Thor's Child ©
by K Pelle
Chapter 11
Tor walked into the library and walked straight up to the front desk. "Miss Pringle, I was wondering if you have any books about light, preferably with regard to lenses and mirrors. You see I was reading in my physics book and it talked about light acting like energy one moment, then like matter the next and I really don't understand, so I'd like to know more about it."
Miss Pringle lifted her grey haired head and seemed to focus on a spot above Tor's own head for a few seconds, then she sighed softly, "I'm afraid we don't really have much that would be better than your present text, Mr Eklund. Could I ask why you have this sudden interest in the physics of light?"
"Umm, you're going to think this weird," Tor grinned as disarmingly as he could. "You see I was watching a TV show the other day about a magician who specialized in doing illusions. The only way I could imagine his trick would have worked was if he used a mirror to make things look different than they really were. I've found that you can buy books on card tricks and other forms of prestidigitation, but I doubt if they'd cover the bigger illusions, which is really what I'm interested in understanding. I believe anyone with decent dexterity can learn to do the simpler tricks, but I'd like to understand how to do the more difficult illusions."
"Oh, I think at your age, even you might have a hard time with some of the more intricate tricks," Miss Pringle smiled, "However this is a library of a school which covers basic knowledge, and not really a place for the sort of information you might want."
""Oh, no, I'm not asking you to find books that explain how to be a magician." Tor grinned again. "I really just want to understand a bit more about light itself, because we depend on sight so much and if a person could make light do weird things, illusions would be so much easier. You see illusionists depend on people to habitually look at certain objects in certain ways, but if I can find a way to make things appear differently than they are, I could have fun as a magician."
"I'm afraid I don't understand, Mr Eklund. I thought you were a hockey player of some renown. Don't the feats you perform on the ice give you enough attention as it is?"
"Oh yes, I get far too much attention at times," Tor laughed softly. "Magic and illusion are just hobbies, but I've already gone through an extended stay in the hospital over an injury and I know hockey players often get injured. I just want to have something to keep my mind busy if I ever end up in the hospital again. I'm sure that being an amateur magician would be better than my other hobbies, because anything I do now is sort of boring and not the sort of thing I can do when I'm alone."
"Oh, and what would those hobbies be?"
"Well mostly, I like to work with animals, but when I'm around people I watch their habits, so I know how to expect them to act. I use that hobby when I play hockey, so I can guess what other players might do, but other than that it's sort of boring. For instance I haven't been here to the library all that much this year, but I even know some of your habits because I've noticed them."
"You've watched my habits?"
"Well yes, when I've been studying here in the library. I've noticed that when you get up to help anyone to find a book, you always reach out and pick up your pen and you carry it with you while you are looking for a book. Then when you come back to the desk, you adjust your chair before you sit down, but first, you always set the pen down on the right hand side of your blotter, so it's handy." Tor pointed at her pen and watched as she glanced at it.
"Now, if I was a decent illusionist, I'd pause now and wave my hands in front of myself to draw your attention." He smiled and willed the pen to shift to the other side of the blotter as Miss Pringle looked at him with a broad smile.
"At that point I'd snap my fingers and the pen would move," he snapped the fingers of his right hand at the same time as pointing to her blotter's left edge.
Miss Pringle looked where his finger pointed to her pen, then shifted her glance to where the pen had been before, but finally lifting her eyes and staring directly at him.
"How did you do that?" she demanded.
"What do you mean?" Tor asked leaning forward and looking closely at the pen which was again lying where it had originally been, on the right hand side of her blotter.
Her right hand reached out and she snapped up the pen, then to Tor's astonishment, she laughed softly and shook her head slightly, "You aren't going to tell me how you did that are you?"
"Nope, because I didn't do much, except make suggestions," he grinned. "After all, I am trying to practise being an illusionist and the power of suggestion is very important to anyone who tries to create illusions. It just wouldn't do to give a magician's secrets when it comes to illusion. Only now you can probably understand why I'd like to know a bit more about the effects of reflection and refraction on the light we see."
Tor had effectively 'sewn the seeds' that he was an illusionist and even though there had only been three students and Miss Pringle in the library, he expected the rumours to spread. He wasn't planning on giving many demonstrations of what he could do, but thought the rumours might give him a little cover for any mistakes he might make with his real talents. Actually it only took until lunch before he heard whispers of students who'd heard what he'd done while he'd been talking to Miss Pringle and of course the rumour was much wilder than the actual facts. The funny part about that is that no student could have actually seen what he did, because they'd all been sitting in areas where the desktop was hidden from view.
Unfortunately, his pleasure at having pulled a fast one on his fellow students was soon deflated by another situation. Tor had forgotten about the crowd of fans who had been waiting to see Kev and him that morning, but he ran into a large group of those same people when he walked into the lunch room. Most of them wanted autographs and he held up both hands at their request.
"Look, I just can't do that right now, because I never expected this and I haven't developed a signature for writing autographs," he said quite loudly. "You see, I've talked to a couple of people who have been ripped off by signing their name the way they normally would. They had people fake their signature on checks, then cash the checks. I'm not saying that one of you would do that, but if I do get into the NHL, you might find that you could sell my autograph for a profit, then if my real signature fell into the wrong hands, I could be ripped off."
Of course there were multiple protests and promises from everyone wanting an autograph, but he remained adamant.
"Just give me a week or two to decided how I can change my signature, so it can't be faked on a legal document and I'll sign your autograph books, okay? Besides, I don't think we should do that sort of thing here, we're keeping people from getting into the lunchroom and I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I think these other people are too."
Thankfully, the school Principal, Mr. Mueller appeared about then and helped break up the crowd at the lunchroom door. Tor was able to talk to a few of the older hockey players though and he asked them about the 'rumour' he'd heard that the Carruthers had been distributing steroids and growth hormones.
"You sure as hell don't need 'em," Jack Willard laughed, "but there are a lot of people thought you were takin' 'em when you first come here. The funny thing was, we knew you'd been in a gun battle with the Carruthers boys and everyone knew the two of them and their family was sellin' that crap, so we didn't know what to make o' you."
