Jason was following them with the sand truck, loaded far beyond legal weight. His brother, Jerry, was riding with him. Jerry had been on his way to spend a long weekend riding in Smithers, stopping for the night in Vanderhoof. When Isaac found Jerry had his Class 1 license, he had quickly notified Johnny who asked him to come along as a relief driver. Jerry agreed and was hired on the spot. The young guy was stoked. His normal job driving a fuel truck was boring compared to this.
Mary worked the phone until close to midnight and found four more drivers who were willing to work the weekend hauling logs.
In perfect conditions, the Banks Mountain trucks hauled all night, enjoying several hours of low traffic. Morale was high. Chet had rarely been wrong in this type of decision and pulling together for a final sprint was an adventure no one wanted to miss. Several of the wives disagreed.
As the sun came up on Friday morning, and the temperature stayed well below freezing, it appeared that Chet had made a very bad decision, and he took some ribbing over the radio from other contractors. But he was soon vindicated when a storm warning was issued just before noon, with snow and freezing rain expected to make life in the Central Interior very difficult.
Sand trucks were loaded, schools were emptied quickly, and generators were tested all around town. By three o’clock, rain began falling in the Nechako Valley, freezing on contact.
Hurrying down the North Road with a large loader chained to his deck, Johnny called Mary to check conditions. She was breathless, having just arrived home in the dark and was putting her horses into their stable. She told Johnny how she had driven into the driveway, and as she put her car in park, it began to slide sideways, ending up wedged against a snowbank. She warned him that the steps were coated with ice and to be careful when he got to lower elevations.
“Johnny, why don’t we offer to park some of the equipment at the farm?”
He was quiet for a long time. The farm was a taboo subject. Johnny still owned much of the property his uncles had farmed. After their deaths, he had been surprised to discover they had transferred the various title deeds into his name many years before their accident. He seldom went to the farm, choosing to lease the land to a local farmer. Mary knew he didn’t like to think of the farm, though wasn’t sure why. She secretly hoped they could live there someday. She thought it would be a wonderful place to raise a family, the old farmhouse with its view over the valley, the rolling fields and stands of timber.
Johnny was thinking as he down-shifted carefully, keeping his speed low for the long descent. The farm was on the shoulder of the hill above the Nechako Valley, and the fields were accessible from the North Road. Chances were the rain in the valley would be snow at the higher elevation, possibly several hours or more before the warming temperatures forecasted would turn all precipitation into rain. At his present location, wet snow was falling heavily, and the unplowed road was becoming very rough.
Unloading the equipment at the farm would save at least forty minutes per trip, keeping the heavy trucks from traveling through the heart of Vanderhoof on icy streets. He made the decision.
“Okay, Mary, call Lance. He’s about twenty minutes behind me in the grader. I’ll open the east gate on the way by and he can plow a big area for us to unload. I will take this load through to the shop, but the rest of the equipment from the North Road can all go to the farm. Tell him to plow a really big area.”
Then he was quiet for a moment, and Mary was silently thankful for his decision.
“We can do a lot of repairs right there if need be, and if the road bans are not slapped down right away, we can make a lot of short hauls at night and move the machines to the shop next week.”
He felt better after the talk with Mary and keyed his mic to warn traffic he would be blocking the road for several minutes.
Climbing back in the cab, caked with snow and sweating from struggling with the wire gate that had been frozen into the plowed snowbank, Johnny left a message on the renter’s answering service. The machines from the Francis would be coming to the shop from the west and would not need to travel through town. There were only four trips left up the Francis, but a lot of heavy iron to retrieve from locations on the North Road. Mary’s idea was solid, and he felt lighter somehow, a sense of well-being that cut through his weariness.
The snow turned to rain just below the farm, and as he carefully navigated the icy streets, he was shocked at how quickly a town could be shut down by the forces of nature. He grinned when he saw a hockey game, and then another, enterprising kids skating on the glassy side streets, screen time set aside for some real adventure. Cars were abandoned on the icy streets, windows quickly glazing with ice. Several sand trucks were patrolling the highway through town, though the heavy freezing rain quickly encased the sand and salt.
Chapter 47
Johnny unloaded the big loader in record time and aimed the Peterbilt back to town, stopping at the card-lock to fuel up. Leaving the fuel station, he drove a short distance up the highway to Charlie’s. He had called ahead, and someone from the truck stop ran on cleated shoes through the rain to bring him a sandwich and a giant cup of coffee; they treated their regular customers well. The gang at Charlie’s Bar and Grill were going to be very, very busy for the next few hours. Their lot was already jammed full, and people were gingerly walking from the vehicles toward the warm and friendly building, bright neon sign rotating high above the parking area. He poured the hot, black coffee into his thermos, saving several inches in the cup to drink right away, savoring the potent brew. Charlie knew his way around coffee beans, that was for sure.
The RCMP officers who had closed the highway allowed him to proceed when he explained his destination. They looked cold in the blowing rain, reflective slickers shiny in the headlights. Johnny climbed down from his cab and called the restaurant, asking that they send some hot coffee out and to put it on his tab. The officer who overheard his conversation grinned his thanks and told Johnny he “would catch him later!” The big trucker replied, “I sure hope not!” as he climbed back into his rig.
