Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 9

Word Count: 54,050

Summary of Events:

After being questioned by the police at the station, Weston called his father for a ride home, and on the ride explained the full incident to his father, who listened silently, looking unimpressed, but assuring Weston once he'd finished that he believed Weston and wouldn't punish him. The following morning as they were cleaning up breakfast, Darryl's father Shaw came to the door to talk with Weston's father about both the altercation at the auction and the incident at the grocery store, believing Weston to be in the wrong in both circumstances and needing to apologise. Shaw also claimed that Darryl had told him Weston and Shawn were no longer friends, but Weston's father wasn't persuaded to believe it…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I don’t believe Weston and Shawn have had a falling out,” Dad replied. “After all, Weston was over at Shawn’s on Monday for the same amount of time as always, and they made arrangements to go canoeing together later this week. Additionally, I can’t say that the wild differences between what I’ve heard from Weston and you’ve heard from Darryl are particularly comforting.”

“No, I can’t say that I like that either,” Shaw agreed. “After all, you’ve never been the sort of person to make up stories, thus I find it quite shocking that Weston would be going about creating all sorts of unbelievable tales like these.”

“I find Weston’s accounts of things to be significantly more believable than the accounts you’ve shared with me from Darryl,” Dad replied, his voice sharp with displeasure. “I don’t have any reason to believe that Weston is the one making up tall tales.”

“You’re my best friend,” Shaw declared. “And here you are disparaging my son.”

“You’re doing the same thing to my son,” Dad contended.

“Darryl has been trying to make friends with Weston for years,” Shaw replied defensively. “But Weston has continually and rather inexplicably rebuffed his every effort until just a few months ago, and now already he seems to be regressing to his previous position.”

Dad sighed, sounding on the verge of exasperation. “Should I get Weston to go with you and apologise to Darryl?”

“Yes,” Shaw replied, sounding almost arrogantly pleased, as if he’d been waiting for Dad to make that offer for some time.

Having not had his indignation allayed by anything that’d been said since it’d been roused within himself, Weston stalked immediately and briskly from the kitchen, startling Dad slightly when he appeared before Dad could even utter a sound that might’ve become his name.

Weston crossed his arms and glared at Shaw, who looked at Weston with an expression of displeasure that seemed to have the same hint of arrogance to it as his last comment had.

“I’m not entirely confident that he’ll apologise,” Shaw said sceptically.

Although Weston didn’t shift his gaze from Shaw’s face, he could see Dad in his peripheral vision, and he could feel that Dad was fixing him with a sharply pointed gaze.

“He will,” Dad said sternly.

Weston knew by Dad’s tone and gaze that he was going to have to manufacture as much sincerity as he could muster in order to not be sent back to apologise over again, for as many times as it would take for him to at least appear appropriately sincere, and Weston had no intentions of seeing any more of Darryl than he absolutely had to.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 8

Word Count: 48,041

Summary of Events:

Weston was assigned to go into town and run errands, so he took Andie along to tour her around Fort Saskatchewan, as she'd never been there before, while running the errands, which ended at the grocery store. Partway through their shopping, Weston noticed Darryl entering the store, and Darryl ended up seeing Weston, so Weston sent Andie out of the store and hoped to finish the shopping himself, but Darryl accosted him, throwing Weston's shopping cart over on its side before the two argued, then got into fisticuffs, which ended when Weston shoved Darryl toward the downed cart, over which Darryl fell…

Excerpt of the Day:

A rather loud shout of pain came from Darryl’s mouth as he continued to go over, toppling back onto his shoulders and rolling over. Weston saw blood on Darryl’s right hand as he pulled it around to clutch against his chest. He also noticed jagged pieces of pickle jar standing upright in the midst of spilled green brine, and signs of blood in the brine around the glass, with the brine discolouring the blood so that it looked brown.

Darryl, clutching his hand to his chest, started to get up, looking savagely at Weston.

“It’s not my fault,” Weston snapped. “You’re the one who threw my cart over. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Before Darryl could even utter a retort, however, uniformed police officers appeared behind him and grabbed him with restraining hands. At the same instant, officers did the same to Weston, who startled somewhat involuntarily at their solid grips.

The two officers holding Weston scowled at him disapprovingly, and Weston felt a flash of anger that they were upset at him when he hadn’t even started the whole thing, but before he could let his anger get the better of him, he told himself that it would go best for him if he calmly and maturely cooperated with the officers, in addition to telling them what had actually happened.

