Tor grinned.

"Well I heard another rumour that you captured a murderer when you were only thirteen years old.  Is there any truth in that story?" Jimmy asked.

"The truth is I got my ankle busted trying to catch him and I ended up in the hospital for a few weeks.  My ex-girlfriend and my dog managed to hold onto the guy until my dad arrived to capture him, so I was there, but I didn't do much."

"So now you're here and the police are checking out the house where Burns lived," Dawn shook her head and chuckled.  "Have you ever heard that Chinese curse about living in interesting times?"

"Many times," Tor sighed.  "One of my cousins told me that I've crammed a whole lifetime of drama into my teen years and when I turn twenty, I'll either die young or live a very boring existence for the rest of my years.  I'm kinda hoping for the latter."

"Aye, and I think that's wise," Donald McClure grinned.  "However, I've been working here for near to forty years and I have to say you're a breath of fresh air and sunshine.  A little young perhaps, but I'd say you've had a wealth of experience an' a tad o' moxie to balance that.  Now I'm thinkin' I should be introducin' you to Eric Nordahl, the other feller who has worked here 'most as long as I have.  Then perhaps we could ha' ya eat with us this evenin' since you spent part o' yer day helpin' me bairns in the hay field.  T'would give us a chance ta get ta know ya a bit, an' I could ha' ya meet me wife, Mary and our youngest bairn, Sami."

"How is Sami feeling, Dad?" Dawn asked instantly.

"Complainin' 'bout how her leg still hurts.  We may need ta take her ta the doc an' have it looked at, fer sure."

"What's wrong with her leg.?" Tor asked with a frown.  "As I said before, I got my leg hurt once and if it's hurting her badly, there must be a reason."

"Well she was up on a rock and jumped off, but her foot got caught between the rock and a branch, so she sorta pulled and twisted her ankle at the same time," Tommy commented.  "I had to come get help to get her to the house, 'cause I couldn't carry her and she couldn't put her weight on it.  Mom thought it was just a little sprain."

"That sounds a lot like my injury and I had to have it operated on, because I'd torn ligaments and broken bones.  Can I see her?  I'm no doctor, but I know how my leg felt and if she needs to be taken to see a real doctor, I'll make sure it happens."

Everyone dropped what they'd been doing at that point and they led Tor to a long two story high, stone building that looked more like an apartment block than a house.  In the kitchen, sitting on a chair with her foot resting on a stool was a young girl, about ten years old and Tor could see the streaks of tears on her face.  Her foot had been wrapped tightly in a tensor bandage which her mother carefully removed so Tor could see what the ankle looked like.  Her foot was swollen all through the ankle and heel, while the instep of her foot had been scraped against a rough object.

"We've been soaking it in cold water, but it doesn't seem to help much," her mother said quietly.  "In fact I think it's swollen worse than it was."

Tor took one look and turned to Donald.

"Do you have a telephone between here and the new log house?" he asked instantly.

"Yes, it's right there," Donald pointed to an old style crank phone on the wall.  "Burns thought it was funny to use the old crank phones as intercoms once the dial kind was installed.  Just lift the receiver and turn the crank a couple of times and it will ring at the other house, but if nobody is close by it may take a few tries."

Tor just hoped Uncle Nils was inside and that the cops hadn't left yet.  He was lucky on both counts though.  He talked to his uncle first, then to Officer McDonald and explained the problem.

"It looks a lot like my leg did when I had that badly busted ankle," Tor told him.  "I was wondering if you could arrange to rush her and her mother to a hospital.  I don't think we want to try to take her out in a pickup truck since the shaking around would hurt her a lot."

"The weather's good, so if one is available we can have a chopper here in an hour at the most.  Is there a place down there close to the house where one can land?"

"Hell yes!" Tor snapped.  "We'll carry her out to meet it when that gets here."

"All right, I'll radio for the chopper and ring you back when it gets within a few miles."

"Thanks a lot, Coach,"  Tor said quietly.

"No problem, Tor.  No problem at all."

It didn't long for the helicopter to arrive.  Inside of half an hour they were loading Sami and her mother into the medivac chopper, and it flew them to Hope where Sami was admitted to the hospital.


Meanwhile life on the ranch continued, but nowhere near as smoothly as Sami's evacuation.

In the first place the RCMP had warned Uncle Nils that they wanted to go through the main house and search it from top to bottom a second time.  As a result they asked Uncle Nils to move all his possessions to the smaller cabin, but they offered to help him move, which is why they had still been there when Tor called.  When Tor heard about that he was annoyed, but he didn't own the cabin, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

Then Donald and Eric added another complication.

