 
DAVID SHATH SQUARE Chapter Thirty
My grandfather regained strength rapidly. He really was a tough old buzzard. After a week of solid food and daily walks, he claimed he was fit to wrestle a grizzly. And maybe he was.
During his convalescence, he never stopped asking about Thoreena, Shadow and me. When my father and Lee Chang thought that he was strong enough to hear the news, they sat him down at the kitchen table to tell the story.
My father, after a few false starts, finally got right to the
heart of the matter.
"Hardy, Thoreena and Shadow have been missing since August...the same day you lapsed into a coma."
My grandfather didn't say anything. He just stared at my father
in disbelief.
"We think they're dead. We searched every inch of ground from here to Winnipeg. We found nothing. They simply vanished," My father's hands shook as he spoke.
My grandfather remained silent.
"We get Mr. Swede and most of people in Pointe to help with
search," added Lee Chang. We not give up for months."
"Folks just don't vanish!" my grandfather finally said, slamming his fist on the table. "And even if they could vanish, why would they want to?"
My father and Lee Chang looked at each other across the table.
Finally my father said: "Thoreena was pregnant and Hardy is the father."
"How do you know Zach's the father?"
"Because he confided in Lee Chang the same day he and Thoreena disappeared," my father said.
"I promise Mr. Hardy I not tell secret," said a distraught Lee Chang. "But when he and Miss Thoreena disappear I feel I must tell."
My grandfather sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. After a while, he stood up and walked over to the window.
"Did the Swede know that his daughter was pregnant?"
"Yes. She told him the morning the kids and the dog disappeared."
My grandfather stared out the window at a whiskey jack that had
swooped into a feeder.
"And what did the Swede say to Thoreena?"
"You know the Swede," said my father. "He's a deeply religious person. He lost his temper when she told him. He said he'd disown her if she didn't get rid of the child."
My grandfather rubbed his stubbly chin and continued to stare out
the window. Suddenly he turned to face my father and Lee Chang.
"Damn religion and damn the Swede," he said. quot;Folks should listen to common sense. Not some gobbledygook spouted by a half-assed preacher thumpin' a bible."
My father and Lee Chang stared at the table while my grandfather
paced the floor, thinking. After a few minutes he stopped and said:
"We've got ourselves a problem. What we aim to do 'bout it?"
My father stood up and faced my grandfather.
"Jeb, they've been missing for almost nine months. We've
searched for them everywhere. I think we have to face the fact that
they're no longer alive."
"Oh, I see," said my grandfather, striding up to face my father. "We'll just quit on 'em. But then quittin' is pretty much your style, ain't it Judas."
"Shut up, Jeb," said my father, who stood his ground. "I'm fed up with being called a quitter for a mistake I made years ago. Did it ever occur to you that I may have had a reason for staying away from my wife's death bed?"
"Yeh, you were too busy runnin' around with your nancy-boy
friends to give a damnation about your wife."
"Fuck you, Jeb!" screamed my father. "You know that's a lot of malicious gossip and if you don't shut your mouth I'm going to shut it for you. I don't care if you are an eighty-five-year-old wheezebag."
Lee Chang jumped up from the table and stood between my father
and my grandfather. He was astonished by my father's angry outburst because my father normally kept a tight rein on his emotions.
"Mr. Jeb, Mr. Jude. Stop fight. This not solve anything. Sit
down and think peaceful thoughts."
My father and my grandfather walked to different corners of the
room, glaring at each other like angry prizefighters. Lee Chang started a kettle to boil and made a pot of aromatic tea. He forced my father and my grandfather to drink two cups each.
It didn't take long for the soothing brew to ease the tension in the room. Eventually both men returned to their seats at the kitchen
table where Lee Chang sipped tea and smoked his pipe.
"I've got a question," said my grandfather, speaking directly to Lee Chang. "You said the whole village helped to look for the kids. Was anyone 'specially helpful?"
Lee Chang smoked his pipe thoughtfully.
"Funny you mention," he said. "But, yes, we get lots of help from unlikely source."
"Who was it?"
"Mr. Craven. He say he out hunting on day kids disappear and see them walking on rail line toward Lac du Bonnet. He insist on taking us to spot he last see them."
My grandfather sat up straight in his chair. His eyes sparkled
and he smiled.
"I knew those kids ain't dead. I can feel it in my bones. Let's
have a little chat with Mr. Craven. And somebody get a message to the Swede. He'll want to be in on this."
To Chapter Twenty-nine
Copyright © 2000 David Square/Log Cabin Chronicles/03.2000 |