“I was just getting groceries for myself and my dad,” Weston said calmly. “He’s the one who started it.”

“And who is he?” one of the officers asked sternly.

“The son of a neighbour,” Weston replied. “He suddenly came up to me from over there looking like he wanted a fight with me. He shoved my cart at me, I think his intent was to knock me over, but I managed not to fall over. I didn’t want to fight, so I was going to leave, but he hadn’t cleared the front left wheel of my cart and it hit his toes, so he chucked that jar of pickles at me, then he grabbed my cart and threw it over, and he seems to think that I know what he was doing all this for.”

“Yes, I saw it,” an older man said. “That boy there was quite angry, and he didn’t even have any groceries. He came up and accosted this boy and knocked over the cart before they argued and came to blows.”

Several other people — to Weston’s grateful relief — also spoke up to corroborate the account Weston had given.

“He is the one who’s bleeding, though,” the other officer pointed out.

“It’s his own fault,” Weston replied. “He’s the one who knocked the cart over and made the glass break in the first place.”

“I doubt this is the first altercation you two have had,” the officer said. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to take you in and ask you some questions in maybe a bit more private of a setting.”

Weston felt a bit disappointed, but he nodded. He was just being questioned, not booked, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 7

Word Count: 42,103

Summary of Events:

Weston went out for morning milking on Monday, where he first had to get the cows all into the barn before he was given charge of two of the machines for milking the cows. Following a full day of work around the farm, including picking up some of the items his father had bought at the auction which had been too big to haul home on Saturday, evening milking, and a late supper, Weston took Andie to Shawn's house, where he introduced Andie to Shawn's father and sister before Shawn suggested they go outside and enjoy the beautiful evening chatting around a fire…

Excerpt of the Day:

“So how was the auction on Saturday?” Shawn asked.

“It seemed like any other auction to me,” Weston replied, shrugging. “Not that I really saw all that much of it.”

“Oh?” Shawn asked. “Why?”

“Because she needed the bathroom,” Weston replied, pointing at Andie.

Shawn’s eyes widened in shock, but a smile quickly crossed his face and he laughed.

“I’m sure it wasn’t the bathroom break to end all bathroom breaks,” he said.

“No,” Andie replied. “Mrs. Rutledge thought I looked like someone she knew.”

“Sounds typical,” Shawn said. “She knows everybody, or thinks she knows everybody.”

“But it was actually true,” Weston said.

“Oh?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, my dad’s mom, Grandma Lorna, and her were childhood friends in Beverly, where their fathers were coal miners,” Andie replied.

“Really,” Shawn said. “I thought Mrs. Rutledge was from by Edmonton.”
“Beverly’s now a part of Edmonton,” Weston replied.

Shawn’s brow furrowed. “Coal, in Edmonton? I thought it was only in the mountains.”

Weston shook his head. “It was in the River Valley too. Apparently the mines at Beverly supplied Edmonton with a lot of their coal in the early days, but then Beverly got into debt problems and accepted absorption into Edmonton to get rid of their debt.”

“Hm,” Shawn said. “When was this?”

“Only twenty years ago or so, I think, based on what Mrs. Rutledge said,” Weston replied.

“Really,” Shawn said. “I wonder if Dad knows about it.”

“Dad did,” Weston replied. “Apparently Grandpa and Grandma used to have a coal-fired furnace because Grandpa’s parents put it in the house as a wedding gift, but Grandma hated it because it got coal dust on everything.”

“I can imagine,” Shawn said. “I doubt a wood-fired furnace would be much of an improvement.”

“That’s the reason why the chimney goes straight out,” Weston said.

“Yeah,” Shawn said. “So you knew Mrs. Rutledge before the auction?”

“No,” Andie replied, shaking her head. “She and Grandma Lorna lost track of each other after they married because Grandpa Cyrus was in the Army and then became an oilfield mechanic, while Mr. Rutledge farmed out here. Grandma Lorna and Grandpa Cyrus live in Mill Woods now.”

“That is a bit of a distance,” Shawn said, nodding. “Not ridiculous, but at the same time, kind of prevents the paths crossing a little bit.”

“Yeah, a little bit,” Andie agreed.

“But once you got Alma going you couldn’t shut her up?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Weston replied. “I mean, I came and went to check on the auction, but she stayed parked pretty much. And well-fuelled with lemonade and shortbread cookies.”

