Thor's Child ©
by K Pelle
Chapter 12
Tor had managed to stay out of any major involvement in the whole of the Carruthers situation, other than as an interested bystander. He'd left that mess up to the police, the older members of his family and any others who were involved. So when he heard that Tommy's younger sister was found smoking dope in Schneider's trailer, then later, when he heard that the army had to deal with explosives under one of the houses, he was glad he'd stayed out of the mess.
Instead Tor had carried on with school, his chores and martial arts, but he'd been playing around with 'magic tricks' and 'prestidigitation' as well. One of the things he had done was to find a few books in the local public library on the subject and teach himself a few slight of hand tricks that he could easily explain to others. Palming a coin, then appearing to pull it from behind someone's ear was simple enough for him to do and he could explain how to do that to others. Of course he refused to explain how he could pull a whole deck of cards or a dangling set of keys from behind the same ear. "I've got big hands and I've learned how to hide things," he'd say, with a grin, then go on to a different trick.
The one thing he was very careful to do was to make certain that the tricks he did gradually increased in difficulty. As well as that, he didn't make any secret of the fact that his eventual aim was to be able to perform what could be called 'grand illusions' – things that would be difficult for anyone to explain. After all, the whole point behind the exercise was to provide himself with an alibi in case he slipped up and inadvertently used one of his talents at the wrong time and had someone witness it.
When his birthday came around on June the 1st, he knew he'd done a good job of selling his interest in magic though. He received three decks of trick playing cards, a set of interlocking 'magic' rings and a handbook illustrating slight of hand tricks, all from his school chums. However to his astonishment, Miss Pringle gave him a book which dealt with refraction and reflection of light. Of course she included a note in the gift, encouraging him in a different direction 'I have high hopes that you will put your studies concerning light to practical use, and not waste your intelligence on silly illusions.'
One development of his birthday, which Tor hadn't really planned for, was the fact that fifteen seemed to be considered the 'age of permission' for hockey scouts to approach eligible candidates and their families. Inside of a week he and his parents had been approached by scouts from the OHL, WHL, and even the NHL, all asking about his futures plans and almost all of them making offers of one kind or another. Tor's parents were far more prepared for the increase in interest than he was, since they'd already raised two hockey playing sons, but none of the family was prepared for the amount of interest which was being displayed. Before the end of his school year Tor and his family had been approached over twenty times, with various offers and requests.
In each case, Tor admitted that he enjoyed playing hockey, but he didn't want to move away from home, thank you. Tor and his family knew that according to the rules and regulations he couldn't be drafted by any NHL team until he was eighteen years old. Tor's stance was firm, his standard answer was that he was staying home and playing locally – he did NOT want to play anywhere else at the present time, but thanks for the offer.
Hockey scouts weren't Tor's major problem during the latter part of June though – instead his friends and events in their lives almost drove him up the wall. He had been anticipating a real break, because that year all the schools in BC were allowing grades ten and eleven to finish their year's classes eight days early in every school across the province. During those eight days all the students in grades nine and twelve were going to be given standardised tests that were universal throughout the province.
Since Kevin was just finishing grade eleven, while both Sunny and Tor were leaving grade ten, all three were out of school in the middle of June. On top of that, the three of them were getting out of school early on the last day. Kevin had his driver's license, so he'd brought his Dad's pickup to school that morning and would be driving all of them home. As a result just after eleven in the morning they met out in the parking lot of the school and paused to say goodbye to friends that they might not see for months. Kevin seemed in a rush to leave though, so it wasn't long before the three of them headed for his truck.
"Well, that's done. How do you think you did on your last test Kev?" Tor asked as he held the door of the truck so Sunny could slide across the bench seat and sit next to Kevin.
"Oh, I think I did okay," Kev sighed. "I just wish I had more time around home before I have to leave though."
"You have to leave? Where? Why?" Sunny asked in astonishment.
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you before, but my Uncle Jack had a heart attack a few days ago and Aunt Lil needs help. I've got to go to Calgary for part of the summer holidays."
Both Tor and Sunny fell silent, not knowing what to say.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. When do you have to leave?" Tor asked, finally thinking of something to break the silence.
"Tomorrow night. I've got to pack up this afternoon and I'll be leaving tomorrow, right after lunch, because I have to catch the bus leaving Kelowna at six thirty tomorrow evening."
"Oh migosh? I'm sorry to hear about your uncle," Sunny said quickly, then asked, "How long do you think you'll be gone?"
"I'm not sure, but I think it'll probably be a while," Kevin sighed. "I'm sorry I haven't told you before, but the whole thing came up so suddenly and I've been so busy studying – besides, I didn't know how to break it to you. Mom and Dad have been trying to find someone else to help Aunt Lil, but there just isn't anyone available, so all of a sudden it looks like it's up to me."
"Oh dammit!" Sunny moaned softly. "But, you must have some idea of how long you think you're going to have to be away, don't you?"
"I really don't know," Kevin sighed heavily. "I've got to be back for school in September, but I'm hoping it doesn't take that long."
"Ohmigawd!" Sunny wailed. "Are you saying that you might be gone all summer long?"
"Look, I'm sorry Uncle Jack had a heart attack and that I have to help out, okay?" Kevin growled. "This ain't exactly my cup of tea either. I'm not happy about the idea of going out to Alberta and wasting my summer looking after a damn pig farm either. What the hell do I know about raising porkers? We've never had a damn pig on the farm, so I'm being dropped into pigshit creek without a paddle and I'm feeling lost. I was hoping you'd be sympathetic."
Tor felt Sunny stiffen at those words and knew she was going to react angrily to Kevin's comments. About then he wished he could get out and walk, but since he couldn't, he tried to calm things down by changing the subject.
