The Settlers
When our family got home was when we realized that something was not right.
Our neighbors were in our kitchen. Well, the oldest boy, Sonny, and his little brother were there. Sonny saw us and quietly stood to put on his sheepskin lined jacket. He glanced at us a couple of times, then paused. He told us he didn't know that we were going to be back. We told him we thought that we knew we had been gone for about 18 months. Sonny pointed out how tall our little sister was. He added that no one had really expected any of us back. He figured we had been gone about three and a half years.
Jenny, the oldest girl, proudly put her arm around Ruth. Yes, said Jenny, that would be right. We started back about 18 months ago. We got lost and have been working hard to get back home, she said. Jenny and I and Ruth looked at each other. Beatrice and Emily, the two middle girls, hugged each other quietly and sat on the parson's bench by the door. Josh, the second youngest settled between them.
Sonny looked around at us. He told us he would be back tomorrow to see how we were doing if that was okay. We nodded yes. He paused one last time before leaving. He told us more than asked us that we weren't with our parents. I looked around bewildered for a moment. No I said. I did not say anything more about that and he did not ask any more. He shut the door behind him.
I sat at the kitchen table. The room had lost its feminine touch. Sonny and his little brother, Arty, I remembered. Jenny snapped her fingers and nodded her head in agreement when I finally recalled the little brother's name.
We sat puzzled for a long time. Moments that we could remember were sketchy.
We could all remember that we had travelled south with Mother and Father. Our earliest recollection seemed to be in the late summer out in a field of tall grass. The last field before the true mountains. The Rockies rose up about a mile to the west. We were all runnning and playing and Jenny said that we had better get home so that we could get our hay cut. By the looks of the grass here, ours should be ready at home.
So we started home. We stopped for supper at a ranch that was very nice. They had flat boards about four feet by eight feet. Must have come from quite the tree, but the rancher claimed the wood was plied together. But he had built a look out tower that the wind couldn't blow down. I wanted to copy that idea when I got home. I told that rancher I planned to steal his idea and he thought that was alright.
We were happy there, except Jen wasn't with us then, can't remember why. But we knew that we had to go when the rancher's wife kept shushing Emily and Ruth at the supper table. They just wanted to play and be kids, but that rancher's wife seemed really upset at us and would never look at us.
I remember that we met up with Jenny and Beatrice and Josh just past that place. I told her about the plied wood and the other boards that were treated so they would not rot. She was amazed at that.
Jenny remembered that we went past a lot of huge round bales. Jenny was worried that we were not going to make it home in time to get the hay in before winter. We didn't. We walked through a lot of bush that winter. We got separated from Jenny and Ruth for a while, which made us sad, but once we found a little red wagon that was Ruth's and we knew we were on the right track. Finally we came over a hill and heard Jenny and Ruth coming up through thick bushes on our right hand side.
And the funniest thing was that when us kids came down the hill, it was like a big long stairway, with a bannister and everything. We had work hard going down because there was so much snow on the stairs. And the funny thing was that before Jenny and Ruth could come out of the bushes, we had to scare away a big old moose. I finally took a plate that was made out of plastic, except it was a toy that flew if you held the plate upside down and threw it. I took that and whacked the moose on the nose. It looked so shocked and surprised. Kinda like I woke it up. It shook abunch of snow off of itself. I was standing on the third stair from the bottom of the long stairway. The moose looked at me and I looked at him. We both realized that we were inside a foyer of a mansion that had no roof on it, and the front door was already open. The moose walked away without looking back and then Jenny and Ruth could come out of the bushes on our right, which seemed to the west. They came into the foyer, because there was no wall there on that side and the sun had already set. But we kids were all back together.
And some how that long winter brought us back to our house in Dunston. Spring is about to be sprung. And our Neighbor Sonny and his brother Arty seem like they will be back tomorrow.
I think we all know we are ghosts, but it has been a long time since we were all together. And Ruth has grown so much.
