Vetted

by K'Anne Meinel

  “I didn’t notice before, babe,” Allyssa addressed Fiona quietly as the electricians put in the last of the outlets and lights in the cabin, “but there’s no bathroom in the cabin.”

  “There’s a hole in the corner of that closet. We’ll get a toilet and put that in. Add it to the list as well as appropriate lights and full plates for those wires they are leaving bare,” she indicated where the guys from the power company had left their mark. They hadn’t come to put in lights or covers, just run the wires from the electric pole.

  Allyssa sighed. What they were having done was expensive, but seeing the amount remaining in Fiona’s grandparents’ checking account, it wasn’t that bad and they did need it. By nightfall they had electricity, but no lightbulbs or fixtures to turn them on. Still, the battery was fully charged on the computer and they had cable and phone hookup. “Add plates for the cable and phone to the list,” she told Fiona. It had become a game for them to say, ‘Add it to the list.’ A trip into town was in order. They would check their mail and probably head up to Pendletown.

  “What do you think of this?” Allyssa asked her wife that night as they sat together in the camper. She turned around the screen on the laptop.

  “Don’t do that, you’ll break it!” Fiona nearly yelled as the screen swiveled.

  “It’s supposed to do that,” Allyssa laughed.

  “It is?”

  “Yes, that’s one of the features of this laptop,” she told her, still laughing.

  Fiona shook her head, but looked at the image on the screen. It showed a three-column brochure, and it took the doctor a moment to figure out that once folded it would look different than what was on the screen because the screen showed it flat. “I’m so amazed at what you can make on that thing. Did you learn all this at college?”

  “No, some of it I played with on my own. That’s why I am enjoying playing with this computer so much. Now, with the internet I can order your business cards, the brochure, and anything else we need printed up. I’m glad they gave us our phone number. I suppose I should call my parents and let them know we are alive and well,” she said almost sadly.

  “You don’t want to?”

  “I’m afraid they are going to burst my bubble. I am loving the freedom we have here and they are going to try and pull me down. I don’t want that.”

  “Don’t let them,” she said reasonably.

  “That’s easier said than done. By now, they will have gotten their second wind and thought about everything. They have a lot of pent-up frustration to vent on me.”

  Fiona pretended she was on a phone, “What’s that? You’re breaking up? I can’t HEAR you?” she said in a laughing manner, and her wife joined in.

  “They’d just call back,” she sighed.

  “Still, they are probably worried about you. It has been over a week since you left. You also didn’t send them a forwarding address card, and they may have noticed your mail isn’t being delivered there already.”

  “You think?” she asked, almost happily.

  “Why?” she frowned, wondering why that would make her perk up.

  “They were always opening my mail and if I dared to complain I was at fault. It was their house. They were the ones paying for my college education. What they heaped on me was incredible.” It was only now that she had escaped it all that she fully realized the freedom that Fiona had given her.

  “That must have been hard to live with. I didn’t realize,” Fiona said quietly. “I better write my own dad and let him know we’re living here now.”

  “Why doesn’t he resent that you inherited all this?” her arms encompassed the whole ranch. Fiona and she had explored all the buildings at the home site now. Apparently, there were a couple of out cabins yet, but that would have to wait for spring when they could travel to them. When the ranch had been in its heyday they had needed hands to stay out on the range.

  “He understood. I grew up here. He chose his second wife over me, and my grandparents made that clear. I think Rosemary was more upset as she saw dollar signs. She would have insisted that all this be sold and the money made available for her sons and my brother and sister, all administered by her, of course.”

  “Ugh, that sucks.”

  “See, it’s not all roses for me either,” she pointed out as they compared families. “By the way, make sure you order roses when you put in those orders.” She pointed to the catalogs that Allyssa had been poring over, enjoying herself enormously as she planned the garden she was going to have in the spring. She’d looked carefully at the zone they lived in to be certain the things she ordered would grow in their location. She was excited by the idea of gardening. She had wanted to do that for a long time and hadn’t been allowed in Regal Crest Gardens.

