Montana Morning (12 page)

“What are you
talking about?”

“I thought they
abolished slavery,” he grinned, as he put his cup in the sink and pulled on his
coat.

“I don’t work half
as hard as you, Andy and Jack,” she sputtered. “Thanks for having coffee with
me, Will.” She took the wood from his arms and watched as he walked towards the
barn.   The storm seemed to be letting up a bit.  She could see
the corral fence for the first time in two weeks.

***

After supper Jack
called the road crew and was told the road should be plowed by tomorrow
evening.  He would call Doc Rodgers in the morning and reschedule an
appointment for Scotty.

“This calls for a
celebration.” Will gave Andy a sly wink.  “Scotty, do you know how to play
checkers?”

“Sort of, Pops,”
he grinned shyly.  “I played with Mom once or twice.”

“Good
enough.”  Will was looking pleased with himself.  “Pull up a chair
boy, and prepare for your first lesson from a pro.”

“Take it easy on
him, Pops. He’s just a kid.” Jack cautioned and headed for the kitchen to see
what Adrianna was up to.  He stood in the doorway and watched her
unnoticed for several minutes.  She was standing at the kitchen sink doing
dishes, singing ‘I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting
arms.’

She felt him
watching her and turned his way.  “Come to dry the dishes, Cowboy?” 
She raised her eyebrows in question.

“Actually, I just
followed my nose.  It smells strangely like apple pie in here.”

“Gee, I wonder
why?”

“I wonder!” He grabbed
a towel and flicked it in her direction. “Fess up, Woman.”

“Don’t you dare!”
she ordered, backing up.

“What? I was just
straightening out the towel, so I could help with the dishes,” he assured her
with a devilish grin.

“Right, and pigs
fly.” Adrianna moved back to the sink. “How’s the checkers match going?”

“From the sounds
of the moans and groans, it’s going just fine.” He hung up the towel and
explained that he needed to check a horse in the barn.  “Do you want to
come along?”

“I sure do; I
could use a breath of fresh air,” she said as she pulled on her coat and boots.

“Can’t stand the
smell of apple pie, huh?”

The night was cold
and clear.  The horse, a beautiful little chestnut mare, was expecting her
first foal in about a month; something had told Will to keep her in the
barn.  He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but he was a little worried
about her.  Jack hadn’t argued.

Adrianna reached
through the stall to pet the mare’s soft nose.  “Does she have a name?”

“Her name is
Melody; she was my mother’s.”  He gave the horse a small handful of grain
and stroked her mane.

“She’s beautiful,
Jack.” Adrianna watched as he took the horse out of the stall and walked her up
and down the center of the long barn.

“She’s not getting
enough exercise,” Jack said, as he continued to walk.

“Is she gentle
enough for Scotty to handle, when he gets off his crutches?” she asked, as she
walked with them.

“Do you mean for
him to ride?” He was shocked she would even suggest it.

“No,
no.   I was thinking to lead for exercise, his and hers.”

Jack considered it
for a minute.  “Sure, why not.  She’s gentle enough and he needs to
start pulling his weight around here,” he smiled at the thought, then added,
“but only with supervision.”

“I can do that,”
she volunteered and he nodded acceptance. He returned Melody to the stall and
they started back to the house.

“Addy,” Jack said
in a hushed voice, “I’m glad you’re here.”

No one had ever
called her Addy; she liked the way it sounded.  “So am I,” she sighed, as
she stood perfectly still under the stars, listening to the silence.

He tipped her face up to look into his, smiled and
said no more.  
             

***

Will had breakfast
ready before sunrise and soon Jack, Adrianna and Scotty were on their way out
the lane.  Today the sun was shining, although it was bitter cold. 
Scotty could see all the cattle in the south pasture, steam rising off their
backs and vapor coming from their nostrils.  The snow berms were four to
five feet high along the valley road and everywhere he looked there were drifts
of soft, white snow.

“Next year, when
my leg is all healed up, can we go sledding?” he interrupted his grandpa and
Adrianna as they went over the list of things to be done while they were in
town.

Jack smiled at him
in the rear view mirror.  “Don’t see why not.”  He was pleased to
hear Scotty say ‘when’ not ‘if’ his leg was healed.  He glanced at
Adrianna . . . she had noticed too.