"That junk is still around and so is a batch of other crap," Arnie Bachman sighed softly. "Somehow the cops should be able to figure where it's coming from. My guess is that old man Schneider might be involved, since he and the older Carruthers dudes are such good friends. Why are you askin' anyway?"
"Oh, I heard the vet. got arrested for drug smuggling and I got taken by surprise. I guess I just haven't got friends who fart around with that crap," Tor shook his head. "I can't see the sense in it anyway."
"Since you come from a family of giant's, you wouldn't! If I was you, I wouldn't ask too many questions of the wrong people though, we don't need you getting shot at again," Jack looked at him seriously, then swatted him on the shoulder before heading off with the group, leaving Tor standing near the door of the lunchroom with a frown on his face.
Kevin and Sami showed up a moment or two later, then since Sunny and Em were back from the doctor's office, they joined the group, then after everyone got their lunches, they all found an empty table.
"What's this I hear about you becoming a magician and terrorizing Miss Pringle?" Em asked as she sat down next to Tor, opening a plastic container of salad and digging out a plastic fork, setting it on a paper napkin.
Tor looked surprised, then raised a hand to his mouth and coughed slightly, as if he'd swallowed wrong. After appearing to take a second to catch his breath, he shook his head and smiled, "All I did was talk to her a little about light and how it was affected by mirrors."
"That's not what I heard," Sunny snapped, as she sat beside Kev, having unwrapped a sandwich, then spread the wrapper on the table and set half of the sandwich on it. "I heard you teased her by moving things all over her desk, but did it without touching them."
"Oh come now, that would be impossible," Tor frowned slightly as he waved a hand negligently. "By the way, why do you need a fork to eat a sandwich?"
"Hey, that's my fork!" Emily snapped. "I need that to eat my lunch."
"Well, I didn't take it," Sunny snapped, then stared at Tor. "You did that, didn't you?"
"Me?" Tor just stared at her as if he was completely innocent. "How could I do that? I was just sitting here eating my lunch while you two were accusing me of teasing Miss Pringle?"
"Wow!" Kevin laughed. "That was sneaky. I didn't see a thing."
'What are you talking about, Kev?" Sami asked.
"Tor did do it, I'll betcha. He distracted all of us by coughing, but at the same time he switched Em's fork onto Sunny's napkin, and I didn't see what he did. Did you?"
"He couldn't have done it. He had a sandwich in one hand and was waving the other one around like a flag!" Sami snapped, then giggled. "At least I think he did. Maybe he fooled me too."
"Oh come on! How could he reach across Em to take the fork, then reach across the table to put the fork by my sandwich without us seeing him do it?" Sunny snapped.
"Then I guess either you or Em did it." Sami giggled again. "I couldn't reach Em from here and Kev had one hand on your shoulder and the other one holding a sandwich."
"My hand was on her chair. I was just steadying it." Kev said flatly, but he was blushing.
"Oh sure!" Tor laughed. "After all, you two wouldn't want to show any signs of blatant interest in each other while you're at school, now would you?"
"Hah, look who's talking." Sunny snapped. "The guy who has two girls following him around like shadows."
"Hey, someone has to protect him from the vultures." Sami snapped.
"Besides, you're always with Kevin, so since Tor is his buddy, if we want to see you at all, we have to tag along." Em turned and winked at Tor and Sami.
Sunny just growled and took a huge bite out of her sandwich.
"Oh by the way, how did your visit to the doctor go, Em?" Kevin asked quietly.
"Oh, about what I expected. My doctor gave me some samples of pills to try and I feel a lot better already."
"I think I'm going to change doctors! Em's doctor gave her samples." Sunny snapped. "I have to wait for Mom to get a new prescription filled before I can find out if the new pills help at all. I sure hope they work better, because I'm darn tired of feeling like this every darn month."
"I think we all sympathise," Tor said quietly. "I know I'd like to see you feeling better than you seem to do at times."
"Thanks, I guess," Sunny managed a weak smile. "I'm sorry if I don't sound enthusiastic right now."
"Hey, no problem." Tor waved his hand as if brushing off any idea of being offended.
"Oops, everybody check your pockets," Sami giggled. "He's waving his hands again."
"Hmm," Tor turned and stared at Sami with an obviously faked frown. "You might just be small enough. If I practise really hard, I wonder if I can learn how to make you disappear?"
"Not unless you take me along." Em said flatly, astonishing Tor.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Tor blurted out without thinking.
"I'm saying you spend too much time with her now and not enough time with me, Buster."
"Em, I think those pills might be a little stronger than you really need." Sami said quietly.
"Oh god!" Em blushed brightly, then leaped to her feet and dashed off, followed a few seconds later by both Sami and Sunny.
"Well, that was interesting," Kevin said quietly. "It seems my little sister has a bigger crush on you than she openly admits."
"Oh boy, just what I don't need!" Tor sighed. "I mean, I like her, but I . . ."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I know from what you've said that you like Em, as well as Sami and Sunny, but just from the way you act, none of them seem to really get to you, do they?"
"No, and it's funny, because I do like each one of them, just not enough to want to . . . I mean, they're all wonderful, but they just don't . . ."
"You don't have to explain to me." Kevin snorted. "I know from being around you that you just haven't met the right gal yet. I think Em knows it too, but she doesn't want to admit it. On top of that her emotions are crazy at this time of the month. Right now she's probably crying her eyes out and there's nothing you or I can do about it."
"Yeah, well, I've got a few problems too. After all, I'm fifteen, so not being turned on by any of the girls around me is a worry. I look around me and all the other guys my age are horny as billy goats, but I'm just not wired the same way I guess. I don't know what it is."
"I think all your hormones went into muscle first, but I'll bet that once you get your full growth, you'll change." Kevin grinned. "Actually, that's not my idea, it's Mom's. She and Sunny's mom were talking about the way you act. Mrs Enright was saying that you acted almost like you were married to Sunny for years. Then after Sunny got annoyed and backed off, you've been going through something she called separation anxiety, which she said is something divorced guys go through. According to her, one day you'll meet someone who will ring your bell and then you'll be back to normal, acting like any other horny teenage guy."