  “Put it on the list,” Allyssa teased and started laughing as Fiona mock threatened her with gestures.

  Still, despite all the work they were enjoying themselves, together, alone. It was good as they slowly put things away and got the place in shape. Even the mobile home had received a thorough rub down with cleaner. Mama Cat, which they were still calling her, didn’t particularly like the citrus smell, but they didn’t care. It was actually very nice once they finished.

  * * * * *

  After the mobile home was cleaned, they headed into Pendletown with their lists. They stopped in Sweetwater to pick up their mail and to mail off the orders for seeds, which included a notice that the previous owners had passed away. Using the clip from the address label to Fiona’s grandparents, they advised that the new owners, Dr. Fiona and Mrs. Allyssa Herriot would like the following order to be fulfilled. Fiona included a check from her old bank in Denver with the orders to the few catalogs.

  They also both chickened out, writing letters to their respective relatives rather than calling. Allyssa’s letter was rather short and to the point, telling them she had arrived, it was beautiful country, the ranch was fabulous, and this was her new address. She signed it, ‘Mrs. Allyssa Herriot’ with relish. She was certain that would bother them, but she no longer cared. Her independence had been declared.

  In the bundle they placed in the mail receptacle, they also had a few of the envelopes they had picked up last time marked, ‘Return to sender, addressee deceased.’ After saying hello to Margaret, they departed and headed up to Pendletown.

  “We should have done this when we had the trailer,” Fiona swore as they tied two mattresses and a box spring to the roof of the Cherokee. “Thank God this thing has a luggage rack,” she commented as she looped the rope through and around them. She finished by tying the rope to the front bumper.

  “What’s that for?” Allyssa motioned to the rope tied in front.

  “The wind is going to play havoc as you drive down the highway.”

  “Oh,” she answered, not having thought of that.

  They stopped at the largest grocery store available in town to shop and pick up more citrus cleaner. They also picked up a few lights, fixtures, and plates that were on the list. By the time they got out of Pendletown it had started to snow and Fiona was swearing again.

  “Good thing there is plastic on those things,” she indicated the mattresses and box spring with her chin since her hands were carrying bags.

  “Maybe you should drive?” Allyssa offered, feeling less confident.

  “You drove a trailer in blowing snow across Wyoming. You can handle a little of this,” she teased as they put their purchases in the back and the dog tried to lick their faces. “I’ll take Rex to pick up his pee-mail and you warm up the car.”

  Allyssa laughed at the phrase pee-mail. He did seem to look for bushes to lift his leg on that might have the scent of other dogs on them. They carried plastic bags with them to pick up after his rather enormous poops, which they dropped into receptacles whenever they found them. There was nowhere on the ranch to dispose of garbage and Fiona had explained they either took it into Sweetwater or burned it out there. Plastic was a big no-no to burn.

  “You
have to be careful in the summer when you burn, so you don’t start a grass fire. It could quickly get out of control,” she had explained about their other garbage.

  Allyssa tried to forget that a more experienced and older driver was in the passenger seat as she carefully drove down the highway towards the ranch. Fiona had been right about the wind catching the mattresses and box spring. It was a different sensation than the trailer pulling behind the SUV. “Are you sure those things aren’t going to blow off?” she worried at one point.

  “I’m a rancher and a doctor,” she said in mock outrage. “I know how to tie a knot!”

  Allyssa grinned, realizing she had sort of insulted her wife. She took her hand off the wheel for only a second to reach down and squeeze her wife’s hand before returning it immediately. She needed both hands on the wheel in weather such as this.

  The going was slow, but they finally made it. She parked in front of the cabin so they could take the one mattress and box spring in, and then they went to the mobile home to unload their groceries and the other mattress. Trying to maneuver that thing through the narrow passageway required patience and a lot of swearing between them. With all they had in the living room, it wasn’t easy, but finally they had a straight shot into the bedroom at the back. The now clean box spring had a new plastic-covered mattress on it and the room still smelled nicely of citrus.

  “Oh no, we didn’t buy sheets,” Allyssa groaned reproachfully.