They were on the
mountain road now and Scotty noticed for the first time how narrow and steep it
was.  “Boy, I’m sure glad we couldn’t see this road when we came
home.   Adrianna and I would have REALLY been scared stiff!”

“Of course, Jack,
we are completely confident in your driving ability now,” she said, as she
watched Scotty looking proudly at his grandpa.  They had come a long ways
in two short weeks.

“Can we stop at
the top and look down at the ranch again?”  Scotty had been so doped up
before, he honestly didn’t remember much of what he had seen.

The view was
spectacular this morning, with the sun peeking through the thin clouds in the
east.  Scotty fired off question after question about the ranch, which
Jack patiently answered.  Soon they were chilled and ready to return to
the truck.

“I don’t know
about you two,” Adrianna exclaimed, taking off her hat and mittens, “but I’m
mighty thankful for the heater right now.”

“And hot chocolate
and cookies,” added Scotty, digging into the bag by his feet. 

“Amen.”  Jack
finished his cup of hot coffee.  “It’s time to get going again if we’re
going to get to your appointment on time.”  He glanced in the mirror and
saw the fear wash across Scotty’s face.  He frowned and nodded to
Adrianna.

“Scotty, are you
worried about your appointment?” Adrianna turned in the seat so she could see
his face.

He looked down at
the blanket covering his leg.  “A little bit, I guess.” He glanced over at
Jacks back and down to the floor.  Adrianna and Jack waited, and when he
didn’t say more, they decided to let it drop until later.  Scotty sat stoically
looking at the scenery until they reached the hospital.

“Will you come in
with Grandpa and me?” Scotty pleaded.

“Of course, I
will!” She smiled and squeezed his hand.  “What a silly question.”

 Jack went to
check in at the nurse’s station.

Adrianna pulled the
chair across from Scotty closer and sat facing him.  She took both his
hands in hers and asked gently, “Do you want to tell me what’s bugging you,
Scott?” She squeezed his hands softly.  “There is nothing you can’t tell
me, you know that, right?”

He cleared his
throat and looked around to be sure no one else could hear his voice. 
“What if I don’t . . .what if my leg” he couldn’t seem to find the right
words.  He sighed and tried again.  “Last week when the calf was born
deformed, Pops knocked him in the head . . .” he paused again looking at the
floor and avoiding her eyes.  “Well, when I asked Andy why Pops did that,
he said there wasn’t any room on a working ranch for critters that couldn’t
pull their own weight.”  Scotty started to shake as he held back the
tears.

 As she took
Scotty into her arms and kissed his forehead softly, Adrianna looked over his
head at Jack.  His jaw was rigid and when she looked down she could see
his fists clenched tightly.

“How long until we
see the Doctor?” she asked, clinging to Scotty’s small shoulders.

“About twenty
minutes.” Jack stared at his grandson.  He looked so small and fragile.

“Why, don’t you
take Scotty to the chapel and I’ll tell the nurse where to find us.  When
she arrived at the chapel, she found them sitting silently, side by side, in
the front pew.

“Jack?” she nudged
him out of his reverie.

“What am I
supposed to say to him?” he turned to her and whispered.  Adrianna gave
him a sly grin knowing somehow this was not the crisis he thought it was.

“You might start
by explaining the difference between critters and people,” she said softly
touching the back of his hand.

“You mean to tell
me he thinks we’d get rid of him?” Jack stared at her and shook his head.

“Son, you and I need
to have another talk,” he said, as he pulled Scotty onto his lap. 
Adrianna sat and silently chatted with God while Jack explained things to
Scotty.  When she looked up again, they were holding one another and
rocking back and forth in the pew.  

***

Doctor Rodgers
finished his examination and sent Scotty down for more tests.  Jack and
Adrianna were preparing to leave his office when he spoke up.   “I
need to talk with you, if you have a minute.”

They sat down
slowly, looking at each other in alarm.

“What’s wrong,
Doc?” Jack asked urgently.

Doctor Rodgers
looked at the people across the desk from him and wished there was some other
way to tell them of his suspicions. 