"Pig's aren't hard to care for," Tor snapped. "Just pour feed and water to them, clean up their crap, and watch 'em grow. They even make it easy for you because they all take a dump in one area of their pen, unless they're outside. When they're outside they get a bit messy because they like to root holes in the ground and they love to roll in the mud, but that's often to prevent sunburn. On the whole, pigs are easier to look after than cattle. Give 'em feed, water and a clean pen, then they're happy."
"Your family has raised pigs?" Kevin asked in surprise.
"Yeah, we had close to a hundred of them around the farm in Saskatchewan at one time, but when we moved out here we cut down to just raising the occasional porker for our own use. We like to have home cured bacon and ham, but we like our pork lean, which means we have to raise the pig ourselves. Dad buys a young piglet just after it's been weaned and we raise it, then slaughter and smoke it ourselves, so if you want to know anything about raising hogs, just ask Dad. You know our phone number, so give us a call or come see him if you want advice. Other than that, just do your best to keep the pigs happy and you'll do fine."
The rest of the way home, Tor and Kevin talked about pigs, but Sunny was unhappy. Tor knew she was going to explode about the short notice she'd been given, just as soon as she and Kevin were alone. Tor mentioned the situation to his mother after Kevin dropped him off and she just nodded, explaining that she'd heard about the Craigmiller's family problems a few days before. Right then Tor had a feeling that Sunny would be really upset, if and when she found out that Kevin had known about the problem and hadn't warned her earlier.
She was, and Tor heard about it when Kevin and his dad came over to talk to Tor's dad about what sort of problems Kevin might run into on the hog farm in Alberta. Tor and Kevin had a few minutes to themselves and Kevin admitted that he'd screwed up with Sunny.
"I know I should have warned her what was going on, but I thought Em had said something to her since they're together as much as Sunny and I are. I didn't even know for sure I was going to Calgary until this morning though, so this is almost as much of a surprise to me as it is to her. I couldn't make her understand that though, so there's nothing I can do about it now," Kevin just shrugged his shoulders, then sighed. "When she gets like this, I'm not even sure if dating her is worth all the aggravation she causes me anyway. Maybe it's me, but as far as I'm concerned she's getting fussier and more demanding , but at the same time her temper seems to be getting worse, and I'm getting tired of putting up with it."
"Well, she's always had a bit of a temper, but I used to be able to calm her down quite easily, at least until we moved out here. You know what happened then, but it was me who lost his temper first and she reacted to that," Tor shrugged as well. "If you're asking me for advice on what to say or do now, I'm afraid I can't help you. Sunny has changed and so have I."
"Well, the two of you are still relatively good friends, so I imagine she'll be over here crying on your shoulder after I leave. I don't know what to say about that, other than that I'm glad it's you, because I know you're a nice guy," Kev muttered, then paused and turned to face Tor. "What I'm trying to say is – Sunny is a great gal and I really like her but, – well, I don't know if I want to be tied down to just one girl right now either. It's almost as if she expects me to go with her until we're old enough to get married, but that's just not what I want right now. I'm only seventeen and that's too darn early to be tied down to a permanent relationship. I was only expecting to go out with Sunny for a while, but she seems to want more. To be perfectly honest, I think a break right now, with the two of us separated by something like this, is a good thing. I mean, it's not going to be fun for me, because I'm going be up to my armpits in pigshit and I'll probably homesick as hell, but I'll survive. I'm actually happy that Sunny will have you and your family to lean on because that will make it easier on her."
"Oh great! Now instead of just having Sami and Em underfoot all the time, I'm going to have a third woman tagging along," Tor grumbled.
"Shit, man, do you know what you sound like?" Kevin snorted, sounding slightly angry. "Sami is a doll and even if she is my sister, Em is a pretty darn nice looking gal with her head screwed on straight, so it's no surprise that people wonder why you aren't dating one of them. Actually, people wonder why Sami and Em hang around you so much when they could be going out with just about any other guy in town. Do you know how many guys would give their left nut to have Sami and Em hanging onto their coattails like they do with you? Heck, when push comes to shove, do you have any idea how many girls would like to take the place of Sami or Em? I don't know what you've got going for you, but there are times I've even wondered if I should be jealous of you. I mean, Sunny still talks about you as if you're a white knight or something. Which is why I think she'll be over here crying on your shoulder by tomorrow or the next day. Just treat her nice and don't hurt her, huh? Anyway, have a good summer, and I'll see you this fall."
Before Tor could reply, Kevin walked over to his father and spoke to him, then they both waved, hopped in the truck and drove away. When Tor asked his dad what Kevin had said, his dad said he'd mentioned something about needing to pack. Only somehow Tor felt there was more involved than that, after all Kevin had left so abruptly that Tor hadn't even had time to say 'Goodbye.'
Tor planned to go wish Kevin a good trip the next morning, but by the time he'd helped his dad with chores, then peddled over to the Craigmiller farm, Kevin had already left. Mr Craigmiller explained that Kev's mom had decided that he needed a few clothes to take along, so they were going shopping, then heading straight to the bus depot.
Since Kevin was already gone, Tor left for home, but as he was peddling along the road he met Sunny, who was on her way to say goodbye to Kevin as well. The fact that Kevin had left without saying goodbye to her didn't go over very well. In fact Sunny was devastated and Tor couldn't blame her one bit, actually he was quite upset over the way Kevin had handled the whole episode.
After letting Sunny cry on his shoulder for a short while, Tor walked her home, but once she was home and crying on her mother's shoulder, he excused himself as quickly as he could. Then as he peddled toward home, he puzzled over the way Kev had acted, trying to make sense of the situation. Somehow he had a wierd feeling about the whole episode, but he couldn't put his finger on what could be causing Kev to act so out of character. The only conclusion that made sense to him was that Kev was pressured into the situation and was angered by it, but even that didn't fully explain the way he'd acted.