  “Well, I’m not going back,” Fiona told her forcefully. She was anxious to get to work. The price tag on the electric being installed in the cabin still shocked her. She needed to earn money to live on and she was anxious to start. “I think in one of my boxes I have the sheets from my bed in Denver. They are queen-size and we bought a queen-size mattress.”

  “That will be good,” she commented, relieved. “We’ll only need a set for in here then and maybe one extra set for when we wash.”

  “Oh gawd, we better plan on doing the wash soon,” Fiona moaned.

  “Are we going to do it by hand?” she asked, curious.

  “I don’t even know where that wash board is. I think my grandmother retired it when she got her new washer and dryer. We’ll have to find a laundromat and take it there.”

  Not all their plans were coming together quickly, and Fiona was becoming anxious. Allyssa sent her off with a batch of business cards and brochures to distribute in Sweetwater, thinking they should give them to Margaret and a few others around town to spread the word. While Fiona was gone, she printed off more so Fiona could go to all the smaller towns in a radius around the ranch and put them up. She could make contact with all the locals, those who had known her growing up, and those who had known her grandparents. She knew Fiona would be gone all day at least. It was the first time she was alone on the ranch and she felt marvelous about it. She started organizing the cabin, envisioning a desk in one corner with the computer and printer on it, and dreaming about how things would be … eventually.

  She spent the morning putting on all the covers to the electrical outlets. They looked nice and clean, and blended well against the aged trees that lined the cabin. Their honey-gold coloring looked rich and polished since they had cleaned it. She was sorry they had to mar the appearance with these ugly modern conveniences, but it was a necessary evil.

  Next, she wrestled and wrangled the mattress up the stairs to the loft. She had scrubbed and cleaned up here too, and while it was very small, she was pleased with the result. She couldn’t get the box spring up the stairs and would have to wait for Fiona to get home, but she brought her boxes and then Fiona’s up the stairs and stacked them against the wall where it met the sloping roof. It cleared out the one corner of the cabin, freeing up necessary space. She had to clean where the boxes had taken up space, but it was a joy to bring out the luster of the wood floor and scrub down the logs along the walls. She eyed the boxes that contained all the veterinary supplies and remembering the shelves at the clinic, she went online to look at something similar, maybe something with a more ‘rustic’ look. Some of them would require a lock on them. She found what she was looking for under home furnishings, but the price stopped her from ordering them. They couldn’t afford pricey things, and she wouldn’t go into debt even if they would look great in the old cabin.

  “Do they have antique stores around here?” she asked her wife when she got home and helped her push and pull the box spring up the stairs. They placed it in front of the only window up there, putting the mattress right on top.

  “That looks great,” Fiona admired and complimented her wife on all the work she had gotten done. “I think there are a few. Why?”

  She explained about the expensive cabinets she had found and outlined what she wanted to do.

  “Well, those can wait for a while since I won’t be seeing anyone out here and we can work out of the boxes for now,” she said, disappointing her wife.

  “Well, I will need a couple of file cabinets. I don’t want those tall four drawer ones, I want two two-drawer cabinets.”

  “Okay, I’ll keep my eye out, but why don’t we just plan another trip up to...” she began and Allyssa interrupted her.

  “I want us to make this ours,” she told her earnestly. “I want it to look right too.”

  Fiona didn’t completely understand, but she was willing to humor her. After all, she would be the one stuck out here most of the time. She’d talked to so many people today and she was planning on going out again tomorrow. She was pleased that Allyssa had printed more brochures, and after dinner they spent time folding them. “I think I may have my first case in a day or so. They are going to call me,” she said proudly. She was pleased that Allyssa had figured out how to print the brochures and the business cards on their own printer rather than paying to have them done.

  “How do I get hold of you when I get a call?”

  “I was going to suggest cell phones, but they don’t work really well out here. Still, we should get some for when they do. I think we should also get a CB radio and install a tower on the barn with a lightning rod.”

  “Why a lightning rod?” she asked, curious. “Doesn’t that attract lightning?”

