Jenny then told the story about following the escort car into the rest area, pulling the two guys out, taking their cell phones and jackets, tying them up and taking off in their car.
“Martha, I didn’t know that they planned to kill Hugh. I swear, and promise,” Jenny said. “But, that’s what the plan was. So, when I learned that, I freed Hugh, and we got away from my uncle and his buddies.”
Martha sensed that Jenny was holding back on something. “And then what happened?”
Jenny gulped. Then she went on. “It was awful, Martha. Hugh killed one of my uncle’s buddies … almost decapitated him.”
“Jenny, I’m the mother of a former combat Marine. He’s been trained that way. He’s survived because he’s good at taking care of himself. I don’t know any of the details of his combat experiences, but I’m willing to bet that his fights with your uncle and his buddies were mild compared to what he had been through before that.”
“You mean, you don’t hate me now?” Jenny asked, adding, “I am so sorry for what I did, and I would never, ever do anything to hurt Hugh, ever again.”
“No, honey, I don’t hate you. I forgive you. In fact, you did save his life.”
Jenny just sat there in the dirt, tears welling in her eyes again.
“The question is, Jenny, do you still hate Hugh? Can you forgive him for what he did to your father?”
“Oh, yes, Martha. I already have. A hundred times over,” Jenny replied tearfully. “Hugh is the most wonderful man I have every known. And I know now that the only reason he did what he did was because he was forced into it. It was my father’s own fault for hanging with my evil uncle and his evil friends.”
Martha and Jenny rose, and stood there in the garden hugging each other, Jenny crying once again on the woman’s motherly shoulder.
Above them, just inside a second-story window, Mary had tears in her eyes as well. She had listened to the whole thing.
She had never heard such a long, complicated, sad story. But, she believed that Jenny had been mostly a pawn of her uncle, and that she was truly sorry for the part she had played in her uncle’s plans.
“Come on. Let’s do something fun,” Martha said.
Martha took Jenny’s hand and led her up to Mary’s room.
“You said you swim?” Martha asked.
“I love to swim,” Jenny replied.
Martha looked at Mary, and Mary read her thoughts. She opened a drawer and pulled out several sets of bikini tops and bottoms.
“How about these?” Mary asked. “You pick.”
Jenny looked them over, then made a choice. As she headed out the door to her own room to change, Mary handed her an over-large T-shirt to use as a cover-up for the trip down to the pool.
In her own room, she changed into the bikini top and bottom, and T-shirt, once again admiring Mary’s taste in clothes.
She joined Martha and Mary at the bottom of the stairs, they having already changed into their own swim suits.
At the pool, when all three had removed their cover-ups, Jenny couldn’t help but notice what shapely, toned figures both mother and daughter had.
Noticing Jenny’s expression, Mary said, “We keep in pretty good shape, what with all the work we do, and with the healthy, mostly organic food we eat.”
“And, you, young lady, have a beautiful figure,” Martha said to Jenny. “Does Hugh have any idea what you’ve got underneath those loose clothes you wear?” she asked, laughing, not realizing what a personal question that might be.
Jenny blushed deep red all the way from her face to her toes.
“Oh my,” Martha said. “Please forgive me. I shouldn’t have been so forward.”
“Well, no. We … uh. We’ve only just met. And, um …,” Jenny stammered, just not having the first clue what to say.
Martha and Mary exchanged knowing glances. Mary said, “Oops.”
Then Mary took ahold of Jenny’s hand, and ran toward the pool. “Last one in is a rotten egg,” she yelled as she turned loose of Jenny, and dove in.
Jenny dove in right behind her, sleekly, barely making a ripple.
“Race you to the other end,” Mary challenged when they had both surfaced. Then she took off in a fast, efficient Australian crawl.
Even though she had gotten a late start, Jenny quickly caught up to Mary, and then passed her, easily beating her to the other end.
“Whoo, boy,” Mary gasped. “You surely do swim.”
“Yeah, it’s one of the few things I’m good at. I was all-star on my high school swim team.”
“OK. Race me to the other end again … under water,” Mary challenged, thinking she’d have Jenny there.
Jenny grinned, knowing that she was faster under water than above it.
They took off. And, even though Mary was quite athletic and actually very fast, Jenny slid through the water like a sleek otter, and easily beat her there by a whole length.
“Wow. That’s impressive. How about if we don’t race any more, and just swim for awhile,” Mary suggested, knowing when she was beat.
Jenny thoroughly enjoyed the swimming. As she swam her laps she could feel the tension just wash away from her body.
She climbed out to join Martha and Mary on lounges. They were both pleasantly tanned from frequent swimming. Jenny realized that she could definitely use some color, and asked if she could swim a couple times a day.
“Sure, no problem. Who knows when Hugh will come back down out of the hills, and how long you’ll be here. You’re welcome to use the pool as much as you like,” Martha said.
As the three continued to lounge by the pool, they heard the older Hugh’s pickup come up the driveway.
Hugh and Roly climbed the stairs to the pool deck, and saw the girls there.
“I figured this is where you gals would be on this warm afternoon,” Hugh said.