“Mm,” Shawn said. “I do like a good shortbread cookie.”

Weston nodded. “I had some too.”

“And you didn’t bring me any!?” Shawn exclaimed, slapping Weston’s arm. “What kind of best friend are you!?”

Weston laughed while Shawn shook his head, unable to keep the smile off his own face.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 6

Word Count: 36,042

Summary of Events:

Once Weston's father had bought everything he wanted to at the auction they headed home. Weston and his dad put the things his dad had bought away before helping with evening milking. When they came inside Andie had prepared them a delicious supper, revealing that she enjoyed cooking so much she wanted to become a chef once she graduated when she was told she didn't have to cook for them. The following day Weston, Andie, and his father went to Weston's aunt's house, having been invited for lunch, which allowed Weston to introduce Andie to his father's side of the family…

Excerpt of the Day:

“Who’s this young lady?” Grandpa asked as Weston, Andie, and Dad stepped into the living room.

Dad looked at Weston, indicating that it was now up to him to introduce Andie.

“This is my girlfriend, Andie,” Weston replied.

“She doesn’t have a family name?” Grandpa asked.

“Kagan,” Weston replied.

“Andie Kagan,” Grandpa said. “I’m Wyatt Hazlett, pleasure to meet you.”
“You too,” Andie replied, shaking his offered hand.

“And this is my wife Olive, and these are my granddaughters Sheryl and Wendy Barnes, those boys are their special friends,” Grandpa went on.

Andie nodded.

“Who is this?” Grandma asked, having only noticed that Grandpa was talking to Andie when Grandpa mentioned her name.

“Andie Kagan, my girlfriend,” Weston replied.

“Oh,” Grandma said. “A pleasure to meet you dear, come, sit down.”

She patted the seat beside her and Andie stepped forward, sitting down on the couch beside Grandma.

“You too, Weston,” Grandma said. “You don’t need to stand there looking like a man in a women’s clothing store.”
Weston stepped forward and sat down beside Andie.

“So where are you from, dear?” Grandma asked Andie.

“North Edmonton, I live in the same trailer park as his mom,” Andie replied.

“And that would be how the two of you met,” Grandma said.

Weston nodded.

“Yes, I was trying to get the driveway shovelled before my mom and brothers got home from work, but there was so much snow, and along he came to help me out,” Andie said. “And then he went and got it done in no time, it was as if he was shovelling icing off a cake.”

“Well he is always quick to led a hand,” Grandma said. “How many brothers do you have?”

“Two,” Andie replied. “Both older.”

“Any sisters?” Grandma asked.

“No,” Andie replied.

“That’s just like Fern,” Grandma said. “Except she’s our oldest, then are Will and Wally.”

Andie nodded.

“You aren’t older than Weston, are you?” Grandma asked.

“No,” Andie replied. “I just had my birthday, I’ll be sixteen years and one week old tomorrow.”
“Oh, well congratulations,” Grandma said. “So you’ll be in grade eleven like Weston this autumn?”

“Yes,” Andie replied. “Except that we’ll be at different schools.”
“Of course,” Grandma agreed. “How old are your brothers?”

“Eighteen and twenty,” Andie replied. “Stuart is working his way through mechanics at NAIT and Tony just graduated this spring, he’s hoping to get into mechanics at NAIT too.”

“Are they following after their father?” Grandma asked.

“Somewhat, yeah,” Andie replied. “Dad went in for mechanics, but he didn’t end up completing the course, so he drove big truck for the oilfield. His dad had also been a mechanic, both in the army, and then for the oilfield after the war.”

“Oh, why didn’t your father complete the course?” Grandma asked sympathetically.

“He was the hardest working apprentice at the shop, and the other apprentices told the boss that either he had to fire my dad or they were all walking off,” Andie replied.

“Oh dear,” Grandma said. “It’s a shame how little people want to work these days.”

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 5

Word Count: 30,008

Summary of Events:

Going to the house to wait for Andie to come out, Weston was invited inside and ended up learning that Mrs. Rutledge had been childhood friends with Andie's paternal grandmother, and Mrs. Rutledge was showing Andie photos and sharing stories from the past. Mrs. Rutledge proved to have many stories to tell, so Weston left Andie to listen to them and checked in on the second sales ring periodically, eventually bidding on the vase Andie wanted. Darryl noticed him bidding on the vase and bid against him, forcing the price $5 over what Weston and Andie had agreed on for a limit, but, since Darryl chose the wrong vase, Weston was able to get the vase anyways, but as he was paying for it, Darryl came up and took it from him before running off toward where Sheri was standing with her parents…

Excerpt of the Day:

Immediately Darryl turned and launched the vase at the harrows, which the vase struck, shattering into more pieces than the vase he’d thrown at Weston.