  Fiona nodded. “Yes, it does, but if you send the current right into the ground it’s less likely to harm anything or start a fire.”

  She nodded at the explanation and gestured for Fiona to continue. “How else can I get hold of you?”

  “That’s pretty much it. I found a place that has signs they can put on the truck so it will say ‘HERRIOT VETERINARY SERVICES’ in bold letters on both sides of the truck and on the back. What do you think, should I put it on the front too, maybe backwards so they can read it in their rearview mirror?”

  “I don’t think anyone should be trying to read when they are driving, especially through their rearview mirror. If you want to put the letters on there fine, but put them so normal people can read them when they walk by your truck.”

  Valuing her wife’s advice, she nodded and they continued chatting until Fiona realized she should look for the sheets, so they could sleep in a normal bed. At first, she thought it was too late. She was thrilled when her wife turned on the lights and she realized she could look. She found them after going through the seventh box and they quickly made the bed.

  “Hate to tell you this, but we need pillows too,” she told her wife.

  “Add it to the list,” she said in a tired voice and then started chuckling. Living this far from a real town was sometimes not much fun, but they didn’t mind, and they both loved the ranch.

  “Maybe I’ll see someplace to pick them up tomorrow. Meanwhile, I don’t want to start a fire in the fireplace for warmth. Let’s head back to the mobile home, check on the cat, and make dinner.”

  Seconding that suggestion, she followed her wife after turning out the lights upstairs. “What are we going to use to cook on in the cabin?”

  “Well, they used to cook over the open fire,” Fiona suggested with tongue in che
ek. “You noticed that iron door next to the fireplace? That was for baking.”

  “So, back to my original question. What are we going to use to cook on in the cabin?”

  They shared a laugh and by then they were at the mobile home and went inside, followed by the dog who had learned to at least try not to chase the cat. Not only would she defend herself, she had babies in there and this was her turf. He had learned proper respect after his nose had been clawed by the cat and he had also been swatted with a seed catalog by an angry Allyssa.

  * * * * *

  The work on the place seemed endless and Fiona began to get calls over the next few days. She managed to get the truck signage done, had the tank drained at an RV place, and refilled the shower from their own pump. Since she was out and about, cooking, cleaning, and fixing up the ranch fell on Allyssa’s shoulders. She was relishing it though, despite the snow, cold, and isolation. She felt empowered that no one was judging her. Fiona, when she would notice something new she had done, encouraged her, complimented her, or just generally made her feel good about it. It was quite a difference from her old life, and she began to blossom from it.

  Since she was out pinning brochures up wherever she could find a place at the laundromat and on the post office bulletin boards, Fiona had the opportunity to pick up some things from their list. While shopping she would also ask some of the merchants she came across to post her information. She made sure to bring all the receipts back to Allyssa who filed them for the business or their home needs.

  “We’re going to need an accountant. I can only do so much on the computer and I don’t have the knowledge,” she confided one night as she entered gas receipts for her wife’s journey around the countryside.

  “I’ll think on that,” a tired Fiona responded as she sat before the fire in the cabin enjoying the warmth. Allyssa had insisted they use the fireplace and she had reluctantly lit it. It seemed she was always cold, but it was the middle of winter in the high country.

  “Add it to the list,” Allyssa murmured as she pecked at the computer. She was getting used to Fiona’s moods after living with her for a month, and she didn’t mind. She knew how hard the woman was working towards establishing her business. All she could do was be supportive and provide her a decent home life, such as it was. They were still eating off the stove in the mobile home. She’d attempted to bake something, but the ingredients had mutated and she had made a mess. Rex had eaten whatever it turned into without getting sick, so she was happy about that. She’d started a blog about things that Fiona told her she had seen and linked it to the website she had purchased for their business. She’d put up pictures that were free on the internet. They weren’t too different from what she saw every day when she got up and looked outside. She’d already updated the brochures so Fiona always had current ones in her truck to hand out or pin up. They were connected on social media and that took time out of her day and kept her busy while Fiona was away.