When he got home it was almost time for lunch, so he helped his mom set the table, then plopped in a chair and sat frowning at his plate.
"What's up, Bro?" Alva asked, as she arrived home from work. "You look like your dog just bit you."
"You're close, only it was a different kind of buddy. Kev has to work in Alberta for the summer and he left before I was able to say goodbye."
"Ah, I heard about his uncle's heart attack," Alva nodded. "There are people who hate saying goodby you know, and just from what I've seen of him, Kevin might well be one of them. He comes across as a very emotional young man and I think something like a family emergency would put a lot of pressure on him. If you're trying to compare his actions to yours, then you're comparing apples to oranges. You're a rare bird. I've never met anyone your age who reacts to a challenge the way you do. I don't even understand it."
"That's because Tor acts like a Viking," His mother snorted as she set out a plate of sandwiches. "He regards a challenge as an invite to battle and he hates to be defeated, so he accepts the challenge and meets it head on. Young Kevin seems to me to be acting like a victim and is going into the situation unwillingly, almost as if he expects defeat. Kevin needs support and he needs to know that he has someone to back him up, then he can react well to most situations. Right now he's being placed in a position that makes him extremely uncomfortable because he's on his own and he's afraid he is going to fail. No one likes to fail!
"If you have watched the two of them during a hockey game, you can see the differences. Tor steps up to any challenge and meets it his way, Kevin reacts to the situation, but doesn't like to meet things head on, not unless he feels he has supporting backup. I'm sure he would like to do exactly the same thing in real life, so I think this trip to Alberta is going to be good for him. You have to realise that he saw what Tor did when he was placed in a similar situation, but right now Kevin is afraid that he might screw up, so he isn't acting normally. I wouldn't worry about it though. I'm sure he'll do just fine and I think he'll come out of this a better person. Besides, there isn't anything we can do about the situation. Which is my way of saying that I think we should keep our noses out of other people's business, unless we're asked for help."
Tor decided his mom made sense, so he tried to put Kev's situation out of his mind, and to do that he needed to be busy so after lunch he decided to get ahead on some of his normal chores. He spent about an hour mowing the lawns and weeding the beds near the house, then decided to do some work with the latest pair of horses Uncle Nils wanted trained. He was working with a young mare when Sunny came riding up on her bicycle. He'd expected her to show up some time that day, just not quite so soon.
"Hi!" he greeted Sunny warmly.
"Hi, Tor. I came by to talk, if you've got time."
"Sure. I know you're upset about Kev just like I was this morning, then I had a talk to Mom. That helped a lot, so maybe . . ."
"Wait a second, would ya," Sunny held up a hand as she interrupted Tor. "I had a talk with my mom too and she pointed out something that I hadn't thought about before. To put it plainly she doesn't think I've been exactly fair to Kevin. She says that even though you and I haven't been together for almost two years, I've been comparing him to you. According to Mom, I've been expecting him to do things the way you used to do and that I'm disappointed when he doesn't. Do you think she's right?"
"Wow, I really don't know," Tor looked at her in surprise. "The idea never crossed my mind, but then I don't think I'd have noticed anyway, because I've tried my best to forget about that whole mess. I'm not exactly proud of losing my temper that day."
"Well, you sure as hell don't have anything to be ashamed about, that's for sure. I was the silly bitch that made a damn fool of herself by saying that you read minds. Yesterday was clear proof of that, because if you could read minds you'd have known what Kevin was going to do, but you were just as astonished as I was. I mean both of us are extremely close to the guy. I've been going out with him and you're his best buddy, but neither one of us saw this coming. Actually if anyone should have seen that he was upset for the last few days, it should have been me, but I just put his weird actions down to the pressure of doing well on his finals.
"But, to go back to you and me on the day we had the disagreement that broke us up, I'm the one who should be ashamed of myself for acting like a spoiled kid and wanting her way. I was being a stupid, selfish brat and if it means anything to you now, I'm very, very sorry for saying and doing the things I did then. I'd like to apologise for that, and for being a bitch after you got hurt saving me from the old bastard that attacked me that day. Then I'd like to say I'm sorry for listening to that stupid braggart, Carruthers – my trying to make friends with that ass had to be another insult to you."
"Well, you did apologise before and you thanked me too, but if it makes you feel better, I'll accept your apology and your thanks once again. Now, let's get back to what my Mom said, which is that Kev might be comparing himself to me when I first came out here. Personally, I think that's kind of silly, because we're two different people in completely different situations, but it's not my business and I can't do anything about it anyway. I will warn you now that if Kev were to call me and ask for my help, I'd do whatever I could, even going as far as to head out there and give him a hand if he needed it. I'm planning to pass that on to Em when she gets home from school."
"Well, you'll have a hard time talking to Em tonight. Sami called me during her lunch break to tell me that Em didn't go to school today. Sami hadn't heard anything about Kev and although Em didn't have any tests today, Sami was worried about it. When Sami asked her teacher about Em, she was told that the Craigmillers had a family emergency, so Sami called me to ask what was going on. I imagine Em went along to see Kev off, but she and her mom won't be home until late tonight. I'm annoyed that Kev and his mom never offered me the same chance though."
"Huh, if Em went along to see Kev off, I guess I won't worry about calling over there tonight then," Tor shook his head ruefully. "I guess tomorrow is soon enough to say something to her though."
"Personally, I think you should let Kevin stand on his own two feet. You prop him up enough when you're out on the ice, and you don't have to do it away from the hockey rink."
"What do you mean? I don't prop him up when we're playing hockey!"
