The soldiers meadow!

In his arms I felt safe and warm. I could watch the Deer move into the meadow as the
day grew darker...I had no wish to ride out of here after dark. I also had no wish to
leave those comforting arms! He even SMELLED safe! His brand of aftershave was
none at all. He wore the fresh smell of soap and Man, and forest. I didn't want to
leave this place, this hour, or his arms, BUT it was time. It was time before we
became to involved in what we were both thinking of doing....This might be the prefect
place. It was not the perfect time. It was much to early in our relationship to even
THINK the thoughts we were both aware the other was thinking.
Reluctantly I rose from those comfortable arms. We rose from our nest in
the forest where we could have made either beautiful love, or a terrible mistake.
I wasn't sure which was the mistake at this point. Was it the staying or the going?
Again he took my hand that I might walk through the wilds of the meadow and negotiate
the creek. He opened the door of his old truck, and we were roaring back toward
the little town I was beginning to think of as home!
It was probably a good thing we couldn't talk over the roar of his old truck!
The thoughts that were marching through my head would have made a sailor blush!
Hadn't I ran away from my huge family to get away from an old man with clammy
cold hands and a body gone to pot, to escape these kinds of thoughts. The difference
was who was doing the THINKING.
This time it was me thinking, the impure thoughts. This man was my own age
and NO one had the right to give him my body BUT ME! There was no group of people
telling me,"You were born to be sealed to this old man with gnarly hands!"
There was no one to push my parents into compliance. No one to reward of punish them for what I
would NOT do.
Certainly at barely six-teen I would not be allowed to be alone with a youthful man
of good looks, and sweet manners! It was so ingrained into my family that only what
the Church wanted, was what God wanted! What of Free Will? What of my wishes?
It had taken a lot of courage to leave that compound in the "dead of night" with nothing
but the clothes on my back! I only had them, because good sturdy clothes hid the
marks of the lash used to "convince me" the elders of the church knew my heart better
than I!
At first, I'd gone to Nevada, to do what I knew best. I had so many sisters and brothers
that I KNEW how to take care of small children. I KNEW when they were sick, tired or
hungry. I knew how to help keep a house clean and children clean and fed. I just didn't
like the way Nevada was ran. I didn't like the gambling, the drinking, the easy morals
of the woman I worked for. Then there was the night she brought home a man for me
to "meet." Once more I'd gone off into the night. This time I had a bag full of comfortable
clothes. This time I had a car. It wasn't much of a car. It was paid for. The clothes were
hand made. They fit me! They were just plain blue, or black, or white. I didn't want "Jewel
tones." I wanted to belong to ME! This time I had enough money to drive far away into
the darkness and I used it to get me as far away as I could! I had driven till I ran out of
money, till the old car was nearly spent and I needed to replenish my purse so I could
get even further away! Now I thought I knew who or what or where my Higher Power
was leading me.....It was not to a home full of plural wives to a man I did not want!
The sight of the huge lakes of North Idaho were a revelation to me! I had no idea
there were forests as there were here. I had no idea there were such people. These were
people who didn't seem to judge me for NOT being what they WANTED me to be.
I'd driven through the Palouse. That was where the appaloosa horse came from.
The wild hills were all gone, now it was grown to wheat and other crops. The tractor
was king in the Middle of Idaho. Each small hillock seemed to be plowed and planted
in a different configuration, a different pattern to confound the winds that seemed
to blow day and night! If the appaloosa horse ranged these grounds it was no wonder
he had huge lungs. To traverse these grounds he would HAVE to be strong of limb
and lung!
I'd seen a sign that said something about a lake. I thought I would drive to
the head of that gem of a lake and eat my lunch. I drove for half an hour, till I
breasted a hill into a small town. A hill into another century. I drove that old limping
"Olds" of mine into the arms of people who had rarely heard of plurals. I found a place
to stay. It was locally called "the shacks" but the rent was right. I found a job that
very day! My old car even had a garage, I could pull the door shut and no one would
see the Nevada plates. No one would put me together with that girl with a whole, and
different life a couple days drive from Twin Rivers!
I thought on telling him all of these things as we rode to town. He drove more
slowly now. He was not in a hurry to let me leave his side. I recognized that, and smiled!
"What are you thinking?" He took his hand from the stick shift on the truck long
enough to squeeze my hand.
"I'm thinking of the past, and yearning for a future!" I kept smiling.
"That is a puzzling answer!" He squeezed my hand in his warm and tough
grasp.
"Actually, I was storing away our day in,The Soldier's Meadow!" I squeezed
back. "That is a beautiful place. Thank you so much for sharing it with me!"
I felt as though I had fallen through the rabbit hole and my new name should be
Alice!
"You never give me a square answer! You seem to find a way to avoid
every question I ask. Why are you such a secret? " His face was intense though
the gentle way he held my hand never changed. He was asking, he was not demanding!
"Someday when you have more time than we have now, I will tell you the
story of my life!" I quipped."Remember,I live in the "party shacks?" I released
his hand and placed my hand on his knee. "I would love to do this again soon!"
I kissed him very quickly as I fled from that old rusty pick up and his waiting arms!
I literally fled from his truck and into my own little house! I heard him
gun the engine while I ran inside, turning on lights as I went. I didn't know why
I was suddenly so afraid of his company. I just knew I HAD to get away!

