Far Country (48 page)

           
“Alyssa! What kind of stories?” Steve prompted her again more loudly.  Alyssa’s
eyelids kept fluttering shut, and Steve was determined to keep her conscious
until the boys on the ambulance had a chance to check her out.

           
“They were stories about why you were so grumpy. Megan and I… thought you were
angry, but Aunt Kelly thought you were really sad. We made up stories and
voted….whose was the most romantic.” Alyssa’s eyes closed again.

           
Steve frowned and gently shook the girl.
Don’t fade out yet, we’re almost
there!

           
“Alyssa! Stay with me, sweetie. Tell me about the stories, Alyssa. What was the
best story?”    

           
Kelly put a hand over her eyes and groaned in embarrassment.

           
Steve glanced down the road. They were almost to the park gate. He could make
out the red lights of the ambulance flashing at the turnaround just beyond the
gate. “Come on, Alyssa,” he encouraged her, “we’re almost to the ambulance. Who
told the best story about me?”

           
“Megan told it.” Alyssa managed to answer after a few moments. “You rescued Aunt
Kelly off a mountain and fell madly in love..!” She smiled a little. “We were
the maids of honor at your wedding.”

           
Steve whistled, impressed. He grinned at Kelly’s discomfiture. “That’s some
story, but it sounds like I come out pretty well in the end. Do you tell
stories about me every year?”

           
“
Mmmm
,” she replied. “That’s why we have to ask you
The Question every year.”

           
They were passing the gate now. Jill had slowed down and was about to park the
truck.  In a moment he would need to pass Alyssa to the team that would be
responsible for caring for her until they reached the hospital. It was clear
that Kelly was dying of shame as Alyssa rambled on about their childhood
obsession, but he had to hear it all. This would be his last chance! “What’s
the question, Alyssa?” He prodded her.

           
“You never remember!” She complained fretfully. The question is “Are you
married?”

           
Steve’s jaw dropped slightly and she stared at the girl. He saw that Alyssa was
watching him with eyes that were as green as her aunt’s.
Kelly’s eyes
. 
He looked up and saw that Kelly was watching him almost fearfully.
So this
was ‘The Question..!
’ Steve took a deep breath.

           
“Alyssa? The answer to the question this year is:  No, I’m not married,
but I think I might like to be.” He smiled as Alyssa’s face registered surprise
at his reply. He added, “When I come visit you in the hospital, you’ll have to
tell me who makes up the best story this year.”

           
The ambulance team was waiting to take over. One of the attendants dropped the
tailgate on the truck.

           
“Hey Steve, Who have we got here?”

           
“Hey, Fred,” Steve acknowledged. “We have a fifteen year old girl, named Alyssa.
Made a rapid descent of a cliff face without the benefit of a rope. Broken
right wrist, compound fracture, possibly some cracked ribs. Pulse is
thready
and around 90, there’s some tenderness on the belly
and she’s been fading in and out of consciousness all the way down here. The
accident occurred somewhere around noon, we think. ”

           
He nodded toward Kelly. “This beautiful lady is Alyssa’s aunt, Kelly McGuire.
She can fill in the blanks.” Fred nodded at Kelly. “You can ride with us, ma’am.”
They slid the litter forward and two men carried Alyssa to the waiting
ambulance.

           
Kelly followed, blushing at Steve’s compliment, if it was one. Heaven only knew
what she looked like after this afternoon! Awkwardly, she placed a hand on Steve’s
arm. “Ranger Williams, please forgive us. We had no right…”

           
Steve handed an attendant the IV bag, then turned back to face Kelly. She tried
to begin again, to somehow beg him not to be offended by their childish game of
make believe, even though it had been at his expense. “I’m so sorry you had to
hear ….”

           
But Steve put a finger to his lips. “Hush,” he commanded her.

           
“But – “  Steve shook his head to silence her again. Then he took her hand
and helped her up into the ambulance. “Kelly, so far Megan’s been right on the
mark about us. Let’s not mess with a perfectly good story line!”

           
Kelly’s green eyes widened as Steve’s words sank in. He grinned at the look of
surprise on her face.  “I’ll pack up the girls and bring them along soon,”
he promised. “You just concentrate on Alyssa for now.”  He shut the door
firmly before she could formulate a reply.

           
Steve tapped on the side of the ambulance to let the driver know that the door
was closed, and climbed into the truck beside Jill. Although he tried he could
not wipe the grin from his lips. 

           
Jill stared at him as if she did not know who he was. “What’s happened to you?”
She asked in bewilderment.

           
Steve stared after the ambulance as it disappeared around the sweeping curve of
the Park Road. His heart was light, despite the stress of the day.  “
Twitterpated
,” he replied.

           
“There, that should hold you!” Steve declared as he attached the last section
of wire to the six foot high fence post.  The Irish setter pup paced the
enclosure and whined, her soft brown eyes fixed on Steve with a reproachful
expression.

           
“Don’t look at me like that!” Steve blustered, feeling guilty all the same. “If
you’d just stay home, I wouldn’t have to do this.  You can’t go running
around the park without a leash – or without me, for that matter,” he muttered
as he packed up his tools.

           
The pup sat on her haunches and cocked her head to one side, as if trying to
understand Steve’s barrage of words.  Half irritated and half amused, he
picked up the tool box and walked toward the shed.  The dog bounced
against the fence and yipped, unhappy at being left behind.

