Next morning, we watch the news and once again they're forecasting snow. As usual, there's this little cloud right above our location on the map. It's supposed to be just a dusting, though.
Quantum and CK slog through the snow. CK comes back with the propane tank, which took Quantum some time to find again. Quantum goes after the hay. Some long time later he gets back with a few of the groceries, but not the hay. "I left it by the fence. I couldn't drag it any further."
"Oh and M wants us to babysit a house for him. Not his house, some other house on his property. The guy who lives there is in Florida and M has to go out for a day or two. He needs someone to watch the woodstove. He's going to meet us at the fence at 4."
We discuss the logistics. We can't leave our trailer alone with the heater running. We can't leave the cats without the heater. We can't leave the dog at all. I suggest we bring all three over to CK. Quantum nixes that. "We'll have to take the dog with us."
Now Zen already flips out and bounces like mad when there's snow. I can't imagine a long walk through knee-deep snow with him. And we can't get him up on the tractor, so one of us will have to walk. It's getting near 4, so we table the discussion , and I get bundled up to retrieve the hay.
I won't be able to lift a full bale myself, so I grab a bunch of garbage bags to stuff it into. On the way, I stop at CK's trailer and tell him to talk to Quantum and work things out. Since he's going to need to take the cats at least, it involves him.
The path is hard going, with a bit more snow on it than there'd been the night before. The wind is picking up and I have to fight it to get the hay in the bags. I get a couple of them stuffed full, wrap a tarp around the rest and head back. About 2/3 of the way back, CK is heading toward me.
"You and Quantum keep giving me different stories," he whines.
"Why? What did he say?"
"You tell me one thing and he says something else."
"So what the F did he say?"
It goes on like this for several exchanges, and by now I'm yelling at him. I finally manage to discern that he came out to help me carry the hay, so I give him the bags and go back for more.
The second time, CK meets me closer to halfway. "I'm so tired," he says, "this is the fourth time I'm making this walk. Fourth time? Is he counting each direction he walks in--halfway? I resist the urge to smack him in the head.
The yaks are happy to have hay. Yonkers doesn't even greet me with her usual charging at the fence.
I go back in to see what Quantum's decided. By that time it's almost time to meet M, and we still haven't captured the cats, figured out how to get them the 60 feet from our door to CK's without them escaping, and figured out what to do with the dog.
"It's probably better if I just go and you can stay here with the critters," he says. "
"Have you ever used a woodstove before?"
"No. I'm sure M can show me."
He takes the EZ-book PC his mom sent him, and hopes to get on IMs so he can communicate with me. He's also hoping that he can at least get a hot shower out of the deal.
Quantum and I haven't spent a night apart since I had to go to my grandmother's funeral three years ago. It feels weird with him out of the house. Darkness comes, and snow is falling, but just lightly. No word from Quantum on IMs. I cuddle with the puppy on the couch and watch Disney cartoons, and worry about the woodstove situation. Paranoid about fire? Not me. *cough*
I decide that in the morning I'll throw the cats in a pillowcase (the cat carrier is in the snow somewhere) is so I can bring them to CK, and take the dog with me to wherever Quantum's staying.
Next morning I wake up to a wall of snow. We got another 2 feet during the night and it doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon.
CK shows up and informs me that according to what CK told him last night, I have maybe 8 or less hours of propane left. Plus we're low on gas for the generator. Meanwhile, my mom is once again preparing to field calls, but no word from Quantum.
She finally hears from him late that afternoon. He's in town with M, and will be home after M finishes playing pool.
Just before dark Quantum shows up and he's royally pissed. He fell down in the snow and was screaming for help for a half hour and neither of us heard him. I had the sound off on the computer, and the TV was off, so...?
Turns out he ended up sleeping on an uncomfy chair right in front of the woodstove to keep it from going out. No internet. The TV there was a mess of wires, so he couldn't even figure out how to hook that up right. No shower either - way too cold. On the sweet side, he missed me as much as I missed him.
Meanwhile CK was totally wrong about how much propane I had. Thanks for worrying me, dude.
The falling in the snow thing has me scared. What if he couldn't get up?
No comments:
Post a Comment