The Dude Ranch-chapter 6
By SamPast
and Huggedlots
Copyright © 1999, All
rights reserved
Later, halfway through
dessert, Heather ran over to their table in the dining hall.
Charlie jumped up. Heather
was a mess. "Heather! What happened? Are you all right? Where's
Maggie?"
"She isn't with
you?" Heather asked concerned.
"No, we haven't seen
her since you picked her up this afternoon," Charlie said confused.
Now Heather was confused.
"Picked her up? I didn't pick her up. I just went to the camp, and. . ."
Charlie looked at his
watch. It was half past six.
Heather said, "Yeah, I
know, I was a little late. Anyway, they told me what happened today, and I got
so worried, until they told me Maggie was with you."
Lisa joined in the
conversation. "Well, she's not with us, Heather. And if she's not with
you, then where could she be?"
"I, I don't know. I, I
thought she was with the camp. I thought she was fine," Heather started to
shake.
Lisa took her hand and
said, "C'mon, sit down. Let me get you some coffee."
The twins just looked at
Heather. They were in shock that Maggie was not with her. They were scared.
"Daddy? Where could Maggie be?" Jennifer
asked.
"I don't know,"
Charlie said seriously. "But where ever she is, she's been there a long
time." Now Charlie sat down. "We just assumed that she had left with
you."
"But where would she
go? And why would she leave?" Heather asked.
"You really have no
idea, do you?" Charlie asked angrily.
Lisa came back with
Heather's coffee. She put her hand on her husband's arm. "Now, now, honey,
easy." She turned to Heather. "Here, drink this."
Heather took the coffee and
took a sip. "Maybe I should call my mother. Maybe Maggie
tried to go home."
"Do you live far from here?" Lisa asked.
"About two hours. But
there's a Greyhound bus that practically takes you right to our door. I guess
it's possible that Maggie got on it," Heather said.
"Where would she get
money for the bus?" Lisa asked.
"Oh, I don't know, I
have to think," Heather cried.
"I think it's time we
told the head of the ranch what's going on. Maybe we can organize a search
party," Charlie said.
"That's a good idea,
honey. You do that. I'll stay here with Heather, and the girls," Lisa said
calmly.
"DADDY! I'm scared!" Robin jumped up onto
Charlie's leg and wouldn't let him leave.
Charlie reached down and
pulled Robin up. He hugged her tight. "Don't be scared, sweetie. We'll
find Maggie. Okay, you stay with Mommy. I'll be back in a little while."
"Charlie, we'll meet
you back at the cabin," Lisa called to him. He nodded and left the dining
hall. Lisa, Heather, and the twins walked solemnly back to the Clemente's cabin.
Heather absently watched t.v. with the girls. Lisa tried to offer soothing words of
comfort. They waited and waited for what seemed like hours, but really had only
been forty-five minutes. They all looked up when Charlie and another man, Tim,
the head of the ranch, walked through the door.
"Did you find
her?" Heather asked, jumping up.
"No, ma'am, I'm sorry.
We looked everywhere, the playground, the ice cream parlor, the duck pond, the
stables, all the places Mr. Clemente here thought she might be," Tim said.
"I thought she might
be with her pony, where I found her this morning," Charlie said.
Heather looked to Charlie.
"She was missing this morning, too?"
Charlie stared icicles at
Heather. "We'll talk later, Heather. What's important right now, is
finding Maggie."
Tim asked Heather,
"Can you think of any place that your daughter really loved? Someplace she
might go to make herself happy. Mr. Clemente seemed to think she was very
unhappy when she left."
Heather said, "No, I
mean, I really don't know." The sad part was that she really didn't know.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Robin, what is
it?" Charlie asked.
"I have an idea where
Maggie might be," she said.
"Where, honey?"
"She was really happy
when we finally found the waterfall today. She said it was the most beautiful thing
she had ever seen," Robin said.
Charlie looked at Lisa.
"Do you think?" he asked.
Tim said, "Well, if
she is there, we'd better get going. It's at least a thirty minute hike, and
it's starting to get dark. C'mon, we're gonna need
more men, and plenty of flashlights." He walked out the door, and started
talking into his walkie-talkie.
"I'm going, too.
Hopefully, I'll be back soon, and I'll have Maggie with me," Charlie said
as he kissed all three of his girls good-bye. He just stared at Heather, as he
turned and walked out the door.
Jennifer went over to
Heather and said, "Don't worry, my Daddy is the best. He'll find
her."
Heather started pacing
around the cabin and then went outside to smoke a cigarette. Robin and Jennifer
looked outside and saw Heather smoking and said, "Yuck, Mommy, Heather is
smoking! No wonder she smells so yucky!"
Lisa frowned. "Shhh girls, your dad and I do not smoke, nor do we like the
smell, but Heather is a grown up and we are NOT going to say anything to her
about it, got it?"
"Yes, Mommy,"
both girls agreed.
"I am going outside to
talk to Heather, girls. I want you both to color or watch tv. I will be right outside, okay?" Lisa asked.
"Sure, Mommy,"
Jennifer said.