The Glen

"I've heard the term Awe inspiring all my life," I whispered."This is what they were talking about!"

Everywhere I looked there was beauty. The high mountain stream danced through the meadow it sung a melody I could not quite make out. I knew angels could sing along. The creek danced over rocks and into pools teaming with brook trout. Small water falls came from high in the mountain and formed into sprays while it made other small water falls. Once more it wove it way through the high meadow.

Trees were beginning to narrow the glen growing deeper and deeper into the meadow. I wanted to dance beside the waters edge. I wanted to sing along while meandering through the meadow filled with lupine, Indian paint brush and vetch. I wanted to eat of the huge Berries hanging from the brush. They seemed to hang there by a magical hand. The air was filled with perfume. The magical had seemed to of hung them for the many many birds who sung only for us.


We ambled quietly along on foot deeper and deeper into the meadow. Jack took my hand in his while we crossed the creek on moss covered rocks. I left my small hand in his large strong fingers. He held it long after we were safe and I was content to leave my hand in his. We followed a very old track past a "down in the heals" looking old shack, hidden deep in the glen...We were drawn deeper and deeper into a valley with a view Even God
would be proud to call his own! He was near by. I could feel his presence in the air we
breathed and the dancing of the waters.


We were alone here, we were safe. I had forgotten what it felt like to feel "safe," I'd not felt safe since I was a small child. Even my sense of smell was heightened. I could smell the cedar, the pine. My nostrils flared at the smell of the dust in the high mountains. I could hear the buzzing of the insects, bees, fly and butterflies danced through the clear air. I could feel my hand in his,somehow I knew he would go no further than I would allow. I was like the doe...

I could feel rather than see the timid step in the deep mulch of the forest. She could be seen testing the air before she walked into the open of the glen...

Jack and I
stood stark still while she sniffed the air and nibbled on the buck brush that sprouted all about her. A fawn stepped on wobbling new legs. She too, was timid and afraid but slowly followed her Mama, into the glen. She was a new born babe, I believe from this day to this we witnessed her first meal when we saw her stretch her tiny neck to nurse at her mother's breast, while her Mama grazed calmly, unafraid of those wild things that could be hidden in the deep forest.

I could barely speak, the beauty held us in thrall. The doe and her fawn were a gift
we were not expecting. The whole scene was something I would have never dreamed.


An osprey soared and danced on the wind over the shining waters of the deep blue lake I could see in the distance...At times the osprey was a speck high in the clear blue sky. We could hear it
calling to it's mate.


I sat on the ground like a child. For the first time in many many years I knew I was home. Twin Rivers was going to be my home for life. I never wished to be any where else. I knew little of this man I was with. I knew he worked hard, he was a lumber man and it was all hard work. I knew he was only home on week ends. I knew he had a big heart,and an open smile. No where in MY world had anyone ever given me a gift of friendship, without asking something of me in return. It was normally more than I wished to give.


I watched the doe and her fawn feed quietly in the edge of the glen, and the birds do the
dance they had performed for a million years. I watched the man out of the corner of my eye. He was openly watching me....And still he was silent. There seemed to be nothing more on his mind than the beauty before us and the time we had together...
Yes! I was in Awe.....

The Glen..TWo rivers...a fiction

    North Idaho is a place of wonder. Around any corner one could find a 

gem of some sort or another...It's called "The Gem State" for a reason.

It's not just because of the mineral deposits God saw fit to leave lie around.

It is truly beautiful. The bad news for Idaho,was Humanity! 

    The likes of which can only be guessed. The famous and the infamous

walked the board walks and rode the stern wheelers across the big lake.The Natives used to camp, fish and harvest their berries along the dancing waters. That was before, Before there was A Gold Rush!!!

 The likes of Calamity Jane,

Wyatt Earp and his wife and many others have been through the "silver

valley" since Noah Kellogg's fabled "Jack Ass" supposedly kicked a chunk

of dirt off of a shelf of silver!  If That silver was nearly the undoing of North

Idaho,  First It became it's salvation! They had to mine that ore, be it silver,

lead, or gold! Then they had to smelt it. The  sulfuric acid from the smelter

was enough to eat the lining off your lungs, or the paint off your car. It was

enough to turn a beautiful forest into a waste land. It turned beautiful flowing

water into a muck that poisoned killed and destroyed what ever it touched!

Man had a real affect on North Idaho's silver valley. The grave yards are full

of those who's lives it changed!

   

   "Jack, I don't want to see the distraction of the area. I want to see the

wonders you promised! I want to see the deer, the elk....and perhaps a bear

or two! Can we do that?" I smiled as we roared down a "goat trail" in a 

speeding pick up truck. I could barely see the track he followed, He followed

it at a very high speed. I was glad he'd fussed with the seat belt when he so

unceremoniously stuffed me into this thing!