"Why ain't ya moving inta the professor's old house instead o' stayin' cramped up in that little cabin?" Eric asked shortly after meeting Tor.

"I didn't even know there was an empty house down here," Tor frowned.

"Och yeah," Donald pointed a short distance uphill of the other buildings to a single story, ranch style house.  "Not only is it a grand little house, but it's still in fine shape."

The house was completely surrounded by a picket fence that separated it from the rest of the farm, yet it had a good view of the whole ranch.  The yard looked well maintained and the house even overlooked a second stream, which ran along the opposite side of the ranch from the one near his Aunt Hanna's log house.  Tor had seen that house, but for some reason he had assumed Eric and his wife lived there.

"That house is what I was hired to work on when I first come here.  The professor had me build it for him and his wife," Eric smiled.  "It's really nice inside, but Burns didn't like it, since he thought it was old fashioned.  He never did stay in the place, but we've kept it up and we've made sure it stays clean and all, so I think you should use it."

"A couple months after the professor died his daughter came out and took all his clothes and private stuff away, but the place is still completely furnished," Dawn smiled.  "The professor was planning to live here when he retired, so he had the wiring and plumbing all upgraded, even installed a bunch of new appliances, then hardly got to use any of it before he died."

"Did he die in the house?" Tor asked.

"Nay, he were drivin' here from Vancouver when his heart give out.  Died in his car whilst on the road and near to caused an accident 'cause he swerved 'cross both lanes an' inta a bank o' snow.  He were dead when the police got there.  The coroner said he died from an aneurism, a broken blood vessel in the brain, ya know, so he were gone in an instant," Donald said quietly.

So they went to look at the old house, which didn't look all that old to Tor.  There were two bedrooms, a living room, a large 'country' kitchen and a glassed-in back porch that looked out on small back yard and a second stream that ran down that side of the ranch.  Everything in the house was spotless and looked quite modern to Tor, so he just couldn't understand why Burns wouldn't have wanted to live there.

"Oh, t'were too close to us," Donald snorted.  "He'da  had to associate with us heathens an' our half breed kids, ya know.  I was not in love wi' the little pip-squeak an' the way he treated folks, as ya can probably tell."

"Yeah, I sort of caught the drift," Tor nodded with a grin.  "I wonder what he'd have thought of my girlfriend, since she's a mixture of about five or six races and a bit darker skinned than your wife.  I think she'll get along really well with Dawn and the boys though, I know I do."

"Will she be comin' out here soon then?  Dawn'd sure like havin' another young woman around to talk to."

"This weekend, I hope.  I already miss her, since I only saw her long enough for a quick kiss before leaving this morning," Tor sighed softly.  "I think she'd gonna love this house though.  It sure has more character than that cabin does."

"So you figure you'll move in down here?"

"Yep, which means I have to call home later and arrange for some more of my things to be brought down."

"There's working phone right there," Eric grinned.  "Come on, Don.  Let's leave our new boss have some privacy."

"Aye, an' that's the second good idea ye've had this day, Eric, which is nigh onta bein' a record," Donald winked at Tor and chuckled softly, then grew serious.  "I will ask that ye not be on the phone too long, Boss, since this is a party line and Mary will probably be callin' back to let us know how Sami is doin' the now."

"Well, I think I'll call from the log house, since I know that's a private line and I might spend the night there too, just to keep my uncle company," Tor said thoughtfully, then shook his head as he looked at Donald.  "I'm sorry for being curious, but I have to ask.  Are you a Scot or an Irishman, because sometimes you sound like one, then another time you sound like the other?"

"Och lad, even I'm nay sure meself, since me mither were Irish and me father a Scot," Donald laughed.  "But to be honest, I was born and bred here in Canada and speaking the way I do is just a habit carried over from childhood.  I can talk like a normal feller if I try real hard."

"Well, it doesn't bother me any, but I did have to ask," Tor grinned.  "Now I think I'd best get up the hill and see if it might be an idea for both Uncle Nils and I to both move down to this house tomorrow.  That way we'll be out of the way while the cops search the log house."

"Why don't I give you a ride up there and meet your uncle at the same time?" Eric suggested.  "If nothing else I can speak to your uncle in Swedish and keep the cops out of the loop, so to speak.  If you tried that the RCMP might be suspicious."

"Why bother?  We haven't anything to hide and besides, I need the run for the exercise," Tor frowned slightly.  "I'm sure you'll be meeting my whole family quite soon and today might not be a good day to talk to Uncle Nils anyway.  He might be a bit riled over not being able to settle into Aunt Hanna's new house the way he'd planned, so he could be a little grumpy."