When the Forest Service Roads were shut down nine hours later, the Banks Mountain crew were exhausted, but happy. There were a few machines left in strategic locations, as Chet and Johnny hoped they would be able to haul more timber if the road was reopened.
The east field in the farm was littered with equipment. It could be organized later. Chet wasn’t sure how Johnny had pulled this one off, but agreed it was an excellent idea. He knew the farmer was in Arizona or Florida, or somewhere warm, and hoped Johnny had taken care of the details.
More of the story came out the next morning at the Banks’ kitchen table. The last several days had been a whirlwind of activity for the Banks family, and they had seldom seen each other, although there had been heated words and several miscommunications. Family tension was running high.
Melissa decided the bickering needed to stop and made a big breakfast when she heard the boys stirring in the basement. She called Chet to come home from the shop, and soon they were all sitting at the kitchen table.
Daniel, freshly showered, was upset. “Dad, listen. When I am doing something, you can’t just tell me to do something else! Johnny had a good plan and you kept butting in and screwing everything up!”
Normally not one to confront, his words provoked a brief and surprised silence.
“Well, good thing you didn’t listen to me then!” was Chet’s hot reply, an instant before he burned his mouth on coffee fresh from the percolator. The choice words aimed at the coffee also applied to the argument.
Lance interrupted, and Melissa was grateful as she wiped up the coffee and handed Chet a glass of water.
“Hey, how come we parked all the equipment in that field north of town? Like, what’s with that, anyway?”
Melissa shrugged. “Mary called me and told me Johnny had a plan to save some time. It worked, too. We got a couple more machines hauled, and all those trips through town and the roadblock were pre
vented. Good thinking as usual from our Big Guy.”
Daniel, still grouchy, nodded toward his brother. “Yeah, but Bonehead here sure took a round out of that field. He plowed up a lot of dirt with the grader, we probably have machines over about three acres, at least.”
Lance, unshaven and shirtless, was in no mood to be picked on. “Hey, the ground wasn’t frozen under all the snow! Sure, I ripped up some dirt, but I had to hurry, Isaac was only about ten minutes out when I started, and I had to give him room to turn around. Then I had to pull him, and yeah, we made a mess, but come on. It’s just a field!”
Chet intervened. “Guys, listen. We pulled off a pretty good bunch of work in two days. Let’s knock off the arguing. If there’s damage, we can pay for it; it’s fine.”
Lance wasn’t finished. “Wait a minute, I want to know more about that farm, and why Johnny could get permission to use it.”
He emptied a glass of milk. “About two in the morning, I rode down with Johnny to get the grader and bring it back up to clear some snow. We were tired, and Johnny said we should go up to the house for some coffee. “He shook his head, taking a bite of eggs, interrupting his own story. “That guy is pretty cool. Did you know on one of his back hauls he loaded up his Ski-Doo and dropped it off with all the equipment?”
They looked at him blankly.
“So?” was Daniel’s reply.
“Well, we were tired, and Johnny said we should go up to the house, you know the one…”
“We know which house, so what about it?” Daniel was still angry.
“Really! Just listen! So, I doubled up behind him on his sled, that was quite the ride, and when we got to the house Johnny pulled out his keys, unlocked it, and in we went.”
Now Melissa was curious. “No one was home?”
“No, we went inside, and I asked Johnny who lived there. He told me no one was there, and it was okay for us to use the house. He got some coffee out of the cupboard and put water in the pot and stuff, and then said he was going to take a shower! I was like, ‘Dude, you can’t just take a shower in some random house!’ and he told me to relax, and don’t touch anything.”
The kitchen was silent. The youngest had their attention and liked it, taking time to stuff more food in his mouth.
“Well?” Daniel broke first.
Around his pancakes, Lance continued. “So, I turned on some lights and looked around. It was actually kind of creepy! It was clean, too clean, and the stuff was all wrong, somehow. There was a ‘55 Chevy on a calendar, but the calendar was from 2006! There were old Ritchie Brothers auction flyers on the table, no, I didn’t actually move anything!” he said in response to Melissa’s raised eyebrows.
“It was like a museum, like the people left years ago; everything was old! There were coats hanging on hooks in the entranceway, work boots, some fishing poles. There were cross-country skis in the living room, and like I said, it was kind of creepy. It was like going to the Hudson Bay Company museum in Ft. St. James, except the stuff was newer. There was no dust or anything and the can of coffee didn’t look old, but the place looked, uh, deserted?”
“What the heck?” Chet was intrigued. “Melissa, do you think Johnny still owns that place? I assumed it had been sold, went to the bank, I don’t know.”
The boys looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Johnny’s uncles were both killed in an accident ten, twelve, maybe fifteen years ago. That had been their farm, and Lars lived there. That’s where Johnny grew up.” Chet looked at his wife. “He has never mentioned it. Are you telling me he still owns it?”
