OCTOBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
45 Henderson finds little sympathy for his pain When we left off last time,
Deborah had arrived at the hospital only to be met by an outraged Kenneth. His ranting continued, even after they got home. Rural Redemption, part 91, continues:
Woodshed Chronicles by BOB COLLINS
It was past midnight when Kenneth and Deborah arrived home. The kids were in bed asleep. Kenneth clattered into the house cursing under his breath and swinging his crutches in great arcs beside him. Two strides into the house, he clipped the recycling bin and sent a wave of cans and jars across the kitchen floor. The racket launched Duchess of Fairlawn from her bed and the sight of Kenneth rowing through the house like a wounded seagull sent her on a terrified scramble through the house, barking frantically as she went. After three laps, she made a stand in the living room where she stood shaking and growling and draining her bladder into the expensive pile of King Henderson’s prized Persian rug. Kenneth lurched into the living room passage way. “Shut up, you stupid bloody dog!” he hollered as he balanced on one crutch and his good leg and aimed a vicious swing at Duchess with the other crutch.
Duchess dodged the crutch and bolted past Kenneth. She clipped his sprained ankle on the way by and sent him spinning into the living room. He made a three-hop pirouette and landed on the seat of his pants in the very spot that Duchess had just vacated. Ashley and Christopher
arrived rubbing the sleep from their eyes. “What’s the matter with Duchess?” asked Christopher. “What’s the matter with Duchess? I’ll tell you what’s the matter with her! That crazy dog doesn’t have enough brains to keep her ears apart, that’s what,” hollered Kenneth.
Deborah let Duchess out the back door. Kenneth’s ankle was
throbbing wildly. “What the hell are you two doing up?” he asked. “It sounds like a home
invasion down here, Daddy. Is everything alright?” “Does it all look fine and dandy to you, Ashley?” Kenneth asked sarcastically. “Is your leg broken?” asked Christopher. The next volley of sarcasm didn’t cross Kenneth’s tongue.
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A grimace spread across his face as he realized what his pants were blotting out of the rug.
“Deborah! That stupid dog has pissed all over this carpet!”
In the kitchen Deborah let out a long sigh. She didn’t know
whether to laugh or cry.
Restless night
Kenneth spent a restless night on the pull-out bed in the den. He feigned sleep until after the kids left for school. When they were gone, he called to Deborah for a cup of coffee. She set the coffee on the corner of his desk. “Do you want something
for breakfast?” “Maybe in an hour or so.” “You’ll have to fix your own
unless you want something now. I’m heading into town in half an hour and I won’t be back until after lunch.” “What about me? What
about my ankle? What do you have to go to town for?” ” Your ankle’s not going to
heal any faster with me hovering over it. The doctor said you need to move around. Just stay off the stairs and don’t over do it. I’m taking the carpet to the cleaners and then I’m going to Jade Song’s for a rehearsal, then I’m stopping off to see Gladdie. I should be back about one. I’ll fix you some lunch then. Are you sure you don’t want me to make you some breakfast?” “You’re still planning to be
in the hayseed opera? Even while I’m stuck here with a broken leg?” “You have a sprained ankle
and maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Now you’ve got a perfect excuse to miss the ‘hayseed opera’ altogether.” After she was gone, Kenneth burned himself two pieces of toast and poured a tumbler of Scotch. When he was done, he poured another Scotch and dialled Erica Swift’s number.
“Municipal affairs ministry, special taskforce on rural opportunity, development, and equality. How may I help you?”
“Erica?” “Ms. Swift. How may I help
you?” “It’s Kenneth Henderson,
Erica. I’d like to speak to Ms. Newberry.” “Please address me as Ms.
Swift in all communications, Mr. Henderson. Ms. Newberry is not currently available. Would you care to leave a message?” “Tell her I’ve broken my
leg.” “I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Henderson. Might I tell Ms. Newberry how long you anticipate being unavailable to this office?” “Just tell her my leg is
broken, will you?” “Very well. Good day, Mr. Henderson.” Kenneth’s phone rang two hours later. It was Janice. “Erica told me you have a
broken leg. Are you alright?” “The pain is bloody
excruciating. Did she just tell you now?”
“She told me right after you called but I didn’t want to talk to you from the office. What happened?”
“I lassoed a bull and got
dragged.” “My gawd, Kenneth. That sounds so dangerous. What hospital are you in?” “It was terrifying. The
doctor said I was lucky it didn’t kill me. I’m out of the hospital. They sent me home after they put a cast on it.” “How long will it take to
heal?” “The doctor said it’s too early to tell but it could be as much as three months.” “We are hoping that the
task force will be able to present its findings in nine weeks. Do you think you will be able to review the findings and recommendations from home? Would you be willing to?
“I could do it from here, but only if I can discuss the findings with you face to face before I make a final report.” “You do realize the
committee is going to write its own final report? Your signature is a formality.” “Of course I do,” said Kenneth. “But I’m not taking any marching orders unless I get them from you. In person.” “Alright. I’ll see what I can do but it will have to be off the record, understood? Look after yourself and I’ll text you when it’s time for another call.”
Kenneth punctuated their
goodbye with a dramatic grunt of pain. When she hung
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up, he poured himself another Scotch.
A different song
Deborah left the carpet with the cleaners and did the week’s grocery shopping. Just before 11, she pulled into Jade Song’s. Val Zimmer had arrived before her. The trio sat down in Jade’s music room. “Thanks for dropping by,”
said Val. “Jade and I wanted to meet with all of the singers and make sure everyone is ready to start full stage rehearsals next week. We are only three-and-a-half weeks from opening night and Jade tells me you and Doug haven’t been rehearsing for a while.” Deborah blushed despite
herself. “I think we’ve got it pretty
well nailed down but if Doug has time, we could run through our numbers once more with Jade before the full rehearsals start.” “You two were great when
we did that bit of staging but I think it might be a good idea if everyone does it once more for Jade so we can make sure there are no glitches when we kick everything off next week.” “Okay,” said Deborah. “I’ll
give Doug a call and we can set a time with Jade.” Deborah sat in her car for nearly five minutes thinking about the musical and Doug McLeod. She picked up her phone and pushed his number. “Well, here goes,” she said
out loud. To be continued
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