   

    Jack jocked his old pick up through the bushes pushing over small trees as he went. The Bull pines stood like soldiers against a blue sky. The limbs half way up seemed to be dead or dying. The Douglas fir were a prettier tree with it's radish colored bark and rich foliage. My favorite were the Hemlock and cedar trees growing in tall splendor on the ridge and flat of our route..We'd splashed through several small creeks "crick" in Idaho. We were coming up on a very big "crick" Jack followed the banks of the larger creek for quite a while before he came to a spot that was obviously the local "ford" It was the place of many tracks on both banks of the deep green water. I hung off  What is lovingly called the "OH CRAP" handle on that pick up truck! The creek was deep this time of year and the floor of the creek was NOT all to gether level! 

Jack must have seen me make the grab for the "Ohhh Crap" handle. He smiled a bit and slowed to a gentle roar! "First let me tell you about the "HAUNTED GLEN."  He was pretty pleased

with himself. "During the Civil war there was an old boy who came to town once a month to buy supplies with gold coin. He only showed up once a month. He only bought what he needed and he never threw his money around. No one ever knew where it came from, or where HE went! One day it was noted that he had stopped coming to the store!  There was some hue and cry...But his body and his cache of money were never found!"

   "This time of the day there is only wild life. The Deer and elk love this area. I've always thought there were natural salt licks around the valley. I think they are natural. Some of the old boys around here who have to live on "rocking chair" Unemployment, money from the state aren't to careful where they leave salt blocks lay around ..That's against the law you know. Well NOT really against the law to put salt out for the animals. It's against the law to hunt where you have been placing salt licks for the wild animals!" He smiled at me and nearly hit a big old bolder ...."I wonder who left that THERE!" he chuckled....

   "This was all glaciated during the ice age. There was a huge ice block that blocked water from way above Missoula Montana. This was all a part of Lake Missoula! Lake Missoula backed up water clear into the Rathdrum prairie, down by Coeur d' Alene! The small ponds and pot hole lakes were all a part of that! These big rocks you see tossed out here like building blocks tossed by a spoiled kid, were left here by a receding glacier! So literally, I suppose God, or Mother Nature LEFT that there!" He grinned around a tooth pick he'd been chewing on. I held onto that  handle and occasionally hit the imaginary "air brakes." If you have ever been in the woods with a man who Knows his way around and is showing off a bit you KNOW where those air brakes ARE! He seemed to be showing off a GOOD BIT!

I could smell the smells of spring. I could smell the wet bark the spring flowers waking from their snow covered beds. The sky was blue as blue as water. White clouds floated lazily by. The creek sung to us when ever we could hear it over the roar of the truck! 

"STOP" I yelled!

Jack did as he was told. He locked that truck up so tight a pencil couldn't of got out of it's mufflers! The truck slid sideways in the mud! If there would have been anything dry out there, it would have been DUST!...

"Would you shut this thing off for a minute?" I was not really happy. I'd been jerked around, battered and flailed by every bit of junk that was ratting around in that old truck! When he'd shut it down the silence seemed eerie! There was NOT a bird, or a bee to buzz; the air was so very  still.

"Jack, I couldn't see a game animal if I had Super Man's glasses! The noise of this old truck has ran off every thing for miles and miles. It is wonderful out here....I love it! I love the sounds the smells and the gifts that have been offered to us! I can't enjoy them while I am hanging on for Dear life so you can barrel through this beauty to get to Lord only knows what could be better! Just stop, please, I want to get out. I want to walk around. I want to touch, see and even TASTE a few things while I am here. Most of all I want to live another day to see more and more of the things I've NEVER seen before . If you keep us moving at the rate you were going there is NOTHING to guarantee I will be able to DO that!"

"OK! He opened the door of the truck and sat with one foot on the door jam! I'm glad you told me! Now we are getting some where! You have to tell ME what you LIKE. You also have to tell ME what you don't like. I do not read minds. MOST of the people of this area have been here before. This is not new to them. This is just woods! There is nothing spectacular about it!" 

"JUST WOODS! I sputtered!...Jack where I come from there is no forest. there are rattle snakes, you don't walk around those areas without a gun! Yellowstone is just a skip and a jump!  I love elk, deer and Moose. I love these lush green forests. This is wonderful to me!  I haven't seen ONE sage bush in several weeks! I can GET into THAT! I don't care for sage brush! I don't care for rattle snakes! I don't like spuds all that well! Specially Spuds planted and growing in fields  for miles and miles and miles! We are in the BEST part of Idaho. Southern Idaho is pretty much a desert! You didn't even KNOW I AM from Idaho, did you?"

"I knew you weren't any hot house flower, California gal! I brought you out here to show you my favorite spots...This is one...As it happens the Glen is just up the road a bit! I want you to see it before we have to go back and get you to work! Do you mind if I start up the truck one more time so we can do that?" He picked up the green felt hat and pulled it down on his head!

"OK, Start it up!" I giggled. "Jack, where did you get that hat?" I strapped back into the seat belt.

"It's tradition! My Dad wears one. His father in law wears one! It's like the staged off black pants and the suspenders...A good logger never leaves home without them!  I left my cork's at home! A man don't come courtin' with his Corks on!"

He drawled his words so he sounded like he was from the Waaaay back woods....

"Is that what we are doing, are we courtin?" I tried to mimic the spin he'd put on those words! "Shoot Man! We could have done that by the river! We could have done that by the lake, or on my couch! We didn't have to drive all the way out here to COURT!" I was giggling, for the first time since we'd gone out there I'd actually relaxed!