Tor just stared at him, knowing that his real reason for staying away from girls was simply a matter of fear. He didn't want people finding out what he could do and was afraid to trust anyone about his abnormal abilities. At the same time, he knew there was nothing he could say to Kevin to dissuade him from what he was saying.
Kevin broke into laughter then and got to his feet, "Come on, quit staring at me. You're not strange or anything, you're just living a life that's a little different than normal that's all. Anyway, it's almost time for class, so we might as well get a move on before we get caught in the after lunch stampede to the classrooms."
Tor was quite relieved that the rest of the school day passed uneventfully, but wasn't really happy that the group would be going to martial arts training after school. Instead he wanted to go home and find out what his father had discovered about the local veterinarian and his cohorts. Once he was at the dojo and talking with his sensei though, he soon found that he was enjoying the idea of learning something new. The idea that both he and Kevin would be able to protect themselves better in a dangerous situation was acceptable, but Tor wasn't really comfortable with the offensive moves of Tai Kwon Do. For some reason he didn't feel comfortable going beyond defensive moves. So although he went along with his sensei's introductory training that night, he expected to have a long involved discussion with the man in the near future.
Alva was there with the station wagon to give them all a ride home after class and didn't waste any time doing it. She wasn't in a good mood and Tor wasn't about to start a discussion with her by asking what caused her bad mood, since he knew that once they were alone she'd probably explain. When they drove right past their driveway, then gave Sami a ride home instead of having her spend time at their farm waiting for her father, he knew something serious was going on.
As soon as they dropped Sami off, he turned to Alva, "Okay, what's going on?"
"Dad went to town this afternoon and was shot in the left arm, it's just a graze and nothing serious, but someone actually took a shot at him. The cop, Officer McDonald, thinks Dad was asking too many questions and may have gotten too close to an answer for someone's comfort, so he figures that shot was a warning. Dad is pissed about it though and I can't blame him."
"Holy crap. Why didn't somebody come and get me out of school?"
"It happened just after school let out, so you were on your way to your Jiu Jitsu class. Besides, what would you have done? It wasn't really a serious wound or anything, although I imagine it's hurting Dad quite a bit."
"Darn I'd have liked to hear about it sooner," Tor grouched. "Where did this happen anyway?"
"Oh, he was down near Schneider's feed yard and the damn fool drove all the way home before calling the cops. I'm pissed at Dad for not going to the hospital right away, but Officer McDonald is pissed at Dad for snooping around there and even more pissed that he didn't report being shot right away."
Tor couldn't help it, he laughed aloud.
"What's so damn funny?"
"Well, Dad and the Coach are both pretty darn stubborn and extremely opinionated, so I was just imagining that discussion. Dad would have been pissed off at being shot at, then he'd have worried about his family. He knew I was in school and that I would have friends and teachers to protect me, so his major worry would have been for you and Mom. That's why he'd have hurried home and I'll bet he called Uncle Nils as soon as he got into the house, right?"
"You're right, he wouldn't even let me treat the wound before he called Uncle Nils and then the cops. How did you know that?"
"I just know how Dad thinks," Tor shrugged. "I'll bet McDonald was at our house as quick as he could get there, wasn't he?"
"Actually, he got there a lot later, because he went down to Schneider's feed lot and checked it out first. He only arrived a short time before I came to get you and he even tried to stop me from coming for you. I sort of shrugged my shoulders when he told me to leave you at the dojo for now, then walked back through the house and out the back door to get into Mom's car."
"Oh are you going to get chewed out," Tor snorted with a broad grin.
"Just what the hell do you find so funny?"
"Well, I was clear of all this crap for once, so I see it a little differently than you do, since I'm not the one in the doodoo. The last time it was me that got shot at, but I shot back, so I was the one who got hollered at for being disobedient. However because of that muddle, I know how Dad reacts to one of his family being injured and I know how Officer McDonald reacts too, both as a cop and as a hockey coach. I'd say Ordonez, Schneider and the Carruthers bunch have picked on the wrong family once again."
"Are you saying you think this is the same group that shot at you two years ago?"
"In a way, yeah," Tor nodded. "The only difference is that this is the older members of the gang. I was dealing with some of the kids, but these are the old men of the crowd. Ordonez and Schneider are probably the brains of the lot. In fact I'll bet that shot was fired by one of the Carruthers bunch. After asking about it a bit today, I'd be willing to bet that Schneider is the brains of the gang, Ordonez is the supplier and the Carruthers are the bottom end distributers and the goons. It wasn't that hard to find out either, I got that just from what I was able to dig out while I was at school."
"You mean you knew that already and you didn't call Dad to warn him?"
"Hey, Dad didn't say anything to me about doing something dumb, like snooping around Schneider's feed lot. I understood from what he said that he was just going to ask a few questions of honest people. You heard him talk about seeing the doctor and more than that he was going to talk to Officer McDonald as well as Kai and Rick Chance. I didn't expect him to go charging down to Schneider's to beard the jackal in his den. More importantly though, I haven't talked to Dad since I heard about it at school, so I haven't had a chance to say a word to anyone other than you, right now."
"Sorry, I thought you knew about it before. Anyway, I see the cop car is still at the house," Alva waved a hand as they drove up the driveway. "You'll get to tell Dad and your buddy the cop all about what you found out."
Ollie Eklund was not in a good mood when his youngest son and his only daughter came into the kitchen of the family farmhouse that evening.
"Hi, Dad, how are you doing?" Tor asked quietly.
"I'm fine!" Ollie growled. "I keep telling people it's just a scratch, but nobody listens. Your mother even insists I stay here, and not do any work on the farm, dammit. Have you seen Officer McDonald yet? I know he wanted to talk to you before he left to go do something useful, like find out who shot at me."
"You didn't see who it was?"
"No, the shot came from the trees and if I hadn't dropped my keys and bent down just as I was getting out of my truck, I might be dead, so I want that shooter caught. Only now instead of looking for the shooter at Schneider's feed yard, McDonald is wandering around here and asking everyone thousands of questions. I think maybe he's out with your Uncle Nils and Kai, who are doing my chores, since your Mama insists I have to stay inside."
"Okay, Dad. I'll change clothes and go see if I can help with the chores. I want to talk to the Coach anyway."
