40


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2018 The countdown begins for Kenneth, Deborah When we left off last time,


Deborah and Doug had agreed to put their personal feelings aside and give it their all to Li’l Abner and Daisy Mae, while Kenneth Henderson had finally reached Janice on the phone to tell her he and Deborah were off to the Caribbean. She seemed unimpressed. Rural Redemption, part 104, continues.


Chronicles by BOB COLLINS


The days leading up to the


Li’l Abner spring musical and the Caribbean vacation passed in a blur. Kenneth gave up trying to


stay abreast of all the comings and goings and retreated to his office. He researched the resort his mother had arranged. There was a golf course.


Excellent, he thought. Deborah has absolutely no interest in golf. He would make up some malarkey about the doctor saying that golf would be perfect rehab for his broken ankle. The sprain had healed, and he wondered how long he should keep wearing the brace? He was considering abandoning it until he discovered one of the resort’s signature activities: swimming with the pigs. Swimming with pigs! What next? He could imagine


Are you fREADY


for WINTER Woodshed


Caribbean pig swimming being right up Deborah’s alley and he realized the ankle brace could excuse him from having to join in. The resort had six bars, all serving premium beverages at no charge! He knew exactly where he’d await Deborah’s return from her daily bouts of pig swimming, or goat yoga, or crowing with the roosters, or whatever other


nonsense there might be.


The only fly in the spring musical’s


ointment landed a week before show time. Val Zimmer had recruited one of her community theatre contacts to narrate the abridged scenes from the play, but he fell through at the last minute. Val landed the problem on Gladdie Harrison’s doorstep. “I don’t know what to do,


Glad. I had Bernie Clayton lined up to do the narrating, but he’s cancelled.” “Who’s Bernie Clayton?” “He’s from the city. His stage name is Titus Faraday.” “Faraday?” “Yes. He chose it because


of his “magnetic” stage presence.” “He’s that good?” asked Gladdie chuckling. “Who knows?” said Val. “I’ve


never known him to make it to the stage, but he always reads the parts nicely in audition. He’s kind of


Shakespearian, in a Danny DeVito sort of way. Do you have any ideas?” “I could ask Newt Pullman,” said Gladdie.


“Does he sound


Shakespearian?” asked Val. “Not like Danny DeVito.” said Gladdie, “but I’m sure he’s read all the Shakespeare there is, and I know he’ll agree to help out if he sees we’re in a pinch. I’ll give him a call.”


And so it was. Thanks to some minor tragedy in Titus Faraday’s larynx, Newt Pullman started cramming for his stage debut.


Bustling with rehearsals


The community hall was crammed with rehearsals every evening. Everyone in the Henderson household was on a different schedule. Lisa Lundgren and her mom started taking Christopher to and from the hall. One evening as they waited in the wings to change the set, Christopher took Lisa’s hand and said he thought he loved her. Lisa smiled and said she thought she loved him, too. Lisa’s mom said, “I can hear


you, you know? You’re not even 15 years old yet. Both of you just cool it.” Clayton Garrison started driving Ashley to and from her rehearsals. One night on the way there, Clay didn’t tell Ashley he loved her, and she didn’t tell him she loved him, too, but when they got to the hall, Lisa’s mom Cynthia asked Clay if he wouldn’t mind


giving Christopher a hand with the sets because she was going to need Lisa to help with costumes and make-up from now on.


Deborah and Doug


McLeod both drove themselves to rehearsals. Sometimes their schedules didn’t match but when they did, each of them remained painfully decorous. Neither of them said anything about loving anyone, even though something not far from that very sentiment was smoldering just below the surface. For his part, Doug was struggling to keep his feelings in check. Deborah was fighting to extinguish hers. A week before opening night, Val and Jade told them that they had decided to close the play with their Namely You duet. Deborah raised her eyes to meet Doug’s. They could both sense their feelings champing at the bit.


Change of plans Susan Henderson was


expected to arrive on Friday afternoon, the day before the first Li’l Abner performance. She phoned six days


before to say that due to unforeseen circumstances, she wouldn’t arrive until late Saturday. Henry Brookbank had died. Henry was one of King Henderson’s old law partners and political cronies. It was Henry that King entrusted with his household finances for all the years he was in Ottawa. In the early years of Susan’s marriage, it was Henry who’d kept a firm grip on the household purse and settled the monthly accounts. It was Henry who Susan had answered to for


eeding?


Don’t forget to renew your subscription!


PAY SECURELY ONLINE countrylifeinbc.com/subscriptions


R ROLLINS Toll Free 1-800-242-9737 www.rollinsmachinery.com


Machinery Limited


“Serving British Columbia proudly since 1946”


Chilliack 1.800.242.9737 | 44725 Yale Rd W Langley 1.800.665.9060 | 21869 - 56th Ave Chemainus 1.250-246.1203 | 3306 Smiley Rd


• BEEF • VEAL • BISON • LAMB • GOAT • DEER


every nickel she spent. And it was Henry who’d presumed to lecture her regularly about the value of a dollar and the need for fiscal prudence. If the month’s allowance should run short, she would have to endure his disapproval and admonition, and it was Henry who orchestrated her attendance at party events and functions. Eventually, she rebelled


and threatened to leave the house, find a job, rent an apartment, and join the Communist party. King made arrangements so Susan and Henry would quit crossing paths and arranged for a bank line of credit at her disposal.


Susan despised Henry


Brookbank and hadn’t even entertained the idea of attending his funeral until his daughter called on behalf of Henry’s wife Dolores to ask if Susan would attend. Susan hadn’t seen Dolores Brookbank in nearly 10 years. The had crossed paths many times over the years, toiling away at some damned party fundraiser or campaign office, but they were more like fellow prisoners than friends. Susan felt sorry for Dolores. She could scarcely imagine 60 years under the thumb of such a miserable tyrant as Henry Brookbank. In most respects, Kingston Henderson was no better, but at least Susan had been spared his daily presence most of the time. Each woman had been trapped in a cruel web. The spiders were gone now but what was left for Dolores? She was more than 20 years older than Susan. Even if Dolores could break free, Susan wondered, what was left for her?


Susan thought of her own


web – the Kingston Pen. That old mausoleum was sold. She was free with – God willing – 20 years ahead of her. She was anxious to get on with it but first she would see what comfort she might be to an old comrade and see what might have been. “Of course I’ll come. Is


there anything I can do for your mother?” To be continued ...


MEADOW VALLEY MEATS PROVINCIALLY INSPECTED ABATTOIR BC#34


CUSTOM SLAUGHTER SERVICES PROVIDED Serving the Community Together


WANTED: ALL SIZES MARKET GOATS & LAMBS 18315 FORD ROAD PITT MEADOWS, BC V3Y 1Z1


ashiq@meadowvalleymeats.com 604/465-4752 (ext 105) fax 604/465-4744


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44