"Oh come on! How many times have you given Kev or one of the other players a clean shot at the goal and taken an assist, even though you had a clear shot yourself? You had more earned assists than any other player in the whole blinkin' league last year and most of the time you'd already undressed the goalie by the time you passed the puck. And don't try to bullshit me about it either, I've been watching you play hockey since you were eight years old and I know just what you do for that team. Without you on the ice, those guys are slightly better than average, but when you're on the ice, they become unbeatable. You helped your team members all winter long, so take a break for the summer and look after yourself. Take care of your own wants and desires for once."
"Oh come on, the guys on the team do just as much for me as I do for them."
"Sure, if you include the whole team when you compare them to yourself," Sunny snickered. "Now, are those two horses fit to be ridden, or are they still unbroken?"
"Are you asking if you can go for a ride?" Tor looked at her in surprise. He wasn't surprised because she wanted to ride a horse, but instead because she was laughing, not crying her eyes out over the breakup. Somehow, something about her actions weren't ringing true to the way he had expected her to act. Come to think of it, she wasn't acting the way Kevin had expected her to act either.
"Only if you come for a ride too, because I want to ride up to the top end of your ranch. I think I've got enough guts to go back to where I was attacked, if you and Ghost both come along."
"Well, I'm not even sure I can find that spot any more. Dag and Björn hauled all those boulders away from there last summer, so that area is all grassed over now. It's just another patch of pasture."
"What did they do with all the rocks and trees?"
"Oh, the guys used the rocks for the spillway of the dam and they cut those scrubby trees up for firewood."
"What dam?"
"Oh, I guess you haven't seen our swimmin' hole, huh?" Tor grinned. "When I first came here the Armstrongs told me there was a swimming hole on the creek that their kids used to use, but I only tried it once. I guess over the years the bottom had all filled in with sediment. Only I didn't know that, so one day after I'd gotten covered in dust and dirt, I tried it, but I came out of the water dirtier and itchier than I was when I went in. I suppose I must have bellyached about it and the guys decided to do something as a surprise for me – and for Alva – and probably for themselves too. After all, we all enjoy going for a swim when it's hot and muggy like it gets here at times.
"Anyway, last year, while I was on a trip with Aunt Hanna and Uncle Nils, Dagny and Björn waited until the creek was just trickling, then they brought out a backhoe and our little bulldozer. They built a temporary dam on the creek, well upstream of the pond, then they scooped out a wide flat area just above the pond. When they dug out the muck and slime from the bottom of the pond, they mixed that with some chicken manure, then backfilled the scooped out area with that and planted it with reeds and bog plants. The idea was to make an artificial swamp of sorts where the water would slow down and dump a lot of it's silt, then that junk wouldn't fill the pool again. Then they dug out a lot of the clay from the bottom of the old pool to make it longer, wider and deeper. They used the clay from the bottom of the pond, along with all the rocks they hauled down here from the upper fields to make a dam and a spillway to handle the water when the creek runs faster. After that they landscaped the area near the pond, putting in sandy soil for drainage and planting grass. That way, when you get out of the water you're not walking on mud. So now we have an decent swimmin' hole and a place to cool off on days when it gets really hot."
"So, if we aren't going for a ride on the horses, are you going to show me this fancy swimming hole of yours?" Sunny asked.
"Well, I guess I can take time off for a few minutes," Tor sighed softly, but grinned at her. "You do realise that I was working with this horse don't you and you're taking up my valuable time."
"Oh yeah, you were working so hard when I rode up on my bike that you had time to watch me peddle all the way up the driveway."
"That's different, I was making sure I didn't show any secrets to the competition," He grinned again, but undid the rope from the young mare's halter and turned her loose. "You might as well push the bike up by the house and leave it there, then I'll show you the swimmin' hole.
"Is it a long walk?" She asked as she grabbed her bike and walked at his side.
"Nope, it's just up past the top shed, behind Mom's garden and that clump of birch trees. I guess the Armstrongs didn't want folks to know they had a swimmin' hole on the place, so they planted trees around it."
"Oh my, so I'm being let in on a family secret am I?" Sunny teased. "What's it worth for me not to tell?"
"Well, since the guys had to cut a lane through the trees at the far end of the clump and anyone walking toward the upper fields can see it, it ain't much of a secret," Tor snorted. "I don't think we want the pond talked about too openly though, after all, we aren't insured for the public to come in here."
"As if I'd mention it to Joe Public," Sunny snorted as Tor lead her toward a narrow opening in the birches. "Oh, neat pathway! But, doesn't that sort of give away the fact that there's something back there?"
"Not really, since you have to come from the right direction to realise that this isn't just another notch in the tree line."
The path wound through the trees, then opened out to an area of grass that had been closely mowed. Past the grass, a pool of quiet water rippled in the sun, but in the middle of the grassy area Alva lay on a huge bath towel and as they walked out into the open, she rolled over and sat up.
"Hi guys! Did you come to have a swim?" She smiled at the two of them.
"Umm, Alva, you're not wearing anything!" Sunny blushed. "You're naked!"
"Yeah, I'm nude, but I want an all over sun tan and taking your clothes off is sort of essential to get one. Besides, I'm not showing you anything you can't see in a mirror, so why are you blushing?"
"But . . . but . . . Tor is here too!"
"So what? He's my brother and he's certainly seen me without clothes before now. Heck the whole family skinny dips here. That's the point of having a private pond, you don't have to put on a darn swim suit. You just shuck your duds and dive in. I'm surprised that you're blushing anyway, I used to have a fight to get into pyjamas after your bath when I used to babysit at your house."
"Yeah, but that was when I was a little kid," Sunny protested.