"Oh yeah, you were going to ask around about this mess. So what did you hear at school?"
"Well, the rumours I heard implied that Ordonez, Schneider and the Carruthers family were all involved, but I didn't hear anything definite. It was all 'he said, she said or I heard' stuff."
"The Carruthers family? You mean relatives of those two punks you tangled with?" Ollie frowned deeply.
"Yeah, their fathers, uncles and maybe even their cousins."
"You know that makes more sense, since someone shot at me. I couldn't understand why Schneider would shoot at someone just looking at his cattle yard. Maybe you should hurry and talk to Officer McDonald."
"Change you clothes first, but you might want to hurry," Tor's mother ordered as she came inside. "Your uncle is trying to milk one of the cows and not doing well, so you might better get out there and take over the job before the old fool gets kicked hard enough to land in Vancouver."
"Yes, Mom," Tor winked at her and hurried off.
A few minutes later, out in the barn, Tor was talking to Officer McDonald as he bent over and finished milking the cow that his uncle had been having a problem with. He repeated what he'd heard from the various people he'd spoken to at school, but explained that it was all rumour.
"So, what you're saying is Ordonez brings in the drugs and passes them to Schneider, then he passes them on to the Carruthers family and they do the distribution?" Officer McDonald asked.
"I really don't know for sure," Tor shrugged his shoulders. "I just heard rumours and I'm passing them on, but I haven't heard anything you could use as proof to make an arrest."
"Well, since your father was shot and injured while at Schneider's feed lot, we have it under surveillance. Since the shooting happened in the parking lot we can search the general area, so we've got a tracking dog and a bloodhound coming in to help out. Hopefully we can trace the path of the shooter and perhaps find enough clues to get an I D. I just hope we can get a search warrant for the rest of the place, because I want to tear those damn buildings apart and see just what Schneider has hidden there."
"Well, I wish you luck," Tor offered. "Sorry I couldn't be any more help."
Later, after the milking was done and Officer McDonald had left in his car, Tor, and his uncle Nils were walking back to the house. Nils paused and turned to look back at the hill where the shots had come from two summers before.
"I see yew mow da hill up der vhere dat fool vas hidin' da last time, huh?" he noted.
"Naw, if you look, you'll see that about ten acres of the hillside is fenced with page wire. Dad lets me run a batch of goats in that area and every once in a while I put on camo clothes and go up there for an hour or two and play with the goats. When I do that, I make sure I've been working out hard and haven't showered, so I stink pretty good, then I go up there and tease the goats until they chase me off," Tor grinned. "I don't know how many times I've had to run like mad and climb over that darn fence like my pants were on fire."
Nils slowly grinned, then chuckled, "So, dhose goats, dhey do nodt like people sneaking aroundt in dheir pen, yah?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Tor grinned. "If we have to work with them for any reason, we have to take a dog along now."
"So let's get this straight, you've got dogs running around the yard and a batch of goats up there on the hill, then there are your mom's geese down near the creek. That makes it kind of hard to sneak up on the house doesn't it?" Kai chortled as he glanced around.
"Yeah, and the other side of the valley is cleared off all the way to the top of the slope, that's over half a mile away. We used Uncle Nils trick there too, with distance marker stakes that have bullet holes in them near any clumps of brush where a man could hide," Tor grinned. "The road out front is about the closest place to the house where anyone could hide and I keep the tall grass and weeds mowed down along the verge of the road. I'm not sure why I bother, since that seems to make the thistles grow in even thicker, but lower to the ground. They're sort of stunted and prickly as the dickens, and really, I think there are a lot more of them than there were before I started mowing that grassy verge."
"So anyone laying in the ditch and trying to get a sight on anyone in the yard would be trying to get into position while crossing a bed of pins and needles, huh?" Kai chuckled.
"I guess," Tor answered with a shrug of his shoulders, but he grinned at the same time.
Both Kai and Uncle Nils just snorted and winked at each other.
Tor found the next few weeks to be quite interesting, to say the least, but he wasn't really heavily involved in any way, except for a few hours of the very first day of that period.
In the first place his parents were on the warpath about his dad being shot, so the day after it had happened, Tor and his father both had an appointment with their doctor. Ollie was going in to have his wound checked and Tor's appointment was to have his 'birthday' physical. Since Tor was having a physical, a nurse took him into a second examination room only moments after his father went in to see the doctor, so it was the nurse who measured his height and weight. Four days before June 1st, his 15th birthday, he was just a fraction of an inch under 6 foot tall and weighed just over 198 pounds.
The nurse, a cute blonde with a great body, looked at his physique and just shook her head as she made notes on her pad, "Do you have any problems with your ankle from that injury? From the notes in your file, that must have been quite traumatic, so I'm astounded that you walk so freely."
"No problem, but then I was really careful not to stress it much when it was healing and I think the surgeon who worked on it did a great job, even if he was a nut about other things."
"Oh, what do you mean?"
"He wanted to keep me in the hospital, because he thought I was healing too fast."
"Healing too fast? Pardon me, but how is it possible to heal too fast? Healing quickly is no reason to want to keep you in the hospital!"
"Well, according to him I was healing at an extreme rate and he wanted me to skip school so he could run tests to find out why my bones were knitting so fast. I imagine all his wild theories are in my file if you want to find out, but I think he's just a nutcase."
"I see," she smiled, then blushed slightly. "I can understand his curiosity though, because you certainly don't appear to have the body of a normal fifteen year old."
"Ah, you must be new to the area."
"I am, but why do you say that?"
"Well, you can't have met either my brothers or my cousins. Although I've grown a lot in the last few years, I'm still the little fellow of my family," Tor grinned. "Even my sister is tall and muscular, but she's very feminine, even if she is big."
"Oh, is she the new student nurse who starts at the hospital next week? I saw a new student nurse the other day and she was gorgeous – tall, blonde and buxom."
"That's her, or at least I imagine it is. She was saying that she has a job here for the summer. Her name is Alva Eklund, if you want to look her up and say hi."