Our neighbors were in our kitchen. Well, the oldest boy, Sonny, and his little brother were there. Sonny saw us and quietly stood to put on his sheepskin lined jacket. He glanced at us a couple of times, then paused. He told us he didn't know that we were going to be back. We told him we thought that we knew we had been gone for about 18 months. Sonny pointed out how tall our little sister was. He added that no one had really expected any of us back. He figured we had been gone about three and a half years.
Jenny, the oldest girl, proudly put her arm around Ruth. Yes, said Jenny, that would be right. We started back about 18 months ago. We got lost and have been working hard to get back home, she said. Jenny and I and Ruth looked at each other. Beatrice and Emily, the two middle girls, hugged each other quietly and sat on the parson's bench by the door. Josh, the second youngest settled between them.
Sonny looked around at us. He told us he would be back tomorrow to see how we were doing if that was okay. We nodded yes. He paused one last time before leaving. He told us more than asked us that we weren't with our parents. I looked around bewildered for a moment. No I said. I did not say anything more about that and he did not ask any more. He shut the door behind him.
I sat at the kitchen table. The room had lost its feminine touch. Sonny and his little brother, Arty, I remembered. Jenny snapped her fingers and nodded her head in agreement when I finally recalled the little brother's name.
We sat puzzled for a long time. Moments that we could remember were sketchy.
We could all remember that we had travelled south with Mother and Father. Our earliest recollection seemed to be in the late summer out in a field of tall grass. The last field before the true mountains. The Rockies rose up about a mile to the west. We were all runnning and playing and Jenny said that we had better get home so that we could get our hay cut. By the looks of the grass here, ours should be ready at home.
So we started home. We stopped for supper at a ranch that was very nice. They had flat boards about four feet by eight feet. Must have come from quite the tree, but the rancher claimed the wood was plied together. But he had built a look out tower that the wind couldn't blow down. I wanted to copy that idea when I got home. I told that rancher I planned to steal his idea and he thought that was alright.
We were happy there, except Jen wasn't with us then, can't remember why. But we knew that we had to go when the rancher's wife kept shushing Emily and Ruth at the supper table. They just wanted to play and be kids, but that rancher's wife seemed really upset at us and would never look at us.
I remember that we met up with Jenny and Beatrice and Josh just past that place. I told her about the plied wood and the other boards that were treated so they would not rot. She was amazed at that.
Jenny remembered that we went past a lot of huge round bales. Jenny was worried that we were not going to make it home in time to get the hay in before winter. We didn't. We walked through a lot of bush that winter. We got separated from Jenny and Ruth for a while, which made us sad, but once we found a little red wagon that was Ruth's and we knew we were on the right track. Finally we came over a hill and heard Jenny and Ruth coming up through thick bushes on our right hand side.
And the funniest thing was that when us kids came down the hill, it was like a big long stairway, with a bannister and everything. We had work hard going down because there was so much snow on the stairs. And the funny thing was that before Jenny and Ruth could come out of the bushes, we had to scare away a big old moose. I finally took a plate that was made out of plastic, except it was a toy that flew if you held the plate upside down and threw it. I took that and whacked the moose on the nose. It looked so shocked and surprised. Kinda like I woke it up. It shook abunch of snow off of itself. I was standing on the third stair from the bottom of the long stairway. The moose looked at me and I looked at him. We both realized that we were inside a foyer of a mansion that had no roof on it, and the front door was already open. The moose walked away without looking back and then Jenny and Ruth could come out of the bushes on our right, which seemed to the west. They came into the foyer, because there was no wall there on that side and the sun had already set. But we kids were all back together.
And some how that long winter brought us back to our house in Dunston. Spring is about to be sprung. And our Neighbor Sonny and his brother Arty seem like they will be back tomorrow.
I think we all know we are ghosts, but it has been a long time since we were all together. And Ruth has grown so much.
posted by Rob Riddell at 5:07 a.m.
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