"What in the hell are Corks? and PLEASE...buy a base ball cap! I've been wanting to snatch up one of those green felt hats and use it for a frizbee since I got up here!"

"Where are you from Robin? You are from Idaho? What part of Idaho?" He wasn't driving so fast or hard so he could actually talk....This didn't take the skill he had been putting into his driving. I was beginning to think someone had entered us in a race, and forgot to tell me!

"I'm from the deepest darkest part of Idaho. I'm from a part of Idaho very few

have ever heard of. I'm a mystery woman who sprung from the desert like 

a cactus. I'm a mystery. just like your Soldier who owned the Glen!"

He stopped on the very edge of a mountain where we could look down and see, and see, and see......It seemed to go on for miles and miles and miles...and beyond those trees was a lake, I could see it like a desert mirage...It was a lake so far away. On this day of clear clean air I could see it was there....I could see there was a boat....It seemed to be going round and round and round....but I could not hear the boat....I could hear birds singing. I could hear them and see the squirrels high in the trees! Deer played in a meadow flanked by willows and bushes that grew along creek beds...

Jack Unsnapped the seat belt and pulled me into his arms....".NOW I have YOU...You are my prisoner...NO ONE but ME knows you are HERE! I can

Do MY will with YOU!!! Bawwwwwwwhahaha...".His fake laugh robbed his

delivery of those  words with any malice! The kiss that rocked me to my toes

NOW that had POWER!

part 3 fiction, not real.....

  That was about the same time I noted that Jack was blushing.....I don't mean he looked like he was sun burned...He looked like he just woke from one of those dreams...You know the dream where you dream you are in school...in your "Night wear"....And there's a hole right in front

So everyone can see your "shortcomings!"That very thought caused me to look Down!! My heavens! In my haste to see what was going on in my garage..I'd thrown on the first thing that came to my hands. That happened to be the wet white shirt, I'd washed out the night before!I'd hung it over the shower..It was still very wet..Still very silken....and If there had been a wet tee shirt in our town on that day. I would have won, Hands Down. "Let IT All Hang OUT!" was a tag line from a very popular tv show. I was, doing it!...There was NOTHING left to any one's imagination! I was wet and COLD...and every bit of me was standing up to give me NOTICE of that fact!... That shirt was clinging to every ounce of my bust line and very transparent!..Since I didn't take time to put on a bra.....Well he had reason to blush! So did I....I beat a hasty retreat to the inside of my little house to find a blouse....Any blouse that was not plumb see through!If there was anything left to be imagined....His imagination was definitely running riot!I turned and ran to my bathroom to put on a bra....A tee shirt....and a heavy flannel shirt! It was definitely closing the barn door after the pony got away! My face was flaming red in my mirror! It seemed I'd searched most of my life for a man who would look me in the face...And I knew he would be GONE when I got back out there...what was a girl to say?"NO you can NOT pet the puppy with the Brown nose,was taken!"

   He was a nice fella' and I knew he was there to help me! I'd ruined it! I was so worried about my old car! I'd ran right out there, half naked! I felt like, well I felt like such a BOOB! If he was still there when I was dressed like  a lady, would it mean he was NOT the gentleman I thought him to be?

   I stood rooted to my bathroom floor...messing with my long hair...dressed and buttoned nearly to my nose! I hoped he would be there when I got back. I also hoped he would be gone. I knew he had been embarrassed! THAT was a good sign! I was so embarrassed I didn't know if I could face him again! I stood there till I was sure he was done doing what ever it was he was doing to my car...

     "Robin, I hope you don't mind...I washed the grease off my hands in your kitchen sink...I think I got most of the mess cleaned up! I checked the oil in your car. There wasn't much on the Dipstiiiiick!" He stammered..

    I was facing him now across the tiny area that was my kitchen, living area! I'd left the door open in my wild run for the house.."He'd done the normal thing a nice man would do. He followed me in to make sure I was OK!"At least that is what I told myself!

  "I added some oil while I was in there!" He was looking me steadily in my eyes. 

    I ran my fingers down the opening, just to check to see that all my buttons were done! My mind was NOT on the car and it seemed like every thing he said had a double meaning! I was doing my best not to giggle! I hated giggling teenagers. I figured he wouldn't like that either!

   "You need to watch that, Robin! I don't think your dip stick had anything on it!  I'd like to change that for you soon as I have a chance. I was glad to see you had some in the back."

    I could see it was going to take us a while to get back to normal conversation!"Thank YOU, Jack! You don't know how I appreciate the tires and all your help with my car..The oil should

be fine. I just had it changed a few days ago..Lets hope it was just so clean you couldn't see it!"

I tried to smile. I really didn't feel like talking about "dipsticks, or lube!"

   "All RIGHT Jack, I'm  now completely, if not artfully dressed! I'm sorry! I heard you in my garage and I don't know what kind of people live here! I've been here a week, the only place I've been was to work and home! I am so very sorry! I feel so stupid, I embarrassed both of us. I want you to know how I appreciate your hard work, Your caring is very touching!" I stammered..".Now I've gone from dipsticks to TOUCHING!" Once I get my foot out of my mouth, I'd like to say thank you properly and at least offer you a cup of hot coffee!"  