When Tor did get back to the log house, he was glad to be talking to his uncle while they were alone.  His idea of that the two of might move into the professor's old house for the time being was turned down flat.  Uncle Nils wanted to be on hand to see to it that the police didn't damage Aunt Hanna's new house and that was that.  Actually he was quite annoyed with the RCMP and felt the two officers from Kamloops were acting very high handed, so making things easy for them was the last thing on his mind.

Tor cooked them a quick meal and as soon as they'd eaten he called home to talk to his mom, then his dad and finally to Dori.  He was surprised to hear that all of them sounded quite happy that there was a house on the ranch which separated him from Aunt Hanna and Uncle Nils.  His mom complicated matters though, by suggesting he should go back there that evening to do an inventory of supplies, then call her back.  She was quite insistent, so in the long-run Tor gave in, but told her he'd only phone her if he found that the house didn't have any items that he felt were essential.  By the time he got off the phone, the police had left for the day, so Uncle Nils decided to run Tor down to the ranch headquarters and see the other house for himself.

Something about Uncle Nils attitude annoyed Tor, so he decided to take his possessions and supplies along, then stay in 'his' house that night.  As an excuse he explained that everything left in the cabin would belong to Uncle Nils and Aunt Hanna, which would simplify matters when it came time to move back into the main house.  Tor was surprised that his uncle didn't argue, so after his belongings and Alva's 'emergency package' were loaded into the Land Rover, they drove down and parked near the 'new' house.

They hadn't been there two minutes before Donald and Eric both appeared, but they were soon joined by Dawn and her two brothers, then by two more boys and a middle-aged woman.  Tor introduced Uncle Nils to the five people he knew, then Eric introduced his wife, Tami and his two sons, Matthew and Mark to both Tor and Uncle Nils.

Tor asked if Mary had called about Sami, then was told that she had and that he'd been right, Sami had broken a bone in her ankle and another bone in her lower leg was cracked.  So she'd be going into surgery as soon as possible the next morning to have a pin inserted in her ankle, then she'd be kept in the hospital for at least a week before she could come home.  As well as that, Mary would be able to stay in the same room as Sami, who was resting easier now that she was on stronger pain medications and her family was quite relieved by that news.  They seemed quite happy that Tor was the new owner of the ranch, especially since they felt he'd already proved himself to be something of a hero, at least as far as they were concerned.

In no time at all they'd given him a hand to carry his possessions into the house and he was being shown that the house was fully stocked with everything he'd need, except for food and perishable supplies.  So Tor phoned home to tell his mom the good news, explaining that the professor had left behind an almost completely stocked house, but that all perishables and personal possessions had been removed.

The linen closet was full of sheets, blankets, towels and other whatnot, and almost everything seemed to be new, in fact some items were still in their original packages.  The beds were covered with spreads, but not made, so he could see that the mattresses looked new.  The living room furniture was an older style, but looked to be in good shape.  In fact as far as Tor could see the whole place was move in ready in all aspects and it was all spotlessly clean.

The most impressive room was the kitchen, which had a dish washer, a new stove and a new refrigerator, as well as almost every sort of cooking utensil or kitchen tool imaginable.  The upper cupboards on each side of the sink were filled with dishes, china and glasses, while the drawers were filled with knives, forks and spoons.  Then there was a rack on the counter by the double sink which was loaded with butcher knives, bread knives, paring knives and what not.  Above the stove, in an island in the center of the kitchen, there was a smoke hood, but on each side of that there was a hanging rack loaded with numerous pots and pans.  Unlike the cabin, the house even had a small amount of dish soap, detergent and bleach under the kitchen sink.

Dawn had come in as he was talking and she snapped her fingers to catch his attention, then opened a folding door to show him a laundry room with a washer and dryer, so he told his mom about those.  Then as his mom asked more questions he rolled his eyes, making Dawn giggle.

"Mom, take it from me, the place is livable as it is, but I imagine Dori will want to make some changes when she comes down here," which brought another giggle from Dawn.

Tor was on the phone for a few more minutes and Dawn had left the room when he hung up, but he found her in the kitchen.

"Well, did you convince your mother that this house is liveable?" she asked with a grin.

"No, but then she's my mom and I'm her youngest, so she has this soft spot for the baby of the family," he grinned back.  "Now I take it you wanted to ask me a question, or tell me something."

"Both!" Dawn grinned.  "I wanted to be sure that you knew where we hid the key to the office, because all the ranch's history and our work records are kept there, and I thought you'd want to look them over.  Then, since I heard your uncle talking about you training horses, I thought I'd ask if you wanted to go for a ride on one of your new ponies this evening?"

"Well, actually I should unpack my clothes, make my bed and have a shower, but I would like to look at the office first."