Sheri and her parents looked bemused, as did several other people, but Weston’s vision quickly closed on Darryl, his blood having gone from barely lukewarm to a savage boil in an instant.

Surging at Darryl, Weston seized his shoulder and immediately started firing fists at Darryl’s face. Darryl tried to offer some punches back, but they were all poorly-timed and poorly-aimed, not to mention they weren’t delivered with much force.

Suddenly strong hands gripped Weston, who fought against them viciously, wanting to keep beating Darryl until Darryl’s face was bruised, swollen, and bloody.

“Weston Jeremy Edric Hazlett,” Dad’s voice hissed into his ear sharply.

Although Weston wanted to keep fighting, he knew he didn’t dare if Dad was saying his full name, so he let go of Darryl and released the tension out of his body. Dad hung onto his arm and towed him a distance away from the crowd.

“What was that all about?” Dad demanded profanely.

“We saw a vase that she wanted to buy for her mom for her birthday,” Weston replied quietly, knowing Dad would know who he was talking about and not wanting to use her name. “I bid on it for her, and Darryl saw me, so he bid against me, and he won the bidding because of the limit we’d set. It was a choice, and he picked the wrong vase, so I grabbed the one she’d wanted.”

Dad nodded, his gaze still stern.

“As I was going to show her the vase and let her know how much I’d paid for it, he threw his vase at me and it broke when it hit the ground, but he claimed I’d bumped him and knocked it out of his hands,” Weston went on. “Other people saw him throw it and said so, so he made a grab for it, but I got away and showed it to her, she gave me what she had for cash to pay for it, and I went to pay for it. He then claimed it was his vase and I’d stolen it before taking it off the counter and running here. I hope you saw what happened from there.”

“I did,” Dad replied, still stern. “But what did Darryl mean when he said you were Sheri’s boyfriend?”

“He guessed I was, and I didn’t deny it, so he thinks he’s right,” Weston replied. “But now she’s going to be upset because he stole and broke the vase.”

“Wasn’t she with you?” Dad asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“No,” Weston replied. He didn’t want to tell Dad where Andie was with Darryl so close, though.

Dad’s eyebrows shifted into positions of suspicion consistent with the rest of his facial features. “You ought to tell her though.”

Nodding, Weston sighed with dejection and disappointment. He hoped Andie wouldn’t be too upset, especially considering he’d not even succeeded in giving the woman at the office the money for the vase before Darryl stole it.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 4

Word Count: 24,042

Summary of Events:

Arriving at the auction, Weston looked around vigilantly for signs of Darryl or his family, but saw nothing until he and Andie went to look at the household wares, where he saw Darryl's mother. Because Andie found a vase she was sure her mother would like, she and Weston went to get a bidding number, and while they were waiting in line Andie expressed need for a bathroom. Mrs. Rutledge came to talk to someone else in line, so Weston asked where the bathrooms were and Mrs. Rutledge immediately took Andie inside. Once he'd gotten the bidding number, Weston headed for the farmhouse, only to be approached by Darryl, who erroneously supposed that Mrs. Rutledge's granddaughter Sheri was Weston's girlfriend. When the bidding got underway for the household goods, Weston noticed Sheri among the people watching the action, as he was…

Excerpt of the Day:

Motion behind her attracted Weston’s gaze and he saw that Darryl was easing through the crowd as the auctioneer started describing the items and then launched into his chatter as the bidding began. Weston, not interested in the items on offer, watched with growing tension as Darryl edged his way toward Sheri.

Finally Darryl got himself directly beside Sheri, who didn’t look in his direction, but was moving her gaze around the cluster of people as different people bid on the items on offer.

Darryl leaned over to Sheri and said something, but Weston, being on the fringes of the crowd and across from them, wasn’t able to hear what he’d said over the auctioneer’s chatter, as well as reasonably quiet commentary being made by others in the crowd who were just watching at this point.

Sheri turned and looked at Darryl with an expression of confusion that, as Darryl continued to speak, turned more and more disgusted, but she didn’t open her mouth to speak for some time. Eventually she did speak to Darryl, looking displeased.