     The smell of coffee brewing was wafting through my kitchen. What a DEAL! He'd 

made coffee while I was hiding in the bathroom! I busied myself with two cups, Milk and Sugar.

I debated with my self a little over the offer of Milk, at this point in our conversation...I decided against it. I would just put it on the tray when I set up the table He was already seated in one of the three chairs. He was a nice man. I kept my fingers crossed I was right! It's very hard to serve coffee with one's fingers crossed!

    "Thank you so very much Jack! you don't know how nice it is to have someone thinking

of me with no motive, only friendship in mind!" Each word seemed to fall like one more

shovel full of dirt on a coffin! "I mean, THANK YOU. Now why don't I just drink my coffee and shut UP!"

     "You said you have been here a week?" His red face showed he HAD been thinking the same way my mind was flowing....Like a Sewer through Sodom..."Some of the guys said there was a new lady in town! New people are kind of a novelty here!" He sipped his coffee, poured some more milk with it and stirred while he waited for me to make some sort of comment....It was awfully hard to make a conversation when you were the only one talking! I did my best to pick up the conversational Ball!

   "Robin, I'll go out and come back in again, if it will make you more comfortable!" He smiled a little. It was NOT the embarrassed kind of smile he'd been wearing. "I brought the tires cause I wanted an excuse to see you again."

    "You certainly did THAT!" I nodded! It was just the sort of remark that made everything seem normal again! We both started laughing at our own reactions and embarrassment. The air was clear. The double meanings stopped hanging around like spider webs in an old shed! Suddenly we were two new friends having coffee on a sunny morning in April! The daffodils were nodding and the world was sitting right again.

   "I actually thought you'd gone! I thought I heard your pick up start and go." I studied his face. I hadn't noticed how very tall he was.

   "I loaded my tool box and threw the trash in the back! Honestly, Robin; I thought of going. I really did. I didn't know how I was going to get us back to where we'd started out. We had a good start on being friends. THEN phhhhhttt! it was gone! I think I'd like us to be friends. Fran told me you are a special sort of gal who has been through the "fires....." I don't know what that means. Fran is a little psychic some times! If she likes you, she likes the Hell out of you! If she don't like you, she has no time to waste ON you. She is really fond of you. I hope she is as fond of me!"

   "I'll have to remember to Thank her later!" I reached across and poured a few teaspoons full of milk into his cup. "I think I would like to be friends with you, too!" 

   "Do you have time to go out for a ride,My Friend?" He unbuttoned the top three buttons of the flannel I wore. I'd managed to put it on  like a suit of armor. "I think it will be pretty warm for that, but we can turn on the air in the truck!"

   I removed the flannel and tied the sleeves around my waist! "What you got in Mind Friend?"

I  just couldn't help it. I had to giggle! He was working so hard to look at my face!

    "Would you like to hear a little about the history of the area? This place has lots of interesting history and legend that goes with it! There are some neat places here. I'd love to be the first to show them to you.  Have you ever been to a Haunted Glen?"

    "As a matter of fact, I NEVER have! Can we be back in time for me to get to work? Should I take my work clothes with us? I can always change at The Inn." Fran don't really mind if I am on the Minute. I owe her about five from yesterday! I probably should be there a little early today. If I am NOT, she will forgive! She is a neat lady, you are Right!"

   "If you like to take pictures bring your camera, It's not far from here, but it is usually

better for ME to prepare for anything that MIGHT happen in the woods. Bring your 

work clothes. There aren't many people in the Glen this time of year. The road in is kinda soggy. I know I can make it both ways cause I was in there yesterday." He picked up the Bag of stuff I handed him, I picked up my purse, we locked my house. He stowed my things behind the seat of his truck helped me up into it. I needed a ladder! He finally just picked me up and sat me in the seats, made a big deal of setting the seat belt, for me! I was impressed by his gentle ways, his strength, and the honest way he'd handled the rift my stupidity had caused in our fledgling relationship! He was quite a man, My new Friend!

Two Rivers...2 Fiction..

 I pulled my old car into the garage quietly as I could. I could hear

laughter and music from all over the "court"... I had no urge

to join in with the parties that were going on. I had an urge to

get a shower and GET  to bed!..

   I unlocked the door with my car keys...locked it firmly behind

me. I turned on the tv in my room....that was light enough for 

tonight. I didn't want company. I didn't care much for drunks.

all I wanted was my shower and my bed! 

   I was careful to hang the ribon tie on the mirror of my dresser

so it wouldn't draw moisture and dye my white blouse with red

streaks...I put my "work clothes" to soak while I luxuriated in

a hot shower! The steam billowed from the tiny bath . Every

muscle in my body was protesting. I must have walked a hundred

miles. "At no time did my feet leave my body!" I thought glumly

I was Tired....HONED as the loggers stated it! I rinsed my work 

clothes and hung them from the shower door to dry and laid

out clean for the next Day....

   Johnnie Carson was talking to his side Kick....."How Hot

Was it Johnnie?" I heard him say....That was all I heard

him say....I was sound asleep!  There was nothing on this

earth that would wake me till I was READY..my feet hurt!

My back hurt. They would be WELL by morning!

    Roosters have no sense of Decorum!  I remember thinking

Just that!...Damn things go waking people in the middle of the

Morning! Morning HECK! It was closer to Noon! I could hear

a strange noise coming from my garage! My car wasn't much!

