JULY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse When we left off last time,
Kenneth had lassoed Wilder, the most wiley of the steer calves, and was subsequently dragged across the yard until the calf wrapped itself and Kenneth around a tree stump. That’s when Ashley showed up with
Clay and Ashley sprinted
back from the barn and Clay knelt beside Kenneth. “Where does it hurt?” Clay
Woodshed Chronicles by BOB COLLINS
the new boy in town, the handsome Clay Garrison. Rural Redemption part 88 continues: Deborah and Ashley watched as Clay Garrison disappeared into the barn behind Wilder, the veal calf. Their attention was reclaimed by a gasp of pain from Kenneth. “Are you alright?” asked Deborah.
“Something’s wrong with
my leg. Help me up.” Deborah and Ashley each
grabbed an arm and lifted as Kenneth tried to push himself up on one leg. He cried out in pain and slid back onto the ground. “Where does it hurt?” “It’s my ankle. It feels like it’s
broken.” “I’ll get Clay,” said Ashley, as she dashed away.
Deborah dialed Newt again. “Can you come right away? I think Kenneth might have a broken leg.” “I’m on my way and I’ve got Christopher with me. Have you called the ambulance?” “No.”
Newt dialled 911, then called to Christopher who was in the barn with his 4-H heifer. “Let’s go, Chris. Your mom just called. Your dad’s broken his leg.”
asked. “Left ankle. Just help me get to the house.” “Best to have a look before we move you around too much.”
Kenneth winced as
Clay’s fingertips pushed gently on his boot. Newt and Christopher
arrived and joined the worried throng. Deborah made
introductions. Clay rose and offered Newt his hand. “Mr. Pullman, Clayton
Garrison. We’ve met before I think.” “Well, I’ll be darned. You’re
Mary Garrison’s boy. I haven’t seen you in a good 10 years. What brings you our way?” “Excuse me!” said Kenneth.
“Maybe you could forgo the pleasantries and help me to the house?”
Newt nodded toward Kenneth and asked Clay what he thought about his leg. Clay said he didn’t think it
was broken, badly anyhow, but maybe they’d better be safe than sorry, and a splint and an x-ray might be a good idea.
Newt said in that case, they might as well sit tight because the ambulance should be along directly. Kenneth asked Doctor
Cowboy what his thoughts about freezing rain and hypothermia were. Christopher fetched the patio umbrella from the house and shoved its pole down the hollow core of the alder stump his father was leaning against, then popped it open. The brightly coloured umbrella lent a festive air to
proceedings.
Deborah sent Ashley to the house to get a blanket and asked Kenneth if he wanted her to bring him a cup of coffee. “For gawd’s sake, Deborah,
my leg is probably broken and you’re busy throwing a picnic!” Deborah apologized, then
asked Newt and Clay if they would care for a cup coffee. Their polite refusals were interrupted by a siren wailing in the distance. Clay said it sounded like the ambulance wasn’t far off and it might be a good idea for him to walk down to the road to wave it in. Ashley said she thought it would be a good idea for her to go with him. Newt said he could hear two sirens, so there was probably a fire truck on the way – just in case. Kenneth began connecting the long list of dots that had sat him there broken-legged in the pouring rain with darkness falling while his wife played social convenor, his daughter was traipsing around the countryside with some cowboy wannabe, his hayseed neighbour was gloating away, and the bone- headed sawdust delivery kid was probably watching Hee- Haw reruns somewhere. As he sat angrily cursing all and sundry, Duchess of Fairlawn circled him suspiciously and started to bark. Newt imagined it would be a toss-up whether the ambulance crew would splint him up and cart him off to the hospital, or if they might be
just as far ahead to put him out of his misery. The ambulance arrived and
Clay flagged it up the driveway. It was followed by a firetruck and half a dozen volunteers from the local department. The fire truck pulled in so it could light the victim up with its high beams. Jimmy Vincent played the spotlight beam onto Kenneth’s leg while the paramedics removed his gumboot and cut off his sock. Everyone else gathered around to watch the proceedings and speculate about how bad it might be and how a man might have busted his leg out in the rain anyhow.
Another set of headlights
rolled up the driveway. A minute later, Harriet Murray of weekly paper fame appeared in their midst with a camera in one hand and a note pad in the other. “Oh dear. What’s happened
here? Anyone care to comment?” “I gotta hand it to you, Harriet; no one’s got a nose for the news like you do,” said Jimmy Vincent. “I believe that Mr. Henderson has managed to break one of his own legs, and you can quote me on that.”
“How about it, Mr. Henderson? Care to shed any light on the subject?” “Get lost, you nosy old
cow!” “Just trying to get the facts,
hon,” said Harriet. Thirty years in the
newspaper business had
thickened Harriet’s hide and she was willing to cut him some slack because of the broken leg, but he was skating pretty close to the edge of the ice all the same. “I’ve got an idea,” said Kenneth. “Why don’t you button your lip for another five minutes until I’m gone, then light a fire and get my wife to hold a wiener roast for everyone and they can tell you all about it?” There was general
agreement that despite the broken leg, Kenneth Henderson was a little touchier than the situation warranted and that if a woman of Harriet’s age was willing to chase an ambulance all over the country on a night like this, she at least deserved a civil tongue and a reasonable display of manners. Jimmy Vincent figured the ambulance crew could have busted out the laughing gas a little sooner. There were a few in favour of the wiener roast but the general consensus was that it was raining too hard and it might not look good if Harriet ran a story about the volunteer fire department eating wieners and lighting fires. Deborah stood by the door as the paramedics slid Kenneth into the ambulance. His eyes were clamped shut and he grimaced in pain. She heard him grunt a name through his tightly clenched teeth: “Augh, Janice.” To be continued...
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