           
Steve sighed. He’d had the dog for two weeks now, and although she was nearly
nine months old and already trained in the basic commands, she had turned his
life around entirely.  Kelly had promised him that the pup would quickly
adjust to her new life, but so far, if she wasn’t pacing the floor and whining,
she was escaping out the front door and leading him on a merry chase through
the campsites.  Fortunately, as the weather cooled into late autumn, there
weren’t that many campers for the puppy to visit. On top of worrying that she
was harassing the campers, the way she tore down the trails when she got a
chance left Steve in constant fear that she would overshoot the pathway and
dash off a cliff into empty space!  Steve had begun to wonder if she would
survive long enough to meet Gracie.

           
Giving up on
guilting
Steve into letting her out, the
pup circled the enclosure, sniffing at the corners of the generous space that
Steve had created. After her second circuit, she focused on the picnic
table.  She hopped up onto the top of the table, and Steve watched her as
she eyed the distance from the table to the fence, then jumped down, accepting
that the distance was too far from the fence to use the table for a launching
pad again.

           
Before he had even completed attaching the wire to the metal stakes, she had
sprung from the table and gracefully leapt the fence, trotting over to watch
Steve from the outside as he stretched the wire tight between the posts. 
Steve had moved the table.

           
“You’re an inquisitive little lady, I’ll give you that,” he muttered,
scratching her behind her silky ears. The dog gave him a quick lick on the
cheek, then danced away to chase a gray squirrel that shrieked at the sight of
her, sped along the fence wire and zipped high into a maple tree, where it
disappeared among the red gold leaves.

           
Steve sighed. He called “heel”, and the pup obediently returned to his side.
“Hope Gracie likes you,” he told her nervously.  His daughter would be
arriving shortly.  It was her first visit since he’d returned to Hanging
Rock and he was looking forward to showing her around his world.  He would
also be introducing her to Kelly, who would be coming up to visit later in the
week.

           
It promised to be a gorgeous fall day. The leaves were past their peak but the
remaining foliage was still beautiful. An unexpected warm spell meant that most
days were still pleasant and sunny, although the nights were definitely on the
chilly side. The Graham’s were driving up to visit Deborah in their RV, and
were bringing Gracie along with them.  Steve had also invited the Bolton’s
to come and enjoy a couple of fall days in the mountains, but he doubted that
they would accompany the Grahams.  Ever since the scene last summer over
David and Beth, their conversations together had been stilted at best. It
saddened him, but he didn’t know what else he could do. 
Some day
, the Bolton’s would have to face the facts of
David’s violent nature.  He supposed that he couldn’t blame them for not
wanting to believe the truth, though.  David was their only child now, and
Steve was learning that the love of a child will push you in directions you
never thought to go on your own. 

           
Like getting a dog.

           
Steve sighed and opened the door to his bungalow. The dog bounded through,
sprang up onto the couch, and curled herself into a tight red ball of fur.

           
“No, dog!” Steve said firmly. “Down! Get off the couch!”  When she just
looked at him, he took her by the collar and led her to the huge pillow he’d
bought for her to lay on, well aware that she despised the cushion and never
used it when he wasn’t here to insist.

           
Kelly’s sister, Lisa, raised Irish setters, and this pup, while still very
beautiful to Steve’s untrained eye, did not measure up to show dog standards.
She was, in fact, considered something of a runt. Consequently she had not been
sold, but had lived in the kennels, waiting for adoption as a pet. Lisa had hit
upon the idea that a dog would be just the thing for Steve to surprise his
daughter with when she came for her first visit, and at the time, Steve had
thought that she might be right. He had never considered though, just how
difficult having a half-trained pup could be!  Or how expensive: Food,
beds, toys, medical bills, and now this fence!  Dogs, he suspected, might
be more expensive to raise  than children!

           
But if this dog brought a smile to Gracie’s face, he supposed it would all be
worth it.  It was to be her dog, and so he had put off naming her so far,
simply calling her “dog” or “lady” or “you - mutt” as his opinion of her
changed from day to day. It was kind of awkward not having a proper name to
call her, but again, Kelly had said that Gracie would love the opportunity to
name her pet.

           
Steve opened a bottle of water and walked back outside again, the dog close at
his heels. His thoughts drifted from the troublesome setter to his red haired,
green eyed girl. His heart did a series of jumping jacks in his chest as he pictured
her.  In the two months since Alyssa’s accident, they had been together
whenever their busy schedules would allow. He was amazed at how right their
relationship felt – as if they had been friends for years.

           
Everything in his heart confirmed that Kelly McGuire was the girl that the Lord
had planned for him to find.  He would never forget Sarah, but his
memories of her were more and more ones of their happier times. He no longer
dwelled on the hurt and the guilt that had overwhelmed his life after the
accident. With God’s help, he had finally forgiven himself and was ready to
begin a new life, raising Gracie and, perhaps in time, with Kelly as his wife.
But first, the big hurdle: would Gracie like Kelly as much as he did? Steve
felt his future was very much wrapped up in the outcome of this long awaited
week.

           
The cell phone on his belt chirped, and Steve took a deep breath as he flipped
the phone open, nervous and excited to finally see his daughter again. “Hello?”

           
“Daddy!” Gracie’s voice was shrill with excitement as well.  “Daddy, where
are you?”

           
Steve laughed. “I’m right here, where are you?”

           
“Pastor Graham says we are at campsite 3, do you know where that is?”

           
Steve smiled, his heart filling with affection for this child of his. 
“Yeah, sweetie, I think that I can find it. I’ll be right there.  Love
you!”

           
“Love you too, Daddy!”

           
Steve shut the phone. He ran his fingers through his hair and brushed down his
t-shirt and jeans.  He looked over at the dog, who was watching him
intently.  “So, do you want to come with me?” He asked her mildly.

           
At his words, the dog exploded past him into a red streak of yelping joy,
racing around the yard so fast that Steve was almost dizzy watching her.
Moments later she was back at his feet prancing and begging in anticipation.