"Oh no it wasn't!" Alva laughed. "The last time I babysat you, you were about twelve years old. I remember you kicked up a fuss because Tor had already taken a bath before we came over to your place, so I wouldn't let him get into the tub to wash your back."
"I remember that, Sunny," Tor laughed abruptly. "You were . . ."
"You shut your mouth . . . about that!" Sunny started to giggled wildly, while trying to cover Tor's mouth with her hand. "Don't you . . . ever say . . . any . . . thing . . . about that."
"Oh I don't think you need to worry about either of us ever saying anything that might hurt you," Alva was chortling. "Now, did you guys come in here to be alone? If you want me to leave, I don't mind. I have two days off and I've had about enough sun for today anyway. Besides, I can tan almost any old time, considering the shift I'm working right now."
"No, I was just showing Sunny that we had a swimmin' hole hidden away out here," Tor shrugged his shoulders. "Really we didn't mean to disturb you, Alva, sorry about that."
"Pfft, don't worry about disturbing me, after the last couple of weeks you guys have had, with finals and everything, you deserve a bit of time to relax."
"Well, while you're still here, have you heard about Kevin and if you have, what do you think about the way he acted?" Sunny asked, flopping down on the edge of Alva's towel.
"Yeah, Tor was saying he rushed off without warning you guys and to be honest, his actions do surprise me, but lots of people surprise me," Alva snorted. "My first guess is that he might have been pretty darn worried about the whole situation, but maybe he was angry about the fact that he was pressured into volunteering. Perhaps he wasn't volunteering at all, maybe his family just assumed that he would go. Or, maybe he kept it from you because he knew you'd be angry and hurt, so he wanted to postpone that as long as possible.
"I was mentioning to Tor earlier that from what little I've seen of Kevin, he might be one of those people who hates to say goodbye - even if he knows he's going to be back before long. Other than that, the only other thing I can think he might be doing is using this to try to get you two back together, which would mean that he wants to break up, but hasn't the guts to do it himself."
"Dammit, I didn't really want to hear that, because that's what I've been wondering about," Sunny snapped instantly. "Ever since the last game of the hockey season he's been acting sort of distant, almost like he had met someone else, but . . ."
"Oh boy!" Tor sighed heavily. "Now some of the stuff he said about you pressuring him makes a bit of sense."
"Me, pressuring him? You have got to be joking? For the last few weeks I've been treating him with kid gloves, since he's been so darn touchy about everything. I don't know if you've noticed, but we haven't been going out as much lately. When we have gone out, it's been with a group. It almost seems as if he doesn't want to be alone with me."
"Oh, oh, that threw up a red flag! I have to ask, just before he started acting like that, did he come onto you real heavy once or twice?" Alva asked shortly.
"Umm, sorta, he got a bit 'hands on' after the last hockey game, but I told him I wasn't ready for that right then," Sunny was hanging her head and almost whispering.
"Hey gal, don't you dare be ashamed of saying no!" Alva pulled Sunny into a hug. "That is a woman's privilege at any time."
"Well, he was nice about it. I mean he stopped right away and it wasn't that he was doing things I didn't like, it's just that I wasn't in the mood to go there. He did apologise then and explained that he was still excited from the hockey game, so I could understand what he was going through. Don't get me wrong, he's a really, really nice guy, but sometimes . . ."
"Yeah, I've been there," Alva giggled, which really surprised Tor. "Oh, don't frown and look so shocked, Tor. I've had a lot more experience with guys than I let on to anyone here at home."
"I wasn't frowning about you having some guy come onto you, I expect that," Tor snorted, then broke into a short laugh. "I was just astonished that you giggled. You never giggle! You grin and at times you kinda chortle. Or you chuckle, and if you think something is really funny, you laugh out loud, but I think that was the only time I've ever heard you giggle and it surprised me."
"He's right!" Sunny agreed with a snicker. "I've never heard you giggle before either."
"I don't usually let myself giggle, because my giggle sounds inane."
"So what, everyone's giggle sounds silly," Sunny grinned. "Why should your giggle be any different?"
"Well, giggles or not, it's time for me to get out of the sun and into the house. So up and off my towel please. Otherwise I'll have to walk to the house naked, but if we happened to have a visitor in the yard, I'd be giving him an eyeful, and I really don't want to take that chance," Alva got to her feet, then grabbed the towel and wrapped it around herself. "I think you two should sit here and talk some more though."
Then before either Tor or Sunny could say anything, Alva hurried away and they were left alone. Of course right then neither of them knew what to say to get a conversation restarted, so for a few minutes, neither of them said a word, then Tor grinned.
"Wanna go for a swim?" He teased.
"I'm tempted," Sunny giggled, "but I'm going to use my woman's prerogative and say no, not right now."
"Okay, I was teasing anyway," Tor laughed softly. "I'd never push a woman to do something she doesn't want to do."
"I do want a hug though."
"You do?" Tor looked at her in surprise, then folded her in his arms.
After a brief hug, he released her, then sat down, patting the grass with one hand, inviting her to sit next to him.
"You aren't still mad at me from that day, are you?" Sunny sat down beside him.
"Nope, mostly I was mad at the world anyway, not just you."
"Huh? That doesn't make sense."
"Oh yes it does, but it would take a month to explain."
"So, start talking," she giggled. "We've got the whole summer."
"Actually, I only have a few weeks, then I'm going to take a trip to the valley that Aunt Hanna and Uncle Nils bought last year and I've gotta go, since they gave me a share in the place. We threw up a log cabin for them to live in last year and we're planning to do a lot of work on that, but I may start to build a small log cabin for myself, just to say I have a place of my own."
"You own part of a valley?"
