Before we left to look at Dawn’s new cabin she inherited, she came to Sky and myself to clear up some things. I knew much of what she told us again, but some things were new. She was hesitant to tell us before because she was worried it might affect whether she would be allowed to join us or not. She was thrown out of the house after she turned 17 when her dad found out what she had done, which was similar to what Sky had done. 

Like Sky, she did not sign up for what she ended up doing, she was forced into it. But her dad blamed her and said she was no longer his daughter, and she was no longer welcome in his home. He even applied to have her last name changed because he did not want her connected to him and his family in any way at all. Her siblings agreed with their dad. 

They all said horrible things to her, but what her dad said was the worst. She did not fight the name change, she did not know how. She tried 3 times to get reconciled with her family. Once at her mother’s funeral but her dad threw her out of the funeral home, literally. Then at her brother’s wedding, he called the police and had her escorted out. 

Then at her sister’s wedding and again her dad threw her out. So, she gave up. ”Here, we are all family,” I said, “a real family.” ”Thank you so much big brother,” she said smiling, then she looked at Sky. ”Of course,” said Sky smiling back at her. Dawn then gave me a big hug. Then Sky told me I was not allowed to come along on this trip. 

“This is not a case, we are just going to look at a cabin,” she told me, “she may not even want to keep it.” ”Maybe we will buy the place and use it for a vacation retreat for the team,” I told her. She did not want me to come because I was still recovering from my heart attack, even though I felt fine. Even Dr. Kerstina is amazed at how well I am now and my heart seems to be very strong with no damage whatever. However, I listened to Sky and stayed home. 

I told her she needed to take 8 other girls along so there would be 10 of them. She took Chantelle, so they would have a nurse, plus Kristina, Astrid, Candace, Sapphire, Charly, Engla and Crystal. A good mix of newer and older team members. Off they went. Baldwin had 4 wheel drive SUV’s waiting for them to use since it is winter. There is a small town close to where they were going and it had a hotel for them to stay at too. 

After they were gone I told Rock to follow behind with his team, but to stay in a certain city that was not too far away. He took John, Clarence, Miles, Aari and Alfred. Sky and the girls arrived at the town and booked into the hotel. It was small and older, but very nice, and it had a restaurant. The lady the operated the hotel said they better bring supplies with them. 

“You just cannot trust the weather up here in the winter,” she said, “storms can move in fast and you could be snowed in for days before they plow that road.” The snow was already fairly deep, but they found someone with a large plow that went with them and plowed out a road for them to get to the cabin. They just stared at this “cabin”. 

“That is a big house,” said Dawn, “I mean, it is big.” But it was very old and definitely had some problems to it. Dawn unlocked the door and they all went in. They also had 3 cats, Storm, Tiia and Ginger and they went running around looking for mice. Sky called home and told me all about the place, but she also said that cell phone service was not dependable around there so not to worry if they do not hear from them for a bit. 

Any emergency and the cats would send a message. I did not like that part. The girls were so excited about looking around that they did not notice the snow, or the time, until it started getting dark. They went outside to find there was a foot of new snow, and still snowing. Plus, neither of their vehicles would start. But, they had all their gear and there were beds and blankets in the house, plus lots of firewood. 

“That firewood has not been sitting there for very long,” said Engla. It was true, this place had not been lived in for 60 years, that wood was maybe cut last summer. They brought in lots of wood and after the cats checked mattresses, the girls hauled them to what was likely the dining room. It had a large fireplace and a wood burning heater. The kitchen had a large wood burning cook stove. Sky did not like what was happening, she tried phoning me but…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.