And, always the outspoken one, Roly remarked, upon spotting Jenny, “Whooee, the scenery sure has improved around here considerably.”
“I resent that,” both Martha and Mary said simultaneously.
Jenny blushed furiously, while Roly tried to extract himself from his blunder, “Well … you know what I mean. It’s just that … oh, forget it.”
Then they all laughed.
After they had returned to their rooms and changed out of their swimsuits, Mary asked Jenny if she would like to go out to the horse barn with her.
“I’d love to,” Jenny exclaimed.
“OK, let me finish up with a little bit more studying, and then we’ll have some time before we have to help get dinner ready. I’ll knock on your door,” Mary said.
Jenny relaxed in the guest room easy chair, and lost track of time as she browsed through some of the books that were on the bookshelf.
As she had promised, Mary knocked on her door, and Jenny followed the young lady out to the horse barn. As they entered, a half-dozen horses came to the front of their stalls and nickered at Mary.
“These are my babies,” Mary told Jenny, then took Jenny to each of them, and told her its name, and a little of the history of each one.
“Swimming took longer than usual,” Mary said, “so we don’t have time to ride before dinner. If you’d like, we can find some time tomorrow.”
Jenny was disappointed at that news, but could hardly feel ungrateful considering all that this wonderful family had done for her so far.
“Sure, I’d love to,” Jenny said, again. It seemed to her that she had been saying that a lot lately.
They then went in to help with dinner preparations.
Back on the porch now, Martha remarked, “Well, Jenny, we are glad to have you here. I don’t know if I should be saying this, but you are the first one that Hugh had ever brought home to meet us. You must be very special to him.”
Jenny thought about that. “I’m not sure that’s the way it worked out,” she said honestly. “I think it’s more that he didn’t know what to do with me. And, he’s way too much of a gentleman to just
drop me off in the middle of the highway somewhere.”
Martha considered that.
“You could be right. However, I’m betting it was more than that.”
Jenny looked at Martha expectantly, hoping for more.
“We’ll know more when he comes down out of the hills,” was all that Martha offered for the time being.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m turning in,” Mary said.
“Me too. Breakfast starts early,” Martha agreed.
The three walked upstairs together. At her door, Jenny said to both Martha and Mary, “Thank you for a great day. And thank you for being so kind and considerate to a stranger.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie, get a good night’s sleep. Good night,” Martha said.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hugh
Just as the eastern sky was beginning to lose its grey pallor, and take on the crimson tones that heralded a new day, Hugh woke from the deep, contented sleep that he experienced only on these all-too-infrequent outings in the forests of northern Idaho.
Buck nickered his greeting, and Hugh led him over to the stream, and then to the little meadow. Returning to the campsite, Hugh built the fire back up, and set a dented, fire-blackened metal coffeepot of water on it to heat up.
His usual breakfast on these outings comprised coffee in one Sierra-type cup, and handful of oatmeal with an assortment of dried berries and nuts in another cup. No muss, no fuss.
Cleanup consisted of a quick wipe-down of both cups, and his one utensil, an all-purpose spoon. Everything then fit into the now-emptied coffee pot. His one bow to “civilization” was the gallon-size, plastic zipper baggie that he put the coffee pot into to keep it from getting soot all over the other things in his saddle bag.
Buck returned to the campsite just as Hugh was finished packing everything up.
“Well, Buck. What should we do today?” Hugh asked his favorite horse. Hugh was feeling much more relaxed—more like himself—and he was game for anything.
Buck nickered, and blew at the mention of his name. Then he nodded his head up and down, and blew a bit more.
“That sounds like a plan,” Hugh replied. “Let’s circumnavigate the ranch today, keeping to the ridges. And just see what’s to see.”
There was a practical reason for Hugh’s choice of activity today. He figured that neither his dad, nor his brother, had taken the time lately to ride out and examine the property.
Besides the usual issues of spotting fencing that needed repairing, streams that needed unblocking, or deadfall trees that needed felling, Hugh knew that there was another element that needed keeping track of.
This part of Idaho had long been a destination for people euphemistically called “free spirits.” These were people who sought remote locations to get closer to the land, and to live unencumbered by the laws and mores of the bureaucratic world.
While Hugh had no argument with these people’s desires, he nevertheless did insist that they not squat on his family’s land. Unlike other huge tracts throughout the Western states, much of the land in this area was held privately by families like his own. Or it was owned by the logging companies. In other words, it was private land.
And, besides, a sobering truth these days was the reality that the Mexican drug cartels were finding their way even as far north as Idaho. They would seek out open patches within heavy forest to plant their marijuana crops, far from the spying eyes of the drug enforcement officers.
Authorities had been getting much better at detecting and eradicating these grows in the more usual locations like California, Oregon, and such, so the cartels had been seeking out even more remote locations. The payoff for a successful marijuana garden, even one small enough to be managed by only a couple of illegals, was enormous … into the multi-millions.
One of the major problems with these cartel operations was that they protected their grows with deadly booby traps and armed guards. Hugh was extremely concerned that Mary might ride out some day and stumble upon one of these operations. There had never been one on his family’s land, so far. But, there had been a couple found in nearby counties.