It was my ONLY way to get to work! THAT was important

to ME! I jumped out of bed and into the first clothes I could

find. The cut off blue jeans and white crotch buttening "body

shirt" would have to do! I didn't have time to fight the snaps

I just tucked the dang thing into the shorts.....I didn't care

if I wasn't a "fashion plate" someone was messing with MY car..

It was broad daylight....The first thought through my head was.

Dad's FOUND me! I raced through my little "cabin" ......

   

  "Well! Good Morning!" Jack's voice came from the front of

my car, and somewhere under neath......He climbed over the

right fender.....wiping the dust from his hands with his handkerchief!

   You missed a good party down on the River last night!" He looked

me in the face..."We sait it there hopeing you would feel like joining

us when you got off work! Didn't you hear us?"

   I wasn't fully awake, in some ways I thought I was still dreaming.

"What are you doing to my car?" I blurted ...

   

    I picked up some tires for you at a friends place. He has an old

Olds like this. He told me they were sure to fit. The tires are like

new. When I saw them I thought of YOU..So I was putting them On...

It was kind of a..Well a surprise!  I was thinking of you stalled along

the road. It is about five mile between here and where you work. 

NOT all the people in this valley are........

I just didn't like the thought

of you sitting along side the road!  You are a stranger here and all.

There are just some people who I wouldn't want you to meet on a

dark road, around midnight when you get off work. I thought you

might be safer with a different set of tires!

"Thank You, Jack, isn't it?" my mind was fuzzy and I didn't want to

be calling him by some one elses name!. "That was very thoughtful 

of you.  I'm sure there are a few people here I wouldn't WANT to be

meeting in the middle of the night, and be at their mercy!  If you

have a minute, I will find you a cup of coffee! If you'd like?"

   "Let me get the Lug nuts tight on your tires....I have a few things

I'd like to tinker with ....check the oil....I might as well do it right while

I'm here!

Two Rivers!

  I came to Two Rivers on my way to somewhere else...

It didn't much matter where. I was just on my way! I

had to get out of my home. The atmosphere there was

thick with drink, anger and hostility. I'd grown up with

all these things and meant to banish them from my life

completely.

  I didn't know places like this actually existed, except in 

fairy tales. Maybe they were on a Movie Set...Two Rivers was like an island of serenity..."We aren't in Kansas!" I really remember

Thinking that to myself while I looked out at the river and

looked at the old town. It was filled with all New people...

These were people who never heard my family name before.

These were people who didn't know I was beat battered and\

abused as a kid. This was a brand NEW start!

It was a town built at the base of many mountains, at the

confluence of two Deep blue Rivers. In Spring the green

of the cotton woods and the wild abandon of the wild

flowers vied for your attention, yet, It all seemed to

have been planted by the hand of God!....At least that's

what my Uncle the Preacher, would have said! All the while

he was staring at my stretch pants clad bottom....or my

bust line!

   I'm just a plain young woman. Early twenties, late 

teens, would be the best explanation for my age...to young

to follow my man into the Bars. To old to sit at home with

the children while he goes with his "buds" and leaves

me alone.

 From my point of view!

There is little striking about me, I have black 

hair,brown eyes flecked with green! I'm neither tall nor short.

I'm five foot five inches tall. I'm neither thin nor fat...But

right in that area where most men in my age group tease me

about KNOWING I am coming into a place five minutes before

my body arrives.....the boobs come in first! That's IS the   men who

care to know me...Or are bold enough to talk With me...Instead

of to my BREASTS..

   Yeh! I'm stacked like the proverbial "brick Outhouse!" I can't

help it! I'd rather be "plain Jane" So I could sneak around where 

no one would notice me. BOY! I'll NEVER be THAT! There is just

something about me that people seem to remember! I would like

to think it's my personality, but I would BET it comes in sheer 

bras about a size forty something....written on the very costly

tags!...SHEESH! It takes a lot of Yard goods to make a "Bra" for

an OLDSMOBILE!

     I remember coming to Two Rivers. I can picture it now if I try really hard. The sky was angry. It had just rained or it was getting ready to. I parked my car and stood on the bridge to watch a tub boat work the logs on the river. The rivers, both of them were deep blue. The cotton wood pollen was thick in the air. I was seven teen and dumber than a "jar of paste!"

    The thought of our first meeting always makes my heart bounce

around a little...We are mates. In every way, or so I thought. We are

so close in looks that some fools think we are brother and sister. I didn't say the people of this beautiful little place were ALL bright. I just said

they were good people.....well you judge for yourself.

   I was sitting along side the road in my old convertible. It had a 

flat tire..There was nothing new in that. I usually got the cheapest

tire I could buy for the old car.  I loved that convertible. It was blue,

it had a top like a covered wagon. If I did over fifty with the top UP,It 

billowed up and threatened to pull me right off the road  like a kite

on a windy day! It had to have a garage to keep the innards dry.  Seventeen in the late sixties was a HELL of an age! 

   Seventeen and seventy miles away from a domineering father was a Trip!!! I wanted to touch, taste, feel and experience everything all at once. I wanted to walk on the wild side and go to church on Sunday! I wanted to  be loved, to love someone and to be a part of something. I was ripe!