"Well, how about if we glance in the office, then while you're unpacking your clothes, I can make up your bed, then we can go for a ride up to the hot spring and have a swim?" she grinned, then winked.  "Of course we usually go skinny dipping, but I do have a suit if that bothers you.  I got that suit 'cause Harpy Harry used to spy on us, if we went swimming when he was around."

"Make sure you mention that to the cops,"  Tor snapped instantly, then frowned.  "I'd love to say more, but I really shouldn't."

"Oh, he was weird.  He used to stare at Mom or Aunt Tami way more than at me, but if they weren't around, he'd be staring at Sami, which I thought was a rank insult, 'cause I think I look okay."

"He really did that?  Well, I think you should mention that to the cops as well.  I only talked to Burns for a short while, but even then I had him pegged as a weirdo, maybe not quite as much as you're telling me though.  Only, let's not get sidetracked, weren't you going to show me that office?"

"Yes, Boss!" she grinned.  "This way."

She led him out to the back porch which had windows running from waist high to the ceiling and had a nice view since it faced the little stream that ran a few yards behind the house.  The majority of the room was occupied by chairs and plants, but one end was sectioned off behind a frosted glass wall.  Dawn paused to pick up a key that had been hidden on the rear edge of a plant stand, then unlocked a door in the frosted glass wall.  Inside was a small office with a desk, a pair of chairs, a filing cabinet and three shelves of books.  On the desk sat what appeared to be an almost new IBM computer, a printer and a copying machine, but little else.

"This is the main office for the ranch, and so needless to say, everything in here is yours," Dawn waved her hand to include the whole room.  "When the professor's daughter came out here after he died, she took the files of his breeding experiments to pass on to the university, but she left the brand-new computer and all his original paper files concerning the ranch.

"Burns didn't want anything to do with it and since Dad and Eric aren't good with a computer, I've been keeping things up, but I set up our books for the income and expenses of the ranch in a separate file.  Then last year we were snowbound for almost three weeks, and I was bored, so I came out here and sorted through all the professor's old files to find anything about past income and expenses.  I added those to the ranch file, so you can see what was done and what everything cost from the day the professor bought the place in 1947."

"1947?"

"Yep!  Dad started working for Professor Wilson in the spring of 1948, when he quit school.  He was only sixteen years old then, the same age as I am now."

"Which means you're a year older than me and your dad is fifty-six," Tor grinned.

"Yeah, Dad left and served in the army for two years during the Korean War, but he was back here in 1952 and he's lived here ever since. He helped Eric get the job to build this house in 1953 and helped with the construction, then talked Professor Wilson into hiring Eric on steady the next spring.  Actually this house is built on the foundations of the old school house that the Doukhobors had built in the early 1900s."

"Okay, I'm going to ask if you'd mind if we didn't go for a ride and a swim tonight.  Instead I'd like a quick tutorial on running this thing," Tor gestured at the computer.  "If you've got the history of the ranch on here, I'd like to look at it, so I know what I've ended up owning."

Actually Dawn was proud of what she'd done, so she was happy to show Tor.

The ranch had originally been started by an English immigrant named Stephen Harper in 1897, but he'd soon run afoul of the law and was shot during a bank robbery.  His widow had sold out to another Englishman named Harmon Grieves, who had barely managed to scratch a living from the place, so he'd been quite willing to sell out to a group of Doukhobors in 1909.  The Doukhobors had done relatively well until the depression of the 1930s, but by 1936 they had defaulted on their mortgage and moved to the West Kootenays to rejoin the main band of their sect.  The mortgage company had rented the land back to Harmon Grieves and he stayed on the property until his death in 1945.  At that time Professor Wilson had entered into negotiations to buy the place, but the deal wasn't completed until the late fall of 1947, which is when he took possession.

Professor Arthur Wilson owned the property for 38 years, from 1947 until 1985 and during that time had kept it as an experimental farm and holiday ranch of sorts.  Six months after he had died, his daughter, Amelia, had sold the property to Harold Burns who hadn't wanted much to do with the day to day workings of the ranch.  As a result Donald McClure, Eric Nordahl and their families had been virtually working in holding pattern, but making no real progress and receiving little in the way of feedback.

"Dad's been on the point of quitting several times," Dawn sighed.  "Burns just couldn't seem to come to a decision about diddley squat and you just can't run a ranch that way, not when you're trying to make a profit."

"Okay, let's see your business records for the last three years," Tor said instantly.  "I sure don't want your dad and Eric to be so frustrated that they're thinking of quitting."

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you," Dawn grinned as she fired up a different program and pulled up the records for the last three years.