"Well, in a way. It's complicated, like most family stuff, but basically my aunt and uncle bought out an old homestead and through the homestead they ended up with a long term lease on the valley. The whole thing started out because Uncle Nils used to mine gold up there, but the mine played out. However while he was working the mine he made friends with a family that had homesteaded near the mine. So, when the last of the family living on the homestead died, he arranged to buy the place from the remaining survivors of the family. The lease came with the homestead and when I went up to help them build the cabin, I fell in love with the place, so they were generous and put my name on the deed. What fascinates me about the whole place is the fact that it's so wild and yet there are wild horses running loose up there. It's a small valley, high in the mountains with tiny river running through the middle of it, as well as a little lake, which is full of fish. There are deer, bear, coyotes, cougars, tons of birds and all sorts of other wildlife. It's isolated though and really hard to get to, so the whole place is almost an untouched wilderness. Anyone walking around in the area needs to carry a rifle for safety sake, but even then you can't act stupid and forget where you are."
"But you said it was homesteaded at one time. Didn't the people who homesteaded the place have to clear fields and grow crops?"
"Yeah, thirty or forty years ago, but the people who did the homesteading couldn't have been very ambitious. They did enough work to prove up on the homestead, then they only worked hard enough to survive, at least that's what it looks like to me. You can see the areas where a couple of small fields were cleared and cultivated at one time, but those fields were abandoned quite a while ago because native plants, bushes and trees have taken over. I wouldn't be surprised if all the horses that are running wild in the valley aren't descendants of the horses the people who homesteaded the place rode in on."
"You really are fascinated by the place, aren't you?"
"Well, I'm not really fascinated enough to move there or anything, because camping or living there is a challenge. Just getting there is difficult, then being there is like stepping back in time about fifty or a hundred years, at least you can take along a few modern conveniences which make life a lot easier. I have to admit it isn't the sort of thing most people would enjoy too much, since you're completely isolated when you go there, but for me that's part of the charm of the place. In a way it's like I felt when I came here two years ago. I was a kid when I came and I like to think this place made me a man, or at least more of a man than I was when I first saw this place. I get the same sort of feelings when I go up to the valley, kind of an adrenalin rush, and I love it!"
"I think I be scared out my britches in a place like that," Sunny shook her head, glanced at the sun, then down at her wrist watch. "Oh, oh, it's almost time for the school bus and I told Sami I was dropping over to see you, so she'll be getting off the bus here. I guess we should get back to the house so she can find us."
"Yeah, it's about time for my normal afternoon snack and then it'll be time for me to help with the chores," Tor sighed softly, getting to his feet and offering Sunny a hand to help her to her feet.
"Talking about the chores, I know Dag is working with the new vet now, but where are Björn and your dad working today?"
"Oh, Björn and Dad are up at the old Carruthers place with our bulldozer and the dump truck. Björn is pushing all the garbage and junk into piles and Dad is hauling truckloads of crap to the dump. When you consider what's gone on up there over the last month, that place must have been a real bloody mess and very dangerous. To start with, when the RCMP went in there they arrested most of the Carruthers family, then they walked through the place confiscating drugs and illegal weapons. Then the army came in to blow up three houses and four sheds just to get rid of the dangerous explosives stored there. Some of that stuff must have been really unsafe to be around though, because they even piled and burned the bits and pieces from the explosions to make sure the place was safe. I mean there were about ten army guys in there for most of three days, and they picked through the ashes and garbage piles after they burned them, then hauled away two truckloads of the most dangerous crap. Now, Dad, Björn, Kai, Uncle Nils and several other men have been working like troopers for the last week cleaning up even more junk, crap and corruption. I think Dad said they'd hauled away seven or eight junk cars and a whole truckload of old wrecked appliances, so the place must have been a far worse mess than anyone thought it was."
"Having met several of the Carruthers family, I can believe it. Tommy's old man was a real piece of work. Talking about that family, do you know what's happened to all of them?"
"Well, Tommy's old man is still in custody, but I think all the rest of the family is out on bail. The last I heard they were all moving to Vancouver, or maybe it was Richmond, but that's close to Vancouver anyway. Actually, I really don't care where they go, just as long as I never have to deal with any of them again."
"What about the old vet?"
"Oh Ordonez? I heard he eluded the cops for a while, but the border guards caught him trying to cross into the states, so he's being held in custody now. I haven't any idea what happened to Schneider, but since all he got caught with are a few drugs and an underage sexual partner, I think he's probably made bail. What bugs me about all this stuff is the time it takes after the arrest before the case goes to trial."
"Hmmph, I can't say I feel much differently," Sunny agreed as they were approaching the house, then she gestured toward the entrance of the driveway and the school bus turning around. "It looks like we timed that just right, here comes Sami."
"Well, would you mind waiting for her and bringing her into the house? I still smell like horses and I'd like to clean up a bit before going into the kitchen, otherwise Mom will ream me out about it."
"Go ahead," Sunny chortled. "I wouldn't want to be the person who caused you to get in trouble with your mom."
By the time Tor had washed and cleaned up a bit, there was a full fledged 'hen party' going on around the kitchen table with Sunny, Sami, Alva and his mom all seeming to talk at once. Rather than interrupt, he poured himself a cup of coffee, picked up a slice of coffee cake and headed out to the front porch to be alone for a bit. He wanted to do a bit of thinking anyway.
His talk with Kevin the day before, then his talk with Sunny just that afternoon had told him that there was trouble in their relationship. Not only that, but from what Sunny had said, it seemed as if she wanted to get back together with him. Unfortunately Tor had changed and he knew Sunny had changed as well. He didn't want to burn any bridges, but . . .
