A Matter of Trust: Follow Your Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

had no interest in the ever more
impossible task of running a small farm.  Instead, he was working to restore the
original habitat: removing alien trees and plants, and planting things that
were known to have grown there in the past.  There was beginning to be some
wildlife on the farm, larger animals such as deer having been deliberately
reintroduced and smaller ones having migrated in as they found the habituating
increasingly suitable.
    Betty and Cord were as keen environmentalists as Doug
and enjoyed getting out of the city and doing the hard physical work involved
in maintaining what was now a kind of nature sanctuary.  Allison, as a sales
lady, was too careful of her hands and complexion to enjoy field work, but she
enjoyed getting out of the city, and was happy to do the cooking and
housekeeping for the group.
    They planned to spend Halloween weekend on the farm. 
Doug and Allison took the Friday off and drove out in the morning, expecting
Betty and Cord to follow after work.  Although it had been a beautiful October
morning, by lunchtime it had started to rain and by mid-afternoon the rain was
turning to ice.  The traffic department was predicting a major ice storm and
advising motorists to stay home.   The advice came too late for Doug and
Allison, and by the time Betty and Cord phoned apologetically to say they had
tried to come out, but found the roads already dangerous, Doug and Allison were
stuck on the farm – alone.
    Doug could see Allison tense up, but there was nothing
he could do. He kept things active as long as he could, chopping kindling for
the wood stove and bring logs in for the fireplace.  Allison on her part busied
herself in sweeping up the dust that had accumulated since their last visit and
making the beds.
    When Doug had carried the food they’d brought in from
the car, he lit the fires and set a kettle on the stove to boil.  He had never
electrified the farmhouse, which was a bonus for their situation because with
ice gathering on the lines, the power would surely fail before the day was out.
They were equipped to do without it.  There was a good supply of kerosene
lanterns for light and flashlights on hand for forays out to the privy.
    Fortunately, the responsibility for providing food had
been divided up, so they had enough for a day and a half with them, which would
serve for 3 days when supplemented with the basic emergency supplies kept stocked
in the pantry.
    When everything else was set up, Doug suggested that
they check out the outbuildings.  It was still sleeting, but had slackened off,
and both Doug and Allison relished the elation of being out in inclement
weather, as long as a warm dry refuge was near.  In fact, it was very beautiful
indeed.  The iced trees looked like they were decorated for Christmas, and the
sunset behind the clouds gave the sky a muted rose color that back lighted  the
stark black and white of the buildings and fences against the sleet.  Doug
started singing ‘Winter Wonderland’ and after a moment Allison joined in,
humming when she couldn’t remember the words. 
    Doug desperately wanted to take Allison’s hand. It was
just so idyllic, that not to do so seemed an offense against the perfection of
the moment.   Then the ice storm, which had created the opportunity and the
beauty, gave them another gift.  Allison slid and fell, turning her ankle. 
There was no help for it, she had to let Doug help her up and when she tried to
walk, it was obvious he was going to have to help her back to the farm house. 
When he put his arm around her for support, pulling her against him, she tensed
and began to panic.  But after a moment, she was astounded to discover that she
didn’t mind. The fear and repulsion she would have felt just a few months ago
just weren’t there.  This wasn’t a man holding on to her, it was Doug.  And she
had learned that with Doug, she had nothing to fear.  And as they hobbled
along, she was filled with a new