Based on the body language he was observing, it appeared to Weston that Sheri was becoming increasingly annoyed and agitated by Darryl, while Darryl seemed almost as if he were pleased to be causing Sheri to be annoyed and agitated.

Someone stepped forward to take an item from the table, indicating the bidding had come to an end and an item on the table had been sold, momentarily blocking Weston’s view of Sheri and Darryl, but as the person stepped away Sheri shrieked above the chatter.

“Leave me alone Darryl Lockhart!”

Quite a few people turned to look at Sheri and Darryl, but Darryl didn’t seem to notice, as his face darkened into a scowl and he seized Sheri in a rough hold, saying something that the chatter of those in the crowd prevented Weston from hearing.

Darryl then let go of Sheri and shoved her backwards. Sheri stumbled, but a man behind her caught her before she could hit the ground, while another man seized Darryl by the arm in the same kind of rough fashion that Darryl had seized Sheri and looked like he was giving Darryl a stern talking-to. Kay appeared in moments and seized her son’s ear, towing him away into the crowd from whence he’d emerged, clearly having witnessed what had happened and not being any more pleased about it than anyone else looked to have been.

Looking toward Sheri, Weston saw that she looked shaken, but her father was by her side and had his arm protectively around her, his face set in a grim expression.

Weston felt badly, as he knew that his not denying that Sheri was his girlfriend was the whole reason that Darryl had harassed Sheri in the way he just had. Weston hoped that Kay would give her son the earful he deserved about what he’d done, but Weston had no idea if it would be effective, as he’d never gotten the impression that Darryl entirely respected his mother.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 3

Word Count: 18,022

Summary of Events:

Weston's alarm went off early, so he got up and had a light breakfast of yogurt and tea with his dad before they went out to do the milking. Having left Andie asleep, Weston was surprised to come inside at the end of milking to find Andie in the kitchen cooking a heartier breakfast of sausages, eggs, and pancakes for the three of them, but he and his father gratefully ate their share. Once that was done the three of them got into his father's truck and headed for the auction. Andie asked a lot of questions about auctions and how they worked as they drove, which Weston mostly let his father answer…

Excerpt of the Day:

Andie nodded. “So when does the sale start?”

“Ten,” Dad replied. “People are allowed to look over items beforehand, which is why we’re headed out that way already.”

“Okay,” Andie said. “Are you hoping to find something?”

“Well, there are a few things I’ve heard from reliable sources are on the sale that might be useful,” Dad replied. “But even if I wasn’t, an auction is still something of a community event to which everybody shows up to chat with everybody, so I’d want to go and socialise anyways.”

“Oh,” Andie said. “So there may be people there just for the gossip?”

“Yes,” Dad replied. “Although usually the further a person has to travel to get there, the more likely they’re there to try and buy something. Those who just happen to live next door or down the road a ways will be more likely to just come and chat.”

“How long will the auction take?” Andie asked.

“Several hours,” Dad replied. “And that’s even with two rings going.”

“Two rings?” Andie asked.

“Yes,” Dad replied. “With this auction there’s a lot to sell, including household items, so the auction company is going to have a second auctioneer start selling that stuff separately — as people who come for the farm equipment aren’t likely looking for couches, plates, and other household stuff — so as to get through it all faster.”

“Will there be a lunch break then?” Andie asked.

“No,” Dad replied. “People have to go eat when they can. I believe Kirby and Alma have hired in a food truck of some sort to provide food for people, or maybe the auction company does that, I don’t know, but there will be on-site food.”

“But don’t the auctioneers need to eat?” Andie asked.

“Yes,” Dad replied. “And they will.”

“But how can they keep the auction going while doing that?” Andie asked.

“Every auction company has several auctioneers, and today there’ll probably be no less than four, who will rotate around, spelling one another, as keeping up auctioneer chatter isn’t exactly easy, so they’ll need breaks to rest their voices, and they’ll eat during those breaks while the others keep the auction going,” Dad replied.

“Oh,” Andie said. “Okay, that makes sense.”
Dad nodded and silence fell over the truck as he continued to guide it to Namao.

Weston was glad no comment had been made about his silence during the conversation, as he could’ve supplied some of the information, but the tension and dread he was feeling left him not really inclined to chat too much.

There were no signs that Dad was being followed, but, as Dad had pointed out, auctions were social events, meaning that it was very likely that he could end up running into the last person he wanted to see at the auction, whether he liked it or not.