"Okay, thanks, Dawn.  Now while I'm looking over these records, why don't you go see if you can find Uncle Nils, Eric and your dad.  I told myself that I wasn't going to change things right away, but I'll sure listen to your dad's and Eric's ideas.  If they want to make changes and Uncle Nils and I can see how those ideas would improve things around here, we can talk, maybe we'll make changes and maybe we won't, we'll see."

It took Dawn about fifteen minutes to find her dad and the others, but by the time they got back they found that Tor had highlighted four different items out of the last few months' records.  He looked up at the group as they came in and held up a hand.

"Before anyone says anything, I've got a couple of comments.  First off from what I can see you've been keeping to Professor Wilson's research formula on both the cattle and horses, but I'm not a research scientist.  You have three groups of mixed breed cattle that aren't making the ranch a dollar, in fact they're costing us money every day they're on the ranch.  Would you be upset if we sold them?  If we decide to add to our cattle herd, let's keep polled Shorthorns, because we have a dozen of those that are doing really well for us.  Secondly, why the heck aren't seven of your mares carrying a foal.  Is there a problem with those mares, or with the stud you bred them to?"

"Ya see vhat I toldt ya?"  Uncle Nils grinned and winked at Eric and Donald.

"We were just talking about those cattle and the mares," Eric grinned as well.  "There's a pair of milk cows out of that bunch that we'd like to keep, but I'd gladly ship the rest.  Now if you plan to run horses, let's buy a few more mares and get rid of that damn Arabian stallion.  I think he's firing blanks half of the time."

"What do you say, Donald?"  Tor asked.

"I agree, but we need a decent stud horse.  I'd say a Quarter Horse if we can find a decent one, then we can use him for both the Quarter Horse and Appaloosa mares," he answered.

"I agree," Tor grinned.  "What do you say Uncle Nils, will you sell me a stud?  I guess we'll need to check a few pedigrees, but I doubt if we've got any purebreds on the ranch anyway."

"Umm, you have six young purebred Quarter Horse mares, all from a small ranch down on the delta that was closing down, and they came from Utah originally, so chances are good there won't be a conflict.  Those six are all under five years old and three of them are in foal now," Donald shook his head and smiled.  "Dawn can find their pedigree papers for you, since she's the one who did all the filing in here."

"Okay," Tor nodded and glanced at the records displayed on the monitor.  "The other four that aren't carrying a foal are all Appaloosas, right? There shouldn't be a conflict there, should there, Uncle Nils."

"Vaht do ya tink uf Gorjus Khan? He iss an Alberta horse vhat iss eighteen years oldt undt he iss past prime fer me, but fer yust a few mares, he vould be goodt.  Vee haf enough uf hiss coldts in our herd now, so I let you use him fer free for a few monts, yah?  After six monts or so vee get you anuder goodt stud horse, den Aye sell da Khan down da roadt, okay?"

"Hey, I won't turn down a chance to have GK throw a few colts our way, but he doesn't have to be for free. If you want to charge for his services, I'll find a way to pay you," Tor said quietly.

"Nay, Khan hass paid fer hisself many times ovfer.  Aye haf too many horses now fer da number uf acres I got, undt you needt a goodt stud.  Vee bring him down here undt you care fer him undt feed him fer a vhile, den Aye don't haf to do it.  Dat vay I can sell him com spring, vhen his sale vill bring more." Uncle Nils grinned

"Well, I think I should get Dag or Peter down and have them check our remuda before you bring any horses here," Tor frowned.  "I'm fairly sure they're clean and healthy, but I don't want to risk any of your stock before I know for sure."

"Dag and Peter?  Who are they?"  Donald asked.

"The veterinarians from Eagles Bluff,"  Tor smiled.  "I have an in, since Dag is my oldest brother, who just bought out the old vet in town."

"Ah, I see, I think, but let's get this straight," Eric frowned.  "Just by looking at those records you've decided that we should sell the mixed breed animals that aren't doing well, bring in a new stud for the mares and have a pair of vets go over the rest of our herd?"

"Yeah, let's try to make the place profitable," Tor shrugged.  "I can't afford to subsidize the place like the professor did, but then I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel like he was either."

"Reinvent the wheel?"

"Yeah, from what I see here, he was trying to create new breeds of cattle and horses that would do well in this area, but there are already established breeds that do well here," Tor frowned.  "I really wish I could have talked to the man, because some of the things he did were absolutely brilliant, but other things make no sense to me at all.  From what I can see he was trying to create a ranch which was almost completely self-sufficient, but could still make a profit on the open market, but his experiments were costly.  I think he may have gotten caught up in pure experimentation with his breeding programs and lost sight of his other goal."