As he sat there thinking, he realised that he still didn't trust her nearly as much as he had when they'd been younger. His beliefs might not be reasonable, but by his standards she had betrayed him once and he just didn't think that she had become any more dependable since then. In fact from what he'd seen of her in the last while, she'd become even worse at speaking first, then thinking about what she'd said afterward. That just wasn't a character trait he could overlook, not while he was still uncertain about his personal safety. He knew that meant he couldn't say anything to her about his strange abilities, but being unable to be fully honest with someone as close as a girlfriend just didn't sit right with him. He didn't like the only option that he seemed to be facing and he certainly didn't know how to handle it.
He'd long since finished his coffee and his snack when he heard a footstep behind him and turned to see his mom looking at him.
"Are you sitting here having heavy thoughts?" she smiled sadly.
"Sorta, I guess you know Sunny thinks she's going to be breaking up with Kevin, huh?"
"Well, as far as Sunny is concerned, I think she already believes that Kevin has walked away and left her behind. I'm not sure if she's right or wrong. The corollary to that is she expects you to come running back to her, or rather that she can come running to you and be welcomed back," Tor's mom sighed, then she noticed Tor glance back toward the kitchen. "Oh, don't worry about the girls overhearing us. Sami wanted to see our swimming hole, so Alva and Sunny are showing it to her. I thought I'd come out here and ask flat out; just what do you plan to do about the whole situation?"
"Run away maybe?" Tor shrugged. "Only I can't really do that, so I guess I'll have to do a fancy dance and try being her friend, while avoiding any close entanglements."
"I thought perhaps you might be honest and just lay it on the line?"
"Mom, she's been my friend as long as I can remember, and I don't really want to do that right now, since I think that might hurt her," Tor sighed. "I've already told her that I'm planning to go with Aunt Hanna and Uncle Nils this summer, but I was trying to imply that I wasn't ready to get into any kind of relationship before that. I can only hope she caught the hint from that."
"That was smart!" his mom smiled. "And I think she caught that, or at least part of it, because she asked how soon you'd be leaving and how long you'd be away. Which reminds me, and this is just for your information; Nils was talking to your dad yesterday about leaving the second week of July. I didn't tell Sunny that though and Alva doesn't know either, so . . ."
"Thanks. I can work with that," Tor smiled, getting to his feet and holding out the coffee cup. "Could you take this inside for me? I think I'm going to go start on the evening chores, which will make life a bit easier for Dad and Björn."
"Sneaky, smart aleck kid," his mom grinned and winked as she took the cup. "You noticed that the two girls were wearing open-toed sandals, didn't you, and you know they won't want to walk around in the barnyard where they might step in fresh manure, right?"
Tor just winked, then snapped his finger to call Ghost to his side and headed for the barnyard.
Since he had started the chores early and because there really weren't as many chores in the summer as normal, Tor was almost finished by the time Björn and his dad came home. All that was left was the milking and since there were only two cows to milk, his Dad sent him to the house, telling him he'd done enough.
Then that night as they sat at the supper table, his dad smiled at Tor. "Tomorrow, I want you to come with me, and we'll need the flat deck, so you can hook that behind my pickup tonight, okay?"
"Sure, Dad. If you want, I wasn't planning to do much tomorrow anyway, but what's up?"
"Well, you and I are going to haul the last load of wrecked cars to the scrap yard, which is also the last load of junk we'll have to haul away from the Haymaker Creek property. I thought you might like to be in on that. Besides, you and I haven't had a lot of chance to talk lately and I've got a couple of questions I want to ask when all these 'nosy parkers' aren't around."
"Oh, thanks, Dad," Björn did his best to sound offended, but he grinned and winked at Tor. "Here I work my butt off for the last week, then you give the kid a reward by letting him help on the last and easiest load going to the dump."
"Hmm, aren't you one of the kids who used to get trips to see the 'Rough Riders' play football for getting good grades on final exams during high school? I was pretty sure that was you and your brother," Tor's dad smiled, then he winked at Tor as well. "All Tor got for his grade nine results was a trip up into the boondocks with his aunt and uncle, and when he was there, they made him work, helping them build a cabin. So this year I think this family owes Tor a bonus or two for all his hard work at school. I think he's probably earned a little more than a trip to the scrap yard too, just for all the work he's put in around here, but he and I will have a talk about that tomorrow.
"By the way, Tor, I heard that you missed catching Kevin this morning. You aren't too upset about that are you?"
"No, Dad. I'm fine, the one who was upset is Sunny, and I can't do much about that. Besides, she seems to have bounced right back, so I'm not really worried about her either."
And that statement opened a kettle of fish – or at least it opened discussion on a subject that held the attention of the whole family for several moments. Björn and Alva didn't seem to be happy that Tor wouldn't say anything about what he planned to do, but Tor's dad put a stop to them trying to badger him into saying anything.
"Enough! Obviously Tor doesn't want to say anything about the situation right now and considering that you two have opposing opinions, I can't blame him for that. No matter what Tor said, one of you would immediately argue that he was wrong and I'm quite certain that he is in no mood for an argument over his decision. In actual fact, what Tor does is his business, not Björn's, not Alva's, not his mother's, not even mine. When you consider how involved he is with the other two individuals in this muddle, I don't blame him for taking the time to think the situation over. Now, I want the two of you to back off and leave him to make his own decision. After all, I doubt if either of you would like him to interfere if you were in his boots. Right?"
What his dad had said really meant a lot to Tor, but right at the moment he didn't say thanks or anything else. He just nodded to his dad, excused himself from the table, then went outside and moved his dad's truck over to the flatbed trailer, hooking that up to use in the morning. After that he walked down to the pasture where he kept the horses to check on them. Ghost had followed along with him as usual and the horses wandered over to see if Tor had any treats to give out. Since neither the horses nor the dog could talk, or express an opinion, their company was very welcome right then. Tor stayed in the pasture until he saw his dad head for the barns to check the stock for the night and 'put the farm to bed.' Tor decided he needed to say thanks for putting a stop to the scrum at the dinner table, so he headed over to talk to his dad.