"Oh, I just realized who you are!" she suddenly stared at him, then looked somewhat embarrassed. "I've seen you play hockey, in fact I'm a fan. Actually, after seeing you with all your gear off, I can understand why you're so darn good at playing like you do. With those muscles you could pose for 'Playgirl' and make a fortune. All of your bigger muscles are sprouting little ones, so you've got muscles on top of muscles, but you don't look like a body builder. A Playgirl photographer would love that and you could make a bunch of money too."
'No thanks! The idea doesn't turn my crank at all." Tor laughed. "Besides, I'm not old enough. You have to be eighteen to pose for the kind of pictures they want and to be honest, I'm shy about that sort of thing anyway. I'm having trouble just standing here in my shorts and having you look at me, let alone having a bunch of pictures taken and shown to the world."
"Miss Kavanagh, are you done taking young Mr. Eklund's measurements?" the doctor asked from the doorway. "If so, I can see him now."
"Yes Doctor Mueller. He has made some gains, but considering his past height and weight, nothing astounding."
"Well, that's a change and good news too. If he had carried on at the rate he was growing during his last growth spurt, I'd have worried about his eventual size. You can dress now if you would, Tor."
The rest of the examination was rather perfunctory, so Tor was out and joining his dad in the waiting room within moments.
"Well, how much have you grown this time?" Tor's dad grinned.
"Not as much as last time," Tor grinned back. "I'm not quite 6 feet tall and I'm still under 200 pounds, but not by much in either case, so I guess I'm still the shrimp of the family. How is the arm?"
"Oh, Doc Mueller says Alva does good work. There's no sign of infection and it looks like it will heal well. He also said that I can still work as long as I can keep it clean and don't cause it to bleed again," his dad sighed then. "It's just that when I move my arm, it hurts a little bit. Then it's like a sliver, it irritates me enough that I want to do something about it, which makes me annoyed because I can't even scratch it!"
"I know what you mean, Dad. I went through the same sort of thing when I was stuck in that darn cast, two years ago. The only thing I could do was try to keep busy so I didn't think about it."
"Hmm, if you missed class this afternoon, would it put you very far behind?" Tor's dad asked.
That question surprised Tor and he had to think about it for a moment before answering, "I only have English and a spare period, why? Did you want to do something different?"
"Well, I got a call early this morning about a purebred Quarter Horse mare for sale cheap and I was wondering if you'd like to go have a look at it with me?"
Neither of them noticed the receptionist look up when Tor's dad mentioned a horse for sale, but then they didn't know she was in the market for a horse as well.
"Sure! I'd like that!" Tor said enthusiastically. "Where is it at?"
"It's not far from your Uncle Nil's upper place, just up Haymaker Creek Road. I didn't catch the guy's name, but from the sounds of it, the horse must be quite a nice animal," his Dad mentioned as they walked out of the doctor's office and the door closed behind them.
"Dad, I hate to pop your bubble, but the only people who live along Haymaker Creek are the Carruthers family. They've got half a dozen rundown shacks up there, each one with a different family living in it and I wouldn't trust any of them as far as I could throw them. I'm positive they don't raise any decent horses either."
"Is that right? Perhaps we should go talk to Nils before we go see about this horse?"
"Maybe you should talk to the police too." Tor frowned as they hopped into the pickup. "I recall something about Uncle Nils having problems with the Carruthers family and knowing Uncle Nils, I'd bet the problem concerned a horse. His far pasture overlooks Haymaker Creek, so I think he's the Carruthers' next door neighbour on that side."
"Good point, let's go see him first, before we go see the Carruthers about the horse."
"I think it might be better to forget about going to see the Carruthers under any circumstances."
"Why would you think that?"
"Well, I'm just guessing, but from what little I know of Schneider and the Carruthers family, I think they're quite close friends, or at least business buddies. Unfortunately while Schneider is the sort of person who wants to settle things face to face, even if it's with his fists, the Carruthers aren't that civil. I think the older Carruthers might be more like their kids, so they'd be the kind to try to settle things from hiding, and I think they're more likely to try a gunshot."
"Are you suggesting that one of the Carruthers family might have been the person who shot at me?"
"The idea did cross my mind, especially since it looks like they're involved with Ordonez and Schneider in this drug crap. Then just a few days later you suddenly get an anonymous call about a great deal for a horse? I'll be honest I wouldn't put anything past the Carruthers family as far as trying to 'get even' is concerned," Tor sighed heavily, "I'm afraid that horse trade offer might be some sort of trap. Of course all I'm basing that opinion on is the way the two cousins acted when they played hockey or when they mistakenly decided I was 'out to get them' or whatever. I'm just suspicious of the family because Tommy Carruthers did shoot at me from hiding. Then his dopey cousin attacked me from behind, but he was stupid enough to do it in front of a room full of witnesses. The way I look at it, if the kids act that way, the parents won't be much different."
"So what do you think we should do?"
"Talk to Uncle Nils, talk to the cops, forget the silly horse trade or whatever it is, and make sure you're on the same page with Björn and Dagny. Then I think you should clue in the rest of the family, as well as our closest friends, so nobody says the wrong thing to the wrong people. After that, since Kai isn't working for anyone yet, I think he and I should go camping for a weekend or two. I've always wanted to check out the territory near Uncle Nils' new pasture and it's awful darn close to Haymaker Valley, so we could camp up there and check things out. I wouldn't want any of Uncle Nils' horses to founder or anything."
"Do you think the Carruthers would be that vindictive? If they are, I don't really think you should be involved in any way."
"Dad, I don't really know what the rest of that family is like, but I do know how the two cousins reacted to my dislike of their playing style on the ice. At that point I wasn't even in competition with them for a place on the team, but instead of trying to improve their techniques, they decided to retaliate against me personally. So, as far as Tommy and Johnny Carruthers are concerned, I think they'd take delight in drowning kittens or torturing small animals, but I don't really trust the rest of their family either."
Tor's dad shook his head slowly, then smiled weakly, "I think I'll take your advice on that horse, but I want you along when I talk to Nils and Officer McDonald, so if you can afford to miss school today, we'll go see your uncle first. Is that okay with you?"
"That's fine, Dad. I'm going to keep out of the discussion as much as I can though. I don't want to influence the conversation unless I have to. Actually, I really don't want to be involved with this crap at all."