Donald McClure stared at Tor in surprise, then smiled and nodded his head.  "Aye, 'tis possible ye have the rights of it, lad, but hang it all, how do you see all that much just off those few records."

"Well, I saw part of the problems before, when I looked at the balance sheet and I went over those with my dad, so I was able to look at these records and see where money was being wasted.  Don't take that as a condemnation either, that wastage was not your fault, in fact considering the constraints you were working under, all of you have done a helluva good job.  Now I think tomorrow is going to be a long day and I want to go over these records once more, just to be certain I'm right.  After that I think I'm going wander around this house a bit more before I go to bed and get some sleep.  Tomorrow morning when all our minds are fresh we'll go over this again, but if we don't see any problems, we'll go ahead, okay?"

"Well, I'm sure not arguing with ye at the moment, lad.  Ye've been here less'n four hours and yer seein' things that we've watched happen over the last four years.  I'll be wantin' ye to show me how that's done, if ye don't mind."  Donald scratched his head.

"Well, I think Dawn can do that best, since she's the one who set up these records, but that's going to have to wait a day or two.  I've still got some more research to do and a bed to make." Tor smiled.  "Unfortunately I'll need some sleep soon."

"Yah, undt Aye vant to see vhat da road buildters haf done today, den Aye shouldt get some sleep too.  Aye vill see ya in da mornin," Uncle Nils announced as he headed for the door.

Eric stared after him for a few seconds then turned to Tor.  "What road builders is he talking about?"

"Oh, one of Uncle Nils' deals with Burns when they bought the place was a new road up the hill to the log house and the contractors started on it this morning.  In other words, we get a new road, but it doesn't come out of our budget."

"Is that what I heard this afternoon?  I thought that crazy miner down the river was blasting rock again," Dawn laughed as she stuck her head in the doorway.  "So we're really getting an improved road, after all this time?  Wait until Mom hears about that."

"Yeah, it's supposed to be quite an enterprise, because the government insisted on getting involved to see that very little silt gets flushed into the river."

"After all these years of fighting that old road, I've got to see that," Eric said as he wheeled and headed outside, followed by Donald.

That left Dawn and Tor grinning at each other, then Dawn chuckled.

"Aren't you going to rush off to see the new road as well?" she asked.

"Nope, I want to wander around the house and familiarize myself with my new place, then I'll make my bed and get some snooze time."

"Well, while you were making Dad and Uncle Eric's day by deciding on changes and improvements that are needed on the ranch, I made up both beds for you.  At the time I thought your uncle might be staying here tonight, but I guess if the second bed isn't used tonight, it'll be used sometime.  Anyway, I'd better go over to our house and see how Aunt Tami is doing with all four boys underfoot, so I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Hey, I didn't expect you to make my bed for me, but thank you, very much for that."

"No problem, but I wouldn't turn down a hug as payment for doing of it," she teased.

She was surprised when he got to his feet and wrapped her in his arms, but he kept the hug very short and quite chaste.

"You would have a girlfriend," she sighed as he stepped back.

"Yep, and she's quite a special young woman," he said quietly.  "So I think all of us can become good friends, because I've already decided that you're pretty special too."

Dawn stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then sighed again and turned away, calling out a wish that he "Have a good night," over her shoulder.  That left Tor with the feeling that his impulsive hug might have been a mistake and one that he was going to have to correct, but right then he didn't have any idea of how to go about it.  Instead of worrying about it though, he turned back to the computer and immersed himself in the records until he was tired, then he locked up the office and went to bed.


The next morning he was wakened bright and early by a knock on the door and an invite to eat breakfast with everyone.  That's when he discovered that both Donald and Eric's family cooked and ate together, but that made sense when you considered the layout of the house they lived in.  It had been built by the Doukhobors as a communal building, with a common kitchen and living area on the main floor and bedrooms on the floor above.  Donald and Eric had split the upper floor into two separate areas with a set of bedrooms on each side and had split the living area into two, but left the kitchen as it had been built.  Tor's only thought on that subject was a hope that Mary and Tami got along well, but they were sisters, and since he really didn't think it was his business, he kept quiet about his concerns.

After breakfast everyone set out to do chores, so Tor went along to see what they did and how they handled everything.  Actually it was a very smooth operation and since there were two men and four boys on the job, the chores were all done inside of half an hour.

Then Tor and the two men went down to the pastures and discussed the various cattle, agreeing on a plan of how they were going to go about culling the herd.  After some discussion they decided to dispose of all the odd breeds of cattle except for eight Shorthorn cows and the two milk cows, who were Shorthorn-Holstein crossbreeds.  As well as that they planned to keep back four calves and three yearlings, one of those a steer that would be butchered in the fall.  Tor would have liked to start using artificial insemination instead of keeping a bull, but they decided since they lived so far from a veterinary clinic they'd better have a bull on hand.  However, keeping a bull involved a few problems of its own.  For one thing Tor insisted that they'd need to build a very strong bull pen, since he didn't want a bull running free on the ranch.