"Thanks for running interference at the table, Dad," Tor said quietly. "Just so you know, I didn't want to have to justify myself at the table, but I really don't think I'm going to get involved with Sunny right now. I'm not into either breaking up relationships between two of my closest friends, or catching gals on the rebound, whichever one this happens to be. Besides, both Sunny and I have changed, so I don't think we're a good fit for each other anymore."
"I can see that, in fact I could see that when we first moved out here," Tor's dad nodded. "You grew into a young man while you were here on your own, but at the same time, Sunny's adoption came through and instantly you were less important to her. Overnight she suddenly had a real family, and if anything, that made her more dependent on the Enrights. Up until that point, both of you had been acting slightly older than your calendar age, but while you leaped ahead, she stepped back. You suddenly had experience at being fully independent, while she suddenly had parents she knew she could legally depend on . . ." Tor's dad's voice trailed off then and he paused. "I don't know, maybe I'm wrong about all of that, but I think you're making the right decision by not getting involved with Sunny right now anyway. That's not because of either of your mental ages though, my feelings are based more on your friendships with Sunny and Kevin. To be honest I think the best thing for you would be to get involved with something which doesn't include either of them, so going with Nils and Hanna to their valley is a great idea. When you get back though, I'd say you should have a long hard thought about dating either Emily or Sami, or perhaps both of them, one after the other."
"Umm, Dad, don't you think that would annoy Sunny?" Tor frowned.
"Nope, instead it would probably piss her right off!" his dad laughed sharply, "And, that might just be the best possible thing you could do. Now your mother said that I should suggest that you date all three of them in turn, but only if Kevin and Sunny break up when he gets back in town. One way or another, I think you need to let Sunny know that she is no longer top dog in your kennel."
"Dad, are you calling her a bitch?" Tor stared at his father in surprise.
"No, I'd never say that, at least not using that word, even if I thought it," he chuckled softly. "There are times when I might suggest it though. One of those times was when she wanted you to carry on playing hockey, just so she could sit in the stands and cheer – that really annoyed me!"
"Well, you were there to see my reaction," Tor sighed. "I'm not proud of that day."
"Even though you caught that criminal and rescued Sunny?"
"Nope. I should have grabbed a big stick and beat the dickens out of him, instead of getting so close and being hurt. Then I wouldn't be reminded of my stupidity every time I put on a pair of boots or my skates. That ankle will probably always be a bit bigger than the other one, because of the extra bone that grew in to repair the damage."
"I didn't realise there was that much difference. Does that ankle bother you, other than that?"
"Not so far, but Dr. Mueller has warned me that when I'm much older I may have an ache there when storms are coming. I'm not sure if he was trying to make a joke about it, or if he really believes that damaged bones have a tendency to draw arthritic pain."
"Well, you'll have quite a few years before you have to worry about anything like that. Anyway, it's time for me to go watch the news, then get some sleep. Are you coming inside?"
"Yeah, but I think I'm going to skip the news. Tonight I'm not in the mood to be depressed by watching reports of all the problems around the world, so I think I'll just go have a shower and hop into bed."
"I can understand that. There are times I feel the same way, but I guess I'm a bit of a masochist, because I like to catch up on the foolishness around the world at least once a day," his dad dropped a hand on Tor's shoulder as they walked to the house.
Tor may have gone to bed early, but that didn't mean he fell asleep right away. Instead he tossed and turned for over an hour so he was able to hear the sounds of each and every one of his family going to bed. Needless to say, what kept him awake were his thoughts about Sunny, Kevin and himself, with occasional thoughts about Sami and Em sliding to the fore.
He tried to tire himself by mentally juggling his 'sandbag' socks, but he'd become so adept at manhandling them around the room that he simply wasn't tiring himself quickly enough. Finally he decided he had to try something new, he flipped on the light, sat on the end of his bed and stared into the mirror on his dresser, looking at his reflection. Then he attempted to teleport himself about an inch or two above the bed with the idea of trying to hold his body at that height - in other words, he was trying to levitate.
Since he'd learned to teleport for distances of several hundred yards when he was feeling extremely energetic, he didn't think levitation would be all that difficult. He soon discovered that he was wrong. Lifting himself an inch proved to be no problem, but teleportation happened instantly, then the lift of teleportation stopped just as quickly and he dropped. The best he could do was to 'bounce' up and down like a yoyo on a very short string and that soon gave him a headache, then a slight case of motion sickness. That really annoyed him, because he could lift and hold other objects in a suspended position. Why couldn't he do it to his own body.
Wait a minute – he reached over and grabbed a pillow, sat on that, then mentally lifted the pillow. The pillow felt soft and malleable when he sat on it, but as soon as he 'applied lift,' it hardened until it felt as if he was sitting in a custom formed plastic chair, but at least he was floating. He had done it and he'd been right, it was tiring, very tiring, so he could only levitate for a moment or two. Or maybe it was less than that, he hadn't been watching the clock, but it couldn't have been all that long. He knew that he'd turned on the light about fifteen minutes before he gave up, because he'd glance over at the clock as the light went on, but he didn't know how long he'd spent bouncing up and down. Still, he was tired and instead of thinking about personal relationships, he was wondering how he could use this new feature of his abilities. So he slipped into bed, then wondered, if a pillow under his butt worked, why not just lift against his jeans or his shorts. He decided he'd have to try that another time, but right then he needed to rest and . . .
. . . the next thing he knew, it was morning and his dad was knocking on his door to wake him.