Ripe in all ways. If I'd lived in California I would have been ripe for a commune, drugs, probably prostitution. In North Idaho I was ripe to work in a small restaurant. I just made enough to keep body and soul fed and clothed  and maybe a party or two on the side!  I lived in a two room apartment. I had a kitchen and bed room! A wild Child's DREAM Home!It had once been a hotel. 

It was

called the Five Spot! I guess it was the fifties answer to the Chain Motels that sprung up every where. It Didn't come with maid service!

My Mama was too busy trying to keep her all important MAN, My Father..to teach me much about that!  I wished it had maid service! I smiled at the thought of Mama, She did the best she could with what she had to work with!

    I was going to be held up on a Friday Night, I hated that. My working clothes were in back . I could wear anything I wanted to work. I just couldn't WORK in shorts and a halter!...Just my luck, Another FLAT! I  jumped out of the Olds, slammed the door as I went. I swore, foul filthy words under my breath while I opened the trunk and put the tire and tools on the ground as though I was going to change that tire. I wiped the dust from my hands on my shorts, hitched my halter top up a notch...

In truth. I'd never changed a tire in my life. I still haven't. I just stood there with the trunk up. The very first pick up truck load of loggers roared to a stop just behind my old car. I knew they would be along. They always were. Men were pretty predictable in Idaho. A new woman in town was like a magnet to their masculinity. I didn't exactly have my pick of the litter. Some were married. I just had to figure out which was which. They wouldn't tell the truth, there was no use in asking!

    I saw "Jake" immediately. He hung back a little, he was quiet, tall, His was slender, with large muscular arms  he moved like a dancer. Ummmm! Just my style. His hair was black and wavy. It was cut short. I liked that. I hated the long hair style that was currently in vogue. There was Nothin' "girly" about him. He seemed kind of shy. While the others joked about "what you find along the road in Idaho!" He changed the tire!

   I liked that about him,too. While the others clamored for my phone no. I had no phone. Heck, I could barely afford Gas to get back and forth to work and I was determined to finish the last semester of High school, I'd missed  graduation,when Dad took a swing at me and I LEFT! Mine was an Independence born of violence! I didn't want a pushy man. I didn't want a show off. I wanted the man who hung back. I wanted the man who seemed to be quiet and was well mannered. I knew the one I wanted right away. The problem were legion! I only wanted him for a little while. I just didn't want to break up a marriage to get to him! Life was different in the sixties!

    I knew how to get his attention....I bent over to pick up the lug nuts

he'd sat beside my flat tire. That put my bottom at eye level. I figured that ought to Do it!

    "You won't have to hunt these up when you go to put them back on, if you put them in the hub cap." I smiled,

   

    "Thank You!" He wiped imaginary grease from his big hands

with his handkerchief  before he offered up one of them for me to shake... " I'm Jack Short" He smiled.

      "Robin Poe, Good to meet you." I took the hand he offered and smiled back!

    He didn't notice my smile a lot. He was now eye level with one or two of my best "assets!"  I don't think he noticed the raven's wing blue black hair that hung down my back , I tried to keep it  loosely control ed by pulling it back into  a pony tail I added a multicolored  scarf to keep it from beating me to death in my open car! He did notice the locket I wore, and the scent of my perfume that emanated from 

deep in my cleavage..I thought he liked them....The perfume and the locket! 

    "Did I see you at the party shacks last week?" His voice was thick and masculine. I'm drawn to voices. I'd rather listen to a great singing voice than watch TV. I really enjoyed listening to him.

 

    "That depends, What are you referring to when you say,"The party shacks?" My ear rings danced under the scarf I'd tied around my head.

I could see he was looking me in the face! Five points for the Logger! I thought! "He's made it to my face! Wowee! Here and in front of his friends!"

   "Did you move into the old "Five Spot?" He was smiling. I noticed

he had a cleft in his chin when he smiled. He had good bones. High cheek bones look good on a man. A dimple to soften that masculine face is good. Eyes one could fall into were a REAL plus...WOW...Big Black and deep....He had long eye lashes, I frankly envied him those eye lashes!

   Meanwhile the gang in the back were working on getting my attention. I knew I wasn't gonna get far here. Well I was getting a tire changed!  I knew his name, That was good! 

   "Yeh, I live there...I didn't know they called it the "party shack" though!" I tried to hold his eyes on my face....I could see he was making a real effort to keep his eyes there too!...Miraculous...Just plain miraculous. I'd known men, some since I became a woman, who had NO conception WHAT color my eyes were!..They didn't care! They were to busy looking Lower! Most were frank and rude about it! At least he was trying....I stood so his eyes were NO longer level with my bust line...unfortunately, I found it was best to step back and lean on my old car. I'd refocused his eyes, but his face was turning RED! 

I KNEW what he was thinking....I opened the front door and sat on the seat, so I could talk to the fella's  those who towered could get a better view. I didn't even care if they  stare if they wanted....I wasn't to interested in any of them. Nor did I care what they were staring At or into......

   

  "Where are you headed?" Jake was letting the car back to the ground.

    " I work at "River's Edge Inn!"  I was going in early. Now, I'll just make it!"  