"You can try to stay out of it, but since you've been around the younger Carruthers boys a lot. I think you should be along because people might ask you questions."
"Pfft, nobody was close to those two. In my opinion they're mean, vicious, backstabbing morons. I never understood them and don't want to try," Tor sighed heavily. "If you want to understand their family, I think you should ask Uncle Nils. His new pasture land is just over the hill from the valley they've squatted in, so he's had to deal with them far more than I have."
"Wait a minute, what did you say about them squatting on the land?"
"Oh, I was being a smart aleck. Actually, they're supposed to be either leasing or renting the whole valley, but I've heard they're way behind on their lease payments."
"Oh, do you happen to know who owns the place?" his dad glanced over at Tor with a strange look in his eyes.
"Not really, not by name anyway, but I did hear that it was owned by a widow who lives in an old age home someplace in Vancouver or Victoria, why?"
"Oh, I was just thinking that it might be something Nils should know about, especially if it's next door to his pasture land," Tor's dad chuckled. "Of course if he bought the place from the widow, I think he'd be a lot harder to please about late rental payments, don't you?"
Tor just shook his head, "Dad that sort of thing might provoke the Carruthers to retaliate in even stupider ways. Of course if the Carruthers are the ones who are already angry enough to shoot at people, it can't get much worse, not unless someone gets shot and killed."
Tor's dad just nodded, but didn't say anything. That worried Tor, especially later, when they were actually talking to his uncle Nils and his Dad brought it up.
"Dat vould be no real surprise," Uncle Nils responded, "so I tink maybe vee need to be smardt aboudt how vee go at dis ting. Mebee vee form a company, yah? Vee get fife, mebee six people to put in a liddle money for a small share und Aye kick in da rest. Dat spreads the suspicion aroundt a bit, so no vun is blamedt. Den vee buy da property or da mortgage, vhateffer it is, from dat vidow voman. After dat, vee haf eider da lawyer or da cops handle da dealings vit da goons. Vhat dew ya tink off dat idea?"
"Just what good would that do?" Tor asked.
"If vee buy da place, vee vould be new owners, so vee can sendt dhose goons an eviction notice und vee can have da policemen enforce it. After dat vee can push all dhose shacks dey haf for houses into a pile und burn dem. It might take two, mebee tree monts, but by fall vee could be rid of dem."
"That's fine, Nils, but how do we find out who owns the place so we can buy it in the first place?" Tor's dad asked.
"Eezee, vee go check da tax records at da municipal office." Uncle Nils grinned. "Vee can go der now if you vant, but Aye tink vee shouldt see a lawyer first."
So they drove back to town, but unbeknownst to them, on the way to town they met a car being driven by the receptionist from the doctor's office. She was rushing to Haymaker Creek Road to see the horse which she'd overheard being discussed as the Eklunds left the office where she worked. Anna Markle was quite unprepared for what she found when she did get there though. As she turned onto Haymaker Creek Road, she almost ran into an extremely thin cow wandering along, grazing on the sparse grass edging out onto the narrow roadway. Then, even before she had reached the first of the driveways along Haymaker road, she saw further examples of thin, almost starving animals searching for a bite of grass in nearly barren pastures . Instead of stopping to ask anyone about the horse which was supposedly for sale, she turned her car around at the first driveway, making note of the name on the mailbox. As soon as she had that name in hand, she drove back to town and immediately filed a complaint with the SPCA, giving them the particulars of what she had seen and where she had been at the time.
Over the next few weeks, Tor realized that his Uncle Nils and his father were very crafty individuals. He kept himself in the know concerning what went on, but didn't get personally involved because of his former dealings with the Carruthers and Schneider.
That first day the three of them visited the family lawyer to find out the legal ramifications concerning ownership of newly purchased property and eviction notification of rental tenants. Then they went to the municipal office where they found the name and address of the owner of the property they were thinking of purchasing. While they were there, they asked for a legal description of the property and a copy of the tax evaluation, which gave them an idea of what the land was worth. Tor was surprised when they were even given a copy of a recent assessment notice which included all that information. On top of that the clerk actually advised them that the year's taxes hadn't been paid, which gave them the hint that the owner wasn't exactly flush with funds.
While they were at the municipal office, they 'just happened' to check on the ownership of two other properties as well. The first was the building where Ordonez had his Veterinarian clinic, and the second was the land where Schneider had his cattle fattening yard. Both of those properties were owned by an older individual who was considering retirement, so both Tor's dad and his Uncle Nils smiled when they saw the details.
Once the three of them had all the information they wanted, they went to talk to Officer McDonald and Uncle Nils explained what they planned to do. Officer McDonald just rolled his eyes and seemed to be trying to hide a smile, but didn't quite succeed. He did give them some additional information about the legal process of eviction, stipulating certain factors that had to be present for the RCMP to become involved and Tor made some hasty notes. After leaving the police station, the three Eklunds returned to the lawyer's office and discussed the idea of forming a real-estate investment company. After an hour's discussion, then a few phone calls, the Eklund's had their lawyer set the legal process underway to form a communally owned land development company.
The next morning, Nils left for Victoria and by late afternoon he called Tor's family to say that they had a signed and sealed letter of intent concerning the sale of the Haymaker Valley property. Even though it was late in the day, Tor's dad, his mom and his Aunt Hanna began to phone people about purchasing shares in the new company and they were surprisingly successful as sales people. By ten o'clock that night they already had commitments from over two dozen people to buy shares.
By the 25th of May, Eagles Bluff Development Inc. was formed with a total of fifty-six members. Each member owned a minimum of $500.00 in share capital and several members had much larger investments. The total capitalization of the business stood at over a two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars, not including the deed for Haymaker Valley, which was now paid in full. The company also held the deed for a seven acre property which included Schneider's feed yard, his 'icehouse' where he kept his meat supply and the lot where his house trailer sat. At that time the company was still negotiating the purchase price of a block of small businesses which included Ordonez' former clinic, an insurance sales office, a small café and a taxidermy shop.