Then they went to look at the horses, which took far longer than the discussion about the cattle had taken.  It also involved everyone on the ranch, including Uncle Nils, since the RCMP had phoned and told him that they wouldn't be arriving until the afternoon.  In the long run they only decided to get rid of a six-year-old Quarter Horse gelding, two old Appaloosa mares and the Arabian stallion.  Of the twenty horses that were left, five were favourites of the kids and two were favourites of Donald and Eric, but luckily all of those were mares.  Tor decided that a pair of two-year-old geldings were going to go through a month long training session, then they'd be sold too.

"Well that's two dozen cattle and a half dozen horses that we've decided are going, are you going to bring in any other stock as replacements?" Eric asked.

"I think I'll be buying some young stock, probably two or three calves and a half dozen yearling mares, that's if I can find animals that I like," Tor smiled.  "As well as that Uncle Nils and Aunt Hanna have said they may want to overwinter two or three horses here and there's definitely a Quarter Horse stallion coming, right Uncle Nils?"

"Yah, fer sure," he nodded.  "Aye bring da stallion next veek, und Aye tink Aye shouldt bring down your liddle mare too, yah?"

"Well, I think we need to talk about that, because it looks like I'm in the market for some young stock and I know you have a surplus,"  Tor grinned.

Uncle Nils just nodded his head and winked at that.

"I'm quite certain there isn't a horse auction for a couple of weeks, but there's a cattle auction just outside Kamloops every Saturday afternoon.  We could load a dozen cattle early tomorrow morning and be there in lots of time," Donald said quietly.

"Well, let's see how things go with the cops this afternoon," Tor frowned slightly.  "I'd like to be there when we sell anything at auction for now, mostly so I can keep an eye on what else is being sold.  You never know if a bargain is going to pop up and I'd like to be handy if one does.  Besides, I think Dori is going to be here this afternoon and I'd better not plan on running off to an auction until I've warned her what I plan on doing."

"By gosh, I think she's training you right," Dawn teased.

"Oh Mom and my sister, Alva had already done a good job of that,"  Tor smiled at her, then glanced at his watch.  "Dang it, it's almost lunch time, Uncle Nils.  I guess we'd better get up to your house in case the cops arrive early."

"Yah, vee can eat lunch oop dhere and vait for da cops ta come.  Aye yust hope Hanna dus not haf a temper fit vhen she come undt sees dhem here."


Actually Tor and Uncle Nils had eaten lunch and were waiting outside when Hanna and Dori arrived, followed closely by Tor's dad, his mom and Dori's mom all riding in his dad's pickup truck.  Tor had barely had a chance to say hello to everyone before two cars and a van load of RCMP and CSIS people arrived.  Officer McDonald was conspicuous in his absence and the two RCMP officers from Kamloops were being a real pain in the butt, which annoyed Tor, but infuriated his dad.  One of the CSIS guys came to the door carrying a chainsaw and when Aunt Hanna protested, one of the RCMP officers grabbed her and pushed her aside, which is when Tor's dad lost his cool.

"TOR, CALL OUR LAWYER!  I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO MAKE A CITIZEN"S ARREST ON THE COP WHO JUST ASSAULTED MY SISTER-IN-LAW FOR NO APPARENT REASON.  AS WELL AS THAT, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT RIGHTS THEY HAVE TO DAMAGE AND DESTROY PRIVATE PROPERTY SINCE THEY ARE HERE WITHOUT A WARRANT!"  Tor's dad bellowed.

"We were invited here, sir!" the officious RCMP officer snapped instantly.

"No, you weren't!" Tor's dad snapped back.  "Officer McDonald of the Eagles Bluff detachment was invited here, but you weren't.  You horned in on his invite and since he isn't here, you're going to need a warrant to enter this house.  That means all of you.  You definitely do NOT have any right to use a chain saw to cause damage to this home."

"We have proof that this is the site of a major crime," the RCMP officer argued.

"Then you should be carrying a warrant for search and seizure, since this is also a private home and the present owners had absolutely nothing to do with any crime, so where is it?" Tor's dad argued right back.

Meanwhile Tor was dialling the phone, but he was calling Officer McDonald, not the lawyer.

"Hi Coach," Tor said as Officer McDonald answered.  "We've got a couple of RCMP officers here, as well as a bunch of CSIS guys with chainsaws.  Is there anything we can do to stop them from chopping up the house?  Dad and Aunt Hanna are livid and I think Uncle Nils is looking for a shotgun."