“I have reason to
believe the blood flow in the region of fracture is not what it should
be.”  He held up his hand as if to silence their fears.  “I may be
wrong, but I don’t think so.” He paused and studied their faces, making sure
they were following him.  “If the blood flow is not sufficient in the area
surrounding the break, it would explain why Scotty isn’t healing as fast as he
should.”  

“Is there
something you can do . . . if you’re right about this?” Adrianna asked Dr.
Rodgers, but she was looking at Jack.  Scotty had become a part of her,
and she was suddenly very frightened. 

Jack tried to
smile reassuringly.  “I’m sure they have it figured out , right
Doc?” 

“Let’s see what
the X-rays show first, but yes, I’m confident we can handle the situation if
the need arises.” Dr. Rodgers reached for the telephone to call the lab. 
“We are talking a relatively uncomplicated surgical procedure, requiring only a
few days hospitalization.”  After several minutes he hung up the
phone.  “I was right,  there’s a blockage.”

“How soon will you
operate?” Jack could feel his stomach tightening, just thinking about it.

“Tomorrow, if
possible . . . the longer we wait the less chance of success.” He looked to
Jack.  “Do you want me to tell him?”      

Jack stood and
walked to the window and then turned to Adrianna.  “I think, we should
tell him.  What do you think?”

“Dr. Rodgers, you
tell us all we need to know and we’ll tell Scotty.  Tell us everything,”
she glanced at Jack, who was nodding in agreement.  “He doesn’t need any
surprises.”

***

Scotty was
amazingly brave about the whole thing.  His only two questions were about
the anesthesia. Would he wake up again, and when he did would they both be
there.  After several other simple questions directed at the doctor, he
asked the one that mattered most right then.

“Can we still go
out for pizza tonight, or do I have to stay here?”  Adrianna and Jack
laughed along with the doctor.

“Sure knows how to
cut to the important stuff, doesn’t he?” Doc Rodgers grinned down at
Scotty.  “You not only can have pizza, you can stay at Mrs. Bank’s house
until tomorrow morning, provided you eat or drink nothing after midnight. 
Deal?”

Scotty beamed at
his Grandpa.  “Deal.”

***

“What in heaven’s
name is taking them so long?” Jack stood and began pacing once more.  “Doc
said a little over an hour. It’s been three.”  He run his hands through
his hair and stared down the hallway.

“I’m sure they
would tell us if something was wrong.” Adrianna tried to sound confident, but
she too was beginning to panic.  She had spent most of the first hour in
the chapel, but hadn’t wanted to leave the waiting room again for fear of
missing the doctor.  Jack was standing at the window and she went over to
join him.  They stood watching the traffic below.   

“We’re not alone
you know,” she said softly.  “God’s with us.”

“Scotty is in recovery,”
Dr. Rodger’s voice came from behind them.

“What took so
long?”

“Is he
okay?” 

“He’s fine.”
Doctor Rodgers showed them to the couch at the end of the waiting room. “We ran
into a problem, but Scotty is going to be just fine.”  He pulled up a
chair and rested his arms on his knees.  “Scotty had a bad reaction to the
anesthesia.  His heart stopped, only for a minute or two,” he hastened to
add.  “He won’t have any complications because of it, but it slowed us
down a bit.”  Jack waited for him to go on.  “We had to wait for him
to stabilize before we went on with the surgery, but the surgery itself was
completely successful.”  He grinned as he watched them relax.  “He’s
going to be just fine and the leg should heal in no time at all  now.”

“When can we see
him?”  Adrianna asked.

“I’ll take you to
recovery now if you’d like, Jack.” He turned to explain to Adrianna that only
family was allowed in the recovery room.

“She comes
too.”  Jack said with such finality, Dr. Rodgers decided not to argue.

***

They stood by
Scotty’s bed and watched him in peaceful sleep.  It was hard to imagine
how close they had come to losing him.  Adrianna closed her eyes and gave
thanks to God again and again for his mercy and love.

“Grandpa?” 
Scotty whispered, as he opened his eyes.

“That’s me.” Jack
took his small hand.  “I’m right here.”

“Grandpa?” 
Scotty turned his head and tried to focus his eyes.

“Yes, Son. 
What is it?”  Jack asked quietly.

“Grandpa, Mom said
to tell you she loves you.”  

***