Lance swore, earning a quick reproof from his mom. “Well, that would explain a lot. There were pictures on the wall, you know, one of those frames that has space for a bunch of photos?” He pointed at a similar display on the wall in the hallway.
“Well, there was a baby, a little kid, and three more pictures of probably the same kid through school. In the last picture, he was for sure in high school, real tall, blonde hair. It looked a lot like Johnny. I thought maybe the house belonged to a relative. Then he came out of the bathroom, and I seen he had changed clothes.”
“Saw!” Melissa corrected. They all looked at him, waiting.
“Oh, he got diesel all over himself. Well, I actually got diesel all over him when we refuelled up in the bush, that’s why he wanted to shower. I asked him where he got the clothes and he said he borrowed some from the house. They fit him fine, but they were those gray work clothes, you know, like old guys wear. He had on orange suspenders, like the set you got from Grandpa, Dad, Husqvarna.
“I mean, what are the chances that Johnny would find clothes to fit him? Like, the guy that lives there must be one big dude!” He ate some more food.
“Well, Johnny seems to play his cards pretty close.” Chet rubbed his unshaven face, “Worked for us all these years and never said a word.” He chuckled, “There’s enough land there he could probably work for himself, what a guy!”
“Oh, and you know something really weird?” Lance had more to say. “When we left, after we had some coffee, I pretended I was going to put on a little hat that was hanging in the entranceway. There were a bunch of old hats on a shelf, and a few hanging up on hooks, must have been at least ten or fifteen John Deere hats, but off to the side was a little straw hat, down lower than the rest, like for a kid. When I reached for it, Johnny told me not to touch it.”
He looked at his parents and brother. “I said, ‘Dude, okay, I’ll leave it alone!’ Like, come on, it’s just an old hat. Why would he be so touchy? He kind of yelled at me.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want him mad at me. I mean, he’s friendly and everything, but when he says to do something, you just want to do it.”
“Yeah, that’s how it was, except I was actually kind of scared. Or something. Whatever the case, I left the hat alone. He didn’t actually even raise his voice, but I got the message loud and clear.”
“Well, that’s what you get when you mess around, kid.” Melissa ruffled his hair, looking at Chet over the boys’ heads.
Later, when the boys disappeared to the basement, Chet stretched out the footrest of his favorite recliner, turned on the television, and asked Melissa to wake him in half an hour. She paused by his chair, looking down at her husband.
“I’m proud of you, Chet. You did real good this week. We could have been caught off guard if you hadn’t been willing to take a risk.”
He reached up to take her hand and saw her eyes were wet. He squeezed her hand firmly. A minute later she set his hand down on the armrest. Her husband was fast asleep.
Chapter 48
Johnny ducked his head, shuffling sideways as he followed Mary down the narrow aisle. They were boarding the plane in Prince George that would take them to their connecting flight, which would fly straight through to Mexico.
He chuckled as he heard Isaac in the aisle behind him, accusing Terry of “grabbing my butt” and telling her to “keep your hands off,” and her embarrassed laughter as she denied all contact, hands full with her carry-on bag and purse. Isaac shifted the blame to an older lady who enjoyed the attention and actually followed through with the action Isaac was protesting, to the delight of several other passengers.
The atmosphere in the front half of the small plane was almost riotous by the time they were seated, and the elderly woman was the star of the show. The flight attendants turned a blind eye when she shared a small flask with Isaac, seated directly behind her, and the flight she had been dreading became a highlight of her winter.
Mary had done her best to get seats with enough room for her husband, a rush of gratification when he noticed and thanked her warming her face. She knew he would be asleep long before they reached the Rockies and had brought a book she planned to start on their flight and finish while she tanned on the beach.
They had been extremely busy for the last several weeks. The end of the season had come in several stages,
none as convenient as the loggers hoped for each year. The mechanics had been busy with repairs and retrofits. Isaac and Chet preferred to wait until something was broken, while Pete, Jason and Johnny preferred to replace worn parts before it was necessary.
Chet had gotten it into his mind that they might go back to work early, and he and Johnny’s stress while working with several manufactures on new equipment purchases concerned Mary. She knew Johnny realized he was somewhat idealistic, but he also wanted to do a good job during his first breakup season as foreman.
She could hear excited voices and good-natured teasing from several rows ahead. Isaac had something going with a white-haired lady, and the flight attendants were joining in. She stretched her legs as the plane taxied on the wet runway, smiling when she thought of her conversation with her dad the night before. He had teased her for her excitement, like he had when she was a little girl anticipating her birthday party. He also prayed with her before their call ended, something he had never done before, and after some thought, she decided that she liked it.
Johnny was already snoring softly in the window seat as the plane departed the northern capital, signature plumes of steam from the pulp mills rising in parallel, slanted salutes to the hopes, dreams, and sorrows of the individuals sharing the sturdy capsule climbing into the cold, gray sky.
Mary’s novel slipped to the seat beside her before the drink cart came by, and the flight attendant smiled wistfully as she tucked a small blanket around the shoulders of the striking young woman, face relaxed in sleep. The attendant noticed she was holding the large hand of the sleeping man next to her and envied the aura around the couple. Someday, she thought, someday.
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