"Wait a minute!  I got a call this morning saying that there wouldn't be anyone there until tomorrow, so let me talk to whoever is in charge.  I have the district superintendent here right now and I think he'll have a word or two to say to say to those people about your situation," Officer McDonald ordered.

"Which one of you is in charge?" Tor spoke loudly, holding up the telephone receiver.  "I have your boss on the phone and he wants a word with you!"

"Oh shit!" one of the RCMP officer's commented.

"I heard that!" Tor snapped.  "If you do need to go, do it outside behind a bush or something and mark it.  I wouldn't want to have to testify that you flushed any evidence of your vandalism down the toilet."

"Oh cripes, Tor! That was gross," Dori sent.

"Well, sorry, but I'm pissed off with this whole bunch of idiots right now," he answered.

"That's understandable, I guess." he heard her sigh.

The dork that had grabbed Aunt Hanna came over to the phone along with one of the guys from CSIS and they took turns talking on the phone.  Both of them ended their conversations with the words; "Yes, Sir!  We will, Sir!"

After that the guy from CSIS handed Tor the phone again, then all of the group trooped back outside.

"Hello?" Tor asked to see if anyone was still on the phone.

"Good afternoon.  Is this Tor Eklund?" a strange voice asked.

"Yes sir."

"I thought you should know that Captain McDonald and I can be there to see you later this afternoon, if that would be okay with you?  Oh, by the way, I'm District Superintendent, Major John Michaels and we will be stopping in at the Kamloops office on the way to see you, so some of those same people may be with us.  I guarantee they won't cause any more problems though."

"Thank you, sir.  We'll be expecting you."

"Good, we'll see you then," and he hung up the phone, so Tor did too.

"Alright, who did you call?  That wasn't our lawyer, was it?" Tor's dad asked instantly.

"Coach McDonald," Tor grinned.  "I'd heard a rumour that he was getting a promotion and I was betting that he outranked both of the twits that were here.  Oh, before I say anything else, are they gone?"

"Yes, they are, why?"

"Well, I'm fairly certain the Coach was just promoted to Captain by the district superintendent and the two of them are driving to the Kamloops office, then down here.  I told them it was okay, so I hope I wasn't overstepping my authority or anything.  They'll get here later this afternoon."

"Tor, after watching those men's faces when you said you had their boss on the phone, you've got my permission to invite over whoever straighten out the mess, anytime at all." Aunt Hanna smiled weakly.

"Well, we may see some of those guys that were here again too, probably the ones from CSIS and since one of them was carrying a chain saw before, I'm not sure that's good news."

"I wonder why he had a chain saw?" Tor's dad frowned.

"Vell, yesterday, after Tor vent down to da ranch da vun cop vere tumpin' on da floor ofer near to da fireplace in da lifin room.  Aye vunder if he heared sumting fonny?" Uncle Nils said quietly.

"Just where was that?" Tor asked.

"Come along dhen, Aye show ya vhere he vas tumpin at."

So everyone moved to the living room and Uncle Nils walked to the area in front of the hearth of the huge fireplace.

"It vas here vhere he vere tumpin," Uncle Nils stomped a foot on the floor and Tor heard the hollow sound, but then so did everyone else.

The floor looked solid and the oak flooring was random length, stretching away from the fireplace, but didn't appear to be cut or broken in any way.  After borrowing a flat heeled shoe from Dori, so he could thump the floor without damaging the finish, Tor found that the hollow space seemed to extend in a rectangle, about three feet wide and almost eight feet long.  Yet there weren't any obvious edges or gaps in the flooring, so no one could think of any way it could be lifted.

"It has to be one of those secret panels, like in the movies," Dori offered.  "I remember one scene in a movie with a secret exit.  When the hero pushed a special brick in the fireplace the whole thing swung out of his way.  Maybe this is something like that?"

"Well, this fireplace is made of cut stone and Burns is supposed to have worked in the movies, so he might have known how to do something of that sort.  Tor, why don't you hop up on the hearth and try pushing on various stones?" Aunt Hanna suggested.

As he hopped up onto the two-foot high hearth Tor lost his balance slightly and grabbed at a hook that was imbedded between the stones.  He was surprised when the hook shifted to one side, then there was a slight grinding sound as a whole section of flooring lifted and swung off to one side, opening just like a door would.  Everyone in the room could see that the trap door had hidden a steep set of steps leading downward and they could all smell a slightly dank and musty odour.  For several seconds no one moved or spoke, instead they all gaped at the open hole in the beautifully finished and highly polished wooden floor.

Chapter 23