  

   "When you get home, tonight after work, look for my pick up. I'll be at one or the other of your neighbors! I'm not hard to find on Friday Night!" He smiled while he loaded the flat into the trunk and closed it.

"Maybe you'd like a beer after work?" He darn nearly slammed his thumb in the trunk of my car!

   

     "Maybe! I get out of there on Fridays late..So if you don't see me,.... I let it trail off...Thanks for changing that for me!  Bye Fella's!" I drove off toward  my job. I knew Fran wouldn't mind if I was a few minutes late. She was a neat lady. She knew most of the people who lived here. She claimed to have lived here all her life. I could believe it. A lot of grown Men called her "Mom" and she lived up to the name! She had a smile, a joke, and a good word for every one. I'd seen her offer a shoulder and put a free meal or two in front of the destitute. She was careful to do that at the picnik tables by the back door. she didn't want any one to think she was a "push over" for a sob story. She wasm just THAT, we all loved her for it.  She even looked like a "Mom,".. She was anything,BUT full busted. She wore flowered dresses covered by long aprons. She wasn't stylish....Not AT ALL...What she was, Well! she was Homey!  She was the Grandmom, we would have liked to go visit. She was the Mom, no one really had but June Cleaver copied her! She even wore pearls with her flowered blouses and dresses....She had a sense of humor and she was never nosey. If you wanted to ask her she would tell you what she thought. Usually she kept it to her self ....Can you tell I worshipped her?

    "Robin, you are running a little late." Fran shot me with 

an imaginary gun and blew away the imaginary smoke from

her finger! "Don't worry yourself Lady! The big run will start

early tonight. A new girl in town always brings the boys around,

like Honey bees! Don't dress up to pretty, I don't want you to follow

none of these boys off to soon! By the end of the night you will

have to waddle when you walk. The tips will be flying! Did you

find a pair of black slacks, White blouse???"

   "I found them Fran!" I made my way to the employee's bath room.

Quickly as I could I washed some of the Dust off my face. Convertibles are grand for THAT! I washed up as far as possible, down as far as practicable.....and washed ALL that was possible;before I got ready for work. I'd showered at home...But, the flat tire by the side of the road, left me feeling like I could use another! I applied new make up. Cause Mine had melted in the Spring sun, and I 'd washed off the rest with my cloth. "lookin Good!" I said aloud.Stuck out my tongue at my face in the mirror!. I pulled on my stretch pants...tucked in my white blouse....tied on the apron before I  saw the pretty little string tie Fran made for Me! It was kind of special...In dark red beads on the ribon it spelled Two River's Inn...It took time to do things like this for a new employee!...There was also a sparkling name tag! A bright red Rose was pinned to it...I took it as good luck, that she liked me after only being there a few days...and my showing up LATE! I fixed up my hair a little...changed to good work shoes and I was READY!

     "Hay Robin! Are you ready for the floor? I'm ready to go home!" 

Fran's very pregnant "other waitress" Jewel smiled at me from the

door!  "I'm ready to get off my feet girl!" 

   "I'm sorry, I had a flat!..First time I get a little ahead I'll get some

new tires on my old car! Go sit! I'll take care of things....Get yourself a break...and clear your till! " I rushed for the "floor".....

    "Thanks Honey, Don't sweat the small stuff!" Jewel blew me a

kiss as I rushed past her!..

     To tell you the truth. That's about all I remember of my first WEEK End at the Two River's Inn! For the rest of the night I was running, rushing and keeping ahead of things! The night seemed to rush by!

I'd been working there since Tuesday. Some Nights time seemed to drag by. I thought it was a nice laied back place. Fran warned me. She told me all the "camp loggers" in North Idaho would be there to have them selves a little peek at the New waitress. The place was JUMPING! I was glad she closed at elveven! It took me an hour to do all my "side work!"

So the girls who came on the morning shift would find it ready for them!  Fran was GREAT...she told me ," Put it all on the clock! Don't you give yourself away here Girl....You are always on the Clock! If you are working I want to be paying you. New Girls are snapped away fast enough with out me skimping on their pay..."

My eyes about fell out when I saw I had  over,a hundred fifty in tips!!!

"Honey, I took my share!" Fran chuckled! "It was a very good night!

Go get some rest. Tomorrow starts the same old way again! Fridays

and Saturdays are always good tip nights. Sundays, not so much! But, These boys LIKE you! You are a HIT In Twin Rivers!"

 

 I gathered up my "play clothes!" and my bag, I stuffed the tips into

the pocket of my purse....I'd made good tips all week. Nothing like THIS! I was so tired. I hoped "Jack" forgave me. I wasn't up to any 

parties tonight! I just hoped they were Quiet! The old Convertible roared to life! I got clear to the end of the parking lot before I remembered to tie my hair up. If I didn't do that I'd never be able to comb all the tangles OUT....The drive to the "Inn" opened into a small city park. I could see the moon dancing off the waves of the river. I could hear laughter and see an old Red pick Up truck sitting along the split rail fence that surrounded the greens...I knew Jack was going to forgive.....He was busy with his friends....through the sounds of laugher I could hear a guitar and the strains of an old song about Beautiful Beautiful Brown Eyes......I gunned the engine a little and headed home..

I wanted to stop to listen, but I was just too tired to hang around!