Of course by that date, Ordonez was unavailable for any animal care since he had lost his license to practise veterinary medicine in the Province of British Columbia. It seemed that the College of Veterinary Surgeons didn't like its licensees to be involved with the importation of banned substances for any purpose, let alone for human use. Actually, Ordonez had skipped town by then and the police were looking for him. Within a week, a province wide warrant for his arrest had been issued and what little property he had left behind was being held under a search and seizure order. That order happened to include all of the veterinary equipment and supplies which had been stored in the office and the adjoining apartment he'd formerly rented.
People didn't really like the idea of calling in Peter Albright, a veterinarian from a neighbouring town, but there simply wasn't any other choice. Both towns were farming communities and as a result the veterinarian soon felt he was overworked. When the vet heard that Dagny had three years of training and was looking for hands-on experience, he rushed out to the farm and after a brief interview, he hired Dagny as a helper.
On the 27th of May, the SPCA investigated the complaint concerning the condition of the animals kept by the Carruthers family. The two inspectors took one look, then called in the RCMP for assistance and contacted the new veterinarian to have him check the condition of two horses, three pigs, six cows, four dogs, a few dozen chickens and several cats. Peter Albright and Dagny were working in the neighbourhood and actually followed the three police cars as they turned onto Haymaker Creek Road. Almost all the animals were near starvation, had numerous parasites and were in extremely bad condition, the only exception being the various cats, who seemed to have thrived on the local rodent population. Inside of two hours almost all the animals were confiscated, loaded into trucks and hauled away. Five members of the Carruthers family were charged with various crimes, including cruelty to animals. Old William Carruthers was actually arrested and taken to jail for interfering with a police officer during the commission of his duties – he'd taken a swing at Officer McDonald.
Then on June 1st each of Carruthers households received an official letter delivered by the local Sheriff, not the RCMP. That letter advised them that Eagles Bluff Development Inc. was the new owner of the property and that all of them had thirty days in which to vacate the premises. In other words they had been served with a legal eviction notice. Since they were not only behind on their rent, and had never signed a formal lease agreement with their old landlord, they had no legal recourse. They did call a lawyer, but were advised that the verbal agreement with the old owner of the property had no bearing on their case, so they had no option, but to leave before July 1st.
They weren't alone though – that same day Heinrich Schneider received his eviction notice. In his case, he'd originally had a one year lease on the property, but he'd never renewed the lease when the first year was up, so he didn't even bother trying to fight the eviction. Schneider simply sold off his stock of meat to local butcher shops, then two days later, he hooked his trailer to the trailer hitch on his truck and headed out of town.
Several days later, but only a hundred miles down the road, Schneider was stopped for failing to stop at a stop sign, and for having faulty brake and signal lights on the trailer. The RCMP officer was writing out the traffic ticket when he happened to notice a strange odour emanating from the trailer, then saw a wisp of smoke coming out of a partially open window. When the trailer door was opened, the officer discovered the nude figure of fifteen year old Mabel Carruthers lying on a mattress on the floor of the trailer and puffing on a huge doobie.
She looked up at the cop and grinned, then slurred "I guess I'm busted, huh?"
The cop just nodded and told her to get dressed, then went to his car, called for assistance and asked for a tow truck to be sent out as well.
In addition to his traffic charges, Schneider was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sexual congress with a minor, possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, as well as several other related charges.
After the arresting officer interviewed Mabel Carruthers, he called the RCMP in Eagles Bluff. He advised Officer McDonald that Mabel had let slip that the Carruthers family had a field of marijuana hidden away somewhere off Haymaker Road. Officer McDonald went into overdrive and arranged to have over twenty police officers, six police dogs and a helicopter approach the area early the next morning. Over four hundred marijuana plants were found hidden amongst the trees toward the upper end of Haymaker Creek and those plants were all uprooted and hauled away to be burnt. As well, over twenty kilos of dried and packaged bud was removed from the loft of one of the barns on the property. Stashes of anabolic steroids, uppers, downers and various other drugs were found in the various shacks on the property during a further search. As a result the RCMP arrested and charged a total of nine people for trafficking in controlled substances, in other words every member of the Carruthers clan who had been living on the property at the time of the raid.
Then in the dirt walled cellar beneath William Carruthers' home the police found a stash of dynamite, very old dynamite, so old that the sticks of explosive were sweating nitroglycerine.
At that point Officer McDonald had to call the Eklunds about their recently purchased property, just to advise them about what was going on. For some reason he called Ollie, not Nils, but Alva answered the phone and asked if her dad could call back because he was out working on a machine in the equipment shed.
"Well, it's about the new property you folks have bought up on Haymaker Road and it's rather important. Do you suppose you could go get him now?"
"Do you want to wait while I run out there, or do you want him to call back?" Alva asked.
"It might be best if you had him come to the phone now, since I'm not in the office."
"Oh, okay. I'll run get him," Alva answered, then set down the receiver and dashed outside, pausing to ring the dinner bell on the back porch, but then dashing toward the machine shed.
"Dad, Dad, it's Officer McDonald and it must be something really important. He's waiting on the phone," she called as soon as her father stuck his head out the machine shop door.
"Oh Hellivetus! What's happened now?" her father swore as he broke into a run, wondering just what was wrong, hoping something bad hadn't happened to Nils or the boys.
"Yah! I am here," he panted when he got inside and grabbed the phone.
"Mr. Eklund?"
"Yah, what's wrong? Is Tor alright? Is Nils or one of his boys hurt?"
"Oh, no! Nothing like that. It's about your new property on Haymaker Road. I have a bit of bad news for you."
"Oh, what's that?" Ollie slumped slightly in relief, because in his books, property and that sort of thing wasn't all that important, whereas the health and lives of his family were.
"Well, it's rather complicated, but we got a tip that there were drugs here and we conducted a raid this morning. We've taken the whole Carruthers family into custody because we've been searching and finding drugs stored all through their houses."
"Yeah, so what has that got to do with us? The eviction notices were only served by the Sheriff last week and they have thirty days to comply, so none of us has even been on the place."
"No one?"
"Nope. Our lawyer warned us about that. They have thirty days grace according to the law, but if you found them involved in a criminal act, I guess we might be able to move sooner. I don't know for sure about that though."