"We are not babies; we
can be alone for a bit," Robin whined.
Lisa went over and swatted
Robin hard on her bottom. "Y'ouch!" Robin
yelped.
"I am really tired of
your whining, Robin, you will stop it immediately,
unless you want to go to bed with a sore bottom. Do you, young lady?"
"No, Mommy, I'm sorry,
really," Robin replied as she clutched her bottom. Everyone was clearly on
edge tonight. Lisa just sighed, and said, "Robin, please be a good girl,
okay?"
Robin sobbed, "Yes,
Mommy."
Lisa went over and hugged
Robin. "I'm sorry. I know you are worried about your friend, but we will
find her, I promise." Then Lisa hugged Jennifer, too. "I'll be right
outside." Both girls looked at her with worried but trusting eyes. Lisa
wished life were that easy.
Lisa walked outside to talk
to Heather. She was leaning against a tree as if without it she would fall
over. Looking up she cried, "I should have gone with them. Why did I stay
here?"
"Well for two reasons,
first of all because they can go faster, and secondly because if Maggie comes
back here, you will be here," Lisa reasoned.
"Lisa? Can you tell me
what happened this morning?" Heather asked.
Lisa told
Heather, sparing her no details, and watched Heather's reactions. Then she filled her in on the afternoon.
"But what made her run
away?" Heather asked.
"I don't really know,
Heather. So until we find Maggie, we won't really know the answer to that. But,
I can tell you, that your daughter is one very unhappy child," Lisa
replied.
"I know," Heather
sighed, "I just don't know what to do to be a better parent."
"Well, do you really
want an answer to that, Heather, or is that just an empty question?" Lisa
asked impatiently.
Heather began to cry, which
was the first time Lisa had seen some real emotion
from her.
"Look, I know you have
already judged me, and decided I am a lousy parent. Well guess what? I already
know that myself!" Heather shrieked.
"You know what? This
isn't about YOU, it's about Maggie. Stop indulging in all this self pity, will
you? I am NOT buying it," Lisa shouted.
With that, Lisa turned
around and went back inside the cabin. She knew she should have kept talking to
Heather, but she was tired, and worried, and out of patience. Talking about
that kind of thing was something Charlie was good at. Lisa's temper sometimes
won out over her compassion.
"Where is Heather,
Mommy? Jenn asked.
Lisa took a deep breath.
Then she said, "She is still outside, dear. Look, I know we are all
worried and tense, how about a game of Chutes and Ladders?"
"Ahh,
that's a baby game, Mommy. How about umm, lets see, Trouble?" Robin didn't
even know what she'd said, until both Lisa and Jenn began to giggle. Robin then
realized it, and giggled, too. That helped to break the tension.
Lisa said, "Okay, I'll
be right back, set up the game."
She turned and went back
outside and found Heather still slumped by the tree crying. "Look,
Heather, I am sorry. I sometimes have a quick fuse, and I shouldn't have
snapped at you that way, okay? Come back into the cabin and wait with us."
Heather thanked Lisa, but
said she would feel better watching the road and waiting to see them coming
back.
"Okay, I
understand." Lisa went back inside to keep the twins company and their
minds occupied while they all worried and waited.
Meanwhile, Charlie and the
others worked their way to the waterfall. The sun was setting as they got
there, and it was wet and slippery. Charlie thought he saw a small shadow as
they approached the rock in front of the falls.
"Maggie!" he
called out, "honey, answer me, it's Uncle Charlie!" He saw a
movement, and realized that Maggie was huddled really close to the edge of the
rock she was sitting on. "Honey, don't move, okay? I'm coming to get
you." Maggie, seeing Charlie, was really suprised,
and by this time she was cold, and hungry, and sorry she ran. She stood up and
not realizing her feet were asleep, stumbled and fell headfirst into the water.
"Oh
NO!"
Charlie yelled, and he started running down the slippery slope. He kicked his
shoes off, and dove into the deep, running water. Maggie was screaming and
yelling for help. Charlie swam to her, and in a few minutes, but what seems
like a lifetime to Maggie, grabbed her, and swam back to the rock.
The men were all there by
now, and pulled them out. Shivering, they both clung to the other.
"Are you okay,
Maggie?" Charlie tried to look her over and check for bleeding. The rocks
had been sharp, and he was worried she might be cut somewhere and not know it.
"I am sooo cold, Uncle Charlie," Maggie said, shivering,
with her teeth chattering.
"I know, honey, we
will get you dry and warm in a second."
The temperature at the
ranch dramatically dropped at night, and it was about 45 degrees, even though
it was summer. Tim took off his jacket and another man took off his sweatshirt.
Charlie quickly stripped Maggie, shielding her from the other men's eyes, and
dried her with the sweatshirt and wrapped her in the warm jacket.
Picking her up, he hugged
her tight, and Maggie started sobbing into his neck. "I am sorry, Uncle
Charlie, I really am."
"Shhhhh,
little one. You are safe, and we will talk about all this later, okay?"
Maggie clung to Charlie's
neck with all her might, and they began the long climb and walk back to the
cabins.