Hugh saddled Buck, and swung into the saddle.
It had occurred to him many times during these outings over the years how setting off down a trail on horseback was similar to pulling onto the highway in his truck. Both experiences left him with a great feeling of well-being. He loved doing both equally well.
And, for Hugh, that was a sure sign that the forest, the night’s sleep, and the companionship of his horse, had finally worked its magic on him. He was actually looking forward again to climbing up into the driver’s seat of his truck, and heading off down the road.
“Don’t worry, Buck. I’m not pulling up stakes any time soon. I still need to visit with my folks for a bit. And I still have to work things out with Jenny.”
With that thought in mind, Hugh found a spot overlooking the ranch house. He dismounted Buck, then pulled his binoculars out of the saddle bag.
After adjusting the focus on the high-powered instrument, he could see his brother and his dad just getting ready to climb into the pickup truck, obviously going out to do their ranch work.
Then he spotted two blondes walking down the porch steps and heading toward the horse barn.
“I’ll bet that’s Jenny and Mary,” Hugh told Buck. “It looks like they are getting along just fine. I’m real glad for that. She needed a friend.”
Hugh packed his binoculars away, and remounted Buck. He nudged him in a direction that would take them on a slow circumnavigation of the ranch perimeter. Hugh knew that if they weren’t in too big of a hurry, and stopped occasionally along the way, that could be a day-long excursion.
He figured on spending today, and one more night out there, then heading back to the home place tomorrow morning.
“And then we’ll see what we’ll see,” Hugh said, mindful of what he had learned during his visit with God last night.
After about two hours casual traveling, Hugh came upon a small log cabin high up on a ridge. It was abandoned now, and had been for quite some time. This cabin had an interesting history.
It was built in the late ’60s by hippies seeking to get back to the land, before Hugh’s parents had acquired the ranch property. Hugh marveled at the ignorance that must have accompanied these naive youths to this almost inaccessible location. At best, it was difficult to reach on anything but horseback, and it would be locked in and totally inaccessible for almost the entire winter by deep snow.
While he admitted he was impressed by their energy and ingenuity in crafting this cabin in the wilderness in the first place, he was amazed at their naivety in thinking that they could sustain themselves here for very long at all.
It turned out, after all, that reality raised its ugly head, and they didn’t last through a second winter season.
Hugh had to shake his head as he and Buck passed the place. Like most every real estate and business person eventually always learned, the three most important things for success were: Location, location, location. And Hugh couldn’t imagine a possibly worst place for pot-smoking, tie-dyed wearing, Aquarius-singing dropouts to try to settle than high up on a ridge in a deep forest, where the northern Idaho winters are extremely harsh and unforgiving.
A little further down the trail, Buck violently shied, almost dumping Hugh from the saddle. “Whoa, boy. Settle,” Hugh said to sooth his horse, while craning his neck to scan for the trouble. He knew his horse well enough to trust his senses, which he knew were much better than his own.
Finally, Hugh spotted a huge set of antlers almost perfectly camouflaged among the forest trees. At the same time as he slowly and carefully removed his rifle from its scabbard, he peered through the trees to make out the full outline of the moose that he knew would be there.
Hugh often encountered moose on these outings. Normally, it was a live-and-let-live kind of situation—but that was entirely up to the moose. They coul
d be quite cranky and unpredictable, and it was always expedient to be ready for anything.
The ranch horses were very sensitive to the moose scent, and were deathly afraid of them, hence Buck’s initial reaction.
With rifle at the ready, Hugh slowly guided the buckskin past the moose, which was about twenty-five yards away. Of course, Hugh had no desire to shoot the animal unnecessarily. But, if it made a move toward them, he’d be ready.
Buck stepped nervously, his skin muscles twitching as if he was fighting off a swarm of horse flies.
When they had passed safely beyond the moose, both horse and rider relaxed again.
“Good boy, Buck. Thanks for the warning,” Hugh said, patting his horse on the neck.
Hugh knew from many experiences while on these outings that a good horse was as good as any watchdog for alerting to danger in the forest. All one had to do was watch them carefully for signs that their radar-like ears or sensitive noses had picked up the sound or scent of a predator.
Just like when he was on the road in his truck, Hugh’s stomach told him that it was time to stop for lunch. He found a good spot to dismount that had some grass for Buck, and a good view of the ranch for himself.
He pulled out his binoculars, and trained them on the ranch. At first, he didn’t see any activity, but eventually he spotted a lone figure swimming in the pool. It was almost certainly Jenny, he thought. He doubted that his mom or Mary would be swimming this early in the day, with so many chores constantly needing doing.
He continued to watch as she swam laps.
“She’s good, Buck,” he said. Impressed by the smooth, seemingly effortless way she glided through the water and made her expert flip turns at each end.
As Hugh continued to watch, she finished her laps, and he saw her climb out of the pool and settle onto one of the lounge chairs. He couldn’t see great detail, but from what he could see he appreciated her lithe figure, and the way that her beautifully proportioned body looked in the bikini.
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