"Well, the thing is we may be forced to do a lot of damage to your property and I thought you should be warned."
"Don't worry about damaging those shacks. We were just going to bulldoze everything they left behind into a big pile and burn it."
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be wise," Officer McDonald said quietly. "You see we found about fifty pounds of dynamite in the cellar dug beneath one house and it's so old that it could be set off by the slightest bump. Bulldozing the house down on top of it would almost certainly cause an explosion. Actually it's so dangerous that I've pulled everyone out of the houses and as soon as I'm done talking to you, I'm leaving too."
"Well, get the hell out of there then. Just light the place on fire and run like hell. Like I said, we don't want those shacks anyway."
"Setting the place on fire isn't safe either. What I'm hoping to do is to get a bomb squad from the Vancouver Police Department out here and letting them handle the job. It's not the sort of thing I want to have anything to do with."
"So like I said, get to hell out of there and set up barriers to keep people away. You found it, so as far as I'm concerned, it's your baby. I really don't know anything about explosives and I don't want to have anything to do with them either. Just go ahead and do what you need to do to make the place safe."
"You really don't care if the houses are destroyed then?"
"Not one little bit, after all from what I could see from the road, they're just shacks. For the time being we're just planning to turn the land back into pasture anyway. Later on we might divide it into parcels and sell it to folks who want a small acreage where they can build a house, and maybe a barn, so they can keep a cow or a few chickens. We just saw an opportunity to buy the property at a good price and we plan to hold it until the value increases."
"Would you mind putting the idea that you were intending to demolish these homes in writing?"
"Nope, I won't do that since I don't know just what to write down to make it legal, but I'll call Nils and have him contact our lawyer right now if you want complete clearance. That way no one can possibly come back on you, well, as long as what you've done isn't stomping on the rights of the Carruthers family in some way."
"Oh, the Carruthers have no legal comeback on what we have done or what we need to do. They were conducting illegal activities on this property, so the initial search and seizure was completely within the law. During that search and seizure we discovered the explosives and since they can't be safely moved, they have to be destroyed. I only called you because I know your new company recently bought the property and destroying or removing the explosives might cause major property damage."
"Well then, I'll call Nils and get the lawyer on the job, but you can go ahead and make your arrangements. You'll have the letter of permission just as quick as we can get it to you."
"Thank you, Ollie."
"It isn't a problem, John, and thank you for clearing that bunch out of our hair early, even if you were doing it for unrelated reasons. As far as I'm concerned, that's one less hassle we were going to have had to clear up down the road."
In the long run it wasn't the City of Vancouver Bomb Squad who came out to dispose of that ancient dynamite cache, instead it was a sapper squad of the Canadian Military Engineers.
On June 7th a Section Commander, his 2IC, and ten men arrived in two oversized jeeps and a beat up old truck. They were met at the turnoff to Haymaker Creek Road by Officer McDonald as well as Nils and Ollie Eklund and they were given legal permission to blow up any and all of the buildings on the property if necessary.
"We know there is almost a full case of dynamite in the cellar beneath the first house. It appears as if only a few sticks have been removed from the case, but it is so old, that the nitroglycerine is weeping out of the sticks. In fact the box it is sitting in is stained and looks oily." Officer McDonald told them. "All of the buildings in this valley are vacant. There are no people, no animals and we're going to stay well back out of your way, but we'll be blocking traffic for you."
"As the new owners of the property, this was a real surprise to us." Ollie spoke up then. "When Officer McDonald arrested the tenants for drug possession and drug trafficking, they had reason to search the place. It was one of his men who discovered the explosives. Now we own the place, but we haven't officially taken possession yet. Just so you know though, we plan to knock down all of those buildings and get rid of them, so don't worry about property damage."
"All moveable property on the site right now is under legal forfeit because of drug trafficking charges, so it is all effectively disposable." Officer McDonald nodded as he spoke to the Section Commander. "We did allow various members of the family to return and remove any of their more valuable personal possessions under police supervision, so anything which is left on the site is legally abandoned."
"In other words you're saying we can simply destroy the dynamite cache where it is sitting?" Sergeant Kelly, the Section Commander asked just to be certain.
"Sure, yeah." Nils nodded. "If you vant, you can blow up da udder buildings too if dere iss anyting in dem vhat might explode. Vee vas yust gonna burn dem down anyvay, so if yew can teach yer men anyting by blowin dem oop, go aheadt an dew da lot of dem. Vee vill stay back an let you dew vhateffer yew vant."
"Thank you, gentlemen." the sergeant seemed ready to salute, but instead he spun on his heel and barked an order. "Section 2IC, Corporal Latimer, ready your men for a live action situation concerning a known explosive in a dangerous position. The initial explosive is degraded dynamite, known to be sweating and in a confined space, so this is a negative contact situation and firing will be by hard wired remote. The target is in a dirt floored cellar, dug beneath the house, so appropriate care must be exercised. Treat this explosive as if it was a discovered IED, not as a landmine. Once the initial target is rendered neutral we will patrol, searching and inspecting all structures to ascertain that there is no possibility of future discoveries of hidden explosives. Any explosive caches which are discovered are to be destroyed where they sit and are not to be disturbed. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Section Commander," the 2IC and the second Corporal snapped back, virtually in unison.
"I think that's our cue to leave and let these guys get to work," Officer McDonald commented and the three of them headed to their vehicles. "I intend to park on the crest of the hill to block the incoming road access, but since we'll have a view of the whole site from the knoll, you can stay and watch if you want."
Both Ollie and Nils decided that they had more important things to do, but when Kai heard about it, he joined Officer McDonald and watched the resulting explosions.
Afterward Kai described the day to Tor, "Boring, thoroughly bloody boring! Eight hours of boredom, broken by a few seconds of excitement when a few of those shacks were blown to kingdom come. I'm just glad I took along a couple of sandwiches and a thermos of coffee, otherwise we'd have died of hunger and thirst while being bored half to death."
Tor nodded in sympathy, but really he would have liked to have been there, just because he thought it might have given him a feeling of relief. The Carruthers home was gone, so he thought he might be able to put his worries about the two cousins out of his mind. At least he hoped that would happen, eventually.